Writing expert Peter Elbow will speak

Ninety-one percent of graduating seniors answering a survey last spring said their CC education taught them to write “clearly and effectively,” an essential skill for getting ahead in the job market or pursuing additional degrees.

A secret to the success for many of these students is CC’s Roth Writing Center, which has been helping students fine-tune their writing for 25 years.

Faculty, staff, students and alumni will host a two-day celebration on campus in September to commemorate this milestone.

Theresa Ammirati, interim dean of the college community, founded the center at a time when the idea of writing centers was still in its infancy, said interim director Andrea Rossi-Reder.

Ammirati’s vision and determination helped create a center that strives to be a refuge where students can find support no matter what their level of skill, Rossi-Reder said. CC not only has one of the oldest college writing centers, it is “alive and kicking, with more and more students seeking support at the center every year,” she said.

Ammirati, who served as director through 1995, will be honored during the celebration.

It begins at 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15 with a talk by writing expert Peter Elbow. Elbow taught English at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and directed the writing program there before retiring a few years ago. An author of several books, he has written extensively on the teaching of writing.

On Friday, Sept. 16, former and current writing center directors and tutors will get together for a panel discussion. They will be joined by Ammirati, Rossi-Reder and Michael Reder, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning.

All events are open to the public and followed by a reception. If you would like to attend, please R.S.V.P. to the Office of Alumni Relations at 800-888-7459 or rsvp@conncoll.edu by Sept. 9.

The writing center, located in Blaustein Humanities Center, provides one-on-one peer tutoring free of charge to all students. It also conducts a series of workshops throughout the year to help students improve their study skills and write research papers. They cover topics like note-taking, time management and how to ease test anxiety. The center also works with faculty to help them develop writing curricula for their classes.