Spunky ’52 alumna Winnie Langtry, ever appreciative of the education she received here, wrote a letter to the Concord Monitor and invited those same state legislators who slashed the education budget to pitch in to the Class of 1952 Scholarship Fund.
Continue reading Winnie Langtry ’52 Invites Legislators to Support KSC
It was just a year ago that newly minted alum Shawn Ahern ’10 tucked his diploma and his contract with the world-renowned dance troupe Pilobolus into his suitcase and leapt into the world of professional dance.
Talk about opportunity knocking! A year later, internet giant Google searches for the perfect medium to showcase the cutting-edge technology in its new web browser, Chrome, and guess what they come up with? You got it—a video of Pilobolus’ latest edgy visual brilliance, featuring KSC’s own Shawn Ahern.
You can watch the video on YouTube (including a fun look behind the scenes, where you’ll see more of Shawn), but, since Google is using it to highlight its latest browser technology, you’ll need to watch it on Google Chrome for the maximum experience (download Google Chrome, and then, from Chrome, visit this link: www.allisnotlo.st/index_en.html). That includes inviting you to type in a message, which the Pilobolus gang will spell out at the end of the video. Something like this:
Those are the bottoms of the dancers’ feet you’re seeing. Be prepared to be amazed—and send Shawn a comment.
If you’d like to know more about Google Chrome and the Pilobolus project, visit the company’s blog.
Two new apartment buildings, designed for students, are going up on Ralston St., just a couple of blocks from campus. Arcadia Hall, a four-story building at the corner of Emerald and Ralston streets, will house 137 students in three- and four-bedroom apartments and should open next July. Nearby, the Davis Street Apartments will open August 1 and offer 51 beds in two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments. Rents for Davis St. range from $525 to $700 per bed, including all utilities, cable, and internet, and two parking spots per unit.
Continue reading Two Off-campus Student Apartments Go Up on Ralston St.
Several Keene State profs are working together to explore the impact that the events of 9/11 had on current students and alumni. We remember teaching courses on that day and talking with students.
Where were you on Sept. 11, 2001? What were you doing? What did you think? How have the events of that day affected you?
We’d like to have a few KSC alums participate in the 9-TEN-11 Project and tell their stories of how their lives have been shaped in the last decade. Check out the Project’s web page and the work that’s been done so far.
Continue reading Remember 9/11? Support the 9-TEN-11 Project
Shannon Mayers, the former executive director of the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice, has accepted a position as the new director of the Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond, filling the slot left vacant when Bill Menzes retired in May. Mayers joins the Redfern as it prepares to celebrate its 30th Anniversary season this coming academic year.
Continue reading Shannon Mayers to Direct Redfern
Dr. Thomas Durnford of the Department of Modern Languages just spent two weeks (July 4–15) at Cavilam in Vichy, France, courtesy of a grant from the French Embassy. He attended a program on innovations in the teaching of French. Cavilam is a private institute founded in 1964 by the universities of Clermont-Ferrand and the municipality of Vichy and has become one of the benchmarks of teaching French as a foreign language and teacher training. Dr. Durnford’s grant is one of only three the French Embassy awarded this year in the New England states. While in France, he also continued his Holocaust-related research into the role of the Vichy government during WWII.
Things are looking up on campus, so this shouldn’t be much of a challenge:
If you think you know where it is, write your answer on an envelope containing a 1909 S VDB penny and mail it to Newsline, Alumni Center, 229 Main St., Keene, NH 03435. Or use the “comments” link, below.
Former Alumni Board President Jody O’Brien ’82 passed away on June 25, after a long battle with cancer. A dedicated volunteer, Jody served on the Alumni Board from 1999–2003, including as vice president for two years and as president from 2002–2003. She received the Sprague Drenan Award in 2006, in recognition of her outstanding support of the Alumni Association and KSC.
For the past few years, Jody lived in Maryland. She was very active in starting a local Association chapter and was instrumental in many regional activities. Because she played softball when she was at KSC, she maintained a strong connection to the athletic program as well. A memorial service will be held at the College Camp on Wilson Pond at 3 p.m. this afternoon (July 7th).
When you follow an interest, you never know just where it’s going to take you. Back in 2000, Rick Benner ’88, a geography major when he was at KSC, started researching major league baseball players who had played college ball. It wasn’t long before he was the Chairman of the Collegiate Baseball Committee at the Society for American Baseball Research, a position he held until 2009. When the College Baseball Foundation was organized in 2004, he asked to be included. Since then, he has expanded his research to writing summary sheets for every college baseball program, past and present. Continue reading Rick Benner ’88: Keeping the Stats on College Baseball
There are no athletes driving towards the basket—or fans cheering them on—in Spaulding Gym this summer, but there’s plenty of activity happening there. The gym’s getting a makeover. After 43 years of heavy pounding and abuse from basketball shoes, volleyball players, and all the other shoes that run, jump, slide, and walk across the gym, and after the heavy commercial sanders from 43 annual refinishings, the floor had worn thin. So it’s coming up, and a new one is going down.
When the crew started tearing up the old floor, they realized that the bleachers, too, had seen better days (lots of them), and also needed replacing. So, the “student” side of the gym is getting bleachers with 968 molded seats. The “team” side is getting 470 chair-back seats. They fold up, the same as regular bleachers, but the chair backs pop up when the bleachers are pulled out for seating. Fans can now thrill to the excitement of Owl action in improved comfort!
For a young composer, the journey from the creative spark to the final performance can be a challenging one. KSC’s Young Composers Institute, held from June 20–22, helped seven student composers master some of the elements along that journey. The three-day experience, guided by Keene State’s Dr. Heather Gilligan and Dr. Paul Salerni from Lehigh University, offered the students an opportunity to hear their creations played in workshop and then in a formal concert.
OK, this will show how many alumni have been paying attention. Obviously, it’s a clock. But where is it, and why is it there?
If you think you know the answer, write it in eraseable marker on a Catalina Cylinders 80 cu. ft. standard aluminum scuba tank and mail it to Newsline, Alumni Center, 229 Main St., Keene, NH 03435. Or use the “comments” link, below.
Reunion 2011 was another grand success! Even the weather was perfect, as over 300 alums showed up to reconnect with old friends (and make some new ones), representing classes that span most of Keene State’s fine history. The Class of ’61 celebrated its 50th Reunion (and was inducted into the Golden Circle), and the Class of ’86 celebrated its 25th. Trudy Carmichael ’36 celebrated her 75th class reunion, and there were several newly minted alums from the class of 2011 here, celebrating their first of many.
Of course, we took LOTS of pictures. Look for yourself and your friends in our Reunion 2011 SmugMug gallery. And make sure you check out all the Reunion posts on the Alumni FaceBook page, where there are even more photos!
The big news around campus these days is that the Red Sox have drafted senior Corey Vogt, the Owl pitcher with a screaming fast ball. Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein picked the right hander in the 39th round of the Major League Baseball first-year player draft.
A die-heart Yankees fan, Vogt will have to change his allegiance. “They’re paying my salary now, so I won’t have a hard time with it,” he said.
The Little East Conference’s annual Little East Spring All-Academic teams honor student-athletes from baseball, men’s and women’s lacrosse, softball, men’s tennis, and men’s and women’s outdoor track and field. To earn a spot on the all-academic teams, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore academically and athletically, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.3, and be a full-time member of a varsity team.
Who are the student standouts who made the grade? Visit the KSC athletics page to see the list.
On Friday, June 3, Keene State Environmental Studies Professor and skipper Tim Allen set sail from Newport, Rhode Island, to St. George’s, Bermuda, for the 18th running of the biennial Bermuda One-Two Yacht Race, put on by the Goat Island Yacht Club, Newport Yacht Club, and the St. George’s Dinghy and Sports Club. The race is run in two 635-nautical-mile legs: Dr. Allen will sail the first Newport-to-St. George’s leg solo. In Bermuda, he’ll pick up his wife and KSC alum Wendy Thorpe Allen ’88 and set sail on June 16 for the second leg from Bermuda back to Newport.