If you’re one of the nearly 1000 graduates who joined the proud ranks of KSC alumni last Saturday, or if you’re one of their (probably even prouder) parents, family, or friends, take a stroll through the extensive Commencement 2010 Photo Gallery. It was a great day, and we took plenty of photos. Check ’em out — and come back — we’ll be posting more pix later in the week!
LEC Champs, the Owl Men’s Lacrosse Team Hosts NCAA Tournament on Wednesday
The Keene State College men’s lacrosse team will face Castleton State College at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, May 12th, at the Owl Athletic Complex for the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Owls received the automatic bid into the tournament after their thrilling 14-10 home-turf victory over the Eastern Conn. State Warriors on Saturday in the LEC Championship game. Sophomore attackman Griffin Meehan scored six of those Owl goals, setting a new school record of 66 goals in one season and earning the distinction as the tournament’s MVP.
The Owls managed to win the championship on Saturday despite the fact that their top goalie, junior Alec Corliss, suffered a broken leg midway in the third quarter. Corliss, who had made phenomenal 10 saves, several on point-blank shots, went down following a collision at the side of the net.
KSC enters the NCAA Tournament riding a nine-game winning streak.
Saturday’s the Big Day (Friday, too)!
Nearly 1000 graduates will be earning degrees during Commencement this Saturday, May 8. The event begins at 1 p.m. on Fiske Quad.
Besides granting associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees to our illustrious students, the College will also honor Dr. Carol Geary Schneider, president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), with an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree and past Alumni Association Board President David Gagne with the 2010 Granite State Award.
On Friday, May 7, the College will give special recognition to all those students who have excelled in scholarship and leadership or earned undergraduate academic honors (with a GPA of 3.5 or better). That all takes place during the Spring Honors Convocation at 4 p.m. in the Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond.
LEC Tourneys at KSC this Week
Keene State fans can stay right at home and watch lots of Little East tournament action this week. KSC will be hosting men’s and women’s lacrosse semifinal games and the LEC softball tournament at Owl Athletic Complex, beginning this Thursday.
Keene State will host the six-team LEC softball tournament. Top-seeded Eastern Connecticut will start things off when they face sixth-seeded Plymouth State University at 10 a.m. on May 6. Second-seeded KSC will meet fifth-seeded University of Southern Maine approximately two hours later. Third-seeded Western Conn. State meets fourth-seeded Rhode Island College at 2 p.m. The first elimination game is tentatively scheduled for 4 p.m. The three-day tournament will be wind up on Saturday, May 8.
The Owl women’s lacrosse team secured the no. 1 seed for the first time in program history. On Thursday, May 6, at 5 p.m., they’ll face the winner of a Tuesday match up between fifth-seeded University of Southern Maine and fourth-seeded Western Conn. State.
The first-seed KSC men’s lacrosse team swept their seven-game schedule and earned a first-round bye in their tournament schedule. At 2:30 on Thursday, May 6, the Owls will face the winner of Tuesday’s Plymouth State (fourth seed)/UMass-Dartmouth (fifth seed) game.
There’s lots more info on these tournaments at the Athletics site.
Seen and Heard about KSC Alumni
We have recently seen and heard about alumni who have graduated and gone on to do some pretty neat things out in the great wide world. Over the next couple of months, we’d like to highlight some of what we have heard through the grapevine. And we’re sure that other talented alumni are out there doing amazing things that we haven’t heard about. So here’s your invitation to tell us all about them. Perhaps you have a story to tell too!
Have you heard?
Natalie Pope ’85, who has been a set designer for the TV show House, recently had a two-page spread in TV Guide magazine! Great job Natalie – looking forward to seeing you at Reunion!
Share your comments and your story!
Honors Student Lands NASA Internship
KSC pride went into orbit when sophomore Nicole Mihalko, a math/physics major in the Honors Program, landed a prestigious internship in the NASA Undergraduate Student Research Program for fall 2010. She will be studying the optical properties of astronomical silicates (interstellar dust) at the Goddard Space Flight Center. This multidisciplinary project called for someone who would “demonstrate initiative in carrying out the program in collaboration with a team of NASA scientists.”
“Nicole has carried a heavy course load consisting of chemistry, linear algebra, calculus, cognition, and computer science,” said Dr. Margaret Walsh, Professor of Sociology and director of the College Honors Program. “She also has enjoyed a variety of courses ranging from theater to Spanish through the Integrative Studies program. She has generously served as a student representative this year on the Honors Program Advisory Council. She will no doubt return to Keene State College with a great deal of experience and knowledge to share.”
Sounds like Nicole has worked hard for this stellar opportunity, and we’re proud of her!
Architecture Students Design for the Community
As they have for the past 18 years, students from KSC’s Communicorps class recently tackled design challenges for community organizations in the Monadnock region. At a luncheon in the Mountain View Room on April 28, community members got to see the solutions. Twelve student teams (42 students) created designs for six major projects, including a master plan for the re-use of the current Keene Middle School building, a re-design of the Keene Public Library Annex (Pond Mansion and the Masonic Hall), a design for a new parking garage in downtown Keene, a master plan for Wheelock Park, and a set of design options for Southwestern Community Services (SCS) for the N.G. Gurnsey Building on Dunbar Street in Keene and a transitional housing facility for newly released inmates of Cheshire County House of Corrections.
This program allows the College to share its talent and resources in a way that makes a real and lasting impact on the local community.
KSC Students Present Research at NURDS
Fourteen impressive KSC students presented at the 2010 Northeast Undergraduate Research and Development Symposium (NURDS) at the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine, on April 17 and 18. Two of those students won awards there.
Elizabeth A. Neuhardt ’10 won an award for a top-ten poster presentation, “Synthesis of ProtonatedBis(imino)acenaphtheneCationsKatherine.” A report of her research has been published in the April 2010 edition of The Nucleus, the journal of the Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society.
Anna McLean ’11 gave the symposium’s fourth-best oral presentation, “Untangling the Passionflower Vines: Preliminary Insights on the Evolution of Passiflora Subgenus Decaloba, Based upon trnL-F Sequence.”
Keene State College students Jade Halsey, Jill Gormley, Jake Neal, Kelly Hideriotis, Amanda Izzo, Jeff Tretheway, Erika Brooks, Christin Gaudette, Gregory Drugen, Fred Brown, Nicolle Siddall, and Zack Martin were the other remarkable students who presented at the conference.
Jamie Plourde Wins Ms Wheelchair NH
KSC junior Jamie Plourde was recently named Ms. Wheelchair NH 2010. This remarkable psychology major is on the Dean’s List and is a member of the Student Activity Council (SAC). Jamie will travel to Michigan in July and compete for the Ms Wheelchair USA title, in which “contestants must choose and prove their commitment to a social issue or charity of their choice.”
Use the “comments” link below to send Jamie a note of congratulations and support. Go Jamie!
Golden Circle Luncheons Begin 14th Season
The KSC Alumni Golden Circle marks its 14th year of memorable luncheons this year. The Golden Circle Society is that most special group of alumni who graduated 50 or more years ago from Keene State College (though, then it was probably Keene Normal School or Keene Teachers College).
Each summer, GCS members gather at various restaurants and locations throughout New Hampshire to keep in touch, catch up on news of the College, and share all those fond memories about life on campus. This year’s schedule has now been posted on the web.
Invitations are sent in advance for each luncheon, and we keep the cost for each each meal under $18.00 per person. Guests and care providers are welcome to come too!
If you’re a Golden Circle Society member (or know a member who might like to attend) and would like more information about the events, please call Pauline Dionne in the Alumni Office at 603-358-2369.
Work Out at the Rec Center this Summer
The Rec Center is once again offering summer memberships to alumni. These memberships begin Monday, May 10, through Friday, August 20, and are available to all KSC alums and your spouse/partner for $100 per person. The cost to brand-new alums (those of you who graduate next weekend – May 2010) is only $50 for this first summer (then it’s the $100 rate after that).
If you don’t have your KSC alumni card (verifying that you are an alum), you’ll need to pick one up in the Alumni Center (hours Mon.–Fri., 8 a.m.–4 p.m.) before you can stop at the Rec Center to pick up your summer membership. (You’ll also need the alumni card to get a borrower’s card at the Mason Library.)
You can get more info on the Rec Center online. You can get more specific information about Alumni membership benefits at the Alumni benefits page.
Lodging Discounts Now Available for KSC Alumni & Parents
Several local hotels, inns, and B&Bs are now offering discounted lodging rates to our alumni and parents. There are accommodations to suit a range of tastes and interests. Stay right in Keene or sleep tight in one of the nearby quintessential New England villages.
These discounts are a great addition to our growing number of alumni member benefits that include Mason Library access, discounted automobile insurance through Liberty Mutual, KSC Rec Center summer membership, and discounts at the Putnam Theater on campus.
More details about alumni membership benefits may be found at the KSC Alumni website.
Is It Your Class Reunion?
If your graduation year ends in a “0” or a “5,” it sure is! Plans are underway for our 2010 Alumni Reunion – June 4, 5, & 6 – and we are expecting hundreds of alumni to join in the fun. How long has it been since you’ve lounged on Fiske Quad? Have you had a chance to walk down Appian Way sans automobile traffic? Well, if it’s been a while, make this your year! Accommodations on campus are affordable, as are the organized meals and events. You can check out the schedule of events and register online at our Alumni website.
See you June 4th!
Yager Wins People’s Choice Award at KSC Student Art Exhibit
KSC senior art major Jessica Yager of Bellows Falls, Vt., won the People’s Choice Award for her bronze statue, Gibbous Fountain, exhibited in the student art show, “Emerging Art” at the Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery.
Visitors to the show were invited to vote for their favorite work of art, and Yager won the majority of the 479 votes cast. She will receive a $100 cash award from the Friends of the Thorne along with a People’s Choice Commendation.
The exhibit continues through May 8 and is free and open to the public.
When Lincoln Paid Makes International News
The KSC Film Studies Department owns the only known copy of a long-lost 1913 silent movie about Abraham Lincoln, When Lincoln Paid. On April 20, film professor Larry Benaquist screened the movie for the first time in nearly 100 years. When word of this historic event got out, it made news around the world and attracted an audience from far and near. Here’s a sampling of the reports:
Here and Now (scroll down for link)
New Hampshire Public Radio
The Union Leader
Boston.com
USA Today
CBS News
Discovery Channel News
The Boston Herald
WBZ Radio (Boston)
Chicago Breaking News Center
The West Australian
The event generated lots of comments when we first announced it. Did you see the film? What’d you think?
Rob Westerberg ’87 Wins Music Department’s Distinguished Alumni Award
The Keene State College Department of Music has given Mr. Rob Westerberg ’87 its Distinguished Alumni Award for 2009–10. Rob currently serves as the choral director at York High School in York, Maine, and is the director of the Portland Community Chorus. He earned a B.M. in Music Education at KSC and an M.M. in Choral Conducting from the U of Maine.
Rob will be back on campus on Thursday, November 4, 2010, and will receive the award at a Concert Band performance in the Redfern Arts Center Main Theatre at 7:30 p.m. If you know Rob, use the “comments” link to drop him a note of congratulations.