Because this historic film has sparked far more interest than we originally anticipated, we’ve moved the 4 p.m. showing on Tuesday (April 20) of When Lincoln Paid to the Mabel Brown Room in the L.P. Young Student Center to accommodate more people. We’ll show a DVD of the film there, with piano accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis, who plays piano behind silent films around New England.
Immediately after this showing, for the hard-core aficionados, we’ll show the 35mm preservation print of the film in the Putnam Theater in the Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond.
The campus just learned that Charles “Chuck” Thompson, first Director of the KSC Computer Center, passed away at age 73 on December 31.
Chuck came to Keene State in 1978. In his 20 years here, he oversaw computing on campus evolve from punch cards to PCs and daily internet use. Chuck played a key role in developing Keene’s technical infrastructure and was a major contributor to the design of KSC’s voicemail system. Jim Draper, KSC Director of Purchasing, credits Chuck with the foresight and ability to understand the needs of our community. Jim explains that Chuck’s technical vision, coupled with his understanding of student needs, resulted in an exemplary voicemail-system implementation before such technology was standard.
Chuck was a graduate from the University of Nebraska (BS, Mathematics) and Rochester Institute of Technology (MBA). He had been living in Abita Springs, Louisiana.
Stand up and take a bold step (well, actually, several steps) on Saturday, April 17, to stop violence against women. The 4th Annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, International Men’s March to End Rape, Sexual Assault & Gender Violence is open to all men, women & children. Men are encouraged, though not required, to wear women’s shoes to support the cause.
Are you as excited as we are about Reunion Weekend, June 4, 5, & 6? Sign up online now! We’ll have some great gatherings and activities. Be a student again (all the fun, but no exams) and stay on campus in our award-winning Pondside III residence hall or the newly renovated Huntress Hall! Visit our Reunion web pages for more information!
Francis Ford as Abraham Lincoln in When Lincoln Paid (Courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)
A couple of years ago, a local contractor was demolishing a barn in Nelson, N.H., when he came across a 35mm Monarch projector and seven reels of film. He donated his find to the Keene State College Film Society, which has determined that at least three of the films appear to be the only surviving copies of long-lost movies, including When Lincoln Paid, a film on an incident in Abraham Lincoln’s life, starring and directed by movie pioneer Francis Ford, the older brother of and greatest influence on famed director John Ford.
This brittle and damaged 30-minute two-reeler is of such historical significance that it easily won support from Tag Gallagher (author of John Ford), the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY, and the National Film Preservation Foundation, who rallied to restore the film. After being lost for 97 years, When Lincoln Paid will premiere in the Mabel Brown Room in the Student Center on Tuesday, April 20, at 4 p.m. and again in the Putnam Theater in the Redfern Arts Center,thanks to the sponsorship of the KSC Film Archives, Special Collections/Mason Library, the Film Studies Dept., and the KSC Film Society. The film is important for its historical theme, its place in film history, and for what it has to show about the techniques that influenced John Ford. The screening is free and open to the public.
Both Ford brothers were fascinated with Abraham Lincoln and made him the subject of many of their films. “There is nothing I like better than to play Lincoln. I have a big library devoted to this great man, and I have studied every phase of his remarkable character, and when I am acting the part, I can feel the man as I judge him,” Francis Ford is quoted as saying in an article by Ford scholar Tag Gallagher.
“Francis Ford is one of the most fascinating persons in film history…And he is known as the man who taught John Ford.” Gallagher said in a letter he sent in support of restoring When Lincoln Paid. Francis Ford made the first spectacular westerns in 1912, some of the first detective movies, and one of the first serials.
“Between 1912 and 1915 he played Abraham Lincoln in at least seven pictures. Alas, all of these pictures are lost. For nearly a century no one has been able to see Francis Ford as Lincoln,” Gallagher explained. “So now…to be told that I may get to see Francis Ford as Lincoln is thrilling news indeed.”
Check out these film clips from When Lincoln Paid. The first shows Confederate soldiers ambushing and pursuing John Wade, one of the film’s principal characters. The second shows Mrs. Wade pleading with Abraham Lincoln (played by Francis Ford) for the life of a young Confederate soldier.
Alums showing their KSC pride at the 1st KSC in NYC event
You are invited to join the KSC in NYC alumni group on Thursday, April 15, from 6:00–8:00 p.m. for their 2nd annual event! This year we’ll meet in the Empire Room, a brand new bar in the Empire State Building (dress code: no hats or sneakers). Take advantage of this opportunity to network with your fellow alums and share your favorite memories and stories about your time at KSC! You cover the drinks, and we cover the appetizers, but no promises on how long they will last. …
For more information, email Megan FitzGerald ’98 and Kara Grenier ’04 or visit the Facebook group “KSC in NYC.”
The best way for the Parents Association to meet the goals and challenges of supporting our students is if we know what all those goals and challenges are. So, please, share your ideas and feedback on the information, programs, and events you’d like to see us support. We really want to know what you think.
What opportunities do you see for additional information about campus programs and services? How about meeting and sharing ideas? Do you prefer to meet on campus? Regionally? What topics especially interest you? Would you participate in a webinar? Would you share your hard-won wisdom about college students with others?
Please complete our brief online questionnaire. As an incentive, we will randomly choose one name from every 25 surveys completed and send your student a Dining Commons cookiegram or pizza party. And we’ll post the survey results on the KSC Parents Association webpage later in the spring. Thank you!
With $535,000 in pledges, we’re half way towards our $1 million goal for the Alumni Center. Hooray! The lion’s share of this critical support has come from our faithful KSC alumni, but many of our generous friends and corporate partners have also pitched in. We are profoundly grateful to everyone who has responded to our need, and to our University System trustees and the College for so much of the project funds.
We are naming parts of the building in honor of those who have given naming gifts. The Class of 1958 came up with the brilliant idea of pooling their individual donations into one hefty gift to the campaign. Hence, you’ll be able to bask in the friendly warmth of the Class of 1958 Alumni Gallery Fireplace. Several generous individuals will also have their names attached to spaces in the new building. Make sure you’re here for the big dedication ceremony on June 4 during Reunion Weekend.
We’re still striving to complete this campaign this year, and wed love to include tons of alums. If you make a gift of $100 or more, we’ll put your name on our donor wall. You can make a secure pledge online, or please call now: 603 358 2375. Thanks a million!
KSC junior Jessica Spellman plays with kids at a community outreach event at a low-income apartment complex in Orlando, Fla.
For many college students, Spring Break is a time of excess and indulgence. But as KSC senior Hannah Dale reported, a couple of week-long breaks in February and March were times for some students to indulge in their excess social consciousness. They joined such programs as Alternative Spring Break and Here’s Life Inner City and fanned out across the country to build houses, set up computer labs for a women’s half-way house, improve the environment, tutor at-risk youth, and dig ditches. The students organized and led these trips, so they not only helped those in need, they also helped themselves learn some valuable lessons, including leadership skills.
Do you know any of these students? Want to give them a digital high five? Use the “comments” link below.
Dr. James E. Waller, Cohen Chair for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Dr. James E. Waller has been appointed Cohen Chair for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, the first endowed professorship at Keene State College. He’ll be on board for the Fall 2010 semester.
Dr. Waller earned his Ph.D. in social psychology at the University of Kentucky and comes to us from Spokane, Washington, where he was professor of psychology at Whitworth University from 1988, holding the rotating Edward B. Lindamann Chair during 2003–07. He received Whitworth’s award for Outstanding Junior Faculty Achievement in Teaching and Research in 1993 and the Teaching Excellence Award in 1996. His book, Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing, now in its second edition with Oxford University Press, is a standard text for students of genocide throughout the United States.
If you’d like yet another reason to be proud of KSC, head to campus this Saturday, March 27, 9 a.m.–5 p.m., for the 10th Annual Academic Excellence Conference. You can see some of our best and brightest students presenting their fine work. Whatever your interest, you’ll find something to please: biology, chemistry, psychology, geography, math, literature, dance, education, health science – you name it! It all takes place in the David F. Putnam Science Center and the L. P. Young Student Center and is free and open to the public.
For more information, including a schedule with descriptions of each presentation, check out the AEC page.
All Americans all, l-r: Jackie Foster, Kristine Trutor, Alea Paddock, Jillian Whitaker, Kaila Umbarger (Ryan McKernan photo)
The Owl women’s swim team set some new records at the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Minnesota’s Aquatic Center last week, finishing 18th out of 51 teams and bringing home KSC’s first women’s swimming All-Americas.
Seniors Kristine Trutor and Alea Paddock teamed with sophomore Jillian Whitaker and freshman Kaila Umbarger to earn All-America honors with an eighth-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. Then Trutor placed fourth in the 100 backstroke to become the first Owl woman swimmer to earn All-America in an individual event.
The KSC women’s 400 freestyle relay team, composed of Trutor, Whitaker, and Umbarger, and senior Jackie Foster, placed 16th, earning honorable mention All-America recognition.
As KSC coach Jack Fabian said, “They have put Keene State on the national swim map.”
All smiles: the 2010 ECAC basketball champs (photo by Ryan McKernan)
Everyone who was at the ECAC Championship game in Spaulding Gym on Sunday are probably wondering why their fingernails are so short today. The Owls defeated the Plymouth State Panthers 69-68 in overtime in a real nail-biter. “This was certainly one of the most exciting games I’ve seen at Keene State,” said sports information coordinator Stuart Kaufman. “It had all the elements: heated rivalry, back-and-forth scoring, and our five seniors in their last game.”
Were you there? Tell us about it.
If you weren’t there, visit the Women’s Basketball pages for a blow by blow.
Finally – after years of planning, construction, and campaigning, the KSC Advancement Division is moving to its new home in the Alumni Center on Main Street across from the Hale Building. Who’s in the Advancement Division? The Offices of the Vice President for Advancement, Alumni & Parent Relations, Advancement Services, Marketing and Communications (formerly College and Media Relations and Online Communications), and Development.
We’re packing our boxes and should be hauling stuff to our new offices the week of March 15th. Want to know more about this project? Maybe you’d even like to see photos of the progress. It’s all on the Alumni Center page.
Oh, and even though our entire division is moving, our individual phone numbers and mailstop numbers will stay the same.
Dr. Anne-Marie Mallon, Dr. Paul Vincent, and Dr. Therese Seibert all have something very special in common. Each have been recognized recently for their achievements as outstanding faculty members.
Presented annually since 1971, the KSC Alumni Association Distinguished Teacher Award recognizes excellence in teaching at Keene State College, based upon the following criteria: excellence in classroom teaching, encouragement of independent thinking, rapport with students in and out of the classroom, and effective student advising.
So if you know a beloved KSC prof who fits that criteria, nominate him or her for the award. They deserve it! Nominations are due April 16, 2010. You can download the nomination form on the Distinguished Teacher Award page. Get on it!
Approximately 70 students attended the Academic and Career Advising Office’s job fair preparation workshop on February 2nd. Students were also invited to one-on-one meetings with an alumni volunteer the following week for a resume critique, and 28 students took advantage of that.
Then on February 28, 10 KSC alums volunteered to participate in the Student Center Leadership Development Program’s Second Annual Etiquette Dinner. This group of alums joined 60 current students for an evening of networking, conversation, and sharing.
Students with Sasha Kaylor ’06 (l) and Karen Naharay ’06 (r) at the Etiquette Dinner
Later this spring, recent alums will participate in a “Life after KSC” panel covering such topics as choosing a career path, navigating the transition from school to professional life, deciding about graduate school, and much more.
Finally – after years of planning, construction, and campaigning, the KSC Advancement Division is moving to its new home in the Alumni Center on Main Street across from the Hale Building. Who’s in the Advancement Division? The Offices of the Vice President for Advancement, Alumni & Parent Relations, Advancement Services, Marketing and Communications (formerly College and Media Relations and Online Communications), and Development.
