James Manaro Appointed New Senior VP for Finance and Administration of Washington College

Chestertown, MD, May 29, 2007 — Washington College is pleased to announce the appointment of James Manaro as the new Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration.

Manaro, who has more than 30 years' experience in the budgetary/financial field, was chosen after an extensive national search to find a replacement for longtime Washington College finance VP H. Louis Stettler III, who is retiring this summer.

"From the moment of his first encounter with the search committee, Jim Manaro impressed everyone with his vision, energy and good sense," said Washington College President Baird Tipson. "Not only will he draw on his extensive experience, but he will also help us take advantage of the unique opportunities created by our 225-year tradition of education in the liberal arts and by our location in historic Chestertown. Jim will be a worthy successor to Lou Stettler, who retires after a decade of unselfish service."

Manaro most recently has been Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York. At Clarkson, Manaro was responsible for the management of $282 million in assets and supervised 155 employees. He also served as treasurer of the Board of Trustees and as liaison for four board committees.

"Washington College is very lucky to attract someone of Jim Manaro's capabilities and background to follow on the fine work of Lou Stettler," said Stephen T. Golding, Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration at Cornell University. A Washington College alumnus (Class of 1972), Golding serves on the College's Board of Visitors and Governors, and headed the search committee that ultimately selected Manaro.

"Jim has a demonstrated track record of higher education financial management and administration, and will be an outstanding addition to the superb leadership team President Tipson has assembled to run the College at such an important time in its evolution," Golding said.

Washington College, currently celebrating its 225th anniversary year, has plans in the works for a number of expansion-and-improvement projects, including a renovated and expanded performing arts center, a fully remodeled dining facility, and two additional on-campus student residences.

Manaro earned a baccalaureate of science degree at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and a master's degree in public policy and administration from SUNY Stony Brook's Averell Harriman College. After serving as a budget analyst in the Congressional Budget Office, he was Associate Deputy Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, then Financial Manager for the City of San Francisco, and then Assistant to the Vice President for Finance at Yale University. He also served as Vice President for Institutional and Public Finance at the Student Loan Marketing Association ("Sallie Mae") and, prior to helming the finances of Clarkson University, was Vice President for Finance and Treasurer at Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania.

"I look forward to working at Washington College, such a prestigious institution," said Manaro. "It's a terrific opportunity for me to be joining the great team established by President Tipson."

Shore Heritage Showcased at Annual Maryland Preservation & Revitalization Conference

Chestertown, MD, May 24, 2007 — The history-steeped Eastern Shore's heritage and traditions will be showcased when Preservation Maryland brings its annual Maryland Preservation & Revitalization Conference to Chestertown on Thursday and Friday, May 31 and June 1.

Chestertown, which has been designated one of America's 2007 Dozen Distinctive Destinations by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is a fitting venue for the conference, being presented by Preservation Maryland as the organization celebrates its 75th anniversary year.

Offering a diverse selection of educational sessions, workshops, tours and special events, the conference will be headquartered at Washington College's Casey Academic Center, with various activities throughout the town and surrounding area.

While showcasing the rich traditions of the Eastern Shore, the conference will provide tools and resources for participants from throughout the state to take home and implement in their communities. As always, the conference will bring together professionals and volunteers from throughout Maryland and neighboring states.

The numerous sessions and workshops during the two-day conference will cover everything from heritage tourism to historic-house restoration to Eastern Shore culinary traditions. Venturing afield, the conference's tours will serve to highlight the host-region's distinctive historical aspects. "There's History Around Every Corner," a bus tour of Cambridge, Denton and Easton, will make its rounds on Thursday, May 31, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The three Shore communities will serve to highlight the "Main Street Maryland" program. Through Main Street Maryland, towns and cities are experiencing revitalization and growth that allow Marylanders to celebrate and build upon their rich past.

An oft-forgotten chapter of the area's military history will be explored in "Caulk's Field: Maryland's Last War of 1812 Battlefield," a tour on Thursday, May 31, from 2:15 to 3:45 p.m. On the moonlit night of August 30, 1814, British naval forces from H.M.S. Menelaus attacked the Kent County militia in an open field, five miles west of Chestertown. The encounter became known as the Battle of Caulk's Field, and its location remains the only surviving War of 1812 battlefield on the Eastern Shore in its original landscape after 194 years.

With the approach of the 1812 bicentennial, it is remarkable that this Maryland landscape has survived. Other War of 1812 sites in St. Michaels, Queenstown and Baltimore have been lost to development. The Caulk's Field tour will relate the story of this last War of 1812 battlefield landscape on the Eastern Shore—and offer suggestions on how we may preserve it.

Tours on Friday, June 1, include "Shaping History: Economic and Historic Development of the Eastern Shore," a trip to historic Queen Anne's County sites including St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Church Hill, Dudley's Chapel and the Sudlersville Train Station Museum in Sudlersville, and Wright's Chance and Tucker House in Centreville.

Also on tap for June 1 is a Chester River excursion aboard the schooner Sultana. Up to 32 passengers can sail aboard the replica 1768 vessel, which provides students of all ages with the ultimate classroom for learning about the history and environment of the Chesapeake Bay. On board, passengers travel back in time to the Age of Sail and participate in hands-on activities that are interactive, informative and fun. The original Sultana, a Boston-built merchant vessel, is noted for having served four years as the smallest schooner ever in the Royal Navy.

For a complete schedule of the 2007 Maryland Preservation & Revitalization Conference, visitwww.preservationmaryland.org. Onsite registration will be at Washington College's Casey Academic Center. Advance registration can be made via the aforementioned website. For more information, call 410-685-2886.

$50,000 George Washington Book Prize Awarded to Charles Rappleye for Sons of Providence

Black-tie dinner at Historic Mount Vernon honors best book on the founding era

Mount Vernon, VA, May 22, 2007 — The third annual $50,000 George Washington Book Prize, honoring the most important new book about America's founding era, was awarded at Mount Vernon on May 22 to Charles Rappleye for Sons of Providence: The Brown Brothers, The Slave Trade, and The American Revolution (Simon and Schuster, 2006). An award-winning journalist and independent scholar, Rappleye tells the story of John and Moses Brown, brothers who were partners in business, politics, and the founding of Brown University, yet who passionately opposed one another on one of the most divisive issues of the day—the slave trade.

"I wanted to do justice to a wonderful story and refresh our understanding of the dilemma posed by slavery in the early days of the Republic," said Rappleye. "It's very gratifying to think that, on the strength of this award, that story might reach a wider audience."

Presented to Rappleye at a black-tie dinner attended by some 200 dignitaries, including descendants of the Brown brothers and luminaries from the worlds of book publishing, politics, journalism, and academia, the George Washington Book Prize included a medal and $50,000—one of the most generous book awards in the United States, with a monetary prize greater than the Pulitzer Prize for History ($7,500) and the National Book Award ($10,000).

Complete with fireworks and candlelit tours of Washington's Mansion, the Mount Vernon event also celebrated the works of the two other finalists: Catherine Allgor's A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation (Holt, 2006) and François Furstenberg's In the Name of the Father: Washington's Legacy, Slavery and the Making of a Nation (Penguin, 2006). The finalists were selected by a jury of prominent American historians: Richard Bushman of Columbia University; Theodore J. Crackel of the University of Virginia; and Pauline Maier of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In their report on the winning entry, the jurors wrote that "Rappleye, a journalist, spotted the ideological polarity represented by Moses and John Brown and turned the greatest contradiction in the Revolutionary period into the history of two men: one a Baptist-turned-Quaker opponent of slavery and the other a passionate revolutionary who was a major actor in the slave trade. Rappleye's book shows how this contradiction was not a conflict between North and South but a battle waged in the North, within a state thought to be one of the most independent and liberal of any in the Union, and in fact within one family."

The winner was chosen by a panel of two representatives from each of the three institutions that created and sponsor the prize—Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in New York City, and the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association—plus historian Barbara Oberg of Princeton University.

"For more than 200 years, Americans have been engaged in an ongoing—and sometimes contentious—conversation about the meaning and significance of our founding era," said Adam Goodheart, Hodson Trust-Griswold director of Washington College's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, which administers the prize. "The Washington Prize honors books that contribute fresh insights to that national conversation. Sons of Providence tells a tale few Americans know—yet one that, with its sibling rivalries and ancestral burdens, seems almost Shakespearean."

"Charles Rappleye's Sons of Providence tells a fascinating story from the Founding Era that speaks to our time," said James G. Basker, President of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. "His research is exhaustive, yet his writing is so clear and compelling that he makes history read like a novel."

Created in 2005, the George Washington Book Prize was awarded in its inaugural year to Ron Chernow for Alexander Hamilton and last year to Stacy Schiff for A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America.

About the Sponsors of the George Washington Book Prize

Washington College was founded in 1782, the first institution of higher learning established in the new republic. George Washington was not only a principal donor to the college, but also a member of its original governing board. He received an honorary degree from the college in June 1789, two months after assuming the presidency. The C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, founded in 2000, is an innovative center for the study of history, culture and politics, and fosters excellence in the art of written history through fellowships, prizes, and student programs.

Founded in 1994 by Richard Gilder and Lewis E. Lehrman, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History promotes the study and love of American history. Increasingly national and international in scope, the Institute targets audiences ranging from students to scholars to the general public. It helps create history-centered schools and academic research centers, organizes seminars and enrichment programs for educators, partners with school districts to implement Teaching American History grants, produces print and electronic publications and traveling exhibitions, and sponsors lectures by historians. The Institute also funds the Lincoln Prize and Frederick Douglass Book Prize and offers fellowships for scholars to work in history archives, including the Gilder Lehrman Collection.

With its new Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center, the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association has created the equivalent of a presidential library for George Washington. "We want to be the first place people think of when they have a question about George Washington," noted James Rees, Mount Vernon's Executive Director. "The George Washington Book Prize is an important component in our aggressive outreach program to historians, teachers, and students."

About Charles Rappleye

Charles Rappleye is a writer and editor who has specialized in the media, police, and organized crime. Rappleye grew up in New England, attended school in Wisconsin, and lives in Los Angeles. He spent most of the past decade as news editor at the LA Weekly, where he won awards as a columnist and for investigative journalism. This is his second book.

Washington College Awards Nation's Largest Undergraduate Literary Prize at 225th Commencement

22-Year-Old Senior from Drexel Hill, PA, Wins $60,027 for Critical Writing and Drama

Chestertown, MD, May 20, 2007 — Most college seniors will look back on their graduation ceremony as a day of pomp and circumstance culminating in a handshake and a diploma. For Liam Daley, 22, a Washington College English and drama major from Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, the ceremony brought another reward: a check for $60,027.

Daley's critical thesis on medieval English literature, along with his portfolio of plays and short prose pieces, earned him the largest literary award in the country exclusively for undergraduates—the Sophie Kerr Prize—presented Sunday, May 20, 2007, during the College's 225th Commencement ceremonies.

The awarding of the Sophie Kerr Prize, given annually to the graduating senior who demonstrates the greatest "ability and promise for future fulfillment in the field of literary endeavor," has in recent decades been a highlight of the commencement ceremony at the 225-year-old liberal arts college. The Prize, worth $60,027 this year, is among the largest literary awards in the world.

Washington College has awarded more than one million dollars in prize money since the Sophie Kerr Prize was first given in 1968, most often to writers of poetry and fiction. Scholarly and journalistic works, though less often selected, are given equal consideration.

Daley was one of 40 to submit a portfolio for consideration this year, a relatively high number of entrants that happened to include "a very extraordinary number of top talents," said English Professor Kathryn Moncrief. It was a combination of Daley's thesis and his playwriting skills, "both the critical and the creative," that earned him departmental honors from the English department and caught the attention of the Sophie Kerr Committee. "He was a standout in a particularly strong group filled with talent and promise," Moncrief said.

English Professor Richard Gillin, who presided over the committee's deliberations, praised Daley's skills as a dramatist. "With regard to Liam's plays, the rhythms of the dialogue paralleled the emotional turmoil of the characters, and the structuring of the plays' elements and the repartee among the characters are particular strengths."

Professor Corey Olsen, Daley's thesis adviser, echoed Gillin's enthusiasm for this year's winner. "Liam's work demonstrates remarkable wit and liveliness. Both his critical essays and his dramatic writing display his intellectual intrepidity and his literary perspicacity."

Noting that the winner has expressed a desire eventually to become a professor of English, Olsen remarked, "Liam has a very bright future in academia ahead of him."

Daley, a 2003 graduate of Upper Darby High School in Pennsylvania, spent one of his college years abroad studying at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He is returning there this fall for graduate school.

The Sophie Kerr Prize is the namesake of an Eastern Shore woman who made her fortune in New York writing women's fiction during the 1930s and 1940s. In accordance with the terms of her will, one-half of the annual income from her bequest to the College is awarded each year to the graduating senior demonstrating the best potential for literary achievement. The other half funds scholarships, supports student publications and the purchase of books, and brings an array of visiting writers, editors and publishers to campus to read, visit classes, and discuss student work. Her gift has provided the nucleus for an abundance of literary activity on the bucolic Eastern Shore campus.

Washington College is a private, independent college of liberal arts and sciences located in historic Chestertown on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Founded in 1782 under the patronage of George Washington, it is the first college chartered in the new nation.

Pioneering Ecologist Wes Jackson to Address College's 225th Graduating Class, May 20

Winner of Nation's Largest Undergraduate Literary Prize To Be Announced

Chestertown, MD, May 14, 2007 — Wes Jackson, the pioneering ecologist described as one of the "100 most important Americans of the 20th century," will address Washington College's 2007 graduates at the College's 225th Commencement ceremonies, Sunday, May 20. Ceremonies will begin at 10:30 a.m. on the Campus Lawn. Rain site is the Benjamin A. Johnson Lifetime Fitness Center by ticket only.

In recognition of their outstanding accomplishments and careers, Jackson and historians Edward C. Papenfuse Jr. and Mark S. Micale (Washington College Class of 1977) will be honored during Sunday's Commencement ceremony. L. Thomas Bortmes (Washington College Class of 1973), Executive Director of the Office of Intelligence for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, will receive an Alumni Citation.

The College also will award the Sophie Kerr Prize, the nation's largest undergraduate literary award, valued at $60,027 this year, up from last year's award of $55,907. The prize was established by the will of the late Sophie Kerr, a writer from Denton, Md., whose generosity has done so much to enrich the College's literary culture.

When she died in 1965, Kerr left the bulk of her estate to the College, specifying that one half of the income from her bequest be awarded every year to the senior showing the most "ability and promise for future fulfillment in the field of literary endeavor" and the other half be used to bring visiting writers to campus, to fund scholarships, and to help defray the costs of student publications. Ms. Kerr was a prolific writer who began her career as a woman's page editor for the Pittsburgh Chronicle Telegraph and the Pittsburgh Gazette and as managing editor of theWoman's Home Companion. During her lifetime she authored more than 100 stories and 23 novels. During the 39 years that the Sophie Kerr Prize has been awarded, its value has ranged from $9,000 to as high as $65,000.

This year's Commencement has added resonance, as it marks the beginning of the College's 225th anniversary year. Chartered in May 1782, Washington College is the tenth oldest institution of higher learning in the country, and was the first college chartered in the new republic after the British surrender at Yorktown in October 1781. The College's 225th-anniversary theme is "the Revolution Continues."

Sunday's Commencement speaker is a leader in the international movement for a more sustainable agriculture. Life magazine put Wes Jackson on its short-list of individuals predicted to be hailed eventually as "the 100 most important Americans of the 20th century," and the Smithsonian lauded him on its list of "35 Who Made a Difference." Founder and President of the Land Institute, Jackson has received numerous accolades and awards over the years, including being named a 1990 Pew Conservation Scholar and a 1992 MacArthur Fellow. In 2000 he received the Right Livelihood Award, perhaps the highest international honor in ecology (awarded annually in Stockholm, it is known as the "alternative Nobel Prize").

The work of Jackson's Land Institute has been featured extensively in the popular media, including The Atlantic Monthly, Audubon, "the MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour," and NPR's "All Things Considered." Jackson is the author of a number of influential books, including New Roots for Agriculture, Becoming Native to this Place, and Rooted in the Land: Essays on Community and Place. His work is often referred to by author/activist Wendell Berry, with whom Jackson has shared a longtime friendship and has frequently collaborated.

A highly sought speaker and inspiring presence, Jackson brings solid science to his activism and charismatic eloquence to his cause. "The agriculture we seek will act like an ecosystem," he has said. The mission statement of the Land Institute reads, "When people, land, and community are as one, all three members prosper; when they relate not as members but as competing interests, all three are exploited."

After earning a B.A. in biology from Kansas Wesleyan University, an M.A. in botany from the University of Kansas, and a Ph.D. in genetics from North Carolina State University, Jackson established and served as chair of one of America's first environmental studies programs at California State University-Sacramento. He founded the Land Institute in 1976; it continues in the vanguard of the goal to develop natural-systems agriculture, and publishes the authoritative journal The Land Report.

"In his writing and frequent lectures, Jackson explores the intersection of science and society, agronomy and ecology, culture and politics," notes Counterpunch magazine. "His talks are a lively mix of styles—country preacher, old-time storyteller, hard-nosed scientist, and political organizer."

In recognition of Jackson's contributions to the field of environmental studies, the College will present to him an Honorary Doctor of Science.

An American historian with a primary interest in the role cities play in fostering economic growth and social development, Edward Papenfuse has held the positions of Maryland State Archivist and Commissioner of Land Patents since 1975. As director of the extensive activities of the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis, Papenfuse is responsible for the Archives' vast collection of government and private materials. With a degree in political science from American University (1965), and a master's degree in history from the University of Colorado (1967), Papenfuse began his archival career in 1968 as a summer fellow working on the Maryland Hall of Records Indexing Project. He completed a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1973.

Papenfuse played a major role in the design of the present Archives building, initiated the creation of the award-winning Maryland State Archives web site, and teaches throughout Maryland. He is the author of numerous articles and books, including In Pursuit of Profit: The Annapolis Merchants in the Era of the American Revolution (1975) and, with Joseph M. Coale, The Hammond-Harwood House Atlas of Historical Maps of Maryland, 1608-1908(1982).

Among Papenfuse's latest contributions to regional history is Charting the Chesapeake(1990), an exhibit catalogue and comprehensive guide to the mapping of the Chesapeake Bay derived from the Huntingfield collection, a recent gift to the Maryland State Archives.

In 1985, the Maryland Colonial Society named Papenfuse Marylander of the Year, and that same year he received the National Governors' Association's award for distinguished service to state government.

In recognition of Papenfuse's contributions to the field of history, the College will present to him an Honorary Doctor of Letters.

An associate professor of history at the University of Illinois, Mark Micale is a specialist in the comparative cultural and intellectual history of modern Europe, and in the history of science and medicine, especially psychiatry and psychoanalysis. Over the past 12 years, Princeton, Oxford, Cambridge and Stanford University presses have published his books. His latest work, The Male Malady: Medicine and Masculine Subjectivity from the Renaissance to Freud, is forthcoming from Harvard University Press.

Micale's publishing credits also include: Approaching Hysteria: Disease and Its Interpretations (1995); Beyond the Unconscious: Essays in the History of Psychiatry (editor, 1993); The Mind of Modernism: Psychology, Medicine, and the Cultural Arts in Europe and America (editor, 2004); and Discovering the History of Psychiatry (co-editor, 1994). He has also published more than 20 scholarly articles.

After graduating from Washington College, Micale studied at Yale University, earning a master's degree in 1980 and a doctoral degree in 1987. His dissertation adviser was the world-renowned historian of modern Europe, Peter Gay. From 1984 to 1987, Micale was a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. He completed a post-doctoral program in London in 1989 and then joined the faculty at Yale, where he taught until 1995. Among his many academic honors, Micale was a Fulbright Scholar, was twice awarded fellowships from the National Institutes of Health, and received several teaching awards, including Yale's Prize Teaching Fellowship and, at the University of Illinois, the Queen Prize for Excellence in Teaching and the Campus and LAS Teaching Prizes.

A former recipient of the George Washington Medal, Washington College's highest academic prize, Micale was inducted as a charter member of the College's Phi Beta Kappa Society in February 2007. In recognition of his contributions to the field of history, the College will present to him an Honorary Doctor of Letters.

This year's Alumni Citation recipient is a retired Naval Intelligence officer with more than 28 years of active-duty service. Thomas Bortmes is now Executive Director of the Office of Intelligence for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The priority mission of the office is to prevent terrorism and to protect the nation's physical borders as well as 328 formal ports of entry.

Before joining the federal agency, Bortmes commanded the Navy's flagship intelligence command, directing the Navy's intelligence response to the September 11, 2001, attacks, and directly shaped Navy support to Homeland Security, the Global War on Terror, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. During his command, he recruited several Washington College students for internships there. Today, 12 Washington College graduates work at Office of Naval Intelligence.

Throughout his U.S. Navy career, Bortmes was tapped for the most demanding sea, shore and joint intelligence leadership positions. He was Commander, Southern Region Joint Operational Intelligence Center in Naples, Italy; Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Commander, Carrier Group Three home-ported in Alameda, Cal.; Executive Assistant to the Director, National Imagery and Mapping Agency in Merrifield, Va.; Director for Intelligence, U.S. Pacific Fleet in Honolulu; and Director of the Intelligence Requirements, Plans, Policy and Programs Division on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations in the Pentagon.

Bortmes is the recipient numerous awards, including the Distinguished Service Medal and the Navy League of the United States/Naval Intelligence Foundation's Leadership Award.

Bortmes graduated with a degree in international studies and earned a master of arts degree in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia. His daughter, Amy, graduated from Washington College in 1995.

Underwood Donates $1.5 Million to Renovation of Washington College's Performing Arts Center

Donation Moves Project Into Next Fundraising Phase

Chestertown, MD, May 11, 2007 — Washington College is pleased to announce that John Underwood, Chestertown resident and friend of the College, has given $1.5 million to assist in the renovation of the Gibson Performing Arts Center.

The Underwood gift pushes the total gifts and pledges for the project to more than $5 million and launches the public phase of the project, in which donations of all sizes are being welcomed. The public-phase launch was officially announced during a recent celebration at the home of John and Suzanne Whitmore in Sherwood.

The gift, made through the John G. Underwood and Nancy L. Underwood Trusts, comes over and above Mr. Underwood's previous act of generosity to the College, in which he donated $1 million to establish the Nancy L. Underwood Chair in Art and Art History. Mr. Underwood's late wife, Nancy L. Underwood, was a lifelong devotee of art and art history.

The major donation to the Gibson Performing Arts Center renovation project "is a fitting bookend to the Nancy L. Underwood Chair in Art and Art History created in 2005, and a memorial of her affection for Washington College and the arts," said Mr. Underwood. "I look forward to the lasting contribution the Fine Arts Center makes to the Washington College experience and to our community."

Mrs. Underwood was born in Wilmington, Del., and graduated with honors in 1950 from the University of Cincinnati. A retired engineer, Mr. Underwood is a graduate of Miami University in Ohio and holds a Master of Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.

The Underwoods were married at Old St. Paul's Kent in 1960, and after frequently vacationing in Chestertown during the past several decades returned to the area permanently to retire.

Mr. Underwood's gift to the Gibson project will fund the new lobby, which accordingly will be named after him and Mrs. Underwood, and will house their portrait.

"Shortly before she died, Mrs. Nancy Underwood arranged to endow the Nancy L. Underwood Chair in Art and Art History," noted Washington College President Baird Tipson. "Now her husband John has made it possible for us to create the beautiful Nancy L. and John G. Underwood Lobby in the restored Performing Arts Center. I am particularly gratified by their generosity and look forward to seeing their portrait on every visit to the Underwood Lobby."

The complete renovation and expansion of the Gibson Performing Arts Center will transform the place of the arts at Washington College, adding needed rehearsal and performance space while addressing issues of aesthetics, functionality and accessibility.

The Department of Drama will enjoy a completely renovated large theater, a brand-new experimental theater, expanded rehearsal space, office space, classroom space and green-room space. The Department of Music will have its own recital hall, better rehearsal space, more classrooms and individual rehearsal rooms, and better storage for instruments. Thedance program will continue to rehearse in its present facility in the Johnson Lifetime Fitness Center, but its performances will occur on the new stage of the large theater. Major events such as the George Washington Birthday Convocation, lectures by prominent speakers, admissions open houses, and the Concert Series will draw campus and community into the newly renovated spaces.

Not least, the upgraded facility will fill a long-standing void by constructing the Kohl Art Gallery, Washington College's first climate-controlled, secure art gallery that enables theater- and concert-goers to enjoy visiting exhibits as well as the work of Washington College's own students and faculty.

This renovation will create a modern cultural center that benefits students, College friends and community audiences alike. Theater, musical and dance performances will occur nearly every night of the week, and even on those evenings when the stages are occupied for rehearsals, the building will continue to light up the square. Not only the campus but also the entire surrounding community will come to ask regularly, "What's onstage tonight at Gibson?"

Construction of the Arts Center is expected to be completed by Fall 2009. For more information, or to make a tax-deductible donation to the project, call the Washington College Advancement Office at 410-778-7801.

Maryland Preservation Month at WC Kicks off with Tax Credit Seminar, May 10

Chestertown, MD, May 10, 2007 — Attention homeowners, realtors, and anyone interested in historic preservation: The Center for the Environment & Society at Washington College, Kent County Planning & Zoning, the Chestertown Historic District Commission, and the Historical Society of Kent County, Maryland present "Maryland Rehabilitation Tax Credits," a presentation by Michael K. Day, Thursday, May 10, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. in Litrenta Lecture Hall, John S. Toll Science Center. Day is Deputy of the Office of Preservation Services, a branch of the Maryland Historical Trust.

The Heritage Preservation Tax Credit Program, administered by the Maryland Historical Trust, provides Maryland income tax credits equal to 20% of the qualified capital costs expended in the rehabilitation of a "certified heritage structure." A property is eligible for the credit if it is locally designated as a landmark, contributes to the significance of a locally designated historic district, is located in a certified heritage area and certified by the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority as contributing to the significance of the certified heritage area, or if it is listed on the National Register either individually or as contributing to a district. The credit is available for owner-occupied residential property as well as income-producing property.

For information contact Washington College at 410-778-7295 or The Maryland Historical Trust at 410-514-7628.

WC Student Researchers Win Awards at Regional Psychology Conferences

Philadelphia, PA and Ocean City, MD, May 9, 2007 — Washington College student researchers in the Department of Psychology have garnered top honors at two recent regional events.

Lindsey Riley and Allison Sullivan won the Psi Chi Regional Research Award at the 78th annual meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association held March 22-25 in Philadelphia.

These awards are given to students presenting the best research papers to Psi Chi sessions at regional conventions. No more than 78 awards are given annually to undergraduate and graduate students nationwide.

Riley's and Sullivan's research project, titled "What's for Dinner? Measuring the Effect of Athleticism and Depression on Healthy Eating Choices," was supervised by Dr. Jim Siemen, Professor of Psychology, as a class laboratory project for Health Psychology. Riley and Sullivan found that while there were no differences in eating choices between athletes and non-athletes, athletes endorsed lower levels of depressive symptoms, affirming that physical fitness promotes positive mental health.

Following on the heels of that WC success, six Senior Capstone Experience posters from Washington College were presented at the Maryland Psychological Association/Foundation's conference in Ocean City, Md., May 4-6. Student researchers included Allison Sullivan, Rachel Calhoun, Cara Ramsey, Christine Schott, Amy Linthicum and Jill Hopkinson.

Washington College researchers took two of the three undergraduate poster awards, with a student from Salisbury University winning third place. Dr. Lauren Littlefield, Associate Professor and Chair of Psychology, was the research supervisor for the winning projects.

Second place went to Christine Schott for her poster "Emotional Intelligence and Children with Reading Disorder." Schott found that mood and interpersonal skills were lower in children diagnosed with Reading Disorder, particularly when they were diagnosed with co-morbid ADHD.

First place went to Rachel Calhoun for an "Investigation of the Relationship between Identity Status, Feelings about the Future, Stress, Arousal and Self-Esteem." Measuring identity status in 164 college juniors and seniors, Calhoun discovered that students who had settled on their career goals endorsed lower hopelessness, higher self-esteem and higher arousal levels than those who had vague ideas about their future careers.

All students won monetary awards as well as certificates for their stellar research projects.

Second Annual Georgie Awards Honor WC's Best Multimedia Productions

Chestertown, MD, May 3, 2007 — Students, staff and parents attended Washington College's 2007 Georgie Awards, hosted by the Multimedia Production Center on May 3. The Georgie Awards showcased the year's best student multimedia projects, including class assignments, senior capstone projects, MPC challenges and other personal projects.

The judges, industry professionals from across the country, had quite a number of entries to score. There were 36 total entries across all the categories, and over two hours of viewing time for the video entries. To keep the presentation time to a reasonable length, the top scoring video entries were shown in their entirety, while the remaining videos were highlighted, featuring a portion of the video with the titles and directors' names.

Georgie Award Recipients

Graphic Design and Multi-Medium Awards

Best Poster Design: Lindsay Bergman won in this category for a poster she created for the WC Dance Company's Spring Concert. As a student employee of the Department of College Relations, Lindsay has been utilizing her fantastic design sense to promote events on campus throughout the year.

Best Multi-Medium Campaign: Eric Shan won Best Multi-Medium Campaign for his senior capstone project for business management and computer science. Eric's entry included portions of printed and web materials, and included photography he personally shot. In essence, he designed and developed an e-commerce web site for a photography company. The entry included three major components. A planning-and-design section included detailed diagrams, flow charts, schedules and other documentation used to design and develop the site. A customer web site, which greatly impressed judges, was fully functional with the exception of credit card transactions. An administrative web site allowed employees of the photography company to maintain the database of images, add new events and photos, and remove outdated events. Keep your eye on Eric, as he is sure to go far!

Video Production Awards

Best Editing: Corey Holland took the award for his work in "WAC Zombies." After receiving first place in the 24-Hour Digital Video Challenge and honorable mention in the 2006 Communicator Awards (an international communications-industry competition), Corey fine-tuned "WAC Zombies" with additional titles and sound elements, as well as other minor adjustments.

Most Original Concept: Jesse Wolcott took the award for Most Original Concept with his entry titled "Make Mine Freedom." Already the second-place winner of the 2007 Music Video Challenge, "Make Mine Freedom" was created after Jesse searched through millions of hours of available public-domain footage from www.archive.org. He edited together a brilliant anti-war video using a soundtrack by System Of A Down.

Best Videography: Corey Holland won the Best Videography award for his work in "WAC Zombies." Especially considering all the planning and shooting that took place during the one night of the 24-Hour Digital Video Challenge, Corey clearly has an outstanding ability to predetermine what footage is needed to convey his message.

Best Use Of Effects: The team of Jesse Wolcott, Ryan Stiffler and Doug Pfaff received the award for Best Use Of Effects for their work in "Munkey Madness." The judges were impressed with the team's talent for knowing how and when to incorporate visually engaging effects, titles and credits.

Best Overall Video: Corey Holland had the highest-scoring video entry with "WAC Zombies." This was no surprise considering his Georgies for both editing and videography, and the positive feedback from judges and audience members alike. His combined videography and editing skills seemed to be the one-two punch that knocked out the judges.

Best Of Show Award

And the winner for Best of Show was Corey Holland for "WAC Zombies." His video had the highest score of all the entries, including poster designs and multi-medium campaigns. "Congratulations to Corey for his amazing work as a first-year student," said Brian Palmer, manager of the Multimedia Production Center. "We look forward to seeing his skills advance over the next few years, and can't wait to see what he comes up with next!"

Giving Thanks for Locally Grown Food in George Goes Green Competition

Chestertown, MD, April 24, 2007 — The Center for Environment and Society at Washington College is pleased to announce that Daly Hall won the George Goes Green 2007 energy competition among faculty and staff.

Members of Daly Hall were observed turning out lights and shutting down computers, thereby contributing to an overall energy reduction in the building. The winners were awarded gift baskets, with all of the products donated by local producers. The Center gives thanks for locally grown foods and gratefully acknowledges the Chestertown Farmers' Market, Chris Hauss, Colchester Farm CSA, and Eve's Cheese for their contributions.

The Chestertown Farmers' Market assembles in Fountain Park every Saturday morning from April through November. It features fresh home-grown produce, plants, herbs, wonderful bread and baked goods, and an opportunity to talk to local growers, bakers and crafters.

Colchester Farm is a CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture operation, which is based on the principle of mutual commitment. Community members buy shares in the farm before the growing season, helping with running costs and the risks of planting, while in turn members receive a share of the produce throughout the season. The farm is located on the Sassafras River near Galena.

Eve's Cheese is made with milk from Fawnwood Farm, a third generation Kent County family farm. The company was founded in 2001 by two families, the Masons and the Nunns, to create a value-added farm product. All varieties (Colby, Colby with Dill, Colby with Jalapeno, Cheddar, Cheddar with Horseradish) are made with Grade A milk and handcrafted by an Amish cheesemaker.

Besides offering exceptional taste and freshness, local foods contribute to the regional economy, support endangered family farms, help to safeguard family health, and protect the environment. Local foods also strengthen community interdependence and our relationship to the land.

Buying local products benefits the environment and helps farmers receive the majority of the profits from their own labor. Estimates on how long the average food travels from pasture to plate range from 1200 to 2500 miles. A lot of energy is expended freezing, packaging, refrigerating, and trucking that food around. Eating locally grown food means less fossil fuel burned in preparation and transport.

Local food is often safer, too. Even when it's not organic, small farms tend to be less aggressive than large commercial farms about using chemicals. Finally, family farms are more likely to grow more interesting varieties, making food more flavorful, protecting biodiversity and preserving a wider agricultural gene pool, an important factor in long-term food security.

The George Goes Green campaign helps to raise awareness of stewardship and sustainability practices. Efforts on campus include compositing, recycling, using environmentally-friendly products, eating locally grown foods, landscaping with native plant materials, and lobbying for the design and construction of green buildings that consume less energy, use non-toxic materials, and produce less waste than other buildings.

The Center for Environment and Society works to instill a conservation ethic by connecting people to the land and water. It supports interdisciplinary research and education, exemplary stewardship of natural and cultural resources, and the integration of ecological and social values. For more information, please go to www.georgegoesgreen.com or call the Center at 410-778-7295.