Poetry Slam Champ Patricia Smith to Perform at Rose O'Neill Literary House

CHESTERTOWN—Patricia Smith, four-time champion of the National Poetry Slam and a National Book Award finalist, will bring her powerful writing and dynamic performance style to the Rose O’Neill Literary House at Washington College Tuesday, April 27 for a 5 p.m. reading.

In addition to her renown as the most successful slammer ever in the national competition, Smith has been lauded for the emotional impact and lyrical beauty of her published works. Her latest book, Blood Dazzler (Coffee House Press), a collection of poems that chronicle the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina, was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Award and was named one of National Public Radio’s Top 5 books of 2008. Reviewers have described Blood Dazzler as “a fierce, blood-in-the mouth collection” with the “whiff and feel of folklore,” and as a narrative of a shameful tragedy that is “lyrical and beautiful, like a hymn we want to sing over and over until it lives in our collective memory.”

Her four previous books are Teahouse of the Almighty (Coffee House), which was included in the National Poetry Series and won the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award in Poetry, Close to Death (Zoland Books), Big Towns, Big Talk (Zoland), and Life According to Motown (Tia Chucha). Her poem “The Way Pilots Walk” won a 2008 Pushcart Prize. In addition to her poetry, Smith has published a companion book for the PBS documentary "Africans in America" and a children’s book titled Janna and the Kings.

While in Chestertown, Smith also will join two Washington College faculty members for a special workshop for students at Kent County High School. It will be the culmination of a “Spoken Word Assembly” project that Literary House director Mark Nowak and Robert Earl Price, a lecturer in creative writing and drama, have conducted for a group of about 30 KCHS students who have shown special interest and talent in poetry. For more information on Smith, visit http://www.blueflowerarts.com/patricia-smith.

The Tuesday reading at Washington College is free and open to the public. The Literary House is located at 407 Washington Avenue in Chestertown.

Volunteers to Clean Shores of Eastern Neck Island Wildlife Refuge on Saturday, May 1

View photos from last year's shoreline cleanup

CHESTERTOWN – The Center for Environment & Society (CES) at Washington College and the Friends of Eastern Neck, Inc., will host a shoreline clean-up at Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge on Saturday, May 1, from 1 to 4 p.m. “Volunteers are needed to help pick up trash and debris that accumulate on Eastern Neck Island over the winter months,” says project manager JoAnn Fairchild, who is senior program manager at the CES.

Trash bags, gloves, sunscreen, bug spray and bottled water will be provided for all volunteers. The event is free and open to the public. Meet at the Refuge Office and Visitor Center, located at 1730 Eastern Neck Road in Rock Hall. Contact jfairchild2@washcoll.edu or call 410/778-7295.

The Center for Environment & 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. The Friends of Eastern Neck, Inc. is a non-profit organization that supports the missions of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Eastern Neck NWR through financial, advocacy, and volunteer support. To learn more about volunteer opportunities at Eastern Neck, visit www.fws.gov/northeast/easternneck/ or call (410) 639-7056.

Timothy Hurley Selected as Washington College's Representative to the Presidential Fellows Program

CHESTERTOWN – Washington College is pleased to announce that Timothy Hurley ’12 has been selected as the College’s 2010-2011 Robert W. and Louisa C. Duemling Presidential Fellow.

Since 2007, thanks to a generous gift from Robert W. and Louisa C. Duemling, Washington College students have participated in the prestigious Presidential Fellows Program at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress.

An annual institute open to one student from each of 85 leading American colleges and universities, the program offers an up-close and personal view of the American presidency second only to a job in the White House. Through Washington College’s C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, this special opportunity is open to WC students.

“I’m delighted that Tim will have this opportunity to participate in the Presidential Fellows Program,” said Jill Ogline Titus, Associate Director of the Starr Center. Hurley was selected by a faculty committee that included representatives from Political Science, International Studies and American Studies.

“Given his interest in defense and security initiatives, a very timely issue in Washington, I have no doubt that Tim will make a valuable contribution to the program,” Titus said.

Hurley, a resident of Stoneham, Massachusetts, is pursuing a double major in history and political science at Washington College. As a freshman, he played an important role in launching an on-campus political newspaper, and participated in the filming of an award-winning documentary about the College’s new student orientation program. He also works part-time as a dispatcher in the Washington College Public Safety office.

In the summer of 2009, Hurley completed an internship with the Massachusetts Republican Party, immersing himself in the day-to-day work of state politics. As an intern, Hurley conducted legislative research, tracked bills of importance, communicated with members of the Massachusetts Republican State Committee, and kept track of candidates running for office across the state.

“I'm grateful for the opportunity to research an aspect of politics that I find interesting and to be able to work alongside students from some of the best colleges and universities in the nation,” Hurley said. “I look forward to getting a close, inside view of the American presidency.”

With its inclusion into the Presidential Fellows Program in 2007, Washington College joined a distinguished roster of participating American colleges and universities, including Harvard, Yale and Princeton. For more than 35 years, the Presidential Fellows have been coming to Washington, D.C., to learn about leadership and governance, to share their outstanding research and scholarship, to develop as future leaders of character, and to be inspired to careers in public service.

Washington College’s participation in the program comes courtesy of a generous gift from longtime friends and benefactors of the College – Robert W. and Louisa C. Duemling.

Robert Duemling is former U.S. Ambassador to Suriname and former Director of the National Building Museum. In addition to having taught in Washington College's Department of Art, he is a Board of Visitors and Governors member emeritus and is Chairman of the Starr Center's Advisory Board.

Louisa Duemling is a former director of E.I. duPont deNemours & Company, where she provided guidance for many years to the third largest chemical manufacturer in the nation. She is a former trustee of the Maryland/D.C. chapter of the Nature Conservancy, a former advisory committee member of the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, and a former director of the Corcoran Gallery and the National Parks Foundation.

Established in 2000 with a grant from the New York-based Starr Foundation, the C.V. Starr Center explores our nation’s history – and particularly the legacy of its Founding era – in innovative ways. Through educational programs, scholarship, and public outreach, and especially by supporting and fostering the art of written history, the Starr Center seeks to bridge the divide between past and present, and between the academic world and the public at large. From its base in the circa-1746 Custom House along Chestertown’s colonial waterfront, the Center also serves as a portal onto a world of opportunities for Washington College students. Its guiding principle is that now more than ever, a wider understanding of our shared past is fundamental to the continuing success of America’s democratic experiment.

In addition to the Presidential Fellows Program, the Starr Center also offers a range of special programs and extracurricular opportunities to Washington College students, including the Comegys Bight Fellowships and Frederick Douglass Fellowships, as well as weekend road trips and summer programs. For more information, visit http://starrcenter.washcoll.edu.

Student Artwork Showcased in Annual Exhibition

CHESTERTOWN—The thesis works of Washington College senior Studio Art majors and selected works from other art students on campus will be showcased in two exhibitions, April 22 through May 15, in gallery spaces inside the Daniel Z. Gibson Center for the Arts. A reception for the exhibiting artists and for other students in the art and art history departments will be held Thursday, April 22, from 4 to 6 p.m.

The “2010 Senior Capstone Experience in Studio Art, Visual Art Thesis Exhibition,” on display in the Kohl Gallery, will feature the culminating projects of seven graduating seniors. The artworks reflect the diversity in the visual arts today. On exhibit will be an interactive sculptural installation by Darby Hewes focused on an individual's effect on nature, masks by dual Psychology and Studio Art major Karen Hye, and a multimedia slideshow with photographs and recorded voices by Christina Izzo.

Also displayed will be Michael Komar’s large-scale figurative paintings on wood, Alexandra Moffat’s paintings investigating movement, depth, and detail, Caroline Perry’s site-specific installation, and Sarah Sheppard’s unique paper dresses.

The Annual Student Art Show, on display in the William Frank Visual Arts Hallway adjacent to the Kohl Gallery, will include art created in Washington College studio classes in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking, and ceramics. The artists, professors and lecturers who led those classes were Ricky Sears, Alex Castro, Marilee Schumann, Scott Woolever, Denise Campbell, and Lauren Abshire.

The exhibitions are free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Tues., 2 to 8 p.m., Wed. through Fri., 2 to 5 p.m., and Sat., 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Closed Sunday and Monday.)

Washington College Jazz Combo Joins Afro-Cuban Ensemble for Concert April 22

CHESTERTOWN–The rhythms of Cuban musical traditions will mix with American jazz when the Washington College Afro-Cuban Ensemble and Jazz Combo perform on Thursday, April 22, at 8 p.m. in Hotchkiss Recital Hall, Gibson Arts Center.

The Afro-Cuban Ensemble was founded in 2005 by percussionist and ethnomusicologist Kenneth Schweitzer, D.M.A., of the Washington College Department of Music. Schweitzer also leads the Washington College Jazz Combo, a small group of Washington College students who show exceptional talent and motivation. This spring, with Professor Schweitzer on leave, both ensembles are being directed by Visiting Instructor David Font-Navarrete, an ethnomusicologist and specialist in Afro-Cuban music.

Thursday’s concert will include straight-ahead jazz, bossa nova, batá drumming, and rumba. The performance is free and open to the public.

Journalist John Harwood to Address 2010 Washington College Graduates on May 16

CHESTERTOWN—John Harwood, Chief Washington Correspondent for CNBC and political writer for The New York Times, will address graduates at Washington College's 227th Commencement ceremonies Sunday morning, May 16. Harwood will receive the honorary degree Doctor of Letters. Also being honored is Dr. Richard A. Meserve, president of the Carnegie Institution and former chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Dr. Meserve will be awarded the honorary degree Doctor of Science.

The highly anticipated announcement of the winner of the Sophie Kerr Prize, the largest undergraduate literary prize in the nation, will be made during the ceremonies, as well. This year the winning senior will receive a check worth $64,243.

Commencement ceremonies will begin at 10:30 a.m. on the Campus Lawn. (Rain location is the Benjamin A. Johnson Lifetime Fitness Center, by invitation only.)

Chosen to speak by the Senior Class, Harwood not only covers Washington for CNBC, but also offers political analysis on MSNBC, NBC's "Meet the Press" and "Nightly News," and on the PBS show "Washington Week in Review." He has covered each of the last seven presidential elections. He grew up in the Maryland suburbs near the nation's capital, where his father, Richard L. Harwood, was a long-time political reporter for the Washington Post.

Harwood studied history and economics at Duke University and graduated magna cum laude in 1978. He subsequently joined the St. Petersburg Times, eventually moving into roles as Washington Correspondent and Political Editor. He spent the 1989-90 academic year as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and in 1991 joined The Wall Street Journal as White House Correspondent, covering the administration of President George H. W. Bush. He went on to cover Congress and to serve as the Journal's Political Editor and Chief Political Correspondent. Harwood joined CNBC as Chief Washington Correspondent in March 2006. The following year he also joined The New York Times, where his duties include writing the "Caucus" column.

A resident of Silver Spring, Md., Harwood helps curate the Richard L. Harwood Endowment Fund at Washington College, established in memory of his late father to sponsor campus lectures and colloquys on American journalism and national affairs. The Harwood Fund also underwrites internship opportunities for student journalists.

Dr. Richard A. Meserve became the ninth president of the Carnegie Institution in April 2003, after serving on its board of trustees for 11 years. Prior to that, he chaired the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for four years, from 1999 to 2003. As NRC Chairman under Presidents Clinton and Bush, Meserve was the principal executive officer of the federal agency, responsible for ensuring public health and safety in the operation of nuclear power plants and the use of nuclear materials. He led the NRC in responding to the terrorism threat after the 9/11 attacks.

Meserve received his undergraduate degree from Tufts University in 1966. Early in his career, he served as legal counsel to the President's science advisor and was law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun. Before joining the Commission, Meserve was a partner in the Washington, D.C., law firm of Covington & Burling. With a law degree from Harvard and a Ph.D. in applied physics from Stanford, he devoted his legal practice to technical issues arising at the intersection of science, law, and public policy. This work involved nuclear licensing, environmental and toxic tort litigation, and counseling scientific societies and high-tech companies.

Meserve has served on numerous legal and scientific committees over the years, including many established by the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering. He is currently chairman of the International Nuclear Safety Group (chartered by the International Atomic Energy Agency) and of the Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board of the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society, and Phi Beta Kappa and is a member of the governing Council of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Also being honored at the 2010 Commencement is alumnus Dean G. Skelos ’70, a New York State Senator now in his 13th term. The author of Megan’s Law, requiring sex offenders to register, he more recently has championed laws enforcing fiscal responsibility. Skelos, who as Republican Leader is the highest ranking Republican in New York State government, majored in history at Washington College and earned his law degree at Fordham University. He will receive the Washington College Alumni Citation in recognition of his outstanding achievements as a legislator.

This commencement for 275 graduating seniors marks the conclusion of Baird Tipson’s six-year presidency, which brought about a dramatic transformation of Washington College’s physical campus. The Tipson legacy includes the renovated and expanded Gibson Center for the Arts and the brand new Hodson Hall Commons, both of which opened in Fall 2009, plus ongoing improvements in plantings and landscaping.

College to Christen Research Vessel "Callinectes" Saturday, April 17

CHESTERTOWN –Washington College has exciting plans for the Callinectes, the new research vessel it will christen Saturday, April 17, at 1:30 p.m. at the foot of High Street in Chestertown.

Named after Maryland’s famous blue crab species, Callinectes sapidus, the 46-foot fiberglass boat was designed for teaching and research on the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. It was built by Chesapeake Boats in Crisfield, Md., with generous grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education. Callinectes can carry 35 passengers and is fully equipped with the latest electronics and environmental instrumentation, including trawls, sonar, acoustic seabed classification systems, magnetometers and positioning systems.

“This vessel will provide college undergraduates, faculty and research scientists a platform for exploring the nation’s largest estuary,” says John Seidel, Director of the Center for Environment & Society and chair of the sociology and anthropology departments at Washington College. It also will serve high-school teachers and students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs, he adds.

Over the next few months, the vessel will complete the certification process with the U.S. Coast Guard and do survey work on the Chester River, with teaching opportunities for high school and college students. By fall, it will be ready for Washington College classes in biology, chemistry and environmental studies.

The christening ceremony, which is open to the public, will include remarks from former U.S. Congressman Wayne Gilchrest and the Maryland director of the Chesapeake Bay Commission, Matthew P. Mullin. Washington College First Lady Sarah Tipson will share actual christening honors with Elizabeth Seidel, director of the Archeology Laboratory. A reception will follow.
For more information, contact the Center for the Environment and Society at Washington College, 101 S. Water Street, Chestertown, Md., 21620, (410) 810-7161 or visit the web at http://ces.washcoll.edu.