Five U.S. Senators Gather at Washington College for Bipartisan Conversations on Politics and History

Chestertown, MD — Their experiences span the administrations of every President from John F. Kennedy through George W. Bush. They have drafted amendments to the Constitution, battled over Supreme Court nominations, expanded civil rights, debated wars, brokered peace. Collectively, they have served nearly 100 years in the United States Senate.

And this semester, these five renowned legislators—among the Senate's most distinguished former and current members—will be at Washington College to share their reflections on politics, history, and the art of leadership with students, faculty, and the general public.

Senators from both sides of the aisle, including Gary Hart (D-Colo., 1975-87), Paul Laxalt (R-Nev., 1974-87), Dale Bumpers (D-Ark., 1975-99), and Richard Lugar (R-Ind., 1977-present) will participate in the 2007 Senatorial Colloquy on American History and Politics, led by former Senator Birch Bayh (D-Ind., 1963-81) and hosted by Washington College's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience. In a series of four public conversations, on October 17, October 22, November 5, and November 12, Senator Bayh and his guests will discuss the history and traditions of the Senate, as well as their own experiences in office. The Senatorial Colloquy will offer exceptional insights into what it is like to belong to what has been called "the most exclusive club in the world."

Amid the historic setting of 18th-century Chestertown, the Senatorial Colloquy also offers some of America's leading lawmakers a chance to reflect on enduring challenges that confront the nation. The goal of the series is to rise above the ins and outs of current politics and consider how the Senate can, in these contentious times, live up to the ideals of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison—who, in The Federalist Papers, envisioned the Senate as embodying nothing less than "a sense of national character."

Senator Bayh, who will participate with one visiting senator in each of the public conversations, is a senior fellow of the C.V. Starr Center at Washington College. Throughout a career spanning more than half a century, Senator Bayh won renown as a tireless and effective champion of civil rights and education, and as a highly respected authority on the U.S. Constitution. The only person since the 18th century to write more than one successful amendment to the Constitution, he has been called "a latter-day Founding Father," as well as a master of the art of congressional leadership, often across party lines. Along with the 25th Amendment (establishing the rules for Presidential disability and Presidential and Vice-Presidential succession) and the 26th Amendment (lowering the voting age to 18), Senator Bayh drafted Title IX of the Higher Education Act (prohibiting gender discrimination on campus) and helped draft the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act.

The 2007 Senatorial Colloquy also includes a series of student seminars at which 16 Washington College undergraduates have opportunities to study American politics and history in a small-group setting with Senator Bayh, and to continue the discussion with each visiting senator over a private dinner after each of the Colloquy's public sessions.

"Senator Bayh is not only a legendary figure in American public life, he is also an extraordinary teacher and mentor," said Adam Goodheart, Hodson Trust-Griswold Director of the C.V. Starr Center. "Our students are fortunate indeed to learn about politics and history firsthand from someone who has literally made history. And the four guests whom he has invited to join him this semester are among the most thoughtful, eloquent, and farsighted members of the Senate in recent decades."

Senator Gary Hart (Wednesday, October 17—READERS, PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS THE CORRECT DATE, NOT OCTOBER 15) represented Colorado in the Senate from 1975 to 1987. A leading intellectual figure in American political life, he is widely recognized as among the first to forecast the end of the Cold War, and he co-chaired the U.S. Commission on National Security for the 21st Century, which warned of terrorist attacks on America before 9/11. Senator Hart was a candidate for the Democratic Party's nomination for President in 1984 and 1988. Currently Wirth Chair Professor at the University of Colorado, he has authored more than a dozen books.

Senator Paul Laxalt (Monday, October 22), who represented Nevada between 1974 and 1987, was often referred to as "The First Friend" due to his closeness to President Ronald Reagan. He was national chairman of Reagan's three presidential campaigns (in 1976, 1980, and 1984). At President Reagan's behest, he traveled to the Philippines in 1986 to urge then-President Ferdinand Marcos to undertake political and military reforms, and eventually convinced the Philippine leader to step down peacefully, helping to avert a bloody civil war.

Senator Dale Bumpers (Monday, November 5) represented Arkansas from 1975 until 1999, and has been acclaimed as one of the Senate's most eloquent orators in recent times. Less than three weeks after he retired from the Senate, he was called back to deliver the closing argument in defense of his friend President Bill Clinton, in only the second presidential impeachment trial in the history of the country. "Mr. Bumpers summoned forth the dignity of an earlier form of public discussion, the kind prized by the Founding Fathers," wrote one commentator in the New York Times.

Senator Richard Lugar (Monday, November 12) is the longest serving U.S. Senator in Indiana history, having been first elected in 1976. One of the Senate's most respected voices on foreign policy, he has recently played a pivotal role in that body's ongoing debate on the Iraq War. Senator Lugar is the Ranking Member of the Foreign Relations Committee, which he has also chaired, along with the Agriculture Committee. He was a candidate for the Republican nomination for President in 1996.

All the public conversations begin at 5:00 p.m. in Hynson Lounge, Hodson Hall at Washington College. Admission to the Colloquy sessions is free and open to the public; admission will be on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information on attending, please call the C.V. Starr Center at 410-810-7161. For more background on the Senatorial Colloquy and the five participating Senators, please visit the Center's website at http://starrcenter.washcoll.edu.

The four public conversations will be moderated by Steven Clemons of the New America Foundation, who is a member of the C.V. Starr Center's Advisory Board and author of the popular political blog "The Washington Note." A keen observer of politics inside the Beltway, Clemons also writes frequently on foreign policy, defense, and economic policy.

Founded in 1782 under the personal patronage of George Washington, Washington College has hosted numerous national leaders throughout its long history—beginning with the institution's namesake himself, who attended the 1784 Commencement. Later visitors included Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and George H.W. Bush. The College's alumni have included several members of the U.S. Senate. The 2007 Senatorial Colloquy is part of Washington College's celebration of its 225th anniversary year, and it draws inspiration from the institution's founders, who believed that the future of American democracy depended on education, civil discourse, and an informed understanding of history.

October 9, 2007

A Grim Legacy Explored: Author Discusses History of Eastern Shore Lynchings

Chestertown, MD — Civil rights lawyer and scholar Sherrilyn Ifill, author of the acclaimed new book On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the Twenty-First Century (Beacon Books, 2007), will explore the history of lynching on the Eastern Shore with a lecture/booksigning at the Bethel AME Church on Tuesday, October 16, at 7:30 p.m.

Professor Ifill's talk, sponsored by Washington College's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, will focus on how lynching and the violent climate surrounding lynching produced a decades-long legacy of silence, distrust and racial division. She also will lead an open discussion of how communities like those in Kent County—the site of a lynching and near-lynching in 1892 and 1931, respectively -- can use techniques like those used in South Africa's truth and reconciliation process to promote healing.

Sherrilyn Ifill is Professor of Law at the University of Maryland School of Law, and a nationally recognized advocate for civil rights, voting rights, and judicial diversity. She is a frequent guest on WYPR's "The Mark Steiner Show," where she offers commentary on race and the law, and a regular op-ed contributor to the Baltimore Sun and the AFRO-American. Prior to joining the University of Maryland faculty, she litigated voting rights cases for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc.

Ifill first learned of the Eastern Shore's history of lynching from clients she represented in a Wicomico County discrimination suit, African-Americans unfairly affected by state highway siting decisions. Recognizing the link between contemporary inequalities and the long shadow of these grisly events, she turned her attention to bringing these stories back into the public eye.

Racial terrorism did not bypass Kent County. On May 17, 1892, an angry mob dragged 24-year-old James Taylor from a Chestertown jail cell and lynched him across the street from the Kent County Courthouse, leaving his body to dangle from a maple tree for an hour, spotlighted by a lantern.

Taylor's death came on the heels of the murder of a Millington doctor and subsequent arrest of 11 black suspects, events that set racial tensions in the county boiling. When the young daughter of a white Kennedyville farmer accused her father's hired hand of sexual assault, vigilantes leapt into action. No jury ever considered the evidence against Taylor.

Nearly forty years after the lynching of Taylor, a mob again demanded blood in November 1931, fanning out across four counties in pursuit of 27-year-old George Davis. Seeking a job opportunity, Davis had entered his former employers' residence and frightened the lady of the house; attempted criminal assault charges ensued. The night after his arrest, 700 angry men assembled outside the Chestertown jail; the group's leader openly carried a rope. Only a quick response on part of the Kent County Sheriff saved Davis's life.

Sherrilyn Ifill's talk is cosponsored by Washington College's Center for the Study of Black Culture, the Chester Valley Ministers' Association, Mt. Olive AME Church, Janes United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalists of the Chester River, and the African American Schoolhouse Museum & Council.

"This is not a 'black' story or a 'white' one, but a history relevant to every resident of Kent County: black, white, elderly, young, the lifelong resident and the newcomer alike," said Jill Ogline, Associate Director of the C.V. Starr Center. "We hope to lay the foundation for an ongoing conversation on lynching's legacy, looking toward the goals of restorative justice and community reconciliation."

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.

Admission to the October 16 event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 410-810-7157.

October 4, 2007

Dr. Fredrika J. Teute, Prominent History Scholar, Accepts 2007-8 C.V. Starr Fellowship

Chestertown, MD — The C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience has appointed Dr. Fredrika J. Teute, a nationally prominent scholar and editor in the field of early American history, as its new C.V. Starr Fellow. Dr. Teute will spend the entire academic year 2007-8 in residence in Chestertown, working on a book and teaching at Washington College. She was selected from among dozens of applicants for this year's fellowship.

As Editor of Publications at the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture—a leading center for the study of colonial history, sponsored jointly by the College of William & Maryand Colonial Williamsburg—Dr. Teute has shaped some of the most seminal works in early American history published over the past two decades. In 2006 alone, books published by Omohundro received 10 major prizes, including the Phi Beta Kappa Society's Ralph Waldo Emerson Award and the American Historical Association's James A. Rawley Prize.

At the same time, Dr. Teute has pursued research on her own project, an exploration of the formation of national identity in early Washington, D.C. Her book focuses on the career of the novelist, journalist, and saloniste Margaret Bayard Smith, a little-known but fascinating figure in the rough-and-tumble world of Jeffersonian-era politics. The yearlong C.V. Starr Center Writing Fellowship will afford Teute an opportunity to temporarily lay down her editor's pencil and complete her manuscript.

"The Starr Center is an ideal place for me, with its focus on the Revolutionary period and origins of the United States and its locale not far from Washington, D.C.," said Dr. Teute. "These are the era, concerns, and setting of my own study."

"A primary mission of the Starr Center is to foster innovative approaches to the American past," said Adam Goodheart, the Center's Hodson Trust-Griswold Director. "Dr. Teute's book—weaving together political and social history, literature and the fine arts, through the life story of an extraordinary woman—will, I believe, show readers early America in a whole new light. I am delighted that we are supporting her work."

Dr. Teute received her B.A. at Radcliffe College, her M.A. at the College of William & Mary, and her Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University. She has served as associate editor of the Papers of James Madison and the Papers of John Marshall, as well as Editor of Publications at the Virginia Historical Society. She has been a Mellon Fellow at the Huntington Library and a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow at the American Antiquarian Society, of which she is also an elected member. She has co-edited several books and published numerous scholarly articles in leading publications. In addition to her role at the Omohundro Institute, Dr. Teute is a Lecturer in History at the College of William & Mary.

"Dr. Teute's residence in Chestertown provides our students with a wonderful opportunity and promises to enhance the status and reach of the Starr Center in the scholarly community," said Assistant Professor of History Kenneth Miller. While at Washington College, Dr. Teute will teach an undergraduate course and deliver a public lecture on her project.

Established in 2000 with a grant from the New York-based Starr Foundation, the C.V. Starr Center draws on the special historical strengths of Washington College and colonial Chestertown to explore the early republic, the rise of democracy, and the manifold ways in which the founding era continues to shape American culture, through innovative educational programs, scholarship, and public outreach, and especially by supporting and fostering the art of written history. In cooperation with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and George Washington's Mount Vernon, the Center administers the George Washington Book Prize, a $50,000 annual prize recognizing outstanding published works that contribute to a greater understanding of the life and career of George Washington and/or the Founding era.

October 2, 2007

The Art of Photography Meets the Age of Globalism at Washington College

Chestertown, MD, October 1, 2007 — The Washington College Department of Art & Art History will present "More and More About Less and Less: Conceptual Photography in the Age of Globalism," a lecture by photographer Daniel Faust, at the Casey Academic Center Forum on Tuesday, October 2, at 5 p.m.

The New York-based Faust's recent photographic excursions have ranged from Chicago, Paris, Seville and Tangier to Dubai and Johannesburg, along with many and miscellaneous places in between. His ever-growing archive of works presently consists of 25,000 images.

Faust is currently exhibiting United Nations photographs in the Istanbul Biennial. Last summer he exhibited in "Hidden in Plain Sight" at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2006 he exhibited at the Second International Biennial of Contemporary Art in Seville.

His work has been published in ArtForum, Grand Street, the New York Times and Parkett.Niche, a novel illustrated with 85 Faust photographs, is slated for publication in November 2007.

Admission to "More and More About Less and Less: Conceptual Photography in the Age of Globalism" is free and open to the public.

Early Adulthood in the Early '80s: 'This Is Our Youth' Staged at Washington College

Chestertown, MD — The Washington College Department of Drama will present Kenneth Lonergan's "This Is Our Youth" in the first floor lounge of Minta Martin Hall on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, October 4 to 6, at 8 p.m.

A senior thesis production directed by Bobby Bangert, "This Is Our Youth" is the story of three young people on the cusp of adulthood in 1982, a time when everything in their lives and their world seems uncertain. Warren (played by senior Phil Doccolo) is an overeager and lovable failure. A disruptive home life leads him to seek refuge with his friend and role model Dennis (played by Senior Tim Helmer).

Warren's problems only multiply with the introduction of Jessica (played by sophomore Molly O'Connell), the girl he likes and tries to impress. Through their misguided and often unsuccessful attempts at taking control of their lives, the characters are surprised to learn who they really are, and who they intend to become.

Admission to "This Is Our Youth" is free, but seating is limited and reservations are required; call 410/778-7835 or e-mail drama_tickets@washcoll.edu.

September 27, 2007

Tropicante Brings Latin Beats to Washington College

Chestertown, MD — The rich musical traditions of Latin America will come alive when Tropicante performs in Washington College's Martha Washington Square on Thursday, October 4, at 8 p.m. The performance is presented in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.

Tropicante gets the audience swinging and clapping to the Colombian cumbia, the Dominican merengue, the Venezuelantambor, the Brazilian samba and other popular Latin beats. The ensemble's lively concerts are sprinkled with first-rate musicianship, anecdotes and humor.

Tropicante's appearance at Washington College is presented by the Office of Multicultural Affairs; the Office of Student Activities; the Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures; and the Department of Music. Admission is free and open to the public; in the event of inclement weather, the concert will be held in Hodson Hall.

September 27, 2007

Washington College Unveils New Home Page, October 1

Chestertown, MD — A new home page slated to launch October 1 aligns current navigation menus in a structure consistent with the rest of the site. The introduction of new channels for dynamic content enables us to showcase more features about students, faculty, and alumni.

The site was designed by the Office of College Relations with the guidance of the Web Advisory Council. The continuous input of students, faculty, and staff remains critical to the ongoing evolution of the site. Please send feedback about the new home design to Web Editor Shane Brill at sbrill2@washcoll.edu.

Key Features of the Site

• Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
  Streamlined coding that loads quickly and provides nuanced customization within a common layout. For examples of how CSS works within the site template, compare the stylized appearances of Center for Environment & Society, Zeta Tau Alpha, and theOffice of Information Technologies.
• Dynamic Content
  Randomly loading content is placed on relevant pages to provide unique visitor experiences. New site mastheads, event photo teasers, and home page feature storiesare being regularly introduced.
• Standards-compliance
  The Washington College site meets standards for valid coding by the World Wide Web Consortium, better known as W3C. This is important for cross-browser compatibility and development of Web applications. The site also meets Section 508 guidelines for accessibility.
• Web Applications
  Keywords embedded throughout the site are continuously refined for more effective external and internal search queries in conjunction with lighter coding. Visitors can also subscribe to the calendar of events, get personalized driving directions, scan condensed content quickly, and explore local destinations through embedded map links.

September 27, 2007