Annalise Penikis '13

Penikis is a biology major and statistics minor from Swarthmore, Pa. Last season, she was the first student-athlete in Centennial Conference history to lead the league in goals, points and assists. The Centennial Conference's points leader also had a strong connection to Swarthmore Athletics before ever putting on a uniform, as she is the daughter of Associate Professor of Economics Amanda Bayer.

"My parents have been able to go to every game," Penikis recently told CBS Philly. "I've been playing lacrosse my whole life, so it's just been great to be able to play with my best friends and play all the time, whenever I want. It's been a lot of fun." Listen to the complete interview.

Head Coach Karen Borbee raves about what Penikis has brought to the team. "She is energy. She is always up. She's always ready to go. She's always pushing herself, she's always bringing everyone along with her. She just loves to watch lacrosse, she loves to play lacrosse. What makes her special is this energy that she brings. The energy, in combination with her talent, just makes her a special player."

Annalise Penikis '13 with her mother, Associate Professor of Economics Amanda Bayer.

Penikis is a first team All-Centennial selection for the third consecutive season, becoming just the 14th player in the 20-year Conference history to do so. She wrapped up her outstanding Garnet career with a 53-goal, 37-assist senior season. She scored in every game of her 50-game Garnet career, which is the second longest scoring streak in Centennial Conference history. Despite playing just three seasons, Penikis finishes her career second all-time in career assists (114), fourth all-time in career points (298), and fifth all-time in career goals (184).

She was named to the All-Metro Region first team for the third consecutive season by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA), making her eligible to be considered for IWLCA All-America honors. The IWLCA All-America teams will be announced on May 23. Penikis was also selected to play in the 2013 IWLCA/DeBeer North/South Senior All-Star lacrosse game. The game will be held at Cabrini College on Sunday, May 26th.

Penikis also took home the Dinny Rath Award, given by the Friends of Swarthmore Athletics in honor of Dinny Rath, who chaired the Women's Physical Education Department, coached primarily women's swimming and archery, and taught numerous physical education classes from 1931 to 1965. The award is presented to the senior woman who has consistently demonstrated a high degree of achievement, along with a regard for fair play and awareness of the positive values of competition, while contributing to the intellectual life of the Swarthmore community.

"This is a really exciting moment in the history of the project and we are very proud of what we are now able to share," says Vice President for Community and College Relations Maurice Eldridge '61. "We look forward to continuing our work with the Borough to successfully obtain the necessary approvals and complete the project in time for a late Spring 2016 opening."

The College has worked for the last few years on creating TCW, a development project that will include a 40-room inn, a restaurant, and an expanded campus store. TCW will provide a much-needed space on campus for parents, alumni, and others to stay when they visit, for faculty to host meetings or conferences with visiting scholars, and a store that serves the campus and the Borough community. It is planned to ultimately serve as a physical and social link between the Borough and the College, promoting collaboration, communication, and opportunities for intellectual engagement involving the entire community.

At its meeting earlier this month, the College's Board of Managers reviewed and gave final approval for proceeding with the TCW project, which will be built on College-owned land near the south entrance to campus and the train station. Also this month, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board approved the application for a liquor license for the project's restaurant.

Further approvals for TCW are required from the Borough, Delaware County, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, and the South Eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. More information about TCW can be found at www.swarthmore.edu/town-center-west.xml

Social influence is now measurable, and visible in many forms online, including followers on Twitter, Pinterest "pins," or the classic Facebook friends. But social-media influencers can't always make money from the following they've cultivated, and work to maintain online.

One e-commerce startup, Deal Décor, seed funded by Signia Venture Partners, is launching a new site called Joy & Revelry, to help interior decorators make bank on their social-media influence - and their good taste.

The company sells high-end furniture and home goods with a curatorial approach. It allows designers and decorators, by invitation only, to curate collections from a virtual warehouse of goods amassed by Deal Décor.

"[Designers] don't have access to infrastructure for buying overseas. We have decades of experience for direct sourcing," notes Chief Executive Greg Lok ['04].

Dubbed "style mavens," designers on Joy & Revelry can sell their selections to their followers, without having to run a whole brick-and-mortar store, and without having to create their own e-commerce site.

The startup takes a cut for sourcing all the goods, running all the back-end transactional systems, and helping designers and decorators with SEO and marketing. ...

Gregory Lok '04 graduated from Swarthmore with a B.A. in Economics and Sociology & Anthropology. He is the founder of Joy & Revelry, a "social commerce platform that enables style influencers to introduce their audiences to unique products based on their signature design perspectives."

This year, students majoring in economics, engineering, gender & sexuality studies, philosophy, psychology, and religion, in addition to biology, submitted images of scenes from their research, field trips, and journeys around the world. Each year, winners are announced at the department's picnic in May and receive $50 and a large print for themselves. Their art is also framed to hang in Martin Hall.

The images were judged based on their artistic and scientific merit by Professor Randy Exon of the Art Department and Temple University Professor of Microbiology and Immunology (and painter) Bennett Lorber, '64.

Initiated four years ago by the Biology Department, the award honors the College's first professor of cell biology who, when he retired in 1995, was described as the "father of modern biology" on campus. Savage continues his involvement with the department as a judge of the contest, which he once described as "a splendid idea," though admits it is not easy to choose winners.

• First Place (TIE)

  Erin Kast '15
  religion major
  Wausau, Wis., and
  Raul Anchiraico '14
  biology major
  Sugar Land, Tex.
  An octocoral of the genus Leptigorgia. Octocorals – commonly referred to as “sea whips” or “sea fans” for their delicate and elaborate branching structure – are an abundant form of colonial cnidarian. Two features are worth noting: first are the beautiful crystals that coat the surface of the central axial rod – these calcareous structures are called spicules and provide protection for the soft tissue of the coral within. Second is the deep brown pigmentation of the emerging coral polyps – the coloring comes not from pigment cells but from millions of zooxanthellae, a type of algae, living symbiotically in the coral. The image was captured using an extended depth of field microscope.

• First Place (TIE)

  Zhengyang Wang '14
  biology and philosophy major
  Chengdu, China
  Crane flies belong to the order of Diptera. Common members of Diptera include mosquitos and flies. This crane fly is found hanging out on the wall of my dorm. Its back-wing, as showed in the picture, has degenerated into a pair of lobes. If you ever see one of these crane flies, don’t panic and misled them as huge mosquitos. They don’t bite and mostly feed on nectars. The picture could also be used to train your ten-year-old nature-loving cousin, just ask him to figure out what is not right with this picture. (Hint, insects belong to the superclass Hexpoda.)

• Second Place

  Patrick Ammerman '14
  biology major
  Cincinnati, Ohio
  Scallops (family Pectinidae) have the most acute visual sensory organs of any bivalves. An individual scallop will usually have an array of 40-60 eyes along its mantel cavity, with some species possessing over 100! These eyes are capable of detecting the approach of predators, such as sea stars, sharks, and other fishes. They may also be used by swimming scallops to pick out favorable substrates to come to rest upon. This scallop was viewed live under a light microscope at 16x magnification. Image taken using an 8x digital camera.

• Third Place

  Justin Sui '15
  biology major
  Yardley, Pa.
  This image depicts the Anthozoan, Aiptasiomorpha sp., in its retracted state after experiencing physical stimuli. It caves its tentacles into the gastrovascular cavity in order to minimize the amount of volume exposed to potential predators. The sea anemone was ~2 cm from the base to tip of the mouth (in its ‘extended’ state). The picture was taken through the lens of a dissecting scope.

"As students, we're not allowed to have pets," said Ontario, Calif., native Azucena Lucatero '16, "so it's really nice to spend time with animals."

Gathering outside the "Danawell" trailer, Dobby the Shih-Tzu, who belongs to Diane Watson in the Deans' Office, kindly allowed students to pet him on their study break. Also in attendance were Izzy, the Pomeranian, and Rudy, a Dachshund-Chihuahua mix, who sings on command and is featured on YouTube.

"I had a clown car of furry creatures," says dog-lover Kristen Moore in Financial Aid, who helped coordinate the event and rounded-up the various "foster dogs" that she babysits. Moore added she has talked with alums who were inspired to purchase a dog after graduation based on breeds they'd encountered at the pet party.

"It's an excellent alumni question," she added.

Hope Brinn '15, a special major in sociology & anthropology and educational studies from Wilmington, Del., expressed a desire for a Labrador-German Shepherd mix. Brinn's preference might have been based on the popular German Shepherd, Eddy, who belongs to Professor of Statistics Philip Everson. Students about to take their International Politics exam called Eddy a natural "peace ambassador."

"I think Lili is an amazing person and will bring a new type of energy that is rarely seen on this campus, as well as an interesting approach as an administrator with a clinical psychology background," says search committee member Andrew Hernandez '13, a history major from Ontario, Calif. "Her commitment to diversity, institutional change, and devotion to students is readily evident the moment you begin a conversation with her. As an almost-to-be alum, I am very excited about the direction this campus will take next year with Lili at the front."

Rodriguez's work investigates barriers to college access, retention, and success. Her specialty is identity development in young adults, with a particular focus on social group memberships and their relationship to academic experiences and psychological well-being.

Rodriguez received her B.A. with honors in psychology from Williams College and her M.S. in clinical psychology and Ph.D. in psychology from University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is also a lecturer at Williams, teaching "Cycle of Socialization." Rodriguez previously served as an educational consultant, as well as a mental health and substance abuse counselor, for Hampshire College and Berkshire County, Mass., before returning to Williams in 2006 to serve as director of diversity recruitment for the admissions office.

"What excites me about joining Swarthmore is that I will be a part of a community with the courage to reflect on what it means to provide the type of education that inspires one to make a difference in the world," Rodriguez says. "That process is never easy, and never completed, but always transformative."

At the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI) at Barnard College in New York, Ian Anderson '13, Noel Quiñones '15, Taryn Englehart '15, Julian Randall '15, and Rose Wunrow '16 competed against students from 59 other colleges and universities. After edging out teams from University of Texas at Austin, University of California-Santa Cruz, and Rowan University in their first round, the team moved onto the semi-finals, which pitted them against a selective group of 15 college teams. The Swarthmore team placed third out of five teams in the semi-final round, an impressive feat considering they were just behind CUNY-Brooklyn and University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, both of which earned top spots in the finals competition. Swarthmore is now ninth in the nation for college slam poetry.

Quiñones, an English literature and natural science major and Philip Evans Scholar from Queens, N.Y., first brought a team from Swarthmore to compete at CUPSI at last year's competition in Los Angeles. After his experience there, Quiñones believed that Swarthmore "had the talent and creativity to build a great slam team."  Taking on the roles of team captain and student coach at this year's competition, Quiñones realized the vast potential of Swarthmore poets and hopes to bring an equally strong team to the event next year.

Their success at CUPSI is what Quiñones calls a "stepping stone of the Swarthmore community," placing the student writing and slam poetry scene here on the national map.

Anderson, an honors political science major from Ann Arbor, Mich., noted that when they first arrived to CUPSI, Swarthmore was relatively unknown to most other colleges that repeatedly compete.   "At the beginning of the competition most people had no clue who we were," he says, "but by the end, we were talking to random people about our poems left and right."

CUPSI is one of the student programs organized by the Association of College Unions International (ACUI), which encourages students to organize poetry slam programs on their campuses. Last November, the five Swarthmore team members were selected in a "slam-off," where 20 students vied for the coveted spots on the CUPSI team. The team has worked tirelessly since then to produce and finesse their poetic work, selecting a repertoire of 23 poems to compete with at CUPSI. Judges critiqued their performances, scoring their poems on a numeric scale. Despite this competitive scoring, the CUPSI event is meant to be an opportunity for students to "share their artistry and voices," as well as embrace each other's creativity.

Quiñones now has "big ambitions" for the Swarthmore writing community, including the poetry collective, Our Art Spoken in Soul (OASIS), to bring student writings and poetry to a national stage.

"I hope this gives students incentive to do slam poetry even if they aren't on the team," he says, "I can only see [our success] strengthening as well as enlarging the writing community at Swarthmore."

"All of us who love Swarthmore," says President Rebecca Chopp, "know this is a community that thinks with rigor, that is self-critical always, and is aspirational in its ongoing work to live out values of respect, justice, peace, and the amelioration of suffering. Even when this means we have difficult conversations that identify real change that must occur, we take energy from our connections with one another and our belief in this power and importance of our life together."

Many of the efforts by student activists this semester coalesced this past Friday, when students held a rally outside Sharples Dining Hall in part to respond to someone having urinated on the door to the Intercultural Center the night before, the fifth known incident of its kind this semester. The event galvanized students actively involved in many issues to express their frustrations and discontent with the community's response to not just this event but to other practices and situations in which some feel unsafe and unwelcome.

The amphitheater conversation is one of many driven by students' concerns that has taken place this week.

On Saturday, approximately 100 students disrupted an open community meeting on divestment being hosted by the Board of Managers in the Science Center. Many students and a few alumni used the occasion to address members of the Board and others in attendance, who listened intently.

Over the next two days, students and administrative leaders negotiated in good faith, focusing on how to extend the conversation across the community and to identify action steps for the future. This led to several opportunities for community members to share their thoughts and ideas with each other.

Monday began with a community action meeting in Parrish Hall. Students organized and moderated discussions around three general topics: transparency, curricular development, and diversity support. Several dozen students joined faculty and staff in each of the parlors and the Shane Lounge over three-plus hours to identify goals related to each area. Some of the draft action items proposed include more curriculum focus on ethnic studies, gender and sexuality, and environmental studies; adding more faculty of color and more queer/transgendered faculty; better support systems for students of color and other marginalized groups; more transparency; changing the College's committee structures; and more and different types of support for those who have suffered sexual assault. The ideas continue to be in draft form.

The day continued with a Collection in the Scott Outdoor Amphitheater, where hundreds of students, faculty, staff, and alumni gathered to share and reflect in the Quaker tradition. For more than an hour, faculty and staff members listened as students and one alumna shared their personal, at times painful, experiences, as well as their thoughts on partnership, community, and the pride and hope they feel for the College's future.

Following Collection, faculty, staff and students shared a community meal in Sharples. Many took advantage of the opportunity to eat together to talk further about issues on campus and how best to address them.

Additional opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to discuss these issues occurred throughout Tuesday during a series of "teach-ins," moderated by students who were often joined by faculty members. The well-attended sessions took place largely in the Intercultural Center and the Lang Performing Arts Center. Faculty members have also met frequently this week, both formally and among each other, to discuss how they can best respond to student concerns.

As the semester draws to a close, debriefing sessions will occur, notes will be shared, and critiques will become action steps. Many hope that next year, Swarthmore College can come even closer to realizing its mission to be a place where intellectual students who care about improving the world can continue to thrive.

Updated, Fri., May 10: There have been many opportunities, and there will continue to be many opportunities, for the Swarthmore community to engage in deep, nuanced conversations that lead to action steps as a result of these recent events. Social media, student media, and other forms of virtual expression have served and will continue to serve to promote engaging and we hope, always, civil dialogue. There will not be any comments accepted on this story, whether positive or negative. We will look forward to robust, civil discussion in the fall where everyone in the community can discuss how best to improve Swarthmore. Now, it seems important to let students and faculty members, in particular, focus on their finals and their work.

Akunna Uka '14

Uka believes that through her courses and extracurricular activities at Swarthmore, she was able to strengthen her commitment to public service, particularly in the education of marginalized communities of color and low income.

"I feel truly blessed to be named a Truman Scholar," says Uka, a political science and educational studies major from Mount Vernon, N.Y. "Receiving the Truman Scholarship is a testament to the accomplishments that an individual can achieve when stakeholders decide that the person has potential and is worth investing in. I look forward to a career in education that reflects my belief that all people, regardless of race, socio-economic background, or other diverse experiences, are worthy of great investment."

Uka is also a Lang Opportunity Scholar. In the program's 30-plus-year history, more than 200 students have completed projects to promote the common good in more than 70 cities throughout 30 countries. Through her Lang Scholarship, Uka is currently developing a computer literacy course for adult learners to prepare them for the GED. She would like to pursue a master's in educational leadership and would ultimately like to work on education policy.

Mackenzie Welch '14

Welch, an Honors political science major and Latin American studies minor from Chadron, Neb., is interested in studying the effects of U.S. foreign policy in Latin America, focusing on rural communities. She hopes to enter a joint-degree program to obtain a master's in international affairs. She would like to ultimately join the U.S. Foreign Service to help shape foreign policy decisions in Latin America.

"I am honored to have been chosen as a Truman Scholar," Welch says, "and incredibly grateful to the people who supported me on my path to Swarthmore." Welch is also a Richard Rubin Scholar and works part time at the College Access Center of Delaware County, where she runs educational workshops for high school students. On campus, she is involved with Mock Trial, Swarthmore Quest Scholars Network, and Swarthmore Prisoners Advocacy Coalition.

Last fall, Welch worked as a legal intern at the Amazon Defense Coalition in Ecuador. She was a part of the team working on the asset seizure of $19 billion in an environmental lawsuit recently won for 30,000 clients from the Ecuadorian Amazon. This summer, she will be at the Public Policy and International Affairs Junior Summer Institute at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC-Berkeley. She then plans to return to Ecuador and continue working for the Amazon Defense Coalition on asset seizure cases in Canada and Argentina. 

In 1981, a wealthy New York businessman named Gene Lang ['38], told a class of sixth graders in Harlem that he'd help pay for their college education if they made it through high school. The spirit of giving had come over him suddenly, he later explained, and he'd made the commitment "on impulse" because he'd been caught up in the moment.

Well, that spontaneous classroom moment led to the creation of the I Have A Dream Foundation, which has helped pay the college costs for 15,000 children around the world. It also set off a chain of events five years later when Harry Reasoner interviewed Lang about his charity on 60 Minutes. ...

"Well, the second that program finished, I picked up the phone," Paul Tudor Jones recalls. "I called Gene Lang. And I said I want to do what you're doing." Inspired by Lang's generosity, Tudor Jones started the Robin Hood Foundation in 1988, a charity that fights poverty using not only cash, but also the business analytics Tudor Jones learned on Wall Street. ...

Tudor Jones and his ground-breaking charity Robin Hood is the subject of another 60 Minutes report, this time reported by Scott Pelley (watch a preview). As for Gene Lang, at 94 years old, he and his generous spirit are still making headlines. In December 2012, he donated $50 million to Swarthmore College, his alma mater. It was the largest gift the college had ever received in its nearly 150-year history.

An entrepreneur and 1996 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Eugene Lang '38 has a long history of philanthropic involvement with Swarthmore. In addition to the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility (2001), his gifts to the College have included support for the Lang Music Building (1975), the Eugene and Theresa Lang Performing Arts Center (1991), endowed professorships, and support for faculty research and student financial aid. In addition, in the more than 30 years of the Lang Opportunity Scholars Program, more than 200 students have completed projects to promote the common good in more than 70 cities throughout 30 countries.

President Chopp also announced the members of the College's Sexual Misconduct Task Force that will support the independent review. They are: Sarah Willie-LeBreton, professor of sociology, who will also serve as chair; Gwynn Kessler, associate professor of religion; two members of the Board of Managers, Rhonda Cohen '76, a civic leader in the region and former partner at Ballard Spahr Andrews Ingersoll, and Janet Dickerson H'92, formerly Princeton University's vice president for campus life who served as dean at Swarthmore from 1981-91; Maurice Eldridge '61, vice president for college and community relations; and Eric Behrens '92, associate chief information technology officer. The Task Force's three student members, whose nominations were supported by Student Council, are Gabby Capone '14, Kenneson Chen '14, and Nora Kerrich '16.

As President Chopp noted in a message to the community on April 15, Swarthmore has been revising its policies and protocols, increasing communication about its policies, and adding new resources and programs for students to both prevent sexual assault and to support the victims and survivors of sexual misconduct, among other changes, over the last three years.

"We have been working hard to improve our response to sexual assault in the last several years, and this review will help us further prevent sexual misconduct in our community and, when needed, help us better support survivors," said Chopp. "The review will enable us to create a culture of safety, respect, support, and due process."

The Sexual Misconduct Task Force will assist Margolis Healy in making recommendations to President Chopp in order to strengthen and enhance the College's efforts to prevent sexual assault on campus, and advise the College in making immediate and long-term changes. Guided by the Task Force, the external review will broadly assess Swarthmore's sexual misconduct policies, staff resources, programs, support services, and judicial process.

In recent years, Swarthmore College and other institutions around the country have begun to actively address their sexual misconduct policies. Colleges and universities are adopting expanded approaches to the prevention of sexual abuse and to the support of those who experience any form of sexual misconduct.

At the same time, students at college campuses across the country are advocating for change in prevention and in support of survivors. As has been reported in the news, two Swarthmore students filed a Department of Education (DOE) complaint on April 17, alleging that the College underreports sexual misconduct on campus and discourages victims/survivors from reporting. The students last week announced that they have also filed a complaint against the College with the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights for Title IX violations. The College has not received copies of the complaints and cannot comment on them.

The DOE will decide whether or not to conduct an investigation of Swarthmore's compliance with Title IX and what is known as the Clery Act. The students' complaints follow similar actions taken on other college campuses around the country, including, most recently, Occidental College. Others are anticipated to follow. If the Department of Education decides to pursue an investigation, Chopp has pledged the College will cooperate fully.

"I am deeply concerned by the reports and stories of those who have suffered sexual assault that have come to the surface in the last several weeks," Chopp said. "I understand how painful surviving a sexual assault can be, and I promise you that I will do all I can to prevent assaults from occurring and that I will do all I can do so that, when there is an assault, abundant support for the survivor and fair systems of adjudication are in place. I will work ceaselessly to ensure that our whole community is well educated about consent, about support systems, and about how to access quickly a fair and respected judicial system. I will push until we develop a clear and accessible communication system so people can find help when they need it. I want to ensure that each student, staff, and faculty member is safe on this campus and that individuals are treated with dignity and respect by all members of our community."

A candlelight moment of silence co-sponsored by the student-led Sexual Misconduct Advisors & Resource Team (SMARTeam), the President's Office, and the Dean of Students' office will take place on campus later today, beginning at 8:30 p.m. in front of Parrish Hall. The moment of silence is meant to express solidarity on behalf of the Swarthmore community and especially survivors of sexual assault and violence.  

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The following story was posted on Fri., April 19:

In a message to the campus community earlier this week, President Rebecca Chopp announced that an independent review of the College's policies, procedures, and sanctions related to sexual misconduct would begin as soon as possible. There has been an active dialogue among students who have raised significant concerns about sexual misconduct and, in particular, about how sexual assault cases are handled.

"Swarthmore takes extremely seriously allegations of sexual assault and other forms of sexual misconduct," Chopp said. "We have worked hard in recent years to improve our policies and procedures to ensure that all allegations of sexual violence are fully and fairly investigated. We strive continually to improve our community and I hope we can all work together to create a culture in which students can flourish."

The external review will commence this spring and continue into the fall to ensure that students have every opportunity for input. It will be guided by a new Task Force on Sexual Misconduct composed of two students, two faculty, two staff members, and two members of the Board of Managers. Selection of representatives to the Task Force is currently underway, with student applications due Wed., April 24, to Student Council Appointments Chair Yuan Qu '14. The work of the external review and Task Force would further strengthen efforts in recent years to improve education, clarify policies, and provide support to students who have been affected by sexual assault at any point in their lives.

"By working together as a community," said Dean of Students Liz Braun, "we will continue to strive towards creating a harassment-free environment for everyone." 

Yesterday, the New York Times reported that Swarthmore is one of several institutions at which students have filed Department of Education complaints that allege, among other issues, that survivors of sexual assault and harassment have not received the proper support and guidance on their campuses. These schools include Occidental College, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and Yale University, among others. The Times also noted that activists are preparing similar complaints against other well-known colleges. The Times story follows student press coverage of these issues, including an ongoing series in the Daily Gazette and a report in The Phoenix on a campus community conversation in which these issues were the focus.

"It is important to recognize that these issues are not unique to Swarthmore; campuses all over the country are grappling with them," said President Chopp. "Sexual misconduct is a grave issue in our culture as a whole as well as on our campuses and it demands our full attention. We're all in this together. And it's important we now find more ways to partner together to truly get to zero tolerance."

"We need ways to meet on friendly ground," Haidt said. "The most important thing is not demonizing. It poisons compromise and understanding." 

Haidt's talk, "Why America is So Polarized and What We Can Do About It," was the culminating event. Previous conversations, led by faculty, included "The Limits of Reason in Moral Thinking," "Moral Differences Between Liberals and Conservatives," "Morality and Evolution," and "Religion and Social Cohesion." Each symposium prompted wide-ranging discussions in support of, and in opposition to, Haidt's claims.

In The Righteous Mind, which was reviewed in the New York Times by William Saletan '87, Haidt argues that people are more intuitive than rational; therefore, their personal perspectives are motivated by their own conclusions.

During his presentation, Haidt said that his book was borne in his quest to explain the increasingly polarized political climate in America, despite the reality that things are going relatively well in the U.S. - rape and homicide rates are down, wealth is increasing, and the threats associated with the Cold War have faded. "So why doesn't it feel good? A lot of it has to do with our political paralysis," he said. "Mathematically, it can't get much worse."

According to Haidt, today's political climate nurtures an attitude toward "demonization." It is no longer just a difference of opinion; it is a difference of core values, which translates into a fight between good and evil. "The fault is not in our policies and institutions, but in ourselves," he said. "We are too quick to be righteous and too quick to demonize."

The series of events proved a popular draw among students, faculty, and staff.

Haidt said one of many factors that began a shift toward polarization was the change from the Greatest Generation, who united to fight a common enemy during World War II, to the Baby Boomers. Other dynamics that helped nurture polarization: a change from a centrist media platform to an array of party-aligned news channels; residential homogenization; and, perhaps most importantly, a change in Washington, D.C. In 1994, Haidt noted, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich changed the legislative calendar, which ultimately limited the amount of time lawmakers - and their families - spent together in Washington. Limiting the time members of opposing parties spend together socially, has polarizing effects, since human relationships tend to overpower the pull toward demonization, according to Haidt.

"We can't reverse most of the changes that brought us hyper-polarization," Haidt said. "So what can we do? Most of what's needed are institutional reforms, but it's not all institutions. Moral psychology can help. You can't persuade people with reasons and evidence alone. Each of us is flawed and biased in our reasoning and blind to our biases. We need ways to meet on friendly ground. Relationships open hearts, and open hearts open minds ... The most important thing is not demonizing. It poisons compromise and understanding."

The St. John has been a somewhat harder sell in an era sensitive to ethnic characterizations, and has periodically stirred heated debate. ...

The controversy flared up in 1995 at Swarthmore College in Philadelphia, where several members of the college choir refused to perform the work because they perceived portions of the text as anti-Semitic. The performance made national headlines (though it was never cancelled) and it prompted scholars to explore how Bach handled the biblical verses in text and music.

Among those scholars was Michael Marissen, a noted Bach expert who teaches at Swarthmore, and who in 1996 published Lutheranism, Anti-Judaism, and Bach's St. John Passion. "It's well known that there's some challenging language in the Gospel of John," he said in an interview at WQXR. "There's the passion story itself which keeps referring specifically to the enemies of Jesus as 'the Jews, the Jews, the Jews,' which the other canonical gospels don't." Indeed, the word "Jews" appears about 70 times in the Gospel of St. John and appears only once or twice in the other gospels.

"Most of the text of the St. John Passion is Biblical text taken right from John: 18 or 19," said Marissen. Then, after every two or three verses, the story breaks off and a soloist or the choir sings verses from 16th, 17th, or 18th century sources which comment on that part of the story. ...

Although Bach was not exactly at liberty to substantially change the wording of the biblical text, he could determine what to emphasize. Some have questioned whether the composer's setting of the choruses is just a little too vivid. But Marissen argues that Bach was relatively restrained when compared with Handel or Telemann in their own passion settings. "Somewhat surprisingly, Bach's St. John Passion does not take that tack," said Marissen. "It leaves the Jews alone and harps on how sinful the Lutherans are and how they're to blame for the death of Jesus."...

Michael Marissen is the Daniel Underhill Professor of Music at Swarthmore College and the author of Lutheranism, Anti-Judaism, and Bach's St. John Passion. He was featured in Bach 360°, a 10-day festival last month that explored how J.S. Bach resonates with contemporary audiences. Marissen holds a B.A. from Calvin College and Ph.D. from Brandeis University. He joined the Swarthmore faculty in 1989 and teaches courses on medieval, renaissance, baroque, classical European music; Bach; a conceptual introduction to the music of various cultures; Mozart; and the string quartet.

Ammerman, who minors in English literature and environmental studies, has integrated his academic program with environmental activism. He has facilitated communication among the College's seven student environmental groups by convening meetings of the student Ecosphere coalition, preparing a weekly environmental newsletter called SwatEcosphere for the College community, and serving as student liaison and administrative support to the College's multi-constituent, campus-wide Sustainability Committee.

Ammerman is also the co-founder of SwatFrackAction, a student-run group dedicated to education and activism regarding hydraulic fracturing for natural gas. In that capacity, he has worked to invite guest speakers to campus and to organize a trip bringing students to a front-line community. He has partnered off-campus as well, serving as a summer intern for AFewSteps.org, a coalition of local community members committed to sustainability initiatives.

Newman Civic Fellows are recommended by college and university presidents to acknowledge motivation and ability in public leadership. The awards are named for educator Frank Newman, who dedicated his life to creating systemic change through education reform.

Borbee, in her 20th season as the women's lacrosse coach, played collegiately at the University of Delaware and is a member of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Her accomplishment came in the midst of another strong season for the Garnet (10-6, 4-5 CC), as the team fell just short of a berth in the five-team Centennial Conference playoffs.

Annalise Penikis '13

This year's team was led by All-America candidate Annalise Penikis '13, a biology major and statistics minor from Swarthmore, Pa. Last season, she was the first student-athlete in Centennial Conference history to lead the league in goals, points and assists. The Centennial Conference's points leader also had a strong connection to Swarthmore Athletics before ever putting on a uniform, as she is the daughter of Associate Professor Economics Amanda Bayer. Penikis' stellar career was recently profiled by CBS Philly.

Other key players on the team include (stats as of 4/23): Corinne Sommi '14 (30 goals, 14 assists, 44 points ), Beth Martin '13 (21 ground balls, 17 caused turnovers), Caroline Murphy '14 (29 ground balls, 19 caused turnovers), and Nicole Vanchieri '13 (18 goals, 9 assists, 27 points).

"The design that Noah submitted caught the eye of our selection team and we were delighted to advance it to our in-house designer, Phil Stern '84," says Maurice Eldridge '61, vice president for college and community relations and chair of the sesquicentennial planning committee. "We think it is a balanced design that will work well as a stand-in for the College logo during the sesquicentennial year."

The selection team considered several elements in determining a successful logo design, including the need for an icon that would function well in a wide range of media and formats, posess broad alumni recognition and appeal, specify the 150-year period, and instill a sense of pride, energy, and celebration. The logo will have a widespread presence on campus next year, including on the College website, banners, and posters, among other items.

Officially founded in 1986 during Black Alumni Weekend, the choir's roots go back to the early 1970s. Its members live all over the country, yet travel to Swarthmore to rehearse and perform several times a year. Led by singer Vaneese Thomas '74, the Alumni Gospel Choir is known for its imaginative musical arrangements, talented musicians and singers, and the fervent style in which it performs its renditions of spirituals and contemporary gospel music.

In 1996, the choir issued Hallelujah! Amen, its first album, which they followed in 2000 with Star Gazer, a collection of holiday advent music. The net proceeds of their sales fund two College scholarships. In 1999, Swarthmore awarded the Joseph B. Shane Alumni Service Award to the choir for "outstanding service and commitment to Swarthmore College."

Last June, Chester, who is also a Career Peer Advisor in Career Services, started his internship as part of his Summer Social Action Award (S2A2) project. The S2A2, as it's known, is funded through the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility and is designed to enable students to engage in meaningful work with nonprofit organizations, grassroots advocacy groups, and public service agencies.

College students are at increased risk of contracting HPV, influenza, and meningococcal diseases, so that is where Chester focused his research - particularly meningococcal disease because of its obscurity and the increasing outbreaks of meningitis on college campuses throughout the U.S. With the support of the VEC, Chester worked with Fernando Maldonado '13, an English literature and film and media studies major from Hamilton Square, N.J., to produce a video that addresses common questions and intertwines Chester's research with engaging narrative. Together, they brought Reading, Pa., native Morgan Williams '13, a political science and psychology major and a member of Vertigo-go, Swarthmore's improv comedy group, on board to co-star and assist with production.

Ultimately, more than 20 students participated as actors in the video, which also features Worth Health Center Director Beth Kotarski.

"The greatest challenge was constructing an engaging narrative centered on the importance of getting the meningococcal vaccine," Chester says. "The anti-vaccine movement in the U.S. has too often used fear to shape public opinion on vaccine issues. In crafting an argument for immunization, we consciously tried to use humor as an alternative to scare tactics. While more compelling than rational arguments, fear exploits people who don't take the time to study the data behind public health measures. We used humor because we think it is a more honest approach to communicating information. We also felt that humor would be a better way to reach our target audience - college students."

Ultimately, the internship at VEC and Chester's experiences with the S2A2 project left a lasting impression - not just through the video, which can now be used to educate college students about the importance and necessity of vaccinations, but in Chester's own future path.

"This internship's combination of academic and applied medicine," he says, "allowed me to weave my interest in public health operations into my scientific background."

"John McConnell's work for the last 50 years helped many to connect international peace with the need to preserve the environment," says Wendy Chmielewski, the Collection's George R. Cooley Curator, of the holiday's founder. "McConnell reached many world leaders, as the Earth Day Proclamation shows, but his message also inspired ordinary people around the globe."

In 1968, McConnell, a Presbyterian minister and peace activist from Iowa, designed the Earth Day flag showing planet Earth as seen from space. He proposed the idea of Earth Day the next year in order to celebrate a peaceful planet. McConnell also authored a second proclamation, the Star of Hope, with signatures from world scientists. That doucument, as well as a large collection of McConnell's papers detailing his 50-plus years of work for world peace, is also part of the Collection.

The Earth Day proclamation is a poster-sized, hand-created, and hand-colored document. Among the 35 signators are anthropologist Margaret Mead, former Senator Eugene McCarthy, Nobel Prize-winning former President of Costa Rica Oscar Arias, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, and astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Earth Day is now celebrated internationally on the Vernal Equinox.

The Swarthmore College Peace Collection is one of the most extensive research libraries and archive collections in the country that focuses solely on movements for peace. The Collection's holdings on the environmental movement span the papers and records of numerous peace organizations and activists who have worked for the benefit of the environment during the second half of the 20th-century and beyond. 

"It's really good to play through the music in a less formal setting to know what we need to work on for the concert, and gain experience performing the music straight through," says Chloe Stevens '13, a double major in mathematics and computer science from Buena Vista, Colo. The Bell Tower was selected for its ideal acoustics and proximity to passersby who might stop and listen to the music.

The group is discussing the possibility of another outdoor performance on campus over Commencement Weekend, depending on members' availability. In addition to Stevens on oboe, the members of the quintent are (clockwise from the top):

• Jeewon Kim '13, a political science major from Fort Collins, Colo.
• Andi Merritt '13, a math major from Charlottesville, Va.
• Hannah Gotwals '13, a special major in linguistics and languages from Suffield, Conn.
• Zoe Cina-Sklar '13, an honors political science major from Eugene, Ore.