 Former New Jersey governor,
9/11 Commission chair to
address 2015 Commencement
Thomas H. Kean, the former New Jersey governor who served as the chairman of the 9/11 Commission, will speak at the 52nd Eckerd College Commencement on Sunday, May 17.
A former president of Drew University, Gov. Kean earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University and a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University Teacher's College. Known as a consensus-builder, he is the author of The Politics of Inclusion, which advocated for political cooperation among major parties and competing interests.
"Gov. Kean is an excellent choice as our Commencement speaker this year, given his impressive experience and deep insights regarding areas of contemporary importance," said Eckerd President Donald Eastman. "He is uniquely qualified to offer perspective on the continuing and seemingly intractable threat of terrorism in our world. In addition, as an educational leader, he has been a bold and thoughtful spokesperson for educational reform at all levels and for the unique contribution of the residential liberal arts college to U.S. higher education. Finally, in a national political context often characterized by vitriolic disagreements along partisan lines, Gov. Kean has embodied in his public life the kind of consensus-building leadership that our country so desperately needs today." Read more. Commencement 2015
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St. Pete police, City Council honor EC-SAR
EC-SAR was honored by the St. Petersburg Police Department last week for its role in the search and recovery of 5-year-old Phoebe Jonchuck in January. Police Chief Anthony Holloway, an Eckerd alumnus, presented a certificate of appreciation to members of the Eckerd College Search and Rescue team during the March 12 City Council meeting. The council and the audience gave the team a standing ovation. Mayor Rick Kriseman praised the team and Eckerd for their hard work and dedication. "You all do outstanding work; you never say no," the mayor said.
The all-volunteer team of students received an outpouring of public sympathy and support for its role in the search for Phoebe, whose father has been charged with murder for throwing her from a bridge leading to the Sunshine Skyway. It was a very trying and emotional experience.
"This kind of case is difficult for anyone," team member Alice Elliott '15 told The Tampa Tribune. "We felt like we did the best we could."
The police officers who worked the tragic case recommended the certificate of appreciation. "This volunteer group went out on a particularly difficult mission and tried to assist the police department, and this was an especially difficult case," police spokeswoman Yolanda Fernandez told the Tampa Bay Times.
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BP oil spill research draws attention
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A research paper written by Marine Science Professor David Hastings and his students about the aftermath of the BP oil spill is drawing attention. The study on the impact of the spill on sediment in the Gulf of Mexico was the top-downloaded article in Deep Sea Research, one of the most prestigious marine science and oceanography journals. The co-authors included Gregg Brooks, professor of marine science and geosciences; Tara Roeder '12; and Thea Bartlett '16. Students and alumni Corday Selden '14, Bridgett Carr '16 and Rebekka Larson '01 contributed field research. The study found that a large pulse of material, including oil, rained down to the sediment in the Gulf of Mexico, and as it decomposed it used up oxygen vital to marine life in the sediments.
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 Women's Basketball wraps up historic season
The Eckerd College Women's Basketball team's historic season ended last week with a loss to Rollins College in the opening round of the NCAA Division II South Regional Championship. It was the first appearance on the national stage in program history. The loss does not diminish the team's amazing run, winning 23 games, the most in program history. "We were really excited to be here," Coach Paul Honsinger said after the March 13 73-71 loss to Rollins. "I thought we competed very hard; I thought we played pretty well ... We showed a lot of character as a team." Rana Thomas '15 (No. 15) became the 9th member of the 1,000-point club in the final game of her Eckerd career. Kayla Bowlin '15 (No. 10) is the third player in program history with 700+ points and 400+ assists. Read more.
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 Spring Break tradition includes service-learning
About 80 students spent their Spring Break in Eckerd style--volunteering through service-learning projects. Some students didn't go far, including the group at right who met with former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker to discuss Exploring Environmental Poverty, a project led by Service-Learning Director Ronald Porter '05, Ph.D., and AmeriCorps Vista Intern Chris Higgins '14 that explored issues of food availability and environmental justice in the city. Other Service-Learning projects took students and professors to an orphanage in Panama, an Eastern Orthodox Monastery in Northern California, an indigenous population in Ecuador and the Center for Great Apes in Wauchula. Read more about Service-Learning. |
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Lectures
Climate Change and the Future of Food
Monday, March 23, 6 p.m.
Galbraith Auditorium
David W. Wolfe, Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, Professor of Plant and Soil Ecology, Department of Horticulture, Cornell University
From Shemshemet to Sativex: A Journey of Cannabis as Medicine
Wednesday, March 25, 7 p.m.
Miller Auditorium
12th Annual Science Day: The Science of the Seas
Saturday, March 28, 9:30 a.m.
Registration at 9 a.m.
Lewis House
The End of the Universe: The Domain of Science or Religion?
Tuesday, March 31, 7:30 p.m.
Fox Hall
David Bryant, Eckerd Professor of Religious Studies
Steve Weppner, Eckerd Professor of Physics
The State of Eckerd College
Wednesday, April 8, 4 p.m.
Lewis House
Eckerd President Don Eastman
Film
Jauja
Friday, March 27, 7 p.m.
Miller Auditorium
Directed by Lisandro Alonso
(English, 109 minutes, 2012, digital screening)
Cinema Is Nicholas Ray I: Rebel Without a Cause
Friday, April 10, 7 p.m.
Miller Auditorium
Directed by Nicholas Ray (English, 111 minutes, 1955, digital screening)
Athletics
Saturday, March 21
Women's Tennis
vs. Florida Institute of Technology
Sunday, March 22
Women's Tennis
vs. West Virginia State University
Friday, March 27
Women's Tennis
vs. Nova Southeastern University
Saturday, March 28
Women's Sand Volleyball
vs. Webber International
Saturday, March 28 Men's Tennis Women's Tennis vs. Barry University Monday, March 30 Men's Tennis vs. St. Thomas Wednesday, April 1 Women's Sand Volleyball vs. Florida Gulf Coast University Wednesday, April 1 Women's Tennis vs. St. Olaf
Overheard
"Censorship is a blunt tool for controlling public discourse. Climate scientists have winced for decades as we watch sophisticated spinners reel out nuanced, backhanded rhetoric that's carefully designed to cloud the truth about what's happening to Earth's atmosphere as we keep burning fossil fuels."
--Professor of Marine Science and Chemistry David Hastings, writing in the Tampa Bay Times about reports of an unofficial ban on the use of the term 'climate change' in the Rick Scott administration.
 "Not a day goes by that I ever regret transferring because my life would probably be awful if Eckerd & its people never became a part of it."
--@xcarolynnn on Twitter
 "So much good has come and still coming out of EC."
--Patricia Malidor '85, commenting on the Eckerd Facebook page about EC-SAR.
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