Thousands gather for Commencement 2015
More than 5,000 people gathered under the largest tent of its kind in Florida on Sunday (May 17) for the 52nd Eckerd College Commencement. A total of 511 degrees were awarded--403 to residential students and 108 to students in the Program for Experienced Learners. The graduates hailed from 40 states and 10 countries. In all, 395 Bachelor of Arts degrees and 116 Bachelor of Science degrees were awarded.
The graduates and their families and friends were welcomed by Eckerd College President Donald R. Eastman III and Board of Trustees Chairman John G. Finneran Jr.; Thomas H. Kean, a former governor of New Jersey who later served as chairman of the 9/11 Commission, delivered the Commencement address and received an honorary degree of humane letters. Read more.
View photos | Commencement Speeches and Remarks | Social Media Roundup
Click on the image to watch time-lapse video of the Commencement tent going up.
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Three faculty honored with Eckerd awards
The end of the academic year brought the announcement of three prestigious awards for Eckerd faculty. Two of them were presented during Commencement: The Robert A. Staub Distinguished Teacher Award was bestowed upon Associate Professor of Psychology Lauren E. Highfill (photo, left), and the John Satterfield Outstanding Mentor Award was presented to Professor of Psychology Jeff Howard (photo, right). The Staub Award emphasizes the primary importance of teaching in the College, recognizes teaching excellence in an individual faculty member and encourages the pursuit of teaching excellence by the faculty as a whole. The Satterfield Award honors the special and vital role of the mentor in a student's life at Eckerd.
The Lloyd W. Chapin Award for Excellence in Scholarship and the Arts was presented during the Celebration of Scholarship reception on Friday (May 15) to Professor of Marine Science and Chemistry David Hastings. The Chapin award, which honors individual faculty members whose scholarship or creative art have made a significant contribution to the field in which they work, is named for the College's long-serving, now-retired academic dean, seen at right in the center photo above with President Eastman (left) and Hastings. Read more. |
 Graduating seniors celebrate at annual Pet Graduation
Eckerd College was the first in the country to allow students to keep pets in their dorm rooms. Many pets stay with the students all four years on campus, easing the strain of being away from home and the stress of college life. Because their pets are such an integral part of their college experience, about 25 students and their pets celebrated the end of their Eckerd journey together during the Third Annual Pet Graduation ceremony at Fox Hall last Tuesday (May 12). "It's meant a lot. He was one of the reasons I decided to come to Eckerd because I wanted to have him with me," Claire Pfeifer said of her ferret, Albert. The Pet Graduation is so unusual that the Associated Press included it in a nationally distributed story last year. The ceremony is sponsored by the Eckerd College Pet Life Office. | ABC Action News: Eckerd College Pet Program Leads the Country
Photo of Michael Mittermeier and his frog Wilbur by Spencer Yaffe '17
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 Les Standiford named professor, Writers in Paradise co-director
Noted author Les Standiford has been awarded the Dr. Peter Meinke Professorship in Creative Writing for the 2016 Spring Semester, Eckerd College President Donald Eastman announced.
Standiford's duties will include co-directing, with best-selling novelist and Eckerd alumnus Dennis Lehane '88, the annual Eckerd College Writers' Conference: Writers in Paradise as well as teaching courses in fiction-writing and literary journalism. "We are delighted and extremely fortunate that Les has agreed to join us next year," President Eastman said. "I am confident he will continue the upward trajectory of the writers' conference as well as help our residential students reach new levels of excellence."
Standiford, director of the Florida International University Creative Writing Program for 30 years, is the author of 20 novels and works of nonfiction, including the recently published Water to the Angels: William Mulholland, His Monumental Aqueduct, and the Rise of Los Angeles. Standiford has been an integral part of Writers in Paradise since its inception 11 years ago.
As co-director of our writers' conference, Standiford replaces Sterling Watson '69, who taught writing at Eckerd for 35 years. Watson founded and directed the conference from its inception with Lehane. Watson is stepping down as co-director to focus on his own writing projects. Read more.
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 Doyle Sailing Center sets Eckerd apart
A little cove on Boca Ciega Bay on the west side of campus is being transformed into the Doyle Sailing Center. The $1.6 million center, which is expected to be completed this summer, will elevate Eckerd's Sailing program to the top tier of its collegiate competitors. "We will be able to compete with just about everyone now," said Kevin Reali, head coach of Coed and Women's Sailing. The Doyle Sailing Center is one of several projects funded through the ongoing Intermezzo Campaign. The center is named for the Doyle family of DEX Imaging. Read more.
Several other construction projects will take place on campus over the summer, including major upgrades to the Fox and Chapel stormwater retention ponds and renovations to the Epsilon Residence Complex. | The Tampa Tribune
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A new mobile option for dining services
Eckerd has joined the food truck craze. Bon Appetit, which provides dining and catering services on campus, introduced the food trucks near the end of the Spring Semester. Although they are technically trailers, the new mobile food operations will allow Bon Appetit to get food to students wherever they are on campus--whether at South Beach, the baseball field or someplace in between. The Picnic Truck (above) serves cold food--sandwiches, ice cream, smoothies, lemonade--while the Eckerd Spirit Truck will dish up hot food. "It gives us different locales for dining," explained Bon Appetit General Manager Eric Gardner.
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InsideEckerd will return this fall
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This is the final edition of InsideEckerd for the academic year. It will return for the Fall Semester, delivered to your inbox every other week. It is designed to keep you abreast of all the great things happening at your favorite college. Please help spread the word by forwarding InsideEckerd to your friends and family. You can read back issues here. You can send us your thoughts and suggestions for stories by clicking "Reply."
Go Tritons!
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Eckerd Review
Reading & Art Party draws a crowd
About 150 literary and visual arts enthusiasts enjoyed the Eckerd Review Reading & Art Party May 5 in Cobb Gallery. Supported by the Office of Advancement, ECOS, the Creative Arts Collegium and Eckerd College Friends of the Arts, the party celebrated works by writers and artists from the Eckerd community featured in this year's Eckerd Review. Original poems were read by Poet Laureate of St. Petersburg Peter Meinke and Eckerd College President Donald Eastman, and other pieces--including the four winners of the inaugural Eckerd Review Prize for Student Writing and Art-- were shared. All 17 works of visual art in the journal were on display in Cobb Gallery the week of May 4 and were enjoyed at the party.
Summer reading selection: Fire Shut Up in My Bones
Every year a book is chosen as required summer reading for all new students. This year's selection is Fire Shut Up in My Bones, by New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow. It is a beautifully written and astounding story of Blow's trajectory from deep poverty in rural Louisiana to college and eventually to The New York Times. Everyone is invited to read along and join us when Blow speaks at Fox Hall on Sept. 8 at 7:30 p.m., the kickoff event for the 2015-16 College Program Series, "America's Intersecting Identities." The talk is free and open to the public.
"The goal of teaching, research, and service, the traditional triad of collegiate missions, is not riches or profit, but enlightenment," writes President Donald Eastman in his introduction to A Celebration of Scholarship: Eckerd Faculty in Word, Image & Performance, 2014-15. The 24-page publication lists the faculty's many exhibitions, performances, readings, poems and short stories, along with media appearances, panels and workshops. Major awards are highlighted, including the 2014 Robert A. Staub Distinguished Teacher Award to Eileen Mikals-Adachi; the 2014 John M. Bevan Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership Award to Nathan Andersen; the 2014 John Satterfield Outstanding Mentor Award to Morris Shapero; the 2014 Wrenn Award for Leadership and Service to General Education to Tony Brunello; the 2013 Lloyd W. Chapin Award for Excellence in Scholarship and the Arts to Carolyn Johnston; and the 2014 Chapin Award to Jianqiang Zhao. It also highlights two faculty books, Masculinity in Contemporary Quality Television by Assistant Professor of Communication MIchael Albrecht and De-Introducing the New Testament, co-authored by Davina C. Lopez, associate professor of religious studies.
"The more we investigate the hidden recesses of the brain, the more it seems like practically every neuron either releases endocannabinoids or can sense them using cannabinoid receptors."
--Assistant Professor of Biology Gregory Gerdeman, quoted in a Time magazine cover story on the science behind medical marijuana.
"It's only a shellfish health issue. It's not a human health issue."
--Visiting Professor of Marine Science Bruce Barber, quoted in Science News about a leukemia-like disease in soft-shell clams. His research of the disease was also cited in Science.
"1000% harder to leave Eckerd after 2 years than it was to leave Jersey after 20 "
"I'm ready to go back to Eckerd now. Can move-in day be tomorrow?"
"My Class of '85 classmate, the late Dr. Carlos Barbas, made a NAS green mortarboard for his Doberman, Cricket, and brought her across the stage with him."
--Petr VanderVegt '85 on the
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