CONGRATULATIONS to the Recipients of CoLA's Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Grants!
Anna Casas Aguilar, Modern Languages, Confronting Europe:Gender Models and the Transformation of National Consciousness in Spain, 1960-1980, $5,000
Christopher Chaffee, Music, Recording Project, $4,650
Jeannette Marchand, Classics, Travel Expenses to Publication of Bronze Age Pottery and Artifacts, $5,000
David Seitz, Nancy Mack, and Lars Soderlund, English, Research on Composition and Rhetoric Graduates, $3,722
Andrew Strombeck, English, Archival Research, $4,350
Jonathan Winkler, History, Archival Research Trip to Hagley Museum and Library, $1,848
I am impressed with the diversity and coverage of these grants and am looking forward to seeing the results. There certainly is a lot of great research going on in the college, and it is enlightening to be able to read about some of the projects in depth.
It is 
that time of year again: ARTSGALA! It is a frenzy of activity as we get ready and look forward to some new features this year such as CELIA's Place - featuring themed martinis, music, and student artwork, the Rainbow Room featuring The Songs of Ella, Frank, Sammy, Mel, Rosemary, and Marilyn, and a garden-themed silent auction. We will also be taking a last long look at the CAC Commons before the big renovation changes everything. Last year ARTSGALA broke all records with 630 attendees and $174,000 raised for scholarships - more than $50,000 over the previous year. You won't want to miss the Best Event in Dayton, so get your tickets here. During my ARTSGALA welcome speech last year I promised that I would "up my game" next year so I had to go shopping last weekend. I brought home some pretty, shiny things and my car is now full of blue glitter. The cats seem to like it. I hope the ARTSGALA crowd does also.
CoLA is successful at raising scholarship and funding in other areas as well. This past year we have brought in over $3,243,000 through the generous support of our alumni, friends, and donors. Some of the new funding this year includes the Gentile Scholarship for Social Justice, the Lucas Family Model United Nations Program Fund, the Joelle Giancinti Scholarship, the Recording Studio Fund, the Jennie and David Buckwalter Study Abroad Scholarship, the Sophie Kerrigan Memorial Scholarship, the South African Program Fund, the Bridging the Gap Scholarship, and the Ellery Lois Hill and Judith Lynne Hill Dodson Endowed Scholarship. A big thanks to our amazing Director of Development Sara Woodhull, who is key to our success in this area!
The Dean's Leadership Board also provides $12,000, that I match through the CoLA Dean's Fund, for the Dean's Leadership Scholarships and the Dean's Study Abroad Scholarships. They also award the Foundation Board of Trustees Scholarships plus a few others. And the CoLA Scholarship Committee, consisting of Susan Carafiello, History and Honors, Jackson Leung, Music, La Fleur Small, Sociology, and Jennie Buckwalter, Dean's Office, get the fun task of awarding $55,000 in scholarships to our CoLA students. It doesn't get much better than that!
While these scholarships are mainly awarded to students who are already at Wright State, we have also reorganized the way we offer scholarships as a part of the admissions process. This year Wright State is awarding larger numbers and amounts of scholarships to incoming students at the time of admission, with the hopes of increasing yield. We will know the results this coming fall, but so far the signs are all positive.
Support from our alumni, friends, and donors is one thing, but it is also important that we lead the way through our own giving. We are currently in our annual Campus Scholarship and Innovation Campaign (CSIC) where we have the chance to support our own projects, our students, and Wright State, and illustrate that support begins at home. Last year CoLA donated $67,654 through CSIC, with $102,896 in scholarships going to CoLA students. This year our goal is to have 55% participation. We have a ways to go to reach that goal, so please give! I give to my favorite fund, The Dean's Fund, that over this past year supported the Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage, scholarship matching funds for the Dean's Leadership Board, the Wind Symphony trip to Carnegie Hall, and the Dayton Stem School Quiz Bowl Team's trip to Washington, DC, to name a few things. Thank you to Dawn Banker, Dean's Office, for doing a great job overseeing this program!
WSU is hosting an interdisciplinary symposium on Environmental Crises: History, Economics, and Politics with presentations and a roundtable audience discussion 1:30-5:30 on April 4th in the Student Union Discovery Room. The symposium will bring together scholars from a range of fields to explore issues of environmental justice at the intersections of urban and rural concerns. The event is free and open to the public and refreshments will be provided. Thanks to Drew Swanson, History, and his interdisciplinary team for organizing this event.
David Barr, Emeritus Professor of Religion and former Chair, will deliver the 2014 Piediscalzi Lecture on Jerusalem, Jesus and Jihad: The Politics of the End Times at 4 p.m. April 2 in the Discovery Room of the SU. We welcome David back!
I have been getting some flack this winter as people have accused me of bringing Maine weather to Dayton. Well, next week I am heading to sunny Arizona to spend time in the hot, burning sun. I will be thinking of everyone back in Ohio, and, assuming I actually have some weather power, will try to bring some warmth and sun back with me.
