Around the Lake

Gottwald expansion and renovation to begin

University trustees have approved a $35 million renovation and expansion of Gottwald Science Center, home of the biology, chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology and physics programs.

Approximately 28,000 square feet of new space will be added. The existing 162,000 square feet will undergo extensive renovation to include cutting-edge technology and scientific equipment. The building was constructed in 1976.

Groundbreaking is scheduled for May 2003, with completion in August 2005. The firm of Einhorn Yaffee Prescott of Boston and Washington, D.C., designer of science centers for Williams and Swarthmore colleges, has been selected as architect.

“Once the renovation and expansion are complete, our students will learn in a top-notch facility as full partners in programs steeped in hands-on research, grounded in practical applications and positioned at the center of scientific discovery,” said Richmond President William E. Cooper.

New space will span parts of the existing south and west sides of the building. When complete, the facility will include a new atrium, new and renovated research laboratories and an entrance more closely aligned with the Collegiate Gothic architecture of most campus buildings. Flexibility to add future teaching and research technologies will be designed into the project.

Upgrading Gottwald is part of the University’s $50 million plan to improve science facilities and programs over the next decade and to place Richmond among the first-choice colleges of America’s top high school science students. Funding for much of the project will be allocated from bonds issued by the University, while officials continue to raise money through private contributions and grants.

The initiative includes creating five interdisciplinary centers for scientific discovery — material science, environmental science, neuroscience, biological chemistry, and nuclear and particle physics. Over the next 10 years, the University will add up to 18 new faculty positions and place greater emphasis on interdisciplinary studies and innovative science classes for non-majors.

“Excellence in the sciences will benefit not only the University’s science departments,” said Andrew Newcomb, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, “but also the humanities, fine arts, business, leadership and social science programs by attracting multi-talented high school science students to our campus.”

Second Community Service Day transforms Richmond middle school

Nearly 700 Richmond students, faculty, staff and alumni cleaned, painted, landscaped and upgraded technology at Elkhardt Middle School during the University’s second-annual Community Service Day in September.

Coordinated by the chaplain’s office, the endeavor took months to plan. University Facilities lent expertise and supplies, Project Reboot installed additional computers and printers at the school, and University Dining Services provided food for the volunteers.

“All children deserve to have an inspirational place in which to study and learn, and the hard work of our volunteers helped create such a place for the students of Elkhardt,” said University President William E. Cooper. The day’s efforts will be followed throughout the year with tutoring and technology support. “The exciting thing about this initiative is the new partnership — academic and co-curricular — that we are developing with Richmond Public Schools,” said Dr. David Burhans, University chaplain.

Barbara B. Chapman, principal of Elkhardt, marveled at the “sheer amount of work” that was accomplished in a short time. “However, you did more,” she said. “You created a sense of community with our teachers, parents and staff. Your presence and hard work sent a strong message to our students that you care.”

Along with Chapman and about 60 students and parents from Elkhardt, the volunteers included President Cooper and Deborah Jewell-Sherman, Richmond schools superintendent. University officials had to stop accepting volunteers prior to the workday because so many students signed up. The project was featured as the lead story on the Richmond NBC affiliate, and for the second year in a row, Richmond City Council intends to present the University with its community service award.

Harken kicks off SCS 40th anniversary

Millionaire philanthropist Tom Harken, a Texan who pulled himself up from polio and illiteracy to succeed in the restaurant business, helped kick off the 40th anniversary celebration of the School of Continuing Studies. Harken, who won the Horatio Alger Award in 1992, is author of The Millionaire’s Secret and is a popular motivational speaker. He received an honorary doctor of commercial science degree from the University. Harken was invited to speak for the SCS’s opening anniversary event because of his support of lifelong learning and nontraditional students.

To see a list of SCS 40th anniversary events, visit: http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/scs/40years/events.htm

Quest speakers explore change

Toni Morrison: Language can avert crisis

“The search for language constitutes a mission for me,” Toni Morrison said. “It’s been a constant, sometimes violent, engagement,” the Nobel Prize-winning author told a University audience of 4,000 faculty, staff and community members.

Using Beowulf and Grendel, John Gardner’s modern interpretation of the medieval tale, she asked listeners to hope, with her, that language — “informed, shaped, reasoned” — would become the means to staying crises.

Morrison appeared in cooperation with Virginia Commonwealth University. She gave a reading on the VCU campus Oct. 2 and spoke at Richmond the following day as part of the Richmond Quest, which this year is looking at the questions “Why change? When does discovery inspire change?”

Morrison’s book Song of Solomon is required reading for all first-year students at Richmond, and the author jokingly asked students not to hate her “because I’m required.” In fact, students have been asking for her to be brought to campus for years.

In response to a question from the audience, Morrison said she has had six or seven different political stances in her lifetime. Her novels, she said, are always political questions.

Morrison received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. Other awards she has received include the National Book Critics Award, the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, among others.

In addition to working on another novel, Morrison has been writing lyrics and a series of children’s books. “I have to keep learning,” she said. Writing each book became a new experience, “like I hadn’t written a book before…I didn’t want to keep repeating myself. Each new book is entirely different.”

Carl Bernstein: The triumph of idiot culture

If Watergate represented the high-water mark of American journalism, then 30 years later the press stands at ebb tide, Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Bernstein told a standing room only audience at the Jepson Alumni Center on Oct. 24.

The rise of profit-motivated, corporate ownership of the news media has diverted editors and reporters from good journalism — “telling the best obtainable version of the truth” — to frenzied coverage of the weird, stupid and coarse to win the biggest audience — “the triumph of idiot culture” — Bernstein said.

Because the press has failed at its job of covering serious issues in context, political institutions are failing to do theirs, too, Bernstein warned the crowd of approximately 500 gathered for the program, jointly sponsored by Richmond Quest 2002 and the Jepson School of Leadership Studies. “No good cause can be considered [by Congress or state legislatures] unless it is backed by huge amounts of money,” he said.

“What we did in Watergate was not rocket science,” Bernstein explained about his long-running investigative series with Bob Woodward at The Washington Post. Rather, it was perseverance by reporters and their news organizations to take the time to talk with people, understand the issues and present them in context. But, as corporations have taken ownership of hugely profitable news organizations, many have lost sight of the ideals of good reporting.

“Who has been the most influential figure in post-Watergate journalism? Not Katharine Graham or Benjamin Bradlee of The Washington Post or Abe Rosenthal of The New York Times, but Rupert Murdoch,” Bernstein said. “We have seen the rising dominance of global media not concerned with truth and context,” whose standards are “finding their sleazy way into the higher levels of American journalism.”

Bernstein thinks discovery will lead to positive journalistic change, primarily through the Internet, which makes publishing affordable to independent sources of news and access to it “possible for everyone except the very poor.”

Narduzzi leads Heart Walk

Dr. James L. Narduzzi, dean of the School of Continuing Studies, led nearly 10,000 walkers in the Richmond Chapter of the American Heart Association’s annual Heart Walk. Approximately 60 University faculty, staff, students and alumni participated in the three-mile walk in October, raising more than $10,000 toward the $700,000 goal. “Serving as chair of the Heart Walk meant a great deal to me personally, as heart disease has touched my family significantly over the years,” Narduzzi said. “It was truly gratifying to see the University community and particularly those from the SCS get behind this wonderful cause.” The Heart Walk was the SCS’s 40th anniversary community service project. Jared Fogle, who lost 235 pounds by walking and eating Subway sandwiches, helped promote Heart Walk at a community kick-off luncheon on the Richmond campus.

No. 1 for ninth year

For the ninth straight year, U.S.News & World Report ranks the University number one in its category.

Richmond topped all universities in the “Universities-Master’s-South” category of the “America’s Best College’s” issue by a wide margin. Schools in the category provide a full range of undergraduate and master’s level programs. Richmond also ranked fourth in its category in “Great Schools at Great Prices,” a section that relates a school’s academic quality to the cost of attendance.

Richmond also was cited as having one of the best “first-year experiences” in the nation, tying for 23rd place with University of Virginia and Dartmouth. This new category considered how well a college goes beyond orientation to make the freshman experience rewarding.

U.S.News measured schools on academic quality, peer assessment, retention of students, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate performance and alumni giving.

Earlier, the Princeton Review included Richmond in its guidebook The Best 345 Colleges-2003 Edition. Richmond earned the highest rating for academics, campus life and admission selectivity. In July, both The Fiske Guide to Colleges and Kaplan’s The Unofficial, Unbiased Insider’s Guide to the 320 Most Interesting Colleges selected Richmond for inclusion, with Fiske naming Richmond to its list of 43 best buys among America’s colleges and universities.

Nine faculty recognized

2002 Distinguished Educator Awards

Dr. Theodore A. Bergren
Associate Professor of Religion

Dr. Valerie M. Kish
Clarence E. Denoon Jr. Professor of Science

Stephen P. Nash
Associate Professor of Journalism

Dr. Anthony P. Russell
Associate Professor of English

Dr. Peter N. Swisher
Professor of Law

Dr. Jonathan B. Wight
Associate Professor of Economics and International Studies

New holders of endowed chairs

Dr. Robert M. Terry
William Judson Gaines Chair in Modern Foreign Languages

Dr. Kibibi Mack-Shelton
Tyler and Alice Haynes Professorship in American Studies

Dr. Scott T. Allison
MacEldin Trawick Professorship in Psychology

Burrus scholarship announced

Selected students entering the University’s new executive master’s program in leadership studies will benefit from the Robert L. Burrus Jr. Scholarship Program for Developing Leaders. Named for the former rector of the University’s board of trustees, the scholarship will help underwrite tuition costs of deserving candidates in the program, which is designed for professionals from business, government and nonprofit organizations. The first class will meet in fall semester 2003. Executives from Smithfield Foods Inc., on whose board Burrus sits, and McGuireWoods LLP, where Burrus is chairman and senior partner, initiated a drive that raised more than $375,000 to fund the scholarship.

Wachovia executive challenges business students

Benjamin P. Jenkins III, senior executive vice president and president of the General Bank of Wachovia Corp., was executive-in-residence for the fall semester at the Robins School of Business. Jenkins gave a talk on change in the banking industry as part of the Richmond Quest and met with incoming, part-time MBA students during a weekend residency program, where he led a case study of how the merged First Union and Wachovia banks would handle debit cards. The merger also served as a case study for strategic management classes. Jenkins is guiding all consumer and commercial banking operations of the merged company through the transition.

Grants assist faculty, student research

Recent grants to the University will allow one faculty member to conduct research and write about the Haitian community in Boston while another examines how language is acquired and processed. A third, unexpected grant will help a summer undergraduate researcher.

Regine O. Jackson, assistant professor of sociology, is using her Ford Foundation postdoctoral fellowship for minorities to serve as a 2002-03 visiting scholar at Harvard while researching and writing The Haitian Community in Boston: Race, Religion and Ethnic Community Formation in Yankee City. She was one of 129 people who received fellowships from among nearly 1,000 candidates.

The National Science Foundation awarded Ping Li, associate professor of psychology, a grant for his project, Self-organization and the Acquisition, Representation and Processing of Language. The three-year grant amounts to more than $370,000. Li will study such areas as child language acquisition, bilingual language processing and normal and impaired reading.

The chemistry department received $5,500 from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation to provide an undergraduate student two summers of scholarly research. The department had not applied for the grant, which was made “in acknowledgment of your potential for providing an environment that encourages undergraduates to develop their interests in the chemical sciences,” according to Robert Lichter, executive director of the foundation.

Campus marks anniversary of tragedy

The release of 100 butterflies to signify hope, the tolling of the carillon and talks by two students marked the University community’s memorial to those whose lives were lost in the terrorists’ attacks on Sept. 11. “Today we honor individuals who contributed in countless ways during their shortened lives, whose bravery should be ever with us,” said President William E. Cooper at a lakeside ceremony on the one-year anniversary of the tragedy.

International students: the proof’s in the numbers

They say that numbers don’t lie. However, when counting international students on campus, numbers can sometimes be confusing. There are international students on campus for a semester or a year who are referred to as exchange or visiting students (equivalent to Richmond students who study abroad for a limited period of time.) Then, there are international students who matriculate with their American counterparts and intend to receive a Richmond degree.

These counts can be broken down further to show the number of international freshmen, the number of new (any class) international students or the number of international students (both new and returning) in the total student body. The University also keeps track of the number of countries from which international students hail.

So, here to clarify the numbers of international students studying at Richmond this year are the most recent counts from the Office of International Education. Just remember this important fact: the numbers will change for spring semester when some exchange students go back to their home countries and others arrive on campus for the first time.

Total number of new international students in fall 2002:

71 from 33 countries
Of these, 33 are exchange and visiting students; 38 are degree-seeking students

Total number of international students in fall 2002:

141 from 60 countries.
Of these, 33 are exchange and visiting students; 108 are degree-seeking students

Program brings international scholars to campus

Tetyana Havrylenko from the Ukraine and Irina Cheptanari from Moldova are visiting campus this year under the Junior Faculty Development Program administered by American Councils for International Education. The program gives faculty from 10 Eurasian countries exposure to American educational methods to help them develop new courses, reform curriculum and cultivate new teaching skills and techniques. Havrylenko and Cheptanari have been visiting Richmond classes in their fields and making presentations.

During 2002-03 the University is hosting a record 13 international scholars from nine countries (Australia, China, Georgia, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, United Kingdom and Ukraine). They represent a variety of fields, including business, American studies, English, history, mathematics, philosophy, political science and Russian art.

Holocaust survivor remembers Kristallnacht

Of all the horrors he witnessed and physical pain he suffered during the Holocaust, Alex Lebenstein remembers most vividly Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, when Nazis destroyed his parents’ home and business.

On Nov. 9-10, 1938, gangs of Nazi youth broke windows of Jewish businesses and homes in Germany and burned 101 synagogues. Many Jews were beaten, and 91 died during the pogrom. Some 26,000 were arrested and sent to concentration camps.

“I was only 11 years old,” Lebenstein, who now lives in Richmond, told an audience of several combined German classes, Jewish studies students and Hillel members at the University. “Today I’m 75 years old, and I’m still affected by it.”

Lebenstein, his mother and father, a World War I hero, had to watch as a Nazi mob, screaming anti-Semitic slogans, ran through their house, wielding picks and shovels and throwing stones and debris. “‘You cannot do this,’ my father said to the SS guy,” Lebenstein said. “‘I fought in the war. I defended Germany. I am an honorable citizen.’” Lebenstein lost both his parents to the Holocaust and was the only Jewish citizen of his hometown of Haltern to survive the death camps.

“Can it happen again over here?” he asked his audience. “You bet it can. I depend on you, the young people, to help other young children from suffering from oppression.”

In 1995, Lebenstein made an amazing journey back to Haltern, whose officials had urged him for years to return. He previously refused all requests. He had even ceased writing and speaking in German and willed himself to stop dreaming in German. One day, however, he received a letter from two high school students in Haltern. They were planning an exhibit of what it was like for the Jewish population of their town before, during and after Hitler.

“My family bluntly told me, ‘You must go.’ So I did.”

What he discovered over the course of several trips amazed him. “Germany is a nation stained by blood. They’re crying. They’re looking for help. They want to be forgiven for their forefathers’ sins. The kids wanted to do something to change the times.

“I realized way after my first trip back that I have a responsibility to teach people to be tolerant. My hate started to dissipate.”

October hailed a hero

Former Richmond football standout Winston October, AR’99, was featured on CNN’s “Connie Chung Tonight” on Sept. 23 following his heroic efforts in saving a woman from a burning apartment complex in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. October, a defensive back for the Canadian Football League’s Edmonton Eskimos, and his teammates Ronald Williams and Rahim Abdullah were showcased on the segment.

The three players received help from teammates Bruce Beaton and Sheldon Benoit when they caught a woman who plunged from a third-story apartment to avoid the blaze. Reports say that the players urged the woman not to jump, but because of the heat, she was forced to leap. Approximately 15 Eskimo players live in the apartment complex.

New appointments to staff

Lee Ann Mayhall has joined the University as associate vice president for development, while Molly Bittner has been promoted to executive director of development. In the Robins School of Business, Shirley Woods has joined the staff as director of the personal development program.

Mayhall had been with Washington University in St. Louis, most recently as director of corporate relations. She also has served at Rollins College and the University of Missouri-St. Louis. At Richmond, she oversees annual giving, planned giving, advancement services and prospect research and is in charge of campaign strategy. Mayhall received a B.A. in English and M.A. in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Bittner most recently served as the University’s associate director of development. She holds a B.A. degree in history from Dickinson College and has been at the University for 10 years, beginning as director of the annual fund. Bittner will oversee the offices of University and law school major gifts, and donor relations.

Woods will direct the business school’s personal development program that is required of all business majors and includes the completion of a Web-based portfolio. She was dean of the student life division at Fresno Pacific University in California and previously worked in career and student services and summer studies at the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University.

Richmond athletes shine in the classroom

Two national publications recently cited Richmond’s department of athletics for the strong academic success of its athletes. Sports Illustrated ranked the school eighth among all Division I schools (324) for highest graduation rates for athletes. The same report appeared in USA Today.

The Spiders boast a graduation rate of 89 percent, tied for eighth for student-athletes who entered in the 1995-96 calendar year and graduated by 2002. In the Division I-A category, Rice and Davidson topped the list with a 91 percent graduation rate, followed by Stanford, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Holy Cross and Duke — all at 90 percent.

The Spiders are tied for fourth among all Division I-AA schools in graduation rates. Richmond, together with Bucknell and Villanova, trailed only Davidson (91 percent), Holy Cross and Georgetown (90 percent) in the I-AA Rankings.

New spider adorns Richmond products

There’s a new spider peering menacingly from University sports products and memorabilia, and he’s licensed by the federal government.

Variations of a new three-dimensional spider logo along with a word mark were designed and registered to give the University more control over the use of products bearing Richmond’s name and image. The move should bring in additional revenue from the sale of products like sweatshirts, baseball caps, notebooks and letterhead stationery. The new spider logo will provide variety but not replace the existing “silhouette” spider.

The Silverman Group, a marketing and brand development agency, helped with the redesign. The goal was to come up with a cleaner, more animated spider, said Mark Sandy, associate athletic director. The new logos are going on athletic equipment, the Robins Center floor, promotional products and the Web site, as well as being sent to media outlets.

Five to enter Athletics Hall of Fame

The University of Richmond Department of Athletics will induct five new members into its Athletics Hall of Fame this winter. Director of Athletics Jim Miller announced in early November that the Hall of Fame committee selected the following individuals for the honor:

Greg Beckwith, R’86 and G’89 – Basketball

The lightning quick ball-handler finished his career as the Spiders’ all-time leader in assists (573) and steals (227). Beckwith led the Spiders to their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 1983-84 and again in 1985-86. He dished 38 assists in four career NCAA Tournament games, a 9.5 assist per game average.

Currently, Beckwith works for adidas and provides color analysis for select Spider radio broadcasts.

Sean Casey, AR’98 – Baseball

Known throughout the baseball community as “The Mayor” — for his infectious positive personality and success on the diamond — Sean Casey has quickly established himself as one of the major league’s premier hitters.

In five professional seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, Casey has compiled a .302 career batting average. A two-time All-Star (1999 and 2001), Casey led the Reds and ranked fourth in the National League with a .332 average in 1999, his first full season in the majors.

After capturing the 1995 NCAA batting title with a .461 average, Casey was selected in the second round of the major league draft by the Cleveland Indians. During his Richmond career, Casey carried an astounding .405 batting average and drove in 158 runs in 158 games.

Jane Dens McManigal, W’49 – Cheerleading, Field Hockey, Basketball, Track

Jane Dens McManigal was a standout three-sport student-athlete at Westhampton College. The 1949 head cheerleader, McManigal was dedicated to inspiring the college community to participate in and support Spider athletics.

An outstanding field hockey player, McManigal earned All-Virginia honors in 1946. She also served as team captain for the basketball and track teams. She set the school record by running the 50-yard dash in 5.9 seconds. Her mark of 6.2 seconds in the event was recorded as the official school record because it happened in competition.

Wayne Fowler – Football

In only two years at the University of Richmond, offensive lineman Wayne Fowler branded his name among the most dominant lineman in Southern Conference history.

A second team All-American in 1969 and a third-team selection in 1968, Fowler earned the prestigious Jacobs Blocking Trophy both seasons as the best blocker in football. He also earned All-Southern Conference and All-South honors in 1968 and 1969.

Fowler helped lead the Spiders to the 1968 Tangerine Bowl, where Richmond defeated Ohio University, 49-42. Following his collegiate career, Fowler played in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., and was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 1970.

E. Claiborne Robins Jr., R’68 and H’86 – Benefactor

The Robins name has been prominent in Richmond athletics for many years. Following in his father’s generous path, E. Claiborne Robins Jr. and his family have provided support in numerous ways to the University of Richmond and Spider athletics.

A well-known philanthropist, Robins is president and CEO of E.C. Robins International Inc. He has been active in many community and higher education organizations, including the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges, Virginia Historical Society, the Greater Richmond Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Maymont Foundation, where he was president, and the Richmond Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, where he currently is chairman.

Robins is a member of the University’s Board of Trustees. In 1985, he received the Alumni Award for Distinguished Service.

The five individuals will be inducted into the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame during a reception and ceremony Feb. 8 in the Jepson Alumni Center. The inductees will be recognized later that evening at halftime of the Spiders’ basketball game against St. Bonaventure that begins at 7:30 p.m.

Tip Off Time

Basketball season begins under new head coaches

A new era in Richmond basketball commenced this winter as first-year head coaches Jerry Wainwright and Joanne Boyle began their quest for Atlantic 10 titles.

Wainwright compares the 2002-03 edition of his squad to a proverbial pot of soup. The ingredients are terrific, he notes; however you must add different things to the pot until you acquire the right taste.

“As I make this ‘soup,’ I have to be careful not to bring it to a boil too fast,” says Wainwright. “ I think my personality will show in this team. However, I also think people will be surprised that how I like to play is very similar to the Richmond teams of the past.”

The former head coach at UNC Wilmington (136-103, eight years) takes over a Spiders team (22-14, second in the West Division in 2001-02) that features four returning starters, eight returning lettermen and five talented newcomers.

“One of the motivating factors for me in making the move to the University of Richmond was the exceptional playing field the Atlantic 10 offers,” Wainwright adds. “This team became well established in the league last season, but in order to stay among the leaders, you can’t look over your shoulder. I anticipate being the hunted this season, not the hunter.”

The Spiders’ schedule features seven television appearances, including an ESPN2 contest with Temple (Saturday, Jan. 11) and an ESPN date with Xavier (Saturday, Feb. 1). Both contests are at the Robins Center, which celebrates its 30th year of basketball this season.

Boyle, a former assistant at national power Duke, takes over a women’s program that finished second in the West Division of the A-10 a season ago. The Spiders led the conference in scoring (78.5 ppg) and three-point field goals made (6.7 pg) while finishing second in both field goal percentage (.446) and three-point field goal percentage (.370).

In nine years at Duke, Boyle helped lead the Lady Blue Devils to eight straight NCAA Tournament showings including two Final Four, one Elite Eight and two Sweet Sixteen appearances. The gifted coach returns eight players from last year’s squad to lend experience to a brilliant incoming class.

“We want to be a team with a lot of heart. I expect our opponents to walk off the court after a game and say that we played hard and gave 100 percent,” Boyle says. “We have the level of talent needed to be successful, and if our players can show the heart, this team has a chance to accomplish a lot.”

For more on Richmond basketball, including schedules for the 2002-03 season, visit the athletics Web site at www.RichmondSpiders.com