Connections

SWARTHMORE GATHERINGS NEAR YOU

UPCOMING EVENTS

Metro DC/Baltimore: The exhibition Our Expanding Universe takes visitors on a journey through 100 years of science at the Carnegie Institution. Its story follows Carnegie explorers through the extremes of nature and the chaos of political revolution as they unravel great questions of science ranging from the structure and function of the genetic code to the origin and final destiny of the universe. Connection members will be able to explore the exhibition firsthand on April 11, from 6–8 p.m., at the Carnegie Institute of Washington, 1530 P Street NW. The cost is $5, and drinks and munchies will be provided. Please R.S.V.P. to Connection Chair Sampriti Ganguli ’95 at (202) 545-0835 or sampritig@hotmail.com.

“Christmas in April”: The Swarthmore Connection will join Rebuilding Together with Christmas in April of Washington, D.C., to renovate the house of an elderly or disabled homeowner in the district on Saturday, April 27. Volunteers of all experience and skill levels are needed. Last year, a group of about 40 alumni and friends cleaned up, painted, and made repairs to an aging house in northeastern Washington, helping to make it warm, safe, light, and dry for the family. They worked hard and had a lot of fun, with old and new friends. With your help, this year’s project will be just as successful. If you’d like to join us this year, contact Kay Gottesman as soon as possible at (301) 530-5504 or gottes@attglobal.net.

Philadelphia: Orienteering is the sport of navigation with map and compass. The object is to run, walk, ski, or mountain bike to a series of locations shown on a map and finish in the shortest amount of time. Orienteering is often called a “thinking sport” because it involves map reading and decision making as well as a great workout. The Philadelphia Connection will attend an event hosted by the Delaware Valley Orienteering Association on Saturday, April 20, at Core Creek Park near Newtown, Pa., at 11 a.m. The cost is $7. Details are available at www.dvoa.us.orienteering.org. You may also contact Connection Chair Jim Moskowitz ’88 at (610) 604-0669 or jimmosk@alum.swarthmore.edu.

Pittsburgh: Melissa Kelley ’80 is retiring as Pittsburgh Connection chair because a new job is taking her to Erie, Pa. However, she leaves the Connection in the able hands of Barbara Taylor ’75 and Michelangelo Celli ’95, who have volunteered to take over this Connection. We welcome Barbara and Michelangelo and thank them for keeping this busy Connection going. Melissa will continue to serve on Alumni Council as president designate, and we thank her for her fine work as Pittsburgh Connection chair. Knowing Melissa, we expect there will be an Erie Connection before too long!

RECENT EVENTS

Alaska: Alden Todd ’39 arranged for a recent Connection event in Alaska. Dan West, vice president for development, alumni relations, and public relations, met with several alumni, parents, and one current student in Anchorage in January—yes January!—to discuss life at Swarthmore today.

Chicago: As the leaves changed color in the late fall, Chicago-area alumni enjoyed an afternoon at the Morton Arboretum. Jeff Jabco of the Scott Arboretum joined the group and provided color commentary.

Professor Ray Hopkins, Richter Professor of Political Science, visited the Chicago Connection to guide a discussion titled “Constructing Responses to Sept. 11.” Before the program, Professor Hopkins communicated with alumni by e-mail to gain an understanding of the issues of major concern to alumni. Many thanks to Chicago Connection Chair Marilee Roberg ’73 for arranging both of these events.

Pasadena, Calif.: In January, President and Mrs. Bloom hosted “A Conversation With the President.” Connection members discussed a variety of topics of interest to the College community, including the Board of Managers’ athletics decision, diversity on campus, instituting an Islamic studies program at the College, and several funding issues. Thanks to Suzanne ’72 and Walter Cochran-Bond ’70 and David ’45 and Mary Joann Lang for making this event possible.

Seattle and San Francisco: Barry Schwartz, Swarthmore College Dorwin P. Cartwright Professor of Social Theory and Social Action, visited the Seattle and San Francisco Connections in early March to present a lecture titled “Too Many Choices: Who Suffers and Why.”

Intercultural Center’s Celebration on April 6

All alumni are invited to return to Swarthmore for the Intercultural Center’s (IC’s) 10th Anniversary Alumni Gathering on April 6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The anniversary celebration will allow alumni to meet with current students and explore opportunities to get involved with the ongoing activities of the IC. Please join the IC community in our newly renovated offices in Tarble near the Fragrance Garden. For information, please contact IC Acting Director Meghna Bhagat at (610) 328-7360 or mbhagat1@swarthmore.edu.

CALLING ALL ENTREPRENEURS

According to Webster’s, an entrepreneur is defined as, “One who undertakes to start and conduct an enterprise or business, usually assuming full control and risk.”

The Lax Conference on Entrepreneurship, to be held on April 7, beginning at noon, focuses on the business of business from the perspective of several alumni who followed their entrepreneurial spirits after graduating from Swarthmore. Tralance Addy ’69, founder, president, and chief executive officer (CEO) of Plebys International LLC, and Michael “Mickey” Herbert ’67, president, CEO, and majority owner of the Bridgeport Bluefish Baseball Club, headline the conference with their keynote addresses.

Tralance oversees innovative technology ventures targeting underserved populations worldwide. He is the former international vice president of Johnson & Johnson, where he led the establishment of technology-based business ventures. Mickey is a nationally recognized expert on health plans and is the former founder and CEO of a publicly traded health maintenance organization. In addition to his baseball team, he is currently the general partner of a major league lacrosse team and a sports and entertainment company.

The conference will also feature panel discussions on social entrepreneurship and venture philanthropy, thoughts on becoming an entrepreneur, and the nuts and bolts of a successful business venture. Panelists include Eric Adler ’86, Richard Barasch ’75, Caroline Curry ’90, Kevin Hall ’89, Ethan Klemperer ’94, Arnold Kling ’75, Emily McHugh ’90, Seth Murray ’98, Timothy Sibley ’98, Robin Shapiro ’78, Brian Smiga ’76, and Thomas Snyder ’72.

The Lax Conference on Entrepreneurship is funded by an endowment created by a bequest from the late Jonathan Lax ’71. Jonathan was class agent and a reunion leader. It is co-sponsored by the Swarthmore Business Society, the Office of Career Services, and the Alumni Relations Office.

For additional information or to sign up for the conference, call the Lax Conference Response Line (voice mail) at (610) 690-6887, or visit the conference Web site at http://lax.swarthmore.edu.

Alumni Council Continues
Healing Efforts at January Meeting

The Alumni Council is continuing efforts begun last fall to increase understanding and to establish a framework for healing among alumni following the College’s December 2000 decision to restructure the athletics program.

Representatives of the administration, Board of Managers, Alumni Council, and Mind the Light met on campus for a third time on Jan. 18. These included President Alfred H. Bloom; Managers Fred Kyle ’54 and Barbara Weber Mather ’65; Dave Rowley ’65, Rob Steelman ’92, and Diana Judd Stevens ’63, representing Mind the Light; and myself. Jack Riggs ’64, who participated in two meetings last fall, was unable to attend in January.

The tone of the conversation was respectful and constructive. During the meeting, participants reviewed progress on the three actions agreed to earlier and described in our Joint Communiqué in December, including the addition of two Alumni Council members to the Ad Hoc Athletics Review Committee of the Board, the participation of Alumni Managers in meetings of Council, and the review by Council of consensual decision-making processes at the College.

All were pleased to hear about the active participation by Council members Jenneane Jansen ’88 and Rick Ortega ’73 in a conference call and meeting of the Athletics Review Committee; Council’s interactions with Managers Catherine Good Abbott ’72 and Alan Symonette ’76 at our October 2001 meeting; and the development of a draft charge and a list of potential members of the team to review consensual decision making. Participants also heard about the productive meeting held on Dec. 8 with the Executive Committees of the Board and Council to learn of each group’s priorities and to explore ways to be supportive in these initiatives.

Participants asked that Council continue to take the lead in monitoring the actions agreed to and in reporting periodically as planned to the Swarthmore community. The parties acknowledged that agreement on certain matters such as the restoration of the sports affected and the exact events in the process by which the decision was made may not be possible but agreed that all share in their dedication to Swarthmore College. No other formal actions were added to those listed in the Joint Communiqué, but additional efforts to promote healing—and to provide leadership within the Centennial Conference in dealing with pressures to increase specialization and competition—were discussed. There is an understanding that such efforts will be initiated by the College at appropriate times. The parties did not set a date to meet again but left open the possibility of additional meetings if they were anticipated to be helpful.

The leadership of Alumni Council will fulfill its responsibilities to the Swarthmore College community as agreed in the Joint Communiqué and will continue to make themselves available to support any additional efforts to increase understanding and promote healing.

We are grateful to all those alumni who have offered comments and counsel. Your input is important to us, and we will respond to each of you as time permits. We also want to thank those who have agreed to serve in efforts to rebuild. We commit to providing periodic updates as these efforts proceed.

—Richard Truitt ’66

President, Alumni Association
rich_truitt@alum.swarthmore.edu

Two Join Board’s Ad Hoc Committee on Athletics

Alumni Council members Jenneane Jansen ’88 and Richard Ortega ’73 have been appointed the Board of Managers’ Ad Hoc Athletics Review Committee. The committee, chaired by Catherine Good Abbott ’72, was created in 2000 to act as a Board liaison with the campus Athletics Review Committee. According to Abbott, the ad hoc group “will ensure that the recommendations of the original Athletics Review Committee are implemented. In consultation with others, we will also develop criteria to monitor, on an ongoing basis, the future health of the athletics program.”

Jansen, who was elected to Council last year, is an attorney with the Minneapolis firm of Meagher & Geer, specializing in appellate law. A lifelong athlete and long-distance runner, she was captain of women’s cross-country for three years at Swarthmore, staying on to help coach running during a fifth academic year at the College. She says she is “interested in trying to mend some of the rift with alumni who are deeply troubled by the College’s restructuring of the athletics program.” Jansen can be reached by e-mail at jjansen@meagher.com.

Ortega, who lives in Glen Mills, Pa., has served on Alumni Council since 1999. He is a self-employed structural engineering consultant specializing in historic preservation—a vocation that blends both sides of his unusual Swarthmore double major in art history and engineering. Although he was not a varsity athlete in college, he is an active coach in youth soccer, basketball, and baseball. Ortega sees his role on the committee as “providing the Ad Hoc Committee with input from the Alumni Council and, by extension, from all alumni.” His e-mail address is rickortega@aol.com.

This year’s Extern program was a huge success. As usual, it allowed alumni and students to interact with and learn from each other. The College had more than 125 alumni volunteers, just slightly more than last year. On the other hand, student interest increased by approximately 30 percent. In Philadelphia, the number of student requests for externships doubled. Students were offered externship opportunities in Boston; New York; Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; and through a pilot program in San Francisco.

Alumni volunteers represented a wide range of careers, including research medicine, public defense, university administration, investment banking, labor arbitration, government, public policy, psychology, management consulting, technology, law, and arts management. One student was able to work in the frozen tissue collection of the Museum of Natural History, a great way to combine interests in science and the humanities.

The Extern program is extremely important to the College, in part, because of its benefits to both alumni and students. The evaluations from both student and alumni participants confirm their enjoyment of the activity. Sponsor James Sailer ’90 said: “[My extern] was motivated, engaged, curious, and productive. If all of your externs had such positive attitudes, I am sure you are dealing with a set of very happy sponsors.”

Emily Chavez ’03 said: “Everyone made me feel very welcome and was available for answering any questions I had...;. Even if I don’t choose to pursue nonprofit work in this particular area—homelessness and low-income housing issues—I have a sense of the structure of the organization, which I think I could apply to other areas.” And finally, Mary-Mack Callahan ’77 said, “The talents and enthusiasm of the Swarthmore students who come into this office consistently surpass our highest expectations—and the midwinter boost of the energy in our company benefits all of our work.”

What makes the Extern program even more impressive is that it is almost entirely organized by alumni volunteers. We congratulate and offer sincere thanks to this year’s coordinators: Cynthia Graae ’62, national extern sponsor; Allison Anderson Acevedo ’89; Robin Shiels Bronkema ’89; Jim DiFalco ’82; Elizabeth Killackey ’99; David Maybee ’62; Lauren McGrail ’98; Emily Rice-Townsend ’99; and Margaret Kaetzel Wheeler ’62. Many thanks to all of the other volunteers who helped organize Extern Week, who offered housing to student externs, and who took time from their work lives to teach Swarthmore students about a career they may wish to pursue.

Gatherings Extend Experience

In addition to the externships themselves, evening events were held in two cities to allow externs and sponsors to meet each other. In New York, students and alumni were invited to a panel discussion called “Making a Difference and Making a Living.” Panelists Laura Gitelson ’97, J.P. Partland ’90, Thomas Sahagian ’74, Theodore Silver ’94, Erika Teutsch ’44, and Noël Theodosiou ’94 spoke about their personal and professional paths post-Swarthmore. Anna Staab ’02 commented in her program evaluation that “It meant so much to me to hear that a community could extend beyond one’s years at Swarthmore and that fellow grads can support each other in making career decisions that may be unconven- tional.”

The Boston event was hosted by Roberta Chicos ’77 and provided an informal opportunity to put faces with e-mail names, share stories, and discover connections.

Plans for Next Year

Graae notes: “This year, for the first time, the extern organizers solicited volunteers by e-mail only. This worked very well and saved on postage and paper.

Please make sure that your e-mail address is up to date with the College if you are interested in participating in this, and other, College programs.” To update e-mail addresses, contact the Alumni and Gift Records Office at records@swarthmore.edu.

Even if it is not feasible for you to provide an externship at your place of employment, you can still be involved in the program by offering housing to a Swarthmore student during the extern week, which is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 13–17, 2003.

UPCOMING CAMPUS EVENTS

Intercultural Center 10th-Anniversary

Alumni Gathering: April 6

Family Weekend: April 12­14

Alumni College: June 4­6

Alumni Weekend: June 7­9

Alumni College Abroad: June 22­29

Fall Weekend: Sept. 28­29

For more information: www.swarthmore.edu/alumni