Seniors happy yet wistful as they set out into 'real world'
By Lolita Standifer
Post-Crescent Staff Writer
Lawrence Today magazine, Fall 2005
The following article is reprinted, with permission, from the June 13, 2005,
issue of the Post-Crescent.
There was laughter, and there were smiles. The atmosphere was jubilant as
279 Lawrence University seniors gathered in procession to take their final
walk across campus Sunday [June 12] to the
school’s
156th Commencement.
The campus ceremony took place under a huge tent, which protected the crowd
from the hot, sunny weather and any chance of rain. It could not protect
the graduates from the deluge of memories and emotions they took from the
campus
and the city they have called home for much of their academic careers.
“It’s been a surprising, exciting experience,” said Samuel
Felix Ankrah of Ghana, one of 29 graduates from 18 foreign countries.
“I learned a lot of things I don’t think I would have learned back
home,” said
Ankrah, who received a degree in government and economics. “I learned
other ways of thinking and dealing with other people. I wouldn’t trade
my experience for the world.”
Chelsea Bridges found some needed solitude before graduation became real,
opening the door to the next phase of her life.
“I got up and walked around campus at 7:00 a.m., just to have some alone
time. It calmed me down and made me reflect,” said Bridges, a St. Paul,
Minn., native. “It’s really sad. I feel like I’m leaving my
family and my home, and I don’t think I’m ready to go into the real
world.”
Despite the time on her own, Bridges — who received a Bachelor of Music
degree in flute performance — wasn’t alone in her sentiments.
She and several other graduates said the educational experience was exceptional
and life in Appleton was something [they] would never forget
.
Class
speaker Andria Helm (pictured) said her experience at Lawrence was awesome.
The Rocky Mount, N.C., native enrolled as a double major in chemistry and
voice but dropped chemistry to pursue her passion. She encouraged the graduating
class to do the same.
“Finding your passion, or letting it find you, is a great gift,” she
said. “As
you leave, ask yourself if you’re doing something you love.”
Travis Wuttke of Eden Prairie, Minn., who earned a degree in economics, seems
to have answered that question for himself.
“It was a good experience,” he said. “I’m taking over
a real-estate business in the next six months, so I’ll be going back to
my hometown.”
Fary Diagne of Senegal said Lawrence’s faculty was instrumental in
helping her adjust academically. Diagne enjoyed campus life at Lawrence, she
said, and joined Greenfire, an environmental association.
“I have a major in Spanish and a minor in environmental studies, and I’m
going for environmental education. My goal is to help the Third World.”
Susie Gates received an interdisciplinary degree in chemistry and biology
and in vocal performance. A Kaukauna native, she said being a part of the
conservatory
was a great experience.
“I’ve always been very interested in music, and I always wanted to
sing,” said
Gates, who has her eye on a career more closely related to biology than
music.
“I’m looking to get a job in a hospital lab and shadow a doctor,
so I can get some experience in what they do,” she said. “Then I’m
going to apply to some medical schools.”
Jazz, Spanish teachers are recognized
At Commencement 2005, Fred Sturm, C’73, was honored a second time for
his teaching, and Assistant Professor of Spanish Rosa Tapia was recognized
for her classroom contributions as a junior faculty member.
Sturm,
director of jazz and improvisational music, was presented Lawrence’s Award for Excellence
in Teaching, and Tapia was cited with the Young Teacher
Award.
Sturm, who received the Young Teacher Award in 1983, is one of only five
faculty members to earn both teaching honors. He recently was appointed
to the Kimberly-Clark
Professorship in Music.
“Your jazz ensembles have received national recognition for outstanding
performance from Downbeat magazine, and your jazz-composition and
arranging students, following
in their mentor’s footsteps, are also national award winners,” President
Jill Beck told Sturm in presenting his award. “Your own compositions
and arrangements are acclaimed worldwide. For these accomplishments and
your enduring dedication to jazz education at Lawrence and worldwide,
we are pleased
to honor you.”
Tapia
joined the Lawrence Spanish department in 2002 with research interests
in Spanish Peninsular and Latin American literature, as well as the use
of technology applications in foreign language education. Before coming
to Lawrence, she taught in the Spanish department at Pennsylvania State University,
earning
that institution’s outstanding teaching award for graduate students,
one of only five given university-wide.
In honoring her, Beck said Tapia had “won the hearts and minds” of
many students.
“Students say you inspired them to do their best work. They recognize and
applaud the high standards you set and express enthusiastic appreciation for
the effort
you expend to help them reach those goals,” said Beck. “Your
colleagues, too, express gratitude for your willingness to share teaching
strategies, especially
those related to uses of instructional technology in the classroom.”
A native of Ubeda, Spain, Tapia earned a bachelor’s degree in English
at the Universidad de Granada, a master’s degree in Spanish at
the University of Delaware, and the Ph.D. in Spanish at Penn State.
Warch, Harmon, Kohler receive honorary degrees
Richard Warch found himself in a familiar spot at June’s Commencement
exercises — near the front of the procession and seated on the stage — but
instead of overseeing the conferring of honorary degrees, as he did for
25 years, this time he was the recipient of one.
Warch, who retired in 2004 as president of Lawrence, received the honorary
degree Doctor of Humane Letters; composer and jazz musician John Harmon,
C’57,
was the recipient of the honorary degree Doctor of Fine Arts; and Wisconsin
business leader and philanthropist Herbert V. Kohler, Jr., chairman, chief
executive officer, and president of the Kohler Company, received the honorary
degree Doctor of Laws.
Harmon has left an indelible musical imprint, locally
as well as nationally, as a pianist, composer, arranger, and educator.
After earning a Bachelor
of Music degree in composition from Lawrence, he embarked on a musical
career that saw him study with legendary pianist Oscar Peterson, work as
a performer
and arranger in New York City, and tour Europe as the leader of a jazz
trio. He also was a founding member of Matrix, the critically acclaimed
contemporary
nonet that recorded five albums in the 1970s and early ’80s.
He also holds a master’s degree in music composition from the State
University of New York at Buffalo and recently was elected a fellow of
the Wisconsin Academy
of Sciences, Arts, and Letters.
In 1971, Harmon returned to Lawrence and founded the college’s award-winning
jazz studies program. He has remained involved with his alma mater over the
years, directing Lawrence’s
jazz combo program and teaching improvisation and jazz composition.
As a composer, he has received more than 50 commissions for a wide variety
of genres, including orchestra, band and chamber ensemble.
A graduate of Yale University, Kohler worked
his way up through the ranks from high school laborer in the manufacturing
business founded by his grandfather
in 1873 to become head of what is now one of the world’s largest
privately owned companies.
Kohler has received more than 200 design and utility patents, and his business
acumen has earned him induction into the National Association of Home Builders’ National
Housing Hall of Fame, the National Kitchen and Bath Hall of Fame, and the Family
Business Hall of Fame of the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western
Reserve University. In 1997, he was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor,
which recognizes distinguished Americans who have made significant contributions
to the nation’s heritage.
The Kohler family has had a long association with Lawrence. His mother
and uncle were trustees, and Kohler served as a member of the Board of
Trustees
from 1974 to 2002, when he became a trustee emeritus. Kohler Hall, a student
residence, and the Kohler Gallery in the Wriston Art Center are named in
honor of his mother and father, respectively.
Warch, the second-longest-serving president in
Lawrence history, was named the college’s 14th president in 1979.
Prior to that, he served for two years as vice president for academic affairs.
During his 25-year tenure, Warch established himself as a national advocate
for the residential liberal arts college model of education, promoting
the values of teaching and learning as well as civic and voluntary service.
Among the most important legacies of Warch’s presidency was the creation
of the popular weekend student seminar program at Björklunden, Lawrence’s
425-acre “northern campus” in Door County, and the establishment
of Björklunden as an integral part of the Lawrence educational experience.
Since leaving the presidency, Warch has been honored by Campus Compact,
a national higher education association dedicated to campus-based civic
engagement,
with
its Presidential Civic Leadership Award and been appointed by Wisconsin
Governor Jim Doyle to the state Ethics Board.
Warch earned his bachelor’s degree in history at Williams College
and a Ph.D. in American studies at Yale. He makes his home today in Ellison
Bay.