July 1999
The Björklunden Seminars program, begun in 1980, offers one-week "vacations with a focus," including this year such innovations as a Grandparent/Grandchild Week and the Tritone Jazz Fantasy Camp. Björklunden's garden is also the setting for a Door Shakespeare production of As You Like It.
August 1999
On August 6, President Richard Warch, members of the executive committee of the
Board of Trustees, faculty members from the Division of Natural Sciences, and
other members of the Lawrence community witness the Topping Out of Science Hall, under construction south of Main Hall. Trustee Oscar C. Boldt, in brief remarks, notes that the tradition of topping out a building, dating to Viking times, refers to the placing of the last, uppermost piece of structural steel. Participants in the ceremony observe yet another tradition by affixing their signatures to the final beam before it is put in place.
Lawrence becomes a partner school in interdisciplinary environmental science programs offered by the Biosphere 2 Center in Arizona, the world's largest controlled environmental facility, and the internationally renowned Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Lawrence students can now participate in the Earth Semester or Universe Semester offered at Biosphere 2 and the Semester in Environmental Science conducted through the Ecosystems Center at Woods Hole.
Susan Richards, director of library services at Western State College, is appointed director of the Seeley G. Mudd Library, succeeding Dennis N. Ribbens, who retired in 1998. Richards brings more than 16 years of library experience to Lawrence, including positions in the libraries of the University of Vermont, South Dakota State University, and Morningside College.
September 1999
The college begins its 153rd year with the arrival of the Class of 2003: 352 new students, 49 percent of whom ranked in the top 10 percent of their graduating classes. Nineteen new students were class valedictorians; collectively members of the class had a 3.62 grade point average in high school. They come from 34 states and 21 foreign countries; 62 percent are from states other than Wisconsin. Lawrence also welcomes 33 new faculty members, one of its largest influxes of new teachers in years, with African history, U.S. immigration policy, Kahler geometry, and corporate Broadway theatre among their many scholarly and research interests. Twelve of the new faculty members are tenure-track appointments.
Richard Warch, beginning his 21st year as president of Lawrence University, opens the academic year with his welcome to the new freshmen ("Your business here is to learn!") and his traditional address to the Matriculation Convocation. Among Lawrence presidents, Warch's tenure is second in length only to that of Samuel Plantz, Class of 1880, who served from 1894 to 1924; Milwaukee-Downer College's Ellen C. Sabin and Lucia R. Briggs each served 30 years as president, as well.
At the Matriculation Convocation the president announces the appointments of six faculty members to endowed professorial chairs: Corry Azzi, '65, the Edwin N. and Ruth Z. West Professor of Economics; Kenneth Bozeman, the Frank C. Shattuck Professor of Music; John Brandenberger, the Alice G. Chapman Professor of Physics; Elizabeth De Stasio, '83, associate professor of biology and the Raymond H. Herzog Professor of Science; Bridget-Michaele Reischl, associate professor of music and the Kimberly-Clark Professor of Music; and George Saunders, the Henry Merritt Wriston Professor of Social Science.
Lawrence is named one of the nation's 40 best national liberal arts colleges by U.S. News & World Report magazine and -- for the sixth consecutive year -- cited as one of the country's top 20 best educational values. In the magazine's "Great Schools at Great Prices" category, Lawrence is ranked 18th among national liberal arts colleges.
The Björklunden Student Program begins its fourth year. Weekend seminars held at the northern campus throughout the academic year include field work in archaeology, biology, and ecology; language immersion weekends in Chinese, French, German, Russian, and Spanish; leadership training weekends for honorary societies, campus organizations, and student government agencies; rehearsal and concert-preparation weekends for instrumental and vocal ensembles; a Model United Nations; and a workshop for student teachers.
October 1999
"Modernist Prints 1900-1955," an exhibition in the Wriston Art Center Galleries, opens with a lecture, "The Modernist Chameleon: European and American Art, 1900-1955," by Anne Grevstad-Nordbrock, instructor in art history. Drawn from the collections of Syracuse and Lawrence Universities, the exhibition includes works of Picasso, Kandinsky, Rouault, and Martin.
More than 70 alumnae attend Milwaukee-Downer Reunion Weekend. Held separately from Lawrence alumni reunions for the first time, the weekend includes tours of Milwaukee-Downer sites on the Lawrence campus, Alumnae College courses taught by members of the faculty, and an opportunity for qualified alumnae to row with current members of the Lawrence crew.
An organ recital celebrating the 80th birthday of Miriam Duncan, professor emerita of music, is performed in Memorial Chapel by one of her former students, Tom Froehlich, '74, organist at First Presbyterian Church of Dallas. Professor Duncan retired in 1985 after a distinguished 36-year teaching career at the Lawrence Conservatory of Music.
"Lunch at Lawrence" is a Friday noontime series open to the Fox Valley community and featuring talks by Lawrence faculty members. Michael T. Orr, associate professor of art history, kicks off the 1999-2000 series, speaking on "Relics, Ritual, and Reverence: The Art of the Altar in the Middle Ages." Other Lunch at Lawrence speakers will include Dirck Vorencamp, assistant professor of religious studies; Hazel Spears, assistant professor of psychology; James H. DeCorsey, assistant professor of music; Daniel J. Taylor, '63, the Hiram A. Jones Professor of Classics; Corry Azzi, '65, the Edwin N. and Ruth Z. West Professor of Economics; and Bradford G. Rence, professor of biology.
At the annual Blue and White Dinner during Homecoming, eight new members are inducted into the Lawrence University Intercollegiate Athletic Hall of Fame: Don Boya, '50, football and basketball; Ed Grosse, '54, football, basketball, and tennis; Gerard Hecker, '36, track, football; Tom Hughes, '77, football, wrestling; Bill McNamara, '88, football, basketball, baseball; Joe Patterson, '69, football; Julie Wick Sonneborn, '86, cross country, track, swimming; and Ken Urbanski, '82, football, track.
"Opera Outings," an adult class of the Lawrence Arts Academy, offers the first of three previews of operas presented by Milwaukee's Florentine Opera Company. In addition to the preview classes, the course includes attendance at performances of the operas.
Teacher Idea Exchange (TIE), sponsored by Lawrence, the Mielke Family Foundation, and the Post-Crescent newspaper, begins its second year of bringing together public and private schoolteachers for an exchange of information, ideas, and materials.
The first concert in the Performing Arts at Lawrence Artist Series features the Sejong Soloists with Eugenia Zukerman, flute. Other offerings in the 1999-2000 Artist Series will include violinist Hilary Hahn in November, pianist John Browning in April, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in May.
The Task Force on Residential Life, a select committee of faculty members, students, alumni, and trustees created in October 1998 by the Board of Trustees, reports to the campus on its progress in conducting a "broad review of residential life at Lawrence." The task force's report notes that its next step will be to disseminate a student-opinion questionnaire on campus and to conduct "listening sessions" at regional alumni meetings and with parents at Family Weekend.
Family Weekend offers activities for family members of all ages, including the opportunity for parents to attend Friday classes with their students, an update on Lawrence programs from President Richard Warch, an assortment of mini-courses and panel discussions offered by faculty members, a choir concert, and a Lawrence-Ripon football game.
More than 70 Fox Valley elementary and middle-school teachers attend a curriculum workshop sponsored by Lawrence University in its capacity as coordinating institution for the Fox Valley JASON Project, a distance-education science program founded by scientist and explorer Robert Ballard.
Wojciech Kotas, assistant professor of English, speaking as part of the Main Hall Forum series, examines two contrasting poetic interpretations of the Biblical story of the prodigal son in a talk titled "The Parable of the Prodigal Son in the Poems by Rilke and Bishop."
Members of Delta Gamma sorority go trick-or-treating for eyeglasses as part of their national organization's philanthropy of sight conservation and aid to the blind. Going door to door in Appleton, they ask for donations of reading glasses and old prescription glasses.
Lewis Lofgren, owner and chief executive officer of A.D.E. Inc., a plastic cushioning material and custom packing products company in Chicago, and Catheryn Hoehn, '64, a school counselor in Fullerton, California, are elected to the Lawrence University Board of Trustees to serve three-year terms beginning in January 2000. Elected as alumni trustees are Thomas C. Kayser, '58, Priscilla Peterson Weaver, C '69, and James H. Merrell, '75.
The women's cross country team wins the Midwest Conference championship. Earning all-conference honors are Julie Liebich, '01, Cathy Kempen, '01, Katy Roll, '01, Courtney Miller, 03, and Sally Schonfeld, 02.
November 1999
Heinz Fricke, musical director of the Washington Opera, conducts the Lawrence Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Richard Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" as the opening guest speaker of the University Convocation series. During the convocation Maestro Fricke receives the honorary degree Doctor of Fine Arts from President Richard Warch.
Under the auspices of A Center for Theatre, Education, and Research (ACTER), five British Shakespearean artists from such companies as the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre of Great Britain, and the BBC Shakespeare Series present Shakespeare's Twelfth Night in the Stansbury Theatre and work with Lawrence students, including all sections of Freshman Studies. Claire Marchionne, a member of the company, also performs The Human Voice, a one-woman play by Jean Cocteau.
In connection with the exhibition "Modernist Prints 1900-1955," the Wriston Art Center Galleries present Timothy Riley, '92, speaking on "Painted Music: Kandinsky, Schönberg, and the Art of the Abstract." A former education assistant and concert coordinator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art/The Cloisters in New York City, Riley has lectured extensively on a variety of topics, including the complementary aspects of medieval art and music.
Lawrence's annual Jazz Weekend opens with jazz singer Kevin Mahogany, performing with the Lawrence University Jazz Ensemble and the Jazz Singers. Also on the weekend's program is Arturo Sandoval, trumpet. Other 1999-2000 attractions in the Performing Arts at Lawrence Jazz Series are saxophonist Kenny Garrett in February and pianist McCoy Tyner in April.
Lawrence Theatre's Term I play is Translations, by Brian Friel, directed by Timothy X. Troy, '85, assistant professor of theatre and drama. In December, Translations is selected for presentation at the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival regional festival in Milwaukee, where three of its actors are selected for the Irene Ryan Acting Competition. Later, the Term III play, The Little Foxes, is an associate entry, with two actors chosen for the 2001 Ryan Competition.
December 1999
The A. B. Felgemaker Organ, opus 930, a two-manual, nine-stop instrument built in 1903 and purchased from the Outagamie Historical Society, is installed in the balcony of Lawrence Memorial Chapel. It is played for the first time in the December 3 concert "An Italian Christmas," featuring the Lawrence Concert Choir and Chorale, conducted by Richard Bjella, associate professor of music, and the Wind Ensemble Brass, conducted by Robert Levy, professor of music.
Students in Geology 09: Introduction to Environmental Science mount a poster session in Riverview Lounge to present the findings from their term-long service-learning project on the issues related to the problem of Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the Fox River.
January 2000
A six-part lecture series, "Another American Century?" sponsored by the Lt. William Kellogg Harkins, Jr., Values Program and the Mojmir Polvolny Lectureship in International Studies, begins on January 10 and continues through February 24. Six national scholars share their perspectives on whether the United States will remain the world's dominant superpower.
Lawrence's eighth annual Kwanzaa celebration commemorates traditional African-American cultural heritage and awareness in a program that includes authentic African-American cuisine, music by Kinkaviwo, Lawrence's popular percussion ensemble, and traditional African dances performed by students from around the world.
A performance by the internationally acclaimed Trio Rachmaninoff opens the third season of the Björklunden Music Series. The ten-part series showcases performances of faculty members and students of the Lawrence Conservatory. Held on Sunday afternoons in the Great Room of the Björklunden lodge, the concerts are open to the public without charge.
Howard Niblock, professor of music, leads a four-part Arts Academy adult class titled Weird Winds: What's That Person Playing?, in which he examines a group of rarely heard wind instruments, including the Heckelphone, tenoroon, fluglehorn, sarrusophone, and others.
At its January meeting, the Board of Trustees receives an interim report from the Task Force on Residential Life and charges the group to develop a detailed plan for residential life and a timetable for its implementation.
"Claiming Title -- Australian Aboriginal Artists and the Land," an exhibition in the Wriston Art Center Galleries, opens with a lecture by Laurel Bradley, director of exhibitions at Carleton College.
Timothy Troy, '85, assistant professor of theatre and drama, discusses the multiple roles historical research plays in successful theatre productions in a Main Hall Forum titled "The Director as Historian: Bringing the Past to Life on the Stage."
The Lawrence Arts Academy receives a special-project grant from the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation to acquire musical instruments for its Enriched Instrumental Instruction for Hmong Children program. Started in 1991, the six-week summer program offers school-age Hmong students music instruction and preparation for school band programs. In addition, the EII program is named one of 40 national semifinalists for the Coming Up Taller Award given by the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian James McPherson, the George Henry Davis Professor of American History at Princeton University and author of Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, addresses a University Convocation on the subject "Drawn with the Sword: Reflections on the American Civil War."
Nearly 800 people on 60 off-campus and nine on-campus teams take part in the 35th edition of the Lawrence University Midwest Trivia Contest. Some 364 trivial questions are asked during the 50-hour contest that runs from 10:00 p.m. on a Friday until midnight Sunday.
February 2000
Guatemalan novelist Gaspar Pedro Gonzalez examines the history of Maya literature in a bilingual Main Hall Forum. Gonzalez, author of the novels A Mayan Life and Return of the Maya, delivers his address in Spanish, with Susan Rasçon, '79, lecturer in Spanish, serving as English translator.
Bertrand Goldgar, professor of English and the John N. Bergstrom Professor of Humanities, discusses the attitudinal evolution of plagiarism from the 1700s to today in a campus lecture titled "Plundering the Past: Imitation and Plagiarism in the 18th Century."
John Medeski, keyboardist of the jazz trio Medeski, Martin, and Wood, and drummer Bob Moses present a concert in Memorial Chapel, sponsored by the Conservatory of Music.
Mortar Board sponsors a year-long series of "First Chance, Last Chance" lectures, featuring new arrivals to Lawrence in their first public appearances and retiring or departing members of the community in their last. First-year faculty members Julie Hastings, assistant professor of anthropology, and Eugénie Hunsicker, assistant professor of mathematics, present lectures on "Little to Gain, Much to Lose: Guatemalan Testimonials of State-Sponsored Rape" and "What Is Non-Euclidean Geometry?" respectively.
Joe Tennis, '98, a graduate student in library science at Indiana University, speaks on "Method, Space, and Lumping in Knowledge, Organization, and Gender Studies," sponsored by the Gender Studies program and PRIDE, the campus organization for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered individuals.
The men's swimming and diving team captures the conference championship, and the women's team places second. Both men's and women's basketball teams advance to their conference tournaments, and the men's squad goes on to the league title game. Three Lawrence wrestlers -- Ross Mueller, '01, Scott Fischer, '02, and Andy Kazik, '02 -- compete at the NCAA Division III championships, and fencer Jeff Peyton, '01, returns to the NCAA fencing championships for the third consecutive year.
Lawrence students exceed their goal by 25 percent, raising more than $15,000 for the local chapter of the American Cancer Society at the second annual Relay for Life. Nearly 200 students participate as members of 18 teams; during the seven-hour event, members of each team take turns walking or jogging on a track.
A Pre-Medical Workshop, "Preparation and Application Strategies for the Professional Schools," features commentary by seniors who have been successful in their graduate-education searches.
March 2000
Complementary productions of The Marriage of Figaro -- the play by Beaumarchais and the opera by Mozart -- are staged in February and March by the Lawrence Theatre and Conservatory Opera programs, respectively. In addition to offering a distinctive experience for campus and local audiences, the two performances provide Freshman Studies students the opportunity to read, see, and hear The Marriage of Figaro in two different contexts. The play is directed by Mark Dintenfass, professor of English; Timothy Troy, '85, is stage director of the opera, and Bridget-Michaele Reischl, associate professor of music and the Kimberly-Clark Professor of Music, is its music director.
Some 40 Lawrence students, in three separate groups, spend their spring breaks in service activities that include working on the Heifer Project's ranch in Arkansas, delivering medicine and other supplies to a school in Paraguay, and helping with a Habitat for Humanity building project in Georgia.
The first University Convocation of 2000 features former Senator George Mitchell, who presided over the negotiations that produced the 1998 "Good Friday" peace agreement in Northern Ireland, sharing his insider's perspective on the historic accord under the title, "Making Peace."
Barbara Lom, '89, a visiting assistant professor at Bowdoin College, delivers a lecture titled "Wiring the Brain."
April 2000
The 24th annual International Cabaret features a buffet-style international meal and performances by the Sambistas, as well as Indian, Latin American, Caribbean, and African dancers and an international fashion show.
Alan Keyes, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, visits the Lawrence campus a few days before the Wisconsin primary, to hold a "Renewing America Rally," during which he delivers an address and conducts a question-and-answer session.
David Oshinsky, professor of history at Rutgers University and a specialist in modern American history, discusses the life of Senator Joseph McCarthy and his impact on American politics and society in the 1950s in a Phi Beta Kappa Lecture, "The McCarthy Years Revisited."
The week of April 17 is proclaimed Classics Week at Lawrence. Events include talks by David Matz, '69, professor of classics at St. Bonaventure University, "Athletic Superstars in Ancient Greece"; Randall McNeill, assistant professor of classics, "Bread and Circuses: Public and Private Entertainment in Ancient Rome"; and Daniel Taylor, '63, the Hiram A. Jones Professor of Classics, "Olympia and the Olympic Games: 776 B.C.-2000 A.D."
Two physics majors, Angela Kopp, '01, and Cindy Regal, '01, are named recipients of a prestigious national academic fellowship, the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. They are the fourth and fifth Lawrence students in the 12-year history of the program to be named Goldwater Scholars.
A dedication ceremony is held for the new John G. Strange Student Commons in Main Hall. Made possible by a gift from Mary A. Strange and named for her late husband, who was president of the Institute of Paper Chemistry and a Lawrence trustee for over 50 years, the common room is part of an on-going process of refurbishing Main Hall that is scheduled to be completed in 2002.
Audiences at the first two of four Lawrence Theatre performances of Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes are invited to a special post-show panel discussion in which faculty members from the history department and the gender studies program; a representative from the Multicultural Affairs office; the play's director, Katherine Dudley, assistant professor of theatre and drama; and several student cast members participate in a forum titled "Power-Brokering Through Race and Gender."
The college community commemorates Earth Day with its second annual "Reduce Use Earth Festival," a day-long ecological extravaganza that features interactive educational presentations, a swap meet, a float parade/competition for Appleton elementary-school students, live music, and a trash cleanup of the banks of the Fox River organized by members of Greenfire, Lawrence's student environmental awareness organization, and area volunteers.
"Kwality Art Show," an exhibition of recent work by Yumi Janairo Roth, sculptor and assistant professor of studio art, opens in the Wriston Art Center Galleries with a talk by the artist.
The Lawrence Alumni Association of the Fox Valley Region and the Career Center collaborate to sponsor a symposium that brings alumni and students together to explore the career field of arts administration. The panel, moderated by Fred Gaines, the James G. and Ethel Barber Professor of Theatre and Drama, features five alumni -- Helen Dunbeck, '58, David Hawkanson, '69, Susan Chandler, C '79, Elise Brunnell, ¹93, and Susan Medak, ¹76 -- representing careers in art museums, theatrical companies, and arts fund-raising.
Two Lawrentians are among the six finalists in the Arthur Poister Competition for Organ held in Syracuse, New York. Paul Weber, '00, is awarded second-place honors for his performance of works by Bach and French composers Charles-Marie Widor and Olivier Messiaen. Elena Derzhavina, '99, is also a finalist; like Weber, she was a student of George Damp and Wolfgang Rübsam, the former and current university organists, respectively.
A traveling company from the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis gives two performances of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream in Stansbury Theatre, in addition to conducting workshops and impromptu theatre tutorials for Lawrence students.
The Wild Space Dance Company of Milwaukee, a modern dance ensemble, brings to campus the premiere production of Dancing Aloud, an evening of dance compositions based on contemporary fiction. In 2000-01, the Wild Space company will begin a two-year appointment in residence at Lawrence.
David Visser, '89, a chemist/group leader at Aldrich Chemical Company, presents "An Alumni View of Working in the Chemical Industry" as a chemistry department seminar.
The Believers, a musical play by Jessica Fogle, '00, is premiered. In June, Fogle is graduated cum laude in independent study and in course.
The annual Richard A. Harrison Symposium provides a forum for the presentation of original scholarly research and writing by outstanding students in the humanities and social sciences. The one-day event is named in memory of the late dean of the faculty, who was one of its founders.
A Steinway piano, the gift of Robert A. Dickens, '63, is dedicated as the Gladys Ives Brainard Memorial Piano during a recital played by Michael Kim, assistant professor of music. Professor Brainard taught piano at Lawrence from 1919 to 1951 and continued to give private instruction until 1961.
May 2000
Latin American novelist Isabel Allende receives the honorary degree Doctor of Literature at the annual Honors Convocation, at which she concludes the 1999-2000 University Convocation series with the address "Stories and Dreams."
Alumnus Philip J. Burck, '58, a research chemist retired from Eli Lilly and Company, presents a chemistry department seminar on "The Role of Chemists in the New Millennium."
Proceeds from a charity car wash sponsored by the Lawrence University Volunteer and Community Service Center are donated to the Housing Partnership of the Fox Cities, Inc., and a Peace Corps education program in Kenya that provides information to teenage girls on the prevention of AIDS and early pregnancy.
The new Lincoln Reading Room in Seeley G. Mudd Library, dedicated in May, is home to two collections of Civil War and Abraham Lincoln materials totaling some 1,600 items and donated by L. Keville Larson, '20, and Robert S. French, '48. Creation of the Lincoln Room was made possible by gifts from Robert French and Betty E. French Fleischer in memory of their mother, E. Bertha Andersen French.
Ashley Haase, '61, Regents Professor and head of the Department of Microbiology at the University of Minnesota Medical School, presents a Science Hall Colloquium, "AIDS Vaccines: Opportunities and Obstacles."
The 1,670th anniversary of the founding of Constantinople is marked by a faculty panel discussion titled "A New Rome, A New Era: Constantine the Great and His Legacy." In addition, a rare silver medallion of Constantine the Great, specially minted in 330 for the dedication of Constantinople, is on public display. The medallion, a recent gift to Lawrence, is a part of the Ottilia Buerger Collection of Ancient and Byzantine Coins and is exhibited with several other fourth-century gold and silver coins.
Lawrence softball players Mindy Rueden, '00, and Janae Magnuson, '00, are named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Great Lakes Region team, and Rueden is selected as Midwest Conference North Division Player of the Year, the fourth consecutive season a Lawrence player has earned that honor.
The Task Force on Residential Life, nearing the conclusion of its two-year assignment, notifies the Board of Trustees that it will be presenting a final report with recommendations on housing, food service, and campus life to the Board at its October 2000 meeting.
The Lawrence Symphony Orchestra, Concert Choir, and Chorale are joined by the White Heron Chorale in performing Brahms' Requiem.
The final exhibition of the year in the Wriston Art Center Galleries showcases the work, in a variety of media, of senior art majors.
June 2000
The 21-member Lawrence University Jazz Ensemble is named co-winner in the college division of the Jazz Big Band category in Down Beat magazine's 23rd annual student music awards contest. The award is Lawrence's ninth overall and fifth in the past seven years.
Construction scaffolding appears on Lawrence Memorial Chapel as structural repairs begin on the building's familiar steeple, a campus landmark second only to Main Hall's cupola as a visible symbol of Lawrence University. The steeple project is the latest in a series of renovation efforts made possible by gifts from Dorothy S. Hoehn, including most recently a beautifying "make-over" for the chapel's lobby, restrooms, and balcony stairwells.
Lawrence University is named a recipient of a 2000 Circle of Excellence Educational Fund-Raising Award by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. Lawrence is one of only six private liberal arts institutions to receive what is considered to be the most distinguished honor in the development profession.
President Warch announces that Takakazu Kuriyama, LL.D. '93, who attended Lawrence in the mid-1950s and went on to become Japan's ambassador to the United States, will return to the college in September 2000 as a Stephen Edward Scarff Memorial Visiting Professor and will spend the first five weeks of the Fall Term teaching a course on The Postwar Japanese-American Relationship.
After an extensive review of the college's general education requirements, the faculty votes to adopt a revised set of requirements that will go into effect in the 2001-02 academic year. The last previous change in requirements took place in 1985. Under the new plan, students will be expected to complete course work in three categories: distribution, requiring courses in all four divisions of the curriculum; diversity, requiring both courses that focus on non-Western cultures or global issues and courses that focus on dimensions of diversity of importance within the United States; and competency, requiring courses designated as writing intensive, speaking intensive, emphasizing mathematical reasoning or quantitative analysis, and developing proficiency in a foreign language.
Charles F. Lauter, retiring dean of off-campus programs and international student advisor, is asked by the Class of 2000 to speak at their Baccalaureate event during Commencement Weekend. Lauter's topic is "Values as Verbs," discussing the appropriateness of moral education to a liberal education. Also retiring in 2000 are Alice King Case, lecturer in studio art, and Frederick Gaines, the James G. and Ethel Barber Professor of Theatre and Drama.
Robert Boyle, social studies teacher at Shellsburg High School, and Robert Peterson, science and mathematics teacher at Frederic High School, are honored at Lawrence's Commencement with the Outstanding Teaching in Wisconsin Award. Secondary-school teachers from Wisconsin schools are nominated for the award by Lawrence seniors who were their students.
Also at Commencement, Bruce Pourciau, professor of mathematics, receives the University Award for Excellence in Teaching, and Brigetta Miller, C '89, assistant professor of music and director of music education, receives the Young Teacher Award.
Honorary degrees at Commencement are presented to singer Shirley Emmons, '44, Doctor of Fine Arts, and author Lorrie Moore, Doctor of Literature. In keeping with the Lawrence tradition, each delivers a short message to the graduates.
At the annual Alumni Convocation during Reunion Weekend, eight alumni receive special recognition from the Lawrence University Alumni Association. Honored for distinguished achievement are Mary Dinauer, '75, H. Michael Hartoonian, '60, David Sackett, '56, and Henry A. Spille, '54. A. Jack Hafner, '50, and Jeanette Schmidt Hess, M-D '60, are recognized for service to society, and Andrea Stephenson Bletzinger, '40, and Helen Buscher Franke, '60, receive awards for outstanding volunteer service to Lawrence.
Gregory Volk, vice-president for development and external affairs, reports that, for the third year in a row, a fund-raising record was set in the 1999-2000 fiscal year, with more than $21 million in gifts received from private sources, including a new record for The Lawrence Fund at $2.9 million.