Lawrence Today magazine, Summer 2006
Lawrence’s Focus on Chicago was
a February-to-May exercise in visibility and neighborliness, highlighting the
college’s long-standing, close connections
to the Windy City and adding some new ones. Made possible by support from trustee
emeritus J. Thomas Hurvis, ’60, and with the energetic involvement of
Julie Esch Hurvis, ’61, and Naomi Gitlin, ’85, Focus on
Chicago was
the sum of these parts:
•
A photographic exhibition, Picturing
Peace, featuring digital photos by children
and young adults participating in the ArtsBridge program, was on display February
18-March 25. A reception for Lawrence alumni, parents, and friends (pictured)
was held at the Jane Addams Hull House Center for Arts and Culture, site of
the
exhibition,
on March 4.
•
The first of two full-page Lawrence admissions ads, featuring recent graduate
Michael Brody, ’05, appeared
in the March 13 issue of Chicago-regional editions of Time magazine.
A second ad, featuring three-time basketball All-American and Jostens Trophy
winner
Chris Braier, ’06, ran on
April 10. Reprints of the ads were sent by the Admissions Office to area high
school students and counselors.
•
The Lawrence University Concert Choir (video), under the direction of Professor
Richard Bjella, performed at First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple
and
at the Baha’i House of Worship on March 26. The concert at
the Baha’i House of Worship was standing-room-only.
•
A Freshman Studies-style discussion of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice,
for alumni and friends of the college, was led by Timothy A. Spurgin, associate
professor and the Bonnie Glidden Buchanan Professor of English Literature (pictured,
right), at the Newberry Library on April 18.
•
A morning of community service by the Lawrence chapter of Students' War Against
Hunger and Poverty (SWAHP), alumni, and friends of the college benefited The
Cornerstone Community Outreach soup kitchen and The
Caring Closet resale store,
May 6.
•
The Lawrence Chamber Players (pictured,
left) performed a free concert at the Merit School of Music on May 20. Members
of the ensemble
included Professors Janet Anthony,
Matthew Michelic, Stéphane Tran Ngoc, and Anthea Kreston, with guest
artist, pianist Anthony Padilla.
Other activities in the Chicago metropolitan area, which paralleled the visibility
initiative and added to Lawrence’s heightened presence, were a performance
in Evanston by Lawrence conservatory faculty and students and Academy of Music
faculty members of two compositions by Professor John
Halvor Benson on March
31 at the annual meeting of the Great Lakes Chapter of the College Music Society;
an appearance by conservatory professors Dane
Richeson and Mark Urness with
Joe Locke at the Green Mill Jazz Club on April 7 and 8; and a radio performance
by percussionist Richeson with the Chicago contemporary chamber ensemble CUBE
in a broadcast of Live From WFMT on April 10.
Visibility efforts also included
a three-column advertisement in the March 19 edition of the Chicago Tribune congratulating Eric
Simonson, ’82, on his Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject.