Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage SPRING 2016 | HOW DREW PREPARES STUDENTS FOR THE REAL WORLD IN THE REAL WORLD PAID Permit 571 Drew University Burl. VT 05401 36 Madison Ave. Madison, NJ 07940 drew.edu MAGAZINE You are a part of One And All. To date, we have raised 97% of One And All’s ambitious $80 million goal. What does that mean for Drew and our students? More scholarships, fellowships and internship funds, new research and supervised ministry opportunities, the renovated Ehinger Center and Hall of Sciences and so much more! At a time when giving to Drew is at an all-time high, we have one important goal to reach: increasing alumni participation. So here’s a new challenge—our BIGGEST one yet: If we hit 28% alumni participation by June 30, an alumni couple will kick in $200,000 to help meet the campaign’s $80 million goal. That’s the One And All Challenge. Meet the Challenge. Make your gift by June 30. All it takes is One And All. drew.edu/challenge CHALLENGE LESS SITTING. MORE DOING. THINK OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM This issue explores the many ways Drew students benefit from experiential learning opportunities that often take them far from the comforts of The Forest. One feature highlights new and enhanced intern- ships made possible by donors who support the One And All campaign. Another focuses on the cross-cultural experience that is a cornerstone of the Theological School curriculum. And another demonstrates how Drew’s research-based science programs launch graduates toward professional success. Collectively, our stories and photographs under- score Drew’s signature culture: Less sitting. More doing. Drew students enrolled in the New York Semester on Communications and Media visit the Made in NY Media Center in Brooklyn. 2 Drew Magazine I drewmagazine.com Spring 2016 1 Bill Cardoni Spring 2016 I Contents DREW MAGAZINE Volume 43, No. 1, Spring 2016 PRESIDENT MaryAnn Baenninger, PhD VICE PRESIDENT FOR 64 COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING Michelle Kim C’16— Kira Poplowski, PhD actress, dancer, intern, scholar—talks back. VICE PRESIDENT FOR UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT Kenneth Alexo, Jr., PhD GUEST EDITOR Christopher Hann ART DIRECTOR Margaret M. Kiernan MANAGING EDITOR Kristen Daily Williams C’98 GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Peter Heineck, Rizco Design, Melanie Shandroff PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT Lynne DeLade C’12 6 EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS Donor-supported Risa Barisch, Matt Choquette, Kevin Coyne, internships allow Andrew McMains, Kimberly Mollo, Amy Motzenbecker, legions of Drew Shannon Mullen, Renée Olson, Leslie Garisto Pfaff students to learn on the job. 40 WEBMASTER Meet Linus, the Justin Jackson C’05 doggone cutest creature on ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OFFICERS campus. Robert Benacchio C’98, president, College Alumni Association Don Wahlig T’09, president, Theological School Alumni Association Drew Magazine (ISSN 0889-0153) is published by Drew University, 36 Madison Ave., Madison, NJ 07940, USA. Standard rate postage paid at Madison, New Jersey, and additional mailing office. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Office of Alumni Records, Alumni House, 18 Drew University, Madison, NJ 07940. All material in Drew Magazine is ©2016 Four Theological by Drew University. School students and graduates recall SUBSCRIPTIONS the value of the Through your relationship to Drew University, school’s cross- you are a subscriber of Drew Magazine. 26 cultural program. For Nadia Ahmad ADDRESS CHANGES OR TO UNSUBSCRIBE C’99, lab research Office of Alumni and Parent Relations, 973.408.3229, she conducted in [email protected] Drew’s RISE Everything Else LETTERS TO THE EDITOR program set in [email protected] or to the motion her career 4 Mead 207 first address above as a doctor. 34 Around the Drewniverse Drew University is an equal-opportunity, affirmative-action employer and educator. 37 Into The Forest Views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect official policy of the university. 47 Classnotes Cover image, Bill Cardoni 2 Drew Magazine I drewmagazine.com Mead 207 A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT As I near the end of my second full year in The Forest, I have begun to feel like I really know this great University. Drew’s learning-by-doing culture is While I still have the pleasure and excitement of discovering built on intrinsic opportunities, from a first-year class trip to NYC, to the Wall Street Semester, to study abroad something new about Drew’s history, or meeting accomplished programs—and everything in between. alums for the first time, I feel at home here already, and I am very clear on what makes Drew special. ne of those things is the quality and pervasive- tower” education, disconnected from the so-called “real outside of Drew. Aspiring public servants and attorneys ness of learning opportunities that take place world,” and unsuited for preparing students for the life of have managed actual ongoing or special projects in the outside the confines of the traditional classroom. work and career. Borough of Madison. Dozens of students over the years O These criticisms of higher education have merit, but have interned on Wall Street. And the list goes on… We’ve become so accustomed to hearing about this kind of learning, with overused phrases like “experiential learning” they are also short-sighted. A student who spends four or The experiences happen through authentic—not and “engaged learning” or definitions that describe the form more years getting her undergraduate degree in a vacuum artificial—routes just as they happen in the world of work, of outside-the-classroom work—internships, undergraduate is very likely to struggle with the transition to work and through productive networking, apprenticeships, fellow- research, civic engagement, practicum, study abroad—that career. Conversely, a student who is trained only for a ships, assistantships and in many cases, stiffly competitive we take little time to reflect on why these forms of learning specific career will be severely limited to that profession processes. They are why 100 percent of recent Drew are exemplary, especially combined with classroom learning, throughout his career. alumni and alumnae are There is another answer, firmly “situated” within six reflection and other forms of faculty mentoring. I expected Drew to be I speak with authority on this subject. I feel mildly embar- another path, and it is reflected months after graduation, rassed to toot my own horn, but I do it to make clear that in how our students learn at good at this kind of learning. What in the first jobs of their I’ve spent much of my career promoting this kind of learning Drew. The terms I like to use “ careers, in highly competi- I found instead is greatness, and what and dissecting its attributes. In 2013 I received the national for this kind of learning are tive graduate programs and President’s Award for Excellence in Experiential Education authentic, grounded, con- I believe to be a national model for a few in carefully selected President Baenninger, here with Adam nected and seamless. By the “ and prestigious post- Oppegaard C’19, working with Morris from the National Society for Experiential Education. I came preparing students in all three schools Habitat for Humanity. to Drew on the heels of winning that award, and my stan- time a Drewid graduates, she baccalaureate volunteer dards were very high. I expected Drew to be good at this kind or he must feel comfortable for a seamless transition between their settings, like Peace Corps of learning. What I found instead is greatness, and what I in the world of work, and should degrees and meaningful careers. and Teach For America. believe to be a national model for preparing students in all feel overprepared relative to Every step of the way our three schools for a seamless transition between their degrees peers in a graduate school setting. students are accompanied and meaningful careers. A phrase I use often is that this kind For our graduates, the first job interview comes after dozens on their journey by faculty mentors who serve as guides, of learning is found in the DNA of Drew University. of authentic preparatory experiences: interviewing for several as sages, as “Yodas” along the route. But the words “experiential” and “engaged” are so over- internships, “speed-mentoring” with local executives or sitting Our faculty support students in grounded, authentic used that we don’t stop and reflect on what they mean, or on the other side of the interview table in the context of a and seamless experiences that aren’t just in preparation how or why these practices transform learning. To under- civic engagement placement. A newly minted science grad for the real world, they are in the real world. That is what stand this, it’s easiest to describe what most college and walks into the lab after having worked side by side with a this issue of Drew Magazine is about. It is also about university educations don’t do, and why some perceive that mentor-colleague among our faculty, and likely has presented the very generous donors who support our students there is a crisis in education. or published her or his work in peer-reviewed publications or in these pursuits. Drew has inspired them to “pay it Connected to this is the perception that the kind of education conferences. Aspiring actors have auditioned for many—and forward,” and we are deeply, deeply grateful. appeared in some—productions in professional theatres —MaryAnn Baenninger one receives at Drew—a liberal arts education—is an “ivory Lynne DeLade C’12. Facing page, Bill Cardoni 4 Drew Magazine I drewmagazine.com Spring 2016 5 HELP WANTED. WISH GRANTED. Each year hundreds of Drew students gain practical, tangible experience in the field with the support of an invaluable collection of funded internships, many made possible by the One And All campaign.