Lawrence University Lux Alumni Magazines Communications Spring 2017 Lawrence, Spring 2017 Lawrence University Follow this and additional works at: http://lux.lawrence.edu/alumni_magazines Part of the Liberal Studies Commons © Copyright is owned by the author of this document. Recommended Citation Lawrence University, "Lawrence, Spring 2017" (2017). Alumni Magazines. 110. http://lux.lawrence.edu/alumni_magazines/110 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Communications at Lux. It has been accepted for inclusion in Alumni Magazines by an authorized administrator of Lux. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Senior Experience of a Lifetime LAWRENCE SPRING 2017 contents From Sampson House EDITOR Tom Ziemer A LASTING EXPERIENCE Dear Lawrentians, To complete her Senior Experience as a CONTRIBUTING EDITOR 4 biology major, Madeline Schubert ’17 In a few weeks, members of the Class of 2017 will hear from Gil Suzanne Hones ’17 sequenced her own genes to look for Loescher, a world-renowned authority on refugee issues. They will ART DIRECTOR evidence of her genetic disorder. cross the stage on Main Hall Green, receive their diplomas, smile Liz Boutelle for pictures with their families, friends and faculty mentors, load ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT COMPOSER TO DIRECTOR, up their belongings and move on to whatever comes next. Year in OF COMMUNICATIONS 12 HEARTBREAK TO ACTION and year out, Commencement marks the end of one chapter of the Craig Gagnon ’76 Stephen Edwards ’85 wrote a requiem for lives of our newest Lawrentians, and also the start of another. They 160 voices and a 50-piece orchestra to CONTRIBUTORS have indelibly changed this university, and now they graduate to Kasey Corrado, Amy Morton ’84, Erin Dix ’08, Madeline Schubert ’17 pipetting a solution used to purify DNA. memorialize his mother. He followed that changing the world. When they leave us, we hope they will carry Garrett Katerzynske, Rick Peterson, 12 with a documentary that played across the their Lawrence experiences with them into their future personal and professional pursuits; Joe Vanden Acker, Lifongo Vetinde country on American Public Television. that their time in Appleton will continue to enrich their lives for decades to come. CLASS NOTES Dakota Williams ’14 YOUR LAWRENCE GUIDE TO SUMMER This is one of the central objectives of the George ’51 and Marjorie ’44 Chandler Senior Take in a performance by a classmate or PHOTOGRAPHY 13 Experience requirement, which asks every senior to demonstrate command of their Liz Boutelle, Chuck Katz, Claire E. Francis ’15, member of the Lawrence faculty, read one chosen majors through individualized, ambitious projects that draw on lessons learned Galdones Photography, Greg Helgeson, of your professor’s recommended books and skills gained throughout their time at Lawrence. Jim Schumaker, Thompson Photo Imagery, or plan a return to campus during Mile of Paul Wilke Music. Relax with Lawrence this summer. The word “capstone” is sometimes used to describe the Chandler Senior Experience. But FOR CHANGE OF ADDRESS go.lawrence.edu/voyager IN MY OWN WORDS—AMY MORTON ’84 these projects should in no way be viewed as the end of a student’s intellectual journey. We see 920-832-6549 Making a difference for people coming out the Chandler Senior Experience more as a connecting point between undergraduate studies [email protected] 21 and whatever comes next. Like an off-ramp and an on-ramp all at once, this experience helps of homelessness is one outcome of Amy TO SUBMIT IDEAS Morton’s successful restaurant business. students define what they have learned at Lawrence while honing skills that will serve them Lawrence University well in the future. Initial support from the Mellon Foundation, a gift from the Chandlers, and Communications countless hours of faculty supervision and mentorship make this program possible. 711 E. Boldt Way 22 A Fight for Her Write Appleton, WI 54911-5690 920-832-6593 24 Newly Tenured Faculty Research shows the value of such work. In a 2014 survey commissioned by the [email protected] Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U), 87 percent of employers said 28 Inside Lawrence Opinions expressed in this magazine do not they would be more likely to consider hiring a recent graduate if he or she had completed necessarily represent Lawrence University policy. Find out where you can get your Lawrence fix this summer. 34 Student Profiles a senior thesis or comprehensive project. 13 Lawrence (USPS 012-683) is published three 36 Athletics times a year by the Lawrence University Office Amy Morton ’84 serving up food and hope. (Galdones Photography) The AAC&U, through its Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) initiative, in of Communications. Nonprofit postage paid at 40 Class Notes 2015 issued the LEAP Challenge: “signature work,” a cumulative, integrative, student- Appleton, Wis., and additional mailing offices. defined project, should be a goal for all students at colleges and universities across the 66 The Big Picture country. In introducing this challenge, then–AAC&U President Carol Geary Schneider emphasized the need for students “to prepare to contribute in a world marked by open or unscripted problems—problems where the right answer is far from known and where ON THE COVER solutions are necessarily created under conditions of uncertainty.” Maddie Schubert ’17 is pipetting short DNA sequences into a reaction, At Lawrence, we often talk about preparing students for success in a rapidly changing which allows for the chemical synthesis of a specific genetic region that world. We believe the Chandler Senior Experience plays a key role in that preparation. can be subsequently identified using I hope your Lawrence education continues to provide a positive influence in your life, DNA sequencing. and I look forward to seeing many of you at Reunion and throughout the summer. Yours, Mark Burstein 21 President The Chandler Senior Experience isn’t simply a graduation requirement— it empowers Lawrentians A lasting to develop and showcase their abilities through experience meaningful, original work. By Tom Ziemer The first clue emerged when Madeline Schubert ’17 was 10. Head-splitting migraines would torment her for weeks at a time. A surgery at 16 relieved pressure on her brain caused by a Chiari malformation, a condition in which the brain is pushed down onto the top of the spinal chord. But during an extended recovery that forced her to miss most of her junior year of high school, Schubert started complaining of joint pain. And she wasn’t healing at a typical pace. Finally, a trip to the geneticist’s office provided an answer: She had Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), a genetic disorder involving the body’s connective tissue. Seven and a half years after her symptoms first surfaced, Schubert had an accurate diagnosis. Now, as a 22-year-old senior at Lawrence, she’s spent her Tfinal year in Appleton trying to unravel the next layer of the mystery: What exactly, on a genetic level, causes her condition? To complete her Senior Experience as a biology major, Schubert has sequenced her genes and hunted for evidence of mutations that might be behind her hypermobile type of EDS, the most common variation of the disorder but one whose genetic roots aren’t yet definitively known. “When we were looking at Senior Experience options, it seemed like a really natural choice,” she says. The Chandler Senior Experience, a campuswide requirement for graduation that started with the Class of 2012 and is supported by a bequest from late alumni George ’51 and Marjorie Chandler ’44, takes on many different forms across departments and disciplines, but there’s one unifying Madeline Schubert assembles a gel box for size-separating DNA using an electrical current, a technique called gel electrophoresis. 4 SPRING 2017 LAWRENCE 5 SENIOR EXPERIENCE ALLOWS YOU TO BRING TOGETHER THE STRANDS OF YOUR EXPERIENCE thread that runs through more than 300 projects every year: Each one is designed and completed by the individual student. AND WEAVE THEM INTO A FINISHED WHOLE.” —Dave Burrows, provost Sure, faculty advisors can offer direction, support and guidance. Ultimately, though, students shape their projects, “ infusing them with their interests and values. It’s their opportunity to draw upon lessons learned from seemingly disparate experiences while pursuing ambitious projects THE BIRTH OF A GRADUATION REQUIREMENT WHY THE CHANDLER SENIOR EXPERIENCE? that push beyond typical coursework. Simply put, Senior Senior Experience has a new name: It’s now called Experience represents a chance for graduating Lawrentians Burrows played a leading role in establishing Senior Experience the George and Marjorie Chandler Senior Experience to demonstrate command of whatever it is they’ve spent the as a formal graduation requirement after arriving as provost in to recognize the generosity of late alumni George ’51 past four or five years doing. 2005. Lawrence’s Curriculum Committee took up this task and the faculty approved a proposal in 2007, making the Class of and Marjorie Chandler ’44, whose bequest supports Lawrentians’ senior projects. George Chandler viewed You’d be hard-pressed to find another member of the Class 2012 the first to all produce Senior Experiences. his senior honors thesis—supervised by then-Lawrence of 2017 with as deep of a connection to a project as Schubert. “Some departments already had something that looked like president Nathan Pusey—as a pivotal part of his time Even before her Ehlers-Danlos syndrome diagnosis, she was on campus. keenly interested in genetics. She remembers visiting The Senior Experience, other departments had to create it,” recalls Burrows, noting the Association of American Colleges Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago as an 8-year-old. “The oral examination on my senior honors thesis was While her older brother ran off to look at dinosaurs, Schubert & Universities includes capstone courses and projects on its list of high-impact practices.