ST. MARy’S COLLEGE of Maryland winter 2012 ORIGINALITY, RESEARCH, INSPIRATION BOOKS that COOK English Majors Get Their Hands Dirty [ page 6 ] THE VIRTUAL DOVE SMP Sails into Uncharted Territory [ page 10 ] helping students SUCCEED St. Mary’s Emerging Scholars Program [ page 14 ] st. Mary’s CoLLege CONTENTS of Maryland winter 2012 SMCM ALUMNI COUNCIL JULy 2012 – June 2013 FEATURES Executive Board page 4 Danielle Troyan ’92, President Books That Cook winter 2012, voL. xxxiv, no. 1 Vacant, Vice President Angie Harvey ’83, Secretary Who Says English Majors Don’t Get www.smcm.edu/mulberrytree Alice Arcieri Bonner ’03, Parliamentarian Their Hands Dirty? Students connect Jim Wood ’61, Treasurer Editor Lee Capristo Paul Schultheis ’98, Ex-Officio what feeds their bodies and spirits in Alumni Editor Jennifer Cognard-Black’s popular class. Elected Voting Members Kathy Cummings Mary Wheatman Body ’79 page 8 Design Emily Brown ’10 Skelton Design Debbie Craten Dawson ’94 [ page 6 ] The Virtual Dove Photographer Donna Denny ’81 Bill Wood Barbara Dinsenbacher ’56 An interdisciplinary SMP sails into Editorial Board Laurel Tringali Eierman ’84 unchartered territory. Rebecca Prasher ’12 Karen Anderson, Mary Wheatman Mark Fedders ’74 Body ’79, Kathy Cummings, Missy Beck Lemke ’92 navigates 17th-century naval architecture Elizabeth Graves ’95, Nairem Moran ’99, S. Jae Lim ’09 Karen Raley ’94, Keisha Reynolds ’96, into 21st-century computer modeling. Maureen Silva, Joe Urgo Ryan McQuighan ’05 Laurie Menser ’01 Publisher page 12 Caitlin Moore ’08 Office of Advancement St. Mary’s College of Maryland R. Andrew Mosley ’00 Helping Students 18952 East Fisher Road Brian Murphy ’75 Succeed St. Mary’s City, Maryland 20686 Jeremy Pevner ’09 Todd Purring ’86 St. Mary’s Emerging Scholars Program The Mulberry Tree is published by St. Mary’s Student Member is a credit to the efforts of teachers who College of Maryland, Maryland’s public hon- [ page 10 ] ors college for the liberal arts and sciences. It is Alex Brylske ’13 care about their students’ success. produced for alumni, faculty, staff, trustees, the local community, and friends of the College. Chapter Presidents The magazine is named for the famous Annapolis: mulberry tree under which the Calvert colonists Erin O’Connell ’91 signed a treaty of friendship with the Yaocomico people and on the trunk of which public notices Baltimore: DEPARTMENTS were posted in the mid-1600s. The tree endured Dallas Hayden ’06 long into the 19th century and was once a popu- Jayson Williams ’03 lar meeting spot for St. Mary’s students. The 2 President’s Letter illustration of the mulberry tree on the cover Black Alumni: was drawn in 1972 by Earl Hofmann, artist-in- 3 College news Brenda Robinson ’85 residence when St. Mary’s College President 18 Alumni Connection Renwick Jackson launched the magazine. D.C. Metro: Copyright 2012 Matt Schafle ’10 26 Philanthropy The opinions expressed in The Mulberry Tree Southern Maryland: 28 From the archives are those of the individual authors and not Cathy Hernandez Ray ’77 necessarily those of the College. The editor [ page 14 ] reserves the right to select and edit all material. Western Maryland: Manuscripts and letters to the editor are en- Kristi Jacobs Woods ’97 couraged and may be addressed to Editor, The Mulberry Tree, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 18952 E. Fisher Rd., St. Mary’s City, MD 20686. Staff Cover: Beth Byrd Photographs and illustrations may not be Dennis Steiger ’13 is an English major reproduced without the express written Associate Director of Alumni Relations from Leonardtown, Md. He was consent of St. Mary’s College of Maryland. David Sushinsky ’02 photographed at the St. Mary’s Campus Farm. Director of Alumni Relations Photo by Bill Wood. opposite: Fall campus photo by Kristin Seymour ’14. St Mary’s College | THE MULBERRY TREE | winter 2012 | 1 A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT St. Mary’s is College ranked one of the LIBERAL LEARNING top five public NEWS liberal arts colleges IN THE 21ST CENTURY in the nation. or a long time in human history Of all college degrees conferred annually, there seemed need to educate only a some 3% are granted by residential liberal arts F small segment of society – males, the colleges. That percentage has remained fairly wealthy, those preparing to be ministers or states- constant, back to the time when only that ap- men. However, history demonstrates that ma- proximate percentage of the population were jor advances in civilization are associated with educated at all. The constants here are intellec- broadening access to knowledge – the intersec- tual leadership and the time and labor that the tion of cultures through trade, the development development of such minds requires. Over 70% of the printing press – and other changes that of St. Mary’s graduates continue on to the lon- awakened the human imagination at the level of ger-term, pursuing concentrated preparations of individual minds. If we take a broad, utilitarian law, medical, and graduate school. Our students view, we would find that the advance of human- major in the highest orders of human thought, kind has required a steadily expanding base of concentrating in the abstract disciplines within educated citizens. In the past hundred years we the humanities, the arts, and the sciences. have witnessed the inclusion of nearly all seg- Consider this snapshot. Our civilization of- ersmith ’11 ments of society regardless of how we categorize, ten reaches a cognitive stalemate. A collection P to the extent that now, in the second decade of of men and women gather to review seemingly the 21st century, we have become accustomed unsolvable problems. They faced a rigorous pro- to calls to secure some variety of post-secondary lege. According to research done by the Ameri- cess throughout their careers in order to qualify education for the majority of American citizens. can Association of Colleges and Universities and demonstrate the acumen to do the job as- PHOTO: FRANCES KU There are rational, economic and social rea- (AAC&U), employers today are asking colleges signed to them. Problems come to them from sons for inclusiveness, aside from equity and to teach students these skills: virtually every segment of civilization, domes- Alumni Sailors Sponsor ST. MARy’S IN LISTS OF “BESTS” fairness. Much of what occupied human minds • Effective oral and written communication tic and foreign, local and national. The reason Training Clinic; U.S. News & World Report has once again recognized St. Mary’s in previous eras has become mechanized in the • Critical thinking and analytical reasoning that the problem comes to them is because until College of Maryland as a top liberal arts college. In the publica- present – food, shelter, basic necessities for living. • Knowledge applied in real-world settings this point there has been no agreement either Seahawks Make Nationals tion’s “Best Colleges” 2013 edition, St. Mary’s is ranked one The work that needs to be done now is not so • Ability to analyze and solve complex on the nature of the problem or on its solution, Seahawk sailors defeated rival Georgetown University to of the top five public liberal arts colleges in the nation and is problems much (for example) to feed and house one fam- much less the proper course of action. These are claim the MAISA Match Race Championship in King’s listed as number 87 of the top 100 national liberal arts colleges. ily, but to organize and maintain systems that • Awareness of choices and actions to the nine Justices of the United States Supreme The U.S. News & World Report rankings are based on several Point, New York on October 21, 2012 qualifying them for feed and shelter millions. We also need to man- ethical decisions Court, four with undergraduate majors in his- key measures of quality that include undergraduate academic age vast financial networks to generate wealth to • Collaboration and teamwork skills tory, three in political science (including govern- the ICSA Match Race Nationals in Texas on November reputation, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, and power those systems, continually to create and • Innovation and creativity skills ment and international affairs), and one each in 15. Their route to success was due in part to financial student selectivity. refine methods of data collection while at the • Ability to conceptualize developments English and philosophy. support offered by sailing alumni who sponsored the team’s St. Mary’s has been included in the 2013 “Fiske Guide to Colleges.” same time preserve outlets for originality and in science and technology Throughout America there are collections of participation in a sloop clinic in Annapolis earlier this fall. Fiske scored St. Mary’s four out of five stars for academics and creativity. We know from our history that we This year I joined the AAC&U’s Presidents’ liberally educated minds, in board rooms, think quality of life. The Princeton Review also recently recognized St. need to nurture the human spirit. Information Trust; with other college presidents from across tanks, and in positions of influence, who began Mary’s in its 2013 edition of “The Best 377 Colleges” as one alone will not move us forward, or solve our pre- the nation, the Presidents’ Trust is working to their intellectual and creative journeys in small Lucille Clifton’s of the nation’s “Best Value Public Colleges,” as well as a “Best dicaments. The leadership we cultivate through make the case for liberal education and its value classrooms, characterized by close interactions Northeastern College.” higher education will need to be versed in the in today’s world. St. Mary’s College of Mary- with professors and fellow students. Our students Collected Poems history of human inspiration and passion, the land knows its place in this new educational ponder the broadest questions at the forefront of Reviewed by New engines of human progress.