TransitionS Celebrating 50 Years of Innovation Transitions Spring 2014 # From the Archives … Fall of 2016 marked the 50th anniversary of Prescott College opening its doors. We’ve been taking time to look back, and reflect on the winding journey that has led us to where we stand today. Transitions has played an important role in keeping our friends and alumni connected to campus. Enjoy the selection of historic covers! From Last Issue: We didn’t hear from anyone about this image! If you know the who, what or when about these animated performers, let us know at [email protected]. Photos courtesy of the College Archives Prescott Connect with us There are more ways than ever to tell us what’s on your mind: Call us. We’d love to hear your feedback Email us at (928) 350-4506 [email protected] Transitions Magazine Twitter users can follow Join our Facebook Prescott College Prescott College at community. Log on to 220 Grove Ave. twitter.com/PrescottCollege facebook.com/PrescottCollege Prescott, AZ 86301 Cover photo: 50th Anniversary mural by the Spring 2017 Public Art: Mural Painting class Contents TransitionS 8 Alumni Bike Cuba with Former Faculty Publisher and Editor 12 Charles Franklin Parker’s Rose Window Ashley Hust 14 Prescott College Ratings and Rankings Designer Miriam Glade 15 Rock Climbing Board of Trustees Contributing Writers 16 Student Wins EPA Fellowship Michael Belef • Scott Bennett • Sue Bray • Paul Burkhardt June Burnside Tackett • Susan DeFreitas • Liz Faller 17 Prescott College Innovations in Higher Ed Elizabeth Fawley • John Flicker • Ashley Hust • Maria Johnson • Leslie Laird • Nelson Lee • David Mazurkiewicz 18 50th Anniversary Celebration Robert Miller • Jorge Miros • Amanda Pekar • Mark Riegner • Micah Riegner • Elisabeth Ruffner • Kayla Sargent • Peter Sherman, • Marie Smith • Wyatt Smith 22 Kino Fellows: Where Are They Now? Astrea Strawn • David White • Gratia Winship • Lisa Zander 24 Leslie Laird Reflects On Path to PC Staff Photographers Shayna Beasley • Miriam Glade • Ashley Hust 26 Ronald C. Nairn Memorial Scholarship Photo Contributors 27 How Alumni Can Connect TheBestSchools.org • BestValueSchools.com • Michael Belef Joshua Biggs • Sue Bray • Jane Burnside Tackett • Colleges of Distinction • Congregational Church of Prescott Fiske Guide to Colleges • Megan Gladbach • Neha Khurana Departments The Kino Bay Center for Cultural and Ecological Studies Robert Miller • Amanda Pekar • The Prescott College 3 College News Archives • Kristine Preziosi • The Princeton Review • Kurt Refsneider • Mark Riegner • Brenda Smith • Roy Smith StudentLoans.net • U.S. News and World Report 28 Class Notes Washington Monthly • Gratia Winship • Lisa Zander 34 Faculty & Staff Notes Director for Advancement Communication 36 In Memoriam Ashley Hust (928) 350-4506 • [email protected] 37 The Last Word For Class Notes and address changes, contact Marie Smith • [email protected] Send correspondence, reprint requests, and submissions to: Ashley Hust Prescott College 220 Grove Ave., Prescott, AZ 86301 (928) 350-4506 • [email protected] Transitions, a publication for the Prescott College community, is published once a year by the Office of Institutional Advancement for alumni, parents, friends, students, faculty, and staff of the College. Its purpose is to keep readers informed with news about Prescott College faculty, staff, students, and fellow alumni. Transitions is available online at www.prescott.edu. ©2017 Prescott College Prescott College reserves the right to reprint materials from Transitions in other publications and online at its discretion. Prescott College is committed to equal opportunity for its employees and applicants for employment, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed, sex or sexual orientation, age, disability, marital or parental status, status with respect to public assistance, or veteran’s status. This policy applies to the administration of its employment policies or any other programs generally accorded or made available to employees. Contact Admissions at (877) 350-2100 • [email protected] For the Liberal Arts, the Environment, and Social Justice WWW.PRESCOTT.EDU Photo by Willis Peterson Scholarship winner Neha Khurana ’19 President’s Corner Charter Class introducing Flicker John at the 50th member Nancy Piña-Gray Time Capsule ceremony, Anniversary 2017 April 4, his is the 50th Anniversary issue of Transitions. For those of you who were unable to attend the four days of festivities we hosted on campus in October, we hope we can give you a taste of celebration in these pages. I was heartened to see so many alumni return Tthis past fall, to hear their stories, and to see leaders from the local community come out to support us. It’s the people that make this place so special, and people involved with Prescott College – over the past 50 years and today – are passionate about PC, and passionate about the mission and philosophy of education that serves as a foundation for everything we do. I’m convinced more than ever that what we have here is something out of the ordinary: the best of an intimate small liberal arts college campus community, plus the flexibility to meet people “where they are” physically or spiritually in life through our hybrid distance programs that provide the same mission-based, high-quality, self-directed, experiential education. While we have a proud history of innovation, it’s no secret that Prescott College has also had its challenges. But we never gave up. We always came back. We are the comeback college. Instead of being torn apart by difficult times and hard decisions, our faculty, staff, and trustees came together. As we begin our second half-century, I can say with great confidence that we have gotten our house in order and we are here to stay. We have balanced our budgets and are adding cash to the reserves. Our fall enrollment for resident undergraduate students was up for the first time in five years, and projections for next fall are even higher. Thanks to a generous gift from longtime College friend Richard Bakal, we are investing more in recruitment and retention for our resident undergraduate program than we’ve been able to do in recent years. Last, but not least, we are launching a highly affordable, highly accessible online-only Master of Arts program in Social Justice and Community Organizing, where we already have student interest and accreditation approval. This new program is a pilot, but I hope it will prove to be the first of many similar programs that will see us well out of lean times. We are benefiting today from the hard work of so many people over the last 50 years. Thank you. And thank you for the privilege of stewarding this amazing institution. As we draw inspiration from our founding and history this year, I – we all – can look forward with hope and excitement to the next 50 years. Onward! John Flicker 2 Transitions Issue 2017 College News Farewell to GPAC The Granite Performing Arts Center (GPAC) building was sold last year by its former owner, and the new owner did not decide to continue leasing the space to Prescott College. Departing faculty members Delisa Myles and Liz Faller hosted a weekend-long farewell for the space April 29 through May 1, 2016, which doubled as a retirement celebration for the two. In a letter, Liz shared, “I write this with a great sense of gratitude for the twenty-three years I served the College. I am the woman I am today because of my students, alumni, and colleagues, Granite Performing Arts Center, my collaboration with Delisa Myles and Charissa Menefee, our community, and the College’s cauldron of transformation. I am excited to devote myself to my spiritual and artistic life and practice, teaching, family and friends, travel, and related service. In my two months in India, I experienced a heart-centered, global learning community, a loving world that I can trust, as well as how much I have to offer. I am ready to ‘graduate.’” The College is using the Summit Building, Sam Hill Warehouse, Crossroads Center, and other smaller spaces for performances while we seek a new space dedicated to interdisciplinary performances. Natural History Institute’s Herbarium Online Some of the most common inquiries at the Natural History Institute (NHI) Herbarium are people asking about a particular species of plant. Now, thanks to the hard work of many staff and students, anyone, anywhere, can search inside the herbarium cabinets by going online to the SEINet data portal at swbiodiversity.org/seinet/. SEINet is like Google for herbarium specimens in the Southwest. The site has many features, including plant profiles, images, species lists, and an interactive map that shows where plant specimens were originally found. There is still more to be done, though, and volunteers are needed. Right now all of the specimens have their names and the date they were collected entered into SEINet; however, additional information on many of the specimens, like where the plants were found and in what habitats, still needs to be transcribed. For more information on contributing specimens, accessing the herbarium online or in person, please e-mail [email protected]. Arizona Opportunity Scholarship When it was first introduced, the Arizona Opportunity Scholarship was a $3,000 award for Arizona students who enrolled in the On-campus Undergraduate program. It has been updated to guarantee that when combined with merit aid and other aid from the school, tuition at Prescott College matches the full tuition cost of Arizona’s three state universities. It is available to all Arizona high school graduates (from public, private, charter, and online schools) and Arizona home-schooled students. It is also available to transfer students whose permanent residence is in Arizona. There is no separate application needed as the scholarship will automatically be added to the student’s financial aid package upon acceptance and enrollment.