A comparative alumni survey, conducted by the independent research firm of Hardwick Day and commissioned by the Annapolis Group (a consortium of the nation's leading liberal arts colleges), has found that the undergraduate experience students encounter at small, residential liberal arts colleges is more effective in producing meaningful and lasting benefits than the education experienced at large, public universities and other institutions of higher education.

The study, titled "What Matters in College After College", has been published on the Annapolis Group Web site, www.collegenews.org.

The survey indicates that a residential, liberal arts education not only leads to a number of immediate positive outcomes, but that these outcomes are present in and important to liberal arts college alumni long after their college experience has ended.

Among the findings:

• Alumni from Annapolis Group liberal arts colleges reported closer interaction with professors, greater involvement in experiential learning and extracurricular activities, and an emphasis on values and ethics that is often absent at public universities.
• Liberal arts college graduates also reported a greater sense of community with other students, friendships and opportunities for peer interactions not found at the public institutions.
• Liberal arts college grads are significantly more likely than graduates of other types of colleges to hold a graduate degree and to feel better prepared for life after college.
• Liberal arts college graduates are more likely than any other group to have graduated in four years or less. They also report higher overall satisfaction with their undergraduate education than graduates of any other type of college or university.
• Graduates of small, residential liberal arts colleges credit their undergraduate experience for helping them develop a broad range of skills important to their everyday lives (problem solving, making effective decisions, thinking analytically, writing effectively, relating to people of different backgrounds and developing new skills). These broad skills - more than the undergraduate major itself - helped grads get their first job or gain admission to graduate school, and have continued to help with career changes or advancement. Annapolis Group alumni say these skills have remained extremely important in their lives after college.
• Liberal arts college alumni have strong personal values, and place importance on a range of activities: contributing to the community, participating in organizations that help disadvantaged members of society, promoting racial equality or other social justice issues, using their best skills and abilities, and having the freedom to consider moral and ethical aspects of decisions.
• Although alumni of Annapolis Group colleges are involved in their communities at about the same rate as alumni of other types of schools, Annapolis Group alumni are more likely than other alumni to remain involved with their schools after graduation

The Hardwick Day study was based on interviews with 1,571 alumni from five types of schools: Annapolis Group liberal arts colleges, private universities, the top 50 public universities (as ranked by U.S. News & World Report), national flagship public universities and regional public universities.

Unlike most previous studies that have surveyed students shortly after their graduation, The Hardwick Day study surveyed alumni from the Classes of 1970 through 1995, and tried to assess lasting effects on career preparation, broad skill development, personal and professional values and attitudes, community involvement, and overall satisfaction with undergraduate education.

The Hardwick Day study drew on Alexander Astin's (UCLA) What Matters in College: Four Critical Years Revisited, the definitive study of how students change and develop in college and how colleges can enhance that development, and the work of education researchers such as Ernest T. Pascarella and Patrick T. Terenzini on educational effectiveness. The Hardwick Day survey sought to identify the extent to which the attributes associated with educational effectiveness are present at various types of colleges and universities, as reported by their alumni, and the degree to which these attributes are valued by the alumni themselves.

For further information, visit www.collegenews.org.

Underground Talent is a collection of artwork and poetry by the artists at St. Francis House, a local shelter for homeless and poor adults. The exhibition will open December 5, 2002, 6:30-9:00 p.m. in PMC's Ellsworth Theatre. The opening will feature Outcast, a homeless and formerly homeless drama troupe. Underground Talent will run through December 21st. Minimum donation of $7, with all proceeds donated to St. Francis House. WHERE: Ellsworth Hall, Pine Manor College

St. Francis House is a multi-service day shelter located in downtown Boston. They provide a respectful, caring, and dignified refuge for the less fortunate. St. Francis House offers basic services of food, shelter, clothing, medical care, mental health and substance abuse counseling, spiritual comfort, and other support services. Grounded in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi, their mission is to care for those who cannot help themselves and to assist those who are capable of becoming self-sufficient members of society.

In presenting the award to Walker, President Nemerowicz said, "Liz exemplifies the framework and principles of nclusive leadership and social responsibility and sets an example of professional and clear communication in a spirit of optimism." In 1994, Walker received an honorary degree from Pine Manor College at Commencement exercises.

In her speech Walker described her life's struggles and her recent calling to service in the ordained ministry. She is currently attending the Harvard Divinity School. Reflecting on her life, Walker said, "There is power in struggle; it's hard, but you can win from that. The real power is not from being on television, its managing television or owning it."

Walker explained how she started her 28-year career in the media and focused on her most memorable television moments. Acknowledging the limitations and amazing power of television, she offered advice to women who want to pursue a career in television. She also described her experience in Sudan, where she explored reports of slavery and filmed portions of an independent one-hour documentary en titled "In the Lion's Mouth."

Established in 1997 by President Gloria Nemerowicz and the board of trustees, the Pine Manor College Award for Inclusive Leadership and Social Responsibility reflects the College's mission of preparing women for their future roles in their workplaces, families, and communities. The award is presented nationally to women who have demonstrated the principles of collaboration and commitment to the common good and to the well-being of women in their own lives and in what they have accomplished. Recipients are recommended by Pine Manor College's alumnae, faculty, and staff.

Among the recipients of the award are former Secretary of the Department of Labor Lynn M. Martin, former U.S. Representative to the UN Commission on the Status of Women Juliette Clagett McLennan, and Wilhelmina Cole Holladay, founder and chair of the board of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC.

The evening was sponsored by the College's BA program in Communication as part of the Anne P. Nicholson ’47 Distinguished Lecturer Series. Pine Manor College is a four-year liberal arts college dedicated to preparing women for roles of inclusive leadership and social responsibility in their workplaces, families, and communities. Founded in 1911, Pine Manor College is located at 400 Heath Street, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

The production will be set in contemporary Israel, with the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis as the centerpiece of the play. "The Middle East, with its seemingly never-ending strife and horrific loss of life, is unfortunately a highly relevant setting for Romeo and Juliet. The teenagers find a safe haven in their love for each other, while the world around them is engaged in a bloody civil war," says Linda Lowy, Shakespeare Now!'s artistic director.

The production is directed by local actor and director Dev Luthra and will feature solo violin incidental music by renowned Massachusetts violinist Stanley Silverman, and choreography by IRNE award-winning choreographer Kirsten McKinney.

Romeo and Juliet will be staged at Ellsworth Theatre, Pine Manor College, 400 Heath Street, Chestnut Hill (near the Chestnut Hill T stop on the Green Line), from Thursday, November 7, through Sunday, November 24, Thursday through Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m.. Tickets are $18 general admission and $16 seniors and students.

Shakespeare Now! Theatre Company was recently named Theatre Company in Residence at Pine Manor College. During the Spring, the company travels to Massachusetts schools performing condensed versions of Shakespeare's plays and conducting student workshops.

For tickets and other information, call Shakespeare Now! Theatre Company at (781) 326-3643. Visit the company Web site at www.shakespearenow.org.

Dr. A. Karim Khudairi, a native of Iraq, obtained his bachelor of science degree from the University of Baghdad and his PhD from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1953. He was professor and dean at the University of Baghdad until 1966, when he came to Boston as professor and graduate director of the Biology Department of the College of Arts and Sciences at Northeastern University. Dr. Khudairi was granted a National Science Foundation Grant (USA) and the Swedish Academy of Science Grant. Presently he is professor emeritus at Northeastern University. After his retirement he served as the president of the Islamic Center in Quincy, MA, and founded the Islamic Council of New England, the umbrella organization for the Islamic centers in New England.

Dr. Kirk Beattie is a professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Simmons College. He received his MA and PhD in political science from the University of Michigan, and specializes in the Near East and North Africa. Fluent in French and Egyptian Arabic, with a reading and writing knowledge of Modern Standard Arabic, he has written two highly acclaimed books on Egyptian politics: Egypt During the Nasser Years and Egypt During the Sadat Years. Dr. Beattie has spent more than six years living and conducting research in the Arab world, mostly in Egypt. He has been teaching courses on the Middle East, as well as the Arab-Israeli conflict, for more than seventeen years.

The program will be moderated by William Vogele, Associate Professor of Political Science at Pine Manor College. Dr. Vogele, who received his PhD from Brandeis Univ, teaches and publishes in the area of democratic transitions and the transformation of conflict. He recently visited El Salvador to study the processes of democratic transition. Dr. Vogele's publications include Stepping Back: Nuclear Arms Control and the End of the Cold War.

The presentation is sponsored by the PMC English Language Institute and the PMC Diversity Committee.

The following is a list of events at Pine Manor College memorializing 9/11. You are welcome to participate in any of these events as they fit around your regularly scheduled classes and commitments. Please remember that all regularly scheduled classes and activities will be held.

• 8:30 a.m.: The flag is lowered to half-staff Anyone who wishes to use this as a moment of reflection is invited to be present as the flag is lowered.

Beginning at 12 Noon and continuing throughout the day:

Tables will be set up in the Campus Center throughout the afternoon. The Pine Manor College Community is invited to use the available art supplies and participate as your schedule permits.

• Make a flag from your country of origin to be posted around the Ashby Campus Center Atrium
• Make a paper lantern that will be used to hold the candles at a vigil to be held in the evening. Campus Center Atrium
• Sign the banner that declares: "We Support a Hate-free School and Community." At the end of the day we will hang this banner from the Campus Center balcony. Campus Center Atrium
• "A message to the world" - write a message of peace and hope to the world on any of the three maps displayed throughout campus. There will be a map in the Ashby Campus Center, one in the Ferry Administration Building and one in Haldan Hall.
• Revolving "Hot topics" - Campus Center Meditation Room

• 1:00 p.m.: Nationalism/Patriotism: Unifying of Divisive
• 2:00 p.m.: Thoughts on the University of North Carolina @Chapel Hill choosing the Qu'ran as the school-wide required reading
• 3:00 p.m.: Racial/ethnic profiling: Security or loss of Civil Liberties.
• 5:30 p.m.: Gather in the Ashby Campus Center Atrium for a community "moment of silence".  Candlelight vigil to the Circle (in front of the Ferry Administration Building)
• 7:00 p.m.: Community Discussion - Presidents' Dining Room. September 11, reflecting on a year of events, politics and policies: some assessment of the first year of the "war on terrorism"

All members of the Pine Manor College Community are invited to share their ideas and opinions. Feel free to stop in for all or any portion of these conversations, as your schedule permits.

The courses the College has offered through our major in Biology provide broad experience and knowledge to our students in the classroom, but they do not extend into hands-on experiences in the methodologies of the current practices in the area of biotechnology, and do not include time in an actual biotechnology laboratory. The grant has made it possible for us to purchase new equipment necessary for a course in biotechnology. The addition to our curriculum of this new course will provide our students with practical skills in today's biotechnology.

The biotechnology course will cover techniques from the routine to SDS-PAGE (sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) to PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and beyond, which will prepare studentsto participate in leading-edge research in medical and pharmaceutical sciences.

• connecting with others to establish a broader learning community that will improve our collective communities of practice
• generate a thematic focus to facilitate growth and continuance of this community
• implement and disseminate activities and materials about the thematic focus

As a first step in the development of the regional “community of practice,” Drs. Shea and Ramirez joined other core members at the AAHE Summer Academy in Snowbird, Utah, this summer. Dr. Shea will also participate in the Carnegie Colloquium on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in March, 2004.

Pine Manor College welcomed 180 new students to campus for the 2002 fall semester, the largest entering class in 14 years. Students arrived from 21 different U.S. states, Puerto Rico, and countries such as Japan, Mexico, India, and Senegal. One hundred and fifty new students moved into the residence halls on Saturday, August 31, and joined 30 commuter students for a four-day orientation. Final enrollment figures for new and returning students will be announced by mid-September.

Lisa Breger — Professor Breger joins the English Department as an Assistant Professor of English Composition, having taught College Composition at Pine Manor College as an Adjunct for a number of years. A published poet and writer, Professor Breger will also be involved with both first-year and second-year Portfolio Seminar groups.

David Freeman — Professor Freeman joins the Management Program as an Assistant Professor of Management. With a BA from Yale University and an MBA from Columbia University, Professor Freeman has taught marketing, advertising, management, and organizational behavior at a number of area colleges. He also has 15 years of experience as a corporate trainer and consultant and is particularly interested in leadership studies.

Nisa Harrison — Professor Harrison joins the math faculty after many years of experience teaching in the Boston public schools. A graduate of Clark Atlanta with a BA in mathematics and an MA from Simmons College, Professor Harrison will be teaching a range of math courses from pre-algebra to calculus.

Fran Lynch — Professor Lynch also joins the Management Program as an Assistant Professor of Management after teaching last year as an adjunct. With degrees from Salem State College and Suffolk University, Professor Lynch has also taught at a number of area colleges. He is the principal partner in a marketing and management consulting firm.

Joy Miller — Professor Miller joins the Psychology faculty. Last year she taught PY101 Introduction to Psychology as an Adjunct while working on her dissertation at Boston University. An active and innovative teacher, Professor Miller’s area of interest is personality theory, with special emphasis on issues concerning gender, violence, and social justice. Professor Miller will teach PY101 Introduction to Psychology, PY 209 Applied Statistics for Psychology, and she will be a PLS Leader.

However, the palpable excitement of the graduates and their guests generated so much energy that the temperatures, which were hovering in the lower 50s, were not even noticed and played no role in the events of the morning.

The many spring flowering bushes and plants were at their peak, and the campus sparkled in the morning sun. The convocation procession began promptly at 11 a.m. and make its way from the Gymnasium to the softball field, which was used this year because it is higher and has better drainage than the traditional site by the pond. Its progress was heralded by the strains of a brass ensemble.

A perfect setting and a perfect day for the 87 graduates and the more than 700 family members, friends, alumnae, faculty, and staff who gathered for the festivities and who burst into spontaneous applause as the procession of graduates, all robed in black, made its way onto the field.

President Gloria Nemerowicz officially opened the ceremonies, welcoming everyone to the 90th Commencement of the College and describing the occasion as a celebration of our learning community of women. Then addressing the graduating seniors, she said, "We are very proud of you. This academic year - your senior year - began with great sorrow and confusion. Following September, 11, you helped us all come together as an emotional and intellectual community as we pressed for answers and understanding. Together we have deepened our resolve to keep our community open, our diversity strong, and to make the principles of inclusivity and social responsibility a reality."

Following these remarks, President Nemerowicz called on the Director of Multicultural and Spiritual Programs, Robyn Frankly-Vaughn, to deliver the invocation, and mentioning that Robyn would soon be receiving her Master's of Divinity Degree from the Episcopal Divinity School. Charmain Turner, president of the Student Government Association, and Dawn Doucette, senior class speaker, then delivered individual salutations, and each reflected on her time at PMC and the impact that it had on her life.

Honorary degrees were awarded to Libby C. Candler '77, co-chair of Pine Manor College's Board of Trustees; Susan L. Lindquist, director of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research; and Marita Rivero, vice president and radio general manager for WGBH.

Faculty awards, students awards, and the Alumna Distinguished Service Award were announced, and then Dean of the College, Nia Lane Chester, presented the graduating class for the formal awarding of their degrees. Seventy-eight graduates received Bachelor's degrees and nine received Associate's degrees in the following areas: 24 in Business Administration, 15 in Biology, 1 in Child Studies, 10 in Communication, 3 in Education/Psychology, 3 in Social and Political Systems, and 8 in Visual Arts.

In conclusion, President Nemerowicz asked the graduates to stand and turn to express their thanks to their families who had been so supportive over the past four years. She then formally concluded the 90th Pine Manor College Commencement and invited all present to a reception on the Founder's Lawn.

"This is a major step forward for our company, and we are delighted and honored that Pine Manor has invited us to be its resident theater company," said Linda Lowy, Founding Artistic Director of Shakespeare Now!. "We look forward to working with Pine Manor students and faculty in their excellent facilities."

Pine Manor Drama Department Chairman Robert Owczarek said that having Shakespeare Now! on the campus will further enrich the college’s academic and cultural life, while providing internship opportunities for students interested in theater production, management, and promotion.

"Shakespeare Now! is a first-rate theater company that has achieved significant renown within a relatively short time," said Owczarek. "The company’s mission to teach students about Shakespeare harmonizes with our own mission to prepare women for involvement in the larger community through active, collaborative, applied liberal arts learning."

Lowy also announced that Shakespeare Now! will stage a full-length production of Romeo and Juliet at Pine Manor’s Ellsworth Theatre November 7 - 24, 2002.

Evening performances will be held for the general public. There will also be weekday matinee performances for students.

In addition to offering internship opportunities for Pine Manor students, members of Shakespeare Now! will present performance workshops in Shakespeare to Pine Manor students.

In Spring 2003, Shakespeare Now! will continue traveling to schools with its highly acclaimed touring productions.

About Shakespeare Now! Theatre Company

Shakespeare Now! Theatre Company, founded in 2000 and based in Westwood, Massachusetts, is a professional theater company which brings the great works of William Shakespeare to elementary, middle, and high schools in Massachusetts and the rest of southeastern New England in easily accessible formats. Each performance lasts approximately one hour, followed by a question and answer period. Scene workshops for students, led by actor/educators, are an integral part of the company’s work in schools.

Shakespeare Now! is on the Web at www.shakespearenow.org.

During the course of the evening Lauren and Ann Callahan of Needham will discuss their enterprise "Ornamental Escape," Nicole and Pamela Prescod Payne of Boston will showcase "Baskets of Cheer," and Liz and Kate Wescott of Needham will present "Sea Jewels."

The teams are participating in the MADE-IT Program, a voluntary entrepreneurial program sponsored by the Kaufman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Each team will present the business plans that they have developed for their new business and will have them critiqued by a panel of experts and the assembled audience.

Through the MADE-IT Program mother-daughter teams work side-by-side to come up with an idea for a business, develop a business plan, film a two-minute informational video, make the product, and, if selected, display the final results before a panel of judges and professionals in Kansas City.

Professor Forde served as the local coordinator for MADE-IT while on a sabbatical this past fall and Pine Manor College was selected as a coordination site for the program in Massachusetts.

Speaking about the program, Professor Forde said, "MADE-IT has served to establish new and long lasting bonds between mothers and daughters at a critical time in their lives. They learn to work together on a two-year endeavor that is quite different than any other they might have shared. In addition, it is a chance for the teens to develop skills in entrepreneurship that will prepare them for a future full of options."