News

Hamilton President Joan Stewart and nearly 100 friends and family members of John Root '44 gathered on April 27 at The Links Club in New York City, to celebrate John's more than 60 years of volunteer service to the College. Although he has served in virtually every volunteer capacity, it is his work with the Committee on the Visual Arts, including more than a decade as its chair, that stands out. In his honor, $260,000 was raised to establish the John B. Root '44 Exhibition Fund. Income from this fund will enhance annual exhibitions at Hamilton's Emerson Gallery, or its successor, currently in planning as part of Hamilton's Excelsior Campaign. Members of Hamilton's arts faculty and Emerson Gallery staff were among those honoring Root.

Carl T. Hayden '63 has been nominated to serve as chair and member of the State University of New York (SUNY) Board of Trustees by New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. Hayden will also serve as chair of the search committee that will conduct a nationwide search for a permanent SUNY Chancellor.

The Hamilton campus came to life for Reunions on May 31-June 3 as hundreds of Hamilton men and women and Kirkland women connected with old friends, visited those places that hold fond memories, and rediscovered the magic of the Hamilton and Kirkland experience. The 2007 event was the largest reunion in Hamilton's history, with 1,617 alumni and guests attending. Highlights included presentation of the Bell Ringer Award to Patsy Pogue Couper, wife of the late Hamilton trustee Dick Couper '44, at the annual meeting of the Alumni Association on June 2 in the Chapel. The Bell Ringer is presented each year in recognition of contributions made to the College, its alumni and the community. The Reunion keynote lecture featured Christie K '72 and Tom Vilsack '72, former first lady and two-term governor of Iowa.

Thanks to the generous support of young alumni, Hamilton College is pleased to name Mariam Ballout '10, of Clifton Park, N.Y., as its fourth GOLD Scholar.  Ballout chose Hamilton after two visits, citing both the friendliness of people on campus and students' intellectual engagement in the classroom.  Having completed her first year, she attributes the latter in part to the open curriculum, which allows students to explore subjects out of genuine interest rather than obligation. 

Reunions 2007 are now fading into memory. They were the largest such gathering in the history of the College. Reunions are a time of reconnection and renewal for all who attend - and Reunions '07 were no exception. The 1617 who attended were reminded that is the good will and character of the people who make up the Hamilton and Kirkland family that defines our community of graduates. 

John Rice '78, one of four GE vice chairmen and president and CEO of Atlanta-based GE Infrastructure, is featured in the cover article of Georgia Trend magazine (May, 2007). Rice was named 2007's Most Respected Business Leader by the magazine. Rice oversees GE’s Energy, Aviation, Rail, Oil & Gas, Water, Energy Financial Services, and Aviation Financial Services operations, businesses that generate more than $54 billion in annual revenue and employ 90,000 people worldwide.

D.C. Hamiltonians were out and about this past Saturday, April 28, lending a hand to help the local community. Hamilton fielded a team as part of the “Hands on D.C. 2007” volunteer project, which sends groups of volunteers to various public schools in the District of Columbia.  According to Washington D.C. Alumni Association President Paul Reichert ’90 “The eight of us on the Hamilton team spent the day painting a classroom, turning it from a dirty and peeling yellow classroom into a bright and fresh blue (an appropriate shade for the Hamilton team). Everyone had a great time and we're eager to do a similar volunteer event next year.”

Christopher Whitcomb '81, a former sniper on the F.B.I's hostage rescue unit and now head of a security company, contributed an op-ed to The New York Times (4/20/07), titled "Building a Better Lockdown." In it, he questions how, despite studies, symposiums and the adoption of crisis-response protocols in the days since Columbine, a calamity like Blacksburg can happen. Whitcomb wrote: "The most obvious reason, and one that’s been widely discussed in the days since the shootings, is complacency. Well, we can wring our hands all we want, but to some extent complacency is unavoidable: it’s what sneaks in after all the blame has been handed out, the news media have disappeared, the critics have taken their shots and the political knees have stopped jerking."

The Nominations Committee of the Alumni Council invites recommendations for the 2008 Distinguished Service Award. Presented by the Council on behalf of the Alumni Association, the award recognizes an employee who has substantially contributed to Hamilton through distinguished job performance and through involvement in student, alumni, or other activities in the College community. At the time of selection, the recipient must be an active member of Hamilton's faculty, administration, staff, or maintenance and operations.

Hamilton alumnus David Chanatry '80, a former NBC news producer, has been recognized by the Broadcast Education Association Media Arts Festival for two stories he reported from the Balkans last year. Chanatry, assistant professor of journalism at Utica College, won the audio short form category award for his coverage of an Albanian youth group. He also won the radio hard news category award for a story about lead poisoning affecting Roma refugees in Kosovo. Chanatry reported this year's award-winning stories for Public Radio International's "The World."