Celebrating the Class of 2022

Celebrating the Class of 2022
Members of the Class of 2022 toss their caps into the air during Colby’s 201st Commencement May 22. The rousing sendoff on Miller Lawn was highlighted by an address by Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson. Author of the best-selling book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, Wilkerson told the graduates the key to moving toward a just and equitable society begins with understanding history.

Class speaker Jordan McClintock ’22 urged her peers to use the power of their education to change the world for the better. “Be bold. You will all go on to do amazing things, but it is up to you alone to step out of your comfort zone,” said McClintock, who won a prestigious Watson Fellowship. Roshauna Follett ’22 received the Condon Medal in recognition of her character and commitment to community.

Colby President David A. Greene praised the students for their commitment to education and for persevering through the pandemic. “My dominant emotion today is gratitude,” Greene told the graduates. “I am thankful to this amazing class for all you have done to make this community, both on campus and in Waterville, stronger, more vibrant, more just. I appreciate your willingness to make sacrifices for the common good.”

From The President

David A. Greene
When I was young, there was nothing like a Polaroid camera and photo. Polaroid was pure magic. True, the image was not crystal clear, and the colors faded quickly. But compared to bringing a film canister to the store and waiting several days for the photos to be ready? Nothing could compare. It was a special treat to drive along Storrow Drive in Boston and see the Polaroid headquarters sitting proudly on the Charles River—the solidity of the building and the groundbreaking products produced there symbolized enduring progress.

Only it wasn’t enduring. Polaroid failed to diversify its product line and stopped innovating. Its once-great product, an industry leader and cultural icon, became an anachronism as digital photography made instantaneous, high-quality images mainstream, cheap, and ubiquitous.

This Caught Our Attention

This Caught Our Attention typography

Colby, Cows, and Climate Change

The College is partnering with the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences and other institutions of higher education in a $10-million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to determine if feeding cows algae-based food supplements will cause them to burp less and emit less methane gas. It is the largest government-funded grant in the College’s history, and it will give Colby students access to Bigelow scientists, including research assistant Gabriella Iacono, shown here in September 2021.

Each year, Colby students will participate in the project via eight internships, four in the Economics Department during the school year and four at Bigelow in the summer focused on biology and ecology. Nichole Price, a senior research scientist at Bigelow who holds a research faculty appointment at Colby, will lead the research team.

Colby pride

Women’s lacrosse players Ainsley Dion ’25 (left) and Hallie Schwartzman ’22 celebrate after scoring a goal against Bowdoin College. Coached by Karen Henning, the team had another successful season. The Mules made it to the Elite 8 of the NCAA D-III Tournament in Middlebury, Vt., before bowing to eventual national champion Middlebury College. The Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association ranked Colby seventh in the nation, with seven NESCAC schools in the top 25. In addition, a trio of Mules achieved second-team All-American status: Sarah Stark ’22, Gianna Bruno ’23, and Annie Eddy ’23.


Staff
Giovanni Aceto
web applications developer

Hayley Barton
assistant director of media relations

Rosalind Drisko
chief marketing and communications officer

Andrew Herrmann
director of digital strategy

Kardelen Koldas ’15
staff writer

Bob Keyes
managing editor/editorial director

Jasper Lowe
senior multimedia producer

Laura Meader
associate director of communications

Arne Norris
web designer

Caitlin Penna
multimedia producer

Matt Proto
vice president and chief institutional advancement officer

Hayley SooHoo
senior assistant director of digital marketing

Geoge T. Sopko
director of media relations

Gabe Souza
director of multimedia services

Barbara Walls
director of creative strategy

Brandon Waltz
senior web operations manager

Flyingpoint, Gabriel Chalfin-Piney, Steve Cloutier, Luc Demers, Dennis Griggs, Jasper Lowe, Caitlin Penna, Peter Ralston, Dustin Satloff ’15, Jason Paige Smith, Gabe Souza, Michele Stapleton, Ben Wheeler
contributing photographers

Kardelen Koldas ’15, Laura Meader, Christina Nunez, Kayla Voigt ’14
contributing writers


Alumni Council Executive Committee
Jennifer Robbins ’97, chair, president of the Alumni Association

Nicholas Cade ’08, vice chair of the Alumni Association

Kaitlin McCafferty ’04, chair, Colby Fund Committee; Rick Angeli ’88, P’22, chair, C Club Committee; Jacob Fischer ’10, chair, Nominating and Awards Committee; Jen Millard ’90, P’20, chair, DavisConnects Committee
Isadora Alteon ’13, Nicholas Cade ’08, and Justin Owumi ’14, members at large

To contact Colby Magazine:
Managing Editor, Colby Magazine
4354 Mayflower Hill, Waterville, ME 04901
magazine@colby.edu
207-859-4350

Colby Magazine is published yearly.
Visit us online: magazine.colby.edu

Editor’s Note

A headshot portrait photograph of Bob Keyes grinning (Editorial Director of Colby Magazine)

I arrived in Waterville in January 1985 at 22 years old, a recent college graduate with my first newspaper job at the Morning Sentinel. My beat was the Board of Education, but I was hired as a general assignment reporter and was part of a five-person city desk reporting team responsible for covering all the news in Waterville and nearby towns.

Soon after I arrived, the city editor sent me up to Colby to write a story about the opening of an exhibition at the Colby College Museum of Art. The artist was Alex Katz, and the exhibition included about 100 artworks from the collection of Paul J. Schupf. The assignment involved interviews with the artist, the collector, museum director Hugh Gourley, and Colby President Bill Cotter.

In one assignment, I was introduced to Colby, the museum, and the always-evolving wonder and reward of Maine art. I had no idea at the time, but that assignment changed my life by setting its course.

Colby logo
Vol. 109 Issue 1
10
Contributors:
Christina Nunez
Christina Nunez (“First There Was One,” P. 8) is a writer based near Washington, D.C., who has been contributing to Colby Magazine since 2017. Among other subjects, she covers science, technology, and innovation.
Kayla Voigt
Kayla Voigt ’14 (“Meeting All the Challenges,” P. 20) is a food, travel, and technology writer based in Boston, Mass. Besides writing for her alma mater, she’s been featured in Condé Nast Traveler, Food and Wine, Eater, and more.
Low Portrait
Mary Caffrey Low, Class of 1875
Courtesy of Special Collections & Archives, Colby College Libraries

First
There Was
One.

On the sesquicentennial of women’s enrollment at the College, here’s a look at some of our most influential figures and current leaders—and where we’re headed.
By Christina Nunez

Illuminated
Histories

By Laura Meader

Maggie Libby ’81 loves a good mystery. But instead of a whodunit, the pressing question is, where are the women?

More specifically, where are Colby’s women?

An artist and worker rooted in Maine, Libby (they/them) has for nearly a decade worked tirelessly to answer that question through Hidden Histories: a project by Maggie Libby. The series reconstructs a history of Colby’s 19th- and 20th-century women using mixed-media portraits, biographical texts, altered books, and storyboards using source material from the College’s archive. Libby’s research informs this feature story by guiding Christina Nunez’s narrative and illustrating these pages.

As curator of digital discovery and engagement at Colby’s Special Collections and Archives, Libby holds a deep store of institutional knowledge of the College’s visual histories—as well as silences in the archives.

a view looking in at the Green Block + Studios

Raising
the
bar
downtown

The Greene Block has enhanced Main Street by offering access to working artists and a new creative space. It is also creating a sense of curiosity about the future of the arts in Waterville. We are enjoying activating this new space to build momentum toward an elevated level of vibrancy.”
—Teresa D. McKinney, Diamond Family Director of the Arts
Since it opened in fall 2021, the Greene Block + Studios has contributed to the remarkable revitalization of downtown Waterville as a convening space for public events, exhibitions, and concerts. Occupying a longtime former hardware store, the revitalized building includes garage-style doors that open to Main Street, creating community and a sense of welcomeness where arts are the central pillar. Across from the Lockwood Hotel, the nearly 25,000-square-foot building boasts large, light-filled studios for Lunder Institute for American Art residential fellows, offices, and original artwork, including the piece Making Waves by Maine artist Kim Bernard, made with malleable recycled plastic during a community art-making project.

Down the block, work continues on the Paul J. Schupf Art Center, an $18-million contemporary building that will open in late 2022 adjacent to the Waterville Opera House. Named after a longtime Colby donor and Trustee Emeritus, the Paul J. Schupf Art Center will bring together several of Waterville’s beloved arts institutions and include screening rooms for movies, a commercial art gallery, studios, and classrooms, as well as a contemporary gallery for the Colby College Museum of Art.

Colby has invested upward of $100 million in revitalization and redevelopment projects in downtown Waterville in recent years, cementing the College’s long-term commitment to its partnership with the community.

a view looking in at the Green Block + Studios

Raising
the
bar
downtown

The Greene Block has enhanced Main Street by offering access to working artists and a new creative space. It is also creating a sense of curiosity about the future of the arts in Waterville. We are enjoying activating this new space to build momentum toward an elevated level of vibrancy.”
—Teresa D. McKinney, Diamond Family Director of the Arts
Since it opened in fall 2021, the Greene Block + Studios has contributed to the remarkable revitalization of downtown Waterville as a convening space for public events, exhibitions, and concerts. Occupying a longtime former hardware store, the revitalized building includes garage-style doors that open to Main Street, creating community and a sense of welcomeness where arts are the central pillar. Across from the Lockwood Hotel, the nearly 25,000-square-foot building boasts large, light-filled studios for Lunder Institute for American Art residential fellows, offices, and original artwork, including the piece Making Waves by Maine artist Kim Bernard, made with malleable recycled plastic during a community art-making project.

Down the block, work continues on the Paul J. Schupf Art Center, an $18-million contemporary building that will open in late 2022 adjacent to the Waterville Opera House. Named after a longtime Colby donor and Trustee Emeritus, the Paul J. Schupf Art Center will bring together several of Waterville’s beloved arts institutions and include screening rooms for movies, a commercial art gallery, studios, and classrooms, as well as a contemporary gallery for the Colby College Museum of Art.

Colby has invested upward of $100 million in revitalization and redevelopment projects in downtown Waterville in recent years, cementing the College’s long-term commitment to its partnership with the community.

Meeting All the Challenges

Meeting All the Challenges typography
These Five Colby Alumnae are Reshaping the World of Business, Finance, and Technology with Their Liberal Arts Education
Kayla Voigt ’14

Waterville may be more than 300 miles from Wall Street and more than 3,000 miles from Silicon Valley, but it remains the beating heart behind the thriving business careers of Colby alumnae Leslie Dougherty Biddle ’89, Felise Kissell ’91, Andra Ofosu ’07, Joerose Tharakan ’08, and Anne Clarke Wolff ’87. For these five female executives, rising to the top of their careers took grit and determination—and a confidence driven in part by their Colby education.

In competitive industries like financial services and tech, women, and especially women of color, continue to remain underrepresented.

MUSEUM
Faith Ringgold, The Sunflower’s Quilting Bee at Arles, 1997
Faith Ringgold, The Sunflower’s Quilting Bee at Arles, 1997
Silkscreen on white wove paper. (Ed. 414/425) 33 ¾ x 35 in. (85.7 x 88.9 cm)
Museum purchase from the Lindsay Leard Coolidge ’78 Print Acquisition Fund Accession Number: 2015.002
© 2022 Faith Ringgold / ARS member, Courtesy ACA Galleries, New York

Faith Ringgold “Story Quilt” Acquired

ON VIEW NOW, THE PAINTED TEXTILE TELLS THE STORY OF A LONG HISTORY OF OPPRESSION

By Bob Keyes

African-American artist Faith Ringgold, 91, is finally receiving the recognition she has long deserved. This winter, the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York opened a career retrospective, an event of such significance the New York Times named it among a dozen of the most anticipated art happenings of 2022.

The Colby College Museum of Art will have its own Faith Ringgold moment this year. The museum has acquired one of Ringgold’s renowned “story quilts,” a painted textile that merges domestic art-form sensibilities with African-American folk traditions. Colby’s story quilt is Coming to Jones Road #4: Under A Blood Red Sky, which Ringgold painted in 2000. It is one of 10 in Ringgold’s culturally important Coming to Jones Road series.

Legacies
Align with
Colby’s
Acquisition
of

Allen
and
Benner
Islands

Legacies Align with Colby’s Acquisition of

Allen and Benner Islands

The College creates a 500-acre island campus in Muscongus Bay
By Bob Keyes
The Colby Island Campus consists of 450-acre Allen Island, in the foreground, and nearby Benner Island, at 50 acres. The College purchased the islands from the Up East Foundation and the Wyeth Foundation for American Art.
aerial view of The Colby Island Campus
The Colby Island Campus consists of 450-acre Allen Island, in the foreground, and nearby Benner Island, at 50 acres. The College purchased the islands from the Up East Foundation and the Wyeth Foundation for American Art.
Dean of the College Karlene Burrell-McRae

Leading
by
Example

Dean of the College Karlene Burrell-McRae ’94 applies her personal experiences to her work on behalf of women and others on Mayflower Hill

By Kardelen Koldas ’15
If you ask Dean of the College Karlene Burrell-McRae ’94 about womanhood, she will likely tell you a story from her childhood growing up in Jamaica. She and her mother, a teacher, had to wear uniforms to school, but her mother’s approach to the outfit was quite uncommon.

Burrell-McRae’s mother bought the required red-and-white-polka-dot uniform fabric, but she asked the seamstress for a custom-made design. Going against the norm of wearing a dress, she opted for a two-piece uniform: bell-bottom pants and a matching top.

“It raised all kinds of issues at the school,” said Burrell-McRae, who was a student at her mother’s school. “I was in awe of how [much] she was willing to take on. She understood that there was value in using your mind to think and then your voice to stand up for what you believed was right.”

Class Notes and Newsmakers

60s newsmakers

Beth Turner Brown ’63
Beth Turner Brown ’63
Playwright, director, and professor Beth Turner Brown ’63 will be inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre in April. Her plays have been performed at the New Federal Theatre, National Black Theatre, Lincoln Center Outdoors, and the Smithsonian Institution’s Discovery Theatre. Sweet Mama Stringbean, her play on the life of Ethel Waters, is a finalist for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival award for best production. An adjunct professor at Florida State and Florida A&M universities, she also publishes Black Masks, a magazine on Black theater, performance, and literary and visual arts.

70s newsmakers

Karen Brandt Byers ’70
Karen Brandt Byers ’70
Karen Brandt Byers ’70 was named the 2021 recipient of the Diane Fleming Award from the American Biological Safety Association (ABSA) International. Byers, a biosafety officer at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for 32 years, exemplifies leadership through her ABSA committee work, with dedication to the association’s journal, and by building collaborations across the field. Bill Simons ’71 won the 40th Annual Simon Rockower Award for Excellence in Writing About Sports for his article “Ballfield or Synagogue: Hank Greenberg’s High Holiday Dilemma.” Former Waterville City Manager Mike Roy ’74 was awarded Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce’s 2020 Distinguished Community Service Award. Among his noteworthy accomplishments was working in partnership with Colby to launch the $11-million downtown Waterville revitalization effort. Jacquelyn Lindsey Wynn ’75 was appointed jurisdiction supervisor in the Department of Women in the Church of God in Christ. In this role, Wynn will work with women under her to educate, equip, and empower them to live godly lives serving humankind. Mary Mitchell Friedman ’79 was inducted into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame for her work championing the recognition of women in sports as executive director of the Maine Sports Hall of Fame.

80s newsmakers

Beth Healy ’87
Beth Healy ’87
Peter Jordan ’80 was appointed president of Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education reported. Previously, Jordan was president of Tarrant County College-South Campus in Texas and held vice president-level positions at LaGuardia Community College in New York. Beth Healy ’87, investigative reporter at WBUR, Boston’s NPR affiliate, received the 2021 Edward R. Murrow Award in the News Series category. Healy, a former veteran reporter for the Boston Globe, received the award for co-producing the series Dying on the Sheriff’s Watch, which explored mistreatment in Massachusetts prisons. Political theorist John Tomasi ’87 became the inaugural president of Heterodox Academy (HxA). Tomasi, Brown University’s former Romeo Elton 1843 Professor of Natural Theology and the founder and director of the Political Theory Project, took the helm at HxA Jan. 1, 2022.

90s newsmakers

headshot of Alane O'Connor smiling
Alane O’Connor ’96
Jonathan Bardzik ’96 started his own cooking show, the Amherst Bulletin reported. The show airs on Revry, a global LGBTQ+ streaming network. Bardzik “is a force of nature, and as a gay married chef, we knew his talents would connect with our audience,” Revry CEO Damian Pelliccione told the Bulletin. Vanderbilt University School of Nursing (VUSN) honored Alane O’Connor ’96 with its Linda Norman Alumni Award for Innovation in Health Care. The award is presented to a VUSN graduate who uses nursing experience and knowledge to create tools that solve healthcare issues. O’Connor, the first director of perinatal addiction treatment at Maine Medical Center, is interested in the care of pregnant women with substance use disorders. Attorney Kristin Wildman Shirahama ’98 has been named to Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly’s inaugural list of top 20 Massachusetts Go-To Lawyers for Trusts & Estates Planning. Shirahama, past president of the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts, was recently named practice area leader of Bowditch & Dewey’s Estate, Financial Planning & Tax Planning group. In 2017 she was recognized by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly as a “Top Woman of Law.”

00s newsmakers

headshot of Limi Perry Bauer smiling, wearing a green blouse
Limi Perry Bauer ’00
Limi Perry Bauer ’00 is speaking out about being raised in the Unification Church, also known as the Moonies. She’s shared her story about leaving the church on the podcasts And Then Everything Changed with Ronit Plank and Falling Out with Elgin Strait. Bauer is working on a memoir and is active in the #IGotOut movement for cult survivors. Ben Tuff ’03 was the first person to swim nonstop the 19 miles from Block Island to Jamestown, R.I., without a wetsuit, the Providence Journal reported. Tuff raised nearly $100K for the Rhode Island nonprofit Clean Ocean Access, which inspires its community to take action through environmentally responsible behaviors. Canaan Morse ’07 was selected as a finalist for the 2021 National Book Award in Translated Literature for his translation of Peach Blossom Paradise, written by Chinese novelist Ge Fei. A devoted translator of Chinese literature, Morse is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Harvard in Chinese literature and culture.

10s newsmakers

headshot of Tenzin Passang smiling wearing a blush blouse
Tenzin Passang ’19
Darshini Mahadevia ’10 was the lead author in a paper published in the journal Nature Communications. Titled “Dopamine promotes aggression in mice via ventral tegmental area to lateral septum projections,” the paper examines the role of dopamine in aggression and its underlying neural mechanisms in the brain. Mahadevia earned her Ph.D. from Columbia University. Trustee Shaquan Huntt ’13 has been named the Carey Gabay Fellow by the governor of New York. The full-time legal fellowship entails working with the governor’s staff on issues such as violence prevention, economic equality, and community development. “Huntt is committed to public service and embodies the integrity and kindheartedness that distinguished Gabay personally,” the governor’s press release said. Lisa Kaplan ’13 was named one of the Washingtonian’s most powerful women in Washington, D.C., for her work with the Alethea Group, an anti-disinformation organization she founded. Kaplan was included in the magazine’s “Idea Powers” category. “There’s a new art venue in town: Alice Gauvin Gallery,” the Portland Press Herald said in a review of the gallery’s inaugural show. The gallery is the brainchild of Maine native Alice Gauvin ’15, who opened it to “showcase unique and thoughtful works by contemporary artists.” The Academy of American Poets awarded Tyler Starks ’16 its 2021 Gertrude Claytor Poetry Prize for his poem “Walk It Off Octopus.” Starks earned an M.F.A. in creative writing from Hollins University. Tenzin Passang ’19 was featured as a “Tibetan of the Week” by TibeToday, an English-language online new source. “Tenzin Passang’s academic journey is an inspiration to many youngsters, especially girls,” TibeToday noted. Passang is a Ph.D. candidate at Emory University studying cancer biology.

Obituaries

Noted

A portrait photograph of Kenneth Jacobson posing for a picture

Early in his songwriting career, Maine native Kenneth Jacobson ’50 rhymed “farm” with “calm.” This worked for Mainers, but not for his New York City music publisher.

At least that’s the story Jacobson told a Maine Sunday Telegram reporter in 1983, embellishing his already fascinating career with his own style of Maine folklore.

Jacobson, a prolific songwriter and AIDS activist, died March 22, 2021, in New York City. He was 91. The writer of more than a hundred songs recorded by popular artists of the day such as Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Jackie Wilson, and Nat King Cole, he also composed songs for two Broadway musicals.

gordon center
for creative and
performing arts

Coming soon:

Colby’s future home for Theater, Dance, Music, and Film, the Gordon Center will open next year

Scheduled to open in fall 2023, the Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts is the largest academic building project in Colby’s history and will become the most advanced and innovative arts facility in the region. The Gordon Center will be the new home for Colby’s departments of Music, Cinema Studies, and Performance, Theater, and Dance. It will include multipurpose performance space and studios designed for creativity to nurture emerging art forms.

The center is named after the lead donor to the $85-million project, Michael Gordon ’66, a trustee and longtime arts supporter.

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