President Lindsay’s Spring 2018 Update was emailed to alumni, family, and friends on Thursday, May 3. Click here for an archived version of the email.
Online registration for Reunion 2018 is now open! Click here to register and for a full list of events planned for Reunion 2018. Child Care will be provided by the YWCA; click here for registration and additional information.
Update on Dr. Margaret Locke's Memorial ServiceThe memorial service honoring Dr. Margaret Lock, originally scheduled scheduled for Tuesday, May 15 in Peterson Chapel, has been postponed at the request of Dr. Locke's family. Once a date is scheduled, we will be sure to share with the extended Elmira community.
Alumni Host Receptions for President & Mrs. Lindsay
President & Mrs. Lindsay have been on the road recently, visiting with alumni in the Bethlehem, PA, and Washington, D.C. areas at receptions hosted by alumni. Laurie Kelechava ’73 hosted a reception at the Historic Hotel Bethlehem while Linda Fritts ’76 hosted a reception in the Washington, D.C. area at the Conference Center at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Click here to see pictures from the events.SAC Supports Southern Tier JDRF One Walk
The Student Alumni Council will once again team up with JDRF Rochester on the annual Southern Tier JDRF One Walk, scheduled for Sunday, May 20. Online Registration is open - sign your team up or support the Eagles for a Cure Team organized by the Clarke Health Center.
Autism Awareness Week Raises Funds, Awareness
Activities and events were hosted throughout Autism Awareness Week 2018 by the Student Alumni Council. The group’s annual pie-in-the-face fundraiser raised more than $100 to support local Family Support Services (FSS) Autism Playgroups. Alumna Georgann Oman ’78 partnered with the group to host the annual Autism Awareness Fashion Show.
Student Alumni Council Hosts Autism Awareness Week
The Student Alumni Council (SAC) lit the campus in blue throughout the week of April 2 in support of autism awareness. A variety of activities helped raise awareness about autism as well as raising funds to support children with autism in the Elmira area.
At a kick-off event on Monday, EC students visited sensory stations in the Campus Center to experience calming techniques used by children with autism, such as sensory bottles and kinetic sand. On Wednesday, the SAC held a community event, inviting area families to campus for sensory and other fun activities designed for children with autism. The last two events included a pie-in-the-face fundraiser and a fashion show held in the Campus Center. Faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students participated in the events.
The fashion show featured students taking to the runway to model several sets of attire including a blue outfit for autism, several of which were donated by the Purple Iris Boutique in Horseheads. Students also carried signs with facts about autism helping to raise the awareness of the myths surrounding autism.[Read More]
First-Ever Elmira Everlasting Raises Funds for ScholarshipsStudent Alumni Council Hosts Autism Awareness Week
At a kick-off event on Monday, EC students visited sensory stations in the Campus Center to experience calming techniques used by children with autism, such as sensory bottles and kinetic sand. On Wednesday, the SAC held a community event, inviting area families to campus for sensory and other fun activities designed for children with autism. The last two events included a pie-in-the-face fundraiser and a fashion show held in the Campus Center. Faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students participated in the events.
The fashion show featured students taking to the runway to model several sets of attire including a blue outfit for autism, several of which were donated by the Purple Iris Boutique in Horseheads. Students also carried signs with facts about autism helping to raise the awareness of the myths surrounding autism.[Read More]
The College’s first-ever Spring Day of Giving, Elmira Everlasting, brought in just more than 270 gifts totaling more than $24,000 in support of student scholarships, thanks to the generosity of alumni. Class of 2010 donated the greatest number of gifts, earning the title of “2018 Most Everlasting Class,” with the Class of 1953 having the highest percentage of class members participating, with 55 percent making gifts.
Elmira Everlasting Raises Scholarship Funds“Keep her before us; by her example live.”
Thank you for supporting Elmira Everlasting.
On behalf of current and future students, we extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported Elmira Everlasting, our first spring day of giving.
Thanks to your generosity, we received 274 gifts and raised just over $24,000 to support student scholarships during our first-ever Elmira Everlasting Day of Giving.
Congratulations to the Class of 2010, winners of the “Class Year Challenge,” who donated the greatest number of gifts. To recognize their generous support they have earned the title of the “2018 Most Everlasting Class.”
A special recognition goes to the Class of 1953, who had the highest percentage of participation, with 55% of the Class members making a gift.
Every gift donated during Elmira Everlasting supports student scholarships. Here are just some of the students impacted by your generous support:
“My scholarship means I have an opportunity to make a difference in my family and the world.” - Bobbette March ’21, nursing major and scholarship recipient.
“Without my scholarships, I would not be able to pursue my dream of someday going to medical school and working in the healthcare field.” – Blake O’Neill ’19, a biology major, student athlete, and scholarship recipient.
“I enter each day knowing I have others who are committed to investing in my education and, therefore, my future.” – Sydney Stringham’19, an education and history double major and scholarship recipient.
On behalf of Bobbette, Blake, Sydney, and countless other EC students, we thank you.
And be it ever so that we live purple and give gold.
Endowed Scholarship Spotlight: Karen Niecke Jones ’63Elmira Everlasting Raises Scholarship Funds“Keep her before us; by her example live.”
Thank you for supporting Elmira Everlasting.
On behalf of current and future students, we extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported Elmira Everlasting, our first spring day of giving.
Thanks to your generosity, we received 274 gifts and raised just over $24,000 to support student scholarships during our first-ever Elmira Everlasting Day of Giving.
Congratulations to the Class of 2010, winners of the “Class Year Challenge,” who donated the greatest number of gifts. To recognize their generous support they have earned the title of the “2018 Most Everlasting Class.”
A special recognition goes to the Class of 1953, who had the highest percentage of participation, with 55% of the Class members making a gift.
Every gift donated during Elmira Everlasting supports student scholarships. Here are just some of the students impacted by your generous support:
“My scholarship means I have an opportunity to make a difference in my family and the world.” - Bobbette March ’21, nursing major and scholarship recipient.
“Without my scholarships, I would not be able to pursue my dream of someday going to medical school and working in the healthcare field.” – Blake O’Neill ’19, a biology major, student athlete, and scholarship recipient.
“I enter each day knowing I have others who are committed to investing in my education and, therefore, my future.” – Sydney Stringham’19, an education and history double major and scholarship recipient.
On behalf of Bobbette, Blake, Sydney, and countless other EC students, we thank you.
And be it ever so that we live purple and give gold.
Karen Niecke Jones ’63 began a fulfilling career in education after receiving her Bachelor of Arts in history from Elmira College. After retiring, Karen worked with her financial advisor to develop an investment strategy that provided the greatest tax benefit for her, and provide a lasting legacy for Elmira College.
The Karen Niecke Jones ’63 Scholarship:
Appreciated Securities Provide Great Vehicles for Gifts
When the time came to consider her legacy, Karen Niecke Jones ’63 thought of Elmira College where she began her liberal arts education that led to her rewarding teaching career. So she decided her legacy would be establishing a need- and merit-based scholarship for future Elmira College students.
Excited about her decision, Karen contacted her financial advisor at Morgan Stanley to determine the best way forward. He recommended that she fund her scholarship with highly appreciated securities, the securities that had appreciated the most during the years they had been in her portfolio. He explained that when securities are given to any institution, they are sold and reinvested in holdings preferred by the receiver, in this case Elmira College. This way the securities not only provide a strong building block to endow the legacy, but also reduce the capital gains tax that the donor, in this case, Karen, would otherwise have to pay.
Originally Karen had planned to establish the scholarship with her estate, but her financial advisor encouraged her to reconsider. By starting the scholarship while living, she would reap the benefits of meeting the recipients and enjoying their stories of their journeys through college. Later, her estate can increase the impact her scholarship will have on others.
Karen received a Bachelor of Arts in History from Elmira College in 1963 and a Master of Science in Education from Wheelock College in 1966. She retired after thirty years of elementary school teaching at Medway and Bedford in Massachusetts. Highlights of her life include teaching and remembering the many amusing events that her young students provided, and foreign travel to Bogotá, Columbia; Romania, Europe and the British Isles. Karen serves as president of her condo association board of trustees and will attend her 55threunion at Elmira College in June 2018.
Talk with your financial advisor. If, like Karen, you have appreciated securities, this might be a wonderful way for you to establish your own lasting legacy.
Appreciated Securities Provide Great Vehicles for Gifts
When the time came to consider her legacy, Karen Niecke Jones ’63 thought of Elmira College where she began her liberal arts education that led to her rewarding teaching career. So she decided her legacy would be establishing a need- and merit-based scholarship for future Elmira College students.
Excited about her decision, Karen contacted her financial advisor at Morgan Stanley to determine the best way forward. He recommended that she fund her scholarship with highly appreciated securities, the securities that had appreciated the most during the years they had been in her portfolio. He explained that when securities are given to any institution, they are sold and reinvested in holdings preferred by the receiver, in this case Elmira College. This way the securities not only provide a strong building block to endow the legacy, but also reduce the capital gains tax that the donor, in this case, Karen, would otherwise have to pay.
Originally Karen had planned to establish the scholarship with her estate, but her financial advisor encouraged her to reconsider. By starting the scholarship while living, she would reap the benefits of meeting the recipients and enjoying their stories of their journeys through college. Later, her estate can increase the impact her scholarship will have on others.
Karen received a Bachelor of Arts in History from Elmira College in 1963 and a Master of Science in Education from Wheelock College in 1966. She retired after thirty years of elementary school teaching at Medway and Bedford in Massachusetts. Highlights of her life include teaching and remembering the many amusing events that her young students provided, and foreign travel to Bogotá, Columbia; Romania, Europe and the British Isles. Karen serves as president of her condo association board of trustees and will attend her 55threunion at Elmira College in June 2018.
Talk with your financial advisor. If, like Karen, you have appreciated securities, this might be a wonderful way for you to establish your own lasting legacy.
Planned Giving Spotlight: Laurann Owsley Robertson ’68
This year marks the 50th Reunion for Laurann Owsley Robertson ’68 and her Class Members. As she reflects on her many EC memories, Laurann also shares why she chose to make the College a beneficiary of one her investment accounts.Laurann with her twin granddaughters, Aubrey Eve Allegretti (left) and Avery Grace Allegretti.Laurann Owsley Robertson ’68
50th Reunion Celebrant provides an Estate Gift from her investment account
The best part is that I won't even know when it happens, but feel satisfied knowing that I will play a tiny part in enhancing the education of other young male or female students at Elmira College.
As she looks forward to celebrating her 50th Reunion in June 2018, Laurann Owsley Robertson ’68 reflects on how Elmira College had such an enormous impact on her life, and why she decided to leave a portion of one of her investment accounts in her estate.
“The older I get, the more I realize what a gem of a college Elmira is. When I look back fifty years, I see why it was a perfect fit for me at that time in my life. Elmira prepared and polished me for adult life and all its challenges by providing an education rich in the liberal arts, a diverse community of women and supportive professors, a social experience where I made lasting and valuable friendships with men and women across the country, and an opportunity to find out who I was and where I wanted to go in life,” Laurann explained.
“Giving back to Elmira with a small percentage of one of my investment accounts seems to be the natural and right thing to do. The best part is that I won't even know when it happens, but feel satisfied knowing that I will play a tiny part in enhancing the education of other young male or female students here at Elmira College.”
Laurann is a former Elmira College Alumni Board member, serving from 2004 to 2010, who received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History in 1968 and a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University Teacher’s College in 1970. Married to Colonel Blake Robertson of the United States Marine Corps, she and her family have moved several times for Uncle Sam. While in New York, she served as Community Services Program Supervisor for the Westchester County Parks and Recreation Department and taught therapeutic recreation at Westchester Community College. While raising her three children, Laurann took leadership roles in school and community volunteer programs. Laurann also worked for the Stafford County Schools in Virginia and retired in 2007.
In addition to her six years of service on the Alumni Board of Directors, Laurann has served as Class of 1968 Secretary-Treasurer and represented Elmira College at the inauguration of the new president at Randolph-Macon College in October 2006. Laurann decided to make Elmira College a beneficiary of one of her investment accounts and specified that the proceeds be used for the College’s general purposes. This legacy gift forms an important backbone for the College’s financial strength.
As a bonus, Laurann can count her future estate gift in the Class of 1968 totals at Reunion 2018. If you are celebrating your 50th or greater Reunion, you can do this, too, if you send the appropriate paperwork to the College specifying your intentions.
Laurann and other generous benefactors like her make a difference in the lives of the current generation of Elmira College students.
Click here to view other Planned Gift spotlights here. [Read More]
Alumni Spotlight: Jamie Redmond ’78
This month’s Student Spotlight takes a slight twist as we highlight the EC Enactus Team. The team recently brought home a championship from the Enactus U.S. Regional Competition in Philadelphia, and will now travel to the U.S. National Competition in Kansas City, MO from May 20-22.
The Elmira College Enactus Team garnered a Competition Championship at the recent Enactus United States Regional Competition in Philadelphia on March 19. The team will now move on to the Enactus United States National Exposition to be held in Kansas City, Missouri on May 20-22.
One of five regional competitions, the event in Philadelphia provided the Elmira team a chance to present to their peers from throughout the Mid-Atlantic region a live multimedia summary of its 2017-2018 entrepreneurial-based projects. The projects included in the presentation were:
Twin Tier Ties Expo | First Arena
Downtown Window Display | Downtown Development Project Inc.
Formal Wear Opportunity | Economic Opportunity Program, Inc.
Bahamian Essay Competition| Sunshine Insurance [Legacy, +15 years]
Shine a Light on Domestic Violence | Catholic Charities
Teams were judged on the relevant economic, social and environmental factors which most effectively empowered people in need by applying business and economic concepts and an entrepreneurial approach to improve the quality of life and standard of living for those people in need. The presentation team included: Jeremy Boorum ’20, Olivia Cacchione ’19, Henry Cuffee ’19, Leah Cunningham ’18, Alexander Garey ’19, Corrie Mace ’19, and the presentation multi-media IT representative, Hannah Keil ’19.
For more than 20 years, Elmira College Enactus has worked with people in its local and global communities, creating innovative projects to help others become self-reliant contributors to the economy and to the world. The Elmira College Enactus Team has, in the past earned both regional championships and placed in nationals. Additionally, a number of team members have received leadership awards. The EC Enactus Team’s 2017-2018 student president is Marisa Sponable ’18, and the team consists of 25 students from the classes of 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. The faculty advisors for the EC Enactus Team are Associate Professor Alison Wolfe and Director of Career Services, Julie Fielding. Vice-President of External Relations, Michael Rogers, is a recognized fellow of Enactus International.
By aligning its mission with the principles of Enactus USA and applying entrepreneurial and business concepts, EC Enactus focuses its efforts on improving economic, social and environmental conditions in the Elmira, New York, community. Professor Wolfe stated, “We are very proud of the Elmira College Enactus Team’s commitment to make not only a meaningful contribution to, but also a meaningful difference in, both the local and international communities.”
Enactus is an international organization that connects student, academic and business leaders through entrepreneurial-based projects that empower people to transform opportunities into real, sustainable progress for themselves and their communities. Guided by academic advisors and business experts, the student leaders of Enactus create and implement entrepreneurial projects around the globe. The experience not only transforms lives, it helps students develop the kind of talent and perspective that are essential to leadership in an ever-more complicated and challenging world. There are more than 443 active teams that encompass 16,800 students and 1,010 community projects worldwide.
We continue our Alumni Board Spotlights this month with Jamie Redmond ’78, who began his term as a member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors in October 2017. Jamie was a sociology, social work, psychology major at Elmira College.
Elmira College’s Alumni Association helps establish and perpetuate fellowship between alumni and connection with the College and its students. Jamie Redmond ’78 began his term as a member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors in October 2017. After graduating from Elmira College and earning a Master of Science degree from SUNY Brockport, he was a district manager and management support specialist for the Social Security Administration. After retiring. Jamie, who resides in Rochester, New York, began serving as legal consultant and social security advisor for Benefit Representatives of America. Jamie shares the following insights into his career and experiences at EC.
What have been the highlights and milestone of your career and life?
Here are a few things of which I am most proud. I was the recipient of the Commissioners Citation and Lifetime Achievement Award for Sustained Excellence at the Social Security Administration; ambassador to the New York Region Management Society; co-chair of the Regional Diversity Counsel; previous area director for Monroe County Special Olympics; a professional sabbatical at National Technical Institute for the Deaf; a member of the National Training Cadre for JAWS Blind Training Cadre; advocate and coach for Shared Ski Adventures, Rochester Accessible Adventures; a disability advocate for National Association for Mental Illness; an adjunct of sociology and psychology at Genesee Community College; and education chair for the National Association of Disability Representatives. I am working toward becoming a distinguished Toastmaster and motivational speaker.
How did your experience at Elmira College prepare you for this professional life? Specifically, were there experiences, courses, or faculty that made a significant influence on your education?
I am an outspoken believer in the value of a liberal arts education. While at EC, I took part in the ACCESS program, alternating different assignments at the Social Security Administration in Elmira. This was a wonderful experience for me and set the foundation for a long and successful career in the public sector. I also did an internship at Elmira Psychiatric Center, which bolstered my confidence and desire to work with disabled populations. This experience set the foundation for volunteer work as a play therapist, counselor, coach and disability advocate. While at EC, I also wrote for the student newspaper,The Octagon. I loved that experience. It set the foundation for future opportunities to write for Jim Pfiffer's '78 sports section of the local newspaper. At the same time, I was doing graduate work and serving as a head resident with my former wife, Roxanne Corona Redmond M.S. '81 at Alumni Hall from 1979-1981. I also played JV basketball at EC and later worked with Coach Manikowski as a scout. Coach Manikowski and Dave Mandelbaum, professor of psychology, were, I would say, influential role models for me.
Alumni Board members lead the way as ambassadors of the College. What motivated you to serve EC on the Board?
I love Elmira College. I was given a great gift to get to go to school there, meet many wonderful friends and enjoy a myriad of enriching experiences.
What advice would you give a prospective student?
Never stop learning. Read a lot. Take advantage of third term opportunities to learn about other cultures. Give thanks by paying back and volunteering. Most of all, do what you feel passionate about.
Student Spotlight: Enactus TeamWhat have been the highlights and milestone of your career and life?
Here are a few things of which I am most proud. I was the recipient of the Commissioners Citation and Lifetime Achievement Award for Sustained Excellence at the Social Security Administration; ambassador to the New York Region Management Society; co-chair of the Regional Diversity Counsel; previous area director for Monroe County Special Olympics; a professional sabbatical at National Technical Institute for the Deaf; a member of the National Training Cadre for JAWS Blind Training Cadre; advocate and coach for Shared Ski Adventures, Rochester Accessible Adventures; a disability advocate for National Association for Mental Illness; an adjunct of sociology and psychology at Genesee Community College; and education chair for the National Association of Disability Representatives. I am working toward becoming a distinguished Toastmaster and motivational speaker.
How did your experience at Elmira College prepare you for this professional life? Specifically, were there experiences, courses, or faculty that made a significant influence on your education?
I am an outspoken believer in the value of a liberal arts education. While at EC, I took part in the ACCESS program, alternating different assignments at the Social Security Administration in Elmira. This was a wonderful experience for me and set the foundation for a long and successful career in the public sector. I also did an internship at Elmira Psychiatric Center, which bolstered my confidence and desire to work with disabled populations. This experience set the foundation for volunteer work as a play therapist, counselor, coach and disability advocate. While at EC, I also wrote for the student newspaper,The Octagon. I loved that experience. It set the foundation for future opportunities to write for Jim Pfiffer's '78 sports section of the local newspaper. At the same time, I was doing graduate work and serving as a head resident with my former wife, Roxanne Corona Redmond M.S. '81 at Alumni Hall from 1979-1981. I also played JV basketball at EC and later worked with Coach Manikowski as a scout. Coach Manikowski and Dave Mandelbaum, professor of psychology, were, I would say, influential role models for me.
Alumni Board members lead the way as ambassadors of the College. What motivated you to serve EC on the Board?
I love Elmira College. I was given a great gift to get to go to school there, meet many wonderful friends and enjoy a myriad of enriching experiences.
What advice would you give a prospective student?
Never stop learning. Read a lot. Take advantage of third term opportunities to learn about other cultures. Give thanks by paying back and volunteering. Most of all, do what you feel passionate about.
The Elmira College Enactus Team garnered a Competition Championship at the recent Enactus United States Regional Competition in Philadelphia on March 19. The team will now move on to the Enactus United States National Exposition to be held in Kansas City, Missouri on May 20-22.
One of five regional competitions, the event in Philadelphia provided the Elmira team a chance to present to their peers from throughout the Mid-Atlantic region a live multimedia summary of its 2017-2018 entrepreneurial-based projects. The projects included in the presentation were:
Twin Tier Ties Expo | First Arena
Downtown Window Display | Downtown Development Project Inc.
Formal Wear Opportunity | Economic Opportunity Program, Inc.
Bahamian Essay Competition| Sunshine Insurance [Legacy, +15 years]
Shine a Light on Domestic Violence | Catholic Charities
Teams were judged on the relevant economic, social and environmental factors which most effectively empowered people in need by applying business and economic concepts and an entrepreneurial approach to improve the quality of life and standard of living for those people in need. The presentation team included: Jeremy Boorum ’20, Olivia Cacchione ’19, Henry Cuffee ’19, Leah Cunningham ’18, Alexander Garey ’19, Corrie Mace ’19, and the presentation multi-media IT representative, Hannah Keil ’19.
For more than 20 years, Elmira College Enactus has worked with people in its local and global communities, creating innovative projects to help others become self-reliant contributors to the economy and to the world. The Elmira College Enactus Team has, in the past earned both regional championships and placed in nationals. Additionally, a number of team members have received leadership awards. The EC Enactus Team’s 2017-2018 student president is Marisa Sponable ’18, and the team consists of 25 students from the classes of 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. The faculty advisors for the EC Enactus Team are Associate Professor Alison Wolfe and Director of Career Services, Julie Fielding. Vice-President of External Relations, Michael Rogers, is a recognized fellow of Enactus International.
By aligning its mission with the principles of Enactus USA and applying entrepreneurial and business concepts, EC Enactus focuses its efforts on improving economic, social and environmental conditions in the Elmira, New York, community. Professor Wolfe stated, “We are very proud of the Elmira College Enactus Team’s commitment to make not only a meaningful contribution to, but also a meaningful difference in, both the local and international communities.”
Enactus is an international organization that connects student, academic and business leaders through entrepreneurial-based projects that empower people to transform opportunities into real, sustainable progress for themselves and their communities. Guided by academic advisors and business experts, the student leaders of Enactus create and implement entrepreneurial projects around the globe. The experience not only transforms lives, it helps students develop the kind of talent and perspective that are essential to leadership in an ever-more complicated and challenging world. There are more than 443 active teams that encompass 16,800 students and 1,010 community projects worldwide.
CMTS Offers Spring Lecture Series
The Center for Mark Twain Series began the spring portion of its “The Trouble Begins” Lecture Series on Wednesday, May 9 in the Barn at Quarry Farm. The spring series includes four lectures throughout the month of May.
The spring portion of the 2017-2018 The Trouble Begins Lecture Series presented by the Center for Mark Twain Studies features four lectures, with the first event set for Wednesday, May 9 in The Barn at Quarry Farm. All four lectures begin at 7:00 p.m., and are free and open to the public.
The first lecture, “High Style in Mid-Nineteenth Century Elmira: The Architecture and Interiors of the Jervis Langdon Mansion” will be presented by Walter G. Ritchie, Jr., independent scholar. By the 1860s, Jervis Langdon, Mark Twain’s father-in-law, was ready to create a home that announced his status as one of Elmira’s most successful and influential businessmen. After purchasing a house built in the 1850s, he immediately arranged to have it enlarged and remodeled in the fashionable Italianate style. The result was an imposing three-story brownstone mansion that was counted among the largest and most elegant residences in the city. This lecture will explore the architecture, interiors, and furnishings of the Langdon mansion, sadly destroyed in the 1930s, but well documented by period photographs showing both the exterior and interior. Surviving pieces of furniture made by Pottier & Stymus, now preserved in various museum and university collections, will be discussed to illustrate how the Langdons, through the guidance of the firm, demonstrated their good taste and familiarity with the latest modes in household decoration and furnishing.
On Wednesday, May 16, the Series continues in The Barn at Quarry Farm with “‘Raising the Bar: Satirizing Law in Puddn’head Wilson and The Sellout” presented by Rebecca Nisetich of the University of Southern Maine. This lecture explores how American writers use satire to expose the ways that “race” operates in our political institutions, social practices, and cultural discourses. In Puddn’head Wilson, Twain shows what happens when legal discourse is taken to its logical extreme. Contemporary novelist Paul Beatty similarly satirizes America’s racial structure and - like Twain - he takes aim at the legal system that supports it. Twain’s novel is produced in the legal wrangling leading up to the Plessy v. Ferguson decision; Beatty’s novel responds to the present-day nadir of African American jurisprudence: the 2013 Supreme Court ruling which overturned critical aspects of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the effect of the subprime lending crisis on African American homeowners, and the spate of “Not Guilty” verdicts in the deaths of African American men. As Twain, Beatty, and others demonstrate, we cannot escape these fundamentally racist legal and social structures until we have created other viable options.
The Series continues in Cowles Hall on the Elmira College campus on Wednesday, May 23 with “An American Cannibal at Home: Comic Diplomacy in Mark Twain’s Hawai’i” will be presented by Todd Nathan Thompson, associate professor of English Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Thompson’s talk investigates the comic strategies he employs - particularly self-effacement, satiric levelling, comic foils, physical comedy, and sarcastic irony - to show how Twain leveraged the ambivalence of social humors to stoke Americans’ interest in Hawai’i while simultaneously defending Hawaiians from “other”-ing stereotypes that - even as early as 1866 - he saw as intimately tied to Americans’ imperialist urges.
The spring portion of the Series wraps up on Wednesday, May 30, in Cowles Hall on the Elmira College campus with “‘My penchant for silence’: Mark Twain’s Rhetorical Art of the Unspoken” presented by Ben Click, professor of English at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. There is no shortage of commentary on Twain’s penchant for talk, how he transliterated and employed it. He perfected the mock oral narrative, precisely rendered of frontier and river vernacular, created the stunning narrative method of Huck Finn’s voice, and crafted countless, repeatable maxims. Yet, silence permeates the writings of Mark Twain. Examining its functions is an overlooked, yet integral, aspect of his writing for silence mediates and influences the discourses of his fictive and personal worlds. This talk examines representative (and powerful) rhetorical uses of silence in the arc of Twain’s fictive writing.
The spring portion of the 2017-2018 The Trouble Begins Lecture Series presented by the Center for Mark Twain Studies features four lectures, with the first event set for Wednesday, May 9 in The Barn at Quarry Farm. All four lectures begin at 7:00 p.m., and are free and open to the public.
The first lecture, “High Style in Mid-Nineteenth Century Elmira: The Architecture and Interiors of the Jervis Langdon Mansion” will be presented by Walter G. Ritchie, Jr., independent scholar. By the 1860s, Jervis Langdon, Mark Twain’s father-in-law, was ready to create a home that announced his status as one of Elmira’s most successful and influential businessmen. After purchasing a house built in the 1850s, he immediately arranged to have it enlarged and remodeled in the fashionable Italianate style. The result was an imposing three-story brownstone mansion that was counted among the largest and most elegant residences in the city. This lecture will explore the architecture, interiors, and furnishings of the Langdon mansion, sadly destroyed in the 1930s, but well documented by period photographs showing both the exterior and interior. Surviving pieces of furniture made by Pottier & Stymus, now preserved in various museum and university collections, will be discussed to illustrate how the Langdons, through the guidance of the firm, demonstrated their good taste and familiarity with the latest modes in household decoration and furnishing.
On Wednesday, May 16, the Series continues in The Barn at Quarry Farm with “‘Raising the Bar: Satirizing Law in Puddn’head Wilson and The Sellout” presented by Rebecca Nisetich of the University of Southern Maine. This lecture explores how American writers use satire to expose the ways that “race” operates in our political institutions, social practices, and cultural discourses. In Puddn’head Wilson, Twain shows what happens when legal discourse is taken to its logical extreme. Contemporary novelist Paul Beatty similarly satirizes America’s racial structure and - like Twain - he takes aim at the legal system that supports it. Twain’s novel is produced in the legal wrangling leading up to the Plessy v. Ferguson decision; Beatty’s novel responds to the present-day nadir of African American jurisprudence: the 2013 Supreme Court ruling which overturned critical aspects of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the effect of the subprime lending crisis on African American homeowners, and the spate of “Not Guilty” verdicts in the deaths of African American men. As Twain, Beatty, and others demonstrate, we cannot escape these fundamentally racist legal and social structures until we have created other viable options.
The Series continues in Cowles Hall on the Elmira College campus on Wednesday, May 23 with “An American Cannibal at Home: Comic Diplomacy in Mark Twain’s Hawai’i” will be presented by Todd Nathan Thompson, associate professor of English Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Thompson’s talk investigates the comic strategies he employs - particularly self-effacement, satiric levelling, comic foils, physical comedy, and sarcastic irony - to show how Twain leveraged the ambivalence of social humors to stoke Americans’ interest in Hawai’i while simultaneously defending Hawaiians from “other”-ing stereotypes that - even as early as 1866 - he saw as intimately tied to Americans’ imperialist urges.
The spring portion of the Series wraps up on Wednesday, May 30, in Cowles Hall on the Elmira College campus with “‘My penchant for silence’: Mark Twain’s Rhetorical Art of the Unspoken” presented by Ben Click, professor of English at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. There is no shortage of commentary on Twain’s penchant for talk, how he transliterated and employed it. He perfected the mock oral narrative, precisely rendered of frontier and river vernacular, created the stunning narrative method of Huck Finn’s voice, and crafted countless, repeatable maxims. Yet, silence permeates the writings of Mark Twain. Examining its functions is an overlooked, yet integral, aspect of his writing for silence mediates and influences the discourses of his fictive and personal worlds. This talk examines representative (and powerful) rhetorical uses of silence in the arc of Twain’s fictive writing.
Alumni in the News
Crystal Eaton Collins ’88
Named to 2018 Galway Golden Eagle Athletics Wall of Fame Induction Class
Elmira College in the News
Elmira College cheerleaders place fourth at NCA College Nationals
Kids Soccer Camp Coming to Elmira College
Crystal Eaton Collins ’88
Named to 2018 Galway Golden Eagle Athletics Wall of Fame Induction Class
Elmira College in the News
Elmira College cheerleaders place fourth at NCA College Nationals
Kids Soccer Camp Coming to Elmira College
Follow EC!
Quick Links
Upcoming Alumni Events17th Annual Purple & Gold Golf Outing
5/19/2018 8:30 AM
6/15/2018
6/16/2018 1:00 PM
Elmira College
One Park Place
Elmira, New York 14901, United States
(607) 735-1855
Elmira College
Office of Alumni Relations
One Park Place
Elmira, New York 14901, United States
***
No comments:
Post a Comment