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Written by Dwight Bachman and Ed Osborn

Willimantic, Conn. --  1,256 undergraduates and 41 graduate students heard the roars and cheers of thousands of their family members and friends as they celebrated their achievements at Eastern Connecticut State University's 123nd  Commencement exercises at the XL Center in Hartford on May 14. 

Carlotta Walls LaNier, the youngest member of the "Little Rock Nine," gave the Commencement Address, telling the graduates "This is your moment, a time you have been looking forward to and working toward since you first arrived at Eastern.  Celebrate the moment; seize it.  Step out into your future bravely and boldly."  LaNier noted that the graduates were bound to encounter challenges.  Those experiences will be "the greatest teacher in the grand classroom of life. Those challenges will show you who you really are."

The Little Rock Nine was a group of nine African American students who desegregated Central High School in Little Rock, AR, in 1957. Due to the segregation policies of Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus and the mob atmosphere in Little Rock at the time, President Dwight Eisenhower ordered 1,000 members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division to Arkansas to provide protection and escort the nine students to class throughout the 1957-58 school year.

Despite the daily military escort, LaNier and her friends were kicked, hit with rocks, threatened, and shunned. Her own home was firebombed.  As the onslaught continued, "the more determined I became to get my diploma."  Today, she has "made peace with my past."
 
LaNier turned to the Class of 2013 and encouraged them to have the same commitment: "Finish whatever goals you have set for yourself.  Find the strength, fortitude and determination to see it through. When you see injustice, how will you respond?  I hope you take the heroic stand." LaNier was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa at the Commencement Exercises.
 

Eastern President Elsa M. Nunez told the graduates, "There is no other country in the world that places its future so firmly in the hands of the people.  You are now the next generation of citizen leaders in our state and in our nation.  . . . The world needs your energy, your enthusiasm, and your skills . . . There is a challenge out there ready for you to conquer, whether it's helping out at your church or synagogue, volunteering at the local senior center, or inventing a new surgical procedure. There is a team somewhere that needs you to complete its mission."

As an example of the contributions Eastern students are making in the world, Nunez cited more than 100,000 hours of volunteer work performed by Eastern students, faculty, and staff each year in local communities, noting that President Barack Obama's had named Eastern to his National Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for the third time in four years that past March.At the same time, President Nunez told the graduates to "be yourself and do what makes you happy," and quoted New England bard Henry Thoreau, who wrote: "Do what you love. Know your own bone; gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw it still."

From the Governor's Foot Guard Color Guard in attendance, to the plaintive sound of the bagpipes of the St. Patrick's Pipe Band and the pre-event music of the Thread City Brass Quintet, Eastern's graduation ceremonies were marked by dignity, grace and elegance. Senior Jessica Johnson sang "America the Beautiful," and Senior Class President Thomas Balestracci presented President Núñez with the class gift, a scholarship funded by more than 200 donations from the graduating class. Balestracci encouraged his classmates to continue donating so that the scholarship would grow. "We have all benefited from our experiences here at Eastern. These experiences are the ones that we will keep with us forever as we move on. They will be the ones we will look back upon and realize that they have helped us become who we are today.  We lived up each day like it was our last at Eastern, and now, it really is our last day. We have turned our dreams into reality during our time at this University and we made memories that will last a lifetime."

Yvette Melendez, vice president of the Board of Regents for Higher Education, the governing body for the 17 Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, brought greetings on behalf of the Board of Regents.  "Congratulations to each and every one of you for reaching this incredible milestone.  This is one of those moments that will forever be embedded in your memory.  You are at the beginning of a future you have just begun to mold.  You took the first step in that journey by enrolling at Eastern.  You have much to be proud of."  Meléndez urged the graduates to make their contribution to society "in the way that Eastern has taught you.  You have worked exceedingly hard . . . you have learned that regardless of major, you are part of a community."

Nana Owusu-Agyemang of Ghana, West Africa, delivered the Senior Class Address. She thanked the faculty for their support, saying, "During my time here at Eastern, I have met professors that I simply cannot forget -- professors who really care for their students. It will forever strike me how much time professors at Eastern are willing to spend with each student...how much of themselves they give.  It's not just the professors who make Eastern what it is. At Eastern it's not just about imparting knowledge, it's about joining hands to mold each student into a richer person academically and mentally, as well." Owusu-Agyemang closed by quoting the late philosopher Alan Watts, who once said, "The attitude of faith is to let go, and become open to truth, whatever it might turn out to be."
"May our truth be a good truth," said Owusu-Agyemang. "May our world be a good world. May our mark be a good mark."

 
Carlotta Walls LaNier made history at age 14 when she enrolled at Central High School as a sophomore. On the first day of school she was surrounded by an angry mob that prevented the nine African American students from entering the building. After two weeks of protests and violence, President Dwight Eisenhower sent U.S. Army troops to Little Rock to protect the "Little Rock Nine" by escorting them to class for a year. Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus closed Little Rock schools for the 1958-59 school year, forcing LaNier to take correspondence courses. In June 1960, she became the first African American female student to graduate from Central High School.
LaNier has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the prestigious Spingarn Medal from the NAACP in 1958, and the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation's highest civilian award, which was bestowed upon the Little Rock Nine in 1999 by President Bill Clinton. She is also the author of "A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice of Little Rock Central High School."

Written by Dwight Bachman

(left to right) Mally Cox-Chapman, philanthropy advisor, Common Sense Fund; Nancy Tinker, director of facilities management and planning, Eastern Connecticut State University; Sabina Shelby, trustee, Hampshire Foundation; and Stewart Hudson, president, Tremaine Foundation, at the Power of Change ceremony at the State Capitol.

Willimantic, CT -- Eastern Connecticut State University's J. Eugene Smith Library Lighting Control System Upgrade was one of seven Connecticut energy efficiency projects acknowledged on April 9 in the first annual Power of Change Award program sponsored by the Common Sense Fund, the Hampshire Foundation, and the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation. Eastern earned First Honors in the Power of Change Fast Track Award category.

"These seven Power of Change Award winners demonstrate the innovative ways Connecticut is meeting aggressive energy efficiency goals and are a promising example of how our state is taking an active role in driving a clean energy economy forward," said Stewart Hudson of the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, one of the three organizations funding and supporting the initiative. "We created the Power of Change Award as an opportunity to provide recognition and also encourage even more state and municipal leaders to make an important investment in their future. We believe it's important to celebrate success where it occurs--in this case good government practices that protect human health, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and in the process help the Connecticut economy and save taxpayer dollars."

State agencies, facility managers and stakeholders entered projects in three award categories: the Innovation Award, designed to recognize new and effective ideas and approaches to achieve energy reduction through efficiency; the Fast Track Award, recognizing the agencies that got out front by aiming for higher levels of efficiency; and Most Energy-Efficient Building Awards for buildings associated with Connecticut-owned educational institutions and Court Houses.  Eastern earned First Honors in the Fast Track Award category. William Leahy, executive director of operations for Eastern's Institute for Sustainable Energy, was a member of the 15-member regional committee of energy and conservation experts who judged the awards.

 In fall 2011, Eastern received a state grant funded by Governor Dannel Malloy's Lead by Example state building energy efficiency program to install Encelium, an energy conservation system, in the J. Eugene Smith Library. Work on the project began in February 2012. Workers attached sensors to all of the lights in the building and also regulated the heating, ventilation and cooling system as well. Each floor of the four-story building was divided into multiple zones, which were wired in a way that the zone can be separately controlled for lighting. The Encelium system is not just a standard motion detection stem; it also can compensate for the amount of outside daylight in the room.

Eastern Connecticut State University is the state's public liberal arts university and serves approximately 5,400 students each year on its Willimantic campus and satellite locations. It is the policy of Eastern Connecticut State University to ensure equal access to its events.

Written by Christopher J. Herman

Willimantic, Conn. - This year marks Eastern Connecticut State University's first Winter Alternative Break Trip. Eastern's Center for Community Engagement (CCE) is sponsoring a group of students to participate in the Generous Garden Project in Greenville, S.C. from Jan. 6-12. Students Christine Geer and Bill Villalba are coordinating the trip.

The Generous Garden Project's mission is to provide nutritious and fresh produce to local ministries and soup kitchens. They work to fight hunger by growing and harvesting their own fresh produce. Eastern students will be volunteering on the Project's farm and will learn a variety of organic farming techniques. Those participating in the project will bring back what they learn to develop similar programs in the Willimantic community.

For this trip to be possible, the group relies heavily on fundraising and the support of others in the Eastern community.  The J. Eugene Smith Library, the CCE and local Willimantic businesses have generously donated to the cause.

For more information on the Generous Garden Project, visit www.generousgarden.org.                                                                

Written by Nana Owusu-Agyemang

Willimantic, Conn. ¬¬- Eastern Connecticut State University will host the chamber music theatre group Core Ensemble for a theatrical performance of the production, "Tres Vidas" (Three Lives) at 7 p. m. on Nov. 1 in Shafer Auditorium. The public is invited. Admission is free. Shafer Auditorium is in Shafer Hall, located at Valley and High Streets in Willimantic.

The Core Ensemble includes Tahirah Whittington on cello; Cyrus von Hochstetter on piano; and Michael Parola on percussion, accompanied by actress Roseanne Almanzar.

"Tres Vidas" celebrates the lives of three legendary Latin American women: Mexican painter Frida Kahlo; Salvadoran peasant activist Rufina Amaya; and Argentine poet Alfonsina Storni. The play involves music ranging from traditional Mexican folk and Argentine tango songs sung in Spanish to instrumental works by composers such as Astor Piazzolla and Osvaldo Golijov. Almanzar, who will portray the three legendary Latinas, portrays multiple characters while interacting with the onstage musical trio of cello, piano and percussion.

With storylines including Frida Kahlo's dramatic and passionate relationship with painter Diego Rivera, Rufina Amaya's survival of the massacre at El Mozote and Alfonsina Storni's lifelong challenges as Argentina's first great feminist poet, "Tres Vidas" presents dramatic situations, timeless in their emotional appeal and connection to audiences across all gender and ethnic spectrums.

Written by Chilean poet/writer Marjorie Agosin, "Tres Vidas" offers powerful portrayals of each woman, and includes the singing of traditional Mexican folk songs, as well as Argentinean popular and tango songs made famous by Mercedes Sosa and Carlos Gardel. Additional music by Astor Piazzolla, Orlando Garcia, Pablo Ortiz, Alice Gomez, Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, Michael DeMurga and Osvaldo Golijov round out the musical score.

The Core Ensemble has toured in Australia, England, Russia, Ukraine, the Caribbean and across the United States. "Tres Vidas" will tour the United States during Hispanic Heritage Month, performing in California, Washington, Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Illinois, Connecticut and Maine. It receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts;  State of Florida; the U.S. State Department; Florida State Division of Cultural Affairs; A.D. Henderson Foundation; the Florida Humanities Council; and the Palm Beach County Cultural Council.

For more information, please call Ricardo Perez at (860) 465-0191 or e-mail perezr@easternct.edu.

Written by Rebecca Holdridge

Willimantic, Conn. Eastern Connecticut State University will hold an open house for prospective students from noon to 4 p.m. on Oct. 14. During the open house, potential students will learn about the benefits of Eastern's liberal arts education and can also tour the campus.
 
 From noon to 4 p.m. an academic, athletic and activities fair will be held in Geissler Gymnasium, where faculty, staff and coaches will discuss a wide range of opportunities for students who enroll at Eastern. At 1:15 p.m. and 2:15 p.m. in Room 104 of the Science Building, the Admissions Office will offer guidance on the admissions process. For Spanish-speaking students, a concurrent session will be held at 1:15 p.m. in Room 115 of the Student Center.

At 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. in the Student Center Theatre, Eastern's Housing Office will discuss what is expected of students who live on campus. At 12:30 p.m. in the Betty R. Tipton Room of the Student Center, Eastern President Elsa Núñez will share her vision for Eastern.

At 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. in Room 219 of the Student Center, Political Science Professor Bill Salka will discuss the University Honors Program. The Financial Aid Office will hold information sessions at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. in the Betty R. Tipton Room. At 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. in Room 110 of Webb Hall, the Department of Education faculty will discuss Eastern's Teacher Education Program, including how to apply and why the program is unique.

 Campus tours of the Child and Family Development Resource Center, the J. Eugene Smith Library, the Science Building, and other facilities will be provided throughout the afternoon.

Written by Rebecca Holdridge

Willimantic, Conn. Eastern Connecticut State University will hold an open house for prospective students from noon to 4 p.m. on Oct. 14. During the open house, potential students will learn about the benefits of Eastern's liberal arts education and can also tour the campus.
 
 From noon to 4 p.m. an academic, athletic and activities fair will be held in Geissler Gymnasium, where faculty, staff and coaches will discuss a wide range of opportunities for students who enroll at Eastern. At 1:15 p.m. and 2:15 p.m. in Room 104 of the Science Building, the Admissions Office will offer guidance on the admissions process. For Spanish-speaking students, a concurrent session will be held at 1:15 p.m. in Room 115 of the Student Center.

At 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. in the Student Center Theatre, Eastern's Housing Office will discuss what is expected of students who live on campus. At 12:30 p.m. in the Betty R. Tipton Room of the Student Center, Eastern President Elsa Núñez will share her vision for Eastern.

At 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. in Room 219 of the Student Center, Political Science Professor Bill Salka will discuss the University Honors Program. The Financial Aid Office will hold information sessions at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. in the Betty R. Tipton Room. At 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. in Room 110 of Webb Hall, the Department of Education faculty will discuss Eastern's Teacher Education Program, including how to apply and why the program is unique.

 Campus tours of the Child and Family Development Resource Center, the J. Eugene Smith Library, the Science Building, and other facilities will be provided throughout the afternoon.

Written by Gabrielle Little

Willimantic, Conn. -The J. Eugene Smith Library at Eastern Connecticut State University will host a screening of the documentary, "Hot Coffee," during Eastern's University Hour at 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 19 in the Student Center Theatre. The public is invited. Admission is free.
 
According to the documentary's website, the film reveals what really happened to Stella Liebeck, the Albuquerque woman who spilled coffee on herself and sued McDonald's, while exploring how and why the case garnered so much media attention; who funded the effort; and to what end.

A panel discussion featuring two Connecticut trial lawyers, Attorneys Michael Walsh, Lincoln Woodard, along with Brian Levy, president of Eastern's Pre-Law Society, will follow the screening.

Written by Nana Owusu-Agyemang

Willimantic, Conn. -- Eastern Connecticut State University's Theatre Program will stage theatrical readings of stories found in Jorge Hernández's "Sun, Stone, and Shadows" on Oct. 3 from 12-1:30 p.m. in the University's Student Center Theatre. The public is invited. Admission is free.

"Sun, Stone, and Shadows" is one of 31 books included in the nationwide Big Read Project to stimulate an interest in reading. The project kicks off in the Betty R. Tipton Room of the Student Center at Eastern on Sept. 18. The Big Read Project is a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) program that seeks to enhance literacy abilities by raising public awareness of reading.

The readings, including "The Mist" by Juan de la Cabada and "The Square" by Juan Garcia Ponce, will be presented by students enrolled in Theatre Professor Ellen Faith Brodie's Children's Theatre class. A question and answer session will follow.

Eastern is one of two organizations in Connecticut to have received a Big Read Project grant, and has joined 78 other not-for-profit institutions and organizations nationwide in an effort to restore reading to the center of American culture.

For reservations and information about the staged readings, please call Ellen Faith Brodie at (860) 465-5122 or email her at BrodieE@easternct.edu.
 
For a listing of all Big Read events, visit www.easternct.edu/universityrelations/bigRead.html.

Written by Ed Osborn

Willimantic, CT -- For the third year in a row, Eastern Connecticut State University is ranked in the top 30 public universities in the North Region in U.S. News and World Report's 2013 edition of Best Colleges. Eastern was the highest ranked university among the four Connecticut state universities. Again, Eastern was in the top 100 regional universities -- both public and private -- in the region.

Regional universities such as Eastern are ranked on the basis of criteria that include peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving.  The North Region includes colleges and universities from New England, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland.

"On behalf of the entire Eastern campus community, I am honored to learn that Eastern Connecticut State University is again ranked in the top 30 public regional universities in the North by U.S. News and World Report," said Eastern President Elsa Núñez. 

"We are honored to be a Tier One institution with a public mission to provide an outstanding liberal arts education to students from all walks of life.  Today's news is a tribute to our entire campus community.  To continue to be ranked this highly in the U.S. News ratings is a sign of an improved academic reputation and the quality of our faculty and educational programs. We are also working hard to give Eastern students more opportunities to apply their classroom learning in such experiences as internships, paid co-ops, service learning, undergraduate research and other applied settings.  This is a great day for our faculty, staff, students and alumni."

  This year's U.S. News and World Report rankings included reviews of 1,391 schools nationwide and are available at www.usnews.com/colleges. They will also be published in the Best Colleges 2013 Guidebook, published by U.S. News & World Report and available on newsstands starting Sept. 18. 
Over the past two decades, the U.S. News and World Report rankings, which group colleges based on categories created by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, have grown to be the most comprehensive research tool for students and parents considering higher education opportunities.

The 2013 Best Colleges program provides the most thorough examination of 1,391 accredited four-year schools, compared on a set of 16 widely accepted indicators of excellence.

Written by Nana Ama Owusu-Agyemang

Willimantic, Conn. ¬¬- Eastern Connecticut State University, in partnership with Quinebaug Valley Community College, will host Arnaldo Rivera and Friends during the Third Thursday Street Fest for a 90-minute concert and discussion on the influence of Latin music and its origins. The concert will take place on Sept. 20 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at 729 Main Street.

At the conclusion of the concert, the band will give away a limited number of the book, "Sun, Stone and Shadows, 20 Great Mexican Short Stories." The title has been selected as one of 31 books included in the nationwide Big Read Project to stimulate an interest in reading.
 
The Big Read project, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), seeks to enhance literacy abilities by raising public awareness of reading. Eastern is one of only two organizations in Connecticut to have received a Big Read grant, and has joined 78 other not-for-profit institutions and organizations nationwide in an effort to restore reading to the center of American culture.

Eastern will kick off The Big Read project in Willimantic on Sept. 18 at 2 p. m. in the Betty R. Tipton Room of the Student Center at Eastern. Eastern President Elsa Núñez says that "reading is perhaps the most fundamental academic skill we can give young people, for without reading, you cannot work on any other academic subject."

 For a complete listing of specific Big Read programs, visit: www.easternct.edu/universityrelations/bigRead.html.