Newsflash
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Eastern’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee hosted dozens of area youngsters at the Sixth Annual Haunted Happening on Oct. 26 in Geissler Gymnasium. Children 12 and under came in costume and were treated to free evening of games, activities, arts and crafts, and refreshments. Prizes were awarded for best costumes.
Minority Alumni Honored at Banquet
Eastern President Elsa M. Nuñez and Connecticut State University System Chancellor David G. Carter greeted more than 250 alumni, friends, and supporters as the University hosted its first Minority Alumni Recognition Banquet on Oct. 27 in the Betty R. Tipton Room of the newly renovated Student Center.
“Our students love this new facility,” said President Nuñez. “They call it theirs, and it is already bristling with activity.”
The recognition banquet coincided with the 10th anniversary of the Arthur L. Johnson Unity Center. Before dinner, alumni and guests joined President Nuñez and Chancellor Carter in dedicating the Arthur L. Johnson Unity Wing of the Student Center in honor of the late journalist and Eastern professor.
“(Dr. Johnson’s) determination to shape public policy to benefit all people changed the course of history in the civil rights arena and in circles of education,” said Chancellor Carter. “His courage, fortitude, determination, and high standards helped shape public policy that changed the course of history in Connecticut.”
The University presented a special award to Johnson’s widow, Marie Love Johnson, a long-time supporter of the University. President Nuñez told Love Johnson, “The new Arthur L. Johnson Wing is a fitting tribute to your husband and his vision of community; you made a great team!” Awards also were given to distinguished alumni Gloria Marie Caliendo ’82 and Doris Powell Glass ’48. Caliendo ’82, former professor of Spanish at Eastern, currently serves as associate professor of modern languages at Central Connecticut State University and is the winner of two Fulbright Scholar Awards. Glass ’48, wife of former State Supreme Court Justice Robert D. Glass, served as an educator in Waterbury for 23 years, after earning a BS degree in upper elementary education and a master’s degree in speech pathology and audiology.
The Honorable E. Curtissa R. Cofield, presiding judge of the Hartford Community Superior Court and Connecticut’s first African American female superior court judge, delivered the keynote address.
Eastern Enters into Educational Partnership
On behalf of President Elsa M. Nuñez, Executive Vice President Michael Pernal signed an agreement on Oct. 26 with President Ruangdet Wongla of Chiang Mai Rajabhat University (CMRU) in Thailand. The agreement is an outcome of a faculty exchange initiative in which Professor Anchalee Wongla of CMRU visited Eastern this fall and David Stoloff, education professor and chair of the Department of Education, will go to CMRU over the holiday break. The agreement encourages further faculty exchanges and other educational initiatives.
Open House a Treat for All
It’s still a little early, but if they have not already yet made Eastern their final college or university choice, high school students across the state and the region certainly are interested. Nearly 4,000 students and parents participated in open houses on Oct. 13 and 21 to learn about student and residential life, academic majors and minors, financing an education, student exchange programs, and student clubs and organizations. Campus tours were also available during the event.
Lost In Translation: Overcoming Language and Cultural Barriers”
More than 130 Willimantic-area business people, educators, civic officials, Latino community members, and other local leaders attended “Lost in Translation,” a free seminar held on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007 in the Paul E. Johnson, Sr. Community Conference Room. The purpose of the seminar was to develop better communications between the Anglo and Hispanic communities, while supporting Latino small businesses in Willimantic.
Have you ever tried to translate something that was written in English into Spanish only to discover you used the wrong dialect? Or are you a member of the Latino community and can’t understand why your Anglo friends are miles apart from you on a number of cultural issues? The fact is, different cultures not only must span language barriers to communicate with each other. Each of us has a complex set of customs, cultural expectations, religious beliefs, and other aspects of our heritage that influence our behavior, our attitudes, and how we relate to other people. Learning and becoming sensitive to these differences is the first step to coming together to solve common community issues.
Eastern President Elsa M. Nuñez began the day by encouraging the development of small businesses in Willimantic. When 85 percent of our local chamber members are small businesses and 60-80 percent of all new jobs being created in this country are in small businesses, small business development in Willimantic is ‘smart business.’”
The general session, presented by Bauza & Associates Hispanic Marketing, detailed some of the cultural and language differences between the Anglo and Latino cultures, and encouraged the local leaders present to begin to find avenues for bridging those barriers. Following the general session, breakout sessions were held on the following topics: Hispanic Small Business Development; Marketing to Hispanics; and Communicating/Serving Willimantic’s Hispanic community. Luncheon speaker Rob Simmons, Connecticut’s newly appointed Business Advocate and former U.S. Representative for Connecticut’s Second Congressional District, discussed ways in which the state is supporting small businesses in Connecticut. Event sponsors included the Windham Region Chamber of Commerce and Eastern Connecticut State University, with presentation support from the Connecticut Small Business Development Center.
Ocean Explorer Robert Ballard Speaks at Eastern
On Oct. 10, ocean explorer Robert Ballard spoke to a packed house in the Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium. Ballard’s lecture was part of the seventh season of Eastern’s popular Arts and Lecture Series. He has conducted more than 120 deep-sea expeditions and is best known for his historic discoveries of the wrecks of the R.M.S. Titanic, the battleship Bismarck, the USS Yorktown, and John F. Kennedy’s PT-109. Ballard pioneered distance learning in the classrooms of the United States and around the world with his JASON Project, an award-winning educational program that reaches more than 1.7 million students and 38,000 teachers annually.
Photo credit: Andrew Powaleny
“Can anyone name a war that has bought about peace?” That is how David G. Carter, chancellor of the Connecticut State University System opened his presentation on “Education and Peace” on Oct. 18. Someone replied, “The Civil War!” Chancellor Carter disagreed, noting conflicts that have continued since the Civil War. His presentation was the first in a four-part lecture series on peace orchestrated by Professor Emeritus Charles Prewitt.
“War means killing each other,” said Chancellor Carter. “It negates any chance of developing a relationship and getting to know each other. Rather than buy a tank to kill, I’d rather invest in people with goodwill. Our illiteracy rate almost equals that of developing countries now. . . War simply cannot be the answer, when so many of people don’t have access to education, when so many people have no health care, and when we have so much poverty.”
Carter encouraged the audience to stand up and be counted, to resolve conflict in the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi and the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “If enough of us speak up, only then can we marginalize the extremists.”
Prewitt and Professor William Salka spoke on Nov. 1 as part of the peace and lecture series; other lecturers scheduled include Professor State Representative Denise Merrill; Eastern President Elsa M. Nuñez; CSU Professor James Russell; UCONN Professor Amii Omara-Otunnu; and the Reverend David Nelson.
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