Hamilton College - Alumni Participation Challenge

Not only does your support ensure that today's talented and motivated students have the opportunity to pursue a Hamilton education regardless of their economic circumstances - it also brings the College closer to securing an additional $400,000 during the Alumni Participation Challenge.

From earning national scholarships to testifying on Capitol Hill; from organizing a garden project for refugees to bringing home a national lacrosse championship, Hamilton students have been busy this spring! Each day, these dynamic young scholars explore new ideas, test their limits, articulate what they learn and make a difference on College Hill and beyond.

Please make your 2007-08 Annual Fund gift in honor of a Hamilton student.

Together we transform lives just as previous generations of alumni made our Hamilton experiences possible. We are proud to perpetuate this legacy.

(Read about the recent accomplishments of today's students by clicking on the full-color images below.)

Leide Cabral '10

This spring, Leide Cabral attended a briefing co-sponsored by U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. The session focused on the positive results of expanded learning time programs in secondary schools. A participant in the Citizen Schools program in Boston as a high school student, Leide spoke last year in Washington, D.C., at a roundtable on education convened by The Partnership for 21st Century Skills and Citizen Schools, addressing skills young people need to succeed in the new global economy. She also contributed a chapter in the book The Case for Twenty-First Century Learning.

Marco Allodi '08
Winner of this year's James Soper Merrill Prize, awarded to a member of the graduating class "who, in character and influence, has best typified the highest ideals of the College," Marco Allodi received a Fulbright Grant to conduct research at the Institute for Physical Chemistry at the Heinreich-Heine University in Dusseldorf, Germany. Earlier this year Marco was named to USA Today's All-USA College Academic Team (third team). In 2007 he was the recipient of a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, the premier national undergraduate award in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. A chemical physics major, he conducted research with George Shields, the Winslow Professor of Chemistry, and was first author on a paper published in Journal of Physical Chemistry A (2006) "Do Hydroxyl Radical-Water Clusters, OH(H₂O)_n, n=1-5, Exist in the Atmosphere?"

Peter Kosgei '10
Hamilton track standout Peter Kosgei finished first in the 5,000-meter run and claimed his second national title in as many days at the NCAA Division III men's outdoor track and field championships on May 24. He successfully defended his 3,000-meter steeplechase crown and now boasts five individual NCAA championships, three in outdoor and two in indoor. His other two wins were in the 800-meter run and the mile at the 2008 indoor meet in March. Peter finished first in every race this spring but one ? the steeplechase at the Penn Relays, where he finished second to a Division II athlete. Peter set school records in four events this year.

Jenney Stringer '08
With funds from a Levitt Summer Civic Engagement Fellowship, Jenney Stringer created and facilitated a community garden for refugees from Russia, Bosnia, Somalia and Belarus. The garden is located at the F.X. Matt Apartments, one of the refugee housing units in Utica. Jenney got the idea for the project following service work in Thailand, where she spent part of last year on a program sponsored by the Council on International Education Exchange learning about organic farming and working on community gardens. She says the garden functions as a communal project and as a social place, a common experience and responsibility founded in spite of linguistic and cultural differences.

Eric Kuhn '09
Eric Kuhn was named a member of the UWIRE 100, a select group of undergraduate and graduate students judged the top collegiate journalists in the country. Chosen from a pool of more than 500 nominations submitted by students and educators at 132 schools, the winners hail from 66 colleges and universities. Eric has held internships at NBC, CBS and MSNBC and has written for The Huffington Post, mediabistro.com, Hamilton's Spectator and Continental Magazine and the CBS, NBC and MSNBC Web sites. This summer he is working at CBS in digital media.

Ngoda Manongi '08
This spring Ngoda Manongi received the Bristol Fellowship, designed to encourage Hamilton students to experience the richness of the world by living outside the U.S. for one year and studying an area of great personal interest. Ngoda's project, "Keeping Mothers Alive: A Comparative Study of Maternal Mortality and Child Health Care in South Africa, Mexico, the Philippines and Sweden," will focus attention on the dynamics of pregnant women and children's lives through conditions of basic health care practices, access to clinic versus home care, rehabilitation services due to morbidity, social-community attitudes and the legal, health and social support for pregnant women, and how to teach women to avoid unwanted pregnancies.

Fallon Chipidza '10
Fallon Chipidza received a Davis Project for Peace program grant, designed to encourage and support motivated youth to create and implement their ideas for building peace throughout the world in the 21st century. The economics and biochemistry major will use the $10,000 award to initiate a self-sustainable chicken project in Zimbabwe at St. Theresa, a preschool that is home to 156 orphans. This summer Fallon and a group of volunteers will build a chicken run and buy the first batch of chicks. Income from the sale of the eggs from this and subsequent batches of chickens will be used to pay for the orphans' school fees.

Sarah Bray '11
Named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Division III women's lacrosse tournament, Sarah Bray scored a career-high five goals and added an assist in the final game, leading Hamilton to its first national championship. The Continentals scored a 13-6 win in the title game, defeating defending champion Franklin & Marshall. Sarah, who earned the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Player of the Week honors for her performance, is quick to point out that the success of this season is due to one underlying factor ? a team effort. "This team brings the best out of every player," Sarah said. "I give these girls and our coach so much credit."

Fiona Rigby '08
Fiona Rigby graduated this May magna cum laude with Phi Beta Kappa honors. Below is an excerpt from a letter she wrote to thank the benefactor who provided funds for the scholarship that allowed her to attend Hamilton. "My time on the Hill can be expressed in terms of cycles. As a first-year student, I was struggling to find myself in a new place and among new people; as a sophomore, I felt that I had a strong handle on who I was and where I was going (any Hamilton student will tell you that second-years feel they own the place!); as a junior studying in Paris I once again realized there was so much to discover both around me and within me. And now, finally, as a second-semester senior, I can smile both as I look back over my shoulder at my time at Hamilton and as I face my post-graduate future head-on, sure that whatever happens next, I will tackle it confident in the person I am becoming."

Luke Forster '08
Luke Forster graduated in May summa cum laude with Phi Beta Kappa honors. Below is an excerpt from a letter he wrote to thank the benefactor who provided funds for the scholarship that allowed him to attend Hamilton. "My experiences over the past four years have taught me many valuable lessons, and I am leaving Hamilton as a better person than when I entered. Although I have learned how to conduct research, analyze literature and write scholarly articles, I have also learned the value of personal responsibility and a strong work ethic. After I graduate this May, these things will remain with me the rest of my life. I will enter the workforce as an educated, prepared and ready citizen."

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