All News

Reunion is defined as “the act of coming together again.”  There will be plenty of opportunity to do that this weekend, June 9-12, as Hamilton will welcome back more than 1,000 alumni and guests for Reunions 2016.  A special welcome goes to members of the class of 1966 who will be celebrating their 50th reunion. A full schedule of events will keep attendees busy throughout the weekend.

Summer break has just begun, but Gaby Pilson ’17 has already had a memorable experience. Pilson, a member of Central Oneida County Volunteer Ambulance Corps., is a glacier guide in Seward, Alaska, this summer. An active member of the Hamilton Outing Club, she put her EMT training and outdoor leadership experience to use when she assisted in a medical rescue last week.

Two Hamilton faculty members were approved for tenure by the College’s Board of Trustees during a recent meeting. The board granted tenure to Russell Marcus, philosophy, and Benjamin Widiss, literature and creative writing.

Anna Liu ’18 has been awarded the Gilman Scholarship and Freeman-ASIA award for study abroad in China for this summer. An economics and Chinese major at Hamilton, she is active on the Campus Activities Board and the Pen Pals Program.

In his address at Hamilton’s commencement, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel told the Class of 2016, “At this time in your life you know fewer limits, fewer taboos and fewer fears than you ever will in the future. So do not squander your ignorance! Go out and do what your teachers and parents thought could not be done, and what they never thought of doing,” he urged.

The Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center recently announced the 2016 Levitt Summer Research Fellows. To enhance student research around issues of public affairs, the Levitt Center funds student-faculty research through its Levitt Research Fellows Program. The program is open to rising juniors and seniors who wish to spend the summer working in collaboration with a faculty member on an issue related to public affairs.

Tsion Tesfaye ’16 has been selected to attend the Human Ecology Lab & Island Odyssey  (HELIO program) in Japan this summer. The HELIO Program is crafted to include top change agents from around the world, selected through the Ashoka University network. Hamilton College was recognized as an Ashoka Changemaker campus in 2014.

Recipients of the 2016 Emerson Summer Grants were recently announced. Created in 1997, the Emerson Foundation Grant program was designed to provide students with significant opportunities to work collaboratively with faculty members, researching an area of interest. Twenty-six Hamilton students and 23 faculty members will be working on the following projects this summer. The students will make public presentations of their research throughout the academic year.

Student and faculty academic and service accomplishments were recognized and President Joan Hinde Stewart was honored at the 66th annual Class & Charter Day on May 9. President Stewart will retire from Hamilton on June 30 after serving the College for 13 years.

Academic achievement prizes, prize scholarships and other recognition of student accomplishments were awarded at Hamilton’s 66th annual Class & Charter Day convocation on Monday, May 9, in Wellin Hall. Among the top prizes, Bryan Ferguson ’17 was awarded the Milton F. Fillius Jr. /Joseph Drown Prize Scholarship, and Alex Mitko ’16 received the James Soper Merrill Prize.