Colgate University Community Pursues Holistic Wellness sliddell@colgate.edu Mon, 04/14/2025 - 13:05 Balancing academic pressure with personal well-being is a challenge for many college students, but at Colgate, wellness is built into campus life. Whether it’s unwinding with therapy dogs, finding focus through meditation, or tapping into creativity with art sessions, students have access to a variety of ways to manage ups and downs. “These events remind students to prioritize their wellness and find ways to integrate balance into their daily lives,” explains Dawn LaFrance, PsyD, assistant vice president for wellness and director of counseling and psychological services. “Students are most successful when they allow themselves time to take breaks and recharge.” While traditional talk and group therapy remain valuable resources, Colgate recognizes that different students benefit from different forms of healing. “Meditation and other mindfulness strategies help students regulate their emotions and cope with stress,” LaFrance adds. “Artistic activities, such as painting, provide an alternative form of expression that many students find therapeutic.” Beyond individual and group counseling, Colgate offers a variety of proactive wellness initiatives through the Shaw Wellness Institute. Students can engage in therapy dog sessions multiple times a week, participate in wellness fairs, and attend study breaks that incorporate mindfulness activities. Shaw Wellness also provides free health and safety supplies through an anonymous ordering system, ensuring students have access to essential self-care resources. Additionally, Colgate offers a unique physical education course covering CPR, trauma-informed responding, bystander intervention, and health literacy.  “Recognizing that students’ brains affect their bodies and vice versa, it’s key to use strategies that are holistic,” LaFrance says. “We want to teach students about the many dimensions of wellness that contribute to their development, and we hope they carry these strategies with them beyond Colgate.”  Tucked away in the woods at the top of Colgate’s campus, Chapel House offers students an intentional space for peace, mindfulness, and self-reflection. The house is divided into three key areas: a meditation space, a dining and living area, and a library filled with religious and philosophical texts. In Colgate’s fast-paced, academically rigorous environment, this retreat center provides a much-needed opportunity for community members to slow down and prioritize well-being. Among the standout offerings at Chapel House is the weekly Chili with Lily, when students gather for a communal meal of vegan chili while spending time with Lily, the resident therapy dog. For those seeking a quiet study break, the Sunday Reading Café offers a cozy space for students and faculty to immerse themselves in books, accompanied by tea, cider, and homemade cookies. Beyond its regular programming, Chapel House has recently expanded its offerings to include gentle yoga sessions, guided morning meditation, and collaborations with student groups and academic departments. Most recently, it partnered with the Colgate Hiking Club for an extremely popular mindfulness night hike. Looking ahead to fall 2025, Colgate is set to introduce a new mindfulness and meditation housing option on Broad Street, spearheaded by Aastha Ghimire ’27 and University Studies lecturer Ferdinand von Muench. The goal is to create a dedicated space for upper-level students to practice meditation and yoga, fostering a close-knit community centered around intentional living. While the efforts of wellness-centered organizations on campus are vital, LaFrance underscores the importance of a collective campus commitment to well-being. “The entire community plays a role in fostering a culture of wellness,” she says. “From ensuring access to healthy living spaces and nutritional options to encouraging physical activity, creative outlets, and good sleep hygiene, we all contribute to a thriving student body.” Campus Life News and Updates Faculty & Staff Student Colgate community members gathered in Chapel House for a meditation session

Be the Change Weekend Highlights Careers in Common Good Contributing Writer Mon, 04/14/2025 - 08:00 For the first time since 2019, the Max A. Shacknai Center for Outreach, Volunteerism, and Education (COVE) collaborated with the Office of Alumni Engagement and Career Services to host its signature Be the Change Weekend, which fosters connections between current students and alumni in the Common Good Professional Network. The Be the Change tradition began a decade ago but had been on pause since the pandemic. “The goal is to reignite that opportunity, that vision, and the continuation of programming in the future,” explains event panelist Betsy Levine Brown ’01. Visiting alumni included Brown, Gabby Bianchi ’19, Chrissy Hart ’05, Steve Heath ’80, Tom Levine ’71, Claire Short ’23, Heidi Sullivan ’06, and Meghan Stanton ’07, representing fields from education to domestic violence prevention. Many of these alumni are not only successful Colgate graduates — they are part of the history of the COVE. Betsy Levine Brown co-founded the COVE during her senior year at Colgate, and Chrissy Hart was one of the first mentors in the program. Now, they’ve passed the torch to current COVE staff and students, like COVE Director Jeremy Wattles ’05, who helped plan the weekend, and junior speaker Ciara Sanders ’26, who offered introductory remarks. On Friday, March 7, alumni and students gathered to introduce themselves and open up discussions about purpose and professional pathways. According to these alumni, their work is more than just a way to pay the bills. They endeavor toward something else: “the power of people and the power of connection,” said Bianchi, and “tangible change, healing happening in real time,” said Short. “I don’t want it to come across that ‘Common Good’ means that other sectors of work can’t do good,” elaborates Brown. “We should be finding synergy and opportunities for good across all the things we do.” In this sector, though, success is defined by service. “It’s our unit of analysis — what are we doing for people?” On Saturday morning, students had a chance to participate in breakout groups with alumni and ask questions about various graduates’ career trajectories. There were discussions on topics such as maintaining a work-life balance, taking care of your mental health while dealing with sensitive topics, and finding fulfillment through a career in the common good sector. As the breakout session progressed, alumni asked students about their Colgate pursuits and how they might align with a common good career. The discussion fostered a sense of community, with various alumni mentioning how they would be willing to help students out and urging them to take advantage of Colgate connections. Students were given advice on how to develop and maintain strong relationships with possible mentors. From Hart talking about her experience joining the Peace Corps to Bianchi noting the importance of her Institute for Nonprofit Practice fellowship, students were able to hear from a wide range of alumni who are at different stages of their careers. “One of the most inspiring takeaways from Be the Change Weekend was hearing alumni share how their values have shaped their careers,” said Whitney Harper, assistant director of career development, common good and pre-law adviser. “It was clear that values like service, justice, and community have been a driving force behind their paths and continue to inspire them to make a positive impact in their communities.” Current students and alumni alike benefitted from the community and conversation facilitated at Be the Change. “You all are wickedly talented, incredibly intelligent, and highly versatile,” Brown told students. “You bring a great energy to the campus. As an alumna, that’s just fun to be around, and it gives me a lot of hope for the future.” Avery Matthews ’27, appreciated the praise and the interaction. “It was great to hear from alumni about their experience moving into the professional world,” she said. — Olivia Miller ’27 and Aarza Sachdeva ’28 Alumni Career Development Professional Networks Alumni Student

Suchi Reddy’s Bias and Belonging Exhibit Opens in Clifford Gallery rtaurisano@col… Thu, 04/10/2025 - 09:45 Suchi Reddy, Colgate University’s 2024–25 Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation Artist-in-Residence, opened her new exhibit, Bias and Belonging, during Arts, Creativity, and Innovation (ACI) Weekend, April 4–5. The exhibit contains woven, textual, and digital elements, and it is currently on display in the Clifford Gallery of Little Hall. Bias and Belonging is the culmination of several community conversations Reddy facilitated on campus throughout the academic year with students, faculty, and staff. Reddy is a New York City–based architect, designer, and artist. She founded her studio, Reddymade, in 2002, and her work spans the globe. It has been recognized with awards such as the AIA Brooklyn + Queens Award, AIA New York State Excelsior Award, and Interior Design’s Best of the Year, among others. Artists Suchi Reddy and Rachel Mulder mingle with members of the Colgate community. (Photo by Andrew Daddio) Bias and Belonging is Reddy’s latest exploration of collective experience as people transform themselves in digital and physical spaces. The central feature of the exhibit is a double-sided woven textile in black and white hanging from the ceiling of the Clifford Gallery. Icons representing the various ways participants experienced bias and belonging are shown in a grid pattern. Their feelings are represented in black and white. Running along the center of the fabric is a red-braided cord in the shape of a heartbeat line, like an electrocardiogram — a concept inspired by being at a friend’s hospital bedside. The electrical activity of her friend’s heart on the EKG monitor fascinated Reddy. “I was always interested by the fact that the line was a register against this grid of information,” Reddy said. Attendees view the newly opened multimedia exhibition in the Clifford Gallery. (Photo by Andrew Daddio) In hosting her campus conversations, Reddy wanted to ensure that the final product truly reflected the concepts of bias and belonging as experienced by the Colgate community. She captured the conversations in video, sound, and written responses to her questions. All of her observations made it into the installation. In one of her earliest conversations, Reddy asked participants to come up with a single word that represented their earliest memory of feeling belonging — and then also bias. Reddy was surprised to find that, in many cases, participants used the same single word to describe both experiences. Along three walls of the gallery are black and white projections of the handwritten notes from the community conversations. A line of digital iconography repeats on the wall, pulsing like a heartbeat. “The icons are in a grid. The red heartbeat line as well as the running line on the walls — it’s blood. It moves in that moment, and that’s what you’re seeing,” Reddy said. “I like this tension between these colors. So it was a balance between both a conceptual match and also simplicity. And then the heartbeat evolved.” Associate Professor of Art Margaretha Haughwout welcomes the crowd. (Photo by Andrew Daddio) Architect and artist Rachel Mulder assisted with the creation of the iconography used in the woven textile. Associate Professor of Art and Clifford Gallery Director Margaretha Haughwout also worked closely with Reddy. Artist Molly Burt-Westvig and printmaker Annie Klein assisted in weaving the textile for the installation. The creation of the textile utilized the TC2 digital loom in the Fabulation Lab of Bernstein Hall, a hub of creativity and innovation in the Middle Campus and the physical location of the ACI Initiative at Colgate. “Suchi is dedicated to expanding our notions of empathy, equity, and agency,” said Haughwout. According to Reddy, her Colgate residency will influence her future projects. “When you create work, you’re invested in making it, and then, slowly, the effects of it start to ripple into what else you’re doing. I know this will change the way I work,” she said. Bias and Belonging is presented by the Art Department and the Christian A. Johnson Foundation. The Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation Artist-in-Residence was established in 1986 as a challenge grant in support of the arts at Colgate. The residency program permits one or more artists to become part of the Colgate community every academic year.  Arts and Humanities Third Century Arts News and Updates Alumni Faculty & Staff StudentBias and Belonging is a multimedia exhibition by Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation Artist-in-Residence Suchi Reddy (Photo by Andrew Daddio)

Heterodox Academy’s John Tomasi Discusses the Importance of Ideological Inclusivity on Campuses nhendrickson@c… Thu, 04/03/2025 - 08:35 Colgate University welcomed political philosopher and inaugural president of Heterodox Academy John Tomasi to campus on March 27 to discuss the importance of ideological diversity at colleges and universities. The talk, moderated by President Brian W. Casey, was the fourth installment of the spring Presidential Speaker Series, which has fostered discussion around the public responsibilities of higher education. Heterodox Academy is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization composed of college faculty, staff, and students who are dedicated to restoring and protecting the integrity of universities as spaces for intellectual inclusiveness and exploration. Tomasi said he places the quest for truth at the forefront of this mission. “We restore that truth-seeking mission, not by going back to some supposed good old days, but [understanding that] there is a future glimpsed but not yet realized, which is deeply worth fighting for — a university that is truly inclusive, where people seek knowledge together,” Tomasi said. Casey and Tomasi first crossed paths more than 20 years ago, while both were working at Brown University — Casey as assistant provost and Tomasi as a professor of natural theology and political science. Tomasi would later become chair of the natural theology department. In 2022, Tomasi left Brown to lead Heterodox. He was inspired by two former students who represented different sides of the political spectrum yet agreed on the necessity of hearing differing perspectives for intellectual growth. Tomasi recounted the pivotal message of one of those students — words that have stayed with him: “He said, ‘We didn’t come to campus merely to become more skillful defenders of some inherited ideology, left or right. We came to college to think in new ways for ourselves.’’’ Tomasi acknowledges that, while universities have made significant progress in becoming more inclusive of diverse identities and backgrounds, they have become more ideologically exclusive, particularly where conservative viewpoints are concerned. “Universities have endangered themselves by letting themselves become silos — or be perceived as silos — not connected to the wider society,” Tomasi said. “There are forces in society now that are very concerned with looking at these publicly funded institutions and saying, ‘Shouldn’t they be accountable to all of us?’” According to Tomasi, that’s a precarious position, and some universities are starting to address it. But the work must be organic and come from within — thus the partnerships formed with individuals on campuses across the country. “We love our universities the way Socrates loved Athens, we love them enough to criticize them,” he said. News and Updates Faculty & Staff Debate and Discourse Presidential Speakers Series John Tomasi (Photo by Mark DiOrio)

Colgate in the Media: March 2025 kputman@colgate.edu Wed, 04/02/2025 - 16:02 Colgate University faculty, staff, and alumni regularly provide their expertise and contribute to national and regional media outlets shaping discussions around vital research and current events.  Art Seizures at the Met Caused Concern. His Job Is to Address It. The New York Times, Professor of Art; Chair, Department of Art Elizabeth Marlowe Group Chat War Plans Provide a Window Into Trump’s Mafia State The Nation., Associate Professor of Political Science Sam Rosenfeld Cuomo lacks interest in ‘actual governing,’ longtime foe argues in new book Politico, Charles Evans Hughes Visiting Chair of Government and Jurisprudence in the Department of Political Science Stephanie Miner The Art of State Persuasion Exposes the Hidden Role of Media in Authoritarian Foreign Policy WKRG News 5, Assistant Professor of Political Science Frances Yaping Wang Colgate students partner with Rogers Center to learn maple syrup production WBNG News 12, Isabella Gregory ’25, James Manderlink ‘25, and Laura Richard ‘25 Bobby McMann took an unusual journey to the Maple Leafs. But he’s thriving in the NHL spotlight Toronto Star, Bobby McMann ’20 Lt. Gov. Delgado To Speak at Hartwick College AllOtsego, Antonio Delgado ’99 Jaime Dunn: “It’s not about wanting to be president, it’s about being able to be one.” El Deber, Jaime Dunn ’90 Colgate University generates $157M economic impact The Central New York Business Journal Colgate to host entrepreneurship showcase in early April The Central New York Business Journal Mexico celebrates return of 915 Pre-Hispanic artifacts from U.S. ArtDaily Faculty News Alumni News and Updates Alumni Faculty & Staff

Field Ecology Students Help Colgate Earn Tree Campus Certification mdonofrio@colg… Tue, 04/01/2025 - 13:00 With more than 3,500 individual trees and 130 species, Colgate’s lush tree canopy provides an undeniably stunning backdrop for study, work, and play.  But when plant life is regarded as just part of the scenery — not something to learn about and engage with — it could point to a condition with serious implications for the future of our ecosystem. “Plant blindness is an actual phenomenon,” says Professor of Biology Eddie Watkins of the term coined by botanists James H. Wandersee and Elizabeth E. Schussler in 1998. When plants are seen as static or even purely decorative, Watkins explains, people are less likely to care about preserving them, despite their critical importance for air quality, food sources, and animal habitats. “Most of my career has been dedicated to helping people see plants from multiple perspectives — beyond their mere presence to who they are and what they do,” he says. Students in Watkins’ Field Ecology (BIOL 328) course joined in that effort last fall. With help from Oneida Nation botanist Sheri Beglen and Professor of Biology Emeritus Ron Hoham, students were tasked with developing a field guide, signage, and a website dedicated to the University’s diverse tree canopy, examining plant morphology and physiology and incorporating information about Native American traditions and medicinal uses. The project was supported by the President’s Office and funded through a grant from the Upstate Institute. The result of their semester-long endeavor: the Campus Tree Guide, a 69-page handbook with extensive information on every species from American Basswood to Sweet Gum, and an accompanying map, which guides visitors through the campus’ plant landscape, much like Hoham’s popular reunion tree walks.  “[The goal] was to share the traditional wisdom of the Oneida while honoring the two most important people who have shaped our tree canopy: President Brian Casey and Professor Hoham,” says Watkins, adding that President Casey’s emphasis on tree health and sustainability as part of the Third-Century Plan has added hundreds of trees from dozens of species to campus and “helped create a botanical Shangri-la for anyone interested in plants.” As the work on the Tree Guide progressed, Watkins encouraged students to submit Colgate’s application for national certification from The Arbor Day Foundation. They did — and later received news that the University was recognized as a 2024 Tree Campus “for its dedication to enhancing community well-being through tree education, investment, and engagement.” At an end-of-term celebration, students unveiled the Tree Guide to community members — and reflected on their months of hard work. “What surprised [students] most was their ability to pull off something this complex, this big, this public, in a single semester,” says Watkins, noting that students have expressed how work on the project helped them appreciate plant life on a deeper level. “You really can’t miss plants on this campus anymore.” Academics Natural Sciences and Mathematics Research Third Century News and Updates Faculty & Staff Student Department of Biology Photo by Mark DiOrio