E-Trail- March

Blazer Briefs

Trailblazers head to the NCAA Tournament
After earning the MASCAC Championship on Saturday - a program first! - the MCLA Women's basketball team will face off against Amherst College on Friday evening, March 5 in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament. The Team had an impressive 18-9 record.   Now they take on the top seed, Amherst College Friday in the Division III NCAA tournament.   Amherst was in the Division III Final Four last year and is ranked number one nationally this year. 

Visit Athletics for more information.

Pep Rally for Women's Basketball Team
Let's all come out tonight in our Trailblazer gear to offer the team and coaches our congratulations on their wonderful season, to wish them all the best, and to send them off in style as they head into the NCAA tournament!

Please come cheer on the team at a Blue and Gold Rally tonight (Wednesday) evening, to be held at halftime of the Student/Faculty/Staff Basketball Game. The Faculty/Staff/Student game begins at 7:30 in the Campus Center Gym, with the rally set to begin at 8:00 p.m.

Campus News

Center for Science and Innovation Update
Representatives of the design firms under consideration by MCLA, the Division of Capital Asset Management (DCAM), and the state Designer Selection Board (DSB) for the Center for Science and Innovation design study visited campus to learn more about the College, the project, and our vision for the new science center.

Undergraduate Research Conference: April 22
The 2010 MCLA Undergraduate Research Conference will be held on Thursday, April 22. Classes will be cancelled to ensure that all members of the MCLA community have the opportunity to participate in the conference. Maura Mills '05 will be the keynote presenter this year. Maura is currently completing a Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology at Kansas State University.

Massachusetts Cultural Council grant
Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) awarded MCLA's Berkshire Cultural Resource Center (BCRC) a $32,000 implementation grant through the John and Abigail Adams Arts Program for 2010.

Frances Jones-Sneed spoke in honor of Black History Month
On Monday, February 22, Gala Restaurant at the Orchards Hotel in Williamstown hosted a luncheon to celebrate Black History Month. MCLA History Professor Frances Jones-Sneed was the keynote speaker.

Jones-Sneed's talk, "The Heritage of African Americans in Berkshire County," drew upon her scholarship and research into local history, including two projects funded by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities: "The Shaping Role of Place in African American Biography" and "Of Migrations and Renaissances: Harlem/NY and South Side/Chicago, 1915-75."

Hall of Black Achievement
On February 27, The Massachusetts Hall of Black Achievement (HOBA) at Bridgewater State College held its 22nd Annual Heritage Celebration. As part of the ceremony, students from the nine Massachusetts state colleges were recognized with the HOBA Student Achiever Award.

Congratulations to the 2010 Student Achiever Award recipients from MCLA class of 2010: Samantha Bey, Tabitha Cruz, Nadyne Damas, Christine Mbaka, Chiara Morrison, and Marvin Thompson. Thanks to Tom Alexander, Coordinator of ALANA and International Programs and Services, who accompanied students to this event. 

Upcoming Events

Four College Issues Forum
On Friday, March 5 at 8:00 p.m. in Church Street Center, MCLA hosts the 2010 Four Colleges Issues Forum Lecture. This year's lecture, "Developing a Health Care System for the 21st Century," will be presented by Dr. Delos M. Cosgrove, CEO of the Cleveland Clinic.

The Four College Issues Forum is a collaboration among MCLA, Bennington College, Southern Vermont College, and Williams College. The series is a shared educational initiative among the Colleges that brings significant speakers to the region to discuss issues of national and global significance.

Jessica Park Show hits the road.
Professor Dr. Tony Gengarelly's "The Art and Life of Jessica Park: Windows on the World of Autism" exhibit will run March 1 - April 11 at Wheaton College's Madeleine Clark Wallace Library.  A panel discussion and "official" opening of the show will be held on Tuesday, March 9 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. in the Hindle Auditorium with Dr. Gengarelly as a panel participant.

Public Policy Lecture March 23
The next Public Policy Lecture will take place on Tuesday, March 23 at 7 p.m. in the Church Street Center. The spring lecture features a conversation about social and public policy issues and explores how education can address these concerns.

Lisa Cortes, executive producer of the Oscar-nominated film Precious, and author, educator, and activist Jonathan Kozol will participate in a panel discussion moderated by Emmy Award-winning journalist Carole Simpson, Leader in Residence at Emerson College's School of Communication.

The presentation will use Precious as a platform to consider issues regarding race, class, economic and social oppression, and the power of education to transform and redeem lives.

Alumni are encouraged to attend this very important discussion. MCLA is grateful to the generosity of the Ruth Proud Charitable Trust for supporting this series.

Alumni News

David Flint '93 Brings Home Silver
Congratulations to David Flint'93 and the United States Women's Hockey team for taking home the silver medal in the 2010 Winter Olympics.  David took a leave of absence from his job as head coach of the Northeastern University hockey team to work with the women's team in Vancouver as an assistant coach.  For more information visit this site.

MCLA Briefs

•    Assistant Athletic Director Dot Houston attended the Massachusetts celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day celebration on February 5 at Faneuil Hall in Boston, Massachusetts.  More than 300 female student-athletes from high schools in Massachusetts were chosen to represent their schools at the event. In her capacity as a member of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA), Dot helped welcome keynote speaker Mary Mazzio, documentary filmmaker and former U.S. Olympian in rowing.

•    Physics Professor Emily Maher presented a talk, "Absolute Calibrations of the MINERvA Detector," at the 2010 American Physical Society/American Association of Physics Teachers Joint Meeting which was held in Washington DC, February 13 -16.

•    Institutional Advancement Operations Officer Marc Morandi '90 was elected incoming vice president of the North Adams Rotary, effective July 1.

•    Art Professor Melanie Mowinski presented a workshop on bookmaking and narrative to K-12 teachers in collaboration with Williams College Museum of Art Education Staff.

•    Berkshire STEM Coordinator Lisa Provencher and Mike O'Neill from the physics department, along with Dr. David Backus from Williams College and Dr. Scott LeGreca from Berkshire Museum presented workshops to educators from area K-12 schools.