FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Nov. 10, 2015
Chambersburg, Pa. — Wilson College and Volvo Construction Equipment in Shippensburg have created a partnership in which Volvo will send pre-kitchen waste from its cafeteria to Wilson to be composted and reused on the college’s organic farm.
The partnership, aimed at reducing the amount of waste going into landfills, is believed to be the first of its type in Pennsylvania. It was announced today at Wilson’s Fulton Farm by officials from Volvo and the college, which share a philosophy of promoting environmental sustainability.
The partnership is part of Volvo’s initiative to become a zero-landfill facility, according to Mary Reid, an environmental consultant for Volvo’s Shippensburg operation, which employs nearly 1,000 people. “It’s a core value for us,” Reid said. “When we looked around for composting options and realized we could partner with a local college and make a contribution to the community, it just was the right path to take.”
Wilson recently obtained a general permit for on-farm composting from DEP’s Bureau of Waste Management Division of Municipal and Residual Waste. The college has been collecting food scraps from its dining hall and composting them for use on its USDA-certified organic farm for more than 10 years, but the new permit was required to allow it to accept food waste from an outside entity, said Jeff Olsen, solid waste program specialist with DEP.
“I think you could say this is a first in Pennsylvania that a college has actually gotten a general permit for on-farm composting for a partnership with an industry,” Olsen said.
Wilson’s permit allows it to produce up to 13 tons of compost per year, according to Chris Mayer, director of the college’s Fulton Center for Sustainable Living. She estimates that with pre-kitchen and cooked food scraps from the college dining hall and Volvo’s pre-kitchen waste and coffee grounds, approximately 7.8 tons of compost will be produced annually.
“You have about a 75 percent reduction in volume after the material is composted,” said Mayer.
Mayer said the Volvo/Wilson partnership is beneficial in many ways, including in terms of supplementing the compost produced for the college farm. “We need the compost to increase organic matter to address soil fertility (on the farm),” she said. “Before this we were buying additional compost, so we will see a cost savings.”
In addition, the partnership will help keep methane and carbon produced by decaying materials out of the atmosphere while keeping it out of landfills, which have limited capacities. “It’s just the right thing to do,” Mayer said.
Prior to accepting Volvo’s pre-kitchen food waste, Wilson regraded its composting area at Fulton Farm to address water runoff concerns. In addition to paying for the regrading, Volvo has agreed to provide a $1,000 grant each semester to a Wilson student who will help tend to the farm’s compost area. This year, the grant recipient is junior Danniele Fulmer, who also works as an intern in Volvo’s safety and environment department.
The college began accepting Volvo’s pre-cooked food scraps and coffee grounds on Oct. 9, according to Fulmer. She said she checks and records the temperature of composting piles in various stages of decomposition three days a week to make sure the waste is breaking down properly. If it’s not the correct temperature, the pile is turned.
The Shippensburg Volvo plant manufactures soil and asphalt compactors, pavers, screeds and wheel-loaders.
MEDIA CONTACT: Cathy Mentzer, Manager of Media Relations Phone: 717-262-2604 Email: cathy.mentzer@wilson.edu
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Founded in 1869, Wilson College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college offering bachelor’s degrees in 29 majors and master’s degrees in education, the humanities, accountancy, nursing, fine arts and healthcare management for sustainability. Wilson is committed to providing an affordable education that offers value to its students beyond graduation.
Located in Chambersburg, Pa., the college has a fall 2015 enrollment of 923, which includes students from 22 states and 16 countries. Visit www.wilson.edu for more information.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Nov. 5, 2015
Chambersburg, Pa. — Wilson College is expanding its acclaimed Women with Children program—allowing single mothers to live in campus housing with their children—to include single fathers with children.
Wilson’s Board of Trustees voted on Oct. 24 to rename the program, which marks its 20th anniversary in 2016, the Wilson College Single Parent Scholar Program and to accept single fathers with children, effective immediately. The move completes the expansion of coeducation to all programs at the college and keeps Wilson in compliance under the federal Title IX law, which governs gender equity within education.
A recent study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research found that 26 percent of all undergraduate students are raising dependent children, including those who are married and single. Single mothers make up 43 percent of the total student-parent population, while single fathers make up 11 percent, according to the study.
Vice President for Student Development Mary Beth Williams said that during two campus forums held in August and September, Wilson students and staff expressed a desire to see the college expand the program. “Specifically, regarding the addition of men to the program, all those who attended both forums were in favor of adding opportunities for single fathers,” she said.
At Wilson, 17 women and 18 children are enrolled in the program in the current semester, living in two-room suites with private baths in Disert and Prentis Halls. The program is open to a maximum of 26 students, based on available space in the two residence halls. Students in the program may have up to two children who must be between the ages of 20 months and 12 years while their parent is enrolled in the program, according to Wilson Assistant Dean of Students Katie Kough, who oversees the program.
“Wilson’s Women with Children program has been a model within higher education and we look forward to continuing that legacy as we expand the program,” said Williams. “Giving single parents the opportunity for a residential college experience has benefits not only for the program’s students and their children, but also for the whole student population as well. The life experiences and perspectives that our single parents bring to campus life and the classroom enriches the Wilson experience for everyone.”
Wilson launched the Women with Children in 1996—one of the first programs of its kind in the nation—under the leadership of President Emerita Gwen Jensen, who was a strong proponent of the notion that single mothers would do better in college if they could reside on campus with their children. While living in residence hall suites with their children, program participants also share common spaces with other program residents, including a kitchen, playroom and computer room. Because of the living arrangements, students in the program are fully engaged with campus life—joining clubs, serving on student government and participating in athletics.
For Karalee Nichols, a senior who transferred to Wilson for the program in spring 2014, it allowed her and her son to move out of her parents’ home and become more independent. “I’ve become a better parent,” said Nichols, who is majoring in elementary education. She added that her son, now 5, is experiencing college in a way that few children his age do. “I’m setting an example for him,” she said. “The kids love being on campus. ‘I go to college’—that’s what they all say.”
Through the generosity of Wilson donors, the college provides scholarship opportunities for qualified students enrolled in the program and subsidizes childcare for those in the program through the Wilson College Child Care Center.
According to Kough, eight other colleges across the nation have similar, undergraduate residential programs for single parents, including: Endicott College in Massachusetts, Eastern Michigan University and Ferris State University in Michigan, Dillard University in Louisiana and Baldwin Wallace University in Ohio—all of which have programs for single mothers and fathers.
Anyone interested in enrolling in the Wilson College Single Parent Scholar Program should contact the college admissions office at 1-800-421-8402 or admissions@wilson.edu.
Chambersburg, Pa. — Wilson College will hold a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11, to mark the opening of an exhibition of art created by area high school students. The exhibit, which is free and open to the public, will continue through Dec, 4 in the Bogigian Gallery located on the second floor of Lortz Hall.
The fifth juried high school art exhibition mounted by Wilson College, the show will include works of art from entries submitted from Franklin, Adams, Cumberland and Fulton counties in Pennsylvania and Washington County, Md.
This unique exhibition is an opportunity for area high school students to showcase their work and have it judged by the college art faculty, according to Wilson Professor of Fine Arts Philip Lindsey. Cash prizes of $200, $100 and $50 will be awarded for first, second and third places, respectively, and other works of note will receive honorable mention. In addition, monetary scholarships of up to $2,000 will be offered to winning students if they enroll at Wilson.
Students are encouraged to offer their works of art for sale during the exhibition, which is presented by Wilson’s Department of Fine Arts and Dance.
Bogigian Gallery, named in honor of Wilson College benefactor Hagop Boggigian, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Admission is free. For more information, contact Lindsey at philip.lindsey@wilson.edu or 717-264-4141, Ext. 3305.
MEDIA CONTACT: Philip Lindsey, Professor of Fine Arts Phone: 717-264-4141, Ext. 3305 Email: philip.lindsey@wilson.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Oct. 28, 2015
Chambersburg, Pa. — Wilson College will host climate expert Richard B. Alley on Tuesday, Nov. 10, when Alley will present two lectures as part of the National Academy of Sciences Day Prize Lecture Series. The 2014 recipient of the Arthur L. Day Prize and Lectureship, Alley is a leading voice on climate change, energy and the environment.
Alley will speak twice at Wilson on Nov. 10 – both lectures are free and open to the public and both will be held in the Brooks Science Center auditorium. At noon, Alley will discuss “Abrupt Climate Change and Sea-level Rise: How What We Don’t Know Might Hurt Us.” At 7 p.m., he will present “Good News in the Greenhouse? The Big Picture on Energy, the Environment and our Future,” with a reception to follow.
“We get great good from our use of energy, but our history shows that we have burned through one source after another more rapidly than nature produced more, and then faced grave difficulties while looking for alternatives,” said Alley, Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences at Penn State University and associate of Penn State’s Earth and Environmental Systems Institute. “We are burning fossil fuels roughly a million times faster than nature saved them for us, so a change is required. Fortunately, we now know how to build a sustainable energy system in an economically, as well as environmentally, sound manner.”
Alley, who hosted the critically acclaimed PBS television miniseries on climate change and sustainable energy solutions called Earth: The Operators’ Manual (and author of the book of the same name), studies the great ice sheets to aid in prediction of future changes in climate and sea level. Alley chaired the National Research Council’s Panel on Abrupt Climate Change and participated in the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. He has served in an advisory capacity to high-level officials in the United States government, including those in presidential administrations and Congress.
Alley, who has a doctorate in geology from the University of Wisconsin, has authored or coauthored more than 250 refereed scientific papers and his popular account of climate change and ice cores, The Two-Mile Time Machine, was Phi Beta Kappa’s science book of the year in 2001.
“Wilson College is honored to have someone of Richard Alley’s stature as a guest speaker,” said Ed Wells, professor and director of Wilson’s environmental studies program. “He is passionate and enthusiastic about climate change, and takes complex ideas and makes them accessible. Our students and residents of the community have an amazing opportunity to hear him speak about one of the most important topics of our time.”
Alley has received numerous awards and honors, including his selection by the National Academy of Sciences for the 2015 Arthur L. Day Prize and Lectureship. The Day prize is awarded to a “scientist making lasting contributions to the study of the physics of the earth and whose lectures will provide solid, timely and useful additions to the knowledge and literature in the field.”
In addition to being part of the Day Prize Lecture Series, Alley’s appearance at Wilson is part of the College’s 2015-16 Common Hour lecture series examining two related topics: “Confronting Climate Change” and “The Return of the Apocalyptic.” The series is sponsored by the Orr Forum and Global Citizens Initiative and directed Wilson Department of Philosophy and Religion Chair David True
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Nov. 3, 2015
Chambersburg, Pa. — The Wilson College 2015-16 World Travel Dinner and Film Series continues on Wednesday, Nov. 18, with a vicarious journey to China, featuring dinner at 6 p.m. in Laird Hall followed by the film, “China Rising” at 7 p.m. in Thomson Hall’s Alumnae Chapel.
Dinner, prepared by of SAGE Dining Services, will include: yu xiang rou si (shredded pork in hot garlic sauce), la zi ji (chicken with chilis), chow fun, garlic baby bok choy, ma po tofu, cong you bing (scallion pancake), oranges, ginger date wonton and almond cookies.
Following dinner, those attending will watch enjoy the film, which is narrated by Dale Johnson.
Dinner tickets are $20 per person and film tickets are $7 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for children ages 10 to 18. To reserve tickets, call 717-262-2003.
MEDIA CONTACT: Joel Pagliaro, Director of Conferences and Special Events, Sage Dining Services Phone: 717-262-2003 Email: conferences@wilson.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Oct. 26, 2015
Chambersburg, Pa. — Again reaffirming its commitment to college affordability and value, the Wilson College Board of Trustees voted this past weekend to hold the line on tuition for traditional undergraduate students for 2016-17.
The board agreed to the recommendation from President Barbara K. Mistick to hold tuition at the 2015-16 rate of $23,745 for the next academic year, making it the sixth consecutive year that Wilson has either held the line or reduced tuition for traditional undergraduates.
“It is critical for Wilson to do all we can to help reduce costs for our families,” said Mistick. “The expansion of our enrollment and success of the Wilson Today plan allow us hold tuition in check, which helps keep student debt levels down as well.”
Along with the tuition freeze, the board held the housing fee steady while approving modest increases in fees for meal plans and technology of 5 and 10 percent, respectively, to cover direct increases in the college’s cost of providing the services. The overall result is that full-time, residential Wilson students will pay just $365 more – 0.88 percent – next year for tuition and fees, for a total of $35,620.
Tuition for other students – including students enrolled in the adult degree and teacher intern programs, as well as graduate students – will increase between 3 and 6 percent beginning in fall 2016.
After three years with no tuition increases for traditional undergraduate students, the college reduced its tuition for those students by $5,000, or 17 percent, for the 2014-15 academic year as part of the Wilson Today plan, which also includes the creation of a student debt buyback program that became available to qualified first-year students who enrolled beginning in fall 2014. The tuition reduction was followed by a freeze for traditional undergraduates for 2015-16 and now, again for 2016-17.
Prospective students and their families have responded enthusiastically to Wilson’s “value plan” – tuition affordability and the debt buyback program – according to the college’s admissions office. That is borne out by the increasing number of students enrolling at Wilson. This fall, Wilson’s overall enrollment increased by more than 21 percent over fall 2014, with a 15 percent increase in new students and the largest traditional, undergraduate enrollment since 1973.
Wilson’s commitment to affordability is being recognized in other ways: The college was ranked a leader among colleges offering quality academic programs at an affordable price, according to the 2016 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings. U.S. News placed Wilson fifth in the “best value” category for regional colleges in the North, listing the percent of Wilson students receiving need-based grants at 89.3 percent and placing the average cost of attending the college – after need-based grants (or scholarships) are factored in – at $19,952 a year.
In addition to the “best value” recognition from U.S. News, Wilson was also recently named a “tuition hero,” a designation given by the group of the same name that tracks higher education tuition rates. Any institution with a four-year compound annual tuition growth rate of 2.5% or less receives the designation.
Wilson’s continued enrollment increases stand in contrast to national enrollment trends. Based on the most recent data available, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center reported a decline of 1.3 percent in higher education enrollment nationally for 2014, while showing a modest 1.6 percent increase at four-year, private colleges. Since 2013, Wilson has seen a 28.8 percent increase in traditional undergraduate enrollment, with a 39.4 percent increase overall.
In January 2013, the Board of Trustees approved the Wilson Today plan – a set of initiatives to ensure that the college remains a thriving institution well into the future. The five-part plan includes the 2014-15 tuition reduction and student debt buyback program, infrastructure improvements, coeducation, improved marketing and new academic programs. Undergraduate programs recently introduced at Wilson include nursing, animal studies, health sciences and special education.
Wilson College celebrated its newly renovated John Stewart Memorial Library today with a rededication ceremony outside the historic, 1925 library building now enhanced by a new, state-of-the-art learning commons.
Wilson students, staff, faculty, alumni, trustees and friends attended the rededication for the $12 million Reimagining the John Stewart Memorial Library project, which included a complete rehabilitation of the original library building and the replacement of an outdated addition with a learning commons designed to meet the needs of today’s educators and students.
“The John Stewart library project embodies all of the best qualities of Wilson College,” said Wilson College President Barbara K. Mistick. “The Wilson community came together to support our students while the library was closed, and then again in making sure we could create a dynamic library and learning commons that will serve as the hub of academics at the college for years to come.”
In addition to Mistick, speakers included State Rep. Rob Kauffman, Wilson Board of Trustees Chair Barbara L. Tenney, trustee and library fundraising committee chair Betty Lou Thompson and Katelyn Wingerd, president of the Class of 2016.
Libraries are the heart of a college campus—places not only for studying and research, but more and more today, also places for social gatherings, relaxation and student support services, according to Wingerd.
“In essence, they provide that much-needed balance between academic and social life on campus,” she said. “As students, we look forward to having that place—that central space—where academics and campus life can thrive. We are very excited to have the John Stewart Memorial Library as the heart of Wilson College once again.”
The college was forced to close the library after a catastrophic heating system failure in spring 2011. That fall, library functions were relocated to the former Sarah’s Coffeehouse in Lenfest Commons and Wilson’s Board of Trustees authorized the library capital project. The college then entered a silent phase of a fundraising campaign, which was formally announced in March 2013.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the library project was held Oct. 9, 2014. In just 12 months, the library project has taken shape, with contractors working year-round to bring it to near completion. The library will be fully open for the spring 2016 semester, according to officials.
The library project encompassed the repair and restoration of the 92-year-old Collegiate Gothic building and the replacement of a 1961 addition with a contemporary learning commons that will house academic support, writing labs, two “smart” classrooms, a commuter lounge, coffee shop, college store and outdoor plaza, as well as an art gallery.
The new learning commons was designed by architect Benedict Dubbs of Murray Associates Architects of Harrisburg. The general contractor for the project is R.S. Mowery & Sons of Mechanicsburg, which served in the same capacity for Wilson’s Harry R. Brooks Science Complex.
The library fundraising effort has been one of the most successful in Wilson College history. Approximately 750 donors contributed to the project, allowing it to exceed its original $12 million goal. Several key contributions were important in generating momentum, including early gifts of $1.1 million from Thérèse “Terry” Murray Goodwin, a 1949 graduate of the college; a $3.6 matching gift from Marguerite Brooks Lenfest, a 1955 graduate; and gifts totaling $3.6 million from Sue Davison Cooley from the Class of 1944.
“We had an amazing response from a small community—impressive by any measure, but especially at a time of tremendous change for Wilson,” said Camilla Rawleigh, Wilson vice president for institutional advancement. “We are deeply grateful to all who supported the effort.”
In 2013, the college enacted the Wilson Today plan to transform the college into a thriving liberal arts institution, including adding programs, improving infrastructure and expanding coeducation. An updated library is an important component of Wilson’s revitalization.
In addition to the library rededication, Wilson is celebrating several other events during the Oct.23-25 weekend, including Family Weekend and a “meet-the-artist” with Patrick Dougherty at 4:30 p.m. to celebrate the completion of Dougherty’s “stickworks” environmental sculpture on the campus green.
The genesis of Wilson’s original Stewart library was a $75,000 gift to the college made in 1922 by longtime Wilson trustee George H. Stewart, who made the contribution in honor of his late brother, John Stewart. Also a longtime Wilson trustee, John Stewart was a prominent Chambersburg citizen. A Civil War veteran, former chief burgess (mayor) of Chambersburg and local judge, he went on to become a justice on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. He was serving in that capacity when he was struck and killed by a trolley car outside his home on Thanksgiving Day, 1920.
Ground was broken for the original library—which was designed by famed Philadelphia architectural firm Furness, Evans and Co.—in August 1923 and the building was completed the following November. The library served Wilson well until the book collection outgrew the facility and an annex was added in 1961-62. The first gift to the annex was made by actor Jimmy Stewart in honor of his mother, Elizabeth Jackson Stewart from the Class of 1894.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Oct. 12, 2015
Chambersburg, Pa. — To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, Wilson College will host a performance of Tres Vidas, a theatrical work for solo voice and piano, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, in Thomson Hall’s Alumnae Chapel. The work, which is free and open to the public, is based on the lives of three pioneering Latin American women: the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, Salvadoran political activist Rufina Amaya and Argentinean poet Alfonsina Storni.
Tres Vidas will be performed by The Core Ensemble, which has toured nationally and internationally since 1993, in the chamber music theater format—a unique performance format developed by the Core Ensemble featuring a marriage of theatrical narrative to chamber music performance.
With a script written by Chilean poet/writer Marjorie Agosin, Tres Vidas offers powerful portrayals of each woman and includes the singing of traditional Mexican folk songs, as well as Argentinean popular and tango songs made famous by Mercedes Sosa and Carlos Gardel. Additional music by Astor Piazzolla, Orlando Garcia, Pablo Ortiz, Alice Gomez, Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, Michael DeMurga and Osvaldo Golijov round out the musical score.
The performance is sponsored by the Wilson College Government Association, Spanish Club and Department of Global Studies.
For more information, contact Wendell Smith, Wilson associate professor of religion studies, at wendell.smith@wilson.edu or 717-254-0599.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Oct. 9, 2015
Chambersburg, Pa. — As part of Wilson College’s annual Arts Day celebration on Oct. 14, renowned artist Patrick Dougherty—who with volunteer help is creating one of his “stickworks” sculptures on campus over the course of October—will present an artist’s talk at 7 p.m. in the Brooks Science Complex auditorium.
Dougherty, who will also sign copies of his 2010 monograph-memoir, Stickwork, will talk about his work, materials, history and inspiration as an environmentally conscious artist making ephemeral sculptures from locally harvested materials.
Arts Day will also feature two screenings of a documentary film about Dougherty entitled Bending Sticks: The Sculpture of Patrick Dougherty. The film will be shown at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. in Room 200 in Lortz Hall.
Arts Day at Wilson is an educational, fun-filled day of free events that encourage everyone to appreciate and celebrate interdisciplinary arts, take note of the impact of the arts on our daily lives, and explore the critical and creative nature of the visual and performing arts. All events are free and open to the public.
A complete schedule of events is available online on the calendar on www.wilson.edu. For more information about Arts Day, contact Professor of Fine Arts Philip Lindsey at 717-264-4141, Ext. 3305, or philip.lindsey@wilson.edu.
MEDIA CONTACT: Philip Lindsey, Professor of Fine Arts
Phone: 717-264-4141, Ext. 3305
Email: philip.lindsey@wilson.edu
Founded in 1869, Wilson College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college offering bachelor’s degrees in 29 majors and master’s degrees in education, humanities, accountancy, nursing, fine arts and healthcare management for sustainability. Wilson is committed to providing an affordable education that offers value to its students beyond graduation.
Located in Chambersburg, Pa., the college has a fall 2015 enrollment of 923, which includes students from 23 states and 21 countries. Visit www.wilson.edu for more information.
Chambersburg, Pa. — Wilson College will host an information session about its master’s degree program in the humanities at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, in Norland Hall. The session will cover how to apply and provide an overview of the program, including new courses and concentrations now available; financial aid; career opportunities; graduate assistantships and more.
Registration may be completed at www.wilson.edu/MAHum. For more information, visit the website or contact Master of Humanities Program Director Michael Cornelius at michael.cornelius@wilson.edu.
MEDIA CONTACT: Michael Cornelius, Chair, Department of English and Communications
Phone: 717-264-4141, Ext. 3308
Email: michael.cornelius@wilson.edu
