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Colorado College
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President’s Blog Flow of IdeasThis page features periodic postings from President Dick Celeste. Freedom of speech and personal safetyApril 7, 2008 – 8:32 am
Freedom of speech and personal safety are basic rights we all hold dear. We work hard at Colorado College to ensure both. A recent campus issue is a case in which these principles of good compete. …continue reading “Freedom of speech and personal safety” »»» Dangerous SpamAugust 6, 2007 – 2:16 pm
I have a spam guard on my computer to try to eliminate the extraneous stuff that gets sent to my email address. It helps. It catches the virus-laden items and about three quarters of what I think of as electronic junk mail. Still, a couple of times a week I am obliged to review the accumulation to see whether a message from a high school classmate got trapped in the screen. I have been struck recently by how many messages — tucked in the midst of Viagra pitches, offers of home equity loans, and stock tips — hold out the promise of a quick and inexpensive college diploma. “Online Education Is Easy and Affordable,” “You Can Start Your Higher Education Today, Easily,” and “Get an Instant Diploma” are just some of the recent headers. Sanctuary. Enter at your own risk.April 19, 2007 – 10:14 am
PrologueI drafted a blog entry as I was returning from Chicago to Colorado Springs on the morning of Monday, April 16, before I’d heard the news from Virginia Tech. I was tired as I wrote, so I held onto the draft to take a second look at it before I posted it. “Yesterday began like any other day” said someone at the Virginia Tech memorial service on Tuesday. “And then it became like no other. Everything changed.” The senseless, brutal outburst of one student on that campus cut short the lives of thirty-two others, mostly students; some, teachers. And on the CC campus, students stood in the Worner Student Center silently watching the words and images of the CNN live news reports. Some wept. All grieved. But for the grace of God it might have been our campus. We could only wonder that the “bubble”—the distance from the worries of the everyday world that is both a gift and a curse for a college campus—proved to be no bubble at all in Blacksburg, Virginia. This sanctuary, where we join in a focused effort at teaching and learning, so unique that we seldom come to appreciate it fully until long after we have left it behind, can be invaded by the sharp, all-too-frequent outbreaks of savage violence that seem to plague our society. Our faculty, meeting as they do on the final Monday of each block, sat in a moment of silence in shocked solidarity with their suffering colleagues 1,000 miles away. On Tuesday, students and staff members lit candles in Shove Chapel and gathered in remembrance in the late afternoon. And, of course, key administrators met to review what we might do on this campus should we be confronted by some unimagined random act of violence. I feel a deep sadness as I write these words, sadness that my colleagues and I cannot make this a perfectly safe place for our students. That we can’t protect them from a booze-induced accident; from an adventure that turns into a misadventure. Most of all, that we cannot insulate them from these crushing outbreaks of violence that, although random, seem to have become ever more frequent. And so my thoughts turn to the blog I wrote before I learned about the shooting at Virginia Tech. I share it with you now. Semester that Begins with Blackout Ends with WhiteoutJanuary 10, 2007 – 1:36 pm
What a first semester! And what a Christmas Eve! At 4 pm on the very first day of classes last September, the whole Colorado College campus lost power. A blackout shut down the computer center, took the library offline, disarmed the card access to the residence halls, and generally caused confusion and dismay. Conscientious freshmen, who had been in the library eagerly working on their first assignments to impress their new professors, were distressed at being cut off from their computers. Since we traditionally begin classes on Labor Day, it was a challenge to find the right people to help us restore power to the campus. Our facilities folks quickly established that the problem occurred at the point where the high-tension power line, operated by the city, delivered electricity to the campus. And high-tension lines are not to be toyed with. Well, we found the experts, and the special equipment they required, in Denver. Fortunately, they understood the urgency of our situation. Within four hours almost all of the power on campus had been restored. Those of us who manage an ongoing disaster planning effort found another threat to be reckoned with. But it turned out to be a small blip on the radar screen as the academic year got under way. A bigger blip loomed as the year was coming to a close. …continue reading “Semester that Begins with Blackout Ends with Whiteout” »»» Run, Don’t WalkDecember 15, 2006 – 9:33 am
I usually am not moved to blog about something that is time constrained, but I cannot help myself in this instance. Yesterday I finally took the time to visit Coburn Gallery (in our student center) to look at an exhibit entitled “Book as Object,” which has been there for over a month. I was out of town when the exhibit opened, partially explaining my tardiness. What a mistake on my part. Spellings Commission Report Fails to Recognize Distinctive Contributions of Colleges and UniversitiesDecember 6, 2006 – 10:07 am
Two months ago, the Commission on the Future of Higher Education issued its final report. The Commission, appointed last year by President Bush and working closely with Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, was comprised of 19 members ranging from present or retired college and university presidents to corporate CEO types. It was chaired by a Texas businessman who was deeply involved in the system of higher education in that state. The Commission was charged with the development of a national strategy for postsecondary education that meets the country’s needs for an appropriate 21st century workforce. Pondering prescient brain cellsSeptember 5, 2006 – 9:48 am
I am curious about a certain part of my brain. I need to talk to Bob Jacobs and Lori Driscoll, our neuroscientists, or maybe to one of our psychology professors. Here is what I have in mind, so to speak. It is that set of brain cells that tells me exactly what is going to happen when I do something. But then is incapable of helping me avert that very consequence. Engaging face to face as well as in bits and bytesSeptember 4, 2006 – 8:33 am
I have been out of the blogging business for quite a while. First it was the rush of the end of the academic year and a wicked travel schedule. Then it was summer and a reluctance to take on anything new. (Actually summer was both relaxing and busy: a welcome change of pace.) But as the arrival of new students approached, I found myself energized by the prospect of new faces and new enthusiasm. On Saturday morning I turned up at Slocum Hall with my very own dolly to help parents unload the mountain of clothes, books, electronics, and quality of life stuff their sons and daughters were bringing to campus. A heavy downpour did little to dampen the excitement that was palpable to all of us. …continue reading “Engaging face to face as well as in bits and bytes” »»» |
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