University Welcomes New Class

Willamette’s 542 new undergraduate students attend their first classes this week. The new class, which includes 51 transfer students, comes from 25 states and 12 countries, and 57 percent are women. Twelve percent are the first in their families to attend college, and 15 percent are multicultural or international students. They will represent Willamette well. Their median high school GPA was 3.77, with a median SAT score of 1850.

At the Atkinson Graduate School of Management, international students make up 39 percent of the new Early Career MBA class. They come from Bangladesh, India, China, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Peru, Japan and elsewhere. The 76 new students have the highest GMAT scores of any incoming class in the business school’s history. The MBA for Professionals Program will see about 40 new students — half in Portland and half in Salem.

More than half of the new College of Law class comes from outside Oregon. A diverse group, the 161 JD candidates speak 14 languages and represent 42 undergraduate majors.

The School of Education will see 91 new students seeking MAT degrees, with 71 attending full time.

[ email this story ]

Willamette Recognized as First in Nation for Sustainability Activities

A report card from the National Wildlife Federation recognized Willamette University for engaging in the most sustainability activities of all the 1,068 schools that participated in the federation’s recent nationwide survey.

The NWF’s report, “Campus Environment 2008: A National Report Card on Sustainability in Higher Education,” is based on results from the nation’s largest survey to gauge sustainability at colleges and universities. More than 240 individual schools are recognized and named in the report for having exemplary levels of sustainability activities, as determined by survey responses, and the school engaged in the greatest number of such activities is Willamette.

According to the NWF, “Willamette is committed to energy efficiency and conservation, greener transportation, environmentally friendly landscaping practices, as well as to orienting personnel and faculty to the sustainability goals of the campus.”

Campuses were ranked according to their response to 18 items regarding the institution’s commitment to sustainability. Willamette claimed 11 of the items, more than any other participating school.

“I am perhaps proudest that Willamette’s sustainability achievements were largely student-initiated,” Willamette President M. Lee Pelton said. “These are students whose passion, leadership and creativity transformed our campus culture. They inspire and motivate others on this campus and beyond.”

David Orr, author of Earth in Mind, Ecological Literacy, The Last Refuge, and Design on the Edge, called the NWF report card “the Gold Standard for charting the sustainability movement in higher education.”

The NWF created the report card in partnership with Princeton Survey Research Associates International. The survey was conducted between January and May 2008.

For more about the report card, visit http://www.nwf.org/campusecology/campusreportcard.cfm/campusreportcard.cfm or http://www.nwf.org/campusEcology/pdfs/FactSheet_FINAL.pdf.

To learn more about Willamette's sustainability initiatives, visit http://www.willamette.edu/about/sustainability/ or http://www.willamette.edu/centers/csc/.

[ email this story ]

Willamette Graduate Competes in Beijing

Willamette graduate Nick Symmonds competed in the semifinals of the 800-meter run at the Olympic Games in Beijing, China, this morning (Pacific Time). If you are interested in learning the results now, a press release about the semifinals is at http://www.willamette.edu/events/symmonds/.

[ email this story ]

Symmonds Wins Heat, Advances to Semifinals

BEIJING, China — Nick Symmonds ’06 started his Olympic competition successfully Wednesday, winning his preliminary heat in the 800-meter run and becoming the only U.S. runner to advance to the semifinals.

Symmonds achieved a time of 1:46.01, three one-hundredths of a second ahead of Alfred Kirwa Yego from Kenya. Symmonds and Yego both earned automatic berths in the semifinals, to be held Thursday.

The field of 64 runners was reduced to 24 for the three semifinal heats, which start at 4:50 a.m. PT Thursday. The 800-meter final is set for Saturday at 4:30 a.m. PT.

It is not certain whether the preliminary heats or the semifinals will be shown on television. The final is scheduled to be included in NBC’s primetime coverage Saturday night.

Symmonds was one of three Americans, all with Oregon ties, who competed in the preliminary heats. Andrew Wheating placed fourth in his heat with a time of 1:47.05. Christian Smith took fourth in his heat in 1:48.20. They did not advance.

For photos of Symmonds’ preliminary race, visit http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=J0&Dato=20080820&Kategori=OLYMPICS&Lopenr=820002&Ref=PH.

For more about Symmonds, who won seven NCAA Division III championships and majored in biochemistry at Willamette, visit http://www.willamette.edu/events/symmonds/.

[ email this story ]

Museum Presents Pieces from Portland Collector

A small exhibition from the collection of Leo Michelson, a Portland resident and avid collector of contemporary art, will be on display Aug. 2 through Oct. 5 in the Study Gallery at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University.

The Collector’s Eye: Contemporary Art from the Leo Michelson Collection includes mostly works Michelson donated to the museum during the past 10 years. Artists featured in the exhibition include Rick Bartow, Judy Cooke, Baba Wague Diakite, James Lavadour, D.E. May, Fay Jones and James Thompson, among others. Visitors can meet Michelson in a free reception Saturday, Aug. 30, from 3 to 5 p.m. at the museum.

Born and raised in Texas, Michelson lived in California for many years and worked for ABC Studios in Los Angeles. He left ABC in 1986, traveled for several years and moved to Oregon in the early 1990s. Once settled in Portland, he began to buy contemporary art and has amassed a major collection of regional art, ranging from paintings and drawings to sculptures and prints.

The Collector’s Eye: Contemporary Art from the Leo Michelson Collection has been supported in part by grants from the City of Salem’s Transient Occupancy Tax funds and the Oregon Arts Commission.

The Hallie Ford Museum of Art is located at 700 State St. (corner of State and Cottage streets) in downtown Salem near the campus of Willamette University. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. The galleries are closed Monday. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for seniors and students. Children younger than 12 are admitted free, and Tuesday is an admission-free day. For more information, call (503) 370-6855 or visit www.willamette.edu/museum_of_art.

[ email this story ]