For the first time since its inception, Susquehanna University’s student musicians joined the annual Senior Scholars Day, held on April 19. The event kicked off in Stretansky Concert Hall of the Cunningham Center for Music and Art with opening remarks from university President L. Jay Lemons, followed by an address by Pamela Gehron ’74 Robey, chief of the bone research branch of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research in Bethesda, Md. Her lecture was titled “Metamorphosis of a Susquehanna University Student to a Biomedical Investigator: The Role of Liberal Arts Education.”

Throughout the afternoon, poster sessions and oral presentations of student research were held in Degenstein Campus Center. In all, 42 posters were displayed, and 43 more research projects were described in oral presentations. Subjects as diverse as politics and physics, and business and biology were discussed. The students’ research topics ranged from violence prevention and attitudes toward contraceptive use by college students to the impacts of gender and dress on first impressions, aggressive driving and femmes fatales in the Symbolist Art Movement.

Distinguished Guests Enrich Learning Environment

Each year, Susquehanna University welcomes a wide array of distinguished guests to campus for public lectures, classroom visits with students and scholarly engagement with faculty. During the 2004-2005 academic year, that list included the following individuals:

• Tony Kushner, playwright and author who wrote Angels in America, which won a Pulitzer Prize and two Tony Awards;
• Lee C. Wilkins, co-author of the nation’s best-selling college ethics texts (delivering the Edward S. and A. Rita Schmidt Lecture in Ethics);
• Ruth Messinger, president and executive director of the American Jewish World Service and former mayoral candidate of New York City (as the Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow);
• Renowned scientist and mathematician George F.R. Ellis, honored by Nelson Mandela with the Star of South Africa Medal (delivering Second Annual Distinguished Lecture in Science);
• The Rev. Berneice King, youngest daughter of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.;
• Jean Bethke Elshtain, the Laura Spelman Rockefeller professor of social and political ethics in the University of Chicago’s Divinity School (delivering the Alice Pope Shade Lecture);
• Journalist Lisa Ling, host of National Geographic Explorer (delivering Sigmund Weis Memorial Lecture);
• Rabbi David Ellenson, president of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (delivering the keynote lecture for Susquehanna University’s 2004-2005 intellectual emphasis, titled “Religion in the Public Square”); and
• Mara Liasson, national political correspondent for National Public Radio (delivering commencement speech)

President L. Jay Lemons introduces Pulitzer and Tony award-winning playwright Tony Kushner to Erica Lapotofsky ’05 as Kelly Jean Graham ’05 looks on.	Rabbi David Ellenson delivered the keynote lecture for Susquehanna University’s intellectual emphasis, titled “Religion in the Public Square,” in April. The lecture was one of a number of campus-wide events held during the year that explored the role religion plays in the public life of a democracy.

Adams Center Lecture Explores Church and State Issues

Questions regarding the guarantee of religious freedom, as cited in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, are at the heart of some of the most challenging legal issues being addressed by the law today. That was the topic of the Arlin M. Adams Center for Law and Society’s annual lecture, held on March 31. Titled “Separation of Church and State: Helping or Hindering Religion?,” the dialogue was presented by Gary S. Gildin, professor of law at Penn State’s Dickinson School of Law, and Bradley P. Jacob, associate professor of law at Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, Va. The dialogue was moderated by the Rev. Mark Wm. Radecke, Susquehanna University chaplain.

Established in 2001 by the family of Sigfried and Janet Weis and The Degenstein Foundation of Sunbury, Pa., with support from the Annenberg Foundation, the Adams Center honors prominent jurist Arlin M. Adams. It provides a forum for thought-provoking examination of contemporary issues such as human freedoms and civil rights, social responsibility, technology and privacy, and constitutional interpretation.

Solid Successes in Athletics

The 2004-05 athletics season at Susquehanna ended on the highest possible note as Emily Lepley ’07 won the 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA Division III Women’s Track and Field Championships at Wartburg College. Her time of 1:01.20 in the championship heat was the third-fastest time in Division III during the 2005 season and broke her own school record of 1:02.30, which she set at the Middle Atlantic Conference championship meet en route to earning Most Outstanding Performer honors. The Crusader men’s track and field team won its 14th MAC championship and second in three years by one point over host Widener, as head coach Marty Owens was named both MAC and Mideast Regional Coach of the Year. A total of 12 Crusader athletes were named first-team All-Conference, while Lepley and Jess Paulshock ’05 (women’s soccer) garnered Player of the Year recognitions. In addition to Owens, Jim Findlay (women’s soccer) and Ged Schweikert (men’s swimming) were also honored by their peers with Coach of the Year awards. A total of 119 student-athletes were named MAC All-Academic for maintaining a 3.2 cumulative grade-point average.

First-year students participating in the longstanding Welcome Week service project SU S.E.R.V.E. volunteer at Far Point Stables, Port Trevorton, Pa.

External Recognition Guides Prospective Students

Numerous guidebooks to selective colleges continue to positively recognize Susquehanna. The guides provide information in such areas as academic reputation, student retention, student selectivity, faculty-student collaboration and quality of campus life and alumni giving. For example, The Insider’s Guide to the Colleges says “Students buzz with enthusiasm for Susquehanna’s commitment to its close-knit community,” Peterson’s Competitive Colleges recognizes faculty members “highly engaged in student learning,” and Fiske Guide to Colleges identifies Susquehanna’s challenging courses and emphasis on global community. Susquehanna also appears in Princeton Review’s The Best 361 Colleges and U.S. News and World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” guides, in addition to the Colleges of Distinction online guide.

Arts Thrive

Susquehanna University hosted a variety of cultural and arts events during the 2004-2005 academic year. Annually, the Lore Degenstein Gallery and programs such as the Artist Series and the Visiting Writers Series bring to campus master artists, dancers, musicians and writers.

Last year’s line-up was as follows: