Green Mountain Bulletin

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172nd Commencement Celebrates Largest Graduating Class

One hundred and thirty five undergraduate and 21 graduate students—the largest class in the school’s history—received degrees at Green Mountain College’s 172nd commencement on May 16. Vermont Representative Peter Welch delivered the commencement address and received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. Dr. Kenneth Sherman, a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, also received an honorary degree. He is director of the Office of Marine Ecosystems Studies affiliated with NOAA, and is an adjunct professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography.

Welch praised students for their practical application of knowledge, and said this approach to learning is in the vanguard of a new way of thinking. GMC students are leaders when it comes to living sustainably and responsibly, he said, and it’s his colleagues in Washington who are playing catch up.

“In your coursework, you have learned the science of climate change, you have learned the ideals of environmental responsibility, you have learned the merits of public service and you have learned the importance of acting locally while thinking globally,” he said. “But you have not simply sequestered yourself in a dusty library or at the top of an ivory tower. Instead, you have avoided passive learning in favor of active participation in your immediate surroundings.”

GMC’s participation in the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment and the Central Vermont Public Service Cow Power program, as well as the construction of a biomass plant on campus, are just some of the programs and projects Welch pointed to as examples of GMC students working with their college to create change.

Class speaker Jenna Calvi said her peers’ vision and entrepreneurial spirit will serve them well in a world that needs innovative thinkers.

“Fifty years ago it was our parents who were being called to action,” Calvi said. “In the face of social inequality, a devastating war abroad and political corruption, they rose to the occasion. And now it’s our turn…We will not go down in history as a generation who sat spiritless while their chance for a revolution passed them by.”

In addition to the undergraduate class of 2009, GMC celebrated a second group of graduates from the MBA program and the first cohort from the MSES program. On June 6, GMC’s resort and hospitality management program graduated 20 students in a ceremony at Mountain Meadow Lodge in Killington.

Click here for more on Commencement 2009, including video and text of Welch's address.

Grad Programs to Host Scholars in Residence

The future of socially responsible capitalism and the shape of a planet without human life are two topics GMC graduate students will be exploring in the fall during their on-campus residencies.

Bestselling author Alan Weisman visits GMC as the scholar in residence for the master’s degree program in environmental science. Weisman’s most recent book, The World Without Us, poses a puzzling question: What would the earth look like devoid of humans? A cadre of experts—from engineers, atmospheric scientists and art conservators to zoologists, oil refiners and religious leaders—weigh in on that question in a narrative that “ultimately drives toward a radical but persuasive solution that doesn’t depend on our demise.” The World Without Us was named the Best Nonfiction Book of 2007 by Time magazine and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Nonfiction.

MBA program scholar in residence Bruce Piasecki is the author of five books on business strategy, valuation, and corporate change. In his newest book, World Inc.: When It Comes to Solutions — Both Local and Global — Businesses Are Now More Powerful Than Government, Dr. Piasecki examines a “new phenomenon in socially responsible capitalism,” one that looks to business instead of government to solve society’s problems.

Both scholars will visit classes, participate in field trips and give a public lecture during their time on campus. Green Mountain began its online master’s degree programs in the fall of 2007. The programs were created for working professionals and are conducted largely online.

More on Alan Weisman
More on Bruce Piasecki

Smithsonian Zoologist Delivers Thomas L. Benson Lecture
When it comes to saving animals from extinction, zoos may be a last best hope for some of the world’s many endangered species, said Dr. Carlos Sanchez, associate veterinarian of the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, during a visit to Green Mountain College as the featured speaker for the Thomas L. Benson Lecture.

“We have a responsibility to conserve species and ecosystems,” he said. Not only do zoos care for and reintroduce endangered species into the wild, they also educate people about the importance of land conservation, resource management and other efforts important to prevent species from going extinct.

GMC hosted Sanchez as the featured speaker for the second annual Thomas L. Benson Lecture held April 23 in the Clara Hitchcock Fitzpatrick Jones Concert Hall in April. He talked about some of the programs he’s involved with at the zoological park – including a preventative medicine program at the Panda Base in Chengdu, China, and an annual exam program at the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia. Dr. Sanchez urged students to pursue their careers with passion.

“It’s not going to be easy perhaps,” he said. “Perhaps it’s going to take a little longer than what you think. But you can effect change on our world. It’s just a matter of working hard and always being satisfied with your career choice.”

GMC Celebrates Inauguration of President Paul J. Fonteyn
President Paul Fonteyn has brought energy and enthusiasm to Green Mountain College since he first set foot on campus, said Peter Davis ’09, student senate president, to the crowd gathered for inauguration festivities. And he hasn’t slowed down since taking up the post.

“In his application, to his interview and to this day, President Paul Fonteyn has taken grasp of the reins of this excelling school,” Davis said, “continuing to guide us on our path to being the number one environmental liberal arts school in the world.”

On April 24, hundreds of guests gathered in the Waldron Athletic Center for the inauguration of Fonteyn as GMC’s seventh president.

Speakers included Bob Williams Jr., representing the Poultney community, Barbara Wellnitz, chair of the board of trustees, Shelia Kaveny, staff assembly chair, Tom Mauhs-Pugh, dean of the faculty, and Catherine Parker, president of the alumni association. Vermont Governor Jim Douglas attended the ceremony and gave an address. In a ceremony conducted by Wellnitz and Provost Bill Throop, Fonteyn received the college lavaliere and medallion.

In his inaugural address, Fonteyn outlined plans for the GMC campus and curriculum. He announced that the new biomass plant, which is expected to be online by the winter of 2010, will reduce GMC’s carbon emissions by 64 percent within just two years.

“Because of this dramatic reduction, I can state, with confidence that the College will be carbon neutral by 2011,” he said. “Our research indicates that we will be one of the first two colleges in the country to achieve this goal through actually reducing carbon emissions by more than 50 percent.”

When classes begin in September, what was Bozen Wellness Center will be a residence hall for students who “demonstrate a passion for learning, high academic achievement, and exemplary service to the campus community,” Fonteyn said. “SAGE Hall (Students for Academic & Green Engagement) will not be the exclusive territory of students in a particular discipline, but will be a place that draws on perspectives from across the disciplines.”

The goal for both the campus and curriculum is to continue to build on past success, Fonteyn said.

“There is something about ‘this green place’ that has stood the test of time, something about the vision of its leaders that has emboldened the College to meet new challenges in different eras,” he said. “I am confident that Green Mountain is well on the way to becoming a national model for hands-on liberal arts education in the 21st century.”

Click here for more on President Fonteyn's Inauguration, including video of speeches and text of the president's address.

Clara Hitchcock Fitzpatrick Jones Concert Hall Dedicated
Along with April inaugural festivities, Green Mountain College also celebrated the first official performance in the new Clara Hitchcock Fitzpatrick Jones Concert Hall in Ackley. Guests of honor were Jack and Jane Fitzpatrick of Stockbridge, Mass., who made a significant contribution to the College’s New Century Campaign two years ago that supported renovation of the historic 450-seat theatre.

The gift was made in honor of Jack’s mother, Clara Hitchcock Fitzpatrick Jones, who studied piano and voice at the Troy Conference Academy. It turned out to be a transformative time in young Clara’s life. After graduating in 1909, she married and started a family, but never forgot her love of music, or her appreciation for what has since become Green Mountain College. She studied with European opera masters and eventually realized her goal: Making her stage debut in 1930.

Before the April 23 concert arranged by GMC musical director Jim Cassarino, President Fonteyn presented the Fitzpatricks with a plaque honoring their generous gift. It now hangs at the back of the concert hall bearing Clara’s name.

Running of the Bulls Comes
to Poultney
Black bikes festooned with homemade bull horns circled down Main Street as students in green sashes ducked in and out of their way. Towering puppets—Ronald McDonald, an ear of corn, a dinosaur bearing the message “Extinction: It Could Happen”—trotted after the bike riders. The spectacle ended with a bullfight at the College gates that pitted the matador against a bull labeled “apathy.” It was all part of GMC’s first annual “Festival of San Farmin”—a performance art event organized by Prof. John Nassivera and Ben Atkinson ’10. The goal was to get onlookers thinking about the environment in a different way and to celebrate the community during Earth Week in April.

“The ‘bulls’ represented inefficient fossil-fueled vehicles and the ‘runners’ represented the human casualties of global warming,” explained Atkinson.

Dorm Under Construction
When students arrive back for classes in September, Bozen Hall will be converted into a new residence hall named SAGE (Students for Academic & Green Engagement). SAGE will be an honors dorm for students who display a passion for learning and academic achievement and show exemplary service to the campus community.

Admission is based on a competitive process open to upperclassmen, and renovations were made to meet exacting environmental standards. President Paul Fonteyn announced the launching of the SAGE project during his community meeting address last fall.