21 Days, 2018

Hello Denisonians!

It’s just 21 —count ‘em, twenty-one!— days until classes begin! Where did the summer go!??

The campus has been incredibly busy this summer, even more than usual. So we have lots of news to share: new staff to introduce, programs we’re launching in the Fall, new spaces to unveil, and yikes: So. Much. More.

We know you probably won’t read a massive email on the first day of classes. (We might not either, but say we did.) So, here we go with the 21 Days Countdown, super-short messages on each of these 21 days that lets you know about something interesting and helpful. It’s all stuff we think you’ll want to know.

Denisonians like to know stuff.

So, we promise to be quick and to the point. Starting tomorrow.

Also… See you in 21 days!

Laurel Kennedy and everyone in Student Life

What’s the Story? We want the campus to be comfortable and feel like home. We’re relying on you to shape the vision… and you’ve already begun.

Tell Me More. Today is a two-parter.

First, last year we started crafting a “Housing Master Plan” to organize how we’ll refresh, renovate or build residence halls over the next few years, a major undertaking.

We need a lot of student input to get this right.

Enter the newly-created RED Corps (Research, Engagement, and Design Corps), twelve in-touch smarties who will be asking for your ideas this fall. They’ll bring it all back to our planners and architects and to Denison’s Board of Trustees. Meet members of the RED Corps. And, expect them to be super nosy. It’s their job.

But, second, we didn’t want to wait to get started. So, every Tuesday this summer we invited feedback (from rising sophomores, juniors and seniors; sorry, first-years, but we figured you didn’t have any context yet…) on subjects ranging from the sacred to the profane (that would be, from mindfulness practices to cable tv habits).

We took some fast action on the results. So, this fall you will find …

… hammocks, a cozy human-sized egg, and some oversized chairs for napping scattered around campus. (While we hope you’ll get your nightly 7 hours (seriously, please do), power naps are a wonderful thing.)

… forty (40!!) new Adirondack chairs on residential quads, suitable for relaxing, socializing, or studying en plein air. (Hey, we’re a liberal arts college. Look it up.)

… lots of updates in Huffman (new flooring, new furniture and paint), Crawford (fresh paint job) and Brown (Whoa. “Lots” is an understatement.).

We also heard growing interest among students for more quiet/alone spaces and places to practice wellness and mindfulness. This Fall, we’re going to pilot a small “mindfulness room” in Slayter (Room 410)— you pop in any time for a moment of quiet. And, this is just the start. More coming about mindfulness on campus in the coming days.

More findings from RED Corps and Tuesday Questions are available on MyDenison.

Can’t wait to see you.

LBK and Everyone in Student Life 

What’s today’s story?

We hired an amazing new Director for the Office of Gender & Sexuality, and we asked her to start on July 1. Then we told her we’d give her an office sometime, um … later. As it happens, this didn’t slow her down one bit.

Tell me more.

Last Spring we conducted a national search and hired a director, Dr. Kimberly Creasap. Kim is a sociologist with boatloads of experience thinking about women’s issues, gender in general, and social activism. She’s also well-versed on matters of sexual orientation and gender identity, new areas for focused programming and student support (as evidenced in the new name, Office of Gender & Sexuality). She brings lots of background to this work.

And yeah, she’s been office-surfing for weeks because the actual Office of Gender & Sexuality has been under construction. But that’s about to change!

And that’s a story for another day.

See you in 19 days!

LBK and Everyone in Student Life 

What’s today’s story? Returning students may recall a brouhaha last spring about Res Comm’s plan to hire Community Coordinators, a new category of professional staff to live in the residence halls. Bottom line: We found it impossible to convince folks that we were hiring recent college grads for these roles, and not a bunch of cantankerous old men.

So, we are delighted today to introduce you to these four “50-year old cops”: Rose Troyer, Doug Lisko, Jeremy Torres ‘18 and Jonathyn Jannot.

(Um-hmm. See what I mean??)

The Community Coordinator position was created to permit greater engagement of students in designing and building a sense of home and community in the residence halls. These are full-time staff members who, we think, are going to be great partners in listening and imagining and helping to make visions of a supportive, warm, fun and inclusive community come alive.

For now, all they talk about is how they can’t wait for you all to get here.

The rest of us are looking forward to that too. More tomorrow!

LBK and Everyone in Student Life 

What’s today’s story? Denisonians are known for being entrepreneurial. This can mean seeing a problem and solving it in ways that become a business venture (like Travelocity—started by a Denison grad). It can mean apps, and organizations that bring people together, like the Six Degrees Society (started by this Denison grad). Or late-night food delivery (the dream of every Denison student of every era) built to Chicago scale by this Denisonian. Serious firepower among our alumni.

The thing is, now they want to meet each other. So a very unique reunion is in the works, and you’re invited too. Because you’re a Denisonian too… and they’re like that. They’re people-people.

Tell me more. To celebrate Denison’s entrepreneurial spirit, the Red Frame Lab is hosting ReMix: The Denison Entrepreneurship Summit, a two-day summit of inspiring alumni sharing stories of innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership.

The list of speakers is whoa. They’ll be sharing their stories and all they’ve learned, across a wide range of industries and roles: authors, founders, innovators, and creators. (Anyone who has shown up for the visits of folks like these to the Red Frame Lab knows: they’re smart, accomplished, welcoming and fun to talk to. Even if “networking” terrifies you.)

Regardless of what you want to do post-Denison, you should at least look at the list of speakers. And then, probably, you will want to sign up to attend at least one talk.

Sign-up soon because space is very limited.

PS. The Red Frame Lab, Denison’s center for design thinking, entrepreneurship and innovation, has a lot of fantastic programming lined up for the Fall—from Designing Your Life workshops, Design Challenges, speakers on commercial and social entrepreneurship, and more!

See you in a few. 

What’s the Story? Do you recognize this view?

It’s the Campus Common, as seen from the fourth floor of Slayter. This is a view that inspires, energizes, and puts you at peace all at the same time—but that has been hidden behind office walls and dark corridors for decades. (The same used to be true on the 3rd floor, by the way, pre-NEST.)

Why is this view news? Because as I write, construction on the north side of Slayter 4 is receiving finishing touches, the culmination of a year-long engagement between students and staff to make the fourth floor a more functional, inviting, and collaborative space. So, the views on the inside will be as appealing as this view looking out.

Tell Me More: Last year, Multicultural Student Affairs, the Center for Women & Gender Action (now the Office of Gender & Sexuality), and Office of Student Life partnered with students to design a new student space to foster collaboration and community. The new space includes a student conference room as well as a student gathering space.

It’s been a summer of hammering and drilling and leaping over boxes of ceiling tiles. Now the last of the drywall has been installed and painted, the carpet is laid, and furniture is rolling down the halls to its destination. It’s ready for students to come back and bring life—and all the remaining design decisions—to the space.

Come see when you return to campus. It’s bee-u-tee-ful.

See you real soon.

LBK and everyone in Student Life 

What’s today’s story? A few days ago, we told you about the Not-Cops that we hired in Res Comm. But there is an office where we want knowledgeable leadership in safety and crime prevention, and cordial relationships with the law, and that would be Campus Safety. Jim O’Neill became Interim Director of the office in January, and was the candidate of choice in a national search conducted this summer. In particular, we liked his ideas about opportunities to make the campus ever safer, and continuing to build good relationships between Campus Safety staff and students and other members of the Denison community.

Tell me more. Chief O’Neill has all the right professional background to lead campus safety, but he is also a liberal arts guy. He’s an avid bicyclist and marathoner, a lover of the outdoors, and an insatiable reader and learner.

O’Neill has been listening closely to student concerns to spot opportunities to improve safety and services to students. For starters, he’s been thinking about parking for East Quad residents and will be seeking ways to work with students to find solutions. He has plans to create a community advisory board to further shape the work of Campus Safety going forward. Meanwhile, he is working with other offices across campus, such as Information Technology, to update our safety systems and technologies. More on that to come.

Read more about Chief O’Neill.

See you soon, and thanks for reading.

Laurel Kennedy and everyone in Student Life

What’s today’s story? Google “beautiful campuses” and you’ll see a couple of common themes: green quads with crisscrossing walkways, brick buildings, stonework, and lakes. Denison gets props for our gorgeous academic quadrangle (also known as A-Quad) but not our lake. (Hello!? Ebaugh Pond?) But A-Quad is becoming both more beautiful and more usable. It won’t be quite done when you get back, but we’ll be close to having a “public square” right outside a much-changed Slayter entrance.

Tell me more. It’s been the sound of construction all summer, the bangs and beeps of jack-hammers, drills, and dump trucks. It began last spring: waterline relocations and the demolition of the Slayter walls, walkways and balconies. This project was supposed to take 3 summers, but was fast-tracked to be complete mid-fall! And so: crazy-busy out there all summer.

When you’re back, you’ll see the project wrap up with new brick sidewalks, a plaza with great site lighting, furniture, and landscaping. When the crews finally pack up all the earth-moving equipment, we’ll have a beautiful new academic quad ready for sitting with friends, having a bite to eat, or even watching a performance. To see images of the project and the phasing this summer, go to MyDenison, Campus Resources > Facilities Services > Academic Quad Improvements.

Up next, Ebaugh Pond! (Just kidding.)

See you in two weeks. Yay!

Laurel Kennedy and everyone in Student Life

What’s the Story?

Saving money is hard. Thinking about money can be scary. Worrying about money is exhausting. And yet… it’s a reality we have to deal with.

To help students begin to think about money, develop sound money management strategies, and to promote awareness of resources for financial assistance, we are thrilled to introduce Brandy Avery, a financial wellness coach with exceptional credentials, to provide counseling and education on financial matters—saving, credit, and loans, just to name a few. She’s on campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays and looking forward to getting to know our students.

And yes, there’s more. Don’t forget about existing campus resources here to support students in times of significant financial need. Red Thread Grants are available in case of financial hardship or emergencies. There is lots more information on MyDenison which details funding sources available to students.

In addition, the Alford Community Leadership & Involvement Center will continue to run its Food Pantry this Fall, open Tuesdays from 6-8pm in Higley 014 (ground floor).

Want to know more? Ask Brandy!

See you soon,

Laurel Kennedy and everyone in Student Life

“People tend to think about their career as this separate thing that happens after college, but building skills and fluency with respect to the world of work starts early… It’s incredibly important to me that everyone has the resources, information, and support to make the best choices for themselves based on their interests, skills, and goals.” ~~ Anneke Mason

What’s today’s story? Denison has committed a lot of resources to support students’ post-collegiate launch. As we’ve listened to recent grads talk about their transition to the world of work, we’ve heard about how different students’ paths have been influenced by things like geography, family resources, or access to professional networks. And so we asked, How might we work to make career pathways more even for all students, and a bit easier to navigate?

So Denison created a position this year that we haven’t seen at any other schools: Associate Director for Career Pathways in the Knowlton Center. Anneke Mason is the inaugural occupant of this post. Among other things, her job will be to strategize ways to enhance career opportunities.

Tell me more: Anneke’s job is to break some new ground in how we think about career preparation. A model liberal arts grad, she loves to ask big questions and dig deep for the answers. And her own undergrad experience was full of exploration and discovery: She was a competitive ballroom dancer, studied abroad in Ecuador, and worked on a wildlife refugee camp for monkeys. She loves math, and plays the saxophone, and bakes pies.

She is also a devoted and experienced coach who thrives on guiding students to reach their own full potential and leading the lives they want to live. Read more about Anneke and her work.

See you very soon!

All of us in Student Life

What’s today’s story: Yesterday, we introduced one of the new staff members in the Knowlton Center for Career Exploration. Collectively, this is a group of folks who want to get to know you and connect you with people and experiences to help you land professionally, post-Denison. You may know that at the five-year out mark, 95% of Denison grads are in their chosen field or clearly on the path to it.

But friends, you’ve got to play to win. Using the resources at the KC will help you get there, maybe even a little faster.

(Not sure yet what you want to do after college? Well, exactly. That’s why you do this stuff.)

(Thinking especially about fellowships or research opportunities? Check out the Lisska Center for Student Engagement.)

(Any anxiety about this? Read the PS.)

• Road trips! aka First Looks. Opportunities to meet real professionals in real work environments, and to get up close and personal with this concept called “adulthood.” Cities for this year: Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Chicago. Buckle up for car dancing for 1-7 hours.
• Boot Camp. 20 students participated in the pilot last January of this high impact career readiness experience. They loved it. So now, it’s growing. And yup, you’ll want to consider it, since it’s a great (and fun) way to gain a foundation in career skills, to network with alumni, and more.
• Designing Your Life Workshops. Everything around you was designed by someone. That table in the library you nap on? Designed! The plastic bins you’re shoving your stuff into, to bring back to campus? Designed! Do yourself a favor and attend a workshop to design your life too!
• Sophomore Career Support. The Knowlton Center is introducing programming targeted just for sophomores. Why? Because you are special. For real, and no, that’s not something they tell ALL the classes at Denison.
• Graduate School Support. It’s going to be better than ever, with Knowlton Center staff dedicating time and resources to ensuring you make smart graduate school decisions and are ready to succeed post-Denison! Graduate School Week is coming in October!
• Vmock. V-neck? Zip-lock? VMOCK! It’s a platform that uses machine learning, predictive analytics, and artificial intelligence, to provide tailored suggestions to strengthen your resume. (“Whoa,” interjects the person writing this.)

All super helpful. All waiting for takers, people just like you.

PS. If this feels at all intimidating, or if you waited until the last minute and need fast help, seek out one the KC’s Peer Advisors, all highly knowledgeable students: Marcy Diaz, Tommy McMaster, Meg Odell, and Darcy Shulman. Stop by the Knowlton Center to meet them!

“Our civic futures — locally, regionally, and globally — will depend upon citizens who understand issues as global and complex, and who see difference as a source of strength for complex problem-solving.” President Adam Weinberg

What’s today’s story? We’ve been working for a long time to internationalize Denison’s curriculum. A surge in international student enrollment this fall is helping make 2018-2019 a tipping-point year: Denison is a truly global campus.

We will welcome our largest group of international students ever (110!) bringing the total of international students at Denison to around 300. They are coming from at least 20 countries and include most of the world’s continents. Pictured above are Marilyn Andrew and the staff of the Pre-Orientation for Students Coming From Abroad, which begins in just a few days.

We’ll welcome these students to a college that has built a thriving study-away program (including Denison Seminars, classes that travel all over the world) and no less than seven majors that address international affairs. With the growing internationalization of our faculty and work to expand global internship opportunities through the Knowlton Center, we’re creating a global campus that invites our students, across all points of origin, to develop the capacity to understand, thrive and lead in a complex world.

Tell me more. The recent growth trajectory is no surprise: President Weinberg came to Denison after serving as CEO of World Learning, one of the premier international education, exchange and development organizations. He believes deeply that colleges should educate for an interconnected world in which people live and work effectively across difference. He has led international conversations on this; here is a recent thought-piece related specifically to the globalization of the liberal arts.

We’ve been working this summer to prepare for a more international student body. More staff are being hired for International Student Services. While Slayter remains a meeting hub for cross-cultural student organizations, many of which are international in orientation, ISS has moved to a dedicated suite in Burton Morgan 417, where there is much-needed space and the opportunity to explore new partnerships with Off-Campus Study and Global Programs and others.

So our campus is even more global than it was just a few months ago. Excited? Yes, we are. What an incredible opportunity for all Denisonians to build global knowledge and connections and perhaps see the world from a new perspective.

See you very soon.

Laurel Kennedy and everyone in Student Life

PS. A “house-warming” is planned to celebrate International Student Services’ move to Burton Morgan, on September 26. More information to follow!

What’s today’s story! As I write, students new to Denison are gathering on the Campus Common, meeting and greeting. A few athletic teams have begun to arrive, and students attending pre-orientations have begun to make their appearances. The next generation of Denisonians is arriving!

In the same vein, I am introducing some more staff to you, in this 21 Day parade of All The New Things You’re Coming Back To.

The Residential Communities Team has some new faces, and some familiar faces in new roles. We’re happy to introduce two new Assistant Directors for Residential Communities, Apollo Harris, who will be working with the West Residential Quad, and Christopher Wood, working with East Quad. (You’ll know something important about each’s character just by checking our their photos).

This might leave you wondering…Where can I find Cari Meng? Cari, who has worked in Res Comm since 2013, was promoted to Director of Student Housing & Operations Planning. Cari started in her new position on June 1 and has already been studying how to improve the housing selection process for next year and room readiness as you arrive. Cari will be leading some of the work of the Housing Master Plan to get student input on residential hall updates and improvements. Read more about Cari.

Dr. Léna Crain’s face is familiar, but her job is bigger. Léna now serves as Associate Dean of Students, Director of Residential Communities and Director of Community Values & Conflict Resolution. Léna has just been at Denison for a year, but she understood right away our hopes for re-orienting Res Comm as a place where students build neighborly relationships and strong communities. Léna takes over from Mark Moller, who served as Interim Director last year.

We’re into the single digits! Nine days! Are you packing?!

Laurel Kennedy and everyone in Student Life

What’s today’s story? Did you see the wonderful documentary this summer about Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood? No? It was a blockbuster!! If you missed it, you can still take a walk down memory lane with the childhood hero.

Um, whaaat??! Well, we mention this by way of introducing Jack Wheeler, the newest addition to the Wellness Center at Whisler Hall. He is humming right along with you. In fact, if you ask him what inspired him to pursue counseling, he might just break into a rendition of “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” We’re thrilled Jack has joined Denison, and we hope you’ll have a chance to meet him. You can start by reading all about him. (Give this man a sweater!)

There’s only one person in this whole world like you.

See you real soon.

LBK and the rest of us, too.

What’s today’s story? We made a lot of headway towards a new wellness center over the summer, a design project that has been underway for about two years. Our research to design a building that meets your needs has also helped to identify and develop lots of new experiences to support wellbeing, everything from cooking lessons that we piloted this summer to the mindfulness spaces we’ve mentioned to new workshops supporting mental health.

And yes, there will be a new building. We hope to have designs to share this semester.

Tell me more. As our community developed the strategic plan that is currently being implemented, we identified the renovation or replacement of the Wellness Center at Whisler Hall as a priority. And then, just as all our new academic buildings have been designed for the way our faculty wanted to teach in them, we began to study how this building could support our students’ needs relative to wellness. “Form follows function,” as they say.

Here are a few design milestones:

In 2016-2017, we did a major deep-dive into student health and wellness, based on survey results from a new partnership with the JED Foundation, which asked us to join their Healthy Campus team. We took results to different student orgs to get insights and feedback.

In Fall 2017, we produced a report that was presented to faculty, staff, students, DCGA, the Board of Trustees—anyone who would listen, basically.

Throughout the spring, we developed and presented four wellness strategies to inform design: (1) The integration of health and counseling to achieve a holistic approach to wellness. (2) Expansion in supports for mental and emotional health. (3) Inclusive practice, including outreach and education tailored to specific campus populations. And (4) Introduction and expansion of available integrative therapies, such as yoga, mindfulness and meditation, tai chi, etc. The new building will be designed to offer traditional clinical care, but will also provide a hub for wellness education, which will happen there but also in the residence halls and elsewhere on campus.

But we’re not waiting for the building to get started. Over the summer, we piloted a series of Teaching Kitchens to gauge student interest and gather design input. This fall, new workshops to support everyday mental and emotional health will include Relationships, AIR, and CALM. A suite of new Mindfulness Workshops will be announced in the next few weeks. And a new student group called Peer to Peer, is working with Wellness Coordinator Heather Borland to educate the community about the intersection of sexual respect and mental health. Our goal? To create a new paradigm of college health at Denison.

Laurel B. Kennedy and the Student Life Team

What’s today’s story? It’s always good—especially with many new first-years and transfer students, to provide the tools for way-finding around campus. Because, although Denison’s campus is small, it’s packed with little gems of various kinds. Things to do, places to go, and … well, also places to go.

Knock it off. What are you talking about? Okay. We’ve got a new map to share, another one on the way, and this seemed like a good place to mention the scroll-y thing on MyDenison—aka the “rotisserie,” the rolling postcards…. WHAT THE HECK DO YOU ALL CALL IT?

So first: Denison has quite a few all-gender restrooms, but it hasn’t always been clear where to find them. This all-gender restroom map will help. The newest of these all-gender restrooms are in Slayter, on the first and fourth floors, and the next ones will come with the Eisner Center.

Some other maps are also in the works, including one for development this fall of campus spaces for meditation or contemplation. These include the new space we mentioned earlier, in Slayter 410, and some old faves, like Swasey or the Labyrinth or the Shoeless Room at the Open House. More to come.

How will you know when it’s done? The scroll-y thing. Check out the landing page on MyDenison for announcements of events, programs, speakers, and general news that members of the community want to share.

That is all.

See you in less than a week!

LBK and the Student Life Team

What’s the Story? Over these three weeks, we’ve been sharing lots of information about new staff and new initiatives. The campus has been so busy this summer, and we’re excited to see all of the hard work of so many become part of our daily life. We need you back to do this!

Tomorrow is a big arrival day (First-Year and Transfer Students!) so it’s important to share information YOU need to know, and that WE need you to have.

We get it. Go. Okay, thanks. The following are binding Denison policies for members of our campus community. You are responsible for knowing and following them. I invite your questions, as do my colleagues, and we would welcome opportunities to talk about Denison policies with your classes, organizations, residence hall groups, and others.

The Policy on Sex Discrimination, Including Sexual Harassment, Sexual Misconduct, Stalking and Retaliation is informed by input from members of our campus community, by federal and state guidelines, and by what we consider to be best practices emerging throughout higher education.

The Code of Student Conduct explains your rights and responsibilities relative to university expectations. The changes from last year are minor and we are happy to discuss these with anyone interested. Four basic expectations remain the same: Take care of each other, treat each other respectfully, take care of this place, and act with integrity in classes and in your social life.

The Code of Academic Integrity explains Denison’s standards of academic conduct and the procedures for addressing academic misconduct.

The Student Handbook is a single point of information on a range of important subjects, from services provided by different offices to room reservation instructions to the University’s stance on the privacy of your records. It is super handy as a central point of reference. The Handbook also includes links to many resources as well as policies and procedures that it’s helpful and important for you to know. So, start by scanning and then dig in more.

Anything else? Why, yes. Thanks for asking.

Related to your safety.

• Check out the Campus Safety page on MyDenison to update your emergency contact information so that we can communicate with you in the event of an emergency.
• Community Alerts are distributed in instances where there is any kind of imminent threat to the campus, and provide information and direction about protecting one’s own safety during any emergency.
• The “Campus Climate Watch” on MyDenison (Campus Resources tab, “Campus Life”) provides reports and catalogues data related to incidents that may influence the social climate of the campus.

A tool that will help you manage time.

MyDenison has a great, customizable events calendar feature. You can personalize it to list events by categories of interest to you. To see the calendar, log in to MyDenison, and on the home page you’ll see a calendar section in the bottom right corner. Click on the “Go To Calendar” link. From there, you can select categories and choose events you’d like to add to your calendar.

Making ourselves accessible.

Many members of the Student Life staff have regularly scheduled “Community Hours” in Slayter and other spaces on campus. Our aim is to be highly accessible to students, particularly in a time when we are implementing lots of new initiatives. We welcome your input and feedback.

Our hours are posted on MyDenison (Campus Resources > Campus Life > Student Life).

We have a few more days of Countdown messages, but today’s stuff is all need-to-know.

See the rest of you very soon!

LBK and Student Life folx

What’s today’s story? Do you remember the day you moved to Denison, that trip up the Hill? Maybe you were stuffed in the backseat between all the bins of stuff, while Mom cried up front. Maybe you landed at the airport with a staggering number of suitcases. Maybe you were solo, bravely navigating on your own… to the August O staff with their smiles and maps and well-wishes.

Well, today is that day. It’s the beginning of the transition. And so we’re writing about a new resource for first-year students to help it be as smooth as possible.

The new kids get everything. Tell me more, so I can be mad. No, don’t be mad—be glad! We want everyone to succeed, and “good beginnings make good endings.”

We applied for a grant this year to develop a new position working with students in the First-Year community. We got the grant, and asked Kelsey Jones (who is known to some older students for her work as a staff counselor at the Wellness Center) to serve as “First-Year Care Coordinator.”

Kelsey’s job is to think broadly about the college transition as it happens at Denison, and to help us find ways to make it better for students, individually and collectively. Her work will involve working with staff and maybe a little bit of old-fashioned counseling, but mostly, she’ll be out talking to First-Year Students and listening for things she, and we, can do on their behalf over the first college year.

LBK and all of us at Student Life

What’s today’s story? U.S. politics are challenging these days. The divides are great, and they feel more personal than ever. And, there are mid-term elections this fall, and Ohio has some closely-watched contests coming up.

Tell me more. Our mission calls on us to support students as they engage as “active citizens in a democratic society.” It’s a time of political polarization; even veteran political commentators watch in amazement. Our two main political parties are not just pitted against each other but also have significant internal divisions, and these will likely come into sharp contrast this fall. Denison students, as a whole, have always been politically diverse. (You can see changes in political orientation over time in this report.) And this isn’t surprising: members of the Denison community come from a lot of different places, and bring a wide range of life experiences and perspectives. Our differences will likely challenge us, but they also create very real learning moments in the spirit of the liberal arts. As we listen to and learn from each other, we can widen our perspectives, sharpen our thinking, and develop new ways of seeing the world. To do this, we need to engage thoughtfully and listen to each other, and we need to seek out peers who see things differently.

In the spirit of this, I want to make a special note here. Members of the student media objected to my earlier message about the new Community Coordinator positions. Several of the student media organizations had gathered student opinion related to the new roles last year, and felt that my quips both neglected concerns expressed in their reports and were ultimately dismissive of our campus media.

Respectful dialogue demands sensitivity, and response when our words land wrong, as mine clearly did, and I feel bound to correct any misimpressions I may have caused. I believe firmly in a free press—especially in this political moment—and this extends to campus media. Denison’s student media contribute importantly to campus debates, giving voice to a range of views. They offer insights, as well as creativity and wit. They provide information and commentary about things happening on campus and beyond. I encourage not just students, but all members of our campus community, to seek out student media, and read and hear what they have to say about issues, on and off campus.

And I hope you’ll consider registering and voting. The Alford Community Leadership & Involvement Center has hired two interns to assist with voter registration and to support campus engagement with electoral issues. We’re also looking at ways of working with and supporting campus organizations like the College Republicans and the Denison Democrats, which together have a long history of positive partnerships and of promoting intellectually driven discourse on contentious issues.

Thanks for reading this very long message.

Laurel Kennedy

What’s today’s story? Denison’s faculty are meeting today in their annual symposium, which kicks off the academic year. This year’s symposium centered on the Statement on Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom that the faculty passed in April 2016, with lots of discussion about what the Statement means in the day-to-day life of a campus.

The statement confers freedom of expression to all members of our campus community, believing that a “lively and fearless freedom of debate and deliberation” promotes learning and the progress of ideas. Denison is committed to these principles in the classroom, but also beyond it, and provides opportunities to practice these essential skills of democracy in a number of settings.

Tell me more. Dr. Léna Crain has been thinking about the value and use of dialogue since before she came to Denison. Now that she is overseeing Residential Communities, which relies actively on the principles of deliberation, she is grounding these practices in our mission:

Dialogue is a discussion, especially one that explores a topic with the hope of solutions. As autonomous thinkers, discerning moral agents, and active citizens of a democratic society, we encourage dialogue through difference whenever possible. We use a range of methods to resolve conflict and crowdsource solutions, but also embed dialogue in leadership development and community building. Tackling the toughest topics is how we become skillful agents of positive change.

Here are some of the ways that we do dialogue:

Interfaith Dialogue: Participants in Interfaith Dialogue share a weekly dinner and discussion about topics related to values, faith, spirituality, and leadership. The goal of interfaith dialogue is to practice deep listening to others’ experiences. For more information, contact Phoebe Myhrum myhrump@denison.edu

Sustained Dialogue: Students in Sustained Dialogue commit to a series of conversations about a specific topic, seeking to co-create steps that move from dialogue into making change on campus and in the world. For more information, contact Libby Beach at beach_l1@denison.edu

Restorative Justice Circles: A form of conflict resolution, RJ circles bring together the people who caused and were affected by harm in dialogue with a facilitator to talk through the incident and reach a mutual decision on how to repair the harm and rebuild the community.

Mediation: Used in the residence halls and in conflict resolution, mediation helps people in a conflict talk through expectations and issues, find a compromise, and plan for the future, using a third-party mediator to guide the conversation.

Civic Deliberation: Civic deliberation is a group dialogue around an issue that affects the community. A group convenes to discuss a topic, brainstorm solutions, and commit to action. Denison applies civic deliberation in Residential Communities, CLIC, and Civic Engagement.

Difficult Dialogue: A new program at Denison for 2018, these dialogues are conversation starters for educators who want to engage students more effectively in conversations about the most important issues of our time.

LBK and the Staff of Student Life

What’s today’s story? It’s been a summer of a lot of change: new people, new programs, new pathways. The year ahead promises more, as we work on that new wellness center, residence hall updates, new career programs, and so much more.

While change can interrupt our normal patterns—we have to figure out new people, new patterns of travel—the changes we’ve shared also underscore Denison’s dynamism. They reflect lots of listening, with lots more ahead, and response to the expression of growing interest in wellness, in career readiness, in innovation and entrepreneurship, in spaces to gather and connect. They underscore a constantly changing school.

We hope every student will participate in shaping the future, as the College continues to evolve. Our designs will be best if they are shaped by and reflect all voices and experiences.

And now, let’s get on with it! Thanks for reading.

Laurel Kennedy and everyone in Student Life