F&M Votes!

After a divisive campaign season, when the parties spent $2 billion attacking each other, when Congress seems destined for gridlock, and when the presidential election focused on swing states rather than core issues, there’s no place more exciting than election day on a college campus. That’s because campus communities are built around the core values that we long for in our political lives: civil discourse, reason, community, honesty, and respect for the individual.

With the campus coming together to celebrate voting, those values seem to rise again, after brutal weeks when the candidates beat down each other and our ideals. And one more thing: College campuses are all about the young, and thus the future. We long for a political discourse that trends that way as well, and when we see the young casting their votes, or helping others vote, we who are older can dream again that tomorrow’s elections might not be held hostage by the way big politics functions now. Continue reading »

The Power of Community

As we entered last weekend, the Franklin & Marshall community knew we would need to come together as Hurricane Sandy approached the east coast. Our Crisis Management Team met throughout the weekend as we monitored weather assessments and eventually made the decision to close campus and cancel classes for Monday and Tuesday, October 29 and 30. Continue reading »

Research as Identity

Students, faculty & professional staff gather in Frey Atrium. Photo credit: Nick Gould.

Last week we hosted our 2012 Autumn Research Fair, where about one hundred Franklin & Marshall College students presented path-breaking research in all fields. Here are just a few samples of the work showcased in Frey Atrium:

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