 President's Column All colleges are being challenged by the public and by our accrediting associations to improve our ability to show how effectively we are achieving our own educational objectives. The key question can be phrased with deceptive simplicity: "What are you Fortunately no one is prescribing how we do this, and I am confident that our faculty will devise appropriate methods for the different disciplines— assessing the outcomes of an introductory philosophy course is bound to require different methods than an advanced course in chemistry or economics. In the meantime, no one here doubts that the impact of the Albright experience is profound and lasting. This was brought home to me forcibly this spring as we wrapped up another busy and bountiful academic year celebrating student achievements and honoring those who had excelled. The Gold A is the highest Albright student award and is given to seniors for outstanding leadership in campus activities, contributions to the intellectual, literary, musical, artistic and/or social life of the College; and for enriching the cultural life of the College and promoting a more congenial atmosphere. The recipients are selected by the faculty and announced at the annual Honors and Awards Banquet. This year's Gold A's, four women and four men, reflect the extraordinary diversity of Albright and the range of possibilities that we offer our students. They are pictured above, and more detailed information about them may be found by following this link. All of the recipients happened to be Ambassadors in our Admission Office and "Faces of Albright," which just goes to show the good judgment of our colleagues there. The Gold A's included the president of our student government association, a double major in business administration (marketing) and French who spent the summer of 2008 in Singapore as an intern for a marketing and advertising firm and graduated summa cum laude. Another was a pioneer in a new area of study, music business, who did an internship with a nonprofit organization that supports Latin American musicians in the greater Philadelphia area, and won honors for our chapter of the Music and Entertainment Industry Student Association. The other recipients included leaders in our African-American Society and Gospel Ensemble; outstanding performers in choral groups and The Domino Players; another summa cum laude graduate who was also an outstanding member and team captain of women's basketball and contributed countless volunteer hours at the local elementary school; the founding president of our biology honors society (Beta Beta Beta) and a skilled field researcher; the president of our International Students Association and a great builder of bridges across cultures; and our own man behind the mask of our Albright Lion mascot. Given their extraordinary diversity of talents and activities, it is difficult to generalize about them, and that is the most golden aspect of all. Each is an unforgettable individual. Each touched our lives as we touched theirs. Each in his or her distinctive way
Lex O. McMillan III, Ph.D. |
