All seniors in the College are invited to nominate a high school teacher for consideration for the Singer Family Prize. The four award winners received a plaque and $3,000, as well as $2,500 for their school. This year’s Singer Prize recipients also were invited to the Ģ����ý’s commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 18, to watch their former students graduate.

“The Paul Singer Family Foundation feels strongly that while devoted secondary school teachers play a vital role in the intellectual development of American society, they often receive little recognition or acclaim for their endeavors,” said Gordon Singer, son of Paul Singer ’66, who endowed the prize.

Doreen Arney, English teacher, Pearl River High School (Pearl River, N.Y.)

For Daniel Gorman Jr. ’14, ninth grade English teacher Doreen Arney created an engaging learning environment where unconventional assignments, including a retelling of Romeo & Juliet through text messages, emphasized creativity and imagination, in addition to the basics of writing.

“Miss Arney delivered thorough, engaging lectures but also showed a true mastery of dialogic education, Socratic seminars, and other pedagogical methods that encouraged active student participation,” wrote Gorman in his nominating letter.  “Most importantly, she always listened to us when we needed help.”

Gorman says that Arney’s dedication to her students was exemplified by the “Grammar Gang,” a group of students she mentored during lunchtime and afterschool crash courses on basic syntax, sentence diagramming, and SAT vocabulary. Still active today, the Grammar Gang has helped more than 100 students—from freshmen to seniors—master basic writing skills and prepare for advanced placement exams and standardized tests. “Miss Arney genuinely cared not only about her ninth-grade students, but also about anyone struggling with humanities homework, college applications, or standardized tests preparation,” Gorman said. “While I remember so much about her classes, I remember her unwavering dedication to her students most clearly of all.”

Robert Collard, chemistry teacher, Grand Island Senior High School (Grand Island, N.Y.)

Jonathan E. LoTempio Jr. describes Robert Collard as a charismatic teacher with a “knack for bringing students out of their shell and promoting a culture of success.” From encouraging his students to discuss the big ideas of science and its importance in everyday life to playing a wide variety of music—from Bach to Miles Davis—during lab periods, Collard  taught his students both chemistry and culture. This style of teaching, LoTempio said, encouraged not only mastery of knowledge and success on exams, but broadened critical thinking.

Collard, a Rochester alum as well, introduced LoTempio to the idea of studying at the University. As a freshman, LoTempio returned to Grand Island High School to participate in an alumni panel and urged the district to adopt advanced placement chemistry into their curriculum. Six months later, the subject was added to the course catalog for fall 2011 and Collard spearheaded the new course.

“The bonds and the respect that Collard commands have been used as a way to encourage graduates to come back and share their experiences,” LoTempio wrote in his nomination letter. “The consensus between all disciplines and majors represented was that regardless of whether or not you study chemistry or science, a class with Mr. Collard is the way to prepare for college, and for life.”

John Hathaway, director of instrumental music, Mount St. Mary Academy (Kenmore, N.Y.)

After retiring from more than three decades as a secondary education teacher in Buffalo, N.Y., John Hathaway felt his time in the classroom wasn’t over. So in 2002, he approached Mount St. Mary Academy about creating an instrumental music program from scratch. For Rochester graduate Chelsea Hans ’14, Hathaway’s new marching band was a chance to be a part of program that gave her “amazing opportunities through musical experiences, travel, and leadership.”

Membership in the band took Hans from an uncertain freshman to a confident leader, in and out of the music room. Hans wrote that Hathaway taught her skills related to community outreach, management, and fundraising—lessons she carried with her to Rochester. “John had a profound impact on my life, as he does on everyone who passes through the band program,” she wrote. “He is truly an exemplary educator and an inspirational person.”

Today, under Hathaway’s tutelage, more than a third of the Academy’s students participate in the band program and it has earned a host of awards, including 10 consecutive Darian Lake Music Festival Grand Champion honors for the jazz ensemble. As the only all-female marching band in New York State, they’ve also been tapped to play at the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City, the OctoberFest Parade in Kitchner, Ontario, and at the first inauguration of President Barack Obama.

Theresa Sarkis Kruse, English teacher, Joseph C. Wilson Magnet High School (Rochester, N.Y.)

This May, Shamen Radcliffe became the first in his family to graduate from college and he credits Wilson Magnet High School English teacher Theresa Sarkis Kruse with giving him the encouragement and confidence to follow his educational goals.

During her time at Wilson, Sarkis Kruse learned that if students like Radcliffe could envision themselves in college, it would help them stay focused on choices that would ensure their success. She often walked her students to Rochester’s Rush Rhees Library to conduct research, but soon decided to organize fundraisers and apply for grant money that would offset the cost of bringing her students on tours of northeastern colleges. Radcliffe, who met Sarkis Kruse as a ninth grader in her English class, recalled that she was always there to assist with extra help and make sure he stayed on top of his course work.

“Mrs. Sarkis Kruse became not only my teacher, but a mentor and a friend,” wrote Radcliffe, who is now enrolled as a master’s degree student in social studies education at Rochester’s Warner School. “She inspired me to become an educator and help minority youth who are from underprivileged areas, like me.”

The fellowship, which is part of a federally sponsored program, provides up to three years of graduate study support for students pursing doctoral or research-based master’s degrees. Since the program’s inception in 1952, it has supported nearly 50,000 students conducting research in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and selected social science disciplines. Of the more than 14,000 applicants, only 2,000 were awarded fellowships. The fellowship includes a three-year annual stipend of $32,000, a $12,000 educational allowance to the institution, and international research and professional development opportunities for recipients.

The following graduating senior received a fellowship:

• Amanda Chen ’14, bachelor of science in biomedical engineering and minor in chemical engineering. A native of Danville, Calif., Chen plans to spend a year abroad at the University of Cambridge as a Whitaker fellow before enrolling in the biological engineering doctoral program at MIT in fall 2015.

The following graduating seniors received honorable mentions:

• Ryan D. Ribson ’14, bachelor of science in chemistry
• Catherine E. Lambert ’13/T5’14, bachelor of science in geological sciences and       bachelor of art in English

The following graduate students received fellowships:

• Nicole E. Peltier ’13, brain & cognitive sciences
• Alena Stasenko ’12, psychology and brain & cognitive sciences
• Alyssa J. Kersey, brain & cognitive sciences, earned bachelors at Indiana University
• Sarah E. Koopman, brain & cognitive sciences, earned bachelors at Wellesley College

The following graduate students received honorable mentions:

• Anthony J. Yee ’13, optical engineering
• Valerie E. Fleischauer, chemistry, earned bachelors at SUNY College at Buffalo
• Frank E. Garcea, brain & cognitive sciences, earned bachelors at St. John Fisher College
• Emma W. Grygotis, School of Medicine & Dentistry, earned bachelors at Earlham College
• Bentley Hunt, biomedical engineering, earned bachelors at Tufts University
• Timothy R. Kopp, computer science, earned bachelors at Clarkson University

The following recent alumni, who are currently pursing advanced degrees elsewhere, received fellowships:

• Julieta Y. Gruszko ’12, physics and astronomy
• Alyssa Schwartz ’13, chemical engineering
• Ian A. Marozas ’13, biomedical engineering
• Ian Remming ’12, physics and astronomy
• Ryane M. Logsdon ’12, animal behavior
• Benjamin E. Snyder ’11, chemistry
• Jonathan C. Grima ’11, neurosciences
• Gregory S. Bryman ’12, neurosciences
• Gregory R. Fedorchak ’11, biomedical engineering
• Scott Barenfeld ’12, physics and astronomy
• Jacob M. Rothenberg ’13, optical engineering
• Rachel Odhner ’10, anthropology

The following recent alumni, many of whom are currently pursing advanced degrees elsewhere, received honorable mentions:

• Allison J. Lopatkin ’13, biomedical engineering
• Stephanie Swartz ’13, optical engineering
• Jonathan M. Goldberg ’12, chemistry
• Samuel T. LoPresti ’12, biomedical engineering
• Grace Cannon ’13, psychology
• Joseph A. Buonomo ’13, chemistry

On earlier study abroad trips through the IES Abroad program, Dawson and Wegman both volunteered in Egoli, and were moved by the settlement’s poor conditions. Many settlements like Egoli developed in South Africa as a result of race-based segregation during apartheid. The communities, which are still largely unrecognized by the government, lack infrastructure and basic municipal services. For example, Egoli’s 2,000 residents share only one water spigot and have no electricity or sewers.

“The income inequality and legacy of apartheid couldn’t have been more apparent,” says Wegman, noting the vast difference in living conditions among people living in Cape Town versus those residing in Egoli.

Upon their return from Cape Town, Dawson and Wegman began working with Jennifer Kyker, an ethnomusicology professor at the Eastman School of Music, who mentored them throughout the project design stages and grant writing process. The students’ project, “Transcending Informality: Building a Community Center in Egoli Informal Settlement,” works to alleviate some of the physical barriers Egoli residents face.

The current community center, where Wegman helped hold nutritional health workshops and Dawson conducted a public health study, simultaneously serves as a library, church, childcare center, and meeting place. The center’s dilapidated condition and small size prevent large community gatherings and limit the expansion of additional resources, like health clinics. Wegman and Dawson will partner with Egoli residents and the Cape Town non-profit Ikhayalami to design and construct a facility that can promote community engagement.

“The current lack of infrastructure very much marginalized Egoli residents,” Dawson explains. “We want to break down the structural barriers that exists, and by constructing a physical space for residents, help cultivate peace in the community.”

Wegman, an anthropology major who studied public health during a semester abroad in Kingston, Jamaica and London, England, also notes that Ikhayalami brings to the project a network of resources to support Egoli community leaders as they create a strategic plan. Together, they will hold focus groups and community development workshops that ensure Egoli residents have a voice in charting their own course for development, she explains.

“Once Egoli is in Ikhayalami’s network, they will have access to the resources needed to advocate for more municipal services,” says Dawson, who studied molecular genetics at Rochester and plans to attend the University’s medical school in the fall.

Andrea Bolnick, founder of Ikhayalami, says that Egoli will benefit tremendously from the new center, as community halls are vital facilities for poor communities generally lacking in safe public spaces. “A common space everyone has a vested interested in can become a powerful asset in a community,” she explains. “It can build trust, unity, pride, and a sense of dignity.” Through simple projects like this one, poor communities have a chance to make their concerns heard and to be incorporated into the city, Bolnick explains.

The two undergrads have launched a page to help offset the cost of travel to South Africa. Donations will allow the pair to put the entire grant toward design and construction of the community center.

Dawson and Wegman, who are both graduates of Pittsford Mendon High School, were eligible for the Projects for Peace grant as a result of the University’s partnership with the Davis United World College Scholars Program. As a partner school, the University is able to nominate two proposals for the summer grant. A campus committee, coordinated by Belinda Redden, director of Fellowships, reviewed the proposals and interviewed the student applicants, selecting Dawson and Wegman’s proposal for submission to the national competition. “Katherine and John approached me last summer about presenting a Davis proposal and the diligence they put into preparing it shone through clearly,” says Redden.

Each year, 100 projects are funded, with at least one from each Davis school. The Projects for Peace program was launched by author, philanthropist, and scholar Kathryn Wasserman Davis in 2007 to commemorate her 100th birthday. Since its founding, Projects for Peace has funded more than 700 projects in over 100 countries.

TIME, DATE, PLACE: 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 19, in the Simon Graduate School of Business on the University’s River Campus.

WHAT: “Levels 2 Success: A Guide to Higher Education,” is a symposium organized by the , an affinity group at the URochester. The day includes three workshop sessions that will teach students strategies to get into college or graduate school and will equip them with the necessary skills to identify career goals and an academic plan to successfully achieve them.

At 2 p.m. in Sloan Auditorium in Goergen Hall, MMLA will host a keynote address by Malik Evans, a URochester alumnus whose campus leadership led to launch of numerous initiatives including the creation of the College Diversity Roundtable and the now annual Dr. Martin Luther King Commemorative address. In 2003, Evans became the youngest member ever elected to the Rochester Board of Education, and he has served as Board President since 2008. Evans is involved in many community activities and boards including Catholic Family Center and the Rochester Area Community Foundation. As a vice president with M&T Bank, Evans regularly presents at financial literacy seminars that focus on money management, business development, and basic banking. The keynote address is free and open to the public.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Members of the media interested in covering the symposium should email MMLA marketing and public relations conference chair David Paul at david_paul@urmc.rochester.edu or call 616.633.9721.

Ģ����ý alumnus and Trustee Laurence “Larry” H. Bloch and his wife, Cindy, have made a significant gift to endow funds supporting the University’s fundraising program and the position of chief fundraising officer.

The University position of chief advancement officer, previously held by James D. Thompson, will now be known as the James D. Thompson Chief Advancement Officer. Created in honor of Mr. Bloch’s eight-year partnership with Thompson, the fund—formally known as the James D. Thompson Chief Advancement Officer: Endowed by Larry and Cindy Bloch—will support the head of the fundraising program.

In addition, to support fundraising at the University in perpetuity, the Blochs established the Larry and Cindy Bloch Endowment for University Advancement.

“I am deeply moved by how Cindy and Larry express their support of the University,” said President Joel Seligman. “This gift will allow us to meet the significant challenges we will face in the road ahead for the development of our advancement program, far into the future. The Blochs’ choice to recognize Jim at the same time captures the true spirit of named positions, as we will be building on his hard work and great success. We are incredibly fortunate to so often be the beneficiaries of the Blochs’ generosity and counsel.”

The Blochs’ innovative fund supporting a University staff member aligns closely with the University’s faculty support goal for The Meliora Challenge: The Campaign for the URochester, as a lasting resource that will help attract and retain exceptional professionals. The Campaign seeks to establish a minimum of 80 endowed professorships by its close on June 30, 2016.

Endowed professorships are among the most prestigious honors a faculty member can receive and provide the funds for salaries, benefits, and research support that enable the University to successfully compete with peer institutions for talented faculty members. To date, donors have helped the University create 77 new endowed positions.

In November 2013, the University’s campaign surpassed the $1 billion mark on its way toward its ultimate goal of $1.2 billion. The Blochs said they made their gift to recognize the milestone and the man who they feel played a major role in its realization.

“For the University to be approaching $1.1 billion in campaign commitments with more than two years to go is something very few would have imagined eight years ago. This accomplishment is very much a reflection of Jim’s vision and deep-rooted commitment to the University’s donors,” said Mr. Bloch. “Generating support from alumni, faculty and staff, parents, and friends requires a great advancement organization and forward-thinking leadership. Endowing the chief advancement officer in Jim’s honor will enable the University to maintain the very high standard he set.”

Thompson, recruited to the University with Bloch’s help in 2006, worked closely with the board throughout his eight-year tenure as chief advancement officer. In that time, he successfully developed and implemented a plan that greatly expanded the advancement program the University has today. His efforts have established giving societies, volunteer boards, and faculty programs that have helped increase the University’s visibility and outreach to alumni and friends across the country. This includes the creation of the George Eastman Circle—the University’s leadership annual giving society—which is largely responsible for making the University’s Annual Fund become one of the fastest growing in the nation. Thompson is now serving as special counsel to the President, where he will be advising President Seligman on long-term growth in advancement and planning for the next campaign.

As members of the George Eastman Circle, the Blochs funded a statue of George Eastman, the University’s greatest benefactor and namesake of the society. The statue, which now stands on the University’s Eastman Quad on the River Campus, commemorated the launch of the society and celebrates Eastman’s philanthropy. In 2000, the University formally dedicated the Larry and Cindy Bloch Fitness Center, located in the Robert B. Goergen Athletic Center, in honor of the Blochs and in recognition of their leadership gift to the Center.

Cindy Bloch, a graduate of Parsons School of Design, built a career as head fashion designer for several women’s sportswear companies in New York City, including major divisions of Evan Picone, Leslie Fay, and J. G. Hook. In her retirement from the fashion industry, she has taken on leadership roles in a number of philanthropic organizations, including serving as board chair of the San Diego based nonprofit Kids Korps, USA.

A private investor, Larry Bloch received his bachelor’s degree in political science from the Ģ����ý in 1975. He earned his master’s in business administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1979. A University trustee since 1998, Bloch serves as chair of the board’s Development Committee and is a member of the Executive Committee. He is also vice-chair of West Coast efforts for The Meliora Challenge.

The disturbing imagery or violent storylines of videos games like World of Warcraft���ǰ���Grand Theft Auto are often accused of fostering feelings of aggression in players. But a new study shows hostile behavior is linked to gamers’ experiences of failure and frustration during play—not to a game’s violent content.

The study is the first to look at the player’s psychological experience with video games instead of focusing solely on its content. Researchers found that failure to master a game and its controls led to frustration and aggression, regardless of whether the game was violent or not. The findings of the study were published online in the March edition of the Journal of Personality���Ի���Social Psychology.

“Any player who has thrown down a remote control after losing an electronic game can relate to the intense feelings or anger failure can cause,” explains lead author Andrew Przybylski, a researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute at Oxford University, who said such frustration is commonly known among gamers as “rage-quitting.”

That experience is not unique to gaming, says coauthor Richard Ryan, a motivational psychologist at the URochester. For example, in sports, players may lose a game as a result of a bad call. “When people feel they have no control over the outcome of a game, that leads to aggression,” he explains. “We saw that in our experiments. If you press someone’s competencies, they’ll become more aggressive, and our effects held up whether the games were violent or not.”

To tease out which aspects of the gaming experience lead to aggressive feelings, the researchers manipulated the interface, controls, and degree of difficulty in custom-designed video games across six lab experiments. Nearly 600 college-aged participants were tasked with playing the games—many of which included violent and nonviolent variations—and then were tested for aggressive thoughts, feelings, or behaviors.

In one experiment, undergraduates held their hand in a bowl of painfully cold water for 25 seconds. They were led to believe that the length of time was determined by a prior participant, but in fact, all participants were assigned the same duration. Next, participants were randomly asked to play either a simple or challenging version of Tetris, after which they were asked to assign the amount of time a future participant would have to leave their hand in the chilled water. Players who experienced the difficult Tetris game assigned on average 10 seconds more of chilled water pain to subsequent players than those who played the easy version.

Across the experiments, researchers found it was not the narrative or imagery, but the lack of mastery of the game’s controls and the degree of difficulty players had completing the game that led to frustration. The study demonstrated that aggression is a negative side effect of the frustration felt while playing the video game. “When the experience involves threats to our ego, it can cause us to be hostile and mean to others,” Ryan explains.

The researchers also surveyed 300 avid gamers to identify how real world gamers might experience the same phenomena. When asked about pre- and post-game feelings, gamers reported that their inability to master a game or its controls caused feelings of frustration and affected their sense of enjoyment in the experience.

Edward L. Deci, professor of psychology and Gown Professor in the Social Sciences at the URochester, and C. Scott Rigby, president of Immersyve, a consortium of researchers and interactive development professionals that study motivation and sustained engagement, also contributed to the paper.

The researchers say that the findings offer an important contribution to the debate about the effects of violent video games. Ryan says that many critics of video games have been premature in their conclusions that violent video games cause aggression. “It’s a complicated area, and people have simplistic views,” he explains, noting that nonviolent games like Tetris or Candy Crush can leave players as, if not more, aggressive than games with violence, if they’re poorly designed or too difficult.

“Gender violence, including sexual harassment and assault, interpersonal violence and stalking, are issues that are unfortunately still present in many of our communities,” said Morgan Levy, director of equal opportunity compliance and Title IX coordinator. “In the University setting, we have a unique opportunity to pull together practitioners, researchers, activists, and students who are passionate about these issues to discuss the implementation of strategies to stop the violence.”

Rochester junior Emily Sumner, president and cofounder of UR SEGway, a student-run organization that educates and raises awareness about sexual violence, says having a wide array of experts, administrators, and students at the conference is an important step in addressing gender violence. “The conference demonstrates to the students that the University recognizes that this is an issue on our campus, and it serves as the perfect platform to get important conversations going about how to combat sexual assault,” she explained.

On Thursday, April 3, the day-long event will feature opening remarks from University President Joel Seligman. The morning also includes a keynote address from attorney Colby Bruno, who has spent more than a decade representing victims of rape and sexual assault. A national expert in the legal rights of campus rape and sexual assault victims, Bruno trains colleges and universities on the implementation of Title IX.

During lunch, participants will hear from Katie Koestner, founder of the Take Back The Night Foundation, an international organization that encourages women to “take back their voices” by speaking out against all forms of sexual assault or domestic and dating violence. At the age of 18, Koestner was the first woman to speak out nationally and publicly about date rape and has since lectured at more than 2,000 schools in North America. The Ģ����ý’s College Feminists held their own Take Back The Night event in October 2013, which included a speaker, a walking vigil in peaceful protest of sexual violence and rape culture, and a survivor speak-out at Boulder Coffee.

Throughout the conference, workshops will explore campus responses to gender violence and cyber-related sexual misconduct. The program also addresses how to engage men and boys in the discussion of sexual assault, among other topics. Exploring Advocacy through Art-Making, which begins at 5 p.m. in the Genrich-Rusling Room at LaChase Hall on the University’s River Campus, features local artist and activist Lydia Billings, whose project, Trigger Warnings, is a photographic representation of survivors of sexual assault. For a full list of events, visit the conference website.

DATE, TIME, PLACE: All events will take place Friday, March 28. The keynote address begins at 9:15 a.m. at the Interfaith Chapel on the River Campus. Workshops run from 11 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. in Schlegel Hall. At 3:30 p.m., participants will gather in Munnerlyn Auditorium in Goergen Hall for a poster session and closing reception.

ABOUT LEE BOLLINGER: Bollinger is a prominent advocate of affirmative action who played a leading role in the twin Supreme Court cases—Grutter v Bollinger ���Ի���Gratz v Bollinger—that upheld and clarified the importance of diversity as a compelling justification for affirmative action in higher education. A leading First Amendment scholar, Bollinger is widely published on freedom of speech and the press and currently serves on the faculty of Columbia Law School. This past fall he taught a course, A Free Press for a Global Society, focused on issues he addresses in his most recent work, Uninhibited, Robust, and Wide-Open: A Free Press for a New Century.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Members of the media should check in with Melissa Greco Lopes by calling 585.260.6666585.260.6666 or e-mailing m.grecolopes@rochester.edu.

WHAT: William Mumma, president of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, will discuss religious freedom and how it is protected and applied by houses of worship and businesses in America. He will explore issues brought to light by the United States Supreme Court case involving Little Sisters of the Poor, a Roman Catholic congregation of religious sisters who oppose certain aspects of the Affordable Care Act. Mumma’s law firm is representing the sisters in the law suit.

TIME, DATE, PLACE: 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 27,  on the Ģ����ý’s River Campus. The lecture is free and open to the public; visitors to the River Campus can park for free in most lots after 7 p.m.

ABOUT WILLIAM MUMMA: William Mumma has served as president of the Becket Fund since 2011. After graduating from Georgetown School of Foreign Service and obtaining his MBA at Columbia University, he spent 30 years on Wall Street. Most recently the CEO of Mitsubishi Securities USA, his prior roles included executive managing director of Nomura Securities International and global head of derivatives for Bankers Trust. His philanthropic service includes acting as chairman of Georgetown University’s Tocqueville Forum on the Roots of American Democracy and chairman of the board of Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child in Summit, N.J., and chairman of the NY Men’s Leadership Forum.

ABOUT THE CATHOLIC NEWMAN COMMUNITY: The Catholic Newman Community, on the web at , is a Catholic campus ministry at the URochester that promotes strong faith formation through sacramental celebrations, educational opportunities, service, and social programming. The Catholic Newman Community has been recognized nationally as a leader in Catholic Campus Ministry.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Call Anne Thomas at the Catholic Newman Community at 585.275.8521585.275.8521 or email athomas1@admin.rochester.edu.

“I am delighted that Lee Bolinger, one of our nation’s leaders in addressing diversity in academia, will be our keynote speaker as we celebrate our milestone fifth Diversity Conference,” said President Joel Seligman.

Bollinger is a prominent advocate of affirmative action who played a leading role in the twin Supreme Court cases—Grutter v Bollinger ���Ի���Gratz v Bollinger—that upheld and clarified the importance of diversity as a compelling justification for affirmative action in higher education. A leading First Amendment scholar, Bollinger is widely published on freedom of speech and the press and currently serves on the faculty of Columbia Law School. This past fall he taught a course, A Free Press for a Global Society, focused on issues he addresses in his most recent work, Uninhibited, Robust, and Wide-Open: A Free Press for a New Century.

“We’re honored to welcome President Bollinger to campus, especially as we celebrate the growth and expansion of the conference to include not only the University community, but the citizens of Greater Rochester,” said Vivian Lewis, vice provost for faculty development and diversity and deputy to the president.

This year participants can choose among 18 workshops in three conference tracks: race in our community, power and empowerment, and redefining diversity.

Led by Jean Carroll, president and CEO of the YWCA, and leaders of the Facing Race, Embracing Equity initiative, community workshops will explore individual racial/ethnic/cultural histories and how racial disparities impact members of the Rochester community. Two workshops will use spoken word and poetry to engage participants in creating new definitions of diversity, while members of Rush Rhees Library provide opportunities for personal conversations with individuals from diverse groups. Additional sessions will focus on the academic treatment of diversity-related topics, campus climate issues, and the barriers to inclusion that underrepresented populations may face. The conference culminates with a poster session and reception running from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Munnerlyn Atrium in Goergen Hall.

Participants of the conference also are invited to attend An Evening of Diversity and Empowerment, at 7:30 p.m. in the Alumni and Advancement Center (300 East River Road). Sheryl Lee Ralph, an award-winning actress, activist, and author, will deliver a keynote address, and the evening also includes a proclamation from Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren and artistic performances by MJS Productions and FuturPointDance. Tickets, which are $10 for Ģ����ý students, $25 for University faculty and staff, and $35 for the general public, can be purchased at the Common Market in Wilson Commons or at Rochester area Wegmans. For more information, call 585.210.2422585.210.2422 or visit .

Organizers encourage guests and those who cannot attend to follow the activities on Twitter using the hashtag #urdiversity. Registration for the conference, which ends Friday, March 21, can be completed . Questions regarding registration can be directed to Kurt Zeller atkzeller@ur.rochester.edu.