Hamilton College

The Student Assembly is a duly-elected representative organization that works on behalf of Hamilton students. As such, it acts with the ability to work and communicate with the faculty, staff, college administration, and other affiliated groups. Student Assembly works to support three goals - to actively promote undergraduate student interests, provide student organizational support, and to provide the experience of handling leadership. Every year, Student Assembly works on topics ranging from campus improvements to college issues, as well as recognizing and funding more than 100 student organizations.

WHCL is a non-profit, student-run FM station that operates seven days a week, 24-hours-a-day when school is in session. The station offers music, sports, and public affairs programming. Housed in the Sadove Student Center, WHCL is one of Hamilton's largest student organizations.

Seven students have been named recipients of this year's Class of 1979 Student Travel Awards. The award, established by the alumni of Hamilton's Class of 1979, offers financial assistance to outstanding students who seek to broaden their educational experience beyond the Hamilton campus.

Thirteen students were awarded grants from The Steven Daniel Smallen Memorial Fund. The Fund is designed to encourage creativity among Hamilton students by providing funds for projects displaying originality, expressiveness, and imagination. The fund was established in 1993 by former Vice President for Libraries and Information Technology David Smallen and his wife Ann in memory of their son Steven. Steven Smallen studied at Hamilton for a year while receiving treatment for leukemia, before losing his battle with cancer in 1992.

During the 2019-20 winter break, 16 students participated in a research trip to Arizona where they explored the state's diverse array of geological features. Led by Assistant Professor of Geosciences Cat Beck and the Winslow Chair of Modern Science and Professor of Geosciences David Bailey, the students visited sites including Mount Lemmon, Biosphere 2, Saguaro National Forest, Bisbee Copper Mines, Petrified Forest National Park, Meteor Crater, Sunset Crater, and the Grand Canyon.

During winter break, five students had the opportunity to shadow physicians in the St. Elizabeth Hospital's Family Medicine Residency program in Utica, N.Y. In the course of a week, the students observed residents in different rotations including ob/gyn, internal medicine, labor & delivery, family medicine, geriatrics, and emergency care.

Some 950 students have been named to the fall 2019 Dean's List. To be named to the Dean's List, a student must have carried throughout the semester a course load of four or more graded credits with an average of 3.5 or above.

The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art joins traditional object-based learning with advances in interdisciplinary approaches. The Wellin Museum's student docents provide visitors with information about the museum, its exhibitions, and collection. They assist with programs and events, and offer the public a better understanding of the work on view. The docents also provide tours for local school and special interest groups, as well as regular walk-in groups and individuals.

The Hamilton College Academic Year in Madrid, Spain, offers students the opportunity to develop true linguistic proficiency and to experience the many facets of Spanish life. Through personal contact with the culture, language, ideals, and customs of another nation, participants step beyond the familiarity and comforts of their own environment to gain a new perspective on international affairs and a greater respect for and understanding of another people.

Twenty-two Hamilton students presented their research at the New York Six Liberal Arts Consortium Upstate New York Undergraduate Research Conference at Union College. The presentations were based on research in the sciences and through Emerson Foundation grants conducted during the summer with Hamilton faculty.

Hamilton students are participating in Hamilton's Fall Theatre production of TRAGEDY: a tragedy, written by Will Eno and directed by Professor of Theatre Craig Latrell. TRAGEDY: a tragedy, is Eno's hilarious, one of a kind play skewers the never ending modern news cycle while capturing the underlying human need to apply order to an increasingly absurd world.

Associated Colleges in China (ACC) is an intensive Chinese language program that offers students the opportunity to experience the language, history, and culture of China. Established in 1996, ACC is administered by Hamilton and hosted by the Minzu University of China in Beijing. At least one year of study in Chinese is required prior to being accepted into the program. Participating students must pledge to speak only Chinese.

The Hamilton College Emergency Medical Service (HCEMS) is a New York State certified agency that is made up of 25 student emergency medical technicians (EMT) who provide 24-hour emergency service to the campus community during the academic year. Along with the rest of the nation, Hamilton recognizes the achievements of its EMTs during National Collegiate EMS Week, the week of November 11.

The Hamilton in France program, based in Paris, provides students an international academic experience that reflects Hamilton's commitment to the liberal arts and personal exploration. The program's integrated academic, linguistic, and cultural components enable students to progress in their academic discipline, acquire excellent linguistic proficiency, gain confidence, and be more informed citizens of the world.

Hamilton's Mock Trial team is a competitive intercollegiate trial simulation team that competes nationally at other colleges and universities and in American Mock Trial Association tournaments. Mock Trial members learn basic and advanced trial law skills through the team's trial advocacy program. These skills include persuasive speaking and rhetoric skills, acting skills, and legal reading and writing skills.

Six students participated in this year's Alternative Fall Break trip. Part of Hamilton's Alternative Break program, the fall trip is modeled after the College's other alternative break trips in which student volunteers provide service to non-profit organizations. Students participating in the program this fall travelled to Double H Ranch in Lake Luzerne, N.Y., where they volunteered with Double H's Comfort Camp Weekend. Double H Ranch is a SeriousFun Children's Network camp that offers year-round programs for children and the families of children with serious or chronic illnesses.

Hamilton's Counseling Center offers students a wide array of wellness-based services with an emphasis on trust, respect, and connection. Peer counselors provide additional resources to other Hamilton students as they navigate difficult decisions, points of crisis, or everyday aspects of student life.

The Nesbitt-Johnston Writing Center was established in 1987 to help all Hamilton students strengthen their writing abilities. Writing Center tutors are trained to review such aspects of student work as clarifying ideas, developing a thesis, organizing stages of an argument, and strengthening specific language.

This year, 57 students are serving as peer tutors in Hamilton's Quantitative & Symbolic Reasoning Center (QSR). The mission of the QSR Center is to support students in the development of their academic skills, and to foster collaborative learning and intellectual growth.

Hamilton's Oral Communication Center (OCC) offers tutoring to students working on specific oral communication projects or general communication concerns. Students serving as OCC peer tutors provide coaching and advice on a variety of assignment types including oral presentations and exams, debates, panel discussions, podcasts, readings, interviews, poster presentations, and more.

Six Hamilton students are participating in the College's Adirondack Program this fall. The place-based, semester-long learning experience combines rigorous academic study with the skills and understanding gained through field experience in the Adirondack Park with local organizations.

Hamilton recently welcomed 474 members of the Class of 2023. They were selected from a pool of 8,339 applicants.

The Hamilton Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa is pleased to announce the election of nine members of the class of 2020. Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest academic honorary society in the United States, honors students for both excellence in academic achievement and breadth of intellectual study.

Fifteen students are participating in the Hamilton Program in Washington this fall. The program provides a combination of academic study and experience in national government. Students in the program conduct research and attend two seminars led by a resident member of Hamilton's government department, and at the same time work full time in congressional or executive offices, think tanks, NGOs, non-profits, and lobbying and consulting firms.

Fifteen students are participating in Hamilton's New York City Program this fall. The program is structured so that students spend four days a week as interns in a firm or organization, attend weekly seminars on the semester's topic, and do an independent project. This semester's program, The Global Labor Market, is directed by Derek Jones, the Irma M. and Robert D. Morris Professor of Economics.

Hamilton College opens each academic year with its traditional Convocation ceremony. Members of the administration welcome students and new faculty, and academic achievement prizes are awarded to students. This year, more than 60 students received prizes at the ceremony on Aug. 28 that officially marked the beginning of Hamilton's 208th academic year.

Seven students are participating in the six-week Hamilton College U-Care Summer Volunteer Program at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, N.Y., gaining hands-on clinical experience to better prepare them for careers in the medical professions. The program also gives students exposure to the field with lectures and opportunities to shadow during patient rounds.

Six Hamilton students are participating in the New River Headwaters Archaeology Project, a six-week field school in Ashe County, N.C., led by Assistant Professor of Anthropology Colin Quinn. The group is investigating a prehistoric village - the Woodie Site - conducting geophysical survey and excavations designed to find material remains from the site.

Seven students had the opportunity to work with Ethiopian artist Elias Sime as he created a site-specific oversized peony sculpture as part of his fall exhibition at the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art. "Flowers and Roots" is made of repurposed computer parts, electrical wire, bronze sheeting, and cast stone amalgam. It was inspired by the tree peonies hybridized by Professor of Chemistry A.P. Saunders from 1920 to 1940, many of which are on display in Hamilton's Grant Garden.

More than 830 students have been named to the spring 2019 Dean's List. To be named to the Dean's List, a student must have carried throughout the semester a course load of four or more graded credits with an average of 3.5 or above.