News and Events

Lawrence Gallery

Rosemont College
1400 Montgomery Ave.
Rosemont, PA 19010

610.526.2967
Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Alumnae Artists: The Reunion Years

June 5 - August 26, 2010

Opening Date:
June 5, 2010 - 4:30 - 6:00 p.m.

Rosemont, PA - Rosemont College has received a financial grant of $100,000 from The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) and the Walmart Foundation. The Walmart College Success Award will assist Rosemont with funding for the institution’s Bridge to Success, a pre-orientation program designed to enhance retention of first-generation students. Rosemont was one of only 30 colleges nationwide to receive the funding.

Through the Walmart College Success Award program, 30 CIC member colleges and universities, selected through a competitive application process, will receive substantial grants to help strengthen exemplary programs that support the education of first-generation students. The newly selected 30 institutions and the 20 initial College Success Award recipients will work together as a network to assist first-generation college students, learn from one another, and serve as models for other colleges and universities.

Located in suburban Philadelphia, Rosemont College offers students an exceptional and comprehensive, coeducational learning experience. The College’s Bridge to Success is offered each August for incoming students and offers them academic support which emphasizes writing and reading, college readiness, and study skills. A group of select students will also receive individual mentoring to assist with team building. All participating students are monitored throughout the academic year by the Program’s coordinator and the Student Academic Support Center.

“Rosemont College has made a commitment to offer a comprehensive learning experience to all interested and qualified students,” said Marilyn Moller, Bridge to Success Coordinator and Director of Education at Rosemont College. “This award is a wonderful way to advance Rosemont’s Mission, its dedication to the Program, and most importantly its dedication to educate our students. We are very grateful to the CIC and the Walmart Foundation for establishing this award.”

In 2009, the CIC received a second grant of $3 million from the Walmart Foundation to support the second cohort of award recipients. Twenty CIC member institutions with programs that show the greatest promise of increasing retention of the largest number of first-generation students were selected to receive grants of $100,000. Ten institutions that have established worthy projects with a smaller scope of impact or are more experimental in nature will receive $50,000 awards. All award winners have an undergraduate enrollment that includes at least 30 percent first-generation students among the most recent classes of first-year students.

“The 20 colleges and universities selected for the initial awards in 2008 have done a great job in rising to the challenges of retaining and graduating first-generation students,” said Walmart Foundation president Margaret McKenna. “The Walmart Foundation is proud to provide the opportunity for an additional 30 institutions to participate in the program and contribute to the growing body of knowledge on how best to support these students.”

In announcing the award winners, CIC President Richard Ekman said, “We are delighted by the recognition that this second grant from the Walmart Foundation gives to the role played by private colleges in educating first-generation students. Much attention has been focused recently on higher education as a key to making the United States workforce stronger and the country more competitive in the 21st century world economy. As the federal government and philanthropic leaders call for increased degree completion in higher education, small and mid-sized private institutions are an underutilized resource in this effort. Private colleges also enroll comparable or higher percentages of lower-income and first-generation students to public institutions and they require far less subsidy by state governments to succeed in meeting these national goals. Most importantly, small and mid-sized private institutions have moved beyond a focus on access to a record of unequalled success in retaining and graduating low-income and first-generation students.”

Citing data from the American Association of Community Colleges, Ekman noted that more than six million students a year enroll for credit at the nation’s community colleges. However, only 26 percent actually transfer to a four-year college. In addition, according to the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the six-year graduation rate of first-generation students at public four-year institutions is only 44 percent compared with 61 percent at private colleges and universities. “In short, if we are to achieve the ambitious national goal of increased numbers of college graduates, the lessons learned from the experiences of private colleges will need to be heeded by national policymakers and others,” Ekman stressed.

The Walmart College Success Awards program will include a conference in 2011, online networking opportunities, and a final publication on best practices from both cohorts to be disseminated at the end of the grant period in 2013.

The 20 $100,000 award winners are:

Alma College, MI; Alverno College, WI; Berea College, KY; Catawba College, NC; Clark Atlanta University, GA; College of Notre Dame of Maryland; DePaul University, IL; Elizabethtown College, PA; Franklin College, IN; Guilford College, NC; Lynchburg College, VA; Mars Hill College, NC; Mercyhurst College, PA; Mills College, CA; Notre Dame de Namur University, CA; Rosemont College, PA; Stetson University, FL; Stevenson University, MD; Thomas College, ME; and University of St. Francis, IL.

The ten $50,000 award winners are:

Cardinal Stritch University, WI; Chaminade University of Honolulu, HI; Defiance College, OH; Emmanuel College, MA; Eureka College, IL; Heritage University, WA; McKendree University, IL; Saint Augustine’s College, NC; Wabash College, IN; and Woodbury University, CA

The programs offered at these 30 institutions represent the wide range of approaches to working with first-generation students. Some institutions focus on the unique needs of a particular subset of first-generation students, such as Hispanic students, commuter students, transfer students from community colleges, or students pursuing a teaching career. A number of the award recipients offer transitional summer programs for incoming students that help prepare them for college-level work and life away from home. Others provide services such as mentoring, tutoring, career development, and providing scholarships and stipends to help ensure success for first-generation students.

For more information about the Walmart College Success Awards and the programs of the 30 winners, visit the CIC website at www.cic.edu/projects_services/walmart_college_success.asp.

Commencement 2010 Remarks to the Graduates
By Joseph M. Torsella

Student Reflection
By Lynn Watson '10, SGPS

Invocation
By Nidha Azam '10

Student Reflection
By Disha Shah '10

Student Reflection
By Loretta McKaig '99 & '10, SGPS

Commencement 2010 Remarks to the Graduates
By Joseph M. Torsella

Student Reflection
By Lynn Watson '10, SGPS

Invocation
By Nidha Azam '10

Student Reflection
By Disha Shah '10

Student Reflection
By Loretta McKaig '99 & '10, SGPS

Rosemont, PA - Rosemont College’s School of Graduate Studies will host “A Stroll Through the Arts” on Thursday, May 6, 2010, from 6:30-10:00 p.m. at Main Building. The evening will feature literary readings, digital and graphic design presentations, as well as video productions. This event is free and open to the public.

Three awards will be presented including the Charles James O’Donnell Award in Digital Design, the Graduate School Award in Literature, and the Graduate School Award in Fine Arts.

For more information contact Alexis Kropp, Director of Public Relations, 610.527.0200 ext. 2967.

Rosemont, PA - Rosemont College’s School of Graduate Studies will host “A Stroll Through the Arts” on Thursday, May 6, 2010, from 6:30-10:00 p.m. at Main Building. The evening will feature literary readings, digital and graphic design presentations, as well as video productions. This event is free and open to the public.

Three awards will be presented including the Charles James O’Donnell Award in Digital Design, the Graduate School Award in Literature, and the Graduate School Award in Fine Arts.

For more information contact Alexis Kropp, Director of Public Relations, 610.527.0200 ext. 2967.

Philadelphia Slick to Headline Spring Concert at Rosemont College

Event: Concert/Live Performance
Date/Time: April 23, 2010

Doors open 8:30 p.m.
Show begins 9:00 p.m.

Fee: $12.00

Philadelphia Slick is a live, self described underground hip hop band, fronted by rapper Noesis. The band consists of 10 pieces and mixes live horns, strings, and keyboard with old school scratching and word play. Fans of funk, jazz, and soul are sure to enjoy.

Location:

Rosemont College
McShain Performing Arts Center
1400 Montgomery Ave.
Rosemont, PA 19010

Information: Sarah Cazella, Director of Student Activities, 610.527.0200, ext. 2425

The performance is sponsored by the Rosemont Activities Council and the Office of Student Activities.

April 23, 2010
Friday Night Readings
Creative non-fiction, poetry, and prose readings from MFA students, faculty, and alumni

Time:7:30pm
Location: Main Building, Rosemont College
1400 Montgomery Avenue, Rosemont, PA 19010

22nd Annual Cresset Award Dinner
Honoring Bill Giles
April 22, 2010
Please Touch Museum
Memorial Hall, Fairmount Park
Philadelphia, PA

“The community is very fortunate to have historic and beautiful Rosemont College as a neighbor and friend. I am so glad that I can participate in Reflect | Renew | Rejoice: The Campaign for Rosemont College through the 2010 Cresset Dinner. I hope friends and associates join me in this most worthwhile journey.”

“Bill is one of Philadelphia’s most civically minded citizens and genuinely cares about the community in which he lives,” said Rosemont President Sharon Latchaw Hirsh, Ph.D. ’70. “He has contributed a great deal of time and energy to many worthy organizations in our area and Rosemont is so delighted to be among them. We are pleased to honor Bill Giles with this year’s Cresset Award.”

Bill Giles is the recipient of the 2010 Cresset Award. The Cresset Award is given annually by Rosemont College to outstanding individuals who have demonstrated a strong commitment to promoting values and to supporting education for all people. Giles, chairman of the Philadelphia Phillies, will be honored at the 22nd Cresset Award Dinner on April 22, at the Please Touch Museum, in Philadelphia, PA. This year’s dinner will be chaired by Dan Polett, president/owner of Wilkie automotive dealerships, and his wife, Margo Barry Polett ’61, of Gladwyne, PA.


Giles is very well known for his prolific front office baseball career which began in 1959 when he was named GM of the Nashville Vols, a Cincinnati Red’s minor league team. From there he moved throughout the industry arriving in Philadelphia with the opening of Veterans Stadium, at the request of the Carpenter family, to assist with the business end of the operation in 1969.

In 1981, while serving as the executive director of the Philadelphia Phillies, Giles organized a group of investors to purchase the Phillies when the Carpenter family put the team up for sale. The acquisition was a success and Giles would go on to serve as President of the club until June 1997, when he accepted the position of Chairman. Four years later, Giles was nominated to serve as honorary president of the National League (NL), a role in which he represents the NL at the All-Star Game and postseason play.

During Giles’ tenure, the Phillies have obtained five National League championships, two World Series titles, and a new home in Citizens Bank Park, a project which Giles played a key role in the design concept and securing the financing from the Commonwealth and the city of Philadelphia.

While it seems as though baseball has been Giles’ life he has found time to serve many of the Philadelphia’s regions most prestigious and prolific organization. For 18 years, Giles served as the Chairman of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitor Bureau and was instrumental in bringing the Pennsylvania Convention Center and the Marriott Hotel to fruition. Today he holds the title of chairman emeritus with the organization.

Other volunteer titles that he has held include member of the executive committee of the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and Philadelphia Sports Congress; past president of the Boy Scouts of America and the Corporate Alliance for Drug Education. Currently, Giles is on the board of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce and the Police Athletic League. He is a member of the Union League, the Rotary Club, and the visitors boards of the Temple University Medical School and Temple’s Journalism School. Additionally, Giles has been honored many, many times for his contributions to Philadelphia region.

Giles and his wife, Nancy, reside in Villanova, Pennsylvania, and are the proud parents of three grown sons, Michael, Joseph, and Christopher and eight grandchildren.

Rosemont, PA - Rosemont College’s Petaltones will present their annual spring concert on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. in McShain Performing Arts Center. This event is free and open to the public.

Always an eagerly anticipated Rosemont tradition, the spring Petaltones concert features a variety of musical performances such as standards, jazz, folk, country, R & B, show tunes, gospel and contemporary rock n’ roll. Under the direction of Rich Leiby, Ph.D, Associate Professor of History in the Undergraduate College, this year’s show is titled “Moving On.”

The Petaltones is comprised of members of Rosemont’s student body, faculty and staff, including local musician and member of the Peace Creeps, Roy Fisher.