Our innovative and passionate faculty, staff and students make our Cedar Crest family special. Featured below are just a few of our community’s achievements from the summer.
Faculty/ Staff
A Cedar Crest College team, including Tammy Bean, M.Ed., Elizabeth Ortiz, MA, M.Ed., Dr. Leon John, Dr. Wendy Robb, Dr. Erika Davis and Dr. Amy Faivre, virtually participated in the AAC&U’s TRHT (Truth and Racial Healing Transformation) Institute from June 22-25. Cedar Crest’s proposal was chosen through a competitive process and the team was invited to join other select schools at the institute. Throughout the institute, teams participated in Rx Racial Healing® Circles, engaged in interactive sessions to learn how to conduct Rx Racial Healing® Circles, strategized action plans for moving forward and learned from the 30 TRHT Centers. At the end of the institute, the Cedar Crest College team was charged with submitting a draft action plan for our institution.
The screen dance “the skin you’re in” by Sarah Carlson, MFA, assistant professor of dance, was presented at the Pennsylvania Dance Education Organization’s virtual conference on June 22, 2021. The film was created this spring and featured the artistry of Cedar Crest dancers Arline Almeter ’22, Ashlyn Auriemma ’22, Cassondra Daveler ’21, Brenna Desborough ’21, Megan Fink ’22 and Cindy Lozada ’23. “the skin you’re in” meditates upon the outer layer of the body, a permeable barrier called skin that comes in many textures & shades. Dancers were invited to reflect upon how their skin has contributed to their self-worth instilling a sense of privilege or oppression.
Dr. Amy Faivre, professor of biology, has been a member of the Vascular Plant Technical Committee for Pennsylvania since 2003, which is a group that suggests which plants should be added or removed from the state endangered plant listings and how they should be ranked, if listed. Because of her work with this Committee, she was nominated to run for Chair of the Northeast Section of the Botanical Society of America. Running unopposed, she became Chair and attended the Council Meeting and other scientific and pedagogy talks at the Botanical Society of America meeting held virtually July 18-23, 2021.
On 26 June 2021, Dr. LuAnn McCracken Fletcher, professor of English, gave a presentation, “‘More of gravy than of grave’: Marketing Greyfriars Kirkyard to Fantasy Literary Tourists,” at a virtual day conference sponsored by Edinburgh World Heritage, “Belief, burial, tombs and tourists: The past and future of Greyfriars Kirkyard.” Dr. Fletcher was invited to speak at the conference by the conference organizer, who had read her edited collection “Literary Tourism and the British Isles.” The conference sessions have been uploaded to YouTube; Dr. Fletcher’s presentation may be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL1e5Kuy8YU, beginning around 1:11:58.
Dr. Richard Kliman, professor of biology and department chair, and Dr. Scott Edwards (Harvard) gave the inaugural IDEA plenary address (inclusion, diversity, equity, and access) at the 2021 joint meeting of the Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE), the American Society of Naturalists, and the Society of Systematic Biologists. Dr. Kliman emphasized the critical importance of access and equity, asserting that diversity — the goal — is an outcome of access and equity. Dr. Kliman also co-chaired and moderated the SSE Education Symposium “Tree Thinking: Have We Met the Challenge?” and co-organized the mixer for faculty at primarily undergraduate institutions. He also served as a judge for the W.D. Hamilton Award, which recognizes the best oral presentation by a graduate student.
On August 12, 2021, faculty from the Department of Business, Management and Economics presented a lecture on the economics of the pandemic as part of the MBA Lecture Series. This talk was open to potential graduate students and current graduate students in the department, as well as external guests. Dr. Michael Zalot, assistant professor of business, organized the lecture, and participating adjunct faculty were Dr. Jason Raines, Dr. Mark Calnon, and Deborah Helman. Casandra Cabral-Castro, MBA, from the Admissions department participated and served as a contact point and resource for external participants. The talk focused on five key areas: macroeconomic indicators (such as inflation and GDP), employment statistics, the housing market boom, supply chain disruptions (including automotive production) and remote work. It was recorded to be shared with future potential students. An upcoming lecture, “Selling the Shore,” from the same series, on the marketing and economics of coastal vacation tourism will be presented in September and will also be available to potential and current business students.
Students
Zaria Berry ’23, Kayla Bills ’22, Kathleen Graham ’23 and Deva Leach ’22 were selected to participate in the 2021 NEW Leadership Pennsylvania Summer Institute through Chatham University’s Pennsylvania Center for Women & Politics. NEW Leadership Pennsylvania is a program that provides college women with the knowledge and skills to become effective leaders in politics, public policy and public service. This five-day program will introduce college students to women leaders who will share their insights on developing their leadership potential. To participate, the students were required to complete a campus application as well as a program application process. This year the event is taking place virtually.
Undergraduate nursing student Rosa Harris ’21 has been selected to receive a prestigious nursing award from the Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN). Students in nursing programs across the Lehigh Valley were nominated, and Harris was notified in April that she had been named the winner of the Raymond L. Hoffman Award for Excellence as a Student Nurse, one of two Friends of Nursing Awards granted by LVHN this year. According to LVHN.org, “Friends of Nursing Awards recognize and promote excellence in nursing practice, nursing education and nursing research.” Harris will accept the award at the Friends of Nursing Celebration planned for September 2021.
Recent social work alum Nicole Pollinger ’21 completed her internship with United Way CarbonCorps at Panther Valley Elementary School. She spearheaded a project to start a mobile library for the Panther Valley school district. The Book Buggy debuted in a ribbon-cutting ceremony. To learn more, please read the full article: https://www.tnonline.com/20210708/panther-valley-mobile-library-makes-debut/
Loren Williams ’19, a student in the Master of Science in forensic science program, recently had a manuscript accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. The manuscript titled “The Potential Use of Principal Component Analysis and Mahalanobis Distance in Handwriting Comparison” will be published in “Problems of Forensic Science which has been published continuously since 1960 by the Polish Institute of Forensic Research. Problems of Forensic Science is one of the leading forensic science journals in eastern Europe. The article will be published in English and in Polish and will be freely available online on the journal’s website.
Congratulations to all! To share your accomplishments with our community, email .