M. Lee Pelton Elected To ACE Board Of Directors

Willamette University President M. Lee Pelton was elected to the board of directors of the American Council on Education (ACE) at the organization's 83rd annual meeting in Washington, D.C. Pelton will serve through 2003.

ACE is a comprehensive association of the nation's colleges and universities dedicated to analysis of higher education issues and advocacy on behalf of quality higher education and adult education programs. Its membership includes about 1,600 accredited, degree-granting institutions from all sectors of higher education and nearly 200 national and regional higher education associations and organizations. ACE works to coordinate the interests of all sectors of higher education into a single voice on issues of national policy.

The 38-member board of directors is the governing body of ACE, responsible for overseeing the management of ACE and setting the general policy direction for the organization, which represents higher education before Congress, federal agencies, the Supreme Court, and the federal courts.

Pelton has been president of Willamette since 1998. He came to the University from Dartmouth College, where he was dean of the college and taught English for seven years. At Dartmouth, he was noted for his commitment to diversity and his efforts to enhance undergraduate intellectual life. Earlier in his career, he was a dean and English professor at Colgate University and taught English and American literature at Harvard University.

Pelton serves several national and regional organizations in a leadership position, including the American Association of Higher Education and the Oregon Governor's Commission on Financing Higher Education. He is also a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers. He earned his bachelor's degree at Wichita State University and his doctorate at Harvard.

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Willamette Considers Residential Commons Plan

Willamette University released today an 18-month Campus Life Task Force Report which outlines recommendations that over the next 10 years Willamette reconfigure student co-curricular life around a system of five residential commons complexes, a grouping of free-standing Greek houses and a new student center. A copy of the report can be accessed on Willamette's website.

The residential common system creates five main "neighborhoods" where students live on campus. The "neighborhoods" will feed into the "downtown" area of campus, which consists of academic, administrative and campus life buildings. The following features distinguish the residential commons system from Willamette's current housing system:

• Students will have a four-year affiliation with their commons. Even though some students will eventually live off-campus or in Greek houses, all students will at least have a two-year commons experience and the commons will remain a campus "base" for them throughout their four years at Willamette.
• Each residential commons will contain an array of living arrangements, including singles, doubles, suites (two or four bedrooms plus living room) and apartments.
• Each commons will have a high degree of self-governance. Key programming, space and budget choices will be made by elected student officers, including a commons president.
• All commons will feature a faculty member with his or her family who resides in the commons complex and will serve as a mentor, strengthening the student-faculty relationship.

Each residential commons will serve as a local administrative, social and cultural focal point for its students. "The residential commons proposal addresses themes of great importance to Willamette students, and these recommendations present a bold design for campus life in the next 50 years," said Pelton. "Willamette is committed to enhancing students' intellectual and campus life, and I look forward to receiving comments and reflections from our entire community as they review these recommendations."

Willamette Board of Trustees has created a Trustee Special Committee to review the feasibility of the residential commons plan. After this committee makes recommendations to the entire board, the board will vote on whether to pursue the Campus Life Task Force residential commons plan.

In September 1999, Pelton established the Task Force on Campus Life aimed with collecting research on current programs, practices and attitudes in the areas of residential life, student activities and multicultural affairs. To investigate campus life at Willamette, Task Force members conducted extensive student focus groups, held several panel discussions and commissioned a large-scale, website-based study of student satisfaction. Task Force members also gathered information on residential programs on other campuses, particularly other small liberal arts colleges.

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Political Columnist David Broder To Speak At Willamette University

David Broder, a Pulitzer Prize-winning syndicated columnist and reporter for The Washington Post, will speak at Willamette University on Wednesday, April 4 at 11:30 a.m. and at 7 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.

Broder's first lecture on April 4, “A New Century, A New Politics?,” will be at Willamette's weekly convocation from 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. in the Cone Chapel, Waller Hall, 2nd floor.

At the 7 p.m. program, Broder will speak as part of a panel on “The Future of the Initiative” in the Hatfield Room in the Mark O. Hatfield Library.

Other members of the panel include:

• Phil Keisling, former Oregon Secretary of State
• Helen Hill, author of Measure 58, the 1998 Adoption Rights Initiative
• Todd Donovan, politics professor from Western Washington University
• Hans Linde, professor from the Willamette University College of Law

Richard Ellis, Willamette University politics professor, will moderate the panel.

Broder is a regular commentator on CNN's “Inside Politics" and appears regularly on NBC's “Meet the Press” and “Washington Week in Review.” According to Washingtonian magazine survey, members of Congress and editorial-page editors rated Broder as “Washington's most highly regarded columnist.” In 1997, Broder was named among the 25 most influential Washington journalists by National Journal and among the capital city's top 50 journalists by the Washingtonian magazine, a list he has appeared on since 1973. Broder is also author or co-author of six books, including Democracy Derailed: Initiative Campaigns and the Power of Money, his latest book.

A digital photo of Broder is available on request. For more information on the panel, contact Richard Ellis at 503-370-6081 or rellis@willamette.edu.

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Willamette Musical Theatre To Perform “Guys And Dolls”

Willamette University Musical Theatre will perform "Guys and Dolls" on Friday, March 30 and Saturday, March 31 at 8 p.m. and on Sunday, April 1 at 3 p.m. in Smith Auditorium.

The April 1 matinee performance will be signed for the hearing impaired. Ticket prices are $8 for adults, $6 for students and seniors and $3 for Willamette University students. Contact 503-370-6255 for more information.

Considered one of Broadway's most hilarious shows, "Guys and Dolls" has been described as the perfect musical comedy. It is based primarily on the Damon Runyon short story "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown," which describes the unlikely romance between a pure-at-heart urban missionary and a slick Broadway gambler. In 1951, New York Times drama critic Brooks Atkinson wrote of "Guys and Dolls", "It is a triumph of style. In the case of Guys and Dolls, luck has been a lady."

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New Coordinator of Professional Development and Multicultural Affairs Named

Willamette University College of Law is pleased to announce the appointment of Marva C. Fabien to coordinator of professional development and multicultural affairs effective January 4, 2001.

In this new position, Ms. Fabien will assist Professor Jennifer Wright, director of the clinical law program, with the administration of the externship program and will also work with Professor Sam Jacobson, legal research and writing, with the implementation of the academic support program. Ms. Fabien is also responsible for multicultural planning, programming, and student affairs in the College of Law. She will work closely with the offices of admission, career services, and development and alumni services.

Ms. Fabien, most recently, was the assistant superintendent for the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn, Oregon. She was appointed to the Oregon Board of Parole and Post Prison Supervision in 1993, eventually serving as chairperson. Ms. Fabien served as the academic support director for Lewis & Clark Northwestern School of Law in Portland, Oregon from 1988 to 1993. She has also been an attorney in private practice and also was a staff attorney for the Multnomah County Legal Aid Service in Portland, Oregon. She is a member of both the Oregon Bar and Idaho Bar. Ms. Fabien earned her law degree at Lewis & Clark Northwestern School of Law and her bachelor of arts degree from the University of Oregon. She is a native of Trinidad.

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Willamette University President Elected to Board of Directors of National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities

Willamette University President M. Lee Pelton has been elected to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU). Pelton will serve a three-year term as an at-large member of the association's 44-person board.

NAICU serves as the unified national voice of independent higher education and represents nearly 1,000 private nonprofit colleges and universities on policy issues with the federal government. The NAICU Board sets the association's legislative, research and communications agendas, and establishes guidelines for accomplishing its priorities.

"The 2000 election brings a host of new opportunities and challenges in Washington, D.C., on the student aid, tax and regulatory issues that affect every independent college and university," said NAICU President David L. Warren. "I'm delighted that Lee Pelton has been elected by his peers to join the NAICU Board. He will bring leadership experience and a keen understanding of the issues that will face us."

Pelton has been president of Willamette since 1998. He came to the University from Dartmouth College, where he was dean of the college and taught English for seven years. At Dartmouth, he was noted for his commitment to diversity and his efforts to enhance undergraduate intellectual life. Earlier in his career, he was a dean and English professor at Colgate University and taught English and American literature at Harvard University.

Pelton serves several national and regional organizations in a leadership position, including the American Association of Higher Education and the Oregon Governor's Commission on Financing Higher Education. He is also a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers.

He earned his bachelor's degree at Wichita State University and his doctorate at Harvard.

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