10-Year Anniversary of the First-Year Program at Holy Cross

WORCESTER, Mass. – On Friday, September 20 and Saturday, September 21, 2002, the First-Year Program at the College of the Holy Cross will celebrate its 10-year anniversary.

The First-Year Program, which helps first-year students explore the connections between living and learning - between what happens inside the classroom and the world outside the classroom - brings together 160 first-year students, all living in the same residence hall, and a group of distinguished teachers from a variety of different disciplines. Through a series of seminars, common readings, films, concerts, retreats and residence-hall discussions, FYP students and faculty explore the program's central theme, Leo Tolstoy's question How, Then, Shall We Live?

The 10th anniversary celebration will begin at 4 p.m. on Friday, September 20, in the Brooks Concert Hall, with a presentation by Dr. Jill Ker Conway, President Emeritus of Smith College, Visiting Scholar and Professor in M.I.T.'s Program in Science, Technology, and Society. After graduating from the University of Sidney, Australia in 1958, Dr. Conway moved to the United States in where she earned her Ph.D. from Harvard in 1969. She taught at the University of Toronto, Canada for nine years before serving as vice president from 1973-1975. In 1975, she became the first woman president of Smith College. Since her ten-year administration, she has received 16 honorary degrees from colleges and universities around the nation. Dr. Conway is the author of many books, including the first First-Year Program common reading in September 1992, "The Road to Coorain" which chronicles the hardships of Dr. Conway's family life in Australia, including the deaths of her father and brother.

On Saturday, September 21, there will be a series of panel discussions in the Rehm Library with current FYP students, alumni, and faculty participants. The schedule of events is:

9:30-10:30 a.m. - "The student faculty relationship: How is FYP different?" Chaired by Professor Royce Singleton, sociology department

10:45-11:45 a.m. - "How then shall we live? The importance of the theme" Chaired by Professor Predrag Cicovacki, philosophy department

12:00 - 1:00 p.m. - Lunch

1:00-1:45 p.m. - "The Common Events: The FYP directors reflect on the highs and lows of the first decade" Chaired by Professor Helen Whall, English department

2:00-3:00 p.m. - "The FYP legacy: FYP alumni after graduation." Chair to be announced

3:15 - 4:15 p.m. - "A sibling for FYP: An all-common-texts FYP?" Chaired by Professor James Kee, English department