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There was a slight but noticeably casual quality to Arthur Levitt, Jr. as he approached the lectern at the front of the KJ Auditorium – a quality that was accentuated by the considerable pomp and circumstance surrounding him. Levitt was introduced by President Joan Stewart and greeted with waves of anticipatory applause from a mostly formally dressed audience, leaving no doubt that he was the subject of much professional esteem. But upon leaning toward the microphone to open his lecture on regulation in the financial markets, he began his address without notes and with a casual intimacy that immediately engaged the audience.

Mike Evans ’05 presented a lecture during Fallcoming detailing his formation of Full Court Peace, a non-profit organization that aims to use basketball as a means of bringing together youth in sectarian communities.

The Class of 2010 Senior Gift was announced on Oct. 1 at the Senior Gift Kickoff in the Fillius Events Barn. The gift will support an Environmental Endowment Fund. Keynote speaker Greg Robitaille '85, co-chairman of the Annual Fund, challenged the class to outperform previous years and realize that this gift is setting the stage for their future engagement with the college.

Visiting Associate Professor of Religious Studies S. Brent Rodriguez-Plate recently published two book chapters. The first, "An Aesthetic Approach to Religion," appeared in An Introduction to the Study of Religion, and the second chapter, "Religion in World Cinema," appears in The Continuum Companion to Religion and Film.

Melissa Joyce-Rosen '86 received the College’s Volunteer of the Year Award at a recognition dinner on Oct. 2 during Fallcoming activities. Joyce-Rosen served as president of Hamilton’s Alumni Association from 2003-2006.

Russell Marcus, the Chauncey Truax Postdoctoral Fellow of Philosophy, took five philosophy majors to Buffalo for a two-day conference on Experimental Epistemology. Student attendees Megha Hoon '11, Mike Guzzetti '11, Alysha Banerji '11, Noah Bishop '11 and Pete Gustavson '10 met keynote speaker and godfather of experimental philosophy Prof. Stephen Stich, of Rutgers University. Stich spoke about “Experimental Philosophy and the Bankruptcy of ‘The Great Tradition.”

Professors, alumni, students and family members gathered in the Kirner-Johnson Mezzanine on Friday for the 2009 Levitt Summer Research Fellows Poster Session, an annual event that highlights some of the self-directed research that a select group of students takes on each summer. Posters documenting several months’ worth of studies in policy-related topics were on display in order to cultivate discussion among students, faculty and visiting alumni. This year, 16 juniors and seniors participated in the program, which is funded by the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center. Arthur Levitt Jr. P '81, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, attended the poster session before his lecture.

Mark Bauerlein, professor of English at Emory University, will speak about his provocative new book, The Dumbest Generation, on Monday, Oct. 5, at 7:30 p.m., in the Science Center Kennedy Auditorium. It is free and open to the public.

Associate Professor of Government Sharon Werning Rivera and Visiting Assistant Professor of Government David W. Rivera published “Improving Assessments of the Transformation of the Russian Elite” in Politicheskie issledovaniya [Political Research] in Sept. Politicheskie issledovaniya is the leading academic political science journal in the Russian Federation.

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) has selected Professor of Music and composer Michael “Doc” Woods for an award for writing in the jazz and popular music category. The award is given to composers who are successful in having their works performed.