On Friday, Feb. 11, more than 100 members of the Hamilton community, from the student body, faculty, staff and administration, came together for the 2005 Adler Conference: "Building a Community of Respect." The annual Adler Conference is a place for the entire Hamilton community to come together for candid and productive discussion on issues that affect everyone on campus. The four major topics discussed at this year's Adler Conference were Respect for Property, Respect for Ideas, Respect for People, and Respect for the College.
The conference began with a lunch where participants from different areas of the College had a chance to sit and talk with each other at small tables. Conference organizers Thomas Acampora '05 and Anthony Ng '05 welcomed the participants and asked them to begin their afternoon of discussion by talking about what the concepts of "community" and "respect" mean to them. President Joan Hinde Stewart also offered her welcoming remarks, saying that, in the wake of recent controversy at the College, it was particularly timely for the conference to address the issue of building a community of respect.
After lunch, the participants broke into small groups for discussions on the four main topics. The student and employee facilitators asked various questions aimed at provoking discussion on respect for property, ideas, people and the College.
After the conference, the facilitators met to discuss what happened in each of their group conversations. From notes taken during the discussions, concrete recommendations about how to better foster a community of respect at Hamilton will be presented by the organizers to various campus offices and committees.
Begun in 1966 as the Higby Conference and renamed the Adler Conference in 1970, the forum has a 39-year tradition of addressing important issues in the Hamilton community. All members of the campus community are welcome to attend. Previous years' topics have included alcohol use, diversity and social life on campus.
-- by Caroline O' Shea '07
