The national media highlighted Hamilton College in multiple ways throughout 2013, focusing on faculty research and expertise, featuring opinion pieces and announcing new endeavors and special student projects. From The New York Times to NPR’s All Things Considered to The Today Show, the college was visible in media across the country.
Faculty provided insight, based on their research, to many media outlets on a variety of topics. Here are a few examples:
• Dan Chambliss, the Eugene M. Tobin Distinguished Professor of Sociology, shared findings from his Mellon Foundation-funded longitudinal study and forthcoming book, How College Works, with InsideHigherEd and TIME. He also shared a story about an exam boycott orchestrated by John Werner ’92 as part of a sociology class challenge in another InsideHigherEd article.
• Professor of Sociology Dennis Gilbert continued to discuss issues surrounding the definition of the middle class with media outlets including with The Christian Science Monitor and NBC News.
• Science Daily reported a study co-authored by Ernest Williams, the William R. Kenan Professor of Biology, focused on how warming temperatures are changing butterfly migration patterns. Williams’ research on the declining monarch population was also cited later in the year in an editorial piece in The New York Times, and he provided a segment for WAMC’s nationally syndicated show, the Academic Minute.
• Ann Owen, the Henry Platt Bristol Professor of Economics, responded to many media requests on matters related to the Federal Reserve for segments broadcasted on American Public Media’s Marketplace program and to questions about “Heat Waves, Droughts, and Preferences for Environmental Policy,” a paper she co-authored with economics colleagues Stephen Wu, Julio Videras and Emily Conover, for a segment on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered.
• Publius Virgilius Rogers Professor of American History Maurice Isserman was interviewed with some frequency with his co-author Walter Cronkite IV ’11 about Cronkite’s War, their book that includes a collection of WWII letters written by the well known newscaster Walter Cronkite intertwined with historical narrative. Media appearances included a segment on CBS’s This Morning, The Bob Edwards Show on SiriusXM Satellite Radio and various regional public radio stations as well as an invited presentation at the National Press Club. The author of Fallen Giants: A History of Himalayan Mountaineering from the Age of Empire to the Age of Extreme, Isserman also penned an essay for Alpinist magazine on an unsuccessful attempt to ascend Mt. Everest.
• Professor of History Thomas Wilson spoke about the “Confucius cuisine” dining trend in China in an Agence France Presse article that appeared through¬out the world in outlets including the South China Morning Post, The Japan Times, The Sun Daily Malaysia, the Omar Daily, CTV News (Canada’s largest private broadcaster) and Qatar Tribune, among others.
Several student/faculty research projects resulted in national media attention including these:
• Release of last spring’s Levitt Center poll of voters in the November 2012 election led to significant media coverage including by MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews, Political Wire, The Washington Times, BusinessWeek and NBC’s First-Read, the network’s news and analysis daily summary from the NBC News Political Unit.
• Science Daily featured a study conducted by Kendall Weir ’12 that was overseen by Professor of Economics Stephen Wu. Weir compared NFL players with character issues – including arrests, criminal charges and team suspensions – to those with clean records.
• Eleanor Fausold ’13 penned a letter to the editor published by The New York Times in response to an opinion piece on the environmental issues around using paper and plastic bags. She referenced her senior thesis research which was overseen by Professor of Government P. Gary Wyckoff.
• Anderson Tuggle ’14 referenced research he conducted while studying in India in a New York Times letter to the editor.
• Bret Turner ’13 designed his own research project that involved interviewing every Hamilton faculty member about his or her research. In his four years on campus, he narrowly missed reaching his goal, but his efforts were the subject of a New York Times article.
• Two students, Ujjwal Pradhan ’15 and Nick Solano ’14 were featured in a Wall Street Journal article for their engagement in Hamilton-funded summer internships. Alumnus George Baker ’74 was also quoted in the piece.
The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art continued to garner national media attention including: a glowing feature article in Museum magazine as well as other articles related to the building’s architecture as well as specific exhibitions in Metropolis, ARTnews, ArtDaily.org, Hyperallergic.com, University Business magazine and BOMB magazine.
Administrators also shared their expertise with the national media. These are a few examples:
• For the third time, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Monica Inzer appeared on NBC’s Today Show to discuss financial aid, choosing a college and wait lists. She also discussed waiting lists and applications in two New York Times features.
• A study co-authored by Assistant Dean of Faculty Gordon Hewitt that analyzed changes in student political attitudes between freshman and senior years was referenced in articles in USA Today and Academe.
• The Scroll, Hamilton’s new social media aggregator, was the topic of a feature article written by Director of Interactive Content Strategy Jess Krywosa in Currents, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) magazine.
• The College’s First-Year Forward program was the focus of a Chronicle of Higher Education article. Assistant Vice President for the Career Center Mary McLean Evans ’82, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Monica Inzer and Janine Oliver, assistant director of the Career Center, were interviewed and quoted about the program.
• Vice President for Communication and Development Richard Tantillo and former Executive Director of Annual Giving Jon Hysell ’72 discussed changes in annual giving by young alumni in yet another Chronicle feature. A similar article featuring these administrators appeared in The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
• Director and Curator of Special Collections and Archives Christian Goodwillie spoke about the Oneida Community Mansion House’s collections for the Travel Channel.
• National Geographic online and FoxNews.com featured Geosciences Technician Dave Tewksbury’s research on a Japanese World War II plan to use balloon bombs propelled across the Pacific to the United States.
• Director of Campus Safety Francis Manfredo wrote an article explaining why Hamilton conducts complex emergency preparedness drills involving multiple agencies for University Business magazine.
Quite a few professors wrote opinion pieces and letters to the editor for national publications including:
• James S. Sherman Professor of Government Philip Klinkner wrote a piece for USA Today on the topic of the anniversary of the March on Washington and an essay for The Huffington Post titled “Breaking up California: The Political Impact.”
• Essays by Visiting Associate Professor of Religious Studies Brent Plate focused primarily on the intersection of culture and religion continued to appear in The Huffington Post and Religion Dispatches.
• Professor of Chemistry Tim Elgren penned a letter to the editor published in The New York Times on the danger of chemicals in cosmetics.
• A letter written by Dan Chambliss, the Eugene M. Tobin Distinguished Professor of Sociology, was also printed in The New York Times on the questionable value of some college rankings to prospective students.
• Visiting Assistant Professor of History John Ragosta authored an opinion piece that appeared in The Washington Post and a letter to the editor in The New York Times, both of which related to issues of religious freedom.
• Associate Professor of Government Peter Cannavo wrote an essay for The Huffington Post on the elements of democratic society.
• Lolita Buckner Inniss, the Elihu Root Peace Fund Visiting Professor of Women’s Studieswrote a letter to the editor that appeared in The New York Times in response to an opinion piece titled “The Good Racist People.”
• Professor of Government P. Gary Wycoff wrote an oped for The Huffington Post in which he questioned the financial soundness of the government sequester.
• Professor of English and Creative Writing Doran Larson penned an essay about differences between American and Scandinavian penal systems for The Atlantic.
• Associate Professor of Sociology Jenny Irons addressed gun control issues via an opinion piece in USA Today that also appeared in many local papers across the country. A second opinion piece by Irons on a Mississippi government official falsely accused of racism appeared in The Huffington Post.
President Joan Hinde Stewart:
President Stewart wrote an essay for The Huffington Post about Denis Diderot that coincided with the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the French philosopher’s birth. Stewart’s signature of a letter signed by more than 160 college presidents urging President Obama and Congress to take action on gun control was reported in The Huffington Post, the Atlanta Journal Constitution and several other national news outlets.
Sacerdote Great Names speaker:
The appearance of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as a Sacerdote Great Names speaker generated tremendous national and local media coverage including by the Associated Press, Agence France Presse, Reuters, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Huffington Post and Politico.
Say Yes to Education:
Hamilton was also included in a USA Today article announcing the college’s participation in “Say Yes to Education,” a national program to help children in urban school districts attend college.
National Rankings:
Hamilton was included in a plethora of rankings compiled by various publications. Among them were The Princeton Review, U.S. News & World Report, Washington Monthly, Forbes, theBestColleges.org, Fiske Guide, Digital Journal, Business Insider and Kiplingers.
Alumni:
Finally loyal alumni continued to reference their Hamilton education long after graduation, elevating the college’s profile at every media opportunity, including Eric Kuhn ’09 on Bloomberg News TV, Steve Sadove ’73 on CNBC’s Squawk Box, and Art Massolo ’64 and Torrence Moore ’92 in the Chicago Sun-Times.
