The Colby Echo

Issue date: 2/9/07 Section: News & Features

Media Credit: Courtesy of Joe Feely View from Dana Lawn [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Courtesy of Joe Feely View from Mayflower Hill Drive [Click to enlarge]

The Board of Trustees met over the weekend of Jan. 18-20 in Boston for their annual January meetings. Among the topics discussed were plans to create a new bookstore as part of the renovated Cotter Union and extend dialogue housing for another trial year. Also, a report from the development committee revealed that the capital campaign, "Reaching the World: A Campaign for Colby," is ahead of schedule.

The Colby Bookstore will find a new home in the summer of 2008, when construction finishes on the 9,500 square foot structure attached to Cotter Union. "I think it is going to be a big improvement, as the bookstore should be more centrally located and will bring more visitors to the new and improved student union," Nicholas Cade '08, Student Government Association Secretary and a member of the Physical Plant Committee, said. According to Cade, the building will have a flexible design so the store can handle beginning of the year rushes on textbooks. "It is more fitting to have the bookstore in the student union because it is a place where students congregate for non-academic reasons," he added.

"We are excited and looking forward to having the bookstore in a central location with all the other student activities there," Director of Physical Plant Department and PPC member Pat Murphy said.

The firm of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson designed the structure; they also designed the Diamond Building and the Pulver Pavilion addition to Cotter Union. "I think the architect went to great lengths to pick some angles that match the existing Cotter Union structure. It is a little bit of a trick sometimes to put an addition on to a building and get it to match," Murphy said.

The committee also discussed other capital projects such as expanding card access and the wireless network, as well as altering campus roads to make foot travel safer, especially as students and faculty make the trip to the new Diamond Building on the Colby Green, across Mayflower Hill Drive.

"The College is working to improve the roads, including traffic calming projects to make it safer to walk to Diamond among other things," Cade said.

The full board, after the recommendation of the Student Affairs Committee, voted to extend the trial period of dialogue housing. According to Secretary of the Corporation Sally Baker more information will be circulated closer to the Room Draw period about the availability of new dialogue housing options. "I think the trustees are just as excited as we are to finally be getting this out there, letting students know formally that the program is ready for ideas about dialogue housing projects. And giving us the opportunity to show how creative we can be, and see what type of interesting projects we can come up with," SGA President Tom Testo '07 said.

Testo and Cade also updated the trustees about what they are working on, including the Party Right Campaign and the Student Honor Statement.

Also at the meeting two professors, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Carleen Mandolfo and Assistant Professor of History and Latin American Studies Ben Fallaw, were granted tenure by the board. The decision will go into effect in September of 2007.

CAMPAIGN AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

According to the development committee, the "Reaching the World: A Campaign for Colby" is ahead of schedule as of Dec. 31, 2006. At that time gifts and pledges totaled around $144 million. The entire campaign carries a goal of $235 million by 2010. The Diamond Building and the Pulver Pavilion, are early signs of campaign construction.

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