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[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

4-May-1999 
99176 
 
    College News 
 
    by Evan Silverstein 
 
EASTON, Pa. - Maya Angelou, a world-renowned author, educator, producer, 
director, actress, and civil-rights activist, will be principal speaker at 
Lafayette College's 164th Commencement on May   22, and will be awarded an 
honorary Lafayette degree. Angelou is Reynolds Professor of American 
Studies at Wake Forest University, a lifetime post to which she was 
appointed in 1981. 
 
    She is the author of 11 best-selling books, including "I Know Why the 
Caged Bird Sings." Perhaps her best-known work, this autobiographical 
account of her childhood, published in 1970, was nominated for a National 
Book Award.  Two volumes of her poetry, "Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 
'fore I Diiie" (1971) and "And Still I Rise" (1978), were nominated for the 
Pulitzer Prize. Angelou is the first woman and the first African American 
to read her work at the inauguration of a U.S. president. She read her poem 
"On the Pulse of Morning," composed for the occasion, at Bill Clinton's 
inauguration in January 1993. Angelou won a Grammy Award for best spoken 
word or non-traditional album for her recording of the poem. 
 
    As a screenwriter, director, and actress Angelou has been a 
ground-breaker for black women in the film industry. She recently directed 
her first feature-length film, "Down in the Delta," a family drama starring 
Alfre Woodard and Wesley Snipes, which opened nationwide last Christmas 
day.  Her accomplishments in television are equally significant. She has 
made hundreds of appearances on network and local TV talk shows and has 
appeared on such programs as "Sesame Street" and "Touched by an Angel." 
 
PORTLAND, Ore. - Lewis & Clark College has received a $1.25-million gift 
from the Mary Stuart Rogers Foundation and $250,000 from an anonymous donor 
to endow the John S. Rogers Science Research Program, the college announced 
in April. The endowment will support the collaborative research of five 
student-faculty groups for 10 weeks every summer. Each research group 
typically includes a faculty member and one to three undergraduates. 
 
    The Rogers Science Research Program continues the college's commitment 
to faculty-student summer science research, initiated in 1991 and renewed 
in 1994 with grants from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. The grants 
provided seed money to launch long-term research projects, sustained 
through more than $2 million in external funding. To receive the grant, 
faculty members submit proposals to a steering committee. Grant recipients 
select their research teams from student applications based on classroom 
achievement and research interest. 
 
    "The grants open up a realm of new creative possibilities for students 
serious about careers in science, medicine, engineering, high-tech and 
academe," said Michael Mooney, president of Lewis & Clark College. 
 
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Macalester College biology professor Dan Hornbach has 
been selected Macalester's new provost, which is the school's chief 
academic officer. Hornbach, who has been at Macalester for 14 years, 
returns to a job he first held from 1993-95. He succeeds Wayne Roberts, who 
after four years as provost, will return to teach in the mathematics and 
Computer Science Department. 
 
    The new provost said he hopes to focus, among other things, on planning 
for the future, including working with the faculty to "review the 
curriculum as we move into the next century to make sure it's flexible 
enough to deal with interdisciplinary concerns." In addition to teaching, 
Hornbach has been an extremely active author and researcher. 
 
    He earned his Ph.D. in zoology from Miami (Ohio) University and came to 
Macalester in 1984 after teaching at the University of Virginia. He became 
a full professor in 1993. He was named DeWitt Wallace Professor of Biology 
in 1997 and has been chairman of the Biology Department since 1996. 
 
BATESVILLE, Ark. - Beginning next spring, women athletes will have another 
opportunity to get into the swing of things in the Lyon College athletic 
department. Lyon will field a woman's golf-team starting the 1999-2000 
school year. Lyon College Athletic Director Terry Garner said Randy 
Gatling, who has served as the men's golf coach the past few seasons as 
well as the women's basketball coach, will move over to coach the new 
women's golf team. Men's basketball coach Kevin Jenkins will take over the 
men's golf duties. 
 
    Garner said he believes there is already some interest in the program 
on campus. Over the next few weeks they will try to find women who may be 
interested in playing on a club team to compete in a few matches this 
spring. 
 
    "We'd like to get a few matches just to get some interest in the 
program," Garner said. "We did some surveying earlier this year and found 
some interest among current students. I'm not sure of the talent level, but 
I think we have a few on campus who can play competitive golf who might be 
interested in participating." 

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