The fire, which took over 90 minutes to contain, was reported a total loss

A fire tore through the Tiger Athletic Club (TAC) house located close to campus at 4:15am on Wednesday, Jan 25, 2011. Benjamin T. Rogers ’12 suffered some minor burns and Kirk Rohle ’12 continues to be treated for second and third-degree burns after being airlifted to the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) in Richmond.

The 911 call was received at 4:12am, at which point Campus Security Officer Noel Malave arrived at the in a matter of three minutes. According to Chief Gee, Director of Campus Security and Police, “the officer responded by vehicle, and upon his arrival, the structure was fully involved with fire.”  Immediately, unit R-12 called for a helicopter while an ambulance arrived on the scene by 04:25am.

The TAC house, also known as the Benedict house, housed nine Hampden-Sydney students and was formally a private residence acquired by the school like most other homes close to campus.  Mr. Thomas Shomo, Director of Marketing and Communications, reported, “the house was up to code with fire safety measures: there were smoke detectors in every bedroom, and all furniture was fire resistant, like all dorms on campus.”

Preliminary evidence suggested that, the one place where there wasn’t a smoke detector, the porch, is where the fire is suspected to have started. Shomo comments that ongoing investigations have pointed to “a cigarette butt smoldering on the sofa located on the porch” to be the source of the incident which took place when eight of the nine residents were asleep.

According to Shomo, the students attempted to put out the cigarette butt, which slipped into the sofa around 1:00am, and proceeded to bed.

Matt Maloney, one of the residents of the TAC and a senior from Atlanta, GA described the incident as it unfolded to reporters from the Richmond Times-Dispatch: “I could see the fire, [so] I ran upstairs shouting — trying to get everyone up.”

As soon as the students rushed outside, it didn’t take them long to realize their 6’1’’, 265 lbs housemate, Rogers, a senior, All-American offensive lineman on the H-SC football team was not with them. “We knew right away that Ben wasn’t there,” confirmed Maloney.

The brave students, including running back Kirk Rohle, defensive lineman Josh Phipps, and quarterback Travis Lane returned to the house to get their friend. Rogers, Phipps, and Lane managed to exit the burning building again; however, Rohle, who had also reentered the burning house to save his friend, was nowhere to be found.

Maloney said he then heard his friend’s voice: “Kirk was just outside a first-floor window, yelling, ‘Help me!’ ”

“It is believed [Rohle] exited the building though a ground floor window,” speculates Chief Gee. As soon as the EMT team arrived, he was air Medevaced to Richmond where he is currently receiving treatment. Sources say that Rohle had to be placed in medically induced coma for better treatment options.

“Kirk has gone through several hardships on campus—none worse than this; however, I know he will return with a smile on his face. He would be the one to run back into a burning building in concern for another studet’s life,” said C.W Hammond, a fellow Biology student and classmate of Kirk.

Krik’s father Ken Rohle commented to reporters that, “His worst burns are on his toes and fingers. We think he was trying to stay low, under the smoke, sort of crab-walking, and burned himself touching the floor.” He also added that his son is most likely to be in the hospital for as long as three months. Families of both students, who are from Mechanicsville, VA, expressed gratitude for the amount of support they have been receiving from coaches, teammates, students, administrators, and President Howard, who just recently promised to cover all textbook expenses for all the residents of the TAC house. The students were moved to the former Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity house. Rev. Keck, Pastor of College Presbyterian Church, has also been leading a relief effort to raise funds and collect basic necessities for these students who have lost absolutely everything.

The fire took 90 minutes to contain and has been reported a “total loss” by Hampden-Sydney Fire Safety Supervisor, Chuck Ironmonger. Incidentally, the event comes in the aftermath of a series of unpopular fire-safety policies that have been introduced by the Fire Safety Department in the 2011/2012 school year, which have prompted a strong student opposition. When asked whether or not the school will be seeing tighter fire regulations in the coming months, Ironmonger commented, “The administration will review the event, of course, to see if there is anything we can do better, but there is no way I can give you an accurate answer at this time, and I will not speculate.”

Though the College has experienced periodic fire incidents in its history, including the fire that burnt the front portion of the former library at Winston Hall in 1941 and the Mcilwaine Hall fire of 1957, this was the first time in 235 years that an occupied residence hall was fully on fire.

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Remembering that Hampden-Sydney is the home to over 1,000 male students, one must understand that while the College has numerous clubs, intramural teams, and organizations, most of them can be distinguished into two major groups: athletic and non-athletic.  For many years, Hampden-Sydney has especially been successful in various sports.  Producing not only quality performances on the field each year, H-SC athletes are very much involved and prevail in the classroom as well. All of our athletes are catechized, just like the rest of the students, to be good men and good citizens at all times. Unfortunately, no one is perfect, and everyone has their flaws; moreover, when there is a failure to abide by certain standards, consequences will follow.

Beyond the popular notions as to why people consider Hampden-Sydney unique, lies a reason concerning the level of discipline at the college.  Assistant Athletic Director and Head Athletic Trainer Andy McPherson comments:

“In 2007-2008 H-SC participated in a NCAA Drug Testing Pilot Testing. The NCAA tested 40 student-athletes. They found 9 positive tests. The student-athletes were not punished, and they did not inform the college who tested positive.”  In response to the students who failed the drug tests, Mr. McPherson stated, “because of the results of the NCAA pilot, H-SC made the decision to do institutional drug testing on the student-athletes.” The notion to instill a school drug testing policy was made based on a legitimate incident, but is the drug testing process exercised fairly and thoroughly?

Concerning how the drug tests are operated, senior lacrosse player Jack Gibson stated, “the Athletic Department randomly selects a certain number of athletes from each team. Since the selection is random some people get tested multiple times, and some people never get tested.  When you are selected to be tested, the athletic trainer informs you a day or two in advance.  If you fail to show up to the test, it is counted as an automatic fail.”

While many athletes may be opposed to the additional school drug test, the participation and outcomes of the drug test is what helps display some of Hampden Sydney’s singular qualities like cooperation and discipline. These tests are relevant and signify how the College deals with a problem and creates a solution. Division III college athletics are extremely demanding and should not be seen as any less difficult or important than Division 1. Showing up for a drug test should be just a much of a priority as showing up for practice or a game.

As Hampden-Sydney continues to hold these drug tests each year, the right will prevail and the wrong will be disciplined. The question remains that aside from having to wake up at the crack of dawn, do these drug tests really place any unnecessary pressures, inconveniences or reflect a lack of trust, on the administrations side, for the students?

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As unfortunate as the incident was, it brought a few things to light concerning the process in which the school handles emergencies and the procedure and interworking of the ENS. According to Dr. Dale Jones, Vice President for Strategy, Administration, and Board Affairs, the school handles incidents such as these in three steps: the first concern is to promptly respond to, the second is to inform the community, and lastly communicate with off-campus constituents. The first step involves police officers, the fire department, and emergency medical responders, or “first responders.” Once they have taken control of the situation, the administration alerts the community using the ENS. After these steps have been taken then parties such as parents are informed via email.

During the latest shooting incident, many members of the community were left wondering: “why did it take so long?” In response to this Dr. Jones comments that the administration also “asked [themselves] why?” This led them to make improvements to the ENS system and form the Incident Management Team. The INS, according to the H-SC website “provide[s] a coordinated approach to preparing for, responding to, and managing an emergency incident at Hampden-Sydney College.” One of the issues that the school ran into that prolonged the time it took to activate the system, according to Tommy Shomo, Director of Communications, was the number of people that had the clearance to do so. In response to that problem, Dr. Jones said that, “we had six individuals before, and now we have fifteen.” This is because, unlike before, police officers are now able to activate the system and send out a message if necessary.

Another problem administration ran into in the aftermath of the incident was the reaction from parents regarding their late notification about the shooting on campus. According to Mr. Shomo, the incident happened in the early hours of Dec 4, 2011, but an official statement was not sent to parents until the afternoon of Dec 5. Parents’ reaction to this was very negative, and they wish that they too be informed at the time of the activation of the ENS. Mr. Shomo says the problem with that is it would slow the system down. Another factor is that a parent’s natural response would be to call their sons, and that may slow down the phones on campus which at that time should be open in order to send out other notifications if necessary. The administration agrees that it is the school’s responsibility to alert the campus first, then those off campus.

Lastly, one of the biggest issues the administration faces with alerting the community about emergencies on campus is that not enough students have registered their cell phones in the ENS. According to Dr. Jones we have an “Opt in” system, in which student voluntarily submit their cell numbers. Because cell phone numbers are the students’ property the school can’t require the numbers to be registered. According to Dr. Jones the amount of people that register rises in spurts over time: after the incident, some after an email sent, etc.  Mr. Shomo said that on Dec 3, the day before the shooting, there were 176 students that had registered their numbers in the ENS. Now there is about 450 students registered. Mr. Shomo also said that the administration ultimate goal is to have at least eighty percent of the student body registered for the ENS via their cell phones. Students can register their numbers via the emergency links on the HSC website using their student ID and pin.

The school is continuing to look into other areas to strengthen the ability to respond to events like the shooting. Dr. Jones said that some of the options the school is reviewing are using carillon speakers to audibly alert the community, possibly installing alert beacons within classrooms, installing more emergency telephones around campus, the utilization of social media, and he formalization of an agreement between the school and the Farmville Police and Fire Departments in case assistance is needed. Via the changes already made and the changes that continue to be made the ENS and H-SC’s ability to respond to an emergency situation are constantly growing.

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Stepping in to fill Pohl’s shoes is current director Mr. Grant Morrison.  Mr. Morrison took over around December 19^th, or, to put it in perspective, 3 days before we left for winter break.  Since Mr. Morrison took over, even though he has not had much time at work, he has already put forth many ideas for improving the dining hall as well as making the Tiger Inn a more attractive place for people to go. Examples of such ideas are decorating the dining hall with student paintings or similar decorations to spice up the blandness.  The only thing stopping the dining hall from putting up paintings or other decorations is the complicated process to get approval, which means having to go through three or four people before it is allowed.

With regards to increasing the appeal of going to the TI instead of other dining options, Mr. Morrison has suggested hosting video game, dart, billiards, and other types of tournaments.  Mr. Morrison also asked to list his email address (Morrison-Grant@aramark.com) so that students who have a good idea for a nightly tournament, such as a FIFA or Tiger Woods Golf tournament, can email him their ideas and possibly create a fun social activity for the entire school.  “I want students to want to come to the TI and dining hall not because they have to, but because they want to,” he said.

Some breaking news that most students are aware of is H-SC’s switch of food providers from Aramark to Thompson Hospitality.  With this in mind, it certainly changes current plans that Mr. Morrison has for the dining services in general; nonetheless, the entire staff is still working together to achieve goals they have already set.  Morrison made aware that they have recently re-organized the management staff to ensure a more efficient system that includes each of the managers dealing with just one specific area in an effort to decrease overlap and confusion.

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For those of unfamiliar with the gun locker, it is a storage place for weapons and ammunition located in the police headquarters.  This year is the first year the gun locker is located in the Security Office. Before that, it had been located in the basement of the Carp Z dorms. The location was moved for multiple reasons. 

Students had extreme difficulty accessing the gun locker because the key card lock, which was supposed to let them in any time, would often malfunction. This would mean a student would have to call the station then wait for an officer to come down and unlock it for them. They would then have to call the station again to return the gun.  This would cause discontent amongst students and was a factor in the decision to relocate the locker.  As a result of minor inconveniences like this, students have started keeping guns in their rooms causing a safety risk for other students.

 Chief Gee pointed out some other reasons for moving the location, which include the safety of the campus, safety for the students, and safekeeping of the weapons.  The administration had personal interest in moving the location because no one was able to keep watch over the locker and felt that leaving it unattended posed security risks. 

One student weighed in on the topic of registering guns versus keeping them in rooms saying that the gun locker is not only a hassle to use when you want to go shooting or hunting, but it is also bad for guns because the wet wood the locker is made out of allows moisture to seep into the guns over time.  He also said he is tempted to keep his gun in his car or room because he has had difficulty with the police when trying to get his gun because of lost keys. Other times, no one is around to unlock the locker.

Though it is not a common occurrence, other students have made this complaint as well. Chief Gee responded to this observation by saying, “the locker is in excellent shape, but a big factor is the unexpected heat and humidity of this fall; however, we have a solution for this when it starts to get warm again.” The police department is installing a dehumidifier and using other chemicals to absorb moisture before it gets to the guns. 

Another student gave some alternate ideas for future gun locker plans assuming the locker was relocated or updated to function more smoothly.  One idea he had was to build multiple gun lockers and station one near all the dorms to improve convenience and efficiency.  Unfortunately, this idea would be difficult to put into practice because of price and the lack of supervision for all the lockers across campus.  The cost of building the current locker was around $7000, even though Chief Gee’s original plan only cost $2000.  Building more lockers around campus could result in other plans going over budget, and then money spent building extra lockers would have to be taken away from other funds, such as those set aside for academic purposes. 

Chief Gee also gave more insight into the behind-the-scene issues involving guns on campus. “I don’t mind having guns on campus the way its set up now, but I have a yearly battle at the General Assembly about allowing people to carry concealed guns on campus.”  This would mean that students would be allowed to carry concealed weapons in class rooms, dorm rooms, and other places like the fraternity circle.  Arguments for concealed guns use the Virginia Tech shooting as an example.  They claim that had students been carrying concealed weapons at the specific time, they could have stopped the shootings before innocent people were killed.  Chief Gee points out that if the police were to walk into a room after someone had killed or shot the original gunman, Chief Gee and his team would most likely “pop” the one with the smoking gun before the situation could be settled. 

Situations like this are why the administration has to be careful with students bringing guns to school and keeping them in their dorm.  Keeping guns in dorm rooms could eventually lead to the banning of guns on campus for good, especially if it becomes a pressing issue with campus security.  Several students have already been caught this year with guns in their rooms.

Everyone can be assured the freedom to keep guns on campus if they abide by the requirement. After all Chief Gee and many other students could not come up with a better way or place to store the guns.  Along with being able to track the usage of registered guns on campus, the police station gun locker ensures that student’s guns will also be protected from theft and kept in good condition.

It is a large responsibility to have guns on campus. When placing guns into the hands of others for safekeeping, the owners usually want careful watch over the belongings.  In the end, the college has the students’ best interests at heart when it compromises some freedoms and luxuries for the long term benefit of sanctioned gun usage.

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Only Aramark may provide refreshments for events held on campus

Hampden-Sydney students are very fortunate to attend a school that offers a vast number of seminars and forums from well-accredited speakers, but events such as these are sometimes a hardship on their hosts due to a seemingly harmless culprit: cookies.

Faculty and students both have had issues with the catering policies and prices provided by Aramark. The price of light refreshments, such as cookies, bottles of water, and cheese trays have become a problem among members of the community who want to serve refreshments at school events.

According to Aramark’s H-SC catering website, the price of one dozen cookies is $6.60 and “English Tea Sandwiches” are $25.00 a dozen, but the customer must purchase at least two dozen, driving the price to a $50.00 minimum. When satisfying a large group of hungry, male college students, one can foresee how events can become pricey. But there are also service charges for the event: including a drop off and pick up fee, an hourly fee for each employee involved actively serving food, and charges for each table with linen.

One might ask, “Why don’t people just go to Wal-Mart and purchase cookies and water there?” The official answer is found in “H-SC Policy on Room Chargers and Rules,” which states, “All food service at College facilities and/or property must be contracted for and provided by H-SC Aramark catering office.”  In short, Aramark has a contractual monopoly on all served foods on campus. Because of prices and obligation, some faculty members have said that they are forced to host many events without refreshments.

This issue is also affecting students. Nay Min Oo ’12, president of the H-SC International Club, hosted the sixth annual International Food Festival in the past month. It featured a number of dishes made by students. The event was only allowed to be held in College Church. The Church is the one building on campus that is not owned by the college, thus creating a loophole in the contract. In past years, the club cooked food and hosted the event in Settle Hall, but due to recent changes in policies, students were forced to move to College Church. Clubs only have a certain amount of money given to them by the Student Finance Committee, and if a club wanted to have an event with refreshments, it may leave them bankrupt. Oo expressed concern about the requirement noting, “As limited as a club’s budget is, I don’t think it is helpful to have clubs required to buy food from Aramark.”

Only Aramark may provide snacks and refreshments for events held on campus

            Aramark’s catering policies aren’t all bad though. Glenn Culley, the new Vice President of Business Affairs and Finance, comments that a large benefit of Aramark is the “Quality control of food being served on campus.” If third party caterers’ food was to be served on campus and people got food poisoning, it would be a massive liability. Another positive view came from Thomas Shomo, Director of Public Affairs and Marketing. He said that Aramark’s services benefit our institution in terms of accessibility and cleanup.

            When talking to Mr. Culley about Aramark’s contract and the issues people have been having, he said that the problems have become apparent and are being looked into, but Mr. Culley also noted, “Nothing is going to change this fiscal year.”

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Student-faculty relations outside of he classroom are very important

At any Saturday home game at Hampden-Sydney the professors who watch the game from the Wilson Center are a welcome and familiar sight, and it is usually the same professors who attend each game. This group of professors has become a fixture at the College. Students, who appreciate additional out-of-classroom time to interact with their professors, also respect them.

Decades ago the on-campus and out-of-classroom contact was even more pronounced, but with different generations come different priorities. This is not to say that newer professors do not value the students, but with many of them living in Richmond or Charlottesville there are just not as many opportunities for the same kind of mentor-mentee relationships. Prof. Frusetta summed it up when he said, “Graduate school trains scholars, but it doesn’t train professors very well.” This is not a slight against any professor, but rather a reminder that we should do more to capitalize on the unique opportunity we have at Hampden-Sydney. At many large state schools there exists a canyon between students and professors making student-professor connections nearly impossible. Hampden-Sydney’s small class sizes make these opportunities a possibility, however.

This semester, for example, the Union-Philanthropic Literary Society has developed a program to help foster student-professor relationships. UPLS frequently invites an alumnus of the Society back on a Friday and then takes him to dinner with his favorite professor. This provides an opportunity for students to get to know their professors and for alumni to catch up with them. Other clubs and on-campus organizations provide similar opportunities. CSPE, for example, hosts three reading groups where students can debate and discuss ideas with professors. 

Many professors are still very active in campus life. The Macon Week activities held at the Tiger Inn saw a good number of attendances from professors. These type of events help promote the interests of everyone and reduce the notion that, except for office hours, you might not see a professor out of the classroom. Seeing professors outside the classroom will encourage them to look forward to an opportunity to casually approach a professor for extra guidance. For professors, this personal interaction is beneficial as well because it allows them to identify students who are interested in their field or are struggling with class material. In this way it becomes a tool for community strengthening and building those professor-student bonds that attracted many students to a school like Hampden-Sydney.

Dr. Frusetta also points out, “Professors are like icebergs; you see them in class, but this is really only about a fifth of how they spend their time at work.” And he is absolutely correct. Students should be made aware of professors other time commitments.

H-SC is still light years ahead of many other schools when considering the sense of community that exists. And if both professors and students get involved to form better connections, both sides will benefit. In the long run, that will only strengthen our College. However, we should not take the culture we have for granted. We need to be constantly seeking out new avenues to engage students and professors beyond classes. While the younger generation of professors should seek more opportunities for involvement, student clubs should also look towards finding ways to involve professors in their activities.

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Members of the H-SC community came together for a candlelight vigil in front of Kirby Fieldhouse parking lot Wed, Nov 9

College students are constantly looking to cope with overwhelming workloads and personal burdens. Staying busy might not be so hard in college, but remaining on task can be considerably difficult. While some students exercise a valiant effort towards their responsibilities, others avoid taking part in anything that might create more stress.  Regardless of whether or not a student chooses to be productive, how he or she approaches dealing with everyday obligations can reflect a similar issue.  A recent article from the Richmond Times-Dispatch titled “Painkiller overdose deaths triples” revealed how students have been dealing with issues. According to the article,” the number of overdose deaths from powerful painkillers more than tripled over a decade.”

On Tuesday, November 8, 2011, Student Body President John Sharp, along with various other Hampden-Sydney student leaders conducted a town hall meeting. The meeting was held during the 11:30am convocation period at Fleet Gymnasium located in the Kirby Field house and pooled more than half of the student body. As John Sharp took the podium on the center stage, he greeted his fellow classmates and introduced the No More Campaign.  Sharp announced that the campaign was developed in response to the increase in deaths caused by pain killers around the nation, and more importantly to provide a sense of education, awareness and support on the Hampden-Sydney College campus. Sharp then stated that his fellow classmates would address the goals, visions, and proposed resolutions of the newly composed campaign. Following the introduction by Sharp, Student Senate Chairman John Chambers told a personal anecdote and gave an explanation of the No More Campaign while further instilling that every single Hampden-Sydney man holds a necessity to be his brother’s keeper. Chambers expressed the importance for every student to watch out for his brother in order to support not just the No More Campaign, but the Hampden-Sydney College community.  Next to speak was CAC chairman Brit McKenzie, who pronounced the mission statement for the No More Campaign, stating that “The No More Movement is a campaign motivated by the students of Hampden Sydney College to eradicate the abuse of prescription drugs in order to facilitate an environment of sound learning that forms good men and good citizens. The No More resolution defines abuse as the use of a drug of which one is not prescribed.”

Sharp, Chambers, and Mckenzie, along with other Hampden-Sydney Students Frank Bowers, Joseph Gardner and Baker Love presented the No More Campaign to a large majority of the Hampden Sydney community.  Before the conclusion of the meeting, President Howard took the podium and asked the entire faculty and staff in the gymnasium to rise from their seats.  He then asked that every student embrace the presence of the faculty and staff and fellow classmates, and to come to an understanding that as a community every person has their neighbor’s back.  As John Sharp returned to stage and began the conclusion to the No More Campaign, large white posters were presented in front of the stage.  Sharp closed stating that weekly No More Campaign meetings would be held every Thursday at 4 p.m. in the Cabell Room on the 4^th floor of the Bortz Library; however, if any student wanted to start contributing immediately, to approach the front stage and sign the white poster.  The town hall meeting came to a close, while an abundance of students proceeded to make their way to the front to sign the No More Campaign Resolution.

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According to Hazel Baldwin, Bookstore Manager for thirteen years, and Elizabeth Amos, Assistant Manager and Textbook Buyer for twenty-five years, the Bookstore sends out notices to professors months before the textbooks are needed in order to have the appropriate number of them for students, and only about 50% of faculty actually get their “textbook requisitions” in by the due date. They claim this hinders the bookstore’s ability to acquire textbooks in a timely and effective manner.  Ms. Amos also stated that it usually takes roughly three to five days for books to come in if there is a shortage; however, if the book is in low publication it may take longer.

Often times, students look to buy textbooks online in order to save money and avoid risk due to the cost and lack of availability of textbooks on campus. But Dr. Victor Cabas, Adjunct Associate Professor of Rhetoric, attributes the high price of textbooks to the publishers rather than the campus store. He says that so often they come out with new editions with just minor changes just to simply make a quick profit. Ms. Baldwin says that all textbook prices are in line with national standards and that any profit generated goes directly back to the school. She went on to say that because the profit is transferred to the school’s budget, students would be “giving back to the school” if they buy their books on campus, but those profits have dramatically dropped in the last year. Following the introduction of textbook rentals, the bookstore’s profits from textbooks went down 28%. Students find that renting textbooks is a more cost-effective choice because some of the prices of textbooks in the bookstore or elsewhere are simply out of an average student’s budget.

Students that are worried about availability during last minute textbook shopping at the bookstore can find some comfort in that the list of required textbooks is now required by law to be posted at the time of registration for classes. This law was placed into action this year, and the bookstore has complied to the point of ability, due to professors not having turned in their requests for textbooks on time. Anyone can find that list via the bookstores webpage on the H-SC website.

Although the process of purchasing textbooks is sometimes confusing, Ms. Baldwin assures students and professors that the bookstore is willing to address any problems that become apparent and to e-mail her so that a solution can be found. She also asks that, “Professors, please get your textbook requisitions in as soon as possible so we can get as many used textbooks as we can for our students.” Textbooks are already coming in for the spring semester and will hopefully arrive before students leave for break.

A Student shuffles through books at the almost empty shelves of the campus Bookstore after most of the required texts have been shipped back to the publishing companies.

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The Claremont Trio is scheduled to Return during the Spring Semester

This Semester, the Fine Arts Department at Hampden-Sydney has hosted two major events at the Crawley Forum.  First, on October 28, the College hosted the Claremont Trio, a world-renowned piano trio based in New York City that has performed in several big venues, including the Kennedy Center and has won awards for their performances, most notably the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson International Trio Award.

In addition to performing several pieces from their repertoire, the Trio also gave lectures and master classes to interested students as part of the Central Virginia Ensemble in Residence program.  As part of this program, the Claremont Trio has also taught classes at other local colleges, including Longwood University, Sweet Briar College, and Randolph College.

The following week, on November 2, baritone singer Branch Fields performed a concert in Crawley Forum in front of an enthusiastic crowd of about 60 people as part of the Hampden-Sydney College Music Series.  An opera singer from New York City, Fields performed a mix of Broadway and opera songs by Masagni, Tchaikovsky, Finzi, Barber, and Debussy, with Virginia Tech music professor Tracy Cowden accompanying him on the piano.

Fields’ past work in opera includes the role of John Rolfe in the world premiere of Pocahontas at the Virginia Arts Festival, playing Colline in the Boston Lyrical Opera production of La Boheme and the role of Angelotti In Tosca at the New York City Opera.

According to Dr. David Salvage, the response from the campus community to these two concerts has been largely positive.”I have received three or four congratulatory e-mails, one handwritten thank-you letter (from a stranger), and a donation in support of these concerts from members of the greater H-SC community.  In fact, one student [voluntarily] drove all the way to Sweet Briar [College] to watch the Claremont Trio perform there because he could not make the performance here,” Dr. Salvage commented.

Salvage also hinted at several events that the Fine Arts Department plans to hold during the spring semester, including a performance by Theater Nohgaku highlighting the music of traditional Japanese Noh theatre as part of the ongoing Hampden-Sydney Music Series.”Also, in April, the Core Ensemble will visit campus with a musical portrayal of the lives of three Latin-American women: Frida Kahlo, Alfonsina Storni, and Rufina Amaya—a program we’re giving with the assistance of Spanish House,” Dr. Salvage added.

For more information on past or future events on campus sponsored by the Fine Arts Department, please visit http://www.hsc.edu/Academics/Academic-Majors/Fine-Arts.html.

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