September 27, 2007

Dear Warren Parents,

As I write, students are swarming over campus, revitalizing our community and awakening it from its summer slumbers.  Our undergraduates are the life-blood of UC San Diego, and it is a pleasure to welcome them back and absorb the enthusiasm that they bring to campus.  Classes start today, so this seemed like an auspicious moment to write to you and tell you about life at Warren. 

This fall, we greeted about 250 new transfer students and 680 freshmen—a cohort that contributes to Warren’s stature as the largest of the six undergraduate colleges.  We broke with past practice and staged orientation for all our freshmen in one gala two-day event last week, and the consensus from students indicates that it was a great success.  The palpable energy of almost 700 freshmen learning and growing together provided a genuine sparkplug for the inauguration of the academic year.  One of the most successful events at orientation was a faculty panel that shared wisdom and insights about academic success with a rapt audience of freshmen.  Professors Seth M. Cohen (Chemistry/Biochemistry), Gail Heyman (Psychology), Colin Jamora (Cell and Developmental Biology), Vistasp Karbhari (Structural Engineering), Madeleine Picciotto (Warren Writing), and Brett Stalbaum (Visual Arts) provided excellent advice for our new students.  The following morning, Professors Thad Kousser (Political Science), Barbara Sawrey (Chemistry/Biochemistry), and Steven Schick (Music) graciously donated their time and expertise to present our freshmen a “First Lecture” experience.  However, the orientation highlight was certainly the sight of almost 700 freshmen do-si-do-ing with wild abandon at an evening square dance on Warren Field.

Turning the clock back to last June, I would like to note that over 1,000 Warren seniors walked at a commencement ceremony highlighted by speeches by graduating senior David Turnbull (BS, MAE; now in the Ph.D. program at Princeton) and Warren alumnus Thom Sherman (BA Theatre, ’88), Executive Vice President for Drama Series Development for the CW Television Network.  The recipient of the Provost’s Achievement award was Yina Dong, who graduated as a Bioengnineering major with a 3.994 GPA and an impressive 24 grades of A+.  Students honored Professor Amanda Roberts (Psychology) as our distinguished teacher of the year.

During the last year, Warren students could attend an impressive array of conferences, symposia, and other programming.  Warren’s annual DeWitt Higgs Memorial Lecture featured the Honorable Geoff Hoon, Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom and former Defense Secretary and Minister for Europe in Tony Blair’s cabinet.  New York Times distinguished op-ed columnist Frank Rich provided the Spring Convocation lecture.  Warren students were able to meet and talk with these prominent and articulate guests.

Last fall, we inaugurated the Warren College Research Scholarships.  We awarded five Warren juniors and seniors up to $1,000 each to support research projects.  These ambitious projects, supervised by faculty mentors, resulted in impressive analytical papers that ranged from Stephanie Quan’s “Resurrecting Experience as a Form of Learning” to Patrick Shih’s “Isolating the HMG CoA Reductase Promoter Region from Meloidogyne Incognita.”  This program provides an excellent opportunity for our students to pursue dynamic and challenging research under the tutelage of exceptional faculty scholars, and we look forward to the fruits of this year’s crop of young researchers. 

Once again, the Warren College Writing Center, the only one of its kind at UC San Diego, under the direction of Dr. Madeleine Picciotto, offered peer mentoring for Warren students who sought guidance in writing papers in all subjects and at all levels.  In 2006-07, the Center’s peer mentors saw more than 250 Warren students in individual sessions and also offered workshops in a range of topics including writing a timed essay for graduate/professional school entrance exams, preparing personal statements, and responsible academic writing tips that can aid students in avoiding plagiarism.  The Center opens for business again on October 8, and we look forward to working with more undergraduates in the future.

UPCOMING EVENTS:  This fall marks the 50th anniversary of the Little Rock Nine, the group of African American students chosen to force integration at Little Rock’s Central High School in 1957.  This flesh-and-blood implementation of the ruling handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark 1954 case, Brown v. Board of Education, generated a seismic shock in schools throughout the nation.  The Brown decision was a result of the signal contributions of Earl Warren and Thurgood Marshall.  To celebrate the accomplishments of the  namesakes’ of two UC San Diego colleges, and to examine the legacy of Brown and Little Rock, Warren and Marshall Colleges will present Reconsidering Little Rock: Fifty Years After the Start of School Integration on November 13-14-15.  This three-day symposium, co-sponsored by California Western School of Law and the Helen Edison Lecture Series, will feature keynote speeches by distinguished civil rights leader and NAACP chair Julian Bond and Little Rock Nine alumnus Dr. Terrence Roberts.  Panels following the speeches will include appearances by UCSD faculty members Robert Alvarez (Ethnic Studies), Nora Gordon (Economics), and Bud Mehan (Education Studies), as well as members of the San Diego legal and educational communities.  For more information, please see our web site at http://marshall.ucsd.edu/lr9/. 

IF YOU ARE THE PARENT OF A STUDENT WHO WILL GRADUATE IN 2008, PLEASE NOTE: COMMENCEMENT CEREMONIES AT UC SAN DIEGO WILL OCCUR A WEEK LATER THAN USUAL DUE TO THE IMPACT OF THE U.S. OPEN GOLF TOURNAMENT AT TORREY PINES.  WARREN’S CEREMONY WILL TAKE PLACE ON SUNDAY, JUNE 22, 2008 AT 8 AM ON RIMAC FIELD.  Your student will receive more information throughout the year.

Finally, I urge you to attend our next Family Day in winter 2008.  Last February, over 100 Warren parents and family members attended a delightful series of events on a Saturday.  They met student scholars, enjoyed lunch in the Faculty Club, and attended a bracing keynote lecture by world-renowned scholar Professor Paul Pickowicz about poster art from China during the Cultural Revolution.  Visitors also had the opportunity to see a graduate student production of Twelfth Night staged by our nationally prominent Department of Theatre and Dance.  We are finalizing the date and itinerary for the upcoming Family Day and will inform you of the specifics in coming weeks.  I look forward to sharing this lovely Warren College tradition with each of you.

I will sign off by emphasizing that parents are a critical component in the educational process of our students.  Your encouragement and enthusiastic support are essential to your student’s development as a scholar and citizen.  Many of the events and initiatives that I outlined above—and countless others—are possible because of the generosity of our parents.  On behalf of the Warren community, please accept my thanks.

I wish you a happy and healthy year.  We are here to serve your student and provide a first-rate education, and I encourage you to participate in this process by visiting campus, attending Parents Day and other events, and supporting your student as they learn, mature, and grow.

Sincerely,

Steven Adler
Professor of Theatre and Provost