With October just a couple of weeks away, Homecoming Weekend at Curry College on October 3- 4 will be here soon!

There will be many exciting events taking place on campus that weekend. On Saturday, Women's Tennis plays Eastern Nazarene at Noon and the Colonels take on Salve Regina in the Homecoming football game with a 1:00 PM kick-off. Women's Soccer plays Regis College at 5:00 PM followed by Men's Soccer at 7:00 PM.

Following the football game on Saturday, there will an Open House at the new Student Center for our alumni and friends to tour this amazing new facility.

Feel free to reach out with questions to the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations at 617-333-2121 or via email. You can find a full schedule of events on our website. We look forward to seeing you for all the festivities!

The 2009 Hockey Golf Tournament is taking place on Thursday, September 24 at Plymouth Country Club, one of the South Shore's premier private courses.

Tee off is scheduled for 1:00 pm on the 24th. Don't miss out on this great event - contact the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations if you are interested in attending. We look forward to seeing you there!

On Wednesday, October 7, Curry will present the 7th annual Curry Connections, a Major, Internships and Career Fair offering students the opportunity to explore different areas of academic interest and get connected on campus.
All students are invited, and the goal of the event is for attendees to find a personal path and make connections with a faculty member, an alumnus, or a prospective internship or employment site.

Last year, over 600 students attended the program and truly enjoyed the conversations with faculty and alumni about their undergraduate majors, their career paths, and how they got from one to the other!

If you are interested in participating in this event by staffing a table and talking with Curry students about your career path in a fun, informal environment, please contact Alyssa Samuels in the Office of Alumni Relations.

"Mr. President, it is with great pleasure that I present to you the Curry College Class of 2013." And with those words, spoken by Chief Academic Officer, Dr. David Potash, the incoming class of 2013 was officially welcomed during Curry's first ever new student convocation on August 31, 2009.

The warm, sunny Monday morning began with cheers and applause from faculty and staff for the freshman class as they made their way up the long walkway leading up to the new Student Center for the ceremony. Faculty members, dressed in their traditional academic regalia, then followed the processional into the college's new state-of-the-art gymnasium.

President Kenneth K. Quigley Jr. began the convocation by welcoming the new class, encouraging them to get involved in everything the college has to offer during their four year stay. Curry alum and media mogul David Hemenway '81 served as the Keynote Speaker for Convocation. Hemenway discussed how fortunate the incoming students are to be able to enjoy Curry's new Student Center and all the amenities that come with it.

You can read the full story on the 2009 Convocation on our website.

Dr. Linda Caldwell was notified that she was elected to the Commission on Collegiate Education (CCNE) Board of Commissioners for a two year term beginning on January 1, 2010. The Board is comprised of eleven members, three representing deans, three representing nursing faculty, three are practicing nurses and three represent consumer interests. Dr. Caldwell will hold one of the deans positions representing 526 nursing deans nationwide. She was elected by a majority of the deans voting and is a team leader for CCNE visits.

This is a tremendous vote of confidence in Curry's Chief Nursing Officer. Congratulations, Linda, on this wonderful accomplishment.

Professor Donald Gratz recently published his first book, "The Peril and Promise of Performance Pay: Making Education Compensation Work", Rowman & Littlefield Education (2009). According to the summary on Amazon.com, "the book provides an invaluable resource for school teachers, administrators, board members, policy makers, and citizens who would like to understand what's behind performance pay, what might work and what will not, and how to build a school improvement effort that includes teacher compensation as one of its strategies."

Professor Kirk Hazlett was recently accepted into the Public Relations Society of America's College of Fellows. The College of Fellows honors seasoned practitioners and educators who have made significant contributions to the public relations profession. The College of Fellows Mentoring Program plays a significant role online and in person, helping and counseling public relations professionals in all facets of public relations practice. The formal investiture takes place during the PRSA International Conference in San Diego, in a ceremony on November 7. Congratulations Kirk!

You can read more Faculty News and Notes on our website.

It's that time of year again. Beginning Monday, October 5, students will be calling College alumni and parents to ask for your support of the Annual Fund. As tuition revenues do not cover the full cost of a Curry College education, contributions to the Annual Fund support initiatives in faculty and student life programming and technology upgrades, as well as financial aid and scholarships.

Our students are excited to speak with you and tell you about all of the great things going on at Curry College. Your participation, at any level, truly makes a difference. We ask you to please say "yes" when you hear from one of our students. If you wish to skip the phone call and make your gift today, you can do so at the Giving to Curry page on our website.

Thank you in advance for considering a gift to the Curry College Annual Fund.

Though the building was finished in August, the Student Center was truly "completed" the first weekend of September when the Curry student body moved onto campus. At Curry College, we understand that the essence of a building is not found in the bricks and mortar but rather in the way it brings together the community.

The Curry College Student Center was designed to be the hub of activity on campus. From the moment the new and returning students came to campus, it has drawn our students, faculty and staff into its doors for academic and social gatherings and activities.

Some of the highlights of this amazing new facility are:

• Dining Hall - students are loving the Meal Deal and the new menu items, especially the Asian dishes at the Global station, the steak & cheese subs at the Flame and the Late Night smoothies!
• Fitness Center - group exercise classes are all the rage. Classes include yoga, hip hop, cardio kickboxing, belly dancing and boot camp. Students are enjoying all of the new equipment and the center is busy from open at 7AM to close at 11PM.
• Gym - Colonel Nation cannot wait for basketball season! The men's and women's teams are eager to get a chance to play in the new facility and students are eager to cheer them on! The gym has also been used to host the Class of 2013 Convocation ceremony and some Welcome Week activities including a hypnotist, Movie Night and a 3x3 basketball tournament.
• Gathering spaces - The Fireplace Lounge is becoming a comfortable hang out, the Sports Café is the place to watch the Red Sox and Patriots games and the game room billiards table is very popular.

Fall sports are well underway and off to a great start! Visit the Athletics website for more details, scoreboards, headlines and schedules.

Football: got on the winning track with a 7-6 win over Westfield State on September 19. The Colonels next play at Western New England College on September 26, their first NEFC Boyd Division game of the season.

Women's Soccer: is off to a great start this season! The Colonels have yet to lose this season and go into their next contest with a 5-0-1 record and a 2-0 record in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC). The team is especially looking forward to upcoming TCCC games against Colby- Sawyer on September 26 and New England College on September 29.

Men's Soccer: takes a winning record into the heart of their season after a win against Nichols College on September 19. After the tremendous success of last year, the Colonels are looking to improve their record in upcoming contests vs. Eastern Nazarene on September 23, Colby-Sawyer on September 26 and New England College on September 29.

Women's Tennis:  is looking to get back to their winning ways after their back-to-back wins vs. Anna Maria and Regis College. The Colonels are looking forward to a stretch of home matches on September 24, 26, 28, and 30.

Women's Cross Country:  made a good showing at the Mass. Maritime Academy Invitational on September 12. The Colonels next meet is on September 26 at the Elms College Invitational followed by the Pop Crowell Invitational at Gordon College on October 3.