Dear Faculty and Staff Colleagues,
With the first full week of classes almost behind us, I want to thank you all for the superb work for a successful start of the semester, including exciting Orientation programs for both first and second years and an adapted Convocation ceremony. Rick Thompson delivered a powerful address. And as we all settle into the routine of the academic year, we've also overcome challenges together, like the flooding incident in Dowman Hall due to an activated sprinkler head.
Earlier today you received a message from the University regarding the change to a modified yellow operating status and updated COVID-19 protocols. We will work through these new changes together to keep all those in our community safe.
I hope you also feel and appreciate the energy and gratitude our students bring to campus and the classroom.
Best,
Doug
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Tree planted on Oxford quad
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Emory University President Gregory L. Fenves joined
Oxford Dean Doug Hicks and other members of the Oxford community on August 25 to plant a Nutall oak tree near Seney Hall on the Oxford quad. The ceremony included remarks by President Fenves, Dean Hicks, Oxford Chaplain Lyn Pace, Lynne Borsuk 81Ox 83C, chair of the Oxford College Board of Counselors, and Roxanne Chou, president of Oxford College Student Government Association. The tree stands to recognize the events of the past year and “remember how everyone at Emory came together to respond to them,” Fenves remarked at the ceremony. Back in March, in his first full address to the Emory community, Fenves pledged to plant trees on both the Atlanta and Oxford campuses this fall “to honor the resilience of the university’s students, nurses, doctors, researchers, front-line workers, faculty members and alumni.”
Visit the Emory New Center Convocation coverage to read more about the tree-planting ceremony and see photos of the ceremony and Convocation activities on the Atlanta and Oxford campuses.
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Emory News Center’s annual profile of the incoming class “Meet Emory’s Class of 2025” features move-in day photos, class of 2025 by the numbers, and student profiles.
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Natalia J. Bayona Vásquez, assistant professor of biology. Bayona is a molecular ecologist and marine biologist. She earned her PhD in Marine Sciences at UNAM in Mexico in 2015. And then, she worked as a postdoc at University of Georgia. She just completed one year as a Visiting Assistant Professor here at Oxford College prior to being hired as an Assistant Professor following an academic search. Her collaborative research focuses on developing and using genomic tools to understand the diversity of life, especially in marine species important in conservation and organisms of environmental relevance. Bayona's recent publications include widely used lab protocols for assessing genomic information and have been published in journals such as PeerJ, Frontiers in Microbiology, Aquatic Conservation in Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, Infection, Genetics and Evolution, and Genome Biology and Evolution, among others. She has co-authored funded grants in Mexico and the United States, that includes funds from the CDC and NIH for her work on microbes and parasites.
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Other new faculty include these visiting assistant professors: Heather Comstra, biology; Tavish Dunn, mathematics; Andrea Fitzroy, sociology; Zheng Gu, Chinese; Sheldon Lawrence, biology; Daniel Nash, mathematics; Aleksey Novikov, linguistics; Cameron Pratt, chemistry; Laura Ramiro Moreno, Spanish; Jason Rosenholtz-Witt, music; Aaron Shultz, philosophy; Leona Sparaco, mathematics; and Steven Watts, English.
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New adjunct faculty include: Larkin Ford, studio/visual art; Megan Kearney, Center for Healthful Living; Matthew Mitchell, Latin; Andrew Schmidt, chorale; and Tonya Smalls, business.
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Faculty members who began the 2021-22 academic year with promotions are Tasha Dobbin-Bennett, to associate professor of art hstory with tenure; Sarah Fankhauser to associate professor of biology with tenure; Bridgette W. Gunnels, to associate professor of Spanish with tenure; Christina Lee to senior lecturer in mathematics; Jennifer McGee to associate professor of psychology with tenure; Joshua Mousie to associate professor of philosophy with tenure; and LaTonia Taliaferro-Smith to director of undergraduate laboratories and senior lecturer in biology.
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On sabbatical during the fall semester are Josh Mousie, assistant professor of philosophy, and Nichole Powell, associate professor of chemistry. On teaching sabbatical for the fall semester is
Pablo Palomino, assistant professor of Latin American and Caribbean studies.
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International Student Welcome
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The Office of International Student Programs hosted the International Student Welcome program for four days proceeding New Student Orientation. Over 100 students participated in the annual program focused on the academic, cultural, financial, and legal issues that international students face while in the United States. Participants had the opportunity to explore Oxford and Atlanta areas, meet new friends and classmates, and get to know faculty and staff. Some participants were second-year students who studied remotely last year and were on campus for the first time. A programmatic highlight of this year’s program was the collaborative “Taste of Oxford” event held on Phi Gamma plaza with food trucks, food and drink samples from local area restaurants, lawn games on the Quad, and the opportunity to informally spend time with student leaders, faculty, and staff.
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Oxford alum Sina Djafari Rouhani 20Ox 22C presented the talk “Impact of the disulfide linkage of human psoriasin (S100A7) dimer interface” at a session during the fall 2021 American Chemical Society (ACS) National Conference held virtually. Rouhani’s talk is from her Resilience of Chemistry work with Deepika Das, lecturer in chemistry, while participating in Oxford Research Scholars and Summer Oxford Research Symposium programs during the 2020-2021 academic year. Yingrong Chen, a second-year student at Oxford, continues research for the project with Das.
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Student leaders 2021-2022
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This past spring, the following students were chosen through an application, interview, and selection process to serve in student leadership positions on campus for the 2021-22 academic year.
Healthy Eagles (Center for Healthful Living)
Alia Bly, Jiaqi Chen, Alexandra Iotzova, Leah Kesler, Riya Khanna, Gianna McIntire, Christopher Pei, Indar Ramlal Jr, Varun Reddy, Vohra Muskaan, Wesley Yamada, and Sophie Zweben.
Ignite Leadership Mentors (Ignite Leadership Program, Student Involvement and Leadership)
Pluto Clinkscales, Rebecca Deal, Devin Gee, Jenna Holton, Anya Kasubhai, Christina Ni,
and Wesley Yamada.
iMentors (International Student Programs)
Tracy Dang, Tra My Duong, Freya Fang, Eileen Guan, Nguyen Ho, Kate Huang, Han Li, Patan Tippitak, Wendy Wang, and Shuchang Yin.
Library Leaders (Oxford College Library)
Ellery Andersen, Tiffany Comberger, Jaedyn Griddine, Kate Huang, Hailey Hunt, Mandy Jiang, Caira Jones, America Ruiz, Sydney Wang, Shelby Wilder, Alyssa Zhang, and Sophie Zweben.
Orientation Leaders (New Student Orientation, Student Involvement and Leadership)
Samir Ajy, Samuel Boor, Emma Burleson, Steven Chen, Faiz Daredia, Sarah Davis, Olivia-Alexis Calderon, Arden Chan, Galya Fischer, Lauren Grychowski, Daniel He, Jonathan Hong, Sanjana Kunnikuru, Michelle Lee, Ethan Li, Kimberly Pi, Claire Qu, Vrushali Thakkar, Daniel Timor, Claire Todaro, Muskaan Vohra, Patrick Walsh, Sydney Wang, Dinan Wu, Grace Wu, and William Xu.
Resident Advisors (Residential Education and Services)
Maha Abu-Salah, Anna Baik, Sarah Bekele, Celia Bianco, Calvin Brauer, Hannah Chang, Paul Chillemi, Sarah Delfino, Allison Dobo, Will Dougherty, Nicklas Gose, Anna Giglio, Brian Graham, Kristen Gram, Abby Hagood, Kevin Hoffman, Jerry Hong, Mandy Jiang, MaKenzie Jones, Katelyn King, Michelle Lee, Ben Leviloff, Danny Lombardi, Naeman Mahmood, Kayla Na, Varun Reddy, Venezia Roshko, America Ruiz, Genevieve Schaefer, Tommy Skodje, Clay Winder, Kenneth Wingate Jr, Evan Yang, Jessica Yoon, and Daniel Zhang.
Volunteer Oxford Coordinators (Student Involvement and Leadership)
Devin Gee and Jenna Holton
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2021 Oxford Class Gift in honor of Rob Mallard and Gary Glass project update
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Oxford will now be able to endow the 2021 Oxford Glass Gift. It will be one of the first class gifts to be endowed at Oxford. Back in April, Dean Hicks promised to match what was raised up to $25,000 to create a named endowed internship. The funds had to be secured by June 30, 2021 to endow and name the internship. To date over $28,000 has been raised. Thank you to all the parents, students, alumni, faculty, staff, emeriti, and friends who made a gift to make this opportunity possible! We will continue to update you on what transpires over the next year with plans to create the internship and how it will be awarded.
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Take a Break Tuesday
hosted by the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life and Student Involvement & Leadership
Oxford Student Center Front Patio | 1:15 p.m. -2:45 p.m.
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Oxford Staff Organization meeting
Chapel | 9:30 a.m.
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Southern Circuit Film Series: Stateless
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Take a Break Tuesday
hosted by the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life and Center for Healthful Living
Oxford Student Center Front Patio| 1:15 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
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Oxford Studies: Teresa Ducara, Latin American Music
Williams Hall | 7:30 p.m.
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Fall Retreat
hosted by the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life
Georgia FFA-FCCLA Center | 9:30 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.
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To submit a news item for the next Campus Update, please email Ansley Holder.
The newsletter is distributed weekly on Wednesday. Please submit items by Monday afternoon.
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