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University and Community home. University Projects Updates. South Campus Plan. U of C and Schools. Tracking Trends I and II. Development home. Community News/Announcements. From the April 2009 Outreach Forum.
To: University Community
From: Robert J. Zimmer
Date: September 8, 2008
Re: Vice President for Civic Engagement
I am very pleased to announce that Ann Marie Lipinski, former editor of the Chicago Tribune, has accepted the position of Vice President for Civic Engagement at the University. She will begin her new position on October 1.
In this newly defined role, Ann Marie will lead in developing and representing the relationship of the University of Chicago with the City of Chicago, its multiple communities, and its extended region. The relationships of the University to the City of Chicago have great potential to enrich our fundamental missions of research and education, while simultaneously enhancing the quality of life in the City, its economic development, and its global reach. Our goal is to see the University of Chicago become a model of how a great urban research university can interact in partnership with its city, and Ann Marie, who has a strong track record leading one of Chicago’s great institutions, will provide strong leadership in helping us to build upon our already significant achievements.
More specifically, as the Vice President for Civic Engagement, Ann Marie is charged with advancing, coordinating, and articulating the University’s ambitious efforts in pre-K-12 education, community health, local economic growth, business and job creation, business diversity, real estate development, social services, programs for children at risk, student volunteer activities, safety and security, and research efforts connected to the City and its communities. She will oversee the University’s multi-faceted relationships with South Side communities, elected officials, and community leaders, and will develop our relationship with the State of Illinois. In January 2009, she will become chair of the board of the University of Chicago Charter School, which opened its fourth campus earlier this month.
In addition to her administrative responsibilities, Ann Marie will be appointed as a senior lecturer in the College, teaching material related to policy and journalism.
Ann Marie will work to share our innovative activities of civic engagement with peer institutions around the nation, and in turn learn from those universities’ efforts. In addition, she will develop the connection between the University’s evolving international efforts and the City of Chicago’s emerging status as a global city.
Under Ann Marie’s stewardship as managing editor and editor, the Chicago Tribune became a leader in journalism and public service, with Pulitzer Prize-winning projects that freed innocent prisoners from death row, helped revitalize the South Side lakefront, and uncovered product defects that endangered children.
Ann Marie, who has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan and was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, began at the Tribune as a summer intern. She rose to become the paper’s top news executive, guiding more than 700 employees at the Midwest's leading media institution. She was one of three Tribune reporters awarded a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting in 1988. As editor, she sharpened the Tribune’s public service mission and led the paper to Pulitzer Prizes in international reporting, feature writing, explanatory reporting, editorial writing, and investigative reporting.
As part of the newspaper’s efforts to promote literacy and literature, Ann Marie oversaw a series of awards promoting fiction and non-fiction work that underscored Chicago’s historic contributions to American letters. As editor, she created the Tribune’s Young Adult Book Prize and the Tribune Literary Prize, bringing to Chicago such luminaries as Arthur Miller, August Wilson, Tom Wolfe, Margaret Atwood, Joyce Carol Oates, and E.L. Doctorow.
A 30-year resident of Chicago, Ann Marie and her family have lived in the Kenwood neighborhood for the past five years. She serves on the boards of the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and the Chicago Children’s Choir, along with the Pulitzer Prize Board and other national organizations.
Please join me in welcoming Ann Marie Lipinski to her new role in the University of Chicago community.
Hyde Park Herald, September 10, 2008. Former Tribune editor heads to U. of C.By Kate Hawley
University of Chicago President Robert Zimmer has named a nationally recognized newspaper editor to fill a top community relations post. Ann Marie Lipinski, the former editor and senior vice president o the Chicago Tribune, was appointed vice president for civic engagement on Monday, September 8.
The newly created position fills a gap left by Hank Webber, who left his job as vice president for community and government affairs in February. Now vice chancellor at Washington University in St. Louis, Webber oversaw a range of education initiatives and a substantial drop in crime during his... tenure at the University.
Lipinski's wide-ranging duties will include the university's social service and healthcare programs and its role in the Chicago Public Schools, according to a statement. Lipinski will also represent the university in its dealings with the city's bid for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. She will guide the university's efforts to spur economic growth in the community, with an eye toward retail options in Hyde Park, real estate development and public safety, the statement says.
"I've spent much of my career doing public service work focused on this great city and have been in contact with readers and residents for 30 years," Lipinski said in a phone interview. "This was a way to keep up that conversation."
Lipinski resigned from her Tribune post in July, amid turmoil in the newspaper industry and a radical reshaping of the paper under billionaire Sam Zell, who took over Tribune Co. in December. Though Lipinski said she is "still very bullish about the future of newspapers" after three decades at the Chicago Tribune she was looking for a change. "It was time to do something else while I still could," she said.
A graduate of the University of Michigan, Lipinski started as a summer intern at the Tribune in 1978 and rose through the ranks to become managing editor in 1995 an editor and vice president in 2001. She won a Pulitzer Prize for a series on the Chicago City Council in 1988.
She made her first connection to the University of Chicago a decade ago when her daughter began attending the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, and since them she and her husband, Steve Kagan, have forged close relationships in the Hyde Park community, she said. Five years ago, she moved to Kenwood. Lipinski sits on the board of the Lab Schools, and in January she will become chair of the board of the University of Chicago Charter School.
Though she said it would be premature to comment on any particular issues before she takes over t he job on Oct. 1, she plans to be a visible presence in the community. "When Bob [Zimmer] proposed this title, I said, "I love that word. 'Civic Engagement'--It describes the way I like to work."
October 6 2008 President Zimmer sent a release
extolling Nobel Prize for Yoichiro Nambu, winner of a Nobel Prize in Physics
for his work on spontaneous broken symmetry. He is the 81st Nobel winner associated
with the University.
October 8 Sonya Malunda, Assoc. VP for Civic Engagement, wrote in the Herald the U. of C. will remain a good neighbor.
The Sept. 24 editorial in the Hyde Park Herald ("U. of C. must make neighborly gesture") makes an important point about the University of Chicago being "open to input from the community."
The fact is, we are.
The University of Chicago continues to emphasize communication -- talking and listening -- with city and community leaders to address common concerns, including education, housing, employment, the lack of retail and entertainment choices and enhanced safety and security.
We participate regularly in neighborhood TIF meetings, as well as all aspects of the city-mandated community process for real estate development, including Harper Court/Harper Theater and Doctors Hospital. We do not believe such projects can be successful without active community engagement.
I write as a university employee, as one who has lived and worked on the South Side for more than 20 years. My husband and I chose to raise our family here because we share with neighbors the vision of a more vibrant and safe community.
University representatives -- including myself -- are always available to meet with members of the community. We are fully committed to developing projects in Hyde Park and neighboring communities that are shaped by public input and that create long-lasting benefits for our neighbors.
Washington Park, a neighborhood that has not enjoyed the same type of development as other areas of the South Side, stands to benefit greatly from a partnership that includes the university, the city, the alderman, community leaders and private developers. It is our hope that our investments will be a catalyst for positive change and economic development.
Finally, we applaud your stance on the 39th precinct petition drive. this type of regressive action would do long-term harm, sending a destructive message to anyone who might invest in Hyde Park or surrounding communities.
To: Members of the University Community
From: Robert J. Zimmer, President
Date: November 6, 2008
Re: $300 million gift to the University of Chicago
I am very pleased to announce a remarkable gift of $300 million to the University of Chicago for the benefit of the Graduate School of Business by University Trustee and alumnus David G. Booth, MBA '71, his wife Suzanne Booth, and their children, Erin and Chandler Booth. This is the largest donation in the University's history and the largest gift ever in support of any business school. In recognition of the Booth family's extraordinary generosity, the Board of Trustees has voted unanimously to name the school the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
This gift from the Booth family is a resounding endorsement of the University's commitment to groundbreaking theory and rigorous examination of empirical data, which captivated Mr. Booth as a student and guided his career. In making the gift, he noted that his successful investment firm, Dimensional Fund Advisers, was built on principles he learned at the University and particularly from Professor Eugene Fama.
Dean Edward Snyder indicates that the school will use the gift to support several new initiatives, including aggressively attracting and retaining outstanding faculty. Other uses being considered include developing new faculty groups in academic areas not normally associated with business schools, expanding existing research centers, and launching ambitious programs to better leverage the school's intellectual capital, including programs that extend its international presence.
Mr. Booth founded Dimensional Fund Advisers in 1981 with classmate Rex Sinquefield, MBA '72. His deep commitment to the University of Chicago has been long-standing, including his service on the University Board of Trustees from 2002 to the present, and on the GSB Council from 1999 to the present. He earlier gave the University $10 million to help fund construction of the Charles M. Harper Center.
Mr. Booth's success and his decision to make such a significant investment in the University is a testament to the power of the ideas developed by University of Chicago faculty, students, and alumni. I want to express my appreciation to the Booth family for their profound commitment to the ideals of the University and their unparalleled generosity, which will ensure that the University of Chicago Booth School of Business remains one of the leading schools in the world.
From: Ann Marie Lipinski, Vice President for Civic Engagement
[mailto:civicengagement@uchicago.edu]
Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2009 12:24 PM
To: Faculty, Staff and Students
Subject: Rudy Nimocks Appointed Director of Community PartnershipsTO: Faculty, Staff, and Students
FROM: Ann Marie Lipinski, Vice President for Civic Engagement
I am pleased to announce that Rudy Nimocks, after 20 distinguished years
as chief of the University of Chicago Police Department, is appointed
Director of Community Partnerships, a role to which he brings
considerable experience, natural skill, and a deep knowledge of the city.Marlon Lynch will assume the duties of chief of police as part of his
responsibilities as Associate Vice President for Safety and Security.In his two decades as the University's police chief, Rudy has overseen
significant growth in the University's investment in safety and
security, including the expansion of the policing boundaries and of the
UCPD staff. Under his leadership, these measures resulted in dramatic
reductions in crime for both the University community and its neighbors.President Zimmer notes that his value to the University goes far beyond
those numbers."Rudy has been, and I am happy to say will continue to be, not only a
wonderful leader for the University and the community, but a person of
the highest integrity, personal values, and extraordinary commitment,"
President Zimmer said. "I greatly value his work, admire him as a
person, and I am proud that he is a member of the University community."Rudy's law enforcement career spans more than a half century, beginning
with his first assignment in 1956 at the Chicago Park District police
station house that is now the DuSable Museum. He later joined the
Chicago Police Department and served in virtually every role, including
detective, sergeant, lieutenant, homicide commander, and deputy
superintendent. That expertise, coupled with his deep roots in
neighboring Woodlawn, his home since 1952, made Rudy an ideal candidate
to lead the police force when he joined the University in 1989.Rudy's success as chief is in no small measure a result of his passion
for community work and his vast network of relationships throughout the
city and South Side. In his new role, Rudy will focus full time on
working with the large and diverse collection of community organizations
and leaders-established and emerging-whose efforts are key to urban
health and vibrancy."This is an exciting role for me because these are exciting times for
this part of the city and for the University," Rudy said. "The
possibility of the Olympics, the potential for redevelopment, the
opportunities for improving schools and more is something I want to be a
part of."Marlon, a Chicago native and president of the International Association
of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, oversees the police,
transportation, and parking operations. Before coming to the University
in February, he served in a similar capacity at Vanderbilt University."It's an honor to be associated with Rudy and his legacy at UCPD and
within the neighboring communities," Marlon said. "His work ethic has
been tireless and I know it will be in his new capacity. I'm looking
forward to our ongoing collaboration with the Chicago Police Department
and to continuing our professionalism and technology implementation in
safety and security. Our community is a vibrant place to live and work
and we will be diligent in our duty to help make it safer."Please join me in congratulating Rudy on his new role. Top
From Press Release: January 12, 2010
Landmark University Study Points to Five Essential Supports for School Reform. Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago.Leaders looking for ways to improve learning in urban schools can depend on Five key factors which, when working together, have proven to boost student achievement, according to a landmark study that led to a new book, Organizing Schools for Improvement, Lessons from Chicago.
The results emerged from a study of 390 Chicago public elementary schools over a seven-year period following the implementation of a 1988 law that increased decision-making at the local school level.
The authors of the study, current and former researchers with the Consortium on Chicago School Research, part of the Urban Education Institute at the University of Chicago, said those five essential supports are school leadership, parent and community ties, professional capacity of the faculty, a student-centered learning climate and a coherent instructional plan. They were effective in a wide variety of schools, including especially troubled ones. By looking closely at the social context in which schools are embedded, the book provides new insight into why schools in communities with high rates of crime and poverty struggle with improving student outcomes.
These findings are helpful as states vie for billions in federal “Race to the Top” funds designed to spur school reform. They are drawn from the kinds of robust data that U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has encouraged states to use in developing their reform plans.
The authors suggest that when looking for ways to improve learning in urban schools, leaders should resist the temptation to look for “silver bullets” and think instead about “baking a cake.” Just as several ingredients are needed in the right proportions to bake a cake, so too are several ingredients - the “five essential supports” - required to boost student achievement.
The research team will present their findings to educators on Thursday, Jan. 14 at a symposium at the University’s Gleacher Center, 450 N. Cityfront Plaza Drive.
The study team found some improvements since Chicago decentralized its public school system in 1988. More than 80 percent of the system’s elementary schools showed at least some gains in mathematics, and close to 70 percent gained in reading. More importantly, schools that were strong in all five essential supports were at least 10 times more likely to show substantial improvement in reading and mathematics than schools that were strong in only one or two of the essential supports. Follow-up studies conducted from 1997 to 2005 validated the findings of the first round of research.
The book, published by the University of Chicago Press, was written by Anthony S. Bryk, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and founding senior director of CCSR; Penny Bender Sebring and Elaine Allensworth, interim co-executive directors at CCSR; Stuart Luppescu, chief psychometrician at CCSR; and John Q. Easton, Director of the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education, and former executive director of CCSR.
For nearly 20 years, CCSR has built a massive, one-of-a-kind longitudinal data archive on Chicago public schools, and that archive made the research possible. The CCSR team visited schools, interviewed principals and did extensive surveys of principals, teachers and students to get behind what was leading some schools to progress and others to remain stagnant.
In addition to measuring local demographic characteristics, CCSR investigated community characteristics like community cohesiveness and crime rates to uncover reasons for success or failure. In taking this approach, which looks at neighborhood effects and the influence of parents, the book draws heavily on the work of other scholars currently or formerly at the University of Chicago. Sociologist William Julius Wilson, now at Harvard University, did seminal work on poverty at the University of Chicago and coined the expression “the truly disadvantaged” in a book by the same name. James Colemen contributed definitive thinking on the role of social capital in schools to show the value of parents working with teachers to improve learning. Sociologist Robert Sampson, now at Harvard, and Steven Raudenbush, the Lewis-Sebring Professor in Sociology and chair of the University of Chicago's Committee on Education, studied the dynamics of Chicago neighborhood interactions to identify differences in dealing with crime and other issues.
In assessing student performance, the team devised a “value-added” approach. Rather than simply looking at the percentage of students in each class who met or failed to meet state standards, the team looked at the progress of each student.
The authors also identified 46 very low-performing schools, serving more than 40,000 students, which they labeled “truly disadvantaged schools.” Even in a school district where disadvantage is the norm, these schools stood apart, serving neighborhoods characterized by extreme poverty and extreme racial segregation. On average, 70 percent of residents living in these neighborhoods had incomes below the poverty line. The schools had virtually no racial integration.
But demographics tell just part of the story. Moving beyond an analysis of racial and economic descriptors, the authors examined these communities against other social indicators. They found the communities of truly disadvantaged schools had the highest crime rates and the highest percentages of children who were abused, neglected or living in foster care. Residents of these communities were the most likely to live in public housing and the least likely to attend church regularly or believe they could bring about positive change in their community.
A small number of these schools improved in reading and math, primarily because they were strong in the essential supports. But nearly half of them proved nearly impervious to systemic reform and had a lack of progress that contrasted sharply with many other schools. These schools were seven times more likely than racially integrated schools, for instance, to stagnate in math and two times more likely to stagnate in reading.
From the University of Chicago News site:
City of Chicago and University announce developer for Harper Court
January 14, 2010The City of Chicago and the University of Chicago on Thursday announced that Vermilion Development has been selected to redevelop the Harper Court retail complex in Hyde Park.
Vermilion, which has extensive experience in mixed–use developments, was recommended by a joint committee comprised of Department of Community Development planning staff and staff at the University of Chicago.
Vermilion was selected from among 12 development firms who responded to a Request for Qualifications that described the development opportunity and requirements for submitting a proposal for the 128,000–square–foot site.
“This creates an exciting opportunity to redevelop this portion of 53rd Street by creating commercial and retail space that complements the surrounding community,” acting DCD Commissioner Chris Raguso said. “The proposed development will complement and enhance other nearby revitalization efforts, helping to ensure Hyde Park’s future economic viability.”
“As a result of thoughtful and creative input from Hyde Park residents and business owners, we have an excellent development proposal that will serve both the neighborhood and the many visitors to Hyde Park from throughout the city and beyond,” said Ann Marie Lipinski, Vice President for Civic Engagement at the University. “The commitment to Hyde Park’s vitality by both the city and the university is very strong, and this project is a powerful demonstration of that commitment.”
“I am grateful to my staff, DCD personnel and University of Chicago staff for their hard work over the last year on this project,” said 4th Ward Alderman Toni Preckwinkle. “The development team which was chosen will transform commercial development in Hyde Park.”
The project is a partnership between the City, which owns an adjacent parking lot on South Lake Park Avenue just east of Harper, and the University, which owns the current retail properties.
Vermilion’s proposal calls for redeveloping the 40–year–old shopping center located at 5211 S. Harper Ave. by demolishing the existing center and replacing it with a mixed–use development.
The proposed $200 million development will be built in three phases that may include a mix of unique dining, entertainment, retail and office uses.
The City and the University will enter into negotiations with Vermilion and prepare a redevelopment agreement for approval by the City Council at a later date.
Top
President Zimmer's strategic update April 2010
University UpdateTo: University Community
From: Robert J. Zimmer
Date: April 15, 2010
Re: University Update
I am writing to update you on a number of significant developments across the University. As always, our guiding principles must be to support the work of our faculty and students, now and in the future, as well as to preserve and enhance the distinctive culture of inquiry in which this work takes place, a culture that has defined the University since its inception.
As I wrote in the fall, the discipline shown by the entire University community in response to the international financial crisis has enabled the University to make significant targeted investments in support of our scholarly community, and to plan for more in the coming years. This remains the case today. I will provide an update on some such initiatives below, although my discussion will be far from exhaustive.
At the same time, we continue to monitor carefully the University’s financial position, as well as the uncertainty created by the economy.
In spite of a significant rebound in the equity markets, our endowment remains $1 billion less than at the close of the academic year in summer 2008, and philanthropy remains more challenging as well. We will continue to seek ways to improve efficiency and reduce non-essential expenses. Nevertheless, if we continue to be disciplined as a community, we will maintain our ability to be active in enhancing many aspects of academic work.
Academic leadership
This year has been one of transition in our academic leadership. Two deans began their tenure during this year: Colm O'Muircheartaigh in the Harris School of Public Policy Studies, and Michael Schill in the Law School. The provost and I have announced the appointments of Margaret Mitchell as dean of the Divinity School, and Neil Guterman as dean of the School of Social Service Administration. Both will begin their terms July 1. Additionally, we have two searches ongoing for new deans to lead Chicago Booth and the Biological Sciences Division. Everett Vokes, serving as interim dean of the BSD and CEO of the Medical Center since October, has reorganized its leadership structure to increase the role of faculty leadership within the Division and the Medical Center, particularly with the appointment of Professor Conrad Gilliam as BSD Dean of Research and Graduate Education and Professor Jeff Matthews as BSD Dean for Clinical Affairs.Programmatic developments
This year we have begun our first systematic faculty expansion in over forty years. This is taking multiple forms in the schools and divisions, involving both junior and senior faculty, including the intent to appoint new University Professors. This effort is being organized by the provost and the deans with some of these new positions being in response to competitively evaluated proposals from throughout the University.
Expanding the faculty, the core of the University, will be an ongoing, multi-year effort.
In response to the increasing interest of both faculty and students in international research and education opportunities and collaborations, we have a number of projects underway.
In September 2010, we will open the University of Chicago Center in Beijing, creating a permanent base for University of Chicago scholarship in China and supporting our faculty and students who wish to conduct research, pursue educational opportunities, and build collaborations with Chinese institutions and individuals. In addition to serving as home to the College’s Civilization Abroad program and relevant University language programs, the Center will span the University’s disciplines, with programming in three broad areas: business, economics, and policy; science, medicine, and public health; and culture, society, and the arts. Professor Dali Yang, who chaired the faculty committee that helped determine the nature of the University’s presence in China, has been appointed as the Center’s first faculty director. He will work closely with a faculty committee from across the University, appointed by the provost, to lead and foster the programs and institutional collaborations.
With the opening of the Beijing Center imminent, an ad-hoc faculty committee, chaired by Professor Dipesh Chakrabarty, submitted a report recommending the creation of a University facility in India, which would expand the scope of scholarship and education related to India and South Asia as well as our connections to South Asian scholars and students.
Following a similar process that led to the creation of the Beijing Center, the ad-hoc committee’s report will be vetted by various faculty bodies throughout spring quarter.
On February 23, the Council of the University Senate unanimously approved the establishment of an Institute for Molecular Engineering with faculty appointive powers. The proposal for the Institute was developed by a faculty committee led by Professor Steve Sibener, and was driven by the intellectual opportunities created by the breakdown of the boundary between science and engineering at a molecular level. Thus, the Institute is conceived as advancing the University’s tradition of interdisciplinary scientific research.
The University is working to secure the necessary funding for the Institute, and has begun a search for a director who will play an essential role in shaping the specific scientific directions of the Institute. That search will be aided by a generous $10 million gift from the Pritzker family to endow the directorship.
Over the past few years, we have undertaken a number of efforts to improve the financial aid and other support available for our students at all levels. We remained fully committed to these programs during the financial crisis and will be so in the future. The Odyssey scholarship program, established with an anonymous $100 million gift, has been particularly important for students from families with the greatest financial need. In the face of a challenging environment for philanthropy, combined with the need to increase financial aid, we have had a special fundraising focus on student financial aid, both for undergraduate students and graduate students. Beyond the original gift, we have raised more than $35 million for the Odyssey program to date.
These efforts and the ongoing work by Dean John Boyer and the College Admissions Office to communicate the educational opportunities available to students have led to the largest and most diverse applicant pool in the University’s history. As applications grew by 42 percent, the academic preparation of the students admitted for Fall 2010 is stronger than ever.
Applications also have increased across our graduate and professional programs, and we continue to expand our investments in graduate and professional student aid and teaching support. There are other issues related to graduate student success that require attention. The Provost’s Office is working with deans and departments on a number of efforts intended to support our graduate students in achieving their educational goals.
Investment in facilities
We will soon see the Joe and Rika Mansueto Library taking shape above ground at the corner of 57th and Ellis. The building is on schedule to open in the spring of 2011. Use of library research materials remains essential for scholarship in many fields, and the Mansueto Library will further advance the University as a leading location for research.
Groundbreaking for the Reva and David Logan Center for Creative and Performing Arts is scheduled for May 12. The Logan Center is an affirmation of our commitment to the arts and will be characterized by interaction of multiple arts disciplines. This physical manifestation of our commitment to the arts is in parallel to the faculty work on new programmatic initiatives on Arts and the Disciplines, a process being led by Professor and Deputy Provost Larry Norman.
The New Hospital Pavilion is proceeding slightly ahead of schedule and is expected to receive its first patients in early 2013. The NHP is essential for our ability to provide the highest level of care for complex disease. It also will provide new opportunities for educating students and residents, and will strengthen the linkages between research and patient care.
A new science building, the William Eckhardt Research Center, supported by a $20 million gift from Bill Eckhardt, will be built on the current site of the Research Institutes at 57th and Ellis. This building will house astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, and theoretical high energy physics, as well as the new Institute for Molecular Engineering.
Architects are well advanced in work with faculty on design, and construction will begin with the demolition of the current Research Institutes building beginning in 2011.
Plans for long-needed renovation of the Laboratory Schools facilities are moving forward. As part of that planning, a new early childhood education facility on Stony Island Avenue is being explored for pre-kindergarten and early elementary programs. The University has convened a series of meetings with neighbors and community members to evaluate the proposed plans.
The University in the community
The Urban Education Institute demonstrates how the University both contributes its academic expertise to advance our city, and benefits from direct engagement in the community. The Institute – which runs four charter schools with students from grades pre-K to 12, conducts research through the Consortium on Chicago School Research, and provides an innovative urban teacher preparation program – is supported by a dedicated group of private donors, foundations, and the federal government. The high school will graduate its first class in June. The Consortium’s approach to research and close partnership with the Chicago Public Schools are being emulated in a growing number of cities across the country.
The groundwork laid through programs like UEI and through the work of the faculty in the Committee on Education has led to other fruitful partnerships. For example, members of the faculty, including Professor Charles Payne, are working in support of the Woodlawn Children’s Promise Zone application, a project led by Bishop Arthur Brazier. The program is an effort by the Woodlawn community to secure federal funding for a cradle-to-college comprehensive education system in the entire Woodlawn neighborhood, modeled on the success of such an effort in Harlem in New York City.
Faculty, staff, students, and community members have long been vocal advocates for more retail, restaurants, entertainment venues, and housing choices. Despite the extremely difficult environment for commercial development due to the financial crisis, the University and the City are negotiating together with a developer for work on the combined property of Harper Court (owned by the University) and the adjacent City-owned parking lot at 53rd Street and Lake Park. We will keep you informed of our ongoing efforts.
Looking to the future
The University community today – faculty, students, trustees, staff, alumni, and friends – are the collective stewards of the extraordinary legacy and promise of the University. While the times are challenging, they remain filled with opportunities. The Board of Trustees has the specific responsibility to work with the president and senior administration on programmatic, facilities, and financial investments for the long-term health of the University. We are fortunate to have a Board of Trustees that is ambitious for the University’s future, committed to its distinctive values, and confident in the strength of our community. It is this ambition, commitment, and confidence that is enabling us to proceed vigorously even in these challenging times. I look forward to the continued collective work of the entire University community in support of the enduring values of the University of Chicago.News Office Homepage- May 5, 2010
University to mark next chapter in arts practice, scholarship with Logan Arts Center groundbreaking events
A wide-ranging lineup of arts celebrations will accompany the ceremonial groundbreaking for the new Reva and David Logan Center for Creative and Performing Arts on May 12, highlighting the University of Chicago’s distinctive approaches to arts theory and practice.The festivities planned for the day and evening include a Faculty Roundtable discussion on the arts at UChicago and three campus venues that will showcase current student and faculty works. These activities will lead up to the evening’s formal groundbreaking ceremony for the Logan Arts Center, which will be held at 6 p.m. May 12, at the center’s future site on the Midway Plaisance at 60th Street and Ingleside Avenue.
Come to the Logan Arts Center Groundbreaking! RSVP here.Through music, video and spoken word, the formal groundbreaking ceremony will highlight the impact that the Logan Arts Center will have on arts activities and collaborations on campus, and in the broader community.“The extraordinary resources that the Logan Arts Center will make available to our students and faculty will support new forms of artistic practice, teaching and scholarship, and allow artists to continue to push the boundaries of creativity, while furthering our engagement with residents of the South Side and the City of Chicago,” says Larry Norman, Deputy Provost for the Arts.
But before President Robert J. Zimmer and Board Chairman Andrew Alper lead the commemoration of a new chapter in creative pursuits, University artists will perform around campus, and scholars will discuss a broad slice of the University’s arts scholarship. The celebration also is the centerpiece of 60 Days of UChicago Art, a set of arts programs this spring that have been coordinated with the Logan Arts Center groundbreaking.
David Levin, Associate Professor of Germanic Studies, Cinema and Media Studies, and Theater and Performance Studies, will moderate a Faculty Roundtable discussion on May 12 about the University’s tradition of exploring the arts through theory and practice. A conversation among Thomas Christensen, Professor in Music and the College, Jennifer Wild, Assistant Professor in Cinema and Media Studies and the College, and Laura Letinsky, Professor in Visual Arts and Cinema and Media Studies and the College, will highlight the work of Chicago faculty and the impact the Logan Arts Center will have on the interactions between scholarship and creative work and performance, exhibition, and public programming. The Faculty Roundtable will be held at 4:45 p.m. in the Reynolds Club’s third-floor Francis X. Kinahan Theater.
From 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., UChicago artists will share some of the imaginative products of their artistic pursuits at three campus locations.
Midway Studios will exhibit the works of visual artists, and screen documentary films made by students in Cinema and Media Studies. A display of historical images of Midway Studios will complement an unveiling of benches that were created from building materials salvaged from the recent Midway Studios renovation project.
On the north side of campus, the Smart Museum of Art will feature its current gallery exhibitions, including “The Darker Side of Light,” as well as Music Department artists who will perform chamber music, and students and faculty members who will read original works from their creative writing projects.
Members of University Theater, Theater and Performance Studies, Ransom Notes, Golosa, Soul Umoja, Off-Off Campus, the Dean’s Men, University Ballet, Men in Drag, Voices In Your Head, PhiNix Dance Crew, UC Dancers, and Fire Escape Films—all of whom add to the creativity of the annual student-run Festival of the Arts held each spring—will share theater, choral, dance and film performances, in the Reynolds Club.
“The performances surrounding the Logan Arts Center groundbreaking provide a wonderful opportunity for the University community, and members of our broader community, to experience the creativity and talent of our students and faculty,” says William Michel, Executive Director of the Reva and David Logan Center for Creative and Performing Arts.
“The ceremony itself will point to Chicago’s history, its present and its future as a vibrant place to express the diverse disciplines within the arts. We also want to formally thank the Logan family and all of the contributors who have made the art center possible,” says Michel. “We hope the entire University community will join us to celebrate their generosity and the future of the arts at Chicago.”
The University’s Jazz X-tet will close the ceremony as guests are invited to a reception. Several evening performances will provide other options to experience UChicago arts, including the final dress rehearsal of Court Theater’s production of “Sizwe Bansi is Dead;” a Motet Choir concert in the Great Hall at Midway Studios; and an open rehearsal of the University Symphony Orchestra in Mandel Hall.
More information about the Reva and David Logan Center for Creative and Performing Arts and the groundbreaking ceremony may be obtained at: http://arts.uchicago.edu/logan/.
By Laurie Davis
This and That
- The Smart Museum has received in April 2010 a grant of $300,000 for its upcoming exhibit on the Cave Temples of China.
- Janet Rowley gets award for lifetime acheivement in Cancer research
- Urban Education Institute continues to put effort where research shows it's needed-- taking ownership of new teachers and principals through their early career years and directing student to knowledge about college and college aid that will make a difference in college success.