5/29/2005
"To the Class of 2005: A few words of advice"
Syracuse Post-Standard
Chopp remarked on how this group of students, whose college experience was "bracketed by the horrors of 9/11 and the disaster of a tsunami," has lived through more change than any recent graduating class. She commended them for their support of each other and their civic engagement.
"I hope that they will continue to engage the world as they become leaders in their professions, communities and families. Their years in college have provided them with the knowledge and the skills to do something and effect positive change in these uncertain times. At commencement, I urged the graduates of 2005 to do what is right. Love the world. Do something to make this world a better place. Carry forward the spirit that is the Class of 2005."
5/11/2005
"Saving Higher Education in the Age of Money"
Inside Higher Education
In a Q&A; about their new book, authors James Engell and Anthony Dangerfield were asked about presidents they respect. They replied, "Certainly there are excellent presidents. ... Rebecca Chopp of Colgate (she has reaffirmed Colgate’s commitment to civic and ethical education as essential)."3/28/2005/
"Religious scholar to lecture at Vassar"
Poughkeepsie Journal
President Chopp was invited to speak at Vassar College as part of a yearlong series of events commemorating the centennial of the Vassar chapel. Her lecture, ''Religion, Faith, Spirituality and the Liberal Arts,” addressed the changing nature of religious life in the secular context of a liberal arts education.
1/27/2005
”Talk on King, by proxy, lauds justice, love, hope”
Syracuse Post-Standard
President Chopp was invited to deliver the keynote address at LeMoyne College’s Martin Luther King celebration. Her speech, "Beloved Community, the Liberal Arts and the American Dream,” connected King's beliefs in love, justice, the American democratic tradition and biblical religion to liberal education. "Liberal arts - at its heart - are an education in justice, love and hope and the embodiment of these virtues in society," Chopp wrote.
11/18/2004
”Is It Campus Chic, or Moral Confusion?”
New York Times
The Times printed a letter to the editor by President Chopp, in response to a column by David Brooks. She wrote,
“David Brooks is right to point out that character-building is fundamental to education in the 21st century, but contrary to his suggestion, most universities do not leave character-building alone.
11/9/2004
”College leaders struggle to contain binge drinking”
Associated Press
President Chopp was cited in this national AP story on how colleges are dealing with the issue of drinking on campus.
10/27/2004
”Does 12 + 1 = bad luck?”
Newsday
This article on a new book about superstition and the number 13 – Colgate’s lucky number – featured an interview with President Chopp.
“At Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y., incoming students are instructed to be leery of triskaidekaphobia.
9/25/2004
”Colgate president named to MDA economic group”
Syracuse Post-Standard
President Chopp was cited in this article about a new board formed by the Metropolitan Development Association's Regional Development Alliance. Chopp will represent Madison County.
8/27/2004
”The more things change in sports, do things stay same?”
USA Today
USA Today interviewed President Chopp for this article on sports and change, a subject that President Chopp has studied. ”Colgate University president … studies change in large institutions steeped in tradition, such as universities and churches.
8/20/2004
College rankings
WINS Radio (NY Metro)
News radio 1010 WINS ran a feature on college rankings, specifically U.S. News & World Report and interviewed President Chopp to get the perspective of the president of a prestigious institution. “Colgate president, Rebecca Chopp, suggests prospective students should use the list only as an initial guide”
5/14/2004
”Remaking Case Library”
Syracuse Post-Standard
This feature on Colgate’s new library project cited President Chopp’s vision for the new building. “Every square foot will be transformed," Colgate President Rebecca Chopp said. "It's the largest project we've ever had here."
2/19/2004
”Colgate receives top gifts”
Associated Press
This AP story featured Colgate’s record-breaking gifts. “Two Colgate University alumni will donate $35 million to help build a new science building and improve student life on campus.”
2/19/2004
”Two gifts to Colgate will total $35 million”
Syracuse Post-Standard
”University President Rebecca S. Chopp announced Wednesday donations of $25 million from 1956 graduate Robert H.N. Ho and $10 million from 1980 graduate Daniel Benton. Both men are university trustees and leaders of worldwide investment companies.”
2/19/2004
”2 alumni pledge record $35M to Colgate University”
Utica Observer-Dispatch
Colgate’s fundraising success was the focus of this page 1 story. “The gifts come less than two years after the arrival of President Rebecca Chopp, who developed the strategic plan to raise Colgate's profile. The plan, spanning academic and residential ventures, seeks to combine the traditions of a liberal arts college with the breadth of a research university.”
12/19/2003
”Colgate Has Lesson in Its Final Exam”
New York Times
The Times closely followed Colgate’s run at the national DI-AA football championship, with focus on the university’s focus on athletics and academics.
“Detractors of a Division I-A playoff system may take notice that Colgate's players have balanced finals week with their preparations for a title game. Already, the university has shown that an academic-oriented, nonscholarship team can compete in Division I-AA.
12/19/2003
“Class first program”
Los Angeles Times
Colgate’s run at the national title for Division I-AA football generated a media frenzy, and focused much attention on the university’s ability to balance first-class academics and athletics. This article in the Los Angeles Times captured the excitement.
12/18/2003
”No scholarships? No problem for Colgate”
USA Today
As Colgate got ready for the trip to Chattanooga, Tenn. to play in the national DI-AA football championship, national media focused on the excitement being generated on campus.
"People are really excited. Our phones have been ringing with alumni right and left," school President Rebecca Chopp says. "We're having lots and lots of people get tickets and make plans for Chattanooga."
Patriot League teams have won at least one playoff game in five of the last six seasons. Colgate became the first to reach the semifinals -- and now the final.
It won playoff games in blizzards at home against Massachusetts and Western Illinois. It won last weekend in Fort Lauderdale against Florida Atlantic.
"We've had them in snow. We've had them in heat. We're ready for anything," Chopp says.
“As the charter flight soared into the Florida sky early Saturday evening, Rebecca Chopp looked forward to celebrating with her high-flying football team. The president of Colgate University had just watched the undefeated squad qualify for the Division I-AA championship game by beating Florida Atlantic, 36-24, at Fort Lauderdale. But instead of airborne revelry, she found an eerie quiet accompanied by the appearance of textbooks, laptops and note pads.
"I looked forward to the partying," Chopp said, "but the players were all studying. They didn't spend any time on the plane hooting and hollering. They got right to work once they got on because they have finals this week. I was amazed."
''Our students are in the regular classes,'' the university's president, Rebecca Chopp, said. ''They have to make all their tests. We hope we are showing the American community that it can be done.''
"They [the donors] got more and more excited about the vision of the plan and where Colgate was headed," Chopp said Wednesday. "It was a delightful surprise."
"This is a wonderful commitment on behalf of two loyal Colgate alums," Chopp said.
“The university will undertake three major initiatives to further its long-term goals, Chopp said: build a new interdisciplinary science center, expand the library and create a global communication center, and formalize residential education programs for students.”
“Chopp said the university will use the gifts to build a new interdisciplinary science center, expand the library, create a global communication center and formalize residential education programs for students.”
"The 21st century is going to be about information, and managing and communicating that information," Chopp said. "What we're doing - what all leading universities are doing - is transforming the library into an information and communication center."
”They can be a useful guide in helping the student match the type of school they want with their own needs and aspirations, but they're just one piece of information. The campus visit is exceedingly important. A student has got to find out if they're a good fit for the campus.”
"I would like to see college sports structured in such a way that athletes could be assured of a well-rounded academic education as well as an athletic experience," Chopp says.
"Colgate is a member of the Patriot League, and the presidents run that league. We talk a lot about how we can support and model change to make sure athletes have it all — that they can play football and also be in a theater production if they choose."
"Superstition is counter to critical thinking, to understanding reality," Colgate President Rebecca Chopp says. "Liberal arts is about critical and creative thinking that looks at the facts to make arguments."
The school brazenly flouts the superstition. Colgate, at 13 Oak Dr., was founded in 1819 "by 13 men with 13 dollars and 13 prayers."
"Every time we can try to use the number, we do," Chopp says.
“Unable and unwilling to constantly monitor students, several college leaders said they're increasingly convinced the best bet is to have students make and enforce their own rules. Colgate, for instance, has students in some residences write their own behavior contracts, said president Rebecca Chopp. The idea is to make students answerable to the people they live with.”
"That empowers them, instead of having to live under a 10-page list of rules that the dean hands down," Chopp said.
Many colleges and universities are working to provide a culture for students to strengthen their character and to hold one another accountable.
At Colgate, we are building on the traditions of a core curriculum by combining it with residential programs that focus on civic education, moral reflection and leadership development.
Some may think that it is not the place of higher education to encourage these values, but college students need to develop the courage to help others and to build common good if they are to become strong, moral leaders in their communities and professions.
Colleges and universities must be thinking about and educating for character if we are to meet the needs of the students of today.”