Building on a national collegiate initiative to increase community involvement by students and the energy created by the recent presidential race, the SUNY Fredonia Convocation Committee has announced that the convocation theme for spring 2005 will be "A Call to Civic Action."
 
"We came to the decision, in part, because of last fall’s election. We saw that our students became very involved," said Dr. Jack Croxton, Interim Dean of the SUNY Fredonia College of Natural and Social Sciences and chair of the convocation committee.
 
Dr. Croxton also noted that SUNY Fredonia participation in the American Democracy Project, a New York Times-sponsored program designed of over 430 universities, colleges and systems of higher education designed to raise students’ civic consciousness, was also a motivating factor in determining the convocation theme.
 
The convocation is an annual tradition at SUNY Fredonia. Each year, select faculty members and administrators choose a topic to study as a campus. A variety of projects related to this subject are then scheduled across the academic calendar. This year, $5,000 was budgeted by SUNY Fredonia to support convocation events and the Office of the President donated an additional $800 to support convocation functions.
 
Dates and times are still tenuous, but the following events have been approved and funded by the convocation committee:

• Mr. Gene Policinski, executive director of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University, will offer a lecture on the topic of free speech and civic action. He will also moderate a panel discussion with members of the local media. The visit is sponsored by the Department of Communication, the Journalism Program, The Leader, Fredonia Radio Systems and WNYF-TV. The event is scheduled for April.
   
  
• Marilynn Fleckenstein, Director of the Learn and Serve Program at Niagara University, will lead a series of workshops for faculty and students. She will also offer a lecture presentation and moderate a student panel discussion. This activity is sponsored by the Office of Volunteer and Community Services and the Social Work Program. The event is scheduled for April.
   
  
• The Florestan Recital Project, a student production of music and poetry related to civic action, will promote the art of the song recital through performance and educational outreach. The event is coordinated by the School of Music and is scheduled for April.
   
  
• Reed Library will conduct an instructional session to promote civic literacy, create a display that highlights civic action initiatives and sponsor a series of discussions related to the convocation theme. These activities will be scheduled throughout the upcoming semester.
   
  
• "A Starting Small Project: Tools for Teaching Tolerance" will consist of a series of presentations by local educators emphasizing the importance of civic engagement and tolerance for difference. They will make a workshop presentation at the SUNY Fredonia Annual Diversity Summit as well as making classroom presentations. The project is endorsed by the Campus and Community Children's Center and is scheduled for April.

The 2004-2005 convocation committee consisted of Dr. Croxton; Dr. Linda Brigance, Department of Communication; Dr. Kathleen Gradel, College of Education; Dr. Karry Kazial, Department of Biology; Jefferson Westwood, Rockefeller Arts Center; Dr. Kay Stonefelt, School of Music; and student representative Lauren Carlson.
 
"I’m very excited about what we have planned. There is a great deal of diversity in terms of projects," said Dr. Croxton. "People may not normally think that there would be this sort of relationship between, say, the Department of Communication, the School of Music and the Reed Library, but each of those groups submitted projects that were capable of being tied together. That’s very interesting. I hope that members of our campus and local communities take advantage of their opportunities to come take part in these events."
 
Specific dates will be announced when finalized. For dates, times, locations and information about events at SUNY Fredonia, check the News and Calendars link at www.fredonia.edu.