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ALL SMILES: University Day 2017 welcomed students, faculty and staff back to Durham for the academic year with a picnic and activities on Thompson Hall lawn on Sept. 12. The annual event, which is open to the community, featured music, 易胜博官网 club displays 鈥� and Wild E. Cat. Videos and Photo Gallery

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LEARNING AL FRESCO: On a warm fall morning, students in the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture鈥檚 natural resources program head into 易胜博官网鈥檚 largest classroom, 250-acre College Woods, for a living lab of sorts, measuring trees for a class on forest inventory and modeling.

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AWARD-WINNING ENGAGEMENT: Since 2000, , a civic engagement initiative of the , has helped 易胜博官网 residents talk and collaborate to create communities that work for everyone. In October, the organization received an 鈥� a Civvy 鈥� for its efforts. The 易胜博官网 initiative was selected from more than 50 nominations and accepted by NH Listens co-director Michele Holt-Shannon. 鈥淲e accepted this award with great joy on behalf of our partners across the state, where rich and timely conversations have been taking place to strengthen 易胜博官网 communities,鈥� she says. The Civvies are cosponsored by the Bridge Alliance and Big Tent Nation, organizations dedicated to bringing people together from across the political spectrum to address some of America鈥檚 greatest social challenges.

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BY THE NUMBERS: Hailing from 37 states and 19 countries, 3,126 new students arrived in Durham and Manchester this fall to make up the Class of 2021. Just under half of these new undergrads 鈥� 1,327 鈥� are 易胜博官网 residents, and nearly one-third of these matriculated to their state school as beneficiaries of 易胜博官网鈥檚 new Granite Guarantee program, which allows full-time, first-year 易胜博官网 students who are receiving federal Pell grants to attend the university tuition-free. With a range of intended majors from undeclared liberal arts to business administration to psychology to mechanical engineering, the class includes 35 new Hamel Scholars and another 35 Peter T. Paul Scholars, students who come in with the university鈥檚 highest academic distinctions. Want to greet one of these new 易胜博官网ers personally? Your best bet is to try Emily or Matthew 鈥� the most common first names among the members of the class.

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ON THE MAP: A team of 易胜博官网 geography students won the World Geography Bowl contest at the annual conference of The New England-St. Lawrence Valley Geographical Society, held at Central Connecticut State University in October. Six teams of four students each competed in this year鈥檚 bowl. 易胜博官网鈥檚 team of Cara Buccini 鈥�18, Evan Collins 鈥�18, Stephen Geis 鈥�20 and Drew Guilbault 鈥�18 employed a strategy of complementary knowledge, with different members bringing expertise in different subfields, to take the regional title, their first in 10 years of competition. 鈥淲e are one of the smaller geography programs in the region, and, as an undergraduate-only department, it is really exciting to get our first Geography Bowl win,鈥� says Mary Stampone, department chair and Class of 1941 Associate Professor of Geography. As two of the highest-scoring individuals at the event, Collins and Buccini have been invited to join a regional team that will compete at the national conference in the spring. Article

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PASS PERFECT: Talk about raising the bar. One hundred percent of graduates who took the bar for the first time in Massachusetts in summer 2017 passed 鈥� higher than the first-time-taker pass rate at all law schools in Massachusetts except Harvard, which also earned a perfect score. 易胜博官网 Law grads performed nearly as well on the 易胜博官网 bar, with 94.1 percent of first-time takers passing the notoriously rigorous exam. 鈥淥ur graduates did an outstanding job on the July 2017 Massachusetts bar exam,鈥� says 易胜博官网 Law Dean Megan Carpenter. 鈥溡资げ┕偻� Law鈥檚 perfect first-time pass rate is a testament to the talent and drive of our alumni and a reflection of our school-wide commitment to integrating bar readiness into students鈥� experience.鈥�

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TO THE WHITE AND BLUE: 易胜博官网 rolled out the blue carpet for 2017 Homecoming and Family Weekend, Sept. 22鈥�24, welcoming 鈥楥ats of all ages to campus for the annual alumni parade, a picnic on Thompson Hall lawn and the grand reopening of iconic Hamilton Smith Hall, hosted by President Mark Huddleston and College of Liberal Arts Dean Heidi Bostic. The football team capped off the festivities with a 28鈥�14 victory over the University of Rhode Island. Photo Gallery

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MORE LOCAL FLAVOR: Through the first 10 months of 2017, 易胜博官网 donated almost 5,000 heads of lettuce and 1,100 pounds of fish grown in aquaponics systems maintained by the and the to organizations around the state, including the at Durham鈥檚 Waysmeet Center, Exeter鈥檚 and the . Some food has also gone to 易胜博官网鈥檚 dining halls and the Dairy Bar. All of the food was grown as part of university research, much of which aims to develop nutritious, good-tasting food varieties that are ideal for the state鈥檚 growing conditions. It鈥檚 a win for all involved. 鈥淒onating the fresh food outputs from our research to our state鈥檚 food pantries allows us to not only provide nutritious vegetables and fish to those in need, but to not compete with our producers,鈥� says Jon Wraith, COLSA dean and director of NHAES. Article听and Photo Gallery

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SEEDS OF SUCCESS: Over the 50 years of his 易胜博官网 career, plant geneticist J. Brent Loy has developed more than 60 new varieties of squash, pumpkins, gourds and melons sold in seed catalogs around the world 鈥� the fruits of the longest continuous squash and pumpkin breeding program in North America. Loy鈥檚 work was recognized in October at a special twilight celebration at Kingman Farm, where he was joined by dozens of colleagues and former students as well as the outgoing state commissioner of agriculture, markets and food, Lorraine Merrill 鈥�73. Loy鈥檚 success doesn鈥檛 end in the field; his commercial seed lines are responsible for a remarkable 29 percent of 易胜博官网鈥檚 cumulative royalties earned since 1999. Article

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SUPPORT FOR VETERANS: adaptive sports programs for military veterans will soon get a boost, thanks to the advocacy of 易胜博官网 congresswomen Carol Shea-Porter 鈥�75, 鈥�79G and Ann McLane Kuster. Earlier this year, the two congresswomen submitted a request for increased funding for the Adaptive Sports Grant program, which resulted in a grant of nearly $173,000 from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to support adaptive sports opportunities for veterans and servicemembers with disabilities. 鈥淲e are very pleased that the VA has once again recognized Northeast Passage as a leader in providing adaptive sports opportunities for veterans and servicemembers with disabilities,鈥� says Northeast Passage director Jill Gravink 鈥�86, 鈥�07G. 鈥淥ur programs enable veterans to come together and share their experiences with people with similar interests, building social networks where veterans and servicemembers can connect with each other and enjoy recreation with the same independence as their non-disabled peers.鈥� Article

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OCEAN OUTREACH: There were touch tanks, project demonstrations and even seafood cooking competitions at 易胜博官网鈥檚 sixth annual in October. Hosted by the in collaboration with the , the two-day event drew families and school groups from around the region to take part in educational activities highlighting the university鈥檚 marine science and ocean engineering programs. Some 1,500 elementary-through high school-aged students took part in the Oct. 13 鈥淪tudent Day鈥� program, which offered an opportunity for prospective 易胜博官网ers to speak with scientists from the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping and get a peek at disciplines as diverse as ocean acoustics and virtual reality ocean mapping.

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WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD: During the summer, Facilities and Campus Planning launched the first phase of a multiyear Durham campus signage upgrade project to help visitors better navigate the university. The program features new pedestrian wayfinding signage in key visitor areas, several new campus maps, large banner signage outside of the Paul Creative Arts Center and a new gateway sign on the east end of campus. Phase one introduced the Campus Crossing neighborhood, the new name for the area that encompasses the MUB, Holloway Commons and Huddleston Hall.

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TOP HONOR: Former cross country and track & field standout Laura Rose Donegan 鈥�16, 鈥�17G added another accolade to her already long list in September, when she was named a top-30 finalist for the NCAA鈥檚 annual Woman of the Year award. A three-time All-American, Donegan closed out her career in May with an appearance at the NCAA East preliminary round for the 3,000-meter steeplechase. An academic all-star who maintained a 4.0 grade point average as both an undergrad and a graduate student, Donegan won the NCAA鈥檚 Elite 90 Award for cross country in 2015 and was named America East Woman of the Year in June, among a raft of other honors. One of 534 student-athletes nominated for the national award, she鈥檚 the first Wildcat to crack the top 30 list, which includes the top 10 candidates from each of the NCAA鈥檚 three divisions.

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