Brickpile Briefs
The Center for Engaged Religious Pluralism has opened at SMC under the direction of professor Barbara McGraw, who specializes in social ethics, religion, law and politics. The center, through the Prison Religion Project, is developing a religious accommodation policy model and providing educational materials about accommodation of diverse religious orientations in prisons.
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During De La Salle Week in April, the College granted an honorary doctorate to Brother Jose Cervantes, FSC, who has established Brothers' colleges in Mexico and helped create the International Association of Lasallian Universities. In his convocation remarks, Brother Jose said that the international university community can be society's conscience by critically evaluating the “temptation to find refuge in a single story” of fascism, communism or capitalism.
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With the presidential election approaching, the College hosted several campaign-related events in the spring, including debates between College Republicans and Democrats on U.S. policy in Iraq and health care. Former San Francisco Chronicle bureau chief Marc Sandalow signed copies of his biography, Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi's Life, Times, and Rise to Power, in the College bookstore.
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Elizabeth Smith is the College's new assistant vice president for college communications. Smith had been at UC Davis since 2005 as director of marketing communications. From 2001 to 2005, she was director of donor relations for Northwestern University and director of marketing and communications for Northwestern's alumni association.
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The former School of Education Building was renamed in honor of Brother Urban Gregory, an SMC president in the 1920s who was instrumental in moving the College from Oakland to Moraga. For the 2008–2009 school year, the hall will serve as temporary home to the Office of Admissions.
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During a “Flick the Switch” contest in April, the College's 22 residence halls competed over reducing energy consumption. Thille Hall, which slashed its energy usage by 28.4 percent, took top honors.
