McKelvy House is a Distinctive Intellectual and Social Community

Seventeen students of high academic achievement and promise are participating in Lafayette’s distinctive McKelvy House Scholars program this year.

Since 1962, the McKelvy program has brought together Lafayette students with a wide range of majors and interests to reside in a historic off-campus house and share in intellectual and social activities. Weekly discussions over Sunday dinner engage the students in lively exchanges of ideas that continue long after the meals are over. They are the hallmark of the program.

This year’s McKelvy contingent includes seven Marquis Scholars and three recipients of Trustee Scholarships. Chosen from among Lafayette’s top applicants, approximately 60 incoming Marquis Scholars each year receive an annual minimum award of $12,500 (totaling $50,000 over four years) or a grant in the full amount of their demonstrated need if the need is more than $12,500. Marquis Scholars receive distinctive educational experiences and benefits, including a three-week, Lafayette-funded study-abroad course during January’s interim session between regular semesters. They also participate in cultural activities in major cities and on campus, and in mentoring programs with Lafayette faculty.

Lafayette also enrolls about 32 Trustee Scholarship recipients annually. They receive an annual minimum award of $7,500 (totaling $30,000 over four years) or a grant covering their full need if the need exceeds $7,500.

Ten of the incoming McKelvy Scholars are present or past participants in Lafayette’s EXCEL Scholars program, in which students collaborate with faculty on research while earning a stipend. Some EXCEL Scholars publish articles coauthored with faculty in scholarly journals and make presentations at leading academic forums and research conferences.

The seniors in McKelvy House are Heather Badamo, a double major in art and anthropology & sociology from DuBois, Pa.; Zachary Bittner, a biology major from Washington Crossing, Pa.; Cassidy Ludlow, a chemical engineering major from Groton, N.Y.; and Joshua Sullivan, a double major in English and economics & business from Marlton, N.J. This is Badamo and Bittner’s second year in the program.

The juniors in McKelvy are Robert Conner, an English major from Lewisburg, Pa.; Rachel Korpanty, a history major from Summerville, S.C.; Michael Lestingi, a mechanical engineering major from Tallmadge, Ohio; Jessica Merkel-Keller, a neuroscience major from Bridgewater, N.J.; Geoffrey Oxholm, a computer science major from Merion Station, Pa.; Elizabeth Ponder, a biochemistry major from Collegeville, Pa.; Amanda Roth, a double major in philosophy and Women’s Studies from Easton, Pa.; Lauren Sheldon, a double major in English and French from Branchburg, N.J.; and Ian Tiedemann, a history major from Stamford, Conn. Korpanty, Lestingi, Oxholm, Ponder, Roth, and Tiedemann are second-year McKelvy residents.

The sophomores in McKelvy are David Castelletti, double major in music and philosophy, Martins Creek, Pa.; Susan Bothwell, neuroscience, Warminster, Pa.; Hart Feuer, economics and business, Portland, Ore.; and Briana Niblick, B.S. in electrical and computer engineering and A.B. with a major in German, Hatboro, Pa.

Badamo, Conner, Korpanty, Lestingi, Niblick, Ponder, and Roth are Marquis Scholars. Bothwell, Ludlow, and Sheldon are Trustee Scholarship recipients.

Several students are splitting the school year between McKelvy House and semesters abroad. Conner, Feurer, Oxhlom, and Tiedeman will be in McKelvy for the fall semester only, while Roth will join in the spring semester.

The McKelvy Scholars were featured in the weekly national program CBS News Sunday Morning Jan. 2, 2000. A crew from Sunday Morning visited McKelvy House to videotape the students engaging in a Sunday dinner discussion.

“We came to Lafayette to listen in as the McKelvy House students discussed their perceptions of materialism in America at the approach of the new millennium,” says associate producer Sandra Malyszka. The students served as the “voice of the next generation” in the program’s cover story, entitled “Greed,” presented by correspondent Thalia Assuras.

In addition to the dinner discussions, McKelvy Scholars share other activities, including field trips to plays, concerts, and exhibits. Last year’s group journeyed to New York City during the fall and spring semesters. In the fall, they visited the Rose Planetarium and ate dinner at an Indian restaurant. Afghani food and the Tony-award winning play Proof were on the spring agenda. The group also saw George Carlin perform at the State Theatre in Easton and went whitewater rafting on the Lehigh near Jim Thorpe, Pa.

Owen McLeod, assistant professor of philosophy, is faculty resident adviser.

“The McKelvy Program provides a home for students who seek an intellectual community more intense than is typically provided by a dormitory or off-campus apartment,” he says. “The students selected for the program are enriched by field trips and campus debates, and, most importantly, the weekly dinner discussions. The campus is enriched as well because of the activities we sponsor.”

Activities sponsored last year included a campus-wide Symposium on Evil featuring Andrew Fix, professor and head of history; Robin Rinehart, associate professor of religion; and Suzanne Westfall, associate professor of English. McKelvy Scholars also brought Lisa Facciponti, a professional storyteller, to campus and co-sponsored a talk by a writer for the satirical news publication The Onion.

This year’s McKelvy House Scholars have already distinguished themselves at Lafayette.

Six of them participated in the EXCEL Scholars program this summer. Korpanty assisted Fix with the compilation of a new book. She studied comets, astronomy, and divination during the 17th century to determine why comets suddenly went from portents of evil to regular celestial bodies. Korpanty examined English primary sources, which consist of books and articles written in the 17th century about comets and their meaning.

Oxholm has worked with Chun Wai Liew, assistant professor of computer science, and Yoshihiko Ariizumi, assistant professor of foreign languages and literatures, on a project titled “Constructing a Web-based Japanese Tutoring System.” The goal of the project is to facilitate the grading of questions and the assessment of their corresponding level of difficulty by automating the process.

Niblick worked with Margarete Lamb-Faffelberger, associate professor of foreign languages and literatures, to explore the cultural identity of East Germans residing in an area known as Euroregion Neisse. Niblick looked at East German, Polish, and Czech literature and regional media to understand how residents of the region are coming to terms with their past and how they are forging a new identity.

Ponder investigated the physiology of a parasite known as Echinostoma caproni this summer. Much is known about the parasite’s infectious properties, but the organism’s physiology remains a mystery. By studying how the Echinostoma caproni uses amino acids to regulate its metabolism, Ponder and her research mentors, Bernard Fried, professor emeritus of biology, and Joseph Sherma, professor emeritus of chemistry, gained insight into the inner workings of the parasite.

Roth is working on an oral history project to document the education and experiences of African-American and women students at Lafayette in the late 1960s and early 70s.

Sheldon is helping Donald L. Miller, the John Henry MacCracken Professor of History, gather information for an upcoming book by transcribing testimonies of former members of the U.S. 8th Air Force. She even had the opportunity to interview one veteran in person.

Badamo is one of several students who have studied abroad. She spent a semester in Athens, Greece, taking courses in both classical and Mediterranean studies and visiting archeological sites and museums in the Peloponnese, Delphi, and Crete.

Conner journeyed to Hawaii during January’s interim session between regular semesters to take a special Lafayette class called The Geologic Evolution of the Hawaiian Islands.

Korpanty, Merkel-Keller, and Niblick spent January’s interim session in Russia and Poland. They were introduced to the culture through a Lafayette course titled Russia and Poland: Past and Present.

Ponder spent her interim in China taking a Lafayette course called Inside the People’s Republic of China.

Roth traveled to Florence, Italy, in May to take a three-week Lafayette class, Florence: Birthplace of the Renaissance. The experience prompted her to spend the current fall semester in Greece.

McKelvy Scholars demonstrate their commitment to the community by participating in service programs through Lafayette’s Landis Community Outreach Center, under whose auspices students conduct more than 25 programs of sustained voluntary service each year, serving human needs in Easton and beyond. Bothwell is the coordinator of the Neighborhood Tutoring Network, which matches students who want to serve as tutors with children in the community who need additional academic assistance. Sheldon tutored a Northampton County Prison inmate, a local woman hoping to return to school, and a fourth-grade class learning French. Roth also does volunteer work through the organization.

Oxholm spent his spring break doing volunteer work in a Honduran hospital, nursing home, elementary school, and orphanage through Lafayette’s Alternative School Break Club. Niblick tutors neighborood children in reading and math through the America Reads program.

In addition, Bittner is collaborating with six other students in Lafayette’s interdisciplinary Technology Clinic course to improve the patient experience at Lehigh Valley Hospital.

Several McKelvy students have taken the stage as part of their extracurricular activities. Badamo played the role of Miss Agatha in the Lafayette College Theater production of Alison’s House and performed in an outdoor rendition of A Tempest on the McKelvy House grounds. Castelletti and Korpanty are members of Marquis Players, a student group that produces and performs an annual musical to raise money for hunger and homelessness causes. Korpanty is the group’s director this year. Castelletti, Ludlow, Niblick, and Ponder participate in campus music groups. Among them, their musical repertoire includes pep and concert bands; brass, jazz, and flute ensembles; and choir. Roth was on the staff of the student production of The Vagina Monologues.

McKelvy Scholars are involved in a variety of other activities that enrich the campus community and beyond. Bittner, Conner, Ponder, Roth, and Sheldon assist students with writing assignments as Lafayette Writing Associates. Oxholm is president and co-founder of CHILL (Creating a Healthy, Interesting, Livable Lafayette). Ludlow belongs to American Institute of Chemical Engineers and Niblick serves as activities coordinator for Society of Women Engineers. Lestingi is president of the Communications Union, an organization that fosters classroom and extracurricular activities nurturing verbal communication. Castelletti, Sullivan, and Roth are campus tour guides.

McKelvy House was built in 1888 on High Street overlooking the Delaware River, three blocks from campus. Designed by McKim, Mead, and White, it originally was known as “Oakhurst.” The home was built for John Eyerman, a faculty lecturer in mineralogy from 1888-1891. It was bought by trustee Francis G. McKelvy and donated to Lafayette by his heirs in 1960.

Briana Niblick ’06 studied how Germans living along a Polish border are seeking cultural identity in collaboration with Margarete Lamb-Faffelberger, professor of foreign languages and literatures.