Nancy Koppelman ’88
guest blogger

Editor’s Note: Nancy Koppelman ’88, Member of the Faculty provides this guest blog about a new program on campus.

The new faculty-led project called the Academic Statement Initiative begins during Orientation Week.  New students meet in seminars to learn about Evergreen’s philosophy and think together about a common reading.  This year’s book was Carlotta Walls LaNier’s A Mighty Long Way:  My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School.

A Mighty Long Way, Evergreen’s common reading for 2012

The campus thought deeply about LaNier’s experiences as one of the “Little Rock Nine”—students who made the first brave step to integrate Arkansas’ public schools in 1957.  During Convocation, Ms. LaNier urged us to appreciate the opportunity that a college education represents.  During the school year, sustained faculty-led activities will help students nurture that appreciation, culminating in each graduate’s transcript-ready Academic Statement.  This Initiative continues Evergreen’s history of innovation, and of trusting students to invent their own paths toward graduation.