"In addition to the economic impact, Rollins College enriches the quality of life in Winter Park and Central Florida," said George Herbst, vice president of finance and treasurer. "It’s beneficial to institutions and their communities to periodically update the information so there is a clear understanding of the many contributions not-for-profits make to the community."

Rollins College relationship with the City of Winter Park is 121 years strong. Rollins was founded as a small liberal arts college by New England Congregationalists in 1885 and Winter Park was chartered two years later.

The economic impact analysis of Rollins College was conducted by the marketing research firm Tripp Umbach of Pittsburgh, Pa. One of the leading providers of economic impact analyses in the nation, the firm has completed hundreds of studies for renowned academic institutions, including the University of Pennsylvania.

Paul Umbach presented the study May 9 to the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce and offered some interesting insights based on his national awareness of "town and gown" relationships.

"What started as an economic and community impact study ended up becoming an interesting study about the remarkable relationship between Rollins and the City of Winter Park," said Umbach. "Rollins was a pioneer in the '90s with its development of SunTrust Plaza and is more innovative and community oriented than most colleges and universities. The economic opportunities will continue to grow in the next 10 years and we'll see the golden era for Rollins and the City of Winter Park."

Here are some of the highlights of Rollins’ impact on the community identified in the Economic & Community Impact Study:

ECONOMIC IMPACT
• In 2006, Rollins contributed more than $204.9 million to the Florida economy and supported more than 3,300 jobs. The College’s operations also generated more than $14.3 million in state tax revenue. In the City of Winter Park, Rollins had an economic contribution of over $57 million and was responsible for generating $3.4 million in tax revenue.
• Although Rollins is a non-profit institution, the College pays a greater portion of its assessed value in taxes than any of the other top six exempt property owners in the City of Winter Park. In fact, Rollins has added more property to the tax rolls in the last 10 years than it has removed.
• Rollins’ leadership and executive education programs promote economic development within the Central Florida region by educating and connecting local business leaders and philanthropists.

DEVELOPMENT
• Opened in 1999, Rollins’ SunTrust Plaza, situated on land that was formerly exempt from all property taxes, now serves as a major source of property and sales tax revenue for the City of Winter Park.
• SunTrust Plaza added Class A office and retail space and much-needed parking capacity to downtown Winter Park. This development has acted as a catalyst for additional economic development in the southern Park Avenue district. The taxes paid over the past 10 years on this property alone exceed the City’s loss of tax revenues on all properties purchased by the College for educational purposes.
• In addition to the development of SunTrust Plaza, the College’s business operations have initiated numerous activities that have helped to stimulate the Central Florida economy.
• In 2006, Florida businesses invested a total of $30.3 million in real property developments created to support their business activities with Rollins College. Business inventories in the state of Florida that can be attributed to Rollins-related business activities have been calculated to be $25.4 million.

CULTURAL IMPACT
• The Olin Library offers a wealth of information to members of the College and Central Florida communities. The library collection features hundreds of thousands of volumes, serials, video media and electronic databases that can satisfy interests in virtually any subject. Through its archives and special collections, the library also maintains detailed historical records of Rollins College and the City of Winter Park.
• Cultural offerings at Rollins College include the Annie Russell Theatre, Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Music at Rollins, Winter With the Writers series, and programs of the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, as well as academic courses in the arts. In addition, the College regularly hosts presentations by visiting speakers and scholars that are open to the public.
• Rollins is committed to preserving its three historic landmarks: the Annie Russell Theatre, Knowles Memorial Chapel and Pinehurst Cottage. In 2008, the College received both local and state awards for its preservation efforts.
• Athletic activities are an important part of the Rollins experience, with one in four students participating in intercollegiate sports. The College supports 23 varsity sports, intramural sports, and fitness and recreational activities. In addition to drawing community spectators to its numerous varsity games, Rollins hosts hundreds of participants in sports camps and tournaments each year.
• In 2003, Rollins loaned the City of Winter Park $237,500 for three years, interest free, to finance turf, utility, irrigation, and lighting work for the construction of a softball field at Lake Island Park. In addition, the College paid $320,000 to design and construct the softball stadium facility, then transferred title of the facility to the City.

SOCIAL IMPACT
• Rollins makes significant social contributions to the Central Florida region by engaging faculty, staff and students in a broad range of community service efforts.
• It is estimated that $7.9 million was contributed throughout Winter Park and Florida through volunteerism and direct donations provided by the campus community in 2006. The majority of volunteer hours logged by Rollins undergraduate students were not required. Students in the MBA program are required to complete at least eight hours of community service.
• Rollins employees serve the City of Winter Park by sitting on the boards of many local service organizations and public charities, including the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce, Mayflower Retirement Community, Habitat for Humanity, Winter Park Rotary Club, Winter Park Land Trust, and Winter Park Health Foundation.
• Established in 2001, Rollins’ Office of Community Engagement works in conjunction with the Vision Team and Community Partnerships to enhance leadership, diversity and social justice through community service, activism, civic engagement and social change.
• In 2008, the Corporation for National and Community Service named Rollins College to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll With Distinction for exemplary service efforts and service to disadvantaged youth. This is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for commitment to service learning and civic engagement.
• In October 2007, Florida Campus Compact recognized Rollins for its commitment to being an engaged campus. Out of the organization’s 51 member colleges, Rollins was honored with the engaged campus Best in Class award in the independent category as well as the Overall Statewide Award.

Read the complete Economic & Community Impact Study.

Read the Orlando Sentinel's coverage in "Rollins shows city its value in dollars."

But the children aren’t the only ones who have fun. The teachers and camp counselors also relish in the experience. Last year, teachers came from all over Central Florida where they teach elementary, middle or high school. “What is so great is that the 19 teachers may teach a course they are not regularly involved with, but in something that is a passion of theirs—like art or music—when during the school year, they teach math,” Camp Coordinator Terry Kent said. They also got to work with children of a variety of ages each day and they taught classes with no tests or homework.

“It reminds them why they are passionate about teaching, having fun with kids and helping them learn and be creative, which is different from the test-driven environment during the academic year,” Kent said.

The Rollins College Summer Day Camp counselors are another key to the camp’s success, according to Kent. These high school and college students from across Central Florida are at least 16 years old, and often they have just as much fun at camp as the children they supervise. Phil Varga, who will enter his second year at Rollins in the fall, was a lead counselor, and last years was his third year of helping at the camp. He jumps right in, talking and joking with the campers and playing tennis with them.

“It is really rewarding to get to work with the younger kids,” Varga said. “At the end of the day, I am hot and tired, but the camp is a great place to work.”

Click here for more information about Rollins College Summer Day Camp and to register.

Various local organizations were on hand to educate the community and offer tips for what everyone at Rollins can do to make a difference. The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF), the Arthritis Foundation, and the Rollins Green Fund were all on hand. Information was also provided to illustrate ways students can make thier residence halls more Earth friendly. Ideas include using laptops that use less energy, turning off lights and electronics when not in use, and plugging all devices into a power strip and turning the strip off at night to ensure power is not being drained.

Sodexo Dining Services also participated in the event, encouraging students to eat organic foods. From noon until 2 p.m. the Cornell Campus Center shut off the lights for a black out to conserve energy. They also sponsored a non-perishable food drive where anyone who brought in three items would receive 20 percent off their lunch at the Marketplace. Earth Day may only come once a year, but Rollins is doing its part to spread awareness and implement changes that have a lasting impact.

“Rollins’ restoration of the Knowles Chapel and rehabilitation of Pinehurst Cottage exemplify our ideal of valuing and preserving our community's significant historic structures,” Casa Feliz Chairman Jack Rogers said.

The purpose of the award is to honor a local person or institution for an outstanding historic preservation project. The mission of the Friends of Casa Feliz is to support the stewardship and preservation of our community’s rich and historic resources through education and advocacy.

Pinehurst Cottage, constructed in 1886, is the only remaining original structure on Rollins’ campus. Last summer, all of the exterior wood was replaced. In an effort to restore the building to its historic design, the College asked Hanbury Evans Wright Vlattas & Company, an architectural firm with expertise in historic preservation, to help guide the process.

“After doing some research in the Rollins archives, we discovered the original building had shutters,” said Rollins Vice President & Treasurer George Herbst. “As a result, added those shutters back.” The building is also now accessible to disabled users. “Throughout this renovation, we maintained a great sensitivity to the historic nature of the building,” said Herbst.

Another major renovation project last summer focused on the Knowles Memorial Chapel. For the first time in the 75 years since the Chapel was built, it underwent a masonry restoration. All the natural stone was restored and damage to the stone and finishes was repaired. Other renovations included exterior paint, new lightning protection on the steeple and addition of another restroom. Ground lighting of the building will soon be installed. Architects with the firms of ACi and Hanbury Evans Wright Vlattas were consulted for the project.

Long-form improvisation generally follows the conventional dramatic structure of a play, incorporating the on-the-spot creative interactivity of improvisation. Each night, eight of the 12 students in the show’s company will draw cards to see which role he or she will play that night. The audience will provide certain information that will shape the action. Like the board game Clue, giant cards will be “shuffled” at each evening’s performance to determine the murder victim, the killer, the weapon and the room. No one knows the killer’s identity, except the actor playing him or her. “Part of the fun for the audience is to try to figure out who the murderer is before the cast does,” say David, “and we’ll have a prize each night for one of the clever audience members who do.”

Although this is the first long-form to be performed at the Annie, it is familiar territory for Charles. Improvisation is the primary focus for his dissertation, conference presentations and current research. He has written and directed several long-form pieces, including The Lost Comedies of William Shakespeare, recently performed at Orlando’s SAKS Comedy Club, of which he is a member. He is also the artistic director of Rollins Improv Players (R.I.P.), the student group he founded three years ago.

Murder We Wrote: The Improvised Whodunit runs through April 26.

Prestigious Scholarship honorees and student supporters:
(From left to right) Back row: Tanisha Mathis, Nikkia Gumbs, Jessica Drew, Laurie Stephey, Michelle Tanyhill, Clayton Ferrara, Nicholas Horton Front row: Crystal Engert, Shannon Brown, Priyanwada Ekanayake, Austin Connors, Fay Pappas

On April 16, the Office of External and Competitive Scholarship Advisement held a prestigious scholarship reception to recognize the students, faculty and administrators who participated and supported the application process of prestigious scholarships.

This year, 20 students applied for 12 different prestigious scholarships. At the luncheon held in their honor, President Lewis Duncan offered his sincere appreciation and congratulations to the students for all their hard work. “Today we spend so much time working on the problems of an institution,” Duncan said. “So it is appropriate that we are taking time today to celebrate our students. At the end of the day, a college is nothing more than its graduates going out into the world.”

Vice President for Academic Affairs & Provost Roger Casey offered his thanks to the students and faculty who supported them as well. He stressed that all the hard work the students have put in has a much longer-lasting impact than even receiving a scholarship. “This process of applying for these scholarships, even if you don’t receive one, gives you the opportunity to learn a tremendous amount about yourself,” Casey said.

In honor of the dedication to the pursuit of passion and excellence the students demonstrate, Professor of Physics Donald Griffin was chosen to close the reception as someone on campus who exemplifies a life of scholarship. After teaching at Rollins for 38 years, he said he still gets up excited about what he does. “Students like you change our lives as teachers,” Griffin said. “Learning is all about being engaged, which I can see you are. Education is hard work but the rewards are much better than good grades.”

The Office of Student External and Competitive Scholarship Advisement helps students and alumni prepare for a wide variety of highly competitive and prestigious graduate scholarships. These scholarships are mostly funded by the government or private agencies, external to Rollins College; they salute academic achievement, leadership, and public service. Because outstanding undergraduates from across the country vie for these scholarships, competition is intense. The office coordinates student applications for fellowships, scholarships, awards and prizes requiring university nomination, review or endorsement.

While the notification process continues through the month of June, two students have already been honored with awards: Nicholas Horton received the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Sally Woods received the Fulbright Scholarship. Nikkia Gumbs is a finalist for the Fulbright Scholarship and is awaiting notification. Fay Pappas was named a finalist for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship.

Students who applied for various scholarships such as the American Graduate Fellowship, the Gates Cambridge Scholarship and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Scholarship include:
Hillary Serra
Erica Tibbetts
Nolan Kline
Crystal Engert
Steve Miller
Patrick McKelvey
Derek McIver
Raymond Nazario
Tanisha Mathis
Michelle Tanyhill
Bryan Poynter
Priyanwada Ekanayake
Laurie Stephey
Shannon Brown

OneRepublic is an American rock band/R&B group. They have received mainstream attention since the release of their hit single, “Apologize.” The remix was featured on Timbaland’s Shock Value album. The follow up to the single, “Stop and Stare,” is currently number 13 on Billboard’s “Hot 100” list.

In 2001, Fabolous scored a big hit with “Can’t Deny It,” instantly establishing himself as a rising East Coast rap star. He was influenced by southern hip hop sounds and his music has crossed into pop rap as well.

The tour is visiting 15 college campuses. For more information, visit www.nextstepcampustour.com.

CROCS Tour

In Strange Tribe, Hemingway reveals the “strange” dynamics between Nobel Prize-winning writer Ernest Hemingway and his third and youngest son, Gregory. Gregory, John’s father, attempted to live up to Ernest’s manly reputation, but as a cross-dresser and (eventually) a transsexual, Gregory was obsessed with having both masculine and feminine characteristics and never lived up to his father’s expectations. Gregory Hemingway died at Miami’s Women’s Correctional Facility in 2001 after being arrested for indecent exposure as Gloria Hemingway, the post-sex-change identity he adopted. This is only one of the incidents in Strange Tribe’s recounting Gregory’s struggle with his identity, and its impact on his son John.

Strange Tribe is a memoir that explores the relationship between fathers and sons in this iconic literary family. John Hemingway shared very personal accounts of his and his father’s legacy as Hemingways living in the larger-than-life shadow of Ernest. John revealed surprising ways that Ernest and Gregory, both suffering from bipolar episodes and both interested in androgyny, were “two sides of the same coin,” a subject that has been explored with great interest by Hemingway critics in the last decade or so of gender studies.

John Hemingway is a writer and translator who currently lives in Canada with his wife, Ornella, and their two children.

“Children learn readily through multi-sensory experiences, and a field trip to the CFAM can offer a unique and rich learning opportunity for students,” said Cornell Fine Arts Museum Education Coordinator Tracy Gore. “Our exhibitions encourage students to do a minimal amount of listening and observing and a maximum amount of comparing, contrasting, conversing and sharing.”

During the visits, students receive a tour from museum volunteers followed by various hands-on activities. Expenses for each of the visits are paid for on behalf of the Winifred Johnson Clive Foundation grant.

Gore’s goal is “to reach many students and engage them in wonderful conversation about what they see and how they feel about it.” Local teachers are notified by mail when a new exhibition is on display. Workshops are also available for teachers to become familiar with the exhibitions.

Traditional school classes have been the usual participants for the field trips, but recently the CFAM has extended invitations to youth organizations (including, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Boy and Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts). On average, the CFAM hosts about 25 field trips each semester.

On Saturday, April 12, Rollins welcomed The New York Times journalist and best-selling author Frank Rich. About 500 people attended the talk on “Art, Culture, and Politics,” which was free and open to the public.

Rich’s popular weekly column crosses politics with popular culture. During his introduction of Frank Rich, Vice President for Academic Affairs & Provost Roger Casey said, “We now know officially what many of us in theater knew from Frank’s start. He is not just a theater critic. He is the American newspaper’s equivalent of Roland Barthes, a cultural critic, a critical media analyst who sees the dynamic issues of our time often played out dramatically in our popular culture.”

Rich’s visit was the highlight of the 20th anniversary celebration of Rollins College Hamilton Holt School’s Master of Liberal Studies (MLS) program. Winter Park Mayor David Strong proclaimed April 12 “Rollins College Master of Liberal Studies Day” in the City of Winter Park.

Hamilton Holt School Dean Sharon Carrier presents a proclamation to Former Hamilton Holt School Dean and Director of the MLS Program Bob Smither. Winter Park Mayor David Strong proclaimed April 12 “Rollins College Master of Liberal Studies Day” in the City of Winter Park.

Rich’s wide ranging talk covered topics such as the O.J. Simpson trial, the problems President Bill Clinton encountered while in office, CBS’s declining ratings, the impact of September 11 and the upcoming presidential election. “Today, it’s hard to know where entertainment ends and information begins,” said Rich. “We live in a culture where you can make up virtually any story and get away with it.” He emphasized the importance of reporters sharing the facts in news stories.

Rich signed books following the event. His latest book is The Greatest Story Ever Sold: The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina. He came to Rollins as a Thomas P. Johnson Distinguished Visiting Scholar.

Rollins is one of a select group of institutions that offers a graduate degree in liberal studies. As President Lewis Duncan noted in his remarks for the program's anniversary, other institutions that have an MLS program include Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, Dartmouth and Duke. The interdisciplinary MLS program, introduced at Rollins in 1987, offers courses from multiple branches of learning, including philosophy, literature, history, and social science. The program has more than 200 alumni. “For two decades now, the MLS program has provided personal enrichment and professional enhancement for members of the Central Florida community who want to expand their intellectual horizons at the graduate level,” said Professor of Psychology Robert Smither, who directs the Rollins MLS program.