Croft-Leominster, Inc. Co-Founder Funds St. Mary’s College Archaeological Research in Southern Maryland
St. Mary’s College of Maryland received a gift totaling $40,000 from L. Gordon Croft, of Croft-Leominster, Inc. The gift, Croft’s second to St. Mary’s College, will support archaeological research in the Port Tobacco area in Charles County, Maryland.
The research, to be led by St. Mary’s College Professor of Anthropology Julia King along with her undergraduate students, will begin in the spring of 2016.
Speaking of Croft’s gift, King said, “Through his generous contribution, Mr. Croft is helping St. Mary’s College students perform research in the context of both classroom learning and hands-on experience. Charles County has some of the richest history in the state, stories that we can all learn from. We are thankful to Mr. Croft for making this research possible.”
Croft, a Port Tobacco native who now resides in Baltimore with his wife, Jane, is an advocate of students’ education, especially those from Charles County. He has bequeathed several endowed scholarships that benefit county students attending colleges and universities across the country, and has provided non-monetary gifts such as laptops to local elementary and middle schools.
Croft is vice president and director of Croft-Leominster, Inc., a Baltimore-based investment advisory firm. He co-founded the firm with his son Kent Croft in 1989.
St. Mary’s College Appoints Michael Dunn Director of Title IX Compliance and Training
St. Mary’s College of Maryland announced the appointment of Michael Dunn as director of Title IX compliance and training.
Dunn comes to St. Mary's College from Columbia University, where he served as director of investigations/deputy Title IX coordinator in the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action. Prior to his role as director of investigations, Dunn was assistant director of community outreach at Columbia.
Dean of Students Leonard Brown, who chaired the search committee, said, “Michael stood out from the candidate pool because of his clear understanding of the complexity of Title IX compliance, his ability to relate well to students, and his ability to work effectively across multiple constituencies on campus. He brings great experience working with Title IX and other equity issues in higher education. Michael will be a great addition and asset to our community.”
As director of Title IX compliance and training, Dunn will report to President Tuajuanda Jordan. He will join St. Mary’s College in July.
St. Mary’s College Saves 6,393 kWh in Campus Conservation Nationals 2015 Competition
St. Mary’s College of Maryland announced the results of its participation in the fifth annual Campus Conservation Nationals (CCN) competition, a nationwide effort among colleges and universities to conserve electricity and water. In just three weeks—April 5 to 26—St. Mary’s College students, faculty, and staff saved a total of 6,393 kilowatt hours, resulting in the avoidance of 4.4 metric tons of CO2 emissions.
St. Mary’s College joined the ranks of over 100 institutions nationwide that participated in CCN. CCN is hosted by the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), Lucid, the Alliance to Save Energy and the National Wildlife Federation.
“Campus Conservation Nationals creates a unique opportunity for students across the continent to mobilize and reduce their resource consumption. Students are taking an active role in leadership and personal behavior change to mitigate the effects of climate change and promote sustainability, and it all starts on their campuses,” said Hannah Debelius, USGBC students program manager at the Center for Green Schools at USGBC.
"Green Cup was a great success. We would like to thank our campus community for participating and getting excited about saving energy, and our sponsors for providing a generous set of prizes for the competition," said competition organizer and St. Mary’s College senior Kate Cowart.
Sponsors for the 2015 Green Cup included Sweet Frog Frozen Yogurt, Cracker Barrel, Bella Salon and Spa, Cocoa's Caribbean, ASI/Mac-Gray Laundry Systems, Ledo's Pizza, and Texas Roadhouse.
Learn more about St. Mary’s College’s sustainability efforts at http://www.smcm.edu/sustainability.