Saint Michael's College Political Science Professor Patricia Siplon of Burlington and six of her students made the case for activism in response to the worldwide AIDS pandemic at the New England Regional Summit of the Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC) hosted by Harvard University November 8-9.
Professor Siplon, who is co-chair of the board of directors of SGAC's parent organization, Global Justice, presented a talk titled, "Institutionalizing SGAC Chapters on Campus," at the conference.
Three of her students presented a talk titled "Organizing on Campus: Bird-dogging and Beyond" at the gathering, which included undergraduate and graduate students from Brandeis, Boston University, Clark, Mount Holyoke and other schools. The Saint Michael's student presenting the paper on student activism were Kate Bailey, sophomore American studies major, daughter of Janet Bailey of Hooksett, N.H., and Matthew Bailey of Sudbury, Mass.; Madison Reeve, junior political science major, daughter of Ruth Reeve of Delaware, Ohio, and Alan Reeve of Marion Ohio; and Alexsis Regan, sophomore, political science major, daughter of Ellen and Walter Regan of Medford, Mass.
Other Saint Michael's students participating in the conference were Lindsey Bessette, first-year sociology major, daughter of Michelle Gorton of South Burlington, and Brianna Murphy, senior sociology major, daughter of Mark and Martha Murphy of Centerville, Mass., and alumna Siham Elhamoumi of Burlington, a 2007 graduate and member of the staff of ARD, international economic research and development organization. All six students met with other student activists from around the country to attend workshops and talks given by global AIDS experts and fellow activists.
Saint Michael's College, founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, is identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nation's Best 368 Colleges. A liberal arts, residential, Catholic college, Saint Michael's is located just outside of Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns and less than two hours from Montreal. As one of only 270 institutions nationwide with a prestigious Phi Beta Kappa chapter on campus, Saint Michael's has 2,000 full-time undergraduate students, some 500 graduate students and 200 international students. In recent years Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Guggenheim, Fulbright, National Science Foundation and other grants, and Saint Michael's professors have been named Vermont Professor of the Year in four of the last eight years. The college is currently listed as one of the nation's Best Liberal Arts Colleges in the 2009 U.S. News & World Report rankings.
Photo caption: Professor Patricia Siplon, and her students: Madison Reeve, Lindsey Bessette, Brianna Murphy, Siham Elhamoumi, Alexsis Regan and Kate Bailey.