By Kathryn Cullen-DuPont
 
The Spring/Summer 2015 issue of CLOCKWORKS has arrived and, as usual, its roundup and reflections on the goings on at Goddard and in its alumni’s lives make for inspirational reading.
 
No alumni publication would be complete without a roundup of alumni post-graduate activities, and in addition to the more general Class Notes, CLOCKWORKS includes an Alumni Portfolio, where—in this issue—you can read about 24 books recently published by Goddard alums.   Congratulations to all, and especially to the MFAW alumni on this list:
 
Patricia Busbee (MFAW ’11)                                                   Johan Kruvant (MFAW ’11)
Joe Cosentino (MFAW ’94)                                                     Donnelle McGee (MFAW ‘08)
Robert Detman (MFAW ’06)                                                  Ilsa McKetta (MFAW ’10)
Merle Drown (MFAW ’78)                                                       Patricia Flaherty Pagan (MFAW ’13)
Ron Heacock (MFAW ’14)                                                       Sol Smith (MFAW ’03)
Shawn Kerivan (MFAW ’06)                                                   Jane Summer (MFAW ’13)
 

Each issue of CLOCKWORKS does an excellent job of reminding us alumni of Goddard’s values and of keeping us in the loop with how it tries to express those values. In this issue Robert Kenney, in is first President’s Letter since his appointment as Goddard’s president (he had previously been acting president), discusses Goddard’s planned woodchip hearting system and points toward the environmental issues discussed in the rest of CLOCKWORKS: in notes about Goddard’s divesting from fossil-fuel investments and replacing its outdoor incandescent lighting with LED lights; in a spotlight on Rania Campbel-Cobb, this year’s winner of Goddard’s Sustainability Entrepreneur Grant for current students; and in feature articles about the Vermont Supreme court’s decision on that woodchip heating system (surprise: it was controversial) and another feature article on five Goddard alums taking the lead in urban planning initiatives around the country.
 
The woodchip heating system hasn’t been Goddard’s only recent controversy, and Mumia Abu-Jamal’s commencement speech to the Undergraduate Studies Program—as well as the invitation itself and the national discussion it sparked—is thoughtfully explored. Less controversial but also noteworthy is the announcement that Goddard has been approved to begin an Early College Program. Such programs allow high school-enrolled student to simultaneously register to take college-level courses, and it’s great news that the Vermont Agency of Education will fund students’ tuition to do this at Goddard.
 
And just to round things out, there’s the star of the CLOCKWORKS cover and of many films, William H. Macy (BA RUP ’72). I won’t spoil the interview by quoting anything other than Macy’s thought that, at Goddard “You can let your imagination roam, and that only tells half the story.” But I will say that if you don’t have the current issue of CLOCKWORKS in your mailbox, that means you need to update your address by sending a note clockworks@goddard.edu. You can also use the same address to send a note when your own next book comes out!