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Lt. Gov. Bysiewicz to Deliver Commencement Address

May 9, 2022 | News

    Photo: Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz (Courtesy of Office of Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz)

    Mitchell College marks its 78th Commencement Exercises on Saturday, May 14, with Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz delivering the keynote address to the Class of 2022. The ceremony takes place at 10 a.m. on the Mitchell College Green.

    Sworn in on January 9, 2019, Susan Bysiewicz is serving her first term as Connecticut’s 109th lieutenant governor. Lt. Gov. Bysiewicz formerly served as Connecticut’s secretary of state from 1999 to 2011. As a state representative in the Connecticut General Assembly, she represented the towns of Middletown, Middlefield, and Durham from 1993 to 1999. A graduate of Middletown High School, Yale University and Duke Law School, she is the author of “Ella: A Biography of Ella Grasso,” Connecticut’s 83rd Governor. Lt. Gov. Bysiewicz and her husband David Donaldson reside in Middletown.​

    Dr. Tracy Y. Espy, Mitchell College president, said, “We are honored that Lt. Gov. Bysiewicz will deliver the keynote address to our graduating class. Her values of hard work, education and persistence, her wisdom gleaned from years of tireless work on behalf of Connecticut residents, her recognition of the value of programs that help neurodivergent communities thrive, and her commitment to growing jobs and investing in the future will inspire our graduates.”

    In addition to announcing the graduating class of 2022, the ceremony will include recognition of students who received honors, awards and scholarships at Mitchell College for the 2021–2022 Academic Year.

    A truly hands-on internship at the aquarium

    Apr 29, 2022 | Stories

    It was all hands on deck during Dev Surprenant’s internship at the Mystic Aquarium. Just two days into working there, he had the opportunity to assist with and learn about “backwash,” the process of changing water in the huge tanks that are home to the marine life.

    A senior environmental studies major who started at Mitchell in the Thames program and was drawn to the college for its accessibility services, Dev worked in his top-choice area at the aquarium — the Fish and Invertebrates department — during his 200-hour internship.

    “I worked with the sting rays and sea turtles and several other animals, groupers and sharks. I am more familiar with them than with the belugas, sea lions and penguins that are also at the aquarium,” he said.

    Student intern Dev Surprenant at Mystic Aquarium doing some testing  Student intern Dev Surprenant at Mystic Aquarium feeding some small sharks

    “My favorite part of my internship was getting to learn about the animals, their behavioral aspects and water quality. I was able to apply some of what I learned in math and chemistry classes. It was also interesting for me to learn about the job of an aquarist, who handles the animals and does what needs to be done to keep them healthy.”

    Dev said that the work done at his internship varied and piqued his interest for possibly pursuing work in an aquarium after graduation.

    “First it was a lot of learning, knowing what to do when and where and what was okay to touch. After the first month, I was trusted enough to do things on my own. My job was to help with the overall goal of making the aquarium run as efficiently as possible without sacrificing manpower.”

    The most common thing that Dev did was clean the algae off of the inside of the tanks, but he also had the opportunity to feed the animals, including his favorite, the sting rays.

    What else did he learn?

    “I watched and did target feeds on a bunch of different animals, and I bonded a lot with some of them. The challenge of my internship was learning many things very quickly, but it helped with the understanding to put my hands on something and figure out how to apply it. I was able to understand how something works by looking at it instead of seeing a diagram.”

    Rep. Courtney Visits to Discuss Planned Innovation Hub

    Apr 19, 2022 | News

    Pictured above: President Espy and Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) meet with other community members to discuss the planned Digital Innovation Hub.

    U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) visited Mitchell College to meet with Mitchell College President Tracy Y. Espy, Ph.D., and other college stakeholders to talk about the planned Digital Innovation Hub for Educational Excellence. The visit included a tour of the Mitchell College Library, which will house flexible learning and collaboration spaces both for Mitchell students and non-student learners, and provide access to computers and support staff for the digital learning supported by the Digital Invitation Hub. The goal of the Hub is to support workforce development needs in the region.

    Courtney recently secured $555,000 in federal funding for the program, which will provide new credentialing and coursework in STEM and behavioral health careers for traditional and non-traditional students. The funding will be used to purchase equipment to support in-person and virtual learning as well as STEM education. One staff member would be hired to administer the program, partnering with college officials and professional organizations to develop new programming.

    “Education and skills training opportunities are the cornerstone of growing eastern CT’s workforce, and I was happy to work with the City of New London and Mitchell College to secure direct, targeted funding for the college’s new Digital Innovation Hub as part of our Community Project Requests in the 2022 budget,” said Courtney. “Dr. Espy and her team are focused on ensuring Mitchell College remains an integral part of training up the next generation of qualified medical professionals, engineers, programmers and other in-demand professions so that more of their students have the skills to step right into these high-skill, high-pay industries—and that in turn is going to attract even more employers to our region. That’s exactly what the Digital Innovation Hub will be focused on, STEM and behavioral health coursework, and I’m looking forward to seeing the program get underway now that our Community Project Request has finally been made law.”

    Espy said, “We are so grateful to Congressman Courtney for supporting our vision to provide our community with more options to prepare for in-demand careers, filling a need in today’s society. Workforce development is critical to the well-being of our region and our state and we look forward to Mitchell playing an important role in that.”

    Largest Single Donation in College History

    Apr 7, 2022 | News

    Pictured above: President Espy shares news with faculty and staff about the historic gift.

    Mitchell College President Tracy Y. Espy announced that Mitchell College was gifted its single largest gift in its 84-year history. The $3 million gift was given by an anonymous donor and includes a challenge match of $1 million, raising the potential benefit to $4 million.

    “This historic gift comes at a transformational moment for Mitchell College….Building on the College’s remarkable foundation of delivering an outstanding educational experience to students of all learning styles, Mitchell College aligns our mission with the future of higher education.”

    — Tracy Espy, Ph.D., President, Mitchell College

    For Mitchell, this future includes an array of pathways for students to achieve their goals, in both career and service, offering expert supports to ensure student success.  Our tremendously generous donor recognizes the unique commitment and ability of Mitchell College to offer exceptional education for a kaleidoscope of learners, representing the spectrum of diversity in race, gender, class, ethnicity and neurodiversity.”

    “We are deeply grateful to our generous donor, as well as to President Espy – whose unwavering commitment to further propel Mitchell College’s distinctive competence of creating a culture of belonging and educational excellence for the full diversity of learners inspired our compassionate benefactor to support Mitchell’s remarkable future.”

    — Richard D’Avino, Chair, Mitchell College Board of Trustees

    The donor of the $3 million to Mitchell prefers to remain anonymous, but stated, “I fully support the Mitchell College mission, the welcoming environment where all diversity is celebrated and all potential is realized, and President Espy’s vision for the future.”

    Dance and Cheer: Playing to our strengths

    Apr 5, 2022 | Stories

    When junior Brittney Tougas (third from right) visited Mitchell College in 2018 as a prospective student, she learned there wasn’t a dance team.

    “They said if I could find enough members, I could start one,” Brittney said. “I made that my mission when I started at Mitchell. I was confident in the fact that people would want to do it. We had an involvement fair and had 20 signups. While not all ended up staying, the interest was there with room to grow.”

    A cheerleader in middle school and high school, Brittney said that Mitchell had a small cheer team when she arrived on campus, but it didn’t perform very much. The team agreed to participate in a dance showcase that Brittney planned, and she helped them with practice structure and stunts. Eventually the dance and cheer teams conjoined, and Brittney took on both teams.

    Now, the team performs at a variety of venues around campus, including athletics events, fall cabaret and dance showcase at the conclusion of each semester. Jono Babbitt is the faculty advisor, but Brittney does most of the choreography, music editing, light planning, and the layout of the shows.

    Self-taught in dance, Brittney’s lifelong dream is to become a choreographer. She reflects on her journey: “I have done dance all my life but taught myself by watching Disney movies and YouTube videos. I copied the dances because I couldn’t afford studio classes. I was told that I wasn’t good enough because I haven’t been trained. But I always value passion over talent,” she said.

    “Now it is the most amazing feeling in the world being part of something bigger than myself. Everyone comes from different backgrounds. Some have money, some don’t. Some struggle with mental health, some have learning disabilities, some have life struggles in general. To watch all of that leave and see them pull off something that three weeks before they told me they couldn’t do is the most rewarding thing ever.”

    “One of the teammates said a few weeks ago that since being on this team her confidence has gone up. Those little moments might be passing, but to me it’s everything. It’s all I ever wanted to do. I told my dad I wanted to be choreographer and people would be so happy to dance because they love it, and they don’t have to be a size 2 to do it and all the stereotypes that come with being a dancer. I try to play to everybody’s strength, and I think that’s probably the most rewarding thing — being able to see them shine and do things that they didn’t think they could do.”