Jan 22, 2021 | News
NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College Esports program is proud to announce its first-ever Rocket League roster. Clare Murphy (s_murfz), a senior, has been named team captain for the upcoming spring season. Ruben Gomes (Rubzs12_GS), Daniel Hotaling (TenFORREST88) and Elisabeth Reid (Flamingpuppeteer) round out the rest of the inaugural team. For more information about Mitchell Esports, please reach out at esports@mitchell.edu.
Full story at mitchellathletics.com
Dec 10, 2020 | News
December 10, 2020
NEW LONDON, Conn. – Mitchell College recently awarded four of its students the inaugural George Floyd Scholarship, recognizing their leadership ability and desire to effect social change. The students – all juniors or seniors studying in the Human Services core, with concentrations in criminal process and behavioral sciences/psychology – received $2,500 each for the 2020-21 academic year. Recipients include Emil Cortorreal of New London, Conn.; Desmond Knowles of Indianapolis, Ind.; Dylan Radovich of Groton, Conn.; and Stephanie Zavala of Norwalk, Conn.
“Mitchell College celebrates diversity, fosters inclusion and promotes empathy. The George Floyd Scholarship aligns with these values, awarding these students for contributing to this culture on campus and aspiring to connect with their communities in an impactful way in their lives after college,” said Dr. Tracy Y. Espy, Mitchell College president.
Nominated by Mitchell faculty in the Human Services core for their positive contributions in the classroom, the four student recipients model Mitchell’s values by their desire to support, serve, protect and help others to build stronger communities and effect social change.
Junior Emil Cortorreal said, “Using the abilities I acquire at Mitchell, I aspire to bring positivity and generational change within my community, providing support within the criminal justice field to those who need and seek help for reintegration in our community.”
Senior Desmond Knowles seeks to change the U.S. criminal justice system that deals with racial and minority justice. He said, “When I graduate from Mitchell, I would like to serve the community by raising awareness and creating a network to help promote and solve this racial and minority justice issue.”
Senior Dylan Radovich plans to join a police homicide unit to help and protect people who have been impacted by violent crime. He said, “No one deserves to lose someone that you hold close and dear to violence. The people who commit such acts should be brought in to face their punishment and have their day in court. The pain and sorrow that a family faces when they lose family to an unnecessary killing is pain that no one should ever have to bear.”
Junior Stephanie Zavala aspires to be a high school guidance counselor. She said, “I see the need for more people working as guidance counselors who are willing to get to know their students and help them navigate adolescence, a developmental time with stressors and changes that can have a long-lasting effect on their lives. I would like my students in the future to know that they have someone that they can count on for those four years. I would also like to create an impact among the adolescent Latinx youth, demonstrating that there are people representative of them in their own community who genuinely understand them and their culture.”
The scholarship was established in memory of George Floyd, who died during an arrest by Minneapolis police, sparking protests in this nation and around the world. Mitchell College Trustee Peggy Flood initiated the scholarship, with support from Trustee Luci Arango. The scholarship provides financial support to junior or senior students of color in the Human Services core whose work in the classroom suggests they will continue to effect change in their community. Students are awarded the scholarship through faculty nominations.
Oct 20, 2020 | News
By Gavin Keefe, Day staff writer
New London — Hunter Yaworski’s Mariner Hall fourth floor dorm room window overlooks the new Mitchell College athletic complex.
In fact, Yaworski lives just a short foul ball away from the baseball turf field where the junior outfielder practices with his team.
A Killingly High School graduate, Yaworski and his teammates are relishing every minute breaking in their new home.
“It’s nice because not a lot of teams get the opportunity to play on turf,” Yaworski said on Tuesday standing near the first base dugout. “To play on it every day is pretty special. … Coming out here every day, it still feels new. I think it’s going to feel like that for the whole year.”
The athletic complex, which only needs a few finishing touches, is a significant upgrade for Mitchell and replaces the school’s heavily used grass fields.
On Tuesday afternoon, the baseball team held a workout and intra-squad scrimmage while the men’s and women’s soccer team ran practice beyond the outfield fence on their new turf field, which also is used by the two lacrosse programs. The softball program also has a new home.
“It was more than I expected,” baseball coach Travis Beausoleil said. “Every bit of it has come out almost perfectly. It’s incredible. … We have one of the best complexes in New England. The soccer/lacrosse field, the softball field, are all just as great.”
The Mitchell athletic community is thoroughly enjoying their own Fields of Dreams.
“Everyone is hyped,” Yaworski said. “You can definitely feel a different energy. I think we’re going to get a lot more better athletes attracted to the school now. It’s definitely a different feel for everyone. Everyone is probably going to be really excited for a while.”
Beausoleil recalled his team’s reaction the first time the Mariners worked out there on Oct. 1.
They had just returned to campus after practicing at Washington Park in Groton. And Beausoleil told his players they could work out on the field.
“The infielders must have stayed out here for four hours taking ground balls,” Beausoleil said.
Norwich Tech graduate Bryce Bedard, who’s serving as a volunteer assistant this fall and returning for his final season of eligibility in the spring, never thought he’d see the day during his Mitchell career where he’d get to play on such a “beautiful field.”
“It was pretty near euphoric,” Bedard said of first stepping on the field. “We went to a couple of turf fields to play games and it is always a cool feeling to play there. But the fact that this is our home field and we get to call this place home now, it’s amazing.”
Now Beausoleil has one very minor problem.
He can’t keep his players off the field.
During their free time, the Mariners are taking infield or hitting there, sometimes until dark. Pitchers are throwing in the new bullpen beside the new home dugout. There’s also a batting cage down the left field line.
“It really has rejuvenated them,” Beausoleil said.
Another advantage is wet weather will be far less of a factor. Heavy showers on Tuesday morning didn’t delay the afternoon workout.
When it rained last year, Beausoleil would trade his fungo bat for a rake. He won’t miss being a groundskeeper.
“On Saturday, it had rained Friday night into Saturday morning,” Beausoleil said. “We were practicing at 9:30. Normally, I would have been here at 5 (a.m.) working on the field and getting everything set and making sure the mound was good.
“But everything was good. My alarm clock went off at 6:30 and I hit the snooze button because there was no field work to do.”
Beausoleil isn’t the only happy Mariner coach.
Women’s soccer coach Marc Davis is finding workouts are more productive on the turf.
“It’s a quality surface and the standard of the play is that much better,” Davis said. “I get a good sense of where they’re at playing amongst themselves. Obviously the true test is getting to play against real competition. But the difference in quality of the sessions this year compared to last year has been huge.”
With the fall season canceled, it will be at least until the spring season before any Mitchell team will play the first official game at the athletic complex.
Until then, the Mariners will just enjoy their Fields of Dreams.
Sep 21, 2020 | News
Dr. Christine Ramsay, Mitchell College life sciences professor, recently secured more than $44,000 in grants from the Southeastern New England Educational and Charitable (SNEC) Foundation. The award will fund three separate projects for Mitchell’s marine research program, including a laboratory upgrade, research on marine invasive species, and a beach restoration project – to the benefit of the college’s student researchers and the local environment. Dr. Ramsay plans to incorporate additional science students into her lab as student research assistants this year.
Founded in 2016 through a gift from the estate of Richard A. Grills of Ashaway, Rhode Island, with target giving areas of historical restoration and environmental conservation, the SNEC Foundation is led by daughter Sharon Grills Jackson, MAT, foundation president. Her husband Stephen Leal Jackson, PhD, is the director of the foundation. The Jacksons’ commitment to Mitchell continues from their time spent as members of the campus community – both worked as adjunct professors and Sharon worked in the Bentsen Learning Center.
Mitchell College, also awarded a grant from the SNEC Foundation in 2018, is grateful for its continuing support of student engagement in learning.
Students will benefit from the laboratory upgrade, creating a new aquarium room in Bingham Hall with bigger tanks and upgraded tank systems to facilitate larger research projects, as well as in-class learning.
Research on the impact of marine invasive species, specifically marine fouling organisms, is part of an ongoing project that Dr. Ramsay conducts with student researchers each year. While the overarching project remains the same, the questions studied each year change.
“We are continuously investigating new questions, but these individual student research projects are designed to be completed before students graduate so they have the opportunity to write up and present their research in a formal scientific setting. For example, two years ago, I took one of my research students to present his research at the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology’s annual meeting in Florida. This is a national conference that allows students to be recognized and gives them opportunities to network with professionals who may be able to help them in grad school and/or industry. Additionally, this student (Peter Abate ’19) and I have submitted this paper to a peer reviewed scientific journal for publication,” said Dr. Ramsay.
The beach restoration project using discarded Christmas trees, started in 2014 by two Life Science students under the direction of Dr. Victoria Brennan, has already yielded noteworthy results.
“I took over the project from Dr. Brennan and since then have established plots and documented that these Christmas trees have successfully increased dune heights by 15cm only 3.5 years after the trees were installed. Remember, this is a significant increase when we are talking about sand dunes, if you think about the size of sand particles!” Dr. Ramsay said.
