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Davidson is a highly selective independent liberal arts college committed to access and equal opportunity.

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Step Afrika!, founded in 1994 as the first professional company dedicated to the tradition of stepping, performed last night in the Duke Family Performance Hall at Davidson College. Ranked as one of the top ten African American dance companies in the United States, the company blends percussive dance styles practiced by historically African American fraternities and sororities, African traditional dance and influences from a variety of other dance and art forms.

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Student Custom Designs Low-Cost Prostheses for Children

Claire Gutermuth '15 is frustrated. "Why won't it process?" She mutters to herself, and begins to type. She sits on a stool at a worktable in Davidson's Makerspace, Studio M, surrounded by technological gadgets and tools. On her computer screen is a digital rendering of a...well, it's hard to say, exactly. It looks like a new-age blueprint of some sort – a 3D model of a curved structure that bends, expands and rotates at the stroke of a key.

It's a forearm. That is, a soon-to-be forearm.

On her keyboard sits a palm and opisthenar (back of the hand). It's a small, gray, plastic piece that will (hopefully) fit into the soon-to-print forearm and later-to-print thumb and fingers.

Gutermuth is using 3D modeling software and Davidson's 3D printers to design a functioning prosthetic hand for a 4-year-old boy named Shane who lives in California.

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Sponsored by a Friends of the Arts Spike! Grant, Davidson College studio art major Stewy Robertson '15 painted a mural in the Knobloch Campus Center. Watch the time lapse to see how the work progressed over Fall Break.

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At the age of 11, Visiting Assistant Professor of Digital Art Liss LaFleur inherited 300 reel-to-reel recordings of famous interviews from her radio host grandfather. Until now they have been sitting untouched in a chest that he built.

She has launched a kickstarter campaign that will run until Nov. 22 with the goal of raising $10,000 – the cost to digitize all 300 tapes. Donors can choose to give a dollar, which digitizes a minute; $35 for one tape; or $70 for two tapes. The recordings include interviews with famous figures such as George Bush, Bill Archer, Kathy Whitmeir and Bishop James Pike. Learn more about the project.

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Like thousands in her home country of Syria, artist Etab Hreib is intimately familiar with the consequences of violent conflict—her son was recently arrested and imprisoned by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and her house in Syria robbed. Hreib, who grew up in a peaceful household with a Christian mother and Muslim father, said she’s surprised by the current conflicts. “I want to show people that it hasn’t always been this way,” she added.

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Student Focus: Iraqi Refugee Aspires to Affect Change in the Middle East

Anmar Jerjees '18 didn't hear about Davidson from college counselors, relatives or friends, or read about the college in glossy brochures – Jerjees learned of Davidson after arriving in North Carolina as an Iraqi refugee and researching his new home state.

When it came time to consider college, Davidson was Jerjees's first choice. He submitted an early decision application to Davidson through the QuestBridge program, which connects exceptionally talented low-income high school students to the nation's best colleges and scholarship opportunities.

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GlobalPost.com: Alumna Reports on a Country at a Crossroads

Coleen José ’12, a Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting grant recipient and award-winning multimedia journalist reports on Filipino youth outsourcing, part of GlobalPost.com’s “Generation TBD” series. http://bit.ly/1vj7DR5

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Students of the Sigma Pi Sigma Physics Honor Society demonstrated their dry ice cannon during Common Hour this week. The students built the device using an empty soda bottle, dry ice, water and a plastic bin filled with hundreds of Ping-Pong balls.

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“It’s On Us” Challenges Campuses to Prevent Sexual Assault

Today, to advance the goal of preventing sexual assault, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden unveiled a new public awareness and education campaign: "It's On Us." The campaign seeks to engage college students and all members of campus communities in preventing sexual assault.

The campaign is being launched in partnership with the Center for American Progress' Generation Progress, along with student body leadership from nearly 200 colleges and universities across the country – including Davidson College – collegiate sports organizations such as the NCAA and Atlantic 10 Athletic Conference, and private companies that have strong connections with students at colleges and universities.

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This summer, 20 students remained on campus to complete research projects of their own design through the Davidson Research Initiative (DRI). Under guidance from faculty mentors, students' DRI projects covered topics across the humanities and sciences, ranging from a study of developing-world economics to the health effects of electronic cigarettes.

The DRI has grown tremendously since its inception in 2007, as more students apply for grants each summer and more resources are devoted to creating fellowship positions for them. The program is open to Davidson first years, sophomores and juniors. Participants should expect to spend five to 10 weeks on campus as part of a collaborative community of researchers.

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If You Put Something Else in Your Pipe and Smoke It, Are You Safer?

The dangers of smoking cigarettes are widely known. But what do most people believe about about up-and-coming alternatives-electronic cigarettes and hookah-which are often touted as safer and less harmful? Two teams of student researchers at Davidson College have been working with faculty mentors to shed some light on these smoking devices for the benefit of both the scientific community and the public.

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Davidson/Red Ventures Partnership Offers Career Opportunities to Students and Alumni

New Red Ventures/Davidson College partnership will provide students with internship opportunities and alumni with career options at one of the most dynamic companies in the region.

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Though Wildcat Welcome Week helps ease new students into life at Davidson, first years are still learning many details in very little time. The process may leave new students with questions like:

Where is the infamous hill?

Is the Webtree growing somewhere on campus?

And just how does one play flickerball?

To help familiarize new members of the campus community with Davidson jargon, we've compiled "The Davidson Dictionary," a video introduction to Davidson College lingo. Read further for full text definitions.

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Self Evident Truths - Davidson College

Sixty Davidson faces are now part of LGBTQ rights activist and artist iO Tillett Wright’s project, Self Evident Truths. Wright aims to photograph 10,000 people throughout the U.S., challenging perceptions of sexual identity. #weareyou http://bit.ly/1tCxBOJ

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Pres. Carol Quillen and Coach Bob McKillop take the "ALS ice bucket challenge" to raise funds to fight Lou Gehrig’s Disease, nominate Davidson Admission VP Chris Gruber, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx, and UNC President Tom Ross.

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More than 30 alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends represented Davidson College at the Charlotte Gay Pride Parade on Sunday, Aug. 17.

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Education Scholars Complete High Impact Projects

Davidson students explored the nuances of learning and assessment in K-12 education through the Education Scholars Program, an internship initiative that places students with community organizations.