New full professors, from left: Rick Gay, Dan Aldrich, Gayle Kaufman, Mario Belloni, Vivien Dietz.

Five Davidson College faculty members have hit a big milestone – promotion to full professor. The college announced last week that trustees approved the new rank for historians Daniel W. Aldridge III and Vivien E. Dietz, physics Prof. Mario Belloni, Education Prof. Rick Gay and sociologist Gayle Kaufman.

Full professor is the college’s top rank and recognizes faculty for achievements in teaching, professional activity, and college/community service. New professors typically begin at the rank of assistant professor. They can be granted tenure and promoted to associate professor after a sixth-year review. They become eligible for full-professor honors after another review and seven more years.

Here are biographies of the new full professors: Read the full story

It was foggy again Saturday in downtown Davidson. (Jay Wilson/DavidsonNews.net)

We’re always looking for good photos of Davidson, people and events. Send us your photos for consideration at editor@davidsonnews.net. Read the full story

Davidson hit a season-high 17 three-point shots and held Chattanooga’s top two scorers to a combined 16 points to pick up its 11th Southern Conference basketball victory of the season Saturday at Belk Arena. Full story in SPORTS»

Firefighters over the past week assisted an occupant stuck in a stalled elevator at the Davidson College Baker Sports Complex and responded to multiple alarm activations caused by burned food on kitchen stoves. Engine 1 was canceled while responding to assist with searching for a missing 2-year-old once the child was found, and emergency personnel helped manage a car wreck on N.C. 73 at Stanley McElrath Road after fluid began to leak from one of the vehicles. Details on these incidents and others (along with a tally of the week’s medical calls) may be found below. Read the full story

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Davidson College President Carol Quillen testified Thursday, Feb. 2, about “Innovations in College Affordability” before a U.S. Senate committee hearing in Washington, D.C.

Her testimony for the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) focused on The Davidson Trust, Davidson College’s commitment to meeting 100 percent of demonstrated financial need with grants and employment, and without packaged loans.

For more information, please visit davidson.edu/senate-hearing

See also DavidsonNews.net’s Feb. 2 news report on the Davidson Trust, five years after it was announced, “Davidson’s no-loan policy brings results and attention”

Carol Quillen

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

Five years ago Davidson College became one of the first colleges and universities nationwide to eliminate loans from student financial aid packages. The decision now drives fundraising and recruiting as the college strives to stay affordable and diversify.

On at least one level it appears to be working: Davidson is enrolling more minorities and students from other “underrepresented” groups. And 44 percent of this year’s freshman class qualified for need-based financial aid, up from 33 percent four years ago.

This week, Davidson is being held up as an example. President Carol Quillen was on Capitol Hill in Washington Thursday, testifying with a group of other education leaders at a Congressional hearing on “Innovations in College Affordability.” President Quillen spoke at midday to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions about the college’s grant and work-study program that promises to let students graduate without loans.

Video coverage of President Quillen’s remarks, CLICK HERE». Read the full story

Sun burns through the fog on the Davidson College campus Thursday morning. (Jay Wilson/DavidsonNews.net)

We’re always looking for good photos of Davidson, people and events. Send us your photos for consideration at editor@davidsonnews.net. Read the full story

Declines in the populations of once-common mammals in Florida’s Everglades National Park have been linked to the presence of invasive Burmese pythons, according to a study by Davidson Associate Professor of Biology Michael Dorcas and colleagues published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Read more in PETS & ANIMALS»

Also on Pets & Animals today:

- Cornelius Animal Shelter Pets of the Week

- Photo of the Day: We live here too - Davidson photographer Jay Wilson caught a gang of black vultures on Watson Street the other day.

- Raptor Center offers Kids for Conservation summer camps

- Handsome Nanki-Poo is looking for a permanent home