Robert Whitton

Last weekend’s rain washed out both a Concert on the Green and a memorial march in honor of the late Professor Rob Whitton, who died after begin hit by a car on Concord Road in 2011 . Both events have been rescheduled for this Sunday night in downtown Davidson.

The Concert on the Green  runs 6-8pm, featuring The Dickens, a reggae and variety band. It’s free and you’re invited to bring a blanket and a picnic basket. The concert is on the steps of the Davidson library branch on the Village Green, Main Street and Concord Road. Read the full story

Just like the first Robert Whitton Tribute last year, this year’s event will include a musical march. Click to watch a video from last year. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

On Sunday, May 5, Summit Coffee and the Birdsnest in downtown Davidson will team up for a day of music in the 2nd annual Robert Whitton Memorial Benefit Concert. Whitton, a popular math professor at Davidson College and a lover of local music, died in November 2011 after being struck by a car on Concord Road.

Live music will be flowing at Summit from noon to 8 PM, kicked off with the Brian Burton Jazz Trio from 12 – 3. The Birdsnest will also host music from 2:30 – 6:00. The celebration will culminate with a New Orleans style march from Summit at 7 PM, followed by a closing set from Davidson College’s acapella group: The Delilahs. Read the full story

Late professor Robert Whitton often met with students outside of class in the Alvarez College Union. (Davidson College photo)

By DANIELLE STRICKLAND
Davidson College News Office

Mathematics professor Robert Whitton touched many lives in his 67 years, at Davidson College and beyond. He formed close, lasting, and meaningful relationships with family, friends, students, colleagues, and community members. Through his passions for literature, fishing, music—you name it—Whitton made connections that shaped lives for the better.

Professor Whitton died in November 2011 of injuries after was struck by a car in a crosswalk on Concord Road, near Faculty Drive, while walking home from campus. At that moment, part of the heart of Davidson was gone, but only in the physical sense. His devotion and his deep love and admiration for his work and his students live on every day at Davidson College. Read the full story

Updated Wed., 9:34 a.m.
A Concord man was convicted Tuesday of charges stemming from the November death of Davidson College professor Robert Whitton, who was struck by a car on Concord Road.    Read the full story

"La, la, la" (Anna Prushinski photo)

I had a dream that Dodger was running free in Richardson Stadium at Davidson College, which is against the rules. I was crawling across the rubbery track, doing a breathlessly dreamy slo-mo “fail” at getting to him. He dashed merrily about the artificial turf field, paying no mind to the authoritative benchmarks of the gridiron, nor to me. La, la, la! he went, happy. “Doooddggerrr!” I went, unhappy.

Rather than burden ourselves here with tortured interpretations, I posit the dream as archetype: Spirited soul instinctively running free, gleefully heedless (happy) of the synthetic culture of benchmarks we construct with our increasingly compulsive content manipulation and the resultant aggravation of inbred psycho-social neuroses (unhappy). Read the full story

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The late Davidson College math professor Rob Whitton was also a music lover, and often turned up wherever local musicians were performing around town. On Saturday, many of those musicians performed during a day-long tribute at Summit Coffee and The Birdsnest in downtown Davidson.

Professor Whitton died last November after he was struck by a car on Concord Road, near Faculty Drive, while walking home from campus. Read the full story

Robert Whitton

Two Main Street music venues – Summit Coffee and The Birdsnest – will host a long list of local musicians in an all-day musical tribute to the memory of Davidson College Professor Robert Whitton this Saturday, May 5, in downtown Davidson. Read the full story

Drivers stopped Thursday for a man crossing Concord Road at Faculty Drive, where a new sign has been installed. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

Someone has hung a Christmas wreath on a telephone pole at the Concord Road crosswalk where Davidson College Professor Rob Whitton was struck by a car the night of Nov. 3. This week, the town began the first of a series of planned improvements prompted by the fatal incident, installing new warning signs in the middle of the road at Faculty Drive and three other crossings. Meanwhile, improved lighting also is in the works for Concord Road, town officials said. Read the full story