At Brown

Who did Brown accept to the Class of 2008?

Brown accepted 2,412 students to the Class of 2008, selected from 15,286 applications, for an overall admit rate of 16 percent. The University anticipates 1,430 of those will matriculate.

Of the 1,899 students who applied early decision, the University accepted 538, for an early decision admit rate of 28 percent.

Women account for 51 percent of the accepted class, 1,238 women to 1,174 men. The class was winnowed from the applications of 8,854 women and 6,414 men who applied.

Thirty-four percent of the students who were accepted were valedictorians of their graduating class; another 29 percent were salutatorians. Overall, 94 percent of the students who were accepted were in the top 10 percent of their graduating class.

Within the accepted class, the middle 50^th percentile scores for students on the verbal portion of the SATs was 670-770, and on the math portion, 680-780.

The accepted students attended a variety of types of high schools. Fifty-six of the accepted students hailed from public schools; 34 percent from private schools; 7 percent from parochial schools; and 3 percent from other types.

Students from 50 states and 54 countries were accepted.

At least 35 percent of the students who were accepted are students of color. Forty-six percent are white and 13 percent did not identify an ethnic origin. Additionally, 7 percent are foreign citizens.

Of those accepted, 37 percent expressed interest in math and science, 23 percent in the humanities, 19 percent in the social sciences, and 11 percent in engineering. Another 10 percent said they were undecided.

May 1 was the deadline for regular admission students to tell the University if they want to enter the Van Wickle Gates in the fall.

Awards and Honors

A program on mental health care for immigrants hosted by Peter D. Kramer for the public radio program called "The Infinite Mind" has received the National mental Health Associateion Media Award for 2004. Kramer is a clinical professor of psychiatry and human behavior. "The Infinite Mind," produced by Lichtenstein Creative Media, can be heard on a number of National Public Radio stations.

The Brown University Orchestra, under the direction of Paul Phillips, has received a second-place award for Programming of Contemporary Music from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and the American Symphony Orchestra League in recognition of its commitment to new music programming during the past season. The orchestra received a $300 award and plaque on June 11 at the American Symphony Orchestra League's national conference in Pittsburgh. This marks the fifth time the Brown Orchestra has won the ASCAP Award in the past decade.

Members of the Brown/Trinity Consortium were recently honored for their work at Trinity Repertory Company. Playwright Paula Vogel and director Oskar Eustis accepted the Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Production (large company) for Trinity's May 2003 production of "The Long Christmas Ride Home." Vogel is a professor of creative writing; Eustis chairs the consortium and is artistic director at Trinity. Kevin Moriarty, head of directing for the consortium, received the award for Outstanding Director (large company) for Trinity's recent production of "The Merry Wives of Windsor." The Elliot Norton Awards are named for Boston's dean of drama critics; winners are chosen by the Boston Theater Critics Association.

Ayelet Amittay '04 is the recipient of an honorable mention in the Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics competition sponsored by the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. The competition is designed "to challenge college students to examine and analyze urgent ethical issues confronting them in today's society," according to a letter from the foundation. Amittay won for her essay "The Problem of Empahty: Over-Identification in Claude Lanzmann's 'Shoah.'" Her essay was selected from 412 submitted by students from more than 400 colleges and universities across the country.

Watson Institute Senior Fellow Catherine McArdle Kelleher received the highest civilian award from Germany's Ministry of Defense - the Manfred Worner Medal for outstanding services rendered to peace and freedom in Europe. Past winners include former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Richard C. Holbrooke, the former Polish Minister of Defense Janusz Onyszkiewicz, security scholar Karsten Voigt, and the High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana Madariaga. The medal commemorates Germany's former minister of defense and NATO secretary general Manfred Worner, who died in 1994.

The award was presented in Berlin in March in a ceremony during which current minister Peter Struck said: "Your thoughts have helped on both sides of the Atlantic to improve the understanding of transatlantic relations as well as of European and in particularly German policies. You have rendered a great service to peace and freedom in Europe and contributed a great deal to consolidating the transatlantic partnership."