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NEW LONDON, 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ. — 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ will host a two-week installation from the , 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏecticut’s first and only African American history museum, from Feb. 1–12, 2026. The exhibition is presented in partnership with 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ’s Black Student Union (BSU) and made possible by the Sharis ’86 & Thorn ’88 Pozen Endowed Fund for Excellence in Journalism, Writing, and Media.

The installation features curated artifacts, archival journalism and film that examine how Black stories have been told—and who has been trusted to tell them. From preserved objects to powerful media moments, the exhibit invites visitors to slow down, look closely, and reflect on representation, memory and voice.

“This is more than a display. It’s an opportunity for our community to engage with how stories are preserved, whose voices are amplified, and what it means when history is told by those who lived it,” said Kyaira Hall, co-president of the Black Student Union.

Opening Reception and Special Documentary Screening

The exhibition opens with a public reception on Monday, Feb. 2, at 4 p.m. in the Chu Room, located in Shain Library.

The event includes a screening of a rare 45-minute documentary featuring never-before-seen footage of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., chronicling his life from his early involvement in the Civil Rights Movement through his final year.

The footage was discovered in a film canister marked only with the initials “MLK” and has no formal title, credits or music. The uncut documentary is narrated by a photojournalist who chronicled Dr. King’s life in real time, offering an intimate, unfiltered perspective on one of history’s most documented figures.

, founder and owner of the Ruby & Calvin Fletcher African American History Museum, will present the screening and provide context and remarks.

Public Conversation With Journalists

The exhibition also anchors a public conversation hosted by the Black Student Union on Wednesday, Feb. 11, beginning at 4 p.m. in the Chu Room.

Titled “Telling Our Stories: A Conversation with Journalists,” the event brings together award-winning journalists of ESPN, of CBS News, of Drizzle Weather and of NBC 4 New York.

The conversation will explore reporting, media ethics, representation and the responsibility that comes with telling Black stories in today’s media landscape, building on the exhibition’s focus on journalism, storytelling and voice through lived experience and professional practice.  Jeff Strabone, coordinator of the Media, Rhetoric and Communications pathway, will help moderate the discussion.

About the Museum and Support

The Ruby & Calvin Fletcher African American History Museum is dedicated to preserving and presenting African American history and culture. Its collection includes artifacts, documents, photographs and media that chronicle the Black experience in 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏecticut and beyond.

The Sharis ’86 & Thorn ’88 Pozen Endowed Fund for Excellence in Journalism, Writing, and Media supports creative writing, journalism, media and journalistic ethics at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ.

The exhibition and related events are free and open to the public.

Exhibition details:
Location: Charles E. Shain Library, Entry Level Lobby Foyer
Hours: 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m.

NEW LONDON, 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ. — – Navarasa Dance Theater will present A Story and a Song on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. in the Athey Center, Palmer Auditorium at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ as part of the College’s OnStage Guest Artist Series.

The company has inspired audiences with choreography that “is grounded in traditional Indian dance, but reaches outward,” according to The Boston Globe. Highlighting South Asian culture, Navarasa blends modern dance, aerial acrobatics, martial arts and original music into a visually striking and emotionally resonant theater experience.

A Story and a Song is inspired by Kannada folk tales and explores themes of connection, care and shared humanity. The performance has been described by the Santa Barbara Independent as “utterly touching,” urging audiences to reflect on the ties that bind people to one another and to the natural world.

Sindhoor Natya – Navarasa Dance Theater is known for work that bridges tradition and innovation, creating performances that are accessible, layered and rooted in storytelling.

Event Details
What: Sindhoor Natya – Navarasa Dance Theater, A Story and a Song
When: Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Athey Center, Palmer Auditorium, 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ

Tickets: $26 general admission; $23 seniors and faculty/staff; $13 students; $8 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ students with ID.

Tickets are available at onstage.conncoll.edu, by phone at 860-439-ARTS (2787), or in person at the Athey Center Box Office.

For more information about Arts at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ, visit onstage.conncoll.edu.

NEW LONDON, 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ. — 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ will host Housing Plus: How Better Housing 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏects to Everything, a yearlong public conversation series examining how housing affects health, education, work, civic life and community well-being.

Co-organized with the Center for Housing Opportunity Eastern 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏecticut, an initiative of The Housing Collective, the series brings together scholars, policymakers, advocates and community members to explore housing challenges in New London and southeastern 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏecticut within broader national and global contexts.

All events are free, open to the public and livestreamed. Most programs take place from 5:15 to 7:30 p.m. in Oliva Hall at the Cummings Art Center or the Hood Dining Room at Blaustein.

The series begins Tuesday, Feb. 3, with Housing + Law: A Conversation With 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏecticut State Lawmakers. Local and state leaders will discuss the issues and debates surrounding 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏecticut House Bill 8002, legislation passed in November 2025 aimed at encouraging housing construction across the state. The discussion includes New London Mayor Michael Passero, state legislators, policy leaders and housing experts.

Additional events examine housing through the lenses of political economy, tenant organizing, Black urban neighborhoods, architecture and community history. Speakers include nationally recognized scholars, regional tenant union leaders and urban design practitioners.

The series concludes Sunday, May 3, with Housing + Community: We Live Here Block Party, a community celebration and formal announcement of We Live Here/New London, an exhibition on housing past and present scheduled for fall 2026.

A full schedule and livestream details are available .

NEW LONDON, 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ. — 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ has expanded its Office of Religious and Spiritual Life with additional chaplains over the past year, strengthening support for students, faculty and staff across faith traditions.

Rabbi Jessica Goldberg has joined the College as director of Zachs Hillel House. She previously served as chaplain for the Jewish community at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa. She is a graduate of Brandeis University and received rabbinic ordination, a Master of Jewish Studies and a Master of Jewish Education from Hebrew College in Newton, Mass.

An experienced chaplain, Goldberg has worked in multifaith collaboration and conflict education and dialogue. She brings extensive textual knowledge and a strong commitment to a pluralistic Jewish community.

“51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ is a place with so much heart and soul,” Goldberg said. “I am excited to build on the outstanding work of my predecessor and the student leaders who make Hillel such a vibrant, warm and special campus community.”

The College has also welcomed Hazza Abo Rabia as part-time Muslim chaplain. Abo Rabia is a professor of Arabic Language, Culture and Society at the University of 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏecticut and a visiting assistant professor of Arabic at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ. He began serving the campus community in January 2025.

Abo Rabia holds dual master’s degrees in Islamic studies from Hartford Seminary and Judaic studies from the University of 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏecticut, as well as an Ed.D. in leadership and education from the University of Hartford. His teaching focuses on changes in Islamic and Arabic culture, Arabic language and Arabic literature. He has also served as an advisor for Muslim and Arab international students at the University of Hartford.

In addition, Fr. Larry LaPointe, who served as a chaplain at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ from 1979 to 2012, has returned to celebrate Sunday and holy-day Masses at 4 p.m. on Sundays in Harkness Chapel. LaPointe taught a first-year seminar from 2007 to 2010 and received the College Medal in 2013. He is pastor of Corpus Christi Parish, a multicultural, multilingual Catholic parish in Willimantic, 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ.

With these additions, Rev. Stephanie Haskins’s role has expanded. Her title is now Chaplain of the College and Associate Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life.

“Our chaplains walk with students through moments of joy, doubt, grief and discovery,” Haskins said. “This expanded team strengthens our ability to serve a religiously diverse campus and to create spaces where students can explore meaning, ask questions and build community.”

51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ’s chaplains support students, faculty and staff of all faiths and backgrounds through worship, pastoral care, programs and community-building across campus.

NEW LONDON, 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ. — Protein scientists could improve reproducibility and coordination across the field by rallying around a small, shared set of “model proteins,” according to a new Perspective by 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ chemist Marc Zimmer.

The article appears in the 40th-anniversary issue of  (Oxford University Press). Zimmer argues that protein science is ready to adopt a framework similar to the one that transformed research using model organisms such as fruit flies, mice, yeast and C. elegans.

Those organisms became powerful research tools not only because their biology is conserved, Zimmer notes, but because scientific communities coordinated around them. Shared protocols, databases and benchmarks made results easier to compare, reproduce and build upon.

Zimmer proposes extending that logic to the molecular scale. His framework calls for formally identifying a small group of “model proteins” already serving as informal standards across subfields, then pairing them with shared benchmarks, curated reference datasets and minimal reporting requirements.

Protein researchers often struggle to reconcile studies that rely on different experimental assumptions or measurements, Zimmer said. A model protein system would reduce that friction by giving the field common reference points.

The Perspective suggests beginning with five widely used proteins: green fluorescent protein (GFP), lysozyme, hemoglobin and myoglobin, RNase A and bacteriorhodopsin. Zimmer describes the list as a practical starting point rather than a fixed canon, one that could evolve as the community debates criteria and identifies where standardization is most useful.

GFP offers a clear example of how a model protein can function in practice. The protein fluoresces when it folds correctly, providing a direct and quantitative readout across organisms. Its structure remains consistent across systems, and decades of shared tools — including engineered variants, brightness benchmarks, plasmid libraries and public datasets — allow researchers to compare results across laboratories.

Zimmer also points to the growing role of artificial intelligence in protein research. Fluorescent proteins have become common benchmark cases for machine-learning models because fluorescence provides a clear indicator of whether a designed protein works. As those tools advance, Zimmer argues, shared standards will be essential to ensure results are comparable and reusable.

Nobel laureate Martin Chalfie, whose work helped establish GFP as a foundational research tool, emphasized that coordination matters more than formal labels.

“The question Marc Zimmer is addressing is how communities studying similar proteins can benefit by working together,” Chalfie said.

Rita Strack, Ph.D., chief editor of Nature Biomedical Engineering, called the proposal overdue and said it could strengthen benchmarking, reproducibility and community-wide resource sharing.

Zimmer’s proposal includes convening a cross-disciplinary steering group, defining criteria for model proteins, establishing minimal reporting checklists and curating gold-standard reference datasets. The goal, he said, is to spend less time translating between incompatible practices and more time building on shared work.