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When living is a co-curricular experience

The residential experience

The Juice bar at the Kline Center

Thanks to your gifts, our students call many community spaces and classrooms home, including:

  • campus outdoor-outfitter the Gear Box, which opened for business recently, lending camping and other outdoor equipment to the Dickinson community
  • the LEED-Gold-certified Kline Center expansion, which recently graced the cover of Athletic Business magazine’s 29th-annual “Architectural Showcase” issue
  • the Mermaid Society Trellis, named for the Mermaid Society, members of the Dickinson community who have donated annually to the college for three or more years
  • meeting rooms for more than 100 student clubs and organizations, including clubs that cater to languages, gaming, politics, sports and finance
  • diverse student life organizations such as the Center for Service, Spirituality and Social Justice; the Esther Popel Shaw Center for Race and Ethnicity; and the Women’s & Gender Resource Center
  • six dining spaces, including the main Dining Hall, named in 2016 a 3-Star Certified Green Restaurant by the Green Restaurant Association.

Take a stroll around campus and you’ll see that the Dickinson learning experience is all around you. From the Stafford Greenhouse to the Treehouse, the Dog House to the Gear Box, the Kline Center expansion to the newly named Mermaid Society Trellis, engagement is the name of the game. Students and faculty members gather at these spots and countless others to explore and discuss, and every spot becomes a learning environment.

Developed in 2015 by three students, the IC@D is a three-round competition that provides students with the knowledge and connections they need to move from startup idea to polished business proposal. Each team must include students with different areas of expertise who work together to develop a business plan for a startup that’s not just economically sound but also environmentally and/or socially sustainable. The winning team earns seed money for their business.

Competitors are encouraged to tap campus resources, including faculty, staff and student expertise, and the teams that make it past the first round are paired with alumni and parent mentors who are successful entrepreneurs or have experience working with entrepreneurs.

This year, panelists, mentors and breakout session leaders included Ben Compaine ’67; Barry Gonder P’18; Dale Horn ’95; Nick Hunter ’98; Kevin McAllister ’98; John Parker ’85, P’16; La’Dell Peton ’09; Deb Reynolds P’18; Danielle Scholz ’05; Salasi Stranah ’10; Mark Tambussi ’87, P’16; and Dave Yuengling ’84.

That commitment to student success, combined with efforts to get the word out early and excitement surrounding Dickinson’s new social innovation & entrepreneurship certificate program, inspired 17 teams to enter the competition this year—up from seven last year.

Competition like this is great news not only for students on career tracks in business, finance and entrepreneurism but also for all students interested in honing their business and financial literacy and gaining practical and collaborative idea-development experience, says Madison Jaronski ’18. She notes that just participating in the competition is a great out-ofclass learning experience that dovetails well with classroom learning. It also makes for a thrilling ride, says Krysti Oschal ’17 (environmental studies, economics), an IC@D leadership member and publicity director for the Student Investment Group.

“There’s growing excitement on campus and in the alumni community,” Oschal added. “The competition has taken off more than I ever thought it could in only its second year.”