Jennifer A Murphy, daughter of Henry and Mary Murphy, enrolled at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, this fall. A week before classes began, she participated in a weeklong orientation that provided a vivid introduction to Colby’s rigorous academic program and rich cultural life.

Elizabeth Bowen received High Honors with Distinction from Westover School, an independent all-girls high school in Middlebury.

Kathryn Hydock received High Honors from Westover School, an independent all-girls high school in Middlebury.

Cadet Patrick Dooley, grandson of Kenneth and Eileen Malsch of Newtown, completed Cadet Basic Training at the US Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. Dooley plans to graduate from West Point in 2007 and be commissioned a second lieutenant in the US Army.

Julia Mendelson, an incoming freshman at American University in Washington, D.C., recently completed a community service project volunteering with Washington Parks & People. Julia cleared the heavy brush surrounding Watts Branch Park, notorious for high drug activity, in order for police to better monitor the area. She was one of 550 American University freshmen to participate in the Freshman Service Experience (FSE), which orients students to local community service organizations and introduces them to college life.

Alexandra Gellet, a sophomore majoring in public communications at Syracuse (N.Y.) University, was named an academic peer advisor for the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications for the 2003–04 academic year. Alexandra will help first-year students with the academic, social, and cultural transition from high school to college.

Bridget L. Holmes recently began her first year at Fordham University in Bronx, N.Y.

Alex C. Velush-Rogers of Sandy Hook recently began his first year at Fordham University on the Rose Hill campus in Bronx, N.Y. Another new face at Fordham this fall is the University’s 32nd president, Joseph M McShane, who assumed office July 1. Father McShane served as Dean at Fordham from 1992 to 1998.