The College of Idaho today launched a redesigned website which will better highlight the experiences of its students while also providing easier online navigation for visitors. The home page address is the same as that of the College’s old website: www.collegeofidaho.edu.

The more attractive site also will feature more videos, photos and stories showcasing various aspects of the C of I experience, from student research projects to social activities.

College of Idaho sophomore Matt Fultz is a rock climbing star. Fultz has been competing across the country since his early teens, and he became the first person from Idaho to win the USA Climbing Junior Nationals in 2004. Fultz put climbing on the back burner for a couple of years while he starred in football and track at Columbia High School (Nampa), but his dedication to the sport has reached new heights at C of I. He remains undefeated in Idaho competition and qualified for his first World Cup event last year. 

The College of Idaho Department of Theatre & Speech Arts is set to present the inaugural C of I Play Reading Series, a sequence of four performances in which the actors read the dialogue in the script without the elements of scenery, costume or lighting. The series kicks off Jan. 24 with Poona the F*** Dog and Other Plays for Children (NOT a play for children), written by Jeff Goode and directed by Joe Golden, chair of the C of I theatre department. All readings in the series will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Langroise Studio Theatre on the C of I Campus in Caldwell.

The College of Idaho campus is home to a surprisingly robust international population, with 97 students from 46 foreign countries currently enrolled. This month, student groups including Senate and the International Student Organization are sharing the diverse talents and cultures present on campus by putting on the second annual Diversity Week, a series of nightly events which culminates Jan. 19 with the C of I Cultural Show. The Cultural Show will feature students performing poetry, music and dance from their homelands beginning at 7 p.m. in Jewett Auditorium.

The College of Idaho congratulates the 190 students who made the Dean’s List for the 2011 Fall Semester. To receive Dean's List recognition, a student must complete at least nine graded credits and achieve a GPA of 3.75 or higher for that semester. Approximately 19 percent of the College’s student body made the Fall 2011 list. Idaho students are listed by hometown and out-of-state students are listed by state:

Days after leading The College of Idaho volleyball team to the best finish in program history at the NAIA National Championships (fifth place), senior libero Whitney Brigham capped an amazing career by becoming the Coyotes’ first-ever NAIA First-Team All-American, announced Dec. 5 by the NAIA national office in Kansas City, Mo.

College of Idaho senior Kevin Xu is a double major in finance and mathematics. Xu will graduate in May, but he already is using his financial training from the C of I to help another of his passions: the environment.

Every year, The College of Idaho’s Campus Ministries program participates in service both locally and around the world. C of I students continued that tradition and helped brighten Thanksgiving for Caldwell families by participating in the annual “Rake up Caldwell” event on Nov. 19. Campus minister Phil Rogers and assistants Cindi Duft and Phil Antilla were joined by nearly 50 students for the Saturday afternoon event, making “Rake up Caldwell” one of the best-attended Campus Ministries service projects of 2011.

A documentary film created by College of Idaho freshman Julia Levy recently was named one of 15 preliminary winners in the nationwide filmmaking contest, Project VoiceScape. Levy’s film, The Fifth Star, examines women’s suffrage in her native Washington state as well as modern female involvement in politics. Levy was awarded a $2,000 grant to complete her project, and she was honored along with her fellow winners during a ceremony in Washington, D.C.

“I was shocked I won the grant,” Levy said. “There were around 250 applications, so I felt thrilled to be selected.”

College of Idaho senior Justus Jenkins recently was sworn in and signed a five-year contract with the United States Navy after being accepted as a Nuclear Propulsion Officer Candidate (NUPOC) in Washington, D.C. Jenkins, a mathematics and physics major from Hawaii, currently is on active duty, and he plans to begin his officer training after graduation next December.