Summer @ CMU Newsletter: Issue I
Welcome to (Virtual) Summer @ CMU and Issue I of the Summer Studies newsletter! We are so glad you've decided to join us for this summer session unlike any other. We hope that your first two weeks of classes are off to a good start and that you’re finding time to relax, recharge, and have some summer fun.
Those of you who have taken summer courses before know that the Summer Studies newsletter typically features campus event listings and recommendations for activities around town. While we’ve changed things up a bit this year, the spirit of this newsletter will remain the same. We’ll still be recommending both on and off campus activities (though, when you’ve gone remote, isn’t the whole world your campus?), keeping you up to date on workshops and deadlines, and featuring various Pittsburgh landmarks so you can learn more about the city. Our goal, as always, is to build a strong summer studies community and to connect you with useful resources and fun opportunities that are accessible no matter where in the world you are.
On Campus: Athletics & Recreation
Group X-ercise courses have gone remote! Now you can take your favorite strength training, yoga, and Zumba classes from home! Pre-recorded Group X classes are available on the Group X On Demand webpage and live classes run Monday thru Thursday from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Pittsburgh time (Eastern Time/ET) before being archived, so you can follow along at your convenience.
You can check out sample Group X classes on the Welcome to (Virtual) Summer @ CMU webpage.
Off Campus: San Diego Zoo
Have you ever wanted to go to the world famous San Diego Zoo? Well now you can! The zoo hosts live cams of some of your favorite animals, including elephants, koalas, pandas, and more! Find the full selection of live feeds here.
You can also check out some of their short educational videos, including this one about the resident tiger cubs moving to their new habitat:
Follow Us!
To get updates throughout the weeks about events and important deadlines, follow us on social media!
Stay up to date
- The Summer 2020 Updates page contains information about the shift to remote learning.
- The Welcome to (Virtual) Summer @ CMU webpage is your virtual welcome fair, with helpful information from various CMU and off-campus organizations about summer resources and online events.
- To stay up to date on the latest COVID-19 information, visit Carnegie Mellon's Coronavirus Information page.
June Academic Calendar Dates
- June 1 - Summer Session All course add deadline, grade audit option deadline, & drop deadline to receive a tuition adjustment
- June 3 - Summer Session One course drop deadline
- June 15 - Summer Session One withdrawal grade deadline & pass/fail grade deadline
- June 22-26 - Summer Session One Faculty Course Evaluations
- June 25 - Summer Session One last day of classes (drop voucher election deadline by 11:59 p.m. Pittsburgh time)
- June 26 - Summer Session One final examinations
- June 29 - Summer Session Two Classes begin
To keep track of important dates and deadlines, visit the Academic Calendar webpage.
Summer at CMU & CaPS
This summer, Counseling and Psychological Services (CaPS) is offering remote workshops on subjects like overcoming your inner critic, dealing with homesickness, and more. Here's what they have on deck for June (all times are Pittsburgh time (Eastern Time/ET):
- June 2, 2-3:15 p.m. - Compassionate Motivation: How Our "Inner Critic" Keeps Us Stuck (Zoom ID: 92329739829)
- June 19, 1-2 p.m. - A Little Piece of Home: Nurturing the Connection with Home as an International Student (Zoom ID: 99363605024)
- June 22, 1-2 p.m. - QPR: Suicide Prevention Training (Zoom ID: 97765175928)
You can learn more about counseling and psychological services at Carnegie Mellon on the CaPS webpage.
Name that Pineapple!
Last week, we asked you to help us name our unofficial Summer Studies mascot, the pineapple. We tallied your votes and are excited to introduce Kiki the Pineapple!
This was a tight race. While the name Pierre pulled ahead on Twitter, on Instagram, the names Kiki and Spike had a strong lead. After averaging the votes, Kiki came out on top.
Thanks to everyone who voted! Kiki is very happy to have a name.
The Summer Studies Instagram Contest Returns!
It’s time for our annual Summer Studies Instagram contest! The theme for our first round is pets! Don’t have a pet? You can still enter—we’ll accept photos of any cute animal you come across.
Tag pictures of your animal friends with #VirtualCMUSummer to enter. The winning image will be announced in the next issue of our summer newsletter, featured on our social media, and displayed on the Summer Studies website.
We're kicking off the contest by introducing two of our own pets: Meet Harper and Rooney! These dedicated members of the Summer Studies communications team love sitting in boxes, riding on boats, and bugging their humans during Zoom meetings.
Harper
Rooney
Tag the Summer Studies Virtual Graffiti Wall
We may not be on campus together this summer, but that doesn’t mean we can’t build a strong Summer Studies community from a distance. That's why we're asking you to "tag" our virtual graffiti wall.
How it Works
Post a kind note to a fellow Summer Studies student on social media. Use whichever platform you prefer, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter...anything works! Get creative: post a photo of the two of you together, hand write your note and upload a photo, leave a note or a gift on your friend's Animal Crossing island an take a screenshot.
Tag your post #VirtualCMUSummer and we'll add it to a virtual graffiti wall webpage, where we'll compile all of your kind words so that everyone can see that our community is strong, thriving, and supportive, even at a distance.
Pittsburgh History Spotlight: Schenley Park
If you’ve spent time on Carnegie Mellon’s Pittsburgh campus, you’ve been to Schenley Park. At 456 acres, it’s the second largest park in the city of Pittsburgh. In fact, Carnegie Mellon’s campus is technically in the park.
Listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district and named one of America’s coolest city parks by Travel and Leisure, Schenley Park boasts tennis courts, a running track, a soccer field, a golf course, and a lake. The park also has a surprising and dramatic history that isn’t easily forgotten.
The story of Schenley Park begins in 1842, when 15-year-old Mary Elizabeth Croghan eloped to England with 43-year-old Edward Schenley, a captain in the British Army. Although Mary was from Pittsburgh, the two met on Staten Island, New York, where Mary was attending boarding school. It was Captain Schenley’s third elopement.
Their elopement enraged Mary’s father, who tried to have their ship intercepted so that he could bring his daughter home. When this failed, he filed a lawsuit to terminate Mary’s inheritance, which included a parcel of land in Pittsburgh called the Mt. Airy Tract. The lawsuit was ultimately unsuccessful, and Mary retained the title to the land.
Over forty years later, in 1889, Edward Bigelow, the Director of the Pittsburgh Department of Public Works, learned that a land developer was sailing to London to attempt to buy the Mt. Airy Tract from Mary. Sensing an opportunity, Bigelow sent an East Liberty lawyer racing to London, in the hopes of contacting Mary first. The lawyer was successful, arriving in London just two days ahead of the developer.
Mary entered into negotiations with Bigelow’s lawyer, and the two eventually came to an agreement: Mary would donate 300 acres of the Mt. Airy Tract to the city of Pittsburgh, but only if the city named the park after her and promised that the land would never be sold. Bigelow’s lawyer agreed to her terms, and the rest is history.
*photos via Wikipedia