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A record-breaking number of ������Ƶ students leaped into the frigid water of Lake Mary Nell on Thursday in the 8th annual Polar Bear Plunge. Just shy of 150 students registered for the community event, with organizers awarding more than two dozen gift cards to area merchants and participants walking away with free T-shirts.

������Ƶ has been included in the National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology 2010 campus sustainability case studies, the only database of its kind in the United States to highlight campus climate and sustainability efforts ranging from recycling and energy efficiency to alternative transportation systems and green jobs training programs.

The Southern Conference announced this week its Academic All-Conference Team for the 2010 fall season, with ������Ƶ at the top of the list of conference schools for the number of student-athletes who excelled in the classroom.

The ������Ƶ Board of Trustees voted Oct. 22 to designate a 56-acre undeveloped tract north of University Drive as the ������Ƶ Forest, a dedicated land preserve and natural area. The action protects the largest remaining intact forest in the Town of ������Ƶ and safeguards thousands of species of plants, animals and other organisms.

When it comes to engaged learning, students in the fall semester public administration senior seminar on food and agriculture public policies learned that it doesn’t get any more hands-on than processing chickens themselves, from the final clucks to the customer sales on a small Orange County organic farm.

Through a special Facebook project, many members of the ������Ƶ family have written personal tributes to those who bring light into the our community. Read what they have to say, watch a special video to get into the spirit, and then leave your message. Take time to give a simple gift, and let someone at ������Ƶ know how much they contribute to life at our university. Links to the video and the Facebook page are below…

A special report by the Chronicle of Higher Education on graduation rates at 1,400 four-year colleges and universities highlights ������Ƶ's improving rates at a time when many other schools are experiencing declining numbers. In this study, ������Ƶ ranked #16 out of more than 300 private master's-level universities, the top school in the Southeast in this category.

Congratulations to students accepted as part of Early Decision on Wednesday, December 1. When students in the Class of 2015 arrive at the university in August 2011 they’ll join the ranks of generations of alumni who have called ������Ƶ home.

An ������Ƶ junior has been named the District Outstanding Brother of the Year for Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., an annual competition that judges nominees on criteria that include involvement in the organization, academic standing, campus involvement and leadership.

Parents, students, community leaders and ������Ƶ administrators gathered Tuesday for a half-day conversation on the future of Jewish culture on campus as the number of Jewish students continues to grow and as the university embarks on a commitment to global engagement and diversity in its newest strategic plan.