Two films with Carleton College connections are set to make their world premier at this year’s Minneapolis/Saint Paul International Film Festival.

Carleton College’s Weitz Center for Creativity has earned LEED^® Gold certification, as established by the U.S. Green Building Council and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the nation’s preeminent program for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. Opened in September 2011, is Carleton’s third building to earn LEED certification. Cassat Hall and James Hall (formerly Memorial Hall), residence halls completed in August 2009, also received LEED^® Gold certification.

Carleton College will observe Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, with a vigil and service on Sunday, April 7, beginning at 4:30 p.m. in Skinner Memorial Chapel. As part of the event, Holocaust survivor Gerry Franks will speak about his experiences under Nazi rule, and Carleton associate chaplain Rabbi Shosh Dworsky will lead the service, which begins at 5 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.

Carleton College will be recognized twice this month as one of 20 colleges and universities nationwide that exemplify the mission of the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) to re-stabilize the earth’s climate through education, research, and community engagement. The “Celebrating Sustainability” series highlights the sustainability initiatives of finalists for the 2013 Second Nature Climate Leadership Awards. In tandem with the series, Carleton is vying for the top spot in a public video voting competition.

The Carleton Players, along with the renowned dance/theater company the Flying Foot Forum, will present an exciting new adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice in Wonderland. Held in the Weitz Center for Creativity Theater, performances will take place nightly at 7:30 p.m. on April 11, 12 and 13, with a 2 p.m. matinee performance on April 14. Performances are free and open to the public; reservations are strongly encouraged and can be made online at www.carleton.tixato.com/buy/.

A new art exhibit in the Perlman Teaching Museum at Carleton College promises to take audiences on a journey through ‘wonderland.’ Alice and Wonderland presents the works of four artists who visit the legendary destination made famous in Lewis Carroll’s imaginative childhood classic, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” via photography, computer technology, painting, drawing, and “magic” mushrooms. Alice and Wonderland opens Friday, April 5 from 7:30 to 9 p.m. with a reception and remarks by two of the featured artists, Kate Casanova and John Largaespada at 7:45 p.m. This exhibit is free and open to the public.

K. David Harrison, a professor of linguistics at Swarthmore College and a leading authority on dying and little-documented languages, will present Carleton College’s first weekly convocation of the spring term on Friday, Apr. 5. His presentation, “Endangered Languages,” will discuss his work on language death and language preservation, as well as the connection between the survival of languages and the survival of cultures. Convocation is held from 10:50-11:50 a.m. in the Skinner Memorial Chapel, and is free and open to the public. Convocations are also streamed live and can be viewed online at go.carleton.edu/convo.

A booksigning follows Harrison’s presentation. Copies of The Last Speakers: The Quest to Save the World’s Most Endangered Languages and When Languages Die: The Extinction of the World’s Languages and the Erosion of Human Knowledge will be available for purchase at the event at a 15% discount.

Carleton students Emily Lamberty ‘14 (Lincoln, Neb.) and Gabriela Arteaga ‘14 (Miami, Fla.) have been named finalists in Project Pericles’ “Debating for Democracy (D4D)” competition. Arteaga is an art history and sociology/anthropology double major while Lamberty is a Latin American Studies and sociology/anthropology double major. Project Pericles, a not-for-profit organization that encourages and facilitates commitments by colleges and universities to include social responsibility and participatory citizenship as essential elements of its educational programs, sponsors the “Debating for Democracy” competition.

Goals With Soul, a Carleton student-led organization, will be holding a soccer equipment drive and raffle auction on March 12-14 to benefit two non-profit Uganda-based organizations, S.O.U.L. Uganda and Soccer Without Borders. Donations can be dropped of at Carleton’s Sayles-Hill Campus Center from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. each day. The student group will be collecting new and old coaching equipment, soccer equipment and school supplies.

The Carleton College Orchestra will present their winter concert on Friday, March 8 at 8 p.m. in the Concert Hall. Directed by visiting professor of music Timothy Semanik, this performance is free and open to the public.

Carleton College’s renowned Chinese Music Ensemble will perform on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 4:30 p.m. in the Concert Hall. This event is free and open to the public.

Naomi Seidman, a scholar who specializes in Jewish culture and literature, will deliver Carleton College’s annual Forkosh Family Lecture in Judaic Studies and Religion on Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. in the Severance Great Hall. Entitled “The Marriage Plot: Sexuality, Secularization and the Emergence of Modern Jewish Literature,” Seidman’s lecture will explore how the secularizing trends of the 18^th and 19^th centuries worked through art and literature to influence Jewish sexual norms. This event is free and open to the public.