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Lynchburg
Spring 2016
Lynchburg
FACES OF Lynchburg
C o l l e g e
M a g a z i n e
Read the magazine, share the stories,
and experience our web exclusives at
magazine.lynchburg.edu
Spring 2016
Vol. 23, No. 2
ON
The perfect sweet spot
As the College worked over several months to develop a new
web feature, Faces of Lynchburg,
many images were considered.
How best to tell the LC story
visually and from an individual
perspective?
Then College photographer John McCormick
produced the photo that would set the standard:
Anne Gibbons with her familiar smile, sitting in a
red chair on the Dell.
In her contribution to Faces, Anne likens the
College to a family farm “passed down one generation to the next” and our students as “hardy
seeds … challenged and nurtured to grow into
plants that will bear fruit. It’s all about growth,
nurture, and working together. Farming is hard
Summer Spicer, a
graduate assistant in
the MBA program,
and Rebecca Irvine ’15
MEd painted this
colorful portrait
of John Eccles, vice
president and dean
for student development.
Read about John’s 30
years with LC on
page 22.
THE
COVER
Mychael Ward ’18 stands with
his trumpet outside a church
near his home in Lynchburg.
DEPARTMENTS
2
First Word
3
Around the Dell
6
Discover | Connect |
Achieve
12 Hornet Highlights
36 Class Notes
48 Last Word
BY MICHAEL JONES
work but it’s essential to the survival of a culture
and a community.”
Anne’s been tending to the LC family for some
20 years now, as interim chaplain, director of First
Year Programs, director of SERVE (now Office of
community Service), and currently, associate chaplain and director of the Bonner Leader Program.
“It’s the perfect sweet spot — pastoral care, social justice, and activism.”
Spiritual life at the College is “phenomenal”
she says emphatically. “The College certainly
thinks it’s important. Full-and part-time staff, ministers on call, anywhere and everywhere.”
Her work allows her to be with members of
the LC community during some of their happiest
moments, as well as their hardest. “Like so many
things, in pastoral care we serve as witness and
shepherd, rejoice with those who rejoice, weep
with those who weep.”
FEATURES
Of the Bonner Leaders, Anne says that students’ dedication to community service and advocacy makes her feel “hopeful for the world.”
The College is one of only 67 campuses
nationwide to host a Bonner program, in which
student leaders work with community members
on issues such as hunger, homelessness, environmental concerns, and youth development.
Countless photos shared via social media are
a testament to her dedication; they depict Anne
surrounded by students and involved in community service in Lynchburg and around the country.
A more personal testament is the collection of
thank-you notes she keeps in her desk. “When
I receive a note that is particularly personal, it
is an affirmation that I am where I need to be …
doing what I’m supposed to be doing … being
who I’m supposed to be.”
PHOTO BY JOHN MCCORMICK
6
18
22
Eat your art out
Tarsha Joyner ’13 mixes art and baking
talents to win competitive baking show.
Hope
Musical talent and scholarship bring
Mychael Ward ’18 to Lynchburg College.
Once a Hornet,
always a Hornet
John Eccles is retiring after 30 years
with LC.
26
28
32
Legacy of change
Remembering the impact of
Dr. Carey Brewer ’48.
Fifteen years in focus
Dr. Kenneth Garren has served as
president for 15 years.
The future takes shape
The College needs to hear from alumni
to perfect the new strategic plan.
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PHOTOS BY JOHN MCCORMICK
First Word
A bold vision for LC’s future
Soon after I graduated
from college in 1962,
the United States
launched the Mariner 2
space probe for a study
of the planet Venus. A
few weeks later, President John F. Kennedy
asked Americans to
consider what we had
just accomplished and
to aim for something more.
They remarked that I had given them
“permission” to set goals that force us to
stretch our abilities.
Sometimes we need someone to remind
us that it is OK to reach for the stars.
But it is more than OK. It is vital that we
do so.
Today, I invite you to reach with us. We
need your involvement as we finalize a plan
that will, as President Kennedy said, “organize and measure the best of our energies
and skills.” There are several ways that you
can help.
First, reflect on what LC does well today.
The stories in this magazine, as well as the
“No man can fully grasp how far and how
latest articles published at lynchburg.edu/
fast we have come,” he said. “...So it is not
news, are a good starting point. I hope they
surprising that some would have us stay
remind you of the impact LC has had in
where we are a little longer to rest, to wait.”
your life.
Delay was not an option, though. “We
Second, I ask you to share feedback, comchoose to go to the moon in this decade and ments, and questions for our Strategic Plando the other things not because they are easy, ning Team to review. What can, and should,
but because they are hard,” he said, “because Lynchburg College be in the future?
that goal will serve to organize and measure
Later, we will work together to bring Vithe best of our energies and skills.”
sion 2020 to life. Faculty will design a revoPresident Kennedy’s words energized me
lutionary curriculum grounded in the liberal
and other NASA employees. Inspired by a
arts. Staff will support that with co-curricumonumental goal, we accomplished what
lar programming and the necessary facilities.
previous generations had thought impossible. Alumni will assist by staying in touch to
Lynchburg College faces a similar molet us know about their accomplishments,
ment as we create a new strategic plan. We
visiting campus, connecting with each other,
can, and should, take pride in what we have
telling prospective students about the Colbuilt together: a phenomenal combination
lege, and investing financial support that will
of academic, athletic, and student life proallow LC to extend better educational opgrams that prepare students for successful
portunities to another generation of students.
lives.
Over the past 113 years, Lynchburg ColBut we must not stop here. We must look
lege has become a great institution that
forward to the dawning of a new day with
provides an excellent education. By working
new challenges and opportunities for private together on a bold, focused vision, we will
colleges and universities. Vision 2020, our
accomplish tasks that seemed impossible
new strategic plan, will guide us through
decades ago. We will be known as one of the
that day.
world’s best colleges preparing students for a
When I reviewed the first draft of Vision
dynamic future.
2020, its goals and initiatives were admirable
but not aspirational. I asked our Strategic
Planning Team members to be bold. They
quickly identified new goals that would set
Kenneth R. Garren, PhD
Lynchburg College apart as a premiere eduPresident
cational institution.
2 LC MAGAZINE Spring 2016
Around the Dell
Lynchburg
C o l l e g e
M a g a z i n e
MAGAZINE STAFF
Bryan Gentry
EDITOR
Michael Jones
DIRECTOR OF COLLEGE
COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING
Betty McKinney
DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING
Katharine McCann
Christopher Peterson
DESIGNERS
John McCormick
PHOTOGRAPHER
Dr. Selden
officially becomes
vice president
and dean
Pamela Carder
Tracy Chase
David Woody ’00
WEB TEAM
Mike Carpenter
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Pam Hall
CLASS NOTES
Natalie LeDonne ’18
Warren Wright
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHY
ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS
Kenneth R. Garren
PRESIDENT
Sally Selden
VICE PRESIDENT AND DEAN,
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
Stephen Bright
VICE PRESIDENT,
BUSINESS AND FINANCE
Rita Detwiler
VICE PRESIDENT,
ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT
Denise A. McDonald
VICE PRESIDENT, ADVANCEMENT
John Eccles
VICE PRESIDENT AND DEAN,
STUDENT DEVELOPMENT
Lynchburg College Magazine is published
semi-annually for alumni, parents, and friends
by College Communications and Marketing,
434.544.8325 or 800.621.1669.
Send change of address to:
Lynchburg College Magazine
Lynchburg College
1501 Lakeside Drive
Lynchburg, VA 24501-3113
[email protected]
www.lynchburg.edu
Letters to the editor may be sent to
[email protected]
Lynchburg College does not discriminate on
the basis of race, religion, disability, gender,
sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin
and complies with the requirements of the
Americans with Disabilities Act.
PHOTO BY WARREN WRIGHT
Active learning
A new style of classroom is helping Lynchburg College professors change the way they teach.
In the “active learning classrooms,” students
form groups around different tables, each group
focused on its own flat-screen monitor on the wall.
Thanks to dry-erase paint, the students can write
on the walls with markers while brainstorming.
With wheeled office chairs, the students are more
mobile than usual.
There is no one focal point in the room at any
given time. “The layout of the room really prohibits
me from lecturing,” said Dr. Laura Kicklighter. “I
am interacting with the students much more directly than I would be in a traditional classroom.”
After a brief “true/false” quiz about AIDS in one
recent class, Dr. Kicklighter assigned each group to
identify ethical issues in a different country’s policies
regarding HIV prevention, testing, and treatment.
As the students talked, they typed quickly on their
laptops to edit presentations on their shared screens.
Using their computers and cloud editing technology comes naturally to most of the current generation of students, Dr. Kicklighter said. “It’s been
really great to allow students to use technology for
learning instead of constantly trying to stop them
from using their technology (for texting or social
media use) in class.”
Four active learning classrooms — three for
student instruction and one for faculty training —
were installed at LC in the past year. By fostering
free discussion and movement, the rooms apply
research-backed methods to improve learning, said
Dr. Allison Jablonski, associate dean. “Moving and
AFTER SERVING ON AN interim
BY BRYAN GENTRY
learning is more memorable than sitting,” she said.
The new classrooms were proposed by Dr. Jablonski and other faculty members who started the LC
Teaching and Learning Center several years ago. The
Jessie Ball DuPont Fund provided money to create
an active learning classroom in the library to serve
as a home for the TLC. This classroom is used to
train faculty in the techniques that use the room’s
technology most effectively.
Another active learning classroom was created
in Thompson Hall, allowing education students to
work hands-on with technology that is becoming
more common in the public schools where they will
teach. Another serves the School of Business and
Economics in Schewel Hall while the third is in
the Westover Honors suite, where Dr. Kicklighter
teaches most of her courses.
She said the smart application of the technology,
combined with even more interactive classes, seems
to help her students improve their grasp of the
subject matter in her medical ethics course. “Their
grades are better than other times that I’ve taught
the same material with the same book,” she said.
“Their academic performance has gone up.”
In addition to the active learning classrooms, the
TLC sponsors workshops and speakers to help faculty continually improve their teaching. “This is a
way for teachers and scholars to look at how learning works, and that will inform our teaching,” said
Dr. Jablonski. “Our mission as Lynchburg College
is to be a teaching institution. We are here to offer a
liberal arts education. The best way that we can do
that is through informed teaching.”
basis for several months, Dr.
Sally Selden became the permanent vice president and dean for
academic affairs in December.
The national search drew
75 applicants, and two finalists
were interviewed in early December. Dr. Kenneth R. Garren,
president, said that Dr. Selden
emerged as the best candidate.
“She has had a distinguished
career at Lynchburg College
and has already provided exemplary leadership to our college
community,” he said. “I know
that she will be a tremendous
leader for Lynchburg College as
we move forward with the implementation of our strategic plan
for the future.”
“I am honored by this vote of
confidence and the opportunity
to continue serving Lynchburg
College in this capacity,” said
Dr. Selden. “I look forward to
continue working with our dynamic faculty and staff to create
the best possible environment
where students can become
educated and prepare for lives
of work and service.”
Dr. Selden has served as a
professor of management in
the School of Business and Economics since 2001.
Spring 2016 LC MAGAZINE 3
Around the Dell
ONLINE EXTR AS Read Dr. Manian's
paper on Hindu influences in St. Lucia.
Professional group honors
Kari Hampton
KARI HAMPTON, a health and physical education
Hobbs Hall
renamed to
honor Sigler
DR. JULIUS A. SIGLER JR. ’62, was
honored for his 48 years of service
to Lynchburg College at a rededication of the Hobbs Science Building
on September 4. Previously named
in honor of T. Gibson Hobbs ’04, an
LC trustee from 1915 to 1942, the
building was renamed the Thomas
Gibson Hobbs and Julius A. Sigler
Science Center to recognize the
many contributions made by Dr.
Sigler during his tenure. He served
as a physics faculty member, assistant dean, and finally vice president
and dean for academic affairs
before his retirement in June. He
was awarded an honorary doctor
of science during Commencement
exercises in May.
“Dr. Sigler played an integral role in
the history of Lynchburg College and
in the lives of many students over
the past five decades,” said LC President Dr. Kenneth R. Garren. “The
College’s trustees and I thought it
was fitting to honor him permanently
by adding his name to our science
building.”
DPT and PA students volunteer in
the Caribbean
Outstanding Faculty Award
Dr. Sabita Manian, a Lynchburg College
professor of international relations and political
science, recently received the Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher
Education for Virginia.
As the highest honor that the Commonwealth
of Virginia gives to professors at public and private colleges and universities, Outstanding Faculty Awards recognize superior accomplishments
in teaching, research, and public service.
“Dr. Manian’s commitment to and accomplishment in fulfilling Lynchburg College’s mission is evident through her dynamic pedagogy
and outstanding preparation of students for a
global society as conscientious citizens,” said LC
President Dr. Kenneth R. Garren, who nominated her for the award.
Dr. Manian also recently published research
in the online academic journal Religions. Her
co-authored paper, “Sensing Hinduism: Lucian-Indian Funeral Feast as Glocalized Ritual,”
relates her observations from a funerary feast she
attended while in St. Lucia for research.
Dr. Manian has taught at LC since 2001. She
has received two of the College’s top awards
for faculty, the Shirley E. Rosser Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Thomas C. Allen
Award for Excellence in Academic Advising.
Two groups of Lynchburg College
medical students started 2016 by teaching
and serving in the Caribbean.
Nine students from the Doctor of Physical Therapy program worked with special
education teachers in St. Lucia while 17
Physician Assistant Medicine students
performed clinical work in the Dominican Republic. The experience allowed the
students to apply what they have learned
Commonwealth’s secretary shares dream at LC
LEVAR STONEY’S
PARENTS WERE ages
New major in liberal arts studies
A NEW MAJOR AT Lynchburg College provides an
additional offering to the institution’s liberal arts core
while allowing more flexibility for students to pursue
diverse interests.
The Liberal Arts Studies major, which became an
official part of LC’s curriculum in the fall of 2015, serves
students whose interests span several disciplines.
Students can design their own majors or choose from
a variety of pre-defined options that combine courses
from several minors with common themes.
Being able to integrate a breadth and depth of
cross-disciplinary perspectives across several subjects
will give students an edge in graduate schools and
other careers, said Dr. Sabita Manian, who serves as
the program chair. “Even in the tech world, they are
looking for a combination of skills — such as writing
and critical thinking — that brings together more than
one discipline,” Dr. Manian said. “We created this major
as another venue for students to develop such skills.”
in classrooms, but, more importantly, it
helped them develop their sense of purpose and service, said DPT professor Dr.
Lori Mize.
“I hope the students will gain a love not
only of our profession, but of service and
of people. Really that’s the most important
thing that we can help them come to, or
teach them,” she said. “To see that passion
ignite in them was the absolute best.”
professor at Lynchburg College, has been named
the 2015 College/University Health Teacher of the
Year by the Virginia Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.
The annual award recognizes faculty members
in Virginia who demonstrate effective teaching,
emphasize the importance of physical fitness, and
serve as positive role models for students.
“Kari is an exemplary educator and is instrumental in mentoring Lynchburg College students
through the health and physical education major
and into service as educators,” said Dr. Jean St.
Clair, dean of the School of Health Sciences and
Human Performance. “With America in a health
crisis fueled by the epidemic of obesity, each of
those students can have a powerful impact upon
the lives of young men and women.”
Hampton taught in the Henrico County Public Schools before she began teaching at LC
in 2008. Her interests include improving the
physical education experience for students who
have disabilities, as well as finding ways to have
students with disabilities learn alongside other
students in the regular physical education setting.
16 and 19 when he was
born. Neither of them
graduated from high
school. He grew up
relying on free lunch in
the school cafeteria.
“I pinch myself every
day because, usually,
a person with those
circumstances doesn’t
become secretary of
the Commonwealth,” Stoney told an audience in
Hopwood Auditorium recently. He was the guest
of the Black Student Association.
Today, Stoney keeps his family’s past in mind
as he plays a role in shaping Virginia’s direction.
“Sometimes not having a lot closes a window
on opportunity,” he said. “Even though public
service is not easy, experience makes it worth it.
What we do every day in the governor’s administration makes a difference.”
The youngest member of Virginia Gov. Terry
McAuliffe’s cabinet, Stoney leads the commonwealth’s efforts for “restorative justice,” which he
hopes will help former inmates build better lives
for themselves.
One side of that involves streamlining and facilitating the process by which convicted felons in
Virginia can regain their voting rights after completing their prison sentences. Stoney and McAu-
PA PHOTO COURTESY OF JEREMY WELSH; LEVAR STONEY AND KARI HAMPTON PHOTOS BY JOHN MCCORMICK
liffe have worked to decrease waiting periods,
reduce application paperwork, remove financial
barriers, and reach out to former inmates.
Restorative justice also involves improving the
correctional system. Stoney co-chairs the governor’s commission reviewing the Commonwealth’s
policy on parole, which Virginia eliminated in 1995.
Allowing convicts to start over will be better
for the former inmates, their families, and society,
he said.
“We understand that the sands of the hourglass
are flowing through by the minute, by the second,” Stoney said. “What we want to do is take
every moment possible and use that moment for
the betterment of Virginians.”
Discover
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Left: Tarsha talks to host Jonathan Bennett, right, during the
“ooey gooey, soft and chewy” second challenge round.
Below: Tarsha reacts as judges declare her overall winner
during the judging of the final challenge round while runnersup Megan Greulich and Jen Musky watch.
Eat your
art out
RECENT GRADUATE WINS FOOD
NETWORK COOKIE CHALLENGE
BY BRYAN GENTRY
o Tarsha Joyner ’13, cookies, cakes, and
caramels are blank canvases waiting for
her artistic touch.
“It takes forever to sculpt something
or paint or quilt, but it takes just a couple of hours to bake something and have
someone see it,” Tarsha said of her preferred
medium. “I’m able to be creative and get instant gratification.”
Tarsha’s talent for wielding frosting and
flavors has underpinned a growing business
for four years now, and it helped her win
$10,000 in the Food Network Christmas
Cookie Challenge special last year.
She is using that money to expand her
business to a full-time venture with her own
storefront in downtown Lynchburg. She
plans to open Mrs. Joy’s Absolutely Fabulous
Treat Shoppe this spring.
“Even though I had a small local presence,
it’s grown exponentially since the show,”
Tarsha said. “People everywhere want to try
those cookies.”
The past decade has been a flurry of activity
in Tarsha’s life. She has worked as an accounting firm office manager, a tech support
representative, and a freelance photographer.
She earned an associate’s degree in computer
programming and business administration
followed by her art degree at LC. She started
her baking business while still in school. All
along, she was deeply involved in her family
and church.
All of these activities had something in
common, she said.
“I’ve always searched for and sought out
creative outlets — I just didn’t know that’s
what I was doing,” she said. “I immerse my-
self in whatever I feel to be the most expressive of my creative abilities.”
In the spring of 2012, LC graphic design
professor Ursula Bryant told Tarsha that a
class that fall would challenge the students to
create a business brand. Tarsha decided to get
a head start over the summer by selling homemade shortbread cookies at the Lynchburg
Community Market. “I figured I could test
out my packaging and my product and see if
the customers responded well to it,” she said.
By the time the fall semester came, Tarsha
already had the beginnings of a profitable
business. She also had a brand that needed
improvement.
“At the beginning, I had a rather tacky
logo,” Tarsha said. She credits Professor
Bryant with helping her perfect the logo and
packaging design.
Tarsha’s branding project won an Addy
Award from the American Advertising Federation that year. “I knew she would go on
to do more great things,” Bryant said. “She’s
been quick to prove me right.”
Tarsha quickly expanded beyond cookie
making and added cake pops, cakes, doughnuts, and caramels to her repertoire. Her
talent and creativity are easy to see, said Amy
Forbes, an early and faithful customer.
Forbes recalled asking for a coconut cake
to celebrate a birthday. Rather than top a
traditional sheet cake with coconut frosting,
Tarsha sculpted a cake in the shape of a coconut cut open and with a straw placed inside.
She colored the outside with toasted coconut.
“It was flawless,” Forbes said.
Last August, Tarsha and her husband, Ron,
flew to California so she could compete in
the Christmas Cookie Challenge. She hoped
to win the $10,000 prize to help finance her
dream of quitting her tech support job and
grow her baking business.
Tarsha's winning Chronicles of Narnia-inspired cookies
They returned to Lynchburg with a secret
— Tarsha had won, but they could tell no
one, not even their three children, until after
the show premiered Thanksgiving weekend.
Many of Tarsha’s friends and customers
filled a Lynchburg restaurant for a viewing
party on November 28. They watched her
compete against four professional bakers to
create a variety of holiday cookies. Although
she demonstrated a sense of humor and baking talent in the first two rounds, Tarsha said
she got lucky as other bakers made minor
mistakes that sent them home.
The last round catered to Tarsha’s greatest
strength. She was asked to decorate cookies for a “Winter Wonderland” theme. “I
immediately thought of the Chronicles of
Narnia,” Tarsha said. She spent two hours
designing cookies that she hoped would make
PHOTOS BY EMILE WAMSTEKER/ TELEVISION FOOD NETWORK, G.P.; COOKIE PHOTOS BY TARSHA JOYNER ’13
the judges feel like they were staring out of a
wardrobe and into a forest blanketed in snow.
The judges got the picture.
“Your cookies really tasted like Christmas,” judge and pastry chef Duff Goldman
told her on screen. “We all agree, you really
brought an artist’s vision to the cookies on
your platter.”
When Tarsha was announced as the winner, cheers erupted throughout the restaurant
hosting the viewing party. Tears flowed, too.
“Being a loyal customer, it’s nice to see a
piece of that success for her,” Forbes said.
“There’s really nothing better than learning
about the success of past students,” Bryant
said. “We all have those memorable students,
and for me Tarsha is one of the greats. She is
an inspiration.”
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“My desire to explore the world
carried over into school. …
I’m not stressing out trying
to prepare for a test; I’m just
learning.”
— Alyson Black ’16
Living to learn
SOMMERVILLE SCHOLAR HAS A PASSION FOR DISCOVERY
BY BRYAN GENTRY
If Alyson Black ’16 had time for yet another major or minor, it would be English.
She has spent most of her time working
on her two majors — biomedical science and
chemistry — and her mathematics minor.
But while math and science courses present
her with problems that boil down to one
correct solution, she has enjoyed classes where
she can analyze literature and come to a vast
array of possible answers.
“I love that here at LC I can develop both
of those ways of thinking,” Alyson said.
Alyson’s passion for learning is one reason Lynchburg College named her the 2016
Richard Clarke Sommerville Scholar, the
highest academic honor the College bestows
on students. Chemistry professor Dr. William
Lokar, one of Alyson’s academic advisors,
noted Alyson’s interests in all subjects, in8 LC MAGAZINE Spring 2016
cluding science, social issues, philosophy, and
politics.
“Alyson is driven by what fascinates her,
not by just what is required of her,” Dr. Lokar
said. “Alyson has a unique way of delving
beyond what is near the surface to develop
insightful responses on many topics.
“What sets her apart from most other students is that she embodies a liberal arts education in everything she does,” he added.
Alyson’s love for learning took root as she
grew up exploring the world around her in a
rural area just outside Lynchburg. “I’ve always
been curious,” she said. “My desire to explore
the world carried over into school. I’m enjoying myself. I’m not stressing out trying to
prepare for a test; I’m just learning.”
When Alyson attended the Central Virginia
Governor’s School for Science and Technol-
ogy, some of the teachers there mentioned
their bright, inquisitive student to Dr. Allison
Jablonski, a biomedical sciences professor and
associate dean. When Alyson came to LC, she
continued to develop a positive reputation
among the faculty. Dr. Jablonski finally taught
Alyson in a recent cancer biology class, and
decided everything she had heard from other
professors was true. “She’s motivated. She’s curious. She’s extremely bright. She asks probing
questions,” Dr. Jablonski said. “It’s a dream to
teach a student like her.”
Alyson’s two majors and her minor have a
lot in common, a fact which thrills her. “The
most exciting part of school is when different
ideas start to converge and connect,” she said.
She applied her knowledge of biology and
chemistry and her mathematical skills in an
independent research project about the way
some molecules in the immune
system respond to E. coli. She
plans to study pharmacology in
graduate school because of the
way it appeals to her interests in
biology, chemistry, and medicine.
Alyson also spends a lot of time
reading from a bookshelf that
includes biographies, popular science books, and literary fiction.
Serving as a Peer Assisted Study
Session leader for an “infamously
difficult” organic chemistry class
has helped Alyson develop one
of several visions for her future.
She would love to teach college
herself one day.
Her intelligence, combined
with interpersonal skills, make
her a great fit for that, said
Dr. Jablonski. “She’s a natural
teacher.”
Before coming to LC, Alyson
first enrolled in a large state university. But the first day of orientation revealed a high-pressure,
competitive style of academics.
She withdrew, and one of her
high school teachers recommended that she take a class at
Lynchburg just to test the water.
It was perfect. “Everyone was
so friendly and welcoming,” she
said. “They encouraged discussion and curiosity. It seemed like
it was more of a team effort in
search of success.”
Alyson said the honor of becoming the Sommerville Scholar
was especially meaningful because
of one facet of its history: Almost
30 years ago, the award went to
Dr. Stephen Smith ’88, ’93 MEd
during his senior year at LC. He
went on to become the director
of the Central Virginia Governor’s School; he was the teacher
who first encouraged her to think
about LC.
Considering him one of her
role models, Alyson feels she is on
the right track. “It’s neat to see it
come full circle,” she said.
Dividends
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT FIRM HIRES
SENIOR WESTOVER HONORS STUDENT,
LACROSSE ATHLETE
BY BRYAN GENTRY
industry,” he said. “I became more interested in
THE FACT THAT RYAN CONNORS ’16 secured
making investment decisions.”
a full-time job before starting his senior year at
The internship allowed Ryan to work alongLynchburg surprised no one.
side BlackRock analysts and learn the ups and
The job offer revealed the natural progresdowns of wealth management. Then, BlackRock
sion of someone with Ryan’s natural talent and
offered him a full-time financial analyst job.
work ethic, said Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach
He knew that BlackRock likes to hire from its
Steve Koudelka.
internship program, and he was honored to see
“Ryan came here with a very competitive
that happen in his case. “For it to actually come
spirit about him that was obvious from his high
to fruition is something that I’m extremely proud
school success in the classroom and on the
of,” he said. “I can’t wait to
lacrosse field,” said Koudelka.
start there.”
“We’ve allowed him to build
“Ryan came
Ryan said his experiences
off of that.”
here with a very
at LC prepared him to sucLacrosse was the first inceed in the internship and
terest that drew Ryan to LC,
competitive spirit
get a job offer at the end. He
but the academic challenge
about him that was
recalled Coach Koudelka’s
in the Westover Honors Proobvious from his
advice to sit at the front of the
gram appealed to him, too.
The program required
high school success classroom, participate in disand take questions
Ryan to take many classes
in the classroom and cussions,
to professors. “I’ve always
he had never planned to take
on the lacrosse field. benefitted from getting to
in college, but that has led to
know my professors better
the ability to make connecWe’ve allowed him
and getting engaged in distions across disciplines, think
to build off of that.”
cussions with them,” Ryan
critically, analyze information,
— Steve Koudelka said. The small class sizes at
and write well, Ryan said.
LC make it easy to interact
“Those things pay dividends.”
with faculty, he added.
The strength of that interdisciplinary back“They take incredible pride in what they do,”
ground is obvious in the work he does for
he said of his professors. “They definitely put
economics courses, said Dr. Gerald Prante,
the students first.”
Ryan’s academic advisor. “He sees all sides of
Ryan also has stood out as a defender on
the world,” Dr. Prante said. “In the economics
the lacrosse field. Last year, he played in two
department, we gave him sufficient skills to be
NCAA tournament games as the team fought
able to do what he had to do to get the job, but
to the national title game, where he won the
his skill set goes beyond what we taught him.”
NCAA Elite 89 Award for having the highest
Ryan majored in economics and minored in
GPA of any athlete competing there. Going into
mathematics and political science. A year ago,
his final season, he is prime for more success.
his quest for work experience led him to an in“I think Ryan’s best days are still ahead of
ternship with BlackRock, a well-known financial
him,” said Koudelka. “His last semester, we
management firm. “The process of interviewing
hope, is his best semester.”
and trying to get an internship really led me
to learn a whole lot more about the finance
Discover
Connect
Achieve
“… If you want to know
what students thought
and what students
did, read The
Critograph.”
Tales from The Crit
THE CRITOGRAPH MARKS CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY
A little more than 100 years ago, nine
Virginia Christian College students published
their school’s first newspaper.
“The Critograph,” they called it, and they
printed several times that first year; a few copies
of some of the earliest editions remain in the
Lynchburg College archives.
“The Critograph started last October without a cent, and for the year its entire running
expenses range something near $450,” reads
a May 1916 editorial. But in its first year, the
publication had earned enough revenue to donate $25 cash to the library and $40 in free advertising to the College; adjusted for inflation,
that’s like $544 and $870, respectively. “We are
proud of this record,” the editorial says.
Those students laid the foundation of a
century of independent student journalism.
Over the past 100 years, the biweekly newspaper paper has covered issues including sports,
BY BRYAN GENTRY
civil rights, international politics, and student
government.
“Our history is in that newspaper,” said
history professor Dr. Clifton Potter ’62, a
former Critograph staff member who now
writes a history column for the paper. “You
can go back and read The Critograph at the
beginning and come forward to our time,
and watch people change — watch generations change. … If you want to know what
students thought and what students did, read
The Critograph.”
Also known as “The Crit,” it has a loyal
following. Paper copies start disappearing
soon after the campus racks are filled. Off
campus, former writers and editors “come out
of the woodwork” to support The Critograph
any time they hear rumors that some colleges
are cutting student newspaper funding, said
professor Agatha Rule, Critograph advisor.
Although print publications have taken a
financial beating in the past decade, The Critograph continues strong with the College’s
support, Rule said. “It’s been here for 100
years because the communication studies department knows its value. I think the college
administration also knows how valuable it is,”
she said. “They know what a service it is.”
This year, the 100-year-old newspaper is
led by Editor-in-Chief Alexa Nash ’16. She
and her staff strive to be the eyes, ears, and
voice of the student body. “The students let us
know what they want to know about, and we
send our people to investigate it,” she said.
Working on The Critograph cultivates skills
that students can apply in careers both in and
outside journalism or public relations, Rule
said. Meeting deadlines, writing well, and
communicating effectively are universally applicable. Journalism also develops the dogged
CRITOGRAPH STAFF PHOTO BY JOHN MCCORMICK; ALL OTHER PHOTOS COURTESY OF LYNCHBURG COLLEGE ARCHIVES
determination to get to the bottom of difficult
questions. “They don’t have to know the answer, but they have to be able to go find it, be
confident that they can find it, and find the
best answer that’s out there,” Rule said.
Many former Critograph staff members say
working on the paper at LC helped their careers.
For example, Cyrus Krohn ’94 has worked for
CNN, Slate Magazine, and the Republican
Party. Now he’s the executive producer of Cheezburger.com, an internet humor website. “I feel
like I owe my entire career and my success trajectory to The Critograph,” he said.
After earning weak grades through most
of his high school career, Cyrus found his
academic passion in the Critograph office. He
served as the sports editor and also wrote a
recurring opinion column. “The Critograph
helped me focus,” he said.
The academic credit Cyrus earned by working on The Critograph was enough to help
him graduate a semester early. An internship at
CNN resulted in a job offer from the network,
which set the stage for everything since then.
PHOTO BY LINDSAY MICHIE
“It’s all attributable to that phone call from my
journalism professor asking if I wanted to be
sports editor of The Critograph,” he said.
One of Cyrus’ fondest memories about The
Critograph was the freedom of expression the
paper afforded to him and other writers, even
when the conservative views in his personal
column clashed with his professors’ opinions.
“Never once did the college ever, ever, censor
me or try to suppress my work,” he said.
Students experienced the same kind of freedom 50 years ago, Dr. Potter said. “We were
very proud that we could say what we wanted
to say,” he said.
Today’s staff writers said the freedom of the
press remains well respected at LC. “We’re
a free press in here,” Alexa said, noting that
President Garren has expressed strong support
to her. “He really values the student voice, and
he knows that The Critograph is one place the
students decide what’s important and what to
say about it.”
Even the advisor, Rule, has a very hands-off
approach, allowing the editors to make deci-
sions and take accountability for the printed
product, Alexa added.
That freedom is crucial to the paper’s identity. Although there are no records that indicate why The Critograph got its name, Rule
believes it might stem from Plato’s “Crito,” in
which Socrates explains why he will not escape from prison on the eve of his execution.
He and his friend Crito discuss justice, virtue,
and the worth of the crowd’s opinion.
“Then, my friend, we must not regard what
the many say of us, but … what the truth will
say,” Socrates says.
“The Critograph,” Rule and her students
said, means “truthful writing.”
Because the reputation of the media has
been damaged by occasional scandals and
accusations of bias, truthful writing is a fitting
aspiration for future journalists, Alexa said.
“My goal is to bring truth back to the media
through what I have learned as a student journalist with The Critograph.”
Force
on the
field
BY MIKE CARPENTER
ONE OF THE HORNETS’ youngest field hockey
athletes claimed an uncommon combination of
awards last fall.
Nikki Simpao ’19 was the first player ever to
earn the Old Dominion Athletic Conference’s
Rookie of the Year prize and the Player of the
Year award in the same season. She also garnered second-team All-American honors and
was named All-State Rookie of the Year.
A freshman midfielder from Stafford, Virginia,
Nikki led the ODAC in goals (15), assists (12) and
points (42). She scored at least one point in 12
straight contests to close out the season and
had five game-winning tallies.
“Nikki’s work ethic is truly commendable,”
said LC head coach Enza Steele. “If we start
a new drill in practice and I go help another
player and return back five minutes later, she is
often still working on that skill because she isn’t
satisfied. Nikki is intrinsically motivated and will
do whatever it takes to make herself better.”
Nikki, an athletic training major, takes both
academics and athletics seriously. “Lynchburg
College and Division III in general have helped
me have a balance between the playing field
and the classroom,” she said. “Athletic training
is very time consuming and a lot of observation
hours need to be filled.”
After accomplishing so much in just one season, the sky is the limit for her next three years.
“I still have a lot of individual things to work on
and improve. I think we should have a very
strong team next year and we should be able to
advance in the NCAA Tournament.”
Women’s soccer
nets field and
classroom honors
Hornets pass
milestones on
the court
BY MIKE CARPENTER
BY MIKE CARPENTER
STUDENT-ATHLETES on the women’s
T
he Hornets enjoyed
successful seasons
on the basketball court as
student-athletes passed
personal milestones and set
new records.
Hilliary Scott scored his 100th career win
as head coach of the men’s basketball team
on December 12, when the Hornets defeated
Goucher College 80-65. The men later
rewrote the record book in a 160-156 win
against Roanoke College on Feb. 17. They
broke the conference and school records for
most points in a game, as well as LC’s records for three pointers and free throws. The
two teams’ total of 316 points surpassed the
NCAA Division III top mark.
Senior forward Alex Graves earned a spot
in the 1,000 point club during an 87-83 win
over LaGrange College just before Christmas.
A three-time All-Old Dominion Athletic
Conference selection, he finished his LC career
in the top 10 all-time in scoring, field goals
made, field goal percentage, free throws made,
rebounds and blocked shots.
“Alex has exemplified what being a true
Hornet is all about,” said Scott. “He has not
only improved and excelled on the court, but
he has been a tremendous student. It has been
Graves
rewarding to have all things that we discussed
during the recruiting process come true for
him throughout his career. Alex has helped
put this program in a position to compete for
championships for many years to come.”
On the women’s side, senior Sammi Goldsmith broke her own single-game assist record
with 14 during a 73-60 victory over Meredith
College January 2. She broke the Hornet career assist mark, formerly held by head coach
Abby Pyzik Smith ’04, earlier in the campaign.
“Sammi has been a tremendous contributor
in leading our program to new heights,” said
Coach Pyzik Smith. “Her career assist milestone this year has taken hours and hours of
hard work while no one else was watching to
be the best that she can be while wearing the
Lynchburg jersey. Her selflessness and teamfirst mentality has taken her to the top and
there is no one more deserving.” Senior Chaney Forbush went over the
1,000 point mark during a dominating 28point, 11 rebound performance against Washington & Lee University on January 6 and
pushed the Hornets to an overtime victory.
Koudelka Named Division
III Men’s Lacrosse Head
Coach of the Year
LONG-TIME LYNCHBURG COLLEGE HEAD
men’s lacrosse coach
Steve Koudelka was
named the 2015 USILA
Division III Coach of
Goldsmith
the Year this winter. The 2015 campaign
was the most successful season in program
history. The Hornets
finished 21-3, won the
Forbush
She ends her Hornet career in the top 10
for career points, field goals made, field goal
percentage, free-throws made, free throw percentage, rebounds and blocked shots.
“We are so proud of Chaney reaching the
1,000 career point milestone,” said Pyzik
Smith. “To be one of only eight individuals
to accomplish this feat shows what a special
young woman she is. Her dedication, commitment, and love for Lynchburg on and off
the court set the highest expectations for every
individual in our program to look up to. We
are so thankful for her investment and belief
in Lynchburg College.
“Both of these senior captains have
achieved tremendous accomplishments within
our program, but even more importantly they
are both wonderful individuals and role models,” she added. “Nothing is more gratifying
as a coach than to witness the growth of two
incredibly strong women.”
As this magazine went to press, both teams
won their conference championships in the
same afternoon.
Old Dominion Athletic
Conference title, and
advanced all the way
to the NCAA Division
III championship game.
LC won four tournament games en route
to the title game and
had a 19-game winning streak. Koudelka
was also named the
All-State Coach of the
Year for his efforts.
Lynchburg has won
six conference crowns
and earned nine trips
to the NCAA Tournament in Koudelka’s
tenure. He has been
named the All-ODAC
and All-State Coach
of the Year four times
each and has a 234-95
career record at LC.
A place on this team
S
hannon Dodd knew for
years that her oldest
child, Caitlyn, might need a
kidney transplant someday.
When “someday” turned into
“soon,” Caitlyn was being
recruited to play soccer at
Lynchburg College.
They shared the news with Coach Todd
Olsen, knowing that Caitlyn’s kidney condition could prevent her from taking the field.
Coach’s reaction: Don’t worry. “She’ll always have a place on this team, no matter
what,” Shannon remembers him saying.
Dr. Olsen lived true to his word. When
Caitlyn’s kidney disease prevented her from
playing during her sophomore season, he
asked her to be a goalie coach and use her
experience as a striker to help the Hornet
keepers sharpen their defense.
“It really helped a lot to be able to still be a
part of the team and still do things that mattered,” Caitlyn said.
Her teammates formed a powerful support
network, especially when the illness took a
heavy toll on Caitlyn. “Having the whole
team behind me really got me through,” she
said. “So many times I just wanted to leave
school, but I just looked at them and realized
I can’t. I’ve got to be there for them, and
they’re here for me.”
BY BRYAN GENTRY
Seeing her team win the national championship was a highlight of Caitlyn’s sophomore
year. But a few weeks later, Caitlyn’s doctor
determined that it was time to pursue a kidney transplant. After extensive testing, Shannon proved to be an ideal donor.
Caitlyn thought her mother would have
some trepidation about giving up a kidney,
but it was consistent with Shannon’s hope
for the happiness of her three children. “It’s
the best possible feeling a parent could have,”
Shannon said. “What parent doesn’t want to
save her child’s life?”
On May 12, Caitlyn and her parents went
to a Norfolk hospital where one of Shannon’s
kidneys would be removed. Caitlyn stayed at
her mother’s side until it was time for her to
go to the pediatric hospital to prepare for her
own surgery.
About five months after the transplant,
Caitlyn’s surgeon cleared her to play the game
she loves.
A health promotion major, Caitlyn hopes
to someday practice pediatric surgery, a career she chose when she was just 4 years old
out of gratitude for what doctors had done
for her.
“They gave me my life back,” Caitlyn
said, “and I wanted to do the same for
somebody else.”
ON L I N E EXT R AS Watch a video interview
with Caitlyn and her mother at magazine.
lynchburg.edu
soccer team earned several athletic
and academic honors this fall.
Senior midfielder Jade Woll and
sophomore defender Emily Maxwell
each received first-team All-American honors from the National Soccer
Coaches Association of America. It
was the first season in program history
that LC had two members on the first
team.
Woll led the Old Dominion Athletic
Conference with 14 assists and also
scored six goals. Her speed and
ability to attack defenders changed
the game for LC, said head coach Dr.
Todd Olsen. “She allowed us to become one of the most prolific attacking teams in the country.”
Maxwell also was named the ODAC
and All-State Player of the Year. This
season, she helped the LC defense
allow just nine goals in 25 matches,
and also added two goals and two
assists. “Emily is the youngest All-American
in our program’s history,” said Olsen.
“We are excited to see what the future
holds for Emily because I feel like we
have just tapped into her potential.”
Maxwell also earned academic honors on the College Sports Information
Directors of America All-District team.
Meanwhile, junior defender Natalie
Deacon earned first-team CoSIDA Academic All-American honors.
These honors showcase the program’s commitment to soccer, service,
and academics, said Olsen. “I get
really excited when one of our players
earns accolades because of their
performance on the field. I get ecstatic
when one of our student-athletes earns
accolades in the classroom,” he said.
“This is the purpose of the D3 experience — playing a sport because one
loves it and excelling in the classroom
because this is one’s future.”
Lynchburg
voices
LYNCHBURG VOICES is a new section devoted to the words of the Lynchburg College community.
Writers are welcome to share personal experiences, commentary, and other musings of interest to the
community. Send submissions to [email protected].
My mother’s final gift
‘THEY KNEW THAT IF I HAD KNOWN THE FULL DETAILS, I WOULD HAVE LEFT SCHOOL AND NOT FINISHED
MY JUNIOR YEAR. AND SO I DID NOT KNOW THAT SHE WAS DYING.’
Rebuilding New Orleans
BY BRADLEY JACKSON ’16
T
here are phone calls that
you never want to experience, calls
that change your life. I received one
of those calls on March 30, 2015.
I didn’t answer the phone at 9:32 a.m. because I was in class, but when I saw that the
phone call was from my dad, I knew that
something was not right. He never called
that early.
His voicemail left me with a sense of panic.
My mother had been transported to UNC
Hospital in Chapel Hill, N.C., and I needed
to get there as soon as possible.
My mother and father were high school
sweethearts whose romance grew into a lifelong friendship and marriage of 25 years. I
grew up in a family that instilled
core values through regular involvement in church. Those values included, but are not limited
to, serving others, doing what is
right, giving back to younger generations, and giving everything
your best.
Another one of those values
was to set my mind on a goal and
achieve it. For the past few years,
my goal has been to complete
my degree in athletic training at
Lynchburg College. My mother
and father pushed me to reach for
my educational goals because neither had graduated from college.
To them, my education was everything. They knew that getting an
education would help me provide
a stable environment for myself
and my future family.
In January 2015, my mother
went to the hospital because of
abdominal pains. Within a week,
she was diagnosed with colon
cancer.
During that semester, I focused
heavily on school work. I also prepared to
work on summer research with Dr. Tom Bowman, one of my athletic training professors. I
had no idea, though, that my mother’s cancer
had metastasized and spread throughout her
body. My parents decided not to tell me that
it was stage 4 cancer because they did not
want to distract me from my goal of graduating from college on time. They knew that if I
had known the full details, I would have left
school and not finished my junior year. And
so I did not know that she was dying.
It was not until I went home for spring
break that I realized my mother’s illness was
taking a tremendous toll on her. When my
father called me the following Monday and
asked me to come back, I feared for the worse.
Throughout the drive to Chapel Hill, I had
no clue what kind of shape my mother would
be in, or even if she would still be alive for
me to speak to by the time I arrived. When I
walked into her hospital room with my father
and preacher and saw my mother, seemingly
unconscious, all I could do was break down.
Then I heard my mother say my name. I gathered myself and then spoke to her.
I was able to spend one of the hardest, yet
most rewarding weeks of my life — the last
week of my mother’s life — in a hospital
room with my parents.
We shared many special moments that
week, but one that stood out was my receiving an email that notified me I had received
a grant that would allow me to work with
Dr. Bowman on summer research. When I
saw the message, I handed my phone to my
mother so she could read the good news herself. Before she died, she was able to see that
her sacrifices on my behalf had led to a great
opportunity for me.
Shelley Thomas Jackson passed away April
3, 2015 at approximately 1:43 a.m.
I’m thankful that I was able to spend the
last week of my mother’s life by her side. I am
also thankful that my parents pushed me to
be the very best I could be, especially when it
came to school. Because of their dedication to
my education, I am honoring them by pursuing graduate school in hopes of obtaining my
master’s degree in athletic training.
I plan to become an athletic trainer at a
college, where I will spend my days helping
people avoid, and recover from, injury so
they can excel to the best of their ability. I will
often think of my mother’s example of serving
others and how she motivated me to get an
education.
Bradley Jackson is a senior at Lynchburg College.
ILLUSTRATION ISTOCK.COM/MERIEL JANE WAISSMAN
BY DR. JIMMY ROUX
J
ust over a decade ago,
Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, my hometown. The powerful
winds and flooding killed thousands
and drove countless others from their homes.
Today, many of the homes left behind still
show signs of the storm.
Last year, I jumped at the chance to bring
12 Lynchburg College students, along with my
wife and son, to rebuild homes in New Orleans over winter break. Two days after Christmas, we piled into two vans and made the 14
hour drive, arriving at the Youth Rebuilding
New Orleans bunkhouse the night before we
started our service work.
YRNO is a nonprofit organization which
started after Hurricane Katrina to rebuild
blighted and abandoned homes in New
Orleans. After the storm, New Orleans had
more blighted homes than any other city
in the country. Thanks to years of work by
nonprofits like YRNO and their volunteers,
the city now is third in the country with
around 30,000 blighted or abandoned homes.
Although work remains to be done, much
progress has been made.
YRNO has been successful largely from
the volunteers who come from all over the
world. Most volunteers are school groups
like ours and stay in the YRNO bunkhouse.
The Lynchburg College group had the entire
bunkhouse to ourselves since most groups
volunteer during spring break and summer.
I had three goals for the trip: service, learnPHOTO COURTESY OF JIMMY ROUX
ing, and fun. We scheduled three days of
service and two days of fun, and learning took
place throughout the trip.
The Lynchburg College crew was assigned
to labor on the 2700 block of St. Ann Street,
where homes were drenched with several feet
of water during the hurricane. After a meeting and ice breaker each morning, we were
given tasks which included installing insulation, building fences, moving piles of wood
and rock, taking truckloads of debris to the
landfill, and organizing a tool shed. We were
very lucky to be involved in paving a driveway,
where we could literally leave our mark with
the words “Virginia Group” in one small corner of the wet concrete.
A trip to New Orleans would not be complete without sampling a wide variety of the
city’s unique culinary creations. We had Po’
boys at the Park Tavern, and oysters and Boofries at ACME Oyster house. My sister had
us over to her house for red beans and rice
(a NOLA tradition) and kingcake (a Mardis
Gras specialty), and my cousins collaborated
to create a New Orleans feast of jambalaya,
crawfish etouffee, gumbo, fried chicken and
bread pudding. It was funny to hear a student remark, “We fish with crawfish, but you
all eat them”? Yes, we New Orleanians will eat
just about anything.
We took three tours while we were in New
Orleans. A disaster tour allowed students to
see the devastation caused by Katrina, which
hit land when most of them were still in el-
ementary school. We visited the site where a
levee broke — a rupture that contributed to
flooding 80 percent of New Orleans.
On a walking tour of the French Quarter,
we learned about Andrew Jackson and the
battle of New Orleans. In a garden district
walking tour, we toured a cemetery and saw
homes of the rich and famous people including Archie Manning and Sandra Bullock. We
watched the fireworks and fleur-de-lis drop in
Jackson Square on New Year’s Eve.
Since this was our first time leading a
service-learning trip, my wife, Melissa, and
I were uncertain about many things. But we
were both impressed by the students’ desire
to be of service, get their hands dirty, and do
tasks enthusiastically.
As I asked the students about their reasons
for coming, they almost always talked about
their desires to learn about the culture of New
Orleans and also to help people less fortunate
than themselves. I believe the experience
fulfilled those expectations. Our students
not only saw the impact of a tragic natural
disaster, but they witnessed the determination
of one city to recover, and they helped in that
recovery. That they would spend part of their
break from school doing this says a lot about
these Lynchburg College students.
Dr. Jimmy Roux is a communication studies
professor and chair of the communication studies
department.
Hope
‘A BEAUTIFUL THING’
BY BRYAN GENTRY
M
ychael Ward ’18 expected a normal first day
of band camp leading up to his senior year of high
school: marching, music, and fun with friends.
But his band director, Russell Pawlas, had other
plans.
He pulled Mychael aside and said, “You’re going to college.”
“I don’t know how to get there,” Mychael thought at the time.
But Pawlas took Mychael to a classroom to meet someone who did
know. Heidi Vande Hoef, director of the Future Center at E.C. Glass
High School, started helping Mychael prepare college applications and
find ways to pay for his education.
Later, Beacon of Hope, the organization that operates the Future
Center, gave Mychael a scholarship.
Now Mychael is a Lynchburg College sophomore who gives standout trumpet performances both as a solo artist and a member of campus ensembles. He also uses his talent as a professional musician for
theatre productions in the Lynchburg community.
He credits Pawlas and Vande Hoef for steering him the right way.
“They made me feel like someone aside from my mom wanted to see
me make it in the world,” he said. “As cliche as it sounds, they did give
me a feeling of hope. It was a good feeling to have.”
PHOTO BY NATALIE LEDONNE
‘The power to change’
M
ychael’s path to LC began when he and his middle
school classmates picked their band instruments.
At first he wanted a clarinet, but he noticed a lot of his
classmates were choosing the same. So he tried the trumpet instead.
“From the moment I picked up my trumpet, I fell in love with
music,” Mychael said. “I played in middle school and all through high
school. I was in every ensemble you could think of.”
That summer, Mychael noticed diagrams of a piano keyboard above
the notes in his trumpet book. He expressed curiosity, and his mom
found an electric keyboard at a yardsale. Mychael taught himself the
notes on the piano and soon he was playing pop songs by ear.
“Music has the power to change lives,” Mychael said. “I believe
that’s what music did for me.” His love for music shielded him from
influences like drugs and alcohol, which overtook some of his friends’
lives in high school. “Music kept me away from that. It kept me busy. I
never grew bored with it.”
Mychael’s musical talent was evident to his band director. “He innately understood that there was more to music than pushing the right
button and blowing the right note,” said Pawlas. “Mychael could pick
up pretty much anything and play it. It became obvious that he had a
future in music. It was also obvious that he wasn’t going to get to college any other way.”
Mychael was the first person in his family to graduate from high
school. He had never seen someone go to a four-year college, so he had
no idea how to navigate that path himself.
But he knew education was important. His mother enrolled at a
technical school in Lynchburg to set an example for her sons. About
six years ago, she completed a degree in healthcare technology.
“She’s always been that inspiring person to me,” said Mychael. “First
and foremost, she’s the one that I want to make proud.”
‘The best idea’
B
eacon of Hope was created for students exactly like Mychael. It resulted from a series of dialogues among Lynchburg
citizens concerned about racial inequality — discussions that
were championed by Joan Fitzgerald Foster ’69, ’70 MAT, ’85 MEd,
who was Lynchburg mayor at the time. The discussions revealed that
too many children in the city
believed that college was not an
option, either because of family
background or financial concerns.
When someone suggested
the idea that became Beacon
of Hope, Rosel H. Schewel ’71
MEd, ’83 EdS, a member of the
LC Board of Trustees and a retired faculty member, knew she
Joan Foster and Rosel Schewel
wanted to get involved.
“I thought it was the best idea
I had heard in my lifetime,” she said. She and her husband, Elliot
Schewel, decided to help the idea get off the ground with significant
financial gifts.
Beacon of Hope staffs two Future Centers, one in each of Lynch20 LC MAGAZINE Spring 2016
burg’s high schools, where students can get help with any post-high
school plan. Whether students are looking for a full-time job, college
scholarships, technical training programs, or military service, Future
Center directors help them navigate toward their goals.
At E.C. Glass, Vande Hoef gives classes on SAT and ACT preparation, helps students understand application deadlines and write admission essays, and teaches both students and parents about financial aid
options. The sticker price of a college education sometimes prevents
students from even applying to a school in the first place, Vande Hoef
said, so education about scholarships and grants is crucial.
Vande Hoef’s guidance helped Mychael as he
refined his application essays and searched for
scholarships. Jamison Spinner ’19, another E.C.
Glass graduate now at LC, also found a lot of direction at the Future Center.
“I knew I had the academic ability to go to
college, but I needed financial support,” said
Jamison, a computer science major. “That was the
big what-if. The big question.”
Getting a scholarship from Beacon of Hope
Jamison Spinner
gave Jamison the ability to attend LC and live on
campus, he said. “That makes all the difference for me.”
Both Jamison and Mychael have thrived at LC. Jamison has enjoyed
the welcoming attitude of other students, as well as the convenience of
going to school close to home.
Mychael has become an important member of the LC jazz band and
other ensembles. Dr. Chris Magee, a Lynchburg College music professor and trumpet player, said Mychael has the combination of natural
talent and the grit to try difficult pieces. “He definitely has a thirst for
playing the trumpet,” Dr. Magee said.
Mychael also has maintained a higher GPA in college than he had
in high school, which he credits to professors who motivate him to do
well. “I know they want to see me succeed,” he said. “Some days are
harder than others; some days I just don’t want to do the work. But if
they see me slacking off, they’ll pull me into their offices and give me a
little pep talk, and I do better.”
In the near future, Beacon of Hope’s leaders plan to expand their
scholarship program to support more students who attend colleges in
Virginia, especially those who attend one of the colleges in the Lynchburg area. Joan Foster, who now serves as Beacon of Hope’s director of
development, is charged with raising funds to provide scholarships to
even more people.
Her goal is to let every Lynchburg City Schools student know that
all doors are open to them. “We’re making sure all children have hope
and a promise that they can get to graduation day and have a plan in
place,” said Joan.
Creating that expectation and helping students meet it can give
them hope, said Rosel. “It often changes students’ behavior so they
attend school, they participate in the class, and do all the things that
make it possible for them to go to college and improve their chance for
a better life,” she said.
The news of Beacon of Hope’s growing program is music to Mychael’s ears.
“It’s a chance for people to do things that they never thought imaginable,” he said. “It’s going to help someone, like it helped me. That’s a
beautiful thing.”
Once a Hornet, always a
by Bryan Gentry
Lynchburg’s
“Dean with a Dream”
retires after 30 years
T
he last time John Eccles shaved
off his beard, he landed a job
interview at NASA, and it went
well.
Perhaps his mother-in-law had been
right: a clean-cut look could be his
ticket to greater opportunity; a way out
of low-paying student life jobs.
But the tragic Challenger spacecraft
explosion in 1986 forced NASA to reconsider its future plans, putting John’s potential staff development position on hold.
While he waited, John decided to give
higher ed one more try. Soon, Lynchburg
College hired him as director of housing.
A week after that, NASA finally called
to invite John to one more interview.
Too late.
“We’ve often thought: What if those
phone calls had been reversed?” John
said, recalling the story in his office one
rainy afternoon last fall.
“Thank goodness they weren’t,” said
A.J., his wife of 36 years.
When John and A.J. announced they
would retire from LC this June, the reactions of many students and alumni on
social media included the phrase, “It’s
hard to imagine.” And it’s true: 30 years
after the Eccles family came to Lynchburg, it is difficult to envision the College
without them. Through John’s leadership as vice president and dean and A.J.’s
service as a teacher, they have helped
define what people envision when they
think about LC.
“Every college has some
celebrities; usually they’re
football coaches. Here
we’ve got John Eccles.”
— Dr. Michael Robinson
John’s beard, long-since regrown after
his flirtation with the NASA job, is an
iconic image recognized by thousands.
And many alumni owe their success in
life to the forgiving attitude, professional
advice, and dose of reality they could
find in his office.
“He’s a legend,” said Anne Gibbons,
associate chaplain, director of the Bonner
Leader Program, and one of John’s longtime friends. “Even if you don’t know
him or have personal interaction with
him, there’s this legend — a true legend
— that Dean Eccles is a great guy. He’s
approachable, he’s fair, he’s fun. Students
will come up and take a selfie with him
even if they don’t know him, just because
he’s John Eccles.” Students also illustrate
T-shirts and posters with his image.
“The kids wouldn’t do that if they
didn’t love him,” said Steve Smith ’88,
’93 MEd, one of the first resident assistants
John trained. (Steve’s son now attends
LC.) “As part of his job, Dean Eccles
has to hold students accountable for
making poor decisions. It would be very
easy for students to not love someone
who has the authority to do that. But
you see it in generation after generation.”
What would John Eccles do?
John and A.J. grew up only a mile away
from each other in Virginia Beach.
While A.J. attended public school and
developed an interest in special education, John went to Catholic schools,
where the devotion demonstrated by
visiting priests motivated him to attend
the high school seminary in Richmond.
They met at a summer party when
both were rising juniors in college —
A.J. at James Madison University, John
at St. Meinrad Seminary and School of
Theology in Indiana. They quickly forged
a friendship and started exchanging letters
when they returned to school.
A.J. was smitten by John’s kindness,
humor, and poetry. It was too bad, she
thought, that he was devoted to the
priesthood. “If there’s one like him,
there will be another like him,” she
hoped.
Meanwhile, John was having second
thoughts about his vocation. One day,
he decided he could not fathom going
through life without a family of his own.
He could not give himself wholly to
church service. “God gave me the pink
slip,” he said.
John and A.J. started dating, and soon
they were contemplating marriage. He
graduated from St. Meinrad one semester
John also has appreciated her willingness to help him work through challenging parts of his job. “We were fortunate
enough to be in a place where I could
learn from her perception of things,
which helped me to be a better dean of
students,” he said.
“There’s this legend —
a true legend — that
Dean Eccles is a great
guy. He’s approachable,
he’s fair, he’s fun.”
Always a Hornet
— Anne Gibbons
Left: John and A.J. pictured in the mid-1990s at the wedding of Bruce McMillan ’89 and
Kim Ellis McMillan ’92 — just one of many LC alumni weddings they have attended.
Right: John and A.J. in front of the Drysdale Student Center shortly after it was finished.
early, proposed to A.J., and worked in
steel construction until their wedding
in June, 1979.
Since John needed a career path outside the church, he enrolled in a graduate
community counseling program at JMU,
where he and A.J. worked in residence life.
The rest is history.
John came to LC after three years of
working for a large university in a big
city in Pennsylvania. He and A.J. quickly
decided Lynchburg was a better place to
raise children, and the culture at LC was
a perfect fit for John. His students felt
the same way about him.
“I was really impressed by John because
he was open and sincere,” said Steve
Smith, who was a sophomore resident
assistant when John arrived at LC. “He
loved to have fun, but also worked hard
and modeled what he wanted us to do.”
Setting an example is an important
part of John’s leadership style. He has a
reputation of picking up litter alongside
students or even by himself. Even after
he became vice president and dean in
1994, he chose to stay in the rotation to
be “dean on call” for evening needs.
“Leadership is a lot about the motivation
and the esprit de corps that you have to
build,” John said. “You have to get in
the trenches. You have to do the things
that your people are doing. After a while,
you build trust.”
John used Appalachian Trail hikes,
James River canoe trips, challenges on
the College’s high ropes course, and
other activities to help RAs discover their
own strengths and refine their talents.
“He made us operate as a team and
find the positives in each other and in
the people in our halls,” said Whitney
Warner ’96.
Now an elementary school principal,
Whitney regularly draws upon lessons
she learned while working for John.
“John has certainly shaped my leadership
style,” she said. “I often ask myself,
what would John Eccles do?”
That’s a question more people should
ask themselves.
Second chances
Tom White ’95, ’01 MEd spent a good
portion of his first semester in college explaining himself to the housing director.
“I wasn’t a troublemaker, but I spent some
time around troublemakers,” Tom said.
Unhappy with how his semester was
going, Tom told John one day that he
was quitting school. They had a long talk
about all of Tom’s options. “I ended up
dropping out, but some of the conversation stuck with me over the next few
months,” Tom said. “I felt like John really
cared about my future.”
Before long, Tom asked for an opportunity to come back. Later, John hired
him as an RA, which made Tom think
differently about his potential. “I had a
lot of doors open, but I didn’t realize
they were open.”
Since then, Tom has seen John offer
good advice and second chances to many
students. “He was always able to turn
negatives into positives,” he said. “He
holds people accountable, but he also
turns mistakes into lessons.”
John firmly believes in letting people
learn from their failures. “It’s more what
you do with your mistakes that defines
who you are,” he said.
John’s way of working with people
made him a beloved figure on campus
and helped his image find its way to
coveted T-shirts, Critograph comics,
and the famous “Dean with a Dream”
bobblehead.
“Every college has some celebrities;
usually they’re football coaches,” said
Dr. Michael Robinson, an LC professor
who specializes in pop culture, superheroes, and fame. “Here we’ve got John
Eccles. How did he become that?
By doing the right thing. By being a
genuinely good guy.”
Family matters
Lynchburg College embraces family,
John and A.J.’s top priority. That’s why
they stayed for 30 years.
Even as John’s career advancement
and the College’s growth brought him
more responsibility, he always made time
for his family. “One of the legacies that I
hope he leaves is that you can balance a
career and a life and be successful at
both,” said A.J.
The three Eccles children spent a lot of
time on campus while growing up, and
the family often joined John’s student
staff for hikes in the mountains or outings at Smith Mountain Lake. Students
quickly saw that A.J. was John’s perfect
match. “She’s the spirit and the engine
behind John,” said Tom White.
A.J. eventually enrolled at LC to
brush up on her math skills when she
was teaching fourth grade. She earned
her second bachelor’s degree with a
mathematics major in 2005. Today, she
serves LC students as a math instructor
and academic coach.
A.J. teaches math with a unique twist:
PHOTO ON LEFT COURTESY OF JOHN ECCLES; PHOTO ON RIGHT BY NATALIE LEDONNE ’18
her students use bingo chips, cups, blocks,
and pies to help them visualize arithmetic,
fractions, and other concepts. They write
journal entries to reinforce what they
learn, and A.J. provides video tutorials
for review. This approach is perfect for
many students, said Teresa Gunter, who
is earning a history degree and serves as
the academic and career services administrative assistant.
“I thought that math was going to be
my downfall,” Teresa said. But after
taking A.J.’s Liberal Arts Math class,
she had newfound confidence in all her
subjects. “If I can overcome that class
and succeed, then I can do any class
and be successful.”
A.J.’s dedication has inspired other
students, including Will Donnelly ’16,
to become teachers. “She made learning
completely different from what I had
ever experienced in my life,” said Will.
“She is so uplifting, positive, and supportive to every student.”
John loves hearing success stories
about A.J.’s students. “I’ve always been
very proud of her unfailing determination to help kids realize that they really
can learn, they really are smart, they
really can do what they don’t think
they can do,” he said.
About a year ago, John and A.J. started
thinking about retiring. The timing
made sense: John had completed his
dream of building the new student center;
they were still young and healthy enough
to travel and enjoy retirement together;
they had a growing number of grandchildren; and John thought the College’s
new strategic plan could benefit from a
new dean with fresh vision.
None of those factors made the decision
easy. “There’s so much here that I love,
and it’s so connected for me,” said A.J.
John and A.J. plan to continue living
in Lynchburg, where they will spend a
lot of time with family. They will travel
as well as volunteer in the community.
They also anticipate visiting campus
for home games, concerts, and theatre
productions. “This isn’t goodbye, it’s
more like, ‘See ya’ round,’” John said.
“As we like to say around here, ‘Once a
Hornet, always a Hornet.’”
When John told Anne Gibbons he
was retiring, she had the same reaction
as many other people: shock and sadness.
But the feeling gave way to joy. “When
we love someone as much as we all love
John, selfishly we don’t want him to
leave,” Anne said. “But when we think
about what’s best for John, how could
we do anything but want to wish him
the best?”
She answered that question with a
challenge to herself and others: continue
John’s legacy of making Lynchburg a
welcoming, affirming, supportive place.
“He gave so much for 30 years,” Anne
said. “We owe it to him to give 110 percent
for the next 30 years.”
O N L I N E E X TR A S See a video from the fun
photoshoot with John, A.J., and students, as
well as a slideshow with photos from throughout
John’s career, at magazine.lynchburg.edu.
“MY DAD’S LOVE FOR THE JOB HERE AT LYNCHBURG
COLLEGE WAS UNBELIEVABLE.”
— ROB BREWER ’77
W
LEGACY
of CHANGE
LC R E M E MBE R S FOR M E R PR E SIDE NT
by BRYAN GENTRY
PHOTOS: LYNCHBURG COLLEGE ARCHIVES
hen Lynchburg College broke ground on two
residence halls in one day in 1964, the young
president Dr. Carey Brewer ’49 offered a few words
about change.
“The College is growing, changing, improving, all with a
suddenness that is astounding when compared to the past,”
he said. “Whole new vistas, new experiences, new opportunities
are opening to it.”
Those words set the stage for the following 19 years during
which Dr. Brewer served as president of his alma mater. Under
his direction, Lynchburg College’s student body doubled, the
size of the faculty tripled while the professors’ academic credentials increased, and the campus experienced rapid growth.
Following Dr. Brewer’s death at age 88 on December 4,
2015, many members of the College community gathered to
celebrate his legacy.
Rob Brewer ’77 said that his father’s life was filled with the
kinds of stories that, although true, would be unbelievable if
they formed the plot of a novel.
For example, at 17, Dr. Brewer lied about his age in order
to join the Navy and volunteer for World War II. While attending college he met his sweetheart, Betty Ann Brighton
Brewer ’49; both graduated magna cum laude. When he
studied at Harvard, he met John F. Kennedy, who later selected Dr. Brewer to serve his administration as director of
emergency preparedness. He worked closely with Kennedy
during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Dr. Brewer took office at LC just a few months after Kennedy’s
assassination. America reeled with the loss of “Camelot,” the
nickname later used to describe the Kennedy administration,
but LC found optimism in its new leader, said Dr. Thomas
Tiller ’56. “When Carey came from Washington with his pretty
wife and their young children and his attitude of meeting every
challenge, it felt as if the good of ‘Camelot’ had been preserved
and brought here,” he said.
“It’s almost impossible to describe the excitement of Carey’s
early days in the presidency,” said Dr. Julius Sigler ’62.
Dr. Brewer swiftly instituted changes such as racial integration and the easing of curfew rules. He led the Partnership
for Progress campaign, which set out to raise $10.6 million in a
decade but met its goal after only five years. In the first 10 years
of his presidency, the endowment grew from $2 million to $7
million; it reached $11 million by the time he retired.
The infusion of dollars helped construct many of the
buildings that are now campus landmarks: the original Burton
Student Center; Snidow Chapel; residence halls including
McWane, Tate, and Montgomery; Turner Gymnasium;
Wake Field House; and the Capron Library. In addition,
numerous buildings were renovated.
Dr. Brewer also strengthened the College’s ties to the surrounding area, making it a “more sustainable, regional institution,” said Dr. Tiller. The College began offering graduate
programs designed to meet specific local needs. “The new
president believed that a rising tide would lift all boats,”
Dr. Tiller added.
“Carey worked to make this ‘Lynchburg’s college,’”
Dr. Sigler said.
Expanding the size and scope of Lynchburg College was not
enough for Dr. Brewer, though. He also wanted to improve
the quality of education students could receive at LC. “The
world needs leaders, but they cannot be satisfactorily mass-produced,” he said in his 1964 speech at the groundbreaking of
two residence halls. “They must still, as always, be hand-carved,
custom-made by teachers skilled in their craft and devoted to
their work.”
Thus, Dr. Brewer set out to grow the faculty and reduce
teaching loads, even as faculty salaries increased. This helped
LC retain fantastic faculty and attract new professors. “He
wanted the College to be the best in every credential,” Dr.
Sigler said.
Speakers at Dr. Brewer’s memorial service also remarked
on his spirited enthusiasm for LC athletics — which sometimes
raised the ire of game officials. “He is likely the only LC president
to have been thrown out of an athletic event,” Dr. Sigler said.
After retiring in 1983, Dr. Brewer spent some time researching the beginnings of WWII in the Pacific. He later often helped
the College with fundraising, and he served in many other
community organizations. “My dad’s love for the job here at
Lynchburg College was unbelievable,” said Rob.
Dr. Brewer’s leadership not only transformed LC, but it set
the course for the College’s future. He provided a pattern that
his successors look to. “I started out following in the footsteps
of Carey Brewer. He was my mentor,” said Dr. Kenneth R.
Garren, president of Lynchburg College.
Dr. Garren referred to one of Dr. Brewer’s most well-known
statements: “A great college is always in the process of becoming
rather than being.”
“He laid a vision out for us,” said Dr. Garren. “And we
continue to follow through.”
O
Fifteen
years
in focus
BY BRYAN GENTRY
ne day last fall, a
Durham, N.C.-based photographer named Jeremy
Lange walked across the Dell taking pictures of Dr.
Kenneth Garren. It took a while; the Lynchburg
College president stopped to say hello to almost
everyone.
Their photoshoot was interrupted when two
students walked by and asked to take a picture with
Dr. Garren. One pulled out a smartphone and they
leaned in for a photo.
Lange’s photos were destined to illustrate a frontpage story in The Wall Street Journal about the
clout college presidents wield on Capitol Hill. The
student’s selfie may have gone on Snapchat or Instagram. The contrast between the two provides a
perfect picture of Dr. Garren’s first 15 years in office.
Although his response to higher education’s modern
challenges has required more of his attention and energy, he remains focused on the people who live and
work at LC every day.
Pressure on colleges has intensified since Dr.
Garren became president. Schools must prepare
students for success in a new economic environment
and push back against market stress and political
pressure, too. Some college presidents have dropped
out amidst the challenges, but Dr. Garren remains
undaunted and committed to Lynchburg and its
mission.
“You’re dealing with a very rare combination of
talents when you’re dealing with Ken Garren,” said
Jeffrey Kurzweil, a member of the Board of Trustees and parent of a current student. “Ken has a
combination of high energy, high integrity, high
intelligence, considerable focus, a good nature, and
an open manner. That makes him a force of nature
in a way.”
Kurzweil added that Dr. Garren’s wife, Sheila, is
with him every step of the way. “I only hope he and
Sheila will want to do this for a very, very long time
going forward.”
games, or late-night finals week meals. “We try not to say no when
we’re invited,” Dr. Garren said. “We want to see them. We want to be
with them.”
The Garrens recently performed the Hornet Hop, a dance they
introduced to LC, during halftime at a basketball game. The students
went wild. “They all love him,” said Hannah Myers ’14.
Hannah crossed paths with the president numerous times as an
undergraduate and now as a graduate student in educational leadership. She said Dr. Garren leads people without micromanaging. He
delegates tasks to the right people, trusts their judgment, and seeks
consensus. “He wants to do things right, and he wants to make sure
everybody’s on board,” Hannah said.
CHALLENGES AHEAD
D
BY THE N U MBE R S
‘HIS HEART IS ON THE ENTIRE
COLLEGE’
+44% B
Enrollment
+73%
Full-time Faculty
+10
Graduate Programs
+142%
Minority Student
Population
+20%
Internship participation
Increase from 2011 - 2015
efore coming to LC, the Garrens
spent most of their lives in the Roanoke area.
Dr. Garren taught mathematics and served in
leadership at Roanoke College while his wife taught
in an elementary school.
At first Sheila was hesitant to leave the life she
knew so well, but she had a quick change of heart
when she came for her husband’s finalist interview at
LC. “I knew that I had to come here,” she said.
Dr. Garren immediately loved LC and wanted to
champion the school’s potential. “I felt sometimes
that people didn’t really understand how good Lynchburg College was,” Dr. Garren said. “I considered my
job to be a cheerleader, internally as well as externally.”
Abby Pyzik Smith ’04 said Dr. Garren’s feelings
about the College were evident when he took office her
sophomore year. “You would walk to lunch and he’d
be eating with students. He would be in the stands of
every home game,” she said. “He’s not just targeted on
one area, but his heart is on the entire college.”
A quick look at the record confirms that academics
were among Dr. Garren’s top priorities. Under his leadership, the College has grown the ranks of full-time faculty, expanded academic facilities and programs, and
started an international program in St. Lucia.
“President Garren has had enormous positive impact on the academic life at Lynchburg College,” said
Dr. Julius Sigler ’62, who served as a dean under Dr.
Garren. “Ken has gone to great lengths to personally
support students and faculty.”
One of the most notable academic advancements
came in the realm of graduate studies, where the College’s commitment was wavering in 2001. Dr. Garren
was convinced that graduate education should play a
more important role at LC. He asked Dr. Ed Polloway to lead and grow the graduate studies program.
Since then, the College has doubled the number of
graduate degrees offered and the graduate student population has tripled, becoming a fiscal boon to the College. Total enrollment has grown 44 percent since 2001.
Meanwhile, more students have been getting experience outside the classroom through internships,
especially over the past five years.
Dr. Garren believes it is important to offer students
an education that yields career-ready skills while
staying grounded in the liberal arts, teaching them
not only to work well, but to live well. “When people
get a college education, they’re being empowered, but
how will they use that power?” Dr. Garren said. “The
moral and ethical underpinnings of their education
determine that.”
The College’s connection to the Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ) is important to ethical education,
too, prompting Dr. Garren to participate actively in
the church’s higher education ministries. “He makes
it very clear that he’s a man of Christian faith, but he’s
open to all people, open to diversity and inclusivity,”
said Stephanie McLemore, chaplain of Lynchburg
College. “That says a lot about him, and a lot about
the roots of the founding of the College.”
When he came to LC, Dr. Garren also saw great
potential in LC athletics. “We had an excellent athletic program that was attracting successful, scholarly
students,” he said.
His enthusiasm for athletics was like an injection
PHOTOS AT LEFT AND TOP BY JOHN MCCORMICK; RELAY FOR LIFE PHOTO BY NATALIE LEDONNE
of adrenaline to coaches like Dr. Todd Olsen, head women’s soccer
coach. “It gave me great encouragement that this was the place where
we could build really great athletics programs,” he said. “What President Garren has been able to do is show how athletics and academics
complement each other and raise the morale of the whole college.”
Student athletes witnessed Dr. Garren’s enthusiastic support, too.
Abby Pyzik Smith remembers getting a card from the president congratulating her on reaching the 1,000 point mark during her senior
season. Now the head women’s basketball coach, she sees the practice
continue; Dr. Garren recently sent a card to her team and hand-wrote
every team member’s name on the card. Her players loved the gesture.
“It was a huge motivating point to know that we are working not
only for our team, but for Lynchburg College,” Abby said.
PEOPLE PERSON
C
oach Olsen said Dr. Garren’s sincere appreciation for
people fuels his leadership. “His great strength as a president
is that he’s developed relationships across the board, from the
people who take care of the grounds to the people who run the physics
department.”
Rita Detwiler, vice president for enrollment management, said Dr.
Garren had a similar reputation when the two worked together at Roanoke College. “He loves people, and people know it,” she said.
His presence resonates well at open houses and other events for
families considering LC, Detwiler said. “Prospective students and their
parents love him. … They’re tickled by the fact that he is an engineer
and a colonel in the army, he has a successful career in higher education, and he’s able to talk to people no matter what their background.”
Sheila magnifies her husband’s effectiveness when they work
together. By forging relationships with couples, they have enticed
additional giving to the College.
They connect with students by hosting student groups for dinner
and attending as many campus events as possible, including concerts,
r. Garren is infectiously optimistic about
the prospects of operating a vibrant, successful college. But he
also takes note of problems that need attention. “He makes
us aware of the challenges in front of us, but he always speaks about
the opportunities that we have to meet those challenges,” Detwiler
said. “He is completely unintimidated.”
Dr. Garren has stepped up his involvement in political matters that
impact higher education. Most notably, he influenced congress members and Department of Education officials to oppose a proposed federal college rating system that could have backfired against students.
This surprised his wife. “He has never really in the past engaged in
political matters,” Sheila said. “But when he perceived that the federal
policies could possibly have a negative effect on his college, he decided
to try to do something about it.”
The president’s action on legislative matters raises his national
profile, said Pauline “Polly” B. Flint ’71, ’73 MEd, chair of the Board
of Trustees. “When he sees something that should be corrected he
doesn’t mind going to the very top if he needs to,” she said. “He’s a
leader among leaders.”
Outside LC, Dr. Garren is highly regarded by other college presidents. This May, the Council for Independent Colleges will present
him with the W.L. Foreman Award in recognition of his outstanding
service on behalf of independent colleges and universities.
Last year, Dr. Garren’s longtime friend Dr. Phillip Stone was appointed to lead Sweet Briar College, a nearby women’s college which
had nearly closed. Before long, Dr. Garren visited his friend to deliver
a list of ways LC faculty and staff could help Sweet Briar. “It was a
wonderful act of friendship,” Dr. Stone said. “He told me how important he thought it was that the college be saved, and that higher education needed to defend itself from these challenges we face.”
Dr. Garren was 60 when he applied to be president of LC. Fifteen
years later, he has no retirement date set. He plans to serve as long as
he can help LC move forward.
That’s the right timetable, Dr. Stone said. “When you’ve got that
right combination of a leader who’s not afraid of the challenges, strong
support from community, faculty, and board, it is not something to be
taken for granted,” he said.
“Ken is authentic, he’s genuine, and his integrity shines through,” Dr.
Stone continued. “I think he’s one of the finest men I’ve ever met in
higher education.”
LYNCHBURG COLLEGE’S NEW
STRATEGIC PLAN IS DEVELOPING A
CLEAR VISION OF THE DIRECTION THE
COLLEGE — OR, SHALL WE SAY, THE
UNIVERSITY? — WILL TAKE IN THE
YEARS AHEAD.
The latest draft of Vision 2020 sets high
aspirations for Lynchburg College, ranging
from academic innovations to increased athletic prowess.
“The Strategic Plan is a bold vision to
reinvent, reconceptualize, and reimagine a
campus with highly networked connections
among the academic, co-curricular, and residential experiences,” the draft says. “We will
transform the ways in which we educate our
students and change the ways in which we do
business to prepare students and Lynchburg
for the challenges and opportunities of our
global and digital society.”
“There’s an attempt to push the College outward as a more forward-looking institution,”
said Dr. David Richards, chair of the faculty
and a member of the LC Strategic Planning
Team. “There is this desire to expand on what
we are already doing … and strive to be something bigger and better than we are right now.”
LC’s Strategic Planning Team chose the
goals and initiatives after gathering input in
on-campus meetings and through alumni
feedback online. President Kenneth R. Garren encouraged the team to set high, aspirational goals.
After the Board of Trustees reviewed a draft
of Vision 2020 in February, the College is
seeking feedback from alumni, students, faculty, and staff to inform the plan’s continued
development.
The document asserts that “Lynchburg College is positioned to achieve national prominence because of its student-centered culture
characterized by challenging and engaging
academic programs.”
It envisions the College becoming “a national leader of engaged learning” with faculty
who “employ the most innovative pedagogical
practices.” It imagines Lynchburg leading the
nation in “Liberal Arts 2.0,” the evolution of
a traditional liberal arts education that meets
the demands of the modern world.
O N L I N E E X TR AS Read the latest information
about the strategic plan and share your feedback
at www.lynchburg.edu/aboutlc/institutionaleffectiveness/strategic-plan/
Virginia private institutions that use “university” in their names, and two doctoral degrees
also distinguish the College. Using “university”
could help attract more international students,
whose cultures use the term “college” for high
schools or two-year institutions.
After initial research showed that a name
It sets a goal of having 100 percent of stuchange would not impair the way prospecdents complete a practicum, service learning
tive students view LC, the Board asked the
experience, a research project, or a study
Strategic Planning Team to consider a name
abroad program.
change during the development of the straA faculty task force is has already started to
tegic plan. Would “university” be consistent
develop ideas to revise the general education
with the school’s identity and support the
curriculum over the next year. “The strategic
goals of the LC community?
plan calls upon us to try to look at general
No decision regarding the name has been
education … in a more integrated fashion
made, and input on this topic has been sought
so that we continue to provide an experience
at each stage of the strategic planning process.
that has a strong liberal arts foundation for
Even if the name were to change, LC would
our students,” said Dr. Sally Selden, vice pres- maintain the core aspects of its identity, said
ident and dean for academic affairs.
Dr. Selden. “We would never change our
Athletically, Vision 2020 proposes developapproach for helping our colleagues and our
ing one of the top 30 Division III programs in students at every stage of their development,”
the nation.
she said.
Facility-related goals include renovations
Dr. Richards said that many discussions
of science and research spaces, residence halls, have focused on identifying exactly how the
and athletics buildings, as well as the possible institution can expand without compromising
creation of entertainment facilities and more
what it does best: serve individual students.
graduate student housing. Environmental
“We want to acknowledge that we have
sustainability would be a hallmark of the
something special here and it’s something
facility growth.
valuable that we can offer students,” he said.
The campus would be connected by a
“We should be eager to let people know what
cutting-edge information technology infrawe’re doing here.”
structure. “Through an analysis of space and
As the Strategic Planning Team prepares
technological innovations, the College will
another draft of the strategic plan, it is vital to
transform the experiences of students, creatget feedback from as many community meming an environment to collaborate and build
bers as possible, said Pauline “Polly” B. Flint
relationships face to face and in the cloud,”
’71, ’73 MEd, chair of the Board.
the latest draft says.
“With all these different people involved, we
The draft of the strategic plan also chalwill make sure that we’re not leaving anything
lenges the College to continue finding
out,” she said. “We will hear not only from
new ways to serve the local area, becoming
older sages, but also from younger people
“Lynchburg’s university.”
who are in the classrooms and are impacted
Now, about that word — university. The
most by some of the decisions we make.”
strategic planning process includes an invesStephen Bright, vice president for business
tigation of changing the College’s name to
and finance, said that the strategic plan can
claim university status, a proposal the Strategic help the College thrive in a changing market.
Planning Team recommended to Dr. Garren
He pointed out that the last strategic plan
a year ago.
laid the groundwork for two new medical
The idea reflects growth in the student body graduate programs. “Those things have really
and programs. LC has a larger student body
helped shape the institution,” he said. “We
and more degree programs than numerous
certainly have high hopes for the next plan.”
Gifts
DONORS INVITE LC COMMUNITY TO
CONTRIBUTE TO COMMON CAUSES
of inspiration
SNIDOW CHAPEL
Organ Renovation
A friend of Betty Hawkins Arrington ’64
once dared her to take an organ class at
Lynchburg College.
“She said, ‘Betty you can take organ, but
there is no way you can make an A in that
class,’” Betty recalled. “That was just the
challenge I needed.”
While enrolled in the course, Betty
practiced every day. She proved her
friend wrong and earned an A. “I have
been playing the organ at my church
ever since,” she said.
Betty has now made her own challenge
to the rest of the LC community: She
and her husband, Larry R. Arrington ’71,
made an initial gift to spearhead donations to renovate the organ in Snidow
Chapel. The College is now raising
money to pay for the organ repairs in
time for a series of recitals later this year
to celebrate the 50th anniversary of
Snidow Chapel’s construction.
The organ improvements will create
many opportunities for the LC community
and future music students, said F. Johnson
Scott, music professor and organist.
“The organ built there was and is a
great instrument, we’re just looking to
extend its abilities a little further,” he
said. “We also will return it to its original playing level.”
Snidow Chapel was built in 1966 and
named for LC benefactors Clifton L.
Snidow Sr., one of the early members of
Johnson Scott, a Lynchburg College music
professor, said the Snidow Chapel organ
renovations will allow the organ to be used
more for teaching and recitals.
the College’s Board of Trustees, and his
wife, Sallie E. Snidow. An Opus 1548 pipe
organ was installed the following year by
the Reuter Organ Company of Lawrence,
Kan. The organ is used for recitals, worship
services, and teaching.
The instrument functions remarkably
well considering the age of its mechanical
parts, Scott said. But about 10 years ago,
he and other organists noticed several
problems developing. They could hear
the sound of air escaping the pipe area,
and several keys and stops were not as
reliable as they once were. Some of the
buttons that should allows organists to
quickly change the sound of the organ
(rather than pause to pull several stops)
do not work.
The issues are not evident to listeners,
though, thanks to Scott and others learning to “play around the problem,” he said.
But the defects complicate matters such
as teaching organ to students or hosting a
guest artist for a recital. “You have to
know which ones don’t work and which
ones do,” Scott said. “Any time we have
guests here, it presents problems. You
can’t expect them to learn overnight.”
The renovation that is proposed to take
place this summer would repair the organ’s
problems and perform maintenance. The
work also would expand the instrument’s
capabilities by making all stops available
to all keyboards, allowing more versatile
combinations of sounds. The choir loft
area would be modified to make the organ
console moveable so it could be positioned
appropriately for different purposes.
The project will cost about $225,000.
The Arringtons donated $100,000 as a
challenge for the College community to
raise the rest. Seventh Street Christian
Church Foundation of Richmond donated another $50,000, getting the project
close to reality.
The repairs will get the organ into prime
playing condition and allow LC to host
more recitals in the Chapel, which is
among the city’s best buildings for organ
acoustics, Scott said.
Betty looks forward to hearing the
organ when it is playing at its best, but
she also is excited that future LC music
students will have a higher quality instrument to work with. “They will only know
this best quality; that will be the guideline that they have to go by,” she said.
“I hope they will experience and appreciate and be completely inspired to do
their best.”
Dr. Todd Olsen and studentathletes on the women’s soccer
team have made multiple trips
to Africa to provide service and
witness the spirit of ubuntu.
SPIRIT OF UBUNTU
Scholarship
An anonymous donor has challenged
the Lynchburg College community to
endow a new scholarship inspired by the
spirit of ubuntu and the LC women’s
soccer team.
The team adopted ubuntu, an African
philosophy sometimes expressed as “I am
because we are,” as its mantra during the
2014 season that led to a national championship. After the national title victory, a
friend of the College offered to match up
to $50,000 in donations to create the new
Spirit of Ubuntu Scholarship Fund.
The endowed fund would provide a
scholarship each year to a rising junior
or senior who exemplifies “teamwork,
human kindness, and a sense of community,” according to the donor.
The news was exciting to members of
the team. “We are excited that someone
looked beyond just the end result of a
national championship and saw the unity
and love that we had for one another along
the way, which was even more important
to us than winning it all,” said Natalie
Deacon ’17, a defender on the team. “We
hope that this scholarship will encourage
Lynchburg College students to pursue service
and value the importance of teamwork,
because it is powerful beyond measure.”
PHOTOS COURTESY OF TODD OLSEN
Natalie said that ubuntu is “the heartbeat of our program year in and year out.”
In addition to inspiring unity on the
field, it motivates the teammates’ work
with Woman of Worth: Against All
Odds, a program through which they
mentor girls at Dunbar Middle School in
Lynchburg and raise money to support the
education of several girls in Gulu, Uganda.
Last May, Natalie traveled to Uganda
and Kenya with several of her teammates
and Coach Dr.Todd Olsen to meet the girls
they sponsor and provide service with
Sports Outreach Institute. She learned
more about ubuntu by seeing how the
women they worked with supported each
other in difficult situations. “They truly
believed that their identity rested in the
group, that the group comes before the individual, and that although one of them
may be weak, together they are strong,”
she said. “Although we went to these
countries to empower women, we found
ourselves being empowered as well.”
Lynchburg College President Dr.
Kenneth R. Garren announced the scholarship last fall after the women’s soccer
team was inducted into the LC Sports
Hall of Fame.
“The spirit of ubuntu — of putting
community first, finding joy in serving
others, and sharing — is an important
characteristic of the Lynchburg College
culture,” Dr. Garren said. “This is exemplified by our women’s soccer athletes,
who not only unite together for victory
on the soccer field, but also join each
other in community service at home and
abroad. Ubuntu also is evident in this
offer by a friend of the College to honor
this team not with a gift made in his own
name, but a gift that invites all alumni,
faculty, staff, students, and friends of the
College to unite in a common cause.”
The news of the scholarship was an
honor for the team.
“The women’s soccer team and I are
really excited that the Lynchburg College
community will continue to honor the
ubuntu philosophy by a creating this
scholarship,” said Dr. Olsen. “Lynchburg College lives the philosophy ‘I am
because we are.’ Lynchburg College excels because we understand that it takes a
community of selfless, caring people to
educate our young people.”
“I hope many members of our community will answer this anonymous donor’s
challenge to endow this new scholarship,”
said Dr. Garren.
Any Lynchburg College student can
be nominated for the Spirit of Ubuntu
Scholarship. The winner each year will
be selected by a committee of deans and
faculty members involved in student life.
MEET THE CHALLENGE
Help renovate the Snidow Chapel Organ
or endow the Spirit of Ubuntu Scholarship.
ONLINE :
www.connect.lynchburg.edu/organ
www.connect.lynchburg.edu/ubuntu
MAIL:
Make checks payable to Lynchburg College
with a note indicating the fund of your choice.
Send to:
Denise A. McDonald
Vice President for Advancement
Lynchburg College
1501 Lakeside Drive
Lynchburg, VA 24501
Alumni Association
Board of Directors
PRESIDENT
Wendy Bradley ’91, Woodstock Valley, Conn.
VICE PRESIDENT
David A. Rosser ’90, Waxhaw, N.C.
ALUMNI OUTREACH COMMITTEE CHAIR
Paul E. Goldenbaum ’66, San Antonio, Texas
ADVANCEMENT COMMITTEE CHAIR
Sherwood N. Zimmerman ’64, Forest, Va.
STUDENT ENGAGEMENT COMMITTEE CHAIR
Lesley Day Villarose ’02, Eden, N.C.
COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING COMMITTEE CHAIR
Emily G. Brown ’02, Washington, D.C.
TRADITIONS COMMITTEE CHAIR
Laura Miller Crank ’79
MEMBERS-AT-LARGE
Noble Ackerson-Bonsu ’02, Alexandria, Va.
David J. Capps ’77, Lynchburg, Va.
R. Michael Dates ’92, Baltimore, Md.
Christopher “Hunter” Fairchild ’10, Richmond, Va.
Nancy L. Hammersley ’79, ’82 MBA, Raleigh, N.C.
Gilbert C. Hanke ’72, Antioch, Tenn.
C. Randall “Randy” Harlow ’73, Lynchburg, Va.
Lauren McCloskey Hopple ’99, Catonsville, Md.
David “Dave” Lang ’06, Philadelphia, Pa.
Phebe Phelps Long ’84, Mechanicsville, Va.
Ira D. Marshall ’00, Suitland, Md.
Kathryn E. McDaniel ’10, Orange, Va.
Mari K. Normyle ’97 MEd, Lynchburg, Va.
Veronica Millner Soles ’98, Cary, N.C.
Helen Hebb Stidham ’66, Manassas, Va.,
Westover Alumni Society President
Jan Colleary Timmer ’77, South Riding, Va.
Lee C. Verrone ’90, Mount Vernon, N.Y.
LC Alumni
on the Internet
Reconnect with classmates,
teammates, roommates, and friends
Facebook
Lynchburg College Alumni Association
LinkedIn
Lynchburg College Alumni & Friends (group)
Twitter
@LburgAlumni
Alumni News
50’s
Class of ‘56 in Reunion
April 22-24, 2016
Ripple effect
We are all familiar
with the idea of tossing
a pebble into the water.
After the pebble disappears below the surface,
the ripples that follow
continue to spread outward, forever changing
the water’s surface.
The waves are larger
than the small pebble, making an impact bigger
than one thought possible.
This image illustrates the impact that we can
have on one another’s lives; how one person can
truly make a difference. This spring, let us celebrate those at Lynchburg College who have made
a difference in our lives.
This year marks Dr. Garren’s 15th year as
president of Lynchburg College, and it’s fitting
to reflect on his imprint on the alumni. Partnering
with our association, President Garren has been
our biggest supporter. He has opened avenues for
us, seeking our ideas and looking to the alumni
as a valued resource for the College. As LC formulates a strategic plan for the future, the alumni are
a big part of the picture, and Dr. Garren is leading
the way by encouraging all alumni to participate
in this process. His passion and leadership empower us to make a difference.
Another person whose imprint has forever
changed our landscape at LC is John Eccles.
Many of us have had the opportunity to learn
from and work alongside John. After 30 years
at the College, John has chosen to start a new
chapter in life, but he leaves behind thousands
of alumni who have benefited from his leadership,
wisdom and terrific sense of humor. I know you
will agree that, like the waves that wash upon
the shore, John’s influence will continue to
resonate for many, many years to come.
The alumni have always had strong connections and lasting relationships with the LC
community. We will continue to share fond
memories and build new friendships. Whether
you choose to get involved in a big event, such
as chairing your reunion, or something smaller,
like mentoring a student, you have the chance
to form a new connection and make a difference.
The Alumni Association welcomes your ideas,
your time and talent—the possibilities to become
involved at Lynchburg College are endless.
Like the ripples in a lake that continue to flow
long after the stone is gone, those of us who call
LC home will continue to be affected by the passion
and service we have shared with one another.
Wendy Bradley ’91
President, LC Alumni Association
60’s
Classes of ’61 and ’66 in Reunion
April 22-24, 2016
n
Class of ’71 and ’76 in Reunion
October 14-16, 2016
Marc ’69 and Vicki Lang Jordan ’70, ’73 MEd hosted LC
Sigma Mu Sigma brothers and alumni in their home in North
Myrtle Beach, S.C., following an annual golf outing on the
Grand Strand.
Charlotte Hall Rhodes ’63, professor emeritus of
health and physical education at Richard Bland
College in Petersburg, Va., has retired after nearly
50 years of service. During her tenure, she created
one of the first online courses at the college in
1998, was instrumental in establishing a Wellness
on Campus program, and sponsored several
campus extracurricular activities. She plans to
spend her time traveling internationally with her
family and other retirees and playing on three
tennis teams. Also, she will train for the Anthem
Richmond Marathon 8K and a triathlon.
photo gallery
see more of the weekend at
C. Wayne Prince ’68 has just completed a
round of chemotherapy for colon cancer. He
also underwent treatment in 2011 for lymphoma.
Both courses of treatment have been successful.
Wayne’s granddaughter, Caelyn Andrews ’19,
entered LC in the fall of 2015, carrying on the LC
tradition of her dad, Ryan Andrews ’90, and her
grandfather.
70’s
Homecoming
2015
Eddie Gunter Jr. ’64, ’74 MBA won his seventh
election to the Campbell County, Va. Board of
Supervisors for the Concord District. Eddie
served in a management position at Babcock &
Wilcox Nuclear Operations Group in Lynchburg
for more than 44 years.
Most of those pictured were theater majors at Lynchburg
College, but all of them were involved in playmaking at LC.
Back Row, Left to Right: David Roberts ’69, Albert “Lucky”
Noll ’72, Carrie Curtis ’68, Jerry Wolford ’68, Joe St.
Germain ’66, Chuck Tooley ’68, Ed Steele ’70. Middle Row:
Carol Earnest St. Germain ’65, ’74 MEd, Karen Shafer ’68,
Susan Hatfield ’70, Denise Sherman ’71, Anthony Golden
’70. Kneeling: Lorraine Mecca ’71, Frankie Knibb ’68,
Jane VanBoskirk ’70
Join us for
Westover
Alumni
Society
Weekend
APRIL 22–24, 2016
Sharon Roper Kneussl ’74, Eric Kneussl ‘76, Sally Dix
Murray ’76, Kathy O’Hara Napier ’75, Jim Napier ‘75,
and Dick Murray ‘76 enjoy a visit to Hyannis and Martha’s
Vineyard in July 2015.
Lynn W. Laing ’73 received the Distinguished
Alumni Award at Homecoming 2015. She has
remained involved with her alma mater and
hosted a fundraiser in New Jersey to assist with
the Drysdale Student Center campaign. Professionally, she has owned and operated two large
preschools in New Jersey and has served on a
committee that developed licensing regulations
for preschools, day care centers, and licensed
home care centers. She has also served as
co-president of the Ocean Country Directors
Club for more than 35 years. Lynn is a breast
cancer survivor and a member of a local support
group which helps individuals as they undergo
cancer treatment. Lynn and her husband are
residents of Toms River, N.J.
O FFI C E O F ALUMNI R ELATI O NS
434.544.8293 • 800.621.1669
www.lynchburg.edu/alumni
Class Notes
Steven McAllister ’97 MBA, treasurer and vice
president for finance at Washington and Lee
University, was recognized for his foresight in
creating a reserve fund that helped the university endure recent economic turmoil. When the
endowment took a sizeable hit from a decline in
the stock market, W&L was able to borrow from
the reserve fund to support operations. Steven’s
many responsibilities include management of
the university’s endowment, which now stands
at nearly $1.5 billion. “He represents the best of
management in the world of higher education
and the nonprofit sector,” stated Kenneth Ruscio,
president of Washington and Lee.
SAVE
the DATE
October 14-16, 2016
The classes of 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986,
1991, 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2011
will celebrate their class reunions.
William J. Bodine ’78, ’89 MAd appeared on the
LC stage last spring in How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying and in the fall in You
Can’t Take It with You. He is the president and
CEO of the Greater Lynchburg Community Trust,
a foundation committed to enhancing the lives of
Central Virginians through the establishment of
permanent endowments that distribute income
annually to charitable organizations in Lynchburg
and the surrounding counties. Bill and his wife
Terry live in Lynchburg.
Carolyn Morris Bondurant ’79, ’85 MEd was
recently hired as a reading specialist at Brookneal
Elementary School in Brookneal, Va. Prior to this
position, Carolyn worked for 28 years as a reading
specialist and language arts coordinator in Appomattox County, Va. and with the Lynchburg City
School District.
80’s
October 14-16, 2016
James N. Leary ’80 MAd has joined the firm of
Dechert LLP as the new chief operating officer.
James formerly served for more than 14 years as
executive director at Akin Gump, where he was
responsible for managing all business-related
issues at the firm’s 19 offices. He will hold a similar role at Dechert, overseeing finance, human
resources, marketing, technology, and operations.
A graduate of the State University of New York at
Geneseo, he currently serves as vice president
of the school’s foundation board.
Nancy Johnson Reaves ’82 has received the
2015 McGranaghan Stewardship Award from
The Nature Generation in recognition of her
Homecoming 2016
www.lynchburg.edu/alumni
work teaching young people about the Chapman
DeMary Trail in Purcellville,Va., as well as how to
be responsible stewards of nature. The award
is named in honor of Loudoun Valley High
School environmental explorations teacher
Liam McGranaghan, who was instrumental in
establishing the nature trail.
R. Scott Johnston ’84 received the Distinguished
Alumni Award at Homecoming 2015. Scott currently
serves as director within the Federal Occupational
Health Organization through the Department of
Health and Human Services. Previously, he held
leadership positions with Healthcare Financial
Management Association and Booz Allen Hamilton.
He serves on the Board of Directors for Community
Services for Autistic Adults and Children in Montgomery County, Md. Scott and his wife, Claudia,
reside in Vienna, Va.
Brenda Harvey Franklin ’88 was recently inducted
into the Amherst County, Va. Sports Hall of Fame.
Brenda was a basketball team captain in 1967,
MVP in 1968, and a recipient of a senior athlete
award at LC.
90’s
October 14-16, 2016
Melinda “Mindy” Manolovich McCord ’93
received a special citation from LC’s Sports Hall
of Fame at Homecoming 2015. Mindy played
field hockey, women’s lacrosse, and women’s
soccer. She was a four-year starter at Lynchburg
College, earning Rookie of the Year and multiple
other honors. Since graduation, Mindy has
coached field hockey or lacrosse at three different colleges and universities and accumulated
224 wins in two sports at all levels. Her teams
have earned either first-place championships
or runner-up status 10 times during her 21 seasons as a head coach. Mindy and her husband
operate MCC Sports Inc., which works to change
children’s lives via involvement in lacrosse.
They also founded Lax Maniax Elite, a national
travel lacrosse club. Mindy currently serves as
Jacksonville University’s head women’s lacrosse
coach and resides in St. Augustine, Fla. with her
husband and two children.
Ernest K. Price ’94 MEd, chief of education and
visitor services at the Appomattox Court House
National Historical Park in Appomattox, Va., has
been awarded the U.S. National Park Service’s
Freeman Tilden Award, the highest honor presented to a National Park Service employee for
outstanding contributions in interpretation and
education. Ernie created the “Footsteps to Freedom” program that honored the life and death
of Hannah Reynolds, an enslaved woman in
Appomattox County. Presented during the events
commemorating the 150th anniversary of the end
of the Civil War, the program included a first-person eulogy for Hannah Reynolds, a choral performance by more than 100 members from several
local churches, and a commemorative funeral
procession along the park’s main stage road
through the historic village.
Hannah Howe Besanceney ’96 was inducted into
LC’s Sports Hall of Fame at Homecoming 2015.
Hannah ran both track and cross country, qualifying
twice for nationals and earning all-ODAC honors in
1993, 1994, and 1995. Hannah and her husband,
Brian, and two daughters reside in Orlando, Fla.
Karen Roberts Dillon ’96 has been named editor
of Laker Weekly, a newspaper that covers three
counties around Smith Mountain Lake, Va. The
weekly is owned by The Roanoke Times.
Christopher B. Denning ’99 MEd has written an
article, “Increasing Physical Activity for Young
Children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder,”
which was published in the Fall 2015 DADD
Express, a publication of the Division on Autism
and Developmental Disabilities, a unit of the
Council for Exceptional Children. The article was
based on Christopher’s research on practices for
individuals with autism, intellectual disability, and
related disabilities.
00’s
October 14-16, 2016
Michele Vitella Mackie ’00 has begun a new
role as associate dean for academic and student
affairs at Georgetown University’s School of
Continuing Studies, where she oversees academic affairs and compliance, career services,
and student affairs. Dr. Mackie was the former
associate dean for the College of Arts and Sciences at Trinity Washington University.
Ira D. Marshall ’00, a licensed
and ordained minister at
Greater Mt. Calvary Holy
Church in Washington, D.C.,
earned his doctor of management in organizational leadership in 2014 and was inducted
into Delta Mu Delta, an international honor society that recognizes academic
excellence in doctoral degree business administration programs. Ira was elected to serve on the
LC Alumni Board of Directors in 2015 and currently
is in the process of publishing his first book.
Carrie Webster LeCrom ’02 was inducted into
Carrie played women’s soccer from 1998-2001,
leading the team to three consecutive ODAC
championships and appearances in four consecutive NCAA tournaments. She served as team captain and earned first-team All-American honors in
2001 as well as the Marjorie Berkley Award in
2002. Carrie has completed a doctoral degree in
sport management and currently serves as the
executive director of the Center of Sports Leadership at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Carrie and her husband live in Henrico, Va.
Linda Jack Delaney ’03 was inducted into LC’s
Sports Hall of Fame at Homecoming 2015. Linda
was named an All-American in field hockey in 2001
and 2002, and was a three-time All-ODAC honoree
in women’s lacrosse. Linda finished her field hockey
career with 55 goals, 34 assists, and 144 points.
She earned LC Female Athlete of the Year honors
in 2002. In 2003, she was voted the Female
Senior Athlete of the Year. Since graduating, she
has developed a distinguished career coaching
both field hockey and women’s lacrosse at Washington & Lee, field hockey at Randolph College
and Gwynedd Mercy. She is currently coaching
lacrosse at Elizabethtown College. She resides
with her husband in Lancaster, Pa.
Michelle E. Snyder ’03 was inducted into LC’s
Sports Hall of Fame at Homecoming 2015. Michelle
played softball for the College from 2000 to 2003.
She was named Lynchburg College Women’s Athlete of the Year and ODAC Player of the Year in
2003. During the 2000 season, Michelle led the
team with 38 strikeouts and gave up only 12 walks
in 83 innings. Michelle has one sister, Brittany
Dean ’06, who also attended Lynchburg College.
Both women played on the College’s softball
team for one year as a pitcher and catcher duo,
a unique and very special partnership. Michelle
currently lives in Huntington, Md. with her husband
and two sons.
Jamar Hawkins ’04 was
recently promoted to senior
policy coordinator at the U.S.
Department of Health and
Human Services, Immediate
Office of the Secretary. Jamar
will manage a team of public
health and science professionals charged with managing health policy matters.
Since joining the department, he has helped
coordinate the response to a variety of high-profile health policy issues, including the 2009 H1N1
influenza pandemic and the Ebola virus disease
outbreak. He resides in Woodbridge, Va.
Karen Vacchiano Speier ’04 MEd is on a teaching
sabbatical to do research for her upcoming book
on the need for developing emotional intelligence
and systems thinking (critical thinking) in K-12
students to equip them for present and postsecondary success in the global economy. She has
previously worked as an intellectual disabilities
teacher in the Fairfax County, Va. Public Schools
and as a teacher-leader/educational specialist in
the Lynchburg City Schools.
Lynchburg College
Graduate
Studies
A W O RLD O F
O PPO RTUNI TI E S
Doctor of Physical Therapy
Doctor of Education in
Leadership Studies
Master of Business Administration
Master of Arts
•History
•Music
Master of Education
•Counselor Education
•Curriculum and Instruction
•Educational Leadership
•Educational Studies
•Reading
•Science Education
•Special Education
Master of Criminal Justice Leadership
Master of Nonprofit Leadership Studies
Master of Physician Assistant Medicine
Master of Public Health
Master of Science in Nursing
(Online Program)
Scholarships and assistantships available
Information sessions are held all through
the year.
For dates and times, check
http://www.lynchburg.edu/graduate or
contact Graduate Studies at gradstudies@
lynchburg.edu 434.544.8383
Class Notes
Erin Johnson ’05 was inducted into LC’s Sports
Hall of Fame at Homecoming 2015. Erin played
women’s soccer for three seasons and was named
All-American Goalkeeper, ODAC Player of the
Year, Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and the VaSID
State Player of the Year in 2004. That same year,
the women’s soccer team won the ODAC title, and
Erin was named the LC Female Athlete of the Year.
Equally strong academically, she was also named
to the 2004 CoSIDA Academic All-District Team.
Erin resides in Davidsonville, Md.
William “Billy” McCulloch ’05 was inducted into
He played for the men’s lacrosse team from 20022005 and started in all 64 games during that time.
In 2002, he was named ODAC Rookie of the Year
as well as the Lynchburg College Rookie of the
Year. In 2003 and 2004, he was named Honorable
Mention All-American. In the 2005 season he
earned Third Team All-American status and lead
the Hornets to the NCAA quarter-finals and their
second ODAC title. During his career, he amassed
225 points, 161 goals, and 64 assists. He played
on three NCAA tournament teams and helped LC
win its first and second ODAC championships. He
currently resides in Annandale, Va.
Ryan P. Cranston ’08 received the M. Carey
Brewer Alumni Award at Homecoming 2015.
Twice captain of the men’s lacrosse team, Ryan
was a three-time All-American, a four-time AllOld Dominion Athletic Conference, and was a
part of two Old Dominion Athletic Conference
Championships. He is the founder and president
of Care for the Cure Foundation, an organization
that works to raise money and awareness for
blood-related cancers. Ryan is also president of
the Care for the Cure High School Lacrosse Tournament. Professionally, Ryan works as an account
executive at Aurea Software. He lives in West
Chester, Pa.
Christopher J. Perzinski ’08, ’12 MEd has joined
the University of Richmond’s lacrosse program
as assistant coach for the squad’s 2015-16 season. Richmond men’s lacrosse head coach Dan
Chemotti said, “Chris demonstrates all of the
characteristics that I’ve learned to value in an assistant coach. He is the ultimate professional, he very
much understands the definition of loyalty, and to
say he is hard working is an understatement. He
combines those traits with an enthusiastic personality and passion for coaching the game of lacrosse.”
Kami R. Brabour ’09 MEd was recently recognized
for her work with Compass Counseling Services
in Staunton, Va. The goal of Compass is to work
with families and children who are having difficulties either in the home or at school. She also
received the 27th annual Distinguished Community Services Award given by the Shenandoah
Valley Hit newspaper.
Parents Family
Weekend
2015
n
photo gallery
see more of the weekend at
10’s
Class of ’11 in Reunion
October 14-16, 2016
Gary D. Duverney ’10 has joined Hourigan Construction in Virginia Beach, Va., as an assistant
superintendent.
David W. Hill ’10 MEd was elected sheriff of
Nelson County, Va. in November of 2015 and
assumed his new role on January 1, 2016. David
plans to initiate a feedback program to be used
as “a safeguard for the community, the sheriff,
and the deputies.” David has a degree in criminal
justice from Ferrum College and was a deputy
for the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office from 2004
until 2007. He has also served as a narcotics
investigator with Amherst County, Va. from 2008
to 2010 and a school counselor at Rockfish River
and Tye River elementary schools.
Paula Kirkland Ledbetter ’11 MEd has been named
the new head of Blessed Sacrament Huguenot
Catholic School in Powhatan, Va. She previously
served as the school’s director of admissions.
John F. Regner ’12 has joined E. C. Glass High
School in Lynchburg as the new wrestling coach.
Jessica N. Crews ’13 has published eight
children’s books dealing with how children and
adults should treat people who are different from
themselves. With the proceeds from book sales,
Jessica has established “No Hill Too High,” a nonprofit that promotes her important message. When
Jessica was 12 years old, she suffered a traumatic
brain injury in an automobile accident, but through
a great deal of hard work, constant therapy, and
rehabilitation, she graduated from high school,
went on to earn her bachelor’s degree from LC,
and is now a graduate student at Liberty University. She also works with students with disabilities
as a teacher’s aide in Gretna, Va.
Tarsha M. Joyner ’13 won the Food Network’s
“Christmas Cookie Challenge” in December,
besting four other contestants. Tarsha was
awarded $10,000, which she used to open
her shop, Mrs. Joy’s Absolutely Fabulous Treat
Shoppe, in downtown Lynchburg. (Read the
article on Tarsha on page 6 in this magazine.)
Steven M. L. Perrow ’13, ’15 MBA has written and
published his first book, Lampir, a novel about
vampires. Steven is working on a second book in the
series and has started a third stand-alone book.
Rene N. Ballowe ’14 MBA, operations coordinator
at Genworth Financial in Lynchburg, Va., was
recently selected as one of Central Virginia’s “Top
20 Under 40.” Named Genworth’s Lynchburg Volunteer of the Year in 2013, Rene gives her time to
numerous organizations, including the Alzheimer’s
Association and United Way of Central Virginia.
Rene resides in Appomattox, Va., with her twoyear-old daughter, Lila.
Gina M. Grundman ’14 has been named properties
coordinator at Imagination Stage in Bethesda, Md.
Imagination Stage provides theatre and arts education programs for young people of all abilities.
Hilary B. Dobyns ’15 is a special education teacher
at Brookneal Elementary School, Brookneal, Va.,
where she oversees special education for students
in kindergarten through fifth grade.
Holly D. Knupp ’15 DPT has joined Appalachian
Physical Therapy in Broadway, Va., the same PT
facility where she underwent rehabilitation following
knee surgery when she was 13. She says her decision to become a physical therapist was definitely
influenced by her experience at Appalachian.
Kennan L. McVey ’15 DPT has joined the staff
of Carousel Physical Therapy in Kilmarnock, Va.
Her interests include orthopedics, sports medicine, and women’s health issues. Previously, she
worked under the direction of orthopedic specialists at Center of Physical Therapy and Sports
Medicine of Richmond and pediatric therapists at
Children’s Hospital of Richmond, Va.
Honorary Alumni
Award Winners
In 1985 the Lynchburg College Alumni
Association established the Honorary
Alumni Award. This distinction is given to
non-alumni for their exceptional interest,
dedication and/or service to the College.
Denise Scruggs, director of
the Beard Center on Aging,
received the Honorary
Alumni Award at Homecoming 2015. Denise works as a
liaison between Lynchburg
College and various agencies, individuals, and organizations. With the help of her students, her
office averages more than 300 service contracts annually. Denise is an approved trainer
for the National Council of Certified Dementia
Practioners and has helped to train hundreds of
professionals, social workers, counselors, and
administrators. Denise also serves as a mentor
to students who wish to pursue careers in gerontology. Denise and her husband are residents
of Forest, Va.
Head women’s soccer coach
Todd Olsen received the
Honorary Alumni Award at
Homecoming 2015, as well
as a special citation from the
LC Sports Hall of Fame.
Since 1994, he has led the
women’s soccer team to a
national championship in 2014, earning him the
title of 2014 Division III National Coach of the
Year. His teams also have won 15 NCAA tournament games, seven Sweet 16s, four Elite Eights,
and two Final Fours. As an epidemiologist,
Todd has served as a community public health
consultant to Sports Outreach Institute since
2007. He has traveled to Kenya and Uganda
multiple times to develop and implement
community health workshops and programs on
community public health issues. Todd resides
with his wife and children in Lynchburg.
Sports Hall of Fame Team Awards
Teams are recognized as teams of distinction
based on athletic performance and achievement in sports competition as evidenced by
exceptional accomplishments at or above the
conference level including advancement to
NCAA regional or national competition,
regional or national titles, school records,
and undefeated seasons
2014 Women’s Soccer Team
In 2014, the Women’s Soccer team won the
first team national championship in Lynchburg
College history. With a record-breaking season
of 27-0-1, the team tied a Division III record for
the most wins in one season and played 25
shutout games, which set a single-season
record in the Division III category. In addition,
the team set an ODAC record with 18 consecutive shutouts and set other ODAC records for
points scored, goals saved, and assists made.
Individual team members also received high
honors. Angela Bosco ’14 was named the
national, regional, and ODAC Player of the
Year and First Team NSCAA All-American.
Dessi Dupuy ’15 was named Second Team
All-American. Dupuy and Bosco finished their
careers numbers one and two, respectively,
in ODAC history in both goals and points.
Samantha Bagherpour ’17 won the first NCAA
Elite 89 Award in College history. Dr. Todd
Olsen was named national, regional, state
and ODAC Coach of the Year.
Individuals who contributed to the team’s
success: Samantha Bagherpour ’17,Camille
Bartley ’17, Mary Beier ’16, Angela Bosco ’14,
Marina Clark ’17, Rachel Cooke ’18, Ashley
Karen Hiltz ’16 EdD has been elected representative for the Gills Creek District of the Franklin
County, Va. School Board.
PHOTOS BYJOHN MCCORMICK
Cox ’17, Natalie Deacon ’17, Christine Domecq ’17,
Eva “Dessi” Dupuy ’15, Frances Foster ’18,
Tess Frelick ’16, Jenna Hall ’18, Alexis Jensen ’16,
Amani Jones ’18, Nicole Kopsidas ’16, Emily
Maxwell ’18, Camille McCarthy ’17, Dana
Nelsen ’15, Elizabeth Oden ’17, Hannah Olds ’18,
Kara Schaffer ’15, Sarah Schrader ’16, Morgan
Singer ’16, Kelley Smith ’17, Jennifer Snyder ’14,
Gabriella Soares ’17, Daisy Thomas ’17, Jade
Woll ’16, Dr. Todd Olsen (Head Coach) Tori
Dott ’14 (Assistant Coach) Tony Dulak ’11, ’14 MEd
(Assistant Coach) Jessica Gonzalez ’13 (Assistant
Coach) Shelly Hoath Spanniger ’13, ’15 MEd
(Assistant Coach) C.W. Ponton (Goalkeeper
Coach) Caityln Dodd ’17 (Student Assistant
Coach) Dr. Steve Smith ’97, ’99 MEd (Strength
and Conditioning Coach) Lucas Bianco ’12
(Athletic Trainer.)
Sports Hall of Fame
Posthumous Award
J. Walter Miller ’30
James “Walter” Miller was inducted into LC’s
Sports Hall of Fame at Homecoming 2015.
A four-time letterman, Walter played five sports
— basketball, baseball, football, track, and tennis
— and was chosen as captain of the football
team. While heavily involved in athletics, Walter
was president of the Varsity Club, secretary and
treasurer of the student body, junior representative of the Men’s Student Council, and a member
of the Athletic Association. He had a distinguished career in education in Virginia after
graduating from Lynchburg College.
Class Notes
Marriages
Beverly “Bev” Pfluger ’06, ’09 MEd to Joseph
“Joe” Vari III ’07 MEd on May 23, 2015, at the
Church of the Epiphany in Richmond, Va. Included
in the wedding party were Glenn Pfluger Jr. ’82
and Yvonne Bobiak Pfluger ’82 (her parents);
Michelle Pfluger Dulak ’12 (sister); Natalie Pfluger
Ingram ’08 (sister); Caitlin Smith Candler ’05;
Corri Pfister Sullivan ’05, ’07 MEd; Anthony
“Tony” Dulak ’11, ’14 MEd; Jeremy Ingram ’08;
and James “Jimmy” Tharpe Jr. ’07, ’09 MEd.
Joe is an assistant athletic director and women’s
soccer coach at Rhodes College, and Bev is an
assistant director of career services at Rhodes
College, Memphis, Tenn. The couple honeymooned in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic,
and they currently reside in Memphis.
Beverly “Bev” Pfluger ’06, ’09 MEd to Joseph “Joe” Vari III ’07 MEd
Emily Gannon ’07 to Chris Behm
Nicole Page ’11, ’15 MSN to Robert Kirby
Emily Gannon ’07 to Chris Behm on September
12, 2014, in Bensalem, Pa. Celebrating with the
happy couple were Emily Yost Godenschwager
’07, Morgan Crandall ’07, Catherine “Katie”
Moran Costanzo ’07, Leah Carney Ginter ’07,
Kristine Carney Keeney ’07, Stephanie Gannon
’94, Kathleen “Tara” Gannon-Lavin ’96, Andrew
Keeney ’07, Brian Flynn ’05, Denver Davis ’05,
Phil Larrabee ’91, and Marc Rosson ’04. The
couple honeymooned in Maui, Hawaii, and they
reside in Perkasie, Pa.
Joshua “Josh” L. Highlander ’07 to Whitney Lynn
Fifer on October 24, 2015, at the Westover Plantation in Charles City, Va. Charles White ’07 was a
member of the wedding party. Whitney graduated
from Virginia Commonwealth University. Josh is a
real estate agent with Hometown Realty in Ashland,
Va. The couple honeymooned in Charleston, S.C.
James David Pask ’07 to Megan Elizabeth Johnson
on June 29, 2012, in Manhattan, Kan. Attending
the wedding were Mickey Orrell ’07, William
Green, Jr. ’09, Charles Shaw ’07, and Garrett
Johnson ’06. The couple honeymooned at Walt
Disney World, and they currently reside in Nashville, Tenn. Jim earned a PhD in microbiology and
immunology at Vanderbilt University. He is the honors program director and an assistant professor of
biology at Bethel University in Nashville, Tenn.
Sascha Barrow ’10, ’15 MA to Jason M. Gill on
October 24, 2015, at Paradise Lake Campground
in Spout Spring, Va. Courtney I. Clements ’11
was a member of the wedding party. Sascha is
employed with First National Bank in Rustburg, Va.
The couple resides in Spout Spring, Va.
Nicole Page ’11, ’15 MSN to Robert Kirby on
April 11, 2015, at First Baptist Church of Monroe
in Monroe, Va. The honeymoon consisted of
a cross-country trip to the Grand Canyon, Las
Vegas, and Santa Monica, Calif. The couple
resides in Lynchburg.
Bethany Leeson ’07 to Edward Verrills on
August 1, 2015. The wedding party included
many alumni from Bethany’s family, including
Lyn McEnany Somerville ’75, Anne Goundie
Rhodes ’75, Bobbie Little Mason ’73, Don Mason
’73, Janet Mason Leeson ’75, Peter Leeson ’75,
Linda Tedford Taylor ’75, Caitlin Camiel Zorn ’07,
Rachel Cooke ’07, and Olga Ozarslan ’07.
Angela Roxanne Summit ’11 to Zachary Scott
Reeves on September 26, 2015, at Chatmoss
Country Club, in Martinsville, Va. Jamie Armstrong
’11 was a member of the wedding party. Roxanne
is a 2014 graduate of Charlotte School of Law and
is employed by Gardner, Barrow, and Sharpe, P.C.
Zachary is a 2015 graduate of Averett University.
The couple honeymooned in Charleston, S. C. and
now live in Martinsville.
John Jeffrey “Jeff” Koestner Jr. ’14 MBA to
Greylyn Crie ’15 MEd on July 18, 2015, at Bernard’s
Landing Waterfront Resort at Smith Mountain
Lake, Va. Included in the wedding party were
Bobbi Anna Crie ’16 MEd (sister) and Aaron
Goodbar ’14 MBA. The reception was held at
Bernard’s Landing Clubhouse. The couple
honeymooned in Playa Mujeres, Mexico. Greylyn
is employed as a teacher at Sugar Hill Christian
Academy, and Jeff is an engineer at Power Engineers. The couple resides in the Atlanta, Ga. area.
New Arrivals
To Sarah Phillips Martin ’02 and husband, Kelly, a
son, Graham Joseph, born Aug. 6, 2015. The family lives in Richmond, Va.
To Amy Boyles Wellborn ’05 and husband, Brian, a
son, Fawkes Adam, born Nov. 13, 2015. The family
lives in Dillon, Mont.
To Melissa Palmer Feldman ’11 and husband,
Brandon, a daughter, Lynette Jean, born Jan. 16,
2015. The family lives in Salem, Va.
To Rev. Mark D. Furlow ’13 MBA and wife, Siobhan
Byrns, a daughter, Aoife Aurelia, born July 29, 2015.
The family lives in Lynchburg.
Protect yourself
from the sun
W I TH TH ES E
O U TD O O R H A TS
Wide brim Boonie hat, black with
embroidered Hornet, adjustable
draw string, lightweight polyester
$24.95 (Item #1090)
Wide brim Boonie hat, grey with red
accent (not pictured), embroidered
Hornet, adjustable draw string,
lightweight polyester
$24.95 (Item #34529)
Angela Roxanne Summit ’11 to
Zachary Scott Reeves
Bethany Leeson ’07 to
Edward Verrills
Wide brim cotton Boonie hat, camouflage with embroidered Hornet, snap
up sides, adjustable chin strap
$22.95
(L/XL Item #3569) (M/SM Item#35691)
Wide brim cotton Boonie hat kaki with
embroidered Hornet, snap up sides,
adjustable chin strap
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Relaxed fitted Bucket hat, white with
red/white stripe band, embroidered
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$16.95
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Relaxed fitted bucket hat, kaki with
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LC Campus Store
Hours of operation:
Weekdays 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
lynchburg.edu/student-life/campus-store
Call 434.544.8241 for mail orders
Alumni Profile
The Man and the Mold
by Betty McKinney
Globe-trotting research makes
Steve Stephenson ’68 a recognized
expert on slime mold
Dr. Steve Stephenson ’68 has traveled
to all seven continents in in search of slime
molds.
“Slime molds can affect the entire planet,”
said Dr. Stephenson, a research professor at
the University of Arkansas. “Their life cycle
is mostly in the amoeba stage where they
feed on bacteria and release essential nutrients back into the ecosystem. If it weren’t
for slime molds, the bacteria would hold
onto the nutrients and unbalance the entire
world’s ecosystem.”
Slime molds (or myxomycetes, as they are
known to biologists), are single-celled organisms that can function alone or combine
to reproduce. They are not plant, animal,
or fungus, although they often resemble a
fungus. During their life cycle, slime molds
produce fruiting bodies that are surprisingly
intricate and colorful. “They come in every
color of the rainbow, except a true green
“One lab on slime
molds opened my
eyes… There was a
real void; I fell into
it and never looked
back.”
(because of a lack of chlorophyll), and they
often resemble honeycomb lattices or blackberries,” Dr. Stephenson explained. The fruiting bodies contain millions of spores, which
are transported by the wind, a passing insect,
or an animal. In their amoeba or “blob” state,
slime molds spread like highway networks at
a very fast rate. Scientists say they were likely
the inspiration for “The Blob,” a 1958 science
fiction movie.
Dr. Stephenson became interested in slime
molds while he was working on his PhD in
botany at Virginia Tech. “One lab on slime
molds opened my eyes,” he recalled. “I discovered that people didn’t understand them
and their ecology. There was a real void; I fell
into it and never looked back.”
Although he found his passion at Virginia
Tech, Dr. Stephenson said it was his time at
Lynchburg College that set him on the right
track. “Dr. Gwynn Ramsey really made an
impact on my life and made a botanist of me,”
he said. “He was a very dedicated teacher and
botanist and really shaped my career. We still
stay in touch and keep tabs on what the other
is doing.” Now, Dr. Stephenson teaches plant
ecology, forest ecology, and plant biology, the
same course he studied at Lynchburg College.
Dr. Stephenson has the enviable distinction of receiving almost continual funding
support from the National Science Foundation
PHOTOS COURTESY OF STEVE STEPHENSON
Above: In one life stage, slime molds are intricate and
colorful, often resembling honeycomb lattices or blackberries. Far left: Dr. Steve Stephenson on an expedition
to subantarctic Auckland Island, south of New Zealand.
Right: Dr. Stephenson in northern Thailand with a colleague from Myanmar.
(NSF) throughout his 35-year career. In 2003,
he received a $2 million grant to direct a
worldwide study of slime molds as part of the
NSF’s Planetary Biodiversity Inventory. “It
was very exciting,” he said. “We were able to
study slime molds in the southern hemisphere
and discover global distribution patterns. I
really regretted the end of the project.” He
is also the recipient of two Fulbright awards
and numerous grants from the National Geographic Society, the National Forest Service,
and the National Park Service.
One of his most challenging expeditions
was a four-month stay on Macquarie Island,
an elevated plateau in the Southern Ocean
approximately halfway between Australia and
Antarctica. The island’s steep hillsides and
rocky beaches are home to penguins, seals,
sea lions, and albatrosses. The 30-person
expedition conducted research on the island
during the summer field season but was battered by sub-Antarctic conditions with sleet,
snow, and winds at 60 to 80 knots. Even so,
Dr. Stephenson said it was an incredible time.
“To find slime molds and fungi that far south
was such a rewarding scientific experience that
I would gladly do it again!”
His research expeditions have often been a
family affair with his wife Barbara and daughter
Becky. “They have been my number one and
two field assistants on numerous occasions,”
he said. They too have visited all seven continents, collecting specimens and helping with
any number of tasks.
Dr. Stephenson describes himself as intense
and a workaholic. He progressed from college
freshman to PhD in only seven years, earning
his BS in botany from LC and his MS and
PhD in botany from Virginia Tech. He has
written 300 papers and seven books and is
now at work on five additional books. One of
his books, Myxomycetes: A Handbook of Slime
Molds, is in more libraries around the globe
than any other book on the subject. “Steve is
one of the most prolific researchers and writers
I know,” said Dr. Gwynn Ramsey, professor
emeritus of biology. “I can’t keep up with
him.”
In 2014, Dr. Stephenson studied slime
molds in Vietnam on a Fulbright award and
went to Namibia on a National Geographic
grant to work in the Namib Desert, believed
to be the oldest desert in the world. He plans
to conduct research in the Philippines, and he
wants to go to a number of other places such
as Myanmar and some of the isolated Pacific
Islands. “There are things to study all over the
world,” he said.
Class Notes
Alumni Profile
In Memoriam
Reva Hoppenstein Kobre ’30, Nov. 16, 2015
Bernadette Kulp Kyle ’40, July 14, 2015
Virginia Croy Decker ’46, Nov. 20, 2015
Vyola Hunter Jennings ’48, Sept. 11, 2015
J. Wallace “Wally” LaPrade ’48, July 31, 2015
M. Carey Brewer ’49, ’85 LLD, Dec. 4, 2015
Frances Thornton Finch ’49, Oct. 22, 2015
Marvin Tweedy ’49, Nov. 10, 2015
M. “Spotswood” Andes Davis ‘50, July 21, 2015
Virginia Hudnall Dalton ’51, Jan. 31, 2015
Rosemary Shufflebarger Lemon ’51, Oct. 13, 2015
Marjorie Sumida Matsumoto ’51, Nov. 5, 2015
Richard Wright Sr. ’51, Jan. 12, 2015
Charles “Charlie” Walker ’52, July 14, 2015
Stephen Caldwell ’53, Oct. 30, 2015
James Holloman ’56, Nov. 17, 2015
Mildred Walton Arnold ’57, Oct. 23, 2015
William “W.P.” Ellis Jr. ’59, ’71 MEd, Aug. 1, 2015
Ann Jenkins Guthrie ’59, Aug. 24, 2015
Thomas Simpson Jr. ’59, June 23, 2015
Robert “Bob” Whitmore ’59, Sept. 29, 2015
Earl “Tom” Wright ’59, Oct. 15, 2014
Carolyn “Tommi” St. Thomas Kerns ’60,
Jan. 23, 2015
E. “Jeannette” Smith Strobel ’60, Nov. 22, 2015
Gene Tomlin ’60, Dec. 4, 2015
Shelby Law McCarthy ’61, July 24, 2015
Russell “Pete” Gowin Sr. ’62, Nov. 13, 2015
Frederick Pitman ’62, Sept. 25, 2015
Edward “Ed” Vaughn ’62, Aug. 20, 2015
Jessie White Rusinko ’63, July 18, 2015
Ray Warnock ’63, July 2, 2015
Melvena Drinkard Wright ’63, Dec. 8, 2015
Richard Lyon ’66, Sept. 1, 2015
Nancy Oglesby Packard ’66, Oct. 18, 2015
Donald Beuerle ’67 MS, Jan. 25, 2015
Everette Wood ’67 MEd, June 24, 2015
David “Dave” Hennigan ’68, July 21, 2015
Bruce McCormick ’68, Aug. 5, 2015
In Sympathy
Susan “Susie” Schnebly Smith ’68, Sept. 28, 2015
Richard Williams II ’69, July 5, 2015
Louise C. Womack ’69, ’70 MAT, Dec. 13, 2015
Stanley Shaw ’70, Dec. 2, 2015
Betty Ann Wilson-Powers ’71 MS, Aug. 3, 2015
Eveline Johnson Wood ’72, Aug. 18, 2015
Gerald “Jerry” Branscome ’73, Nov. 6, 2015
Elizabeth Willis Moseley ’73, Aug. 26, 2015
Sherry Cable Morris ’74, Nov. 1, 2015
A. Morris Dawson Jr. ’75, Dec. 13, 2015
Darla Dietz Coyne ’76, Oct. 14, 2015
David Lyles ’76, Nov. 3, 2015
Lucy Smith Stewart ’76 MEd, Oct. 24, 2015
Nancy Butt Angstman ’77, Nov. 26, 2015
Gerald “Jerry” Robinson ’77 MEd, Sept. 4, 2015
Wilson “Ragan” Rodgers ’78 MBA, June 26, 2015
Alex “Sandor” Bognar ’79 MEd, Sept. 19, 2015
Mark Miller ’81, Nov. 6, 2015
Catherine Booth Crowley ’83, Nov. 25, 2015
Marianne Skinner Galloway ’83, Aug. 31, 2015
Alice Roberts Donaldson ’84 MEd, Nov. 28, 2015
Debra Tuggle Patterson ’84, ’90 MBA, Sept. 5, 2015
Jon York ’84, Aug. 17, 2015
Rosemarie “Rose” Kellam Martyn ’85 MAd,
Aug. 20, 2015
Sandra Sutherland Haag ’86, Nov. 8, 2015
Cindy Knorr ’86, March 15, 2015
William “Bill” Young ’86 MBA, Nov. 15, 2015
John Zavisza ’89, Nov. 6, 2015
Gary Davis ’92 MBA, Nov. 23, 2015
Ellen Ravis ’93 MEd, July 8, 2015
Anthony Haberman ’97, July 10, 2015
Jane Crews Owen ’97, Dec. 3, 2015
Thalia Harvey ’01 MEd, July 28, 2015
Karen Merricko Bishoff ’08 MEd, Sept. 26, 2015
Gabriel Wise ’08, Oct. 29, 2015
ATTENTION
LC GOLFERS!
25TH ANNUAL
SHELLENBERGER
GOLF TOURNAMENT
SATURDAY, MAY 28, 2016
LONDON DOWNS GOLF COURSE
FOREST, Va • 1 P.M. SHOTGUN START
For more information • 434.544.8497 or [email protected]
Betty Brighton Brewer ’49, husband, Dec. 4, 2015
Joyce Roberson Goforth ’49, brother, July 12, 2015
Charles Thaxton ’50, brother, June 18, 2015
Ann Brewer Elswick ’51, brother, Dec. 4, 2015
Janet “Jan” Knight Tunstall ’53, husband, July 16, 2015
Estherina Shems ’54, ’09 DSc, husband, Aug. 13, 2015
Betty Cooper McKinney ’62, mother, Nov. 15, 2015
Dorie Luck Simpson ’62, husband, June 23, 2015
Shirley Snead Pitman ’63, husband, Sept. 25, 2015
Donald “Don” Cable ’64, sister, Nov. 1, 2015
Joyce “Joy” Rice Warnock ’64, husband, July 2, 2015
Louis Cable ’66, sister, Nov. 1, 2015
Shirley Miller Louthan ’66, husband, Feb. 9, 2015
Elizabeth “Betsy” Moseley Garrard ’69 MEd, mother,
Aug. 26, 2015
Gladys Tweedy Martin ’70, brother, Nov. 10, 2015
Gertrude “Trudy” Waugh Carr ’74, grandson,
July 31, 2015
James “Mike” Coyne ‘74, wife, Oct. 14, 2015
Mary “Beth” Brewer Huggins ’74, ’87, father,
Dec. 4, 2015
Allen Carr Jr. ’75, grandson, July 31, 2015,
and mother, Aug. 15, 2015
Robert “Bob” Perkins ’75, father, Sept. 24, 2015
Robert “Rob” Brewer ’77, father, Dec. 4, 2015
Wendy Morris Wood ’78, mother, Aug. 18, 2015
Ann Tweedy Tucker ’79 MEd, father, Nov. 10, 2015
Roberta “Bobbie” Watson ’79, sister, Oct. 17, 2015
Ellen Whelan Harrington ’80, son, Nov. 14, 2015
Ruth Ann Brewer Cassell ’82, ’97 MEd, father,
Dec. 4, 2015
Cheryle Bocknek Deacon ’83, mother, Dec. 8, 2015
Arlene Domaleski ’83 MEd, husband, Sept. 14, 2015
Catherine “Cathie” Brewer Daniel ’85, father,
Dec. 4, 2015
Teofil “Ted” Grochowski Jr ’85, mother, June 27, 2015
Kathryn “Kitty” Oliver Mauch ’85, father, Nov. 9, 2015
Emily DeJarnette Nash ’85, mother, July 15, 2015
Carol Denham Bertrand ’87, father, Oct. 11, 2015
Howard Harvey ’88, father, Oct. 7, 2015
Thomas “Tom” Martyn ’88 MBA, wife, Aug. 20, 2015
Ann Jennings ’91 MEd, mother, Sept. 11, 2015
Andre Grochowski ’91, mother June 27, 2015
Jonathan Witt ’92, mother, Sept. 21, 2015
William “Bill” Douglass ’94, father, Aug. 18, 2015
Donna Robertson Riordan ’94, ’95 MEd, mother,
Dec. 13, 2014
Virginia “Ginny” Brooks Ogden ’98, mother,
Dec. 5, 2015
Kasey Purcell Forehand ’00, mother, Aug. 30, 2015
Terri Hancock Linn ’01, mother, Nov. 4, 2015
Melissa Lee Shank ’01, mother, Nov. 12, 2015
Julie Austin-Witcher ’04, mother, July 27, 2015
Amanda Barbara Anthony ’05, father, Sept. 12, 2015
Stephen Brooks ’06, mother, Dec. 5, 2015
Kimberly “Kim” Morris Hieber ’08, mother,
Nov. 1, 2015
Eren Harrington ’15, brother, Nov. 14, 2015
Larry D. Tucker Jr. 16, father, Dec. 11, 2015
Graduate keeps
downtown Altavista
‘on track’ by Bryan Gentry
Every small business owner has a mission
that makes her get up each day and put heart
and soul into a business.
Emelyn Gwynn’s mission is to see them
succeed.
Just after her graduation in May 2015,
Emelyn took the helm of business development in downtown Altavista, a town not far
from Lynchburg. As director of the nonprofit
Altavista On Track, Emelyn plans events that
bring foot traffic downtown, cultivates new
opportunities for businesses, helps business
owners take advantage of economic development incentives, and leads efforts to use grant
money to improve the economic environment.
“The thing that I find the most enjoyable
about my job is helping and seeing small
businesses flourish,” Emelyn said.
Emelyn brought fresh ideas to the town, and
the rest of the community is catching her vision.
“Her youth and her exuberance are infectious,” said Dennis Jarvis, Altavista’s director
“The thing that I find the
most enjoyable about my job
is helping and seeing small
businesses flourish.”
of economic development. “You clearly see
that in the way her ideas are accepted in the
community and move forward.”
Last spring, Jarvis contacted the career
services offices at several local colleges to let
them know of a job opening. For Emelyn, a
communication studies major, it seemed like
the perfect next step. At the time, she was
completing an internship in Lynchburg’s
Office of Economic Development.
Her work in Lynchburg City Hall had
demonstrated Emelyn’s creative thinking
and quick learning, said Anna Bentson,
Lynchburg’s assistant director of economic
development. “There is no one-size-fits-all
economic development strategy. The field
requires people who can explore ideas, communicate well, and adapt quickly to changing
business and community needs,” Bentson said.
“She showed great capacity for listening well
and understanding the needs of a community.”
After hearing Bentson’s recommendation,
Jarvis hired Emelyn during finals week.
In Altavista, Emelyn has undertaken
projects like helping a farmer-entrepreneur
start a community-supported agriculture venture and leading community meetings to help
determine the best way to spend money from
a broadband development grant. She has been
developing the town’s first tourism brochure
and a 10-year comprehensive plan for Altavista
On Track. She led the effort to secure grant
money that will pay for a study that could result in new life for a downtown building that
has been vacant for seven years.
Jarvis said Emelyn’s work is an important
part of the town’s future. “What you do at the
street level with business owners on Main
Street is traditional economic development.
It’s community development, and it’s entrepreneurship,” said Jarvis. “Having someone
like Emelyn be able to manage that on a daily
basis is crucial.”
Emelyn has enjoyed the chance to continue
living in Lynchburg and working nearby. “I’m
never bored here,” she said. In her spare time,
she visits the Lynchburg Community Market,
hikes or rides her bike along nearby trails, and
spending time with new friends.
She also has enjoyed keeping in contact
with her friends who are still studying at LC,
as well as professors and staff members she
sees around in the community. “It’s been great
to have such a strong support system from
LC, and it’s really helped me with professional
connections as well,” she said.
We Remember
Louise C. Womack ’69, ’70 MAT, retired associate
professor of education, died December 13, 2015,
at the age of 85. Born in Bruceton, Tenn., she
came to Lynchburg in 1963 with her husband
Bob who was employed with Babcock and Wilcox
at Mt. Athos. She joined the faculty of Lynchburg
College in 1970 and taught here for 22 years.
Louise and Bob loved music and sang with the
PHOTO BYJOHN MCCORMICK
Fine Arts Center Chorus, the choir of St. Stephen’s
Episcopal Church in Forest, Va., and Westminster
Presbyterian Church in Lynchburg. “Music is
good for the soul,” Louise often commented.
For the past five years, Louise lived at The Summit
where she played piano and helped with church
services. She was preceded in death by her
husband of nearly 57 years. She is survived by
her two children, Vicki Womack Stamp of Casper,
Wyo., and Thomas Lee Womack of Goode, Va.;
three grandchildren, Dave Stamp of Anchorage,
Alaska, Jeff Stamp of Minneapolis, Minn., and
Laura Stamp, who is attending college in Willilamstown, Mass. Louise will be remembered for her
love of music and her dedication to her students.
Last Word
Mothers, fathers, alma maters
MA I L
LC Magazine
Lynchburg College
College Communications
and Marketing
1501 Lakeside Drive
Lynchburg, VA 245013113
PHON E
434.544.8609
E-MA IL
Sever al stories in this
magazine made me think about
the gifts that parents give their
children. The gift of life is only
the beginning.
As told in these pages, Mychael
Ward’s mother gave her sons an
example by going back to school.
Caitlyn Dodd’s mother donated
a kidney to give her oldest daughter a new lease on life. Bradley
Jackson’s mom chose to help him
focus on college, even though it meant giving
up the chance to have her son nearby while she
battled cancer.
One of my mother’s meaningful gifts was
$100 in January 2004. It was not a large sum, but
it made my down payment on tuition at a time
when I had planned to postpone college. A few
weeks later, my student status opened the door to
my first newspaper job. My mom’s gift set me on
the course for the rest of my life.
In a recent speech at LC, Virginia Secretary
of the Commonwealth Levar Stoney explained
how his father, a high school dropout, set him
on the right course with bedtime stories about
a kid getting an education. “He told me that
if I went off to college and got good grades, I
would be able to change the trajectory of my
family,” Stoney said.
My father told me similar stories about when,
not if, I would go to college. He nurtured my interest in every endeavor, especially writing. His
gift was a belief in my talents and an appreciation for learning.
“Alma mater” comes from the Latin for “nourishing mother” or “bounteous mother.” Like
our parents, the colleges that nurture our minds
endow us with priceless gifts. For example, your
relationship with Lynchburg College probably
started with an acceptance letter and financial aid.
Later, your association with the College probably yielded friendships, career skills, knowledge
of complex issues, the mentorship of faculty and
staff members who changed the direction of
your life, or extracurricular opportunities that
enhanced your résumé.
Gratitude for these gifts prompts us to share
them when we can — to “pay it forward.” One
way I try to do that is to spend time showing my
children how I feel about them and teaching them
what my parents taught me.
I recently brought my 3-year-old son to
watch an ethics bowl match at LC when I
didn’t have time to drop him off at home beforehand. He was excited to go to something at the
College, but he was ecstatic that there was pizza.
He wore a serious look as he devoured pizza
and watched the students discuss the ethical intersections of immigration, healthcare, and rule
of law. I whispered a simplified explanation of
the arguments to him.
When we left, I asked Paul if he wanted to do
ethics bowl when he goes to college.
“No,” he said.
He might never change his mind about that,
and he might forget that night’s ethics bowl
match. But over the years I hope he remembers
that he is worth my time, and so are thinking
deeply and learning. I hope he will see that
memory as the gift it is.
The Annual Fund
With your support, students can discover, connect, and achieve great things
here at Lynchburg and beyond.
Bryan Gentry
Editor
IT BEGINS WITH YOU • GIVE TODAY
www.lynchburg.edu/annualfund | [email protected] | 800.621.1699 or 434.544.8297
PHOTO BYJOHN MCCORMICK
1501 Lakeside Drive
Lynchburg, Virginia 24501-3113
CHANGE SERVICES REQUESTED
NONPROFIT ORG
U.S. POSTAGE
PAI D
LYNCHBURG, VA
PERMIT NO. 27

PDF - Lynchburg College Magazine

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