The Never-Ending Cycle of Central Icons
T
he timeline of band directors at Keith House, to Skip Vandelicht, to the next Central Methodist University has generation and beyond. seen more than a few eras led by icons Skip isn’t the only longtime member of of the craft. Starting with K.K. Anderson the Central faculty to say goodbye this year, for almost four decades, to Ken and Nancy though. Dr. Mozaffar Rahmatpanah, also Seward, to legends like Paul Montemurro and known as “Coach Moz,” received professor Keith House, Central has never been short on emeritus status after serving for decades talent at that position, and the identity of our as a soccer coach and professor of physical great institution comes from the reputation education. of the Swinney Conservatory Coach Moz’s love of and as much as anything else. dedication to Central were This spring we said nothing short of impressive. farewell to the latest in this He loved this place so much line of iconic contributors that he lived here, away to the band with the from his wife and children retirement of director Roy in Irvine, California, for most “Skip” Vandelicht. A Central of the year before making a Methodist alumnus himself, mad dash back to his family Skip was obviously the right during breaks in the academic man for the job when he calendar. started in 2007, thirty years His dedication and efforts Dr. Roger Drake, President after graduating. were not for naught, either. Since then, Skip has led Coach Moz deserves a lot hundreds of students, in countless concerts, of credit for running an excellent soccer parades, and performances that have earned program, even back before the college was awards and recognition for himself, the band, in a position to invest as much in sports as and for Central. Skip is now a Hall of Famer we do now. I think the fact that people still twice over and has more than earned his call him “Coach” years after he managed the reputation as one of the best music educators team really says something. It puts him in the in the state of Missouri. Central athletics pantheon. The students he has taught and mentored And whether it’s true or whether it’s have gone on to become successful teachers lore, there are great stories about his athletic and directors, continuing the legacy from ability as a soccer player, sniping water
2 The Talon | Spring 2023
bottles off the top of the goalposts like Wyatt Earp at the O.K. Corral. I always meant to ask him if that was a true story; sometimes legends are best left as legends. There’s no doubt that Skip and Coach Moz are retiring as two of the most recent icons of the Central faculty and that they will be missed, but when people retire from CMU with the contributions these men have made, with the lives they’ve changed, it isn’t a time to be remorseful about their departures. It’s a time to celebrate. At the same time that these wonderful people are retiring, there are perhaps new legends being born. There are opportunities for the next impactful people to step in, and while their replacements may not have yet been chosen at the time of this writing, a new chapter in Central’s story is already beginning with the addition of Dr. Melissa Mace as the new vice president for enrollment management. I wouldn’t be surprised if 30 years from now, people are writing about her in the same way. We’re always rebirthing legends at Central. There’s no way we will ever run out of them.