Chapman Magazine Winter 2017

Winter 2017

MAGAZINE

UP FRONT Executive Editor:

2 President’s Message: Chapman is ready to meet some Grand Challenges.

Sheryl Bourgeois, Ph.D. Executive Vice President for University Advancement

3 First Person: Marvin Gross ’58 realizes a longtime goal by climbing Half Dome at 80.

Managing Editor:

CHAPMAN NOW

Mary A. Platt, APR platt@chapman.edu

5 Sarah Ann and Dale E. Fowler ’58 commit $45 million to establish an engineering school at Chapman.

Editor:

Dennis Arp arp@chapman.edu

7 Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer ’07 will be honored during Chapman Celebrates in November.

Staff Writer:

8 The Smith Institute unites economics with the humanities to tackle big questions.

Dawn Bonker (MFA ’18) bonker@chapman.edu

9 Provost Glenn Pfeiffer takes on the key role of guiding academic life at Chapman.

Design:

Hayden Design Editorial Office:

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ON THESE PAGES: Adventure loves company, as proved by the Panthers shown here. They met on the first day of freshman orientation in 2009, when happenstance placed them all in the West Wing of Henley Hall. The core group has been together ever since, moving as sophomores to Sandhu, as juniors to a house near Chapman, and now to the same neighborhood in Costa Mesa.

That’s Kristine Pan ’13 holding the selfie stick on the trail to Skógafoss falls in Iceland last summer.

Also pictured, clockwise from left: Brett McNevin ’13, Phil McGuire ’13, Tim Marks ’13, Amy Logan ’13 and Ashley Leeds, McNevin’s girlfriend. The bond these Panthers share is a bit indefinable, Pan says. “We’re so different as individuals. We’re from different places, and we work in different industries.” The friends embark on an outdoor adventure just about every year, and for their next journey they’re thinking Machu Picchu, but it might not happen in 2017. You see, Logan and Marks are getting married, and “we wouldn’t want to do that adventure without them,” Pan says.

ON THE COVER: As the Center for Science and Technology rises on main campus, it becomes apparent just how much science is a part of the construction process itself. To wit, one of the more than 30,000 welds being used to bond metals, as artfully captured by photographer Scott Stedman ’14.

From special glass that will change tint on demand and other panes engineered to protect birds, to simple systems and principles that will keep rooms comfortable in summer, the Center is really just one big interactive science exhibit. Join us for an exploration, beginning on page 20.

10 Crean College students get a high-tech tool for learning about human anatomy.

12 An impressive roster of authors helps the Fowles Center mark its 20th anniversary.

18 Historic watercolor The Canyon is coming to the Hilbert Museum.

19 Documentary filmmaking gets a new home at Chapman Studios West.

DEPARTMENTS

31 Sports: Some special Panthers are carving their own niche on SoCal ice.

32 In Memoriam: Lawrence K. Dodge, Michael C. Martin, Susan M. Larsen FEATURES

16 Professor Harry Ufland takes students back to his beginnings with Martin Scorsese.

22 Chapman experts help us navigate the post-election political environment.

26 Two eminent scholars find common ground that bridges ideological divides.

ALUMNI NEWS 34 Bill Cumiford ’61 revisits the voyage that

launched his teaching life at Chapman.

36 Devyn Bisson ’14 sheds light on tragic crossings made by Syrian refugees.

38 Class Notes

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

FIRST PERSON

Ready to Meet Grand Challenges any of you have heard me speak of Chapman as a student-centered institution. This expression is now ensconced in our vision statement, and I care about it because I believe it is a great description of what we are all about.

It means that everything we do is evaluated, discussed and implemented on the basis of how it may improve the experience of our students. Here’s an example of this dedication, and of how this principle can create programs that could become models for other universities.

We’re putting the finishing touches on a new program that our Schmid College of Science and Technology will launch in the fall.

It’s called the Grand Challenges Initiative, and in the words of Schmid College Dean Andrew Lyon, it is designed “to mentor and grow the next generation of leaders who will be well-prepared to push the boundaries of our knowledge and drive technological innovation.”

Our students will not simply take a sequence of classes, but will be guided by the desire to solve a very specific, and highly complex, grand challenge. They will take on this challenge for the entire period they are at Chapman.

This approach “provides our students with a modern view of problem-solving in our technologically focused world,” Dean Lyon adds. “Our students are encouraged to partner with faculty in research, and to experience the exhilaration of making new discoveries.”

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Officers Wylie Aitken Chair Zeinab H. Dabbah (JD ’12) Vice Chair Parker S. Kennedy Vice Chair Joann Leatherby Vice Chair James Mazzo Vice Chair Scott Chapman Secretary Zelma M. Allred Assistant Secretary Trustees Richard Afable Donna Ford Attallah ’61 Raj S. Bhathal James P. Burra Michael J. Carver Phillip H. Case Akin Ceylan ’90 Irving M. Chase Hazem H. Chehabi Jerome W. Cwiertnia Kristina Dodge Dale E. Fowler ’58 Barry Goldfarb Stan Harrelson Gavin S. Herbert, Jr.

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Mark Hilbert William K. Hood Mark Chapin Johnson ’05 Jennifer L. Keller Laura Khouri Thomas E. Malloy Charles D. Martin Ann D. Moskowitz Sebastian Paul Musco James J. Peterson Harry S. Rinker James B. Roszak The Honorable Loretta Sanchez ’82 Mohindar S. Sandhu Ronald M. Simon Ronald E. Soderling Emily Crean Vogler Karen R. Wilkinson ’69 David W. Wilson Emeritus Chairs The Honorable George L. Argyros ’59 Doy B. Henley David A. Janes, Sr. Donald E. Sodaro Emeritus Trustees Richard Bertea Lynn Hirsch Booth Arlene R. Craig J. Ben Crowell Robert A. Elliott

This approach is also the foundation of another remarkable interdisciplinary endeavor that will begin this fall: the Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy. You can read more about the institute on page 8 of this issue of Chapman Magazine.

What is remarkable about these two programs is the deliberate way in which we are now not simply supporting the integration of research and teaching, but in fact developing new programs whose essence, structure and design are informed by this philosophy.

This leads me to the last point I want to make. One of my dreams, since my arrival at Chapman a decade ago, has been to establish a school of engineering. There is an alarming gap between the excellent students who apply to existing engineering schools and those who find a spot. This void needs to be filled.

So we are in the early stage of thinking what kind of school we could create here at Chapman. It is easy to imagine a Chapman University School of Engineering, small in size but huge in ambition, that will develop engineers trained in teamwork, discovery and problem-solving – qualities that will make them an asset to the nation.

Pursuing ambitious goals has helped Chapman move up dramatically over the past 25 years, and we are certainly not slowing down now.

We are more than ready to meet the grand challenges before us.

Daniele C. Struppa

David C. Henley Roger C. Hobbs Randall R. McCardle ’58 (M.A. ’66) Cecilia Presley Barry Rodgers Richard R. Schmid R. David Threshie Ex-Officio Trustees James E. Blalock (JD ’09) Reverend LaTaunya Bynum ’76 Reverend Don Dewey Barbara Eidson Reverend Dayna Kinkade Melinda M. Masson Linda D. Ruth Daniele C. Struppa Reverend Felix Villanueva Reverend Denny Williams BOARD OF GOVERNORS

Officers Melinda M. Masson Chair Michael Penn (JD ’04) Executive Vice Chair Paul A. Cook Vice Chair Rebecca A. Hall ’96 Secretary

Governors George Adams, Jr. Marilyn Alexander Lula F. Halfacre Andre Lisa Argyros ’07 Margaret Baldwin Deborah Bridges Brenda Carver Eva Chen Ronn C. Cornelius Robin Follman-Otta (EMBA ’15) Kathleen M. Gardarian Judith A. Garfi-Partridge Steve Greinke Galen Grillo (EMBA ’13) Sinan Kanatsiz ’97 (M.A. ’00) Elim Kay ’09 Dustin Kemmerer ’97 Scott A. Kisting Dennis Kuhl Suki McCardle John Sanders ’70 Lori Smith James F. Wilson Emeritus Governors Marta S. Bhathal Kathleen A. Bronstein Gary E. Liebl Jean H. Macino Richard D. Marconi Jerrel T. Richards Douglas E. Willits ’72

Ex-Officio Governors Sheryl A. Bourgeois Daniele C. Struppa PRESIDENT’S CABINET

Nicolaos G. Alexopoulos George L. Argyros, Jr. ’89, (JD ’01) Julianne Argyros Joyce Brandman Stephen J. Cloobeck Heidi Cortese Sherman Paul Folino Douglas K. Freeman Marie Gray Frank P. Greinke Gavin S. Herbert Shelley Hoss Steeve Kay Joe E. Kiani General William Lyon Frank O’Bryan The Honorable Milan Panic Lord Swraj Paul James H. Randall The Honorable Ed Royce Susan Samueli Ralph Stern David Stone Alan L. True

DOMEWARD BOUND

By Marvin Gross ’58

I

loved my time at Chapman and representing our school on the track and cross country teams. I was challenged to help the team to victory and to set personal and school records. However, one of my biggest physical challenges came much later, when I attempted to hike to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite during my 80th year.

So, you might ask, how did this come about? Well, I started running again in my 40s when organized fun runs became popular. But a calf injury made running difficult, so hiking became my passion.

Getting on a trail was my new high. I hiked some in Yosemite, including the 18 miles and 5,000-foot elevation gain of Half Dome. Then in my 50s I made a brazen, offhand commitment to hike Half Dome when I was 80.

At age 67 I recalled this commitment and wondered if I could really do it. I called my nephew, Dick Chimenti, an active distance runner, to ask if he would do the hike with me so we could see how it would go. It was much harder than I remembered, and I said to Dick, “I don’t see how I could possibly do this at 80 unless I train for it and do it every year.” He readily agreed to join this challenge.

We did the hike each year until I was 75, after which I missed four years with various physical challenges. As my 80th birthday

Marvin Gross ’58 heads for the final ascent of Half Dome. “I realized that with patience and persistence I could make it,” he says.

approached a year ago, I knew this would be my last chance. Though my birthday is in October, Dick and I set Sept. 26 as the date for the hike so the cables that aid hikers during the final ascent would still be in place.

We started hiking at 6:30 a.m. from Housekeeping Camp, heading to the trailhead at Happy Isles. I was moving well until things got tougher at the Sub Dome

ascent, a long and particularly steep set of switchbacks blasted out of granite. Cresting this stretch, I felt physically tired, but we prepared for the next big challenge – getting up the slick-granite climb to the summit.

I took it slowly, with Dick right behind me.

My goal was in range, and I realized that with patience and persistence I could make it.

On reaching the top, I was exhilarated as I took in the panoramic grandeur. While on this high, I felt relief that I had met my long-sought goal, but there was also a slightly empty feeling, knowing that this compelling challenge was no more.

The trip back to the valley was another challenge. By the time Dick and I finished, we needed our headlamps to light the trail.

My sweetheart, Myra Wapner, had done her own hike earlier in the day, and it was great to see her waiting for me at the Vernal Fall footbridge.

I know there will be new trails and new challenges ahead, but this was a moment to savor.

Marvin Gross ’58, a Chapman Athletic Hall of Famer, lives in San Luis Obispo, where he and Wapner have resumed their busy schedule, including hikes and weekly ballroom dancing.

Next on the bucket list is an August trip to Machu Picchu and the Galapagos Islands.

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IN-BOX

CHAPMAN NOW

LETTERS, EMAILS, COMMENTS AND POSTS Supporting Panther Athletes Thank you for the fall issue of Chapman Magazine. It was beautifully put together. One thought, though. There seems to be hardly any acknowledgment given to Chapman sports.

As a parent of a Chapman athlete, I know how hard they work and how much time and effort they dedicate to competing for Chapman. I feel that recognizing these athletes’ dedication and talent would go a long way toward improving these programs. FYI: Most of the Chapman athletic teams got through to finals play in their leagues last year, and a couple of teams even won their league. Let’s try to recognize all areas of Chapman and begin promoting and reporting on sporting events and achievements.

Susan Leyds

Re: “Chapman mourns passing of Professor Susan Larsen,” Chapman Happenings blog Susan Larsen enriched the lives of everyone who got to take a class from her. Her passion and honesty about the work steered so many students in the right direction.

She leaves behind a whole student body full of people carrying on the work she inspired.

Jenna Jones ’10 Susan was my favorite professor at Chapman, and the reason I went on to pursue my master’s in social work.

I took all of her classes, and she was such an amazing mentor to her students. We’ll all miss her so much.

Halee Dams ’12

EXCERPTS FROM THE CONVERSATION ON THE GLOBAL CITIZENS WALL IN THE STUDENT UNION:

MAGAZINE

When the fall edition of Chapman Magazine arrived at my New Jersey address, I was pleased and grateful to know I’m still part of the Chapman Family. After my move east, the magazine was an unexpected gift. Thank you so very sincerely.

Jan Carmichael

Re: “Chapman loses a friend: the passing of Larry Dodge,” Chapman Happenings blog (See In Memoriam, page 33)

We have truly lost a trusted colleague, a man of vision and a gracious and loving friend.

Paul Zarutskie

Upcoming in Chapman Magazine Young adult novels are a hot genre in publishing these days, and Chapman University alumni are leading the way. In the spring issue, we talk with authors helping to drive this trend, including Julia Walton (MFA ’16), whose Words on Bathroom Walls will be released in July.

Chapman Magazine Online video slide show Web content podcast

Don’t forget to check out Chapman Magazine online, with Web-only stories, links to video, slide shows and more.

Find it all at chapman.edu/magazine. Look for these icons indicating additional features available online:

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We welcome comments on Chapman Magazine or any aspect of the University experience. Send submissions to magazine@chapman.edu.

4 | CHAPMAN MAGAZINE

Sarah Ann and Dale E. Fowler ’58 have made a $45 million commitment to an engineering school at Chapman.

Fowlers’ Commitment Grows to $100 Million

A ‘Gift’ in the Mail Fall 2016

President’s Address Reflects Student Focus

(See In Memoriam, page 32)

A recent study found that many middle school, high school and college students failed to effectively evaluate the credibility of information presented in media. Whose responsibility is it to stop the spread of fake news, and what can be done to correct it?

• We should stop looking for entertainment in news.

News is information, not a comedy or drama.

• It’s my responsibility to be critical about what I read.

We need more opportunities to develop critical media literacy in classes and programs.

• It is the audience’s responsibility to filter out fake news and misleading sources. The Daily Show and Occupy Democrats are not news.

• I believe it is our collective responsibility as a society.

Blame cannot be attributed to any one source/ influence. People and media corporations alike need to be motivated to act for change.

C

hapman Trustee Dale E. Fowler ’58 and his wife, Sarah Ann, have committed $45 million to establish an engineering school at the University, raising the couple’s overall Chapman commitment to $100 million.

The figure represents the largest reported gift in institutional history.

“Dale and Ann Fowler have made a tremendous impact on Chapman University over the years,” said Chapman President Daniele Struppa, who announced the Fowlers’ commitment during his first State of the University Address on Feb. 24 in Musco Center for the Arts. “This commitment will help us to take our place among the most respected institutions in the country.”

In 2013, the Fowlers’ $55 million gift named the Dale E. Fowler School of Law at Chapman.

At the time, it was the second-largest reported gift ever to a law school.

“I really feel like Chapman is part of our family, and we enjoy being involved in the University’s educational areas, from science to law to the arts,” Dale Fowler said. “We feel we are making a positive impact on future generations of students.”

Struppa said the Fowlers’ commitment moves Chapman closer to realizing its dream of establishing a school of engineering in the Center for Science and Technology, now under

construction on campus (see story on page 20).

The University could begin accepting engineering students as soon as 2020.

“This is really a natural evolution of our success in the sciences,” the president said. “It allows us to attract students of very high quality, and it fills an important workforce need for California.”

The addition of an engineering school is a next step in Chapman’s progression from regional to national influence, reflecting the growing importance of math and the sciences.

The new school’s first majors will be electrical and computer engineering as well as software development; civil, biomedical and mechanical engineering may follow.

An entrepreneur from the start of his Chapman experience, Fowler began his real estate career while finishing his college studies and went on to build a successful business in industrial property development.

The Fowlers have been married for 56 years and have three children – son Jeffrey Fowler ’88 and daughter Kathryn Fowler Flattum ’88 are also Chapman graduates – as well as 10 grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Additionally, Fowler granddaughter Sarah Robblee, Ph.D., is a professor at Chapman, and daughter Lori Smith serves on the Board of Governors.

In his first State of the University Address, Chapman President Daniele Struppa highlighted the University’s rapidly growing programs in the health sciences, the rising selectivity of its students and several initiatives aimed at enhancing student life.

Speaking Feb. 24 in Musco Center for the Arts, Struppa also focused on Chapman’s growing efforts to attract first-generation college students.

“That’s something we are very committed to. It meets with our inclusiveness and our desire to fulfill the promise of higher education for our students,” he said.

Toward that goal, The Chapman Experience Task Force has been formed to develop a variety of new long-range plans, he said.

“The idea is to look in a comprehensive way at what Chapman does and what makes Chapman such a special university,” he said.

Other accomplishments he noted: • Plans

to build the Institute for Interdisciplinary Brain and Behavioral Sciences at the Rinker Health Science Campus.

• Launch

of the Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy (see story on page 8).

• Robust

growth of external grant research, now at $6.5 million.

• Remarkable

national media visibility garnered by the Chapman University Survey of American Fears research team.

Chapman University President Daniele Struppa delivers his first State of the University Address in Musco Center for the Arts.

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CHAPMAN NOW

An Upside Down Celebration Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer ’07 will be honored during Chapman’s annual Broadway-style musical revue at Musco Center.

Grammy-winning high school teacher Keith Hancock ’02 (M.A. ’04) was chosen from among 3,300 nominees representing all 50 states.

The Recording Academy honors choral teacher Keith Hancock ’02 (M.A. ’04) with its Music Educator of the Year Award.

A

Chapman University alumnus who transformed a high school’s chorus from a single class into an award-winning program with more than 200 singers has been named the 2017 Grammy Music Educator of the Year.

Keith Hancock ’02 (M.A. ’04) was chosen from among 10 finalists and more than 3,300 nominees from all 50 states. The award is given by the Grammy organization to recognize teachers who inspire students and make a lasting impact in the field of music education and the communities where they teach. This was Hancock’s second consecutive year as a nominee and finalist for this award.

6 | CHAPMAN MAGAZINE

Hancock received his award and a $10,000 honorarium at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 12 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

“It is an incredible honor to be chosen among the finest music educators in the country. It’s a proud moment to have my hard work in the classroom validated and respected,” said Hancock, who is the choir director at Tesoro High School in Las Flores, Calif. “I share this award with the amazing music educators and colleagues I’ve had in my life, most of them from Chapman, including my chief musical mentor, Bill Hall, as well as my amazing students who inspire me each day.”

Clearly, the inspiration flows both ways.

When Hancock arrived at Tesoro in 2002, there were about 35 students participating in choir. Now there are 225. Last year Tesoro’s music program was honored as one of five national Grammy Signature Schools, earning a $2,500 award spent in part on sheet music and equipment.

Under Hancock’s leadership, Tesoro choirs have toured in Europe and performed at

Carnegie Hall, and in 2012 and 2016 performed at American Choral Directors Conventions, an honor he considers their highest.

Hancock has also served as director of Chapman’s summer Choral Music Camp, offered to local high school students, and has taught undergraduate courses in the College of Performing Arts, where he himself studied.

Watch him lead one of his choral groups and it’s immediately evident that his passion for music is infectious.

“Music is family, it’s love, it’s pain, it’s joy,” he said. “It’s all there in the music.”

Many of his students have gone on to success in just about all facets of the music business. But no matter their career choices, he believes the lessons they learn in chorus will stay with them all their lives.

“Students learn personal accountability in a group situation, how to deal with setbacks, and how to live their lives with empathy and love,” he said. “My students know that when we reach a goal, there is always a new goal to set or higher levels of excellence to attain, and this is something they can apply to many facets of their life.”

T

he second season of the runaway Netflix hit Stranger Things will be released on Halloween, and we know that hardcore fans of the spooky series created by Matt and Ross Duffer ’07 are already planning a weeklong binge fest.

But here’s a little something Stranger Things fans will want to add to their calendars for that week: Chapman University will present its 2017 Alumni Achievement in the Arts Award to the Duffer brothers during Chapman Celebrates, which will be held Nov. 3 – 4 in Musco Center for the Arts.

The annual award honors Chapman alumni who have made extraordinary contributions to the arts, and it’s presented during performances of the glittering Broadway-style musical revue that features students from Chapman’s College of Performing Arts.

The twin Duffer brothers are graduates of Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, and they will be celebrated for creating one of the industry’s most buzzworthy series. Stranger Things is the story of a small town turned on a tilt when a young boy disappears, a strange little girl arrives and a paranormal mystery unfolds, taking us all into a unique world known as the Upside Down. Set in the 1980s and echoing kid-centric flicks of the era such as Goonies and ET, the tale managed to capture multiple audiences, from teens to Generation X. That was no accident, the Duffers say. In a 2016 Chapman Magazine interview, they explained how they set out to create stories similar to the ones they enjoyed as kids – and still relish as adult viewers.

Twins Matt and Ross Duffer ’07 direct Caleb McLaughlin (above) and Winona Ryder (left).

A few days after Stranger Things’ second season debuts on Halloween, the brothers will be honored at Chapman Celebrates.

Photos courtesy of Netflix

And the Grammy Goes to...

“Our argument and pitch to Netflix was that it works on two levels. You can have 12-year-olds watching the show, and they’re going to relate to these kids and they’re going to feel like they’re having an adventure just like we felt when we were their age watching Goonies. And it’s also going to work for people our age who grew up on these films,” Matt Duffer said.

The Duffers proved prescient. The fall after Stranger Things debuted, Netflix stock rose 26 percent, and in its third quarter the viewing platform drew an additional 3.6 million viewers. Netflix is protective of precise viewer data, but industry analysts point to Stranger Things as one of the drivers of that success. And when a preview of the upcoming second season was teased during the February broadcast of the Super Bowl, it generated more than 307,000 Tweets.

Which means there’s a lot of pent-up Stranger Things energy brewing out there, affecting everyone from binge-watching fans to stock-market investors.

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CHAPMAN NOW

An Engineer of Change

Justice Alito Shares Insights During Visit to Chapman

U.S.

As Chapman’s chief academic officer, Provost Glenn Pfeiffer champions new programs and foundational connections.

Wylie Aitken, left, chairman of the Board of Trustees for Chapman University, and his wife, Bette, join U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., at a dinner in Alito’s honor.

President George W. Bush, is the fourth associate justice to visit Chapman. Thomas presided at the grand opening of Kennedy Hall in 1999 and returned to give an address in 2007; Associate Justice Antonin Scalia visited in 2007 to deliver

the Madison Lecture and to participate with law students in a re-enactment of the famous 1905 Lochner vs. New York trial; and Associate Justice William O. Douglas spoke in 1964 as part of the Artist Lecture Series.

Bring on the Big Questions Chapman’s new Smith Institute creates a unique program integrating the humanities with economics.

Vernon Smith

W

hat makes a rich nation rich?

What makes a good person good?

And what do these questions have to do with each other? These questions helped launch a Chapman University program that is now taking flight as the Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy.

The Smith Institute is named in honor of Adam Smith (1723–1790), the moral philosopher who is widely known for authoring two great works, The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations, and for Chapman’s Nobel laureate in economic science, Vernon L. Smith. The new institute is supported by

8 | CHAPMAN MAGAZINE

$15.18 million in gifts from the Charles Koch Foundation and two anonymous donors, with additional gifts from Orange County donors Gavin Herbert and Rick Muth.

“The Smith Institute’s broad mission is to reintegrate the study of the humanities and economics in the spirit of Adam Smith, and to recombine research and undergraduate education as a discovery process in the spirit of Vernon Smith,” said Bart Wilson, Ph.D., director of the Smith Institute.

“We will expand our innovative undergraduate program into a minor called Humanomics, which challenges the perceived tensions between economics and the humanities,” Wilson added.

A class originally co-taught by Jan Osborn, Ph.D., from the Department of English and Wilson combined interpretations of the human condition in literature with an inquiry into the

causes and consequences of the prosperity of the last 200 years.

“The growing interest among Chapman students to challenge themselves with these big questions is the reason we proposed the Institute to the donors,” Wilson said. “It is exciting to significantly extend our capabilities to co-teach interdisciplinary courses with scholars from both economics and the humanities.”

Chapman University will add 11 new faculty members to cultivate a cluster of researchers “interested in blurring the line between teaching and research, as Vernon Smith is known for,” Wilson said. The faculty in the institute will envision new frontiers of interdisciplinary research. The Smith Institute will also mentor up to five post-doctoral fellows, who will spend two years in residence working on their research and teaching under the guidance of Smith Institute faculty.

he trip from Beckman Hall to Memorial Hall hardly requires a moving van, but Glenn Pfeiffer, Ph.D., made a long journey to become Chapman University’s new provost just the same.

Pfeiffer, a member of Chapman’s business faculty since 1995, began his life in academia as a first-generation college student: His mother didn’t finish high school, and his father delivered milk.

“He spent one semester at the University of Michigan and had to drop out because he couldn’t afford it,” Pfeiffer said. “He was drafted, got married and never went back. But he always felt like that was something he wanted to make sure that everyone in our family did.”

The four Pfeiffer offspring all graduated from college, and Glenn went on to earn a Ph.D. in accounting from Cornell after receiving a bachelor’s degree in economics at Hope College, a small liberal arts school.

Those are experiences that shape Pfeiffer’s appreciation for both the role of a college degree in upward financial mobility and the richness of a liberal arts education as he assumes his job as Chapman’s chief academic officer.

“College was seen as a way to a better life, like a lot of people look at it. Get a college education so you can get a better job. And I think that’s consistent with the culture we’re seeing now,” said Pfeiffer, who served as interim provost before being selected for the permanent position after a national search to replace Daniele Struppa, the University’s provost and chancellor before becoming Chapman’s 13th president in September.

What shouldn’t get lost in preparation for a working life is the value of the humanities, Pfeiffer said.

“So even if you do want to get into the health sciences and be a physical therapist, it’s nice to have a background that makes you well rounded and you understand history and literature and art,” he said.

The initiatives Pfeiffer is focused on reflect Struppa’s agenda and include laying the groundwork for an engineering school, building out the

Photo: Nathan Worden ’13 (MBA ’15)

By Robyn Norwood

Photo: Challenge Roddie

Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. shared stories from his early career, insights into the lesser-known traditions of the high court – yes, the justices sing “Happy Birthday” to each other – and his thoughts on the future of the law during a February visit to Chapman University’s Dale E. Fowler School of Law. Alito was the featured speaker at a luncheon for the Chapman Law Review’s Annual Symposium “The Future of the Legal Profession.” In addition, he participated in an informal Q&A session with John Eastman, Ph.D., the Henry Salvatori Professor of Law and Community Service and a former clerk for Alito’s colleague on the court, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas.

During the visit, Alito attended a private dinner with Chapman Law Review students, faculty members and special University guests, including Dale E. Fowler and his wife, Sarah Ann. He also observed the symposium’s morning panel discussion titled “The Global and MultiJurisdictional Practice of Law.” Alito, nominated to the high court by

New Provost Glenn Pfeiffer is helping Chapman explore the possibility of adding an engineering school, but he also stresses that the humanities continue to provide “an important foundation for everything.”

Rinker Health Science Campus and strengthening the liberal arts and their appeal to students.

“We’re in discussions to start an engineering school at some point over the next few years,” Pfeiffer said. “There’s so much demand for engineering graduates in California, and the number of students every year that are turned away by engineering schools is huge.”

With a software engineering program already in place in the Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman might add programs such as electrical and computer engineering first.

“We’re not just going to go into every area of engineering all at once,” Pfeiffer said. “We’re going to try to do it slowly and systematically.”

Other efforts will focus on the Rinker Health Science Campus.

“I think the demographic shift that’s going on right now is going to make it important that our graduate programs be successful,” Pfeiffer said.

“So building out the Rinker Health Science Campus, possibly expanding into other graduate programs there, might be initiatives we want to think about in the next few years.”

Efforts in science, technology and graduate programs won’t neglect the foundation of the humanities and liberal arts, Pfeiffer said, acknowledging that as an undergraduate himself, he failed to fully realize their value.

“It wasn’t until probably a decade later that I started to appreciate the knowledge I picked up and saw how it integrated with what I was studying, as well as with other things I was seeing in life,” he said. “(The humanities) provide an important foundation for everything, whether you’re a filmmaker, a teacher, a businessperson,” Pfeiffer added. “If you want to be a lawyer, health professional, whatever, that foundation is important.

That’s something Chapman stands for.”

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The interactive technology is a good way to quell anxiety surrounding a first scientific encounter with a body.

CHAPMAN NOW

TOUCH-SCREEN TECHNOLOGY REMOVES THE

DREAD FROM DISSECTION.

VIRTUAL SKIN & BONES Story by Dawn Bonker (MFA ’19) Photos by Dennis Arp

Professor Frank Frisch introduces Crean College students to a simulated dissection table that uses touch-screen technology to aid the study of human anatomy.

With a swipe of his hand, Professor Frank Frisch uncovers the inner workings of a human body. Skin and muscles disappear from the cadaver before him, and his students marvel at the skeletal structure instantly revealed.

“Remarkable, isn’t it?” says Frisch, Ph.D. His students respond with nods and appreciative murmurs. Soon they, too, join the exploration, adding organs back in or pausing to open the top of the skull and peer into the brain.

It’s an easy process because this body is actually a virtual three-dimensional cadaver digitally recreated and displayed onto a simulated dissection table that works like a large computer touch screen. Chapman University students were introduced to the state-of-the-art technology in the fall semester when the Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences overhauled its anatomy lab, equipping it with three of the virtual dissection tables widely used at medical schools.

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The tables don’t eliminate the value of cadavers, which students still work with in graduate programs at the Rinker Health Science Campus, Frisch says. But for undergraduates, the interactive technology is a good way to quell anxiety surrounding a first scientific encounter with a body.

“For some students, because of the early instructions about the lab and environmental practices, about the propriety of handling human tissues and about the reverence for this human body, they become fearful about making mistakes. They worry about damaging the specimen,” he says. “With this technology, any mistake is rectified with the push of a button. And that allows students to be, not cavalier but less fearful. And that’s a barrier down. Now the focus is on learning.”

They intuitively grasp the technology.

“The students pick it up fast,” he says.

“They write quizzes and store them on the table.”

Respect for the donor is still important,

though. During an introduction to the table, Frisch tells students that the young man whose body they are studying was a 33-yearold male who died of leukemia and in the last stage of his life agreed to have his body dissected after his death and the images reconstructed into the virtual cadaver they see before them. A female cadaver is also included in the software.

The tables are made by the Silicon Valley medical imaging firm Anatomage and function like giant iPads or smart phones. When the life-size body image is displayed, it nearly fills the table. Simulated dissections can be performed with finger motions. Students and teachers can zoom in and out on a specific body part, enlarging it for a close-up examination. Selected body systems can even be hidden from the screen, allowing a focused look at one system or perhaps a combination.

For example, just the musculature and nervous system can be viewed together and their unique relationship examined.

Unlike with a real cadaver, the entire body image can be easily rotated or shifted.

“If I had to manipulate a body in a traditional lab, it would take three or four of us to do it,” Frisch said.

Which brings him to this point. Although the three tables required an investment of nearly $300,000, traditional anatomy labs are expensive to maintain and manage because of health, environmental and handling regulations.

The matchless hands-on experience of working with real cadavers will always be needed, but the virtual experience – which includes student access to online study guides and programs – is incredibly valuable, he said.

“When I first heard about the tables, I was against getting them. Cadavers are so great,” Frisch said. “But I have changed my position. I think we’ve hit a home run with the virtual lab.”

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Micheline Aharonian Marcom

Giuseppe Conte

Salman Rushdie

Maxine Hong Kingston

Giorgio Pressburger

Dacia Maraini

m

he moments riffle through Mark Axelrod’s memory like the pages of a wonderful book.

There was the time playwright Edward Albee spoke in Memorial Hall, then stepped outside to discover an autograph line that stretched far into the night. He stayed to sign every item, and even answered – for probably the 10,000th time – “Where’d you get the name Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”

“He fielded that question as if it were the first time,” recalled Axelrod, Ph.D., Chapman University professor of comparative literature and director of the John Fowles Center for Creative Writing. “That so impressed me.”

Then there was Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian writer whose Fowles Center talk resonates over time not so much for its content as for his presentation. “He was spellbinding,” Axelrod said. “Just his being, his manner, the way he stood on stage.

I think everyone in the audience felt the impact.”

And in 2014, there was Isabel Allende, the Chilean novelist who was enlisted to read some of her writings in Spanish. Afterward, a young Latina woman approached Professor Jan Osborn, Ph.D., who coordinates the Fowles Center High School Literacy Program.

With tears in her eyes, the Orange High School student said, “I’ve never heard a real author read in Spanish before.”

“I’ll never forget that,” Osborn said. “Since then, Mark always has the authors read in their native language, and it’s always powerful.”

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The Fowles Center celebrates 20 years of impact with a lineup that highlights its international appeal.

By Dennis Arp

Upcoming Readings Here’s the lineup for the Literary Series of the John Fowles Center for Creative Writing: April 24 Claudio Magris (Argyros Forum 209A, 5 p.m.)

May 1 Charles Bernstein May 8 Almudena Solana May 19 Mario Vargas Llosa

(Sandhu Conference Center, 1 p.m.)

Fowles Center Director Mark Axelrod l eads a discussion with Chilean novelist Isabel Allende in 2014.

As the Fowles Center marks its 20th anniversary, there is much to celebrate.

Its signature Literary Series continues to welcome important writers representing all parts of the globe – from Italy to Argentina, Southeast Asia to the Middle East. Each speaker brings new life to prose that demands to be read.

“I love that the series features writers from different cultures and with different experiences,” said Kim Kotel (M.A. ’16, MFA ’17), a Fowles Center student and mentor to Orange High School writing workshop participants. “It’s all very inspirational.

It’s a great way to keep literature alive.”

Axelrod was inspired to launch the Center and the Series in 1997, a year after he was on a sabbatical at the University of East Anglia (UEA). While in England, he traveled to the estate of Fowles, a novelist of international renown and with whom Axelrod had corresponded years before. UEA was looking for institutions that might want to use Fowles’ estate as a writers’ retreat; Axelrod was looking to attach Fowles’ name to a new literary center and series at Chapman.

“Fowles’ answer was to the point: ‘Anything for students,’” Axelrod writes in the

Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa

Unless otherwise indicated, readings are at 5 p.m. in the George Bush Conference Center, Beckman Hall 404.

debut issue of Mantissa, the Fowles Center’s new online literary journal.

“I started this because I wanted Chapman MFA students to be exposed to not only great American writers but also to as many nonAmerican writers as possible,” said Axelrod, himself the award-winning author of more than 20 works of fiction.

Fowles Center events certainly have made good on Axelrod’s goal of diverse and international appeal. Other writers sharing insights over the years include Salman Rushdie, Luisa Valenzuela, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Maxine Hong Kingston and

Alicia Kozameh, now an associate professor in the Department of English at Chapman.

“We’ve had a lot of experimental writers, but also romance writers, fantasy writers, science fiction writers – it’s really run the gamut,” Axelrod said.

The lineup for the 20th anniversary season features writers who may be familiar to Chapman audiences – “Kind of a ‘best of ’ series, based on student and faculty response,” Axelrod said. Culminating the season is a reading by Mario Vargas Llosa, the Chilean author, journalist and essayist who won the 2010 Nobel Prize for Literature.

He’ll speak May 19 at 1 p.m. in the Sandhu Conference Center.

The full impact of such talks is difficult to measure. But it’s easy to see that the connection between the Fowles Center and students has never been stronger, Osborn said.

Since 2010, the Chapman professor has taught the workshops for creative writers at nearby Orange High, with help from student mentors in Chapman’s MFA creative writing program.

“I think it’s very important that (the high school students) come on our campus and attend the readings. It helps them become part of our learning community and we part of theirs,” Osborn said. “In a national context, these are underserved students, and often they are not hopeful about going to college.

Our program provides education, but it also provides hope and an imagination for a future.”

Last year’s workshop welcomed 25 Orange High students, including six seniors.

Each of those six graduates is now in college, Osborn said, including Daniel Espiritu ’20, who earned a scholarship to attend Chapman.

Success stories such as these punctuate the 20-year history of the Fowles Center and its Literary Series. Still, for Axelrod and Osborn, this milestone moment seems like only the beginning.

“I feel like we’ve been putting down roots,” Osborn said, “and now it’s more like we’re spreading our wings.”

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five different animated princesses. So what do you get when you combine Rapunzel’s hair with Snow White’s skin, Ariel’s mouth, Cinderella’s feet and Jasmine’s waist? The amalgamated character shows “that Disney princesses are crafted through the eyes and desires of men, and women are supposed to live up to these standards,” the students say in their conclusion.

“When you put all these traits together, you get a character with a body that’s completely contorted,” Tang said. “Not only do you realize it’s not achievable, but it doesn’t even look beautiful, as one would hope.”

Deep into Professor Julye Bidmead’s honors class explores gender, race and religion through the lens of movie and theme-park magic.

all Jessica Johnson ’18 on a January afternoon, and even though it’s raining you still might reach her while she’s waiting in line for a ride at Disneyland. Get her voicemail and you’ll hear a resonant, Disneyfamiliar voice tell you, “Jessica is off watching Pirates of the Caribbean 1, 2, 3, 4, and she’s eagerly awaiting the release of 5.” That voice belongs to Bill Rogers, the official announcer for the Magic Kingdom.

While Frozen informs us that “Love Is an Open Door,” for Johnson clearly it is also an annual pass.

“My deep love of Disney was rooted almost at birth,” the Reno, Nev., native says. “My parents’ wedding was themed to Beauty and the Beast. To have such proximity to the park and all its functions is very appealing to me.”

Johnson brought that affection to the Chapman University honors course “Disney: Gender, Race and Religion.” In the class, students explore the many ways the enter14 | CHAPMAN MAGAZINE

By Dennis Arp tainment giant interprets and influences our culture through its films, music, theme parks and other products.

“The reason the class works is that the students are on the same page. It’s not like I have to teach a new religion or a new culture – they all know the content, because they all know Disney,” said course creator and instructor Julye Bidmead, Ph.D., associate professor of religious studies and director of fellowships and scholar programs at Chapman.

“The class is really not about Disney,” Bidmead added. “It’s actually an exploration of gender and gender studies, of race and religious tolerance and how these things are portrayed in the media. And the medium we use is Disney.”

Like Johnson, most students come to the class as Disney fanatics – “in a nice way,” Bidmead said. “I’ve had students tell me they came to Chapman in part because they heard we had a class on Disney.”

But that affection doesn’t keep the participants from casting a critical eye on Disney’s storytelling. Often their research focuses on specific characters and plot lines with attention to stereotypical portrayals of race, gender, sexual orientation and religion.

The students use a wide range of academic

research to drive class discussions and spark their own unique projects.

Along the way, the undergrads learn constructs of graduate-level research, and they also grow as writers and public speakers.

“In the five years of the class, we’ve had 10 students publish papers or give presentations in settings beyond Chapman,” Bidmead said.

While a student in the class, Marilyn Love ’15 did a project on Disney and Voodoo, and now the Ph.D. candidate is co-authoring a paper with Bidmead based on the research.

The most recent course also featured some interesting projects. For instance, three students researched “the traits of womanhood that Disney has set as our societal precedent.”

They shared their results during Chapman’s Student Research Day. “Over the years, Disney shows that women have to constantly change themselves physically or socially to fit in with standards that are set by men,” said Sharon Tang ’18, a biological sciences major and project participant.

To illustrate, Tang, Dory Ann Carter ’19 and Taylor Killefer ’19 used Photoshop skills to create a single Disney character made up of the most memorable physical features from

Students in the 2011 version of the class “Disney: Gender, Race and Religion” gather around Professor Julye Bidmead and her tiara on Main Street of the Magic Kingdom. Below, a Photoshopped image combines the most memorable features of five Disney princesses, creating a body “that’s completely contorted,” says student researcher Sharon Tang ’18.

In Johnson’s project, she investigated how the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and films portray racial diversity. She plundered a Captain Jack Sparrow line for her title: “Clearly You’ve Never Been to Singapore.”

“I’m fascinated by the worlds these films have brought to the screen,” said Johnson, a double major in theatre studies and film studies. “This quadrilogy goes to so many places around the world – Dominica, Spain, Africa – so I wanted to see how accurate they are compared to historical records. It seemed timely since there’s so much whitewashing going on in Hollywood.”

To extend the comparison, Johnson also included a study of the theme park ride, which first set sail at Disneyland in 1967.

And lest ye think this was just an excuse for Johnson to indulge in her Disney worship, rest assured that indulgence gets buried like pirate treasure once you’ve ridden an attraction five times in succession.

Jessica Johnson ’18 poses at Disneyland Paris.

Johnson studied the Pirates of the Caribbean films and ride, looking at how they portray racial diversity.

“The ride moves so fast, it’s hard to count the figures and record their skin tone and their hair color as a measure of how their race and ethnicity are trying to be portrayed,” Johnson said.

She figured that over the 2½ hours it took to make five trips through the line, she would benefit from shift changes and thus not have to explain her apparent obsession.

But no, the same cast member helped her into the boat every time.

“Same girl, same quizzical expression: ‘Why are you riding this five straight times?’”

Johnson said. “She didn’t say that, but she asked me with her eyes.”

Johnson dived easily into the research on the portrayals in the Pirates big-screen series.

Overall, she recorded 454 characters in the four films, but she limited her project to the 281 credited and confirmed actors, who together represented more than 30 nations.

On her research poster are two pie charts that break down the nationalities of actors in the film franchise as well as the physical representations of animatronic figures in the ride.

“Yes, the films are far more diverse than the ride,” she concludes. “So the film franchise is more representative of its international audience than the attraction is, and that’s a progressive step forward for the company.”

As for Johnson’s overall class experience, she called it “amazing,” adding that “nerd culture is coming into the norm, and this class inspired me to take it one step further and turn it into academia.”

Johnson’s project was so strong that Bidmead has recommended it for an international research competition in Ireland.

And to think that at one point Johnson was worried about even taking Bidmead’s class.

“I thought I might face Disney haters, because they’re out there,” she said. “And I was concerned that I might end up hating Disney myself.”

Alas, Johnson’s fears were unfounded.

It’s a researcher’s life for her.

“Everyone came to the class loving Disney, and we all left loving Disney,” she said.

“At the end of the day, the Walt Disney Co. is a business, and there will always be a disconnect between the art and the business. Trying to find the harmony in that is where my appreciation grows.”

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“No one knows what is going to work and what is going to flop, and the only way to ensure failure is to never try in the first place.”

– Harry Ufland

After a recent talk in Beverly Hills, director Martin Scorsese chats with Chapman students and Dodge College Professor Harry Ufland, who represented the filmmaker during the first two decades of his legendary career.

Photo: Lia Hanson ’18

Right: Ufland first met Scorsese in 1966, and their 20 years of collaboration included an early project in Rome as well as the 1980 classic Raging Bull.

Below: Ufland leafs through a photo album in his office, stopping on a shot of Paul Schrader, Scorsese and Robert De Niro from the set of Taxi Driver.

J

ust how hard is it to see greatness coming? Maybe it’s downright impossible. Or maybe what it takes is a sharp eye for talent, heaps of professional foresight and cab fare for a grad student who barely has a dollar to his name.

Harry Ufland was 30 and an agent for the William Morris Agency when in 1966 he came across some short films directed by an MFA candidate at New York University.

The filmmaker’s talent leapt off the screen.

“I thought he was brilliant,” Ufland said.

So the agent called the young man: “Can you come to my office in Manhattan?”

A half-hour later, Ufland was shaking the 24-year-old hand of Martin Scorsese – after paying the cabbie, of course.

Seven years before Mean Streets, 10 before Taxi Driver, 14 before Raging Bull, an introductory meeting changed the lives of both artist and agent. And so began two decades together – a period that saw popular cinema transformed by the American New Wave. Ufland went on to represent not just Scorsese but Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, Martin Sheen and many other groundbreaking artists.

These days, Ufland shares his insights about pathways to industry success as he also continues to help young filmmakers realize their artistic dreams. Recently the professor in Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts even got to retrace some historic steps via his new course “My Twenty Years with Marty.”

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By retracing his breakthrough steps with Scorsese, Professor Harry Ufland helps students find their own paths to success.

By Dennis Arp The Chapman students in his class were eager to dive deeply into Scorsese’s films.

Many find inspiration in the nuance of particular scenes and can quote dialogue from memory. But with Ufland’s help, they also get a sense of just how pioneering Scorsese’s storytelling was some 40 years ago; how he collaborated with other visionaries to deliver deeply personal films that ultimately couldn’t be ignored.

“Without going to acting school, he knew what was true and what was real, and his films showed that,” Ufland said.

Still, in the early days other agents would ask Ufland, ‘What do you see in Scorsese and De Niro?’”

“When your clients are young and

doing revolutionary work, often people don’t get it,” he noted.

In particular, Ufland remembers a Los Angeles screening of Mean Streets that prompted the head of the William Morris motion picture department to walk out during the credits. As he left, he asked, “Why’d you waste my time with this?”

In fact, it was European movie-goers and innovative filmmakers like John Cassavetes who became early supporters of Scorsese and started whittling away at the resistance until mainstream U.S. audiences climbed aboard.

“There was an exhilarating feeling shared by all of us who were believers and were banding together to ward off the naysayers,” Ufland said. “I remember when Bill Haber,

who later became one of the founders of Creative Artists Agency (CAA), told me that he kept all my memos about Marty and Bob under the glass top of his desk.”

The experiences of that time drive home lessons that Ufland now shares with his students.

“No one knows what is going to work and what is going to flop, and the only way to ensure failure is to never try in the first place,” he said.

Those who take Ufland’s classes say they feel encouraged to embrace such fearlessness.

Will Simmons ’18 took his “Exercising Your Creativity” course and emerged with a fresh perspective.

“You draw close to your classmates, and

that allows you to develop the most accurate sense of yourself,” said Simmons, a creative producing major. “I had always felt like I had to put on a front for everyone. I learned it’s about being authentic.”

Those who show that they are committed to a vision and to succeeding in such a highly competitive industry also learn that they have a fierce advocate in Ufland. In that way, he’s now supporting students the way he did his clients and later those with whom he collaborated as a producer.

“You don’t need 20 breaks; you need that one person who believes in you,” said Aaron Keteyian ’18, a creative producing major.

“For his students, Harry can be that guy.”

It doesn’t hurt that Ufland’s contact list

reads like a who’s who of Hollywood insiders. When he brings speakers to class or organizes trips to industry offices, students get to ask questions of agency and studio presidents or Oscar-winning producers.

When they visit places like the home of CAA, they also get to meet Chapman people Ufland has helped get a foot in the door.

“When one person finds out he’s in the building, the word gets around fast and all the Chapman alumni start coming down, one by one, to say hi,” said Arianna GomezAlmaraz ’13, now a third-year at Chapman’s Fowler School of Law. “His passion for you as a student really stands out,” she added. “It really makes you want to excel to meet his standards.”

Stay hooked into the Ufland email chain and you just might earn a chance to meet an authentic industry icon. For instance, 45 students got to spend a recent Monday night at a Beverly Hills event featuring insights from a certain director and producer who still appreciates that back in the day, before anyone knew him, he had a powerful advocate in his corner.

Let’s just say that Scorsese wasn’t thinking of his old friend Harry Ufland when he titled his most recent film Silence.

“It’s not just that Marty is talented and has this amazing knowledge of films, but his passion for history, for art, for music, for excellence made me step up my own game,” the agent-turned-professor said.

Funny, but Scorsese could probably say the same thing about Ufland.

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A New Home for

Zornes’ Canyon Coming to Chapman Gallery in Washington, D.C. From that exhibition, President and Mrs. Franklin Roosevelt selected one of his watercolors to hang in the White House – and Zornes and his art began to receive widespread attention.

The painting was later exhibited at Zornes’ one-man show at the Laguna Beach Museum of Art in 1935, at a one-man show at Scripps College Gallery in Claremont in 1936, and at another one-man show at the Gallery of Modern Masters in Washington, D.C., in 1937.

Zornes’ works can be found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the White House and the Library of Congress, among others places.

Chapman Studios West opens “amazing” doors to documentary filmmaking success.

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Mary Platt Named Director of Hilbert Museum

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fter 13 years of artfully sharing Chapman’s news with the world, Mary Platt has taken on a new role at the University, one that connects with another of her areas of expertise. She is the new director of the Hilbert Museum of California Art. Most recently director of communications and media relations at Chapman, Platt “has

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always had a passion for the arts,” said Chapman Provost Glenn Pfeiffer, Ph.D., in announcing the selection.

Platt holds a master’s degree in art history from Michigan State University, where she also taught art history as a graduate assistant.

In addition, she studied art and cultural history overseas at the University of Florence and in Germany. She held MSU’s Calder Scholarship in art history and was selected to Phi Beta Kappa, the prestigious academic honorary.

“The Hilbert Museum is unique in that it showcases a spectacular collection of paintings, drawings, illustrations, animation and movie art

by California’s top artists, whose works portray everyday life as our state grew and changed,” Platt said. “Among my plans are to initiate a robust programming schedule, enhance its educational mission for Chapman students as well as K–12 students, and initiate creative partnerships, exhibitions and collaborations with other arts institutions around the state and the nation.”

Platt arrived at Chapman in 2004 as editor

of Chapman Magazine and was promoted to director of communications in 2006. In that capacity she managed the University news office, served as PR advisor to the president and senior leadership, and was the University’s media spokesperson and liaison.

Along the way, she wrote and edited two award-winning books published for Chapman’s 150th Anniversary in 2011: The Chapman Collections (on Chapman’s art collections) and Chapman University (the anniversary history).

What’s more, she has served on the advisory board of the Escalette Permanent Collection of Art and on Chapman’s Phi Beta Kappa committee.

“I am excited to see how Mary will use the combination of her PR skills, immense creativity and passion for art to build the reputation of the Hilbert Museum and to make it one of higher education’s finest art facilities,” said Sheryl Bourgeois, Ph.D., executive vice president for university advancement. “There is no doubt, its future is very bright with Mary at the helm.”

oday’s audiences are hungry for documentary films. And now Chapman University is home to state-of-the-art studios where the next generation of nonfiction filmmakers can learn the art and business of telling those stories.

In January, Chapman’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts opened The Dhont Documentary Film Center, housed in the new Chapman Studios West. Located a short walk from Marion Knott Studios, the new facility provides room for students working in all aspects of film and media arts, but especially those focused on documentary storytelling – a trending genre sought by lots of streaming and online platforms, from Netflix to ESPN. “I’ve been working in this industry for 30 years, and documentary filmmaking has usually been in the background somewhere.

Now we have half a building, and it’s amazing,” said Chuck Workman, professor at Dodge College and an Academy Awardwinning documentarian.

Chapman Studios West houses a variety of production, technical support and set-

share resources,” Bassett said. “We positioned ourselves as the film school of the future, constantly changing and anticipating the business and what comes next. I’ve learned that if you want a building, you have to go build it yourself. And we did – and continue to.”

When students are allowed to interact with and play off one another, the results are far more impressive than when they are forced down one track, Bassett said.

“Collaboration builds creativity,” he added.

That collaboration includes the faculty

construction services for production design and cinematography programs. Among other features, the new 38,000-square-foot studio space includes: • A screening room with 4K projection.

• Storage space with more than 18,000 props.

• A 6,000-square-foot scene shop with cutting-edge technology.

• Two editing suites and a mixing/ color-correction finishing suite.

• A 7,000-square-foot sound stage and 2,000-square-foot cinematography stage.

In January, a ribbon-cutting was attended

by Andre Dhont and Bob Topp, both from the Dhont Family Foundation, as well as Doug Kimmelman, whose contributions also were instrumental in the development of Chapman Studios West. During remarks at the event, Dodge College Dean Bob Bassett and Chapman President Daniele Struppa underscored that providing creative hubs with both collaborative space and technological resources are a Chapman hallmark.

“Buildings like this happen when friends

The cutting-edge facilities in Chapman Studios West include editing suites, a mixing/color-correction finishing suite and a screening room (at left) that doubles as a classroom for documentary film professor Sally Rubin and her students.

Photo: Lia Hanson ’18

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newly acquired painting by one of the best-known California Scene artists, Milford Zornes, will soon grace the collection of Chapman University’s Hilbert Museum of California Art. Museum founder and benefactor Mark Hilbert recently purchased Zornes’ The Canyon from another collector, and the painting will soon go on public display in the museum.

The Hilbert Museum is devoted to exhibiting representational and narrative art by noted California artists of the 20th century.

The Canyon, a watercolor on paper painted by Zornes in 1935, depicts the grandeur and bustle of New York City’s Wall Street. Zornes was working as one of the New Deal’s WPA artists and had gained recognition in the East with a 1933 exhibition of his watercolors at the Corcoran

Storytelling

as well, which makes the recent hiring of Workman all the more meaningful. Students will benefit from his experience, which includes work on projects such as Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles, the 82nd Annual Academy Awards and Precious Images, winner of the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short.

Workman understands what Chapman Studios West will mean for Chapman students.

“Dodge is at the forefront of what’s happening in the education of filmmakers, and this is just one more manifestation of that leadership,” he said.

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Steely Resolve Show of hands, who has tried steelmaking at home? No one?

That’s probably because you couldn’t figure out what to do with the nitrogen, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur and excess carbon once you removed them from the raw iron. Or maybe you just opted to use your extra bedroom as a study.

For the Science Center project, the steel was made at mills where 90 percent of the base is recycled

The Science of the Science Center

By Dennis Arp

material that is rolled into plates, wide flange shapes and tubes. All of these arrived at the Science Center site over five months in about 150 loads, which were off-loaded thanks to a 120-foot crane and a team that knows a thing or two about physics.

The building’s final steel tally: 329 columns, 2,575 tubes and angles, 2,659 wide flange beams and 35,000 field bolts.

A View of the Future housands of steel beams make up its skeleton, and everything from hallways to ductwork will serve as arteries. While 30,000 welds hold things in place, a sophisticated system will help make sure cool air keeps moving.

When you get right down to it, the Center for Science and Technology now rising on the Chapman University campus is really just one big scientific exhibition.

So with help from Chapman University’s Campus Planning

At the southwest corner of the structure, a new generation of intelligent windows will change their tint from clear to dark on demand, giving users control over the amount of light and heat entering the building.

This new use of electrochromic technology will allow for glare reduction, energy savings, unobstructed views and natural daylighting.

department as well as Abacus Project Management and architects AC Martin Partners, we decided to explore the science of building and operating the Center. As we toured the 2.2-acre site and talked with those bringing the dream to life, we came to appreciate just how much chemistry, physics, kinetic energy and adaptive reasoning infuse the largest building project in Chapman’s history.

Here’s a bit of what we learned.

On the east and west facades, special glass will provide visual relief to prevent reflection of the sky, thus reducing the risk that birds will fly into the building.

“We’re glad the architects are using such cutting-edge measures,” Lyon said. “Protecting the birds was a priority.”

Post-It Creativity

Concrete Chemistry About 13,000 yards of concrete and 1.4 million pounds of rebar are in the three-story Science Center structure. That means builders had to get a lot of chemistry right.

The recipe for concrete varies depending on the type of project.

This time the blend was cement (calcium oxide and clay), fly ash, water, aggregate, sand and an admixture to increase resilience.

Particular rooms highlight adaptive use of the concrete. For instance, the third-floor labs of professors Douglas Fudge, Ph.D., and William Wright, Ph.D., will have

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special floors with concrete extending up the walls to accommodate 250-gallon saltwater aquariums. Paint will also be resistant to high humidity and the corrosive effects of salt.

Fudge’s research involves hagfish, while Wright studies marine invertebrates.

“You need specialized designs when you’re creating marine environments in the middle of the third floor,” said Andrew Lyon, Ph.D., dean of Schmid College of Science and Technology.

Chilling Out Heating and especially cooling 140,000 square feet is no small task. But at the heart of the Center’s system is a simple approach called active chilled beam. With it, chilled water passes through tubes suspended from the ceiling.

“It connects to the principle that cool air drops and hot air rises,” Lyon said. “The system uses the convection in the air to drive air flow and cool things off. It’s an arrangement that’s quite workable, even in a complicated building such as this.”

Jim Doti wore many hats during his 25 years as Chapman president, but who knew he was an architectin-waiting? Those talents emerged as he shared his ideas for the Science Center project with Kris Eric Olsen, vice president of campus planning and operations. To illustrate his vision, then-President Doti dashed off a sketch, using a pad of sticky notes on Olsen’s desk.

You see that sketch here.

The cross hatch on the left is the amphitheater/stadium seating that will face Wilson Field, while on the right is the formal entrance, with the Hall of Technology at the top and the Hall of Science at the bottom.

“The final project design is remarkably consistent with his sketch,” Olsen said.

Which can only mean one thing.

“Jim Doti is an architectural virtuoso!” Olsen concluded.

W I N T E R 2 017 | 21

In some ways each party got what it deserved.

Even veteran campaign insiders and presidential historians agree that the Lori Cox Han, Ph.D., is a political

2016 election cycle spun on an axis

science professor and author of

unlike any other. Now many of us are

several books on the presidency,

trying to find the best way forward.

most recently In It to Win: Electing Madam President. This spring Oxford University Press

So in our search for insights, we at

will publish Women, Power, and

Chapman Magazine called on the

Politics: The Fight for Gender

experts we trust most: those in the

Equality in the United States, co-authored by Han.

Chapman University faculty and among our alumni. How are they helping students, friends, colleagues and clients make sense of it all? What are the opportunities, and the biggest concerns? Perhaps above all else, how can we as citizens take steps to bridge the cavernous cultural and political divides that seem to have hijacked our democracy?

Here we excerpt interviews with everyone from social scientists to

Chapman scholars help us navigate the post-election landscape Interviews by Dennis Arp and Dawn Bonker (MFA ’19)

social media specialists, journalists to futurists. Then starting on page 26, we’ll eavesdrop on a conversation

Tom Campbell, JD, Ph.D.,

between two renowned Chapman

is a professor and former dean

scholars who might seem to lack

of the Fowler School of Law. Campbell previously served five

commonality – Nobel Prize-winning

terms as a Republican in the U.S.

economist Vernon Smith, considered

House of Representatives.

a libertarian, and Distinguished Professor in Critical Studies Peter McLaren, a Marxist humanist.

We hope their fervent but respectful dialogue will demonstrate that our differences need not make us enemies.

We hope that you’ll join in the conversation at chapman.edu/magazine.

22 | CHAPMAN MAGAZINE

The Democrats ignored what was going on with the Bernie Sanders movement and made sure Hillary Clinton was going to get the nomination.

The Republicans never took Donald Trump seriously. There was record-low approval and record negativity for both sides. A lot of people underestimated that anger in the American electorate, particularly in the working-class voters in the Rust Belt states.

About half my students were happy and the other half despondent. I reminded everyone that we have three coequal branches of government. And we have a Constitution that has persevered, and the president is not all powerful. If you’re afraid he’ll do all he promised, remember the Constitution won’t allow it. If you’re hoping he’ll do all he promised, the Constitution won’t allow it.

research and teaching focus

I’m careful not to bring my political views into class.

They are only getting wider. I believe it’s highly unlikely any Democrat in Congress will vote for a substitute to the Affordable Care Act, which passed without a single Republican vote. These are equally troubling. It’s a feeling of, “When we get in, we’ll treat them the way they treated us,” rather than, “We’ll treat them the way we would have liked to be treated.” We’re in for a long slog.

’03 is vice president for and public affairs at the National Association for the Self-Employed. She’s also a past president of Women Under Forty, a bipartisan political action committee that seeks to recruit young women to run for office.

We learned that life is about making two steps forward professor of sociology whose

(On political divisions)

Katie Vlietstra Wonnenberg government relations

(On teaching)

Tekle Woldemikael, Ph.D., is

That said, I’m fascinated at the breakup of the Republican coalition. President Trump’s views on trade are contrary to traditional views; his willingness to support federal assistance for business goes against traditional views; his proposals for maintaining a protectionist policy in international trade haven’t been the position of the Republican Party since William McKinley. On international matters, he departs from traditional Republican support for NATO. So on a huge number of issues – deep philosophical issues – the Republican Party has a leader who departs from the past.

One of the things the election of President Obama taught us

on immigrant and refugee experience, racial identity,

and then a step backward and then another two steps forward. It’s circular cumulative progress.

You go forward, but you’re going in circles, too.

There’s always a reaction. It doesn’t mean that a lot of progress hasn’t been made.

For those who think that politics is just a cycle,

ethnicity and nationalism.

Tim Lineberger ’11 (JD ’18) was communications director for the Trump campaign in Michigan.

It becomes clearer that our politics are a problem now.

Kevin O’Leary is a faculty member in the Department of Political Science.

A journalist who has been a reporter for the Los Angeles Times and a contributing writer for Time, O’Leary is also the author of Saving Democracy and the forthcoming book The New Authoritarian Threat: And What to Do About It.

eight years ago was about the effective use of data – of tracking segmentation of voting blocs. If you turn out these segments in high enough numbers, you can succeed. I think this election taught us that you still need to have a message that moves people.

It can be a really shallow message – something like “Make America Great Again”– but if you don’t have a message, it’s hard for voters to follow.

It’s also clear that we who have positions as advocates and those who are supporting candidates in the complex world of politics, we have to be more creative. This is such a different environment, and organizations are trying to figure out how not to alienate Democrats, not anger Trump supporters and still effect change.

We seem to lack conservatives. How do you do American politics without conservatives?

Now a lot of people will say, wait, we have lots of conservatives, but I argue, not in the classic sense.

Not like, say, Bob Dole, or going back to Alexander Hamilton – people who don’t think government is an evil thing, they just disagree with liberals about goals and how to get there. My argument is that we have liberals, and they have moved slightly to the left. But people on the right – they aren’t fascists, but they aren’t traditional conservatives. I call them illiberal. It’s really hard for Democrats and liberals to work with those who are illiberal. Now we are a lot like other countries.

that things are stacked against you if you want to get involved and try to make a difference, I can say that if you contribute the passion and the drive, you can do it. There were so many forces (against the Trump campaign) – the bigger media, the bigger politicians. This campaign was driven by a giant grassroots movement. A lot of my friends didn’t see that or hear about it, but the Michigan campaign was fueled by the hard-working union worker, by the large Middle Eastern population there, including Muslims. This was truly an aspirational experience.

Continued on next page

W I N T E R 2 017 | 23

Most of the (undocumented) students we’re working with are so high-achieving and resilient.

Those are the kinds of students we want and that employers want. It seems illogical to me that we would turn them away. In many ways they have fewer opportunities than international students.

Jerry Price, Ph.D., vice president for student affairs and dean of students, editor of the sourcebook Understanding and Supporting Undocumented Students

I’m looking at the speech we use – at both our words and actions.

The Rev. Gail Stearns, Ph.D., is the Irvin C. and Edy Chapman Dean of the Wallace All Faiths Chapel

What Should We Watch? What Needs to Change?

I think this is an important time to draw on the depth of our spiritual and religious traditions. Most of our religions have prayer practices and scripture readings that can help with renewal and the strength to move forward.

For Buddhists, it’s Right Speech; for Christians, it may be Ephesians: “that your words may give grace to those who hear.” It doesn’t mean that you back down on your principles, but you model a different way of speech and a different way of action that is caring and compassionate.

I’m encouraged to see that there are some amazing statements coming out of churches, synagogues, mosques, universities. We’re seeing glimpses of that grace. I’m encouraged by the number of people who are willing to say that they stand for freedom and welcoming the stranger, not in a nasty or partisan way but as the truth. I’m watching for those acts of courage, those coalitions that counter the kind of virulent language and hatred we hear.

I do think the Affordable Care Act (ACA) needs some tweaking and adjusting.

Daniel Tomaszewski, Pharm. D., Ph.D., is an assistant professor of pharmacy administration and health policy at the Chapman School of Pharmacy.

(On teaching)

It’s become open season on professors and experts Tom Zoellner is an associate professor of English and the author of five nonfiction books.

He is politics editor of the Los Angeles Review of Books.

I’ve been looking at millennial trends a great deal.

Joel Kotkin is the Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures and holds the R. Hobbs Professorship in Urban Studies.

He is executive editor of the widely read website www.newgeography.com and writes the weekly “New Geographer” column for Forbes.com.

Millennials do tend to the left, but white millennials went for Trump. He did better than (Mitt) Romney but lost big among minorities – about 40 percent of the generation. The key is will they change?

Boomers and older Xers are pretty conservative, more than before. What we don’t know is how millennials will vote when they are mostly in their 30s, starting in 2018, and then their 40s. Will trying to buy a home, earn a living and pay taxes impact them like other generations? We don’t know yet.

The Republicans need to sell a message of growth and upward mobility to minorities and millennials. If they don’t, it’s game over within a decade. The Democrats have to prove that they want economic growth and a return to upward mobility, particularly for the working- and middle-class Anglos.

24 | CHAPMAN MAGAZINE

and those who claim to have tested and databacked solutions. And so what I’ve been doing is encouraging students even more fervently to hold fast to those things that are demonstrably true, regardless of ideology, and to respect the public conversation. I think this experience is going to cause the faculty of Chapman University and universities everywhere to go deeper into their profession as educators like never before.

Because we’re not just teaching subjects. We’re teaching core values – the scientific method, fact-based assertions, reasonable discourse and respect for one’s ideological viewpoints.

If you choose to block everyone who is not of your opinion, Niklas Myhr, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Argyros School of Business and Economics, teaching classes in social media and digital and global marketing.

you confirm your own leanings and nothing else.

Social media also has a role in aiding premature jumps to conclusions based on headlines and abstracts.

Research on brain plasticity indicates that if you continue to just scan the surface of news flows, you never achieve your brain’s full cognitive abilities.

One thing you can do is break out of your comfort zone. Commit to developing a more multifaceted news feed. Consider using one social network for communication with your 15 closest friends, and another for broadening your outlook. There’s nothing wrong with communicating regularly with close friends, but it’s not good at introducing novelty of perspectives into your life.

I worry now that there is an increased risk in the area of international relations, Fowler Law Professor Tom Campbell

particularly with regard to Iran, North Korea, Russia, and with China in the South China Sea. None of these issues were paramount in the campaign, and as a result I can’t predict what President Trump’s reactions are likely to be in the case of provocation.

Typically, the clinic would help about six clients Fowler Law Professor Marisa Cianciarulo, JD, specializes in clinical teaching and immigration law. She is the director of Chapman’s Family Protection Clinic.

and their entire families each year, so we’re talking about a couple of dozen clients who are eligible for immigration benefits but who we’re just not going to help because we think it would be dangerous for them. We’re very wary about giving clients’ information to Homeland Security. We’re not sure at this point that we can take any case.

Big picture, people need to be more active and involved. We have such low voter turnout, I think, because people are very complacent. And what we should have learned from this is that we can’t be complacent. Everyone who’s eligible needs to participate in this democracy. Even more so now, it’s a responsibility, not just a privilege.

Because some real core values about that democracy are at risk.

Once the ACA was passed there was zero tweaking.

But if everybody’s hands are tied because nobody’s working together, you’re stuck with the original plan, even if it’s not perfect. My hope is that they’ll realize the original plan shouldn’t be dumped and they’ll repackage it and call it something new so they can all pat themselves on the back with it.

The opposition used to always highlight that it’s a 900-page-plus document. And that’s a fair point.

It’s a very complex law. When you come out with a complex law that’s focused on insurance reform, you’re not going to get it right the first time.

Finding ways to revamp it while keeping the heart of it would be ideal.

We need to force every elected official to be accountable and talk about the issues.

Political Science Professor Lori Cox Han

We all know that Hillary Clinton knew the issues.

But the Democrats made a tactical error. They dug in their heels and decided they were going to talk about Trump. We also have way too many polls, and the news media report on these polls like they’re way more important than they are. They’re really just momentary snapshots. Maybe we need to move away from some of that. I understand why it’s part of the narrative, but I’m not sure it’s helpful for voters.

We need a renewed commitment to intellectual curiosity Government relations expert Katie Vlietstra Wonnenberg ’03

and a healthy appreciation for depth and nuance.

I still always approach any negotiation with facts and assume that others are there on good faith.

So I’m not scarred by this election, not thinking that everyone else is evil and no one is telling the truth.

The majority of folks here (in Washington) want to help people have easier lives, better lives, and that is what makes America superb.

W I N T E R 2 017 | 25

One is a Nobel Prize-winning economic scientist whose groundbreaking work helped reshape how we think about trust and trade. The other is a legendary advocate for better schools – a revolutionary who played a seminal role in the development of critical pedagogy.

Editing by Dennis Arp Photos by Nathan Worden ’13 (MBA ’15)

26 | CHAPMAN MAGAZINE

One is considered a libertarian, McLAREN: Colleagues of the other a Marxist humanist. mine familiar with my Marxist Can two eminent scholars from humanist work would different fields and with disparate sometimes wax jocular about worldviews share a meaningful how they would like to see a conversation without driving each conversation between the two of other crazy? us, not in terms of our theories This seemed like a good time of economics, since I am not an to find out, given the rancor that economist, but more in terms dominates today’s cultural and of what might be our political political discourse. So we enlisted differences. I did enjoy chatting professors Vernon Smith and briefly with you once – I doubt Peter McLaren in hopes that they that you remember – and I asked might model a respectful exchange you jokingly when you were The engaging exchange between Chapman University scholars Peter McLaren, left, bridging ideological divides. going to teach a course on Marx, and Vernon Smith “shows that when you get below all the verbiage, we probably agree They didn’t disappoint. and I can’t recall exactly what he far more than disagree,” Smith says.

Over six days in late January, said, but I do remember you they traded 53 emails totaling more than mentioning the work of Adam Smith. at Chapman. When I arrived at Chapman 12,000 words, touching on subjects ranging from UCLA three years ago, I would sometimes from early jobs to principal influences, see Vernon at the Athenaeum on campus SMITH: I do not know Marx that well. liberation theology to economic necessity, surrounded by his associates, who appeared He followed Adam Smith in his labor theory the writings of Adam Smith to the teachings hyperkinetic in contrast to Vernon’s poised of value – not wrong, but incomplete. If you of Paulo Freire. yet engaging demeanor. There was never a use labor to pound sand it has no value, and Along the way, professors Smith and touch of arrogance in his bearing, despite his no government can know that value, only McLaren found much that connects them, winning the Nobel Prize in economics. free peoples. But I knew Marx’s name long starting with their working-class roots and before I knew that there was a field of study extending through their shared appreciation SMITH: I don’t think the Nobel has called economics. I grew up in Wichita for Hopi and Navajo jewelry. As they met for changed me. I feel like the sentiment surrounded by activists in the American a campus photo shoot at the end of the week, expressed in the movie The Hoodlum Priest.

Socialist Party. I look back very warmly on they made plans to share a meal with their In a scene outside the state prison, a lone those years. American Socialists got two wives at an eatery within walking distance picket is carrying a sign protesting capital things right: Opposition to American foreign of their homes in Old Towne Orange. punishment. He asks a guard for a light. adventurism, which has and continues to do Following are excerpts from their exchange.

The guard lights his cigarette and says, “Don’t infinitely more harm than good. And their you know that you can’t change the world uncompromising stand against racial, ethnic, by carrying that sign?” The picket replies, religious forms of discrimination. But their McLAREN: It’s a pleasure to get a chance “I’m not trying to change the world; I’m just economics was dead wrong. I came to see to talk with such a greatly distinguished trying to keep the world from changing me.” scholar who is highly regarded by everyone Continued on next page W I N T E R 2 017 | 27

that through self-education more than my Harvard education, which punted on most of the important issues.

started to talk. No one knows who said, “If goods don’t cross borders, soldiers will.”

But the first thing government wants to do is cut off trade with Cuba, or North Korea, or whomever, in government punishment of other governments, but it’s the people – those in mutually beneficial trade – who are hurt. Trade brings people together in mutual dependence, and the countries that are prospering are trading, not fighting. President Trump’s wall will not be paid by Mexico, but in what our people and theirs have to give up in lost trade.

You and I were blessed; too many people in this sorry-ass world are not, but we made a difference. We turned our humble origins into unimaginable success for one reason

McLAREN: I can see that like me, you have had many influences, both subtle and profound, starting in childhood. Prior to teaching elementary school, I worked as a copy boy at Canadian Press, an orderly in the cancer ward of a children’s hospital, a librarian, a gardener, a factory worker and general laborer. I protested the Vietnam War and met Timothy Leary (who after an evening at the Carousel Ballroom in San Francisco, wrote me a note — “You are now free”). Poet Allen Ginsburg encouraged me to pursue writing. I met the Black Panthers in Oakland and started reading Malcolm X and works from the Harlem Renaissance.

After my undergraduate years, when I became an elementary schoolteacher, I took an assignment in a school in an area of Toronto that was almost entirely public housing and had a reputation for violence.

The first day I went to work, a teacher was in the hall banging his head against the wall, which was marked with blood for days. The first thing I did was remove all the furniture from my classroom, replace it with couches, and pillows that I would find in the garbage in the back alleys of rich districts, and I brought in a set of drums. The students and I would just play drums all day for weeks.

No reading, writing or doing math, just drumming. Later I wheeled in an old piano.

Their tests scores went up. I stayed at the school for nearly five years.

Before entering graduate school, I had written a diary of my experiences as an elementary schoolteacher, and it was a Canadian bestseller. While in my Ph.D. program at the University of Toronto, I converted to Catholicism. So you and I have our Christian faith as common ground. My Christian orientation is the field of liberation theology, mostly the pastoral tradition coming from Latin America. My mentor, the great Brazilian Catholic Marxist educator Paulo Freire (whose bust stands at Chapman near those of Martin Luther King and Benito Juarez), exerted a profound influence on my development as a social justice educator, and his book Pedagogy of the Oppressed is one of the greatest educational works ever written.

In Latin America, I learned a great deal about U.S. foreign policy, the role of the CIA in toppling democratically elected governments, U.S. support of death squads. As a Canadian28 | CHAPMAN MAGAZINE

McLAREN: Thank you for sharing your story, Vernon. Indeed, we are fortunate to receive a salary for doing what we love in a profession that, at its best, promotes the well-being of others and society in general.

I have been reading the work of Rene Girard, because his anthropological investigations have impacted theology in profound ways, and I am very interested in liberation theology. As I understand it, Girard was drawn to Christianity while researching structural commonalities between great stories in literature, later on including the rituals and mythologies of early humans.

Girard’s main idea is that imitation is at the very root of all of our behavior, and this leads to rivalry as we begin to compete for the

That changed in the next generation. I was the only one of many relatives to go to college, but one of my daughters became a chemical engineer, the other a pharmacist.

What is most important is that inequality is declining across generations in free countries.

I think Marx was confounding trade, as a cause of specialization and wealth creation, with what today we call crony capitalism – in Adam Smith’s day it was called Mercantilism, which he railed against – a source of nothing but trouble and wealth transfers that are without justification. Investment bankers are prominently chosen as Secretaries of Treasury in the administrations of both Democrats and Republicans. Consequently, in 2008 – 09 the shareholders were bailed out by the taxpayers,

“We turned our humble origins into unimaginable success for one reason only: We were born free, and that is the “privilege” that most matters.” Vernon Smith

American, I believe that both our nations need to face some ugly facts about our history, including the wholesale slaughter of indigenous peoples, and in the case of the U.S., the horror of slavery, before we can begin to live up to our self-descriptions as two of the world’s greatest democracies. The historian Howard Zinn has written extensively on the history of the United States from the perspective of those who had to suffer through much of it, and I recommend his work to my students.

SMITH: I was brought up on all that, but such human crimes are far older than U.S. and Canadian history, and after you learn it you have to ask what’s to be done with it?

Yes, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. You saw that in your Catholic experience, but in the U.S. Catholics are free to oppose that. The cycle of negative reciprocity came up naturally in class dialogue one day. The course readings included Smith and Hume, Ridley’s “Rational Optimist” and Steinbeck. We were discussing a section of The Grapes of Wrath, a work in which students can appreciate the human cost of change. Where did Grandpa Joad get the land he lost in debt foreclosure? From shooting the Comanche! So how about those suffering Comanche families?

Trade brings people together in mutually beneficial exchanges. So far as we can tell, humans started to trade soon after they

only: We were born free, and that is the “privilege” that most matters.

You were at the heart of those experiences when you worked as a copy boy, orderly, librarian, gardener, laborer, schoolteacher; in all you had the experience of benefiting from the services you gave to others. Then your life was transformed when you discovered that your diary, written from the heart as an elementary schoolteacher, was of value to others. You did well making lots of people happy.

My life has been fortunate too. Before age 12, I earned money by collecting old newspapers, selling them for a half-cent a pound. Rags were a bonanza, you could sell them to tile and floor polishers for 7 cents a pound, and I collected 100 pounds from that blessed market. At age 12, I went to work for a drug store for 8 cents an hour delivering on my bicycle; learned to operate a fountain like the one that used to be in Watson’s in the Orange Plaza. In 1943, I was able to go to work at Boeing Wichita for 70 cents an hour; $5.40 a day was a fortune, and living at home I saved it all. Ended up for a year at Friends University, financed from those savings, then to Caltech, where I bussed dishes and mowed lawns.

My big transformation, similar to your diary, came when I discovered that people were willing to pay you to be a professor.

They called it, and all my other jobs, work.

But as Gibran said, “Work is love made visible.” I see from your story that you agree!

same things. I began to wonder: Has Girard’s work at all influenced economics? Curious, I began looking for answers on the Internet today and I came across a video of a scholar using Girard to interpret Adam Smith’s A Theory of Moral Sentiments. It was fascinating.

So I thought I would ask you, Vernon, if you are aware of Girard’s work.

SMITH: I do not know Girard, but it looks very interesting. There is a lot of developing interest in morality and economics.

Imitation is central to human learning; it is in our mirror neurons, and others in the ape line. I learned from my parents to emulate the good guys out there, but my sisters did not have the same encouragement.

while over at the FDIC, 400 small to mediumsized banks failed at no cost to the taxpayers because the shareholders took their hit.

Economics is not that difficult, but presidents and too many voters don’t get it.

President Trump says Mexico will pay for the wall with a 20 percent tax on Mexican imports. NO; governments pay for nothing.

The American and Mexican people will share that tax, and it will make both worse off.

McLAREN: My travels to Latin America taught me that developed countries are often “free” as a condition of the “unfreedom” and underdevelopment of other countries. To what extent has U.S. imperialism played a Continued on next page

W I N T E R 2 017 | 29

THE CLUB HOCKEY PROGRAM CARVES A SPECIAL NICHE AT CHAPMAN.

McLAREN: I appreciate that at Chapman there can be an exchange of ideas that’s available to all. There are efforts to bring scholars from different fields together in conversation, breaking down the disciplinary boundaries that often, unfortunately, separate us. At Chapman, professors reciprocate and exhibit an abiding interest in what other scholars are thinking and doing not only in the service of their students, or the University, but in terms of making a difference in the society outside of campus life. In the field of critical pedagogy, we call this practicing “public pedagogy” and it’s very important, especially now in this divisive national

here are places where kids who begin playing hockey at age 4½ are called late bloomers. Southern California is typically not such a place.

But then Heikki Veharanta ’15 (JD ’18) isn’t typical, and neither are his teammates on the Chapman University hockey team. They love a sport that was born on frozen Canadian lakes and still is more at home in northern climes.

However, judging by the enthusiasm of Chapman fans at the KHS Ice Arena in Anaheim on a recent Friday night, the Panthers are helping to put SoCal college hockey on the map.

Veharanta grew up in La Verne, where his Finnish roots drew him to hockey while other kids in his neighborhood were playing T-ball or soccer.

“My family is close with a lot of NHL players, including Teemu Selanne, so we were going to a lot of (Anaheim) Ducks games,” said Veharanta, the Panthers’ team captain. “It was my dream to get on skates.”

“The forces of production are not aimed at improving the lives of people.

What they are geared to augment is the accumulation of capital.” Peter McLaren

30 | CHAPMAN MAGAZINE

and a planet on the verge of destruction.

Over the years I have heard conservative economists praise Adam Smith without remarking on some of Smith’s pronouncements such as, “The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state.” Or again, “All for ourselves and nothing for other people, seems, in every age of the world, to have been the vile maxim of the masters of mankind.” If you look at Adam Smith’s major works from a philosophical point of view you can point to a man who was not a radical individualist who defended an autonomous, self-regulating market but a moralist who argues that human beings are not motivated in economic transactions mainly by their own self-interest.

SMITH: Adam Smith was not a champion of “individualism” – quite the opposite. He wanted all to have opportunity: “Every man, as long as he does not violate the laws of justice, is left perfectly free to pursue his own interest his own way. …” That was distorted by the secondary literature into license to pursue greed at the expense of others – zerosum rather than positive-sum relationships.

And they left out his upfront qualification about justice, based on his first book.

You and I are proof that being poor does not assure continuance, and that is the model we would want to see available to all.

political climate that is breaking apart the country, yet at the same time bringing others together to discuss what can be done to foster genuine participatory democracy and, in fact, to save the planet from ecocide destruction.

This sense of community is particularly important since it appears to be a truism that so many disciplines bleed into each other, and the barriers between them are really quite fluid and artificial in many instances.

SMITH: I fully agree. We could not have created the Humanomics program if (professors) Bart Wilson (economics) and Jan Osborn (English) had not entered a dialogue.

Bart gave a different interpretation than the consensus at an informal gathering; Jan had never heard those ideas, and they ended up teaching their first course together in which they and the students explored these ideas.

The students loved learning through dialogue on classic texts, and this gave birth to Humanomics. Scholars in English and economics, who tend to never talk, are now starting to.

I think our interchange shows that when you get below all the verbiage we probably agree far more than disagree, and especially on basic human rights, if differences emerge on how to get there. It’s been very pleasant.

McLAREN: Thanks, Vernon. I agree we share so much in common, and I appreciate your wisdom and your courage to fight the good fight with your contributions to making the world a better place.

Photo: Kerri Polizzi (JD ’17)

part in the development of capitalism? The problem is one of overaccumulation – i.e, when the capitalists are accumulating capital that they cannot reinvest. That is, when they cannot unload the commodities churned out of their factories to the extent that they can retain more total income relative to that which goes to labor. This structural dimension of capitalism is dire and cannot be ameliorated by increased taxes or social welfare programs.

I want to follow up on my commitment to socialism as a way forward. But that word has been so confused of late, at least in the public arena here in the U.S. My work is part of a larger conversation with ecosocialists, environmental activists, indigenous peoples, trade unionists, teachers, philosophers and social justice organizations, about creating an alternative to capitalism which means, for me, putting an end to production for value, which subordinates human beings to things and ruptures relationships between human beings. It also means creating a humanist mode of production, a non-state form of governance that is able to facilitate freely associated human relations. Marxist humanists are committed to creating the conditions of possibility for a new post-capitalist human society, which, after all, is the historical task of Marxism.

Yes, economic development is a necessity, of course. But the forces of production – the expansionary drive in today’s austerity capitalism – are not aimed at improving the lives of people. What they are geared to augment is the accumulation of capital, which has led to an obscene concentration of wealth

Now Veharanta dekes and checks, shoots and scores as a counterweight to his studies at the Fowler School of Law. “Hockey keeps me sane,” he says.

The Panthers are a club team that competes in the California Collegiate Hockey League against schools such as UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego and Cal Lutheran. Chapman won the state championship a season ago, and this year began with “the strongest team in our history,” Veharanta says. But a succession of injuries slowed them. When the Panthers hosted Santa Barbara recently, they were down to 14 healthy skaters.

Still, the mix of players from New York, Connecticut, Colorado, and, yes, California shares a special connection, Veharanta says.

“My favorite thing about hockey at Chapman is the brotherhood that develops,” he says. “I’ve met some of my best friends on the ice, and that translates to an off-ice bond unlike any other.”

Team captain Heikki Veharanta ’15 (JD ’18), left, and center Anthony Zapanta ’17 get ready to start a shift during a recent game at KHS Ice Arena in Anaheim.

SPORTS NOTES

FLOOR LEADER: For the second time this season, Jaryn Fajardo ’19 earned SCIAC Athlete of the Week honors. The point guard helped lead the women’s basketball team to a 13–3 record in SCIAC play, earning the Panthers a conference co-championship.

While averaging more than 11 points per game, Fajardo has been particularly effective in setting up teammates. She is averaging 4.4 assists per game overall and six assists per contest in SCIAC play – both of which lead the conference. Her 2.38 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks 13th in all of Division III.

ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN: The college soccer career of Marco Saglimbeni ’17 may have ended, but the awards keep rolling in as he was named an Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America for the second consecutive year.

Saglimbeni led the Panthers in scoring for the third year in a row and raised his cumulative GPA to 3.95. The biological sciences major scored 29 career goals, which ranks fifth in Chapman history. He appeared in 83 matches over his four years at Chapman – more than any Panther before him. Saglimbeni is the sixth athlete in Chapman history to earn two selections to the prestigious Academic All-America team.

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IN MEMORIAM

IN MEMORIAM

CHAPMAN PROFESSORS

CHAPMAN SUPPORTER

Michael C. Martin

A great friend and supporter of Chapman University and the internationally recognized film school that bears his name, Lawrence K. Dodge passed away Dec. 1. He was 77.

A specialist in music composition who also directed Chapman’s 20th Century Chamber Music Series, retired faculty member Michael C. Martin passed away in December.

Martin began teaching at Chapman in 1980 and retired as an associate professor of music in 2006. For many years, he was the only music composition instructor on campus, leading the composition division while also teaching Music Theory III and IV and Music History III and IV. “Michael was one of the smartest, most knowledgeable people I have ever known,” said Amy Graziano, Ph.D., a Chapman University professor and chair of the HallMusco Conservatory of Music.

“He was very well-read in philosophy and all sorts of obscure literature, he could recite the libretto to most of the entire Ring Cycle from memory, and he had eclectic musical taste – once I had a conversation with him where he talked enthusiastically about Wagner and then suddenly switched

Lawrence K. Dodge

to an equally enthusiastic discussion about Björk,” Graziano said. “He knew so much about quirky, non-American films and their music that I asked him to guest lecture in my film music class for many years (even after he retired).”

In addition to teaching and performing in annual recitals and chamber ensembles

at Chapman, Martin also taught many young pianists and composers in his private studio, among them the child prodigy Kit Armstrong. He also was a member of the Music Teachers’ Association of California and contributed to the theory exams administered by that group.

Martin is survived by his wife, Jessica.

Susan M. Larsen An adjunct professor of sociology at Chapman University since 2002, Susan M. Larsen, Ph.D., passed away Jan. 7 following a recurrence of cancer. She was 49.

“A respected and caring instructor, Dr. Larsen was also deeply committed to volunteer work with adults and children with disabilities,” said Edward Day, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Sociology at Chapman. “Her research areas included social work, child abuse, foster care, domestic violence, counseling, psychiatric disorders and persons with disabilities.

Chapman University was privileged to have her work with so many of our students during the last decade and a half, and we mourn her loss.”

32 | CHAPMAN MAGAZINE

Larsen also taught at Cal State Fullerton, where she was an associate professor of human services. She earned a bachelor’s degree in human services from Fullerton in 1994, a master’s in social work from Cal State Long Beach in 1996 and a doctorate in education from Claremont Graduate University in 2001, focusing on crosscultural studies and special populations.

Among Larsen’s ventures outside the classroom was a restaurant named after her son, Blakely, who has autism. The business sought to place special-needs individuals in roles such as greeters or bus staff, and relied heavily on college students for its other employees.

Larsen is survived by her children, Blakely, Parker and Tatum Larsen, as well as a sister, Kris, and brother, Steven.

The Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, ranked as one of the top 10 film schools in the world, built its state-of-theart facilities with the help of a $20 million contribution from Dodge and his wife, Kristina, in 2004. Their gift was the largest in the history of the University at that time.

“Larry Dodge provided the transforming gift that laid the foundation for the international reputation that Dodge College now enjoys,” said Dean Bob Bassett. “Larry’s interest and involvement in the activities of the film school were ongoing over the years, and he was particularly enthusiastic and supportive of our international programs and our feature film company.”

The Dodge family’s involvement with the film school began in 2000, when they funded the Next Generation Filmmakers project. Larry Dodge later became a member of the President’s Cabinet, a group of senior counselors to the University president.

The family’s philanthropy extended to other Orange County institutions as well, among them the Segerstrom Center for the Arts and St. Margaret’s Episcopal School.

“A good friend of several decades, Larry Dodge was a generous and gracious man who made our Chapman University community and the world a much better place through his remarkable generosity,” said Chapman Trustee Mark Chapin Johnson ’05. “Larry leaves a legacy of involvement and contribution that will be fondly remembered by many.”

A third-generation Californian, Dodge grew up on a citrus farm in Redlands. After high school, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps and served as an aviator with the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. He earned a business degree while in the service.

Lawrence and Kristina Dodge

At 27, Dodge became the youngest CEO of a national insurance group. He later created American Sterling Corporation, becoming the founding chairman and CEO of a group of privately held companies involved in banking, insurance, real estate, motion picture production and technology.

Among the movies produced by American Sterling Productions, Ltd., is The Annihilation of Fish, a critically acclaimed work that received numerous international film festival awards.

“Many future generations will continue to enjoy the benefits of Mr. Dodge’s perpetual kindness,” U.S. Rep. Paul Cook

said in a statement that was introduced into the congressional record. “Always the optimist, Mr. Dodge will be remembered for his interminable service to his country and his community.”

A celebration of Dodge’s life and memory was held Dec. 16 in the Paul and Daranne Folino Theater at Marion Knott Studios.

Dodge is survived by his son, Tod, from his first marriage and by his daughters Laurenz, Tatiana, Cozette and Alexandra, his children with Kristina.

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A shipboard experience 52 years ago helps christen the teaching career of Bill Cumiford ’63, who is still taking Chapman students on journeys of discovery.

SCHOLAR

By Dennis Arp

YOUR CHAPMAN FUND GIFT: • Fosters enriching study-abroad learning • Supports cutting-edge student-faculty research

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THE MORE CHAPMAN STUDENTS AND ALUMNI STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD. Your support of the Chapman Fund helps prepare students to thrive in environments where change is the norm. They gain from immersive experiences that build a global understanding.

AT SEA

or Bill Cumiford ’63, a passion to teach is now woven into the double helix of his DNA. “If you tell me on Friday that I’ll be teaching a new class,” he says, “by Monday I’ll be ready.”

But even after decades as a history professor at Chapman University, he can easily remember when all he had were professorial aspirations.

In fall 1965, a 23-year-old Cumiford boarded the MS Seven Seas to begin a 3-1/2-month voyage as a graduate teaching assistant, packing virtually no teaching experience to fall back on.

“Like everything you get into that’s brand new, teaching can look fun and easy,” recalls Cumiford, Ph.D., associate professor of history in the Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. “It was my baptism of fire.”

The good news is that for Cumiford, as for so many who have taken the Chapman-affiliated academic journey variously known as University of the Seven Seas, World Campus Afloat, and now Semester at Sea, the around-the-world journey turned out to be “a life-changing experience.”

“In places like Japan, we would go into a café and young people would surround us because they knew we were Americans and they wanted to ask questions,” Cumiford says. “In India, the vice president called in a special train to take us to Bombay, where we talked with people who had never met Americans. Just to sit in Cairo and watch the sun go down behind the pyramids – that was breathtaking.”

Now as his 75th birthday approaches, Cumiford is far from finished changing lives at Chapman. He traces his enthusiasm for teaching to experiences in the classrooms of his own Chapman professors – educators such as Bert Williams, Jim Miller and Ron Huntington, whom he calls “the best professor I ever had.”

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE

• Funds a range of national leadership opportunities • Provides need-based scholarships to qualified students • Creates new positions that attract world-class faculty

AN ANNUAL GIFT OF $15 OR MORE ALSO ENSURES THAT YOU CONTINUE TO RECEIVE EVERY ISSUE OF CHAPMAN MAGAZINE. Bill Cumiford ’63 had scant teaching experience when he stepped before students on the MS Seven Seas as a graduate teaching assistant in 1965. “The students put up with me,” he says, “and it worked out pretty well.” Cumiford, Ph.D., soon will turn 75, and he still brings passion to his teaching as an associate professor of history. “A good teacher should be learning right along with the students,” he says.

“The dedication they had, the passion they showed – it was infectious,” Cumiford says. “I’d be sitting in Professor Huntington’s class and I would think 10 minutes had passed, and I’d look up and the class was over. I didn’t want to leave.”

Cumiford’s own teaching impact continues to span the globe. Over the recent winter Interterm, he and Chapman Department of History colleague Lee Estes, Ph.D., taught a class called “A Tale of Two Cities,” in which they led an academic exploration of London and Paris. After more than a dozen study-abroad teaching experiences, “it’s always new, and I’m a lot better at it than I was the first time,” Cumiford says.

The professor’s connection to Chapman is now more than a half-century old, but it remains so strong that he has included the University in

his estate plan. His legacy gift will create the William L. Cumiford ’63 Endowed Scholarship for Humanities and Social Sciences.

“Had it not been for my Chapman experience, I probably wouldn’t have gone into teaching – it was that powerful,” he says. “And that close connection I felt as a student I still feel today.

A good teacher should be learning right along with the students, so your teaching and your experience are always getting clearer.”

And what of the chance to continue influencing young lives by providing clarity “and context for the modern world”?

“That,” he says, “is the fulfillment of my professional life.”

Bill Cumiford ’63, Ph.D., is establishing his Chapman legacy with a gift that will create the William L. Cumiford ’63 Endowed Scholarship for Humanities and Social Sciences. For information about including Chapman in your will or living trust, contact David B. Moore at (714) 516-4590.

Invest in the future of Chapman today.

MAKE A SECURE DONATION AT CHAPMAN.EDU/SUPPORT-CHAPMAN OR CONTACT US AT (714) 628-2834 OR ANNUALGIVING@CHAPMAN.EDU

One University Drive, Orange, CA 92866 | chapman.edu

A Beacon

in the Night

By Dawn Bonker (MFA ’19)

Toggling between roles of rescuer and filmmaker, Devyn Bisson ’14 saves lives as she sheds light on the tragic plight of Syrian refugees.

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Devyn Bisson ’14

So Bisson, a certified lifeguard with the city of Huntington Beach, and her director of photography, Katie Wise ’14, set the cameras aside and joined members of the International Surf Lifesaving Association (ISLA) to rush the refugees into warming tents and get them dry clothes.

“It was one of those moments I couldn’t believe we were in. … We had this one baby, and I just couldn’t find clothes for it. So I just wrapped it and wrapped it. All these people were on the brink of hypothermia.”

Soon, that story and more from her experience with the lifeguards of ISLA will be

Photo: Kate Spencer ’16

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n the dark of a cold winter night, filmmaker Devyn Bisson ’14 sat on a small Greek beach facing the Aegean Sea, relaxing with lifeguards from around the world. The guards were there to stem drowning deaths among Syrian refugees struggling to reach safety. Bisson was recording their lifesaving efforts. The boats came by day, so the group lounged around a bonfire to enjoy the evening calm.

Then the steep cliff overlooking the beach rippled with movement.

“All of a sudden it looked like the cliff was moving. But it was actually 200 people climbing over this huge cliff, and we were like, ‘What’s happening?’” she recalls.

It turns out that smugglers had started launching night boats from Turkey, with reduced fares for those willing to risk the passage in darkness. Without navigation equipment or lights, a boat missed the beach, crashing into the cliff. The human cargo scrambled to survive.

“It was terrifying,” she says. “Our first instinct was to pick up our cameras, but we couldn’t.”

told in Lighthouse Molyvos, a short documentary Bisson is making on their behalf. She is working to complete the film for free online viewing and sharing by this spring.

Her goal is to shine a light on the work of ISLA and the refugee crisis. And the politics?

First things first, she says.

“I am a lifeguard and you are a human and you are drowning. There is no question of response,” she says. “And that’s what ISLA and I both believe. No one will drown in this water. We’ll figure out what we’ll do with the refugees when they get here. But no one will drown here.”

Sadly, it was reports of drownings that drew ISLA to the Greek island of Lesvos during the peak of the crossings in 2015 and early 2016. The photograph of a drowned toddler in a red T-shirt on a Turkish beach stirred people around the world in 2015.

As a lifeguard and filmmaker, Bisson felt a double call to go to Lesvos.

“I feel like storytelling is as important as lifeguarding. It uplifts people. It saves people,” she says.

Occasionally she set the cameras down and stepped in to help. The sights were too much.

Boats nearly capsized as occupants rushed to the bow as they approached land. Pregnant women and children struggled in “fake life vests” smugglers had forced them to purchase.

So she wore two hats.

“I wanted to be in the water,” she says.

Indeed, if there’s anyone who could pull it all off, it’s Bisson, says her former documentary film professor Jeff Swimmer at Chapman’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts.

“She’s fearless. She sees problems as just interesting challenges to try to overcome,” says Swimmer, who’s seen much of the Lesvos footage. “It’s really powerful. I think it has the makings of a fantastic film.”

A year later, that Greek beach is often on her mind as she wraps up editing on the documentary. The Huntington Beach native marvels that such a small place could be part of the world stage.

“It was just this tiny nook where boats needed to land because everything else was dangerous,” she says. “It was so untouched.

It did feel really safe.”

Thanks to those lifeguards, it was.

Photo courtesy of Devyn Bisson ’14

“I feel like storytelling is as important as lifeguarding. It uplifts people. It saves people.”

Bisson’s documentary Lighthouse Molyvos tells the story of desperate refugees, including rescued babies who were rushed into warming blankets, as seen here in an image captured in her film. Bisson plans to make her documentary available for free online viewing this spring.

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Jim Patterson ’73

Hannah Skvarla ’10, second from right, co-founded The Little Market to aid artisans in developing nations.

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Banking on Change

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oming of age in the 1960s, Texas-born Jim Patterson ’73 was a self-proclaimed longhaired hippie who lived all over the world by way of his father’s oil-industry career.

He spent much of his childhood in Colombia and Peru, and he graduated from high school in Japan.

He attended Sophia University in Tokyo before transferring to Chapman.

“Chapman was like my Ellis Island. Its large international student body made me feel at home,” Patterson said.

Patterson’s Chapman experience included “learning how to be American.” He recalls buying a car and having his girlfriend drive it off the lot because he didn’t know how to drive.

Jim and Lynne Doti were Patterson’s favorite professors. It was during Lynne Doti’s “Money and Banking” course that Patterson knew he would go into banking.

And so it was: The cultured hippie kid became an American banker. Upon graduation from Chapman, Patterson worked at Bank of America in Southern California before relocating with the bank to San Francisco in 1984 and Phoenix in 1994. Now he is president of UMB Bank’s Arizona region. An art enthusiast, he has also served as chair of the Phoenix Art Museum’s Board of Trustees.

“My career was shaped by my willingness to consider geographic relocation and accept new career paths,” Patterson said. “My overseas upbringing helped me learn the importance of diversity, embracing change and relationshipbuilding.”

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A Little Leg Up

CLASS NOTES

By Melissa Grace Hoon

By Melissa Grace Hoon

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19 7 0 s Email your news and photos to alumni@chapman.edu or mail to: Alumni Engagement, One University Drive, Orange, Calif. 92866. Any photos received by mail will be scanned and returned. Class notes are subject to editing due to space.

To post class notes and photos online, visit chapman.edu/alumni.

19 6 0 s Ralph Cripe, B.A. education ’64; Nancy Albright, B.A. education ’62; and Bill Trumbo, B.A. physical education ’61 (M.A. education ’66), along with Juanita Cripe and Lori Trumbo, got together Jan. 25 at Bill and Lori’s new home in Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii. The Cripes and Trumbos own condos in the Kahaluu Bay Villas near Nancy’s home. The group misses and fondly remembers Gaylord “Duke” Albright, B.A. education ’61 (M.A. education ’62), who passed away March 21, 2016.

Paul Crumby, B.A. political science ’70, appears in Chasing JonBenet, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

He attended the film’s opening in Park City, Utah, with his wife, Jeanne.

Tim Flannery, Class of ’79, a bluegrass musician and retired Major League Baseball coach and player, released the EP Last of the Old Dogs in January. All proceeds of his new album support Love Harder Project, his anti-bullying and anti-violence nonprofit. Tim was on the baseball team during his time at Chapman, and played for the San Diego Padres from 1979 –1989 and was the thirdbase coach for the San Francisco Giants from 2007– 2014, including their World Series championship seasons of 2010, 2012 and 2014.

Don Hurzeler, B.A. business administration ’70, member of the Chapman Athletic Hall of Fame, published his third book, Smells Like Retirement, a game plan for activating the best years of one’s life. The book is available at Amazon.com and at Donhurzeler. com. Don and his wife, Linda (Collins) Hurzeler, Class of ’71, live in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

Dr. Richard Pitts, B.A. chemistry ’70, and Dr. Fred Ma, B.A. mathematics ’71, named the Virginia G. Carson, Ph.D. Group Study Room and Karl P. Reitz, Ph.D. Group Study Room in the Leatherby Libraries in December to honor the professors emeritus.

Roger Rushing, B.S. economics and business administration ’75, participated in the late Professor Paul Frizler’s 1975 production of Dick Clark Presents 20 Years of Rock and Roll in Memorial Hall.

He’s looking to connect with anyone who attended the show.

19 8 0 s Last year Mark Avery, B.S. business administration ’82, sold MarketPay Associates, LLC, which he founded in 2000. He lives in Evergreen, Colo. with his wife, Laurie, and their children, Megan, Joseph and Jaylyn.

Raul Guerra, B.A. Spanish ’82, works at Milam Elementary School providing instructional support in the computer lab. He is interested in connecting with former classmates and soccer teammates.

Karen (Knox) Nichols, B.A. communications ’88, and James Nichols were married Sept. 25, 2016, in Fallbrook, Calif. The couple live in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Leone Patterson, B.S. accounting ’86, is the CFO at Adverum Biotechnologies, a gene therapy company that discovers and develops medicines to treat rare diseases, in Menlo Park, Calif.

Benny Tay, BFA art and BSBA marketing ’88, organized and attended a dinner in Hong Kong in January for fellow alumni, along with family members and friends.

Alumni in attendance included Zenia Yau, B.S. business administration ’96; Patrick Ng (M.A. English ’93); Bessie Wong, B.S. business administration ’96; Wooi Keat Kher, BSBA finance and business economics ’88; and Nilar Tan, BSBA accounting ’88.

Thomas Tyner, B.A. biology ’80, is vice president for quality and technical service at Spectrum Chemicals and Laboratory Products,

and was named chair of the American Chemical Society Committee on Analytical Reagents.

Tom and his wife, Luisa Tyner, Class of ’81, are Chapman Sweethearts, as are his son, Neal Tyner, B.S. business administration ’04, and Neal’s wife, Noel (Villasenor) Tyner, B.A. communications ’04 (MBA ’09).

19 9 0 s Laurie Sicaeros (MHA ’97) was named chief operating officer for MemorialCare Medical Foundation, which operates MemorialCare Medical Group and Greater Newport Physicians. She continues in her role as vice president of Physician Integration for MemorialCare Health System.

2000s Kathryn (Quilty) Bowman, B.A. communication studies ’07, is teaching communication skills at the Cervone Center for Learning at The Pennington School in Pennington, N.J. Bowman, a graduate of The Pennington School and a resident of Newtown, Pa.,

holds a master’s degree in education, counseling and guidance from Point Loma Nazarene University.

Previously she taught and was a school counselor in Montessori schools and was an inclusion support teacher at High Tech Middle School in Chula Vista, Calif.

Jason Burris, B.A. political science ’02 (JD ’08), and Ariana (Anderson) Burris (JD ’09) welcomed their first child, Cameron May, on Dec. 17.

Shannon (Cyrkin) Leon, B.A. liberal studies ’05 (M.A. education ’09), married Diana Leon on Nov. 26 at Sea Cliff Country Club in Huntington Beach, Calif.

Kimberly (Vargas) Roberts, B.A. communications ’04, of Kimberly April Photography, photographed the couple’s wedding.

Shannon McKemie, B.A. history ’01, earned her master’s degree in emerging media and communication from the University of Texas at Dallas in December.

or Hannah (Taylor) Skvarla ’10, childhood vacations weren’t always the typical family excursions; often, they were volunteer missions with nonprofits. Together, the family members learned about underserved populations and their critical needs.

“I saw so many beautiful, colorful, handmade items that I knew people in the States would purchase,” Skvarla, recipient of Chapman’s 2014 Schweitzer Rising Star Award, said of her work in Vietnam and Cambodia during high school with Landmine Survivors Network, an award-winning nonprofit. “I became passionate about helping artisans because I believe in preserving culture and traditions.”

Skvarla’s passion ignited her 2013 co-founding of The Little Market with her friend, Lauren Conrad. The nonprofit selects artisans from developing nations and sells their products worldwide, working with 40-plus artisan groups in more than 25 countries.

Many of the artisan co-ops and social enterprises with which The Little Market works provide resources to the artisans, including training programs, access to education and family health care.

“In developing countries, many people are forced to travel long distances to earn unfair wages for jobs they don’t want to do,” Skvarla explained. “By connecting artisans with customers, The Little Market helps create and sustain jobs where people can earn fair wages, enjoy what they do and work in safe environments.”

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Alex Hillkurtz ’90

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The nonprofit founded by Cara Lawler ’11 improves the lives of orphans in Kenya.

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Drawn to Success

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A World of Hope

By Melissa Grace Hoon

By Melissa Grace Hoon

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s a child, Alex Hillkurtz ’90 dreamed of digging up dinosaur bones in exotic lands and becoming a paleontologist. That changed in 1977 when he saw Star Wars. Awed by the film, he studied its “making of” television programs, realizing “these magical things called movies were made by regular people.”

“I got my hands on my dad’s Super 8 camera, and suddenly my room was my movie studio and the back yard was an alien jungle planet,” Alex said of his earliest films, which featured stopmotion scenes, spaceship battles and claymation spacemen on papier-mâché moonscapes.

Fast-forward to today, and Alex is a professional storyboard artist living in Paris.

In fact, he recently celebrated the storyboarding of his 50th feature film. He works with directors to illustrate scenes, shot by shot.

Working on films featuring A-listers like Angelina Jolie and Ben Affleck, “I’ve drawn terminators, minions, superheroes and spaceships,” Alex said.

Alex directed second unit on director Nancy Meyers’ It’s Complicated and The Intern; the latter project gave him “a front row seat to see Robert De Niro do what he does.”

“My time at Chapman was invaluable for what I do every day,” he said, crediting faculty in Dodge College of Film and Media Arts such as Ron Thronson, Bob Bassett, Greg Hobson and Rick Ferncase for helping him to develop his skills.

“On projects, about a third of (the crew) is fired-up, passionate and invested in what they’re making. You want to be in that third,” Alex advised.

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Sasha Milonova, B.A. economics and peace studies ’09, earned her master’s degree in political economy of late development at the London School of Economics in 2016.

Josh Wilson, B.A. legal studies ’08, was sworn in as council member for the City of Los Alamitos in December. He has served as chairman of the Los Alamitos Chamber of Commerce and for the Los Alamitos Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Commission. He holds a management position at Southland Credit Union and co-owns Simply O Organic Juice Bar in Los Alamitos.

2010s Justin Deimen, BFA creative producing ’12, is the group managing partner of Singaporebased Aurora Media Capital.

Courtney (Shepard) DeLaVega, B.A. public relations and advertising ’11, founded Neat Edit (Neatedit.com), a boutique post-production house in Los Angeles, with her husband, Freddie.

Courtney previously worked as a senior brand strategist at Saatchi & Saatchi LA, and cofounded Chapman’s first student-run public relations firm.

Megan Demshki, B.A. political science and peace studies ’12 (JD ’15), and Brenton Burke, B.A. communication studies ’14, were married in a ceremony officiated

by President Emeritus Jim Doti

on June 11 in Riverside, Calif.

Chapman alumni and students in the wedding party included John Demshki, B.S. accounting and business administration ’16; Tyler Demshki, B.S. computer science and mathematics ’18; Kelsey Miller, B.A. communication studies ’13; and Ashley Kaplan, B.A. public relations and advertising ’15.

Kimberly “Dot” Ellwanger, B.A. music ’13, is the founder and CEO of Unspeakable Records, and is a singer/songwriter/producer.

Alex (Manson) Klinedinst, B.A. public relations and advertising ’15, and Max Klinedinst, B.S. business administration ’15, were married in Healdsburg, Calif., at Trentadue Winery on Oct. 29.

The wedding party included Brad Smith, Class of ’15; Jeff Cooper,

B.A. communication studies ’14 (M.S. health and strategic communications ’15); Jack Jajewski, B.A. integrated educational studies ’14; Andrew Clark, B.A. communications studies ’15; Rahul Bansal, B.S. business administration and BFA creative producing ’15; and Hannah Klinedinst ’18.

Rebecca (Rolnick) Knaack, B.A. television and broadcast journalism ’12, and Jesse Knaack, B.A. public relations and advertising ’11, were married Nov. 19 in Santa Monica. Rebecca is an entertainment publicist at the public relations firm PMK*BNC. Jesse is a creative producer at FiveByFive. The wedding party included Lilly Rolnick, B.A. public relations and advertising ’16; Beth Soltow, B.S. business administration ’12; Deanna

Blanchet, B.S. business administration ’12; Nina Clark, B.A. communications ’15; Taryn Smith, B.A. history ’13; Rachel Tilghman, Class of ’13; Connor Berry, B.A. liberal studies ’11 (M.A. teaching ’13); Stephen Sales, B.S. business administration ’13; Matt Garbutt, B.A. public relations and advertising ’12; Schuyler Heard, B.A. business administration ’11; Jake Meyer, B.S. mathematics ’11; Tyler Halstead, B.S. business administration ’11; Peter Antone, B.S. business administration ’11; and Kevin Kobliska, B.S. business administration ’11.

Bella Lucareli, B.A. music ’16, released her first single, Queen of the Night, on iTunes. Bella was in Soundcheck, the award-winning student a cappella group at Chapman, and is working with

Mike Mani, who has produced music with artists such as Lady Gaga, Tori Kelly, and Ne-Yo. Samantha Mehlinger, BFA creative writing ’10, was promoted to assistant editor of the Long Beach Business Journal. She joined as a staff writer in April 2013 and was promoted to senior writer in August 2014. She began her career in journalism in 2010 as a contributing writer for LA STAGE Times.

Mandi Ortiz, B.A. strategic and corporate communication ’16, partnered with her mother to expand their family business, SubsnGrub, a sandwich shop in Cypress, Calif., into a three-shop chain. Mandi will soon take over the business.

ara Lawler ’11 always wanted to be a mother. In 2013, she founded Someone a World Away (SAWA), a nonprofit that raises funds for El Shadai Grace Children’s Centre in Nairobi, Kenya. She is now “Mzungu Mama” (English-speaking mama) to a growing group of 25 orphans.

Four years ago, Lawler, Chapman University’s 2015 Schweitzer Rising Star Award winner, volunteered at El Shadai for three months.

“There I was, meeting orphans who slept three or four to a bed and dressed in ragged, dirty clothes,” said Lawler.

She was motivated by what the children didn’t have, but she was especially drawn to what they had in abundance: joy. She committed to meeting their basic needs. Their primary need was sustainable shelter, as those who founded El Shadai in 2006 constantly rented different spaces for the orphanage.

Lawler founded SAWA upon returning to the States and immediately began to raise funds — a necessity since Nairobi natives had stopped donating to El Shadai after mistakenly assuming that its English-speaking volunteers were financial supporters.

In 2015, SAWA met its goal of $140,000 to purchase land and build a permanent El Shadai orphanage. The first of the building’s four floors is complete. The upper floors will be rental apartments to continually support El Shadai.

“Mzungu Mama” continues to raise funds for her children as she fulfills SAWA’s mission to provide Kenyan orphans with food, housing, sanitation, education, health care, love and a future.

You can donate at someoneaworldaway.org.

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FRIENDS WE WILL MISS

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early years of volunteering as an alumni leader at Chapman. Gary was a proud alumnus, a dedicated Rotarian and a caring, generous man. He is survived by his husband, Michael, and parents, Pete and Helen. The family has sponsored the Maxwell Family Endowed Scholarship, to which gifts are being directed in his memory.

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Kevin Muldoon (JD ’06)

Door-to-Door Leader

By Melissa Grace Hoon

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awyer Kevin Muldoon (JD ’06) always loved politics, but not at the local level. Then after he worked on a property rights case for Newport Harbor homeowners, a group of his clients encouraged him to run for the Newport Beach City Council in 2014.

Realizing his deep affinity for the city and its residents, Muldoon was elected to the council.

His passion for his community deepened, leading to his election as mayor of Newport Beach in December.

“The campaign trail was an interesting experience,” Muldoon said. “Walking up to strangers’ doors and shamelessly asking for their vote was humbling and educational.”

Such an educational experience didn’t stop at the campaign trail.

“If you want to know how voters feel about any given issue (when running for office), just ask. Once you get in office, voters will tell you how they feel even if you don’t ask,” he said.

Muldoon moved to Newport Beach three years prior to his election as mayor to be closer to his friends and his church, Our Lady Queen of Angels.

As mayor, he has a list of priorities, including dealing with Newport Beach’s growing unfunded retirement obligation.

“My primary goal is to reduce the city’s debt by encouraging fiscal restraint and cutting spending,” Muldoon said.

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Joanne Bennett

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Andrew Schreyer, B.A. French and philosophy and B.S. business administration ’14, attended the White House holiday party, where he met President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. Andrew is the founder and chairman of the board for Pierre’s Birthday Fund, a nonprofit that helps improve hospitalized children’s well-being.

He was invited to the White House event by a fellow board member.

Katerina Sorrell (M.A. counseling ’15) is a counselor for students with emotional and behavioral issues at Nicolas Junior High School in Fullerton.

Cheryl Ann Steele (M.A. English and MFA creative writing ’12) and her daughter, Leah McNatt, own Uppercase Bookshop in Snohomish, Wash., which was voted Best Bookstore in the Seattle area by Seattle A-List in October 2016.

Dalton R. Sweaney, B.S. accounting ’11, was named the California Society of CPAs’ Young and Emerging Professional of the Year.

Kelsey Warren, B.A. communication studies ’12, and Jordan Quigley, B.S. business administration ’09, were married on Oct. 22, 2016, at the Estancia La Jolla Hotel. Kelsey and Jordan wrote the ceremony, which Jordan’s father officiated. Alumni in the wedding party and in attendance included Natasha Porreca, B.A. sociology ’10; Yuri Choi, B.A. psychology and B.S. business administration ’09; Omar Khan, B.S. business administration ’11; Melissa Hoffman, BFA graphic design ’09; Natalie Midlock, B.A. public relations and advertising ’11; Sarah (Hudani) Wildy, Class of ’11; Austin Isler, B.S. business administration ’07 (MBA ’11);

Tristan Phillips, B.S. business administration ’09; Becky (Heide) Phillips, B.A. political science ’10; Kirsten (Deem) Murphy, B.A. communication studies ’10; and Patricia (Wenkart) Obrand, B.A. communication studies ’10 (M.S. communication sciences and disorders ’14). Chapman parents at the wedding included Linda and Bill Heide, Kelly and Greg Geiss, Bill and Deb Warren, and Julie and Arnold Quigley. Retired assistant director of parent relations Paula McCance and her husband, Chuck, also attended.

Connor Williams, BFA television and broadcast journalism ’16, is a Marine Corps second lieutenant in the Basic School at Camp Barrett in Quantico, Va.

Joanne Bennett, B.A. education ’66, passed away Dec. 11. A few months before her passing, she and her husband, Harley, attended the Class of 1966’s 50-Year Reunion during the Chapman Family Homecoming Celebration, where Joanne was inducted into the 50 Year Club.

Gary Maxwell, BSBA business management ’85 (MBA ’87), member of the Charles C. Chapman Heritage Society, passed away Nov. 13. President Emeritus Jim Doti dedicated the 39th Chapman University Economic Forecast to the memory of Gary, who established and ran a successful international brokerage business. His greatest passion, however, was making a meaningful difference for others. He attributed his sense of community involvement and philanthropy to his

Gary Maxwell

Sharon Mayer, Class of ’64, passed away Oct. 27. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland and master’s degree from the University of

Southern California. She taught junior high and high school English and work-experience for more than 33 years in the Anaheim Union High School District. She lived the past 41 years in Huntington Beach.

After retirement, Sharon continued to volunteer with Youth Motivation Task Force to help at-risk teenagers stay in school and find successful careers. She is survived by her husband, Jim; sister, Carole; brother, Don; son, Guy; and granddaughter, Joy. Gale Ritter, Class of ’66, passed away May 13. She played on Chapman’s women’s basketball team. With the Red Cross, Gale helped to provide recreational activities to wounded soldiers in Vietnam. She and her husband, Ken, put roots down in Montana, where Gale was a woodworker for 12 years. She was known for her adventurous spirit, magnetic personality and words of wisdom.

She is survived by her brother, Rich; two daughters, Cindy and Teri; and a large extended family.

Carol Chaplin

Carol Chaplin, Class of ’60, passed away Oct. 24. She was a teacher, counselor and supervisor at the high school and community college levels. She was active in her church and community, including with the Vista Women’s Club, the Red Hat Society and the Dugalla Bay Heights Women’s Club.

Gale Ritter

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The Chapman Family Homecoming Celebration: Save the Dates

ALUMNI NEWS AND CAMPUS EVENTS

October 6 –8, 2017 Chapman University Mark your calendars for a weekend of Panther Pride. Class reunions will feature the classes of 2012, 2007, 1992 and 1967.

Interested in being a class representative?

Email alumni@chapman.edu.

Gabbie Boyadjian, B.A. theatre ’14; Justin Benitez, BFA creative producing ’13; Ben Minsky, B.S. business administration ’13; and Jennifer (Sharp) Minsky, B.A. public relations and advertising ’13, traveled through Thailand together in November. Trip highlights include snorkeling at Ko Phi Phi Leh and playing with elephants. “Low points included getting chased by wild monkeys and eating McDonald’s by day five,” Gabby says.

Thursday, April 6, 2017 Networking: 7 p.m.– close Hosted bar and appetizers: 7– 9 p.m.

Lionsgate Headquarters, Tiato Restaurant, Santa Monica, Calif.

Tickets and details: chapman.edu/aeimixer

Sarah Buckley, B.A. communication studies ’14; Megan Forell, B.A. economics and B.S. business administration ’14; and Amy Hammer, B.A. communication studies ’14 (MBA ’20), traversed Europe for three weeks in December and January. They visited Denmark and Prague together; Sarah went on to visit Stuttgart, Germany, while Amy and Megan explored Sweden. They ran into Chapman parent Kandace Pullin, BSBA business administration ’92, in Prague.

Last year, nearly 400 Panthers from a variety of programs and professions enjoyed an evening of fun and professional networking at the Alumni Entertainment Industry Mixer.

Akin Ceylan ’90, Lionsgate executive and Alumni Association president, will host this year’s event, which is projected to be the largest-ever Chapman alumni mixer.

Summer Bash: Save the Date July 20, 2017 Aitken Arts Plaza Email alumni@chapman.edu to be notified when tickets go on sale.

CHAPMAN

Sally Horna, B.A. sociology ’13, and Anthony Jacobsmeyer, B.A. psychology ’14, traveled together through Peru in May. Anthony planned a Southeast Asia trip they took together in 2014, so Sally returned the favor by planning their trip across her homeland. They visited her family in Lima, Trujillo and Cuyuchugo, where her dad grew up, and trekked Machu Picchu.

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RADIO Chapman Radio 50th Anniversary This year, Chapman Radio – formerly known as KNAB, KNAC and Radio Chapman – celebrates its 50th anniversary. Share your Chapman Radio memories on social media using #ChapmanRadio50, and visit chapmanradio.com for anniversary events and details.

Return to campus with your fellow alumni for a fun-filled evening catching up with old friends and meeting new ones over dinner and drinks.

Mimosa Brunch Saturday, April 29, 2017 at 11 a.m.

Barbara Bush Patio, fourth floor of Beckman Hall Tickets and details: bit.ly/alumnibrunch17

Greek alumni invite all Chapman University graduates to a fun-filled bottomless-mimosa brunch. Head back to campus and catch up with friends.

After the brunch, guests are encouraged to attend the annual Greek Skit Show in Memorial Hall.

Service Programs Have you participated in an international or national service program such as AmeriCorps, City Year or Peace Corps? Civic Engagement Initiatives would like to connect you with students who are interested in applying to service programs so that you can share your insights. Complete the form at orgsync.com/22989/forms/231580.

Find Us Online

Web: chapman.edu/alumni Blog: blogs.chapman.edu/alumni Facebook: facebook.com/chapmanuniversityalumni Instagram: @chapmanualumni Twitter: @ChapmanAlum LinkedIn: Search for Chapman University Alumni Association

they can produce wild-born offspring.

Title acts as dominant member of the pride, helping cubs develop behaviors that eventually allow them to hunt and thrive on their own.

She’s also a skilled photographer, with her images aiding researchers on multiple projects.

“It’s important that we all work together to restore populations of wild lions, which have lost 80 percent of their historic range,” she says.

What’s more, Title designs ads and products she hopes will “stop people in their tracks and make them think about conservation in ways they might not have before,” she says.

“Elissa is a doer, a producer,” says Department of Art Chair Claudine Jaenichen, Title’s graphic design mentor. “She’ll find a way to implement her ideas.”

Whether she’s breaking the gaze of a cub or attracting the attention of consumers, Title follows her heart.

“As you can probably tell,” she says, “I love everything about Africa.”

WALKING WITH

Photos courtesy of Elissa Title ’18

lissa Title ’18 calls it “the naughty look,” and it means that the lions next to her “are going to try to eat me,” she says. No worries.

She always carries a big stick – not for protection but for distraction.

“Lions have very short attention spans – it’s like they have ADHD,” the Chapman art student says. “We use the stick to break their gaze, and then everything’s fine.”

Last summer Title made her sixth trip to Africa, volunteering as a conservationist in Zimbabwe, where captive-bred lions are readied for release into reserves so one day