Columbia College Affinity Magazine Summer 2018

Summer 2018

THE COLUMBIA COLLEGE ALUMNI MAGAZINE

a f f i n i t y

The 2018 CCAA ALUMNI AWARDS

Five alumni are recognized for their outstanding contributions to Columbia College and their communities.

THE COLUMBIA COLLEGE ALUMNI MAGAZINE

a f f i n i t y

parking fees … it’s a long list. Historically, Columbia College has been a low-fee college, but even we’ve had some.

FROM THE PRESIDENT As usual, this issue of Affinity is packed with stories about your alma mater, and I hope you enjoy them. As you’ll see, there’s a lot going on at your institution.

I want to draw your attention to an exciting new initiative in Columbia College’s adultserving venues, including our online program.

TruitionSM is our response to two concerning trends in higher education today: the rising cost of textbooks and the proliferation of fees.

Textbook costs have risen to troubling heights.

In some disciplines, a single textbook can easily cost $250, sometimes significantly more. Research shows that many students go without textbooks at least once because they just don’t have the money. You don’t need a Ph.D. to know that this isn’t a recipe for academic success.

Then there are fees, which together can rival the cost of tuition. Colleges charge a dizzying array of fees, including application fees, technology fees, resource fees, library fees,

TruitionSM says enough. As of Fall 2018, our adult students will pay a flat tuition rate, which will include all fees and all textbooks. This all-in tuition rate will be less than what many colleges charge for tuition alone. Active duty military students will now pay nothing out of pocket. Nothing. There’s no catch. This is our new promise to adult students.

Our day campus in Columbia isn’t part of the TruitionSM program, but that’s because day students are eligible for other exclusive programs that help them pay for college, including generous scholarships and an innovative rate-lock feature that caps tuition for up to five years of study.

Our graduate programs will also be covered

by TruitionSM. So maybe now it’s time to come back and get that MBA! Until next time,

Dr. Scott Dalrymple Columbia College President

Columbia College Board of Trustees 2018-2019 Chair Walter E. Bixby III ’82 Vice Chair Helen Dale Coe Simons ’65 Treasurer George W. Hulett Jr. Secretary Jolene Marra Schulz ’61

Trustees Lynne Stuver Baker ’64 Lex R. Cavanah Jerry D. Daugherty Daisy Willis Grossnickle ’66 Lt. Gen. Richard C. Harding David M. Hardy Jr. Mitchell R. Humphreys, MD

June Viner Hurdle ’83 David R. Russell, Ph.D. Reverend Brad Stagg Gary A. Tatlow Matt Williams Carol J. Winkler ’93 Janet Carter Wright ’58

CCAA Advisory Board Representative William J. Johnston ’82 Faculty Representatives Danielle Langdon Ahoo Tabatabai, Ph.D.

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18 15 Military Recognition

28 32 26 Christian College Reunion Weekend

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46 Stepping Up to the Plate

42 51

Inside the Gate New scholarships benefit the college’s military population, recent graduates reflect on what they will remember most and the new Academic and Residence Hall breaks ground on main campus.

My CCAA Career Services explains how LinkedIn can expand professional networks, Dave Green ’14 provides healthy meals for those in need and Glen Gustafson ’15 & ’17 leads the charge for the Great Lakes Affinity Council.

Law & Order The Columbia College Criminal Justice program prepares those who plan to serve and protect.

Life on the Big Screen Ron Stallworth ’07 prepares for a summer book tour and the August release of “BlackkKlansman,” Spike Lee’s blockbuster movie based on Stallworth’s real-life experience.

CCAA Alumni Awards Meet the 2018 alumni award recipients Russana Jackmon-Rowles ’79, Helen Dale Coe Simons ’65, Doug Templeton ’12, Ann Cross-Fleury ’04 and Lynne Stuver Baker ’64.

Cougar Sports Zone Cougar Athletics claims 15 AMC titles, softball takes 2nd place in the NAIA World Series and former baseball player Andrew Warner is drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals.

CC Notes Alumni share personal and professional updates.

a f f i n i t y Summer 2018 Editor, Production & Design Carolyn Preul

On the Cover:

Five alumni are recognized for their outstanding contributions to Columbia College and their communities. Photo by Kaci Smart ’09

Editorial Review Board Dr. Scott Dalrymple Sam Fleury April Longley Ann Merrifield Dr. Jeff Musgrove Suzanne Rothwell

Lead Writer David Morrison

Photo Editor Kaci Smart ’09

Contributing Writers Dan Gomez-Palacio Drew Grzella ’01 Kelsey Lyman Beth McWilliams Bradley Meinke ’14 Ann Muder Josh Muder ’99

Contributing Photographer Cindy Fotti Potter ’05

Affinity magazine is published biannually by the Columbia College Advancement Division (1001 Rogers St., Columbia MO 65216). For assistance, please contact Alumni Relations at (573) 875-ALUM (2586) or ccalum@ccis.edu. © 2018 All rights reserved.

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THE COLUMBIA COLLEGE ALUMNI MAGAZINE

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Serving Those Who Serve Two new scholarships benefit the college’s military population.

BY DAVID MORRISON

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PHOTO BY KACI SMART ’09

Alan Harris ’77 found a home at Columbia CollegeFort Leonard Wood during his time in the Army. He had struggled to find consistency earlier in his college career, as he moved around to a few military bases. Once he arrived at Fort Leonard Wood in 1976, everything just seemed to click.

“Columbia College was just a good blend of the instruction, the opportunity, the quality of the faculty, the commitment to the military through the Extended Studies program,” Harris says. “It allowed me to get back on track with a new sense of motivation and discipline.”

Harris knows it’s not always easy for servicemembers to pursue a college education while also fulfilling their military duties. He hopes the Alan Harris Missouri Veterans’ Assistance Scholarship will help ease that burden. The scholarship is a $500 award for military students at the institution, with preference given to those who attend the main campus in Columbia, Missouri.

“Sometimes we don’t think about integration back into civilian life and furthering their career, starting their career,” says Harris, who is the bereavement coordinator and staff chaplain at Crossroads Hospice in Independence, Missouri. “It’s more than just saying ‘thank you for your service.’ It’s something that says, ‘I want to help support you this way, in your contribution to society and to others.’ It’s a way to put something behind the ‘thank you.’ ” The Assistance League of Mid-Missouri had a similar idea in establishing its new scholarship. The Assistance League is a volunteer organization made up of 350 women who are passionate about fundraising for causes in the community. The Assisting Women’s Achievement Military Heroes Award, also given out for the first time this spring, benefits female Columbia College students who are Boone County, Missouri, residents and military veterans, or currently serving in the reserves or National Guard.

Members of the Assistance League had the opportunity to meet one recipeint, Erica Lee, at the Honors and Awards Luncheon in April.

Lisa Bishop, Elizabeth Keith, Ashley Koetting, Arielle Tubbs and Erika Warhol also each received the $1,250 award.

“We believe the military supports the security of our country, and we want to support them,” says Mary Stixrud ’72, chair of the league’s scholarship committee. “These people have sacrificed and, if we can give them a helping hand now, it will pay off.”

Brenden Holmes (left) is the first recipient of the Alan Harris Missouri Veterans’ Assistance Scholarship. Harris presented Holmes with the award during Military Recognition Day in May.

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Shine On

BY DAVID MORRISON

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PHOTOS BY KACI SMART ’09

Columbia College is dedicated to helping students from diverse backgrounds achieve their educational goals. These six recent graduates reflect on what they will remember most about their college experience and how it has prepared them for professional success and continuing education.

Jesse Sluder ’18 Hometown: Victorville, California Degree: Bachelor of General Studies “I believe there comes a point in every intellectual human being’s life when we realize there’s more, and we find ourselves back in the classroom environment.

Columbia College’s professors, staff and mentors have imparted not only their gift of knowledge but the gift of their wisdom and inspiration; for that I’m truly grateful.

The craving for wisdom is consuming, and I’m excited about all that’s yet to be discovered.”

Nic Reynolds ’18 Hometown: Peoria, Illinois Degree: Bachelor of Arts in Business Management and Human Resources “Columbia College has prepared me not only with knowledge, but real-life skills that I feel will stay with me forever.

Specifically, all of my business professors have been nothing short of exceptional. The Writing Center and Career Services staffs have also been amazing.”

Victoria Hedlund ’18 Hometown: Chicago, Illinois Degree: Bachelor of Science in Business Administration “I definitely needed a college that offered me online as well as in-seat at Columbia College-Lake County.

That helped my management skills, because they are kind of fast-paced classes where you have to be on top of everything. That really helped me, especially in a degree like accounting. You really have to be detail-oriented and organized.”

Logan Moore ’18 Hometown: Columbia, Missouri Degree: Bachelor of Arts in Music Education “It’s the idea that it’s kind of like a family. We always are willing to support each other. Simply put, that’s the main thing about Columbia College that I’ve enjoyed: the fact that everyone there is on the same team. That’s not something that you’re going to get everywhere else.”

Riley Fader ’16 & ’18 Hometown: Moscow Mills, Missouri Degrees: Bachelor of General Studies, Teaching certification for K-12 special education “The dedicated and passionate staff and faculty members will be what I remember most from Columbia College. I have made so many wonderful memories while being both a student and a cross country and track athlete. I owe that to the caring attitude that Columbia College offers.”

Landon Miller ’18 Hometown: Raymore, Missouri Degree: Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice Administration with a minor in Legal Studies “Because of the smaller class sizes, a lot of my classes have been more discussion-based. What it has done for me is really showed me the importance of listening to other people’s ideas, whether or not you agree with them, and allowing others to have input into the decisions you make or your thought process. If you just close yourself off and keep your perspective, you’re less likely to come to the best solution possible.”

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Web Bixby ’82, Chair of the Board of Trustees, addresses the audience at the groundbreaking.

Breaking New Ground

Academic and Residence Hall is taking the college in an exciting new direction.

BY BETH MCWILLIAMS

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PHOTOS BY KACI SMART ’09

On May 17, the Columbia College campus community and many friends from mid-Missouri gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking for its new Academic and Residence Hall on the north end of the main campus.

This facility will reinforce the spirit of innovation and collaboration the college has been known for since its founding in 1851.

The 60,000-square foot building will be four stories tall.

The main floor will house the School of Business, featuring a large lobby, faculty offices, innovation stations for study groups, multiple classrooms and an event center that can to host 150 guests.

With the near 20-percent growth in enrollments the Columbia College Day campus has experienced during the past two years, and more growth projected for the

future, additional space for student housing is a priority.

That need will be met with the addition of the residence hall component of the building, which will exist on the top three floors with a capacity for 150 students.

“Having graduated with a business administration degree, I take great pride in knowing that our School of Business will have a new home on the first floor of the Academic and Residence Hall,” says Chair of the Board of Trustees Web Bixby ’82. “This innovative, multipurpose building will serve us well for generations to come.”

The building will open to students in August 2019 with a dedication being planned for September 2019.

To learn more about ways you can support this project, please visit my.ccis.edu/newdirection.

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Construction is underway on the approximately 60,000-square foot, four-story facility which will be located just north of Brown Hall and south of R. Marvin Owens Field.

Left: Columbia College President Scott Dalrymple welcomed the crowd of more than 250 to the event. Above: Members of the Columbia College leadership team and several friends of the college ceremonially broke ground on the $20 million Academic and Residence Hall project.

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In The Family A new award honors a young woman’s legacy.

BY ANN MUDER

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PHOTO BY KACI SMART ’09

Helen Elizabeth Simons is remembered by her family and friends as a wise soul who lived with kindness, leadership and love. In her memory, the newlyestablished Elizabeth Award will recognize exceptional young women graduating from Columbia College.

Simons, daughter of Board of Trustees Vice Chair Helen Dale Coe Simons ‘65, passed away at the age 24 following a car accident in 1996. She was a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and was employed in the Executive Management Training program for Niemen Marcus in Dallas. “She was a baby born loving life,” Simons says. “She always had a happy spirit and an undying respect and affection for people.”

The Elizabeth Award was established by her family – her mother, Dale; father, James K. Simons; grandmother, Helen “Miss Boo” Cates Neary ’38; and her brothers, John and Bryan Simons.

“We’re very honored that Columbia College would consider helping us set up this scholarship for her,” Dale

“It means so much to us to share Elizabeth with everyone. It’s amazing that one young lady from Texas will influence the lives of other young women from all over the world.”

– Helen Dale Coe Simons ’65 Simons says. “The values of Columbia College are values that she shared as well. We are so gratified that the memory of her spirit will live forever.”

The Elizabeth Award will be given annually to a distinguished graduating senior female student who is 30 years old or younger and has outstanding accomplishments in leadership, volunteerism, community service and involvement with the Columbia College community.

This recognition will include a cash award and will be acknowledged at the Honors and Awards convocation.

Students at any Columbia College location who meet the qualifications are eligible. The family hopes that this award will continue to serve as an example for young women to get involved in their community and pursue leadership opportunities.

The inaugural Elizabeth Award was presented to Leah Hoveln ’18 at the main campus spring commencement on April 28. Hoveln, center, is pictured with Bryan Simons and Helen Dale Coe Simons ’65.

Constant Curiosity

BY SAM FLEURY

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PHOTO BY KACI SMART ’09

Columbia College history professor Dr. Anthony Alioto has played a key role in helping countless students learn while also staying curious of all things around them. Possessing a razor-sharp mind, encyclopedic recall and subtle sense of humor, he led engaging classes in history, religion and philosophy.

“I never saw myself as the teacher really, I’ve only seen myself as sharing interests I’ve had over my life while navigating through the world of ideas and intellect,” Alioto says.

After an impressive 37-year tenure, Alioto will perhaps be best known for his work as the first John Schiffman Endowed Chair in Ethics, Philosophy and Religious Studies. He carried out the vision of the Schiffman family, bringing noted speakers to campus two times a year for lectures focused on Religious Studies and Ethics in Society.

These showcases were designed to not only enhance a student’s educational experience, but also bring about the conversation of what roles ethics, religion and moral development play as part of an individual’s path in life.

A veteran of the Vietnam War and highly accomplished author, Alioto has written several scholarly texts, including A History of Western Science, which has been used in universities throughout the country. He has also written other works based on indepth research, including Saintly Sex: Saint John Paul II, Sex, Gender and the Catholic Church and The Ninefold Path, based on his personal experiences with chronic illness, organ transplant and struggles with dialysis.

He is now writing with his son Luciano, who is a graphic artist. His latest work, Exalted Father: The Books of Marduk, was published earlier this year. It is a retelling of the Book of Genesis and the story of Abram.

Before walking down the aisle for the last time carrying the ceremonial mace as the longest-tenured faculty at Columbia College in April’s commencement ceremony, Alioto offered a valuable piece of advice to future teachers: “You’ve got to love what you’re doing, it’s got to be part of you and you have to be authentic.”

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Brain Matter Renowned neuroscientist Dr. Vilayanur Ramachandran discusses what makes us human.

BY DAVID MORRISON

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PHOTO BY KACI SMART ’09

It didn’t take long for Columbia College President Scott Dalrymple to discover an important truth about Dr. Vilayanur Ramachandran.

earlier in the day. Which makes sense because Ramachandran has made a career of picking people’s brains in a less figurative sense.

“I told him that I wish he had been my professor,” Dalrymple said when introducing Ramachandran to a crowd of around 250 people. “For an educator to say that to another educator, I meant it as a very high compliment.”

Ramachandran was this year’s guest for the Althea W. and John A. Schiffman Ethics in Society Lecture held at main campus on the evening of March 6. A distinguished professor in the neuroscience program and psychology department at the University of California-San Diego, he has devoted his life to revolutionary work on how humans’ brain chemistry dictates how they

Dalrymple came away with that impression after getting the chance to pick Ramachandran’s brain during a tour around campus, a questionand-answer session and a reception

behave and function. He published a New York Times best-selling book in 2011, and Time magazine named Ramachandran one of the 100 most influential people in the world that same year.

Ramachandran’s work focuses on rare, abnormal cognitive symptoms in patients, and how the roots of aberrant behavior that have puzzled us for centuries could come down to science rather than philosophy.

“All these problems that have been puzzling all of us for the longest time are only a function of the brain,” Ramachandran said during his hourlong lecture.

The annual Schiffman Ethics in Society Lecture started in 2003 thanks to a gift from former trustee John A. Schiffman in memory of his wife, Althea, a 1941 Christian College graduate. The series, which has brought internationally

acclaimed speakers to campus for the past 15 years, is aimed at engaging students, faculty, staff and the Columbia community in discussions about ethical issues in contemporary society.

Dr. Anthony Alioto, the college’s recently retired Schiffman Chair in Ethics, Philosophy and Religious Studies, said Ramachandran’s work gets at the foundation of our ethical considerations as humans. “Ethics comes from our consciousness,” Alioto says. “We have to really look at what it is to be human: the ability to imagine, to think.”

Alioto taught a seminar based on Ramachandran’s work during the spring semester, and his students got the chance to interact with the neurologist in a more intimate question-and-answer session the afternoon of his lecture.

The discussion, moderated by psychology and sociology professor Dr. Graham Higgs, centered largely on Ramachandran’s research into “mirror neurons,” which show a physiological response in the brain both when a person is feeling a sensation and when he or she is witnessing another person feeling the same sensation. For example, if someone was to prick your finger, all the neurons in a certain part of your brain would fire. If you were to see someone else’s finger pricked, about 10 percent of the neurons in that same area of your brain would still fire.

The phenomenon has only been observed in humans, some primate species, elephants, dolphins and whales. “They evolved through social interactions with humans and other primates,” Ramachandran said. “They

allow you to infer intentions of other people and make predictions about impending actions to allow you to take pre-emptive measures.”

Ramachandran has also undertaken groundbreaking research in treating phantom limb sufferers by using mirrors. Patients with phantom limbs feel as if their amputated limbs are still attached, even to the point where they feel pain in the missing limbs.

“All these problems that have been puzzling all of us for the longest time are only a function of the brain.”

– Dr. Vilayanur Ramachandran Ramachandran’s research found that patients can take steps to alleviate such pain by utilizing mirrors and mirror neurons. For instance, a patient who is experiencing pain in his amputated left arm can be soothed for a period by watching as another person’s left arm is massaged.

Similarly, if someone performs a massage on his right arm while a mirror is positioned in a way that makes it appear as if it is his left — so, a mirror placed where his left arm used to be — it can soothe his pain.

“The standard way to talk about these sorts of people for all these years has been, ‘Well, they’re crazy,’” Ramachandran said during his lecture. “When people say something ‘sounds crazy,’ to neurologists it just means, ‘You’re not smart enough to figure it out.’”

Learn more about the Althea W. and John A. Schiffman Lecture Series at www.ccis.edu/schiffmanlecture.

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Tip of the Hat Dr. Beverly Chico brings history, art and ideas to students through artifacts and a lifelong passion for learning.

BY KELSEY LYMAN

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PHOTOS PROVIDED BY DR. BEVERLY CHICO

Few people can tell the difference between a hat and a cap. For the record, a hat can have many shapes, always has a brim and isn’t always close to the head, while a cap fits closely to the head and has a visor.

Dr. Beverly Chico is in the minority of those who could tell you the difference. In fact, she wrote the book on it. Hats and Headwear Around the World: A Cultural

Encyclopedia is a culmination of Chico’s research, travels and education on hats and history. It is also the first encyclopedia of headwear written in English.

While that may sound like a daunting task, it’s just what she does in her free time. Her primary occupation is as a professor of history at Columbia CollegeDenver, where she makes the past come alive for students and faculty alike.

Chico moved to Denver from Baltimore, Maryland with her husband in 1975. She had previously been a tenured professor at Community College

of Baltimore and decided to continue her career in education.

“I never thought I wanted to be a teacher when I was growing up, but once I got into it, somehow or other, I loved it,” she says.

After doing some museum work in Denver, she came to Columbia College in the fall of 1991 and has been an adjunct faculty member ever since. In 2000, former college president Dr. Gerald Brouder attended the Denver location’s graduation ceremonies, where he met Chico. The two spoke about Columbia College’s special place in history by offering higher education access to women since 1851. As a result of that conversation, she was invited to teach as the inaugural visiting scholar at the Columbia College main campus.

“They were lovely to me. It was a wonderful experience, and I enjoyed it tremendously,” Chico says.

Inside the classroom, Chico uses her immense museum and historical

education background to bring history to life for students. She has a collection of more than 600 hats and artifacts and doesn’t hesitate to bring them to class to share them with her students.

“I’m what you might call a ‘show and tell’ person; that’s the way I teach.

Art is visual. That’s why I hope I bring it to life through very common experiences,” she says. “First and foremost, I am an educator. So, my first attitude is to let them touch it.

Not every student will appreciate the unusual experience of this, but a lot of students do.”

Her enormous assortment of artifacts wasn’t collected overnight but over a lifetime of adventures. In her 20s, Chico moved to Europe for four years to work and travel, during which time she lived in Germany and Spain.

On weekends and holidays, she would visit other countries.

While living in Spain, Chico began to frequent an antique flea market, where she got to know many of the vendors and started to purchase antiques: the beginnings of her hat and headwear collection. At the time, she worked on an American military base and, because she was on the base’s salary, the exchange rate played in her favor. This enabled her to kick-start her headwear collection and pick up many rare pieces.

“She has an amazing collection of artifacts,” says Dr. Nefeli Schneider, director of the Denver location and Chico’s longtime friend. “She had the foresight in her youth to travel

through the world, back in the day when perhaps things weren’t popular or artifacts were for sale for cheap in a country, and she would pick it up. Even though they’re museum pieces, she says, ‘What’s the use of putting it away? This needs to be shared.’ ”

Dr. Beverly Chico uses her immense museum and historical education background to bring history to life for students.

Upon returning to the United States, Chico pursued higher education and received her doctorate in history and sociology from the University of Northern Colorado in 1979. She also has a master’s degree in art history from Johns Hopkins University.

Tales of Chico’s life and adventures could fill many books. Her travels around the world and tremendous accumulated knowledge about art and history are just small pieces of what makes her such an asset to Columbia College. Her colleagues have certainly noticed, too.

Schneider attributes Chico’s success in the classroom to her love of history and knack for learning.

“She has such depth of knowledge, plus she ties history, anthropology, art, ideas throughout the ages and just weaves them together so well,” Schneider says. “She just brings it to life.”

Inside the Gate

14 Learn how to support the program at www.columbiacollegealumni.org/ccaascholars.

Rising Above The 2018 CCAA Scholars Program awards a record eight $1,000 scholarships.

BY CAROLYN PREUL

Chera Craig Benjamin Welch Simi Valley, California Columbia College Online Education Major: Business Administration “The affordable classes and overall convenience of Columbia College’s online classes have made obtaining my bachelor’s degree seamlessly achievable.

I was able to attend school while serving my country in the Navy and now as a Veteran.”

Tess Losacker Columbia, Missouri Columbia College Day Campus Major: Criminal Justice

Camdenton, Missouri / Columbia College-Lake Ozark Major: Human Services “Once in classes I was surprised how caring the instructors were. They pushed me out of my comfort zone but gave me the tools needed to rise above any task I had been given. I started out thinking I would at least go for my associates; I have now met that goal, and I am going for my bachelors and contemplating graduate school. Thank you, Columbia College, for helping me believe in myself and pushing me to greatness.”

Landon Parker Kansas City, Missouri Columbia College Day Campus Major: Business, Marketing and Sports Management

Emily Karrick

“My passion and work ethic have benefited from my time in Columbia. I am driven to put myself through school without my parents’ [financial] help and give back to my alma mater.”

“[Columbia College] met all of the criteria I was looking for, and I will forever be thankful for the opportunity it has given me to be a better person and mother.”

“Columbia College became a home for me – far away from home. Being from Berlin, Germany, I have participated in track and field all my life, but I could have never imagined that it would lead me to a small town in Missouri. Even farther from my wildest dreams, I never thought I would make lifelong friendships, find a wonderful new team, and have made — am making and will make — many unforgettable experiences that will shape my entire life.”

Bountiful, Utah Columbia College Online Education Major: Human Services

Stefanie Iola Jefferson City, Missouri / Columbia College-Jefferson City and Online Education / Major: Human Services “I went back to school after becoming disabled in 2011, and had it not been for the amazing people at Columbia, I would not be in a degree program that ignites the fire within me to help others through human services. I will be using my being differently-abled to help others reach their goals too!”

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Steven Carlin Fleming Island, Florida Columbia College Online Education Major: Criminal Justice Administration “When I joined the military it was because I did not want to go to school and didn’t know what I wanted to grow up and become. I chose Columbia College for the ease of balancing both service and learning. … I can not truly explain how much this means to me as a parent of three and on active sea-duty to be able to keep moving toward my bachelor’s degree.”

Krista Smith Prairie Grove, Illinois Columbia CollegeCrystal Lake Major: Business Administration and Human Resource Management “I will be the first family member to graduate college. … I have had the best teachers, who connect with their students and treat them with respect. I have learned more than formulas and how to pass tests. I have gained friendships and learned how to correlate what I learn in school to real life.”

Military Recognition

BY KELSEY LYMAN

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PHOTO BY KACI SMART ’09

Each spring, Military Recognition Day honors Columbia College’s more than 8,400 students nationwide who are service members and veterans, as well as their families, through both scholarship presentations and the ongoing support of the Ousley Family Veterans Service Center.

Keith Glindemann, director of the Veterans Service Center, is particularly dedicated to contributing to the success of Columbia College military students.

“I think it’s important that we serve those who serve us,” Glindemann says. “I don’t want to just see them get into the seat of a class, I want to see them graduate. I want to

see them fulfill their goals. And the fact that we can help them utilize benefits that they’ve earned though their service is important.”

The May 24 event, attended by more than 140 students, faculty, staff, veterans and community members, included a keynote by current student and veteran Robert Canine, the raising of the American and Columbia College flags on Bass Commons and the playing of taps.

The flag detail was comprised of four Columbia College students and alumni: Army Sergeant Joey Cameron, Army Sergeant Will Lalka ’14, Marine Corps Corporal Landon Miller ’18 and Army Staff Sergeant Jonathon Weischedel ’16.

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Junior golfer Daymond Dollens was named a 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-District® Men’s At-Large honoree and a 2018 Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athlete.

Hail to the Chief Cougars golfer Daymond Dollens heads into second year as SGA president.

BY DAVID MORRISON PHOTO BY CINDY FOT TI POT TER ’05

Traffic was backing up in front of the Columbia College men’s golf van as it made its way toward the course for the Park University Spring Invitational in mid-April. A car was stalled at a stoplight off the interstate exit, leading to a whole bunch of honking horns and fuming drivers.

Cougars junior golfer Daymond Dollens saw that nobody was doing anything to help the situation. So he and senior Trevor Cronin asked coach John Utley to pull the van over.

“We all got out and pushed the car to the nearest gas station, which thankfully was less than a block away,” Dollens says.

“You could tell it made the guy’s day. He was frantic. It was kind of weird just seeing him sit out there with nobody helping him. So I was like, ‘Well, why shouldn’t we?’”

It’s all in a day’s work for Dollens, the Centralia, Missouri, native who is consistently the Cougars’ lowest-scoring golfer. He also happens to be entering his second year as president of the Columbia College Student Government Association. “I really felt it was my duty, and I was really inspired to run, because it was a good way to serve Columbia College, the school that has given me so much,” Dollens says.

He started his student government career as freshman class representative thanks to a push from former SGA president Sarah Barris, who was one of the first people Dollens met on campus.

The next year, he occupied an executive board position and then, as a junior, assumed the presidency.

As SGA president, Dollens served on the committee to hire a new dean for students and participated in the formation of a new college-wide mission statement task force.

“They were very welcoming and interested in hearing what I had to say, which was quite awesome. It’s just nice to feel appreciated,” Dollens says. “We’re hoping to make some big changes, develop our SGA and set some groundwork for some greater things in the future.”

A mathematics major and business minor, Dollens hopes to continue on to graduate school so he can be a college instructor. At Columbia College, his instructors — along with his golf teammates and coaches, and his fellow SGA members — have allowed him to follow all of his passions.

“It was a very big concern when I first started SGA, if I could be SGA president and play golf. It’s worked out great because of all the support,” Dollens says.

“I’m definitely not juggling it all on my own, it’s thanks to the support system that’s around me. It has nothing to do with me, that’s for sure.”

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Columbia College Alumni Association Advisory Board

Joshua Muder ’99 CCAA Advisory Board President As I write this letter, I am reminded of a quote by Gen. Eric Shinseki, Army Chief of Staff: “If you dislike change, you’re going to dislike irrelevance even more.” (National Review, 12-10-2001) As part of the Alumni Advisory Board, I have the benefit of hearing directly from the leaders of our alma mater about the exciting growth and the challenging headwinds the college sees on the horizon. Fortunately, I am impressed with how Columbia College navigates the present and plans for the future. Not only does it stay relevant, but it is a model institution for our peers.

As I write this, the marketing campaign has just started touting our TruitionSM model that makes planning and managing the cost of a Columbia College degree significantly easier by offering books at no cost and eliminating all fees for our nationwide and online students.

A lot has changed at Columbia College since I was a day student in the late 1990s. The Chinese pagoda is gone. The nearly 100-year-old indoor swimming pool is a memory as well, replaced by a dynamic student commons.

President Joshua Muder ’99 Day Campus

While I still enjoy catching a softball game against our NAIA rivals, my son and I have made a new tradition of attending the Midwest Campus Clash in Southwell, a video game tournament where Columbia College takes on big college teams like the University of Kansas, K-State University, the University of Missouri and more.

Main campus is seeing another area of change with the construction of a new building (my.ccis.edu/newdirection).

In my day, Miller Hall was just getting air conditioning! This new Academic and Residence Hall, along with the Brouder Science Center, are physical proof of Columbia College’s commitment to growth and serving our students.

Vice President Jonathan Dudley ’10 Day Campus Alumni Representative to the Board of Trustees Bill Johnston ’82 Day Campus Advisors Allen Butler ’07 Lake County Debra Carnahan ’82 Day Campus Marjorie Thomas Gutelius ’69 Christian College Bill Leeper ’04 NAS Jacksonville Chris Lievsay ’09 & ’11 Kansas City Lollie Zander Reed ’68 Christian College

If you want to know more about Columbia College’s future and how you can volunteer your time along side other alumni to help guide it, please drop us an email or give us a call.

Ed Sasan ’11 Redstone Arsenal

We are CC!

Carol Winkler ’93 Evening Campus

ccaaprez@ccis.edu

Norris Tanner ’10 Kansas City Chris Unnerstall ’14 Evening Campus

Senior Director of Alumni Relations Ann Merrifield Executive Director of Advancement Suzanne Rothwell

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Career Corner

Why LinkedIn Matters

BY DAN GOMEZ-PALACIO, DIRECTOR OF THE GROSSNICKLE CAREER SERVICES CENTER

In the Grossnickle Career Services Center, we often talk to students and alumni looking for ways to get ahead in their chosen career field.

No matter the area of interest, we recommend LinkedIn. Now in its 16th year, LinkedIn is generally known but often not used to its full potential.

LinkedIn directly connects users to professional —or aspiring professional — profiles. While many use LinkedIn as a passive instrument, the site can quickly expand a professional network and provide useful industry insight.

organization, which may result in qualified references during that important next step to landing a job.

Research Our team often logs in to LinkedIn to research specific industries and career pathways. It is enlightening to find people in similar careers and see real-life examples of the experience and education needed to break into a field. By looking at the profiles of people in different roles, it shows what it takes to possibly get there, such as graduate degrees or entry-level positions.

Network LinkedIn is not like other social media platforms. On other sites, users may be hesitant to connect with casual acquaintances or fellow conference attendees. That’s exactly what LinkedIn is for, and we encourage users to be aggressive in developing new contacts.

Additionally, it can be a great tool to find out more about an organization.

How does the company market itself on LinkedIn? What articles does it share? Does the page show the office culture? Obviously not all organizations are active on LinkedIn, but for those that are, it can provide an enhanced perspective beyond a company’s website.

Since LinkedIn profiles focus on professional experience, users don’t need to doubt whether or not it is appropriate to reach out. Consider LinkedIn a digital business card. By expanding this network, users can gain insight about an industry and make personal connections into a particular

Reach Out When creating a profile, users will automatically be placed in the alumni network of their higher education institution. More than 37,000 alumni, students and employees are listed on the Columbia College LinkedIn page.

Career counseling, networking and resumé assistance are available free of charge to all students and alumni through the Grossnickle Career Services Center. To get started, contact (800) 231-2391 ext. 7425 or visit www.ccis.edu/careercenter.

This network can be utilized to find professionals who are often more than happy to give advice to a fellow Cougar.

Industry-focused groups and discussion forums are available on LinkedIn. For example, those interested in a career in Human Resources can join Society for Human Resource Management or a group dedicated to corporate recruitment. LinkedIn will even suggest user groups based on profile details. Additionally, follow key “influencers” for unique industry insight.

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Living to Serve Dave Green ’14 seeks fulfillment through helping the hungry.

BY DAVID MORRISON

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF FEEDING CHILDREN EVERYWHERE

Seeing the devastation Hurricane Maria caused in Puerto Rico last fall, Dave Green ’14 found himself uniquely suited to help out.

A graduate of Columbia CollegeOrlando, Green is the chief executive officer of Feeding Children Everywhere, an organization based in Central Florida that seeks to provide healthy meals for those in need. The food production apparatus of Feeding Children Everywhere had already sprang into action twice earlier in the year, sending meals to those affected by hurricanes in Texas and Florida.

The situation in Puerto Rico, though, required something even more comprehensive. It required 54,000 volunteers working over the span of 19 days to package and send food to the ailing US territory. In the end, Feeding Children Everywhere sent 4.4 million meals to the island.

“When there’s a disaster, because we have this platform and we’re able to produce a large amount of food in a short period of time, we try as much as possible to respond and get food to people who need it most,” Green says. “[After Hurricane Maria], we did

one of the largest volunteer projects in the history of the US.” For his efforts, Green earned the Central Floridian of the Year award from the Orlando Sentinel in January. The newspaper sorted through hundreds of nominations before paring the list down to five finalists, then the editorial board interviewed each of the finalists and chose the winner.

Green is appreciative of the honor. He also knows he didn’t do it by himself.

“You work hard and try to do what you can to make a difference,”

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Green says. “There are thousands of people who make Feeding Children Everywhere what it is, from the volunteers to partners to our staff, our interns. To be recognized for that effort as a singular person, it was quite an overwhelming and humbling experience.”

Green is worlds away from where he was a decade ago. In 2008, he quit his job, gave away everything he owned and hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, a mountainous path that runs nearly 3,000 miles from Mexico to Canada, via California, Oregon and Washington.

He came to an important realization during all that hiking. “The thing that I really learned about myself while I was out there was that, if I was ever really going to be satisfied or fulfilled in my life, then my life needed to be about serving others,” Green says.

When he finished his trip, Green got a job in the tech industry while he looked for an opportunity for fulfillment. He enrolled at Columbia College to get his degree in computer science but switched to business administration after a semester. He had first started college in the 1990s but never finished.

“It was just kind of bothering me.

I just felt like for me to reach my potential, that I needed to go back and finish school,” Green says.

While attending Columbia College, Green joined Feeding Children Everywhere as its chief operating officer. Two years ago, he was named CEO. In that time, Green has made it his mission to streamline access to food for people in need. Last year,

Dave Green congratulates award recipient Laila Schuck at the 2nd annual Feeding Children Everywhere Hunger Heroes Awards.

Feeding Children Everywhere launched the “Fed 40” program, where qualifying applicants can receive 40 meal servings.

"Life is a lot more fulfilling when it’s about serving others.”

— Dave Green ’14 “FedConnect,” another aspect of the Fed 40 program, provides applicants with opportunities for help in areas such as job skills, computer skills and English as a second language training. FedConnect also launched an entrepreneurship pilot program for applicants who want to start their own small businesses. Green says that more than 60 percent of the organization’s Fed 40 recipients are also taking advantage of FedConnect.

“They’re things that are basically going to create self-sufficiency in somebody’s life, to help them out

of whatever they’re in right now,” Green says.

Feeding Children Everywhere has recently expanded, establishing regional warehouses in Salt Lake City and Chicago to serve different areas of the country. Green hopes that, in five years, the Fed 40 program will be available in every state, and FedConnect’s small business assistance will be the largest entrepreneurship program in the country.

He gained clarity through that crosscountry hike. He gained the knowhow at Columbia College.

“It taught me to look at situations, problem-solve and to be able to look at the health of a business in general, and look for opportunities to improve, look for things that need to be adjusted or could probably be fine-tuned to be more efficient,” Green says. “All those things have been very important to me over the last couple of years.”

My CCAA

22 Find out how you can get involved with the CCAA at www.columbiacollegealumni.org/volunteer.

Volunteer Spotlight

Glen Gustafson ’15 & ’17

BY ANN MUDER

Growing up, Glen Gustafson ’15 & ’17 had several toy trains and used to run his grandpa’s train set around the Christmas tree. Today, he has a career figuring out how to diagnose and repair real 500,000-pound locomotives. “It was my dream job growing up,” he says. “I love the idea of looking at broken locomotives and figuring out how to fix them.”

Following a decade of fixing trains and teaching other electricians at Union Pacific in northeastern Illinois, Gustafson wanted to further his career. He decided to pursue a business degree after a friend recommended he enroll at Columbia College of Missouri-Lake County.

“Columbia College was a stepping stone for me that helped me along my career path,” Gustafson says. “I enjoyed my time immensely. It was great in that it opened doors for me and gave me options to get a promotion in other areas.”

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 2015 and a Master of Business Administration in 2017, Gustafson wanted to give back to the college by volunteering his time. Lyndon Russell, director of the Lake County location, was forming the Great Lakes Alumni Affinity Council and asked Gustafson and his wife, Alesia Gustafson ’15 & ’17, to join. They both stepped up to serve on the council, and Glen is currently serving as council chair.

“It takes a lot of commitment and time to help make any organization succeed, and that was what I decided to do to help our council,” Gustafson says.

Glen Gustafson ’15 & ’17 and his wife, Alesia Gustafson ’15 & ’17, support the community in northeastern Illinois with fellow Columbia College alumni through the CCAA's Great Lakes Affinity Council.

opportunities with Feed My Starving Children, where they packed nutritious meals for hungry children in third-world countries. They have also held bowling fundraisers to raise money for local organizations, including a local food bank and I-PLUS, a group that helps homeless veterans and community members.

Gustafson says the Great Lakes Alumni Affinity Council is continually looking for events to help people in the surrounding community. “We try to support charitable organizations that help individuals and families, particularly when there’s a downturn in the economy,” he says.

Gustafson hopes to encourage even more people to get involved with the Great Lakes Alumni Affinity Council and with the Alumni Association. “I just want to make sure that our group succeeds, and that takes a lot of work and dedication not only from my wife and me, but from all our members,” he says.

volunteer The council plans various events throughout the year to make a difference not only in the local community but around the world. They’ve lined up volunteer

Time. Talent.

Treasure.

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Alumni Events Register for an event and view photo galleries at www.columbiacollegealumni.org/alumnievents.

Jacksonville, Florida Maggiano’s Little Italy, February 21 Darrell Long and May Arvin ’14

Savannah, Georgia Moon River Brewing Company, February 22

Paul and Michelle Robertson ’16

Jane and Cornelius Moore ’09

Willie Washington and Antonio Searcy ’16

Dallas, Texas Abascus Restaurant, February 28 This special Christian College alumnae reunion, hosted by Trustees June Viner Hurdle ’83 and Helen Dale Coe Simons ’65, included a presentation by President Scott Dalrymple.

Pictured: June Viner Hurdle ’83, Helen Dale Coe Simons ’65, Kay True ’67, Martha Dickey ’59, Laura Lyon ’59, Pauline White ’38 and PJ Weber ’51

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Jefferson City, Missouri Prison Brews, May 24 Miriam Scheulen ’16 and Melanie Stockman

Joanne Lewis ’17, Bethany Noble ’16 and Kacie Naros ’17

Alumni Feedback “What if we throw a party and nobody comes?”

That’s what goes through our mind each time we plan an alumni event. Luckily, that hasn’t happened! From happy hours to professional development seminars, we get a good crowd; but there’s always room for more.

Kansas City, Missouri Howl at the Moon, March 15 Cougars fans attended a pre-game celebration before the men’s basketball team competed in the NAIA National Tournament.

A significant amount of planning goes in to alumni programming. We identify the largest “pockets” of alumni in a given area and search for a fun, centrally-located venue. Then we market these events through postcards, e-blasts, announcements in the monthly newsletter and even follow-up phone calls. Why? Because we really want to meet you!

So, how are we doing? Why do you choose to come — or not come — to an alumni event in your area? Is it because of lack of time, lack of convenience or lack of interest? We’d really like to know. Send an email to amerrifield@ccis.edu with your comments and suggestions. The next time we throw a party in your area, it would be great to see you there!

Jim and Linda Peterson Ann Marshall, Russ Marshall ’81 and Edward Holicky

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Alumni Social June 27, 2018 Columbia, Missouri

Fort Worth, Texas Billy Bob’s, March 1

Alumni Social July 25, 2018 Springfield, Missouri

An evening in the Fort Worth Stockyards included line dancing lessons with Columbia College President and First Lady Scott and Tina Dalrymple.

Great Lakes Affinity Council (GLAC) Meeting July 25, 2018 Lake County, Illinois

Heather and Jason Martin ’06

Teronna Bowden ‘17 and guest

Alumni Social August 8, 2018 St. Louis, Missouri Speed Networking September 25, 2018 Columbia, Missouri CCAA Advisory Board Meeting October 5, 2018 Columbia, Missouri Cougar Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet October 5, 2018 Columbia, Missouri Homecoming October 6, 2018 Columbia, Missouri Christian College Alumnae Luncheon October 2018 Kansas City, Missouri Alumni Social October 2018 Kansas City, Missouri Alumni Holiday Party December 13, 2018 Columbia, Missouri

Ron McKinnon ’16, President Scott Dalrymple and Martin Cieszlak ’98

Christian College Reunion Weekend May 3-4, 2019 Columbia, Missouri

My CCAA

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

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Reunion Weekend

BY CAROLYN PREUL



PHOTOS BY KACI SMART ’09

Alumnae who graduated from the college prior to its name change in 1970 came back to main campus to celebrate Christian College Reunion Weekend on May 4 – 5. The weather was perfect, and the company was even better. Members of each honor class — 1938, 1948, 1958 and 1968 — honored the college’s rich heritage and learned about the new and exciting advancements happening at Columbia College today. Guests enjoyed a walking tour of campus, a special bus tour of favorite Columbia landmarks, a luncheon hosted by Columbia College President and First Lady Scott and Tina Dalrymple and a special time for reflection during the Ivy Chain re-enactment ceremony.

Reunion Weekend attendees pose for a group photo in the Christian College Garden. Front row: Judy Frisinger Bly Martin ’68, Libby Neal Callaway ’58, Marjorie Thomas Gutelius ’69, Mary Wilson Glasscock ’48 and Lollie Zander Reed ’68; Back row: Lynne Stuver Baker ’64, Mary Harrington Flanagan ’67, Mary Kay Pfingsten ’68, Carolyn Gore Moore ’58, Janet Carter Wright ’58 and Katrina Harry Cochran ’68

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1. Lollie Zander Reed ’68 takes a picture of her mother’s 1940 yearbook photo while visiting the Archives.

2. Guests admire the many changes made to campus.

3. Mary Kay Pfingsten ’68 and Judy Frisinger Martin ’68 share a moment of reflection during the Ivy Chain re-enactment ceremony. 4. Margaret Mutti Andrews ’38 and her grandson locate Margaret’s picture in her senior class portrait. 5. Libby Neal Callaway ’58 and Carolyn Gore Moore ’58 look at family photos of today while browsing through old class yearbooks. 6. Nancy Littlefield-Whiteside ’68 and Katrina Harry Cochran ’68 celebrate Katrina’s birthday during the luncheon.

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LAW & ORDER

BY DAVID MORRISON

Three men in floor-length black robes entered the Bixby Lecture Hall through the back of the room, chatting amiably amongst themselves as they descended the stairs toward the front. On the stage at the front of the hall, another man stood up from his seat and said, forcefully, “All rise! Oyez! Oyez! Oyez!” Court was in session at Columbia College.

The Columbia College Criminal Justice program prepares those who plan to protect and serve.

On April 10, three judges from the Western District Missouri Court of Appeals heard arguments on four cases in front of a crowd of about 115 Columbia College students, faculty, staff and other curious community members in the Brouder Science Center’s Bixby Lecture Hall. The cases, judges and lawyers were all real. It was a regular court session, just held in a more educational setting than usual.

“It’s an honor for us to be here today. We like to go to the various colleges that are within our district,” said chief

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judge Mark Pfeiffer. “This is our maiden voyage at Columbia College. We hope that this will become a tradition for many years, to come back here.”

legal studies minor, associate degrees in criminal justice, human services, fire service administration and a crime scene investigation certificate.

The panel heard arguments on cases ranging from unlawful removal of trees on a rental property to whether using someone else’s debit card to buy candy and punching in their PIN code constituted a forgery. During a break in the middle of the cases, the judges circulated amongst the audience, answering any questions that had come up.

Langford says the students that the criminal justice program attracts run the gamut, from younger students using their undergraduate education to set themselves up for law school, to working police officers who want to go back to school and earn their degrees to increase their chances for career advancement.

“If somebody indicates they’re interested in being a lawyer and asks, ‘What should I do,’ most [law professors] would tell you, ‘Go watch lawyers, in a courtroom,’” Pfeiffer said. “You’re going to see some things you like and want to emulate, and other things that you don’t like, things that you’d do differently. This is one of those opportunities for Columbia College students. For those of you who are giving some consideration to the idea of pursuing a legal career after you graduate, I hope this is a helpful opportunity for you.”

“They’ll get a well-rounded liberal arts education,” says Langford, who is an associate professor of criminal justice administration and has been department chair since 2002. “They’ll know how to write and express themselves verbally. They’ll know how to think critically about issues. They’ll be aware of what’s going on currently in the field.”

HANDS-ON TEACHING Dr. David Roebuck, former dean of the Columbia College School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences and department host of the event, couldn’t agree more.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to see a branch of government in action that most people know very little about,” he says. “This is a really good opportunity for those who are planning to go to law school to see their future.”

The district court event is just the sort of hands-on teaching experience that Roebuck and Criminal Justice Administration and Human Services Department Chair Barry Langford crave for their students.

Students who enroll at Columbia College can pursue majors in criminal justice administration, forensic science and human services, along with a

GET CERTIFIED Columbia College began offering its crime scene investigation certificate program in 2008. Around that time, the CSI stable of television shows was cresting in popularity, with the original franchise, as well as Miami and New York spinoffs, routinely coming in at the top of the ratings charts.

Langford saw a great deal of interest in the program from the start. As the shows’ popularity waned, though, Columbia College’s offerings maintained their pull.

“We’re able to teach some more specialized courses,” Langford says. “We offer classes in crime scene investigation: forensic pathology, crime scene photography, shooting incident reconstruction. A lot of criminal justice departments are more general than that.”

Out of the department’s population of undergraduate Day Campus students, Langford estimates that about half of them are earning their CSI certificates. Though the forensic science

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Associate professor Barry Langford has been department chair for Criminal Justice Administration and Human Services since 2002 .

major at Columbia College is now housed in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, those students still work closely with the criminal justice department on their CSI certifications.

who was an attorney in the private and public sector before moving to academia. “Most of our full-time faculty has some past experience in criminal justice.”

Forensic science students get intensive tutelage in the fields of biology, physics, chemistry, criminal justice and law in order to go into professions that involve examination of physical and trace evidence, DNA, toxicology, latent fingerprints and more.

ADVANCEMENT OPPORTUNITIES Among all the criminal justice majors at the main campus, Nationwide locations and in the Online Education program, Langford estimates that about half end up going into law enforcement at the federal, state or local level. About a third, Langford says, will end up following the human services track and go into professions that help troubled populations, such as juvenile officers, probation officers or counseling.

“With the CSI certificate, we’ve had to make sure we had the faculty and courses necessary to teach that,” Langford says. “A lot of our curriculum has stayed the same in terms of the courses that we teach, but we modernized them with all the new developments. The crime scene courses, you really need somebody there who not only has education, but they have experience in those areas.”

That’s a theme for the faculty in the rest of the department: instructors with field experience, who can show as well as tell. “That’s another thing that kind of sets our program apart a little bit: the faculty have a lot of experiences,” says Langford,

A healthy proportion of the nontraditional, adult students in the school already have jobs in law enforcement but want to earn their degrees in order to make themselves more attractive candidates for promotion up the administrative ranks.

For current law enforcement professionals coming back to school to earn their degree, Columbia College offers the Partners in Law Enforcement and Partners in Corrections programs. The school

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awards up to 24 credit hours to students who have already completed a qualifying police or corrections academy, giving those students the ability to complete their degrees quicker and save on tuition.

“There are also a lot of military people who come and want to get their degree after they’ve served.

Law enforcement is kind of a good second career for military people,” Langford says. “It’s the same type of person who usually gravitates toward criminal justice: somebody who is interested in

public service, who has the values of a criminal justice major.”

Landon Miller ’18 was one of those military students transitioning back into civilian life when he enrolled at Columbia College after serving for more than four years in the Marine Corps Reserves. He had every intention of becoming a police officer, until he took a government class with Dr. Roebuck.

“It showed me some of the potential I had. It showed me that I was interested in law,” Miller says.

TRIAL EXPERIENCE The Columbia College Mock Trial team offers first-hand, working knowledge of the judicial system.

The Mock Trial team routinely competes against teams from larger schools. They also routinely bring home a number of awards from each competition.

Of this season’s eight-member team, Emily Holt ’18, the club president, won an “outstanding attorney” award at the regional tournament, and Leah Hoveln ’18 and Erin Weaver ’18 both earned multiple “outstanding witness” honors throughout the year. Landon Miller ’18, the club vice president, took a perfect score as a defense attorney twice and also took home an “outstanding attorney” award on the prosecution side. The team also took home the Spirit of AMTA Award at four of the five tournaments in which it competed this year and earned honorable mention at the other.

Barry Langford, associate professor and the club’s sponsor, says the team’s quality has improved tremendously in recent years. “We started to go to more tournaments,

and then getting more competitive experience has led to more success, and then more success has led to more people being interested in it,” Langford says. “It just has kind of snowballed and increased like that.”

Miller has been accepted to the University of Missouri School of Law and was recently named to the Missouri Juvenile Justice Advisory Group, while fellow club member Eric Levine ’18 earned a scholarship to Case Western Reserve School of Law in Ohio and Holt has been accepted to the University of Calgary Law School in Canada. Langford says Columbia College has placed students at law schools in Virginia and California, as well as in-state programs at St. Louis University, Washington University and the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Mock Trial checks all the boxes for law school applicants. “Public speaking is a big thing, which helps not only when you’re giving an

Mock prosecuting attorneys Emily Holt ’18, Landon Miller ’18 and Easton Banik (front row), and witnesses Claire Petsinger and Erin Weaver ’18, listen to the defense’s case during the Columbia College Mock Trial team exhibition event in March.

extemporaneous speech, but also interviewing skills,” Holt says. “It sort of develops your confidence, which is always a good thing, and being able to look at a problem and seeing it from two different perspectives. It develops a lot of different skills.”

The Mock Trial teammates were in attendance at the Court of Appeals event. It was yet another way Columbia College was able to show them a glimpse into their future.

the

black klans man

LIFE ON THE

BIG SCREEN A blockbuster movie based on the true story of an undercover operation by alumnus Ron Stallworth ’07 opens in theaters nationwide August 10.

BY DAVID MORRISON

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Life on the Big Screen

Early last fall, Ron Stallworth ’07 sat in a Brooklyn studio, watching a table full of actors re-enact a pivotal time in his life that happened nearly 40 years ago.

John David Washington, son of Academy Award winner Denzel Washington, was there, playing the part of “Ron Stallworth.” So was Laura Harrier, whose latest credits include Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Adam Driver, who plays the main villain in the current Star Wars trilogy of movies. Presiding over it all: Oscar-winning director Spike Lee. His next project, BlackkKlansman, is based on Stallworth’s biography. This was the first table read with the cast.

Stallworth turned to his wife, Patsy TerrazasStallworth. “We looked at each other, smiled and said, ‘Can you believe this?’ ” Stallworth says. “That’s my name they’re mentioning. We’ll be able to see it in a dark theater with popcorn and Coke and actually watch all this take place. It’s very surreal. We periodically look at each other, pinch ourselves and say, ‘Can you believe this?’ Because it’s a rollercoaster ride that we’re on, one that we never imagined.”

Just seven short months later, BlackkKlansman premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to a standing ovation and was awarded the festival’s second-most prestigious award, the Grand Prix.

While some critics have labeled the drama a “buddy comedy,” the message is not funny. “There is humor in it, but these are very serious topics. It’s not a comedy in any way,” Stallworth says.

Stallworth, who spent more than three decades in law enforcement, earned his Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from Columbia College-Salt Lake in 2007. He published Black Klansman in 2014, because he felt it was an important chapter of his life to share.

It tells the story of how, as a Colorado Springs Police Department detective in 1978, Stallworth ran an eight-month undercover sting operation in which he embedded himself deep within the fabric of the Colorado Springs chapter of the Ku Klux Klan hate group. Along the way, he helped thwart criminal acts the chapter had planned, gained critical intelligence about the national KKK apparatus and how it intersected with other extremist groups and rose to a leadership position within his local chapter.

Not only was Stallworth a police officer, but he was an African-American police officer. He conducted his portion of the operation over the phone and through correspondence. When a meet-up was required, he sent a white friend who worked in narcotics in his place.

“The insight I got is that they’re not the brightest lightbulbs in the socket,” Stallworth says. “They’re

In late May, Stallworth visited Universal Studios to sign movie posters and attend a private screening for BlackkKlansman.

Even Stallworth says he was riveted by the final five minutes: “We all sat there and said, ‘Wow.’ It took our breath away.”

relatively ignorant people in the sense that, if they had been on their game, I never would have been able to accomplish what I did accomplish.”

While it was primarily an intelligence-gathering operation, Stallworth and the Colorado Springs Police Department were able to stop three planned cross burnings during the course of the sting.

Chapter members would loop Stallworth in on the plans, he’d call police dispatch, and patrols would flood the area.

“Once they would get in the area to plant their cross and see all these police cars cruising back and forth, they would panic and chicken out,” Stallworth says.

Stallworth also caught wind of a plot to bomb two gay bars in the area as well as a plan to steal automatic weapons from a nearby Army base, Fort Carson, during the life of the sting. Neither of those crimes ever happened. Through his conversations with group leaders, Stallworth was able to help connect the dots between the local Klan chapter and an American Nazi Party group out of Denver, as well as the militant Posse Comitatus organization.

He had multiple conversations with David Duke, then Grand Wizard of the KKK, in which the Anti-Defamation League would feed Stallworth questions to mine Duke for information. All the while, Duke was certain he was speaking with a like-minded white man.

A major motion picture studio bought the rights to Black Klansman soon after it was published in 2014, but it let the contract expire without moving on it.

At one point, Emmy Award-winning screenwriter Christopher Cleveland expressed interest in bringing the story to the screen, but that fell through as well. “[Cleveland] told me, ‘Don’t give up.

This is a blockbuster in the making, if it’s done right.

And the story should be told,’ ” Stallworth says.

“He would answer my questions, not recognizing that he was basically snitching on himself,” Stallworth says. “Then I would pass that information back to the Anti-Defamation League for whatever purpose they had in mind, closing a few gaps in their understanding of what was happening at the time.”

QC Entertainment bought the film rights in March 2016. The next spring, the studio scored a huge hit with the thriller Get Out, written and directed by Jordan Peele, who went on to win a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for the movie. QC told Stallworth that Peele had read his book and wanted to produce

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and direct Black Klansman as his follow-up project.

Shortly after, Stallworth got a call from the head of QC. Peele would still be producing the film, but someone else was stepping in as director: Spike Lee. “Apparently [Lee] read my book, liked it and contacted Jordan to tell him he’d like to direct it,” Stallworth says. “I had no goals in mind, no particular intention, other than to tell the story that I had been a part of those many years earlier. So, when Hollywood came calling, it was a pleasant surprise.

Then it was a shock to the system when I get the top two black directors right now in Hollywood saying they want to take it on as a project.”

Stallworth is now on a first-name basis with the 2017 Academy Award recipient for lifetime achievement in directing. “If I had to pick anyone to direct the movie, it would be Spike,” he says.

With references to current political and racial issues, Stallworth appreciates the director’s pointedness.

He believes the movie will show distinct historical lines between issues. Lee urges people to “get woke,” a reference to the societal need to be aware of and understand current affairs. Stallworth’s story offers an unprecedented perspective on racism.

“That’s the reality of what’s going on,” he says. “The movie will definitely wake people up.”

In June, an updated version of Black Klansman the book was released in hardcover through Flatiron Books, a subsidiary of Macmillan Publishers. Even with a summer book tour, national interviews and the fame that comes from being the Black Klansman, Stallworth is intent on not letting this new level of celebrity go to his head.

He’s still the same man that devoted his career to law enforcement, sought out a college degree when he was through, then earned the Columbia College Alumni Relations Community Service Award in 2010 for his work coaching youth sports teams in Salt Lake City and serving as an expert on gangs at the state and local levels.

On June 4, Ron Stallworth purchased a copy of the new hardback copy of his book, Black Klansman: Race, Hate and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime. He and his wife celebrated the release with a private book signing in El Paso, Texas.

“My Columbia College experience has been wonderful,” Stallworth says. “I enjoyed the learning process. It was very pleasant, very friendly at the Salt Lake campus. And, subsequently, when I got to know people at the main campus, who were very open, warm people. I have nothing but positive things to say about Columbia.”

He and Patsy live in El Paso, Texas. They graduated from high school together in 1971. After the death of Stallworth’s first wife, Micki, from cancer in 2004, Stallworth says he wandered in an “emotional wilderness” for six years before he and Patsy started talking again in 2010. Stallworth says her love, dedication and devotion to him has brought him out of that wilderness. Their friends think they’re millionaires now, but they’re not. They’re just Ron and Patsy.

“My wife and I have made a commitment that there will be no sense of celebrity with us,” Stallworth says. “We’re not going to get caught up in the hype of what’s happening to us. It’s nice. We enjoy it. But we have a very simple, humble life. We have no intentions of becoming Hollywood celebrities or playing that scene. We just refuse to let it happen.

I’m just enjoying this journey with my wife. We’ll ride it for as long as we can, then see what the next chapter brings.”

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alumni awards 2018

BY ANN MUDER PHOTOS BY KACI SMART ’09 There are people in the world who strive to make life better for others. They are educators, volunteers and leaders. They are kind, inspired and devoted.

They are Columbia College alumni.

This year, five outstanding award recipients were recognized for their above-and-beyond dedication to their communities at the Alumni Awards Banquet on June 1.

Nominations for the 2019 Alumni Awards and a list of past alumni award recipients is available at www.columbiacollegealumni.org/alumniawards.

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For attaining outstanding success in one’s chosen field

Russana Jackmon-Rowles ’79 CO LU M B I A CO L L E G E D AY C A M P U S / / B A C H E LO R O F S O C I A L W O R K

Rowles became a medical social worker, where she worked with veterans to help them navigate the system, finding appropriate health care facilities, filing claims for disability benefits and getting housing and medical care.

She also led a new program to assess veterans for service dog training.

“I always wanted to be an advocate.”

When Russana Jackmon-Rowles was a high school student, a counselor told her she wasn’t college material.

Her parents, however, knew the importance of getting an education and encouraged their daughter to apply. She enrolled in the Columbia College Day Campus with the goal of following in her mother’s footsteps. Her mother was a social worker and Head Start teacher during the era of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty.”

“I saw what a difference she was making with both children and parents,” Rowles says. “I always wanted to be an advocate, growing up and seeing what poverty did to families. I wanted to make a difference.”

Her decision to pursue social work ultimately led to a distinguished career of helping students and a position as professor at a renowned university.

After receiving her bachelor’s degree in Social Work, Rowles went on to earn a master’s degree in Social Work at the University of Missouri-Columbia. In 1984, Rowles and her husband, Eddie Rowles ’84, were both offered positions with Veterans Affairs in Los Angeles.

In 1988, Rowles accepted a position as psychiatric social worker for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

She became an administrator for the LAUSD School of Mental Health where she developed and implemented counseling services for more than 1,500 students in special education services and supervised about 90 social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists. After she retired from the school district in 2010, she was recruited as an adjunct professor for the University of Southern California School of Social Work. In 2013, she became a clinical associate professor at USC where she coordinates the military social work specialty, training students to work with the military and their families.

“It’s been rewarding to serve as a role model for the next generation,” Rowles says. “It’s so wonderful to have input on how they view the clients they serve, and to help them build respect and empathy for others.”

Rowles has won several awards in her field, including the Marion McCammond Social Worker of the Year award, which she received while at the LA Unified School District, and the City of Los Angeles Certificate of Recognition for her coordination of the program “Unsung Black Military Heroes.” She often talks to students and families about her background to encourage other students to pursue their dreams. “For those in poverty, you may think you don’t have anything to offer, but you have unique gifts,” she says. “With hard work and belief in yourself, you can achieve anything.”

Alumni Awards

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C O L U M B I A C O L L E G E S E RV I C E AWA R D For significant contributions and service to Columbia College

Helen Dale Coe Simons ’65 C H R I S T I A N CO L L E G E / / A S S O C I AT E O F A R T S

University of Texas at Austin, marry her childhood sweetheart and raise three wonderful children in Longview, Texas.

Simons has spent her life in serving others and helping them improve their lives through her volunteer work on 34 local, state and national nonprofit boards. When her youngest child, Elizabeth, left for college, Simons used her skills from volunteer experience to accept her first paid position as executive director for the Volunteer Center of Longview. For the next 20 years, Simons served as an executive for organizations focused on helping children and teens.

“We still have the same values.”

Helen “Dale” Coe Simons has a long family tradition at Columbia College. Her mother was in the class of 1938 at Christian College and supported Simons’ decision to attend. “She didn’t put any pressure on me, but I kept saying that a smaller school appeals to me,” Simons says. “I didn’t know a soul in Columbia, Missouri, yet it was the best decision I ever made. Attending Christian College positively changed my life.”

Her time as a student opened opportunities for a quality education, learning the servant leadership skills as campus community government president and the importance of civility and respect in all aspects of life.

“I began to understand my God-given gifts and learned how to apply them with the help of professional educators who genuinely cared about my success,” she says.

After graduating from Christian College in 1965 with her associates degree, Simons went on to earn her bachelor’s degree in Government and History at the

One of Simons’ proudest moments was accepting a position on the Columbia College Alumni Association Board of Directors. “It was like coming home,” she says. Simons assisted in the reorganization of the Alumni Association, serving as its president and raising awareness to all alumni of its valuable contribution to the sustainability of Columbia College.

In 2012, she joined the Columbia College Board of Trustees and was elected vice chair of the board in 2015.

She continues to apply the servant leadership skills that began as a student at Christian College and pushes for strategic goals that will sustain and improve the lives for both traditional and nontraditional students. With all of the changes that Columbia College has experienced over the years, Simons says she’s proud to know that this college stays true to the traditions and values she remembers from her college days.

“The programs are different, the degrees are different, but we still have the same values,” she says. “It’s rewarding to play a role as ambassador for a college that respects students and helps them succeed.”

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For demonstrating outstanding leadership and service to the citizens of one’s community

Doug Templeton ’12 CO LU M B I A CO L L E G E - K A N S A S C I T Y / / B A C H E LO R O F S C I E N C E I N B U S I N E S S M A N A G E M E N T

“Helping folks who need it is the greatest thing.”

“Equine therapy isn’t covered by insurance companies,” he says. “Many of these families are already dealing with large medical bills and wouldn’t be able to afford another therapy on top of that.”

Templeton spends his spare time taking care of the facility and horses and helping clients when the instructors need an extra hand. When he’s not taking care of ranch duties, he also works as the facility IT director at Connection Point Church in Raytown, Missouri. While working full-time as a wholesale regional director for Goodyear tire company, he completed his bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Columbia College-Kansas City in 2012.

Doug Templeton knows first-hand how working with horses can benefit kids. “I’ve seen kids say their first word on horseback,” he says. “I’ve seen kids whose doctors said they couldn’t walk and are now able to walk with a cane.”

Templeton and his wife, Evelyn, live on a ranch in Stewartsville, Missouri. After learning about the benefits of equine therapy, the couple worked with other volunteers to establish SpiritHorse of Broken Creek Youth Ranch in 2009. A non-profit organization, the ranch provides certified equine therapy for young people who range from 18 months to 18 years old.

Instructors at the ranch help kids learn new skills through riding and interacting with the horses.

Participants have a variety of special needs, including autism, cerebral palsy, attention deficit disorder and behavioral issues. Templeton says the program is funded completely by donations and grants so that the families can utilize the service at no cost.

Today, the Broken Creek Youth Ranch serves 30 to 50 kids at a time. During the four-week sessions, kids have a chance to ride the animals, which can help with a variety of physical issues. “Riding a horse can mimic the movement of walking,” he says. “For some, it’s the closest their body gets to walking. The psychological impact of that is phenomenal. For the first time, they feel they can get around like everyone else can.”

The kids also have a chance to interact with the horses, which can help them with communication and behavior control. “The horse mimics your mood,” he says. “If you’re angry, the horse moves away from the pressure. If you stay calm and collected, the horse is more likely to come to you.”

Templeton says the most rewarding part is seeing the kids develop better relationships not only with the horses but with their families as well. “Helping folks who need it is the greatest thing. It’s a blessing to be able to share what we have with others.”

Alumni Awards

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Alumni Awards

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JA N E F R O M A N C O U R A G E AWA R D For displaying a spirit of courage in daily life

Ann Cross-Fleury ’04 CO LU M B I A CO L L E G E E V E N I N G C A M P U S / / B A C H E LO R O F S C I E N C E I N F O R E N S I C S C I E N C E A N D B A C H E LO R O F S C I E N C E I N C R I M I N A L J U S T I C E

“Everyone has challenges in their lives.” a new career. She completed training with Merck Pharmaceuticals and became a sales representative to help people get access to life-saving medicine.

In 2011, after a routine surgery to repair a hernia and remove her gallbladder, Fleury suffered massive internal bleeding that nearly took her life. She underwent exploratory surgery to find the source, and in 13 hours, received 60 units of blood products. After surgeons found the source of the bleeding, she spent the next nine days in the hospital.

Ann Cross-Fleury has spent much of her life dealing with health challenges. As a child, she had scoliosis and had to undergo spinal fusion surgery. The care that she received as a patient at Shriner’s Hospital made a huge impact on her.

As she began the long recovery process, Fleury continued to find ways to use her story to help others.

She’s given motivational speeches as an advocate for blood donation for the Red Cross and Community Blood Center of the Ozarks. “It took 60 people to donate blood for what I needed that night,” she says. “One blood drive might not even cover that amount.”

“The nurses were so upbeat and did all they could to help the patients as well as the families,” she says. “It definitely helped me to see that everyone has challenges and show the importance of people coming together.”

She also spends time raising money for the organization that is still close to her heart – Shriner’s Hospital. She holds bake sales and garage sales to raise money in appreciation for the care they provided for her and her family. “We received care for free,” she says. “They were there for our family, so it’s just a way of giving back.

And for our kids, it’s a good way to teach them about compassion and helping others.”

Her passion to help people became a common thread in her life. Fleury graduated from the Columbia College Evening Program in 2004 with dual degrees in Criminal Justice and Forensic Science. One year later, she graduated from the Missouri Highway Patrol Academy and served as a trooper. When her health issues prevented her from staying in that job, she switched gears and found

Today, Fleury is also giving the gift of her time by homeschooling her children – Ava, 10, and William, 8. She says she hopes the most important lesson she teaches them is to have empathy. “Everyone has challenges in their lives,” she says. “We were able to overcome ours with the strength of our family, friends and prayers.”

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For attaining outstanding regional recognition in one’s chosen career field

Lynne Stuver Baker ’64 C H R I S T I A N CO L L E G E / / A S S O C I AT E O F A R T S

She taught social studies at a high school in Glasgow, Missouri, and later became a counselor for the students. She went on to receive a master’s degree in counseling and guidance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Later, she worked for 22 years as a counselor at Truman High School in Independence, Missouri. To increase her clinical skills, Baker earned a master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Kansas in 1998.

“It was important to me to offer services to underserved populations.”

As a child, Lynne Stuver Baker loved to babysit and teach vacation Bible school. Her dad mentioned that she might enjoy a career as a teacher. “He was right,” she says. “Education was a natural fit for me. I love working with kids.”

Her parents also had a feeling she would enjoy going to Christian College. Baker had grown up in a small Missouri town before moving to Johnson County, Kansas. “The small, friendly environment was perfect for me,” she says. “And it gave me the opportunity to find my voice.”

Little did her parents know Baker was embarking on a 50-year career of helping children improve their lives. After graduating from Christian College in 1964, Baker became an educator and counselor. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1966.

After 48 years working in education, Baker retired in 2014 to start her own counseling service. Today, she operates a counseling service called Heart to Heart Counseling on a no-pay/low-pay basis which is open to all ages, both couples and individuals, regardless of ability to pay. She and two other counselors donate their time to provide counseling at their church.

“Therapy can be expensive, so it was important to me to offer services to underserved populations who wouldn’t otherwise have access to those resources,” she says.

In addition to counseling, Baker devotes much of her time volunteering at Columbia College. She has served as an Alumni Association board member and is a member of the Board of Trustees. She attends meetings and events several times a year on main campus and loves to talk with students and staff about their experiences at the school.

“It’s been so exciting to see the journey that Columbia College has made and the evolution that each new president has brought,” she says. “I love that school so much. I can never repay them for how important it’s been in my life.”

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Season Roundup

Columbia College brings home the AMC President’s Cup for the second consecutive season. With a record 740 total points, the Cougars earned the most points of any President’s Cup winner.

Men’s lacrosse celebrates a 14-1 victory in its first game of the inaugural 2018 season.

First-year head coach Taylor Possail ’15 celebrates the American Midwest Conference tournament championship.

ABBY STRICKER NAIA Indoor Track and Field Long Jump National Champion

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Conference Players/Athletes of the Year

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Conference Freshman of the Year

4

Conference Newcomer of the Year

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Conference Coach of the Year Awards

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CoSIDA Academic All-Americans

Academic All-Conference Athletes

All-Conference Team Members

22 12 NAIA All-Americans

NAIA Daktronics Scholar Athletes

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Men’s Cross Country

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Women’s Cross Country

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Women’s Volleyball Regular Season

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Men’s Soccer Regular Season

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Men’s Soccer Tournament Champions

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Women’s Soccer Regular Season

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Women’s Soccer Tournament Champions

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Men’s Basketball Regular Season

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Women’s Basketball Regular Season

10 Women’s Basketball Tournament Champions 11 Men’s Indoor Track & Field 12 Women’s Indoor Track & Field 13 Men’s Outdoor Track & Field 14 Women’s Outdoor Track & Field 15 Women’s Softball Tournament Champions

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Men’s cross country celebrates a second-place finish at the NAIA National Championships.

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Shining Bright Softball teammates win big on the diamond, in the classroom and around campus.

BY DAVID MORRISON

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2018 alumnae Julianna Waldner, Allyson Metz, Alex Linck, Karli Leeper, Rachel Sullivan and Dakota Newton celebrate a recordsetting senior year.

PHOTOS BY CINDY FOT TI POT TER ’05

Julianna Waldner ’18 had never visited Columbia College or even been to the state of Missouri when she committed to play for Cougars softball coach Wendy Spratt ’90 in the summer of 2014. She was coming from Altona, a small town of about 4,000 people that sits less than 10 miles north of where North Dakota and Manitoba, Canada, meet. She knew next to nothing about the place that would be her new home.

Waldner soon found herself tooling around downtown Columbia in a car driven by her new roommate and teammate Rachel Sullivan ’18, who was paying a little less attention to the road than Waldner wanted.

“She may have run a red light while on the phone,” Waldner says. “I didn’t know her that well, and I was like, ‘I’m not dying my first day here! I told my mom I’d be OK!’”

“We survived,” Sullivan says, with a laugh. “It’s all good.”

The two hit it off in “like two seconds,” according to Sullivan, who grew up in the small town of Moscow Mills, Missouri. They lived together for their first three years on campus and wrung the most they possibly could out of their college experience, serving as integral pieces on the Cougars’ historically

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successful softball team, flourishing in their academic endeavors and staying involved with campus life.

Over four years, the pair formed a bond of friendship and respect for Columbia College. Both were fouryear starters on the Cougars softball team: Waldner an infielder, Sullivan an outfielder. Sullivan earned second-team All-American Midwest Conference honors in 2016, and Waldner served as a team captain during her final two seasons.

In 2017, during their junior season, Columbia College placed fourth at the NAIA World Series, the program’s highest finish to date. “We have such a talented group, to start off with. Then on top of that, to have the relationship we do with our teammates, it makes us stand out from everybody else,” Sullivan says.

Both were also four-time Academic All-AMC honorees and two-time NAIA Scholar-Athletes, with Sullivan earning a spot on the COSIDA Academic All-American team in 2017 and the AMC First Team in 2018. Sullivan got her degree in biology and is going to optometry school at the University of MissouriSt. Louis. Waldner got her degree in business management and human resource management, and wants to pursue a career in HR. “It’s a lot of time management, the usual stuff. Once you get used to it, you kind of find that balance,” Sullivan says. “On my hardest semester, I had organic chemistry, miserable stuff. I remember getting home from softball games, not even showering and going straight to

A Season for the Record Books In May, the Cougars went undefeated in the 2018 NAIA Softball Opening Round bracket to secure a spot in the 38th annual NAIA Softball World Series. The 10th-seeded team participated in the championship tournament May 25-31 in Clermont, Florida. They went 4-1 games going in to the title game, where they claimed the national runner-up title and the best finish in program history. The Cougars concluded the season with a record of 38-15.

Banks Hall, where the science livinglearning community is, and going up and studying with them until way too late, coming back, sleeping, then repeat the next day.”

“Enjoy every minute of it while you’re here.

You don’t want to miss out on everything that there is to experience.”

— Julianna Waldner ’18 to prospective students In addition to numerous campus activities, Sullivan and Waldner gave campus tours as Student Ambassadors. “I got to brag about the college to prospective students,” Waldner says. “Later, you see people on campus you gave a tour to or chatted with at an Admissions event.

It’s really neat to see that they came here, they liked that experience.”

That’s what the two say they’re going to miss the most about Columbia College. The tight-knit community makes for plenty of opportunities to get involved and make lasting connections with classmates.

Sullivan and Waldner started out as just names to each other, someone to Google, then follow on Instagram and Twitter, to gather some intel before living together.

Now, Sullivan will be a bridesmaid at Waldner’s wedding this summer.

She’s getting married on main campus in the foyer of Missouri Hall, named for Janet Carter Wright: college trustee, 1958 Christian College graduate and Waldner’s soon-to-be grandmother-in-law.

“Janet lived in Missouri Hall. She has a college scrapbook, and every picture is taken in Missouri Hall,” Waldner says. “That’s just a really special place for her, me and the whole family.”

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Stepping Up to the Plate Former Cougars slugger Andrew Warner makes his move to the Major Leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals.

BY DAVID MORRISON PHOTO BY CINDY FOT TI POT TER ’05

Growing up, baseball was not Andrew Warner’s first choice when it came to sports. He always considered himself more of a football player.

By the time he reached his senior year at Lee’s Summit High School in suburban Kansas City, Missouri, though, Warner felt that baseball was probably the more advantageous choice for his future. Three shoulder surgeries will do that. “I was tired of getting surgeries,” Warner says, with a laugh. Luckily, it has proven to be a good decision.

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I firmly believe I’ve been put here, in this spot, for a reason. I’m going to play my hardest, no matter what.”

— Andrew Warner Warner, a 6-foot-2 first baseman, came to Columbia College in 2017 to be part of the Cougars’ resurrected baseball program and immediately made a sizable impact. He hit .478 on the season, with 17 home runs and 69 RBI, to earn American Midwest Conference Player of the Year honors and a spot on the NAIA AllAmerica first team.

He kept it up as a senior this spring, hitting .440 with 18 home runs and 59 RBI, and once again received NAIA All-America first team honors. Columbia College, too, has stormed out of the gate the past two seasons, tying for the AMC regular-season conference title as a first-year program in 2017 and following it up with a 33-16 overall record this spring.

“I play to win, and everything takes care of itself,” Warner says. “If you’re a team guy, you just keep working hard at what you do, and the stats will come.”

Warner never really dreamed of being a professional baseball player until he got to college. He’s always wanted to be a police officer, which is why he studied criminal justice at Columbia College Day Campus. Now that he has come this far, though — and helped bring the Cougars’ program along with him — he’s all in.

Warner thought he had a realistic shot at being one of the 1,215 players drafted last summer, but his name never got called. Warner is in kind of a no man’s land when it comes to baseball prospects. Major-league teams like to draft players straight out of high school,

so they get four more years of the athlete’s prime with which to work with them. If they do draft college players, teams usually pick from top-tier programs.

Warner was a 22-year-old prospect who played at two junior colleges before teeing off against NAIA pitching.

Still, scouts were a common occurrence at Cougars games this spring.

There’s no doubt that Warner made an impression, and his dedication has paid off. He was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals on Day 3 of the 2018 MLB Draft in June.

“A lot of people see baseball and they see the pitcher throws the ball, the hitter hits it, and you run around the bases. But baseball is a game of chess,” Warner says. ”There are just little, minute things I could go on for hours about. My mental part has picked up so much since I’ve gotten here, just the little things that I see in the game. And it has helped everything.”

Warner attributes this mindset to Cougars baseball coach Darren Munns. As he moves on to the major leagues, Warner expects good things to continue at Columbia College. “The reason that I came here — and I had other NAIA offers — was because Coach Munns is the real deal,” he says. “He recruited a great group of guys, and I think he’ll continue to do that.

He’s got a great track record. He got here and, in one year, tied for wins in the conference. There’s only up from here.”

Return of the Clash

BY DAVID MORRISON

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PHOTOS BY KACI SMART ’09 & NOTLEY HAWKINS

From the time the overflowing crowd in the Southwell Complex lobby spilled into the arena at 10 a.m. until the League of Legends tournament final wrapped up a little before 8 p.m., more than 2,000 participants enjoyed the second edition of the Midwest Campus Clash.

Columbia College President Scott Dalrymple set the bar high for the inaugural event in 2017, hoping to make it one of the top gaming events in the country. From all indications, it’s already there.

The interactive gaming experiences for attendees included a number of classic arcade games provided

by Arcades4Home, as well as a trip into virtual reality from NovaStar Gaming. The classic arcade game Donkey Kong was also projected onto a giant screen, for players to chase their high scores in style. A day full of actionpacked play on Rocket League, a video-game mixture of soccer and monster trucks, kept things hopping on the

More than 2,000 guests attended Columbia College’s premier gaming event, which included gaming activities for all ages and a live League of Legends tournament.

north end of the arena, while the League of Legends tournament played out on the south.

In the marquee event, the League of Legends tournament, seven of the top collegiate eSports teams in the Midwest vied for a $25,000 prize pool, with reigning national champion Maryville besting host Columbia College in the final. Ukatsu, a Columbia-based organization that promotes youth eSports, also coordinated a League of Legends match between two high school all-star teams.

Dalrymple even got to show off some of his gaming chops, challenging Columbia Public Schools Superintendent Peter Stiepleman to a best-of-three series in the DC Comics fighting game Injustice 2. Stiepleman won, 2-1, and each donated $1,000 of his own money to the other’s organization.

Cougar eSports finishes second in League of Legends Collegiate Championship After four months of intense competition, the pool of more than 300 college and university teams was narrowed down to the final eight. Columbia College traveled to Los Angeles for the 3-day tournament that showcased the best collegiate teams from North America in an 8-team single-elimination bracket.

The Cougars won game 1 and the semifinals to play in the title game against the University of California-Irvine.

PHOT O BY RIOT GAME S

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CCAA MEMBER REWARDS PROGRAM

Columbia College Alumni Association members can explore the benefits, valuable resources and opportunities to stay connected with Columbia College.

For assistance accessing member benefits, contact ccalum@ccis.edu or (573) 875-2586 (ALUM).

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CC Notes

a f f i n i t y

Class Notes What have you been up to? We’ve made it easy for you to share your good news.

Turn to page 62 for a Class Notes form or log on to www.columbiacollegealumni.org/classnotes.

’60s

Carol Belville Rosebrough ’60 published “Loving Yourself Through Cancer” in 2015 while undergoing treatment for lymphoma. Now in remission, she donated a copy of her book to Columbia College’s Stafford Library.

John Wagaman ‘79 retired as senior vice president at Hawthorn Bank in Springfield, Missouri, after a 40-year career in the banking industry.

’80s

’70s

Deborah Daniels ‘70 retired in February after 12 years as associate circuit judge in Boone County, Missouri. Deborah has earned recognition for creating a video docket system so patients in mental health facilities don’t have to be physically transported to the courthouse and psychiatrists can give expert testimony remotely.

Penny Hamilton ’76 appeared on “Great Colorado Women,” a documentary-television series that aired on Rocky Mountain PBS, and was produced by Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame. The program highlighted her career as a pilot.

Sherry Buzard ’83 found her picture in the alumni mural while visiting main campus with a group of prospective students.

’90s

Amy Henderson ‘90 joined the Boone County Historical Society board of directors. Amy is an attorney working as the vice president and relationship manager for Central Trust Company in Columbia, Missouri.

Wendy Spratt ’90, head softball coach for Columbia College, was

named the Female Coach of the Year by the Women’s Intersport Network for Columbia. WIN celebrates outstanding female athletes in the Columbia community.

Mike Fuller ’93 is the CEO of Pee Dee Electric Cooperative located in Darlington, South Carolina.

Carol Winkler ‘93 retired after 45 years with MFA Incorporated. She started her career as a secretary in the seed division and most recently served as the pension plan administrator for MFA Incorporated, MFA Oil and affiliated subsidiaries. Carol looks forward to spending more time at Columbia College as a member of the CCAA advisory board and Board of Trustees. She and her husband, Darrell, enjoy traveling and are active supporters of the Cougar Club & Scholarship Fund. They have two children and welcomed their fourth grandchild to the family in June.

Dr. Edwin Hall ‘94 & ‘07 has been named an assistant director in the Office of Special Education for the

Col. Charles McGee ’78 attended a special advanced screening of the 2018 superhero blockbuster movie, Black Panther, at the National Museum of African American History of Culture in Washington, D.C. Pictured from left: Executive producer Nate Moore, director Ryan Coogler, Black Panther character costume, Col. McGee and costume designer Ruth Carter

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Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. He lives in Fulton, Missouri.

Ken McCann ’94 has been promoted to vice president of sales and business development for FleetUp, which provides comprehensive fleet management systems to service and distribution companies.

Melinda Wrye-Washington ‘94, Columbia College volleyball coach, was named the 2017 Coach of the Year by the American Midwest Conference.

Stuart Anderson ’96 and his wife, Jemilyn, welcomed son Joshua Dwayne on Aug. 23, 2017.

Sonya Garrett ’96 was promoted to director of Human Resources for a Missouri-based credit union. She is also an online college instructor teaching a course in business law.

Don Steiner-LaRoue ’98 owns and operates Clean & Serene Cleaning Service, a professional home and business cleaning company. He and his life partner, Robert Steiner-LaRoue ’02, live in Columbia, Missouri.

Tim Stewart ’98, co-host of the “Two Bald Guys and a Microphone” radio show, has launched a radio station, 21.6 The NET. Based in Illinois, the duo focuses on educational entertainment to motivate and inspire its audience.

Victoria Bishop Ryan ’99 is the director of leadership development for Bridgestone Americas in Nashville, Tennessee. She is the 2012 recipient of the CCCAA Professional Achievement Award.

Chris Tabor ’99 is the special teams coordinator for the Chicago Bears. He has coached football for more than 20 years, including seven seasons with the Cleveland Browns (2011-2017).

’00s

Margaret McCormick ’00 has been promoted to director of electronic warfare counter-UAS sensor business area for SRC, Inc., a not-for-profit research and development company that combines information, science, technology and ingenuity to solve “impossible” problems in the areas of defense, environment and intelligence.

Lisa K. Bachar ’02 joined Bousquet Holstein PLLC as a director of Human Resources. She lives in West Monroe, New York.

Kevin Lemp ’02 was recognized by the St. Louis Business Journal in its 2018 “40 Under Forty” lineup.

Kevin founded 4 Hands Brewing Co. in 2011, one of the fastest growing companies in St. Louis.

Jay Picard ’02 is an acquisition assistant with the Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE) at Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida.

Randy DioGuardi ’03 was promoted to executive vice president of Telehealth Operations at MediTelecare. He has worked in the industry for nine years.

John Rott ’03 has been named branch manager at NBT Bank in DeWitt, New York.

Trevor Mitchell ’03 is the executive director of American Mensa in Arlington, Texas. Trevor previously served as the organization’s senior director of membership and strategy.

American Mensa has more than 50,000 members, all whom must achieve scores in the top 2 percent on an accepted, standardized intelligence test to be accepted into the organization.

Bill Leeper ’04 is proud grandpa to Harper Jayde, born Nov. 14, 2017.

Melisa Williams ’04 has spent the last five years as an administrative secretary for the State of Florida.

In 2015, she received a master’s in public administration from Barry University – Tallahassee.

Paul Kirkman ’05 authored his second book, Missouri Outlaws: Bandits, Rebels & Rogues. He is a local historian in Independence, Missouri.

Lt. Dottie Taylor ’05 and ’09 retired as an instructor and assistant director of the Training Division, General Headquarters, in Jefferson City, Missouri. She served the state of Missouri for more than 21 years.

Whitney Burns ’06 has been named vice president of Human Resources for Integrity Home Care, Inc.

Karen Nazario ’06 completed a master’s degree in Learning Systems Design & Development with Educational Technology. She is an e-learning specialist for the ExecMBA hybrid program at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Bobbi Baehne ’07 is the president of Think Big Go Local Inc. in McHenry, Illinois. The digital marketing agency has expanded to include a training facility for area small business owners since its

founding in 2012. Bobbi is an active member of her community, serving on the McHenry County College Board of Directors, chairwoman of the Economic Development Commission and director of the McHenry County Workforce Development Board.

Origenes “Kiko” Benoit ’07, head coach of the Miami Dade College volleyball team for 12 seasons, had an award-winning 2017 season. He was named the 2017 U.S. Marine

Out With The Old

BY DAVID MORRISON



PHOTO BY KACI SMART ’09

Visitors who walked through the first floor of Atkins-Holman Student Commons on Columbia College’s main campus during the month of March were greeted by fluffy, cloudlike forms hanging just over the top of their heads, suspended by embroidery thread from the second-floor catwalk.

It was all part of the large-scale art installation “Sloughing Off” by Valerie Wedel ’02. Voile fabric forms hung from an aluminum screen and reached down to about six feet off the ground, with the light from the skylight above shining down through them. In her artist statement, Wedel wrote that the title of the piece “is meant to evoke the idea of a casting off of something no longer useful, like old skin ... Letting go of old ways of doing things, old concepts no longer held dear, to reveal new ways of being that are yet to be discovered.”

Wedel, who earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing at Columbia College Day Campus, focuses on work that creates immersive experiences for her audience. Wedel was also on hand to discuss her art during a reception in Atkins-Holman that concluded the Women’s History Month festivities.

Corps / American Volleyball Coaches Association Two-Year College National Coach of the Year and the 2017 Southern Conference Coach of the Year. The Miami Dade volleyball team won its 10th National Junior College Athletic Association National Championship in 2017, where Kiko was also named Coach of the Tournament.

Cynthia Faulkner ’07 is the owner of Higher Grounds Coffee in Freeport, Illinois.

CC Notes

54

Christopher Almonrode ’08 is the corporate security manager for Texas-based Heritage Auctions, the world’s third-largest auction house. He is “tasked with protecting some of the most precious collections in the world.” With his course completion as a Certified Protection Professional through ASIS International in 2016, Christopher is among the top 19 percent of all security professionals.

Sean Friend ’08 & ’10 has been named interim CEO/General Manager for Co-Mo Electric Cooperative. He began his career at Co-Mo Electric in 2013 as director of Finance and is also vice president of Finance for Co-Mo Connect.

Michelle Boulware ’09 and her husband, Joseph, own Meramec Vineyards in St. James, Missouri. She is also a nurse at Mercy Family Medicine in Rolla.

Abby Underwood ’09 and ’14 has been named the inbound operations manager for logistics at MidwayUSA in Columbia, Missouri. Abby has worked with the company since 2007, while she simultaneously earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 2009 and Masters of Business Administration in 2014.

’10s

Rodrick Cherry ’10 was promoted to staff services manager with the California Department of State Hospitals – Coalinga where he oversees the hiring/exam unit for Human Resources.

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CC Notes

Mike Lederle ’10 has been named the first executive director of Retrieving Freedom Incorporated, a nonprofit organization that trains and places quality service dogs with wounded veterans, children with autism and individuals with type 1 diabetes. A 27 year veteran of the Army National Guard and former director of Columbia College-Rolla, Mike will be charged with facilitating growth and building the structure of RFI. Kevin Patterson ’10 recently retired from the South Carolina state government. He has volunteered with the Berkeley County Museum and Heritage Center since 2013.

Sgt. Maj. Anthony Williams ’10 was appointed to the board of directors for Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit that provides financial assistance, transitional and permanent housing and family support to military families. Anthony served in the Army from 1972 to 2005 and works for BAE Systems in Lawton, Oklahoma.

teaching and advising. She has previously taught courses at several St. Louis-area institutions, including Columbia College, Webster, Maryville, St. Charles Community College and Lindenwood.

Howard Dale ’11 retired from the U.S. Army after 32 years of service in December 2017. Howard has been a police officer for the last 20 years while serving in the Army Reserves.

He is currently a full time criminal justice professor at Grayson College in Denison, Texas, and serves as an instructor for the Texoma Regional Police Academy. Retirement gives Howard more time to continue serving as the Commander of the local American Legion and helping with various community events.

Nicole Davis ’11 is the recruitment and retention coordinator for 4-C, Community Coordinated Child Care, in McHenry, Illinois.

Courtney Lauer-Myers ’11 was named to the “30 Under 30” list by Missouri Times Magazine, a quarterly publication and news source for Missouri politics.

Donna Osborne Bradley ’11 applies a master’s in criminal justice to a full-time faculty position at Lindenwood University – Belleville where she does administration,

Jennifer Foxworthy ‘12 is a motivational speaker and author.

She provided the keynote address at the 2018 MidWest Women Veterans Conference in Columbia, Missouri.

While in town, she visited main campus to speak with students about overcoming adversity.

Jesse Walters ’12 is the co-founder and owner of Camacho Coffee with his wife, Megan. Camacho

supplies specialty craft coffee to restaurants and business, and is also available online. Ten percent of the companies’ profits are donated to local charities.

Dot Johnson ‘13, who works as a nurse at a surgery center specializing in LASIK and eye correction, spends her free time as an aerial silks performer and instructor with CoMo Aerial Arts. Combining her highflying hobby with an extremely difficult profession, her typical week is probably more action-packed than most.

Maria Maldanado Lewis ’13 has been appointed constituent services advocate for the city of Syracuse, New York. Maria is responsible for responding to citizen questions and concerns regarding city government.

Additionally, Maria and her husband, Keenan Lewis ’13, host a national radio program called, “I Know I Can Radio/TV” which airs Thursdays on WVOA Radio and also runs twice weekly on Spectrum TV. Clay Regan ’13 retired from the Bedford Police Department after 28 years of service. He is an E-9/Chief Master Sergeant in the US Air Force Reserves.

Andrea Robinson ’13 received the Great Catch Award for her dedication to patient safety. Andrea is a nurse at Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Columbia, Missouri.

Robert Schmidt ‘13 is a project manager for Ubisoft, a worldrenowned video gaming company.

He lives in Chengdu, China.

CC Notes

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Joe Waner ’13 joined the marketing team at Central Methodist University in Fayette, Missouri, as a graphic designer and videographer.

David Naugle ’15 was promoted to new service operations manager for Logistics at MidwayUSA, where he has worked since 2010.

Pat Woods ’15 owns Fresno’s Diner in the College Hill neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. Despite economic hardships for the area, Fresno’s was named the neighborhood business of the year in 2017. Pat is now working on her master’s degree in Criminal Justice through Columbia College’s Online Education Program as she raises funds to reopen the diner after a vehicle crashed into the brick building.

Eva Pemberton ’16 married Greg Gilliland on January 20 in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Jordan Poire ’17 received the Presidential Award at the December 2017 Columbia College commencement ceremony where the 4.0 student earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.

A native of Jefferson City, Missouri, Jordan was a NAIA third-team All American soccer player. She is pursuing a master’s degree through Columbia College Online Education.

Joelle Thompson ’18 completed an extensive collection of watercolor pieces for her Bachelor of Fine Arts senior exhibition, “Habitat.”

Before participating in April 28 commencement at main campus, Joelle accepted a spot in the Columbia College Master of Arts in Teaching program.

Historical Showcase

BY CAROLYN PREUL



PHOTO BY KACI SMART ’09

Not unlike the senior artist showcases of today, it was tradition for a Christian College senior art student to create a piece of work for the college’s collection. In 1956, Cheryl Elbe Ward ’57 thought she would be the last of her 12 classmates considered for this honor.

Art professor Sid Larson had a special project in mind and charged Ward with the semesterlong assignment of researching and painting what was to become a piece of the college’s history.

“When I told Mr. Larson I wanted the subject to be a history of the college, he beamed,” Ward says. “He was a friend of painter Thomas Hart Benton and often spoke of Benton’s unique artistry with historical

murals. Also, Allean Lemmon Hale ’33 — mother of my classmate and fellow art student, Suzanna Hale — was set to soon publish “Petticoat Pioneer,” a history of the college.”

Old photographs, letters and vintage clothing found in forgotten storage rooms provided Ward with the inspiration she needed to complete the 11-foot wide oil on canvas. While the piece hung in Missouri Hall through the mid1970s, today it has found new life in Dorsey Hall leading to the Columbia College Archives.

“The painting itself is unremarkable, but I believe the historical value is still relevant” Ward says. “That history is the underpinning of Columbia College today.”

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CC Notes

Scootergraphs It’s a big world out there.

Check out where Scooter has traveled lately.

Debbie Hornaday ’85 took Scooter on a safari camel ride during a Spring Break adventure to Dubai!

Emmett Copeland ’07 and his wife, Katherine, enjoyed a night out at Moon River Brewing Company in Savannah, Georgia.

Vanessa Swindell, director of Columbia College-Jacksonville, took Scooter to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Dianna Portillo ’08 shares her Cougar pride from Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville, Arkansas. “Scooter and I were busy at work assisting veterans and their dependents with their GI Bill benefits and education path. It was a good day!”

Cindy Todd ’08 adds some Cougar Pride to the office, where she works for the County of San Luis Obispo in California.

Send your #Scootergraphs to ccalum@ccis.edu.

CC Notes

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In Memoriam Margaret Hamblin Ryan ’31 January 29, 2018

Mary B. “Woody” Braswell Root ’45 December 20, 2017

Betty Ruth Wolfe Killion ’52 November 28, 2017

Catherine Collier Benham ’38 September 10, 1993

Helen Griefer Semler ’45 January 29, 2018

Norma Abrams Rutter ’52 November 11, 2017

Frances Berkley Byrne ’38 September 2, 2013

Patricia Hicks Williams ’45 August 16, 2016

Suzanne Zander Kretzschmar ’54 December 30, 2017

Rosemary Jerman Raines ’38 July 21, 2015

Helen Houser Redwine ’47 October 9, 2017

Peggy Fleck Williamson ’54 February 3, 2018

Barbara Harbaugh Rexford ’38 May 2, 2002

Barbara Murphey Smith ’47 February 22, 2018

Nancy Sue Dean Wright ’54 October 31, 2017

Rebecca Scott Wong ’38 September 2, 2016

Cora Brummall Winn ’47 March 27, 2018

Virginia “Dinny” Sullivan McAllister ’55 February 8, 2018

Louise Morrow Hunt ’40 October 11, 2017

Joyce Garber Cox ’48 October 9, 2000

Marianne Trout Laitner ’42 May 2017

Anne Hyde Fortner ’48 March 5, 2013

Christine Rosalind Rutherford Nisselius ’42 October 21, 2017

Margaret English Griffith ’48 January 16, 2016

Alice F. Gambill ’43 December 23, 2017 Jane Vandiver Huff ’43 November 21, 2017 Jane McCarter West ’43 January 22, 2018 Martha Poynton Bowman ’45 August 1, 2017 Grace L. Fisher Deupree ’45 January 10, 2017 Alice J. Spencer Easley ’45 February 2, 2018 Patricia Ann Hicks Williams ’45 August 20, 2016

Marilee Dayton Hawkins ’48 February 20, 2018

Joyce Adams Reilly ’55 April 1, 2018 Mary Margaret Wright Sistrunck ’55 January 8, 2018 Jo Carol Dodd White ’55 February 3, 2018

Colleen Caden Welsh ’48 July 28, 2012

Barbara L. “Barbie” Wilson Miller ’57 January 6, 2018

Rosemary Lester Horner ’50 November 14, 2017

Anne Holmes Bratcher ’58 May 11, 2016

Carol L. Mitchell Walker ’50 May 10, 2016

Gwen Crane Cockrell ’58 February 28, 2018

Joan Elaine Martin Crosby ’51 January 15, 2018 Norma Wade McDonald ’51 February 2, 2018 Patricia Lou Rudd Stanforth ’51 July 27, 2017

Sandra Renfrow Laurendine ’58 August 20, 2015 Alice “Ann” Williams Leishman ’58 August 14, 2017 Zo Ann Holt Severson ’58 February 24, 2017 Martha Ann Dothage Cathey ’59 January 16, 2018 Marilyn Lee Zaring Martin ’59 December 17, 2017

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CC Notes

Sara Tyhurst Canaday ’60 April 27, 2018

Virginia Lee Rundle Williams ’76 September 22, 2017

Roger L. Dye ’90 January 3, 2018

Carolyn Sue Jones Boatright ’61 November 14, 2013

Jeff Garrison ’77 March 11, 1989

Michael K. Landolt ’91 June 11, 2017

Carolyn Bertsch Stevens ’61 January 4, 2012

Thomas Harris ’77 January 31, 2018

Jon Lamar Holliday ’92 November 22, 2014

Joan Kay Murray Colliver ’62 April 20, 2014

Lawrence “Larry” R. Heath ’77 October 3, 2016

Dana Kay Smith ’98 December 21, 2017

Ann Harriet Freeman Dedman ’62 December 1, 2017

David Pearson ’77 October 25, 2017

John D. Stewart ’00 February 5, 2018

Linda Lee Huddleston Schnapp ’62 September 22, 2017

Joe Roman ’77 January 13, 2016

Thomas Craig Turner ’00 November 20, 2016

Eleanor Lee Thomas Maggard ’63 January 9, 2018

Elwood Young ’78 January 27, 2018

Aleta Jill Thompson ’01 October 30, 2017

Suzi Seale ’63 April 14, 2018

Philip Wareham ’79 January 24, 2018

Stephen Douglas Foster ’07 January 31, 2018

Susan “Suzi” Phillips Campbell ’66 April 17, 2017

Forrest Wright ’80 December 5, 2015

Luke W. Westbrook ’09 November 7, 2017

Linda Leonard Fawcett ’69 May 15, 2009

Helen McKee Jackman ’81 January 23, 2018

Catherine S. Bahls ’12 May 16, 2017

Janice T. George Willhite ’73 September 30, 2017

Rebecca Holly Seats ’83 February 15, 2018

Jeffrey P. Towner ’12 December 27, 2017

Sally Schnapp Bekebrede ’75 October 4, 2017

Norman D. Pickett ’84 May 14, 2017

Fredtonya Nickens Rodgers ’16 February 1, 2018

Terence Learish ’75 June 14, 2017

Stanley Todd ’85 September 4, 2014

Julieta “Juliet” A. Gasca ’17 December 23, 2017

Darrell Redders ’75 October 21, 2016

Clara Bartels Sprague ’86 November 2, 2017

* Notifications received as of April 30, 2018

Richard Thompson ’75 February 2, 2018

Walter W. Wade ’86 September 2, 2016

Andy Wilson ’75 April 13, 2009

Lamarr A. Seader ’87 December 7, 2017

Edward G. Hirshman ’76 December 21, 2017

Rhonda Renee Vaughn ’87 December 1, 2017

Bruce S. Williams ’76 April 10, 2017

Victoria Kathleen Bennett ’90 February 20, 2018

To notify the CCAA of Columbia (Christian) alumni who have passed recently, please send an email with the link to the obituary to ccalum@ccis.edu.

If you would like to make a gift in memory of a loved one, you may mail a check in the envelope provided in this magazine (write “in memory of ” and the name of the individual on the memo line) or visit www.ccis.edu/onlinegiving.

The CC Alumni Collection

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Cougar Gear

4GB flash drive Swivel style, printed logo; $5

The online CC Alumni Merchandise Store features a variety of apparel and accessories available 24/7.

CCAA keychain Silver metal with blue band and printed logo; $5

Perfe ct for fa ll!

Women’s Polar Fleece Vest Brand: Crossland Women, XS-XL: $30 Women, 3X-4X: $32

CCAA Woven Polo Brand: Zorrel; Navy Men, Medium-XL: $15 Women, XS-XL: $15 Women, 3X-4X: $17

Lamis tote bag Stylish faux leather with CCAA logo embossing.

Gray or navy; $15

CCAA Satin Polo Brand: Port Authority; Gray or navy Men, Small-2X: $20 Women, XS-2X: $20 Women, 3X-4X: $25

Solid baseball hat “ALUMNI” embroidered in navy on back.

Khaki or pink; $14

“Nationwide” T-shirt Brand: Gildan Softstyle; Light gray, heather gray, navy or black Small-2X: $12 3X: $15

Visit www.columbiacollegealumni.org/alumnistore to view the entire catalog of Christian College and Columbia College merchandise. Proceeds benefit the CCAA.

Stitched baseball hat Navy and silver hat with white stitching and block letters; $20

“Block CC” Alumni T-shirt Brand: Gildan Softstyle; Charcoal gray or navy Small-2X: $12 3X: $15

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The CC Alumni Collection

get n’t Do ght in cau rain! the

Umbrella Navy and white with navy imprint; $15

#5

#1 / #2

BE SELLST ER!

Columbia College Alumni license plate covers White plastic with navy imprint; $5 Metallic with navy and white imprint; $10

#3

#4

1. Future Cougar onesies Navy, gray, pink – 6 mo-24 mo; $12 2. Future Cougar infant lap shoulder T-shirt Navy or gray – 6 mo-18 mo; $12 3. Future Cougar infant basic T-shirt Navy or gray – 6 mo-24 mo; $12

Christian College picture frame 6” x 4” glass frame with silver base featuring blue engraved logo; $15

CCAA picture frame 4” x 6” brushed metal with etched logo; $8

Make check payable to Columbia College Alumni Association or charge to:  MasterCard

 VISA

 Discover

Account number _________________________ Expiration date: _____/________ CVC ______ Order Total _____________________________ FREE shipping is provided on all orders. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. U.S. postage paid only. You will be contacted if an item is out of stock and no longer available for purchase.

4. Future Cougar navy toddler T-shirt 2T-4T; $12 5. Columbia Cougars navy T-shirt Juvi 5/6 & 7; $12 Youth XS-XL; $12

Download Scooter-approved coloring sheets at www.columbiacollegealumni.org/thecubclub.

Name____________________________________________________________________ Class Year __________________ Address ______________________________________________________________________________________________ City________________________________________________ State _________________ Zip ______________________ Phone number____________________________ Email address _______________________________________________

Item description___________________________________ Color _____________ Size _________ Cost ______________ Item description___________________________________ Color _____________ Size _________ Cost ______________ Item description___________________________________ Color _____________ Size _________ Cost ______________ Item description___________________________________ Color _____________ Size _________ Cost ______________ AFFWIN18

what’s new with you?

Send back this form so we can update your alumni record and share your good news in Class Notes.

Today’s Date: __________________________

Contact Information Name: _______________________________________________________________________________________ First (Preferred), Maiden and Last

Location attended: ____________________________________ Class year: _______________________________ Address: __________________________________________________________________________  Check if new City: ________________________________________________ State: ______________ Zip: ________________ Home phone: ________________________________________ Cell phone: ______________________________ Email: _______________________________________________ Date of birth: _____________________________ Career Update (within the last 12 months) Employer: _____________________________________________________________________________________ Job title: ____________________________________________  New  Retired Effective: __________________ Wedding Announcement (within the last 12 months) Married to: _________________________________________  Check if spouse attended CC. Class year: _____________ Date of marriage: __________________________ City/State of celebration: _______________________________ Birth (Adoption) announcement (within the last 12 months) Birth of a:  Daughter  Son  Multiples Baby’s name: ______________________________________________ Date of birth: ________________________ Spouse’s name: _____________________________________  Check if spouse attended CC. Class year: _____________ Class Notes: Tell us more about your career, community service, military news or retirement updates.

Please attach additional pages if necessary.  Check to have your news published in Class Notes. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Go online to fill out the form and upload photos: www.columbiacollegealumni.org/classnotes.

Email: ccalum@ccis.edu Mail: Columbia College Alumni Relations, 1001 Rogers St., Columbia, MO 65216 Fax: (573) 875-7733

AFF-SUM18

Alumni Information Update

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From the Archives

64

Looking Back

Keeping the Lights On

BY BRADLEY MEINKE ’14



PHOTO BY KACI SMART ’09

To step back in time is the dream of many historians and archivists. The cache of receipts and bills housed in the Columbia College Archives provides a glimpse into the purchases required to maintain the college’s daily operations during the late 1800s and into the 1900s.

A receipt from a Chicago-based publisher dated “Sept 20 02” — 1902, that is — itemizes a book order including vocabulary, science and Greek and Latin grammar studies. There are orders for groceries, fruit and baked goods that Presidents Luella St. Clair and Emma Moore procured for the dining room. Having record of the price of writing tablets, chalk, bibles and other classroom necessities provides visitors to the Archives a common point of reference into the past.

A collection of handwritten and time-stamped receipts from the early 1900s is stored in the Columbia College Archives.

The paper trail of the college is also one of practicality.

Not only was the college president charged with feeding and educating the faculty, staff and students, she had to be sure the lights and gas stayed on.

Having a visual record of these original invoices is a wonderful way to share the story of the college.

The college was a beacon in the community, and the standards set forth by the institution provided many with a sense of pride.

Bradley Meinke ’14 is collections manager of the Columbia College Archives. He may be contacted at archives@ccis.edu or (573) 875-2749.

1001 Rogers Street Columbia, MO 65216