Chronicle Winter 2020

Winter 2020 Volume 30 Issue 1

PART OF HISTORY RETIRING C-SC PRESIDENT KELLY M. THOMPSON TALKS ABOUT HER SIX YEARS ON “THE HILL” AND HER PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

culver.edu 1

FROM THE TOP OF THE HILL My time at Culver-Stockton College is nearing an end. Clarke and I have been here since July 1, 2014, and time has certainly flown. A new leader will begin their presidency on July 1, 2020.

All I can say is how proud I am.

I’m so proud of our students. Culver-Stockton has welcomed more than 300 new students to campus for eight consecutive years. Enrollment has increased 30 percent since my first day. What a great privilege it has been to watch our students grow and learn as part of our experiential learning curriculum. I am going to miss walking around this beautiful campus and seeing each of you as you dive head-first into preparing for a dynamic world.

I’m so proud of our tremendous board of trustees. It has been such a privilege to work in partnership with Chairman Ron Leftwich ’64 and the entire board to enhance the student experience. And how lucky I am that Scott Johnson ’71 and Bob ’71 and Donna Stone have chaired the Culver-Stockton: Changing Lives! campaign resulting in gifts of $22 million in cash and pledges and $9.7 million in bequests to the College.

I’m so proud of all the recognition this school has received in recent years. We learned earlier this year that Culver-Stockton is ranked as the top college or university in Missouri for getting a job in 2019, according to Zippia. C-SC was ranked No. 2 in 2018, which means we’re helping our students attain their goal of finding that first job after graduating from college. U.S. News & World Report ranked C-SC 18th among Best Value Schools in the 12-state Midwest Region.

I’m so proud of the generous nature of our trustees, alumni and friends. More than 10,000 C-SC graduates live in nearly every corner of the world, and you are the best representation of what it means to have an education from Culver-Stockton. If you have ever referred a student, provided an internship opportunity, made a gift to the annual student scholarship fund, made a planned gift, hosted an event, mentored a student, endowed a scholarship or just made a trip back to visit “the Hill,” please know that your support is always appreciated. I am confident that your love for this remarkable institution will never waver.

I’m so proud of our donors who continue to overwhelm me with their generosity.

Did you know that of the 70 schools listed in the Best Colleges in the Midwest Region rankings by U.S. News & World Report, C-SC had the highest average alumni giving rate at 22 percent? Only three schools on that list reported that the alumni giving rate was higher than 20 percent. Your generosity never stops amazing me.

I’m so proud, yet humbled, to learn about the $1 million gift an anonymous donor recently made in my honor. Part of the gift will go toward the Experiential Learning Center, which will be built on the south side of the Gladys Crown Student Center. The gift also will enhance two endowments – one set up to help first generation students, and another to be used by the College president at their discretion to help a junior or senior student who may not be able to continue their academic career at C-SC due to unforeseen financial need.

I’m so proud that Culver-Stockton has been changing lives for more than 165 years and will continue to do so for many, many more.

And I’m so proud that I can say one of those lives that was changed is mine.

CULVER- STOCKTON COLLEGE Winter 2020

Vol. 30

Issue 1

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

OFFICERS Ronald W. Leftwich ’64, Chairman Larry W. Gorrell ’69, Vice Chairman H.B. Turner ’79, Treasurer Jason R. Stratton ’96, MBA ’17, Secretary MEMBERS Larry Askew ’94, Overland Park, Kan. R. Kent Clow ’78, Olathe, Kan. Madison Cowell ’20, Havana, Ill. Caly Cramsey ’08, MBA ’14, Quincy, Ill. Anthony E. Crane ’74, Quincy, Ill. Sallie Jo Cunningham ’95, Madison, Wis. Dr. Jenkins Davis ’70, Barrington, Ill. Timothy L. Fischer ’89, Alpharetta, Ga. Susan E. Goderstad ’81, Apple Valley, Minn.

Larry W. Gorrell ’69, Quincy, Ill. Robin A. Greger ’78, Columbia, Mo. Rev. Raymond Hankins ’76, Independence, Mo. Dr. Jay Hoffman, Canton, Mo. Mat Holt ’08, Canton, Mo. Dr. Timothy M. James ’74, Fishers, Ind. Scott A. Johnson ’71, New Albany, Ohio Maureen A. Kahn, Quincy, Ill. Ronald W. Leftwich ’64, Houston, Texas Tory L. Lucas ’92, Lynchburg, Va. Michael G. McCay ’68, Bentonville, Ark. David L. McClintock ’71, New Lenox, Ill. David C. Mobley ’83, New London, Mo. Stacy Raith ’83, Hannibal, Mo. Paul Reitz, Quincy, Ill. Charles W. Scholz, Quincy, Ill. Robert F. Stone ’71, Hoffman Estates, Ill. Jason R. Stratton ’96, MBA ’17, Quincy, Ill. Dr. C. Clark Todd, Hannibal, Mo. Terry Traeder, Quincy, Ill. H.B. Turner ’79, Parkville, Mo. Dr. Kathy Turpin, Weatherby Lake, Mo. Rev. David J. Yonker ’00, W. Burlington, Iowa Nathan Zelinske ’99, St. Louis, Mo. TRUSTEES EMERITI Joseph T. Charles ’60, Jupiter, Fla. Elaine E. English ’67, South Padre, Texas Donald K. Gnuse ’56, Quincy, Ill. Leslie V. Kelsay ’73, Santa Clara, Calif.

Jeffrey A. Stuerman ’82, St. Charles, Mo.

ADMINISTRATION Dr. Kelly M. Thompson President

Dr. Lauren Schellenberger Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College

ALUMNI BOARD

OFFICERS Mat Holt ‘08, President Steve Viorel ‘02, Vice President Deb Schoenfelt ‘78, Secretary Tom Sutton ‘81, Treasurer MEMBERS Kara Avis ‘00 Brad Baker ’10 Jill Arnold Blickhan ‘79 Lisa Bohan ‘14 Brent Hickenbottom ‘00 Jay Johnson ‘04 Leslie Johnson ‘02 Kevin Kain ‘73 Kim Larson ‘82 Chris Lee ‘07 Ben Martin III ‘75 Charlie Nager ‘84 Steve Oslica ’80 Rev. Sam Pulliam ‘86

CONTENTS

DEPARTMENTS

FEATURES

From the Top of the Hill

1

Happenings on the Hill

3

Victory Bell

29

From the Chaplain

37

Passing the Test

39

Post Grad

43

In Memoriam

45

Class Notes

45

ON THE COVER

President Kelly M. Thompson poses with the students in the Blue & White Project. The purpose of the Blue and White Project is to develop an ongoing oral history initiative that PART OF HISTORY may preserve and make available oral histories of Culver-Stockton College alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends. It is comprised of video narratives conducted by student interviewers. The project hopes to preserve the history of Culver-Stockton and the individual stories that comprise it while helping make it more available to a wider audience. The project began as a part of the History 215: Stories in Blue and White course taught by Dr. Scott Giltner, professor of history. The class is designed to teach students oral history methods. Students learn the historical narrative of Culver-Stockton, key principles of oral history and the ethical and technological requirements of interviewing.

Out of that class has grown the Blue and White Project.

Winter 2020 Volume 30 Issue 1

RETIRING C-SC PRESIDENT KELLY M. THOMPSON TALKS ABOUT HER SIX YEARS ON “THE HILL” AND HER PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

Front row, from left: Kenzie Hedley, Lori Leathers, Zoe Swift, Jacob Sullens.

Middle row, from left: Reagan Winter, Lexi Reuter, Aanika Gillett, Rachel Williams, President Kelly Thompson, Claudia King, Katheryn Schmits-Nokes, Taylor Green Back row, from left: Mark Hoerr, Gabriel Schneider, Jacob Burton, Sam Baillie, Braden Woods

7

Wildcat Kingdom: Hear Us Roar!

Meet the latest people who were recognized during the Alumni Honors Banquet, enjoy photos from some of the homecoming events and read more about the 1969 football team, which was honored this year.

13

Farewell Address

Retiring President Kelly M. Thompson takes a look back at her accomplishments and life on “the Hill” and what she plans for her future. The 26th President of the College is in the final months of her administration.

25

Changing Focus

Developing a high school band and promoting “Cheeks McGee” once drove Ryan Christian ’03, but now he’s in charge of creating C-SC’s first marching band in more than 50 years.

27

Experiential Learning: A Closer Look

Before they begin their student teaching experience, students in Joni Fusselman’s and Dr. Cindy Whiston’s classes work three times a week with Canton elementary students on literacy. culver.edu 2

HAPPENINGS ON THE HILL

DONATIONS AT WORK Women’s Locker Room in Charles Fieldhouse Renovated

Dining Hall, Schwan Family Dining Room Renovations

A dedication of the renovated women’s locker room in Charles Fieldhouse was held Oct. 18. Several former players, coaches and boosters supported the funding of the project. New lockers were installed, as well as flooring, ceiling tile and a fresh coat of paint.

LED lighting was added, as was a new light with the C-SC logo from the ceiling.

The Dining Hall was completely renovated during the summer of 2019 thanks to many generous donations. Updates included serving equipment, cabinetry, tables and chairs that seat 344 guests, four areas of bar style seating with charging stations for cellphones, ceiling tiles, LED lighting, flooring, paint and a 12 foot by 7 foot video wall. A generous donation from Joe Schwan ’59 allowed the former President’s Dining Room to be renovated. The space in the Gladys Crown Student Center, now known as the Schwan Family Dining Room, was dedicated during homecoming weekend.

Gift of $1 Million Made in Honor of Thompson Part of a $1 million gift made to Culver-Stockton College in honor of President Kelly M. Thompson will go toward the construction of an experiential learning facility on campus.

The $1.25 million Experiential Learning Center will be built as an addition to the south side of the Gladys Crown Student Center. The gift also will enhance two endowments already established at C-SC. More than 40 percent of students attending Culver-Stockton are first generation students. An endowed scholarship is providing funding for those students who are the first in their family to attend college.

The Endowed Culver-Stockton College Fund has been established for the president of Culver-Stockton to distribute at their discretion for financial support for a junior or senior student who can’t continue their academic career at C-SC due to unforeseen financial need (medical, economic or family financial difficulties) or other immediate needs of the college campus.

“I’m deeply honored and so touched being named in this gift,” Thompson said. “I’m also very grateful to our donor and my dear friend for this extraordinary contribution to first generation student scholarships as well as scholarships for juniors and seniors.

It has been so wonderful to get to know a true philanthropist who has a passion for changing lives through education.”

3 Chronicle, Winter 2020

Quincy Grand Prix Inc. Donates $5,000 to Gus Traeder Scholarship Quincy Grand Prix Inc., the nonprofit organization that organizes the Grand Prix of Racing each summer in Quincy, Ill., recently made a $5,000 donation to Culver-Stockton College for a scholarship in honor of Gus Traeder, a former trustee at the College. The Grand Prix ran from 1970 to 2001 under Gus Traeder’s leadership. It was resurrected in 2018 under the leadership of Terry Traeder, Gus’ son and a member of the Board of Trustees at C-SC. Next year’s event, set for June 13-14, 2020, will be the 50th anniversary of the first race in South Park.

HAPPENINGS ON THE HILL

NEW & NOTEWORTHY Number of New Students at C-SC tops 300 for Eighth Straight Year

C-SC Earns Top 20 Recognition in U.S. News & World Report Regional Ranking

Culver-Stockton College welcomed 317 new students to campus for the fall 2019 semester. That number includes freshmen, transfers and international students. It marks the eighth consecutive year that the number of new students at C-SC has topped 300. All enrollment figures were taken on Sept. 3, the census date for the College. Total enrollment at Culver-Stockton on that date was 1,010 students. It marks the fifth consecutive year that the total enrollment has topped more than 1,000 students. The total enrollment has grown 25.5 percent since the fall 2011 semester. This year’s incoming freshman class of 254 students marks the sixth consecutive year that number has been larger than 250.

Culver-Stockton College is ranked 18th among Best Value Schools in the Midwest Region in a ranking of colleges and universities by U.S. News & World Report released in September.

C-SC moves up nine spots in the Midwest Region from last year’s ranking. The Midwest Region consists of schools from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Culver-Stockton ranked fourth among schools in Missouri, trailing only College of the Ozarks, Cottey College and William Jewell College, and it had the highest ranking of any of the schools which are members of the 13-team Heart of America Athletic Conference.

C-SC ranked No. 14 among regional colleges in the Midwest in top performers on social mobility. According to U.S. News & World Report, some colleges are more successful than others at advancing social mobility by enrolling and graduating large proportions of disadvantaged students awarded with Pell Grants.

C-SC ranked No. 33 among Best Colleges in the Midwest Region, moving up six spots from last year, and it was ranked fourth among colleges in Missouri. C-SC has been ranked in the top 40 among Best Colleges in the Midwest Region 12 times in the past 13 years.

Website Ranks C-SC No. 1 in Missouri for Graduates Getting Jobs Culver-Stockton College is ranked as the top college or university in Missouri for getting a job in 2019, according to Zippia, Inc., a California-based national resource website with career information for job seekers.

Using public data from the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard tool (collegescorecard.ed.gov) and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Zippia searched for the college in each state with the highest listed job placement ratings, looking specifically at employment levels 10 years past graduation.

Zippia limited the analysis to the 46 public and nonprofit, four-year institutions in Missouri that offer at least a bachelor’s degree.

The No. 1 school in the nation on Zippia’s list is Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn., which has a 96.1 percent placement rate. Culver-Stockton’s 94.39 percent placement rate ranks among the top 20 schools in the nation. C-SC’s placement rate of 92.93 percent in last year’s ranking was No. 2 in Missouri behind Saint Louis University.

Faculty, Staff Members Receive Experiential Education Certification Seventeen members of Culver-Stockton College’s faculty and staff were certified by the National Society for Experiential Education after completing workshops in May and August.

As part of its Higher Learning Commission accreditation, Culver-Stockton is completing a quality initiative that includes establishing a center for experiential learning, creating and implementing an assessment of experiential education, and training faculty through an Experiential Education Academy offered by the NSEE, a national resource center based in Mount Royal, N.J., that assists with the development and improvement of experiential education programs nationwide.

C-SC Ranked 26th Among NAIA Colleges by Next College Student Athlete Culver-Stockton College has been ranked 26th among all colleges and universities in the National Association for Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) by Next College Student Athlete, a Chicago-based for-profit organization that connects middle and high school student-athletes with college coaches in 34 sports.

The 2019 NCSA Power Rankings are based on proprietary analysis using the 2019 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges, 2017 graduation rates from the National Center for Education Statistics, the institutional net cost (or average cost after aid) from the NCES, and “NCSA Favorites” which identifies the most desirable schools according to current high school student-athletes on the NCSA platform.

Culver-Stockton was identified by 3,974 student-athletes in NCSA’s network as a school they’re interested in. CulverStockton was the second-highest ranked NAIA college in Missouri and the third-highest ranked college in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. culver.edu 4

HAPPENINGS ON THE HILL

FINE ARTS Choirs Make Three-Day Tour of St. Louis Area

‘Spamalot’ Performed Four Times in September

The Culver-Stockton College Concert Choir, Chamber Choir and Ocho, the a cappella choir, made six appearances during its annual fall tour in October.

The tour started Oct. 11 with a performance at Mark Twain Jr./Sr. High School in Center, Mo., followed by performances at St. Charles Community College in Cottleville, Mo., Liberty High School in Lake St. Louis, Mo., and Webster Groves Christian Church in St. Louis, Mo. The students attended the Legends and Lanterns Festival on Oct. 12 in St. Charles, Mo., then sang that evening at St. Charles Christian Church in St. Charles, Mo. The students headed home on Oct. 13 but stopped to perform at First Christian Church of Troy in Troy, Mo., before making their final appearance that afternoon in the Robert W. Brown Performing Arts Center. Scott Allison, director of choral activities, led the choirs. Thirty-three students were part of the tour.

Culver-Stockton College had four performances of the zany Monty Python musical comedy “Spamalot” in September at the Alexander Campbell Auditorium in the Robert W. Brown Performing Arts Center. Spamalot is adapted from the 1975 film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”

Playing the role of King Arthur was Daniel Welch of Canton, Mo. Other major characters were Patsy, played by Alex Siron of Paris, Mo.; Sir Robin, played by Kar’Mel Brewer of St. Louis, Mo.; Sir Lancelot, played by Remington Jarvis of Canton, Mo.; Sir Galahad, played by Matthew Scheuermann of Quincy, Ill.; Sir Bedevere, played by Cody McClain of Hamilton, Ill.; and The Lady of the Lake, played by Talia Schneider of Altamont, Kan. The musical was directed by David Lane, lecturer in speech/ theater education, with production design by Seth Campbell, assistant professor of theater. The pit orchestra was directed by assistant professor of music Scott Allison.

Choir tour sang at Webster Groves as a part of their tour.

Four Students Win Awards at Originale Art Competition Four Culver-Stockton College students were given awards during the 55th annual Originale area artist exhibit and competition, sponsored by the Hannibal Art Club.

In the non-professional division, Jordan Graves of Springfield, Ill., received the Pinnacle Award, donated by LaBinnah Bistro, for his pastel titled “Grandpas Resting.” Excellence awards were given to Steven Walker of Palmyra, Mo., who won the Aaron Gregonis Award for his piece titled “Flower Boy,” and to Nevin McNally of Quincy, Ill., who won the Law Firm of Dempsey & Dempsey Award for his piece titled, “Go It Alone.” A merit award was given to Keelie O’Brien of Kahoka, Mo., who won the Nancy Beckner Memorial Award for her piece titled, “Gold Goddess.”

5 Chronicle, Winter 2020

Fine Arts Instructor Wins Top Award at St. Louis Exhibition Debra K. Scoggin/Myers, a senior lecturer in the fine arts department, took first place at a summer juried exhibition by the Gateway Pastel Artists in St. Louis. Scoggin/Myers was recognized for her piece, “Reflections of a Dog Owner.” Pat Kern, a former adjunct instructor at C-SC, received second place for her piece, “Banjo Man.” Both pieces were accepted into the Missouri 50 competition, the 28th annual juried professional fine art exhibit at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia, Mo. Both artists exhibit their work in the Alliance Art Gallery in Hannibal and Art House in Fulton. Scoggin/Myers also was part of the juried exhibition “On the Surface, On the Ramp” at the St. Louis Artists’ Guild from Sept. 20 to Oct. 23.

HAPPENINGS ON THE HILL

PEOPLE IN THE NEWS Dean Recognized in Herald-Whig’s “20 Under 40”

Dr. Lauren Schellenberger, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college, was recognized in September as part of The Quincy Herald-Whig’s annual 20 Under 40 publication that highlights 20 individuals under the age of 40 who have made a positive impact on the community and have enjoyed professional success in their career. Schellenberger was appointed interim vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college in June 2018, and the interim title was removed in June 2019. She is only the second woman to be the dean since the position was created in 1920. Schellenberger joined the faculty at C-SC in the fall of 2008 as an assistant professor of biology, then became a tenured associate professor in 2014 before becoming the chair of the Applied Liberal Arts and Sciences division.

President of Blessing Hospital elected to Board of Trustees

Maureen Kahn, president and chief executive officer of Blessing Health System and Blessing Hospital, was elected to the Board of Trustees at Culver-Stockton College.

The Board of Trustees is responsible for assisting the College in legal and fiduciary decisions; approving the mission, strategic goals, and objectives of the organization; and establishing policies. The Board of Trustees consists of 34 members and five people who are Trustees Emeriti. Ronald W. Leftwich ’64 of Houston, Texas, is the chairman. Kahn became Blessing Hospital’s senior vice president/chief nursing officer in 2001. She became president/chief executive officer of Blessing Hospital in 2005, and she became the president/chief executive officer of the Blessing Health System and Blessing Hospital in 2014.

She was the keynote speaker at Culver-Stockton’s commencement in 2017 and received an honorary doctorate of health care administration degree from C-SC.

Larimer Presentation Part of Konneker Leader in Residence Juliann Larimer delivered her keynote address, “Two Truths and One Lie,” as part of the Konneker Leader in Residence program on Sept. 30 in the Merillat Chapel in the Robert W. Brown Performing Arts Center.

The Wilfred and Ann Lee Konneker Leadership in Residence program is in its sixth year and is designed to provide a supportive and value-based learning environment where students can acquire knowledge and skills to work with and through others to accomplish mutual goals.

Larimer, a daughter of Joseph Schwan ’59 and the late Charlann Schwan, was named president and CEO of Peak-Ryzex, based in Columbia, Md., in April 2018. Peak-Ryzex is a provider of technology-enabled supply chain solutions that help customers transition to digital and mobile environments.

Larimer spoke at various business, communications and leadership classes during her three-day stay on campus.

GREEK LIFE Mu Gamma Named Chapter of Excellence The Mu Gamma chapter at Culver-Stockton College recently received a Chapter of Excellence Award from Chi Omega, the largest women’s fraternal organization in the world. It is the second year in a row for Mu Gamma to receive that honor. Sixty-three out of the 181 Chi Omega chapters across the country received this recognition.

Mu Gamma maintained an 87 percent or higher average on a performance scorecard throughout the past year. The chapter is scored on six topics – retention, recruitment, chapter operations, programming, scholarship and leadership. Mu Gamma has 65 members in its chapter. Kailee Gaither, a senior from Canton, Mo., is the chapter president. culver.edu 6

WILDCAT KINGDOM: HEAR US ROAR

2 1

3

5 7 Chronicle, Winter 2020

4

6

1. Mary Oatman ’79, Doreen (Lee) Cannon ’79 and Jill Arnold Blickhan ’79 pose during the Blue and White Mixer in the J.E. & L.E. Mabee Recreation and Wellness Center gym.

2. President Kelly M. Thompson poses with John Lee ’69, Lora (Lofgreen) Boyer ’69 and Paige Bence ’69 during the Leadership Breakfast held at The Pillars.

3. Michael Musick ’82, Greg Pointer ’84 and Beth (Stocker) Musick ’84 at the Blue and White Mixer in the J.E. & L.E. Mabee Recreation and Wellness Center gym.

7

4. Ron Leftwich ’64 and his wife Susie show off some of their extensive hand-crafted collection of teddy bears during a showing in the Mabee Art Gallery in the Herrick Foundation Center.

5. K.T. Seth and Jenna Lord were crowned Homecoming King and Queen before Saturday’s football game against Grand View.

6. Gabrielle Brooks, Abby Currant and Raegan Walterscheid ride on the Sigma Sigma Sigma float during the homecoming parade.

7. Ron Leftwich ’64, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Mike Bringer ’93 and President Kelly M. Thompson 8 hold the ceremonial ribbon for Joe Schwan ’59 to cut during a dedication ceremony for the Schwan Family Dining Room in the Gladys Crown Student Center.

8. Members of the Class of 1969 enjoyed a reunion and were inducted into the Top of the Hill Society during a luncheon in Meaders Lounge in the Gladys Crown Student Center.

9. Tod Steele ’71, left, and Bob Hutton ’70, members of the 1969 football team, ride on the back of a golf cart during the homecoming parade.

9

HOMECOMING 2019 culver.edu 8

THE OF

’69

C-SC’S BEST FOOTBALL TEAM ENJOYED MEMORABLE SEASON DURING TURBULENT TIMES 50 YEARS AGO

The 1969 football team won more games than any other team in the history of Culver-Stockton College, compiling a 7-1-1 record and winning the Missouri Collegiate Athletic Union championship.

Ask the players on that team what they remember about that season, and most of them will tell you they still can’t shake the memory of that one loss.

“I don’t remember anything about the victories,” said Charles “Chico” Compton ’70, a senior defensive end on that team.

“I have no recollections of the games we won, but I do have a sincere recollection about the game we lost,” said Jenkins Davis ’70, a senior offensive lineman. “Fifty years later, I’m still wondering. Did I miss a block that could have made a difference?

I still ask the same thing.”

Senior running back Bruce Rowe scored a late touchdown to get the Wildcats within 21-20 in the final game of the regular season against William Penn, and C-SC coach Jack McBride elected for his team to go for the 2-point conversion to win the game. Senior running back Bob Vashinko scored on the conversion try, but an offsides penalty moved the ball back to the 8-yard line.

C-SC again elected to go for two points, and Vashinko pitched the ball to Rowe, who was knocked out one foot shy of the goal line.

A victory likely would have meant an invitation to the Mineral Bowl, the first bowl invite in school history.

“I thought I had the ball over (the goal line),” Rowe said.

9 Chronicle, Winter 2020

“It’s been 50 years, and the emotions from that game, and it’s everybody … they’re still mad.”

But there were plenty of smiles when the members of the 1969 football team reunited during homecoming weekend. About two dozen members made the trip to Canton, and despite the loss, many good memories from that season were shared.

“We really felt like a team, and we felt we needed to support each other and back each other up,” Davis said.

“I remembered quite the camaraderie. There was no quit in the team,” Compton said. “Everybody got along, and nobody ever gave up.”

That attitude served the Wildcats well.

C-SC forced two fourth-quarter fumbles that led to touchdowns in a 12-7 victory over Concordia (Neb.) in the season opener. After victories against Iowa Wesleyan (30-17) and Graceland (38-20), Culver-Stockton needed another fourth-quarter rally, scoring 21 points in the final period to won 28-13 over St. Procopius (now known as Benedictine University in Lisle, Ill.).

The offense was shut out the next week, but Millard Bondurant’s fumble return for a touchdown and Vashinko’s 2-point conversion run with 9:04 left in the game gave C-SC an 8-7 victory over Central Methodist.

The perfect record was ruined when Illinois College tied the Wildcats 7-7. Jack Grandi’s 43-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the game fell just short of the crossbar.

C-SC then handed Tarkio (Mo.) its first loss in a 14-6 decision,

then rallied one more time to defeat Eureka (Ill.) 21-13 to set up the final game against William Penn in Oskaloosa, Iowa.

Equally as memorable as the games was the turbulence of the era. War, poverty and the fight for civil rights were pulling the nation in many directions. Compton grew up in a poor black population in Cairo in southern Illinois, while Davis was raised by a foster family in Markham, Ill., a largely black community near Chicago. Both saw the chance to get a degree by coming to Canton and playing football, but they both remember how starkly different life was like in northeast Missouri.

“My gosh, it was such a vulnerable time in our country,” said Davis, now the director of sales and market development for Komatsu Construction in Barrington, Ill. “I don’t remember any race issues at all within the team, and I would say maybe 20 percent of us were black. If there were any issues, they were off campus. When we went downtown, we ate in the back of the restaurant. I remember one time when I couldn’t walk in and get my hair cut. I got married after my sophomore year and tried to get housing, and no one would rent to me off campus because I was black.

“I don’t think there had been more than four or five blacks to ever go to Culver-Stockton before we came here. We didn’t know how to act, and the town didn’t know how to act. It was a challenge because the town was so radically different.”

“I was used to seeing more black faces growing up in the projects,” said Compton, who is retired after being an engineering manager for Boeing in the Seattle area. “But with the background my mom gave me, I was able not to let it deter me from my main goal, which was to get an education.”

The common goal of football and an education seemed to limit most potential problems.

“You know, everybody got along,” said Rowe, who is retired from a career with the Illinois Department of Corrections and now lives in Tennessee. “If you went down to the riverfront, that was another story, but on campus, there was just a brotherhood.

Nobody had any problems. We were just one unit, and we played ball together.”

“It’s still a blessing just to be a part of this team,” Davis said.

“We’re all getting older, but many of us still stay in contact.”

Members of the 1969 football team were recognized during halftime of the homecoming football game. Front row, left to right: Keith Alexander ’70, Darrell Bodie ’73 and Jenkins Davis ’70; Middle row, left to right: Millard Bondurant ’72, Bill Buckner ’71, Dennis Steele ’72, Jack Grandi ’70 and Bob Hutton ’70; Back row, left to right: Bruce Rowe ’70, Larry Doty ’72, Duane Weller ’73, Tod Steele ’71, Dan Arrington ’70, Joe Hogan ’73, Steve Fannin ’71, Mike Meyers ’73, Charles Compton ’73, James McAnally ’71, Tom Henzi ’70 and Gary Kaneshiro ’71.

Whatever happened to the players on the 1969 football team?

Visit culver.edu/where-are-they-now to find out. culver.edu 10

legacy SUCCESS &SERVICE HONORING THE

OF

Distinguished alumni, donors, staff and faculty were recognized during the Alumni Honors Banquet on Oct. 18 in the Dining Hall at the Gladys Crown Student Center.

Dr. Bill Sheehan, vice president for advancement and alumni programs, welcomed the guests to start the banquet. C-SC president Kelly M. Thompson followed with remarks before the presentation of honorees.

Distinguished Alumni Award – Susan (Frazier) Goderstad ’81 and Todd Goderstad ’83 Susan Goderstad, who received a bachelor’s degree in business and economics from Culver-Stockton in 1981, is the president of Fiscally Secure, LLC, in Apple Valley, Minn., which provides personal financial assistance to clients who have difficulty with or lack the time needed for monetary affairs. Susan is a member of the Culver-Stockton Board of Trustees.

Todd Goderstad received a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from C-SC in 1983. He now is the executive vice president and general counsel for Ames Construction in Burnsville, Minn. He is the chief legal officer for one of the largest heavy civil, transportation and industrial design-build general contractors in the United States.

Distinguished Alumni Award – Blair Stanicek ’62 Stanicek, a native of Hinsdale, Ill., graduated from CulverStockton in 1962. He eventually went on to a 25-year career in sales with Medtronic plc, the world’s largest medical device company. Stanicek and his wife, Arlene, established the Blair and Arlene Stanicek Endowed Scholarship, which is awarded to physical education majors on campus. Stanicek now lives in Greenville, S.C. 11 Chronicle, Winter 2020

Todd ’83 and Susan ’81 Goderstad

Alumni Leadership and Service Award – Stacy (Stout) Raith ’83 Stacy (Stout) Raith ’83 received the Alumni Leadership and Service Award. Raith graduated in 1983 from Culver-Stockton with a bachelor’s degree in music education, and she is a member of the Culver-Stockton College Board of Trustees and the presidential search committee. Raith and her husband, Peter, have been married for 36 years. They recently moved to Hannibal, Mo., after spending many years in the Olathe, Kan., area. They may be best known for the meals they would provide C-SC teams when they played teams around Kansas City.

Honorary Wildcat Award – Betty Dancey Godard Betty Dancey Godard received the Honorary Wildcat Award.

Godard is an advocate for supporting and encouraging first generation students in receiving a college education. Her father, Russell Dancey, established an endowed scholarship at CulverStockton in 1982 that has been given to nearly 500 students at C-SC who exemplify Christian morals. Mrs. Godard initiated the R.V. Dancey Scholarship in memory of her father. Her daughter, Susan Dudas, accepted the award on her behalf.

Outstanding Young Alumnus – Michael Sweeney ’10 This year’s Outstanding Young Alumnus is Michael Sweeney ’10 of Downers Grove, Ill. He is a senior assistant public defender in DuPage County in the Chicago suburbs. He graduated from Culver-Stockton College in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a minor in history. He was recognized as one of the Top 40 Under 40 by the American Association of Attorneys in April 2018.

Michael Sweeney ’10

Arlene and Blair ’62 Stanicek

President Kelly Thompson and Susan Dudas

Dome Award – Dr. Scott Giltner Giltner, who lives in Quincy, Ill., is a professor of history at Culver-Stockton, joining the faculty in 2005. He received the Helsabeck Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 2014 and one of the three inaugural Blue Apple Awards for Excellence in Teaching presented by the Student Teacher Organization in 2019. He is active in travel study, co-leading the biennial Belize and Guatemala expedition that has taken more than 120 students through the rainforests, reefs and ruins of Central America.

Dome Award – Marjorie (Woodard) Ellison ’90 Ellison, who lives near Monticello, Mo., started working at C-SC in 1986 and was assistant registrar until she was named the registrar in 2001. She earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from CulverStockton in 1990. Ellison joined the alumni and advancement office in 2008 as the director of advancement operations. Her title is now senior director of advancement and alumni. She received the President’s Award for Exemplary Service in 2012.

Peter, Stacy ’83, A.J. and Barclay Raith

John and Judy Giltner, Scott Giltner and Heather Keller-Giltner, Carol Hochgraber culver.edu 12

Q&A WITH

President Kelly M. Thompson What was homecoming weekend like for you? It had to be different than the first five.

Oh, it was positively wonderful. Being able to see so many alumni and friends who I’ve gotten close to, and having the opportunity to share our good news of a $1 million gift for endowed scholarships and our new experiential learning center, that was just such a great message to share on my last homecoming.

What was it like having that gift named for you? I know that you’re usually promoting the school, so I’m guessing to have a gift for the school named for you is humbling.

Absolutely humbling, and because I’ve developed such a wonderful relationship with this donor, it just makes my heart sing that she would think that much of me and the work that we do at Culver-Stockton to make that gift in my honor. So I’m very appreciative. This is a person, as I’ve said so often, who’s a true philanthropist, and it’s been my greatest honor and privilege to know her and to know of all the good work that she’s doing with her philanthropy.

When we walked into the PAC (Robert W. Brown Performing Arts Center) waiting area, there was a whole group of students and a screen that said, “We love you President Thompson.” They put just an incredible slideshow together of pictures throughout my time on “the Hill” and words to the pictures and some background music.

The

What was the underlying message of the discussions you had with people during homecoming week?

There were so many things. People were so complimentary of my work here and so grateful for the time I’ve spent on “the Hill.”

Some were a little bit sad, and I’ve often said, “Well, it’s bittersweet for me, too.”

Because this has been an absolutely wonderful experience. I would say Thursday evening (Oct. 17) was a total surprise. Ron Leftwich (chair of the Board of Trustees) and I go over every year to judge the karaoke contest.

13 Chronicle, Winter 2020

President Thompson and husband Dr. Clarke Schneider

students did that in my honor. It was so very special.

What did you think of this place when you first came?

Quite honestly, I thought it was just a little bit of heaven to be on 141 acre campus overlooking the Mississippi River with the rich history of this college and all those who have graduated and gone on to do wonderful things. I felt as if I was the luckiest person in the world.

What was it about this place that made you feel that lucky?

It’s just a small town in the middle of Northeast Missouri.

What made it feel so special to you?

What was so special is in my interview process and in the decision process for my husband and I to come to “the Hill” was the absolute wonderful people that we met – trustees, faculty, staff, students, the innovative curriculum, the calendar that supports innovation. I knew that was a differentiator.

So much of our work today is communicating why people should invest in a certain college or university. We have a compelling value proposition: their son or daughter is going to have a great experience and really develop and grow in so many different ways – not just intellectually, but spiritually, socially. 98 percent of our students are going on to great first career opportunities and to prestigious graduate schools. So we have wonderful outcomes.

To me, I saw opportunity that we can really build on that and really flourish in what I would call a very crowded and competitive marketplace.

One thing that the school promotes, to stand out above the crowd, is a distinctive educational style with the 12-week/3-week semester calendar. How is that model received nationally?

We’ve invested in certifying our faculty nationally. There’s the National Association of Experiential Education, and our faculty has gone through the training that certifies them nationally in experiential education teaching. So we know on the national level that we are one of the only colleges and universities in the country that has this many certified faculty. Recently, we had a college in North Carolina that adopted the 12/3. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

What was the most challenging part of your transition from vice president of external relations for Barton College to the president of Culver-Stockton?

Clearly, it was getting to know everyone’s name and understanding their relationship to the college. I’ve shared that when we arrived in Canton, there was a big digital sign, and it read, “Welcome President Thompson.” Signs were everywhere my husband and I went. There were big posters up with my picture, so everyone knew who we were. It was really just trying to get to know everyone. “This is Steve Ayers. His father is a trustee, and they own Ayerco (Convenience Center) and the Steak ‘N Shake … and he sent two of his children to Culver.” So really understanding the deep relationships between so many of the people who are part of the Canton community. So just getting to know alumni, students, faculty and staff and being able to recall who they were when I saw them at the grocery store.

It seems like you’re always “on” as the president. Someone is going to see you at the grocery store and they’re going to say, “Hi, President Thompson! Do you remember me? I saw you at the homecoming parade.” How do you balance the fact that you must wear your presidential hat nearly every day with your own personal life?

Well, you know, I guess if I’m going to be honest, I’d probably give myself a C in that regard. You know, my husband’s been a great support throughout my presidency. When I’ve said, “I need to travel here” or “I need to do this,” he’s always been there for me, you know, always supporting me. This is a 24-hour, seven-daysa-week job, and there’s times where I’ve had disappointments and I’ve been able to come home and say, “Hey Clarke, you know, this didn’t work out quite as well.” He’s been a great sounding board for me, so that’s been really helpful throughout my career. We’ve moved, I can’t tell you, culver.edu 14

to how many different cities and places, and my dream was to become a college president. He supported me in that. I love the idea that I’m the president all the time. I’m not sure what I’m going to do when I’m not.

I fell in love with higher education. So I stayed there.

(National College of Education) became a university. For 17 years, I worked my way up to a vice presidency. We were a very innovative institution. We had campuses all over the country and in Europe as well. That was a great, great training ground to step into a presidency because I learned so much about enrollment management and marketing and fundraising and working with the board of trustees. It was serendipity, but wonderfully so.

While you were hoping to become an actress, I believe you had said that your mom was thinking, “Let’s be a little more practical here.” Was Mom right all along?

You said your dream was to become a college president, but I also remember that you were a theater major at the University of Illinois and your goal as a little girl was to be a Broadway actress. What happened on the way to Broadway?

Well, a wonderful thing happened. The first 10 years of my career, I worked in the theater. I adapted literary material for the stage. I taught working actors. I was a working actress myself. At a certain point in time, I wasn’t sure that I was really going to make it. One of the things that I tell our students here is you can have a dream but sometimes your dreams change depending on circumstances.

A very dear friend of mine who still to this day is a working actress in Los Angeles said there was an opening at the National College of Education. She said, “You know, I think you should interview.”

I interviewed, and I was hired on the spot. I thought, “Well, you know, I’ll probably stay for a year and just really do some soul searching about what I want to do for my career.”

Well, she was. My mom was a fourth-grade school teacher for many, many years and really wanted me to go into teaching, but my acting career and my acting training really prepared me well for a presidency. So I look up to Heaven every now and then and say, “See mom, you know, the acting thing worked out OK.” Because my first homecoming here, I believe I had 17 different events in which I presided and had messages and speeches for alumni and friends. So that training has been very valuable.

You’re finding ways for different people to impact the lives of students at Culver-Stockton. How has Culver-Stockton impacted Canton, Mo., and the 100-mile radius around the campus during your time here?

What’s so wonderful is that many, many of our students stay in the region. We hear from so many employers that our graduates are absolutely ready for the workforce. So many teachers, nurses, bankers and entrepreneurs stay in the region, and that makes this region stronger. I think that’s a big plus.

The other thing I think is so important in terms of our relationship with the campus and community is the pillar of

Inauguration ceremony for Thompson.

August 22 First matriculation ceremony under Thompson’s direction.

Enrollment is at 945 full-time students.

Endowment is $23,000,000.

15 Chronicle, Winter 2020

April 24

October 23 May May 2015 – Board of Trustees approves “We See the Future” strategic plan.

January Named chair of the Council of Colleges and Universities for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

2016

July 1

Dedication of Schwan Overlook.

2015

2014

Dr. Kelly M. Thompson’s first day of work. She is the 26th president, and first female president, in Culver-Stockton’s 166year history.

experiential learning that’s about community service. We have a wonderful tradition called Everyone Doing More. This started about 11 years ago. We had 17 projects down in the Canton community this fall. That’s an opportunity for the new students to really get to know the Canton community, to see how important service is and how that cascades throughout their four years here.

We have a number of our student athletes who may work in the food bank. Others help at the historical society. Whenever there’s a need in the Canton community, it seems as if the mayor or someone reaches up to “the Hill” and says, “How can your students help?” And they’re more than willing and they’re certainly able. It’s just such a great experience for them.

The other thing that I think is important to share is when we talk about experiential learning, we talk about reflection. So the 200-plus students were writing about what that meant to them to spend that half day in the community, whether it was sandbagging or pulling weeds or painting. That reflection piece is so important in experiential learning.

Since you’ve been here, enrollment is up 30 percent. A fully-funded residence hall was built. You just announced an experiential learning building that’s going to be going up. You have new sports teams, new master’s programs. Is there anything from that big umbrella of Kelly Thompson’s resume – boom, boom, boom, here’s all the things that happened – is there one that you’re the proudest of?

Well, you talked about an umbrella. I would say what I’m most proud of is our comprehensive campaign, “Culver-Stockton Changing Lives!” That really is the umbrella for so many things that were able to happen on “the Hill.” You know, I’ve had great support. Scott Johnson is the national chair, and Bob and Donna Stone are co-chairs. Great people to lead the effort. We’ve had great support from trustees, alumni, friends, corporations and foundations, and we’ve raised more than $21 million in cash and pledges … most of those raised funds are in the bank, and then there’s another $10 million in documented planned gifts. That’s really our future. Many times, a planned gift or a bequest will be the largest gift that anyone gives in their lifetime. We’ve had a couple of those in the campaign, and they’ve been so impactful,

January 30

February 9 December 21

Anonymous donor names Carolyn L. & Robert W. Brown Residence Hall, a $3 million facility on north side of campus with 12 suites and four classrooms.

Approval received for Master of Education

2017

Installation of stadium lights at Ellison Poulton Stadium.

Dedication of renovated Cat’s Pause, a snack bar in lower level of Gladys Crown Student Center.

May 17 February 10 C-SC receives $2.5 million bequest for Arthur E., Marilyn J. and Katherine E. Hendren Endowed Scholarship for football and basketball players. It is the largest gift from an individual in the college’s history.

culver.edu 16

exciting for me is that I believe that people will have to become lifelong learners because there will be such amazing changes in the workplace.

We all know that the data out there that says over a lifetime, if you have a bachelor’s degree, you will earn so much more than if you did not have a degree. Alumni who had the Culver-Stockton experience will want that for their children or grandchildren. So now, you also have to attract faculty and staff. What was your approach to get people to come to “the Hill?”

so transformational. Art Hendren’s gift of $2.5 million, just phenomenal. So that’s been so much fun, to see how generous people are and how much they want to help Culver-Stockton College become the best it can be.

I mentioned earlier that enrollment is up 30 percent, but nationally, higher education has been taking a little bit of a beating, right? So while Culver-Stockton’s enrollment is growing, college enrollment nationally is not. How and where are students going to be educated in the future?

Well, I think our industry will change greatly. It’s already changed with so many students learning online, which I think is a wonderful thing. Here at Culver-Stockton, we have a faculty that was ahead of the curve, putting an online MBA together many years ago before I got to “the Hill” and now, a master’s in teacher education. I think we’ll see a lot of credentialing in the future.

Students will receive a credential, maybe it’s an AA (associate’s in arts) degree and then build on that. One of the things that’s

What was really important to me is that when we advertise, we talk about our innovative curriculum. We talk about the opportunity for faculty to engage not only in a domestic travel study with students but also an international travel study – and faculty can do that in their first year. We also have a terrific benefit package as well. We have professional development funds that are earmarked for faculty. Actually, in one case, a faculty member who is absolutely amazing said that was the difference in why they came to Culver-Stockton instead of accepting another offer. That’s very, very, very similar for our staff as well. They know they can be part of a community where they’re going to make a difference in someone’s lives and also going to have opportunities for professional growth and development. We just have a tremendous staff and faculty here.

When you were hired and did your first interviews with the media, you said you felt that the school was “a college on the move.” So what did that mean? Where is it now?

Where do you think it’s moving as you leave?

Well, when I came, what I realized is how forward thinking and nimble our faculty are, and that remains the same. I would say that is an incredible trait. There’s also a very Midwestern, I

2017

New seating in Ellison Poulton Stadium installed. A new set of bleachers were installed to replace the old chair-back seats.

September August 18 Enrollment reaches 1,134 total students, most in college history since 1991.

17 Chronicle, Winter 2018

Dedication of Carolyn L. & Robert W. Brown Residence Hall.

September 29 September 29 Dedication of Schwan Archway, welcoming all entering the south end of campus.

October 11 Esports program announced. C-SC joins the National Association of Collegiate Esports and offers scholarships for players.

would call it a roll-up-your-sleeves type of attitude here, and I love that. I’m a Midwestern gal through and through, so I love that it’s part of the culture here. What was important in the early years was putting a roadmap together. It was like, so, OK, we’re here, but how do we get to the next level? And so we had a very inclusive strategic planning process. We called the plan “We See the Future, which we’re now completing. That roadmap was really important because that set the tone for how we wanted to grow enrollment and ways in which we’re going to accomplish it. We want to develop a comprehensive campaign. Here are the ways in which we are going to do that. And so having that plan and those benchmarks were really important. Now we’re beginning to build a new plan.

The other thing I’d say that was very important was my predecessor, Dick Valentine. He did a great job in putting the foundation in for enrollment growth. Then he also completed a campaign in three years that was very successful. So on the fundraising side as well, we had momentum. I’m ever grateful for President Emeritus Valentine’s work.

In terms of the future, I think the most important thing

is making sure that all of us – and this is trustees cascading throughout the organization, faculty and staff – we remain with students at the center of our decision making. Because I think that has been very much a part of our success. What is it that students want and need to be successful? What are in-demand fields that our faculty can create programs for so that our students when they graduate and become alumni are well prepared?

You talked earlier about fundraising and said that you believe that your chief role as the president of the school is to be the main fundraiser for the college. How much of your day do you spend on fundraising, and what makes a good fundraiser?

Well, fundraising is all about relationships and, I believe I’ve been successful because I’ve built trust with alumni and friends.

They have a faith in my leadership of C-SC, and I’ve been able to tell stories of our amazing students and alumni. I spend a lot of time when I’m on campus attending student events, whether it’s athletics, performing arts or speaking in a classroom. So really in many ways, I’m the chief storyteller, and telling stories about the work that’s happening here really gets people interested in wanting to help us. Our annual scholarship luncheon is one of the most phenomenal events ever. You can see the bonds that the donors and students have, and they want to continue to help.

I love the fact that you’re telling the students’ stories and that it’s important for you. You go to these events to learn the stories of the students, don’t you?

It’s absolutely critical, and it’s one of my greatest joys, truly. It’s so much fun when those stories resonate with the donor, that they remember when they were in Greek life or that they were on the royalty court at homecoming or whatever those experiences are.

2018

Dedication of Johnson Esports Arena. The arena was completed thanks to a donation from Jo and Scott ’71 Johnson.

Addition of Master of Athletic Training program announced.

Two-year program is the only on-campus graduate program.

Thompson named vice chair of Missouri Colleges Fund, a consortium of 18 independent liberal arts colleges and universities in Missouri.

July 26

February 1

September

April 30

August

Announcement of $800,000 donation from Robert Glass ‘52 to provide endowed support for equipment, instructional support and scholarships in informational technology.

Enrollment is at 1,068 total students, marking the fourth consecutive year that figure has topped 1,000. culver.edu 18

that’s so important is continuing to raise the bar. My experience here is whenever we’ve raised the bar a little bit in whatever area, people have always gone above and beyond. That is so much of a Culver-Stockton trait, part of the culture that everyone wants this to be the best college it can be.

You’ve had so many accomplishments during your time.

Is there anything that you say to yourself, “Gosh, I wish I could have got that done,” before you walk away in the summer?

Ron Leftwich has said that you have “personalized every area of the college.” It has to be difficult to balance the personal touch without being too hands on. You have to give the faculty or the students or your staff a chance to breathe but continue to support them. How do you balance that?

Well, I would have loved to have raised the funds for the athletic building. We have an athletic building on the drawing board.

We really, really need this facility. We have so many wonderful student-athletes, and everyone does a good job of making the Charles Field House and the wonderful facilities we have work.

But because we’ve added some sports, we really need a little bit more room. If we had chosen to stay another two years, I have no doubt that we’d complete that project, but I think it’s a darned good one for the new president.

I think one of the important things is developing trusting relationships with your senior leadership team. They’re are managing so much and leading the faculty and the staff daily. The other thing I do is lead by walking around. I love to walk around campus, talk to people. I enjoy eating in the Dining Hall when I’m on campus. I’m asking people, “How’s it going? How was your day?” And so really listening carefully, hearing what some of their concerns are and then being able to relate them to my senior team. Do you think we could do this? I’ve heard about this and that. How can we help?

I will say that I never in my career enjoyed being micromanaged, so I’ve always really been aware of that. I have said to my staff, “If you think I’m micromanaging you, you need to say something, because that’s not what I want to do.” Another thing

2018

Ron Leftwich ’64 and Larry Gorrell ’69 inducted into Order of the Founders Circle, an honorary society created to recognize people whose contributions have been vital to the life and growth of the College.

Women’s lacrosse program added.

October 26 October 26 Public phase of Culver-Stockton: Changing Lives! comprehensive campaign is kicked off. C-SC announces it is set to raise more than $25 million throughout the life of the campaign.

19 Chronicle, Winter 2020

November 9 November 1 Announcement of $1.5 million gift from estate of Mary Eck ‘40 and $1.5 million anonymous estate commitment.

Part of Eck’s gift was designed to support students traveling both nationally and abroad. The gift from the anonymous donor targeted faculty development and student scholarships.

You’ve put a challenge out there for the new president.

When you sit down with your new president and you’re going to take them to lunch, where are you going to take them?

Oh, Primos, of course.

So when you’re at Primos, what would you say to your successor? What kind of hints and ideas and advice as to how to make their time here work?

Well, I would tell them that they have the most incredible chairman of the board of trustees, Ron Leftwich. There is no one like Ron Leftwich – absolutely strategic and smart and always a great partner. Having a board chair with that strength and love for the college is so important. I’d also tell them about the board of trustees. They are an amazing board. These are people who care deeply about the college, who are philanthropic and who want to make this college the best it can be. I’d also say, wow, you hit the lottery with an innovative and hardworking faculty.

The best faculty that I’ve ever worked with in my career, and I’ve worked with a number, and an incredible staff. And for sure, and maybe this is the best part, that they will love the students and the students are what we’re all here for.

You said before that you give yourself a C in regards to balancing your life. Well, now the balance is going to shift a little bit. You’ll have time to do what you want to do. What do you want to do once you don’t have to be the president?

Clarke and I really, really enjoy traveling. There’s a number of states that I have not visited on the east coast. That’s where he grew up, out east. Then, there’s international travel. We had planned to go on a safari, and it was the year that I was appointed here, so we had to put that on hold. So we’d like to go on a two-

or three-week safari. We have a lot of extended family all over the country, so visiting family and friends who we haven’t been able to keep up with is on the list. I believe both of us will also volunteer our time as we have more time.

Do you find yourself thinking, “I’d like to learn to become a fisherman” or “I would love to take a dance class”? How are you going to find that actress who’s still inside you?

I was a terrible golfer, and I’ve gotten even worse, not golfing these past five years. So I am going back to the golf course. I’m taking golf lessons. I can’t wait. I’m a swimmer, so I can’t wait to live in warmer climates and swim my mile a day and be able to walk and enjoy nature and just life, because it’s not promised. Tomorrow is not promised to any of us.

When people talk about you and your time at CulverStockton, what do you hope they say?

Well, I hope they say I was student-centered and absolutely passionate about making Culver-Stockton College the best it could be.

Enrollment is at 1,010 total students, marking the fifth consecutive year that figure has topped 1,000. Endowment is $28,968,000.

2019

Culver-Stockton College announces receiving two-year grant to establish Moorman Professorship through a partnership with the Moorman Foundation of Quincy, Ill.

May 9 April Thompson named chair of the Heart of America Athletic Conference Council of Presidents.

September 20 July 24

October 17

Plans to add marching band announced.

A $1 million gift is made to Culver-Stockton in honor of Thompson by an anonymous donor.

culver.edu 20

STIMULATED BY CLASSES AT C-SC,

STRAIN TURNS FASCINATION WITH ART INTO CREATIVITY WITH BRONZE Charles Strain is one of the most accomplished artists in the Midwest, creating bronze sculptures during the past 30 years that are on display at college campuses, churches and cities throughout the nation.

He credits his creativity and his passion for his work to adapting to a meager lifestyle as a child and his love of nature.

Strain, 55, lives about four miles north of the tiny village of Harrisburg, Mo. (pop. 266), a half-hour’s drive north of Columbia, Mo. Harrisburg is about a half-hour’s drive south of Higbee, Mo., where Strain lived starting in the seventh grade after his father finished a 20-year career in the Navy at the Pentagon.

“People would look at it as dull, but this is where I grew up,” Strain said.

“Five miles to the north of where I live starts the beautiful prairie. It’s a really cool place.”

Coming from meager means while living in a rural location, Strain learned how to make do. He worked on a farm and in a factory, and he also served as a maintenance man.

“There are so many tools and pieces of equipment that a sculptor has to touch, and you learn about them. You have to know them like you breathe,” he said. “There are some really wonderful modern primitive ways to make sculpture given by our forefathers.”

The foundation for his future line of work was laid in high school during shop class. He did tool work, wood work and grinding.

21 Chronicle, Winter 2020

“I wanted to follow my dad and become a conservation agent, but I had a high school teacher who encouraged me to try art,” Strain said.

His passion for art intensified when he arrived at Culver-Stockton College in the fall of 1985. He hoped to play basketball at C-SC but never made the travel team and quickly lost interest in the sport. However, he started taking art classes from Al Beck and loved them all.

“I remember I was in a sculpture class with a 55-gallon bucket of plaster, and I went a little overboard and got plaster all over the place,” Strain said. “(Instructor) Grant Kenner said, ‘I’m not sure what we’re going to do with you, because you’re a really messy man. You trashed the studio down here. We have to find something for you.’ I ended up in a storage room in the basement, and that became my home.

“I was taking classes like zoology and learning the human body and developing as a young person. I was going to cultural events. I became part of a wonderful friendship. Culver-Stockton offered me a space to work, and my life was really blossoming.”

A summer internship with Larry Young became a life-changing experience.

Young, a Columbia, Mo.-based sculptor has placed more than 50 pieces of his work outdoors across the nation, working in bronze, stainless steel, marble and other materials. Young also is a twotime Olympic medalist and is the only American to ever win a medal in long-distance racewalking.

“How fortunate I was to have a summer internship like that,” Strain said. “My relationship with Larry, he was like a father.”

He lived in a goose hunting trailer, made out of plywood, that was parked behind Young’s studio for that summer. Beck suggested to Strain that he write in a journal everything he did during his time with Young. Strain eventually was allowed to cast two of his own pieces during his internship.

Strain was at C-SC for three years, leaving Canton after the spring semester in 1988. He went

CULVER-STOCKTON OFFERED ME A SPACE TO WORK, AND MY LIFE WAS REALLY BLOSSOMING.

culver.edu 22

on to Florence, Italy to study art at Studio Art Centers International College of Art and Design.

“I took Culver-Stockton as far as I could take it,” Strain said. “I wanted to come back to Culver-Stockton after my experience abroad, but instead I got to be in ancient Rome. I got to go see the real ones.

“I knew I had to be a bronze sculptor, and working with Larry allowed me to do that. Not every college has that casting studio, and I got almost something better than a master’s degree.”

He started sketching some of his ideas for sculptures as he was learning his craft. Even today, he uses his own drawings as “my own emotional salvation.”

“Energy and creativity is different in everybody,” Strain said. “I can’t control when it’s going to happen, whether it’s in 30 minutes or two weeks. I just feel like I’m a conductor. It’s the most amazing thing to have someone conduct energy through you. I’m kind of in a trance at times.

“I can’t explain why a doctor is a doctor, and I can’t explain why I’m a sculptor. It’s held my creativity. Some pieces develop quickly, and some take a year to develop. Once I get that original emotion, it’s just like filling in the space with the form. It’s a real free form way of sculpting. Every part of the process is really special.”

He has created more than 100 individual designs, ranging from a few inches tall to monumental. His website, charlesstrain.com, shows his work on display in Port St. Lucie, Fla., Fayette, Mo., St. Petersburg, Fla., Washington, Ill., Des Moines, Iowa, Greenville, S.C., Fergus Falls, Minn., Fulton, Mo., and Birmingham, Mich.

His most recent work was a sculpture painted cherry-red outside of Cherry 23 Chronicle, Winter 2020

Hill Dental in Columbia. He recently went to shows in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., and in Miami to display some of his other pieces.

“I’ve put my work out there, and people see it, and as an artist, I have to want to make things,” Strain said. “I want to make beautiful things, and you have to be really lucky for someone to want one. Now it’s how I make a living.”

And sometimes, it’s how he affects a person’s life.

Strain tells the story about how a dozen small pieces of his work were on display in a clothing store. A woman entered the store to look through some high-end clothing, but she saw the sculptures and left crying.

“I got a call from the gallery, and I was asked to remove a couple of my pieces the next day,” he said. “I thought, sure, that’s fine. Turns out that one of the pieces reminded her of her husband who had just died, and the next time she came to the store, the lady bought six other pieces.

“Sometimes it can be difficult when you’re living on the daily existence of a paycheck, but it’s moments like that which make all of this work.”

Change Lives. Change the World.

It starts with you.

On March 19, join Wildcats around the globe for 24 hours of giving, connecting and chances to win matching funds for the Student Scholarship Fund.

#CSCDayOfGiving

culver.edu/dayofgiving

CHANGING

HIS

DEVELOPING A HIGH SCHOOL BAND AND PROMOTING “CHEEKS MCGEE” ONCE DROVE RYAN CHRISTIAN, WHO NOW IS CREATING C-SC’S FIRST MARCHING BAND IN 50 YEARS

Ryan Christian ’03 believes he’s figured out the type of student he can recruit to be a part of the marching band at Culver-Stockton College.

Himself.

Christian recalls preparing to graduate 20 years ago from Clark County High School in Kahoka, Mo., and getting his music career started.

“I remember that I had my mind set on going to a bigger school,” Christian said. “The music department reached out and was asking if I was interested in Culver-Stockton. I still remember my admission counselor, Eric Barkley ’97, would call my house frequently and ask what my percentages were for coming here. It was very slim. I was like, ‘I don’t want to go to a small school.’

“And then I came by to visit Culver-Stockton, and the music department kind of gave me a free lesson. They pitched some of the perks of Culver-Stockton being a small school and where the teachers can have more one-on-one with you. You can really dig in to your profession of what you’re going to focus on.

“At that time, it started to click. Yeah, I could go to a big college and get lost in the numbers, or I could come here and get more individualized attention. I ended up coming here and really enjoying it. I was involved in a lot of things.

“That small school really kind of won my heart.”

Christian taught music to grades K-12 for one year for the Marion County R-2 School District in Philadelphia, Mo., then spent 15 years at Highland High School in Ewing, Mo. He conducted the concert, marching, jazz and pep bands at Highland, as well as the bands in grades 6-8. He also conducted the concert choirs at the high school and junior high school, and his marching bands participated in several national events.

Christian followed his own music pursuits during the summer. He also recently opened a coffee bar and roastery, Electric Fountain Brewing, with two locations in Quincy.

Now he’s charged with developing the first marching band at C-SC in more than 50 years. The band’s return was announced in July 2019, and Christian was hired the next month.

“It’s amazing the stories that come out of people when you talk about music and when you talk about what their high school marching band experience was like,” Christian said. “Now being able to say, ‘Yeah, you can continue that 25 Chronicle, Winter 2020

at the college level and receive scholarships to put towards your schooling,’ I mean, it’s just great.

“There are memories that we can create here with those kids. I want them to say, ‘Hey, in college, I played in a marching band, and it was a great experience.’ From talking with the sports kids, they’re excited about having a band out there supporting sports teams. We’re bringing kids together as part of a huge organization, a student organization, that supports the college and supports their peers, and they’re able to express that through their strength, which is music.”

Christian’s career in music certainly got a boost during his time as a Culver-Stockton College student.

He directed the pep band, created his own band called Southern BBQ Trip and said he turned from a “really wild jazz player into a pretty classically trained well-rounded musician.” He left an indelible mark on the college with the creation of a musical event that continues today.

“I was part of the Delta Upsilon fraternity, and (Jason Richmond ’03 and I) started a thing called DU Stock in the fall of 2000,” Christian said. “I wanted to feature my band, and we also had some other guys in the house who played music. We wanted an outlet to like recruit people to the fraternity.”

The lineup had Bill Skar ’02, Tempermental 2000 featuring Richmond, Chris Higgins ’01 and Adam Stoltz ’00, and Christian’s band called “HooHash.” Richmond and Christian also were the masters of ceremonies.

After Christian graduated, C-SC officials took over direction of the event and changed the name to Hillstock. T-shirts for the 10-year anniversary of the event mentioned both Christian and Richmond as the “godfather” and “father” of Hillstock.

Christian’s band went on to play a few local gigs and often went as far away as Columbia, Mo. However, as Christian wanted to play more, the rest of the band wanted to play less, so he went out on his own as a solo artist. As a solo artist, he would perform “live looping,” a technique in which he recorded himself playing acoustic guitar live on a stage while “stacking” his own music on top of each other, creating his own “one-man band.”

“I was willing to jump at anything,” Christian said.

He then chose to book his first nationwide summer tour, starting in Maine and driving to San Francisco, playing anywhere and everywhere five nights a week while camping in a tent.

Christian wasn’t making a lot of money, “maybe $50 here and there,” he said. He didn’t have his own booking agent, so there were times when he would finish playing and not get paid. Once his tour ended, a friend told him, “If you had a booking agent, you could really be making some money.”

He chose to be a booking agent while promoting himself under a new name, “Cheeks McGee.” Christian was called Cheeks as a child because his cheeks puffed out like famous trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, and he just added the last name McGee. He would call the same venues and say, “My name’s Ryan Christian, and I’m booking for Cheeks McGee, the artist.” He went from low-paying shows and staying in a tent each night to getting 10 times his normal rate and staying in high end hotels.

He taught for nine months and toured during the summer for seven years. He played nearly every weekend for about 15 years.

His new position at C-SC, coupled with his coffee shops, have forced Christian to put the life of Cheeks McGee on the back burner for a while. He still plays a few local venues and wineries and does a monthly dinner collaboration with a local chef.

“I really want to get this (marching band) set up right,” he said.

“I still want to play, but my passion, it’s funny how it’s changed over the years. I want to see kids succeed, and I want to help with the education part of music as much as I can. Whether I’m promoting it or playing it, I’m still trying to get kids excited about it.

“My touring stuff, that was great. It would have been great to become even bigger and better, but I mean I’m totally cool how it’s all played out.”

Christian is building the foundation for his program, working with admission counselors, learning the scholarship model and hitting the road to meet potential musicians at their schools, marching band events and national college fairs. He’s also learning what it’s like to communicate with high school students without first making the immediate connection with a musical instrument.

“Email isn’t always the answer,” he said with a smile. “Trying to text them. Figuring out how to use Google Voice has been great.

Trying to have more of a social media presence. Getting to their schools and meeting the students face-to-face is the key.”

His goal is to have 40 members for the first marching band. He signed his first student in October when Braeden Wenneker of LaBelle, Mo., signed a letter of intent. Wenneker first picked up a trombone in the sixth grade when Christian was at Highland.

Like an athletic coach, Christian has a white board in his office with all of the “positions” that need students. The percussion and brass instruments will be among the most important spots to be filled, while “some of them are going to be a little tricky,” he said.

Christian wants the marching band to perform at home football and some soccer games in the fall, and some home men’s and women’s basketball games in the winter. He wants the band to participate in many parades and community events near C-SC. He’s looking at two to three rehearsals a week and hopes the band can plan to take one big trip to a national event every few years.

“It’s all about getting us involved on a national spotlight, getting us able to travel together and see different things, and kind of growing together as a unit,” he said.

Christian said the focus of many high school marching band directors is to prepare for competitions. He says his focus will change at the college level.

“Our job is to entertain,” he said. “Believe me, when I was a young director at Highland and there was a competition, that’s what we needed to be doing. Competitions are great, but now I’m about entertainment. I want them to have a good college experience and bring that big band feel to Culver-Stockton.

“That was something that I missed as a college student. Having that game day atmosphere, and how that works out with the band, and creating that unity with the football team, and they’re feeding off your energy … it’s just a great atmosphere for college.” culver.edu 26

‘YOU’RE GOING TO FIND OUT IF YOU ACTUALLY WANT TO TEACH’ EDUCATION STUDENTS WORK WITH CANTON ELEMENTARY STUDENTS ON LITERACY 27 Chronicle, Winter 2020

Education students at many schools must wait until their senior year to finally get a chance to take over a classroom, but students in Dr. Cindy Whiston’s Methods of Language Arts and Literacy in Elementary School class and Joni Fusselman’s Methods of Literacy Instruction class at Culver-Stockton are getting a chance to dip their toes in the teaching waters before taking a plunge into the pool.

“You’re going to find out if you actually want to teach,” said McKenzie Patrick, a senior elementary education major from Carthage, Ill. The education department has created a partnership with the elementary school in the Canton School District. Whiston, a professor in education, and Fusselman, a lecturer in education, teach two courses in the media conference room at the elementary school. Whiston’s students go on to a fourth-grade classroom, and Fusselman’s students work with first- and second-grade students.

Fusselman said she learned about the idea when attending a statewide conference two years ago.

“A university presented information on a summer reading course with their college students where they’re working with elementary age students in a classroom setting.

I kept it in the back of my mind,” she said. “I met with Dr. Whiston and said, ‘How can we do this with our students? Do you think we could do this in Canton?’”

Whiston met with the Canton administration about the idea, and Fusselman met with classroom teachers. It was a smooth and easy process.

“Everybody was onboard,” Fusselman said. “It was a win-win situation for everyone.”

The students in Fusselman’s class meet three times a week in the conference room at the grade school for about 10-15 minutes to review what the plan is for the upcoming day, then spend 30-40 minutes with Canton students during their literacy instruction times before returning to the conference room to reflect on their experience and for more instructional learning for their course.

Students in Whiston’s class meet for 30-45 minutes in the conference room before heading to the fourth-grade classroom. “(Before the partnership with the grade school) we would meet in the classroom (at Culver-Stockton), do our course instruction through lecture, do different

simulations and help them create reading lessons and reading assessments, but essentially they’re doing those with their college peers,” Fusselman said. “We had a program in place called ‘Read America’ where our students would come down and tutor afterschool the Canton elementary students.

“With what we’re doing now, not that our students would ever question what we’re teaching them, but they’re making that connection. This is really happening in classrooms and the real world.”

Tim Berg, a junior elementary education major from Blue Springs, Mo., says the 30-minute period they’re given to work with the first- and second-graders seems to have sped up more as they’ve become more confident.

“It can definitely be intimidating, especially for your first time,” Berg said. “You never realize how much work actually goes into being a teacher until you’re kind of thrown in there, and you have to go do it.

“The first time you were in there, it just felt like it took a long time. As you go, the further you get into it, it starts to kind of speed up a little bit. And then the next thing you know, the 30 minutes is up. It goes by so quick.”

“The first week, I was just kind of like, ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t want to mess up,’ Patrick said with a laugh. “But then after you start getting to know your students, and you can be open with them and discuss things with them, it becomes a lot easier to figure out activities that they enjoy doing and that they actually learned from.”

They’re all learning how to create relationships with their students as well.

“I have a group of three girls, so you can imagine they’re a little chatty all the time and they’re all friends,” Patrick said.

“I tell them, ‘OK, we can chat a little bit, but we still need to get our work done.’ They really like to draw and have drawing competitions, so today for example, we’re reading about the rainbow. I said, ‘If we get done with all this, at the end, we can

draw a rainbow.’ And they were fine with that.

“So then they started talking to me about like their home life and stuff during discussions. I think that’s really important for you to actually know your students. Maybe this child had to deal with something that went on at home, and that’s being carried over to the classroom.”

“It can kind of depend on the kid, just because some kids will warm up to you quicker than others,” Berg said. “I don’t know if it’s the hardest or easiest part, but I can say it’s definitely the most important part of the teaching.”

Fusselman says young teachers typically are given other subjects to work with before they work with students on literacy. This class is starting to change that philosophy.

“Literacy is like sacred ground to teachers, to be quite honest,” she said. “Reading is the foundation for everything. That carries over into social studies. It carries over into science. It carries over into math. And so, when we would send students out for student teaching and they would start taking over subjects, their cooperating teachers typically hold off on reading to the last because it is such an important subject. They want our students to observe and have a lot of practice in that before they take over.

“We have a couple of students who are student teaching this semester, and (literacy) was something they took over right from the beginning. The teachers saw right away that they were strong in their reading instruction, and that says a lot for what we’re doing here.”

The success of the program has the wheels inside Fusselman’s head spinning.

“Why didn’t we think of this earlier?” she said. “I wish we had done this a long time ago. We take coursework and give them real students and real lessons, and they’re creating real assessments in there, just like a practicing teacher is doing. It’s invaluable. So now we’re doing this with literacy methods, but can we do this with other methods courses?

“This is truly at the heart of experiential learning.” culver.edu 28

VICTORY BELL

THE LEGEND of

ANDREW RUPCICH Culver-Stockton junior offensive lineman Andrew Rupcich has gone almost unnoticed in three years as a starter on the Wildcat offensive line despite being a two-time All-Heart of America Athletic Conference first team selection.

That anonymity changed with one play against Benedictine College during the 2019 season.

Trailing the nationally-ranked Ravens 14-0 late in the third quarter, the Wildcats pulled out a play from their bag of tricks.

Quarterback Korbin Marcum took the snap and rolled to his right. Instead of blocking for Marcum’s blind-side, Rupcich took a few steps back where he received a backwards pass from Marcum.

Rupcich, at 6-foot-7, 305 pounds, then turned and let go a perfect pass to wide receiver Brody Hassel, who caught it in stride and was knocked out-of-bounds at the one yard line for a 44-yard gain. Two plays later the Wildcats scored to cut the Benedictine deficit to 14-7.

The Wildcats would end up losing the game 27-7; however, the legend of Andrew Rupcich was just beginning.

Chris Duerr, KHQA TV-7 sports director of the CBS affiliate in Quincy, Ill., highlighted the play on his sportscast that night and then posted on his twitter account. Hassel’s mother also caught the play on camera and posted to twitter.

The highlight quickly spread the week after the game, going viral on countless screens, and was retweeted by such national personalities Scott Van Pelt of ESPN and Rich Eisen of the NFL Network. In addition, he received a tweet from current Green Bay Packer tight end Robert Tonyan, someone he works out with in the offseason.

“Normally he just retweets or likes my tweets, but he actually tweeted me laughing about it because he thought it was pretty funny,” said Rupcich. “That was important to me, showing that he noticed that play.

“The amount of reaction the video received was completely unexpected. I thought it would have an outreach between family, friends, and around C-SC. I never thought it would get to the point of Sunday night football or Scott Van Pelt. It was shocking for it to reach that point because of us being from a smaller school and area.”

The big moment came eight days after the game actually happened. It was the moment the “Play” went national. Rupcich received an early morning tweet from producers from NBC and that is when Rupcich became a household name among Wildcat fans and alumni.

29 Chronicle, Winter 2018

“When Sunday night football contacted me regarding permission to utilize the video it kind of felt like a surreal moment,” stated Rupcich. “I thought to myself is this actually happening because everybody who plays football wants to reach the exposure that I got with that video and I never thought it would happen to me.”

It was also a proud moment for Rupcich’s father, who gleamed at the attention the play and his son was receiving.

“When they actually used the video at halftime of the Chiefs/ Colts game I think my dad was more excited for me than I was,” said Rupicich. “He showed the video to everyone he came across and we couldn’t go anywhere without him bringing it up.”

That exposure from Sunday Night Football became a talking point on campus and among donors as well as building relationships with opposing players.

“After the video aired at halftime I had a lot of friends and students on campus originally message me via text, twitter and explaining to me how cool it was and how happy for me they were. Two weeks after this game during the donor luncheon I had several alumni and donors come up to me regarding the play asking questions about it and explaining how good it was for the campus to get that kind of positive exposure.

“I also had a couple players from opposing teams say things such as ‘watch out he might try to throw it again’ and other things joking around about the throw. They also would talk to me after the game regarding the play and the popularity that came with it.

Overall a lot of positive connections and relationships were built with the play.”

Rupcich may not be done with the recognition. He has recently been notified that he is up for the Piesman Trophy, an award created a few years ago to honor the most outstanding play (all college divisions) in a season in which a lineman passes, catches, or runs with the football.

VICTORY BELL

culver.edu 30

‘PRETTY DARN CLOSE’:

FORMER C-SC PITCHER HELPING PLAYERS, A How close is Class AA baseball to the major leagues?

A bold trade that the Houston Astros made on July 31 helps put it in perspective — not just for the players involved but also a Culver-Stockton College graduate now in his second year as a pitching coach.

The Astros were eight outs from winning the World Series when starting pitcher Zach Greinke was removed from Game 7 with a 2-0 lead in the seventh inning. The Astros might not have been there without Greinke, who had been pitching for the Arizona Diamondbacks but was traded for three minor leaguers – outfielder Seth Beer, pitcher J.B. Bakauskas and pitcher Corbin Martin, all ranked among Houston’s top five pro prospects.

Beer was a top-flight hitter and Bakauskas was a starting pitcher at Class AA Corpus Christi – where his pitching coach was Graham Johnson, a 2008 C-SC graduate.

As close as Beer and Bakauskas are to the big leagues, so is Johnson – but he says that isn’t his primary goal.

“It’s not about us as coaches,” Johnson said during a break in a four-game series in July against the Springfield Redbirds, the St. Louis Cardinals’ Class AA affiliate in the Texas League. “If we get opportunities to climb, that’s all fine and dandy, but we get opportunities to climb by (the players) climbing themselves.

“You produce a track record for yourself. This is about you getting to Triple A. It’s not about myself. What the Astros have built and what we’re trying to do as coaches, the ultimate carrot is to get to the big leagues. It’s everybody’s dream. Once you’re in AA, you’re pretty darn close.”

Johnson, 34, started his athletic career at Alexis High School, just north of Galesburg, Ill. He grew up in the tiny town of North Henderson, Ill., which had a population of 187 in the 2000 census, and played baseball for four years at Culver-Stockton.

During his four-year playing career at C-SC, Johnson helped the Wildcats win two regular season Heart of America Athletic Conference championships and three Heart tournament championships while making three NAIA regional tournament appearances and one super-regional appearance during his junior year.

“I was just a very OK college pitcher because I didn’t throw hard enough,” he said.

When asked what he as the pitching coach could have said to help himself as a college pitcher, Johnson replied, “Try to throw harder would be number one.

I have some ideas mechanically, whether that’s from a throwing aspect or a weight training aspect. That would be priority number one.”

He said he enjoyed his time at Culver-Stockton and appreciated playing for his coach, Doug Bletcher.

31 Chronicle, Winter 2020

AND HIMSELF, PREPARE FOR BIG LEAGUES “It was a lot of fun. It was the right move for me,” Johnson said. “There wasn’t that much to do. You had your friends from a social aspect, and then you had your baseball, and then you had academics. There weren’t a ton of distractions … not that we didn’t find our fair share of fun and trouble. A lot of good friends, a lot of good memories, and a tight group from a baseball standpoint and a college standpoint.”

He remembers how he missed out on his own graduation because of baseball. “(The team) just got back from playing in the regional tournament, and I had a flat tire,” Johnson said. “I was in the parking lot, and I heard them call my name. I think they said, ‘In abstentia,’ because I wasn’t there. Well, I was laughing to myself in the parking lot of Charles Fieldhouse.”

He spent one more year at C-SC as a pitching coach for the 2008 season before holding a variety of roles at Lindenwood for two years. He then moved on to Western Illinois, where he was the outfield coach and assistant pitching coach, before spending six years at Morehead (Ky.) State.

“I knew I wanted to coach,” Johnson said. “I thought I’d go somewhere close to home and teach high school science and coach football, basketball and football, but getting my master’s degree paid for (at Lindenwood) was kind of why I jumped at that opportunity. I was on the job for about 48 hours, and I fell in love with coaching at the collegiate level.”

Dillon Lawson was signed as a hitting coach in the Astros’ organization for the 2018 season, and he suggested Johnson send in his resume. Not long after the franchise won its first World Series in 2017, Johnson was given the job as pitching coach for the Class A Quad City River Bandits, a short drive from where he grew up.

A year later, he was in Corpus Christi.

“As a college coach, you’re developing players 100 percent, and if I can help them to pursue a pro career, it would help us win games,” he said. “That helped me get my foot in the door to coach pro ball. College revolves around wins and losses. In the minors, wins are important, but making steps forward to be a big league contributor is the end all be all.”

A few years from now, Johnson could be a big league contributor himself.

Asked if he would entertain a job in the major leagues, he said, “That would be great. It’s kind the pinnacle of being a pitching coach. That’s a very small collection of jobs, and there’s a lot of people who want those jobs.

“I’ve always had the mindset to put your head down and work as hard as you can, I just want to work as hard as I can with the guys I’ve got, and if I do that, good opportunities will come my way. I’m extremely happy. I’ll keep my nose to the grindstone and pay attention to other opportunities.”

culver.edu 32

FRATERNITY & SORORITY LIFE

OPPORTUNITIES

AWAIT STUDENTS INVOLVED IN

GREEK LIFE

When Christian Thompson attended Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo., he was the chapter president for the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. He remained involved in Greek life when he went to graduate school at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill., and his first job is the coordinator of fraternity and sorority life at Culver-Stockton College.

He approaches his work at C-SC with the same vigor he did when he was the chapter president at Lincoln.

“Our motto was ‘Achievement in Every Field of Human Endeavor,’” Thompson said. “What that meant to me was to learn the rules of the house and how to be a leader on campus. What that means to me today is leading by example every day when I go to work and to be the best person that I can be.”

Now in his second year at CulverStockton, Thompson works with students who are involved in the five fraternities and three sororities on campus. As of Oct. 33 Chronicle, Winter 2020

31, more than 360 students – nearly 40 percent of the student population – were participating in Greek life.

Thompson says the most important reason for a student to get involved in Greek life is the opportunity to be involved in leadership.

“You’re learning real-world experience through officer positions, committees and involvement in campus and community groups,” he said. “Chapters also provide educational programming in areas such as time management, leadership and communication. You’re learning how to collaborate, how to work with multiple personalities in the house, how to work with multiple members.

“These organizations are not just here for the social aspect. They also offer you chances to contribute and help others as well.”

Thompson is quick to point out some of the other positive aspects of Greek life, such as philanthropy to national causes, community building and relationship

building. He’s proud to note that the Tau Kappa Epsilon Zeta-Pi chapter at CulverStockton learned earlier this year it was ranked as the No. 1 chapter out of 237 chapters across the nation.

He also realizes that many people who have not experienced Greek life themselves often tend to navigate toward the negative headlines created by the partying and hazing at some colleges.

“Fraternities and sororities are really supporting things that are bigger than the individual person in the organization,” Thompson said. “They’re educating and lobbying on behalf of a lot of people, whether they’re trying to feed hungry people or advocate for better health or social justice or whatever. And to get the recognition that the TKEs received means they’re doing something right. It’s a really big accomplishment.

“I just want people to realize that fraternity and sorority life organizations don’t simply exist for students to party.”

When the partying happens, Thompson asks his Greek life leaders to step up.

“It’s like what Peter Parker said in ‘Spider-Man’: ‘With great responsibility comes great power,’” he said. “I’m really pushing for our resident advisors, house manager and chapter presidents to hold members more accountable and more respected inside the house. I want that RA to be that extra liaison for me. If there are problems arising or going on, I want them to be able to communicate that directly to me. They have a whole house of like, 50-some people to keep an eye on, and they do a very tough job. When they do a good job in providing a safe and fun environment, it goes a long way in creating a memorable experience for our students.

“Not every incident that happens has a bad outcome. They can have an educational outcome as well.”

More than nine million people are members of 123 fraternities or sororities nationwide. A U.S. government study shows that more than 70 percent of all the people who join a fraternity or sorority graduate, while less than 50 percent of all non-fraternity/sorority persons graduate.

“There’s a lot you can gain from being involved with Greek life,” Thompson said.

“You are pushed to thrive and be your best academically and socially. It’s not just something you do after 5 o’clock or just on the weekends. Being Greek is a full-time job.

“My No. 1 mission is to continue to advance the fraternity and sorority life mission. I want to ensure the sustainability and future growth with all of our chapters on campus and make sure we’re being serviceable to the college and the community.”

ΑΦΑ ΑΤΩ ΔΥ ΚΑΨ ΛΧΑ ΤΚΕ ΧΩ ΣΚ ΣΣΣ FRATERNITIES ALPHA PHI ALPHA 8 members Campus founding date: Dec 4, 2014 National website: apa1906.net GPA to join: 2.50 Colors: Black and Old Gold Motto: First of All, Servants of All, We Shall Transcend All National philanthropy: Go-to-High-School, Go-To-College; Project Alpha ALPHA TAU OMEGA 57 members Campus founding date: 1967 National website: ato.org GPA to join: 2.75 Colors: Royal Gold and Azure Motto: Pi Epsilon Pi (Leaders Shape the Future) National philanthropy: Leukemia & Lymphoma Society DELTA UPSILON 15 members Campus founding date: 1988 National website: deltau.org GPA to join: 2.50 Colors: Old Gold and Sapphire Blue Motto: Dikaia Upotheka (Justice Our Foundation) National philanthropy: Global Service Initiative KAPPA ALPHA PSI 6 members Campus founding date: May 5, 1974 National website: kappaalphapsi1911.com GPA to join: 2.50 Colors: Crimson and cream Motto: Achievement in Every Field of Human Endeavor National philanthropy: Guide Right Program LAMBDA CHI ALPHA 51 members Campus founding date: 1867 National website: lambdachi.org GPA to join: 2.50 Colors: Purple, Green and Gold Motto: Vir Quisque Vie (Every Man A Man) National philanthropy: Feeding America

TAU KAPPA EPSILON 53 members Campus founding date: Mu Theta Nu in 1868, joined TKE April 4, 1954 National website: tke.org GPA to join: 2.50 Colors: Gray and Cherry Motto: Better Men for a Better World National philanthropy: St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital

SORORITIES CHI OMEGA 65 members National website: chiomega.org Campus founding date: 1867 GPA to join: 2.85 Colors: Cardinal and Straw Motto: Sisters on a Purpose National philanthropy: Make-A-Wish Foundation SIGMA KAPPA 49 members Campus founding date: 1947 National website: sigmakappa.org GPA to join: 3.00 Colors: Maroon and Lavender Motto: One Heart, One Way National philanthropy: Sigma Kappa Foundation, Inherit the Earth, Maine Seacoast Mission, Alzheimer’s Association, Gerontology SIGMA SIGMA SIGMA 60 members Campus founding date: Jan. 30, 2005 National website: sigmasigmasigma.org GPA to join: 2.50 Colors: Royal Purple and White Motto: Faithful Unto Death National philanthropy: Robbie Page Memorial Fund, March of Dimes

*number of members in each fraternity and sorority through Oct. 31, 2019

culver.edu 34

VISIT TO AMERICA AS EXCHANGE STUDENT LEADS TO HOME AS QUINCY RESTAURATEUR Ilija Cucuk’s visit to the United States was supposed to be a one-year proposition.

He never imagined that decision would change his life forever.

Cucuk, a 2003 graduate of Culver-Stockton College, lives in Quincy, Ill., with his wife, Suzana, with one teenage son (Marko) at home and an adult stepson (Luka) living and working in St. Louis. He and Roberto Stellino are the co-owners of Tiramisu, the most popular Italian restaurant in Quincy located a short walk from the Mississippi River.

The fact he’s involved in the restaurant business doesn’t surprise Cucuk, who spent his summers on the coast of the Adriatic Sea in Becici, Montenegro, helping operate his family’s restaurant, the Atlantic. The fact he’s in the restaurant business in Quincy, however, makes him laugh.

“I made a decision when I was 18 years old that I never thought would be such a life-changing decision,” Cucuk said. “I never dreamed I would go to school at Culver-Stockton, and then afterward, I never dreamed I would stay in America for long. And not only did I stay in America, I literally did not move outside of a 30-mile radius of Canton.”

Cucuk (pronounced ILL-yuh CHOO-Chook) was a senior in 35 Chronicle, Winter 2020

high school in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, where a couple of friends who had participated in an international exchange student program suggested to Cucuk’s parents that their son should consider it.

“They were like, ‘Do you want to learn the culture?’” Cucuk said. “Learning English was key, too, you know, especially for the restaurant. I asked people, ‘Well, how was your experience?’

Generally, it was good, so it’s like, OK, well, I’ll go for it.”

After growing up in Belgrade, with a population of more than 1 million people, Cucuk thought it would be a good idea to live in a small town. He learned that Jim and Sherry McDaniel of Canton had selected him to live with them while he attended Canton High School.

“We looked on an atlas, and we couldn’t find Canton,” Cucuk said. “We were told it was ‘near St. Louis,’ and we thought maybe it was a suburb of St. Louis. So the next thing I know, Sherry is picking me up in a big van in St. Louis. We started driving and driving and driving, and I’m thinking, ‘Man, this Canton, Mo., is nowhere close to St. Louis.’”

More than two hours later, an 18-year-old city boy from Europe was pulling into a house off a gravel road in the middle of the Midwest.

“I was like, ‘Wow.’ But it was fun. I’m easygoing. I like to adjust,” Cucuk said.

Understanding the English language was the first hurdle.

Understanding the American fashion culture was next.

“My first day, I wore shorts that were really short,” Cucuk said.

“Back home, that was normal. In America, I was told, ‘Don’t even wear them swimming.’”

When it was time to start preparing to return to Belgrade, Cucuk had to alter his plans. The Kosovo War broke out in February 1998, fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (which eventually became the countries of Serbia and Montenegro), and the Kosovo Albanian rebel group known as the Kosovo Liberation Army.

It was a difficult time back home with all of the fighting, preventing foreign tourists from visiting the restaurant. Cucuk chose to stay in the United States and enrolled at Culver-Stockton.

The end of the Kosovo War in July 1999 didn’t allow Cucuk to return home that summer. However, during summer breaks when he was at Culver-Stockton, he went back home to work at the family restaurant. His sister came to the United States as an exchange student the following year, and his brother came six years later, but both of them stayed one year and returned home.

Cucuk stayed with the McDaniel family for his freshman year at C-SC, but he moved onto campus for his sophomore and junior year and joined the Lambda Chi fraternity. He worked in the library and the Dining Hall, and he was a student assistant on the men’s soccer team.

“Living at Culver-Stockton was a little bit easier because you still see the people who come from all our other aspects,” he said.

“You don’t just see the ‘townies’ as we used to call them. You see the people from Chicago or St. Louis or Quincy and then you go to their house, you go with them, spend a weekend here or there, and then you say, ‘Oh, well, there’s other stuff in America.’ I was not as homesick any more like I was a high school.”

After graduating with a degree in business management and communications, Cucuk had one year to find work in the United States before he could get a working visa. An internship at Mercantile Bank led to a 13-year career that started in customer service, moved into internal audits and the trust department and ended as a financial advisor with Raymond James. His wife didn’t have a work visa for several years, so Cucuk picked up part-time work at nights and on weekends at other Quincy restaurants.

He operated Martini’s at 515, a bar in downtown Quincy, before finally joining Stellino at Tiramisu in April 2016.

“I had been talking with Roberto about this place for a long time, but he wasn’t ready and I wasn’t ready for other reasons,” Cucuk said. “When Martini’s came up, I jumped into that, and literally a few months later, Roberto says, ‘Hey, I’m ready.’ I couldn’t work at the bank and run Martini’s and work at Tiramisu, so I left the bank. This is more of a natural for me than banking.”

He says he’s still putting the information he learned at CulverStockton into practice when it comes to operating the restaurant.

“Like in any job, if you give good tools to your employees, they can perform the service and make a product that customers will enjoy,” Cucuk said. “Any business is kind of simple as long as you don’t try to make it complicated. I enjoy our customers, but it’s a lot easier for me to enjoy our customers and my job when I have a good team. If I had a bad team, I guarantee you my customers will not be happy, and it will be not a pleasant place to work.”

Sharing responsibilities at Tiramisu with Stellino allows Cucuk to get back to Belgrade and the family restaurant on occasion, but he’s happy he’s finally found his career in Quincy.

“This is my second home for sure, and it’s becoming my first home,” he said. “I’ve been in America longer than I’ve been anywhere else. Now 1998 feels like it was 3,000 years ago.”

Iljia Cucuk ’03, Tyler Tomlinson ’03 and Josh Seibert ’03 at a Lambda Chi Alpha dance in 2003.

culver.edu 36

FROM THE CHAPLAIN

LIFE AS A COLLEGE CHAPLAIN? Well, it depends on the day

As a college chaplain, I often get the question, “So what do you actually do as the chaplain?” No one knows what college chaplains do, and some days I even question it.

My answer is usually something along the lines of, “It depends on the day.” That is followed by a list of my responsibilities.

I oversee the planning of Everyone Doing More, our largest service project of the year, and the spring break service trip. I advise the religious groups on campus and mentor their leaders. I teach. I offer worship services that fit the liturgical season. We have recently implemented a fall retreat, thanks to the generosity of Country Club Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the Oreon E. Scott Foundation. I host events in collaboration with other departments, such as a poverty simulation and the Unity Project. I serve on committees that do important work on campus. Of course, I offer pastoral care and spiritual counseling.

Those are my responsibilities, and I find joy in them, but I want to let you know a little about what a chaplain does behind the scenes from day to day, because that is what is truly at the heart of college chaplaincy.

One particular student is likely to show up on any given day at 8:30 a.m. (yes, there are a few college students who function that early). She shows up to sit on my couch and read a book that lives on my coffee table and to check in or ask for advice. Sometimes she does homework in this safe space.

Another student then typically walks in. On day one of being on campus, she told me she didn’t belong, but she usually starts telling me about what she is going to do next semester and even next year. My heart leaps with joy when I hear this, because that means I get to spend the next three years with her on this journey.

My job is about reintroducing students to a God and a church that loves them no matter what, after they’ve 37 Chronicle, Winter 2020

been hurt by the loud voices in the church saying God does not love them because of their sexual identity or their mental illness.

My job is about helping students answer the tough questions and wrestle with new thoughts and freedoms.

It’s exploring questions like, “What does the Bible actually say about alcohol, sex, immigration and racism?”

It’s sitting with students as they wrestle with the theology they came with and seeing the transformation taking place while praying to God to help them navigate these tender moments.

My job is recognizing that I wasn’t prepared for this and neither were the students, tossing a whole plan out the window and watching the spirit work these students to create something beautiful and new right then and there.

My job is leading difficult conversations about interfaith relationships and ecumenism (after you’ve taught them what that means) and praying that God will use you as a bridge between those communities.

My job means having a judgment-free and confidential zone on campus for students who can come in and pour their hearts out and trust that their story is safe.

My job is different every day. One minute, you’re sitting across from a student who is in your “crying chair” as they now call it. The next, you’re leading a silly ice breaker or hearing a student pray in public for the first time or tearing down a wall on a mission trip.

My job is getting the hang of it and then having to learn new all over again in the next year because you have at least 300 new students to get to know.

For those of you in ministry, you may be thinking that much of this sounds familiar. College chaplaincy is important because it offers a path to spirituality and ministry alongside academia where the two can coexist – and students can hopefully flourish in both.

ACCELERATE YOUR CAREER

ONLINE

MASTER OF BUSINESS

ADMINISTRATION COURSES ARE COMPLETELY ONLINE, WITH NO OBLIGATION TO MEET ON CAMPUS.

CONVENIENT 8-WEEK TERMS WITH YEAR-ROUND START DATES

BUSINESS PROGRAMS ACCREDITED

BY HIGHER LEARNING COMMISSION & INTERNATIONAL ACCREDITATION COUNCIL FOR BUSINESS EDUCATION

CAREER PLANNING & PLACEMENT SERVICES AVAILABLE

RANKED IN THE TOP 10 BEST VALUE INSTITUTIONS IN THE MIDWEST BY U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT.

Dr. Chaka Batley ’08, MBA ’17

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION WHY AN MBA? Culver-Stockton’s online MBA program helps to develop the analytical skills necessary in making effective business decisions, evaluating qualitative and quantitative data, and effectively communicating results and recommendations.

Students are prepared for leadership roles in a dynamic business environment.

START NOW! • Complete your application at culver.edu/online for free.

• Send official transcripts from all attended colleges and universities.

The mission of the Culver-Stockton College Master of Business Administration Graduate Program is to provide a superb, advanced learning experience. Program graduates achieve mastery-level skills and apply knowledge by building upon the foundations of undergraduate studies.

Culver-Stockton’s MBA program is a non-residential, online program aimed at adults who wish to further their knowledge in the field of business. The MBA program gives students the flexibility necessary to complete their education while continuing their careers.

Courses provide a relevant educational program with experienced faculty.

FLEXIBLE. AFFORDABLE. CONVENIENT.

culver.edu 38

PASSING THE TEST: SHORT ANSWER anyone. Hearing them talk about their time here at Culver-Stockton and calling friends over to look at those pictures and reminisce about the time they spent here was amazing.

The longer I’m here and the more alumni I’m getting to know, the better it gets.

Short Answer with Dr. Alissa Burger Alissa Burger is an assistant professor of English, chair of the English department and director of writing across the curriculum. She grew up in Iowa and got her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, then earned her doctorate at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. Before coming to Culver-Stockton, she taught at SUNY Delhi, a small state school in upstate New York, for six years. She and her husband Jason live in Canton and have four cats – Buddy, Gizmo, Simon and Violet.

When I first got to Culver-Stockton…

I was thrilled to be back in the Midwest after living away for so long. I was happy to have the opportunity to go out and see more of the world but even happier to be back closer to home and family. I immediately was won over by the College community, faculty and staff and students.

The words in the dictionary that best describes me are… dedicated … and a bit weird. I’m very passionate about the topics that interest me, including the Gothic horror tradition in literature and popular culture. My office is full of all sorts of fun, odd things. I’m always working to think outside the box, whether in my scholarship or my teaching, and I’m always encouraging my students to try new approaches to critical analysis, whether it’s shooting their own book trailer or coming up with their own Muppet adaptation of Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter.

39 Chronicle, Winter 2020

The older I get, the more I realize… how much more time and energy I spend working on figuring out how to give my students as many opportunities as possible.

I’m inspired by Toni Morrison’s quote that I tell my students: “When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.” As I get older, I’m finding that these moments when I can provide students with those opportunities – mentorship, professional development, collaboration – are even more satisfying than pursuing my own individual scholarship.

My favorite memory of C-SC is… homecoming. The parade is always a great time. Last year, I got to hang out with Julie Wright at the Blue & White Mixer. She had a table of unidentified pictures from the archives, and alumni came up to check out the pictures and see if they recognized

My favorite spot on campus is… the English office. Students always are hanging out in the lounge area or in our offices, reading, working on projects or telling us about their days. There’s so much great energy, and it’s a lot of fun.

There’s never a dull moment. The library also is my campus home away from home.

Our librarians are fantastic and MOBIUS is the best!

At the end of a really long day at work, I like to… go home to cook something for dinner. It is a great way to decompress from a long day at work. I also love settling in with a good book or watching reruns of “Bob’s Burgers” with my husband. We watch way too much “Bob’s Burgers.”

How did you become interested in teaching English?

I always have loved reading and writing, so when I was in college as an English major and learned that there was an actual job where I could read and write, then talk about the reading and writing with students, that was a dream come true. This is a definite example of the job advice to “do what you love.”

Tell us one thing about teaching English at a college that the public ought to know but probably doesn’t.

English is actually interconnected with everything else a student does, both in their general education courses and in their major courses. Communicating effectively, analyzing texts and thinking critically are essential skills in any field. So while some people might think of English courses as a couple of requirements to “get done and out of the way,” it’s really exciting to see students make those connections between their research course and their major course applications.

PASSING THE TEST: STUDENT ESSAY

AUSTRALIAN KEHLEY BITZAS GLAD TO HAVE MADE ‘LEAP OF FAITH’ TO CANTON I realized during high school that I wanted to further pursue my education and soccer career in the United States. I went through NSR (National Scouting Report), which assisted me in the process of finding a school that would be the best fit for me.

I had a few offers, but my first Skype call with Coach (Tyler) Tomlinson stood out to me. The soccer program, he explained, was one that was disciplined and competitive, but most important, it felt like a family. I knew Culver-Stockton College was the place for me, so I went ahead and committed.

My first impressions of Canton was that I was basically in the middle of nowhere in a small, uncivilized town. My hometown is Greenvale, a suburb of Melbourne, the most populous city in Australia, so Canton definitely was a culture shock for me. The biggest things I had to get used to were the slang terms people used and driving on the other side of the road.

I also felt a sense of camaraderie in Canton that I didn’t necessarily feel as much in Australia, which made the transition a lot easier and much more comfortable.

Fitting in on the soccer team and fitting in on campus wasn’t much different for me. My accent really intrigued people when I first came to campus, which definitely helped me fit in quicker.

My accent was an instant ice-breaker for most, and people would instantly ask me if I rode kangaroos to school or if there was even any civilization in Australia, which was always humorous to me.

Having roughly the same schedules as my teammates, as well as living with most of my class in the freshman dorms, made me feel very close to my teammates. Teammates came and went over the years, but there always was a sense of family between all of us. There were ups and downs and bumps in the road, but we always had each other’s backs. The compassion and caring for one another never faded.

The soccer team was truly special and couldn’t be compared to anything else. The coaches played an important role in the family

that we created. They were a constant support system and parentlike figures when faced with any life struggles, even if it had nothing to do with soccer.

The psychology department took me under their wing as a freshman, and my bond with the professors and students has only grown since. I also consider the psychology department as part of my family. Not many people can say they had the privilege of being close to their professors to the extent of calling or texting them anytime or being invited over to events at their houses.

My plan after graduation is to pursue studies in occupational therapy at graduate school. I plan to stay in the United States and create a life here. Australia always will be home, but the U.S. and the experiences I’ve had in the last four years still has my heart.

For prospective international athletes considering coming to the United States to pursue their sport, my advice is to take the chance and leap of faith. You don’t want to wonder 10 years later what could’ve been. It could be an experience that could change you for the better. If not, at least you can say that you experienced it, learned from it and stepped outside your comfort zone.

This experience has definitely changed me for the better. I’ve come out a stronger and more resilient person. I’ve learned lessons that will help me throughout life, and I cannot wait to see where my future takes me down the road.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kehley Bitzas recently completed her career on the women’s soccer team at Culver-Stockton. She was a Heart of America Athletic Conference first team selection as a junior and an honorable mention selection to the NAIA All-America Team in 2018. She was the first women’s soccer player to receive All-America honors of any kind from the NAIA in the 20-year existence of the program. Bitzas also has maintained a 4.0 GPA while majoring in psychology. She was selected in September as the recipient of the NAIA’s A.O. Duer Scholarship Award for 2019. The award recognizes student-athletes who excel in scholarship, character and citizenship. culver.edu 40

COUPLE STILL SEES VALUE IN LIBERAL ARTS EDUCATION AFTER 50 YEARS IN MINISTRY Even at age 84, Jack and Midge Barnes are still trying to convince people that attending Culver-Stockton College can change your life.

They learned that themselves.

Jack and Midge now live in St. Petersburg, Fla., where they reside in the Westminster Retirement Community. Jack served the Christian Church after graduating from Culver-Stockton in 1957, serving pastorates in Missouri, Indiana, Florida and Illinois until he retired in 2009. He also was a member of the C-SC faculty from 1967-74, serving as a part-time professor of religion while serving as the minister for District 3 (83 churches in northeast Missouri) for the Christian Church.

“Culver-Stockton has just become a part of us,” Jack said. “We still think it’s the best college in the country.”

Jack and Midge have known each other since they met in the church nursery at age 4. They both attended Northeast High School in Kansas City, and both were members of Independence Boulevard Christian Church as children. However, they would end up at Culver-Stockton as a product of happenstance.

Pastor Will Sessions was coming to Culver-Stockton College in 1952 to receive an honorary degree, and he offered to take Midge and her mother to the ceremony. Sessions also had offered 41 Chronicle, Winter 2020

a scholarship to Jack and a chance to attend the ceremony as well, but Jack declined. Sessions then offered the scholarship to Midge.

“I had already decided to go to Park College (in Kansas City) to be near my girlfriend,” Jack said. “So when I went home, my mother said, ‘You said what? We have no idea how we’re going to pay for your college.’

“I had to go back and tell Dr. Sessions, and he said, ‘Let me get back to you, Jack.’ I knew I was on shaky ground, but as tenacious as he was, he found another donor to match that gift.”

Jack arrived at C-SC hoping to become a band instructor, but as part of the financial grant he received, one of the stipulations was that he would take all of the religion courses he could during his freshman year.

“That’s what kind of got me away from music and into the church,” Jack said.

As a student, Jack started his work with the Christian Church by preaching at New Boston (Mo.) Christian Church and Granville (Mo.) Christian Church. He joined Mu Theta Nu (now Tau Kappa Epsilon) and was on the debate team, while Midge joined Sigma Kappa and was a cheerleader. She also was a campus hostess and had an opportunity to show First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt around campus during her visit on Oct. 8, 1953.

Jack and Midge went on double dates and did group dating as friends when they first arrived at Culver-Stockton, but they weren’t romantically connected until their junior year.

“It just sort of happened,” Jack said.

A year later, Jack proposed on the steps of the L.L. Culver Gymnasium (now the Herrick Foundation Center) at Culver-Stockton during the Christmas dance called “Frost Fantasy” for Midge’s sorority.

“I took her out during the intermission and I said, ‘Look, I know you want to be a missionary to Africa. However, I would like for you to accept this engagement ring and become the best minister’s wife in the country,” Jack said.

“And she said, ‘OK.’” They graduated from Culver-Stockton on June 3, 1957, and they were married 11 days later. Their career as a pastor and pastor’s wife began immediately. Jack went to Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis and served at the same time as the pastor of Atlanta (Ind.) Christian Church from 1957-61.

“I just felt I was called to the ministry by God,” Jack said.

Midge taught school and was happy to support Jack’s work.

“I loved every minute of it. It was a good fit for me,” she said.

“I loved the church. I loved the people.”

Jack got his first pastorate in 1961 at First Christian Church in Macon, Mo., and six years later, he was at Culver-Stockton. He stayed for seven years, and he estimates he helped guide at least 20 students into the ministry.

One of those students had a particularly compelling story. He had heard about students going out to small churches in northeast Missouri and preaching on Sundays.

“He said, ‘I’d like to do that,’” Jack said. “I asked him if he had ever preached a sermon, and he said, ‘I don’t even belong to a church.’ Well, I knew we were going to have to do some work on that, but I thought I might be able to send him out as a substitute.

“So one weekend, I helped him in the construction of a sermon, and he went out to Lewistown, Mo. When he got back on Monday, I asked him how it came out, and he said, ‘Better than I expected. They asked me to come back next Sunday.’

“And to this day, he’s a very successful pastor.”

Jack and Midge eventually worked for churches in Evansville, Ind., and Jacksonville, Ill., then retiring in 2003 after a nine-year stay in Nixa, Mo. They moved to Bradenton, Fla., where he did several interim pastorates.

When asked about all of the moves he made, Jack said, “I felt it was God’s will, and God had prodded me in this direction. It was fine with me.”

The couple fulfilled a lifelong dream in 2012 when they served as missionaries in Zimbabwe. The plan was for them to stay for

three months.

“As soon as I got there, it wasn’t long before I was ready to go home,” Jack said. “After three months, I didn’t want to go home, so I got another exemption for three more months. I still didn’t want to come home, but the government had other ideas.”

“It was just the whole idea of reaching people who were very primitive,” said Midge, who worked primarily in an orphanage during her stay. “They were up in the mountains, and even though the language of the country is English, the natives always spoke their own Shona language. That was a challenge, but we still came home under protest.

“It was a wonderful way to close out 50 years in the ministry.”

They received the Distinguished Alumni Award from CulverStockton in 2007. They participate in a weekly discussion group with students from nearby Eckerd College, showing their connection with college-aged students hasn’t diminished.

“I always have had an appreciation for the liberal arts emphasis, including the fact that it is church related,” Jack said. “CulverStockton always had a lot of enriching things that were part of the curriculum, and any student I have counseled, I have always urged them to go to a liberal arts college. Explore every avenue of learning. Find out what you want to do with your life.

“A liberal arts education helps you get a grasp of what you want to do.”

When they attend weekly chapel services at Palm Lake Christian Church in St. Petersburg, Jack and Midge sit in the same pew as a couple of high school students.

“We’ve suggested they look into Culver-Stockton,” Midge said with a laugh.

ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME April 4, 2020 Join us as we induct the class of 2020 into the Athletic Hall of Fame.

Brenda (Merschman) Saye ’93, volleyball Tony Robertson ’69, basketball Vince Sevali ’91, soccer and tennis 2000 Men’s Golf Team In conjunction with Spring Alumni Weekend, the Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet will be held on Saturday, April 4, 2020 in Meader’s Lounge, Gladys Crown Student Center. Meet and greet at 5:30 p.m. and the banquet will start promptly at 6 p.m. Tickets for the meal are $25 and reservations are requested.

For more information, please contact Missy DuBuque ’88, mdubuque@culver.edu or 573-288-6343 or Madison Badgley, mbadgley@culver.edu or 573-288-6397.

culver.edu 42

POST GRAD

GROWTH

C-SC HELPED RYAN DEVELOP at

TO BECOME

CHURCH PASTOR

Will Ryan believes many people used to look at attending church services like they were buying fire insurance.

“They just wanted to make sure they’re not going to hell,” he said with a laugh. “That’s not what it’s all about. I tell people that it was the church community who helped form me into who I am.”

Ryan, a 2011 graduate of Culver-Stockton, now is the pastor of two churches – First Christian Church in Paris, Mo., and Midway Christian Church in Mexico, Mo., both of which are affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

When he reported to Culver-Stockton two weeks before his freshman season to take part in football practice, he learned firsthand how living in his own church community in Des Moines, Iowa, helped shape him for that time.

“I grew up going to church every Sunday, and my time at Culver-Stockton was the first time I was on my own,” Ryan said.

“The person I was supposed to room with in Shannon Hall had torn his ACL, and he was there for a day or two and decided to go home. I lived by myself in the dorm for my first semester, and I had to figure things out.

“I went to church by myself. I was given time and space and had to learn to interact with new people. I had to figure out what it means to be an adult. It helped me listen to people and trust that they just weren’t saying things to make my parents feel good.

It was a time for critical reflection because of my experience in the church. What do I believe in? What am I doing?

“Church was a place of comfort and hope and peace where I felt accepted as I was.”

In high school, Ryan thought about studying law and becoming a judge while attending the University of Iowa.

However, he also was told he should think about the ministry.

Both of his grandparents were ministers, and his grandfather, Jim Ryan, once served on the Board of Trustees at Culver-Stockton.

His father, Kent, also is a Culver-Stockton 1984 graduate.

“Mom always knew I would pick Culver-Stockton,” he said.

“And it did come clear when I was there that I would become a minister.”

He also was a history major, but after his freshman year, Ryan 43 Chronicle, Winter 2020

went home for the summer and interviewed with a regional committee on ministry.

“It’s a years-long process, and it’s like me saying, ‘I think I want to do this,’” he said. “And then the church says, ‘Yeah, I think we might want you too.’”

After graduating from Culver-Stockton, Ryan attended Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth for four years. He took his first job as a minister at a church in Burlington, Iowa, and his wife, Hannah soon followed. When she took a job in August 2018 as an associate minister at a church in her hometown of Columbia, Mo., Ryan followed but had no job waiting.

He eventually learned in November 2018 about Midway, which hadn’t had a minister for three years. A few months after that, he was approached by First Christian. The two churches adjusted their worship times to assure he could serve at both churches, which are about a 25-minute drive from each other.

“I serve both throughout the week, but my office is at the church in Paris,” Ryan said. “I do pastoral care visits and the normal things that happen when you run a church.”

He believes his time at Culver-Stockton helped him become who he is today.

“I was an OK student in high school, but I didn’t try very hard, and I didn’t have anywhere to hide at Culver-Stockton,” Ryan said. “I didn’t get fantastic grades my first semester, and the professors actually worked with me and taught me to be a better student. It helped that I had good professors in my major like (Patrick) Hotle, (Andy) Walsh and (Scott) Giltner.

“Culver-Stockton shaped me. I was able to do so much.

I was in the jazz band, the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, the interfraternal council, worked as a tutor, in the physical plant, was a research assistant. Now I look back and ask, ‘How did I do all of those things?’ I wasn’t in anything in high school, and I was given repeated chances to lead in college.

“If I had gone to Iowa, I would have graduated, but I don’t think I would have ended up as a minster. Now I try to replicate the community that helped form me into who I am.”

POST GRAD

culver.edu 44

CLASS NOTES 1950s

1970s

Nancy (Cramer) Brassea ’52 has moved to Salina, Kans. and is living with her son and daughter-in-law. Nancy’s husband, William passed away in July of 2018.

Anthony (Tony) Halda ’70 lives in Klamath Falls, Ore. where he is fully retired and having fun!

William Clarke ’59 is retired and lives with his wife, Eunice, in Henderson, NV.

1960s Bill Gilbertson ’62 has been retired since 2001. He serves on the City of Wheaton Housing Commission. He also is a volunteer with the DuPage County Senior Services Money Management and treasurer of his homeowners association. He still plays golf and tennis. Bill and Barbara live in Wheaton, Ill. Bob Adams ’66 lives in El Cerrito, Calif. He is retired from teaching math, science and computers at Korematsuiddle School. His son and daughter are both expecting their first children in the spring of 2020.

William (Bill) Clark ’71 retired in 2017 after 44 years in various not-for-profit organizations serving the elder and poor and most recently working for 29 years as the associate state representative for the Florida State Office of AARP. He attended C-SC from Trenton, Mo. as a legacy of Ruth (Ownby) Clark ’43 and Chester Clark ’41 (C-SC Athletic Hall of Fame). He serves in his church as a Stephen’s Minister (volunteer lay position). Bill and Jean live in Palmetto, Fla. Karen (Hildebrant) Buckman ’76 is celebrating her retirement. She has been a college professor for 27 years including the last 21 years at Lone Star College in Conroe, Texas where she was professor and chair of the Psychology and Sociology Department. She has worked as a college counselor, social worker, education coordinator at a hospital and a therapist. She and her husband, Jerry, plan to travel and have fun.

They recently spent a week in Paris, France.

1980s Jim Haney ’81 was promoted to Executive Director for LTC Support Services, LLC. Jim and his wife, Angel live in Winchester, Ill. We regret the error of a class note in the Summer 2019 Chronicle in reference to Jill (Roegge) Lehr ’86.

Commanding Officer. The hospital is the U.S. Navy’s largest European Hospital.

1990s Jim Elliott ’90 won the Central Region Middle School Principal of the year by the Missouri Association of Secondary Principals Association. Jim and his wife, Kara (Muir) Elliott ’90 live in Warrensburg, Mo. where he is principal with their three children.

Vanessa (Peters) Forrest ’90 lives with her husband, Lonnie, in Paris, Mo. where she teaches Jr. High science at Paris High School.

Chris Fletcher ’94 and his wife, Christy live in Stafford, Va. where Chris works for the DEA. Greg Owen ’94 recently accepted a position of Assistant Residential Coordinator at Endless Options, Inc., an organization dedicated to supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and other barriers toward reaching their personal and employment goals through individualized services. Greg and Amanda and their son live in Armstrong, Mo. Angela (Happel) Dingess ’97 teaches art in Salem, Mo. She is a first-time grandma to a baby girl. She is enjoying watching her son, Eric Wood (class of 2021) succeed at Culver-Stockton.

Dr. Richard (Rick) Knittig ’87 and his wife, Dr. Sommer Knittig live in Naples, Italy where Rick works at the U.S. Naval Hospital as the

Jason Woodley ’98 has been appointed curriculum director and administrator of Holy Trinity Catholic School in Fort Madison, Iowa. He has served on the Iowa Choral Directors Board of Directors, is a member of the Iowa Choral Director Associate, Iowa Music Educators Association and School

Barker Davis ’46 Colwich, Kans. • Nov. 9, 2019

J. Alan MacDoniels ’50 Chesterfield, Mo. • June 4, 2019

Marilyn (Lemon) Finson ’53 Walnut Creek, Calif. • June 4, 2019

Eston Bartels ’48 Broussard, La. • June 14, 2019

Marilyn (Lange) Wiber ’50 Ballwin, Mo. • Aug. 20, 2019

Phyllis (Niemann) Simmons ’53 Cottage Grove, Minn. • Aug. 22, 2019

Mary Ellen (Blalock) Todd ’48 Canton, Mo. • Sept. 2, 2019

Joe Smith ’51 Beloit, Wisc. • Sept. 19, 2019

Thomas Belding ’56 Lexington, Ky. • Aug. 31, 2019

Bonnie (Carbaugh) Lierle ’50 Pittsfield, Ill. • Sept. 28, 2019

James Weldon ’52 Dallas, Texas • June 9, 2019

Thomas Davis ’56 Bellingham, Wash. • June 18, 2019

Donald ’68 and Cheryl (Dunker) ’68 Campbell celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on April 5, 2019 with their children, grandchildren and family at the Ocean Riviera Paradise near Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

IN MEMORIAM

45 Chronicle, Winter 2020

CLASS NOTES

WEDDINGS

Administrators of Iowa.

Andrew Keller and Brittani Bimson ’18 were married June 22, 2019 at the Bimson’s Family Farm near Palmyra, Mo. Andrew and Brittani reside in Philadelphia, Mo.

Angela (Kamler) Carter ’99 and her husband, Bryan, and three sons, Jack, Charlie and Cameron live in Kansas City, Mo. Angela graduated with a Master of Science in Nursing from Cox College and is working as a certified family nurse practitioner for Atchison Family Practice in Atchison, Kans. and for Saint Luke’s convenient care in Kansas City.

2000s Adam Stoltz ’00 is the Director of Enrollment Marketing for the University of Idaho. Adam and Sara (Disseler) ’04 live in Moscow, Idaho with their two children, John and Addison.

Kyle Harris ’14 and Rhea Hobson ’15 were married June 1, 2019 in Clearwater, Fla. They reside in St. Louis, Mo. Alex (Moore) Wainman ’15, Whitney Birk ’14, Morgan Kennedy ’15, and Emmanuel Littles ’14 were in the wedding party.

Harris

Boarman

Schelp

Silvestre

Sherwood

Sara Graber ’19 and James Boarman were married March 9, 2019. He is in the Illinois Air National Guard. They reside in Athens, Ill. Stuart ’69 and Loida Schelp were married in a beautiful outdoor June wedding in Dumaguete City, Philippines. Their plans are to live most of the year in the Philippines but will be returning to the U.S. often. They have been able to extensively travel throughout amazing Asia.

Several Culver-Stockton College Alpha Xi Delta’s attended Emily (Brady) Frost ’02 Breast Cancer Real “Support” Team Celebration recently at Vin de Set in St. Louis.

Those attending were back row: Stephanie (Alm) Bunte ’04, Leigh Ann (Sarvesky) Grunden ’03, Candice (Van Praag) Barry ’03, Holly (VanHook) Berns ’02, Angie Hetz ’01, Susie (LoRusso) Simpson ’03, Crissy (Kopsicker) Strode ’02, Erin (Smith) No ’04,

Bimson

Emily Lay ’12 and Oswald Silvestre were married Aug. 24, 2019 in Canton, Mo. The Silvestres live in St. Louis, Mo. Emily is the daughter of Julie ’87 and Tom Lay. Cara Job ’19 and Dakota Sherwood were married Sept.

21, 2019. Cara is the daughter of Susan (Gaus) ’84 and Tony Job.

Barbara (Gardner) James ’57 St. Louis, Mo. • April 12, 2019

Ronald Frazier ’59 Canton, Mo. • Sept. 26, 2019

E. Lowell Reynolds ’60 Lewistown, Mo. • July 16, 2019

Joan (Begole) Rusnak ’57 Corte Madera, Calif. • Oct. 7, 2019

Walter Glassman ’59 Elmwood Park, Ill. • Aug. 11, 2019

Glenn Dothage ’61 Ashland, Mo. • June 26, 2019

Virginia (Nesbitt) Lewis ’58 Hastings, Neb. • June 10, 2019

Richard Huechteman ’59 Plano, Texas • May 26, 2019

Robert Lippert ’62 Wayland, Mich. • June 14, 2019

Raymond Boge ’59 Noblesville, Ind. • July 13, 2019

Ralph Swanson ’59 Santa Cruz, Calif. • June 22, 2019

Paul Carpenter ’63 Carson, Wash. • July 2, 2019 culver.edu 46

LEGACIES

CLASS NOTES Ericka (Viveros) Snider ’04, Emily (Brady) Frost ’02, Sarah (Sweezer) Hairston ’00, Susie (Schachner) Biggerstaff ’02, Christa (Batson) Sutherland ’02. Several other alumni were also in attendance.

Dr. Jonathan Fuqua ’03 recently accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Conception Seminary College in Conception, Mo. Jonathan received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Purdue University in 2018.

Jonathan and Angela (Moore) ’02 are parents of four children.

Major Matt Green ’03 is completing his Ph.D. in History at the University of Utah with the Maybelle Burton Graduate Fellowship. He is researching mountaineering history as an assistant to the Director of the American West Center. Matt previously served twelve years as a communications officer with the Marines.

He deployed to various locations around the globe and concluded his career working as a cyberwarfare officer in the DC area.

Amanda (Crump) Plybon ’03 celebrated ten years of marriage on Aug. 1, 2019.

She recently accepted a new role at Westminster College in Fulton, Mo. as the Assistant Director and Internship Coordinator for the Center for Career Development. She previously spent eight years with Westminster’s National Churchill Museum in Fulton as the Education and Public Programs Coordinator and then the Director of External Affairs and Chief Educator. She lives with her husband, Joe, in Steedman, Mo. Michael Fannin ’04, MEd ’19 has taught

English in Seoul, Korea for over 10 years and has recently moved to Florida to teach 9th grade. He lives in Punta Gorda, Fla. with his wife and two daughters.

Hezekiah Nicholas Simpson joined Susie (LoRusso) ’03 and Jon ’04 Simpson on June 14, 2019. The Simpsons reside in St. Louis, MO.

Timothy Fretwell ’05 was selected in November 2019 for promotion to lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps. He will depart his current faculty position at Marine Corps University in Quantico, VA for reassignment this summer.

Mackenzie (Zappia) ’11 and Michael Maxey are parents of a son, Johnathan Earl, born Oct. 26, 2019. The Maxey family resides in Champaign, Ill.

Trooper Cpl. Aaron Craig ’07 was promoted to the rank of corporal and designated as an assistant zone supervisor of Zone 13 for the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Aaron is married to Jessica (Simmons) Craig. He and his wife have three children, Payton, Katy and Kenna.

Leslie (Dobyns) Forrester ’07 was elected president of the Missouri Association of Community Arts Agencies (MACAA).

She is the executive director of the SRAC (Springfield Regional Arts Council). She lives in Springfield, Mo. with her husband, Philip Forrester ’07 and their daughter, Evie.

Emily Hogan ’07 is teaching art at Fulton High School in Fulton, Mo. where she resides.

Jamie (Kenzler) Kerr ’07 works in social services for Maple Grove Lodge in Louisiana, Mo. She lives with her husband, Dustin Kerr in Louisiana.

Holly (Luetkenhaus) Reiter ’07 published her first book, Austentatious: The Evolving World of Jane Austen Fans in June 2019 by University of Iowa Press. The book was co-authored with Zoe Weinstein of Boston. Holly and Tony ’07 live in Stillwater, Okla. where Tony is a member

IN MEMORIAM James McClard ’65 Gibson City, Ill. • July 15, 2019

Richard Denly ’67 Montrose, Iowa • July 8, 2019

Judith (Sammons) Veselsky ’65 Lake Geneva, Wisc. • Oct. 4, 2019

Patricia (Sherwood) Czerwinski ’67 New Lenox, Ill. • July 9, 2019

William Pieper ’66 Monmouth, Ill. • June 24, 2019

Milo Marr ’68 Hopewell, Va. • Oct. 22, 2019

Gary Wood ’66 Pekin, Ill. • May 6, 2019

Richard Herholz ’69 Washington, Mo. • July 6, 2019

47 Chronicle, Winter 2020

Dallas (Tobin) ’13 and Cole Henderson are parents of a son, Adrian Michael born on Apr. 6, 2019. Adrian spent a little over a month in NICU. He was released on May 10th and on May 11th he got to take his first trip to CulverStockton and see his mother graduate with her MBA. Darin and Melissa (Uhlmeyer) ’08 Feldkamp are parents of Daniel Henry Leon Feldkamp, born Dec. 31, 2018.

Daniel joins siblings Braydon, Caitlyn and Ashlynn. The Feldkamps reside near Canton, Mo. Trevor James Hershbarger was born Oct. 30, 2019 to Jason and Caryn (Howard) Hershbarger ’02. The Hershbargers reside in Saint Peters, Mo. Tyler Muniz ’13 and wife Bree had a son, Breck Allen, born June 15, 2019. The Muniz family resides in DeSoto, Kans.

Craig and Molly (Welton) Mathews ’11 welcomed a little girl, Oaklyn Kae Mathews, February 16, 2019. The family resides in Avon, Ind., just outside of Indianapolis.

Eric ’13 and Natasha Burton are parents of a daughter, Aubrey Kate Burton, born Sept. 17, 2019. The Burtons reside in Florissant, Mo. Mary Lynn (Bowman) ’11 and John Greenley are parents of a daughter, Mary Kate Greenley, born July 17, 2019. The family resides near Edina, Mo. Tony ’12 and Whitney (Gibler) ’11 Edmondson are parents of a daughter, Skylar Cain Edmondson, born Oct. 14, 2019.

Paul and Courtney (Cahalan) ’13 Moore are parents of a son, Quin Michael, born June 26, 2019. The Moore family resides in Boonville, Mo. Cody and LeAnne (Pierce) Kaylor ’06 are parents of a daughter, Hanley Ann, born July 18, 2019. The Kaylors live in Canton, Mo. She joins big brother, Rayland.

Hezekiah Simpson

Johnathan Maxey

Adrian Henderson

Daniel and Melissa Feldkamp

Trevor Hershbarger

Breck Muniz

Craig, Molly and Oaklyn Mathews

Aubrey Burton

Mary Greenley

Skylar Edmondson

Quin Moore

Hanley Kaylor

Jaxon Moffitt

Kendyll and Levi Suarez

Andrew Weston

Sophia and Tucker Cramsey

Dawson, Ella and Asher Ayers

Rocket Culler

Lexi James

Addison O’Cheltree

Thatcher Boyer

Danielle (Wade) ’14 and Jacob Moffitt ’15 are parents of a son, Jaxon Lee, born Feb. 27, 2019. They live in Canton, Mo. Kendyll (Dhans) ’17 and Nick Suarez are parents of a son, Levi, born July 8, 2019. The Suarez family resides at Whiteman AFB, Mo. Sean and Anna (Talbot) Weston ’04 and guardian angel Sean Michael would like to announce Andrew Weston born on Feb. 5, 2019. The family lives in Blue Springs, Mo. Lucas ’09 and Caly (Kite) ’08 Cramsey are parents of a son, Tucker William, born Nov. 4, 2019 He joins big sister Sophia. The Cramsey family lives in Quincy, Ill. Jordan ’10 and Kristin (Allen) ’08 Ayers are parents of a son, Asher James born July 16, 2019. He joins siblings Ella and Dawson. The Ayers family resides in Canton, Mo. Vance and Cindy (Weber) Culler ’07 are parents of a son, Rocket LaRue, born June 13, 2019. The Culler family resides in Cedar Rapids, Ia. Cody and Leanne (Cary) ’12 James are parents of a daughter, Lexi Lou, born Nov. 21, 2019. She joins big sister, Cora Beth. The James family resides near Brashear, Mo. Toby ’07 and Airen (Ferguson) ’10 O’Cheltree parents of a daughter, Addison, born July 14, 2019. The family resides in Quincy, Ill. Leah (Wisehart) Boyer ’16 and her husband, Andrew are parents of a son, Thatcher Eugene, born Nov. 1, 2019.

The Boyer family lives in Carthage, Ill.

culver.edu 48

CLASS NOTES of the faculty at Northern Oklahoma College and Holly is Director of Library Teaching and Learning at Oklahoma State University.

Cody Baggett ’08 has been named The MU School of Health Professions Director of Student Services. Cody resides in Columbia, Mo. Abe Leach ’08 attended the Choral Conducting Institute at Oxford University during the summer of 2019. The jointly sponsored program of Westminster Choir College and Oxford University in the UK is a unique partnership with St. Stephan’s House and is a fully residential immersion experience working with Dr. James Jordan, numerous internationally recognized choral conductors, and the Grammy nominated Williamson Voices.

2010s Danielle (Harper) Stafford ’12 has been named Chief Financial Officer for Special Olympics Missouri. Danielle lives in Holts Summit, Mo. with her husband, Kirk, and son, Kasen.

Taylor Reynolds ’19 is an assistant preschool teacher for Sikeston Public Schools in Sikeston, Mo.

IN MEMORIAM Keith Andrew ’76 Ursa, Ill. • Nov. 4, 2019 Glyndon Burkhart ’77 San Antonio, Texas • May 28, 2019 Marilyn (VanVelkinburg) Hodges ’79 Big Sandy, Tenn. • May 25, 2019 Michele Meyer ’83 Tempe, Ariz. • Nov. 17, 2019 Monica Miller ’01 Columbia, Mo. • Sept. 14, 2019 Carroll Range Former Staff Quincy, Ill. • June 11, 2019 49 Chronicle, Winter 2020

New pursuits?

THE CHRONICLE IS AVAILABLE ON

Share your milestones, experiences, travels and tales in the next magazine.

Submit a class note for the next issue of The Chronicle.

DOWNLOAD THE APP FOR ANDROID OR APPLE

ISSUU

Photo submissions are welcome, but please make sure to ID everyone left to right. culver.edu > Alumni > Class Notes

SAVE THE DATE HOMECOMING 2020 OCTOBER 23-25

MAKE A GIFT TO THE NEXT GENERATION LEGACY. WHAT DO WE THINK WHEN WE HEAR THAT WORD?

The dictionary states that a legacy is anything handed down from the past. Many alumni and friends of Culver-Stockton College thoughtfully consider the legacy they would like to hand down to future generations on “the Hill.” Planned gifts are an important part of the future success of the College.

WHY ARE PLANNED GIFTS SO IMPORTANT TO THE COLLEGE? PLANNED GIFTS ARE SOME OF THE: • Most impactful gifts the College receives.

• Most thoughtful gifts the College receives.

• Largest gifts the College receives.

IF YOU HAVE NOT CONSIDERED INCLUDING C-SC IN YOUR ESTATE, WE HOPE YOU WILL. For more information about how to leave your legacy to the future of Culver-Stockton College, please contact Bill Sheehan in the Advancement Office at 573-288-6440 or email wsheehan@culver.edu.

Culver-Stockton College One College Hill Canton, MO 63435

Parents: If this issue is addressed to your son or daughter who no longer maintains a permanent address at home, please notify the Advancement Office at 800-755-CATS or at advancement@culver.edu.

FAMILY Like branches on a tree We may grow in different directions Yet our roots remain as one.

We were brought together on “the Hill,” people from all walks of life seeking to find our place in the world.

Throughout this weekend we will celebrate those things that make us unique and a vital part of the Wildcat family. Join us to learn from experts who can help you create an environment to find your family in the community where you live.

Spring

ALUMNI WEEKEND April 3-5, 2020 Friday, April 3 Let the Good Times Grow 6 p.m. Social Hour 7 p.m. Mystery Dinner Theater Saturday, April 4 Finding the roots...

9 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. Session 1 10 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. Session 2 11 - 11:45 a.m. Session 3 12 - 1 p.m. Lunch 1 - 3 p.m. Tour 3 - 4 p.m. The Epic Grazing Table 5:30 p.m. Athletic Hall of Fame Dinner 7:30 p.m. Fine Arts Theater Production 9:30 p.m. Doughnut stay up too late, but we want to thank you a ‘hole’ bunch Sunday, April 5, 2020 9 - 9:30 a.m. Short Devotional in the All Faith’s Chapel 9:45 a.m. - 12 p.m. Alumni Board Meeting

Register at culver.edu/alumnievents/spring-alumni-weekend

51 Chronicle, Winter 2020