Culver Academies Alumni Magazine | Spring 2022

FROM THE EDITOR

The CGA Crest: A Lifelong Compass

For the past two plus years, I have had the privilege of being involved with committees or teams focused on preparing for the 50th anniversary celebration of CAG/CGA. It’s been an incredibly enlightening experience for me, because no single person can have a panoramic picture of every detail, but when working with a diverse team of people with multiple perspectives, including some of whom I have known for 50 years, a rich and textured narrative comes to life.

As editor of the alumni magazine since 2016, our magazine team has made a conscious effort to include feature stories that highlight individual and collective Culver women’s accomplishments, both in the magazine and on the Culver Cannon, in preparation for the 50th celebration.

The most “treasured memories” I have of the three editing teams for Culver books, however, are not the tasks of editing, punctuation and phrasing, but rather the conversations we naturally “fell into” about our memories of people who impacted our lives in and out of the classroom, and signature places on campus that we hold dear. Some of these talks evoked laughter and others brought moments of reflection, which helped us re-center our task with an enriched sense of purpose in capturing the essential details. The narrative of each book was always at the center of our work. If we needed to do more research, find better pictures to illuminate the story, or wordsmith an important idea, we paused in order to “get it right.”

In all the collective reading we did, the CGA Crest became the locus not just of understanding the school mission but making it a

living reality. Senior prefect Sherry Xie ’21 told the new girls that the phrases behind each of the four quadrants of the crest — “Strength of Friendship,” “Knowledge and Tradition,” “Strength and Justice” and “Service and Success” (each) require a year to process thoroughly. “You build friendships your first year, soak in the knowledge and tradition of CGA in your second year, learn about strength and justice as a nascent leader, and put your service into success in your final year at Culver.”

Kati Quigg ’21, another keynote speaker, stressed that the Crest “does not bestow any magical power on the girls wearing it but rather “accentuates and directs the power we already embody.” She stressed that “My journey was not smooth, but as turbulent as the white-cap ping Maxinkuckee waves. I have learned that I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can change my sails to adjust to the turbulent waves.”

Most recently, Casey Collins ’22, another keynote speaker, noted that Culver “knocks us all off our pedestals and helps us build a new one, this time it being truly our own. Becoming the best person you can be isn’t about being perfect, but it is about living the Culver values, pushing yourself, and embracing those daily opportunities.”

Like Odysseus, every CGA student takes a journey toward Ithaka, the seeds of which are sown at Culver but last a lifetime. It is not fair winds toward the destination that count most but rather navigating the obstacles and rocky shoals that shape one’s character and prepare her to face any “monster with confidence.” That is what true leadership looks like lived.

Happy 50th, CGA!

— Kathy Lintner

Culver

Alumni Magazine

CONTENTS

HEAD OF SCHOOLS

Douglas Bird Ed.D. ‘90

ALUMNI RELATIONS

Director Alan Loehr Jr.

Legion President Raj Chopra ‘89 Chicago, Illinois

CSSAA President Emily Barnes Cole SS’84 Chicago, Illinois

Culver Clubs International President Michael E. “Mike” Rudnicki ‘92 W’88 Loveland, Ohio

COMMUNICATIONS

Director of Marketing and Communications

Scott Johnson ‘94, W ‘89

Editor/Culver Alumni Magazine Kathy Lintner

Asst. Director/Publications

Jan Garrison

Marketing and Communications Project Manager

Mike Petrucelli

Museum and Archives Manager

Jeff Kenney

CHIEF INTERNATIONAL OFFICER

Tony Giraldi ’75

STAFF CONTRIBUTORS

Kirk Brown

MAGAZINE DESIGN & EDITORIAL CONSULTING

Scott Adams Design Associates

PHOTOGRAPHY

Paul Ciaccia, Chloe Broeker, Jan Garrison, Camilo Morales, The Vedette staff, iStock

Graduate of the Year JaneEberly

The beginning may not resemble the end, but it’s important that a firm foundation is laid. The first CAG students, including Jane Eberly, may not have started everything CGA students can take part in now, but it was those first simple movements that helped them become the stew ards of Culver.

Katy Keck:

Culver’s First

Female Pilot

When Culver Summer Schools & Camps started offering aviation classes at Fleet Field in 1972, Katy Keck was one of eight girls who signed up. It wasn’t easy but the Mount Vernon, Indi ana, native entered the program with her eyes wide open.

Culver (USPS 139-740) is published by The Culver Educational Foundation, 1300 Academy Road, Culver, Indiana 46511-1291. Opinions are those of the authors, and no material may be reproduced without the editor’s written consent. Postmaster, please send change of address notice to Culver Alumni Office, 1300 Academy Road #132, Culver, Indiana 46511-1291.

Woodcraft Walks the Red Carpet

Ovidio Jasso’s ’21 film, “I Found a Friend,” is currently making the festival circuit. It stars Campbell Overfelt ’22 and Matt Dwyer ’20 and uses Woodcraft Camp in various scenes.

COMMON GROUND

A conversation between Dr. Sally Hodder ’72, CAG’s first senior prefect, and Jenna Springer ’22, second rotation CGA prefect, re-enforced that the core CGA values of leadership development, creation of lifelong friendships and acquired “grit” still help CGA women navigate and weather any storm.

No Easy Route to Becoming You

The long and winding road to self-awareness and leadership is different for every woman. Those were the “Because of You, We Are” lessons shared with the CGA students by three speakers at the 20th annual Culver Women’s Celebration on March 2, which also marked the 50th anniver sary of the establishment of CGA.

Culver educates its students for leadership and responsible citizenship in society by developing and nurturing the whole individual — mind, spirit, body — through an integrated curriculum that emphasizes the cultivation of character.

VIEWS AND PERSPECTIVES

Celebrating Fifty Years of CGA’s Lasting Impact

The 2021-2022 academic year, including the Reunion Weekend Celebration in May, has served as a well-deserved recognition of CGA’s lasting impact to the over all Culver community. The year-long celebration of CGA’s 50th Anniversary has been the product of hard work by alumnae and alumni, trustees, faculty and staff, students, and parents. I appreciate all the focus, energy and enthusiasm surrounding this milestone event.

We are especially grateful to all the CAG and CGA alum nae who have taken the time to come to campus and share their stories and their talents with our students this year.

I am fortunate to view this milestone from different perspectives: Culver legacy, alumnus, parent, and Head of Schools. My father, Roger, a 1969 CMA graduate, attended classes with faculty daughters and just missed the start of CAG by a few years. As a fourth-class cadet during the 1986-1987 school year, I had the honor to have Dean Mary Frances England as my English teacher. In the fall of 1989 (my first-class year), I asked a CGA classmate to be my date for Officers Figure. Thirty years later, our daughter began her own CGA experience as a member of the Class of 2023.

As the Head of Schools, I respect Dean England’s vision and unwavering commitment to fostering educational opportunities for women during a time when co-education was met with resistance. Leading by example, with a unique grace, Dean England pushed aside obstacles and diligently worked to establish the Culver Academy for Girls. She made every effort to ensure our graduates were prepared to successfully tackle future challenges by giving the women of CAG/CGA a voice and access to Culver’s long-standing dedication to leadership.

Last fall, noted historian and leadership scholar Doris Kearns Goodwin visited campus as part of the CGA 50th anniversary celebration. After meeting with Culver stu dents, she said “I think it’s extraordinary you’ve made leadership at this school a central tenet of your learning.

Because every subject you’re studying contributes to it. Whether it is philosophy or psychology or even mathematics or science and learning how to understand the data points of what you’re doing in leadership.”

Fifty years ago, CGA was a very different place: the girls were commonly referred to as “co-eds” instead of “stu dents;” girls represented less than 15 percent of the student body; and the uniforms were not the most fashionable, whether you judged them by regular or uniform standards.

Even the name of the school, Culver Academy for Girls, was different.

A few years later, by dropping the preposition and shifting the order of words in the name, the title perfectly symbol ized what Culver would become. Instead of a place that was “for” girls who came to Culver (a campus that seemed to belong to CMA at the time), CGA students were now living and learning on a campus they could call their own alongside CMA.

In describing her vision for CAG, Dean England insisted that Culver was “grand enough and green enough to open its doors to girls.”

Over the years, more and more doors within Culver did open to girls. Their numbers grew and they found and used their voices to direct their academic and social lives, not only within CGA but also positively within all of Culver. Today, CGA may look very different to some people, but the most important parts have remained the same.

The Culver Mission is the foundation of everything everyone does here, and CGA graduates have taken that to heart, as their many successes over the past five decades have shown.

We continue to see the promise of even greater success for the girls at Culver today in the sciences, in entrepreneurship, in fine arts, in the athletic arena, and beyond.

Our goal is to lead the world in whole person education, and in doing so, our graduates have the tools to succeed at whatever they do, wherever they are.

I’m proud of the foundation that CGA has built in the last 50 years (and even longer, if you include the many faculty daughters who graduated from CMA, which I certainly do). The girls currently on campus are showing excellence in many areas and initiatives that were not even imaginable in 1971.

I believe the Culver Mission, and our focus on the whole individual, will enable CGA to continue to grow and transform, allowing our future students to achieve the success and the goals they have, in ways that we ourselves cannot foresee. That’s the point. Everyone’s time at Culver eventually ends, but their time with Culver does not.

Warm regards,

Doug Bird ’90

“Dean England pushed aside obstacles and diligently worked to establish the Culver Academy for Girls. She made every effort to ensure our graduates were prepared to successfully tackle future challenges by giving the women of CAG/CGA a voice and access to Culver’s long-standing dedication to leadership.”

A TRANSFORMATIVE GIFT for RESIDENTIAL LIFE

We’re constructing new facilities to foster even more excellence. Scan the code to see how the campus is expanding.

Culver Academies has received a transformational $65 million gift from Culver Military Academy alumnus George R. Roberts ’62 to rebuild three significant dormitories on campus.

Construction will begin this summer on the Roberts Residential Quadrangle, which will include new Main, North and East barracks, as well as a central plaza serving as a focal point to one of the most iconic areas of campus. These new dormitories will replace the exist ing Main, North and East barracks.

“It was important that Culver change to meet the needs of modern students,” Head of Schools Dr. Doug Bird CMA ’90 said. “The existing buildings have served Culver well for more than 100 years, but the need for quality, state-of-the-art technological, mechanical, and electrical infrastructure, as well as the efficiency and cost savings that modern construction materials bring, made this project necessary.”

While the new dormitories will have all the necessities required of a 21st century world-class education, the construction will remain sensitive to the look and feel of the Collegiate Gothic style architec ture that is predominantly on campus and unique to Culver.

“This gift allows Culver to continue advancing its commitment to leading the world in whole-person education by creating an unmatched residential environment for students and summer campers,” said Miles White CMA ’73, chairman of the Culver Educa tional Foundation Board of Trustees. “George Roberts has always been incredibly supportive of Culver. It’s not uncommon for him to ask what the school’s biggest needs are and then give Culver the means to meet those needs. That is the case here with this important project. We are incredibly grateful to George Roberts for making this transformative next step in Culver’s history possible.”

Each dormitory will house from 80-175 students, with rooms, lounge areas, information technology support and meeting areas, as well as office and residential areas for live-on-campus faculty and staff assigned to those students.

“My three years at Culver had a powerful and positive impact on my life. I am honored to be able to give back to Culver so it will continue providing the highest level of education and leadership skills for years to come,” Roberts said.

CGA 50th’s Leadership Scholars Preparing for Leadership for the Good

Fifty years ago, Culver Academy for Girls wel comed 100 young women in its inaugural class. In 2021–22, eight exceptional senior leadership scholars will receive the designation of Honors in Leadership after completion of an intensive, col lege-level seminar in Leadership Studies and the successful presentation of a polished academic thesis this fall. These are the highlights of the students’ incredible achievements and the ways in which their academic study leaves them well prepared to lead for the good.

As alumni know well, Culver educates its young people for leadership and responsible citizenship in society through whole-person education that emphasizes the cultivation

of character. The Honors in Leadership (HIL) Seminar, a rigorous, college-level study of contemporary Leadership Studies, represents the academic culmination of a Culver student’s leadership journey — a chance to return to every step in their Culver leadership growth and dig deep to its theoretical foundations and practical applications. In it, HIL candidates ask enduring questions about the nature of leadership:

What is leadership? Who is a leader? Who is a follower? What does good lead ership look like? What does bad leadership look like? What is the connection between leadership and the cultivation of character? How do I improve and grow as a leader?

How can I connect my philosophy of leader ship with my practice of leadership? How do I live out my philosophy of leadership in my community? How can I be a happy leader? How do I help develop and nurture others for leadership? How do I lead as a whole individual — mind, spirit, and body?

Through study of these questions and an in tensive introduction to contemporary academic Leadership Studies, HIL candidates Ally Barath, Aiva Brimanis, Mia Sun, Sofi Dolan, Mallory Magee, Leah Marquell, and Erin McGrath craft their own definition of leadership and their own personal leadership philosophy. They also revisit their unique character strengths, reflecting on

Rachel Jiang explains how she shot her project’s photos during the Honors Fair.

how these help them to lead from their authentic selves for the good of human communities.

All this deep reflection and study, in turn, helps to guide their final academic projects for the course, in which each candidate must write and present an academic college report that defends a controvertible thesis in Leadership Studies before the Department of Leadership Education. Students choose final projects that resonate with their interests and their character and leadership strengths, increasing the personal relevance of their projects.

These final projects exhibit an exceptional level of sophistication for high school leaders.

Far from mere academic exercises, many of the students crafted and pre sented prototype leader ship interventions for our campus community. This year, we had a veritable buffet of original, novel leadership scholarship on display. I sample each of these projects below:

Ally Barath (Munster, Indiana): Through extensive surveying and use of an industry-stan dard leadership instrument, identified a lack of certain authentic leadership behaviors on Culver’s campus and then hosted an authentic leadership workshop for all current CGA juniors.

Aiva Brimanis (Anchorage, Alaska): An original followership typology, highlighting ways we could continue to empower each student to be a good follower on Culver’s campus.

Mia Sun (Bloomington, Indiana): Argued that the only female emperor in Chinese history, Emperor Wu, was, contrary to most scholars’ opinions, a ‘misunderstood’ full-range leader.

Sofi Dolan (San Miguel De Allende, Mexico): Argued that Culver’s campus culture aligned with many of the tenets of contemporary, main

stream positive leadership theory.

Mallory Magee (Plymouth, Indiana): Studied CGA from its origins until today (making extensive use of interview and the Culver Digital Vault), making a case for CGA’s influence on the Culver Academies leadership model.

Leah Marquell (Fort Wayne, Indiana): Performed extensive research on CGA’s lead ership committees using the Leader Member Exchange (LMX) instrument, showing pathways for future implementation to improve leader and follower relations.

Sophie Nash (Columbus, Indiana): Studied the phenomenon of unethical leadership and presented practical tools for self-reflection that could be used for each Culver student.

Erin McGrath (Knox, Indiana): Pointed to the ways transactional leadership behaviors can be improved and taught, using the Culver Honor Council as a paradigmatic example of exceptional transactional leadership and the basis for future improvements.

These presentations left deep impressions on the adults who witnessed them. Each of these young leaders exhibited a clear leader’s voice, authenticity, a sense of purpose, vision, and deep connection to her work. Each project pro vided a unique perspective on the importance of leadership in our world. These young women, through their choice of topics and in their own voices, made a case for leadership for good, which is so sorely needed in our world.

— Evan Dutmer, Ph.D. Coordinator for the Honors Seminar in Leadership

Evan Dutmer, Ph.D.

The Honors in Leadership (HIL) Seminar, a rigorous, college-level study of contemporary Leadership Studies, represents the academic culmination of a Culver student’s leadership journey.

The Art of Authentic Leadership

The following article was written by Alexandria Barath ’22 (Munster, Indiana), who covered authentic leadership in her Honors seminar.

To be a well-developed and successful leader at Culver and beyond relies on one leadership factor more than any other: authenticity. This ability — to act and lead in agreement with the strengths of our innermost selves and from our deepest moral values — helps us build the trust among our followers that we need to accomplish our highest goals within teams and communities.

Through my first rotation leadership position, I led a 42-girl dorm through orientation and the first months of school. I discovered that some of my peers were not passionate about their leadership positions. Since 1971, CGA has strived to create a leadership development program to aid students in finding their passions and providing them with the experience of leading their peers. What I believe this program could continue to develop is the bridge between the self-awareness found in its leadership education and the leadership practice itself.

In required leadership courses like Living, Learning, and Leading (Grade 9) and Ethics and the Cultivation of Character (Grade 11), students learn what their character strengths are, what they value, and, most importantly, what they’re passionate about in leadership spaces. Sometimes, though, these passions do not play a significant role in their structured leadership position on campus. This led me to research authentic leadership theory and learn how letting our passions shine through our positions can further both the development of the students and our community.

Authentic leadership, one of the leading mainstream academic leadership theories, has four main components: self-awareness, which involves knowing your strengths and weaknesses along with your passions; internalized moral perspective, which is making decisions based on your internal values; balanced processing, where leaders look at all sides of an issue before making a decision and listening to those they disagree with; and relational transparency, the ability to show your authentic, true self to your followers.

The real benefit of authentic leadership is seen with producing enhanced leadership-follower trust. If you lead with authenticity, those you lead will feel much more connected to you, and if they feel like they know the “true you,” they will develop a sense of trust that comes with an increase in productivity and attachment to the team itself.

To guide my research, I asked this question: How is Culver faring when it comes to practicing authentic leadership behaviors? Based on my preliminary qualitative and quantitative research, we have distinct areas for growth. After analyzing evidence from a school-wide survey of 115 students and a series of interviews with exemplary student leaders, I found that only 28.70% of campus leaders practiced high levels of authentic leader ship, with the lowest component being relational transparency at 33.04%. I also found that students in structured leadership positions are significantly less likely to practice the components of authentic leadership in comparison to non-structured lead ership positions (e.g., in clubs, sports, and other extracurriculars).

This apparent lack of authenticity could stem from gaps in our leadership study and structured leadership practice. My Honors in Leadership research paper argued that our campus would benefit from improving its overall teaching and practice of the authentic leadership behaviors, specifically relational transparency.

In an attempt to model a way students might improve their leadership authenticity and the practice of relational transparency within CGA, I planned and led a junior workshop entitled ‘Authentic Leadership,’ connecting the topic and data of my paper to Culver’s leadership system and how social media plays a role in students’ relational transparency.

The goal of this activity was to spread awareness about the importance of being a transparent leader by focusing on how platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook are powerful ways to get in touch and connect leaders with their followers, not only at Culver but also later in their professional lives. I also wanted all CGA juniors to realize the importance of wanting positions based on what

we value, and how knowing yourself, your passions, and your strengths and weaknesses can lead you to a leadership position in which you thrive.

In a post-workshop survey, 50 out of 63 people strongly agreed that their knowledge of relational transparency had increased. Still, I wanted to do more than just educate — I wanted the juniors to think this was helpful for their future life at Culver. When asked if they have a better understanding of how their social media presence impacts their lead ership, 52 responded that they strongly agreed, and when asked if this workshop would be beneficial for future juniors, an overwhelming 100% of responses claimed that it would. My main goal of the work shop was achieved: the juniors are better equipped for their future leadership through education of authentic leadership and relational transparency.

Culver Girls Academy has evolved and grown in the 50 years since its founding in 1971, and it con tinues to equip and produce strong and successful leaders. I am confident that my work in authentic leadership theory will encourage our growing lead ers to choose their leadership roles building on their authentic selves and not merely a drive for status.

A leader’s image can either impair her leadership or become a contributor to her success. Realizing the power in embracing one’s true character and working to align that image with personal virtues and values can lead to leadership positions that fit one’s passions, and in turn create passionate followers who can cultivate character and trust.

— Ally Barath ’22

Ally Barath ’22

CGA’S FUTURE MUST BE AN INCLUSIVE ONE

On the occasion of CGA’s 50th anniversary, Second Rotation Senior Prefect Mikel Alvis ’22 reflected on CGA’s past and the decisions that shaped the school, as well as the decisions that could determine the path ahead for Culver.

The vicissitudes of reality keep me from predicting what kind of Academy CGA students will graduate from in 50 years. Thankfully, my hope for the future is not bound by such restrictions.

In 2072, I hope people no longer ask about the next 50 years of CGA. That we reflexively approach cultural, tech nological, and economic challenges as a co-educated school: Culver. Not as CGA or CMA. Not as CMA and CGA.

CGA was a calculated risk at its foundation, serving as a pathway for women to enter classrooms in pursuit of a com prehensive education. In “Culver Daughters Sing Thy Praise (Women of Culver)” by Dean Mary Frances England, she states:

“When faculty sons came of age to enroll in Woodcraft, Summer School and the Academy, we girls were observers, outsiders. Though we were impressed by the uniforms, the formality, and the glamour of the unknown, I did harbor envy though never bitterness” (England, 13).

women, amongst other varying identification groups, is no longer a novel concept. How we choose to exercise the skills taught/developed at Culver is still to be determined. Every individual at Culver plays a role in the foundation of values that our future peers will act on.

Our goal is not just to create generations of females who recognize their ability to lead.

It is for such genera tions to exercise their abilities with purposeful inclusion.

In the aforementioned work, Dean England speaks of Greta Berlin, one of the first female students to graduate from CMA. Berlin was caught “kissing a boy on the stairs of the gym just before spring break” (p. 35). When returning from break “(she) was called into the office of Dean Benson … (she) was grounded for six weeks … What happened to the boy? Noth ing. He was questioned about what had happened and told the same story (she) had told … However, boys will be boys and, since (she) was the girl, (she) was responsible” (England, 35).

When Dean England declared CAG’s foundation to be “the most important decision in Culver history,” the idea of an institution that considered men and women intellectual equals, enough to develop them so, was unprecedented. Including

At Culver we raise generations of leaders who will not per petuate standards that treat men and women differently. That said, we must now remem ber to teach leadership that treats men, and all other identity groups, equally, not belittling their contributions in an attempt to equalize women. Reality outside Culver is divided, so this must come from the inherent separation of Culver and the surrounding world.

Our goal is not just to create generations of females who recognize their ability to lead. It is for such generations to exercise their abilities with purposeful inclusion.

It would be inconsistent with Dean England’s mission for me to misrepresent the progress we have made, and the hope I have for our future, as I currently see them. Culver is convo luted, developing, and thankfully open-ended. That is part of what has set us apart. Looking forward, my hope is that graduates of CGA, myself included, act with attention to the impact of their actions.

As the future approaches, bringing with it the inevitable establishment of our legacy, will our epitaph display grit or hesitation?

Mikel Alvis ’22

Graduate of the Year

JaneEberly

you have ever seen a trained dancer perform, one can’t help but marvel at the fluidity of motion, the grace of the forms.

If you’ve ever tried to learn dance, you would find, obviously, that you don’t go from zero to 60 in that first lesson, but rather start with steps and movements that seem fairly simple, and you may wonder, “How does this end up in a composed dance?”

The beginning may not resemble the end, but it’s important that the foundation is there.

Jane Doehrman Eberly ’73 knows about dance. She was among the first dance students at the newly-formed Culver Acad emy for Girls in 1971. And as she looks back at how far Culver Girls Academy has come in the past 50 years, she finds dance an apt comparison.

As she reflects on the past 50 years of CGA’s history in preparation for Reunion Weekend, when she will be honored as Culver’s 2022 Graduate of the Year, she says she began to feel overwhelmed with how far CGA, and CMA along with it, has come. What would she say to so many students who, in her opinion, have surpassed what she remembers doing at Culver on a regular basis?

But it was two other people close to her who are also familiar with Culver and its mission — daughters Elizabeth Weigand, who graduated from CGA in 2000, and Katherine Spellane, who learned all things Culver as a Woodcrafter in the ’90s — who came to her rescue.

“My daughters said, ‘You’re not looking at the whole picture,’” she said.

They urged her to look at the CGA Crest as her example, which turned out to be good advice, as Eberly and her CAG classmates worked on developing it at the school’s beginning.

And that’s the thing about what they’ve done: They may not have started everything CGA students can take part in now, but it was the start, those first movements, if you will, that were the beginning of the

broad educational enlightenment enjoyed today. It went far beyond designing the CGA Crest (though the Crest is, of course, part of the bedrock of CGA’s mission), but it was a start.

“None of us had ever gone to a brandnew school,” she says. “It was exciting, it felt powerful.”

She’s especially gratified when she sees things that are considered traditions by everyone at Culver — faculty, staff, and all students, not just CGA — that did not ex ist until the committees she and her fellow CAG students helped bring into existence.

“Each new generation took something simple and grew it into something much more meaningful,” she says. “They’ve cer tainly built the traditions to be stronger.”

Eberly finished her senior year at Culver as class president, receiving the Superin tendent’s Bowl, the highest award a CGA senior can earn.

And once she left Culver for the Uni versity of Arizona, it was the beginning of her post-Culver life, but not the end of her association with the school.

After graduating college in 1977, she returned to the Midwest to work for Northern Trust in Chicago. That same year she married her husband, Reed, no stranger to Culver himself, thanks to the

If

Summer Naval School (Reed’s father also was a Summer camper, having attended Woodcraft Camp in the early 1930s).

It wasn’t long, though, before she was part of another historic first for Culver: In 1982, just shy of 30, Eberly became the first woman president of the Culver Legion, after serving on the Legion Board for a few years.

When her term concluded in 1983, she was invited to join Culver Educational Foundation Board of Trustees, a position she would remain in for the next 38 years, minus a brief sabbatical in the mid-1990s (she was not the first woman to join the board, however; that honor belongs to Emily Jane Culver herself).

But her focus wasn’t only on Culver. Eberly has taken her desire to serve elsewhere carrying on the tenets of CGA’s crest. She has served in leadership roles on boards and in other capacities cov ering a broad range of interests. These organizations have ranged from Lake Forest Country Day School to Rush University Medical Center to The Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration in Vail, among others.

But what does all that really mean? For Eberly, that meaning, the way to handle challenges and answer questions grew out of her experience as a student, but also her early experiences as an alumna.

“I always come back to my time at Culver to answer these ques tions,” she says. “(But) I almost feel I’ve learned more at Culver after I graduated than during my two years as a student.”

Among the things she learned was that any problem can be dealt with if you apply hard work, honor, creativity, and compassion. All of those things flow from the Culver Mission, she says.

“We can never forget our mission,” she says. “If you’re not go ing to live up to that mission, you’re kind of lost as an institution. It informs how you proceed and how you work forward. We find we even use it in our family. It does actually inform how we do things.”

For Eberly, one of those things was how to apply the principles of the Culver Mission personally, outside of Culver.

For her, that means being respectful of another organization’s mission and goals, and ensuring its continued overall well-being. Keeping Culver’s principles in mind helps someone do that, with out making it sound like the organization should be run exactly like Culver.

“None of us had ever gone to a brand-new school. It was exciting, it felt powerful.”

“My daughters said, ‘You’re not

They urged her to as Eberly and her

Jane Eberly’s class photo from 1973.

And sometimes, she says, you learn from your own mispercep tions.

One example she gives of a learning experience for her was when the idea of what is now the Live the Legacy Parents Auction was floated in the early 2000s. Because of experiences elsewhere with similar events, she wasn’t initially as enthusiastic.

“I remember saying to (Head of Schools) John Buxton, based on experi ences with other auctions, ‘Don’t do it’,” she says. “In hindsight, I was absolutely wrong. It gave real meaning and purpose for so many parents and faculty and staff. It built allegiance and friendships. Just be cause you think you know something …”

“The moral of the story is the idea of developing a new tradition, it’s really about inclusion, being part of a commu nity and feeling that even though your child is going to this wonderful place, it’s a way to be a part of your child’s Culver experience in a meaningful way.”

Finding meaning is important for everyone, and Eberly feels finding meaning is important for her, too.

She talks about how when she was a student, and a young adult with a new career, and as the new president of the Legion, and eventually as a parent starting a family, the prevailing attitude, not just for her but most women, was that you had to do it all and could have it all.

Luckily, she had some mentors to direct her away from the “always say yes” way of thinking.

Jim Henderson ’52 explained to her, she says, that when you commit to something, you have to be all in to do it well. Which isn’t possible if you take on too many things.

CAG founding Dean Mary Frances England gave her similar advice, straight up telling her that “You can’t do everything,” otherwise you risk being overwhelmed, and you won’t really do anything well. Instead, one should focus on a few things, making the work more purposeful and impactful so you can give back in a meaningful way, she says.

That was good advice, as even a small sampling of her years of stewardship of Culver shows she has played a role in some import ant moments in the school’s modern history.

She was part of the search committees for not one but two heads of schools, John Buxton and Jim Power. Buxton had a long tenure at Culver, overseeing significant changes and growth in the schools and camps.

But another important program that has resulted in students having an impact beyond the borders of Culver is one unique to CGA.

She was an early supporter of an idea some CGA students had in 2004 for what would become the Leadership Committee for Africa. The student-run organization began by seeking to educate Culver and wider communities about the AIDS crisis in Africa and has since grown to financially support programs that promote the health, welfare, education, and advancement of women and children, and provide opportunities for students to learn and work in Africa. LCA has become a signature group for CGA students,

and puts Culver leadership on display across the globe, making an impact in South Africa, Kenya, and Tanzania.

The significance of what the students had done even then was brought home to her when she accompanied the girls in LCA on its first trip to South Africa.

So even many years after that first “very exciting and very meaningful” LCA trip, Eberly is very mindful of how a tradition can start anytime.

“I just feel in awe of what the students have expanded and grown ” she says, thinking back to her time at Culver, which, she adds, at first blush seemed so small. “It doesn’t seem as powerful as what I’ve seen the young women and men create now.”

But the beginnings were there, those first steps, and with the proper attention, the “all-in” effort, these things can grow beyond those early imaginings.

“We really need to be stewards of Culver,” she says. “That’s our privilege as alums.”

— By Mike Petrucelli

looking at the whole picture.’”

look at the CGA Crest as her example, which turned out to be good advice, CAG classmates worked on developing it at the school’s beginning.

She was an early supporter of an idea some CGA students had in 2004 for what would become the Leadership Committee for Africa.

Jane Eberly at Culver in 1979

A Conversation Between Two Senior Prefects: 50 Years Apart COMMON GROUND

As Culver Girls Academy (CGA) reaches an historical

milestone of 50 years,

it was a pleasure and privilege to interview one of our first female graduates and the first senior prefect, Dr. Sally Hodder ’72. I learned more about the rich history of our beloved CGA, the differences between her tenure and mine, along with what has remained the same. I was elated to discover that the core values cherished by current CGA girls have remained consistent over the years. Leadership development, care for each other through the creation of lifelong friendships, along with an acquired “grit,” are the underlying principles that help us to navigate and weather any storm. From our beginning in 1972 to now, CGA girls continue to blaze new trails. We share the commonality of taking advantage of whatever opportunities are available to maximize our potential. We stand for what we believe in and work together to improve, not only ourselves, but also others to become responsible global citizens.

Dr. Hodder is the Associate Vice President for Clinical and Translational Research, West Virginia University Health Sciences Center; Director, West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Insti tute, and Professor of Medicine.

She has a long history with Culver, as she attended summer camp for three years prior to becoming a member of the first class of CGA. Along with being named the first Woman of the Year at Culver in 1996, she has been impressively honored and recognized for many of her

career achievements: Women of Excellence Award, New Jersey Women & AIDS Network, New Brunswick, New Jersey; Research Excellence Award, New Jersey Medical School, Newark New Jersey; and Faculty of the Year Award, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, to name a few. Her most recent award was being inducted into the West Virginia Healthcare Hall of Fame 2021.

She is truly an inspiration to CGA girls who aspire to lead and serve as effectively as she has.

Dr. Hodder credits summer camp and CGA for her own cultivation of leadership skills and desire to use her expertise to improve the lives of others. She believes that leadership can be developed and taught. As a principled person, if she thinks something is wrong, she will fight to make it right. She believes that leaders should have a hard shell but not so hard that they cannot understand someone else’s position. You have to factor in other perspectives. For her, the important goal is “to do the right thing.”

During her time as senior prefect, our CGA leadership system did not have the organizational structure it is now so proud of. Dr. Hodder served as senior prefect for an entire year, whereas we now have three rotations that are led by different elected people. The structure that did exist for Dr. Hodder and her peers was one where there was a respect for authority. She recalls that they “had to learn how to fit in, survive, and thrive within that structure and that is what life is about. It is basically the job that we have to do in life—to learn to function in structure.” She affirms that CGA teachers and staff were extraordi nary, namely Dean Mary Frances England, who helped the girls to chart their own course.

While speaking with Dr. Hodder, I quickly realized that the first year of

leadership at CGA was setting up the blueprint for us today. The legacy that they created was passed on and has had a positive impact on my own journey as first rotation senior prefect in 2021. I benefited from what they started. When first obtaining leadership positions back in the 1970s, girls were often “going with the flow” and meeting challenges one step at a time. They were pathfinders working within a system that was not sensitive to young women on the campus. Dr. Hodder mentioned that Dean England helped them to navigate a different and difficult time when women were not treated fairly. Similarly, Dean Rasch, though in a different and better campus climate for girls, helps us to navigate our leadership expectations. Whether or not one talks to a CAG student from the Class of 1971 or the Class of 2022, their determination and grit will not be different. Dr. Hodder credits her self-awareness, confidence, and early independence to CGA, which I agree with, after reflecting upon my own character development over the past four years and learning to stand up for what is good and right.

On a lighter note, Dr. Hodder was thrilled to learn about some of the activ ities and traditions that now exist for all students. I was able to share with her my most cherished CGA traditions, such as

W“Women think differently and have a lot to con tribute that is valuable. Know how valuable you are and that you can be as good as anybody else, whether they have a Y chromosome or not.”

Jenna Springer ’22 speaking to her fellow students.

meeting friends at the Shack on weekends, Spirit Games, the Crest Ceremony, the Ring Ceremony and the rush to Beason as a rising senior. Dr. Hodder was eager to learn more about these new opportunities and delighted in the fact that the Shack was still “a thing.” She noted that the one thing she recalled her class starting was the wearing of white dresses at graduation, which still lives on.

Dr. Hodder went beyond sharing her years at CGA by offering words of wisdom and encouragement to CGA girls. When I asked her what she would say to girls who might feel apprehensive about entering the world after Culver, especially those who are entering male-dominated fields, Dr. Hodder responded by saying that girls should not be dissuaded. She said, “Women think differently and have a lot to contribute that is valuable. Know how valuable you are and that you can be as good as anybody else, whether they have a Y chromosome or not.” These wise words of Dr. Hodder’s were encouraging and exemplified the confidence and self-advocacy that she acquired from CGA. She made me excited for what is to come for those that graduate from this great school that is CGA.

In early June when I and the other CGA seniors are adorned in our white dresses on graduation day, I will reflect fondly on my conversation with Dr. Hodder, knowing that the wearing of white dresses to repre sent the culmination of a time well spent at CGA was a tradition started by her Class of 1971. At that moment, we will be ready to lead and serve as successfully as Dr. Hodder.

—

Jenna Springer ’22

SSpeaking with Jenna Springer, the senior prefect, in the fall was a true privilege. The conversation flowed effortlessly, due to her intelligence, terrific personality, and to a commonality of the CGA experience that, quite frankly, I did not anticipate 50 years on. The world in 1972 was entirely different than today. There were no women serving as Supreme Court judges, astronauts, or as deans of U.S. medical schools. But my Culver experience of 50 years ago prepared me very well to compete in that world. Today’s world is infinitely more complex and CGA has evolved. The CGA struc ture is much more developed now than in 1972, the available experiences are broader and with greater depth, and the traditions and culture are well estab lished and distinct from those of CMA. Nonetheless, what Jenna taught me is that the lessons learned from her experi ences are, surprisingly, not too different from those I learned. It is heartening to see that the fundamental values have not changed, yet much of everything else has. The ceiling for young women is gone, and they can be absolutely anything they desire and for which they are willing to work. CGA is preparing them well to meet that challenge. Jenna gives me great hope for tomorrow, as I am positive that she and her classmates will indeed positively impact their world. And I for one will be rooting for them.

— Dr. Sally Hodder ’72 First CAG Senior Prefect

Sally Hodder ’72 speaks with Dean Alexander Nagy at an event in 1971.

The Subtle Art of Soft Skill Success

In a speaker series to honor the CGA 50th anniversary, three female business leaders share their wisdom.

Using your soft skills to succeed

It’s often the soft skills that make the biggest difference between succeeding and failing as a member of a corporate team or as the head of a company, said three female business leaders who met with Culver Academies students over the winter.

All three spoke about how they didn’t match their job descriptions completely, but they were either hired or promoted because of their ability to work well with people. They also emphasized the importance of having people — women and men — in your corner to lean on.

Jocelyn Kinsey ’08, Fran Hauser, and Jamie Engstrom spoke as part of a special series presented by The Ron Rubin School for the Entrepreneur to honor the 50th anniversary of Culver Girls Academy.

ments in Collective Health, Giphy, Helix, Mapbox, Neocis, Patreon, Ring (Amazon), and Splice. She moved to DFJ after spending two years with J.P. Morgan’s Alternative Investment Group in New York.

She said while there is a lot of analysis work involved, from looking over financial reports and studying viable markets, a lot of the back ground work involves talking with people. Calling customers for their opinions about the business or product is “the most helpful way to go” to see if the company will still be around in the future.

Her favorite part is listening to the founder answer “Why are you building this company?” It reveals the commitment the founder has to the concept. Often there is a “deep personal pain point” that serves as the catalyst for the startup. One founder she is working with has a personal story about his problems surrounding the healthcare industry and insurance. His goal is to make navigating the system easier.

The people founders surround themselves with is also important. Does the rest of the team have that “very important skill” of telling their story? Does the founder have the grit, perseverance, ethics, and integrity to keep the business running? The line from starting out to stability and success can be “very bumpy,” she said.

What Kinsey learned at Culver does influence how she views a company and its founder.

“Culver taught me to be a leader. It gave me the leadership skills,” she said. Having integrity and simply being a good person are important traits. “Trust is everything,” she added. “People who don’t hold to their values are really disappointing.”

The Culver values also led her to DFJ Growth. “It may sound cheesy,” she said, but working for a firm with a mission to find those “disruptive technologies” that can have a positive impact on the world is exciting.

Listen to the stories

Kinsey, a partner at DFJ Growth, an investment capital firm based in San Francisco, told students during her virtual question-and-answer session on Feb. 28 that a lot of weight is placed on the company founder’s stories.

Her position involves researching and analyzing businesses, and then selling investors on why a new company would be a good investment. It takes due diligence, studying the potential market, and actively listening to the founder and their team while they are “sharing their stories” on why they formed the business.

An investment capital firm becomes involved after a startup has shown its viability in the market, she explained. The firm provides the funds and expertise that companies and their founders need after the initial “angel investor” phase. Early DFJ Growth investments included Coinbase, SpaceX, Tesla, Twitter, and Unity.

Kinsey has been with DFJ Growth for eight years and was named a partner 19 months ago. She has been actively involved with invest

Kinsey added not every investment will work out. Entrepreneurs and those backing them must become “comfortable with failure and learn from it,” she explained. A startup may have a phenomenal founder and team, execute everything just right but the market is bad or not defensible. Good firms will have a “difficulty moat” built around them that protects their share of the market.

The past two years have been “liberating,” Kinsey said, and she has become more assertive in her role. She admitted to having “imposter syndrome” because she was not an entrepreneur or was one of the few women in the room. But she has female mentors “who school me up” and she has gained confidence through relationship building, “leaning into her edge,” and realizing that she can complement a team rather than needing to know and be everything to it.

Still, when she takes a seat on the board of one of the companies DFJ has invested in, Kinsey often finds she is the only woman in the room. That is why she is active in All Raise, a non-profit dedicated to increas ing diversity across venture capital and venture-backed businesses.

Jocelyn Kinsey ’08 speaks to a group via live video feed.

Empathy, compassion, warmth

What qualities do the best leaders have?

For Fran Hauser, it is empathy, compassion, and warmth.

Hauser, a noted author, speaker, and an angel investor targeting women-led startups, told students during a special all-school presen tation on Jan. 31 that she has found that the top leaders at every point in her career have had these qualities. And those qualities lead to trust.

“Building trust is really about showing empathy and showing that you care about what the other person thinks and what’s important to them,” Hauser said, adding it is universal at every level. She gave examples of how people with these qualities have influenced her along the way. Even, today, she said, she makes investment decisions based on the startup founder’s leadership traits.

If they are not treating their team properly or suddenly stop sharing financial information, “that would be a reason for me to opt out, because the founder is everything at the end of the day,” Hauser explained. “That’s who you’re investing in because, even if the product doesn’t work out, you hope the founder will be smart enough to pivot and create a different product.”

Hauser said good leaders don’t have to choose “between being kind and strong.” Women are often told they must “toughen up or they’re not going to get to the corner office.” But that is never said to men because it is assumed they are already strong.

“I do think it’s really important to change the conversation,” she continued. “I always encourage young women, if someone says that to you, ask back: ‘How, specifically, is this hurting me?’ I know being nice is allowing me to build the most incredible relationships with people that were very useful for me in my career.”

For her book “The Myth of the Nice Girl: Achieving a Career You Love without Becoming a Person You Hate,“ Hauser talked with several negotiating experts. She found one common thread — empathy. Asking the other person what they were looking for, what kind of value they wanted to create, “showed that you care about what’s important to them. That’s how you build trust.”

While working at Time, Hauser’s team launched People.com, which quickly became a major success. But their launch of Style Find, a digital product tied to InStyle magazine, was a huge failure. It ended up “being a complete flop because consumers didn’t like it,” she said. “It was a really tough one for me. I took it very personally.”

But, rather than dwell on it, Hauser decided to find “the biggest takeaway.” She realized the problem was her team never came up with a succinct consumer value proposition.

“We couldn’t come up with a very concise way to explain why this is a great product,” she explained. “Because, for it to go viral, it has to be articulated in a really concise way so that each of you can tell your friends. We just never came up with that.”

That knowledge is still paying dividends in her role as a startup investor. It is something she asks of all the entrepreneurs she meets with. She wants to know what consumer “pain point” the company will be solving and what is the value proposition. If they can’t do it or ramble for too long, she knows they are going to have a difficult time market ing the product, “especially from the word-of-mouth perspective.”

The Style Find failure made her “hyper-aware” of that requirement, Hauser said. “I think I’ve made some really good investing decisions based on that.”

Hauser also had advice for CGA students: have confidence in yourself, be willing to speak up and ask questions, and realize your potential. That lack of confidence can be damaging to your career. Even if you are not 100% qualified for a new position, still apply. Men often do this and are rewarded with the post.

She told the CMA cadets to be allies of the girls — and all minorities, for that matter — encouraging them to use their voices and take those calculated risks. Personally, she would not have applied for one executive post if it had not been at the urging of a male co-worker who believed she was perfect for the job, which she did get.

And, when it comes to commitments, “be strategic about what you say ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ to,” she added. Don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone and try something new. Trust your instincts. And, to do that, every person must be clear on what their priorities are and what is important to them.

Challenge yourself

During her talk on Jan. 19, Jamie Engstrom said she looks for oppor tunities to challenge herself. For 23 years, she has worked for Caterpillar Inc., the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. She has risen through the ranks to become the vice president with responsibility for the Global Information Services Division and the company’s chief information officer.

Engstrom leads a global team responsible for managing the hardware, software, and systems that keep the Fortune 100 company running

Fran Hauser is interviewed on the Culver stage by Isabel Bernhard ’23.

24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. When there is a problem, she told The Rubin School for the Entrepreneur classes, it is common for it to happen on a holiday or weekend. It is an always-on environment.

She covered the challenges of being a leader; being a woman C level executive at a company where only 20 percent of the more than 100,000 employees are women; and managing the work/life balance, especially over the past two years. It continues to be a set of “challeng ing circumstances,” she said, as employees are now moving to a hybrid environment, as they continue to balance the needs of family and work.

Engstrom realized “the way you know is not necessarily the right way.” The experience taught her that regardless of your nationality and the cultural norms you’re accustomed to, it’s important to be open to new perspectives, because it helps create a more inclusive environment. The challenges and opportunities she faced have made her a better leader and person.

Engstrom also understands that she supervises people “who are way smarter than I am.” It is her job to make them successful by removing roadblocks, advocating for them, and making sure they stay updated in their training “so they can do bigger and better things.” Their individual success makes the entire team successful.

Engstrom has been with Caterpillar since May 1999, just in time for the Y2K (Year 2000) concern with computer programs. Since that time, she has held various positions within the compa ny across the procurement and information technology divisions. She credits her long tenure with Caterpillar to the steadfast vision and the culture built on strong core values. That includes leaders being willing to sit down with their employees to get to know and understand them better.

Everyone, and especially women, should seek out mentors and sponsors, Engstrom told students. It doesn’t have to be the same person. A mentor is someone who makes you feel you are in a safe zone, so you can be vulnerable and authentic. Also, a mentor will tell you the things you may not want to hear. A sponsor is someone in your company who will advocate for you and speak to your results.  A sponsor can and does provide coaching, but she acknowledged it is important to have a mentor you can lean into for transparent feedback for personal development.

For Engstrom, dealing with work/life balance is not unfamiliar territory. She spent three years living in the United Kingdom, leading the IT team supporting Caterpillar’s Electric Power Division. She quickly learned the pace is different and setting aside time for coffee or tea is important in developing professional relationships. It was an oppor tunity for the staff to come together, talk, and enjoy each other’s company. “We need to adopt that work environment across the globe,” she added.

She was asked to take the overseas post, not because she was the most knowledgeable, but because of her soft skills for building teams, her adaptability, leveraging the strengths of others, and problemsolving. It was a major change, moving 4,000 miles from her family, and she admits, “I was scared to death.” But it was also the opportunity to challenge herself both personally and professionally.

Engstrom also stressed “learning agility,” which is the willing ness to change your perception. When bringing people into a team, she looks for those who are willing to “create the how” rather than saying “we can’t do that.” That is why it is important to know your people so you can leverage their strengths and skills together.

Her advice to the girls was to have confidence in their abilities and be willing to voice their opinions. Too often, women don’t trust their own judgment. One of her favorite sayings is “I made 99 mistakes today, but I got one thing right.” Accept that failure is an essential part of the learning.

And, remember, that “leadership can come without a title.” Be au thentic, approachable, and positive with others. For yourself, be willing to take risks and overcome that negative self-talk, Engstrom said. “Believe

in you.”

— Jan Garrison

Be authentic, approachable, and positive with others. For yourself, be willing to take risks and overcome that negative self-talk. “Believe in you.”

Jamie Engstrom speaks with CGA students.

Celebrating Fifty Years of Extraordinary Women

Culver Daughters

Celebrating 50 Years of Culver Girls Academy

The story of the founding of the Culver Academy for Girls (today’s Culver Girls Academy) and the extraordinary growth of opportunities and successes for women in leadership at Culver Academies has never before been told in book-length form.

Commemorating the 50-year anniversary of CGA, “Culver Daughters” explores, in words and over 500 images, the history of one of the most significant and impactful educational programs for young women in the world.

Purchase at the Culver Eagle Outfitters Store, Culver Museum & Gift Shop or scan the QR Code to purchase online culver.org/shop.

No easy route to becoming

There are times a dream deferred is the best route for you. There are times when you will lose your passion for something you’ve always wanted. And there are times when you can be a better leader by following another. Those were the “Because of You, We Are” lessons handed to Culver Girls Academy students by three speakers at the 20th annual Culver Women’s Celebration on March 2. CWC also marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of CGA.

Dr. Jennifer Thorington Springer, who was introduced by her daughters Jenna ’22 and Jade ’25 talked about how not receiving a new position she wanted was the best thing for her. Olympian Kayla Miracle ’14, introduced by Sarah Janney ’22, talked about losing her passion for wrestling and how she recovered it. And Timika Shafeek-Horton ’86, introduced by her daughter Noa ’25, told CGA students that being a good follower can translate to being a better leader.

Dr. Jennifer Thorington Springer

Springer grew up in Barbados, attending all-girl elementary and secondary schools. She was also surrounded by a village of “unsung heroes,” women without formal titles who “demonstrated a level of resilience and fortitude that organically grew in me.”

While her mother predicted her career trajectory as an educator, Springer said, her academic and career journey “were not by any means simple, seamless, or conventional.”

When the family moved to the United States in 1990, she found herself in the minority for the first time since Barbados is predom inantly Black. And she was also a non-traditional, first-generation immigrant college student. Thanks to the assistance of “caring female mentors,” she graduated with a BA in English with a journalism concentration and with honors. But being the “next Oprah” was not in the stars.

An independent study on representations of gender in Caribbean literature reignited her love for literature and a desire to explore feminism. “I wanted to learn more about female empowerment and the ways in which women sought to break glass ceilings, explore how we have contributed historically to the building of nations across the globe and how we have made an impact.” She pursued her masters and doctorate with a cognate in women’s studies.

Springer became an assistant professor at Indiana University — Purdue University Indianapolis and was tenured and promoted to associate professor. But, while she wanted to continue her research and teaching, “another voice in my head” urged her to pursue administrative leadership positions. “I wanted a role that would enable me to initiate changes in an academic culture that was not

designed to accommodate women and other minorities.”

She became the founding director of the RISE Program, a cam pus wide initiative that focused on high impact teaching practices and allowed her to collaborate with many campus units to make diversity an integral part of the program.

A few years after that, what she thought was her dream job — the associate vice chancellor for faculty diversity and inclusion — opened. She was a finalist but was not selected. She remained optimistic, though, after one of her mentors wrote a note remind ing her that being a diversity administrator might pigeon-hole her and keep her from reaching a higher post. He was right, Springer said.

She is now a full professor and the associate dean of student af fairs. It is a post that she did not seek but was offered on an interim basis and eventually took over full time. In this position, she has been able to do more in diversity “than I could have imagined.”

Since accepting the position, she has worked to change the IUPUI bylaws to create a standing diversity committee; developed programming “for our most vulnerable students who identify as first generation, LGBTQ+, under resourced, minoritized, and underserved; enhance grant opportunities and awards for female faculty; and led the creation of the school’s diversity strategic plan.

The school is also being recognized nationally for a new program she helped develop that is making an impact on female faculty’s ability to succeed in the promotion and tenure process.

The takeaway for the CGA students is that they may also face an unpredictable career journey, Springer said. “Embrace it with out fear and be open to the unconventional ways of being, doing

and living.”

“My final charge to you is to maximize opportunities that do not necessarily fit the mold of what you hoped for,” Springer said. “There is always an alternative way to ultimately attain your goals.”

Kayla Miracle ’14

Miracle told people she wanted to be an Olympic gold medal ist in wrestling when she was four years old. It is a goal she has worked for the past 20 years. She sacrificed a lot for that goal, but also accomplished a great deal as well.

Representing Culver, she became the first girl in history to reach the Indiana High School State Finals. She then won four straight national titles while at Campbellsville University and is one of the

she needed to do to win the gold medal, she said.

What she didn’t focus on was the six minutes on the wrestling mat. She lost in the first round. “It was heartbreaking,” she told the audience. She took two months off to recover — mentally and emotionally. It was during that time she realized what she had done. She had not focused on those all-important six minutes.

And, once she started to focus on that time on the mat — in practice and in matches — she started reaching that flow state so often talked about by athletes. “That feels good,” Miracle said. She came back after the Olympics to defend her American title, then reached the finals in the world championship. But, again, she briefly lost focus and started thinking ahead and finished as the silver medalist. But the love for her sport has returned.

Now, she is beginning to prepare for the 2022 defense of her national title and another shot at the gold medal at the world championship, and she is gearing up for another Olympics in Paris in 2024. But things will be different. First, she is mentally prepared. Second, she is emotionally prepared as well.

Miracle is the first openly LBGTQ+ wrestler. She told the girls when she was their age, her thoughts were of getting married, having children, “and a dog.” But around her 21st birthday, she realized that wasn’t who she really was.

“I followed my heart. I had to be true to myself,” she said. Now she is in a committed relationship and very happy. “And happiness breeds success.”

She told the girls to look at those seated around them because those are people who will make you better. Your classmates, your teammates will be there for you. She still has CGA classmates coming to her matches.

And, as she moves forward, Miracle’s motto is to “Make yourself proud.” In every encounter be your best self. Move with focus, move with efficiency, move with energy. And always move forward.

Timika Shafeek-Horton ’86

Horton said she believes “the qualities I exhibit as a follower often position me to be identified as someone who will be a good leader.” Because her time is limited with her position as corporate attorney at Duke Energy and full family life, she only involves herself in those things “that matter to me.” She knows there are others more interested and better equipped to handle those matters that aren’t as important to her.

most decorated women’s wrestlers in U.S. history at all levels.

Wrestling was her passion – until it became a job in 2021. She had already qualified for the Olympics at 62 kilograms but as she prepared, she started to lose focus as she thought of all the details

When you take on the role as a follower, Shafeek-Horton told the girls try to be fully present, although she doesn’t have eliminating multi-tasking during meetings completely figured out yet. Contribute what you can. “I’m not sure I have ever been the smartest person in any room, but I know I have qualities that can help a group or task or project move forward.” Do what needs to be done, whether it is assigned or you volunteer. And, offer up ideas but don’t be offended when it is not acted upon.

When she does lead, Shafeek-Horton said she does so because “I do think I have a natural affinity for it; I want to make sure things

“I followed my heart. I had to be true to myself.

And happiness breeds success.”

— Kayla Miracle ’14

those opportunities and some of them you won’t.”

Expect disappointments. It may be because of something you did or didn’t do. Other times because “someone was a jerk or just plain wrong.” It will hurt. But learn to move on. Shafeek-Horton said her family has the “15-minute rule” that allows you sulk over stuff that doesn’t matter in the big scheme of things.

But the good news Shafeek-Horton said she has had “so many more successes than failures. You will too! Beyond the Culver arch, there is a world that is desperate for your particular talent, your particular brain, you particular passion.”

There are more opportunities that you can imagine, she added. You won’t get some of them, but it something better may be com ing later. “Later — you will need patience. Later — can be a lot later, but things generally work out. Please remember that.”

get done.” And, as CGA students know, leadership can be taught and practiced. These days, Shafeek-Horton is still learning through observing how others lead.

“What are they doing that is impactful to me as a follower? How can I make that work for me when I lead? What don’t I like? What’s on my list of not to dos?”

She told the students they are getting “real world experience” during their time at Culver. Competing for leadership roles, fig uring out what to do when you obtain it, or bouncing back when you don’t continues after you leave Culver. “You’ll obtain some of

“Knowing this may prevent you from keeping at arm’s length, women who might otherwise be great friends. You will be in the struggle or race or circus, whatever you want to call it, together with women – who will be competition for you. But the women around you will be, more importantly, sounding boards, support systems and cheerleaders for all you do. If you’re like me, this will be a source of great strength for you.”

Culver is a great place to lead, Shafeek-Horton said. “Take advantage of it and know that the skills you learn here will serve as the foundation for lots of leadership roles to come — ones you really want, and some you didn’t know you wanted.”

— Jan Garrison

Each featured speaker at the Culver Women’s Celebration was introduced by the CGA students who nominated them. (From left) Sarah Janney ’22 and Kayla Miracle ’14; Jenna Springer ’22, Dr. Jennifer Thorington Springer and Jade Springer ’25; and Timika Shafeek-Horton ’86 and Noa Shafeek-Horton ’25.

The Two Decade Evolution of Culver Women’s Celebration

CWC, previously known as the Celebration of Women Conven tion, has become an annual tradition at CGA. Started by Marisha Mukerjee ’02, it was created to inspire and excite CGA students about the possibility of their futures.

In the decades prior to CWC, CGA students had historically cleaned during the Culver Annual Review (CAR) weekend. CAR is an important part of Culver Military Academy tradition, so when the girls’ school was added, the tradition transferred as well.

It was a time where dorms competed to see who could br the cleanest and best inspected. It had originally been jokingly called “Clean, Women Clean,” and the shadow of CMA still loomed over the event. Mukerjee wanted to establish new CGA traditions and help empower young women through the creation of an event that was wholly CGA, and a lot more substantive than cleaning.

“How can we make something that’s organic to who we are and what we need?” asked Mukerjee.

After contacting the Alumni Office, CGA Leadership staff, and her peers, Mukerjee planned CWC as a women’s conference meant to celebrate women and CGA graduates who served as role models for leadership, both in and out of Culver.

“She wanted to celebrate all the things that women could do,” said Beth Schmiedlin, Tower dorm counselor.

In her proposal, Mukerjee stated, “The goal of this proposed convention was to replace CAR with a convention celebrating women of all walks of life and their contribution to society, allow ing the young ladies of CGA to grow in mind, body, and spirit.”

The first CWC in 2002 was a series of workshops where each student signed up for topics that they were interested in, ranging from politics to women’s health to entrepreneurship. CWC was well-received by the student body and became an annual CGA tra dition, eventually moving away from being a women’s conference and becoming an event with keynote speakers.

“The goal always was that it would change with the students, it would change with the women, and grow to what it needs to be,” Mukerjee says.

CWC eventually became a responsibility of the senior prefect and CGA council chair. As CWC grew, Student Life found speakers who would resonate with the girls. Over time, CGA students started recommending their own friends, families, and fellow CGA gradu ates to be part of the program. Allowing students to participate in choosing speakers gave many more students a personal connection to the causes of those presenters.

“Our CGA family has a remarkable number of people who have inspiring stories,” CGA Assistant Dean Anne Kelley ’96 said. “We wanted to honor those women who were within one degree of separation from our student body.”

Students found it easier to follow their passions if they had more personal connections with them. This further emphasized the importance of having female role models in their lives.

This eventually allowed the formation of the CWC committee, a group of prefects and co-chairs who together help plan CWC every year. Each CWC has had a different way of accomplishing the goal, with breakout groups and discussions changing each year.

“(CWC is) up to the students every year. The students are the ones who keep pushing for it,” said Jacqueline Cao ’22, current co-chair of the CWC committee.

The CWC committee is invested in picking a theme, choosing a film, selecting keynote speakers, and planning discussion topics. Prefects from every dorm, the co-chair, and their adult advisors all help plan CWC every year, with a vested interest in ensuring a successful event.

Twenty years after Mukerjee planned out the first CWC in 2002, the tradition continues to live on in the spirits of the students. “Five years later (in 2007), I got to be a keynote speaker, which was kind of full circle,” she said.

The keynote speakers for the 20th CWC are accomplished women in their respective fields. Timika Shafeek-Horton was nominated by her daughter, Noa ’25:

“My mom is the person who I most look up to in my life. I just want to be like her, and I really wanted her to share her experiences with other people, because I grew up with them.”

Shafeek-Horton, who served as both Honor Council Chair and CGA Council Chair, attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a Morehead Scholar and earned her undergraduate and law degree. Later, she served as a federal prosecutor before becoming a lawyer for Duke Energy Corporation in 2000, taking on a role in business operations, to help the company prepare for a net zero carbon future. Shafeek-Horton currently serves as the vice president of the Culver Legion and will assume the Legion presidency in May.

During CWC, Shafeek-Horton talked about her experience in leadership and how to utilize passions. Using her background as a woman of color, she helped students understand more about her leadership and career journey.

After graduating from Culver in 2014, Miracle became the fourth wrestler to win four Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association national titles. She is also a two-time U.S. Open Champion, winning both in 2017 and 2018. In 2020, she won the silver medal at the Pan American Wrestling Olympic Qualification tournament within the women’s 62 kg division. She was selected to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics where she competed in the women’s free

style 62 kg event. Miracle is the first LGBQ Olympic wrestler.

Miracle was nominated by Sarah Janney ’22, as Miracle was a close friend of Sarah’s sister Jennah ’14 while they were at Culver.

“(Kayla) is very confident in what she does, especially being a woman in wrestling and achieving as much as she has. Especially being the first LGBTQ woman to compete for wrestling in the Olympics, she’ll portray how important it is to be yourself,” Sarah said when talking about nominating Miracle.

Miracle spoke about her first-time wrestling and how her dreams of being an Olympic wrestler finally came true. Drawing on her background as one of the few openly LGBTQ+ Olympians, Miracle spoke about defying the expectations of women. While reflecting on her relative success and failures, she gave students deeper insight to the struggles of being a professional athlete.

Jenna Springer was motivated to nominate her mother because “(h)er story about being a Barbadian native, being from a small island, and coming to the United States is powerful. She was able to mix in culturally here and succeed.”

Springer is a professor of English at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), where she is also the associate dean of student affairs in the School of Liberal Arts. She was born and raised in Barbados, where her background as a trans national subject influenced her areas of studies: Caribbean and African-American literature, as well as Africana and women’s gender and sexuality studies. She’s received numerous awards in her field and currently serves on the Culver Parent Association Board, where she looks forward to serving as the vice chair for the 2022-23 school year.

Springer spoke about her formative experiences as a child and how they still impact her. With her passion for diversity being a driving force behind her work, she has experienced successes and failures, but by promoting diversity on IUPUI’s campus, she con tinues to be passionate about her work.

As CGA continues to evolve, so do the students and traditions. CWC represents CGA’s commitment to empower women in areas of leadership.

— Maya Jyothinagaram

CWC Speakers 2002-2022

2002: CGA alumni returned to campus to present workshops on topics ranging from politics to women’s health to starting a new business.

2003: Keynote Speaker at the CWC luncheon was Ginny Bess Munroe ’86. A variety of workshops were offered after the luncheon. These workshops were conducted by faculty, staff, and faculty wives.

2004: Robin Gerber, author of “Leadership the Eleanor Roosevelt Way,” on the life and work of Eleanor Roosevelt.

2005: Liz Murray, whose story, “Homeless to Harvard,” was featured on the Lifetime Network.

2006: “Anything’s Possible” with students from the Safe Cosmetics Teen Summit.

2007: “Empowering Connections” with Marisha Mukerjee ’02.

2008: “Live in the Moment” with Caroline Bridges ’05, about her battle with acute lymphatic leukemia.

2009: “Celebrate Your Best Self” with Christel DeHaan, founder of Christel House Schools

2010: “Keepin’ It F.R.E.S.H.” with Shanterra McBride (Friendships, Room, Environment, Self and Heart).

2011: “PASSION for the I’M POSSIBLE” with Guadalupe Arizpe De La Vaga, named a CNN “Hero” for her work founding the Hospital del a Familia in Mexico.

2012: “Change the Verb — Engage Passion with Action” with Jane Stephens, co-founder for the Amani Children’s Foundation.

2013: “Girls who Rock: Finding Your Voice” with Brooklyn (Wheeler) Raney ‘03.

2014: “Tell Your Story” with Shanterra McBride and inspirational performance by Michaela Anne Neller.

2015: “I am This Girl” with Morin Delano ’05.

2016: “Though she is one, she is mighty” with speakers, Linda Bi (CEO of Chicago Export Importers), Rosario Perez (Founder of Pro-Mujer) and Rashella D’Amico (Behavior Consultant and Doula).

2017: “Because of you, I am” with Cecelia Bolden, a recognized leader in the systems integration arena; Breely Ungar ’10, of communications and public affairs firm APCO Worldwide; and Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, president of RespectAbility.

2018: “Dare to Be…” with Melody Gandy, chair of Invisible Girl Project; Justine Phillips of Overdose Lifeline, Inc.; and Dayle Haddon, founder of WomenOne.

2019: “Own it” with Culver Humanities instructor Raegan Russell; Deanie Elsner, recognized by Forbes Magazine as one of the 50 most influential Global CMOs; Kellie Earl-Leeper, Director of Communications & Development at Ascent 121, which cares for teen survivors of sex trafficking.

2020: “Be Legendary” with Joyce Pu, founder of student-run Kilo Theater in Shanghai; Janine Gazdecki, labor and employment attorney; and Emily LeVan, physician and ultra marathoner.

2021: “Paint your Own Portrait” with physician Michelle Overfelt; Teri Weiss, entrepreneur; and Deanie Elsner, CEO of Charlotte’s Web.

2022: “Because of You, We Are” with attorney Timika Shafeek-Horton ’86, Olympic wrestler Kayla Miracle ’14, and professor Dr. Jennifer Thorington Springer.

Katy KeckCulver’s First Female Pilotjle Pi

But it wasn’t easy. It took some very early mornings, missed meals, and a check flight at Grissom Air Force Base, which was an active military base at the time, before the 17-year-old reached her goal. Air Force Lt. Col. Winfred D. Howell (retired) was the director of the

When Culver Summer Schools & Camps started offering aviation classes at Fleet Field in 1972, Katy Keck was one of eight girls who signed up. Entering her first-class year, the Mount Vernon, Indiana, native entered the program with her eyes wide open.

program at the time. Rod Sanders and Tom Phistry were the flight instructors and three reservists joined the summer staff as the primary ground school instructors. Everyone met at Fleet Field for ground school, which lasted for two class periods, Keck recalls. The flight instruction was worked in around your other classes and duties, she said, and it wasn’t all that easy.

“My dad was a private pilot and so were my uncles,” she said of her influences. All the children anticipated becoming pilots one day, so she signed up and took on the challenge. By the time the summer was over, she had soloed and received her Culver wings and became the first girl to receive her pilot’s license through Culver a month later.

After her father came up for Homecoming weekend and discov ered Keck hadn’t flown for a week, “I got very aggressive about getting all my hours.” That meant missing breakfast to fly in the morning and missing parade practice and dinner to fly in the afternoon.”

“I got a lot of hours in the last couple of weeks of the summer and soloed at that point,” she said. “But I had a hard time finding a place to get a meal. If you didn’t march in with your unit into the mess hall, it was kind of hard-to-find food.”

“I have some pretty crystal-clear memories of it,” she added. “I’d walk up to the main gate and the van would pick me up at 6 in the morning.” The ground school involved rotating instructors, so it was difficult to maintain a consistent message, she explained, especially with all the material that had to be crammed in during the summer. “The cockpit instruction, though, had a better sense of continuity.”

Keck made her solo flight at Fleet Field on Aug. 3. When she finished, she had the back of her shirt cut off, dated, and hung in the hangar of fices. She made her cross-country trip to Marion and Kokomo on Aug. 14.

But she finished camp just short of her needed 40 hours for her license. She finished her hours at airfields near her hometown and the family’s vacation home in Grand Haven, Michigan. In 1972, the pilot’s regulations didn’t require any night flying, Keck said.

The people at Culver wanted her to go through the aviation program for her check ride. At that point, nobody had gotten their private pilot’s license through the summer program, so she stayed in touch. On Sept. 10, she was ready to take the test.

“I either borrowed or rented a plane from the guy who owned the little airstrip in Mount Vernon and flew up to Culver and got the plane that I mostly flew there.” The officials at Culver arranged for Keck to

fly to Grissom Air Force Base for her check ride. At that time, Grissom was still an active military base, complete with fighter jets. She admits flying and landing her little single engine Piper Cherokee Flite Liner with the Air Force jets around “was a little daunting.”

But Keck checked out and the Grissom testing instructor told the Culver officials that “he was very impressed with the skills we had. I think that’s one of the things I’ve carried with me throughout my life. I’ve always been a really good student and I was always very organized, but Culver gave me the leadership.”

Keck, who still has her logbooks from that time, credits Culver’s lead ership training with preparing her for that moment and beyond. The leadership opportunities and the organization skills she learned “really helped me get past the written test and the check ride.”

“I just sort of had that ingrained in me from a few years at Culver,” Keck added. “Aiming towards the Tuxis medals and the many things that Culver presented as opportunities to develop that kind of leader ship skill.”

That leadership training has carried over into her current career, too.

“I do a lot of different things in the food industry,” she said. “I have a website now with the domain name KatyKeck.com. I’ve included a picture of me in the cockpit on the new site.”

“The kind of planning that you must do before you get in the plane is the same that I do for every single job I do. I have a lot of clients that I only work for one or two days at a time, but they’re very complicated logistics.”

“For example, I did a lot of food styling for network television. If a guest comes on to do a cooking segment on the Today Show, I had all the prep ready to go so they could just walk in, be on camera and do all the follow-ups of their recipe because I had laid it out and organized it at every stage of cooking, including the final result,” she explained.

Doing one show wasn’t that difficult, Keck added, but if the celebrity guest was doing back-to-back shows or doing a media tour, she would have to prepare for four to five shows in a row within six to seven hours. “I was always leapfrogging to head to the next station to lay everything out and organize it based on what show it was and what recipe was

Katy Keck

Fleet Field in 1972, where Culver’s aviation classes were conducted.

being demo ’ed. It took good organization skills that I think I got when I learned to fly because that’s what you have to do before you take off.”

“You also have to be flexible in that business,” she said, “and when you’re in the air — whether it be a weather situation, the clinical situa tion, or any kind of challenge — it gave me the nimbleness and ability to adjust to other situations in addition to the food styling.”

She has also done live television appearances, so being able to respond quickly and deliver her message points as needed also ties in her organiza tion skills. She basically lays out a flight plan before her segments.

“I do map everything out on paper or a spread sheet,” Keck said. “I need to make sure that I’ve got the right things going in their place and have practiced accordingly.”

Keck, though, has not flown for several years due to her busy sched ule. After graduating from high school and college, she attended the University of Chicago for her MBA. Being in a major metropolitan area and tied up with graduate studies, it wasn’t the time or place to keep up her flying. She then moved to New York to work on Wall Street for Merrill Lynch.

“I did try to stay up to date in New York but living in the city and hav ing no opportunity without traveling hours to get where you’re going (to fly), sort of put the kabosh on trying to do more.”

After seven years, Keck knew a financial career wasn’t for her. She describes her life like a tapestry. Everyone looks at “the pretty side but it’s the backside that gives you the foundation to carry things forward.” Most people don’t understand that a career path includes clearing the brush and stepping over rocks. And having the flexibility to take the jump and try the next opportunity is important.

And Keck’s career path did take a major turn when she entered and won a recipe contest, inspired by her grandmother’s chocolate torte recipe. The prize was an apprenticeship in a restaurant in France. She took the leap.

“I moved to France in ’86 and ended up staying for a year,” Keck said. “That really changed the trajectory of my life. I did not go back into business; although, the organizational and leadership skills I had from

Culver and my time on Wall Street helped me start my own business.”

That is when she started working as a food stylist, doing more than a hundred different shows, thousands of segments, and creating recipes for a food company’s packaging labels. The packages served as the equivalent of a website today, Keck said. She then started her own restaurant and got good reviews from the New York media. But, she found, “you open a restaurant because you like to cook. When you own a restaurant, though, you are everything but the cook.”

“It all goes back to the whole organization and business aspects of it,” Keck said. “At the end of the day, you’re the banker, a plumber, a nurse, a hostess, and a lot of other things that don’t involve cooking because you’re a small business first.”

Now she does a variety of food-related businesses under KatyKeck. com. But flying is still in the back of her mind. When she does have the time, she may go back to ground school to get caught up on the latest technology.

But, for now, she enjoys watching her sister, Sally Keck Shapiro, fly. It’s ironic that Sally didn’t take lessons while at Culver but owns her own plane and flies as part of the Angel Network when not working at the famous Shapiro’s Deli in Indianapolis.

“She flies a Saratoga, which is a very impressive plane,” Keck said. “She got a lot further than I did, instrument and commercial rating. I’m very proud of the work she does with the plane.”

The Keck family connection to Culver runs deep, she added. “One grandfather, my dad, all my uncles, my brother and sister, and all but one cousin. Both sides of the family went to Culver, either a combina tion of winter and summer school, so we definitely love Culver and the opportunities that it afforded.”

— Jan Garrison

Keck poses in the cockpit for an aviation program brochure in 1972.

Keck refueling a plane during a photo shoot for the Culver Alumnus magazine.

“I just sort of had that ingrained in me from a few years at Culver. Aiming towards the Tuxis medals and the many things that Culver presented as opportunities to develop that kind of leadership skill.”

— Katy Keck

WOODCRA FT WALKS THE RED CARPET

There is a scene in Ovidio Jasso’s film, “I Found a Friend,” where Iris and Murphy spot four deer as they roam through the woods surrounding an abandoned campground. In an instant, the deer dart off.

The sequence is just a few seconds long, but it took nearly a year to shoot. That’s because COVID-19 intervened, Jasso ’21 said.

“We saw the deer the first day of shooting in November (2019),” he explained. He was shooting the first part of the film with Campbell Overfelt ’22 (Greenwood, Indiana) and Matt Dwyer ’20 (Knox, Indiana) in Woodcraft Camp. In the film, Dwyer, who plays Overfelt’s older brother Jess, is looking for a place to hide her from the mysterious “they” who are after her. “It’s not your fault,” he says.

Woodcraft in November is the perfect place since it gives that feeling of being abandoned, Jasso said. They find a cabin and Jess tells Iris to stay there until he or their parents come for her. Then Jess reminds her to take her medication to keep imaginary friends from appearing. Jess never returns.

Jasso said he wanted to get Dwyer’s piece filmed

since he would be graduat ing that spring and they were limited on the amount of time they could spend at Woodcraft. He happened to catch the deer before they ran off. But it would take almost a year to the day before Jasso, Overfelt and Enzo Costanza ’22 (Ogden Dunes, Indiana) would return to Woodcraft to film their reaction to seeing the animals. It is part of the 18-minute film that was shown at the 2021 All American High School Film Festival in New York in October. Jasso, who is attending Loyola Marymount University majoring in film production, and Overfelt attended the premiere, walking the red carpet in the process.

Jasso’s film “Violent Cycles” was also shown at the festival. He received a Silver Award for Best Young Filmmaker for the five-minute short at the Independent Shorts Awards in Los Angeles in November 2020. He wrote “Violent Cycles,” which also includes Overfelt, while at home during the pan demic, then filmed it after returning to Culver in the fall.

The planning and production for “I Found a Friend” took much longer and actually wrapped around

Overfelt and Jasso at the All American High School Film Festival in New York.

“Violent Cycles,” which he used as his film school submission proj ect. Jasso said he had been mulling over the concept of “reality is what we perceive” and had written it down in a notebook he keeps for creative ideas. He had discussed the idea with Costanza and knew he would be playing Murphy, which made it easier to write the character.

He also knew Dwyer would be involved, so that made writing his part easier, too.

Overfelt came to mind because she was in his math class at the time he was working on the screenplay, Jasso said. He had originally thought the part would be for a 12-year-old girl, “who was lost in her own thoughts.” But after she auditioned, Jasso knew Overfelt was perfect for the part.

Filmed entirely at Culver, Jasso used Woodcraft Camp and the parade field. He envisioned the movie set in the 1940s or ’50s, with “they” appearing to be Nazis or Communists. With Dwyer and Overfelt running through the parked jeeps and trucks with Lake Maxinkuckee in the background, it does set the tone in the first few minutes.

“She is escaping from her past life to a new life,” Jasso said.

Costanza’s Murphy character enters the film after Jess had been left alone in the camp for a few days. His background story resem bles Iris’s — left alone and waiting for his father to return for him. He eventually takes her exploring around the camp. But he only comes when Iris forgets to take her medication.

When she finally realizes this, Jess then must decide which reality she wants to live in.

For Costanza, it was the first time in front of the camera.

“I had always acted in on-stage performances before working with Ovidio,” he said. “Acting in front of a camera is less dramatic, so it felt odd for the first couple of days. After getting into the swing of things, Campbell and I really started to build off of each other in the scenes.”

“Ovidio was an excellent director, he could answer our acting questions in ways that were easy to understand and helped us realize the bigger picture of the scene,” Costanza added. “When I finally got to sit down with him and watch the final product, I was amazed at how everything came together.”

Overfelt was also making her film debut.

“Working on the movie was really an incredible experience

because it was the first film I had ever done. I’ve always wanted to act for the screen, so it was pretty much a dream come true. Our team was the best though. Ovi is such a patient director, and Enzo is probably my favorite scene partner of all time.”

Jasso said he attended an intensive writing workshop during the 2019 summer session. “It was an immersive course on how to write a short film,” he said. “I learned a lot from that.” That gave him the creative push he needed. They shot the first part of the film that fall. Then the pandemic hit in March 2020, pausing everyone’s plans.

“COVID made it difficult,” Overfelt said. “When we went off campus for quarantine, I remember feeling as if the project was kind of slipping away. There was so much space between each time we went to shoot that it was easy for me to lose track of it.”

Jasso, Overfelt and Costanza finally got back to Woodcraft Camp and finished shooting in November 2020. It took Jasso a few weeks to edit it, splicing the scenes together. Then he submitted the film to the All American High School Film Festival competition in the spring of 2021. He received word in September that both his films would be shown at the festival in October.

With only eight to 10 percent of the films submitted being selected for viewing, Jasso said he is proud that he had both of his presented.

Overfelt, who attended the festival with Jasso, said, “I honestly never thought that we would make it to a film festival. I thought the work we did was amazing, but it was still a big shock. I can’t even describe the feeling of seeing my face on screen in a movie theater. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.”

Jasso has hit the pause button on making films for now. He is devoting most of his attention to writing. He has the outline for a novel with a dystopian theme. “It has that whole ‘Game of Thrones’ feel,” he said.

But his idea book also contains the concept for another short film, so he may return to that in the not-too-distant future.

Dwyer and Overfelt running through the trucks on the Woodcraft parade field.

Dwyer and Overfelt in a still from the film.

Now & Then

A group of Culver students created modern renditions of classic photos from the archives.

STUDENT SPORTS

STUDENT SPORTS

Creating lasting memories around a football

After the Eagles lost to New Prairie in the second round of the IHSAA tournament on Oct. 29, the football team gathered on the field as they do after every game. It would be the last time this group of individuals would assemble on Oliver Field.

Head coach Andy Dorrel picked up a football and stood before his team. He told them everyone — players, coaches, managers — was there because of that ball. They had all bonded and built relationships because of football.

“I mean there were lacrosse players. There were hockey players. There were baseball players,” he would say later. “And the only reason that team was assembled was because of a football. And that gave the coaching staff an opportunity to mentor that group. From a counselor to a math teacher to a chemistry teacher to a humanities teacher to an economics teacher.

“You wouldn’t have the opportunity to have access to all those individuals at one time unless it was through a sport like football.”

Dorrel has been assembling groups of athletes and coaches for 25 years. This year, he became the winningest football coach in Culver Military Academy history, finishing the season with an overall record of 147–123. He passed the legendary Russ Oliver with a dramatic 35-34 home victory over Hanover Central.

With a do-or-die final drive, the Eagles marched 92 yards down the field with quarterback Jimmy Pisani ’22 (Clarendon Hills, Illinois) scoring

a scrambling touchdown and then hitting wide receiver Colin Vickrey ’23 (Westlake, Texas) in the back of the end zone for the go-ahead, two-point conversion.

“That was one for the ages,” Dorrel said. “I’m so proud of the kids and that tells me a lot about people. This is what I love about sports. Watching teams execute when they have to. When the game is on the line and there is not going to be a second chance. We’ve had a few teams that have been able to do that over the years, and that’s proba bly what’s been most thrilling to see — the kids perform at that level.”

Dorrel never thought about breaking Russ Oliver’s record. Oliver coached at Culver for 33 years and is enshrined in the Indiana High School Football Hall of Fame. He was a player at CMA when Bob Peck in vited Knute Rockne down to speak to the team. His name is on the field.

“It was never really on my radar,” he said. “I was just trying to help create a great experience for the kids.”

And that experience is what he enjoys hearing about the most. Having former players approach him and talk about how much they en joyed being part of the team, whether they were a starter or not. “There are stories like that from every class,” he explained. “They just want to talk about what the Culver football experience means to them.”

There are also the players who found themselves on the football field, either during a game or practice. Dorrel has seen players break down in tears because something didn’t go right, a loss of confidence

in themselves, or the team suffered an unexpected loss. But, as they matured and graduated, they have become better people because they developed resilience from those failures.

Developing those relationships, watching the players grow is what keeps Dorrel coming back year after year. He came to Culver from Crown Point High School because he felt there was something special about the place. He first saw part of the campus as an assistant wrestling coach during the Culver Invitational in January.

“I was just mesmerized with Culver,” he said of his initial visit. “The Steinbrenner athletic facility, the architecture, the brick work. I met a few students and just was blown away. I didn’t see all the campus because it was January and frigid out.”

Later, Dorrel met now-retired instructor Joe Horvath at a teaching conference. They exchanged numbers and that May, Horvath called him and told him about a pos sible opening. He applied and started as an assistant coach to Joe Chamberlin in football and Colin Stetson in wrestling. The following year, he took over as head football coach.

After going 7–12 in his first two seasons, Dorrel went 7–6 and won the sectional crown in 2000. It was also the first season of Friday Night Lights at Oliver Field. In that short period, he had already coached a Division I player in tackle Jeb Terry ’99, who went to the University of North Carolina, and won his first sectional. And through that, he had the opportunity to interact with some of the top collegiate coaches.

“I thought this was the perfect job,” he said. His players were on campus 24/7, he had just had his first major college player signed, and the football field had been upgraded with the lights.

But he realized that his players were not available 24/7 because of all the other demands on their time. He doesn’t benefit from summer team workouts because everyone has gone home. And it would be another 11 years before his next NCAA Division I player Momo Kime ’10 would head to West Point to play for Army. Juwan Brescacin ’11 would follow in 2011, playing at Northern Illinois.

The next sectional crown would come four years later in 2015. The Eagles have also reached the sectional championship game — “football in November” is one team goal — in 2020, 2017, 2009, and 2006.

“Obviously, it has turned out better than we expected,” he said. “Learning how to work within the Culver schedule and being fluid and able to pivot has been critical to the longevity of the program and the success that we’ve had.”

In the past few years, more facility upgrades have been made. The sod field has been replaced by turf, and a new scoreboard has been added. And Eagle Stadium is now under construction and should be ready for the first game this fall.

But that’s not to say there haven’t been a few hiccups along the way.

A few days before the turf field was going to officially host its first game in 2014, it rained — and rained — and rained. To the point that the drainage system couldn’t keep up. The turf designer recommended putting down ground cork with crumb rubber to keep the field cooler.

But when the field didn’t drain, the cork floated to the top.

“You couldn’t see the yard markers and the hashes and lines,” Dorrel said with a laugh. “So we were out there the day of the game with my pickup truck, scoop shovels, and trash cans. We filled the entire back of my pickup with cork. There were eight custodians out there with us. We played Indianapolis Howe that night and had success but it’s still funny.”

The CMA football program can boast two professional players among the alumni. Terry played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and San Francisco 49ers in the NFL and Brescacin has played for the Calgary Stampeders and just re-signed with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football

League. And Deonate Craig ’20 (Iowa) and Max Miller ’20 (Wake Forest) are currently playing at the NCAA Division I level. The Culver program has also produced several Division III players in the past several years.

Part of the reason for the college recruitment success has been Culver itself, Dorrel explains. The rigorous academics, the overall sched ule, and living away from home, means the players are “a little more mature” than other high school seniors. College coaches don’t have to worry about Culver students.

And part of that maturity comes from the bonds the players and coaches make. Dorrel believes that the locker room is where great players — and great leaders — are made.

“We talk about the strength of our locker room,” he explained. “We spend more time in the locker room — changing and transitioning — than on the field. And, then, there is still the walk.

“That’s when you have those conversations. You look at the lake. It’s just so picturesque. That’s what it is all about. I think that’s why our alumni are so loyal. They don’t value Culver until they leave. They don’t realize how fortunate they are with the facilities.

“And the fact that the kids are trusted to be outside around campus and have that opportunity to grow on their own, with their friends by their side. It’s special.”

Coaches who helped Andy Dorrel celebrate Dorrel becoming the winning football coach in Culver history gathered on the field after the Hanover Central game. Present were (left-to-right) John Meiser, Kevin VanHorn, John Rogers, Andy Strati, Andrew Melshen, Andrew Dorrel, Ibrahim Fetuga, Ed Kelley, Matt Gerber, Bill Murchie, Joseph Mellor, Paul Patrick, Joe Chamberlin, Sam Mavrick is partially hidden. Other assistant coaches who have worked with Andy Dorrel over the past 25 seasons. Some have been on staff and others have served as volunteers. “I may be missing a few but I’m proud to have worked with these men,” Dorrel said. These include: Kurt Christiansen, Andy Plonski, Greg Farrall, Robert Smith, Gerry Lasko, Brad Timmons, James Walworth, Tommy Mascari, Wayne Booker, Eric Young, Hal Ecksten, Bill Kime, Bob Kime, Kent Kinkade, Mike Goldstein, Jeff Payne, Ted Pajakowski, Michael Pazin, Julian Mastro, Tucker Mizhir, Pat Loughlin, Dan Cowell, Brian Rosenau, and Ryan Fought.

STUDENT SPORTS

Winning weekend for CMA Hockey

All four Culver Military Academy hockey teams won titles over the first weekend in March. U16 won the Mid Am District championships with a 4–1 win over Esmark Stars and U18-Prep won the MidAm 1–0 over Pittsburgh Pens Elite. Those two victories move the Eagles on to the USA Hockey National Championships in Rochester, Michigan.

At the state champion ships, CMA Varsity B won the Class 1A state championship 3–2 in 2OT over Westfield. It was Varsity B’s first state crown since 2013. Varsity A won the Class 4A state championship over Hamilton Southeastern, 4–3. It was the sixth straight title for Varsity A. Both games were played at the Ice Box in South Bend.

CGA Fencing takes title

CGA Varsity Fencing captured its first Great Lakes High School Fencing Conference championship in seven years, overcoming perenni al rivals New Trier and Stevenson.

Women’s Sabre led the way with a big silver medal finish, taking a big 5–4 win against New Trier before dropping a tough 3–5 loss to Libertyville-Vernon Hills. Coach T.J. McNally cited seniors Amelia Leeman ’22 and Ally Barath ’22, and junior Peyton Williams ’23 for setting up the Foil and Epee squads in delivering the overall title.

Women’s Foil cruised to the final with wins over Catholic Memorial, New Trier, and Glenbrook South before demolishing Stevenson with a

5–0 shutout. Captain Alexis Dragne ’23 and senior Emily Luo ’22 were undefeated on the day. Senior Jacqueline Cao ’22 also turned in a solid performance as CGA Foil maintained its dominant position in the con ference over the past decade.

Women’s Epee won the gold with a 5-3 upset of New Trier. The Eagles finished off Marian Catholic and Glenbrook South on their way to the final. Led by solid bouts from senior captain Georgia Rice ’22, the epeeists posted two important upsets in the final to claim the gold. Junior Faith Martinez ’23 and English Speaking Union postgrad Caitlin Nicholson finished off the Trevians with two 5–4 thrillers.

CMA basketball takes crown

Culver Military Academy captured its fifth sectional title in six years with a 64–26 victory over New Prairie in the championship game. The Eagles advanced with an opening round 60–46 win over host Kanka kee Valley and a 79–17 victory over Wheeler.

CMA had to face two ranked teams in the Class 3A regional. The Eagles defeated the 11th-ranked Peru Tigers in the first game, 66–59. Cooper Farrall ’23 led the team with 18 points, followed by Jokubas Skurdenis ’22 with 17. They dropped a heartbreaker to the second-ranked Mishawaka Marian Knights, 39–38 in the championship game. Farrall scored a team-high 10 points, followed by Skurdenis and Fola Fayemi ’23 with nine each. The Eagles finished the season with a 20–9 mark.

CGA basketball wins sectional

Culver Girls Academy won its first sectional championship since 2011 with a convincing 59–27 over Kankakee Valley. Taylor Bowen ’22 scored 32 points and Dionna Craig ’23 had 16 in the win. The Eagles advanced with a 64–32 win over Wheeler in the sectional semifinal. Bowen had 26 points, Brighton Bird ’23 scored 12 and Madi Miller ’22 had 8. They lost to eventual state champion South Bend Washington in the first game of the regional.

The Eagles finished the season 13–13 under first-year head Bill Murchie. Bowen was named to the 3A/4A All State Team by the state coaches. She will be playing at Lipscomb University next year.

Oberto in top four Constantino Oberto ’23 finished his season at the Boy’s Tennis IHSAA individual state tournament, finishing as a semifinalist. He defeated Max Renshaw of North Posey, 6–4, 6–2, before losing to state runner-up Alex Anto nopoulos of North Central, 7–6 (4), 6–3. Oberto, CMA’s number one singles player, qualified for the state after the Eagles lost in the regional to Bremen, 3–2.

CMA won its 18th consecutive sectional, and 32nd overall, with two 5-0 victories over North Judson and Rochester, respectively.

Cross Country’s tournament run

Balance was the key during the tournament run for the CMA and CGA cross country teams. CMA’s Sam Tullis ’22 and CGA sophomore Celeste Gram ’24 qualified for the state meet at the La Vern Gibson Championship Cross Country Cross in Terre Haute. Tullis finished 53rd overall with a 5-kilometer time of 16 minutes, 33.4 seconds. Gram finished in the 119th spot with a time of 20:31.4.

Tullis won the Manchester Sectional in 16.44.9, nearly eight seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Hunter Miller ’23 finished sixth, Di onte Obertein ’24 was 11th, and Yiqiao Wang ’24 was 18th to round the top 20 finishers. The Eagles were second overall behind Warsaw.

CGA’s Stella Kinney ’22 was third at the sectional, with Gram finish

ing 11th, Faith Martinez 16th, and Ella Bilton 19th. The team finished third overall to qualify for the regional, which was held for the first time since the pandemic at Culver Academies.

In the regional, CGA was third with Gram finishing seventh and Kinney 13th. CMA was second with Tullis again taking the top spot in a time of 16:59 — 13 seconds ahead of the runner-up. Miller finished 10th in 17:53.

At New Prairie Semi-State, Tullis finished sixth in 16:25.9. CMA finished 13th overall. CGA was 10th in the team competition with Gram finishing in 14th, strong enough to qualify for the state, with a time of 19:40.4.

Volleyball captures No. 2

After not winning a title for 38 years, Culver Girls Academy captured its second straight sectional crown wins over Knox (3–1) in the first round and Kankakee Valley (3–0) in the championship. Second consecutive sectional championship with a 3–0 win over Kankakee Valley.

CGA lost in the first round of the regional, 3–0, to West Lafayette. The team finished with a 26–8 record for a 77 percent winning percentage. Taylor Bowen ’22 became the first CGA player named to the 3A/4A All Star team by the state volleyball coaches association.

Pair invited to sail for Team USA

Culver sailing’s 420 pair Annie Samis ‘25 and Parker Kumler ‘23 have been invited to sail for Team USA in the 420 Jr. European Championship in Vilamorua, Portugal, and the World Championship in Lake Balaton, Hungary. They will travel to Europe in July and early August.

“These two have worked so hard all fall and winter to get to this point,” said head coach Joe Hanko. “We are so proud of them.”

The invitation was based on Samis’ earlier sailing record of achieve

16 Playing at Next Level

Sixteen Culver Academies student-athletes made formal commitments to play at the collegiate level next year. They represent six sports and will be attending 15 universities or colleges. Two will be attending Penn.

CGA Basketball

Taylor Bowen (Carmel, Indiana) Lipscomb University

CGA Hockey

Lauren Tuzik (Frankfort, Illinois) St. Cloud State University

Sophie Bellina (Medina, Ohio) Rochester Institute of Technology

CMA Lacrosse

Andrew Macheca (South Bend, Indiana) Rutgers University

Adam Blind (Powell, Ohio) Harvard University

Haydn Sommer (Elizabeth, Colorado) United States Air Force Academy

ment, plus the pair’s strong performance this past fall representing Culver Sailing in multiple championships, and their results at the C420 Midwinter Championship in February.

The girls will be training this spring with the Culver team, then compete independently at C420 regattas this summer to prepare for the regattas in Europe.

Samis and Kumler are the first Culver sailors to qualify for Team USA.

Jimmy Pisani (Claredon Hills, Illinois) University of Michigan

Griffin Scane (Clarkston, Michigan) University of Pennsylvania

Cameron Pack (Caledon, Ontario) Ohio State University

Nikko DiPonio (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan) University of Utah

Frank Coyle (Douro-Dummer, Ontario) Hamilton College

CGA Rowing

Samantha Jorgensen (Dyer, Indiana) University of Notre Dame

Brenna Cotter (Winnetka, Illinois) University of Pennsylvania

Evelyn Tabor (Indianapolis) University of Rhode Island

CMA Swim & Dive

Mitchell Schott (Newport Beach, California) Princeton University

CGA Swim & Dive

Claire Feick (Dallas) Villanova University

Swim & Dive

The Culver Swim & Dive teams both captured their sectional championships and produced the program’s first individual state champion this winter. Mitchell Schott ’22 (center), who will swim for Princeton next year, won the 200 freestyle in 1 minute, 35.48 seconds to become Culver’s first champion. He also finished third in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:26.13.

Schott also anchored the 200 free relay team that included Jacob Maibach ’23, Cabot Ellert ’23, and Sam Tullis ’22. The same group swam in the 400 free relay in 3:18.30. They finished 27th in both races. Maibach also qualified for the 50 free, finishing 27th overall.

Reid Omilian ’22 finished 11th in the diving competition, moving up four slots from his 2021 state finals finish. He advanced to the state by finishing fourth at the Valparaiso Diving Regional.

CMA finished 15th in the state after winning its first sectional title in history. CMA ran away with the title, scoring 409.5 points, followed by Warsaw with 298.

CGA captured its sixth sectional title in the past 10 years with 407 points, followed by Warsaw’s 394.

Diver Claire Feick ’22 paced CGA with a first-place finish at Warsaw, a sixth-place finish at Valparaiso, and 15th place at the state finals.

CGA finished 37th at the state meet. Also win ning at Warsaw and qualifying for the state meet were Qianning Zhang ’23 in the 100 butterfly (29th in the state), the 200 freestyle relay team of Kari Teglia ’24, Noa Shafeek-Horton ’25, Megan Gifford ’24, and Emily Heim ’22 (27th); Teglia in the 100 backstroke (32nd); and the 400 freestyle relay team of Teglia, ShafeekHorton, Zhang, and Heim (30th).

ALUMNI CLASS NEWS

1950s

Edward J. Mrizek ’52 and his wife Carol moved to Gard nerville, Nevada, after he re tired in 1999. They built their retirement home with a view of the Sierra Nevada moun tains on the west and south and the Pinenut Mountains to the east. They celebrated their 64th anniversary on Sept. 1, 2021. They had three children but lost their son at age of 41 in an accident. One of their two daughters moved to the Carson Valley after she retired

and the other daughter is retiring at the end of this year and also moving to the Carson Valley. The Mrizeks have five grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

Arthur M. Miller Ph.D. ’55 is a Professor Emeritus of Literature at New College of Florida.

David M. Wilds ’58 N’55 was a guest of honor on the reviewing line for the Summer Homecoming weekend 2021 Garrison Parade.

1960s

William P. Francisco ’62 retired after 41 years, 10 months. He served in the Infantry Special Forces Ranger Airborne two years in Vietnam as a LRRP platoon leader, Mech Infantry platoon leader, company commander with the First Infantry Division as a rifle company commander in the 101st Airborne Division, then Special Forces and into the intel/rescue business. He passed the Foreign Service exam and served in Mexico,

Iceland, Samoa, Panama, Mexico, Germany, Spain, Iraq (twice) and Bolivia. He retired but went back to Iraq as vice president of a defense corpora tion. He also worked directly one on one with Gen. David Petraeus while operating in Iraq daily.

David P. Frasz ’63 recently retired from practice after 42 years as the only ophthalmol ogist in Piscataquis County, Maine. He lives with his wife, Lesley, an internist doing hospice and palliative care, in Dover-Foxcroft.

Gracie Farrall’s ’19 photo of Trayce Jackson-Davis lifting Phinisee, the unexpected hero in IU’s thrilling 68-65 win over then No. 4 Purdue, above the crowd became THE PHOTO of the game, possibly the season. Scan the QR to read “The shot viewed round the world” on our online news blog, The Culver Cannon.

Gracie Farrall/Indiana Athletics

Shaun E. Donnelly ’64 W’57 and Kathryn Hauser were married November 27 in a small family-only ceremony. They have ridden out the pan demic at their weekend home in Thurmont, Maryland, in the Appalachian foothills an hour north of Washington, D.C. Shaun finally retired (again) from the U.S. Council for International Business, though he continues as a part time consultant to the organization on international trade and in vestment policy issues. In mid2021 Shaun was appointed as a member of the International Advisory Committee to the National Semi-quincentennial Commission (“America 250”) organizing the celebration of America’s 250th birthday in 2026.

J. Timothy Miller N’65 retired from Culver Summer Schools & Camps on July 30, 2021, after 35 years of service. For the full story, “Time for Miller to do something else,” go to our news blog, “The Culver Cannon.”

Dr. John C. Burnett Jr. ’67, a renowned Mayo Clinic cardiologist and the Marriott Family Professor of Cardio vascular Research, received Mayo Clinic’s Distinguished Alumni Award, to acknowl edge and show appreciation for exceptional contributions of Mayo Clinic alumni to the field of medicine.

He joined the Mayo Clinic staff in 1982, going on to be director of research from 1999 to 2004 and director of the

Cardiorenal Research Labo ratory since 1987. Dr. Burnett also has a joint appointment in the Department of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering.

He has led translational research efforts in cardiovas cular diseases at Mayo Clinic to address unmet patient needs and has been continuously funded by the National Insti tutes of Health since 1986. He studies the endocrine role of the heart in cardiorenal homeostasis with a focus on the cardiac natriuretic peptides in heart failure, hypertension, and metabolic disease.

Dr. Burnett and his team have developed three novel designer peptides now in clinical trials targeting heart failure and resistant hyperten sion. This work has resulted in 29 U.S. patents and five new biotechnology companies. His work also has resulted in more than 580 peer-reviewed pub lications, with seminal pub lications that revolutionized the field. In addition, he has mentored and trained fellows in cardiovascular research who are now major leaders in departments at Mayo Clinic and around the world.

Dr. Burnett’s awards in clude election to the American Society for Clinical Investi gation and Association of American Physicians, and the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Heart Failure Society of America. He has also received the Outstanding Investigator Award and Out standing Achievement Award from Mayo Clinic’s Depart ment of Medicine. Dr. Burnett

received an Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association and was chair of the American Heart Association’s Council on the Kidney in Cardiovascu lar Disease.

1970s

Craig Hubbard ’72 and his daughter Katharine proudly shared a special moment by graduating together with master of science degrees in energy on Dec. 10, 2021, from Texas Tech University. Katharine works for Brigham Minerals in Austin.

Jack C. Vaughn Jr. ’72 retired from the Board of Directors of the Inter American Foundation after 15 years of service. The IAF is an independent agency of the United States of Amer ica working toward poverty

reduction and people empow erment in Latin America. Jack was appointed to the board in 2006 by President George W. Bush.

Martha Held ’77, an Afghan languages interpreter, is pro viding support for Operation Allied Refugees Support.

Allison Drybrough Lobdell ’79, outdoor enthusiast and nationally ranked Fit Bit user, believes that her success is in showing up and giving her all to any physical activity. On her 60th birthday, she challenged herself to ride her bike for 60 miles and then a 60,000 step walk. Led by her husband, Mark, and daugh ter, Hannah, they rode 61.4 consecutive miles and the following weekend walked 70,000 consecutive steps (34.8 miles).

Craig Hubbard ’72 and his daughter Katharine proudly shared a special moment by graduating together with master of science degrees in energy on Dec. 10, 2021, from Texas Tech University. Katharine works for Brigham Minerals in Austin.

1980s

Bruce M. Jones ’81 and his wife, Jessica, have moved away from the San Francisco Bay Area to an historic 1790’s family farm not far from Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hamp shire. They moved during the pandemic in a 10-day coastto-coast RV road trip. They live on Daughter’s Farm with their three sons Theodore, Noah and Zachary, and their daughter-in-law Melissa.

James R. Kephart Jr. ’82 and his wife, Kim, have purchased Journey’s End Bar and Grill located in Bourbon, Indiana. They took possession on Nov. 1, 2021.

Michael J. O’Daniel ’83 W’77 was the keynote speaker for the City County Observer Annual Community Service Awards on Oct. 20, 2021, in Evansville, Indiana. His business career spans several decades as an executive with an iconic Evansville automo bile conglomerate, which he served as CEO.

In 1987 he graduated from Southern Methodist University with a BS in Accounting and in 1988 graduated from NADA Dealer Candidate Academy in McLean,Virginia. From 1988–1995 he served in mul tiple management positions at D-Patrick Inc. in Evansville Indiana. and Cross Roads Lincoln Mercury in Cleveland, Ohio. From 1995–1997 he served as General Manager of both D-Patrick Oldsmobile/ Hyundai and D-Patrick Ford.

In 1997 he purchased D-Patrick Inc. as a 50/50 partner with brother-in-law Ray Farabaugh, and assumed the role of Co-President of the company and President of many of its numerious auto mobile dealerships.

He is married to Missy O’Daniel and they have three adult children. He also enjoys flying his 1978 Cessna 172 airplane, playing tennis, golf, fishing, water skiing, snow skiing, and scuba diving.

Richelle Peterson ’83 owns a business in Lafayette, Indiana, named “In A Handbasket.” The business provides specialty gift baskets, chocolates, and other treats.

U.S. Sen. Daniel Sullivan ’83 W’78 (R-Alaska), is listed in the Who’s Who in Defense.

He is a Ranking Member of the SASC Readiness and Man agement Support Subcommit tee, which has oversight over military readiness including: training, logistics, and mainte nance; military construction; housing construction and privatization; contracting and acquisition policy; business and financial management; base realignment and closure; and defense energy and envi ronmental programs.

Virginia “Ginny” Bess-Munroe ’86 SC ’82, the Culver Town Manager, was recognized for her decades of dedication to Culver and Marshall County, including but not limited to her service as the President of the Culver Town Council for more than a decade and for her leadership in the Culver and Marshall County Regional

Stellar designations. The Boy Scouts of America Lasalle Council presented her with the 2021 Soaring Eagle Award.

1990s

Emilio Rivero ’90 left his dip lomatic career with the Inter national Olympic Committee to become a social entrepre neur. He opened a factory to manufacture energy efficient wood stoves for the poor to mitigate the effects on people’s health and the environment of cooking with an open fire (method used by 47% of fami lies around the world). To date about half a million stoves have been delivered, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 5.2 million tons, saving 5.7 million tons of living trees, while benefiting 1.5 million people’s long term health.

Jeb B. Terry Jr. ’99 has taken his experience as an offensive lineman in the National Football League, his background in business, and his contacts to become the CEO of Cosm. He came back to campus to talk with students in the Art of Innovation class about his experience. Scan the QR to read “From the NFL to CEO” on our online news blog, The Culver Cannon.

Emilio was awarded the Social Enterprise of the Year at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos by the Schwartz Foundation. Today he also gives inspirational lectures and teaches courses in social entrepreneurship, sustainable business programs, venture financing, innovation and strategy at undergraduate and postgraduate programs. He is also a happy new dad and can’t wait to have his son Adrian attend Culver.

Marshall L. Stocker ’93 W’87 SC’89 has been promoted to CoDirector of Emerging Mar kets at Eaton Vance where he is responsible for a 40-member team of investment profes sionals.

Scott Johnson ’94 W’89, Culver’s Director of Marketing & Communications, claimed his third consecutive USATF Master Men’s Age 45–49 Pole Vault National Championship. Johnson recently took the helm as head coach of CMA Track & Field and is an Indi ana University Track and Field alumnus.

The event was held in Ames, Iowa, at Iowa State University’s Cyclone Sports Complex.

The 2020 events were can celed due to COVID19, but in 2019 Johnson claimed both the indoor and outdoor titles, making this his third.

His jump of 13’5.5” inches was good enough to claim first in his age bracket and tied for fourth overall among all pole vault contestants.

Lt. Cmdr. Frank McQuiddy A’00 W’97 SC’94 is the com manding officer of the mine countermeasures ship USS Dextrous, which is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region. connecting the Mediterranean and Pacific through the Western Indian Ocean and three critical chokepoints to the free flow of global commerce.

Larry Swank II ’97 W’92 has been happily married for 17 years to his wife, Kristin. They have two beautiful children; Taylor, 10, and Larry III “Trip” 7. They live in South Bend, Indiana.

Lindsey (Walker) Weaver ’97 has been married for 17 years. She and her husband, Erik, have 5 children: Esau, 15, Ira, 12, Abram, 9, Vega, 6, and Rosalie, 4. All five children attend the K12 classical charter school that Lindsey founded, Seven Oaks Classical School in Ellettsville, Indiana. She started her 11th year as a teacher for the deaf and hard of hearing within the Monroe County Community School Corporation and is in her 15th year as teacher.

J. Roby Penn ’98 SC’95 accepted the position of major gifts officer at The Institute for the Study of War, chaired by Gen. Jack Keane (U.S. Army, Ret.). It advances an informed understanding of military affairs through reliable research, trusted analysis, and

innovative education. ISW is committed to improving the nation’s ability to execute mil itary operations and respond to emerging threats in order to achieve U.S. strategic ob jectives through The General Jack Keane Center for Nation al Security and The General David H. Petraeus Center for Emerging Leaders.

Roby has previously served in positions that involved ex ecutive leadership, marketing, fundraising, and donor de velopment in both the private and public sectors — from the petroleum industry, to nation al political campaigns, to arts institutions. He had previously lived in the capital, while serving in the President George W. Bush Administration and with the Republican National Committee.

Christopher Chiu, MD, FAAP, FACP ’99 N’96 is a Med-Peds doctor who has made his way to the Buckeye state after completing medical school and residency at Indiana University. He initially served for four years active duty at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. After his separation from the military, he has continued to be active in graduate med ical education at The Ohio State University as both the Assistant Director of Clinic Education for the Internal Medicine Residency and the Lead Physician of the General Internal Medicine Clinic at Outpatient Care East. He is nationally known as Chris “The Chiu Man” Chiu with his work as a producer for “The Curbsiders,” an internal

medicine podcast, which rou tinely ranks in the top three of Apple podcasts in the United States “Medicine” Category with more than 700,000 downloads per month. He most recently cofounded and launched a pediatric spinoff podcast called “The Cribsid ers” in the summer of 2020, as well as a YouTube channel called “Med Twitter This Week.”

Michael T. Smith ’99 is work ing with Medtronic, a global leader in medical technology, services and solutions as a territory manager within the Surgical Innovations division. He has been residing in Monc ton, New Brunswick, Canada for the past 13 years with his wife Lisa and two children Julia (12) and Drew (10).

2000s

Brooke Epley Bohnker ’02 W’98 welcomed the newest addition to her family, Amelia “Millie” Grace, on July 7. She weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces and measured 20 inches.

C. Jefferson Kuchar ’02 married Ilyse (Lisie) Leslie Mehlman. The wedding party included Alex Nichols ‘02, William Gerlib ‘02, Will Corso ‘02, TJ Hartnett ‘04, and Zach Ratliff ‘04. They live in Highland Park.

Lloyd M. Mustin III ’02 married Sarah Newport Mustin on Feb 16, 2013. She’s working in government as a program manager at the

Message from Legion and CSSAA Presidents

At the May Reunion Weekend, the Legion will welcome new President Timika Shafeek-Horton ’86, who succeeds Raj Chopra ’89. As an active alumna and parent of two daughters in CGA (Amina ’20 and Noa ’25), Timika will provide excellent leadership for our alumni constituency. In addition to on campus events hosted by the Legion and CSSAA, May Alumni Reunion and the July Summer Alumni Homecoming among them, we also continue to re-instate interesting regional events, several which are regularly highlighted in this magazine.

National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA) in weapons development. Lloyd is an active-duty lieutenant com mander serving as a Surface Warfare Officer in the U.S. Navy and currently on shore duty in the Pentagon working as a Congressional liaison to the House and Senate appro priations committees. They have three children ranging in ages from 3–7.

Edgar A. Fernandez ’03 married Meggen Elizabeth Thorp in Costa Rica in November 2019 surrounded by friends and family. Seven former Culver cadets were in attendance, representing six different CMA graduating classes: On Aug. 13, 2020, Edgar and Meggen welcomed Penelope Pacifica Fernandez to the world in New York City, New York.

Jennifer L. Sawicki ’06 recently graduated from Georgetown University Law Center with her Juris Doctor. She and John Wesley Eberly were married on Sept. 4, 2021.

Caitlin R. Oleksa Hooper ’07 married Terah Cooper on Oct. 9, 2021, in Pine, Colorado. Kelsea Martalock ’07 was in the bridal party.

Anna Mahalak Costanzo ’08 married Patrick Costanzo on Aug. 14, 2021, in Williams burg, Virginia, on the campus of their college alma mater, William & Mary.

Marc A. Hone ’87 N’85 joined NASA in December 2021 and was sworn in as the deputy associate administrator for legislative and intergovern mental affairs. As a member of the Career Senior Executive Service, he provides leadership, direction, and coordination of NASA’s communications and relationships with Congress at the Washington D.C. head quarters.

Charles L. Phelps ’08 earned his MBA at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. A West Point gradu ate, he earned a BS in military history and most recently is serving in the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne).

2010s

Morgan Boundy Donnelly ’10 got married Sept. 25, 2021, in her hometown of Midland,

Michigan. A great group of 13 Culver alumni were in attendance and celebrated by singing the Culver song together. She and her husband, Kevin, now live in Alexandria, Virginia.

Breely Ungar DeAugustine ’10 and Frank DeAugustine ’10 married at Chateau d’Artigny outside Tours, France, on Oct. 2, 2021. The couple, who met on their first day of freshman year in Brad Trevathan’s Hu manities class, were thrilled to celebrate their wedding after numerous postponements due to the pandemic. The wedding party included Georgie What more ’09 who served as maid of honor, Morgan Boundy ’10, Kenzie O’Neill ’11, Kendahl Ungar ’14, and Brennah Un gar ’18, and Tom O’Neill ’11 The couple recently purchased their first home and reside in Alexandria, Virginia, with their dog, Remington.

Rajiv Chopra ’89 President The Culver Legion Emily Barnes Cole SS ’84 President The Culver Summer Schools Alumni Association Michael E. “Mike” Rudnicki ’92 W’88 President Culver Clubs International

Anna Haldewang ’11 W’07 is busy taking dead aim on the “mummies” in California’s almond groves with her new business, InsightTRAC. Scan the QR to read “This Plan B stands for break through” about her innovative work on our online news blog, The Culver Cannon.

Luke J. Schumacher ’10 N’07 W’04 retired from the U.S. Army as a captain. He married Micaela Seward on Oct. 30, 2021, in Scottsdale, Arizona. The couple resides in Charlot tesville, Virginia, where Luke is pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Virginia, while Micaela remains on active duty as a captain in the Army.

Lawrence W. Dann Fenwick ’11 married Lisa Fan on Aug. 27, 2021.

Anne Quella Blair ’10 married Ian Andrew Blair on Oct. 2, 2021, in Bloomington, Indiana.

Kelly Sohyoung Lee ’12 began her musical studies at the age of 5, studying at the precollege program in Korea National University of Arts. In 2005, she began her studies in the United States at the Indiana University String Academy.

Kelly graduated from Oberlin Conservatory with a bachelor’s in music in 2017 and an artist diploma in 2019 under Milan Vitek’s tutelage. She recently earned her master’s degree from Norges Musikkhøgskole, studying with Peter Herresthal.

Kelly’s collaborated with two-time Pulitzer Prize nomi nee Michael Schelle. In 2012, she premiered a solo violin concerto, “Guardian” (2011), which was commissioned by Culver Academies. Schelle’s two recent compositions, “The Illusion of Invincibility” (2017) and “My Tears Fall Dry” (2017) were also written for Kelly and she premiered them both in April 2018. Most recently, Kelly collaborated with Schelle by premiering “A Mysterious Night of Norway” (2021) at Norges Musikkhøg skole as part of her master’s project.

Bridget Davidge Ryley’12 W’08 married Aaron Ryley on Aug. 28, 2021, in the Memorial Chapel on the Culver Academies campus. The wedding party included Culver alumni Michael Davidge ’15, Ali Davidge ’10, Emily Rich ’12, Marin Strong ’12, Kimberly Turk’12 and Cassidy Thornton ’12

Amanda T. Dilena ’13 was diagnosed with epilepsy when she was 12. Her brother Scott ’17 W’12 and she recently ran the San Francisco Marathon and raised more than $2,000 for The Epilepsy Foundation. They also wrote and self-pub lished a children’s book about “When Mimi Gets the Shakes,” which aims to teach families about seizure first aid. Amanda is also an ambassador for the foundation and has giv en speeches to various groups. Her goal is to get her book in the hands of as many teachers, students, families, libraries, and hospitals as possible.

Maeve D. Kline ’14 W’09 and Anthony George ’16 were married on Sept. 18, 2021, in the Culver Memorial Chapel. They are living in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Members of the wedding party were Nora Kline ’19, Alex Emoff ’14, Kendahl Ungar ’14, Hanna Moffet ‘14, Emma Bourgraf (now Badalich) ’14, Kelsi Carr ’13, Max Curtis ’16, Frank Kline ’15, and Patrick Kline ’17

Kayla Colleen K. Miracle ’14 was featured in the July 2021 Sports Illustrated article, “Miracle on the Mat.” When

she appeared in Faces in the Crowd in the Jan. 17, 2011, issue, Kayla Miracle had become Culver’s first wrestler of any gender to go 220 in the season’s first half. In 2012 she was the first girl to reach the IHSAA state finals. Represent ing the USA, she also took silver in the 123pound class at the women’s Cadet World Championships. Miracle went on to win four WCWA national titles at Campbellsville (Kentucky) University and took two Junior world bronze medals between 2014 and 2018. She achieved her dream by qualifying for the 2021 Olympics at 62-kilograms (136 pounds).

Eric S. Schneider Jr. ’14 was the first Huffington scholar. He made his big screen debut in the movie “Respect,” which was released in 2021. He plays the role of Charlie Chalmers, one of Aretha Franklin’s Mus cle Shoals saxophone players.

Karch Bachman ’15 SC’08 participated in the Florida Panthers’ development camp and also in a prospect show case tournament in Sept. 2021. He signed a one-year AHL contract with the Charlotte Checkers and is entering his second professional season. He played for the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, the ECHL affiliate of the Checkers, in his first pro season last season. In 32 games with the Swamp Rabbits, Bachman had 10 goals, four assists and 13 penalty minutes.

Karch, 24, was a fifthround draft pick of the

Pamela A. Flanagan ’08 has been busy over the past year, working with Hawaii Polo Life as an interim brand manager, preparing for a busy tax season for her family’s real estate law firm, and playing polo in the U.S. Women’s Open. And that doesn’t include her work with rescuing horses. Scan the QR to read “Flanagan’s passion with a purpose” on our online news blog, The Culver Cannon.

Panthers in 2015 right after graduating from Culver. He had 69 points (29 goals, 40 assists) in 143 games over a four-year college career at Miami (Ohio).

Laken C. Alles ’16 is a special ly trained firefighter, known as a Hotshot, who battles strictly wildfires. He was featured in “Alles on front lines of western wildfires” in our news blog, “The Culver Cannon.”

Kieran Hussey Bolda ’17 married Mitchell Anthony Bol da and is living in Valparaiso, Indiana. The wedding party included Claire McMillen ’17, Susan Westman ’17, Mary Wright ’17, Kameron Hussey ’19, Madilyn Hussey ’23, and Brennan Hussey ’14

Nathaniel Clurman ’17 debuted his pro career with the American Hockey League’s Colorado Eagles earlier to end the 2020-21 campaign and is playing with the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL.

Clurman spent a week in Centennial alongside other rookies at the Avalanche’s development camp before facing some competition in exhibition games at the rookie tournament hosted by the Arizona Coyotes in Scottsdale.

Selected by the Avalanche in the sixth round of the 2016 NHL Draft, Clurman is the second Colorado-born player to be drafted by the Avs and played with the Rocky Moun tain Rough Riders hockey program. Clurman played nine games for the Eagles at the end of the 2021 season before sustaining a broken foot.

Justin Matei ’17 is a member of the 2020–21 Yale Light weight Crew. The 2019–2020 spring season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Mason D. Lohrei ’19, the Boston Bruins’ prospect as a defenseman, is on pace for NHL impact. He was their 58th pick during the 2020 NHL draft. Meanwhile, Lohrei continued to develop his skills as an Ohio State freshman. He led the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL with 19 goals and 40 assists in 48 games in 2020-21. He was also named as USHL Defen seman of the Year. Lohrei is arguably the Bruins’ brightest amateur prospect.

2020s

Maksis Brimanis ’20 was chosen in the third round by the Aberdeen Wings of the North American Hockey League draft and 87th overall. At 6-feet, 2-inches tall and 198 pounds, the forward from Anchorage, Alaska, who has dual U.S. and Latvian citizen ship, played with the National Collegiate Development Con ference’s Philadelphia Hockey Club in 2020–2021. He has played for the Wings, El Paso Rhinos and the Fairbanks Ice Dogs this season.

Max Miller ’20 completed a post-graduate year at Fork Union Military Academy and has now enrolled at Wake Forest University, where he is a member of the Demon Deacon football team.

CULVER CLUBS INTERNATIONAL Update

Eighty guests gathered Dec. 16, 2021 in Washington, D.C. for a Capital City Culver Club reception. Head of Schools, Dr. Doug Bird ’90, was the featured speaker. Alumni representing six decades of graduating classes, as well as current and past parents of the summer camps and Acade mies, participated in the event.

Robert Rawlings Bridges ’40 (Troop I) died on June 1, 2021, in Austin, Texas. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, earning a BA degree in 1943. Bob went to Parris Island, South Car olina, and then to Quantico, Virginia, where he received his commission in the U.S. Marine Corps. Bob then went to San Diego, California, and from there he shipped out to the Pacific with the Second Marine Division in Hilo, Hawaii. Bob served his country for 22 months, including the invasions of Saipan and Okinawa.

After the war, Bob returned to Ft. Worth, Texas, and mar ried Ernestine “Teenie” Ashe,

IN MEMORIAM

then moved to Austin in 1946, where their two sons, Robert and James, were born.

Bob owned and operated several businesses, including Bridges Farm and Ranch Sup ply, Bridges Lumber Company and Bridges Distributing, which distributed Miller, Falstaff and Jax beer. He was very involved in the Austin community, serving for 32 years on the Salvation Army Board, the Austin Rotary Club for 51 years, vice president of the Austin Chamber of Com merce, and director of a bank.

Bob is survived by his sons, five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Dr. Clyde E. Noble ’41 (Band) died June 9, 2021, in Athens, Georgia, at the age of 99. His talent as a skilled cornetist earned him a full scholarship to Culver. He entered Tulane University on a scholarship and joined the U.S. Army Reserve. Two years later he was called to active-duty training at Camp Maxey, Texas, and was recom mended for Officer Candidate School, attending the Engineer School in Ft. Belvoir, Virginia. After that he was transferred to Fort Lewis, Washington, where he was sent overseas to Okinawa, serving as an engi neer combat platoon leader. In 1945 he was promoted to first lieutenant on occupation duty

in Seoul, Korea, and served on a court martial board with his division commander.

Clyde received an honor able discharge from the Army and graduated with honors from Tulane with a BS in psychology. He received his MS from Tulane in 1948. In the summer of 1949, he accepted a job with Human Resources Research Center, Lackland Air Force Base, in Texas. In the fall, with the aid of scholarships and the GI Bill, he began to work on his Ph.D. in experimental psychology in 1951. He met his future wife, Janet, who also received her MA in speech pathology that same year.

His next 10 years were spent teaching and conducting research at Louisiana State University and the University of Montana. In 1965 he accepted a professorship at the University of Georgia. During his time at these three univer sities, he did more than teach and conduct research. He spent five summers at National Defense Seminars, plus the Air War College and the National War College.

During other summers he was also a visiting professor at Harvard University, University of Wisconsin, and New York University. He retired from the University of Georgia in Athens in 1983, as well as the U.S. Air Force Reserve with the rank of colonel after 40 years of service.

During his lifetime Clyde received many awards: Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Delta Kappa, Sinfonia, Psychology Hall of Fame North Georgia State University, Engineer CS Hall of Fame Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and the Legion of Merit from the Air Force. He was also responsible for the publication of more than 30 articles and three books.

He is survived by his wife of 70 years, Janet, one daughter and two sons. He was preced ed in death by his son, Robert.

Clyde Randolph Brown Jr.’42 (Artillery) died on June 9, 2021, at his home in Monroe, Louisiana. He trained as a calvary officer and went on to attend Virginia Military Insti tute, where he was inducted into the U.S. Army as a 2nd

lieutenant in 1943. He fought in World War II as a forward observer in various campaigns in the South Pacific, eventually attaining the rank of captain by the war’s end. He was awarded three Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart during his time as a combat officer. Shortly after the war’s end, he was sent to Korea as an intel ligence officer. He continued to be an active member in the U.S. Army Reserve and retired with the rank of colonel.

Upon his return to the States, Clyde graduated from Louisiana State University with a BS in geology, then Tulane Law School and eventually Harvard University, where he graduated from the school’s Advanced Management Program for Business. He went to work with his father at the law firm of Shotwell, Brown & Sperry, one of the oldest law firms in northern Louisi ana. Early in his career, he left the firm and went to work at Olincraft, Inc., now Riverwood International Corporation, where he became the general counsel and secretary to the board of directors. He was a pioneer in the oil and gas in dustry and environmental law.

Some years later he returned to Shotwell, Brown & Sperry and became the managing partner until his retirement at 86. He was preceded in death by his wife, Jean Kennedy Brown, to whom he was married for 65 years. He is survived by one daughter, Martha, two sons, Stephen and Stuart, and one grandchild.

The obituary dates are from July 1 – December 31, 2021

John Max Stormes’45 (Com pany B) of Louisville, Colora do, died on Nov. 24, 2021. He earned his BS at San Diego State University in 1950, a BS from the University of South ern California in 1957 and an MA in 1967. He worked as an American systems analyst and was certified as a secondary and community college teach er, and a senior professional in human resources.

During a more than 50-year career, John worked as an editing supervisor at Lockheed Propulsion Company; pro posals supervisor at Rockwell International; publications director at Arthur D. Little, Inc.; publications coordina tor Rockwell International; project director at General Behavioral Systems, Inc., training and communications consultant at Media Research Associates, Santa Cruz; and instructional design supervisor at Southern California Gas Company. He was also an adjunct associate professor at Alliant University and a lecturer at California State University, Northridge.

He is survived by his wife, Takako Sanae, and daughter Janet ’74 (West Lodge) and son Alan ’75 (Company B)

Eugene “Gene” Chipman Sr. ’45 (Band) NB ’44 died on Dec. 7, 2021, in his hometown of Plymouth, Indiana. He attended Lincoln High School but graduated from Culver with the Class of 1945, where he was chosen as captain of the basketball and track teams. Gene attended the University

of Michigan from 1945-1946 until he received an appoint ment to the United States Naval Academy, where he was selected as the captain of the crew and in 1950, was chosen as an All American Crew member.

Gene met his future bride, Ida Bell Hardin, on a blind date and their June 1950 wed ding was featured in national magazines as the Woodbury Bride of the Month.

After graduating with a degree in electrical engineering in 1950, Gene’s first assign ment was the Naval Academy’s assistant crew coach and then assigned to the USS Vogelge sang until 1951, when he started Naval Flight School in Pensacola, Florida, and received his Naval Wings of Gold in 1952. After fulfilling his commitment to the Navy as a lieutenant commander, and with a growing family, Gene enrolled in the Indiana University Law School, gradu ating in 1959. He settled back in Plymouth for the remainder of his life.

Gene served in many capac ities as a lawyer: an elected Marshall County prosecutor; county attorney, attorney for numerous boards and com missions; private practice; and judge of the Indiana Court of Appeals in Indianapolis, which he resigned from in 1981 to practice law with his son, Nelson, just as his father had done with him more than two decades earlier.

Throughout his career, Gene held leadership positions in numerous organizations

devoted to the improvement of legal services provided to the public. He also relished lec turing to law school students about demonstrative evidence in the courtroom and recruit ing young lawyers to the local community.

Later in his career he was elected Judge of Marshall Superior Court No.1, a po sition previously held by his father, and later elected county commissioner, But his greatest professional satisfaction was derived from helping his friends and neighbors resolve legal challenges that compli cated their lives and never bill them. In May 1994, Gene was selected to be in the Inaugural Class of Culver’s the Athletic Hall of Fame.

Gene was preceded in death by his wife, Ida; two grand children; his brother and two sisters-in-law. He is survived by his four children, 11 grand children and 10 great-grand children.

Peter Green Hight H’46 died on June 11, 2021, at home surrounded by his family after a brief battle with a blood disease and pneumonia. He graduated from Cranbrook High School and Stanford University, afterwards serving in the U.S. Marine Corps as a lieutenant. He entered adver tising after college, supplying and delivering luxury cars to the stars in Los Angeles. Later he became a stockbroker and butterfly options specialist in San Francisco. With inherent good looks, he was persuaded by an agent to model, and he did many TV commercials,

fashion print jobs, advancing into bit parts in movies and TV shows. He is survived by his wife, Judy, three children Ellen, Steven, and Sarah, and two grandsons.

Robert “Bob” Claggett John ston ’46 (Artillery) died on June 24, 2021. An Oklahoma native, he graduated from Yale University and the University of Oklahoma with a master’s degree in geology. He is survived by two daughters, Julie of Dallas, and Joanna of Wichita, Kansas; and son Jeff in Arizona. Bob is survived by his six grandsons and three great-grandchildren.

Charles Gerald (Gerry) Goldsmith ’46 (Artillery) W’41 died on Nov. 27, 2021, in West Palm Beach, Florida, at 93. After graduating from Culver, he went on to graduate from the University of Michigan and the Harvard Business School. His business career spanned Wall Street, real estate, and banking. He was chairman of Palm Beach Bank and Trust and served on the board of Cypress Trust. He was also active in the Palm Beach community, serving on the Police Retirement Board and town council.

In his 80s, Gerry ran for mayor of Palm Beach and lost by one vote. An avid golfer, he won the Club Championship at the Palm Beach Country Club and was instrumental in making course improve ments over the years. Gerry is survived by his four children: Andrew, Alice, John, and Colin; and seven grandchildren.

Max Heldring Stormes ’47 (Company C) died on Dec. 1, 2019. A director and set designer, he earned his bache lor of arts with distinction in speech arts and drama at San Diego State College. For Kent wood Players, he was director and designer for “Dial ‘M’ For Murder,” “Vanities,” “Chica go,” and “Damn Yankees,” as well as designing many sets for other Kentwood Productions directors. Max designed 36 sets for Kentwood Players pro ductions in spite of a 12-year absence during the late ’80s and early ’90s. He received nine Marcom Mask awards and two Board of Directors awards.

Benjamin H. Anderson, Jr. (Troop I) ’48 WC ’40 of Springfield, Virginia, died peacefully on Oct. 6, 2021 at age 90. Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Ben spent his early years in Hartford City and on Lake James in Angola before moving to Arizona where his father, Benjamin H. Anderson ’29 operated a copper mine. Ben fell in love with the desert southwest and claimed Tucson as his hometown for the rest of his life. Following Culver, Ben graduated from the University of Arizona and was commis sioned in the Army in 1953. He served in a variety of as signments in Armor, Infantry, and Ordnance units located in the US, Germany, and Hon duras before transferring to Military Intelligence. Ben was instrumental in identifying the imminent attacks of the Tet Offensive in the II Field Force region of South Vietnam, for

which he received the Legion of Merit. He later served in Hawaii and Okinawa, and culminated his military career with Defense Intelli gence Agency in Washington, DC. He retired in 1983 as a Colonel after a distinguished career, having been awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, Bronze Star, and over a dozen additional decorations. Post-retirement, he was em ployed as a “beltway bandit” until 1992 when he became a volunteer aide in the elementa ry school classes taught by Diane (nee Sides) his wife of 66 years. Ben thoroughly enjoyed those years and delighted in discussing the “gazintas” during math classes. In his later years he enjoyed traveling and ending each day with a bourbon highball. Culver was never far from his heart. Preceded in death by Diane, Ben is survived by his three sons and their wives, David ’76 and Patti, Doug and Molly, and Don ’84 and Michelle, and by seven grandchildren: Lauren, Philip, Jeffrey, Matthew, Paul, Nicole, and Cecilia.

L. James Paul ’49 (Battery B) died on Dec. 5, 2021. After earning a BS in chemistry, Jim graduated from Northwestern University in 1953 and then served as first lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force near the end of the Korean War, stationed in Madera, California. Jim en joyed a career with his fatherin-law as general manager of Baltis Built Homes from 1956 to 1986. He continued his gen eral contracting business when

he established James Paul & Associates, Inc. then more recently, partnered with his sons in their commercial real estate development business.

In 2008, Jim lost his wife, Phyllis, to ALS after celebrat ing 56 years of marriage. With Phyllis’ support, he was involved in community service, serving on the District #96 Riverside Public School Board, the board of directors and president of the Riverside Little League, then became a district administrator for the State of Illinois. He also served as a police and fire commis sioner.

Jim is survived by his six children: three daughters, three sons, 19 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

Robin Adair Wade Jr. N’50 died on Dec. 14, 2020. An Alabama native, he attended the University of Alabama, where he met his wife of 64 years, Carolyn. After joining his father’s business at age 21, Robin’s legacy lives on as Wade Sand and Gravel Company and continues to serve the market in Birming ham, Alabama, 88 years later.

Over time, Robin steered the company’s acquisition of the Republic Steel property to ward their support of the arts, using the historical industrial nature of the Republic Steel campus to provide opportu nities for visiting artists to experience their creativity. The studio spaces not only provided the artists space to be creative but also allowed the artists space to create sculptures.

In the 1990s, Robin had the vision to turn the family beach

RANDOLPH “RANDY” DEER N’48

If you looked at a list of the working life accomplishments of Randolph “Randy” Deer N’48, you’d think he was all business. But digging deeper, you’d come to suspect, not surprisingly, that he might have looked at life as more of an art.

Deer, who died Sept. 17, 2021, in Naples, Florida, found a lot of success early at Culver. At Culver Summer Naval School, Randy was Naval Company 1 commander, battalion com mander and received the Fowler Cup as the most outstanding midshipman of his class.

After graduating from high school he went on to earn a BS in business from Indiana University, and served in the U.S. Army as a first lieutenant, operating a petroleum laboratory.

In 1954 he joined the family business, Bonded Oil Company, and served as the executive vice president.

In 1975, Randy acquired Pepsi Cola Bottling Company of Logansport and South Bend. Shortly thereafter, he founded Interactions Incorporated, which included the Pepsi Cola facilities, a real estate development company, four farming operations, a polled-Hereford breeding operation, two restaurant operations, and an equipment leasing operation.

Randy served as chairman of the board for 46 years for Interactions Incorporated. In 2005, he purchased an Oregon-based emerging choc olate company, Endangered Species Chocolate, and moved their operations to Indianapolis. Randy served as its chairman of the board.

Outside of the business world, Randy served as a patron for many art and education insti tutions. He served the Indianapolis Museum of Art as a lifetime trustee, member of the board of governors, vice president, vice chair, and chairman of the board.

But that passion for the arts was also keenly felt at Culver.

The most easily identifiable evidence is the gallery at the Crisp Visual Arts Center that bears his name. On the occasion of the opening of that gallery, he donated nearly a dozen paint ings to the Culver Art Collection, including some he had painted himself.

“Randy Deer is one of the kindest people I have known in my work as curator of the Culver Art Collection,” Academies fine arts instructor Robert Nowalk said. “He provided the funding to construct the Deer-Zink Gallery without any expectations of its design. He simply trusted Culver’s care for his gift.”

When Culver opened the Crisp Visual Arts Center in 2011, the opening exhibit was Treasures from the Culver Collection. During the opening, Nowalk said, “Randy pulled me aside and said he was so pleased with what he saw that he would like to send us several works from his personal collection to allow us more latitude in connecting future art exhibitions to the academic curriculum.

“Over the next few years he sent us 17 paintings, including examples of French and American Impressionism. Randy’s legacy is present in the work we do for our students. His spirit will always be with us.”

But his support of Culver, for which he often did not seek recognition, also extended elsewhere, from scholarships to Culver Summer Schools & Camps to ensure other young people could receive the same Culver summer experi ence, to renovations of the Memorial Chapel and the Naval Building, to the Culver Fund.

In July 2016, Randy was Culver’s guest of honor when he was given the Culver Summer Schools & Camps Distinguished Service Award. That was just one of many awards he received for his service to the various communities in which he moved. He also received the Sag amore of the Wabash Award from the State of Indiana. He received an Honorary Doctor of Humanities Award from Wabash College in 1993. Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis awarded Randy its Spirit of Philan thropy Award. Randy received the inaugural Distinguished Service Award from the India napolis Museum of Art; an honorary professor in painting award from the Herron School of Art and Design; and an honorary doctorate in humane services from Indiana University.

He is survived by three children, Jenny; Colby; and David; 15 grandchildren; and 20 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a sister, brother, Donald N’44, daughter and former wife, Darlene.

Randy Deer

IN MEMORIAM

home into a first-class marina, restaurant and shopping complex, Sanroc Cay Marina. Robin also owned Bear Point Marina, located on Arnica Bay.

Robin was preceded in death by his wife and his son Walter. He is survived by two sons, William N’79 and Robin III, four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Thomas Holt Murray Jr.’51 (Battery C) W’45 of Kerrville, Texas, died on July 4, 2021, just two months to the day after his beloved wife, Cathy’s, passing. They had been married nearly 64 years. He received an NROTC scholarship to Stanford University, graduat ing in 1955 with a degree in general science and an empha sis on geology. After college he directly enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving on the destroyer U.S.S. Hale, anchored out of Newport, Rhode Island. It was there that he met Cathy.

After leaving active-duty status and going to active reserve status, he received a master’s degree in geological engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. He eventually went to work for Standard Oil of Texas as an exploration ge ologist. His time with Chevron took him to several U.S. cities and Canada. He retired from Chevron in 1991 as principal technological advisor for upstream information.

While working with Chev ron, he continued to serve in the US Naval Reserve and in Canada he served as the American liaison on special assignment in the Canadian Navy. He eventually retired as a captain.

Thomas and Cathy retired to Kerrville in 1991 and quickly became actively involved in the community. Following in his father’s footsteps yet creating his own stamp for his love of the Hill Country, Tom Jr. was a member of Rotary, and Sons of the American Revolution.

Tom was preceded in death by his wife, and a baby daughter. He is survived by his two children, Deidra ’81 (Court) and Tom Murray III ’83 (Battery C) W’79 and his three grandchildren.

Lawrence “Ritchie” Brook Coryell NB’52 W’49 died at home on April 27, 2021. Raised in Lebanon, Indiana, he attended Phillips Andover Academy and graduated from MIT, majoring in geophysics. He earned his Master’s degree in geophysics at CalTech, then earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1961. The same year, he married Carol Ann Roberts Coryell. He was very active in the space pro gram, which included jobs in Dallas, Texas and Huntsville, Alabama. At the Jet Propul sion Lab in Pasadena, he was instrumental in designing the unmanned lunar roving vehicle. He later worked for the National Science Founda tion in Washington., DC and was active in Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR), using his science and business degrees. Retired in 2005, he traveled extensively around the USA and to Europe and the Caribbean. Over the years, he was very active in church activities and men’s Bible studies. He was ill for several

years fighting cancer, diabetes and heart problems. Lawrence is survived by Carol Ann, his wife of 60 years, and three sons, Mark W’75, Heath N’81 W’77and Matthew NB’88 ’90 and five grandchildren.

Arrie Albert Delrose N’53 W’50 died on Sept. 15, 2020, in Fort Myers, Florida. He graduated from Joliet Catholic and Xavier University with a degree in business. A lifelong resident of Joliet, Arrie took over the family business and successfully ran multiple ven tures with his three brothers, including Joliet News Agency, Printers Ink Cards and Books, TriCounty Periodicals and DATT Management Company. He was active and dedicated with many community pro grams including Rotary, The Boys Club and Mid America Periodical Distributers Association.

Arrie is survived by his wife of 61 years, Victoria, two sons, two daughters, six grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren.

Donald Edward Dick ’54 (Battery B) W’49 died on Nov. 18, 2021, at Moniteau Care Center, California. He earned his BS in biochemistry/biology at California Institute of Tech nology and his master’s degree in educational psychology at Arizona State University. He married Marilyn Krutsch in 1959. Don was always a teacher and comedian who made learning fun and was one of the first Head Start teachers in the U.S. (Arizona). He was well known for his

alternative hands-on teaching methods that could even teach sufferers of traumatic head injuries to walk and talk again. Donald is survived by one daughter, Michele; one son, Blake; and two grandchildren.

Lt. Col. Dennis Michael Cunningham ’54 (Company C) of Locust Grove, Virginia, died at home on June 21, 2021, from lung and brain cancers resulting from exposure to Agent Orange. Born in South Bend, Indiana, he was adopted by James A. and Mary L. Cunningham. He attended Wabash High School until 1952, when the family moved to Lafayette, Indiana, and he transferred to Culver. He received a congressional appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy and graduated with the 18th Company in the Class of 1958, commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Mike served at various posts and stations throughout the Corps as an infantry offi cer, until retiring at Quantico in June of 1981. He met his wife, Maxine, and they were married from June 1961 until her death in April 2003. Together, they raised four chil dren, Mark, Theodore, Sydma and James.

Mike participated in combat operations in the Dominican Republic in 1965, serving as Headquarters Commandant of the 6th MEU, and in the Republic of Vietnam with First Battalion, First Marines in 1966–67. He commanded Alfa Company and served as the Battalion

Operations Officer. He was awarded the Bronze Star and Navy Commendation Medal, both with Combat V’s. In addition, he was awarded several other personal and unit decorations, including a Meritorious Service Medal, a Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and two Presidential Unit Citations.

During Mike’s active service, he earned a master’s degree in technology of management from American University and an MBA at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Following retirement from the Marine Corps in 1981, Mike joined MCI Communi cations Corporation in Wash ington, D.C., retiring in 1996. He then served on the adjunct faculties of University of Mary Washington and Germanna Community College in Freder icksburg, Virginia, until 2010. In 2009, Mike met Dorothy (Dottie) Hanners, and after an extended courtship, they married on St. Patrick’s Day in 2020.

Mike was preceded in death by Maxine, son Mark of Norfolk; Virginia; and brother William Finn of Aurora, Ontario. He is survived by his wife, Dottie, his two sons Theodore and James, and daughter Sydma. He is also survived by two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Major Robert Smith Black wood II USAF (Ret.) ’55 Company B died on Aug. 7, 2021, in Fresno, California. He learned to play golf starting at age 5 at his grandfather’s Blackhawk Golf Course,

where he worked during the summers and built nine holes of the course.

Raised during World War II, Bob left Beaver Falls High to put his love for flying and his country to work. He studied at Bullis Prep School and Culver Military Academy to earn acceptance to the U.S. Naval Academy. Though his career was primarily as a navigator in the Air Force, Bob’s Naval Academy years were formative and important to him.

Bob completed a B.S. in Mathematics with a minor in physics at Mount Union College and entered the U.S. Air Force in 1960. He married Eileen Russell that same year and in 1968 their daughter Ann was born. Bob served his country honorably during a long career in the Air Force, retiring in 1982 at the rank of Major after serving 28 months in Vietnam and flying 126 combat missions.

Retiring from the Air Force in his 40s allowed Bob to be fully present during Ann’s high school years. He met Darlene McAfee through their involve ment in the band boosters and remarried into a large family he loved. Bob died at home after a good, long life and will be missed by his wife Dar lene; his daughter, Ann, four stepsons and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was buried with full military honors.

Hewett Probasco Mulford Jr. ’55 (Band) of Columbus, Ohio, died on Nov. 29, 2021. He attended Lebanon High School and graduated from

Culver. He then went on to study floriculture at Cornell University and graduated with a degree in philosophy from the College of Wooster, followed by two years of graduate studies at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.

Hewett returned to Leb anon, Ohio, where he spent more than 53 years before moving to Columbus. His entrepreneurial spirit led to his success with multiple compa nies, including Mulford Green houses in Lebanon, Ohio, and HP Mulford company. Hewett was a past member of the Lebanon Rotary Club, Jaycees, and Tree Commission. He loved gardening, writing haiku, movies and Buckeye football. He is survived by his wife of 34 years, Mary Ann, two daughters, two sons, five granddaughters, two grand sons and one great grandson.

Philip (Phil) Hazard Bock ’55 (Company A) W’50 died on Dec. 5, 2021. He was born in New York City, graduated from Culver, and received a B.S.E.E. from the Illinois Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University. He was commis sioned upon graduation as an officer in the United States Marine Corps, attaining the rank of Captain. He had a successful and fulfilling business career in Logistics and Distribution. He was the beloved husband of Marge for 62 years; loving father to his sons and daughters: Cathy (Mark) Horn, Mike, Liz and Chris (Nadine); proud

grandfather to Juliana, Sam and Josh, and caring uncle to his niece and nephews.

Dr. George Roderick Willard ’56 (Band) H’54 died on June 24, 2021, surrounded by family and friends. He earned his undergraduate degree from Allegheny College, then his master’s and Ph.D. in Spanish from Middlebury College. For more than 40 years, George taught Spanish at Union County College in Cranford, New Jersey, where he met his wife of 45 years, Jane.

After retiring from teaching, George divided his time between West Palm Beach, Florida, and Newbury, Ver mont, where he became active with the First Congregational Church of Newbury and Newbury Historical Society. George was preceded in death by his wife, Jane, and is survived by multiple nephews and nieces.

Dr. Charles Edwin Pippenger ’57 (Company A) N’53 of South Burlington, Vermont, died July 22, 2021 from heart failure. A native of Rensselaer, Indiana, he earned Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in Biology from Ball State University and a Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacology in 1971 from Purdue University.

A distinguished scientist with research interests in applied clinical pharmacology, he authored more than 150 scientific papers, co-edited six books, and made a profound impact on the treatment of epilepsies, as well as on the global network of scientists

IN MEMORIAM

he nurtured. He began his career in 1962 at the New Castle State Hospital, in New Castle, Ind., where he was inspired to try to find a cure for epilepsy. In the 1970s, he founded the discipline of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, a forerunner of individualized medicine, which seeks to provide optimal therapy by measuring and tailoring drug levels to individual patients.

A Fellow of the International League of Epilepsy and a Fel low of the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry, he received numerous awards, including the President’s Award and Outstanding Scientist Award from the American Association for Clinical Chem istry, the Distinguished Service Award from the Epilepsy Foundation of America, and the Distinguished Pharmacy Alumni Award from Purdue University. Since 1993, the International Association of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Clinical Toxicology has given the C.E. Pippenger Award, the field’s most prestigious, in his honor.

Before retiring to Vermont in 2005, Chuck had been director of the Peter C. and Pat Cook Health Sciences Re search and Education Institute in Grand Rapids, Mich.; vice president for research and de velopment at Fresa Biomedical Laboratories in Redmond, Wash.; head of applied clinical pharmacology in the depart ment of biochemistry at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation; and associate professor in the department of neurology at Columbia University’s College

of Physicians and Surgeons. An adjunct professor in the Department of Neurosciences at the University of Vermont’s medical school, he had also taught at Grand Valley State University, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, and Cleveland State University.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Jane Ann; sons Michael and Geoffrey NB’90, Band ’93; two granddaughters, Dagne and Ada; and three brothers, Bill ’50, Dick ’53, and Roger ’59.

Maury Stafford Knowlton Jr. ’58 (Company C) died at his home in Memphis, Tennessee, on July 9, 2021. He attended the University of Mississippi, where he was a member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity. In 1963, Maury graduated from Mississippi State University Magna Cum Laude with a degree in animal husbandry and for six years, he farmed with his father in Perthshire, Mississippi. In 1968, he earned an accounting degree from Delta State University, and after taking the CPA exam and passing all four parts at one sitting, making the highest grade in the state of Tennessee. He moved, with his family, to Memphis, and joined the accounting firm of Deloitte Haskins and Sells.

In 1980, Maury accepted a position with Helena Chem ical Company as their chief financial officer of finance and administration. After Helena, he joined National Bedding and Flooring Company, a position that led him to Chicago to

become CFO of Serta, Inc. nationwide. His last position was CEO of In Time, an aerial imaging company in Cleveland, Mississippi.

Maury had a love for agriculture, staying involved even while engaged in other business interests. In his semiretirement, he was very active in developing precision agricultural tools to enhance the farming industry. Maury was a member of many civic organizations, including The Economics Club of Memphis, the American Institutes of Public Accounting (AICPA), the Cleveland Rotary Club, the Delta Council, Junior Achievement, and The Na tional Cotton Council. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Dixie, one son, David; one daughter, Beth (Brian) Knowlton Warren and four grandchildren.

Barry Hayden Bauman’59 (Company A) died on July 2, 2021. He attended Mount Vernon High School and com pleted his education at Culver. He worked for many years at the University of Iowa Credit Union before retiring in 2003. Barry was a devoted golfer, avid scuba diver and a genius at limericks and storytelling.

Barry is survived by his wife of 48 years, Sue; daughters Andrea and Elizabeth; two grandchildren, Kellan and Bauer Obester; one sister, Mary Kolbe; one brother, William Bauman; and sons Ted and Brian Weller. Barry was preceded in death by his brother, Kent.

Warren Alden Kaufman’60 (Company D) died on Jan. 13, 2021, in Yuba City, California. He grew up on the family farm near Zion, Illinois, but the foundation for Warren’s call ing as a builder and craftsman was formed while admiring Chicago’s architecture and working for a construction company in the city. He attended the University of Chi cago but moved to Berkeley in 1962, opening a new chapter of his life with his then wife, Linda, and newborn son, Bill. He became a journeyman carpenter and his love of speed accelerated when he discov ered the Bay Area motorcycle scene, working on bikes and modifying them for speed. A move to Carmel Valley in 1969 to build homes with Stone Post & Flower became the place he called “home” for more than five decades.

Warren founded Natural Development in 1973. The name was later changed to Renovations until it closed in 2012. Renovations was designated one of Remodeling Magazine’s top 50 remodeling companies. Warren founded the local chapter of the Na tional Association of the Remodeling Industry, and he held many NARI certifications.

A consummate adventurer, Warren loved the outdoors, backpacking, mountaineering, and running, participating in races of various distances in cluding the Big Sur Marathon. Community minded endeavors were an important aspect of Warren’s life, including helping in many ways at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church,

leading a prayer group, feeding farmworkers, helping with repairs at Dampierre Park and coaching baseball and soccer. In the 2000s, Warren began participating in triathlons of various distances, with the local triathlon club.

Warren joined the Rotary Club of Carmel Valley and cofounded the Safe Blood Africa Project, which established dozens of blood banks in Nigeria, and spoke at Rotary International Day at The United Nations.

Rotary is where Warren met Jamison and their shared pas sion for serving the community, locally and worldwide, was among the driving forces that brought and kept them to gether until Warren’s passing.

Warren is survived by his wife, Jamison; his former wife, Linda; two sons, one daughter, and four grandchildren.

Gilbert Larry Moorman H’63 of Grand Blanc, Michigan, died on Nov. 20, 2021. He was a 1965 graduate of Grosse Pointe High School and received a BS in social science from Eastern Michigan University. He married Pamela Lee Plumb on March 9, 1996, in Flint.

He owned and operated Gil Moorman Insurance in Flint for 34 years. He was a member of the National Asso ciation of State Farm Agents, Michigan Association of State Farm Agents, Flint Elks Lodge, and the Antique Auto Club of America. He also was member of the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels and served on the Selective Service Board.

WILLIAM ALVIN “TEX” MONCRIEF JR. ’37

William Alvin “Tex” Moncrief Jr. ’37 (Artillery), died on Dec. 29, 2021, at the age of 101. And to anyone who knew him and even part of his life story, living to such a ripe old age ranks among the more minor achievements in the tale of Tex.

According to his official obituary, on the occasion of his 101st birthday, he reflected on that long, larger-than-life lifetime: “I guess you could say I have seen and done a whole lot of things in my lifetime.”

A philanthropist and an oilman, Tex was often described by others as a “wildcatter.”

His story began with his birth on the kitch en table in Hot Springs, Arkansas on March 27, 1920, to William Alvin “Monty” and Elizabeth Moncrief. In 1931, at the age of 11, Tex watched his father bring in a massive oil well in Gregg County. “It was just the greatest thing I ever saw,” he remembered. “People were jumping around and hollering and hug ging each other just like they’d won a football game. I decided on the spot that I wanted to become an oilman.”

That was one big lifetime milestone.

The next was arguably in 1934, when Tex’s parents dropped him off at Culver, then promptly departed.

“‘I sure did think my parents didn’t like me,’ he would say,” remembers James A. Henderson ’52, a longtime friend of Tex’s. “But Tex also would tell those same people that Culver was the most important influence in his life. He wrote in a Culver publication, ‘My tenure at Culver absolutely changed the course of my life for the better and forever.’”

Tex graduated from Culver in 1937, where he was a gunner in the Artillery battalion, back when Culver’s artillery was still horsedrawn. He went on to earn a bachelor of science in petroleum engineering from the University of Texas in 1942.

After working in Fort Worth flight-testing bombers destined for the Allies in World War II, he returned to the East Texas field working for Stanolind Oil. Tex then joined the United States Navy, serving in the Pacific. On the island of Saipan, Tex watched American B-29s carrying the first atomic bombs take off from Tinian Island for Japan, and unconditional surrender.

From left, William “Tex” Moncrief ’37, Michelle Moncrief ’92, and Charlie Moncrief ’67.

After retiring from the Navy, Tex joined his father at Moncrief Oil. The father-son business became immensely successful, with oil discoveries in East Texas, Louisiana, West Texas, New Mexico, Florida, and the Rockies.

Tex served on the University of Texas board of regents, receiving the distinguished alum nus award. Tex was a lifelong supporter of the Longhorns. In Fort Worth, his vision inspired the merger of the Moncrief Radiation Center with University of Texas Southwest, creating the Moncrief Cancer Center.

Culver was among the many places to benefit from Tex’s generosity as well.

“When John Mars became Culver’s Superintendent in the late 1970s, a time of financial difficulty for Culver, he asked Tex ‘to help me save the school’,” Henderson recalled. “Tex responded generously and he and his family have been loyal and generous ever since. Tex was a hero to Culver and to me personally. We will miss him.”

Tex was a lifetime member and supporter of Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church as were his mother and father.

He was preceded in death by his father and mother, brother Richard Barto, wife Deborah Beggs, and three children: daughter Monty Francine, sons John Herbert ’62 and Charles Beggs ‘67. Tex is survived by his loving and much-loved wife Linda; sons W.A. Moncrief III, Richard Wesley Moncrief ‘60 and Tom Oil Moncrief, stepchildren Debbie Johnson Ryan and Dr. Harold V. Johnson ‘59; and numer ous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

IN MEMORIAM

Surviving are his wife, Pamela; two daughters, Marie Lynn and Stephanie Jy, and five grandchildren.

Jay Denton Ambrosini ’63 (Band) died on Dec. 12, 2021, at his home on Duck Lake in Grawn, Michigan. He earned his M.D. at the University of Cincinnati and specialized in radiology at University Hospi tal in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Jay’s career as a radiologist spanned more than three decades, including more than 20 years with the Radiological Associates of Decatur located at St. Mary’s Hospital. He ful ly retired in 2002 after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Jay and Dianne, the love of his life, spent the next 15 plus years traveling the country in their motor coach and spending winters in Palm Springs, California.

A private pilot at a young age, Jay loved to make many crosscountry trips. In the Tra verse City, Michigan, area, he was known as the “Float Plane Guy” and was known to ferry his friends from lake to lake. Jay was a strong supporter of the Michael J. Fox Foundation and met with the actor to dis cuss the Foundation’s research and therapeutic developments. Jay was preceded in death by his father, Benjamin ’41; his mother, Marguerite; and his significant other, Dianne Ford.

Charles Keith Keyser ’64 (Company E) N’62 died on Dec. 8, 2021. He earned a BA at Oberlin College and a Doctor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University,

followed by a residency in diagnostic radiology at the Cleveland Clinic and a fellowship in musculoskeletal radiology. His son, Michael D. Keyser N’81 W’80 attended Culver Summer Schools & Camps.

David Coleman Mercer N’67 died at home on July 1, 2021, in Oklahoma City. He attend ed high school in LaGrange, Illinois, and during summers, he attended Culver, where he achieved the rank of regimen tal commander. He attended Princeton University, where he was a member of the Princeton Tigertones, an all male a cap pella double octet group, for which he served as president. They appeared up and down the East Coast and in Bermuda during spring breaks.

Singing continued to be David’s passion. Throughout his adult life, he performed in many weddings and funerals.

After graduation from Princeton, he earned a master’s degree in public affairs from Indiana University. For more than 30 years, David worked as a stockbroker and branch manager for brokerage firms in Oklahoma City. He was also a Certified Financial Planner. He was always involved in the community and especially enjoyed the fund-raising aspect of his board commitments.

He served on the boards of the American Red Cross, Prevent Blindness Oklahoma, Oklahoma City All Sports As sociation, OKC Beautiful, and Youth Leadership Exchange. David was preceded in death by his parents, June and Aaron

Mercer of Cincinnati, Ohio. Survivors include his wife, Helen; brothers Ron ’65 and Fred ’69 of Oklahoma City; numerous nieces and nephews and his beloved guide dog, Treva.

Macy Orville Teetor III N’71 W’68 died suddenly at his home in Cedar Key, Florida on July 8, 2021. Born in New Or leans, Louisiana, he attended St. Martin’s Episcopal School as a child, and then graduated from Metairie Park County Day School. His summers were spent at Culver Summer Schools in Indiana, in both the Woodcraft and Upper Summer School programs, and later as a counselor.

In high school, Macy was a star soccer player and a bicyclist who often raced locally. He taught himself to ride a unicycle and would ride it everywhere, including to the convenience store where he would enter the store, ride to the back, grab a carton of milk, pay, and ride home. After graduating from Country Day, he attended and played soccer for the University of Miami, and later pursued an architecture degree at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Macy heralded from a long lineage of inventors, artisans and musicians. He became an accomplished boater and sail or, crewing on a transatlantic race and Mediterranean cruise. He also became a delivery captain for his uncle, Charles Teetor, relocating yachts large and small up and down the East coast. He learned to fly,

earning instrument, multiengine and instructor certi fications. He loved to fish in the Amazon, South Pacific and Costa Rica, and hunt in Mexico and Canada.

Macy was appointed an FAA aviation safety inspector for the State of Florida and participated in accident inves tigations therein. He served as safety pilot on the only private pilot owned aircraft to partic ipate in the FAA’s Operational Evaluation of ADSB, the GPS based data link that is the heart of the 21st century air traffic control system. The test ran for four days and was quite successful.

His immediate survivors are his sister Marguerite Pringle Teetor SSG ’74; stepmother Dottie Teetor and stepbrother Clayton Taylor and stepsister Carole Garcia.

Patrick Joseph Powers, Sr. N’84 died on Sept. 9, 2021, after an 18-year battle with brain cancer.

He attended Stephen F. Austin State University but completed his degree in phi losophy and history at the Uni versity of Texas in Arlington, where he put his people skills to good use by continuing in technology sales to schools.

Patrick enjoyed a 24-year career at SHI, working from home before most people experienced that convenience.

He met Brenda Johnston at a college retreat and recon nected with her several years later. They celebrated 29 years of marriage and were blessed with five children: four sons and one daughter. Patrick is

survived by his wife and chil dren, mother and stepfather and siblings.

Laura Anne Klemkosky Vitello ’90 Atrium died unexpectedly on August 10, 2021 in Bloom ington, Indiana. She earned a bachelor’s degree in art history at Indiana University and worked as a manager for Bor ders Books, Lucky’s Market in Bloomington, and for the Bloomington Animal Shelter. She enjoyed reading and trav eling, and she loved music and animals. She especially loved her family and spending time with them.

Laura is survived by her mother, Elizabeth; father, Robert “Buck”; her sister, Beth Lucas; one niece, Genevieve; and three nephews, Dan, Evan and Brendan.

Jonathan Charles Cafaro

Ferraro III ’99 (Company A) died of natural causes on Dec. 13, 2021, but he left an indelible impact on the world around him. He served as the president of television and film company, Mansky Productions, where he led many teams on several creative projects throughout the years. He earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. He remained in the Orlando area until his death. Jon was a truly unique individ ual with many interests and an accomplished background. He was preceded in death by his mother, Flora, and is survived by his father, John; his wife, Bridget; brother, William; his grandmother and many cous ins, aunts and uncles in Ohio.

In one sense, one could say many Culver students quite literally would not be where they are today if it weren’t for John Ruan III ’61. But that thinking can be applied figuratively to the legacy he leaves behind, both for Culver and for the world at large.

John, 78, of Des Moines, Iowa, and a graduate of Troop B, died Sept. 11, 2021, after a long illness.

As chairman of Ruan Transportation Management Systems, John was in a unique position to aid Culver in its suc cess. On a day-to-day level, his logistical support of the Troop and Equestriennes was important. If it wasn’t for his transportation support, our horses and riders, not to mention all their equipment, and even hay, would have been more difficult for the school to bring to Culver’s traditional Inaugural rides.

But as a member of the Culver Educational Foundation Board of Trustees, John helped see Culver through what was arguably one of its most transformative times. He joined this board in 1999. That same year Culver had a new head of schools, and was soon to have a new commandant and new dean of girls. Not only that, but it would also not be long before Culver would embark on its most ambitious, and most successful, campaign in its history, despite the trying financial climate in the early 2000s.

John’s service to others though went far, far

OTHER PASSINGS

beyond Culver and his home state of Iowa.

His father resurrected and brought the World Food Prize to Des Moines. The World Food Prize fights hunger and food insecurity in the world and recognizes innovators in those areas.

Under John’s leadership, the scope of the World Food Prize’s scope in fulfilling that mission, saving countless people from hunger and starvation.

“We pride ourselves at Culver in knowing that our graduates will represent our Academies with integrity, will lead their families and their commu nities by example, and will seek to give back to the world to acknowledge all they were given in life,” said John Buxton, who was Culver’s head of schools during Ruan’s tenure on the CEF board. “John was a quiet, generous, and positive leader and a fine man. We could not be more proud of him and we at Culver will miss him.”

He was a strong advocate for truck drivers and the transportation industry. He also served on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce board of directors and chaired the U.S. Chamber board in 2011.

John received his BA in business administration from Northwestern University and is a graduate of the Program for Management Development at Harvard Business School.

John is survived by his wife of 50 years, Janis; their two children, John Ruan IV (Alison), and Rachel McLean (Ben); and grandchildren, Abigail, John, Catherine, Jack and Emma.

He was preceded in death by his sister, Jayne (Ruan) Fletcher; and his brother, Thomas.

Between July 1 and December 31, 2021, we received notice of death for the following alumni.

Paul Walter Christensen Jr. N’41 Jan. 15, 2020

Curtis Rodney Case N’47 May 23, 2021

George Hamilton Wheeling Troop II ’49 Jan. 24, 2020

Stephen Phillip Carney W’49 June 3, 2020

Robert Maxwell ’54 Company C Feb. 18, 2020

Robert Torbet N’54 March 25, 2021

Randolph Guy Finn N’54 June 5, 2021

James Pearson W’54 Dec. 8, 2020

Soren Christiansen V N’56 Aug. 5, 2021

Robert Schneider ’62 Battery A Nov. 30, 2021

Stephen Perling Fried ’65 Company B Sept, 27, 2021

William Joseph Pfeffer Jr. ’66 Company B Oct. 28, 2021

Mark Kevin Werking N’70 Jan. 25, 2020

Gregory Wayne Carpenter W’70 Dec. 20. 2020

David Eugene Conway ’70 Company C Sept. 22, 2021

Alan Stormes ’75 Company B July 14, 2019

Robert Bentley Thumel W’89 Nov. 22, 2021

John Ruan lll

REMEMBERING THE FAMILY

Randal James Zell died after a sudden illness on July 2, 2020. He was the valedictorian of his senior high school class, then went on to earn a BS degree in 1992 with a major in Bi ology and a minor in Psychology at Allegheny College. Randy was the 100th faculty intern hired at Culver from 1991–93, under the mentorship of Department Chair of Science, Steve Winet. He also coached cross country, CGA track and field, and JV CMA basket ball. Randy honed his skills and taught and coached for nearly 30 years at the Newman School in New Orleans. He is survived by his wife Katherine and stepdaughter Amelle Kirsten Irwin.

John W. “Bill” Hunt died on Aug. 18, 2021 at Catherine Kasper Home, Donaldson, Indiana. After retiring from the Army, he served as Culver’s Director of Horsemanship from 1989–1991.

He attended Triton Regional High in Runnemede, New Jersey and Camden County Vocational School in Pennsauken, New Jersey, for Culinary Arts. John attended Baylor University and received an Associates in Science and graduated from the Academy of Health Sciences, US Army Physicians’ Assistant Course in 1974. He then received his Bachelor of Science from University of the State of New York in 1982. On December 18, 1976 he would marry the love of his life Mary Ventline on the Army base at Ft. Dix, New Jersey.

He served his country in the U.S. Army from 1963 until 1985. He was a decorated soldier serving two combat tours in Vietnam, as well as two tours in Germany. Receiving the Bronze Star Medal, Air Medal, Legion of Merit, Combat Medical Badge and the Repub lic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry to name a few of his achievements.

He began his career as a medic and then was selected to attend the first Army class of Physician Assistants. Finally, he was offered the opportunity to work with horses by be coming the Platoon Leader of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, the Old Guard’s Caisson Platoon. During his time with the Casson Platoon, he served as the Officer in Charge, Horse Control, for the 50th American Presidential Inaugural for Ronald Reagan. He was responsible for the logistics of bringing over 700 horses, from across the nation, to Washington D.C. to participate in that parade.

After leaving Culver, he was one of the founding members of Northern Indiana Riding for the Handicapped. He donated countless hours designing curriculums, training horses and volunteers, and teaching riding lessons.

He is survived by his wife Mary of Donald son, son Tim Hunt of Centerville, Virginia; sister Sharon Dorr of Pinellas Park, Florida; and brother Jeffrey (Connie) Thomas of Dover. A graveside service will take place at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors at a later date.

Janet L. Miller of Culver, Indiana died on Dec. 31, 2021 at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Mishawaka. She worked in the Academies’ Dining Hall, including service as the Head Cook, for 42 years prior to her retirement. She enjoyed fishing on Lake Maxinkuckee with her grandchildren, attending yard sales and shopping. Janet was preceded in death by her parents; grandson, Ryan; brother Russell; and sister Elaine. She is survived by her daughter Barbara, one granddaughter, Brooke, two great-granddaughters Bella and Novalee; two brothers, Andy and Clifford and two sisters, Nora and Cindy.

Sherri Lynn Mayfield, 75, of Culver, passed away peacefully on Jan. 4, 2022. She worked in the Academic Skills Center from 1984 to 2014, becoming the Director in 1987. During her tenure in the ASC, she cared about every student and spent hours working with them. She was their true advocate and created a safe space, not only for those needing help but also for those students who served as her Peer Tutors. She also taught Reading at Woodcraft Camp for several summers. Sher ri’s dedication to her students was recognized when she was awarded the John R. Mars Award in 1990, given to the faculty member who best exemplified the ideals of Culver.

She was born on November 22, 1946 to Fred and Juanita (nee Britton) Moss. She attended Pettit Park Junior High in Kokomo, Indiana, where she met her husband of 51 years, Tony Mayfield, in 7th grade. While they took some time off during high school, it was love at first sight. After graduating from Kokomo High School, she attended Ball State University and Indiana University, from which she received a master’s degree in education.

Sherri and Tony married in 1970 and settled in Culver, Indiana four years later, where they raised their two children, Ryan and Brooke, and four wonderful pets. Lily, their 11 year old golden retriever, still misses Sherri dearly. Sherri was an amazing baker of pies, famous for her caramels, which she made for friends and family each Christmas, and unpar alleled for her gift wrapping and special bows.

Sherri cherished her faith and was an active member of Grace United Church of Christ. She and Tony also enjoyed attending Sunday service at the Culver Memorial Chap el, and she was committed for many years to her summer Bible study. She valued service to others and found joy and fellowship through her participation in many spring break Culver mission trips.

Sherri exemplified patience, empathy, and unconditional love to her family. She was a devoted wife to her best friend, Tony. They loved to dance together, go to the movies, hold hands, and visit their children. Her greatest accomplishment was mothering her children, cheering them on in everything they did. She adored her six grandchildren, show ering them with her love, hugs, and kisses every chance she could.

She was a loyal and loving friend to many, but most especially her Robin sisters from her Kokomo elementary and high school days, and the Empty Nest Group, or ENGs, from Culver. She loved these special women and they shared laughter and tears, highs and lows, and everything in between for decades. Such rich friendship and history that will live on forever.

Sherri was loved deeply by her family, friends, and Culver community. She most often wore her signature high heels because they were comfortable and she glided along effortlessly. She valued style and simple ele gance with classic long skirts, blazers, popped collars under Culver sweatshirts, coral lipstick, comfortable in her natural beauty and grace.

Sherri is survived by her loving husband, Tony ’65; her children and adoring grand children: Ryan (Mandy) Mayfield W ’89, NB ’92, ’94, their daughters Stella and Ruby, and son Miles; and Brooke (Brandon W ’93, N ’96) Oak W ’92, SSG ’95, ’97 and their sons Hudson, Foster, and Wyatt; and Sherri’s sister, Linda (Dick) Campbell. Sherri will be remembered for her kindness, gener osity, warm smile and beautiful presence.

ROVIDING A MEMORIALIZED RESTING PLACE FOR OUR CULVER FAMILY

Overlooking the shores of Lake Maxinkuckee, on the northeast corner of Culver’s verdant campus sits the majestic Memorial Chapel. Within this beautiful Tudor-Gothic chapel is a Columbarium containing 108 niches we respectfully offer for purchase to members of our Culver community who wish to make this honorable setting their final resting place.

For more information or to purchase an inurnment right, please contact Brian Baker at (574) 842-8292 or Brian.Baker@culver.org.

Time to tell new stories

When I was much younger, I had a poster of Linus hanging on my bedroom wall with the quote: “I love mankind … it’s the people I can’t stand.”

My opinion really hasn’t changed over the past 60 years. It’s an odd view of the world, especially for someone who makes his living interviewing and writing about people. But I’ve always believed that telling their stories serves as another opportunity to understand us (mankind) better.

I’ve covered government meetings, murder trials, elections, economic issues, sporting events, state championships, national title runs, natural disasters, charitable causes, births, and deaths. I have been called every name in the book, had my car vandalized, threatened with lawsuits and even death over a few written words.

I have also received kind letters, brownies, a few beers, and a handful of awards for oth ers. The letters, brownies, beers, and awards far outnumber the death threats, by the way.

My formal introduction to Culver came at the right time for me. It had been years since I had been on campus. I had since married and had a 9-, 7- and 3-year-old. I met Doug Haberland at a Plymouth High School career day. We spoke about journalism, public relations, and writing. Once the kids learned what local reporters were paid, nobody was interested. A few weeks later, a mutual friend told me a position in Doug’s department had opened. I applied, interviewed, and started on Dec. 4, 2000.

Since that time, I have written about allschool meetings, elections, political figures, inaugurals, economic issues, state champi onships, national title runs, charitable causes, births, and deaths. I’ve still received the letters, emails, brownies, beers, and awards. And I’ve avoided the death threats, which was a nice change.

Our stories have gone from all print to nearly all digital. We have converted from film to digital cameras. Interview methods now include Zoom calls, Team sessions, and FaceTime. Our offices have moved once and will soon be moving again.

This time, though, when the marketing and communications team moves, I won’t be making the trip. I’ll be moving, too — into retirement. Writing that sounds like I’ll be join ing the horses in the Sarge Hudson pasture.

I will continue to write. Maybe a few more words about Culver. Maybe not. But the writing will be on my schedule. After 52 years of meeting deadlines, it’s time to retreat, relax, and refresh for a new, slower adven ture. Whether I will enjoy — yes, I used the E-word for those who know me — it as much as my time at Culver is an unknown.

Culver is the longest job I’ve held by 11 years. I estimate a quarter of my wardrobe has the Culver logo on it. My “daily duty” includes ties older than the kids on campus. My kids have gradu ated from Culver and college now. I thought about leaving through the years. Yet, I stayed.

shot, rocked a homerun, and won a close game. I’ve seen their disappointment when they fail. And I’ve listened as they talk about overcoming personal obstacles to rise to a new level of helping others.

When explaining the student experience, Hal Holbrook ’42 said it best: “There are plac es on this campus where I have lived … and died — and out of that I got me.”

And, for 21 years, I’ve had a front row seat to it all.

you need me, I’ll be hanging with the boys on the “Serengeti.”

I stayed because of the kids. They continue to amaze me. I always want to see how they develop over their Culver careers. There are the Type A kids who begin to mellow and enjoy themselves. The Type B kids who find their niche and excel. The great athletes who become great students. The great students who become great athletes. And the total strangers who become brothers and sisters. Sometimes, they become husbands and wives.

I’ve seen their eyes light up as they explain a newly understood scientific principle or philosophical concept. I’ve been on the side lines and courtside when they have made a great catch, scored a goal, hit the last second

That’s also why it’s time to move on. Writing about Culver kids for this audience is preaching to the choir. Now, after two years of watching people go for each other’s throats through their masks, I feel compelled to tell similar stories outside the Culver bubble — especially about kids — that will help restore our faith in each other and the future. Words can heal. I’m betting those stories are out there. They just need a viable public platform. I may be disappointed. I hope not.

But, if I do fail, I have that retiree privilege of visiting campus to have my faith in man kind restored.

— Jan Garrison

If