Forward - Spring 2015

TH E MAGAZ I N E OF

Volume 60, No. 1

It Takes a Village: Taking on Retention One Student at a Time Pg. 9

Significant Gifts to College Enhance a World of Learning at The Stirrup Gallery Pg. 12

warmth of er early signs of spring, we share the oth and ops wdr sno to way give to heart of all we do – keeping As the great winter of 2015 begins of Davis & Elkins College are at the ple peo the ly, Tru . you h wit nity supporting D&E our campus commu ging recognition to the College, and brin g, nin lear and g hin teac for spirits high, sharing their passion of Forward magazine. today – as evidenced by this edition ed a new class of eager and e honored our traditions. We welcom hav we ter, win and fall the ut gho ing Homecoming. We Throu ment and honored friendships dur ieve ach ni alum ized ogn rec We s. une to visit enthusiastic learner And some of us had the good fort rse. cou the and rt cou the h, pitc enjoyed time on and around the places that have lifted their help us remember the people and o wh es, stat and es citi er oth in alumni and friends hearts for D&E through the years. ring stories is as well – work for Davis & Elkins College. Hea my of ts par t bes the of one is ies stories of Sharing D&E’s stor her education changed her life, or the ard tow gift a how of red sha bs Tub like the heartfelt memory Gail still thrive decades later. relationships that blossomed here and it and the joy of ents still find help when they need stud ere wh ay tod of pus cam ve Fast forward to the vibrant, acti e remains a great adventure. friends and new relationships. Colleg excelling in ral arts and sciences, our students are libe the to nt me mit com our g din tion is essential for a small Change is ever present. Uphol ional studies and the arts. Yet innova fess pro ies, anit hum the in as l wel as h an online RN STEM programs range of programs and services wit our ed and exp we , term is Th ve. fessional instruction with private school like D&E to thri combines the rigor of on-campus pro and ors fess pro E D& by ght tau is se who need more to BSN degree. It g nurses – a tremendous gift for tho kin wor e serv er bett to form plat the convenience of an online choices in pursuing their dreams. success and for : “To prepare and inspire students for sion mis our of and us ore bef se tho So we continue the work of g it so. ” Thank you for your part in makin thoughtful engagement in the world.

With warm regards,

Carol Schuler Vice President for Development schulerc@dewv.edu 304-642-5576

IN THIS

THE MAGAZINE OF

06

Carol Schuler, Vice President for Development Nanci Bross-Fregonara, Editor

Writers: Philip Fetty, Nanci Bross-Fregonara and Linda Howell Skidmore

Photographers: Sam Santilli, Nanci BrossFregonara, Paul W. Hendrix, Linda Howell Skidmore, Emily Miller and Mark Lanham

ISSUE Hidden Strength: Helgoe Shedding Light on Introverts

About the Magazine

Forward magazine is published twice a year by the Office of Communications & Marketing. To subscribe or to submit your news, please send an email to fregonaran@dewv.edu or write to Nanci Bross-Fregonara, 100 Campus Drive, Elkins, Wv 26241.

The Mission of Davis & Elkins College To prepare and inspire students for success and for thoughtful engagement in the world.

About the College

Davis & Elkins College, in compliance with Titles vI and vII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the West virginia Human Rights Act is an equal opportunity institution that does not discriminate on the race, color, sex, religion, ancestry, national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status, gender identification, or genetic information or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, admission to and enrollment with the College, including, but not limited to, recruitment, selection, hiring, placement, transfer, promotion, training, compensation, benefits, discipline, termination, educational policies, admission policies, financial aid, scholarship and loan programs, housing, athletic and other Collegeadministered programs and activities. Inquiries regarding Title IX and/or 504 compliance and the filing of a complaint should be referred to the College's Title IX/Section 504 Coordinator or Deputy Coordinators.

Davis & Elkins College Board of Trustees

Bruce Lee kennedy, II, CFA James S. McDonnell, III Michael P. Mihalyo, Jr. June B. Myles, William S. Moyer Chair Cliff J. Neese Jr., ’83 Richard C. Seybolt, ’63, Eric J. Nilsen, ’82 Vice Chair Donald M. Robbins William W. Nuttall, ’70 William H. Sudbrink, ’59 Secretary Reginald Owens Sr., ’83, Life Trustees Treasurer Carter Giltinan Joyce B. Allen John H. Harling, ’53 Mark S. Barber, ’75 Thomas J. Martin, James Bialek, ’74 Wendell M. Cramer, ’59 D.D.S., ’50 Peter H. Dougherty, ’75 David A. Rutherford Dorothy H. Wamsley D. Drake Dowler, ’69 Nancy Evans-Bennett, Joseph M. Wells, III ’66 Chair Emeriti David A. Faris, M.D. Henry M. Moore kimberly M. Farry, Paul S. Stirrup, ’60 M.D., ’85 Robert T. Gregory, ’59 L. Newton Thomas Jr. Leonard J. Timms Jr. Charles E. Hill

09

It Takes a Village: Taking on Retention, One Student at a Time

Also...

On the Cover

A mounted display of vividly colored butterflies native to Peru is one of the newest additions to The J. Richard & Dotty S. Kendig Collection in The Stirrup Gallery.

18

Andy Johanson: Helping Change Lives with a Smile

22

Photo by Nanci Bross-Fregonara

2 News Around Campus A Roundup of Happenings on the Hill 6 Faculty Focus saine Named Black Theatre Network President Baxter's Dissertation Cited in Professional Publication New GIS Professor Joins Faculty Morgan Attends Salzburg Seminar 14 D&E Establishes Presbyterian

Homecoming

Scholars Program

15 Artist, Elkins Native Establishes Two New Scholarships 16 Alumni Awards 20 Athletics News

Double Trouble on the Court!

Men's Soccer Earns Academic Awards

22 26 31 32 33 34 36

Homecoming Alumni Notes D&E Love Stories Alumni Events Calendar Throwback Forward In Memoriam Q&A with Anatoli Chernyaev

12

Significant Gifts to College Enhance a World of Learning at The Stirrup Gallery

©2015 Davis & Elkins College

Volume 60, No. 1

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Davis & Elkins Introduces Online RN to BSN Program

By Linda Howell Skidmore

Photo by Nanci Bross-Fregonara

NEWS AROUND CAMPUS

As health care delivery becomes more complex, medical professionals throughout the nation are emphasizing the need for nurses to obtain additional training and education. Davis & Elkins College has answered that call with a new, completely online RN to BSN program launched in January.

“Graduates of our own associate degree program have been asking us to launch a program like this for several years,” notes Vice President for Academic Affairs Joe Roidt. “We are very pleased to be able to extend the quality education we have always offered to residential and commuter students to adult, online learners and are exploring other, similar degreecompletion programs for adult learners.”

The program, which can be completed in one year, strives to provide a rewarding educational experience, challenge students to prepare themselves for the demands of the 21st century health care arena, and provide students with a foundation for graduate study.

“

Working nurses need a flexible and efficient way to achieve their educational goals. The online format allows them to complete their assignments at times that are convenient for them, whether that happens to be noon or midnight.

“

– Threasia Witt

Designed for working RNs who are adult learners, the RN-BSN Degree Completion Program offers busy professionals a convenient and efficient way to further their education.

“Working nurses need a flexible and efficient way to achieve their educational goals,” says Professor of Nursing at Davis & Elkins Threasia 2 | DAvIS & ELkINS COLLEGE Forward

Witt. “The online format allows them to complete their assignments at times that are convenient for them, whether that happens to be noon or midnight. We are excited about this opportunity and have designed our curriculum around the needs of today’s health care environment.”

Sarah Marks, an RN student at D&E, demonstrates neck and head assessment techniques that she had to videotape for one of her online assignments for the new RN-BSN degree completion program.

Rehabilitation Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va. With plans to begin the online program in May, Sjoman adds that the application process is timesaving for D&E alumni because there’s no need to transfer transcripts.

Two 2014 Davis & Elkins nursing graduates say the program is exactly what they had hoped for because it allows them to work and continue their education.

The program is offered in three consecutive 16week rotations. Each rotation is divided into two eight-week modules that provide between six and seven credits per session.

Studying to achieve a higher rank as a health care provider is nothing new for Sarah Marks. She became a Certified Nursing Assistant, went on to earn her Licensed Practical Nursing degree, then enrolled in the Nursing Program at D&E.

“We encourage all our students to go beyond the Associate in Science degree,” says Dr. Carol Cochran, chair of the Division of Nursing.

“Having a Bachelor of Science degree makes them more marketable, particularly for management positions, and prepares them to go further in their education.”

“I was really excited once I got my RN and I wanted to go further,” says Marks who began the online BSN program in January.

Since students can log in for their classes at any hour, Marks says she appreciates being able to build study time around her work in the medical/ surgical unit at Davis Medical Center in Elkins.

“D&E made it really great, especially for people who work the night shift,” she says.

Her next goal is to become a travel nurse and continue her online courses wherever her assignments take her.

The “convenience factor” of completing course work at any time was also appealing to Ashley Sjoman. The 2014 grad works as a floor nurse at HealthSouth MountainView Regional

According to the Annual Report of the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Registered Professional Nurses, there are 21,510 diploma and associate degree nurses licensed in West Virginia. Of those, 1,600 live in Barbour, Braxton, Calhoun, Doddridge, Harrison, Lewis, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Randolph, Tucker, Upshur and Webster counties. D&E’s online program is available to students in West Virginia, as well as any registered nurse in the United States.

For additional information, visit the D&E website at www.dewv.edu or contact Admission Counselor Rabia Mirza at 304-808-1406 or online@dewv.edu.

Walkin’ the Walk: Davis & Elkins Student Raises Awareness and Funds for Veterans

to benefit area veterans. His mission drew success and eventually netted $1,256, but he admits the effort was more difficult than he thought it would be.

By Linda Howell Skidmore

“My feet were sore and blistered,” Jonese says recalling his trek in the hot sun. “But when it got rough and I thought I couldn’t do it anymore, I started to think about what veterans go through and I realized this was nothing.”

“

My feet were sore and blistered. But when it got rough and I thought I couldn't do it anymore, I started to think about what veterans go through and I realized this was nothing.

– Lakota Jonese

While the attention he drew was somewhat expected because of the social media messages he sent out prior to his walk, Jonese says there was one show of support that left him nearly speechless.

“One woman saw me walking on the first day.

Then on the second day, she caught up to us and gave a $100 donation,” Jonese says. “I was definitely shocked for one person I didn’t know to give such a big donation.”

The funds will be awarded to a veterans organization.

While Jonese deems his trek a success, he’d like to see it repeated next summer in “a bigger way” and hopes other student veterans will get involved.

After graduation, Jonese hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps with a career in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Davis & Elkins College Director of Development Operations and Veterans Liaison Officer Debbie Larkin and Coordinator of Special Collections Mark Lanham, U.S.M.C. Retired ride a golf cart through the Veterans Day Parade in downtown Elkins. Davis & Elkins was also represented in the parade by members of Veterans Upward Bound, Student Veterans Association, the Color Guard, West Virginia Highlanders of Davis & Elkins College and Alpha Phi Omega.

Photo by Linda Howell Skidmore

Davis & Elkins College senior and vice president of the College’s chapter of Student Veterans of America Lakota Jonese walks along U.S. 33 west of Elkins as he begins his four-day, 100-mile journey in support of veterans.

He wasn’t alone for his journey. His father, Pocahontas County Sheriff David Jonese, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, drove a pace car. Messages of support poured in by email and on Facebook from Lakota Jonese’s friends

Photo by Linda Howell Skidmore

But that’s exactly how Davis & Elkins College senior and vice president of the College’s Student Veterans of America chapter Lakota Jonese spent the Fourth of July holiday weekend. The Green Bank, W.Va., resident hoped to “raise awareness of the sacrifices our men and women in the military make for us every day” and asked for sponsorship donations

Jonese left Elkins early on a Thursday morning heading west. Over the next two days, his course veered south until he reached Summersville, W.Va., on day four.

“

It’s not every day that a person hands a $100 bill to someone walking along a West Virginia highway. Then again, it’s not every day that a college student sets out on a four-day, 100-mile walk to raise awareness and funds for veterans.

and their friends. Area news reporters caught up with him along the way and passing motorists honked their horns when they spotted the “Walk for the Troops” sign strapped to Jonese’s backpack. He was met with cheers and applause when he walked through the Weston Volunteer Fire Department’s Fourth of July Parade.

News Around Campus

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NEWS AROUND CAMPUS

Linda Howell Skidmore “Our cultural diversity tells a story that we should celebrate, not just tolerate” was the core message

blues musician, minister and lecturer The Rev. Robert Jones brought to the packed audience at the 2014 Phipps Lecture this fall. Through his musically accompanied lecture titled “The Role of Music in the Civil Rights Movement,” Jones demonstrated how some of the same secular

songs take on a different sound and emotion depending on which region of the country they are sung. As he performed popular music from the 1950s and 1960s, he invited the audience to sing along. He told the group it was those songs, along with others originally performed by both black and white artists, that brought people together and began to dismantle cultural division.

Photo by Paul "Wes" Hendrix

“ (Or how to fit an ensemble, instruments and road food into a 12-passenger van)

By Nanci Bross-Fregonara Becky Hill, dance director of D&E’s Appalachian Ensemble, says there’s an exciting new energy with the now 14-member traditional music and dance group. “We have seven new dancers who had never worked together, coming from different backgrounds and different genres,” she says. “They are so excited to learn from each other.”

Their excitement and enthusiasm shows. “The group has really grown together. Friendships have formed and it is noticeable when they perform,” Hill says. Part of this closeness can be attributed to being literally squished together in a 12-passenger van and hitting the road. This past fall, Appalachian Ensemble travelled more than 1,700 miles to both perform and participate in cultural exchanges, including trips to Frostburg, Md., Berea, Ky. and Charleston, W.Va. “One of the best experiences was participating in a Romania Cultural Exchange program in Charleston,” Hill says. “They taught us Romanian whistles and we taught them clogging. The nicest part was their director telling me he had never seen his group so happy. We were all just jamming together.”

For Marina Madden, a freshman from Charlottesville, Va., the path to Davis & Elkins began years ago when she studied dance with Emily Oleson, now the College’s dance program 4 | DAvIS & ELkINS COLLEGE Forward

coordinator. “I couldn't wait to work with her again,” she says.

Although first attracted to D&E’s dance program, the Ensemble was an added bonus. “I have made close ties and learned so much since I've been a part of this group,” she says. “Performing with them is one of the things I look forward to most.

It's like getting to have a little party on stage with close friends. We totally feed off of each other’s energy and it feels like magic.”

That special feeling continues on the highway.

While family road trips before iPods had rousing rounds of “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall,” the Ensemble takes that tradition to a new level. “My favorite part of the car rides are the sing-alongs,” Madden explains. “I think there has been at least one sing-along on every car trip we’ve taken and they get pretty intense.”

Appalachian Ensemble veteran Scotty Leach, a sophomore from Centralia, Wash., says this current group has really meshed. Coming to campus a week before school started allowed them to focus on getting to know each other.

They realized they all came to D&E to do the same thing.

Photo by Emily Miller

On The Road Again

Our cultural diversity tells a story that we should celebrate, not just tolerate.

“

Phipps Lecturer Presents Civil Rights Music With Song

– The Rev. Robert Jones

His message culminated as the audience joined hands to sing “We Shall Overcome.” Jones has served as an instructor for the Augusta Heritage Center of Davis & Elkins College summer sessions and performed for civic groups throughout the United States, Canada and Europe.

While the long road trips are great for additional bonding, they are also a chance to “interact with the real world,” he says. “That’s the best part of going away.”

The audience reaction to their performances is also rewarding. “I love it when people are shocked that we’ve been together for such a short period of time.”

Indeed, sometimes it feels longer than just a few months. Depending on their exhaustion levels, Leach says the van rides are filled with either craziness or sleep. “Actually it seems like we have the most fun when things go wrong or we laugh at inside jokes in front of an audience,” he said.

While the lure of the road has its own special attraction, from crazy hotels to sing-alongs, performing has made the Ensemble tight. “I love it. I’ve learned from every performance,” said Hill, “and the students are learning as well.”

Grants Will Help Strengthen Learning Environment

By Linda Howell Skidmore

Photo by Nanci Bross-Fregonara

Davis & Elkins recently received two significant grants that will be used to strengthen particular aspects of the College’s learning environment. D&E received a grant of more than $48,000 from the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) to strengthen students’ opportunities to explore issues of vocation and purpose throughout the course of their undergraduate experience. The College is also sharing in a grant of more than $250,000 from the Teagle Foundation.

Photo by Nanci Bross-Fregonara

Enjoying conversation after the "Candlelight Christmas" concert at D&E are, from left, Chairman of the Board of Mike Ross Inc. Mike Ross with his granddaughter Katy Ross; Davis & Elkins Artist-in-Residence Jack Gibbons; and College Trustee Joyce Allen and her husband, John. The musical holiday gift to the community was sponsored by D&E, Mike Ross Inc. and John and Joyce Allen. Those attending brought non-perishable food donations for the Davis Memorial Presbyterian Church Food Pantry.

NetVUE is a nationwide network of colleges and universities formed to enrich the intellectual and theological exploration of vocation among undergraduate students. The initiative is administered by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) with generous support from Lilly Endowment Inc. CIC is the major national service organization for all small and mid-sized, independent, liberal arts colleges and universities in the U.S., providing a broad range of initiatives to improve the quality of education and strengthen institutional resources.

The College will use the funding to develop and implement multiple initiatives designed to strengthen opportunities for students to explore their vocation and purpose through both curricular and co-curricular experiences.

Similarly, Davis & Elkins students will benefit from the College’s participation in the C5 Consortium for a More Compelling and Coherent Liberal Arts Curriculum funded by the Teagle Foundation.

The People Rejoice: A Historical Pageant for the Mountain State Forest Festival For the first time since 1966, the Mountain State Forest Festival Pageant was staged last fall as part of the Coronation of Queen Silvia ceremonies. Davis & Elkins College and the Division of Fine and Performing Arts revived the decades-long tradition as a tribute to the late Claire Fiorentino, a professor of theatre at D&E from 1944 to 1974 and a long-time organizer of the pageant. “The People Rejoice: A Historical Pageant for the Mountain State Forest Festival,” based on the original script by Fiorentino and the late Dale Wilson, was adapted by Davis & Elkins College Theatre Program Director kb saine. The cast included 17 Davis & Elkins College students, members of D&E’s music and dance performance group Appalachian Ensemble and Dance Program Coordinator Emily Oleson as Maid Silvia.

The Claire Deiss Fiorentino Chair in Theatre at Davis & Elkins, established in 2005 and funded by Fiorentino’s son, Antony E. “Tony” Fiorentino, provides a permanently endowed professorship in theatre arts as well as an endowed theatre enrichment fund.

Through the years, Fiorentino was recognized throughout West Virginia for her quality of theatrical productions and pageants. This year marked the 50th anniversary of the last Forest Festival Pageant she produced.

The $280,000, 30-month award will assist D&E, Eckerd College, Saint Augustine's University, Shenandoah University and Virginia Wesleyan College in further strengthening the educational experience on each campus. The collaborating institutions will work toward streamlining program curricula and strengthening the integration of highimpact practices (such as undergraduate research) into the college learning environment.

The Teagle Foundation was established in 1944 by Walter C. Teagle (1878-1962), longtime president and later chairman of the board of Standard Oil Company, now Exxon Mobil Corporation. It works to support and strengthen liberal arts higher education, acting as a catalyst for improvements in teaching and learning in the arts and sciences.

News Around Campus

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FACULTY FOCUS

Strength:

“

If we (introverts) are always pushing ourselves to be out there, we risk depleting our energy, while depriving others of our best assets. It's important to recognize that introversion cannot be evaluated through an extraversion lens.

– Dr. Laurie Helgoe

Photo by Barron Helgoe

Professor Laurie Helgoe’s book Introvert Power: Why Your Inner Life is Your Hidden Strength, has been printed in six languages – English, Chinese, Finnish, Japanese, Korean and Spanish. A second, expanded edition of Introvert Power came out in February 2013.

D

r. Laurie Helgoe came A psychologist and an introvert herself, to Davis & Elkins with a Helgoe has been quoted as an expert in a couple claims to fame in her number of publications including The Wall briefcase. Most notably is her Street Journal, Parents Magazine, Real Simple internationally acclaimed Family, The Chicago Tribune, Body+Soul book Introvert Power: Why Your Inner Life Magazine, The Arizona Republic, Esquire. is Your Hidden Strength, which com, Washingtonpost. provides insight and a boost of com, The Charleston confidence for those who prefer Gazette, Dallas

By Linda Howell Skidmore to live life on the quiet side.

Morning News, San Jose Mercury News, The Since its release with a Columbus Dispatch and Seventeen. She also Publishers Weekly starred review in 2008, wrote the cover story, "Revenge of the Introvert Power and Helgoe have shared the Introverts" for the September- October spotlight in raising awareness and, as she’s 2010 issue of Psychology Today. Helgoe been told time and again, changing lives. has been interviewed by several radio

6 | Davis & Elkins College Forward

“

Hidden

Helgoe Shedding Light on Introverts

stations around the country, and has provided keynote addresses for a variety of conferences. She also appeared on “Whatever with Alexis and Jennifer” on the Hallmark Channel in October 2010.

As the book’s popularity grew, it was printed in five languages – Chinese, Finnish, Japanese, Korean and Spanish.

The broad interest in the topic makes sense, Helgoe points out, because introverts make up 50 percent of the population. A second, expanded edition of Introvert Power came out in February 2013.

“Though the book addresses the challenges of being an introvert in America, I have heard from introverts all over the world who feel relieved to know that introversion is not only normal, but an important source of perspective and strength,” Helgoe says.

As an introvert, Helgoe says she finds life at Davis & Elkins is a perfect fit.

“I get to dig into subjects I love to study, classes are small, and I am able to get to know students as individuals,” she says.

Although Helgoe stays busy teaching and serving as chair of the Division of Social Sciences, she makes time for writing.

Recently, an article she penned for oprah. com dismissed the stereotypes most people conjure up when describing an introvert. Although common misconceptions linger, introverts are not snobs, disinterested, shy or lacking in social skills. In fact, Helgoe points out, they can be powerful leaders who develop ideas while their counterparts often shoot from the hip.

The distinction that sets introverts apart is based on how they process information as opposed to how social they are.

“Introverts have more brain activity because they process things internally,” Helgoe explains. “They like to form their thoughts before they express them.

Because of that, they can become overly stimulated and need to pull back to recharge.”

Hence, an introvert may seek out a quiet place after class or work, leave a party early or plan an evening in a small group setting instead of a large social gathering.

On the other hand, extraverts – who are wired to pursue rewards in the environment – exhibit behavior that is more spontaneous and gregarious.

Helgoe says that extraverts enjoy thinking through talking, and introverts prefer to think first and talk second.

In a society that runs 24/7 with potential for instant gratification, expectations run high for quick delivery of response to information. Introverts just don’t operate that way and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, Helgoe explains.

“Despite the fact that culture keeps pushing us to be faster, that doesn’t always work,” she says. “Groups that defer to pressure or loud members, neglecting processing, end up producing worse decisions.”

Helgoe says the American culture also makes it easy to assume everyone is an extravert. She cautions that those outgoing people who try to pull their introverted friends over to the other side aren’t really doing them a favor.

“If we (introverts) are always pushing ourselves to be out there, we risk depleting our energy, while depriving others of our best assets,” she says. “It’s important to recognize that introversion cannot be evaluated through an extraversion lens.”

You Might Be an Introvert If You:

• Take pleasure in solitude and reflection • Recharge by pulling away from stimulation • Prefer leisurely conversation to quick-paced talk • Enjoy one or two people at a time • Like to think before talking • Would rather text or email than call • Are idea-oriented, and enjoy “digging in” to a problem • Get annoyed by too many (people) and too much (noise) Source: Dr. Laurie Helgoe

Helgoe is also the author of a chapter in the forthcoming textbook, Contemporary Organizational Behavior in Action, PearsonPrentice Hall, 2015; “The Pocket Idiot’s Guide to Breaking Up,” Penguin/Alpha, 2006; and “The Boomer’s Guide to Dating (Again),” Penguin/Alpha, 2004.

She is the co-author of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Raising Boys,” Penguin Group/Alpha, 2008, and “The Anxiety Answer Book,” Sourcebooks, 2005.

This spring at D&E, Helgoe is teaching Psychology of Adjustment, Counseling Skills and Psychology Practicum. She has also instructed Group Processes, a course that studies team dynamics in a lab setting, and Psychology and Nature, which she co-taught last fall with conservationist Beth Wheatley. She plans to add courses in Personality Theory and an expanded two-semester Theory and Practice course next year.

saine Named Black Theatre Network President

By Linda Howell Skidmore

Davis & Elkins College Theatre Program Director kb saine has been selected as president of the Black Theatre Network (BTN), a national organization dedicated to the exploration and preservation of the theatrical visions of the African diaspora.

In her role as president, saine is working with the board to oversee the mission and vision, and maintain a strong national presence. Black Theatre Network strives to collect, process and distribute information that supports the professional and personal development of its members while nurturing the growth of Black Theatre.

In addition, BTN has established a networking system with artists and scholars across the nation in order to provide opportunities for exchanging ideas and sharing talents.

Earlier this year, saine enlisted the help of Andre Harrington, a BTN colleague and associate professor at California State University at San Bernardino, who assisted with costume design for the Mountain State Forest Festival Pageant.

“My friends and colleagues in BTN have always been partners in art-making for me, as a director, playwright and producer,” saine says. “I'm eager to continue to find the ways our D&E students can learn from and work with BTN's members.”

In the 2014 fall semester, saine produced The Mountain State Forest Festival Pageant, “Cinderella: A Fairy Godmother's Tale,” “Zoo Story” and “Julius Caesar.” Since coming to D&E in 2013, saine directed “Schoolhouse Rock Live!” in spring 2013 and “Our Town” in fall 2013.

She also mentored student-directors for the Winter OneActs in January 2014.

A director, author, educator and theatre historian for 15 years, saine served as the producing artistic director of Sycamore Rouge, Petersburg, Virginia’s professional theatre for the community, before joining the Davis & Elkins College faculty.

After earning a Master of Fine Arts in theatre pedagogy/ directing from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2002, saine taught at both K-12 and university levels, heading theatre programs at Wesleyan College in Macon, Ga., George Wythe High School in Richmond, Va., and Petersburg High School in Petersburg, Va. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and secondary education from West Virginia Wesleyan in 1998.

As a member of BTN’s executive board for the past five years, saine has served as assistant secretary, secretary and vice president. She organized BTN’s 28th Annual Conference this summer at New York University’s Gallatin School.

Hidden Strength: Helgoe Shedding Light on Introverts

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FACULTY FOCUS

A new member of the faculty is adding a new dimension to the Biology and Environmental Science program at D&E: geographic information system (GIS) technology. “GIS is a powerful tool used in many different disciplines, especially biology and environmental science,” says Assistant Professor of Biology and Environmental Science Crystal Krause, who organized last semester’s internationally designated GIS Day on campus. “GIS lets us visualize, analyze and interpret data to better understand spatial relationships and patterns.”

Krause says she hoped the event would introduce students and faculty to GIS and provide them with insight on how they use it every day. “It’s much more than just map making,” she adds.

By Linda Howell Skidmore Davis & Elkins College Assistant Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice Dana Baxter earned her Ph.D. in criminology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in May. Now, her doctoral dissertation is getting national attention in a professional publication and is available to help retailers prevent employee theft.

Krause joined the Davis & Elkins faculty this academic year and is teaching courses in botany, GIS and remote sensing. She earned a Ph.D. in biology at Northern Arizona University in 2010, a Master of Science in geography from the University of New Mexico in 2007, and a Bachelor of Science in biology from Fort Lewis College in 2005.

Baxter’s “Who is Taking the Shirt Off Your Back? A Multi-Method Analysis of Theft at a Specialty Retailer,” was featured in a column in LP Magazine

by Dr. Richard Hollinger, expert on employee theft. Hollinger is director of the Security Research Project and professor and chair of the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Crystal Krause, Assistant Professor of Biology and Environmental Science, demonstrates the applications of GIS during an informative event on campus last fall.

“What is exciting about this exposure is that Dr. Baxter’s research will be available to retailers who can directly apply her findings: a rare achievement,” says Dr. Laurie Helgoe, chair of the Division of Social Sciences at Davis & Elkins.

Photo by Nanci Bross-Fregonara

By Linda Howell Skidmore

Baxter's Dissertation Cited in Professional Publication

to help identify potential impacts of climate change on rare and endemic species. The study is also directed at understanding dispersal ability with climate change and how a protected area might respond to the potential impacts of climate change.

Krause is currently conducting research that involves developing spatial models in GIS and remotely sensed data

Morgan Attends Salzburg Seminar

to provide better opportunities for disadvantaged students to achieve success at the college level.

By Linda Howell Skidmore

Prior to the session, participants developed short papers addressing common cross-cutting issues that institutions serving disadvantaged and marginalized communities face and innovative approaches to addressing these issues. While in Salzburg, they discussed the most pressing issues that they collectively face and, drawing upon the diversity of experience and knowledge, developed innovative ways to address them that span national and institutional borders. Among topics examined in the session were the financial resources of institutions serving marginalized populations, student learning and development, and faculty supply and development.

Professor of Chemistry Dr. Oma Morgan was among 60 college and university leaders and scholars from throughout the world to attend a Salzburg Global Seminar in Salzburg, Austria. The topic of the session was “Students at the Margins and the Institutions that Serve Them: A Global Perspective.”

The session focused on finding ways

“Employee theft is often viewed as ‘just the cost of doing business,’” Baxter says. “But that should not be the case.”

In her study, Baxter examines the causes and cost of theft, both internal and external, at one specialty retailer, and offers an explanation of motivation for those being caught committing internal theft. The study provides insight into employees’ motivation to commit internal theft, how much loss is occurring annually, and preventive techniques to curtail the crimes.

“

Morgan earned her Ph.D., Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts degrees from Queens College, City University of New York, N.Y. At Davis & Elkins, her teaching areas are general, organic and analytical chemistry and organic techniques.

8 | Davis & Elkins College Forward

Baxter explains that she chose the topic because it is understudied in the field of criminology and has serious economic consequences for society.

My hope is that this research and future research would assist retailers in creating an environment where employees not only do not want to commit internal theft, but where they want to stop outsiders from participating in external theft.

“

New Faculty Member Focuses on Power of GIS

– Dr. Dana Baxter

“My hope is that this research and future research would assist retailers in creating an environment where employees not only do not want to commit internal theft, but where they want to stop outsiders from participating in external theft,” Baxter says.

At Davis & Elkins, Baxter has taught courses in white collar crime, women and crime, and law enforcement in which students actively participate in solving a simulated homicide case.

FEATURE

It Takes a

Village: Taking On Retention, One Student at a Time designated Retention Team and encouraging everyone on campus to be the “boots on the ground.” The team, made up of administrators, faculty and staff, understands that the challenge is on.

“It’s important to understand that even the most sophisticated retention effort can’t retain students if students are not having a quality experience,” says Dr. Joe Roidt, Vice President for Academic Affairs. “The success we’ve had on the retention front is attributable to the caliber of the educational experience we’re able to offer our students.”

While student retention may not seem as glamorous as recruitment, consider this. Like all institutions, D&E works hard to attract the right student with open houses, campus visits, glossy promotional materials and personal interviews.

It only makes sense to expend similar resources and efforts in an effort to ensure that students who enroll at D&E are successful at D&E.

Photo by Nanci Bross-Fregonara

The team addresses this challenge throughout the year on a variety of different levels. Faculty, like first responders, play a key role.

By Nanci Bross-Fregonara On the surface, student retention seems to be about numbers, percentages to be specific.

As in what percentage of students who were enrolled in a given semester return the following semester or year? Retention rates are a matter of public record and students and parents searching for the right college often look at these numbers. High retention rates are good.

If significant numbers of students are returning regularly, they must be satisfied. Low rates raise concerns. Why are so many students not returning?

Retention rates at D&E have been steadily increasing over the past several years. Fall-tospring retention rates for the past four years have been in the 90 percent range, spring-to-fall rates in the 85 percent range. These rates compare very favorably with virtually any college in the United States but, retention rates don’t just magically increase. Each percentage point increase in retention represents innumerable efforts on the part of many individuals across a campus. This is the story of retention success at D&E. Over the past several years, the College has strengthened its retention efforts, creating a

“If a faculty member has concerns about a student, whether it is simply a matter of a student not seeming to engage in class or not doing their work, our retention specialist goes to work. We look at those trouble signs and immediately act on them,” says Roidt.

While many may assume that students leave institutions as a matter of academic choice, for example transferring to a school that offers a different major, Roidt points out there are many factors that may contribute to a student leaving an institution. “The reason an individual considers leaving an institution may have to do with finances, or feeling homesick, or having to take a military leave of absence. Our responsibility is to connect that student with the appropriate resources in as timely and proactive a fashion as possible.”

Roidt can readily pull up charts and tracking systems on his laptop for all the students who have come to the team’s attention. This approach has grown broader and more

It Takes a Village: Taking On Retention, One Student at a Time

| 9

“Early on, we used to focus primarily on the academic side of things. We would check their mid-term grades, place struggling students in a study skills class and hope that it worked. But we realized not only did we need to start sooner, but that the standard study skills class didn’t necessarily work for everyone,” he says.

needing additional support: international students jumping in feet first to a U.S. college, student-athletes that need to stay on track when travelling, and writing skills that need improvement.” In the Writing Center alone last semester, more than 500 students were assisted and The Naylor Center held more than 500 tutoring sessions.

Now the focus is more targeted and deliberate.

“We focus a significant portion of our energies on first-year students. Many students find that college is a great deal more challenging than high school . Unfortunately, it can often take an entire semester—and a student’s final grade report— for this lesson to truly sink in,” Roidt explains.

His work is a labor of love, he says. “I get to work with students every day. If a student comes in and I’m able to help them, that’s great. I find it very rewarding just knowing they understand where they can go for help and that they feel comfortable coming here.” ____________________________

“Students are often shocked by their first grade report, and we’ve found that this presents a prime opportunity for productive intervention.

Those with a poor, initial report card are required to meet with members of the Admission and Academic Standing Committee of the Faculty Assembly, along with a Naylor Center staff member, to devise a plan for academic success and to apprise students—in a face-to-face meeting—of the potential consequences of continued poor academic performance. This meeting also enables us to identify the unique challenges—whether financial or personal— that particular students may have,” Roidt explains.

Josh Stump, Student Accounts Coordinator, shares Fincham’s compassion for retaining students. “My role is sorting through what the student is going through financially and seeing if there is anything else we can do. Should they go part time, get a roommate, move off campus?

These are all questions that affect the bottom line. We try to balance all the information from the different offices, as well as to identify patterns of financial difficulties, and then do targeted intervention.”

He goes on to note, however, that the roster of players involved in retention efforts extends well beyond those involved in intervention meetings.

“If someone hears rumors about a student transferring, they let someone know,” Roidt says.

“The reality is every single D&E employee is, ultimately, a ‘member’ of the retention team.”

Here are their stories.

Derek Fincham, Coordinator of Academic Support, is a Retention Team member and part of a student-centered approach toward learning.

While the content of study skills courses may be the same as in the past – time management, self-motivation, and the keys needed to succeed – the delivery is different.

Stump credits his master’s degree in teaching with assisting him in recognizing the individual student with complex issues. For him, the goal is not an Excel spreadsheet filled with lined up figures, but rather, helping those students who want to continue at D&E to do so.

“

Stump also believes that being accessible

– Josh Stump

“We recognize that students have different learning styles, such as tactile, visual and auditory, and these styles influence their ways of taking in information. To best serve each student, the course is now team-thought,” he says. “We look for the best possible style for each student and then follow up with study hall periods at The Naylor Center. We want to ensure that students are effectively matching their unique learning style in the courses in which they need the greatest academic support.”

10 | Davis & Elkins College Forward

makes a big difference. It is common for him to respond to parent communications late in the evening. “I want students and families to know they can reach out to me because money can be a source of a great deal anxiety,” he says.

“When we are successful in getting what seems overwhelming solved, we’ve done a good job.”

It is important, he suggests, that he can take a student from his office to nearby offices of Student Life, Registrar and International Students – all located in Liberal Arts Hall.

“Challenges can be dealt with immediately, that was the design of our one-stop shop concept.”

One of Stump’s favorite anecdotes centers on helping a young student who, when she first enrolled, was an average student of very modest means. “But, she was very earnest and she really liked it here. We all worked together and we were rooting for her. Today she’s still here and her grades have improved. It is not always ‘textbook’ how we handle situations. It’s all about communicating to each other and advocating for these students.” ____________________________ Lowe Del Aviles, International Student Liaison, admits that sometimes she feels like her “job” is more like being a mother hen.

She currently watches over 130 international students enrolled at D&E, reminding them to keep their status active and making certain they get to the airport on time or have a place to stay during breaks.

She is also the bridge between the College and the Department of Homeland Security.

Her guide is a heavy, 3-inch manual of federal regulations called the Student and Exchange Visitors Advisor’s Manual, but her other tools are the inviting candy bowls and big, comfy couches in her office. She explains that, when it comes to retention, it is just as important that international students feel welcome, as it is to have all their documents in order.

“My best days are when students come into my Josh Stump

Photo by Sam Santilli

Fincham embraces the challenges that come with his position. “We recognize areas

When we are successful in getting what seems overwhelming solved, we've done a good job.

“

sophisticated over the past several years.

“

Mary Ellen Schubert

We are all key components in the future of these students. We all have a part in this, whether positive or negative, in their lives. If we do it right, they can go and do anything.

confident people. We want them to own their education,” he says.

It was rewarding, Saindon says, to observe that growth in confidence during the most recent First-Year Symposium. During the three-week Winter Term, he watched many students gain a stronger voice both individually and collectively.

He believes the program helps retention by “building a community, both academically and socially. When they work together, they create concern for each other. It isn’t just about academic performance; it is about building an academic and social culture.” The sort of culture, he believes, that students will not want to leave.

“

office and I’m able to talk to them freely and have those conversations that can make a difference.

A totally good day is when they stop by just to say 'hi' or for a quick hug,” she says.

For many international students, the challenge of coming to D&E is not just dealing with communication differences, but also cultural or social ones.

“Sometimes they feel like they don’t fit in, or that Elkins or the campus is too small and they want to leave. I always suggest giving D&E one more semester. Sometimes having them connect with just one person will change their mind,” she says.

The Host Family Program, which Aviles initiated at D&E, helps with this effort.

The program matches local families with international students so that they have that connection. “Having those families there for the students makes a big difference. It gives them another home.” ____________________________ Amelia Rossi, Associate Registrar, usually finds out about a struggling student from an instructor. “We can be very persistent. When we are told that a student is not coming to class, we immediately intervene. We know there can be many reasons for them having a hard time and recognize that most of our students are still relatively young. If they are having problems, it can influence their entire academic career. So we try to find out what the problems are and try to keep them motivated. It takes everyone working together as a team.”

Although Rossi has been involved with the Retention Team for a just short amount of time, she has already experienced how rewarding it can be. One student, a young single mother, had missed several classes. She got off to a rocky start and felt like she had to leave.

“She wanted to be a nurse, but just felt like she couldn’t do it after missing so much instruction,” Rossi explains. “But I told her, ‘let’s see what we can do.’ We went to the instructors and put together a plan. It was all about working with the student and her instructors. That’s what we, as a small college, are able to do.”

Photo by Nanci Bross-Fregonara

– Mary Ellen Schubert

____________________________

Her favorite part of this story was not only the “thank you so much” email she received from the student, but the knowledge that she was able to help the student remain in school and pursue her dream. “You never know when you may be able to make a difference in someone’s life,” she says. ____________________________

A student once told Mary Ellen Schubert, Director of The Naylor Center for Teaching and Learning, that what she does at D&E is not a job, but rather a calling. “That explains a lot,” she says.

A bulletin board hanging in her office is covered with photos of smiling, former students and she has a welcoming rapport.

“My door is always open and they know that,” she says. “What I do includes a lot of counselling, whether athletes, internationals or others. I feel that’s part of my job.”

Brent Saindon, Instructor of Communications and member of the Admission and Academic Standing Committee, says that within the last two years retention efforts have ramped up in the area of academic probation.

While sometimes students may walk into her office looking for academic assistance, they may leave with more. For 15 years, Schubert has been coaching and coaxing students. “I’m also always telling students to be proactive; use what we have, we are here to help,” she says.

“We found that by the second or third semester, it may be too late to intervene. We have to work with them early on,” he said. This past year, a new academic standing category was created— academic warning—which is assigned to students the first time their academic performance falls below the minimum requirements.

Her role in retention is giving students guidance and direction, Schubert says. “A student may not know why they don’t want to stay, so I always ask, what do you want to do with your life? They need a connection to a passion or something they are excited about. I believe if you aren’t happy, it is hard to be successful.”

“The purpose was two-fold. We wanted students put on notice earlier and be required talk to someone, not just receive a letter. It was too easy for them to dismiss it. So now we ask them, what are your problems? Are there things we can do in the area of academic support?

Recently, a student came to her with that exact dilemma. Schubert helped her find her passion by combining adventure recreation with her newly discovered interest in working with people with disabilities, the student decided to stay. “She was so excited,” Schubert says. “She finally felt like she had a home here and knows why she is in college. That was a good day.”

The meetings are a wake-up call. “It is sometimes a shock when we tell them you can’t continue on this path. Some are just honestly struggling and are relieved to find out there are resources to help. We want them to know it’s okay to come by and chat. We tell them, ‘you can just stop by. We want to keep you on the right path.’”

Saindon finds that many students’ first inclination is not to seek help. “They’ll hide in their lack of confidence and unfortunately a failing student will tend to avoid intervention. So we help them be more assertive, self-motivated,

“We are all key components in the future of these students,” says Schubert. “We all have a part in this, whether positive or negative, in their lives.

If we do it right, they can go and do anything.”

For each story shared here, there are multiple other stories of similarly dedicated faculty and staff members working daily to ensure that those students who are admitted to Davis & Elkins College have a very good chance of continuing at D&E and being successful.

It Takes a Village: Taking On Retention, One Student at a Time

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FEATURE

By Linda Howell Skidmore

Photo by Linda Howell Skidmore

W Native American artistic pieces including a dream catcher, small wooden canoes and clothing are among items on display in the Gary North Room.

12 | DAvIS & ELkINS COLLEGE Forward

here can you learn about the Roman Empire, marvel over a collection of brilliantly colored butterflies from Peru and get an up-close look at tools used by Native Americans? Open the glass doors to The Stirrup Gallery in Myles Center for the Arts where a world of days gone by awaits.

Originally established in 2013 as a home to the 10,000-plus North American treasures of The Darby Collection, The Stirrup Gallery has continued to grow to include eight collections. Two of them are new in 2014 and items have already been added to one acquired last year.

“I’m especially pleased to have so many new items for the Gallery,” says Coordinator of Special Collections Mark Lanham. “The Howard-Sudbrink Collection of Roman coins represents an

era of human history that was not represented in the Gallery before now. The Gary North Collection contains many wonderfully detailed Native American works of art, and the new additions to The J. Richard & Dorothy S. Kendig Collection give us the opportunity to see into the daily lives of the Shipibo-Conibo people of the Amazon.”

Sudbrink’s Ancient Coins Have a Story to Tell Board of Trustee member Bill Sudbrink has been interested in collecting coins since boyhood. Part of his collection is now on display in The Stirrup Gallery providing a look into the ancient Roman Empire when Trajan ruled (98 CE – 117 CE).

Davis & Elkins College Trustee Bill Sudbrink, center, shows Coordinator of Special Collections Mark Lanham and Vice President for Development Carol Schuler a collection of Trajan coins. Sudbrink donated the display to the College for inclusion in The Stirrup Gallery.

Sudbrink has also included a price list, retrieved from a restaurant wall in Pompeii, Italy, during an archaeological dig. The list shows the cost of various commodities in 79 CE, when Pompeii was mostly destroyed and/ or buried under 13 feet to 20 feet of ash and pumice by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

The display is only a portion of Sudbrink’s collection of Trajan coins. He plans to donate his entire Trajan collection to the College in the future, and hopes it will become a scholarly research tool for future generations worldwide.

North Family Preserves Passion for Native American Culture Long before there were guns or any form of mass manufactured weapons, Native Americans were inventing and making tools for hunting and protection. A vast array of atlatl, spear heads and knives are a part of the Gary North Collection acquired by The Stirrup Gallery in fall 2014.

With a longtime interest in Native American items, the late trustee Gary North collected artifacts and handmade reproductions throughout the years. North passed away in October 2013. His wife, Helen, and stepdaughter, Natalie Danchenko, worked with

Vice President for Development Carol Shuler to follow through on his wishes to give the items to the College so that numerous people could enjoy them and learn about Native American culture. It was North’s dream that, in viewing the collection, people would develop an appreciation for world cultures, and realize that an individual put his or her heart, soul and ingenuity into creating each piece.

A corner section of the Gallery designated as the Gary North Room is filled with artistic pieces made by Native Americans that reflect aspects of their culture. Among the items are dream catchers, sculptures, drums, paintings and drawings, and basketry and pottery. This collection also features a 16-drawer cabinet filled with Iroquois League stone tools and projectile points.

Kendigs Share Life in the Amazon Dotty Kendig wants others to experience Peruvian culture with its dense jungles as it

That collection, originally given in October 2013, grew when Dotty Kendig, along with her children and their spouses, made a visit to The Stirrup Gallery late last fall.

New additions include photos of Shipibo-Conibo Indians, two mounted displays of large Amazonian insects and vivid butterflies, spoons made from freshwater dolphin bones, miniature dugout canoe carvings, a wind chime made from seeds and scales of the Paiche fish, and beaded earrings.

The items are displayed alongside ocelot cat skins, pottery, a head flattening device and a monkey tooth bracelet.

Hoping to find a place where their collection could be appreciated and serve as an avenue to understanding life in the Amazon, the Kendigs selected The Stirrup Gallery after reviewing several other museums in West Virginia.

“I knew it was a place where it (the collection) would be taken care of and it fits with the other collections,” Dotty Kendig says.

The Stirrup Gallery, named in honor of Trustee Chair Emeritus Paul Stirrup and his wife, Karen, also houses the Lincoln Collection, Eleanor Gay Collection, Foster Collection, Senator Davis Collection and Swezy Collection. Hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and evenings and weekends by appointment. For additional information, call Lanham at 304637-1980 or 304642-6705 or email lanhamm@dewv.edu.

Photo by Mark Lanham

“The coins not only helped facilitate commerce, but they were also propaganda,” Sudbrink says.

“The subject matter frequently emphasized what was going on in the Roman Empire, in conjunction with the Emperor’s and Senate’s interest, such as justice for all, military victories, charities, gladiator games, etc.”

Photo by Linda Howell Skidmore

The seven Trajan Howardcoins in the Howard Sudbrink Collection are made of gold, silver, bronze or copper. A unique feature of each is the design on the reverse of the coin and what it symbolizes.

existed more than 50 years ago.

Artifacts she and her family collected throughout their 15 years of missionary work in the Amazon region of Pucallpa are featured in The J. Richard & Dotty S. Kendig Collection.

The Kendig family, Margie Colbert, Mary Ann Rigley, David Kendig, and Dotty Kendig in The Stirrup Gallery.

Significant Gifts to College Enhance a World of Learning at The Stirrup Gallery

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Photo by Paul "Wes" Hendrix

DEVELOPMENT

D&E Establishes Presbyterian Scholars Program New PC(USA) Students Will Receive $5,000 Annual Award

S

By Linda Howell Skidmore

tudents who are members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) now have an additional incentive to attend Davis & Elkins College. The recently established Presbyterian Scholars Program offers an annual $5,000 award beginning in the 2015 fall semester to new students enrolling at the College.

The program highlights D&E’s relationship with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) by providing support to Presbyterian students looking for a college experience that honors their faith tradition.

“Supporting Presbyterian students through the new Presbyterian Scholars Program is a tangible expression of D&E’s commitment to celebrating – and carrying forward – our Presbyterian heritage. At D&E, students are inspired to create authentic, deeper meaning and connection between their spiritual and vocational lives,” says D&E Assistant Director of Development Support and Coordinator of Church Relations Tina Vial.

To qualify for the award, new students need only to submit a letter from their pastor confirming active membership in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Davis & Elkins students have access to a wide variety of opportunities for prayer, worship, 14 | Davis & Elkins College Forward

service, humanitarian aid and discussion about topics relevant in today’s world. Benfield-Vick Chaplain the Rev. Kevin Starcher and the campus Spiritual Life Team provide support to students in their personal and spiritual growth through weekly chapel services, weekly campus Bible study/Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, a chapter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and discussion groups such as Crossroads Conversation and Taboo Club. The College enjoys a significant relationship with the neighboring Davis Memorial Presbyterian Church, where students can attend weekly worship and Bible study, get connected to opportunities to serve the local community and experience a community of faith through traditions similar to their own.

Academically, students may elect to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree in religion and philosophy or religious education.

Davis & Elkins has a long history of faithful partnership with Presbyterians. Those ties date back to the College’s founding by Presbyterians U.S. Sens. Henry Gassaway Davis and Stephen Benton Elkins in 1904. Today, the College is related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) by close relationships with the Synod of the Trinity and the Presbytery of West Virginia. The affiliation provides opportunities for scholarships and travel, and ongoing partnership efforts in a variety of settings.

Members of the Davis & Elkins Fellowship of Christian Athletes join hands to participate in "See You At The Pole," a prayer rally held across the nation at schools in which students meet at the flagpole to lift up their families, friends, teachers, school or nation to God.

"

Supporting Presbyterian students through the new Presbyterian Scholars Program is a tangible expression of D&E's commitment to celebrating – and carrying forward – our Presbyterian heritage.

– Tina Vial

"

Another Presbyterian-based scholarship opportunity is the Covenant Scholarship.

Equal to one-half of tuition costs, the Covenant Scholarship is open to children of ordained PC(USA) clergy.

Individuals or churches wishing to contribute to the Presbyterian Scholars Program may contact Vial at 304-637-1354 or viala@dewv.edu.

Potential students who would like additional information about either scholarship may contact Director of Financial Planning Matt Summers at 304-637-1990 or summersm@ dewv.edu.

Artist, Elkins Native Provides

By Linda Howell Skidmore Paying for an education will come with a little less worry for multiple students at Davis & Elkins College, thanks to the support of Elkins native Jo Ann Post Barlow, an accomplished artist and business owner.

This year, Barlow established the endowed Jo Ann Post Barlow Scholarship Fund and also contributed to the current scholarship fund with two major gifts. The scholarships will be awarded in the 2015-2016 academic year to benefit students who have financial need and demonstrate achievement, leadership and service while in college, and the promise of future service in the world.

Easing the burdens of others has been a common theme in Barlow’s life, from the days of caring for her ailing mother to the hospitality she currently provides for guests at her childhood home, now the Post House Bed and Breakfast, on Robert E. Lee Avenue in Elkins. Likewise, education has been a mainstay for the retired educator and professional artist.

Barlow studied at West Virginia University and obtained her master’s degree in early childhood education from Towson State University in Maryland. She worked as a teacher for more than two decades before retiring in the 1980s.

Currently a part-time resident of Elkins and Westminster, Md., her hometown and Davis & Elkins College are places that remain near and dear to Barlow’s heart. She recalls that while growing up in Elkins, the College added a cultural and economic dimension to the community, aspects she sees continuing to grow and open opportunities for students and

residents alike. These days, she enjoys taking in the art and entertainment offerings at D&E, including concerts by Artist-in-Residence Jack Gibbons and exhibits by student artists.

Art has been a special passion for Barlow since she harnessed her creative side by taking classes in pastels from a neighbor.

“I pulled pastels across paper and I said, ‘this is for me,’” Barlow recalls.

Later, she studied with Davis & Elkins Assistant Professor of Art Michael Doig. The two continue their ties, often discussing one another’s projects and art shows they’ve attended.

Barlow’s work has been recognized in West Virginia and Maryland. Many of her art pieces are displayed at the Post House for guests’ enjoyment.

Barlow is a member of the Seneca Trail Artists Guild, Carroll County (Md.) Artists’ Guild, and an artist member of the Randolph County Community Arts Center. She has had private

D&E Launches Planned Giving Section on Website

Development Carol Schuler. “You can also read stories about others who have benefitted from giving to Davis & Elkins College.”

This past fall, Davis & Elkins College launched a new consumer-friendly segment to its Giving section on the College website. The new Planned Giving link offers alumni and friends a full tour of gift options and shares stories of donors who have used estate gifts to help others.

An extremely useful section of the site provides information and videos on will preparation. “Our site includes a secure online Wills Planner to help you create your will,” Schuler said. “It will walk you through the entire process of creating your will and allow you to send it electronically to your attorney for completion.”

The site is also equipped with helpful videos on estate planning, as well as GiftLaw services complete with a tax reference guide and deduction calculator and other topics. “We provide you with detailed information on how and what you may give,” said Vice President for

This year, Barlow established the endowed Jo Ann Post Barlow Scholarship Fund and contributed to the current scholarship fund with two major gifts.

In addition, the Planned Giving segment provides an opportunity for visitors to sign up for an informative e-newsletter highlighting friends’ and alumni philanthropy, along with useful financial advice from national professionals.

Photo by Linda Howell Skidmore

Two New Scholarships

Elkins native Jo Ann Post Barlow greatly values the importance of higher education and assisting students in pursuing their dreams.

exhibits at the Randolph County Community Arts Center in Elkins, Carroll Lutheran Village in Westminster, Md., Fairhaven Retirement Community in Eldersburg, Md., and Barnes & Noble in Ellicott City, Md. She also shows her work at the Howard County Art Center, the Howard County Decorator Show House and the Recreation and Park Show in Maryland.

Now with the success of her duel careers, she’s supporting others as they explore their passions at Davis & Elkins.

“I have no children of my own, so I thought, ‘why not help someone?’” Barlow says.

For additional information on making a gift to Davis & Elkins College and funding or establishing a scholarship, call Vice President for Development Carol Schuler at 304-637-1338 or 304-642-5576, or email her at schulerc@ dewv.edu.

“Managing rising property values, growth of investments, various types of life insurance as well as changing tax laws requires proper planning for the future,” Schuler said. “We hope our alumni and friends will find this information valuable and useful.”

For more information, visit www.degift.org.

For additional information on the best way to benefit through a planned gift, call D&E Vice President for Development Carol Schuler at 304-637-1338.

Artist, Elkins Native Establishes Two New Scholarships

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ALUMNI AWARDS

Davis & Elkins Honors

Lauderbaugh, Turner, Toth at Alumni Awards Presentation

By Linda Howell Skidmore

D

avis & Elkins College honored three of its alumni during the Homecoming Alumni Awards Presentation and Reception on Saturday, October 18 in The Joni and Buck Smith Arts Forum in Myles Center for the Arts.

Honorees were Dr. George M. Lauderbaugh, ’67, Distinguished Alumnus Award; Dr. William L. Turner Jr., ’72, Tower Award; and Cory A. Toth, ’06, Outstanding Young Alumnus Award.

The Distinguished Alumnus Award is the highest award given to a Davis & Elkins College alumnus or alumna who has made significant contributions to society in his or her career. The criteria for selection include career advancement and related service to

others, significant honors in one’s field, and commitment to Davis & Elkins College.

Lauderbaugh is a professor of history at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Ala., a profession he describes as his “true calling.” His career also included 25 years in the United States Air Force including overseas assignments in Germany and Panama.

During his years at D&E, 1963 to 1967, Lauderbaugh was a member of the 1964, ’65 and ’66 soccer teams under coaches Hunter Davis, Greg Myers and Jack MacDonald.

He also was an active member of Tau Kappa Epsilon, sports editor of The Senator, a contributor to D&E's first literary magazine, The Adum, the layout editor for the Senatus, and served as Mr. Senator his senior year. He was selected for Who's Who Among Students in 1967.

master’s degrees from Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., and the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala. He retired in 1993 with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He then entered the Ph.D. program in Latin American History at the University of Alabama and completed his dissertation on the diplomatic relationship between the United States and Ecuador.

Lauderbaugh accepted his current position in 2000 and has since published two books, The History of Ecuador and United States and Ecuador: Conflict and Convergence. The latter was published in Spanish in Ecuador. He is currently working on The Historical Dictionary of Ecuador and The Political History of Ecuador.

Active in community service, Lauderbaugh is a ruling elder in First Presbyterian Church of Anniston PC(USA) in Alabama. He has served as president of the Alabama Association of Historians and the Alabama Guatemala Partners of the Americas. For 14 years he has headed the Guatemala Children's Christmas Shoe Box Program in his community.

Photo by Sam Santilli

Lauderbaugh’s service to Guatemala was recognized when he received Jacksonville State's Distinguished Service Award in 2013. In May 2014 he was inducted into Ecuador's National Academy of History, one of the few Americans to be so honored. Lauderbaugh and his wife, Sue, ’69, have sponsored military personnel from Ecuador during training assignments in Alabama and continue to host students from Ecuador and Guatemala at the Jacksonville State University International House.

Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient Dr. George M. Lauderbaugh, ‘67, center, is congratulated by his wife, Sue Salisbury Lauderbaugh, ’69, and Davis & Elkins College President Dr. Michael Mihalyo.

16 | DAvIS & ELkINS COLLEGE Forward

Lauderbaugh graduated in 1967 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and political science and, as an Air Force ROTC cadet, was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant. He then entered active duty in the United States Air Force. During his Air Force career he completed

Lauderbaugh says although he appreciates the recognition for his research and service projects, he believes he is most effective in touching others’ lives through teaching. "It is in the classroom and informal settings on campus that one can have the most impact, and hopefully, I have made a difference in my students’ lives,” he says. “That's what my professors at D&E did for me and I am most grateful for that experience."

Dr. William Turner, ‘72, receives the Tower Award for commitment and service to the College and its alumni programs, including the Alumni Advancement / Development Committee, the Virginia Alumni Chapter and National Alumni Council.

three subcommittees he sits on: Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade; Energy and Power; and the Environment and the Economy.

Additionally, he manages the Congressman’s Appropriations, Defense, Environment, Infrastructure, Intelligence, Manufacturing and Transportation policies.

The Tower Award is presented to a D&E alumnus or alumna for outstanding commitment and service to the College and its alumni programs. The criteria for selection include volunteering of time, talent and/or funds in support of the numerous student and alumni programs the College offers.

This year’s recipient, Dr. William L. Turner Jr., has been active in alumni events on and off campus. He graduated from D&E in 1972 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and secondary education. He continued his education by earning a Master of Arts in English in 1974 and a Ph.D. in English in 1984, both from West Virginia University, and a Master of Science in library and information science from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., in 1995. He has worked as an editor, educator and librarian.

Currently, Turner serves as librarian at District of Columbia Public Library/West End Branch, Washington, D.C., where he provides reference and advisory services to customers, and guides them in use of the online catalog, reference and circulation book collections and indexes. His career in library services has spanned work at the District of Columbia Public Library, Police Foundation in Washington, D.C., George Washington University, U.S. Census Bureau Library and Arlington Public Library.

He has taught at George Washington University, Salem College, Valparaiso University, Trinity College and Catholic University of America, where he also served as assistant dean to the School of Library and Information Science.

Turner has also been very active in service to D&E and his community. At D&E, he chaired the Alumni Advancement/ Development Committee from 20122014, was a charter member of the Virginia Alumni Chapter in 2010, and served as secretary/treasurer for the College’s National Alumni Council from 2006 to 2010. He also led alumni for a behind-the-scenes look at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts where he volunteers as a docent.

Through the years, Turner has volunteered for multiple committees and organizations including chairman of the American Library Association Policy Monitoring Committee, juror for the Public Library Association Gordon M. Conable Award, youth religious education instructor at Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, Va., chairman of the Open House Arts Festival at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and president of Friends of the Arlington (Va.) Public Library, among others.

In addition, he also is a member of the American Library Association Council Orientation Committee, chairman of the Nominations Committee for the District of Columbia Library Association, chairman of the Scholarship Committee for the Arts Club of Washington and a volunteer for the Breakfast Program at Miriam’s Kitchen in Washington, D.C. The Outstanding Young Alumna/us Award is presented to a young alumna/us who graduated within the last 10 years and shows promise in his or her profession, including professional achievements and honors, community service/service to others, and commitment to the College.

Cory Toth is currently the senior advisor to Congressman David McKinley of West Virginia. Having worked in McKinley's office since 2011, Toth’s general responsibilities are working with the Congressman’s Energy and Commerce Committee assignment and the

He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in history and minor in political science from D&E in 2006, and was a member and captain of the Senator golf team. Toth continues to foster his relationship with D&E by serving as secretary on the National Alumni Council.

Photo by Sam Santilli

Photo by Sam Santilli

Early in his career, Turner was the editor of publications and correspondences for two corporations contracted by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Cory Toth, ’06, is congratulated by his mother, Maribeth Toth, after receiving the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award.

Toth began his political career in the Washington, D.C., office of Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito in 2006. From 2007 to 2011, he served as an advisor to Congressman Bob Latta of Ohio, another member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Toth has also worked on political campaigns in California, New Jersey, Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia. He is a member of the Alliance to Save Energy’s Hall of Fame.

He finds public service work to be very rewarding and enjoys helping the residents of his home state, West Virginia.

Alumni Awards

| 17

ALUMNI PROFILE Dr. Andy Johanson and a young patient are featured on the cover of El Diario, the local newspaper for Pereira, Colombia.

Johanson and his wife, Wendy, were part of a Rotaplast mission in the South American city in September 2014.

By Linda Howell Skidmore Seeing a child smile brings a whole new level of joy for Dr. Andy Johanson, ’63. Since 2010, he has participated in Rotaplast, a non-profit humanitarian organization providing free reconstructive operations and treatment for children with cleft lips and palates worldwide.

Among the most common of all birth defects, cleft lips and palates occur when a baby’s lip or mouth does not form properly. Children left untreated can suffer physical problems, such as hearing loss, and speech, dental and respiratory irregularities. Additionally, they often are ridiculed and rejected from society. Johanson says he holds a deep compassion for Rotaplast’s goal to eliminate the incidence of untreated cleft lips and palates in children worldwide by the year 2025, and a belief in its slogan of “Saving Smiles, Changing Lives.”

“In the U.S. because we have such easy access to facial reconstructive surgeries, we don’t understand the social stigma it causes in other cultures that don’t have the same access,” Johanson says. “These surgeries are incredibly important because it gives those in need and their families a new lease on life.”

The medical mission trips have taken Johanson to Pereira, Colombia in South America and Cebu, Philippines. There he is part of a team of 18 | DAvIS & ELkINS COLLEGE Forward

surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses and other volunteers from throughout the United States who each share their expertise to play an integral role in the surgeries.

As a psychotherapist, Johanson helps patients and families feel more at ease in the preoperation waiting room by playing with the children and reassuring their parents of the surgical team’s high level of competency.

At the time of the children’s surgery, he carries them into the operating room and stays with them until they are under anesthesia. Since many of the surgeries take more than four hours, he seeks out the parents to let them know their children are doing well.

“After the patient awakes from surgery, I escort their parents into the recovery room and watch their expression of joy as they see their child’s reconstructed face for the first time,” he says. “It’s

“

The perseverance of those seeking these surgeries humbles me and puts my life in perspective. To know that I have been helpful in some way fills me with a sense of pride.

“

Johanson Helping Change Lives with a Smile

– Dr. Andy Johanson

a very touching moment to observe.”

His wife, Wendy, shared in the experience in September 2014. The 13-day mission resulted in 58 major surgeries and a special memory for the couple.

“One of the children I was involved with was a 7-year-old boy who wanted the operation desperately,” Johanson says. “He told me that he was teased in school so much because of his deformity that he stopped going to school. He wanted the operation so he could go back to school. When he saw himself in the mirror after his operation he cried from joy. This touched me deeply. Now he can go back to school and live a normal life.”

In turn, Johanson says the missions allow him to reflect on his own life.

“The perseverance of those seeking these surgeries humbles me and puts my life in perspective,” he says. “It helps me to re-evaluate the criteria by which I measure my own success.

To know that I have been helpful in some way fills me with a sense of pride.”

A practicing psychotherapist, ordained minister and adjunct professor at Moravian Theological Seminary in Bethlehem, Pa., Johanson delivered the Phipps Lecture in 2013 and was honored by the College with the Tower Award in 1995. He and his wife are the parents of five children. Johanson invites anyone interested in participating in a Rotaplast mission to email him at drandrewjohanson@gmail.com.

cares...

Because someone

For Gail Tubbs, '60, it was a simple act of generosity that allowed her to stay enrolled at Davis & Elkins College and ultimately, change her life. When hard economic times befell her family her junior year, it was one person, Evan Kek, the College registrar, who quickly put together a package of scholarships, student loans and work assignments. The package got her within $50 of what was needed, but Gail recalls, "of course I didn't

have it." Then, in a moment of incredible kindness and compassion, he wrote a check for the last $50.

"I will always be grateful, especially to that someone who made it possible for me," she says.

"I've never forgotten it and have always been grateful. Davis & Elkins College started me on an educational path but, more than that, it taught me just how far-reaching a single act of kindness and generosity can be."

Your gift to The D&E Fund helps every student every day. It funds programs, facilities and scholarships to make a quality education available and affordable for students today.

Gifts directly affect the student experience by supplementing operating expenses that tuition and fees cannot cover. Whether it is making D&E more affordable or keeping our campus beautiful, your gift to The D&E Fund makes it possible.

See what your gift can do. Read Gail's story at dewv.edu/alumni-giving/giving/de-fund

To make your gift, please call Carol Schuler, Vice President for Development, at (304) 637-1338.

Or you can send it in the complimentary envelope insert. Or go online at www.dewv.edu.

Either way, you will...

Be that

someone.

Men's Cross Country

The 2014 Davis & Elkins men’s cross country team won the Seaton Invitational at Alderson Broaddus, and posted a pair of runner-up finishes on the season. D&E finished third at the G-MAC Championships and participated in the Midwest Regional in Terre Haute, Indiana. Shane Ickes finished ninth in the conference championship, earning second team all-conference accolades.

Women's Cross Country

James Pucci and Declan McGill were voted to the all-conference first team. Pucci finished with 11 goals and six assists on the season. McGill notched a pair of goals and three assists during his final campaign in Elkins. Pucci also earned second team All-Midwest Region accolades.

Photo by Linda Howell Skidmore

The D&E women’s cross country season was highlighted by the performance of senior Ellen Cantaral and a team victory at the Seaton Invitational.

Cantaral posted four top-five finishes, including a win at the Patty Forge Invitational. Her victory earned her D&E’s first G-MAC Runner of the Week Award.

Men's Soccer

The Davis & Elkins men’s soccer team won the Northeast Division and finished runner-up in the conference tournament to Cedarville. The 2014 campaign was a battle from the start—losing senior captain Dan Savory to a season-ending injury over the summer and facing an extremely challenging non-conference slate. The Senators fought valiantly to finish with a 9-8-1 overall record and a 6-3 mark versus G-MAC foes. Davis & Elkins posted a convincing 3-0 win over Salem International in the G-MAC semifinal, before being on the wrong end of a 1-0 decision against CU in the title game.

Volleyball

The 2014 D&E volleyball season concluded with an overall record of 10-17 and a 4-8 mark in league play. Davis & Elkins finished with a winning record at home (7-6), but struggled mightily on the road (1-9).

Rookie Kayla Godwin took home second team all-conference and all-freshman team accolades. Godwin tallied 134 kills, 34 digs and 74 blocks on the year. Sophomore Alexis Mourier finished with 319 kills to surpass the 500 (581) mark for her young career.

Ashley Winkelspecht Photo by Nanci Bross-Fregonara

Golf

Justin Tanner’s first fall as the golf coach had its ups and downs, but the brightest spot was the strong showing from newcomer James Sutherland. Sutherland posted a pair of top-five finishes in the Senators’ four fall tournaments. As a team, D&E registered two third-place finishes and a fourth during the opening half of the season.

20 | DAvIS & ELkINS COLLEGE Forward

Senior net minder Ashley Winkelspecht set a new school record for career victories with 40, surpassing the previous record of 38.

Davis & Elkins College studentathletes gather at Myles Gate in preparation of “Senators Serving Elkins” as part of the Athletic Department’s 1,000 Hours of Elkins. The students made use of an out-of-class registration and assessment day to pick up debris around Elkins. Plans for additional community service projects are in the works.

Women's Soccer

Gene Smith’s first season guiding the Senator women’s soccer team ended with an overall record of 9-5-4 and a 7-1-2 mark against G-MAC competition. The benchmark of the campaign came in the season-opener at then No. 12 California (Pa.), where the Senators were able to shut out Smith’s former team. D&E’s attempt to defend its G-MAC Tournament title was spoiled by Alderson Broaddus in the conference quarterfinals.

Junior Taylor Morton garnered first team all-league recognition after a three-goal, three-assist campaign.

Rookie Tina Wulin was voted to the conference’s all-freshman unit with a pair of goals and an assist on the season. Senior net minder Ashley Winkelspecht set a new school record for career victories with 40, surpassing the previous record of 38. The Williamston, N.J. native posted seven shutouts in 2014, taking her career total to a school record of 24.

Be sure to get all the results and recaps on SenatorNation.com. You can also follow us on Twitter @SenatorNation and like us on Facebook to stay up to date with all athletic activities at Davis & Elkins.

Double-Trouble

Photo by Sam Santilli

on the Court!

By Philip Fetty If you watched the Davis & Elkins women’s basketball team play this season, either in person or over a live stream, you probably noticed a pair of young ladies who look eerily similar – those two freshman guards are identical twins Caitlyn and Carley O’Neal from Russiaville, Ind. Both were three-sport athletes at Western High School, lettering in both softball and basketball each of their four seasons and each adding two letters in soccer.

“We knew soccer wouldn’t work out in college, because we had just done that sport for fun,” Caitlyn said. “We always wanted to play basketball, but we kept softball as an option."

Carley echoed her sister’s comments, “Basketball has always been our passion.”

When it came time to pick a college, the pair knew that wherever they went they wanted to be together.

“We wanted to find a coach or team that would accept both of us, because we were a package deal,” Carley pointed out. “Not only that, but we wanted to find a college that was a good fit for us.”

Caitlyn added that majors played a pivotal factor in deciding on D&E, “We both are majoring in different things, I wanted to find a great art program, while Carley was looking for an exercise science program.”

The pair is very appreciative of the Elkins community, faculty and their teammates which have all helped ease being away from home.

“We didn’t know what to expect being eight hours from home, but the team here is like a family and it wouldn’t be the same without them,” Caitlyn said Carley added, “The community of Elkins is very down to earth and the faculty really care about us.”

The duo says they use sibling rivalry to gain competitive advantage. “It’s a combination of that rivalry and being supportive,” Carley said. “And we are very competitive.”

“We don’t cry over jealously, we support each other,” Caitlyn added.

The twins recognize they are in a very special situation being able to play together.

“We don’t know anything else. We’ve been doing it since we were 4,” Caitlyn said. “Basketball would not be the same if I didn’t play with Carley. It’s so natural.

We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses on and off the court. ” Carley added, “Playing with my sister, there’s nothing like it. Not many have the privilege or blessing of playing with their best friend.”

Caitlyn and Carley are quick to admit they don’t know where the future will take them after college, but for now they just want to enjoy their time together at Davis & Elkins.

Men’s Soccer Earns Academic Awards The Davis & Elkins men's soccer team earned the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Team Academic Award for the third straight year (2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14).

Over the three year span, the Senators posted a 38-14-5 mark, with one regular season conference championship and a pair of runner-up finishes in conference tournaments. D&E was also nationally ranked in two of the three campaigns and went to the NCAA Tournament once. In the three seasons, Davis & Elkins had three All-Americans, six All-Region selections, two conference Players of the Year and six first team all-conference honorees.

In order to be eligible for the Team Academic Award, the team must have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better for the whole academic year.

Individual honors went to Declan McGill, First Team All-G-MAC, NSCAA Scholar All-East Region Honorable Mention and Daniel Nock, NSCAA Scholar All-East Region Honorable Mention.

Photo by Nanci Bross-Fregonara

D&E finished the 13-14 academic year with a team GPA of 3.03.

Athletics

| 21

HOMECOMING

Clockwise from top: Members of the National Alumni Council gathering outside of Booth Library are, from left, Chris Ferzoco, ’93; Mike Deneroff, ’09; Karen Kauffman Scherling, ’67; John Certo, ’91; Scott McLean, ’83; David Kirby, ’83; Maribeth Headley Robenolt, ’82; Janet Slaugenhaupt Toth, ’93; Barry Greene, ’83; Michele DeBerry, ’88; Debbie Payne Fragale, ’81; Amanda Yeargan Monroe, ’02; Laura Constantine, ’81; Casey Wilkinson Zahn, ’81; Cory Toth, ’06; Ray VanArsdale, ’80; Larry Hunt, ’67; and Susan Quick Nilsen, ’83. National Alumni Council members not pictured are Brian Anderson, ’90; Rob Beckwith, ’67; Patti Bennett, ’85; Dave Blaszczak, ’74; Catherine Garnett Engleman, ’92; Flint Engleman, ’90; Craig Hamilton, ’81; Neil Keenan, ’92; Greg Kiewitt, ’91; Rachel Halperin Montgomery, ’91; Robin White Rybczynski, ’86; and Larisa Draeger Swartz, ’00.

22 | Davis & Elkins College Forward

Classes from the 1980s met at Vintage Restaurant and Wine Bar as part of the Homecoming Weekend D&E Night on the Town. Rekindling their friendships are Laura Weinert Sigurdsson '84; Candace Smith Mitchell,’85; Karen Kober Michetti, ’84; Rob Murphy, ’79; Allie Johnson Maples, ’82; and Susan Quick Nilsen, ’83.

Attending the Half Century Club Luncheon are members of the class of 1964, from left, first row, Lew Michaels, Judy Meinen Cramer, Sue Schroeder Fornabai, Ellen Zimmerman Behrhorst, Eileen Cody Miller, Cary Muldoon Hopwood and Jean Humason Henderson; second row, Dan Woodworth, David Kirk, Lee Haring Creed, Kent Mason, Alan Colussy, Chris Laird Fallon, Sue Hershberger Crossland and Karen Harmeier Berner.

Enjoying a sunny afternoon outside of Halliehurst are Dina Banda Dye, ’83; Patti McNamara Burns, ’81; and Lisa Newton Garris, ’82.

The George R. Cline Grove was dedicated during Homecoming Weekend in memory of alumnus George Richard Cline, ’73. The area between Booth Library and The Icehouse is designated by a bench on The Icehouse patio and a plaque in Booth Library. Attending the dedication are Cline’s daughters, Emily Stritzinger holding son William Stritzinger, and Maddie Cline, his wife, Beverly Cline, and daughter, Amy Cline.

All photos by Sam Santilli

Clockwise from top left: The Homecoming Concert rocked with music by Cornel Gunter's Coasters and The Drifters Revue in Myles Center for the Arts Harper-McNeeley Auditorium.

T.R. Ross, left, son of the late Trustee Advisor, Professor of History Emeritus and Dean of the Faculty Emeritus Dr. Thomas Richard Ross, meets with Assistant Professor of Political Science Marty DeNicolo, who delivered the T.R. Ross Society Lecture.

The City of Elkins street department was busy installing new D&E red signs throughout the neighborhood adjacent to the College campus in anticipation of Homecoming.

The new signage project was initiated by the D&E Athletic Department to inspire school spirit and demonstrate city/ College partnerships.

Escort Ryan O'Connell, Senior Class Escort Declan McGill, Senior Class Princess Rhiana Bruce-Lyle, Miss D&E Ashley Winkelspecht and Mr. Senator Churchill Davenport.

Photos by Sam Santilli and Linda Howell Skidmore

Michele “Bear” DeBerry, ’88; David “Kirby” Kirby, ’83; and Shanna Hasbrouck.

Members of the 2014 Homecoming Court attending the dance in Pit Dance Studio in Myles Center for the Arts are, from left, Freshman Class Princess Caitlyn O'Neal, Freshman Class Escort Tristram Spitsnaugle, Sophomore Class Princess Olivia Hudok, Sophomore Class Escort Lukas GrossePuppendahl, Junior Class Princess Taylor Fealy, Junior Class

Homecoming

| 23

HOMECOMING

Clockwise from top left: Students and alumni took advantage of the offerings during the Homecoming Mini-Health Fair.

Taking a break after the Homecoming Alumni Cross Country Race are, from left, Anthony Hancock, ’11; Amber Aponte-Kocela, ’12; Rob Orr, ’14; Owen Harnett, ’13; Scott Goddard, ’96; Coach Will Shaw; James Sweeney, ’94; Manuel Gil, ’94; Derek, ’06, and Marie Friend Bolyard, ’11, and their daughter, Haylee.

Peggy Ottenheimer and Jeff Krizan, ’73, enjoy the President’s Reception aboard the New Tygart Flyer.

24 | Davis & Elkins College Forward

Attending the Tau Kappa Epsilon reunion are, from left, George Creed, ’63; Kent Mason, ’64; Gerry Lawrence, ’61; David “Kirby” Kirby, ’83; TKE Scholarship recipient Garrett Willis; Reggie Owens, ’83; Randy Lear, ’79; Wendell Cramer, ’59, Tony Mumblow, ‘74; Joe Harris, ’63; and Mike Deneroff, ’09.

All photos by Sam Santilli

Clockwise from top left: Finding a clue in the D&E Scavenger Hunt are, from left, Barb Henderson Wise, ’92; Janet Slaugenhaupt Toth, ’93; Laura Constantine, ’81; Kaelu Tolley Cooley, ’81; Maribeth Headley Robenolt, ’82; and Roberta “Bert” Rakestraw, ’81.

Dancin’ the night away at the concert are Cory Toth, ’06, and Paula Eichenbrenner.

Photos by Nanci Bross-Fregonara, Sam Santilli and Jess Wilmoth

D&E junior Oliver Bienias goes in for the ball in a match at Nuttall Field.

Having fun along the sidelines of a Senator soccer match are, from left, Tony Mumblow, ’74; Charlie Hehn, ’75; Becky Haddox Miller, ’75; and Suzanne Hallock Hehn, ’75.

Homecoming

| 25

ALUMNI NOTES

Dear

Please publish this Alumni Note in the Davis & Elkins College Forward magazine in print and online.

Name

Lifelong friends - Virginia “Ginny” Smith Holborow, '52, George Holborow and Dr. Gloria Marquette Payne, '43. See 1952.

Maiden name Class Year Here is my news:

1952 Virginia “Ginny” Smith Holborow and her husband, George, Kensington, Md., surprised Dr. Gloria Marquette Payne, '43, Elkins, W.Va., with a visit while they were in town.

Photo enclosed?

Yes

No

Please update my records: Current Address Email Phone

Cell

Thank you to the many alumni who submit notes for publication in Forward magazine. We enjoy sharing your news, both in these pages and on our website. If you have a note, please complete and return the form above, or email your note to morganw@dewv.edu.

Sending photos? Just mail your prints or disk, or email your photos to our alumni office.

If you are sending a digital photo, it should

be 1 MB or larger. Please remember to use HIGH RESOLUTION settings on your camera or cell phone. Unfortunately, we are unable to use low resolution images.

Send all materials to:

Davis & Elkins College Alumni Office 100 Campus Drive Elkins, WV 26241 or email morganw@dewv.edu.

See more "then and now" photos posted on D&E Facebook!

26 | DAvIS & ELkINS COLLEGE Forward

1957 On July 30, 2014, Garret “Gerry” Lockwood, Franklin Lakes, N.J., celebrated his 79th birthday with his daughter, Amanda Crouch, her husband, Shawn, and their 2-month-old son, Carter; and son, Brent Lockwood, his wife, Emily, and their daughters, Rose, age 2, and Adele, age 7, in Miami, Fla. It was a great time with lots of laughs, sightseeing, beach visits and wonderful food. Gerry writes, "Grandson Carter is a joy of a boy with his personality, expressions and appearance growing each day, and granddaughters, Adele and Rose, growing and maturing into lovely girls. I am a very blessed grandpa!"

1959 George A., '61, and Mariwyn McClain Smith, '59, Thomas, W. Va., are happy to announce they have six great-grandchildren.

The Lockwood family – Seated, Emily Lockwood, Rose Lockwood, Adele Lockwood, Gerry Lockwood, ’57, Amanda Crouch and Carter Crouch; standing, Shawn Crouch and Brent Lockwood. See 1957.

On November 8, 2014, alumni and friends from Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania came together for a journey through the Mason-Dixon Wine Trail during the Wine Just Off The Vine event. (L-R) Tom, ’83, and Susan Rhymer Plantier, ’83, Mercerville, N.J.; Nancy Evans-Bennett, ’66, Morristown, N.J.; Karen Harmeier Berner, ’64, Yardley, Pa.; Rebecca Hipkins Guerrero, ’69, and husband, Dave Guerrero, Conowingo, Md.; Robin White Rybcyznski, ’86, Nottingham, Md.; Debra Michaelson Cooper, ’88, and husband, Scott, Sparrows Point, Md.; and friend, Dave McKinney, Glen Burnie, Md.

October 4, 2014 – During the Wide Open Bluegrass Festival in Raleigh, N.C., area alumni gather at the Posta Tuscan Grille for fellowship and great music. From left are Lottie Devine, ’82, Shallotte, N.C.; Hilary Cook DeLauter, ’82, Jacksonville, N.C.; Jon Haddad, ’80, Morrisville, N.C.; Vicki Lunde Rodriguez, ’79, Youngsville, N.C.; Paul Stirrup, ’60, Durham, N.C.; Noel Rodriguez, Youngsville, N.C.; Rob Fenton, ’83, Wilmington, N.C.; Karen Stirrup, Durham, N.C.; and Judy Ciocca Fenton, ’85, Wilmington, N.C.

1961 This past summer, George Morgan, and his wife, Sheri, Coronado, Calf., Don Santamaria '62, and Maria Erhard Santamaria, '63, San Diego, Calif., Marilyn and Phil Inglee, '59, Huntington Beach, Calif., gathered in southern California to remember their days at D&E. Fonso O. Stalnaker, Fairmont, W.Va., is now retired after serving 24 years with the West Virginia State Police and 18 years with the U.S. Marshals Service in Federal court security.

1962 Gary Horvath, Nellysford, Va., is starting his 40th year in the real estate business.

1964 Dan and Sue Lloyd Woodworth, '65, Waynesboro, Va., visited with good friends Steve and “Ginger” Bowman Rich, '74, in Eads, Tenn., while on their way to attend Clean Water U, the training school of Living Waters for the World located at Hopewell Camp in Oxford, Miss.

Tim Swift, ’66, and wife, Suzy, enjoy the sights of Tallinn, Estonia, during a cruise of the Baltic Sea. See 1966.

1965 – Celebrating 50 Year Class Reunion at Homecoming October 9-11, 2015 1966 Thanks to the D&E ROTC program, Major Chuck Butt is retired from the United States Air Force. Chuck and his wife, Jean Ann, have “downsized” and retired to their condo in Clearwater, Fla. after 25 years in the Ft. MyersBonita Springs, Fla., area. They are now only 20 miles from their daughter’s family and two grandsons. Chuck is a proud D&E TKE, and this year Jean Ann will receive her 50-year sorority pin.

In July, Gary "Tim" Swift and his wife, Suzy, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a cruise on the Baltic Sea. Ports of call included Rostock, Germany; Klaipeda, Lithuania; Riga, Latvia; Helsinki and Porvoo, Finland; St. Petersburg, Russia; and Tallinn, Estonia. Tim and Suzi live in Kilmarnock, Va.

1970 – Celebrating 45 Year Class Reunion at Homecoming October 9-11, 2015 Celebrating a D&E mini-reunion last fall in Annapolis, Md., were good friends Frank "Woody" Disharoon, Laurel, Del.; Tim Smith, '73, Pasadena, Md.; Ron Stevens, '71, Annapolis, Md; Rick Mead, '69, Darnestown, Md.; and Dave Hartman, '71, Cincinnati, Ohio.

The 2014 Gribble Girls Reunion took place in Cape May, N.J. Janice Kemp Hutchison, Harrisburg, Pa.; Sue McCutcheon King, Stockton, N.J.; Ellen Moore, Branchburg, N.J.; Susie Beamer Scott, Westminster, Md.; Mary Vine Langley, Surprise, Ariz.; Marti Chase Brown, '72, Spring Grove, Pa.; and Karen Freshour Chiochanyont '71, Hendersonville, Tenn., spent the weekend at a B&B, ferried to Lewes, Del., and dug for Cape May diamonds.

They also enjoyed tours and walking around Cape May, as well as a trip to the Sculpture Gardens in Trenton. As always, a good time was had by all!

Alumni Notes

| 27

ALUMNI NOTES

Above: Alumni and friends from the Indiana Alumni Chapter enjoyed a pre-game tailgate lunch before cheering on the D&E’s Men’s Soccer team in their match against Quincy University on September 7, 2014, in Grand Park, Westfield, Ind. Afterward, they sent the team back to West Virginia with some Indiana alumni hospitality of baskets of food and drink for the road. Those attending were Debbie Payne Fragale, ’81, Zionsville, Ind.; Mary “Mickey” Owens, ’74, Fishers, Ind.; Peggy McNeill Owens, ’82, Indianapolis, Ind.; James Queener, ’90, Ossian, Ind.; Bill Pilat, ’61, wife, Emma Lou, and family; Wendy Cunningham Morgan, ’12, Director of Alumni Engagement and Support; and Carol Schuler, Vice President for Development.

Left: Remembering D&E days! George Morgan, '61, Sheri Morgan, Don Santamaria, '62, Maria Erhard Santamaria, '63, and Marilyn and Phil Inglee, '59. See 1961.

1973 Judi Littlefield Strock and her husband, Paul, celebrated the marriage of their son, Brett, to Emily Hotaling on September 13. The Strocks also have a daughter, Abigail Mae Strock. Judi and Paul recently returned to Lynchburg, Va., to live and are currently renovating their house.

Judi writes, "After 18 moves across the country, Paul says the only box he is going out of here in is a pine box."

On August 1, 2014, Robert J. Tuttle, retired from Montreat Conference Center in Montreat, N.C., where he served most recently as vice president of the Center of Youth & Young Adult Ministry. He served the church at Montreat for 28 years. Bob and his wife, Pat, live in Black Mountain, N.C., and are the proud parents of two children and four grandchildren.

1974 After enjoying a wonderful time with classmates and friends during Homecoming, Mary E. "Mickey" Owens, Fishers, Ind., traveled to Switzerland. Although her trip was work related, she made time to take in some 28 | Davis & Elkins College Forward

of the sights in Lucerne, taking a boat ride on Lake Lucerne with a wonderful view of the Alps, and then making her way to the top of Mount Pilatus. Good Times!

1975 – Celebrating 40 Year Class Reunion at Homecoming October 9-11, 2015 1979 Lawrence G. "Larry" DeVault was promoted to vice president of sales - federal government markets for Code 3, Inc. based out of St. Louis, Mo. With most of their family located up and down the East Coast, Larry and his wife, Joan, have lived in Crozet, Va., for the past four years. They are expecting their third grandchild in May. 1980 – Celebrating 35 Year Class Reunion at Homecoming October 9-11, 2015

1984 Mary E. Carwithen has returned to the East Coast and resides in Fletcher, N.C. Her work with the Central Intelligence Agency took her to the southwest for 11 years and California for four years.

Todd Heller, Barnegat, N.J., and Julie Schwartz Clark, Toms River, N.J., have been dating since March 2008.

1985 – Celebrating 30 Year Class Reunion at Homecoming October 9-11, 2015 1986 Steven T. Anderson, Angier, N.C., has been published twice in the last four years, with his latest research paper, “Administration of Local Anesthetic Agents to Decrease Pain Associated with Peripheral Vascular Access”, appearing in the November/December 2010 issue of the Journal of Infusion Nursing. Currently, Steven and his research team are investigating best practices in cardiac monitoring during cardiac arrests in a hospital setting.

Above: D&E Homecoming in Florida - Wayne Baldwin, '86, Cyndi Cahill, '86, Sandy Conklin, '87, and Mike McQuain, '87. See 1987.

Below: Great friends Tim Smith, '73, Ron Stevens, '71, Rick Mead, '69, Dave Hartman, '71, and Frank "Woody" Disharoon, '70. See 1970.

The Southern Railway Taphouse in Richmond, Va., welcomed several alumni and friends on November 6, 2014, for a D&E Happy Hour. (L-R) Barbara “Bob” Fellenstein, ’13, Fredericksburg, Va.; Amanda Yeargan Monroe, ’02, and husband, Kirk Monroe, Midlothian, Va.; Casey Houser, ’08, Fredericksburg, Va.; Ed Linn and Susan McClelland Bright, ’71, Springfield, Va.; Jordan Lykes, ’14, Prince George, Va.; Gerald Lawrence Jr., ’01, King George, Va.; and Wendy Cunningham Morgan, ’12, Elkins, W.Va.

"Selfie" - Steven T. Anderson, ’86. See 1986.

1987 Enjoying a small 2014 D&E Homecoming in Florida the weekend of October 18-19 were good friends Mike McQuain, Clearwater, Fla.; Wayne Baldwin, '86, Daytona Beach, Fla.; Cyndi Cahill, '86, Tampa, Fla.; and Sandy Conklin, Lakeland, Fla. 1988 Congratulations to Michele “Bear” DeBerry, Chestnut Hill Cove, Md., and Shanna Hasbrouck! They are engaged and are planning a fall wedding.

1990 – Celebrating 25 Year Class Reunion at Homecoming October 9-11, 2015

1995 – Celebrating 20 Year Class Reunion at Homecoming October 9-11, 2015

Alumni Notes

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ALUMNI NOTES Cape May, N.J., and the Gribble Girls – Front, Martha Chase Brown, ’72, and Janice Kemp Hutchison, ’70; back row, Susie Beamer Scott, ’70; Mary Vine Langley, ’70; Karen Freshour Chiochanyant, ’71; Ellen Moore, ’70; and Sue McCutcheon King, ’70. See 1970.

Benton Abraham Henry, son of Branson and Amy C. Troastle Henry, ’12. See 2012.

Summer 2014 Isabella Weaver, daughter of Garrick and Brandee Schwarting Weaver, ’04. See 2004.

2000 – Celebrating 15 Year Class Reunion at Homecoming October 9-11, 2015 In March 2014, Rebecca Morris, Marshall, N.C., co-stared in Lifetime's “Drop Dead Diva”.

Most recently, Rebecca was performing on stage in North Carolina Stage Company's production of Shakespeare's “Pericles: Prince of Tyre”.

2002 Amanda Yeargan Monroe and her husband, Kirk, Midlothian, Va., celebrated their ninth wedding anniversary on June 25. In July, they took a sightseeing trip to Freeport, Maine, where they shopped at L.L. Bean; took two cruises to see the Puffins and Burnt Island, which is home to one of the oldest lighthouses in Maine; spent a day in Portland and visited the Portland Lighthouse; and went to the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath. In Rockport, they saw the statue of Andre the Seal, visited the Maine Lighthouse Museum in Rockland and, of course, ate lots of lobster.

Amanda would love to hear from classmates – 30 | Davis & Elkins College Forward

Celebrating their ninth wedding anniversary in Maine Amanda Yeargan Monroe, '02, and her husband, Kirk.

See 2002.

her email is kiandamonroe@verizon.net or you can connect with her on Facebook.

2004 Garrick, '02, and Brandee Schwarting Weaver, were married in Clearwater, Fla., at a Phillies Spring Training game on March 30, 2009.

Garrick and Brandee are the proud parents of daughter Isabella Weaver, born on November 11, 2011. The Weavers live in Montross, Va., where Brandee works as a math teacher at King George High School and Garrick works in the shipping department at Carry-on-Trailers.

2005 – Celebrating 10 Year Class Reunion at Homecoming October 9-11, 2015 2008 In August, Benjamin J. McArthur became the head men's soccer coach for Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa. Ben and his wife, Janelle, are the proud parents of three sons, Bendigo, Mateo and the youngest, Jahzio, born on July 10.

2009 Kathleen M. "Kate" McArthur, is now the head women's soccer coach at Millikin University in Decatur, Ill. 2012 On September 29, Branson and Amy C. Troastle Henry, and big brother Jacob welcomed baby Benton Abraham Henry. Baby Benton weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces and was 19¾ inches. The Henrys live in Montrose, W.Va.

This just in...

Hannah Davis, youngest daughter of D&E alumni Conn, ’75, and Debi Davis, ’76, was recently selected to grace the cover of the 2015 Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition!

Featured in the fall, 2013 issue of Forward, the 24-year-old began modeling in high school and later decided to pursue it as a full-time career. She has been the face of the Ralph Lauren fragrance Ralph Rocks and appeared in campaigns for Tommy Hilfiger, Bobbi Brown, Ralph Blue Label, Rugby and Victoria’s Secret.

Last year, an email was sent out inviting alumni to share their love, not just with a gift to the College but also with a story. Here are some of the responses we enjoyed. shall we do? We thought and thought and thought for maybe 30 seconds and decided: Let's get married. We set a date one month following Judy's graduation. I would be one month shy of my 21st birthday, so my parents had to give their permission. Imagine that!

They did and we did it.

“Now here we are 53 years and eight months later still together and still very much in love. We both have great affection for D&E, not only because it was the right school academically for both of us, but because it was there we met, fell in love, grew up and together were ready to take on whatever we might find on the path we chose to take together.”

Making Beautiful Music Together

Madeleine Truesdell Hiester, ’63 and David Hiester, ’63 Madeleine and David met in Sidney Tedford's choir in 1959, and were both choir directors for their sorority and fraternity (Chi Omega and Sigma Phi Epsilon).

The Big Decision-In 30 Seconds Charles, ’61 and Judy Newbery Thompson, ’60

Charles and Judy met in September 1957. Judy recalls that the event was at a college students’ get-together at Davis Memorial Presbyterian Church, but they admit neither of them remember the specifics. Charles wrote: “Judy wasn't quite sure she liked me all that much at first, but I kept after her. She was cute and peppy and I enjoyed her willingness to type my papers. I wasn't about to give up the pursuit.

“We did, however, share meals in the dining hall and the college choir. Our dates consisted of movies at the Manos Theater, square dancing in Elkins, as well as all the home football and basketball games and an occasional stroll to Inspiration Point.

“On a more serious note, while I was not that sure of my ability to be a successful student, Judy had different ideas. Her encouragement indicated that she really cared after all. As a result of taking a few summer courses, Judy moved a full year ahead of me. By this time, it was clear to both of us that something special had been happening between us. Now she was graduating and I had a year more to go. What

David writes: “She and Chi O won in 1962, and I and Sig Ep did not that year! We got to know each other better on Tedford's choir bus tours to churches around West Virginia during school vacations.

“Madeleine and I frequently recall our amazing times at D&E. We were so very happy and college was such a remarkable experience.

We believe that the Lord led us to D&E and each other.

We were married in June, 1963 and spent the next 20 years traveling the U.S. and England

as an Air Force family. I retired from the USAF in 1983 and Madeleine taught third and fifth grade until her retirement in 1996, then became an 8-year rousing retail success in Boerne, Texas until we moved to Hawaii. I was a partner in several worldwide information technology government contracting firms in my 20-year post-USAF retirement.

“We celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary in 2013 by returning to the Big Island of Hawaii where we had built a home in 2006 on 25 acres overlooking Maui, and renewed our vows with our previous St. Augustine's Episcopal Church priest.

“Although we have not visited D&E since graduation because of our distant military assignments, family and business activities, we have been faithful alumni and helped establish the Ross Chair. Dr. [Thomas R.] Ross was singularly responsible for admitting me to D&E in 1959.”

It Started “Working Out” Early

Kristi Muller Kirkpatrick ’00 and Sam Kirkpatrick ’01 Kristi was from Westminster, Md., and Sam from Elkins, but when they arrived on the D&E campus it began with a simple sighting while working out in the fitness center.

Kristi writes: “I worked in the adjacent Outdoor Resource Center and noticed him working out.

But we really met face to face in Human Physiology class later that spring semester.”

Because Sam lived in Elkins at the time, Kristi admits they weren’t involved with many campus activities, but “Sam would come to all of my field hockey games and softball games when I played,” she writes.

“We have been together 17 years this June and married for 11 years. Sam owns his own construction company S&K Construction in Elkins and I have worked for Clayton Homes for the past five years. We have a daughter, Kaelyn Hope, who will be 3 years old in May.”

D&E Love Stories

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ALUMNI NOTES

D&E Alumni Helping Spread the Word of ‘The Power of Liberal Arts Education’

By Linda Howell Skidmore The benefits of a liberal arts education have recently been acknowledged by main stream media and higher education publications throughout the country. The topic has hit the national campaign circuit and you may find some familiar D&E faces in the mix.

Four Davis & Elkins alumni were nominated by the College and selected by the Council of Independent Colleges for its national campaign, “Securing America’s Future: The Power of Liberal Arts Education.” Their photos and testimonials on how a liberal arts education enhanced their lives are in print publications and on social media, websites and

Robert Smith

Cindy Stinger

Save the Date for These Upcoming D&E Events!

March 6, 2015 Carolinas Alumni Chapter and D&E’s Hospitality Club Charleston Crab House-James Island Waterfront, Charleston, S.C.

March 7, 2015 Carolinas Alumni Chapter and D&E’s Hospitality Club Tuscan Blu Restaurant, Raleigh, N.C.

April 17-19, 2015 FOSS Reunion April 18, 2015 43rd Annual Athletic Awards Banquet

32 | DAvIS & ELkINS COLLEGE Forward

other campaign communications.

Represented in the campaign are Michael Kaelin, ’87, executive vice president and chief financial officer of RTI International; Used with permission Virginia ©Council of Independent Colleges “Ginger” Rich, ’74, president and owner of Rich Equine Nutritional Consulting; Robert Smith, ’65, associate professor in the Education Leadership Program at George Mason University College of Education and former superintendent of Arlington (Va.) Public Schools; and Cynthia “Cindy” Stinger, ’81, manager of alumni relations for the United States Olympic Committee.

Michael Kaelin

April 25, 2015 Arts Gala May 1-2, 2015 Déjà vu Festival and Alumni Reunion May 15-16, 2015 Commencement Weekend September 25-27, 2015 Family Weekend October 9-11, 2015 Homecoming

The D&E alumni, along with other graduates from CIC’s 700-plus member institutions, were asked to reflect on a variety of questions focusing on how a liberal arts education prepared them for their careers and life.

The national, multi-pronged initiative directs attention to the compelling evidence that smaller independent colleges produce graduates who are among the best prepared for success in their personal, career and community lives. It also includes research and data that dispel persistent and false stereotypes about independent colleges, and lifts up prominent graduates of independent colleges and universities.

Learn more at www.liberalartspower.org

Ginger Rich

Alumni Chapters

For more information on events in your area, make sure to check the D&E website for these Alumni Chapters and Groups: California Bay Area Alumni Group Carolinas Alumni Chapter Delaware Valley Alumni Chapter Florida – Suncoast and Orlando Area Alumni Chapters Indiana Alumni Chapter Maryland Alumni Chapter New York Metro Alumni Chapter Ohio Regional Alumni Chapter Tri-State Alumni Chapter (Western Pa., Northern W.Va. and Eastern Ohio) Virginia Alumni Chapter West Virginia Alumni Chapter Friends of Senator Soccer Nursing Alumni Council

THROWBACK

R

emember when Davis & Elkins College was home to the International Mime and Movement Festival in the early 1980s? It was hard to miss.

Mimes and clowns, including these pictured here, were a common sight throughout town – on street corners, in Elkins City Park and on the College’s campus stages.

Led by former D&E Theatre Professor Mike Pedretti, the event was born out of the College’s summer-long School for Movement Theater and drew participants from 19 countries in its second year. It appeared that the ancient art of mime had begun a renaissance and the festival put D&E on the national stage.

A 1982 article in The Christian Science Monitor deemed Elkins as “a mecca of mime,” and quoted American mime Tony Montanaro describing the festival as “a major event in the world of mime.” Eventually, Pedretti formed Movement Theater International and hosted festivals in Philadelphia.

Photo courtesy of the Oney Family

Throwback Forward

| 33

IN MEMORIAM

T

he individuals listed below include members of the D&E family whose passing we have learned about within the last several months. We remember them here on behalf of all alumni and friends of Davis & Elkins College.

Alumni

1963 Herbert M. Richards, April 12, 2014

Dorothy E. Bartgis

1944 Owen A. Parsons, October 16, 2014

1964 Robert G. Lohman Jr.,

November 21, 2014

Former Student and Oldest Alumna

1946 Mary G. "Mary Jim" Collett Kish,

August 29, 2014 1947 Wayne D. Bunner, June 15, 1988 1948 Jack B. Kincaid, August 29, 2014 1949 Marie Bishoff Felton,

October 31, 2014 1949 Donald T. Kosak, August 7, 2011 1949 Robert T. Paul, October 5, 2014 1949 Richard L. Simmons, July 30, 2014

1964 Beverly Scharfenberg Miehl,

March 26, 2014 1964 Troy D. Mullis Jr.,

September 27, 2014 1965 Charlotte Estabrooks Holmberg,

October 13, 2013 1975 Jay G. Nearhoof, February 14, 2014 1976 Sheila Antolini Reyes, July 29, 2014

1951 Evelyn J. Hill, August 24, 2014

1977 Timothy D. O'Farrell,

November 2, 2014

1951 Carolyn R. Davis Hosey,

September 13, 2014

1980 Pamela A. Daugherty Kelly,

January 22, 2005

1951 Wilson Grant “Shorty” Nestor,

November 18, 2014

1987 Debbie Jo White Phillips Tenney,

July 4, 2014

1951 Vernon A. Shahan Sr., July 23, 2014

1988 Laurie Romine, July 26, 2014

1953 Suzie Held Pearce, October 20, 2014

1990 Kimberly D. Stalnaker, July 17, 2004

1953 Ellen Jenkins Squyres,

September 19, 2014

FRIENDS & FAMILY

1955 Cecelia "Sissy" Tarantelli Ancell,

September 7, 2014 1955 Joseph H. Morton, July 21, 2014 1955 Lorene C. Hawk Purdum,

November 6, 2014 1956 Jack Arbogast, October 15, 2014 1956 Rudolph G. "Rudy" Luzzatto,

November 27, 2014 1958 Roy F. Earnest, February 8, 2014 1960 Robert E. Dunn, October 19, 2014 1960 Thomas E. Schreiber,

November 8, 2014 1961 Virginia "Ginger" Loop Henry,

October 26, 2014 1962 Arthur G. Bowie, January 12, 2012 1962 Michael S. Maiden, August 24, 2014

34 | Davis & Elkins College Forward

William L. Arthur, October 24, 2014 Former Trustee Rosalie Hart Kerns Gill, July 31, 2014 Former Student Richard W. Jones, November 5, 2014 Former Employee John C. Mauzy, November 24, 2014 Former Student Robert J. Schoonover, July 13, 2014 Friend of D&E Mabel Belle Sharp, October 6, 2014 Former Student Donna Shields, October 11, 2014 Friend of D&E Doris Stalnaker, June 6, 2014 Friend of D&E

Dorothy Elouise Bartgis, class of ’41 and a resident of Elkins, died Saturday afternoon, January 3, 2015, in Hospice Care Regional Inpatient Unit in Elkins. Prior to her death she was the oldest living alumna of Davis & Elkins College.

She was born September 29, 1914, in Elkins, the only child of the late Anna Clarice Jacobson Bartgis Corley and C.R. Bartgis. She was the stepdaughter of the late Hanning F. Corley.

Bartgis attended Fairmont State College where she was a member of Kappa Delta Pi, education honorary, and Alpha Delta Chi, social sorority. She later attended Davis & Elkins College where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education and West Virginia University where she graduated with a Master of Arts degree in elementary education.

She worked as a teacher in Randolph County Schools in West Virginia and Geauga County Schools in Ohio.

Rudolph Gustavo “Rudy” Luzzatto Former Trustee Rudy Luzzatto, a graduate with the class of 1956 and a former member of the Davis & Elkins College Board of Trustees, died peacefully at age 81 on Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 2014, at the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington, D.C., after a decade's struggle with cancer. He

The Rev. Dr. William LaClair Arthur Former Chairman of the Board of Trustees The Rev. Dr. William LaClair Arthur, of Greenville, S.C., a former chairman of the Davis & Elkins College Board of Trustees and

Barbara Kight Former Member of the Board of Trustees Barbara (Babcock) Kight, of Parkersburg, W.Va., a former member of the Davis & Elkins College

The Rev. Dr. Syngman Rhee Former Member of the Board of Trustees Davis & Elkins alumnus the Rev. Dr. Syngman Rhee, ’57, a former member of the Davis & Elkins College Board of Trustees, a Presbyterian minister, seminary professor and respected leader in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and worldwide faith community, died January 14, 2015, in Atlanta shortly after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. He was 83.

Rhee served on the D&E Board of Trustees from 1986 to 1988. In 1992, he delivered the Baccalaureate address and received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from D&E.

lived in the neighborhood surrounding Manor Country Club in Rockville, Md. Luzzatto was a member of the Davis & Elkins College Board of Trustees from 20032012. During his tenure, he was chair of the Investment Sub-Committee and a member of the Business and Finance Committee. He also was a member of the National Alumni Council.

Luzzatto earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and political science from Davis

a Presbyterian pastor, died October 24, 2014, at age 75 following a two-year battle with cancer.

Arthur was a member of the Davis & Elkins College Board of Trustees from 1976-1985 and served as chairman from 1978-1983.

Through his ministry, Arthur served congregations from Pennsylvania to Alabama. After the reunion of the northern

Board of Trustees, died Monday, December 1, 2014, at her home at age 94.

Kight was a member of the Board of Trustees from 1983 to 1992. She served on the Trustees and Honors Committee and a special Personnel Committee from 1986-1992. She was vice chair of the Admission Committee from 1985-1986, and a member of the Rhee was born March 25, 1931, in Pyongyang, Korea, where his father was a Presbyterian minister. When the Korean War broke out in 1950, he and his younger brother joined the flood of refugees fleeing south. They left behind their parents and four sisters, but never forgot the last words his mother said to them. She told them that amidst the difficulties of war and hardship, they should continue to pray to God wherever they went. And if they were never to see each other again, then they would surely see each other in their prayers.

He went on to serve in the South Korean Marines from 1951 to 1955. With the help of his teacher, he immigrated to the United States and enrolled at Davis & Elkins College in 1956.

He graduated in two years with a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy and spoke often about the impact D&E, particularly Dr. William

& Elkins where he was a member of the Senator basketball team and Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. He also was involved with the campus radio station and the Senatus yearbook. During his tenure, he was chair of the Investment Sub-Committee and a member of the Business and Finance Committee.

A native of Queens, N.Y., Luzzatto was an agent for State Farm in Wheaton, Md., for three decades.

and southern Presbyterian churches in the mid-1980s, he served for six years on the first General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A).

Arthur was born May 5, 1939, in Uniontown, Pa., and was educated at West Virginia University, Andover Newton Theological School in Boston, Mass., and Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Va.

committee from 1983-1985.

Kight retired as senior vice president of United Bank in Parkersburg, W.Va., in 2009.

She was active in many community service organizations and was a member of First Presbyterian Church, where she served as an Elder and a Circle Leader.

E. Phipps, had on a critical point in his life.

He continued his education at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, graduating with honors in 1960, and received his Master of Sacred Theology degree from Yale Divinity School in 1965. Rhee dedicated his life to following God’s call in the footsteps of his father, working tirelessly toward reconciliation and peace between the two Koreas and throughout the world.

Rhee served 25 years on the national staff of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (the northern Presbyterian church prior to reunion in 1983) and the PC(USA). Elected in 2000 as Moderator of the PC(USA) General Assembly, Rhee was the first Asian American to serve in that position. He also served as president of the National Council of Churches from 1992 to 1993.

In Memoriam

| 35

By Nanci Bross-Fregonara

Anatoli Chernyaev, a junior at the French University of Armenia, recently completed a semester exchange program at D&E through the U.S. Department of State. The program, called Global UGRAD, connects students from former Soviet Union countries with U.S. colleges. Only four Armenian students were chosen to participate in the program and for Anatoli, the match with Davis & Elkins College was perfect.

D&E: Tell us about yourself: Your hometown, your home college…

AC: I’m from Yerevan, the capital, which has 1.5 million people. Basically half the population of the country lives there. My school is the French University of Armenia, which has about 1,000 students and I’m majoring in marketing, one of the three programs they offer.

Is this your first time in the U.S.? What are your impressions?

Yes, this is my first time here and if you ask anyone in Armenia, America is the country of dreams. Everyone who comes here is looking for more opportunities. Most people think that life in the U.S. will look like New York, Boston, Los Angeles or Florida. That’s all we see. So I was glad to see there was more than just life in the big city. It was good to see small towns and experience Appalachian culture.

The college is different as well. There are no dormitories at my school, so living on a campus and dealing with roommates was something very new. Also, at home, everything is focused on school. You can’t work, you have to study; there’s no time for anything else.

D&E students come from different backgrounds and places, is that different as well?

I like all the diversity you find here – it is hard 36 | DAvIS & ELkINS COLLEGE Forward

to define what exactly the culture of America is. At home, most of my friends are Armenian and most of us belong to the same church, The Armenian Apostolic Church. Here there are many different churches and beliefs.

Having the same religion has kept us together.

Armenia has been split apart politically many times, but we’ve kept united by our church.

That defines us.

How does that differ from the U.S.?

The individual is very important in the U.S., but not in Armenia and the sense of possession is very big here. It seems like people have created a bubble of individualism.

But it seems like you were able to join some communities on campus.

Yes, it’s been great! One of the requirements for the exchange program is doing community service and I helped with the [Davis Memorial Presbyterian] church’s community kitchen, and tree-planting and electronics recycling with GreenWorks!

And you’ve spent some time with the Appalachian Ensemble. How did you connect with them?

Before school started, the Ensemble was already on campus and I heard the sound of the clogging down the hall, so I asked if I could watch their rehearsal. We don’t have that style back home. Now a lot of my good friends are from the group. They joke, “Can we keep you?” I had so much fun being with them and listening to authentic Appalachian music that I had never heard before. The only type of American music promoted in Armenia is Beyonce or Lady GaGa. It seems like the connection was a natural because you have dance in your background and even taught a Salsa workshop on campus.

I’ve been dancing for 12 years in Armenia and like to teach dance to young students. While

Photo by Nanci Bross-Fregonara

with Anatoli Chernyaev

I was here I took Modern Dance, Clogging and Jazz and now can’t wait to share what I’ve learned. The Department of State has micro-grants and I’ve applied for one to teach Appalachian Clogging back home. I even bought a pair of tap dance shoes while here!

The learning exchange program goes both ways doesn’t it?

Yes, I taught the Ensemble some Armenian dances to Armenian music that will be part of their spring dance concert and I had to give a presentation on Armenia as part of my program. Most Americans don’t even know where it is!

What’s next?

I’d love to return to the U.S. after becoming proficient in marketing and go to graduate school. Now I want to learn graphic design so I can connect my dance with art. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to come here. It changed what I want to do with my life.

To learn more about Global UGRAD:

www.irex.org/news/irex-showcases-global-ugrad2014-2015-participant-virtual-exchange-projects

Family Weekend 2015

the

September 25-26

DATES!

Parents, grandparents, siblings, spouses, children and all family members are invited to enjoy our warm and welcoming campus community with a variety of great activities.

Homecoming Reunion Weekend 2015 October 9-11 Come home to D&E for a special weekend with alumni, former classmates and lifelong friends!

For more information, contact Wendy Morgan at (304) 637-1341 or morganw@dewv.edu

100 Campus Drive Elkins, Wv 26241 1.304.637.1900 Connect with D&E

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