Inside Erskine 2021

inside .

FALL 21

ERSKINE

FACULTY STALWART SAYS FAREWELL AFTER 45 YEARS

ON THE COVER Professor Emeritus Dr. Howard Thomas

Photo by Dr. Stephen Sniteman Inside Erskine Fall 2021 Editor Joyce Guyette Designer Kayli Hibbard Assistant Editor Brianne Holmes Contributors Ben Auten Sadie Bradley ’23 Scott McCall ’23 Heath Milford ’11 (Sem.) Langley Shealy Photographers Mike Clifton Ian Harris Dr. Stephen Sniteman

Inside Erskine is published by Erskine’s Marketing & Communications Office.

Keep up with Erskine news, stories, and events at news.erskine.edu Letters to the Editor We welcome your feedback, thoughts on our stories, or ideas for stories. Submissions may be edited for style, length, or clarity.

Contact us at communications@erskine.edu Erskine College does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or age in admission to, treatment in, access to, or employment in its programs or activities.

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18 thomas exits During his long career, students could count on Dr. Howard Thomas for excellent teaching and wise mentoring. A chemistry colleague assesses his impact.

22 Parting words Dr. Robert Gustafson ended his tenure as Erskine’s president June 30. Here, the former president reflects on some of the joys and challenges of his time in Due West.

26 Living Joyfully She majored in Music Education, earned a master’s degree in voice, married an Erskine classmate, and is now in an opera company ensemble. Life is good for Lydia Crone Howery.

30 CALLED TO TEACH 10 Five lively professors in Erskine’s Department 35 of History and Political Science bring differing backgrounds and experiences to their work, 36 and students are the beneficiaries.

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athletics seminary CLASS NOTES iN MEMORIAM |3

ERSKINE HONORS GRADUATES COMMENCEMENT 2021 In a welcome return to tradition, graduates and their families gathered under the towers of the Erskine Building May 8 for Erskine’s first in-person commencement celebration since 2019. Undergraduates earning bachelor’s degrees as well as seminary students receiving graduate degrees were recognized during the outdoor event.

is about security, especially about securing prosperity, and this belief “can blind you to the fundamental insecurity of life”—one death for every person. People who focus on securing prosperity might believe a third lie, that life is “about to go on for a very long time,” when death could claim them at any moment. Finally, many believe “life is about me.”

An address was given by the Rev. Dr. Neil C. Stewart, pastor of Christ Covenant Church, Greensboro, N.C. A native of Northern Ireland, Stewart formerly served as a pediatrician in Belfast.

All these lies about life are embraced by the rich man of whom Jesus speaks in Luke 12:16-21. This man, called a “fool” by God, builds bigger barns in order to hoard his great wealth, not realizing he is about to die. Introducing this parable, Jesus says plainly that life does not consist of the abundance of one’s possessions.

Outlining some of the views gaining ground in contemporary society, Stewart noted that “Many in our culture are saying that you are a biological accident…that began as a fluke and ends up as fertilizer.”

This vision of human identity can be bleak, but some of its adherents would say that “You can have a lot of fun going from nothing to nothing,” finding pleasure in the moment, Stewart said.

The speaker told the graduates he wanted them to avoid coming to the end of life and realizing “you’ve spent your life, your precious earthly life, pursuing all of the things that don’t matter.” People fall into this trap through self-deception, and he warned students against accepting four “lies about life.”

First, some people believe “the lie of more,” that life is about building prosperity. Second, some think life

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“We gain our life by giving it away— serving God, serving others,” Stewart said. “That’s the strange logic of the gospel.”

Expressing the hope for eternity that Christians share, Stewart offered advice for the Erskine graduates. “As you lean into life, my young brothers and sisters, build your life upon truth, build your life upon the gospel, build your life upon serving God and others, and you will get to the end of your life and find it only just beginning.”

In his welcoming remarks, Erskine President Dr. Robert E. Gustafson gave thanks for God’s protection of the Erskine community during the pandemic and told the graduates, “As the years unfold, it will be exciting for the faculty and administration to watch your academic, cultural, community, and spiritual accomplishments.”

The Rev. Clint H. Davis, chair of the Erskine Board of Trustees, brought greetings from the board, telling the graduates to enjoy the day, express their gratitude, and learn to laugh at themselves.

Class of 2020

Rev. Clint Davis ’04

Rev. Dr. Neil C. Stewart

M.Div. graduates

Caption Dr. Thomas Hellams ’83

D.Min. graduates

Choraleers

Class of 1971

COMMENCEMENT AWARDS College awards were announced during the commencement exercises by Provost of the College Dr. J. Thomas Hellams.

These included two faculty awards—the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities Excellence in Teaching Award, given to Assistant Professor of Business Administration Tracy McCurry, and the Younts Excellence in Teaching Award, given to Assistant Professor of History Dr. Alessandra Brivio.

Student awards announced were the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, given to Grayson Reames, a Business Administration major from Mauldin, S.C.; the Mary Mildred Sullivan Award, given to Kara Rabon of Lexington, S.C., a summa cum laude graduate who completed a major in English as well as in Bible and Religion; and the H.M. Young Ring, the highest honor for a member of the senior class, given to Rachel Bishop of Greenwood, a summa cum laude graduate who majored in Biology and minored in Chemistry, English, and History.

Seminary awards, announced by Acting Dean of the Seminary Dr. R.J. Gore, included the Ray A. King Church History Award, given to Everard Reed of Asheville, N.C.; the Bruce G. Pierce Award for Christian Leadership, given to Rodney Johnson of Madison, Wis.; and the D. James Kennedy Institute Award for Missions, given to Neel Skelton of Greenville, S.C.

and announced that the class gift, a depiction of the college seal, can be viewed on the wall in the center stairwell of Belk Hall on the Erskine campus.

Andrew John DiIulio of Greenville, S.C., senior class representative of the Erskine Seminary Class of 2021, responded to Jordan on behalf of the seminary graduates.

Music for the event was provided by the Erskine College Choraleers, directed by Dr. Keith Timms and accompanied by Prof. Sharalyn Hicks, pianist, and Erskine College Sinfonia, conducted by Dr. Deborah Caldwell.

Senior Elizabeth C. Sims of Lancaster, S.C., a summa cum laude graduate, led the singing of the alma mater.

Rachel Bishop

Young Professor of Chemistry Dr. Howard Thomas, who has taught at Erskine since 1976 and is retiring this year, was named Professor of Chemistry Emeritus. Funds are being raised for a scholarship honoring Thomas and his late wife Penny, who was an Erskine staff member for many years.

Acting Dean of the Seminary Dr. R.J. Gore, who is leaving his administrative role to serve full-time as Professor of Systematic Theology and Ministry, received the designation Dean of the Seminary Emeritus.

The commencement speaker was introduced by the college senior with the highest grade point average, Rachel Bishop of Greenwood.

Dr. Alessandra Brivio and family

Serving as faculty marshals were Dr. Howard Thomas, crucifer, and Dr. Loyd Melton, mace bearer. The Rev. Joshua Chiles, chaplain, offered the invocation and the Rev. Clint Davis, chair of the Board of Trustees, gave the benediction.

The graduates were inducted into the Erskine Alumni Association by Herb Jordan, president.

Paul Lawing of Maiden, N.C., president of the Erskine College Class of 2021, thanked Jordan on behalf of the class

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Dr. Deborah Caldwell

INTERIM PRESIDENT TO PROVIDE LEADERSHIP DURING TRANSITION In February 2021, the Board of Trustees, led by the Rev. Clint Davis, chair, announced that Erskine President Dr. Robert E. Gustafson had decided to complete his tenure at the end of the fiscal year, June 30, 2021. The trustees released a tribute to the outgoing president and first lady, stating, in part: As Dr. and Mrs. Robert E. Gustafson prepare to depart from Erskine, the Board of Trustees thanks them for their excellent, Christ-honoring service. Their commitment to the Christian faith and devotion to Christ are evident to all who have known them or worked closely with them. Dr. Gustafson led Erskine with his eyes on Christ. Mrs. Gustafson pointed her students to the Savior through the literary works they studied in her English classes.

They both interacted with the Erskine community with the grace and dignity befitting faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.

In April, the trustees announced that Dr. J. Thomas Hellams, then serving as Provost of the College, would be appointed as interim president beginning July 1.

“In his various roles, Dr. Hellams has proven himself to be a good, faithful, and godly leader,” Davis said. “The trustees are convinced that he will provide great stability and vision for Erskine during this time of transition.”

An alumnus of Erskine College, Hellams served as provost beginning in 2018.

Before commencing his work at Erskine, he completed a five-year term on the Board of Trustees, during which he served as standing committee chair, presidential search committee chair, vice chair, and board chair.

Hellams previously served The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, as Chief of Staff, Office of the President, and later as Vice President for Denominational Relations.

He also served as a distinguished visiting professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and as visiting professor at the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism, and Church Growth at Southern Seminary in Louisville.

Dr. J. Thomas Hellams

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Tanner Frye, Delaney Atkinson, Roberto Monzalvo,Vivian Gonzales, Blair Quarles, and Amaya Richardson

homecoming 2021

Tanner Frye and Delaney Atkinson

Erskine hosted a combined Alumni Weekend and Homecoming celebration Friday and Saturday, March 26-27. Both in-person and virtual activities were included in the schedule. On Friday afternoon, Sinfonia and Jazz Band gave a concert on the steps of the Bowie Arts Center. In the evening, the Euphemians and Philomatheans squared off in the Darlington Cup Debate, with the Euphies gaining the victory.

Roberto Monzalvo and Vivian Gonzales

On Saturday, an Alumni Association meeting took place in Lesesne Auditorium, and a complimentary lunch was served in Moffatt Dining Hall.

The Erskine Choraleers offered an afternoon concert on the steps of the Bowie Arts Center. Later, in a home football game at J.W. Babb Stadium in Greenwood, the Fleet took the field against Tusculum University.

Virtual events included planetarium and museum tours and virtual board games. Two service opportunities—the first enabling participants to earn money for their chosen charity and the second offering them a chance to donate rice to people in need—were also presented online.

This year’s homecoming court was crowned at J.W. Babb Stadium in Greenwood, S.C., during halftime at Erskine’s homecoming football game. Seniors Tanner Frye, a Political Science and Psychology major from Spartanburg, S.C., and Delaney Atkinson, a Political Science and Psychology major from Clinton, S.C., were crowned King and Queen.

Other members of the homecoming court included junior Prince and Princess Roberto Monzalvo of Batesburg, S.C., and Vivian Gonzales of Victoria, Texas; sophomore Duke and Duchess Senika Mckie of Columbia, S.C., and Amaya Richardson of Boiling Springs, S.C.; and freshman Count and Countess Correy Massey of Fort Myers, Fla., and Blair Quarles of Laurens, S.C.

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Senika Mckie and Amaya Richardson

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ALUMNI ASSOCIATION HONORS 2020 & 2021 WINNERS Alumni Association awardees from both 2020 and 2021 were recognized during the Homecoming and Alumni Weekend celebration.

Alumni Association President Herbert Jordan ’68 led the meeting of the association in Lesesne Auditorium. He offered an opening prayer, and Erskine President Dr. Robert Gustafson spoke to the group.

Cooley worked in Student Services, now Student Development, and has since served as Assistant to the Chief of Police and as Victims Advocate. She recently became a certified law enforcement officer and South Carolina state constable police officer. Her current supervisor, Erskine Police Chief Matthew Busby, characterizes her work as “Service above self.”

Jordan passed the gavel to President-Elect E. Phillip Cook ’92. The Rev. Leland Beaudrot ’79 offered the closing prayer.

“Welcome back to a changing place that’s still the same,” Gustafson said. After naming some of the new buildings, programs, and renovations on campus, he cited three elements that remain essential to Erskine. “Erskine will always be a place of relationships,” he said.

“Erskine is a place of focus on the liberal arts. And Erskine is a Christian place.”

The top honor bestowed by the Alumni Association, the Alumni Distinguished Service Award, was presented by Jordan. The award recognizes service to one’s church, community, profession, and alma mater over a lifetime. Dr. James Wylie Gettys, Jr. ’62 was the 2020 recipient, and the 2021 recipient is Dr. Mabel L. Purkerson ’51.

A clinician, teacher, investigator, and administrator, Purkerson was the first woman named full professor at the Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Mo. She served as chief of nephrology for the Washington University Medical Service at John Cochran Veterans Administration Medical Center, associate dean for curriculum, and associate dean for academic projects at the School of Medicine. She is a longtime member of Ladue Presbyterian Church, Ladue, Mo. Purkerson cited the background gained at Erskine as key to her success.

The Outstanding Young Alumni Award winners were presented by coordinator of Alumni Relations Hope Crenshaw Seymour ’19. The 2020 winners were Dr. David Dangerfield ’05 and Elinor Griffin ’15.

The 2021 recipient is Cameron Whitehurst ’17.

Whitehurst originally planned to become an actuary. He enjoyed many fellowship and service opportunities at Erskine. “Along the way at Erskine, Cameron realized the Lord was calling him into a ministry of evangelism,” Seymour said. He is now working on a Master of Divinity degree at Reformed Theological Seminary and serves as Director of Youth Ministry at Plains PCA Church in Zachary, La. The Erskine Service Awards were presented by Alumni Association President-Elect E. Phillip Cook ’92. The 2020 recipient was Robert N. “Tripp” Boykin III ’92, and the 2021 winner is Angie McNeill Grooms ’77.

Grooms retired in 2013 after a distinguished career with Duke Energy.

She was president of the Alumni Board from 2017 to 2019. “Being the president of the Alumni Association Board carries with it the duty of serving simultaneously on the Erskine Board of Trustees,” Cook said. “Angie’s skills as a negotiator and mediator were put to use as she helped those two boards navigate some turbulent waters and reach a peaceful compromise.”

Vice President for Advancement and Alumni Relations Paul Bell ’84 presented honorary alumnae Reba Stille, who was named in 2020, and Jennifer Cooley, the 2021 inductee.

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Football returns to defeat Barton Dominguez wins NCAA Division After a 70-year hiatus from football, the Erskine South/Southeast Golf Regional Flying Fleet returned to the gridiron, opening the historic 2021 spring season on the road against Barton College.

In late April, sophomore Alberto Dominguez won the individual title at the Conference Carolinas Tournament with a 12-under-par performance over three days at Cutter Creek “This was the longest preseason ever for us,” Head Coach Shap Boyd said, referring to delays Golf Club. This earned Dominguez a spot as an individual representative in the NCAA Division caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. “But II South/Southeast Regional in Bowling Green, these kids just fought through it all and it was Fla. awesome to have a chance to watch them play against somebody else.”

On day one of the event, Dominguez was tied Barton scored a touchdown on the first play, but soon after, Erskine players Craig Pender and Javian Bellamy worked together to give the Fleet their first lead. Erskine continued to hold the lead throughout the game, with Senika McKie eventually making a touchdown to secure a 30-28 win.

for second overall. An impressive round on day two catapulted Dominguez into the individual lead, and he held on to win in the individual portion of the South/Southeast Regional.

This qualified Dominguez as the individual representative of his region in the NCAA Division II Championships.

“I’m just really proud of our guys, especially the At the NCAA Division II Championships, he two-year guys who have had to wait for this, and finished in 22nd place, making him the first Erskine golfer ever to compete in the national to win is just icing on the cake,” Boyd said. event. In June, Dominquez was named to the NCAA Division II All-Southeast Regional Women’s Tennis wins regular Team.

season and tournament titles

The Erskine Women’s Tennis team captured its 11th Conference Carolinas regular season title as the Fleet won its final eight matches of the regular season. Led by freshman Emma Bentz—who was 15-2 in singles and was named Conference Carolinas Player of the Year— Erskine entered the tournament with strong momentum.

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Men’s Soccer goes unbeaten to win regular season title In a regular season shortened due to COVID-19, Erskine won all seven of its matches in 2021, behind a defensive group led by freshman goalkeeper Evan Zizek.

Zizek started all seven matches and did not allow a goal all season, which earned him the Conference Carolinas Defensive Player of the Year. Zizek was joined by eight others on the All-Conference Team, along with Coach Warren Turner, who was named the conference’s Coach of the Year in 2021.

A second-half win against Belmont Abbey led by freshman Isaac White sealed a perfect regular season and the first Conference Carolinas regular season title for the Fleet since 2013.

“Our team had a great attitude, a lot of talent, and worked hard to be ready for each game,” Turner said.

Naval wins Women’s Cross-Country Fleet Football to become associate Championship member of South Atlantic After an impressive fourth-place finish in her Conference

previous season, sophomore Lizzie Naval returned to the Conference Carolinas CrossCountry Championships in 2021. Naval dominated the field as she finished the 5K race with a time of 19:58.3, more than 14 seconds Junior Faith Wright won all four of her matches, faster than anyone else in the competition. earning designation as tournament MVP, and Naval tallied the fastest time of any Erskine the team came away with its 12th conference runner in the Women’s Cross-Country tournament title.

Conference Carolinas championships since 2014. She was also named Conference Erskine also earned a bid in the NCAA Southeast Regional for the first time since 2016. Carolinas Runner of the Week twice and was named female National Athlete of the Week Though the Fleet was ultimately defeated by North Georgia in the first round, the team won by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association.

16 of its 20 matches.

Speaking about the challenges posed by the pandemic, Head Coach Calhoun Parr said, “We were unable to play in the fall, and I felt that our team started slowly. But we continued to work hard and it was exciting to watch this young team grow.”

one semester was very taxing and her composure throughout them was exceptional.”

In addition to the cross-country title, Naval also won the Conference Carolinas indoor 3000m title as well as the indoor and outdoor 5000m events.

“Lizzie’s four conference championships this past semester are a reflection of her discipline to stay ready in an uncertain season,” Head Coach Dylan Anderson said. “Having three seasons in

The South Atlantic Conference has announced it will add Erskine College as an associate member in football for the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

Erskine will be eligible for the Conference Championship and individual awards (Player of the Week and All-Conference) in the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Erskine completed its first football season in spring 2021 after a 70-year hiatus.

“We are thrilled to be part of the South Atlantic Conference in football beginning in the fall of 2022,” Erskine Director of Athletics Mark Peeler said. “The SAC has a respected historical reputation in our geographical footprint, so to be able to compete with not only like-minded schools, but in many cases natural rivals, is a blessing for the Flying Fleet.”

Head Football Coach Shap Boyd said, “We are excited and looking forward to competing in one of the best Division II Football Conferences in the country.”

Fleety Awards honor student athletes Erskine’s 2020-21 Fleety Awards were hosted on campus April 27, 2021, on the porch of the Bowie Arts Center.

The 2020-21 Male Team of the Year Award went to the Men’s Soccer team and the Female Team of the Year Award went to the Women’s Tennis team, while the Team Academic Award was claimed for the second year in a row by Women’s Volleyball.

The Game of the Year Award went to the Erskine Football team for its 30-28 win over Barton, which was the team’s first game in 70 years. The Play of the Year Award went to Tori Cooley, a member of the Softball team, for her seventh-inning grand slam home run against Barton.

Alberto Dominguez of the Men’s Golf team and Livan Reinoso of the Men’s Baseball team were both awarded Male Athlete of the Year. Lizzie Naval of the Cross-Country and Track and Field teams and Hannah Houge of the Softball team were both awarded Female Athlete of the Year.

Male Newcomer of the Year was awarded to Evan Zizek and Dennis Cole, both from the Men’s Soccer team. Female Newcomer of the Year was awarded to both Emma Bentz of the Women’s Tennis team and Morgan Dutton of the Track and Field team.

Four students were honored with Special Recognition Awards. Faith Wright of the Women’s Tennis team won the the Karen Bell Award; Jack Hunt of the Bass Fishing team was posthumously named winner of the Sonny Rhem Award; Drew Yniesta of the Baseball team and Hannah Houge of the Softball team received the Jake Todd Award.

Members of the Athletic Training Staff were collectively honored with the Gid Alston Award.

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GRADUATE SNAPSHOT: MOVING FORWARD

Along with the other members of the Erskine College Class of 2021, Caleb Shackleford is among Erskine’s newest alumni. A six-foot-five forward on the Men’s Basketball Team, he was a Business Administration major who participated in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

“What drew me to Erskine was the campus and the Christian community,” he recalls. “My faith is important to me and I knew that I would be around like-minded students at Erskine. I liked the beautiful campus. I also became really good friends with some of the basketball players.”

He first heard about Erskine from students in his hometown, Lexington, South Carolina, where he attended Lexington High School. He began considering the Due West school as part of his college search when Drew Wallace—a 2007 Erskine graduate then serving as a coach at his alma mater—spoke with him about playing basketball for the Fleet.

Caleb recognized what he wanted when he saw it. “Initially I wasn’t looking for a small Christian college, but once I visited, it felt like the right fit for me,” he says.

Choosing a major was relatively easy for Caleb, since he knew he wanted to go into business after college. He was unsure about “what aspect of business I wanted to pursue,” he says. “I talked to my family and decided accounting would be best for me because I enjoy math and I have a lot of family members who are accountants.”

In addition to his studies in business administration and accounting, Caleb completed a minor in Information Technology.

Like most members of the Erskine College student body, Caleb was a scholarship recipient and is thankful for that assistance. “I [had] the Garnet Scholarship, the Gene Alexander Scholarship, the South Carolina Tuition Grant, and also the Flying Fleet Scholarship,” he says.

During his four years on the Erskine campus, he enjoyed his involvement in FCA and his service on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), which offers campus athletes a voice in the National Collegiate Athletic

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Association (NCAA), including input on rules, regulations, and policies.

Caleb is glad he took the time to pursue that avenue of service. “SAAC has been a very beneficial organization because it has helped me build certain leadership skills and help solve problems that student athletes face every day,” he says.

Former basketball coach Drew Wallace, now Associate Athletic Director for Operations and External Relations at Erskine, describes Caleb’s SAAC role.

“He has represented Erskine at NCAA leadership conferences every year as well as Conference Carolinas meetings,” he says. “They met regularly to discuss NCAA regulations and ways they can impact their team and campus.”

Director of Athletics Mark Peeler, who has led an emphasis on “Christcentered, competitive, and community-focused” athletics at Erskine—a formula he calls “the Fleet Way”—values Caleb’s contributions to campus life. As part of the 2020 Fleety Awards, Caleb received the Sonny Rhem Award for community service.

“Caleb is just a fine young man,” Peeler says. “He has a great personality and has been an important four-year player on the men’s basketball team. He is highly involved in the life of Erskine. He is a tremendous representative of Erskine athletics and the college.”

Looking back on his college experience, Caleb believes both Wallace and Peeler have served as important examples for him.

“Coach Peeler and Coach Wallace have been great mentors to me during my time at Erskine,” he says. “They are selfless leaders and passionate about Erskine athletics. I have learned a lot by watching them work every day and seeing how they honor God with their work.”

What’s next for Caleb Shackleford? “I will be working at Dominion Energy as an associate accountant in Columbia, South Carolina,” he says.

As he moves into his profession, Caleb will use knowledge he has acquired in the classroom. Like generations of alumni, he will also carry with him inspiration and leadership experience gained at Erskine College.

FORMER FOOTBALL PLAYERS HONORED AT ERSKINE’S FIRST HOME GAME IN 70 YEARS Three members of the last Erskine football team before the reinstatement of the sport— Duddie Bennett ’51, Tom Chandler ’53, and Bob Gorham ’51—were designated honorary captains at the Flying Fleet’s first home football game since 1951 on Saturday, March 13, 2021. The three captains delivered a commemorative coin to midfield for the coin toss.

The game—played during spring semester as a result of pandemic-related schedule adjustments— followed a week of spirited campus activities culminating in a Friday afternoon parade and barbecue supper.

Some 2,000 fans attended the event at J.W. Babb Stadium in Greenwood, Erskine’s home venue for the season. The Fleet fell to the Shorter University Hawks, 24-13.

From left, Tom Chandler, Bob Gorham, and Duddie Bennett Also at halftime, the Rev. Clint Davis, chair of the Erskine Board of Trustees, recognized Erskine President Dr. Robert Gustafson and Director of Athletics Mark Peeler for their work in bringing football back to the campus.

“An enormous amount of unseen effort went into the planning of this day,” Vice President for Advancement and Alumni Relations Paul Bell said.

“To see the results in this gathering of people who love Erskine from across seven decades is a wonderful thing.”

The opening invocation was offered by Chaplain Josh Chiles. A moment of silence was observed in memory of Erskine College freshman Jack Franklin-Lee Hunt, who passed away in an accident March 12. A member of the Bass Fishing Team, Jack is deeply mourned by his family, his friends, and the Erskine community.

A 1984 graduate, Bell especially appreciated the involvement of alumni in the day’s activities. “It was a special privilege to celebrate with Tom, Bob, Head Coach Shap Boyd and Duddie,” he said of the honorary captains. “Destin and Sally Nichols, representing our young alumni, came in their plane all the way from Florida to treat the crowd to the flyover at the beginning of the game.”

At halftime, Director of Athletics Mark Peeler presented commemorative coins to honorary captains Bennet, Chandler, and Gorham.

Bell added, “The occasion that brought us all together was football, but it’s obvious that what binds us all together is Erskine.”

A flyover was provided by Destin Nichols ’17, a business administration graduate who was a four-year starting catcher for Flying Fleet Baseball.

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Student Reflections Jonathan Horne

me as a freshman. Several older students took the initiative to make sure that I was adjusting well to college life. When these students took time to connect with me, God’s work in our lives is as mysterious as I saw the importance of learning from certain aspects of who He is; yet it seems the wisdom and experience of others. In clear to me that it was through God’s organizations like Reformed University providence that I came to Erskine. In my first two years here, the Lord has enabled me Fellowship (RUF), Writing Club, Onward and Upward, and Residence Life, I have to move forward in three significant areas: first, learning where my identity lies; second, found friends who will walk alongside me. finding community within the largest class COVID-19 struck during the spring in Erskine’s history; and third, growing semester of my freshman year. One of the spiritually during a difficult semester. many blessings of a small college such as Erskine was the ability to keep track of I have always placed a high priority on students as they were exposed to the virus. earning good grades. I knew that Erskine Erskine made it through the 2020-21 school would challenge me intellectually, but I year with in-person classes, along with have also found that Erskine is shaping my priorities. One day, I received a grade that— hybrid and online classes, without shutting down. During the pandemic, I began serving while not a low grade—was not the grade I had been striving for. I took the assignment as a Resident Assistant (RA). In this role, I was able to connect with other students and to my professor’s office, and I will never form a community. The Residence Life staff forget the kindness of her response. She created opportunities for student connection told me that grades do not determine who I am. My identity rests in Christ. This truth in a safe environment. compelled me to shift my focus away from In addition to the challenges of COVID-19, anxiety about grades, take a step back, and the Spring 2021 semester brought difficulty view my college experience in the light of I never could have foreseen. As an RA, I eternity. had grown close to many of the freshmen One of the highlights of my time at Erskine the Lord had placed on my hall. They came from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and has been the community that I have found lifestyles, which gave me a new perspective through student organizations and student on life. Then, one Friday night in March, the life events. I began college in 2019 as a Erskine community lost one of its freshman member of the largest class in Erskine’s students, Jack—a resident on my hall. I will history. The Lord provided a small, likenever forget coming out of my room and minded community of friends in which I one of the guys on my hall telling me the was able to connect on both an intellectual news. I went back into my room and wept. and a spiritual level. Interactions with You grow up hearing stories of people dying upperclassmen were especially helpful for

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and never thinking that it could be someone as close as the guy down the hall.

In the weeks to follow, I experienced many sleepless nights and lonely days. I began to revert to being hyper-focused on academics and filling any additional time with extracurricular activities. At the same time, my grades began to fall, and friends were worried about me but did not know what was wrong; I was in a cycle of grief and despair. One day, later in the semester, I found myself in the dean’s office searching for answers. I do not remember every detail of my conversation with the dean, but I do remember leaving with truths about divine providence—God’s sovereignty, even amidst darkness—circulating through my mind. I remember that he reassured me that my future is in place and that I cannot do anything beyond the scope of God’s eternal plan. As I persevered through the rest of the semester, I reflected on our conversation, holding onto truth I know will carry me through the rest of this life.

The Lord is still sanctifying me through my time at Erskine. Professors and fellow students have been instrumental in my growth. I would not be where I am today without the support of the community that I have at Erskine College. As it becomes increasingly difficult to seek truth within a culture moving away from objective reality, Erskine offers the foundation and skills needed to pursue truth. In my dark valleys, the Erskine community has been there to pray, support, and guide me back to Christ, and at my best, the Erskine community is there to encourage, prepare, and push me toward excellence for the glory of Christ.

sadie bradley I grew up in Due West. I remember running around on the Erskine mall as a child and playing hide-and-seek in Watkins. Everyone assumed that I would attend Erskine, but I had other plans. If you know me, you’ll know that I am the ultimate planner. For years, I had known what I wanted to do with my life: move out of tiny Due West and go to California to enroll in a film and television school, following my love for filmmaking and writing. But in the fall of 2017, all that changed when I took my first dual-enrollment English course at Erskine. I absolutely loved it! I ended up taking a few more English classes and joined Bella Voce as a high-school student.

When I eventually attended Erskine fulltime as a freshman, I knew that I wanted to major in English, having loved writing for so long. At the end of my freshman year, I was a bit discouraged. As a commuter, I felt I had not formed the community I thought I would have in college. In the spring of 2020, I considered transferring to that film school in California; but the arrival of COVID-19 stopped me in my tracks. For once in my life, I did not have a plan.

I decided to return to Erskine as a commuter in the fall of 2020, and through the Lord’s guidance, I had one of my best semesters yet. An opportunity arose for me to take an independent study screenwriting class, and I couldn’t have been happier. I met some amazing new friends and strengthened old friendships, I started Erskine’s first oncampus book club, and I began to realize that the best things in life happen when the Lord takes control.

Fast-forward to the summer of 2021. I am going into my junior year, and Erskine is responsible for helping me to grow my

“At Erskine, I have

grown as a person, both academically and spiritually, and I can’t imagine going to college anywhere else.

“

It was during this time that my life changed for the better. My walk with Christ was strengthened and I became a completely different person. I realized that I was disappointed in college life because I was looking too hard for what I thought would be the quintessential college experience.

I had been planning what my college life would be like, instead of praying about it. In the summer of 2020, growing closer to the Lord, I found that He completely changed my outlook on life – and wonderful things happened as a result.

faith in ways that would never have been possible if I had left for California. Erskine has some truly amazing campus ministries that I’ve enjoyed attending, such as RUF, SCA, and the chapel ministry. Erskine also has a strong community of believers and a Christ-centered faculty and staff, and I feel very fortunate to be a student here at Erskine.

Erskine has also provided me with opportunities to pursue my interests and goals. Because of Dr. Schott’s screenwriting class, I recently finished my second screenplay, and it was approved for a United States Copyright, ensuring that I can now send my script out to the industry.

English classes at Erskine cultivated my love of literature, and after finishing my second novel, I am writing to literary agents in the hopes of getting my book published. I’ve also had the opportunity to be a part-time editor at an up-and-coming publishing house. I enjoy being involved in organizations on campus, especially as the founder and president of Erskine’s first book club and vice president of Choraleers.

I am grateful to Dr. Schott (English) and Dr. Timms (Music) for convincing me through their stellar teaching and encouraging spirits that Erskine is where I need to be. At Erskine, I have grown as a person, both academically and spiritually, and I can’t imagine going to college anywhere else.

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A brother’s STORY: ‘Things don’t all fit into place’ Honorary alumnus Richard Haldeman has written a memoir of his older brother, the novelist and screenwriter Charles Haldeman (1931-1983), who spent his freshman year of college at Erskine. Charles Haldeman was the author of a number of fictional works, including his novels The Sun’s Attendant and The Snowman, the latter based on boyhood years spent in a small town in upstate New York.

The memoir, subtitled Mid-Century Journeys of a Vagabond Author, is told as part of a family history and examined in light of the Haldeman brothers’ larger milieu, with key events occurring on multiple continents over several decades.

Haldeman sees himself and his older brother as part of a generation that is sometimes overlooked, as is the Korean War, the backdrop of their early adult years. “We were not World War II veterans, we weren’t Vietnam veterans,” he says. “It is as if our generation does not exist.”

The six months Haldeman spent writing the book strengthened his conviction that history matters. “I think there are several lessons I’ve learned in undertaking this project. One is that although attitudes change and cultures tend to change, everything that we are today, everything that we believe and learn today, is based on something in the past,” he says.

“We don’t always understand the past correctly. We are living in a period of enormous amounts of information. We received less information in the past, but we received more accurate information,” Haldeman says, adding that in earlier decades, information was sifted through a publishing process.

“There’s so much dismissal of past happenings and past attitudes without actually trying to understand them. I think that has been true throughout history. But then we had books to actually look at them. We have passed from a period of readers to one of watchers.”

The memoir’s real-life plotline begins with the brief courtship and subsequent marriage of Frances McFall and Charles Heuss in 1930, on the eve of World War II. McFall was a member of a prominent family in Pickens, South Carolina, and Heuss was a native of Germany.

The book chronicles the early death of the German husband and father, then follows the fortunes of the family created by the widowed mother’s second marriage to Willard “Bill” Haldeman—whose surname the two older brothers took—and the births of three younger brothers.

During boyhood, Charles exhibited exceptional intelligence and creativity. “He was very unusual,” Haldeman remembers.

“He was a little star among the students in Sackets Harbor, New York. He put together a variety show for the town when he was 14. They put it on once, then put it on a second time.”

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Charles began his college studies at Erskine, went on to Antioch College, and spent some years in the Navy. He later gained admission to Heidelberg University in Germany but did not get a degree. He cherished a strong desire to travel to Greece, so after leaving Heidelberg University, “He came cycling into Greece and talked himself into a position with the American school in Athens—teaching biology and algebra!”

Haldeman says.

The narrative moves through the protagonist’s encounters with actors, filmmakers, publishers, writers, and others in various locales, including New York City and Athens, Greece.

Charles’s adventures sometimes intersect with historic events in unexpected ways. For example, Haldeman recounts an episode related to his brother’s long sojourn in Greece. “In 1968, my brother had written a musical play, The Golden Wings, set in Greece. When he came to America to try to find a Broadway producer for the play, he ended up attending the funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr.” The life story of Charles Haldeman may resemble fiction, but as Richard Haldeman points out, “If you write fiction, you can make everything come together. If you write a memoir, things don’t all fit into place.”

Haldeman embarked on writing the memoir with a wealth of material at his disposal, building on the short family history he composed several years ago. Reflecting on that initial effort, he says, “I really felt at that time that I should have told some of the rest of the story because it is a very interesting story.” He stresses the connection of his brother’s story with “much of what was going on during that time and how people thought.”

As for the timing of the project, “It should have been done 30 years ago,” he admits, “but it’s better now because I found so much more information with the Internet—more than I would have been able to find back then.”

Richard Haldeman offered dedicated service to Erskine under five presidents, teaching journalism, producing press releases, editing the alumni magazine and other publications, covering sports events, and much more. He retired as Director of Public Relations in 1995. Named an honorary alumnus, he received the Erskine Service Award in 2012.

He is married to Professor Emerita of Biology Dr. Janice Haldeman, who joined the faculty in 1967 and is an honorary alumna.

Leave a Legacy It is impossible to separate Erskine from my identity. As a member of an old-line family, as a “faculty brat” growing up in Due West, as the descendant of countless Erskine alumni and the son and brother and cousin and uncle to still more, as an ’84 graduate…Erskine is part of my roots and part of my being.

My giving has simply been a continuation of the support provided by others for 180-plus years. Including a bequest to the College in my will seemed a natural way to provide support beyond my lifetime. I hope that future generations of Erskine students and alumni will cherish their experience and their Erskine relationships as much as I do mine.

Paul Hayward Grier ’84 (pictured with his wife Susan)

Learn more about the Legacy Circle and Planned Giving at erskine.edu/alumni/giving/legacy-circle/ or call Paul Bell at 864-379-8727.

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saying farewell after 45 years As Dr. Howard Thomas retires from an influential 45-year teaching career at Erskine, generations of alumni will recall his extensive knowledge of his field, his contagious enthusiasm, and his lilting accent.

A native of Wales, he received his undergraduate and doctorate degrees at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom. He came to the United States as a post-doctoral fellow and joined the college faculty in 1976.

Appointed Dr. and Mrs. James Rogers Young Professor of Chemistry in 2006, he received the SCICU Excellence in Teaching award in 2015 and was named an honorary alumnus in 2019.

Announcing at this year’s commencement that the longtime professor was being designated “professor emeritus,” Dr. Thomas Hellams said, “Dr. Thomas’s career has been characterized by exemplary service to Erskine College, excellent scholarship and teaching, and true commitment to students.”

Thomas’s colleagues on the Erskine faculty also benefited from his knowledge and commitment, including Associate Professor of Chemistry and Physics Dr. Tiffany Hayden, who served on the Erskine faculty with him beginning in 2009.

“I interviewed a year before I finally started at Erskine College,” she says. “Howard took a chance on me when I wasn’t even done with graduate school.”

Thomas was a mentor to Hayden, just as he was to countless students through the decades.

College students often require the encouragement of a professor to help them recognize their own potential, and Hayden had a similar experience as a young academic.

“He saw something in me that I wasn’t sure was there, but he encouraged me to make the classroom my own, take ownership of my teaching, and do my best,” she says. “I’m still here 12 years later and I’m enjoying every day of being in the classroom with students.”

In her early days at Erskine, when Hayden and her husband were newlyweds, Thomas “invited us to church” and during the week “made sure I was home at a decent hour,” she says.

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Later, when the Haydens welcomed their infant son, Clayton, “he worked with me to lighten my course load and make sure I was taking time with my family.”

Remembering Thomas’s wife, a longtime Student Services staff member who died in early 2019 and was posthumously named an honorary alumna, Hayden says, “Penny Thomas even knitted a blanket for Clayton and sent him birthday and Christmas gifts.”

A large part of Thomas’s legacy is his practice of “putting the student first,” Hayden believes. He was also “focused on making sure we had our best and brightest representing Erskine” in graduate schools and professional endeavors.

“He spent many hours writing recommendation letters and advising students on how to answer interview questions.

He helped them research which program and field of study would suit them well,” she says.

By guiding and supporting his students in their efforts to discover their life’s calling, Thomas displayed genuine concern for them.

“We continue this tradition in the chemistry department by always putting students first and making sure they are showcasing who they are and the talents they have,” Hayden says. “We aren’t successful if our students aren’t successful and loving what they do.”

Asked what she will miss most about her mentor and colleague, Hayden says, “I will miss his institutional knowledge of Erskine. No matter how crazy the question, he always knew the answer and who started the procedure or tradition.” She will also miss “his support of me and our students.”

On a lighter note, she adds, “I’ll also miss his ‘sexy blue paper’—that’s an inside joke for chemistry majors; his updates on Welsh rugby; his laugh and smile; and his ‘incorrect’ pronunciation of aluminum—another inside joke.”

Noting that Thomas “gave a lot to Erskine,” Hayden says, “My hope is that we can honor him for his hard work.”

Funds are being raised for an Erskine College scholarship honoring Howard and Penny Thomas.

For information about the Howard and Penelope “Penny” Thomas Scholarship, please contact Vice President for Advancement and Alumni Relations Paul Bell at paul.bell@erskine.edu or by phone at 864-379-8727.

FACULTY STALWART

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NEWS

DAY OF GIVING 2021 AN ENCOURAGING SUCCESS Erskine’s third annual Day of Giving was a success, with the school exceeding its announced 2021 goal of $125,000 for the April 28 event. More than $151,000 was raised during the 2021 Day of Giving.

Vice President for Advancement and Alumni Relations Paul Bell said a generous $25,000 matching gift was made anonymously and was met by donations early in the day. “Momentum continued to build after that,” he said.

Day of Giving contributions will be used primarily for the reduction of tuition costs through general scholarship assistance. “Designated gifts were also received for a scholarship in honor of Dr. Howard and Penny Thomas, new equipment for our biology labs, and Erskine Athletics,” Bell said.

In addition to staff from the Advancement and Alumni, Marketing and Communications, and Information Technology teams, members of the Erskine community assisting this year’s Day of Giving efforts included Erskine President Dr. Robert Gustafson, First Lady Beth Gustafson, freshman Presidential Scholar Sharon George, and Erskine College sophomore Sadie Bradley. Videos created by faculty and staff members, alumni, and students were shown throughout the day.

Many thanks to the alumni and friends who made this year’s Day of Giving a success.

ERSKINE WINS ‘BEST SMALL DELEGATION’ AGAIN For the seventh time in the past 12 years, the Erskine College delegation to the South Carolina Student Legislature (SCSL) was named Best Small Delegation.

The SCSL fall 2020 session was conducted online, and a number of Erskine College students joined the meeting, including senior Delaney Atkinson of Clinton; sophomore Tome Filkov of Lackawanna, N.Y.; senior Tanner Frye of Spartanburg; senior Jacob Maccallum of Lenoir, N.C.; junior Roberto Monzalvo of Batesburg; senior Brooke Weathers of Greenwood; and junior Caroline Woolard of Camden.

Erskine students took leadership roles during the session, with Woolard serving as lieutenant governor, Weathers serving as secretary of state, and Monzalvo serving as committee chair for Medical, Municipal, Transportation, and Public Administration.

All three bills introduced by members of the Erskine delegation passed.

Monzalvo said each delegation met using Zoom, and a unicameral virtual session was held.

Marissa Niño, a member of the Student Development staff, serves as sponsor of Erskine’s SCSL organization.

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HONOR SOCIETY CHAPTER MAKES ITS DEBUT A fall 2020 ceremony held in the Daniel•Moultrie Science Center marked the establishment of the Alpha Epsilon Delta (AED) Health Preprofessional Honor Society at Erskine College. Erskine’s new chapter is only the sixth to be formed among colleges in South Carolina.

Dr. Cindy Stanfield, past AED president and a member of the national organization’s board of directors, joined the Erskine group virtually, inducting the officers first “so that the [Erskine officers] would be able to perform the ceremony for the other members,” Professor of Biology Dr. Al Mina said.

Mina, faculty sponsor for the chapter, stresses the student-led efforts behind the birth of the chapter. “This is actually something that has been in the works for a few years,” he says. “The students who put it in motion and did most of the work to get the chapter established have graduated.”

Some of the students responsible for initiating the creation of the AED chapter at Erskine were Reid Windmiller ’17, Zach Morgan ’19, and Cassidy Cross ’20 .

Officers serving Erskine’s AED chapter are Chloe Hamilton, president; Sydney Eaker, vice president; Lexi Lewis, secretary; Sydney McInnis, treasurer; and Anna Parramore, historian.

CHAPLAIN URGES GENUINE COMMITMENT At a fall 2020 chapel service, Chaplain Joshua Chiles spoke about the role of personal character in a relationship with God. “He wants your heart,” Chiles told the students, adding, “God wants to use your life.”

Preaching from 2 Chronicles 12:9-10, Chiles described King Rehoboam’s lack of character. Shishak, king of Egypt, took away the golden shields Rehoboam’s father Solomon had made, and Rehoboam replaced them with bronze shields. This happened because Rehoboam turned his back on the law of God after inheriting the kingdom of Israel from his father and grandfather.

From left, juniors Ann Rose Conner, Kathryn Torgerson, and Kelci Brown await their induction.

Founded in 1926 and open to students enrolled in a health preprofessional curriculum, AED is an honor society and a service organization, with membership based on scholastic achievement.

Rather than relying on temporary pleasure, believers should be committed to the eternal God, which will make them stand out in the culture. It is better to be “genuine” in faith, pleasing God, than to be “generic,” fitting in with the crowd.

In his final point, the chaplain focused on “repentance over appearance,” using a story from his teenage years as an illustration.

Chiles wanted a gold chain to impress his friends but could not afford one. To keep up appearances, he bought a chain that looked genuine but caused him to break out in hives. He realized that instead of focusing on outward appearance, believers should focus on repentance from sin and relationship with God. “Are you giving yourself to God?” Chiles asked his chapel audience.

Referencing the shields, Chiles said students should strive to be like gold, a precious metal, rather than like bronze, a common and less valuable alloy. People often settle for the common so they can be accepted by others. Believers should live in a way that is worthy of their inheritance in Christ.

Chiles laid out five points to focus on in living for God: “divine power over human effort,” “committed living over carnal living,” “genuine over generic,” “examples over excuses,” and “repentance over appearance.”

Discussing “divine power over human effort,” Chiles said that God must be the driving force in the Christian’s life. The believer should not try to live independently of God’s power because “you will never be in a place where you do not need God.”

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PARTING WORDS Shortly before the conclusion of his tenure as president, Dr. Robert E. Gustafson agreed to talk about his time at Erskine. Here, he responds thoughtfully and eloquently to a few questions, touching on the topics of community, leadership, transformation, and more.

Your first acquaintance with Erskine was as a D.Min. student in the seminary a few years ago.

In early 2016, you spent a few months as a special assistant to the president. What are some of the characteristics of this small institution that initially piqued your interest?

The bulk of my initial experience in educational leadership centered on private K-12 schools, most recently at The Stony Brook School, a small Christian boarding school founded in 1922 for students in grades seven through twelve. My experience there in leading a Christian residential academic community confirmed its powerful transformational effect in the lives of young adults.

When board members, administrators, and teachers share underlying Biblical values, a fertile environment ensues to enhance the development of Christian men and women who become leaders in their families, churches, and communities. In a book entitled The Death of Character, Dr. James Hunter, a renowned sociologist at the University of Virginia, highlights the powerful influence of coherent communities in developing people of faith and character. He points out our culture’s urgent need to establish places where this type of maturation can be fostered.

Erskine College reminded me of my experience in a secondary residential Caption academichere setting and encouraged me to think about how the transformational influence of a Christian academic community could enrich the lives of students at the college level.

Shortly after your appointment as interim president, you spoke about the importance of “mission alignment” as both a process and a goal in your work as president. You also stressed a “core Christian leadership principle” based on Jesus’ response to the ambition expressed by the mother of James and John—“that leaders in Christ’s kingdom must understand the servant roles they play as they shepherd those within their respective organizations.” Have you found it challenging to move toward mission alignment while maintaining a servant leadership model? Or has this become a familiar dance? What is your own evaluation of Erskine’s progress toward mission alignment?

This is a profound question that demands thoughtful reflection. My sense is that change in mission alignment is best effected through a servant leadership model. This approach takes time, but often brings deep and lasting change rather than simply a temporary fluctuation. Nonetheless, mission alignment presents a challenge, particularly at an institution

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where the mission has been interpreted in various ways by its stakeholders. In addressing the issue of mission alignment, I considered Erskine’s roots—its founding principles expressed in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church’s document, Philosophy of Christian Higher Education. In this document, I discovered principles of Christian education that resonated with my own experience in leading Christian academic institutions. A move toward mission alignment called for transformational thinking among the members of Erskine’s administrative team as we discussed this document and brainstormed about ways to align our policies and practices with Erskine’s stated mission.

Five years would never be enough time to see this mission alignment perfectly fulfilled. Having said that, I believe that we have, by the grace of God, made significant progress. The challenge going forward is to hold two ideas in Erskine’s mission statement together. Since Erskine is a liberal arts college, rigorous academic work must remain paramount.

Yet, undergirding Erskine’s academic endeavors, there must be a strong commitment to the person and work of Jesus Christ. His crucifixion and resurrection, not just theological concepts but profound realities, offer light and hope to our impoverished souls. Some might argue that holding faith and reason together in a unified vision is impossible. I would argue that although holding these two together takes intentional effort, the fusion of rigorous academic endeavor and a biblical worldview promotes enduring intellectual and spiritual benefit. If faith and reason are wedded, students flourish and grow in their character and faith.

Your wife Beth has been by your side throughout your tenure at Erskine. She has served graciously as first lady and has also taught English here. In what ways has her perspective been especially helpful to you as you carried out your duties?

I am married to a very talented and gifted human being. Beth is a student of God’s word and a woman of prayer. She loves people and flourishes in environments where she can use her profound intellectual abilities and teaching skills and also be part of a community of people

who are working towards a common goal. I know of no one who understands literature and the biblical text better than she does. Her ability, in very natural and scholarly ways, to integrate biblical truth and the literature she loves has always been for me a paradigm of what a Christian teacher or professor ought to do. At the same time, she learned quickly to love the people of Erskine, and she expressed that affection in ways that were tangible and thoughtful. I think all of this is summed up best by what someone said to me after hearing that I was stepping aside: “We will miss you, but we will really miss Beth.” I certainly understand that statement.

You were a little over halfway through your fourth year as president (counting the interim period) when COVID-19 made a huge and unexpected impact on the educational enterprise at Erskine. Your steady leadership throughout that difficult time has been praised by many people. Certainly you had members of the administration, faculty, and staff working with you, but did the role of president become in some ways a lonely one during those months of struggle?

COVID-19 was a challenge to the entire planet, and we are still working through its deleterious effects. I think all of us are tired of the constant vigilance, the fear of the “stalking pestilence,” the disconnection with people, and the sorrow of lost relationships and opportunities. For fifteen months, I have lived and breathed COVID, feeling every day the weight of concern for the health and safety of every person in the Erskine community. So yes, it has been a lonely time. But leadership, particularly in our culture, is a lonely calling. Pundits share their wisdom from afar; leaders must actually enter the fray. What amazes me most is that throughout the fifteen months of acute concern about COVID-19, God has been lavishly gracious to Beth and me and to the entire Erskine community in Due West. The prayers of many were heard, and He set us apart as if He were putting us in the “land of Goshen.” I believe Erskine has come through this pandemic a stronger institution poised for success in the years to come. If I played a small part in that positive outcome, to God be the glory.

During the pandemic, you emailed updates to the community, offering encouragement and sometimes a bit of admonishment to Erskine students. If you had to write a post-COVID-19 “update” to the community, and especially the students, on the occasion of your departure, what might you say to them?

many in ways that I will never fully know, to make this year successful.

Thank you!

As routines return to normal, Beth and I will pray that the academic year 2021-22, under Dr. Hellams’s talented leadership, will be one of the best Erskine has ever experienced. We will remember you all in our daily prayers.

Looking back at the accomplishments of your term as president and anticipating what such accomplishments might mean for Erskine’s future, which of them pleases you most?

So much has happened in these five years. Our undergraduate enrollment has grown over 30 percent, and to meet the needs of that growth, the College added apartments across from the softball field, newly constructed townhomes on Depot Street, and a renovated Edwards House for female honors students. These additions have enhanced the residential options for our undergraduate students.

The addition of dynamic young professors has brought energy and innovation to our faculty ranks. Along with addition of new faculty, we inaugurated a Master of Arts in Christian Counseling program designed to lead to the the licensed professional counselor credential. With a $500,000 grant from the Kern Foundation, the five-year B.A./M.Div. program began in the fall of 2020. This program will provide students called into ministry at a young age the opportunity to finish their academic work in five years. This program offers unique opportunities for college graduates and allows our graduate and undergraduate faculties to work together on common projects.

These are a few of the tangible accomplishments garnered in the last few years. Yet, in many ways, I am most thankful that Erskine continues to be a college where students are “transformed by the renewal of [their] mind[s]” (Romans 12:2). God’s marvelous plan of redemption through Christ, taught and exemplified in the lives of Erskine’s professors and staff, empowers students to answer the high call of Christ upon their lives. “Lift the banner of Christ high on the campus” has been my call to the Erskine community. Erskine is at its best when academics are rigorous, when residential life affords a community where relationships matter, and when the transformational power of the Gospel, revealed in the person and work of Jesus Christ, energizes all its endeavors.

Soli deo gloria!

I would want to explain to students that my admonishment came from a desire for their health and safety even when I did not have enough information to make thoroughly informed decisions. I would also thank them for their attitude of working with us to create a safe environment and to make the 2020-21 academic year as normal as possible during a worldwide pandemic. I am glad that students lived on campus and attended classes in person for the entire year. I am pleased that we could enjoy the Choraleers, Sinfonia, athletics, and the inauguration of football during the spring.

Finally, I was excited to offer this year’s graduates a memorable in-person graduation!

I would want to communicate to the faculty and staff my gratitude for their tireless efforts to make this year work. The facilities crew, the food service workers, the office staff, the administration, and the professors all sacrificed,

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ALUMNI & FRIENDS

CADET INSTRUCTOR REMEMBERS ERSKINE WITH AFFECTION Retired Air Force Major John William Northrup recently sent a letter to the Advancement and Alumni office about how he became acquainted with Erskine during a World War II military training program brought to the campus early in 1943. He wrote, in part: I am not an alumnus of Erskine, but my relationship goes back to the early days of WWII. I enlisted in the Army Air Corps in July of 1942, age 19.

I was put into pilot training and shortly became an instructor pilot. Stationed at Greenwood, S.C. instructing aviation cadets from Erskine. That is my connection.

I will be 100 in just a year and a half.

I am fond of my connection to Erskine.

Sincerely, Jack Northrup, Major, USAF (Retired) In A History of Erskine College, the late Professor Emeritus of History Dr. Lowry Ware recounts that once the Army Air Corps approved the campus for the military training program, “Robinson Hall on the women’s campus as well as the entire men’s campus was turned over to the Army Air Corps, which set up the 38th College Training Detachment (Air Crew) for the next full year.”

Erskine professors were employed in teaching the cadets such courses as physics, English, history, math, and geography. The college was also responsible for a physical training program under “Dode” Phillips and J.W. Beard. The Cadet School, as it became known, “began with a ‘permanent party’ of fifteen Air Corps personnel and 400 Air Crew men who came to the campus from basic training,” according to Ware.

Ware observes that “Erskine and the Due West community gave the cadets a warm welcome.” Dr. R.C. Grier, president of the college, “sent the parents of the young men a post card, a personal touch which brought an appreciative response from families all over the nation.”

Ware concludes, “By March 1, 1944, when the last of the cadets completed their studies at Erskine, over 900 men had gone through the Erskine school.”

The closing of the Cadet School signaled the end of a brief time of heightened patriotism in which young men from all over the United States, along with their military leaders, were introduced to Erskine and made their mark on the small community.

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Kristen Craft Finley

PSYCHOLOGY GRADUATE IS INSPIRED

BY HER CLIENTS When Kristen Craft Finley graduated from Erskine in 2017 with a degree in psychology, she was unsure what career path she wanted to follow. Thanks to her undergraduate research and a chance meeting, she began working for Anderson Interfaith Ministries (A.I.M.) and gained clarity about her vocation.

“I worked at Dillard’s...and kept that job into the summer after graduation,” she says, explaining that one of her high school teachers, who had begun working for A.I.M., came into the store. Knowing that Kristen had written an article based on her research at Erskine, the former teacher told her about an opening for an AmeriCorps VISTA position at A.I.M. During her year with AmeriCorps, she began working with A.I.M.’s Women and Children Succeeding (WACS) program, which assists mothers pursuing college degrees. It was through this experience that she began to sense her calling. She was then offered a full-time position as Impact Specialist at A.I.M. Just three years after graduating from Erskine, Kristen became Vice President of Operations at A.I.M. Her sense of vocational calling has solidified over the last few years, but she says this would not have happened without the inspiration she drew from women she met in the WACS program.

“Being surrounded by strong women dedicated to overcoming obstacles and making a better life for their families inspired me to apply [to graduate school],” she says. “It’s funny—when I first started at A.I.M., I thought I would be helping those women, when really, they were the ones who taught me so much about life.”

Kristen completed a Master of Arts in Applied Psychology at Liberty University in 2021.

TWIN GRADUATES NOW WORKING FOR RIVAL SCHOOLS “When you begin teaching at an institution, there are always students who stand out from the start,” says Associate Professor of Sport Management Dr. Laura Truell, who joined the faculty in 2019. For Truell, two such students were Adam and Andrew Weir, featured in the Greenwood Index-Journal in February 2021 for their roles at rival schools.

The 2020 Sport Management graduates, who grew up in nearby Ninety Six, S.C., played Fleet Men’s Basketball. After graduating, Adam joined the men’s coaching staff at The Citadel and Andrew worked as assistant director of operations at Virginia Military Institute (VMI).

Recalling that her biggest initial challenge with Adam and Andrew Weir was “trying to tell them apart,” Truell says, “It was obvious that they were very close and competed both with and against each other.”

At the time the twins were featured in the newspaper article, The Citadel and VMI were set to play each other in basketball later that week. Truell wished them both well in their careers and expressed her belief that the Feb. 20 game would be a special occasion for the brothers.

“Who knows?” she says. “Someday maybe I’ll get to see a ‘Weir War’ in person. That would be a joy!”

Coach Lee Sartor with the Weir family

on Pearl Harbor. He served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. During his years at Erskine, he double majored in English and Mathematics and served as editor of The Mirror.

The young Wilkerson completed the remaining credits required for college graduation in Pocatello, Idaho, and it was there that he met Jeanne Coffin, to whom he was married for 69 years until her death in 2014. The Wilkersons became the parents of three sons and later welcomed several grandchildren.

One of Wilkerson’s experiences as a member of “the greatest generation” came in 1945, when he served in the Marine unit which escorted President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s remains on the historic train journey to Hyde Park, New York, for burial.

DECORATED MARINE, MEMBER OF CLASS OF 1941, PENS MEMOIR Retired U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. H. Lloyd Wilkerson, 101, a member of the Erskine College Class of 1941, has written a memoir, I Was a Spectator in the Greatest Generation, recently released by Dorrance Publishing Co., Inc. A native of Troy, Tennessee, Wilkerson enlisted in the Marine Corps on December 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attack

He served his alma mater on the Alumni Association Board of Directors, as co-chairman of the Living Endowment Campaign, as a member of the Board of Trustees, and as chairman of the Board of Trustees. Erskine College was honored to present Wilkerson with the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award in 1985; the Alumni Distinguished Service Award in 1988; and an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1996.

Now married to Lillian Jones Gibson, Wilkerson will mark his 102nd birthday this year.

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ERSKINE LAUNCHED HER INTO MUSIC—NOW SHE LIVES IN JOY Lydia Crone Howery, a 1999 Music Education graduate of Erskine College, lives in Florida and sings with the Gulfshore Opera ensemble “GO Divas.” She and her husband, Darrell Howery ’99, who have four children, were Erskine athletes and went on to earn master’s degrees (she in Voice Performance and he in Criminal Justice). Darrell teaches criminal justice at Lely High School in Naples, is a firearms instructor with 4-H, and works with the grounds crew at the Red Sox spring training stadium.

Lydia reflects here on her Erskine experience and the direction her life has taken.

What organizations and activities were significant for you during your years on campus?

I can’t believe it has been over 20 years since I graduated. The two most significant parts of my time at Erskine had to be playing volleyball and singing with the Choraleers. These are the memories that come to mind when I think of my time at Erskine.

Music and athletics came together for me—at home games, I would sing the national anthem and then run out onto the court to play. Good memories. Choraleers is something I cannot talk about without feeling many things. We worked hard, we rehearsed diligently, and then we had moments—moments of pure bliss.

I specifically remember when we sang Mozart’s Requiem and I truly felt the presence of God as we sang. It was almost indescribable and one of my most memorable performance experiences.

I also sang with the Chamber Choir and at one point I led the Sweet Fleet, a women’s ensemble.

Erskine was my springboard into the field of music.

Tell us about one or more mentors among the faculty and staff who were especially helpful to you.

Three members of the faculty made a huge impact on me as a young musician.

Funnily enough, I didn’t start out as a music major.

I went in with the intent of pursuing a degree in medicine.

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However, I auditioned for the Choraleers when I arrived and sang with them my whole first year.

At the end of freshman year, I realized my favorite part of school was the time I spent at choir rehearsal! I went to speak with Dr. Porter Stokes, the director of choral activities and the voice department, and he encouraged me to think about a degree in music. I changed my major and the rest is history.

He became my very first voice teacher, and he was such a great one. It all started with his teaching.

Then there was Dr. Matthew Manwarren, head of the piano department. He was such an outstanding musician and such an inspiration. Having him accompany me for my senior recital was simply amazing. He was so supportive and encouraging.

so happy to have had that training, because I have used it to direct many, many choirs over the years and to teach my own children as well.

You went on to complete a Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from The Boston Conservatory (now Boston Conservatory at Berklee). How did you get there and what was it like? Were there some elements of your Erskine experience that helped you as you began working on your degree in Boston?

I auditioned for several graduate programs during my senior year and decided on Boston. I absolutely loved the city and the school had a wonderful reputation and historic feeling... It pushed me and challenged me ... made me cry at times—but in the end, I came out better than when I went in. I think that my well-rounded education at Erskine really helped me to balance all the things that were thrown at me in grad school. I was able to prioritize and [manage time] better than many of my peers.

You married an Erskine graduate, Darrell Howery. Would you like to tell a little of that story? And now you have four children, right?

Darrell and I had a biology class together in our freshman year, but I didn’t know this until I met him in the training room. He was getting ice for his shoulder (he played baseball) and I was getting ice for my knee. We got to talking and realized we were in the same class.

I wasn’t really interested in having a relationship at the time, so we were friends for a while. We started dating toward the end of our freshman year and we were engaged by our senior year. We even applied to the same cities for grad schools! He ended up going to Northeastern University in Boston to get his master’s degree in Criminal Justice.

The third was Dr. John Brawley. He taught theory, but I remember him most for his quiet, reserved way and his beautiful smile. He always made me smile and was incredibly knowledgeable and such an amazing teacher.

You majored in Music Education at Erskine. What were your plans at that time—teaching in high school, elementary school? And how did things develop?

Since I changed my major going into my sophomore year, I had a lot of cramming to do. I wasn’t sure what I planned to do with a music ed degree at the time; I just knew that I wanted to sing, and maybe teaching others how to sing would be just as good! After I did my student teaching, I knew elementary wasn’t for me, but I had enjoyed my time following a high school choir director during a January interim. By the end of my time at Erskine, I knew I would be going on to graduate school, so I didn’t really need to figure out how I was going to use my music ed degree. I can say, though, that I am

We laugh about it now, because there are over 60 schools in Boston, and ours happened to be right down the road from each other. I could wave goodnight to him from the steps of the grad house while he was standing outside his apartment complex. God had it all worked out! We got married in June of 2001 after we had both finished our graduate degrees. We have four kids now (ages 17, 12, 10, and 5).

You are now a member of GO Divas, and we’d love to know more about that as well as how have you exercised your musical gifts with other opera companies in various locations along the way.

We are six women with music degrees and various performance experience, and we perform a variety of classical vocal ensemble pieces, from the “Witches’ Chorus” in Verdi’s Macbeth and “Lift Thine Eyes” from Elijah by Mendelssohn Continued on page 34

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FACULTY SPOTLIGHTS GRIER RETURNS AS STUKES LECTURER

McDonald-Boswell Professor Emeritus of History Dr. David Grier visited Due West to deliver the 2021 Stukes Lecture on March 22 in Lesesne Auditorium. Grier’s address, based on his continuing research on Nazi Germany, was titled “Hitler’s Favorite General: Ferdinand Schörner.” Grier says of Schörner, “He has the worst reputation of all German army generals and is usually portrayed as an unquestioning servant of Hitler who was responsible for senselessly executing hundreds—or even thousands—of German soldiers for cowardice in the war’s final months.”

Grier’s book Hitler, Donitz, and the Baltic Sea: The Third Reich’s Last Hope, 1944-1945 was a revision of his dissertation, and he is now working on another book on the Nazi era. “I find the period fascinating,” he says. “How could one person lead an entire nation astray?”

The son of two longtime Erskine professors, the late Dr. John Miller Grier and Marjorie Davis

Grier, David Grier grew up in Due West.

A 1977 graduate of Erskine College, he received his Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, having studied under Gerhard Weinberg, one of the nation’s top scholars on Nazi Germany.

Grier is married to Dr. Sandra Chaney, who taught history at Erskine from 1994 to 2017. Grier and his wife traveled to China for the first time in 2004 when they adopted their daughter Anna Mei. They later taught in China at Sias International University in Henan Province during sabbaticals. Grier retired in 2020 after teaching for 29 years at Erskine College.

The Joseph T. Stukes Lecture Series brings a distinguished lecturer in history to Erskine College each year. The fund was established by students and colleagues of the late Dr. Joseph T. Stukes, professor of history (196674) and vice president for academic affairs (1966-71) at Erskine.

BUSINESS PROFESSOR WINS SCICU AWARD Assistant Professor of Business Administration Tracy McCurry was one of 20 professors from member colleges honored by South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (SCICU) in its 2021 Excellence in Teaching Awards.

Each year SCICU recognizes outstanding faculty members from each of its 20 member schools. Recipients are each given a $3,000 professional development grant.

The customary recognition banquet was not held this year or in 2020 because of COVID-19 concerns.

McCurry, who joined the Erskine College faculty in 2010, teaches courses in business administration with a general focus in marketing. Her classes have been recognized for projects with The Renaissance, a retirement community in Due West, as well as Big Oaks Animal Rescue, PAWS, and the Greenwood Humane Society.

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She is a certified travel agent and teaches classes in the area of hospitality and tourism. She started Erskine’s chapter of Sigma Beta Delta, a business honor society, and serves as chapter advisor.

ERSKINE’S UNDERGRADUATE TEACHING RECOGNIZED Erskine College was listed in the U.S. News Best Colleges for 2021. Erskine placed seventh among “Best Regional Colleges” in the South and is the top-ranked South Carolina school on the list.

Dr. Tom Hellams ’83, now serving as Erskine’s interim president, said, “I’m delighted that Erskine College has been recognized once again in U.S. News Best Colleges.

The exceptional efforts of our faculty and staff continue to communicate the value of Christian higher education at this historic institution.”

Among the Best Regional Colleges in the South, Erskine placed fourth in the Undergraduate Teaching category. This recognition is based on data from college presidents, provosts, and admissions deans who were asked to nominate up to 15 schools in their Best Colleges ranking category for strength in undergraduate teaching. “Our professors deserve special commendation for this accomplishment,” Hellams said.

Accolades given to her own college teachers strike a chord with former Erskine admissions director (now graduate student) Kasey McNair ’17. “I’ve experienced myself how wonderfully attentive and helpful Erskine’s professors can be,” she said. “It’s great to see them recognized for their teaching.”

IN REMEMBRANCE OF THE HOLOCAUST: A STORY OF FLIGHT ENDING AT ERSKINE COLLEGE

Erskine also placed eighth in the Social Mobility category, which looks at graduation rates of students receiving Pell Grants.

“Continuing to earn top rankings demonstrates the quality of education a student receives from Erskine,” Dean of Enrollment Management Dr. Tim Rees said.

The U.S. News Best Colleges edition for 2021 assesses more than 1,400 bachelor’s degree-granting institutions on 17 measures of academic quality. These rankings are now in their 36th year.

In honor of Holocaust Memorial Day, observed January 27, 2021, Erskine College looked back on the story of the late Professor Emeritus of Art and Music Felix Bauer, who taught at Erskine from 1946-79 and founded the school’s Art Exhibition Center.

The young professor came to Erskine by an unusual route, having fled Austria in 1938 to escape the Nazis. He entered the Dominican Republic in 1940, where he met and married Martha Mondschein.

Erskine President R.C. Grier arranged to provide visas for the couple after Bauer was recommended for a teaching post at Erskine. The Bauers left the Dominican Republic and arrived in Due West in 1946 with their son, Boris. They later had a daughter, Linda, and both children graduated from Erskine College.

In an oral history interview from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum conducted in 1992, Bauer spoke about his experience during the war and his arrival at Erskine. His interview is available in the online archives of the museum.

The exhibition center in the Bowie Arts Center is named in Bauer’s honor, and he received an honorary doctorate from Erskine in 1996. He died in 2006.

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CALLED TO TEACH FIVE FACULTY PORTRAITS

Chinese communist or a Soviet soldier—and walk away with a better appreciation of the humanity of that person, I’ve done my job.”

Alessandra Brivio grew up in Italy and dreamed of working as a tour guide. When one of her high school teachers suggested that the political science field “offered many options, and if I wanted to travel, I could still travel,” she enrolled in the University of Milan.

Five young professors with differing backgrounds and experiences now serve in the History and Political Science department at Erskine College. They share a commitment to liberal arts education in a Christian academic community. Each exemplifies the rewards of pursuing an academic career—some She dreaded taking a required statistics class and discovered that on a straight path, some along a twisting road—and the deeper the only way to avoid it was to designate a history emphasis for joys of following a calling. her political science major. “If you had asked me then if I liked history I would have said no,” she says. “But between history Born in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana and brought up in and statistics, I chose history.”

Idaho, Christiane-Marie Abu Sarah was a budding classical oboist training in New York City when the Twin Towers fell.

Escaping the statistics class proved a turning point in her life.

The terrorist attacks marked a watershed in her life.

She fell in love with history, coming to see it as “a fascinating story made up of interesting characters.” In her doctoral studies “After 9/11, my attention shifted. I was faced with my own at the University of California San Diego she focused on “early mortality,” Abu Sarah says. “I started studying the Bible and modern medicine, specifically the human response to natural began looking for ways to give back to society.” disasters, which in the case of my study, would be the plague.”

Believing that her best contribution might be in the field of counterterrorism, she moved to Israel for a master’s program in Middle East and Islamic studies. Once she began her studies, “the region began to emerge as less foreign and more human,” she says. “Every biblical site I explored, every battlefield and war monument I passed, each militant I met, and each mosque, church, and synagogue I visited—each conveyed stories of ordinary people, struggling to understand their world and make the best of their circumstances.”

Like her colleague Abu Sarah, Brivio has a keen interest in everyday human struggles, so she examined not only the “public health” response to pandemics like the plague but also the responses of ordinary people. Her desire was to “learn about the common people who don’t have a voice, and those who struggled to survive.”

She was hesitant about moving from California to the South, but “the idea of teaching at a liberal arts college that was supporting the values of Christianity for what it was without apology…was what I had been praying for,” Brivio says. “As a Christian, I try to follow Christ, and then as I teach, love must come first.” She encourages her students to think about the larger questions of life. “A liberal arts education is teaching students how to see themselves in a much broader, deeper context and to understand the world around them.”

Reflecting on that time in the Middle East, Abu Sarah says, “That was when I started to feel a sense of vocation. I fell in love with the archaeological sites and the stories. But I also started to understand that history education has a larger role to play in society than just teaching names and dates.” She met and married a young Arab pastor in Jerusalem and began her journey into the field of behavioral history—the study of “how a person’s ecology influences his thoughts and actions, and how Matthew Cawvey grew up in the small town of Herrin, Illinois. a person’s thoughts and actions reshape his ecology”—now her He attended Olivet Nazarene University in his home state, area of expertise. where he double majored in journalism and political science.

“My initial plan after finishing at Olivet was to work as a In her TED talk “How do daily habits lead to political newspaper journalist and report on politics,” he says. He worked violence?” Abu Sarah describes a special area of focus for her for two small newspapers in Southern Illinois, meanwhile as a behavioral historian. “I study aggression, moral cognition, applying to graduate school “in case that was what I felt called and decision-making in social movements,” she says. “I

by God to do.” study the moment the individual decides to pull the trigger.”

Presented in early 2020 when societal divisions were on stark Cawvey went on to complete a Ph.D. at the University of display in the United States, the TED talk went viral.

Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, but he remembered the value of his undergraduate experience at a Christian college.

“Behavioral history is an unusual field, because it engages with “I appreciated the impact of professors and classes on the disciplines like biology, economics, and psychology,” Abu Sarah deepening of my faith and understanding of its relationship says, and in Erskine’s Christian liberal arts framework, she to government,” he says, adding, “The opportunity to invest offers her interdisciplinary insights in the classroom. “If my openly in students’ spiritual development, as well as their students can learn about someone they just don’t understand— academic development, appealed to me as I considered the job whether that person is an Islamic militant, a Jewish settler, a opportunity at Erskine.”

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Christiane-Marie Abu Sarah, John Harris, David Grier, and Corinne Gressang

Since coming to Erskine, the young professor has enjoyed many positive moments in the classroom. “I want students to see government in action,” he says. In his fall 2020 class on the U.S. Congress, students “had a sense of humor and interacted with the content through in-class activities,” including House of Representatives simulations in which “class members introduced a bill they had written, and we quickly imitated Congressional procedures to consider and vote on the proposed legislation.”

her undergraduate study at a small Christian liberal arts college in her home state that prepared her for many elements of the Erskine experience and set the direction of her career.

While he urges students “to adopt a Christian worldview that shapes their understanding of politics,” he also challenges them “to put on their critical thinking caps when they enter the classroom” to gain a thorough understanding of the material.

“I want students not just to know facts about politics—‘what’ questions—but also to explore the process and purpose of politics—‘how’ and ‘why’ questions.”

Gressang entered graduate school at the University of Kentucky “knowing I wanted to study the French Revolution,” she recalls.

During her first year, she came upon a 1799 newspaper editorial about the fate of nuns during the Revolution and wanted to learn more. Her dissertation grew out of that early encounter, and her history horizons expanded.

A Christian liberal arts education will enable graduates to make an impact for good wherever they work, Cawvey believes. “Their broad knowledge and critical thinking benefit them in the workforce by allowing them to shift occupations mid-career, and their critical thinking benefits their employers and society because ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions allow humans to identify an organization’s purpose and make improvements,” he says. “With God’s help, our critical thinking questions also will enable us to honor Him as we consider the meaning and progress of an organization.”

“There is something incredibly alluring about a small community, close relationships with professors, and Christian fellowship,” she says. “Grove City College was where I decided that I wanted to be a professor of history at a small college.”

“You cannot tell the story of the French Revolution without understanding the Haitian Revolution,” she says. “Slowly my knowledge crept across the Atlantic Ocean until I found myself taking graduate courses on Latin America.” At Erskine, her teaching is focused on Latin American history as well as the history of modern Europe.

As a Christian, Gressang values students as people first, so she practices what she calls a “holistic pedagogy of kindness.”

Advocating an interdisciplinary approach, she believes a liberal arts education includes being “prepared to engage thoughtfully with the world.” As a history professor, she is “concerned with Corinne Gressang grew up in a Western Pennsylvania town teaching students to be curious and engaged humans, not just called Mars that is similar in size to Due West, but it was probably preparing them to take tests.”

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Continued from page 31 John Harris was born and brought up in Northern Ireland. “I have loved history for as long as I can remember,” he says. “The past is a foreign country, they say, and I have always wanted to explore it.” As an undergraduate at Queen’s University Belfast, he visited the United States in an exchange program and “began to gravitate towards American history.” He was also drawn to the United States, eventually deciding to make his home here, a decision easily explained: “I met an American woman I wanted to marry! And she said yes.”

Harris earned a master’s degree at Queen’s University, then began Ph.D. studies at Johns Hopkins University, focusing on the slave trade in the United States. Why the slave trade? “I wanted to get to the roots—the reasons why the United States developed the way it did,” he says. “The slave trade is a pretty good place to start. And part of my initial interest was the simple question that my students ask— how could people do that to one another?”

Christiane-Marie Abu Sarah

Matthew Cawvey

John Harris A book-signing event at Erskine in late 2020 celebrated the publication of Harris’s book The Last Slave Ships: New York and the End of the Middle Passage, which chronicles the rise and fall of the illegal slave trade following the abolition of the trade in the early 19th century. To complete his research for the book, Harris accessed archives on both sides of the Atlantic, in Cuba, England, Portugal, Spain, and the United States. Yale University Press had sold all copies of the book and was reprinting it when the book-signing took place.

Harris is an enthusiastic participant in the Christian liberal arts enterprise at Erskine. In the spring semester of 2020, he assigned a COVID-19 journal, challenging his students to begin a critical evaluation of the historical moment in which they were living.

Journal entries included data analyses, summaries of news articles, and personal reflections. “The point was to help them develop skills— quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis, for example—but I also wanted them to have a contemporary record of this important moment and how they experienced it.”

Exploring the past as “a foreign country” has taken Harris all over the world, but he is happy to have landed at Erskine. “Students get the skills that you need for work and life here, but the Christian liberal

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Corinne Gressang

Alessandra Brivio arts offer so much more—the faculty push students to think about the big questions of life. It’s an educator’s dream to do that, especially in the small classes that we have here. Not a bad spot to end up in!”

Support the Fleet!

Join the Dode Phillips Club today!

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I GIVE TO ERSKINE BECAUSE… “Erskine helped to shape me into the person and leader that I am today,” says Dr. Cory Robinson ’11.

“Every opportunity provided me with a skill or a mindset that has framed who I am today.”

At Erskine, Robinson majored in biology and served in student government and intersociety council.

He joined the gospel choir, jazz band, and the Philomathean Literary Society.

“The faculty and staff were extended family, opening their hearts and homes. They embraced us, they engaged us, and they let us know they cared. Like many alumni, I made unforgettable memories and lifelong connections at Erskine.”

Robinson recalls his first experience at Erskine when he came to tour the campus. “My mother had to convince me to go tour,” he says. “We got the time mixed up, and there was no one to meet us once we arrived.”

They weren’t alone for long, though. Soon, members of the Erskine community noticed Robinson and his mother and made an impromptu offer to show them around campus, which Robinson says made him feel at home.

“I soon learned this is the Erskine way,” Robinson says of this friendly encounter. “This is the Erskine experience. So, I give to Erskine because Erskine has given so much to me.

“I encourage my fellow alumni to support Erskine to help others have their own Erskine Experience.”

To support Erskine, visit Continued from page 31

erskine.edu/give Continued from page 27 to contemporary ensemble pieces like “You’ve Got a Friend”

by Carole King and many pieces by the Beatles.

GO Divas was scheduled for a debut performance back in April, but that was canceled due to COVID-19. We were finally able to debut in November 2020 (outdoors)—so exciting! We changed gears for the Christmas season and did several Renaissance Christmas performances in December.

I am also a core singer with the Symphonic Chorale of Southwest Florida. I really enjoy singing with this group, because it brings me back to my Choraleer days. I had a wonderful time singing with Erie Opera Theatre in Pennsylvania and the After Dinner Opera Company in New York City, performing many roles with both companies.

What do you consider some of the highlights of your performance career so far?

I performed the role of the mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors and my “son” was my oldest son! He was only nine but did an amazing job. He also [performed] in another opera with me in New York City as well, at age six. I was able to create a role in a brand-new opera (based on George McDonald’s fairytale novel) The Day Boy and the Night Girl. My character was pregnant, but I was also pregnant with my daughter! Some of my other favorite roles were Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni. Another highlight was a recital at Erskine a few years back.

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When this interview is published in Inside Erskine, Christmas will be only about two months away. Have you established certain family musical traditions for the Christmas season?

Well, I have always homeschooled our four children, so music is a part of everything we do! Especially at Christmas, we enjoy a special time each evening around the Advent wreath as we light the candles, read from scripture, and sing some carols… it really is my very favorite family time of the whole year. My daughter loves to play Christmas songs on the piano, and we gather around the piano to sing on Christmas Eve. Currently, my oldest plays guitar, my 12-year-old plays the drums, my daughter plays the piano, and my youngest has his own little piano, guitar, and drums, so it can get very loud in this house, but I love every minute. Music is a part of who we are!

What advice might you give to an Erskine student today?

What about advice tailored to music majors?

I would tell current students to make the most of every moment of their time at Erskine. It really is a wonderful place to learn, grow, and prepare for life. For music majors, I would say to practice, practice, practice! You are so blessed to be in a small community with professors who care about you.

You owe it to yourselves and to them to devote yourself fully to your craft—be patient with yourself, but diligent in your practice. Remember that you are a work in progress. Put the time in and believe me, it will pay off!

Leadership shifts build on seminary’s strengths

Nelson’s areas of expertise include adult theological education, educational ministry and leadership, and pastoral theology. His dissertation research explored ways in which theological educators serve as facilitators of seminarians’ growth toward maturity in Christ. His publications have appeared in the Evangelical Review of Theology, the Christian Education Journal, and The Wabash Center Journal on Teaching. He lives in Greenville, S.C., with his wife Heather and their twin daughters, Lucia and Alethia.

Meanwhile, Dr. Michael Milton, formerly stepped away from his administrative role July Provost of the Seminary, has left that 1 but will exercise his talents in the classroom as leadership position after nearly two years full-time Professor of Systematic Theology. of service and will play several continuing roles. He will employ his teaching skills as “Dr. Gore worked tirelessly to assure the seminary’s quality, viability, and faithfulness to James H. Ragsdale Professor of Missions and The Rev. Dr. Seth J. Nelson, a graduate the scriptures as God’s inerrant Word,” says Dr. Evangelism; will retain his post as president of of Moody Bible Institute, Westminster Robert Gustafson, who concluded his tenure as the D. James Kennedy Institute of Reformed Theological Seminary, and Trinity Evangelical Erskine’s president June 30. Recalling his own Leadership at the seminary; and will serve the seminary through consultation and assistance Divinity School, has been named Dean of the time as a student—he completed a Doctor of Seminary and Associate Professor of Pastoral Ministry degree at Erskine Seminary—and his with promotion and advancement.

Theology and Educational Leadership. later work with Gore, Gustafson says, “Having “Dr. Milton’s decision to return to teaching Ordained in the Presbyterian Church in appreciated him as a professor, I learned to and to step down from his position as America, he has more than a decade of value his administrative wisdom, his keen seminary provost signals a significant change pastoral ministry experience. He has served as understanding of the institution’s history, and at the helm,” Gustafson says. “His collegial executive director of the seminary’s Greenville his clear vision for the future.” leadership has brought clarity and vision to the Extension Site and in January 2021 became Concerning the transition, Gustafson says, “Dr. Seminary, and we will miss his shepherding Assistant Dean of the Seminary. leadership of the seminary team.”

Nelson brings an array of administrative gifts to In his role as dean, Nelson replaces Dr. R.J. his new position as the dean of the seminary. I Noting that Milton “has worked tirelessly Gore, who has been named Dean of the appreciate his collegial attitude and his desire to to promote Erskine Seminary in a variety of Seminary Emeritus in recognition of more see Erskine flourish in the years ahead. We are venues,” Gustafson says, “We are glad that he than 20 years of faithful service, including blessed to have a young, dynamic leader to take will continue full-time with his teaching and his work as dean and vice president. Gore the baton from Dr. Gore.” his promotional work for Erskine.”

Erskine Theological Seminary recently announced several significant transitions, welcoming a new infusion of energetic leadership while ensuring the continuity of experienced teaching.

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C l a s s N ot e s CLASS OF 2021 Rachel Bishop ’21 wed Buck Brown on May 9, 2021. (Photo #4)

CLASS OF 2019 Hayden Banks ’19 wed Andrew Johnson on Nov. 7, 2020. (Photo #13)

Katie Cauble ’21 wed Dawson Martin on June 26, 2021. (Photo #1)

Rachel Berkey ’19 earned the Master of Accounting degree at Clemson University.

(Photo #14)

Chloe Hamilton ’21 plans to enter the physician assistant program at Wingate University in the fall of 2021. (Photo #2) Mary Ashley Moore ’21 wed Jason Alexander on March 20, 2021.

Kara Rabon ’21 wed Hunter Tomlin ’21 on June 5, 2021. (Photo #5) CLASS OF 2020 Jake Bennett ’20 received the Master of Accounting degree from the Leventhal School of Accounting at the University of Southern California. (Photo #3) Sam Bennett ’20 received the Master of Accounting degree from the Leventhal School of Accounting at the University of Southern California. (Photo #3) Nicole Biles ’20 wed Seth Shearin ’21 on June 13, 2021. (Photo #6) Baylee Browning ’20 wed Matthew Ponto ’20 on Dec. 5, 2020. (Photo #7) Laura Coleman ’20 wed Alex Bass ’20 on April 24, 2021. (Photo #8) Ramsey Conner ’20 wed Paul Lawing ’21 on June 26, 2021. (Photo #9) Eliza Denmeade ’20 has accepted a position as assistant soccer coach at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.

Isaac Giddens ’20 was recently accepted into the MUSC College of Health Professions. He will be pursuing a master’s degree in Health Administration beginning in the fall of 2021.

(Photo #10) Michaela Hurst ’20 wed Isaac Moore on Dec. 12, 2020.

Matthew Rowland ’20 wed Anji Wright on March 29, 2021. (Photo #11) Anna Smith ’20 wed Zac Orr ’20 on Sept. 13, 2020. (Photo #12)

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Hope Crenshaw ’19 wed Jarred Seymour on Nov. 14, 2020. (Photo #19) Sheridan Butcher Dooley ’19 received a Master of Arts in Creative Business Leadership from Savannah College of Art and Design in May 2021.

Taylor Eskew ’19 wed Matthew Gould on May 1, 2021. (Photo #16) Sarah Fraser ’22 wed Ryan Teems ’19 on May 8, 2021. (Photo #18) Emily Peak ’19 wed Roth Matthews on Dec. 19, 2020. (Photo #17) CLASS OF 2018 Julie Hartley ’18 was awarded the Outstanding Graduate Student: Graduate TA Award, Advanced Course at Michigan State University.

“This award is even more special to me because I have spent the last 14 months teaching entirely online,” she says. “Though this year has challenged me, it has also convinced me more that teaching is my calling and that it’s worth doing and worth doing well, especially when circumstances are difficult.”

Kyle Keesling ’18 reports that he and his wife Elizabeth Bishop Keesling ’19 just moved to Greenville, S.C. “She is still a medical student at USC School of Medicine Greenville,” he says. “I am now a full-time editor for BJU Press in their secondary Bible curriculum. I see the product through developmental, pre-production, and post-production editing.”

A daughter, Evangeline Ruth McCurry, was born to Justin McCurry ’18 and Katie McCurry on Jan. 29, 2021. (Photo #15) Megan Moore ’18 wed Adam Braunecker on June 5, 2021. (Photo #20) Rebecca Reiter ’18 wed C.J. Norton on June 5, 2021. (Photo #21) CLASS OF 2017 Aaron Brown ’17 graduated May 15, 2021 with a Doctor of Physical Therapy from the Medical University of South Carolina.

Cali Colbert ’17 wed Christian Beamguard ’15 on Nov. 7, 2020. (Photo #22) Kristen Craft ’17 wed Kiefer Finley on Nov. 20, 2020. Kristen also earned a Master of Arts in Applied Psychology from Liberty University on May 15, 2021. (Photo #23) Vincent Harris ’17 graduated May 15, 2021 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Eshelman School of Pharmacy. (Photo #24) Lucy Jeffs ’17 has become the assistant women’s soccer coach at Gardner-Webb University.

(Photo #25) A son, Grayson Andrew LeGrand, was born to Clarissa Stiving LeGrand ’17 and Andrew LeGrand ’17 on Aug. 19, 2020. (Photo #26) Alanna Richmond ’17 wed Connor Bastin on Nov. 14, 2020. On May 8, 2021, Alanna completed a Master of Education in Literacy at Clemson University. (Photo #27) A son, Jack Michael Smith, was born to Michael Smith ’17 and Mary Ellen Smith on Oct. 28, 2020. (Photo #28) Reid Windmiller ’17 graduated from Mercer University School of Medicine in May 2021.

(Photo #30) Rachel Zher ’17 wed Rob Byrd on June 12, 2021.

(Photo #29) CLASS OF 2016 A daughter, Amelia Rae “Millie” Brown, was born to Amelia Chassevent Brown ’16 and Aaron Brown ’17 on May 4, 2021. (Photo #31) Darby Gentry ’16 wed Johnny Tompkins on June 12, 2021. Darby is currently practicing dentistry with her father at Darby Dentistry in Suwannee, Ga. (Photo #32) A son, Brooks Foster Krebs, was born to Kate Macsay Krebs ’16 and Foster Krebs ’16 on June 24, 2021. (Photo #33) A daughter, Charlotte Rose Nichols, was born to Sally Caldwell Nichols ’16 and Destin Nichols ’17 on May 10, 2021. (Photo #34) CLASS OF 2015 Mekenzie Carpenter ’15 wed Chad Love on March 14, 2020. She completed an MBA at Strayer University in 2020. (Photo #35) A son, Jonathan Edward Kennelly, was born to Olivia Clinkscales Kennelly ’15 and Chris Kennelly ’14 on Nov. 25, 2020. (Photo #36)

Got news or photos to share?

Email alumni@erskine.edu

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CLASS OF 2014 Kendall Cole ’14 graduated with the Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice degree from the Medical University of South Carolina on May 15, 2021. (Photo #37) Daniel Prohaska ’14 has been named as President and Chief Executive Officer of Lions Vision Services. He is the youngest CEO in the organization’s 51-year history. (Photo #39)

A daughter, Sybil Rome, was born to Rebecca Tomlinson Rome ’10 and Erik Rome on June 18, 2020. (Photo #46) CLASS OF 2010 (SEMINARY) James Young Pennington ’10 published a book entitled Mosul, released in 2020, about a chaplain returning from combat and struggling with PTSD.

A daughter, Gracyn Pruitt, was born to Amanda Richmond Pruitt ’14 and Bryce Pruitt ’13 on Sept. 1, 2020. (Photo #38)

CLASS OF 2009 A daughter, Caroline McKinnell, was born to Colleen Shepard McKinnell ’09 and Jamie McKinnell on March 9, 2021. (Photo #52)

CLASS OF 2013 Philip Herring ’13 was named South Elementary School’s Teacher of the Year. He currently teaches in the Program for Exceptional Children. (Photo #40)

CLASS OF 2009 (SEMINARY) Rev. Lt. Col. (Retired) Bliss Divine Kofi Agbeko ’09 has been inducted into office as the third Moderator of the General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ghana.

CLASS OF 2012 Annie Baldwin ’12 wed Drew Keller on Dec. 29, 2020. (Photo #41)

CLASS OF 2008 Blair Christie ’08 wed Andrew John Palka on April 3, 2021. (Photo #48)

A son, Bradley Jeremiah Dreier, was born to Macy Rogers Dreier ’12 and Barry Dreier ’11 on Jan. 7, 2021.

Elizabeth Hyman Crocker ’08 was honored as Dixie High School Teacher of the Year 2020-21.

A son, Reid “Preston” Flinn, Jr., was born to Reid Flinn ’12 and Samantha Flinn on Oct. 16, 2020. (Photo #42) CLASS OF 2011 Dr. Kristy Fincher ’11 has accepted a position as a physician at Blue Ridge Health – Highlands Cashiers in North Carolina. (Photo #47) Cory Robinson ’11 completed a Ph.D. in Health and Rehabilitation Science with a concentration in Health Services Research at the Medical University of South Carolina. He is currently employed at MUSC as the System Administrator of Performance Services.

(Photo #43)

A son, Graham Dagenhart, was born to Tiffany Dagenhart ’10 and Jamey Dagenhart ’08 on Sept. 15, 2020. (Photo #49) CLASS OF 2007 Jonathan Cook ’07 has accepted the position of RUF minister at Erskine College.

Ward Davis ’05 and the Rev. Clint Davis ’04 (Sem.) on Oct. 1, 2020.

A daughter, Abigail Ko, was born to Garreth Smoak Ko ’05 and Jonathan Ko on Dec. 7, 2020.

(Photo #53) A son, Isaiah Jeffery Readett (born October 9, 2020), was adopted by Polly Brown Readett ’05 and Scott Readett on Feb. 23, 2021. (Photo #54) CLASS OF 2005 (SEMINARY) Rev. Kathleen McAbee ’05 was appointed pastor at Andrews United Methodist Church in June 2021, starting her 17th year in full-time ministry.

CLASS OF 2004 Amanda Jackson Ghent ’04 competed in the ElliptiGo World Championships on Oct. 24 up Palomar Mountain, Calif. The challenge is a qualifying and invitation-based event to climb 11.69 miles up the mountain at a 7% grade.

(Photo #55) A son, Theo Curtis Lovejoy, was born to Caroline Miller Lovejoy ’04 and Brian Lovejoy on Feb. 25, 2021. (Photo #57) CLASS OF 2004 (SEMINARY) Judith Martin Alford ’04 recently published a book entitled The Hands of God: A Collection of Short Stories about God’s Intervention in Human Lives, published by Covenant Books on July 14, 2020.

Steven Regan ’07 has accepted a position as the Executive Pastor and Online Campus Pastor at Riverside Baptist Church. (Photo #50)

CLASS OF 2002 Matthew Dean ’02 graduated with an MBA at USC Aiken on May 5, 2021.

CLASS OF 2006 Keisha Bentley ’06 earned the M.S. in Biotechnology at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Ga. She is interested in cancer research and bio entrepreneurship.

(Photo #51)

CLASS OF 1999 April Patterson Bush ’99 recently completed a Ph.D. in Education with a specialization in Leadership for Higher Education from Capella University. (Photo #62)

A son, Thomas James Tallarico (Feb. 19, 2019), and a daughter, Eliana Grace Tallarico (Aug. 11, 2020), were born to Kassandra Cutler Tallarico ’11 and Andrew Tallarico.

(Photo #44)

Nicole “Nicky” Rickard Lucas ’06 has accepted a position at Crossway Ministries Counseling Center in Anderson, S.C. as Office Manager and Discipleship Counselor.

CLASS OF 2010 Caley Martin Kropp ’10 and his wife Katherine recently celebrated seven years of marriage.

They have two children, David (3) and Nancy (1). Caley currently works as a psychologist at Columbus AFB in Missouri. (Photo #45)

CLASS OF 2005 A daughter, Briana Hope Collier, was born to Hannah Collier ’05 on Nov. 13, 2020.

(Photo #56) A son, James Asher Davis, was born to Patti

Lydia Crone Howery ’99 recently joined the “GO Divas,” Gulfshore Opera’s new all-female vocal group. (Photo #58) Adam Weyer ’99 was one of the five staff members at Lander University to receive this year’s Staff Excellence Award. (Photo #59)

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C l a s s N ot e s CLASS OF 1998 Rev. Dr. Stephen Cannon ’98 has accepted a position as senior pastor at Millbrook Baptist Church in Aiken, S.C. (Photo #74) CLASS OF 1997 Martha Margaret Cotten ’97 (Sem. 2020) was awarded the full-tuition Phoebe Scholarship to pursue a Master of Theology degree at Union School of Theology in Wales. (Photo #60) Chad Reynolds ’97 (Sem. ’03) has accepted a position as senior pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Clinton, S.C. (Photo #61) CLASS OF 1996 Marci Tuten ’96 has accepted the role of Staff Vice President, Legal Operations, Chief IP Counsel, and Assistant General Counsel at Sonoco.

Brian Yoho ’96 has accepted a position at Rogers Townsend’s Columbia, S.C. office as a member of the firm’s mortgage banking and creditor services team.

CLASS OF 1993 Dr. Stephana Patton ’93 has accepted a position at InterVenn Biosciences as Chief Legal Officer.

(Photo #63) CLASS OF 1992 Kevin Knight ’92 has accepted as position as Chief Operating Officer of Campus Management, a provider of cloud-based solutions for higher education institutions.

Helen Malone ’92 was elected president of the Georgia Council for Career and Technical Administrations (GCCTA). She serves as the administrator at Atlanta Area School for the Deaf. She is in her 27th year working in education.

Bill Nelli ’92 has been named Chief Financial Officer at RealtyLink’s Greenville, S.C. corporate office. He has worked in financial leadership and accounting for more than 25 years. (Photo #64) CLASS OF 1988 C. Van Bowers ’88, who served as Lexington County School District 1 Elementary Schools Director, retired at the end of the 2020-21 school year.

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Vivian Gaylord ’88 was one of the five staff members at Lander University to receive this year’s Staff Excellence Award. (Photo #65)

Robert Keith Brown ’79 was inducted into the Eastside High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2020. He earned a basketball scholarship at Erskine from 1975-1979.

Kathy Dickerson Hipp ’88, Anderson School District 3 Superintendent, has been named the 2022 South Carolina Superintendent of the Year by the South Carolina Association of School Administrators. She will represent the state for the duration of the 2021–22 school year and will compete for the National Superintendent of the Year Award in the fall. (Photo #66)

CLASS OF 1977 Tim Whipple ’77, Irmo High School varsity basketball coach, has been named 2021 South Carolina Co-Region 4A Coach of the Year, along with A.C. Flora coach Josh Staley. (Photo #70)

CLASS OF 1987 David “Woody” O’Cain ’87 has accepted a position as Vice President for Enrollment at Presbyterian College.

CLASS OF 1976 Bobby Cunningham ’76, principal of the W.R. Rogers Center for Adult, Technology, and Continuing Education, has been named 2021 South Carolina Adult Education Director of the Year. (Photo #71)

CLASS OF 1986 Sharon O’Kelley ’86, Associate Professor of Mathematics and Coordinator of Francis Marion University’s Mathematics Secondary Program, was honored with the Charlene Wages Shared Governance Award, presented by the FMU chapter of the American Association of University Professors. (Photo #67) CLASS OF 1984 Dr. Carolyn Johnson Styles ’84 has been elected to the Greenville County Schools Board of Trustees. She retired from the position of principal at Skyland Elementary School and currently teaches graduate courses as an Associate Professor at North Greenville University.

CLASS OF 1981 Lynn “Lefty” Hicks ’81 earned her 700th win as head coach of the Lady Hurricanes softball program at Wren High School in Anderson, S.C. She is retiring after 40 years at the helm of the softball program, and the high school has renamed its softball field in her honor.

CLASS OF 1979 Al Banister ’79 was inducted into the SC High School League Basketball Officials Hall of Fame 2020. He refereed for 33 years in the SC High School League and continues to referee in the SCISA League. (Photo #68) Chris Bethea ’79 was inducted into the Latta High School Athletic Hall of Fame in March 2019. He was a standout basketball player for the Flying Fleet from 1975-1979. (Photo #69)

Edith “Edie” Kent ’76 retired in April 2021 after nearly 30 years with Gel Laboratories.

CLASS OF 1975 Elva Cobb Martin ’75 has published multiple Christian novels and a Bible study. She is president of the South Carolina Chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers.

(Photo #72) CLASS OF 1971 John T. Moore ’71 was honored by Legal Elite, a regional awards program for active attorneys.

CLASS OF 1959 The Parramore Indoor Golf Facility in Honor of Joyce Owens Ramsey, Class of 1959, will open to students at Erskine this fall. Joyce’s son, Mike Ramsey ’85, designed and constructed the facility in honor of his mother. Pictured from left to right: Mike Ramsey, Joyce Owens Ramsey ’59, and Cindy Ramsey Woodside ’92. (Photo #73)

Got news or photos to share?

Email alumni@erskine.edu

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CALLING ALL PARENTS OF HIGH SCHOOLERS! If you feel overwhelmed by the college search process, or if you’re just looking for tips to help your student find the right school, we have an event designed specifically for you.

JOIN US NOV. 4, 2021 FOR VIRTUAL PARENT NIGHT. The event will cover: • What to consider when looking at colleges • The application process • Financial aid options Scan the QR code to register.

If you have questions about the event, email Evan Hughes at hughes@erskine.edu.

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In Memoriam Annie Mitchell Nunnery ’42, Oct. 25, 2020.

Joel Nichols ’56, Dec. 26, 2020.

Minnie Frances Murdock ’43, Aug. 21, 2020.

David K. Martin ’57, Dec. 9, 2020.

Isabelle Anthony Hiatt ’46, Mar. 17, 2021.

Dollie Stone Rice ’57, Aug. 13, 2020.

K. Nolon Carter ’47, Dec. 5, 2020.

J. Dunbar Simpson, Jr. ’57, March 9, 2021.

Florence Mitchell Culp ’49, July 29, 2020.

Dr. Randall Tucker Ruble ’58 (Sem. ’61), Feb. 22, 2021.

Julia Puckett Edwards ’49, Sept. 6, 2020.

Coveda McIntosh “Mack” McKenzie ’71, Dec. 28, 2020.

Charles McGinty ’72, March 27, 2021.

Barbara Lesslie ’73, April 7, 2021.

Davia Berry Stalnaker ’73, Sept. 30, 2020.

George Fox Wing IV ’73, Jan. 6, 2021.

Reuben Rice Macfie III ’59, Jan. 31, 2020.

Dr. Robert D. Lesslie ’74, April 7, 2021.

Dorothy Green Tribble ’49, July 18, 2021.

Agatha Marie Counts Kent ’60, March 19, 2020.

Edgar H. Long, Jr. ’76, Jan. 15, 2021.

Juanita English Waldrep ’49, Jan. 13, 2021.

Mary Louise Wallace ’60, Jan. 14, 2021.

Dr. Lowry Price Ware ’49, Feb. 8, 2021.

Grace Reid Wood ’60, Jan. 3, 2021.

Margie Warmoth Wilson ’49, April 15, 2019.

The Rev. Fred Rockwell Archer ’61 (Sem. ’64), April 16, 2021.

David Edgar Tribble ’49, Oct. 31, 2020.

Ella Mae Hickman Horne ’50, Aug. 13, 2020.

Jean White Stewart ’50, July 23, 2019.

Robert H. Bell ’51, Dec. 13, 2020.

James Franklin Dawkins ’51, June 24, 2019.

Sara Robinson Hagins ’51, July 2, 2021.

Henry L. Reaves, Jr. ’51, April 19, 2020.

Diana Smith Timmerman ’61, April 18, 2021.

T. Walter Brashier, Sr. ’62 (Sem.), March 24, 2021.

Georgia Young Cannon ’63, Aug. 29, 2020.

Sydney Vivian Clark ’63, Jan. 24, 2021.

Robert P. Mazzola ’63, March 31, 2021.

J. Frank Beard, Sr. ’52 (Sem. ’55), March 16, 2021.

John D. Medlock, Jr. ’63, Dec. 2, 2020.

Ruth Eichelberger McNeill ’52, Sept. 18, 2020.

The Rev. Dr. Marshall E. Sargent ’63 (Sem. ’88), Jan. 11, 2021.

Norman “Spud” Chandler, Sr. ’53, Jan. 31, 2021.

Hank “Sonny” Craft, Jr. ’53, March 30, 2020.

Clara G. Findley ’53, Dec. 13, 2020.

William Hugh Jones ’53, Dec. 30, 2020.

James Albert Lander ’53, Oct. 29, 2020.

Wade Thompson Burton ’54, Feb. 13, 2021.

Garland Davidson ’54, Jan. 1, 2021.

Evelyn Collins Grogan ’54, Dec. 15, 2020.

Jane Long Jones ’54, Jan. 26, 2021.

John Stafford Banks ’55 (Sem.), Oct. 10, 2020.

Bess Frances Burns ’55, Feb. 3, 2021.

Dr. Richard B. Leaptrott ’55 (Sem.), Dec. 27, 2020.

Jimmy Smith Jordan ’56, Aug. 22, 2020.

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James Gerarde Bond ’64, Aug. 29, 2020.

Maxie Brown ’64, Sept. 19, 2020.

David B. Martin, Jr. ’65, Jan. 22, 2021.

Timothy Lee Johnson ’77, June 13, 2021.

John C. Poore ’77, Jan. 3, 2021.

The Rev. Willie Harrison ’78 (Sem.), Nov. 3, 2020.

Rosalind “Ros” Jennings ’81, Feb. 10, 2021.

Phillip C. Stender ’81, March 8, 2020.

Catherine Setzer Baughman ’85, Dec. 27, 2019.

The Rev. Langdon Anderson “Boo” Erwin III ’86 (Sem.), Feb. 9, 2021.

The Rev. Shirley Rogers ’90 (Sem.), Feb. 6, 2021.

Dr. Daniel Wayne Taylor ’11 (Sem.), June 26, 2021.

Jack Franklin-Lee Hunt ’24, March 12, 2021.

FRIENDS

Ann Townsend ’65, Feb. 28, 2021.

The Rev. James Coad, Jr., former Erskine trustee and ARP pastor, died Aug. 14, 2020.

Cynthia Bigger Scott ’66, Nov. 12, 2020.

Evalyn Wright Coad died Nov. 29, 2020.

Carole Ann Dye Wasnesky ’66, Dec. 15, 2020.

Lillian Todd Gordon, who served in the Erskine dining hall for 30 years, died Dec. 2, 2020.

Betty B. Smeenge ’67, Sept. 15, 2020.

Jerri Hawkins Stoilkov ’67, Feb. 12, 2021.

Marcella Salley McDaniel ’68, April 24, 2021.

Marie Carson Robinson ’68, June 13, 2020.

Marvin A. Koerber, Jr. ’70, July 3, 2021.

Thomas Smith ’70, Dec. 22, 2020.

Suzanne Weldon ’70, Dec. 24, 2019.

Dorothy Henderson-Hipps died Feb. 17, 2021. She and her husband established a scholarship in memory of son Steve “Smiley” Henderson ’79.

Major James Boyce Hunter, Jr. died Jan. 3, 2021.

Cortlandt Morper “Corky” Koonts, Professor Emerita of Music, died Feb. 4, 2021.

Randall T. Ruble 1932-2021

President Emeritus Dr. Randall T. Ruble died Feb. 22, 2021. The 14th president of Erskine College and Theological Seminary, he was a 1958 graduate of Erskine College and a 1961 graduate of Erskine Theological Seminary. He also received the Th.M. degree from Princeton Theological Seminary and the Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Edinburgh.

He served as president from 2006 to 2010. Before becoming president, he taught at his alma mater for 45 years as a professor of Old Testament and Hebrew. His longest leadership role was as dean of the seminary from 1976 to 1997. During that period, he served as both vice president and dean beginning in 1988.

John Montgomery Bell Professor of New Testament Dr. Loyd Melton, who has taught at the seminary since 1983, spent 14 years under Ruble’s administration. Melton calls Ruble a visionary, but he clarifies that description. “He did not simply impose his vision on us and order us to accomplish it. Randy would share his vision with his faculty and staff and then ask us how we could do it together.”

An Associate Reformed Presbyterian himself, Ruble believed that the seminary’s “call from God was to prepare students who would minister in other denominations as well.” His tenure was a time of “unprecedented growth” for the seminary, Melton notes, with the opening of off-campus sites as the “primary means of this growth.”

His leadership style “encouraged me to develop my gifts as a professor and as a leader,” Melton says, and the effects of that style extended to other professors and staff members. “He created an environment in the seminary—often called the ‘Erskine ethos’—that allowed many of us to realize that we had finally found a ‘home.’”

While Ruble led the seminary, “he never asked us to do anything that he was unwilling to do himself,” Melton says.

“He affirmed us in our strengths, helped us to strengthen the places where we were weak, and encouraged us to continue growing not only in our academic disciplines but especially in our own Christian lives.”

Ruble encouraged members of the seminary community to attend weekly chapel “because he wanted us to take care of our spiritual lives and he wanted us to be a community as well as individuals.” In a similar spirit, “He was diligent in caring for us when there was sickness or tragedy in our lives because he believed that we should be pastors to one another as well as to the people in our churches,” Melton recalls.

“He was a person of prayer and he encouraged us to have a meaningful prayer life because he believed that prayer undergirded everything we did at the seminary.”

An ordained minister, Ruble was pastor of the Abbeville and Mount Carmel ARP Churches from 1967 to 2010 (with a three-year break in which he served as chaplain at Erskine College).

He served as moderator of the ARP Synod, chair of the Presbyterian Council on Chaplains and Military Personnel, and president of the Association of Seminary Presidents of the National Association of Presbyterian and Reformed Churches. He edited the Bicentennial History of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church: 19502003.

Ruble helped to establish Reach the Children of Rwanda International (RCRI), a ministry led by Erskine Seminary graduate Benjamin Musuhuyke ’06, a survivor of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

Continued on page 46

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In Memoriam Lillian Gordon, who served Erskine College for more than 30 years in Moffatt Dining Hall, passed away Dec. 2, 2020.

Erskine College student Sadie Bradley ’23, who grew up in Due West, says, “‘Mrs. Lillian’ was a regular in the Bradley household ever since I was little. She would babysit me, or I would go to her house and play with her cats, and she and my mom often cooked dinner together.

Somewhere along the way, we started calling her ‘Granny Lillian,’ and she was still ‘Granny Lillian’ when I became a student at Erskine.”

Seen as the face of Moffatt Dining Hall by many, Lillian Gordon considered Erskine students family. “If I could choose one word to describe Mrs. Lillian, it would be ‘dedicated,’” Sadie says. “She helped a lot of people and touched the hearts of many more.”

Friends, continued from page 44 Marian McCullers died March 19, 2019.

Florence Pressly died Sept. 17, 2020.

Alice J. Purcell, former faculty member, died Aug. 23, 2020.

Dr. Gareth D. Scott, former seminary professor, died March 16, 2020.

Edward “Ned” Sloan, former trustee awarded an honorary doctorate, died Oct. 27, 2020.

Ruble continued from page 45 Shirley Ragsdale Adams ’93, an Erskine staff member who considers Ruble a mentor, says, “Randy and I were charter members of the RCRI Support Board USA. He immediately started sponsoring multiple children and remained faithful, even sending them to university.” In 2012, he nominated Adams to serve as chair of the board.

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Along with his wife, he established the Ruble Scholarship Endowment in 2017 for RCRI. Plans are proceeding for two scholarship students to enroll this fall in the university of their choice. “For years to come, this endowment will continue to educate the finest young women and men who entered the RCRI program,” Adams says.

“I first knew Dr. Ruble when he was chaplain of Erskine College, then when we were fellow members of Second Presbytery, then when he was a faithful supporter of my ministry at Due West ARP Church and a devoted contributor to RCRI,” says the Rev. L. Calvin Draffin ’75, a retired ARP minister. “In all areas I saw him as a dedicated follower of Christ who befriended many and was gracious in giving words of encouragement.”

In addition to the Ruble Scholarship Endowment for RCRI, the Rubles also established scholarships at Erskine for both college and seminary students.

Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Martha “Molly” Grant Ruble ’60; sons John, of the Class of 1983, and Jeffrey, of the Class of 1985; daughter Ellen, of the Class of 1988; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Music professor combined perfectionism, patience, and love

courses in organ and voice. “It was after my first voice jury that she approached me and said I should have been a voice major the whole time,” Timms recalls. “She encouraged me to pursue that talent, which I did. Although I did not become a music major, I continued to sing in area chorales and church after graduation.”

Like her husband, Amy Timms also experienced the motherly side of her music professor. When a necklace given to her by her parents went missing from her dorm room, “I was heartbroken,” she says.

“My parents had taken the diamond from my mother’s engagement ring and had it made into a pendant for me.”

Timms was sobbing in her room—having torn the place apart once more in a fruitless effort to find her necklace—when Koonts came to the door to ask her a question. “As soon as she saw me crying, she knew it was about the necklace and just stood there with her arms around me as I cried on her shoulder. I’m not sure if she ever asked what she came to ask me. She always demonstrated love and compassion to her students,” Timms says, adding mischievously, “unless we didn’t practice!”

Professor Emerita of Music Cortlandt Morper “Corky” Koonts passed away Feb. 4, 2021. She taught at Erskine from 1951-61 and again from 1970-90. A talented musician who served the Due West ARP Church, church music conferences, and several area congregations, she devoted her gifts as a teacher and mentor to generations of Erskine students.

Two of those students are a husband and wife who met at Erskine— Associate Professor of Music Dr. Keith Timms ’84, a music major, and Amy Rankin Timms ’85, a mathematics major and music minor who has served her alma mater as an adjunct professor of mathematics. The two became reacquainted after graduation when they taught at the same school. They are the parents of two Erskine graduates, Hannah Timms ’14 and Harrison Timms ’17.

Koonts served as organist for the couple’s wedding ceremony, and they kept in touch. “She was genuinely proud of me when I continued my music study at the master’s and doctoral levels, and when I achieved various benchmarks of professional success,” Keith Timms says. “The acknowledgment page of my doctoral dissertation includes a special note of thanks to Mrs. Koonts for her musical influence in my life.”

Today, the baby grand piano which took pride of place in Corky Koonts’s Due West living room stands in Keith Timms’s office at Erskine College. “I hope that each time I play it, I bring honor to the legacy of music excellence that she imparted to so many students at our institution,” he says.

A resident of Due West for many years before and after her retirement, Koonts was predeceased by her husband, Professor Emeritus of Education Dr. Jones Calvin Koonts. Survivors include her son, Carlisle Woodson Koonts, her daughter, Camille Koonts Stein ’86, and their families.

Keith Timms remembers Koonts’s encouragement of his musical vocation. “Mrs. Koonts was a kind soul, a consummate perfectionist, and a patient instructor,” he says. “Her expectations were high, but the love and care she demonstrated for her students were even greater.”

On the brisk December day when he was scheduled to give his senior piano recital, Timms awoke with a fever. As the hour of the performance approached, he was still feverish, but his hands were so cold “I could barely play during my warm-up time,” he says, noting that back in 1983, Memorial Hall Auditorium, with its “very outdated and unreliable heating system,” was often chilly.

“I will never forget Mrs. Koonts pushing the role of professor to the side and assuming the role of a doting mother,” Timms says. “She patiently placed my hands [near] the heater and massaged enough warmth into them that I could play. The recital was not my best work, but my respect and love for my professor grew exponentially.”

Amy Timms cites a “pivotal interaction” with Koonts “that really changed how I felt about myself as a musician.” When she began her music minor, her emphasis was on piano, but she also took

Keith and Amy Timms

In Memoriam In the spring, alumni mourned the loss of Dr. Robert Lesslie ’74, Barbara Lesslie ’73, and two of their grandchildren, Adah and Noah, who died Wednesday, April 7. In a message to alumni, Vice President for Advancement and Alumni Relations Paul Bell said, “This tragedy, which left so many speechless with grief, also served to reiterate that the Erskine community is one built on relationships. We rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.”

A HISTORY OF HELPING: LOWRY WARE’S LIFE OF SERVICE Professor Emeritus of History Dr. Lowry Price Ware, who served on the Erskine College faculty from 1954 to 1987, died Feb. 8, 2021.

A lifelong resident of Due West, he graduated from Erskine College in 1949 with a degree in history. He continued his studies at the University of South Carolina, earning a Ph.D. Elected to Phi Beta Kappa, he served as an officer in the organization’s regional society.

As a graduate student, he worked in the reference section of the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, where he committed to memory all documents relating to Abbeville County.

Years later, after his retirement from Erskine, he was inducted into the Abbeville County Hall of Fame.

McDonald-Boswell Professor Emeritus of History Dr. James Gettys, a member of the Class of 1962 who taught at Erskine College from 1965 to 2007, was Ware’s student and later his colleague on the Erskine faculty.

“He lectured at a normal conversational speed and it was very difficult to get excellent notes,” Gettys says, remembering his time in Ware’s history classes. “At the same time, he was easy to distract. A question could result in his talking about any topic so that students tried to pique his curiosity all the time to distract him from the lecture.”

Gettys says that as a student he did well in Ware’s courses because he realized that rabbit-trail discussions in class could come up in an essay question on the exam—and so could the lecture material the professor had been distracted from presenting.

Ware was an active writer and researcher well into his 80s. He was co-author of The Second Century: A History of the Associate Reformed Presbyterians, 1882-1982 and author of Old Abbeville: Scenes of the Past of a Town Where Old Time Things are Not Forgotten as well as A Place Called Due West: The Home of Erskine College. His 30 publications include edited diaries, census records, and other materials providing rich resources for historians and genealogists.

Observing that Ware had “an encyclopedic memory—not photographic,“ Gettys muses on their time as colleagues. “Anything that attracted his attention was in his mind. Unfortunately, faculty meetings, committee meetings, etc., were not of particular importance! He usually showed up, but not always.”

"Lowry Ware’s brilliant mind and his research and writing skills made him a great historian,” says honorary alumnus and former Erskine public relations director Richard Haldeman. “He could have employed these skills to chronicle national events, but he chose instead to use them to preserve the history of his home state, county, hometown, and his alma mater, Erskine College.”

Having grown up in a rural area, Ware’s love of life included a love of animals. His solution to the problem of deer consuming his corn was to exercise patience and “plant twice as much next spring so he would have enough for his freezer and the deer.”

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Reflecting on Ware’s personality and character, Gettys says, “He was self-deprecating and had a wonderful sense of humor. He loved all people.”

Describing his friend as “frugal with money,” Gettys makes a clarification. “His frugality was not driven by a desire to hoard money, but because of a realization that material possessions were not essential for a wonderful life. He loved life, friends, and learning something about everyone he met.”

Although he was not a hunter, Ware would shoot at crows attempting to steal his pecans. “One day he shot, and to his astonishment, killed a crow. He followed local practice and hung

the deceased from a pecan limb as a warning,” Gettys recalls, and then “got up the next morning and shot a crow whose wing was jerking in the wind…the same victim from the day before…he loved to tell that story.”

Whether the subject was animals and rural life or people and their foibles, Ware enjoyed telling stories, and his interest in “learning something about everyone he met” dovetailed with his focus on history, which is, after all, made up of stories about people.

“Lowry’s love of history permeated his life and contributed to his egalitarianism,” Gettys says. “He understood that human beings are essentially the same regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, or place of [birth]. He is the only person I’ve known who spoke with the same inflection to octogenarians and kindergarten students, men and women, and [people of ] any ethnicity.”

As for Ware’s influence on students, “Every human was, in his opinion, worthy of study and capable of teaching the student something about the human condition,” Gettys says. “Lowry’s love of all people under any circumstances helped history majors view [human beings] as equal and worthy of study.”

Outside the classroom, Ware used his research skills to assist others.

The citation read at his induction into the Abbeville County Hall of Fame notes that he kept up “a voluminous correspondence, writing to anyone interested in Abbeville” and “provided background material and checked facts for many authors, journalists, family historians, and students—from third graders to doctoral candidates.”

He furnished family history for former President Jimmy Carter.

He assisted people who desired to trace their South Carolina ancestry, including such notable figures as Ralph Ellison, grandson of Abbeville’s first African-American law enforcement officer and author of Invisible Man; Due West native Charlayne Hunter Gault, the first African-American woman to attend the University of Georgia, author of In My Place, and a longtime correspondent for the MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour; and John Henry Wideman, African-American professor and novelist who featured Ware as a character—under the pseudonym “Bowie Lomax”— in his autobiography Fatheralong: A Meditation on Fathers and Sons, Race and Society.

Ware served his church and community in various ways. Gettys recalls that he “loved to umpire Little League baseball and knew each young player and his or her family.” A member of the Due West ARP Church, he taught Sunday school, served as a deacon and elder, and was Clerk of Session for several terms.

Haldeman summarizes Ware’s contributions to Erskine and to generations of students. “Erskine is particularly fortunate that its history and heritage are preserved in Lowry Ware’s works, and that his students at the college learned not only history, but the importance of adherence to truth.”

Survivors include a brother, Gene R. Ware and his wife Shirley of Due West, as well as nine nieces and nephews.

I GIVE TO ERSKINE BECAUSE… Jim Moore ’77 has enjoyed a varied career, serving both his country and state, and is also heavily involved in his community, including the community of Erskine.

Moore graduated from Erskine with a Bachelor of Science in Social Services in 1977 and joined the military police corps in 1980 as part of the South Carolina Army National Guard, the beginning of a 30-year military career. He also served his community in the South Carolina Emergency Management Division, as Laurens County Sheriff, and as the Director of the Laurens County Office of the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice. Recently, he was named to the Board of Voter Registration and Elections of Laurens County.

Moore fondly remembers his time at Erskine, where he served on the Men’s Council and was docket secretary for the Philomathean Literary Society. It was at Erskine that Moore first developed an interest in civic involvement.

“Through great professors, such as Dr. Jim Gettys and Dr. Harry Stille, I was able to develop an interest in history and current events,” Moore says. “This led me to a career path that involved development and implementation of local government policy, which I hope helped enhance at least some people’s lives.”

Now, Moore gives back to the Erskine community, offering his time as a member of the Alumni Board and contributing to Erskine financially.

“Donating to any cause is a strictly personal decision. I give to the Erskine Annual Fund because this fund was there for me when I came along, and I believe future alumni should receive this same blessing.”

Join Jim Moore in support of Erskine as we invest in the next generation of leaders and public servants. Give Today! erskine.edu/give

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P.O. Box 338, Due West, SC 29639

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