Ferrum Magazine 2012-13

Celebrating a Century

Annual Issue 2012–13

Magazine

Gift of DeHart Botanical Gardens

p.34

Completion of New Science Wing

p.30

Because They Had the Vision

p.55

Ferrum College Centennial Celebration Homecoming

Celebrating aCentury Save the Date: October 3–6, 2013

Mark your calendar and plan to return to campus to join in all of the festivities!

• Centennial Theatre • Centennial Worship Service • Leadership Donor Reception • Fireworks over Adams Lake • Leadership Donor Banquet • Golden Panther Induction Class of 1963 • Corron Classic Golf Tournament • Panther Football & Centennial Tailgate • Centennial Festival • Reunions Galore!

Plus much, much more!

leadership

Dear Friends of Ferrum College, Welcome to our centennial year! We began the semester in a celebratory fashion by welcoming our students to the new, state-of-the-art addition to Garber Hall featured on this cover, and we will continue our 100th anniversary celebrations throughout this year! Garber Hall, like Beckham Hall, Roberts Hall, Grousbeck Hall, Richeson Hall, Britt Hall, the Stanley Library Learning Commons and the Arthur Vining Davis annex at Swartz Gymnasium, has evolved over the past 10 years to become a contemporary 21st-century academic living/learning environment.

Our centennial reflections have focused on the extraordinary progress of Ferrum College over the last 100 years. The saga began with the vision and tenacity of a small group of Methodist women who were determined to bring the benefits of education to underserved mountain youth and continued over the ensuing decades, chapter by chapter, to the Ferrum College of today. The story continues to unfold as we benefit from and build on the beliefs and strength of our founders.

We look forward to the next 100 years in much the same way as we marvel at the accomplishments of the last century­—with faith, wonder and optimism. We are blessed by steadfast and generous donors, supportive alumni, past and present Board of Trustee members who selflessly share with us their time, talent and treasure, and our incredibly dedicated faculty and staff. The students who choose Ferrum are entrusted to us for some of the most important and formative years of their lives. It is our privilege to provide them with the best learning experience and living environment possible within our resources and ability to do so.

I invite you all to join with me in giving thanks to the Lord for where we are today and seeking from Him the wisdom and courage to make the most of the future opportunities and challenges that will surely come our way.

Our success and longevity are a testament that our mission has been powerful, our mentorship to students has been meaningful and our connection to Methodism has been transformative.

Sincerely yours,

Jennifer L. Braaten President

3 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

leadership

Ferrum Magazine is a publication of the Ferrum College Office of Institutional Advancement.

Please send news and address changes to:

TABLE OF CONTENTS....................... Winter 2012–2013

Alumni Association Officers

Leadership....................................................................3

Board of Trustees 5

Ferrum College Business Advisory Board 6

Estate Planning Council 6

Forum on Critical Thinking 7

Executives in Residence 8

Trustees Living the Ferrum College Motto 10 Academics.................................................................. 12

Meet the Deans 12

Environmental Sciences Feature 15

College Adds Media and Communication Major 24

Freshman Scholars Experience 26

Faculty Changes 27

Lambert Exercise Science Laboratory Dedicated 28 Philanthropy............................................................... 29

Completion of New Science Wing 30

DeHart Botanical Gardens Provide Rare Opportunity for Students 34

Foundation Highlights 36

Students Living the Ferrum College Motto 38 On Campus................................................................. 40

The Ferrum Campus—A Living Laboratory for Students 40

Commencement 2012 44

The Norton Center Open for Business 47

Blue Ridge Dinner Theatre Announces Final Curtain 48

Blue Ridge Institute & Museum News 50

Folklife Festival 2012 54 Methodist Connections................................................. 55

Because They Had the Vision 55

House Band Rocks with Faith 60

Campus Ministries 60

Endowed Chaplaincy 61

Proof of Your Love Tour 62 Sports......................................................................... 63

Coaches in the Community 63

Former All-American Locks in Wrestling Head Coach Position 65

Journey from Player to Head Coach 66

Sports on Campus 68

Student-Athlete Profiles 72 Alumni....................................................................... 74

Distinguished Alumni Award 2012 75

Sports Hall of Fame Inductees 76

Young Alumni Find New Role Within Ferrum Family 78

Alumni Chapter Events 84

Out & About 86 Tracking Panthers........................................................ 88 Honor Roll of Donors..................................................... 93

4

Printed on recycled paper with 10% post-consumer waste.

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

Ferrum College Alumni Office P.O. Box 1000 Ferrum, VA 24088-9000 1-877-FERRUM1 alumni@ferrum.edu

President Joyce Bernice Cobbs ’98 Vice President Oden L. Cornwell, III ’02 Golden Panthers President Edward W. States ’57 pg. 17

Magazine Contributors Editor Kathleen O’Malley Contributing Editors Theresa Potter Kristin Waters

pg. 30

pg. 44

pg. 55

Contributing Writers Wes Astin ’74 John Carlin Beth Cross Brooke Gill ’05 Tina Hanlon Gary Holden

Tracy Holley ’96 Cathe Kervan Kathleen O’Malley Theresa Potter Kristin Waters Vaughan Webb

Contributing Photographers Wes Astin ’74 John Carlin Sam Dean Brooke Gill ’05 Bryan Hantman Gary Holden Tracy Holley ’96 Walter Hughes Amy Nance-Pearman Kathleen O’Malley Photo Specialties Kristin Waters Design: Access Printing: Source4

pg. 66

pg. 75

Ferrum College does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran status, gender or disability in admission to, access to, treatment in or employment in its programs and activities. Ferrum College affirms the dignity and worth of every individual regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, and will not tolerate harassment or discrimination toward any individual.

The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies: Director of Human Resources, 205 John Wesley Hall, Ferrum College, Ferrum, VA 24088, 540-365-4235.

Inquiries concerning the application of nondiscrimination policies may also be referred to: Office of Civil Rights, District of Columbia Office, U.S. Department of Education, 1100 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Room 316, P.O. Box 14620, Washington, D.C. 20044-4620.

New Trustees Take Office

July 1, 2012–June 30, 2013

Officers and Executive Committee Mr. Walter C. Ayers ’62, Chair, Investment Committee, Stuart, VA Dr. Nathaniel L. Bishop, Chair, Student Affairs and Enrollment Committee, Christiansburg, VA Mr. J. Peter Clements ’77, First Vice Chair and Chair, Business Affairs Committee, Carson, VA Mrs. Thelma B. Crowder, Secretary, South Boston, VA Dr. Nancy V. Dye, Member at Large, Roanoke, VA Mr. S. Kelly Herrick ’84, Chair, Academic Affairs and Technology Committee & Immediate Past Board Chair, Danville, CA Mr. Samuel L. Lionberger, Jr., Chair of the Board, Penhook, VA Mr. Craig L. Rascoe ’74, Chair, Audit Committee, Manakin Sabot, VA Mr. Glenn F. Thomsen, Second Vice Chair, Roanoke, VA Mr. Robert Todd ’67, Chair, Institutional Advancement Committee, Williamsburg, VA Members Mr. Walter C. Ayers, Stuart, VA Mr. Ray Booth, Lynchburg, VA Mr. Harvey Brookins, Jr., Roanoke, VA Mrs. Joyce “Bernice” Cobbs, Rocky Mount, VA Mrs. Elizabeth Dickerson, Richmond, VA Mrs. Betty J. Forbes, Chester, VA Mr. Kenneth Gassman, Jr., Glen Allen, VA Dr. Elizabeth M. Hairfield, Staunton, VA Rev. Janine W. Howard, Martinsville, VA Rev. Stephen Hundley, Roanoke, VA Bishop Young Jin Cho, Glen Allen, VA Ms. Phyllis Karavatakis, Martinsville, VA Rev. Elizabeth H. Lazenby, Rocky Mount, VA Dr. Esther Galima Mabry, Roanoke, VA Mr. Aubrey Lee Mason, Lynchburg, VA Dr. Marvin M. Phaup, Washington, D.C. Mrs. Lou Talbutt, Blacksburg, VA Mr. Ron L. Willard, Sr., Wirtz, VA Mr. Don L. Wilson, Glen Allen, VA Mrs. Joyce Winston, Buckroe Beach, VA Trustees Emeriti Mr. William B. Bales, Williamsburg, VA Mrs. Ethel W. Born, Salem, VA Mr. Robert A. Cox, Jr., Richmond, VA Mrs. Ethelyne F. Daniel ’43, Danville, VA Mr. C. Henry Jones, Norfolk, VA Mr. Sid D. Mason, Rocky Mount, VA Dr. M. Douglas Newman ’42, Newport News, VA Mr. Harry G. Norris, Roanoke, VA Mrs. Ida B. Powell, Lynchburg, VA

Raymond A. Booth

Harvey D. Brookins, Jr.

Lynchburg, Virginia Consultant Engineer, Booth Consulting, Inc., Retired Director of Public Works, City of Lynchburg

Roanoke, Virginia Senior VP and Regional Commercial Banking Team Manager, SunTrust Bank

Bishop Young Jin Cho

Phyllis Q. Karavatakis ’76

Lou C. Talbutt

Don L. Wilson ’68

Glen Allen, Virginia Resident Bishop, Virginia Conference, United Methodist Church

Blacksburg, Virginia Retired Executive for Student Services, Roanoke City School Division

leadership

FERRUM COLLEGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Martinsville, Virginia Senior Vice President and Cashier, Carter Bank & Trust

Glen Allen, Virginia Retired Agency Manager & Sr. VP, AXA Equitable Life

Joyce Winston

Buckroe Beach, Virginia United Methodist Women Conference President

5 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

leadership

Ferrum College Business Advisory Board Douglas R. Monk, Chair Retired, Tredegar Corporation Midlothian, VA

Peter Gawley McAirlaids Rocky Mount, VA

Graham Leonard Roanoke, VA SunTrust Bank

Samuel Oakey, III ’82 Oakey’s Funeral Service Roanoke, VA

Gene Bailey ’69 Fredericksburg Regional Alliance Fredericksburg, VA

Jay R. Greeley, Jr. ’02 Defense Energy Support Center Woodbridge, VA

Joan Litton Mountain to Lake Realty Rocky Mount, VA

Ken Randolph Rockydale Quarries Roanoke, VA

Phil Hager ’65 Phil Hager Insurance Moneta, VA

Melissa Mason HomeTown Bank Salem, VA

René Reiner McAirlaids Rocky Mount, VA

Mark Hudzik Member One Federal Credit Union Roanoke, VA

Berkley Mitchell ’81 Sullivan Properties Fredericksburg, VA

James C. Sears Center in the Square Roanoke, VA

Todd Morgan MB Contractors, Inc. Roanoke, VA

Joel Shepherd Virginia Furniture Market Rocky Mount, VA

Harry Norris Howell’s Motor Freight Roanoke, VA

John “Jack” Wilson ’83 Delta Dental of Virginia Roanoke, VA

Jim Currie LevelVision LLC Roanoke, VA Theodore Edlich Total Action Against Poverty Roanoke, VA Justin Forry Mod-U-Kraf Rocky Mount, VA Ken Gassman Retired, Davenport and Company Glen Allen, VA

William D. Jacobsen Carilion Franklin Memorial Hospital Rocky Mount, VA Russ Johnson Franklin Co. Board of Supervisors Rocky Mount, VA

Ferrum College Estate Planning Council

John W. Inge, IV ’73 Capital Strategies of Virginia, LLC Roanoke, VA

Inge Accepts EPC Chairmanship

6

Jay Inge follows Bob Bradshaw, who served as chair of the Estate Planning Council for many years and recently retired after a very successful career with The Trust Company of Virginia.

Susan Ackley, CPA Brown, Edwards & Company Lynchburg, VA

Chris Gibson Franklin Community Bank Hardy, VA

Alexander I. Saunders Woods, Rogers PLC Roanoke, VA

N. A. Ammar, Jr. Spilman, Thomas & Battle, PLLC Roanoke, VA

John C. Gurley ’89 Premier Advisors Roanoke, VA

Ricky L. Scott BB&T Ferrum, VA

Roger Anglin Brown, Edwards & Company Roanoke, VA

Eddie F. Hearp, CLU National Financial Services, Inc. Roanoke, VA

Charles E. Troland, Jr. Glenn, Feldman, Darby & Goodlatte Roanoke, VA

Jeff Barbour Brown, Edwards & Company Roanoke, VA

Courtney Hoge, CLU Roanoke, VA

Chris Wingfield Brown, Edwards & Company Roanoke, VA

Neil V. Birkhoff Woods, Rogers PLC Roanoke, VA Robert E. Bryant National Bank of Blacksburg Blacksburg, VA Nan L. Coleman Coleman & Massey, P.C. Roanoke, VA Wayne M. Epperly First Citizens Bank Roanoke, VA Eric H. Ferguson Rhodes, Ferguson & Stone, Ltd. Rocky Mount, VA David A. Furrow Furrow & Dudley, Attorneys at Law Rocky Mount, VA

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

James P. Kent, Jr. Kent & Kent, PC Altavista, VA Alton L. Knighton, Jr. Woods, Rogers PLC Roanoke, VA Stephen W. Lemon Martin, Hopkins & Lemon, P. C. Roanoke, VA Ryan McEntire Brown, Edwards & Company Lynchburg, VA J. Lee Osborne, Esquire Woods, Rogers PLC Roanoke, VA Bill Pullen Bill Pullen & Associates Ferrum, VA

Dillon Joins the EPC Glenn G. Dillon Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., Inc. Lynchburg, VA

leadership Justin Forry Mod-U-Kraf Rocky Mount, VA

Melissa Mason HomeTown Bank Salem, VA

Berkley Mitchell ’81 Sullivan Properties Fredericksburg, VA

Todd Morgan MB Contractors, Inc. Roanoke, VA

René Reiner McAirlaids Rocky Mount, VA

John “Jack” Wilson ’83 Delta Dental of Virginia Roanoke, VA

Business Advisory Board Welcomes New Members

Forum on Critical Thinking, Innovation & Leadership Sustaining the Essentials: WATER, ENERGY, FOOD, “FINDING the RIGHT BALANCE” Ensuring long-term sustainability will entail achieving the right balance between private incentives and public goals. The 2013 Forum explored the features of public policy that can facilitate finding this delicate balance within the respective roles and capabilities of government, business and private entities. Our goal was to raise the level of public discussion about these critical issues that will require the country’s best critical thinking skills, practical innovations and civic leadership.

Use the smartphone code to view all of the 2013 Forum keynote addresses.

2 013 Forum speakers i ncluded :

Janaki Alavalapati Department Head of Forest Resources, Environmental Conservation College of Natural Resources & Environment, Virginia Tech

Ann Bartuska Deputy Under Secretary, US Department of Agriculture Research, Education, and Economics

Coleman Bazelon Principal, The Brattle Group

Travis Hill Virginia Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry

Frank Rusco Director, Natural Resources, Environment-Energy and Science, U.S. Government Accountability Office

Lisa Vojta Senior Analyst, Natural Resources & Environment team, U.S. Government Accountability Office

7 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

leadership

The Ferrum College Executive in Residence initiative is designed to bring the real-world business experience of current and retired business professionals to the classroom. Guest executives tour campus, audit classes, interact with students and faculty and are asked to deliver a lecture sharing their personal experiences and philosophies.

Speakers offer insight on the knowledge, skills and leadership qualities necessary for a successful business career.

Many of the lectures are open to both the College community and the general public.

Executives in Residence Julie E. Swanson | September 19, 2012 In July 2005, Julie Swanson became the President/Chief Executive Officer of Lutheran Family Services of Virginia. LFSVA traces its roots to the Lutheran Children’s Home of the South founded in 1888 to provide care for orphaned children. The organization is built on the foundation of being born of faith and open to all. Its current mission is providing services and assistance to empower communities, families and individuals in their journey to well-being.

Swanson has reorganized the structure of LFSVA by combining corporations and establishing offices and schools in new parts of Virginia. In 2011, she led the agency in the acquisition of a for-profit company, and through this strategic decision as well as growth in other divisions, LFSVA has increased from $10 million in annual operating funds to $25 million with 375 employees. Services have been expanded beyond children to include older adults and individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Services are provided at 19 locations and six group homes.

Swanson served as the Vice President for Programs and Agency Advancement at Lutheran Family Services of Colorado, Regional Director with Lutheran Ministries of Florida in Tampa and for 15 years was the Executive Director of Lutheran Social Services of the Virgin Islands. Throughout her career, she has been involved with programs and advocacy efforts for children, families, refugees and the elderly. She served as a national Lutheran Disaster Response Consultant after experiencing and then coordinating the response and rebuilding efforts for Hurricane Hugo when it devastated the island of St. Croix in 1989.

Julie E. Swanson President/CEO, Lutheran Family Services of Virginia

Patrick Patterson | October 3, 2012 Patrick Patterson, President of Novozymes Biologicals in Salem, Virginia, shared experiences from his 18 years with Novozymes on balancing financial, social and environmental goals to create a great place to work and answer questions such as: What do Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Glenn Close all have in common with Novozymes? How do we replace 50% of our gasoline requirements by 2030? Keep bread from going stale? Make bottles from plants? Produce caviar in the desert? And, things you should consider before getting married in a hot air balloon.

Novozymes is ranked one of the top 25 Best Companies to Work for in America, and for the tenth time, Novozymes is the industry leader of the biotechnology sector in the Dow Jones World and STOXX Sustainability Indexes. Population growth, resource scarcity and climate change create a growing need for companies to make more from less.

Novozymes applies biology to business to develop new solutions for conserving water, energy and raw materials. Working together with customers in over 130 countries and 40 industries, Novozymes aims to reduce global CO2 emissions to 75 million tons by 2015.

8 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

Patrick Patterson President, Novozymes Biologicals

Executive in Residence Spring Semester 2013

April 10, 2013

leadership

SAVE THE DATE!

Michael W. McColl ’93 Voice of the NFL on FOX, Sunday night baseball and college football on ESPN

T h e 2 0 1 2 – 1 3 F a ll S e m e st e r Nancy Howell Agee | October 31, 2012 As President/Chief Executive Officer of Carilion Clinic, Agee oversees the not-for-profit healthcare organization, which serves nearly one million people in Virginia through hospitals, outpatient specialty centers and advanced primary care practices. She was at the forefront of the successful initiative to reorganize the Roanoke-based hospital services into a patient-centered clinic with a leadership infrastructure of physicians.

Agee has more than 30 years of service to Carilion and holds degrees with honors from the University of Virginia and Emory University. She began her career in nursing at Carilion, serving in various management roles over the past 20 years. In 1996, she was appointed Vice President of Medical Education. In 2000, she became Senior Vice President of the organization, advancing to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in 2001.

Jeffrey A. Marks | November 14, 2012 Jeffrey Marks is President and General Manager of WDBJ7, a prominent television, web and mobile information and entertainment service in Southwest Virginia.

Nancy Howell Agee President/CEO, Carilion Clinic

Marks is active in community affairs, serving as president of the board of trustees of Opera Roanoke Board and presiding over that organization during a remarkable rebound from the effects of the slow economy. He was chairman of the 2010 United Way campaign and currently serves as chairman of the United Way board of directors. He also serves on the boards of the Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Better Business Bureau, the Serve First children’s tennis foundation and the Western Virginia Foundation for the Arts and Sciences board, the governing entity of Center in the Square. Marks has coached journalists at the Poynter Institute and has traveled to Romania and Ukraine on numerous occasions to train broadcasters.

Marks began his career working at radio stations in Lexington, Kentucky, while earning his bachelor’s degree in telecommunications from the University of Kentucky. He went on to work as executive producer of news at WJLA-TV in Washington, and as a producer and reporter for WHAS Radio and Television in Louisville, Kentucky.

Before his move to Southwest Virginia, Marks worked under the same ownership as general manager of WDBJ7’s sister company, WAGT in Augusta, Georgia. He also served as general manager of WLBZ-TV in Bangor, Maine, and News 12 New Jersey, an all-news regional cable channel. As news director of WCSH-TV in Portland, Maine, Jeff oversaw the station’s growth to first place in news ratings, a position it still holds more than 25 years later.

Jeffrey A. Marks President/General Manager, WDBJ7

Marks was elected chairman of the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA), the international organization of journalists in electronic media, and served eight years on the RTNDA board.

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

9

leadership Above: children in South Sudan; above right: Jon Morris ’94 and Walter Hughes at a new pump in Ghana.

The Reverend Walter K. Hughes, Jr., is a former member of the Ferrum College Board of Trustees. As pastor at both New Hope United Methodist Church in Rocky Mount and Highland United Methodist Church in Callaway, he is also a member of the Rotary Club of Rocky Mount, Virginia, and serves as the organization’s Grant Chair. The following text and photos include two excerpts from his 2012 Rotary Voices blog.

Trustees Living the Ferrum College Motto

“NOT SELF, BUT OTHERS”

The Impossible Becomes Possible with Teamwork What is our role as Rotarians? How big can we dream? Can Rotary be involved in the eradication of polio and Guinea worm disease from the world?

Over 80 Rotary clubs were part of the effort to eradicate the three-foot-long parasite in Ghana. Could we do it again?

Rotarian Kenny Lovelace and I went to South Sudan in October 2012 to find out.

We went on a “high adventure” trip that will be remembered for the rest of our lives. We took a humanitarian flight from Juba to Kapoeta before we drove around for two days to visit villages with the highest number of people suffering from Guinea worm disease. We drove on dirt roads built during World War II, dry river beds and ravines and hiked to places without roads.

We camped. We saw beauty in places and people who suffered from war. We were inspired by the South Sudan Guinea Worm Eradication Program and Carter Center leaders who are dedicated to transforming the lives of people. It made us want to find a way to help.

10 10

We talked and built friendships with the Juba Rotarians in the youngest country in Africa. We dreamed about providing clean water and a world without disease in spite of bad roads. Our work can give hope for the future and a foundation for peace.

President of the Juba Rotary Club Deng Mathatch Deng said, “South Sudan is a big country with 619,745 square kilometers.

The Juba Rotary Club can work to achieve this goal with the support of Rotary International and partnering Rotary Clubs.”

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

The impossible is possible when we build a team and accomplish something bigger than ourselves. We met with contractors and saw boreholes being drilled and repaired in the target communities. The boreholes will be expensive and we are working to provide funding. The first matching grant was approved in late 2012 in order for us to drill the wells during the dry season months of January to March 2013. The work is made possible through The Rotary Foundation. We will dedicate our effort to the Tamale, Ghana, Rotarians who dared to dream of a world without Guinea worm disease and shared their dream with me.

Providing Clean Water in Ghana: PRICELESS Have you ever questioned if your involvement in Rotary is really making a difference?

Rest assured, you are, and I’m the lucky guy who gets to witness and experience your involvement. I’m passionate about bringing clean water to remote villages in the African bush of Ghana.

There are two priceless moments that happen when we provide clean water to a village. The first occurs when that big drill rig finally hits water. Imagine the people’s anticipation as they see the trucks and equipment roll into the village and as they watch the drill rig crew work. Everyone cheers when the water flows.

The second priceless moment comes when the hand pump is installed. People throughout the village come to the well with their buckets and cups in hand. Everyone is silent as one of the elders starts pumping the handle. Cheers erupt when the water comes forth. Seeing the smiling faces of the men, women and children makes all of the challenges worth it.

One of the most amazing things to happen in Ghana is the recent eradication of Guinea worm disease, which is spread because of dirty water. Rotarians played a big role. We are now focusing on a neglected tropical flesh-eating disease called “Buruli ulcer.”

The mode of transmission is still unknown, but it is found in water and the soil of muddy swamps, rivers and rice fields. We believe that new wells will reduce the disease because the need to fetch dirty water from those sources will diminish.

leadership

I have seen some pretty amazing things in my travels to very remote villages. I’ve been there during the dry and the rainy seasons. I’ve traveled through corn and millet fields and washedout roads and walked for miles in the hot African sun to see the work of Rotarians from around the world in Ghana. A recent trip brought me to a village two hours from the nearest city called Domeabra, which means, “You’ve got to love me to come this far!”

President Braaten (second from right) is shown here with Yes We Must Coalition members and Executive Director Gloria N. Nemerowicz (third from left).

President Braaten Attends Yes We Must Coalition President Jennifer Braaten is one of five college presidents in the country chosen to serve on the Yes We Must Coalition.

The group works to increase degree attainment of students from low-income backgrounds by promoting the work of small, independent, not-for-profit colleges and universities committed to this purpose. The inaugural meeting of the Coalition was held last fall at the Government Office Building next to the White House.

Villagers gather to celebrate a borehole in Diani, Ghana.

I can’t describe how amazing this journey has been. I’ve been fortunate to see firsthand how your support changes people’s lives. We’ve partnered with over 80 clubs from the U.S., Canada and Switzerland. Three host clubs in Ghana are leading the effort: Sunyani Central, Tamale and Bolgatanga Goodwill.

I was recently able to take my wife, Susan, and daughter and future Rotarian, Missy Hughes, with me this past January. They were impressed that so many Rotarians from around the world care about the Ghanaian people. They, too, experienced how goodwill and better friendships have been created, and how clean water is beneficial to all concerned. Our support is making a difference and changing lives!

Reiner Makes Time for Ferrum Students Business Advisory Board member René Reiner and Jennifer Reiner hosted a group of Ferrum College international students on a recent hike to Sharp Top Mountain and on another occasion with a boating tour of Smith Mountain Lake.

Walter Hughes assisting village women as they gather rocks for the new well borehole rebuilding project.

Reiner’s experience as a foreign exchange student inspired him to volunteer to help current students from abroad feel more comfortable and welcome in the Ferrum community.

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

11

academics

Meet the Deans Faculty members at Ferrum College share many traits common with those who work at institutions of higher learning: dedication, intense study in a chosen field and interest in sharing knowledge with students, just to name a few. But what faculty members at Ferrum share with each other—and a trait that isn’t always seen at colleges and universities—is a deep love of their institution and what it represents to them and to their students.

Having to contend with a locust—a type of grasshopper known

to migrate in extremely large numbers while devouring crops and vegetation—is not something most of the population thinks about on a regular basis, and certainly not something one prepares for in a job interview. But in 1986, that is exactly what happened to John Bruton, Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities, as he interviewed for a position on the faculty of Ferrum College. In a story often told and worth remembering, Bruton was in the middle of discussing his credentials and his interest in Ferrum when a large locust crawled across his coat and into his hair. He maintained his composure and got the job. After all, Bruton says, “if you can keep your cool with a giant locust crawling across your forehead, then you can do anything.”

C John W. Bruton

Dean, School of Arts and Humanities

oming from the University of Arkansas, Bruton and his wife were looking for a place to relocate that was close to her family when he took the job at Ferrum. Envisioning a career at a large university, Bruton did not expect to stay, but he soon realized Ferrum was indeed the place where he wanted to stay.

“Many young professors look at higher education as the road to research and advanced positions as university scholars.

At Ferrum, I was able to work directly with students in a very supportive environment, and that experience gave me a tremendous sense of reward. Ferrum is a great learning lab in which to work,” says Bruton.

ACADEMICS pg. 15

pg. 24

pg. 25

pg. 26

pg. 26

pg. 27

pg. 28

pg. 28

12 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

With a PhD from the University of Arkansas and an English background that includes medieval as well as 18thcentury British literature, Bruton was excited about the possibilities of teaching upper level literature courses. However, his first teaching assignment included three sections of English Composition, along with two Literature classes. To say he was busy that first semester is an understatement. With an amused tone, Bruton says, “The next semester, I discussed the heavy number of Composition courses and I received a more humane load for the spring term.”

Meet the Deans............................................................................12 Environmental Sciences Feature

Beyond the Classroom…into the Field..................................15

Ferrum Outdoors...................................................................19

E-term Study Opportunities...................................................20

Ecotourism Students Travel to Alaska...................................21

Program Built with Student Success in Mind.........................22

Looking Back.........................................................................23 College Adds Media and Communication Major..........................24 Farewell Sendoff to Professor Sasha Saari....................................25 Freshman Scholars........................................................................26 Online Courses..............................................................................26 Faculty Changes............................................................................27 Lambert Exercise Science Lab Dedicated......................................28 Ferrum College Summer Enrichment Camp..................................28

Six years after beginning his career at Ferrum, Bruton became the Chair of the Language, Literature, Religion and Philosophy Department. Nearly 15 years later, becoming the Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities seemed like a natural step up. Bruton says that while he never set out to become an administrator, it has been an incredible privilege.

“It’s hard not to be enthusiastic about the arts and challenged by philosophy and the concepts of history and literature and languages,” says Bruton, who thinks these

disciplines are about communication and challenging students to see things in new and different ways. “A student with a major from the School of Arts and Humanities is one who is an effective communicator and a creative thinker.”

In the past, the History program has attracted the most students within the School of Arts and Humanities, but the Theater program, which offers students the opportunity to perform in College productions, has surpassed it recently. As the traditional programs evolve to meet the challenges of engaging today’s students, the School is also developing new programs, such as media and communication and graphic design. “There is nothing static about the arts and humanities in the new millennium,” Bruton says. Bruton believes it is a combination of carefully developed and exciting programs and the emphasis Ferrum’s faculty places on the personal development of each student that attracts students to the wide range of programs within the School.

Bruton characterizes the Ferrum College community as a big family with similar values and members who support one another. It is the human factor, not just the facilities and the programs, that makes Ferrum such a wonderful place, he explains. Professors and students who explore the College’s opportunities most often stay, so much so that after 26 years, Bruton is still considered a “newcomer”.

academics

As the English program matured over the next several years, Bruton found himself more and more involved with committee work and other duties. “Being a professor at Ferrum pretty much means that you are going to be involved in a wide range of activities and responsibilities,” Bruton says.

“You can’t hide your talents in a small community like Ferrum. If you are good at what you do, you will be noticed and appreciated.”

Bruton advises prospective students, “Take advantage of what Ferrum offers our students, from the advising, to the writing center, to the career opportunities. Keep an open mind and find your ‘niche’ that will make both your college life and your career exciting.”

To prospective professors, Bruton says, “Ferrum allows you to find your own path, and while you will work extremely hard here, your talents will be encouraged and Ferrum will help you express them.” n

Dr. Jason Powell

, Dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, certainly agrees with John Bruton’s sentiment. “This is my 12th year, and I can’t picture myself working in any other environment. It is humbling to work with people who are so dedicated and so focused.”

T

Jason D. Powell

Dean, School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

his dedication and focus have certainly led to much of the growth that is prevalent at Ferrum College these days. In the years since his arrival at Ferrum, Powell says the number of General Chemistry sections has doubled, the number of Anatomy and Physiology sections has grown five-fold, and Microbiology, a class initially offered only every other year, is now taught at least every semester. Recently, Garber Hall, the building that primarily houses science and mathematics courses, has been involved in a major renovation, and on campus there are multiple programs that are initiatives related to natural sciences and mathematics; some of these same initiatives are presented at the Titmus Agricultural Education Center.

Additionally, Powell notes that grants and major gifts to the College have brought in nearly a half a million dollars in scientific equipment installations on campus in the past two years.

The School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics currently houses 24 full-time faculty, 11 part-time faculty and four fulltime staff members whose focus is to help undergraduate students learn all aspects of the natural sciences and mathematics.

Powell says that the curriculum of this school is constantly evolving to help students prepare for employment, graduate school or professional training in many applied science areas such as professional health, environmental or agricultural sciences. No matter what students may be studying—biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics—they learn how their discipline functions in the real world in real-life situations. “Faculty members are not only actively engaged in the scholarship of their chosen disciplines, but also in the scholarship of teaching and learning,” says Powell.

New equipment and additional course offerings are only a few of the changes at Ferrum College in the years since Powell 13

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

academics

joined the faculty. The fact that he is a member of the faculty at all is due in part to good timing and geography. In 2001, as Powell was completing his PhD in chemistry at the University of Illinois, he began to search for positions at many small liberal arts colleges in Virginia and some neighboring areas in order to live closer to family. After much research, Powell sent letters inquiring about positions at several colleges, regardless of advertised postings. His letter to Ferrum arrived on campus shortly prior to Ferrum’s posting of an open position, so he quickly followed up with an application. “They took a chance on me as a newly minted Ph.D. with limited

teaching experience,” says Powell. After 12 years, it seems it was a good choice!

Powell and his wife, Jenny, have been married for 15 years. They have three children, Marina, Isaac and Autumn, in addition to having been foster parents over the last few years. What he loves so much about Ferrum is that student interest can push faculty direction on research, offering so much more than cookie-cutter programs.

He offers advice to those prospective students looking for that perfect college fit: “If you want to know your professors and have them know you, Ferrum is the right place for you.” He sees that

the faculty at Ferrum love to work with students, enjoy teaching various subjects and believe in taking that experience outside the traditional classroom.

“You will learn far more than what is presented in your textbooks, and you will get more than your money’s worth at Ferrum,” says Powell. He further sums up what both professors and students see at Ferrum College by saying, “Ferrum is the place for scholars and scientists who love to teach. If your main focus is training students in the skills and habits that characterize you as a scholar and teacher, then you might find a perfect fit at Ferrum—I know I did.” n

“We knew we moved to an interesting area,” says

Kevin Reilly, Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Professional Studies, “when we heard that a bear walked into nearby Carilion Franklin Memorial Hospital!” But after 10 wonderful years, Reilly and his wife wouldn’t have it any other way: “We didn’t realize how special the county really is. We love it!” Originally from Massachusetts, Reilly was attending graduate school at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania when he noticed an advertised job opening at Ferrum College. He decided to apply and was offered the job as an assistant professor of Psychology; he and his wife have been happy here ever since.

T Kevin P. Reilly

Dean, School of Social Sciences and Professional Studies

14

he School of Social Sciences and Professional Studies is the largest and most diverse school on campus. Among the many areas on which students can concentrate are: Accounting, Business, Teacher Education, Social Work, Democracy Justice and Civic Engagement, Health and Human Performance and Professional Studies. In addition to the numerous programs in the School of Social Sciences and Professional Studies, there are also two laboratories to meet the research needs of the students: an Exercise Science Lab and a Cognitive Neuroscience Lab. Reilly notes that Ferrum is also developing a Center for Community Engagement, which will provide students the opportunity to learn as well as benefit the community. At present, the College has hosted community meetings to promote the center and is currently seeking ideas for projects to benefit both the student body and the community at large.

Over the course of the ten years in which Reilly has been a part of the faculty at Ferrum, this School has grown exponentially. “We have added excellent

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

faculty in several areas, which is essential to providing the best educational experience for our students,” says Reilly.

Not only has Ferrum added faculty, but since his arrival, the College combined six small divisions into three larger schools.

While the school has always worked well together as a diverse population, this change has brought unification to the academic areas of the College. “The faculty commitment toward students is remarkable,” notes Reilly. “The people here at Ferrum are the best part, hands down.”

He goes on to point out that the faculty members at Ferrum College are the best he has ever seen.

For those prospective Ferrum students on the horizon, Reilly suggests they do some research and make sure this is the right choice: “The opportunities are phenomenal at Ferrum,” remarks Reilly.

Further, he advises that students prepare themselves to aggressively seek those opportunities in academics and campus life. “We know that students must be engaged in both their learning and their campus community for them to be successful.” n

academics

Environmental Sciences Beyond the Classroom…into the Field

“T “We are studying how the use of biomass fuels may affect forest quality and wildlife habitat.”

–Dr. Todd Fredericksen

Professor Todd Fredericksen shown here at a controlled burning used to establish grasslands for biomass harvest.

he focus of the Environmental Sciences program, and what has been successful at Ferrum, is the practice of getting students out of the classroom,” says Dr. David Johnson, Coordinator of the Center for Sustainable Development and longtime professor of chemistry and environmental science. “We test theories in real life and our students use the experiential learning opportunities we provide as the foundation for a successful career,” continues Johnson. Whether talking to Johnson or one of the many prominent Environmental Sciences professors at Ferrum College, everyone points back to this as the cornerstone of the College philosophy. The creation of the Center for Sustainable Development, research projects in agriculture, water quality, forestry management and energy efficiency combined with professors who are willing to engage students and make professional connections while building these skills form an impressive array of opportunities for any student currently involved in the program or one who is interested in becoming involved. Says Dr. Glen Stevens, Assistant Professor of Biology and Environmental Science, “Students considering Ferrum College should know that this place is far more than just classroom learning. We involve students and they complete more than simple lab exercises.” This is echoed throughout the program and the campus as a whole and is what often sets Ferrum students apart from other college graduates in similar programs. “Even our students who do not participate in a research project must complete an internship—you just cannot get away from working outside a lab and classroom at Ferrum,” says Dr. Todd Fredericksen, Associate Professor of Forestry and Wildlife.

15

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

academics

Students getting samples on Smith Mountain Lake.

Water Quality Monitoring Program

T

he Smith Mountain Lake Water Quality Monitoring Program is the oldest and perhaps most well known of the student-involved research projects at Ferrum College.

Concerned about maintaining the quality of the water, residents in the Smith Mountain Lake area initially contacted Ferrum and inquired about monitoring the quality of the water. Realizing that 20,000 acres is too much to handle with only students and two or three professors, the partnership between the lake community and Ferrum College was born. Over the course of the last 26 years, Ferrum has worked with a variety of volunteers, residents, community organizations and corporations to continue the project. Teams of volunteers take samples and check basic water quality, performing tests such as evaluating

water clarity and checking for the presence of chlorophyl A and phosphorous. According to Dr. Carolyn Thomas, the Director of the project and professor of environmental science and biology, “We have some volunteer monitors who have been working on this project since the beginning—26 years! They are a great example of the importance of this work to the community.”

Each summer since the program’s inception, trained students collect samples and analyze the samples collected by volunteers for chemical and bacterial contaminants. Bacteria sampling of the lake water was a component of the project added in 2003.

Additionally, plankton nets are used to capture and analyze the algae found in the lake. Examining algae allows for a better understanding of how it settles as it dies, a process that removes oxygen from the water, in turn stressing the cool-water fish in the lake. The addition of depth profiling studies in 2005 gives researchers the opportunity to study what is taking place in the thermocline, the area between the warmer, upper layer of water and the colder, deeper layer of water in the lake.

As the Smith Mountain Lake project has grown over the years, so has funding for the work. Currently support is provided

by American Electric Power and

Dr. Carolyn Thomas, professor of Environmental Sciences and Biology and Director of both Smith Mountain Lake and Claytor Lake Water Quality Monitoring Projects, discusses results with a student.

Center for Sustainable Development

F

errum College’s commitment to energy efficiency and sustainability is seen in the creation of the Center for Sustainable Development, the first of three such centers in the Institute for Integrative Learning. Student “learning by doing” is a primary goal of the Institute, which strives to integrate all disciplines and areas of the campus.

16

Much like what the Environmental Sciences program has been providing for its students for many years, this center provides the opportunity for students to work on problems and solutions in the areas of food, water and energy. The Center also seeks to broaden student understanding of and research into global initiatives with expanded travel, exchanges and international community events. Chief among the Center’s focus areas are recycling, food, water and energy. The Farm-to-Cafe program, composting of waste foods

and researching new crops to increase farm income compose the primary work of the food area. Continuation of lake water quality management, water quality protection, rainwater harvesting and use, storm water management and source water protection are the chief fields of concentration in the water focus area.

The energy focus area will examine and enhance renewable fuel options such as biomass, wind and biodiesel.

Additionally, continuing energy audits and weatherization in lowincome communities, sub-metering campus buildings to examine energy conservation and cost reduction, and completion of an accounting of energy savings are key parts of the energy area. “We are seeing good progress in each of these areas and we have made this progress with the support of the administration. He notes that operations and academics working side by side is

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

the catalyst that will provide experiences and problem solving for and by Ferrum students.

Dave Johnson, professor of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences, shown here with Ming Lei, a Ferrum graduate from Wuhan, China, who did her internship on the lake project.

academics Claytor Lake

Appalachian Power Company, which use data from the studies conducted

by Ferrum as part of their required submissions to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Funding and support have not always been that easy to secure, notes Dr. Thomas. “Over the years, we have cobbled together funding from many organizations, including the Smith Mountain Lake Association, the counties of Franklin, Bedford and Pittsylvania, the Tri-County Lake Administrative Commission and the Department of Environmental Quality.

We are significantly more stable in our funding now because the data is evaluated by agencies like FERC.” The Claytor Lake Water Quality Monitoring Program is also under the direction of Dr. Thomas and involves Ferrum College students as part of the monitoring process. Local officials in the counties surrounding Claytor Lake became aware of the Smith Mountain Lake project and approached other local universities with the idea of a similar project, believing that the smaller Ferrum College would not undertake two lake monitoring programs. After several unsuccessful attempts to secure a sponsor, these officials contacted Ferrum. Currently, samples are taken from Claytor Lake several times during the year and students travel to the lake for evaluations three times each summer.

While the two lakes are different in source, size and monitoring needs, each offers students valuable opportunities.

“Students see all levels with these projects, from the training meetings for volunteers and students, to working with citizens, taking samples and reporting back to the community and to other agencies. This is a perfect example of education beyond the environment,” says Dr. Bob Pohlad, Professor of Biology and Horticulture.

Dr. Bob Pohlad, professor of Biology and Horticulture, working with students in the Garber Hall Greenhouse.

Ferrum in the Community

N

ot all of the research and application involving students is conducted in aquatic or forest areas; the Environmental Sciences program also works within the community to explore energy conservation and cost-saving options. Several years ago, the College worked with Franklin County on the Last Mile Broadband project, an initiative to locate those in remote city and county areas without a broadband internet connection. Once these citizens were located, students then used the local Geographic Information System (GIS) to decide the best possible placement for a relay tower for broadband access. Students conducted surveys and used the skills learned in critical course studies, such as that of the GIS, to improve the lives of those in the local community.

As part of the Environmental Planning and Development program, students identify a need in the community and work from the standpoint of project management, focusing on how community programs and offices work, how decisions are made and how students can impact those decisions for the good of the community.

As this particular program is considered for conversion into a Bachelor of Environmental Studies, an interdisciplinary focus is a key factor.

“We give students exposure as to how the world operates, from the programs and politics of the community, to the different types of programs that work together across disciplines,” says Dr. Delia Heck, Environmental Planning and Development Coordinator and Associate Professor of Environmental Sciences.

The Center for Community Engagement within the School of Social Science and Professional Studies assists students in working with community organizations on the challenges and problems faced by these organizations and their constituents.

These projects are creating internships and working with natural resources in the region. “If Ferrum is serious about

Shown here with the resolution from the Virginia General Assembly commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Water Quality Monitoring Program are, from left to right, Dr. Jason Powell, Associate Water Quality Program Director, Carol Love, Laboratory Coordinator, Dr. Delia Heck, Associate Water Quality Program Director, and Dr. Carolyn Thomas, Water Quality Program Director.

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

17

academics

sustainability, we cannot be an ivory tower; we need stronger community ties, not just promoting, but actually working together,” says Johnson. He notes that the traditional college approach to the surrounding community is often to take the stance that the college knows best for the community. Johnson believes one of the areas in which Ferrum is most successful is that Ferrum listens to the community as leaders suggest programs, projects and areas of need. “We work together with community leaders to identify our collective strengths and how we can best serve the community. We have been doing that for decades.”

Continuing the Tradition of Excellence

A

s one of the oldest environmental sciences programs in the country, experiential learning and a wealth of research opportunities are what a student choosing Ferrum College would expect.

Ferrum is one of the few colleges in the country to install a biomass boiler, which will burn wood to generate electricity and heat for the campus, and the site of the only permitted test research boiler in the state of Virginia. The leftover energy will eventually provide the heat for campus.

Beyond the function of the boiler, professors are hoping to design research projects that will involve students working at the research boiler, in collaboration with English Boiler personnel. Says Dr. Todd Fredericksen, “We must study how the burning of the wood for the boiler will affect the local forest and wildlife.”

The Forestry and Wildlife program is looking at this in several ways, including select harvesting of the local forest.

Removing poorly formed and less valuable species of trees improves the condition of the forest; this harvest wood is then used for the biomass boiler. Research is currently being conducted in conjunction with the Department of Environmental

Quality in Virginia to understand if there is any environmental impact.

Also this year, 28 participating students will construct a 20-by-20-foot building using straw bale, cob, cordwood or brick in the four different walls. Located near the biomass boiler, it will serve as a demonstration for green building techniques. Ferrum has a long history with agricultural programs, operating an 80-acre teaching farm and examining issues such as rainwater harvesting and rotational grazing.

It is clear to anyone examining the Environmental Sciences program at Ferrum College that the hallmark of the program is the idea of “over and above” the classroom experience. Whether it is bridging the gap between yearly courses and summer breaks with a required 400hour internship or providing international research opportunities for students, Ferrum maintains its longstanding tradition of excellence in this field.

Adopting sustainability not just as an idea or slogan, but in actual practice, offers students and the community a chance to learn as policies and procedures are put in place from the standpoint of examination and study. “The awareness of sustainability

18

is not just a departmental issue, but one that crosses curriculums and affects all aspects of the campus. Everyone can make good choices to positively impact the environment,” notes Dr. Delia Heck.

Collaboration among academic departments and campus operations provides the foundation for those new policies. Faculty members maintain involvement in many national and international networks offering research, travel and study opportunities for students.

Courses in essential areas such as geographic information systems, physical geography and natural resource management continue to provide the framework for successful careers in related fields. “We recruit students early on in the process for involved study in environmental science—it’s one of the things we do best here. When we identify a student with a high level of interest and engagement, we help them get experience early to develop their skill set and knowledge base,” says Fredericksen.

Through experiential learning, students completing this program are poised to take on professional roles in related fields. “The practical applications students learn are the basic skills sought by employers; to be able to discuss international projects in a job interview and actual work on a community project puts Ferrum students ahead of many of those competing for similar jobs,” says Dr. Glen Stevens.

Johnson sums it up well in saying, “Science isn’t enough, as we must think about economics, community development and social capital. The addition of new programs brings a broader look with an even stronger outreach from prepared students.”

Ferrum students after a workday on the College farm.

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

I Scuba trip to North Carolina.

academics

Ferrum Outdoors Geared Up & Ready for Adventure!

Ferrum students learning to sail on Smith Mountain Lake.

t’s easy to “go play outside” when the campus is surrounded by mountains, rivers and lakes. Events on the water this past semester included kayaking on the James River, a Family Weekend float trip, sailboat racing and cruising with the Virginia Inland Sailing Association on Smith Mountain Lake, plus Aquatrek Adventures instruction for SCUBA Open Water Certification­—a twoday trip to a quarry in North Carolina.

Back on land, the most popular choices for students are the nighttime High Ropes Course ending with a zip line ride through the trees in the dark or the new additions to the Rock Climbing Tower.

The Ferrum Outdoors Adventure Team is a new program designed to assist students who may wish to compete in a particular outdoor sport.

resources that let us recreate. This year, mixed in with all of the adventures were trail maintenance work, new marking of trails and the creation of a trail map.

(Made possible with GIS help from Dr. Delia Heck, Assistant Professor of Environmental Science, and the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.)

Ferrum Outdoors has new headquarters located next to the campus YMCA. Plans to expand include increasing the variety of programs offered plus the development of another trail system on campus. Everyone— students, faculty, staff and their families—is welcome to join in the year-round fun.

Ferrum students set up and hosted the campground area for the second year in a row at the “Go Outside Fest” put on by Roanoke Outside and Roanoke Parks and Recreation. This is a three-day interactive gathering of outdoor enthusiasts that celebrates and combines the most popular outdoor activities with demonstrations and performances by local musicians.

The Ferrum College Climbing Wall.

The great outdoors cannot be fully enjoyed without working to preserve the

Mapping the Ferrum College trails.

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

19

academics

For students able to travel outside the continental United States, a course is offered every two years in tropical and marine ecology in the Virgin Islands. Students spend three weeks working in the Virgin Islands National Park studying marine biology and ecology and learning from park rangers and members of the local community.

Students at the Connemara Heritage Center, in Clifden, County Galway, Ireland, learn about history through layers of peat.

E-Term Study Opportunities

T

ravel to study locations in Belize, Peru, Costa Rica, New Zealand and South Africa has been a part of Environmental Sciences, Spanish and other majors both past and present.

In alternating years, opportunities to travel to Ireland to study that unique habitat and its link to the natural historical culture of Ireland have been available.

A variety of unique opportunities present themselves depending on the focus of a particular faculty member.

One Environmental Sciences student worked at a tiger preserve in Mississippi and another traveled with Dr. Dave Johnson to China in 2012 as part of an internship in water quality.

20

In addition, the College also offers a group of courses called the Appalachian cluster, focusing on the integration of disciplines in a study of the modernization of Appalachia. Courses in English, sociology and science are taught as part of the cluster, with each student taking each course. “We look at the social, historical, cultural and environmental aspects of the region and how they intersect,” says Dr. Carolyn Thomas, one of the instructors in the cluster. The cluster is a very popular experience, offering projects, interaction with citizens and research opportunities. n

New Zealand Cultural Center.

On the steps at Belle Grove in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia—a stop on the Civil War Battlefield Tour.

Ferrum religion students in front of the London skyline.

Regionally, students work on wildlife management projects at Fairy Stone State Park and other sites near campus.

Biomass energy, experimental harvesting of the forest, the impact of prescribed burning, research on box turtles, frogs, toads, salamanders and flying squirrels, the restoration of a chestnut tree on campus and management plans for local landowners are among the many projects students and professors at Ferrum have worked on recently and will continue to work on in the near future.

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

academics

Ferrum Ecotourism Students Travel

North to Alaska

Backpacking into Davidson Glacier after kayaking for two days.

E

Cooling off while rafting in the Yukon Territory.

Sea kayaking on the Chilkat Inlet.

Lunch break on the Davidson Glacier.

cotourism is the business of sustainable travel to natural and

scenic destinations in every corner of the world. For Ferrum College students, this course of study supports environmental and cultural conservation while encouraging local economic development. Along with helping to create economic opportunities for local communities, an integral aspect is the promotion of recycling, energy efficiency and water conservation.

Sustainable travel is the fastest-growing segment in today’s tourism industry. Prime destinations include areas where plants, animals and cultural heritage are the main attractions, fostering a greater appreciation of our natural habitats.

In 2012, participants in the Ferrum College Ecotourism course spent two weeks experiencing the depth and complexity of cultural aspects of Alaska, including the Gold Rush era, Native American culture and the vast wilderness of the Alaska that is considered the last true wilderness of America.

Sites included in past courses include Costa Rica and New Zealand. Plans are now under way for a study of the culture and archeological sites in Peru and the Andes during 2013. For more information, you may contact Jasmine Goodnow, Assistant Professor of Recreation Leadership in the Ferrum College School of Social Sciences & Professional Studies. n

Exploring Davidson Glacier.

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

21

academics

Environmental Sciences Program Built with Student Success in Mind College, environmental science is not a new field, but rather one that has evolved over the last 40 years in response to the creation of agencies like the EPA and society’s interest in protecting our environment and resources.

During their Ferrum teaching careers, Joseph D. Stogner and his wife, Jane D. Stogner, were both recipients of the Hurt and Exemplary Professor awards for their excellence in teaching as well as being designated Ferrum College Faculty Emeriti. The Stogners, who came to Ferrum in 1971, he to begin the Environmental Sciences program and she to join the art faculty, have been married for 40 years and share a love of the arts and of teaching as well as an appreciation of our ecosystem and its sustainability.

E

nvironmental issues in the 21st-century represent enormous challenges to today’s colleges and universities: how are students best educated to tackle issues such as sustainability and energy efficiency and how are they best trained to make an immediate impact in the field of research and in the corporate world? At Ferrum

In 1971, Joe Stogner was a professor at Appalachian State University, when he was contacted several times by Ferrum College about a job opportunity. As he was not interested in coming to Ferrum, Virginia, he turned down the offers. One day, as Stogner was out on the Blue Ridge Parkway with students, a staff member tracked him down to alert him that he had an important visitor by the name of Dr. Joseph Hart waiting for him on campus. Not knowing anyone by that name, Stogner continued to teach class and only when he returned to campus much later did he meet Dr. Hart, the President of Ferrum College. After a long conversation, Hart convinced him to take a look at Ferrum; “the rest,” Stogner says, “is history.” At the time, President Hart was considered a forward thinker, planning to involve Ferrum in the national movement toward the environment and issues surrounding natural resources. Hart believed that if Ferrum added a department devoted to

Stogner’s Love of Natural Beauty Turns into Art After retiring from Ferrum College, Dr. Joe Stogner began to explore wood turning with the same passion and determination as he did in his teaching.

He had always been interested in the natural beauty of wood. The pastime gives him the opportunity to preserve heritage woods and make functional works of art from local forests. Most of his wood comes from old majestic fallen trees that are given new life.

22

Stogner has studied with nationally known wood turners but is primarily self-taught. His work can be seen at several prestigious galleries in Virginia and by appointment in his home workshop and gallery in Callaway. n Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

environmental sciences and supporting programs, it would complement and expand the curriculum.

Charged with the creation of this department, Stogner began contacting local agencies that could or would utilize someone with an education in the areas of environment science. Every person Stogner contacted seemed to stress that a practical science background was the most important ingredient. “They all said they needed scientists, not talkers or thinkers,” remembers Stogner. In the first few years of the program, Stogner developed the curriculum based on the needs of potential employers; the initial major included classes in chemistry, biology, mathematics and statistics. He hired faculty members with similar backgrounds and a degree in this major was soon approved. Once the program was developed, every class had a waiting list and the College needed to add additional faculty to handle the course load! Stogner called on a classmate from his grad school days, Sam Litton, and offered him a position. Shortly thereafter, others with PhDs in various related fields were added to create the strong foundation for the Environmental Sciences program.

1972 was the first year of course offerings, with a two-year associate degree; a 2+2 associate degree soon followed and those students reapplied to earn a bachelor’s degree. The final step was the creation of the current four-year bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science. n

Ten years ago—Ferrum Magazine Fall 2003 issue

academics

Looking Back…

T

his issue introduced the College’s new Forensics minor, which was developed to meet the growing demand and interest in this scientific field. Forensics students hone critical thinking skills by focusing on topics such as crime scene evidence analysis and processing, as well as forensic entomology. The popularity of the program continues to increase, with Dr. Katie Goff, professor of Biology, with current 47 students minoring in Forensics during the 2011– Ferrum students in the Forensics lab.

2012 academic year. Dr. David Nicholson, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, says, “This program helps to prepare students for actual evidence processing they may encounter in their job as a forensic investigator or crime scene processor. Students can only learn so much from textbooks and lectures; hands-on practical applications give them the knowledge needed to make their job more understandable.” n Alex DeTrana ’99

Ferrum alumni Alexander DeTrana ’99 and Barry Hughes ’80 were profiled in this issue, highlighting their degrees and careers in the environmental sciences.

After earning a bachelor’s in environmental science, DeTrana went on to earn a master’s in polymer science and engineering from the University of Southern Mississippi, and a master’s in business administration from the University of Tennessee. In this profile, DeTrana noted, “I have found that so many of the issues in business have an environmental impact.” Today, DeTrana works at Oak Ridge National Lab, a Department of Energy research facility, which is focused on research in material science, supercomputing and energy. Specifically, DeTrana works in the office of technology transfer, with responsibility for evaluating inventions to determine if patent protection is warranted, licensing technology for commercialization and negotiating and executing the license agreements.

As a “jack of all trades” in his current

position, DeTrana says his work at Ferrum was a vital part of developing the skills he needs today to quickly pick up new topics and evaluate technology. DeTrana fondly remembers the tight-knit Ferrum College community and the opportunities to participate in campus events or go on adventures with friends. “The growth that the College has experienced is encouraging, and I look forward to the next time I have the chance to visit!”

“Inspired” by a class taught by Dr. Carolyn Thomas, Barry Hughes ’80 decided on a career focused on conservation and earned his associate’s of applied science degree and a bachelor’s in environmental studies. At the time of publishing, he was a 21-year employee of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Division of Soil and Water, a job he secured because of the

aquatic experience he gained with Dr. Thomas. Retired from the state, Hughes now works with the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in marketing programs and assistance to new and minority farmers. From his hiring experience over the years, Hughes says Ferrum College Environmental Sciences program students are usually the most qualified applicants with the most practical knowledge. Hughes continues to keep in touch with professors, including visiting with Dr. Thomas and Dr. Pohlad when he gets to campus, canoeing with Sam and Joan Litton and talking with retired professor Joe Stogner. “The best part of a small school is the personal knowledge and the contacts you make.

I was lost at the larger school I attended after Ferrum,” he notes. n

Dr. David Johnson, professor of Chemistry and Environmental Science, was highlighted in this issue.

“An environmental scientist should produce reliable data and then take it one step more and get it into the public policy arena,” says Johnson in the 2003 article. Johnson’s belief was demonstrated at the time with his water quality monitoring projects. Soon after, he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to teach graduate and undergraduate environmental science at the Universities of Osh and Jalabad in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan in 2004.

Johnson continues to impact both the environment and Ferrum College as the Coordinator of the Center for Sustainable Development. See more about Dr. Johnson’s work at Ferrum in the feature section of this issue, highlighting the academic strides in the Environmental Sciences program. n Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

23

academics

C oll e g e Adds

Media and Communication Major

R

adio and television broadcasting, multimedia journalism, public relations, corporate communications and event coordination, voice recording, filmmaking, advertising, web page design—these are all career fields that will be open to Ferrum College students majoring in the new Media and Communication Program.

“The program has been designed to help students assimilate the knowledge, skills and production ethics that will enable them to create high-quality media-borne messages and advance their careers,” explained Karl Roeper, assistant professor of media studies. “The strength of this program is the one-on-one instruction students receive from their professors, as well as our focus on strong writing and message design skills,” he said.

A broad overview of the uses and effects of media and media’s role in society is central to the program. In addition to introductory classes, media majors will be able to study digital photography, documentary photography, computer graphics, voice and diction, web page design, public speaking, and TV programming and production. Students will have “hands on” or experiential learning opportunities like internships, practicum courses and club involvement, such as The Iron Blade (campus newspaper), The Chrysalis (the school’s art and literary magazine) and Ferrum Radio.

“The media landscape is changing quickly and we want to give our students a chance to be a part of those changes, and to be able to find meaningful work when they graduate,” said Ferrum College President Jennifer L. Braaten.

The curriculum incorporates a variety of topics to prepare students for a wide range of opportunities in communication, media Dr. Karl Roeper, Assistant production and related Professor of Media Studies. fields. Courses include subjects such as mass communications, documentary photography, communication research, online media, and mass media & behavior. Ferrum College began offering the media and communication minor in September 2012 and the major will begin for students in fall 2013. n

McColl Grateful for Ferrum Roots, Practical Education and Experience You may not recognize his face or name, but many of us have heard the voice of Mike McColl ’93.

F

or 11 football seasons and counting, he has been the voice of The NFL on FOX (the one that tells you whom your team is playing and who sponsored the day’s games). For the past decade, up until last year, it was his voice we heard on E! Entertainment television. And, if you’ve paid attention to ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, CW’s Gossip Girl or CBS game shows The Price Is Right and Let’s Make a Deal, you may have heard him there as well.

24

Add to this hundreds of movie trailers for the FX network, documentaries and series narration for the Discovery Channel and the National Geographic Channel, and that spells a remarkable career in voice acting.

Where McColl is today seems like a logical fit for someone who grew up around theatre and music. “I always led with my voice,” he said. “I was always performing as a kid.”

But just how does a student at a small, East coast, liberal arts college become a West coast, freelance voice actor? By starting at a place like Ferrum.

“I took full advantage of the small school environment and delved into many different areas of interest,” said McColl, who majored in English and minored in photography/journalism. “Ferrum allowed me to explore it all and I will always be grateful for this,” he said.

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

Mike McColl ’93 shown here with his wife, Gwyn, and their two daughters.

Farewell Sendoff to Professor Sasha Saari

From the home he shares with his wife and two young daughters in Studio City, California, McColl talked about the people at Ferrum who guided him through college and helped kick-start his career: He grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina, but was living in Patrick County, Virginia, for his senior year in high school when friend and Alumni Board of Director emeritus Bruce Griffith ’66 drove him the short distance over to Ferrum for a campus visit.

Soon, McColl found himself in the care of another helpful Patrick County resident, Ferrum Registrar Margaret Clark. “She helped me pick classes right at her kitchen table and gave me rides to and from home,” said McColl. Lana Whited, professor of English and Director of the Boone Honors Program, “realized I had interests beyond teaching or working for a newspaper so she encouraged me to also earn a certificate in communications.”

“I thought about transferring after two years, but had established so many relationships, I just knew I needed to stay,” McColl said. There were professors who “gave me hugely valuable advice and confidence.” In addition to those already mentioned, McColl credits others for helping steer the course of his life, including Wayne Bowman, Theatre Arts professor, Gina Evans Scudder, music professor, as well as Peter Crow, Katherine Grimes and Marcia Horn, all professors of English.

All of this led to his first job after college as Manager of a small AM radio station and local cable channel in Stuart, Virginia. While there, he secured a talent agent in Charlotte, North Carolina, and “started schlepping down there for on-camera auditions.” In early 1996, he used his tax return to fly to LA to audition for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where he was accepted and began classes in the fall. “Moving to a large city from such a small place was quite a shock, but I was ready because of the great training and practical education and experience I had gained at Ferrum and in my radio work,” he said.

Armed in 1998 with an associate degree in acting from AADA, “I hit the streets of LA trying to find work in TV, film, theater and voice-over. After some luck in all areas, I got a big break when I was chosen to voice the movie trailer for Love and Basketball, a film produced by Spike Lee in 2000.”

Then he landed a contract in 2002 as the voice of E! Entertainment television and The NFL on FOX. “I officially put my pursuit of on-camera work on the back burner to focus on making a living with my voice,” he explained.

These days, McColl works from his own home studio and is continually sought out by producers for a wide variety of voice-over assignments. He and his wife serve on the board of directors for Circle X Theater Company, where they occasionally perform on stage. McColl is also a board member for a not-for-profit organization called Random Acts that aids those in need in Haiti and other places. Along with two partners, he owns Dogwood Cellars, a boutique winery producing award-winning, handcrafted wines in Sonoma County, California, and he finds time to do some sailing, play tennis and get out on the soccer field.

“I grew up in a small area and went to a small school but I never ‘thought small,’” said McColl. His advice to students today is very similar to the remarks he shared when selected by classmates to speak at the Ferrum College 1993 commencement: “In college, you are in training to pursue your dreams. Envision, dream big and go for it.”

academics

In the College’s theater program, he performed lead roles in Two by Two and Little Shop of Horrors and had a supporting role in The Diary of Anne Frank. He was a member of the choir and the special ensemble “The Ferrum Edition,” served as features editor of the student newspaper, The Iron Blade, and in some years played on the school’s soccer, golf and tennis teams.

Professor Sasha Saari surrounded by current Ferrum College international students.

P

resident Jennifer Braaten and Board of Trustees member S. Kelly Herrick ’84 hosted a well-attended Homecoming reception at Stratton House honoring Professor Sasha Saari’s 35 years of contributions to Ferrum College. Saari served as Associate Professor of Russian and the Director of International Programs in the School of Arts and Humanities.

Last year Saari was named the best teacher in the region by readers of the Roanoker magazine.

Before her position at Ferrum College, Saari served for two years in Kenya in the Peace Corps, worked for the government in the U.S. Information Agency in the former Soviet Union and was a Russian language announcer for the Voice of America.

Says Herrick, “In my professional life as an educator, Sasha is my role model. She made the Russian language come alive through her passion and love for all things Russian, especially stories and song—30 years later most of her students still can recite a Russian poem and sing a verse or two of a Russian folk song.”

If you would like to honor her service to the College and to her students, you may make a gift to the Sasha Saari Endowed Scholarship for the Humanities by contacting Kim Blair at 540-365-4210 or kblair@ferrum.edu. n You may also contribute online at http://www.ferrum.edu/giving_to_ferrum.aspx See more reception photos here: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjCtZznh

Mike McColl will speak as the Ferrum College Executive in Residence on April 10, 2013. n

25 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

academics

Freshman Scholars Experience

Exclusive Opportunities

T

he Freshman Scholars program at Ferrum College is focused on providing students with the rare undergraduate opportunity to partner with a professor on a scholarly research project before the start of their first official semester on campus—earning two college credits and a transformational life-long experience with a faculty mentor and like-minded peers.

Interaction between students and faculty is an integral part of the Ferrum College Freshman Scholars experience. The program provides students early exposure and access to personal interaction with faculty, college-level academic and social activities, and the chance to live on campus with a diverse group of classmates.

Personal interaction between students and faculty is part of what sets Ferrum College apart from its peers. Most undergraduate students do not have the opportunity for mentoring on a chosen project of interest until graduate school. At Ferrum, students can begin this type of experience before their freshman year. n

Achieve Your Goals through Ferrum College Online Courses

F

errum College is offering an exciting, new program of online degree completion for those whose goal is to complete their four-year liberal arts degree for personal satisfaction and job promotions, or are seeking a new career.

26

The College will begin this innovative program with our exclusive Criminal Justice/Administration degree program.

Other criminal justice programs do not offer this particular program content as we focus on not only the requirements for criminal justice but also the business administration and psychology needs of criminal justice professionals.

The College plans to begin this opportunity in the fall of 2013 as part of our Centennial Celebration and our continuing efforts to offer the best educational opportunities for everyone.

We will expand our offerings with other degree completion programs with business administration and other programs in high demand for our economy and students.

Please contact Dr. William Osborne, Program Coordinator, for more information, at wosborne@ferrum.edu or 540-365-4283. n

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

A

s the interim Chief Academic Officer, Gail L. Summer will serve Ferrum College with direct oversight of the three school Deans (Arts & Humanities, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Social Sciences & Professional Studies), the Dean of Academic Planning and Programs, the Directors of the Academic Resource Center, the Library, the Honors Program, Institutional Effectiveness and the Registrar.

Summer came to Ferrum College in 2008 from Lenoir-Rhyne College to perform the duties of Dean of Academic Planning and Programs. Along with public school teaching experience, she is a tenured full professor with over 25 years of experience in higher education. She holds a B.S. from Indiana University, M.Ed. from the University of South Carolina and an Ed.D. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Also find us at: twitter.com/FerrumCollege

Use the smartphone code to view the Ferrum online social media page, including Flickr photos, YouTube videos and the official campus Facebook page.

ferrumcollege.blogspot.com facebook.com/FerrumCollege youtube.com/FerrumCollegePR flickr.com/photos/ferrumcollege

Visit us online at www. ferrum.edu

New Faculty Dr. Taiwo Ajani Visiting Assistant Professor of Computer Information Systems BS, University of Ibadan MS, University of South Florida PhD, Robert Morris University

academics

Faculty Changes

Summer Appointed Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs

Dr. Angie L. Dahl Assistant Professor of Psychology BA, Concordia College MA, Luther Seminary MS and PhD, Utah State University Dr. David F. Nicholson Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice BA, MA (Sociology), MS (Criminal Justice), North Carolina Central University PhD, University of Oklahoma Dr. Carlos M. Nicolas Assistant Professor of Mathematics BS, Simon Bolivar University MS, Polytechnical University of Madrid, Spain PhD, University of Kentucky Dr. Brandi K. Porter Director of the Stanley Library and Associate Professor of Library Science BA, George Mason University MS, University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign PhD, NOVA Southeastern University Mr. Nathan Schrenk Instructor of Mathematics BA, University of Wyoming MAT, Texas Christian University MS, University of Florida EdD (In progress at Liberty University) Dr. J. Carroll Smith Director of the Teacher Education Program and Associate Professor of Teacher Education BS and MS, East Carolina University PhD, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

New ACADEMIC STAFF Dr. Ronda M. Bryant Director of the Learning Opportunities Program BA and MAEd, Wake Forest University PhD, University of Virginia Ms. Alexia Falkner Office Manager, ARC AS, Daytona Beach Community College BS, Florida Atlantic University Ms. Kathy Fletcher Academic Secretary, School of Social Sciences and Professional Studies Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

27

Lambert Exercise Science Laboratory Dedicated in Honor of Former Provost

academics

D

r. Leslie T. Lambert has served Ferrum College faculty and students first as Vice President for Academic Affairs & Dean of the College and then as Provost & Executive Dr. Lambert Vice President from August 2004 through December 2012. In an expression of gratitude for her dedication and support of the Health and Human Performance program, the recently completed Exercise Science Laboratory was dedicated in her honor. Dr. Lambert has a doctorate in exercise physiology and understands the importance of lab experience in this area of study.

The Lambert Laboratory is a fully functioning fitness assessment lab designed for the scientific study of human movement and physical fitness. Not only will it provide students with experiential learning but it will also give students and faculty the tools to fulfill HHP’s mission to improve total wellness campus wide.

The lab allows students the opportunity for hands-on learning in the fields of biomechanics, exercise physiology, sport psychology, cardiac rehabilitation, athletic training and fitness for special populations. By exposing students to fitness assessment equipment like metabolic measuring carts, weight training and flexibility equipment, cycle ergometers, heart rate monitors,

Exercise Science students cutting the ribbon on the new laboratory.

blood pressure monitoring equipment and lactate analyzers, students will gain real-world experience similar to actual work settings. The ability to work in this environment will improve student understanding in the areas of health and fitness as well as enhance student involvement in the physical fitness assessment process. n

Ferrum College Offers Younger Students a Variety of Summer Camp Experiences

T

his summer, Ferrum College will offer younger students the opportunity to experience campus life while participating in a variety of fun activities during two distinctly different co-ed residential camps—the Ferrum College Summer Enrichment Camp and the Ferrum College Adventure Camp.

Both camp programs will be offered July 14–20 and July 21–27, 2013.

28

Entering its 24th year, the Summer Enrichment Camp offers a daily program to academically motivated students (currently enrolled in grades 4–7, rising grades 5–8) that is balanced with a variety of social and recreational activities designed to promote personal growth, team-building and an appreciation of individual differences and abilities. The camp motto is reinforced daily in a variety of ways with an “I CAN DO IT” attitude. The 2013 class schedule will include Adobe Photoshop, And the Grammy Goes To, Chess, Cooking 101, Engineering, Explore the World of Radio, Geo Tech, Hogwarts Academy I O.W.L., Hogwarts Academy II N.E.W.T., Is It Easy Being

Green?, Living 1800 Style, Movie Making “Family Style,” and The Ferrum Challenge.

The Ferrum College Adventure Camp offers students (currently enrolled in grades 8–9, rising grades 9–10) a unique opportunity to learn more about themselves through dynamic experiences in the natural world. Scheduled activities

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

include hiking, camping, ropes course, climbing tower, canoeing and/or kayaking. This program is designed to strengthen self-confidence, leadership, teamwork and wilderness skills.

For additional information about either camp, contact Chip Phillips at 888-5087822 or cphillips@ferrum.edu, or visit www.ferrum.edu/fcsec. n

Philanthropy

PHILANTHROPY pg.30

pg. 34

pg. 32

pg. 32

pg. 36

pg. 38

Ferrum Celebrates Completion of New Science Wing.......................... 30 Franklin Co. Family YMCA Opens on Campus .................................... 32 Adams Stadium Press Box and Athletic Media Center......................... 32 Gift of Model T Ford Harkens Back to Beckham.................................. 33 Health Sciences and Pre-Professional Science Endowment................. 33 DeHart Botanical Gardens Provide Rare Opportunity for Students..... 34 Butz Foundation Awards $5,000 to Accessibility Lab.......................... 36 VCF Presents Grant to Ferrum College................................................. 36 Beattys Contribute $1 Million to the Free Clinic of Franklin Co........... 37 Clements Establishes Family Scholarship............................................. 37 Students Living the College Motto...................................................... 38 29 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

Philanthropy

Ferrum College Celebrates the

Completion of New Science Wing

History of Garber Hall In 1963, during the 50th anniversary of Ferrum College, construction began on Garber Hall. The new science building was underwritten with a gift from the Fund for Christian Higher Education of the Virginia Annual Conference and was named in honor of Bishop Paul N. Garber, who contributed generously to the Fund as well as to Ferrum College. The facility provided the campus with classrooms for chemistry, biology, physics, engineering and mathematics, plus laboratories, faculty offices, an auditorium and a student lounge.

30 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

Philanthropy Dr. Bob Pohlad instructs a student on Garber Hall's new scanning electron microscope.

Funding sources include the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission (TIC) and the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation.

F

errum College students arriving on campus for the new semester were welcomed by a dramatic addition to Garber Hall, home to the College’s School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. The three-story space was dedicated at a celebration recognizing the generosity of the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission and additional support from the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation.

Langseth Engineering of Lynchburg and Price Building, Inc., of Rocky Mount were among area firms involved with the project. The addition also includes a demonstration “green roof” on a walk-out portion of the second floor. Horticulture

students will have the opportunity to cultivate plants and trays for use on the roof, and environmental science students will be able to see firsthand the application of green building techniques.

“Ferrum’s commitment to the sciences is long-standing and we are extremely thankful to the Tobacco Commission and the Cargill Foundation,” said President Jennifer Braaten. “Our students and faculty now have the opportunity to work, learn and study in new and renovated laboratory and classroom space using state-of-the-art technology and equipment.” She continued, “Over the last few years, we have made other significant improvements and acquired additional equipment for Garber in continuing

recognition of the national emphasis on the STEM fields—science, technology, engineering and math. This new wing is the capstone of these efforts.”

Jason Powell, Dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, stated, “The new and renovated spaces and new equipment dramatically increase our capacity to offer state-of-the-art laboratory instruction for upper-level science courses. These improvements allow us to increase the quality of experiential education that we are committed to providing our students in the Ferrum College School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.” n

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

31

Philanthropy

partnership benefits not only Ferrum students, faculty and staff, but also the entire community.”

The Ferrum YMCA offers state-of-theart exercise equipment and a variety of classes and programs as well as indoor racquetball courts and full-size basketball courts, and access to the College’s heated swimming pool and outdoor tennis courts. Memberships are available to the College community as well as the general public.

New Franklin County Family YMCA Opens on Campus The newest branch of the Franklin County Family YMCA opened on the Ferrum College campus in a 20,000-square-foot facility located in the College’s newly expanded Fitness Center on Wiley Drive.

Largely funded by a $400,000 Healthcare and Other Facilities grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the expansion added about 3,900 square feet to the existing facility, which was re-configured to maximize usage.

An exercise class studio, locker rooms

and more room for fitness equipment are among the improvements.

“The Ferrum YMCA is proud to serve the southwest end of Franklin County with our new location and to help each of our members improve and maintain their body, mind and spirit,” said Chris Rill, the Franklin County Family YMCA Branch Director at Ferrum College. n

“We are thrilled to welcome the YMCA to the Ferrum College campus. The missions of both the Y and the College share a focus on health and well-being grounded in a strong faith base,” said Ferrum College President Dr. Jennifer L. Braaten. “This ‘town and gown’ Shown at left: Artist’s conceptual drawing of the proposed Press Box

The Ferrum College W.B. Adams Stadium Press Box and Athletic Media Center

Coming Soon!

32

Ferrum athletics bring a strong sense of pride and school spirit to the campus.

We hope to break ground on this vital component in the spring of 2013!

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

Completion of the Ferrum College W.B. Adams Stadium Press Box will complement the new Hank Norton Center and the renovations to the ballfield site. You can help by participating in this exciting project, which will further expand the opportunities offered to Panther athletes, increase publicity of the College’s Division III sports and continue the economic influence that Ferrum College has in the surrounding community.

BE FERRUM PROUD! MAKE YOUR GIFT TO THE FERRUM COLLEGE PRESS BOX! Contact the Office of Institutional Advancement at 540-365-4211 or advancement@ferrum.edu. n

Celebrating aCentury!

Philanthropy

The Ferrum College Centennial Campaign

Health Sciences and Pre-Professional Science Endowment

In New Castle to take delivery of the donated Model T are, from left to right: Associate Director of the BRI Vaughan Webb, Director of the BRI Roddy Moore, VP for Institutional Advancement Kim Blair, Lanier Frantz, Thecla Frantz and President Jennifer Braaten.

Gift of Model T Ford Harkens Back to Beckham

L

anier and Theckla Frantz of Craig County, New Castle, Virginia, recently donated a 1920s Model T Ford to Ferrum College to be used as part of the upcoming Centennial exhibit in the Blue Ridge Institute. The historical significance of this gift harkens back to the first President of the Ferrum Training School, Dr. Benjamin Beckham, and his ownership of a similar model.

Not long after the school was founded, Dr. Beckham and a photographer drove around the Ferrum service area in a Model T taking glass lantern slides of life in the region and the Ferrum system satellite schools. The slides, which are in the BRI collection, were used by Dr. Beckham to raise money for the fledgling school. BRI’s Model T and many of Dr. Beckham’s images will be in next fall’s Centennial exhibition. n

In recent years, over two dozen Ferrum College graduates have been accepted into post-graduate health profession programs!

Since Ferrum’s Health Sciences and Pre-Professional Science major was established in 2005, the number of students in pursuit of a career in healthcare has grown ten-fold. Your gift to the Ferrum College Health Sciences and Pre-Professional Science Endowment will support and encourage even more young men and women who desire to enter this burgeoning field!

Your donation will help generate more qualified healthcare professionals in multiple and wideranging ways. For example, your gift to this endowment will help defray a minimum of half of the cost of a Kaplan Test Preparation Course for qualified students. Depending upon their test scores, students may also be eligible to receive reimbursement for the remaining balance. The test preparation course is vital for students and assists them in their goal of achieving the entrance exam scores required for graduate school admission.

Students will be motivated to score higher both for the monetary enticement, and because they will have a better chance to be admitted into the professional program of their choice. The greater number of Ferrum students who attain their career goals raises the status of a Ferrum education in the eyes of future Ferrum applicants since they realize they can also achieve success at Ferrum!

Our communities are the ultimate beneficiaries of your generosity. Because your gifts to the Health Sciences and Pre-Professional Science Endowment enabled the College to provide them with such strong support in their educational endeavors, many graduates who would not otherwise have had an opportunity that would lead to graduate school will decide to remain in this region to “give back” and serve the growing healthcare needs of our area’s population.

If you are interested in supporting this or any other priority of the Ferrum College Centennial Campaign, please contact the Institutional Advancement office at 540-365-4211 or kblair@ferrum.edu.

33

Dr. Benjamin Beckham on campus in his Model T Ford.

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

Philanthropy

Gift of DeHart Botanical Gardens to Ferrum College Provides Rare Opportunity for Students

Gift extends the College’s footprint from the Blue Ridge Mountains to Smith Mountain Lake.

No one can dispute the fact that Allen DeHart ’54

Allen DeHart ’54 and George Seals, Director of Planned & Principal Gifts, on-site at the DeHart Botanical Gardens.

34

But the Mountains to Sea Trail is only one of the passions in DeHart’s life. “I have had a lifetime dream of preserving a natural area of the county in which I was born,” says DeHart in a piece about the history of the DeHart Botanical Gardens. A project DeHart has literally been working on since boyhood, he has now made a gift of the gardens to Ferrum College, his alma mater.

The DeHart Botanical Gardens in Patrick County spans 175 acres, nearly all of which was originally owned by DeHart’s family at one time or another, and with views of Rocky Knob, Hanging Rock and Pilot Mountain, as well as the infamous sights seen from Lover’s Leap, just off Route 58. The breathtaking property includes a hiking trail, historic pioneer cabin, more

is a lover of nature and is an expert on hiking trails in Virginia and North Carolina, and perhaps even in West Virginia, Georgia and Florida. He has published numerous books on the many trails in these states, won several awards for his work in both the college community and in service to Franklin County, and developed projects to cultivate additional trails in these states. Among his most famous projects is the development of the Mountains to Sea Trail, which stretches almost 1,000 miles across North Carolina, from Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains to Jockey’s Ridge on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. DeHart is the founder and a chief trail designer of the Friends of the Mountains to Sea Trail; he is responsible for a significant portion of the initial funding, volunteer recruitment, development and supervision of work on the trail. than 500 species of plants and more than 150 species of wildlife.

DeHart’s history with Ferrum College dates back to his days as a student, where he enjoyed journalism and history courses, drew cartoons for the campus newspaper, created artwork for the yearbook, participated in drama activities and settled into what he calls “an incredibly important time in my life.” He remembers one day, toward the end of classes, when he drifted off to sleep in class. He awoke to find that the professor had silently dismissed class and patiently waited for DeHart to awaken. He was certainly embarrassed, but his professor said, “You can sleep in my class anytime you want because you

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

always make an A.” DeHart says this is the perfect example of the caring atmosphere he found at Ferrum. DeHart was not a typical college student; he got involved and took advantage of the opportunities offered him. “Ferrum was the only college that was willing to give me college credit for my military service and the classes I had taken while stationed overseas. That meant a great deal to me,” says DeHart. “I have always been proud of attending Ferrum, but I haven’t been able to financially support the College through the years. This gift is a perfect opportunity to preserve something important to me and thank Ferrum for being an important part of my life,” he says. DeHart also feels that a gift of this magnitude will elevate his alma

Philanthropy mater in the public eye, saying, “this is an eternal gift that other benefactors will see and will bring attention and opportunity to Ferrum.”

DeHart believes that to think of nature “just as nature isn’t actually seeing anything or getting to know it. A photo is a dead image, but the living flora is something you can touch and appreciate.

This property is something that cannot be put into a library and looked at on a shelf.” DeHart hopes that this gift of land will assist the College in securing a strong future: “an eternal gift speaks volumes about the strength of the institution and the dedication of her alumni.” He feels this gift offers the opportunity to study plants and wildlife that may be new and those that are disappearing, as well as to examine locations where no one has influenced the land. He refers to this place as “an adventure in recreation” and a “biological history book that will be here long after those of us who are talking about it now are gone.” The three-mile trail is the perfect road to follow in examining all that this property has to offer, and needs only minimal maintenance each year.

DeHart has always wished that this land never be developed for any residential or commercial purposes; he wants the pristine beauty to remain undisturbed.

“I believe there are people in this area who would support Ferrum College in a number of ways if there was something like this preserve and hiking trail to visit,” says DeHart. He also wants to remain involved in the preservation and maintenance of the preserve as long as he can: “I’d like to continue to give tours and introduce professors and students to secrets of this

land,” he says, speaking of the preserve as one would speak of a person. He goes on to say, “I want students to learn some of these secrets—make this a textbook to the reality of touching and smelling those things we most often only read about.”

This vision fits perfectly with the practice of Ferrum College Environmental Sciences students who study as much outside the classroom as they do inside.

The College plans to use the Preserve as a type of outdoor laboratory for the Center for Sustainability, the Forestry, Horticulture and Agriculture Programs, as well as the Ferrum Outdoors Program.

One of the oldest academic programs of its kind in the United States, the Ferrum College Environmental Science program emphasizes experiential learning and provides students with state-of-the-art training so they may approach environmental problems holistically. The gift of the DeHart Botanical Gardens extends the College’s footprint from the Blue Ridge Mountains to Smith Mountain Lake, where the Smith Mountain Lake Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring Program has been operated by Ferrum College professors and students since 1987.

“We are thankful to Professor DeHart for his lifelong devotion to preservation, his boundless love of nature and his desire to

“ This gift is a perfect opportunity to preserve something important to me and thank Ferrum for being an important part of my life.”

– Allen DeHart share with generations to come the wealth of knowledge waiting to be studied in the DeHart Botanical Gardens,” said Dr. Braaten, President of the College.

DeHart sums up his love of this property and his lifelong desire to create a Preserve that can be enjoyed by everyone in saying that he hopes visitors and students “open the invitation to see the secrets and mysteries of this property and see and smell firsthand the flowers and wonders of nature.” n

DeHart to Receive 2013 Beckham Medallion Allen DeHart ’54 will receive the Ferrum College Beckham Medallion, the College’s highest alumni honor, during Commencement services on Saturday, May 4, 2013. He is to be honored for his exceptional career achievements, his service to his community and his lifetime example of living the College motto, “Not Self, But Others.”

35 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

Philanthropy

Butz Foundation Awards $5,000 to Ferrum Accessibility Lab

F

errum College’s Office of Academic Accessibility recently received a gift of $5,000 from the Butz Foundation to assist students who have documented reading and writing disorders. The funds will underwrite the iPad Education Applications Initiative and not only supply iPad technology to students but will also aid students with documented disabilities to learn to identify and use cutting-edge technology tools and digital applications that will enhance their academic success.

There are hundreds of apps available for iPad users with a need for alternative access to the printed word.

Examples include software that allows students to type notes anywhere on the screen, highlight, annotate imported PDF files, add audio recordings to notes, share screens on a web browser, convert handwritten notes (written on the touch screen) to typed text, help to create study guides, and create voice-recorded flashcard systems for auditory or auditory/visual learners.

The Butz Foundation gift will help deliver these technological aids to Ferrum students and will be used to equalize access to learning for all students. n

The Virginia College Fund Presents $152,201 Grant to Ferrum College Shown at the Virginia College Fund (VCF) check presentation at the Hunting Hills Country Club in Roanoke, Virginia, are (from left to right) Roy Bucher, President of Charles Lunsford & Sons, Member of the VCF Board, Kim Blair, Vice President for Institutional Advancement for Ferrum College, and Carthan Currin ’84, former VCF board member.

About The Virginia College Fund: Started in 1965, the VCF, a non-profit 501c3 corporation, was founded to help support the five member schools and the students who attend. The five schools include Averett University in Danville, Virginia; Bluefield College in Bluefield, Virginia; Ferrum College in Ferrum, Virginia; Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg; Virginia and Virginia Intermont College in Bristol, Virginia.

36

A

t its annual meeting last summer, the Virginia College Fund (VCF) distributed grants to five member schools, including Ferrum College, which received $152,201 for general support and student aid. The VCF has been a significant contributor to the College over the past 47 years, making a college education more attainable for Ferrum students and their families.

The VCF schools serve a unique demographic. Seventy-five percent of attendees are Virginia residents, 30% are minorities, 30% are among the first generation in their families to attend college, and 49% come from low- to moderate-income households. The majority of the funds raised go toward offsetting the cost of tuition to help make a private college education more affordable. For many students, such help is their only option for higher education. During its history, the VCF has raised over $18,000,000 for its member schools and students. Three quarters of the funds raised are divided equally among the five schools, and the remaining amount is divided based on full-time enrollment. n

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

T

he community partnership between Ferrum College and Franklin County is now stronger than ever thanks to a $1 million gift to the Free Clinic of Franklin County from philanthropist Guy E. Beatty and his wife, Betty. Beatty, a friend of Ferrum College President Jennifer Braaten, is founder and Chair of The Beatty Companies, headquartered in Northern Virginia.

In the true fashion of the Ferrum College motto, “Not Self, But Others,” Dr. Braaten noted that the extraordinary generosity of Guy and Betty Beatty will be transformative for the residents of Franklin County. Beatty is a supporter of Ferrum College and benefactor to the Virginia College Fund, of which Ferrum is a founding member. He and Dr. Braaten have been in conversation for the last five years regarding the possibility of bringing a clinic to the area. “Our community will benefit for years to come through Guy’s desire to share his blessings with us,” said Braaten. “It is a great privilege for me to have worked with him to secure this tremendous gift for those in need of quality healthcare in Franklin County.”

As a successful entrepreneur, Beatty has personally been responsible for the development of 40 companies in fields that include real estate development, music and entertainment. Beatty’s

charitable intentions are manifested in various rural communities within the United States as well as in Africa, Costa Rica and other locales around the world.

His vision is to provide access to quality healthcare to those who have little or no access to such services. It is his belief that the care should be provided in the context of an attractive environment and in a setting that reflects compassion, service and quality.

The Free Clinic, a 501c3 organization established in 1992 in one room of the STEP Building in Rocky Mount, will use the funds to build a new 7,100-square-foot facility to expand healthcare services for residents of Franklin County. The Clinic has begun preliminary discussions with Mod-U-Kraf, a modular housing company located in Rocky Mount, Virginia, for the design of the facility. Ferrum College’s two newest residence halls, Clark Hall and Dyer Hall, were constructed by Mod-U-Kraf.

Since the Clinic’s inception it has grown into a full-time operation supported by a small core of employees and a large number of volunteers. The Free Clinic receives no federal funds, nor does it charge for services. Through partnerships with the Virginia Association of Free Clinics, Rx Partnership Foundation, Virginia Health Care Foundation, United Way, Carilion, local churches and other agencies, the clinic is able to offer quality healthcare at a substantially reduced cost.

The Clinic relies heavily on volunteer physicians and community donations to provide its services. In 2012, the Free Clinic of Franklin County assisted over 2,200 patients.

Philanthropy

Guy and Betty Beatty Contribute $1 Million for the Free Clinic of Franklin County

When notified of the gift, Lois Macdonald, Executive Director of the Free Clinic, stated, “Franklin County has one of Virginia’s highest uninsured populations (18.5%­—more than 10,800 people). Through the generosity of Guy and Betty Beatty, the expansion of our clinic will allow the center to accommodate at least 5,000 patients each year. We are grateful for the support of the community and especially for the assistance of Dr. Braaten, whose intercession was vital in the completion of this partnership to expand primary care services in Franklin County.” n

Clements Establishes Family Scholarship “Ferrum was just the right place for me when I was looking for direction in life,” says J. Peter Clements ’77. “With the College’s strong emphasis on community involvement and leadership, I was allowed to really develop those attributes. By establishing this scholarship fund, we will be able to help others from Southside Virginia have a chance to experience the sense of community and family that really sets Ferrum apart.”

The Clements Family Endowed Scholarship will support Ferrum College students with financial aid and be awarded to students from Southside Virginia localities who have achieved at least a 2.5 GPA.

Peter Clements ’77

Clements is a current member of the Ferrum College Board of Trustees and President and CEO of The Bank of Southside Virginia. He is a member of both the Ruth and Arthur Societies at Ferrum College, has served on the Board of William & Mary, and is a member of The United Methodist Church. n 37 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

Philanthropy

students Living the College Motto Ferrum Students are involved in a variety of community service projects and fundraising efforts for many non-profit organizations. The pictures shown here depict just how the entire Ferrum family lives the motto!

“Not Self, But Others”

College Kicks Off Centennial Celebration Packing 100,000+ Lunches for 100 Years!

Six hundred Ferrum College freshman students along with campus and community members participated in the Stop Hunger Now event. Working together, they packaged 108,000 meals for the hungry while celebrating the opening weekend of the 2012–2013 school year and the beginning of the Centennial year.

Relay for Life Every year, the Ferrum community gathers on behalf of the fight to cure cancer through Relay for Life benefitting the American Cancer Society. The most recent effort had 399 participants and 34 teams who raised $14,006. Various clubs and organizations hosted games and the night was filled with music, food and raffles to support those who walked for the cause.

“Carvin’ Out” Cystic Fibrosis Sisters in the Gamma Mu Chapter of Delta Phi Epsilon celebrated the fall season with a pumpkin-carving fundraiser for The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

The sorority is the first national Greek letter society on campus and was colonized from the once local sorority Zeta Theta Epsilon. Dedicated to supporting the mission to develop in women a social consciousness and a commitment to think and act for the greater good, Ferrum’s Gamma Mu Chapter is involved in many philanthropic projects that support a variety of organizations, including those that fight eating disorders, breast cancer, diabetes, hunger and cystic fibrosis.

38 38 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

Philanthropy

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes Three hundred Ferrum men and women participated in the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® fundraiser last fall on the College campus in support of ending dating violence.

Created by Frank Baird in 2001, Walk a Mile in Her Shoes® has become a worldwide movement with tens of thousands of men raising millions of dollars for local rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters and other sexual violence education, prevention and remediation programs.

Family Day Panther Scamper

Lambda Sigma at the Southern Virginia Child Advocacy Center Ferrum played host to the Lambda Sigma President’s Conference with more than 50 student presidents and board members from 40 chapters around the United States attending the event. In keeping with Lambda Sigma’s national emphasis on children and at-risk youth, conference attendees worked on a service project at the SVCAC painting children’s murals and planting flowers.

The popular Panther Scamper 5K run/ one-mile walk was held during the Ferrum College Family Day Festival with proceeds benefitting organizations that help to feed the hungry. Contributions of non-perishable food were donated to the Saint James United Methodist Church food bank, while cash proceeds went to the Panther Packs program providing weekend meals for children attending Ferrum Elementary School.

39 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

on campus

The Ferrum Campus­— A Living Laboratory for Students Walk across Ferrum College campus and you can’t help but soak in the mountain scenery. You might notice the ducks and geese pitching into Adams Lake, or the everimproving array of buildings including the new YMCA, the expanded Garber Hall or the Hank Norton Athletic Center, now in its first season of hosting the College’s outstanding Division III athletic programs. But there’s something you might not notice­—at least not at first.

Glen Stevens ’97 and Jessica Colla ’14.

I

ncreasingly the College campus has become a living laboratory, a place where students, faculty and staff have come together to practice what we teach—sustainability.

“It’s been hard, but it’s really catching on,” said Sustainability Coordinator Chekka Lash. “After four years of working toward this goal it’s really happening. Students are excited about our efforts and we really have momentum.”

For the third time, sustainability is the annual campus theme; this year titled More for Less, for All. (See sidebar, pg. 42.)

The theme was first used during the 2006–2007 academic year when the very word sustainability was just creeping into the lexicon of the typical college student or professor. Arguably, few people other than dedicated environmentalists or social architects had any idea what it meant or why it was important. These days, it’s becoming a part of the daily campus routine.

ON Campus

“We have created partnerships between the faculty, staff and students to make Ferrum a better place in so many ways,” said Glen Stevens, Assistant Professor of Environmental Science and Biology.

“Without the support of the people at buildings and grounds and food services, we wouldn’t be able to do as much as we have done.”

And they’ve done a lot. Extra food from the cafeteria is now being composted.

Paper and cardboard are being recycled.

Ferrum Campus—Living Laboratory for Students....................... 40

Campus Theme: More for Less, for All..................................42

96th Annual Commencement...................................................... 44 pg. 41

pg. 44

pg. 46

pg. 47

Stanley Library Renovations......................................................... 46 Ferrum Opens Panther Hills......................................................... 46 Norton Center Open for Business.................................................47 Blue Ridge Dinner Theatre Announces Final Curtain................... 48 Blue Ridge Institute & Museum

pg. 48

pg. 50

pg. 51

40 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

pg.54

The Great Western Virginia Cover-Up...................................50

Lawless and a BRI Still-on-Wheels........................................51

BRI Events.............................................................................52

Folklife Festival 2012............................................................ 54

on campus

Residence halls have been made over to use less energy and to offer additional green space. And the biomass boiler will go on line during 2013 to generate energy by burning what were once waste products bound for the local landfill.

“We think it’s important to participate,” said Director of Dining Services Mike Martin. “It makes this a better campus, we’re helping the environment and we’re actually saving money.”

The cardboard baler.

“We’re all a team,” said Gring. “This is important and it keeps my guys in the loop. We’re a college that teaches sustainability and we need to be putting the lessons to work right here on the grounds.”

Preparing locally grown vegetables in the dining hall.

For years, cardboard boxes and other material from the cafeteria were deposited in a dumpster behind Franklin Hall.

Three times every month, the trash was hauled to the landfill at a cost of $240 per load. Then, beginning in 2012, thanks to $4,000 in grant money from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, the College bought a machine that converts the excess cardboard into bales that weigh about 500 pounds each. Work-study students and buildings and grounds worker Garrett Shively, under the guidance of Associate Vice President for Operations Jeff Gring, collect the cardboard. Now, explained Martin, “The trips to the landfill have been reduced from three monthly trips to just one and we are selling the cardboard to be recycled.”

Gring was so enthused by the program that he worked with his staff to create a special vehicle capable of moving the heavy bales. Students who gather recyclable white paper from collection points around campus also use it.

While the recycling project is saving money, there is equal enthusiasm for the composting project, which closes the loop on the College’s “farm to cafeteria” initiative, which encourages the use of locally grown foods in the dining hall, including food from the College’s Titmus Agricultural Center. There, greenhouses yield produce such as lettuce year-round, while the traditional garden produces a variety of fruits and vegetables during the growing season.

“There was a gap before. We took the locally grown food to the cafeteria but the leftovers were still going to the landfill,” explained Stevens. “Now, the uneaten food creates compost, which goes back to the farm as fertilizer. That’s what we mean by ‘closing the loop.’”

Chekka Lash and the composting bin.

Jeff Gring and the baler truck.

According to Lash, the College also receives additional benefits from the program. “Students have multiple touch points with the project, because students are planting the gardens, tending the plants and measuring the growth. We use the gardens as an instructional tool as well as a food source,” she said.

The compost comes courtesy of two massive tub-like units that were installed during the Fall 2012 term. Each has a capacity of three cubic yards and produces usable compost after a period of six weeks.

Initially the dining hall sends about 65 pounds of waste daily to the composters, but that number is expected to climb to about 200 pounds. The Cargill Foundation covered the cost of the composters—about $15,000, according to Stevens.

Once again, the project represents longterm cost savings and cooperation across traditional campus lines. In addition, it demonstrates the concept of the campus as a living laboratory. “We can’t wait to

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

41

on campus

eat,” she said. Lash hopes to establish benchmarks and through continued monitoring and education to make measurable progress in reducing waste. “If we are producing 250 pounds of waste per day, that’s too much,” she said.

If the entire campus has become a living laboratory, the College’s Riddick Hall hits students literally where they live. There, Stevens, the students and Gring’s crews have implemented changes that make Riddick the first “eco-dorm” on campus.

The biomass boiler facility.

use that compost to enhance the look of the grounds. We will use it to grow grass, fertilize shrubs and all other landscaping on campus,” Gring explained.

sustainable concepts that were generated the last time around, but everything started coming together in the fall of 2012,” he said.

“Even the drinking straws are compostable,” said Martin, who estimates composting will save thousands of pounds of refuse from the landfill every year.

In addition to food and the straws, the cafeteria is sending items such as used ketchup cups and napkins. “It’s taken about four years to implement all the

It’s worth pointing out that another sustainable practice involves creating less waste in the first place. Early in 2012, Lash showed up at the cafeteria with a scale to weigh the uneaten food that students were throwing away. “It was an eye-opener for them and a good way for us to encourage them to only take as much as they could

More for Less, for All Sustainability Across Campus Each year, Ferrum College has an academic theme. Responsibility for the theme rotates among the three Schools: Arts & Humanities, Natural Sciences and Mathematics and Social Sciences and Professional Studies.

F

or the 2012–13 academic year, the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics created the theme More for Less, for All, inspired by a passage in the letter to the United Nations Secretary-General from Tarja Halonen, President of Finland, and Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa, CoChairs of the High-level Panel on Global Sustainability.

42

The passage begins: “People are at the center of our vision of sustainable development. Our report puts forth a series of core recommendations that, if implemented over time, will help lift large swathes of humanity out of dehumanizing poverty; bolster resilience; strengthen global equity, including

gender equity; transform how we value goods and services and measure growth; preserve valuable eco-systems; enhance collaboration, coherence, and accountability across sectors and institutions; and create a common framework for global sustainability.”

Professor Dave Johnson headed the committee that put together an impressive array of events related to the theme, including a Stop Hunger Now event, which included 600 freshman who joined with faculty, staff and community members to package more than 100,000 meals for the hungry; a residence hall energy conservation competition; an appearance by noted lecturer and author Mark Plotkin, author of Tales

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

In Riddick Hall, cheaper and more energy-efficient LED lighting has replaced conventional fixtures. Hallway lighting has been attached to sensors, which turn the lights down when no one is present, and showers have been retrofitted with low-flow showerheads. Outside, permeable pavers were installed, which, unlike solid stepping-stones, feature gaps that allow grass to grow in the middle. The new “pavement” keeps the building cooler because it absorbs less heat than asphalt.

Additional advantages include reduced runoff and the creation of additional outdoor space where students can gather.

“The best part is that all of these ecodorm ideas came from students,” said

Campus Theme 2012–2013 of a Shaman’s Apprentice; and two appearances by Professor Delia Heck at Roanoke’s Taubman Museum of Art, where she led discussions on the world dependence upon oil as related by a series of images by world-class photographer Edward Burtynsky.

More programs are scheduled for the 2013 spring semester, including a presentation by Ryan Aylesworth of Audubon International, and Liliana Madrigal, Director of Program Operations for the Amazon Conservation Team. The annual Ferrum College Forum on Critical Thinking, Innovation and Leadership on March 12, 2013, at the Hotel Roanoke will also focus on sustainability as it applies to current business practices.

For more information on events, dates and times, please visit www.ferrum.edu.

Riddick Hall

Stevens. Freshmen in his ESC110 Introduction to Environmental Science class brainstormed and presented research posters at the end of the semester. During the summer workers, from the Buildings & Grounds Department implemented many of the proposals.

Down the road, Stevens would like to explore the possibility of adding solar panels and other energysaving concepts.

Whether it’s recycling, composting, eating locally grown foods or making the College’s living spaces more environmentally friendly, all of these new sustainable practices blend harmoniously with the 700-acre, rural campus.

Eventually, Stevens and Lash also hope to plant “edible landscaping” around Riddick and nearby Chapman and Susanna Wesley Halls such as blueberry bushes and apple trees. If they do, they’ll have plenty of workers, expertise and fertilizer and they won’t even need to leave campus to get them. n

The permeable paver installation at Riddick Hall.

on campus

Campus Waste Project

At the campus level, recycling and waste management is a major initiative for all departments.

Several senior projects involve Dr. Delia Heck recycling plans for new areas of the campus, including one to develop a plan for recycling in the athletic facilities that will take place next year. “We teach students about their level of consumption; reusing old items is a good lesson, and we hope they make better choices and understand the impact of those choices,” says Delia Heck, Environmental Planning and Development Coordinator and Associate Professor of Environmental Science.

Heck notes that the College hopes to generate revenue for the costs associated with a full-scale recycling program, moving beyond the current plan. Reducing the amount of refuse the College pays to dispense with cuts down on the overall cost and enhances the possibility for new programs in the future. The College participates in a waste audit each year, examining exactly what is disposed of by students, faculty and staff. Of particular interest is a spring project in which Ferrum is part of a national group of colleges seeking to reduce waste when students empty dorm rooms and classrooms at the end of the academic year.

The goal of this program is to encourage students to recycle or turn in furniture and gently used items they typically just throw away. The waste audit program also sorts material that is thrown away on a regular basis, weighing it and identifying how much is disposed of that could be reused or recycled and how to encourage alternate disposal methods. “When we examine what is actually thrown away, students are often horrified!” says Heck. (See The Ferrum Campus—A Living Laboratory for Students on pg. 40.)

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

43

on campus

“ Be the change in the world you want to see.”

– Christopher Howard 2012 Ferrum College Commencement Address

The Ferrum College

96th Annual Commencement

L

ast May, nearly 200 members of the Class of 2012 received their diplomas during ceremonies that included awards presentations and a keynote address by Hampden-Sydney College President Christopher B. Howard. Though the forecast called for clouds and rain, the graduates received their diplomas in Swartz Gymnasium but with no less enthusiasm than if the sun had been shining. “What a wonderful day this is as we join together as members of the extended Ferrum family to celebrate the achievements of the Class of 2012,” said President Jennifer Braaten. “We are proud of their success and the contributions they have made to the College and the community during their years at Ferrum.”

The morning event included the presentation of student, faculty and alumni awards, as well as an address by Dr. Howard. During his keynote address, he advised the graduates of five Be’s. “Be your own best self. Be humble. Be accountable. Be courageous,” he said, illustrating the importance of each Be with stories from his life experience. Dr. Howard finished his speech with the final Be, “Be the change in the world you want to see.”

Dr. Christopher Howard, 2012 Commencement speaker.

44 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

Faculty, staff, graduates and their families also participated in a traditional Baccalaureate service on Friday evening in Vaughn Chapel. The service concluded at Hart International Plaza with the traditional Candlelighting Ceremony, which symbolizes the light of knowledge that the new graduates will carry forth into the world.

Use the smartphone code to view all of the Commencement 2012 photographs!

Dr. Braaten presented the family of George T. Byrd, recently deceased Ferrum College Professor of Agriculture, with a plaque posthumously honoring him into the rank of Faculty Emeritus.

The Benjamin M. Beckham Medallion 2012

on campus

In speaking of his fellow students’ experiences, senior class speaker William Moore noted that at times their life journeys were jostled by tragic events and encouraged graduates to be resilient. He closed his speech with words from the poem “Song of the Open Road” by Walt Whitman.

The Ferrum College Beckham Medallion is the highest honor bestowed upon alumni and is named after the College’s first President Dr. Benjamin M. Beckham.

In a ceremony during the Commencement exercises last spring, the 2012 Beckham Medallion was presented to Mr. Charles G. Menefee ’42 of Richmond, Virginia, and Mr. Richard R. Menefee ’43 of Sun City Center, Florida.

Both recipients were honored for their service to church, family and their loyalty to Ferrum College.

Dr. Jennifer Braaten with Mr. Charles G. Menefee ’42.

H

ailing from Rocky Mount, Virginia, Ferrum Training School offered a convenient local option for the brothers to complete their high school education. After graduation from Ferrum in 1942, Charles continued his studies at Richmond Professional Institute (now VCU) before embarking on a lifelong career with Coca-Cola. Both Charles and Richard worked in quality control and assurance for the CocaCola Company for most of their careers, traveling across the country and developing an appreciation for the finer aspects of life. Responsibilities included managing a “traveling laboratory” and visiting bottling facilities to ensure that high standards of the company and federal guidelines were met.

After two lifetimes of dedication to work, the Menefees currently enjoy retirement filled with volunteering, family and friends while always taking time to maintain connections with Ferrum. Over the years they have been active in alumni events and have been generous donors to the College.

President Braaten presented Jalessa Scott ’12 of Stafford, Virginia, with the Ferrum College James T. Caitlin Citizenship Award. This award is given to a student who has best demonstrated qualities of citizenship and general leadership ability as judged by vote of the faculty.

The Menefees share a deep belief in the mission of Ferrum College and are passionate about providing educational opportunities for young scholars.

In 1998 Charles and his wife, Mary, established and endowed a scholarship in their names, providing financial assistance for deserving students in perpetuity. Richard and his wife, Mary have included Ferrum in their estate plans and are also members of the Ferrum College Beckham Society. As evidenced by their accomplishments and service, Charles Menefee and Richard Menefee are most deserving of this prestigious award.

45 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

on campus

Stanley Library Renovations Include New Learning Commons

W

ith continuous advancements in methods of teaching, learning and research, library space must maintain current services and archives while evolving as the campus hub for electronic research and communications.

The Ferrum College Learning Commons brings together traditional library components, technology services and other amenities in an environment that supports academic achievement.

The Learning Commons is the ideal addition to the Stanley Library, providing highly utilized, flexible learning spaces for students and faculty. Learning commons areas have only recently developed across the country in academic libraries and are designed to accommodate various student learning styles and to allow learners to utilize areas and formats in which they learn best.

Mobile furniture permits either individual or group work and quiet or collaborative study. Technology is integrated into the Learning Commons, from wireless access to productivity and research workstations, to multimedia and emerging technology opportunities. Active learning space is incorporated into programming to allow students to create new knowledge through resources, instruction and collaboration with colleagues. A practice presentation room will be available for students to develop or simply practice a presentation before sharing it with their class.

In our technology-rich environment, applicable space, acquisition of digital content and expertise in the handling of these resources and tools are essential to serve savvy students. With a focus on these student users and learning support, the Ferrum College Learning Commons will continue to grow and evolve. n

Ferrum Opens Panther Hills Par 3 Golf Course

46

Ferrum College students Josh Motto and Brad Weston are ready to install the sign for the new Panther Hills par 3 golf course on campus. The two had the idea to build the course while working with buildings and grounds during the summer. Looking on are Grounds Manager Jay Prillaman, who supported the project, and Ferrum Board of Trustees Chair Sam Lionberger.

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

Ferrum’s new Panther Hills Golf Course opened last September and is located just off campus on Old Ferrum Road in the space that was used as the practice driving range. Ferrum Manager of Grounds Jay Prillaman, along with a number of students and staff volunteers, labored over the summer to get the course up and running for the fall season. The College hosted the first Panther Hills Golf Open with 18 twoperson teams participating, including a number of Golf Coach Adam Crawford’s players. “We’re so pleased to offer this to the Ferrum community, and plan to make improvements to the course over the next few years,” said Prillaman. n

on campus

The Norton Center Open for Business

1) Entrance to the Sam Webb Football Center. 2) One of the many trophy cases. 3) The Ed George Sports Hall of Fame. 4) Students at work in the Lynn Classroom. 5) State-of-the-art hot and cold plunge pools in the Sports Medicine Center. 6–7) Therapy section of the Sports Medicine Center. 8) Coach Hank Norton addressing guests at the dedication of the Norton Center.

47 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

on campus

Blue Ridge Dinner Theatre Announces Final Curtain

T

Rex Stephenson portrays Mark Twain.

Jody Brown in Curious Savage.

he partnership between Ferrum College and the Blue Ridge Dinner Theatre (BRDT) began with the principal core values of providing high-quality theatre productions for the whole family, creating a meaningful experience for the artists and staff involved in the theatre, and offering an artistic asset to the region.

The theatre drew audiences from much of Southwest Virginia and parts of Northern North Carolina with financial support from individuals, businesses and communities throughout.

The BRDT required a huge commitment of time, talent and energy by Rex Stephenson, BRDT Artistic Director and Distinguished Playwright, and Jody Brown, Faculty Emerita and BRDT Executive Director. After more than three decades of BRDT productions, both made the choice to retire from this stage in their theatrical careers.

The decision to “go dark” at the close of the 33rd season was a difficult one to make.

The talented team of Stephenson and Brown, along with Emily Rose Tucker as Musical Director over the past decade, has been responsible for bringing top-notch theatrical entertainment to the region.

Before the dinner theatre, Rex Stephenson founded the Jack Tale Players in 1975, and his first original historical play, Too Free for Me, opened on July 4, 1979. Ferrum’s summer theatre grew until about 3,500 people each year were enjoying five or six different shows per season, meals served by company members, and Saturday seminars with guest speakers and audience discussion. Rex Stephenson wrote or adapted many BRDT plays, or co-wrote them with colleagues or students. According to Jody Brown, “Over 300 talented young actors have been the core of the BRDT; many of them are presently working in theatres, the film industry and schools around the county.”

Ferrum participated throughout the BRDT’s illustrious history by providing the use of Schoolfield Hall and Sale Theatre for rehearsals, staging and storage, along with support from dining hall staff, housekeeping and maintenance staff, and even the college police.

In addition, Ferrum faculty, staff and alumni, as well as many of their family members, performed in nearly every BRDT production.

Although the BRDT ended its last season in August, several revivals in 2012 celebrated highlights of its outstanding history.

48 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

At the Jack Tales Players Reunion, from the top: former members gathered during the 2012 Folklife Festival; Chandra Diesel, a former member and BRDT performer; a former student with Rex Stephenson.

Rex Stephenson with student actors in rehearsal for Too Free for Me at Marion Senior High School.

L

eading his Marion Senior High School students in the 2012 Southwest District Virginia High School League (VHSL) Theatre Festival with an award-winning production of Rex Stephenson’s play Too Free for Me, Todd Necessary ’94 directed his troupe to the top prize in the region. Necessary is an alumnus of Ferrum College, the Jack Tale Players and the Blue Ridge Dinner Theatre.

first place in the Region IV championship.

The actors playing Indiana Choice, Jubal Early and Gresham Choice won three of five best actor awards presented to the six schools in the competition. This ensemble competed with the play at the VHSL State Theatre Championships in Charlottesville in December and performed one more time for a large and enthusiastic audience at the historic Lincoln Theatre in Marion in January 2013.

After placing a close second in the Southwest District Theatre Festival held in November 2012, the adaptation won

One of Stephenson’s most noteworthy plays, Too Free for Me was the very first production of the Blue Ridge Dinner

STAY TUNED FOR THE BLUE RIDGE PERFORMING ARTS SERIES

When the Blue Ridge Dinner Theatre ended its extraordinary 33-year run last summer, we said, “The show will go on,” and we’re happy to announce the debut of the new “Blue Ridge Performing Arts Series” as part of our annual United Methodist Women’s Day festivities on June 8, 2013. The Rootstone Jug Band, acclaimed “old-time” singers and musicians, are affiliated with the Virginia Commission for the Arts and will be the inaugural performers for the series.

Stay tuned for further information about future performers and dates as our plans develop for this new family entertainment venture on the Ferrum campus!

A July 2012 reunion show commemorated the Jack Tale Players’ 175 USO shows at veterans’ hospitals during eight tours in 1978–82. Willette Thompson ’81, one of the first graduates of Ferrum’s educational theatre program who performed with BRDT periodically over the years, described handing her diploma to her parents at graduation and climbing in a van to crisscross the country in 28 days.

She wrote, “Performing for the veterans was one of the most fulfilling times in my career.”

Several dozen Jack Tale Players who performed Appalachian folktales and songs between 1975 and 2012 met at Ferrum’s Blue Ridge Folklife Festival on October 27 for two rousing reunion shows. John VanPatten ’81, one of the first Jack Tale Players, called it a “truly once in a lifetime day.”

on campus

Stephenson Play Wins VHSL Region IV Theatre Festival

Theatre in the 1970s and was the winner of the American Alliance for Theatre and Education award in 1995. The drama is based on an actual trial that occurred in Franklin County, Virginia, in 1851 involving an African-American woman named Indiana Choice, who claims that she and her three children are free. She sues her alleged owner not only for her freedom but also for that of her three children.

Gresham Choice, a prominent citizen with political aspirations, denies Indiana is a free black. The events of the trial are recalled by Margaret Oxley, who attended this trial as a child. Oxley is especially fond of Jubal Early, the lawyer for Indiana.

The pivotal witness is Cassandra Choice, Gresham’s wife and Indiana’s friend, who is the only person who knows her true status.

Naturally, Cassandra is torn between her loyalty to her friend and to her husband.

Rex Stephenson, Todd Necessary ’94, and Mike Trochim at The Lincoln Theatre in Marion, Virginia.

In addition to student productions from the Theatre Arts Department, the college is exploring new venues and innovative ways to sustain the tradition of providing community theatre. These may include children’s theatre (such as Jack Tales) under the auspices of the Blue Ridge Institute & Museum, and summer outdoor performances at Hart International Plaza in the center of campus. n

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

49

on campus

The Blue Ridge Institute and Museum BRI Opens Newly Renovated Galleries with Quilt Exhibit:

“Every quilt tells a story,” collectors say.

Over 50 vintage quilts and coverlets are currently in the BRI galleries telling their version of Southwest Virginia’s bedcover crafts, from 1800 to 1950. Their tales include thousands of women, of course, but also inventors, soldiers, magazine publishers and chicken feed salesmen.

The Great Western Virginia Cover-Up showcases an array of bedcover styles, from early “whitework” spreads and album quilts to patchwork feed sack quilts and presentation crazy quilts. The exhibition centerpiece is an 1833 bed rug, one of five Virginia bed rugs still known to be in existence.

“These beautiful quilts and coverlets are the survivors,” said quilt collector and

historian Natalie Norris, the exhibition’s Guest Curator. “They are here today because the people who made and owned them saw these pieces as special and didn’t use them up.”

Catch The Great Western Virginia CoverUp in the BRI galleries Mondays through Saturdays. The exhibition comes down in late spring and then travels to the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond in July. n

Natalie Norris describing quilting details to members of the Ferrum College Board of Trustees.

The dulcimer, one of the icons of mountain folk music, came to Virginia with first- and second-generation German settlers over 200 years ago.

They carried the dulcimer down the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and on into Tennessee and North Carolina.

The Virginia Dulcimer Exhibition Heads for Abingdon Now many of those historic instruments are literally retracing their journey as the BRI’s The Virginia Dulcimer: Two Hundred Years of Bowing, Strumming & Picking exhibition moves from Ferrum to the William King Museum in Abingdon.

Sometime prior to the 1830s, Virginia craftsmen profoundly changed the Old World dulcimer, transforming it from a straightsided, flat-topped box with strings into a graceful teardrop-shaped 50 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

instrument. In the half-century before the Civil War, the dulcimer was the second-most-popular instrument (behind the fiddle) in the Virginia Blue Ridge. “It has long been a favorite for accompanying hymns and sentimental songs.

Even some dance bands include dulcimers,” said Roddy Moore, BRI Director.

on campus

“Lawless”

and a BRI Still-on-Wheels

Take an 80-year-old liquor conspiracy in a county that touts itself as The Moonshine Capital of the World.

Mix in real family stories and a heaping dose of artistic license. Add pretty Hollywood faces, a boatload of money, and … Voila! …Lawless, the biggest moonshine movie since the 1958 cult classic Thunder Road.

Above: The Ingram family with their turnip-style still in the Ferrum area, 1929. The photographer no doubt had the family assume a stereotypical pose with firearms at the ready.

L

awless is just the latest example of the public’s thirst for moonshine—not the esophagus-burning liquid itself, of course, but rather the stories about making and hauling untaxed liquor. As proof (pun intended), White Liquor—Blue Ridge Style was the BRI’s most popular exhibition ever, with record-setting attendance in Ferrum and again in Richmond at the Virginia Historical Society. Still photos (pun intended again) from the BRI archives have appeared in numerous books, magazines and newspapers. The moonshiners’ tale telling stage is a “standing room only” feature at the annual Blue Ridge Folklife Festival. Over 200,000 people crowded past the BRI’s still in operation at last year’s Richmond Folk Festival. Institute staff have been interviewed for video and radio documentaries several times.

Clearly, the moonshiner is a modern folk hero, a title laden with stereotypes and hype.

In particular, today’s reality show moonshiners border on the ridiculous. The BRI is pleased to suggest a few guiding lights through the world of white liquor:

Above: John Shaw traveled from Bristol, England, just to see The Virginia Dulcimer while the exhibition was at the BRI.

The Virginia Dulcimer continues at the William King Museum through June.

For exhibition hours, visit www.williamkingmuseum.org. n Shown at left: Director Roddy Moore with a Wythe County dulcimer made in 1868 and recently donated to the BRI.

•

Start with the BRI’s online exhibition Moonshine—Blue Ridge Style (www.blueridgeinstitute.org/moonshine). In 1893–94, Franklin County alone had 77 legal distilleries plus an untold number of illegal operations. Twenty-five years later, Prohibition turned the entire system upside down, and it took 80 more years for authorities to finally get the upper hand. The online exhibition traces Western Virginia’s bootlegging heritage from the 19th century through the Federal “Lightning Strike” bust of 2001. A corn liquor recipe—ingredients are geared for 55-gallon portions—is included.

•

Pick up a copy of Charlie Thompson’s Sprits of Just Men: Moonshiners, Liquor Bosses, and Lawmen in the Moonshine Capital of the World. (Order by phone from the BRI gift shop.) With the Great Moonshine Conspiracy Trial of 1935 as its catalyst, this thoughtful book explores the environment that made moonshining a sensible occupation in Depression-era Franklin County and a target for powerful people wanting a piece of the pie.

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

51

on campus And the still-on-wheels? Lawless is loosely based on the real exploits of brothers Jack, Forrest and Howard Bondurant, three Franklin County bootleggers who refused to pay the “granny fee” for local law officials to look the other way. Their nephew Eddie Bondurant, Jr., eventually took up the moonshine trade, getting caught twice before moving on to other types of work. Late in life Eddie built a massive portable steam still on a singleaxle trailer, but he passed away before he had a chance to use it. Appreciating Ferrum’s honest interpretation of moonshine culture, Eddie’s daughter recently donated the still to the BRI. Come see it at the 2013 Blue Ridge Folklife Festival! n

Give a listen to The Great Moonshine Conspiracy (www.prx.org/pieces/81100-the-greatmoonshine-conspiracy-the-true-story-be). Conversations with Charlie Thompson (author of Spirits of Just Men) inspired Jesse Dukes at Big Shed Media to produce an intriguing 16-minute audio documentary.

BRI Events Coming and Going

Crooked Road Dulcimer Festival Folk music fans find Ferrum for all kinds of reasons. In May 2012, over 40 musicians gathered on campus for the BRI’s first annual Crooked Road Dulcimer Festival.

Dulcimer players call their gatherings “festivals,” but these events are not geared for listeners. Instead, the CRDF packed three days with hands-on teaching workshops and jams—all focused on the Appalachian dulcimer.

52

Are you a dulcimer player? A wannabe dulcimer player? The 2013 Crooked Road Dulcimer Festival is scheduled for May 23–26. For details and photos of last year’s CRDF, visit www. crookedroaddulcimerfestival.org. n Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

on campus

Jason Collingwood Rug Weaving Workshop

19th-Century Banjo Collectors Conference October brought 70 of the nation’s serious banjo collectors to Ferrum for the 15th annual 19th-century Banjo Collectors Conference. The event combined academic papers, hundreds of vintage instruments, and, of course, jams at night. Participants were particularly pleased by the large display of instruments made in the shop of William Boucher; a Baltimore drum maker in the mid-1800s, Boucher developed the banjo head design that still defines the instrument’s appearance today. Collecting vintage banjos is an esoteric hobby, and the music was as distinctive as the conversation. Photos can be viewed at http://www. flickr.com/photos/ferrumcollege/sets/72157632117270746/. n

Weaving has had an interesting history in the Blue Ridge, going from a skill of necessity to a thriving recreational and artistic craft. Today’s weavers follow not only longstanding traditional patterns but also freshly unique designs. In June (8–11) the Handweavers Guild of the New River Valley will bring famed British rug weaver Jason Collingwood to the BRI for four days of workshops geared for weavers with novice or higher skills. Contact the BRI for more information. n Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

53

on campus 54 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

A Look Back to the Woman’s Home Missionary Society and Ferrum College

T

Just after the turn of the twentieth century, many of the Methodist women’s missionary organizations were combined to form the Woman’s Missionary Council which encompassed both home and foreign missions. Mrs. H. E. Wall of Farmville, a member of that Council, heard reports about home mission work in the mountains of North Carolina and Kentucky and her thoughts turned toward home and the need for a school in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. When research indicated that in this region of about 3,000 miles there were an estimated 4,806 children not attending school, the women were ready to take action.

In 1911 the Virginia Conference Woman’s Home Missionary Society sent a memorial (request) to the Woman’s Missionary Council, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, seeking the privilege of using one-half of the dues of the Society (formerly used for parsonage building) to open a mission school for mountain boys and girls. About the same time the Virginia Annual Conference appointed a

An excerpt from Because They Had the Vision ... United Methodist Women & Ferrum College, The First 100 Years

by Ethel W. Born

committee of men to consider this same need. Together the two groups began to move ahead with establishing a mission school in the Danville District.

Three years later, the Woman’s Missionary Society 1914 report announced the decision to build a school at Ferrum in western Franklin County “which was to be equipped and maintained by the Home Department of the Woman’s Missionary Society and the Virginia Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.”

methodist connections

Because They Had the Vision

he majestic mountains in the area surrounding Ferrum College are indeed awe-inspiring. However, in the late 1800s they were a formidable barrier to education for mountain children living in isolated areas. Only because of the strong leadership, executive abilities and vision of a few Methodist women who were organized for mission work did the roots of Ferrum College begin here.

This move was followed by the appointment of a Committee of Four from the Society to spend a sum of $1,200 for the advancement of Christian Education in the outlying mountainous parts of the Virginia Conference. Several other sites had been considered but the fact that Ferrum was easily accessible by railroad at that time was a strong point in its favor.

The original Board of Trustees consisted of ten men elected by the Virginia Conference and five women elected by the Woman’s Home Missionary Society, not only affirming the efforts of the women but securing their relationship with Ferrum.

Even before the initial building was constructed the women responded to an appeal to provide furnishings for eleven girls’ bedrooms at a cost of $75.00 for each room. And thus began the faithful financial support for Ferrum that continues to this day.

METHODIST CONNECTIONS pg. 55

pg. 59

pg. 59

pg.60

pg. 60

pg. 62

Because They Had the Vision..........................................................................55

UMW Currently Serving on the Board of Trustees...................................57

Endowed Scholarship Memorializes Former Dean of Women.................59 Inge Estate Gift Provides Methodist Archive..................................................59 House Band Rocks with Faith.........................................................................60 Campus Ministries..........................................................................................60 Endowed Chaplaincy...................................................................................... 61 The Proof of Your Love Tour............................................................................62

55 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

methodist connections

Nowlin’s Mill

THE BRANCH SCHOOL SYSTEM Although Ferrum was established as a four-year high school an attempt was made in 1920–1921 to serve all age children from primary through high school. This swelled the enrollment to a point beyond the school’s ability to function efficiently, and the idea was abandoned. However, the concept of a branch school system emerged and the following schools were established: • Harris Chappell School, Willis, VA • Trinity or Mountain View, Meadows of Dan, VA • Wilson or Pole Bridge, Stuart, VA • Nowlin’s Mill, Endicott, VA • Heidelbach or Buffalo Ridge, Dodson, VA • Syria, Madison County, VA The branch schools reached children in remote areas where public schools were not easily accessible and also served as feeder schools into high school years at Ferrum Training School.

In 1938 Mrs. Lee Britt, one of the five charter members of the Ferrum Board of Trustees, reported at the Woman’s Society Annual Meeting, “The largest Home Work is on the Danville District, Ferrum Training School, which has developed into a Junior College ... 33 ministers and three missionaries received their inspiration while students at Ferrum.”

By 1922 the need for a chapel became apparent as the student body had to be divided into three groups, each group attending Sunday church service at St. James Church in the village of Ferrum once every three weeks. The estimated cost was $21,000. The Woman’s Missionary Society contributed $7,000, Ferrum President Dr. B. M. Beckham raised a similar amount and Mr. and Mrs. R. A. Schoolfield of Danville contributed the final $7,000. The The Ida R. Richeson Infirmary building was originally named Schoolfield Memorial Chapel and worship services were held there until Vaughn Chapel was built in 1967. The Blue Ridge Dinner Theatre was housed in Schoolfield Hall for thirty-three years, using the original stage and auditorium.

Located near Schoolfield is Richeson Hall, formerly the Ida R. Richeson Infirmary, built by the Woman’s Missionary Society in 1939 at a cost of $5,200. Under the direction of Dr. James M. Green, resident physician, the infirmary had two wards, one for girls and one for boys, and could accommodate fourteen patients.

The following year at the final meeting of the Woman’s Missionary Society prior to unification to become The Methodist Church, its last action was to designate the remaining balance of $3,000 in its treasury to Ferrum College as the initial gift toward the library. Contributions by Methodist women in Virginia to the Ferrum Training School for all purposes between 1913–1940 exceeded $250,000. It was, indeed, the end of an era but the women acted to ensure a bright future.

Woman’s Society of Christian Service—Ferrum Junior College

W

ith the uniting of the three branches of Methodism in 1939 to form The Methodist Church, Ferrum now had the Roanoke, Staunton, Winchester and Alexandria Districts to provide additional support and a larger student area to draw from for the school’s enrollment. The new era began with Ferrum Training School undergoing a name change in June 1940 when “Junior College” was added to the school’s name. Ferrum became fully accredited as a secondary school two years later.

That same year the Ferrum Board of Trustees took action to phase out the branch school program. Trinity (Mountain View); Meadows of Dan; Wilson (Pole Bridge); and Heidelbach (Buffalo Ridge) Schools were deeded over to Patrick County Public Schools on August 25, 1943. The Districts where the other schools were located took appropriate action to divest Ferrum of these properties.

The Ferrum Board of Trustees requested approval from the Virginia Annual Conference to conduct a fund-raising effort as a “Ferrum Advance Special” with a goal of $100,000 to be raised between 1940 and 1942. The newly formed Woman’s Society of Christian Service and Wesleyan Service Guild pledged $30,000, nearly one-third of the total amount and more than met its goal.

The Woman’s Society continued to be called upon by the Board of Trustees at Ferrum whenever there were unusual needs and the women continued to contribute large sums of money to the struggling school. Over the next seven years the conference women contributed $29,373 in scholarship and maintenance funds, $7,696 in Supplies and $2,500 as a Reserve Fund for Permanent Improvements in addition to the $30,000 contributed to the Ferrum Advance Special.

56

Trinity or Mountain View

When President Ralph Arthur needed immediate funds to secure government surplus equipment for faculty and veterans’ housing at Ferrum the Woman’s Society came through with the idea of celebrating the 15th Anniversary of the Woman’s Society

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

Current United Methodist Women Appointees Serving on the Ferrum College Board of Trustees

and Guild with birthday parties. Every local society and guild was encouraged to hold a birthday party and contribute to the appeal for $15,000 for Ferrum. By the end of 1956 more than that amount had been collected. Dr. Arthur thanked the women and requested another $15,000 for the following year—and his request was granted!

methodist connections

Susannah Wesley Hall

In 1956 President Arthur began his report to the Woman’s Society of Christian Service by referring to the strong relationship between Ferrum and the women who had wholeheartedly supported it from the time that a mountain school was just a hope and a dream.

Through the years the women not only continued to contribute generously to Ferrum but in 1959 they even underwrote the indebtedness that Ferrum had incurred during the construction of the Men’s Dormitory and Dining Hall. Legal documents were drawn stating that in the event Ferrum defaulted on its payments to the Housing and Home Finance Agency of the United States Government, the holder of the revenue bonds, that the Woman’s Society of Christian Service of the Virginia Conference agreed to relinquish its Dr. C. Ralph Arthur reversionary interests in the property Ferrum President, 1954–70 to satisfy the indebtedness incurred by Ferrum College.

“A church college is justified only as it gives evidence of the witness to the principles of the faith which founded it.”

In 1960 Ferrum Junior College became fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, having eliminated high school classes from its program five years earlier.

Mrs. Thelma B. Crowder South Boston, Virginia

Mrs. Elizabeth B. Dickerson

Richmond, Virginia

Dr. Elizabeth M. Hairfield Staunton, Virginia

Mrs. Joyce Winston United Methodist Women President

Buckroe Beach, Virginia

Ferrum continued to build upon the principles of the faith which founded it with a strong religious program in and out of the classroom. In Dr. Arthur’s report in the 1964 WSCS Annual Report, he stated, “A church college is justified only as it gives evidence of the witness to the principles of the faith which founded it.” It is this Christian faith that has been the basis for the strong relationship between Ferrum College and Methodist women in Virginia for nearly one hundred years.

United Methodist Women Ferrum College

I

n 1972 when the transition was made to the new organization of United Methodist Women in the Virginia Conference, Ferrum College was also in a period of transition. A name change in 1971 to “Ferrum College” indicated it was now a fouryear institution.

It was about this time that the National Division of the General Board of Global Ministries withdrew financial support from a number of conference projects including Ferrum College in Virginia. The Virginia Conference women took action to help fill this void. For most of the ensuing thirty years the records of United Methodist Women indicate that the average contribution from their conference budget to the Ferrum Scholarship Fund was $15,000 annually, making a total of $420,000 by the year 2003.

Rev. Elizabeth “Liz” H. Lazenby Rocky Mount, Virginia

Dr. Esther G. Mabry

Roanoke, Virginia

Mrs. Lou C. Talbutt Blacksburg, Virginia

57

methodist connections

In addition to this amount sent from conference funds, local United Methodist Women units responded to special requests that totaled an additional amount in excess of $320,000 over the same period. The latter amount included such special appeals as the Ferrum Beautification Program, Ferrum 75th Anniversary Parties in 1988 held by local, district and conference organizations and contributions to the Christian Ministries Fund initiated in 2001.

While United Methodist Women have made major financial contributions to Ferrum College they have also contributed leadership from the very beginning of the school. The five women from the Woman’s Home Missionary Society mandated by the original bylaws expanded into a larger representation of seven from the women’s organization. In more recent years the president of the United Methodist Women serves as an ex-officio member of the Board of Trustees along with six additional United Methodist appointees.

All serve enthusiastically and promote the College across Virginia and beyond.

A number of United Methodist Women who have served on the Ferrum Board over the years have been recognized for their leadership by being named Trustee Emeriti.

Louise M. Musser

58

Betty J. Forbes

Two leading Methodist women have served as president or chair of the Ferrum Board of Trustees. The first was Betty Whitlock who served as president from 1977–1979 and was later honored by being named a Trustee Emeritus. More recently Betty J. Forbes chaired the Board from 1999–2001. On Founders Day in 1984 Louise M. Musser was honored by the Ferrum Board with a Resolution of Appreciation for her publication of “The Role of United Methodist Women in the

History of Ferrum College.” This welldocumented work has provided much information for this brief overview of the relationship between Ferrum College and Methodist women in Virginia.

This looking back in history has had much to say thus far about giving to Ferrum on the part of United Methodist Women.

Perhaps this is the place to write about a truly marvelous gift to Virginia Conference United Methodist Women by Ferrum College.

In 1972 the three women’s missionary organizations of The Methodist Church, the Central Jurisdiction of The Methodist Church, and the Evangelical United Brethren Church came together to form United Methodist Women. I was the transitional president of the new organization. I was well aware that the wonderful and unique histories of these three women’s missionary organizations needed to be gathered immediately or they would be lost forever.

I appointed a committee representing the three groups and they did their work well. Now, where could these precious documents be permanently preserved?

Ferrum College provided the answer: A dedicated space for United Methodist Women archives in the Stanley Library!

Louise Musser became our first United Methodist Women archivist, accepting the task of organizing the materials and establishing an archival system that stretched into the future and beyond our

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

day. More recently Madeline Hall and Mary Ann Metz, archivist and assistant, worked long hours to identify and list every item in the archives. The Stanley Library at Ferrum College now has all of this historical information online and clearly identified.

In the Virginia Annual Conference, church and educational institution relationships have varied over the years but the women’s mission organization has always claimed Ferrum as “one of its own” and continues to give strong support. n

I

In 1941 missionary Jean Craig came home on leave from China after working as a teacher for 12 years at the McTyeire High School for Girls in Shanghai. She had every intention of returning but the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December of that year made her return to China impossible.

methodist connections

Endowed Scholarship Memorializes Former Dean of Women

n March 2002 the UMW Virginia Conference Executive Committee suspended its rules in order to grant $12,000 to the Christian Ministries Fund from the Jean F. Craig Memorial Fund in recognition of her early relationship with Ferrum College and her ongoing love of the school.

Ferrum College needed a Dean of Women, and Jean and her mother, who had been a housemother at the College of William and Mary, came to The kitchen in Centenary Hall. the Ferrum campus, where they lived in Roberts Hall. Jean served as Dean of Women beginning in 1942 and then became Dean of the College until 1946, when she returned to China for a brief period before the Communists arrived in 1949.

Jean related that their room at Ferrum was directly over the kitchen, and every morning at 5:00 they were awakened by noisy activity in the kitchen caused by efforts to get a fire started in the kitchen stove. Jean attended the Methodist Women’s Annual Meeting and spoke for three minutes. On her way out of the church after the meeting, two ladies said to her, “Don’t worry,” and in two weeks there was a new stove in the college kitchen!

Jean F. Craig

Ferrum College Dean of Women 1942 Dean of the College 1943–46

It is most appropriate that the Virginia Conference United Methodist Women have established an endowed scholarship at Ferrum College in memory of Jean Craig, a dynamic woman whose Christian faith and tremendous enthusiasm spilled over on everyone she met. She continued to attend the annual School of Christian Mission even when she was in a wheelchair and was always surrounded by a group of young people enthralled by her stories of Christian witness.

Other named scholarships established by United Methodist Women are the Evelyn Dwyer Scholarship, the Mary Frances Rogers Hartz Scholarship and the Charlotte Seegars Scholarship. These are in addition to the United Methodist Women Endowed Scholarship Fund.

Inge Estate Gift Provides Methodist Archive Room in Stanley Library President Jennifer L. Braaten is shown receiving the gift of $10,000 from John Brake of John C. Brake & Associates, the attorney handling Rev. Dr. J. Wesley Inge’s estate. Also attending were Kim Blair, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, and Sam Litton, former faculty member at Ferrum College and close friend of Rev. Dr. J. Wesley Inge.

Rev. Dr. J. Wesley Inge, Jr., bequeathed the gift in his estate to be used by Ferrum College to establish “The Methodist Room” in memory of John Wesley and Oneida Wingfield Inge in the Stanley Library at Ferrum College. The room houses Methodist heritage documents, records and photographs, including histories of the founding of Ferrum College by the United Methodist Women (UMW).

Jennifer Braaten, John Brake, Kim Blair and Sam Litton.

Rev. Dr. J. Wesley Inge joined the faculty at Ferrum College in 1966 and served until 1982. He taught courses in world religion and biblical literature.

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

59

methodist connections

House Band members, L to R from top:

Spencer Carter ’13 drums

Alex Young ’16 lead guitar & vocals

The House Band at the Family Day Festival.

House Band Rocks with Faith

T

he Ferrum College House Band ended the first semester of 2012–2013 with performances on Monday evenings during “FC: Finding Community” programs in the Panther’s Den of Franklin Hall. In the future they plan to continue building on last year’s programs with inspirational guest speakers from throughout the Ferrum family, including faculty, staff and alumni.

Sam Horne ’16 auxillary percussion

Dillon Clements ’16 bass/vocals

Members of the House Band are adept at every genre of music and have very high energy.

They love that their music is an instrument that draws others into strengthening their faith communities. Throughout the semester they played for a variety of events including all of the Admissions Open Houses, the Family Day Festival, the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes fundraiser, even the invocation at November’s Board of Trustees dinner!

The band is ready and willing to move beyond the Panther’s Den and the Ferrum campus. For those who would like a dynamic group of talented musicians to inspire a youth rally or even a not-so-youthful rally, consider the addition of the Ferrum College House Band. For more information, please contact Dean of the Chapel Wes Astin at wastin@ferrum.edu. n

Ashlee Heyward ’13 lead vocals

Campus Ministries Spring Break 2013 February saw Ferrum students on break from classes but in mission service both at home and abroad. Many offered their services to local agencies with hands-on help at food banks, soup kitchens, blood banks, housing assistance and maintenance, and many more opportunities throughout the Franklin County and Roanoke areas.

Another group of Ferrum students traveled abroad to work at the Robin’s Nest Children’s Home in St. James Parish, Jamaica, while others continued their long traditions of being involved with their local communities while at home. n

60 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

Celebrating a Century!

Endowed Chaplaincy

S

upport for the Ferrum College Endowed Chaplaincy will allow the College to continue its historic commitment to an environment that encourages spiritual development and offers numerous opportunities for students to celebrate life and explore God’s intention for human living.

methodist connections

The Ferrum College Centennial Campaign

An important aspect of the Ferrum College mission to educate has always been helping students respond effectively to personal and ethical challenges and fostering spiritual growth. College life is an exciting time of intellectual and social development as students consider new ideas and explore ever-broadening horizons. Ferrum gives students the opportunity to examine their faith, seek spiritual guidance from the Chaplain, assess what is important in their lives, and forge a system of values that will sustain them throughout their lives.

The responsibilities of the Chaplain of Ferrum College encompass all aspects of student life, including teaching, prayer and service—the door to the Christian Ministries Center will always be open. As a spiritual mentor, the Chaplain weaves the threads of “learning, serving and worshipping” throughout the fabric of campus, faithfully reflecting the College motto, “Not Self, But Others.”

It is with this foundation of good work in mind that we announce the Ferrum College Centennial Campaign goal to raise $1 million to permanently endow the Chaplaincy.

This amount will ensure support in perpetuity for the campus ministries program and represents an opportunity for the College to ensure the tradition of leadership in both pastoral ministry and interdenominational service projects.

It is our goal to make the Ferrum College Endowed Chaplaincy a significant position on campus. Your support will help to give students the support and the skills they need to respond to personal and ethical challenges, to grow spiritually regardless of religious orientation and to integrate their faith and learning with life.

If you are interested in supporting this or any other priority of the Ferrum College Centennial Campaign, please contact the Institutional Advancement office at 540-365-4211 or kblair@ferrum.edu.

United Methodist Giving

The following United Methodist Churches and related organizations made special gifts to Ferrum College during fiscal year 2011–2012.

As always, Ferrum College appreciates the many United Methodist Churches who give to the Education Fund through the Virginia Conference and all United Methodist Women who contribute so faithfully through their local units.

Bethlehem UMC Centreville UMC Danville District UMC First UMC—Hampton First UMC—Martinsville Forest Chapel UMC Grace-Design UMC Greene Memorial UMC Lithia United Methodist Church Roanoke District United Methodist Church Stanleytown UMC

The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry Virginia United Methodist Conference Wesley Guild—First United Methodist Church UMW—Crewe United Methodist Church UMW—Mount Vernon United Methodist Church UMW of the Virginia Conference

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

61

methodist connections

For King and Country’s John Smallbone.

The

Proof of Your Love Tour H

undreds of students, faculty and staff welcomed the Proof of Your Love Tour to Vaughn Chapel for the fall semester Contemporary Christian music concert. Headliners included For King and Country, American Idol star Jason Castro, Dara Maclean and The Museum.

For King and Country is made up of brothers John and Luke Smallbone. The duo’s debut album, Crave, made it to number four on Billboard’s Christian Albums chart.

Dara MacLean’s debut album, You Got My Attention, is described as “70s-Motown influenced acoustic soul meets modern pop.” Jason Castro is known as the third runner-up on the seventh season of American Idol. He will release his third album, Only a Mountain, early next year.

It was a night of music with a message. These highly praised young Christian artists inspired the Ferrum community with passion and an exciting show of their musical ministry. To view all of the photos from the concert, go to: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjCqEhnx.

62

Jason Castro

Luke Smallbone

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

Dara MacLean

Athletic staff members at Ferrum are doing their part in living the

sports

Ferrum Athletic Staff Involved in the Community College’s motto, “Not Self, But Others.” Many coaches and support staff are involved with outside organizations, run free sports clinics and volunteer their time to help others.

Men’s Basketball Coach Bill Tharp served on the Habitat for Humanity of Franklin County board from 2009–11. Tharp and his team also volunteered during the 2011–12 school year with physical education classes at Ferrum Elementary School.

Women’s Lacrosse Coach Karen Harvey helped start girl’s lacrosse in Franklin County. The program is run through the Franklin County Parks & Recreation Department, and Harvey coaches the girls elementary and middle school teams.

This will be Harvey’s fourth year with the program.

Bill Tharp

Karen Harvey

Mark Frey

TJ Oakes Agee ‘98

Brian Harvey

Nate Yetzer

Men’s Lacrosse Coach Mark Frey helped start a youth program in Franklin County. Frey and his players have conducted clinics and met with elementary, middle school and high school physical education teachers to introduce them to the sport with the hope on adding it to the curriculum. Frey’s team has worked with the Lion’s Club Can Food Drive, collecting over 450 items for the Lake Christian Ministries Food Bank.

Cheerleading Coach TJ Oakes Agee ’98 volunteers her time at community colleges, schools and local YMCAs, judging cheer tryouts and teaching cheer material or basic cheer fundamentals. She volunteers at a local preschool, with church activities, and at the Roanoke Rescue Mission. Agee is currently working on bringing a Fellowship of Christian Athletes back to the Ferrum campus.

Women’s Basketball Coach Bryan Harvey has twice served as guest speaker at the opening ceremonies for Girls AAU National Championships hosted by the City of Salem. Harvey also served as a guest speaker at a Men’s Breakfast at Lynn Haven Baptist Church in Salem, and has worked with Ferrum Elementary School teaching a unit on basketball to physical education classes.

Wrestling Coach Nate Yetzer offered a series of free clinics to middle and high school wrestlers in the Roanoke Valley this past fall. Over 40 wrestlers attended the various clinics, which had volunteer instructors from local colleges, including a pair of NCAA Division I All-Americans.

SPORTS pg. 64

pg. 65

pg. 66

pg. 68

pg. 71

pg. 72

Ferrum Athletic Staff Involved in the Community............................63 Panthers Host Roy Stanley Education Classic...................................64 ESPN Home of the Panthers.............................................................64 Former All-American Locks in Wrestling Head Coach Position........65 Journey from Player to Head Coach.................................................66 Sports on Campus...........................................................................68 Panther Hoopsters Triumph.............................................................71 Student Athlete Profiles...................................................................72

63 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

sports

Athletic Staff in the Community (continued) Athletics Office Manager Gail Holley helps coordinate the annual Fish Fry fundraiser in Henry, Virginia, the proceeds for which go to the Henry Community Center and Fire Department.

Men’s Golf Coach Adam Crawford ’07 volunteers at Great Oaks Country Club with a two-day Ladies Golf Clinic, and also with Junior Golf Camps held throughout the summer at the facility located in Floyd, Virginia. Crawford also works with Junior Golf Clinics throughout the summer at The Meadows Golf and Swim Club.

Softball Coach and Senior Woman Administrator Vickie Van Kleeck is involved with the Lunch Buddy program at Ferrum Elementary School, a partnership that pairs local business/community leaders with students. Van Kleeck also organizes youth fast-pitch softball clinics held each February on the Ferrum campus.

Sports Information Director and Assistant AD Gary Holden has been involved with Wood for Warmth, an organization that splits and delivers firewood to families in Franklin County, for the past six years. Holden has volunteered his time as a high school, middle school and youth wrestling coach in Franklin County for the past 20 years. He is an Assistant Scoutmaster with BSA Troop 456 in Rocky Mount and has been involved as a scouting leader in the county for 13 years. Holden currently sits on Franklin County’s Recreation Advisory Committee. n

Tharp Gail Holley

Adam Crawford ’07

Vickie Van Kleeck

Gary Holden

Pa n t h e rs Host W e st e r n V i rg i n i a Ferrum College partnered with Total Action Against Poverty (TAP) and WDBJ-7 to host the 2012 Western Virginia Education Classic (WVEC) in the Panthers’ W.B. Adams Stadium.

In honor of the late Roy Stanley, a WDBJ-7 sportscaster for more than 30 years, the WVEC game was renamed the Western Virginia Roy Stanley Education Classic.

First held in September 2000, the WVEC is played annually to secure ongoing financial support for Project Recovery, TAP’s program aimed at returning dropouts to school or into remedial/alternative education, jobrelated training, employment or a combination of these.

Home of the Panthers Ferrum sports fans can catch Home of the Panthers on ESPN Radio in Virginia Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. Ferrum’s Athletic Department hosts the talk show, aired on five stations within a 75-mile radius of the College. Local radio stations that carry the feed are: WGMN 1350 AM in Roanoke, WBLT 1350 AM in Bedford, WVGM 93.3 FM and 1320 AM in Lynchburg, and WMNA 106.3 FM in Danville.

64 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

sports

Conference titles in 2004 and 2005, and earned the Eastern Wrestling League title in 2004. Yetzer was a four-time NCAA Division I Tournament qualifier, and capped his 2004 season with an AllAmerican finish when he placed 8th in the 174-pound weight class.

Yetzer prepped at Madison High School in Ohio. He was an Ohio High School Athletic Association state finalist in 1999 and 2000, winning a state title his senior year in 2000. Yetzer went on to a National High School Coaches Association national runner-up finish in 2000, and earned five Freestyle and Greco-Roman AllAmerican finishes.

Former All-American Locks in Wrestling Head Coach Position

Yetzer earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Edinboro in 2005 and his Master of Arts degree in Health Promotions from Virginia Tech in 2012. Yetzer and his wife, the former Leah Scott, have twin boys, three-year olds Jack and Nick. The Yetzers reside in a home on the Ferrum campus.

Following the announcement last summer that Ferrum would add varsity wrestling to its roster of NCAA Division III athletics, Director of Athletics Abe Naff introduced Nate Yetzer as Head Wrestling Coach at a press conference in the Hank Norton Center. Yetzer comes to Ferrum from Blacksburg, Virginia, where he served the past six years as an Assistant Coach for the Virginia Tech wrestling program.

Yetzer is a member of the National Wrestling Coaches Association, Wrestlers in Business, and USA Wrestling. In his spare time, Yetzer enjoys spending time with his family, including taking his family with him on trips and vacations and being involved with Ferrum and the surrounding community. n

Y

etzer helped the Hokies to a #11 finish at the 2012 NCAA Division I Tournament. Virginia Tech had two All-Americans, three ACC champions and six NCAA qualifiers in 2012. Yetzer also assisted with recruitment and visitations of potential Virginia Tech student-athletes, fundraising activities, travel coordination and monitoring academic progress of student-athletes.

Yetzer wrestled for NCAA Division I Edinboro University from 2001–05.

He won Pennsylvania State Athletic

Shown above: Nate Yetzer, Leah, and their sons, Jake and Nick. Shown below: Yetzer during a television interview following the grand opening of the newly renovated Ferrum College wrestling facility.

Prior to joining the Hokies staff, Yetzer served as assistant coach at Binghamton University in Vestal, New York. In that role, he helped with all facets of the Bearcats’ NCAA Division I wrestling program. Yetzer served four years (2000–04) as a clinician at the Bruce Baumgartner World-Class Wrestling Camps in Edinboro, Pennsylvania. He also served as an assistant wrestling coach for four years (2002–04, 2006) for the Ohio Junior National Team.

65 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

sports

James Johnson ’93

“ Great players don’t always make great coaches.

Great coaches are the people who understand the whole game— those are the people who will succeed.”

– Bill Pullen, former Ferrum College Basketball Coach

Journey from Player to Head Coach

T

wenty years before he was named head coach of the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team, James Johnson ’93 was a Ferrum College standout who was hired as an Assistant Coach by his mentor and former Panther coach, Bill Pullen. “Whatever you had to get done for the team, Johnson would make the sacrifice,” Pullen said.

“He always guarded the best player we were facing—it didn’t matter what position they were. As hard as he’s worked and as dedicated as he’s been, I knew he was going to be a head coach.”

66

After working at Division III schools, including Ferrum, Longwood and Hargrave Military Academy, Johnson moved to NCAA Division I as an assistant at Old Dominion.

He went on to Elon, the College of

Charleston, Penn State and George Mason before joining the staff at Virginia Tech.

After five seasons as an assistant coach for the Hokies under Seth Greenberg, Johnson replaced the man he used to work for. He is the only current ACC men’s basketball coach without any previous head coaching experience.

Johnson, a 2009 inductee into the Sports Hall of Fame, played for Ferrum from 1989 to 1993 and helped the Panthers advance to the 1992 NCAA Division III tournament and win two straight Dixie Conference regularseason titles. He is one of six children who grew up in the Richmond suburb of Powhatan and attributes his work ethic to his parents, who divorced when he was in college. His mother was a nurse at a prison and his father was a member the housekeeping staff at the Robins Center, University of Richmond’s basketball arena. States Johnson, “What was instilled in me at an early age was, ‘Whatever you do, be the best at it.’”

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

Hailed by many of his former and current colleagues for his leadership, teaching and recruiting skills, Johnson is still close to his former Ferrum coach and hopes he can be the type of head coach Pullen was.

And that includes lessons relevant both on and off the court, such as what it means to a member of a team and the importance of completing a college degree. Says Johnson, “I want to try to coach my team up to the best of my ability so we can play the best basketball we can play, we can be the best youngsters we can be and be the best students.” n

The nationally ranked 1993 Panther basketball team.

H

“

e was the life of our long trips to away games and really kept things going, but when it was game time, the fun was over. He was all basketball.” That is how former Ferrum College basketball coach Bill Pullen describes his player and friend, James Johnson. “James always did what he had to do to achieve success; he always understood all aspects of the game. I think that is what makes him an outstanding coach today,” says Pullen.

Pullen remains close to Johnson and was an invited guest at the press conference where Johnson was announced as the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Virginia Tech.

Bill Pullen During the conference, a reporter mentioned that Johnson did not have any prior head coaching experience. Johnson looked back at Pullen, smiled a bit and told the reporter that he did, in fact, have some head coaching experience while serving as Pullen’s assistant at Ferrum; Johnson noted that Pullen was ejected from several games, leaving Johnson to run the team.

“That was true,” says Pullen. “I got a kick out of him mentioning that!”

Pullen believes that Johnson’s work ethic and desire to be the best have served him well in his coaching career, as has his caring and honest personality. “I believe playing and coaching at Ferrum helped put all those aspects together— understanding people, family, basketball

and the school environment. James is truly well rounded,” Pullen says.

Pullen’s history with Ferrum gives credence to his evaluation of Johnson.

The life of the Division III coach is often hectic, requiring the coach to fill many roles. “I had to drive the vans to games, supervise the players, and often taught classes or had other responsibilities on campus. During my years at Ferrum, I served as the Associate Admissions Director, Foreign Student Advisor and as an Assistant Professor—all while coaching in some capacity.”

Pullen remembers one night in particular when his team had an away game in Newport News. One of the players injured his ankle and had to be taken to the hospital after the game. Pullen left Newport News and finally collapsed in his office at 5:30 a.m., with only 2 ½ hours before he had to teach an 8 a.m. class.

“I will never forget Hank Norton, who was an early morning swimmer, walking past my office at 5:30 a.m., seeing me in my overcoat and the suit I had worn the day before and just shaking his head and walking on by,” says Pullen.

sports

Former Coach Pullen Commends Johnson’s Attitude and Teamwork “ Ferrum is now and always has been a place where students and student-athletes have the opportunity to get the most out of their college careers. Ferrum builds character.”

“Coaching college basketball is very time consuming, from daily practices, to games, to recruiting trips. I remember that as an assistant, Johnson never rushed any of his duties. He always took his time and demonstrated his tremendous work ethic,” says Pullen, also noting that as a player, Johnson was uncomplicated.

Pullen saw that he had two qualities that made him an invaluable asset to the team: he was a hard worker and a team player.

“I still bleed black and gold!” says Pullen, who lives in the Ferrum area and owns an insurance business. Pullen remembers fondly the life lessons he learned and the players he met at Ferrum College.

“Ferrum is now and always has been a place where students and student-athletes have the opportunity to get the most out of their college careers. Ferrum builds character,” says Pullen. And while he isn’t in the basketball business anymore, he still knows how to recognize great coaches, like Johnson: “Great players don’t always make great coaches. Great coaches are the people who understand the whole game—those are the people who will succeed.”

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

67

sports

Ferrum’s other Academic All-Americans are Elizabeth Adams (women’s tennis/ soccer third team, 2000) and Dustin Hamoy (football second team, 2006).

2012 was a banner year for Ferrum’s Paul Jaglowski, who earned Academic All-America first team, USA South Baseball Player of the Year, Ferrum College President’s Cup and the USA South Don Scalf Award.

Jaglowski Named Academic All-America

Jaglowski was the USA South Baseball Player of the Year in 2012 as well as an All-Conference first team selection. He started every game during his four-year career, making the All-Conference and Academic All-Conference teams each season. Jaglowski earned the Ferrum President’s Cup in 2012, naming him the College’s top graduating student-athlete.

An International Studies major with a double minor in Spanish and Economics, Jaglowski made the Dean’s List every semester. He holds membership in the Boone Honors Program, as well as Alpha Chi, Alpha Mu Gamma, and Pi Sigma Alpha honor societies. Jaglowski earned Ferrum’s Douglas W. Foard Award last spring, honoring him as the College’s top graduating International Studies student.

Ferrum College’s Paul Jaglowski has been named to the 2012 Capital One Academic All-America® Division III Baseball Team. Jaglowski was one of four infielders named to the first team. Jaglowski is only the fourth student-athlete from Ferrum to earn Academic All-America honors and just the second to earn first team honors after Wilson Paine (men’s tennis first team 2007).

Ferrum Places 73 on Academic All-Conference Team

The 2012 USA South Academic All-Conference Team was announced this summer, and 73 student-athletes from Ferrum College have been recognized. This season, 851 athletes earned Academic All-Conference honors from the USA South. A student-athlete must have earned a minimum 3.0 grade point average in each of the two semesters of a given year to be eligible for the USA South’s Academic All-Conference Team.

Leading the way for Ferrum were 15 student-athletes who earned both academic and athletic All-Conference honors. The Panther softball team, which won the 2012 USA South Tournament and participated in the NCAA playoffs, had five players earn double honors: Brittany Barlow, Kaitlyn Culler, Kylene Culler, Hannah Shumaker and Rachel Shumaker. Joining them were Wesley Franklin, Steven Harris and Jack McDowell from football; Gabby Dobbs and Kara Pegram from women’s soccer; Paul Jaglowski and Wes Walker from baseball; Vinsetta Secret-McDaniel from women’s lacrosse; Kristen Keith from women’s basketball; and Christopher Miller from men’s tennis.

Jaglowski and Hannah Shumaker both earned academic and athletic All-Conference honors four straight years. Jaglowski was the 2012 USA South Baseball Player of the Year. Shumaker was named Most Valuable Player at the 2012 USA South Softball Tournament after helping the Panthers win the tournament and advance to the NCAA Division III playoffs.

68 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

sports Golfer Scott Obenshain earned a runner-up finish at the Ted Keller Memorial Tournament Oct. 6-7 at Hunting Hills Golf Club in Glen Allen.

Ferrum won a share of the 2012 USA South football championship, the program’s fourth league title.

Fall Sports Season Wraps Up The Panther fall teams closed action in early November. A highlight to the fall season was the football team winning a share of the 2012 USA South title. The Panthers finished 7–3 under Coach Dave Harper ’89 and had 13 players earn AllConference honors. Harper is now 14–6 as a head coach after two seasons. The volleyball team went 3–22 under first-year Coach Jess Flanagan ’10, men’s soccer went 7–9–3 under third-year Coach Andrew Pauly with one All-Conference player, and while women’s soccer finished 8–11 under first-year Coach Liesl Narrow.

Coach Jordon Robinson’s men’s tennis

team is 0–1, while his women’s tennis team is 1–0. Four members of the men’s team traveled to Fredericksburg in October to compete in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regionals, Ferrum’s first regional appearance in over 15 years.

Coach Adam Crawford ’07s men’s golf team finished third at the HampdenSydney Invitational this fall. Junior Scott Obenshain posted a runner-up showing at the Ted Keller Memorial Tournament, finishing two strokes off the lead. Coach Rob Fuller ’08s men’s and women’s crosscountry teams were also in action this fall.

New Faces in Athletics Joining the Ferrum athletic staff this year are a number of new faces, including three new head coaches: Tom Calomeris (swimming), Jessica Flanagan ’10 (volleyball) and Nate Yetzer (wrestling). Also joining the staff are Assistant Athletic Trainer Katie Frick, Assistant Men’s Lacrosse Coach Bo Ingalsbe, Assistant Volleyball Coach Ruthanne Duffy and Assistant Men’s Soccer Coach Rod Baker ’03. Flanagan and Baker are both Ferrum alums. Liesl Narrow, who served a year as Assistant Women’s Soccer Coach, was promoted to head coach this summer.

Ferrum’s 2011–12 Honorees Micah Abel Anneleisse Alvarez Brittany Baker Brittany Barlow* Caitlin Bettinger Shelby Bowling Anna Bowser Arielle Boyd Tyler Brubaker Courtney Burner Peter Byron Jimmy Carleton Maryann Castaneda Patrick Cathro Ashley Clements

Allison Conner Erick Cox Brian Cox Kaitlyn Culler* Kylene Culler* Kai Dabney Taylor Davis Gabby Dobbs* Kyle Downey Laura Duenas Ivan Eames Alicia Eichenlaub Lindsay Etherton Amanda Farmer Tyler Faubert

Wesley Franklin* Anthony Garcia Rachel Garner Kayla Goins Marshall Hamilton Rebecca Harbeck Jacob Hardy Steven Harris* Taryn Hayden Morgan Heath Lisa Hicks Nicole Hinkley Sammy Holloway Trey Isaac Paul Jaglowski*

Kristen Keith* Jordan Link Josh Liptak Avery Long Josh Mahaffey Brittany Martin Jack McDowell* Erin Miller Chris Miller* Kristen Monroe Hailey Moran Wade Ostrowski Hank Parsley Kara Pegram* Scott Puschell

Matt Racer Demetry Sawyers Carson Scott Vinsetta Secret- McDaniel* Hannah Shumaker* Rachel Shumaker* Allie Sokolik Cassie Stroud Teara Terry Wes Walker* Mike Walter Megan Webb Melissa Windsor

*Athletic & Academic All-Conference honorees 69 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

sports

Fall 2012 All-Conference Teams Announced

Ferrum QB Tim Reynolds was the 2012 USA South Offensive Player of the Year. Reynolds was one of 13 players who earned All-Conference honors, including seven first-team selections.

Ferrum fall sports teams had a number of student-athletes earn All-Conference honors, including 13 players from the football team. Quarterback Tim Reynolds was named the 2012 USA South Offensive Player of the Year. Ferrum has now collected three consecutive Offensive Player of the Year awards, including back-toback league honors for Marcus Mayo in 2010 and 2011. Joining Reynolds on the All-Conference team were offensive lineman J.L. Tyree, defensive lineman Lynwood Pickett, linebacker Jatavious Adams, defensive backs Tae Motley and Tarrell Owens, and punter Wesley Franklin. Fullback Jericho James and defensive lineman DeRon Dillard earned second team honors, while running back Tyler Brubaker, wide receiver Derrick West, defensive lineman Shawn Winfrey and placekicker Scott Puschell were honorable mentions. Men’s soccer player Aaron Gustine earned honorable mention after breaking the school record for career goals (20) and career scoring (48 points).

Six Named Academic All-State When the 2012 Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) Academic All-State Team was released in July, Ferrum was represented by six selections. VaSID recognized 210 student-athletes from 35 different schools for their academic performance during the past school year. Deserving student-athletes who were at least in their sophomore year and had a minimum 3.2 grade point average were eligible for the honor. The team includes all levels of college athletics in Virginia, including NCAA Division I, II, III and NAIA schools.

Wrestling is one of Ferrum’s newest programs. The Panthers are competing as a club program this year, with varsity competition slated for 2013–14.

New Programs Added to Athletics

Ferrum’s 2011–12 VaSID Academic All-State Honorees: • • • • •

•

Kaitlyn Culler, Junior, Softball, Health Science and Biology major, from Stuart, VA Paul Jaglowski, Sr., Baseball, International Studies major, from Chesapeake, VA Josh Liptak, Junior, Men’s Lacrosse, Pre-Professional Science major, from Cary, NC Chris Miller, Junior, Men’s Tennis, International Studies major, from Chandler, AZ Vinsetta Secret-McDaniel, Senior, Women’s Lacrosse, Psychology major, from Hampton, VA Hannah Shumaker, Senior, Softball, Biology major, from Blanch, NC

Wrestling and men’s swimming have been added to the athletic offerings at Ferrum.

The College announced in June that it would start wrestling, then announced in August that men’s swimming would be added. Both sports will compete at the club level for the 2012–13 academic year, then become varsity programs in 2013–14.

Wrestling currently has a roster of 30 student-athletes, while swimming looks to have 8–10 student-athletes.

70

Ferrum has been picked to win the 2013 USA South women’s basketball crown. The Panthers won last year’s USA South regular season and tournament titles, and advanced to the NCAA playoffs for the first time in 17 seasons.

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

sports

Panther Hoopsters Triumph

The Ferrum College men’s and women’s basketball teams enjoyed exciting seasons this year, both battling for USA South regular season titles the last weekend of the season.

Coach Bryan Harvey’s women shared the title with Christopher Newport and Maryville, and earned the top seed in the USA South Tournament. The Panthers fell in the title game but earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament by virtue of their stellar 24–4 record and an impressive strength of schedule, allowing them to break into two national top 25 polls by mid-January. The Ferrum women opened the NCAA Tournament at a regional hosted by Emory University in Atlanta March 1–2.

Coach Bill Tharp’s men finished second in the USA South regular season standings and advanced to the league’s postseason tournament semifinals before being eliminated.

The College retired jersey #33 of Derek Mitchell ’11. Mitchell is the first Panther ever honored as a first team All-American. He was also named South Region and USA South Player of the year in 2011. Other milestones included senior Lamont King ’13, who registered his 1000th career point, and Head Coach Bill Tharp who earned his 100th career win in a 68–65 win over Averett on January 9.

Harvey and Tharp both were named USA South Coach of the Year. It was Harvey’s third such league honor, and Tharp’s second.

71 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

Student-Athletes Compete on the Field, on the Court and in the Classroom

sports

Tesla Akers ’13

Princeton, West Virginia Major: Liberal Arts Minor: Elementary Education and Coaching

“ Attending Ferrum College has helped mold me into a better student, leader and athlete. Ferrum has given me the opportunities and tools I need to reach my goals.”

Career Plans: Tesla plans to teach and coach women’s basketball after graduation.

72 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

Richmond, Virginia

Major: Health and Human Performance Minor: Education and Coaching Career Plans: Tyler plans to teach and coach after graduation.

Campus Activities: Women’s Basketball Team (Captain), Women’s Lacrosse Team

“ Ferrum was the perfect fit for me because it gave me the opportunity to be in a close-knit family atmosphere that was welcoming both on and off the court. Ferrum has given me the opportunity to build myself into the successful person I plan to be.”

Tyler Edgar ’16

Campus Activities: Wrestling Team

Caitlin Bettinger ’15 Chesapeake, Virginia

Major: Political Science Minor: International Studies and Spanish Career Plans: Caitlin plans to join the military and attend graduate school.

Campus Activities: Cheerleading Team (Captain), Lambda Sigma President, Ferrum Leadership Fellows, Resident Assistant

“Ferrum was a great opportunity for me to not only become a better athlete, but a better student. I love everything about Ferrum.”

Josh Liptak ’13 Cary, North Carolina

Major: Pre-Professional Science Minor: Chemistry and Coaching

“After my recruiting trip last year I knew Ferrum was the perfect fit for me. I felt as if I was already a part of the community and the swim team. The connection I made with the swimmers was something special; something I didn’t make when I was visiting other schools. Ferrum’s environment has been welcoming to me all around, especially in the classroom. I know I made the right decision by coming here, and I look forward to my next four years with the swimming program.”

Career Plans: Josh plans to attend graduate school to study physical therapy and coach high school lacrosse after graduating from Ferrum.

Eddie Kurzenberger ’14 Wooster, Ohio

Major: Health & Human Performance, Emphasis in Exercise Studies Minor: Coaching Career Plans: Eddie plans to become an athletic trainer and coach soccer and/or lacrosse.

He would like to one day own a soccer or lacrosse club.

Campus Activities: Men’s Soccer Team, Men’s Lacrosse Team

Kenny Tapscott ’13 Nokesville, Virginia

Major: Environmental Science Career Plans: Kenny would like to work for an energy conservation company after graduation and possibly coach.

Campus Activities: Football Team, Football Academic Leadership Award

Campus Activities: Men’s Lacrosse Team

“ At Ferrum, I found great athletic and academic environments.

The small school atmosphere here complements both aspects of the school so well.”

sports

“ Ferrum was a great opportunity for me to get away from my comfort zone and try something new.

When I first arrived on campus it was breathtaking just how beautiful Ferrum is. Overall, Ferrum has made me a better person, stronger athlete and even a better student.

Without the help from the people here I would not be where I am today.”

Jess Rowsey ’16

Durham, North Carolina Major: Criminal Justice Career Plans: Jess is considering law school after graduation.

Campus Activities: Women’s Swimming Team

“ I decided to enroll at Ferrum College because my father is an alum.

With their great environmental science program, I felt like it would be a great fit for me academically.

Playing football was a plus and has molded me into be an honest, hardworking person. Ferrum is a great place, and I wouldn’t change this experience for the world.”

73

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

alumni

Ferrum College Alumni Board of Directors Anna E. Bowser ’12 Buchanan, VA Samuel L. Camden ’66 Roanoke, VA J. Randy Cline ’67 Harrisonburg, VA Kevin O. Dill ’79 Roanoke, VA Hila Maxey Foutz ’96 Rocky Mount, VA Cory L. Guilliams ’02 Penn Laird, VA Steve D. Harmon ’96 Mechanicsville, VA Joanna Gruver Hudzik ’01 Glade Hill, VA Walter Paul Matthews ’07 Virginia Beach, VA

William A. Moore ’12 Richmond, VA Wilson T. Paine ’07 Arlington, VA Brian K. Redd ’99 Roanoke, VA Annie Mae Dowdy Rose ’57 Nellysford, VA Ronald E. Singleton ’70 Fredericksburg, VA D. Stuart Smith ’95 Roanoke, VA Steve Walker ’70 Roanoke, VA Jeff A. Wilson ’85 Hobe Sound, FL Amanda Cobler Witt ’04 Collinsville, VA

Leadership: Joyce Bernice Cobbs ’98 President Rocky Mount, VA Oden L. Cornwell, III ’02 Vice President Boones Mill, VA Joel L. Wilson ’81 Immediate Past President Mount Holly, VA Edward W. States ’57 Golden Panther President Wirtz, VA

Lifetime Members: Ethelyne F. Daniel ’43 Danville, VA Bruce A. Griffith ’66 Stuart, VA

New Alumni Board Members

Cory L. Guilliams ’02

Steve D. Harmon ’96

William A. Moore ’12

ALUMNI pg. 76

pg. 78

pg. 82

pg. 85

pg. 86

pg. 88

74 Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

pg. 84

Anna E. Bowser ’12

Hila Maxey Foutz ’96

Brian K. Redd ’99

Ronald E. Singleton ’70

Distinguished Alumni Award 2011

Mr. Charles Abernathy ’45.....................................................75 Sports Hall of Fame 2012 .............................................................76 Young Alumni Find New Role within Ferrum Family ....................78 Alumni Profiles:

Matt Broughton ’80............................................................. 80

Scott Showalter ’73...............................................................81

Burdett Thompson ’82..........................................................82 Save the Date—2013 Events........................................................83 Alumni Chapter Events................................................................ 84 Golden Panthers...........................................................................85 Out & About................................................................................ 86 Tracking Panthers........................................................................ 88

• have a record of exceptional career achievement and of service to their community, church or other organizations.

•

alumni

The Ferrum College Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes the outstanding achievements of alumni who

have been active in College life during their time at Ferrum and have remained involved in and supportive of Ferrum College as alumni.

• exemplify in all aspects of their lives the spirit of Ferrum’s motto, “Not Self, But Others.”

Mr. Charles “Mac” Abernathy ’45

A

lthough he would have preferred to stay at Ferrum in order to attain a few courses which were at the time not offered, in 1945 he transferred to Brevard College in North Carolina to finish his last semester of junior college. When asked, he says he still believes he should have stayed at Ferrum and graduated with his classmates. After graduation Abernathy joined the Merchant Marine Corp and worked transferring troops back from Italy, France and North Africa. Upon his return to the states after the war, Mac volunteered for a stint in the U.S. Army, eventually attending Randolph Macon College and completing his degree in 1950.

Abernathy worked for the state health department in the Suffolk area and was involved in a variety of civic clubs and community organizations, serving as a

local and national leader in the Junior Chamber of Commerce. In 1963 he received the Distinguished Service Award from the City of Suffolk, which led to him also being selected to be published in the book “Outstanding Young Men of America” in 1965. He excelled at work in the banking and investment fields and received “The Sammy” award, which recognized his sales success and relationship-building skills.

Abernathy served 12 years on the Suffolk School Board, where he helped organize local governments and school divisions and helped create a jointly operated P.D. Pruden Vocational Technical Center.

He has been a consistent and generous supporter of Ferrum College and worked with classmates to establish the Greater Hampton Roads Scholarship Fund and the Tidewater alumni chapter. He

At the age of 16, Charles “Mac” Abernathy embarked on his journey from Brunswick County, Virginia, to Ferrum Junior College and arrived at the start of World War II when families were struggling and the future seemed bleak. In spite of the circumstances, he worked hard and created lifelong friends at Ferrum. and his wife, Ann, are members of the Beckham Society and have established the Charles “Mac” Abernathy ’45 Endowed Scholarship Fund, which will provide scholarship assistance to Ferrum College students for years to come. He states that “Ferrum College helped me to have an education. I want to give others that same chance.”

Recently, Abernathy, an avid reader, donated a large collection of historical books about World War II and the Civil War to Ferrum College. When he learned that the College had an interest in expanding this section of the library, he willingly shared his resources with his alma mater. Current and future Panthers now have the opportunity to share and to learn from his collection and his generosity. n

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

75

alumni

Rahsul Burney ’86 Greensboro, north carolina

Matt Cross ’69

Mechanicsville, Virginia

Kevin Sherman ’92 Blacksburg, Virginia

Julie ShifflettThomas ’96 Shenandoah, Virginia

Sports Hall of Fame 2012 Inductees exemplify the highest ideals of small college athletics, sportsmanship and the spirit of the Ferrum College motto “Not Self, But Others.”

Homecoming Weekend brought the announcement of new members elected to the Alumni Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2012. Inductees included Rahsul Burney ’86, Matt Cross ’69, Kevin Sherman ’92, and Julie Shifflett-Thomas ’96. Dr. Frank McCue was honored with a special posthumous recognition.

R

ahsul “Rock” Burney played

basketball at Ferrum College from 1982 through 1986. As a freshman, he was the leading rebounder in Region X (10) and fifth in the nation for the NJCAA, averaging 15 points and 13 rebounds a game. Burney served as team captain in 1983, but was forced to miss the season due to severe injuries from an auto accident.

In his final year with the Panthers, he led team in rebounding and was the first recipient of the Wallace Dalton Rebounding Award.

76

After graduating from Ferrum, Burney earned a degree at Hampton University, taught 11th grade English and coached basketball, football and track. He earned a master’s degree from North Carolina A&T State University, graduating with honors and a 4.0 GPA. Instrumental in the successful development of the first alternative education program in Martinsville and Henry County, Burney also assisted with Panther summer basketball camps.

For the past 22 years Burney has worked for Guilford County, North Carolina, serving in managerial roles, clinician roles and as an Adult Home Specialist, monitoring assisted living homes for compliance and licensure. He is the owner of R&R Productions, a 15-year-old top event promotion company on the East Coast. Presently a 5th Degree Black Belt in Martial Arts (Kyokushinkai), Burney has won several tournaments in the heavyweight division. He is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, where he manages mandated community programs.

Burney’s family includes his wife, Teresa, and three children: Nakia, Dominique and Caitlyn. n

M

att Cross played football for

Ferrum College as starting cornerback on the 1968 national championship team. After he completed the 1968 and 1969 seasons he went on to play two years at Emory & Henry, where he started every game and was twice named Small College All-State.

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

Cross returned to Ferrum in 1974 to serve as assistant football coach under Hank Norton helping the Panthers win their third NJCAA national championship and making him one of the few Ferrum players ever to both play on as well as coach a national championship team.

Cross is also a gifted artist and assisted with the design and production of Ferrum’s 1968 national championship ring. He served as the second chair of the SHOF committee and prior to the inaugural induction of athletes in 1988, researched and contacted many surviving members of Ferrum’s Marshall-8, inviting them to attend the ceremony.

His philanthropic efforts over the years include support of various athletic programs and capital projects on campus.

A talented, well-rounded athlete, on the links Cross continues to score eagles and win frequent longest-drive contests he is a member of YMCA 500-Mile Lap Club, and has earned at least 15 Virginia and North Carolina fishing citations.

Currently Cross’s artwork takes up a lot of his time, with his sculptures earning him numerous Best in Show awards along with sales in Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky and Vermont. His work is on exhibit in the Morris Museum of Southern Art in Augusta, Georgia. His graduate school thesis was published and includes his involvement with the Ferrum 1968 national championship team, the Marshall University tragedy and his life in art. Cross is married to the former Nancy Sink ’69, whom he met while they both attended Ferrum College. n

K

evin Sherman played wide receiver at Ferrum College from 1988 to 1990. During his career he helped the Panthers win two South Region Championships in 1988 and 1989 and made appearances in the NCAA Division III National Semifinals both years. He was named team captain in 1990, and won the team’s Most Valuable Player Award and Ferrum’s Big Green Award.

Dr. Frank Cyrus McCue, III

Sherman has had a very successful college coaching career since leaving Ferrum, beginning in the fall of 1991 as a student assistant coach under Coach Hank Norton. Coaching positions include Methodist College 1992–93, Virginia Military Institute 1993–96, Ohio University 1997–2000, Wake Forest University 2000-2006, NFL Minority

Internship with the Denver Broncos 2004.

Since 2006 Sherman has served as Wide Receivers Coach at Virginia Tech. He has coached in eight bowl games: 2002 Seattle Bowl (Wake Forest vs. Oregon), 2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl (Virginia Tech vs.

Georgia), 2007 Orange Bowl (Virginia Tech vs. Kansas), 2008 Orange Bowl (Virginia Tech vs. Cincinnati), 2009 Chick-fil-A Bowl (Virginia Tech vs.

Tennessee), 2010 Orange Bowl (Virginia Tech vs. Stanford), and in the 2011 Sugar Bowl (Virginia Tech vs. Michigan).

Sherman is married to the former Jennifer Williams and has two children, a son, James, and a daughter, Nioka. He is a native of Radford, Virginia, and in his off time is involved with raising scholarship money for students in need at Radford High School. n

J

ulie Shifflett-Thomas is the first

member of the Ferrum softball team to be inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame.

She played both softball and volleyball for the Panthers from 1993 to 1996.

Shifflett was voted by the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) to the AllState Softball first team and was Softball Player of the Year in 1996. Her kudos include: USA South Athletic Conference Silver Anniversary Softball Team, USA South All-Conference 1st team, 1995 and 1996; and USA South Softball Player of the Year, 1996.

While at Ferrum, Shifflett-Thomas was involved with the Psychology Club,

Dr. Frank McCue

was an internationally recognized orthopedic surgeon and doctor to sports teams in the state of Virginia who was considered one of the world’s best hand surgeons. During his distinguished career, not only did he treat thousands of athletes of all ages from across the commonwealth, but also a wide range of folks, including professional athletes, Supreme Court justices, foreign dignitaries and famous actors. But his first love was football and the players. It was not unusual to find several athletes in various stages of recovery sprawled in the living room of his home and being tended to by his wife Nancy. He was a mentor, a father figure and a friend as well as a renowned physician.

When Ferrum Junior College played for the National Championships in the Shrine Bowl at Savannah, Georgia in 1965, 1966 and 1968, “Doc” McCue traveled at his own expense to be with the team. He was a great friend to Ferrum athletes and attended many of their medical needs over the years.

Dr. McCue served as surgeon to Ferrum College, the University of Richmond, William and Mary, and VMI programs before they had their own doctors. He was an

alumni

He worked as a bricklayer and mortar salesman until 2002, earning many sales awards.

Dr. Braaten with Kevin Sherman’s parents, who accepted the SHOF certificate in his absence.

Students Against Drunk Driving and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Post-graduation she began an awardwinning career in pharmaceutical sales, earning $200k Club winner (Top Sales), Best Software awards and working as the National Corporate Trainer and Area Sales Manager for Centex Homes.

Shifflett-Thomas serves her community as a volleyball official, a Town Recreation League Volunteer Softball Coach and Umpire, a participant in the annual TwoDay Multiple Sclerosis Challenge Walk and as a church Youth Leader. She is married to Chuck Thomas and has two children, Hailey and Collin. n If you would like to nominate an alumnus/a for membership in the Ferrum College Sports Hall of Fame, please do so online at www.ferrumpanthers.com.

Below: Dr. Braaten with Hank Norton, who accepted the posthumously awarded special recognition for Dr. McCue.

orthopedic surgeon at the University of Virginia and was the Head of the Sports Medicine Department for 41 years. It was not unusual for him to take unpaid vacation so he could attend football practices. “He did things out of care and love for the players, not just because he’s the doctor and that’s his job,” Assistant Coach Anthony Poindexter told the UVA alumni magazine. “You’d think it was a fairy tale if somebody told you about Doc McCue. You’d think that there’s no way in the world that anybody could be that kind and generous.”

A West Virginia native, Dr. McCue obtained his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Virginia, in 1952 and 1956. He passed away on July 8, 2012, at 82 years of age, and was survived by his wife of 49 years, Nancy Nestor McCue, his son Frank Joseph McCue his daughter Marylyle McCue Reiter and a large extended family.

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

77

alumni

Young Alumni Find New Role within Ferrum Family

The pride you feel for your alma mater begins with that campus tour, when you know that you have found the right college for you. From that moment on you are steeped in the history, traditions and the spirit of your college … becoming a family. Of course, when the time comes to leave, just like family, it’s not always easy to say goodbye. Ferrum will always be family for alumni.

There are some who decided to continue the Panther legacy by changing roles— from student to faculty or staff. These young alums, and many others, returned to Ferrum to fill the roles of the same people who helped teach, guide and mentor them as students. They have found their future in their past Ferrum family and so continue the tradition of “Not Self, But Others.”

Brooke Gill is a 2005 graduate of the Performing and Visual Arts program and is the current Lead Development Researcher and Grant Writer in the Institutional Advancement office at Ferrum.

During her time at Ferrum Brooke helped found and served as president for the local sorority Theta Gamma Omega. After graduating she attended Hollins University and received an M.A.L.S. in Humanities.

“I didn’t want to attend Ferrum at first. I wanted to leave home for school. It was my mom who convinced me to at least apply and go to an open house at Ferrum. My mom was a nontraditional student and received her degree in Education from Ferrum in 1991. Like most children I hated to admit that my mom was right, but I couldn’t deny that Ferrum made me feel welcome and comfortable during a transitional time in my life. I guess it’s not odd that in another transitional part of my life (finding a career), Ferrum was there for me again. Now I get to help with and be a part of all the wonderful things that are happening at Ferrum.” n

Brooke Gill ’05

Travis Hundley is a 2007 Ferrum alumnus who holds a degree in Sports Management and works as the Assistant Baseball Coach/Recruiting Coordinator at Ferrum. During his time as a student at Ferrum he was named to the Academic All-Conference in 2005 and was the Team MVP in 2006. Travis played baseball for the Panthers from 2004–2006 and was a volunteer coach from 2007–2008. After graduation, Travis signed a professional baseball contract with the South Georgia Peanuts of the now-defunct South Coast League of the Professional Baseball Independent League.

“I chose Ferrum as a transfer student after one year at a similar institution. The opportunity to continue my baseball career for a great program with a great coaching staff and earn my degree in my program of study was the main reason I chose Ferrum. Growing up nearby, it was easy to come back because I love this area. My father coached baseball here years ago, and I spent a lot of time growing up around Ferrum Baseball. I wanted to get away for college but always knew if I were to attend a Division III college and play baseball I would choose Ferrum. Academically Ferrum appealed to me because of the smaller class sizes. Also the opportunities to get help and the willingness of people to help students in need was a huge plus.

Travis Hundley ’07

“I chose Ferrum as my employer for several reasons. Baseball has been my life for many years so being given the opportunity to make a living in the game that I love, the area that I love, and the institution that I love was a no-brainer. The closest you can get to playing the game is coaching, so it was a great break for me. I’m truly blessed for the opportunity to try and help better the baseball program and teach the young men involved with the program what I’ve learned about the game of baseball and the game of life on a daily basis.” n Diana Yates is a 2011 graduate of the Computer Information Services (with a minor in Business Administration) program and is the current Administrative Computing Specialist at Ferrum.

“When I came to Ferrum, I knew the program that I wanted to study and was very excited; I was just uncertain about the campus life. As soon as I stepped on Ferrum College’s campus, I felt right at home. The scenery alone was an attraction, but seeing how friendly and helpful everyone was made me even more drawn to the school. It was then that I decided Ferrum College would be my school of choice.

Diana Yates ’11 78

“I wanted to come to work at Ferrum because, of course, the familiar area and faces but more importantly, I wanted to find just the right place to begin my career. When I saw an opening in the Information Services department at Ferrum, I knew that it would be an incredible opportunity and experience.” n

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

“When I was looking at colleges to attend, Ferrum stood out. The natural beauty of the surrounding area got my attention from the start. Not only were the people on campus friendly; they seemed extremely willing to help. I felt instantly accepted the first day I visited. Atmosphere was an important factor in determining where I would invest my next four years. One of the major reasons why I came back to Ferrum was to rejoin the college community and to reconnect with the people that I had the pleasure knowing as a student. From the faculty who taught me in the classroom to the staff who taught me outside of the classroom, I had developed excellent relationships and friendships. These are people who took me under their wings and taught me professionalism, helped me build valuable skills and encouraged me. I felt that being back at Ferrum would give me the opportunity to continue to grow. I had many personal reasons why it would be good to return and even more reasons why it was the right career move.” n

alumni

Eugene Hacker is a 2005 graduate of the Computer Science program and is the current Application Systems Specialist for Ferrum. During his time as a student he was a part of several organizations: Lambda Sigma (Vice President), Resident Advisor (RA), Work-study position at the Computer Help Desk, and a member of jazz and pep bands as well as the Ferrum praise band Rescue Mission.

Eugene Hacker ’05

William “Billy” Byrd is a 2006 graduate of the Physical Education (Education minor) program at Ferrum College and currently serves as a Residence Hall Educator and Assistant to the Dean of the Chapel. While attending Ferrum, Billy was a member of the fraternity Sigma Alpha Kappa and now serves as the advisor for the Ferrum Greek Council.

“When I first came to Ferrum I knew that Franklin County was the place for me. I love the Ferrum College community and Franklin County community. The scenery is beautiful. Everyone is ‘genuine’ and they truly care. I live by our motto, ‘Not Self, But Others’ just as I saw so many members of the Ferrum community doing—from folks who work in the Physical Plant to my professors. They all inspired me to be a better person and the person I am today. I took these lessons with me when I left for a brief time, and they are what brought me back. I tried my hand at working in the public school system but realized that I wanted to work at the College and give back to the Ferrum Family just the way my mentors had for me.” n

William Byrd ’06

Hunter Boyte is a 2011 graduate of the Computer Information Systems program and the current Manager of the Help Desk and Student Support at Ferrum. While at Ferrum he was a part of Colleges Against Cancer/Relay for Life, Political Club and the CIS Club.

“I choose Ferrum over other institutions, because of the small class sizes. The fact that professors knew my name and knew me as a student really meant a lot, especially when first choosing a college. I returned to Ferrum as an employee because I really liked the atmosphere here as a student. Having an opportunity to return to my alma mater through leadership in Information Services has allowed me to serve and give back to the Ferrum community. I worked in the office as an undergraduate student so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to come back to manage the Help Desk. Returning to campus as an employee not only allowed me to provide services to our faculty, staff and students, but also to give back to my Ferrum family. It is a unique opportunity to train our current students and provide them with a chance to develop work skills they will need after graduation.” n

Hunter Boyte ’11

Jessica Flanagan is a 2010 graduate of the Physical Education program (with a minor in Education) and is the current Women’s Volleyball Head Coach at Ferrum. Jessica achieved many milestones during her time as a student, including: All-State and All-Conference in volleyball.

Her academic awards included the Dean’s List, President’s Cup, Virginia IOTA State Organization Scholar Award, Health and Human Performance Outstanding Student Award, and the Charles A. and Marion C. Skinner Award for Excellence in Education.

“I chose Ferrum for my college education because I knew I wanted to go to a small school. I also wanted to play volleyball while I studied, and I knew I would be able to do that at Ferrum. When I came to visit for the first time, it just felt like it was where I needed to be, and it was. The four years I was at Ferrum have such a special place in my heart. That would only be one of the reasons why I came to work here. Ferrum helped shape me into the person I am today, and I want to help student-athletes get that same experience. As a student, the Ferrum family was wonderful, and as an employer the community is still wonderful! It is a great place to be.”

Jessica Flanagan ’10

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

79

alumni

By definition, an entrepreneur is a risk-taking innovator, a contractor of sorts who begins with only an idea and is then able to transform it into a viable product or business. Leadership skills possessed by an entrepreneur include the ability to manage, organize, negotiate and accept change and/or the possibility of failure. Usually a highly creative individual, an entrepreneur imagines new solutions or new products and seizes the opportunity to profit from them.

Solid Foundation for Life and Entrepreneurial Spirit

T

his also defines Matt Broughton, a member of the Ferrum College class of 1980 and a Senior Partner at the prestigious law firm of Gentry, Locke, Rakes & Moore in Roanoke, Virginia. A self-described “problem solver,” Broughton is often involved in five or six businesses at a time. One of his most recent ventures is Brolero, LLC, which came about when he partnered with Louis Scutellero, of Mario Industries, to develop an attorney-specific rolling briefcase to address his own professional needs. Since then Brolero has expanded to also carry a complete line of high-quality office products, including lighting, furniture and accessories. (Brolero.com) With manufacturing facilities located in the Roanoke Valley, a local workforce and the use of as many resources from regional vendors as possible, Broughton sees his partnership with Mario Industries as a strong connection to the Ferrum College motto “Not Self, But Others.”

Also in keeping with the College motto, in 2002 Broughton helped found the Southwest Virginia Business Development Association, a business professional group that nurtures entrepreneurial activity and new business ventures.

Broughton, who was born in Dinwiddie, Virginia, and whose family members were tobacco farmers in North Carolina, was the first of his family to attend college, and he attributes his faith and strong work ethic to his upbringing by his mother, who instilled in him a desire to set and achieve his goals.

80

After high school, Broughton applied only to Ferrum College, where he was active on campus and lived in Chapman and Bassett Halls, and finally, as a result of his academic achievement, he lived in a Scotts Honors apartment. He fondly recalls Sam Payne as “a wonderful mentor, eccentric and brilliant” who pushed Broughton to do his very best. He believes that “Ferrum gave me a wonderful opportunity” so that with his Political Science associate degree in hand, Broughton was well prepared to achieve a bachelor’s degree from the University of Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

Matt Broughton ’80

Virginia and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Richmond, T.C. Williams School of Law. As a senior partner at Gentry, Locke, Rakes & Moore, Broughton oversees hundreds of cases and multiple lawyers all over the United States, representing clients in complex business and personal matters, ranging from business to personal injury.

Broughton has also achieved the status of airline transport pilot, with commercial and multi-engine ratings, and regularly operates multi-engine aircraft in his business and personal life. He was recently named “2012 Roanoke Product Liability Litigation Lawyer of the Year” and included in the 2013 Best Lawyers in America for Personal Injury Litigation/Plaintiffs, Product Liability Litigation/Plaintiffs (2010–2013), and was dubbed a Legal Eagle for Product Liability Litigation by Virginia Living magazine.

Broughton continues his relationship with Ferrum College. He is a former Alumni Board of Directors (ABOD) member, and served a term as president of ABOD and ex-officio Board of Trustees member as well. He believes that his skills, his energy and his “awesome” career are gifts from God and Ferrum College. Says Broughton, “The College and the people of Ferrum inspire students, share many good life lessons and instill a unique entrepreneurial spirit that sets a solid foundation for life and career.”

Broughton currently lives in Roanoke, Virginia, and has been married to his high school sweetheart, Liz, for 30 years. They have two daughters, Casey, who recently graduated magna cum laude from VCU with a degree in anthropology, and Abby, who is currently a sophomore at Virginia Tech in the Pamplin School of Business.

alumni

The corporate world and the environmental world are not often thought of as complementary entities. For Scott Showalter ’73, the merger of the two has created an extremely fulfilling and busy life.

Alumnus Integrates Sustainability with Teaching and Research

R

etired since 2008 after a 33-year career at KPMG, the global network of professional firms providing audit, advisory and tax services, Showalter currently chairs the North Carolina State University (NCSU) Sustainability Committee. Additionally, he participates in the North Carolina Business Sustainability Network, cofounded by the NCSU Poole College of Management, Bayer Crop Science and the North Carolina Department of Natural Resources, to share best practices for corporations to operate sustainably.

Showalter represents NCSU in developing relationships and coordinating activities with The Sustainability Consortium.

He is also a member of the American Institute of CPA’s ASEC Sustainability Task Force, which advises on the direction the association should take to inform the public of the role accountants can play in sustainability.

What is sustainability, and what does it mean to the everyday citizen, professional, corporate leader or entrepreneur?

Simply put, to be sustainable in today’s world, a corporation or industry must integrate environmental concerns with financial and social/environmental issues.

Showalter summarizes the sustainability efforts with three main points. First, he notes that businesses simply cannot operate in their current manner and still return value to their shareholders and stakeholders in the long run. Secondly, it does not actually cost more to be sustainable; in fact, a business can often provide services/products at reduced prices by using sustainable practices to reduce costs. Finally, sustainability feeds innovation that can and will help businesses beat their competition in the marketplace, which leads to increasing market share, shareholder value and decreasing overall costs.

Showalter’s love of the outdoors and interest in the environment goes back

to his days as a student in the early 1970s. Hoping to pursue a career as a forest ranger, he entered Ferrum Junior College, where he helped establish the Ferrum Fellowship of Science, a club for science majors and those interested in the environment. However, after recognizing that at the time environmental careers were limited, Showalter opted to pursue an accounting degree at the University of Richmond and launched his career at KPMG upon graduation in 1975.

Shortly before the end of his tenure with KPMG, he helped develop several service offerings in the area of sustainability.

Originally recruited to teach accounting classes, he was also asked to lead the NCSU initiative exploring how better to integrate sustainability into the University’s teaching, research and outreach. Showalter chaired the Poole College of Management Sustainability Task Force to determine how the University should respond to the issues of sustainability with an endowment provided by the College namesake, Lonnie C. Poole. As a result of that effort, NCSU decided to move forward with incorporating sustainability into the curriculum, research, outreach and culture.

As the NCSU Sustainability Committee chair, Showalter coordinates the implementation of many of the ideas that came from the original task force.

In addition to collaborating with corporations and businesses currently in operation, he plays a role in developing the future leaders of those corporations by teaching graduate- and undergraduatelevel classes on sustainability. Beyond the classroom, Showalter participated in development and taught an executive education course for a major corporation, in conjunction with the NCSU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Married for 38 years, Showalter and his wife, Elizabeth “Josie,” a Saltville native, have fond memories of their time at Ferrum College. In fact, having met

Scott Showalter ’73

and become engaged while students at the College, they are members of the Sweetheart Society, a group of College alumni who met at Ferrum and later married. Because Josie was a Ferrum Fellowship recipient and the couple believes scholarships are an integral part of education, they recently set up the KPMG/D. Scott and Elizabeth A. Showalter Accounting Scholarship, with gifts from both KPMG and the Showalters.

About the new scholarship, Showalter, who credits the economics and accounting courses he took at Ferrum with the launch of his interest in business and his career, says, “It is only appropriate that we started a scholarship at Ferrum as this is where it all began on numerous fronts.”

Showalter notes that Ferrum is a perfect place for the discussion and implementation of sustainability: “Ferrum’s long tradition of exploring environmental impact provides a solid foundation upon which to build future solutions,” he says.

Showalter advises prospective Ferrum College students to go with their heart when choosing a career. “If you don’t love what you do, you won’t excel at it,” he says. And looking at a career path that has come full circle, that is advice worth taking. n

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

81

F

alumni

errum College Distinguished Alumnus Burdett K. “Burt” Thompson ’82 was recently promoted to Brigadier General in the U.S. Army. The ceremony was held in Washington, D.C., and was attended by family, friends and representatives of the College.

Distinguished Alumnus Promoted to

Brigadier General

Thompson grew up in Franklin County and returned to Rocky Mount last year to speak at the Memorial Day ceremony at Veterans’ Memorial Park. He is believed to be the second general educated in Franklin County, since Confederate General Jubal Anderson Early fought in the Civil War. He holds three master’s degrees and served in Korea, Panama and Iraq. His past assignments include ranger, paratrooper and two prominent airborne divisions—the 82nd and the 101st.

Thompson’s current assignment is at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, where he will serve as assistant division commander for the 25th Infantry Division.

Above: General Burt Thompson ‘82. Below: Dr. Jesse Amos and General Thompson.

82

“Burt has not only been like a son to me but he has been an inspiration to me. I have always been impressed with his Christian humility alongside his self-imposed goals for educational excellence (he has three master’s degrees) and his pursuit of excellence in his career. This is evident in his exceptional achievements and his recent U.S. Army appointment as Executive Officer and Military Advisor to the Under Secretary of the Army and then as Deputy Director of Operations for the Military Command Center at the Pentagon—where he briefed the Secretary of Defense General Panetta and senior officers in the Defense Department on the status of overseeing , integrating and coordinating national intelligence and military operations including nuclear affairs. Burt was elected one of 40 out of 4,400 possible candidates for Brigadier General.”

Ferrum Magazine | annual issue 2012–2013

“ Burt is a self-made man whose career was launched and fostered by Ferrum College— something for which the College is well known for doing for many students throughout the years.

Burt has more than fulfilled his promise to Dr. Joe Hart (former president of Ferrum College) during his initial interview at Ferrum: “You give me a chance, and I will make you proud.”

—Dr. Jesse “Francis” Amos