The Hendrix College Magazine Spring 2016 Volume 28, Number 1 Executive Editor Helen Plotkin plotkin@hendrix.edu Editor Rob O’Connor ’95 Art Director Ephraim McNair Staff Photographers Maddison Stewart Jazmin Calixto ’19 Contributors MK Barker ’16 Mike Kemp Brooke Nelson ’17 Mel White ’72 Magazine Advisory Committee Rev. J. Wayne Clark ’84 Courtney Lee Corwin Hope Coulter Pamela Owen ’82 Alumnotes Editor Ruthie Daniel ’16 Hendrix Magazine is published by Hendrix College, 1600 Washington Ave., Conway, Arkansas 72032-3080. This magazine is published for Hendrix College alumni, parents of students and friends. Permission is granted to reprint material from this magazine provided credit is given and a copy of the reprinted material is sent to the Editor.
16 Six Score & Five Years Ago...
This early campus master plan was commissioned by President John Hugh Reynolds and designed by well-known Boston landscape architect John Nolen.
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Photo by Maddison Stewart
on the cover Hendrix College Chaplain Rev. J.J. Whitney ’96 and Dr. Dionne Bennett Jackson ’96, the new Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer, are helping to lead religious life and campus diversity and inclusion into a new era at their alma mater.
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Top Docs
12
Outta See
14
Senior Moments
18
Reelin’ in the Years
20
Wonder Women
24
Party Time
Professors earn recognition for undergraduate teaching and research
The Odyssey Program has taken Hendrix students around the world for a decade
Sean Alexander ’16 and Jackie Nyamutumbu ’16 found support at Hendrix for their life’s Odyssey
Writer and Conway native Mel White ’72 reflects on Hendrix and his hometown
Rev. J.J. Whitney ’96 and Dr. Dionne Bennett Jackson ’96 lead their alma mater into a new era
Alumni Weekend 2016 brought classmates back to campus for events, reunions, and tributes
28 Alumnotes
31 Marriages
03 Campus News
31 New Children
08 Faculty News
02 President’s Message
32 In Memoriam
president’s message
A Message from the President This spring, an Associated Press story predicted an increase in closures and mergers for private colleges as economic uncertainty continues across the country. Why the bad news? Because students and families are concerned about rising costs and, as a result, want to see a direct and measurable return on their investment. The story also mentioned Hendrix. Fortunately, “experts” pointed to Hendrix as an outlier, an institution whose success (including a doubledigit enrollment increase in the last decade) is bucking the trend. As for return on investment, Hendrix has always prepared students exceptionally well for graduate and professional school programs, careers, and lives of meaning after graduation. This year, our students have received prestigious national and international honors, including three Fulbright awards, a Goldwater Scholarship, and a Marshall Scholarship. These students have been challenged, mentored, and supported by award-winning faculty members devoted to undergraduate teaching. The Odyssey program is still the national model for engaged learning and, over the past decade, has awarded more than $3 million in grants to support internships, undergraduate research, and other hands-on learning experiences for students. Our four-year graduation rate is more than twice the national average and nearly three times higher than the state average. I could go on.
But we cannot take our success for granted. We have to work harder than ever to make sure prospective students and families understand the added value of a Hendrix education. And we have to add even greater value to the Hendrix experience. Through our new strategic plan (www.hendrix.edu/president/strategicplan), we will improve graduation and retention rates, increase diversity and create a more inclusive environment on campus, keep Hendrix within reach of every student, expand internship and undergraduate research opportunities, and strengthen our connection to our local community and to our state. Our work is well underway. The Hendrix Aspire Scholarship program and the Hendrix Arkansas Advantage are making a Hendrix education possible for more students. This fall, freshmen and their families will have added peace of mind with the new Hendrix Four-Year Guarantee. And Dr. Dionne Bennett Jackson ’96 is leading the charge to make Hendrix a more diverse and inclusive campus. Though I’m certain that the media’s gloomy forecast for higher education will continue in the years to come, I’m even more confident that Hendrix will remain one of the best investments that a young person can make. And we’re only going to get better.
Photo by Maddison Stewart
Bill Tsutsui President and Professor of History
Campus News Hi HYI Hendrix received $598,164 from Lilly Endowment Inc. to create the Hendrix Youth Institute (HYI), a summer program that will help high school students discern a call to ministry. Michelle Moore ’06 was named Project Director of the new summer program. Moore is currently the Director of Program and Marketing for Camp and Retreat Ministries and the Youth and Young Adult Coordinator for the Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church. The Lilly Endowment Inc. also awarded a five-year $500,000 grant for the Hendrix College Institute for Clergy and Civic Engagement (ICCE), which held its first retreat this fall. The retreat was led by Rev. Jeanie Burton, Rev. J. Wayne Clark ’84, Rev. Mary Jane Cole, and Rev. J.J. Whitney ’96. Hendrix received the grant to develop and enhance leadership skills and ministry capacity for early career Hendrix alumni and Arkansas pastors to lead their churches and communities in addressing major issues within their communities and meet the needs of the mission field outside the walls of the church.
#78 spot on the magazine’s list of 100 best values in private liberal arts colleges and was listed #176 in the top 300 list of public and private colleges and universities. In the fall, the 2016 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges listed Hendrix as #10 among the country’s “Most Innovative” liberal arts colleges and one of the top 30 liberal arts colleges recognized for “A Strong Commitment to Undergraduate Teaching.” Hendrix ranked #82 among the country’s top 100 liberal arts colleges and is the only top-100 nationally ranked liberal arts college in Arkansas featured in the U.S. News rankings. Hendrix was also one of 140 colleges chosen for The Princeton Review’s 2016 Best Colleges “Best in the Southeast” list and was among 300 colleges and universities in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain featured in the 2016 Fiske Guide to Colleges. Hendrix appeared in Forbes’ 2016 America’s Best Value Colleges, ranking #233 overall and #174 in Private Colleges, #91 in Liberal Arts Universities, #42 in the South, and #90 in Grateful Grads. Hendrix also earned a Forbes Financial Grade of “A-” and was listed as the best college in Arkansas.
Howdy Partner
Net Profit
Hendrix and United International College (UIC) in Zhuhai, China, will collaborate on new study abroad opportunities, as well as student, faculty and staff exchange programs, and collaborative research projects. Under the new student exchange agreement, an equal number of Hendrix and UIC students will study at the other institution each year. The student exchange could begin as early as the 2016-2017 academic year.
The Hendrix Warrior volleyball team made it to the NCAA Division III Championship Semifinals, the best finish for any Warrior program in school history. The Warriors ended the season at 29-9, the second most wins in program history, under American Volleyball Coaches Association NCAA Division III Coach of the Year Ryan Meek, who guided the Warriors to their second consecutive Southern Athletic Association regular season and tournament titles and to their first ever AVCA Top 25 ranking.
Capitol Venture
The Hendrix Warrior volleyball team won the SAA regular season and tournament titles and made it to the NCAA Division III semifinals.
Barrett Goodwin ’16 was selected from among over 400 students to receive The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars (TWC) Award for Global Citizenship. Goodwin was one of five Hendrix students studying in the nation’s capital last fall through the new Hendrixin-Washington program, a partnership between Hendrix and TWC. Other participating students included Sarah Moore ’16, Guneev Sharma ’16, Hamza Syed ’16, and Kay Beth Tyson ’16.
Value Proposition Hendrix was included in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance’s list of the Top 300 Best College Values of 2016. Hendrix earned the
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campus news
Happy Campers Ten Hendrix students spent part of their winter break volunteering at Camp C.A.M.P., a camp in Center Point, Texas, which serves children and adults with special needs. The student participants included: Jessica Amos ’16, Marlee Bird ’19, Parker Gitz ’17, Joyce Lauritzen ’16, Evan Mitchell ’16, Alexis Taylor ’17, Mari Thomeczek ’18, Emily Waller ’19, Susan Warren ’16, and Delaney Wells ’18. Alumnus Brandon Briery ’95 is the executive camping director and Alex Sego ’10 also works at the camp. Rev. Wayne Clark ’84 co-led the trip with Hanna French ’15. The trip was one of four student mission trips sponsored this year by the Hendrix Miller Center for Vocation, Ethics, and Calling.
Math Counts The Hendrix Warrior football team won the SAA championship and a trip to the NCAA playoffs in their third season since the program was brought back.
Ten Hendrix students volunteered at Camp C.A.M.P. in Center Point, Texas, on a Miller Center mission trip.
Touchdown The Hendrix Warrior football team won the Southern Athletic Association championship and first-ever trip to the NCAA Division III Playoffs in just the third year since the program was brought back after it was discontinued in 1960. Hendrix went 8-3, breaking the school record for wins in a season, and won their first conference title since 1926. Running back Dayton Winn ’17 received the Marvin Delph Award, given to the Faulkner County Male Sportsman of the Year by the Conway Athletic Awards Commission, and was honored as the Little Rock Football Club’s Team Most Valuable Player. Winn was an AP Little All-American selection, AFCA Divsion III All-American, the SAA Offensive Player of the Year and All-SAA First Team selection and was the only junior among the Gagliardi Trophy semifinalists. Head coach Justin “Buck” Buchanan was named the American Football Coaches Association 2015 Division III Region 3 Coach of the Year.
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William O’Brochta ’16 won an Excellence in Student Exposition or Research Award and earned a cash prize for “Rational Decision-Making Models of Conflicts in the 1990s,” his presentation at this year’s MathFest, an annual national meeting of the Mathematical Association of America and Pi Mu Epsilon, in Washington, D.C. O’Brochta’s award was provided by the American Mathematical Society.
Oxford Bound David Tate ’18 and Laela Zaidi ’18 (below) were accepted to study at St. Peter’s College at Oxford University for the 2016-17 academic year. At St. Peter’s College, the students will study through the traditional tutorial method, which involves meeting oneon-one or in small groups with a member of the St. Peter’s College faculty each week. Students take two tutorials per term, for a total of six during the year (the equivalent of nine Hendrix credits). Zaidi, a religious studies major, will study theology and religion at St. Peter’s. Tate, an English and religious studies double major, will study English.
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campus news California Servin’
Good Fellow
Ten Hendrix students spent part of winter break in California working with DOOR (Discovering Opportunities for Outreach and Reflection) Hollywood, an organization that serves the homeless and food insecure. Participants included: Cordell Campbell ’19, Ty Glanville ’16, Gabby James ’16, Jennifer Kim ’17, Marie Kressin ’17, NK O’keke ’16, Giorgy Sarishvili ’18, Madison Schallhorn ’16, Susannah Stubbs ’19, and Sarah Walker ’18. Throughout the weeklong mission trip, sponsored by the Hendrix Miller Center for Vocation, Ethics, and Calling, the group also worked with various agencies such as Project Angel Food, which prepares and delivers healthy meals to people restricted to their homes due to life-threatening illnesses; the Los Angeles Food Bank; Lord’s Lighthouse, a refuge for at-risk males of Los Angeles; and the Center at Blessed Sacrament, which provides fun and engaging group activities to people living homelessly in an effort to build community and foster relationships.
Chirag Lala ’17 received a Public Policy & International Affairs (PPIA) fellowship to study statistics, mathematical economics, and policy analysis for seven weeks this summer at the PPIA Junior Summer Institute at the University of Michigan. The fellowship pays all expenses plus a stipend. The PPIA Junior Summer Institute “focuses on preparing students for graduate programs in public policy and international affairs. Courses focus on improving students’ communication and quantitative reasoning skills, which are vital to their success in graduate programs. Students take three courses: statistics, mathematical economics, and policy modules.”
Model Students Thirty-two Hendrix students were among the 1,500 students from more than 90 colleges and universities participating in the 2015 American Model United Nations (AMUN) conference in Chicago. The students garnered several Best Delegation awards at the Conference: Chirag Lala ’17 and Sarah Logan ’18 for their representation of the Netherlands in the General Assembly First Committee; Faraz Arif ’19 and Jolyon Larson ’16 for their representation of Poland in the General Assembly Second Committee; and Madyson Haskins ’18 and Jacob Neeley ’18 for their representation of Poland in the UN’s Human Settlements Programme. The entire delegation of Poland was awarded one of six Overall Best Delegation citations. Zach Chastain ’16, Nigel Halliday ’16, and Janie Sanford ’16 served on the AMUN staff this year because of their outstanding work at last year’s conference.
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Ten Hendrix students volunteered with DOOR Hollywood, an organization that serves the homeless and food insecure, on a Miller Center mission trip.
Trustee Partner Wendy R. Anderson ’93 was named to the Hendrix College Board of Trustees. Anderson currently serves as partner and managing director of Military and National Security Initiatives at Strong Eagle Media, a media company which produces films chronicling the stories of American troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. From 2010 to April 2015, she served in key leadership roles in the Departments of Defense and Commerce and was twice awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service.
Engaging Proposals
Hendrix alumna Wendy R. Anderson ’93 recently joined the Board of Trustees.
James Owen ’16 published “A Problem Unpleasant to Mention, Easy to Postpone: Mental Health Access in Arkansas” through the Arkansas Policy Program (APP). The report seeks to provide an honest assessment of the state of mental health access in Arkansas as well as concrete solutions to increase points of access to mental health care in regions across the state. Nigel Halliday ’16 published “Bridging the Map: The Geography of Legal Need and Aid in Arkansas” through APP. The report examines the geographic distribution of legal aid and the need to identify critically underserved areas in Arkansas.
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campus news Left to right: Lauren Dickinson ’17, Amgen Scholars program; Sydney Fobare ’17, Goldwater Scholarship; Megan Hull ’16, Grace Oxley ’16, Rachel Zweig ’16, Fulbright awards; Jessa Thurman ’16, Watson Fellowship.
Hendrix politics major Sean Alexander ’16 received the 2016 President’s Medal at Honors Day Convocation. In the fall, Alexander was also named a Marshall Scholar.
The Arkansas Policy Program (APP) was developed by Hendrix politics professor Dr. Jay Barth ’87 with the support of the Bill and Connie Bowen Odyssey Professorship, which builds upon Barth’s ongoing public policy and public opinion research and advocacy work related to Arkansas.
Hendrix in Harvard Lauren Dickinson ’17, a biochemistry and molecular biology major, was accepted for a competitive summer undergraduate research internship with the Amgen Scholars program at Harvard University. The program allows undergraduates from across the globe to participate in cutting-edge research opportunities at leading institutions across the U.S., Europe, and Japan.
Goldwater Gold Sydney Fobare ’17, a chemistry major, received a Goldwater Scholarship by The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program. Fobare also received the Thomas J. Bardos Science Education Award for Undergraduate Students from the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) for her summer research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center under the mentorship of Dr. John Byrd ’87.
Karthik Garimella ’17, a physics and computer science double major, was recognized as a Goldwater honorable mention.
Fulbright Trio Megan Hull ’16, a German and international relations double major, received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Germany. Grace Oxley ’16, an art and English double major, received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to India. Rachel Zweig ’16, a chemistry and mathematics double major, was selected for a 2016-2017 Fulbright U.S. Student Award to do chemistry research at the Spanish National Research Council in Madrid.
Elementary Ms. Watson Jessa Thurman ’16 was recently awarded the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, a one-year grant for purposeful, independent study outside the United States. Thurman, a biology major and English (literary studies) minor, will visit Australia, Thailand, Brazil, Peru, and the United Kingdom as she pursues her project titled “From Extermination to Appreciation: Ethnoentomology and Connecting to the World through Insects.”
Alexander the Great Sean Alexander ’16, a politics major, received the 2016 President’s Medal, presented each year to the student who best exemplifies the highest ideals of the College, including excellence in scholarship, outstanding citizenship, and service to the community. Each year’s President’s Medal recipient is named by the President of the College upon the recommendation of a nomination group.
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campus news Hendrix-Murphy introduces New Literature and Language Scholars Program Last November, the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation inaugurated its first class of Hendrix-Murphy Scholars of Literature and Language. The pilot class of 20 sophomores will pursue their interests in literature and language through experiences on campus, in the community, and abroad. These opportunities could include enrollment in intensive tutorial courses, independent research projects, or language immersion programs, among others. For the past 40 years, the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation has provided Hendrix students, faculty and staff with a variety of literature and language opportunities and experiences, including visits from award-winning authors, the Language House, and other literature and language events on campus. “Hendrix-Murphy has a simple mission: to enhance and enrich literature and language at Hendrix College,” said Hope Coulter, creative writing professor and director of the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation Programs in Literature and Language. “A few years ago, the foundation decided that it wanted to do something with a more defined, bigger impact across generations of students.” The new program targets students who are interested in literature and language but may not necessarily be majoring in those subjects, providing a channel through which they can explore those passions. “We hope and expect that they’ll carry these credentials forward in graduate school, professional life, whatever they do next, as well as having the extra dimension of pleasure in their personal lives that literature and language can bring,” Coulter said. The program’s experiences have already been valuable to the inaugural class. Zoe Corwyn ’18, a business and Spanish double major from Little Rock, Arkansas, spent a year in Brazil before
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Twenty Hendrix sophomores were inducted as part of the inaugural class of Murphy Scholars, a new program coming to Hendrix. For her, being a Murphy Scholar will sponsored by the Hendrixallow her to explore new places and cultures, most notably Murphy Foundation through a $4,000 travel stipend provided to each particiPrograms in Literature pating student for research and academic experiences and Language. around the world. “When I was learning Portuguese [in Brazil], I really fell in love with the idea of learning different languages and how it connects people,” Corwyn said. For Remington Harris ’18, who is interested in pursuing a double major in English and psychology, being a Murphy Scholar offers the opportunity to leave his mark on the College. “We have a chance to shape the literature and language community here at Hendrix. Our feedback counts as Murphy Scholars,” said Harris, who came to Hendrix from Proctor, Arkansas. With time, the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation hopes to make a lasting impact on the Hendrix community as a whole. “With the Murphy Scholars program, we’re hoping to find ways to talk about what these things have to do with one another,” Coulter said. “To open up an ongoing conversation about literature and language on campus.” Instead of an initial pilot group of 10 students, the pool of applicants for the program was so competitive that Coulter received permission from the Foundation’s board to double the funding in order to accept 20 members. Even then, they still have plans to expand. “We’re hoping to grow every year to the point where we have 30 Murphy Scholars in every class, so there would be up to 90 in the program in one time,” Coulter said. “Thinking of the size of the college, that really will make an impact.” Story by Brooke Nelson ’17, an international relations major from Keller, Texas.
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Faculty News
This small sample of achievement and awards, publications, grants and professional activities illustrates some of the ways that Hendrix faculty members expand their expertise and enrich their teaching for the benefit of Hendrix students.
English professor Dr. Tyrone Jaeger’s first collection of short stories titled So Many True Believers was released this spring by Queen’s Ferry Press of Plano, Texas. Lauren Groff, author of Fates and Furies, said, “So Many True Believers is gentle and melancholy, a story collection linked like a set of Christmas lights, a series of bright bulbs glowing against the cold and dark night.”
Psychology professor Dr. Leslie Templeton ’91 was named the new Associate Provost for Faculty Development. “I’m so pleased to be able to continue the work I’ve loved most in my role as Area Chair, that of identifying and providing resources to an already excellent faculty as they continue to develop as teachers, researchers, and community members,” said Templeton who joined the Hendrix faculty in 1998. Politics professor Dr. Peter Gess, Director of the Hendrix Odyssey and International Programs, will be the new Associate Provost for Engaged Learning. “When I read the College’s new strategic plan, it is easy to become excited about creating new and deep engaged learning opportunities. I look forward to working as part of the Academic Affairs team, and with colleagues and community partners, to provide transformative experiences for our students,” Gess said. The new Associate Provosts will officially begin their new roles in August.
Writer Director
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Philosophy professor Dr. Peg Falls-Corbitt was named Virginia A. McCormick Pittman Distinguished Professor of Philosophy. The Virginia A. McCormick Pittman Distinguished Professorship was established in 1981 by Dr. Margaret Pittman ’23, a research scientist who was the first woman to head a major research lab at the National Institutes of Health and who helped develop the vaccines for typhoid, cholera and whooping cough. Falls-Corbitt returns to full-time teaching in the fall after serving as Associate Provost for Engaged Learning since 2009 and directing the Miller Center for Vocation, Ethics, and Calling since its beginnings in 2002 as a Lilly Endowment grant-supported program.
Servant leader Photo by Stuart Holt
Creative writing professor Hope Norman Coulter has been named full-time Director of the HendrixMurphy Foundation Programs in Literature and Language. A poet and writer, Coulter has taught creative writing at Hendrix since 1993. She was named interim Hendrix-Murphy director in 2013. Coulter’s poetry collection, The Wheel of Light, was released in spring 2015 as part of the New Poets Series of BrickHouse Press.
Distinguished Professor
Religious studies professor Dr. Robert Williamson Jr. was named Director of the Miller Center for Vocation, Ethics, and Calling. Williamson, who joined the Department of Religious Studies at Hendrix in 2008, has served on the Miller Center Advisory Board since 2011 and is currently the Faculty Associate to the Miller Center. He currently holds the Margaret Berry Hutton Odyssey Professorship which, like the Miller Center, focuses on the intersection of academics, service, and vocation in the context of faith Photo by Stuart Holt
Politics and international relations professor Dr. Daniel J. Whelan was elected to a two-year term as Chair of the Human Rights Section of the International Studies Association. Whelan has been involved with the Section since its founding in 2006, the year he joined the Hendrix faculty. He served as an At-Large member from 2007-2009 and as Section Vice Chair and Chair of the Best Book Award Committee last year.
Photo by Stuart Holt
Section Chief
Photo by Courtney Johnson
Photo by Stuart Holt
English professor Dr. Alex Vernon will direct Fiction & Fact: A War Dialogue with Veterans, a two-year community outreach project in conjunction with the Central Arkansas Library System. The project, which will begin this fall, recently received one of 17 grants from National Endowment for the Humanities. A West Point graduate and combat veteran whose books include an award-winning memoir about the Persian Gulf War, Vernon has taught war literature and film to undergraduate students at Hendrix for 15 years.
Photo by Ephraim McNair
Outreach Vet
Photo by Hillsman Stuart Jackson
Dynamic Duo
Photo by Stuart Holt
Truly Published
www.hendrix.edu
and values. His Odyssey Professorship project “The Word in the World” explores the intersection of the Bible and faithful living through several hands-on activities, including a semester-long reading group, a speaker series of renowned theologians and biblical scholars, and mission trips in communities at home and abroad.
Bard Award Photo by Joshua Daugherty
English professor Dr. Debapriya Sarkar received one of five long-term fellowships at the Folger Institute, a center for research in early modern humanities at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. The fellowship, underwritten by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, will support Sarkar’s book-project titled Possible Knowledge: Forms of Literary and Scientific Thought in Early Modern England. Sarkar also received the 2015 Schachterle Essay Prize from the Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts, which recognizes the best new essay on literature and science written in English by a nontenured scholar, for her essay titled “’Sad Experiment’ in Paradise Lost: Epic Knowledge and Evental Poetics,” which appears in Exemplaria: A Journal of Theory in Medieval & Renaissance Studies.
Galileo as philosopher
hh Politics and international relations professor Dr. Kiril Kolev was awarded the James and Emily Bost Odyssey Professorship for Global Awareness for his project “The Hendrix Democracy Program.” hh Religious studies professor Dr. Robert Williamson Jr. and psychology professor Dr. Leslie Zorwick were awarded the Margaret Berry Hutton Odyssey Professorship to pursue their project “Living Faithfully in the Context of Racial Injustice.” hh Mathematics and computer science professor Dr. Gabe Ferrer and physics professor Dr. Ann Wright were awarded the Cynthia Cook Sandefur Odyssey professorship for their project titled “Robotics Odyssey.”
Photo by Joshua Daugherty
Photo by Joshua Daugherty
Politics professor Dr. Jay Barth ’87 was named Director of the Hendrix Odyssey Program, and anthropology professor Dr. Anne Goldberg was named Assistant Director of the college’s engaged learning initiative. Barth, who was recently named Faculty Fellow for The Education Network for Active Civic Transformation (ENACT) at Brandeis University, is the M.E. and Ima Graves Peace Professor of Politics and Bill and Connie Bowen Odyssey Professor. He joined the Department of Politics and International Relations at Hendrix in 1994. Goldberg joined the Hendrix faculty in 2005 with the first class of students for whom Odyssey was a graduation requirement. She has served on the Committee on Engaged Learning, which oversees Odyssey project grants, and has sponsored more than 100 student-proposed Odyssey projects and supported numerous internship activities, multiple courses with Odyssey coding, and summer semester students. Goldberg previously held the Cynthia Cook Sandefur Odyssey Professorship, which allowed her to take students abroad, invite scholars to campus, send students to professional conferences, and guide student research in the local community.
Photo by Joshua Daugherty
History professor Dr. Allison Shutt’s first book, Manners Make a Nation: Racial Etiquette in Southern Rhodesia 1910-1963, was published this year by University of Rochester Press. Manners Make a Nation “tells the story of how people struggled to define, reform, and overturn racial etiquette as a social guide for Southern Rhodesian politics.” She began working on the book about a decade ago. She devoted a 10-month sabbatical and visits to the National Archives in Zimbabwe and libraries in London and Oxford to her research.
Speaking of gratitude Oral communication professor Mary M. Richardson attended the 76th Fall Conference of the Arkansas Communication and Theatre Arts Association (ACTAA). After she presented a professional development program on impromptu speaking and the importance of self-evaluation, Richardson was recognized by ACTAA for service, including six years as executive secretary and three years as executive director. Richardson was also awarded the ACTAA Lifetime Membership award for her 37 years of service and dedication to Arkansas high school and college speech and theatre teachers. Photo by Stuart Holt
Dynamic Deux-o
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hh Psychology professor Dr. Jennifer Penner and politics and environmental studies professor Dr. Peter Gess were awarded the Dr. Brad P. Baltz and Reverend William B. Smith Odyssey Professorship to pursue their project: “Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning about Conservation & Science in the U.S. and Rwanda: A Partnership between Hendrix College & Gashora Girls Academy of Science and Technology (GGAST).”
Manners make a first book Photo by Joshua Daugherty
Philosophy professor Dr. Fred Ablondi’s new book Reading Nature’s Book: Galileo and the Birth of Modern Philosophy was published by Peter Lang Publishers. Ablondi is the author of more than 20 articles on various topics in 17th- and 18th-century philosophy, as well as Gerauld de Cordemoy: Atomist, Occasionalist, Cartesian. He also serves as Director of the Marshall T. Steel Center for the Study of Religion and Philosophy.
Newly named Odyssey Professors
Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2016 9
Dr. Thomas E. Goodwin, the Elbert L. Fausett Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Hendrix, receives the ACS Award for Research at an Undergraduate Institution, from Dr. Donna Nelson (left), President of the American Chemical Society, and Dr. Silvia Ronco (right), Senior Program Director of Research Corporation for Science Advancement, the foundation that supports the award.
A Good One Chemistry professor earns national recognition for undergraduate research contributions Dr. Thomas E. Goodwin is no stranger to headlines. His research and teaching have earned national recognition, including receiving the 2010 CUR Fellows Award for leadership in undergraduate research from the Council on Undergraduate Research and being named the U.S. Professor of the Year for baccalaureate colleges by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education in 2003. His commitment to research as teaching has added another accolade to his list of honors. In March, Dr. Goodwin was honored with the national American Chemical Society’s 2016 Award for Research at an Undergraduate Institution. He received the award at the 251st ACS national meeting in San Diego, California, where 18 Hendrix students presented the results of their research. Receiving the ACS award is special, Dr. Goodwin said, because it is recognition in his area of specialization. “It’s validation from your peers,” he said. “And, just like they don’t give the Nobel Prize to someone who’s young – at least not often – this award is recognition for what you have accomplished over your career.” The award, which includes $5,000 and a certificate, honors a chemistry faculty member whose research in an undergraduate setting has achieved wide recognition and contributed significantly to chemistry and to the professional development of undergraduate students. Research Corporation for Science Advancement, a private foundation for the advancement of science, established the award in 1984 to recognize the importance of research with undergraduates. Research Corp. also provides a grant of $5,000 directly to the recipient’s institution to support the honoree’s research. The awards ceremony, like everything at the ACS meeting where average annual attendance is around 12,000, is on a grand scale. Dr. Goodwin said the staff went to great lengths to make all the award recipients feel special, handling details such as arranging their accommodations and tuxedo rental, plus reserving two tables for the Goodwin entourage. The evening’s highlight occurred, Dr. Goodwin said, moments after he left the stage with his award. An old friend of his, Brian Andreen, retired
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Vice President of Research Corp., came to his table demonstrating the goose call he’d been blowing when Dr. Goodwin’s award was announced. Immediately Dr. Goodwin recognized it as the odd sound he’d heard through the applause as he accepted his award. “He gave it to me,” Dr. Goodwin said, “so I used it to cheer on the other honorees. That was the most fun part of the evening.” Another highlight was a symposium organized in Dr. Goodwin’s honor in the Division of Organic Chemistry. He was allowed to pick the speakers, so in addition to the colleague who nominated him for the award as the opening speaker and Dr. Goodwin as the closing speaker, he selected two Hendrix alumni to speak. His choices were Christina Barnes Cooley ’05, a President’s Medal winner who is in her first year of teaching organic chemistry at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, and Derek Lowe ’83, a 2013-14 Odyssey Medal recipient and researcher who writes a blog about drug research, chemistry and scientific news with a daily readership of about 20,000. In April, Dr. Goodwin was back in the news again when Duke University issued a news release about a project he worked on with researchers from Duke, as well as former student Tim Wallen ’11 now employed at the Centers for Disease Control, and a veterinarian now at Cincinnati Zoo. The attention-catching headline sums up the research well: “Why Bearcats Smell Like Buttered Popcorn.” The research identified 29 chemical compounds in the animals’ urine, one of which is the same compound that gives popcorn its scent. Dr. Goodwin’s reaction to the news that he was in the news again? “I smelled 17 samples of binturong (bearcat) urine and it smelled more like Fritos or fragrant rice (Basmati or Jasmine) to me than it did buttered popcorn,” he said. So, what’s next for the award-winning, news-making chemistry professor? Dr. Goodwin wants to have an excellent 2016-2017 academic year because he’s decided it will be his last at Hendrix. He plans to retire after he’s completed his 39th year as a member of the Hendrix faculty. “My goal is to do a good job next year,” he said, “and to leave before people want me to go.”
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Sleepy Head Psychology professor, sleep researcher named Arkansas Professor of the Year Dr. Jennifer Peszka says the best part of being named Arkansas Professor of the Year happened long before she received the award in November 2015. The best part, she said, was contacting the former students who wrote letters of support for her. “It was thinking about those folks and where they’ve ended up,” she said, “and thinking that maybe a little something of what happened here at Hendrix in my classes had an impact on them.” The second best part was after she returned from the award ceremony in Washington, D.C., and fellow psychology professor Dr. Leslie Templeton ’91 organized a dinner in her honor for her psychology colleagues and majors at ZaZa’s in The Village at Hendrix. “She asked them to make pizzas with the words ‘2015 Arkansas Professor of the Year’ written on them,” Dr. Peszka said. “It took three pizzas to get it all on there, but the guy actually cut out the numbers 2015 from big pepperonis! It was fun to have someone take such care to say congratulations to me.” Dr. Peszka was recognized for teaching by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The award recognizes top teachers at the state level and gives U.S. Professor of the Year awards in four categories of colleges and universities. The highlight, she said, was when the national winners were introduced by their former students. “Those students told amazing stories about how impactful these teachers had been on their lives,” she said. “It just reminds me of what we are in the position to do when we do our jobs well. It made me think about what I’m doing and what I could be doing.” Since she joined the faculty in 1999, Dr. Peszka has been sharing her contagious enthusiasm for psychology, statistics and research with Hendrix students.
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Sleep is the subject of most of Dr. Peszka’s research, and her studies have drawn the attention of her colleagues and of national media. Her current project is developing a study about the relationship between technology use in the two hours before bed and its impact on sleep. In a roundabout way, lack of sleep is what drew her to the field of sleep study. She was studying in the psychology building at Washington and Lee University. It was around 2 or 3 a.m., and she was very sleepy, when she noticed a poster from the National Sleep Foundation hanging on a nearby bulletin board. The poster had a list of unanswered questions about sleep. “Those provocative unanswered questions somehow resonated in my sleep-deprived head that night,” she said. Seeking an answer to those questions, and others, led her to a purpose for her research and a focus for her career. She often shares the story with students who are seeking their own answers to questions about selecting a major and building a career after college. “I think that it can be helpful for students to know that if they just keep their eyes open, look around, give themselves plenty of opportunities,” she said, “they will find a path that suits them.” So, what advice does she have for those of us struggling with lack of sleep today? Make sleep a priority, she said. “The people I know who are not sleepy – who don’t rely on caffeine to get them through the day – are folks who commit themselves to getting enough good quality sleep,” she said. “This is not easy to do in this world, it takes vigilance.” And sleep and worrying don’t mix. Writing in a worry journal each day (not at bedtime) can sometimes help. “When you find yourself in bed trying to go to sleep and your mind wandering to all your worries, you can think to yourself, ‘Nope, I’ve already worried about that today,’ and it can help you, though it seems simple,” she said. “Combining that with some relaxation techniques can help even more.”
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What is Odyssey? Learning by doing. Putting ideas into practice. Exploring a career path. Applying academic knowledge to practical experience. Developing real-world problem solving. Gaining new knowledge about the world and yourself. Discovering your passion and talent. That’s the Hendrix Odyssey Program. It’s also a graduation requirement. Every Hendrix student completes at least three different types of engaged learning experiences, from internships to undergraduate research. Making it a requirement means all students have the benefit of hands-on learning, not just those that opt into one program or another. Not every great Odyssey project requires funding, but Odyssey funding is available on a competitive basis for students and their faculty mentors. Since the Odyssey Program was officially launched a decade ago, Hendrix has awarded more than $3.3 million in grants to more than 1,000 Odyssey projects on campus, in the local community, across the country, and around the world (except for Antarctica … ).
HENDRIX CHOIR AT CARNEGIE HALL
TEACHING ENGLISH IN EL SALVADOR
In 2007, the Hendrix College Choir participated in a performance of Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy directed by famed English conductor and composer John Rutter, who spent several hours with students in rehearsal.
Randi Proffitt ’09 traveled to El Salvador to teach English in the public schools to underprivileged and abused children. She also taught in an orphanage and lived with a host family.
NEUROPSYCHOLOGY EXTERNSHIP WITH THE UAMS PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH INSTITUTE David Dobry ’16 learned about neuroscience and psychology during an externship at the Psychiatric Research Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, where he observed clinical evaluations of patients with conditions like Parkinson’s and epilepsy, participated in cognitive data collection, input data, and analyzed results.
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EXPLORING MARINE BIOLOGY AND MARINE ECOLOGY THROUGH PARTICIPATORY LEARNING Bethanie Edwards ’09, a certified scuba diver, worked with the Martinique Cetaceans Research Unit to help catalog data regarding dolphin abundance and distribution in the ocean areas surrounding the islands of Dominica, Martinique and St. Lucia. She learned how to identify and preserve the 25 common coral species in the area and collaborated with Reef Check, an organization that surveys coral reef health.
HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE IN CHILE AND ARGENTINA Jen Baker ’12 explored the issues associated with truth and reconciliation in post-conflict (e.g. the Dirty Wars of the 1970s and ’80s) environments in Chile and Argentina, met with scholars, social activists, politicians, and human rights victims, and explored memory sites.
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A PHOTO-ESSAY RESPONSE TO HOLOCAUST MEMOIRS Lauren Bartshe ’10 and Julie Champlin ’10 traveled to Germany and Poland to visit concentration and death camps and record each camp’s current state and eventually paired images with writings by Holocaust survivors, American soldiers, and SS guards for a book they designed and produced.
THE KYOTO ZEN EXPERIENCE Ryan Norman ’08, Sam Henry ’09 and Nick Pippins ’07 lived with a Zen priest and his family at a temple, meditated with monks, and visited Buddhist temples in Kyoto. They also participated in cultural activities , including a traditional tea ceremony.
THE CONVERGENCE OF SECULAR ROMAN AND SACRED ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE Amy Mareno ’06 investigated Islamic mosques built between 1453 and 1885 to see what architectural elements (e.g., column structures, pedestals, arches, and use of space) of Istanbul’s secular Roman structures were adopted into sacred architecture.
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY: SERVICE-LEARNING IN TANZANIA GHANA AND WEST AFRICAN LITERATURE Students in Dr. Carol West’s independent study group attended the African Literature Association’s annual conference, where they heard presentations by Africa’s leading writers and scholars. They also visited sites of literary, cultural and historical interest in Ghana.
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Elizabeth Elmore ’13 worked with Global Service Corp’s Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security ServiceLearning Program in Tanzania to learn organic agriculture methods that focus on environmental sustainability and food security for small farmers and analyzed the implications of food scarcity and approaches that have the greatest impacts on individual farmers and their communities.
INDEPENDENT CULTURAL EXPEDITIONS INTO AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK Becky Revoal ’07 studied Aboriginal culture at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and interacted with native people on a tour of the Outback, where she learned about elements of their culture such as music, oral traditions and the Dreamtime.
Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2016 13
A Hunger for Change
SEAN ALEXANDER ’16 FINDS FOCUS TO FIGHT HUNGER IN HOME STATE
At Hendrix, the pecan-covered walkways are traversed daily by some of the brightest students in the state of Arkansas and in the nation. Fervent minds are drawn to this haven where the motto “Unto the whole person” reigns supreme, as students are encouraged to enrich their own lives as well as the lives of others through active learning, thoughtful inquiry, selfunderstanding and service. Sean Alexander ’16 is a prime example of this motto at work. Upon arriving at Hendrix, Alexander embarked upon a journey to pursue his passions, and he has been awarded a prestigious Marshall Scholarship as a result of that tireless pursuit. However, the form that his pursuit would ultimately take wasn’t initially evident. “I never, not once, in high school, or even in freshman year, sophomore year, even mostly junior year, thought about applying for the Marshall or Rhodes,” said Alexander, a politics major. When he first came to Hendrix, Alexander thought he was on a clear path to become a lawyer. Yet, after taking several politics, philosophy, and economics classes, Alexander discovered that his interests were shifting. “I realized really quickly that I was much more interested in how the law could be used to move society forward, and so that naturally lead to an interest in public policy, more so than being a litigator,” Alexander explained. After this shift in focus, Alexander began exploring ways to foster his interest in public policy outside of the classroom. In the summer between his freshman and sophomore years, Alexander interned at the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, where his interest developed into a passion for food security work, particularly in rural environments. “For me, that first summer, just seeing and talking to people in rural communities really changed my perspective on this issue,” Alexander said. “Because we still have, at least in Arkansas, 420,000 people in rural areas that are food insecure … that’s a problem that I think is still worth solving.” Alexander found this summer experience to be life changing, and he began to focus more intently on food security in his work and studies as a result. However, he soon discovered that if he were to pursue this passion beyond Hendrix, he would need to seriously consider the higher education options in this field. “I was looking for post-graduate opportunities in public policy and I realized that in looking at the curriculums
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for a lot of those programs, there would be a fairly limited perspective – an American perspective – on a lot of the things I’d be able to study,” Alexander said. “So I started to look at international programs, and I realized that, though I hadn’t considered a Marshall or a Rhodes [scholarship] or anything like that in the past, that if I wanted an international perspective on these issues, I might consider it.” With the mentorship of English professor Dr. Marjorie Swann, Hendrix President Bill Tsutsui, politics professor Dr. Jay Barth ’87, and several others, Alexander applied for and received a Marshall Scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in Food Security and Development at the University of Reading and a master’s degree in Comparative Social Policy at Oxford University. After completing his studies in the United Kingdom, Alexander hopes to return to the United States to attend law school and, ultimately, come home to Arkansas and start a rural food policy thinktank, where new methods to combat rural hunger and poverty across the nation can be formulated. “I want to see if we can use Arkansas as a lab to test and implement solutions that could work in a broader context,” Alexander said. “I think we have an opportunity with being a very diverse state that we can try to do something really new and unique, and I think that it would be really cool to try that out as a professional career.” Alexander firmly believes that the encouraging, communitycentric atmosphere of Hendrix has helped make this opportunity possible for him. By providing an environment that truly fosters the pursuit of passion, Hendrix has prepared Alexander to continue to broaden his mind and serve others in the years to come. “I feel very comfortable here [at Hendrix], and in being comfortable I feel like I’m able to take risks in a way that I wouldn’t had I gone to a different institution,” Alexander said. “So for me, being comfortable here has allowed me to grow into the person I think I was meant to become.” Story by MK Barker ’16, an English literary studies major and studio art minor from Little Rock, Arkansas
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The Access Advocate
JACKIE NYAMUTUMBU ’16 DISCOVERS PASSION FOR PUBLIC HEALTH
When Jackie Nyamutumbu ’16 first arrived in Arkansas, it was winter in her native Zimbabwe. Dressed in cozy jeans, a jacket, and warm boots when she walked outside of the Little Rock airport into the early August humidity, Nyamutumbu’s first thought was, “What is happening? This is terrible!” Arriving from Harare, the capital and largest city in Zimbabwe, Hendrix and Conway were also much smaller than she expected. “I just thought everything in America was going to be big,” said Nyamutumbu, who had to look hard for a building more than two or three stories in Conway. “But when school started, it was fantastic, and I was really excited.” Nyamutumbu, who had decided to come to the United States and was exploring small liberal arts colleges, heard about Hendrix by happenstance. She found a pamphlet at the Arundel School that touted a unique approach to hands-on learning. She quickly discovered a connection to her home country in admission counselor and Zimbabwe native Lovemore Gororo ’08, which solidified her interest in Hendrix. “Hendrix was the first school to accept me,” she said. “They had the best outreach, the best communication, and they were the most interested in me.” After bonding with her fellow international students during Orientation, she got involved with Students for Black Culture and other activities, including a part in a theatre production of The Mysterious Stranger written and directed by Ann Muse ’83 and her first live solo music performance during Family Weekend. “That first public performance was another milestone for me at Hendrix,” said Nyamutumbu, who plays the African marimba, thumb piano, djembe, and the Adungu, a string instrument that resembles a tiny harp. “I’ve been performing ever since.” Though her interests leaned toward science, she explored film, music, and other subjects at Hendrix before choosing biology. She initially thought she would be pre-med but decided she “didn’t want to be stuck in a lab” and wanted to “interact more with people.” An Odyssey project in Uganda during the summer of 2014 clarified her passion for public health as she researched the effects of a typhoid outbreak alongside graduate students from the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service. “After that, the light just shone for me,” she said. “I knew I wanted to help give people access to public health
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resources and to help protect them so they didn’t get sick.” The following summer, Nyamutumbu returned to Zimbabwe on a service fellowship through the Miller Center for Vocation, Ethics, and Calling to work as a food and nutrition coordinator for an after-school education program. “Reflecting every single day and processing what each day was like was super helpful to me,” said Nyamutumbu, who has participated in Miller Center service trips to Seattle, Washington, and to Dumas in the Arkansas Delta. She also researched the effectiveness of different menstrual health techniques in developing nations depending on the techniques’ social acceptability and economic accessibility, and she took part in a contextual Bible study in Durban, South Africa, where she worked with an HIV/AIDS support group, using the Bible to communicate about what resources were available to them and to give them hope. This fall, Nyamutumbu was a finalist for the Rhodes scholarship and, since then, has been preparing for a master’s degree program with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Public Health. In 10 years, she hopes to be back in Zimbabwe or in southern Africa doing public health research and engaged with youth to equip them to do research in their communities. Ultimately, she sees herself working with the government or an NGO, research institute, or think tank focused on public health. In the meantime, she wants to take a year off after graduation to work in public health advocacy or policy in Washington, D.C. “The opportunity that Odyssey has afforded to me has been more than I could have imagined,” she said. “I knew I would get to explore different fields, but I’ve done so much more than that because I came to Hendrix. I discovered myself, my interests, how to think critically, and how to articulate my views and relate to others. It’s more about being a whole person, discovering what role you want to play in the world, and having a support system to do that.”
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Quas•qui• cen•ten•ni•al
1876 Founded as Central Institute by Rev. Isham Burrow in Altus (Franklin County). 1881 Name changed to Central Collegiate Institute.
This year, Hendrix celebrated the 125th anniversary of its move from Altus to Conway
Early Support College Hall Constructed in 1890-91 it was the main building on campus for more than 90 years. After 1896, when campus was first wired for electricity, the basement offered a bathroom with hot and cold showers that students could use for a fee of only $1 per term. 16 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2016
Conway was one of seven Arkansas communities competing for Hendrix. Early Conway civic leaders Capt. W. W. Martin and the Rev. E. A. Tabor were instrumental in Conway’s bid to get Hendrix. Rev. Tabor worked to rid the city of its five saloons and Capt. Martin worked to raise $72,000, which included $11,000 he donated himself.
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1884 Joined the Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church, then called the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 1889 Renamed Hendrix College in honor of Bishop Eugene Russell Hendrix, presiding bishop of the Arkansas Conference.
A celebration of Hendrix’s 125 years in Conway drew alumni, community leaders, faculty, staff, and students. The celebration included performances by the Hendrix Players and Hendrix Wind Ensemble, student-led historic campus tours, and the arrival of Alumni Board Chair Drew Linder ’83, who bicycled from Altus. www.hendrix.edu
1890 Moved to Conway—by railroad and wagon—with five faculty members, 158 students, 500 books, and a small amount of scientific apparatus, maps, charts and a globe.
Conway Mayor Tab Townsell, left, and Altus Mayor Veronica Post stopped by the Altus Bell on campus for a friendly photo following the anniversary ceremony. Mayor Post cited Townsell for theft of Hendrix College from the City of Altus before declaring April 15 to be Hendrix College Day in Altus.
Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2016 17
Old Conway, My Conway
In the late summer of 1968, a week or so after classes had
started at Hendrix, I walked along the path under the old oaks to the door of the administration building. If I’d had a hat, it would have been in my hand.
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t the time, I was enrolled at State College of Arkansas, the bigger school across town (now the University of Central Arkansas), but my freshman semester had barely begun when I realized that I’d made a mistake. At lunch that day I’d driven to my parents’ business in downtown Conway and asked, with a sincerity that must have outweighed my trepidation, “Do you think it’s too late for me to get into Hendrix?” This impulsiveness seems strange, I know, in these times when a student who waits until middle school to plan for college is a slacker, when the admissions process is only slightly less interminable than Josef K.’s ordeal in The Trial. To state the obvious, the world was a different place then, and so was Conway. Those endless subdivisions of porticoed McMansions were cow pastures; I knew most of the owners of downtown stores and cafés by name. My dog slept unmolested for hours in the middle of the street. My mother picked up the phone and called registrar Victor Hill, a supremely nice man who worked at Hendrix for 42 years. Typical of Conway’s connections in those days, he was a customer at my parents’ store, and his oldest son was one of my best friends. The Hill family was counterculture before there was such a term, living across the street from the campus in an old house full of books and music and outdoorsy stuff. Vic and Peg (for so their children hiply called them, rather than Dad and Mom) put up with our inchoate rock group practicing in their living room before we switched to my parents’ garage. Ten minutes after the phone call I was standing in the administration office, talking with Mr. Hill and admissions director Gene Wilbourn ’54. They asked me a few questions, including about my SAT score. I was embarrassed that I knew the numbers, but couldn’t remember which was Verbal and which was Math. I volunteered to go home and get the report. “Never mind,” Mr. Hill said. “Just excuse us a moment while we have an admissions committee meeting.” He and Mr. Wilbourn went into a side room and closed the door. In five minutes they were back. I was in.
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M
aybe if I’d continued at SCA I would have made a friend from Bentonville who knew people and I’d have bought shares of Wal-Mart at $16.50 and I’d have a private island today. Maybe. Roads diverge, and we take one. Looking back, though, it seems practically unfathomable that I didn’t go to Hendrix in the first place. (My mother said as much to me when she hung up from the call with Victor Hill.) The reasons I chose SCA start with cherchez la femme, bien sûr, but I had a history at the place. My uncle taught there, and my cousin and I spent many hours using the campus as our playground, dodging the security guards in the gym and sneaking into the biology lab, scaring ourselves with skeletons and gawking at the big jars of pickled fauna. Years later, in high school, I was a regular in the music department, taking private lessons on trumpet and violin. Summer nights, my friends and I played tennis on the SCA courts until we were too tired to lift our rackets. I was connected to Hendrix, too, though. At least a half-dozen good friends from my Conway High class matriculated. The father of one was head of the Hendrix chemistry department. One of my parents’ close friends taught physical education. My father’s cousin was the construction manager for the company that built much of campus. (He warned again and again that the much-hated and now-demolished underground library was a stupid idea.) And I spent many, many hours performing in the marching band at the old Hendrix football stadium, where Conway High and Junior High played football games before it was torn down. A telling point: the fact that Hendrix fielded no football team in that old stadium says most of what needs to be said about how Conway’s two main colleges were perceived, even more so in those days than today. SCA was the jock school and Hendrix was the ivy-covered enclave of Volvodriving professors and overly serious, not to say effete, students. The guys who hung out in the feed store on Front Street might have used different words to make the distinction. Yes, an Antillean island would be nice, but Hendrix paid off pretty well for me. With the freedom to take practically any course I wanted, I ended up with an arts-heavy potpourri of music, English, and philosophy. Sometime in my junior year somebody took me aside and said, “You do know you have to declare a major, right?” I didn’t see the point. Harold Thompson, whose enthusiasm for music was matched only by his height, introduced me to Brahms, Stravinsky, and Copland, and my life has been immeasurably richer. In music theory class Hadley Yates taught me to write counterpoint, and—believe it or not—that esoteric skill made me a lot of money over the years. (Take that, people who say a liberal arts education is impractical!) Charles Chappell guided me through William Faulkner and Wallace Stevens, and I still remember the day when the affable prof admitted that he didn’t know, any more than we students did, what a certain Stevens poem meant. Imagine that…Great literature, it turns out, doesn’t have right or wrong answers. Not that my Hendrix experience was all Mozart overtures and azaleascented seminars under the cedars. My first freshman class was calculus at 7:40 a.m., and I was utterly blindsided by the need to, you know, actually study. The teacher wrote on one test, “If you don’t know why this is wrong, come see me.” I didn’t understand that a student can ask a college professor for a meeting and seek help, and I was too shy to do it, anyway. I escaped with a mercy D. Of such quantitative experiences are Humanities majors born. Overwhelmingly, though, Hendrix was a place of growth for me, and if it didn’t completely demolish my parochialism it showed me a road to the wider intellectual world. Several roads, really: the school’s laissez-faire attitude, which left me alone to fill my schedule with whatever classes I wanted, just as importantly freed me to imagine that I might someday truly be a musician, or a movie director, or a writer, or any of the other things that had seemed unattainable fantasies.
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Those days are gone forever, Over a long time ago. Steely Dan
T
he circumstances of my acceptance into Hendrix undoubtedly move historical revisionists to use words including privilege and entitlement. Your Honor, my client (the 18-year-old me), stipulates to whatever retroactive guilt his ignorance—please, may we substitute the word naiveté?—brings upon him. The Conway of my youth wasn’t a TV sitcom land for everybody. One high school classmate committed suicide in bizarre circumstances. The times being what they were, it was only years later that I realized it was almost certainly because of the isolation of being gay in the 1960s. Recently I was discussing downtown Conway with an African-American friend of about my age. We were remembering Greeson’s Drug Store, a prototypical “malt shop” and teen hangout that was located on the corner of Front and Oak streets. I jokily remarked that I’d rarely gone there because I wasn’t one of the cool kids. She, with a merciful lack of the rancor that would have spotlighted my stupidity, reminded me that she wasn’t allowed to sit down at the counter at all. It’s one of the great clichés of the 20th century to say that the Sixties were a time of change, yet it’s undeniably true—for both Hendrix and Conway. Just a couple of years before I arrived, Hendrix was still telling entering freshwomen that they must bring a pair of white gloves to campus and wear them (and a hat!) to church on Sundays. By the time I left, hippie culture had moved east from San Francisco and swept away dress codes in a wave of bellbottoms, beads, and bralessness. Just compare the hair length on male students in my freshman and senior annuals. Or, actually, please don’t. For its time and place, Hendrix was certainly a force for social progress. Most memorable to me, though, is the way it changed individuals. I saw dozens of students arrive from Arkansas towns where they were almost literally the only smart kid in their class, or the only gay kid, or the only kid crazy about choral music or science. They left four years later for graduate school, or for careers in the arts, journalism, education, law, or medicine, knowing that there were others like them in the world who shared their passions—knowing that the things they’d dreamed about in those little towns could come true. These days, Conway has music venues and coffee shops and outlet malls and places where you can get a glass of wine with dinner. Hendrix has a catalog full of splendid travel and learning opportunities, and the campus shines with fancy new buildings to impress potential students and their parents, who comparison-shop colleges like people trying to decide between a Lexus and an Audi. Nobody wants to go back to the Sixties, but as Hendrix competes for its place on those national Ten Best lists, I hope it keeps its past in mind. I hope that at its heart it stays the unpretentious place that accepted me and the other uncool kids from the small towns, the shy ones and the misfits and the wanderers. May the door that opened for me always welcome them. Mel White ‘72 is a freelance writer in Little Rock whose work has often been featured in National Geographic Society publications. The second edition of his book Complete National Parks of the United States has just been published by the National Geographic Book Division.
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Answering The Call To Leadership
Two decades after graduating from Hendrix, two alumnae – Dr. Dionne Bennett Jackson ’96 and Rev. J.J. Whitney ’96 – are now leading their alma mater into an exciting new era.
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happened,” she said. “When he said, ‘I want you to be our vice president As the College’s first Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion and Chief for diversity and inclusion,’ I just froze and thought, ‘Did he just say that?’” Diversity Officer, Dr. Jackson will help develop new programs to increase Though the offer was “a very pleasant surprise,” she needed to think diversity and to create a more inclusive environment on campus. about it. When she talked with her husband, he told her, “I know you and “I can think of no one better qualified than Dionne Jackson to lead this is the type of work you were meant to do.” Hendrix’s efforts to be a more diverse, inclusive and just community,” Her biggest concern in accepting her new role was the future of the said Hendrix President Bill Tsutsui. “As a graduate and a faculty member, Department of Education at Hendrix. She wanted to make sure the she is highly respected and trusted on this campus, and she has the skills department would continue to license Hendrix students to teach. and passion we will need to make Hendrix an even more welcoming and After graduating from Hendrix, Jackson, a biology major and educasupportive environment for all students, faculty and staff.” tion minor, taught seventh-grade science at Horace Mann Arts Magnet After a national search, Rev. Whitney was recommended by a committee School for four years and completed a master’s degree in educational leadof alumni, clergy, faculty, staff, students, and Bishop Gary E. Mueller, ership at the University of Central Arkansas. Episcopal Leader of the United Methodist Church for the Arkansas In 2000, she returned to Hendrix Conference of the United Methodist as coordinator of academic support Church, to be the Hendrix College services and taught education Chaplain. courses as an adjunct professor. She succeeds Rev. J. Wayne “That made me realize how much Clark ’84, who was named Associate I missed teaching,” she said. Vice President for Development and So she left Hendrix in 2007 to Dean of the Chapel last spring. pursue a doctorate in education “Our historic relationship with curriculum and instruction from the the United Methodist Church has Baylor University School of Educabeen strengthened and nurtured by tion with the goal of becoming a visionary clergy who have served the college professor. Hendrix community as Chaplain,” As part of the College’s efforts to said W. Ellis Arnold III ’79, Senior Dr. Dionne Bennett Jackson ’96 diversify the faculty, Hendrix helped Executive Vice President, General support her graduate education. Counsel, and Dean of Advance“I knew when I left that there was a possibility for a teaching position at ment. “Rev. Whitney has been a vital part of that tradition for more than Hendrix,” she said. “There was no guarantee, just a good faith agreement.” a decade, and we are proud to have her lead our campus religious life “This started with [former Hendrix president] Dr. Ann Die Hasselmo,” program into an exciting new era.” she said. “They realized this is a need and, if they could support someone, worth pursuing.” When Dr. Dionne Bennett Jackson ’96 returned it’s Jackson also interviewed for and was offered positions in Texas and from Spring Break during her sophomore year at West Virginia. “The amazing thing about my search is they had the same needs as Hendrix, she thought she was coming back to pack Hendrix – to diversify their faculty,” she said. “But Hendrix had the best up and leave. resources and was way more progressive in thinking about education, One of a very few African-American students at Hendrix, she was which confirmed to me that Hendrix was the best place for me.” miserable. She wasn’t sure she could succeed, and she wasn’t sure she “I never dreamed of this. I never thought I’d be back here,” she said. “I’ll wanted to be at Hendrix. never forget, on my first day as a professor, I called my mom and said, ‘I Fortunately for Hendrix and Jackson, her parents told her she couldn’t can’t believe I’m a professor at Hendrix.’” leave. Her mother responded, “I said I’d never say I told you so …” “That’s when I learned a very difficult life lesson about the value of As chief diversity officer, Jackson wants to help minority students find staying,” she said. “I had to ask myself, ‘What does this mean for me, and their place in the Hendrix community and discover their vocation. how am I going to become a member of this community?’” “If finding education as a major and finding my place in the broader Shortly afterward, she became a Resident Assistant and took her first community didn’t happen, I don’t know if I would have enjoyed the education course with Dr. James Jennings, who would become her mentor second part here as a student,” she said. “I want our students to have those and colleague. ‘I can do this’ moments.” “I started to find my community and I knew education was what I was “It starts with providing access to students who wouldn’t even look at supposed to do,” she said. “That made the last two years so fantastic for Hendrix because of the sticker shock but who are academically capable,” me.” she said. “It means thinking about recruiting and retaining students, This spring, Jackson, who joined the Hendrix faculty in 2010 as an mentoring students, and providing the support services for them to have education professor, was named vice president for diversity and inclusion a successful experience as a student.” and chief diversity officer. “I want to develop an alumni mentoring network to get minority She is the first African-American vice president at Hendrix and the first alumni plugged in to the success of our current students,” she said, chief diversity officer in the Associated Colleges of the South reporting recalling how Hendrix alumni like Patricia Gray ’80 and Luevonda Ross directly to the President. ’86 were inspiring examples to her. The offer to lead the College’s diversity and inclusion efforts “came “I’m also thinking about sustainable inclusive practices to have better out of the blue,” she said, recalling a meeting with President Tsutsui near dialogue with people who are different. That’s important to me,” she said. Thanksgiving. “Helping people to feel included deals with what happens in the classJackson was still in shock after the sudden passing of Dr. Jennings. room, in the dining hall, and at social events.” “I thought it was going to be about Dr. Jennings and what had Though not officially part of her job description, her new role will
“I had to ask myself, ‘What does this mean for me, and how am I going to become a member of this community?‘”
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Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2016 21
allow her to honor and continue the legacy of Dr. Jennings. “There were many times I did not want to show up, and I had to ask myself how he would expect me to live up to the situation,” she said. “He was very passionate about public education and expanding opportunities for students,” she said. “I get to carry that on. I’m excited about that because he was my mentor. If it wasn’t for his class and his understanding, I don’t know if I ever would have gotten to this point.” “For me to come back to Hendrix as the first African-American vice president, words cannot express how in awe I am,” she said. “I never saw that, but he trained me and he knew. He saw it all along.”
A third-generation clergy member, Rev. J.J. Whitney ’96 discerned a call to ministry when she was 16. A “true liberal arts student,” she “questioned it” and “took a lot of different classes” before she decided to be a Spanish major.
After taking a Judaism course with Dr. Jay McDaniel, along with Dr. John Farthing’s History of Christianity, Dr. Jane Harris’s Religion in a Global Context, and Dr. Stella Capek’s Social Change courses, her path was set. “I found my voice speaking up in those classes,” she said. “It gave me confidence.” During her senior year, she studied abroad in Madrid. That’s when she decided to go to seminary. “I get to foster Christian spiritual formation and promote inter-faith Whitney’s father encouraged her to leave the South, so she accepted a dialogue and to help all students grow more deeply into their religious scholarship to the Boston University School of Theology, Rev. Dr. Martin traditions,” she said. Luther King, Jr.’s alma mater. She studied reconciliation with Holocaust “When we say we’re educating the whole person, spiritual life is part of survivor and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Elie Wiesel. Initially interested in that,” she said. “I really want to have a place where students find common pastoral care and counseling, she became interested in campus ministry connection and a safe space to question, explore, and grow deeply as after working in the University Chaplain’s office. people of faith. After seminary, she returned to Arkansas, where she served as pastor at “Being on a college campus is exciting and energizing. To be with Hunter United Methodist Church in Little Rock for two years. students at this time in their life when they’re asking ‘Who am I?’ and As a Hendrix alumna and clergy member, she participated in a Lilly ‘What am I called to do?’ those are very meaningful conversations to be in Study Grant and learned about the College’s interest in establishing with people,” she said. “It is a privilege to be a part of that.” programs that encouraged the theological exploration of vocation. About 20 percent of Hendrix students are United Methodist, which is One of the Lilly Foundation’s recommendations was for Hendrix to high compared to other United Methodist colleges, Whitney said, a point hire staff and, in 2002, Whitney was hired to be the program coordinator that was confirmed by the Univerfor the new Hendrix-Lilly Vocasity Senate of the United Methtions Initiative. Two years later, she odist Church during its most recent was asked to also serve as the Assisaccreditation of Hendrix. tant Chaplain and, in 2013, she was “We want United Methodist named Associate Chaplain. students to come here and be When Rev. J. Wayne Clark was strengthened by our connection to named Associate Vice President the United Methodist Church,” said for Development and Dean of the Whitney, noting that, for 20 years, Chapel in April 2015, Whitney was the United Methodist Youth Fellowasked to serve as Interim Chaplain. ship Scholars Program at Hendrix Following a national search, she was Rev. J.J. Whitney ’96 has fostered clergy and church laity officially named Hendrix College by educating them in Wesleyan Chaplain in November. thought and belief and supporting students who are called to ministry. “In many ways, it was an easy transition,” Whitney said. “But I didn’t “We want to continue to help youth see Hendrix as a place to grow and realize the learning curve. While I was familiar with the student side of learn, not a place to break down their faith, but to challenge it and grow the Chaplain’s Office, I wasn’t familiar with the Chaplain’s role within in it.” the broader institution, being the face for the College’s church relations “As a United Methodist Chaplain at a United Methodist college, I and religious life, being the Chaplain’s Office’s voice in Student Affairs, have the freedom to be embedded in the life of the College, living out Advancement, and at Annual Conference.” the Wesleyan vision that unites the life of the mind and a life of faith,” Though founded as a United Methodist college, Hendrix has grown to she said. “That’s easy to do at Hendrix because the College says, ‘Yes, our include students from a diverse array of faith traditions, which presents Chaplain should be a leader on campus.’” an exciting opportunity for the Chaplain’s Office, Whitney said.
Spiritual life is part of educating the whole person. I really want to have a place where students grow deeply as people of faith.
22 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2016
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Beautiful minds in a beautiful place.
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A natural fit.
Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2016 23
A L U M N I WEEKEND
old friends, new memories!
2 016 It was a fabulous weekend with an excellent turn out despite the rain. We inducted nearly 60 new members into the Half Century Club, hosted 15 reunion parties, and even raised a little money for Campus Kitty. Jim Argue ’73, Chelsey Bryant Krug ’01, Monica Beck Glover ’98, Dr. Jason Beck ’95, and Barbara Jensen received Alumni Association Awards. The inaugural Masters Class featured Roby Brock ’88, Patrick Hoy ’86, and Mary Ann Gwinn ’73 sharing their journeys from Hendrix to broadcasting. We also celebrated Dr. James Jennings for his contributions to Hendrix and education in Arkansas, along with Professor Stephen Kerr ’76, Instructor Mary Richardson, and the Raney Building for their time, dedication, and service to the college.
Mark your calendars now for Alumni Weekend 2017, April 21-23!
24 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2016
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Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2016 25
Reconnect with friends,
hear Hendrix updates
and have fun! Oh, the places we go! President Bill Tsutsui continues his quest to visit and sample barbecue in all 75 counties in Arkansas. Alumni, parents, and friends are stepping forward to assist him in his Arkansas Odyssey. Along the way, we’ve cheered the Warriors, welcomed Hendrix legacies to campus, honored Odyssey Medal recipients, and listened to the choir sing Candlelight Carols. Where to next?
A1
A2
See more photos from these and other Hendrix-sponsored events on Flickr at www.flickr.com/hendrixcollege. B1
B3
D1
E2
26 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2016
B2
C1
D2
E1
F1
F2
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Homecoming 2015 Sept. 26, 2015 Hendrix College A1 Buddy Dillahunty ’58 and Joy Dillahunty A2 Byron Myrick ’59 and Norma Ruth Myrick
Legacy Luncheon 2015 Sept. 27, 2015 Hendrix College B1 Moriah Pedro, Amanda Jimerson ’19, and Kelley Redmond Pedro ’83
F3
F4
B2 Pete Alexander, Sean Alexander ’16, Olivia Alexander, Thomas Alexander ’18, Kris Maulden Alexander ’87, and Charlotte Alexander B3 Rachel Parker ’17, Lynn Wright Parker ’80, Mark Wright, Thomas Wright ’19, and Jennifer Wright
Linda Pondexter Chesterfield ’69 Day Oct. 10, 2015 Hendrix College C1 Alexis Taylor ’17, Matthew Tran ’17, Jackie Nyamutumbu ’16, Emry Chesterfield, Linda Pondexter Chesterfield ’69, Bill Tsutsui, Aditya Katke ’17, MiMi Spjut ’16, and Angela Lamb ’17
Odyssey Medal Reception Oct. 22, 2015 Little Rock, Arkansas
G2
G1
D1 Leonus Shedd, Marcia Shedd, and Omer Shedd ’93 D2 Joyce Jackson ’75, Mark Wilson ’93, and Christy Etheridge ’75
Hendrix vs. University of Chicago Tailgate Oct. 24, 2015 University of Chicago E1 Russ Schultz ’10, Bill Tsutsui, Jon Moore ’10, and Abby Cape ’10 E2 Lisa Jacob and Mark Jacob ’76
Candlelight Carol Barbecue Dec. 17, 2015 Germantown, Tennessee F1 Anthony Nail ’14 and Matt Simmons ’15
G3
H1
F2 Tim Faris ’64, Kim Sudderth Ford ’70, and Mary Ann Faris Thurmond ’59 F3 Ree Gandy Routon ’76 and Rush Neely Beavers ’78 F4 Marc Tate ’79, Robin Wylie Tate ’78, Carol Iverson, and Michael Deaton ’72
County to County: Bill’s Arkansas Tour Sept. 15, 2015 Bryant, Arkansas G1 Marjorie Swann, Bill Tsutsui, and Pat Couch Laster ’58 G2 Jim DeLamar ’76 and Rebecca Tilley Schlau ’04
H2
I1
G3 Darrel Bone ’55 and Del Roberson
Oct. 6, 2015 Lonoke, Arkansas H1 Ronnie Clement, Vicki Wilson Clement ’68, and Nellie White Schafer ’58 H2 Bill Tsutsui and Suzette Woods Elmore ’80
Feb. 28, 2016 Magnolia, Arkansas I1 Lynne Eifling Franks ’91, Claudia Franks, Emily Franks, Hayden Franks ’89, Harrison Franks, Larry Franks, and Harriett Franks I2 Reed Routon, David Alford ’73, Jan Roseberry Alford ’75, Julie Alford Routon ’04, Will Routon, and Stephen Routon ’04
I2
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I3
I3 Darius Adcock and Angela Stone ’02
Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2016 27
Alumnotes
ConneCtinG witH Classmates 1952
Dr. George Mitchell, former president and chief executive officer of Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, was named to the class of inductees for the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame.
1958
Pat Couch Laster published a sequel to her debut novel, A Journey of Choice. Her new book, Her Face in the Glass, is available on Amazon and Kindle.
1960
Dr. Jerry Robbins, dean emeritus of the College of Education at Eastern Michigan University, received the William Chandler Bagley Award for Leadership Excellence from Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education. He was also inducted into the Eleanor Roosevelt chapter of Kappa Delta Pi.
1962
Sid McCollum was recently elected president of the Association of AttorneyMediators, a national organization of licensed attorneys from states who are also experienced mediators. Mike Smith teaches economics, government, and advanced placement human geography at Memphis Northside High School on a Fresh Start Team.
Additionally, he is the athletic director and baseball coach at Memphis Northside.
1963
Dr. Dayne Hassell completed his th year as an anesthesiologist at Shriners Hospital for Children in Shreveport, Louisiana.
1966
Dr. Joseph Besharse was honored with a distinguished service award from the Medical College of Wisconsin, the highest faculty and staff honor. He is the chair of the department of cell biology, neurobiology, and anatomy, and research director of the Eye Institute at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
1969
Dr. Doug Graydon has retired after practicing years in family dentistry.
1972 Correction Dr. Robert White was appointed as a clinical assistant professor of medicine at the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. White, a Board Certified Internist, has practiced in Northeast Arkansas since and is affi liated with NEA Baptist Clinic and NEA Baptist Memorial Hospital in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
28 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2016
1973
Dr. Robin Rumph was honored for career contributions to the field of behavior analysis by the Texas Association for Behavior Analysis.
1974
Dr. Kent Chrisman is co-editor of the SAGE Encyclopedia of Contemporary Early Childhood Education (). This encyclopedia is a three-volume reference work in both print and digital formats. Glenn Dalton will join Corizon Health as the interim chief human resources officer and remain a managing partner of the RKD Group. Jennifer Horne published an article, “Sara Mayfield: A Woman of Her Times,” based on a book she is writing, in the Winter issue of Alabama Heritage magazine. She also published a book of poems, “Little Wanderer,” in March .
1975
Marilyn Smith Rumph received her Ph.D. in school psychology from Stephen F. Austin State University. Dr. Janet Udouj retired from practicing medicine in December .
Share your news with other alumni by visiting www.hendrix.edu/alumni and using the online form. Information received after March 1 will appear in the next edition. Photos smaller than 1440 x 960 pixels cannot be accepted for publication.
1979
Mark Robertson recently won a Alfred I. duPontColumbia University award for his contributions at ABC News for the production of the story Bruce Jenner: The Interview.
1983
Miah Frazer Michaelsen is the Indiana Arts Commission deputy director. She lives in Bloomington, Indiana.
1984
Rev. John Windsor became a certified wireless network administrator (CWNA) in Project +. He is the fi rst person to pass the CWNA examination while still a student. John is currently working on an associate’s degree at Century College in the Saint Paul, Minnesota, area.
1985
Julie McCoy will be the head coach for the Women’s Eagles Sevens Rugby team leading them into the Olympic Games. She lives in Little Rock, Arkansas. Aubrey Nixon is a regional manager at Enterprise Financial Group in Little Rock, Arkansas.
1986
Tad Bohannon has been named CEO of Central Arkansas Water.
Dr. John Hyatt joined Monitoring Analytics from the Southwest Power Pool Market Monitoring Unit. He lives in Little Rock, Arkansas. Rev. Scott Shafer is serving his second year as senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in Jacksonville, Arkansas. He also serves as a chaplain in the United States Navy Reserve where he was recently promoted to Lieutenant Commander.
1987
Dr. Don Hertzog has been appointed Vice President, Early Lead Identification with Abide Therapeutics. He lives in Durham, North Carolina.
1989
Randy Peterson has joined the Academic Affairs staff at Hendrix College as the fi rst director of institutional research.
1991
Glen Hooks is the director of the Sierra Club Arkansas Chapter. He was chosen by his peers to be Chair of the Sierra Club’s Chapter Directors group, a post in which he works to more effectively coordinate efforts between state directors across the country and the national Sierra Club. Veronica Thessing Rowe is pursuing a doctorate in occupational therapy from Texas Woman’s University and is expected to graduate in spring . She received
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1992
Michele Simmons Allgood was selected to participate in Leadership Arkansas, Class X. Dr. Tony Caver was promoted to Vice President, Medical Affairs at Medivation, Inc. He is responsible for global field medical staff which provides support of development and post-marketing trials related to oncology products. He lives in Cordova, Tennessee.
1993
Dr. Amanda Moore McBride has been appointed as dean of the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Social Work.
1994
Jason Cornwell started and runs a reality television casting company with over shows. He recently started a production company, Smartmonkey Productions. Dr. Jay Pickering is the principal of the new west Little Rock middle school.
1996
Brian Delavan earned a master’s in public health with an emphasis in biostatistics from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in December . He began a bioinformatics Ph.D. program with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in January. Joanna Bryant Delavan received a master of science in information science from the University of
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North Texas, College of Information, in December . She has worked for the University of Arkansas of Medical Sciences Library for years. Amy Dunn Johnson received the Marie Interfaith Civic Leadership Award, which recognizes leaders who mobilize people of different faiths and different segments of the community to address important issues and challenges facing Arkansas. Toni Gocke Wyre joined Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects in Little Rock as a senior associate and senior interior designer.
1997
Tracy McKay Dixon’s sixteenth book, Midnight Marked, was published in March by Penguin Random House. Midnight Marked is the twelfth book in the Chicagoland Vampires series.
1998
Tammy Stamps Heise received a Ph.D. in religion at Florida State University. She is a visiting assistant professor of American religions at the University of Wyoming.
1999
David Curran is the associate general counsel of the University of Arkansas system.
2000
Elsie Morris Bolton earned a master’s in speech-language pathology in August . She works as a school speech pathologist with the West Memphis School District. Dr. Aaron Christopher is the vice president of administration and fi nance at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. He received a Ph.D. in education from Claremont Graduate University in May . See New Children.
2001
Beth Baily Bloch had an article chosen for publication in the Southern University Law Review. The title is “Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. McDonnell Douglas Remains the Boss for Pretext Retaliation Cases Post-Nassar. A Look at Foster v. University of Maryland Eastern Shore.” Also, she has been elected as the - Executive Editor of Southern University Law Review. Chrissy Jennings Chatham is the new Chief Executive Officer for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arkansas. Sara Milford graduated with a master’s in divinity from the University of the South: The School in Theology in May . She was ordained to the priesthood in September and is now a curate at St. Luke’s in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Elizabeth Dulong Scott was promoted to partner at the Dallas branch of Akin Gump law fi rm in January. Ashley English Vickers co-founded The Charmed Root, a lifestyle box full of hand-picked gift items that change each month. See New Children.
2005
Jon Bryant Crawford graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles School of Theater, Film and Television and earned a master’s of fi ne art in fi lm production. He is in Arkansas producing a National Public Television show.
2006
Eric Bell is the director of corporate development at Gannett Co., Inc. and will oversee mergers and acquisitions and strategic investments. Dr. Mindy Eggert Loveless completed her sports medicine fellowship at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and Northwestern University in June . In August , she began working with the Sports & Spine group at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Jennifer Oyler-Olson was certified as a child welfare law specialist by the National Association of Counsel for Children in February.
2003
Sarah Razer Carnahan is a monthly contributor to The Hub, a blog with the Young Adult Library Services Association. Emily Manes Kincke started a YouTube Channel called “Meade Kincke.”
Cliff Keheley ’93 was named city manager by the Mesquite City Council in Texas. Left to right: Cynthia Keheley, Clifford Keheley Sr. ’55, Madeline Keheley, Paula Ferrell Keheley ’95, Ella Keheley, Cliff Keheley ’93, and Calvin Keheley.
Dixon Parnell, MA, MS is a millieu coordinator/therapist at the Eating Recovery Center in Austin, Texas.
2004
Dr. Wesley Beal published his book, Networks of Modernism, with the University of Iowa Press. Meade Kincke started a YouTube Channel called “Meade Kincke.” He writes, fi lms, and edits the skits.
Tim Smith ’93 is the founder and lead singer of The Killdares, an Irish band from Dallas, Texas. (Left to Right) Dr. Scott McCarty ’93, Sarko Kish ’93, Tim Smith ’93, Rob Seibert ’92, and Clark Cogbill ’93.
Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2016 29
aLumnOTes
one of four prestigious scholarships offered by Texas Woman’s University. She is a clinical instructor at the University of Central Arkansas in the occupational therapy department.
aLumnOTes
Michelle McKenzie Moore has been named project director of the new Hendrix Youth Institute (HYI), a summer program that will help high school students discern a call to ministry.
Amy Elkins is a completion fellow this year at the Bill and Carol Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry at Emory. She will graduate from Emory with a Ph.D. in English in May .
Alexander Jones is the vocalist, guitarist, and main songwriter for Little Rock band, Bombay Harambee. The band released a cassette and is currently creating a full-length LP.
Nikki Russell Parnell was hired as the senior vice president of fi nance & administration at the Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Dr. Patrick Ford graduated from Belmont University College of Pharmacy in Nashville, Tennessee, in May , with a doctorate of pharmacy. He began post-graduate training as a PFY- Pharmacy Practice Resident at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
2012
Danielle Whitehouse has become a shareholder of the Gill Ragon Owen law fi rm in Little Rock, Arkansas.
2007
Heath DeJean graduated from Louisiana State University’s Paul M. Hebert Law Center. He joined the international law fi rm of Baker Botts in Houston, Texas, as an associate. Megan Fitzmaurice May is a nephrology fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts. See Marriages. Dan Tracy earned a master’s of accountancy from the University of Missouri – St. Louis in December . He is an audit associate for KPMG in St. Louis, Missouri.
2008
Morgan Ford Butler opened Red Oar Writing, Inc., a private consulting fi rm, in October . She and her husband own TRS, which provides training and equipment to fi rst response teams in boat operations, tactical training, safety, etc. TRS is in North Little Rock, Arkansas. See Marriages. Jessica L. Crenshaw was accepted as an Amazon Associates author of poetry. Her community outreach organization, the Spartan City Poetry Club, will celebrate five years in April.
Erin Nixon graduated with a MBA from the Kogod School of Business at American University in Washington, D.C.
2010
Jane Derrick works at the communications department at Casady School in Oklahoma City. Torey Hayward is the Jefferson Parish Public School System’s High School Teacher of the Year. Torey teaches at Bonnabel Magnet Academy High in Kenner, Louisiana. Jennifer Smith Tierney is a school-based children’s therapist in Conway elementary schools.
2013
Isabel Anderson is a fellow of the Arkansas Teacher Corps program and has created a tutoring program that pulls volunteer high school students from Episcopal Collegiate to her fourth-grade class. Jordan Breckenridge appeared as Tybalt and other characters in the Conway Symphony Orchestra’s presentation of Romeo and Juliet: Shakespeare and Prokofiev. Kristen Finch works at the Oregon State radio station where she features graduate students and their research on her FM show. She is a doctoral student at Oregon State.
Kim Lane is the director of digital and entrepreneurial programming for the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub. Cayla Thompson graduated with a master’s degree from Texas State University in May . She began working as a residence hall director at the Culinary Institute of America in August .
2015
Laurie Waters is an assistant coach for the Hendrix College women’s soccer team.
Meghan Joiner graduated from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law. She works in Oklahoma for Xcaliber International, Ltd., L.L.C. Matthew Kraus served in the Peace Corps as a teacher in Liberia for two years. He has since joined the South Sudan Guinea Worm Eradication Program working to make the Guinea Worm Disease the second human disease eradicated from the planet. Nathan Thomas was selected to participate in Leadership Arkansas, Class X. Nathan is an educational programs associate at the Clinton Foundation. He develops and coordinates K- educational programs of the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Arkansas, in partnership with the National Archives.
2011
A future looking at the past Hendrix College alumna Anna Ragni ’12 is one of four new students accepted into the Richard Gilder Graduate School at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. This is the only museum in America with the authority to grant its own Ph.D. degree. Upon completion of the program Anna will have a Ph.D. in comparative biology. She will work alongside the museum’s internationally recognized scientists and curators as
she conducts research on primate and hominin skeletal morphology. Anna earned a bachelor of arts degree in sociology/anthropology with an emphasis in anthropology at Hendrix College. She has a master’s degree in anthropology from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Her main research interests are human origins and primate adaptations and evolution.
Winn Haynes is completing a doctorate in biomedical informatics at Stanford University.
30 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2016
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Cat Redus French ’ to Steve Becker, March , . Margaret Wendell ’ to Mark Boehme, Oct. , . Jennifer Davis ’ to David Stuart, Dec. , . Rachel Johnson ’ to Nick Laws, July , .
Nikolai DiPippa ’ to Cydney Mayor, Oct. , . Megan Fitzmaurice ’ to Ryan May, Sept. , . Morgan Ford ’ to Brandon Butler, April , .
Dana Clark ’ to Jonathan Kordsmeier, Oct. , . Sarah Fesmire ’ to Tyler Schroeder ’, Oct. , . John Schallhorn ’ to Lauren Reynolds ’, Sept. , in Greene Chapel.
Alexis Reddig ’ to Matthew Knudtson, Aug. , .
Lucy Mayerly, third daughter, third child, to Carla Crouch Tate ’ and Vince Tate ’. Archer, fi rst son, second child, to Aaron Christopher ’ and Ada, April , . Sterling Reid, fi rst son, second child, to Amanda Dupree ’ and Cassidy, Oct. , . Sybil Rose, fi rst daughter, fi rst child, to Jessica Fisher Cunningham ’ and Rick, Sept. , . Oliver, fi rst son, fi rst child, to Tami Clinkingbeard Marks ’ and David, July, , .
Luna Maya, first daughter, first child, to April Ambrose ’01 and Justin, Dec. 1, 2015.
William James, second son, second child, to Stephen Routon ’ and Julie Alford Routon ’, Oct. , .
Megan Wooley ’08 to Michael Ousdahl, May 16, 2015. (Left to Right) First row: Lindsay Braun, Megan Wooley-Ousdahl ’08, Jude Suh, Michael Wooley-Ousdahl, and Joshu Shih. Second row: Alex Graddy-Reed ’09, Courtney Kennedy, Laura Love, Haazim Hashmani, Eric Eng, and Eric Feld. Third row: Christy Edmunds, Vanna Gordon Irving ’08, Nelson Xysavanh, Andy Suh, and Harry Johnson. Fourth row: Casey Coman ’08, Liz Stewart Harder ’08, Laura Woodham, Channsy Lorn, and Lyle Leitelt.
Lalita Ruth, fi rst daughter, second child, to Madeline Couch Desai ’ and Mandar, July , . Logan McBrady, second son, second child, to Rebecca McBrady Butts ’ and Tim, Oct. , . Owen Frederik, fi rst son, fi rst child, to Scott Large ’ and Lauren, April , . Miller Dean, fi rst son, second child, to Allison Walker Ruff ’ and Adam, March , .
Alice Hurley, first daughter, second child, to Ashley English Vickers ’04 and Matt, Dec. 9, 2014.
Kerington Jane, fi rst daughter, second child, to Britney McCarthy-Lee ’ and Langston Lee ’, Aug. , . Lincoln Davis, fi rst son, fi rst child, to Ashley Brewington Loudermilk ’ and Kyle, Aug. , . Michelle Drilling ’10 to Jake Eddington ’10, Oct. 17, 2015. Front: Hannah Hooker ’10, Patty Hill Sims ’10, Brittney Reynolds Irion ’10, Timothy Nichols ’10, Becky Flynn ’10, Jake Eddington ’10, Michelle Drilling Eddington ’10, Bernice McMillan ’11, Alex Graddy-Reed ’09, Amelia Wildenborg Barnes ’11, Anna Keahey ’10, and Emily Kymer-Davis ’10. Back: Angela Bennett Poff ’10, Lin Poff ’10, Joshua Hooper-Schaffer ’12, Jake Mitchael ’11 and his daughter, Elsie, Issac Morales ’10, Ryan Menchaca ’12, Meagan Kreps Nichols ’10, Rainey Gibson ’08, Megan McCaghey ’10, Missy Moore ’09, Caitlin Stevens Cunningham ’10, Elijah Cunningham ’07, BJ Fogleman ’10, Mac Barnes ’11, David Garza ’12, and Grant Womack ’13.
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James William, fi rst son, fi rst child, to Amy Fontenot Ireton ’ and Alex, Feb. , .
Reed Jackson, 7, son of Matt Jackson ’94, rocks “jersey day.”
Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2016 31
aLumnOTes
New Children
Marriages
aLumnOTes
In Memoriam Jeanette McKenzie McCormack ’ William T. Utley Sr. ’ Marye Elizabeth Rogers Priddy ’ Lois Hogg Lea ’ Mary Jane Bennett Nelson ’ Bettye Lewis Young ’ Jean Terry Baird ’ Floy Plunkett Luppen ’ James Morris Reynolds ’ James Clifford Larrison ’ Betty Jane Baer Austin ’, Faculty/ Staff Virginia Short Rook ’ Virginia Clement Beard ’ J. Fred Cloud ’ Shelby Marlowe Forrest ’ Patrick Edward Harrison Sr. ’ Jack Howard Davis Jr. ’ Ida Hoggs Hays ’ Barbara Bevels ’ Bernard Augustine Brunner ’ Joyce Ann Wilcox Hopkins ’ Mary Lou Collins Cossey ’ Charles Freemond Davis ’ George Matthews Hoover ’ Katherine Davis Hudson ’ Marjorie Ann Gilliam Garrett ’ Henry Clay Patton ’ Melba N. McKeen ’
William Patrick Donahoo ’ Homer M. Dowd ’ Phyllis Horn Evans ’ Shirley Young Fotioo ’ Clyde Lee Lingelbach ’ Farrel Eugene Mason ’ Ruth Moore Riddick ’ Elbert Byron Jean ’ Marilyn Baird Newkirk ’ Lola Featherston Swygert ’ Edmund Lewis Williams Jr. ’ Paul Dean Davis ’ Midred Dixon Gillespie ’ Patsy Ruth Crow King ’ Lorraine Teague Wilson ’ Wesley Neal Freemyer ’ Bonnie Smith Horton ’ Richard M. Moose ’ Harry Ambrose Pickens ’ Ann Brown Boldenweck ’ James Thrasher Gooden ’ Marcella Stough Goodwin ’ Patty Jo Hoff ’, Faculty/Staff Monte Richard Tredway Sr. ’ James Marion Gatlin ’ Robert Eugene Wilson ’ Mildred Baugh Gunn ’ Kenneth LeRoy Jackson ’ Sydney Smith McMath Jr. ’ Mildred Louise Jarvis Minor ’ Charles England Plunkett ’ Enoch Edward Spiva ’
Magazine Progress … Progressing
Camelia Andreae Kernodle ’ Darren Smith Leslie ’ Leonard Milton Phillips Jr. ’ Jerry Lee Hedges ’ Linda Weld O’Daniel ’ Robert Russell Combee Jr. ’ Laura Jane Adams McKinney ’ Rodney M. Phillips ’ Edward Burl Harris ’ Lillian Sheridan Scott ’ Judy Arnold Sweet ’ Bruce Niles Fleury ’ Henryetta Bailey Harris ’ Mildred Faye Sloat Stouffer ’ Tony Carroll ’ Virginia Connell Martin ’ Allen I. Robbins Jr. ’ George Brooks ’ Michael Patrick McBryde ’ Amy Ruth Edgington ’ Vicky M. Bradford Allen ’, Faculty/ Staff William Floyd Clardy ’ Charlotte Mills Fant ’ Michael David Maguire ’ Robert Yale Cohen II ’ Lee-Ann Christina Jansonius ’ Francis Ross Payne Jr. ’ Lyndon Gordon Strickland ’ Jimmy Wayne Freeman ’ Roger Scott Stephens ’ Davy L. Jones ’
Douglas Edwin Edwards ’ Jan Wood Rorie ’ Kimberly Grimes Adametz ’ Carl Tobin White ’ Maurice Lee Culpitts ’ Stacy Lynn Duckett ’ Kevin Bruce Morgan ’ Eirene Evelyn Bernick ’ Ryan Walsh ’ Garrett Thomas Nix ’ Heather Danielle Stroud ’ Stephen Kyle Wilshusen ’
FACULTY, STAFF, TRUSTEES, & HONORARY DEGREES Mary Jean Bishop – Faculty/Staff Dale Bumpers – Honorary Degree and Faculty Lillian Belle Clay – Faculty/Staff Don H. Flanders – Trustee Harry Lee Goff – Faculty/Staff Benjamin Gee Hines – Honorary Degree and Trustee James M. Jennings – Faculty/Staff Orlan C. Jones – Faculty/Staff Jackie F. Lawrence – Faculty/Staff J. Frank Lyon – Trustee Margaret L. Morrison – Faculty/Staff Glendora Rhodes – Faculty/Staff
Hendrix Magazine has returned from sabbatical with the Spring 2016 edition, but our desire to continuously improve the publication continues. Keep up with alumni events and news at www.hendrix.edu/ alumni/ and follow Hendrix news in general by visiting www.hendrix.edu and clicking on the News link in the orange bar at the top right-hand side of the page. You can read Alumnotes online at www.hendrix.edu/ alumni/classnotes/ where you will also find a link to the Alumnotes submission form. Please continue submitting items for Alumnotes. All those received after March 1, 2016, will be compiled for the next edition. And if you haven’t shared your email address with the College, please do and we’ll add you to the mailing list for our monthly alumni e-newsletter. All the best, Helen Plotkin, Executive Editor Rob O’Connor ’95, Editor
32 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2016
www.hendrix.edu
It’s Never Too Early To Plan For The Future Maximize your income. Minimize capital gains and estate taxes. Care for your family. Leave a legacy.
The Center for Trusts and Estates at Hendrix College can provide a range of charitable gift options to help meet your estate planning goals. For more information contact Lori Jones CFP,® Director of the Center for Trusts and Estates, at 501-450-1476 or email jonesl@hendrix.edu
www.hendrixaltusbell.org
Celebrate your connection to the Raney Building and support future Hendrix students.
Own a Piece of Hendrix History The Raney Building is coming down this summer! A limited number of bricks will be preserved and offered to Hendrix alumni and friends. Each $100 brick features a commemorative brass plate and includes a $60 tax-deductible donation to the Hendrix Annual Fund or to scholarship funds established in memory of the Rev. Jon Guthrie ’56 or Dr. Francis Christie ’44. For more information, contact the Rev. J. Wayne Clark ’8 at 1-- or clark@hendrix.edu.
hendrix.edu/raneybrickproject
Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage PAID Little Rock, AR Permit #906
Photo by Maddison Stewart
1600 Washington Avenue Conway, Arkansas 72032-3080
This year, seven Hendrix students helped teach writing to third-grade students at Anne Watson Elementary School in Bigelow, Arkansas. The Hendrix students are part of the new Murphy Scholars program, sponsored by the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation Programs in Literature and Language.