KWU Contact--Spring 2019

K A NSA S W E SLE YA N U N I V ER SI T Y

CONTACT Spring 2019

CONTENTS

Join us on the Alps Passion Tour

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We are the champions!

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Keynote speaker is other-worldly

11 Faculty and staff updates

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Second career behind a camera

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Nursing program is supercharged

9

It's a matter of faith

12 Class Notes

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An alum who was flying high

7

Dr. Hanna is light on her feet

Contact is the official alumni magazine of Kansas Wesleyan University and is published by the office of Marketing and Communications.

Vice President of Admissions & Advancement: Melanie Overton, Ed.D.

Graphic Designer and Magazine Layout: Amanda Colgrove ’15, G’18

Follow us!

Senior Director of Development: Ken Oliver Office Manager: Linda Baumberger Assistant Director of Development: Jennifer Rein G’10

Board of Trustees Executive Committee: Emily-May Richards, Chair Charlie Grimwood, Ph.D., Immediate Past Chair Jeff Bieber ’71, Vice-Chair Jon Starks, Treasurer Jane Philbrick ’80, Secretary KWU Foundation: Ken Ebert, Chair Dennis Berndt ’92 Joyce E. Gorton ’67 Theresa L. Kepple ’86 Robert L. Meyer ’73 Steve Scofield ’65

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KWU President & CEO: Matt Thompson, Ph.D.

Marketing and Communications Coordinator: Logan JP Schrag

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Kansas Wesleyan University Spring 2019

Managing Editor: M. Olaf Frandsen Senior Director of Marketing and Communications

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10 KWU by unanimous choice

Kansas Wesleyan Alumni Council: David Branda ’76, President Randy Lamer ’06, Vice President Rick Dahl ’99, Treasurer Lori Trow ’82, Secretary Writing Assistance: David Toelle ’08 Bob Davidson Photo Credits: Tanner Colvin ’11 Amanda Colgrove ’15, G’18 Logan JP Schrag

To change your contact information or to share news, click the MYKWU portal on the top banner of our website: www.kwu.edu.

Send address changes to: Advancement Office 100 E. Claflin Ave. Salina, KS 67401 Contact Information: Website: www.kwu.edu Alumni email: alumni@kwu.edu Advancement and MARCOM: (785) 833-4341 Read Contact Magazine Online: Website: www.kwu.edu/news

Development Officer: Melissa Anderson Alumni Engagement Officer: Kendall Carter ’17

@goKWU or @KWUCoyotes

Kansas Wesleyan University

Kansas Wesleyan University

Senior soccer players Deana Rowson and Nissa Inzunza present their season awards with President Matt Thompson and Athletic Director Mike Hermann.

A message from

President Matt Thompson Dear Coyote Family, One of the most important embodiments of our “Power of And” tagline is KWU and Salina.

More than 130 years ago, our founders made the very wise decision to plant the university at the south end of Salina. From the very beginning, this community has been unbelievably supportive of our work and mission. However, this has never been a one-way relationship. Kansas Wesleyan has always cared about and enhanced Salina.

Every year, our students, faculty, and staff volunteer more than 15,000 hours to the betterment and benefit of Salina. On select Saturdays each month, students participate in CampusServe. Groups go into the community to assist with United Way projects, install smoke alarms around Salina in partnership with the Red Cross, volunteer at the animal shelter, work to clean up the garden at the Salina Rescue Mission, and serve at Ashby House, among other endeavors. In addition, every athletic team is partnered with a local elementary school. The softball team received recognition for work at St. Mary’s Grade School and the men’s basketball team is leading a sportsmanship and respect assembly at Grace E. Stewart Elementary.

The choirs, bands, and orchestra are seen performing around town.

This fall, we witnessed two visible moments that reinforced Salina’s pride in KWU. The first was in support of our record-breaking football season. Salinans and Salina businesses were in full force in their backing of Coyote athletics.

They helped underwrite the cost of hosting three postseason football games; they bought tickets that led to standing-room-only games; they changed business signs to say “Go Yotes,” and they offered a Thanksgiving meal to our nearly 150 studentathletes who were unable to go home for the holiday.

The second moment was last December when the Salina Family YMCA conferred its first Pillar Award to Kansas Wesleyan to recognize collaborative work between the two organizations.

YMCA President and CEO Angie Lassley noted that her Board of Directors, in selecting KWU as the inaugural recipient, recognized the athletic department and the computer studies program for providing ongoing intern support, generous facility usage for gymnastics meets, and the countless interns and employees who have assisted the YMCA with a multitude of projects.

I firmly believe that as Kansas Wesleyan excels, so does Salina. And vice versa. Our mutual partnerships aid the enrichment of both. Students get part-time jobs, internships, and shadowing experiences. Salina gets access to talented students and graduates, volunteers, and cultural enhancements. As the community embarks on $150 million in improvements to Downtown Salina (salina2020.com), and we continue to attract students and visitors from all over the state, the country and the world, it is no wonder that 25 percent of our alumni call Salina home.

If you haven’t been back to Salina recently, then plan to come back to the campus and community for Homecoming 2019 (October 11 to 13).

Salina and Kansas Wesleyan — a powerful partnership!

Hope to see you soon.

All the best,

Matthew R. Thompson, Ph.D.

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May 26–June 3, 2020

JOIN US ON THE ALPS PASSION TOUR 2020 This will be a trip to remember!

Kansas Wesleyan University is inviting alumni and friends on a nine-day tour that includes The Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany, a visit to Linderhof Castle, a stop in Grindelwald near the majestic Jungfrau Mountain in the Swiss Alps to see what is known as The Top of Europe, and adventures in Munich, Zurich, Bern, Lauterbrunnen, and Lucerne.

For those who may want to explore Paris, there is an option to add a three-day Paris extension for an additional fee.

Every ten years, for nearly 400 years, the village of Oberammergau, Germany, has staged a production of the Passion of Christ, which includes more than 2,000 participants, a choir that exceeds 150 members and a 70-member orchestra.

This remarkable, once-a-decade performance, the world’s most famous and largest production of the story of the last days in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, is considered by many to be a bucket list opportunity.

The tour includes:

• Airfare from Kansas City to Munich, and Zurich to Kansas City* *A land-only option is available for those who wish to meet us in Germany or depart from a different destination.

• Lunch and walking tour of Munich • Three-night stay in Bavaria near Oberammergau • Tickets to the Passion Play in Oberammergau • Meals associated with the Passion Play performance • Tour of Linderhof Castle and a visit to a Swiss cheese farm, and other sight-seeing experiences • All breakfasts and about half of your other meals • All taxes and gratuities • A group tour travel escort The estimated cost of the trip is $4,000 to $4,500 per person, based on double occupancy.

For more information:

Visit www.kwu.edu/alpspassiontour2020, or contact Paula Hermann, senior director of apecial events at Kansas Wesleyan University, at (785) 833-4502 or paula.hermann@kwu.edu.

Travel agent: Deborah Mason Travel & Tours LLC (816) 453-7062

Photo courtesy of Deborah Mason Travel & Tours LLC Look forward to amazing views like this one in Zurich, Switzerland.

Fond memories of German Passion Play Kansas Wesleyan University’s plans to organize a trip to Germany for the Oberammergau Passion Play in 2020 prompt great memories for my wife, Mary Ann, and me. In 2000, and again in 2010, we attended the Passion Play as a part of European trips.

The opportunity to visit the village of Oberammergau and experience their version of “The Passion of the Christ” was the highlight of both.

The play features a literal cast of thousands, with all participants from Oberammergau and the surrounding area continuing a tradition that began in the mid-17th century. The production — staging, costumes, acting — is stunning and dramatic. And lengthy: The play lasts six to seven hours, with a meal break for the audience.

Our most meaningful and enduring recollections of the Oberammergau Passion Play include the feeling of immersion in the telling of the story, watching and appreciating the prophetic Old Testament tableaus, experiencing the events of Palm Sunday and Good Friday, the drama and tragedy of the Crucifixion and the power and hope of the Resurrection.

We were fortunate, on both occasions, to travel with family and good friends from our church, which added immeasurably to the experience.

There is always something special about sharing experiences with fellow travelers, especially the type of opportunity presented by the Passion Play in Oberammergau. We were all truly blessed and enriched.

The KWU trip offers a similar opportunity, and so much more to appreciate — history, culture and drama, not to mention planning and logistics (how do they rotate 5,000 people through that tiny village four times a week?). But most of all, the opportunity to experience Oberammergau’s ongoing tribute to “The Passion of Christ.”

Randy St. Clair ’66 Aug. 1 is the last day to register with a $600 non-refundable deposit per person.

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Fundraising to film

Russell McMahon ’73 gets behind the documentary lens Russell McMahon ’73 likes a challenge.

As if a lengthy career in university administration — specifically fundraising — wasn’t enough, when he hit retirement from that career a few years ago, he opted for a job serving drinks in a martini bar in Klamath Falls, Ore., because “it was a craft I always wanted to try.”

Eventually he met a young Oregon State University graduate named Kamrin Nielsen occupying a seat on the other side of that bar, and as unlikely as it may seem, a filmmaking career was born.

“I asked myself what it is I always wanted to do,” McMahon said recently. “I always came back to filmmaking.”

Traveling the world Not that filmmaking was singularly on his mind throughout his life of academia. “I have been blessed to have numerous work experiences at some great colleges and institutions including Kansas Wesleyan,” he said of his vocation that lasted from 1977 to 2012. “It was these collective experiences in educational fundraising that opened my eyes to a world of a much more global nature."

Those experiences meant McMahon caught the proverbial travel bug, and that was integrated into a foray in documentary films.

“I caught the travel bug because of one man, Professor Jimmy Cranke, KWU professor of Theater, in the early 1970s,” he said. “He put together a theater class for what we used to call ‘January Interterm’ that took place for three weeks in London....going to plays and discussing them with people from other colleges and universities around the country.

“Since that time, I have gone through three passports, taken 17 trips that require travel across an

“I caught the travel bug because of one man, Professor Jimmy Cranke, KWU professor of Theater, in the early 1970s. He put together a theater class for what we used to call ‘January Interterm’ that took place for three weeks in London.”

— Russell McMahon ’73 ocean, visited 44 countries and shot a documentary short film in two of those countries (Republic of Georgia and Cuba),” he said.

“I have hammered around the streets of Moscow in Russia and Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, on six different trips each.”

One of the notable things about reaching this stage in his life of retirement is that it also is a time for exploration and discovery, he said. “Gone are the days of golfing and fishing and square dance competitions; retirement can and must be a second act.”

Finding a niche When retirement cropped up, “I jumped both feet into the world of competitive independent filmmaking. And to make the challenge even more exciting, we chose a niche of only shooting international films,” McMahon said.

The first effort for he and partner Nielsen was a 22-minute short documentary filmed in the Republic of Georgia. It was chosen by two film festivals, one in Arkansas and one in West Virginia, to be screened in 2016.

Fast forward to their second film, and the reaction has been multiplied.

Los Mambises tells the story, in 121/2 minutes, of a quartet of street musicians in Havana, Cuba.

It quickly is turning heads in the competitive film industry, selected for screenings at 10 film festivals, five in the U.S. and five in Europe and the Mediterranean and Latin

America. It also has been translated into Greek, Polish and Serbian.

“Our story was solid, our subjects were golden and the location of filming on the streets of Havana was just plain exciting, stupid crazy fun,” McMahon said.

Delight in the subjects Mambises, translated into “warriors,” refers to Cuban guerrilla fighters who battled for independence against Spain in the Ten Years War from 1868 to 1878, and the Cuban War of Independence from 1895 to 1898.

McMahon said the band, omnipresent in the streets of Havana for decades (with the occasional turnover of musicians) adopted the name because “they were fighting the establishment.

And the band was struggling for dinner, for food.”

After discovering the foursome on a YouTube tourist video, McMahon and Nielsen knew they had to document their story on film.

In October 2017, they did just that – even though their original plan was waylaid by the destructive and deadly Hurricane Maria’s descent on Puerto Rico, interrupting their original travel plans.

In the end, the gratification of making a successful short documentary film can be heard clearly in the KWU grad’s voice.

“We make films because we can,” he said. “We make good films because we delight in our subjects.”

Top: Nielsen, left, and McMahon set a shot. Bottom: The partners offer direction on location.

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Wingsover Wesleyan Vietnam. He retired from the Navy in 1966, with the rank of Commander.

For the next four decades, Keeler lived in Coronado, Calif., with his family, at times coming back to Barnard for class reunions and family gatherings. He said it was a good life, working at JC Penney as an auditor for 13 years, then managing a motel using education provided by the Navy.

Alum Bill Keeler flew high on the field, and in the Navy In 1940, Barnard, Kan., high schooler Bill Keeler’s dad answered a knock on his door at 1 a.m.

When his dad opened the door, there stood future Hall of Fame Kansas Wesleyan Football Coach Gene Johnson.

“Would your son like to come to Wesleyan to play football?” Keeler remembers the coach asking.

Yes, said his dad, but it would be way too expensive, and the family didn’t have much money. “We’ll get him a job and get him through college,” the coach replied.

“You’ll get him a job?” At that moment, Keeler, listening to the entire exchange while wiping the sleep from his eyes, looked at his dad.

“I guess you’re going to Wesleyan to get an education and play football,” he remembers his dad telling him.

And so began Bill Keeler’s 79-year love affair with Kansas Wesleyan University.

The 96-year-old Keeler, with his ever-present wife of 10 years

Betty by his side, remembered one of his jobs was helping build Glen Martin Stadium for $16 a month.

“We could work until we had $16 coming, then we had to stop until the next week,” he said.

He also found work at the Firestone store, the University Café and the Pennant Cafeteria.

But actual graduation from KWU would prove to be elusive.

Called by the Navy On July 1, 1943, after three years of studying teacher education and playing center on offense and linebacker on defense for the Coyotes, the U.S. Navy came calling for Keeler.

It would end up being his first career.

Keeler received training at Southeast Missouri State University, and a few years into his service fighting in World War II he was sent to flight training as a fighter pilot. He eventually became a commanding officer, fought in Korea, was assigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, D.C., flew bombers off aircraft carriers during the Cold War, and flew bombers in

Starting a new chapter When his wife of 60 years, Pricilla, passed away, he retired for good.

That was the beginning of Keeler’s life, Part 2.

Salinan Betty Lehman Price, a widow for six years at the time, coincidentally ran into someone with the last name of Keeler in the Salina area. “I dated Bill Keeler when I was in high school, and he was at Wesleyan,” said Betty, who had a 60-year marriage to fondly remember herself. “I was curious whatever became of him because he was a really good dancer!”

Turns out, that person Betty met was Keeler’s cousin. Betty and Bill reconnected, and another love match was made.

“I hadn’t seen him in 65 years,” the 92-year-old Betty said. “When I first asked him if he remembered me, he said “Boy do I!” Eventually, after getting married, the two moved back to Salina from their home in California, and Bill has been heavily involved in his alma mater ever since – with a significant amount of pride.

“I liked everything about it,” he said of his own experience well over 70 years ago. “The best thing about it is that it is a small school, a good-sized school, and you

know everybody.”

KWU Assistant Director of Development Jennifer Rein G’10 is one of those people the Keelers have gotten to know well.

“Time with Bill and Betty has evolved from me sharing a KWU update and asking them to make an annual gift to Kansas Wesleyan, to a much deeper connection, similar to that of grandparents,” Rein said.

It’s those kinds of relationships that keep the campus feeling close-knit with former students.

“Personal relationships that I have built with alumni, including Bill Keeler, is why I find purpose working at KWU” Rein said. “It is incredibly rewarding.”

Betty said her husband is amazed at the way the campus looks today, with new buildings and the Graves Family Sports Complex. “He goes on campus and he is so proud of that,” she said – especially when he looks on the Hall of Fame wall in the Student Activities Center and sees his own picture from his induction in 2013.

Keeler practically bleeds purple and gold now: He is a member of the Salina Chapter of the KWU Alumni Association, and received the Alumni Achievement Award in 2009 to recognize outstanding accomplishments in a chosen field.

Plus, he and Betty made sure to take in a football playoff game last fall when the Coyotes went on their amazing run of a KCAC championship. It was the first time in school history there were any post-season games on Wesleyan’s home field.

So what might be Bill’s favorite memory about his time at KWU? It’s simple, he said: “I liked the whole thing!”

A SEASON O F

Success

Kansas Wesleyan University celebrates championship fall athletic season Kansas Wesleyan football coach Matt Drinkall wasn’t about to let a loss to Benedictine obstruct the big picture.

The Coyotes’ 43-21 setback in the semifinals of the NAIA Championship Series ended an unprecedented and historic season — the best in Wesleyan and Kansas Conference history.

The list of accomplishments was as long as it was impressive, starting with a final 13-1 record that included an 11-0 slate in the KCAC and the school’s first two NAIA playoff victories and home games. The Coyotes were the first KCAC team to advance to the national semifinals.

“This game would have been nice, but the reality is everything these guys accomplished, which is the best team in the history of the school and the best in the history of

the conference,” said Drinkall, who recently announced his move to West Point as the offensive analyst for the Army team.

“To go undefeated, win a conference championship and shatter about every single record there was — nation’s leading rusher (Demarco Prewitt), nation’s second-leading passer (Johnny Feauto), nation’s leader in sacks (Shaq Bradford) — I will never, ever forget what these kids have accomplished this year and I am forever indebted to these coaches, the fans and players.”

During a season dubbed “Project Mayhem,” the Coyotes rewrote the school and KCAC record books, including 48.3 points per game, 495.4 yards per game and points in a game (83). They scored 70 points or more four times and were No. 4 in the final NAIA coaches poll.

Prewitt and Bradford were named AFCA/NAIA First Team All-Americans and also received Associated Press Small College First Team All-America honors along with Eli Smith and Charlie Simmons.

Success wasn’t limited to the football team during the fall session,

the spotlight shone brightly on the men’s and women’s soccer teams, the volleyball team and a cross country runner.

The men’s soccer team, under the guidance of second-year coach Diego Cocon ’14, G’17, cruised through the conference season with a 12-0 record and won the KCAC postseason tournament en route to qualifying for NAIA postseason play.

The Coyotes defeated No. 2-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan 4-2 in the regular season and repeated the feat two weeks later with a 3-2 victory in the KCAC tournament championship.

After starting the season 2-4, the Coyotes won 17 consecutive matches, finishing with a 17-5 record.

Tim Doherty led the team with 13 goals and six assists. He and defender Jorge Mejia were named NAIA Honorable Mention All-Americans.

The women’s soccer team of secondyear coach Kat Benton ’09, G’11 compiled an 11-0-1 conference record and won the postseason tournament en route to a 17-3 final record that included 14 consecutive wins.

The Coyotes’ forte was defense –

12 shutouts in conference play and just three goals allowed.

Michelle Pena, who had a teambest 16 goals and six assists, earned NAIA’s Honorable Mention AllAmerican honors.

The volleyball team finished third in the KCAC, going 10-2, and was 25-8 overall. The Coyotes won 14 of 15 games in one stretch, including nine straight.

Salina native Shaelyn Martin was named an NAIA Third Team AllAmerican.

Wesleyan will have a new coach in 2019 following Fred Aubuchon’s resignation Dec. 21. Aubuchon, who led the Coyotes for 10 seasons, will coach Northwestern Oklahoma State next season.

Kaeori Giron qualified for the NAIA Men’s National Cross Country Championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Giron, a freshman, placed 15th in the KCAC Championship with a time of 26 minutes, 59.9 seconds.

He gained a berth in the national meet after a runner who placed ahead of him in the KCAC race was disqualified.

Left: Junior Holly Holt serves the ball during a game against Bethel in September.

Bottom: Takota Anderson (14) and Armando Vasquez (41) celebrate during the end of the NAIA Quarterfinal playoff game at Graves Family Sports Complex.

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Off and running With accreditation in hand, KWU Nursing program poised for growth

The Kansas Wesleyan Nursing Program is fully accredited once again. And the university is ready for new students.

In a letter from the Commission "It was great on Collegiate news for… the Nursing Education community in delivered in Salina and the November 2018 surrounding to both KWU President and area as we help CEO Dr. Matt to alleviate a Thompson, critical shortage and Director of Nursing of nurses.”

Education and — Matt Thompson Chair, Division of Nursing and Health Science Janeane Houchin, the nursing board certified the program for a period of five years retroactive to the previous April, when the CCNE conducted a site visit on campus.

The accreditation was certified as unconditional, meaning the program met all guidelines and requirements at 100 percent.

Dr. Thompson said the accreditation was a team effort by Houchin and the entire faculty and staff of the Nursing Education Department. He said it has been a priority, and extremely important, to KWU to achieve the voluntary accreditation for the benefit of our students, and the long-term future of the nursing program.

“It was great news for our students,” Thompson said, “and even better news for the medical community in Salina and the surrounding area as we help to alleviate a critical shortage of nurses.”

To help meet that need, Salina Regional Health Center has taken a lead role in providing a significant advertising program to reach potential new students — for a freshman class, transfers and for the Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science program.

Thompson heaped praise on the nursing education staff on campus, and gratitude for the many people and organizations — particularly SRHC —

The baccalaureate degree program with a major in nursing at Kansas Wesleyan University is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, 655 K St., NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20001.

202-887-6791 | www.ccneaccreditation.org

Above: Nursing faculty Melissa Calvillo, Kathy Sweeney, Janeane Houchin, Jerri Zweygardt, Andrea Picklesimer and Linda Henningsen pose for a photo.

Right: Jordan Hemstedt draws a syringe of medication for a patient.

for their support and assistance in revamping the program, and achieving accreditation.

Houchin said the benefit of the accreditation will go to her students. “They have worked so hard, and believed in their education. Now they get to see the fruits of that labor, and that belief,” she said.

The CCNE provides a voluntary accreditation process, while the university itself is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. The Kansas Board of Nursing for the last two years provided the program with a conditional approval to allow the program to continue teaching students.

The program began the application process for voluntary accreditation through CCNE in April 2017. In addition to a self-study, a site-visit team was on campus last April.

Nursing has been a signature program at KWU for decades, and it is a major funnel for health care professionals in Salina and North Central Kansas.

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Ballet &

Bunsen Burners Dr. Hanna talks about her passions

Most people at Kansas Wesleyan University probably know Dr. Dorothy Hanna from the classroom, or through her academic achievements. After all, she has been teaching chemistry and computer science astronomy on campus for 35 years, and is the current chair of the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, professor of Chemistry and presiding officer of the faculty.

What is less common a sight than Hanna conducting laboratory experiments in Peters Science Hall is her prowess on the dance floor — specifically ballet, tap and jazz.

And her several appearances on stage through 20 years of learning and practicing those modes of dance.

Although she stepped away from that hobby a number of years ago “because by the time I reached 50, my knees couldn’t take it anymore, they were telling me it was time to quit,” Hanna said she danced ballet for fun and exercise for five years before her instructor came up with a more ambitious idea.

“She asked me to be part of the show troupe,” Hanna said. “And that meant I had to learn tap and jazz,” forms of dance that were brand new to her.

While Hanna performed several Kansas Wesleyan shows — “Grease” and “Oklahoma” elicited fun

memories — her most memorable performance was “The Nutcracker” staged at Salina Community Theater.

“Our instructor always told us that no matter what happens during a performance — a wardrobe problem or a missed step or whatever — never stop dancing,” she said. “Dancers were told to just keep on going regardless of the mishap.”

During the opening performance of “The Nutcracker,” however, in the middle of “The Waltz of the Snowflakes,” the music just stopped.

“And it didn’t come back on,” she said. “So, we just kept dancing and dancing with no music, all the way through the dance. Our instructor was amazed, saying she couldn’t believe we just kept going with no music!”

It’s that kind of dedication to a craft that has led Hanna to her academic success.

“In chemistry, you continually need to keep up to date,” she said.

“You can explore new things all the time. And in a small school, you have to teach a breadth of subjects, so you are always learning new things outside your primary field as well. In that regard, it’s a requirement to keep learning, and that keeps me young.”

Success for Hanna, she said, is seeing the success of her students, both during their time on campus at Kansas Wesleyan and in their chosen fields after graduation.

“What makes teaching really fun

Cynthia Martinez, Stefany Wilson and Dr. Dorothy Hanna experiment in the Chemistry lab.

is to share your knowledge with people,” she said. “And student success lets you know that you have accomplished something.”

With a dancing hobby having run its course, Hanna now spends time outside the classroom as a member of the Salina Astronomy Club, conducting monthly SkyWatch sessions at the university’s observatory atop Peters, and as a parish ministry associate for the Kansas Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. where she is “basically, a substitute minister.”

But it’s the love of teaching that keeps her going strong.

“Teaching is the facilitation of learning,” she said. “The best way to do that depends upon the students you have in the class. As a teacher you have to make a connection with what they are interested in, what they want to learn.”

Many of her chemistry labs, for example, are atypical.

“The labs are not formula, they are not a cookbook.” Hanna said.

“Students have to think actively and creatively to figure out how to do something rather than just following steps on a list. That creative aspect of science is what makes it fascinating.”

A GoFundMe for Dr. Hanna

In early February, Dr. Dorothy Hanna lost her home, and her pets, to a devastating house fire. Her students were not about to let that stand.

A GoFundMe account was quickly established, and a total of $4,810 was raised on Hanna’s behalf.

The following was the motivation the students posted on the landing page of the GoFundMe: “Dr. Dorothy Hanna is a professor of chemistry at Kansas Wesleyan University.

She has impacted so many students' lives and has given so much of her time up for the students and the University.

On February 6th, Dr. Hanna lost her home to a fire. It was considered a complete loss. Dr. Hanna lost all of her possessions and also lost all of her pets. As students of Dr. Hanna's, we just wanted to be able to give back to her and help her as she goes through a really rough time trying to recover from this.”

A passion for physics, and a new lab to boot The newly renovated Creager Lab, dedicated during Homecoming and Family Weekend in October 2018, transformed the Kansas Wesleyan Physics Department.

Dr. Kristin Kraemer could not be happier.

“The new lab is jaw dropping,” said the assistant professor of physics. “The space is much more functional and user friendly for the students.”

Kansas Wesleyan dedicated the new lab in honor of late Dr. Charles B. Creager.

The dedication was sparked by the “Physics Gang of Eight,” all KWU alumni whose members include Garry Scoggan ’64, Nadim Haddad ’65, Kent Cox ’65, Jim Harvey ’64, Larry Frutiger ’65, Ed Temple ’64, Dave Francher ’64, and the late Paul L. Beckman ’64.

The Gang of Eight studied physics with Creager in the mid 1960s. His mentorship of the then-young students, as well as the group’s strong bond of friendship, propelled them to their own notable careers, and their drive to upgrade and modernize the physics lab.

Creager had a lifelong passion for teaching that led to significant contributions to liberal arts institutions in Kansas and the field of physics. He launched his 30year teaching career at Kansas Wesleyan, pursuing his belief in liberal arts education rather than the burgeoning nuclear industry or faculty positions at larger research universities.

One of his many contributions to Kansas Wesleyan is that he was a key instigator in the building and modernist design of Peters Science Hall.

Outside education, Creager also was active in numerous professional organizations, including the American Physical Society.

He served as president of both the Kansas Academy of Science and the regional section of the American Association of Physics Teachers.

The formal dedication took place Oct. 5 in the new Creager Physics Lab, located in Peters Science Hall in room 413.

Kansas Wesleyan faculty and staff are enthusiastic to have the new lab to help students find the same success Creager so eagerly helped his students achieve.

From Salina to NASA KWU Alum returns as commencement speaker This year’s commencement ceremony will be taking on something of an out-of-thisworld flair.

Dr. Stefanie Milam ’02, a NASA Goddard Space Flight Center scientist in Greenbelt, Md., has accepted the honor of delivering the keynote speech at the May commencement ceremony.

As a KWU student, Milam majored in chemistry and minored in physics. She graduated Summa Cum Laude after three years in Salina and was an active member of Alpha Chi, serving as president, the dance team, Student Congress, Student Ambassadors, Chemistry Club and the Astronomy Club.

Milam pursued her interests in science while at KWU and worked in a local environmental laboratory as a technician, and as an assistant winemaker at the Smoky Hill Vineyards and winery.

Those experiences, combined with roles as a teaching assistant in the chemistry lab, helped her career in more ways than she imagined, she said.

After graduation, Milam moved to Tucson, Ariz., to pursue a doctorate in physical chemistry — “more specifically, astrochemistry” — after accepting advice from one of her KWU advisors, Dr. Dorothy Hanna. That decision launched what was to become her career at NASA, she said.

“My thesis was focused on studying chemistry throughout the galaxy and following how it evolves with the birth and death of stars and planetary systems,” she said.

Dr. Milam returns to her alma mater as commencement keynote.

Her achievements and scientific credibility led to a post-doctoral position at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. It was there that Milam was expanding the telescope observations into laboratory simulations of chemistry in space.

After only two years, she was hired at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and established an independent research group that uses telescopes to study chemistry remotely in space, and has a laboratory where she has continued simulating those environments in sophisticated vacuum chambers.

Milam soon became involved in the James Webb Space Telescope as a deputy project scientist for planetary studies.

Her role was to ensure that the next generation space telescope not only could observe some of the most distant and ancient objects in the universe, but also things much closer to home,

CELEBRATING COMMENCEMENT 4 p.m. | May 10

Nurses Pinning Ceremony

11 a.m. | May 11

Baccalaureate Service

such as planets and comets in the solar system.

This position led to a number of other significant roles on other astrophysics and planetary science missions with NASA and the European Space Agency.

Milam is recognized around the world not only for her space mission work, but also her continued global scientific studies with telescopes.

Milam said she has presented her work to a range of individuals from grade-school students and teachers to Nobel laureates.

She still pursues outreach to the public and students regularly, and maintains her interest in wine, routinely testing her skills from when she was in Salina. She is a member of several professional societies including the American Astronomical Society, American Chemical Society, and the International Astronomical Union.

3 p.m. | May 11

Commencement Ceremony

Connected by our FAITH Annie Boswell gets fired up with her student ministry

If God shines a light where it is needed most, Annie Boswell would be a sliver of the sun.

To say Boswell is merely energetic is as soft-peddled a descriptor as saying the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant only generates enough juice to light of couple of lightbulbs.

Consider this sentiment from Boswell: “Whenever you are connected to young people, you’re on fire!”

Connected she is.

Boswell is an accurately selfdescribed full-time volunteer offering prayer, Bible study, comfort, advice, life skills and just simple conversation with Kansas Wesleyan students (including the men’s and women’s soccer teams as stalwarts from her beginnings on campus).

She calls it her ministry, and there is nobody on the KWU campus who would remotely disagree.

The spouse of neurosurgeon Dr. Scott Boswell, the former cardiovascular nurse by education and vocation arrived in Salina with her husband six years ago, a toddler and baby in tow, opting to take a break from her career to spend time with her children and get to know her new community.

It was then that she met a new friend by happenstance, and was introduced to Kansas Wesleyan University.

“It was my second week in Salina, and in a very random way I met Jennifer Thompson,” she said about the spouse of President and CEO Dr. Matt Thompson. “There was an instant connection.”

It wasn’t until about six months later that Jennifer Thompson suggested taking a look at volunteer opportunities at Wesleyan “because I just could not find my niche.”

Boswell said she started by opening her home as a Host Family to the men’s soccer team. And because that team had numerous Hispanic players – Boswell is a native of Mexico City, moving to the United States with her husband

Hope Reinert, Annie Boswell, Camryn Coffelt and Stefany Wilson gather in the Student Activities Center to talk about their faith.

in 2003 – she was able to culturally relate to the young men. While the obligation is little more than a few dinners and taking a seat in the stands for games, the inspiration struck her to delve into their emotional and spiritual needs.

And it just kept growing from there.

“Through that fellowship” with soccer players, “it really was a ministry,” she said.

With that, Boswell was on her way to a new purpose in life. “I’m a strong Christian,” she said. “I told my husband at that point that I don’t think I am going back to nursing. I felt like I had to do more with students. I really wanted to insert a faith component into student relationships.”

Aside from hosting duties, Boswell, in coordination with the campus ministry office, began attending what was then Tuesday Night Alive (now Monday Night Alive), a student-led worship service, and was inspired to be more involved.

She started setting up “prayer cards,” she said, where students could request a prayer in their name to help with guidance when “all of the sudden, they started writing like it was a life story.”

Spiritual and friend relationships naturally grew from there.

Today, Bowell conducts “Life Groups” following the Monday Night Alive service for a group of anywhere from eight to 18 young women, who attend at their leisure and convenience. And she still offers

her home as a host mom to players on the soccer teams, with added duties as Host Family Coordinator to help find others willing to take the leap into a student’s life.

“I always thought my role at Kansas Wesleyan was with the Hispanic kids,” she said, “and working with the young women on campus was daunting for me. It has turned out to be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.”

The Life Group, essentially, is an extended Bible study, with some Scripture readings that form the foundation for that night’s discussion. “It really empowers the women to take ownership of the conversation,” she said. “They really have become their own family.”

The family seems to be growing.

Boswell was contacted by a friend in Texas who works with Hispanic teens at a Charter school who are growing anxious around today’s political climate, and their potential educational futures.

After telling her students about the situation, they stepped up to help.

Boswell traveled to Houston in February, armed with a 15-minute video filled with positive messages from KWU soccer players – both men and women – in collaboration with Up With People cast members during their campus visit last fall.

“It’s a powerful emotional message to those kids in Texas,” she said, and it is that kind of work that she says energizes her every day.

CAMPUS MINISTRIES VISIONING COMMITTEE The Campus Ministries Visioning Committee was established to imagine an increasingly vibrant future for campus ministries at Kansas Wesleyan University. It is comprised of students, faculty, staff, board members, alumni and a representative of the University United Methodist Church, who are exploring ways to strengthen our community.

Former board Chair Jim Nelson ’77 and his wife Charlotte have championed the effort as committee members are exploring areas such as the spiritual needs of students, faculty and staff; how to better fund and sustain spiritual life programs at KWU; ways to strengthen the relationship between KWU and UUMC and how to better connect with the greater Salina community.

The committee has representatives from spiritual, academic, administrative, and business backgrounds who share a common interest in helping foster the spiritual growth opportunities for all who are connected to KWU. Subcommittees have been formed to explore specific ideas or programs that can be reviewed by the Visioning Committee.

Preliminary items being discussed are the possibility of establishing a spiritual life center in partnership with UUMC, strategies for raising funds to support new ministry programs, increasing the number of small group gatherings that give students a chance to question and explore their faith, and how UUMC and KWU can be in ministry together.

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We choose you, KWU! Three professionals in three separate, long-term careers. Three professionals with new careers at Kansas Wesleyan University, and entirely by choice rather than circumstance. Corporate Counsel, MBA coordinator and adjunct professor Lisa Hodges, Coyote Sports Network Correspondent Bob Davidson and Senior Director of Marketing & Communications and MBA adjunct M. Olaf Frandsen each did exactly that within the last six months.

Lisa Paul Hodges

In addition to serving as corporate counsel, advisor to Master of Business Administration students and adjunct professor of business law, Hodges also balances her work as a law partner in a firm in Austin, Texas, using her education and experience in regulatory and litigation aspects of the health care industry, with an emphasis on fraud and abuse, corporate compliance and Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement.

She has extensive experience as in-house legal and compliance counsel at a major health system and teaching hospital, in national healthcare management systems and in the nation’s largest group purchasing organization.

And if that was not enough, Hodges also served as an assistant attorney general for the State of Texas, leading Title IX investigations.

On her work with KWU: “I have experience in higher education, and it is one of the most fulfilling pieces of my career,” she said. “Being involved with students – helping them learn as an adjunct professor in the MBA program teaching business law – motivates me to continue doing what I do best.”

The Cumberland School of Law of Samford University graduate is a member of the State Bar in Kansas, Texas and Alabama, is now vice president of the Salina Art Center board of trustees, a member of the Bishop Search Committee for the Episcopal Diocese of Western Kansas, and was campaign treasurer for Kansas Sen. Randall Hardy.

“At this point in my career and my life, I am thrilled to be engaged on a university campus again,” she said. “And that it is Kansas Wesleyan

Photo by Krystina Sunley

University makes that choice all the better.”

Bob Davidson

For Davidson, it’s not so much of a leap in terms of the kind of work he does at KWU. After 41 years in the newspaper business, the last 23 at the Salina Journal, he said he was ready to try something new.

“I’d covered Kansas Wesleyan athletics for 23 years and enjoyed working with the coaching staff and athletes,” Davidson said. “When KWU called and asked if I’d be interested in coming to work in the Sports Information Office on a parttime basis, essentially doing what I’d done at the Journal for more than two decades, it was an easy decision.”

A native of Parsons, Davidson started his career as sports editor of the Leavenworth Times in 1978, then moved to Hays a year later and was sports editor at the Daily News for five years.

His next stop was to work as a copy editor in the sports department of the Kansas City Star for two years then on to editing positions in Mississippi and Tennessee before finding his way back to Kansas in

1988, taking on the duties of sports editor at the Hutchinson News.

Seven years later, the Wichita State University grad moved up to the Salina Journal, and stayed there until his move on campus last fall.

On his move to KWU: “The positive direction I have seen for years at Wesleyan by Dr. Matt Thompson and Athletics Director Mike Hermann was a major factor in my decision,” he said. “An added bonus is the fact my wife, Tama, works in the business office at KWU and thoroughly enjoys her job. It’s a move I’m thankful I had the chance to make.”

M. Olaf Frandsen

Frandsen said his 40th anniversary in the newspaper business in January 2018 caused him to reflect on what was next.

Since he has been an adjunct professor in the MBA program since 2015, he said he recognized the culture being built by the university’s administration.

“And I wanted to be a part of that on a full-time basis,” Frandsen said.

“The atmosphere, the collegiality and the mission of providing not just an education, but preparing young

people for their future … that is what I wanted to experience full time.”

Frandsen earned his Bachelor’s in Journalism from the University of Arizona, and his MBA from the University of Phoenix.

He began his career as a reporter and editor, moved up in the ranks to become a newspaper publisher, and for 18 years was a regional vice president of a large multimedia company based in Southern California.

Before coming to KWU, he was both publisher of the Salina Journal, and Kansas group publisher for strategy for GateHouse Media LLC, the company that purchased the Journal in 2016. In that capacity, he led strategic planning for the company’s 17 Kansas Newspapers.

His career highlights range from serving as editor of the Odessa American in West Texas when the newspaper won a Pulitzer Prize for its photo coverage of Baby Jessica McClure, the 18-month-old girl trapped 30 feet down a water well pipe for three days and successfully rescued, to directing coverage of the Challenger space shuttle disaster, to a private audience with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip.

He was the president of the Kansas Press Association in 2017-18.

Frandsen also has been involved in the Salina community. He is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Salina Community Foundation, and served as chairman of the Salina Downtown Visioning Committee.

With all that newspaper background, he still wouldn’t have it any other way than being a part of the Kansas Wesleyan team. “I smile every day I come to work,” he said, “and it just doesn’t get any better than that.”

Faculty & Staff Updates publications: The Western didn’t die, it just went off-world: Examining Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. In D. Brode & S. Brode (Eds.).

Untitled Western collection. Silverman, D. S. (2017). (Re-)visionist history in Sergio Leone’s (de-)mythologized Old West: The Civil War, Vietnam, and “The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly.” In D. Brode & S. Brode (Eds.). The American Civil War on film and TV: Blue and gray in black and white and color. Lanham, MD: Lexington. Presentations: Silverman, D. S. (2018). “Wubba lubba dub dub!” Adult Swim and the disappearance of the traditional television season. Paper presented at the PCA/ ACA Conference, Indianapolis, IN.

Dr. Daniel Botz was the recipient of the Exemplary Teacher Award which comes with the honor of serving as the Presidential Mace Bearer at all ceremonial functions during this academic year.

Dr. Anita Specht’s article “Religion as Power in Women’s Networks” was published in the book Civil Religion and American Christianity. She also reviewed the books Gilded Suffragists: The New York Socialites Who Fought for Women’s Right to Vote and Women Will Vote: Winning Suffrage in New York State. The joint review was published in The Journal of American History, Sept.

2018, pages 435-436. This is the top journal in American history.

Dr. David Silverman was elected vice president for Programming and Area Chairs for the national Popular Culture Association/ American Culture Association. He oversees 150 areas with upwards of 3,000 participants.

He was re-appointed to Heritage Commission for the City of Salina and has the following

Professor John Burchill ’80 has been included in the new Humanities Kansas Speakers Bureau: Four Horsemen and a Sage. He will also present at the Smoky Hill Museum Thursday, Oct. 4 on Notorious Salina.

Dr. Annie Hoekman ’03, G’05 will serve this year as NCWIT’s (National Center for Women & Information Technology) CoCoordinator, Western Missouri & Kansas Aspirations in Computing Award and will be taking over as Coordinator next year.

Dr. Philip S. Meckley was selected as a Visiting Regional Humanities Faculty Fellow of the Hall Center for the Humanities at the University of Kansas, Summer 2018.

The topic of his research is “Coyote Speaks: Strengthening Community - Conversations to Bring the Salina Community Together.”

This series of community conversations, scheduled for Spring 2019, is sponsored and underwritten by a grant from the Hall Center at the University of Kansas.

Dr. Stephanie Welter and Professor Kirk Cusick, in the Biology Department, hosted the annual Resilience Studies Consortium (RSC) Retreat this summer in Salina and at KWU. The Resilience Studies Consortium is comprised of universities strategically located across the country to provide students

with place-based learning opportunities in resilience-related areas of study and from location-based resilience experts.

Professor Kirk Cusick, Lecturer in Biology, wrote for and received an $11,317 grant from the Salina Regional Health Center (SRHC) through his Whispering Cottonwood Education Center (WCEC).

The funding comes from SRHC’s Community Health Investment Program and will be used to work with St. Mary’s Grade School to set up an onsite greenhouse to lengthen the growing season, develop a rainwater reclamation system for garden irrigation, develop a composting program within the science classroom and to develop a school-wide composting program in the school garden.

Dr. Steve Hoekstra contributed a chapter on The Self to an undergraduate textbook in Social Psychology, and presented a paper at the Midwestern Psychological Association on the stress management potential of adult coloring and connect-the-dot books. He also served as one of the national graders for the Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology exam. He serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied, and also is a reviewer for a number of undergraduate and professional journals.

He collaborated with three students (Alyssa Kim, Zachary Kyle, and Sydney Mortensen) on a research project on the topic of cognitive load and mental performance, which the students presented at the national convention of the Alpha Chi Honors Society.

Dr. Meredith Drees, Assistant Professor of Religion & Philosophy, Chair of the Department of Religion & Philosophy and Director of Experiential Learning (Wesleyan Journey), was recently published in Politeia, an International Interdisciplinary Philosophical Review. Her article is titled, “Eros and Experiences of Beauty in Plato’s Theory of Moral Progress.”

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SEND US YOUR NEWS!

Send your updates and photos related to births, death, marriages, job changes, achievements, etc. to alumni@kwu.edu or KWU Advancement Office, 100 E. Claflin, Salina, KS 67401. When sending in photos for publication, please submit digitally in the highest available resolution. We look forward to hearing from you!

Class Notes 1968

yet became one the most successful developers in Johnson County, Kan. He established the foundation to focus on the critical issue of support for foster children who age out of the stateoperated system at the age of 18.

Ed Fender was on campus recently for his 50th reunion at Homecoming and Family Weekend 2018. He shared photographs from an extensive three-week trip to Iran for an archaeological tour. He also published many novels about his travels.

Brenda McDaniel was honored as a Woman of Achievement in September of 2018. Brenda is a retired Salina USD 305 educator.

1971

1994

Vera Zerger was honored as a Woman of Achievement in September of 2018. Vera was recognized as a long-time healthcare worker and was instrumental in the founding of what today is known as the Salina Family Health Care Center.

1972

Mike Helmer joined the Darol Rodrock Foundation as the Chief Operating Officer. Rodrock was a child who lived his early life in orphanages and foster care,

1973

LaTishia Wheaton was named last spring as Second Vice President for the Texas Association of Inspector General Chapter. Wheaton earned her KWU degree in Criminal Justice, and her Master of Science degree in Administration of Justice and Security from the University of Phoenix. She has spent the last 25 years working in the criminal justice field. She also teaches at the University of Phoenix. Patsy (Gilreath) Stockham, is the Career Services Coordinator at Kansas Wesleyan University.

2004

Angie Johnson, Abilene, is the new chief nursing officer (CNO) for Memorial Health System in Abilene.

2010

Jennifer Rein was promoted to Assistant Director of Development at Kansas Wesleyan University.

2012

Megan (Berry) Schapaugh G’14 was married Dec. 8, 2018. Megan works in Wichita at Heartspring as their Special Events Coordinator.

2014

C. Edwin Fender ’68 is a volunteer with the Archaeological Legacy Institute film festival in Eugene, Ore., where they bring in the best archaeological videos in the world for a viewing in May of each year. Here, he stands in front of archeological treasure Persepolis on a recent visit to Iran. Since the United States has no diplomatic relations with Iran, he had to go through the Pakistani Embassy in Wash, D.C., to get a visa. Persepolis, he says, was arguably the center of world power until Alexander the Great of Macedonia sacked it in 330 BC.

Hannah Holt and Garrett Young ’17 were married Dec. 22, 2018. Hannah is the Promotions Director and On-Air Talent for Rocking M Media in Salina. Garrett is the Assistant Cross Country and Track Coach at Kansas Wesleyan University.

Matt Broeckelman G’15 earned his Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Wichita State University in May 2018. He started a job as a Physical Therapist at Phillips County Hospital in Phillipsburg, KS. Tyler Paulson is a youth mentor at The City Teen Center in Salina.

2015

Braxton Peck is now a corporate accountant executive at Insight, and is engaged to be married. Taylor

Megan (Berry) Schapaugh ’12, G’14 (second from left) celebrates at her wedding with fellow alumni including Andrew Gable ’11 (far right).

(Elkinton) Blehm was married Nov. 10, 2018.

Traves J. Liles is the new eStore Manager of H-E-B, a regional grocery store company in Texas considered the No. 3 best eCommerce company to work for. Their company has been expanding their eCommerce business to their retail stores. Kaitlyn (Schwartz) Schneweis G ’17, is the Financial Aid Assistant in the Student Financial Aid office at Kansas Wesleyan University.

2016

Cortlyne Huppe is an Admissions Counselor at Kansas Wesleyan University. Sandrina Hallahan G’18 is an administrative assistant at Farm Credit of Southern Colorado. Thomas Conaway started working at Quorum Software as a business development representative.

2017

Sebastian Ramirez was sworn in on Aug. 23, 2018, as an officer in the Long Beach, Calif., Police Department. Layne Shirley recently accepted a position as a Systems Engineer with Garmin in Olathe. He will be one of two engineers who will be supporting Garmin’s new aviation warehouse.

Claire Massey is an Admissions Counselor at Kansas Wesleyan University.

2018

Zachary Kyle had a psychology research paper published in an undergraduate academic journal. The research found that death anxiety may lead individuals with a worldview of criminality to develop a stronger association to this worldview with complementarily high levels of criminal thinking patterns. Kat (Davis) Krehbiel works in marketing and promotions at the Salina Rescue Mission. John Greening was promoted to Resident Director at Kansas Wesleyan University.

National Athletic Director of the Year

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MIKE HERMANN The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics announced in March that Kansas Wesleyan University's Mike Hermann was selected as one of 28 winners of the Under Armour AD of the Year Award.

The award spans seven divisions

(NCAA FBS, FCS, Division I-AAA, II, III, NAIA/Other Four-Year Institutions and Junior College/ Community Colleges). Hermann was selected as one of the four winners in the NAIA division.

“I am extremely proud of Mike Hermann and the many ways that he serves Kansas Wesleyan,” President and CEO Matt Thompson said. First and foremost, he is an advocate for our student athletes.

“He has created a model NAIA program, recruited top-notch coaches, developed a championship athletic program and made sure that our students succeed in the classroom.”

The athletics program enjoyed success on and off the field during Hermann's tenure, earning 24 KCAC titles.

Academic achievement has also been a focus as the student-athletes have recorded an average team GPA above the 3.0 mark in nine of 11

semesters.

“Through his leadership, KWU hosts some of the best gameday experiences in the NAIA, raises significant resources for the athletic programs, and partners with the community,” Thompson said. “Mike is well deserving of this award and it recognizes his nearly six years of service at KWU, in the KCAC, and NAIA. We are blessed by his leadership.”

Fall 2019 was one of the best in program history as the Coyote teams combined for a conference record of 43-2 1, winning three KCAC regular season titles.

The winter season was also successful as KWU was the only KCAC team to have both the men's and women's basketball teams finish in the top four of the conference and host first-round contests. The women won 23 games on the court and earned an at-large berth to the NAIA Championships.

The wrestling program had a student advance to the national championships for the third straight year. Both the men's and women's bowling teams earned bids to the United States Bowling Congress sectional championships for collegiate bowling. The dance team had its highest finish at the NAIA Qualifying Event, placing second.

Increasing outreach to the Salina community has been an emphasis under Hermann. The annual Night with the Yotes dinner/auction has grown to more than 700 guests and is now conducted in the main arena in the Tony's Pizza Events Center.

The university added men's and women's bowling and men's wrestling in 2016-17. The following year, the Esports program was moved under Hermann's direction in athletics, increasing the number of varsity sports to 24.

In Memoriam Bernard J. Carsten ’46 of Stockton, KS, passed away April 30, 2018.

Dorothy L. Boyer ’60 of Salina, KS, passed away Jan. 24, 2019.

Wilma Jean (Taylor) Jones ’50 of Tulsa, OK, passed away Jan. 11, 2019.

Duane F. Johnson ’63 of Topeka, KS, passed away Oct. 28, 2018.

Frank C. Norton ’54 of Salina, KS, passed away Jan. 20, 2019. Mr. Norton served on the KWU Board of Trustees from 1968-1977. He also served on the KWU Foundation Board from 2000-10 and was re-elected for another term in 2018. KWU has been the beneficiary of Frank’s passion, dedication, and support for his beloved alma mater for many years.

Teresa Ann (Floro) Gestl ’64 of Salina, KS, passed away Feb. 1, 2019. Teresa was selected as homecoming and sweetheart queen.

Jean Cyr ’56, wife of Carroll Cyr ’56, of Peoria, AZ, formerly of Salina, KS, passed away Sept. 13, 2018.

Dr. Jerry McCollough ’57of Kearney, NE, passed away Sept. 9, 2016.

Rev. Norman Linville ’60 of St. Louis, MO, passed away Oct. 25, 2018.

Avis Pickerell, formerly of Salina, KS, passed away July 16, 2018, in Tualatin, OR. She was the mother of Loretta Pickerell ’72 and Lorrayn Pickerell ’72.

Mark Chaffee ’81 of Salina, passed away Oct. 9, 2018.

Glenn Skulborstad ’81 of Salina, KS, passed away Jan. 27, 2017.

Dr. Terrance Quentin Percival ’65 of Ottawa, Canada, passed away Aug. 12, 2018.

Jefferson John Graham ’81, of Salina, KS, passed away Feb. 7, 2018.

Edward M. Smock ’65 of Chesapeake, NY, passed away March 31, 2018.

Dorothy Arnold, of Salina, KS, passed away Sept. 16, 2018. Dorothy was custodian at Kansas Wesleyan University in the 1990s.

Carl Edwin Jordan ’65 of Glen Elder, KS, passed away Nov. 5, 2018.

Laurel D. McClellan ’70, of Anthony, KS, passed away Dec. 22, 2018.

William Richard Junk ’71 of Salina, KS, passed away Oct. 18, 2018.

Cindy Marie (Schumann) Coupal ’00 of Clay Center, KS, passed away Nov. 4, 2018.

Stephanie (Wilkins) Conner ’11, G’12, of Lincoln, AR, passed away Oct. 14, 2018.

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SAVE THE DATE

Homecoming & Family Weekend October 11–13, 2019