New members elected to Board of Trustees

Four new members joined the college’s Board of Trustees in July.

David Cauble is a financial advisor at Thrivent Financial, where he helps families and organizations make financial strategic plans.

At the start of his professional career, he served as a pastor working in church planting while on staff with a church in Tallahassee, Florida. Cauble has also held finance and operations leadership roles for several national nonprofit organizations including Stadia Church Planting and Ferst Readers.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Building Construction from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a Master of Divinity from Emmanuel Christian Seminary and a Master of Business Administration from Kennesaw State University.

Michael Dollar ’05 was a founding partner and most recently executive vice president and chief operating officer for Oakbridge Insurance.

Leading one of the top-50 insurance brokerages in the country with over 500 employees and 30+ locations across the Southeast, he oversaw Oakbridge’s core business lines, including employee benefits, commercial lines, personal lines and claims. In addition, Dollar was responsible for the company’s corporate services including HR, IT, marketing, licensing, training, partner integration and real estate.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from LaGrange College and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Georgia.

At LaGrange, he served on the college’s Leadership Council.

Heather Graham is senior partner at The Graham Law Firm, which concentrates on residential and commercial real estate transactions, probate and estate planning.

She received a bachelor’s degree and a Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia.

Highly active in her local community, Graham currently serves as the chairperson of the Development Authority of LaGrange and as a board member of WellStar West Georgia Health Services Inc. and the Downtown LaGrange Development Authority, having also served as the first woman chair of that group. She is also a longtime member of LaGrange First United Methodist Church and is the current chair of the Staff Parish Relations Committee.

Jake Jones is market executive and market president for Synovus Bank.

A native of LaGrange, Jones’ banking and real estate career has ranged from the Georgia House of Representatives Clerks Office to Coldwell Banker Spinks Brown Durand Realtors and Synovus Bank where he has served as assistant vice president, vice president, senior vice president and in his current role as market president since 2021.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia.

Jones, a former member of the college’s Leadership Council, has been involved in various community, civic and educational organizations. Currently, he serves boards for the Rotary Club of LaGrange, Troup County Special Olympics, Heart of West Georgia and LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce. Jones also chairs the West Georgia Health Hospital Foundation and holds the title of president of the LaGrange Gridiron Club.

2019 Andrea Heflin of West Point is the head coach of CPT Basketball and a digital marketer.

2019 Jason Hernandez III of LaGrange is a professor of music technology at Point University in West Point. He serves as an Adjunct Percussion Professor and leads the pep band at LaGrange College.

2019 Tishana Hines M’19, Ed.S.’22 of LaGrange was named HOPE Academy Teacher of the Year.

2020s

2020 Peter Thomas "P.T." Alford Jr. of LaGrange was recognized by the LaGrange Daily News in its "20 Under 40" feature. He is an attorney at Alford Law Group.

2020 Nathan Brown of LaGrange was promoted to tax and audit manager at Long & Long, CPA, P.C.

2020 Maura Webb Catalano M'23 of Jacksonville, Florida, is director of advancement for Bishop John J. Snyder High School.

Stuart Miller '07, M'08 of Auburn, Alabama, presented research findings at Berlin 2024: International Conference on Assessing Quality in Higher Education. The joint study was conducted with Dr. Sara Finney of James Madison University and was entitled "Enhancing Student Effort for Improved Institutional Accountability Data: The Impact of Motivation Priming Interventions.” Stuart serves Auburn University as the assistant director for academic data acquisitions & reporting.

Emily Thigpen McCarthy ‘04 of Savannah has opened a new storefront for her design and coastal Georgia lifestyle group after eight years at her previous location. She is joined by her husband, Patrick ’04, and their children.

2020 Salvatore Catalano M'20 of Jacksonville, Florida, is the head of athletic performance at Optimize Physical Therapy & Sports Performance LLC and a hitting instructor at D-BAT JAX.

2020 Riley Densmore of LaGrange graduated from K-9 Dual Purpose Handler course and is now a certified K-9 handler with LaGrange Police Department.

2020 Grace Neal of Atlanta is the Event Manager for the Atlanta Community Food Bank.

2020 Tyler Richards of Valdosta is a tax manager at Long & Long, CPA, P.C.

2020 Payton Smith of Atlanta is a managing attorney at TrustWorks Estate Planning.

2020 Darius Wonnum of LaGrange is a manager at Wild Leap Brew Company in LaGrange.

2021 Madison Taylor Alford of West Point is a fifth-grade teacher at Franklin Forrest Elementary School.

2021 Miranda Cox of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, was awarded the William M. Todd Biblical Languages Award with a Master of Divinity from Beeson Divinity School at Samford University. She is now an associate college minister at First Baptist Church Tuscaloosa.

Ariel Pena ’04, M'20 of Greensboro, North Carolina, is the associate vice president of advancement services and campaign management, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York. He completed his academic work at University of North Carolina Willington Watson College of Education as a doctoral student in higher education administration and is currently writing his dissertation.

2021 Torionna Colton Green of LaGrange is a Licensed Professional Counselor at Empowered Minds, Counseling and Consulting Group.

2021 Dr. Caitlyn V. Morman of LaGrange is a physical therapist at Southern Rehab & Sports Medicine.

2021 Caleb Tyler of Washington, D.C., is a trade policy officer, working with the Western Hemisphere Division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agriculture Service.

2022 Sydney Beaird of Decatur is a death investigation specialist with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. She also presented at the National Association of Medical Examiners Conference.

2022 Cael Chatham of Woodstock signed with the Great Fall Voyagers in the Pioneer Baseball League.

2022 Baley Coleman of Hiram has accepted the position of assistant pitching coach at Georgia Gwinnett College. During the summer, he is the assistant pitching coach & data analyst for the Holly Spring

Bracewell

Dr. Katelyn R. Little ’19 of Buckhead received her Doctor of Nursing PracticeFamily Nurse Practitioner from Augusta University.

Salamanders, an amateur baseball team in the Coastal Plain Collegiate Summer League.

2022 Michael Menhart of Richmond Hill was promoted to head coach of the Blowfish Baseball team, a summer collegiate team in the Coastal Plain League.

2022 Skylar Rice of LaGrange teaches history at Callaway High School, where she is also the head junior varsity softball coach.

2022 Mathias Vera of LaGrange started as a financial data analyst for Home Depot.

2022 Karli Whitaker M'24 of Winder is an autism spectrum disorder teacher at Yargo Elementary School.

2018 Trevor Newsome of Birmingham, Alabama, graduated with a Doctor of Nursing and Neonatal Nurse Practitioner degree from The University of Alabama at Birmingham. He works at Brookwood Medical Center as a neonatal nurse practitioner.

2023 Kirsten Boyd of Alabaster, Alabama, is a digital production designer at Houston Dynamo Football Club.

2023 Matt Eden of LaGrange was promoted to senior accountant at Long & Long, CPA, P.C.

2023 Jake Elrod of Birmingham, Alabama, is a tax associate at Kassouf & Co., CPA.

2023 Aliyah B. Gates of LaGrange is a kindergarten teacher at Franklin Forrest Elementary School.

2023 Jill Walker Hembree of LaGrange was named Franklin Forest

Michael Menhart ’22, head coach of the Blowfish Baseball team, and Baley Coleman ’22, assistant pitching coach & data analyst for the Holly Spring Salamanders, enjoy some friendly competition.

Elementary Teacher of the Year.

2023 Dazia Potts of LaGrange is a graduate assistant at LaGrange College while she is earning her master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. She is also a pharmacy technician at CVS.

2023 Jack Richards of Fayetteville is teaching English at Callaway High School and coaching flag football. He is also an assistant baseball coach at LaGrange College.

2023 Kathey Sandiford of LaGrange was named Long Cane Elementary Teacher of the Year.

2023 Blair Thompson of LaGrange is a Clinical Intern at LaGrange College as she pursues her master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.

2024 Johanna Anderson M'24 of LaGrange has been named head cheerleading coach at Gardner Newman Middle School.

2024 Cooper Dolhancyk of LaGrange is a teacher of mathematics at Gardner Newman Middle School.

2024 Christian Dyer of Newnan began the master’s in financial planning and consumer economics program at the University of Georgia.

2024 Bailey Boswell Eden of LaGrange is Alumni & Development