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Chaplain Sam Carothers Retires after 27 Years at Meredith By Melyssa Allen
The Board of Trustees voted to grant tenure to Mary Kay Delaney, Stephanie Hurt, Jeff Langenderfer, Jane Barnes, Edna Collins,
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am Carothers led Meredith’s Wednesday Worship on the morning of April 28, just as he had many times in the past. This service was special because it was Carothers’ last before his retirement as chaplain at Meredith College, a position he held for more than 27 years. Carothers told the students, faculty, staff, friends and family gathered for the service that his years at Meredith had been “a rich journey.” During the service he reflected on Meredith College as a community with whom Carothers had experienced “times of grief and times of great joy.” Using theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “Life Together” as the basis of his message, Carothers defined community as a group of “people committed to one another in the best of times and the worst of times.” Building community and supporting Meredith students, faculty and staff has been a theme of Carothers’ time at Meredith. Among the highlights for Carothers was working to bring Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Wiesel to campus in 2003, and serving in 2005 on the Tide of Hope committee that raised nearly $125,000 to support tsunami relief efforts in Sri Lanka. Both of these experiences were about building relationships with the local community and beyond. “The Tide of Hope effort, which grew from an incredibly tragic situation, gave us opportunities for wonderful connections with people in Sri Lanka,” Carothers said. “Meredith does this in so many ways; doing everything we can to rally to support someone.” Wiesel’s lecture at Meredith, which was sponsored in large part by Meredith’s Lillian Parker Wallace Fund, brought Carothers together with local rabbis, the Raleigh-Cary Jewish Federation, and many others. “We spent a year planning, raising money and working together,” Carothers said. “It was a beautiful experience, and I
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Dan Fountain, Dana Gay and Steven Roten. Barnes, Collins, Fountain, Gay and Roten were also promoted to associate professor. Monica McKinney was promoted to full professor. The board also approved emeritus/a status for the following faculty members who retired at the end of the 2009-10 academic year: Sarah English, James Fogle, David Lynch, Reg Shiflett and Mary Thomas. Retiring faculty members were honored during the College’s annual Faculty/Staff Recognition event in April. Four new members joined the Meredith College Board of Trustees in July 2010. The new members are Andrea Bazán, of Durham,
valued the process of blending these two communities together.” As chaplain, Carothers supported students of all denominations and faiths. He has served as the advisor of the Meredith Christian Association, and is proud of his involvement with the establishment of a Muslim Student Association and Catholic Angels organization. Working with students and staying connected with them as alumnae is something Carothers said he will cherish. “Watching students as they grow and mature, officiating at weddings, seeing their children, and participating in ordination for alumnae who are in the ministry, just that stream of knowing students through those milestones and being part of their life history,” said Carothers. “I’ve gotten to be a part of some very significant changes in peoples’ lives.” Carothers is succeeded by Stacy Pardue, who began as chaplain in late July. Prior to joining the staff at Meredith, Pardue served as an associate minister at Greystone Baptist Church in Raleigh. Carothers had this advice for the new chaplain. “You are walking into an incredibly fine group of people,” Carothers said. “Get to know them, build trusting relationships, and you will love it here.”
N.C.; Anne Bryan, ’71, of Raleigh, N.C.; Ann Shivar, ’74, of Raleigh, N.C.; and Mary Dossenbach, of Sanford, N.C. Associate Professor of Education Marge Terhaar-Yonkers is the 2010 president-elect of the North Carolina Council for Exceptional Children (NC-CEC). Terhaar-Yonkers is the program coordinator of special education for Meredith’s graduate programs. Encore!, the Meredith College choral ensemble, was asked to sing at a Pentagon event as part of the U.S. Army G-8 Women’s Recognition Symposium. G-8 is an organization that is part of the Headquarters of the Department of the US Army. The event theme was “Women with Vision: Moving Beyond Our Position into Our Purpose.” Tracy Knight, ’89, administrative assistant in the School of Business, recently earned recognition for her writing in the Thomas Wolfe Fiction Competition. Knight’s story, “Burial Ground,” was one of two second place winners. John Kincheloe, media specialist in the Carlyle Campbell Library, was awarded second place in the Lyricist’s 2010 statewide poetry competition. The Lyricist is a literary journal published annually by Campbell University. M er edi t h M ag az i n e / S um mer 2 010 /
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