Millikin Quarterly Spring 2013 by Millikin Alumni

stage inois

Feature: Millikin students get a view of the real world with student-run businesses p. 26

spring 2013

Big Blue

Planet amping up international recruiting P. 20

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Millikin Quarterly Vol. XXIX, No. 1 | Spring 2013 Interim University President

Richard Dunsworth Interim vice President for alumni and Development

David Brandon

Editor and Senior director of communications

Deb Hale Kirchner Senior Director of Alumni and donor engagement

Dr. Jan Devore Associate Director of Communications

Alida Duff Sullivan ’06 Associate Editor

Margaret Allen Friend Contributors

On the Cover 20 Big Blue Planet: International recruiting gets amped up.

Features

Departments

8 Remembering Stan Musial A 1963 alum explains why Musial was a player for the ages.

4 Campus News 6 Big Blue Sports 10 Looking Back 11 Career Advice 12 Transform U 16 Faculty Profile: Eduardo Cabrera 17 With Your Support 32 Zooming In: Father Nick Smith ’83 48 My Turn: Dr. Arvid Adell 49 View From Here

14 Sudden Journey/ starting over Two alumni unexpectedly travel to the nation’s capitol. 18 The Miller Years Our 9th president recalls his time at Millikin. 24 Remembering Larry Troy One last look at a beloved professor and how he saw the world. 26 The Business of Learning MU students take on the challenges of running real businesses.

Alumni 35 Class Notes 37 Alumni Profile: Susan Wrincik Lutz ’86 39 Alumni Profile: Dr. Joanna Ploeger ’89 4 3 Weddings 44 Births and Adoptions 45 Passings

Dr. Arvid Adell Brian Cassidy ’09 Dr. Tina Cloney Amy Fehr ’13 Pam Folger Celeste Huttes ’88 Ken Kirchner ’96 Kevin Krows ’82 Deb Lehman ’07 Jackson Lewis ’13 Dane Lisser Bryan Marshall ’85 Alexandra Miller ’13 Cassie Monfiston ’11 Amanda Pippitt Michael Rauch Kendall Robison ’13 Christy Swanberg ’13 Russell Veldenz ’79 Mike Waller ’63 Jaclyn Weisenborn ’09 Millikin Quarterly (ISSN 8750-7706) (USPS 0735-570) is published four times yearly; once during each of the first, second, third and fourth quarters by the Millikin University Office of Alumni and Development, 1184 West Main Street, Decatur, Illinois 62522-2084. Periodicals postage paid at Decatur, Illinois. email and website

MillikinQuarterly@millikin.edu www.millikin.edu/alumni Postmaster

Please send address changes to Millikin Quarterly Millikin University 1184 West Main Street Decatur, Illinois 62522-2084 Telephone: 217-424-6383 Toll free: 1-877-JMU-ALUM Copyright ©2013, Millikin University

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President’s Perspective

from strong to stronger Transition. That word has often been heard on campus in recent months, especially after the surprising January retirement of Dr. Harold Jeffcoat, who had served as MU’s president since 2011. You’ll find details about Dr. Jeffcoat’s goodbye to campus on page 4. In this column, I’d like to talk a little about what comes next as we search for a strong new leader. As many of you know, my role as interim president is a temporary one. Last October, after serving as MU’s vice president for enrollment for the last decade, I accepted the presidency of the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Ark. Although it was the next natural step in my professional career, it was a hard decision. I have spent most of my professional life at this institution and love Millikin and its people. I begin my new position this summer. Until then, my primary objective as interim president is to work with our board to find an acting president, hopefully to be announced later this spring. As we successfully did back in 2003 before hiring President Doug Zemke, our university will turn to a national organization of retired presidents to find a suitable candidate to serve as acting president while a national search is conducted to find just the right man or woman to lead Millikin. This national model is used regularly for a presidential search. In higher education, most positions begin July 1 at the start of the new academic year, so it is hopeful that the new permanent president could be in place as soon as July 1, 2014. As our board chair, Van Dukeman, indicated when discussing the presidential search with the campus community, the academic model for a presidential search is not unlike a Presbyterian church’s search for a new minister. There is a time-honored, effective process to follow. Because of the rapidity of Dr. Jeffcoat’s retirement, as well as staffing changes at the cabinet level, some alumni and friends have wondered aloud to me whether Millikin is experiencing somewhat of a period of instability. It is my firm belief that, in a few years, we will look back and say this was simply a small blip on the timeline of a university that has been preparing students since 1903 for professional success, democratic citizenship in a global environment and personal

lives of meaning and value. This university is perennially strong. Currently, endowment is near the highest point in Millikin’s history, enrollment and giving are both up, and our strategic plan is firmly in place and fully endorsed by the board. The Millikin core is sound. Let’s also not forget our greatest strength. Millikin has seasoned faculty, staff and administrators who are experienced at delivering on the promise of education. I have worked at Millikin for 22 years, and there are no fewer than 45 individuals who have worked here longer than that. Nearly 150 employees have worked at Millikin for more than a decade, and 50 percent of our faculty are tenured. Add to that mix the stellar new faculty members who have joined them, and our students are in good hands. As acting president, I believe one of my most important responsibilities during this time is to empower these same good people to help aid in the leadership of this institution. This is an opportunity for new leaders to emerge from the campus community, perhaps among people who have served the institution for decades, perhaps among those who are newer to campus. During this transition, I’d also like to remind members of the campus community and our alumni and friends that we have every right to be proud of this institution and the vital role each of us plays. Too often, we seem to slip into Midwestern humbleness mode and forget what a wonderful, amazing place we have here. Toward that end, I ask us to recognize and celebrate our success stories, encourage those emerging new leaders, and especially nurture our faculty and the important work they do with our students. The relationship between teacher and student is paramount to our mission. It’s a mission that will endure and thrive long after my work here is done, and long after the presidents who will follow President Jeffcoat. Millikin is in the business of changing lives for the better, day after day, improving and learning from the changes that will come. For as we all well know, in today’s modern world, change will come. And Millikin will be the stronger for it.

Richard Dunsworth Interim President

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Editor’s Column

When the unexpected happens

Deb Hale Kirchner Millikin Quarterly Editor Senior Director of Communications

Growing up, I was the kid sister to two older brothers I admired very much. They earned their driver’s licenses and started dating not long after I started to read. But before cars and girls captured their attention, my brothers had amassed a decent-sized comic book collection in their “boy-cave” in the attic. It was accessible only by climbing a rickety ladder and was the perfect getaway spot to hunker down and enjoy an afternoon of uninterrupted reading pleasure. One day, the two of them helped my chunky little kid legs scale the ladder without our mother’s knowledge, and, despite my fear of the dark corners and a possible mouse attack, I was hooked. My pudgy fingers flipped through page after page of the well-worn books, entering the world of Superman, Batman and other superheroes. In that cramped attic, surrounded by my brothers’ discarded pop bottles and candy wrappers, I developed a lifelong love of Spiderman, Iron Man, Flash and Thor. One series, “Tales of the Unexpected,” featured stories that were scary or comical or even both, but often there was some sort of twist that caused me to stop chewing my Snickers and think, “Wow, I didn’t see that coming.” In the years since, I’ve realized that life often sends us unexpected twists. Months ago, I remembered that comic book series and decided to make “Millikin tales of the unexpected” as the underlying theme for the spring issue of Quarterly. Our staff worked to collect and write articles to help make our readers aware of things they might not know about Millikin and its alumni, faculty and students. We learned a little ourselves along the way, including the fact that Millikin has a connection to the Titanic disaster (Who knew? See page 10 for details.).

Our cover story is also what many might consider to be surprising, as it reports on MU’s efforts to recruit hundreds more international students to attend the Big Blue. Many might consider that goal not only surprising but unrealistic. However, those in charge of these efforts feel that Millikin has the appeal, personnel and structure now in place to entice a growing population of international students to complete their degree at a small, private university in Decatur, Ill. They say it will enrich the experiences of all our students and better prepare them to work in a shrinking world. Learn more beginning on page 20. As we were wrapping up the articles for this issue, another unexpected story emerged. In late January, to the surprise of many alumni and friends, MU President Harold Jeffcoat announced his immediate retirement. He and his wife, Marie, had come to Millikin in early 2011 following his previous retirement after 10 years as president of Texas Wesleyan University. They had been warmly received by students, parents, alumni and friends of Millikin, and appeared to be settled in for a long stay. However, retirement once again tempted the Jeffcoats, and the couple have said farewell to campus and the Decatur community to retire permanently in Florida. Read more about this story and the search for a new president on pages 1 and 4. So, how about you? Did you run into another Millikin alum in an unusual place? Did you start out in one career and take a 180-degree dive into another field? We’d love to hear your Millikin tales of the unexpected, so drop us a line at millikinquarterly@millikin.edu.

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Campus News

are you

Loyal Blue? Are you loyal to the Big Blue in all that you do? Then join the Loyal Blue Club! This new club honors MU alumni and friends who support the university by: • Making a gift • Keeping in touch with information updates • Staying involved through events, activities and volunteerism Staying connected to Millikin in all three ways qualifies you for automatic membership in the Loyal Blue Club. Club members receive a variety of benefits, including recognition in Millikin Quarterly magazine, special members-only events and premiums, and recognition at each Homecoming. To qualify for the Loyal Blue Club, you must complete one item from each category during each fiscal year (July 1-June 30). Learn more at www.millikin.edu/alumni/loyalblue or call the Millikin alumni & development office toll free at 1-877-JMU-ALUM (568-2586).

Ready to get started on your Loyal Blue membership? Host an event for Millikin friends in your area! We’ll send you a free Millikin Party Pack to get the party started. It will give you all the tools you need to host a great Millikinthemed party that shows your Big Blue spirit. Here’s how it works: • Email your request for a Millikin Party Pack to alumnews@ millikin.edu at least one month in advance. (Requests are subject to approval by the Alumni Office staff.) Please include the name and shipping address for the Party Pack. Once approved, we will send the party pack at least 1-2 weeks prior to the event. • At the time of your request, tell us the date, location, time, participant numbers and purpose of the event. If you are hosting an event for Millikin in your town, we will assist with advertising your event to local Millikin alumni. • Once the event has occurred, please send us a photo of the event and list of participants (and any updated contact information) electronically at alumnews@millikin.edu or by mail, using the envelope included in the Millikin Party Pack.

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campus news

dr. Jeffcoat retires; Dunsworth named interim president Millikin will conduct a national search for a new president following the late January retirement of President Harold Jeffcoat. “After 37 years in higher education, including my 13 years as a university president, both [my wife] Marie and I felt it was time for a change,” said President Jeffcoat upon his retirement. “Millikin needs to have in place a long-term president. I am at retirement age, and now is a good time for the board to recruit a new president.” “This is a good thing for us and for Millikin,” he continued. “We wish Millikin students, faculty and staff all the best and thank them for the opportunity to serve Millikin in the last few years.”

Vice President for Enrollment Rich Dunsworth was named interim president for Millikin for three months. Dunsworth, who has served a total of 22 years at the university, will work in conjunction with the board of trustees to identify an acting president to lead Millikin for approximately 12 to 18 months while the national search for the next president is conducted, according to board chairman Van Dukeman. “The board has full confidence in Mr. Dunsworth to guide Millikin through this transition,” Dukeman said. “We are excited about Millikin’s future and are unanimously committed to [the university’s] continued success.”

Website ranked No. 1 in the nation

This tells us that the students want to use their technology everywhere and all the time to enhance their learning experience.” “We know it is important to build a ‘next generation network’ to grow and expand our access to the Internet,” Pettit says. “All our instructors utilize technology in some way – to illustrate or add resources to their content. Technology is vital to the way we communicate, teach and learn, and to the way we do business. This is a huge step forward for Millikin in being able to prepare our students for the future.” Q

Millikin’s website was ranked first in the nation for college admission website design and seventh overall best college admission website in the country. The National Research Center for College & University Admissions released the rankings last fall after an analysis of the admissions websites of nearly 3,000 colleges and universities. The university received over 4,000 online applications for traditional, first-year enrollment for the fall 2012 semester, plus 40,000 inquiries requesting enrollment information. Q

Technology to be upgraded Before the start of fall semester, the information technology department plans to complete technology upgrades in the classroom and across campus. The upgrades result from a $1.5 million allocation from the board of trustees. “Most of our faculty want to use technology to enhance their teaching, including video,” says Pat Pettit, IT director. “The upgrade is designed to allow for that and for a relatively new phenomenon referred to as ‘Bring Your Own Device’ (BYOD). We’re finding that students are bringing an average of three mobile devices each to Millikin, including iPads and smartphones.

Former West Towne Square becomes part of campus Last fall, plans for a new exercise science and sport pavilion in the former West Towne Square facility (see above) near campus took a step forward when Millikin closed on the sale of the building. Ownership was transferred from the Romano and Demirjian families of Decatur. Millikin officials originally had planned to build an addition to Griswold Physical Education Center to house the academic programs for the growing exercise

The 65-year-old Jeffcoat had served as Millikin’s president since April 2011 after previously retiring from Texas Wesleyan University. Dunsworth’s 90-day limit as interim president was contingent upon the fact that last October he accepted the presidency of the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Ark. He will assume his new post effective this summer. During his tenure at the university, Dunsworth has served the institution in many positions, including resident director, director of Greek life, assistant/ associate/dean of student life and academic development, and most recently, as vice president for enrollment. Q

science and sport department at a projected cost of more than $13 million. However, the families sold the West Towne Square property to Millikin as a bargain sale gift for only $3 million. Millikin continues to raise funding in support of the interior renovation, remodeling and equipment, estimated at an additional $2.5-$3 million. In the meantime, several tenants will remain in the building indefinitely, including Pipe Dreams, Millikin’s student-run theatre company, and the Student Programming and Entertainment Center (SPEC). To learn more about the project, visit www.millikin.edu/transform. Q

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Seth Meyers of “Saturday Night Live” fame was scheduled to perform in Kirkland Fine Arts Center in late March for the 2013 Goodheart Event. The event, made possible by Trustee Emeritus Peggy Madden and her late husband, G. William, also a trustee emeritus, brings a well-known national performer to campus for students to “enjoy, emulate and long remember.” Meyers’ appearance was the eighth Goodheart Event since 1999. Previous Goodheart performers have included Bill Cosby, Jay Leno, David Spade and Howie Mandel, among others. The event is named in memory of Peggy Madden’s father, the late William R. Goodheart Jr., a recording executive who founded the Music Corporation of America. Q

Did they have ‘Downton Abbey’ clothing? We’re pretty sure that even “Downton Abbey” wannabes could have found appropriate World War I British attire at the January sale at MU’s Costume Studio. The studio holds occasional sales of its extensive stores of theatre and dance performance apparel, usually around Halloween, but had not held a sale in four years. As a result, selection and interest were at an all-time high for items, including period costumes, vintage clothing, jewelry, wigs (see below) and even a dancing cigarette box costume. Q

Photo by Christy Swanberg ’13.

Really!?! Seth Meyers at Millikin?

Cinderella came to the Tea Party Millikin put a royal spin on an age-old story by inviting children and their families to a tea party on campus prior to last fall’s theatre and dance production of “Cinderella.” More than 200 guests – many of them children dressed as princesses and princes – excitedly posed for photos (see above) with roving characters in costume from the production, including Cinderella and Prince Christopher, The Stepsisters, The Step Mother, the Fairy Godmother and more. The guests enjoyed tea sandwiches, Cinderella slipper cookies and other tasty delights along with their tea, and the event concluded with a fanfare parade to Kirkland Fine Arts Center to enjoy the performance (As far as we know, no one lost a slipper on the way). The College of Fine Arts Patrons Society, the Symphony Orchestra Guild of Decatur, Brinkoetter and Associates, and the department of theatre and dance sponsored this royal event for area families. Q

Penguin returns to campus The eighth annual Penguin in the Park 5K Run/Walk in Decatur’s

Fairview Park was held in March. The event is named in honor of former longtime Runner’s World columnist John “The Penguin” Bingham, a 1970 Millikin graduate. The race was designed to embrace runners of all types, both the speedy and those less so. Proceeds benefit a Millikin sports management student scholarship named for Bingham, as well as the Decatur Indoor Sports Center’s youth programs. Bingham, currently with Competitor Magazine, is an advocate of runners of all fitness levels and the national spokesperson for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training program. His newest book, “An Accidental Athlete,” adds to his collection of best-selling books aimed to help everyday runners/walkers start on the path to fitness success. Q

Zombies invade Millikin, but all survive The undead occupied campus during “Zombies! The History of a Symbol,” an immersion course taught last summer and over winter break earlier this year. The class was taught by Elisheva Perelman, instructor of history. The class was one of 28 immersion courses taught over winter break in January. Students studied the emergence of the 17th century Haitian “zombie,” the classic 1968 film, “Night of the Living Dead” and popular culture today, including TV’s “The Walking Dead” and the movie “Zombieland.” Course materials ranged from “The Zombie Survival Guide,” a novel, to the Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency (FVZA) website, which touts its exploration of the science behind the creatures as well as the best ways to defend against them. Q

Chinese Moon Festival At a Chinese Art Show and Moon Festival Party held during fall semester, the campus community enjoyed Chinese calligraphy, paintings, Kung Fu presentations and authentic Chinese food. The event was sponsored by the Chinese Students Association and their adviser, Dr. Catherine Ming Tu, assistant professor of music. Q

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Big Blue Sports

Photo by Kevin Krows ’82.

Student Athletes Honored as seasons wind up

s the winter sports teams wrapped up their seasons, several student athletes received College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) honors. In indoor track and field, All-Conference honors are based on performance at the CCIW Indoor Track and Field Championships, which this year were held in February at Carthage College. The top eight finishers in each event are All-Conference athletes. Several Big Blue students earned All-Conference honors this year, and two were CCIW event champions. Senior Le Ann Spesard is the 2013

CCIW champion in the shot put. Spesard’s toss of 14.53 meters broke the CCIW meet record and her own Big Blue school record. She also led a group of three Millikin throwers who earned All-Conference honors in the women’s weight throw and was named Female Field Athlete of the Meet. Spesard finished in third place with a toss of 15.17 meters, sophomore Jordan Harris was fifth at 13.71 meters and sophomore Emily Sawyer was seventh with a throw of 13.03 meters. Harris also earned All-Conference honors in the shot put with a throw of 12.40 meters. Freshman Amanda Morgan was seventh in the shot put, giving Millikin three All-Conference performers in the event. Junior Ariel Robinson was the CCIW champion in the 55 meters in 7.33 seconds and finished second in the 200 meters in 25.81 seconds. Sophomore Kindra Emberton (left) earned All-Conference honors in four events and established three new school records. She was second in the 800 meters in 2:19.11, breaking her own school record. She broke another of her school records in the 3000 meters, finishing second in 10:21.88. She continued her good day by finishing second in the 5000 meters, again breaking her own school record and turning in a time of 17:54.97. Emberton was eighth in the one-mile run in a time of 5:19.72. Freshman Jamie Michl finished eighth in the 800 meters in 2:24.28. In men’s competition, five athletes earned All-Conference. Sophomore Justin Brooks was fifth in the triple jump at 13.33 meters, and freshman Alex Kemp was seventh in the 200 meters in 22.78. Junior Dustin Roth finished seventh in the heptathlon with 4114 points, winning the

pole vault portion of the multi-event competition with a vault of 4.15 meters. Senior Jordan Rahar was seventh in the long jump at 6.68 meters, and freshman Darrell Hunt was eighth in the event at 6.61 meters. In swimming, senior Kaley Wittrock earned All-Conference honors, finishing third in the 200-yard butterfly in 2:10.81. Big Blue guard and junior Brittany Czaplicki was named to the CCIW Women’s Basketball All-Conference Third Team based on a vote of the CCIW women’s basketball coaches. She also was Millikin’s leading scorer for the season, averaging 10.5 points per game and 11.6 points per game in CCIW action. She was ranked 10th in the conference in scoring. Freshman Deavis Johnson was named to the CCIW Men’s Basketball All-Conference Third Team. Johnson was Millikin’s top rebounder for the season, averaging 8.9 rebounds per game and was the Big Blue’s second leading scorer, averaging 10.9 points per game. In CCIW play, Johnson was second in the conference in rebounding, averaging 9.1 rebounds per conference game, and was fifth in the conference in field-goal percentage at .526, fifth in blocks with 13, and 10th in scoring with an 11.9 points per game average. The men’s and women’s cross country teams were recently honored for their performance in the classroom. Both teams were named 2012 Division III All-Academic Teams by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). To qualify for All-Academic Team status, a team must have a cumulative team grade point average of 3.10 or better. The women achieved a team grade point average of 3.298. The men achieved a team overall grade point average of 3.286. Q

Men’s tennis returns to MU next Spring Millikin will begin competing in men’s tennis starting in spring 2014. The Big Blue is resuming the program after discontinuing it in 2003. Millikin will compete in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) at the NCAA Division III level. Dustin Forman, current head women’s 6

tennis coach, will also head up the men’s program. Forman will immediately begin recruiting prospective student athletes who will play during the 2013-14 academic year. “As you look through our history books, you can see that Millikin men’s tennis has a strong tradition,” Forman

says. “Tennis will not only provide young men and women the opportunity to compete, but it is my belief that these players will form lifelong memories and unyielding friendships through their experiences in training, competition and community service.” Q

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Photo by Kevin Krows ’82.

Big Blue Give Coach Kerans 500th Career Victory

Above: Athletic Director Dr. Craig White presents Women’s Basketball Head Coach Lori Kerans with the game ball from her 500th career victory.

The women’s basketball team defeated Illinois College in December to give Head Women’s Basketball Coach Lori Kerans ’85 her 500th career victory. Kerans becomes the 15th active NCAA Division III women’s basketball coach to reach 500 victories and the 19th women’s coach all-time in Division III to reach that esteemed coaching mark. Kerans is also the first women’s basketball coach in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin to reach the coveted 500-victory mark. Among her other achievements as head coach, Kerans guided her team to a national championship during the 200405 season. “Achieving 500 wins is certainly a reflection of being surrounded by many, many great people associated with Millikin women’s basketball in the 43 years we have sponsored the sport,” says Kerans. “Coach

Harriett Crannell [MU’s first women’s basketball coach] provided the foundation, and mentored and coached so many of us; I learned so much from her and certainly believe she deserves credit for her pioneering efforts.” “A huge heartfelt thank you to the many families who have entrusted their daughters to Millikin University as a place to call home, a learning environment that provides a first-rate education and an opportunity to ‘wear the blue’ with passion and pride,” Kerans says. “My hope is that the number 500 gives us all an opportunity to say thanks to all those who have so positively influenced the program and our lives.” A celebration dinner was scheduled for April 13 to honor Kerans and the team members who have played for her during her 27 years as head coach. Q

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Spring Fever

Photo by Alida Duff Sullivan ’06.

Remembering Stan Musial by Mike Waller ’63

rowing up in Durand, Ill., in the 1940s and 1950s, my favorite baseball team was the Chicago White Sox of Luke Appling, Billy Pierce, Nellie Fox and Minnie Minoso. But my favorite ballplayer was a St. Louis Cardinal, Stan “The Man” Musial, the greatest gentleman the game had produced since the Yankees’ Lou Gehrig. Bill Haggerty, a Red Sox fan, and I argued throughout our adolescent years about who was the greatest hitter, Ted Williams or Stan Musial. In the end, I decided that as great as Musial was, Williams was the better hitter, possibly greater than Babe Ruth. But Musial, who died Jan. 19 at age 92, was the better ballplayer and person. A legendary story repeated in many versions by Musial fans over the years demonstrates why. According to various accounts, it happened in Brooklyn or Philadelphia or Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis. In many accounts, Musial hit a grand slam or a heroic home run after an umpire’s bad call. But Joe Posnanski, formerly a Kansas City Star columnist writing for Sports Illlustrated magazine, says the real story is this: The Cardinals trailed the Cubs 3-0 at Wrigley Field in the seventh inning on April 18, 1954. Wally Moon was on second base when Musial smashed a double down the right field line against lefty Paul Minner, scoring Moon. At least that’s what the Cardinals thought, until they realized 8

that first base umpire Lee Ballanfant incorrectly called the ball foul. The Cardinals went nuts in protest. Led by shortstop Solly Hemus, they raced out of the dugout toward Ballanfant. Home plate umpire and crew chief Augie Donatelli tossed Hemus out of the game. Manager Eddie Stanky was right behind Hemus, and Donatelli threw him out, too. Then Donatelli warned the others to retreat or be tossed. And then Musial, who in the confusion had not been told anything, walked over to Donatelli and asked: “What happened, Augie? It didn’t count, huh?” Donatelli, who apparently thought Ballanfant had blown the call, said the ball had been called foul. “Well, Augie,” Musial said, “there’s nothing you can do about that.” Musial stepped back into the batter’s box and promptly doubled to the same spot in right field. But this time it was called fair and the Cardinals rallied and won the game. Today, nearly a half-century after he retired, Musial continues to be the most under-appreciated ballplayer in history. He appears on the top-10 list of the greatest hitters of all time, right up there with other baseball legends, including Williams, Ruth, Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Rogers Hornsby and Ty Cobb (Barry Bonds would be ahead of him except for his steroid-tainted record, and former Cardinal Albert Pujols may pass him

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by the time his career ends). Musial’s statistics are dazzling and far too many to recount here. But sample these few: He won seven National League batting titles, averaged .340 in his first 17 seasons, had a lifetime batting average of .331, was the league’s Most Valuable Player three times and second in the MVP voting four times, had 3,630 hits (fourth all-time), led the league in doubles eight times, had 1,377 extra base hits (only Hank Aaron and Bonds had more), scored 1,949 runs (ninth all-time), drove in 1,951 runs (sixth all-time) and played in a record 24 All-Star games. Pitchers hated facing him and his menacing peek-a-boo cobra stance, coiled to strike at the next pitch. The Dodgers’ Preacher Roe had his favorite approach: “I throw him four wide ones and try to pick him off first base.” Roe’s teammate Don Newcombe said: “I could have rolled the ball up there to him, and he would have pulled out a golf club and hit it out.” Yet for years Musial was nearly forgotten as a ballplayer outside of the Midwest. Voters left him off the All-Century team, forcing commissioner Bud Selig to appoint him and avoid embarrassment for Major League Baseball. He didn’t play on the East Coast, where the dominant newspapers covered mostly the New York teams and such stars as Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays (there was no ESPN, no cable TV, no Internet and only one Game of the

Week on commercial television). He was a model citizen, not controversial like Ted Williams. He didn’t hit in 56 straight games like DiMaggio. He didn’t break any home run record like Aaron (he hit 475 in his career but never led the league in any season). He wasn’t banished from the game like Pete Rose, he wasn’t fast and flamboyant like Mays and he didn’t break any barriers like Jackie. He simply played baseball quietly from 1941 until 1963 – except for the year he served in World War II – on a consistently high level like almost no one else in the history of the game. His 3,630 hits were evenly divided with 1,815 at home and 1,815 on the road. He treated players and fans alike with the utmost respect and was beloved by them. In Chicago, he once finished first in a “favorite player” poll among Cubs fans, edging out Mr. Cub, the great Ernie Banks. He played in 3,026 games and was never thrown out by an umpire. The legendary umpire Tom Gorman said Musial was in a class by himself. “How good was Stan Musial?” the Hall of Fame Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully once was asked. His answer? “He was good enough to take your breath away.” Q Mike Waller ’63, a Millikin trustee emeritus, is retired publisher of The Baltimore Sun. He also is former editor of the Hartford Courant and The Kansas City Star and Times. He is a lifelong Cubs and White Sox fan.

a chance

encounter

Roe Skidmore, a 1968 Millikin graduate, met Stan Musial during Skidmore’s time as a young recruit with the Chicago Cubs. It was spring training, 1974, and the retired Musial had stopped by to talk to the team about hitting. As Skidmore remembers:

“When a player asked

Musial to compare the pitching of that time to the pitching in his day, he said the pitching in the 1970s was so tough, he probably would hit only about .270 or so. Someone said incredulously, ‘Do you mean you could only hit .270 against these pitchers?’ Stan smiled back and said ‘Man, I’m almost 60 years old!’ I thought that was pretty funny. He probably really could have hit .270 in the big leagues when he was 60!”

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Looking back

on public works projects. View the article: http://bit.ly/Dec-9298.

Titanic, patton and the new deal

Surprising facts of MU History

by Amanda Pippitt

fter more than 100 years of history, Millikin has boasted many celebrated connections to scientists, musicians, actors, athletes and politicians. However, combing through past issues of The Decaturian, MU’s student newspaper, reveals the university’s many lesser-known and often unexpected connections to major national and worldwide events, these among them.

history’s most famous ship is less tragic than the ship’s fate. The May 3, 1912 Decaturian contains the unassuming headline “English Work Delayed” on page 6. This short article informed readers that a shipment of the book, “Sartor Resartus,” meant for use in a freshman class, was on its way to Millikin from London on board the Titanic when the ship sank. View the article: http://bit.ly/Dec-1779.

1907: The Columbia On July 20, 1907, the steamship Columbia, the first ship ever fitted with electric lights, sank off the coast near San Francisco after colliding with another vessel on a foggy evening. Among the 88 people who perished in this accident were two students from Millikin’s School of Music, Grace and Effie Keller, along with their mother and sister. View the article: http://bit.ly/Dec-113.

1934: The CWA and The New Deal In March 1934, nearly 30 Millikin students received financial aid from the Civil Works Administration (CWA) through part-time campus job placements. The CWA was an early part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal during the Great Depression and created temporary parttime jobs for the unemployed. It lasted from November 1933 through March 1934, giving way to the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which provided more lasting benefits to society through employment

1912: The Titanic Thankfully, Millikin’s connection to 10

1945: General George Patton One of many Millikin men and women to serve during World War II was Howard Rice ’47. Rice left Millikin in May 1942 to enlist in the Army Air Force, where he became a first lieutenant. From August 1944 through September 1945, he served as the personal pilot and air aide to the legendary General George S. Patton Jr. Prior to that, Rice was part of the Normandy invasion and the Allied invasion of southern France. In addition to other awards, Rice earned the Croix de Guerre from French President Charles De Gaulle for his efforts in the liberation of France. After the war, he re-enrolled at Millikin for the fall 1945 semester as an economics and political science major. After graduating, Rice became a business administration professor at Millikin, obtained his master’s degree at the University of Chicago and married Barbara Schroth ’51. The family lived in Decatur for a little over a decade before moving to Missouri. Rice died Feb. 2, 1993, at age 74. View the article: http://bit.ly/Dec-6615. 1963: The March on Washington On Aug. 28, 1963, MU chaplain R.B. Moore marched in what was officially named The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom but came to be commonly known as The Freedom March. His Decaturian account of that day paints a vivid picture of what it was like to be part of this historical event: “Two thousand legs, black and white legs, cooling two thousand hot, sore feet in the reflecting pool . . . the quiet, hard, solemn determination in the faces of those marchers was unmistakable, and in the end, their goal is undeniable.” Q Amanda Pippitt is Millikin’s access services coordinator, archivist and research instruction librarian. She has worked at MU since 2004. She earned her master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and also holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in anthropology.

Millikin quarterly | Spring 2013

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career Advice

Expect the unexpected:

the changing world of work

et’s face it: The work world has changed dramatically in the past few years and will continue to change, probably at an even more accelerated pace than now. What’s driving this rapid metamorphosis? Rapidly evolving technology is changing, not only how we work and communicate, but also where we work. The data age has caused an explosion of flexibility. Working virtually or telecommuting has become increasingly common, with people working from the airport, the local coffee house or even from home in pajamas. Studies show that employers who allow for flexibility have a happier and more productive workforce, making it a smart business strategy and a win-win proposition for employees and employers. Experts predict that workplace flexibility will continue to grow at a rapid pace, with an estimated 63 million Americans working completely virtually by 2016. Technology blurs the boundary between our personal and professional lives. Although the ability to be instantly and constantly connected to work can have it advantages, it is also challenging to manage. We must find our personal “work-life balance” – a term your grandparents probably never heard but a priority for those of us wanting to succeed professionally and personally. Advances in technology have also elevated the importance of personal branding, including our online identity. Our virtual reputation must be cultivated through careful promotion and management since it can make or break a job search or career. Your personal brand can be one of your greatest assets, or it can be your downfall if not carefully managed. Social media has made it infinitely easier to connect with and be noticed by those with the power to give us opportunities to advance our careers. Another factor greatly influencing today’s workplace is economic uncertainty. The days

by Pam Folger

of working for one employer for more than 40 years have been gone for some time. The uncertainty of the global economy has altered attitudes about job tenure. For instance, it is no longer always considered a red flag to “job hop” from one opportunity to another. This is part of the new normal, assuming you can effectively articulate to the next hiring manager how your last job helped you learn and grow professionally. You can also expect to see a growing variety of work alternatives as the traditional employee-employer relationship undergoes significant changes. According to a 2002 Kelly Services workforce study, millions of Americans now work as independent “free agents,” with predictions that 40 percent of the U.S. workforce will consist of independent contractors by 2019. Those who can think outside the box about their career will likely reap the rewards and be able to withstand the challenges of an uncertain economy. The best way to adapt to this ever-changing work world is to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset to meet these challenges head-on instead of depending on a company. Those who do recognize their unique positions in today’s marketplace and are confident about their prospects for work. They have taken ownership of their careers and are self-reliant, constantly scanning and monitoring workplace trends and positioning themselves for success. Spurred by constant change in the workplace, today’s savvy workers are more resilient, adaptable and motivated than ever before and thriving in the face of adversity and unexpected challenges. Are you one of them? Q

adapt to the new

Work World

• Embrace technology as it continues to evolve – remember it often brings opportunity. • Build, manage and position your personal brand via social media. • Monitor industry and workplace trends regularly. Tell us how you are adapting

Pam Folger is director of Millikin’s

to the changing workplace on

Career Center. She has more than

the Millikin LinkedIn group. It’s a

24 years of experience in career

great place to career network,

and employment services, with

learn about job opportunities

more than 14 of those years at

and more. Visit http://bit.ly/

Millikin University.

MU-Lin. Spring 2013 | Millikin quarterly

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Transform u

Be Proactive for your health

by Tina Cloney Ph.D., M.S.P.H., R.D., C.S.S.D., L.D.N., C.D.E.

ach night, you plan the next day full of good intentions. “I’ll get up early, take a long walk, eat a healthy breakfast and avoid too much caffeine,” you tell yourself as you climb into bed. However, by mid-morning, you’ve slept through the alarm, skipped the walk, inhaled two donuts and washed them down with a large coffee loaded with sugar and cream. As you wipe the powdered sugar off your shirt, you wonder: “Why can’t I make healthy lifestyle changes? I know what I need to do; I just can’t seem to do it!” Good question. Why are some people more proactive than others about safeguarding their health? Various theories attempt to explain why some individuals regularly engage in healthy behaviors and others in harmful ones. The late Irwin M. Rosenstock, a professor of health behavior and health education at the University of Michigan, studied these differences in lifestyle behaviors. In 1966, he developed his internationally recognized Health Belief Model to explain why some people indulge in unhealthy actions despite being educated on how those behaviors endanger their health. His model, still in use today, notes that individuals are more likely to change an unhealthy behavior only if they believe they are more susceptible to a serious disease and perceive that the benefits of changing the negative behavior outweigh any barriers they must overcome. The benefits that drive healthier behaviors can include reducing the risk of certain diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Barriers to making healthy lifestyle changes can include feeling pressured to fit exercise into an already busy lifestyle, changing ingrained eating habits and/or wondering if making changes is really worth the effort. Although the connection between choosing poor lifestyle behaviors and increased health risks over time is certainly not debatable, many individuals still say they are simply too busy or do not have the time or money to join a gym and buy healthier foods. Unfortunately, even having a family history of a serious disease and/or abnormal levels of glucose, cholesterol or blood pressure are not enough to make most people feel susceptible to

the dangers related to unhealthy behaviors. For those individuals, only the diagnosis of a heart attack, stroke or diabetes may bring awareness. Ironically, many of the recommendations to manage or control these diseases are the exact recommendations to prevent or lower risk of that same disease. There are three levels of prevention. Review them below for information about making lifestyle choices that help you to be more proactive versus reactive in your health. Primary Prevention refers to the actions an individual takes to promote overall health and wellness. 1. Eat a healthy diet • Choose a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fiber. • Choose lean cuts of meat (filet, round, sirloin, 97 percent lean hamburger); limit red meat to three times a week. • Choose foods that have 5 percent or less daily value of total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium listed on the label. • Visit www.eatright.org to learn additional tips about healthy eating. 2. Be physically active Being physically active does not mean that you have to join an expensive gym or work out for hours. If you are not physically active, it is never too late to start. • A goal of 150 total minutes or 30 minutes, five days a week, is recommended. The 30-minute recommendation can be divided into three 10-minute sessions. 3. Manage stress Stress can manifest itself in many ways including insomnia, upset stomach, headache and anxiety. Unhealthy stress management includes the use of alcohol, tobacco, excess over-the-counter analgesics or sleep aids, and/or emotional or stress eating to cope. • Deep breathing exercises, meditation, yoga or exercise in general can help you manage and minimize your stress. • Talk to someone to gain perspective instead of allowing a problem to become overwhelming.

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4. Get adequate sleep Inadequate amounts of sleep can affect memory, cognition, concentration and increase the risk of injury. Sleep deprivation can result in increases in ghrelin (an appetite stimulant hormone) and subsequent decreases in leptin (appetite suppressant hormone) that could result in obesity. â&#x20AC;˘ Keep a regular sleep schedule by setting a consistent bedtime and waking up at the same time every day. Secondary Prevention refers to the different types of screenings to find abnormalities early so that they can be treated promptly, potentially cured or prevented from worsening. Examples include self-exams (breast and testicular), blood pressure, body mass index, waist circumference, lipid panels, mammogram/ PSA, Pap test, blood glucose levels and any other age-related tests or vaccinations. Tertiary Prevention refers to the measures taken once a diagnosis of disease has occurred in order to slow the progression of the disease or to prevent complications related to lack of control. Examples include the diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes and the prevention of complications associated with poor control, including heart disease, stroke, eye disease, kidney disease and amputation. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wait for a life-changing diagnosis to scare you into becoming more proactive in your health. Skim over the three levels of prevention again to determine where you can make healthier choices and lower your health risk of serious disease. Think proactive, not reactive. The time to act is now. Q Dr. Tina Cloney is a health and nutrition professor in the College of Professional Studies, division of exercise science and sport. She is a registered dietitian, certified diabetes educator and board certified specialist in sports dietetics. Her passion is communicating the role of nutrition in sport performance and nutrition and exercise in disease prevention and management. Spring 2013 | Millikin quarterly

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D.C. Bound

Photo by Alida Duff Sullivan ’06.

sudden journey

hen an unexpected, once-in-a-lifetime, golden opportunity comes around, go for it. I know, because that’s exactly what I did. A 2011 Millikin graduate, I work for the AmeriCorps VISTA program and am stationed at my alma mater for this academic year. In my job, I help lead and coordinate service opportunities for Millikin students, helping them commit to making community service an ongoing part of their lives, just as I have. I live in campus housing as part of my job, eating with students in the cafeteria and mixing with them at various campus events. I’m deliberately not paid much, in part so I can relate better to the poverty-stricken individuals in this area that we try to help. This January, less than two days before the inauguration weekend of President Barack Obama, I was notified that I was one of only 250 nationwide VISTA members chosen to serve at the National Day of Service event in Washington D.C., held that Saturday. At the event, nearly 100 service organizations were on hand to encourage more than 30,000 inaugural attendees to make a commitment to community service 14

by Cassandra Monfiston ’11

for the year. Obama started the National Day of Service at his 2009 inauguration and has said he hopes it will become a continuing inaugural tradition. I had to get to our nation’s Capitol immediately in order to take part. With the moral and financial support of Millikin’s Career Center and Office of Student Development, I booked a flight and left for Washington the next day. I actually shouted with excitement when I realized that everything was falling into place. Since my late selection meant I had been unable to attend the mandatory in-person training required by the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC), I was invited to attend alternative training the same evening I arrived. The training was led by former White House intern and PIC member Kate Cummings, who outlined the day’s details and our roles as volunteers. She explained that nearly 55,000 people had requested to volunteer for the National Day of Service, but we were among only 15,000 honored with selection. “Tomorrow, your last name is Obama,” Cummings said. “Act as though he were beside you and practice integrity as you are now representing, not only your own organizations, but

the United States as a whole.” At the event, I was an ambassador for national service, distributing hundreds of “Pledge to Serve” forms to the inaugural attendees and encouraging them to make a long-term commitment to serve. Along with signing pledge forms, attendees could check out the dozens of agencies on hand, including the American Red Cross, American Heart Association and the Department of Veterans Affairs. People all across the nation were performing acts of community service that day, including the Obamas, who helped with improvements at a school in northeast D.C. Throughout the day, I also had the chance to meet several celebrities, including actress Angela Bassett, “The Voice” contestant Nicholas David, and political activist Dr. Martin Luther King III, son of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I was even able to catch a glimpse of the inauguration ceremony before flying home that afternoon. On my flight home that Monday, reflecting on my brief and unexpected experience, I realized that being a part of this historic event had opened my eyes to a world outside my own. If you are thinking twice about taking a chance on something unexpected, I offer these three tips to consider: • Never pass up a good opportunity. • Don’t be afraid to experience new things. • Make the most of the events that come your way now. That weekend gave me a renewed sense of purpose and commitment for helping others. I’m glad I didn’t hesitate. Q Cassandra “Cassie” Monfiston ’11 graduated from Millikin as a Long-Vanderburg Scholar with a bachelor’s degree in communication and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority. She found her way back to the “Milli-Bubble” through serving a one-year term as service and civic engagement coordinator for the AmeriCorps VISTA program on campus. After completing her term with VISTA, she plans to attend law school to become a defense attorney. As a student, Cassie took a mission trip to Haiti to assist with earthquake relief, an experience that led to her desire to work for VISTA.

Millikin quarterly | Spring 2013

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Starting Over

by Russell Veldenz ’79

Photo submitted by Veldenz.

fter graduating from Millikin in 1979, I earned my law degree and proceeded to work in Chicago, continuing to live in Oak Park, Ill., where I had grown up. I led a steady life. I worked at a law firm for a number of years and then decided to go solo. I certainly believed I would spend the rest of my career and life in the Chicago area except when I needed a Winery burger fix and returned to Millikin for Homecoming. Change came around 2007 when the famines started outweighing the feasts as far as my practice was concerned. I started looking for more steady work and decided to consider the federal government. I still expected to remain in Chicago. In April 2008, I interviewed with the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, part of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, D.C. They offered me a position, and I accepted. Needless to say, I experienced a whole range of emotions. Until then, I had lived my entire life in Illinois, and now I was moving to a whole new part of the country. I gave myself 90 days to move everything from Chicago to Washington, D.C., thinking it would be enough time. It was, barely. The movers had already left when I drove off with a packed car, including two cats who moved with me under protest. My new job involves helping veteran law judges review internal department administrative appeals when veterans are denied or otherwise unhappy with the determination by a regional office. We review the regional office’s actions to ensure they did everything correct procedurally, confirm that the veteran had every chance to prove his or her claim and determine if the regional office made the right call. After my level, the regular courts become involved. I quickly discovered I had made the right move in accepting the job. I find the work interesting, and everyone I work with

is very friendly. Of course, it is also nice that we have a common mission – serving the veterans who served our country. As the department mission statement says (taken from President Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address), we “care for those who have borne the battle, and their widows and their orphans.” Years ago, I had said that if there was any city I could move to easily, it would be Washington, D.C. It turns out I was right. When I first started, I worked off a corner of Lafayette Park. I could see the White House from our conference room. They have moved us out of the building to renovate it, and for the foreseeable future, I am working in the Gallery Place/Chinatown area, known as a “hot area.” I have not, after four years here, become jaded. I still get a thrill when I see some of the well-known buildings such as the White House or when I am held up by a presidential motorcade. (Why does that never happen when I am on time or early?)

I am also enjoying what this city has to offer. In addition to the Smithsonian museums, National Archives and Library of Congress, I have visited many great private museums and been to the National Geographic Museum several times to view the special exhibits. The diversity of ethnic restaurants is amazing. At one small shopping center near where I live, you can find Italian, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Middle Eastern and something called Subway. Korean, Salvadoran, Peruvian and Ethiopian food is not hard to find, either. In a way, I was given the unexpected gift of being able to start my life over, and I am trying to make the most of it. And I am still able to travel back to Illinois for my Winery burger fix. Q Russell Veldenz ’79 of Alexandria, Va., graduated from John Marshall Law School in 1982 and is admitted to practice in Illinois and all federal court levels.

Spring 2013 | Millikin quarterly

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Faculty Profile

Photo by Brian Cassidy ’09.

Polymath man

lthough there are a wide variety of Spanish textbooks, one is particularly unusual. It is both a textbook and a collection of seven one-act plays written in Spanish titled, “Teatro Breve para la Clase y el Escenario” (Short Theatre for the Class and the Stage). But the real twist is that each play in the collection was written by Dr. Eduardo Cabrera. Known on campus primarily as a professor of Spanish and chair of the modern languages department, he is also critically acclaimed world-wide as a playwright, producer and director. Decades of experience in theater and television have been poured into this book. After studying theater at El Vitral (The Stained Glass), a drama school in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Cabrera founded and ran Teatro Abierto (Open Theatre), an acting studio in Hollywood, Calif., for eight years. “I was the first Latino in the history of California to earn a living by teaching theater in Spanish,” Cabrera says. Success was not the only thing Cabrera gained from theater. “I was a theater director in El Salvador when I met my wife,” he says. “I hired her as an actress for a television show.” Today, Liz Cabrera is an adjunct faculty member for MU’s modern languages department. Cabrera is also a self-made activist, using his plays to advocate for human rights. “In every show I directed and in 16

by Jackson Lewis ’13

every play or short story I have written, is that need for solidarity with those in need,” Cabrera says. “The topics of my plays have to do with immigration, mass media, politics and other social issues.” His plays have been performed worldwide, from Chicago and Los Angeles to South America. The plays in “Teatro Breve” share many of these themes. “I tried to write about issues of interest for young people, whether they are Americans, Latin Americans or students anywhere,” Cabrera says. The second play featured in the book, “Madre Tierra” (Mother Earth) explores the consequences of biodiesel production. “That, from my point of view, is one of the most terrible problems on Earth,” Cabrera says. “We are using the land for products used for the production of biodiesel so we can pay less for our gas instead of producing food or other resources when there is such a need across the world.” Following the second of Millikin’s mission priorities to prepare students for democratic citizenship in a global environment, Cabrera is dedicated to making his students globally aware of the diversity of cultures and sympathetic to those less fortunate. “Some people think foreign language classes are all about language,” Cabrera says. “No! The name of the classes should be Spanish, French or Italian language and

culture. I feel passionate about discussing with my students issues of culture and human rights.” Cabrera’s passion for teaching is not surprising, given his heritage. “It was a natural thing in my family to become a teacher,” Cabrera says. His mother was a teacher, eventually rising to the position of principal at the public school in his hometown of Buenos Aires. Today, his brother also teaches public school in Buenos Aires while performing medical research and statistical work on the side. Teaching, according to Cabrera, is about connection. “The most important thing is that you make a special connection with students. You are able to transform the lives of others, helping guide them to what they have inside,” he says. His teaching expertise and 14 years’ experience on the College Board, the organization charged with preparing the Advanced Placement (AP) exams each year, recently led Cabrera to the position of chief reader designate for the AP Spanish literature and culture program and exam. “It is a quality program,” Cabrera says, “and it is highly demanding. I have to make sure the exams are fair, complete and rigorous. This is work we are doing for the whole year.” Even with his new position on the College Board, Cabrera finds time for creative writing. He is nearly finished with a collection of short stories, potentially titled, “Cuentos sobre Inmigrantes” (Tales of Immigrants), and recently wrote an article about a series of political essays by Uruguayan writer Mario Benedetti. Cabrera continues to look ahead to upcoming projects. “I am going to finish my collection of short stories,” he says, “keep participating in conferences and international theater festivals, keep writing, keep working in human rights, and I have a big responsibility with my new position on the College Board.” Whether Cabrera’s future brings him to your local high school or the mountains of Peru, it will be a bright continuation of the present. Q Jackson Lewis ’13 is a senior English major and has been a writing intern for the alumni and development office for two years.

Millikin quarterly | Spring 2013

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with your support

Student veterans receive scholarships Private colleges and universities, like the 23 schools that make up the Associated Colleges of Illinois (ACI), have been proven to have higher graduation rates and greater success with nontraditional students, including veterans. However, the GI Bill pays only $17,500 annually toward private college tuition. To help cover veterans’ tuition costs at affiliated schools, ACI board member Jesse Price ’69 of Decatur spearheaded the effort to establish the ACI Veterans Choice Scholarship. Millikin’s recipients

for the 2012-13 academic year are Tosha Duzan ’13, Maria Ferrer ’14 and Bret Merrell ’15. Nursing major Tosha Duzan ’13 of Arthur, Ill., an active member of the Illinois Army National Guard for more than 20 years, previously was deployed to Afghanistan with the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team and holds the rank of chief warrant officer 2. Maria Ferrer ’14 of Decatur is actively serving in the Illinois Army National Guard, 1544th Transportation Company.

Ferrer is a nursing major who has been deployed to Kuwait and Iraq. She hopes to eventually serve as a U.S. Army nurse. Communication major Bret Merrell ’15 of Moweaqua, Ill., is a three-year member of the Illinois Army National Guard, 333D Military Police Company. He volunteered for the 2012 NATO Summit and plays football for the Big Blue. Local businesses Black & Company, 300 Below Inc. and Miles Chevrolet helped fund the Millikin student scholarships through ACI. Q

Three new faces join alumni and development office Three new staff members joined the team of the alumni and development office earlier this year. Each is responsible for working with Millikin’s alumni and friends to gain their financial support of the Millikin Fund and “Transform MU” capital campaign, among other projects. Dawn Sandone, director of major gifts, has 15 years of progressive responsibility and successful leadership in higher education development. She and her staff look forward to helping Millikin’s alumni and friends find the joy of giving through helping the university deliver on the promise of education for today’s students. Sandone has worked at Florida Southern College, West Virginia

University and previously spent more than 10 years in the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois. She enjoys spending time with family, friends and her 20-pound Sheltie, Sky. Brandon Barney, a December 2012 Millikin graduate with a degree in art, is the new associate director of development. While a student, Barney played football all four years and served as a student worker/ intern for the office of admission. He also served two years as a resident assistant. In his new role, Barney focuses primarily on fundraising for the athletics and recreation department. He looks forward to sharing his knowledge and love of Millikin to help the university continue to provide students with great

educational and personal development opportunities. Kim HOLMAN Mangan, MU class of 1996, is associate director for corporate and foundation relations. She previously worked at Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) as public relations specialist. While at ADM, she managed the company’s global corporate giving program and facilitated company and employee involvement in local community events. In her new role, Mangan serves as the university’s grant writer and is the liaison with corporate and foundation donors, while also providing support for fundraising and development activities. She and her husband, Brian ’95, have a daughter and a son. Q

A living memory: Moorehead scholarships live on at millikin The legacy of the late Robert Moorehead ’46 of Olympia Fields, Ill., who died Jan. 3, and his widow, Charlotte Beesley Moorehead ’47, will live on forever at Millikin through scholarships established by the couple in honor of family members.

Bob and Charlotte have been generous alumni, endowing several MU scholarships, including a 2007 gift to create a scholarship in memory of Bob’s father, Lee C. Moorehead. Other endowments include the Geraldine and Everett Beesley scholarship in honor of Charlotte’s parents and the Winifred Moorehead scholarship in honor of Bob’s mother. They also added to the Lee C. ’41 and Betty ’42 Birmingham Moorehead scholarship in

memory of Bob’s brother, Lee, and have been strong supporters of The Millikin Fund and the university center project in MU’s “Transform MU” capital campaign. In 2008, the Mooreheads were corecipients of the Alumnus of the Year award, recognizing their strong commitment and dedication to Millikin. The couple is also part of an extensive alumni legacy, with more than a dozen family members earning degrees at MU. Q Spring 2013 | Millikin quarterly

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where are they now?

Photo submitted by Alexandra Miller ’13.

The Miller “Millikinites” last summer (from left): President Emeritus Dr. J. Roger Miller and his wife, Arlene ’65; their son, Charles Miller ’84, with his daughter, Alexandra ’13, and wife, Ellen Winchell Miller ’81; the Millers’ son, Gregory Miller ’72, with his wife, Nancy Lynch Miller ’72; and the Millers’ daughter, Debbie Miller Wray ’75.

the miller years

Our 9th president recalls his time at MU Editor’s Note: Alexandra Miller ’13 interviewed her grandfather, longtime Millikin president Dr. J. Roger Miller, for this article.

Dr. J. Roger Miller in an official university portrait, circa 1980.

lthough he says he never planned to be a university president, Dr. J. Roger Miller ended up serving 20 years in that role – the longest presidential tenure in Millikin history – during a time of great growth and changes at the Big Blue. “When I first came to Millikin, I had no idea I would spend the rest of my career there,” Miller says. Miller came to Millikin in 1959 as head of the music education program and director of the marching band. One of his fondest Millikin memories happened during his first year. At the time, marching band interest was at an all-time low, with only 40 members. Miller wanted to create excitement about the band, so

he considered the possibility of having the band perform at halftime of a Chicago Bears game. The team originated in Decatur as the Staley Bears, so Miller contacted August Staley, then president of Decatur’s Staley Manufacturing Company and son of the Staley Bears’ founder. That conversation led to a guaranteed spot in a Bears halftime show. “I can’t believe I had the nerve to put such a small band together that quickly and perform at a Bears game — sometimes when you’re young you have more guts than common sense,” Miller says, looking back on that first year at Millikin. In 1960, Miller was named dean of the School of Music, followed by a promotion to vice president of academic affairs in 1966. Shortly thereafter, then-president Dr. Paul McKay became ill with terminal cancer, and Miller served as executive vice president during McKay’s illness. When McKay died in 1971,

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Miller was named Millikin’s ninth president. As president, Miller became known for his planning, creating a strategic plan for the ’70s and ’80s with a goal to carry Millikin through to the 21st century. In his planning, he says he left room for dreaming but still maintained realistic goals. He was dedicated to providing students with a liberal arts education as well as practical professional skills for careers, true to the model set by university founder James Millikin. Before retiring, Miller was interviewed for the summer 1991 Quarterly, saying: “I told faculty on numerous occasions that I wasn’t interested in being second best, that we weren’t, and it was time to quit talking as if we were.” Miller maintained that attitude throughout his presidency and regularly worked to complete items from the strategic plan. As a result, Staley Library was built, along with a new student center and four new residence halls, and a $6 million renovation of Shilling Hall was completed. The James Millikin Scholars and the Presidential Scholars programs were created under Miller and also doubled in size during his tenure as president. “I was convinced that when all the pieces fell together, Millikin could become a truly outstanding small university,” Miller said in that 1991 interview. “As we began to realize that dream, I think each year my commitment to Millikin grew that much more.” Miller had a reputation for being a very involved president, and he and his family were active on campus. His wife, Arlene, completed a second bachelor’s degree at Millikin, and led a life of hosting and attending events with her husband. She was also involved in the “Millikin Dames,” a former group of women faculty and wives who hosted social events and the annual holiday Cookie Party, still a tradition today. After his 1991 retirement, Miller remembers that his first action was to go out “for a nice steak dinner!” He notes that he retired a little earlier than he had intended but felt it was time. “I wanted to slow down the pace of my life and have time to be able to do relaxing things,” he says. “I was going to improve my golf game, but that never happened.” The couple moved to Venice, Fla., and later settled in Durham, N.C., where they live today. Miller has been an active member of his

community, serving as the chairman of the board of the Durham American Heart Association, as well as president of their retirement community. He also served on the board of directors for the Duke Institute for Learning in Retirement, where he both taught a course and completed several courses. The Millers also had the opportunity to travel to Argentina with their four children: Gregory ’72, Deborrah ’75, John and Charles ’84. They also have nine grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. When asked how Millikin changed during his tenure, Miller asks, “How many days do you have?” He said that over the course of his total 32 years at the university, he was proud of the students and young faculty he watched develop and grow over the years. “I was proud to see the impact that Millikin has on people during their college years and the impact that it has on the Decatur community,” he says. “The quality of Millikin is always growing.” One of the ways he demonstrated his pride and appreciation for Millikin was by creating an endowed award in his name given out at Honors Convocation each year. The award goes to a deserving senior with high scholarship who is involved on campus; the most recent recipient was Julia Smith ’12 from Chicago. Additionally, his legacy lives on with the couple’s creation of the Dr. and Mrs. J. Roger Miller Centennial Quad in the center of campus. Miller was most recently on campus in 2009 and plans to attend his granddaughter’s commencement in May. During that 2009 visit and seeing how campus had changed, he said, “I think that Millikin is a fabulous place. I’m thrilled with the things I see happening.” Q Alexandra Miller ’13 is a double major in Spanish and communication with a minor in international and global studies. A member of Pi Beta Phi and the senior class committee, she also works at the campus bookstore. Last fall, she interned for the alumni and development office and hopes to find a job in fundraising and development after graduation. Alex values her family ties to Millikin, has enjoyed her experience and knows that she is receiving a valuable education that will prepare her for a successful future.

president Miller’s tenure

By the Numbers

1959

year he came to mU

years of service to mu

9TH

millikin president

years as millikin president

$2.6 million

mu’s debt when he took office

MU’s debt one year later

1976

year staley library was built

new residence halls built

university center built

$6 million

spent on shilling hall renovations

1991

year he retired

2009

Year miller quad was dedicated

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Big Blue

Planet

New post to amp up millikinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s international recruiting

by Celeste Huttes â&#x20AC;&#x2122;88

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s a French foreign exchange high school student living in Decatur in the 1980s, Florence “Flo” Galy Lebois found herself a frequent visitor to the top of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, as host families, friends and neighbors eagerly showcased the best

of the Midwest. Too grateful for their kindness, the 17-year-old could never bring herself to say how very familiar she had become with the view from the top of that silvery slice of skyline.

“I’ve been up in the arch in St. Louis more than 20 times … People were

just so happy to show it to me, I didn’t want to disappoint them,” recalls Lebois. “People are very, very nice here, and you always remember that.”

It is exactly that kind of warm hospitality – not to mention the bird’s-eye

view – Lebois hopes to bring to her new role as Millikin’s director of international recruitment and global strategy. She began the new position, which centers on global recruiting, in July 2012. Left: Currently, Millikin has 35 international students from 15 countries, including: Mexico, Bahamas, Panama, Brazil, Chile, United Kingdom, France, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, India, Vietnam, China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Australia. Above: Jacob Cushing, coordinator of international student services; ChuPien “Lisa” Chien (Taiwan); Pedro Fernandez (Panama); Hien Thu Nguyen (Vietnam); Aaron Thomas (USA, living in international student community); Florence Galy Lebois, director of international recruitment and global strategy; Tom Pardo (France); Peter Khiev (France); and Marie Lebois (France). Spring 2013 | Millikin quarterly

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“YOU NEVER KNOW.” “Decatur and Millikin are very special to me. The people are wonderful, and I really enjoy the community here,” says Lebois, who also completed an internship at Millikin in 1992. Still, she had no idea she would return to Decatur to become a catalyst for increasing diversity on Millikin’s campus – a twist of fate that reflects one of her favorite life lessons: “You never know.” Her fate took this unexpected turn when she returned to Decatur in 2010 for her 20th class reunion at St. Teresa High School. During that visit, she crossed paths with Barry Pearson, vice president of academic affairs, right around the time he and Interim President Rich Dunsworth, then vice president of enrollment, were discussing the need for a more strategic approach to international recruiting. Over the years, different staff members have been responsible for various aspects of international recruiting at Millikin. But because it was not the primary duty for any one person, it seldom received the attention it deserved, Dunsworth says. “To see improvement in international enrollment numbers, it needs to be somebody’s sole focus,” Dunsworth says. “We knew what we wanted, but we didn’t think we could find it all in one person.” But that’s exactly what they found in Lebois, he says. As an associate dean, Lebois had helped grow international enrollment at Centre d’Etudes Franco-Americain de Management (CEFAM) in Lyon, France, an international business school and one of Millikin’s partner universities. “Florence has the academic and curriculum experience, partnership-building experience and she understands young people,” Dunsworth says. “This was a case where the need and the opportunity arose at the same time, as if the stars had aligned.” It’s now Lebois’ job to link all activities related to global recruiting and apply a unified strategy to guide those activities. “She understands the living, learning and language issues involved with international recruiting,” says Pearson. “She can 22

help us think with a 360-degree view about what we need to do to be competitive in drawing international students.” In a somewhat unusual dual reporting arrangement, Lebois reports directly to two vice presidents – the vice president for academic affairs and the vice president for enrollment. “This reporting relationship is symbolically significant – it acknowledges that enrollment strategy has to take root in academics,” says Pearson. “It breaks apart any notion of silos.” BUILDING AN INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE As Lebois reacquaints herself with the Midwest, she works to boost the number of international students on Millikin’s campus from its current number of 35. “For many years, it’s been our objective to have 100 international students on campus,” Dunsworth says. The hope is for Millikin to achieve that goal by fall 2015 and specifically to see greater numbers of four-year international students. The longer term goal five to seven years from now would be to double that number to 200. Lebois is realistic about the need to pace that growth. “We can’t go too fast – we need to be ready,” says Lebois. That means addressing practical issues ranging from housing to healthcare, while navigating social, religious and cultural differences with respect. “If we want to grow, we have to be very, very organized. We have to make it easier to think globally.” Still, “in many ways, we are prepared,” Dunsworth says. “Our training and development for administrators, faculty and other students is ahead of the curve. The Center for International Education does wonderful training to educate and celebrate our differences.” Based on feedback from previous international students, Millikin may be a strong contender in the international arena. “We have a high rate of satisfaction among our international students,” Pearson says. “They love the close-knit campus community and the fact that they can eat, sleep and socialize in one square block.”

Florence Galy Lebois, MU’s international recruiter

Perhaps that’s because the concept of a campus is foreign to many international students, who frequently takes classes at their home institute, but live, work and play elsewhere. “Millikin is a nice-sized campus where it’s easy to see the enrichment of having international students,” says Lebois, who believes Millikin’s emphasis on performance learning helps in her recruiting efforts. “Millikin is a wonderful place for international students. There are so many opportunities for students; business students in particular. It makes sense.” For Lebois, the first order of business was to ensure that all online program information and applications were presented in a simple, consistent way. “Students need to know what resources we have, and how and where to find them,” she says. “We have to make it very simple.” PASSPORT TO DIVERSITY As Lebois paves the way for progress with these types of tactical steps, she is charged with overseeing an overarching international recruiting strategy that points the way on pivotal issues, including geographical regions of focus, academic programs

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best suited for international study, marketing needs, campus issues such as housing and healthcare, and sources of funding for international study. “I’ll be looking at how we can make Millikin more global in general and how we can build a curriculum with a global touch,” she says, noting that she is building a foundation of universities in Europe, Asia, South America, India and China, where Millikin has existing partnerships. “The relationships Millikin has built are great,” she says. “We want to grow these relationships and see what we can do together.” Lebois also plans to leverage Millikin’s connection to Education USA, a government agency that provides resources for foreign students seeking to apply to U.S. universities. Foreign embassies representing countries of interest are also hearing from Lebois. CENTERING ON INTERNATIONAL GROWTH The creation of Lebois’ position adds fuel and strategy to Millikin’s ongoing efforts to go global – efforts that have ebbed and flowed since the early 1990s. “This position is an outgrowth of something faculty have been doing for years,” says Dunsworth, “we’re just adding more human capital to support those efforts.” As the latest addition to Millikin’s international team, Lebois will work closely with the Center for International Education (CIE) and the English Language Center (ELC). The CIE, led by Director Carmen Aravena, provides support for international students already on campus, while also working with faculty and staff to develop immersion courses and export Millikin students abroad. From banking to visa issues, the CIE advises students on virtually every aspect of their international experience. “The CIE is a full-service, one-stop shop for students going abroad and coming from abroad,” says Pearson. “The Center also helps incoming students understand our classroom expectations and how to

participate in the Socratic method of teaching and learning.” As an offshoot of the CIE’s efforts, Millikin’s English Language Center opened its doors in 2011. Offering a four-level transition program that lasts one to three semesters, depending on the student’s needs, the Center helps international students boost their English language skills before beginning a Millikin degree program. For some of these gifted students, English is not a second language, but a third, fourth or even fifth. “We realized three years ago that we had some exceptional applicants – very bright young people who happened to have challenges with English,” Dunsworth says. “The English Language Center will allow Florence to look at partnering with some countries where language is a barrier, so we can grow the number of degree-seeking international students.” Beyond English, the ELC also focuses on writing, speaking and presentation skills and provides a cultural component to help prepare students for the Millikin classroom experience. For example, South Korean students may hesitate to speak up in class, as that can be considered a sign of disrespect in their home country. They need to know that their Millikin professors not only encourage engagement in their classrooms, but expect it. The first intake of ELC students in 2011, including a group of Saudi Arabian students with specific religious and dietary needs, tested Millikin’s readiness for a more diverse student population. “We had a conversation with them and asked them what we needed to do,” Pearson says. “We worked hard to understand their needs and made modifications to parts of campus to address those needs.” At the same time, Pearson points out that “students want to feel like students and be part of campus life. They didn’t want to be singled out in a big way. They’re not here wanting to represent the international student population.” His advice in navigating cultural differences is simple: “Be observant and don’t make assumptions.”

“Everything Millikin is already doing is very positive. People are very receptive toward international efforts,” says Lebois. “I’m adding some structure and trying to help those who are already doing things.” MISSION: INTERNATIONAL No longer an optional area of engagement, global education is critical to the success of Millikin students and to the institution itself. “Every single university in the world knows they have to think globally,” says Lebois. “If we want to stay in the game and be part of this big world of education, we have to think globally, too.” Beyond that, an international focus helps students gain the confidence and cultural awareness they need to land jobs and succeed in a global economy. “You can’t stay in your little bubble and not see the world. It’s important to be open to this world,” says Lebois. “Even if you work at Caterpillar here in Decatur, you’ll be working with people from all over the world.” Even Millikin students who don’t study abroad – and according to Lebois, only 1 percent of American students do – will benefit from a greater international presence on campus. “They will experience another culture through the students we have welcomed to campus,” says Lebois. “It will give them a more global vision of the world, and that’s important for students, faculty, the campus and the community – everyone.” By focusing on building a more diverse student population, Millikin is committing resources in line with its mission. “Everything we’re doing is driven by our commitment to Millikin’s mission – this is who we are,” Pearson says. “This world is interconnected, and every part of our economy is affected by the global economy. Helping students acquire the skills and confidence to succeed in a global environment is the most important thing we can do for them.”

Continued on page 46

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1 2

In his own words: The following descriptions are Dr. Larry Troy’s captions as listed on his Flickr page: www.flickr.com/larrytroy. 1

“Ceramics for sale at the women’s market in Sofia, Bulgaria.”

June 15, 2009. 2

Children at an orphanage in Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic,

“a small, poor city in the northwest corner of the country.” Jan. 8, 2008. 3

“Bicycles are ubiquitous in the hutongs of Beijing. Although

wealth is very abundant in China now, and you can see many cars parked on these small streets, the working class still mostly ride bicycles to work and school. They park them in the alleys, usually locked up to prevent theft.” June 4, 2008. 4

“... protesters at the Occupy Boston site with great signs.”

Oct. 16, 2011. 5

“Broken House” taken on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi four

months after Hurricane Katrina hit. Jan. 2, 2006.

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In words and photos

Remembering Larry Troy Photos provided by Alex Lovell-Troy and Sara Lovell-Troy Cothern.

ast Sept. 24, Dr. Larry Troy died unexpectedly. The long-time professor of sociology had been contemplating retiring, which would have allowed him to focus on his commitment to service and his interest in photography. We remember Dr. Troy through his own photos and a few words, including those of Mary Garrison, associate professor of social work: “Larry and I often discussed how we would change the world – we shared a passion for social justice and a focus on social issues of poverty and homelessness. Just before Larry passed away, we had decided to work on a project focusing on these two very issues. It was to be Larry’s last research project before retirement, and I was honored he had signed on to do it. “Larry always said he would change the world as a sociologist and I would disagree, saying that I, as the social worker, would change the world. We ultimately decided we would change the world together, which led to many wonderful academic pursuits and community projects over the years. But let’s be clear: Larry did change the world in countless ways, impacting many people and fighting for social justice. Larry made us all better people, and we will actively work to carry out his legacy to change the world.” One of Troy’s former students is Michelle Stremmel ’95: “When I entered Millikin in fall 1991, I took Dr. Troy’s sociology class, and our homework discussions led to something even deeper. No matter what sociological rabbit we chased, it always seemed to return to him prompting me, ‘What can you do to be more for the student body? For Millikin University? For Decatur?’ “During my junior year, I decided to start a new MU alternative spring break program for my JMS project. There was no funding and no plan. But, with Dr. Troy’s encouragement as adviser, I was inspired by what was possible. Months of preparation led to 15 students committed to assisting the residents of Hull, Ill., many still without homes three years after the 1992 flood. We worked hard on the houses, but with Dr. Troy’s guidance, we worked harder at building relationships with those we served and within the team. We reflected on how the work was changing us emotionally, physically and spiritually. We collected oral histories from community members. We visited the elementary school and created art with the children. We ate at area churches. We immersed ourselves in the community to better understand the families we were serving and each other. “We were forever changed. When our team gathered for my JMS final presentation, we could not talk without tearing up. After seeing the other JMS presentations full of charts and research citations, the show of emotion was somewhat embarrassing to me. But Dr. Troy said we shouldn’t be ashamed of how we were feeling. He said that he knew that we’d have a harder time displaying our results in a measurable, statistical manner, but that our lives beyond Millikin would ultimately be the record for what we learned through serving others. Nearly 20 years later, his prompts of ‘What can you do to be more…?’ still come to mind. I am thankful he reached out to be more and do more for students like me.” Q

Dr. Larry Troy, professor of sociology, had taught at Millikin since 1979. His research interests included community development, family violence and service learning. Memorials are suggested to Outreach 360 or Dr. Larry Troy Memorial Fund at Millikin University.

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Photo by Michael Rauch.

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The Business of Learning

by Celeste Huttes ’88

“Just wait until you get out in the real world.”

his cautionary note has echoed through the ears of college students from time immemorial. The eye rolls it tends to elicit, however, are particularly well deserved these days because the

“real” world has arrived at Millikin.

Thanks to Millikin’s thriving learning laboratories – experiments in

entrepreneurship – more and more students are gaining real-world experience in running a business long before they don cap and gown.

As a publishing entrepreneur himself, Dr. Randy Brooks, dean of the

college of arts and sciences/professor of English, has spent more than 30 years as an editor and publisher of haiku poetry. In the past, he would share this publishing experience by asking one or two students each semester to intern with his company, Brooks Books.

Over in the art department, his friend and colleague, Ed Walker ’85,

associate professor of art, was doing much the same thing as he published catalogs to accompany art exhibitions at Millikin.

LEFT: Gabriel Gerbaud and Arnaud Charles, both ’10, make a sale at “After 5 Years,” an event held in May 2010 to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Blue Connection, Millikin’s student-run retail art gallery.

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“I think profit should be a part of a student-run enterprise. We’ve been in the black because we’re very careful. We only publish books we believe will sell.” - Dr. Randy Brooks

The two joined forces to launch a sustainable, student-operated publishing company. And thus Bronze Man Books was born in 2006 – and continues to bring classroom theory to life today. “We thought, ‘Why don’t we bring this together and create a course and a student-run publishing business?’” says Brooks, who guides the writing and publishing side of the business, while Walker directs the graphic design. Since then, the “Art of Publishing,” a course co-taught by Brooks and Walker, has become a Millikin mainstay. Each semester, those enrolled in the course become members of the Bronze Man Books staff for that semester. Students make all managerial and operational decisions and are organized into three teams: editorial, design and marketing. Each team has a leader who serves on the company’s management team. “Students can take the class as many times as they want,” says Brooks, always eager to see familiar faces return. “We joke that if someone does really well, they don’t get to move on.” Day-to-day operations give student staffers hands-on experience in the business of publishing and the art of bringing a book to market. “They learn all of the things required to move a book from the submission process into production – and then market it,” Brooks says. “We examine the story line and the editing of words, then get into the illustrations. We critique everything. Students have to think about how the book looks and feels to the reader and create a graphic design that grabs people.” Though organized as a nonprofit, this is a real business that offers students valuable life skills, Brooks says. “Students develop professionalism and expertise in a given area – and some step into roles of leadership with positions like marketing director and lead editor,” says Brooks. The company’s current marketing director, Jackson Lewis, a senior English major, first learned about the company as a budding author. “Winter Hearts,” a collection of Lewis’ tanka poetry, was published in 2012 by Bronze Man Books. “I first saw Bronze Man Books from the author’s side. The editorial staff really helped me, and I was pleased with the experience,” says Lewis. After the positive experience he had with Bronze Man Books as a client, Lewis was inspired to enroll in the Art of Publishing class to gain more publishing experience.

As marketing director, Lewis and his team help spread the word about new books through advertising, news releases, press kits and public events. The leadership role has honed Lewis’ skills in managing time, resources and people. Through experience, he has learned the fine art of delegating and navigating issues with printers or authors. “I’ve learned great lessons in professionalism,” says Lewis. As an author himself, he has a special appreciation for the delicate nature of the relationship between publisher and writer. “Authors are very attached to their work. You have to be very careful how you handle their baby,” says Lewis. That being said, “every author you work with is different, so flexibility is key.” And so is patience. Student staffers at Bronze Man Books quickly learn that the world of publishing tends to move at a snail’s pace measured in years, rather than weeks or months. “Publishing involves a painstaking attention to detail. It’s not fast and quick, and the reality of that is always surprising to students,” says Brooks. “It’s a long-term process, and it takes a lot of collaboration and cooperation if you’re really after quality.” And to assume that a student-run business might skimp on quality would be a mistake. In fact, quality is at the core of the Bronze Man Books company mission: to publish books that integrate high-quality design and meaningful content. Their mission is illustrated in the company’s four major lines of publishing: art exhibition catalogs; chapbooks, small collections of poetry or drama by a single author; trade paperbacks; and children’s books. Last November, the publishing house released its fourth children’s book: “Am I Like My Daddy?” by Marcy Wood Blesy ’94 and illustrated by Amy Kuhl Cox ’98 (see related article). “It’s about grieving and dealing with the loss of a parent,” says Brooks. “We’re very excited about this book. It took two years to develop.” Bronze Man Books caters to first-time authors like Blesy; most have some kind of connection to Millikin as students, faculty or alumni. Bronze Man Books’ most recent author, Claudia Nichols Quigg ’75, is director of Baby TALK, columnist for the Decatur Herald & Review newspaper and an adjunct MU faculty member for early childhood education. In March, the company released a new paperback compilation of Quigg’s columns: “Let’s Talk Kids: Becoming a Family” (see related article).

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The book – the first of a series of three – targets couples who are contemplating becoming parents. With the help of student editors at Bronze Man Books, the book series incorporates Quigg’s columns on parenting with student photography to create a product designed to encourage parental reflection. The team at Bronze Man Books chooses projects carefully, always with an eye on the market. “All of our books are profitable or breakeven,” says Brooks. “I think profit should be a part of a student-run enterprise. We’ve been in the black because we’re very careful. We only publish books we believe will sell.” Their biggest seller to date is the “Millikin University Haiku Anthology,” featuring the best of a decade of poetry by Millikin students. As faculty advisers, Walker and Brooks help set goals and deadlines, while providing guidance and continuity as staff members change from semester to semester. Whenever possible, Bronze Man Books capitalizes on the Millikin network by partnering with other student-run ventures. For example, an audio version of its first children’s book, “Ants in the Bandroom,” written and illustrated by Laura Podeschi ’06, was produced in collaboration with First Step Records, Millikin’s oldest student-run business. The CD features an original score by Randall Reyman, Millikin’s director of jazz activities, and the story is read by Laura Ledford, dean of the College of Fine Arts. In addition, books published by Bronze Man Books, as well as products from other student-run businesses, are sold in Blue Connection, Millikin’s student-run art gallery. Public readings and other events are often held there, as well. “We try to support each other,” says Brooks. Bronze Man Books is just one of many opportunities students have to engage in performance learning, which has become a hallmark of a Millikin education. Millikin’s Center for Entrepreneurship, launched in 1998, is the driving force behind most Big Blue student-run businesses. It was followed by the debut of its Arts & Entrepreneurship program, an initiative that includes a series of classes and hands-on learning opportunities in student-run businesses. The journey begins with the Art of Entrepreneurship class, where students are tasked with starting their own mini-business. Students must first develop a business model and pitch their idea to “lenders” for a start-up loan

The Bronze Man Bookshelf MU’s student-run publishing company, Bronze Man Books, recently teamed up with childhood expert Claudia Nichols Quigg ’75. Their goal: to publish a paperback collection of Quigg’s newspaper articles on raising children: “Let’s Talk Kids: Becoming a Family.” Released in late March, the book is a series of reflections and anecdotes concerning the experiences parents have raising their children. Quigg is founder and executive director of Baby TALK, a national organization she formed in 1986 to positively impact child development and nurture healthy parent-child relationships in the critical early years. Quigg is also an MU adjunct faculty member.

“I approached Bronze Man Books early last year about publishing the first of a

series of books on parenting,” Quigg says. “I knew that Bronze Man would treat my work with care, and I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to give students a real-life learning experience.”

Quigg‘s column, “Let’s Talk Kids,” is published weekly in several newspapers,

including Decatur’s Herald and Review. She also is regularly featured on WUIS Illinois NPR. She is a mother of three and grandmother of six.

Quigg’s articles were edited for the book by Kendall Robison ’13, and the book’s

layout was designed by Taylor Chaney ’13, both of the Bronze Man team. It includes photographs of babies and toddlers taken by Toni Graves ’13. The children of Decatur-area families associated with Baby TALK are featured in the photographs. “Am I Like My Daddy?” is a children’s grief book written by Marcy Wood Blesy ’94 and illustrated by Amy M. Kuhl Cox ’87. It was recently published by Bronze Man Books. The book’s focus on dealing with grief years after the death of a loved one was motivated by the death of Blesy’s father when she was a young girl.

“At a family party, my dad’s older brother told

my younger sister, ‘Megan, you are so much like your dad,’” remembers Blesy. “So I wondered, why wasn’t I like my dad? I wanted to be like my dad, too.” The resulting book tells the story of Grace, a little girl. When given a school assignment to write about a special person, Gracie chooses her dad, whom she little remembers because he died when she was 5. She attempts to learn more about her father to determine if she is anything like him.

Kuhl Cox’s illustrations for the book were inspired by stained-glass windows and

watercolors hand-painted by children. Blesy and Kuhl Cox worked independently, living several states apart, not meeting until the book’s release party last fall.

Blesy, of Bridgman, Mich., has been published in local newspapers and maga-

zines, as well as in “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Devotional Stories for Mothers.” She also continues to write children’s books.

Kuhl Cox earned a master’s degree in art history from the University of Illinois.

She operates an arts and crafts business, “Magdalene,” from her home in rural South Carolina.

For more information or to purchase either book, visit www.bronzemanbooks.com. Spring 2013 | Millikin quarterly

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Photos by Speckhard Photography.

Left: Pipe Dreams Studio Theatre students discuss scripts for upcoming productions. Right: First Step Records students burn, label and package Vespers CDs for retail sale.

of up to $50. They then must sell their product – such as T-shirt designs, hair accessories, jewelry or music lessons – and pay back their lenders. “It helps students learn how to recognize opportunities and marshal the resources they need,” says William “B.J.” Warren ’07/MBA ’10, Arts and Entrepreneurship lecturer and manager of Blue Connection. “It’s becoming very clear that students are going to have to create careers for themselves. This class gives students the opportunity to explore self-employment as a viable career option.” Unlike other universities, Millikin has committed to a campus-wide emphasis on entrepreneurial education, casting its net far beyond the Tabor School of Business. The Arts & Entrepreneurship program attracts students from diverse disciplines, from music to management. This boundary-breaking approach helps teach the value of teamwork. “Some students may be brilliant illustrators, but not great writers,” says Brooks. “A multidisciplinary approach helps students appreciate what different people bring to the table.” The follow-up Art of Entrepreneurship class emphasizes business growth by placing students in one of Millikin’s several student-run businesses: Blue Satellite Press: Students create limited edition letterpress poetry broadsides by hand, using a printing process developed centuries ago. Blue Connection: Millikin students operate a retail art gallery showcasing paintings, 30

ceramics, photography, jewelry and other affordable artwork by students, faculty, alumni and friends of Millikin. First Step Records: Millikin’s student-run record label and music publishing company features traditional and contemporary music by students, faculty or alumni. Blue Box Records features music by off-campus performers. Pipe Dreams Studio Theatre: Launched as a student-run business in 2010, Pipe Dreams is a theatre company producing 21st century works by Millikin students, faculty, alumni and others. Carriage House Press: Making its debut in 2009 at the carriage house on the grounds of the historic James Millikin Homestead, Carriage House Press features Decatur’s only fine-art printing press. This student-run venture produces hand-pulled, limited edition monoprints, etchings and relief prints on a unique hand-built German etching press. All of Millikin’s student-run ventures are grounded in an academic discipline, with a profit- and mission-driven focus. Faculty serve as coaches and mentors, but students are the decision-makers. As such, they are held accountable for meeting the financial and business goals that they set. “We ask a lot of students and hold them accountable,” says Warren. “They’ll have a stronger learning experience when they act and reflect on their own decisions and mistakes.” The surprising level of responsibility is

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not always welcomed by students accustomed to a traditional classroom environment, where expectations are explicit and the path from Point A to Point B is clearly marked. “Students don’t always embrace the responsibility at first – the level of risk makes it hard for them,” says Warren. “In the case of student-run ventures, there is no right answer and they’re dealing with ambiguity – it’s uncomfortable.” In contrast to the approach used at many universities, each of Millikin’s student-run ventures is strategically built as a course. That means that “learning outcomes are assessed by a faculty mentor,” says Warren. “It adds to the education in an intentional way.” These learning laboratories embody the university’s brand of performance learning by allowing students to put theoretical concepts into practice in a real business setting or even start their careers before they leave Millikin. “Students learn the discipline by doing it. At Bronze Man Books, students are learning to be critical now – it’s not something they have to learn after graduation,” says Brooks. “They are making a book better than it was when it came to them. They’re not just performing for the teacher anymore; they’re performing for the public. The stakes are higher.” The stakes may be higher, but so is the payoff. “Millikin is all about learning by doing – and it’s been phenomenal for me,” says Jackson Lewis. “The safety net is there in case you need it, so it doesn’t feel it has quite the pressure of work, but the commitment to quality is still there.” Still, in a competitive world economy, Millikin’s student-run businesses don’t coddle budding entrepreneurs. “We put our students up against professionals in their field,” says Warren, who points to the retail space at Blue Connection as an example. There, student artwork is up against the work of national and international artists next door at the Madden Arts Center in downtown Decatur. Performance learning is even more critical considering how information and education are evolving. “The traditional model where you come to a higher institution to gain knowledge is very quickly disappearing,” Warren says. “It’s no longer good enough for us to bring on students and impart knowledge. Our emphasis has to be much more on practice.” This unique model of student ownership

has earned Millikin a reputation as a leader in entrepreneurial education. Warren fields weekly inquiries from schools across the nation interested in learning how the Millikin model works. Institutions such as Hiram College, UNC Greensboro and Santa Fe Community College have already adapted Millikin’s model for their own student ventures. In addition, the Arts & Entrepreneurship program was awarded Outstanding Specialty Entrepreneurship Program by the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship in January. In response to the growing level of interest, Millikin’s Center for Entrepreneurship has developed a two-day Entrepreneurship Across the Campus symposium featuring guest speakers and meetings with students from each of Millikin’s student-run ventures. The workshop also allows time for visiting faculty to develop their own courses and practice laboratories with guidance from Center for Entrepreneurship faculty and Entrepreneurship Fellows. The next symposium will take place on the Millikin campus during the next school year. Following a visit to campus, Dr. David Cutler, artist, author and director of music entrepreneurship at the University of South Carolina, said: “I had the opportunity to visit Millikin University … I was delighted to learn about their unique and (as far as I know) unprecedented approach to arts entrepreneurship.” It’s a sentiment that has been echoed by Fred Thompson on Inside Business, which filmed and aired a news story on Blue Connection, and John Eger of the Huffington Post who included Millikin’s Arts & Entrepreneurship Program in a listing of just four schools offering truly integrated arts degrees. With growing opportunities to get in the driver’s seat of a business, students are living James Millikin’s timeless vision to “embrace the practical side of learning along with the literary and classical.” And perhaps the most practical thing they learn is to believe in themselves. “This is not just a class but valuable job experience,” Lewis says. “I have the confidence to say in an interview, ‘I’ve done this before … I can handle this.’ I feel very well prepared.” Q

Web Extra: For more images of studentrun businesses in action, visit http://bit.ly/student-businesses.

Celeste Huttes ’88 is a freelance writer specializing in corporate communications. She studied business and philosophy at Millikin and holds a master’s degree in human resource management. Spring 2013 | Millikin quarterly

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Zooming In

The Big Blue is right at home at SLU

tep inside the office of Father Nick Smith ’83 at Saint Louis University, and you’ll feel as though you just stepped onto the campus of the Big Blue. Although many alumni display souvenirs and artifacts from their favorite university in their family room or den, Smith chose to show his pride for his alma mater in his workplace, where he is campus minister and teaches English and theology. Let’s take a look.

1 3

BOOKS: An avid reader, Smith fully understands how the cost of textbooks can deplete a college student’s already sparse budget. He recently established a book award that is given at Honors Convocation each year. The Smith/ Orlandini Scholarship offers financial support for deserving exercise science and sport students. In addition, he also regularly makes contributions of books and other materials to Staley Library on campus.

POSTERS: A sports fan, Smith enjoys displaying the current athletic posters for each of the MU teams and roots for them when they come to town. When the Big Blue baseball team played in St. Louis last year, Smith bought the team lunch, complete with blue-frosted M-shaped cookies.

MOOSE: In an attempt to recruit support for a Millikin mascot, Smith brazenly displays a stuffed moose in his office. (Actually, we just liked the moose. Smith is neutral on the issue of a Big Blue mascot.)

Fraternity PADDLEs: A loyal member of Sigma Alpha Episilon fraternity since his Millikin days, Smith is also SLU’s adviser for their SAE chapter.

PLAQUE: No surprise here. Smith was recipient of the 2011 Millikin Alumni Loyalty Award. Other recognition he has received includes SLU’s Faculty of the Year Award for teaching in the School for Professional Studies. 32

MUG OF PENS: In 2007, Smith volunteered to write personal notes to all incoming Millikin freshmen from the St. Louis area to welcome them to his alma mater. He also wrote and delivered the 2004 baccalaureate address at commencement.

FAMILY PHOTOS: Smith is an alumni legacy. His parents, William ’62 and Natalie Orlandini Smith ’60, attended Millikin, as did his uncle, Dominic Orlandini ’68. Q

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4 1

5 7

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have you seen campus lately?

19 4

29 23 5

42 36

15 35

32 33

LEGEND

17 47

Academic / Administration 1 ADM-Scovill Hall

Tabor School of Business, Center for Entrepreneurship, SCORE

2 Alumni/Development Center 3 Gorin Hall

Admission Office, Registrar

4 Griswold Physical Education Cntr 5 Leighty-Tabor Science Center 6 Dolson Hall - Office of Residence Life 7 Pilling Chapel 8 Perkinson Music Center 9 Shilling Hall 10 The Hub (Business Incubator) 11 RTUC (Richards Treat University Center)

Big Blue Bistro, Center for International Education, Center for Multicultural Student Affairs, Office of Student Programs, WJMU 89.5 FM, Wornick Dining Room

12 Staley Library 13 Wellness Center

Facilities / Operations 14 Power Plant

Athletics

Housing

16 Bartlett Tennis Courts

29 Alpha Chi Omega

17 Decatur Indoor Sports Center (DISC)

30 Alpha Tau Omega

18 Frank M. Lindsay Track & Field

31 Aston Hall

4 Griswold Physical Education Center

32 Blackburn Hall

19 Practice Fields

33 Delta Delta Delta

20 Soccer Fields

34 Dolson Hall 35 Hessler Hall

Fine & Performing Arts

36 Huss House

15 Stan Hall Maint. Bldg. - Central Receiving

21 Albert Taylor Theater 22 3D Art & Theatre Center

38 Mills Hall

3 Birks Museum - Upper Gorin Hall

39 Delta Sigma Phi

Dining

23 Kirkland Fine Arts Center

40 New Hall #3

11 Big Blue Bistro - RTUC (Lower Level)

48 Percussion House 8 Perkinson Music Center

42 Pi Beta Phi

Safety & Security - Walker Hall

11 Wornick Dining Room - RTUC (Upper Level)

Parking Guide A Faculty/Staff Parking (7:00am - 5:00pm M-F)

No parking from 4:00 - 7:00am without special permission.

F Underclass Residential (Restricted Parking) G Greek Restricted Parking (DISC Lot North half only) W Woods Residential Parking Only C Designated Commuter Parking R Residential Parking V Visitor Parking

37 Millikin East & West Apts.

41 New Hall #4

1 Café ala Carte - ADM-Scovill Hall

7 Pilling Chapel

43 Sigma Alpha Epsilon

27 Domino’s, Subway, University Dogs

24 Pipe Dreams Studio Theater

44 Tau Kappa Epsilon

9 Einstein Bros Bagels - Shilling Hall (North Entrance)

25 The Old Gym

45 Walker Hall

28 Jimmy John’s

26 The SPEC

46 Weck Hall 47 The Woods at Millikin Apts

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Alumni Profile

A Grand Career

by Margaret Allen Friend

Photo Alida Duff Sullivan ’06.

ertain her future was in piano performance, Susan Wrincik Lutz ’86 enrolled at Millikin. “All I ever wanted to do was play,” the Sherman, Ill., resident recalls. “I knew I wasn’t cut out to be a school teacher, so I majored in performance. Aldo Mancinelli was my piano teacher.” However, when she met fellow Springfield, Ill., resident Jude Ludwig Malzone ’76 in a music class, Lutz found a friend who inadvertently opened the door to a new career. “When Jude decided not to return to teaching piano after her baby was born, I wound up spending part of my senior year teaching her students at her husband’s music store – Byerly Music in Springfield,” Lutz says. When Lutz first started teaching at Byerly, a customer told store owner Gerry Malzone, “You ought to put her on the sales floor.” Malzone did just that, and with no formal sales training and not a single business or marketing class on her resume, Lutz turned her passion for music and pianos into a successful sales career. Now working as director of institutional sales for Steinway Piano Gallery, Lutz’s territory covers most of Illinois and half of Missouri. Last April, that territory was expanded to include Millikin. “I’m so happy and excited to be able to take care of my alma mater,” she says. “It’s wonderful to come back to campus and work with [School of Music Director] Steve Widenhofer, [adjunct piano instructor] Judy Mancinelli and others I know so well.” On the road most weekdays, she sets her own visit schedule for the 65 public and private schools in her territory. “I think of myself as an advocate for music programs,” Lutz says. “I’ve discovered that most music departments are so busy that they just don’t have time to take on a huge project like buying 50 pianos. They don’t know where to start.”

That’s where Lutz comes in. After meeting with music professors and instructors to discuss a department’s needs, she likes to meet with the school’s president or chancellor and develop a plan to help the school buy the necessary equipment. If the institution in question seeks to become an All-Steinway School, which Millikin has been since 1999, at least 90 percent of the institution’s piano inventory must be Steinways or Steinway products. For her exemplary sales skills as a one-person department, Lutz earned a special designation from Steinway & Sons in December 2010 – the Partners in Performance Award. Given each year to only one institutional sales department in the country, the award recognizes outstanding performance in areas such as product knowledge and customer service. In addition to her busy career and

family life, Lutz enjoys serving as director of music at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Sherman. “As a piano performance major, I also took organ and choral conducting so I could work in churches to supplement my income,” Lutz says. “Now that I’m a church musician, it’s amazing how I’ve had to draw on all of that learning so many years later. Steve Widenhofer was my organ teacher, and if you ask him, he’ll tell you that he thought I’d never learn to use my feet on the organ pedals!” Q Margaret Allen Friend, associate editor of Millikin Quarterly magazine, dreams of owning a Steinway someday. She has contributed to Quarterly since 2004 and joined the alumni and development team in 2010 as class notes editor for the magazine.

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Alumni Profile

boundless work

by Deb Hale Kirchner

Photo courtesy of Fermilab.

hortly before her untimely death from cancer at age 39, the late Dr. Joanna Ploeger ’89 (at left) of Berkeley, Calif., was focused on two major life events. A professor of rhetoric and communication at California State University (Stanislaus), Ploeger was pregnant with her first child and also wrapping up the final touches on her first book. Her son, Thomas, was born June 8, 2006, and sadly, Ploeger died a month later, leaving behind her baby boy and the book she had worked on for more than seven years. Her book’s focus was the study of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Ill., known as Fermilab for short (at right). Ploeger’s manuscript, “The Boundaries of the New Frontier: Rhetoric and Communication at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory,” specifically assessed the communication practices within the high-energy physics lab and how they might impact the scientific outcomes of the institution. Reflective of her expertise in the field of communications, the book is written in an engaging style that invites comparisons to a good novel on the bestseller list. In all likelihood, her book would have remained unpublished if not for her former colleagues at the University of Iowa, where she had worked for seven years prior to accepting the tenure-track position at CSU. David Depew, professor emeritus and Ploeger’s colleague at the University of Iowa, led the efforts to complete the book as a lasting legacy to his late friend, completing the bibliography and footnotes – all that remained to finish the book. Published in 2009, the book was praised by Catherine Westfall of Project MUSE, a humanities and social science journal, as a “a must-read for all those interested in exploring a new view of the

social and political interplay that drives the development of expensive government-funded science and technology.” “Above all, the book is offered in the name of Joanna’s students,” said Depew in the book’s foreword. “Undergraduates and graduate students alike appreciated the clarity and vigor of her teaching style as well as her fierce support of their individual aspirations.” “When David called to tell me what they were going to do, I was elated,” says Ploeger’s mother, Betty Farley Ploeger, a 1951 Millikin graduate. “I felt this was the greatest tribute they could have given her.” According to Betty, Joanna had traveled extensively to other national physics labs to conduct research in the process of writing the book, all while teaching full time. Betty was very disheartened when it appeared that her daughter’s hard work would result in an unfinished manuscript

and never see publication. “Joanna didn’t want to talk about the book when she was in the hospital toward the end,” Betty says. “It was so close to being done, and she was too ill to finish it.” Instead, the two talked about her students and how proud Joanna was of the work they were doing. “Four of her students actually worked with the faculty to help finish the book,” Betty says. A communications major at Millikin, Joanna was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority and received the outstanding communication student award before graduating. After graduation, she completed her master’s degree at Illinois State University and her doctorate at University of Georgia. Q Deb Hale Kirchner is senior director of communications for the alumni and development office and editor of Millikin Quarterly magazine.

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Class Notes

The Legacy Continues: December 2012 Commencement

1 Peter Skeffington with mother Susan Bennyhoff Skeffington ’75.

2 Cara Hails with sister Dana Hails Dry ’90.

3 Thomas Rutherford III with (from left) brother-in-

law Sean Smith ’03, sister Sarah Rutherford-Smith ’04 and mother Theresa Alderman Rutherford ’90. 4 Andrew Nail with sister Kim Nail Shank ’09 and mother Cindy Nobbe Nail ’81.

5 Ashley Major with aunt Lorraine Major ’06.

6 Steve Sumpter (second from left) with brother Jon Sumpter ’11, sister Jen Sumpter Rimar ’04 and

brother Dan Sumpter ’09. Photos 1-5 by GradImages. Photo 6 submitted by Steve Sumpter.

Into reality > Practical Advice for Young Professionals Academically, you are well qualified to face the world following your Millikin education, but you may need advice on the skills necessary for thriving in the workplace, including social and business etiquette. This new column is your professional guide to topics you might not consider until you really need to know them.

DRESS TO IMPRESS.

Ten seconds. That’s how much time you have to make a lasting first impression. People will judge you on appearance first, then on personality and performance. In some workplaces, the dress code is obvious and may even be outlined in the employee handbook. However, in most companies, the norm is a professional or “business casual” look. In those situations, dress according to what you see around you, while paying special attention to individuals who hold positions similar to yours. To further ensure a positive impression: Women: • Skirts should be knee length or longer. • Sandals or extremely high heels should be avoided. • Jewelry should be coordinated carefully with your clothes. Keep proportion in mind. • Green, purple, blue and other vibrant nail polish colors are unprofessional.

Men: • Match sock color to your pants, not your shoes. Socks should not show unless sitting and should cover the calf. • The bottom of your tie should hit your belt line. Belt and shoes should match. • Avoid wearing your suit jacket in the car to reduce wrinkles. Your jacket should cover your rear and its sleeves should end at the wrist. Button your jacket when standing.

Both: • Pants should rest on the top of the shoes in front and extend about one-half inch down the shoe in the back. • Hair should be clean, neatly combed and styled. • Clothing should be clean and wrinkle-free. • If clothes don’t fit, get them altered. Don’t have a seamstress? A dry cleaner does alterations at a decent price.

Remember, clothing doesn’t just protect you, it projects you. May you achieve the success you deserve! By Jaclyn Weisenborn ’09, associate director of alumni engagement Source: "Backpack to Briefcase: Steps to a Successful Career," by Terry Arndt and Kirrin Coleman, third edition.

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Class Notes

PASSINGS Continued from page 45 Marilyn O’Brien Curtis ’52 of Avon, Conn., Oct. 11.

John Magnuson ’55 of Delhi, N.Y., Nov. 16.

Thomas Entler ’52 of San Antonio, Texas, formerly of Decatur, Oct. 9.

Janet Garver Gneckow Thompson ’56 of Santa Maria, Calif., Jan. 12.

James Hansen ’52 of Mount Pleasant, S.C., Dec. 11.

Donna Howell Helms ’57 of Timberlake, N.C., July 14.

Helen Stocker Hoppock ’52 of Jackson, Miss., Oct. 19.

Thomas Naughton ’57 of Austin, Texas, formerly of Decatur, Dec. 13.

Marian Burd Michel ’52 of Dallas, formerly of Anna, Ill., Jan. 22. Emma Adams Adrian ’53 of Decatur, Nov. 2. *** John Heiss III ’53 of Indialantic, Fla., Jan. 4. Theodore Lauer ’53 of Laramie, Wyo., Oct. 8.

David Williams ’57 of Kalamazoo, Mich., formerly of Decatur and Rochester, N.Y., Jan. 10. Pattiann Fulks Wright ’57 of Ogden, Iowa, Dec. 24. Frank Daniels ’59 of Decatur, Jan. 28.

Marilyn Palmer Foster ’54 of Tuscola, Ill., Jan. 18.

Don Johnson ’59 of St. Louis, formerly of Pinckneyville, Ill., Sept. 27.*

Donald Sesslar ’54 of Rockford, Ill., Dec. 9.

Richard Brown ’60 of Celina, Ohio, Sept. 26.

Shirlee Opal Tallman Van Tuyl ’54 of Orange, Calif., June 23.

Robert Clarke ’60 of Sister Bay, Wis., Jan. 18.

Robert Hopper ’61 of Bolingbrook, Ill., formerly of Decatur, Oct. 15. Nancy Nottelmann Koger ’61 of Rochester Hills, Mich., July 3. Norman Trolia ’61 of Tower Hill, Ill., formerly of Rogers, Ark., Oct. 12. Carolyn Huffer Grasch ’62 of Decatur, Oct. 7. Donald Latshaw ’63 of Findlay, Ill., Nov. 10.

Virginia Massey ’70 of Decatur, Jan. 5. Richard Bell ’71 of Cazenovia, Wis., Oct. 6. Ruth Lichtenberger Coate ’74 of Decatur, Sept. 30. Valerie “Val” Harding Kowalski ’74 of Roanoke, Va., Jan. 6. Thomas Propst ’74 of Mt. Zion, Ill., Oct. 15.

Maria “Betty” Bianchi Cole Grohne ’64 of Decatur, Dec. 2.

Julie Morthland Meredith ’80 of Austin, Texas, formerly of Decatur, Jan. 6.

Bruce Kowalski ’65 of Hesperus, Colo., Dec. 1.

Edward Ludwig ’86 of Yorktown, Va., Jan. 18.

Hunter Kickle ’66 of Mt. Zion, Ill., Nov. 8.

Cathy Ashby ’89 of Decatur, Ill., Dec. 11.

Aileen Bock Anthony ’67 of Roswell, Ga., formerly of Lincoln, Ill., Oct. 11.

Joshua Edwards ’96 of Chicago, Jan. 3.

Daniel Connor ’68 of Argenta, Ill., Jan. 3.

Kent Fitzjarrald MBA ’06 of Decatur, Oct. 31. + James Clark ’09 of Tower Hill, Ill., Nov. 26.

* The family requests memorial gifts be made to Millikin University, Office of Alumni and Development, 1184 W. Main Street, Decatur, IL 62522. *** The family requests memorial gifts to the MU School of Nursing, c/o Office of Alumni and Development, 1184 W. Main Street, Decatur, IL 62522. + The family requests memorial gifts to MU Tabor School of Business, c/o Office of Alumni and Development, 1184 W. Main Street, Decatur, IL 62522.

BE A MENTOR TO A MILLIKIN STUDENT Advise and support a student's professional development. Mentors can help in one or more ways: • • • • •

offer advice and information about grad school suggest leads for internship and jobs conduct practice interviews critique resumes give students an opportunity to job shadow

Join today Register your profile on our site to get started! For complete instructions, visit www.millikin.edu/alumni/getinvolved Have questions? Call Jaclyn Weisenborn ’09, associate director of alumni engagement, at 1-877-JMU-ALUM (568-2586).

big blue planet Continued from page 23 In fact, global learning speaks directly to Millikin’s three-pronged mission, which aims to prepare students for professional success; a personal life of meaning and value; and democratic citizenship in a global environment. “Our students are going to work in a global environment, far more than any previous generation has,” says Dunsworth. “For them to understand the role of democracy – and the freedoms we have as a nation – they need to understand the world around them.” One of the true powers of an international education lies in its ability to unmask assumptions masquerading as knowledge – to transform tolerance into understanding and perhaps move fear into friendship, he feels. And when that happens, the ripple effects could be beyond measure. Q Celeste Huttes ’88 is a freelance writer specializing in corporate communications. She studied business and philosophy at Millikin and holds a master’s degree in human resource management.

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My Turn

Occupy Chicago

Continued from page 48

vicious nor revolutionary, they laughed. Od Rachkem, surely an Occupier name, was the group’s spokesperson. “There are many kinds of anarchists,” he instructed me. “The word ‘anarchy’ comes from the Greek meaning, ‘not having a leader or ruler.’ We don’t believe in hierarchies. We don’t follow others. We are apolitical. No one is better than anyone else, and every person has to develop his or her own philosophy of life.” Od was a handsome, exceptionally articulate, college-educated young man. So what was his philosophy of life? He said he was a “primitivist” and an “anti-civ” (as in “civilization”) devotee. His mission at Occupy Chicago was to persuade individuals to return to their roots as gatherers and hunters, at least metaphorically. Primitivists acquire just enough each day to satisfy their needs and the needs of members of their community. No one keeps leftovers for themselves. “Od,” I offered, “that sounds like you are advocating socialism or communism to me!” “Not at all,” he argued. “Economic systems are artificial constructs and depend on hierarchical agencies to enforce their policies. We are anarchists. Our task is to inform society that each and every person has the right to basic survival needs, including health care, and then to voluntarily share whatever we have with those who don’t … then utopia would become a possibility.” Just before I exited the anarchist group, we were joined by a young man named Lindsay, who looked like a choir boy from a local church. Lindsay described himself as a “Jesus anarchist.” He suggested that Jesus was one of the original anarchists, interpreting the Palm Sunday parade into Jerusalem as a protest march and Jesus’ cleansing of the temple as the original Occupy the City event. “Jesus did not,” he continued, “intend to start a religion. Instead, he asked each person to seek the economic well-being of everyone else. ‘If you have two coats, give one away.’” Lindsay then proceeded to make

it clear that you didn’t need to be religious nor believe in God to do those things. About this time, a voice from the stage alerted us that the March Against NATO would begin shortly. Almost everyone left Grant Park for the two-hour trek to McCormick Place. They were encircled by hundreds of helmeted police. Dozens of large, colorful banners trumpeted causes as diverse as “Freedom for Puerto Rico” to “Same-Sex Couples have the Right to Marry.” The Yasser Arafat lookalike spotted me and insisted I accompany him to the front of the parade so a picture could be taken of us with a green-and-white Palestinian flag. “Help us make Palestine our own independent country,” he implored. I briefly walked behind the flag carried by him and another man; both marched with pride and enthusiasm. The March Against NATO had one focus: Stop the war in Afghanistan now! Over and over, I heard the mantra that the sole purpose of the NATO organization was to gain control by war. I walked a short distance with the marchers before making my egress, feeling I had completed my mission for the day. However, while walking my bike back to Grant Park, I was just in time to witness a final, ominous sight. A group of Black Bloc anarchists had gathered to join the march. Dressed totally in black, they had either painted their faces or wore masks to conceal their identities. They walked behind a banner filled with expletives defining their four principles. The first warned, “No one dares to mess with us!” The second was, “We obey no orders.” As I recall, the other two told of their endorsement of violence. Two of them gave me copies of their newspaper recommending the violent overthrow of capitalism in America. I learned later that the police made 35 arrests during the march. I felt pretty sure that most, if not all, involved the Black Bloc members. A strong wind off the lake was at my back as I cycled the six miles north to my car and reflected on the events of the day. The Grant Park occupiers with whom I

shared ideas were far different from what my prejudices had expected. Almost all were intelligent, bright, articulate, polite, passionate and appropriately opinionated, and yet they tolerated contrary opinions without fuss. But a lingering vexatious feeling persisted. On the one hand, I wondered if they were simply wasting everyone’s time. Were they not merely naïve idealists out of touch with the ways things really are? On the other hand, in many ways I found them remarkably similar to some of my Millikin philosophy students – individuals who were willing to define themselves and their values with integrity, regardless of how unconventional others might perceive them. Back in 1970, I began my teaching career at Millikin. During the first semester, I taught a seminar on philosopher Alfred North Whitehead. We studied his book, “The Adventure of Ideas,” in which the author maintained that some ideas are “Eternal Ideals” which ultimately shall prevail and shape our world: truth, beauty, freedom, peace and adventure. Our role, Whitehead wrote, is not to create them, but to announce them and to pursue them in our own lives. Eventually, he said, they shall triumph. This is precisely what the Occupiers I met were saying and why they came to Chicago: sharing on the basis of needing and caring; promoting peace instead of war; eliminating oppressive hierarchies and hegemony by privilege; affirming the inherent sacred worth of each individual; placing the sustainability of the earth above the desire for profit. These Eternal Ideals are ones that most of us would share and hope will inevitably succeed, whether we are Occupiers, anarchists or something altogether different. Q Dr. Arvid Adell, professor emeritus of philosophy, taught full-time at Millikin from 1970-2001 and continues to teach ethics for Millikin’s MBA program. Adell, who also holds a degree in divinity, has performed the marriage ceremonies of more than 200 Millikin alumni.

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My Turn

Biking in to Occupy Chicago

Photo submitted by Adell.

by Dr. Arvid Adell, professor emeritus of philosophy

Above: Dr. Adell (right), in his biking gear, rode into the Occupy Chicago event held May 12 in Grant Park.

he day began bright and beautiful, although the expected high was 90 degrees. I threw my mountain bike into the cargo area of my Honda CRV and headed into Chicago on May 12, 2012. The big attraction was the Occupy Chicago bandstand speeches being given all morning in Grant Park, followed by an afternoon March Against NATO. I had some previous acquaintance with Occupy movements. Last year, my wife, Karen, and I had briefly driven by the tent city Occupy Wall Street in New York City. However, my intentions this Sunday were entirely different. I wanted my encounters to be close and up front. I wanted to feel the passion of these protesters. The philosopher Soren Kierkegaard wrote that “reading Hegel is like reading to a starving man from a cook book.” Enough virtual reality – I wanted to be there. Of course, getting to downtown Chicago was a challenge. No parking, numerous road blocks and hundreds of police, to say nothing of thousands of antinomian street walkers making for difficult travel. But I avoided those headaches by parking my car on the shores of Lake Michigan and riding six miles along the famed Lake

Shore bike path. When I arrived at the east end entrance to Grant Park, I hesitated. The media had reported that on the previous day three protesters had been arrested for terrorism activities, and a number of Occupiers had been arrested for skirmishes with police. Plus, surveying the crowd, I didn’t spot any other 76-year-old, grayhaired men wearing biking gear. I became apprehensive. I asked a few police officers if they thought it would be all right if I tried to interview some Occupiers. They smiled sardonically and replied, “We don’t care, but it ain’t gonna work!” I decided to identify myself and my intentions before attempting interviews. I introduced myself as a mostly retired philosophy professor from Millikin University in Decatur, Ill. My agenda was to talk with them about their reasons for making the trek to Chicago at considerable expense and discomfort. Only a few churches and local residents offered lodging, so the majority of protesters spent their nights outdoors, attempting to sleep on park benches, grassy knolls and other locations. Food was on their own, and for most of them, bathing was an unavailable luxury.

The first activist I met was a pleasant, non-threatening woman who called herself Occupied Kate from Cincinnati. She was an advertising journalist and had an ex-husband and a son who was studying to become a photographic journalist. She lived a comfortable lifestyle. Her mission was to protest against the proposed TransCanadian-Keystone XL Pipeline which she claimed would increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by more than 550,000 to 4,000,000 auto emissions. This excess would increase global warming to an unsustainable limit and usher in an apocalyptic event, she said, stepping away to blast her warning over the Grant Park stage microphone. I thanked her and moved on. Next at the microphone was a man who was a dead ringer for former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. He was vilifying NATO, the United Nations, the U.S. and Zionist Israel for shameful wars against Palestine, Iran, Syria, and Libya, all in the name of imperial capitalism. My take was that very few protesters were listening. I exchanged greetings with him as he hurried away. My next conversation was with Wes. He was a mild-appearing individual, 40-ish, looking a bit bewildered at the hyperactivity around him. Until a few weeks earlier, he had held a good job as a mechanical engineer for a local company, but he had been fired in a cost-saving move. What irked him was that the company was ostensibly quite profitable, and no one at the top of the pay scale lost their jobs nor were they willing to take a salary reduction so he could keep his. He felt abused and fearful of his financial future. After expressing my concern for him, I decided it was time to take some risks. I infiltrated a group dressed in black clothes and wearing red bandanas, the colors of the anarchists, confessing my hesitancy about approaching their group. But when I told them that they didn’t look particularly Continued on page 47

Millikin quarterly | Spring 2013

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view from here: Alpha Chi Omega House

entennial bound: The Millikin chapter of Alpha Chi Omega will celebrate 100 years of sisterhood this Oct. 5 during homecoming and AXO alumni are invited to join the fun. Founded in 1913, the AXO Upsilon chapter was not based on campus until 1927 when members moved into their first house on West William Street. The chapter moved to its current property in 1964, the lyre-adorned house facing Fairview Park on the west side of Millikin’s campus. Three uniquely shaped rooms in the house, shaped like a “c,” “h,” and an “i” respectively, spell out “Chi.” On the wall beside the main staircase of the house hangs a picture of Ina Wornick Mills, MU class of 1909. Mills was a founder of Phi

Pi, a local organization that later became Alpha Chi Omega. In 1972, as a retiree living in Florida, Mills made a donation of $1.5 million to Millikin, which at the time was the largest gift in university history. Millikin’s Alpha Chi members continue Mills’ tradition of giving back through their dedication to service, specifically to promote “educational and prevention efforts to eliminate domestic violence,” the sorority’s national philanthropy. “We are very proud of the work that we do with the local Dove shelter for domestic violence victims here in town,” says Megan Rogers ’14, chapter president. The chapter has raised thousands of dollars for the shelter through the years with fundraisers such as Alpha Chis and Pies, which is hosted annually at the AXO

by Jackson Lewis ’13

house. They also regularly volunteer at the Dove shelter, playing with the children, socializing with the women and aiding in the day-to-day upkeep of the facility. For more details about the centennial celebration, email Elia Pepps ’14 at epepps@millikin.edu or Emilie VanHook Beagle ’05 at ebeagle-alum@millikin.edu and watch for details to be posted at www. millikin.edu/homecoming this summer. Q Jackson Lewis ’13 is a senior English major and writing intern for the alumni and development office. He has held a variety of positions in the Millikin chapter of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity, including pledge educator, secretary and president. Last summer, Lewis interned as a copy editor for SAE’s national magazine, The Record.

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Periodicals Postage Paid at Decatur, Illinois

Office of Alumni and Development 1184 West Main Street Decatur, Illinois 62522-2084 www.millikin.edu/alumni

Then & Now

How much can change in 100 years?

Millikinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s commencement ceremonies may have changed a little or a lot since 1913, as the stats below show, but the basics still hold true: Excited and possibly nervous graduates, proud families and a ceremony that always runs a little too long. Number of Graduates 1913: 32 2013: 411 (approx.) Total Enrollment 1913: 336 2013: 2,347 Number of Faculty Members 1913: 30 2013: 154 (full-time) Student to Faculty Ratio 1913: 11:1 2013: 11.4:1 Graduation Fee 1913: $0 2013: $75 Senior-Only Celebrations Include 1913: Senior Bonfire 2013: Senior Night at Lock Stock & Barrel Among the footwear at the ceremony 1913: Button or lace-up boots 2013: Potentially flip-flops Commencement Location 1913: Athletic Field 2013: Decatur Civic Center Cost of a camera to photograph the ceremony 1913: $1 (Kodak Brownie) 2013: $199 (Apple iPhone 5) Above: The clothing worn underneath may have changed dramatically through the years, but the caps and gowns worn by the 1913 graduates are mirror images of those worn by todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grads. Left: An illustration from the 1913 Millidek yearbook also expresses an ageless sentiment.

Have an idea for then & Now? Send an email to millikinquarterly@millikin.edu. spring2013_cover.indd 2

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