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Kevin Turner was named principal at Neil Armstrong Elementary School in Bettendorf, Iowa. “He brings leadership experience in supporting the whole child academically, as well as supporting the social, emotional and behavioral health needs of students,” said the district’s superintendent, Michelle Morse.

Zach Gillengarten of Wadsworth, Ill., recently became an executive board representative for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150.

Rebecca Isaacs of Jersey City, N.J., began a new role spearheading tech coverage at Forbes as its consumer tech and electronics editor.

David ’12 and Mackinsey Marquith Milroy live in Monmouth and are fourth grade teachers in the area. Mackinsey will be starting her third year in the Abingdon school district, while David teaches in the United district and coaches the Red Storm’s varsity football team.

Michael Massamba of Ohio, Ill., is the founder and CEO of Better Families Community Care, a non-profit organization in Ohio; the owner and operator of The Too Good to Pass Resale Store in Walnut, Ill.; and a grants writer for the Salvation Army, where his work has helped raise more than $1 million. Massamba credits Monmouth psychology professor Joan Wertz for playing a major role in his professional development. “She pushed me harder than any other professor,” he said. “She taught me how to push myself until I no longer can.”

Emily Siefken of Columbia, Mo., recently accepted the position of director of volleyball operations at the University of Missouri.

Classmates and Fighting Scot teammates Matt Barnes and Tanner Matlick have both landed Illinois high school football head coaching positions. Barnes, who graduated from Ridgeview High School and lives in Lexington, will coach the Ridgeview-Lexington co-op. He also holds a position in finance with State Farm. Matlick, who quarterbacked Mercer County High School to a state championship in 2012 before his successful gridiron career with the Scots, will lead the Aledo, Ill., school, known as the Golden Eagles.

Emma Vanderpool, who teaches at the Springfield (Mass.) Honors Academy, received the 2021 Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Classics from the Classical Association of Massachusetts.

Darice Brooks received the Outstanding Student Paper Award in Motor Development for the 2023 conference of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity.

Will Carius has continued his basketball career beyond Monmouth and Western Illinois University, signing his first professional deal with the Nunawading Spectres in Australia. The Melbourne-based team plays in the NBL1, a semi-professional basketball league.

Hadley Smithhisler graduated summa cum laude from Indiana University Maurer School of Law and will start a clerkship with the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana in August.

While

The Rev. John Huxtable once nearly left Monmouth College without completing his degree.

Now, the College’s new chaplain says “it’s a dream come true” to be back.

A 2004 Monmouth graduate who served the First Christian Church in Virden, Ill., for 18 years, Huxtable returned to his alma mater in January. Not counting the recent one-year stint of interim chaplain the Rev. Brandon Ouellette ’14, Huxtable is the first Monmouth alum to have the full-time chaplain role since the late Paul McClanahan, who retired in 1979.

One of the chaplains who preceded Huxtable was the Rev. Kathleen Fannin. She made a profound impact on the non-traditional college student, who waited six years before pursuing higher education. During that gap, he served in the Navy and held a variety of odd jobs.

“She’s one of the most important people in my life,” said Huxtable. “Her campus ministry was my inspiration for looking into campus ministry. Her theological construct gave me the foundation to develop my own construct. Her theological understanding of God helped me to understand God in this amazing new light.”

When Huxtable enrolled at Monmouth in fall 1999 — where his new bride, Amanda, was employed at Hewes Library

— understanding God was not his highest academic priority. Rather, he said, “I wanted to be the next voice of the Green Bay Packers. I would’ve settled for the Cubs or the Blackhawks.”

Soon, Huxtable found himself lagging behind in his classes.

“I almost failed out of Monmouth,” he said. “(Faculty member) Carolyn Suda called me at home. She told me, ‘Don’t miss any more classes.’ She and (faculty colleague) Colleen Hazen (who was also the wife of a local Presbyterian minister at the time, the Rev. Jerry Hazen) took hours of their time to bring me along academically. By the time I was a senior, I won an award as the outstanding student in the religious studies department.”

Huxtable said their contributions to his success story were vital.

“They could’ve easily let me go,” he said. “I was OK with that, but because they weren’t, my life changed. It was that personal touch that you get at Monmouth. Now, I can look at students who might be having trouble, and I can honestly say, ‘I’ve been where you’re at. Let’s work through this together.’”

Huxtable went on to earn a master of divinity degree at the Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis and a doctor of ministry degree in 2021. In 2022, he received Virden’s Citizen of the Year award.