VOL 32 | NO 4 | WINTER 2018
MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE
MAKING MUSIC
LON HELTON ’72 AND SHANIAH PAIGE ’20 Two of Monmouth’s growing group of music industry insiders
EDITOR’S NOTE
Music Appreciation 101 F
The editor (left), attempting to interview master interviewer Lon Helton ’72.
rom my earliest days, Monmouth College has instilled in me an appreciation for music. Or rather, it has made me appreciate the talent of others, compared to my own miserable lack of musical ability. I remember, particularly, an evening in 1970 when the old Monmouth College gymnasium was packed for a performance by select area high school band musicians, directed by the legendary Meredith Willson, composer of The Music Man and The Unsinkable Molly Brown. At the time, I played—or pretended to play—the trombone in the junior high band, and I was thrilled at the prospect of one day performing Sousa tunes, directed by a man who was part of Sousa’s band. That dream fell flat and I abandoned the trombone after eighth grade. Growing up a block from the College, I would often play with friends on the grounds of campus, and one day we came across a cache of old 45 records that had been discarded by WFS, the campus radio station. While my friends enjoyed flinging them like Frisbees, I took them home and played them on the stereo. The tunes were obscure, but it was my first introduction to the soul music of the late ’60s, and I thought how wonderful it would be to be a DJ and discover new artists, then share them with the world. Alas, several of my friends went into college radio, but I didn’t have the voice or the patter, so I gravitated instead to the college newspaper. Over the years, my musical tastes expanded, thanks to Monmouth College. A concert in the gymnasium by The Association was my first taste of live pop music by a major band. A later concert in the same venue by the Boyzz from Illinois was my introduction to ear-splitting rock and roll. Experiencing Godspell in the Little Theatre got me excited about live musical theater. Gracie Peterson’s concerts in the Auditorium gave me an appreciation for Gershwin. Fast forward to August 1, 1981. I was flipping through the cable channels that night in my apartment (on the current site of the Center for Science and Business) and came across a program that was totally new and foreign. There were people called “veejays” and they were playing videos of Top 40 songs. I remember distinctly thinking this was one of the strangest programming ideas I had ever encountered and couldn’t imagine how such a format could possibly succeed. Little did I know that 1969 Monmouth College graduate Dwight Tierney, along with some partners, had dreamed up what would become the biggest musical phenomenon of the 1980s—MTV. Not only was my musical talent miserable, but so was my acumen for success in the music industry. In preparing this “music” edition of Monmouth College Magazine, I was persuaded to conduct a live radio interview with rising young country artist Shaniah Paige ’20 and revered country radio veteran Lon Helton ’72, who was on campus at Homecoming to be inducted into the Hall of Achievement. Suddenly, I found myself at an unfamiliar radio console, “interviewing” Helton, who is considered by many the king of music radio interviewers. I was tongue-tied and abashed to be in the presence of these two music industry talents, so I decided to sit back and let them do most of the talking. Watching Shaniah expertly strum her acoustic guitar and savoring the dulcet tones of Helton’s voice once again left me feeling awed and somewhat inadequate. But that’s okay. If you can’t be a performer you can always revel in the performance. I’ll never play the piano, but at least I’m comfortable at this keyboard.
—jeff rankin
VOL. 32 | NO. 4
MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE
WINTER 2018
12 MONMOUTH MAKES MUSIC Performing, producing and promoting,
Scots have active roles in music industry.
20 TUNESMITH FOR TEMPERANCE Prolific composer J.B. Herbert provided the
soundtrack for the Temperance generation.
22 CHAMPIONING THE CLASSICS Although retiring from the classroom,
Sienkewicz continues his classic career.
24 TURKEY AND ALL THE TRIMMINGS From the parade to the Knox game,
Scots got their fill of Homecoming tradition. EDITOR AND DESIGNER Jeffrey D. Rankin ASSOCIATE EDITOR Barry J. McNamara PHOTOGRAPHY George Hartmann Kent Kriegshauser CONTACT US Magazine Editor 309-457-2314 jrankin@monmouthcollege.edu
campus news 3 academics 8 newsmakers 10 people 11 sports 30 alumni news 37 the last word 48 Monmouth College Magazine is published quarterly for alumni, students, parents and friends of Monmouth College. All opinions expressed in signed articles are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial staff or the College. We welcome letters about the College or the magazine. Letters will be printed on a space-available basis and may be edited for length, style and clarity. Send letters, queries or submissions to: Monmouth College Magazine, 700 East Broadway, Monmouth IL 61462-1998, or email jrankin@monmouthcollege.edu. Change of Address?
Monmouth College Magazine is printed on Cascades Rolland Enviro 100 paper, made with 100 percent post-consumer fiber.
Write: Development & College Relations, Monmouth College 700 East Broadway, Monmouth, IL 61462-1998 Phone: 888-827-8268 Web: monmouthcollege.edu/update
PRESIDENT Clarence R. Wyatt BOARD OF TRUSTEES Mark Kopinski ’79, Chairman Dr. Ralph Velazquez Jr. ’79, Vice Chairman Douglas R. Carlson ’66 Daniel Cotter ’88 Robert Dahl Rod Davies ’74 Nancy Speer Engquist ’74 Christine Beiermann Farr ’90 Larry Gerdes William J. Goldsborough ’65 Kevin Goodwin ’80 Augustin Hart III ’68 Mahendran Jawaharlal ’86 F. Austin Jones The Rev. Robert C. McConnell ’72 Michael B. McCulley, Esq. ’70 J. Alex McGehee ’81 Gary Melvin Bradley C. Nahrstadt ’89 Gail Simpson Owen ’74 J. Hunter Peacock J. Stanley Pepper ’76 Anthony J. Perzigian ’66 Dennis M. Plummer ’73 Anita Ridge ’88 Susan Romaine The Hon. John J. Scotillo ’72 Dr. Carlos F. Smith ’90 Sherman Smith ’72 Nancy L. Snowden Mark E. Taylor ’78 Dwight Tierney ’69 George E. Trotter III Beth Bowdoin Tyre ’96 Jean Peters Witty ’88 Richard E. Yahnke ’66 Jackie Bell Zachmeyer ’89 ALUMNI BOARD REPRESENTATIVES TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES Mary Alexander Corrigan ’82 Craig Dahlquist ’78 Jerri Picha ’75 ALUMNI BOARD EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Mary Corrigan ’82, President Andrew Kerr ’73, Vice President Michelle Moy ’89, Secretary Hilary Stott ’07, Member at Large EDITORIAL BOARD Duane Bonifer Executive Director of Communications and Marketing Trent Gilbert Vice President for Enrollment and Communications Hannah Maher Director of Development and Alumni Engagement Jeffrey D. Rankin College Editor and Historian Barry J. McNamara Associate Director of College Communications NOTICE OF NONDISCRIMINATION
Monmouth College does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, national origin, ancestry, disability, age, military service, marital status, sexual orientation, pregnancy or other factors as prohibited by law. Monmouth College admits students of any race, religion, color, sex, national or ethnic origin to all rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to Monmouth students. Monmouth College, an Equal Opportunity Employer, is committed to diversity and encourages applications from women and minority candidates. Any inquiries regarding Title IX or the College’s Policy Prohibiting Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation (www.monmouthcollege.edu/nondiscrimination-policy) should be directed to the Title IX Coordinator identified below. The Coordinator will be available to meet with or talk to students, staff and faculty regarding issues relating to Title IX and this policy. Stephanie Kinkaid Title IX Coordinator Room 21, Poling Hall (lower level) (309) 457-2272 skinkaid@monmouthcollege.edu
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE MUSIC BLESSES US, BINDS US
M
onmouth Making Music. The phrase itself sings. This issue of Monmouth College Magazine features many of the students, faculty, staff and alumni who have distinguished themselves in the many fields of music. Music is a prominent part of life at Monmouth College. From our pipe and drum band, to the marching band, to our other excellent instrumental ensembles and soloists, to our inspiring vocal groups, music is indeed a part of the language of the College. Lobie and I love music across many genres, and we have tremendous respect for those lucky people who possess musical talent. Sadly, as a friend once remarked, I couldn’t carry a tune if it had handles on it! Thank goodness that those of us for whom that is true can enjoy the talents of others. We are truly blessed to have so many people at the College who have been granted this special gift. Many of the talented people in these groups are not music majors—yet another special characteristic of Monmouth College. Unlike many other institutions, especially larger public universities, these opportunities are open to all who have the desire and ability. Their pursuit of music informs all aspects of their lives—fostering discipline, a quest for excellence, teamwork and an appreciation of beauty. They provide great examples of those traits to those of us who can only appreciate music. Even more, their music lifts us higher, touches that part of us that connects the human and the divine. Music is also made on our campus in other, more figurative ways. Each aspect of a student’s experience—the academic disciplines, athletics, student government, the other performing and visual arts, all of the many and varied activities that make up the life of a Monmouth student—has its particular melody. But these tunes come together to create a wonderful harmony, in the life of each student and in the College as a whole. As the stories in these pages make clear, we are all capable of making beautiful music—in our own lives and the lives of others.
Dr. Clarence R. Wyatt President
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MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE
CAMPUS NEWS
RESIDENCE HALL RENEWAL
O
ne of monmouth college’s iconic residence halls is receiving a makeover.
Assisted by President Clarence Wyatt, left, and Board Chairman Mark Kopinski, First Lady Lobie Stone unveils a construction sign in front of Grier Residence Hall.
to the College’s capital improvement fund to allow for the revitalization of Grier Hall.” Built in 1940 and named after James Harper Grier, the College’s fifth president, Grier Hall was the third residence hall to open on campus. The Georgian-style brick structure was designed by noted New York City architect Arthur O. Angilly. “While we embark on a top-to-bottom upgrade of the building’s infrastructure and layout, painstaking attention will be made to preserve important architectural details of this long-serving campus icon,” said Kopinski. The renovation of Grier Hall will include new furniture, bathrooms and HVAC units. Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students Laura Hutchinson said the renovation will make Grier Hall a “wonderful living-learning space for our students.” “Your residence hall is your home away from home, especially when you attend a residential liberal arts college such as Monmouth,” said Hutchinson. “The renovation of Grier Hall is a great example of the College’s commitment to providing an outstanding student-centered experience.” The hall has a colorful history. Its distinctive knotty-pine living room was the gift of Who’s Who in America publisher A.N. Marquis, in memory of his wife, a former student in the College’s Music Department. In 1943, Grier’s women residents were relocated so that the building could house preflight Naval cadets. The building also featured a sick bay accommodating 24 patients and a commisary in the lower level. A ship’s bell was hung by the entrance to toll the hours and an NP-1 trainer biplane was permanently parked on the front lawn.
Grier is first on list for planned renovations
Grier Hall was closed at the end of the fall semester in order to undergo a “top-to-bottom upgrade” that will accommodate students’ evolving living-learning needs. The 24,000-square-foot, three-story women’s residence hall—which can house up to 100 students—will be closed for about one year during the renovation. The project, which is the first phase of a thorough renovation of the College’s oldest residence halls on the campus’ east side, is being paid for by funds donated to the College’s capital improvement fund. “When this renovation project is completed, Monmouth students will live in an architecturally striking residence hall that supports their academic and social needs. It also powerfully enhances the College’s mission of a seamless experience of intellectual and personal development,” said President Clarence R. Wyatt . “It is a testament to the vision and leadership of the College’s Board of Trustees that the Grier Hall project is moving ahead. I also want to thank the students who are currently residents of Grier for their understanding and patience as they help us improve the living-learning environment at Monmouth College.” Board of Trustees Chairman Mark Kopinski ’79 said the renovation of Grier Hall addresses a key need for the national residential liberal arts college. “It is a shared goal of the Board of Trustees of Monmouth College and the administration to systematically address the infrastructure needs of the College campus,” said Kopinski. “I join the Board of Trustees in enthusiastically congratulating President Wyatt and his staff in securing a generous donation
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CAMPUS NEWS
National Book Award finalist to address Commencement Critically acclaimed author Min Jin Lee will give Monmouth College’s 2018 Commencement address on May 13. Lee’s second novel, the national Top 100 bestseller Pachinko, was a finalist for the 2017 National Book Award. A multigenerational family story, Pachinko chronicles members of the Korean diaspora who lived in Japan from the early 20th century through the 1980s. It was named a New York Times Editor’s Choice and an American Booksellers Association’s Indie Next Great Reads. “The Board of Monmouth College and President Wyatt are extremely excited that Ms. Lee has accepted our invitation to be our commencement speaker,” said Mark Kopinski ’79, chairman of the board of trustees. “A highly acclaimed author, much of her writing displays both a thoughtful and dynamic grasp of the challenges Min Jin Lee people face as they experience new cultures. We look forward to her heartfelt address.” Lee’s 2007 debut novel, Free Food for Millionaires, was a New York Times Editor’s Choice and a Top 10 Novels of the Year for The Times of London, NPR’s Fresh Air and USA Today. Lee’s short story “Motherland,” which also focused on Koreans living in Japan, won the Peden Prize from The Missouri Review. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Lee moved to the United States in 1976. She studied history at Yale University, where she was awarded both the Henry Wright Prize for Nonfiction and the James Ashmun Veech Prize for Fiction. She attended law school at Georgetown University and worked as a lawyer for several years in New York City before becoming a full-time writer.
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1952
Back to the crucible In October, chemistry professors from across the Midwest converged on Monmouth College for the annual meeting of the Midwestern Association of Chemistry Teachers in Liberal Arts Colleges (MACTLAC). Spearheaded by chemistry professor Brad Sturgeon, the effort to bring the conference to Monmouth provided an opportunity to showcase the College’s new science facilities, while also paying tribute to the site of the organization’s founding, 65 years ago. As a prologue to Monmouth College’s 1953 centennial celebration, Professor William S. Haldeman invited chemistry faculty from a large number of neighboring institutions to a conference on the teaching of chemistry. In issuing the call for the conference, Haldeman stated, “It is ironical that many of us have labored so long in the same geographical area and during this time have gotten to know so little of one another. If this conference serves to widen and deepen our acquaintance and to give us insights with respect to our work, it will have been a worthy feature during Monmouth’s anniversary year.” Ninety representatives from 53 colleges attended the November 1952 conference. The response to the meeting was so positive that steps were soon taken to form a permanent organization, encompassing seven Midwest states.
2017
CAMPUS NEWS
Veteran fundraiser leads development team John T. Osterlund has been named Vice President for Development and College Relations at Monmouth College. A veteran development professional with almost 30 years of experience, Osterlund will lead the College’s development efforts, which include alumni relations, the annual fund and major gifts. Osterlund comes to Monmouth from Chicago, where he was most recently the chief development officer for the Archdiocese of Chicago. Before that, he was chief development officer for the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, where he helped complete a $200 million campaign for polio eradication. “We are very pleased that John Osterlund is joining Monmouth College’s leadership team as our new Vice President for Development and College Relations,” said President Clarence R. Wyatt . “John has great experience as a senior development professional, having worked at the local, national and international levels. He will help the College to build on an already-strong culture of philanthropy. Even more, John is a person of strong character who is committed to the mission of empowering young people for lives of
learning, leadership and service. We are glad to welcome John and his wife, Beth, to the Monmouth family.” Osterlund said there are “lots of exciting opportunities for Monmouth.” “Because of the College’s strong leadership, Monmouth is uniquely positioned to build on its fundraising successes of the last several years,” he said. “I am very impressed with President Wyatt’s vision and what he has accomplished during his tenure at the College. Monmouth also has a high-caliber senior staff and a tremendously committed board of trustees that want to strengthen the College.” Osterlund said that he is also impressed with the College’s efforts to aggressively grow its endowment, which stands at more than $100 million. “One of the keys to Monmouth College’s long-term success will be to expand its endowment,” he said. “Colleges that have strong endowments will be best-equipped to serve students’ evolving needs.” Osterlund has a master’s degree in history from Florida State University, and he also did graduate work in political science and social welfare at the University of Stockholm.
2017 A MILESTONE FOR PI PHI ... AND LADIES OF THE CLUB
T
he year 2017 was an auspicious one for the women of the Monmouth Alumnae Club of Pi Beta Phi. Not only was it the sesquicentennial of the founding of their fraternity at Monmouth College, but it also marked the centennial of the founding of the alumnae club. The club actually predates the reinstatement of the Alpha Chapter, which occurred in 1928, nearly 50 years after all secret societies were banned by the Monmouth College Senate. Having fought for reinstatement, the club has worked equally hard over the decades to remain vital and support the work of the Alpha Chapter, including its primary philanthropy, literacy. Members distribute
books to 21 preschool sites in Warren County. The club also donates to the Local Impact Grant Program, which Pi Phi Foundation matches, and to the Library Summer Reading Program. Students Arrive Ready for School (STARS) also receives donations from the club. Each year the club promotes
the Angel Tree, a gifting program in which members can take children’s names off of the tree and in turn buy Christmas gifts for them. The club has also fulfilled a donation requirement to the Friendship Fund, the Literacy Fund, Holt House and the Foundation.
BELOW: Members of the Pi Beta Phi Alumnae Club celebrate their centennial with a float in the Homecoming parade.
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PROFILE
HUTCHINSON EMBRACES ROLE AS NEW VP FOR STUDENT LIFE
Laura Hutchinson brings more than a quarter century of student life experience to her new post.
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aura hutchinson brings a wealth of knowledge and talent to her new role as
Monmouth’s Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students. She began the position in late September, and it would be an understatement to say that she hit the ground running. During her first semester at the College, Hutchinson has been busy meeting with her staff, which includes a big swath of College life—athletics and intramurals, the Wackerle Career and Leadership Center, Greek life, intercultural life, residence life, and religious and spiritual life. Hutchinson said she has enjoyed getting to know “the College’s incredibly talented and hard-working Student Life staff.” “They are so dedicated to providing students with a meaningful experience while they are here at Monmouth,” she said. “They help make the College a wonderful place to serve students. The diversity of the student experience is terrific.”
MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE
By DUANE BONIFER
But what Hutchinson said she has enjoyed most is meeting and working with the College’s students. “I can’t say enough about the Monmouth students I have met and gotten to know,” said Hutchinson. “The quality of the students at this college and their character is very impressive. They are involved with the life of the College in so many ways, and they are very welcoming. Students are very proud of this institution, and they demonstrate this through their involvement and in being good stewards of the College.” Hutchinson, who has served for more than 25 years in student life, came to Monmouth from Earlham (Ind.) College, where she was that school’s vice president for student life. She was raised in “a service-oriented family, and I knew that it was not whether I would be a part of service in my life but what it would look like.” After exploring several professional paths as an undergraduate and graduate student, she said she realized that she wanted a career of serving in education.
“Education had been so transformative for me personally, professionally, I want to spend my cognitively, intellectually, morally and spiritually that I thought this career…coming to work is how I want to spend my career— coming to work every day on a college every day on a college campus and thinking about ways to reduce barriers to student success,” campus and thinking she said. “I want to have conversations with them that will not only change about ways to reduce their lives but mine, too.” Hutchinson said she was especially barriers for students for attracted to Monmouth because of how well the College connects academic life them to be successful.” to student life. “Monmouth is an impressive college because it is very focused on its academic mission without losing sight of the student experience,” she cause that speaks said. “Those two things have to go hand in hand because they to my values and combine to give students a rich experience of being part of what I think an a residential liberal arts college. They also work together to undergraduate help our students learn what it means to be a citizen and to education is live and learn in community with other people.” about. Hutchinson said that Monmouth’s Integrated Studies pro“Even more gram is a great example of the well-rounded education the important, that College’s students receive. approach pre“I was very excited to learn about the Integrated Studies pares students for program because of how it is threaded throughout each the world beyond year of a student’s time at the College,” she said. “Many colthe College. They leges might do a liberal arts seminar during a student’s first are going to be year. But Monmouth takes very seriously its commitment dealing with to the liberal arts, and that was very important to me beglobal issues after they graduate from Monmouth, and they are going to have to deal with the information they receive in a critical way. The Integrated Studies program is great preparation for that.” And Hutchinson said the College’s Office of Student Life plays a vital role in that approach. “Everything that we do should give students an opportunity to learn outside of the classroom and to engage them in conversations about how they are applying what they are learning to campus life,” she said. Hutchinson said she also appreciates how well Monmouth’s departments work together. “The collaboration between Academic Affairs and Student Life at Monmouth is to be admired nationally,” she said. “It’s not done the way Monmouth does it at many other small colleges. Monmouth’s commitment to collaboration and teamwork makes being a student affairs professional a very enjoyable experience because I get to work closely with faculty and academic administrators as well as the College’s very talented Student Life staff.” Hutchinson (right) assists Monmouth College students in decorating the Warren County Library during the recent Scots Day of Service.
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ACADEMICS
JOHNSON TAKES HIS STUDENTS INSIDE POLITICS By BARRY McNAMARA
P
olitical science students who took a field trip to Spring-
field in November not only got to see Illinois government at work, but also met three Monmouth alumni who are active in politics. “This is a trip I’ve taken with students every semester since I began teaching at Monmouth in 2000,” said political science lecturer Robin Johnson ’80, whose many connections to politics include serving as a campaign manager and consultant, as well as host of the radio program Heartland Politics. “We travel to Springfield to observe the state legislature and meet with legislators, staff, lobbyists, statewide officials, news media and anyone else I can corral to talk with the students. My goal is to put them in direct contact with decision makers and let them draw their own conclusions on our state government and politics.” “I thought the trip was a great chance to see some legislation being worked out and to see some of the inner workings of government,” said Austin King ’18. “Talking to and asking questions with the senators and representatives added a more personal feel to the experience that I really enjoyed, especially since I got to talk to the representative for my home district.” Over the years, Johnson said the trip has helped motivate Monmouth students to pursue a career in government or politics. This year’s group met with two May graduates who are in the Illinois Legislative Internship Program with the House Democrats and Senate Democrats, respectively—Jacob Marx ’17 and Tanner Gillis ’16. The group also
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MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE
Robin Johnson (second from left) and his students meet with Rep. Ryan Spain (left) on the House floor.
briefly saw Rachel Bold ’10, who was in the same internship program and now works for the Senate Republicans. “It’s difficult to schedule (our meetings) in advance because of the unpredictable nature of legislative sessions, but the trips have always worked out well,” said Johnson, whose first stop with the students is typically a visit with lobbyists just down the street from the State Capitol. “Students usually have a somewhat negative views of lobbyists based on what they hear in national political discourse, but they come away with different feelings after actually meeting them,” he said. “The lobbyists talk about different types of lobbyists, the legislative process and how it’s easier to kill a bill than pass one. I usually have two lobbyists speak, one each with a background in the two political parties.” “I had never met a lobbyist before our trip, and it surprised me how
earnest they were with how their job works,” said Riley Hess ’18. “The media, in all forms, seems to place such a huge negative connotation on lobbyists that it made me disappointed in myself for believing that they were bad people only in it for the money.” From there, the Monmouth group went to the Capitol, where they were able to observe Gov. Bruce Rauner holding a press event in the rotunda. Johnson also arranged meetings with Sen. Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill) and Rep. Ryan Spain (R-Peoria), who invited the group to the House floor. The students also went to the House gallery to observe a session, then visited the former Supreme Court room and the press room where statehouse press conferences are often held. “It’s a long day but, as always, it was a fast three hours in Springfield,” said Johnson. “The students have always enjoyed going to see how our government really works.”
ACADEMICS
Ferreting out the Fake Monmouth College students in one of Josh Hawthorne’s classes spent the first half of the fall semester studying the phenomenon of “fake news.” An assistant professor in the College’s department of communication studies, Hawthorne defined fake news as “strategic disinformation.” “It accomplishes specific strategic goals,” said Hawthorne. “It is designed to sway public opinion—to cloud truths and to raise doubts— such as during the 2016 presidential election, which is when we really saw it emerge.” “Initially, I signed up for the course because the term ‘fake news’ was one that I heard HAWTHORNE often but didn’t know the concrete definition,” said Brittanie Parker ’18. “I’ve learned that fake news is a huge problem and it continues to grow and warp our own ideas to fit an agenda.” She said what makes it even harder to defend is that “a large number of people can’t identify real from fake news. Less than 45 percent of Americans between the ages of 10 and 18 said they could accurately spot fake news.” “We hoped the media would be gatekeepers of the news, but we are being lied to and tricked by people we thought we could trust,” said Hawthorne. “The best lies always start with a part of the truth, and then something is made up and attached to it.” One of the reasons fake news works, said Hawthorne, is the way media works today. Long gone are the days of a single nightly newscast that was the chief source for receiving information about current events. “Our current media involvement makes it easier to spread fake news,” he said. “The system is gamed through algorithms, which can post and re-post stories over and over again. That makes it easier for them to trend, and the stories start picking up steam. That’s how it can get amplified.”
Hawthorne said some of the news we read on Facebook is an example. “[Spreading fake news] is not something that Facebook wanted to do, but that’s the ramification of algorithms that give us things we are prone to like—stories that make us feel ‘right’,” he said. “Social science research shows that we are drawn to that. They’ve built us the echo chamber machine, although not on purpose.” “Social media feeds into this problem because it makes fake news so easily accessible,” said Parker. “You can log onto just about any media outlet and see fake news being shared. It’s scary. Personally, I think in order to overcome fake news we need to target individuals under 25 who are using social media as their (main) form of news. We need to educate this audience on how to spot fake news and the dangers that occur when spreading it.” That was the thinking behind the class projects for some of Hawthorne’s students, who created a video series and public service announcements to spread awareness. The eight-week class ended prior to fall break, but some of the projects will be ongoing, including sending versions of the PSAs to other college campuses. “We can choose our media,” said Hawthorne, alluding to some of the messaging his students created. “We can make sure we’re serving counter-attitudinal information into our media diet. ... We need to check out the other side, too, and go after and consume multiple sources of information.” Hawthorne’s students now adhere to the “CRAP” system when considering a news story, taking into account the keywords current, reliable, authority and purpose, or point of view. Riley Hess ’18 knows the solution won’t be easy. “We can overcome it, but it is not as simple as blocking somebody on Twitter,” he said. “It would take schools teaching media literacy, the education of peripheral cues, and the overall ability to be open minded towards differing views of a situation accused of being fake news. This process will take a generation of education and practice.” —BARRY McNAMARA
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NEWSMAKERS
CAMERON SHARES RESEARCH
TALBOTT RETURNS TO ALMA MATER
Jennifer Cameron ’98 delivered Monmouth College’s annual Donald B. McMullen Memorial Lecture in Biology in October. An assistant professor at Louisiana State University’s Health Science Center School of Medicine, Cameron spoke on “Cancer: An Ounce CAMERON of Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Cure.” “One of my big areas of interests is not in developing drugs to battle cancer, but in detecting cancer in very early stages and preventing it from developing,” said Cameron, who focuses on cervical cancer. “We have to start thinking about what we need to do better to help women. We need a screening paradigm change, and I’ve received federal funding to research that.” After graduating from Monmouth, Cameron completed her doctorate at LSU. She headed to Boston for a post-doctorate opportunity with a Harvard University professor, then returned to Louisiana to pursue an opportunity for postdoctoral students at Tulane University. She did that work for six years before venturing down her own research path at LSU. Cameron visited with several Monmouth College classes during her time in the area. She is a graduate of nearby Bushnell-Prairie City High School.
Jeani Randall Talbott ’95 has been named associate director of the 1853 Society, an organization that honors increased and sustained annual giving to Monmouth College. A member of the College’s admission staff from 1995-2001, Talbott returns to Monmouth from TALBOTT Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, Ill., where she served as an academic adviser. After her initial stint at Monmouth, Talbott worked in radio sales, for the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center, and for Cottage Home Health before joining CSC’s staff.
McLEAN WINS LEADERSHIP AWARD Jake McLean ’15 was awarded the National Leader of the Year Award at the Lead365 National Conference in November. The event, held in Orlando, Fla., was also attended by second-year Stockdale Fellows Alexis Brauer, Quentin Kaihara and Hadley Smithhisler. McLEAN “The recognition is awesome, but it just means I’m doing good work for our students, our College and our community,” said McLean, who serves as assistant director of leadership development. The award is given to an undergraduate, graduate student, faculty member or professional staff member who shows the courage and vision to actively advocate for positive change and “should be an example of what it means to explore, engage, and evolve. ... Because of this nominee, something very tangible has changed or is changing.” In McLean’s case, the most obvious change has been the Stockdale Fellows program, which is now in its second year. One of the College’s more prestigious scholarship, leadership and enrichment programs, Stockdale Fellows participate in a comprehensive fouryear leadership development program.
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MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE
SMITHHISLER IS TOP ADVOCATE For Hadley Smithhisler ’20, participating in Monmouth College’s seventh annual Moot Court competition helped confirm her career aspirations. Smithhisler took part in the academic event for the first time this year, and she was named Top Advocate. That should give the sophomore a boost SMITHHISLER of confidence as she works toward attending law school after she graduates from Monmouth. Smithhisler was one of 13 students who participated in the competition. After a preliminary round, four students advanced to the final round, where they argued the case: “Is it unconstitutional to require voters to show a photo identification card in order to be able to vote?”
RUBI NAMED LINCOLN LAUREATE Diana Rubi ’18 has been selected as Monmouth College’s 2017 Student Laureate of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois. Each fall an outstanding senior from each of the four-year degree-granting institutions of higher learning in Illinois is awarded the AbraRUBI ham Lincoln Civic Engagement Award and becomes a Student Laureate of the academy. Student Laureates are honored for their overall excellence in curricular and cocurricular activities. A political science, international studies and Spanish triple major, Rubi was Monmouth’s Student Leader of the Year for 2016-17 and received the Brad Wefenstette Prize for Social Justice. Rubi, who has served as a resident assistant, as vice president of membership development for Alpha Xi Delta, and as a mentor for first-generation students, will deliver the student address at Commencement exercises in May.
PEOPLE
STUDENTS FLIP OVER ‘OMELET LADY’
P
enny mcvey is one of the first people
most Monmouth College students see every morning. Affectionately known by students as “Penny the Omelet Lady,” McVey has made omelets in the College’s Stockdale Student Center dining room for the last nine school years. She makes about 110 omelets a day during the school year, which translates into more than 165,000 homemade omelets over the last nine years. In October, McVey was honored for her outstanding service to Monmouth students when she was named a recipient of the prestigious Ring of Stars Award, which is presented by the Aramark Corp., the company that runs Monmouth’s food services. The Ring of Stars Award is given to only 200 of Aramark’s more than 240,000 worldwide employees for demonstrating outstanding customer service. “I love serving the students,” said McVey, who received the award at an Aramark gathering in Phoenix. “I like to hear how their day is going, plus I really enjoy cooking. I don’t just enjoy cooking for the students, but I also enjoy cooking for my kids and for my grandkids.” A Monmouth native whose great-grandmother also cooked at the College, McVey joined the Monmouth staff in 1993 and
then returned in 2006 after leaving for about a year. She’s cooked omelets since 2008. In addition to breaking a few eggs, McVey said cooking the perfect omelet involves a few other key ingredients. “Cut your vegetables and meats small, have a warm skillet to start with and also a lot of tender-loving care,” she said. McVey sees cooking as only part of her job. She also serves as an unofficial counselor and adviser to some students, and she’s given a few seniors five-ingredient cookbooks to help them after they graduate from Monmouth. “As they come through the line, you can tell if they’re having a bad day,” she said. “If the students come through the line and they are having a bad day, they can express that to me. I just kind of let them vent. All of these students are just like my grandkids. Each individual one comes in, we have a chit-chat. Each one gets treated with individual care. And I enjoy having them come in to eat breakfast because breakfast is the most important meal of the day because it gets their body ready for the day and for studying.” McVey said she hopes that her omelets will do more than simply feed Monmouth students. “We try to make our students happy because if they are happy, they get good grades, and if they get good grades, they will graduate, and then they will come back and see us,” she said.
Winner of the prestigious Aramark Ring of Stars Award, McVey always greets students with a smile and a tasty omelet.
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Now that ain’t workin’ that’s the way to do it Play the guitar on the MTV. By Barry McNamara
—from “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits
I
n 1985, a pair of animated custom kitchen deliverers bemoaned the fact that it seemed pretty darn easy to make a living in the
music industry. Just get a video up on the relatively new cable television channel, MTV, and you’ll be a “millionaire.” Monmouth College doesn’t lay claim to a recording star who’s made millions—although that would suit rising talent Shaniah Paige ’20 just fine—but the College does have plenty of alumni
working to various degrees in the music industry. 12
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COVER STORY
I WANT MY MTV
“At Thirteen Skulls, all of our albums have 13 tracks, and all of them have a pre-roll video and a post-roll video. We believe in helping the consumers. Those pieces are all available individually. ... The consumer will decide if they want to own all 13 or cherry pick a handful of tracks.”
A notable example was Dwight Tierney ’69, who left a stable position with CBS in the 1970s to be part of a wild, new venture. The colossus that Tierney and his colleagues created—MTV—reshaped the music industry, said Ron Spaulding ’86. “For years, when you talked about THEM GUYS AIN’T DUMB “Appetites have content in the industry, it was all While Spaulding’s world is focused on about creating music,” said Spauldsigning and developing artists—such as changed…Now, ing, co-founder and CEO of Liger Grammy Award-nominated singer/songEnterprises, a full-service global enwriter Kenny Lattimore—another alumnus, you run the risk tertainment company he started with Ed Wimp ’12, is learning to see those artbaseball Hall of Famer Frank Thomas. of becoming irrel- ists’ contracts from a different viewpoint. “Since MTV was introduced, every“My main goal these days is to take thing has become co-dependent on evant if you wait and pass the bar exam,” said Wimp, who creating visual content. So the indusgot his big break in the industry when he try now is about artists and the flow of that long to put out was hired on as part of the road mancontent. It’s the full experience—not agement staff for legendary R&B band something new.” just audio, but everything else, too— Earth, Wind & Fire. “I’ll be taking it next videos, merchandise and all that.” spring, and I plan to be an entertainment Ron Spaulding Liger Enterprises provides creators lawyer.” with the necessary tools to nurture and Asked what that type of work would incubate creative experiences including artist develop- entail, Wimp replied, “A lot of contracts. With the major ment, content label model slipping, it’s important to grasp as much of the creation, pro- artist’s profitability as possible and for them to get paid off duction and every revenue monet i zat ion stream they have. of publishing So my job will assets, live be to protect the events, and artist’s interests a u d i o/ v i s u a l through things like securing rights to content. And consum- songs. I’ll be trying to give the artist ers’ demand has accelerated more of a voice, the timeline for more security.” Ron Spaulding (left), with R&B singer Kenny Wimp, who that content, Lattimore—one of Liger Enterprise’s hot artists. holds a master’s said Spaulding, degree in enterwho is also co-founder of a Liger Enterprises subsidiary, tainment business, Thirteen Skulls Entertainment. said some artists are doing so well they can’t help but be se“Appetites have changed, and anxiousness has cure. But those success stories are just the tip of the iceberg. changed. The standard gap between albums used to be “The big artists like Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga will be 18 to 24 months, maybe 36 months, and sometimes even fine,” he said. “It’s the mid-level artists who are slipping. longer. Now, you run the risk of becoming irrelevant if They used to rely on some good cash flow from CD sales, you wait that long to put out something new.” but now they’re missing that chunk. Yes, they can tour, To combat that, Spaulding said a new strategy of releasing content has become the norm—“a piece here, a (Continued on page 14) piece there, a piece there.”
Ed Wimp (left), with Kahbran White, owner of Earth, Wind & Fire and son of the group’s late vocalist, Maurice White, outside of Abbey Road Studios before a private performance there.
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Tyler Glaser (right), with his business partner Nick Grafelman, and a crowd of country music fans at the Back Road Festival.
but it’s also expensive to tour, paying for things like transportation, hotels and food. It’s not as profitable as people like to think.”
COUNTRY MUSIC COUNTRY A Monmouth alum who knows very well about touring artists is Tyler Glaser ’04. By day, Glaser is an assistant vice president at Peoples National Bank of Kewanee (Ill.). But in his free time, Glaser and his friend, Nick Grafelman, are the founders and organizers of The Back Road Country Music Festival, held each summer in Glaser’s native Galva, Ill. “They like the atmosphere, they like the venue,” said Glaser of the artists who come to Galva, which has a population of 2,500. Glaser and Grafelman “do it all” when it comes to the concert—line up acts, run promotions, set up security and work with vendors. For the past four years, the festival has brought in four artists or bands per year, and the event now draws around 5,000 people.
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“It’s nice to have a show of that caliber in a small town. There’s music all day long, including side stages, and the event is family-oriented,” said Glaser, who said there’s a $40 charge for the festival, or $60 to be in “the party pit.” He hopes to be able to keep the festival affordable to folks in western Illinois, but added, “I am concerned about the prices that artists charge. Some of them get one hit on the radio and all of the sudden they’re out of our price range. And as long as the demand continues, the high prices will probably stay.” Growing up, Glaser was a fan of classic rock-n-roll —“the Stones, Petty, Dylan, the Beach Boys,” he said — and he’s been to “hundreds of shows.” Very few of those featured country music, so he was asked why he chose that genre for the Galva festival. “It made sense to do country music because of our demographic,” he replied. “There are cornfields all around, and everyone around here listens to country. It’s not my No. 1 choice of music, and it’s not Nick’s, but we wanted to put something together that everyone likes.”
COVER STORY
MUSIC CITY MUSIC Another Monmouth graduate can certainly attest to the power of country music. Yes, longtime Country Countdown USA host Lon Helton ’72 fits that bill, but a more recent addition to the genre is Megan Snodsmith ’15. She now makes her home in Nashville, working at the Country Music Hall of Fame as communications coordinator. Snodsmith works “on a lot of different exhibits at the museum” with media outlets, including Good Morning America, the New York Times and USA Today, to name a few. On the day she was first contacted for this story, Snodsmith was busy working the special pre-opening reception for the exhibit featuring Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, which drew around 350 distinguished guests. “One of my jobs for that day was making sure their publicist was good to go on everything,” she said. “One thing I love about public relations is that no day is ever the same. You never know what’s going to come up, or who’ll be in the museum on a given day.” Snodsmith’s job stemmed from one of four unpaid internships she’s had in her short career. Between her first and second year of graduate studies at Illinois State University, she headed to Nashville to work at the hall of fame. A year later, with her master’s degree in communications secured, she sent her résumé to the hall of fame and was hired full-time. “I knew that I wanted to work in the entertainment industry, and I narrowed my search down to Nashville,” she said. “I first visited Nashville in college during an Alternative Spring Break trip to Huntsville, Ala., to work with Habitat for Humanity. ... The people here are awesome, just so hospitable. I had a great internship experience here and I knew I wanted to come back. A lot of people believed in me.” Although CDs might be becoming archaic, Snodsmith said live music is alive and very well in Music City. “Nashville offers a lot of opportunities—opportunities for songwriters, opportunities for singers,” she said. “There’s live music in every bar, and on every street corner, it seems.” At a recent event in Nashville, Snodsmith made it a point to introduce herself to Helton and share her Monmouth connection. And now current Monmouth students
Megan Snodsmith at Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame, where she works as communica– tions coordinator.
want to connect with her, as Snodsmith said she’s contacted once or twice a week by students picking her brain to find out how she landed such a sweet gig.
SHOULDA LEARNED TO PLAY THEM DRUMS Monmouth students also got to hear Wimp’s story during his recent visit to campus. Those that missed out on his talk could also learn more by reading Wimp’s book, Building Fans, Fame and Wealth: The 18 Revenue Streams of Music. The book helps artists understand there are more ways to make money in the business than “selling lots of CDs and selling out venues,” said Wimp. “One way they can make up for it is to license more music for things like TV shows and movies. It will take some creativity and shifting their focus. My plan is to help them do that and help them think outside the box.” Artists can try to go it alone, said Spaulding, and he understands why some do. “The do-it-yourself model is wide open. Artists with no experience or limited experience can self-produce, putting out their materials how they want to. But if you want to join a team of experts, there’s a cost of doing business. The artists are protected legally and, hopefully, morally. Hopefully the record companies will do the right thing for their artists.” Wimp has certainly noticed the shift to more independent artists. “My buddies and I were just talking about this the other (Continued on page 16)
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night—why isn’t there another Michael Jackson? A huge, larger-than-life celebrity? I think it’s because we no longer have the major label model. There are more independent artists, the Internet is a factor, and artists have their own record labels and studios. You used to have three or four major labels and three or four major artists. There are so many smaller independent artists, which means there’s more competition, and there’s been a dispersing of talent.”
“I flash back to Monmouth all the time and the lessons I learned there,” said Snodsmith, who majored in public relafew things that will tions with a minor in business. “I would not be where I’m at today without Chris bring (people) … Goble (communication studies faculty) the guidance he provided, and also together like music and Lars Kristiansen (former communicastudies faculty). ... I remember them can. They might not tion saying to read the news every day. I do every day because of them. I also reknow the language, that member the classes Joe Angotti (former but they know the journalism faculty) taught on bias.” A NEW SOUND The College taught Spaulding about Not only is there a new model for makbias, as well. chords.” ing music, but musicians are making new “Monmouth expanded my view of the sounds, something that both Spaulding world and helped me tear down some Ed Wimp and Snodsmith see every day. early prejudices,” he said. “Monmouth “The sound of country music is changallows you to work closely with professors, and that helped ing—that comes with time,” said Snodsmith. “There are mold my personality and was a key part of development in some who say ‘This isn’t country music anymore,’ but it’s my life.” just evolved. There’s a new sound.” For Wimp, who came to Monmouth from Chicago, the For Spaulding, a new sound has led to a new name, small town “took me out of my comfort zone. ... It’s OK to AmeriFlow. be uncomfortable, to put yourself in those situations,” he “Our company is working with a new genre, AmeriFlow, said. “Monmouth taught me how to live socially.” which is rap speaking about the rural lifestyle,” he said, SOUL MUSIC noting his company is already working with the artists Twang and Round and I4NI. “It’s a very rare opportunity The alumni also agree on the power of music—in their to work in a new genre. Some people have called it country lives and for society, as a whole. rap or hick-hop. Much of rap is centered around lifestyle, “I’ve had people tell me they’re not going to go to the be that the ghetto, or inner city, or money. AmeriFlow is festival because it’s country, but then they go and they get focused on the rural lifestyle—shotguns, 4-wheel drives, into it,” said Glaser. “It’s more about live music than it is moonshine, mud. We have a number of artist signings on about the genre. To see that level of a band in any genre, the docket.” you really appreciate the quality.” As styles of music have evolved, so have the ways that “Everyone can relate to music,” said Snodsmith. “Songs consumers receive music, Spaulding said. help me relate to my own life, both the good and the bad.” “Mobile is going to continue to grow. Mobile is already Spaulding said music has been a constant through the the No. 1 choice of listening device, believe it or not. For ages. me, everything comes through my phone. It’s all about how “In my opinion, music feeds the soul. That dates back as it looks on mobile. That’s the only thing I care about.” far as we can see. It’s spiritual, it’s emotional. I think for so Spaulding said that trend certainly helps with distribumany of us, we can recall songs that were playing at pivotal tion. moments in our lives. At the end of the day, it’s music for “At the push of a button, I can have my content up the soul.” worldwide, without having to worry about shipping or the “I’ve devoted my career to it,” said Wimp. “There are very logistics of the supply chain.” few things that will bring someone from Thailand, and from Bucharest, and from Austin, Texas, together like muMONMOUTH COLLEGE’S IMPACT sic can. They can communicate through music. They might While all of the alumni in the music industry have their not know the language, but they know the chords.” own preferences when it comes to music, there are a couple And Wimp raised a very valid point. things they can agree on. One is the value of their Mon“Everyone likes music. You don’t ask someone if they like mouth College education. music. You ask them what kind of music they like.”
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“There are very
COVER STORY
A SEASONED NASHVILLE JOURNALIST AND AN ASPIRING YOUNG COUNTRY ARTIST OFFER THEIR INSIGHT ABOUT THE STATE OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY
Monmouth College Hall of Achievement inductee Lon Helton ’72 returned to his alma mater at Homecoming to participate in an interview with Shaniah Paige ’20 at the college station where he got his start in radio.
INTERVIEWER: We are pleased to come to you from our spacious new WPFS studio on the top floor of Wallace Hall.
LON HELTON is a 45year radio personality who began his career at Monmouth radio stations WVPC-FM and WRAM-AM. The host of Country Countdown USA for more than 25 years, he has been honored with 12 National Personality of the Year awards. He is the founder/CEO of the music industry trade publication Country Aircheck, and has served on the boards of the Country Music Association, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, St. Jude Country Cares and the National Corvette Museum.
HELTON: I do feel right at home here, with all the vinyl on the walls. I love it. Talk about lost art. The album covers we’re looking at on the walls were pieces of art. And that’s very much missing from the music industry as a whole today. The album covers were just as much art as the stuff on the vinyl inside them. INTERVIEWER: How did you get into radio? HELTON: It just started here at one of the little activity fairs they have when you are freshman and you see all the things you can get into and the radio station WFS had some things you could do. They gave me this 6-to-8 [shift] on a Friday night, and I thought that was just awful. There are a lot of things you would rather do as a freshman in college on Friday night than sit in a room alone playing music and talking to people who can’t see you. But then I realized that actually there was a pretty big audience. It was only a carrier-current radio station, so it was only in the dorms, but back in the day when everybody still had radios and used to listen to radios, they were getting ready to go out. … A friend got me a job at the local radio station, WVPC, where I did 5-to-midnight. Then a few months later the manager of WRAM offered me a few more dollars a week, and I went over there, and then I got a few more dollars a week and went to Galesburg. One day, minding my own business, I got a job offer to go to Denver to be on the air, and kind of the next thing
I knew I was in radio. It kind of found me as much as anything, I think. INTERVIEWER: You originally started out as a chemistry major? HELTON: I came here as a chemistry major. … Little things along the way, like organic chemistry and differential equations, made radio look better and better every day. It probably found me more than I found it. INTERVIEWER: At some point, you developed an interest in theater? HELTON: After I left the chemistry department, Dr. James De Young became my adviser. Somebody was in a production and they said, “Hey, you should try out for this,” and I just kind of stumbled into it. So we did some theater and spent a lot of time in the Little Theatre; spent a lot of time in Austin Hall, because I was part of some ensembles and a band here. The thing that really helped at Monmouth was when I changed majors I didn’t have to change schools to go somewhere else to get hands-on experience. … My sophomore year I directed The Fantasticks. I actually directed that play. Get a chance to do things, figure out what you like, what you’re good at, maybe try to figure out where your talent and passion intersect. INTERVIEWER: Shaniah, at what age did you start thinking about a career in music, and did you always have confidence in your abilities? SHANIAH: It was seventh grade when I started get(Continued on page 18)
SHANIAH PAIGE is a 20-year-old business major who five years ago caught the eye of music producer Andrew Lane (High School Musical, Hannah Montana). Collaborating with Lane and KC Brown, she wrote a critically-acclaimed song about her hometown of Roseville, Ill. In 2016, she signed a recording contract with Heart Songs Corporation and was named Fresh New Face of Country Music by Nashville’s Renegade Radio. She performs widely, in such venues as CMA Fest and BB King’s, Nashville.
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ting into the whole acting aspect of the industry. I knew that I wanted to get into this. My freshman year of high school I met with a music producer in [Los Angeles] and that’s kind of what sold me. I started getting serious from there, I started songwriting, performing and meeting new people and just being like hey, “I’m Shaniah and let me play for you guys.” It was about that age I started getting serious about it. HELTON: And the obvious question has to be, were your parents influenced by Shania Twain? SHANIAH: Yes they were. My mom named me after Shania Twain. INTERVIEWER: You’re a songwriter and a performer. Do you have a preference between the two? SHANIAH: I feel like both go hand in hand. I have really developed a huge passion for songwriting. A lot of my songs that I write are based on things that happened to me, whether it’s a breakup, a heartbreak, a fight with a friend. In all honesty, every song I’ve written is a true story. And I feel like that and performing really go hand in hand with singing and telling a story and being able to present this art to someone who can actually relate to it. That’s always been my main goal when I’m performing is to have my fans relate back to me with what I’m telling them. Neither one really has more difficulty, I just think they kind of both work with each other and I love them both. INTERVIEWER: What is your songwriting method? SHANIAH: I come up with the melody first, usually. I’ll think of something in my head, I’ll be playing with my guitar and something will just kind of piece together. And then I start applying the lyrics to it, thinking how do I want this storyline to continue and what do I want to say, like how do I want to really convey it so that people understand what I’m trying to tell them? HELTON: I think you’ll find overall—especially in country music—that the artists who write probably have a little edge on those who don’t. You walk up and down Broadway and go in the clubs in Nashville, there are great singers every 10 feet. What makes an artist unique is often that writing. They will get attention earlier from publishing companies and/or labels who are looking to develop artists, because first of all, the song that you write you sing much differently, you sing with
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more passion, you sing with more understanding, which then translates to the listener as being more relatable and hitting them in the heart and in the eyes. On the business side, I don’t know if the doors ever swing totally wide open, but certainly if you walk in with a portfolio of songs, you’re going to get a little more early attention. INTERVIEWER: Your career has spanned a number of aspects of the music industry, including founding and editing the most influential trade magazine for the business, Country Aircheck. Tell us about that aspect of your work? HELTON: For me, the best thing about it is you’re in the middle, and for me, my world is country, so I’m in the middle. I can go to just about any city in America and know the person running the country radio station because I talk to them on the phone all the time—that’s our beat. You’re in the middle of the record labels and the publishers and the artists. Because you’re writing about it and you’re compiling a chart of the top 50 country songs every week, you’re just in the middle, which is always a fascinating place to be. You make a lot of friends and you get a real sense of the industry and what the business is about. It’s fascinating because there’s so many aspects to the music business. People get it on the business side and obviously the talent side. And what I’ve really had a chance to do is be an observer. And then the countdown show we do is unique in that every week a different country artist comes to the studio and normally a five- to 10-minute interview for a country star or any musical star is a long time. We need an hour, hour and 15 minutes to put together a three-hour radio show, so that’s a lifetime to the most artists, but we’ve been doing it since ’92 now but it’s great, it’s the most fun. I mean how can you not have fun spending an hour across from Shania Twain or Faith Hill? And they’re all fascinating people. These are fascinating people who lead interesting lives and if you don’t get a good interview out of them it’s your fault, not theirs. So I think that’s what I love most about what I do. Because it’s a little bit of everything but around a lot of really fascinating people. Because it’s hard. It’s a tough business, it’s a tough business to get into, as I’m sure you’re finding out, but tremendously rewarding. INTERVIEWER: Shaniah, what tips have you
learned from other artists? SHANIAH: This whole process has been full of learning and meeting new people. It’s just been an awesome experience. I’ve learned stage presence tips, like moving around the stage, really making that connection with your audience and explaining your songs. I tell people what influenced me to write this song. HELTON: What’s been the toughest thing for you? Are there any real doors you just can’t open or what frustrates you the most about trying to make it in the music business? SHANIAH: Just starting out was hard. It was hard just being able to really continue to build the fan base and make that connection and really gain the followers, but especially coming from a small town of Monmouth, Illinois. It’s hard to get your name out there. And so that was kind of really tough. … But it’s been such an amazing experience, so with all the help and support of my parents and my friends it’s really helped me to just continue going along with what I love to do. HELTON: When I was first in Nashville, a young woman came up to me and said, “Oh my gosh, I used to listen to you on the radio in Galesburg”— Suzy Bogguss, who is from Aledo. And so it can be done. If I’ve talked to a hundred artists, every path to stardom is different. They’re all unique and it’s based on the people you meet and the doors that open. Some people move to Nashville. Some people don’t. Some people get to know other writers. A lot of it is finding that champion, just knocking on enough doors and getting to know enough people where you just have to find one person who really likes you and becomes your champion and then open some more doors. Nashville feels so open to me, like an amazing creative community in its openness in terms of co-writing. And you know I think sometimes from the outside it looks like a walled fortress that is impossible to get into.
COVER STORY
SHANIAH: And Nashville is so full of talent. When people say, “What if you don’t make it, what are you going to do? Do you have a fallback?” My answer every time is I already feel like I’ve made it by being able to do what I love, being able to perform, being able to connect with people that come to see me perform and doing songwriting, and meeting people and having all these opportunities. It just makes me feel like I’ve already accomplished something. HELTON: It’s amazing when you see people—amazing talent, great songwriters and then they break through it all and they finally get a record deal and their first single comes out. You’re just going, “Oh my gosh, they are so talented.” And then for some reason the music doesn’t resonate with the public. And then the record deal goes away and other things happen. But sometimes they end up writing for other people. That happens all the time. There are so many things that have to happen. But I believe that talent will always rise and a lot of it is just doing it and sticking to it. I think to really be an artist that captures the public imagination you have to be unique. We don’t need another Shania Twain. We don’t need another Faith Hill. We need the new Shaniah. Artists will tell you they are amalgams of their influences. You know, Garth Brooks, for instance, always talked about being influenced by Merle Haggard, George Jones and KISS. And when you saw him you saw he brought elements to the stage show from the rock world, and all artists are like that and somehow they take their influences and I think through performing and through doing other things and writing and that soul-searching that goes with the writing, somewhere along the line if you’re really going to make it you find out what makes you unique and you become that unique entertainer and that unique songwriter. But they’re all amalgams of their influences, you can’t help it.
SHANIAH: My influences would definitely have to be Demi Lovato, Bebe Rexha, Brooke Eden, Kelsea Ballerini—I’ll listen to their songs over and over again. Like I have a Brooke Eden song that I listened to five times this morning, just because it’s so good. And I like to listen to it and I like the story and I can really relate to it. HELTON: So again, that’s a range of artists, a range of songs, a range of songwriters, a range of music, that all become somewhere distilled within Shaniah to become that unique artist, which is what an artist is—you know they’re all different. Painters have their own styles and you have to be that unique to capture that imagination, I think, and that’s not easy, but being who you are, that’s really the key. Because you are different.
INTERVIEWER: Shaniah, do you have challenges as far as trying to balance being a full-time college student and trying to pursue your art? SHANIAH: I love those questions, because people ask me, like, how do you do it? And I always say I’m a college student by day and an artist by every other minute of my time. And I take classes, but I’m always songwriting and doing my vocal lessons and performing on the weekends. It’s what I love to do, and I take every opportunity as it comes. I never really saw it as a challenge to be able to balance the two, because I believe that you can achieve whatever you set your mind to and being able to get an education and pursue a career—it’s just all worked out. So it’s been great.
INTERVIEWER: Lon, over your four decades in the business you’ve probably seen a lot of changes. What would you say are some of the most significant changes? HELTON: Surely the Internet and what it was able to do to the music industry and change the entire business model that had been going for 50 or 60 or 70 years. All of a sudden turned upside down, and now it’s turned upside down again because if people were buying downloads before, now all of a sudden streaming is what’s become important— and people don’t buy music anymore, they’re just renting it. And so that has changed the business model again for the second time in 20 years, just totally upside down. So it’s the adaptability, trying to figure out what to do. So the more things change the more they stay the same. It’s still always about
talent. It’s still always about that artist able to relate their music to people. So that’s the one thing you can’t put into zeros and ones. You know that personal touch that the artist has and when people break through it’s very cool to see, it really is.
INTERVIEWER: Are there things that you know now that you wish you’d known when you were Shaniah’s age? Are there any lessons that you could share with her at this stage? HELTON: I wish I knew 99 percent of what I know now then. The only way to get better at anything performing whether you’re on the radio or whether interviewing people or whether you’re singing is to do it. There’s no better teacher than standing in front of a hundred people who are standing there going, “OK entertain me, show me what you got.” You learn real quick if that song works or if it doesn’t or if whatever you’re doing on stage works or it doesn’t. They’ll tell you. It’s a tough audience, it’s a tough critic, but you know you have to get out and do it. And that’s the thing about country, in particular. You talk to most stars. They pay their dues. There are very, very few overnight successes. … And by paying your dues, it just means you’re performing. You’re out there doing what she’s doing, which can’t be easy going to school and playing and on the weekends. But she’s doing it and she’s getting a Ph.D. on the road, plus she’s getting her B.A. here.
INTERVIEWER: Shaniah, this is an impossible question but where do you see yourself maybe five years, 10 years from now? Is there an ideal path you’d like to follow? SHANIAH: You know, the topic’s already been up for discussion and I just really want to be able to see myself up there on the stage in soldout stadiums with my fans singing every word to my songs back to me, and just being able to do what I put my heart and my mind into. So I’m hoping to be able to get to Nashville and continue songwriting, performing and building that fan base of to be able to make a difference to everybody.
Listen to the entire interview at www.monmouthcollege.edu/helton-paige.
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MONMOUTHIANA
THE WILDLY POPULAR COMPOSER YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF Monmouth College music professor was renowned for temperance hymns
A
name that today strikes not even a chord of music, and eventually composition. In 1875, he met recognition was producing thousands of the renowned Chicago composer George Root, chords of popular music in Monmouth a who was visiting Monmouth. The composer of century ago—music that was played and sung such Civil War standards as “The Battle Cry across the country. The only place you might of Freedom” and “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp,” even encounter that name today, should you Root was impressed by Herbert’s musical happen to wander there, is inside the mautalent and agreed to teach him music soleum in Monmouth Cemetery. There you theory and harmony. They became close would see carved in friends. stone the name John After publishing his first hymnal, titled By JEFF RANKIN Bunyan Herbert. It Chapel Anthems, in 1878, Dr. Herbert Editor and Historian was a name, shortgave up his medical practice and became ened to J.B. Herbert, Dr. Herbert, composer. The following that appeared in countless songbooks and year, he entered a partnership with J.C. on programs for Chautauquas, political rallies Bontecou, a well-known temperance revivand temperance conventions from 1875 until alist from St. Joseph, Mo. For two years, the 1927. John Bunyan Herbert duo traveled the temperance circuit performBorn in Cambridge, Ohio, in 1852, Herbert ing their music, which was also published and was brought as a young child to Monmouth, where his distributed nationally. father established a grain-buying business. He attended While Herbert was making a name for himself on the nathe Monmouth public schools and entered Monmouth tional level, he was also active locally, directing the choir at College in 1865 at the age of 13, enrolling in the academical Second U.P. Church and starting a music publishing comcourse, which was roughly equivalent to the senior year of pany, with offices on East Broadway. In 1886, he became high school. The following year, he enrolled in the scientific director of the new Conservatory of Music at Monmouth course, with the intent of attending medical school and College and taught voice at the school. becoming a homeopathic physician like his father. In 1889, he married Rena Giddings, a student of his at After graduating from Monmouth College in 1869, the the conservatory who had graduated the previous year. 17-year-old entered Hahneman Medical College in ChiSettling in a small home on North Third Street, the couple cago. Three years later, he earned his medical degree and formed an artistic partnership—it was said that he nevestablished a homeopathic practice back in Monmouth. er published a song without running it by her first. On Despite having been a brilliant student with a promising occasion, she performed in his concerts as a guitarist. Her medical career ahead of him, Herbert’s heart was not in support was noticed by a reporter for the Monmouth Remedicine. At an early age, he had developed a love for muview, who wrote, “She enters into fullest sympathy with his sic—particularly choral music. He delighted in the sacred aspirations and his work.” music sung weekly at the Baptist church his family attendUnfortunately, the marriage lasted only 11 years. In 1899, ed in Monmouth, and also the popular music performed by Rena was diagnosed with a tumor. Traveling to Chicago traveling companies at Monmouth’s Union Hall. for an examination the following year, it was determined Herbert devoted every evening after work to the study of she needed to undergo an immediate operation. She didn’t
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MONMOUTHIANA
The frontispiece of one of Herbert’s most successful temperance songbooks, The Battle Cry, published in 1887 from his Monmouth office.
survive the procedure. In 1902, Herbert married again—to a classmate of Rena’s, Miss Fannie Graham, whose father and uncle had given the land for Monmouth College in 1860. The Grahams were staunch Presbyterians, and the romance between Herbert and Fannie likely grew from their love of sacred hymns and a shared commitment to the growing temperance movement. The Herberts moved into the Graham family home on South Eighth Street. Fannie spent much of her time reading the Bible and teaching Sunday School at Second U.P. Church across the street. Meanwhile, Herbert’s fame as a composer was being matched by his fame as a performer. The Herbert Male Quartet had been organized in 1880 with the assistance of another Monmouth College graduate, John W. Matthews, who sang first tenor, while Herbert was director and second tenor. The quartet achieved its breakthrough in 1887 when it sang at the National Prohibition Conference in Indianapolis. Among those in attendance were the Prohibition Party candidate for President, John St. John; WCTU President Francis Willard; and famed temperance author Samuel Dickey. After the program, Willard asked Herbert to sing “Call the Women to the Polls” before the upcoming women’s suffrage convention. Willard later recalled that after that performance “flags waved, wood cranks creaked, handkerchiefs fluttered amid shouts of ‘Hallalujah.’” When the WCTU needed to raise $800,000 to build its temple in Chicago, Francis Willard again contacted Herbert and asked him to set the poem “The Beautiful Temple” to music. The Herbert Quartet entertained political groups at prohibition conferences across the United States. In December
1887, they appeared at a conference in Chicago, performing “Arise Shine for Thy Light has Come,” “There’s a Rod above the Ocean and a Wind above the Wave,” and, of course, “Call the Women to the Polls.” A reporter for the Chicago Times said the quartet “was applauded at every line.” The following year, the quartet traveled to Peoria Springs, Mo., to perform in front of Chautauqua audiences. One of the largest crowds in that state’s history gathered to listen as U.S. Senator Francis Marion Cockrell and others spoke on temperance. The quartet opened in front of an audience of 12,000, singing a medley of their most popular songs. Herbert gave up his teaching position at Monmouth College in 1901 to devote more time to composing and publishing—of which he was prolific—with 19 songbooks and countless hymns and temperance songs to his credit. No other composition of Herbert’s attained anything like the popularity of his 1891 setting of “Away in a Manger.” While the tune is not the same as the one we recognize today, it was included in two popular songbooks in the early ’teens, with the tune mistakenly attributed to Martin Luther. By the 1930s, Herbert’s version of the Christmas hymn had attained widespread popularity and was sung nearly as often as the famous version by James R. Murray (who, incidentally, had also studied under George F. Root). In 1922, Monmouth College presented Dr. Herbert with an honorary degree. Five years later, on May 19, 1927, he died at the age of 75 following a bout with the flu. At his funeral, Monmouth College President T.H. McMichael spoke of Herbert’s lifelong devotion to music and several Presbyterian ministers at the service noted that his life had been marked by harmony and sincerity.
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RETROSPECTIVE
A PASSION FOR THE CLASSICS
‘C
lassicists value tradition— looking back and looking forward at the same time,” said Tom Sienkewicz, Monmouth’s Minnie Billings Capron Professor of Classics, who retired from full-time teaching at the end of the 2016-17 academic year.
By BARRY McNAMARA
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Maybe that explains why Sienkewicz had to delay an interview request for a few days until he returned from Provo, Utah, where he was scouting a location for a future meeting of The Classical Association of the Middle West and South (CAMWS), which is headquartered at Monmouth and which Sienkewicz serves as chief executive and financial officer. The year in question for the CAMWS meeting in Provo? 2023. While teaching a subject that, by definition, goes back 2,000 years or more, it’s that kind of forward thinking that made classics at Monmouth far more vibrant than anyone studying a “dead language” could imagine. “You need to teach advanced Latin to those who want to learn it, but I also wanted to make classics available to the broader student body,” said Sienkewicz, who joined Monmouth’s faculty in 1984. Very early on, Sienkewicz created a “triad” system for Latin, Greek and classics students, providing a significant enrollment boost in those disciplines. The increasing enrollments justified the addition of part-time help, then a full-time colleague and, later, with the help of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, an archaeologist. The idea behind the triad, Sienkewicz said, was to take a central subject such as mythology and teach it in a way that benefitted all students. Those studying Latin would be assigned mythology-related readings in that language, and the same for those studying Greek. “I wanted Monmouth students from all areas to feel welcome, to feel value and to complement other areas of study,” he said. “It’s important to emphasize the fact that I wasn’t just interested in producing lots of Latin teachers.” But that was an important part of Sienkewicz’s eye on the future, as he recognized a need in secondary education.
MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE
Although retired from teaching, Sienkewicz can still be found in his Wallace Hall office, supervising the diverse activities of The Classical Association of the Middle West and South.
Years back, he famously posed in Roman costume for a photo soliciting Latin teaching candidates. “I’m very pleased that so many students have gone on to teach Latin,” he said. “I’ve told students for years that if they can teach Latin, they’re guaranteed to have a job.” Also rewarding, he said, are the “academic grandchildren” who’ve attended Monmouth—students of Monmouth graduates who chose to follow their teachers’ footsteps and study classics at the College with Sienkewicz. While making the classics accessible, Sienkewicz went a step further. He provided near-annual opportunities for his students to literally reach and out touch ancient history on trips to such countries as Italy, Greece, Spain, France, England and Turkey. “I tried to have a trip every year,” said Sienkewicz, who noted a particularly exciting trip to Italy included a papal audience. “I had been to them before, so I knew right where the students should stand to interact with the Pope.” As a result, several were able to reach out and touch Pope Benedict XVI, shaking his hand. Hand in hand with organizing classics trips was Sienkewicz’s role in getting students from all academic disciplines out into the world during his role as the College’s off-campus study coordinator. He held the position for the better part of two decades, during which time he created and wrote basic guidelines and increased the
RETROSPECTIVE
I’m very pleased that so many students have gone on to teach Latin. I’ve told students for years that if they can teach Latin, they’re guaranteed to have a job. number of off-campus programs available to Monmouth students. “I have a great appreciation of the value of spending time in another culture,” said Sienkewicz. “For many students who went on the short trips and who studied for a semester abroad, it was their first time getting out of the country. They came back with different ways to look at the world.” Sienkewicz recalled running into a student on campus in the 1980s who had just returned from the ACM’s London/ Florence program. “This was a student who needed to be pushed hard, but also gently, insistently. He said, ‘Well, Professor Sienkewicz, I came back without a penny to my name, but it was worth every penny.’” Looking a little further back in time, Sienkewicz explained how his own interest in classics developed. “My high school required four years of Latin,” he said. “Greek was optional, but my father had attended the same high school and always talked enthusiastically about his study of Latin and Greek. From the very beginning, I was attracted to those languages which were challenging to learn, but also fun. I also enjoyed being with the other people who studied these languages. Classics students always bond together, and I felt from the beginning that I had an academic and intellectual home in classics. I always tried to create a similar welcoming environment for my students at Monmouth.” A review of Sienkewicz’s three-decade tenure in charge of classics would not be complete without mention of his involvement with professional organizations and the honors he received. The latter include Monmouth’s Hatch Academic Excellence Awards in all three categories for which the honor is presented—teaching, scholarship and service. In addition to serving as headquarters for CAMWS, Monmouth was the home of Eta Sigma Phi, the national classics honorary society, from 2003-11. Both distinctions brought a lot of attention to Monmouth College in the classical world. Sienkewicz received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Illinois Classical Conference and a prestigious Meritus Award from the American Classical League for his sustained and distinguished service to the classics profession. Said a colleague of the first award, “It is in the daily hard labor of teaching conjugations and epic poetry and ancient cultures that Professor Sienkewicz’s dedication to the
classics shines the brightest. He is an extraordinary and compassionate teacher-scholar, and for his zealous promotion of the classics in so many forums, he richly deserves this lifetime achievement award.” Sienkewicz praised former Monmouth classics professors Harold Ralston and Bernice Fox for laying the foundation before his arrival and for serving as inspirations. He credited Fox for encouraging him to participate in the Illinois Classical Conference, which led to connections with Latin teachers throughout the state who would send their students to Monmouth. And after looking back, Sienkewicz once more looked ahead. “Now it’s time for (Assistant Professor of Classics) Bob Simmons to make his own mark on classics at Monmouth,” he said. “I know the department is in good hands.”
For the time-being, Sienkewicz and his wife, Anne, will continue to live in Monmouth, but wherever they roam, their legacy will live on at the College through the annual Thomas J. and Anne W. Sienkewicz Lecture on Roman Archaeology, which debuted this fall.
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The student section in April Zorn Memorial Stadium revels in a Homecoming victory over archrival Knox. By BARRY McNAMARA
HOMECOMING 2017 Scots Celebrate their Special Place
Wefenstette ’07 speaks at the Alumni Impact Awards.
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Monmouth College alumni reminded the campus community that “the gift of presence” is what helps make their alma mater such a special place. That was the message they delivered during the College’s 2017 Homecoming Weekend, Nov. 3-5. In accepting her honor as the College’s Distinguished Young Alumnus—presented during the Nov. 3 Alumni Impact Awards ceremony—Kelli Wefenstette ’07 said the connections she built at Monmouth set her up for her success. “I loved talking to my professors—going into their office to talk about what we were reading or studying—and talking for an hour or more,” said Wefenstette, who was honored for her community development efforts in Chicago. “They never said they were too busy. They never told me to leave. I’m so appreciative for that gift of presence they provided, and I carry that with me today in my work.” Wefenstette was among more than 1,500 alumni and friends who returned to campus for the College’s 92nd Homecoming Weekend. Festivities included reunions for selected classes between 1977 and 2017, award ceremonies, the parade and crowning of royalty, and a celebration of the sesquicentennial of Quinby House, the College’s presidential residence.
MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE
And for the first time in more than 40 years, Homecoming included the annual Turkey Bowl football game between Monmouth and Knox College. The Fighting Scots won the 129th edition of the sixth-oldest college football game in the country, blowing out the Prairie Fire 52-10 at April Zorn Memorial Stadium. ‘Where Students Are First’ One of the award recipients who followed Wefenstette to the podium shared the professors’ side of the “gift of presence”—physics professor Chris Fasano, who received the Hatch Academic Excellence Award for Distinguished Teaching. “It’s a pleasure to be at a place where students are first,” said Fasano, who joined Monmouth’s faculty in 1998. “We want our students to be successful people, not just successful thinkers.” Fasano told the story of rocketry pioneer Fasano (center) Robert Goddard, who in the course of his is congratulated by President exhaustive research would often be alone in Clarence R. Wyatt the desert as dawn broke. and Dean David “Goddard would talk about morning in Timmerman.
HOMECOMING 2017
the desert, when the impossible not only seemed possible, but easy,” said Fasano. Alumni honored during Homecoming weekend have accomplished many things their 18-year-old selves might have deemed improbable—research on coastal wetlands (Eugene Turner ’67); a leadership role within the U.S. intelligence community (Susan Sandner Gibson ’81); informing and entertaining millions of radio listeners every week (Lon Helton ’72); and winning a national championship in track (Blake Boma ’05). The Monmouth Foundation A common thread award recipients repeated was the foundation laid at Monmouth College by its caring community of faculty, staff and fellow students. “Monmouth College gave me the ways, and the template, to move forward,” said Turner, an internationally recognized expert and researcher into coastal land loss. “Our collective well-being depends on learning to get together and communicate with clear thinking and an awakened heart. Monmouth College helped me understand that.” Gibson said that Monmouth gave her “curiosity and courage.” “Monmouth felt different from the other schools I visited,” said Gibson, who last year was appointed inspector general for the National Reconnaissance Office by President Obama. “It was a very supportive environment, and it encouraged curiosity. In turn, that curiosity builds courage to try even more new things.” Boma, who won his final collegiate race to capture the national championship in the 400-meter hurdles, said during his M Club Hall of Fame speech that he is “forever grateful” for the support he received at meets from his professors, and also that gift of presence from family members, who traveled all over the Midwest to watch him compete. “This is an incredible honor that I will always reflect on with great pride,” said an emotional Boma. Basketball and baseball star Steve Glasgow ’02, who grew up on campus as the son of Hall of Fame coach Terry Glasgow, shared Boma’s sentiment and said he was being inducted into “a hall of my heroes.” Helton, who is one of the best known voices in country music, said the opportunity for hands-on experiences set Monmouth apart. “You get to do things here,” said Helton, who has hosted Country Countdown USA since its inception in 1992. “You get to get your hands dirty and be involved and get things done. Every time my wife (Anne Buckhouse Helton ’73) and I come back here, we realize how important Monmouth was to our lives.” Also honored at award ceremonies during the weekend were Jeff Miller ’84, Distinguished Service Award; the Jones-Austin-Campbell families, Family of the Year; Nicole Auclair Baker ’04, M Club Hall of Fame; and three inductees into the Fraternity and Sorority Alumni Hall of Fame: Cathy Axline Williams ’50, Ralph Whiteman ’52 and Michael Cortina ’95.
Eugene Turner ’67
Susan Sandner Gibson ’81
Lon Helton ’72
Distinguished Alumnus
Hall of Achievement
Hall of Achievement
Jeff Miller ’84 Distinguished Service
M Club Hall of Fame: Steve Glasgow ’02 (left) Nicole Auclair Baker ’04 and Blake Boma ’05
Fraternity & Sorority Hall of Fame (Right) :
Ralph Whiteman ’52 (left), Lee McGaan ’69 (on behalf of Michael Cortina ’95) and Bill Axline ’58 (on behalf of Cathy Axline Williams ’50)
Family of the Year (Below):
Five generations of the Austin, Jones and Campbell families were honored.
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HOMECOMING PHOTO OPS
While some current students walked, members of the 40th reunion Class of 1977 were content to traverse the parade route resting on comfortable piles of straw.
Kappa Delta Alumnae Chapter president Roxanne Green ’81 (left) and Jolene Whisler ’94 enjoy a successful reunion of the organization, held in conjuncton with Homecoming Weekend.
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MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE
Hilary Hawkinson Stott and Natasha Kemmerling Russell toast their classmates at the 2007 10-year reunion gathering.
Thanks to a convincing 52-10 victory over Knox, the coveted Bronze Turkey remains at Monmouth for the 19th consecutive year.
HOMECOMING 2017
Senior tackle Devon Brooks may have an athletic future outside football.
Emeritus art professor Harlow Blum and his wife, Lila Blum ’61, were among the many special guests who attended the 150th anniversary celebration of Monmouth’s presidential residence, Quinby House.
Drum major Sam Dummer ’18 challenges a bandmate to a dueling Sousaphones competition.
In fine Spirit Shout tradition, the Friday night pep rally ends with a bang ... actually hundreds of them.
You can dress me in ridiculous Scots attire, but you can’t make me watch the game!
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Reunion Classes
CLASS OF 1987
Left Column (Bottom to top): Melinda Heikes-Seiler, Douglas Graham, Cynthia Barnes Harris, Nancy Pickett Hellstrom, Charlotte Stewart Ackerman and Eduardo Magalhaes. Middle Column: Lisa Pepper, Greg Simpson, Gail Cook Simpson, Denise Huntley Gaska, Harold Schirmer, Doug Liniger and James Hursh. Right Column: Tracy Jones Schaller, Phil Magid, David Taylor, Rick Owens, Mary Grable McLeod, Sam Morris, Ann Stites Cotter and Richard Gaska.
CLASS OF 1977
Left Column (Bottom to top): Douglas Hughes, Chris Kachiroubas, Jay Ragar, Audie Durnad, Klare Thompson, Kari Kittemaster, Emily Douglas Cardin, Kathrine Gannon Davis, Sue Haynes Nelson, Deborah Sterett, William Alexy, Bob Reedy, Marc Hummel, Brian Kimmel and Gary Carstens. Middle Column: Christy Snyder Leonard, Lucy Reinhard, Pam Ball Gustafson, Kathy Wolf Platt, Heather Fottler Mangian, Jana Darrah Cavanaugh and Deborah Roter Rakestraw. Right Column: Joe O’Brien, Kevin Kaihara, Malinda Snowden Arveson, Vicki Adrian Donalson, Jane Eisfeldt Ehrenhart, Reita Amy Kuster, Deb Forsaith, Gary Neudahl, Jim White, Ann Kaiser Hummel and William Lafayette.
CLASS OF 1982
Left Column (Bottom to top): Laura Biacchetti Barnicki, Ruth Ault Shimmin and Ann DeCoster Holst. Middle Column: Ed Tews and Debbie Kritsch Hinman. Right Column: Steve Tisor, Dan Mitchell, Karen Brock Geeves, Roger Osborne, Mary Alxander Corrigan, Nancy Ayers and John Kemp.
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CLASS OF 1992
CLASS OF 1997
(Left to to right): Sandy Nickel, Jason Johnson and Julie Certa-Wirtes.
Left Column (Bottom to top): Susan Boland and Tammy DeMay Ravel. Middle Column: Lori Carrell Hildebrand, Kris Wang Dare, Ellen Ewen Poulter and David Allison. Right Column: Dawn Pfeiffer Stoyanoff, Merideth Willett and Matt Schimmelpfennig.
HOMECOMING 2017
CLASS OF 2002
Left Column (Bottom to top): Marissa McLaren Rieder, Jodie Regnier Gasparino, Matt Coultrip, Jonathan Warren, Lisa Seemann Johnson, Victoria Kunz and Josh Zaffino. Middle Column: Robyn Gores White, Amanda Louck Campbell, Brett GeRue, Lana Raines Igou, Brianne Satorius, Jason Glenn and John Mueller. Right Column: Adam West, Becky Lang Doud, Jaime Jones Goin, Derek Rakoci, Chris Igou, Sean McManus and Ryan Johnson.
CLASS OF 2007
Left Column (Bottom to top): Erica Krutchen, Chadd Kaiser, Sarah Pickrel, Mollie Williams Harrod, Richard Harrod, Erin Luder Rempe, Sarah Braun, Stacia Logan DeCounter, Jessica Livermore Gordon, Sarah Zaleski Degarmo, Brandon Hurckes and Adam Dolk. Middle Column: John Gerrity, Kayla Witherell Hunter, Selina Goddard Shiflett, Keli Foster, Laura Orwig Ehle, Hilary Hawkinson Stott, Natasha Kemmerling Russell, Katy Morrison, Terri Tinucci Troll, Kelli Wefenstette, Corey White and Mike Woodrum. Right Column: William Dowling, Patrick LaPorta, Tony Russo, Ashley Gaul Hofman, Carissa Young Elliott, April Cook Mathews, Amy Liput Ritza, Amanda Workman Korthaus, Amy Gustaf Freitag, Amanda Havens Pilger, Sarah Watters Manecke, Paige Taylor Leath, Lindsay Andrews, Danny Morrison and Wade Brown.
CLASS OF 2012
Left Column (Bottom to top): Rachel Thiemann, Danielle Kita, Alicia Slaughterback Damhoff, Kendra Kuehl and Mark Perez. Middle Column: Jessica Avila-Cuevas, Gavin Halpin and Ky Claeys. Right Column: Alexander Woods, Kevin Ross, Jennifer Wheeler, Jessica Landrey and Kimberly Litchfield Bertucci.
CLASS OF 2017
(Left to to right): Kyle Bradbury, Miranda Jones, Trevor Oetting, Anna Ellison, Boni Worthington and Savannah Wade.
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CRUISE-CONTROL
SCOTSPORTS 30 
MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE
CHAMPIONS
After navigating tricky on- and off-ramps, Scots secure MWC title By Barry McNamara
O
nly the first and last contests of Monmouth’s regular football season involved drama. In between was an eight-game span in which the outcomes weren’t in doubt. In the first round of the NCAA playoffs, the Fighting Scots experienced a bit of both scenarios. Late in the second quarter, they found themselves in a wideopen—and closely contested—matchup with host Trine (Ind.) University. When junior DeAndre Wright scored on a 76-yard run with 2:08 left before halftime, the Scots went ahead 24-21. But Monmouth would not score again, and Trine expanded its 28-24 halftime lead with four more TDs to end Monmouth’s season with a 63-24 defeat. “Hats off to them and their coaching staff,” said head coach Chad Braun of Trine. “They have a nice ball club and that is the fastest team we’ve faced all year. The bottom line is that they were better than us today. We just haven’t seen speed like that all year. Once they got in the open, we were in trouble.” The Scots allowed more points to Trine than they had in their previous eight contests combined. From their third game of the season through the Midwest Conference championship tilt, the Fighting Scots defense surrendered just six points per game. That was the exact total achieved by St. Norbert in Monmouth’s thrilling 9-6 overtime triumph that secured the NCAA playoff berth. (Continued on page 32) The Scots celebrate after defeating St. Norbert to clinch a trip to the NCAA playoffs. Photo by Carly Bergerhouse ’20 WINTER 2018
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SCOTSPORTS
FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP Continued from page 31
Through four quarters, the score was tied 3-3, reminiscent of Monmouth’s famous 3-0 “Mud Bowl” game vs. Coe in 1986. The only “red zone” plays that St. Norbert ran inside Monmouth’s 20-yard line all game came in the extra session. The Green Knights had the ball first but managed just nine yards on three plays, settling for a 33-yard field goal. On the Scots’ turn in OT, Wright, whose 45-yard run in the fourth quarter set up the tying score, gained 14 yards on four carries, and junior quarterback Hayden Nelson hit senior Konnor O’Keefe on a 10-yard pass down to the 1-yard line. Nelson pushed the DeAndre Wright cuts throuh an opening in the Trine University defense. His 76-yard TD run in the ball in on the next play to give the Scots second quarter gave the Scots their last lead in the NCAA playoff game. their second straight MWC title. “St. Norbert’s defense is pretty good,” said When Nelson dropped back to pass, his most frequent Braun. “Part of it was field position. The offense had their target was another junior classmate, Yansay Williams, who backs to the wall quite a bit. They just hung in there like the caught 35 passes for 542 yards and 11 TDs. defense and kept plugging away. I’ve got to credit our guys. As strong as the offense was—and looks to be for next They just kept at it for four quarters and then overtime.” season—it was Monmouth’s defense that ranked among the That dramatic ending marked the first time Scots heroics national leaders. During the regular season, the Scots ranked had been needed in the fourth quarter or later since the No. 1 nationally in passing defense (107.4), No. 4 in total season opener. On that occasion, senior defensive back Micam defense (212.2) and No. 9 in scoring defense (10.3). Smith intercepted a Hope (Mich.) College pass near midfield Senior linebacker Kyle Schultz was named the MWC’s in the final minute, preserving a 27-20 victory. South Division MVP for defensive skill positions, and he was After a 36-13 loss to Wartburg (Iowa) College in their joined on the first team by junior defensive linemen Lamar second game of the season, the Scots went on a dominant Watson and Thomas Lesniewski and by Smith and senior run. While winning seven straight games—all by 26 points classmate Ryne Daum in the secondary. or more—Monmouth strung together three consecutive Three other defenders were named to the second team: shutouts. sophomore linebacker Clark Gaden; senior defensive lineman Meanwhile, the Scots posted 42 points or more in the Zach Hoekstra; and senior defensive back D.J. Frank. last five of those games, including a 42-7 win over Lake Sophomore Joe Krall was named the South Division Forest that clinched the MWC South Division title and a MVP for the offensive line, and other linemen who earned 52-10 victory the next week over Knox for Monmouth’s 19th all-league honors were seniors Devon Brooks and Logan consecutive Bronze Turkey triumph. Thiele, as well as O’Keefe at tight end. Wright, Williams and Making the Scots difficult to defend was the balance of sophomore kicker Joey Biel also made the South Division first their attack. The Scots averaged more than 200 yards per team. game rushing and just under 200 yards passing, while “When we started out this year, I wasn’t sure if we were limiting their opponents to roughly half those numbers. a conference championship team,” said Braun, whose When Nelson handed off, he most often gave the three-year record is 27-5. “It took our guys a while to ball to Wright, who topped 1,000 yards for the second get going and come together. They went through some straight season. Wright, who scored 14 touchdowns, tough times and stayed together, stayed the course. We’ll averaged 5.6 yards per carry and will enter his senior celebrate that conference championship again. It was a great season ranked No. 4 on the Scots’ all-time rushing accomplishment to win that one. I’m just proud of this group list. He’ll have a shot at catching Monmouth’s all-time and proud to be their head coach. I’m fortunate to coach a leading rusher, Trey Yocum ’14 . great group of guys like these young men.”
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MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE
SCOTSPORTS
PAULEY'S PATIENCE Hard work and determination paying off for distance runner
S
even years ago, Cooper Pauley ’18 completed his first official cross country season in Lanark, Ill., as a freshman at Eastland High School. The result? “I wasn’t very good,” said Pauley, who was originally drawn to the sport as a way to get in shape for the upcoming basketball season. Pauley improved throughout his high school career and turned “not very good” into what he called “average.” Still, his goal of reaching the state meet in either cross country or track during his high school career eluded him. So the Monmouth College cross country coaches were not exactly getting a “blue chip” recruit when Pauley arrived on campus in the fall of 2014. What the Fighting Scots got instead was the living embodiment
of the famous Zig Ziglar quotation: “Success occurs when opportunity meets preparation.” Pauley was one of just four men’s runners for the Scots that fall, which meant even more attention than usual from then-head coach Roger Haynes ’82, and from assistant Jon Welty ’12, who would take over the reins the following season. Assistant coach Brian Woodard ’97 has also made an impact on Pauley throughout his time at Monmouth. By the time Pauley’s cross country career concluded Nov. 11 at the Midwest Regional, he had run the seventh-best time for any Monmouth runner on any course, turning in a personal-best time of 25:07 at Saukie Golf Course in Rock Island, Ill. “Cooper worked extremely hard to get to where he is now and has improved in every facet of his training,” praised Welty. “I truly believe he epitomizes what Monmouth is all about. We’re all about developing, and we want you to leave here a much better
By BARRY McNAMARA
product than when you arrived. Cooper has shown that by approaching things the right way and doing everything he could day in and day out that you can achieve success.” Pauley realized he might be onto something in the spring of his freshman year when he had a solid showing at the Midwest Conference indoor meet. “Before I came here, I thought I’d be an OK college runner,” said Pauley, a wellness administration major. “My eyes were really opened my freshman year in track, when I scored at the conference meet in both the 5K and 3K.” But just when Pauley was building momentum, he had a sophomore slump. “It was a very rough year,” he said. “I’d never had any setbacks before, but I struggled with an iron deficiency and with some injuries. Mentally, I had to pull myself out of it. But it made me stronger. I had to go about my mental approach in a different way.” (Continued on page 34) When not competing, Pauley (left, shown with teammate Tate Heiple ’19) spends hours in training on the solitary country roads surrounding Monmouth.
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SCOTSPORTS
One of the latest projects of the Fighting Scots Society is the Kane Varsity Room–a specially designed theater/ classroom in the lower level of the Huff Athletic Center where coaches and their teams can meet to review game video, discuss strategy and learn new plays. A major gift for the facility was provided by Dr. Sean Kane ’96 and family in honor of his father, Kelly Kane, head football coach from 1984-1999. Additional support came from members of the Fighting Scots Society.
COOPER PAULEY Continued from page 33
Entering his junior season, Pauley set a goal of lowering his 8K time to 26:30, and he was right around that mark at the MWC Championships with a fourth-place time of 26:33 that netted him his first all-league honor. His success carried over into track, where he made the podium as a third-place finisher in the 5K at the MWC indoor meet and placed third again outdoors in the 10K. As his senior year began, the momentum train was fully back on the rails, and Pauley cut his 8K time by more than 30 seconds at the MWC meet to again earn all-conference honors. But that success didn’t fully prepare him for what happened at his final collegiate cross country meet. “I was hoping to run 25:30,” said Pauley of the regional race. “It’s the hardest regional in the country, with 10 of the top 25 teams there, and the amount of good people running can push everybody along early. Plus, I knew it was a pretty flat course.”
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MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE
After the first part of the race, Pauley realized he was under his goal pace—way under. “It was kind of surreal,” he said. When Pauley crossed the finish line, he had lowered his personal best 8K time by nearly a minute, and only national steeplechase champion Zach Barr ’07, All-American Dan Schisler ’94 and three other Scots—Geoff Bird ’11, Clay Staley ’10 and Jake Barr ’13—have run faster times than Pauley’s 25:07 for that distance in school history. Now Pauley is turning his sights to his final track season, with goals of helping the Scots sweep the indoor and outdoor team titles and claiming an individual title of his own in the 10,000-meter run. “Back in high school, I never thought I’d even be running in college, so this has all been a great experience,” said Pauley. “I wouldn’t be here without the coaches. They laid the whole foundation. If you put in the work, you’re going to see results. They always make sure you’re ready, and they put you in the right position to run well when it gets time for the conference meet and regionals.”
SCOTSPORTS
FALL SPORTS SUMMARY WOMEN’S SOCCER
WOMEN’S GOLF
For the second time in program history, the Fighting Scots ended their season in the Midwest Conference championship game. The biggest victory in the Scots’ march to the four-team playoffs was a 2-1 overtime triumph at Lake Forest. Freshman Kacie Moran made the only goal of her rookie campaign a memorable one, scoring three minutes into OT. Monmouth edged host St. Norbert in penalty kicks in the MWC semi-final round, as freshman goalkeeper Kensey Arlt saved the Green Knights’ first two attempts. In the championship match, Monmouth fell 3-1 to Knox to end the season at 11-8-1. In the preseason, the Scots were picked to finish sixth in the league. The dramatic rise led to MWC Coach of the Year honors for second-year coach Nick Rizzo. Despite missing five games, sophomore Kara-Jade Gordon led the Scots with 13 goals, securing first-team all-conference and third team all-region honors. Picked to the second team was freshman midfielder Devin Cross. In all, Rizzo’s strong 2021 recruiting class netted seven freshmen who started double-digit games, including forward Hannah Kugler, who was second on the team with eight goals, tied with sophomore Jacie Reis.
The Scots were led by senior Carley Gonet in their final round at the Midwest Conference Championships, finishing fourth as a team, 32 strokes out of second. Gonet posted her best score in the final round with an 89, finishing with a three-day total of 273. Sophomore Haley Hoekstra capped her weekend with a fourth-place finish, posting scores of 79-89-91 to earn her second consecutive All-MWC honor. During the season, the Scots had plenty of highlights, including a low round of 338 when all five golfers broke 90. Hoekstra, who averaged 83.6 strokes for the season, broke the all-time single-round scoring record with a 76 at Monmouth’s Gibson Woods.
Kara-Jade Gordon ’20
Joanna Podosek ’18
CROSS COUNTRY Bolstered by their highest number of all-conference runners since their Midwest Conference championship in 2012, the Fighting Scots women placed third at the MWC meet at The Links Golf Course in Jacksonville, Ill. Led by senior Joanna Podosek and junior Caitlyn Allen, four women ran all-conference times. Podosek picked up back-to-back All-MWC honors after finishing fourth over the 6K course with a time of 22:28. Allen returned to all-league form after missing out on the award last season, placing seventh in 22:41. A pair of seniors earned their first all-conference awards with top 20 finishes. After missing the last two seasons, Stephanie Saey made a triumphant return, placing ninth in 22:54, while Kelci Foss placed 20th in 23:20. On the men’s side, Monmouth placed fifth. Senior Cooper Pauley finished his career with back-to-back all-conference races. His 8K time of 25:57 placed 10th.
WOMEN’S TENNIS In just her second year of tennis, senior Natalie Curtis brought home hardware from the Midwest Conference Championships. Playing at No. 6 singles, Curtis suffered a straight-set defeat in her first match but came back through the consolation bracket with two victories. For the season, Curtis was 7-7 in singles, and she also led the team in doubles wins with five, partnering with classmate Morgan Holle, who was 7-10 at No. 4 singles. Overall, the team was 4-13 in dual matches, placing seventh in the MWC standings.
MEN’S SOCCER The Fighting Scots stayed organized and played a stingy brand of defense in most contests but could not break through with enough scoring during a 3-13-2 season. In league play, the Scots were 2-5-2, with victories over Ripon and Lawrence. Junior Augustin
Augustin Miranda ’19 Miranda netted three of his teamhigh five goals in those two wins.
VOLLEYBALL Ten of the Fighting Scots’ matches went the five-set distance, but only two wound up in the win column as the team came tantalizingly close to improving on its 8-20 record. In MWC action, the Scots opened with a 3-2 victory over Beloit, but lost three other five-setters to fall short of a postseason berth. A trio of sophomores were among the team leaders, including Ashley Farris (231 kills), Carly Bergerhouse (517 digs) and Laura Dulee (649 assists and 31 aces). Junior Becca Dabrowski was solid all-around and led the Scots with 66 total blocks.
MEN’S WATER POLO The Fighting Scots won their final match of the season, led by their lone Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference all-league selection, junior Jake Hall, who was named to the second team. Hall put the Scots ahead for the final time in a match they eventually won 14-12 against Washington and Jefferson (Pa.) College. The Scots, who finished 2-13 on the year, had defeated the Presidents by the same score in the second match of the season.
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IN THE SCOTLIGHT
ERIC LANDRUM ’85 Inducted into psychology honorary society as an undergrad, he is now its president By BARRY McNAMARA
Before terms such as “student friendly” became popular in higher education, they were central to the liberal arts experience at Monmouth College. Those were among the reflections shared by Eric Landrum ’85, who returned to campus in November to speak with psychology students. A longtime psychology professor, Landrum is also president of Psi Chi, the international psychology honor society. He said he returned to Monmouth “to give back, and to tell students the success stories they can become with an education from Monmouth College.” “I’m pretty proud of this place, and I’m happy to be here,” said Landrum, who has taught for the last quarter-century at Boise State University. Landrum said the reason he got into higher education was because of three psychology professors he had as a Monmouth student—Bill Hastings, Charles Meliska and the late Dean Wright. “I saw three role models in front of a classroom Landrum recently returned to a Monmouth College psychology classroom, hoping to inspire the current generation of students just as he was inspired more than three every day and I wanted to be like them,” he said. decades ago. One of their models that Landrum tries to follow on the effects of caffeine on wheel running in rats, which is that “good professors prepare their students for the real world.” appeared in the well-respected journal Pharmacology, BioFor psychology chemistry, and Behavior. I have tried to model my interactions with students, one way “What I realize is that people (at Monmouth) were devotthat is achieved is students the way Monmouth’s psychology ed to students before the buzzwords of ‘active learning’ or with fewer multi‘student-friendly.’ ... I have tried to model my interactions faculty members did for me. ple-choice exams and more student with students the way Monmouth’s psychology faculty memERIC LANDRUM bers did for me,” he said. research, he said. Landrum was inducted into Psi Chi in 1983—at a ceremo“I remember going to local conferences like ILLOWA, where students at Monmouth College still go to today,” said ny held in Meliska’s home. He served as Monmouth’s chapter Landrum. “That faculty-student collaboration, when you’re president during his senior year and remained active during sitting one-on-one ... that interaction makes all the differ- his career, first while teaching at the University of Wisconence in the world. That’s what makes Monmouth a special sin-Platteville and then at Boise State. place.” An educational psychologist, Landrum interviews teachLandrum has published more than 20 books or book ers of psychology across the country while conducting chapters and close to 100 other publications during his professional career. His first publication was about research research on the scholarship of teaching and learning. “(Being president) is a huge honor, and it starts because of he conducted as a Monmouth student. In 1985 he, Meliska and a colleague at the University of Iowa published research opportunities I had here at Monmouth,” he said.
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ALUMNI NEWS
WE WELCOME NEWS AND PHOTOS related to your career, awards, reunions or travel with your Monmouth College friends, and any other information of interest to your classmates or alumni. We also welcome announcements and photos of alumni weddings and births, as well as alumni obituaries. Please see page 39 for submission guidelines.
1944
Ruth Oliver Larson of Arvada, Colo., entertained a roomful of sorority sisters of all ages with humorous and touching tales of her days at Monmouth College and her later experiences teaching school in Iowa, when she was asked to speak after receiving the Order of the Diamond Award for her 75-year membership in Alpha Xi Delta sorority on the sorority’s Founders Day in April. One of the sorority’s founders lived near the Monmouth campus, and Ruth recalled how she and her sisters often visited her for tea and advice. The event took place at the Lakewood Country Club in Lakewood, Colo.
1949
Mary Rinker Allaman of Kirkwood, Ill., celebrated her 90th birthday on Sept. 27, 2017. She and her husband have been married 66 years, and they have two children and three grandchildren. Allaman taught second grade in Biggsville, Ill., for 22 years.
1954
The Rev. Don Keller of Steilacoom, Wash., celebrated the 60th anniversary of his ordination in July. Keller served five churches before retiring and now attends Lakewood Presbyterian Church, where he leads a Sunday morning Bible study.
1955
John Romine of Farmington, N.M., was inducted into the San Juan Regional Medical Center’s Hall of Fame in 2016. For more than 30 years, he was an active member of the hospital’s medical staff. The orthopedic surgeon was chairman of the department of surgery in 1989 and chairman of the Administrative Affairs Committee the following two years.
1956
The Rev. Carolyn Copeland Cammenga of Grand Rapids, Mich., is retired from her full-time pastoral ministry, but she still preaches often. She also helps Arabic women learn English and teaches seminars on Islam and Christianity.
1958 1963 1967
Monmouth College recently welcomed to campus descendants of four brothers who graduated from the College more than 70 years ago. Visiting Monmouth for a Pogue family reunion were 16 cousins and spouses from seven states, walking in the footsteps of William ’30, Graham ’32, Lawrence ’36 and Eugene “Mac” ’45 Pogue. Among them were two of Mac’s children, Chuck Pogue ’61 and Nancy Pogue ’69.
1968 1971
REUNION
JUNE 7-10, 2018
55th
REUNION
JUNE 7-10, 2018
Wendell Shauman of Kirkwood, Ill., was interviewed by Voice of America for a story about U.S. trade agreements with foreign nations. The veteran agribusinessman said he is a proponent of opening up new markets and minimizing trade restrictions.
REUNION
JUNE 7-10, 2018
Carol Neal McCrery of Monmouth was recognized by a local TV station for “paying it forward” during her 29 years as director of the Strom Center, a vital source for Monmouth’s senior citizens. “There are so many people in need and so many programs which can help,” said McCrery. “We link those up.” Her nominator wrote about McCrery’s willingness to go “above and beyond” for seniors.
1973 1975
45th
REUNION
1976
McCRERY
JUNE 7-10, 2018
Bob Walkley, who completed his 14th season as head varsity boys’ soccer coach at Suffern (N.Y.) High School, was inducted into the New York State Boys Soccer Coaches Hall of Fame on Nov. 11. Over a 37-year career, Walkley has coached boys and girls at Nyack, Albertus Magnus and Suffern high schools and Clarkstown and Ramapo Valley soccer clubs. “(Bob was) the best player I coached, and the most willing to make sacrifices,” said former Monmouth College men’s soccer coach Bill Urban, who coached Walkley for two years. “He didn’t make many stats because I played him as sweeper, where he saved more goals than he could have made.”
source.
60th
50th
WALKLEY
Celeste Goetz Arnotti of Woodstock, Ga., is owner and executive director of Georgia Preferred Family Re-
Steve Vosburgh of Hoboken, N.J., has been named vice president of commercial resilient sales for flooring manufacturer Tarkett North America. In his new role, Vosburgh will be responsible for overall leadership of the commercial resilient sales business and strategy. Vosburgh, who holds a master of science degree in organizational development and leadership from Saint Joseph’s University, has focused his professional career in sales on products designed for the built environment, with nearly 30 years of experience in textiles, wallcoverings and commercial flooring.
VOSBURGH
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ALUMNI NEWS | CLASS NOTES
1978 1980
40th
REUNION
OCT. 5-7, 2018
Steve Russell of Winslow, Me., successfully fought off a challenge in the city’s Town Council election on Nov. 7. A member of the council since 1977, he serves as its chairman. He is a semi-retired organic dairy farmer.
1986
Ron Spaulding of Warren, N.J., has launched an independent record label with baseball Hall of Famer Frank Thomas. Their Liger Enterprises is a full-service global entertainment company offering a complete line of entertainment solutions for content creators. The first album release from Liger Enterprises will come from Grammy Award-nominated singer/ songwriter Kenny Lattimore.
1983 1988 1989
35th
REUNION
OCT. 5-7, 2018
30th
REUNION
OCT. 5-7, 2018
Andrea Berggren of Chicago is the lead content strategist for experience design at DigitasLBi. In 2013, she received her master of fine arts degree in writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
BYERS
SALAWAY
BUTCHER
1991
Chris Byers and Mike Salaway were inducted into the Monmouth-Roseville Education Foundation Hall of Achievement. They are the co-founders of Advanced Rehab and Sports Medicine, which now has eight clinics in downstate Illinois, including a location in Monmouth and one in Bloomington, where they both live.
1993 1994
25th
REUNION
OCT. 5-7, 2018
Jessica Butcher of Macomb, Ill., was named Western Illinois University’s Employee of the Year by the Council of Administrative Personnel. Butcher serves WIU as assistant to the vice president of student services and director of community relations. She was credited for being an “incredible resource” for students and going “above and beyond” to help students, as well as setting the standard for the town-gown relationship by also being a vital member of the Macomb community.
1997 1998
Heather McRell Stokes of Chatham, Ill., is in her 21st year as a special education teacher. 20th
REUNION
OCT. 5-7, 2018
Lynn Utter Halcomb of Monmouth has stepped down as varsity volleyball coach at Monmouth-Roseville High School. Halcomb, who led the Titans to a 27-9 record with the most wins in school history and a 7-1 mark in the conference, said her decision to leave the position was based on her daughter’s planning to play volleyball as a freshman next year. “It is hard enough to be a high school girl when your mom is not the volleyball coach,” she said. Halcomb coached for three years, compiling a record of 57-37. She will continue to serve as a special education teacher at the school.
2000 38
David George of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, recently earned a degree from the Graduate School of Bank-
MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE
Phi Delt Foundation names Bloomer senior vice president Stephen M. Bloomer ’83 has been named senior vice president of advancement for Phi Delta Theta Foundation. The foundation is the fundraising arm of Phi Delta Theta fraternity (also known as Phi Delt), founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Blo ome r, w ho w ill ser ve as a t hou g ht le a de r, coach and mentor to the foundation’s fundraising team, has been tasked with building a culture of philanthropy at all levels of the organization and helping the foundation complete its current $20 million campaign. After a 28-year career in the United States Army Engineer Corps, where he attained the rank of colonel, Bloomer returned to Monmouth College, where he served 10 years as a fundraiser, culminating in the role of vice president for development and college relations. Bloomer’s experience in developing young leaders includes having served as a member of Monmouth College’s Illinois Gamma Chapter Advisory Board for the last eight years, as a military officer and as a former Scoutmaster. ing at the University of Wisconsin.
2001
Christina Stob Cryer of St. Charles, Ill., was recently appointed president of the Women Investment Professional organization in Chicago. Cryer, who has 16 years of investment industry experience, is head of U.S. consultant relations for WisdomTree Asset Management. The outgoing president, Bonnie Stanfield, is the niece of Bill Goldsborough ’65, immediate past chair of the Monmouth College Board of Trustees.
2002
CRYER
Frank Clark has been appointed to the Dean’s Council for Advancement for the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. The council is a committee of volunteers created to advance the stature of the medical school by providing guidance, assistance, advocacy and philanthropic investment in support of the school’s strategic objectives.
ALUMNI NEWS | CLASS NOTES
Becky Lang Doud of Genoa City, Wis., is a math teacher at Grant Community High School in Fox Lake, Ill. Shelley Moreno of Tucson, Ariz., has been promoted to director of curriculum and instruction at Presidio High School. Kera Radke of Huntley, Ill., recently gained ownership of a family martial arts club in nearby Lake Zurich. Adam West has begun a new position as principal of Serena (Ill.) High School. Previously, West was assistant principal at Yorkville (Ill.) High School. He holds master’s degrees from two Illinois universities, Olivet Nazarene and Lewis.
2003 2005
15th
REUNION
OCT. 5-7, 2018
Katie Stitt Barreto is making a name for herself in the Chicagoland as a broker with RE/MAX Signature Homes. She transitioned to the career after a successful stint at Career Education Corporation, where she was national director of sales and managed more than 100 employees. Mark Luebker of Spring Hill, Tenn., is executive chef at Stoney River Steakhouse and Grill. Michael Oblinger of Coventry, Conn., has been named the senior associate athletic director for development at the University of Connecticut. Formerly the director of major gifts and the annual fund for the Tiger Foundation at Louisiana State University, he had been at LSU since 2010. Megan Soper of Knoxville, Ill., is a marketing analyst at Caterpillar.
2007
Jared Justus of Mackinaw, Ill., a project manager for a mechanical and utility contractor, decided to try his hand at politics earlier this year. Running for mayor of Mackinaw against a three-term incumbent, he garnered a respectable number of votes but came up short in the
Submission Guidelines Submit your news online at monmouthcollege. edu/alumni/updates, by email to alumni@ monmouthcollege.edu, or by mail to Monmouth College Magazine, Attn: Alumni Programs, 700 East Broadway, Monmouth IL 61462-1998. Digital photos should have a minimum resolution of 300 pixels per inch. Please include a photo caption with full names that clearly match faces, class years, date and location. We reserve the right to reject images for any reason, especially those with low resolution and those that require purchase from a photo gallery website. Submissions will be published at the discretion of the editors on a space-available basis.
election. Justus is also a member of the Mackinaw Recreation Board. Katie Taylor Paullin of Lexington, Ky., is a lecturer in the University of Kentucky’s mathematics department. In 2015, she earned her Ph.D. from St. Louis University. Paullin was recently inducted into the Mathematical Association of America’s Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching), a program for early career mathematicians. Jacob ’09 and Hillary Hawkinson Stott of Bristol, Ill., both recently started new professional positions. Hillary was hired as a science teacher at Yorkville High School, while Jacob is now a sales engineer at Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence, where he’s worked the past three years.
2008 2009
10th
REUNION
OCT. 5-7, 2018
Caitlin Bastiaans Short of Jacksonville, N.C., is the military education coordinator at the University of Maryland University College. She’s been selected to present at global conferences in Germany and Japan.
2010
Jen Koerner Trone of Galesburg, Ill., is an elementary teacher in the ROWVA district. In 2016, she received her master’s degree in elementary education from Western Illinois University.
OBLINGER
2012
Ben Olson is the store manager of the new location for Scott Equipment in Galesburg, Ill. The company offers outdoor power equipment and tools.
2013
5th
REUNION
OCT. 5-7, 2018
Arica Brazil of Hoffman Estates, Ill., is a national admission adviser for Colorado Technical University. She recently received a master’s degree in higher education from Kaplan University. Dan Reid of Jeffersonville, Ind., is the director of music and liturgy at The Catholic Community. He recently earned his master of divinity degree from Yale Divinity School. Meg Grzenia Tokars of Aurora, Ill., is a communications specialist for Chamberlain University.
2014
Zachary and Melinda Craddock Dixon were recently married and live in Braidwood, Ill. Melinda is assistant manager at Sprint By Air in nearby Morris. Kylie Eaton Smith of Elgin, Ill., is a teacher at Larkin High School.
2016
Bailey Roberts of Alexis, Ill., is a graphics production assistant at Alexis Fire Equipment.
Tanner Gillis of Jacksonville, Ill., and Jacob Patrick Marx ’17 of Springfield, Ill., are participants in the Illinois Legislative Internship program—Gillis with the Senate Democrats and Marx with the House Democrats.
2017
Former Fighting Scots quarterback Tanner Matlick of Aledo, Ill., has been signed to the Quad City Steamwheelers indoor football team, which begins its season in March. The Steamwheelers previously played in the arenafootball2 league from 2000-2009. The new franchise will play in a league called Champions Indoor Football.
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INTRODUCING OUR LEGACIES
The Next Chapter in the Continuing Scot Saga
KENNEDY
CHENAULT
Daughter of ult ’95 ney Chena Yvonne Gos
AHER ASHLYN M an Maher ’95 Dau
ghter of Se
Legacies Not Pictured:
WILL FOX Son of Kim
Buckert Fo x ’88
RYAN McK IR
DY Grandson of William ’55 and Carol B uhler Who well ’55
DEBRAND
EMMA HIL
Daughter of ’92 Hildebrand Lori Carrell
RAN
KACIE MO
e ’63 and hter of Dav Granddaug 5 ’6 d ol rn A ell Julie Caldw
EMILY KRU Sister of Bev
FFLER
EGER
erly Krueg
er ’14
AUSTIN P FAU Bro ther of Brian
P fau ’18
BAILEE OLSON
Daughter of Melissa Painter Olson ’98
JACK BARNETT
SAMANTHA ROBERTS
Grandson of Gary ’59 and M.J. Underwood Barnett ’59; Sister of Erin Barnett ’16
Sister of Bailey Roberts ’16
VANESSA SAVIGNANI
AUSTIN BARRY
Daughter of Lori Hart Cook ’94
RYAN DAWSON
Brother of Brianna Thompson ’15
BROOKE DECKER Sister of Drake Decker ’16
CONNER DEVILDER
Brother of McKenzie Devilder ’20
40
nn
Son of Stephen Morrill ’90
Daughter of Aaron Baker ’95
RILEY COOK
Sister of Ala
GRIFFIN MORRILL
MACKENZIE BAKER
Daughter of Leonard ’88 and Helena Echols Carlson ’86
ETTIN ALISON TR a Trettin ’16
Daughter of Lynn Barnett McVey ’83
Son of Craig Anderson ’91
CECELIA CARLSON
Daughter of er ’91 rstrom Loeffl Renee Sode
HANNAH McVEY
TUCKER ANDERSON
Brother of Sydney Barry ’20
E SARAH LO
ALEXANDR
A
WARFIELD Daughter of John ’89 an d Diane Sne llenberger War field ’8 9
KER JOSIE WEL e Welker ’16
COURTNEY EKLUND
TYLER HALSEY
MAX GAREY
GARRETT HOLMAN
Sister of Cassidy Murray ’08
di Sister of Bro
Brother of Marissa Halsey ’19 Son of Kirk Holman ’83; Brother of Austin Holman ’19
CRISTINA GODINA
SETH KING
MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE
Son of Jean
Sister of Francesca Savignani ’17
CLAYTON SCHULENBERG
ITT Y
Peters Wit
ty ’88
Brother of Madison Schulenberg ’18
KELSEY TROUTT
Sister of Kaitlyn Troutt ’19
Brother of Tanner Garey ’17 Sister of Maria Godina ’17
TH O M A S W
Brother of Austin King ’18
RYLEE MANN
Daughter of David ’95 and Elizabeth Doty Mann ’95
JACOB McCRERY
Son of Troy McCrery ’87; Brother of Zachary McCrery ’16 and Meghan McCrery ’20
ZACHARY VANCIL
Grandson of Barb Foster ’03
DALTON WILLETT
Brother of Bryce Willett ’16
COLTON WILLHARDT
Brother of Samantha Dennison Klein ’10
WEDDINGS
2002 Kate Pearce and Brandon Shaver
July 8, 2017
2007 Jacquie Ouart and Shawn Kendall
July 4, 2015
2008 Edward Jensen and Javier Angel
June 10, 2017
2009 Emily Demerath and James Graham ’10 2010 Noellen Brown and April Perry
July 1, 2017 December 21, 2016
2012 Julie Battcher and Charlie Sullivan
JULIE BATTCHER ’12 AND CHARLIE SULLIVAN (with Ring Bearer PIP)
July 9, 2016
2013 Meg Grzenia and Timothy Tokars
June 10, 2017
Nina Marini and Adam Hoste ’12
May 20, 2017
Mackinsey Marquith and David Milroy ’12
2014 Melinda Craddock and Zachary Dixon
Kylie Eaton and Ryan Smith
June 3, 2017 August 3, 2017 July 21, 2017
KATE PEARCE ’02 AND BRANDON SHAVER
NOELLEN BROWN ’10 AND APRIL PERRY
MAKINSEY MARQUITH ’13 AND DAVID MILROY ’12
EMILY DEMARATH ’09 AND JAMES GRAHAM ’10
NINA MARINI ’13 AND ADAM HOSTE ’12
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BIRTHS
2002
Meghan Roese Jackson and Lucas ’03 twin daughter and son, Charlotte Grace and Dayne Lucas October 1, 2016
2004 Lisa Park Boersma and Tim a son, Benjamin April 18, 2017 2005 Julie Ann Cahill McVey and Michael a daughter, Lucy Ann October 11, 2016 BENJAMIN BOERSMA
Megan Soper and Tim Krisher a daughter, Adeline Jane March 4, 2017
2006 Courtney and John Moore a daughter, Aria Noelle November 29, 2016
2007 Katie Taylor Paullin and Eric a son, Liam Roy April 16, 2017
Jaclyn Hennenfent Reedy and Ross a son, Elijah Robert June 21, 2017
2008 Jessica Thomas Atkins and Anthony a daughter, Emma Annmarie February 7, 2017
Krystal and Nick Carlson a son, Gideon Charles June 26, 2017
Karah Goetschius Hoffer and Erik a daughter, Makenna Marie February 7, 2017
Megan Clennon White and Corey ’07 a daughter, Olivia Ann May 9, 2017
2009 Hillary Leary Martin and Justin ’07 a son, Connor Lee April 3, 2017
Felicia Roberts Wachob and Glenn a daughter, Brynlynn Naomi August 8, 2016
2010 Kendra Catterton Hackett and Kevin a daughter, Maren Grace May 18, 2017
CONNOR LEE MARTIN
ARIA NOELLE MOORE
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MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE
BECKETT REID TRONE
OLIVIA ANN WHITE
LIAM ROY PAULLIN
2010 Gail Kuster Hahn and D.J. a son, Jordy Daniel January 21, 2017
Jennifer Koerner Trone and Matt a son, Beckett Reid June 28, 2017
2011 Cami Johnson Tapscott and Ryan ’10 a daughter, Aspen Marie March 8, 2017
Kristen Wyse Wagner and Craig a daughter, Opal Ellen September 9, 2017
2012 Lanae Hoffman Maloney and Alexander a son, Graham Gibson September 8, 2016 2013 Emily Evans Connerly and Danny ’11 a daughter, Charlotte Mari June 26, 2017
MAREN GRACE HACKETT
OPAL ELLEN WAGNER
CHARLOTTE MARI CONNERLY
JORDY DANIEL HAHN
ASPEN MARIE TAPSCOTT
CHARLOTTE AND DAYNE JACKSON (WITH BIG SISTER KINLEY)
BRYNLYNN NAOMI WACHOB
ADELINE JANE KRISHER
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OBITUARIES
1941
Mary Brownlie Hindman, 100, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, died Aug. 8, 2017. She attended Monmouth after enrolling at a business school in Peoria, Ill. During World War II, she worked in the engineering department of LaPlantChaute Manufacturing. Later, she worked as a secretary for 23 years at La Porte City (Iowa) Utilities.
1942
Ruth Trotter Hollis, 97, of Corydon, Ind., died Aug. 13, 2017. A member of Alpha Xi Delta, she graduated with a degree in chemistry and completed graduate studies at Indiana University Medical Center. She worked as a registered medical technologist in Indianapolis and then helped her husband, Walter Herbert “Doc” Hollis, build his private medical practice. She and “Doc” were married 71 years. She was also preceded in death by a brother, George Trotter ’47. Katherine Adams Nesteby, 96, of Lacey, Wash., died Nov. 18, 2016.
1943
Jean Kellogg Huston, 95, of Muncie, Ind., died April 22, 2016. She met her future husband, Robert Huston ’42, in a biology class lab and invited him to a Kappa Delta sorority dance. He reciprocated with an invitation to his Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity dance. During World War II, she traveled as a puppeteer, promoting dental health to school children. She attended Hartford (Conn.) Seminary, studying Christian education, and later completed a master’s degree in English education at Ball State University. She spent several years as a substitute teacher.
1945
Patricia Martin Lehrer, 94, of Atlanta, Ga., died May 26, 2017. She studied chemistry before graduating from Purdue University. Robert Smith, 94, of Quincy, Ill., died Oct. 22, 2017. He studied secondary education, then served in the Air Force during World War II. Smith was an automobile dealer. He
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was preceded in death by his wife, Charlotte Phillips Smith ’45.
1946
Martha Kniss Olson, 91, of Franklin, Ind., died March 10, 2016. She studied English and was a member of Kappa Delta. She was the sister of Sarah Kniss Stasen ’56 and the late Anne Kniss Lamprecht ’49.
1947
Martha Bell Blood, 91, of Irving, Texas, died Sept. 25, 2016. She graduated with a degree in history and was a member of Crimson Masque. She came to Monmouth from Little Rock, Ark.
1949
Robert “Tab” Talkin, 93, of Aledo, Ill., died Oct. 14, 2017. He attended Monmouth College on a Turnbull scholarship before entering officer training in 1943 through the Navy V-12 program at Illinois State University and Columbia (N.Y.) University. While attending ISU, he lettered in four major sports, served as captain of the track team and received honorable mention as All-American in basketball. He served two years of active duty in the Pacific Theater, including the Okinawa invasion. After discharge, he returned to Monmouth College, where he lettered in three sports and served as basketball captain as well as class president. Contacted by the Los Angeles Rams in 1947, he was unable to try out, due to his junior status. A number of injuries put an end to his hopes for a pro football career. He was inducted into the M Club Hall of Fame in 1993. Talkin taught high school and coached for more than two decades while also running a Tastee Freez franchise, which he owned for 41 years. He was a participant in weight lifting and body building most of his life and taught classes in judo. In recent years, he actively participated in state senior Olympics programs. He is survived by his wife, Gerry Barnett Talkin ’49.
1950
Robert Struthers, 89, of Lansing, Mich., died Oct. 9, 2017. He majored in chemistry and was a member of the football and track teams and Tau Kappa Epsilon. He worked in the
chemical industry for 13 years, including a position at the Mellon Institute of Industrial Chemistry in Pittsburgh, Pa. He then earned a master’s degree in school counseling and a doctorate in vocational rehabilitation, both from Michigan State University. Struthers worked with the State of Michigan Vocational Rehabilitation Service, assisting with or managing a number of state and national projects. Survivors include his wife of 64 years.
1951
Charles Anderson, 89, of Lancaster, Wis., died Nov. 23, 2016. He served in the Marine Corps and the Navy before enrolling at Monmouth, where he graduated with a degree in economics and was a member of the track and football teams and Sigma Phi Epsilon. He sold Fram auto filters in Indiana before purchasing a NAPA auto parts store in Lancaster, which he owned and operated until his retirement. He later owned a NAPA store in Platteville, Wis. Sarah Campbell, 88, of Clarinda, Iowa, died July 28, 2017. She graduated with a degree in English and was a member of Alpha Xi Delta. She was a teacher for many years, primarily of music. Her first teaching assignment was in Cairo, Egypt, where she also sang with the Cairo Opera. The Rev. Frank R. Churchill Jr., 88, of Industry, Pa., died Oct. 24, 2017. A psychology and Greek major, he completed his undergraduate education at Sterling (Kan.) College, before entering Pittsburgh Xenia Theological Seminary. He began his life of service with churches in Pittsburgh and northern Pennsylvania, moving on to provide spiritual leadership at Mill Creek Presbyterian Church, Hookstown, Pa., as a chaplain with Christians United of Beaver County, the Medical Center ofBeaver and the Geriatric Center of Beaver County. He retired as the stated supply of the First Presbyterian Church, Rochester, Pa. Elizabeth Moffat Cundiff, 87, of Atlanta, Ga., died Aug. 13, 2017. She graduated with a degree in business administration and was a member of the Dolphins and Kappa Kappa Gamma. Cundiff was proud of her Scottish herit a g e , f r e q ue nt l y
ALUMNI NEWS | OBITUARIES
IN MEMORIA M
Elwood Richard ’53 Elwood Richard, founder of natural products industry leader NOW Foods, died April 7, 2017, following a prolonged battle with mesothelioma. A chemistry major, Richard was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon and a cross country and track athlete. Following graduate studies in physical chemistry and biochemistry at Indiana University, he took over his late father’s protein supplement company. In 1962 Richard opened his first natural health food store, the Health House, and today the suburban Chicago retail chain, renamed The Fruitful Yield, operates 13 stores. In 1968 Richard founded NOW Foods. His brother Louis Richard ’55 would later join the company full-time, and the pair collaborated to start the National Nutritional Foods Association Standards Committee. When Richard retired as CEO in 2005, he remained involved in the business and the industry as NOW board of directors chair, and a member of the NOW Advocacy Team, the NOW Strategy Team and the NOW Environmental Team. He was also on the Managing Board of the Natural Health Research Institute, an organization he founded that is committed to informing consumers, scientists, the media, policymakers and legislators about scientific evidence on the usefulness and cost-effectiveness of diet, supplements and a healthy lifestyle to improve health and wellness. He was inducted into the New Hope Hall of Legends and was a recipient of the Natural Products Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the Nutrition Business Journal’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the NNFA Crusader Award, and most recently the American Herbal Products Association Visionary Award. Survivors include his wife, Betty Lashley Richard ’54, and his brother Louis ’55. He was preceded in death by a brother, William Richard ’59.
attending Highland games, and was also a member of Peachtree Presbyterian for more than 40 years. She was preceded in death by husband of 64 years. George Hartung, 89, of Tucson, Ariz., died June 6, 2017. He served in the Army during World War II, then attended Monmouth, where he majored in history and was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon. He completed a master’s degree at the University of Northern Colorado. Hartung taught U.S. history at Crystal Lake (Ill.) High School for many years. The Hon. Lewis D. Murphy, 88, of Monmouth, died Oct. 9, 2017. A member of Alpha Tau Omega, he studied at Monmouth for three years and completed his degree at Bradley (Ill.) University. Murphy served in the Air Force for four years, achieving the rank of staff sergeant. A graduate of Georgetown University Law School, he entered the Monmouth law
firm of Frederick Lauder ’18 and served as assistant attorney general for Warren and Mercer (Ill.) counties. He served as the government appeal agent for the local draft board, and was a member of the Warren County Library Board, Illinois State Bar Association, Illinois Judges Association and American Legion. In 1989, he was appointed associate judge for the Ninth Judicial Circuit, from which he retired in 1987. He was preceded in death by sisters Elizabeth Murphy Buck ’33, Dorothy Murphy Griffith ’35 and Genevieve Murphy Ralph ’40, among other siblings. Marjorie Peyton Brown Parson, 86, of Indianapolis, Ind., died Sept. 6, 2017. A member of Alpha Xi Delta and a preschool teacher, she was preceded in death by her first husband, Stan Brown ’50. Survivors include a granddaughter, Lydia Cayton ’14. Walker Robb Jr. of Bloomington, Ill., died Oct. 20, 2017. He graduated with degrees in
business and economics and was a member of Alpha Tau Omega and the Octopus Club. A second lieutenant for two years in the Army, Robb settled in Macomb, Ill., where he was active in the community. He was preceded in death by his wife of 55 years and a sister, Dorothy Robb Kiel ’54.
1952
Elizabeth Berry Atkins, 86, of Hannibal, Mo., died June 30, 2017. She studied elementary education and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma before completing a teaching degree at Quincy (Ill.) College. She taught grade school for eight years and later succeeded her late husband as president of Independent’s Service Company. Arthur Burke, 88, of Salt Lake City, Utah, died Aug. 16, 2017. The firstborn of triplet boys, Burke majored in economics at Monmouth and was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon. He served in the Army during World War II and the Korean War. He retired in 1983 as an executive with RR Donnelley. Dr. Lawrence Gray, 87, of The Villages, Fla., died Oct. 9, 2017. He graduated with a degree in biology and was a member of the football and track teams and Tau Kappa Epsilon. Gray also graduated from the University of Illinois College of Medicine, then served in the Navy as a flight surgeon. In 1960, he began a 35-year career as a family practice physician. Survivors include a son, Steven Gray ’80. Susan McDougall Kennedy, 87, died Oct. 23, 2017. An alumna of Pi Beta Phi, she was a schoolteacher in Chicago. Harold Renard of Galva, Ill,, died Sept. 22, 2017. Survivors include his wife, Joan Stuart Renard ’52.
1953
Joyce Keating Allison, 85, of Monmouth, died Aug. 2, 2017. A member of Pi Beta Phi, she studied at Monmouth for two years and completed her degree at Millikin (Ill.) University. She taught school in Monmouth, as well as in Urbana, Ill., and State College, Pa. She was preceded in in
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ALUMNI NEWS | OBITUARIES
1953— continued death by her husband of 57 years, emeritus professor of biology David Allison ’53, by her parents, who both attended Monmouth, and by a brother William Keating ’52. Survivors include a sister, Gwendolyn Keating Lowe ’49.
1954
Allan Bostwick, 84, of Anthem, Ariz., died Aug. 3, 2017. He followed his parents to Monmouth, where he participated in cross country and track. A physics major, he earned an MBA at Washington (Mo.) University and was a computer analyst for McDonald-Douglas Aircraft, Union Carbide and G.E./Honeywell. The avid runner is survived by a sister, Clare Ann Bostwick Albiero ’60. The Rev. Laurence Landers, 85, of Willow Springs, Ill., died July 21, 2017. He graduated with a degree in business administration and was a member of Icthus Club, Gospel Teams, Sigma Omicron Mu and Student Court. He also served as president of Independent Men’s Club. After being employed as an accountant in Chicago, he attended the Oberlin (Ohio) College graduate school of theology and Vanderbilt University before following in the footsteps of his father and pursuing a career in the ministry. He was preceded in death by his former wife, Jean Noton Landers ’55. Carol Bellmore Marsh, 85, of Huntley, Ill., died Sept. 4, 2017. She studied English and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Marsh worked in the real estate and publishing industries. Following retirement, she turned to a life of service and was active in her church. Survivors include her husband of 62 years.
1955
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Richard Vogt, 87, of Lenexa, Kan., died Aug. 13, 2017. He graduated with a degree in elementary education and was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon. Vogt was inducted into the College’s M Club Hall of Fame in 1992. A Marine Corps veteran, Vogt set many meet and
MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE
IN MEMORIA M
ReDonna Rodgers ’81 ReDonna Rodgers, 58, of Milwaukee, Wis., died Aug. 31, 2017, after a valiant battle with cancer. A sociology major at Monmouth, she served as prsident of the Black Action and Affairs Council. After graduating from Monmouth, she and a classmate moved to Milwaukee, where they worked for a Boys & Girls Club. In 1991, Rodgers co-founded the Center for Teaching Entrepreneurship. She served as executive director, and during the next 25 years 19,000 young people of color in Milwaukee would participate in one of the center’s programs, board president Douglas Kelley said. The Center’s mission is to expose youth ages 9-24 to personal and professional growth through programs and coaching in financial literacy and entrepreneurship. Since its creation, CTE has assisted more than 60 businesses run by owners under 24 years old, while serving youth through a variety of programs and initiatives. Part of the center’s curriculum was the idea that young people should be the “CEO of Me.” Rodgers taught young people self-management, customer service, record keeping and how to develop a business plan, among many other skills. “ReDonna was probably one in a trillion,” Kelley said. “The mold was broken when she was made.” Rodgers also served on the board of the Business and Economics Academy of Milwaukee and was active in the Wisconsin African American Women’s Center. In 2004, the Manhattan Institute of Public Policy in New York recognized Rodgers with its Social Entrepreneurship Award. She was the recipient of the 2010 Fellowship Open Community Leader Award, given to outstanding leaders focused on improving children’s lives in their community. The U.S. Small Business Administration named her a “Young Entrepreneur Champion” in 2014. field records for high and low hurdles during his four-year track career and was Midwest Conference champion in both events from 1953 through 1955. He also earned two letters in football. Survivors include his wife, Jackie Williams Vogt ’58.
Marlene Thoms Michaelsen of Sun City Center, Fla., died Aug. 6, 2017. An English major, she was a member of Alpha Xi Delta. A teacher for more than 20 years in Manatee County (Fla.), she was preceded in death by her husband, Thomas Michaelsen ’56.
1956
1957
Sara Strong Hirz, 82, of Farmington, Ill., died July 22, 2017. She graduated with a degree in elementary education and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma. Hirz taught for several years in Barrington, Ill., and in Hawaii and, in later years, was a librarian in the Farmington area. A gifted pianist and organist, she also participated in music at Monmouth College.
Mary Ann Ponder Ringgenberg, 82, of Newton, Iowa, died Aug. 18, 2017. She studied music. Ringgenberg worked on the floor of Iowa’s state legislature and also with an insurance company in Des Moines.
1958
Barbara Brand, 80, of Medford, Ore., died May 2, 2017. She graduated with a degree in religious studies. Susan Buck McBride of Vero Beach, Fla., died Sept. 12, 2017. She graduated with a degree in English and was a member of
ALUMNI NEWS | OBITUARIES
Kappa Kappa Gamma. McBride taught school in nearby Alexis and Biggsville, as well as in California. Ronald Smith of Scottsdale, Ariz., died May 7, 2017. He graduated with a degree in business administration and was a member of the basketball team and Theta Chi.
1960 1961
Jon Doeden of Chicago died June 2, 2017.
Judith Maclean Kirchhofer of Creve Couer, Mo., died Oct. 16, 2017. A member of Alpha Xi Delta, she graduated with a degree in English.
1963
Richard Askew of Raleigh, N.C., died June 6, 2013. He graduated with a degree in economics. Linda Grazulis Kubik of Naperville, Ill., died Oct. 24, 2015. Thomas Schmitz, 73, of Batavia, Ill., died July 24, 2013. He worked for Fermilab for 30 years and was an alderman for 12 years.
1964
Jane Niblock Hutchinson, 75, of Mission Viejo, Calif., died Sept. 19, 2017. She graduated with a degree in sociology and was a member of Kappa Delta. Her family had strong ties to Monmouth College, including her late father, Charles Niblock ’24, and her late sister, Marjorie Niblock ’58. She will be remembered for “adding a splash of imagination to all she touched.” Survivors include her husband, James Hutchinson ’64, a brother, John Niblock ’58, and a sister, Mary Niblock Crawford ’61.
1965
Charles McCulloch, 92, of Galesburg, Ill., died Oct. 23, 2017. He served in the Army during World War II and participated in the Battle of the Bulge and the D-Day invasion. McCulloch worked as military police and received numerous awards following his service time. He was a firefighter and a teacher and worked at a hardware store in Galesburg. McCulloch was preceded in death by his wife of 61 years
1966
Robert Johnson of Ingleside, Ill., died Aug. 24, 2017. He was a member of the football team and Alpha Tau Omega. He had a 40-year
career as a data processor in information technology. Survivors include his wife, Shaila Stanton Johnson ’66, and a son, Robert Johnson ’89.
1968
Kenneth Farrar, 71, of Castle Rock, Colo., died Aug. 31, 2017. A three-sport Fighting Scot athlete, Farrar was also a member of Alpha Tau Omega and the Octopus Club while completing a degree in business. After moving to Colorado, he was involved in ski area development projects and insurance and financial planning. Stephen Martin, 71, of Mount Wolf, Pa., died Oct. 18, 2017, after battling cancer. He graduated with a degree in history. Martin followed his father’s footsteps and worked for Deere & Company before pursuing other ventures, including haberdashery, family entertainment and dog sitting.
1974
Louise Ann Chavez Holle, 64, of Frankfort, Ill., died May 7, 2017. She graduated with a degree in mathematics and was a member of Pi Beta Phi. Survivors include a sister, Cynthia Chavez Marsan ’79. Patricia Butler Meyers of Crystal Lake, Ill., died June 25, 2017. A member of Pi Beta Phi, she completed her degree at Elmhurst (Ill.) College.
1977
Harry Becker, 62, of Thomson, Ill., died Sept. 4, 2017. He studied business administration and was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon. Survivors include a sister, Alice Becker ’76.
1983 July 5, 2017.
Carolyn Keith May, 70, of Queen Creek, Ariz., died Aug. 17, 2017, after a long battle with cancer. She studied sociology. Her passions included world travel and helping others through Visiting Angels.
1996
Edward “Bart” Mullen Jr. of Slingerlands, N.Y., died July 3, 2017. He graduated with a degree in business administration. Survivors include his wife of 50 years.
2007
Cynthia Goodell Van Hoozen, 38, of Memphis, Mo., died June 30, 2013, in a motorcycle accident. An elementary education major, she was an elementary school special needs teacher.
1969
James Bedford, 69, of Sherrard, Ill., died July 1, 2017. He graduated with a degree in Spanish, was in ROTC and was a member of the swim team. Bedford earned a master’s degree in education from St. Xavier (Ill.) University and held several positions in education in the Quad Cities area, including teaching high school Spanish and serving as an adjunct professor at Eastern Iowa Community College. Bedford also worked in sales for IBM, Sears and Montgomery Ward. Richard Beste, 69, of Plymouth, Minn., died Nov. 8, 2016. He graduated with a degree in history and was involved in ROTC. He was a first lieutenant in the Army and served in Vietnam.
1972
Julie Ann Buck Drije, 67, of Oskaloosa, Iowa, died Monday, Oct. 30, 2017. An education major, she completed her bachelor’s degree at Illinois State University, and taught elementary school for most of her career. Survivors include her husband of more than 45 years, Gregg Drije ’72.
Laverne Komperda Geloff, 56, of Cypress, Texas, died
Erica Negrete Conchas, 32, of Monmouth died Dec. 10, 2016. She graduated with a degree in international business. After starting a Mexican grocery and restaurant in Davenport, Iowa, she returned to Monmouth and worked five years at Wells Fargo Bank.
2018
David Montelongo, 21, of Newton, Kan., died Oct. 14, 2017. During his one year at Monmouth, he was a member of the swim team. He was completing his bachelor’s degree at Wichita State University at the time of his death.
FORMER TRUSTEE James Jacobsen, 82, of Chesterfield, Mo., died July 15, 2017. The retired vice chairman of clothing manufacturer Kellwood Company, he was a member of the College’s board of trustees for 23 years, serving on its finance and business affairs committee. Survivors include his wife, Dorothy Barrett Jacobsen ’57.
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THE LAST WORD
CELEBRATING THE SOUNDTRACK OF OUR LIVES
S
ince I was a kid with an older brother who worked in radio and an admiration for Dr. Johnny Fever of WKRP in Cincinnati, I have loved radio. For decades, radio has provided a soundtrack to not only my life, but our lives. I’m sure that most everyone can think of a moment where their day or mood was changed by hearing a certain song on the radio. That high school sweetheart you danced with to that song. The song that gets you fired up and ready for a workout (I don’t really have one of those, said the fat guy in the corner). The late great Tom Petty once said, “Music is probably the only real magic I have encountered in my life. There’s not some trick involved with it. It’s pure and it’s real. It moves, it heals, it communicates and does all these incredible things.” Radio is our source of this magic. A Hyundai commercial recently tapped into that joy with the driver in the commercial belting out “Sweet Caroline.” A song that I defy you to try not to sing along with when it comes over the radio. I even now have my 12-year-old daughter singing along. I remember the anticipation of the yearly countdown every January of the best songs of the last year. Recording songs off the radio in mix tapes so I could listen to them over and over again. Sure, I could have bought the tape or record, but give me a break—I was 14 and didn’t have a job. But the magic of music that radio brought us came with another bit a magic—the local DJ—that faceless friendly voice talking about the next event at the Moose Club or if I needed to grab an umbrella before leaving the house. In the new millennium, radio as a whole is at a crossroads. Corporate control of radio has removed much of the local flavor of radio. Large cross sections of the day are filled with programs coming from other cities or recorded by DJs that don’t even live in the community where the radio station broadcasts. This trend sees no sign of stopping. Recently the FCC removed the main studio rule, which required a station to operate a main studio in the area that the station serves. In the current corporate structure of radio groups, this rule
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CHRIS GOBLE
was cumbersome since most stations just feed network programming through an empty studio in the community to the transmitter. Music apps and smartphones have given people access to music wherever and whenever they want it. But all of those things can’t bring me what is missing—that local friendly voice telling me about my community. So where is local radio in many communities? College radio. Sean Lennon speaking to collegeradio.org said of college radio, “It’s the final frontier of real people versus the robot corporations. To me it’s the beating heart of American alternative music culture in a way, and it’s important.” College radio has always been a place for new and undiscovered artists to get air time and get discovered. But now, it can be the place for local radio. I grew up listening to and then one day working at a small AM station that was very local. The local community knew the people at the station and relied on them for local information and entertainment. In most cities today, the only place with local people making local decisions about music and programming is at the college radio station. So why does college radio matter? The answer is that we, the community, should matter. There needs to be someone there for us to turn to in times of joy, sorrow, danger and trouble. Someone who will give us the information and entertainment to send us through the day knowing what we need to know, and maybe—just maybe—with a song in our heart; that someone in many small communities is college radio. So in the words of the immortal Johnny Fever, “My fellow babies, college radio is giving you your musical and information prescription.” As you move up and down the dial, take a moment to listen to the future and check out your local college radio station or ours—WPFS—at 105.9 FM on your radio dial or on the TuneIn Radio App for your smart phone. (Let’s be serious. Would I end this without a shameless plug?) Chris Goble is a member of the Monmouth College communication studies faculty and a longtime adviser to WPFS radio and MCTV.
‘Our world is changing so incredibly fast, and you have to acclimate to it.’ “ Monmouth prepared me to accept changes and think about the positive impact those changes could have in my life and career. I’m grateful for the well-rounded business education I received at Monmouth and for the leadership roles I had in Pi Beta Phi. Because I was lucky to have such a great experience, I want the younger generations to have it, too. And I’m so proud of this campus. It’s an honor to continue to invest in it.” —Linda Siebrandt ’80 Contact Center Solutions Specialist ConvergeOne
NAMED TO HONOR THE COLLEGE’S FOUNDING YEAR , the 1853 Society recognizes donors who give a minimum of $1,000 annually. For more information about the society and how you can become a member, contact the Office of Development and College Relations at jtalbott@monmouthcollege.edu or 309-457-2319.
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