Monmouth College Magazine - Summer 2018

VOL 33 | NO 2 | SUMMER 2018

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

Illustration by Dusty Scott ’03

PRESIDENT Clarence R. Wyatt

VOL. 33 | NO. 2

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

SUMMER 2018

14 1968: WHAT LESSONS WERE LEARNED?

Fifty years later, memories and images from that pivotal year still resonate.

23 THE REWARDS OF SCHOLARSHIP

265 graduates enjoyed the fruits of their labors with solemnity and joy.

26 CELEBRATING OUR SENIORS

Meet some of the diverse and promising students who constitute the Class of ’18.

41 WITH STUDENTS AWAY, GOLDEN SCOTS PLAY

Returning alumni get to relive pleasures of college, but this time with no tests.

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 13 sports 34 alumni news 45 the last word 60 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

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 John Osterlund Vice President for Development and College Relations 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

REAPING THE REWARDS STUDENTS ARE AT THE CENTER OF WHAT MAKES MONMOUTH MEMORABLE

A

s you read this magazine, Lobie and I will be well into our

fifth year at the College, and those years have flown by. That time has been filled with many great rewards. New friends among the faculty and staff, alumni and trustees, and the people of the City of Monmouth. The opportunity to work with visionary trustees, dedicated faculty and staff, and generous alumni and friends to create an experience for our students even greater in impact and strength.

Without doubt, however, the most gratifying things that we get to do involve interactions with our students. They are why we are all engaged with the College—why we all work here, volunteer here, make our gifts here.

On those days when some meeting, conversation, or activity didn’t turn out just quite the way those of us on the faculty and staff might want, our students put it all in perspective. We cheer them on as they represent the College as athletes. We sit in Dahl Chapel and let their voices raised in song or the beautiful music flowing from their instruments lift our spirits. We support and cheer their intellectual achievements in the classroom, their leadership in campus and community service. Most of all, we take joy—and no small measure of satisfaction—in watching them grow as confident, caring, ambitious young people. Do they take a shaky step, make a wrong turn here and there? Of course, but Monmouth College provides a place where they can walk out on that tightrope called young adulthood, knowing that there are some 250 faculty and staff with a firm grip on the safety net.

All of our students, every class year, are special, but Lobie and I will confess that the Class of 2018 is particularly close to our hearts. We all came in together in the summer of 2014—trying to figure out this new, energizing, challenging community that we’d all just made our home. Over the four years, we came to know them through good times, as we watched their great talent and commitment on display every day. We came to know them through casual conversations or through the “Lemonade with Lobie” gatherings that Lobie has for our women students. And we came to know them through the tougher times, on those days of loss and disappointment.

Several members of the Class of 2018 are featured in this issue of the magazine. You will see why they are so special, and why we are confident that they, like those classes that came before them and those that will follow, will continue to make us all proud.

Dr. Clarence R. Wyatt President

2

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

CAMPUS NEWS

NEW QUARTERS FOR DEVELOPMENT AND COLLEGE RELATIONS Throughout Monmouth Colresulting spacious and modlege’s long history, the campus ern facility was dubbed “North has continually evolved to meet Complex.” current practical needs. OccaWhile its remote location sionally, circumstances have made the building less than ideal caused an office to move to some for interaction with students, distant spot, only to return years faculty and staff, North Complex later to its previous location. did possess an important strateSuch was the case this summer gic advantage. Located on a busy when two key departments reand expanding industrial corriturned to campus after a hiatus dor, directly across from a pork The Manor — Home to Alumni Relations of seven years. processing and refrigeration The offices of Development and plant, its real estate value was Alumni Relations, which in 2011 growing. When the right buyer “Being back on campus will only further emerged, the College would moved to North Complex, a former manufacturing plant located strengthen our connections to the larger be ready not only to realize a north of the Route 34 bypass, substantial profit on the propercampus community.” have relocated to “new” quarters. ty but also to relocate nearer to Alumni Relations now occupies campus.

The Manor, formerly an alumni guest house, while DevelLast fall, Fareway Stores, Inc., an Iowa-based grocery opment occupies the former Kappa Kappa Gamma house. chain, announced it was interested in being that buyer. The For Alumni Relations, there’s a sense of homecoming.

College began relocation plans, which included moving The Manor—originally acquired for the president’s home physical plant facilities to a in 1949—housed Development and College Relations from former funeral home and a 1980 until 1996. bus garage on North Main Although the former Kappa house has never previously St. Final moves were made in been used for offices, its convenience to campus is unlate June. questionable, being located directly across Broadway from The Manor, a fine brick Wallace Hall. home at 701 East Broadway, “Being back on campus will only further strengthen our was extensively renovated connections to the larger campus community,” said John by former vice president Osterlund, vice president for development and college for admission and college relations. “I like to say we are back in the action. Lookrelations Dick Valentine and ing across the street at Wallace Hall and seeing students his wife, who purchased it walking on campus is a constant reminder of why we are in the 1990s. In 2004, it was purchased by trustee Bonnie here—the guided growth of young people and the liberatBondurant Shaddock ’54, who presented it to the College to ing arts.” be used as a guest house.

The story behind the recent moves began in 2009, when The Development office, located at 903 East Broadway, Monmouth College purchased the vacant Equipco buildoccupies a Colonial Revival-style home dating to the 1890s. ing north of campus (formerly used to remanufacture soft Technically known as Sherrick Hall, it was named for a drink equipment) to house its physical plant shops. OrigiCollege trustee at the time of its purchase in 1948. During nally a Kmart store, the sprawling facility contained plenty its 70-year tenure, it has housed women students, faculty of unused space, even after the move. and, most recently, Kappa Kappa Gamma fraternity, which By 2011, Development and College Relations had outlast year moved into a larger house directly east. grown its quarters in what is today the admission building.

The Communications and Marketing office, which At the time, the only College property available for expanwas previously housed at North Complex, moved in 2016 sion was the former Equipco building, so College trade to a former residence adjacent to campus, at 621 East staff spent months renovating the space for offices. The Broadway.

The new home of the Office of Development

SUMMER 2018

3

CAMPUS NEWS

SWARMING WITH ACTIVITY Summer at the Educational Garden

T

here’s a lot of positive buzz around

the Monmouth College Educational Garden this summer. Although two of the crew members­—Daniel Johnson and Akbota Yergaliyeva—graduated in May, a colony of honeybees that helps pollinate the produce continues to expand.

That’s good news, considering reports in recent years of “colony collapse disorder” and other maladies affecting bee populations nationwide.

Established under the direction of educational studies professor Craig Vivian, the hive has been a popular addition to the garden, as has another hive at the College’s market farm, east of Monmouth.

“The beekeeping has been a unique opportunity,” said Johnson, a biology major. “I don’t know where I would’ve gotten that experience elsewhere.”

Johnson said having had the opportunity to work at the garden and farm helped him get established on campus.

Yergaliyeva had a similar experience, and she referred to the honey, specifically.

“I was a city girl from Kazakhstan,” said Yergaliyeva, who stayed in Monmouth this summer to work on a bee internship before starting graduate school at Kent State University. “I never dreamed I’d be covered in dirt in the middle of a field, in a place where there is more corn than people.”

Part of her culture shock was experiencing allergies, but some advice from Vivian helped her adjust.

“As soon as I started eating the honey, my body physically acclimated to this area,” said Yergaliyeva, a magna cum laude graduate who earned degrees in political science, international studies and French. “When my body acclimated, my mind acclimated to this area, as well, and I started digging in the soil, and I started digging around and collaborating with other people.”

English major Olivia Howey ’19 of Rasnov, Romania, has taken over from Yergaliyeva as summer manager of the garden and farm.

Pio returns to alma mater in new role Bobbi Swarts Pio has returned to her alma mater as an associate development officer. The 1992 graduate served as an admission representative and Annual Fund director while working at the College from 1993-99.

In her new role, Pio is “going out across the country, talking to alumni about different priorities on our campus. I’ll be re-engaging and reconnecting alumni with Monmouth.”

Both she and her husband, Chris Pio ’84, have served on the College’s Alumni Board.

“We have a really great network,” said Pio, who lives in nearby Galesburg. “We’ve stayed local through the years and have really been a point of contact for a lot of alumni.”

Pio hasn’t always lived in Galesburg. As a high school student, she moved there from Iowa, and she recalls desperately wanting to return

4

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

to the Hawkeye state when it came time for college.

“I had a deposit already in to the University of Northern Iowa,” she said. “Then my mom said, ‘Why don’t we check out that college in Monmouth?’ I went there kicking and screaming for my visit. But I remember being in front of Wallace Hall and looking up at the building. I thought to myself, ‘This is what college is supposed to look like.’”

A year after graduating from Monmouth with an accounting degree, Pio joined the office of admission.

“Working for Monmouth the first time around really cemented my relationship with the College,” said Pio. “It was an exciting time at the College, as we grew on the admission side from around 600 students to more than 1,000.”

Today, the first students Pio helped recruit to Monmouth “have hit 40,” she said. “I’m looking forward to reintroducing some of those ‘kids’ to the College.”

After starting a family that grew to three children, she went back to work, wearing several hats at the Galesburg Community Foundation, where she worked on behalf of nearly 100 non-profit organizations.

CAMPUS NEWS

OWEN TO LEAD KAPPA KAPPA GAMMA INTO ITS SESQUICENTENNIAL

F

or Gail Simpson Owen ’74, membership in Kappa Kappa Gamma was a life-changing experience.

That’s why as she becomes its national president, she is eager to help the women’s fraternity continue to be a source of empowerment for women.

“It is an honor to be in a position where I can help people look back at what women did in 1870 at Monmouth College, and then be able to look ahead toward where we need to go so we can continue to be a viable, important organization for women in their lives,” said Owen, who lives in Peoria, Ill. In June, Owen was elected president of the renowned women’s fraternity at its national convention, held in Denver.

Owen, who has been the organization’s vice president since 2016, will serve a two-year term, leading into Kappa’s 2020 sesquicentennial celebration. Kappa Kappa Gamma was founded on Oct. 13, 1870, at Monmouth College, which was one of the earliest coeducational U.S. colleges.

Owen, who is the retired regional superintendent of schools for Mason, Tazewell and Woodford counties, said being a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma while a Monmouth student helped her find her professional calling.

“I would not have had the job I had, had it not been for Kappa and Monmouth,” said Owen, who is also a member of the Monmouth Board of Trustees. “For me, Monmouth and Kappa served as an incubator where I could find my voice and figure out who I was. Kappa was truly a home away from home for me. It was a place where fellow women

encouraged me and challenged me to attempt things I didn’t think I could do and also live a balanced life.”

Kappa Kappa Gamma has a total membership of more than 260,000 women, with 140 collegiate chapters in the United States and Canada and 307 alumnae associations worldwide.

Owen said that Kappa Kappa Gamma continues to honor its founders’ spirit by being an organization that empowers women and prepares them to be leaders.

“We’ve made enormous progress, especially in the areas of diversity and inclusion so that we can continue to meet the needs of women going forward,” Owen said. “We continue to raise the bar for women on campus and hopefully raise the bar for other Greek organizations on campus as well.”

One reason Owen is optimistic about the future of Kappa Kappa Gamma is because of the new members she meets.

“The one thing I’m struck by is the young women I meet— they have so inspired me,” said Owen. “Kappa is in really good shape because the next generation coming up is full of bright people with incredible passion, drive and phenomenal dreams. I’ve learned a lot from listening to them.”

Owen, center, at Kappa’s June national convention, poses with Shelby Adams ’19, left, president of Monmouth’s Alpha chapter, and Hannah Callahan ’20, the chapter’s vice president of standards.

— Duane Bonifer

A DAY FOR FUNDRAISING AND FUN

S

cots Day of Giving is catching on.

One year after the inaugural 2017 event raised $170,000 for Monmouth College, the 18-hour, 53-minute day of fundraising surged past its 2018 goal of $185,300.

By the end of the day, 667 alumni and friends had joined to give $217,082 to Monmouth.

“We crushed our dollar goal for the day,” said Monmouth Director of Development and Alumni Engagement Hannah Maher during a break from one of 19 Facebook Live interviews with members of the campus community. “There’s been such a great energy and excitement our alumni have given us throughout the day. Even though they’re not here on campus, that energy is palpable—you can feel it.”

Held on the anniversary of the College’s founding, the April 18 event attracted contributions from all 50 states. Funds raised support scholarships Maher interviews classics professor Bob Holschuh Simmons about Classics Day, one of and financial aid, along with special cocurricular initiatives and programs, the activities receiving Scots Day funding. He is joined by students Daniel Hintzke and Madison Baker. such as Classics Day. SUMMER 2018

5

CAMPUS NEWS

ENGLISH PROFESSOR NAMED INTERIM DEAN Veteran professor Mark Willhardt is Monmouth College’s interim dean and vice president of academic affairs.

Willhardt, who has taught English at Monmouth since 2000, replaces David M. Timmerman, who was named provost and chief academic officer of Carthage (Wis.) College in June.

“Mark will do an excellent job,” said President Clarence R. Wyatt. “He is a distinguished professor of English who has served in nearly every leadership role in faculty governance.”

Wyatt said that he hopes to

WILLHARDT

name a permanent dean and vice president of academic affairs in early 2019.

Willhardt said he looks

forward “to carrying on what Dean Timmerman began and advancing the projects in the time allowed.”

“Monmouth has a deep and powerful community of scholars who offer students a distinctive classroom experience, and our faculty build relationships with students that last across generations,” said Willhardt.

“Monmouth is a place that values teaching and the dissemination of knowledge.

Our graduates take that knowledge into the world, where they make a difference in their professions

and in their communities.”

Willhardt holds a bachelor’s degree from Macalester (Minn.) College, and a master’s degree and a doctorate from Rutgers University. Willhardt grew up in Monmouth, the son of Professor Emeritus of English Gary Willhardt ’59 and the late Jan Miller Willhardt ’60.

“With Mom’s and Dad’s history at the College, my connection with Monmouth goes beyond a job—it’s been the family business for a very long time,” he said.

MEET SARAH HENDERSON: Monmouth’s once and future librarian

O

nce upon a time, Sarah Henderson worked as access

services manager for Hewes Library. Now, after more than a decade as a librarian in North Dakota, she has returned to Monmouth, where in June she assumed the position of library director.

She succeeds Rick Sayre, who retired after 20 years in the position.

A graduate of Central (Iowa) College, Henderson earned her master of library and information science degree from Dominican (Ill.) University. Her library experience began in Indiana, where she worked in reference services at the University of Evansville and the University of Southern Indiana.

After working at Monmouth from 2004-2006, Henderson served two years as interim library director at Minot State (N.D.) University, where she oversaw a $2.4 million budget, supervising five librarians and five paraprofessionals. In 2007 she became Minot State’s access services librarian and in 2018 was named chair of the university’s Gordon B. Olson Library.

As she and her staff conduct short- and long-range planning in the coming months, Henderson said that students will always be at the center of their discussions. “The needs of faculty and staff will certainly be addressed,” she said, “but as an institution our ultimate priority must be what will make the library most useful and comfortable to the student.”

6

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

CAMPUS NEWS

SYMPOSIUM ENERGIZES SCIENTISTS, INSPIRES FUTURE SCIENTISTS

T

Noah Applegate ’18, a physics major, gives a presentation to visiting alumni scientists about using X-rays to study atomic arrangements in crystals.

hose who study science at monmouth college know the importance of energy—it’s part of

Einstein’s theory of relativity. And there was plenty of energy to be found at the College’s first Alumni Science Symposium, held in April.

“This first symposium provided us with an excellent model for connecting alumni, students and professors on campus,” said Associate Director of Alumni Relations Katie Shipp ’13.

“The energy and excitement about the research going on at Monmouth, as well as the success of our alumni, definitely showcases what a wonderful foundation the liberal arts are for the sciences.”

One of the alumni This symposium shows me that who returned for the there are outstanding students event was Karen Phinney ’84, who presented at Monmouth doing exciting a talk titled “Unraveling work. The tremendous facilities the Mysteries of Vitaand the marvelous equipment min D.” “I’m really enjoying available offer a lot of potential talking to the students,” for the future.” said Phinney, who is a ­—Dean Peterson ’64 group leader in the Biomolecular Measurement Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. “I meet students at the conferences I attend, but it’s wonderful to have a personal Monmouth connection with this group of students and to hear about the serious research they’re doing and how excited they are about it.”

Other Monmouth alumni who made presentations included: Franklin Johnson ’76, senior director of clinical pharmacology and pharmacokinetics at Amicus Therapeutics in Cranbury, N.J.; Ion Moraru ’99, an attorney who works as a patent scientist; and Ryne Sherman ’06, who recently joined Tulsa, Okla.-based Hogan Assessments as chief science officer.

Also back was Dean Peterson ’64, retired senior staff at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

“This symposium shows me that there are outstanding students at Monmouth doing exciting work,” he said. “The tremendous facilities and the marvelous equipment available offer a lot of potential for the future. I also think there are exciting opportunities for collaboration with some of the national laboratories.”

The two-day symposium marked the first time that Curt DeCaro ’05 had been inside the Center for Science

and Business, which opened in 2013.

“The lab space is just fantastic. I worked in H-T (Haldeman-Thiessen Science Center), and the difference is night and day,” said DeCaro, who teaches physics at Harper College in Palatine, Ill. “I didn’t expect the facilities to be this nice.”

By reconnecting with his physics professor, Chris Fasano, DeCaro said that Harper might wind up with some of the lightning detectors that are part of Fasano’s research through the National Science Foundation.

Another returning alumnus was Jeff Draves ’85, who later taught chemistry at Monmouth, as did his wife, Patricia Draves. Today, the Draveses are at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa, where Patricia is completing her first year as president, and Jeff is a chemistry professor.

Together, the Draveses delivered the symposium’s keynote speech, “E(A)ffecting Change: How Science, Liberal Arts, Leadership and Education Together Change the World.”

Jeff talked about the propensity of scientists to become “enthralled” with an idea or hypothesis, and how it’s important to be able to change that enthrallment if that’s what the data suggests.

Patricia told Monmouth’s science students that they’re on a good track.

“Less than one-fourth of the U.S. population has a bachelor’s degree, and those with degrees in science and problem-solving are an even smaller number,” she said. “You have a responsibility for effecting change and, as educators, we have a responsibility to provide citizens who can do that beyond our lifetime.”

And Patricia reminded the audience that a science degree from a liberal arts college is more than an entry into the job market.

“At liberal arts colleges, we’re not training students for their first job. We’re training them to be the leaders of the company,” she said.

— Barry McNamara

SUMMER 2018

7

ACADEMICS

Business and computer science student studying technology in Scotland

STEWART ATTENDS PRESTIGIOUS FULBRIGHT INSTITUTE

A

Monmouth College student leader is using a summer experience in Scotland to enhance his final two years in college and prepare for his professional career.

JEREN STEWART ’20

Stewart at this spring’s Honors Convocation.

8

was selected to participate in the Fulbright Scotland Summer Institute on Technology, Innovation and Creativity, July 23-Aug. 10. The academic and cultural program for U.S. students, hosted by the Glasgow School of Art and the University of Strathclyde, is one of the most prestigious and selective summer scholarship programs in the world.

“I actually found out I was selected on Scots Day (April 18),” said Stewart, who one week later was elected vice president of the Associated Students of Monmouth College, the governing arm of the student body, for the coming academic year.

The rigorous application process involved submitting a summary of involvements in college, three short essays, a full essay and a personal statement. A Skype interview was the final step.

In making its selections, the US-UK Fulbright Commission looks not only for academic excellence but also a focused application, a range of extracurricular and community activities, demonstrated ambassadorial skills, a desire to further the Fulbright program and a plan to give back to the recipient’s home country upon returning.

Stewart has a specific goal in mind to fulfill the final element.

“My goal is to have designed a virtual student center, something that has been a long-time demand at Monmouth by both current and past students,” he said. “This will be accompanied by a comprehensive plan to be presented to the administration, with the hope of evoking action.”

A business and accounting major, Stewart is looking

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

forward to learning more about his future career while also bringing back a taste of Scotland.

“I plan on growing my experience with technology to help me better transition into my computer science minor during my remaining time at Monmouth,” he said. “I also plan to grow in the field of visual arts and study the deep history of Scottish architecture to help fulfill my ultimate dream of starting a real estate business of my own.”

The University of Strathclyde received its Royal Charter in 1964 as the UK’s first technological university and has a powerful heritage of partnerships with business and industry. The Glasgow School of Art is one of Europe’s leading university-level institutions for visual creative disciplines.

Students, who are led by faculty from both institutions and senior figures from the private and public sectors, explore Scotland’s culture, history and creative and technological industries.

The institue covers all participant costs and provides participants with a distinctive support and cultural education program, including visa processing, a comprehensive pre-departure orientation, enrichment opportunities in country, a re-entry session and an opportunity to join the Fulbright alumni networks.

The US-UK Fulbright Commission was created by treaty in 1948 and is part of the Fulbright program conceived by Sen. J. William Fulbright to promote leadership, learning and empathy among nations through educational exchange.

— Barry McNamara

DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT Tia Van Hester assumed the newly created position of director of global engagement in March.

Previously the international education coordinator at Illinois Central College in Peoria, her duties include increasing student participation in off-campus study. “It is important to get outside of our bubble and see things that make us appreciate what we have more and understand that happiness can come in a multitude of ways,” she said. “For college students, this is the one time in their life that they can go and take six months off and travel.”

ACADEMICS

LECTURER DESCRIBES TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION IN AG

T

he driving force of change in science was at the heart of the College’s 24th Wendell Whiteman Memorial Lecture, delivered in April by former Monsanto executive Dennis Plummer ’73.

Plummer, who is a member of the Monmouth College Board of Trustees, spoke on “The Changing Food/Agriculture Landscape: Established Corporations Facing Technological Innovation by Startups and Venture Capitalists.”

Plummer has seen both sides of that subtitle, working 28 years for Monsanto, which grew into a $14 billion corporation during his time with the company. Today, he is co-founder and executive vice president of the fledgling company Arvegenix, which is developing the oilseed field pennycress, a crop that grows after corn is harvested in the fall and produces “oils with desirable properties.”

Plummer noted that Arvegenix is among a group of ag tech start-up companies in the Midwest which have emerged to focus on issues that can’t be easily addressed by larger ag corporations.

“Ten years ago, none of these would’ve existed,” he said.

“They would’ve been too much for the big companies to take on.”

Ag tech is more than how to grow the best corn and soybeans, or how to grow those crops the most efficiently, and Plummer said the field is full of niche opportunities.

“There’s some pretty exciting stuff out there,” said Plummer, citing a list of innovations such as vertical farms, robots, in-home waste recycling, algae-based wastewater treatment, gene-editing and smart refrigerators, as well as probiotics

and biologicals replacing pesticides.

In addition to Arvegenix, another ag tech start-up with a Monmouth tie is the Farmers Business Network, which got its start in Monmouth through a Monsanto connection and the assistance of Monmouth College faculty members.

“The Farmers Business Network was founded right here in Monmouth,” said Plummer. “These things can start anywhere. It is considered one of the biggest ag tech companies,” ranking fourth on a list of farm tech deals that Plummer showed.

The Whiteman Lecture annually brings prominent leaders of American business and industry to Monmouth.

It is named in memory of Wendell Whiteman, an alumnus of the College and long-time executive of Security Savings Bank in Monmouth.

It was founded by his sons, Don ’49, Ralph ’52 and Dick Whiteman ’64.

Plummer, left, with Whiteman Lecture cofounder Ralph Whiteman ’52.

First Global Public Health Grads

N

ine students made history in May, becoming the first graduates of Monmouth College’s Global Public Health Triad.

A minor that integrates the disciplines of kinesiology, modern languages and psychology, Monmouth’s Global Public Health Triad develops students’ knowledge of a variety of approaches to understanding and improving health, from an individual level to an international level.

Global Public Health students participate in either an internship focused on health or a study-abroad program focused on health, both of which deepen their understanding of specific issues and also provide preparation for a career or graduate school.

Graduating were: biology and Spanish major Sarah Mills; biopsychology majors Liz Hippen, Kelci Foss and Jayna Kozlowski; exercise science major Michaela Guthrie;

Left to right: Hillier, Hippen, Kozlowski, Guthrie, Thurston, Gerhardt, Kamurigi, Mills and Foss.

wellness administration major Dakota Hillier; psychology major Dainie Thurston; psychology and exercise science major Kylie Gerhardt; and sociology and anthropology major Cynthia Kamurigi.

SUMMER 2018

9

ACADEMICS

NEW ASIAN STUDIES MINOR INSPIRES MEMORABLE ACADEMIC TRIP TO JAPAN

A

Travelers pose in front of a five-story Buddhist pagoda at Kofuku-ji.

While visiting Nara, Monmouth students lunch on sushi, delivered by conveyor belt.

10

sia is home to 60 percent of the world’s population, and faculty member Michelle Damian is “thrilled” that Monmouth College now has an academic minor to study the region.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to be able to do this,” said Damian, an assistant professor of history who is coordinating the minor with communication studies professor Robert Hinck. “It’s a region of the world that can’t be ignored. ... There are so many international conferences held in Asia.

Everybody can benefit from at least a brief introduction to the topic.”

Damian and English professor David Wright recently returned from leading 11 Monmouth students on a nine-day trip to Japan. Damian, who lived in Japan for nine years, stayed an extra week to meet with colleagues and friends and conduct research for a book she’s writing about medieval Japanese maritime activities.

To prepare for the trip to Japan, students last spring took a class from Damian (“Art, Architecture and Authority in Classical Japan”) or one from Wright (“Travel Writing”).

“This was an academic trip, designed to immerse students deeply in a single significant region of Japan,” said Wright. “For the students in the travel-writing course, it was designed

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

to allow us to discover ourselves as travelers and writers as we discovered a place new to all of us. The students wrote a braided essay that reflected on this experience of discovery. Students also wrote an ekphrastic poem, a meditation on a work of art they experienced on the trip.”

By visiting temples, shrines, palaces and castles, Damian’s stu- Madeline Dohleman ’18 and Quinton Kaihara ’20 grind ink for a dents learned how the tracing of a Buddhist sutra at the Enryaku-ji monastary on Mount Hiel. clergy, courtiers and essential for every college student, warriors displayed their power through no matter their major,” said Kaihara. the “built environment”—the man“Exploring another country for the first made space in which people live, work time allowed me to experience a world and recreate in their daily lives. culture that was unlike our own AmerThe group spent most of its time ican culture.” exploring the ancient capital city of The trip was a type of homecoming Kyoto. They also had a day in Nara and for both Kaihara and Damian. an excursion to Mount Hiei to visit En“I’m half-Japanese, so this trip was ryaku-ji, site of the temple of the Tendai not only for course credit, but it has sect of Buddhism, founded in 788. been a dream since I was a child,” said Wright and Damian said two of the temple visits were highlights of the trip. Kaihara. “I’ve always wanted to go to Japan, and now that I have, I cannot “I won’t forget our visit to Sanwait to go back.” jūsangen-do temple in Kyoto, an ancient temple that is home to the Damian understands how Kaihara thousand-armed Kannon, a Buddhist feels. sculpture guarded by 1001 statues and “Japan is an integral part of me,” 28 amazing guardians,” said Wright. she said. “One of the things that I’ve “Being there was both calming and enjoyed about Japan as far back as my overwhelming at once.” home stay there when I was in high “While we were at Enryaku-ji, we did school is the ability to honor nature, a tracing of a Buddhist sutra (canonical even within a city environment. You scripture),” said Damian. “It’s a meditacan be in a massive city, and all of a tive experience, and the students really sudden you turn a corner, and there’s a seemed to get something out of it.” peaceful little shrine. You’re never far One of those students was Quinton from nature.”

Kaihara ’20 of Chicago.

“I learned that an open mind is

— Barry McNamara

ACADEMICS

GAINING PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVES IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

A

monmouth college capstone course was a learning

Advanced manufacturing is one of three areas on which Knox County experience not only for its stuand Galesburg officials have pegged dents but for the community leaders hopes for expanding economic of Galesburg, Ill., as well. opportunities. The other two areas Students in a 400-level Citare health care and transportation/ izenship course, “Politics and logistics. Johnson is working with Government in the Midwest,” Galesburg officials on future class worked with Galesburg officials projects that will address the latter to study how to bring more jobs in two issues. advanced manufacturing to the Anderson said he appreciated region. the opportunity to dive deeper into Taught by Robin Johnson ’80, advanced manufacturing and how to the class partnered with the Knox better develop it in Knox County.

County Area Partnership for EcoThree members of Johnson’s Citizenship class made a “The days of the smoky, dirty nomic Development (KCAPED) and presentation to the KCAPED board, based on the class’s factory full of unskilled labor are research. From left are seniors Kenzie Olson, Jayna the City of Galesburg, exploring gone—new-age manufacturing that Kozlowski and Brody Anderson. how the community can continue takes a skilled labor force is here,” its transition to a post-industrial he said.

“The problem is going to be convincing people that economy as well as overcome barriers. It was the fifth time going to work in a factory is OK again after we have driven one of Johnson’s classes has worked with the community. the narrative of needing to go to a four-year college or more The students submitted a written report to Galesburg officials and also made a presentation, titled “Barriers to and and become a white collar worker.”

The class changed the perspective of Jayna Best Practices for Building an Advanced Manu‘This story Kozlowski ’18. facturing Workforce in Galesburg.”

“The work Professor Johnson’s class performs “As a class, we toured Pegasus, an advanced of factories for KCAPED influences our strategy and our manufacturing facility in Galesburg, which really messaging points—this isn’t some research pashutting down opened my eyes to the industry and what was acper that sits on a shelf,” said KCAPED President tually involved,” said Kozlowski. “Before the tour, because of Ken Springer. “Time and again, these Monmouth I figured it would have been a dirty, loud place. I College students have demonstrated their abiliglobalization is also learned the need for trained workers in this ty to grasp complex, real-life issues, determine a industry, specifically in Galesburg. Pegasus wantcourse of action, and then advise our leadership too common in ed to implement a second shift, but there were in a concise and cogent manner.” enough workers in the area to fill the shift.” the Midwest.’ notJohnson’s As part of the class, the students read Boom, students measured the capacity of Bust, Exodus—a 2014 book that explores the Brody Anderson ’18 local schools to teach and promote advanced aftermath of Maytag’s decision to close its refrigmanufacturing. They also searched for innovaerator plant in Galesburg and what happened to tive ways that U.S. cities such as Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and the factory’s workers. On the final day of the class, the stuElkhorn, Wis., market advanced manufacturing opportudents met two of those workers, who shared their stories. nities to young people.

“What was most interesting and alarming was how “They produced a report that is directly used by our common Galesburg’s story was,” said student Brody Anpartners,” Johnson said. “As an added bonus, by consent of derson ’18 of Princeton, Ill. “We lost our major factory, KACPED, students can add this project experience to their Harper-Wyman, because of globalization in a similar way résumés if they wish.”

Galesburg lost Maytag. This story of factories shutting “Citizenship” is the senior year capstone course of Mondown because of globalization is too common in the Midmouth’s four-year Integrated Studies curriculum. west. This class made me aware that this problem is much larger than Princeton or Galesburg.”

— Barry McNamara SUMMER 2018

11

ACADEMICS

Odyssey in Indonesia

AN UNFORGETTABLE LEARNING EXPERIENCE

M

Godde takes a memorable ride on a rescue elephant.

12

onmouth college biology professor James Godde and the four students he recently led to Sumatra will never forget their three-week study-abroad trip to the Indonesian island, especially because of an animal that never forgets.

“I thought the elephants were definitely the highlight of the trip,” Brenna Lobb ’19 said of the May study-abroad experience. “They were loyal to their family. They were also very gentle for their size, something I noticed when we were feeding them.”

“The World Wildlife Foundation’s elephant reserve was astounding,” said Emma Johanns ’21. “We made treats for the elephants with machetes, which was hard work, but when I got to literally place the food into the mouths of elephants, it was completely worthwhile. They were immaculate—beauty beyond anything a picture could capture.

Being able to walk with them, hug their legs, look into their eyes and, especially, feel the 2-month-old baby wrapping its trunk around my hand, was beyond amazing.”

The Monmouth group rode rescue elephants—elephants in danger from local farmers.

“We rode them, washed them and fed them,” said Godde, who had ridden an elephant before. “It was a really awesome day for us.”

One of the students who rode an elephant was Jon Cunningham ’19.

“At Monmouth, Jon practically lives in the greenhouse,” said Godde, “so the greenhouse we visited in Tesso Nilo National Park was right up his alley. They grow native plants there, then replant them in the wild.”

Also participating in the trip was Shane Herkert ’20.

Part of the Sunda Islands, Sumatra is an Indonesian island in Southeast Asia. One of the trip’s purposes was to study deforestation there. The group also collected leeches for Godde’s ongoing study of the DNA found in leeches from exotic locales. To do that, the group had to access a more remote spot than Tesso Nilo, taking a 20-minute boat ride as no roads or paths led to the area.

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

“We collected most of our leeches at the other national park we visited, Rimbang Baling Wildlife Preserve,” said Godde.

“Right now, they’re sitting in a freezer in the (College’s) Center for Science and Business, waiting for our SOFIA project to start (in August). We’re going to do our analysis then, so we don’t have any answers yet about specific animals’ DNA.” Godde said the “holy grail” would be finding tiger DNA in one of the leeches.

For much of the trip, the Monmouth group was based in Pekanbaru, which is home to Riau University, where a professor who has conducted deforestation research works.

Students relax with Godde at Tanjung Pinang The Monmouth on the island of Bintan. From left, in back, are: group provided Emma Johanns, Brenna Lobb, Shane Herkert him additional and Jon Cunningham. data.

In addition to studying nature, the group also learned about Sumatra’s culture.

“Although there were some major cultural differences, the WWF employees and the villagers we stayed with were probably the most hospitable people I’ve ever met and lived with,” said Lobb. “They are very grateful even with the little they have and they don’t ever complain about their living conditions. I think our country could learn a lot from them.”

“Overall, I couldn’t be more thankful for getting to go on this trip,” said Johanns. “I’ve become good friends with those that were on my team. We shared some pretty unforgettable moments together. This trip was eye opening and life changing. I wouldn’t trade having gone to Sumatra for anything in the world. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I will truly cherish forever.”

— Barry McNamara

NEWSMAKERS

ASSOCIATE DEAN GERSICH RECOGNIZED FOR SERVICE Frank Gersich , professor of accounting and associate dean of academic affairs, has received the 2018 Hatch Award for Excellence in Service. A member of the faculty for 20 years with a doctorate in GERSICH education, Gersich applied for the associate position halfway through his tenure. He has launched and helped lead student support initiatives including the Bridge Program, the Second Start Program, Supplemental Instruction and Academic Peer Coaching.

OTT RECEIVES HATCH SCHOLARSHIP AWARD Dan Ott , associate professor of philosophy and religious studies, is the recipient of the 2018 Hatch Award for Distinguished Scholarship. The co-author of a book titled Christian Thought in America: A Brief History, he has also published five peer-reviewed articles and a book chapter. A recent article, OTT “Nonviolence and the Nightmare: King and Black Self-Defense,” was published in the American Journal of Theology and Philosophy.

KUPPINGER HELPS EDIT ANTHROPOLOGY READER Petra Kuppinger, professor of anthropology, is co-editor of the sixth edition of Urban Life: Readings in Urban Anthropology (Waveland Press 2018).

First published in 1980, Urban Life is KUPPINGER the oldest urban anthropology reader of its kind. The reader attempts to answer such questions as “What are their lives like in very different global and globalizing cities?” and “How can urban anthropologists study and understand the diverse and complex experiences of urban dwellers all over the globe?” One of the publication’s original editors asked Kuppinger three years ago if she would join him in editing the collection’s sixth edition.

Kuppinger updated the reader by removing a third of the fifth edition’s content and replacing it with new chapters, two of which she wrote herself, and another that she cowrote.

LOTZ RECOGNIZED FOR WORK WITH STUDENT-ATHLETES Stacy Lotz, professor of art, was pre-

sented with the Faculty Support Award at the 2018 Fighting Scots Award ceremony in May. “I brag and advocate that my student-athletes are some of the best students LOTZ that I work with in the classroom—majors or non-majors,” Lotz told the audience. “I want you to know that faculty do support you, and I look forward every semester to having athletes in my class, because you are truly a very special group of young people.” Lotz, who has chaired the art department, has been a member of the faculty for 23 years.

CARRIER IS INAUGURAL ‘DIFFERENCE MAKER’ Kim Carrier, a custodian at Monmouth College for 23 years, received the inaugural Difference Maker Award at this year’s Highlander Leadership Awards for the exemplary work she does to maintain the College’s McMichael Academic Hall. She’s also responsible for maintaining Wells CARRIER Theater, the Weeks House, and the Alpha Xi Delta and Pi Beta Phi houses.

The Difference Maker Award recognizes a Monmouth faculty or staff member who makes a difference in the lives of those they come into contact with on campus.

ENGLISH JOINS ADMISSION Kristen English was named associate vice president for admission in June. She comes to Monmouth from Newman University in Wichita, Kan., where she served as director of undergraduate admission, managing a team of 11 and overseeing all ENGLISH freshman recruitment and marketing efforts. Under her leadership, yield more than doubled over the past four years. She was previously senior assistant director of admissions at Merrimack (Mass.) College and also worked in the admission office at the University of Indianapolis. English holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and public relations from Butler University and a master’s degree in education from Merrimack College.

SPRING 2018

13

VIETNAM. RACIAL TENSIONS. ASSASSINATIONS. CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE. POLITICAL DEBATE. MARCHES AND RIOTS. SEX AND DRUGS. FIFTY YEARS AGO, THE NATION WAS UNDERGOING A MASSIVE CULTURAL SHIFT AS BABY BOOMERS BEGAN TO QUESTION THE POLICIES AND ACTIONS OF PREVIOUS GENERATIONS. SOME OF THIS UNREST SPILLED OVER ONTO COLLEGE CAMPUSES—EVEN RELATIVELY SHELTERED CAMPUSES LIKE MONMOUTH’S. BY ALL ACCOUNTS, 1968 WAS A WATERSHED YEAR, BUT WHAT WAS ITS LASTING IMPACT? WE ASKED SOME MONMOUTH PEOPLE WHO EXPERIENCED THE YEAR FIRST-HAND TO REFLECT ON THE QUESTION.

By BARRY McNAMARA / Illustrations by DUSTY SCOTT ’03

lessons from 14

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

verall, what you saw in Vietnam, the leaders being struck down, the police riots in Chicago— it was a terrible year,” said Bob Brink, a member of Monmouth College’s Class of 1968, speaking about the year he graduated. “Everything was spinning apart.”

go—that was the predominant area. After Dr. King’s assassination, riots broke out in 80 U.S. cities, including Chicago. We could see our city in flames. ... The riots that broke out after his death left a scar on America’s cities that took decades to heal.”

“It was a sad day when Martin Luther King was shot,” said John Schroeder ’68. “Over time, I got sadder about it, as I learned more about what he was trying to do.”

Two months later, on June 5, Robert Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles, moments after declaring victory in the Democratic presidential primary in California.

Monmouth’s academic calendar at the time had three terms, and students were in the middle of final exams.

“I was in Monmouth the night Robert Kennedy was shot,” said Brink. “I was following political events very Those leaders being struck down, which happened two closely. I remember thinking, ‘Oh, no, not again.’” months apart in the spring, are a jumping off point for a His “again” was in reference to President John F. Kentime that has been called “the year that shattered America.” nedy’s assassination in 1963.

Bill Trubeck ’68 remembers where he was when he “I thought (the assassinations) were sad, because that’s learned of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.’s not how you solve problems in politics,” said Joan Rezner assassination on April 4.

Gundersen ’68.

“I worked at the radio station in Monmouth, WVPC, One reason Gundersen said the assassinations and acwhich later became WMOI,” he said. “I remember getting companying political turmoil did not faze her was because the news on the assassination. It’s something I’ll never of the sheltered upbringing she experienced. forget. I remember thinking, ‘How can this happen in “What you have to understand is, Woodstock was in America? What’s going on?’ Regardless of your political 1969,” she said. “I could never have gotten the family car to persuasion, it was absolutely appalling.” go there…I just wasn’t in a lot of that stuff at the time.”

“It was an intense kind of time,” said Brink. “Back then, Someone who was in was Brink, and RFK’s death took a lot of the students at Monmouth were from Chicahis involvement to another level.

“One effect of 1968 was, I was personally so struck by Robert Kennedy and what he BRINK SCHROEDER brought to political discourse that it really kindled my interest in a career in government,” said Brink, who believes Kennedy would have won the Democratic nomination.

“I think he would have been a unique voice for social justice, as well as a person who could bring support from both minority communities and working-class white voters. The bottom line is, we’ll never know.”

Brink went to law school “solely so I could work on Capitol Hill. I tell people I’m a lawyer, but not much of one.”

One Monmouth student already based in TRUBECK GUNDERSEN

SUMMER 2018

15

Washington, D.C., was Won Yang Everett ’68, who came to Monmouth from the nation’s capital. Her father, Key Yang ’50, came from South Korea to study at Monmouth before embarking on a career at the Library of Congress, where he founded the Korean section and later oversaw the entire Asian section.

The Yangs were in the city when King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington in 1963.

A supporter of civil rights, Everett’s father attempted to attend the rally that day, but the scene was so crowded that he turned back.

“My father didn’t know he’d make such a stellar speech,” said Everett. “When Dr. King was assassinated, I was so devastated. I thought there’d be a setback in the civil rights movement, because he was such a charismatic leader. I didn’t know what other leader could step up and fill his shoes. He was such a champion for the poor and needy—he cared about all segments of society that had to face indignities. He believed if you were strong and powerful, you needed to look to help people.”

Everett was rattled by the assassinations of King and Kennedy, who were killed at ages 39 and 42, respectively.

“I was scared because of what the country was coming to because the leaders with the true, necessary ideals were dead.”

SERVICE OR CANADA Hanging over the gloom and despair of those two tragic events was the Vietnam War, a conflict which the United States could not seem to win or exit. By 1968, the inevitability of young men being sent halfway around the world to fight was at its highest level yet.

“In large part, the events of the world weren’t in this little corner of the globe,” said Gundersen while sitting inside the College’s Stockdale Center. “But I remember looking around one of my classes at the end of senior year, and I knew where a lot of the men were going to end up.”

“You were worried about your 2S status, and if it was going to become 1A,” said Brink.

“The men were getting ready for service or for Canada,” said Schroeder.

“That’s just the way it was.”

His fraternity brother and football teammate, Bob Mabry ’68, agreed.

“I was very well attuned to what was going on around us,” he said. “For a

16

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

EVERETT

MABRY half-hour or an hour every night, I’d watch the news and see what was going on. Most of the guys I was around were my football teammates, and we knew we were prime candidates (to be drafted). We knew that whatever it was that we were planning to do after graduation, we weren’t going to be able to do that. That was the biggest thing.”

Mabry recalled a Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity brother who was being groomed to take over the family business.

“John Stack (’65) was president of SAE when I joined,” he said. “But because of Vietnam, John didn’t know what was going to be on his table (after Monmouth). I didn’t know what was going to be on my table. It was a very tense period. We were nervous about our future.”

“I remember walking downtown (in Monmouth) one day, and there was this old boy who ran a Ford dealership,” said Schroeder. “We got to talking to him, talking about Vietnam and where we were likely headed, and I remember he said, ‘When you get older, you’ll feel better about yourself if you serve.’”

And Schroeder did serve, spending three years in the Army, although his acumen as an airplane mechanic made him so valuable to his unit in Germany that he didn’t see action in Vietnam.

“Oh, no question,” he said, when asked if the “old boy’s” advice all those years ago had been accurate. “I’m glad I went.”

Trubeck, who served in Vietnam as an Army captain in the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, feels the same.

“I felt an obligation to serve,” said Trubeck, who was

LESSONS FROM 1968

awarded the Bronze Star for Valor and the Army Commendation Medal. “A lot of people were running as far away as they could. There was a lot of controversy about the war, of course. But I served, I’m proud I did it, and I’d do it again.”

Over time, he said, military service has lost the stigma it had for many in 1968.

“The nice thing is, veterans are much more respected now than they were then.”

FROM LINEBACKER TO SEAL Well before his college graduation, Mabry began thinking about what his military service might look like.

“Just out of high school, I read some stories about SEAL teams (the Navy’s Sea, Air and Land teams),” he said. “I knew that if my number came up, that’s where I’d try to go.

It’s not easy to get there. I prepared myself to jump through all the hoops. And I did—I jumped through a lot of hoops.”

Before his service came a chance to do something every talented athlete dreams of—playing professionally.

A two-way all-conference football player at Monmouth, Mabry received an opportunity to participate in an NFL training camp through his Fighting Scots coach, Bill Reichow.

He was joined there by teammate Jeff Steinberger ’69.

“I graduated in 1968, and Vietnam was going hot and heavy,” said Mabry. “But I was going off to play football for the Minnesota Vikings. That’s where my focus was.”

Mabry had a good camp and was sent by the Vikings to Omaha, where he suited up as a linebacker for the Omaha Mustangs of the short-lived Continental Football League.

Two other players in the league that year were future NFL stars Kenny Stabler and Garo Yepremian.

“The next year, I was invited back to the Vikings’ camp, and I worked my butt off to be in shape for it,” he said. “But about that time, I got an offer I couldn’t refuse from the United States government. I had the option of going into the Navy, which is where I wanted to go. My thoughts were, if I’m going to fight, I want to fight with the best.”

Mabry recalled that his commanding officer training was “very, very difficult.”

“We started with about 100 guys, and we ended up with 18 or 19. From there, I went to Seal Team 1.”

Throughout his distinguished naval career, Mabry kept advancing through the ranks, serving as commodore of all SEAL teams on the West Coast. His final position was chief of staff of Special Operations Command.

“I retired happily after 28 years and fell into the arms of my wife, Sally,” he said. “I’ve never regretted it. I got to the

top of my field, and I enjoyed it immensely. I helped a lot of young men do some great things.”

While Brink’s plans included studying law and working in Washington, he knew it wouldn’t be a direct route, calling his “one year, 51 weeks and three days” in the Army, which included service in Vietnam, a “detour.”

He credits a Monmouth course he took in Japanese for making his military service less dangerous.

“In basic training, we took a language aptitude test. Because of my Asian-based language, I did very well on that test. So rather than being sent to the infantry or artillery, I went to language school and became an interrogator. When my kids asked, ‘What did you do in the war, Daddy?’ I said, ‘I typed.’”

Brink went on to have a successful career in politics, including 16 years in the Virginia House of Delegates (1998 to 2014). He resigned his post to work for Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, serving as his senior legislative adviser. Prior to being elected to Virginia’s legislature, Brink served 15 years as counsel to two congressional committees and four years as deputy assistant attorney general for legislative affairs at the U.S. Department of Justice.

“Having been at Monmouth, I was exposed to more of the heartland,” said Brink of his success in politics. “I think I have a better sense of people’s concerns—what they think, what they value.”

CHICAGO ERUPTS AGAIN The first half of 1968 had been devastating and tragic.

Then came the Democratic National Convention, held in late August in Chicago and remembered for police riots and displays of the political turbulence that characterized the year.

Gundersen’s sheltered upbringing had kept her relatively insulated from world events, but the turmoil hit close to home during the convention. Her brother was in the National Guard in Chicago, which was deployed during the riots.

“The scenes of clashes between the police and demonstrators became the indelible memory of that week,” said Brink.

Ultimately, Vice President Hubert Humphrey secured the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination (without, as Brink pointed out, entering any of the 15 Democratic

SUMMER 2018

17

primary elections), and he ran against Republican nominee Richard Nixon. Independent George Wallace also earned electoral votes. He remains the last third-party candidate to do so.

During a presentation he made on campus in June, Brink referred to 1968 as “the most consequential year in 20th century U.S. politics,” a year that “foreshadowed and shaped the politics that we’re living with today.”

IDEAS THAT DON’T BELONG Everett, who was the first student born outside the United States elected to Monmouth’s student government, recalled the politics of the time. While she served as secretary, one of her classmates, Dick Brown ’68, was president.

Everett said that Brown stood out as an active student on campus at a time when most Monmouth students were not.

“I remember walking back to our dorm with another student friend because two guys were picking us up at the dorm to go double-dating (canoeing on the Mississippi River), when I saw Dick and another student sitting on the hill as student protesters. They were having a peaceful ‘sitin’ against the Vietnam War. I wanted to join them but my friend said no because she said I can’t stand up the guy she set me up with on that double date, which was my first and only double date. She literally pulled my arm all the rest of the way to the dorm so I wouldn’t join them. I felt so bad because I caved. Dick and I had been so closely aligned in our thoughts.”

One person whom Everett didn’t agree with politically was a co-worker she met shortly after graduating from Monmouth.

“I met an engineer at the Naval Research Laboratory, and we would often sit together at lunch. He was well-educated and so nice, and I thought we had a similar way of thinking. One day, we were talking, and he told me he had voted for George Wallace for president. He asked me, ‘Does that send chills up and down your spine?’ And I said, ‘Yes,’ and never talked to him again.”

In his inaugural address as Alabama’s governor in 1963, Wallace had said, “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”

“When people think like Wallace

18

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

did, they forget about the big picture of human equality,” said Everett. “For too long, even through the ’60s, many blacks were disadvantaged because they were not allowed to advance in areas like school and jobs that could lift them out of the drudgery of their economic level. How would Wallace feel if he or his people were stopped from advancing or bettering themselves—if someone stopped him or his family from going to school with guns or with state troopers? How would they feel if that had been done to them all their life? When he ran, Wallace purported ideas that didn’t belong in a democracy, and more than that, were the antithesis of what humanity is all about.

You need to consider how to exist with each other, with no race taking away the rights of another race.”

As the Democratic National Convention came to an end on Aug. 29, an important date was approaching for Monmouth students. It was almost time to come to campus for the start of the 1968-69 school year.

“My wife (Helen Herriott Schroeder ’69) was a year behind me at Monmouth, so she was there another year,” said Schroeder. “I remember her telling me that the new students who came in that fall were totally different. It’s like that’s the year that the rest of the country finally came to Monmouth.”

“We really were the transitional group,” said Everett of the Class of ’68. “I remember as a freshman wearing white gloves to a tea at Quinby House. By junior year, we could wear pants and jeans to class. We started with a traditional curfew, but by the time we were seniors, we had no curfew. Everything changed, even everyday simple things like that.”

‘A REAL EYE-OPENER’ Although Gundersen had limited exposure to racism, Vietnam and political discord while in Monmouth, she saw more of the “tumultuous” world during a pair of eye-opening off-campus experiences.

One came during a College choral trip to Washington, D.C., and surrounding states, (Continued on page 21)

LESSONS FROM 1968

Angotti’s 1968 history-making assignment The only time Joe Angotti and Martin Luther King, Jr. ever met face-to-face, the result was a “very mediocre interview, said the Monmouth College distinguished visiting professor of journalism, who retired last year.

However, Angotti, who went on to become an Emmy-award winning senior vice president for NBC News, revealed that another connection he had with the famous civil rights leader was much more memorable, not only to him, but to ANGOTTI the nation, as well.

Angotti and his film editor were the first members of the media to discover what has since come to be known as King’s “Mountaintop” speech. It was delivered in Memphis on April 3, 1968, less than 24 hours before King was assassinated in the Tennessee city.

Angotti, who was in the early years of what would be a long career with NBC, explained the circumstances leading up to his discovery.

“NBC had media in Memphis due to the potentially explosive garbage collectors’ strike. I was on the night desk in Chicago, and I’d only been there two or three months. When King was killed, it happened after the evening news. The network decided to preempt its 9 p.m. program to provide special coverage. For most people, that 9 p.m. broadcast was the first time they’d heard that King had been killed.”

With a very limited amount of time, Angotti was assigned the task of going through NBC’s film of King’s speech the previous night in Memphis to search for anything that might be relevant for the special broadcast.

“We were getting to the end of the reel, and I thought I heard him say something about living a long life,”

Angotti recalled. “I said, ‘Wait a minute, play that again.’ And then I heard him talk about going to the mountaintop. I quickly transcribed it and faxed it to New York. Soon, I got a call back from (TV news innovator) Shad Northshield. He asked, ‘A re you sure that what you faxed us were Martin Luther King’s comments in Memphis last night?’ I said I was sure, and he said, ‘We’re going to lead our special tonight with that sound bite.’”

The final sentences of that speech have since become ingrained in United States sociopolitical history: “Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain.

And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I’m happy, tonight. I’m not

worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

Three years earlier, Angotti had the opportunity to personally interview King—in a Louisville church basement. King was in the city to visit his brother, A.D. Williams King, pastor of the Zion Baptist Church, who helped Angotti land the interview.

Angotti recalls broaching the subject of Communism related to King and his associates—an accusation that drew the attention of not only the media, but FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. He also asked King about his Nobel Peace Prize and about his relationship with his brother. Sadly, said Angotti, just 15 months following his brother’s death, A.D. Williams King was found dead in his pool of an apparent suicide.

Unlike the stirring video from April 3, 1968, that Angotti helped uncover, no tape remains of his 1965 interview with King.

—Barry McNamara

SUMMER 2018

19

Unraveling the lessons of a momentous year

‘

By President Clarence R. Wyatt

The challenges that we face today are part of a continuum that began in the 1960s. The faculty and staff of today help our students to grow strong in the face of change and challenge, just as the faculty and staff of that time cared for their students.’

“Earthrise,” Dec. 24, 1968 NASA image

20

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

1968.

For some of us (myself included), the mention of that year unleashes a torrent of memories. For others not of that vintage, it is some indecipherable bit of history about which their parents—or even grandparents— wax nostalgic.

In addition to being a child of the 1960s, I am also a student of the period, focusing on the war in Vietnam and its legacies. We tend to associate 1968 with turmoil and tragedy, and it certainly had a tremendous amount of both.

The assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, along with a divisive and sometimes violent presidential campaign, made many doubt the viability of our political system. Many served in a war which had an increasingly unclear purpose and distant endpoint. Others wrestled with whether their consciences allowed them to serve in a war in which they didn’t believe. Changes in cultural norms about clothing, music, drug use and sexual relations caused no end of discord, expressed around the dinner table and in the streets. Americans continued to confront the daunting legacy of race relations in our present and past. The American economy, which had been the “Eighth Wonder of the World” in the post-World War II period, was beginning to show signs of stagnation.

But with all this, 1968 was also a year of great achievement and creativity. Visual artists blurred the lines between genres and chose unconventional subject matter and perspectives. Composers like John Cage changed the landscape of classical music with such events as his “happenings,” in which the line between performer and audience, and beginning and end of performance, were erased. Rock music artists expanded beyond the limits of the four-piece band and cruising the drive-in to incorporate more sophisti-

cated composition and more challenging topics. Americans who had yet to realize the full promise of our society were making their voices heard. We became more conscious of the need to care for the natural environment.

As the Monmouth alumni of the Class of 1968 make clear in the lead article, through it all, they were supported and guided by the Monmouth College faculty and staff. These caring mentors helped find stability and direction in a time when everything seemed to be flying apart. By nurturing their intellectual curiosity, by encouraging the development of character and civic engagement, the College’s faculty and staff empowered the Class of 1968 to serve, lead and thrive.

The challenges that we face today are part of a continuum that began in the 1960s. The faculty and staff of today help our students to grow strong in the face of change and challenge, just as the faculty and staff of that time cared for their students. They help our students to understand that no matter what our differences of the moment might be, we are all members of the human family, and that together we can achieve mighty things.

On Christmas Eve 1968, that point was brought home most profoundly, as the crew of Apollo 8 broadcast “Earthrise” as they orbited the moon. For the first time in human history, we saw our beautiful blue-and-white marble of a planet hanging in the velvet darkness of space. For the first time we saw that this was home for us all, making clear that we are all in this together. Preparing the leaders who will help us realize the full meaning of that image is the privilege that all of us who love and serve with Monmouth College share.

Dr. Clarence R. Wyatt is a historian specializing in American politics, diplomacy, journalism and the Vietnam War. He is the author of the book Paper Soldiers: The American Press and the Vietnam War.

LESSONS FROM 1968

(Continued from page 18)

where she saw the two black Monmouth students in the group treated differently.

“We stopped somewhere for lunch—a franchise food place—and most of us placed our orders, but they didn’t take the orders of our black members. A young lady behind the counter asked, ‘Has anyone not been served?’ I said ‘Yes,’ and when I had her full attention, I said, ‘This man right here.’”

Gundersen also recalled living in Chicago as an upperclassman while she participated in the Associated Colleges of the Midwest’s Newberry Library program. Her roommates, she said, included one who moved in a boyfriend, one who was proud to say she was Carleton College’s first streaker and another who was president of the Students for a Democratic Society at Grinnell College.

“And then there was a drug dealer. It was all just so sleazy. It was a real eye-opener for me.”

After Monmouth, Gundersen lived as a guest in a home in Williamsburg, Va., where she attended graduate school.

“The (black) housekeeper was shocked I talked to him,” she said. “People were also shocked to see a white woman washing her own car.”

THE CONSUMER INFORMATION REVOLUTION When Schroeder thinks back to his time on campus, he remembers that Monmouth brought in several notable speakers and musicians, including economist John Kenneth Galbraith, the pop group The Mamas and The Papas, and comedian and activist Dick Gregory.

“Dick Gregory was anti-war, and I remember that one of the Quad Cities newspapers wrote a story about his appearance at Monmouth,” said Schroeder. “The article said he spoke to ‘a bunch of longhairs.’ I’ll never forget that. That’s not the people who were there—that’s not the way it was. That’s had an influence on me to this day and just made me really suspicious of what I read. That was ‘fake news’ before you ever heard of fake news. ...

I’m not from Missouri, but I’m more of a ‘show me’ guy.

My wife says I’m even too skeptical, but I don’t let a lot of things like (news reports) affect me that much.”

Related to fake news, said Schroeder, is the “24/7 news cycle,” something that college students of the 1960s did not have to navigate. But much like he could trace the year when Monmouth’s students began to change, Schroeder said 24/7 news has a starting date, too.

“When I was working as the chairman of the endowment for the United Methodist Church Conference, we did business with Morgan Stanley.

Every quarter, their reps would come in for a consult. There was one guy, we called him ‘The Silver Fox.’ He was always impeccably dressed, perfectly groomed. He’d always bring something of interest with him to the meeting, beyond the financial talk. One time, he shared with us a graph of how legislators had voted—their party line vs. voting independently. The graph went back to the early 1900s, and it had its ebbs and flows, like you might expect. But around the end of the 1970s, boom, the graph changed, and it became all about party lines. It coincided with the start of the 24/7 news cycle and the start of CNN.” Brink called that development “the consumer information revolution,” contrasting President Lyndon Johnson’s famous quotation, “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost the country”—made when there were only three major networks from which to get news—with the “gazillion” cable channels available now.

Although around-the-clock news was still a few years away, Brink pointed out that the Vietnam War was America’s “first living room war. This was the first time war, on an immediate basis, had come into our homes through TV. ... This brought an immediacy to the brutality of the war that had never been experienced by the American people before.”

In the nearly four decades since 24/7 news arrived, the cycle has picked up even more speed, partisan politics and talking heads abound, and it can feel as if the country is in a perpetual shouting match.

But Brink said that if 1968 taught us anything, it’s that the United States can persevere.

“We learned how resilient we are as a nation,” he said.

“We’re so polarized now, and people say it’s a dark time.

But I am confident and comfortable that we’ll come out of it OK in the long term.”

SUMMER 2018

21

RETIREMENTS

TUCKER HELPED PIONEER COMPUTER SCIENCE CURRICULUM

W

Tucker at her retirement reception with former students (from left) Burge, Maher, Peterson and Adams.

hen computer science professor Marta Tucker announced she was retiring this spring following a 35-year teaching career at Monmouth College, a replacement needed to be found. But when Tucker joined the faculty in 1983, she replaced no one—she was the first of her kind.

Computers arrived at the College a decade before Tucker, but she and former colleague Rich Cogswell were the first faculty hired to teach in the College’s newly approved computer science major. She came to Monmouth fresh off completing a master’s degree at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill. All academic disciplines experience change, but one would be hard-pressed to find a discipline that changed as much as computer science during Tucker’s tenure.

“When I was at the University of Illinois in 1969, I worked on a mainframe computer with vacuum tubing and punch cards,” said Tucker, who later transferred and completed her undergraduate degree in mathematics at Illinois State University.

Tucker’s career path didn’t take her immediately into higher education, as she spent nine years as a high school teacher.

Not far behind was the widespread use of the Internet, which Tucker said has “taken over. It’s changed the way we think about computing.”

With that change came several adjustments to the College’s computer science curriculum.

“The whole field of databases has changed," Tucker said. "Instead of computing on a PC, we do things by connecting to the Internet and working through some computer someplace else.”

As she looked back on her career,

which also included five years as associate dean of academic affairs, Tucker noted an important development outside of computer science, as well as something that has stayed the same.

“One of the things I’ve thought about is that for a while, I was the only female working in Haldeman-Thiessen (Science Center), not just the only female in my department,” she said. “So I really appreciate the number of female colleagues that have been added in my department, in my building and across campus.”

What has stayed the same is the special bond that takes place at Monmouth between faculty and students.

One of her former students, Sean Maher ’95, learned about her pending retirement. An employee of Caterpillar Inc., he spoke with other Monmouth graduates at Caterpillar—Melody White Peterson ’95, Otis Burge ’99 and Tim Adams ’89—and all four attended Tucker’s retirement reception in May.

COMMITTED COUPLE OVERSAW LIBRARY IMPROVEMENTS

T

wo familiar faces in Hewes Library for the past two decades retired together this summer. Rick Sayre, library director since 1998, and his wife, Mary Phillips, who became curator of college art collections in Rick Sayre and 2000, said their goodbyes to the campus community at the end of spring Mary Phillips semester.

Both witnessed and helped direct enormous improvements to the library and its holdings during their tenure.

Sayre helped facilitate the $4 million renovation of the library in 2003, which brought the 33-year-old building up to 21st-century standards with air conditioning, an electronic classroom, a coffeeshop, galleries, modern decor and, significantly, the opening of 32 windows in what were originally solid brick facades. In the first year after the renovation, annual library attendance doubled—eventually peaking at 236,000. The 300 professional journals available when he started have ballooned to 60,000 titles, thanks to online access.

Phillips, who helped protect the art collections during the renovation, oversaw the development of the College’s Len G. Everett Galleries, with a special focus on curating the permanent collection and the massive James Christie Shields ’49 Collection of Arts and Antiquities. An accomplished artist in her own right, she has helped select new pieces for the permanent collection and assisted with the mounting of special exhibits.

22

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

COMMENCEMENT WEEKEND CL ASS OF

2 0 1 8 B I D S FA R E W E L L

FOR VIDEOS AND MORE PHOTOS: monmouthcollege.edu/commencement

Obaa Yaa Atuahene, an international studies and French major, waves to her family as the Class of 2018 is officially introduced following presentation of diplomas.

AUTHOR CHALLENGES GRADS TO FIGHT BRAVELY

By Barry McNamara

T

O CONNECT WITH 265 FIGHTING SCOT GRADUATES at Monmouth College’s 161st Commencement Exercises on May 13, Commencement speaker Min Jin Lee could not draw upon a personal Scottish heritage. So the critically acclaimed author who was a 2017 National Book Award finalist for her second novel, Pachinko, drew upon her experience as a fighter instead.

Lee told the graduates that her path to becoming a celebrated author has not been an easy one.

“I have a three-ring binder full of rejection letters,” she said. “I thought about bringing it with me to show it to you, but I didn’t want to check an extra bag.”

Lee described other struggles, including moving to America from Seoul at age 7—not knowing English—and later battling liver cirrhosis. She said she could identify with issues the graduates might need to fight.

“Maybe you have been afraid to fight because you’ve lost too many times,” she said. “Maybe you’ve been afraid to fight because you’re ashamed of wanting to win. Maybe you’ve been afraid to fight because you think you appear dull next to those around you who are dazzling.”

A 2018 recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship for Fiction, Lee has been named a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at Harvard University for 2018-19, where she will

Min Jin Lee

(Continued on page 24)

SUMMER 2018

23

COMMENCEMENT Dan Evers (right) and Paul Engo enjoy Commencement speaker Min Jin Lee’s humor.

‘Class of 2018, you are powerful. You are Fighting Scots.’

(Continued from page 23)

Mallory Misener joins classmates in switching her tassel to the left side.

President Wyatt offers a message of Godspeed as the class prepares to depart.

Members of the Class of 2018 gather on the steps of Huff Athletic Center for a group photo before the ceremony.

24

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

research and write her third novel, American Hagwon.

Lee told the Monmouth graduates of being challenged to fight as a second-grade student at Public School No. 2 in East Elmhurst, N.Y. The challenger was a fourth-grade student named Geraldine. After school, Lee went to the designated spot “prepared to die.”

“She pushed me, and I swayed, but I stood my ground,” said Lee. “I didn’t fight back, and I didn’t cry. And then my older sister appeared, and she stood between Geraldine and me. My sister, who was also in fourth grade, was 100 times tougher than me, and she would’ve flattened Geraldine in half a minute. Geraldine left.”

When the Class of 2018 has moments of doubt, perhaps drawing upon Lee’s advice will have the effect of an older sister who magically appears from nowhere.

“I want to fight for you,” said Lee, emotions halting her speech. “Fighting and coming up short is worse than not fighting at all. Please show up. ... In my life, I’ve learned about the types of fighting. I’ve learned how to fight for the type of life you want.”

She said the Fighting Scot graduates can learn from fights won and fights lost.

“It can be good that you lost, because now you know more about yourself—you know what’s important and what’s not,” she said. “Who you are and what you want—store those as carefully as you store your diploma.”

Lee told the graduates they’d be strengthened in their battles by their “superpowers,” which they’ve displayed many times in the past—“the way you’ve helped your friends ... the

COMMENCEMENT

way you know how to love when you don’t have anything left.

Love requires attention and sacrifice. Without it, our lives lack purpose. We’re fighting for someone, and that purpose gives us great power.

“Class of 2018, you are powerful,” she said. “You are Fighting Scots.”

During the ceremony’s student address, Diana Rubi helped celebrate Mother’s Day by sharing nuggets of wisdom—in both Spanish and English—that her mother had taught her.

“Get your act together and get going” was how one Spanish phrase translated, and another was “nobody can take away your knowledge.” Other advice was, “Do it like you mean it—in everything you do, put forth your best effort” and to treat people cordially and with respect.

“Be good to people, regardless of who they are,” said Rubi.

“We are here to serve more than just ourselves.”

In her farewell address, class president Farida Mohammed shared her journey of coming to Monmouth College from Ghana, which she said had not been easy. But along the way, she learned many lessons.

“I challenged myself to be a part of other people’s stories,” said Mohammed, who said that Monmouth taught her to be independent, as well as a team player.

Seniors Sebastian Hernandez, Julius Bradsfield and Paul Engo prepare to salute their class with the Scottish toast, Slange var!, Gaelic for “Good health!”

The new Senior Gala tradition was introduced by President Wyatt and First Lady Lobie Stone.

Senior class president Farida Mohammed shares an emotional moment with her father, who, with her mother, flew from Ghana to attend the ceremony.

Saturday ceremonies Commencement weekend also included the Baccalaureate Service, Honor Walk and Senior Gala, all of which were held on Saturday. The Senior Gala featured a new tradition: a Senior Toast given by President Clarence R. Wyatt and First Lady Lobie Stone.

In her baccalaureate sermon, the Rev. Shannon Johnson Kershner, senior pastor of the Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, cited a verse from 2 Corinthians to encourage the graduating seniors.

Kershner used Paul’s “treasure in jars of clay” passage to stress the imperfections that are present in everyone.

Rather than dwelling on those imperfections, she said it’s OK to not have everything in life figured out, much like Kershner herself did not know what would come next when she graduated from college.

“I was proud, excited and completely and totally terrified that someone would point out I had absolutely no idea how to act as an adult in the real world,” said Kershner. She added that it’s permissible to be a “cracked pot—none of us has it all together.”

“Graduates, you are set free of being found out,” said Kershner. “It’s not solely up to you. God’s got you. We’re all going to leave here as cracked pots, but the Master Potter uses cracked pots. Just let the light shine from all our cracks.”

The service also featured song and dance, including performances by MC Melanin, the Colorful Voices of Praise Dancers and the Chorale.

Kayla Adams (second from left) was among dancers performing a call to praise at the Baccalaureate Service.

A highlight of the Senior Gala was the presentation of the class gift, which will fund the refurbishing of campus signs.

SUMMER 2018

25

Meet the Class of 2018

Stories by Barry McNamara

A look at some of our talented seniors who are ready to leave their mark on the world

CRAWFORD EXCELLED THROUGH QUIET LEADERSHIP

C

orrindia crawford

CORRINDIA CRAWFORD

26

was known as a “silent leader” among her Monmouth College peers.

The 2018 graduate didn’t make an acceptance speech when she was named this year’s Student Leader of the Year at the College, but that wasn’t because she didn’t have anything to say.

Rather, it was because Crawford was off campus experiencing the College’s program in Mérida, Mexico, where she was learning to become an even stronger person.

While studying and interning in Mexico, Crawford learned she’d been named Monmouth’s 2017-18 Student Leader of the Year at the College’s Highlander Leadership Awards.

“She’s what I call a silent leader,” said Farida Mohammed ’18, one of her classmates. “She’s not always visible on campus, but she’s always working behind the scenes to make sure people are happy and to change the lives of everyone around her.”

Crawford, who graduated with a degree in psychology, was recognized for being active in various roles in the College’s Office of Intercultural Life, helping lead the Colorful Voices of Praise gospel choir, and serving as an orientation leader for the New Beginnings program and international students.

“We get caught up in titles,” said Crawford, who is from Chicago. “I don’t care if I’m the president of this or an officer in that. Official titles aren’t important. I feel a leader is not one thing, one person. A leader is a group of people.”

Director of Multicultural Student Services Regina Bannan Johnson ’01 said it didn’t take long for people to discover Crawford’s leadership skills.

“Corrindia very quickly became an integral part of just about everything we did in the office her first year here—she also became a ‘go-to,’” said Johnson. “If there was a question about how something should be handled

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

on campus as far as her peers, or what we could do better, Corrindia was very quick to have valid and solid and very mature input on that.”

When Crawford observed that Colorful Voices of Praise didn’t have an officer to serve as an event planner, she stepped into the role. Since then, the organization has added that office to its constitution, and two other students have followed her in the role.

“She has an old soul, but it’s a beautiful old soul,” said Director of International Student Services Erika Buckley.

“She’s very dedicated, and she’s consistent. … She thinks about things in a way that’s more mature than some of her peers.”

Crawford considered Buckley to be her “surrogate mom” on campus, and she said her “surrogate dad” was Monmouth President Clarence Wyatt, in whose office she worked.

“The family feel at Monmouth is what got me through,” said Crawford. “We were a community, and I think of these people as my family.”

Crawford took a leave of absence from that family during her final semester to pursue an opportunity in Mexico that sharpened her skills in psychology and Spanish.

“I had an internship working at a school for children with special needs,” said Crawford. “It was actually perfect. It’s the type of work I requested.”

Crawford, whose personal “five-year plan” involves starting her own special needs recreation center, appreciated the opportunity to see how children were treated in Mexico.

“I was impressed by how independent the children were,” she said. “There was a mutual trust—the teachers trusted the children, and the children trusted the teachers. The school was more of a community, and that fosters growth and individual development of the child. Giving a child that space fosters trust and creativity.”

“Corrindia is an incredible student,” said Monmouth faculty member Tim Gaster, who directed the semester in Mérida. “She was met with many challenges—she confronted them with courage and determination and she overcame. Corrindia was brave, adventurous, intellectually curious, respectful and friendly. Her family should be very proud of her for all that she accomplished.”

ADAMS FOUND POWERFUL VOICE IN FORENSICS

A

faced a personal dilemma in the final round.

When the single word “fail” was revealed, Adams had a on the College’s forensics team in April by choice and decided to go for it. placing third in the nation “I talked about how speech fails to be in impromptu speaking inclusive,” said Adams. “I knew it wouldn’t at the National Forensics … it was the speech I win a national championship, but it was the Association National Championship speech I wanted to give for my last perforwanted to give for my Tournament in Oshkosh, Wis. mance. … It wasn’t a speech about winning.

What’s even more remarkable is last performance. … It It was a speech about voicing the anger that that the communication studies maI felt from so many other competitors. That jor from Chicago entered Monmouth wasn’t a speech about was my gift to all the people that speech as a forensics novice. winning.

It was a hurt.”

“The coolest thing for me is Adams was interested in debate as a that Anthony started with the speech about voicing freshman but gradually grew in forensics team as a freshman and had very and, eventually, impromptu speaking. the anger that I felt little experience,” said Monmouth “There’s nothing saying that you can’t coach and communication studies from so many other criticize the activity,” Adams said of iminstructor Rebecca Buel Young. promptu. “Quite frankly, the fact that you “Anthony’s had just a phenomenal competitors. That was can, from such an off-the-cuff form of amount of growth. It is a very wellmy gift to all the peodelivery, is to me the deserved achievement.” best part about Overall, Adams qualified for the ple that speech hurt. impromptu.”

NFA national meet in six events, Adams placing in the top 12 in persuasive will conspeaking and the top 24 in extempotinue to be part of raneous speaking to rank 23rd overall among nearly 500 the college forensics competitors in Oshkosh. scene, attending Buel Young said some speakers choose to master imMinnesota State promptu speaking by drawing upon a “bank of evidence” University this fall they compile. and helping coach “The other way is, you just do it,” she said. “It’s sort of its speech team like an athletic skill. The more you practice it, the better while completing a you get. So Anthony did a lot of practice impromptu master of fine arts in speaking alone and with me.” forensics. After those Like athletes who tinker with their mechanics, Adams three years are complete, experimented with impromptu. That led to increased said Adams, “It’s off to find a confidence. (college) program that’s willing to “At the end of my junior year, I felt like I was really have me.” having fun doing impromptu,” he said. “I was doing it my Adams was just one member of Monmouth’s growing way. … I was performing in a way that I thought matched and talented forensics program. At this spring’s Highthe way I think.”

Adams called the round of 48 speakers “a turning point lander Leadership Awards, the Monmouth forensics team received the Excellent Organization honor. … it dawned on me that I could do something special “Rebecca’s been an amazing coach,” Adams said. here.”

“She’s been an amazing teacher, she’s been an amazing Of the seven “prompts” that Adams and the other mentor. I don’t think you’ll find anyone who’s come impromptu speakers received, some were single words into contact with her who isn’t incredibly grateful to and others were ethical dilemmas. The speakers drew know her.” an ethical dilemma in the semifinal round, and Adams nthony adams capped off a stellar career

ANTHONY ADAMS

SUMMER 2018

27

Meet the CLASS OF 2018

RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES CHALLENGED SLOCUM

F

or sophia slocum , a study-abroad experience led to publication of her scholarly research.

“When I was in Costa Rica last year via the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, I studied employment opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities,” said Slocum, a biopsychology major.

Slocum’s research was published in the international journal of UNED (the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia) in Costa Rica.

Upon returning to Monmouth, Slocum continued her research.

SOPHIA “For my senior capstone SLOCUM research, I replicated my study in Monmouth, interviewing 14 people who work at Warren Achievement Industries,” she said. “There is very little research on this topic in the U.S. and virtually none for Latin America. I’ve also found that the research that does exist greatly excludes the perspectives of the disabled.”

Slocum said she’s always known she wanted to be an occupational therapist, and her particular research interest grew from summer employment.

“I do that type of work at camps in summers,” she said of working with individuals with intellectual disabilities.

“I noticed a lot of them weren’t working, but were capable to work. I would ask them about it, and they’d say, ‘I’d love to work.’”

For her research in Costa Rica, Slocum said she did “one month of community building” at Fundación Servio Flores Arroyo before conducting her interviews.

“Out of 72 students who attended the institute, 12 were deemed to have the cognitive level to interview with me,” she said. “I also interviewed eight staff members, the director of the institute and three moms.”

Among the issues Slocum explored were what barriers existed and what opportunities existed. Barriers included communication and a social stigma of employing individuals with intellectual disabilities, as well as not enough opportunities for employment.

“I decided to publish the research in Costa Rica as opposed to trying to get it published in the U.S. because I owed it to the people there to let the research be accessible to them,” she said.

While conducting her study in Monmouth, Slocum

28

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

learned there was less of a stigma involved for employing those with intellectual disabilities, but transportation for those looking to work beyond Warren Achievement Industries was a barrier.

“One thing I found fascinating was that I asked, ‘Do you have the same opportunities as everyone else?’” she said.

“Half of them said ‘Yes,’ and I remember that one of them said, ‘Everybody should have an equal chance.’ ... I hypothesize that the language being used tells them they have an equal opportunity, but that is not always the reality.”

Slocum said she had a similar takeaway from both studies.

“I didn’t find any significant differences,” she said. “Third-World issues are being found here, as well.”

Off-campus study and published research represent only a portion of Slocum’s impressive résumé. A leader for the interfaith group Better Together and an intern for the Lux Center for Religious and Spiritual Life, she was also a copy editor for the Midwest Journal of Undergraduate Research, secretary for Monmouth’s forensics team, a Presbyterian Scholar and an Honors Program participant.

“I’ve learned how to be challenged and to do that without getting so defensive,” she said of the growth she has experienced at Monmouth. “Yes, exams and papers are challenges, but I’ve also learned about being with people who are different than me. I’ve learned to become an active listener and seek out new opportunities to be challenged—things that the senior in high school (version of) me would’ve probably been scared of doing.”

Yes, exams and papers Later this year, Slocum will enter are challenges, but I’ve the University of Wisconsin, which also learned about being she said has “one of with people who are the top occupational therapy programs in different than me. the country.”

She’ll complete her 30 months of study at the end of 2020 and is counting on finding the right professional opportunity soon after.

“It shouldn’t be a challenge,” she said. “There’s a need for occupational therapists.”

ELLIS LED CLASSMATES IN GIVING BACK TO COLLEGE

T

he Class of 2018 raised funds to replace and refurbish several of the weathered signs on campus.

“We’re happy to get that rolling,” said sarah ellis, a member of 12-person Senior Class Gift Committee, “even if we can’t raise the funds to get every single sign done. We’re hoping that every little bit we can get can make a visual impact on the campus.”

Ellis said that many of the class gifts over the years have been marked with the particular class’s year, and the Class of 2018 will be no exception.

“On all of the signs that we’ve created the funds for, we’re getting our signature at the bottom,” she said. “Not only is it a nice way to make everything look better, but you can more easily navigate around the campus, and we left our little piece of ‘us’ there.”

Ellis said it’s important for students to make a gift to the College because the College has undoubtedly made a positive impact on their lives.

An accounting and business major, Ellis is a member of five honor societies and the women’s fraternity Alpha Xi Delta.

“The College has been absolutely wonderful to me,” she said. “Not that I was a scared or timid freshman,

but I’ve definitely come out of my shell. In fact, I just did the Myers-Briggs personality assessment (again). As a sophomore, I was a definite introvert and now, as a senior, I am on the borderline between being an extrovert and an introvert. I think that’s a testament to the College.

All of my opportunities here have allowed me to come out of my shell and realize who I am, realize what my top priorities are.”

Through her various leadership positions, which include serving as president of Alpha Xi Delta, Ellis said, “I learned how to voice my thoughts, how to deliver myself as compassionate but still firm at the same time. I’ve had wonderful advisers along the way who have given me examples of how to do so.”

After Commencement, Ellis moved to San Antonio to work as a legal entity accountant for Caterpillar Inc. “I think this is going to be a very fun opportunity not only to immerse myself in another culture but also get the more urban aspect of living as opposed to my rural background,” she said.

SARAH ELLIS

EDITING PUBLICATIONS KEPT WILLIS BUSY AS SENIOR

M

onmouth College’s undergraduate research journal offered readers a double feature this school year.

In addition to publishing the annual issue of Midwest Journal of Undergraduate Research this spring, the journal’s editorial staff of students and faculty mentors also produced a special edition of MJUR that was released in December.

For isaac willis, that meant of total of three issues to edit during his senior year, as the MJUR editor also served as editor-in-chief of COIL, the College’s literature and arts magazine.

“I’m especially proud that this year’s (COIL) issue takes into account more genres, more styles, more art forms,” said Willis, who graduated in May with degrees in English and philosophy and who has five poems published in the magazine. “We have a play, we have an interview with a visiting writer, we have poems and short stories as usual, (we have) a short, creative non-fiction piece and then all the different mediums of visual art that are represented. It’s just really a diverse issue with diverse voices.”

Willis said there’s an art in trying to organize the

various works in “a coherent manner” for the reader.

“I learned that the editorial process is long and arduous and worth all the work,” he said. “It’s like a puzzle when you first start. We laid out every submission on the floor and pieced together the edges and the frames to see ‘Is this poem working next to this image?’ At the end of the day, though, it becomes more like a narrative, as much as disparate works of art can be.”

Founded in 2010, MJUR is a peerand faculty-reviewed journal with international reach that is produced by a team of Monmouth student editors and faculty mentors. It is one of only a few peer- and faculty-reviewed undergraduate research journals published in the United States.

The special December MJUR issue features seven submissions from the College’s inaugural Conference of Undergraduate Research & Scholarship, which was held on campus in April 2017.

ISAAC WILLIS

SUMMER 2018

29

Meet the CLASS OF 2018

MILLS SISTERS TOOK DIFFERENT PATHS TO SUCCESS

T

BECCA (left) AND SARAH MILLS

30

wins becca and sarah mills shared similar experiences during their college careers, but they are quick to point out they didn’t do everything together.

The sisters both graduated with honors, were award-winning scholars, studied abroad, sang in College ensembles, majored in Spanish and spent a year in the Fighting Scots Marching Band.

“After we visited Monmouth, we both knew it was where we wanted to be,” said Sarah.

“But for sure, we were not roommates,” said Becca.

Becca’s longtime roommate was classmate Galen Hughes ’18, and the two close friends shared a moment during the College’s Baccalaureate Service on the day before Commencement.

As the Chorale performed at the close of the service, Becca was overcome by tears during “A Flame of White and Crimson,” Monmouth’s alma mater.

“I realized that’s the last time we’ll be singing that song in that setting,” said Becca, who had Hughes right next to her as a shoulder to cry on.

A few days earlier, Becca had another culminating performance, presenting what one of her professors called “an outstanding senior thesis.”

The magna cum laude graduate integrated her majors—sociology/anthropology and Spanish—during a semester abroad through a Monmouth College program in Costa Rica. She engaged in field work with an immigrant women’s support organization serving women, mostly from Nicaragua, who had migrated to Costa Rica to work to support their families back home.

“Through focus groups and in-depth interviews, Becca explored the fictive kinship networks of support established by the migrant women in Costa Rica,” said sociology professor Judi Kessler. “She recorded all interviews and focus groups in Spanish and translated them into English when she returned to the States, after which she analyzed the data and wrote up her findings.”

At the College’s 2018 Honors Convocation, Becca received the award for outstanding work in Spanish.

A cum laude graduate, Sarah also made news in the final

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

week of her college career. She was one of the first Monmouth students to complete the requirements for Global Public Health Triad—a new minor that integrates the disciplines of kinesiology, modern languages and psychology. Global Public Health develops students’ knowledge of a variety of approaches to understanding and improving health, from an individual level to an international level.

Global Public Health students participate in either an internship or study-abroad program focused on health, either of which deepens their understanding of specific issues and also provide preparation for That’s one reason I a career or graduate chose Monmouth—I school.

“I’m interested in was looking for a going into health care,” college that had good said Sarah, who had a study-abroad experiadvisers who could ence in Mérida, Mexico, and received the David steer me in what Carothers Allison Prize might be the right for being the outstanding biology senior. “I direction for me. realized I had a lot of the courses for it already, and I only had to add two more classes. It ended up working out really well.”

Becca also made mid-college changes to her academic path, switching from her intended major of communication studies or public relations.

“Coming into college, I knew I didn’t want to be a ‘decided’ student,” she said. “That’s one reason I chose Monmouth—I was looking for a college that had good advisers who could steer me in what might be the right direction for me.”

The advice for Mills to switch to sociology/anthropology came not from a faculty member, but from staff member Stephanie Kinkaid, who was working in the College’s Wackerle Career and Leadership Center at the time.

“I also knew I wanted to participate in a lot of activities,” said Becca. “I wanted to take part in theatre and band but not necessarily be in the theatre or music programs. Monmouth is a great place for that. Plus, it’s just a really pretty campus. It really clicked me with on my visit.”

That’s something on which Becca and Sarah can both agree.

HIPPEN MASTERED JUGGLING ACADEMICS AND SPORTS was also a member of seven campus organizations.

“I’m a planner,” she said. “Sometimes there are meets a student, liz hippen woke to her alarm ings that overlap, but that’s a sacrifice a student-athlete daily at 7:30 a.m. In preparation for a busy has to make.” schedule of classes, softball and meetings, She served as philanthropy chair she typically began her day with Bible of Alpha Xi Delta, facilitating study. the sorority’s fundraising At noon, she headed to work as a Scot Ambassador in efforts. Under her directhe Office of Admission. Softball practice occupied the tion, the chapter raised hours between 4-6 p.m., then she left for her off-campus more than $16,000 for job at Family Video for a four-hour shift. After returning Autism Speaks. to campus, she started her homework, around 11 p.m.

Hippen also chaired Just another normal day in the life of Monmouth Colthe chapter’s communilege’s record-setting softball standout. A juggling act, ty service activities and Hippen balanced it all—athletics, academics, communipersonally volunteered ty service and life—and succeeded on and off the field. for such local efforts as The daughter of 1993 Monmouth graduates Jarrod and Special Olympics.

Kristi Millar Hippen, Hippen was introduced to softball at Hippen declared biochemthe age of 10 by her dad, who serves as Monmouth-Rosistry as her major freshman eville High School softball coach. Knowing his daughter year because she thought she was an athlete, Jarrod used the pitching wanted to become a machine from the high school in their physical therapist. But after taking an hometown so she could practice hitting introductory psychology course, she Sometimes there are for an hour each day before softball switched to biopsychology. meetings that overlap, tryouts.

The new major also changed her Her career began as a starting catcher career plans, especially when she but that’s a sacrifice a for the Milan Aces, an ASA organization was exposed to Monmouth’s Global that practiced five days a week and had student-athlete has to Public Health Triad, an interdisthe Hippens driving an hour both ways. ciplinary minor that integrates make.

It wasn’t until she was 13 that Hippen kinesiology, modern languages and entered the circle and began her pitchpsychology. ing career, a move that would work out The Triad exposed Hippen to prein her favor. ventive health and also helped her establish a career As the starting pitcher and three-year captain at path. She plans to attend graduate school in public Monmouth, Hippen holds numerous program records, health with a focus on epidemiology. breaking the career wins record with 45 and adding A Freeman Grant recipient, Hippen traveled to to her strikeout record set during her junior season.

Malaysia in 2016 to conduct research with Singapore Hippen’s three no-hitters are also the most in program Management University students, which she presented at history. two conferences.

It’s little surprise that she was named 2016 Midwest Hippen said her involvement “boosted my confidence Conference Pitcher of the Year and was a four-time and helped me open up.”

All-Midwest Conference selection.

“I began to make connections, grow in leadership posiAn outspoken leader, Hippen’s softball career also tions and get involved in other matters,” she said. shaped her overall Monmouth experience. In 2015, she She also learned the valuable lesson of how to balance was named NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete. Since school with involvement and sports. then, she was annually selected academic all-conference.

“You make time for what you really want to do,” she Softball wasn’t the only thing in Hippen’s life, as she said. “I enjoy what I do, so I make the time to do it.”

A

By Tessa Jones ’18

LIZ HIPPEN

SUMMER 2018

31

Meet the CLASS OF 2018

SHEETZ DISCOVERED CALLING IN MATH RESEARCH

T

EMILY SHEETZ

32

he more emily sheetz explored the fields “I was later told that the thing that separated Emily of math and computer science, the more she from the other submitters was her ‘beautiful’ writing impressed her professors—and herself—with and the clarity of her explanations.” her talent in those fields.

A mathematics and computer science double maIn April, Sheetz brought home the sole jor, Sheetz graduated with a minor in Spanish. She first-place award at a meeting of the Illinois was also a member of the College’s Honors Program Section of the Mathematics Association of and various musical ensembles. Her senior research America (ISMAA) for a project titled projects involved probabilistic and machine-learning “Optimized Snapshot-Based Visual methods for the generation and evaluation of text. Her Homing for UAVs.” post-graduation plans include pursuing a doctorate in “My research involves working computer science with a focus on artificial intelligence on visual homing for unmanned and robotics. aerial vehicles (drones) with a “Originally, I was a mathematics and Spanish major,” single downward-facing camera said Sheetz. “I took an introductory computer science to navigate back home,” said course, but I was very skeptical. But I fell in love with Sheetz, who did much of the it, so I dropped the Spanish major and added computer work during a Research Experiscience. Professors (Logan) Mayfield and Sostarecz were ence for Undergraduates (REU) my co-advisers, and they really got me involved.” she completed last summer at AuAt the 2018 Honors Convocation, Sheetz was presentburn University. “There’s some pretty ed with the Paul Cramer Prize for outstanding work cool mathematics involved.” in upper-level mathematics and the Computer Science Monmouth mathematics professor Award for her senior project.

Mike Sostarecz said Sheetz had a At the College’s inaugural Alumremarkable record of research for an ni Science Symposium this spring, undergraduate.

Sheetz presented a poster describOriginally, I was a “Emily investigated using images ing her mathematics and computer so that aerial unmanned drones can mathematics and science capstone projects. When return to their starting location withconsidering what to present, she had a out the use of GPS,” said Sostarecz.

Spanish major. I took an lot of options to choose from.

“That was Emily’s second REU, which “She could have instead presented introductory computer is pretty incredible due to the highly work from her involvement in any of competitive nature of REUs.” science course, but I three SOFIA (Summer Opportunity As part of the April conference, for Intellectual Activity) projects, Sheetz made a submission for an OUR was very skeptical. But I two REUs, or her Honors Program Award recognizing outstanding unfell in love with it. capstone,” Sostarecz said. “Emily is an dergraduate research within ISMAA. amazing student.”

In February, Sheetz submitted a Sheetz said that being a Monmouth 20-page report that introduced the student helped her discover a career path she once never project and the mathematics behind the work, along imagined. with the major findings. To be considered for an OUR “I would tell prospective students that Monmouth Award, Sheetz also needed to present a talk on her work College is a great place to try new things—different at the conference. areas of research, different classes,” she said. “I never “While the other submitters were recognized with honorable mentions, Emily was chosen as the first-place thought I’d be looking at getting a Ph.D. I would tell them that all these new experiences will really be helpwinner of the OUR Awards,” said Sostarecz, an associful in pushing you to being the person you’re going to be ation board member who chairs its awards committee but recused himself from judging Sheetz’s submission. and the path you’re going to take.”

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

LUZZO AND BURKHEAD REAPED GREEK LIFE REWARDS

T

his year’s Monmouth College Greek Man and Delta, and I couldn’t imagine my life without it now.”

Woman of the Year are both grateful for the Burkhead transferred to Monmouth after attending role that Greek life played in UCLA for one year. The music major said ZBT their development as stuwas his way into the College community. dents and leaders.

“Being a part of ZBT has been one “Greek life teaches you of the biggest influences of my life,” a lot of leadership skills he said. “(After transferring) I and teaches you a lot didn’t really know how to find of fantastic realmy place on campus. I wasn’t world skills, like how really confident. Having that to relate to other first letter in the mail—a people,” said mary handwritten letter from kate luzzo, who my brothers—was really served as president welcoming. I knew that of Alpha Xi Delta her these were people who were senior year. “And it going to support me and gives you a chance to challenge me and develop me give back to something as a person.

THOMAS BURKHEAD It’s been very bigger than yourself.

AND It’s incredibly rewarding. influential MARY KATE LUZZO Greek life and Alpha Xi will to me feeling always be one of the big things in comfortable enough to put myself out my heart long after I graduate.” there on campus.”

“It’s about being a part of something Luzzo said she appreciates having a “second fambigger than yourself and giving back ily” on campus. to the community,” said thomas “These women have become my burkhead, the 2017-18 president of second family, my role models, my I attribute a lot of my Zeta Beta Tau. “It’s about having an support system ... because a lot of us organization that’s going to hold you are so far away from home,” she said. success in college to accountable for things like academics “Greek life is one of those big things being a member of and your involvement on campus—an that keeps people on campus. It gives organization that helps develop yourself you that second family for when you’re Alpha Xi Delta, and I as a leader and know who you are as faced with tough times. You look at a person and how you can affect the the support that you’re given, and it couldn’t imagine my life people around you.” keeps you here.” without it now.

Luzzo and Burkhead received their Burkhead said he fondly recalls honors at the Fraternity & Sorority Life philanthropy events for the American Awards, which capped off the College’s Cancer Society, as well as participatannual Greek Week in March. ing in one of his ZBT brother’s composition recitals.

A business and public relations double major, Luzzo Luzzo herself might be a favorite memory for some was also named outstanding chapter president. of her Alpha Xi sisters. She’s known as the person who “Alpha Xi Delta has been one of the biggest facets of my wears “goofy” plaid pants to all the major events, such as college career,” she said. “It’s helped me find my voice, my Homecoming and dances. confidence in myself. It’s given me an opportunity to be a “People know me by my plaid pants now—it’s my mentor and role model for younger women, and it’s given ‘thing,’” said Luzzo. “People are like, ‘You’re wearing me friendships that will last my entire life. I attribute a the plaid pants, right?’ And I say, ‘Oh, yes, of course I’m lot of my success in college to being a member of Alpha Xi wearing the plaid pants.’”

SUMMER 2018

33

SCOTSPORTS

A BANNER

Defying all odds, Scots capture NCAA ticket

By Barry McNamara

A

fter play concluded on April 12, the Fighting Scots found themselves in an unenviable situation—sporting a 3-3 Midwest Conference record, with their next eight league games scheduled away from Glasgow Field.

What happened next set the stage for one of the greatest seasons in the 150year history of the sport at Monmouth College.

The Scots, who had been picked to finish third in the South Division, sandwiched key doubleheader sweeps at Grinnell and Illinois College around a break from Mother Nature, as poor weather in Wisconsin shifted the four-game MWC Crossover event to Glasgow Field. It would not be the last time that Monmouth’s gem of a diamond would be needed in a pinch.

In all, Monmouth won 11 of 14 league games down the stretch, losing only once to a South Division foe, which happened on the final day of the regular season with a conference playoff spot already secured. The next day, in another contest moved to Glasgow Field, Grinnell lost its final regular season game against Illinois College, securing the South title for the Scots. The day after that, North Division champion St. Norbert announced that due to more poor weather, it was unable to host the conference playoffs, and Monmouth’s home field became the new site.

Playing at Glasgow Field on Commencement (Continued on page 36)

34

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

SEASON

The Scots raise their championship banner after beating St. Norbert to advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2002.

Photo by Kent Kriegshauser

SUMMER 2018 

35

SCOTSPORTS

BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP Continued from page 34

weekend, the Scots topped Lawrence 8-3 in their opener, then topped St. Norbert 5-4 and 10-3 to win the Midwest Conference championship for the first time since 2002 and qualify for the NCAA tournament.

The Scots drew the nation’s No. 1 team in their opening Central Regional game in Storms in the Sauget, Ill., falling 12-1 to UW-Whitewater, St. Louis area before hanging on to defeat familiar NCAA foe Aurora 11-10. Webster then ended pushed the first Monmouth’s season with a 6-2 defeat. pitch back to In addition to resulting in an NCAA tournament game victory, the Aurora game 11:15 p.m., and the will likely be remembered for years to come game ended shortly for its unusual start (and end) time. Storms in the St. Louis area pushed the first pitch after 2 a.m. back to 11:15 p.m., and the game ended shortly after 2 a.m.

“Aurora is a good team and was there for a reason,” said head coach Alan Betourne ’05. “I’m not sure many people were awake at 2 a.m. to see the finish, but it was exciting.”

The Scots finished with a record of 29-14-1, breaking the victory record set by the 2002 squad, on which Betourne was a reserve first baseman.

When pressed to pick a favorite title—as a player in 2002 or a coach in 2018—Betourne was between the proverbial rock and a hard place.

“That’s a tough question,” replied Betourne, who was selected the MWC South Division Coach of the Year.

“Being a player, and a freshman at that, I saw how those guys—Taylor Thiel, Joe Larkin, Ryan Johnson and guys like that—did it. You learn from those guys. That experience helped me this year with what to expect. That one was special, but if I had to pick, I’d probably say this one. Being the coach carries a little more weight. It’s hard to pick one— both are very, very important to me.”

Joining Betourne on the All-MWC squad were four firsttime selections: senior outfielder Grant Myers, and a trio of juniors—outfielder Harry Sanchez, utility man Jake Starkey and pitcher Tyler McDonald.

Myers was named South Division Player of the Year for a season that ranks as one of the greatest in program history.

Regional and national selection committees also took notice, with the American Baseball Coaches Association naming Myers Player of the Year for the region and first-team AllAmerican and D3baseball.com naming him an honorable mention All-American. For the year, Myers: • batted .453, the Scots’ ninth-highest single-season average, and second highest this century;

36

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

Senior outfielder Grant Myers was named first team All-American.

• drove in a record 54 runs, 12 RBI better than the previous mark; and • collected 122 total bases, shattering the old mark by 32.

It’s not an official Monmouth record, but his OPS was a staggering 1.298. He smashed 10 home runs, finishing just one long ball shy of the single season mark, and his 17 career homers were also one shy of the school record. He missed the all-time RBI mark by two.

Myers’s final homer, a three-run blast vs. Aurora, helped stake Monmouth to a big lead in its NCAA win and secure all-tournament honors for the senior slugger. After the Spartans rallied to tie the game at 10-10, Starkey provided the winning run, driving in freshman Cameron Kellar with an RBI double in the top of the ninth. The versatile Starkey then came on in relief to post his school-record ninth save of the year.

For the season, Starkey hit. 348 with a team-high 15 stolen bases. Out of the bullpen, he posted an 0.82 ERA, and he chipped in five assists as a centerfielder. His all-around play earned him a spot on the All-Central Region third team.

Sanchez hit. 305 with 35 RBI nine steals and a team-high 14 doubles, while McDonald led the team in innings pitched and wins (5).

In the MWC tourney finale, McDonald’s twin brother, Connor McDonald, earned the win on the hill, pitching seven solid innings, while Myers and sophomore Mike Dato each had three hits and Dato and Sanchez each drove in three.

Dato joined Myers on the ABCA all-region first team.

Sophomore Tyler Ulfig was the offensive hero of the Scots’ two victories the day before, belting a go-ahead two-run double in the win over Lawrence and driving home the tie-breaking run in the top of the ninth against St. Norbert.

“It was special, especially to have it on our home field,” said Betourne of the MWC title. “It gave us a chance to celebrate on our home field. It was a very special moment,

SCOTSPORTS

not just for Monmouth College baseball, but for the entire campus community.”

Looking ahead to 2019, Myers is one of only four seniors who’ll be lost to graduation.

“It’s going to be tough to improve on this season, but it can be done,” said Betourne. “There are some holes to fill and we’re working on that now. We told our guys at the end of the Webster game that they got to experience something a lot of players never experience. The expectation now is to

return to the postseason and do some damage.”

Betourne said the Scots made an impression on their regional competition.

“We turned some heads and proved that we belonged there,” he said. “Some of the opposing coaches and players came up after the game and told us we belonged there.

That’s nice to hear from your peers, but at the same time, we can’t just settle on getting there. We’ve got to continue to improve, change a few things and get better next year.”

Lineup cards to laundry: ‘Sandman’ did it all

A

familiar face Monmouth Quick with a smile, Sander could also give student-athletes “the look” if College student-athletes they failed to return their equipment have come to know, love and bags and dirty uniforms on time. sometimes fear for nearly 35 years has At 6-foot-5, “Sandman” could strike packed his last equipment bag for the fear in the hearts of student-athletes Fighting Scots. who “forgot” to pick up or return Roger Sander ’78, the Fighting their gear, but he could also offer a Scots’ longtime equipment manager, compassionate ear when needed, came to Monmouth as a fresh-faced displaying a nurturing nature to his student-athlete from the Chicago substudent-worker staff and every team’s urbs in the mid-1970s and stayed at student-athletes.

Monmouth until retiring this spring.

Sander’s work required late hours Sander also served in a variety of in the laundry room washing and coaching roles at Monmouth, and only organizing equipment for Monmouth’s his role as assistant men’s basketball 24 varsity sports.

Despite the odd coach from 1984-2007 was eclipsed in workday, Sander never failed to have longevity by his equipment manager teams ready to depart in the pre-dawn duties. hours and on weekends and holidays.

“I really enjoyed my jobs, both as ROGER SANDER ’78 Other than the coaches, Sander a coach and equipment manager, was often one of the first College employees new stubut some health issues made it physically impossible to dent-athletes would encounter when arriving on campus. continue to do the job,” explained Sander. “It’s not that Sander also had a hand in recruiting many of Monmouth’s strenuous, but it is demanding. It’s long hours that require student-athletes in his roles as assistant and then head a lot of organization.” baseball coach, in addition to assistant basketball coach.

Sander—a basketball All-American for the Fighting Sander retired from his baseball duties at the end Scots in the late 1970s—became forever a Fighting Scot of the 2015 season with a school-record 370 victories, after moving from the hustle and bustle of Chicago to the passing his predecessor and mentor Dr. Terry Glasgow’s slower pace of rural Illinois. It’s a move he didn’t regret.

343 wins set over a 20-year career. Combined, Sander “I came to Monmouth from Chicago and never left,” and Glasgow account for more than half the baseball laughed Sander. “I came in as a brash young Chicago kid, program’s wins. A member of the M-Club Hall of Fame but the people in the community kind of adopted me. as a student-athlete, it could be argued that Sander They took me in as one of their own and accepted me. I’ve deserves another induction for his role in supporting passed those open arms down to the students. We’ve got Fighting Scots’ athletics for more than 30 years as a great students at Monmouth and I’ll dearly miss the daily coach and equipment man.

—Dan Nolan interaction with them.”

SUMMER 2018

37

SCOTSPORTS / Track & Field

GROWTH OF A CHAMPION Determination helped Evers realize lofty goal

By Barry McNamara

As Dan Evers grew taller and stronger, his polevaulting dreams grew bigger.

The 2018 Monmouth College graduate realized several of those dreams during an outstanding senior season, which he concluded May 30 by winning his second national championship in three months.

At the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships in La Crosse, Wis., Evers cleared a school-record 17-8∏ to defeat sixtime national champion Luke Winder of North Central (Ill.) College.

Winder won the NCAA indoor and outdoor pole vault titles in 2015 through 2017. (He missed the 2018 indoor meet because of an injury.)

With the two national titles in 2018, Evers joins an exclusive group of two-time national champions at Monmouth that includes pole vaulter Jonny Henkins ’08 and long jumper James Wilson ’16.

When Evers entered Monmouth, he wasn’t thinking about reaching the top of the list of Fighting Scots pole vaulters, let alone the top of NCAA Division III. “I didn’t expect much,” said Evers, who as a freshman stood 5-foot6 and weighed 115 pounds. “I thought, ‘Let’s just improve every year.’

My dad and I talked about it, and we thought it would be good if I could vault in the 15-foot range throughout college.”

Evers, whose high school record was 13-9, began to see that even more was possible when he vaulted 14-10 inches as a freshman. He also grew four inches and gained 20 pounds. (He has since topped out at 6-1, 170 pounds.)

Evers crossed the 16-foot threshold as a sophomore, qualifying for the indoor and outdoor national meets. He placed sixth in both to earn the first two of his six All-American honors. A year later, he improved to second in the nation indoors and third outdoors.

The stakes changed when he entered his senior season.

First was a goal of winning a national title. Evers realized that in March, with Winder on the sidelines.

The outdoor season presented an opportunity to beat Winder head-to-head or at least, as Evers said, “give him a run for his money.”

It also presented Evers a huge bar of his own to clear—18 feet.

“I knew outdoors Luke would be back,” he said. “My thought going

38

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

in was ‘What can I do personally?’ I was looking to improve myself, but then came the foot trouble.”

Evers thinks he might have tweaked his foot at a rainy meet in St. Louis. He then injured it worse at a mid-April meet in Greenville, Ill. Evers did not vault again until the Midwest Conference Championships in mid-May, hosted

by Monmouth. He won the event, then skipped out on last-chance qualifier meets, as he was already solidly in the NCAA field.

At the national meet, the foot troubles flared again, to the point that Evers thought he might have to “shut things down.”

Adding to the challenge was that Winder showed he had fully recovered from his injury. He cleared 18-4 at his last-chance meet, setting the all-time Division III record.

With Evers’ injury and Winder’s return to form, Evers said he “didn’t have the highest of expectations for the meet.”

Ironically, it was a missed vault that signaled to Evers that it might be his time to shine.

“I made 4.90 meters, but then I missed at 5 meters,” he said. “But on the miss, my hip height was huge. I thought, ‘I’m back,’ and I made every bar after that.”

Evers cleared 5.10, 5.20 and 5.30 meters, while Winder’s heights were staggered, clearing 5.25 and then 5.35. That meant Evers needed to clear 5.40 to take the lead again.

“I thought, ‘It’s go time for me,’” he said of the height, which is equivalent to 17-8∏. “I waited for the wind, which was a crosswind.

I waited for a little bit of a tailwind, and then just hit it as hard as could. The (approach) run felt amazing—no pain. When I let go of the pole, I was well over the bar. I remember just freaking out.

That was a huge make for me.”

It was the winning vault, as Winder failed in three attempts to clear 5.45 meters.

“I was so nervous during that wait,” said Evers. “I said, ‘Coach, I don’t know what to do.’ And then he missed the final vault, and I knew I’d won. I felt the waterworks coming, and I hugged my dad.”

Some competitors shrink on their grandest stage, but Evers did just the opposite.

“It’s very unusual to be your best when your best is required,” said Coach Roger Haynes ’82 “Dan’s two best vaults were his two national championships, which is quite rare.”

SCOTSPORTS

SCOTS CONTINUE DOMINANCE IN MWC OUTDOOR TRACK Roger Haynes ’82 was named the Midwest Conference Men’s Coach of the Year, Dan Evers the men’s field event Performer of the Meet and Seth Andersen the Men’s Newcomer of the Year as Monmouth College’s men won the league’s HAYNES outdoor track and field title for the 17th time in the last 18 years.

The women’s team placed second at the meet, which was hosted by the Fighting Scots at April Zorn Memorial Stadium.

It was a three-peat for Evers, who won his third pole vault title with a height of 17-1. The senior also won the long jump, soaring 22-11√.

Andersen was runner-up at 22-1.

Junior Tyler Bland joined Evers in defending a league title. A year after running away with the steeplechase crown, Bland did it again, outpacing the field by 20 seconds with a personal-best time of 9:38.37.

Andersen became a double winner in the field events. The freshman cleared 6-4 to win the high jump and followed with a 45-3½ effort to win the triple jump.

Double victors were the order of the weekend, as senior Madi Schulenberg crushed her personal-best by 17 feet in the javelin, winning with a throw

Five league crowns help Monmouth men retain All-Sports trophy

F

or the second year in a row, the Midwest Conference Ralph Shively All-Sports Award resides in Monmouth.

of 139-6, a day before winning the high jump, clearing 5-2½.

Senior Joanna Podosek broke the tape in the 1500-meter run with a Monmouth honor roll time of 4:38.52, a day before winning the 800 with a school-record time of 2:12.97.

Junior John Hintz led a strong men’s throws group, setting the program record of 182-2 to win the hammer throw. Hintz also won the discus with a 158-5 heave. The women’s throwers received a championship from senior Lilly Mendez in the shot put (43-3√).

Hintz (hammer) and Schulenberg (javelin) joined Evers at the national meet, placing 12th and 17th, respectively.

A L L - S P O R T S A W A R D F I N A L S TA N D I N G S MONMOUTH 80.5 St. Norbert 70.5 Lake Forest 63.0 Illinois College 55.5 Grinnell 50.0 Cornell 49.0 Lawrence 47.0 Knox 44.5 Ripon 41.5 Beloit 29.5

The Fighting Scots men’s athletic programs earned the award for the 2017-18 athletic year thanks, in part, to five league crowns, capped by claiming the baseball and outdoor track and field titles on the same day. This year's award brings Monmouth’s total to seven Shively Trophies, second most of any current MWC school, just one behind Grinnell.

Monmouth’s year got off to a good start when football won its second straight league title. That crown was followed by titles in baseball, basketball, and indoor and outdoor track and field. The Fighting Scots added to their point total when they tied for fourth in tennis, while finishing fifth in cross country, golf, and swimming and diving. The Scots tallied 80.5 points, a full 10 points ahead of second-place St. Norbert College (70.5).

SUMMER 2018

39

SPRING SPORTS SUMMARY

Becca Dabrowski ’19

Monmouth 5-0 in the semifinals of the team competition.

In doubles, Landon Walker ’18 and Dylan Wong ’18 at No. 1, Paulo Pliego ’18 and Day at No. 2 and Zach Harris ’21 and Shie at No. 3 each battled back after a first-round loss to win the consolation titles.

Shie led the team with 13 singles wins and went 7-4 with Harris in doubles. Day and Pliego joined forces to win eight matches.

Thomas Van Alstine ’20

WOMEN’S WATER POLO The Fighting Scots set a pair of high-water marks during their 7-9 campaign.

Monmouth earned a program-best second seed at the season-ending Division III Varsity Tournament in Erie, Pa., and the Scots also appeared in the national top 10 rankings for the first time on the strength of a midseason stretch that saw them win six of seven matches. The lone loss was an overtime heartbreaker against nationally-ranked Macalester.

Becca Dabrowski ’19, Miranda Pasky ’21 and goalkeeper Natalie Curtis ’18 were named to the all-conference team. It was the third straight award for Curtis and the most Scots named to the all-league team in program history. Dabrowski led the Scots with 64 goals, while Pasky chipped in 12.

Joseph Shie ’21

MEN’S TENNIS Two Fighting Scots reached the singles finals at the MWC Championships, while all three doubles teams were crowned consolation champions.

Joseph Shie ’21 and Saxon Day ’18 made the finals at No. 3 and No. 5 singles, respectively, before losing to opponents from Grinnell, the same school that defeated

40

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

The Scots, who were 3-6 in Midwest Lacrosse Conference action, were represented on the all-league team by goalkeeper Chase Cranford ’20.

All of Monmouth’s leading scorers were underclassmen. Thomas Van Alstine ’20 and Jeff Knapp ’21 led the Scots with 28 goals apiece, while Braden Cross ’21 and Croy Seagren ’20 chipped in 14 and 10, respectively.

Darcy Kepner ’21

SOFTBALL The Fighting Scots finished one win shy of the playoffs in the MWC, which was an improved league in 2018. Monmouth’s 20-16 overall mark included a 9-9 record in conference play.

Record-setting pitcher Liz Hippen ’18 went 12-7 in her final season with a sparkling 1.53 ERA, striking out more than one batter per inning en route to her fourth All-MWC selection.

She finished her career as the Scots’ all-time leader in wins (45), strikeouts (529), no-hitters (3), shutouts (13) and games pitched (90), while ranking second in saves (7), innings pitched (466) and complete games (65) and fourth in ERA (2.01).

Offensively, second baseman Darcy Kepner ’21 and outfielder Laura Dulee ’20 led the team with averages of .407 and .364, respectively. Both joined Hippen on the all-conference team.

MEN’S LACROSSE Under first-year coach Chris Klaiber, the Fighting Scots got off to a strong start in the second year of the program, winning four of their first five matches before posting a final record of 6-9.

MEN’S GOLF Coach Cory Bizarri knew that if his golfers were on their game on the same day, they could post an outstanding team score, and that was the case in the Scots’ final round before the Midwest Conference Championships, when they posted a 294 at Gibson Woods.

Monmouth was led that day by Nate Hopper ’19, who posted a 1-over-par 72, and all four scoring golfers carded rounds of 75 or better.

At the MWC meet, Monmouth was steady but not as spectacular, placing fifth, 35 strokes behind the league champions. Hopper led the way individually with a 13th-place finish.

WOMEN’S LACROSSE The second year of the women’s program got off to a smashing start in the season opener, as the Scots matched their win total from their debut year with a 16-6 win over Westminster.

Kara-Jade Gordon ’20 and Amanda Green ’20 combined for 13 goals in the win. In the Scots’ other victory during a 2-14 campaign, Gordon netted four goals and Green and Lexi Tibbs ’19 chipped in three apiece.

Gordon, who scored a team-record 62 goals for the year, was named first team all-conference.

Spacious and modern Bowers Residence Hall was home base for visiting alumni, who enjoyed an outdoor reception on its patio during Friday night of the Golden Scots Celebration.

GOLDEN SCOTS SAVOR COMPANY OF CLASSMATES, COMFORTS OF CAMPUS

W

hile visiting their alma mater June 7-10 for the

By BARRY McNAMARA

annual Golden

Scots Celebration, more than six dozen Monmouth College alumni were reminded of the many changes that have taken place in the last 50 years.

At one of the event’s programs, alumni heard from President Clarence R. Wyatt , who reflected on Monmouth’s recent success and also looked at what’s on the horizon for higher education.

“The only constant is change,” Wyatt told a room of alumni.

Alumni could certainly appreciate that sentiment when they toured the campus, which looks vastly different from the one they graduated from a half-century ago. Yet throughout the weekend, there were moments when memories came pouring back and it was the 1960s again.

That was true for Janet Forbes Myers ’68, who was wowed by the “gorgeous” campus, but also appreciated how Wallace Hall and Dahl Chapel are still in use and look much the same as they did when she was a student.

Two returning alumni were transported even farther back, to 1954.

Janet Forsythe Fishburn and Joan McMillan shared a room on campus

64 years ago, and they were pleased to be in each other’s company again, celebrating the 60-year reunion of the Class of 1958.

Members of the Class of 1968, gathering for a 50-year reunion, had a similar experience.

“I haven’t seen Mary since graduation, and we’re just the same, aren’t we?” said Jean Hutchinson Randolph to classmate Mary Hills Kuck.

“As my mother always said, ‘Just the same, only more so,’” Kuck replied with a laugh.

For their classmate and former football player John Schroeder, the Golden Scots Celebration exceeded his expectations.

“I got a chance to talk to some guys I played ball with 50 years ago,” he said.

(Continued on page 42)

SUMMER 2018

41

GOLDEN SCOTS CELEBRATION

(Continued from page 41) “We all look just the same, of course.

It’s been a good time. I’d recommend it to anyone.”

Helping the weekend run smoothly was Monmouth’s development and college relations team. Their efforts did not go unnoticed by the guests, who hailed from 19 states.

“They keep us busy, and they’re there to accommodate anything we want,” said Dee Ann Smith Shuff ’63. “It’s been fantastic. And the College—it’s absolutely amazing to see what’s happened since we were here in the beginning.”

Added Randolph: “A-plus service, and the special programs have been really interesting, too.”

Several programs were given by members of the Class of 1968, focusing on elements of their careers.

Accomplished historian Joan Rezner Gundersen highlighted the many “amazing” women on Monmouth’s faculty while members of the Class of 1968 were students, detailing their innovations and the way they stretched boundaries.

“That gave us an understanding that women could be on a college campus,” said Gundersen, who became a history professor and author. “It was normal, not extraordinary, and that changes the whole perception.”

Politician Bob Brink ’68, who served in the Virginia House of Delegates for 16 years, joined two Monmouth faculty members to discuss “Politics in the USA from LBJ to the Age of Trump.”

Mathematician Won Yang Everett ’68, a member of the Missile Defense National Team, spoke about her career and how her Monmouth education prepared not only her, but her father, who went on to found the Korean section at the Library of Congress in Washing(Continued on page 44)

42

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

Campus historian Jeff Rankin tells the tale of the Civil War cannon, stolen from the Class of 1903 by the rival Class of 1904.

Emeritus Art Professor Harlow Blum examines a painting by Tina Hartwig ’68 at the alumni art exhibit. Blum, who taught her as a student, still offers helpful critiques to Hartwig in her current work via email.

Physics major Declan Crego ’21 assists guests in examining the heavens through Monmouth’s 20-inch, research-grade reflector telescope, the gift of William Trubeck ’68.

Professor Craig Watson gives a tour of the Monmouth College Educational Garden at the east edge of campus.

Class of 1968 Row 1 (from left): Sandra Terpening Morrison, Mary Hills Kuck, Nancy Campbell Haynor, Janet Cox, MaryLu Belcher Bretsch, Janet Forbes Myers, Carolyn Hall Hammond, Joan Rezner Gundersen, Sandy Newman and Jean Hutchinson Randolph.

Row 2: Michel Rulison, John Evermon, Judy Demet Rulison, Tina Hartwig, Penny Neufeldt McCreight, Won Yang Everett, Bob Brink, Marcia Balstrode Wolf, Linnea Hammarsten Ingold, William Trubeck and Marcey Cushing Corey.

Row 3: Tom Cerkez, John Mabry, Gus Hart, Jeff Steinberger, Richard Watson, Charles Marshall and John Schroeder.

FOR VIDEOS AND MORE PHOTOS: monmouthcollege.edu/golden-scots

Class of 1963 Row 1 (from left): Dee Ann Smith Shuff, Nancy Huff Myers, Cindy Veith Sorenson and Hallie Simpson Lemon.

Row 2: Courtney Munson, Gene Dawson. Donald Moran, Rod Lemon and Stan Chism.

SUMMER 2018 

43

GOLDEN SCOTS CELEBRATION

Continued from page 42 ton, D.C., and her son, Billy Everett ’00, who’s had a successful career in network engineering.

Members of the Class of 1973 also held a reunion during Golden Scots Celebration. Among the class members present were Mike and Ann Doherty Kramer, who began dating as Monmouth students and have been married 44 years.

“The weekend was excellent—wellplanned, well-orchestrated and thought out,” said Ann. “We really appreciate all the work that everybody’s done. The staff seems to be having so much fun. We’re going to get working on our 50th now to get more people back.”

Class of 1958

From left: Richard Peters, Beverly Carlson Baumann, Les Dollinger, Anne Irey Kohlmeyer, Joan McMillan, Tad Yarde, Ralph Stephenson, John Niblock and Janet Forsythe Fishburn.

Class of 1973 Row 1 (from left): David Elmer, Charlie Goehl, Jackie Grier Salvato, Ann Boley Parker, Ann Doherty Kramer and Mike Kramer.

Row 2: James Briscoe, William Porter, Gordon Yocum, Nicholas Tucker, Bill Maakestad, Andrew Kerr and Tim Owen.

44

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

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 40 for submission guidelines.

1949

Bette Davis Vance of Monmouth celebrated her 90th birthday in May. She is a retired elementary school teacher.

1954

Paul Holbrook has moved back to Wheaton, Ill. He had a long career with Travelers Insurance Co. and says Monmouth College “prepared me well for a successful career in sales and management.”

Alan ’55 and Sally Smith Larson ’56 enjoyed the May per-

Derby Day ABOVE: Attending the Kentucky Derby on May 5 were, from left: Bill Dusek ’73, Bill Honeycutt ’74, Bryan Mesik ’13 and his father, Billy Mesik. BELOW: On the same day, Colorado alumni joined President Clarence Wyatt and First Lady Lobie Stone at a Kentucky Derby viewing party in Golden.

formance by the Monmouth College Chorale in New York’s Carnegie Hall.

1958

Allan Smith of Aurora, Ill., recently reminisced about Monmouth College’s Octopus Club: “As a former member of the Octopus, I think to myself how times have changed.

We were despised by the faculty and liked by the student body. I am sure that history will show that members of Octopus were some of your finest students and alumni.

At one point during my senior year the eight of us were forced to stand in front of faculty and be interrogated for something … Funny thing, one or two of the accusers were former Octopus. I, for one, consider being a member of the Octopus one of (my) finest achievements.”

1959 1964 1966

60th

REUNION

JUNE 6-9, 2019

55th

REUNION

JUNE 6-9, 2019

Larry Dew and Bob Addleman ’67 recently visited the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Mo., where they were given a personal tour by Raymond Doswell ’91, the museum’s vice president and curator. Doswell and his staff are currently preparing a special exhibit for the 2020 centennial of the Negro Leagues.

1968

Russ Andrews of Beaufort, S.C., recently retired as a financial adviser for Northwestern Mutual Financial Services, where he worked for 42 years.

John Schroeder and his wife, Helen Herriott Schroeder ’69, live in Bloomfield, Iowa, where John is the executive director of Davis County Development Corp.

1969

50th

REUNION

JUNE 6-9, 2019

Rossann Baker-Priestley of Galesburg, Ill., says that while many of her peers are well into their retirement years, she cannot give up her two loves, which are also her two businesses: The Performing Arts Academy of Galesburg, which just celebrated its 25th year, and I Do! Honeymoons & More Travel, which morphed from a brickand-mortar travel company to a home-based operation. She travels extensively and at least once a year takes a small theatre group to New York City for three or four days. Her biggest delight of this year’s trip was spending an evening with classmate Dwight Tierney.

John Wall of Sheridan, Ind., is senior Linux System administrator at Comcast.

1970

Dr. Richard Oliver of Centennial, Colo., has joined the board of directors of Qualis Innovations, an acquisition company in the consumer healthcare or emerging technologies sectors. Oliver founded the LKB Surgical Center in Denver and served as its CEO and chief of surgery. He also became one of the chief officers of the surgical department at Rocky Mountain Osteopathic Hospital, also in Denver.

SUMMER 2018

45

1971

Ed Ryan was inducted into the Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame in June.

The longtime coach at Marshfield High School, his Rams won the state title in 2004. He has coached track since 1988 and was also a successful cross country coach for more than 20 years.

1973

Chuck Bushey of Billings, Mont., is president of Montana Prescribed Fire Services, Inc.

Mike “Archie” Kramer and his wife, Ann Doherty Kramer ’73 live in Grayslake, Ill. Mike is president of Law Bulletin Media in Chicago.

RYAN

1974 1978 1979

45th

REUNION

JUNE 6-9, 2019

40th

REUNION

OCT. 5-7, 2018

Paul Bubb in February was named executive director of development at Western Illinois University.

Previously the associate athletic director for development at Cal Poly Pomona, he has served in a variety of athletic and development administrative positions across the country since earning his master’s degree in sports manaement from WIU.

1980

Sue Sucharzewski Buresch of Lakefield, Minn., is a special education teacher at Jackson County Central High School and is proud that one of her three daughters has followed in her footsteps.

Robin Johnson of Monmouth worked with U.S. Rep Cheri Bustos, D-Illinois, to publish a 50-page report titled “Hope from the Heartland: How Democrats Can Better Serve the Midwest

by Bringing Rural, Working Class Wisdom to Washington.”

Johnson, who teaches political science at Monmouth, did the legwork for the report last summer, conducting 72 interviews throughout the Midwest. The report attracted coverage in several national media outlets, including National Public Radio and Politico.

1983 1986

35th

REUNION

OCT. 5-7, 2018

Ed Brown of Grayslake, Ill., is executive director of business continuity management at Trustmark Insurance Companies.

MATTHEWS

1988 1991

30th

REUNION

OCT. 5-7, 2018

Raegan Wang Hololob of Yaphank, N.Y., is an assistant principal in the Longwood Central School

District..

1993 1997 46

1998

specialist for the company, in January visited the Dow Chemical plant in Terneuzen, Netherlands, where they met with the Dow Environmental Remediation and Restoration team. The team is implementing the ENFOS software platform to help improve environmental performance for its global portfolio.

1999

Eric Matthews was hired as athletic director at Galesburg (Ill.) High School. Matthews had spent the previous 12 years as activities director in the Farmington (Ill.) school district.

2002

Maegan Meminger Gorham of Bettendorf, Iowa, completed her law degree last year at the University of Iowa. She is an associate attorney at Lane & Waterman in Davenport, Iowa.

2003

15th

REUNION

OCT. 5-7, 2018

Geoff Edwards is associate dean of student engagement and innovation at the University of Evansville (Ind.). He earned his doctarate this year from Benedictine University in Lisle, Ill. Dawn Cassiday Smith lives in rural Monmouth and teaches in the Galesburg school district.

2005

Karri Wunglueck Bowers of Chicago is national sales manager for Maped Helix USA.

Jacob Donley of Pekin, Ill., is a child welfare specialist at Familycore. 25th

REUNION

OCT. 5-7, 2018

Sarah Vayo of Fishers, Ind., is a board-certified behavior analyst at The Hope Source. She completed BCBA certification at the Florida Institute of Technology in 2015.

SHERMAN

Roger Well ’86 (second from right), co-founder and COO of ENFOS, Inc., and George Burnette ’14 (second from left), senior software support

20th

REUNION

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

OCT. 5-7, 2018

2006

Ryne Sherman has joined Tulsa, Okla.-based Hogan Assessments as chief science officer. The company is a global leader in personality assessment and leadership development. Sherman is responsible for managing the primary functions with Hogan’s industry-leading research department, including client research, product development and maintenance, and Hogan’s research archive and infrastructure.

IN THE SCOTLIGHT

By BARRY McNAMAR A

ALUMNI IN AGRICULTURE JARED KUNKLE AND DUSTY SPURGEON PURSUE FARMING WITH PASSION

T

wo alumni who recently began very

different types of agricultural operations were the featured guests this spring when Monmouth College’s Global Food Security Triad hosted a panel discussion on “How to Start a Farm in Western Illinois.”

Jared Kunkle ’07 and Dusty Sanor Spurgeon ’10 spoke at the event, held in April at the College’s Educational Garden.

Growing up in a subdivision, Kunkle did not come from a traditional farming background, but he has been farming full-time on his own since 2011. Farming has been a passion of his since childhood, when he would visit his grandparents’ operation as often as he could. To gain further knowledge and experience, he worked for several farmers during and after college. Today, Kunkle serves as president of the Warren-Henderson Farm Bureau and is actively involved in multiple organizations in the community.

“There are many different ways to farm, and to have a farm,” said Kunkle. “There are pros and cons like any business, and different styles of farming that fit that particular person. There are opportunities out there.”

Despite encountering naysayers who challenged his suburban upbringing, Kunkle has found a niche on an “average-size farm” south of Monmouth, thanks to the home front and to his variety of learning experiences.

“First, I have a supportive spouse,” said Kunkle, who is married to 2007 Monmouth graduate Rachel Jenks. “Also, it took me working different jobs at different sizes and styles of farms. From each job I’ve had, I’ve taken something away.”

Asked to predict the future of farming, Kunkle said: “I think you’ll see less physical labor and more mental labor.

Lots of data gets circulated. It’s definitely different just in the eight years that I’ve been doing it full time. You’ll see more occupations based on technology than on the labor side. I also think you’ll see more autonomous equipment.

Farmers will have more units, but they’ll be smaller.”

Spurgeon is the co-owner and full-time manager of Spurgeon Veggies, a dual-farm operation with locations in East Galesburg, Ill., and Rio, Ill. She began farming shortly after graduating from Monmouth, where she learned the ins and outs of farming and business management. Spurgeon now manages a 100-member CSA and a large stand at the Galesburg Farmers’ Market. She and her husband, 2009 Monmouth graduate John Spurgeon, recently built a house at the larger Rio farm, where they plan to have an open-daily farmstand.

Spurgeon finds herself tackling both types of labor that

Kunkle referenced. She is heavily involved in the physical aspect of farming, including doing some of it, such as planting onions, painstakingly by hand. She also needs to strategize in terms of marketing Spurgeon Veggies, for which she relies heavily on social media.

“Growing slowly has worked for us,” she said. “We could potentially farm a few more acres, but I really like the local aspect of our business. We know our farmer’s market customers intimately, as well as the members of our CSA. I don’t want to lose that familiarity.”

While larger operations in the region focus solely on corn and/or soybeans, Spurgeon plants “a hundred different things.”

“We’ve very diversified, and that diversification is our insurance,” she said.

That diversification includes asparagus, broccoli, carrots, daikon, eggplant, fennel and garlic (alphabetically, only a handful of letters aren’t represented). The list also includes one of the operation’s most popular products, potatoes.

“You normally see only a couple types of potatoes, but we plant nine or 10 different kinds,” said Spurgeon.

While consumers enjoy variety, Spurgeon would just as soon see less of it when it comes to weather.

“Climate change freaks me out, it really does,” she said.

“I’ve been farming now for eight years, and every year is so wildly different than the rest. It makes it hard to figure out the farming part and hard to figure out the business part.”

Kunkle (left) and Spurgeon field questions at the Monmouth College Educational Garden in April.

SUMMER 2018

47

2007

Patrick McGuire is the curator of education at the Elkhart County Historical Museum in Bristol, Ind.

Kelli Wefenstette was recently featured in a Chicago magazine article, describing “A Step-By-Step Guide to Raising Chickens.” She and her husband, Jimmy Thomas ’05, have been raising hens in their Portage Park backyard for seven years.

2008 2010 2011

10th

REUNION

OCT. 5-7, 2018

Shane Corcoran of Madison, Wis., is a senior business analyst at Beacon Hill Staffing Group.

Henry Schmidt of Hancock, Mich., is a research engineer at Michigan Technological University.

Mike Washabaugh has been named head football coach at Galesburg (Ill.) High School, where he also teaches physical education and health. He was an assistant coach at GHS the past six years, most recently as offensive coordinator.

2012

WIMP

his bar exam.

Ed Wimp received his law degree from Full Sail (Fla.) University in May and at press time was preparing for

Andrew Drea has been named news editor of The Herald-Whig newspaper in Quincy, Ill. Drea joined The Herald-Whig staff in September 2016 as a copy editor and page designer. He previously worked for Gatehouse Media and the Journal-Courier in Jacksonville, Ill. He earned a master’s degree in sociology from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

DREA

2013

5th

REUNION

OCT. 5-7, 2018

Dr. Amanda Zaidel of Darien, Ill., is associate veterinarian at Finan Animal Hospital. She holds a doctor of veterinary medicine degree from Lincoln Memorial University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Patrick Sheets of Princeville, Ill., received his juris doctor degree, magna cum laude, from Northern Illinois University College of Law.

2014

Courtney Jonsson of Streator, Ill., is a substance abuse counselor at Sheridan Correctional Center.

Sarah Mabry was chosen to serve as the graduate speaker for the commencement ceremony at Brandeis University, where she received a master’s degree in global studies. Mabry has received a Fulbright grant to teach English at IE University in Madrid.

Brandon Ouellette earned his master of divinity degree from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in May. His wife, Tiffany Clark Ouellette has accepted an English teaching position at West Central High School in Biggsville, Ill.

2016

Tyler Osborn was recently sworn in as the newest member of the Monmouth Fire Department.

Emily Siefken earned a master’s degree in sport management from Illinois State University in Normal, Ill., where she now serves as director of volleyball operations.

2017

Kashawna Brantley of Chicago is an after-school program manager for Imagine Englewood If, an organization that teaches kids and families about “healthy living, environmental awareness and positive communication skills.”

She was featured in an April Chicago Tribune editorial about Innovation Houses, a model for rehabilitating disadvantaged inner-city neighborhoods by offering low rent in exchange for volunteer service. Prior to her current position, she spent a year as an AmeriCorps volunteer.

Taylor Welch of Phoenix is a clinical assistant and andrologist at Advanced Fertility Care.

2018

Asa Stevenson in June inked a deal with the Puerto Rico Islanders of the Empire League. A right-handed pitcher, Stevenson posted a career-best 5-4 record last season as Monmouth won its first conference title in 16 seasons.

ZAIDEL

Submission Guidelines

MABRY

Jake McLean ’15, Monmouth College assistant director of leadership development, and Melissa Jones Spears ’04, a regional sales managOUELLETTES

48

er for an educational technology company, met up in Zagreb, Croatia at a leadership class in May.

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

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.

IN THE SCOTLIGHT

By DUANE BONIFER

V

Dr. Lou Herrin ’69

FASCINATION WITH SKULLS PROVIDED PATH TO VETERINARY CAREER

isitors to the Chism Biology Wing in Monmouth’s Center for Science and Business can see the results of more than a quarter century of Dr. Lou Herrin’s passion. Arranged and labeled in a six-foot wide glass case are the skulls of more than five dozen creatures.

Herrin, a 1969 graduate, donated the skulls in 1996 after collecting them from 1963 until the early 1990s.

Herrin enjoyed a 35-year career as a veterinarian in Bloomington, Ill., where he took care of domestic cats and dogs for “about 2,000 families.” In his spare time, he acquired the skulls of both ordinary and exotic creatures.

His collection of skulls began with a rodent in 1963. That’s when his mother, Janet, gave him a dead squirrel.

“She knew I was interested in biology,” Herrin said during a May visit to campus to review and clean the skulls he donated. “She came out of a church service, and a squirrel had fallen out of a tree and died. So she scooped it up in her church program and brought it home to me. That’s how it started.”

Herrin majored in biology at Monmouth, but he might not have even graduated from the College had it not been for the generosity of biology professor David Allison, who became one of his mentors.

“I was a rather poorly motivated freshman and sophomore and my grades reflected that. Except I liked biology,” Herrin said. “One day I was looking at some specimens (in McMichael Academic Hall) and I felt somebody put their hand on my shoulder. I turned around and it was Dr. Allison. He said, ‘Lou, you’re really good at biology. I’m going to go on sabbatical next year and go to Costa Rica for six months to study biology. I want you to go with me.’

“My whole life turned around because

of that trip. After that, I got straight A’s, and I really changed as a student. I would never have been anything without that guy.”

Along with help from professors John Ketterer, Ben Cooksey, Robert Buchholz and Milton Bowman, Herrin said that he was not only ready to graduate from Monmouth but prepared to succeed at veterinary school at the University of Illinois.

“Thanks to Monmouth and the education I received here, I was immediately operating in the top quarter of my veterinary class,” he said. “My professors at Monmouth taught me how to think and how to reason things out.”

Herrin continued to collect skulls while he was a Monmouth student, often stopping in rather odd places to recover a specimen that would broaden his collection. On the way back from seeing the pop band Paul Revere and the Raiders perform in Peoria with three other Monmouth students, Herrin pressed classmate Lee McGaan ’69 to stop his car when he spotted a dead skunk in the road.

“I got out, scooped it up and threw it in the trunk,” he said. “They never forgave me for that, and I think it took Lee quite some time to get the smell out of his trunk.”

Herrin collected the skulls for the same reason he donated them to his alma mater—they are a great way for students to learn about anteaters, bats, marsupials, shrews, primitive monkeys and other animals.

“You can read about all of these things, but to see them is just amazing,” he said. “No matter what skull you look at, it has all the same parts. That was a really, really interesting thing for me to grasp—the changes and adaptations and how they all fit in.”

As people learned that he collected animal skulls, Herrin would receive

calls from people who had a specimen to add to his collection. Once, a research biologist sent him through the U.S. Mail the head of a fur seal from the Pribilof Islands, secured in a gallon of formaldehyde.

But Herrin’s wildest acquisition is also the star of his collection, the head of a baboon. Known as Mike the Baboon, the primate lived out his life in the Peoria Zoo. When it died, its corpse had to be taken to the Illinois Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory before Herren could claim it for his collection.

The problem was that Mike had died on a Saturday, and the diagnostic lab wasn’t open until Monday.

“So we put it in the walk-in freezer on a shelf, never thinking that it was rather odd we put it in the sitting position,” Herrin said. “Monday morning comes, and it’s frozen solid. So I took it out and put it in the passenger seat of my Triumph. … I was almost out of gas, so I pulled into the gas station and the attendant came out. Here’s this baboon sitting in my passenger seat. Pretty soon I hear like a waterfall, and I turn around and gas is pouring everywhere.

And this poor attendant is staring at my ugly girlfriend or whatever he thought it was.”

Herrin prepares to place a bobcat skull back into his renovated display case.

SUMMER 2018

49

THE 2018 ALUMNI IMPACT AWARDS The annual Alumni Impact Awards will be presented during Homecoming Weekend, Oct. 5-7. Here’s a preview of the distinguished alumni, faculty, staff and friends who will be recognized by the Alumni Association in 2018. The Fraternity & Sorority and M Club Hall of Fame alumni awards will also be presented.

HALL OF ACHIEVEMENT: Won Yang Everett ’68 A native of Korea, Everett followed in the footsteps of her father, Distinguished Alumni awardee Key Yang ’50, in enrolling at Monmouth College. A math major with a minor in economics, her first position was with the Naval Research Laboratory. As the only woman mathematician in its Electronic Warfare Division, she performed math modeling for a radio frequency direction finding system to assess for enemy locations. After taking time off to raise her three sons, she worked as a systems engineer or program manager for private military contractors, including BAE Systems, Schafer and General Dynamics, and obtained her master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University. Prior to her retirement, she was a senior lead engineer selected to the Missile Defense National Team established by the Department of Defense.

HALL OF ACHIEVEMENT: David A. Bowers ’60 Bowers retired in 2018 as president and CEO of CompX Security Products. An employee of CompX and its predecessors since 1960 in various sales, marketing and executive positions, he was named president of CompX Security Products in 1998. His leadership role with Monmouth College began in 1974, when he was elected to the Alumni Board, later serving as its president. He joined the Board of Trustees in 1980 and in 1995 became its chair, serving in that position for 13 years. Since providing the naming gift for Bowers Hall in 2001, he has maintained a strong interest in its maintenance, funding updates in décor and furnishings for the residence hall, and recently the construction of a dedicated parking lot for its residents.

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS: Robert Brink ’68 Brink served in senior government positions at the state and federal level for four decades. After experience on the professional staffs of two Congressional committees in the 1970s and 1980s, he was appointed deputy assistant attorney general for legislative affairs for the Department of Justice in 1993. Following that position, he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, holding that office for 17 years. He then joined the administration of Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, heading the state’s Division on Aging Services and serving as the governor’s senior legislative adviser. He retired in 2018.

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE: Jacquelyn Condon Condon holds the record for the longest serving senior administrative officer in Monmouth College history, having retired in 2017 after 37 years in the office of student life. Promoted to associate dean in 1986 and dean of students in 1990, she was named vice president in 1994. Under her leadership, the department expanded from three staff members to more than two dozen, in order to address emerging student needs in areas such as career services, student success, counseling, intercultural life, campus safety, spiritual life, athletics and Title IX compliance.

YOUNG ALUMNUS: Ryne Sherman ’06 Sherman is chief science officer for Hogan Assessment Systems, a personality assessments company in Tulsa, Okla. He earned his Ph.D. in personality/social psychology from the University of California, Riverside. He joined the psychology faculty at Florida Atlantic University in 2001 and was recognized as its College of Science Distinguished Teacher of the Year in 2013 and was promoted to associate professor in 2016. His research on the psychological properties of situations and their interaction with personality has been awarded federal support from the National Science Foundation, and in 2016 he was named a “Rising Star” by the Association for Psychological Science. Prior to his current position, he served as associate professor of psychological sciences at Texas Tech University.

FAMILY OF THE YEAR: The Pepper Family Monmouth College’s connection with the Pepper family began nearly five decades ago when two of the children of Richard and Roxie Pepper—Stan Pepper ’76 and Lynda Pepper Bollman ’76—enrolled. Their daughter Lisa Pepper graduated in 1987, and a second generation of graduates began in 2004 when Cassandra Pepper Ams, daughter of Stan and his wife, Chris Pepper, received her degree. Through the years, Stan Pepper ’76 the Pepper family has generously supported the College, including providing the naming gift for the Huff Athletic Center natatorium. The expertise of the family company, Pepper Construction, has also benefited the College, serving as general contractor for the magnificent Center for Science and Business. Meanwhile, Stan Pepper, the company’s CEO, has provided valuable guidance as a College trustee since 1999, chairing the building and grounds committee and serving on the academic affairs committee.

HATCH ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED TEACHING: Mark Willhardt Although his graduate training was in modernist Scottish literature, Willhardt enjoys teaching “History of the English Language” and Chaucer, exploring with his students language as a living and changing medium of communication. He also delights in teaching poetry, the genre that brought him to English as a

50

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

discipline. Willhardt holds a bachelor’s degree from Macalester (Minn.) College, and a master’s degree and a doctorate from Rutgers University. His research interests include 20th-century Scottish literature; modernism and modern British literature; contemporary poetry; popular music and cultural studies.

Alumni Board seeks nominations for annual award recipients

T

he Monmouth College Alumni Board annually recognizes certain members of the Alumni Association or College community who have brought notable distinction to themselves in their careers or professions, who have served Monmouth well, and who inspire others to succeed.

Monmouth College alumni and friends are encouraged to nominate individuals who have distinguished

themselves and deserve this recognition. The following awards are presented each year at Homecoming: •Young Alumnus Award •Distinguished Alumnus Award •Distinguished Service Award •Family of the Year •Hatch Distinguished Teaching Award •Order of Omega Fraternity and Sorority Hall of Fame

INVEST IN THEIR FUTURE, AND YOURS. SAMPLE ANNUITY RATES FOR INDIVIDUALS:

By making a charitable gift annuity to Monmouth College, you can enhance student scholarship, receive tax benefits and lock in a guaranteed lifetime income.

Age 70 5.60% Age 75 6.20% Age 80 7.30%

To nominate an individual for one of the following awards, please complete the nomination form online at monmouthcollege.edu/alumni/ awards. Once submitted, a nomination will stay on file for three years.

Imagine yourself here.

SAMPLE ANNUITY RATES FOR TWO LIVES (JOINT & SURVIVOR):

Age 70 5.00% Age 75 5.50% Age 80 6.20%

I I I I

magine volunteering your talents to strengthen relations between the College, her alumni, her students and society at large.

magine hosting and promoting alumni events, serving on class reunion planning committees, assisting with admission efforts and supporting the Monmouth Fund. magine helping to select deserving recipients for the annual Alumni Impact Awards.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

309-457-2323 development@monmouthcollege.edu

magine joining a team of committed alumni who serve a fiveyear term on the Board of Directors and help steer the course of Monmouth College’s future. Full meetings are held twice a year­— in the spring and in the fall.

Read more about the Alumni Board and submit your name for nomination at: monmouthcollege.edu/alumni board

SUMMER 2018

51

WEDDINGS

HALEIGH GARRETT ’15 AND JAKE MCLEAN ’15

2005 Karri Wunglueck and Michael Bowers

December 29, 2017

2011 Alissa Dupuy and Henry Schmidt

November 10, 2017

2014 Megan Haynes and Dan Asbell ’13

September 25, 2016

2015 Haleigh Garrett and Jake McLean

October 14, 2017

Jill Vass and Patrick Moore

2016 Halley Courtois and Madison Current ’13

52

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

March 24, 2018 October 7, 2017

BIRTHS

ALEXANDER SULLIVAN

AMELIA GAUF GRACE JUDY

2004 Kari Vatch and Phil Sullivan

a son, Alexander Richard

April 27, 2018

BLAINE VONHOLTEN

2006

Lindsay Clark VonHolten and Blake a daughter, Blaire Ryana October 3, 2017 Taylor and Mike Wilmoth a daughter, Lucille Barbara May 25, 2018

HENRY BARROW

2007 Katie and John Gerrity

a daughter, Molly Phillips

March 21, 2017 2008 Cassie Jensen Gauf and Scott

a daughter, Amelia Brooke

December 28, 2017 2009 Rebecca McCormick Barrow and Derek

a son, Henry Nathaniel

June 7, 2018

LUCILLE WILMOTH

MOLLY GERRITY

2010

Kathryn and Noah Emery a son, Gregory Jack April 23, 2018 Audrey Hackmann McNeill and Brandon a son, Parker James November 7, 2017

2011

Kayla Blackburn Judy and Payton a daughter, Grace Katherine December 2, 2016 Amber and Matt Morman a son, Andrew Robert July 25, 2017

2012 Samantha Clark Bresnahan and Jeremiah

a son, Myles Jae

March 3, 2018

PARKER MCNEILL

ANDREW MORMAN

SUMMER 2018 

53

IN THE SCOTLIGHT

By BARRY McNAMAR A

STEVIE CROISANT ’14 Using personal experience and liberal arts values to aid victims of sexual abuse For survivors of sexual assault, community plays a critical role in the healing process.

That can be observed in the #MeToo movement or the burgeoning website We Are HER, which was founded by Monmouth College alumna Stevie Croisant.

‘I

think that both #MeToo and HER offer (abuse) survivors community,” said Croisant, who lives in Bozeman, Mont. “And community was the biggest thing for me when I needed to heal, so I can only imagine that many other survivors feel the same way. It’s my biggest goal: provide community, whether that’s online or in person.”

Croisant started We Are HER in 2017. The acronym stands for “healed, empowered, restored.” She created the anonymous online community after ending a physically, emotionally and financially abusive relationship.

“In our first year, we helped over 100 survivors,” said Croisant. “I lost count after 100, and I stopped counting in 2018 when we hit the 100 mark.”

HER refers survivors to therapists, advocates or women’s shelters in their area, or simply “just listens to them,” said Croisant.

“I think a lot of survivors just want a stranger who can listen to their story without any judgment and tell them ‘It’s going to be OK,’” she said. “And so I’ve found that

54

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

many survivors want to come forward in that way.”

Although abuse is a national problem, Croisant said that not all parts of the United States are as far along in the discussion.

“We Are HER really did start at a great time, because here in Bozeman, there was already a dialogue about sexual assault that I had never gotten before,” she said.

“And the beauty of living in 2018 is that we aren’t limited to in-person communities.

I’ve connected my survivor in Germany with survivors in Illinois and Montana, and there’s hope in knowing you’re not alone.”

Operating a successful online community requires confidence and initiative—tools that Croisant credits her Monmouth education for helping her acquire. “(English professor) Marlo Belschner was the first person who really showed me how to think critically,” said Croisant. “I owe so much to her. I was really able to break out of my shell because of the opportunities she gave me. Things like women’s rights or equality weren’t things people talked about

in my tiny hometown. She helped me see the world.”

Croisant meant that figuratively, but it is also true in the literal sense. Croisant traveled to Cuba on a trip led by Belschner, who also pushed her to apply for the Chicago Arts Program and attend an immigration reform educational spring break in Mexico.

“She really saw potential in me that I might have missed without her help, and I am forever grateful to her for that,” said Croisant.

Former faculty member Jane Jakoubek led an Integrated Studies class about finding one’s purpose, which Croisant said was pivotal.

“I really know that running HER and helping survivors is my calling in life, and Professor Jakoubek’s class really gave me an understanding that I wouldn’t be comfortable working a desk job that didn’t give me any fulfillment,” she said.

Croisant is also a strong believer in the liberal arts education she received at Monmouth.

“Running We Are HER requires marketing skills, writing skills, public speaking skills and fundraising skills—all things that define what having a liberal arts education is really about,” she said.

To that end, Croisant has utilized the nonprofit skills of another Monmouth graduate, Chase Mowery ’14, to help get HER off the ground.

Asked what’s next for HER, Croisant said she wants to “keep things simple” and that the survivors will ultimately determine where HER goes.

“I am currently working on partnering with organizations across the United States so that I can continue building community,” she said. “Community is everything, and the more people who know about HER means the more survivors I have the potential to help.”

ATTENTION YOUNG ALUMNI Membership in The 1853 Society is more affordable than you think JOHN KAISER ’10 joined The 1853 Society shortly after graduation because he wanted to help current and future students reap the rewards he attained through his Monmouth education. But as a young alumnus, he also understands the unique financial pressures facing recent Monmouth graduates.

That’s why he encourages young alumni to take advantage of a new program that allows them to join The 1853 Society at a fraction of the normal annual giving requirement and gradually work their way up to traditional membership status.

Why does John choose to be an 1853 Society member?

“Not a day goes by without thinking back to a memory, a lesson, a laugh, and sometimes even a smell from my time at Monmouth.”

I learned about supply and demand, debits and credits, warrior ethos, how spice and cacao trade impacted the formation of the world we live in, and how to sculpt, but, perhaps more importantly now, I learned to think critically, appreciate different perspectives and points of view, and the importance of community engagement and being a good citizen.

Monmouth changed the way I view and interact with the world around me for the better, forever.

I make the choice to give back to the College, a little more each year, for three reasons: 1. To help others afford the opportunity to learn, grow and experience Monmouth like I did.

2. To support the hiring and retention of amazing faculty and staff.

3. Family is important to me, and in a family everyone has to do their part, big or small. Giving back to support our Monmouth College family is one way I do mine.

John A. Kaiser ’10 Manager, Huron Consulting Group Chicago

Monmouth College Graduates Of the Last Decade (GOLD) are offered a special membership to The 1853 Society and its events, which traditionally requires a $1,000 gift annually. GOLD membership starts at $100 the first year after graduation and increases until $1,000 is reached in the 10th year.

MONTHLY CONTRIBUTIONS

Year 1

$8.34

Year 2

$16.69

Year 3

$25.00

Year 4

$33.34

Year 5

$41.67

Year 6

$50.00

Year 7

$58.34

Year 8

$66.68

Year 9

$75.00

Year 10

$83.34

The above example shows monthly contribution rates for the first 10 years after graduation.

For more information about membership, contact the Associate Director of The 1853 Society: Jeani Talbott, jtalbott@monmouthcollege.edu, 309-457-2319 Named to honor the College’s founding year, the 1853 Society recognizes donors who give a minimum of $1,000 annually.

SUMMER 2018

55

OBITUARIES

1939

Delma McLaughlin Lindquist, 101, of Salisbury, Conn., died May 17, 2018. While at Monmouth, she was a member of Pi Beta Phi. She then attended Brown’s Business College in Galesburg, Ill. Lindquist worked at Blaine Gorham Carpet and Draperies in Galesburg.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 62 years, by a sister, Helen McLaughlin Thompson ’30, and by her grandmother, Salina Graham McCutchan, who attended Monmouth in the 1860s. Survivors include a daughter, Cynthia Lindquist Emmons ’71.

1941

Ruth Hamilton Carwile, 97, of Monmouth, died March 9, 2018. She majored in elementary education and was a member of Kappa Delta. Carwile earned a master’s degree in education from Western Illinois University and taught for 24 years at Monmouth’s Harding Elementary School. She was preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, Ralph Carwile ’38. Survivors include a niece, Monmouth staff member Marti Carwile.

1942

Robert Huston, 96, of Muncie, Ind., died March 17, 2018.

Huston hitchhiked to Monmouth from Pittsburgh. During a biology lab, he met Jean Kellogg ’43, and the two would be together for 75 years, including 70 years of marriage.

Huston graduated with a degree in history and was a member of the swim team and Tau Kappa Epsilon. He enlisted in the Naval Reserve in 1942 and served in the Navy in the South Pacific during World War II. In all, he served four years in the Navy and remained in the Naval Reserves until he retired in 1981 with the rank of captain.

Huston completed a master’s degree at Harvard University and a Ph.D. in American history at the University of Wisconsin.

He began his teaching career at the high school level and then taught at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and Ball State University, where he served 28 years, retiring as a full professor in 1986. He was preceded in death by his wife and by a brother, Donald Huston ’49. Survivors include a brother, John Huston ’48.

56

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

Mary Jane Hill Norlin of North Little Rock, Ark., died Jan. 5, 2018. She graduated with a degree in English and was a member of Kappa Delta

school for more than 25 years. She was preceded in death by her husband of 68 years and by a brother, Willard Roper ’52.

1943

Jane Walker Hardin, 92, of Monmouth, died March 28, 2018. She studied speech/ communication/theatre and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma. In addition to Monmouth, she attended Wellesley (Mass.)

College and the University of Iowa, graduating from the latter school with a degree in education. Survivors include her husband of 68 years, a son, Doug Hardin ’72, and grandchildren Marc Garza ’09 and Melissa Lindsay ’10.

Sally Orr Alm, 96, of Union, W.V., died Feb. 20, 2018. She graduated with a degree in Spanish and was a member of Kappa Delta. She was preceded in death by her husband of more than 50 years, Robert Alm ’43. Survivors include a granddaughter, Rebecca Disrud ’02.

1944

Jane Morgan Smith, 95, of Monmouth, died Feb. 14, 2018. A general studies major, she was a member of Kappa Delta. She operated the Jane Smith Pre-School from her home for 43 years and was also a participant in the creation of Warren Achievement School.

1945

M a g d a l e n e St i e g h o r s t Carttar, 95, of Lawrence, Kan., died April 30, 2018. Born in Germany, she came to the United States as an infant. She graduated from Monmouth with a degree in biology and was a member of Pi Beta Phi. While completing her master’s degree in physiology at the University of Chicago, she worked for the Atomic Energy Commission in its early days. Carttar taught physiology at Kansas University and, after earning another master’s degree in education, was a sixth-grade teacher and placement director for the Kansas University School of Law. Every year at Christmas, she baked more than 100 loaves of German stollen to share with people she loved and admired. She was preceded in death by a brother, Guenther Stieghorst ’43.

Caroline Hall Hass, 94, of West Lafayette, Ind., died March 12, 2018. She graduated with a degree in chemistry and was a member of Kappa Delta. She received her medical degree from the University of Illinois-Chicago and operated a private practice in West Lafayette with her husband for nearly 40 years, retiring in 1995.

1947

Sarah Roper Garber, 92, of Marietta, Ga., died May 2, 2018. She studied chemistry and was a member of Alpha Xi Delta. Garber worked as a chemist doing research to make plastics, then later returned to school, completing her degree at Atlantic Union College and teaching middle

1948

Jean Tommeraason Gladstone, 92, of Appleton, Wis., died March 18, 2018. After two years at Monmouth, she completed a degree in journalism at the University of Missouri.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 58 years, Dr. William Gladstone ’48.

Survivors include a daughter, Patricia Gladstone Middlin ’74.

Arthur Lauer of Hilliard, Ohio, died Dec. 25, 2017. He graduated with a degree in government and was a member of the football team and Alpha Tau Omega.

Richard Speer, 91, of Kirkwood, Ill., died April 30, 2018. An Army veteran, he completed his undergraduate degree in agriculture at the University of Illinois. Survivors include his wife, Jan Peasley Speer ’51, and a son, Daniel Speer ’87.

1949

Louisa Johnston Decker, 92, of Palm Springs, Calif., died April 4, 2018. She graduated with a degree in English and served more than 25 years as editor-in-chief for an educational publisher in Chicago. An author of several books for children, as well as adult novels, she worked part-time until she was 90.

John O’Neal, 91, of Augusta, Ill., died April 1, 2018. He served in the Naval Reserve, attended Monmouth for two years and completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois with a degree in mining studies. In 1951, he began work with the Explosives Division of American Cyanamid in New Castle, Pa. Ten years later, he returned to Illinois, joining the family limestone business, R.L. O’Neal and Sons. He was actively involved in the company’s management when he retired in 1992.

ALUMNI NEWS | OBITUARIES

Hazel Hatch Wharff of Des Moines, Iowa, died Feb. 18, 2018. She graduated with a degree in economics and was a member of Pi Beta Phi. In 1948, she scored a near-perfect 499 x 500 and won first place at the National Rifle Association’s National Individual Women’s Championship. Her success a shooter was recognized in 1984, when she was inducted into the M Club Hall of Fame. She was preceded in death by her husband, Keith Wharff ’49, as well as three of her siblings who attended Monmouth— Harold Hatch ’46, Henry Hatch ’48 and Jerome Hatch ’57.

1950

Cecil Brown, 89, of Raritan, Ill., died May 1, 2018.

He served in the Army during the Korean War. Following his service, Brown farmed, was factory supervisor for the former Alton Box Co. in Galesburg, Ill., and was manager of Farm Center in Sciota, Ill., retiring in 1991. After retirement, he helped many local farmers with their harvest.

Norma Milward Wolford, 90, of Abingdon, Ill., died May 1, 2018. She graduated with a degree in chemistry and was a member of Pi Beta Phi. Wolford was a farm wife, homemaker and substitute school teacher. She was preceded in death by her husband of 57 years.

The Rev. Walter Scott of Urbana, Ill., died Feb. 18, 2018. After graduating with a degree in classics, he attended Pittsburg-Xenia Theological Seminary and was a Presbyterian minister for more than 40 years. Survivors include his wife of 66 years.

1951

William Bermann, 88, of Glen Ellyn, Ill., died April 22, 2018. He majored in business and was a member of the swim team and Theta Chi. He served in the Army in the Counter Intelligence Corps before a successful career in sales and management in the packaging industry, working for American Can, Weyerhaeuser and Champion Products. Survivors include his wife of 66 years, Janet Zolan Bermann ’53.

James Ginter, 89, of Jupiter, Fla., died March 19, 2018. A sociology major, he was a member of the football team and Alpha Tau Omega. After graduating, he served two years in the military, stationed primarily in Regensberg, West Germany. Ginter worked for Boston Gear Works and Mount Hope Machinery Co. before moving to Appleton, Wis., in 1961. Six years later, he purchased Spencer-Johnston Co., a paper mill machinery manufacturer, and served as president there until his retirement at age 75. A tireless entrepreneur, he also started Handifax, which computerized the golf handicap system for the state of Wisconsin. Survivors include his wife of 65 years, Jeanne Jennings Ginter ’52.

Geneva Worthington Halladay, 91, of Monmouth, died April 24, 2018. After transferring to Monmouth, she completed a degree in English. A freelance writer, she taught creative writing at Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, Ill. Betty Jacobs Jorgensen, 88, of Clinton, Ill., died March 4, 2018. An English major, she was a member of Crimson Masque and Kappa Delta. Jorgensen taught high school English and later worked in market research in Mount Prospect, Ill. She was preceded in death by her husband of 49 years, Leighton Jorgensen ’51.

1952

Roy Adkisson, 89, of Roseville, Ill., died Feb. 28, 2018. A member of Tau Kappa Epsilon, he also studied at Colorado A&M University.

Adkisson served in the Air Force during the Korean War and was in the Army National Guard. He started farming when he was in high school and farmed in western Illinois all his life.

Adkisson was preceded in death by two spouses, including his first wife of 51 years.

Katherine Mancell Cornwell, 86, of Rockford, Ill., died April 13, 2018. She also attended Eastern Michigan University and Michigan State University. She was a founding member of the Rockford Area Historical Society and served as a director in its original location.

Lois Calhoun Fowler, 87, of Searcy, Ark., died Feb. 1, 2018. A high school teacher, she graduated with a degree in biology and was a member of Alpha Xi Delta.

Bill Smallwood, 90, of Monmouth, died April 29, 2018. After serving in the Navy, he was an economics major at Monmouth and a member of the track team.

He worked for and later owned Norris Office Equipment in Monmouth. Excelling in track all his life, he competed internationally in masters events as he got older, and many of his records still stand. Survivors include his wife of 67 years, Erma Norris Smallwood ’49, and daughters Mary Smallwood Armstrong ’73 and Susan Smallwood Schilson ’78.

1953

Mary Whitmore, 87, of Wilmington, Ill., died March 28, 2018. A member of Pi Beta Phi at Monmouth, she earned her bachelor’s degree at Millikin (Ill.) University. She and her husband were third-generation owners of Whitmore Hardware in Wilmington, which opened in 1896 and is now in its fifth generation with Mary’s grandsons.

1954

William Gaffney, 85, of Lakewood, N.J., died March 5, 2017. A history major, he was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon. After graduation, he served in the Army for two years, including one year in Greenland. Gaffney was vice president and general manager of Weight Watchers of New Jersey and until his retirement worked for IBIS in Hanover, N.J., as a corporate trainer, becoming one of the principles of the IBIS Group.

Harold Henrikson, 85, of Elgin, Ill., died April 23, 2018. He graduated with a degree in economics and was a member of Theta Chi. Henrikson completed his doctorate in education and was an elementary school principal at several schools in Elgin. He was preceded in death by his wife of 56 years, Marcelyn Clements Henrikson ’56.

Jean Robb Huntoon of Stevens Point, Wis., died May 6, 2018. She studied English and was a member of Kappa Delta. Huntoon was an executive secretary and professional editor, but her true passion was painting, which she fully realized in her retirement. She was preceded in death by her husband of 63 years, Richard Huntoon ’54, whom she met at a fraternity dance.

SUMMER 2018

57

ALUMNI NEWS | OBITUARIES

The Rev. Don Keller, 85, of Steilacoom, Wash., died March 15, 2018. He graduated with a degree in Greek and was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon. A graduate of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, he served five churches before retiring—twice. Most recently, he led Sunday morning Bible study at a Presbyterian church in Lakewood, Wash. Last year, he celebrated 60 years of ordination in the Presbyterian Church (USA). He took special pride in having pitched fastpitch softball from ages 12 to 72. His brother, the Rev. Wayne Keller ’52, died in 2016.

Ronette Shawger Mathew, 85, of Walnut, Ill., died March 20, 2018. She studied English and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma. She was preceded in death by her husband of 61 years, whom she helped farm at their land south of Walnut.

1955

David McFaddin, 87, of Carbon, Ind., died Feb. 10, 2018.

Prior to g ra duat i ng from Monmouth with a degree in geology, he served in the Air Force and attended Indiana Un iver sit y.

A licensed geologist, he worked for Exxon in the oil fields. He retired as the adverting manager of the Brazil (Ind.) Times.

Elizabeth Glenn Speer, 74, of Glenview, Ill., died May 20, 2018. She graduated with a degree in music. Speer was talented as both a pianist and a singer, and one of her vocal groups was named International Quartet Champion by Sweet Adelines.

She also taught elementary school music in Sterling, Ill., where she was her church’s organist and its worship music director.

Survivors include her husband of 62 years, Gordon Speer ’55.

1956

Marion Van Zelst Boning, 83, of Littleton, Colo., died April 7, 2018. She was a member of Pi Beta Phi.

1957

Phyllis Comba of Jackson, Mich., died Dec. 14, 2016.

She graduated with a degree in elementary education and was a member of Crimson Masque.

58

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

Walter Droppa, 82, of Sandwich, Ill., died Feb. 13, 2018. A three-sport athlete at Monmouth, Droppa graduated with a degree in physical education and was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon. He then earned a master’s degree from Northern Illinois University. Droppa served in the U.S. Army from 1957-59, then moved to Sandwich, where he was a teacher, coach and principal, retiring in 1990. Survivors include his wife of 60 years, Margaret Flick Droppa ’58, and a grandson, Brad Hoffman ’15.

Elaine Richards Fulton, 83, of Green Valley, Ariz., died March 20, 2018. She graduated with a degree in history. A librarian for several years in DeKalb, Ill., she and her husband Glenn “Rip” Fulton ’57, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary earlier this year.

Donald Jones, 82, of Belleville, Ill., died April 26, 2018. He followed his mother, Esther Hamilton Jones ’20, to Monmouth, majoring in music and joining Theta Chi. The Army veteran was a school band and vocal teacher, including a 29-year career at Belleville West High School. Survivors include a sister, Margaret Jones ’54, and a daughter, Donna Jones ’88. He established the Donald L. Jones Music Scholarship at Monmouth.

1959

Jack Gibson, 80, of North Myrtle Beach, S.C., died May 19, 2018, after a long battle with prostate cancer. At Monmouth, he studied physics and was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon.

He earned a master’s degree in physics from the University of Pittsburgh and began his career as a research physicist at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., working on superconductivity and cathode research. While working at NRL, he earned a Ph.D. from Catholic University. Survivors include a brother, James Gibson ’63.

1961

Paul Orednick, 75, of Lemont, Ill., died April 12, 2015, after a battle with a rare form of leukemia. He graduated with a degree in economics and was a member of Theta Chi. Orednick served in the Army as a military policeman and had a

successful career as an entrepreneur, inventor and business owner. An antique car buff, he often compared his cancer battle to the restoration of his 1932 Chevy Five Window Coupe. In 2013, he met a stem cell donor whom at the time he credited with saving his life.

1962

Laurence Moore, 79, of New York City, died Feb. 14, 2018.

After serving in the Army, he graduated with a degree in business administration. He was a member of the Octopus Club and Sigma Phi Epsilon. Moore continued his education at Arizona State University, receiving a master’s degree in economics and a Ph.D. in statistics and operations research.

He worked with Standard Oil and Continental Bank before serving on the faculty at the Virginia Tech College of Business for 37 years, earning the distinction of Verizon Professor of Business Information Technology.

1965

Lynn McCrery McGill, 74, of Monmouth, died March 7, 2018. She majored in elementary education and worked at several area schools. Survivors include her husband of more than 50 years. She was preceded in death by a sister, Martha McCrery Brunette ’71.

1967

Robert Meyer, 72, of Omaha, Neb., died Nov. 18, 2017. He graduated with a degree in mathematics and was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon.

He earned a master’s degree in mathematics at the University of Nebraska, then was a full-time high school teacher in Omaha until 2013. He also taught night classes at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Later in life, he said, “I think I am still making good use of my Monmouth education and still think I made the right choice in spending my undergraduate days there.”

1968

William Cowger, 69, of Troy, Mich., died Jan. 21, 2016. He was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon. An adventurer and risk-taker, Cowger reinvented himself many times over—as an opera singer, ski bum, software designer, woodworker, entrepreneur and, finally, safari operator/ photographer.

ALUMNI NEWS | OBITUARIES

James Peel, 71, of Fairview Heights, Ill., died May 27, 2018, after a lengthy struggle with emphysema. He completed his degree at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, majoring in English, and also earned a master’s degree in English. After a brief teaching career, he worked for the U.S. Customs Service in New York City, Chicago and St. Louis, retiring as a senior customs inspector.

1970

Joseph DeSollar Sr., 69, of Beardstown, Ill., died March 28, 2018. He graduated with a degree in business administration and was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. He was the third generation to join the family business, DeSollar Agency, where he worked as an insurance and real estate agent for more than 35 years.

Frank Manning, 69, of Placitas, N.M., died March 31, 2018. He majored in mathematics and was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon.

Manning earned an MBA in finance and management information systems from the University of Houston. He worked for the State of New Mexico Human Services Department and was an award-winning volunteer and song writer. He also taught project management for Harrisburg University.

1971

Monica Hoggay Andrews, 66, of Columbus, Ohio, died June 9, 2016. Among several activities, she trained staff in the Philippines, tutored students after school and was an advocate for the world’s poor.

1972

Lea Ann Smoley Osburn, 67, of Phoenix, died April 11, 2018. She majored in classics and was a Latin teacher for more than 40 years in Barrington, Ill., sending several students to Monmouth. Survivors include a son, Scott Osburn ’02.

John “Muddy” Waters, 68, of Camp Hill, Pa., died Jan. 10, 2017. A business administration major, he worked in the hospitality business his entire life. He owned the Rutherford Café in the early 1980s and retired from the Hilton Hotel in Harrisburg, Pa.

1973

Thomas Knoble, 67, of Pennsauken, N.J., died Feb. 20, 2018. He studied physical education and was a member of the basketball team. He

IN MEMORIA M

Michael Stone ’74 Michael Stone, 65, of Moline, Ill., died March 20, 2018.

An economics major and a member of the tennis team at Monmouth, he earned a law degree from the University of Notre Dame. After practicing law in Louisiana and Colorado, he became a journalist on the East and West coasts, having completed graduate coursework in journalism from the University of Missouri.

For most of his adult life, Stone alternatively traveled the world as a journalist and as a proponent for independent media. He called many places around the world home, including Austria, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, North Vietnam, Mexico and Belarus.

“Starting a newspaper in Budapest just after the Soviet troops left was a heady experience,” Stone said in 2005. “Failing at the same type of venture in Mexico City was less so. And getting tossed out of Hanoi about 10 years ago while trying to start a paper—I refused to pay a bribe—was, to say the least, unusual.”

While in the central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan, Stone established the Kyrgyz Printing Press Project, an organization committed to printing independent newspapers, despite opposition from the dictator Askar Akayev. In 2005, that work landed him on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. Organized by Freedom House, a New York-based rights and democracy group partially funded by the U.S. government, the project was credited for the “Tulip Revolution,” which led to Akayev’s fall from power.

His last foreign address was Vienna, where he worked for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, an intergovernmental organization devoted to promoting human rights, freedom of the press and fair elections. worked as a logistics coordinator for Almo Corporation in Philadelphia.

1974

Louise Chavez Holle, 64, of Tinley Park, Ill., died May 7, 2017. She graduated with a degree in mathematics and was a member of Pi Beta Phi.

1980

Bruce Graham, 59, of Stow, Ohio, died May 26, 2017, after a diagnosis of ALS one year prior. He majored in economics and was a member of Crimson Masque and Sigma Phi Epsilon. Graham dedicated his life to emergency medical services. He began as a volunteer firefighter and later became an EMS director in Hudson, Ohio. He was a founding member of the International Emergency Medical Services Chief’s Association and vice president of the Ohio EMS Chief’s Association.

1990

James Stolz of Aurora, Ill., died Dec. 1, 2017. He graduated with a degree in mathematics and was

a member of the wrestling team and Zeta Beta Tau. Survivors include a brother, Richard Stolz ’84.

1995

Steven Morss, 60, of Galesburg, Ill., died May 4, 2018.

He graduated with a degree in computer science and worked for 22 years as a real estate appraiser for Mid-West Appraisers.

2003

Justin Sager, 36, of Germantown Hills, Ill., died March 2, 2018. He graduated with a degree in business and was a member of the football team. He had been employed with Caterpillar Inc. since 2005 Other deaths: Donna Arnold, 71, of Janesville, Wis., wife of former faculty member and dean George Arnold, died May 30, 2018. While living in Monmouth, she taught at-risk pre-kindergarten children.

SUMMER 2018

59

THE LAST WORD

REFLECTIONS ON 1968: STEVE BUBAN

MY EARLY POLITICAL EDUCATION

M

arked by assassinations, war, racial and political strife, and political polarization, no single year in my lifetime has been as tumultuous and consequential as 1968.

In February of that year I turned 19. I was a first-year student at the University of Iowa. Despite the fact that the civil rights movement had been going on for more than a decade and the war in Vietnam was nearly at its height, I was like most white, middle-class, small-town young people. I didn’t give much deep thought nor had I developed strong views about either of these things.

As I now reflect on that time, I realize by year’s end I had become much more thoughtful and critically engaged with social and political issues, especially matters of racial justice and the war. I would not say that my values became clear in one year, but I developed some strong opinions, and the seeds were planted for many values I hold to this day.

Reflections on the past are tricky matters. Am I remembering events as I actually experienced them as a 19-year-old? Inevitably, my memories are influenced by layers of subsequent experience. My recollections of 1968 are complicated by the fact that for many years I taught a class on protest movements that focused significantly on that era.

When Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered that April, like everyone, I was shocked. And I was sympathetic enough to his cause (but not yet “my” cause) to be dismayed. But I certainly didn’t consider him to be

60

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

I WOULD NOT SAY THAT MY VALUES BECAME CLEAR IN ONE YEAR, BUT I DEVELOPED SOME STRONG OPINIONS, AND THE SEEDS WERE PLANTED FOR MANY VALUES I HOLD TO THIS DAY. the giant I do today. King for me is the most important American in my lifetime. Had he lived to pursue his turn against the Vietnam War and carry on his crusade against economic inequality among all people, I fully believe the world would now be a better place. My reaction to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy two months later was to be equally shocked, but I don’t think I reflected much at the time on the profound implications of his death. By November, though, I believed he would have won the presidency and, if nothing else, would have spared the nation the trauma of the Nixon presidency.

In my freshman year, protests against the war in

Dressed as death, University of Iowa student David Grant (AKA David Sundance) was a familiar sight during protests on the campus in 1968.

Wallace evil personified. Though he of course didn’t win, his campaign helped Nixon become president.

Vietnam were starting to hit college campuses. I vividly remember looking out the chemistry lab window one spring day and seeing protestors being dragged out of the student center by police in riot gear and put into a police wagon. They were protesting the presence on campus of recruiters from Dow Chemical Co., manufacturer of napalm. A defoliant used in Vietnam, napalm came to symbolize, for the protestors, the evils of the war. I clearly remember, too, seeing a man dressed as the Grim Reaper. His name was David Sundance; he became a regular presence at the scores of protests over the following years. I thought he was a bit of a kook, but as I became increasingly convinced the war was wrong, I came to admire his commitment.

The 1968 presidential election was all about the Vietnam War. On the Democratic side, a rather obscure senator from Minnesota, Gene McCarthy, ran on a “stop the war” platform. He energized the college-based anti-war movement but was given virtually no chance of winning. Yet when he nearly beat incumbent Lyndon Johnson in the New Hampshire primary, Bobby Kennedy entered the race. Soon after, Johnson suddenly withdrew and shortly after that, Johnson’s vice president, Hubert Humphrey, decided to run. A month later, Kennedy was killed. By the time of the Democratic Convention in August, I had come to believe that the war needed to quickly be brought to an end. I was excited about McCarthy, but admired Humphrey, the eventual nominee. Still only 19, I guess I had a pragmatic side, because I saw beating Nixon as the priority. A wild card in this presidential race was segregationist Alabama Gov. George Wallace, who entered as a third-party candidate. By this time, my views on racial justice were at the point where I considered

The events of the Democratic Convention in Chicago—especially the bloody encounters between protestors and Chicago police—are well-documented. I will never forget watching the turmoil in the streets and the craziness inside the convention. I couldn’t believe it when Connecticut Sen. Abraham Ribicoff, from the podium, looked directly at Mayor Daley and railed against “Gestapo tactics in the streets of Chicago.” Though I knew that some of the protestors got completely out of hand and that many of the police were mischaracterized as brutes, I was outraged by the police conduct—labeled by the Walker Commission a “police riot”—and identified strongly with the protestors. Whoever was right or wrong, it is generally believed that the whole ordeal contributed to the Democrats losing the election.

One last enduring memory, this from the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, illustrates how high passions were around issues of racial injustice. When Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos stood on the podium to receive their medals while the national anthem played, they each raised a fisted glove, a sign of solidarity with the burgeoning Black Power movement.

Viewers across the country were shocked—me included.

As I now remember it, I admired the bravery it took to make such a powerful statement.

As 1968 came to an end, I was still a 19-year-old from a small town in Illinois, but I, along with the rest of America, had changed. Clearly 1968 spurred my interest in social justice and social change, an interest that eventually led me to switch from undergraduate study of mathematics to graduate study in sociology, a path that eventually led to a fulfilling career teaching sociology at Monmouth College.

Emeritus Professor Steve Buban taught in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology from 1977-2016.

SUMMER 2018

61

WE’RE SOCIAL! Monmouth College Monmouth College Athletics Monmouth College Alumni @Monmouth @MCFightingScots @Monmouth_Alumni @MonmouthCollege @MonmouthCollegeAthletics @ThisisMonmouth

Monmouth College Magazine

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE

SUMMER 2018

PAID

BOLINGBROOK IL PERMIT NO. 467

Monmouth College 700 East Broadway Monmouth IL 61462-1998 www.monmouthcollege.edu

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

ThisIsMonmouth

@MonmouthCollege #MonmouthCollege #RollScots #ItsGreatToBeAScot

Cheer the Fighting Scots to victory over the Grinnell Pioneers

FRI OCT 5

SAT OCT 6

• Hoptimistic Thoughts • Alumni Impact Awards • Reunion Welcome Receptions

• • • • • •

SUN OCT 7

Induction Ceremonies • Alumni Baseball Game Remembering Ira Smolensky Parade Lunch with the Faculty Football Game Reunion Celebrations

1978 1983 1988 1993 1998 2003 2008 2013 2018 monmouthcollege.edu/homecoming