Summer 2017
ALUMNI MAGAZINE
A COMMANDING PRESENCE Lt. Cmdr. Kelechi Ndukwe’s success and leadership have been shaped by a principal’s simple motto.
SPOTLIGHT
GRADUATION Class of 2017
ALUMNI FEATURE
A SACRED PLACE TO SAY GOODBYE
Anna-Gene (Chalfant) O’Neal ’84
ALUMNI FEATURE
A VISION FOR MUSIC’S HEALING POWER Rondal Richardson ’87
ALUMNI FEATURE
UNLOCKING LIFE
Tara (Hodgson) Moseley ’05
WILDCAT ROLL CALL
LIFTING AS SHE CLIMBS
Dr. Eleanor Fleming ’96
EDUCATION ELEVATED
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GRADUATES IN THE CLASS OF 2017
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NUMBER OF COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES our 2017 grads will attend this fall
99%
AVERAGE ACT SCORE of 2017 graduating class
ACCEPTED into at least one of their top three college choices
$10.5
MILLION merit-based scholarship dollars offered
With 128 years of experience educating students in Williamson County, Battle Ground Academy knows the best college preparation begins long before high school and goes far beyond academics. Focusing with the end goal in mind, we create a holistic educational experience that includes enhanced learning opportunities, intentional character development and an inviting community that affirms, appreciates and celebrates differences in all its forms. Regardless of when students’ BGA careers begin, they graduate prepared to accomplish their academic, professional and personal goals.
Visit battlegroundacademy.org/education-elevated to learn more about our exceptional outcomes and to apply online.
Around Campus GREERS FOR THE WIN!
The Greers won the 79th annual Tug-of-War, ending a six-year losing streak and sending the Platos for a swim in the Harpeth River.
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FROM THE
Head of School We are always teaching. The only question is what we are teaching. Perhaps the most daunting responsibility of teaching or raising children comes from knowing young people are always learning from us and sometimes what they learn may not be what we intend to teach. While this prospect terrified me as a young parent, as an educator I fully understand my impact extends well beyond the classroom or the school day. I am always a teacher. In this issue of Echo, we celebrate the education that “sticks.” Certainly much of it comes from a classic classroom setting and a well-wrought educational philosophy, but often, true education comes from the unique blend of experiences offered at Battle Ground Academy. The relationship between a novel in English and a project in art class, a conversation with a coach after a tough loss, a recent news story and a historical study that creates relevance – this menagerie of interactions truly defines the BGA education. And great educational experiences are not always planned, but they are absolutely intentional. The BGA environment has produced tremendous results for 128 years, and with hard-working, committed students; inspirational, dedicated faculty; and a challenging, nurturing culture, we will see those results continue. Our students need this sort of environment in order to achieve the very best, and as you will see in these profiles, our world needs the type of young people we help to produce now more than ever. I hope you’ll enjoy this issue and join me in celebrating the incredible work BGA alumni Kelechi Ndukwe ’97, Rondal Richardson ’87, Anna-Gene (Chalfant) O'Neal ’84 and Tara (Hodgson) Moseley ’05 are doing to positively impact their neighbors, both in their immediate communities and in communities around the world.
Will Kesler Head of School
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The Summer 2017 edition of Echo is published by the Battle Ground Academy Office of Advancement for alumni, parents, grandparents, students and friends. HEAD OF SCHOOL William F. Kesler CHAIRMAN, BOARD OF TRUSTEES Tyler R. Berry IV ‘87 PRESIDENT, ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Deana Hood ‘89 DIRECTOR OF ADVANCEMENT Tom Evans PHOTOGRAPHERS Tim Jones Dirk Rohrbach Scott Suchman
CONTENTS AROUND THE QUAD 10
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12 Academics 14 Arts 16 Athletics 18 Character and Service
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SPOTLIGHT: 2017 GRADUATION 20 ALUMNI FEATURES 26 26 A SACRED PLACE TO SAY GOODBYE
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Anna-Gene (Chalfant) O'Neal ’84
32 A COMMANDING PRESENCE Kelechi Ndukwe ’97
38 A VISION FOR MUSIC’S HEALING POWER Rondal Richardson ’87
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44 UNLOCKING LIFE
Tara (Hodgson) Moseley ’05
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WILDCAT ROLL CALL 50 51 Hall of Fame 53 Class Notes 54 LIFTING AS SHE CLIMBS Dr. Eleanor Fleming ’96
56 In Memoriam
FINAL NOTES 58
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A night of
JUBILEE The BGA Office of Diversity & Inclusion, headed by O.J. Fleming ‘94, hosted the Fisk Jubilee Singers at Franklin First United Methodist Church on February 24 as part of BGA’s Arts in the Community Series. The free concert, which was open to the public, drew more than 750 attendees in celebration of community and in recognition of Black History Month at The Academy. Acclaimed worldwide, the Fisk Jubilee Singers are credited with introducing and preserving the musical tradition of “slave songs” and have contributed to the breakdown of racial barriers in the U.S. and abroad. In 2008, the Fisk Jubilee Singers were awarded a National Medal of Arts by President George W. Bush in recognition of their longtime contribution to the arts.
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ARTS in the COMMUNITY
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It was truly an evening to recognize,
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respect and celebrate all the things that unite us.
- O.J. Fleming ‘94
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Head of School Will Kesler welcomes guests to the third annual Denim and Diamonds event.
The Jimmy Charles Band played “Superman,� which premiered on CMT last spring, and other crowd favorites while attendees enjoyed dinner provided by Catering and Events by Suzette.
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PARENT ASSOCIATION
Pictured left to right: Gary Buckles, Carol Buckles, Dena Joseph, Todd Joseph, John Seals, Kim Seals, Jennifer Graham and Andy Graham
DENIM& DIAMONDS
Head of School Will Kesler introduces auctioneer Eddie Ables to kick off the live auction portion of the evening.
In March, the Parent Association hosted BGA’s third annual Denim & Diamonds. More than 400 members of the BGA
community – and their friends – gathered at The Factory for a night of food, drink, fun and great music, all to benefit the academy. The sold-out event raised more than $100,000 for on-campus projects, including robotics lab equipment, facility upgrades and the BGA Farm.
Pictured left to right: Shane Parkerson, Heidi Parkerson, Lucibeth Mayberry, Brian Mayberry and Sean Brasili
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AROUND
The Quad SCHOOL NEWS & U PD ATE S
BGA STUDENTS EARN
PRESTIGIOUS NATIONAL MERIT HONORS Each year, 1.6 million eleventh-grade students take the PSAT for consideration as a National Merit Scholar. Only 16,000 scorers typically reach National Merit Semifinalist Distinction; only the top 50,000 receive Commended Scholar Consideration.
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NATIONAL MERIT SEMIFINALISTS
Walker Anderson
Benjamin Ball
Allison Cowie
Alli Do
AROUND the QUAD
Academics
ENTREPRENEURIAL LEADERSHIP UPDATE
STUDENTS RESHAPE
BUSINESS
During a recent capstone project, BGA students collaborated with Down South Leather Company, a local leather goods outfit owned by Jonathan Long. Long is a member of country music sensation Lady Antebellum, and he uses Down South Leather Company as a way
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to stay busy when Lady Antebellum isn’t globetrotting on tour. David Peden, director of Entrepreneurial Leadership, believes the experience gained through entrepreneurial endeavors better prepares students for their postsecondary educational careers.
This is a launchpad for equipping students with skills and mindsets to creatively solve real-world problems and to adapt to our ever-changing, global marketplace.
Jack Arnold
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Wyatt Gibson
- David Peden
WILDC AT S WINNING
ACADEMIC COMPETITIONS
BGA’s tradition of winning on and off the field continued this school year as multiple academic teams advanced to compete — and place — in state, regional and national tournaments.
• • • • •
Lower School Destination Imagination Middle School Robotics Team Upper School Quiz Bowl Upper School Forensics Team Upper School Speech and Debate Team
COMMENDED SCHOLARS
Parker Greenwood
Zack Helberg
Matthew Keith
Tommy Peters
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Arts
CENTER STAGE UPPER SCHOOL THEATER OPENS FOR SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK
The Nashville Shakespeare Festival hosted its inaugural performance of Shakespeare in Academy Park from Sept. 29 – Oct. 2 in Franklin. More than 1,341 guests gathered on the old BGA football field and set out blankets and picnics to enjoy “The Comedy of Errors.” Before the show, Upper School Theater provided a teaser of their fall play, “Cash on Delivery.”
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Performing a scene from our fall play “Cash on Delivery” was a great way to promote the BGA theater program and showcase our talented students. Additionally, it gave the cast a chance to perform for a much larger audience, which was a lot of fun for them.
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- Jenny Wallace, Upper School drama teacher Other BGA student theatrical productions this year included “Romeo and Juliet,” “Who Killed Elvis” and “The Addams Family.”
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BGA IN THE
BIG APPLE
Thirty-two members of our Upper School Chamber Choir embraced an Empire State of Mind in February, performing at famed Lincoln Center alongside Tony Award winners Tony Yazbeck and Laura Osnes in a concert version of “Crazy For You,” in celebration of the musical comedy’s 25th anniversary.
AROUND the QUAD
MARY CAMPBELL EASEL
AWARD WINNERS BGA’s visual art teachers give the quarterly Mary Campbell Easel Award to a student whose artwork exemplifies creativity, effort and quality. This year’s most recent winners are:
RECORDING ARTISTS
FOURTH GRADE RECORDS ORIGINAL SONG AT WARNER MUSIC NASHVILLE A Lower School tradition for nearly five years, The Class of 2025 penned “My Destination,” an original song, under the direction of Lower School music teacher Shari Gerth. They took their creation all the way to Music Row for a day of recording at Warner Music Nashville.
BGA FAMILY ART SHOW
Christina Conrady ‘19
BGA’s inaugural Family Art Show, featuring work from more than 20 parents and grandparents, was held March 2 - April 12. The event will alternate years with BGA’s Alumni Art Show.
AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER
Katie Anderson ‘21
SEVENTH GRADER WINS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL AWARD Sophie Bruff ‘22 won “Best Drama” for her movie “Sonder” in the Filmmakers of Tomorrow competition as part of the San Luis Obispo Film Festival in California. “Sonder” was one of 18 films to be screened during the Festival and was among six films made by young filmmakers to win awards. “Sonder” is about the realization that each passerby has a vivid and complex life of their own, and each of the actors in “Sonder” is a BGA student.
Anna Claire Evans ‘17
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Athletics
SIGNING DAY
FRED EAVES
ASSUMES NEW ROLE AS BGA ATHLETIC DIRECTOR After a national search and rigorous selection process, Fred Eaves was appointed to athletic director, officially taking the reins on June 1. “As the director of wellness at BGA for the last five years, Fred is responsible for creating a standard of excellence in athletics and strength training at BGA. The wellness program has excelled largely due to Fred’s attention to detail and commitment to balancing an inclusive yet competitive culture. Both the search committee and I are confident in Fred’s ability to lead our athletic program successfully with energy and expertise,” said head of school Will Kesler. Eaves assumed the role with nearly 20 years of coaching experience at the collegiate and high school levels and holds advanced degrees in Administration and Supervision, Educational Counseling and Sports Psychology. He is a nationally recognized speaker and author, as well as the 2015 National Strength and Conditioning Association Coach of the Year.
1e5ars
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SENIOR WILDCATS MOVING ON TO INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS
Twelve members of The Class of 2017 inked National Letters of Intent this spring. We are proudly sending the following scholar-athletes to excel at the next level:
Henry Sanders Men’s Soccer
Jack Bolton Track and Field
FIFTEEN YEARS OF RUNNING
Sarah Fly Softball Jake Holloway Baseball and Football
Taylor Topping Hunt Seat Equestrian Team
Wrenne French Women's Soccer
Walker Anderson Men's Tennis
Chloe Tremblay Women's Soccer
Taylor Knight Women's Soccer
J.D. Cooper Lacrosse
Jack Arnold Men's Soccer
Hannah Wright Women's Golf
Since 2002, BGA Lower School students have participated in the KiDS ROCK Marathon as part of the St. Jude Rock 'N' Roll Nashville Marathon weekend. In preparation, our Lower School Running Club members ran 25.2 miles over six weeks before the race and completed the final mile on the day of the marathon.
BATTLE G R OUND A C ADEMY
AROUND the QUAD
VARSITY GIRLS BASKETBALL MAKES HISTORY Varsity girls basketball made school history by reaching the TSSAA Division II-A State Tournament Semi-Finals but ultimately fell to University School of Jackson. Allison Cowie ’17 joined Mary Blake Ray ‘97 in the 2,000-point club, exactly twenty years apart. Ray is the all-time leading scorer for varsity girls basketball with 2,150 career points. Cowie hit 2,000 points during a regular season matchup against Ezell-Harding.
ALL-AMERICAN FRENCH Wrenne French ‘17 Plays in All-America High School Game Wrenne French traveled to North Carolina in December to represent Tennessee in the All-America High School Soccer Game. French was selected to represent Tennessee by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America as a member of the NSCAA All-South Team.
ROC BATTEN NAMED COACH OF THE YEAR, 9 WILDCATS ALL-DISTRICT
VARSITY GIRLS SOCCER LANDS THIRD STATE TITLE APPEARANCE IN THREE YEARS Varsity girls soccer continued a threeyear streak of postseason dominance as they competed in the DII-A state final match-up against Evangelical Christian School. This was the second state runner-up finish for the Wildcats, who met ECS in the 2015 final, also.
After clinching his third district title in four years, varsity football coach Roc Batten was named Coach of the Year by the Williamson Herald. The Wildcats closed the season with a 9-4 record and advanced all the way to the state quarterfinals. In addition to Batten's honors, nine players were named to the Division II-A Middle/ East All-District Team. Jake Holloway ’17 was named Special Teams MVP. All-District players include: Drew Martin ‘18 Bo Jewell ‘17 Ollie Reese ‘18 Eli Mayberry ‘19 Kel Hawkins ‘18 Jack Jewell ‘18 Julian Craig ‘17 Conner Mitchell ‘18
WILDC AT S W INNING The 2016-17 academic year yielded more than 200 victories, including appearances in district, regional and state championships by the following Wildcat athletics teams: •
Middle School Girls Soccer
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Middle School Swim Team
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Sixth Grade Girls Basketball (MCAC Gold)
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Varsity Girls Basketball (District Champions, State semi-finals)
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Varsity Boys Basketball (District Champions)
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Varsity Girls Soccer (State runner-up)
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Varsity Volleyball
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Character and Service
INSTITUTION OF EMPHASIS
1TEAM1GOAL DO CHORES, BUY A COW
Lower School students welcomed author John Claude Bemis to talk about his picture book "Flora and the Runaway Rooster" that he authored to support Heifer International. Lower School students were so inspired, they set out to raise $500 to supply a heifer to a family in Rwanda, challenging one another to complete chores and collect change. True to the BGA way, students raised more than $800 for Heifer International.
Each year, BGA chooses an “Institution of Emphasis,” creating opportunities schoolwide for students to participate in service-learning projects to benefit the selected nonprofit organization. The 2016-17 Institution of Emphasis was 1Team1Goal, a local nonprofit that pairs special needs and/or financially disadvantaged people with typical people to form one team with the goal of giving them the opportunity to play sports, dance, create art, play music or get an appropriate education.
LIGHTS ON AT ROCKETOWN
Dove and Grammy Award-winning artist Michael W. Smith accompanied BGA first-grader Lauren Uribe ‘28 and her sister, Charlotte, to flip on the lights of Rocketown’s outdoor basketball court, allowing kids at the facility to play ball even after the sun sets. The pair of sisters made a donation to the youth outreach facility, enabling the lights to be purchased. In addition to providing a safe place for outdoor activities like skateboarding, football and basketball, Rocketown is known for its arts enrichment programs with opportunities in the youth-led music recording studio, improv acting classes, and music and vocal lessons. All programs are free of charge and open to students in grades five through 12.
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LOGGED BY BGA STUDENTS IN THE 2016-17 ACADEMIC YEAR
AROUND the QUAD
HONORING OUR VETERANS BGA Middle School students honored Wounded Warrior Project while marching in Franklin’s Veterans Day Parade.
BGA MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS WORK WITH THE SPECIAL OLYMPICS TO END “THE R WORD” Zane Jenkins ‘23 brought sunshine to a rainy day at the Middle School when he spoke about his connection to the Special Olympics of Tennessee’s “Spread the Word to End the Word” campaign. BGA Middle School students will participate in the campaign to end "the r word" and hurtful rhetoric about the special needs community.
MIDDLE SCHOOL BAKE SALE BENEFITS SECOND HARVEST The Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee Penny Drive received a boost in the Middle School as a team of fifth-grade students ran a pop-up bake sale to build momentum. Funds raised through the bake sale provided 992 meals for families in need.
ONCE A WILCAT, ALWAYS A WILDCAT Sixty Lower School students spread joy and shared treats with residents of Morningside of Franklin Assisted Living during our 15th annual Reverse Trick or Treat. After discovering John Guffee ‘63 was a resident, students serenaded him with the alma mater.
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CLASS OF 2017 Prepared to
“Shake This World Up”
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SPOTLIGHT: Graduation
On Sunday, May 14, Battle Ground Academy conferred 85 degrees to its 128th graduating class. Suzannah Smith, valedictorian, challenged her classmates to “shake this world up” in her commencement address. And, by all accounts, this class is poised to do just that.
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In short, this class has been phenomenal. They have set a high bar in leadership, hard work and success, and they have done so while remaining a remarkably close-knit and positive class. In addition, so many of these students have participated at a high level in academic and artistic pursuits while also being involved with athletics. They fully encapsulate the balance we strive to instill in our students. When I think about these young people as the next wave of leaders, thinkers and creators, I am much encouraged about the trajectory of our culture.
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- Will Kesler, Head of School
85 STUDENTS accepted into
135 COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
AT LEAST ONE OF THEIR TOP THREE CHOICES
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$10.5 MILLION
IN SCHOLARSHIPS OFFERED
National Merit Scholars
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COLLEGE ATHLETICS
SUZANNAH SMITH, Valedictorian Received the Bronwen Mary Bartley Ambassador Award ALLISON COWIE, Salutatorian Received the Paul Guffee ’61 Memorial Award, which, by vote of the faculty, goes to the senior who exhibits leadership in athletics and all other phases of school life; and received the BGA Alumni Association Bill Ross ’72 Award, as voted by the student body for helping those in need without need for recognition. MATTHEW KEITH Awarded the Pinkerton Watch, given to the senior who, in the judgment of the faculty, is the best all-around student. MARY BERRY Received the Katie Jeter ’03 Award for Service
BY T HE NU MBERS
99% ACCEPTED INTO
GRADUATION HONORS
1 SERVING HIS COUNTRY
BENJAMIN BALL Received the Durwood Sies ’40 Leadership Award HELEN WADE Presented the Robin Leigh Altshuler Award, given to the senior who exemplifies a spirit of unconditional service to others and the community JACK BOLTON Received the Franklin Rotary Citizenship Medal OLIVIA CRISWELL Received the David A. Hernandez ‘49 Award for Courage ELIZABETH JAMES (E.J.) JEWELL Received the Helen & Ralph Brown ‘49 School Spirit Medal GLOIE ALEXANDER Received the R.N. & Catherine Moore Art Medal
IN THE MARINE CORPS
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WHERE WILL THEY GO? American University, Washington, DC Auburn University, Auburn, AL Belmont University, Nashville, TN Birmingham-Southern College, Birmingham, AL Boston University, Boston, MA Centre College, Danville, KY Clemson University, Clemson, SC Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott, Prescott, AZ Goucher College, Baltimore, MD Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA Marymount Manhattan College, New York, NY Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS New York University, New York, NY Oklahoma State University, Tulsa, OK Princeton University, Princeton, NJ Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario Rhodes College, Memphis, TN Samford University, Birmingham, AL San Diego State University, San Diego, CA Sewanee: The University of the South, Sewanee, TN Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX Union University, Jackson, TN University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Amherst, MA University of Miami, Miami, FL University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS University of Montevallo, Montevallo, AL University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN U.S. Marine Corps Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN Virginia Tech, Lynchburg, VA Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA Yale University, New Haven, CT
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University of California Berkeley
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
SPOTLIGHT: Graduation
Colorado State University Queen’s University
Washington and Lee University
University of Texas
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ALUMNI FEATURES
A Sacred Place to Say Goodbye Alive Hospice CEO Anna-Gene O’Neal answers the call to provide exceptional end-of-life care. By Becca Stinson Wilson
f
For Anna-Gene (Chalfant) O’Neal ’84, the opportunity to enable healing for terminally ill patients is a privilege. “Hospice isn’t about supporting dying patients; it is about caring for people who are still living,” said the president and CEO of Alive Hospice. “Everyone deserves to live, and to live fully until their last breath.”
Hospice care has had a profound effect on O’Neal’s own life. In 2002, she walked the journey alongside one of her best friends who passed away from breast cancer. Five years later, another close friend also lost the battle to breast cancer.
“I saw firsthand the care hospice provided [to my friends],” said O’Neal. “We all will die; we all have a 100 percent mortality rate. All diseases cannot be cured, but everyone can find healing at the end of life.” Hospice allowed O’Neal’s friends to live their final chapters according to each woman’s wishes. These deeply meaningful experiences showed O’Neal that even through loss, hospice care allows patients to experience beauty and emotional healing during their last days.
A LOVE FOR SCIENCE AND DISCOVERY
O’Neal always knew she wanted a career in health care. As a young woman, she was fascinated by the complex inner workings of the human body. Blood, guts and gore did not phase her. And she excelled in her science and math classes at Harpeth Hall. In the fall of 1979, her eighth grade year, O’Neal joined the first class of girls to be admitted to Battle Ground Academy in 50 years. It was a small group, and she frequently found herself among mostly boys in the advanced science and math classes. When asked whether she was intimidated – back then many people considered these subjects better suited for boys – O’Neal is quick to dismiss this notion. “I never felt restricted from anything I ever did,” she said. “I was blessed that none of those barriers ever existed for me in any way.” “For a science project in eighth grade, I was able to get animal hearts from a research lab at Vanderbilt to bring in as part of my presentation,” O’Neal said. “It was awesome! The science programs at BGA were fantastic and provided a very strong base for continued exploration and a solid foundation for science classes in college.”
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O’Neal speaks at the grand opening of the The Residence at Alive Hospice – Murfreesboro.
She went on to earn her undergraduate degree in nursing from Vanderbilt. Eager to broaden her experience, she became a staff nurse in Vanderbilt’s Emergency Department after a one-year stint in Vanderbilt’s Neonatal Intensive Care step-down unit.
CONFRONTING HER FEARS
As an emergency room nurse, O’Neal never knew what was coming through the door. She learned to be prepared for anything– even the worst. Whether she was caring for a child, a trauma patient or a general medicine patient, she could handle it. But she found herself terrified of cardiac patients. “It hit me one day that I was scared to be in the cardiac room because I didn’t have enough knowledge or skill in this area. Instead of running away from what I feared, I realized I needed to run toward it.” So she threw herself into learning everything she could about cardiology. She earned her certification in Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), became an
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ACLS instructor, and learned how to read EKGs, all while working full time. “I put myself all-in, and everything changed. When someone crashed in front of me, it was of course still very scary. But with my new skills and knowledge, I had a different sense of calm and the ability to manage the situation with confidence.” This was a turning point for O’Neal. In 1989, her first year in the Emergency Department, she was named Staff Nurse of the Year for the entire medical center. Recognized as a natural leader who excelled at patient-centered care, O’Neal soon earned leadership positions as a project manager and then as department manager. “I knew at this point I wanted to be a leader in healthcare. I wanted to have an impact on patient care bigger than myself and even bigger than the single department I managed.” In 1992, she became the first dual masters student at Vanderbilt to earn degrees in both Nursing Administration (MSN) and Organization Management (MBA). She
went on to take executive leadership positions at several leading health care businesses, where she focused her work on improving the quality of care for patients.
RESTORING DIGNITY AND CREATING SPACE FOR HEALING
When presented with the opportunity to lead Alive Hospice in 2012, O’Neal did not hesitate. She felt a strong calling to play a leadership role in the hospice space.
Since taking the helm of Alive Hospice, O’Neal and her team have achieved significant increases across the board: employee retention and engagement, quality of care, the number of patients served (an average of 430 each day, regardless of ability to pay), cash on hand, and operating margins. This growth, along with expense reductions, has all translated to a financial turnaround that has enabled the organization to accomplish big goals. Among them are the completion of a new residential facility in Rutherford County, and the creation of an innovative education program that guides health care providers
ALUMNI FEATURES
Alive At The Bluebird has raised more than $1 million over the last 24 years. The 2017 series featured more than 130 songwriters, including Amanda Shires, Jason Isbell, Buddy Miller, Hunter Hayes and Cam (pictured above with O’Neal). The series will celebrate its 25th anniversary in January 2018.
through difficult discussions with patients about end-of-life preferences. The organization was also recently recognized as one of the 2017 Best Places to Work by the Nashville Business Journal and was awarded a 2017 Hospice Honors Award for Quality of Care. As impressive as these accomplishments are, the mission is what drives O’Neal and the Alive Hospice team each day: to serve those at the end of their lives, support their families through grief recovery, and teach the community about end-of-life health care matters. O’Neal recalls the story of a young mother with breast cancer, whose daughter was a freshman in high school preparing to perform in her first play. The hospice team bought the mother a new dress, and did her makeup and hair. An ambulance company donated its time to transport the mother and help her into the auditorium on a stretcher. It was a moment her daughter will never forget, and it was a deeply special moment for the mother to be there for her daughter one last time. “We get to see people surrounded by love and closure and reconnections,” said O’Neal. “To restore dignity for people and to be able to allow that space for emotional healing is pretty awesome. … It truly is a sacred space.”
BGA Q&A GREER OR PLATO? Greer WHAT DO YOU ENJOY DOING IN YOUR FREE TIME? Being outdoors with my husband and spending time with our children in their activities. When the weather isn’t nice, I bake. I love to bake bread and rolls. I make about 15 pans of rolls a week. I give most all of it away. … Who doesn’t smile when you give them a fresh pan of homemade cinnamon rolls? WHAT DOES COMMUNITY MEAN TO YOU? Community is those with whom we surround ourselves. We do not exist for ourselves, but to live and engage with others. I am blessed to have an amazing community. Community gives us purpose and drives passion. WHERE IS THE MOST SURPRISING PLACE YOU HAVE RUN INTO A FELLOW BGA ALUMNUS/ALUMNA? Most recently, it was at the Bluebird Cafe in January at one of Alive Hospice’s benefit series nights. Bill Armistead ‘69 and I shared our BGA pasts. It was an instant bond. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BGA MEMORY? I have two: 1) Mr. McElroy’s calculus class. I made a stupid simple math error on the last line of a page-long problem to find that I got no partial credit! It was a very valuable lesson: details matter. 2) Tug-of-War Day: Getting the day out of class to clean the river and make it safe for the losers to swim in!
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ALUMNI FEATURES
A
COMMANDING PRESENCE
From the halls of BGA to the halls of the Pentagon, a principal’s simple motto has shaped the lives of Lt. Cmdr. Kelechi Ndukwe and the men and women with whom he serves. By Paul A. Anthony
Scott Suchman
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A dozen words. A lifetime of importance.
BE WHERE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE WHEN YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE THERE. From the halls of the Pentagon to the decks of the USS Devastator, they echo and re-echo through the thoughts and actions of Kelechi Ndukwe ’97, 2009 BGA Distinguished Young Alumnus. “It’s one of the most simple things anyone in authority has ever said to me,” said Ndukwe, who first heard them from Dr. Lucas Boyd, his principal at BGA. “I’ve carried that with me ever since to this day.” He’s carried it a long way – from BGA to Notre Dame to the U.S. Navy, from Franklin to South Bend to dozens of countries and the wide sweep of the world’s oceans. For 20 years, Lt. Cmdr. Kelechi Ndukwe has been where he’s supposed to be, when he was supposed to be there. Born to Nigerian immigrants who themselves knew about crossing oceans to unknown lands, Ndukwe arrived at BGA in 1993. Through four years, he became a successful and popular student, serving as student-body president and captain of the soccer team his senior year. If high school seemed to come easily to Ndukwe, affording college would prove less so. He had chosen the University of Notre Dame – “I fell in love with the atmosphere, the brotherhood; I felt a lot of peace, academically and spiritually” – but the price tag was high. At a BGA college fair his senior year, the four military service branches were present, but at first, “I gave them zero looks. I wasn’t interested.” That changed when he realized an ROTC scholarship would allow him to get his degree in exchange for a five-year tour of duty after graduation. He chose the Navy, in part because it gave his mother more peace of mind than the other branches. “BGA was definitely a solid foundation for me going into Notre Dame and going 34
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into the Navy,” Ndukwe said. “It was the foundation of being in an atmosphere where you tried and worked and built a team with many different kinds of people.” At Notre Dame, Ndukwe majored in engineering, shifting away from his initial plan of being a doctor and focusing more on the systems that run ships and the weapons aboard them. As he entered his fifth and final year of college in August 2001, a five-year stint in the Navy might have seemed exciting but not particularly dangerous.
ONE MONTH LATER, THAT ALL CHANGED.
“Everyone knows what they were doing” on Sept. 11, 2001, Ndukwe said. “It just really hits you that what you’re about to join on active duty is completely different than when I had signed the papers as a 17-year-old.” In the end, all he could do was follow orders – and be where he needed to be when he needed to be there. “As a 22-year-old, it was all going to be brand new,” he said. “Leaving the bubble of Notre Dame to go to Virginia to join the ship, it was a little intimidating, but I didn’t know enough to be scared. More than scared, it was good, healthy anxiety.” After months of training – and an aborted attempt to become a submarine officer – Ndukwe in 2003 set sail aboard the destroyer USS Thorn as a surface warfare officer, leading an engineering division of about 15 men, some of them older than he was, assigned to oversee the care and maintenance of the ship’s non-propulsive equipment, such as water pumps and air conditioning. The deployment took him to 14 different ports around the globe. Standing on a ship in the ocean’s vast expanse provided important perspective, he said.
“There’s something to be said about being in the middle of the ocean, looking at the horizon 10 miles away, doing a full circle and not seeing another object out there,” Ndukwe said. “The world is massive. It just hits you – this whole experience is bigger than me. “I wasn’t able to get through BGA by myself,” he continued. “I wasn’t able to get through Notre Dame by myself. I had my family’s support. I had teachers’ help. I had my classmates’ help. You realize whatever you’re doing is always bigger than you.” That humility continues to be a defining trait, said Lt. Cmdr. Bralyn Cathey, who met Ndukwe while training together in Virginia; the two have been best friends ever since. “He’s as humble a person as you will find,” Cathey said. “It’s always about his guys, how to make them better. It’s never about him.” A year later, Ndukwe moved to the cruiser USS Normandy as a fire control officer, overseeing the Aegis Combat System, and despite his mother’s hopes that the Navy would keep him away from the world’s combat hot spots, the mission included a six-month deployment to the Middle East with an Australian commandant. Ndukwe spent three of those months training Iraqi sailors and marines in Umm Qasr. “This was definitely a scary moment,” he said of being outfitted with combat weapons and body armor. “It was a stressful moment for me. I really went in with eyes wide open and hoping for the best.” By 2006, Ndukwe moved from ship to shore, taking a position at the Navy’s Office of Legislative Affairs in Washington, D.C., representing the branch to members of Congress and their staffs, advocating for Navy priorities in Washington, and organizing fact-finding missions around the globe.
ALUMNI FEATURES
Ndukwe at the 2017 National Cherry Blossom Festival with his daughter, Farrah, and wife, Kathryn
As an example, one such trip featured Ndukwe; then-Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind.; and a staffer traveling to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. In all, Ndukwe traveled to 25 countries over two years. “Me being the oldest son of immigrant parents, living in a place like Tennessee – holy smokes, now I’m representing the Navy on Capitol Hill,” he said. “I’d have never guessed that’s where I’d be.” With 2007 marking the last of the agreedupon five years in Kelechi Ndukwe’s improbable Navy career, he now had to decide whether to continue it. His admiral offered him a deal that resembled the first one: Five more years in exchange for a master’s degree at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I. The choice wasn’t nearly as difficult this time. He graduated in 2009 with a master’s in national security strategy and started training for the next level up – department head on board the destroyer USS Fitzgerald, where as weapons officer he was responsible for the divisions overseeing the maintenance and readiness of the ship’s weapons. By 2012, Ndukwe had applied for early command of his own ship and was appointed executive officer, or secondin-command, of the USS Devastator, a minesweeper sailing out of San Diego and eventually based permanently in Bahrain. He was named its commanding officer in February 2014. While deployed on the Devastator, Ndukwe was reminded forcefully of his connections
Ndukwe and Lt. Cmdr. Bralyn Cathey cheering on Ndukwe’s alma mater, Notre Dame, in South Bend
back home when BGA students sent him and his crew dozens of care packages.
he will be eligible for retirement with 20 years of service in the Navy.
“It turned out overwhelmingly in a very positive way,” he said. “I was just floored. The crew was looking at me like, ‘Sir, who are you?’ Wow, the BGA family runs deep. They really looked out for me and my crew.”
The sailors he leads will almost certainly love and respect their new commander, Cathey said.
“The first thing they’re going to notice is his command presence,” said Cathey, who Ndukwe turned over his first command in served as an usher and groomsman in February 2015 and returned to Washington, Ndukwe’s wedding and still talks weekly this time for a job at the Pentagon, with him despite being stationed hundreds working as deputy executive assistant of miles away near Memphis. “He’s larger for the surface warfare directorate of the than life. ... His team will without question Chief of Naval Operations staff. In April put in the long hours to make sure they 2017, he transferred to the resource and don’t disappoint him.” acquisitions management area of the 3,000-person joint staff, which serves the But before Ndukwe gets there, he has two Joint Chiefs of Staff. more years with Kathryn, whom he met in Australia and married in England, and his Needless to say, moving from commanding daughter, Farrah. a ship to being a cog in an enormous bureaucracy could pose its challenges – but “I will count down the days,” he said, “but I for Ndukwe, the new assignments are all will not throw them away.” about Dr. Lucas Boyd’s dozen words. Right now – as he was at 14, walking onto Having been married in 2015 and the BGA campus; at 17, enrolling in Notre welcoming a daughter early the next year, Dame; at 22, entering the post-9/11 world this is where he’s supposed to be and when aboard a Navy destroyer – Kelechi Ndukwe he’s supposed be there. is where he’s supposed to be when he’s supposed to be there. “It’s not about me,” he said. “It’s about serving the country, wearing the uniform “I say that to my sailors on the ship,” he said. and making my family proud. If I can do “It’s so important, and it’s very simple. Be that every day, then I’m happy.” ready when your name is called. You don’t know when the opportunity is coming, but When his current two-year stint ends in if you’re not ready for it ... you won’t know 2019, Ndukwe will be given command of a when the door is open and ready for you to “senior ship,” either a destroyer or littoral walk through it.” combat ship, first as executive officer then as its commander. It could well be the apex of his career – when that tour ends in 2022,
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A VISION
FOR MUSIC’S
HEALING POWER A summer job at 17 turns into a lifetime commitment to service.
By Becca Stinson Wilson
When Rondal Richardson ’87 was 17, he took a summer job offered through Battle Ground Academy. He knew it was an incredible opportunity to learn and earn some money. But he had no idea that the experience would evolve into his career and lead him to make a mark on the music industry and to change countless lives. When he started BGA as a ninth grader, Richardson could be found sitting in the very back row of class. He never raised his hand, even if he knew the answer. “I was a pretty good student and I tried really hard, but I was painfully shy. I didn’t know who I was or have any notion of what I hoped to do in life,” remembers Richardson. Richardson’s BGA family saw in him a young man full of potential. His teachers pushed him hard to reach beyond his comfort zone. His confidence grew, but he soon realized that the encouragement of his teachers would only get him so far. He
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knew that he had to dig deep, choose to assert himself and truly show up. To raise his hand not just in class, but in life. No one was going to do that for him. Richardson started to find his true voice in the classroom, on the yearbook staff and on the track team. His BGA experiences “challenged my conventional way of thinking and helped me jump more willingly into the game of life, so that I was more prepared for the wild road ahead.”
THE SUMMER JOB TO END ALL SUMMER JOBS
And then in the spring of 1986, Richardson was presented with an opportunity that would change the course of his life: an announcement was made during BGA’s morning assembly that country music entertainment veteran and BGA alumnus Crom Tidwell was looking to hire a student for the summer.
The lucky student would go on the road and help support the team managing acts such as Garth Brooks, Johnny Cash, Vince Gill and Trisha Yearwood. It was “the summer job to end all summer jobs,” as BGA headmaster Dr. Lucas Boyd described it to the students that morning. Richardson decided he would put his all into getting the job. With support from his parents and teachers, Richardson applied and ended up being selected from a competitive field of student applicants. “It was a game-changer for me in every possible way,” says Richardson. “I knew that summer, without a doubt, that somehow I would be involved in this type of work forever.” Richardson went on to join Tidwell’s management team on the road every summer throughout college, and then joined Tidwell’s company full time after
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“
I knew that summer, without a doubt, that somehow I would be involved in this type of work forever. Rondal Richardson ’87
Dirk Rohrbach credit
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Q&A GREER OR PLATO? Plato for life! WHAT DO YOU ENJOY DOING IN YOUR FREE TIME? Richardson with (left to right) Wynonna Judd and Patti LaBelle
graduating from Sewanee in 1991. Over the next seven years, he gained valuable industry experience facilitating projects with Garth Brooks during the height of the country artist’s career. He also worked on national marketing campaigns and tours for Trisha Yearwood, Martina McBride, Amy Grant and Vince Gill.
A LIGHTBULB MOMENT
Ten years, thousands of miles and dozens of concert tours later an idea started to stir in Richardson’s heart. Working with Wynonna Judd in the early 2000’s as her general manager, he began to see an opportunity to impact his community and change lives in a big way. Part of Richardson’s job was to sort through the slate of interesting invitations Wynonna received – everything from singing for the president to joining Sting in advocating for the Rainforest Foundation. The goal was to accept those that would connect Wynonna to her audience in a more meaningful way. Richardson began to see bigger opportunities for partnerships that not only achieved this marketing goal, but also moved the needle on pressing community needs. “What I dreamed about and ended up creating was a strategy for how to utilize
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these entertainment partners and their platforms as change agents to transform our world.” A lightbulb moment came for Richardson in the summer of 2006. As he walked Wynonna through a room full of donors at a charity event in Washington, D.C., he began to realize just how powerful her presence was. As a result of Wynonna’s support, the nonprofit was able to raise more than $1 million in one night. “At our wrap-up dinner that night, I looked at Wynonna and said, ‘We have to do more of this and with as many people as we can possibly enlist into this type of service to others.’ It was a day I’ll never forget.” Six months later, he had started a new company, Greater Purpose Productions, to do just that–match up celebrities with worthy causes in mutually beneficial partnerships. “I never looked back.” In his work as an entertainment philanthropy consultant, Richardson created strategic campaigns for many charitable endeavors that leveraged the voices of artists including Carrie Underwood, James Marsden, Keith Urban and many others. Through this work, more than $125 million was raised to support nonprofit organizations around the world.
I’m a late-blooming adventure junkie. I just jumped out of an airplane on a dare and spend as much time as possible outside. WHAT DOES COMMUNITY MEAN TO YOU? I love being a part of any community that fundamentally believes in the greater good or a higher purpose, much like our BGA family. When we stand together, it’ s our finest hour. WHERE IS THE MOST SURPRISING PLACE YOU HAVE RUN INTO A FELLOW BGA ALUMNUS/ ALUMNA? I was in an elevator on the night of the CMA Awards in New York City in 2005 and a younger alumna from BGA introduced herself to me and to Wynonna and Anderson Cooper, who happened to be in the elevator as well. It was a beautiful circle-of-life moment! Two Wildcats in the middle of the Big Apple. The power and reach of our BGA community and its legacy run deep and wide. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BGA MEMORY? My best memory is giving my devotional to the entire school. Speaking in public is still a bit of a challenge for me, but do I ever relish the opportunity.
ALUMNI FEATURES
Richardson with (left to right) Charles Kelley, Ellen Lehman, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood Richardson with Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood
“It is the honor of a lifetime to be able to find those great causes which just need marketing and fundraising guidance,” says Richardson. “As a result of my years in the entertainment business and what I call the relationship-building business, I am proud to have witnessed the effect and lasting impact that mixing entertainment and philanthropy could do to not only change our very own community here in Middle Tennessee, but also communities around the globe.”
MUSIC: ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL MEDICINES
In October 2010, Richardson was presented with a new relationship-building challenge: to strengthen the connection between two of Nashville’s biggest industries, health care and music. As Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s first entertainment industry relations manager, Richardson played an important role in bringing the hospital together with entertainment industry leaders throughout Nashville. “We knew that by working together with music industry colleagues we would be able to create greater impact for our community, but we needed someone to help strengthen those relationships,” says Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., president and CEO of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
Richardson worked with Dr. Balser and his patient-first advocacy team to improve healthcare access for musicians and other artists, a traditionally under-insured and uninsured community. The team also engaged more than 200 music artists in a variety of projects that delivered comfort and care to patients in need. Among those projects was a major partnership with the Ryan Seacrest Foundation. Richardson facilitated the relationship between Vanderbilt and the foundation, which resulted in the 2016 completion of the Seacrest Studio in Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. This remarkable studio allows patients and their families to create music and enjoy performances by musicians and artists. Patients too sick to leave their hospital beds are able to watch via closed-circuit television from their rooms. “The studio has quickly become a focal point within the hospital, helping advance our mission to make Children’s Hospital a warm and welcoming place for all children and families,” says Dr. Balser. Seacrest Studio is one of the projects of which Richardson is most proud. “It was a passion project for me, if not the biggest one of my life so far,” says Richardson.
“Rondal has an infectious spirit, big heart and oozes positivity,” says Meredith Seacrest, executive director and COO of the Ryan Seacrest Foundation. “His passion and desire to enhance the healing experience for patients helped to bring one of our studios to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital.”
ENCOURAGING THE NEXT GENERATION TO FIND THEIR VOICE
Richardson’s passion for community was born through his rich experiences at BGA, and this passion has grown to include the Nashville community, the entertainment industry and beyond. “That quest to learn how to be a better citizen of the world and how to make a true impact was born in my BGA classrooms and in the lunchroom and on the track,” says Rondal. Currently working on a project to bring his favorite writer’s curriculum to every eighth grade classroom in Los Angeles County, Richardson’s work to impact the lives of others continues. Now he is channeling his energy toward helping young people who may need the encouragement – that extra push that his teachers gifted to him at BGA – to find their voices. “What excites me most is knowing that this course could change the destiny of those young adults in Los Angeles to a degree that would forever boost their self-esteem and confidence.”
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UNL CKING LIFE TARA MOSELEY, CO-FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF NASHVILLE-BASED NONPROFIT PROJECT R12, BRINGS LIFE TO SOME OF THE WORLD’S MOST VULNERABLE PEOPLE AND NATIONS. By Paul A. Anthony
BGA student Tara Hodgson knew what she would do after graduation: Play soccer, first in college then in the pros. Like a well-placed slide tackle, however, life kicked her drive toward professional sports in an entirely different direction.
Instead of running up and down a soccer pitch, Moseley now flies back and forth to Uganda as president of Project R12, which she cofounded with her husband, Clint. The nonprofit provides resources to East African community leaders who use them to provide education, shelter, water and more to impoverished populations.
“If you asked people in high school if I was going to be running a nonprofit all over the world,” Tara (Hodgson) Moseley ’05 says now, “they’d be like, ‘No, she’s going to be playing sports.’”
Now in its fifth year, Project R12 is set to take its novel approach to nonprofit organization into Iraq and Jamaica, continuously driven by Moseley’s vision and energy.
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ALUMNI FEATURES
Moseley with the children of Sala Village, Uganda
“We rely on self-sustaining solutions,” she said. “It’s not a handout. We’re empowering people.”
“I’m kind of a hybrid,” she said, “which I think contributed to what I’m doing right now.”
Long flights and acclimating to new cultures are nothing new for Moseley, who by the time she graduated from college had managed to live in the four corners of the continental United States: She was born in Miami, grew up in eastern Maine, and attended college at the universities of Washington and San Diego – with of course a four-year stop in Nashville to attend BGA.
Initially, however, soccer was her sole pursuit, and her passion for it drove her parents to find a high school that did not require carving a practice field out of the Maine woods because the nearest practice facility was three hours away. An uncle lived in Tennessee and recommended BGA. The combination of high-quality academics and athletics drew the
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Before Project R12 installed a clean water well system, these local village children (all of whom are now sponsored and in school) walked three to five kilometers to collect dirty water for eating, drinking and cooking. Situated in the center of the village, Project R12’s well provides clean water for more than 50,000 people, which has saved women and children hundreds of hours of walking and protected them from rapes and kidnappings along their previous route. It has also significantly reduced the number of waterborne-illness deaths in the community.
100 percent of funds donated to sponsor a child actually help that child directly Hodgson family, no strangers to singular “I was so well prepared,” she said. “They passion and incredible sacrifice: Her father, expect a lot, and it pays off in the long run.” Charlie Hodgson, coached the University of Miami women’s swim team to back-toMoseley transferred to San Diego after her back national championships in the 1970s, freshman year, joining a women’s soccer coached the U.S. Olympic swim team in program that was among the top 10 in the 1984, and is a member of the university’s nation, and graduated in 2009 with the Sports Hall of Fame, while her mother, Dr. opportunity to go pro. Amy Hodgson, swam in the U.S. Olympic trials before eventually earning her Ph.D. But the soccer bug stopped biting. Instead, in English and embarking on a teaching she pursued photography and opened career. her own business, contracting with corporations who hired her to document “My parents pretty much moved to Franklin their trips across the globe. and put me in BGA to give me the chance to do something I’m passionate about,” “You’re kind of invisible” when in the Moseley said. “My parents cultivated a work background taking photos, Moseley said. ethic and understanding that if I wanted “I would observe a lot.” something, I had to work for it.” During a trip to the African nation of That passion helped Moseley and the BGA Madagascar, which included a three-hour girls’ soccer team make multiple runs helicopter ride into the heart of the island’s through the state finals, and set her up to jungles to document an organization’s visit earn a soccer scholarship to the University to tribes who lived there, Moseley observed of Washington. “a gap between what’s on the ground” and what’s typically portrayed to donors in the Academically, BGA so well prepared her, United States. Moseley said she found college work a relief from the demanding expectations Mainly, Moseley said, she noticed that in Franklin. local community leaders had ideas for how to empower and help their people, but that those ideas often were sublimated to 46
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Western notions of how and where to spend donations. “A lot of leaders have ideas for their country, but they have to surrender that vision to get money because the organizations want to maintain control,” she said.
THUS PROJECT R12 WAS BORN.
The idea is simple: Spend money in ways directed by local leaders who know their communities best. Although not explicitly a Christian organization, its name derives from Romans 12 in the Bible, which admonishes: “If your gift is service, devote yourself to service. ... The one giving should do it with no strings attached.” In Uganda, the group’s partnership with local leaders has led to creation of the Genesis Project, a six-month counseling and job-training program for single mothers, who often are ostracized from their families and communities and destined for lives of destitution without intervention. The program has reached hundreds of young women, Moseley said – among them Maria, who was 13 when she delivered a stillborn child in an alley.
ALUMNI FEATURES
An unfortunate but usual site in a rural village in Uganda: extreme poverty, child laborers rather than school children, no clean water, and no access to any type of healthcare.
“She was tough, but she was broken,” Moseley said. “You could feel it when you were next to her. ... She was just weeping.” Maria received training to become an accountant and as she prepares to attend college “is one of the most successful, joyful girls in our program. She’s basically one of my little sisters now,” Moseley said. Other programs established through Project R12 include Pay It Forward, which helps rescue children from dangerous or abusive situations and enrolls them in a boarding school; Sala, a safe house for orphaned, abandoned or trafficked children; and World Changers Academy, which opened this year with 100 children ages 3-8 within its first four days. “A lot of our kids want to be teachers, they want to be presidents, they want to be lawyers,” Moseley said. “They have these incredible dreams. ... When we empowered and supported the ideas of the leadership on the ground, there was change.” The Uganda projects have worked so well, she said, Project R12 is planning to expand to Iraq, providing art therapy for Syrian and Iraqi refugees who have fled ISIS to Kurdish regions in the north. That passion for others, and that drive to help them in a way authentic to their own cultural contexts, inspires those around her to do likewise, said AnnaMary Richmond ’07, who reconnected with Moseley about the same time Project R12 was getting started. The two have since become good friends, and Richmond and several of her friends and family members sponsor Project R12 children.
“Getting to see how a small sacrifice on our end can have a lasting impact on someone else's life across the world is truly unexplainable,” Richmond said. “Tara has a generous heart. ... I know she has an intense desire to see more kids and families be reached and ‘unlock life’ for many around the globe.” Which isn’t to say setting up an international nonprofit has been easy, especially since Moseley insists that 100 percent of funds donated to sponsor a child actually help that child directly – which means convincing other donors to fund the less exciting parts of the operation. “Getting operational funding, finding people who are willing to understand the importance of that” is one of the bigger challenges the organization has faced since launching five years ago, as well as “scaling it in a way that it can be reproduced in other countries. We’ve been learning in the last five years how to really replicate this.” On top of that, Clint Moseley, whom Tara met shortly before they visited Uganda together in 2012, quit his job before last Christmas in order to work with Project R12. Both now work full time running the organization and raising their two children, ages 3 and 1.
Project R12’s on-the-ground work includes: WORLD CHANGERS ACADEMY For at-risk, vulnerable children in the village of Sala GENESIS PROJECT A job training program for single, abandoned mothers SAFEHOUSE SALA A rescue home for orphaned, abandoned and trafficked children PAY IT FORWARD A child sponsorship program JUSTICE LEAGUE Advocates for the most vulnerable, including rape victims, prisoners and children targeted for sacrifice ART THERAPY For Iraqi and Syrian refugees who have fled ISIS
Log on to projectR12.org for more information about how you can get involved.
“We don’t just provide education, we don’t just provide health care, we don’t just dig wells,” Moseley said. “We’re going after life as a whole, the basic things that give you access to a full life. ... At the end of the day, our mission is to love people and love Jesus.”
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WILDCAT Roll Call ALUMNI NEWS
CLASS
OF
1967
BGA’s Class of 1967 gathered over Alumni Weekend to celebrate their 50th reunion at The Factory.
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WILDCAT ROLL CALL
HALL OF FAME HAROLD HUGGINS Class of 1961
During his time at BGA, Huggins was a member of the Beta Club and Varsity Track Team. Huggins matriculated to Belmont University, where he was a member of the first tennis team. After graduating from Belmont in 1968, Huggins began his writing career at the Nashville Banner, where he covered the Dixie Flyers hockey team and high school sports. In addition to working for the Banner, Huggins also covered sports for The Tennessean and the City Paper. Spending most of his career covering high school sports, Huggins earned state prep writer of the year honors from the Lawrenceburg Quarterback Club in 1982. Huggins was a member of the Metro Nashville Football Coaches Association, and an esteemed member of both the Metro Nashville Basketball Association Hall of Fame and Tennessee Sports Writers Hall of Fame. He passed away on February 28, 2016.
KIM MURRAY Class of 1997
As a varsity soccer player, Murray received numerous accolades including All County, All District, All Region, All State and UMBRO All South, among others. Murray also ran varsity cross country. Following her career at BGA, she signed a soccer scholarship at the University of South Carolina. Murray was appointed to the BGA Middle School Faculty in 2005. Currently, she teaches fifth grade science and Upper School anatomy and physiology. She also is the head coach of the Upper School cross country team and Middle School track and field team.
Being inducted into the Hall of Fame is one of the greatest honors at Battle Ground Academy, as it recognizes alumni and faculty members who have made an impact on their communities while at BGA and after graduation. In 2016, BGA welcomed five alumni and two faculty members into the Hall of Fame. Pictured are ( front row, left to right): Ryan Karl '04, Kim Murray '97, Ellen Jewell (sister of Harold Huggins '61), Debbie Parks (wife of Chip Parks); (back row, left to right) Tim Moore, Judge Hamilton Gayden '56, Eddie Roberts '69, Jared Reynolds '02, Blake Parks '07 (son of Chip Parks), Jered Parks '04 (son of Chip Parks).
JUDGE HAMILTON GAYDEN Class of 1956
While at BGA, Judge Gayden played basketball for three years and earned a scholarship to continue his playing career at Vanderbilt University, where he received both his undergraduate and law degrees. At Vanderbilt, he was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He is currently a member of Rebounders, a club for Vanderbilt Basketball alumni. A circuit court judge since 1978, Judge Gayden has also served as General Sessions Judge (1974-1978) and as Presiding Judge of the 20th Judicial District (1997). His tenure has been marked by high profile cases including Erin Andrews v. Nashville Marriott. A published author, Judge Gayden’s titles include To Circle The Cross (1986) and Miscarriage of Justice (2009) with another book soon to be released, Suicide By Proxy. Judge Gayden’s memberships include the Nashville Bar Association, Nashville Bar Fellows, Sisters In Crime and is a
Vietnam-era Veteran (member of American Legion). His community involvement includes past member of Sister Cities, past member of the Boy Scouts Board, a board member and past president of the University Club of Nashville, a member of Al Menah Temple (director’s staff, president of Masonic Class), a member of the Econ Club and a past president of the Young Republican Club.
EDDIE ROBERTS Class of 1969
As a graduate of BGA, Roberts has continued his service to the school in a variety of roles including a term as Alumni Board president from 1992-1993 and serving as secretary, treasurer and vice chairman on the Board of Trustees from 1994-2001. Roberts is the owner of his family car dealership, Roberts Toyota in Columbia, Tenn., and serves as chairman of the Tennessee Motor Vehicle Commission. He is a former chairman of the Tennessee Automotive Association and was the 2009 recipient of the Andrew Jackson Award
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for Citizenship and Service to Community and the Automotive Industry. He received the Toyota Presidents Award in 1992, 2002, and 2006, and was awarded the Quality Dealer Award for Tennessee by Time magazine in 2010. As a highlight of each year, he has worked for WJJM in Lewisburg for 30 years as a roving reporter covering the Masters Golf Tournament.
TIM MOORE
Moore joined BGA in 1992 as an assistant football coach – a position he held until 1998 when he took over the head coaching responsibilities. While at BGA, he guided BGA to five state championships. Moore attended Vanderbilt University, where he played football under Fred Pancoast and later George McIntyre. After his playing career was over, he began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Vanderbilt University. His career continued in the college ranks at Western Kentucky University, Livingston University in Alabama (now University of West Alabama), and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. It was at this point when Kurt Page contacted Moore about a position at BGA. After coaching at BGA, he spent six years at Franklin Road Academy as an assistant coach, then one year at LaVergne High School as the defensive coordinator, then as head coach of his alma mater, South
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Pittsburg High School, where he led the team to the Class 1A state championship game in his first season. He is back at LaVergne High School, where he teaches social studies and coaches the offensive line.
CHIP PARKS
Parks joined BGA in the spring of 1991 as the new head of the BGA Middle School – a position he held until the spring of 2008. The Middle School underwent many changes during his tenure, including the addition of fifth and sixth grades and moving the middle school to the Glen Echo campus in 2002. Prior to joining BGA, Chip worked at Georgia Christian School in Valdosta, Ga., St. George’s Academy in Memphis and at Memphis University School. Chip ended his career at Episcopal Collegiate School in Little Rock, Ark. Chip passed away in Dec. 2015 and is survived by his wife, Debbie, and two children, Jered ’04 and Blake ’07.
RYAN KARL Class of 2004
Karl was a four-year letterman in football and track. His high school accolades include 2003 Division II AA Mr. Football, 2003-04 Mr. Gatorade State of Tennessee Athlete of the Year, and 2003 Clinic Bowl MVP. He
was also named to the 2003 Associated Press and Writers’ All-State team, and was listed by the Knoxville News Sentinel as the No. 20-ranked overall prospect in the state. Karl was a member of the 2001 State Championship football team and rushed for 269 yards in the 2003 Clinic Bowl, where he won his second state championship. He was voted “Most Athletic” in his 2004 BGA class and earned a scholarship to play football at the University of Tennessee. While at Tennessee, Karl lettered all four years and was named to the 2005 Academic All-SEC team.
Distinguished YOUNG ALUMNUS JARED REYNOLDS Class of 2002
While at BGA, Reynolds was a member of the wrestling team, Artist Guild and student government. In 2012, Reynolds launched Zenagen, a company focused on providing a solution to hair loss for both men and women. The brand recently appeared as a finalist in Mark Cuban’s Beauty Pitch contest, and was listed in Martha Stewart Living as a top beauty product. The Kline Research Group also named Zenagen a top 10 beauty brand to watch.
WILDCAT ROLL CALL
CLASS NOTES 1940s
2000s
1945
2000
John M. Green celebrated his 90th birthday surrounded by 200 friends, family members and Troop 137 scouts.
1970s
Allison (Hughey) Barbe and her husband, Philip, live in Brentwood with their oneyear-old, Maggie. Allison works at Inner Design Studio, which specializes in interior design for health care facilities.
Charlie Haffner Jr. operates the Charlie Haffner Memorial Range in Thompson’s Station, Tenn.
Ben Wurzel serves as the Money Sense Program Manager at University of Colorado Boulder. He completed his M.S. in Student Affairs in Higher Education at Colorado State University.
1975
2001
1977
Chuck Isaacs was named Franklin president of First Farmers and Merchant’s Bank.
1970
Doug Berry was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the German Order of Merit by the Federal Republic of Germany. Doug is an attorney at Miller & Martin PLLC in Nashville.
1990s 1996
Lonsdale (Green) Koestner serves as executive director of Science Club for Girls, a nonprofit focused on getting girls in underserved populations interested in STEM. Brian Perkinson, M.D., served as an expert at a MAKO RIO® robotic technology event hosted by Williamson Medical Center.
1999
Griffin Myers, M.D., co-founder and chief medical officer of Oak Street Health in Chicago, and an adjunct professor at Northwestern University, has been selected to the 2017 Presidential Leadership Scholars class. He was only one of 60 leaders nationwide invited to be part of the program.
2012
C.J. Beathard was selected in the third round of the NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers. In October, Connor Mitchell was named the Stats FCS national special teams player of the the week.
2013
Dalton Greenwood graduated from Washington and Lee University in May with his B.S. in biochemistry. While at W&L, Dalton traveled with their esteemed University Singers a capella choir.
Evans Smith and his wife Meagan welcomed Evans Hoover Smith Jr. on February 16, 2017 at 8 lbs and 20 inches long.
2014
2002
Country music sensation Tucker Beathard performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live on January 31, 2017. Fellow alumnus Will Lamb ‘14 accompanied him on the guitar.
Jared and Christie (Cutrer) Reynolds welcomed John Patrick Reynolds on November 7, 2016, at 7 lbs., 7 oz. and 20 inches long.
2016
John Myers and his wife Katie are Franklin residents and parents to Wilson, Henry and Cooper Myers. John is vice president of Raymond James Fixed Income.
2003
Melissa (Martin) Siegel and her husband Matt welcomed Scottie Leigh Siegel February 15, 2017, at 6 lbs., 6 oz. and 18 inches long.
2006
Wilson Meadows and his wife Audrey welcomed Emmett Louise Meadows on January 25, 2017.
2009
Laine (Milam) Arnold was named press secretary for Randy Boyd for Governor.
Lathram Berry pledged Kappa Kappa Gamma at the University of Alabama.
Ashley Abner pledged Pi Beta Phi at Auburn University. Molly Anderson pledged Alpha Delta Pi at Texas Christian University. Rachel Brown pledged Alpha Omicron Pi at The University of Tennessee. Kylie Crawford pledged Delta Gamma at The University of Kansas. Sarah Puryear pledged Alpha Delta Pi at The University of Tennessee. Sydney Thompson pledged Delta Zeta at The University of Tennessee.
2010s
Claire Walker pledged Delta Gamma at The University of Tennessee.
2010
Austin Witt is the Community Service Chair for Phi Delta Theta Fraternity at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tenn. He volunteers at the Cookeville/Putnam County Animal Shelter and organized a volunteer drive for the shelter in November 2016.
Madeline Brandau Cross married Gardner Andrew Heaner of Atlanta on August 13, 2016. The couple resides in Atlanta, where Madeline serves as director of human resources at Traditions Senior Living.
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LIFTING AS SHE
CLIMBS
Scott Suchman
A sacrifice, a school and a drive to want more were the stepping-stones for Dr. Eleanor Fleming’s continuing journey of success and service. By Paul A. Anthony
Every day, Dr. Eleanor Fleming ’96 is climbing and lifting. Whether in academia or public health, in Kenya or Washington, D.C., nothing has turned out like Fleming expected–but still she takes inspiration from women civil rights activists who adopted the motto, “Lifting as we climb.” “It’s hard when I meet other dental colleagues and try to tell my story,” Fleming said. “They don’t understand. It makes no sense.” That story includes a Ph.D. in political science, a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree and a Master of Public Health, and currently includes a job analyzing data for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – and starting it all, a dream as an 11-year-old girl to attend BGA and use it as a launch pad for an elite college education.
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She was about to enter sixth grade when Fleming told her parents she wanted to attend BGA. For Barbara and Thomas Fleming, who both had attended segregated schools in Franklin, fulfilling the request for a high-quality private education meant extra jobs and deferred dreams. “My parents sacrificed so that I could realize my dreams,” she said. That knowledge – of having received tremendous opportunities, first at BGA, then at Vanderbilt University, where she earned three degrees – continues to drive her career choices. It started her sophomore year at BGA, when attending a reception for a woman affiliated with the academy.
“
Not a day goes by when I don’t use something I learned at BGA.
“I remember meeting this lady. We were talking, and she asked me a question about what I was doing that summer,” Fleming said. “A very generic question, and I gave her a very generic answer. She said, ‘You need to get involved in your community. You need to do something.’” So she did. Fleming, already working parttime at the YMCA, volunteered with the local Boys and Girls Club, too. “I caught the bug there,” she said. “There was something about working with kids who had all of the ability, all of the talent and more that I had, but didn’t have the resources I had to act on it. We were all poor black kids in Franklin, but I had parents who could sacrifice. We were in a position where BGA was possible with sacrifice.” That inclination for public service drove her work at Vanderbilt, where her doctoral dissertation studied African American women such as Ida B. Wells-Barnett who fought for racial, gender and class equality – and who insisted that those who were lucky enough to advance through society should turn around and help those coming behind.
”
By chance, she heard former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher speak about oral health disparities, and later read a newspaper article about Deamonte Driver, the 12-year-old boy whose untreated cavity became a fatal brain infection because his mother couldn’t afford to take him to a dentist. “The idea that people didn’t have access to a dentist dumbfounded me,” Fleming said. “That wasn’t a reality in my world. ... Dr. Satcher’s words and Deamonte Driver’s death changed me.” She found what she was looking for in dentistry, enrolling at Nashville’s Meharry Medical College, one of the nation’s oldest historically black health-science academic institutions. Fleming moved into the public health field, working first for the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service, investigating outbreaks on the ground as they’re happening, then moving to North Carolina to become a clinical disease epidemiologist, then finally in Washington as a dental officer for the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.
In addition to those women, Fleming was inspired by her grandmother, Minerva Bright, who she said “was always otherfocused. She always had a listening ear and encouraging voice for neighboring kids. I saw what she did and how she made the lives of the people she touched better.”
In her current role, she analyzes data collected by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which each year studies samples of the American population to determine trends and other information used by policy makers to create and pass legislation that improves public health.
Which was why, even as she was writing her dissertation, Fleming was looking for something else – something more.
Her work for the CDC has included time in western Kenya, helping to evaluate a rapidtreatment project for syphilis.
“Being in Kenya, it made me think about where I am in a very real way and what I can do,” Fleming said. “It broadened my lens to think about oral health in a global context.” In July, Fleming will start a two-year residency program in public health at Boston University. She also is a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Public Health Service. Although her career has shifted from her dreams as a sixth-grader asking her parents to attend BGA, she credits the academy for it. “Not a day goes by when I don’t use something I learned at BGA,” Fleming said. “When I was teaching at Vanderbilt, when I was doing field work in Kenya, working in North Carolina or doing my job today, it’s that foundation that made me. ... I learned that I wanted more.” And that she wanted more for others, even those whom she hasn’t met – just as Ida B. Wells-Barnett and others wanted more for the African American women who would come after them and be lifted up as they climbed. “We should never fool ourselves into taking the education or experience for granted,” Fleming said. “If we do, shame on us. We owe it to reach back and help others.” Fleming is a BGA Distinguished Young Alumnus Award winner and serves on our Board of Trustees.
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IN MEMORIAM James A. “Jimmy” Burchett II 1958
S. Ralph Brown 1949
Edmond J. “Ed” Douglas 1978
On April 24, family and friends celebrated the life and accomplishments of former BGA coach Ralph Brown. “As a student, alumnus and coach, Ralph Brown's influence has been felt on the BGA community since his arrival to campus in the 1940s,” BGA head of school Will Kesler said in a statement. “He remained an ardent supporter of the school and continued to attend athletic and alumni events as long as his health allowed. The lessons he passed on to those he mentored will always be a part of our school. He will be greatly missed, but he will always be remembered.” Coach Brown graduated from BGA in 1949, going on to attend Wake Forest University before returning to Franklin as an assistant football coach and teacher in 1954. Brown took the reins as head coach of the Wildcats from 1959-61, only losing four games in this three-year tenure, which included a stunning state championship win over then-undefeated Isaac Litton.
“
Brown went on to coach at Vanderbilt University before entering the insurance business. Coach Brown not only taught excellence, he lived it, garnering many awards and distinctions, including Nashville’s Young Man of the Year in 1966 and President of Insurers in 1968. He also was chosen to serve on numerous civic and charity boards in the state. Coach Brown was inducted into the BGA Sports Hall of Fame in 1992 and the alumni Hall of Fame in 2012. Coach Brown and Dr. Harry Guffee are the only BGA graduates to be named to both Halls of Fame, and because of this honor and their generosity and support of BGA athletics, today’s Wildcat football team plays under the lights of Guffee-Brown stadium. Brown will be remembered by many as a successful businessman, a Sunday school teacher and a fervent supporter of nonprofit organizations. At BGA, Ralph Brown will simply be remembered as “Coach.” Coach impacted the lives of so many students while at the academy, and not just those of his players.
Frank S. Harris 1963
E. Parman Henry 1947
William L. Henry, Jr. 1944
William E. Isaacs 1949
I first met Ralph Brown in 1945 when Ralph and I sat side by side in the trombone section of the Woodlawn High School orchestra in Birmingham, Ala. He had the personality that naturally attracted you. … We stayed in touch through the years. When I visited Nashville, I would call him and, on many occasions, when we were
”
William J. Kelly 1949
playing a football game (Florida State) in any town, he just might show up unexpectedly. Ralph was a lifetime friend. I miss him.
– Bobby Bowden, former NCAA National Championship-winning head football coach at Florida State University
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Howell J. Lynch 1970
WILDCAT ROLL CALL
Scott A. Marshall 1986
William McCord 1946
Van B. Montague 1943
Walter W. Ogilvie, Jr. 1949
Mike Pearson 1965
J. Dudley Pewitt 1948
Donald M. Steele 1964
John T. Sugg III 1945
Fred W. Taylor, Jr. 1941
James Steele Thompson, Jr. 1964
B. Russell “Rusty” Wilkerson 1955
E. James “Jim” Wrenn 1947
Robert N. Moore, Jr.
1952
Longtime BGA Board of Trustee and Hall “Bobby and I went to BGA and Vanderbilt of Fame member, Robert “Bob” Moore Jr., together,“ recalled Ronald Ligon, Moore’s passed away on February 28, after a longtime friend. “One thing I can say brief illness. about Bobby is that he loved Franklin. He was a very successful businessman across Born and raised in Franklin, Moore Tenessee, but he kept a place in his heart graduated from Battle Ground Academy for his hometown.” Ligon said Moore was in 1952 before attending Vanderbilt and his Sunday school teacher even though working as a reporter for The Tennessean. only two years separated their ages. Upon graduating from Vanderbilt, Moore “Bobby liked to kid me that I got all my spent two years in the U.S. Army at the religion from him.” Pentagon and served as administrative assistant to U.S. Congressman Joe Once in Franklin, Moore moved from L. Evins for four years. In 1964, Moore politics to real estate development, narrowly lost a bid for Congress to Nautilis opening The Robert N. Moore Company. Submarine Captain William Anderson. Even with a thriving business, Moore Moore continued his work in D.C. for found time to give back to his community the Office of Economic Opportunity as a member of the Moore Elementary and later helped establish Head Start, a School Advisory Council, and as a board national program that provides education, member for O’More College of Design, health, nutrition and parent involvement Franklin Noon Rotary Club, Leadership services to low-income children and their Franklin and BGA’s Board of Trustees. families. By the mid-1970’s, Moore felt his hometown of Franklin calling him back. “I have had the pleasure and honor of knowing Bob Moore for most of my life,” BGA Board of Trust Chairman Tyler Berry
said. “He was a friend of my father’s and a mentor to me when I joined Battle Ground Academy’s Board of Trustees. He was a tireless trustee who was admired by all who had the pleasure of serving with him. His commitment to the student experience and wise counsel were unmatched. As a trustee he made Battle Ground Academy a better school and us a more effective Board of Trustees.” Aside from business and family, Moore’s two most closely held passions were teaching sixth grade Sunday school class and photography. Moore shared his love for photography through self-directed photo tours of South Africa, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, along with capturing local events for the Williamson Herald and Franklin Noon Rotary Club. His photographs have been shown at several juried exhibitions, and he was most recently honored by Battle Ground Academy in 2015 for his photography and support of BGA. Moore was inducted into the BGA Hall of Fame in 2008.
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Final Notes
WI L D C ATS W O NDE R
HOW DO WE BECOME THE BEST BGA ALUMNI EVER? We sat down with newly appointed BGA director of alumni relations, Kristin Napier, to pick her brain about what makes Wildcat alumni great, and created this quick-and-easy checklist to keep you on the straight and narrow in your quest to become the best.
KEEP YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION CURRENT.
Sign into your account at battlegroundacademy.org (under the myBGA tab in the right hand corner) to update your address, email and phone number whenever it changes.
SHARE YOUR MILESTONES WITH US.
We’re proud of you, and we want people to celebrate with you. So, let us know when you have a new job, new spouse, new child, etc., and we’ll include you in Class Notes.
CONNECT WITH US.
Here are our handles, so follow us. It’s the best way to receive the most up-to-date information about what’s happening on campus (like who won the Tug) and with your fellow Wildcats. @BattleGroundAcademyAlumniAssoc
@myBGA
@BGAWildcats
GIVE.
Of course, there are many ways you can offer financial support to BGA, and no gift is ever too small. But, as important as giving money, is giving your time. Come back and be on alumni panels for our open houses, or talk to current students about college; attend on-campus events, such as homecoming and alumni weekend; and join in our networking events (BGA Alumni Golf Tournament, regional networking nights, etc.). Ready to be more involved? We were hoping you would say ‘yes!’, so we’ve included Kristin’s contact information below. Feel free to contact her for any of your alumni-related needs, including login information, Class Notes submissions, alumni events and giving opportunities. KRISTIN NAPIER
Director of Alumni Relations kristin.napier@mybga.org / (615) 567-8472
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BATTLE G R OUND A C ADEMY
ANNOUNCING
THE MACK HATCHER GIVING SOCIETY Beginning this fall, young BGA alumni will have a new, easy way to give to the academy and The BGA Fund, while honoring BGA alumnus Mack Hatcher ‘39, for whom one of Franklin’s main thoroughfares is named. By committing to a monthly donation of at least $5 from your credit card or checking account, BGA alumni who graduated from the Glen Echo campus will be members of a giving society that honors commitment and consistency. The BGA Fund provides essential funds to the school’s operating budget each year. Along with tuition and funds from the school’s endowment, The BGA Fund supports each of the school’s academic and extracurricular programs. Making a gift to BGA as a member of the Mack Hatcher Giving Society demonstrates your willingness to be #AllIn4TheAcademy.
SAVE THE DATE
Class reunion weekend will be in early May. More information to come.
SAVE THE DATES,
Wildcats!
HOMECOMING 2017 September 28-30
Schedule for BGA’s 128th Homecoming Celebration: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
7:30 P.M. Homecoming Bonfire at Guffee-Brown Stadium
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29
11:30 A.M. Blue and Gold Luncheon
On-campus event open to all alumni who have celebrated their 50th reunion (or more!)
5-6:45 P.M. Alumni Homecoming Party
at the Fleming House, home of Will and Julie Kesler All alumni and their guests are invited to catch up with classmates and enjoy complimentary hors d’oeuvres and cocktails
7 P.M. Battle Ground Academy vs. Whites Creek
Halftime presentation of the Homecoming Court and recognition of the 2017 BGA Hall of Fame
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 30
10 A.M. Hall of Fame Brunch and Induction Ceremony at Marriott Cool Springs
Visit battlegroundacademy.org/homecoming for the most up-to-date information about this year’s homecoming festivities.
P.O. Box 1889 | Franklin, Tennessee 37065-1889 (615) 794-3501 battlegroundacademy.org
HELLO,Wildcat! Want more Echo?
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throughout the magazine and log on to battlegroundacademy.org/Echo for expanded content.
@BattleGroundAcademy AlumniAssoc
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@BGAWildcats
FOR THE MOST UP-TO-DATE BGA NEWS.
After a problem-based simulation unit on city planning and a visit from the City of Franklin Parks Department, BGA kindergarteners were invited to help with the grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony at Franklin's Bicentennial Park/Point Park and River Overlook on April 24.