Piedmont Journal - Spring 2021

PIEDMONT

SUMMER 2021

TRANSFORMATIONAL TRANSITION Piedmont celebrates becoming a University | Page 12

Sharing is Caring I seriously could not be here without the support of donors and my friends. I am getting a minor in Spanish because I want to carry on my Cuban grandparents’ legacy.

The encouragement I receive makes me want to become the best version of myself.

Elissa Lotter ’24 is a freshman from Sharpsburg, Georgia. She is pursuing her degree in Elementary Education with a minor in Spanish. She hopes to also pursue a master’s degree and teach kindergarten.

Ways to Give • Gift

• Pledge • Stock • Monthly check draft • Matching gift by employer A N N UA L G I V I N G C A M PA I G N

Giving a Little Helps a Lot! Give online at piedmont.edu/giving 2

| P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

Contents

JOURNAL

12

SUMMER 2021

18

ON THE COVER

22

Piedmont's new primary logo is featured on the cover of the Summer Journal. A separate logo was developed for Athens (without the steeple).

30

Features 11

22

28

Faculty Tribute

Twist of fate

Young's Lions

Dean Julia Behr honors retiring faculty member Dr. Maria Dye

Octavius Mulligan ’93 overcame big odds

Late professor to be honored with fall show

18

30

Mystical ability

A pioneer

April events captured spirit of new beginnings for Piedmont University

Susan Kyle ’95 has published more than 200 books

Walter Scruggs integrated two schools in his too-short lifetime

04 A word from the President

27 A note from Hobbs

36 Class News & Notes

05 A word from your Editor

33 Katie's Corner

38 In Memory

12 Big Reveal

The Journal is published for alumni and friends of Piedmont University by the office of University Advancement. Correspondence may be directed to journal@ piedmont.edu

Trustee Chairman Thomas A. Arrendale III President James F. Mellichamp Vice President of University Advancement Craig Rogers

Editor/Associate Vice President of Marketing & Communications John Roberts Design Regina M. McCormick ’08 Kathryn Price Photography Kasey Brookshire Brittany Whitehead

Project Manager Adam Martin Contributing writers Ron Wagner Terrie Ellerbee ’95 Class Notes Editor Katie Deal ’02

Send address changes to: University Advancement or piedmont.edu/updateinfo Piedmont University @PiedmontGA @PiedmontUniversity

P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

| 3

THE BEST WEEK EVER

P

iedmont has had many good weeks Then we pulled back the curtain on a stunning in our 124-year history. video that captures the energy and positive direction The second week in April of our institution and included short interviews had to be one of the best. with our faculty, staff, and students. Through the Many of our staff, faculty, and some alumni had years, I have seen many higher education videos. the date circled for a year. It was the week Piedmont This one was by far the best. If you have not seen it, became a university. We had hoped to celebrate the please visit our YouTube channel and take a look. milestone with our extended family but the health The highlight of each Big Reveal was our alumni landscape at the time continued to be a challenge. speakers: Jerry Harkness ’07, Kanler Cumbass ’19, Caitlin Undaunted, we organized smaller on-campus Fisher ’19, and CeCe Cogliano ’20. Each spoke for about gatherings April 5-9 to 10 minutes and shared allow for social distancing. personal stories about their The Monday, Tuesday, journey at Piedmont. There and Wednesday events were common threads were held in the late in each talk: mentorship, afternoon at the Arrendale personal growth, and Amphitheater with about a faculty member who 50 employees and invited pushed them to excel. We guests attending. A ended each Big Reveal with separate indoor gathering a sparkling cider toast to was hosted that Thursday Piedmont University. On at our new Athens campus.

Friday, we held a different Weather throughout event for students in the week was spectacular, the Student Commons and the mood was that included lunch and President James F. Mellichamp speaks during a Big Reveal event. enthusiastic and reunionPiedmont University like. For months, many of branded giveaways. us had been viewing our colleagues through Zoom calls.

The week was also special for another reason. On There were smiles beneath masks as our folks elbowWednesday, April 7, we hosted a community vaccination bumped friends they had not seen in person for a long time. clinic at the Swanson Center for the Performing Arts.

All of our “Big Reveal” gatherings had the same More than 50 students volunteered, helping to inoculate format. Using a large backdrop, we unveiled new logos 149 people. Northeast Georgia was emerging from for our home campus in Demorest, the Athens campus, the pandemic. And Piedmont was doing its part. and our four academic units: The College of Arts and The 2020-21 academic year presented challenges for Sciences, College of Education, College of Nursing and many higher education institutions. Piedmont weathered Health Sciences, and the Walker College of Business. the storm better than most but we were not immune to the We also introduced some new messaging that challenges. This one week showcased Piedmont’s closereflects Piedmont’s student-centered philosophy. It’s knit community and symbolized our unrelenting spirit to called The Piedmont Promise. The Piedmont Promise forge ahead as the school has done for the past 124 years. is to provide an educational experience that is personal in approach, passionate in application, and practical in impact. It’s new and authentic language that reflects what we have been doing for more than a century.

James F. Mellichamp, President

4

| P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

aWord from your Editor

N

ever underestimate the power of personal relationships. It’s a theme–and message–that echoes in this issue.

Take Octavius Mulligan ’93. He grew up poor, nearly dropped out of high school, and was introduced to Piedmont by a chance encounter on a country road.

Once here, he almost quit college and faced several life-changing crossroads. Each time, a Piedmont friend found him. They helped him get a job, encouraged him to complete his studies, and generally cheered him along the way.

Now, he is a Piedmont Trustee. And he has a Ph.D. Relationships and friendships shape lives. In our Big Reveal feature, you will read about four alumni who had a faculty mentor who provided counsel, helped them through a crisis or set them on a career path.

There is, of course, no relationship more personal than one connected through marriage. On page 35, we debut Lions in Love. It will be a standing piece that features a couple who met at Piedmont and later married.

Join our Lions Share Network!

The Lions Share Network will enable you to:

•S earch for more than 20,000 alumni using our new

Online Alumni Directory

•R egister for Piedmont events

• Join

one or more Communities for networking

• Apply to be a mentor

• Shop in our online store •M ake a financial gift to

support an area at Piedmont that is special to you

Sign up today and encourage

your fellow alumni to join us!

Join our Lions Share Network at alumni.piedmont.edu!

Our inaugural Lions in Love is the story of Tyler Dale ’15 and Katie Robinson Dale ’14. They were introduced by Bill Gabelhausen, a theatre professor who noticed a spark between the two and cast them in opposing roles.

Enjoy.

John Roberts, Editor

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

We welcome letters on any topic covered in the Journal. They should be limited to 150 words, refer to a subject from the most recent issue, and include the writer’s name, city/state, and class year/degree (if applicable). Your notes may be emailed to journal@piedmont.edu. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor and may be edited for length and clarity.

For a limit ed time, make a gift of $30 or more to any fund and receiv e a free Alumni tshirt!

P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

| 5

New space, same community feel

By John Roberts

P

iedmont University’s new Athens home is located just a half mile from the old campus.

But it feels a world away.

The four-story brick building has a modern, industrial feel with exposed beams and concrete floors. The smell of freshly painted walls and new carpet permeate across its four floors.

Large windows—particularly on the third and fourth floors—offer a scenic view of Normaltown, an upand-coming neighborhood located near the intersection of Prince and Oglethorpe avenues.

For years, trendy restaurants, coffee shops, and breweries have proliferated in the area. Now Piedmont is the latest tenant.

Administrative offices are located on the first floor. Faculty offices, classrooms, and other learning spaces are housed on the second, third, and fourth floors.

6

| P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

The 32,700-square-foot building, which serves about 500 students, is located at 1282 Prince Avenue.

Piedmont has operated a campus in Athens for more than 25 years.

Each floor also includes community gathering spaces and lounge areas. A tremendous benefit to students is an attached no-cost parking garage. Folks who live there know that parking in Athens can be a hassle.

Michelle Leach is associate director of admissions for Piedmont in Athens.

“Our new campus is so much more modern and appeals to contemporary students,” she said. “We see each other a lot more, and there are more opportunities for interaction. We brought that sense of community we have always felt in Athens with us.”

P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

| 7

Mystic will be largest-ever residence hall

By John Roberts

R

esponding to growing demand and a rising student population, Piedmont has broken ground for the institution’s largest residential building: Mystic Hall.

The 60,000 square-foot structure is under construction near Plymouth Hall on a crest that overlooks the Demorest campus When completed early next year, the 268-bed facility will be the institution’s largest residential complex and pave the way for a string of additional housing renovations.

Despite concerns about the pandemic, Piedmont enrolled 251 first-year students last fall, among the largest freshman classes in the institution’s history. Overall enrollment at the university’s main campus in Demorest has never been higher.

Looking ahead, Piedmont plans to boost its residential student population to 1,000, up from 750.

Piedmont also operates an Athens campus, which

enrolls approximately 500 commuting students. The university’s overall enrollment is more than 2,500.

Scroggs & Grizzel (Gainesville) is the general contractor for Mystic Hall. The building’s architects are Hussey Gay Bell (Atlanta).

The residential hall is named after a Connecticut seaport and recognizes Piedmont’s historical ties to Congregational Churches, which were etablished in America by Pilgrims throughout New England during the 1600s.

The completion of Mystic Hall will pave the way for a string of additional housing renovations. Purcell Hall (constructed in 1969 and located near the athletic facilities) will be shuttered for a year-long renovation project. After the Purcell project is completed, Wallace Hall, built in 1959, will be razed to make room for a parking lot, and GetmanBabcock will be converted to administrative offices.

Piedmont University and economic development officials celebrate the groundbreaking of Mystic Hall in March. Pictured (from left) are Piedmont University President James F. Mellichamp; Thomas A. “Gus” Arrendale III, Chairman of Piedmont’s Board of Trustees; Mary Beth Horton, President of the Habersham Chamber of Commerce; and Charlie M. Fiveash, Executive Director of Partnership Habersham.

8

| P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

Chaplain's Fund is no small thing Much more than books and gas

By Terrie Ellerbee ’95

S

tudents can easily be caught off guard or find themselves in limbo financially. It could be fees, textbooks, or the timing of a refund from Student Accounts. The Chaplain’s Discretionary Fund at Piedmont University can be the bridge to finishing a semester or graduating—and to so much more.

Campus Minister Tim Garvin-Leighton, assistant professor of religion who is affectionately known as “Rev. Tim,” administers the fund, which is made possible by donations.

Buying a tank of gas for a commuting student may seem a small thing to some, but the fund can change lives even when the need is more significant in scope.

A graduate student taking classes at Piedmont’s Athens

Some do pay it back, though there is no expectation of that.

Never, not once, has a student acted entitled or deserving.

Rev. Tim Garvin-Leighton joined PIedmont in 2016.

—Rev. Tim Garvin-Leighton

campus was also working, taking care of his grandmother, and living in his car. In that case, the fund paid for a few days in a hotel until he could secure more suitable housing.

Another student was about to graduate when a tornado destroyed her family’s home, leaving no money for the final payment due to Piedmont. The chaplain’s fund was able to help there, too.

There is no cost to administer the program, and records of recipients are not kept, in part because some needs may be medical. Besides, the help is “supposed to be a gift

from the universe,” Garvin-Leighton said.

“We want them to experience it as a gift,” he said. “Some do pay it back, though there is no expectation of that. Never, not once, has a student acted entitled or deserving.”

Recipients often ask who to thank. Garvin-Leighton does not always know who the donors are.

“People who give on a regular basis, they know this is going to help students,” he said. “Many of the beneficiaries might have dropped out if not for the fund. The most important thing is that it changes lives.”

To make a gift to the Chaplain's Fund, contact Tiffany Long at tlong@piedmont.edu or (706) 778-8500, ext. 1139.

P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

| 9

Drama Ed students shine at Symposium

By Terrie Ellerbee ’95

M

ore than 350 students participated in the third annual Piedmont University Symposium in April. The high-profile event embodies the Piedmont Promise “practical” pillar by providing research opportunities for students.

Presentations by four Drama Education students stood out for their success and ingenuity.

Hannah Tussey ’21 and Rosie Miles ’21 were part of a team at Lumpkin County High School that won first place in its division at the Georgia High School Association One Act Play competition in February. The students performed “John Lennon & Me,” and Tussey and Miles also chaperoned students on the trip to Macon.

“It doesn’t happen often that our interns get to be a part of a state win,” said Dr. Kathy Blandin, associate professor, theatre. “Most traditional students are doing their Intern I experience in the fall, which is when One Acts actually takes place, but because of Covid pushing One Acts back, they got to be a part of it.”

Jessi Reed ’21, a non-traditional Drama Education major, wrote “Spectrum, the Musical,” about autism. As a Piedmont student, Reed was placed with the White County High School in Cleveland, Georgia, for her internship. Reed and the drama teacher there, Pete Talton, workshopped the play. He plans to enter it in a state competition this fall.

Preston Welborn ’21 took a unique approach to his Symposium presentation.

“He talked about things that didn’t go well and what he learned from them,” Blandin said. “He allowed himself to be authentic and say, ‘I tried this, and it didn’t work, so I had to regroup.’ That is what was really surprising.”

There was a paperwork mix-up and Welborn wound up going to a different school than was originally planned for his internship. The host teacher, who usually gradually gives the intern more responsibility, instead made Welborn an assistant director for musicals with responsibility for set

10

| P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

Hannah Tussey ’21

Rosie Miles ’21

Jessi Reed ’21

Preston Welborn ’21

design and costuming. He was working full-time while still getting his feet under him, he said. All that was in addition to changes brought about by Covid-19. He said he learned about classroom and time management and cemented his desire to teach.

Piedmont University had the most Drama Ed seniors to date during the spring 2021 semester, with seven in area schools. Typically, two or three graduate each year, Blandin said. At least two had landed jobs before graduation and a third, Belle Hudson, will go on to graduate school at Goldsmiths, University of London, in London, England.

Piedmont is one of just two universities in Georgia to offer Drama Education as a major. The other is Columbus State.

FACULTY TRIBUTE:

Dr. Maria Dye

By Dr. Julia Behr Dean, R.H. Daniel College of Nursing and Health Sciences hospital setting. One of her career highlights was setting up a clinical program for adolescents in a psychiatric and substance abuse hospital while serving as the program director.

After 15 years in clinical practice, Dye moved back to Georgia in 2002 and accepted a position at Piedmont teaching psychiatric/mental health nursing.

Most recently, she served as both professor and associate dean.

Outside of her work in the classroom and laboratory, Dye will be long remembered for working with struggling students, as she often relied on her psychiatric training to help Dr. Maria Dye retired from Piedmont this spring.

S

ince its founding more than two decades ago, Piedmont’s R.H. Daniel College of Nursing and Health Sciences has grown into one of the top nursing programs in the state.

Dr. Maria Dye has contributed much to that success.

When she arrived at Piedmont our program was just two years old.

A native of Gainesville and graduate of the Medical College of Georgia, Dye began her nursing career in 1974 working in pediatrics. After completing a master’s degree specializing in psychiatric nursing, she accepted a teaching position at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Her passion for both teaching and working with patients eventually led to a position as a clinical nursing specialist, working with children and adolescents in a

get students back on track.

Outside of her work in the classroom and laboratory, Dye will be long remembered for working with struggling students, as she often relied on her psychiatric training to help get students back on track.

Our nursing program is rigorous. Many students have a difficult time adapting. And most of them found their way to Dye’s office. She helped them develop good study and test-taking techniques.

Over the years, she has soothed a lot of student anxiety and has been a tremendous colleague. We will miss her, but know that she is looking forward to traveling and spending more time with her family.

And we hope she can learn to rest and relax. She surely deserves it.

P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

| 11

A T RANS FOR MATION A L

Transition Piedmont celebrates becoming a

UNIVERSITY

By John Roberts

Leo, Piedmont’s cuddly, enthusiastic mascot, was ever-present during the university’s Big Reveal events. Many faculty, staff, and students took part in five days of celebration. Piedmont is planning an alumni celebration of the name transition for Homecoming on October 23 (see back cover).

12

| P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

A

pril’s Big Reveal events had the feel of a warm family reunion, glitzy product launch, and a hot initial public offering all rolled into one.

After a year of viewing their colleagues in Zoom boxes, faculty and staff poured into the Arrendale Amphitheater to soak up the warm sun and in-person company. There was enthusiastic anticipation as President James F. Mellichamp pulled back the curtain on new institutional logos and a seal that would soon adorn May degrees.

But mostly the events—three on the Demorest campus and one in Athens—were a celebratory recognition that Piedmont, once a small community college, had arrived on a grander stage.

The institution that was founded in the dense woods of Northeast Georgia in 1897, is now a comprehensive regional university.

The name transition had been coming for some time. For many years, Piedmont found a path to success while similar institutions struggled. The university has enrolled record classes, expanded academic offerings, purchased property for future growth, and completed several on-campus improvement projects.

The progress extends beyond bricks and mortar and students in seats. Much has been done behind the scenes: modernizing its administrative structure, embracing strategic planning, branded messaging, and putting in place a student support system that raised student retention more than 10 percent.

Many outside the institution have taken notice. U.S. News recently rated Piedmont among the top 50 regional universities in the South. Others on the list included Appalachian State, Western Carolina, Francis Marion, and Jacksonville State. And last fiscal year, more alumni than ever before made a gift to Piedmont.

“There’s a great sense of motion, energy, and excitement here that I have never experienced,” said Dr. Wallace Hinson, an associate dean who joined the institution in 1993. “We are going places and accomplishing things that I never thought possible.”

Mellichamp, a faculty member since 1982 who has served as president for nine years, put it this way: “This is a seminal moment in our 124-year history. It is a reflection of our collective work, the direction we are going, and an institution-wide commitment to strategic planning

P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

| 13

Because of the love, support, and practical teaching of the professors here at Piedmont, I have a life and career that I am proud of, and I will forever be thankful for the support Piedmont faculty has and continues to give me.

— Caitlin Fisher ’19

and growth. Piedmont University is a dynamic place. Our name change reflects our growth, our optimism and the extraordinary path ahead.”

While Piedmont alumni were not invited to the events due to the health landscape at the time, (the university is hosting a name-change celebration at homecoming; see back cover) four graduates, Jerry Harkness ’07, Kanler Cumbass ’19, Caitlin Fisher ’19, and CeCe Cogliano ’20, served as keynote speakers.

They inspired the on-campus community with stories that captured the essence of Piedmont: mentorship, community, and personal and professional growth. It’s an approach to education and a commitment to the student experience that Piedmont has long embraced.

It’s also the philosophy that was the driving

14

| P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

force behind the university’s brand: The Piedmont Promise. The Piedmont Promise is to provide an educational experience that is personal in approach, passionate in application, and practical in impact.

Knowing that it was important to capture the essence of Piedmont in a clear message that could be shared with others, a group of faculty, staff, and students began the process of developing The Promise during the spring of 2019. There were surveys and haggling over words. The language was endorsed by the committee and approved by the alumni board in late 2020.

It was kept under wraps until the name transition and Big Reveal events. And then it was expressed through the stories of Piedmont alumni.

“This is new language,” said Mellichamp. “But it reflects

Clockwise from far left: Leo delights those who attended Big Reveal events.

Piedmont U Day t-shirts were distributed to faculty, staff, and students to help celebrate our transition to unversity.

Caitlin Fisher ’19, an on-air radio personality, served as a speaker for one event.

Signs of growth ATHENS CAMPUS TO A MODERN

RELOCATED OUR

FOUR-STORY BRICK BUILDING AT 1282 PRINCE AVENUE what we have been doing all along.”

The first in his family to attend college, Cumbass was a freshman and considering transferring when he met Dr. Kim Crawford, MYSTIC HALL , PIEDMONT’S LARGEST RESIDENTIAL dean of student life and leadership. She saw a spark COMPLEX, IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION of leadership in the lanky tennis player and asked him to run for president of the Student Government Association.

Crawford helped teach Cumbass the importance of $2.5 MILLION RENOVATION TO THE HOME OF servant leadership. She motivated him to motivate others, OUR COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, THE showed him how to set—and complete—goals, and exposed him CHARLES AND CATHERINE SEWELL to techniques to get groups of people working together.

CENTER FOR TEACHER EDUCATION He served as student body president for three years, developed a passion for higher education, and earned a master’s degree in higher education administration from the University of Georgia in May. PURCHASED 80 ACRES “As I took the time to think deeply about the core components of NEAR OUR DEMOREST The Piedmont Promise,” Cumbass told the crowd, “I realized there was CAMPUS FOR a a common theme amongst the majority of my experiences at Piedmont EXPANSION AND that speak to this Promise. This theme is mentorship. Mentors and mentoring WILL SOON BE relationships that were personal fed my passions, and helped me take practical DEVELOPING steps toward my future.”

THAT LAND When Fisher enrolled at Piedmont, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. She dabbled in theatre and was discovered by Dr. Dale Van Cantfort, a mass communications ECONOMIC professor and former radio executive. He told Fisher she had a voice for radio. That set in IMPACT OF motion a relationship that has blossomed from mentor-mentee to friend and colleague.

APPROXIMATELY Today, she is serving as an on-air radio personality at Cox Media Group. $89 "Looking back, I realized that if it wasn't for the personal dedication and approach that the professors around me gave, I would still be wondering about my next steps in life,” said Fisher.

MILLION "Every single professor I came in contact with at Piedmont has prepared me for the professional world I have found myself in today."

Cogliano, a volleyball player who began her studies in Demorest and finished in Athens, said she was immediately at home on Piedmont’s cozy campus and was impressed by how athletes from all the teams— men and women—supported and pulled for one another.

That supportive nature was also expressed in the classroom. As Cogliano explained, she was failing Dr. Kerry Waller’s (then a business professor, now Dean of the Walker College of Business) economics class.

“I went to see him, and I was really upset. I remember crying in his office,” she said. “But Dr. Waller calmed me down and later spent hours with me, one on one, to help me learn and catch up. I finished with a B, and I have never been more proud of finishing a class.”

P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

| 15

Our main logo incorporates our steeple, a signature on our Demorest campus. The Piedmont triangle represents the mountains of Northeast Georgia, the upward trajectory of the institution and the three pillars of the Piedmont Promise: Personal, Passionate and Practical (for the complete Piedmont Promise, visit piedmont.edu/ piedmont-promise).

The Athens logo incorporates the Piedmont triangle without the steeple, which is located only in Demorest.

The new names of our four academic units are: College of Arts and Sciences, Walker College of Business, College of Education, and College of Nursing & Health Sciences.

Piedmont’s new seal incorporates our founding year and the Mayflower ship, which symbolizes the institution’s historical ties to Congregational churches.

Later, Cogliano began taking classes on the Athens campus because Hotel and Tourism and Management was offered there. She worked as an events manager intern at the Classic Center in Athens and was later introduced to The Georgia Club, a resort golf course in Athens, during a field trip. That connection led to a job offer.

“I never considered working in golf,” said Cogliano, membership director for L&J Golf, which owns Jennings Mill Country Club, Lane Creek Golf Club, and the Country Club of Gwinnett. “Now I work for a company that manages three golf courses, and I absolutely love it.”

Harkness, who studied business and is now self-

16

| P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

employed as a commercial and residential real estate agent, told the group how he met his wife, Meredith Henderson Harkness ’06, at Piedmont, and that he still keeps in touch with his old professors.

“Piedmont has always had this very real family atmosphere,” he said. “They treat the students with love and compassion.”

As a Demorest native and lifelong resident of the area, Harkness had something else to add.

“I have been around Piedmont all my life. And I could not be more proud of, and more excited for Piedmont.

This is a great day.”

Tyler Mann, Jenna Wendel ’21, and Regina McCormick ’08 worked as a team to develop Piedmont's new logos and other branding assets.

Passion for Piedmont went into rebrand, new logo design

W

hen Piedmont College transitioned to Piedmont University in the spring of 2021, it needed a new logo to go along with it. Many institutions outsource logo redesigns and there was talk of that at Piedmont.

But a logo is a personal and passionate project.

Design Manager Regina McCormick ’08 would say it is about as personal as it gets as the most visible representation of who we are and what we aspire to be. With deep institutional knowledge as both an alum and employee, McCormick was the perfect choice to lead the logo design and rebrand effort.

When Assistant Professor of Graphic Design and Photography Tyler Mann joined the team, it became not just an internal endeavor but a family affair. McCormick and Mann met at Piedmont and are now married.

Mann studied the mathematical dimensions, spacing, and how characters related to one another to whittle down selections for the font.

“Tyler is incredibly skilled in the mathematics and technical aspects of design, as well as creativity. Not only is he a designer, but he teaches design to our students every day,” McCormick said. “He is teaching them about the brand that we built together, and why it's important to Piedmont, in effect deputizing brand ambassadors

on campus and off campus once they graduate.”

Jenna Wendel ’21, who was then a student assistant, also made significant contributions to the project. McCormick said she was essential to the brand research and keeping other projects on track.

“She dug up examples, analyzed our work, and contributed to our decisions in priceless ways. She also developed some of the graphic elements, which really had legs in our developing imagery, including in our program videos and our brand guide,” McCormick said.

Wendel won an Outstanding Student Employee Award for her efforts and is now employed by Piedmont as a digital marketing specialist.

The trio poured their love for Piedmont into the process, and it showed. There were many late weeknights huddled in front of a computer “pushing shapes around on the screen,” McCormick said. Rather than the expected months, the logo concept was arrived at in weeks. Much more work remained, but the overall look, feel, and design came together as if preordained.

Judging from the positive feedback from team members, fellow brand committee members, students, the administration, alumni, and board members, the rebrand was a success.

P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

| 17

MASS CO M M U N I CATO R The mystical writing ability of Susan Kyle

By Terrie Ellerbee ’95

S

omeone ought to write a book about Susan Kyle ’95.

She knows a diamond smuggler and mercenaries. She covered murders and a bombing as a newspaper reporter.

“I learned things that I could never tell you,” she said.

The 74-year-old has also authored more than 200 books, most under the pseudonym Diana Palmer. She was just offered new six-book and a three-book contracts with Harlequin and Kensington, respectively.

“I will accept it, although I think it’s overly optimistic,” she said. “I hope I will live long enough to finish it, but I figure if I sit down and atrophy, I’ll probably die, so I try to keep busy. And I’m still writing for three publishing houses, so that takes up most of my time.”

18

| P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

In the early days, she could type 110 words per minute, writing as fast as the stories came to her and busting typewriters in the process—her process.

“I’ll see a man or a woman, and I’ll see a surrounding, and then I’ll see them interacting, and it’s like watching a movie,” she said. “I see what I’m writing. It is like somebody else is giving it to me. It is a magical process, and it is a gift.”

Most of her books are romance/contemporary women’s fiction, though she loves science fiction and has a few titles in that genre. The first story Kyle wrote later became The Morcai Battalion book series. She also has a Soldier of Fortune series of romance novels featuring rugged mercenaries.

P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

| 19

She was first published in 1979 and shared editors with the likes of the late Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park, Rising Sun). She is friends with bestselling authors and counts Jayne Ann Krentz and Debbie Macomber among them.

She was already successful and in her 40s when she came to Piedmont in 1991. Her academic advisor was history professor Dr. Al Pleysier.

“Before I knew it, I was in the degree program. I went for four years as a day student and got my degree in 1995 summa cum laude,” Kyle said. “One of the other students said some people come to college and catch fire. That was me.

I loved every minute of it.”

While focusing on a history degree and minors in anthropology (she loved being “on my belly in the dirt with a toothbrush”) and Spanish (she reads, writes, and speaks it fluently), she worked full-time for publishers Warner Books, Random House, and Harlequin.

“I was quite busy. I had to go on tour a couple of times, and I carried my textbooks with me,” Kyle said. “When I wasn’t doing my job for the company, I was in the hotel room doing my lessons.”

The prolific author’s devotion to Piedmont matches her love of learning.

She ranks her college experience right up there with getting married to her husband of 49 years, James, and having their son, Blayne. He and his wife, Christina, are also Piedmont graduates.

Kyle funded a science scholarship in her father’s name, W.O. Spaeth, and this year is starting a nursing scholarship in honor of her mother, Eloise.

“That way, I’ll have mom’s and dad’s both at the same college, at my college,” she said.

She met one of the many people she would later rely on for technical advice at Piedmont. He was a former Army ordnance officer who knew how to make bombs out of household supplies.

She met many of her sources in Georgia while working for 16 years as a stringer for the Times (previously the Gainesville Daily Times). Kyle also worked for a weekly paper, the now-defunct Tri-County Advertiser, and wrote a column for The Northeast Georgian.

When Kyle needed characters to survive and walk away from a twin-engine plane crash, she knew just who to call. She needed advice for hijacking a plane once and called on her late friend Jerry Ahern, author of the post-apocalypse series The Survivalist.

For Kyle’s Soldiers of Fortune series, she relied on mercenaries for details.

“I’ve known a couple in my time, and they are fascinating people,” Kyle said.

“I also knew a diamond smuggler and a drug dealer.”

On the other hand, she would just as soon never meet another film director.

Her book Diamond Girl was turned into a television movie in 1998. It did not match the story she had seen in her mind while writing the novel.

“It was based on my idea, but it had nothing to do with my book,” she said.

“The director changed the setting, the location, the characters, the plot. It was horrible.”

Kyle’s newest book, Notorious, was released in June. Once again, she wrote the movie she saw in her mind, laughing out loud as she went.

“It’s absolutely hilarious to me. It’s not like it’s me. It’s like somebody else is giving it to me,” she said. “I can’t explain it. It is mystical.”

20

| P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

Susan Kyle '95 photo by Chris Standford

Tyler & Katie

By Terrie Ellerbee ’95

R

elationships make all the difference at Piedmont University. Thanks in part to a professor, one of those relationships led to love and marriage.

The love story of Tyler Dale ’15 and Katie Robinson ’14 started with Bill Gabelhausen, chair of the theatre department, and a business card.

Tyler came to visit Piedmont after a “kind of miserable” semester at the University of Georgia.

He was an English Education major who lived on campus and didn’t do much other than homework.

His best friend from high school, Colt Woodall ’15, was in a production of South Pacific. Tyler sat in on a rehearsal.

“Bill Gabelhausen, who knew nothing about me, never met me, sat down in the seat next to me in the Swanson Center,” Tyler said. “We had a conversation. He wrote his personal cellphone number on a business card and gave it to me.”

Tyler immediately applied to transfer to Piedmont because of the faculty.

“They made it special to me. They were the reason I stayed,” he said.

Katie is a native of Cornelia, a town near Piedmont’s Demorest campus. She had known Dr. Wallace Hinson, Piedmont’s Associate Dean of the College of Fine Arts, since she was a child, and Gabelhausen, again, made an impression.

She and Tyler didn’t get along at first because they both have “bold, snarky personalities,” Katie said. But Gabelhausen knew there was something there, so much so that he cast them together in a 2012 production.

“As a theatre professor, I like to think I have an innate ability to sense ‘chemistry’ between two individuals on the stage or off the stage. This chemistry truly sparked when I cast them opposite each other in the musical Anything Goes,” Gabelhausen said. “It was a blessing to watch them work together and uncover a bond that was as strong on stage as it was off stage.”

Tyler Dale, Bill Gabelhausen, and Katie Robinson.

“We joke to this day that he was our ‘Yente’ (the matchmaker from Fiddler on the Roof),” Katie said. “Spending the extra time together in rehearsals deepened our friendship.”

She soon developed a crush. Tyler came around in late 2014, and the pair started dating. It would be a longdistance relationship because Katie was attending New York University completing a master’s degree in drama therapy, which she did in 2016. Katie will soon achieve a PhD in counseling psychology with a focus on child mental health at UGA. Tyler received his master of fine arts in Shakespeare & Performance from Mary Baldwin University in 2018. He is now a drama educator at Athens Academy.

The couple lives in Athens with their dog, Emmy.

“I love seeing two people, like Katie and Tyler, fall in love with each other,” said Gabelhausen. “Once they started dating, my matchmaking was completed.”

Almost.

When Katie and Tyler married in a “pandemic-friendly elopement” in September 2020, it was Gabelhausen who officiated the wedding.

P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

| 21

Octavius Mulligan earned four degrees from Piedmont.

22

| P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

of FATE From near dropout to school principal and university trustee, Mulligan has defied the odds

By John Roberts

A

s a ninth-grader, Octavius Mulligan ’93 MA ’00 EdS ’02 EdD ’14 was careening toward becoming a bad statistic.

He left his home each morning but mostly never made it to Roosevelt High School. Barely a teenager, Octavius was drinking and smoking. On the mean streets of Yonkers, New York, he was known as the graffiti king.

Each weekday afternoon, though, Octavius made sure he made one appointment: the mail room in his section 8 apartment building. He wanted to check if Rosa Mulligan had received a letter from his school.

Rosa, his maternal grandmother, had raised Octavius since his 15-year-old mother turned him over when he was five days old. Selfless and determined to build a better life for her grandson, Rosa often walked the night streets between 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. with her grandson and granddaughter. Pushing a wheeled pallet and trashcan, the older woman and two children picked up discarded aluminum cans that fetched 10 cents each.

Between those funds and what she collected from government assistance, Rosa managed to cobble together

enough money each year to send both to St. Peters Catholic School. But a series of misfortunes—among them a busted boiler that resulted in their building being condemned— forced the trio to move across town. By the early 80s, Octavius was attending a public school, had fallen in with the bad crowd, and was intercepting mail communications from the school.

“I didn’t want her to find out that I was skipping,” he said.

“When I saw a letter from the school, it went into the trash.

And the school never called. They just never did that.”

Today, everyone calls Octavius “Dr. Mulligan,” or “principal.” He is married to his college sweetheart, has two children, and is an esteemed community member. In May, he was named a board trustee to his alma mater, Piedmont University.

His incredible journey—from nearly becoming a school dropout to school principal and university trustee—had many crossroads. And it could have gone so, so differently were it not for six Piedmont people: Maxie Skinner, Tammy Ross Teasley ’91, Bob Gregory, Marlo Miller, Ellen Briggs, and Julie Palmour.

P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

| 23

Pictured left to right: A photo of Thompson High School Basketball Coach Michael Thomas, Mulligan, Zach Ivery (misspelled in newspaper caption), and Piedmont Coach Maxie Skinner was included in the McDuffie Progress. Though Ivery left Piedmont after his freshman year, the pair (center) remain close to this day. Mulligan’s grandmother, Rosa, who “raised him since he was five days old” was at Piedmont when Mulligan received his PhD.

COACH SKINNER It was April 1989. And life for young Octavius was looking better.

A rising senior at Thomson High School in southern Georgia, he was a standout basketball player, made good grades, and was staying out of trouble. A few years before, he and his grandmother had moved to the area to take care of his greatgrandparents. Together, they lived in a cinderblock shotgun home in the rural town. The house had no plywood or insulation.

And beneath the carpet was red Georgia clay. Arriving in Thomson ahead of his school transcripts, Octavius told school officials he was a rising 10th grader.

“For the first time in a long time, I was attending school regularly and making good grades,” he said.

Then the transcripts arrived.

“I was called into the guidance office and my counselor said ‘We have a problem. You never passed the ninth grade,’” said Mulligan. “I was really desperate. I did not want my grandmother to find out. And I did not want to suffer the embarrassment of being put back a grade. So, I asked them to come up with a plan.”

They did. And he spent the next two summers in school.

By the end of his junior year, Octavius—6 feet, 1 inch tall and 175 pounds—was pouring more of his energy into athletics and less into creating mischief.

One sunny spring day, he and his friend—Zach Ivery—were

24

| P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

Pictured above: Tammy Ross Teasley ’91 (right) and Mulligan attended the same high school. Thanks to her advice, Mulligan remained at Piedmont.

Before that, Mulligan had never remotely considered college. It was beyond a dream.

“Coach Skinner came down and we did a signing ceremony,” said Mulligan. “It was in the newspaper and everything. I was going to college.”

TEASLEY, GREGORY AND MILLER

leaving the school gymnasium when they saw a white Ford F-150 pickup truck suddenly veer off U.S. 17 and pull onto a grassy area in front of them.

The man inside had white hair. And he had eyes on the boys.

“He was a white guy, and I’m wondering what he wanted,” said Mulligan. “We were like, 'what is this guy doing pulling over right here?' So, this was weird.”

The boys hesitated and stopped walking. The man rolled down his car window and leaned outside.

“So, you boys on the basketball team?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” they said.

“Well, I’m Maxie Skinner, the basketball coach at Piedmont College in Demorest, Georgia,” said the man.

“I’m going to get in touch with your coach.”

Skinner, who passed away in 2018, was on his way to an annual spring break Florida fishing trip when he spotted the athletic-looking boys and pulled over.

Mulligan and Ivery dismissed the conversation. After a week, though, Skinner made good on his promise.

Later their basketball coach, Michael Thomas, drove them to Piedmont for a tryout. On the spot, Skinner offered both basketball scholarships.

It was August 1989 and Mulligan was buoyant.

Laden with toiletries, linens, and other supplies that his grandmother had collected, he arrived at Piedmont.

With a huge smile and outgoing manner, the 17-year-old threw himself into orientation. He registered for classes, met his advisor, moved into his room in Purcell Hall, and got his college identification.

Then, he was told to come to the business office.

“I was standing across the glass from the business office clerk (Jewell Gordon Jones) and she told me that I owed money,” he said. “I asked her to check again, and I told her that I was on scholarship. Click, click, click, and she said ‘Your scholarship is $1,000 a year and your balance is $3,500.”

Crushed, Octavius went back to his room and began selling the supplies his grandmother had provided. He had no money and did not want to take home the toiletries.

Later in the student center, he relayed the sad news to some of his would-be classmates. Among them was Tammy Ross Teasley ’91. She was a few years older and had attended Thomson High School with Mulligan.

“You should go to the financial aid office,” said Teasley.

“They might be able to help.”

Mulligan didn’t know there was such a thing. But he decided to give it a try.

So, he marched up the hill to Daniel Hall to meet with Bob Gregory, Piedmont’s director of financial aid. For several hours the pair collected data and filled out forms.

Gregory called Rosa Mulligan.

“It turned out that I was eligible for all kinds of aid,” said Mulligan. “So, I go back to the business office later and it turns out they owe me $500, which I used for books.”

Crisis averted, Mulligan started classes but never figured to stay long enough to earn a degree.

“I was planning to play a year and quit and take my jersey back to Thompson to show them I had played a year of basketball in college. That would be a badge of honor,” he said. “And then I would get a job in the textile mill.”

But Marlo Miller changed that. Mulligan met her early during his freshman year and pursued her relentlessly.

P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

| 25

Mulligan poses in front of the Sewell Center for Teacher Education. The building, located on the Piedmont quad, houses the university's College of Education.

Miller, a Piedmont admissions ambassador, excellent student, and South Carolina native, wanted nothing to do with Mulligan at first.

“I just wore her down until she decided to go out with me,” said Mulligan.

With Marlo in Demorest, Mulligan decided to stick around. After so many years in the big city, he welcomed the peace, tranquility, and community at Piedmont. He gravitated to education as a major because a teammate told him the class schedule would not interfere with basketball practices.

After working with preschool children, Mulligan discovered he had a knack for teaching. Students were drawn to his energy and smile.

DR. BRIGGS, DR. PALMOUR AND DON WATSON Graduating from Piedmont in 1993 and marrying Miller that same year, Mulligan was turned down for a teaching position in Habersham County and joined Scovill Fasteners in Clarkesville. After a few months on the manufacturing floor, he was resigned to a career in manufacturing.

That’s when he got a call from Dr. Ellen Briggs, one of his former Piedmont professors. She had passed Mulligan’s name along to a school principal (Don Watson) who had an opening. “Mr. Watson called me to set up a 26

| P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

meeting and we talked for a few hours before we ever discussed the job.”

Watson hired Mulligan before he filled out an application. Under Watson’s leadership, Mulligan discovered a love for leading others.

“Mr. Watson was like a mentor and a father to me all at the same time,” he said.

Shortly thereafter, Mulligan found his way back to Piedmont as an assistant coach for the women’s basketball team.

“I just wanted to be around the game and wanted to be around young people,” said Mulligan. “Basketball really opened some doors for me and I wanted to give back.”

For the next 10 years, Mulligan continued to serve as an assistant, first with the women’s team and later the men. Rushing to Piedmont to coach in the afternoons after leaving his teaching job, he worked for four coaches during that decade. And there was his own schoolwork, too. Mulligan earned a master’s degree in education in 2000 and an education specialist degree in 2002, both from Piedmont.

In 2012, Mulligan returned to Piedmont again—this time as a student in the doctoral program. Working as a full-time assistant principal, the father of two (he and Marlo are parents to Sydnee and Silas, now ages 26 and 17, respectively) could not find the time to focus and cross the finish line. And he tried to drop out of the program.

But Dr. Julie Palmour, his advisor, would not let him. She fairly badgered Mulligan with phone calls and messages encouraging him to complete his dissertation.

“She would call and I just tried to ignore her calls,” said Mulligan. “She would leave these messages for me every day telling me that I needed to come back.”

So, it was Dr. Palmour that pulled Mulligan, now principal at Tesnatee Gap Elementary School, through.

Mulligan continued to show his gratitude for Piedmont. Student teachers from the university have interned at his schools, and Mulligan has served on several Piedmont volunteer committees. This spring, he was named to the Board of Trustees.

Through his time, talent, and treasure, Mulligan’s life goal is to help others shape theirs. He is a living testament to the power of mentorship and positive personal intervention.

“I have never shied away from my background and telling my story,” he said. “It’s unbelievable. When I needed something, God just dropped someone in my path out of nowhere and they helped me. Everything that’s happened to me is because of His placement of others in my path.”

A Note from Hobbs Your alumni house

Your invitation Concert, gala among events planned for fall

F

rom humble beginnings in 1897, Piedmont has maintained a driving vision to educate first-generation and underserved populations of Northeast Georgia and the Appalachian foothills.

In “Social Mobility,” a metric that measures an institution’s success in helping economically disadvantaged students advance in their career and life, U.S. News ranks Piedmont No. 18 in the South Region. It also rated Piedmont the second-highest “Best Value” institution in Georgia. These recognitions speak to our core values.

Today, Piedmont competes against Georgia's publicly supported colleges and universities— one of the lowest-cost systems in the country.

Efficiency and entrepreneurialism have defined this institution throughout its history. Solid fiscal management, responsive academic programing, and focused marketing initiatives have allowed us to grow our endowment to almost $60 million, a respectable number for an institution of our size.

As we launch a new chapter in our history, Piedmont University has captured an aspirational vision while staying committed to expanding access to first-generation and underserved students. Philanthropy plays a huge role in subsidizing tuition costs for these students. The centerpiece of our strategic plan is growing the residential undergraduate population to 1,000, and these alumni gifts will only quicken the facilitation of this aspiration.

Philanthropy is part of the heritage and culture of the United States. As we begin to write the history of the era of Piedmont University, constructing a culture of philanthropy that is founded on alumni giving is a critical building block. Our alumni giving rate— the percentage of alumni who make an annual give to Piedmont—represents the heart and soul. And this rate SHOULD grow and flourish.

Our vision is to grow our giving rate from virtually nothing to a reasonable 12 percent over the next two years. That’s 1,000 annual alumni donors. Thanks to many of our alumni who have caught the vision, we are making progress. In 2019, we stood at a mere 1.5 percent; today we are pacing to exceed 6 percent.

A vibrant alumni giving program illustrates pride and is a barometer philanthropists and foundations use to determine where they make their gifts. Looking ahead, Piedmont plans to conduct a comprehensive campaign with 1,000 alumni giving to their alma mater each year.

Here’s how you can become involved.

Many alumni have expressed an interest in receiving a diploma that reflects our new name: Piedmont University. Those who earned a bachelor’s and/or master’s degree may receive an updated diploma by making a $50 gift to Piedmont and visiting alumni.piedmont. edu. Those who received other degrees should contact Mark Elam, assistant vice president for development, at melam@piedmont.edu.

Your updated diploma will reflect the institution’s new name, seal, and include signatures of President James F. Mellichamp and Board Chairman Thomas A. “Gus” Arrendale III. When your updated diploma arrives, we hope you will display it with pride at your workplace or office and take pride in your alma mater’s growth and transformation.

Join us on Saturday, October 23, for a unique Homecoming celebration on campus featuring the Atlanta Rhythm Section and a full day of events.

Yonahian Gala Friday, Oct. 22 Swanson Center

T

he Yonahian Society, whose members each

support Piedmont with an annual gift of $1,000 or more, is growing. Our inaugural class includes 170 members. The firstever Yonahian Gala will be held Friday, October 22, in the Swanson Center.

It is a black-tie optional event and will include an extraordinary dinner, a special program, and wonderful entertainment.

If you have questions about this giving society or would like to participate, please contact me at crogers@ piedmont.edu.

Craig Rogers, Vice President, Advancement P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

| 27

The YOUNG Lions Retrospective show will honor late professor

By Terrie Ellerbee ’95

T

hose who knew Leroy Young say he was larger than

me a role where I could serve and also make new friends,”

life. They describe the late art professor as having

she said. “It was a role that impacted my learning.”

contagious energy. Former students say he randomly

burst into song on occasion. One of his favorites was “From a Distance.” He would also recite Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky.

“His voice was just amazing,” said Mackenzie Terrell

Now a married mother of eight, Chester has a website (mackenziechester.com) featuring her art and writing.

Young taught Chester the basics of photography, introduced her to Adobe Photoshop, and instructed

Chester ’03, who would often join him in singing. “I will

her in graphic design. She uses those skills every

never forget his deep, Southern, mellow voice.”

day and continues to grow as an artist.

Young helped students like Chester find their artistic voices, and that made him popular.

Young began or grew graphic design programs wherever he went—the University of North Carolina

“Leroy was incredible at sparking a love for art in his

Charlotte, Florida School of the Arts, Louisiana

students. He showed me that art is about the way we

Technical University, Lively Vocational Technical

see the world. He was always looking for the beauty in

College (Tallahassee, Florida), and Plymouth State

it,” she said. “He was also the first person to tell me I was

University (New Hampshire) as well as Piedmont.

an artist, and this made a huge impact on my life.”

Regina McCormick ’08 is now director of marketing for admissions, recruitment, and retention for Piedmont University. She remembers Young as having a “twinkle in his eye.”

He operated Grasshopper Studio in Macon, Georgia, and did commercial work for Capricorn Sound Studios.

Laurel Sprague ’05 appreciated his work experience.

“We got to hear that there really are those arts jobs out there, which is a good thing as a student,” Sprague said.

“He came from the paste-up days of graphic

She was Young’s gallery and photography assistant.

design and pushed students to work with their

Today, she works for Patagonia Nashville, where she

hands in addition to work on a computer,” she said.

uses her artistic skills as a visual merchandiser.

“He was resilient, charming, and mischievous.”

Those who took his classes at Piedmont from 2000-08 say he not only helped create the foundation upon which

Sprague’s bachelor of fine arts degree concentration was in photography; she minored in ceramics. She went on to achieve a graduate degree from Tiffin University with a focus

they have built their lives,

on mixed media. She still

but he also inspired them to

works in photography

become lifelong learners.

and alternative

Chester was a commuter

photographic processes,

student at Piedmont and did

like Cyanotype and Van

not expect to be involved

Dyke brown, as well as

on campus. She was Young’s

emulsion lifts, which she

darkroom assistant starting

learned from Young. She

with her second semester.

also works in clay, fiber,

“Having that job made

and wood. She will soon

me a leader in the art

have a home studio and

department, and it gave

hopes to offer classes.

Mackenzie Terrell Chester ’03 and Laurel Sprague ’05.

28

| P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

Retrospective show this fall will honor Leroy Young

Sprague said Young taught his students that art is all about learning the rules and then breaking them.

Sprague remembers him laughing and joking and being a little bit silly. If students got stuck or overwhelmed, Young told them to go to their “toolbox and play.”

“There was never a dull moment,” she said. “He was just a joy.”

Young was a varsity football player in high school. After achieving a bachelor’s degree in German Literature, he served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Coast Guard during the Vietnam War. He came home to earn his master of fine arts degree at the University of Georgia.

He was 77 years old when he died on April 26, 2020.

Chester, McCormick, and Sprague will be among artists taking part in a retrospective show this fall to celebrate Young’s influence, life, and work. It will be held October 7-November 4 at the MasonScharfenstein Museum of Art in Demorest with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. on October 23.

At top, Leroy Young. Above, the late educator's wife, Tatum, and son, Dr. Alex Young.

P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

| 29

History highlights & interesting stories

Remembering a Pioneer Scruggs broke race barrier at home and at Piedmont

By Ron Wagner

T

hough Walter Scruggs was only 19 years old when His younger sister, Synethia Owens, accepted he died in 1965, newspaper reports called him “a the Hall of Fame award on her brother’s behalf, giant in race relations in the community.” Over a and her reaction was simple when she learned thousand people attended the funeral service in Franklin, he would be a member of the Class of 2020.

North Carolina, which was more than a quarter of the small “People are stepping back and saying … ‘what can we mountain town’s entire population. do that should have been The 1966 edition of Piedmont’s done?’” Owens said. “Let’s yearbook, The Yonahian, dedicated make those things right that a page to Scruggs’ memory. can be made right now, and Yet as devastating as the death then we’ll move forward.” was at the time to both Scruggs’ Piedmont was not the first hometown and the college he “first” for Scruggs, who was attended, 55 years have faded ready to move forward more awareness of his profound impact quickly than most during his as a racial integration trailblazer short life. Though the 1954 and left the legacy of Piedmont’s Brown v. Board of Education first black student unknown Supreme Court ruling had to many. That is until last year outlawed segregation in when the university inducted schools, the vast majority– Scruggs into its athletics Hall including those in western of Fame 55 years after he was North Carolina–were not tragically killed in a Christmas Eve integrated when Scruggs Scruggs was a standout at Franklin High School. (Photo by automobile accident following his announced to Synethia and the Brittany Whitehead) only semester as a college student. rest of his family that he intended Scruggs played just five games for the men’s to ask Macon County Schools Superintendent H. Bueck if basketball team, but his significance transcends he could transfer from Chapel School, where every black athletic accomplishment. Not only was Scruggs student in the county went, to all-white Franklin High. the first black athlete at the school, but it is also Shortly after that, he led Charles Stewart and believed that he was the first black varsity athlete Odette Thompson, Chapel School’s other two at any college or university in Georgia. rising seniors, on a walk to Bueck’s house.

30

| P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

“Walt said, ‘I’m going to go talk to Mr. Bueck, because I want to get a better education,’” Owens said. “Mr. Bueck told him that he’d see what he could do about it.”

The school board approved the request, and in August 1964, Scruggs, Stewart, and Thompson integrated the school system.

Scruggs had never played organized sports, but he soon became a standout on the Panther football and basketball teams.

Word of a talented 6-foot3-inch forward spread 50 miles south to Demorest, Georgia, where it caught the attention of Piedmont men’s basketball coach O’Neal Cave, who invited Scruggs to campus. Longtime university president Dr. James E. Walter recalled meeting Scruggs in the spring of 1965 in his 1982 book Piedmont College Graduates Make Good.

“I noticed that a black youth was sitting on a davenport in the lobby of Daniel Hall, our classroom and administration building,” wrote Walter, who led Piedmont from 1949 until 1983.

“Remembering Coach O’Neal Cave had mentioned several weeks earlier that he was recommending Walter Scruggs was killed in a Christmas Eve car accident in 1965. our first black athlete for admission to the college, I walked He started all five games for the Lions that semester, over to introduce myself. He saw me coming, stood, and though Piedmont was only 1-4, Walter writes that and greeted me with a contagiously friendly smile.” none of Piedmont’s opponents objected to playing Scruggs was one of 10 children and was the first in his against a team with a black player, and “not a single family to attend college. Walter also notes that Scruggs unpleasant incident occurred” between players or fans. “needed and qualified for our most complete financial Off the court, Scruggs was a member of the student assistance” and accepted shoes and clothing from the council, the Protropian Literary Society, and the Heritage college thrift shop while “working faithfully with his books” of Pilgrim Endeavor, an organization that worked to and the assistance of various tutors to qualify academically. develop church leadership among college-age people.

P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

| 31

Synethia Owens holds her brother's portrait and Hall of Fame award from Franklin High School. (Photo by Brittany Whitehead)

“Everybody seemed to accept him. He didn’t try to impress anybody,” Charles Morris ’67, who was a junior on the basketball team and one of Scruggs’ suitemates, told The Franklin Press in 2016. “He was just good old Walt. He got along with everybody.”

Owens said Scruggs often talked about joining the Peace Corps after college. He, along with their parents Willie and Isabella, also instilled a sense of pride in her she carries still.

“I remember him telling us, ‘when you go to town, you hold your head up. Don’t you look down,’” Owens said. “That was just his gift, to teach us that we were somebody. I never knew I wasn’t special. I still don’t know that, to tell you the truth.”

Owens spoke outside of East Franklin Elementary School in Franklin, where she has taught kindergarten for 26 years and is currently the only black teacher in the county.

She said there were some instances of overt racism or hostility toward her family growing up, though it wasn’t common, and black and white people lived different lives for the most part.

“You kind of stayed in your lane, and they stayed in their lane,” said Owens, who attended Piedmont herself for one

32

| P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

year before taking a job at Head Start in 1971.

Scruggs was the only black athlete at any high school in the area, and the team was sometimes denied entrance at restaurants because of him. Nonetheless, his overall success at Franklin inspired Owens and two of her sisters to try to eat at a restaurant in town they’d never dared enter before, where they were ignored for “a good while” until finally being served.

“It was more thinking about the end, ‘oh, we got served,’ instead of thinking about ‘why are they doing this?’” Owens said. “Because I guess we just accepted that that’s the way it was.”

Scruggs was inducted into the Franklin High Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016, and every year since 1995, Owens has presented the Walter Scruggs Spirit Award and college scholarship that goes with it to a senior athlete. She was in the seventh grade when Walt was killed and remembers that people lined the streets of Franklin for his funeral, which was moved to the heart of downtown to better accommodate the crowd.

“Indirectly, Walter Scruggs did more to smooth the integration of our community­—more than the pastors, the businessmen, or anyone else,” said the Rev. Dr. Thomas Lane, whose First Baptist Church voted unanimously to request to be able to host the funeral, according to an Associated Press story. “He made his contribution for being what he was.”

Scruggs’ high school teammates and coach served as pallbearers, and O’Neal, his Lions teammates, Dr. Walter, and at least 30 members of the Piedmont student body traveled from Georgia to attend. Scruggs was laid to rest in the cemetery of the All Saints Episcopal Church.

“He had courage—courage to face situations with dignity, that none of us on this campus have ever faced, or even understand,” Cave wrote in a tribute to Scruggs dated Jan. 5, 1966, that appeared in The Yonahian. “I shall always cherish the memory of Walter Scruggs, for I have lost a friend.”

Scruggs serves as an inspiration to Owens to this day.

“God’s purpose is all I know. There’s no rhyme or reason for why things happen,” she said.

“That makes me feel like I still have to carry the torch. I still think I have an obligation to do something, even if I don’t know what it is.”

Coach Cave tourney a success Homecoming is back!

Piedmont’s 33rd Annual Coach Cave Memorial Golf Tournament generated more than $23,600 for the university’s athletic programs.

A total of 23 teams comprised of 92 golfers set a record for the tournament, which was held June 7 at Laurel Springs Golf Club in Suwanee.

On October 23rd, Piedmont University will host the biggest Homecoming celebration we’ve ever had!

This will be an all-day event packed with activities, including our annual Alumni Awards & Hall of Fame Celebration, class reunions and more.

We’ll have food and beer/wine trucks (you heard me!).

Best of all, a nationally-acclaimed, high energy southern rock band—the Atlanta Rhythym Section—will perform a free concert at the Arrendale Amphitheater–just for our alumni!

Trust me, you don’t want to miss out on all the fun, music, food, and camaraderie. This is your post-Covid chance to see real, live people in real-life again!

So come out and celebrate our name change and catch up with classmates. You’ll also have an opportunity to win some cool prizes and new Piedmont University gear.

Register on the Lions Share Network at alumni.piedmont.edu.

Or if you’re like my mama and you don’t use the internet, you can register by calling me at 706-776-0146.

Can’t wait to see you there!

Katie Deal Comeau ’02 Director of Alumni Engagement and Development

The Piedmont Athletics Team, consisting of Jim Peeples, Susan Martin, Tom Dimitroff, and John Peeples, came in first place.

Second place went to The Baker Family Team, which included, from left, Robert Baker, Michael Salmon, Jacob Baker, and Sean Nebel. Robert and Jacob Baker are Coach Cave’s grandsons.

kdeal@piedmont.edu | 706-776-0146 P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

| 33

Athletics accolades & accomplishments

On perseverance and scholarship Cappas awarded prestigious post-graduate scholarship

By Ron Wagner

T

hough Veronica Cappas ’20 is the fifth NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winner in Piedmont history, in some notable ways she’s also the first.

The first Piedmont woman to land the prestigious grant. The first who wasn’t a member of the men’s tennis team. And without question the first who continued to take the pitch with a torn knee ligament until the end of her senior season because she “wanted to end my soccer career on my own terms.”

Tearing an ACL three matches into the 2019 campaign was particularly cruel after Cappas had been forced to miss her sophomore year because of an ACL tear in her other knee. The injuries were “very hard,” Cappas said, but they didn’t prevent her from being a stellar student as she majored in both biology and forensic science while also serving as the president of the student-athlete advisory committee.

That exceptional resume Veronica Cappas ’20 prompted Piedmont Professor of Earth Science and Faculty Athletic Representative Debra Dooley to nominate Cappas for the Postgraduate Scholarship and help her with the application process. Cappas beat out a pool of candidates from more than 1,200 schools that compete in one of the NCAA’s three divisions to become one of only 21 women

34

| P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

selected as recipients for the 2020 fall sports season.

The $10,000 will help as Cappas pursues a Master of Professional Studies in Forensic Science at Pennsylvania State University in hopes of one day landing a job with the Army’s Defense Forensic Science Center.

“We’ve only been full-fledged Division III for just over 15 years, so to have five kids win a Postgraduate Scholarship and now have Veronica do it and be our first female is really kind of unbelievable,” said Piedmont Director of Athletics Jim Peeples. “I was really excited to see her get that award.”

Cappas, who transferred to Piedmont as a sophomore, had just one healthy season as a Lion, but she made the most of it. A midfielder, she started 20 of 22 matches in 2018 for a team coming off an undefeated year, earning first-team All-USA South Conference honors as Piedmont won its third league title in four seasons.

“We had a really good team when Veronica showed up on campus as a player, and to be able to step into that group seamlessly and not only contribute but become one of the major forces in a conferencechampionship run was pretty impressive,” said Piedmont Women’s Soccer Coach Tim McCormack. “She overcame a lot of adversity.”

Men's, women's programs win conference, men ranked nationally

By Ron Wagner

A

bout the only thing faster than members of the Piedmont University track team has been how quickly the program achieved national relevance since being reinstated in 2015.

The ascent reached a new high on March 30 when the Lion men found themselves ranked 10th in the nation by the United States Track and Field and Cross County Coaches Association, their highest ranking ever. The recognition marked the start of an outstanding 2021 season that saw both the men’s and women’s teams easily capture USA South Conference championships and send multiple athletes to the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships.

Asked how Piedmont was able to get so good so soon after not fielding a team since the 1970s, second-year coach Jamie Jimison praised the Piedmont administration for giving the program “full support” in terms of both a strong operating budget and the freedom to create a competitive schedule.

But nothing deserves more credit than the athletes who took a chance on Piedmont four years ago.

“We’ve worked really hard to create a good culture.

We bring these people in, and they also stay,” Jimison said, noting that in many ways, he and his staff of Brian Gawne and Remel Williams have benefitted from a strong foundation built by previous head coach Jeff Jenkins. “We had a lot of upperclassman leadership with this group.”

Losing that talent to graduation will sting, but Jimison thinks the best is yet to come for Piedmont track—especially considering the recent success

was attained despite the program not having its own facility. Changing that is a top priority now that the university has acquired 80 acres contiguous to the Demorest campus from the Rohletter family.

“That’s one of the biggest reasons for purchasing that property, to develop it as an athletic site so we could get our own track and field facility,” Piedmont Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Jim Peeples said.

“We’re just scratching the surface right now with what we’re capable of accomplishing in that sport.”

Karla Cantrell ’21 won a team-high four events and took home CoTrack Athlete of the Meet honors at the USA South Athletic Conference Championship in April.

P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

| 35

News&Notes CLASS

1

2

3

1960s

1990s

Dr. David Adams ’61 retired from a 30-year teaching career in sociology, primarily at Ohio State University in Lima. Post retirement, He kept busy by working with the Lima City Council and the Greater Lima United Way. David and his late wife, Estella B. Stearing Adams ’62, met at Piedmont as students and were married for 45 years. In addition to reviewing a movie a week for the past 20 years, David also created “The Bean Family” cartoon, which appeared on a local Lima TV station and in the City of Lima monthly utility bill for many years.

Carolyn “Pat” Lewis ’92 is a four-time recipient of the Teacher of the Year award and was the Golden Apple Teacher in 2006-07.

Carolyn serves as an instructional specialist teaching EIP students in grades K-2 at Belair K-8 School in Augusta.

James “Jim” Carpenter ’67 is owner and operator of Union Pharmacy in Union Point, Georgia. He is a member of the Georgia Pharmacy Association, the Academy of Independent Pharmacy, and the National Community Pharmacists Association. While at Piedmont, Jim served as Vice President of the Class of 1967.

1970s Lynne Esco Varnum ’78 married Russell Varnum on November 24, 2007. She was elected Miss Yonahian 1977 and Miss Spanish Honor Society. She sang in the Piedmont College Choir and was selected for Who's Who in American Colleges for two years. She worked in the banking business in Winder for 30 years upon graduation.

1

Sarah Bell MAT ’98 was named president and CEO of Elachee Nature Science Center in February. She worked in the Gainesville City School system for 29 years, most recently as deputy superintendent. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Gainesville/ Hall County Alliance for Literacy and is an advocate for the United Way of Hall County.

4

6

Ayanna Cooper EdS ’04 has released two new publications: And Justice for Els (corwin. com) and Black Immigrants in the United States (peterlang.com).

Paula Tipton ’88, EdS ’05 received the 202122 Martin Technology Academy Teacher of the Year award. She also received the Teacher of the Year award from Gainesville City Schools in 2009.

Charron Davis ’07, MBA ’10 works for The Home Depot as a training specialist.

3

Nicole Mosley EdS ’07 serves as principal of McClure Health Science High School in Gwinnett County.

2000s

2010s

Andrew Olsen ’00 was named president of ResourceOne Fundraising Group. Andrew has written a number one best-selling book entitled 101 Biggest Mistakes Nonprofits Make and How You Can Avoid Them. He also coauthored Rainmaking: The Fundraiser's Guide to Landing Big Gifts and hosts The Rainmaker Fundraising Podcast.

4 E. Lane Gresham ’10 received the 2020 SOAR Professional Woman of the Year award presented by the Habersham Chamber of Commerce.

2

Terry Hill ’01 serves as division director of the programs division at The Florida Bar in Tallahassee, Florida. He was selected to lead the National Association of Bar Executives.

5

36

| P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

9

7 5

Stefanie Garrett Munger ’10 and husband, Michael, welcomed their daughter, Juniper Joanna Mae, into the world on February 19. Baby Juniper weighed 9 pounds 2 ounces.

Justin Roberts MBA ’11 was named chief financial officer of Piedmont Newton Hospital in Covington. He previously served as director of finance for Piedmont Athens Regional in Athens and has more than 12 years of healthcare experience.

Crystal Brooks Milian ’07, MAT ’11, EdS. ’13 was named director of operations for Junior Achievement of Georgia.

Natalie Crawford ’07, MBA ’12 was named one of Georgia’s “best and brightest” by Georgia Trend magazine’s list of 40 Under 40 for 2020. She served as Habersham County Commissioner for nearly eight years and is now a senior sales executive with financial technology firm KlariVis. Laura Puckett Hayes ’10, MBA ’12 gave birth to baby, Mercer Allan, on September 19, 2020 at Piedmont Athens Regional Hospital.

6 Sarah Pruitt EdS ’12 was recognized as Teacher of the Year for Mountain Education Charter School’s Dawson County location.

She was selected by peers from all 18 Mountain Education schools. She taught in

the Dawson County School District for 31 years and previously received the Teacher of the Year award for her work at Black’s Mill Elementary.

10

Audrey Schroyer ’15, MBA ’15 welcomed baby Raylan Wane on May 8, 2019. In October 2019, Audrey was elected to the Texas Economic Development Council Board of Directors.

7

Renee Langston ’11, MAT ’13 and husband, Chad, celebrated the birth of son, Levi Cooper, on Christmas morning 2019.

Lisa Harris ’13 earned her master’s degree in elementary education from Thomas University in 2020. She teaches in Clarke County.

Kayla Watson ’13, MBA ’15 was named the director of student engagement at High Point University in High Point, North Carolina.

8

Mark Pulliam ’14 was appointed chief of probation services for the Western Judicial Circuit (serving Athens-Clarke and Oconee counties).

He served as an 8 Athens-Clarke County police officer before becoming chief of police at North Georgia Technical College.

Mark received his master’s degree in public safety administration from Columbus State University.

Jessie Owensby ’15 was selected to participate in the second class of Appalachian Regional Commission's Appalachian Leadership Institute. She was named one of Georgia’s 40 Under 40 by Georgia Trend magazine in 2019.

Jesse Mashburn ’16 recently transitioned to data specialist for Lifelink of Florida.

Joseph Harrison ’17 received his master’s degree in public policy administration from Mississippi State University in 2020 and currently works at the University of Georgia as the advancing employment program coordinator.

9 Skylar Benham EdS ’17 performed with Carly Curtis in Calhoun’s 2021 Dancing with the Stars. The event raised more than $105,000 for the United Way of Gordon County. The couple was selected as the People’s Choice Runners-up among the adults and received the Trey Pierson Spirit award.

10

Anna Grace Heisel ’18, Student Success advisor at Piedmont, married Luis Araiza on April 17.

Send us your Class Notes! classnotes@piedmont.edu

P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

| 37

In Memory ALUMNI 1940s Mr. John Lewis Currier (19461948) passed away on November 18, 2020, at the age of 94.

Mr. Bobby G. Parks ’55 passed away on April 2 at the age of 88.

Mr. Donald “Don” William Parks ’57 passed away on March 5 at the age of 86.

1970s

Mr. Robert Alvin “Bobby” Lewallen ’56 passed away on January 26 at the age of 90.

Mrs. Helen Rogers Nichols ’71 passed away on October 21, 2020, at the age of 101.

Coach James Rollin Channell ’57 passed away on February 9 at the age of 85.

Mr. John Alec Preece ’71 passed away on January 19 at the age of 72.

Mr. Cleties Howard Crowe ’57 passed away on December 24, 2020, at the age of 86.

Mr. Henry James “Pete” Gartrell ’73 passed away on August 22, 2016, at the age of 68.

1950s

Mr. Fred Griffin Martin ’59 passed away on February 7 at the age of 84.

Mrs. Sharon “Dianne” Sisk Hardy ’74 passed away on April 9 at the age of 68.

Mrs. Marilyn Jeaneete Wheeler Powell (1951-1952) passed away on November 10, 2020, at the age of 85.

Mrs. Emma Roberts Turner ’59 passed away on January 8 at the age of 88.

Mr. Ronald W. “Cueball” Ford ’75 passed away on December 26, 2020, at the age of 70.

Mrs. Betty Sue Morgan Tapp ’48 passed away on March 29 at the age of 93.

Mrs. Shirley McLay Adcock ’49 passed away on July 1, 2017, at the age of 94.

Coach Howard E. “Doc” Ayers ’49 passed away on December 19, 2020, at the age of 99.

Mrs. Doris Hill Ledbetter ’52 passed away on January 19 at the age of 89.

Mrs. Frances Henderson McNorrill ’52 passed away on February 15 at the age of 88.

1960s Mr. Jackie Palmour Thomas ’60 passed away on October 16, 2020, at the age of 88.

Mr. Howard “Bud” Turner ’63 passed away on January 23 at the age of 88.

TRUSTEES EMERITI Mrs. Helen Kay Stewart Swanson (trustee emerita) passed away on June 9 at the age of 85. Born in Austin, Texas, Ms. Swanson was a graduate of Mary Washington College. She taught in the Habersham County School System for many years before joining Standard Telephone Co., where she served in an executive role as treasurer until 1999. Following her time there, she generously supported Piedmont University and the University of North Georgia. She also established the Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia. She is survived by her husband, Dean C. Swanson, and brother and sister-in-law, Howard Milton Stewart Jr. and Carolyn Stewart of Vero Beach, Florida. The Swanson Center for the Performing Arts is named for her family.

Mr. Roland Kenneth Knight (trustee emeritus) passed away on September 12, 2019, at the age of 77. Born in Macon, Georgia, and a graduate of Mercer University, Knight served in the U.S. Navy and later became president and CEO of Bibb Manufacturing in Macon. He later owned the Georgia Narrow Fabric Textile Co. in Jesup, Georgia. Knight also served as trustee for Mercer and Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School in Rabun Gap, Georgia.

38

Mrs. Kathryn Stiles Stribling ’68 passed away on December 31, 2020, at the age of 94.

| P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

Mr. Henry “Larry” Warren Jr. ’75 passed away on April 29, 2018, at the age of 85.

Rev. Jerry Morris Stowe ’78 passed away on December 14, 2020, at the age of 73.

Dr. Stanley “Kent” White ’79 passed away on September 28, 2020, at the age of 64.

1980s Mr. Harrison “Chip” Clarke Jr. ’81 passed away on December 5, 2020, at the age of 62.

Mrs. Brenda “Elaine” Pardue Simmons ’85 passed away on September 13, 2019, at the age of 71.

1990s Mr. Daryl Eric White ’94, M ’98 passed away on January 21 at the age of 49.

Mrs. Sabrina Allen King ’94 passed away on February 18 at the age of 49.

Mr. Michael Vance Brown ’96 passed away on May 11 at the age of 66.

In Memory Ms. Ann Elizabeth Campbell M ’99, Ed.S. ’05 passed away on January 16 at the age of 51.

2000s Mrs. Marsha Hicks James ’00, M ’02 passed away on December 23, 2020, at the age of 75.

Mrs. Helen Grace Tribble Brown passed away on January 13 at the age of 97.

Rev. Dr. Richard F. Dunn, h.c. DD ’87 passed away on March 24 at the age of 83.

Mrs. Bonita Gail Bagley Crew passed away on December 16, 2020, at the age of 51.

Mr. Moncie Gibson Jr. passed away on November 15, 2019, at the age of 77.

Mr. Walter Earl Crowe passed away on April 16 at the age of 89.

Dr. David Louis Greene (professor emeritus) passed away on November 20, 2020, at the age of 76.

Ms. Janice Marie Micek M ’00 passed away on October 19, 2020, at the age of 72.

Mrs. Charlotte Louise Brock Grogan passed away on December 29, 2020, at the age of 92.

Ms. Courtney Anne Cash ’01 passed away on January 9 at the age of 42.

Mrs. Bobbie Carpenter Foster passed away on April 5 at the age of 87.

Dr. William Carlos “Bill” Jackson (former faculty) passed away on January 6 at the age of 82.

Mrs. Patricia “Pat” White Morgan M ’01 passed away on September 17, 2020, at the age of 66.

Mr. Charles Bowden Henderson passed away on January 14 at the age of 92.

Dr. Lonnie C. King Jr. passed away on April 5, 2019, at the age of 82.

Mrs. India Dyer Lumsden passed away on March 1, 2018, at the age of 92.

Dr. Kenneth E. Melichar (former faculty) passed away on March 25 at the age of 74.

Mrs. Molene Smith McDuffie passed away on January 7 at the age of 99.

Mr. Timothy Clegg Mills (former staff) passed away on May 1 at the age of 78.

Mrs. Shannon Allison Warr M ’07, Ed.S ’09 passed away on January 3 at the age of 51.

Mrs. Susan Farr Stinchcomb passed away on April 13 at the age of 66.

Mrs. Christy Daniell Collins ’09 passed away on March 22 at the age of 34.

Mr. James Earl Tench passed away on December 5, 2020, at the age of 88.

Dr. Joe L. Palmer (former faculty) passed away on January 22, 2020, at the age of 82.

Mrs. Erika Rachelle Franklin Diaz ’09, M ’11 passed away on March 15 at the age of 36.

Mrs. Susan King Watson passed away on April 14 at the age of 70.

Ms. Anne Marie Bilbry Walters ’04 passed away on December 30, 2020, at the age of 47.

2010s Mr. Charley Sanford Helseth ’14, MBA ’15 passed away on December 28, 2020, at the age of 36.

2020s Ms. Laura Michelle Grant (student) passed away on February 14 at the age of 36.

OTHER ALUMNI Mrs. Jasper L. Odister Bell passed away on February 5 at the age of 73.

FRIENDS Mr. Sidney Arthur Adair passed away on March 16, 2018, at the age of 90.

Mr. James Wesley Angel Jr. passed away on March 27, 2019, at the age of 90.

Dr. Frederick Bailey Dent, h.c. DBA ’92 passed away on December 10, 2019, at the age of 97.

Ms. Maureen Donohue passed away on February 12, 2019, at the age of 73.

Dr. A. Eli Dunagan (former faculty) passed away on April 1, 2019, at the age of 77.

Mrs. Mary Ellen Hardee passed away on December 6, 2019, at the age of 98.

Dr. William Roy Pipes (former faculty) passed away on April 27 at the age of 84.

Mrs. Audrey Laine Rivers passed away on March 5, 2018, at the age of 83.

Mrs. Lorene McCollum Segers passed away on January 9, 2018, at the age of 93.

Ms. Fritzie Seifert passed away on December 4, 2020, at the age of 86.

Mr. Charles C. Sherwood passed away on July 7, 2017, at the age of 79.

Mr. Edward Eugene “Ebbie” Strain III passed away on September 28, 2019, at the age of 76.

Mr. Kurt O. Tech passed away on September 18, 2016, at the age of 94.

Mr. Frank Allen Waters passed away on July 18, 2018, at the age of 84.

P I E DMO N T J O U R NA L

| 39

PO Box 10 Demorest GA 30535

FEATURING

ATLANTA RHYTHM SECTION

FREE CONCERT @ ARRENDALE AMPHITHEATER

FOOD TRUCKS

BEER & WINE GARDEN

SPORTS HALL OF FAME & ALUMNI AWARDS CLASS REUNIONS

ART EXHIBITION

LIMITED SPACE! Register online today!

Registration required. alumni.piedmont.edu/e/homecoming

Celebrate Piedmont University with us!