Piedmont College Journal Winter 2016

ALUMNI & FRIENDS MAGAZINE

WINTER 2015–16 | VOLUME 7, NUMBER 2

FEATURES

LILLIAN SMITH’S STRANGE FRUIT MORGANNE & THE TARDIGRADES

CONTENTS

JOURNAL

WINTER 2015–16

President James F. Mellichamp

Features

News

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Vice President for Advancement Amy Amason

Lillian Smith’s Strange Fruit 70 years after it first appeared on Broadway, Clayton author’s play is reborn at Piedmont’s Swanson Center.

Director of Special Projects and Community Relations William S. Loyd Director of Public Relations David Price Graphic Design Specialist Regina M. Fried

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Love it or Hate It Professor Hugh Davis is part of multi-year project to annotate the papers of Pulitzer-winner James Agee.

Associate Director of Development Mary Colston Associate Director of Alumni Relations Katie Porter

Website Coordinator Brian Carter

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piedmont.edu/updateinfo

Piedmont College

Morganne & the Tardigrades Biology student Morganne Gregory goes on a cross-country hunt for the elusive water bears.

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Fine Arts

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Athletics

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Published by the Office of Institutional Advancement

Piedmont College Institutional Advancement P.O. Box 429 Demorest GA 30535

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Students

Outreach & Impact

Director of Development Justin Scali

Coordinator of Development Services Chris Pearce

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Programs

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Alumni

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Class Notes

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Obituaries

Wish You Were Here Travel nurses see the U.S.A. while working their dream jobs.

@PiedmontGA

Cover photo: Cheyanne Marie Osoria in Lillian Smith’s Strange Fruit. Story on page 12.

President’s Message Sitting before our computer screens daily, we sometimes believe that “there is nothing new under the sun.” However, if all is working properly, the websites we view are being continually updated, and we only have to “refresh the screen” to read the latest updates and view the most current photographs.

Sometimes when we think of institutions that we visit in our memory, online or even in person, our minds pull up the same static images and nuggets of information we’ve been seeing for years. Many of us—alumni, supporters, staff, faculty, administrators and even students— need to “refresh the screen” and see Piedmont College as it truly is today and note the results of the planning and work that have occurred in the last few years. This effort has changed the “picture” of the college in dramatic and positive ways.

You will notice new and enhanced features and programs all over campus if you “refresh your screen” and view Piedmont College as the distinctive, exciting and innovative college that it is today, right now!

Turn the pages and the most obvious differences are new facilities, such as the Student Commons and the Piedmont

Village, offering enhanced living and lifestyle options for our Demorest students. Read about the first class of Woodrow Wilson Scholars—who are working with our faculty in high needs, local school systems in Athens and across north Georgia—whose talent as teachers will enhance the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Piedmont faculty and students continue to be active in academic and research pursuits that ensure students are well prepared for today’s challenging workplaces. Our music and theatre students entertain and enrich our days on the Demorest campus with their performances and then impress others with 100-percent job placement in 2015 for graduating music and theatre students. The growth and recognition of the Compass Program has resulted in a substantial grant and an increased numbers of students participating in varied efforts that add “real world” experience to their academic endeavors.

Piedmont College student athletes continue to excel and succeed on and off the field, and we diligently explore new athletic opportunities for our students. We recently added a new sport—men and women’s cycling. You can read more about it in this issue. We were pleased to host a very successful reunion for men and women’s basketball alumni on campus in January. Most of our sports programs have alumni games scheduled throughout the year. We hope to see you there.

I hope this issue of The Journal will lead you to “refresh your screen” and view Piedmont College as the distinctive and exciting campus it is today.

James F. Mellichamp

Student Commons opens to rave reviews Sporting a rock climbing wall, racquetball court, Barnes & Noble bookstore, dining hall with Starbucks Café, fitness center, gymnasium, and a banquet/ conference hall, the new Student Commons at the Demorest campus has something for everyone.

“Magnificent”—that is how Chairman of the Board of Trustees Thomas A. “Gus” Arrendale III described the new 58,000-square-foot student center, as he welcomed guests to the building’s grand opening in August. “We’re making history right here today, because there is not another school, I would say in the

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PROGRAMS

Southeast with a nicer facility, and it is going to be a great draw for our students,” Arrendale said.

incoming freshman classes for the past three years and as new residence halls have opened on campus.

Kyndal Goss, a freshman from Mt. Airy, says she was impressed by the new Student Commons even while it was under construction. “I love it—so modern and cool,” she said.

“I like the new dining hall and the food court. When I was looking at colleges, this drew me in. I think it will be a big thing for everybody.”

Mellichamp noted that the Student Commons will benefit the entire community, as many of its facilities are open to the public. These include the Chartwells dining hall and banquet/conference rooms, as well as the Starbucks Café and the Barnes & Noble book store.

President James F. Mellichamp agrees that the $14 million building, located on Georgia Street across from Wallace Hall, will be the new focal point for the Piedmont campus.

Mellichamp said the Commons was badly needed, especially since Piedmont has experienced record growth in its

STUDENT COMMONS DONORS Estate of Kendall Getman Thomas A. Arrendale III William H. Guild Charitable Trust

Thomas A. and Lucile M. Moye Charitable Trust James F. Mellichamp Benton-Georgia, LLC

Mellichamp thanked the many firms and individuals who played a role in the construction of the Student Commons, including architects Beck Design of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Walter P. Moore engineering of Dallas, Texas; Civilscapes engineering of Tucker; and Scroggs & Grizzel Contracting of Gainesville.

Nathan Burgen Morgan Concrete Company, Inc. Georgia Power Foundation, Inc.

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FITNESS CENTER DONORS Piedmont College Alumni Association Piedmont College P-Club Stuart and Lynne Sanders C. Lyndol Cain ‘53

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nterest in Tennessee author James Agee has experienced a renaissance in recent years, thanks in large part to Dr. Hugh Davis, associate general editor of a new 11-volume Works of James Agee, which covers Agee’s wide-ranging career as a poet, journalist, novelist, film critic, and screenwriter.

In the pantheon of Southern writers, Agee is often ranked with William Faulkner and Thomas Wolfe, despite a career cut short by heart failure at age 45. In that time, though, Agee produced a Pulitzer-prize winning novel, A Death in the Family, and his ode to Depression-era Alabama sharecroppers, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. Agee also penned the screenplays for movie classics including The African Queen and Night of the Hunter; and for six years he was film critic for Time magazine and The Nation.

Davis has taught English at Piedmont since 2008, the same year he authored The Making of James Agee, the first critical work to rely on a trove of never-before-released Agee letters and papers at the

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LOVE IT OR HATE IT Davis book project shows complete side of author James Agee University of Tennessee. It is those papers, Davis said, that are fueling a renewed interest and a re-evaluation of Agee’s works.

Originally from Brandon, Mississippi, Davis graduated from Belhaven College and earned a master’s degree in English from the University of Alabama. After a stint teaching English in the Slovak Republic, he was working on a doctorate in 20th Century British and American Literature at the University of Tennessee when his and Agee’s paths crossed.

UT is home to noted Agee scholar Dr. Michael A. Lofaro and also houses a collection of Agee’s papers, which because of copyright and other legal issues, had never been thoroughly studied. “Dr. Lofaro asked me to go to the special collections library and see if any of the papers looked interesting,” Davis said. “I came back and told him, ‘It all looks interesting.’” With Lofaro as general editor and Davis as associate general

editor, the two then embarked on a multi-year project to edit and annotate the Agee papers, which— when finished sometime around 2020—will include 11 hefty volumes.

The most recent volume, Davis’ edition of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, was published in October 2015 and includes detailed annotations and explanatory notes as well as alternate

manuscripts and unpublished chapters of the classic study.

In 1936, on an assignment for Fortune magazine, Agee and photographer Walker Evans spent eight weeks living with three almost destitute Alabama farm families.

Agee welcomed the assignment to document sharecroppers for Fortune,

whose readers were mostly wealthy businessmen, even though he saw it “as kind of obscene ‘poverty porn’ and hoped to use the story to attack capitalism and everything Fortune stood for,” Davis said.

Not surprisingly, Fortune never published the article, and Agee later turned it into a wide-ranging book that alternates from soaring, poetic celebration of the farmers’ lives to chapterlong inventories of all of their possessions.

While impossible to categorize—readers either love it or hate it— Famous Men “resembles nothing so much as a surrealist ethnography,” Davis said. In spite of—or because of—its controversial style, it finds a place on most lists of the top 100 American books.

Like A Death in the Family, which was published posthumously, Famous Men did not gain fame until after Agee’s death in 1955. In fact, the 1941 first printing sold only 600 copies.

(Continued on page 24)

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‘Career-changers’ becoming science teachers through Piedmont education program

By LEE SHEARER | Courtesy the Athens Banner-Herald

Three young “career changers” are getting a competitive education at a Clarke County high school this school year, but the main beneficiaries might be students at Cedar Shoals High School.

necessarily in teaching.

“They’ve shown expertise from day one,” he said.

“They’re very hands-on and that’s exactly what we want.”

The career changers each come from a background in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), and each won a highly competitive fellowship from the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship to train as teachers. Each committed to work for three years in a school, like Cedar Shoals, where the need is greatest for STEM teachers.

One Wilson fellow at Cedar, Damien Washington, left a career in public health to become a teacher. He wanted to provide a role model he seldom saw in his own school years—an AfricanAmerican male teacher.

Of Georgia’s 36 Wilson Teaching Fellows, 12 are enrolled in a special program created by Piedmont College’s School of Education. Its aim is to transform them from experienced professionals into highly trained teachers during an intense 12-month immersion period.

Three of the Piedmont fellows are at Cedar Shoals, nine at other northeast Georgia high schools.

Each of the Fellows is paired with a veteran teacher. But they’re not like student teachers, said Cedar Shoals principal Tony Price. They come in as highly trained professionals, just not

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Wilson Fellow Damien Washington, center, helps Matteo Castile, right, and Trisha Hariani with a science lesson at Cedar Shoals High School in Athens, Ga. (Richard Hamm/Athens Banner-Herald)

Two weeks into the school year, Washington isn’t regretting his choice and is already getting the kind of reinforcement that keeps many teachers going—moving students from “I can’t do this” to knowing that they can.

“I believe I’m definitely in it for the duration,” said the 39-year-old Washington.

In an environmental science class, students built model landfills using containers filled with household trash.

“It’s a concrete way for students to learn about water quality, soil quality, and solid waste disposal,” explained teacher Cheryl Hudson.

Hudson and Washington moved from group to group, making sure

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they understood the task, measuring phosphorus levels in the little landfills.

“Right now we’re still in the acquisition of learning how to use the tools of a scientist,” said Hudson, who gave a high grade to Piedmont’s Wilson Fellow plan.

The Wilson Fellows are in school the entire school year, so they get to watch and participate in what teachers do from the very beginning, when they begin working in the days before students start classes to plan for the upcoming school year.

“This is a very good, practical way to teach teachers,” Hudson said.

Piedmont is one of five colleges the Wilson Foundation signed up for the fellowship program, said Dr. Julie Palmour, associate dean of education at Piedmont’s School of Education and the project director of the Woodrow Wilson Georgia Teaching Fellowship.

(Continued on page 7)

STUDENTS

R E CO R D S E T T I N G FRESHMEN CLASS OF 2019

COMMENCEMENT 2015

The largest freshman class in the history of Piedmont College gathered for Convocation at the start of the fall semester in the Chapel, where administrators and current students led the official welcome.

December Commencement saw 258 new graduates added to the Alumni Association!

DECEMBER GRADUATES

Together with the 383 graduates from May and

CL ASS OF ’19

209 graduates from July, the Class of 2015 is 850

285

strong.

258

AVERAGE GPA

DOC TORAL GRADUATES

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(Continued from page 6) Each of the five colleges or universities received a $400,000 grant from the foundation, but agreed to match that with a $400,000 in-kind contribution. At Cedar Shoals, that contribution includes extensive instruction for the Fellows outside the high school and in-school support from two Piedmont College faculty members, who spend up to 10 hours at the high school each week.

3.47 GRADUATING WITH HONORS

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There’s a lot at stake for the college as well as the fellowship recipients; the training model Palmour and others built for the Wilson Fellows will help shape the college’s methods of training teachers in the future.

“Everything is about making sure that what we do works with these Fellows,” she said, “and ultimately how that translates into these kids (Cedar Shoals students) benefitting.”

OUT- OF-STATE & INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

15%

FIRST C ARDIOVASCUL AR TECHNOLOGY CL ASS ENROLLS

United Way gets a boost Students examine Habersham County trends

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usiness students Mason Riza of Bonham, Texas, and Brie Ballinger of Helen probably know a lot more about Habersham County than they thought they would ever learn.

The pair finished a semester-long study of everything Habersham, from population trends, income, education levels and crime statistics for every age group in the county. The research project, which had them combing state and federal databases, was to help Habersham United Way make decisions about allocating more than $500,000 to some 25 local community services agencies.

“We basically made a demographic profile of the area, looking for areas where services may be overlapping,” Riza said. Information came from the Census Bureau, the University of Georgia, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the federal and state departments of education.

While the students did not make recommendations, they said there were some facts and figures that were surprising. For instance they found that compared to the state, Habersham has almost twice the percentage of adults with less than a ninth grade education—10 percent compared

to 5 percent for the state. They also found that the county has a younger population than the state average up until the 50-54 age group. “Then it reverses, and Habersham has an older population for the groups 55 and up,” Riza said.

As part of the project, the two will present their findings to the full United Way board. Dr. John Misner, Dean of the Harry W. Walker School of Business at Piedmont, said this study is just phase one, and that additional student studies would look more at projections of where the county is going to help the United Way make its decisions.

Each year, United Way volunteers visit the agencies that receive local donations to find out how effective they are in meeting the needs of county residents. The volunteers propose new funding levels that the Habersham United Way Board of Directors must then approve before any money is distributed.

While the visits help, there is a lot of information that the board needs to make their decisions. The Piedmont Business Resource Center, a joint project of the college and the Habersham County Chamber of Commerce, offered just what they needed, with students assigned to special research projects as part of their studies.

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Mason Riza, Brie Ballinger, John Misner, and United Way Board member Ann Sutton look over data collected for a special study on Habersham County trends.

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Spotlight on international students

TABEA SOELTER is from Hamburg, Germany, and is a sophomore this spring. She is majoring in biology and criminal justice and plans to work as a crime lab DNA analyst. Soelter was introduced to Piedmont while an exchange student at Habersham Central High School four years ago.

“I liked it so much, I wanted to go to college in the U.S.” she said. “I liked the area and Piedmont fit the criteria.”

Soelter is a Dean’s List scholar and plays varsity soccer and tennis. “I love it here,” she said. “It is great having some amazing friends.”

SHELBY FORZA is from Toronto, Canada, and graduated from Wingate University in North Carolina, where she played soccer and ran track. She came to Piedmont to earn an MBA and is also working as a graduate assistant for the women’s soccer team. “I always really liked the culture of the South,” Forza said. “It is different from the North. I knew I wanted to stay in the South, and when I visited Piedmont, everyone was very nice.

It’s a good opportunity for me.”

XUEJUN ZHANG is from Beijing, China, and will graduate in May with a Master of Arts degree in middle grades language education. An experienced teacher, Zhang earned a master’s degree in China and taught middle school, high school, and college courses there. Living in Rabun County, he has taught Mandarin in South Carolina public schools. After graduation, he plans to continue teaching Mandarin in the U.S. and also working as a translator and teacher of English as a second language.

DANNY JAZRAWI came to Piedmont from El Salvador and graduated in December with a degree in business and concentration in marketing.

He plans to return to El Salvador to start his own business or work with a multinational corporation. Jazrawi came to the U.S. as an exchange student with Rotary International. “I liked the area and decided I wanted to stay,” he said. “At Piedmont, I liked the small community. I made really good friends, and I really enjoyed the atmosphere here.”

Athens AMA Area students compete at marketing conference

Business students at Piedmont College in Athens Caleb Wuethrich, Megan Bennett, and Jared Bozrath [pictured above] concentrate on designing an online marketing plan during the American Marketing Association (AMA) Regional Collegiate Conference held at the Athens campus in November.

Students from both Piedmont campuses, the University of Georgia, and Dalton State College showcased their problem-solving skills, networked with industry professionals, and ended the day with a marketing career fair at the first regional conference.

Faculty advisor Dr. Stephen Carlson said the college plans to make the conference an annual event.

Sponsors for this year’s event include Mansfield Oil Company, Zaxby’s, Snowden Tatarski, HeavyDuty Branding, Stukent Inc., and the American Marketing Association.

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Student Spotlight: Morganne Gregory

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Photos 1 and 3 by Steve Rottinghaus/Baker University

cross-country “bear hunt” took Morganne Gregory from Kansas, to Florida, to California—and in the end she learned as much about herself as the subject of her quest.

The “bears” in this case are water bears, also known as tardigrades, eight-legged microscopic animals that live all around us, yet few people have ever seen. Barely a millimeter long, tardigrades have fascinated biologists for their ability to survive on mountain tops and in the deep ocean and from the poles to the equator.

A senior biology major from Grayson, Gregory became interested in tardigrades while still in high school. “I read an article in a science magazine and was really fascinated,” Gregory said. “Mostly they are interesting because of the extremes they can withstand. High temperatures, low temperatures—they can even survive in the vacuum of space.” And she admits, “They looked kind of cute.”

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After enrolling at Piedmont, she discovered that biology professor Dr. Rob Wainberg had conducted research on tardigrades for his PhD thesis, and he showed her how to find and collect the tiny creatures where they live in clumps of moist mosses and lichens.

Last year, her curiosity led Gregory to apply for a National Science Foundation program to study tardigrades with Dr. William Miller of Baker University in Kansas, recognized internationally as the go-to expert on tardigrades. A principle investigator for two previous National Science Foundation studies, Miller has written more than 70 popular and scientific papers on the tiny animals and identified more than a dozen new species.

“After I applied, I discovered that Dr. Miller had written the article that first got me interested,” Gregory said. So from May 31 to Aug. 9, Gregory was part of Miller’s research team that spent the summer collecting tardigrades at the University of Kansas Field Station and then at the Ordway-Swisher

Biological Station near Gainesville, Florida. And since these water bears don’t just live on the ground, Gregory and seven other college students from all over the country spent their first days learning from professional tree climbers how to rappel up into the forest canopy.

After collecting specimens from up and down the trees, the students took them into the labs for preserving and photographing with a scanning electron microscope at the University of Kansas.

In June, she wrote to Wainberg about the experience.

“Currently we have collected over 6,000 tardigrades. And let me tell you I AM HAVING A BLAST. I wake up every day and I am so excited to go to the lab. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., I am on my microscope and looking at tardigrades from all over the world!”

Gregory said the group found two new species, and with the electron microscope she was able to characterize a known species through markings that had not been identified

before. They then created table and poster displays of their research for presentation at a meeting of the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Several of their specimens are now housed permanently at the Academy museum, and the group plans to publish several papers about their findings.

“This was a life-changing experience,” Gregory said. “I learned a lot not just about tardigrades but also a love of science and the world around us. I even learned differences in myself. I learned more leadership and teamwork skills—we were a team working at a real job.”

Gregory has not decided what to do after graduation, but plans on continuing her biology education either in graduate school or veterinary school. Overall, the experience has left her looking at the world differently. “There is a world under the microscope that a lot of people don’t know is there,” she said. “Knowing what is living in the mosses and the lichens— it is so cool. More people need to learn about it.”

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“This is for all of us.

This is from all of us.

This is to all of us.”

“I don’t think I have ever, or will ever again, experience an opening night like tonight. This is for all of us. This is from all of us. This is to all of us. In little less than two hours we will give the stage back to Lillian Smith’s Strange Fruit— where it should always stay for countless others to take the journey to discovery.”

—Director Thom Fogarty

“This play really takes a lot out of me and everyone who is in the cast. Sometimes, I go to bed mad, bitter, depressed and wake up the same way. This is the first show that has ever made me feel so out of myself but myself at the same time.

I am very blessed to have been a part of this life-changing journey. This is for you, Lillian. Thank you for making the effort, that everyone else was too afraid to put forward, to prove to the world that we are loving, important, and EQUAL. Thank you to Thom Fogarty for choosing me to help express and live this journey.

—Cheyanne Marie Osoria

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OUTREACH & IMPACT

LILLIAN SMITH’S STRANGE FRUIT Play examining race relations in the 1940s returns to the stage at Swanson Center Some 70 years after it debuted on Broadway, an “original” version of Lillian Smith’s Strange Fruit is ready to take its place “as one of the truly great American plays of that period,” says guest director Thom Fogarty.

The play, performed by Piedmont College Theatre on the Swanson Center Mainstage this past fall, was adapted by Fogarty from Smith’s original 1945 version. That play had been believed lost until a copy was found in the papers of Smith’s sister, Esther, who was a cast member in the original Broadway production.

From the 1940s through the 1960s, Smith wrote a series of novels and non-fiction books that attacked the Jim Crow laws of the era. Her 1944 novel, Strange Fruit, was a national sensation, and in 1945 she and Esther worked with actor and director José Ferrer to adapt the story for the New York stage. Based on Smith’s bold debut novel, the play follows an interracial relationship in a small 1920s Georgia town and speaks to the effects of hate and segregation on the lives of people and their communities.

The original Broadway production had a rather tumultuous history, however, which Smith described as a “bitter and terrible fiasco.” She was disenchanted after facing daily demands for rewrites that she felt compromised the integrity of the play. After receiving mixed reviews, it closed after 60 performances. Smith pronounced that Strange Fruit was never to be produced again and held true to her word.

Her literary agents and estate had never allowed a new production to move forward.

The convoluted tale of how Smith’s original vision for a theatrical version of Strange Fruit came back to life was a “family affair “ Fogarty said. It began about six years ago when his daughter, Lulu, discovered Smith’s writing in a class at Syracuse University and wanted to prepare a one-woman play about Smith. They contacted Nancy Smith Fichter, then director of the Lillian Smith Foundation, for permission to perform the work.

Fichter agreed, and that is how Fogarty, a longtime choreographer and director in (continued on page 24)

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NetVUE Grant College receives grant for vocation initiatives program stage about how their academic work shapes not only their professional lives, but their worldview.”

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iedmont College has been awarded a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. and the national Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) to enhance its Compass Program, which creates opportunities for students to gain real-world experience outside the classroom.

The $44,650 grant will allow the college to train faculty and staff in using the Compass Program to help students deepen their understanding of vocation, said the Rev. Ashley Cleere, Chaplain and Compass Program director. It will also provide many more vocation and social justice-related endeavors for students, she said.

The grant proposal highlighted how such ventures extend the legacy of Congregationalism, in keeping with Piedmont’s identity as a church-related college, Cleere said. In addition, the grant will enable students to attend the 2017 International Congregational Fellowship conference in Cape Town, South Africa.

“Compass was created at Piedmont in 2013 as a way to help all of our students become self-directed learners,” Cleere said. “It gets them thinking at an early

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The Compass Program allows students to work with a faculty or staff sponsor to design a project that exposes them to a new context or adds another dimension to an existing interest. Cleere said recent endeavors have ranged from the creation of an Olympic-style event for area special needs students to assisting with bear research at an Athens animal sanctuary. Students have also held fund-raising projects that provided safe heaters for families in need and aided a local free clinic.

President James F. Mellichamp said the CIC grant will assist the college in providing more enriching activities related to the Compass Program not only for students but also for faculty and staff, who will attend conferences on experiential learning and contemplation in higher education.

The CIC is an association of more than 630 independent, liberal arts colleges and universities that work to enhance private higher education’s contributions to society. The grant, administered by the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE), is supported by the CIC and the Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc.

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Piedmont’s Compass Program provides opportunities for a wide range of real-world experiences in activities ranging from water quality monitoring to fundraising for a local free clinic. A grant through the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education will help students connect these experiences to their understanding of vocations.

L E AV E A L E G A C Y O F

OPPORTUNITY The Newell Society is named in memory of President Henry Clinton Newell.

After serving as the third president of Piedmont College from 1907–1910, President Newell returned to serve again from 1930–1936. As president and as a member of the Board of Trustees, he helped create the college’s first endowment fund, tirelessly canvassing supporters across the country to help secure the college’s future.

In the same spirit as President Newell, many people have played key roles in the transformational growth of Piedmont College—and many more will be needed in the future. The Newell Society is a circle of valued friends who have made Piedmont part of their estate plans and who wish to encourage others to follow their example.

If you have already designated Piedmont as a beneficiary of your estate or would like more information, please contact Amy Amason, Vice President for Advancement, at 706-776-0148 or aamason@piedmont.edu.

THE NEWELL SOCIETY

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Bynum receives arts award ‘Jordan is so Chilly’ author recognized Atlanta playwright Brenda Bynum, who created the one-woman show “Jordan is so Chilly: An Encounter With Lillian Smith,” is a 2015 recipient of the Georgia Governor’s Award for the Arts and Humanities.

Georgia a great place to live, visit and do business,” Gov. Deal said. “Sandra and I have always been supporters of the arts and humanities, and we are proud to celebrate the individuals and institutions being honored today.”

At the capitol in Atlanta, Gov. Nathan Deal and First Lady Sandra Deal presented Bynum with a handcrafted glass sculpture by Matt Janke. “The individuals who make up Georgia’s arts and humanities communities cultivate, grow and sustain our state’s vibrant cultural offerings, making

Gov. Deal recognized 13 Georgia artists and art groups. The award is sponsored by the Georgia Council for the Arts, a division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development; and Georgia Humanities, a non-profit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, left, and First Lady Sandra Deal, right, presented the arts award to Brenda Bynum at the capitol in Atlanta.

Impact a student today!

I hope that you will support students like me by making a gift!

Gabriel Gutierrez Sophomore East Flat Rock, NC

Your gift helps students like Gabriel by providing vital funding for scholarships, academic programs and campus amenities. Gifts can be designated to the area of your choice or where it is needed most. You can now enroll in our new monthly giving program and show your Lion pride all year! YOU are making an impact in the lives of students like Gabriel – thank you!

piedmont.edu/giving | 800-868-1641

Piedmont ranked third in Georgia GEORGIA

New ‘College of Distinction’

Accolades for Piedmont College have been adding up recently. The latest U.S. News and World Report’s “Best Colleges” ranking shows Piedmont near the head of the class among Georgia’s regional universities, and Piedmont was recently selected as a national “College of Distinction.”

In July the college earned recognition from Colleges of Distinction which evaluates schools according to four criteria: “Engaged Students,”“Great Teaching,”“Vibrant Community,” and “Successful Outcomes.” The annual process also includes a review of each institution’s freshman experience, general education program, strategic plan, and alumni success and satisfaction measures.

Of the 128 regional universities reviewed in 12 Southern states, Piedmont moved up 17 spaces to take the 53rd spot in a tie with North Georgia College and State University. Only two regional universities in Georgia, Mercer (#8) and Georgia College (#28) were ranked higher.

“This has been an exciting school year,” said Piedmont President James F. Mellichamp. “This recognition also comes after our selection as a host school for 12 Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation scholars,” he said. (See Page 6) “As Piedmont continues to grow, it is building a reputation as one of the prominent higher education institutions in Georgia and the South,” Mellichamp said.

‘Woman of the Year’ Professor Taylor and student Bolton receive honors Barbara Brown Taylor was named the 2015 Georgia Woman of the Year, and nursing student Sarah Brooke Bolton of Commerce received the Ben Jones Memorial Scholarship at an October awards dinner in Atlanta presented by the Georgian Women’s Institute, Georgia Commission on Women, and the Southern Women’s Center & History Museum.

Taylor is the Butman Professor of Religion at Piedmont and has taught at the college since 1998. She is the author of 13 books on preaching and religion, including the New York Times best seller, Learning to Walk in the Dark.

She was recently named one of the

“30 Most Influential Preachers of the past 30 years” by Preaching magazine and was named by Time magazine to its 2014 list of “The 100 Most Influential People in the World.”

in 1996 by the Georgia Commission on Women and is currently administered by the Southern Women’s Center & History Museum.

Bolton is a junior nursing major in Piedmont’s R.H. Daniel School of Nursing and Health Sciences in Demorest, where she is working toward a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree. She is a member of Sigma Alpha Pi National Society of Leadership and Success and plans to become a nurse practitioner.

The non-profit Georgia Woman of the Year Award Committee was established

Professor Barbara Brown Taylor and student Sarah Brooke Bolton were both honored recently by three Georgia women’s organizations.

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GREAT COMPOSERS April 16, 2016 MOZART HEADLINES GREAT COMPOSERS CONCERT The Great Composers Concert series at Piedmont has come a long way since it began some 22 years ago with works by J.S. Bach.

Chair of the Music Department Dr. Wally Hinson, who joined the faculty in 1993, said the first concert in 1994 featured about 70 singers and a small orchestra, while more recent concerts have showcased the voices of the 100-plus Piedmont Chorale and more than 40 members of the Piedmont Orchestra.

“The first few years, we stayed with the smaller works, but it was an opportunity to perform great works with an orchestra,” Hinson said. “In 1997, to celebrate the college Centennial, we did a much more expansive work by Mendelssohn, the Hymn of Praise, which we also produced as a CD. Since then, we have performed more monumental works, including Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana.”

This year, for their spring concert, the Chorale, Piedmont Singers, and Orchestra will perform three works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. “The first is a short mass that Mozart wrote as a teenager, the Missa Brevis in G Major,” Hinson said. That work will be performed by the Piedmont Singers and Orchestra, with Hinson directing.

The second piece will be Mozart’s Piano Concerto in A Major, featuring pianist Jeri-Mae G. Astolfi and the Orchestra. The third piece, directed by Dr. Lauren Ringwall, will feature the entire Piedmont Chorale, Piedmont Singers, and Orchestra performing Mozart’s Solemn Vespers. This piece will also feature as soloist soprano Dr. Andrea Price, associate professor of music.

The 2016 Great Composers Concert will be presented at 7:30 p.m., April 16, in the Chapel at the Demorest campus. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for seniors and nonPiedmont students.

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FINE ARTS

ALEX THOMLINSON Composer

DON’ T MISS IT! FINE ARTS SEASON 2015-16 Gina Phillips | 1/18–2/29 A mixed media, narrative artist, who grew up in Kentucky, Gina Phillips has lived in New Orleans since 1995. The imagery, stories, and characters of both regions influence her work, which has been viewed in galleries across the country. Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art. Artist reception on Feb. 25, 5 p.m.

Faculty Recital Series: Price and Hayner | 2/16 Dr. Andrea Price, associate professor of music, with Dr. Phillip Hayner, professor of music, will perform a variety of works for voice and piano at 4 p.m., in the Chapel.

6 Characters in Search of an Author | 4/7–10 Welcome to the world of Absurdist Theatre! As a group of actors rehearse a play, they are interrupted by six characters who explain that they are looking for their author, who did not finish their story. Suggested for mature audiences.

Visit piedmont.edu/FA for a full Fine Arts Schedule, sign up for the Fine Arts Calendar, view archived Fine Arts event photo galleries, and more!

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Alex Thomlinson did not need a Hail Mary to win the Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) Composition Competition, but an Ave Maria helped. The junior music major’s choral composition based on the Latin prayer took first place in the college/ university category at the GMEA’s November competition.

The piece also earned an honorable mention in a similar competition staged by the Georgia Music Teachers Association (GMTA) in October. Thomlinson and Piedmont senior Frazier Smith of St. Marys both garnered honorable mentions from the GMTA. Coincidentally, Smith’s composition also was based on Ave Maria.

Thomlinson said the music association awards are based on the written score and midi music files. But he finally got to hear the work performed live at Piedmont on Dec. 7, when he conducted seven fellow members of the Piedmont Singers.

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WELCOME TO CYCLING

Piedmont College enters the race

Two-time Olympian and internationally known cyclist and coach Jame Carney will direct the new intercollegiate cycling teams at Piedmont College.

Athletic Director Jim Peeples announced Carney’s selection as head coach for the men’s and women’s cycling teams, the first such college varsity cycling programs in Georgia. The teams will begin competition in the fall of 2016.

“Situated in northeast Georgia, we have some of the most scenic outdoor terrain in the region,” Peeples said. “Piedmont is perfectly suited to begin the program and joins several other emerging cycling teams in the South, including Brevard College in North Carolina,” he said.

Peeples said the college plans to eventually compete in three types of cycling, including road racing, mountain biking, and cyclocross—a combination of mountain biking and obstacle course.

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Olympian Jame Carney is first cycling coach Coach Carney is originally from Detroit and was a member of the U.S. Olympic teams in 1992 at Barcelona, Spain, and again in 2000 in Sydney, Australia, where he finished fifth in the Points Race.

He was also a three-time Pan Am Games medalist and a two-time World Cup Champion. Carney finished first in the Union Cycliste Internationale Track World Cup scratch race in 2005, and he won his 22nd national title at the 2012 USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships at age 43.

the Cheerwine Women's Professional Cycling Team to the National Racing Calendar overall team title.

Most recently he served as tactical track coach for USA Cycling at the 2015 Pan Am Championships and World Cup.

In addition to his competition experience, Carney brings extensive coaching knowledge to Piedmont, having worked with Olympic, professional, and World and Junior World teams. In 2008, he directed

“The selection of Coach Carney brings one of the best known names in cycling to our program and will provide immediate worldwide recognition for this new sport,” Peeples said.

Carney, who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in exercise science with a coaching concentration in 2004 from Fort Lewis College, also serves as an athlete representative on the Board of Directors for USA Cycling, which identifies and trains cyclists to represent the U.S. in international competition.

Volleyball’s Feldman retires with 153-86 Piedmont record After more than 40 years on the sideline, including seven seasons at the helm of the Piedmont volleyball program, Coach Sid Feldman retired at the end of the 2015 season.

“Sid is a legend in college athletics,” said Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Jim Peeples. “It has been an honor to work with him, learn from him, and call him a friend. For the last seven years, he has done a tremendous job leading our volleyball program. His shoes will be difficult to fill, but he has set the program up for long-term success.”

During his time at Piedmont, Feldman’s teams have an overall 153-86 record, with more than 20 wins in six of those seven seasons. With 491 career victories, including a 318-135 record while head coach at the University of Georgia— where he was an SEC Coach of the Year—Feldman entered the 2015 season as the 32nd winningest coach in NCAA Division III.

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Smith and Hearn named to NCAA D-III academic teams Softball player Abby Smith of Washington is the latest Piedmont athlete to be named to the Capital One Academic All-America team, one of 35 selections in Division III nationwide.

One of the nation’s top academic awards for athletes, Academic All-

Abby Smith

Academic All-Conference Team, and she is the eighth Capital One Academic All-American from Piedmont.

Also picked by CoSIDA as a Capital One Academic All-District finalist is men’s soccer player Kenneth Hearn of

Kenneth Hearn

Virginia; Laura Carter of Locust Grove; Madison Eubanks of Nelson; Allyson Gentry of Dahlonega; Erin Gould of Kennesaw; Morgan Scholtz of Candler, North Carolina; Allison Vaughn of Ringgold; Sarah Walker of Lawrenceville; and Whitney Wolfe of Buford.

Piedmont also had 137 student-athletes named to the spring Athletic Directors Honor Roll for students who earned a 3.4 or better grade-point average during the semester.

Left: Abby Smith slides home for an insidethe-park homerun.

Right: Goalkeeper Kenneth Hearn recorded four shutouts during the season.

America winners have been selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) since 1952.

A senior nursing major, Smith carried a 3.7 GPA through the fall of 2015 and is a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success at Piedmont as well. She helped lead her team to a 17-win season last year with a .442 batting average and 29 RBIs, both of which were top-10 marks in the USA South Athletic Conference. Smith is a three-time member of the USA South

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McDonough. Hearn is a three-time USA South Academic All-Conference player.

The senior goalkeeper ranked fourth in the conference in save percentage with a .735 mark and four shutouts. The district includes 10 Southeast states.

Earlier in the year, 11 Piedmont softball players were named All-America Scholar-Athletes by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. The list includes Abby Atkinson of Comer; Lauren Bearden of Cumming; Maryrose Burns of Clarksburg, West

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TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

1: O ver the last two years, how many

days have at least three Piedmont teams won a contest in the same day?

2: I n 2011, the Piedmont baseball and

softball teams each clinched a GSAC regular season title with a win over Maryville at home on the same day.

In minutes, how far apart were their regular season title-clinching wins?

3:

T hrough the fall of 2015, how many times has Piedmont made an appearance in an NCAA National Tournament since becoming a fullfledged member in the fall of 2003?

FALL SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS

Championship on the same course. Thayer, Parker, Howell and Cagle were all named to the All-Conference team. In his second year, Jeff Jenkins was named the USA South men’s Coach of the Year.

Women’s Cross Country

The women’s cross country team finished fourth of 10 teams in the USA South Championship. Reese Bowles of Jefferson had the best finish, coming in sixth overall with a time of 25:03.70, and was named to the AllConference Team. Kristin Whitlock of Nicholson and Mackenzie Devine of Pensacola, Florida, earned second team All-Conference honors with 10th and 13th place finishes. Kayleigh Banks of Cumming earned an honorable mention nod, finishing in 18th place; and Amber Duffy of Winder took the 31st spot.

Men’s Cross Country

For the first time since 2009, the Piedmont men are conference champions, winning the USA South title with four first-team AllConference honorees. The Lions finished 3, 4, 5 and 6 overall, with Clayton Thayer of Flowery Branch leading the way at 28:27.40, an eight second personal best. Cody Parker of Clarkesville, Jarrod Howell of Marietta, and Dewayne Cagle of Bethlehem took the next three spots, while Cory McClung of Commerce finished the scoring at 16. The Lions set the fastest team average in school history with a 28:41.04, topping the time of 29:00 set one year ago at the USA South

Men’s Soccer

Women’s Soccer

The Lady Lions took the USA South Conference title at the last moment, scoring with just 15 seconds left in the second overtime to beat Methodist University in the championship match.

Freshman Cassidy Reich of Largo, Florida, put her team on the board with a 45-yard free kick that skipped just past the fingertips of the opposing goalie.

The scoring opportunity came about only after Piedmont goalie Michaela Gardner of Stockbridge made a twohanded stop on a Methodist penalty kick in the first overtime that would have ended Piedmont’s season. Gardner’s and Reich’s performance on the pitch earned them spots as National Soccer Coaches Association of America Players of the Week.

Piedmont placed seven players on the AllConference team, including first teamers Reich, who also claimed Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors; and Abbey Dunlop of Conyers. Second team honors went to Marissa Akin of Blairsville, Tori Gillett of Gainesville, Virginia; and Jazmin Penado of Gainesville, Georgia. Elizabeth Gale of Flowery Branch was named to the All-Sportsmanship Team.

The Lions saw their season come to a close after a loss on the road to USA South Regular Season Champion Greensboro College and finished the season at 4-10-3 overall and 2-7-1 in conference play. Sophomore Chase Kane of Watkinsville led the team in scoring and received All-Conference Honorable Mention status with six goals on the year. Senior goalkeeper Kenneth Hearn of McDonough was named to the AllSportsmanship Team.

Volleyball

The Lady Lions’ season came to an end with a close call in the quarterfinals against Meredith College, losing 3-2. Piedmont fought back from a 2-0 deficit to even the score at 2-2 but came up just three points shy. Senior Taylor Cramsey of Jefferson had an outstanding outing in her final night, with 16 kills and 15 digs for a double-double. She was named to the All-Conference Second Team. Freshman Kylie Blanton of Woodstock was named to the All-Sportsmanship Team.

Piedmont ended the season at 18-15 overall, while going 9-7 in the USA South in head coach Sid Feldman’s seventh season.

PiedmontLions.com

1) 24 days; 2) 41 minutes; 3) 17

Love It or Hate It (continued from page 5) By the time the book was released, readers were well familiar with documentaries by photographers such as Dorothea Lange, whose work for the Farm Security Administration and especially her famous photo titled “Migrant Mother,” had brought the Great Depression and Dust Bowl into American living rooms through newspapers and magazines.

With World War II already underway in Europe and Asia and the Great

Depression era fading, American readers wanted to put stories like Famous Men behind them, Davis said.

“It just missed its time.” But during the 1960s, the book was rediscovered, first

by Civil Rights workers in the South and then “New Journalism” authors including Norman Mailer, Truman Capote, and Tom Wolfe. “Agee was definitely one of the originators of New Journalism,” Davis said. “You can see it in his participation in the story and his relationship to the story.”

Davis said even the title, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, while it can be taken ironically, reflects Agee’s respect for the farmers he wrote about.

“Agee was saying, ‘These are human beings’—and we should see in their ‘unimagined existence’ a spark of ‘human divinity,’” he said.

And while Agee has a reputation for formidable, if not impenetrable prose, Davis said he regularly assigns excerpts to his Piedmont freshman English classes. “It challenges them to think about why they are here,” he said.

Lillian Smith’s Strange Fruit (continued from page 13) New York, became interested in reviving the original play. While conducting research at the University of Georgia library and at Smith’s former home in Clayton, Fogarty’s wife, Leslie Dennis, discovered Smith had written letters to her sister about changes she would have liked to make to the play. The letters indicated that Smith would have been amenable to staging the play closer to its original form. Even better, they found a copy of the original play with Smith’s own notes.

Meanwhile, the Lillian Smith Foundation donated to Piedmont College the author’s home on Old Screamer Mountain near Clayton, which is now known as the Lillian E. Smith Center.

When Fogarty approached the college about adapting Smith’s play, President James F. Mellichamp agreed, and Fogarty spent six weeks living at the

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LES Center and directing the Piedmont production.

Finally, the play was ready for its first performance on Oct. 1, 2015. “This is in no way the same script that was produced and opened on Broadway at the Royale Theater in New York,” Fogarty said “It fits the parameters set down

by Lillian Smith herself. I am pleased to present this as the original work of Lillian Smith, with minor alterations to make it more producible for a modern audience.”

Fogarty said changes from the original were based on handwritten notes on pages of the script, or in letters and papers that Smith filed away. “The only other change has been to make it playable by an ensemble of eight actors instead of the original 36,” he said.

(For the Piedmont production, Fogarty expanded the roles to include 17

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actors.) Each actor is called on to portray both black and white and male and female characters.

“As Lillian Smith’s popularity is experiencing a rebirth … it is time for this amazing play to takes its place in the pantheon of works that were ahead of their time,” Fogarty said. “As a Southern woman, she took on race and gender politics well before they were popular or being discussed. She was an original.”

Piedmont Theatre Department chair Bill Gabelhausen agreed that the restoration of Smith’s original vision for the play was an important step for the Lillian E. Smith Center. “The profound themes and intense conflicts addressed in this play are still extremely relevant today and focus our attention on the ongoing struggle for justice and social change,” he said.

ALUMNI

ALUMNI GATHER FOR EMORY GAME

Piedmont students, alumni, and fans turned out in force for the men’s basketball season opener against the nationally ranked #18 Emory Eagles in Atlanta in November, filling the Woodruff Center with green and gold. Top left, Merrissa Gallegos (’10) of Flowery Branch, with Athletic Director Jim Peeples. Top right, Jennifer Taylor Cox (’02) and sister Jessica Taylor Neeley (’05) with baby Joanna Karen Neeley. Above left, Dr. James F. Mellichamp with Chad Moody of Atlanta, Dexter Sanders (’91) of Atlanta, Eric ‘Bubba’ Williams (’96) of Adairsville, and Dr. Kara Keel Moody (’94) of Atlanta.

NURSING ALUMNI EVENT School of Nursing and Health Sciences alumni in the Gwinnett County area held a mini-reunion in Buford in November. Pictured, front from left are Hannah Dusche (’15), professors Laura Starrett and Antoinette Willsea; and back: Leah Barrett (’13), Gabrielle Talnose (’15), Kelsey Hochstetler (’15), Amy Allgary (’13), Victoria Jordan (’11), Windy Pressley (’12), Nancy Golden (’11), Ann Bruce (’11), and Casey Shields (’13).

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WISH YOU WERE HERE Piedmont nurses travel the U.S.

T

he next time your job is bogging you down, imagine that you could just pick up and move anywhere in the U.S.—expenses paid—to work in a new town for a few months. And at the end of that time, you can just pack up and move again—to New York, San Francisco, even Honolulu.

That is the life for Piedmont nursing graduates Katie Rice (’12) and Katie Corley (’11), who work as “Travel Nurses” specializing in short-term assignments all over the country. Travel nurses typically can sign on for anywhere from eight to 26 weeks at a hospital or other facility that has a short-term need to fill a nursing staff position. Hospitals often employ travel nurses to fill in for permanent staff out on maternity leave, vacations, or sick leave.

For Rice, a native of Blue Ridge, the attraction of travel nursing can be linked to a childhood roaming the country during family vacations. “Normal families would

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go to Disneyland, but our family did camping road trips,” Rice said. “Now I’m on a mission to visit every state, and I only have two left—Hawaii and North Dakota.”

When we caught up with Rice by phone, she was actually in the San Diego Airport heading for a long weekend in Hawaii to check out a hospital where she was considering working—and to check one more state off her list.

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After graduating from Piedmont in 2012, Rice worked at Gwinnett Medical Center for a little over two years as a labor and delivery nurse. When she heard about travel nursing, she decided to give it a try in Stamford, Connecticut, which does not sound all that glamorous, but it is only 40 miles from New York City, and it gave her an opportunity to cross all those northeastern states off her list, too.

“It is a little weird going from hospital to hospital, but it gets easier,” Rice said. “At first I thought, ‘What have you gotten yourself into?’ But it was awesome.” Since then she has worked in San Francisco, Seattle, and is now working in San Diego. On her list for future locations are New York, Boston, Chicago, and Denver. “I don’t know how I’m going to stop!” she said.

Katie Corley also said she “had the travel bug” while growing up in Toccoa.

After graduating in 2011, she worked in pediatric

nursing in Dalton before taking her first travel assignment in Colorado Springs, Colorado. “But I discovered I was too clumsy for skiing,” she laughed. Her next job took her to the backwoods of Naples, Maine, as nurse at a sports summer camp, a job she enjoyed so much she has worked there three summers in a row.

Corley said she has also worked at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock twice and plans to go back there again. “I love Little Rock. It reminds me so much of Georgia, the mountains and the scenery,” she said.

She also enjoyed the big-city culture of Seattle, Washington, except for the traffic. “I lived about nine miles from the hospital,

Working as travel nurses, Katie Corley, left, has lived in Seattle and Alaska, among other places, while Katie Rice, right, has traversed from New England on the East Coast to San Diego on the West Coast.

but it took me 40 to 45 minutes to get to work,” Corley said. So, she just traded the big city for a much smallertown experience in Anchorage, Alaska, where she had been working for a month when we talked to her in November. “It is already cold, about 22 degrees today,” Corley said. “But I have a friend coming next week and we’ll spend the time hiking and sightseeing.”

Corley said that whenever she arrives in a new town, she usually spends about two weeks doing the usual tourist things. “In Seattle, I went to the Space Needle three times,” she said.

“Then I try to integrate myself into each place and find out what the locals love doing.”

After her time in Alaska is up, Corley said she plans on going back to Little Rock for three months. “Then I have no idea what I’ll be doing,” she said.

And that is exactly the point.

At first I thought, What have you gotten yourself into? But it was awesome.

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CLASS NOTES 1930s

1) Nelle Hood Higdon (’31) of Hendersonville, North Carolina, celebrated her 104th birthday Nov. 16, 2015. Pictured with her daughter, Jane Higdon Ballard (’70), who also serves on the Piedmont Board of Trustees, Nelle enrolled in 1929 and met her husband, the late Earl Higdon (’33), on campus.

1950s 1

John and Rosa Maria Kuiken (’58) of Henderson, Nevada, who met at Piedmont in 1957 and married in 1960, celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary this year.

A trilogy of John’s books, Alberto and His Friends, will be published in English and Spanish versions this year.

Donald Joiner (’58) of Conyers has published his third book, The Antioch Testament, a novel set during the 2004 Iraq War. Joiner is a Korean War veteran and a retired school superintendent. He and his wife, Ethel, recently celebrated their 52nd wedding anniversary.

2

Dean Sheetz (’59) of Cornelius, North Carolina, has been named to the SalisburyRowan County Athletic Hall of Fame. Sheetz was a standout basketball and baseball player at China Grove High School and at Piedmont, where he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1981.

1970

Robert S. Davis (’78) of Hanceville, Alabama, teaches history at Wallace State College and recently provided the historical narrative for the television show Deadly Women about the 1876 murder of Narcissa Fowler in Pickens County, Georgia.

1980s

Tony Wolfe (’88, MA ’00) of Buford, head softball coach at Buford High School, led his team to their ninth straight Class AAAA state title in October. Wolfe also serves as head baseball coach for Buford.

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1990s

Dackri Davis (’93) of Denver, Colorado, and Sherry Hicks were married in March 2014. Davis received a PhD from Georgia State University in May 2014, and she started a new job as principal of Gateway High School in Aurora, Colorado.

Mandy Lents Dixon (’94, MAT ’98) of Epworth, a standout softball and basketball player for Fannin County High School and for Piedmont, has been named to the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame. At FCHS, she scored more than 1,000 points on the basketball court and helped lead the softball team to a four-year 83-23 record.

At Piedmont, she scored more than 1,500 points and was a three-year softball starter.

Dixon is currently a language arts teacher at Fannin County Middle School.

2) Susan Kyle (’95) of Cornelia has published a new book, Wyoming Rugged, which hit #5 on the New York Times Bestseller List in November. Kyle now has 150 romance, historical, and science fiction novels in print, most published under her pen name of Diana Palmer. Her recent science fiction trilogy, The Morcai Battalion, includes a dedication to Piedmont biology and history professors Drs. Rob Wainberg, Carlos Camp, Ralph Singer, and Al Pleysier.

Kyle is pictured at a July book signing at Books With A’Peal in Cornelia, with her “biggest fans,” nephew and great-nephews, from left, Austin, Tony, and Tyler Woodall.

Brette Webb (’97, MAT ’04) has opened Fired on Broad, a ceramics studio in Athens, where she works on her art and teaches ceramics classes.

Dr. Octavius Mulligan (’95, MA ’00, EDS ’02, EDD ’14) of Cleveland has been named principal at White County Intermediate School. He is currently director of the Ninth Grade Academy and previously served as the assistant principal of White County High School. Mulligan began his career as an elementary teacher at White Sulphur Elementary School in Gainesville and also served in administrative positions in Habersham County.

CLASS NOTES Eric Williams (’96) of Adairsville received an MA degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Lee University in August. Williams teaches a comprehensive development class at Brainerd High School in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

David Redmond (’98) of Crandall has joined Northwest Whitfield High School, where he will teach mathematics and serve as the junior varsity and assistant varsity baseball coach. He will also coach the freshman football team.

3) Brian Rickman (’98) of Tiger has been named to the Georgia Court of Appeals by Gov. Nathan Deal. Rickman served as district attorney of the Mountain Judicial Circuit. He is an adjunct professor and serves on the Board of Trustees at Piedmont College.

Three alumni were recognized by the Foundation of Excellence in Clarke County.

They include Angela Wyatt (’00) Seasoned Teacher Award; Marie Boyle (’12) Joan D. Humphries Excellence in Teaching Award; and Kelly Hocking (Cert. ’10) Dr. Walter Allen Jr. Inspiring Teacher Award.

2000s

Jennifer Chatham (MA ’01) has been named principal at Harbins Elementary School in Dacula. Chatham previously served as an assistant principal at Lovin Elementary School in Lawrenceville. She began her teaching career in 1997 as a language arts and foreign language teacher at Dacula High School.

4) Justin Gregory (’03) has been named deputy chief of the Athens-Clarke County Police Department. For the past two years, the former Marine has served as administrator for the Career Development and Training Unit and the Strategic Response Team. He joined the ACCPD in 1995 and has worked for the University of Georgia Police Department. He is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy.

Dr. Josh Cuevas (M ’05) assistant professor of education at the University of North Georgia, has been selected as Fieldale Chair for the 2015-16 academic year. The chair is funded by the Fieldale Corporation, and Josh was cited for his productivity in research and engaging graduate students in research in their fields. After graduating from Piedmont, Josh earned a PhD in 2012 at Georgia State University, where he was recognized for the “Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation of the Year.”

3

Karen Dodson (’05), an assistant professor of English at the University of North Georgia’s Gainesville Campus, has been recognized as one of the highest-rated university professors in the country on RateMyProfessors.com. Dodson was rated the 23rd best university professor in the nation for 2014-15 from among more than 1.4 million professors in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Jennifer Holton (EDS ’06) of Tignall has been named assistant principal at Washington-Wilkes Primary School. Holton has taught for 21 years in the WashingtonWilkes School System and is a gifted education teacher at both WashingtonWilkes Primary and Elementary schools. She was named teacher of the year in both 2006 and 2011.

Julius Hooper (’06) of Jefferson has received certification in special education and is the ISS coordinator at Apalachee High School in Barrow County. He serves as the track and field coach for shot put, discus, and pole vault, and as the defensive line coach and special teams coordinator for the football team.

4

5

Lindsey Rhodes (’06, MA ’09, EDS ’11) of Gainesville is one of seven teachers named by Gov. Nathan Deal as winners in the Innovation in Teaching competition, a program for teachers who demonstrate innovative teaching strategies in English/ language arts and mathematics. Rhodes has taught kindergarten at Sugar Hill Elementary School in Hall County for the past seven years.

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CLASS NOTES Leslie McFarlin (MA ’07) of Carnesville has been named Dean for Academic Affairs at North Georgia Technical College. McFarlin joined NGTC in 2007 as a math instructor.

Sallie Power (’07) of Cumming, a teacher at Robinson Elementary School, was named the Dawson County School System Teacher of the Year. Power is in her ninth year of teaching first grade.

6

Allen Craine (EDS ’08) of Suwanee has been named principal at Snell Middle School near Loganville. He previously served as assistant principal at Moore Middle School and has taught since 2002.

Jon Bollier (’09) of Nashville, Tennessee, has been named director of player personnel for the University of Georgia women’s basketball team by new head coach Joni Taylor. Bollier worked the past two seasons as an assistant women’s basketball coach at Belmont University.

Bollier was the operations coordinator from 2010-13 for longtime UGA coach Andy Landers and worked as a student manager for the Lady Bulldogs during the 2009-10 campaign.

Quentori Dock (MAT ’09) of Athens was named the 2015 Teacher of the Year at Stroud Elementary School in Clarke County.

7

Adam Rosen (MBA ’09) has been named an assistant baseball coach at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Rosen spent the last three years as the top assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Marietta College and was an assistant coach at Piedmont from 2007-09.

Ashley Shaw (’09) of Carlton has been named a banking officer at the National Bank of Georgia. Shaw has been employed

by NBG as an accountant for the past four years.

2010s

Dr. Jan Witherington (EDS ’10, EDD ’15) of Winder was named the 2015 Distinguished Clinician in Teacher Education at the Southeastern Regional Association

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of Teacher Educators (SRATE) conference at Jekyll Island in October. She currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Georgia Association of Teacher Educators (GATE) as a public school representative.

5) Cadman Robb Kiker III (’11) of Clarkesville, pictured with his father and sister, was sworn in as an officerselect candidate for the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General Corps in September.

Kiker graduated from Washington and Lee University School of Law in 2014 and was president and co-founder of the Military Law Society.

6) Sarah Nelms (’12) of Tallulah Falls braved the crowds to see Pope Francis in Washington, D.C., where she is working as a paralegal. This photo Sarah made of the Pope was featured on CNN’s iReport website!

Dr. Diana Sewell (EDS ’12, EDD ’15) of Lawrenceville has been named Teacher of the Year at Kanoheda Elementary School in Lawrenceville. Dr. Sewell teaches third grade and has been teaching at the school since 2006.

Chelsea Cochran Wilkes (’12) and husband Philip of Clarkesville announce the birth of a son, Lawson Avery, Aug. 27, 2015. Chelsea works in the Piedmont Undergraduate Admissions office.

Dawn Columbo (’13) of Clermont had a one-person show titled Earth and Atmosphere at Inman Perk in Gainesville during August and September.

Jerry Eidson (MA ’13) is a contributing author to the recently published The Strong Gray Line: War-time Reflections from the West Point Class of 2004. The book includes a tribute to 14 classmates who lost their lives fighting the Global War on Terror, as well as essays by veterans. Jerry authored a chapter about his first deployment to Iraq, titled “In God I Trust,” which recounts some of the most brutal fighting south of Baghdad. The authors plan to donate all proceeds they receive from the book to charities chosen by the families of the fallen classmates.

CLASS NOTES Casey Schnautz (’13) is the new grassroots marketing coordinator for the Round Rock Express, Triple-A affiliates of the Texas Rangers, in Round Rock, Texas.

Casey helps direct the implementation of innovative grassroots campaigns to attract fans to Dell Diamond stadium.

residential program is for undergraduate pre-medical students in Georgia who are interested in pursuing generalist physician practice in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, ob/gyn, or general surgery.

Lilly Baxley (’14) of Atlanta is assistant stage manager with The New American Shakespeare Tavern. Lilly recently worked as assistant stage manager and crew head with the Florida Repertory Theatre in Fort Myers and as stage manager at the Serenbe Playhouse in Palmetto.

8) Nathan Burgen, center, who has

Kelly Calfee-Driver (’14) of Dewy Rose has been named manager of registration at St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital in Lavonia.

She came to St. Mary’s in 2011 as a registrar in Patient Access Services.

7) Alex Sridej (’15) of Dacula saw his senior art capstone project published in the September 2015 issue of Portfolio, a northeast Georgia art and lifestyle magazine. The six-page article showcased Alex’s series of posters based on the Book of Genesis.

Brian Hall (MA’15) of Calhoun has been named Gordon County School System 2016 Teacher of the Year. Hall is an AP English literature and composition teacher with Gordon Central High School. Now in his fifth year at GCHS, he also teaches dual enrollment English and video journalism.

Cimberlee Leffler (’15) is assistant director of operations at Advanced Medical Services in Tampa, Florida, which operates nine area health care facilities.

Jessie Owensby (’15) of Cornelia is News Director at Habersham Broadcasting Company, WCON. She also serves as Community Development Manager for the City of Cornelia.

Rachel Tolliver (’15) of Grayson participated in the Foothills Area Health Education Center’s Pathway to Med School in Gainesville in July. The four-week,

FRIENDS

served on the Piedmont College Board of Trustees since 1969, and 14-year Board member Tommy Irvin have been named Trustees Emeritus after retiring from the Board earlier this year. Burgen, the CEO of Gold’s Department Store since 1947, received an honorary Doctor of Business Administration degree from Piedmont in 1979. He is pictured with President James F. Mellichamp, left, and Board member Dock Sisk (’72). Irvin served with great distinction as Georgia Agricultural Commissioner for 40 years.

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9) Piedmont College head softball coach Terry Martin was inducted into the Nyack College Athletic Hall of Fame. Martin was an All-Conference and All-America catcher for the Warriors and a basketball standout as well. He will begin his 18th season coaching at Piedmont this spring.

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10) Piedmont President James F. Mellichamp, pictured with Dr. Janette Fishell, chair of the Organ Department at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, received the Ragatz Distinguished Alumni Award at the Jacobs School 2015 Fall Organ Conference held in Bloomington, Indiana, in September. Named for the late Oswald Gleason Ragatz, who led the Organ Department at Indiana University for more than 40 years, the award is presented every two years to a Jacobs School graduate based on their contributions to the organ and church music fields. Religion professor Barbara Brown Taylor delivered the conference keynote address. In October, Mellichamp was also elected chair of the Georgia Independent College Association (GICA), made up of 26 private, nonprofit colleges and universities across the state.

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Obituaries 1930s

Edgar Y.M. Henderson (’37) of Winter Garden, Florida, died Aug. 19, 2015. He was 99. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he was a member of the Piedmont Athletic Hall of Fame and played on the 1936 undefeated baseball team. He joined the U.S. Navy prior to World War II and commanded a minesweeper off the Aleutian Islands and an amphibious landing craft in the Pacific.

He served in the Ready Reserve until 1967, retiring with the rank of Commander. He worked at the Tavares and Gulf Railroad office until 1950, served as postmaster in Winter Garden, and was a real estate broker.

In 1983 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Piedmont.

Lillie Gladys Holcomb (’35) of Clarkesville died Jan. 11, 2016. She was 101. Born in the Amy’s Creek community of Habersham County, she graduated from Piedmont and the University of Georgia. She began a 39year teaching career in 1933 as principal of the Amy’s Creek two-teacher school and later taught in Clarkesville, Moultrie, and Gainesville. In 1953 she was named principal of Clarkesville Elementary School, a post she held until her retirement in 1972.

During her time at Clarkesville Elementary, she also taught business classes at the adjacent North Habersham High School.

She was inducted into the Habersham County Educators Hall of Fame in 1988, and in 1998 she received the Excellence in Education award presented by the Piedmont College Alumni Association. She was a member of the Clarkesville Baptist Church for more than 80 years.

1940s

The Rev. Richard Marion Petersen (’43) of Burlington, North Carolina, died Oct. 6, 2015. He was 97. Born in Thorsby, Alabama, he served in the U.S. Marines during World War II in the Pacific. He was minister of Shallow Ford United Church of Christ in

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Elon, North Carolina, for 34 years. Petersen met his wife, the late Loyce Alberta Bagwell Petersen (’43), at Piedmont, and they were married for 70 years.

Nettie Ben Wilmot Cash (’47) of Mt. Airy died Nov. 19, 2015. She was 90. Born in Thomasville, North Carolina, she taught school in Lavonia for two years and was a homemaker and member of Cornelia Christian Church.

Juanita Lacey McRae (’48) of Valdosta, Georgia, died July 16, 2015. She was 93. Originally from Morven, she was an elementary school teacher for 40 years and a member of the First Baptist Church of Valdosta.

John Milton Hardy (’49) of Cornelia, Georgia, died Sept. 2, 2015. He was 90.

Born in Habersham County, Hardy served in the U.S. Navy and was a World War II veteran. He was a retired teacher and high school basketball official and a member of Cornelia First Baptist Church.

1950s

Broadus Quarles (’56) of Cornelia, Georgia, died Sept. 1, 2015. He was 85.

Born in Edgefield, South Carolina, he was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. He held a specialist degree in education from Peabody College and was an administrator at Woodville Elementary, Hazel Grove Elementary, and Cornelia Elementary schools; he retired as Curriculum Director for the Habersham County School System. He was a member of Bethlehem Baptist Church for 62 years.

Albert Franklin Taylor Sr., (’59) of Cleveland, Georgia, died Sept. 8, 2015. He was 84. Originally from Cherokee County, he served in the U.S. Army in Germany. His career in education began in White County, where he was a teacher and counselor and served as Dean of Students at Truett-

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McConnell College. He served the Hall County School System as principal of River Bend and McEver elementary schools, as well as Transportation Director and Comptroller. He retired as Superintendent of the White County School System.

1960s

Herman Dale Draucker (’62) of Savannah, Georgia, died Oct. 13, 2015. He was 76.

He earned a BS degree in chemistry from Piedmont, where he was a member of the J.S. Green Society. He taught school and worked for the Georgia Health Department.

Irwin R. Kimzey Jr. (’65) of Demorest died Jan. 8, 2016. Born in Clarkesville, he served in the U.S. Army, and retired from Ethicon and IBM. After retirement, he had a private, independent consulting service. He was a member of the Clarkesville Methodist Church, The Habersham Chamber of Commerce, and the Helen Chamber of Commerce, where he served on the board of directors. He was a past-president of the Habersham Youth Coaching Association, served on the Habersham County Recreation Board for 15 years, and was instrumental in the construction of the Ruby C. Fulbright Aquatic Center in Habersham County.

1980s

Deborah Cole Baker (’82) of Mt. Airy, Georgia, died Sept. 19, 2015. She was 56.

Born in Demorest, she worked in food service at Piedmont, where she was known and loved by students, faculty, and staff. A member of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Mt. Airy, she was known for her angelic voice and enjoyed singing.

1990s

Brenda Gail “Lu” Brewer Whitlock Rush (’91) of Panacea, Florida, formerly of Toccoa, Georgia, died July 19, 2015. She was 59.

Born in Royston, she was also a graduate of Florida State University.

Janet M. Standridge (MA ’97, EDS ’03) of Jefferson, Georgia, died July 17, 2015. She was 63. Born in Commerce, she retired after 30 years in education, including 25 years at Maysville Elementary School.

2000s

Helen Joan VanDalsem Stokes (’03) of Clarkesville, Georgia, died June 20, 2015. She was 66. Born in Moultrie, she retired from the Habersham County School System as a teacher at Level Grove Elementary School and was a member of Clarkesville United Methodist Church.

Survivors include her husband, Gerald G. Stokes Jr. (’96).

Becky Dyer Stowe (MAT ’09) of Jefferson, Georgia, died Aug. 16, 2015.

She was 56. Born in Atlanta, she earned a BA degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and an MAT in English Education from Piedmont.

She worked as a corporate marketing officer in the banking industry. She was a member of the First Baptist Church of Jefferson.

Friends

Richard J. Wood of Indianapolis, Indiana, died Aug. 1, 2015. He was 78. Wood received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Piedmont in 1998. A Japanese philosophy and religion specialist, he was Professor and Dean Emeritus at the Yale University Divinity School, and a chair of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission.

Winky Arrendale was active for many years with local PTA organizations and conducted poetry and short story readings in area elementary and high schools.

She taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School at First Presbyterian Church of Clarkesville and cofounded the First Presbyterian “Women of the Church.” She was instrumental in organizing the Cornelia Garden Club and the Cornelia Council for the Arts. She was an active member of the Tomochichi Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Winifred “Winky” Arrendale of Clarkesville, Georgia, died Dec. 10, 2015.

Born in Statham, Georgia in 1919, she graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in English. During World War II, she worked as a Civil Service representative in Brunswick. She then moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked as a secretary for Georgia Senator Richard Russell. In 1950 she married Thomas A. Arrendale Jr. and moved to Clarkesville.

Arrendale and her late husband, Tom, along with their son, Thomas A. “Gus” Arrendale III, and daughter, Cynthia Ann "Cyndae" Arrendale, have been longtime supporters of Piedmont College, and Gus Arrendale currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Both the Arrendale Library and Arrendale Amphitheater at Piedmont’s Demorest campus are named for Winifred and Tom Arrendale and their family. The Winifred Smith Arrendale Cochlear Implant Endowment was established at the Atlanta Speech School in her honor.

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