Roanoke College Magazine | 2021 | Issue One

ROANOKE COLLEGE MAGAZINE ISSUE ONE 2021

Table of Contents

5 DEPARTMENTS 2

PRESIDENT’S PEN BOARD OF TRUSTEES

3

SNAPSHOTS

4

WE HEARD FROM YOU...

FEATURES

5

COLLEGE NEWS • College honors historic role of enslaved laborers • Portrait unveiled of Roanoke College trailblazer

10 Rising Giants

20 GIVING • Strong alumni support for Science Center project 22 ATHLETICS • Return to play!

• Season highlights • Scoreboard 26 ALUMNI NEWS • Class Notes, Weddings, Families • In Memoriam • Alumni Association news

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Who now stands on the shoulders of Roanoke College alumni who changed the world through science and became giants in thier fields?

BY ALEX Mc CART HY

16 Science Guys Two members of the Roanoke College community author books that spark children’s interest in science.

BY LES LI E TAY LOR

38 MAROON MUSINGS A parting gift to Roanoke College 39 ARCHIVES Our beloved “Lizzies” 40 RELIC

16

AT LEFT: A sign created during the Black History Month Community Art Project on Feb. 27 expresses a universal sentiment. Photo by Marisa Seager ’23.

ON THE COVER: Clockwise from the top, Kenneth Lampert ’12, Lea Lupkin ’09, Taylor Ferebee ’17, Jared Herr ’04 and Tamara Poles ’08 — five young alumni whose nurtured interest in the sciences led them from Roanoke to accomplished careers in very diverse scientific disciplines.

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PRESIDENT’S PEN

Roanoke College Magazine

Y

“

Communication is essential at any time, but especially at times as overwhelmingly complicated as these.

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ou might predict what commentary follows here: that we’ve endured under the weight of pandemic, that we’ve been challenged, that we’ve struggled, we’ve persevered — we’ve survived and prevailed. They are words I have employed repeatedly.

You’d be correct, to a point, about my plans for this President’s Pen. You’d also be correct in understanding that these words have been necessary.

During an April 29 virtual Town Hall meeting with faculty and staff, this year’s faculty moderator, Dr. Matt Rearick, asked, with a good-natured laugh, “How many of these Town Hall meetings have we had in the past year?” Safe to say, we’ve had many. The same holds true for my messages to students, and to parents.

Communication — meaningful, candid, truthful and hopeful — holds great power. In these impossibly trying times, communication has been a vital tool in connecting us and fostering a sense of community.

I have tried to use frequent communications not only to share important information with the College community but to reinforce the values that guide us: “Do your best.” “Pursue truth.” “Care for your community.” “Serve others.” These guiding principles transcend the challenges of our current condition, applicable in all that we have faced since March 11, 2020, when the World Health Organization declared that the global COVID-19 epidemics had become so widespread that they constituted a pandemic.

We know all too well what followed: a sheer upheaval of life as we knew it.

We were challenged. We struggled. We are persevering. We will prevail.

I thank you, for reading and for listening. The process has not been perfect. Many of you have provided me with suggestions for ways to improve and for that, I also thank you.

Communication is essential at any time, but especially at times as overwhelmingly complicated as these.

Be well, Maroons!

Michael Creed Maxey

Editor Leslie Taylor Contributing Editors Teresa Gereaux ’87 Alex McCarthy Archives Linda Miller Dr. Mark Miller Contributors Karen Doss Bowman James France Alex McCarthy Photography Carissa Szuch Divant Ryan Hunt ’18 Marisa Seager ’23 Illustration Jade Bryan ’22 Design & Production Mikula-Harris Printing Bison Printing

Vice President, Melanie Tolan Marketing and Communications

Roanoke College does not discriminate against students, employees or applicants on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, national or ethnic origin, disability or veteran status.

Roanoke College Magazine is published twice a year by the Office of Marketing and Communications for alumni, students, parents, staff and friends of Roanoke College. Editorial rights are reserved.

Questions, comments and corrections may be sent to: Magazine Editor Roanoke College Office of Marketing and Communications 221 College Lane Salem, VA 24153-3794 rcmagazine@roanoke.edu

2020 – 2021 | board of trustees Mr. Malon W. Courts ’92, Chair Ms. Kathryn Snell Harkness ’73, Vice Chair Mr. James S. Frantz, Jr., Secretary Mr. David B. Mowen, Treasurer Mr. Michael C. Maxey, President of the College Mr. Kenneth J. Belton, Sr. ’81 Mr. Kirk Howard Betts Dr. Paris D. Butler, MPH ’00 Ms. Pamela L. Cabalka ’76 Dr. M. Paul Capp ’52 Ms. Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo ’78 Mr. W. Morgan Churchman ’65

Ms. Danae Psilopoulos Foley ’92 The Reverend Dr. Rick J. Goeres Mr. David L. Guy ’75 Mr. Michael P. Haley ’73 Ms. Judith B. Hall ’69 Mr. Richard S. Hathaway ’73 Ms. Peggy Fintel Horn ’78 The Reverend Robert F. Humphrey Mr. John E. Lang ’73 Mr. Patrick R. Leardo Ms. Nancy B. Mulheren ’72 Mr. Timothy J. O’Donnell Mr. Roger A. Petersen ’81

2 ROANOKE COLLEGE MAGAZINE | ISSUE ONE 2021

Mr. J. Tyler Pugh ’70 Ms. Margaret Lynn Jacobs Reichenbach The Reverend Dr. Theodore F. Schneider ’56 Mr. Andrew K. Teeter ’71 Dr. Patrice M. Weiss Dr. Garnett B. Whitehurst Ms. Helen Twohy Whittemore ’80

221 College Lane | Salem, VA 24153-3794 | www.roanoke.edu

College Switchboard ....................................(540) 375-2500 Admissions Local .........................................(540) 375-2270 Admissions Toll-free......................................(800) 388-2276

Mr. Joseph H. Carpenter, IV ’99

Alumni/Parent Relations................................(540) 375-2238

(Ex-officio, Chair of the Alumni Executive Council)

Alumni E-mail .......................................alumni@roanoke.edu

James L. Chisom ’84

Church Relations ..........................................(540) 375-2539

(Ex-officio, Chair of the President’s Advisory Board)

Colket Center ...............................................(540) 378-5125

Clifton Ray and Maureen Daisey

Intercollegiate Athletics .................................(540) 375-2338

(Ex-officio, Co-Chairs of the Parent Leadership Council)

Olin Box Office..............................................(540) 375-2333 © 2021 Roanoke College. All rights reserved.

Roanoke College and associated logos are trademarks of Roanoke College.

snapshots Alexandra Gautier ’20, left, and Ashley Eagleson ’20 FaceTime with fellow Maroon Dara Goldman ’19 during the Class of 2020 Commencement, postponed but finally held on May 22, 2021. (top left, continuing clockwise). • Customizable face masks from the Campus Activities Board.

• The new mobile food ordering app. • Leading by example: President Maxey and wife, Terri, receive their second dose of COVID-19 vaccine on Feb. 17. • Aaron Rogers ’21 (at right) and Desirea Lee ’21 at the 21st Annual Heritage Ball on April 16. • Students build sawhorses for Habitat for Humanity during a Black History Month service learning activity Feb. 27.

GRATITUDE

WE HEARD FROM YOU

I just want to thank the bookstore and especially Robin [Craighead], who went out of her way to ship a hoodie I gave my wife for Christmas. The system was down and she went out of her way to ship it so it was on time to be under the tree. My daughter just decided on Roanoke over several other schools and this made me feel like it is a place where people care.

That’s important to a father. Thank You Robin!

Dr. Tom O’Brien Rockville, Maryland

LE T T ERS, TWEETS AND POST S

Thanks for taking such great care of our Maroon with COVID. She expressed how nice it felt to get to the dorm; it already had food/drinks for her, meds and cleaning supplies. THANK YOU! [Editor’s note: For reasons of confidentiality, we are not including name of the parent who shared this kind note.]

SOCIAL MEDIA

That was one of my favorite things about Roanoke. It was beautiful in all seasons.

Heather Ultsch ’07

Maybe he will give out “pawtographs” on campus to the students.

Congratulations to Marshall. He was adorable!

Shannon Lynn Piedmont

Paris Butler @DrParisButler

Honored that my alma mater chose to highlight diversity, equity and inclusion efforts embraced by their graduates. Bravo @RoanokeCollege. Your timing literally could not have been better! roanoke.edu/magazine.

I read in the latest RC magazine about [Vice President of Marketing and Communications Melanie Tolan’s] interest in license plates.

Attached is my RC plate. It is getting old and battered, but still does the job.

Wayne Jordan ’77 Fairfax Station, Virginia

[Editor’s note: A comment about math professor Chris Lee’s deaf puppy, Marshall, who was voted by fans as “Most Pup-ular” and Most Valued Puppy during Animal Planet’s “Puppy Bowl.”]

A rare, bright and pungent flower, called the voodoo lily, recently bloomed in the Roanoke College greenhouse. Students who are interested in plants can get involved as early as their freshman year and become part of building a fascinating and diverse collection of plant life in the greenhouse.

Forever proud of my alma mater!

Nicole Lenez ’05

[Editor’s note: On the unveiling of Administration Building plaques that honor the contributions of enslaved laborers.]

A huge “Thank you” to Jade Bryan ’22, a talented art and Health & Exercise Science double major, and graphic arts student intern in the Office of Marketing and Communications. Bryan, whose work has previously graced the pages of Roanoke College magazine, created the pen and ink illustrations that appear on the cover and throughout the cover feature story (page 10). “At first, I wanted to become a full-time artist, but after coming to college, I realized that personal training is also something I would love to do,” says Bryan, who is from St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. “However, that didn’t take away from my love for art, hence, why I decided to double major. My plan for the future is to become a personal trainer and to enjoy doing art on the side.”

Roanoke College

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4 ROANOKE COLLEGE MAGAZINE | ISSUE ONE 2021

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collegenews President Michael C. Maxey addresses attendees after students unveiled plaques during the April 8 ceremony.

“

We must always be committed to the pursuit of truth as it unfolds before us.

— Michael C. Maxey Roanoke College President

”

College recognizes, honors historic role of enslaved laborers DURING A BRIEF BUT MOVING CEREMONY on April 8, Roanoke College paid tribute to the enslaved laborers who had an integral, historically significant role in building the College more than 175 years ago.

Members of the College community gathered on the Front Quad for the unveiling of two bronze plaques on the Administration Building, the oldest and most prominent building on campus. The plaques honor the lives of the enslaved skilled laborers who directly built the College, or who generated wealth that was invested in the College.

“Today is an expression of discovery — discovery of our own history, and the hope for the future discovery that historical research can bring to us,” Roanoke College President Michael C. Maxey said, before a group of students removed draping that covered the plaques. “We must always want to know more about our past.

We must always be committed to the pursuit of truth as it unfolds before us…Once we find it, we must share it, and today is a day for sharing new truths about who we are and who helped make us who we are.”

The plaques have been mounted on two large columns at the Administration Building’s front entrance. One plaque reads:

“Honoring the lives of the enslaved skilled laborers whose contributions to Roanoke College must be acknowledged and always remembered.” The second plaque provides details about the laborers’ contributions and the purpose of recognizing those contributions.

“May today’s gathering be but one small, first step for our College in telling the story of our origin, and publicly and finally honor the memory, skill and labor of those who had no choice but to build,” the Rev. Christopher Bowen, dean of the chapel at Roanoke College, offered in an invocation.

The plaque dedication is part of a longer research process that is seeking to better understand the history of slavery at Roanoke College, said Dr. Jesse Bucher, associate professor of history at Roanoke College and director of the College’s Center for Studying Structures of Race. Over the next five years, this sustained inquiry will culminate in the construction of a public monument that honors the historical contributions of enslaved persons in Southwest Virginia, he said.

The ceremony capped Emancipation Week at the College, a week of activities that followed the April 3 observance of Emancipation Day in Virginia.

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collegenews HISTORY

Roanoke to take part in “Legacies of American Slavery” ROANOKE COLLEGE will be part of a nationwide initiative designed to help colleges and universities, their students and their communities explore the continuing impact of slavery on American life and culture.

The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) announced in February that 19 colleges and universities will be Partners or Institutional Affiliates in a multiyear project called “Legacies of American Slavery: Reckoning with the Past.” Roanoke was named as an Institutional Affiliate.

The initiative will help institutions explore the impact of slavery through support of campus-based research, teaching and learning, as well as community-based programs about the legacies of slavery. The initiative has various themes, and Roanoke will help examine the theme of “Commemoration and Memory.”

That work will be directed by the Roanoke College Center for Studying Structures of Race. The center, located in the renovated slave quarters on the College-owned Monterey property, serves as a venue for teaching, research and community engagement about issues of race, and emphasizes the examination of forms of institutional racism at local, national and international levels.

Dr. Jesse Bucher, associate professor of history at Roanoke College and director of the Center, said Roanoke College has been studying the history of slavery for almost a decade. Over those years, he has learned that the history of slavery at Roanoke College is inextricably linked to the social, political and economic history of the entire region.

“We are planning to use support from the CIC to further develop our understanding of our own institution’s history,” Bucher said. “But we are also planning to extend and expand our relationships with local history organizations, libraries, archives and historic sites that are also finding ways to better understand the history of slavery in southwestern Virginia.”

“Legacies of American Slavery” is directed by Pulitzer-Prize winning historian David W. Blight. The entire project is supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation with supplemental funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. — Alex McCarthy

RCMediaBytes

R O A N O K E C O L L E G E I N T H E N E WS

Virginia Becomes First Southern State to Abolish the Death Penalty

Randolph-Macon topples Roanoke in ODAC men’s basketball semifinal

— New York Times, March 24, 2021

— Richmond Times Dispatch, March 9, 2021

“It’s a long, bloody history, and it’s astonishing that a state like Virginia, a former Confederate state, a state that so enthusiastically embraced the death penalty, is abolishing it. I never thought I’d see this.”

— Dr. Todd C. Peppers, Henry H. & Trudye H. Fowler Professor in Public Affairs Professor at Roanoke College, who has written extensively about the death penalty in Virginia, commenting about Virginia becoming the first southern state to abolish the death penalty.

“They’re just really good. There’s just not a lot of margin for error. The minute you’re out of position, you slip up, you have a breakdown, they see it and they penalize you. We played the best team we’ve played all year today.”

— Clay Nunley, men’s basketball coach, Roanoke College

Roanoke College professor weighs in on child Tax Credit included in latest COVID-19 relief bill — WFXR Fox 27, March 11, 2021

“This is quite common in U.S. policy making, where Congress kind of sets policy, and the executive branch fills in the details about how the laws can work in practice. I should finally stress, this is temporary or at least intended to be temporary and so the payments will begin approximately mid-year and go through December.”

— Dr. Bryan Parsons, associate professor of political science, Roanoke College 6 ROANOKE COLLEGE MAGAZINE | ISSUE ONE 2021

Roanoke College Releases Virginia Consumer Sentiment and Inflation Expectations Report — The Roanoke Star, March 9, 2021

“Consumer sentiment in the Commonwealth sharpened its retreat at the start of 2021 driven by COVID-related uncertainty. Uncertainty is a powerful force. The economy continues to recover with the unemployment rate in Virginia falling to 4.9 percent in January 2021, well off the 11.2 percent of April 2020. But people are still worried about the unknown. I anticipate that as vaccine supply and distribution expand across the Commonwealth, individual sentiment will recover.”

— Dr. Alice Kassens, John S. Shannon Professor of Economics, Roanoke College

WELL R E A D

F A C U LT Y B O O K S “Of Courtiers and Princes: Stories of Lower Court Clerks and Their Judges”

by Dr. Todd Peppers, Henry H. & Trudye H. Fowler Professor in Public Affairs Publisher: University of Virginia Press Overview: “Drawing on contributions from former law clerks and judicial scholars — including an essay by Ruth Bader Ginsburg — the book provides an inside look at the professional and personal bonds that form between lower court judges and their clerks. While the individual essays often focus on a single judge and his or her corps of law clerks, including their selection process, contributions, and even influence, the book as a whole provides a macro-level view of the law clerk’s role in the rapidly changing world of lower federal and state courts.”

Review: “This new collection of essays, including some by former clerks, takes readers inside justices’ chambers for a look at clerkship life.... [T]he best parts of the book are the behind-the-scenes descriptions of life at the court.” — Associated Press.

“Could God Fail? The Fate of the Universes and the Faith of Christians.”

by Dr. Ned Wisnefske, Schumann Professor of Lutheran Theology Publisher: Cascade Books Overview: “Suppose the universe expands and becomes a void, as most scientists think. Would that mean God failed? If that is the fate of the universe, then some of our beliefs concerning God and our place in nature, as well as our beliefs concerning how we should live in the world, will not be borne out…Today, when we

consider the fate of the universe, as well as the possible destruction of life on Earth, it looks as though a deep darkness surrounds us. That is the idea this book considers.”

Review: “Even if none of us would be there to witness the end of this cosmos, the way it ends is connected to a bunch of core theological claims.

In this lucid and intriguing book, Wisnefske goes straight to the deep end and shows how abstract issues of physics and metaphysics have immediate practical implications here and now.” — Olli-Pekka Vainio, University Lecturer of Systematic Theology, University of Helsinki “Epic Landscapes: Benjamin Henry Latrobe and the Art of Watercolor”

by Dr. Julia A. Sienkewicz, Associate Professor of Art History Publisher: University of Delaware Press Overview: “‘Epic Landscapes’ is the first study devoted to architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe’s substantial artistic oeuvre from 1795, when he set sail from Britain to Virginia, to late 1798, when he relocated to Pennsylvania. Thus, this book offers the only extended consideration of Latrobe’s Virginian watercolors, including a series of complex trompe l’oeil studies and three significant illustrated manuscripts.”

Review: “Reading many of these images as soul-searching, aspirational, self-promoting, and fanciful, Sienkewicz explores a rare mind at work. Her book opens new insights into a complex man whose mind, as revealed in his watercolors, expressed the creative turmoil of an artist determined to shape the painted as well as the built landscape of the United States.” ― Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide

WELCOME

Blair appointed new VP of Resource Development A ROANOKE ALUMNA has returned to the College to lead its programs for alumni and parent relations, church relations, fundraising, stewardship and planned giving.

In February, Kimberly P. Blair ’93 was appointed vice president of Resource Development. Blair succeeds Aaron Fetrow, who departed the College to become president of Heritage Hall School in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Blair returns to Roanoke College after serving as assistant vice president of advancement for Roanoke at Virginia Tech, where she led advancement teams tasked with securing private philanthropic funding for the Virginia Tech Carilion - Health, Science & Technology Campus in the Roanoke Innovation Corridor.

At Virginia Tech, Blair orchestrated fundraising, outreach and strategic

communication initiatives for the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC and the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine.

“Kim’s knowledge of the essence of Roanoke College, coupled with her vision and understanding of the inner workings of modern-day advancement and fundraising, are a great match,” President Michael C. Maxey said of Blair’s appointment. “We are so pleased to welcome Kim back to Roanoke College.”

From 1993 to 2008 at Roanoke, Blair held roles as director of development, director of annual giving, and director of alumni, parent relations and annual programs and development representative before continuing her career at Ferrum College and Virginia Tech.

“It is incredibly meaningful to be able to rejoin my alma mater as vice president of Resource Development,” Blair said. “This is the right time for me to return home and serve the College under President Maxey’s leadership.”

Blair holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Roanoke and a master’s degree from the University of Lynchburg in educational leadership.

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collegenews

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HISTORY- MA KE R

Portrait pays tribute to College trailblazer IN 1964, MAXINE FITZGERALD ’69 quietly made history when she became the first Black American to enroll as a full-time student at Roanoke College. So it was fitting, nearly 60 years later and during the month nationally designated to recognize the role of Black Americans in U.S. history, that Roanoke College recognize one of its own history-makers.

During a quiet, small ceremony on Feb. 25, a portrait of a young Fitzgerald was placed on a wall near the front entrance of the Administration Building.

“Maxine is a true trailblazer who has created opportunities for many of us to follow,” said Ken Belton ’81, a member of the Board of Trustees. “Since that time, Roanoke College‘s community, diversity, equity and inclusion commitment continues — Natasha Saunders to grow. Diversity includes all of us.”

Roanoke College Multicultural Affairs Director Fitzgerald graduated in 1969 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She went on to earn a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Radford College (now Radford University). For 29 years, she worked as a psychology technician at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Salem before retiring in 1995.

“Meeting Ms. Maxine Fitzgerald was an honor,” Roanoke College Multicultural Affairs Director Natasha Saunders said after the Feb. 25 ceremony. “She is a true pioneer and trailblazer whose accomplishments and legacy precede her with current students at Roanoke College. We appreciate her paving the way for students today and admire her courage and tenacity as a RC Maroon and leader.”

“We appreciate her paving the way for students today and admire her courage and tenacity as a RC Maroon and leader.”

CARISSA SZUCH DIVANT

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RISING B Y A L E X M C C A RT H Y • I L L U S T R AT I O N S B Y J A D E B RYA N ’ 2 2

ne year shy of a decade ago, Roanoke College magazine featured a cover story about three alumni who, after graduating in the first half of the 20th century, went on to exceedingly distinguished science careers.

“Science Giants,” they were called.

The three, Dr. Theophilus Painter 1908, Dr. Vernon Mountcastle ’38 and Dr. Carl Gottschalk ’42, were “exemplars in taking what Roanoke offered and using it to change the world through science,” Roanoke College President Michael C. Maxey said then. Each of the three, each now deceased, was “a giant in his field.”

Roanoke College’s longstanding tradition of educating, nurturing, training and preparing students for careers in the sciences — the same tradition that brought national and international acclaim to Painter, known for his work in identifying genes in fruit flies; to Mountcastle, known for his foundational discovery in the field of neuroscience: and to Gottschalk, who perfected the application of micropuncture technique to the study of kidney function — endures.

Who now stands on the shoulders of these giants? Who now serves as a daily reminder that science programs at Roanoke College continue to inspire generations of students?

Who are the rising giants?

O

GIANTS 10 ROANOKE COLLEGE MAGAZINE | ISSUE ONE 2021

JARED HERR:

Finger on the pulse of a rapidly-changing field Dr. Jared Herr ’04 always has his mind on the future of the human heart.

Herr, a heart failure and transplant cardiologist at the California Pacific Medical Center’s Center for Advanced Heart Failure Therapies, is often involved in research and clinical trials for heart treatments. These include trials for treatments such as mechanical transplants that help hearts pump more effectively.

These glimpses into the future keep Herr on the cutting edge of heart treatments.

“I really enjoy it,” Herr said. “It’s one of the fields that’s most rapidly changing, in cardiology at least. Every year there’s something different.”

“That one-on-one mentorship I got [at Roanoke], I try to apply that to my current position, with trainees, residents and medical students. I try to take what I got at that level of my education and bring that to other people.” — Dr. Jared Herr ’04 Many of Herr’s day-to-day duties involve connecting with patients and helping them through stressful times. Herr helps heart failure patients prepare for treatment, including heart transplants, then helps them long after their surgery.

“You get to take care of patients for a long time who have chronic disease and also have long-standing relationships with people,” Herr said. “Because you see them, you might follow them for years before they get a transplant, then they get a transplant and you follow them for years after that. You really get to be a part of their life and help them through a really difficult time.”

It is a rewarding experience, seeing patients get better before his eyes, Herr said.

Herr, who grew up in Syracuse, New York, graduated magna cum laude from Roanoke with degrees in biochemistry and biology. He went on to earn an M.D., with honors, from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston before completing his internship and residency at the University of California-San Francisco. After his internship and residency, he completed his fellowship in cardiovascular diseases at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

But before any of those academic and career achievements, Herr was a student at Roanoke searching for his path. He knew he was interested in biology and physiology, but it wasn’t until he began

Dr. Jared Herr ’04

working with Dr. Dar Jorgensen that his future came into focus.

Jorgensen, Thornhill Professor of Biology at Roanoke, worked with Herr on research into cardiovascular physiology on invertebrates. Many of the principles for invertebrates also apply to humans, Herr explained. He took this basic science understanding and has been able to apply it to working with the human heart.

Lifelong knowledge wasn’t the only takeaway from his work with Jorgensen. The two remain in contact, and Jorgensen even officiated Herr’s wedding a few years ago.

“What’s special about Roanoke is you have an opportunity to develop a long-lasting relationship with people and a lot of oneon-one interaction,” Herr said. “Having been in a lot of places of various size and stature, it’s not that way everywhere. I think it’s a very unique quality and a very important part of the Roanoke experience, the one-on-one mentorship and community development there.”

Though he’s now on the West Coast, Herr has stayed involved with his alma mater. As plans progress for a new Science Center at the College, Herr has shared his expertise. He is a member of the Science Center Campaign Committee and is keeping abreast, with excitement, of Science Center plans and design.

“It’s in desperate need of upgraded facilities,” Herr noted. “As much as I love Life Science and Trexler — and I’ll be sad to see the old Lobster Lab go away — it’s definitely not where it needs to be in terms of really harnessing the potential that exists there to expand existing programs as well as build on new programs.”

As for his own future, Hess greatly enjoys the work he is doing and will continue to help heart patients through their journeys. He’s also been teaching interns and residents, and has been reflecting on his time at Roanoke as he mentors future medical professionals.

“That one-on-one mentorship I got [at Roanoke], I try to apply that to my current position, with trainees, residents and medical students,” Herr said. “I try to take what I got at that level of my education and bring that to other people.”

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“I was interested in policy and sociology and international relations, but I had to have a good base in environmental systems and the ways that humans are changing the systems and making sure that solutions are science-based.”

— Lea Lupkin ’09

Lea Lupkin ’09

LEA LUPKIN:

At the intersection of hard sciences and soft sciences Everyone uses energy. Lea Lupkin ’09 is helping people become smarter in how they use it.

As the founding manager of behavioral products and programs at the International Coaching Federation (ICF) Pittsburgh, Lupkin examines ways for utility customers to save energy. Through the understanding of how human activity adversely affects ecosystems and disrupts nature’s normal course, and the knowledge of how people make decisions, Lupkin helps utility companies present customers with sustainable and energy-saving options.

“All of us use energy at home or in businesses that we work at or own or visit,” Lupkin said. “Everyone is a utility customer. So we work with utilities, and we basically reach everyone.”

Lupkin was an environmental systems major at Roanoke with a sociology minor. She later earned a master’s degree in environmental management at Yale University. Even though she doesn’t talk about “hard sciences,” such as biology or physics, on a daily basis, having that base of scientific knowledge helps her maintain credibility in the industry.

“The work that I do is all science-based,” Lupkin said. “It’s often at the intersection between hard sciences and soft sciences.”

Lupkin became interested in the environment when she was in high school. She chose to come to Roanoke, in large part, because of the Undergraduate Research Assistants Program, which connects students with professors to conduct research early in their college careers.

Lupkin worked with Dr. Greg Weiss, now-retired professor of sociology at Roanoke. She always had a love for animals and considered becoming a veterinarian, but early in her time at Roanoke she decided she wanted to make a difference in a bigger way. She 12 ROANOKE COLLEGE MAGAZINE | ISSUE ONE 2021

also had interests in other fields such as international relations, and started thinking about the ways she could use those interests to help animals and the environment as a whole.

“I was interested in policy and sociology and international relations,” Lupkin said, “but I had to have a good base in environmental systems and the ways that humans are changing the systems and making sure that solutions are science-based.”

After her junior year at Roanoke, she interned for the Sustainable Endowments Institute in Boston, Massachusetts.

When she graduated, she returned to the institute, which conducts research, education and outreach to help make businesses and organizations more environmentally conscious.

Through that job, she was introduced to the founder of a startup called GreenerU that works with colleges and universities in the Northeast to make campuses more energy-efficient. That job piqued her interest in behavioral science, and she then entered Yale.

There were some parallels between her experience at Yale and her experience at Roanoke, Lupkin said. The coursework to get her master’s degree in environmental management was very diverse, and allowed her to essentially design her own curriculum and explore various topics. She assisted professors with research as well.

After Yale, Lupkin worked for a Los Angeles-based startup called the See Change Institute. There, she was able to start combining social sciences and hard sciences on a daily basis. She connected with ICF Pittsburgh and has been there since 2017.

Bringing green products more into the mainstream has been fascinating, Lupkin said. She used washing machines and electric cars as examples: If a consumer needs a washing machine, the consumer is not going to travel out of his or her way or endure a long wait just to get an energy-efficient machine. If energy-efficient washing machines are readily available or are advertised more effectively, that consumer will be more likely to buy it, she said. The same holds true for electric cars: no electric cars on the lot, no electric cars purchased.

There are only so many companies that produce desirable products that are also energy-efficient, Lupkin said. She’s looking forward to helping build a world where greener products are more mainstream.

“That’s what I want to continue to focus on: How do we speed up adoption of clean technologies so that it just becomes a normal part of our life rather than an outlier technology that only a few people have?” she asked.

TAYLOR FEREBEE:

Combining interests and striving for representation Taylor Ferebee ’17 has always been interested in “doing too much.”

When she was younger, she wanted to get into philosophy and neurosurgery. Then she got interested in math. And physics.

And biology.

So it made sense that Ferebee landed at Roanoke, where she could study a little bit of everything.

“Going to a liberal arts school allowed me to understand how I can put together different fields,” Ferebee said. “Because you have to take [classes in] everything, you get a good idea of the connections between math, physics, writing, literature.”

Ferebee settled on majoring in physics and mathematics, with a minor in statistics. She’s currently pursuing a Ph.D. in computational biology at Cornell University.

Ferebee’s research and work experience have taken her to very diverse areas. She’s interned at a Catholic church and for a professional lacrosse team. She’s worked as an editor of a wedding blog and for the IT department at Roanoke.

Now, her interests have led her to one of the most important agricultural products this country produces — corn. She’s combining expertise in genetics, network analysis and computer science

“I very much value my time at Roanoke. I think I grew a lot as a person as well as a researcher, and I’m very thankful for that.”

— Taylor Ferebee ’17

to get a better idea of what goes on inside maize.

The overall goal is to better inform geneticists and corn breeders about the inner workings of the crop. Ferebee works for the Buckler Lab at Cornell, which seeks to make maize production more efficient and more environmentally friendly.

Ferebee, originally from Hampton Roads, Virginia, grew up surrounded by science. Her parents both work for NASA. Her father is a rocket scientist and her mother is a mathematician. Besides her parents, though, Ferebee said she didn’t see many people who looked like her in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields. She hopes to help change that.

“I really want to go into a career where I’m doing a few things,” Ferebee said. “One is continuing research. I find it’s a lot of fun.

And then also really being a person who can lift up those who are underserved, especially in STEM. I was lucky enough to have parents who were in STEM, but not a lot of people are. Really making sure STEM is accessible for those students and making sure they know there are opportunities that are beyond the classic, ‘Be a doctor, lawyer, engineer.’”

Ferebee said she hopes to do that in two ways: mentoring students and working with people in hiring positions. While it’s important to inspire young people and show them that they can succeed in science, it’s also vital to let top-level decision-makers know that people in underrepresented populations have a great deal to offer, Ferebee said.

Taylor Ferebee ’17

That even extends to people who aren’t from big-name colleges or universities, she said.

“I definitely want to also work at the hiring level and the level to say, ‘Hey, you don’t have to just look at Harvard to get good students. You can go somewhere as small as Roanoke and find the same amount of skills and expertise and teachability.’”

During her time at Roanoke, Ferebee took full advantage of opportunities. She conducted research on campus and even with a professor at nearby Hollins University. She spent a semester studying abroad on the Yucatan Peninsula, and discovered an interest in agriculture that led to a fellowship with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Ferebee also took a variety of classes on campus and learned how to approach research topics from multiple angles. More than that, she said she grew in ways beyond her studies.

“I very much value my time at Roanoke,” Ferebee said. “I think I grew a lot as a person as well as a researcher, and I’m very thankful for that.”

KENNETH LAMPERT:

Involved in everything medicine has to offer It was clear early on during his years at Roanoke College, that Kenneth Lampert ’12, P.A. was headed for the medical profession.

But it wasn’t until a professor pulled him aside after class that his direct path came into focus.

The Salem, Virginia, native was an EMT with the Salem Rescue Squad during his time at Roanoke, and he was heavily involved in biology research with an eye on medical school in the future. One day, during Lampert’s junior year, Dr. DorothyBelle Poli, professor ROANOKE.EDU

13

“Roanoke definitely helped with teaching, with that close-knit, nurturing environment. That’s something I always valued and cherished that Roanoke had and put into us as students. I took away from that, teaching strategies and habits, and I’m able to return it back to my students as well.” — Kenneth Lampert ’12, PA

Kenny Lampert ’12

of biology, asked him whether he had ever considered becoming a physician assistant (PA).

“What’s a PA?” Lampert said he wondered.

Ten years later, Lampert is an experienced and accomplished PA in Albany, New York, working in a variety of fields at the Albany Medical Center. He’s honed his skills in high-pressure environments, including life-or-death crises in the emergency department.

“It was a pretty in-depth introduction to medicine,” Lampert said. “We were involved in everything medicine has to offer.”

Lampert’s time at Roanoke set a solid foundation for his career.

His work with the Salem Rescue Squad immersed him in the world of emergency care, and the lessons he learned in the field as a squad member have directly translated to his time in the emergency department in Albany, he said.

“The adrenaline rush, the fast-paced mindset and thinking, and the critical decisions you have to make within rapid succession is part of the reason I gravitated toward emergency medicine over everything,” Lampert said.

In the classroom, he also developed a deep knowledge of biology thanks in part to the opportunity to conduct research. One of the main reasons Lampert came to Roanoke — other than the small class sizes — was the promise of doing research as an undergraduate. Lampert and Dr. Chris Lassiter, biology professor and director of undergraduate research, worked with zebra fish, hoping to use androgen receptors to make the fish glow green.

Unfortunately, that never came to fruition, but Lampert said the research taught him about dedication and perseverance as much as it taught him about biology. Thanks to the close relationship with professors and the chance to be involved with hands-on opportunities on and off campus, Lampert was able to earn a master’s degree in physician assistant studies from Hofstra University and jump right into the medical world.

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“Looking back, there were multiple aspects of Roanoke College that definitely shaped me into who I’ve become and what my lifestyle’s been,” Lampert said.

Now, Lampert is working in a variety of positions, including teaching, working in home health care — caring for patients in their homes — while continuing part-time work as a surgical PA. With his well-rounded knowledge about various aspects of the medical field, Lampert provides valuable insight for his students.

He has taught at the Albany Medical Center and at an urgent care center in Albany. He’s also equipped with his experience as a student at Roanoke, where he witnessed and interacted with teachers who excelled at their jobs.

“Roanoke definitely helped with teaching, with that close-knit, nurturing environment,” Lampert said. “That’s something I always valued and cherished that Roanoke had and put into us as students. I took away from that, teaching strategies and habits, and I’m able to return it back to my students as well.”

Lampert said he might pursue teaching more seriously in the future, but for now he’s happy continuing to work in the field.

Working in the home health care field has been particularly interesting, he said, as more and more people want to receive medical care in the comfort of their home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. So not only has Lampert had a front-row seat for many different aspects of the medical field, he’s also been able to observe trends and changes in how people receive medical care.

Lampert said he doesn’t like to be locked into one field or one specialty, which is why he is so well-suited for the PA profession.

As a result of his time as a PA — and his time obtaining a wide variety of experiences at Roanoke — he is well prepared for success in the next path he chooses to follow, whatever that might be.

“That’s what I like about being a PA,” Lampert said. “I’m very versatile and malleable and I can jump to different fields if I feel I need to.”

TAMARA POLES:

Celebrating and demystifying science The career of Tamara Poles ’08 began with fecal matter.

As a Roanoke College student, Poles was working with Dr. Brooks Crozier, biology professor, and asked him about his research. Crozier responded with a detailed explanation using scientific terms that went over the young student’s head. Poles, trying to make conversation, asked Crozier how he might go about starting his research.

Crozier explained that he needed to extract a sample from fecal matter.

“You study poop?” Poles asked. “Why don’t you start with that?”

With that, Poles began to envision her life purpose.

Poles, community engagement specialist for the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has dedicated herself to making science more accessible and understandable for people of all ages. She’s particularly involved with getting scientists into classrooms of young children to show them that scientists are more than just people in white coats conducting solitary research in a distant lab.

“There’s a misconception in the world that people think scientists were just born perfect and know all about science,” Poles said.

“I am trying to demystify science for the general public, and for kids to know, ‘We’re people. We had to figure it out too.’”

Poles, who majored in biology at Roanoke, stresses the importance of scientists being “bilingual,” where they can talk to their peers in technical terms but can also translate their studies to simpler language that the average layperson can understand. This helps non-scientists understand the importance of scientific research, she said. It also shows young people that studying science isn’t nearly as hard as it might seem.

“All of this, I got to start and pilot at Roanoke and now I can do it on a big scale with no safety net. I learned from my mistakes and I learned from my successes at Roanoke — and I’m able to implement it now.” — Tamara Poles ’08

“Scientists are amazing,” Poles said. “I think people need to celebrate them more.”

Poles has spearheaded multiple programs that have brought scientists out of labs and into classrooms around North Carolina.

Her work has received international acclaim.

The Inspiring Meaningful Programs and Communications Through Science (IMPACTS) initiative ran from 2016-2020. It aimed to recruit and train a diverse group of science professionals to speak to students all over North Carolina and talk about their personal career paths and what they enjoy about their work.

Poles was invited to present at the UK Science Festival Network 2018 Conference in Swansea, Wales, to teach attendees how they can implement science communication programs in their country.

She also spoke to British Science Association staff and funders about how to start a program like IMPACTS. A new program — Featuring Underrepresented Talent in Urban and Rural Engagement with Science (FUTURES) — provides science engagement, outreach and communication training for students, staff and faculty at community colleges across North Carolina. The program, which Poles created, trains these students, staff, faculty — and alumni — in effective public communication and science outreach practices so they can share their experiences with members of the public.

The success of the IMPACTS program led to the creation of the FUTURES program, Poles said. The North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation funded the IMPACTS program, then committed more money to fund the FUTURES program. Poles said two major aspects of the IMPACTS program stood out.

“The program evaluation came back saying the public really liked talking with scientists who looked like them and debunked a lot of their misconceptions about science and scientists,” Poles said. “They also really liked listening to the scientists’ personal stories, because they felt that the scientists were relatable.”

Poles said she was once in the same spot as many of the young students who have participated in her programs, as she didn’t see many scientists who looked like her when she was growing up.

Representation is so important for young people, Poles said. “If they can see it, they can be it,” she added.

While at Roanoke, Poles gained the confidence to pursue this path of combining science and communications. She was struggling early on at Roanoke, not getting the grades she was aiming for. But Dr. DorothyBelle Poli, biology professor, saw potential in Poles and invited Poles to work in her lab.

That interest from Poli, “changed everything,” Poles said. She was able to bounce ideas off Poli and gain confidence. The kind of job Poles wanted — to be a liaison between science and communication — didn’t exist when Poles graduated from Roanoke in 2008, but Poli advised her to go for it anyway.

Poles started creating projects at Roanoke, including a mock TV show called “Muckrakers” that broke down scientific topics in basic terms for a wide TV audience. Projects like that, done in a safe environment at Roanoke, helped prepare Poles for the work she’s doing now.

“All of this, I got to start and pilot at Roanoke and now I can do it on a big scale with no safety net,” Poles said. “I learned from my mistakes and I learned from my successes at Roanoke — and I’m able to implement it now.” RC

Tamara Poles ’08 ROANOKE.EDU

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ABOUT US

Science Guys

BY LESLIE TAYLOR

Two members of the Roanoke College community — one an alumnus and chemistry professor at Saint Francis University, the other a professor of physics at Roanoke — have written children’s books that engage young minds in science, and in exploring, explaining and understanding their world.

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Since 1994, Edward Zovinka has been at Saint Francis University in Pennsylvania, currently serving as professor of chemistry.

SAINT FRANCIS UNIVERSITY

As

“

It has been fun and strange to get autograph requests from people, especially when people mail the book to me to sign.

— Dr. Edward Zovinka ’87

”

a chemistry major at Roanoke College, Edward Zovinka ’87 remembers the positive feeling he received from planning and presenting Chemistry Club science events, held in Massengill Hall for the Salem community.

Practicing demonstrations in the stockroom, getting to know other “chemistry folk” while preparing for the event, even the fun and stress of the actual event — “I became hooked on outreach,” says Zovinka, now a professor of chemistry at Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania.

Over the years, Zovinka has expanded outreach efforts with his students at Saint Francis and through involvement in organizations such as the American Chemical Society and the Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh.

Consequently, his web presence on chemistry grew, and he was approached by Callisto Media/Rockridge Press to write a book on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) activities for 8- to 12-yearolds.

“Real Chemistry Experiments: 40 Exciting STEAM Activities for Kids,” released in November 2019, earned numerous positive reviews, throughout the United States and abroad. The response prompted another approach to Zovinka from Callisto/Rockridge about writing a second book, this one about the periodic table.

“With 118 elements, a full-time job and family, I knew I could not take on the periodic table without help,” Zovinka says. “Fortunately for me, my wife [Dr. Rose Clark, also a chemistry professor at Saint Francis] agreed to take on the project with me. It was a challenging, yet family bonding, experience.”

The result was “A Kid’s Guide to the Periodic Table: Everything You Need to Know about the Elements,” released in July 2020. It too, has garnered good reviews stateside and abroad.

“It has been fun and strange to get autograph requests from people, especially when people mail the book to me to sign,” Zovinka says.

But more than the autograph-seekers, more than the brush with notoriety, is introducing, or expanding knowledge of, chemistry to young people, in much the same way his knowledge of chemistry was broadened and strengthened at Roanoke College.

During Zovinka’s years at Roanoke, chem-

istry faculty members Dr. Ben Huddle, Dr. James Dalton and Dr. Gail Steehler “encouraged me to be ‘more me’ and share my abilities with others,” he says. “I not only learned a lot of chemistry, but also was required to start my research career and to take on Chemistry Club leadership.”

The breadth and depth of their influence was significant.

“Ben has been a lifelong inspiration for me,” Zovinka says. “In the classroom, his gentle and thoughtful presentations in General Chemistry [first year] engaged me like no one else had ever done. I became a chemist because of Ben.” Steehler introduced Zovinka to the field of Inorganic Chemistry, which became his career

interest. Dalton, Zovinka says, kept him engaged in Organic Chemistry and also encouraged him to apply for research positions that led to his pursuit of a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry at University of California, Davis.

“After Davis, I was a postdoctoral researcher at NC State. Because of my interest in teaching at a school like Roanoke, I accepted a visiting assistant professor position at Davidson College and from there, accepted a tenure track position at Saint Francis University.”

Zovinka has been at Saint Francis since 1994, rising to professor and serving as department chair. He also oversaw design, fundraising and construction of a new Science Center, which opened in 2013.

“In addition to community outreach, I have been an officer for the Spectroscopy Society of ROANOKE.EDU

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ABOUT US

Matt Fleenor, Ph.D., professor of chemistry at Roanoke College, wrote a children’s book about astronomy to increase younger generations’ interest in science.

“

By sharing the many cool facts and opportunities opened by learning chemistry, I hope to make the world a little bit better.

— Dr. Edward Zovinka ’87

”

Pittsburgh, and a councilor for the Pittsburgh Section of the American Chemistry Society, while continuing to publish research,” Zovinka says.

“Through sabbaticals at Yale University and Carnegie-Mellon University, I have maintained active research, benefiting my students and pushing Green Chemistry to whomever will listen.”

It was Zovinka’s experience at Roanoke College that placed him on this path.

“Roanoke College was definitely transformative for me,” he says. “I became more involved in governance, was able to explore chemistry research, and take on leadership roles.”

He discovered that “chemistry opens doors, providing entries into healthcare careers, research, business, government — pretty much anything you can think of.”

“By sharing the many cool facts and opportunities opened by learning chemistry, I hope to make the world a little bit better.”

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“We are star stuff” atoms make up you and me, stars for atoms we can see. elements within star’s core, supernova make stars roar.

— from “Blue Star, New Star”

very summer, Matthew Fleenor, professor of physics and astronomy at Roanoke College, teaches “Astronomy Controversies in the Modern Era,” an astronomy course for non-science majors. Astronomy, he maintains, is a wonderful way to increase interest in science.

But as a college educator and parent, he wanted “our future generations to be filled with ‘wow’ about the night sky, our sun-star, and the big universe in which we live.”

E

“

I think everyone is intrigued by the night sky. It deepens our imagination while raising our curiosity.

— Dr. Matthew Fleenor

So he wrote “Blue Star, New Star,” a children’s book that provides an introduction to astronomy through memorable verses and prose explanation.

Fleenor describes the book as a “layered tool for astronomy literacy.” While the book appeals to emerging readers ages 4-8, it also is intended to be read by adults to younger audiences with the hope of educating both the reader and the listener.

The overall themes of the book are stellar evolution, astronomy, and the night sky.

The setting: present, near-earth orbit and our galaxy. The intended takeaway: wonder and curiosity.

“I think everyone is intrigued by the night sky,” Fleenor says. “It deepens our imagination while raising our curiosity.”

Fleenor wanted the book to be unlike other children’s astronomy books, which can be “cartoonish and fiction-oriented,” he says. “I have attempted to show actual images with simplistic drawings in hopes of letting the astronomy ‘speak for itself.’”

Because the book is written by a professional astronomer, educator and parent, it combines accurate science knowledge with wonder and passion, Fleenor noted.

“Scientific literacy for the public is sorely needed, and astronomy is a great way to increase the interest in science,” says Fleenor, who is working with Roanoke, Virginia-based Blue Ridge PBS to produce several videos that highlight the book’s science content through integration with the Virginia Standards of Learning.

“Beginning with younger generations is the only way to address the need for future scientists and informed citizens.” RC

”

Matt Fleenor in the lab with student Rachel Lindsay ’21.

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givingnews A rendering of the east entrance of the new Science Center.

G IV IN G W IT H P U RP O S E

“

They say it is the impact of one’s life on those who follow that is the measure of one’s contributions.

— Morris Cregger ’64

” 20

Science Center project receives strong support from alumni THREE ROANOKE ALUMNI and their spouses are leading the charge to ensure that plans for Roanoke College’s new Science Center become a reality.

John and Betty Shannon, Morris and Sheila Cregger, and Dr. Paul and Constance Capp have stepped forward with leadership-level support of Roanoke’s planned Science Center.

“It’s a timely endeavor,” said John “Jack” Shannon ’52, a former member of the Roanoke College Board of Trustees. “It’s something the College has needed and the time has come to go forward with it.”

The new Center will be built for the “next century of discovery” with state-of-the-art teaching and learning spaces. The plan calls for complete renovation of the Life Science and Trexler buildings, constructed in 1970, and the removal of Massengill Auditorium with construction of a new central building in its place that connects Life Science and Trexler into one integrated facility.

Roanoke College’s student population has doubled since the existing science buildings were constructed in 1970. The new Science Center will become an important venue on the College campus for the study of all academic subjects.

“All you need to do is to see how rapidly things are changing in our communities and in our lives,” Shannon said. “Sciences are an important factor for Roanoke as a liberal arts school.

The pandemic has placed an increased focus on the study of

scientific disciplines. This is a great opportunity to update the College in this area.”

Shannon had a long and distinguished career with Norfolk & Western Railway and its successor corporation, Norfolk Southern, before retiring in 1996 as executive vice president - law.

The time has come to move forward with the Science Center project, said Jack Shannon, pictured here with his wife, Betty.

Morris and Sheila Cregger, pictured to the right of President and Mrs. Maxey, gave in honor of the Maxeys in hopes of inspiring others to support the Science Center project.

In 2008, Roanoke College established the John S. Shannon Endowed Professorship in Economics, currently held by Dr. Alice Kassens.

Morris and Sheila Cregger are honoring Roanoke College President Michael C. Maxey and his wife, Terri, with their gift to the Science Center. Morris Cregger ’64 is retired chair of the Roanoke College Board of Trustees. Through that role, he and his wife, Sheila, developed a strong friendship and working relationship with the Maxeys.

“Our gift is a recognition of the dedication, sacrifices, leadership and love for Roanoke College by President Maxey and his wife, Terri,” said Cregger, founder, with his wife, of a leading plumbing supply business. “I had the honor and pleasure to serve as chairman of the Board of

Trustees for eight years and developed the utmost respect for these two incredible people.

Sheila and I have developed a friendship with them that will always be a part of our memories.”

“We made our gift in their honor with hopes it will inspire others to join us to make this project a success,” Cregger said. “They say it is the impact of one’s life on those who follow that is the measure of one’s contributions. Mike and Terri have a strong legacy at Roanoke, as they have touched so many lives.”

Relationships also played a key role for Dr. Paul Capp ’52.

“The motivation I had to pursue physics and medicine came from the science faculty,” said Capp, a member of the College’s Board of Trustees. “I would not be where I am today if not for the professors who taught and advised me.”

“The faculty have always been outstanding, even when our physical facilities have not matched our program,” Capp said. “As prospective students and parents look at Roanoke College, they see a top-quality program and a stunning campus with facilities like the Cregger Center. They expect an equally impressive science facility, and there is a weakness there that has to be changed if we are going to compete, especially for those who don’t yet know about our faculty and career advising.”

Capp has spent his career in physics and medicine in academia — 73 years, all told — first at Roanoke, then at Duke University, the University of North Carolina and the University of Arizona Medical School.

“I’ve been able to critically observe the sciences and development at Roanoke,” Capp said.

“I feel a closeness to Roanoke and those first four years of my academic career provided the jump-start I needed for a career in academia. I’ve spent 69 years at other institutions, but none propelled me more than those four years at Roanoke.”

“That’s why I’m supporting the Science Center, and why I know it will impact students for years into the future,” Capp said. RC

To learn more about “Beyond the Rise: Elevating the Sciences at Roanoke College,” and how to support the project, visit roanoke.edu/beyondtherise

Paul and Constance Capp see the Science Center project as impacting students years into the future.

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athleticsnews The Maroons posted a 23-5 win over Shenandoah on April 7. Luke Kammerrman ’24, attack, was named ODAC Lacrosse Co-Rookie of the Year on May 12.

A N A M A Z IN G F E AT

“

The return to play

It lifted everyone’s spirits when we saw people on the fields or courts.

— Roanoke College President Michael C. Maxey

” Roanoke took two from the Shenandoah University Hornets on April 3.

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STORY BY BRIAN HOFFMAN ’74 PHOTOS BY RYAN HUNT ’18

IT WAS THE LEAST BUSY OF YEARS. It was the busiest of years.

It was the year of COVID. After nine months without a single game, meet or match involving a Roanoke College student-athlete, sports returned with a flurry in 2021. During a span of two weeks, from March 6-20, every sports team at the College competed.

It all began a year prior, on March 11, 2020. On that day, Rudy Gobert, of the National Basketball Association Utah Jazz, tested positive for COVID-19 and all sports as we knew them shut down.

In just days all professional and college sports, including NCAA tournaments, were put on hold.

That included nine spring sports that were already underway at Roanoke College. While the school waited to see if things would “get better,” the fields, courts and tracks would remain empty through the end of the school year. Then, when things didn’t get better, the fall season was impacted as well. It was the first time since Roanoke College Director of Athletics Scott Allison ’79 was a child that he wasn’t busy with sports.

“We had a long stretch with no games,” said Allison. “It was strange for me having Saturday and Sunday off, but I’m paying for that now. It was feast or famine.”

“Feast” began Jan.16, 2021, when the Maroons swim team had a meet, the first intercollegiate competition for a Roanoke College team in nine months. Men’s and women’s basketball, and indoor track teams started the following week, but with no fans in attendance and protocols that had coaches and game officials wearing masks, as well as the players when they weren’t competing.

“We were COVID tested three times per week as required by the NCAA,” said Men’s Basketball Coach Clay Nunley. “We weren’t able to use our locker room during the year and our benches were socially distanced, much like you saw if you watched any college basketball game on television.”

This made for extra work for Jim Buriak, Roanoke College director of athletic training, and his staff.

“The athletic trainers had to develop COVID-19 protocols for testing our athletes according to NCAA guidelines,” Buriak said. “We have five licensed athletic trainers at Roanoke College, and they have done a fantastic job of testing, following established protocols and providing exceptional health care to our athletes.”

Once sports returned in January, it was a whole new ballgame. Roanoke College men’s and women’s basketball teams had excellent seasons, but no one was there to cheer them on. All games were streamed online, but inside the Cregger Center, bleachers were rolled back.

“Obviously we missed having people at the games, but I think we were so excited to be able to play that we eventually didn’t even notice,” said Women’s Basketball Coach Carla Flaherty.

Allison remembers a particular moment just prior to the men’s first game.

“I remember [basketball player] Kasey Draper ’22 running down the steps with a big smile on his face,” Allison said. “He was so excited. You

Roanoke posted a 4-0 win over Emory & Henry College on March 11. Morgan O’Neill ’24, at left, was named ODAC Women’s Soccer Rookie of the Year on May 6.

Roanoke’s March 12 match against #1-ranked Sweet Briar College featured a record-breaking performance as the Maroons secured a 6-1 victory over the Vixens.

“Obviously we missed having people at the games, but I think we were so excited to be able to play that we eventually didn’t even notice.”

— Carla Flaherty, women’s basketball coach

could see that in the kids, they had a passion for playing.”

The swim team returned to the pool in time to win an Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship for the men and a runner-up finish for the women.

“The flexibility provided by the NCAA allowed us to move our conference meet to later in the spring, which allowed us the most opportunity to train for the championship meet,” said Scott Thacker, Maroons head men’s and women’s swim team coach. “The season gave them an avenue and a space to step aside from the stress and changes brought on by the pandemic, to have something that was as close to normal as possible.”

The pandemic wiped out all competition in the fall 2020, but the ODAC worked out a plan to have the fall sports teams play an abbreviated spring season. When the soccer, volleyball and field hockey teams started their delayed seasons in late February, the winter sports teams were still competing and the spring teams were just a week or so away from opening their schedules.

That made for a busy time for everyone related to the Athletics program.

“With the number of sports we had playing it was tough on the coaches in regards to practice time and facilities,” said Allison. “We over-seeded the fields on the Elizabeth Campus because they were used more than in the past. We learned to share more than we’ve had to and we sat down to meet several times as a group. I’m lucky to be blessed with a good coaching staff, and everything worked out fine.”

Allison, Assistant Director of Athletics John Farmer and Director of Athletic Communications Richie Waggoner had few days off as they overcontinued on page 24

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athleticsnews

SCOR EBOAR D

Roanoke opened the 2020-21 campaign with a home game against Greensboro College on Jan. 19, 2021.

BASEBALL 23-10 (15-4 ODAC)

SOFTBALL 19-9 (12-6 ODAC)

MEN’S LACROSSE 7-4 (5-2 ODAC)

WOMEN’S LACROSSE 9-4 (5-1 ODAC)

MEN’S BASKETBALL 10-2 (7-0 ODAC)

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL 10-3 (6-2 ODAC)

MEN’S TENNIS 8-6 (6-4 ODAC)

WOMEN’S TENNIS 5-9 (4-8 ODAC) saw the flood of intercollegiate games. And, due to COVID Head Men’s Soccer Coach Ryan Pflugrad ’02 was just testing, events often had to be postponed or canceled on happy to get the season in. short notice.

“Despite the challenges presented, I absolutely feel the “With the spring weather and protocols, we had to make season was a worthwhile experience for the athletes,” he some quick reschedules and it wasn’t easy,” said Allison. said. “To be able to compete against other colleges in any “There were so many moving parts involved. We had to fashion was a good outlet for the players after missing the consider what other events fall seasons and all that were going on at the College had gone through “The season gave them an avenue everyone as well. Hats off to the ODAC in the pandemic.” office. They were a big help in “We were able to develop and a space to step aside from the scheduling.” our team on and off the The seasons that normally stress and changes brought on by the field in preparation for next compete in the fall ran from fall and learn a lot about pandemic, to have something that ourselves, especially in the February through early April of 2021, and they were able to of some challenges was as close to normal as possible.” face compete in conference tourand adversities faced — Scott Thacker, head men’s and women’s swim team coach naments as well. It was a little through the season,” different, but much the same, Pflugrad said. and sometimes even better.

One person who has been impressed with the Athletics “Allowing us to have the fall season to prepare for the staff’s performance during the extraordinary 2020-21 year spring season was an advantage,” said Head Volleyball is Roanoke College President Michael C. Maxey. He underCoach Blair Trail ’99. “We typically only have two weeks stands the importance of intercollegiate athletics to the to practice before our first match.” morale of the student body and was thankful that all sports “With the fall being ‘practice only’ it enabled us to find teams could have a season during these trying times. out more about our freshmen and prepare more than our “It’s been an incredible ride,” Maxey said. “It lifted typical two-week preseason,” said Women’s Head Soccer everyone’s spirits when we saw people on the fields or Coach Phil Benne. “With a very good fall, we were able to courts. Everyone is so hungry for normalcy, and our staff, start the spring season with two weeks of preseason, and coaches, players and trainers did an amazing job. They we played at a high level.” were incredible, it was an inspiration to watch.”

MEN’S TRACK & FIELD Sixth at ODAC Championships

WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD Second at ODAC Championships

GOLF Eighth at ODAC Championship

MEN’S SWIMMING First at ODAC Championships

WOMEN’S SWIMMING Second at ODAC Championships

WOMEN’S SOCCER 7-3-1 (5-2-1 ODAC)

MEN’S SOCCER 3-1-4 (2-1-3 ODAC)

FIELD HOCKEY 6-3 (5-2 ODAC)

VOLLEYBALL 6-3 (6-3 ODAC) NOTE: As of May 10, 2021

For the latest scores, go to 24 ROANOKE COLLEGE MAGAZINE | ISSUE ONE 2021

roanokemaroons.com

RC|highlights

Kasey Draper ’23, received All-State College Division First Team honors from Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID).

Grace Fowler ’24 was named Field Athlete of the Year

by VaSID.

BASKETBALL The Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) announced its All-State College Division Men’s Basketball Teams on May 3. Kasey Draper ’23, Maroons guard/forward, was named to the first team.

Draper earned first team accolades after a season that would see him also named to the 2021 All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Team, along with guard Efosa Edosomwan ’23 and forward Justin Kuthan ’24, who was named 2021 ODAC Rookie of the Year. This season, Draper, of Roanoke, Virginia, scored in double figures in each of the 11 games he played this season, on his way to averaging 19.1 points per game — fourth in the conference.

ODAC announced the 2020-21 Women’s Basketball All-ODAC awards on April 6. A trio of Maroons were honored. Guards Whitney Hopson ’22 and Kristina Harrel ’21, and forward Renee Alquiza ’22 represented Roanoke on the all-conference team.

TRACK & FIELD VaSID, on April 28, announced the 2020-21 Women’s Indoor Track & Field All-State Teams, with Roanoke’s Grace Fowler ’24 earning Field Athlete of the Year and first team honors in the throwing events, and Alison Moreau ’21 earning first team honors in jumping events.

Moreau and Lily Lippert ’22 (Sprints); Zoe Dunlap ’23 (Mid-distance); Hannah Koepfinger ’21 (Jumps); Kaitlyn Nguyen ’24 (Jumps); and Emily Ball ’21, Mikayla Hefferon ’24, Savannah Gheen ’22 and Lauren Henson ’23 (4x400m Relay) received second team honors.

SWIMMING ODAC announced the 2020-21 all-conference swim teams on March 12. In total, 31 men’s and women’s swimmers earned All-ODAC designation after the 2021 ODAC Swim Championships, held March 5 and 7 at Liberty University. 2021 Roanoke College ODAC award winners include: Connor Kinkema ’21 – ODAC Men’s Swimmer of the Meet;

Scott Thacker, head men’s and women’s swim team coach, received the 2021 ODAC Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year award.

Kimberly Large ’22 – ODAC Women’s Swimmer of the Meet; and Jacob Winn ’24 – ODAC Men’s Rookie of the Meet. Head Coach Scott Thacker received the ODAC Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year award.

SOCCER ODAC released its 2020-21 All-ODAC Men’s Soccer awards on May 4.

Five Maroons were named to the three all-conference teams with each being a repeat selections from the 2019 teams. Joe Carman ’21 was named to the All-ODAC First Team as a defender after earning third team honors a year ago. Liam Camilleri ’22 earned All-ODAC Second Team honors as a forward, after being named third team in 2019.

Dylan Berk ’23 repeated as a member of the second team as a midfielder. Alec Taitague ’22 gave the Maroons a pair of midfielders on the second team, moving up from a third team selection last season.

Chris Jerrild ’22 was named All-ODAC Second Team as a defender after earning third team honors in 2019.

FIELD HOCKEY When ODAC announced its all-conference awards in field hockey on May 3, Roanoke would place four players on one of the three teams.

Lauren Heffron ’21 and Emilee Wooten ’21 earned first team honors for the second consecutive season. Defender Alexis Wright ’23 was named to the second team and Martha Hurley ’22 was named all-conference third team after making the second team in 2019.

VOLLEYBALL Linsey Bailey ’22 was named to VaSID’s Volleyball All-State first team on May 20, two weeks after she and Kennedy Clemmer ’23 were once again honored as members of the All-ODAC teams. Each was named all-conference after the 2019 season and returned as honorees after a 2020-21 abbreviated season that would see the Maroons finish fourth in the conference. Bailey received first team honors; Clemmer was named to the second team.

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alumninews

Roanoke College magazine welcomes news of your recent accomplishments and/or transitions.

You can write to us at: Office of Alumni Relations, Roanoke College, 221 College Lane, Salem, VA 24153-3794; call us toll-free at 1-866-RCALUMS; fax us at 540-375-2398; email us at alumni@roanoke.edu or update your record online at www.roanoke.edu/alumni.

Due to space constraints and time between issues, submissions might appear in an upcoming issue.

Editorial contributions are welcome but subject to editing. Photographs may be used as space permits, submitted in print or digital format. Digital photos must be 1 MB in size or larger. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee return of contributed materials. We look forward to hearing from you!

class notes 1950s A. Bruce Magyar ’58 has been appointed by the governor of Alaska to the State Board of Registration for Architects, Engineers, and Land Surveyors, and to the Alaska Boating Safety Advisory Council.

The board regulates the practice of architecture, engineering, land surveying and landscape architecture in Alaska. The council fills an important function, as Alaska waterways are used for many purposes, including fishing, shipping, recreation, transportation and hunting. Magyar, who holds a B.S. from Roanoke and an M.B.A from Pepperdine University, lives in Anchorage, Alaska.

Jennifer Foyle ’88 has been promoted to chief Creative Officer of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. In addition to her existing responsibilities as Aerie’s global brand president, Foyle’s expanded role includes oversight of merchandising, design and marketing for the American Eagle Brand. Foyle has more than 26 years of experience in the apparel retail industry. In 2018, she was honored by AdWeek with a prestigious Brand Genius award, which recognizes exceptional talent, insight, creativity and bravery in business. Foyle began her career at Bloomingdale’s and has held positions at Gap Inc. and J.Crew. She is a member of the board of LIM Fashion Education Foundation and the Housing Works Thrift Shops Board of Directors, a nonprofit combatting the dual crisis of AIDS and homelessness, and is involved in the volunteer management nonprofit, NY Cares.

Foyle holds a B.A. in sociology from Roanoke.

1960s

1970s David Slusher ’72 retired in May 2020, after 48 years in logistics and financial management for government organizations. “I was lucky to survive the entire 48year experience,” George writes. “Looking forward to seeing other Class of ’72 alums in 2022 for our 50th reunion.” David, who lives in Orange Park, Florida, holds a B.A. in economics from Roanoke, an M.B.A. from Old Dominion University, and an M.P.A. from the University of North Florida.

1980s Daniel Lentz ’83 retired on Dec. 31, 2020 after 35½ years with Ernst & Young 26

holds a B.A. in political science/urban studies from Roanoke and an M.P.A. from the University of Virginia.

LLP, having led several practices in the Americas. Daniel, who holds a B.B.A. from Roanoke and an M.B.A. from Loyola University, lives in Laurel, Maryland.

Daniel Powell ’85 has been named Manager of the Year for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s waste programs.

Daniel has been with the EPA since 1988, currently as chief, Technology Integration and Information Branch, Superfund Program. A resident of Springfield, Virginia, he

1990s Kelly (Boyer) Domaleski ’92 has joined Kinsale Insurance Co., in Richmond, Virginia, as a services assistant. Domaleski holds a B.A. in criminal justice from Roanoke. continued on page 28

The Rev. Dr. Laura Barbins ’90 of Mentor, Ohio, was elected in September 2020 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the Northeastern Ohio Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Barbins has served as pastor of Celebration Lutheran Church in Chardon, Ohio since 2001 and adjunct faculty at Trinity Lutheran Seminary at Capital University in Columbus since 2018. She also has served as interim pastor at Messiah Lutheran Church in Fairview Park from 1999 to 2000 and associate pastor for youth at Holy Trinity Lutheran in Nashville from 1995 to 1997. Barbins received a B.B.A. from Roanoke College and a Master of Divinity degree from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (now United Lutheran Seminary) in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in 1994.

Barbins received a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Vanderbilt University in Nashville in 2004.

AMELIA BARBINS

John Scherer IV ’62, celebrated his 80th birthday with a Zoom celebration with family and friends on Sept. 5, 2020.

Scherer is the founder and president of the Scherer Leadership Center, an international consulting firm, and splits his time between Seattle, Washington, and Krakow, Poland. He holds a B.A. in history from Roanoke, and a Master of Divinity from Lutheran Theological Seminary.

George Howard ’68 writes that he “finally retired” in January 2019. “All is fine,’ writes George, who holds a B.A. in economics from Roanoke, lives in Manchester, Vermont.

ALUMNI BOOKS “Voice of Maroons” authors book “I found myself leaning on my skills as a referee to manage a classroom and be an effective teacher.”

— Nick DeSanctis ’12

D

uring his years at Roanoke College, Nick DeSanctis ’12 worked for the Athletics Department. As a play-by-play announcer, he was known as the “Voice of the Maroons,” and co-hosted “Maroons Tuesday Night Live,” a sports talk show that broadcast from Mac and Bob’s restaurant in downtown Salem.

After graduation, DeSanctis worked for athletics departments at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the University of Dayton and Appalachian State University. But the long days required of that work

were wearing on him, and he was pondering a career change.

Partially inspired by a class he’d taught at Dayton, DeSanctis decided he wanted to become a teacher. As he was earning his teaching license, he found that the training program wasn’t translating as much as he liked to the classroom.

So he took a different angle and approached the job as he approached something he knew very well — refereeing.

“I found myself leaning on my skills as a referee to manage a classroom and be an effective teacher,” DeSanctis said.

After posting an article on LinkedIn about this approach, DeSanctis decided to expand it into a full-length book. Last summer, he published “Teaching Like a Referee,” based on his experience transitioning from a career in athletics to a career as a teacher.

“If you are a new teacher looking for some input, or if you are an experienced teacher who needs a fresh lens, I think my book can provide that,” DeSanctis said. “My book started as a LinkedIn article that got some good feedback and evolved into a first-year teacher memoir, classroom management guide, and motivational speech all rolled into one package.” — Alex McCarthy

MORE ALUMNI BOOKS “Fights: One Boy’s Triumph Over Violence”

By Joel Christian Gill ’01, associate professor, Massachusetts College of Art and Design Publisher: Oni Press Overview: “Fights” is the visceral and deeply affecting memoir of artist/author Joel Christian Gill, chronicling his youth and coming of age as a Black child in a chaotic landscape of rough city streets and foreboding backwoods.

From the publisher: “Propelled into a world filled with uncertainty and desperation, young Joel is pushed toward using violence to solve his problems by everything and everyone around him. But fighting doesn’t always yield the best results for a confused and sensitive kid who yearns for a better, more fulfilling life than the one he was born into, as Joel learns in a series of brutal conflicts that eventually lead him to question everything he has learned about what it truly means to fight for one’s life.”

Accolades: Black Caucus of American Library Association 2020 “Best of the Best” booklist; New York Times Best Graphic Novels for 2020; YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) 2021 Great Graphic Novels for Teens (one of top 10).

“Sisson’s Kingdom: Floyd County’s Civil War”

By Rand Dotson ’90, Ph.D., editor-in-chief, LSU Press Publisher: Wilder Publications Overview: “Like most Southern counties, Floyd County, Virginia, enthusiastically supported the Confederacy at the outset of the Civil War. But by the end of the war, more than 25% of the Floyd County soldiers had deserted, a number that was more than twice the national average.

However, what really set Floyd apart from the rest of the South was its inhabitants’ willingness to hide and protect deserters, even those who hailed from outside of their county. In the fall of 1864, a regiment of Confederate reserves marched into Floyd County, under orders to capture or drive away as many deserters as it could. By then, hundreds of local soldiers had run away from their units and returned home. Confederate officials believed that most of the county’s residents had joined a secret Unionist peace society called the Heroes of America. Guerrilla warfare between Confederate sympathizers, Unionists, and deserters had plunged the county into near anarchy. The district was widely known as ‘Sisson’s Kingdom’ in recognition of the two brothers who commanded its largest deserter gang.”

“Andrea del Sarto: Splendor and Renewal in the Renaissance Altarpiece”

By Steven J. Cody ’07, Ph.D., assistant professor of art history at Purdue University Fort Wayne Publisher: Brill Overview: Over the course of his career, Andrea del Sarto (14861530) created altarpieces rich in theological complexity, elegant in formal execution, and dazzlingly brilliant in chromatic impact. This book investigates the spiritual dimensions of those works, focusing on six highly-significant panels. According to Steven J. Cody, the beauty and splendor of Andrea’s paintings speak to a profound engagement with Christian theories of spiritual renewal — an engagement that only intensified as Andrea matured into one of the most admired artists of his time. From this perspective, “Andrea del Sarto: Splendor and Renewal in the Renaissance Altarpiece” not only shines new light on a painter who has long deserved more scholarly attention; it also offers up fresh insights regarding the Renaissance altarpiece itself.

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alumninews During the Christmas 2020 seasons, Jay Gates III ’93 and Jason Cording ’94, Esq. donated furniture to their fellow members of the Kappa Alpha Order at Roanoke (Beta Rho Chapter). The two alumni “donated four sofas I found through my travels as an antique dealer,” Jay says.

“We had fun delivering them and visiting.

We finished the day at Macado’s!” Jay, of Midlothian, Virginia, is vice president and owner of Gates Antiques Ltd. Jason, who lives in Harrisonburg, Virginia, is a deputy commissioner with the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission.

2000s Shawn Hinds Jr. ’00 received a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Organizational Development from the University of Louisville.

Shawn, who serves as high school administrator for Fayette County Public Schools in Lexington, Kentucky, earned a B.A. in English from Roanoke, an M.A. in education from Georgetown College, and an Ed.S. in Administration and Supervision from Eastern Kentucky University.

Vee Lamneck ’07 serves as executive director of Equality Virginia, a Richmondbased nonprofit that advocates for LGBTQ equality statewide. Lamneck served as the organization’s program director from 2013-16 and deputy director from 201620. Lamneck recently told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that her best business decision was deciding “when and who to hire. I wanted to build a team that was reflective of the diversity of LGBTQ Virginians and that could help us grow into an” inclusive organization. Lamneck holds a B.A. in English from Roanoke and a master’s degree in social work from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Amy (Gillis) Nixon ’07 is a speech pathologist with Campbell County Public

A L U M N I

Schools in Virginia. Amy holds a B.A. in sociology from Roanoke and an M.S. from Longwood College.

2010s Kasey Hall ’12 is a Virtual Student Foreign Service eIntern at the U.S. Department of State. Currently, she is working with the Office of the Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary to examine the geopolitical impacts of COVID-19. Hall, who graduated from Roanoke with a B.A. in International Relations, recently entered the Masters of Public Policy program at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy.

Zachary Hotell ’12 has been appointed to the Virginia State Historical Records Advisory Board. On Feb. 5, 2021, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Zachary’s appointment to the board, which serves as the central advisory body for historical records planning and related projects developed and carried out by the state. Zachary, who is archivist at the Shenandoah County Library in Woodstock, Virginia, holds a B.A. in history from Roanoke and an M.A. in History from Appalachian State University.

David Guynn ’13 has been promoted to Deputy Chief of the Roanoke Fire-EMS. Guynn is a Roanoke, Virginia, native who started in the FireEMS field in 2004 as a volunteer for Back Creek Fire & Rescue in Roanoke County. He began working for the City of Roanoke in 2005 as a telecommunicator trainee in the city’s E-911 Center. Two years later, Guynn joined Roanoke FireEMS. In 2010, Guynn left the department to return to school, obtaining a B.S. in physics at Roanoke, and an M.S. in continued on page 30

P R O F I L E

Hull tapped to head regional partnership J

ohn Hull ’04 has been named executive director of the Roanoke Regional Partnership, a public-private economic development marketing and strategy organization in Roanoke, Virginia.

Hull served in several roles at the Partnership — as director of marketing intelligence since 2010, and more recently as acting director of business investment — and as executive director of the Western Virginia Regional Industrial Facility Authority. He served as regional economic development manager with the Roanoke Valley Alleghany Regional Commission from 2003-2010.

“I appreciate the confidence of the Partnership’s leadership and am honored to have the opportunity to lead this strong team at a pivotal time in our region and nation,” Hull says.

“I am eager to work with our public and private partners to grow the regional economy.”

Hull holds a B.A. in political science from Roanoke and is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma’s Economic Development Institute and the Roanoke College Management Institute. He also earned the certified economic research professional designation from the Council for Community and Economic Research.

John Hull ’04, executive director of the Roanoke Regional Partnership.

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P R O F I L E

A “beautifully complex” career

PHOTO COURTESY OF KELLY VILLANUEVA

“My time at Roanoke taught me to be brave, how to lead, and how to inspire young people to get involved in their communities.”

K

elly Villanueva ’10 speaks poetically about her job as an adviser for EducationUSA, a U.S. Department of State network of over 425 international student advising centers in more than 175 countries.

“I see myself as a bridge between Peru and the United States,” says Villanueva, who is based in Lima. “I find great fulfillment in helping hundreds of students to cross that bridge with courage, to show their parents and low-income communities that dreams do come true.”

For almost 10 years, Villanueva has worked at the Instituto Cultural Peruano Norteamericano (ICPNA) EducationUSA Center in Lima, Peru. She describes her role as an EducationUSA adviser in Lima as a “beautifully complex one,” a blend of “U.S. guidance counselor, U.S. graduate school counselor, financial aid expert and bilingual motivational speaker.”

Villanueva advises and mentors more than 300 students annually throughout their undergraduate and graduate applications process to accredited institutions of higher education in the United States. She works with students of all ages — from age 13 to age 50.

The job has allowed her to travel extensively throughout Peru’s highlands, coast and jungles, “to speak to thousands about how my life was transformed by studying in the U.S. and the multiple benefits of pursuing a U.S. higher education degree.”

Villanueva is driven by her own experience at Roanoke College, one that she frequently shares with her students.

Kelly Villanueva, at left, poses with student Daira Povez, a 2020 graduate of the Education USA University Prep Program, a college preparation program run by the EdUSA center in Lima, Peru.

“I always say the best four years of my life were spent in Salem, Virginia, running up and down mountains and eating calzones at Mac and Bob’s and drinking Arnold Palmers at Mill Mountain [Coffee and Tea],” she says. “As an undergraduate student at Roanoke I felt incredibly privileged and safe. I was free to study whatever I wanted, and I had the luxury of entering small classrooms where all of my professors knew my name and cared deeply about my growth and development as a human being.”

Prior to her current position, Villanueva served as assistant to the Peruvian Deputy Consul Ricardo Malca in Washington, D.C., where she managed communication lines between the consulate and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on immigration cases dealing with detained Peruvian citizens.

Villaneuva — a Roanoke College Honors Program and Phi Beta Kappa graduate who earned bachelor’s degrees in international relations and Spanish — served as president of the College’s Hispanic Organization for Leadership and Achievement (HOLA) organization and was a member of the International Students Club and Building on Diversity (BOND) program.

“My time at Roanoke taught me to be brave, how to lead, and how to inspire young people to get involved in their communities,” she says. “I think about these lessons every time I build any project for new students. This is why, despite the distance and despite the decade that has passed since I last stood on [campus], I feel in my bones that Roanoke has never left me.”

— Leslie Taylor

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Two Roanoke alumni have been elected to the Vinton (Virginia) Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Jason Bishop ’99 is vice president and human resources officer for Bank of Botetourt.

He holds a B.B.A. from Roanoke and holds two Human Resources professional designations — the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) and the Society of Human Resources Management Certified Professional (SHRM-CP). John Conner ’13 is partner with the Conner Group, and Financial Advisor with Eagle Strategies, LLC. He holds a B.B.A with a concentration in finance from Roanoke.

Bishop

Conner

physics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2018, Guynn rejoined the Roanoke Fire-EMS as the fire marshal for the City of Roanoke.

Caitlin Mitchell ’13 has been recognized by Business North Carolina magazine as one of North Carolina’s “Legal Elite,” a listing of the state’s top attorneys in business-related categories. This year’s 982 honorees, who are peer-nominated, represent fewer than 4% of North Carolina’s active attorneys. Caitlin, who holds a B.A. in English and education from Roanoke and a J.D. from Elon University School of Law, works in Raleigh, North Carolina, primarily litigating commercial and employment matters, and appeals.

Samantha Baldwin ’18 has been named head coach of the varsity softball program at Liberty High School in Bedford, Virginia. Baldwin, a standout member of the Maroons softball team during her years at Roanoke, returns to the dugout of her high school alma mater. A 2014 graduate of Liberty High, she moves to her new

Capehart

position after leading the junior varsity team at Liberty for more than a year.

Baldwin, holds a B.A. in psychology from Roanoke.

Andrew Williams ’18 is a government teacher at Prince Edward County High School in Farmville, Virginia. Andrew holds a B.A. in history from Roanoke.

Briana Nardone ’19 is pursuing a Master of Science in Sport Management at The George Washington University. Most recently, Nardone worked as a women’s empowerment marketing intern for the Washington Football Team, during which she assisted with event planning, developed social media campaigns and arranged special guest appearances that addressed women’s empowerment and football. Nardone holds a B.S. in Sport Management from Roanoke.

Frances Reisman ’19 is living in Nashville, Tennessee, where she loves working as a pre-kindergarten teacher.

Frances earned a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from Roanoke.

Manigault-King

Virdi

Three members of the Class of 2020 received the Maxine Fitzgerald Trailblazer Award, named for the first Black American to enroll at Roanoke College as a fulltime student. The recipients are: Kayla Capehart ’20 (B.A. Health and Exercise Science); Brianna Manigault-King ’20 (B.S. biochemistry) and Mya Virdi ’20 (B.B.A.). The award, created by the Roanoke College Office of Multicultural Affairs, recognizes individuals who “blaze a trail for others to follow.” Fitzgerald, of Vinton, Virginia, graduated from Roanoke in 1969 and went on to earn a master’s degree from Radford University in 1975.

30 ROANOKE COLLEGE MAGAZINE | ISSUE ONE 2021

2020s Breanna Wilhelm ’20 is working as a customer service representative at BSN Sports in the Atlanta, Georgia area.

Breanna holds a B.S. in Sport Management from Roanoke.

marriages David McCutcheon ’97 and Frances Bosch ’99, wed on Aug. 1, 2020 at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Roanoke. The COVID-impacted “micro-wedding,” says Bosch, was attended by the McCutcheon children and Damon Daniels, former Roanoke College Student Veterans president, and his family. Ryan Hunt ’18 was the wedding photographer. “Life goes on, even if modified by masks and social distancing,” says Bosch, a teaching associate and faculty lecturer of biology at Roanoke, and founder of the College’s “Toy Like Me” program. “We had many alumni join us on Zoom and Facebook. Roanoke remains strong in our hearts, and if we can encourage people at this time, please share our news.” Bosch holds a B.S. in biology from Roanoke and an M.S. in biology from Fordham University. McCutcheon holds a B.S. in biology from Roanoke, is a nuclear medicine technologist at Carillion Clinic Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

Ethan Littman ’10 and Taylor Cazeault ’12 were married on Oct. 17, 2020 in Chestertown, Maryland. The couple live outside of Washington, D.C., where Taylor works in government relations and Ethan is a consultant who focuses on national security.

Emily Geno ’17 wed Brandon Gayle on Oct. 11, 2020 in Leesburg, Virginia.

Roanoke College alumni in attendance included: Jaina Lanum ’17, Kayleigh Murphy ’17, Hayley Moe ’18, Chelsea Schafer ’18, Anita (Lane) Ungs ’18 and Bailey Martin ’19. Emily and Brandon currently reside in Coatesville, Pennsylvania.

Margot Warner ’17 married Michael Fintel on Sept. 11, 2020 at The Penthouse

at Center in the Square in Roanoke. Margot is a school counselor with Roanoke County Schools. Michael, who worked in Roanoke College Admissions from 2018 to 2020, is the grandson of the late Dr. Norman Fintel, eighth president of Roanoke College, and his late wife, Jo. The wedding was a small in-person gathering, and many more joined the virtual livestream on Zoom. Margot and Michael currently reside in Riner, Virginia.

Parker Messick ’18 and Jennifer Calascione ’19 were married on Nov.14, 2020 at the Osprey’s At Belmont Bay in Woodbridge, Virginia. They were joined by fellow Roanoke College alumni: Erin McDonnell ’19, Emily Leclerc ’19, Marlena Gonzalez ’19, Samantha Greiss ’19, Schyler Wagner ’17, Matthew Myers ’19, Sean Ryan ’18, Jalisa Waddell, Sophia Hines ’19 and Michael Johnson ’19. The couple described the day as “wonderful” and “filled with love and hope.” Jennifer and Parker met at Roanoke College at a Game Night in 2015, and have been inseparable ever since.

“Even with Jennifer’s medical issues and the hardships they faced, they were still each other’s rock,” they wrote.

Emma Blair ’19 and Tyler Fedison wed on Nov. 7, 2020 at Big Spring Farm in Lexington, Virginia. Members of the wedding party included: Kate Hoyt ’18, Emily Sheppard ’19, Lilly Blair ’21 and Zach Blair (future Maroon). Parents of the bride are Tommy ’85 and Kimberly Blair ’93.

Many more Roanoke students and alumni were in attendance.

families

Burrows family

Ryan Burrows ’03 and wife Lauren, happily welcomed daughter Parker Alyson Burrow on Aug. 18, 2020. Ryan has long been part of the volunteer leadership of the Baltimore Alumni Chapter.

C. Micah Spruill ’11 and wife Elizabeth welcomed their second child, Margot Elizabeth Spruill on Oct. 14, 2020. “She has been a blessing and a delight,” Micah writes. “Her big sis Olivia [they’re just 14 months apart] is really enjoying her too!”

Cazeault-Littman wedding

Warner-Fintel wedding

Calascione-Messick wedding

Bosch-McCutcheon wedding

in memoriam

Ritter, Jr. ’48, former associate professor of religion at Roanoke College who died in 2013. Surviving family members include son Ivan C. Ritter ’80.

The Rev. Lewis C. Huddle ’49, of Woodstock, Virginia, passed away on Jan. 11, 2021 at the age of 93. After graduating from Roanoke, Huddle received a Master of Divinity from the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in 1954. He was ordained that year at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Wytheville, Virginia. For nearly 40 years, Huddle pastored a number of churches throughout Virginia and served in several capacities for the Virginia Synod of the Lutheran Church in America before retiring in 1992.

Huddle enjoyed gardening, bowling, golfing and traveling, visiting all 50 U.S. states, two U.S. territories, 12 Canadian provinces and territories, and 15 foreign

Martha M. Barry ’42, of Roanoke, Virginia, died on March 17, 2020 at the age of 98. She was executive secretary for the president of First National Exchange Bank for more than 50 years.

Daniel L. Heflebower ’46, a resident of Solomons, Maryland, died on Jan. 13, 2021, at the age of 96. Heflebower joined the Naval Air Corps after leaving Roanoke.

Upon completion of his service, he spent the next 50 years in marketing and real estate.

Doris Chambers Ritter ’48, of Salem, Virginia, passed away on Jan. 3, 2021 at the age of 94. Ritter was employed as a medical technologist and worked for the National Institutes of Health. She served as president of the YWCA of Roanoke and was a longstanding member of College Lutheran Church of Salem. Ritter was married for 58 years to the Rev. Guy A.

Blair-Fedison wedding

Geno-Gayle wedding

Helen Caudill Barranger ’41 (Marion College; ’67 (Roanoke College), of Raleigh, North Carolina, died on Oct. 31, 2020. Barranger earned her associate degree at Marion College, then later enrolled at Roanoke, where she earned a bachelor’s degree, and attended graduate studies at Hollins College (now University).

She went on to enjoy a career as a contributing editor and freelance writer for Blue Ridge Country and Roanoker magazines. An ecological crusader, Barranger’s environmental dedication inspired her to co-found Roanoke’s Clean Valley Council, for which she served as a director and vice president. She was also a volunteer reading tutor and active assistant in educational programs for the disadvantaged.

Helen served as chair of an American Association of University Women chapter, and served as a member of the Roanoke College Board of Trustees. In 1981, Barranger received the Roanoke College Medal – the College’s highest alumni honor, recognizing alumni who have demonstrated leadership, intellectual integrity and a dedication to serving their communities.

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Fariss remembered for his “full life” r. Bruce L. Fariss ’57, a retired internal medicine specialist who lived in Allisonia, Virginia, died on Sept. 12, 2020.

After graduating from Roanoke, Fariss continued his education at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, earning his M.D. in 1961. He joined the U.S. Army as a general practitioner and had a distinguished Army career during which he was promoted to the rank of colonel at age 35. During his extensive military career, Fariss held numerous positions in the United States and abroad, including consultant in endocrinology to the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army.

His most-loved position was serving as director of the Research Laboratory at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington.

Fariss retired from the military in 1984 and started a private practice in Radford, Virginia, later moving to Dublin, Virginia, where he practiced endocrinology and metabolism. While maintaining his private medical practice, Fariss served as chief of staff at Carilion New River Valley Medical Center for more than a decade and worked as an adjunct professor in the department of biology at Virginia Tech. He also enjoyed local politics, serving as a member of the Board of Supervisors for 16 years and as a member of the Pulaski County Planning Commission.

Fariss retired in February 2020, closing his practice and focusing on helping his son, Adam M. Fariss ’07, grow and manage the Iron Heart Winery in Allisonia, Virginia. “Dad was the type of person that made life a joy to live,” Adam said.

“His word was golden and his character was pure, colorful, upbeat and caring.”

Surviving family members include sons Dr. Bruce L. Fariss Jr. ’82, Henry T. Fariss ’00, Adam Fariss ’07; daughter Sarah F. Wilkes ’04 and son-in-law Dr. Kenneth T. Wilkes ’00.

countries. Surviving family members include daughter Carolyn Huddle Glasgow ’80 and son Joseph Huddle ’84.

Dr. William M. Comer ’52, of Montclair, N.J., died on Oct. 20, 2020. After graduating from Roanoke, Comer studied dentistry at the Medical College of Virginia

in Richmond, served at the U.S. Army Hospital in Tokyo, Japan, and specialized in orthodontics at Columbia University. He maintained a private orthodontics practice in Richmond for more than 20 years and, after closing his practice, worked as a consultant for many years.

Alpheus L. White ’49, of Strasburg, Virginia, passed away on Aug. 22, 2020, at the age of 93. White entered Roanoke College in February 1945, before volunteering in the U.S. Army, serving in Okinawa during the invasion of Japan.

He was honorably discharged in 1946 and returned to Roanoke College, where he received a B.S. in economics, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant.

White taught school in Warren County, Virginia, married, and in 1950 was called to active duty and served in the Korean War, receiving the Bronze Star. White returned to civilian life and went on to earn a master’s degree in education in 1953 and a Doctor of Education in 1959. From 1955 until his retirement in 1982, he was employed at what is now the U.S. Department of Education. At the time of his retirement, White was acting deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education. After retirement, White published two volumes on his father’s family and another on his mother’s family. In 2005, with his family, White cofounded Glen Manor Vineyards, a family farm vineyard and winery in Front Royal, Virginia – a passion for him and inspiration to never stop enjoying life to its fullest.

32 ROANOKE COLLEGE MAGAZINE | ISSUE ONE 2021

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE FARISS FAMILY

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“He lived his life with amazing zest and positively influenced countless lives,” son Adam Fariss said.

Jean Quigg Neubauer ’52 died Aug. 12, 2019 in Germantown, Tennessee. She was 88. Neubauer earned bachelor’s degrees in psychology and elementary education from Roanoke and a master’s degree in Library Science from the University of Maryland. She was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Werner Neubauer ’52, who passed away on Feb. 3, 2019, also at age 88. Dr. Neubauer held a bachelor’s degree in physics from Roanoke and a doctorate from Catholic University of America.

Yvonne Slonaker ’52, of Roanoke, Virginia, passed away Jan. 26, 2021.

Slonaker, who earned a master’s degree from Radford University, dedicated 29 years to teaching in Roanoke City Public Schools. She was an active member of the Showtimers Community Theatre, appearing in numerous productions and serving as a former president of the all-volunteer theater. Slonaker was a member of Christ Lutheran Church, serving three terms on the Church Council.

Dr. Lee A. Struckmeyer ’52, of West Chester, Pennsylvania, died Sept. 19, 2020.

After graduating from Roanoke, Struckmeyer earned a medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond.

Mary Danforth Yates ’52, of Summerville, South Carolina, passed away on Oct. 29, 2020 at age 91. Yates worked as a bookkeeper for 20 years and finished her career at Port Brokerage Company.

She loved her neighborhood and her church, Dorchester Presbyterian, where she and husband, Wade, were charter members and elders.

Eleanor Kavanaugh ’55, of Atlanta, Georgia, passed away on Jan. 14, 2020.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in education from Roanoke, Kavanaugh taught elementary school for a number of years.

She cherished her Methodist faith and family, and decided in her mid-60s to return to work as an assistant teacher for the Sandy Springs United Methodist Church Preschool.

Edward H. Underhill Jr. ’55, of St. Augustine, Florida, passed away on Nov. 20, 2020. After graduating from Roanoke, he completed post-graduate studies at Georgetown University. Underhill and his wife settled in Northern Virginia, where he worked for 30 years as an analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency in Rosslyn,

Virginia. He was an active member of the Northern Virginia Woodcarvers, and an enthusiastic soccer coach with the Annandale Boys Club.

Meredith L. Dickerson ’56, of Richmond, Virginia, passed away on July 25, 2020. Dickerson, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran of the Korean War, worked for Virginia Power for 36 years before retiring in 1991.

He was an active volunteer with Tuckahoe Little League, eventually becoming a commissioner and president of the organization.

Marcell Harris Spraker ’57, died on Jan. 4, 2021. At the age of 19, Spraker authored “I Know I Can Always Count on Jesus to Be With Me,” for the Roanoke World-News. After graduating from Roanoke, she studied at Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, Virginia, to become a director of Christian Education in the Presbyterian Church. She married Charles Spraker, a Lutheran pastor, in 1956 and dedicated her life to supporting his church and mental health ministries in Tennessee and Virginia. A woman of great faith, she loved her family and was a champion archer who enjoyed horse training, gardening, swimming and music.

John P. Whitescarver ’57, of Stuart, Florida, passed away on Dec. 3, 2020.

Surviving family members include sister Maslin Whitescarver Kain ’62 and nephew Todd D. Whitescarver ’82.

Ira W. Harris Jr. ’58, of Roanoke, Virginia, died on Oct. 12, 2020. Harris served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War before joining Bemiss Equipment Corporation in Salem, Virginia, where he served as manager of branches in Salem and Norton, Virginia.

Bruce B. Johnston Jr. ’58 passed away on Aug. 15, 2020.

William T. Sampson ’58, of Roanoke, Virginia, passed away on Nov. 17, 2020.

After serving two years with the U.S. Army Signal Corps during the Korean War, Sampson attended Roanoke College as an English major. He worked as a broadcast writer for WSLS Radio and Television, as an allmedia copywriter for several Virginia-based advertising agencies, and as writer of a weekly column, titled “Nature’s Way,” which appeared in a number of Virginia newspapers. Sampson served as vice president of the Valley Writers Chapter of the Virginia Writers Club, and The Police Writers Club.

Bruce R. Briggs ’59, of Roanoke, Virginia, passed away on Oct. 19, 2020.

Briggs, who served in the U.S. Army, was a probation officer in the Roanoke City Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Services. He was a member of the Boy

The Rev. E. Harold Jansen, who received an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Roanoke College in 1991, died Jan. 2, 2021. Jansen was Bishop Emeritus of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Jansen led a life of service to communities in which he lived and worked. He served as pastor of Eltingville Lutheran Church in New York for 14 years and was instrumental in starting the Eltingville Lutheran School. During his time at the school, he collaborated with Franciscan priests to open St. Francis High School, where he served as the Lutheran ecumenical director. In 1978, he was elected bishop of the eastern region of the American Lutheran Church, In 1979, he became the first bishop of the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America until his retirement in 1987.

Jansen held a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from City College of New York, a Master of Divinity from Luther Seminary, a Doctor of Divinity from Capital University and a Doctor of Divinity from Wagner College.

Scouts of America and an avid fan of Salem minor league teams.

J.C. “Pat” Darden ’60, a resident of Prescott, Arizona, died Oct. 24, 2020.

Darden studied physics and mathematics at Roanoke, later earning a B.S. in electrical engineering at Virginia Tech. His postgraduate studies were extensive, ranging from nuclear physics to microprogrammed computer architecture at the University of Southern California. He became an expert in computer hardware and software development, published and lectured extensively, and held two patents. He died peacefully at the home he shared with his wife, Elva, on their 55th wedding anniversary.

Dorothy Hasson Peters ’60, of Roanoke, Virginia, passed away on Aug. 28, 2020. Peters began her career as a teacher at age 18, and later began studying nights and weekends to earn her bachelor’s degree from Roanoke College at the age of 32. She later received a master’s degree from Radford University and in 1980, at age 51, received her doctoral degree from the University of Virginia. Peters held positions in school administrations throughout Virginia and in Kentucky. She retired in 2005 and settled in Roanoke.

Eleanor Zischkau Uckele ’60, of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, died on Aug. 17, 2020. After graduating from Roanoke, she worked at the Burlington Free Press and at the University of Vermont, where she earned a master’s degree in elementary education. She went on to teach first and second grade at Milton Elementary School for 20 years. She loved her family and enjoyed quilting, singing in the church choir, traveling and cooking international foods.

Katharine Saunders Horner ’62, of Richmond, Virginia, passed away on Nov.

4, 2020. After graduating from Roanoke, she served for more than 40 years on numerous volunteer boards, possessing a passion for raising money for charities and causes she loved. Her true passion was being involved with the Boca Grande Woman’s Club, serving as chair of scholarship fundraising.

Ann Trexler Gray ’64 died on March 1, 2020. Gray taught elementary and middle school in Atlanta, Georgia for 30 years.

She loved to travel and garden, and was active in the Lilburn Alliance Church, where she worked with benevolence for many years.

Linda Rindfleisch Burkart ’65, passed away Oct. 27, 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida. She was 77.

After graduation, she married and began a 25-year career as an Air Force wife, which took her, and husband Bob, to duty stations all over the United States. Their final assignment was in Niceville, Florida, where Burkart and a friend opened Strawberry Stitchery, a quilting and cross-stich shop.

She later joined Singers By The Sea, and the North Florida Women’s Chorale.

Robert F. Burkert ’66, of Allentown, New Jersey, passed away on Dec. 30, 2020. Burkert worked as an engineer at SciTec Inc. and was a lifetime member of the Lawrenceville Fire Department. He was very mechanical, always building, tinkering and fixing things around the house, and loved camping, gardening and his cats.

William B. West ’66, of Christiansburg, Virginia, passed away on Sept. 10, 2020. After graduating from Roanoke, West earned a master’s degree in psychol-

ogy from the University of Virginia. After completing his education, he worked and traveled as an administrator and developer in the healthcare industry. Upon retiring, he returned to the New River Valley to be close to family.

Georgia Dillon Burnley ’70 passed away on Jan. 1, 2021. After graduating from Roanoke, she enjoyed a long career as a social worker, special education teacher and elementary school counselor.

Stanley I. Glasofer ’70 passed away on Oct. 24, 2020. According to his obituary, Glasofer was a member of the Rodef Sholom Temple and the United Jewish Community of the Virginia Peninsula. He believed strongly in the need to better the world and was very proud of his volunteer efforts with the Jewish Cemetery of the Virginia Peninsula.

Stephen L. Shimchock ’70, of Roanoke, Virginia, passed away on Nov. 14, 2020. After graduating from Roanoke, Shimchock spent his career expanding and managing the family business, Shimchock Label Service, and was an antiqiuarian and collector.

Dr. Charles B. Allen ’71, of Bluefield, Virginia, died on Sept. 20, 2020. After graduating from Roanoke, Allen earned a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Radford University in 1978. While serving on the Board of Directors of Southern Bible College in Houston, Texas, Allen was appointed the college’s president and served for eight years. In the years that followed, he pastored several churches before retiring in 2003.

Robert A. Schremp Jr. ’71, of Columbia, Maryland, died on Sept. 13, 2020.

After graduating from Roanoke, Schremp worked for many years in the insurance business, eventually establishing his own agency in the early 1990s. Thirty years after graduating from Roanoke, he earned an M.A. in counseling psychology at Bowie State University and was then licensed as an LCPC. He worked in Baltimore with Catholic Charities and as a psychotherapist for individuals, couples and families.

Alexander Parrish ’74, of Stamford, Connecticut, passed away on Oct. 17, 2020. Parrish was born in Manila, Philippines, to parents who survived 39 months as Japanese prisoners of war, and was raised in New York. After graduating from Roanoke, Parrish served as a radioman in the U.S. Marines Corps during the Vietnam War. He was one of the last Marines evacuated from Khe Sanh on July 1, 1968.

Matthew V. Anderson ’76 died Nov. 4, 2020 in Boca Raton, Florida. Until his retirement, he owned and operated Andy Myer Pool Corporation. He will be remembered for his outgoing personality and love of deep sea fishing.

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Maroons lose three Hall of Famers

Reggie Thomas was one of the nation’s top players throughout his four-year career at Roanoke.

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Joe LaRocco, who served as a starter at more than 1,000 scholastic and collegiate track meet, at the 2009 Roanoke College Track and Field Invitational.

he Roanoke College athletic community, in the 2020-21 academic year, mourned the loss of three of the College’s athletic greats.

On Sept. 7, 2020, Maroons basketball legend Reggie Thomas ’85 died in Seattle, Washington, where he worked as a sheriff’s deputy. On Jan. 19, 2021, Joe LaRocco ’76, a star track and field athlete at Roanoke, passed away in Salem, Virginia. And on Sept.

19, 2020, men’s basketball standout John W. Dierks ’54, Roanoke’s first 1,000-point scorer, died in Southbury, Connecticut.

Thomas, a 2002 inductee into the Roanoke College Athletic Hall of Fame, was widely regarded as one of the top two guards to ever play in Salem. He was the second-leading scorer in Roanoke College men’s basketball history.

One of the nation’s top players throughout his four-year career, Thomas completed his career at Roanoke in 1985 with 1,873 points, 186 steals, and 292 assists. A native of Danville, Virginia, he ranks third in all-time steals and sixth in all-time assists in Roanoke’s record books.

Thomas led the Maroons in scoring and assists in each of his final two seasons. One of seven players to have his jersey retired, Thomas was a First Team All-American in 1984 and 1985, and helped the Maroons to 105 wins during his career. He was a sophomore on the 1982-83 team that advanced to the NCAA Final Four.

“A great player in his time at Roanoke College, and a great person,” said Roger Petersen ’81, a member of the Roanoke College Board of Trustees. “He will be missed.”

LaRocco was inducted to the College’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998, in recognition of his track accolades and his indefatigable service to the sport of track and field. A member of the crosscountry and track and field teams at Roanoke, LaRocco held several indoor and outdoor track and field school records at the time of his induction.

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Walt Dierks, once called “one of the finest performers ever to put on a Roanoke College basketball uniform,” during his years at Roanoke.

After his graduation from Roanoke in 1976, LaRocco spent over 20 years at Cave Spring High School, in Roanoke County, Virginia, as a social studies teacher and boy’s and girl’s cross country coach.

He compiled a 196-36 record, and won six Coach of the Year awards.

LaRocco served as a starter at more than 1,000 scholastic and collegiate track meets throughout the state of Virginia.

Last year, he officiated the 2020 ODAC Indoor Track & Field Championships, his 25th conference championship meet. In addition to Roanoke College and ODAC meets, LaRocco served as the head starter for the Virginia High School League (VHSL) Division 3 and 4 Championships.

“Joe was so proud of being a Maroon, yet he was held in the highest esteem among all the Old Dominion Athletic Conference coaches when it came to his fairness in officiating,” said Finn Pincus, former head coach for men’s and women’s cross country and track and field at Roanoke.

LaRocco’s surviving family members include his wife, Terry Campbell LaRocco ’76.

Dierks, a 1975 Hall of Fame inductee, entered Roanoke on a basketball scholarship, becoming “one of the finest performers ever to put on a Roanoke College basketball uniform,” according to his bio on the Roanoke College Athletics website.

From 1950-54, Dierks led the Maroons to some of their greatest years while earning an All-American mention. In 1952 and 1954, with Dierks as team captain, the Maroons captured the Mason Dixon Conference Championship.

After graduating from Roanoke, Dierks was offered a position to play professional basketball for the then-Minneapolis Lakers, which he turned down to start a career in the pharmaceutical industry. He worked for Roche Laboratories in multiple positions — earning an MBA from George Washington University along the way — until his retirement in 2001.

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degree from Memphis State University.

She worked as a public school teacher in Memphis for many years, then as an educational consultant in Arkansas before retiring in 2018.

Louise Phillips Martin ’79, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, died on Dec. 28, 2020.

Martin loved the beach, particularly an annual trip to Ocracoke with friends and reunions with college classmates.

Lynda Huddleston Edghill ’80, of Roanoke, Virginia, died on Jan. 3, 2021.

After graduating magna cum laude from Roanoke, Edghill spent years working at a group home, where she “enjoyed helping those who could not help themselves.”

James K. Sanders Jr. ’80, of Roanoke, Virginia, passed away on Aug. 3, 2020. Sanders was retired from Allstate Insurance Company.

THE ROANOKE TIMES

Robert S. Bratton ’76, of Gulf Shores, Alabama, passed away on July 20, 2020.

After serving two tours of duty in Vietnam, Bratton enrolled at Roanoke College and earned a bachelor’s degree. He lived, traveled and worked throughout the United States and other parts of the world. He was known for his love of family, country, outdoors and Alabama football.

Deborah Leonard Boling ’78, of Salem, Virginia, died on Oct. 30, 2020.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in nursing, Boling worked at then Lewis-Gale Hospital in Salem, later accepting a position with Meade-Johnson as a medical sales representative in Tennessee.

Suzanne Page ’78, of Memphis, Tennessee, passed away on Oct. 14, 2020. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree from Roanoke, she earned a graduate

Christopher T. Gladden ’96 — a feature writer and movie critic for The Roanoke Times, described as “one of the most visible, articulate and opinionated sources” — died on Oct. 22, 2020. He was 71. Gladden, of Salem, Virginia, served on the board of the Salem Historical Society and as member and president of the Salem Friends of the Library Board. His love of reading and writing led to a midlife venture as a bookseller.

Gladden continued collecting and selling rare books, and enjoyed traveling. According to his obituary, “Bob Dylan was his hero and playing music was his joy.”

Delphia Ryan Flippen ’90, of Roanoke, died on Oct. 15, 2020. Surviving family members include stepdaughter Marie Ryan ’92 and granddaughter Teresa M. Goad ’86 Charles M. Peterson III ’91, of Erden-

heim, Pennsylvania, passed away on Nov. 15, 2020. He was actively involved in many local sports team communities and was a lifelong member of the St. Paul’s Episcopal in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania. RC

F A C U L T Y

Loss of a legend

By Dr. Roland Minton, M. Paul Capp & Constance Whitehead Professor of Mathematics, Roanoke College

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ne of Roanoke College’s greats passed counsel or just listening to young faculty away on Feb. 21, 2021. Dr. William D. complaints. I trusted his judgment and Ergle, longtime faculty member and chair valued his friendship. of the Math, Computer Science & Physics In those early years, I used to take a free department, was 81 and living in Atlanta near Tuesday and drive to Augusta, Georgia, for his beloved children, Christi Ergle O’Neal and a practice round of the Masters Golf TournaMike Ergle. ment. Bill was delighted when I started Roanoke College got to know Bill quite listing the “International Conference on Apwell over his 44 years of teaching and service. plied Projectile Motion” in my annual report, For 15 years, he was chair of what is now the and would comment on the importance MCSP department. Under his leadership, the of the conference. There are publications size and prestige of the department inof faculty activities that list my ICAPM creased dramatically. One of his most imporattendance. tant contributions to the department was There was almost always mischief brewthe culture of everybody being able to teach ing on the second floor of Trexler with Bill all courses, a principle that has kept the around. In his 44 years teaching at Roanoke, Dr. William Ergle during his early years at Roanoke. department’s teaching fresh and innovative. thousands of students got to know Bill’s great Bill was instrumental in the creation of the first computer sense of humor and on occasion, his impatience with laziness. As science course taught at the College, and was director of the a Ph.D. statistician, you might think that teaching Stat 101 year Computing Center at its creation. For many years, he taught all after year would get old, but Bill always enjoyed (most of) the of the upper-level statistics courses, preparing an impressive students. He wrote an introductory stat book that we used for number of students for graduate school in statistics, given the years. Students could always get help from Bill, but they quickly lack of a statistics major. found out that he did in fact lock the door when class started.

Bill had an important voice in all campuswide discussions.

For many confused, and increasingly uncomfortable, recent One of my first impressions of the College was that even in instudents, the name Ergle has presented a puzzle. The door labeled tense discussions of policy or curriculum, there was laughter and “William David Ergle Lavatory” looks like it might lead to a rest(mostly) good will. This is one of Bill’s influences on his colleagues. room, but is there time to Google “lavatory” to make sure?

I got to know Bill when he hired me in 1986. He had just taken Bill enjoyed the “honor” of that sign, which was completely a over as chair of the department after the sudden passing of show of affection from the department. It’s too bad that these Ronald E. Walpole. Bill was a great mentor, always available for students never got to know the man behind the legend.

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alumninews ALUMNI ASSOCIATION NEWS

From the Alumni Association president Dear fellow alumni, As I write this letter, we approach one year since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the countless ways it has impacted the world for each of us, including our dear old Roanoke. I am hopeful that as you read this letter, the life and vitality of our country continues to improve due to the dedication of countless individuals worldwide.

Since 2015, each new student begins their journey at Roanoke by accepting a Challenge Coin at Opening Convocation. During this ceremony, students are introduced to the College’s central values, which are embodied in the four pillars: Pursuit of Academic Excellence; Commitment to Community; Service to Others; and Aspiring to a Life of Personal Distinction. Indeed these pillars and the values represented — Excellence, Community, Service, and Distinction — help make the Roanoke experience unique and purposeful.

Joe Carpenter ’99

“More so than ever, connection helps each of us grow stronger mentally, physically and in spirit.”

I have thought about these values, and the importance of connection, during this year. More than ever, connection helps each of us grow stronger mentally, physically and in spirit. Our Maroon Nation is stronger when Maroons Come Together. The mission of the Alumni Association and the Alumni Executive Council (AEC) is to involve as many alumni as possible in satisfying relationships in the life of Roanoke College, and to build strong connections to our community, region and the world. Through recruitment of active participants, development of career-enhancing opportunities, and encouragement of financial contribution, the AEC guides generations of alumni in support of Roanoke College with their time, hearts and resources.

Being connected with one another, and to the College, is easier now than ever before. During the pandemic, the Office of Alumni and Family Relations has expanded information for alumni at www.roanoke.edu/alumni. Information includes links to the many ways to get involved, whether how to become one of the new Alumni Ambassadors who help recruit future Maroons, a Maroon Mentor to help current students explore their career path, a Class Agent to help plan the next milestone reunion, a speaker for a class, or a volunteer for your alumni chapter.

You can also find fun and informative content on the Alumni Hub, such as the NOKELive event series, and ways to give financially to support the College. Lastly, you might consider the last time you updated your information in the online Alumni Directory. This tool is available to all alumni to help find other alumni and stay connected.

I look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead as we can begin more in-person events that bring alumni even closer. Please mark the date for the 2022 Alumni Weekend, to be held April 22-24.

Until then, please stay well and safe and connected.

Respectfully, Joe Carpenter ’99

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’NokeNEWS:

S C RA P B OO K

The Roanoke College job posting site, MaroonNet, is now Handshake! This platform will allow for more employers to make employment opportunities available to Roanoke students and graduates. If you are looking for help as a job seeker, set up an alumni profile. If you would like to post internships and/or jobs, set up an employer profile.

If you’re already on Handshake, simply search for Roanoke College under schools on your home page, and add us as a favorite school.

Visit https://www.roanoke.edu/handshake.

Tod Senne ’74 issued a challenge to his Class of ’74 and Monument Club members to match his gift of $15,000 for Roanoke College Day of Giving, held on Nov. 18. That same day Senne, pictured here, recorded his first Hole in One at his home course at Berkley Lakes Country Club in Atlanta, Georgia.

Coincidence? Hmmmm …

Reunion Class Agents and Reunion Committee Volunteers assist the College with planning communications and activities that will encourage classmates to come back to campus to celebrate class reunions during Alumni Weekend, and to support Roanoke College.

If you are interested in becoming a Class Agent or Committee Volunteer, contact Lauren Wood ’06, Coordinator of Alumni & Family Relations, at wood@roanoke.edu or at (540) 375-2238.

Alumni are our greatest Ambassadors! Work continues on Roanoke College’s Alumni Ambassador Program. Ambassadors will serve as a connection to the College for prospective students in your region or career path who are interested in attending Roanoke. By sharing your story, you will play an important role in students’ decision-making process and be a partner in helping the Office of Admissions attract strong applicants. If you are interested in becoming involved, please contact Sally Logan Walker, Director of Alumni & Family Relations, swalker@roanoke.edu or (540) 375-2074.

The Atlanta Alumni Chapter hosted a virtual scavenger hunt on Nov. 23 for chapter alumni and friends. The fast-paced game required participants to find household items from a list cleverly crafted by chapter leadership. Pictured here is Adam Wojohowski ’14 who won the hunt, along with his fiancé Kari Spitler ’15. The prize? An NFL football, autographed by NFL great Peyton Manning.

Join the hundreds of Roanoke College alumni who have become Maroon Mentors. An alumni mentor is paired with a current Roanoke College student and the pair develops a relationship that is both beneficial for the student and rewarding for the mentor. Maroon Mentors help students understand what it takes to start a career in their chosen field and help the student begin to build a professional network. For more information contact Jonathan Lee ’95, Director of Alumni Engagement and Student Enrichment, jelee@roanoke.edu or (540) 375-2237 Attend a NOKELive event this month! Visit www.roanoke.edu/alumni and check out past and future live events. Hear from alumni, faculty, staff and students on a variety of topics. Events are being planned throughout the year and we hope to see you! Have an idea for a future NOKELive event?

Contact Sally Logan Walker, Director of Alumni & Family Relations, swalker@roanoke.edu or (540) 375-2074.

Get Connected! Has it been a while since you updated your information? Trying to connect with fellow alumni? Check out the online Alumni Directory and update your information today by visiting www.roanoke.edu/alumni Find us on social media! Search for the Roanoke College Alumni Association on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Good turnout at the Charlotte Alumni Chapter’s highway cleanup on Oct. 24, 2020.

Participants included: Dale ’74 and Janet Sarjeant ’73, and their grandchildren Ryane and Cam Sarjeant; Greg ’10 and Emma Record ’13 and baby Wyatt; T.J. ’08 and Brandi L. Milewski ’11; Rick Oglesbee ’95; and Stephanie Leipzig ’94.

Have a photo to share from an alumni chapter activity?

Send to rcmagazine@roanoke.edu.

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MAROON MUSINGS

BY D ESTI NEE HARPER ’2 1

CARISSA SZUCH DIVANT

My parting gift to Roanoke College

This essay, written last fall by Destinee Harper (above), was first-place winner of the Bonilla Legacy Essay Contest, created in 2020 as part of the 20th Anniversary celebration of the Roanoke College Office of Multicultural Affairs.

L

ocated in rural Dayton, Virginia, Kerns Road consists of houses with washing machines in their front yards, ancient couples sitting on porches, and stray dogs living in ditches. I grew up here, with enough money for my grandma and me to get by but not much more than that.

I lived alongside neighborhood children whose bicycle chains broke daily and stomachs grumbled regularly, and I realized from a young age that the world is warped in unfortunate ways. My upbringing inspired an empathy for underprivileged youth, which lit my path to facilitating service opportunities at Roanoke College years before I realized my potential as an advocate for equality.

I started in elementary remedial English classes but grew into a woman who exceeds expectations as 38 ROANOKE COLLEGE MAGAZINE | ISSUE ONE 2021

a literary studies and Spanish double major at Roanoke College. However, Kerns Road remains my home, and I felt obligated to give back to people like those on my street still struggling to make ends meet.

My campus position — volunteer coordinator for Casa Latina, an organization dedicated to helping the local immigrant and Hispanic population — is emotionally taxing but incredibly worthwhile. Upon first entering Casa Latina, I was bombarded by one-armed hugs and the general friendliness of the Latinx community, but I could see the strain beneath those bursting smiles. Their exhausted eyes gleamed sadly with the truth behind nonprofit work and supporting families with nowhere near enough funding. But I quickly became a member of their relentless mission to assist struggling members of the local Spanish-speaking population.

I teach Spanish to children with licorice-colored teeth who cannot afford to visit the dentist. I host clubs to encourage preservation of Spanish language and traditions.

When immigrant parents are struggling to communicate with their Americanized children, Casa Latina bridges the gap. When there are deportation preparedness classes, I visit local “tiendas” and restaurants to pass out flyers.

Roanoke College made these opportunities available, and nothing has shaped my life more than raising the voices of the underrepresented in the Roanoke community.

While working off-campus, I realized how lacking my Spanish education would have been without my involvement at Casa Latina. With this in mind, I began my attempt to infiltrate Roanoke College’s Modern Languages Department to facilitate engagement among students and members of the Spanish-speaking community. I eventually began working with Dr. Alba Arias Alvarez, assistant professor in Hispanic Linguistics, to form a connection be-

tween her “Spanish in America” class and Casa Latina, and we successfully have students host bilingual events about hiking opportunities, coloring nights, and bedtime stories.

Not only is this an engaging opportunity for the Spanish-speaking population, but students practice their Spanish with native speakers and provide virtual events for families to attend during the pandemic.

I believe prejudice and misunderstanding can be combated with empathy, and I have built a lasting connection between Casa Latina and Roanoke College to allow a more open flow of communication with struggling members of the Latinx population. We can support each other only when we hear and understand each other.

I blindly entered college as a firstgeneration student but eventually realized my passion for education and Spanish culture. Through community involvement and a dedication to pilfering Roanoke College’s vault of opportunities, I realized my dream of attending graduate school at the University of Virginia to study literature with a specialization in Caribbean literatures, arts and cultures.

While my time with Casa Latina nears an end as I approach graduation, I leave Roanoke College the gift of being more connected with this valuable nonprofit and the local Spanish-speaking population. I feel excited when I consider my future after Roanoke College because I will be a Maroon who uplifts downtrodden individuals and whose story grew from the dirt road she first called home. RC

The theme of 2020-21 essay entries was “Diversity Means All of Us: How I Contribute to Creating Legacy within the Roanoke College Community and Beyond.” Destinee Harper, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Tau Delta international literary honor society and participant in the 2019 US-UK Fulbright Summer Institute, graduated on May 29 as Class of 2021 salutatorian with a bachelor’s degree in literary studies and Spanish.

naught. Elizabeth College would be gone forever.

So what did their world look like?

Although the scale was small, they were a proper college with a number of allied programs. In 1920, there were 37 students enrolled in the BA course, paying a whopping $400 a year for tuition, room, board and washing. The women took four years of religion and two each of Latin, science, math and modern language, with a choice of five majors. (Actually, quite close to Roanoke’s.)

But beyond the college curriculum, the school sponsored a prep

COLLEGE ARCHIVES

BY D R. MARK MI LLER

Our beloved “Lizzies” Excerpt from a “Board Talk” presented to the Board of Trustees on April 15, 2021.

ROANOKE COLLEGE ARCHIVES

In 1920, there were 37 students enrolled in the BA course, paying a whopping $400 a year for tuition, room, board and washing.

The Elizabeth College Senior Basketball Team, in 1917.

I

t was 100 years ago this year when we lost a dear friend. We had been buddies and playmates, colleagues and partners, and had grown up together in Salem in the early 20th Century.

And then, disaster struck, and they were gone. In December 1921, our sister school, Elizabeth College, burned to the ground.

There were attempts made to revive the college, even an effort to ask Roanoke to take them in, but all for

school of the last two years of high school; special departments of art and “expression” or oratory; a commercial course featuring business (including shorthand, typing and spelling); home economics (exploring the art of cooking, sewing and home nursing) and finally, a major program in music. About 100 students were enrolled in those allied offerings.

Like any other college, there was always time for fun and games, and clubs and organizations, too. On the more serious side, the women had their Student Government Association, the YWCA, the Missionary Society, their choir, and two literary societies, each honoring a son of the South — Edgar Allan Poe and Sidney Lanier. They also had an Art Club, a Sewing Circle and the Domestic Science Club.

They had a host of geographic clubs representing their hometowns — Old Dominion Club, the Shenan-

doah Club, the Carolina Club and the Exotic Cosmopolitan Club, featuring women from the northern states, and two women from Hawaii.

They had secret groups, too, like the Midnight Belles, the Octettes, several Greeks, and the mysterious SSSSSS Sisters whose club motto was “Silence!”

Their scrapbooks are treasure troves of their social activities. They are full of party invitations, dance cards, menus, programs, flower pressings and, thanks to Kodak and the recent arrival of the Brownie camera, scores of photos calendaring their years in Salem. Their picnics and adventures into the local woods and mountains provide a beautiful record of their travels.

And, they played sports. Donning their athletic colors of orange and brown, the Lizzies formed intramural sides for tennis, field hockey and basketball (which included teams of two guards, two forwards and two centers — a “side center” and a “jumping center”).

After the burning of Elizabeth College in 1921, Roanoke College was in no financial shape to accept the women on a continuing basis, and President Charles Smith was no fan of coeducation. But by the 1950s, Roanoke began to host their alumnae gatherings, and by the 1970s, [eighth Roanoke College President] Dr. Norman Fintel made a special effort to reach out and include them to an even greater extent. They responded by furnishing the nicest formal space on campus with the opening of the Elizabeth College Parlor in Crawford Hall.

Roanoke hosted their last reunion there in 1989 with seven Lizzies in attendance. The youngest was 91, and the oldest was 99.

They were still as sharp as anyone else in the room. RC

Dr. Mark Miller is professor of history and David Bittle College Historian at Roanoke College.

ROANOKE.EDU

39

relic:

noun. An object surviving from an earlier time, especially one of historical or sentimental interest; an artifact having interest by reason of its age or its association with the past.

Commencement Invitation 1887

40 ROANOKE COLLEGE MAGAZINE | ISSUE ONE 2021

Front cover of the two-page invitation to the June 15, 1887 commencement.

College Archivist Linda Miller described it as “a very complete and swanky” creation. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen an invitation with that much information,” Miller said. Commencement exercises included four days of addresses from various members of the student body, plus addresses by each graduate with musical interludes, she noted.

RELATIONSHIPS make a difference Zacary Croft ’18, with his daughter, Laura.

FOR ZACARY “ZAC” CROFT ’18, Roanoke College provided a strong foundation for graduate school. As a chemistry and physics double major at Roanoke, Croft is grateful not only for the solid academic preparation, but also for opportunities to work closely with professors on high-level research projects and as a teaching assistant (TA).

“Coming from a small college like Roanoke and transitioning to a huge university like Virginia Tech was overwhelming at first,” says Croft, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in chemistry at the university. “I soon realized that I was just as prepared for the Ph.D. program as my peers from larger research institutions. The one-on-one opportunities with professors, and my tutoring and research experiences gave me an edge up on some of the other graduate students here.”

Zac Croft, at right, during his years at Roanoke, here with Dr. Skip Brenzovich, associate professor of chemistry. “He was a great student who has gone off to do some exciting things in graduate school,” Brenzovich says.

Croft has been a devoted supporter of the College as a member of the Young Associates Giving Society. This program offers Roanoke graduates from the past decade access to its leadership giving program through a more accessible tiered giving structure.

“I’m extremely grateful to all of my professors in chemistry and physics,” Croft says. “I want to give back because I believe that the College allowed me to get where I am today.”

As a student at Roanoke, Croft juggled his academic studies with a job and fatherhood. He developed close relationships with numerous professors who encouraged his persistence, including his research advisors, Dr. W. Gary Hollis, professor of chemistry, and Dr. William (Skip) Brenzovich, associate professor of chemistry.

“All of the professors at Roanoke are just so helpful, and they genuinely care so much. They are the reason that I have been able to get this far,” says Croft, now a research assistant, lab instructor, tutor and mentor at Virginia Tech. “When I started college, I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to balance raising a young daughter, working and studying. And as I was going through all of that, my professors were so accessible, and it felt like a mentorship.”

“Because of these relationships, I developed a sense of drive and wonder about science that made me want to go to grad school. They just kind of rubbed off on me.”

For more information about Young Associates, contact Heather Johnson, Associate Director of Leadership Giving, at hljohnson@roanoke.edu or (540) 375-2041.

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