The be st is yet to come.
Hello, students! Welcome back, upperclassmen and welcome to campus and our to UC family, class of 2019. I hope everyone has transitioned well and is getting into the swing of things. The beginning of the school year gives students a new start and the opportunity to seize the day and accomplish new goals as well as making new memories with friends during their time here
All of campus is buzzing with excitement as so many incredible changes are upon us. Students have already witnessed the innovations inside the Bowell Campus Center and the all the new space in The Grill as well as the patio seating available, but the best is yet to come
We at The Patriot hope that students will join us in the journey throughout this year of changes and new opportunities available on campus We are always trying to reach out and represent the voices of campus through our social media and reader response. In addition to our already established social media presence on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, we have a Snapchat (ucthepatriot) available to keep in touch with our staff We hope to use this app to allow users to see what we’re doing when developing the publication before its print date, and engage students in our contests as we often do throughout the year.
In this issue we inform and spotlight some of the changes that have been made and explain why they happened. We hope you will enjoy this issue and the work we will do this semester.
From all of us here at The Patriot, we wish you all the best in your endeavors this semester We look forward to serving you to represent the voice of the student body more than ever before, as you serve our campus and community.
Sincerely,
Editor- In- Chief
Natasha Jones
Cover Photo by Bill Turner
A Lit tle gro up,
a Big impact
UC’s sorority, Bigs and Lit tles, gears up for a new semester
BY CH R IS T I N RO T T EN BERGER
StaffWriter
Rush Week, hosted by Bigs and Littles, recently took over campus. The week consisted of a different event each day for the girls to be welcomed as well as meet new people Rush Week had an ice-cream social, tye-dye night, a scavenger hunt, and a nostalgia game night. All of these events were great ways for the girls to mingle and get to know their possible big or little.
While many universities across the nation pride themselves on the amount of Greek life they have on their campuses, for students at the University of the Cumberlands, however, Greek life isn’t an option. Instead, a group of women and Baptist Campus Ministries came together to put their own spin on Greek life. In the fall of 2013, UC was greeted with Bigs and Littles, which is nowhere near a stereotypical sorority.
The group was started as an effort to bring the young women of UC together to support one another and find new friends. Bigs and Littles is different than a typical sorority because it does not have the hazing and partying that many women’s Greek life groups have at larger universities As of last semester, Bigs and Littles was made up of 47 women that came from different sports teams, clubs, organizations, majors and backgrounds. Juniors and seniors are the “bigs” and are assigned one or more “littles,” making up a little “family ” At the beginning of each semester there is a reveal where the littles find out who their big will be. This semester, the reveal will be held on September 13.
The Bigs and Littles have sponsored many different events on campus, such as the Winter Breeze formal dance, a black light party and a Halloween party with a costume contest. The events are to fundraise for the group and to bring ladies of UC together in friendship and sisterhood Bigs and Littles is hosting a toga party on September 11 from 8 p m until midnight at the band field
Bigs and Littles also holds weekly meetings to plan events and service opportunities as well as to get all of the young women together and hanging out A time and place for weekly meetings hasn’t been decided yet, so be on the
lookout for further information.
Whitney Johnson, the president of the organization, says, “The vision was to bring girls from all over, whether its sports teams or even different countries, together. It’s mainly where we can help freshman girls adjust to being in college and where we can help senior girls de-stress and help out with community service ”
Community service involvement is a large portion of Bigs and Littles. During the 2014 semester, the women traveled to the Laurel County animal shelter to help feed, clean and give shots to cats and dogs Johnson stated that they are also looking into making trips to homeless shelters as well as teen homes. Last semester, the ladies baked cookies and wrote thank you notes for the various UC workers that continued working and providing for the students during the snowstorm that hit Williamsburg in February.
“School’s hard enough, and finding friends can be hard for people,” said Johnson “It’s just a place for girls to go where everyone is welcoming and open and loving. It helps the girls feel like they belong.”
Although the group is small, Johnson says, “It doesn’t really matter how many girls are in the group If we’re influencing and helping out one girl’s life then that’s good enough and our job is accomplished.”
That doesn’t stop them from wanting as many ladies as possible to join Bigs and Littles
“There are a lot of girls that hang out with just one group of people or feel like they don’t belong. There are so many great people on this campus, so it’s a good way to expand and network,” Johnson says
The group will gladly welcome any female UC student that wants to join with open arms. Ladies of UC can join this club or request information by contacting Whitney Johnson or Hannah Foster via email or Facebook
The Beginning o f a n Era
Dr. Larr y Cockrum takes over as President
BY N ATA SH A JON E S Editor-In-Chief
“It’s not something I was looking for when I came here, but it’s an honor and a privilege,” explains Dr. Larry Cockrum in response to how it feels to start his reign as president of the UC this fall
Dr Jim Taylor and Cockrum had known each other for many years before Cockrum came to UC. Before working at UC, Cockrum coached basketball at Texas A&M University, was a senior level principal at large schools in Texas, and then he worked at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri, where he was the dean of administration for about 15 years. As dean of administration, Cockrum essentially worked with construction, maintenance and almost every aspect with the exception of academics
In his time at College of Ozarks, he had come to know Taylor through association as a friend of his former university president. Taylor had been trying to get Cockrum to come to UC and Kentucky for a while and when Cockrum decided to leave his position at College of the Ozarks, he called him up on his offer.
“I drove down to campus, and I walked around campus that morning and watched the students and to me they were the ‘salt of the earth’ type kids. Kids that were here to try and better themselves; I watched the faculty and the faculty looked like they were here for the right reasons to try and teach students and help them as best they can.”
When Dr. Cockrum took the position Taylor offered him, he was to be an assistant to the president, and six months after that he took the position of the academic dean. Now that Cockrum has taken the position as president, he humbly says that it doesn’t feel any different than any other position he’s been in, but hopes to keep UC on the progression it’s been on for the past 127 years
“The world changes so you have to change with the world. And you must embrace that change. So you figure out how you keep the school mission and integrity intact, in a moving world and that’s what I try to do And if we do anything outside of our mission, it wouldn’t work,” says Cockrum.
One of Cockrum’s biggest priorities to accomplish in his time as president is to improve the experiences students have on campus, and make an impact
in retention He has collaborated with Dr Emily Coleman, UC’s vice president of Student Services, formerly the student success coordinator, to help hear the opinions of the students and meet their needs
“I did get a chance to collaborate with him when he was the vice president of Academic Affairs, and needless to say we’ve worked together since he’s moved into his new role and I look forward to seeing what’s to come It’s an exciting time on campus,” says Coleman
Coleman and Cockrum worked together over last year, innovating incoming new student orientation, which later established UC Prep and PASS100. According to Coleman, more incoming students returned to UC last year for their second semester rather than transferring or dropping out.
Dr. Jerry Jackson, vice president of enrollment and communications, also notes that Cockrum’s dedication to serving the student body is an exciting thing to witness. “I sense a very positive energy on campus. He is committed to the student body and working closely with Dr. Coleman to give the students a voice about their future and the future of UC Dr Cockrum's entrepreneurial leadership and forward thinking attitude will continue to move the University of the Cumberlands forward. I feel blessed to work under his leadership,” said Cockrum
In getting to know the student body, Cockrum came to Student Services and asked of opportunities to get to meet students individually. This sprouted the table at the CAB’s Patriot Party where Cockrum had hundreds of students to line up waiting to shake the new president’s hand and receive a free t-shirt designed by UC graduate student Abbey Cherry.
“I hope to be able to meet each and every student when they come in It’s interesting. You’ll see some that are very bold and full of spirits, then you’ll see some that are very meek and hard to make eye contact with, and my hope is that, over the next four years or so those students will grow and mature I look forward to shaking their hands when they walk across the stage at graduation,” said Cockrum.
“ The world changes so you have to change with the world. And you must embrace that change. So you figure out how you keep the school mission and integrity intact, in a moving world and that’s what I try to do. And if we do anything outside of our mission, it wouldn’t work. ”
With this new adaptation, many things have transitioned and changed as well. In regard to Baptist Campus Ministries moving to the old Campus Activity Board house, Cockrum explained, “BCM wanted to get closer to the Chapel. We tried to move CAB back into The Grill so it’s right there for the students. The movements that were made were movements requested by those in those positions to make things more convenient for the students and organizations to be closer to the students,” said Cockrum.
Dr. Cockrum also said when looking into expanding undergrad residence on campus, he would prefer to move into the direction of apartment complexes available for undergrad Apartment complexes for graduate students are already built or are breaking ground in the next month, but he hopes to secure the resources to offer apartments in additional to the already established dormitories Cockrum said he thinks the traditional dorm-styled residence holds many benefits in building communities on campus but would like to offer his
students some more resident opportunities. However, nothing is set in stone till funds are secure, and buildings are built.
To the incoming class, who will be the first class at UC who began college under leadership of Cockrum, he says, “Some say college years are a time that can make you or break you, probably has some truth in the statement. It is in my opinion that you need to have discipline in order to graduate Many challenges and temptations are associated with college. My advice is to keep your head straight and make wise decisions, I’ll tell you what I told my four children when they were making their journey through college There are consequences for the decisions you make Don’t study too much, don’t party or play too much. Find a balance and enjoy your time. It’s never as good or as bad as it seems ”
Convoca tio n Renovatio n
RushofFoolsperforms atopening convocation on September 1, 2015
BY A SH T ON R E C T OR A N D T R EN T ON CA N A DA AssistantEditors
During the 2015 summer term, The University of the Cumberlands’ convocation program underwent a departmental change Convocation, which was previously headed by Dr. Rick Fleenor, is now sponsored by the UC Student Services, specifically vice president Dr Emily Coleman
Responsibilities of the convocation program will be shared among Student Services and Fleenor. Student Services will work with any student appeals or issues regarding convocation while Fleenor will schedule events and handle department requests for event submissions
When asked why the alteration of sponsorship has occurred, Coleman tells, “Dr. Fleenor has increased travel responsibilities with the church relations side to his job It was really a collaborative decision on that because he was going to be on the road so much. We wanted to make sure that students still had access to have their questions answered.”
Coleman also adds, “He [Fleenor] did a great job with convocation, but the hope is that being here in Student Services, where we work with a lot of other activities when we plan our department events, we can watch out for convocation nights to try to not double book things, to spread out activity opportunities, and not hurt attendance in other activities because it’s a convocation night.”
The Office of Student Services is located in the upper level of the Boswell
Campus Center outside of The Grill, where a majority of student traffic takes place during the school week Any student with appeals, questions, or issues in regards to convocation will now need to visit student services for assistance.
Student Services has already brought a number of changes to convocation, including utilizing a new email system that converts emails to be mobile friendly. Many university students receive emails on their phones or tablets, which means that the new system will allow more students to be informed about upcoming convocation events Coleman hopes that this will aid in raising attendance and keep more students from failing each semester.
In addition to the new email system, Student Services has installed three new 65-inch television screens in the Boswell Campus Center According to Coleman, Student Services will be able to announce upcoming events and convocation dates and locations on the screens through a new system called Brightside
“It’s going to be bright, colorful graphics. There will be one in the grill, one in midlevel, and one in the new game room when it opens. That will have convocation rotations based off of the calendar So, a few minutes before a convocation gets ready to start, the screen can be taken over to grab the students’ attention,” said Coleman.
UC’s convocation program now sponsored by Student Ser vices
Coleman hopes that the new notification systems will be successful, and she hopes that the use of technology and new innovations will expand in the future.
“Social media is definitely something that we can look at,” Coleman added
In an article published in the April 24 issue of The Patriot, students and faculty were presented with confusing aspects about the current convocation program The policy of convocation still remains with the update made in 2013 One of the more confusing policy matters about convocation centered on the graduation component. Dr. Coleman addressed this by saying, “I want to say this exactly as the catalogue states it You have to be enrolled until you have 96 credit hours [senior status]. Students who do not meet attendance requirements will receive a failing grade of F, and those students are not eligible for academic honors, but it does not say anywhere that you cannot graduate ”
Still, another aspect of convocation that is concerning to students is that of seating for major convocation events, such as Hanging of the Green. For those events, which are commonly housed in the Gatliff Chapel, seating is limited
“I don’t see Hanging of the Green moving to the Rollins Center because you’ll lose the atmosphere if it’s moved to a gymnasium,” said Coleman, “but we will definitely try to make sure the venues match the audience that we have That’s something that I will look at more with Dr. Fleenor when it comes to scheduling.”
While official policy did not change as the sponsorship shifted, Coleman
explains that this does not mean that modifications cannot occur in upcoming years. As a former UC student, Coleman understands students’ concerns about convocation and is open to hearing from students and working to address those issues.
Coleman comments, “We want students to know that when they speak, we listen and we try to respond to their data I want to see them all succeed We want to see every student successful here, and I don’t want to see convocation as a barrier to them being able to receive academic honors or to hurt them when it comes to grade point average in the future, and so I really encourage them all, when you find you are running into a barrier to come in and see me.”
Phot
BrentGambrell, ofADoor to Hope Ministries, speaks to students atopening convocation
Cumberlands yesterday, USA TO DAY
BY T R EN T ON CA N A DA
AssistantEditor
With the rise of social media and advancement into the technology age, media and news seems to have become increasingly prominent among college students and popular topics have found their way onto campuses throughout the US At the University of the Cumberlands, this is no exception Yet, many are never allotted a behind-the-scenes look at how these trending topics and news stories are fashioned and published for the world to read. Far fewer have the opportunity to actually feel the esteem that comes from having their work read on campuses throughout the country.
Yet, Natasha Jones, 21, has achieved just that. This past summer, Jones, a UC senior majoring in journalism and editor-in-chief of The Patriot newspaper, contributed to USA TODAY’S college writing program, and while the program selects only a handful of college applicants to pitch story ideas and draft articles to be published on the USA TODAY College site, Jones has already written three pieces for the news outlet and has done so with great success. Her article “8 classes all college students should take” has received over 7.7 thousand shares and was a top trending story on the site
In this interview, Jones talks about her freelancing work with USA TODAY, how she arrived at this point, and what is in store for her future.
What motivated you to apply for a position with USA TODAY?
At the end of last year ’s fall semester, in my journalism practicum class, my professor, Jeremiah Massengale, asked me to prepare a pitch of an article that I felt could be accepted and published on USA Today's college website. We made it a goal that in 2015 I would get published there In addition to that, it was my personal goal to become familiar with how to successfully pitch story ideas and learn a little more about freelancing. In March, when I attended the National College Media Conference in New York, I actually met the managing editor, Kristen Rein, and introduced myself and learned a couple of informative things about their summer writing program, and my adviser urged me to apply, so I did Jeremiah told me how competitive the entire internship was so initially I wasn't sure what to expect
What was the application process like? Could you walk me through some of the general steps?
The internship selection process has three rounds For round one, I had to submit a résumé, cover letter, two writing samples and an optional letter of recommendation, which I asked Jeremiah to write for me. About a week after the application window closed, they sent out the results to those selected. I was pretty floored at hearing that I had been selected for round two, especially knowing that hundreds and hundreds of college journalists applied. For round two, they asked me to write a news story that was inspired by one of USA Today's articles, and it had to be original, exclusive to them, with a college take on it That was incredibly challenging as they don't run many news stories on the college site anyway and taking the few news stories that had been ran and trying to find something that was news relevant and that had happened on my small southern Baptist campus. They also asked me to compose a tweet that I might use to promote the story I had written. I didn’t make it into round three, but I did get selected for their Contributing Writer Program and would be passed through round 1 for the fall application process automatically and had access to the USA Today College system, meaning I could upload full-length stories to be considered for publishing rather than sending a pitch and waiting to hear back
To what do you credit that success, both with USA TODAY and with your talent as a journalist?
I don't really know that there is anything specific to accredit the success to other than just the ability to learn how to write for an audience whose readership lies with what's current and trendy in today's society, and knowing that a time-frame really has a to do a lot with how popular a story will be or won't be. My most popular article really didn't pick up a lot of shares at first, but rather about a week after it was published, which I believe is because that’s when college stu-
UC senior Natasha Jones speaks on her work with a major news outlet
dents were back on campus and the window to add or drop classes was about to close. And learning how to really think on a broader spectrum and how to meet the needs of your reader really has a lot to do with it. That's something that I've been told many times in my journalism classes by Jeremiah and Mrs Marrianne Worthington, that you have to be intentional with your writing and have a direct emotion or audience in mind when you set out to write a story.
What thoughts come to your mind when you think that, collectively, close to 10 thousand people have liked and shared your articles?
It feels very unreal honestly. It's mind-blowing to think that that many people have taken interest in something that I wrote or that I've written something that has appealed and been picked up by a publication that has such a wide and national spectrum.
Those professors and friends at UC who have had you in class and encouraged you, how have they reacted to your success with USA Today?
Everyone has been really kind and congratulated me Many have asked me what was coming up next or if I feel the need to compete with my past articles, and I'm not entirely sure yet. Right now they aren't sending out any emails about pitch requests because it's still early into the fall contributor program
This is your senior year at UC. With that in mind, do you see yourself continuing to work as a journalist with USA TODAY or even applying for a more permanent position there?
Like I said, I'm already committed to the program for the fall semester again, and I have to at least write one article a month, but I have several ideas that I'm interested in pitching to them, but whether or not they'll get pitched or picked up all kind of depends on what the editors are looking for
I do hope to continue contributing to USA Today College and take any other opportunity they reach out to me. I can't quite predict the future, but, if time allowing, I see freelancing as being something I want to continue in the future for a lot of reasons One being that I do have such a huge love for writing feature stories and human-interest pieces, as well as writing for a constantly changing, trendy society.
Overall, what do you take away from this experience and how do you apply that to your future career as a professional journalist?
What I've learned from this experience is that the journey as a writer is never really over, that there's always room to continue to become better than I am now and there's always new challenges with every pitch and piece, and that you never really know how your writing will be perceived or what the reaction will be, especially online, which is probably one of the most exciting parts about the experience overall I highly anticipated my dorm life cheats article to be the piece that got thousand and thousands of shares because of how humorous it was and how much fun I had writing it, so to see my article over classes any college student should take beat it by thousands was pretty unexpected. I'll take what I've learned and the thrill I've found in constantly trying to be better than I am or my last story and apply it in my career years and years from now
Yo u are no t alone
A
devotional
BY SH YA N N NOR R IS StaffWriter
“I am not alone, I am not alone. You will go before me, you will never leave me ” As I listened to this wonderful song by Contemporary Christian singer, Kari Jobe, I began to think of the many times I have felt alone or forgotten. Though I truly was never alone, sometimes it was so easy to tell myself that This initially hit me when I moved into Gillespie 214 last year as a freshman at UC. I didn’t really know what was going on. I knew I had so many people around me who loved me, and I knew that truly God would never let me be alone I struggled with feeling as if I needed someone to constantly talk to me, and if I wasn’t talking to someone, the feeling just got deeper. That is when I began to look at His promises to me and quit relying solely on friends and family to constantly remind me “they were there for me.” Though that worked temporarily, nothing satisfied me 110 percent until I rested in His arms awhile and fully trusted in God’s promises for my life This seemed, at first, to be a full-time job to me I wanted to do it all by myself but God wanted to do it all Himself. The first step was letting go and letting God.
After I realized nothing would change without Him, I began a lifestyle change. Though to many this might have seemed ridiculous and irrational, to me it was a huge struggle in my everyday life and still can be some days. I began to pray for signs everywhere that God would give me peace and show me He is always with me and He did just that, more than I could’ve
ever imagined. I really relied on Isaiah 41:10 during this time, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”(KJV). How wonderful it was and still is to know that we have no reason to fear loneliness for we are truly never by ourselves in anything we face.
I know with the many transitions we all face when moving back to school and having to switch to the real world after being at home with our families and loved ones that it is so easy to feel alone and as if no one is there for you; however, God never leaves you, he never forsakes you, and you can feel safe in His presence Joshua 1:9 says, “Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” (KJV).
In the bible it says “do not fear” or “be not afraid” over 100 times This, to me, was an eye opener that The Lord truly does not want us to fear or be anxious for anything but to solely trust on His goodness in every situation.
