Third & Broadway | Fall/Winter 2021

THIRD & BROADWAY FALL/WINTER 2021

the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY

COVER STORY ▶

A PRESCRIPTION FOR SUCCESS

Page 7

BUILDING ON OUR STRENGTHS

Page 3

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL ON, JUST ACROSS BROADWAY

Page 12

Transylvania students in 1958 trudge through snow on their way toward North Broadway and the old Forrer Hall, now the site of the new William T. Young Campus Center.

See more photos on pp. 12-13.

the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY

1

Readers may send name or address changes or corrections to:

THIRD & BROADWAY

Contributors

14 | Campus News 24 | Alumni Awards 26 | Alumni Notes

Office of Alumni and Development Transylvania University 300 North Broadway Lexington, KY 40508 800-487-2679 alumni@transy.edu

Joseph Rey Au

John Friedlein Robin Hicks Megan Moloney Natasa Pajic Mongiardo Heath Stiltner Justin Sweeney Tyler Young

Production Manager Julie Martinez

Graphic Designer Stephen Russell

Transylvania University, located in the heart of downtown Lexington, Kentucky, is a top-ranked private liberal arts college featuring a communitydriven, personalized approach to a liberal arts education through 46 majors. Founded in 1780, it is Kentucky’s first college and the 16th oldest institution of higher learning in the country, with approximately 1,000 students.

3 BUILDING ON OUR STRENGTHS

7 A PRESCRIPTION FOR SUCCESS

Find more resources online at transy.edu.

Contact Us

Third & Broadway news@transy.edu 859-233-8120

12

18

CLASS OF 2025 LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL ON, JUST ACROSS BROADWAY

ON THE COVER: For Transylvania's pre-health students, preparing for a career takes them well beyond the biology lab — they get a level of support they might not find at other schools, from mentorships to intensive practice for professional school interviews.

2

THIRD & BROADWAY

20 ALUMNI WEEKEND DOUBLE THE FUN

Building Strengths ON OUR

BY TYLER YOUNG

Brien Lewis readies Transy to take bold steps into a new future

the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY

3

For institutions of higher learning, every presidential transition is a pivotal moment. Universities choose leaders based on their needs at the time, whether it’s a steady hand, a soaring vision or a stabilizing presence.

When Brien Lewis was selected as Transylvania’s 28th president in January 2020, he could not have known that he would have to be all three and more when he came to Lexington that summer in the midst of a raging pandemic, a country reckoning with its racial history and a campus that hadn’t seen most of its faculty, staff and students in months.

“It was a little surreal,” Lewis says of that period of transition — no doubt an understated sentiment today with the benefit of a year’s worth of hindsight.

Or maybe not. Transy’s president wears a perpetual smile that complements his jovial demeanor; he’s quick with a laugh and even quicker to 4

THIRD & BROADWAY

“So many people said, ‘My closest friends are the friends I made at Transy.’ It was interesting to hear just how consistent that story is.”

— BRIEN LEWIS

strike up conversations with colleagues and strangers alike. You’ll often find him on campus stopping to speak with prospective students and families on their tours, and he loves to tell the story of Transy, of what this school can do for young people looking to find their place in the world. In talking with him, his optimism about Transy and its future belies very real challenges that face higher education in the coming years, but you get the sense that he truly believes the university is well situated to handle any adversity.

As he began his tenure in a distanced world, he took to videoconferencing to reach his goal of meeting with as many students and employees as possible, and he had the added benefit of being able to speak with alumni from all over the world. Those meetings, especially with the alumni, were kind of how he became acclimated with the place, getting a sense of its values and shared language.

“Whether they were here five years ago or 50, they all spoke to how deeply connected they were,” Lewis says. “They talked about their relationships with the

faculty and their peers and how those persist beyond graduation. So many people said, ‘My closest friends are the friends that I made at Transy.’ It was interesting to hear just how consistent that story is.”

That sense of belonging has been put to the test over the past year and a half, as restrictions on all facets of campus life, from classes to dining to engagement opportunities, forced the Transy community to wrestle with what higher learning might look like in the future and examine the ways a deep liberal arts training is delivered.

It foreshadowed the coming realities of shrinking traditional enrollment numbers, of advanced technology requirements and of an education tailormade to suit the needs of an evolving generation of students.

Early signs show solid progress toward meeting those challenges. Transy has navigated the pandemic with minimal outbreaks on campus. It buckled down financially and, even as a school that relies heavily on tuition income, never had to resort to layoffs or furloughs.

New student enrollment numbers actually rose 13% in a time when those same numbers dropped significantly around the country. And professors creatively adapted to online and hybrid learning, working closely with Information Technology to maximize the tools they had at their disposal.

“The trend lines were already there for higher education before COVID came along,” Lewis says. “But COVID became the accelerant to a lot of those. I’ve been phenomenally impressed with what we’ve been able to do. We’ve benefited by using these tools like Zoom and Canvas, and I think there are some faculty who have really surprised themselves in discovering the elements within those that can be very beneficial to enhancing their courses and their pedagogies.

We’re going to have to continue to adapt to the flexibility that people are going to be expecting.”

Flexibility, personalization, creativity — those are all key components of where Lewis envisions Transylvania

heading as it looks to build on the school’s momentum coming out of pandemic times and into a drastically new future. Under his guidance, Transy spent the past year building a Strategic Focus initiative that seeks to build on its current strengths and open doors to new opportunities for its students. He talks a lot about how today’s graduates will be entering the workforce during what’s been called the “Conceptual Age,” a time when creativity, communication and adaptability are the most important skills because they cannot be outsourced or automated.

The typical college student today will hold not just multiple jobs, but multiple careers throughout their lives, as a rapidly evolving world requires pivots much like COVID did.

The Strategic Focus — Pursuing a BOLD PATH for Transylvania University — seeks to use a solid foundation in the liberal arts to offer academic and co-curricular opportunities to prepare the university and its students for that Conceptual Age. Its tenets include practical goals such as growing enrollment to 1,150 students and encouraging alumni and partners to fund critical programs, as well as philosophical aspirations

“I’ve been phenomenally impressed with what we’ve been able to do. …

We’re going to have to continue to adapt to the flexibility that people are going to be expecting.”

— BRIEN LEWIS

the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY

5

including a deepened commitment to social responsibility and preparing students to be leaders of the future.

The plan is a three-year approach that sets benchmarks through 2024, setting Transylvania up for a time in which the number of college-age students will decline by around 15%, and universities will have to make a strong case for their value and relevance as they compete for them.

“We’re heading toward a demographic cliff in the next few years, and we need to get more students in our pipeline,” Lewis says. “We need to add some new academic and co-curricular programs that will attract students who aren’t currently looking at us. They won’t be things that are outside our nature and our character, but rather programs that build on our existing strengths.”

Examples of those types of programs run the gamut from esports to enhanced academic support services to campus engagement opportunities where students can engage their interests while building leadership skills and making lifelong friends. Lewis wants to see more funding for scholarships on campus and to study abroad, as well as alumni stepping up to offer paid internships for students who would normally have to forgo unpaid placements in order to work a traditional summer job and make money.

One co-curricular program that has generated significant excitement on campus is the upcoming Center for Entrepreneurship, which will provide 6

THIRD & BROADWAY

“To be able to offer our students a small, personal environment where they can safely explore ideas and develop themselves … that’s an exceptional opportunity.”

— BRIEN LEWIS

hands-on, experiential learning opportunities for students to explore entrepreneurial career paths.

“The pandemic has led people of all ages to think differently about the way they work, why they work and what they do as work moving forward,” says Steve Angelucci, assistant to the president for special projects, who is leading the group starting the program. “We fully intend to learn how to integrate this program into the scope of the liberal arts and our campus mission.”

It’s not hard to see how programs like that leverage exactly what Transy does well, and it goes a long way toward relaying the university’s strengths to prospective students and their families. Despite the challenges of his first year at the helm, Lewis has proven himself to be a remarkably capable champion of that message.

He’s quickly assumed the delicate balance of hands-on and empowering, of practical and aspirational. He’s developed a very real fondness for the university and the greater Lexington

community. Ask him what this 240-year-old institution still has to offer in 2021, and he doesn’t hesitate: “To be able to offer our students a small, personal environment where they can safely explore ideas and develop themselves, paired with our location in the heart of the business, legal, arts and medical centers of Lexington — that’s an exceptional opportunity,” he says. “We need to find the right balance of experiential education and traditional classroom learning as we put all that together.

“We want to get the story out there to people — not just locally, but regionally and nationally — so that we are on the tip of people’s tongues when they say, ‘If you want to go to a small liberal arts institution and live in a big city, let me tell you about the place that’s got the best of both worlds.’”

Success A PRESCRIPTION FOR

BY JOHN FRIEDLEIN

After two centuries, Transylvania still a pathway to achievement in health care fields

the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY

7

Transylvania University has a storied history of training future physicians, going all the way back to the 18th century.

In fact ...

It was home to the first medical school in the “West,” one that rivaled Harvard for a bit.

It was home to the first medical fraternity of its kind, Kappa Lambda of Hippocrates, a group that led to the founding of the American Medical Association.

Although Transylvania's Medical Department closed 160 years ago, the tradition carries on — more than 90 percent of current students recommended to med school are accepted, and there are enough recent grads entering them this fall to pretty much fill a yearbook page with white coat pics.

But beyond preparing students to be excellent physicians, the school encourages those going into health care, in whatever role, to pursue their own path — to discover how they can best use their interests and talents to help keep the rest of us well.

When Robin Rains Prichard ’89 enrolled at Transylvania, she planned to

8

THIRD & BROADWAY

become a doctor. But a few courses in, she decided her calling was pharmacy.

Her career path has taken a different turn of late — she’s the university’s pre-health adviser (when she’s not advising President Brien Lewis on the pandemic).

Thanks to her and other staff and faculty, Pioneers going into the field receive the kind of support undergraduates often don’t get at other schools.

We’re talking about a large chunk of the overall student population; around a quarter of them are interested in some kind of pre-health field.

Another example of its popularity is when Prichard organized a Pre-Health Club reception with former president John N. Williams, a dentist, and the guest list swelled to more than 200 students. (Williams also mentored Pioneers on things like taking the dental school exam.)

Another time, Williams accompanied students on a field trip to Mission Health Lexington for the school’s annual Pre-Health Week. Trips to the Monroe Moosnick Medical and Science Museum also are on tap that week, giving students a chance to survey the sundry

apparatuses and curiosities collected by the defunct Medical Department.

(Prichard says a student told her she was grateful for the tour because she was worried a med school interviewer might bring up the museum.)

It was a Pre-Health Week field trip to a clinic for an underserved population that helped spark a desire in Leah Shephard ’21 to practice in her rural Ohio hometown after graduating from Indiana University School of Medicine.

While Shephard is learning to be a physician — at an IU branch on Indiana State’s campus in Terre Haute — she plans to put her Spanish major to good use, helping the area’s large Spanishspeaking population get the care they need (there aren’t a lot of interpreters around). “That will be beneficial regardless of where I end up,” she says of knowing the language.

Prichard, in fact, stresses how students are encouraged to major in anything they want, even if they're eying med school (though Shephard doubled up with biochem).

While Shephard was in Lexington, she took advantage of the many local opportunities to get experience while

OPPOSITE PAGE: Transylvania students attend pre-health advising meetings with Prichard and chemistry professor Eva Csuhai.

THIS PAGE: Students got a first-hand look into possible career paths during Pre-Health Week in November — for instance, they met over lunch with a doctor and dentist.

serving others, including volunteering at the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge. She also mentored Transy students who weren’t as far along by assisting them with things like class scheduling and preparing for the Medical College Admission Test. She plans to continue working with pre-med undergrads, this time those at ISU. Shephard has benefited from the support of others as well. Staff in Transylvania’s Center for Academic and Professional Enrichment and the Writing Center, as well as faculty, helped her write a personal statement and gave her practice interviews for medical school (the Pre-Health Committee has mock interviews with students, too). “I talked to people at other universities — they really didn't have the guidance that I did,” Shephard says. “I always felt like I had somebody in my corner.”

It’s this kind of support that has helped Megan Wasson ’18 achieve some impressive things lately. “Collectively, this network of friends and mentors ensured that I had the necessary tools, experience and confidence to dream

big,” she says. “In just over three years since graduating from Transylvania, I have interned at the American Cancer Society, Pure Water for the World, Emory School of Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I earned a master’s degree at one of the top public health schools in the country and a highly competitive position as a first-year medical student at Emory University.”

While Wasson’s network provided support for her to follow her dreams,

her liberal arts background has given her context. “The ultimate pursuit of a liberal arts student is to better understand what it means to be human,” Wasson says. “Physicians grapple with this very same question on a daily basis in the course of attending to the physical and psychological needs of their patients.” Health care providers steeped in the liberal arts communicate well, and they “put the patient at the center of patient care.” They also pursue diverse interests and can make

“I always felt like I had somebody in my corner.”

— LEAH SHEPHARD ’21

the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY

9

LEFT: This year’s Pre-Health Week also included a Health Professions Fair in the Campus Center. Students talked with admission representatives from medical and dental schools, along with those from other programs like pharmacy and public health.

connections well across various fields.

“As the medical profession becomes increasingly more multidisciplinary, a liberal arts frame of mind may be necessary to meaningfully engage in these settings,” Wasson continues.

Steve Adams ’79 also sees the perks of a broad education. “I think a liberal arts background is beneficial to anyone, not just pre-professional students, in that it supports critical thinking and allows one to expand one's awareness of life outside one's area of major interest,” the Louisville anesthesiologist says. “A liberal arts education prepares one for a more thoughtful, expansive approach to life and its challenges.”

Adams, a pre-med and biology major as an undergrad, remembers feeling comfortable attending medical school alongside classmates from top-ranked universities. “Transy has always had a good reputation in that regard and is part of the reason I ended up there,” he says.

Once there, Adams found guidance from professor Moosnick (the museum is named after him). “He was legendary for getting students into medical school,” Adams says.

Ajibola Bakare ’15, who recently received an Alpha Lambda Delta honor society fellowship for his studies at the 10

THIRD & BROADWAY

Tulane University School of Medicine, says the advising and mentorship inside and outside of the science department has played a role in his success after Transy. And the biology major says the fact that he volunteered so much — from philanthropy events to a University of Kentucky clinic — enhanced his med school application.

Bakare, who came to Transylvania from Lagos, Nigeria, wants to become a physician-scientist, providing compassionate care while researching novel therapeutics that don’t cost very much. “Having grown up in a region of the world where access to health care is not readily available to everyone, I am passionate about working to help address issues relating to health care accessibility for vulnerable and marginalized communities,” he says.

This spirit of service seems to be growing. Prichard says that, especially with the pandemic, more and more students are “seeing the need and wanting to answer the call.”

Her respect for those she advises is hard to miss. “I work with some of the most amazing students, and they work so hard," she says. “They are going to be phenomenal health care providers.”

“As the medical profession becomes increasingly more multidisciplinary, a liberal arts frame of mind may be necessary to meaningfully engage in these settings” — MEGAN WASSON ’18

President Brien Lewis (left) and Robin Prichard (right) with Dr. Mina Majmundar, mother of Dr. Mamata Majmundar ’95 & Dr. Monica Majmundar ’02.

NEW TRANSYLVANIA, ARH PARTNERSHIP PROVIDES INCENTIVES FOR STUDENTS FROM APPALACHIA Students from Appalachia interested in health care fields have a new incentive to study at Transylvania and return to their home region to work. Thanks to a partnership with Appalachian Regional Healthcare System, they may receive up to $15,000 in scholarship funds over four years, in addition to other merit and need-based aid. They’ll also have access to experiential undergraduate learning opportunities like summer jobs, mentorships and internships with ARH, where they will agree to work after graduating from Transy or professional or grad school.

Announced in October, the program is open to both prospective and current Transylvania students from areas of Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia served by ARH and who are interested in working as a health care practitioner or administrator. They can study pre-health, pre-medical, pre-pharmacy, physical therapy, computer science, accounting, business management or social services.

The first cohort of students will be notified in February 2022. Recipients must agree to return to Appalachia following graduation from Transylvania, or after earning a graduate or

professional degree, and work for ARH for at least three years.

“Transylvania and ARH share a mission to serve the state of Kentucky and the people who live, learn and work here,” President Brien Lewis said. “Transy has a long tradition of educating and preparing people for successful and meaningful careers in health care — approximately 90% of the students we recommend to health profession schools are accepted, compared with a national acceptance rate of about 50%. This partnership is really just an extension of that.”

ARH President and CEO Hollie Phillips said, “ARH is proud to invest in our future medical professionals by partnering with an educational institution the caliber of Transylvania University. We are excited that through this partnership we will be able to offer students from our service areas who are pursuing health care degrees at Transy the opportunity to return home to the areas they are from to make a difference in patients’ lives while enjoying a career with ARH.” Get more information about the program and apply by Jan. 1 at transy.edu/ARH. the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY

11

LET THE

GOOD TIMES ROLL ON, JUST ACROSS BROADWAY

From its completion in 1958, Forrer Hall stood like a watchman, looking southeast across Broadway toward the academic buildings where decades of Transylvania students were shaped into learners and leaders, ever ready to welcome them back into its comfortable confines.

Eventually a campus center expansion opened even more doors to recreation and fun. Today the new William T.

12

THIRD & BROADWAY

Young Campus Center has taken up that torch, offering the next generation of students a hot meal, a cool swim and a place to collaborate, be healthy and unwind together.

These photos help us remember all the great times across Broadway while looking forward to the new memories that will be made in the William T. Young Campus Center.

the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY

13

campus

NEWS To stay informed about the latest Transylvania news, visit our 1780 blog at transy.edu/1780, and subscribe to biweekly email updates.

1

14

THIRD & BROADWAY

2

3

4

5

1. Transylvania officially dedicated the William T. Young Campus Center in October. Bridging the residential and academic sides of campus, the facility is a mix of new construction and renovation of the previous student center. It offers bright, welcoming areas for student organizations and services, dining, fitness, a bookstore, community outreach and more. The ceremony recognized William T. Young Sr. (the original campus center, completed in 1983, was named after him) and William T. Young Jr., who recently completed a 20-year tenure as chair of Transylvania's Board of Trustees.

2. Natasha DeJarnett delivered September's Academic Convocation keynote on “Code Red: Climate Changes Health and Equity.” She is a professor in the Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute at the University of Louisville Division of Environmental Medicine and a professorial lecturer at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. Earlier in the day, students and faculty got a chance to meet with her.

6

3. Musician Rhiannon Giddens, who is a MacArthur Genius Grant recipient and Grammy Award winner, visited Transylvania in November for a public performance and to chat with students about things like music and finding your path in life. The event was sponsored by the University of Kentucky Gaines Center for the Humanities as part of the 2021 Bale Boone Symposium.

7

4. Students made zines (informal, DIY publications) during a workshop with guest Morlan Gallery artists Courtney Kessel, Cayla Skillin-Brauchle and Danielle Wyckoff as part of this fall's “Reflection Refraction Reaction” exhibition.

5. The Transylvania and Lexington communities enjoyed a carving event for this year's PumpkinMania presented by White, Greer and Maggard Orthodontics. Around 500 jack-o’-lanterns glowed on the steps of Old Morrison the week leading up to Halloween. The display was featured on “Good Morning America” and got a shout-out on the ABC News Twitter account.

6. Transylvania Theater presented “Exit, Pursued by a Bear” by Lauren Gunderson in November.

The revenge comedy showcased the talents of Transylvania seniors Madison Plowman, Eph Page and Alessandra Lundberg.

8 Photo by Dan Oetting

7. Lexington artist Joe King graced the side of a Transylvania warehouse at Fourth and Jefferson streets with his mural “The Pythia in Agate” as part of the October PRHBTN Street Art Festival. The work depicts a Delphic oracle wreathed in visioninducing vapors, channeling the muses to illuminate our path home.

8. The women's tennis team in October won its third Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Championship in a row. The team was undefeated in conference play this season.

9

9. Our volleyball team won its third-straight Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Championship in November, clinching an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, where the Pioneers lost to No. 12 Berry College in a close contest. the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY

15

BOJANG EXPLORES ‘MULTIFACETED ART’ OF MEDICAL RESEARCH Omar Bojang’s goals are to attend medical school and then to practice medicine in West Africa, which his family once called home. It’s a call to service he has felt since middle school.

“That would be amazing to me. It’s something that drives me a lot,” he says. “Where medical practices aren’t necessarily as advanced, people suffer because they’re not getting the kind of medical help that would be seen as something very simple in the United States.”

“There are so many facets to being a researcher other than just the actual research that I feel like it’s a multifaceted art.”

Bojang working in professor Kathleen O’Connor’s lab (photo: Ben Corwin, UK Research Communications)

One of eight students selected to take part in the STRONG Summer Research Program at the Markey Cancer Center at the University of Kentucky, biology major Omar Bojang ’22 worked in a lab that is repurposing a diabetes drug to make it toxic to cancer cells.

Throughout the eight-week experience in scientific research, Bojang says he felt the impact of Transy’s liberal arts at work — the “dabbling in multiple forms of intellectuality.” He learned that being successful in science requires similar multiple proficiencies: being 16

THIRD & BROADWAY

accomplished in the science, but also in the ability to write and communicate information and to collaborate with colleagues.

“There are so many facets to being a researcher other than just the actual research,” he explains, “that I feel like it’s a multifaceted art. You definitely need multiple skills for it.”

Bojang, who grew up in Lexington, is a legacy student at Transylvania. His father, Mambuna Bojang, graduated from Transy in 1996 and works in the university’s IT department.

With the help of Morrison and Legacy scholarships, he is advancing toward these goals. “Scholarships opened up the opportunity for me to get my education and to go to a school as prestigious as Transy. They have also opened the door for me to do things like the STRONG program. I’m getting that liberal arts education, and I’m really able to think in different ways and to use multiple experiences to get the most out of this experience.”

Read the entire story on the 1780 blog.

TUITION-FREE FIFTH YEAR LETS MCMAHAN DIVE INTO ARCHAEOLOGY Caroline McMahan is making the most of Transylvania’s Pioneer Plus initiative created for students during COVID19. It includes the offer of a fifth year at Transy, tuition free.

From Cambellsville, Kentucky, McMahan is using the additional year to finish an extra major and to gain precious underwater research experience. She’s now an anthropology and health and exercise science double major. Both fields, she says, offer her “great options” after graduation. The advantage of having conducted underwater research is something that will likely put her ahead when she applies to graduate school.

Detailing her underwater project in a Q&A in the 1780 blog, she writes of the broader value: “I’ve had the opportunity to work on underwater archaeological projects here in Kentucky and on the island of St. Vincent in the Caribbean in 2019, and have worked on terrestrial archaeological sites in Kentucky and West Virginia.

Some of these have been paid positions with archaeological consulting companies. This experience lets me know if I really enjoy and want to continue studying archaeology. And it provides valuable experience for graduate school.

“I certainly have developed an ability to deal with the unexpected, to problem-solve on the fly and to remain calm when nothing seems to be going as planned.”

“Also, seeing the process of formulating an archaeological project — from the conception to dealing with the logistics to actually operationalizing your idea — is something in common with things we do in all walks of life. I certainly have developed an ability to deal with the unexpected, to problemsolve on the fly and to remain calm when nothing seems to be going as planned. These are skills that have carried over into every aspect of my life.”

In 2019 Caroline McMahan (middle) and classmate Olivia Livingston ’21 developed their underwater archaeological skills in the Caribbean with the help of anthropology professor Chris Begley (left).

The work was supported by Transylvania’s David and Betty Jones Faculty Development Fund.

the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY

17

Class of 2025

Student finds community, academic freedom in first few months at Transylvania

“It makes me feel really good that my professors already know my name.”

In the daunting first days of college, nerves and self-doubt can tamper with the confidence of even the highest achiever.

Happily for Shelby Hamm ’25, the very reasons that brought her to Transylvania from Louisville, Kentucky — the immediate sense of community and relationship with professors — quickly put her at ease.

“It makes me feel really good that my professors already know my name,” says Hamm, a William T. Young Scholarship recipient.

She’s also discovering intellectual freedom as she begins her pre-law track. Instead of being directed to follow particular majors and specific classes, she learned from her adviser that she’s free to pursue the academic subjects that interest her the most. She was thrilled to learn that she could major in sociology, and she also plans to minor in political science and Spanish.

“I really appreciate the academic freedom,” she says, “and I think that moving forward, getting to take classes that are in so many different subjects — and just to explore — is going to be very exciting for me.”

Shelby Hamm ’25

New student proves doubters wrong, finds community at Transylvania

“Why not challenge myself further?”

Liam Morgan ’25

Liam Morgan, a first-year student and lacrosse player, likes a good challenge. He loves to prove doubters wrong. Case in point is his lacrosse playing and arrival at Transylvania.

Growing up in Texas, Morgan remembers how friends and coaches didn’t think much of his potential in the sport. But he took their doubts as a personal challenge, fully committing himself to training and conditioning.

“I’m here now,” Morgan says of being recruited by Transylvania.

“And this is probably one of the high points of my life. Lacrosse is my favorite sport. I’ve loved it ever since I picked up a stick. I’ve taken it this far and I don’t want to stop.”

The marketing major decided on Transy because of the “awesome” coaches and players, as well as the academics. When his GPA as a high school senior was a weighted 3.8, he thought to himself, “why not challenge myself further?” He wanted something rigorous, but also to be in a supportive community.

“Honestly, I’ve never had a bad day here,” he says.

the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY

19

After an 18-month hiatus, hundreds of alumni returned to campus for a supersized Alumni Weekend from Oct. 22-24, appropriately themed Double the Fun. Alumni Weekend 2021 celebrated class years ending in 0, 1, 5 and 6 with fun events including Keeneland, convocation, class year gatherings and more.

20

THIRD & BROADWAY

the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY

21

1 1. 50th Reunion (1970/1971): Seated (l-r): Candy Caine Zaluski, Jane Moore Bruno, Vicki Osborne Ray, Debby Holland Diaz, Nancye Knowles Van Brunt, Pennie Franklin Redmond, Scottye Sanders Eakin, Ed Zuroweste, Earle O’Donnell, Scott Poe. Standing (L to R): Catherine Hayden Bishop, Sue Shadburne Call, Dennis Childs, Ann Sensenbach Garry, Joe Zaluski, Jamie Millard, Greg Russell, Barry Bronson, Bev Carroll, Ed Bowling, Mary Anne Furnish Embry, Francie Mark Prier, Rick Tittmann, Josh Santana, Ann Updegraff Spleth, Linda Miller Hilgeford, Chris Compton, Michael Sausman, Mary Carpenter Ashmun-Wilson, Jan Roby Schick, Debbie Fuller Shwab, Barb Oney Garvey, Alicia Williams Fletcher, Sara Lewis Meyer, Karen Crank Ellis, David Meyer 2. Robert Barr Society: Front row (l-r): Ann Dickey Haynes ’69, Dexter Meyer ’69, Kay Anne Frazier Wilborn ’66, Bettye Stehle Burns ’67, Virginia Marsh Bell ’44, Marsha Bell Uselton ’69.

Back row (L to R): Patty Morgenthal Breeze ’69, Jo Ellen Hayden ’69, David Hilgeford ’69, Doug Hutcherson ’69, Gayle Purple Hutcherson ’69, Cliff Elgin ’68 3. 45th Reunion (1975/1976): Front row (l-r): Fran Taylor, Carolyn Jones McKeehan, Laura Sutton Candris, Diane Woodford Arnold. 2nd row (l-r): Tarbell Patten, Malinda Beal Wynn, Debbie Pollard Catron, Diane Farmer Binzel. Back row (l-r): Charlie Wilson, Charlie Newquist, Tyler French, Dave “Bear” Marthey, Rick Catron, Andrew Blood, Jim Post, Ed Binzel 22

THIRD & BROADWAY

4. 40th Reunion (1980/1981): Kirk Tolle, Lisa Blythe Stuckey, Jim Siebers Cornetet, Dave Carr 5. 30th Reunion (1990/1991): Front (l-r): Chris Cook, Tiffany Wheeler, Dawn Wilson, Melisa Thomas Morris, Edye Bryant. Back (l-r): Michael Covert, Kara Little Covert, Tracy Stephens Dunn, Allison Melton, Greta Crutcher Collins, Rena Hallam, John Fleming 6. 25th Reunion (1995/1996): Natasa Pajic Mongiardo, Dani Engle Petermann, Brian Davis, Carrie Reed Shufflebarger, Holly Chelf Lindquist 7. 20th Reunion (2000/2001): Front (l-r): Sean McNichol, Rebekah Williams McNichol, Nicole Bremer Nash. Second row (l-r): Shelly Ferrell, Whitney Collins Fouts, Regan Hunt. Back row (L to R): Erin Moran Keltner, Eugenia Calkins Harrison, Juliet Bishop Meredith, Heather Rowland Gough, Adrienne White Hatton, Ashley Hunt Martin 8. 15h Reunion (2005): Becca Moran Ray, Erin Jones Roth 9. 10th Reunion (2010): Tyler Murphy, Kasey Toy 10. 5th Reunion (2015/2016): Front row (l-r): Erik Mudrak, Emily Martin, Sarah Allison. Back row (L to R): Jared Townes, Travis Rose

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10 the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY

23

alumni

AWARDS We are proud to recognize these alumni and friends for their exemplary service to Transylvania and their communities and for distinguishing themselves in their respective professions.

The awards were presented during the Alumni Celebration Convocation on Oct. 23.

Catesby Woodford ’69 and Pamela Simpson Woodford ’68 2021 Morrison Medallion Pam and Catesby Woodford have been staunch Transylvania ambassadors in Montgomery County, Kentucky, for more than 40 years. They made sure to keep Transylvania in the family when their three daughters — Elizabeth, Sarah and Lucy — attended and graduated from Transy in 1996, 2000 and 2008, respectively. Catesby, a retired attorney who remains of counsel to his Lexington law firm, Miller, Griffin & Marks, has served Transylvania in several roles over the years, including class agent, Reunion Committee member and gift chair. He served on the Alumni Board from 1994-99 and the Board of Visitors from 1999-2004. In 1999, Transylvania honored Catesby with a Distinguished Service Award. Pam retired from teaching French in Montgomery County Public Schools in 2011. She was known as the “silent recruiter” for Transylvania, always sharing her family’s Transylvania story with her students, never seeking praise or recognition. She and Catesby hosted and participated in many events in Mount Sterling on behalf of the admissions office during the time their daughters attended here.

24

THIRD & BROADWAY

Rachel N. Norris ’14

Sue Shadburne Call ’71

Edward L. Zuroweste ’71

Rachel Norris’ involvement in alumni engagement began when she was a student leader in the Student Alumni Association, a member of the phonathon team and alumnae relations chair for Phi Mu, which she continues to advise. In her last term, Rachel was elected to the Young Alumni Council and has served in leadership roles including events chair and president. She is one of two alumni on the university’s Alumni Engagement and Partnerships Committee.

Rachel has a B.A. in exercise science and M.S. in higher education and is the patient services coordinator at the University of Kentucky Department of Neurosurgery.

Sue Call enjoyed a 10-year career in special education before answering a call to ministry and serving in Disciples of Christ churches for 30 years. She was committed to ecumenism in every community she served — in local food pantries, social service agencies, churches and Habitat for Humanity — and was named Ecumenist of the Year in 2012 by the Greater Indianapolis Church Federation.

Sue participated in Transy and T.E.A.M., a program for high school students interested in careers in ministry, and served as a class agent, reunion planning volunteer and regional alumni ambassador for Indianapolis.

Ed Zuroweste has over 40 years of experience as a family physician focused on care of underserved populations. He is a founding member of the Migrant Clinicians Network and adjunct assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins, where he has directed an international health elective for medical students in Honduras since 1999.

He has served as Pennsylvania’s tuberculosis medical consultant and special medical consultant for the World Health Organization pandemic responses in Geneva during H1N1 and Guinea and Sierra Leone during Ebola.

He has also worked on CDC/WHO projects in the Marshall Islands and an upcoming effort in Micronesia.

Michael D. Covert ’91

Carol L. Devine ’89

Susan Walters Morris ’86

Carol Devine’s lifelong calling is service to others to make the world a better place. She volunteered for the Peace Corps, Central Christian Childcare Center and as vice president of the Parent Teacher Organization at Southside Elementary. She is an ordained pastor and interim director of admissions at Lexington Theological Seminary. Her service as a Transy alumna has included chairing her class reunion committee and serving as president of the Transylvania Alumni Board and on the 2019 presidential search committee. Carol was an integral part of raising awareness of, and funding for, a new effort supporting an endowment for religious life at Transylvania.

Susan Morris has maintained a close relationship with Transylvania, where she majored in business management, played tennis and was a member of Delta Delta Delta. A resident of Atlanta, Susan has been one of our regional ambassadors for many years. Prior to her election to the Board of Regents in 2019, she served six years as a trustee of the Atlanta International School, was a founding member of Ribbons of Hope and served as board treasurer of The Cathedral Preschool. Susan is a CPA., a certified divorce financial analyst, wealth management financial adviser and vice president at Morgan Stanley.

Outstanding Young Alumni Award

Distinguished Service Award

Michael Covert served as Phi Kappa Tau president and head resident adviser as a student. Those roles inspired him to pursue a student life career at Indiana UniversityBloomington and Washington University in St. Louis. In 1996, he returned to Transy as assistant dean of students. He currently serves as vice president for student life and dean of students and still manages to volunteer as a reunion committee member, co-chair and gift chair and as a 100 Doors mentor.

He also represents Transy on Lexington’s Community Action Council board. In February he will be inducted into the College Personnel Association of Kentucky Hall of Fame.

Distinguished Service Award

Distinguished Service Award

Distinguished Achievement Award

Distinguished Service Award

the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY

25

alumni

NOTES Submit Your Alumni News email: alumni@transy.edu web: alumni.transy.edu/update mail: Office of Alumni and Development Transylvania University 300 North Broadway

1950

1970

Margaret “Peggy” Humbert Knowlton ’53, Asheville, North Carolina, lives in a retirement village with very friendly neighbors. Her oldest daughter lives 20 minutes away and encouraged Peggy to move there after she lost her second husband. Her first husband died of cancer after 20 years of marriage, and she had 46 years with her high school boyfriend.

Edgar Bowling ’71 and Sandra Steele Bowling ’72, Carmel, Indiana, are enjoying their grandchildren in Lexington: Wyatt (12), Cannon (3) and Scarlet (19 months); and in Louisville: Ellie (1).

Charlese “Eugene” Scruggs ’59, Lakeland, Florida, published a book, “The Widening View,” which contains several pages about life at Transylvania in the 1950s.

Lexington, KY 40508.

1960 G. Richard “Dick” Longo ’60, Metairie, Louisiana, has written a book titled “How Running Saves Lives” about his life story of 75 years of running. It includes stories of how running has changed and saved lives through events and experiences he has had in his running career. Dick runs more than 50 races a year and has won 213 out of 215 races in age divisions from 60+ to 80+ (he is 82 years old now). He set state records in 1-mile, 2-mile, 4-mile, 5K, 8K, 10K and 12K in the 80+ division. The book was released Nov. 1.

Bettie Lou Duff Evans ’62, Lexington, who coached the University of Kentucky women’s golf team for 23 seasons, was inducted into the UK Athletics Hall of Fame on Nov. 4. Bettie Lou has been in the Pioneer Hall of Fame since 1993.

Charles P. Taylor ’65, Lexington, released his fourth CD, “Same River Twice,” available at crazychesterrecords.com. He is president of MomoTaylorMusic ASCAP. Wandaleen Poynter Cole ’67, Baltimore, represented Transylvania at the inauguration of Kent Devereaux as the 12th president of Goucher College on Sept. 24.

Herschel Sparber ’69, Los Angeles, an L.A.-based actor, wrapped up three weeks on location on the feature “Shaky Shivers,” a directorial debut by Sung Kang, producer of “Fast and Furious.”

26

THIRD & BROADWAY

James K. Millard ’71, St. Helena Island, South Carolina, and his wife, Madelyn, are both retired, having sold Waterwild Farm and bought a historic home on Dataw Island.

Jamie is serving on the board of directors of the Beaufort History Museum and volunteers as a docent at the John Mark Verdier House, owned and operated by the Historic Beaufort Foundation.

Earle H. O’Donnell ’71, Rockville, Maryland, received the George Washington University Law School’s top alumni award: the Jacob Burns Award for Extraordinary Service.

The award honors a person who has actively assisted the law school in its academic and civic mission.

Sumner “Barry” Remer ’71, Preston, Virginia, is a part-time park naturalist with the Barry County government. He enjoys working with both children and adults, educating them about the history, natural bounty and ecological diversity of the parks. His main interests are caring for the environment and global warming.

Anthony “Tony” Jay Jr. ’72, Vienna, Virginia, is retired in northern Virginia and would love to hear from classmates.

Stanley S. “Mike” Parks ’73, Madison, South Dakota, has written a book, “SITE 251,” published by BookLocker. It delves into the speculation of what the government knows about UFOs/UAPs and the public’s growing interest. The book is the first in a trilogy about a top-secret government installation that has been lost for many years.

It explores the issue of government cover-up and extraterrestrials in a combination of fact and fiction.

Paula Shuman Lacy ’73, Weston, Connecticut, retired in July 2020 after working nearly three decades as a television editor and producer for PBS and News 12 Connecticut.

After her graduation from Transylvania, Paula spent 20 years working for Trans World Airlines, first as a flight attendant, then a flight attendant instructor and safety instructor.

Jannie Hargett Nallinger ’74, Danville, Kentucky, represented Transylvania at the inauguration of Milton Moreland as the 21st president of Centre College.

David “Bear” Marthey ’75, Jonesboro, Arkansas, has been included in Marquis Who's Who for his dedication to the field of agriculture. Bear is the owner and operator of Big Dave's Custom Surveying & Design, where he is “widely known as the most competent independent agricultural land surveying service throughout the Mississippi Delta.”

Linda Wise McNay ’77, Atlanta, and her firm Our Fundraising Search have published the book “Fundraising for All: What Every Nonprofit Leader Should Know.” It is available on Amazon.

Martha M. Billips ’78, professor emeritus of English, had two pieces appear in the four-volume work “Twentieth-Century and Contemporary American Literature in Context,” published by ABCCLIO press. She contributed a biographical entry on Kentucky author Harriette Simpson Arnow, as well as a critical analysis of Arnow's 1954 novel, “The Dollmaker.”

1980 Leslie C. Riley ’80, Mesa, Arizona, and her husband Marty are both retired and spend most of the year in their home in Arizona when they are not RV’ing with their dog across the United States.

Russ Anderson ’83, Dallas, has been promoted to president of Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty.

Bonita J. Dailey ’83, Pikeville, Kentucky, a Floyd County Schools psychologist, was selected for the Kentucky Association for Psychology in Schools Best Practice Award for the Big Sandy/Kentucky Valley Education Cooperative area in November 2020.

Sandy L. Nott ’85, Harrodsburg, Kentucky, was promoted to vice president for administration at Toyota Motor Manufacturing in Georgetown in January.

Stuart E. Brown ’86, Versailles, Kentucky, was named winner of the 2021 AVMA Meritorious Service Award by the American Veterinary Medical Association. He is vice president of equine safety at Keeneland. He has mentored countless veterinarians, served on numerous industry and veterinary boards and committees, and represented veterinarians on the national level.

SHARED LOVE FOR MUSIC LED TRANSYLVANIA GRADUATES TO ELEKTRA RECORD DEAL

Two friends, two different paths, one goal — to make it in the music business. Ryan Anderson and Will Harvey, both 2014 graduates, came to Transylvania University with the mindset that a lot of students have: I know I should go to college, but how will this experience translate into my career?

Anderson grew up playing music and had aspirations of making it as an artist. Harvey thought that event production could be his path into the music world. The two met early in their first year and bonded over their shared love of music, spending countless nights listening to bands and talking about what their respective careers could look like. So when Anderson started playing on campus with other Transy peers, Harvey jumped on board to start finding him shows around downtown Lexington.

“We saw that we could help each other out a lot as far as me doing more of the marketing and organizational stuff on the business side, which would then allow him to focus on the music,” Harvey says. “We’ve been working together a long time with the same goal in mind — to play music and build a band.”

Harvey quickly switched his major from English to business administration with a marketing focus, understanding that what he learned in those classes would equip him for a career as a band manager.

“The different classes had a huge impact on me as a person and how I think and how I write now,” he says.

“When I decided to make that switch to business, I felt very well rounded. Being exposed to those English classes and

“Being exposed to those English classes and philosophy classes really gives you a different perspective when you’re taking your marketing classes.”

the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY

27

Will Harvey (left) and Ryan Anderson

philosophy classes really gives you a different perspective when you’re taking your marketing classes. I think that was a special part of being there for me.”

Anderson, on the other hand, kept his biology major — mostly because he found the sciences interesting and challenging — but also knowing that he could take a wide variety of other courses that could expand his worldview and give him valuable experience in fields that ended up informing his songwriting, like literature and philosophy.

“I loved that we were assigned Wendell Berry articles entering Transy,” Anderson says. “I really enjoyed a class with (English professor) Kremena Todorova where we were assigned different plays that kind of shocked my system with these dark stories where love is really messy. Will introduced me to a Fruit Bats song called ‘Singing Joy to the World,’ with a complicated love story that presented some controversy.

I got to play that song in the class on guitar, and it was a real moment of confidence, performance-wise, for me.”

After graduation, Anderson took a job with Red Wing Ecological Services, where he got to travel the state and 28

THIRD & BROADWAY

“I really enjoyed a class with (English professor) Kremena Todorova where we were assigned different plays that kind of shocked my system.” see parts of Kentucky he’d never experienced being from the Cincinnati metro area. Even throughout that time, though, the itch of becoming a full-time musician remained. During those two years, he wrote and recorded an album called “Consensual Wisdom,” which he released in 2015 as an EP under his current band name, Bendigo Fletcher.

Harvey continued to find him shows to play and pitch the band to influential people in the industry, and they quickly built a fan base.

In late 2019, Bendigo Fletcher recorded its first full album, and Harvey shopped it to record labels. The band got on a tour opening for national folk rock band CAAMP in the beginning of 2020, just as COVID-19 began making its way across the United States. The group was running out of time to show off what they could do. But on March 12, in its last show at the Basement in Nashville before everything shut down, representatives from Elektra Records — a well-known label with artists including Brandi Carlile, Young the Giant and Needtobreathe — saw the band perform and offered them a contract the next day.

“The timing was very delicate — it’s amazing that it even happened,” Harvey says. “But it did, and we’ve been working with them ever since.”

Elektra held on to the band’s record, “Fits of Laughter,” until after lockdowns were lifted, and finally released it Aug. 13. It’s a wide-ranging folk rock album that blends in elements of psychedelic and pop music and features Anderson’s offbeat lyrics that abandon cliche in favor of unusual imagery and deep reflection. Bendigo Fletcher will tour it with 43 tour dates through January, which includes stops with Anderson East, Ona and Sylmar.

In addition to managing Bendigo Fletcher, Harvey is co-owner of Lexington music venue The Burl and has his own booking agency, Landline Presents. He’s built a second career booking hundreds of local and national acts per year for both The Burl and Zanzabar in Louisville, further fulfilling his dream of being a maven in the local music industry.

“The Burl has been part of our story; it’s opened a lot of doors for us as a band,” Harvey says. “It really gives me a lot of perspective on the band’s side of things. It’s a special room.”

John O. Gaines ’87, Franklin, Tennessee, began Sept. 1 as senior partner for strategic planning at QuestBridge, a platform that connects the nation's brightest students from low-income backgrounds with leading institutions of higher education and further opportunities. John has enjoyed a college admissions career spanning over three decades starting at Transy, then Millsaps College and finally Vanderbilt University, where he served nearly 20 years.

P.T. Schram ’87, Churubusco, Indiana, is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the opening of his Land Rover repair shop. He is an internationally recognized authority on Land Rovers, drawing clients from around the world.

Gene Vance ’87, Lexington, a member of Stoll Keenon Ogden PLLC, was appointed to the Leaders Council of the Legal Services Corporation, the single largest funder of civil legal aid for low-income Americans in the country. The Leaders Council was created to assist in raising public awareness across the country on the justice gap and the need for more civil legal aid.

Billy Van Pelt ’87, Bowling Green, Kentucky, was named a senior adviser to the president and CEO at American Farmland Trust, where he serves as director of external relations.

John-Mark B. Hack ’88, Berea, Kentucky, was named chief strategic officer for Thoroughbred Engineering in Lexington in June.

Lytle Thomas ’88, Fort Wright, Kentucky, was named the First National Bank of Kentucky’s sixth president in its 139-year history.

Carrie Allen Boling ’89, Lexington, was named the first executive director for the Fayette Education Foundation, whose mission is to support educational excellence in Fayette County Public Schools by promoting equity for all students.

Roy W. Roberson ’89, Fayetteville, Georgia, published his first children’s book titled “Motorbike Builds a Tree House,” which is available most anywhere you buy books.

1990 S. Richard “Rick” Hughes ’90, Nashville, Tennessee, has joined the Nashville office of Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan PLLC as an attorney of counsel. He joined the firm after practicing several years in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Todd M. Hobbs ’91, Newtown, Pennsylvania, joined Hepion Pharmaceuticals as chief medical officer in February after having spent 16 years at Novo Nordisk in positions ranging from field medical affairs leadership to his most recent role as North American chief medical officer and vice president.

Stacey Johnson Hughes ’91, Nashville, Tennessee, became human resources director for Electrolux in March.

Natalie Ensminger Wyatt ’92, Versailles, Kentucky, was named senior account executive for SS&C Technologies in January.

Elizabeth H. Conyers ’93, Mount Sterling, Kentucky, works as a PA in Staunton and Harrisburg, Virginia, for MedExpress. She continues to compete in the Amateur Owner Jumpers with her two horses, Cobalt and Alex.

Stephanie Collinsworth Diaj ’94, Lexington, was selected as a finalist for the Central Kentucky’s Remarkable Women recognition.

Remarkable Women is part of a nationwide Nexstar Media Group initiative to honor the influence that women have had on public policy, social progress and the quality of life.

Shane W. Rau ’95, Williamsburg, Virginia, works as a VP and associate medical director for the AtHome Care and Scheduled Care lines of Array Behavioral Care.

He provides clinical services and medical leadership with a focus on measurement and outcomes.

John Mark Medley ’96, Lexington, was promoted to director of technical services at Sazerac Company in Frankfort in February.

He had served as manager of technical services since November 2017 and prior to that was the lead chemist at Buffalo Trace Distillery (owned by Sazerac).

John Mark is now responsible for driving continuous improvement by providing high-quality technical leadership across Sazerac Global Operations.

Heather A. Arnett ’97, Seattle, became vice president for research at Variant Bio, a company that is developing therapies that will improve global health by studying the genes of people with exceptional health-related traits.

Angela Rigsby Roberts ’98, Nicholasville, Kentucky, made a career change with the same company, Merrick Management, in May and is now a medical coder.

Jennifer Siegler Douglas ’99, New York City, is working as an immigration officer at Columbia University. She was also elected chair of NAFSA Region X New York/New Jersey.

Raine Engle-Minichan ’99, has been named associate director of student support services for Fayette County Public Schools, where she helps lead mental health services and the integration of social emotional learning into the curriculum.

2000 Mary Ellen Meurer Ford ’00, Lexington, started as PBM product and vendor relationship manager for Humana in October. In this job, she manages the pharmacy benefit manager integration platform, vendor relationships and contracts for PBM technology interoperability capabilities.

F. Brooke Dunn ’02, Indianapolis, in August assumed the role of chief financial officer of Health & Hospital Corporation of Marion County, which oversees the public hospital, health department, EMS, Foundation and about 80 nursing homes.

Joshua T. Fain ’03, Lexington, was named executive director of the Lexington Community Land Trust in late 2020.

Carl N. Frazier-Sparks ’04, Centerton, Arkansas, was named a fellow of the Lawyers for Civil Justice earlier this year, and Talk Business & Politics selected him for “Forty Under 40” recognition.

Carl is senior counsel for class action and commercial litigation for Walmart Inc. Matthew V. Roth ’04, Lexington, became a financial adviser with Cetera Financial Group in July.

Yajaira Aich West ’04, Lexington, was recognized by United Way of the Bluegrass as one of its 100 Heroes in celebration of its

centennial year. She has been an employee campaign chair at PNC for over 12 years, a former Fayette County Board of Trustees member and the leader of the Countdown to Kindergarten initiative. Yajaira is also a former member of Transylvania’s Board of Regents.

Alicia Still Branum ’05, Lexington, was selected to be a part of this year’s Emerge Kentucky class.

Emerge Kentucky has a strong history of training women to win elections and break barriers.

Rachel Green Grown ’05, Bowling Green, Kentucky, participated in Leadership of Bowling Green, a leadership development program coordinated by the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce. She is the Sealing & Striping CFO for the Reynolds Corporation.

Clint N. Morris ’05, Lexington, was re-elected to the Kentucky Democratic Party’s State Central Executive Committee earlier this year.

Julie Potter Byrne ’06, Iron Station, North Carolina, was promoted to associate director for global tax policy at Ernst & Young.

Julie double majored in accounting and political science at Transy, and her new role is a perfect molding of the two disciplines.

Mary Rose French ’06, Richmond, Kentucky, was promoted to premier customer relationship consultant at U.S. Bank after becoming licensed in Kentucky in July.

Elizabeth Poindexter Smith ’07, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, was promoted to critical care advanced practice provider manager at Medical University of South Carolina in July.

2010 Celia Finfrock Fuller ’10, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, began her work as the Bible teacher at Oak Hill School in August 2020.

Sara Williamson Roush ’10, University City, Missouri, is working as a mental health therapist at the International Institute of St. Louis.

She earned her LCSW license in October.

Grant T. Buckles ’11, Louisville, began a new role as UX researcher for Instagram in April.

the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY

29

SAVE

THE

DATE

Mark your calendars for April 29-May 1, 2022, and join your classmates and friends for a Transy Family Reunion!

More information at www. transy.edu/alumniweekend or by contacting Natasa Pajic Mongiardo ’96, director of alumni relations, at nmongiardo@transy.edu, 859-233-8213.

Warren D. Finlinson ’11, Simpsonville, Kentucky, is head compounding pharmacist with Chewy, charged with opening a new compounding pharmacy business operation, which was recently highlighted in the Chewy Q1 2021 earnings call.

Kristen M. Geil ’11, Chicago, was named a winner of the Freelance Excellence award at this year's Women in Content Marketing Awards. The awards were “created to recognize the outstanding work of inspiring and accomplished innovators, spotlighting specific achievements made by women and ways that these marketers have positively impacted others.”

Kristen is chief content officer at the aSweatLife health and wellness media company.

Taylor G. Bugh ’12, Louisville, is an area sales manager for Hood Container Corporation, where he manages sales teams for two facilities (Louisville and Franklin).

Jensen Brooke Potenza ’12, Louisville, who received her M.D. from the University of Kentucky, has completed her residency in psychiatry at the University of Louisville. She will be practicing consult-liaison psychiatry in Louisville.

Heather M. Riley ’12, Lexington, is a campus recruiter for U.S. Bank.

She started her position in October.

Quanta Taylor ’12, Louisville, began his new career at the University of Louisville as director of student involvement in January.

Prior to that he served as assistant director of student involvement at The Ohio State University.

Andrew W. Weinberger ’12, Louisville, started in August as program coordinator senior in faculty affairs at the University of Louisville School of Medicine.

In his new role, he assists the coordinator of faculty affairs in the School of Medicine's Department of Pediatrics.

30

THIRD & BROADWAY

Braden J. Johnson ’17, Lexington, received his doctorate in physical therapy from the University of Kentucky in August. He plans to practice in Lexington after completing the licensure exam.

Braden also is a pitching coach for the Frederick Douglass High School baseball team.

Jenna Phelps Hopkins ’19, Corbin, Kentucky, graduated in March with her MAED in literacy specialist from the University of the Cumberlands.

Alice V. Mathews ’17, Somerville, Massachusetts, started her job as clinical assessor at The Renfrew Center eating disorder treatment center in Boston in August 2020.

Breanna Preece McPeek ’20, San Antonio, Texas, has been a mortgage loan funder/closing coordinator at SWBC Mortgage since September 2020.

Shelby R. Perkins ’17, earned a master of physician assistant studies from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions in August. She will be relocating to Seattle to work at Harborview Medical Center as a hospitalist with the surgical burn and plastics team.

Michael A. Webb ’21, Lexington, is the head of commercialization and marketing for Panda Industries Inc. (Panda Processing). The company is currently raising funding for operations to manufacture plywood and dimensional lumber made from bamboo. Michael can be reached at michael@pandaprocessing. org or 502-759-0358 if you are interested in learning more about the company.

Michael F. Soder ’17, Parks Hill, Kentucky, graduated from the University of Cincinnati Law School in May 2020. He was named an associate attorney for Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP in Cincinnati in January.

Ryan M. Sipes ’17, Paris, Kentucky, is owner of Simply Seedlings, an indoor microgreens growing operation he started in a spare bedroom in downtown Lexington in May 2019 along with his girlfriend, Raelyn Nickerson.

Haley B. Williams ’17, Lexington, started her job as associate attorney at Micah Legal in September.

Andrew A. Coburn ’18, Huntington, West Virginia, is a student support specialist for the College Program for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder through the West Virginia Autism Training Center. The College Program is located at Marshall University in Huntington.

Erin Alexander Hughes ’18, Marquette, Michigan, is a talent specialist for Upper Peninsula Michigan Works.

2020

MARRIAGES William H. McCann ’79 and Jeanine Grant Lister ’23, Aug. 1, 2021 Paul E. Hillenmeyer ’88 and Laura Clay McNeill, Oct. 9, 2021 Jennifer C. Siegler ’99 and Wes Douglas, March 20, 2021 Kevin M. McLendon ’11 and Aissa Vasquez, June 29, 2021 Jeremy M. Hatler ’12 and Meredith A. Mullican ’13, May 8, 2021 K. Alexander “Alex” Schmitt ’14 and Emily Ferguson, Aug. 14, 2021 K. Chandler Ware ’14 and K. Darby Cooksey ’16, Oct. 17, 2020 Benjamin H. Lyvers ’15 and Katherine Dyche, July 4, 2020 Grace K. Jung ’16 and Samuel T. Mullen ’16, Sept. 25, 2021

Rebecca L. Blankenship ’15, Berea, Kentucky, was elected to the Kentucky Democratic Party’s State Central Executive Committee earlier this year.

Aaron R. Rodgers ’18, Lexington, earned a Juris Doctorate at the Vanderbilt University School of Law in May 2021 and is currently clerking for the Hon. Danny Reeves, chief judge of the U.S. District Court.

T. Andrew Ellis ’17 and Mahala Cornett, Aug. 9, 2021

Benjamin H. Lyvers ’15, Louisville, began his medical residency as a pediatric resident physician at Norton Children’s Hospital in the University of Louisville residency program in July 2020.

Andre “Lance” Antoine ’19, Lexington, is single barrel select (barrel associate) at Sazerac Company Inc., the parent company of the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort.

Claire E. Gardner ’18 and Aaron R. Rodgers ’18, June 20, 2021

Danielle N. Evans ’17 and Travis Clan, Sept. 18, 2021 Erin R. Alexander ’18 and Noah Hughes, June 12, 2021

Dane R. Ritter ’18 and Lindsey R. Sizemore ’18, Oct. 2, 2021

BIRTHS

Ann Horton Burns ’42, Lexington, died Jan. 2, 2021.

Clark M. Williamson ’57, Indianapolis, died June 26, 2021.

William Redmon ’04 and Elizabeth Denley Redmon ’05, a son, Thorin James Redmon, on Sept. 1, 2021

Mildred Smart Baber ’47, Paris, Kentucky, died Sept. 2, 2020.

Charles “Chuck” D. Flynn ’58, Counce, Tennessee, husband of Barbara Ann Martin Flynn ’59, died March 26, 2021.

Jason P. Moeller ’05 and Stephanie Moeller, a daughter, Gretchen Marika Moeller, on Aug. 20, 2021 Mary Rose French ’06 and Jeremy Elkins, a daughter, Lydia Laine Rose Elkins, on Aug. 30, 2021

Rodney E. Buttermore Sr. ’47, Westworth Village, Texas, died Aug. 30, 2021.

Dorothy Lentz Marshall ’49, Jeffersonville, Indiana, died Aug. 3, 2021.

Juanita P. Shacklett ’49, Davis, California, died Oct. 14, 2021.

Elizabeth Poindexter Smith ’07 and Grant Smith, a son, Roy Grant “Gray” Smith, on Nov. 1, 2019

William M. Beheler ’50, Bloomington, Indiana, died Feb. 3, 2021.

Lauren Covert Weber ’07 and Erik Weber ’07, a son, Bastian Clemens Weber, on July 23, 2021

Ottillie “Gypsy” Graves ’50, Murphy, North Carolina, died March 30, 2021.

Elizabeth Meredith Rhea ’08 and Jonathan Rhea, a son, Jackson Rhea, on May 4, 2021

Kent Varden Harrel ’50, Edina, Minnesota, died Feb. 17, 2020.

Jennifer Rose Leong Tatimatla ’08 and Sarang Tatimatla, a daughter, Elizabeth Rose Tatimatla, on April 30, 2021 Amanda Meneghetti Turcotte ’09 and Greg Turcotte ’09, a son, Colleton Michael Turcotte, on Feb. 3, 2021 Rachel Higdon Gates ’09 and Chad Gates, a daughter, Audrey Florine Gates, on April 19, 2021 Shawn Price Finlinson ’11 and Warren D. Finlinson ’11, a daughter, Lucille Eloise Finlinson, on June 22, 2020.

Amanda Foley Harvill ’11 and Jon Harvill, a daughter, Mara Harvill, on Aug. 11, 2021 Alicia Winans Kinch ’11 and Logan Kinch, a son, Henry David Kinch, on Dec. 12, 2020 Nicole Tomaszewski-Wilson ’15 and Jonna Wilson ’16, a son, Oliver Cole Wilson, on July 6, 2020 Sam Ives ’16 and Ellen Gaines Ives, a daughter, Maeve Evelyn Ives, on April 20, 2021

IN MEMORIAM

Robert C. Haynes ’51, Louisville, father of Robert C. Haynes ’70 and grandfather of William K. Bache ’04, died April 10, 2021.

Conley G. Wilkerson ’51, Perryville, Kentucky, father of Lucy Wilkerson Hoertz ’80 and Nancy Wilkerson Wilder ’82 and grandfather of Ellis W. Wilder ’08, died Aug. 3, 2021.

Anne Swords Alexander ’53, Jacksonville, Florida, wife of David Alexander ’53, died Aug. 9, 2021.

Willis G. Jackson ’53, Birmingham, Alabama, father of Elizabeth Jackson Murray ’89 and grandfather of Julia R. Murray ’15 and James B. Murray ’20, died Sept. 19, 2021.

Carl B. Delabar ’56, Lexington, died Jan. 8, 2021.

Harold E. Tackett ’56, Lexington, died Dec. 25, 2020.

Jean Lollis Catlett ’57, Bardstown, Kentucky, wife of Kenneth R. Catlett ’54 and sister of Eleanor Lollis Rose ’61, died April 13, 2021.

Martha Howard Fawbush ’57, Round Rock, Texas, died Feb. 2, 2021.

Judith Roberts McKinley ’58, Cynthiana, Kentucky, died Jan. 6, 2021.

Luther Redmon ’58, Toledo, Ohio, died Nov. 15, 2020.

Paul J. Armstrong ’59, Lexington, died Jan. 31, 2021.

Edwin G. “Gil” Willson Jr. ’75, Sandy Spring, Maryland, died June 21, 2021.

Jimmie L. Jewell ’78, Charlotte, North Carolina, died Aug. 24, 2021.

Ida K. Yelton ’81, Alexandria, Kentucky, died April 10, 2021.

Loree Goheen Allen ’87, Oxford, Mississippi, sister of Terri Goheen Srinivasan ’87, died Jan. 21, 2021.

Elizabeth Anne Price GlassGundlach ’88, Midlothian, Virginia, died July 28, 2020.

Bobby S. Pace ’59, Avon Lake, Ohio, died Feb. 27, 2021.

Kaelyn Bullock Hand ’03, Georgetown, Kentucky, died Jan. 10, 2021.

James C. Van Meter ’60, Lexington, died Jan. 20, 2021.

Aaron A. Edgin ’12, Santa Clara, California, died Dec. 2, 2020.

Patsy Amburgey Trautner ’61, Lexington, mother of Paula Trautner McGuire ’83 and grandmother of Shane T. McGuire ’09, died Sept. 28, 2021.

Lynn C. Aulick, (retired staff), Lexington, died Jan. 12, 2021.

Mary Pamelia McCord Watts ’63, Centerville, Ohio, wife of Robert F. Watts ’63, died Feb. 3, 2021.

Martha Bell Stukenborg ’65, Louisville, died Feb. 19, 2021.

Harold L. Butterworth ’67, Collierville, Tennessee, died Sept. 29, 2021.

Kathleen Bryson (retired library director), Lexington, died Oct. 15, 2021.

David Burg (retired faculty), Lexington, died Nov. 6, 2021.

Barbara Gaddy (faculty emerita), Lexington, died July 6, 2021.

Only surviving immediate relatives who are Transylvania alumni are listed.

Walter W. Kuehn ’67, Nicholasville, Kentucky, died Sept. 12, 2021.

Candace Carnes Adkins ’68, Las Vegas, died July 14, 2021.

Sharon K. Mills ’68, Hendersonville, North Carolina, died Feb. 27, 2021.

Stephen A. Zrenda ’68, Edmond, Oklahoma, brother of Jerome P. Zrenda ’69, died Jan. 16, 2021.

Helen F. Clark ’69, Lexington, died Jan 11, 2021.

Thomas Polk ’69, Decatur, Georgia, brother of Theodore H. Polk ’68, died March 25, 2021.

Steven P. Myers ’70, Greenfield, Massachusetts, died Feb. 13, 2021.

James L. Gragg ’72, Lexington, died Dec. 16, 2020.

Lora Barrow Tuttle ’34, Birmingham, Alabama, died March 13, 2021.

William James Graul Jr. ’57, Versailles, Kentucky, father of William J. Graul ’81, died Nov. 11, 2020.

Loretta Gilliam Clark ’39, London, Kentucky, died March 14, 2021.

Joyce Netherton Albertsen ’58, New Bedford, Texas, died Sept. 24, 2021.

Joan Patricia Lewis Coffman ’74, Georgetown, Kentucky, died Jan. 27, 2021.

Charles W. Prewitt ’39, Willimantic, Connecticut, died Jan. 7, 2021.

Eddie K. Stubblefield ’57, Kalispell, Montana, died March 19, 2021.

Rodney L. Dunn ’74, Danville, Kentucky, father of F. Brooke Dunn ’02, died April 29, 2021.

John H. Pollock ’73, Springfield, California, died March 23, 2021.

the magazine of TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY

31

TOGETHER FOR TRANSY 2021 BRINGS IN RECORD SUPPORT FOR STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS, AID Each spring, the Transylvania community is asked to step up for one day and come Together for Transy.

This year, the community set a new fundraising record for the annual day-of-giving event, making a difference in the lives of current and future Pioneers in the process.

The May 14 event generated $479,807 from 916 gifts, surpassing last year’s total by more than $60,000.

A number of challenges and contests helped keep donations coming in throughout the day, with top challenges bringing out some fierce competition.

In the Battle of the Classes, for instance, it came down to Gen X vs. Gen Z, with the X-ers of the classes of 1990 (38 gifts) and 1992 (37 gifts) finishing just behind this year’s juniors, the Class of 2022 (39 gifts). In the Greek competition, Phi Mu returned to the top spot (153 gifts) with Alpha Omicron Pi coming in a close second (143 gifts). Also, business majors (111 gifts) were at the top of the academic contest, followed by psychology majors (90 gifts) — and the field hockey team ran away with Raf’s Race, dominating the field with 60 gifts.

Together for Transy benefits The Transylvania Fund, the university’s annual giving program supporting scholarships for those who could not otherwise afford to come to Transy and providing for the greatest needs of current and future Pioneers. Additional dollars provide the university the ability to enhance student programming, invest in faculty and staff and improve the quality of life on campus — essentially our students’ greatest needs.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR TOGETHER FOR TRANSY ON MAY 13, 2022!

32

THIRD & BROADWAY

HAVE YOU JOINED? You have two opportunities to double — or even triple — the impact of your gift, helping Pioneers on the Road to Student Success!

The Transylvania Fund Challenge

$250,000

Act Fast - Jan. 31 Deadline This challenge will match any gift to The Transylvania Fund, doubling your investment in Transy.

The President’s Circle Challenge

$250,000

This challenge will match President’s Circle gifts of $1,000 or more — dollar for dollar!

President’s Circle matches are available until the $250,000 Challenge total has been met.

BONUS: If you participate in both challenges by making a gift of $1,000 or more to The Transylvania Fund, both matches will apply, resulting in the challenge TRIPLING the amount of your contribution!

You can participate in the challenge by: 1. Making your own gift to Transylvania, taking full advantage of the available challenges.

2. Challenging your classmates and Transy friends to join you in participating!

Please join us on The Road to Student Success by making a gift TODAY! Visit transy.edu/giving and make a gift online, or send a check to: Office of Advancement, 300 North Broadway, Lexington, KY 40508

Office of Marketing and Communications 300 North Broadway Lexington, KY 40508

Get the latest Transy news and updates at transy.edu/1780.