WESmag Summer 2019

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WESLEYAN COLLEGE, SUMMER 2019

ADMINISTRATION Vivia Fowler President Melody Blake Provost and Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs Andrea Williford Vice President for Institutional Advancement Clint Hobbs Vice President for Strategic Enrollment Management Robert Moye Vice President for Business and Finance and CFO Christy Henry Dean of Students WESLEYAN MAGAZINE STAFF Mary Ann Howard, Editor Director of Communications mhoward@wesleyancollege.edu Brandi Vorhees Creative Director of Brand and Website Cathy Coxey Snow ’71 Alumnae Director csnow@wesleyancollege.edu Millie P. Hudson ’75 Director of Development Julie Jones Director of Advancement Services Katie Sadler-Stephenson ’00 Class Notes Editor CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Susan Allen ’17 Whitney Davis Amanda Wiggs Photography by Maryann Bates PRINTING: Panaprint SPECIAL THANKS Mary Kathryn Borland ’04, and alumnae and friends for providing photos.

Wesleyan Magazine is published twice a year by the Wesleyan College Office of Communications 4760 Forsyth Road Macon, GA 31210-4462 phone (478) 757-5137 Contents may not be reprinted without permission from the editor.

Dear Friends, In May, the Class of 2019 graduated, ready to find their places in the world beyond this campus. As these newest alumnae leave Wesleyan to begin the next phase of their journey, we are confident that their Wesleyan experience has prepared them well for what lies ahead – on the job or in the graduate school classroom.

In the pages of this issue of WesMag you can read about some of these outstanding students and other alumnae who are excelling in a variety of fields. Again and again, these women cite the preparation they received at Wesleyan – the research opportunities, the close relationships with faculty, the career guidance, the academic engagement, the encouragement to reflect deeply and find a calling. Their experiences reflect those of so many alumnae I meet who tell me that their time at Wesleyan remains one of the defining experiences of their lives.

Our accomplished alumnae are living testaments to the power of a Wesleyan education, and we are determined that Wesleyan will continue to nurture women like these. It is ironic that, at a time when women’s education is more important than ever, many of our sister institutions are in decline or are being forced to close their doors. We are resolved that Wesleyan will not meet the same fate.

In 2036, just 17 years from now, Wesleyan will begin her third century of educating women in higher education. No other institution can boast of such a history!

But, like other colleges, we face significant challenges. More than ever, Wesleyan needs your support. If we are to continue into a third century, it will require the increased support of all our alumnae and friends.

If you have already made a gift to the College this fiscal year, thank you! Will you consider making an additional gift?

If you have not made your annual gift, please consider making as generous a gift as you can! Now is the time to act so that Wesleyan can celebrate entering that historic third century! Remember that our fiscal year ends on June 30.

In the meantime, enjoy this issue of WesMag, including the wonderful photographs from Alumnae Weekend, when hundreds of alumnae gathered to reconnect with one another and with Wesleyan. I hope you also will read about the impressive women who were honored by the Alumnae Association with awards that weekend.

Thank you all for loving Wesleyan! You have my best wishes for a happy summer!

Vivia L. Fowler

F R EVER Contents

W E S L E YA N M A G A Z I N E S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 1 9

2 4 8

Now and Forever Educating exceptional women

Social and behavioral sciences Adapting to today’s global world

Professional studies A plethora of internship opportunities

34 Nursing

16 24 28

36 Campus News

42 Class Photos

Natural science and math Seeking answers to “why” questions

Humanities Plus, a special self-designed major

Fine arts Making a beautiful mark on the world

40 Alumnae Awards

46 Alumnae Connections

Wesleyan Magazine Spring/Summer 2019

FORE With your help, Wesleyan will continue to educate women like these –

now and forever.

1 2

EVER In the almost 183 years of her history, Wesleyan

Please consider increasing your gifts to Wesleyan

has faced many economic challenges. Today, we

by 20 percent. If you ordinarily give $1,000, please

are certainly not alone in these challenges. Since

consider giving $1200. If you ordinarily give $100,

2016, 24 private non-profit colleges in the U.S.

please consider giving $120. Many donors find that

have closed, merged, or announced their closing.

giving monthly makes a $1200 annual gift more

The number of women’s colleges now stands at 37,

manageable at $100 a month or a $120 annual gift

down from a high of 230 in 1960.

more manageable at $10 a month. If you’ve never given before, please consider joining the many

We are determined to keep Wesleyan from joining

faithful alumnae and friends who already do.

the list of colleges that are in decline or are closing.

Wesleyan needs you.

But in order for us to have that sustainable future, we MUST have the support of our alumnae and

Your contributions make possible the Wesleyan

friends. If there ever was a time for you to make

experience for some truly amazing women. In the

a significant gift to Wesleyan, this is it. Our fiscal

following pages of WESmag, you will read about some

year ends June 30th.

of the extraordinary students and alumnae who are doing exceptional work in a variety of careers.

Now more than ever, we must stand strong, stand together, and stand up for Wesleyan.

Wesleyan Magazine Spring/Summer 2019

SOCIAL & BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

Chelsea

ROBBINS

POLITICS AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS, HISTORY, PSYCHOLOGY

PRE-PROFESSIONAL PROGRAM: LAW

COMBINING TWO MAJORS TO CREATE ONE MORE-RELEVANT MAJOR In the fall, Wesleyan combined political science and international relations majors to create a new major - politics and global affairs. In our increasingly diverse and interconnected world the major prepares students to engage with systems of power both locally and globally. Professor of Political Science and Dupont Guerry Chair of History and Economics Dr. Barbara Donovan was one of the faculty members behind this important change.

“In our interconnected world it didn’t make sense to continue studying American politics separate from global politics. I encourage my students to broaden their horizons and understand the role the United States plays in global affairs.”

Rooted in deep disciplinary knowledge in the fields of politics and history, this course of study uses rigorous methods and an interdisciplinary approach to answer questions about policy, practice, and public service.

The program includes partnerships with local and regional organizations including MaconBibb County government, Washington D.C.’s Public Leadership Education Network (PLEN), Mercer Law School, and the Southern Regional Model UN. This semester students participated in a Model Diplomacy U.S. Foreign Policy Simulation, an interactive program that uses roleplay to demonstrate the challenges of shaping U.S. foreign policy in an interconnected world.

The students role-played members of the National Security Council and foreign ambassadors to develop a response to the ongoing crisis in Venezuela.

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Credits faculty for the confidence and guidance to apply to Ph.D. programs Chelsea Robbins ’19 conducted research during six of her eight semesters at Wesleyan. In her sophomore year, she worked on a field project observing the feeding preferences in wild mice. She and her team laid safe traps in the arboretum to catch rodents and offered them different types of seeds. Around the same time, she was carrying out a self-designed project on trail-following behavior in snails and also beginning her psychology research on relational aggression in women.

“The aggression study was particularly fun. While participants attempted impossible word searches, we put squeaky chairs in the lab to annoy them. We then had them rate Facebook posts to test their levels of aggression. After that, I started getting involved with the psychology department’s mouse lab which tests mice’s ability to learn Double Alternation Serial Pattern.” For her senior research project, Chelsea studied students’ motivation in standardized testing.

“I think it was the sheer amount of research opportunities Wesleyan provided that helped me get accepted to graduate school.” Chelsea was accepted into several industrial-organizational psychology graduate programs and chose to pursue her doctoral degree at Clemson University.

Chelsea is a fifth-generation Wesleyanne from West Palm Beach, Florida, who earned her degree in psychology, summa cum laude, with minors in neuroscience and biology. A Global Scholar with a full-tuition scholarship, she served as a work-study student all four years on campus. “I’ve been an animal caretaker in the biology department where I took care of mice and crayfish; a teaching assistant and a tutor for the psychology department; and a psychology major ambassador, assisting and mentoring first-year students who are considering psychology as a major.” At Honors Day in April,Chelsea was presented Honors in an Academic Discipline for Psychology.

For the past four summers, Chelsea has interned with a Palm Beach County archaeologist. “I love going out on digs, sorting remains, and necropsying the occasional shark. While it’s not directly related to psychology, it did teach me the research skills I needed to find obscure articles and information from online databases, a skill that came in handy in college.”

Wesleyan Magazine MagazineSpring/Summer Spring/Summer2019 2019 Wesleyan

Charline

VAN DER BEEK THE ATTACHÉ

Age is just a number and knowledge is what matters As an attaché for the foreign ministry, Charline van der Beek ’15 works for the Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, Switzerland. “A permanent mission is comparable to an embassy except we deal with multilateral issues rather than bilateral issues and we do not provide consular services.”

In her position, Charline represents Austria at several UN organizations and UN specialized agencies in Geneva but finds the digital work she does the most interesting. Geneva is home to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) which sets technical standards that ensure the Internet works worldwide (for example, IP addresses are based on standards set by ITU). “As the Internet becomes more and more important, digital issues have started popping up in organizations dealing with international trade, human rights, disarmament, and cyber security, in addition to physical security issues, such as killer robots that use artificial intelligence technologies.”

Another part of her portfolio of responsibilities includes attending meetings where she “keeps an eye on so-called ‘political issues’ that could affect foreign policy, for example, when Russia and Ukraine start a discussion on the illegal annexation of Crimea.”

Before earning her master’s degree in European public affairs from Maastricht University, Netherlands, Charline was a four-year member of the equestrian team at Wesleyan and graduated magna cum laude with a double major in economics and political science. She credits experiences with Model UN as one of the reasons she decided to apply for the position in Geneva. She also credits the Center for Career Development for helping her start her career. Charline was among Wesleyan’s first students to produce an online resumé and portfolio. “My online portfolio was actually the reason I was chosen for the internship with the European Union in Geneva, the internship that led me to find the job I have now. My former supervisors were very impressed with my resumé and thought it was an innovative way of presenting oneself to the world.”

Having grown up in Luxembourg, Charline’s native language is Dutch, but she is equally fluent in German and English. Today she lives in France and works in Switzerland for the Austrian government.

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WesleyanMagazine MagazineSpring/Summer Spring/Summer2019 2019 Wesleyan

PROFESSIONAL STUDIES BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS, ACCOUNTING A UNIQUE NEW INTERNSHIP FOR EDUCATION STUDENTS With leadership from Associate Professor of Education Dr. Virginia Bowman Wilcox ’90, Wesleyan College’s Education Department initiated a unique partnership with the Bibb County School System. For an entire year, Courtney McCoy ’19 and Stephanie Mixon ’19 served as the teachers of record in their own classrooms at Rosa Taylor Elementary School.

Each internship included a $15,000 stipend and upon successful completion of the program, a guaranteed two-year contract with a Bibb County school.

Each week a Wesleyan professor visited the interns to observe, advise, problemsolve, and provide guidance. Wilcox said, “By being in a classroom, these students learned firsthand how to be engaging and effective educators. The sheer amount of growth they showed far surpassed our expectations. They listened to constructive criticism and used it as a challenge to grow, overcome, and excel. It was phenomenal to watch their experience unfold and develop.”

Wesleyan’s education professors are committed to pursuing unique and innovative opportunities to help Wesleyan students succeed. “We know that while we have great things to teach within the walls of our classrooms, the real learning comes from being in front of actual students as often as possible.”

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Tara

REIGEL

Driven by her love of knowledge Tara Reigel ’19 says she is able to keep up with the demands of her triple major because she is driven by her love of knowledge and possesses great time management skills. Tara knew upon entering Wesleyan that she wanted to major in accounting. During her sophomore year, she declared two more majors - business administration and environmental studies. “I took an environmental science class and found that I loved it, so I decided to look into jobs that involve accounting and environmental protection.”

While at Wesleyan she held an internship with the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program helping elderly people and lowincome families in the Macon community complete their income taxes.

She also completed a summer-long accounting internship at Robins Air Force Base and secured a job in their cost accounting department after graduating. “I love accounting because I love organizing information and working with numbers. It’s like solving a puzzle and my brain works in a way that makes the process really enjoyable.”

Tara and two other Wesleyan accounting students competed against graduate and undergraduate teams across the state in the Atlanta Case Study Competition of the Georgia Chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditors Internal Audit Competition. They placed in the top 10 both years.

Her long-term goal is to become a CPA in the field of environmental accounting. Environmental accountants work with companies on costs associated with sustainability and their compliance with governmental regulations. “Dr. Ferrari (professor of biology) drew my attention to certain environmental issues and that’s what pushed me to research how I could combine accounting and environmental protection.

Although I focus mostly on the social implications of environmental studies, such as environmental economics and politics, I love being outside and learning about the world I want to help protect. Summer Leadership Institute 2018 took me to Yellowstone National Park and I was enthralled with the beauty of that natural environment.”

Tara earned a four-year Dean’s Scholarship to Wesleyan and was the recipient of the STUNT scholarship this past year. She also worked on campus as a gallery assistant, a ceramics technician, and served as an Academic Resource Center tutor. At Honors Day in April, Tara was recognized as the graduating accounting major with the highest overall grade point average. She has two sisters who also attend Wesleyan – Brooke, Class of 2021 and Barbara, Class of 2022.

Wesleyan Magazine Magazine Spring/Summer Spring/Summer 2019 2019 Wesleyan

Grace

STILES WILLIAMS Working to make differences that will last for generations Fall semester 2019, Grace Stiles Williams ’19 will be entering the master’s of divinity program at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology on a full-tuition scholarship.

Until recently, attending seminary was not her plan, but she is looking forward to joining Wesleyan sisters who have studied there. She is also in the process of applying for candidacy for ordination to be a deacon in the United Methodist Church (UMC).

Grace’s mother, Jennifer Stiles Williams ’93, is a senior pastor at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Orlando, Florida, having earned her master’s degree in divinity at Candler. Jennifer’s parents, her sister, a brother, and a sister-in-law are also part of the Florida Conference of the UMC. Though Grace never planned to follow in their footsteps, she has always believed that her life’s work would revolve around learning about people, understanding their cultures, and using her faith to build communities. Her first year at Wesleyan, she declared international relations as her major with a minor in communication. Later she added history as a second minor and felt everything was in place for the next four years. Along the way, she began considering where this track would lead after graduation, and she turned to her academic advisor Dr. Barbara Donovan who helped her consider careers in global politics, public policy, non-profit organizations, and community development through ministry.

Grace also looked to Wesleyan’s Assistant Dean for Equity and Inclusion Tonya Parker ’01. “It was through Ms. Tonya that I finally

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recognized my calling to go into ministry. I felt the pull to use what I had learned for good and to pursue justice and mercy. I realized that all the work I had done and all the experiences I had been through were leading up to this moment.”

Grace was a Mary Knox McNeill Scholar and a Wesleyan Disciple. For four years, she served on the Student Government Association and as president of the Golden Class, which afforded her the honor of speaking at Dr. Fowler’s inauguration last fall.

Other campus honors have included being a student representative on the hiring committees for the Academic Resource Center and serving on the Diversity and Inclusion Board. On Honors Day in April, Grace received the highest student-nominated honor, Wesleyan Student of the Year. Given each year to a graduating senior, this award is based on three principal traits: leadership, dedication to the Wesleyan community, and friendship to others. She was also awarded Honors in an Academic Discipline for International Relations.

Before graduation, Grace held two internships with United Methodist churches and was invited to preach twice. “I grew up surrounded by church and faith. I take great pride in the Stiles family legacy but, as I discern my calling, I’m making my own way. Everything that I have learned at Wesleyan has brought me to this decision. I am living proof that life has a funny way of coming full circle.”

Grace’s sister Caroline is also a student at Wesleyan, Class of 2021.

Wesleyan Magazine Magazine Spring/Summer Spring/Summer 2019 2019 Wesleyan

Gaining valuable industry knowledge through internships Corn Scholar Katie Ann Fitts ’20 from Columbus, Georgia, and Carlee Dykes ’20 from Powder Springs, Georgia, met at Wesleyan in 2016 during a campus visit for soccer players, not knowing they would end up sharing so many things in common. In addition to being business majors and sport management minors, both serve as orientation leaders and live in Corn Apartments. They also share a love of sports as demonstrated by being proud members of the Wesleyan Wolf soccer team, where Carlee is captain, serving on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, the Athletic Honor Society, where Carlee is president, and coaching youth soccer off campus.

As part of their From Here to Career professional development experiences, Katie Ann and Carlee serve as interns with The Macon Mayhem, Macon’s Southern Professional Hockey League team. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays their work usually consists of mass-marketing The Mayhem by creating and sending newsletters, which include updates about the team and the players, and provide information about promotional events.

On game days, Katie Ann and Carlee work behind the scenes to make sure the

intermission games and media time-out activities are ready and run smoothly.

According to Stephanie Baugh, director of the Center for Career Development (CCD), “Katie and Carlee connected with a Macon Mayhem staff member through a class project. Because they were interested in gaining more handson experience in sport management, they worked closely with the CCD to tailor their resumés, career goals, and networking skills. Then, they worked with their contact at The Mayhem to create and participate in a personalized, semesterlong internship with the team.” This type of experiential learning is standard at Wesleyan. Students gain valuable industry knowledge, make professional connections, refine their career goals, and build core skills employers seek such as the ability to problem-solve and communicate.

Katie Ann serves as her class’s president and was elected SGA president for next year. After graduation she plans to enter the workforce in the field of human resources. She feels her Mayhem internship has been instrumental in helping her plan her professional path

with the ultimate goal of owning a youth soccer club. “I chose Wesleyan because I fell in love with the campus and the Wesleyan community. Dr. Glenna Meyer (Professor of Free Enterprise and Professional Studies) has mentored me academically and socially for the past year, and Stephanie Baugh from the CCD has been incredibly helpful as I research career and internship options.”

Carlee hopes to work as an assistant soccer coach at the collegiate level while earning a master’s degree in sport management. Her career goal is to coach women’s collegiate soccer or to serve in game-day management at the professional level for any sport.

“Head Soccer Coach Seth Semones has challenged me to become a better athlete each year, and Athletic Director Penny Siquieros advises me on the steps I need to take to pursue my career in the sports industry.”

Katie Ann says, “Coming to Wesleyan I didn’t know how I would fit in or find friends. After my first week here, I knew that I would leave with a friend for life.”

Katie Ann FIT TS

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Carlee

DYKES

Wesleyan Magazine Spring/Summer 2019

Hana BEKELE Wesleyan was just the beginning

Yuliya IVANOVA THE QUANTITATIVE ASSOCIATE

Wesleyan was the start of it all Yuliya Ivanova, Ph.D. ’07, works as a quantitative associate for the Washington, D.C., office of Promontory Financial Group, an IBM Company and leading financial services consulting firm with eighteen offices across the U.S., Asia, Europe, Australia, and the Middle East.

Her duties include model validation, advising financial institutions on risk management and regulatory compliance, and performing quantitative economic analyses including risk quantification. She also develops statistical models for her clients to use to comply with stress test regulations of the Dodd-Frank Act, which requires the Federal Reserve to conduct annual stress tests on certain financial companies including national banks and federal savings associations.

“Wesleyan was the start of it all,” says this economics and business administration double major with minors in finance and mathematics.

“My interest in finance and investments started in the business department at Wesleyan through the courses and internship experience I had with Dr. Phil Taylor (retired 2018). The training in business, economics, and mathematics I received was a great basis for both my M.B.A. and Ph.D. coursework.”

Coming to Wesleyan from Botevgrad, Bulgaria, Yuliya earned an international student full-tuition merit scholarship all four years.

“Wesleyan provided a great combination of excellent academics, direct instruction from professors (vs. TAs), a diverse international student body, and a safe environment for an eighteen-year-old moving thousands of miles from home.”

Yuliya says the presentations she made for honor courses as part of the dissertation series at Wesleyan were crucial to building the communication skills that are key in her job today. “The business department at Wesleyan was like family. It provided both a nurturing and a challenging learning environment and was key in building my confidence as a young professional. The liberal arts education provided the opportunity to be creative, take art classes, and participate in theater plays, even for one majoring in the exact sciences. The creativity and resourcefulness that one builds through this process also helps to develop a more balanced and well-rounded character.”

Yuliya earned her master’s degree in finance and investments and her Ph.D. in finance from the University of Iowa’s Henry B. Tippie College of Business. In May 2016 she married Joe Matar who serves as marketing director for a technology company in the D.C. area.

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When Hana Bekele ’18 enrolled at Wesleyan, she was undecided about a major, but after serving as a counselor for Wesleyan’s Kid’s College summer camp (for children aged four to thirteen) after her second semester, she knew her career path would be early childhood education. Hana had completed field work in several elementary schools in Macon when Associate Professor of Education Dr. Virginia Bowman Wilcox ’90 approached her with the idea of traveling abroad to do her student teaching.

Hana knew it was the opportunity of a lifetime.

Dr. Wilcox began her teaching career at a Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) school in Columbus, Georgia, and developed strong friendships with administrators that she maintains to this day. Her contacts approached her with the idea of a Wesleyan student serving in a DoDEA school. Last fall, Hana became the first Wesleyanne to complete her student teaching requirement at a DoDEA school in Bahrain. She lived there for three-and-half months and taught in second and third grade classrooms.

Hana says that Bahrain is indeed “the pearl of the Gulf” and that living by herself in such a beautiful country unleashed her sense of curiosity to explore the unknown. The hospitality from the dormitory staff, fellow teachers, and the Bahraini people eased her homesickness, and as a Muslim, she also developed a spiritual connection to the country and its people. “Hearing the call to prayer every day was an indescribable feeling and a highlight of my experience.”

Dr. Wilcox says that Hana “learned to be a selfstarter and an independent learner, and now has a foot in the door with Department of Defense schools which operate all over the world.”

Following Hana’s semester abroad, Dr. Wilcox traveled to Bahrain to meet with government officials and team members to debrief and discuss ways to make this opportunity more affordable and appealing to Wesleyan students.

As Hana transitions to life as an alumna, this first generation college student and American (her family moved from Somalia) reflects that “Wesleyan was the perfect fit for me. I loved the intimate classroom settings, the sisterhood, and most importantly, the empowering atmosphere. My sisters helped mold me into the Wesleyan woman I am today, and for that, I will be forever grateful.”

Wesleyan Magazine Spring/Summer 2019

NATURAL SCIENCE & MATH NEUROSCIENCE, APPLIED DATA ANALYSIS* BIOLOGY, ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES, APPLIED MATHEMATICAL SCIENCE *New major introduced fall, 2018.

PRE-PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMS: ALLIED HEALTH SERVICES, DENTAL, ENGINEERING, MEDICINE, PHARMACY, VETERINARY

THE ARBORETUM: A 104-ACRE OUTDOOR LEARNING LAB

Generations of students have benefitted from experiences conducting independent research with faculty in Wesleyan’s Division of Natural Science. Faculty often take students to scientific meetings where they present their findings to the larger scientific community, giving Wesleyan students a measurable advantage when they apply to graduate or professional programs.

According to Biology Professor and Arboretum Director Dr. Jim Ferrari, “Experiential learning is very important, especially for students in the sciences.

There is a key action step in science - the experiment. You can’t just read about someone else’s experiment and get better at it yourself. Students have to get in the game and design their own research projects, learn from their failures, and get encouragement and gratification from their successes.”

As an ecologist, Ferrari considers Wesleyan’s 104-acre arboretum a tremendous resource for research and education. When teaching the carbon cycle, he takes students to the same place Wesleyannes have been measuring carbon storage for nearly ten years. “We map and measure trees, examine the soil and dead wood, and weigh leaf litter-fall. Based on all those measurements, we then estimate how much carbon is stored in the woods. Students get to know the forest and bond with it in a sense.

The abstract and the hypothetical become concrete and relatable, and as a result, students can learn more effectively.”

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Melissa REY

Targeting a treatment for cancer Following suggestions from Wesleyan faculty, Melissa Rey ’20 worked with the Center for Career Development to research and apply for REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) opportunities in her field of chemistry for the summer of 2018.

She was accepted into eight prestigious programs and chose to study at Boston College. Not only was she was paid for the experience, her travel and housing costs were also included.

“I was in a proteomics lab working with fatty acid binding protein 5 (FABP5), part of a growth factor pathway in the cell. When the growth factor is activated, two cysteine residues in the protein form the S-S bond. It is believed that the formation of that bond influences the ability of that protein to bind to other things.

That’s important because overexpression of FABP5 is associated with triple negative breast cancer and colon cancer and negative health outcomes. From observation in mice, we know when this protein is eliminated, metastasis stops, so its elimination may one day be a target for treatment.”

A double major in chemistry and Spanish, Melissa is both a Munroe and an American Chemical Society Scholar. As a Cuban-Colombian from Hialeah, Florida, she speaks and writes Spanish with native proficiency, which helped earn her the honor of being a Hispanic Scholarship Fund Scholar. “The Spanish language is an integral part of my identity, and participating in Spanish classes helps me keep in touch with my heritage when I’m far away.”

Melissa has been accepted to the REU program at the University of Minnesota this summer where she will serve as a materials chemistry research assistant. Her future plans are to earn her Ph.D. in chemistry. She is still contemplating the fields of computational and materials chemistry and hopes to work as a military or industrial scientist. “I have so many people to be thankful for. My advisor Dr. Laura Strausberg has been wonderful. She’s taught me how to think for myself, how to question things, and has encouraged me as a student and as a person. Wesleyan alumna (and board of trustee member) Yehudi Self-Medlin ’96, who earned her Ph.D. in physical chemistry from UVA in Charlottesville, has given me unconditional support and encouragement as well as a wealth of career advice. Everyone needs a Yehudi in her life. When I’m older, I hope I can mentor a young woman the way she’s mentored me.”

Wesleyan Magazine Spring/Summer 2019

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Alex OSUMA Undergraduate research: A key to future success

Summa cum laude biology major and Munroe Scholar Alex Osuma ’19 completed an internship every summer during her undergraduate career at Wesleyan. The summer after her first year she shadowed nurses and surgeons in the cardiovascular surgical unit at St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi, where she observed surgeries and other less invasive procedures.

After her sophomore year, Alex was introduced to biomedical research involving cardiovascular health at the University of Louisville. “My project focused on the changes in the metabolic profile of regenerating planarian (worms!). The rationale for the project was to get an understanding of how metabolic changes might allow the tissue of organs like the liver to regenerate.

Future studies will hopefully provide insight as to how organs such as the heart can be manipulated in a way that they are able to regenerate themselves after damage.”

Last summer Alex conducted research at MD Anderson Cancer Center. According to Alex, cancer is able to escape destruction by the body’s immune system by expressing proteins that inactivate immune cells. So, although the body detects the cancer cells, the immune system is essentially “turned off” upon recognition. Her project focused on how the different proteins expressed by cancer cells differentially regulate T cells. While at MD Anderson, Alex attended a birthday party for Dr. James Allison, who was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology for Medicine.

In addition to volunteering for the Lane Center, Alex was a member of the Wesleyan College Premedical Society all four years and served as president her senior year. A member of Beta Beta Beta and Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Societies, she also served as a T3 facilitator for two introductory biology classes, a teaching assistant for biology and chemistry, and an Academic Resource Center tutor. At Honors Day in April, Alex was presented the Biology Outstanding Senior Award for Honors in an Academic Discipline.

Alex is taking a gap year to work in the lab in Louisville where she worked two summers ago, while also applying to M.D./Ph.D. programs.

“I’ve know for some time that I want to practice medicine, but at Wesleyan, I developed an interest in research too. In my chosen career I will get to do both.”

Wesleyan Magazine Magazine Spring/Summer Spring/Summer 2019 2019 Wesleyan

Brittany APPELBOOM THE PEDIATRIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE COORDINATOR

Early research with faculty is a great advantage a culture. I learned a lot and felt well-prepared to go into a Ph.D. program.” She also accompanied Dr. BoettgerTong on a research trip to Belize and worked as an assistant in the lab of Dr. Wanda Maynard Schroeder ’80.

When Brittany Appelboom ’13 began looking at colleges, she searched for one that had a strong science program that would advance her interests in biology and chemistry. “One of the greatest advantages of attending Wesleyan is the focus on undergraduate research. I worked with Dr. Holly Boettger-Tong on a project that involved growing cells and treating them with a drug. We were looking to see if the drug had an effect on the growth of the cells in 20

Brittany says her strong connection with professors led to numerous personal recommendations when she applied for summer research positions. The summer after her sophomore year she conducted cancer biology research at the University of Pittsburgh and spent the next summer at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, researching signaling pathways in breast cancer.

After graduation from Wesleyan, Brittany began her studies at The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) as part of the Howard

Hughes Medical Institute Med Into Grad Research Fellow Program. Limited to a select number of students each year, the program was designed to prepare Ph.D. students to conduct bench to bedside research. Graduates are expected to be able to identify clinical applications of biomedical science discoveries to improve human health and to develop clinical research partnerships.

Brittany worked as a research scientist while earning her master’s degree in basic medical sciences, and graduated in Spring 2016.

Today Brittany works as a program coordinator of the fellowship program in the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM) at UAB. The program is located in Children’s (hospital) of Alabama, the third largest children’s hospital in the

United States. “I work directly with the program and assistant program directors to keep things moving from interview season, ‘On Boarding’ our new fellows, and graduating senior fellows. I manage the day-today operations and assist with annual accreditation efforts, educational programming, and supporting the fellows in any way I can.”

Last year, Brittany, her director, and a medical student submitted their research on new ways to collect patient surveys on fellows in the emergency department. It was accepted for publication by the Journal of Graduate Medical Education and will appear in the June 2019 issue.

Brittany is engaged to be married to Casey Burnett in November.

Maria

GEORGIEVA POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOW AT HARVARD

Searching for a cure Since 2015, Maria Georgieva ’09 has served Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health as a postdoctoral research fellow in the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, studying the human bacterial pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae. “There exist several kinds of Streptococcus pneumoniae bacterial types which differ structurally.

These differences effectively narrow the scope of existing anti-pneumococcal vaccines – that is, we have a hard time making vaccines that target all types, therefore the vaccines we have now are effective against only some types while other types remain unaffected.

This is a problem because these nonvaccine types cause a good majority of worldwide pneumococcal disease.”

Maria’s goal is to improve current vaccine strategies to make them more inclusive and effective against a broader range of Streptococcus pneumoniae types.

Hailing from Pravets, Bulgaria, Maria earned a four-year, full-tuition international scholarship to Wesleyan and majored in biology (with minors in mathematics and neuroscience). She was attracted to Wesleyan because of the small student population and class sizes, and the high ratio of international students. When applying to graduate schools, Maria said it was her experiences conducting undergraduate research at Wesleyan that made her stand out among candidates from other schools.

Maria earned her Ph.D. in microbiology and molecular genetics at Emory University while serving part time as a teaching assistant for a bacterial genetics graduate course and conducting research fulltime.

“Throughout my Ph.D. years, I trained incoming students in practical laboratory techniques and provided other more general mentoring about navigating graduate school and its challenges.”

Maria thinks that women’s colleges provide a unique environment that encourages young women to dream, nurtures their talents, bolsters their visions, and provides them the confidence needed in today’s world. “It’s about the importance of young women’s growth and development in a supportive environment that nurtures and gives freedom of expression without some of the restraints inherent in two-sex interactions.”

Wesleyan Magazine Spring/Summer 2019

Rochelle

FLETCHER POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOW

Well prepared for future endeavors As a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Rochelle Fletcher ’13 investigated the actions of several agents used in the prevention and treatment of colon cancer. In her current job as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bethesda, Maryland, her focus has shifted to transplant immunology where she delineates the manner in which cyclophosphamide prevents graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) in cancer patients after a bone marrow transplant. GvHD occurs when the donated bone marrow views the recipient’s body as foreign and attacks it.

“As a cancer pharmacologist, I am thoroughly intrigued by the mechanisms in which drugs act, the premise of early intervention detection, and transplant immunology. The great thing about working at the NIH is that this institution has the largest hospital in the world that is dedicated totally to clinical research.”

Rochelle says one of the best things about Wesleyan is working on research with faculty members who encourage students to participate in summer undergraduate research programs (SURP) like the one she enjoyed at Vanderbilt’s Department of Pharmacology in 2012. “SURP was an opportunity to learn new techniques and conduct cutting-edge research on chemical synthesis. I met engaging, aspiring scientists and medical professionals from all over the world, gained wonderful insight into graduate school, and participated in GRE prep courses.”

As a Munroe Scholar and summa cum laude double major (biology and chemistry), Rochelle, who grew up in the small town of Santa Cruz, Jamaica, conducted research with her biology advisor Dr. Holly BoettgerTong. She credits her thesis committee - Dr. Boettger-Tong, Dr. Wanda Maynard Schroeder ’80, and Dr. Keith Peterson (retired 2015) – for much of her success. “Wesleyan prepares students for top graduate institutions and for their careers. Not for one moment have I forgotten the experiences that made my days at Wesleyan College memorable. I encourage students to dedicate themselves to making the next era of their lives even better, build on their strengths, and forge ahead, while upholding their values and principles.”

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Jessica JARMAN SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER

The ability to pursue “why” questions Dr. Jessica Jarman ’99 works as senior project manager, regional technology affairs Europe, for Saudi Arabia Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), a global leader in diversified chemicals headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. SABIC has more than 35,000 employees in more than 50 countries across the world. Jessica is based in Geleen, Netherlands, where she leads a team of highly skilled developers working on “140 or so global research projects.” The researchers create or improve different kinds of products including chemicals; commodity and high performance plastics; agri-nutrients; metals; new grades for car bumpers, food packaging, and drinking water pipes; and healthcare apparatuses that are phthalate free.

“My primary focus is in portfolio leadership and research management.

I started as a bench chemist in the analytical chemistry field, moved into lab supervision, and then into business process management/ development. This meant a switch away from instruments and toward behaviors and decisions. I led a major building renovation along the way. It’s tough to be the one driving change, but I can’t seem to stop myself!” Jessica says her training as a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt taught her to get the most information from the least amount of work or investment and to make data-based decisions rather than emotional choices.

A chemistry, voice, and religious studies triple major from Evans, Georgia, Jessica earned the Munroe Scholarship and a talent scholarship for voice. “Wesleyan afforded several unique opportunities such as an internship at Mercer Medical School, tailored research projects, and the knowledge of how to look very broadly at career opportunities. My senior year was spent deciding between the workforce and graduate school in the fields of chemistry or religious studies.” Jessica says faculty, such as Chemistry Professor Dr. Glenda Ferguson, were instrumental in building her confidence and her professional success. She went directly from Wesleyan to the University of Georgia to earn her Ph.D. in chemistry. “Wesleyan developed my critical thinking skills and my ability to pursue why questions. Small classes with individual attention helped me internalize knowledge in a way that doesn’t occur in a large lecture hall. These skills are still incredibly relevant in my career today and are too rare in too many work environments.”

Wesleyan Magazine Spring/Summer 2019

HUMANITIES ENGLISH, SPANISH, RELIGIOUS STUDIES, WOMEN’S STUDIES

PRE-PROFESSIONAL PROGRAM: SEMINARY

SELF-DESIGNED MAJOR Students with the motivation and initiative to pursue a unique and creative program of study are encouraged to design their own major at Wesleyan. This program is reserved for students who have a strong interest in interdisciplinary studies and who have demonstrated both initiative and academic excellence. Only those students in good academic standing are eligible to submit a proposal for a selfdesigned major.

Students at Wesleyan develop strong relationships with their faculty advisors who help guide them through their academic careers from orientation through graduation. The student and faculty advisor select the best courses for her needs.

After selection, the entire faculty approves the major to ensure that the student gets the very best in breadth and depth in her selected area.

Faculty advisors, like D. Abbott Turner Professor of Free Enterprise and Professional Studies Dr. Glenna Dod Meyer, help students think outside the box and see connections within the curriculum to make the right fit for each student.

“We treat each student as our most important student. All of them are “most” important. We can tailor a program to meet their needs while covering all critical components of a solid foundation in the liberal and fine arts coupled with a specialty in the major.”

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Amber DAVIS Driven by hard work, staying busy, and helping others When Amber Davis ‘19 came to Wesleyan, she knew she wanted to major in Spanish and something else, she just didn’t know what.

After meeting with her advisor, Dr. Glenna Meyer (D. Abbott Turner Professor of Free Enterprise and Professional Studies), she added international business as her second major. Then during her sophomore year, she became interested in so many more subjects – international business, marketing, design, and communication.

Fortunately for Amber, Wesleyan’s self-designed major allows the flexibility to combine two or more separate disciplines into an integrated, coherent program of study that meets all of Wesleyan’s traditional academic rigor. Amber designed her own second major and graduated magna cum laude as a Spanish and a self-designed international business and marketing communication major.

This Margaret A. Pitts full-tuition scholar from Douglasville, Georgia, worked three summers as a marketing intern for Southwire, an electric utility manufacturer in Carrollton, Georgia. There she explored digital media, packaging, branding, and learned strategic marketing techniques. She also held an internship in marketing and public relations at The Methodist Home in Macon where she served as graphic designer, managed Facebook and Twitter pages, and

wrote marketing and public relations copy. She gained more careerrelated experience as a work- study student in the departments of student affairs and health services.

Last summer, Amber enjoyed a study abroad experience in Costa Rica. “It was great living with a host family. I grew as an individual and honed my fluency in the Spanish language. My business class took local field trips every week. We learned how their business practices compare to ours in the United States.”

Amber played on the Wolf tennis team, served as chancellor of Honor Council, and as president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. She was also a resident advisor and a member of the Wesleyan Disciples. At Honors Day in April, Amber was presented Honors in an Academic Discipline for Modern Languages.

Amber is engaged to be married and will move to Minnesota after graduation to start her career.

Recently she enjoyed a visit with Wesleyan trustee and Minnesotan Alexis Bighley ’67. “Mrs. Alexis heard that I was moving to Minnesota and wanted to help me find my professional place there. She is a successful businesswoman and I value her as a mentor, a friend, and a Wesleyanne. It is nice to know that anywhere in the world I go, I will have a Wesleyan sister to lean on.”

Wesleyan Magazine Spring/Summer 2019

Ghenet HARVEY THE PROOFREADER

An environment that educates, enlightens, and strengthens In 2017, Ghenet Harvey ’05 was hired

by Bloomsbury Publishing, New York, to proofread Memento Mori, the eighth novel in the bestselling “Medicus” series by Ruth Downie. Bloomsbury, with offices in London, New York, Sydney, Oxford, and New Delhi, is perhaps most famous for publishing J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books.

“The lead for the job came from a fellow member of People Of Color In Publishing. It is a great group that works in a myriad of ways to showcase, encourage, support, and promote minorities in the publishing industry.”

A native of Kingston, Jamaica, this English and Spanish double major consistently earned a place on the Dean’s List at Wesleyan, and in 2002 was awarded a Presidential Scholarship.

In 2007, Ghenet earned her master’s degree in applied translation studies from London Metropolitan University, one of the oldest colleges in London.

“I chose London Met for its renowned translation degree program and the fact that I would travel to England. I have always used my education to move myself around the world.” Applying that philosophy, Ghenet later studied French at Alliance Française de la

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Jamaïque, then completed a sevenmonth language assistantship in the small village of Loches in France. There she helped high school seniors hone their English skills and prepare for BAC English exams.

Today, Ghenet works at Hachette Audio Productions, a leading producer of award-winning audio books. Hachette produces more than 700 books per year and, among other things, Ghenet manages the company’s SoundCloud page which hosts excerpts of upcoming titles. “There are all kinds of great perks to working with audio books. I took pictures with Bill Clinton when he came to record for The President is Missing, his book with James Patterson, and with Karyn Parsons who starred as Hilary Banks in ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ when she came to record her children’s book. Also, I brought Sally Field a Coke when she recorded her memoir In Pieces!”

Ghenet’s own poetry can be found in the anthology So Much Things To Say that includes “Keeping My Milk,” a poem written in response to a high school geography teacher who claimed that women who did not have children were not real women.

Wesleyan Magazine MagazineSpring/Summer Spring/Summer2019 2019 Wesleyan

FINE ARTS

BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS IN ART, ADVERTISING AND MARKETING COMMUNICATION, STUDIO ART, MUSIC, ARTS MANAGEMENT* *New major introduced Fall, 2018

INTRODUCING STUDENTS TO SAFER PRINTMAKING METHODS Professor of Art Dennis Applebee used his sabbatical last fall to research non-acid etching techniques for printmaking. He’s now bringing his new-found knowledge back to Wesleyan to share with his students.

An etching is made by scratching a design onto a metal plate. The metal plate is then coated with a ground that is scratched through to expose the metal, and immersed in acid. Where the metal has been exposed the acid will bite into the plate. Because traditional etching methods use nitric and hydrochloric acids, they carry strict safety guidelines such as wearing masks and gloves, washing hands, and keeping food away. The new “nontoxic” printmaking creates a healthier method for artists and for the environment.

While non-toxic printmaking has been used since the 1980s, it wasn’t until recently that it has taken hold, thanks in large part to colleges and universities that teach the techniques.

“Whether our students go on to graduate school where they will likely encounter these new methods, or just want to use what they learned as a hobby, it is important for them to be aware of these non-toxic methods which are the future of printmaking and because they are safer for artists and the environment.”

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Rawlanda HERCULES “Music feeds my soul”

The multi-talented Rawlanda Hercules ’20 has been performing all her life.

Growing up, she listened to and sang the music her mother, a child of the 1970s, loved. Performing religious skits at church and later full-fledged productions in elementary school was the foundation of Rawlanda’s love for acting. “When middle school rolled around, I began to see how my performances impacted other people. I played the lead role in our talk-show-esque performance for a gala at Richards Middle School. After the performance, someone came up to me and said I could be the next Oprah Winfrey! As I continued to act and sing, I realized I could make a difference in people’s lives. That’s when I knew I wanted to be a performer.”

When considering her major, Rawlanda considered the two things she loved most, theatre and music. “I recognized that I would need a specific skill set to succeed as a performer. I wanted to combine practical and theoretical skills for both majors into one; therefore, the two majors separately would not be the best choice for me.” She met with professors and advisors, and set forth a proposed list of requirements for a major that would satisfy her aspirations. It took minor tweaking, but in the end she got full approval for her self-designed major: music-theatre. “When I graduate, I can go into any music- or theatre-related field. I could become an actress on stage

or screen, a teacher of theatre or music, a vocalist, composer, or musical artist.”

Rawlanda has performed in three shows and directed one during her time at Wesleyan. In 2018 she played Pearl in These Shining Lives, Teacher in the student-written show All in One, and Sister Mary Hubert in the musical Nunsense. She directed “The Larson Plays”, a series of short, comedic scenes.

Recently she performed the National Anthem for a Macon Mayhem hockey game.

Hailing from Columbus, Georgia, Rawlanda is the second person in her family to earn the prestigious full-tuition, room, and board Corn Scholarship. Sister Seychelle graduated in 2018. Currently serving as president of the honor society Alpha Lambda Delta, Rawlanda is also a member of Black Student Alliance, theatre club, and the tennis team, and serves as a resident advisor, a peer mentor, and a peer tutor.

So what is her dream job/career goal?

“My dream job and career goal are very different. My dream job is to be a working actor and musical artist. My career goal is to found a performing arts school for underprivileged youth. No one should be at a disadvantage based on their socioeconomic status. I want to encourage youth to embrace their talents.”

Wesleyan Magazine Magazine Spring/Summer Spring/Summer 2019 2019 Wesleyan

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Sara Gott

Sara GOTT

Performance and competition: soul thrilling

Performance and competition: soul thrilling with several members of Wesleyan’s expert Sara Gott ’21 is studying classical music, Sara Gott ’21 is studying classical music, onAssociate voice, with Associate Professor of Music Ellen Hanson ’83. Having never acted emphasis onemphasis voice, with Professor music faculty.” before, Sara has performed in community musicals, an ensemble member and two in the lead role, in the two years she of four Music Ellen Futral Hansontwo ’83.as Having has been at Wesleyan. never acted before, in the two years she Sara, a soprano, participated in GA NATS (Georgia National Association of Teachers of has been at Wesleyan, Sara has performed Sara has been singing ever since she saw The Phantom theas Opera years old but, because she was so shy, no one knew the largest professional association in four community musicals,oftwo an at sevenSinging, about her talent or ambitionensemble until she was 18. “I would sing when myrole. parents of were out of of thesinging house in orthe when I was in the car alone. I member and two in the lead teachers world) finally realized that if I wanted to pursue my dreams, I needed to be vulnerable, risk failing, in and show people competitions 2017 and 2018 my andtalent.” placedThe first time she sang in front of anyone was an been audition for Little the experience “soul thrilling.”

Saraathas singing everWomen, since sheand sawdescribes The second in classicalasaudition both years.

She also placed second in the First Year Phantom of the Opera at seven years old, This Macon native chose to attend Wesleyan ofno theone great experience I had with musiccategory, faculty. I had mini with Women Classical thirdain theaudition First but because she “because was so shy, knew Professor Hanson. She was so kind her andtalent encouraging and until evenshe waited the Women buildingMusical to makeTheatre sure I was able toand find the right about or ambition wasoutsideYear category, place. I also attended the Center the Arts campout where Iwas worked with of Wesleyan’s expert invited toseveral sing in members the final round.

“For 18. “Ifor would singAcademy when my summer parents were music faculty.” a first year competitor the experience was of the house or when I was in the car alone. exhilarating and also a great validation that I I finally realized that if I wanted to pursue Sara, a soprano, participatedmy in GANATS National Association of Singing, thesupposed largest professional association of am doing what I am to be doing.” dreams, I (Georgia needed to be vulnerable, risk of Teachers teachers of singing in the world) competitions in 2017my and 2018 and placed second in classical audition both years. She also placed failing, and show people talent.”

The first second in the First Year Women third in thewas First Musical Theatre category, and washosted invited to sing In 2016, Sara attended a master class timeClassical she sangcategory, in front of anyone atYear an Women in the final round. “For a firstaudition year competitor experience was exhilarating and alsoRussell a greatJoel validation am doing what I am by actor Brownthat whoI played for Littlethe Women, and describes the supposed to be doing.”

Mufasa in The Lion King on Broadway. Her experience as “soul thrilling.” career goal is to pursue musical theatre In 2016, Sara attended a master hosted actorto Russell Joel Brown whowith played Mufasa in The LiononKing on Broadway. Her hopes of performing Broadway.

This class Macon nativebychose attend Wesleyan career goal is to pursue musical theatre hopesexperience of performing onwith Broadway.

“Being on stage allows to be vulnerable. Acting “Being on stage allows meme to be vulnerable. “because ofwith the great I had produces a connection between performer theaudition audience and allows Acting me to arouse emotions in people as theythe relate to the produces a connection between musicthe faculty.

I had and a mini with character I am performing. To evoke that kind of a response is an amazing feeling.” performer and the audience and allows Professor Hanson.

She was so kind and me to arouse emotions in people as they encouraging and even waited outside the relate to the character I am portraying. To building to make sure I was able to find the right place. I also attended the Center for the evoke that kind of a response is an amazing feeling.”

Arts Academy summer camp where I worked

Wesleyan Wesleyan Magazine Magazine Spring/Summer Spring/Summer 2019 2019

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Mo GUIBERTEAU THE OVERSEER

The life of a technical director Some people never find their calling. Mo Guiberteau ’00 discovered hers on the set of an elementary school production about George Washington. Cast as a member of the original Tea Party, Mo also had the task of controlling the lights that simulated a storm. As the lights flickered, the ten-year-old thought, “Pretty cool,” and her path toward a career in technical theater was set. By middle school, she was running audio for a musical production. In high school she gained experience as a stage manager. By the time Mo entered Wesleyan, she had already built an impressive resumé. At her Wesleyan scholarship audition, she was the only student to present a technical portfolio, setting her apart from the other students who were performing monologues and dreaming of a career on centerstage or in front of a camera.

In her years since Wesleyan, Mo has worked for countless productions in the U.S. and abroad in almost every capacity of technical theater. She has worked for regional theaters throughout the country, toured with Disney on Ice, toured for two years with Cirque du Soleil, and worked with the national tour of My Fair Lady. She spent four years in Macau, China, with Franco Dragone’s House of Dancing Water, a show housed in the largest purpose-built theatre in the world.

Today Mo is an active member of the Atlanta Stagehand Union IATSE 927 where she fields job requests from clients, identifies labor and skillsets needed, provides estimates of costs, negotiates contracts, books labor, and oversees at the actual on-site performance. Mo oversees the labor and contracts for Live Nation venues as well as Wild ‘n Out on MTV. Earlier this year she oversaw a crew of seventy stagehands plus additional volunteers for the 2019 Super Bowl Half Time Show. The team prepared for almost three weeks with rehearsals two to three times a day in order to set up the stage, lighting, and audio in less than five minutes. For Mo, standing on the 50-yard line overseeing the crew who brought in the twenty-six carts for the stage, fourteen carts for the audio equipment, and more for lighting – well, the life of a technical director is still “pretty cool.”

Wesleyan Wesleyan Magazine MagazineSpring/Summer Spring/Summer2019 2019 2018

NURSING

The Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree According to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Program Director Sirena Fritz, Wesleyan started the BSN program in 2013 because the College recognized the critical shortage of nurses in Central Georgia and the need to contribute to improving local healthcare.

Only seven years old, the nursing program is Wesleyan’s largest major, and recently was expanded to admit two cohorts of students each year – fall and spring.

Currently, ninety-four of Wesleyan’s approximately five hundred full-time students are in the nursing program, which has a stellar reputation in Georgia for producing exceptional critical thinkers, communicators, and health professionals. (In March, registerednursing.org ranked Wesleyan #15 on their 2019 list of Best Nursing Programs in Georgia.)

Nursing faculty are widely praised for being the most outstanding feature of Wesleyan’s program.

BSN alumna Alicen Cross Hilton ’15 said, “Wesleyan’s nursing faculty is top notch and will go out of their way to help students understand any concept no matter how long it takes. They are invested in my future. They care about me.

They are all incredible.”

One hundred percent of Wesleyan’s nursing graduates have received job offers before graduation and the majority of them stay in Central Georgia.

In 2018, the NCLEX exam passage rate for Wesleyan graduates was 100%. The national average is 87%.

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Denver PAYNE

Proud to be a Wesleyan Legacy Denver Payne ’20 describes herself as a 30-year-old nontraditional transfer student who finally found the courage to finish the degree she started many years ago. Having grown up in Perry, Georgia, Denver attended Georgia Military College in Warner Robins for two years and graduated with her associate’s degree in pre-nursing in 2007.

“I prayed before I took my nursing entrance exam on the second floor of Willet Library, ‘God if it’s your will, let me pass this exam, and if not, I will find another path.’ That day I scored a 90% on the nursing entrance exam and was automatically accepted to Wesleyan.” Denver entered the program in the fall of 2018 and has completed two semesters.

Learning and working in group settings with intelligent women who have different personalities but share similar goals is one of the things Denver values most about her Wesleyan experience. She represents her class on Wesleyan’s nursing board where she serves as the liaison between students and professors. “This position has helped build my confidence and my communication skills.

Wesleyan has a great reputation for developing women who are strong, intelligent, and who become leaders in today’s society.

The faculty are like family to me.

They want students to be as successful as possible.”

Denver is interested in several paths of nursing including a specialization in surgery, neonatal care, pediatrics, geriatrics, and serving heart patients. After gaining experience as a nurse, she plans to further her education and hopes to return to Wesleyan as a nursing professor.

Several of Denver’s family members attended Wesleyan, including her grandmother Claire Houser-Dodd ’53. She is the recipient of a Legacy Scholarship and was awarded the WoodwardMcNeill Nursing Scholarship and the Brook-Cole and Speir Scholarship. Her first semester on campus, she earned the honor of being named to the Provost’s List.

At Honors Day in April, Denver received the Distinguished Junior Award for having the highest GPA in her nursing cohort.

“I am a Christian who believes in working as hard as I can and leaving the rest up to God. I think I’m right where I am supposed to be. The professors push us to be our best. They cheer us on during our greatest moments, support us when we have doubts, and wrap their arms around us during the hard times. I could not imagine going through nursing school anywhere else but Wesleyan College.”

Wesleyan WesleyanMagazine MagazineSpring/Summer Spring/Summer2019 2019

CAMPUS NEWS

Wesleyan announces new master’s program in industrial-organizational psychology This fast-growing field applies psychological research to the workplace in order to make organizations more productive and profitable, and also to improve employee well-being. I-O psychology teaches how jobs are defined and staffed, how teams work together, how to increase employee health and satisfaction, and how to reduce conflicts and problems in the workplace.

It is designed to equip people to work as a practitioner with a career in consulting, diversity education, or training in a variety of settings including businesses, non-profits, and public agencies.

According to Dr. Shelly Martin, program director and professor of psychology at Wesleyan, “There is a lot of research on human behavior that has never been applied in the business world that would help organizations become more effective in how they recruit, train, and assess the effectiveness of employees in their jobs, and how to improve employee morale.”

Wesleyan’s 18-month fast-track program includes online and hybrid courses, as well as Wesleyan’s signature seminar-style traditional on-campus classes. Professors are committed to helping students who move to the Macon area for the program find suitable employment with one of our local business partners.

Wesleyan Honors Students, Faculty, and Staff at Annual Awards Ceremony On Honors Day, Thursday, April 25, 2019, Wesleyan College bestowed awards, prizes, and recognition upon students, faculty, and staff at a ceremony held in Pierce Chapel.

Grace Stiles Williams ’19 received the highest student-nominated honor, Wesleyan Student of the Year. Given each year to a graduating senior, this award is based on three principal traits: leadership, dedication to the Wesleyan Community, and friendship to others. In the fall, Grace will be entering the master’s of divinity program at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology on a full-tuition scholarship. She is also in the process of applying for candidacy for ordination to be a deacon in the United Methodist Church.

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Joyce Renee Gable ’20 was honored as Wesleyan Student of Success, an award given annually to a junior or senior who stands out in academics, community service, and extracurricular activities.

Christen Davis ’20 earned the SGA Student Leadership Award given annually to a student who exhibits outstanding leadership skills and kindness to others in the Wesleyan Community.

For the third consecutive year, Tonya Parker ’01, assistant dean for equity and inclusion, was honored as SGA Staff Member of the Year. Director of Disability and Advocacy Services Jill Amos ’87 and Maintenance Technician William Pointer were each honored with Presidential Staff Awards. Stephanie Rowe, Front of House

Supervisor, Metz Culinary Management, was honored with the SGA Faculty/Staff Workhorse Award.

Faculty award winners included Professor of Biology Dr. Holly Boettger-Tong, SGA Professor of the Year; Professor of Modern Languages Teresa Smotherman, Ann Munck Excellence in Teaching Award; Assistant Professor of Religion and Philosophy Dr. Karen Bray, Quillian Distinguished Teaching Award; and Assistant Professor of English and Director of Online Learning Laura Lease, Vulcan Materials Company Teaching Excellence Award.

Dr. Pritchard retires after twenty years of teaching at Wesleyan After twenty years of dedicated teaching and service to Wesleyan College, Alumnae Chair of Education Dr. Patrick Pritchard retired in May.

Congratulations Class of 1969: A 50th Reunion filled with FIRSTS On a Sea of Red, the Pirate Class of 1969 sailed into an unforgettable 50th reunion filled with several ‘FIRSTS’ for our class! A record number of 59 Pirates joined in class festivities which began Thursday evening and included welcome bags filled with booty and doubloons.

RED was THE color for the Golden Belles Luncheon as we entered adorned with individual golden bells, a Wesleyan FIRST, to recognize us as the newest members of alumnae who have reached the 50-year mark.

We also received booklets of “wise words” from many of our sisters, a gift inspired by Susan Lutters Northcutt and compiled and given

by June Shiver. Friday was pub night featuring a thought-provoking, laughter-filled Wesleyan trivia game created and led by host Barbara Bugg. We were “fashionably red” on Saturday - adorned with boas, hats, Pirate garb, and pompoms.

Patricia Pace Fordham carried the 1969 flag as we led the Parade of

Classes. At the Annual Meeting we cheered Pamela Newton Smith and Linda Rich when each received 2019 Distinguished Alumnae Awards, a Wesleyan FIRST for two recipients from the same class in the same year. We cheered again when the Class of 1969 was recognized as the class with the highest giving percentage (33.88%) - another FIRST for our class - and when we proudly announced our gift of $70,776 for our Seminar Room in Willet Library. A special 50th class dinner Saturday evening followed by Sunday’s Morning Watch, featuring a wonderful fifteen-voice ensemble under the direction of Dr. Barbara Marble Tagg, remarks by Linda Rich, and a remembrance ceremony for deceased classmates, ended a meaningful weekend. Special thanks to all the Pirates whose hard work and participation made this reunion the best ever! Betty Hood Lydick ‘69, Reunion Chair

“Students in the Education Department have had the privilege of learning from Dr. Pritchard for more than twenty years.

He’s brought content alive by bringing his guitar and music into the classrooms and by taking our students out of the classroom to embrace nature. As a colleague, his experienced guidance and support has been invaluable. I will miss his focused calm reflections and his impassioned defense of what’s foundational in education. I wish him well.” Dr. Virginia Bowman Wilcox ‘90.

Pritchard was honored in 2002 with The Quillian Distinguished Teaching Award and in 2011 with The United Methodist Church Exemplary Teacher Award. He is founder of the Music in the Arboretum program and Wolves in the Woods Week, and is co-founder of the Annual Pioneer Fest, the Annual Arboretum Fundraiser Concert, and the Storytelling Festival which ran for eighteen consecutive years.

He is a former co-director of Wesleyan’s Georgia Teacher Alternative Preparation Program (Ga TAPP).

During commencement exercises in May, Provost Melody Blake bestowed upon Pritchard the honor of Professor Emeritus.

He is Wesleyan’s ninth faculty member to receive this honor.

Wesleyan Wesleyan Magazine Magazine Spring/Summer Spring/Summer 2019 2019

A Message from the WCAA president Dear Wesleyan Sisters, In April, alumnae assembled, partied, and celebrated at another special Alumnae Weekend, and, as usual, colors, cheers, and traditions were on full display. I will always remember this weekend warmly, because it was my first as president of the oldest alumnae association in the world.

As president, I have the honor of witnessing the many ways in which alumnae give back to our alma mater. If you have offered your services to the College as a guest speaker, hosted an international student during the holidays, or donated your professional clothing for interviews, THANK YOU! Let’s continue to show Wesleyan students that we care about them.

I am also very grateful for our alumnae who support the College financially. Many small, private liberal arts colleges, especially women’s colleges, have closed in recent years, and we must continue to give to sustain our alma mater. All gifts help Wesleyan – so please give, or give again, by June 30.

Lastly, please promote Wesleyan in your communities, workplaces, and social circles. Show off that Wesleyan class ring, wear that Wesleyan sweatshirt, use that Wesleyan pen, and sport anything purple, red, green, or gold, to start a conversation. Wesleyan needs steady enrollment and you are our best ambassadors.

As we all can attest, Wesleyan is like no other institution. Let’s remain true, faithful, and loyal to the Oldest and the Best!

With gratitude,

Abbie Smoak Lacienski ’01 President, Wesleyan College Alumnae Association

Please mark your calendar now and plan to join us next spring.

ALUMNAE WEEKEND 2020 APRIL 17, 18 & 19

1935 1940 1945

REUNION CLASSES

1950 1955 1960

1965 1970 1975

1980 1985 1990

1995 2000 2005

2010 2015 2019

Watch for more information in the fall about reunion.

Alumnae Weekend – It’s not just for reunion classes!

NOMINATIONS FOR ALUMNAE AWARDS

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For nomination forms contact the Alumnae Office at 478-757-5173 or download forms from our website www.wesleyancollege.edu. Forms are due by January 1, 2020.

CHECK OUT MORE ALUMNAE WEEKEND 2019 PHOTOS AT flickr.com/wesleyancollege/albums

2019ALUMNAE AWARD RECIPIENTS

DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT IN A PROFESSION Beverly F. Mitchell ‘68

After nearly half a century in higher education, Beverly Ford Mitchell’s accomplishments and credentials demonstrate her commitment to the highest standards in the fields of teacher preparation and curriculum assessment and have earned her many distinguished honorifics.

After earning her master’s degree, Beverly returned to Wesleyan in 1970 and taught for fourteen years in the Department of Health and Physical Education.

She became a full professor and served a term as president of the faculty. Upon earning her Ph.D. in motor learning from Florida State University, Beverly joined the faculty of Kennesaw State University.

For the next thirty years, Beverly committed herself to

excellence in teaching and curriculum assessment. First at KSU and then across the nation, Beverly helped programs develop curriculum, analyze data, and design measures of assessment.

As chair of the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education Board of Examiners, Beverly conducted site visits and led accreditation reviews.

Elected President of the National Association for Kinesiology in Higher Education she traveled the country, evaluating graduate and undergraduate programs to ensure curriculum rigor and accountability. Since 2003 Beverly has been a member of the Georgia Professional Standards Commission, serving on the Board of Examiners.

Beverly has been recognized with numerous awards: the KSU President Betty Siegel Award and the “Joy of Effort” Award, National Association for Sport and Physical Education. In 2016 she became the first honoree of a prize named for her, given by the Georgia Assessment Directors Association: the “Beverly Ford Mitchell Award for Distinguished Service.” In 2019, she was named a Fellow of NAKHE. In 2014 Beverly retired from KSU as Professor Emerita, Associate Dean for Assessment and Accreditation.

In addition to serving Wesleyan as a current trustee and member of the Society for the Twenty-first Century, Beverly has also served as an alumna trustee on the alumnae association’s board of managers.

Now is the time to Nominate for 2020 Alumnae Awards:

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Distinguished Achievement in a Profession • Distinguished Service to Community, Church, or Wesleyan • Young Alumna Award. For nomination forms contact the alumnae office (478) 757-5173 or download forms from our website. Deadline to nominate January 1, 2020.

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY Linda L. Rich ‘69

DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT IN A PROFESSION Pamela Newton Smith ‘69

YOUNG ALUMNA AWARD

Monica Harper Dekle ‘04

As a young Red Cross worker in Vietnam, a social worker and mental health professional, a volunteer with the Institute for Healing of Memories, a lay leader in her church, a participant in Habitat for Humanity’s Global Village building programs in Samoa and Ghana (through the Hula Preservation Society) – Linda Lee Rich has devoted her life to serving others.

Linda served for more than twenty years with The Salvation Army Family Treatment Services (FTS), which provides a continuum of care for women with both mental health and substance abuse disorders and their children.

Women’s Way, FTS’s residential treatment program, is the only resource of its kind for women in Hawaii. Linda integrated

Hawaiian cultural practices into the program, developed the organization’s capacity to provide services, and expanded services to include family therapy, including reunification with their children.

Linda has served for 21 years as an accreditation surveyor and consultant for the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, traveling around the country consulting with organizations striving to develop quality services.

An active member of the Church of the Crossroads, she has served as moderator and has held other leadership positions. On a visit to South Africa, Linda visited the Institute for the Healing of Memories, an organization founded to promote healing through honest sharing

of individual stories of physical and emotional injury. Linda is now chairperson of the institute’s board of directors – North America, an affiliate organization. Linda regularly facilitates workshops in New York, Minnesota, Arizona, California, Hawaii, and elsewhere.

Linda’s lifetime of service has garnered her numerous awards, including Outstanding Executive Director, Mental Health America of Hawaii; Lifetime Achievement Award, National Association of Social Workers, Hawaii Chapter; Hina Mauka’s Andy Anderson Award; Partners in Community Service Award, The Salvation Army, Hawaii Division; and Excellence in Social Services, The Salvation Army, Western Territory.

Pamela Newton Smith has been a gifted music maker and teacher throughout her life. Inspired by her own teacher, Naegeli von Bergen Metcalf, Pam began teaching piano while enrolled at Wesleyan and has continued to teach others to play for fifty years.

In 1980, Pam immersed herself in the Suzuki Piano method, a music program designed to teach children to play piano “by ear” first. Sight reading music is not taught until after the child is successful with reproducing music by ear. Pam taught a fiveyear-old child with very little vision and limited ability to speak, but with an amazing aptitude for rhythm and imitation. The

student developed a wonderful sense of pitch recognition with Pam’s training, and together they learned to communicate through music.

Trusting the success of the Suzuki system, Pam quickly joined others in co-founding the Atlanta Suzuki Piano Association, serving as president, board member, and event director. She was invited to Japan on three occasions to study the Suzuki method at the Talent Education Institute with Dr. Haruko Kataoka who translated Dr. Suzuki’s methods to piano. Pam and Dr. Kataoka became life-long friends and she organized Friendship Concerts, featuring students from Japan,

while hosting and organizing homestays for Japanese teachers and students with local Atlanta Suzuki Piano families. Pam showcased her own students in Japan and across the United States, arranging for them to perform in a cultural exchange of music while she advanced the work of the Suzuki Association through educational events and workshops. She often taught two hundred students a year. As an author, Pam has published articles for Suzuki World, Piano Basics, and Nurture, and has written three novels. She was a finalist for the William Faulkner Award in New Orleans in 2018.

Monica Harper Dekle graduated from Wesleyan with a double major in music (organ and piano) and accounting, then earned her master’s degree, summa cum laude, in church music and organ from Baylor University. In 2012 she earned her doctor of music degree, summa cum laude, with double majors in church music and organ and double minors in choral and instrumental conducting and music education from the worldrenowned Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

Monica has received numerous awards in national organ competitions including the National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance, the Albert Schweitzer National Organ Competition, and the Arthur

Poister National Organ Playing Competition. For three consecutive years Monica won prizes in the John Rodland National Competition for Church Music and Organ. She also received the National Music Week Alliance Award for excellence in music. She has performed organ recitals at prestigious festivals and venues including Piccolo Spoleto Music Festival and at Methuen Memorial Music Hall.

Since 2011 Monica has served as director of music and organist at Wesley Monumental United Methodist Church in Savannah, where she has grown the children’s choirs to more than 110 boys and girls.

In 2013, she directed the choir at Notre Dame in Paris and at Cologne Cathedral in Germany.

Monica has established a music endowment fund to continue Wesley Monumental’s tradition of providing beautiful sacred music to the Savannah community.

Monica also served as Chorusmaster of the Savannah Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus from 2014. She often conducted the full orchestra and chorus for performances and currently serves on the search committee for a new artistic director and conductor.

A member of the American Guild of Organists, Monica regularly plays organ recitals and leads musical programs and maintains a private studio for piano and organ students. Monica has been an active volunteer for Wesleyan in the Savannah area, serving as a hostess for alumnae events.

Wesleyan Magazine Spring/Summer 2019

2019 ALUMNAE WEEKEND CLASS PHOTOS Class notes can be found online at: www.wesleyancollege.edu/classnotes

Class of 1949 (70th Reunion)

Class of 1954 (65th Reunion)

(L-R) Row 1: Becky Watson Bowdre, Betty Mackay Asbury,

(L-R) Row 1: Marilyn Bennett Edwards, Ruth White Fruit, Blaine Ross

Emily Hancock Bredeson, Emmie Carlton Johnson Row 2: Jerrye Griffeth

Shanks Row 2: Joyce Hall Pelphrey, Joyce Paris, Natalie Brewton Barfield,

Short, Mary Lane Edwards Hartshorn, Julia Weathers Wynne

Ann Parsons Odum, Athelyn Wade Buttrill, Natholyn Miller Freeman

Class of 1959 (60th Reunion)

(L-R) Carol King Pope, Kitty Vinson Pullen, Manita Bond Dean Not pictured: Sylvia Anderson Powell

Class of 1964 (55th Reunion)

(L-R) Row 1: Jackie Best Jones, Peggy Pierce Chandler, Mary Helen Johnson, Mary Helen Hall Ringe, Diana Jeffreys, Susan Lillyman Hyland, Carol “Moon” Burt Row 2: Frances White Skoglund, Janice Rich Rentz Row 3: Lorinda Lou Beller, Madelaine Mackoul Cosgrove, Mary Helen Pope Daniel, Mary Jo Moody, Sissy Sims Row 4: Suzanne Gosnell Joye Row 5: Barbara Abercrombie, Agnes Albright, Nancy Van Aken Marti, Mary Russell George

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Class of 1969 (50th reunion)

(L-R) Row 1: Patricia Pace Fordham Row 2: Susan Mallory Rylander, Nan Pelle Wuller, Susan Byrd Mathews, Dell Hitchcock Bailey, Sharon Malone Boyd, Angela Fulton Kirby, Pamela Newton Smith, Linda Rich, Nancy Greer, Dotti Smith Stewart, Diana Hall Richardson, Melissa Lane Thomas Row 3: Kay Moses Penzell, Gwynn Johnson Polidoro, Susan Anderson Isaacs Dodson, Dale Parker Craig, Judy Davis Deloach, Louisa Abney-Babcock, Judy Haisten Gattis, Ellen Dekle Alderman, Kay Trowbridge Thomas Row 4: Gena Ware Wilson, Emily Vardaman Adams, Alice Peninger Beasley, Pat Ondo Hurley, Emmaline Haddle Pursley, Susan Ewing Maddox, Karen Garr, Betty Hood Lydick, Lynn Rosenblatt Gatlin Row 5: Carol Broome Fraune, Barbara Marble Tagg, Jan Stewart Cook, Elizabeth Sorrells, Betty Bickerstaff McRae, Cathy Mettetal Caskey, Lane Carr Johnson, Margaret Yarbrough McCranie, Barbara Bugg Row 6: Susan Rogers Mills, Gloria Garrett Seymour, Sally Kohlbacker Oliver, Lou Semler Boyes, Linda Smith Gregg, Janet Burkhalter Haworth, Diane Harrison Smith, Suzanne Woodham Juday, Ann Kinnick Keane, Ann Reaves Burr, Dianne Carstarphen Bowman, June Shiver

Class of 1974 (45th Reunion)

(L-R) Row 1: Sharon Bloss Jones, Penny Thomas, Wanda Strickland Sauls, Patricia Lee Kessler Row 2: Judy Hoffman, Debbie Dahl Bell Row 3: Julie Ragan Smith, Pam Hicks Kelly, Debbie Doyle Edenfield, Martha Johnson Row 4: Beverly Hinely MacMahon, Betty Bridge Risch, Hazel Burns Struby, Susan Powers Cannon

Class of 1979 (40th Reunion)

(L-R) Row 1: Lee Seabrook, Rebecca Tuten McClain, Linda Chastain Rowe, Kay Appling King, Lisa Willis Salveter Row 2: Theresa McKenna, Judy Sanders Hughes, Sarah Johnson Miller, Sally Anderson Hemingway, Cindy Conner Lee Row 3: Carol Freeman Ake, Catherine Haye Sauter, Lou Bender, Nadine Cheek, Robbie Edge Stancil Row 4: Cindy Mercer Riley, Natalie Anderson Rauch, Amy Miller Braun, Sherrie Shellard O’Hara, Denise Sarver Jewell, Katherine Breland Bradley Row 5: Lauretta Elliott Garrett, Gail Bacon Ford, LuAlice Waite

Wesleyan Magazine Spring/Summer 2019

Class of 1984 (35th Reunion)

(L-R) Row 1: Patricia Sterling Brzezinski, Carswell Hannon Patterson, Loretta Pinkston-Pope Row 2: Rhonda Kay Davis, Sally Cash Whitt

Class of 1989 (30th Reunion)

(L-R) Row 1: Tanya Wade, Malika Ghosh Garett, Susan Fay Flowers, Angie Humphries Row 2: Denise Cheek Brown, Mary Beth Brown Swearingen, Pam Hissing Jacobson, Debbie Stevenson Moses, Jennifer Kane Chacosky, Penny Whitley Windham, Dale Barfield

Class of 1994 (25th Reunion)

(L-R) Row 1: Elizabeth Bockmiller Ceranowski, Lisa Brannen Pompa, Michelle Smith Green, Holly Hawkins Odom Row 2: Melanie Rahn, Cara Carroll Baity, Annette Nassir, Wendi Windham Martin, Shelia Davis Row 3: Jill Hauver Celeste, Kimberly Parker, Jaqui Dravis Wilson, Kim Casey Melson, Nicole Licata

Class of 1999 (20th Reunion)

(L-R) Row 1: Amy-Christine Vinson Smith, Kathryn Smith Vinson, Amanda Avery, Shayna Jordan Pierce, Liza Sanden, Jackie Slaton, Jennifur Dianne Rosado Tanner Row 2: Michele L. McDuffie, Sarah Marshall Neal, Jennifer Lee Mastrangelo, Kawana Printup, Tiffany L. Grayson, Krissy Anderson, Odona Ezell-Whiddon Row 3: Carrie Walker Dumm, Dana KarstensenBryan, Melissa Roberts Mancini, Erica Collinsworth Carr, Chrissy Olszweski McCampbell, Amanda Marine Evans, Daphne Ristau Stellato, Bingle Brown, Dracine Hodges Row 4: Mary Lynn Johnson Truelove, Christina Cote Findley, Dottie Whittington Bailey, Heather Beene Booker, Nichole Arnault, YaNawn LaPread-Johnson

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Class of 2004 (15th Reunion)

(L-R) Row 1: Sabrina Laney Warren, Sarah Shearhouse, Katie Crozier-Theis, Emily Dukes LeVan Row 2: Kourtney Gurley, Shelley Stevens, Christine Harness Thompson, Sawyer Bethel, Bethany Dale-Schiller Row 3: Monica Harper Dekle, Mary Kathryn Borland, Amanda Wood Marsh

Class of 2009 (10th Reunion)

(L-R) Row 1: Maddie Allsup, Missy Ward Angalla, Jessica Smith Row 2: Janet Rodriguez, Jasna Kljajic, Grace Bunke

Class of 2014 (5th Reunion)

(L-R) Row 1: Beverly Hicks, Paula O. Lockhart,

Jennifer Eadie Hopkins, Ashlee Day Row 2: Sonja Sanders, Tiffany Hicks, Esiri Tasker, Jennifer Jones

Class of 2018 (1st Reunion)

(L-R) Row 1: Mary Fowler, Pratima Khadka, Madison Leary, Krissy Dennard Row 2: Lexi Mullaly, Stephanie Artola, Jecamiah Anderson, Joi Raushan Row 3: Zakkiyah Tynetta Muhammad, Quiana Mobley, Taylor Hoey, Aaminah Durham Hassan Not Pictured: Sarah Bellflower, Maggie Blum, Victoria Clower

Wesleyan Magazine Spring/Summer 2019

AlumnaeCONNECTIONS

Since February, alumnae have enjoyed connecting with each other through community service projects and through social and fundraising events. Two Presidential Tours provided alumnae in several states with the opportunity to meet with President Vivia Fowler in a number of cities. To schedule alumnae events, volunteer for the WCAA, and/or discuss how you and your club can be part of the plan to Recruit, Retain, and Sustain, contact the Alumnae Office at csnow@wesleyancollege.edu or the WCAA Board of Managers at WesleyanBOM@gmail.com.

Alabama

Macon

Alumnae met at The Club, a Birmingham landmark, for Dinner with the President in February, where President Vivia Fowler’s PowerPoint presentation led to many alumnae discussions about Wesleyan’s future. Janet Ort ’78 and Janet Keys ’78 coordinated plans for the event along with other hostesses, Brittany Appelboom ’13 and Linda Chambers Mahan ’61. Alumnae Director Cathy Coxey Snow ’71 and Advancement Officer Susan Brown Allen ’17 also spoke to the group.

North Carolina

Birmingham

Florida

Tallahassee

A Winter Wesleyan Luncheon was held at Goodwood Plantation in February, where Tallahassee alumnae welcomed Wesleyan’s Director of the Library Kristi Peavy as guest speaker. Kristi discussed “A Librarian’s View of Willet Library” and included a hands-on computer demonstration of how to use the College’s online archival pages.

Virginia Barber Perkins ’63 coordinated plans for the luncheon along with alumnae hostesses Shari Richardson Arrington ’71, Ermine Owenby ’61, and Martha Herring Stubbs ’68. Cathy Snow also attended the luncheon.

Georgia

Charlotte

Alumnae were invited to a Luncheon with the President at Myers Park Country Club where President Fowler discussed the College’s plans for the future. Cathy Snow spoke on local alumnae club involvement and encouraged alumnae to stay engaged with the College. Diane A. Lumpkin ’63 coordinated plans for the event with help from other hostesses Evelyn LeRoy Fortson ’52, Allyssa Green ’06, and Vicki Page Jaus ’68.

South Carolina Greenville

The Poinsett Club served as the venue for Dinner with the President when Greenville area alumnae welcomed President Fowler to their city and enjoyed hearing an update on the College. Cathy Snow was on hand to meet and greet alumnae. Ellen Beard Martin ’68, Marsha Fernald Sichveland ’68, Hale Coble Edwards ’73, and Robyn Harmon ’77 served as hostesses.

Columbia

Atlanta

In February, Atlanta Club members participated in a hands-on WOW-ADay for Atlanta project at the home of Stephanie Hood Wittry ’08 where the group prepared packets of feminine products for students at a local high school. Proceeds from a March fundraiser, Pioneers of Excellence Scholarship Luncheon (Capital City Club), will support another $1,500 scholarship to a local area student. Guest speakers included President Fowler and the mother of a former student recipient of the Atlanta Club’s Scholarship. Shanita Douglas Miller ’06 is president of the Atlanta Alumnae Club.

Augusta

Augusta alumnae hostesses Harriet Laslie Reynolds ’62, Suzzi Biller Wright ’06, Glenda Barrett Bull ’64, and Heather Poindexter Kennedy ’05 invited area alumnae to meet with President Fowler at the Augusta Country Club to hear an update on the College. Cathy Snow also attended the January luncheon.

Columbus

Members of the Macon area Pioneer Book Club have met at the homes of book club hostesses Bonny Gibson McGarity ’80 and Joan Finney Hatcher ’88. Jane Price Claxton ’68 is chair of the Macon alumnae book club.

Alumnae welcomed President Fowler to Columbus at a Luncheon held at the Chattahoochee River Club in February. A PowerPoint presentation focused on Wesleyan’s future plans. College staff members Cathy Snow and Susan Allen also met with alumnae. Patty Pearce Cardin ’68 coordinated plans for the luncheon along with other hostesses Diana Hall Richardson ’69 and Sissy Sims ’64.

Alumnae met with President Fowler at The Palmetto Club in January and enjoyed her PowerPoint presentation with an update on the College.

Cathy Snow also spoke to the group. Ann Ewing Shumaker ’63, Carolyn Martin McCrea ’65, and Suzanne Gosnell Joye ’64 served as alumnae hostesses.

Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia DC Metro Area

Since February, DC Club members were invited to several alumnae “After Work Hour” events that included seeing Richard III at the Shakespeare Theater in Washington DC, celebrating Women’s History Month in March at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and attending the Smithsonian’s Freer Sackler Museum and a meet-up for a Wesleyannes After Work event at a Cherry Blossom Pop-Up Bar in April. In May, area alumnae welcomed Wesleyan’s 2019 Summer Leadership Institute (SLI) participants to the city for SLI’s 20th Anniversary Celebration. A panel discussion and reception held at the Chinese Embassy along with a meet-up at the Mayflower Hotel in DC were venues where SLI students and DC alumnae were able to connect with each other. Jessica Kendrick Thomas ’08 coordinated plans for the events.

Sisterhood in Action: Save the Dates and Volunteer to Help

Move-In Day: Friday, August 16 (8 – 11am) Help members of the Class of 2023 move into residence halls and make their first day at Wesleyan a special one. Watch for an e-blast later this summer with more information. Email orientation@wesleyancollege.edu to volunteer.

Got Sisterhood ? Get Social . @wesleyancollege and @wesleyancollegeAA 46

For current updates on news of classmates, friends, and alumnae events check us out on Social Media.

@WesleyanCollege

wesleyancollegega

Wesleyan College

CLUB facebook 1. Let’s Meet at The Club. Alumnae welcome President Vivia Fowler to Birmingham in February.

2. DC After Hours. (L-R) Pragna Halder ’08, Jessica Kendrick-Thomas ’08, and Tanya Parker ’08 had a GK meet up at the Cherry Blossom Pop Up Bar in March.

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3. A Winter Welcome. Tallahassee alumnae greet Wesleyan guest speaker and Director of the Library Kristi Peavy at Goodwood Plantation.

4. A Touch of Purple. Atlanta alumnae are picture perfect for the Pioneers of Excellence Scholarship Luncheon fundraiser in March.

5. Sisters in Service. Atlanta Club members prepare feminine products for students at a local high school as part of the Homeless Period Project.

6. Afternoon in Augusta. Wesleyannes enjoy meeting with President Fowler and each other at the Augusta Country Club.

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7. Down by the River. President Fowler with alumnae in Columbus, GA, at the Chattahoochee River Club in February.

8. Hosts for a Day. (L-R) Diana Hall Richardson ’69 and Patty Pearce Cardin ’68 welcome Vivia Fowler to Columbus.

9. Luncheon with the President. Alumnae in Charlotte, NC, enjoy lunch at Myers Park Country Club and an update on the College from Dr. Fowler.

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10. President’s Tour Hosts. (L-R) Diane A. Lumpkin ’63, Vicki Page Jaus ’68, and Evelyn LeRoy Fortson ’52 greet Vivia Fowler in Charlotte.

11. Gracious in Greenville. (L-R) Hosts Robyn Harmon ’77, Marsha Fernald Sichveland ’68, and Ellen Beard Martin ’68 with the President at the Poinsett Club in Greenville, SC.

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12. South Carolina Smiles. Columbia, SC, alumnae smile for the camera at The Palmetto Club in January as they welcome Vivia Fowler to their city.

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12 Wesleyan Magazine Spring/Summer 2019

Marriages

Congratulations to:

Sympathy

Katherine Breland Bradley ’79 and Neil Midkiff who married on May 4, 2019.

The Wesleyan College Alumnae Association extends sympathy to:

Sydney Elaine Davis ’16 and Janelle Paige Layus Campos ’14 who married on October 13, 2018.

Emily Bradford Batts ’46 on the death of her husband, J. Larry Batts, Lt. Col. U.S.A.F., (Retired), on February 26, 2019.

Abigail “Abby” Stephens ’15 and Chris Layfield who married on November 17, 2018.

Aaminah Durham ’18 and Zacharias Hassan who married on October 7, 2018.

Births & Family Additions Congratulations to:

Nira Chevere-Ralston ’01 and Brandi on the adoption of their 2-year-old daughter, Adrianna Paz Chevere-Ralston, in March 2019.

Chrissy Harness Thompson ’04 and John on the birth of a daughter, Emilia Thompson, on April 29, 2019.

Sarah Dushame Derdowski ’05 and Justin on the birth of a son, Wyatt Derdowski, on August 19, 2018.

Alaina Avera Harrison ’12 and Greg on the birth of a daughter, Sawyer Harrison, on March 20, 2019.

In Memoriam

Betty Swearingen Hurdle

February 28, 1929 - February 19, 2019 It is with great sadness that we share the news that Betty Swearingen Hurdle died on February 19, 2019. Betty was the wife of The Reverend Bill Hurdle, Wesleyan’s chaplain for 16 years until his death at the age of 87 in 2015.

Betty was a veteran of the United States Air Force Reserve, a teacher at Mount de Sales Academy, and a member of Mulberry Street United Methodist Church.

The Wesleyan community will remember “Miss Betty” for her generous spirit, for her support of and encouragement to Wesleyan students, and for her special presence at our Christmas Banquet.

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Georgann Dessau Blum ’47 on the death of her sister, Cordelia “Corky” Dessau Holliday ’48, on April 22, 2019.

Emily Hancock Bredeson ’49 on the death of her daughter, Jan Jones Ward, on March 4, 2019.

Emmie Carlton Johnson ’49 and Carol Blanchard Hood ’73 on the death of Emmie’s sister and Carol’s mother, Anne Carlton Blanchard ’47, on February 23, 2019.

Jean Taylor Armbrecht ’52 and Katherine Armbrecht Zarzour ’74 on the death of Jean’s husband and Katherine’s father, William Henry Armbrecht III, on July 28, 2018.

Barbara Bittick Maddox ’56 on the death of her husband, Charles Newton Maddox, on February 11, 2018.

Nancy Peterson Shaw ’58 on the death of her son, William Henry “Billy” Shaw III, on February 20, 2019.

Carolyn Wade Barry ’59 on the death of her husband, Arthur Patrick “Buster” Barry, Jr., on December 12, 2018.

Charlise Mallory Black ’60 on the death of her husband, Jerry Lamar Black, on January 6, 2019.

Gloria Boyette ’60 on the death of her sister, Myra Leola Boyette ’65, on January 26, 2019.

Mary Margaret Woodward McNeill ’60, Wesleyan Trustees Judy Woodward Gregory ’63, and Susan Woodward Walker ’70 on the death of their sister-in-law, Eleanor Gravely Woodward Fleming ’57, on April 23, 2019.

Wesleyan Trustee Glennda Kingry Elliott ’65, Hannah Gandy Fleckenstein ’03, and Sam Gandy, Wesleyan staff member, on the death Glennda’s husband and Hannah and Sam’s step-father, A.V. Elliott, Jr., on April 17, 2019, and on the death of Glennda’s mother and Hannah and Sam’s grandmother, Agnes M. Kingry, on March 11, 2019.

Becky Gleaton Mynatt ’66, LeeAnne Mynatt Dasher ’93, and Nancy Ballard ’91 on the death of Becky’s sister, LeeAnne’s aunt, and Nancy’s sister-in-law, Mary Ruth Gleaton Ballard ’59, on May 16, 2019.

Margaret Thompson Monahan ’67 on the death of her father, Buford Dale Thompson, on November 15, 2018.

Jan Belle Isle Breshears ’69 on the death of her husband, Jon Breshears, on May 4, 2019.

Rebecca McLeod McAtee ’70 and Tara S. Hobbs ’01 on the death of Rebecca’s aunt and Tara’s grandmother, Betty Swearingen Hurdle, wife of the late Wesleyan Chaplain William H. “Bill” Hurdle, on February 19, 2019.

Betsy Wakeford Thompson ’75 on the death of her sister, Raines Wakeford Watkins, on May 23, 2019.

Ellen Barfield ’77 on the death of her mother, Marian Mustoe Barfield ’56, on January 15, 2019.

Faye A. Burner ’77 on the death of her wife, Wendy R. Myers, on May 5, 2019.

Sylvia Shirah Haynie ’80 on the death of her father, Franklin D. Shirah, on February 19, 2019.

Zeba Moosajee ’91 on the death of her father, Abid G. Moosajee, in March 2019.

Glenda Barrett Bull ’64 on the death of her husband, Millard Edward Bull, on May 5, 2019.

Elizabeth Bockmiller Ceranowski ’94 on the death of her father, Walter Bowen Bockmiller, on February 6, 2018.

Jackie Best Jones ’64 on the death of her cousin, Jean Logan Russell ’50, on February 5, 2019.

Marcie Hamill Sink ’94 on the death of her mother, Judi H. Hamill, on November 14, 2018.

In Memoriam

CLASS OF 1960 REUNION PROJECT Did you ever work in Willet Library while you were a Wesleyan student?

Were you part of “Operation Totem” in 1968 when books from the Candler Library were transferred and shelved in the new Willet Library? How often did Tena Roberts help you find the materials and information that you needed to write a paper? Have you enjoyed hearing your class history, written by Tena, read at the Golden Belles Luncheon? If so, the Class of 1960 invites you to join them in honoring Tena Roberts, beloved Wesleyan librarian for 41 years. Upon her retirement in 2005, she was honored with professor emerita status.

The Green Knights of 1960 have adopted a 60th reunion project for Alumnae Weekend 2020 to name the Librarians Suite on the second floor of Willet Library in honor of their classmate, Tena. The goal to name this suite of offices is $100,000 and many class members quickly pledged their support. The Class of 1960 is now more than halfway to its goal with more gifts and pledges anticipated.

For a number of months, this project was kept a secret from Tena, but as more people learned of the

opportunity and began to ask if they, too, could honor Tena through this project, class leaders decided it was time to let Tena in on the surprise. Just before the Golden Belles Luncheon on April 26, donors from the Class of 1960, former library student workers, and other friends who learned of this occasion gathered in front of the new Librarians Suite on the second floor of Willet Library to unveil their surprise for Tena. Rarely have we seen Tena speechless, but she was indeed at a loss for words. However, she was soon regaling us with campus stories and had everyone laughing in amazement.

Alumnae of all Wesleyan classes have played a major role in the renovations of Willet Library, so please mail your donation today or make your gift online at www.wesleyancollege.edu/give, indicating that it is to be used for the Class of 1960 project in honor of Tena Roberts. For additional information on how to make your gift or three-year pledge for this project, please contact Susan Allen at (478) 757-5133 or sallen@wesleyancollege.edu in Wesleyan’s Advancement Office.

Thank you!

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Congratulations Class of 2019!

“Let go of the definition of success…and your fear of discomfort…Own your own power.

Breathe… Live with purpose, power, and presence…You have a great education. You are prepared to take on this world. You are the magic. You are unstoppable.”

- Tonja Khabir, Executive Director of the Griffith Family Foundation Spring 2019 Commencement Speaker

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Discover the next steps of our talented Wesleyan Women graduates!

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ENTERING THE WORKFORCE

23% DOUBLE MAJORS

43% GRADUATED WITH HONORS