Summer Achieve

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The magazine for alumni and friends of William Jewell College Summer 2011

EMBRACING THE FUTURE: A LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

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On the cover (from left) Heather Marshall, Joe Johnson, President David Sallee, Hunter Kiely and Jessie Newman celebrate commencement at Jewell.

The Last Walk (above); April Berry gives the “thumb’s up”; President Sallee congratulat es Charles Tolbert; Kyle Heiman contemplates the c

Contents Features 5Embracing the Future: A liberal arts college for the 21st century William Jewell’s plans for the future extend to refocusing the gathering and shaping of knowledge for both students and teachers.

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Great Expectations Mabee Foundation extends challenge to Jewell alumni and friends.

10Leadership Perspective Thomas R. “Buzz” Willard ’76, chairman of the William Jewell College Board of Trustees, shares his thoughts about Jewell’s past, present and future.

commencement ceremony

13“There’s an app for that” Jewell student Chris Stathopoulos develops an iPhone app.

Departments 4From the President15Faculty Notebook 28Jewell Facets

Our Mission William Jewell College promises students an outstanding liberal arts education that cultivates leadership, service, and spiritual growth within a community inspired by Christian ideals and committed to open, rigorous intellectual pursuits.

From the President Harnessing the power of learning’s evolving landscape It has been a time of great re vitalization and renewed commitment to our vision of providing the best in a liberal arts education these past few months on the Hill. At Achievement Day in March, we announced the naming gift from alumni Fred and Shirley Pryor that has added new momentum to the Pryor Learning Commons project (see cover story sidebar on page 7).

During the week following commencement, Jewell faculty members participated in the “Innovation in Teaching Symposium and Workshop: Integrating Digital Resources” event aimed at outlining the future landscape of t eaching and learning in a digital environment (see cover story beginning on page 6). Thanks t o the generosity of the Hall Family Foundation, 62 William Jewell faculty members were actively involved in this three-day campus workshop that stimulated dialogue and built awareness around the ideas, tools, best practices and philosophies of digital resources in education. Our goal is t o create a culture of innovation among faculty about how learning can be enhanced by integrating digital resources into the classroom.

With funding from the Hall Family Foundation, each participating faculty member received an iPad2. Workshop facilitator Dr. Lisa Spiro, Director of NITLE Labs (National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education), served as a kind of tour guide through the emerging educational technologies that are revolutionizing the teaching and learning process. Faculty project proposals involving technology-assisted learning are being developed and funded on a competitive basis.

While the use of technology is only a means to the end of providing a rich and robust learning environment, it is undeniably a powerful tool. This summer we have eliminated the barriers of cost and lack of training that sometimes impede the implementation of technology in higher education.

Thanks to the foresight and commitment of donors like Fred and Shirley Pryor and the Hall Family Foundation, we are making great strides toward reducing those technological barriers and altering the landscape of learning in the 21st century. When we begin construction on the new Pryor Learning Commons, which we hope to do in the fall of 2012, we will already have taken important steps in our journey toward providing both a physical facility in which technology can be harnessed and a receptiv e and supportive environment in which the expanding horizon of technologyassisted learning is well within reach for both faculty and students.

ACHIEVE MAGAZINE SUMMER 2011 PRESIDENT David L. Sallee salleed@william.jewell.edu VICE PRESIDENT FOR INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT Chad J. Jolly ’94 jollyc@william.jewell.edu DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS Robert A. Eisele eiseler@william.jewell.edu EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI RELATIONS Kent Huyser ’93 huyserk@william.jewell.edu ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS AND NEW MEDIA Cara Dahlor dahlorc@william.jewell.edu WEB DEVELOPER Jonathan Dickson dicksonj@william.jewell.edu MANAGER OF PRINT COMMUNICATIONS Kari L. Perry ’94 perryk@william.jewell.edu DIRECTOR OF CEREMONIES AND SIGNATURE EVENTS Susan E. Arbo ’86 arbos@william.jewell.edu CAMPUS PHOTOGRAPHER Kyle Rivas ’08 rivask@william.jewell.edu Achieve is produced three times a year by the Office of College Relations and Marketing at WILLIAM JEWELL COLLEGE 500 College Hill Liberty, Missouri 64068-1896 webmaster@william.jewell.edu www.jewell.edu Visit us on Facebook facebook.com/jewellalumni

Embracing

Future

the a liberal arts college for the

21st century

(clockwise from left) Scott McCormick, Chief Vision Officer for the VML agency, addresses the Innovation in Teaching Symposium; Randall Morris, professor of philosophy, and Mark Walters, professor of English, focus on an iPad program; Jewell faculty members get to know their new iPads.

On the college campus of the 21st century, the classroom is “necessary but not sufficient” for a great education, according to William Jewell College President David Sallee.

That philosophy is guiding an evolution on the William Jewell College campus that will alter everything from the institution’s physical layout to the way faculty and students engage and share information.

The College’s plans to refocus the gathering and shaping of knowledge received a significant boost with a recent $3 million naming gift from alumni Fred and Shirley Pryor ’56 (see sidebar for more information). The Pryors’ gift is designated for the Pryor Learning Commons, the centerpiece of “Shaping the Journey: The Campaign for Jewell.” Plans call for the multi-function, $15 million facility to anchor the east side of the Quadrangle, on the site where Greene Hall currently stands.

“We want to physically remake the core of the

campus, and the Pryor Learning Commons will be our new front door,” Dr. Sallee said. Visitors will enter a welcome center located on the lower, east-facing side of the building. As visitors proceed up to the Quad and upper level, they will encounter students and faculty interacting in various technology-enriched learning centers. “Their first impression should be that we are a college that has a strong

emerging tools and methodology for the benefit of student learning.

Approximately $11.5 million in commitments have been secured to date for the $15 million project. Construction of the new facility could begin toward the end of 2012 if the College can secure the balance of the funds to complete the project. (See Mabee Challenge on page 8.)

TECHNOLOGY-ENRICHED LEARNING CENTERS intellectual center,” Dr. Sallee noted. Current students entering the facility from the westfacing Quad entrance will view a panoramic wall of windows designed to evoke a sense of endless possibilities for the future. A prominent feature in the building will be the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, a facility designed to help the teaching and learning community utilize

In addition to its significant $6 million commitment to support the Learning Commons, The Hall Family Foundation has also made a gift toward reimagining the future landscape of teaching and learning in a digital environment with its funding of the “Innovation in Teaching Symposium and Workshop,” held on the Jewell campus in May. Dr. Lisa Spiro, Director of NITLE Labs (National Institute

DRIVING THE LIBERAL ARTS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

JEWELL RECEIVES $3 MILLION GIFT FOR LEARNING COMMONS

for Technology in Liberal Education), led the three-day workshop aimed at exploring emerging educational technologies and developing collaborative approaches to integrating learning, scholarship and technology. As part of the workshop, 62 participating members of the William Jewell faculty received iPad2s to facilitate the process of integrating technology into the classroom.

“Technology can help us meet the core goals of the liberal arts, and can enable a superior, transformative, collaborative style of teaching and learning,” Dr. Spiro said. “It’s not about technology for technology’s sake, but about what technology can bring to enrich the educational process. Technology is the catalyst, but learning is the focus.”

Dr. Anne Dema, provost of the College, planned and coordinated the Innovation in Teaching workshop, which also included live and online contributions from a variety of local and national facilitators. “Our goal was to familiarize faculty with the tools that can better enable engaged learning,” Dr. Dema said. “We want to put a system in place for a new kind of learning that will drive the liberal arts for the 21st century. We are asking our faculty to think about where they need to be in terms of employing these tools in the classroom two years out or five years out. The College is building a f aculty culture that will be increasingly responsive to future learning opportunities.”

The Innovation in Teaching workshop hosted a variety of experts and practitioners in the utilization of digital resources and engaged learning. Symposium speakers offered keynote presentations and served as panelists and small-group facilitators. Faculty participants formed smaller groups organized by discipline throughout the workshop to work

more closely with the speakers regarding the integration of digital resources into their respective fields.

A half-day of the workshop was spent at the Lewis and Clark Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. This session allowed Jewell faculty the opportunity to view the high-tech military facility and learn how leaders there are integrating advanced digital tools into the learning environment.

The workshop closed with the introduction of an opportunity for faculty to apply for grants to pilot initiatives that integrate digital learning resources into courses offered during the 2011-12 academic year.

Dr. Spiro, who focused on the democratization and worldwide sharing of knowledge enabled by web-based sources, noted that an estimated 107 trillion emails were sent in 2010, along with the creation of more than 1 4 billion web pages and 152 million blogs.

Discussing the need to harness these tools in support of education, she cited a quote from the article “Minds on Fire,” written by John Seely Brown, visiting scholar and advisor to the provost at the University of Southern California, and Richard Adler, research affiliate at the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, Calif.:

“New kinds of online resources— such as social networking sites, blogs, wikis and virtual communities—have allowed people with common interests to meet, share ideas and collaborate in innovative ways. The web is creating a new kind of participatory medium that is ideal for supporting multiple modes of learning.”

A $3 million naming gift from alumni Fred ’56 and Shirley Neff Pryor ’56 will support the cornerstone project of William Jewell College’s “Shaping the Journey” campaign.

“Fred and Shirley Pryor have once again made a gift that is both prescient and inspiring,” said Dr. David Sallee, president of William Jewell College. “Nearly two decades ago, they helped us create the Pryor Leadership Fellows Program because they knew that quality leaders hold the key. Now, they understand that learning is different and will continue to evolve. The intellectual heart of the College must lead that evolution. And this learning commons will be that vibrant center that every great college needs.”

The Pryor Learning Commons is the signature project in the first phase of “Shaping the Journey: The Campaign for Jewell,” which focuses on $55 million of priority initiatives coming out of the College’s strategic plan adopted in late 2007. The Campaign, with over 10,500 donors to date and gifts and commitments of more than $50 million, is the largest in the history of the 162year-old college. The announcement of the Pryor gift during the Celebration of Achievement in March also marked the public announcement of “Shaping the Journey: The Campaign for Jewell” (www.jewell.edu/campaign/).

“OUR HOPE IN MAKING THIS GIFT IS THAT IT WILL FACILITATE THE EMERGENCE OF WILLIAM JEWELL AS A LEADER IN ENGAGED AND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING,” FRED PRYOR SAID. “WE HOPE THE COLLEGE CAN SERVE AS A MODEL FOR GENERATING COLLABORATION, BOTH ACROSS THE CURRICULUM AND WITH COMMUNITIES BEYOND THE CAMPUS.”

Great Expe

M ABEE F OUNDATION

Alumni and friends of William Jewell College have received a “challenge” from the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation in Tulsa, Okla. The Mabee Foundation will provide the College with $1 million to reshape the heart of campus through the construction of the new Pryor Learning Commons if the College can secure an additional $2.5 million in pledges

by July of 2012.

“We are aggressively reaching out to secure new gift and pledge commitments from alumni and friends who wish t o help make the College’s bold vision a reality,” said Dr. Chad Jolly, vice president for institutional advancement at William Jewell. “This is a very important year in the life of the College.”

The Pryor Learning Commons is the centerpiece project of “Shaping the Journey: The Campaign for Jewell.” More than $11.5 million in gifts and pledges has been raised toward projected construction costs of $15 million for the Pryor Learning Commons. In addition to the naming gift from Fred and Shirley Pryor and generous support from alumni and generous members of the Board of Trustees, the College has received local support for the Campaign’s signature project from the William T. Kemper Foundation, the

EXTENDS

Sunderland Foundation, JE Dunn Construction Company and the Gary Dickinson Family Charitable Foundation.

A LUMNI

The Learning Commons will include: • Technology-assisted collaborative learning spaces

Responding to the evolving needs of the 21st century learner, William Jewell College plans to construct a modern learning center for collaboration and engagement.

The new Pryor Learning Commons will transform the core of the campus, host new programs, re-imagine library services, provide a technology-rich learning environment and support experiential education across the curriculum.

• Expanded access to on-line journals and research tools

The Pryor Learning Commons will anchor the east side of the q uadrangle on the site currently occupied by Greene Hall, the College’s administration building.

The design calls for a three-level, 25,300square-foot facility featuring flexible and comfortable spaces in a technologyenhanced environment. The facility itself is designed with a commitment to sustainability principles, and site development will allow the College to take significant steps toward a more energy-efficient, pedestrian campus.

• Engaging spaces for faculty colloquiums and Kansas City community lectures

• A wireless and flexible computing environment • Video conferencing and presentation rehearsal studios • Media production and viewing studios for the development of digital classroom materials

• Training labs to help faculty and students remain current with technological developments • Flexible and comfortable spaces and furniture that invite collaboration • Café with late-night access • A Welcome Center to greet prospective students and campus guests • A home for emerging centers of excellence like the Center for Engaged Learning, the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning and the Center for Justice and Sustainability

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$1 M ILLION C HALLENGE

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“The project supports a forward-looking approach to education and focuses on facilitating creative and comfortable spaces for the Jewell community to engage one another and the world beyond,” Dr. Jolly said. “The Pryor Learning Commons will offer students a variety of study environments and will include specialized equipment, laptop-ready stations and open study areas.” The building interior is designed to be flexible to accommodate

RESPONDING

undergo some renovation to accommodate staff offices that must move into the library building once site development begins for the Pryor Learning Commons.

In addition to the Pryor Learning Commons, priorities for Phase I of “Shaping the Journey: The Campaign for Jewell” include creating a wider array of active and experiential learning opportunities that integrate with the College’s core

TO THE EVOLVING NEEDS

OF THE evolving technologies. Pending a successful response to the Mabee Challenge, construction of the Pryor Learning Commons could begin in late 2012 with an opening date in December of 2013.

The College’s Curry Library, which opened in 1965, will continue to house the institution’s book collection and will

The J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation, Inc., a Delaware non-profit corporation, was formed in 1948 by John E. Mabee and his wife, Lottie E. Mabee, with its of fice in Tulsa, Okla. The Foundation aids institutions of higher learning, hospitals and other charitable organizations. The Mabee Foundation has provided support previously for William Jewell College projects, most recently a $1 million

21ST

CENTURY LEARNER

curriculum; increasing need- and merit-based scholarship support; securing Phi Beta Kappa status for the College’s faculty; and supporting membership transition from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics to the National Collegiate Athletic Association. More than $51 million of the first phase goal of $55 million has been secured since the campaign was launched in 2007.

challenge grant to complete fundraising for the Dianne C. Shumaker Hall Sorority Houses & Greek Commons, which opened in the fall of 2009.

Scan to find out more about Shaping the Journey: The Campaign for Jewell.

Leadership Thomas R. “Buzz” Willard is a member of the William Je well College class of 1976 and serves as Chair of the William Jewell College Board of Trustees. Here he shares his perspectives on the past, present and future of William Jewell with Achieve readers.

Why were you interested in serving on William Jewell’s Board of Trustees?

I was aware that the board was going to need to resolve their troubled relationship with the Missouri Baptist Convention and didn’t believe the College could reach its full potential or claim its rightful place as a nationally recognized liberal arts college without terminating that relationship. I realized that if I wanted to be a part of that discussion and decision then I needed to agree to be involved and to serve. I have been fortunate to serve on a number of civic boards, but I had never served on one that my father had also served and the thought of carrying on his legacy in a place he lo ved dearly was appealing.

Why do you think your fellow alumni should be excited about William Jewell today?

We are on a mission to be a premier liberal arts college in this country.

If you look around, most great cities have at least one great research university and at least one great liberal ar ts college in their community.

The latter is Jewell’s destiny and when we achieve that distinction we will have significantly enhanced the metropolitan area in which we live as well as the value of a Jewell degree. It’s hard for me to imagine anything that could or should excite an alum or an entering freshman more than that vision.

What are the major opportunities and challenges you have faced in your service as Board Chair?

One challenge is that we live in a world of immediate gratification and we are seeking something that will not be achieved overnight. It can be hard to stay the course when faced with all the challenges we face in higher education, so it will require considerable discipline and focus for us to reach our goal.

Other significant challenges are the College’s financial capacity, the decision-making model in higher education and the need t o garner more enthusiasm from the extended Jewell community to support the tremendous opportunity in front of us. I think our greatest challenge is attracting students who want the type of outstanding education Jewell provides and will continue to provide as the world changes. Our immediate goal is to have a student body of 1,300, but my hope someday is for Jewell to be a school of at least 2,500 students.

With regard to opportunities, I suppose in many ways they’re the same as the challenges: becoming a nationally recognized liberal arts college, developing a financial model that supports the excellent education we provide, successfully executing on our strategic plan which includes among other things transitioning to NCAA Division II and joining Phi Beta Kappa.

Perspective How would you describe this point in time in the 162-year history of William Jewell College?

I truly believe Jewell is on the cusp of greatness. I believe we are seeing a dramatic change in higher education that is likely to continue in the coming years. Student interests and demands have changed dramatically; technology is ever-evolving and making their world smaller; different modes and methods of teaching are taking form and consumers (primarily parents) are reevaluating the cost/value proposition of higher education and specifically a private liberal arts education. It is for those reasons that it is imperative we don’t let this opportunity slip away. I sense that our faculty, administration and board are all open and anxious to conquer these challenges—together. I am hopeful our alums will join with us and support us in this endeavor.

There is great clarity concerning the r ole we seek to play in higher education and this is a time of great focus and intentionality.

The nation, and this par t of the country, need a place committed to not only providing students with a credential, but one that is equipped to provide them with transformational experiences.

What are some of the major fundraising priorities for “Shaping the Journey: The Campaign for Jewell”? Why are they important to the future of William Jewell?

The College continues to achieve success in its fundraising, despite the challenges of the economy. What do you think that says about how donors feel about the College’s mission?

A list of our major fundraising priorities would be:

It’s interesting that despite difficult economic times, the College has raised more money over the past three years than at any point in its history. I am proud that over 10,500 friends have given to Jewell during the current Campaign. I think they must believe in the mission of William Jewell College, and that they care about having a national liberal arts college as a regional resource. Many of the 10,000 donors had their lives changed for the better at Jewell and feel an obligation to make sure future generations do, too.

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Securing funds for construction of the new Pryor Learning Commons in order to respond to the revolutionary changes that have occurred in the methods of scholarship.

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Enhancing support for The Center for Justice and Sustainability, which fits with the College’s historic mission of service.

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Providing funding for the Jewell Fund and Journey Grants. The Jewell Fund provides essential annual operating support, and the new Journey Grants provide a source of support for studentdesigned experiential learning opportunities.

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Increasing support for athletic programs and facilities as the College transitions to NCAA membership.

The College recently received a positive report and a 10-year accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association. How important is that independent validation?

It is a vital af firmation of the work that we are doing, both in terms of the fundamental mission of the institution and the way our faculty and staff are executing the goals that we have set for ourselves.

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Funding endowed chairs and innovative academic programs that attract both excellent faculty and excellent students.

“We are on a mission to be a premier liberal arts college in this countr y.”

Your daughter is a William Jewell graduate.

As a parent, how would you assess the college experience that she had at Jewell?

My daughter Julie is a very discerning individual: she attended three other schools including one of our aspirant schools and another well-known school on the east coast before coming to and graduating from Jewell. Her experience at Jewell was, in her estimation, superior than at the other schools. As a parent, you want your child’s college experience to be meaningful and challenging. Jewell certainly met and exceeded that expectation for us and for Julie. (See sidebar story on Julia Willard’s Jewell experience below.)

Where would you like to see William Jewell College in 10 years?

What do you hope your legacy as Board Chair will be?

I would like to see our enrollment growing and our student satisfaction levels high, and our membership in Phi Beta Kappa secured.

I would like to see us building on emerging technologies that will allow our students to access information in ways that we can only imagine today. This is an important time in the history of the College, and we are building a foundation that will allow Jewell to claim its place among the truly great liberal arts colleges in the country.

I think there is an old adage about lea ving the campsite in a better condition than you found it. I would hope that when I end m y tenure as Chair, Jewell will be a better place. We have tremendous challenges and opportunities in front of us as an institution. I would like to be remembered as a person who faced those challenges head-on; embraced and encouraged necessary change and helped the College reach its rightful place in the community of nationally recognized liberal arts colleges.

Live What You Learn: Navigating a shrinking world The universe may be expanding. But the world is shrinking. Just ask Julia Willard, a member of the William Jewell College class of 2004 and daughter of Jewell’s Trustee Chair Buzz Willard ’76 and Pam Doubleday Willard ’76. Go ahead: Skype her in France or Amsterdam, Facebook her in Philadelphia, or call her in K ansas City.

Julia, who recently completed her MBA from Institut Européen de Management International (IEMI), understands that these tools have changed business forever. Location means less than inspiration these days. “It doesn’t matter what country you come from now. If you have an idea you can start a business,” she said. “The influx of information, and access to information, has changed the way business is done.”

Julia knows this first-hand. While living in France, she worked for a U.S. company that specializes in search engine marketing, helping clients from around the world connect with potential customers. To be anybody on the Web, you have to be everywhere.

Julia’s own search – to combine her passions for business and French – led her to Jewell.

She earned a double major in French and international business, studying abroad in Dijon, France, and then interning at Cerner Corporation’s Paris office. After graduation, Julia worked in the United States for two years before heading back to France to complete her MBA at IEMI. The Paris-based program was populated by students from around the world, from China to Angola and Mauritius to Ukraine.

Buzz Willard ’76 and Julia Willard ’04

The most important lesson Julia learned: “If you don’t know how to work with people from other cultures, you won’t get the deal.” Just how much Julia grew academically, professionally and personally during this two-year program is best judged by those who know her best: her parents. When Buzz and Pam Willard visited their daughter in Europe, the traditional parentchild roles were reversed.

“It was the first time in my parenting life that I was not the one in charge,” Buzz said, remembering how Julia made all the plans and translated for them. “I thought, ‘This is awesome. She’s far more worldly than I am.’”

Thanks to her Jewell education, graduate school and international work experience, Julia is better equipped than many of her peers in the business world to adapt to new situations, connect with those of different backgrounds and solve problems. “The world gets smaller every day, and the more you understand the people who are here with you and how you’re connected, the better off you’ll be – and the better off the world will be,” she said. Despite the shrinking world, these skills will surely remain in demand.

“There’s an app for that” Business student develops application for iPhone

Not many teenagers receive royalty checks from Apple, but Chris Stathopoulos learned at an early age where an idea and initiative can lead.

A first-year student at William Jewell College, Chris is a Hall Scholar and double major (business administration and Applied Critical Thought and Inquiry) who also happens to be an American history buff. While in high school in Mentor, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, Chris was using an iPhone application on U.S. Presidents but couldn’t find one for the Vice Presidents. He contacted the developer, then based in Lenexa, Kan., who offered to write the code if Chris would develop the content. A business partnership was born.

Chris spent several months of his senior year gathering detailed biographies, trivia and other fun facts about “the men that history forgot.” In February 2010, he and Paul Dardeau released version 1.0 of Vice Presidents under the name SwampBits on Apple’s iTunes App Store.

It’s no business secret that marketability increases when products are improved and updated. Chris recognizes the challenge of

expanding a niche product and finding something new about history. “This is where I thought my developing career would end,” Chris said, “then Paul asked me to help overhaul the Presidents’ app.” A month later they released an update on iTunes, and Chris continued strategizing on ways to broaden the appeal of their apps. His next idea – combining the Presidents and Vice Presidents apps for the iPad – should be available this summer or fall. He’s now considering creating an interactive component that would enable users to debate historical topics as well as rewriting Presidents in Spanish to appeal to a broader range of customers.

“I love the entrepreneurial spirit. That comes naturally for me,” said Chris, who was selected to begin Jewell’s Pryor Leadership Program in the fall. “To innovate and find something new is very rewarding and a lot of fun.” In February 2011 during the week of President’s Day, SwampBits’ app was a featured “staff favorite” on the iTunes App Store front page. “We saw a huge spike in sales, so we are excited for the possibilities of a new app and an election season gearing up later this year.”

Discovering a new passion: Jewell nursing graduate trades sequins for scrubs Like many kids growing up, Renee Klapmeyer looked forward each year to watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on television.

But it wasn’t the giant Snoopy balloons or the arrival of Santa Claus that kept Renee glued to the TV set. Instead, it was the splashy song and dance numbers from Broadway musicals that commanded her attention and set her imagination soaring.

production of “The Producers,” a part she performed more than 300 times. That opportunity led to a role in the movie version of “The Producers,” where she worked with Mathew Broderick and got to “hang out” with Sarah Jessica Parker. She also got the opportunity to perform the national anthem at a New York Mets game. Her final Broadway show was 2007’s “Young Frankenstein,” in which she performed with “Will and Grace’s” Megan Mullaly.

“I wanted to be on Broadway for as long as I can remember,” the 2011 graduate of Jewell’s accelerated track nursing program recalls. Her Cinderella dreams of a career on the Broadway stage were destined to come true. Within just a few years of those childhood Thanksgiving morning viewings in her family’s Stilwell, Kan., living room, Renee would find herself in front of the cameras at the annual televised holiday extravaganza on New York’s 34th Street, and living her dream of performing in front of the footlights eight times a week on the stages of the tradition-steeped Broadway theaters 10 blocks uptown.

“I was so blessed to be able to work consistently on Broadway for about 10 years,” Renee says. “It was a tough career. We did eight shows a week, plus we worked every holiday. It required a lot of dedication, but it was so rewarding. Toward the end of my career, I started to lose some of the passion I had for performing. I wanted to make more of a difference.”

The Blue Valley High School graduate started early with tap, jazz and ballet classes. Singing lessons started when she was in the fifth grade. As she gained confidence, she began performing with a local dance school troupe. “I was part of the Miller Marley Entertainers, and my love for performing started to grow from this experience,” Renee says. “We performed all around the Kansas City area, and we were even invited to perform at the World’s Fair in Seville, Spain, in 1992. Growing up, my nights and weekends were filled with perfecting my singing, dancing and acting skills.”

She gained more experience performing in community theater and high school productions. At the age of 17, she made her first trip to New York City to audition for a musical theater program at New York University. While she was there, she went to see “Beauty and the Beast,” her first Broadway show in a real New York theater. “I cried through the whole show,” Renee says.

While completing a B.F.A. in musical theater at the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford in Connecticut, she spent summers performing at regional theaters up and down the East Coast and soon qualified to join the performers union Actors Equity. After graduating from college in 1999, she moved

to New York City and for two years lived the stereotypical actors’ existence of performing auditions during the day while waiting tables at night. Finally, in 2001 she landed her first Broadway show as a member of the ensemble of the hit musical revival of “42nd Street.”

In that production, she performed alongside Tom Wopat, star of the television series “Dukes of Hazard.” “He has the most beautiful, buttery, dreamy singing voice, and he was a huge flirt,” Renee remembers. Other Broadway shows followed, and her resume grew to include “Anything Goes” with Patti LuPone and “Stairway to Paradise” with Kristen Chenowith. She worked her way up to playing the female lead in the Broadway

Since she had considered a career in nur sing before she began performing, it seemed a natural transition. She moved back to Kansas City and began taking some prerequisite courses at Johnson County Community College. A classmate told her about William Jewell’s BSN-AT program, which allows college graduates to receive a nursing degree on an accelerated schedule. “I did some research on William Jewell and heard so many wonderful things about the school and the nursing program,” Renee says. “I feel so blessed to be a part of this amazing program. Nursing is such a rewarding career. I am so excited to know that I get to go to work and touch another person’s life. How amazing it is to be able to do that every day!”

Renee was recently hired to become a part of the ICU nursing staff at North Kansas City Hospital. She does volunteer work with Operation Breakthrough, a program for at-risk children in Kansas City’s urban core, and she also plans to teach a musical theater class for kids who are as stage-struck as she once w as.

For Renee, it is a time of new beginnings and new possibilities. “I am so excited for this next chapter in my life to begin,” she says, “and to see what the future holds.”

FACULTY notebook

Tea & Theatre

Nathan Wyman tackles theatre in the U.K. (from top) Nathan Wyman at the “Doctor Who” exhibit during his sabbatical in the U.K.; the cast of “Darkness Falls”; Wyman's design sketch for the production

Nathan Wyman, associate professor of theatre and technical director of Jewell Theatre, traveled to the United Kingdom last fall for a sabbatical project. He shared his impressions of the visit with Achieve: In October, I traveled to the U.K. to work on a production of “Darkness Falls,” a double-bill of “The Monkey’s Paw,” a traditional tale of horror that has been reshaped countless times, and “The Dark,” a modern take on the Mephistopheles story. The plays were performed for two nights at the Black Box Theatre at North Hertfordshire College in Hitchin, England.

My friends Ella Kent and Christian McCormack are the founders of Running with Scissors Theatre Company, and each directed one of the plays. I met Ella and Christian in 1998 when I first travelled to the U.K. with a touring production. Our friendship was rekindled in 2005 when I was teaching at Harlaxton College in Grantham, England, and Ella asked me to give a lecture at the school where she was teaching. We decided that some day we should do a production together, never imagining that the opportunity would arise five years later!

When it came time for me to take a sabbatical, I debated on several projects. When I got a message from Ella on Facebook during this time, a light bulb clicked on. I asked Ella what her fall term looked like, and we decided I should be the designer for her company’s fall production of a Halloween-themed staging of “Darkness Falls.” About four weeks before my flight, we were forced to move the show to a smaller space.

Christian sent me photos and measurements (in metric) of the new space, and I began adapting the designs t o make the stage space smaller and more intimate.

I arrived with about 10 days to build and paint the set and get the lights hung and focused. I got permission to paint the floor in the theater space, which had never been done before in this venue. Painting the floor to look like wood allowed us to delineate the stage area from the audience and gave us a more finished look for the set. The walls were treated with a layered paint technique starting with a pale yellow, then washed with grey and sponged with a watery black mixture of paint to make it look old and charred.

We found a fireplace mantle in a rubbish pile, and one of the crew and I carried it about a mile on foot back to the theater space. We painted it and all of the trim white and then distressed it with black wash. The lighting equipment was very different than the standard fixtures used here in the States. But after some studying, I was able to figure out what each of the fixtures did and managed to set a sufficient light plot with some options for both shows. It was fun working with the student crews and learning from them the differences in construction techniques and sharing with them the ways we do things back home. The most fun was learning the British names for things--for example, paint is called “emulsion.”

On opening day, my wife, Julianne arrived direct from Heathrow for the matinee performance with about two minutes to spare. We got in a quick “hello, how are you, I’ve missed you” before the house went dark and the show began. For the second performance, another honored guest arrived to see the show: my student Karina Bielecki from Jewell, who was studying at Oxford for the semester, took the train to Hitchin to see the show. It was great to have two Americans in the audience!

After the show, we took down the set and headed to a pub to celebrate. I said my goodbyes to the company, and the next day Julianne and I headed off for the second leg of our adventure, which took us to London, Bristol, Salisbury, Stonehenge and on to Wales, taking in museums, live theater, historical sites and beautiful scenery along the way. We also journeyed north to Grantham to spend a night at Harlaxton College, where we had a great visit with principal Gordon Kingsley and staff, then headed further north to Scotland. The trip proved to be both personally and professionally rewarding, with many lessons learned about working with a new company in a completely different theatrical environment.

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Homecoming Pregame Celebration, hosted by the Alumni Board of Governors The Alumni Board of Governors invite you to join the festivities and celebrate Jewell’s membership in the NCAA as they create Cardinal Village in the parking lot between the Terry Barnes Memorial Fountain (campus entrance) and Greene Stadium for a pre-game Homecoming celebration.

More information on this exciting event and all other great Homecoming activities can be found online or in the 2011 Homecoming Brochure!

Homecoming 2011 October 7 - 9th

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www.jewellalumni.com/ homecoming Scan to find out more about Homecoming 2011.