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CELEBRATING 90 YEARS OF STUDENT JOURNALISM: NAMEPLATE CIRCA 1957 FEBRUARY 5, 2015 | VOL. 91 NO. 12 | THEYELLOWJACKET.ORG
STUDENT PRODUCED SINCE 1924
Lee: WU aided by enthusiasm of Board of Trustees appointees By NICK FARRELL Executive Editor
Two newly appointed members of the university Board of Trustees are set to begin their terms this month. Both Laura Ellsworth, a partner at Jones Day international law firm, and Mary Ann Meloy, a former associate director of the White House Office of Public Liaison under President Ronald Reagan, will join the Board of Trustees this month after their election in September 2014.
Douglas G. Lee, university president, said the university’s mission and prospects attracted Ellsworth and Meloy, even though they aren’t university alumnae. “Both of those women are well-respected leaders in the community,” said Lee. “What is exciting to me is that, though not having any prior relationship to Waynesburg, they are really enthusiastic about the direction of the school and the mission of the university, so much so that
Upcoming Charter Day serves as reminder of institution's founding By KIMMI BASTON Managing Editor
On a sunny March day in 1987, the students and faculty of Waynesburg College gathered together on the lawn of Miller Hall for a celebration. A short time later, Dr. J. Thomas Mills Jr., president of Waynesburg College from 1983-1988, led the senior class down the street to First Presbyterian Church. There, Louis E. Waller, a champion of equal rights and a Waynesburg College
By MATT KOLL
Although it is the shortest month of the year, the cold, bitter winter associated with February often leaves people feeling like it is the longest. It is no different for the students and staff on the campus of Waynesburg University, as temperature lows occasionally drop into the single digits and winter
Meloy
they’re willing to become part of this movement.” Ellsworth has received abun-
By JACOB MEYER Managing Editor
With the implementation of the fall break, in turn causing a shorter winter break, in its first year, the university Provost would like to see one thing to work on with future academic schedules. “I am very committed to
See TRUSTEES on A4
Are students swarming to sports?
See CHARTER DAY on A3
storms blow through the area. The maintenance staff and Director of Facilities Planning and Management Terry Sattler are making sure they are always ready. “We check the forecast multiple times a day, depending on what it looks like,” said Sattler. “We are staffed almost the entire week, 24/7.” The one gap in the staffSee MAINTENANCE on A4-
Jenny Schouppe, Yellow Jacket
Students cheer on the men's basketball team during last year's conference playoff game against Washington & Jefferson. While attendance at playoff and rivalry games is often large, some students don't attend athletic events because of other conflicts.
Teetering participation at home sporting events reflected by mixed student outlooks, busy extracurricular schedules By JENNY SCHOUPPE Convergence Editor
The roar of the crowd at a sporting event can be enough to pump up any athlete. Athletes are used to performing in front of an audience, and they thrive in the energy that an audience can provide. Along with those who support the athletic teams, though, come students who would rather focus on other aspects of the college experience.
Students may attend sport- tae Gibson, who also started ing events for a variety of at cornerback for the Waynesreasons. Some atburg football team. “I tend for the social J A C K E T L I F E also like watching a aspect; others attend An occasional series variety of sports and because of their love I think that supportfor sports, and some may at- ing other athletes is a great way tend simply to support their to be interactive among each friends and fellow classmates. other.” “I think that it’s nice to be The support from the stusupportive to all of the sports dent body does have a positive team, which is why I try to effect on those athletes who make it to all of the sporting spend hours practicing. events that I can,” said senior “It is a great feeling knowcriminal justice major Don- ing many of our peers and
Provost ‘committed’ to earlier start of winter break
Administration open to altering fall, winter breaks in the future
students “can really accomplish something,” and the Christian values emphasized at Waynesburg will create a great foundation for students to lean on after they graduate. “I think there is a certain deliberateness about the vision, focus and planning at Waynesburg that’s tied to a celebrated past,” said Ellsworth. “The future vision of the school is so clear to the faculty and administration, and that vision is so student-focused.”
trustee, spoke to the crowd as a living representation of the college’s mission. The photos taken that day — of the throng on Miller’s lawn, of the seniors filling the streets, of the audience in the church — document Waynesburg College’s first ever Charter Day. The events of that day in 1987 were in recognition of Waynesburg College’s founding by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 1849 and
Maintenance staff prepared for the worst this winter Editorial Assistant
Ellsworth
dant recognition for her work with Jones Day and was named one of Pennsylvania’s “Best 50 Women in Business.” In addition to her background in law, Ellsworth is vice chair of the board of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and is a board member with the Imani Christian Academy in Pittsburgh. She also delivered last year’s commencement address. Ellsworth believes the size of the university community is one that promotes an environment where
not having Christmas break start as close to Christmas as it did this year,” said Dr. Jacquelyn Core, university provost. “I didn’t set the schedule for this past year, but going forward I would like to see students out of here a little earlier. I don’t like us ending the Friday before the week of Christmas.” In the two years prior to the addition of the fall break, 2012-13 and 2013-14, the winter breaks were 30 days long. With the implementation of a nine-day fall break, though, the winter break in
2014-15 was only 23 days. “This semester was an anomaly,” Core said. “When a calendar changes the breaks are going to change too. Where Christmas fell on the calendar this year made it short. I think it will work out in most years that we don’t have to start the semester out any earlier, and we can still can finish earlier.” In the proposed 2015-16 academic calendar in the Waynesburg University catalog, the winter break is also supposed to be 23 days. No matter how the cal-
endar falls the winter break will still be 23 days long, but its relation to Christmas will change year-by-year. If it starts further away from Christmas day, students will come back for the spring semester earlier. If it starts closer to Christmas day, as it did this past fall semester and will this fall semester, students will come back for the spring semester later. Mary Cummings, vice president for Student Services, said an option the university
classmates support something that we are passionate about outside of the classroom,” said junior psychology major B.J. Durham, who is also a member of the Waynesburg men’s basketball team. “We definitely try and support all the other athletic teams that we can because of the support that they give us.” A lot of student athletes support other athletes because See JACKETS on A4
ABOUT THIS WEEK'S NAMEPLATE Editor’s Note: As the Yellow Jacket enters its 90th year of publication, we’re going back into our archives to reprint 10 iconic nameplates from our past in advance of the unveiling of a new nameplate in the April 23 Commencement Issue. This week's nameplate dates back to 1957, when a then unprecedented 768 students were enrolled
at Waynesburg College. This prompted the construction of a new dormitory: Thayer Hall. An infographic in an issue the following year showed that male enrollment tripled that of female enrollment. In addition, the Yellow Jacket profiled "Freshman Days," where new students were required to complete various tasks between Matriculation and Homecoming.
See CALENDAR on A3
INSIDE
COMING TO CROSSROADS
GETTING DEFENSIVE
PLAN AHEAD
Campus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . A1–A4 Region. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1, B4 Editorial/Op-ed. . . . . . . . B2 News Digest. . . . . . . . . . B3 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C1–C4 Arts & Life. . . . . . . . . . . . D1–D2 Entertainment . . . . . . . . D3–D4
Local high schools and middle schools are partnering with the university to grow in their faith and relationships with each other.
Cassidy O'Keefe, a women's basketball transfer from Division II Slippery Rock, has provided a much needed jolt defensively for Waynesburg.
The Fine Arts faculty have announced a schedule of events for the spring term.
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