03_Berry Magazine - Spring 2010

BERRY Spring 2010

a magazine for alumni and friends of Berry College

Berry makes mark on NASA Alumni impact moon landing

Brewing change Karen Akridge-Houghton (01C) works for Rwanda

Coming home Mountain Day message from John Coleman (04C)

Hanthorn!

Greg Hanthorn (82C), attorney at play

VOL. 96., NO. 2

SPRING 2010

BERRY Features 8

Hanthorn!

Greg Hanthorn (82C) juggles his way to joyous living

13

Berry makes mark on NASA As man leaves footprint on the moon

16

8

Brewing change Karen Akridge-Houghton (01C) works with java for social justice in Rwanda

18

Coming home 16

John Coleman (04C) shares Mountain Day message of family, foundation and home 13

Departments 2

Noteworthy News • Berry earns high marks for sustainability efforts • Trustee Barry Griswell (71C) awarded national DAR Medal of Honor • Road of Remembrance and Memorial Drive get new trees for allée • Neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson to headline Shatto Lecture • Raising the bar

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4

President’s Essay The heart of Berry

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Learn. Live. Give.

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• President’s home named in honor of Virginia Webb (44c) • Donated laptops ramp up research for students, faculty • Their stories: Students’ lives are shaped by scholarships

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Class Notes

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Memory and Honor Gifts

Coming soon: The splendor of the gardens at Martha Berry’s House o’ Dreams.

Photo by Alan Storey. Cover photo by Tim Redman.

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NOTEWORTHY NEWS

BERRY magazine

Published three times per year for alumni and friends of Berry College Editor Karilon L. Rogers Assistant Editor Rick Woodall (93C) Learn. Live. Give.

Debbie Rasure Design and Production Shannon Biggers (81C) Photography Paul O’Mara and Alan Storey Class Notes and Gifts Listings Justin Karch (01C) and Rose Nix Contact Information E-mail: krogers@berry.edu Mail: Berry magazine, P.O. Box 490069, Mount Berry, GA 30149 PAUL O’MARA

Class Notes and Change of Address: E-mail to alumni@berry.edu; via online community at www.berry.edu/alumni; or mail to Berry Alumni Office, P.O. Box 495018, Mount Berry, GA 30149.

Berry Alumni Association President: Frances Richey-Goldby (83A, 87C) President-Elect: Barbara McCollum (79C) Vice Presidents: Alumni Events, Patrick Carter (91C); Berry Heritage, Allyson Chambers (80C, 84G); Financial Support, Larry Eidson (57C); Young Alumni and Student Relations, Andrew Landis (06C); Alumni Awards, Clara McRae (60C) Parliamentarian: Bart Cox (92C) Secretary: Kimberly Terrell (04C, 06G, FS) Chaplain: Carolyn T. Smith (53C) Director of Alumni Relations Chris Watters (89C) Assistant Vice President for Public Relations and Marketing Jeanne Mathews Vice President for Advancement Bettyann O’Neill President Stephen R. Briggs

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BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

Sustainable efforts Berry earns high mark on Green Report Card BERRY EARNED A GRADE OF B on the 2010 College Sustainability Report Card, sharing the highest grade in Georgia with Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Berry’s grade improved from the C+ earned the year before, consistent with its continuing emphasis on sustainability and environmental responsibility.

The sustainability report card measures performance in the areas of administration, climate change and energy, food recycling, green building, student involvement, transportation, endowment transparency, investment priorities, and shareholder engagement. Of the 332 colleges participating in the United States and Canada, only 40 percent earned a grade of B or better; results are available online at GreenReportCard.org.

The survey is administered by the Sustainable Endowments

Institute, a special project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

Sustainability at Berry takes many forms. Food waste in the dining hall has been reduced by 30 percent and water consumption by 140,000 gallons annually through the implementation of a trayless dining system. The use of compostable and biodegradable “to-go” boxes has further diminished waste.

New facilities, such as the Morgan and Deerfield residence halls, are designed for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, the national benchmark for green building projects. Energy efficiency is also an emphasis in the renovation of older buildings.

Whenever possible, Berry now purchases Energy Star appliances, recycled paper, green cleaning products and EPEAT-registered computers.

Portable recycling bins have been purchased for use at special events around campus as part of Berry’s continuing focus on recycling.

It is no surprise that students are helping to lead the way.

Students serve on the college’s sustainability committee and operate the “Green Team,” a student sustainability program launched last fall by the dean of students to promote environmental awareness and education.

“Sustainability at Berry is a campuswide commitment,” explained President Steve Briggs. “Given the amazing natural assets that we as an institution have inherited, it is fitting and important that we be superb stewards of these resources. We must strive to sustain and improve our natural environment as our gift to future generations.”

Berry Middle School staged an eco-fashion show with assistance from SAVE (Students Against Violating the Earth) that challenged participants to design and create outfits consisting largely of recycled materials and trash.

BERRY TRUSTEE J. BARRY GRISWELL (71C), of Iowa, has

MARCIA MCCONNELL (83C) has returned to her alma mater as director of financial aid. She brings 20 years of related experience with Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., the University of Tampa and, most recently, St. Petersburg College in Clearwater, Fla., where she served as financial aid director.

“My own Berry experience was made possible through financial aid,” McConnell said. “I’m excited to be able to share that opportunity with others.”

McConnell also has worked at the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech and Mississippi State in the areas of housing and residence life.

Her master’s degree in education is from Mississippi State.

ALAN STOREY

DR. TASHA TOY has joined Berry as director of multicultural and international student programs.

She came to campus from Brevard College in North Carolina, where she was assistant director of student life.

Toy earned her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from North Carolina Central University and a Ph.D. from Seton Hall University, where she later managed the AmeriCorps program. Past experience includes developing and coordinating support programs for multicultural and international students, creating opportunities for cultural exchange dialogues, and teaching first-year seminars.

ALAN STOREY

[Berry People]

PAUL O’MARA

received the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) Medal of Honor, the most prestigious award bestowed by the organization. His nomination was sponsored by Iowa’s Jean Marie Cardinell Chapter of the NSDAR. The award, which Griswell received in December, recognizes extraordinary qualities of leadership, trustworthiness, service and patriotism. Recipients must have made unusual and lasting contributions to our American heritage through giving of themselves to their communities, states, country and fellow man. Other recipi-

ents include such notables as Rudy Guiliani, Tom Brokaw and Robert J. Dole.

Berry President Steve Briggs, who was quoted in the Medal of Honor nomination submitted by DAR member Donna Ragner, wrote about Griswell: “He is an exceptional leader of the highest integrity, a devoted servantleader, a generous philanthropist and an exceptional human being. He overcame great personal adversity to achieve uncommon success and carries with him the belief that life’s real rewards can be found in making better the lives of others. He personifies the values shared for so many decades by the DAR and Berry College.”

Berry was the first DARsupported school and is the only college the DAR supports through its schools program.

“

Whosaid that?

“Knowledge is one thing.

[But] if it isn’t deployed with character, it’s less than it can be.”

RICK GILBERT (77c), vice

chairman and chief operating officer, CompuCredit Corp., discussing the lessons he learned at Berry with Dave Williams of the Atlanta Business Chronicle. The story appeared in the 2009 edition of CEO University, an annual publication featuring some of Atlanta’s top executives. Gilbert is a graduate of the John Marshall Law School and a member of the Berry College Board of Trustees.

JOVITA MOORE,

MARK LAW

Berry trustee awarded Medal of Honor

“More than a century since it started, Berry College continues to be much more than a college campus; it is a lesson in Georgia history.”

reporter with Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB-TV, in Georgia’s Hidden Treasures, a fall television special that featured Berry College, Oak Hill and The Martha Berry Museum. The program offered current and historical footage of the campus as well as interviews with alumni Louise Moon Garrison (42H, 60C), Dr. Randy Green (37H, 41C) and Patrice Clonts Shannon (08C). The special can be viewed at www.vimeo.com/6868427.

Are you a FAN?

”

THE BERRY COLLEGE PAGE ON FACEBOOK now has more than 2,800 fans, and more are joining every day. Berry’s Twitter feed is also popular, with approximately 1,200 followers choosing to receive “tweets” about college news and events.

To get in on the fun, visit www.facebook.com/ berrycollege or http://twitter.com/berrycollege and register for a free account.

BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

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Shatto Lecture Series welcomes

Dr. Benjamin Carson DR. BENJAMIN S. CARSON SR., RECOGNIZED BY BOTH CNN AND TIME MAGAZINE

New trees for the allée

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PLAN TO REPLACE THE ALLÉE (PATHWAY) OF TREES LINING

THE ROAD OF REMEMBRANCE AND MEMORIAL DRIVE with

healthy, disease-resistant willow oaks has been launched thanks to a $50,000 gift from an anonymous donor.

The original allée was planted in the early 1920s to honor the 11 Berry boys who were killed during World War I. The original trees, mostly water oaks, are nearing the end of their lifespan.

Approximately 130 trees have been planted along the stretch of roadway that runs from Morgan and Deerfield halls to the war memorial near Victory Lake. At the same time, a dozen of the older trees that were diseased have been removed.

The new trees, each 15-20 feet tall and weighing 2,000 pounds, were supplied by Select Trees in Athens, Ga., a firm specializing in large “sustainable” trees possessing superior insect- and disease-resistant foliage as well as an ability to fix carbon dioxide at a higher rate, thus allowing for faster growth.

The new willow oaks, which have a much longer lifespan than the original trees, were planted behind the original rows, mostly alternating between existing trees.

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BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

ALAN STOREY

Gift of nature:

as one of our nation’s foremost physicians and scientists, will be taking the lectern April 22 as the featured speaker in the Gloria Shatto Lecture Series.

He follows former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, New York Times columnist David Brooks and Super Bowl-winning coach Tony Dungy in sharing his wisdom and experiences with Berry students thanks to the $1 million lectureship named for Berry’s sixth president.

Carson – full professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine – is best known for his work with Siamese twins. In addition, he is president and co-founder of the Carson Scholars Fund, which has awarded more than $3.9 million to 3,900 students of all backgrounds, and cofounder of Angels of the OR, which assists adult and pediatric neurosurgery families with non-covered medical expenses.

Carson is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and one of 89 “living legends” honored during the 200th anniversary of the Library of Congress. He also is a recipient of the Spingarn Medal, the highest honor given by the NAACP. The TNT movie Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, is based on his memoirs.

Watch the Alumni Accent for more details about his appearance and ticket information.

Sustainable oak trees await planting along Memorial Drive, near the log cabin campus.

Approximately 130 new trees were planted in December.

Raisingthe bar Perfection!

THE BERRY COLLEGE CHILD

Making music

DEVELOPMENT CENTER achieved

ALAN STOREY

On the short list FOR THE THIRD CONSECUTIVE YEAR, the Campbell School of

Business’ MBA program has been included in the Princeton Review’s annual publication recognizing top business schools nationwide. The Best 301 Business Schools: 2010 Edition lauded the Campbell School for having an “increasingly important presence in the North Georgia economic community.”

Good decision!

MANAGEMENT PROFESSOR DR. LOUIS A. LE BLANC and current MBA student Brandy S. Cannon (08C) earned top honors in the national Decision Sciences Institute Annual Case Studies Competition for “Netflix.com: You’ve Got Mail.” Their entry described a teaching case (a tool to demonstrate the application of a theory or concept to real situations) employed in both the undergraduate and graduate programs of the Campbell School of Business.

Outstanding advisor

DR. MIRNA OGRIZOVIC-CIRIC

Going the distance DR. RUTH FERENCE, associate professor of teacher education, placed second nationally in her age group in the Xterra Triathlon National Championship. In her second appearance at the event, the Southeast region champion successfully completed a 1.5-kilometer swim, 30K bike ride and 10K run to earn her place on the medal stand.

iTunes to the rescue DR. LYNNWOOD BELVIN, associate professor of teacher education and director of educational technology, collaborated with the U.S. Department of Education and Apple Inc. to create a new iTunes U site called “Continuity of Learning” that can be used by K-12 students and teachers in the event of a pandemic or natural disaster. Belvin was one of 10 educators selected from the Apple Distinguished Educator program to work on the project.

(above, second from left) recently showcased her talents as a violinist when she took the stage at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., with the Balkan Quartet. Ogrizovic-Ciric is a music instructor at Berry and also serves as conductor for the Atlanta Philharmonic Orchestra and assistant director of the Oak Hill Symphony.

Top comedy trio THE CONFERENCE ROOM, a comedy produced by Viking Fusion, Berry’s student-operated multimedia Web site, claimed top honors in a national contest sponsored by College Broadcasters Inc., besting productions from the University of South Carolina, University of South Dakota and University of Texas at Austin.

The comedy focuses on three young producers (below, left to right: Thomas Yungerberg, Steven Walker and Alex Middleton) trying to develop a television show that never seems to get off the ground. The 15minute episodes can be viewed at http://vikingfusion.berry.edu/ entertainment/the-conferenceroom/.

WENDY DAHLGREN (03C), associate director of

ALAN STOREY

KAITLIN KOLARIK (09C)

a perfect score on its 2009 licensing visit from Bright from the Start: the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning.

The score reflects outstanding performance in the areas of physical facility, playground, staffing, health and safety, indications of learning, children’s records, and activities.

In addition to providing excellent learning opportunities for children ages 3-5, the center offers Berry education majors valuable firsthand experience. More than 50 students currently assist the center’s professional staff.

admissions, received the 2009 Ruth Knight Outstanding Advisor Award from the Lambda Sigma honor society for her work with the Berry chapter, Alpha Mu. She has been an advisor for Lambda Sigma since 2006, working alongside Dr. Kenneth Martin, associate professor of chemistry.

BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

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PRESIDENT’S ESSAY

Dr. Stephen R. Briggs

The heart of Berry “In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy.

If they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you. Think about it; it’s true. If you hire somebody without integrity, you really want [that person] to be dumb and lazy.”

WARREN BUFFETT

A

t a recent breakfast in Washington, D.C., I heard a U.S. senator speak pointedly about the difference between competence and character. He noted how a lack of personal integrity can undermine the finest accomplishments of a razor-sharp mind and tenacious work ethic, as has been illustrated vividly in the lives of several prominent public figures. The senator went on to wonder why America’s colleges devote most of their resources to the development of the head, in contrast to a studied indifference to the development of the heart. He ended with an unanswered question, “Where does the heart go to college?”

When America’s great colleges were founded, it was customary for the college president to teach a moral philosophy course to all seniors. These courses were designed to integrate a student’s educational experience and usher the student into a life of service to God and neighbor. The organizing theme was a common-sense analysis of right and wrong as it applies to various spheres of public and private life: business, government, family relations, the law, culture and so on.

The goal was to build character – Christian character specifically – and the motivation was a deep concern for the spiritual and moral, as well as the intellectual, maturation of students.

Since then, these same leading colleges have largely abandoned their commitment to character formation in the traditional sense.

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BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

While the development of character remains a noble goal in the rhetoric of many a college mission statement, most professors steer clear of any moral exhortations that seem religious in nature. A professor of ethics today might rigorously examine different schools of thought but would be less likely to elaborate on the Christian ethic of love that leads to the virtues of patience, kindness, faithfulness, diligence, justice, humility, purity and self-control.

The modern curriculum focuses instead on teaching critical reasoning skills using methods of inquiry and analysis. This singular emphasis on the development of intellectual skills brings us back to the senator’s concern about the separation of the head and the heart. At Berry, we continue to believe it is essential to educate both.

The problem with teaching moral virtues is that it requires a moral point of view. Although there was once a reasonable consensus about the meaning of character based on a shared Christian heritage, that framework has been displaced by a new norm.

Personal freedom – the liberty to believe and do whatever one chooses as long as no one is harmed – has become the defining principle and

assumption of our culture.

Our society rightly prizes personal freedom and its many associated freedoms, including the freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion. Our love of freedom also inspires our ideals of diversity and tolerance. Yet, freedom of this sort implies to some that all beliefs should be considered equally valid and that truth itself is personal and relative. From this perspective, it seems right for colleges to remain impartial and value-neutral.

At most colleges, valueneutrality applies not just in the curriculum, but to campus life generally.

In the spirit of freedom and diversity, students are encouraged to experiment to their heart’s content. Moral claims that identify certain actions as right and good are

belittled as outdated and intolerant. Personal freedom is revered as a sacred entitlement, even when it leads to excessive selfindulgence and callous indifference to others.

THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER OF BERRY

The issue of character has always been central at Berry and rooted in a Christian framework. Martha Berry wrote that “character-building must in the long run be the essence of education.” When asked how she happened to start a school with character, she replied simply: “It grew out of a Sunday school.”

In the Christian understanding, personal freedom is seen as a great good but not an absolute good. It emanates from and must be understood within the context of a moral order in which individuals have dignity and worth. Even our nation’s Founders presupposed that freedom and its associated rights are inalienable because they are endowed by our Creator. The distinctly Christian perspective holds that personal freedom must always be counterbalanced by personal responsibility – to God, to others and to oneself. It also holds that true freedom comes not from rejecting God’s truth as oppressive, but from embracing God’s grace. Freedom is found not in selfassertion, but in self-denial. The model for this is in the life of Jesus, who came “full of grace and truth.”

In fact, the Berry motto is taken from a statement by Jesus about himself. Two of his followers (brothers James and John) came asking for special status in the coming Kingdom. The other disciples were irate.

Jesus corrected them all and exposed their self-interest. He captured the essence of the two great commandments – to love God wholly and to love your neighbor as yourself – by asserting that he had “not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” A Christian community is full of this kind of grace and truth, in which service is an act of heartfelt gratitude for the walk and work of Jesus Christ.

CHARACTER AND CULTURE AT BERRY

It is no simple matter to maintain a campus culture that promotes the development of character. In Berry’s case, it

“ ” Where does the heart go to college?

is complicated in part because, in the spirit of Christian hospitality, the college welcomes to its community those who do not accept the historic Christian faith.

Fundamentally different beliefs lead inevitably to tension. Some who hold to the Christian faith would like to relieve the tension by insisting that others assent to Christian beliefs. Some who hold to other faiths or to no faith would like to see Berry’s Christian framework dismantled or at least put on equal footing with other viewpoints.

Although sometimes uncomfortable, Berry’s tension is principled and healthy. In the early years, tension derived from the school being Christian but not adhering to the doctrinal position of a particular denomination. Today, tension flows from the school being Christian but inviting those who do not share the same views to join in community. In both instances, Berry has modeled grace and truth. The challenge that remains is how to teach moral character in a society that assumes the primacy of personal freedom. It is difficult, after all, to reconcile a spirit of moral lenience with an institutional commitment to developing character.

CHARACTER IN ACTION

In the classroom, it is important that faculty have the freedom to teach from their expertise, and it is appropriate for professors to challenge both traditional and contemporary assumptions. Some faculty will argue vigorously in defense of secular assumptions for personal freedoms, and students need to examine the moral and political implications of these assumptions. At an institution rooted in the Christian perspective, however, it is also appropriate that students have reasonable opportunity to interact with faculty who will examine deeply the assumptions and implications of the historic Christian framework.

In the Berry community, it is important to establish standards and expectations that

point to what is morally right and wrong, consistent with the traditional Christian understanding of virtues and vices. Not everyone will agree, of course. Some will assert the freedom to do what is right in their own eyes and will dismiss dissent as intolerance. But a community rooted in truth and grace must emphasize the balance of personal freedom and personal responsibility, even as it promotes diversity and tolerance because of its moral framework. And, when its standards are violated, such a community must seek to guide and encourage as it also corrects.

As in Martha Berry’s day, expectations are still best communicated in action. Her approach to an education of the heart involved building “a faculty of strong Christian people … [so] that by imitation and suggestion we will develop good character traits.”

I saw this action-based approach of what might be called leading by example embodied recently in the vision statement of the Berry athletic-training department. That statement is based loosely on I Corinthians 13 and includes such language as: “We will not react quickly to an emotional coach or athlete or circumstance. We will think through an appropriate response. We will look for the words or actions that will make the person or situation better. … We will praise every act that celebrates this attitude of service. …

We will take courage in what is right and count on that to direct our actions. … We will put confidence in the fact that love is the only way, and it works every time no matter how it looks to everyone else.”

In the years to come, areas of tension and disagreement will inevitably arise as to how Christian values should inform the policies and practices of Berry. Such tension need not be troubling – it will provide a context for growth and a deeper understanding of self and others. But let us affirm again that the development of character, and specifically Christian character, remains at the heart of a Berry education.

In the words of Martha Berry: “This then to me is education, a vivid process of training minds and hands, of stirring imaginations, of creating character, of building souls and bodies fired with enthusiasm to serve God and country.” B

BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

7

Hantho r j

Rogers

by Karilon L. photograp h

y by Tim R ed

man

UGGLING IS A WAY OF LIFE FOR GREG HANTHORN (82C). AND HE’S GOOD AT IT. He can, indeed, keep multiple balls, knives or flaming torches spinning aloft in rapid, repetitive rhythm. But that’s the least of his agility skills. What’s much more impressive is his enthusiasm for life and his ability to juggle its richness into a unique pattern that is as interesting as it is intricate.

Greg Hanthorn is a business litigator and College Bowl reader, Shakespeare supporter and prestidigitator, Sunday school teacher and (want-to-be) trapeze artist, devoted dad and his wife’s best friend. Honored thrice as one of our nation’s “Super Lawyers,” he takes equal joy in having been presented recently with his own “severed head.” As the Bard’s Polonius said of Hamlet, “Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.”

LEGAL EAGLE

Hanthorn is a trial practice partner in the Atlanta office of Jones Day, one of the world’s largest law firms encompassing more than 2,400 lawyers in 32 locations across the globe and counting more than 250 of the Fortune 500 corporations among its clients.

His interest in law was sparked in the fifth grade when he read The Defense Never Rests

by F. Lee Bailey.

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BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

“The law is the only thing I ever pictured as my career,” he said, “although I had no real idea of what it would actually be like or that the type of lawyer I am now even existed. I pictured the type of small practice I envisioned F. Lee Bailey to be in. Instead, I work in a large firm with multiple offices and clients with problems across the globe. It is a much larger footprint, a much larger platform than I could have imagined.”

His relationship with Jones Day was forged when Hansell & Post, a firm that later merged with Jones Day, hired him as a summer clerk and then offered him a position after graduation. Ironically, it was an early student work experience at Berry, rather than his exceptional academic and extracurricular performance in law school, that landed him a coveted project that first summer – a project that helped cement his future.

“Funny story,” Hanthorn said. “My first job at Berry was as a janitor, and that work experience was on my resume. When I was a summer clerk at Hansell & Post, I had the pleasure of doing research on a case that was being argued in the United States Supreme Court. The Hansell & Post partner arguing the case, G. Lee Garrett Jr., later told me that

n ! r he picked out my resume from among the folks available to work on the ‘prestige’ project because he saw I had ‘cleaned toilets’ and believed that someone who knew what work was would be a better fit as a lawyer.”

Today, Hanthorn practices in complex, cutting-edge areas of law often requiring new applications of laws, rules and principles designed for other purposes. It astonishes him that he has the opportunity to learn new things every day and that someone would pay him to do so.

“I’d do just about everything in my job for free,” he declared. “The only thing they have to pay me for is when my witness is being deposed or cross-examined by the other side.

I never get used to it.”

Hanthorn’s peers have twice selected him as a Law and Politics “Georgia Super Lawyer” in the practice area of business litigation.

Nominations from across the state are reviewed and confirmed by a blue ribbon panel prior to formal selection; fewer than 5 percent of lawyers practicing in any area may be honored. He also has been named in the 2008 (premiere),

BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

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When I told my grandfather, he exclaimed, ‘You’re dating HANTHORN?!’ in the same tone I used when we were working on the paper together.

JUDY CASH HANTHORN Greg and Judy Cash Hanthorn met while working on the Campus Carrier at Berry.

Although not love at first sight, their relationship blossomed into a 25-year marriage that produced two children – and Greg’s extensive collection of Shakespeare memorabilia.

2009 and 2010 national issues of Super Lawyers – Corporate Counsel Edition.

Hanthorn has a deep interest in the profession of law and has co-chaired two subcommittees of the Ethics and Professionalism Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Litigation. He also serves on the Executive Committee of the Lamar Inn of Court, an organization of judges, practicing attorneys, law professors and students who meet regularly to discuss and debate issues relating to legal ethics and professionalism.

IN THE BEGINNING

Hanthorn began his juggling act early in life. The son of a U.S. Marine, he was born in Honolulu and lived “anywhere and everywhere” while growing up. There was one constant: his family’s vacation was spent at Callaway Gardens in Georgia, a resort featuring (to this day) such unique summercamp activities as juggling, trapeze and high wire led by counselors from the Florida State University High Flying Circus Program. He learned to juggle at Callaway Gardens and never gave it up.

After attending four different Georgia high schools, Hanthorn came to Berry. He

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BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

had visited the world’s largest campus four years running as a participant in the High School Scholars’ Bowl Tournament (an academic competition along the line of TV’s Jeopardy!). His plan was to enroll at Berry for two years and then transfer to an Ivy League school. Once he experienced Berry firsthand, however, that plan was quickly abandoned.

“I fell in love with the place,” Hanthorn said. “I was astonished by the level of access I had to professors – how easy it was to bump into them and talk to them. I had friends at Harvard and Dartmouth who were not having the same kind of experience.”

What shaped his eclectic future most of all was the freedom he found in Berry’s liberal arts program to take classes of interest across the curriculum, rather than being constrained in “one funnel until the end.” It was a freedom to learn in which he reveled and that has continued to shape his outlook and interests.

“Those four years allowed me to simultaneously go in more different directions with more different people than I could ever have imagined – newspaper, College Bowl, speech team, double major in economics and general business taking lots of English classes and drama. It was the perfect place to get engaged in everything and not be told, ‘This is for “X” only.’ No doors were closed, and every faculty member and advisor worked hard to figure out how to make sure students got the most out of what the school had to offer.”

As it turned out, however, the highlight of his college career wasn’t national College Bowl competition or even winning the regional pentathlon in forensics. It was meeting his wife, Judy Cash Hanthorn (85C).

He was a senior and editor-in-chief of the Campus Carrier; she was a freshman

photographer unceremoniously thrust into the role of photography editor.

“Greg knew everything on the planet about running a newspaper except for photography,” Judy chuckled. “I knew how to develop film.”

It was not immediately a match at all, let alone one made in heaven.

“I drove Judy nuts,” Hanthorn asserted, “and Judy drove me nuts. We didn’t talk much the entire year.”

It was after he graduated and was attending law school that their relationship blossomed via a carpool partnership and friends in common. “I had taken six months off from college,” Judy explained, “so we both were visiting campus. I had a Chevy Chevette that could make it to Rome; he had a VW that could not. We began spending a lot of time together and found it to be very natural. But someone else had to point out to us that we were dating. When I told my grandfather, he exclaimed, ‘You’re dating HANTHORN?!’ in the same tone I used when we were working on the paper together.”

The couple married in 1985 and have two sons, Greg Jr. (24) and Stephen (21). Judy describes her husband as her best friend and said that he is incredibly passionate about being a father and husband, if not as patient a man as he would like to be.

“Family matters to him,” she stated. “In our relationship, divorce was not an option – murder, maybe!”

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SONS

As his young sons grew, Hanthorn was what Judy characterized as “over eager” for them to share his passions – juggling in particular. Finally, Judy tired of it.

“She sent us outdoors with orders not to return until either they could juggle or I could be quiet about it,” Hanthorn recalled.

“Four and a half hours later, each of the boys could juggle three tennis balls. Eventually one juggled clubs, then the other had to. It wasn’t long before we were juggling knives among the three of us – the boys were only about 6 and 8 … it’s a secret, but juggling knives aren’t sharp. Now, my sons are amused that we can get out in the front yard and juggle fire, and traffic stops to watch.”

Callaway Gardens eventually became the

summer vacation of choice for the second generation of Hanthorn family. During their 18th visit last summer, the father/sons trio focused on the flying trapeze. While his wife watched from the safety and sanity of terra firma, Georgia’s “Super Lawyer” and sons learned to “fly” off a trapeze to be caught by a trained performer and then dropped into the net below. In Hanthorn’s case, it was not a matter of flying “through the air with the greatest of ease.” The hardest part was getting his nearly 50-year-old knees over the trapeze bar.

“OFF WITH HIS HEAD!”

Shakespeare is yet another of Hanthorn’s passions, one he pursues through service on the board of the Atlanta Shakespeare Company (ASC). A troupe of artists dedicated to a “radically pure” approach to Shakespeare’s text, the company built the New American STEPHEN HANTHORN Shakespeare Tavern in Atlanta as the only “Original Practice Playhouse” and presents Shakespeare’s

JEFF WATKINS

In appreciation for his service as chairman of the board of the Atlanta Shakespeare Company, Hanthorn was presented with a unique addition to his Shakespeare memorabilia collection – a replica of his own “guillotined” head. He is pictured at left with Shakespearean actor Tony Brown (79C).

BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

11

plays and other classics in the same manner in which they were originally staged. As was true in Elizabethan times, the audience is deeply involved in each play.

This pure performance style meshes well with Hanthorn’s own love of words, particularly those of the Bard. He has been interested in the playwright since he was a self-described middle-school “geek” and remains fascinated today – particularly with Shakespeare’s one-line insults.

“No one writes insults like Shakespeare,” he chuckled. “They are a wonderful way to tell someone how little you think of them and still sound polite.”

The ASC’s emotional draw for Hanthorn, however, is its work in education, including interactive “playshops” in the classroom and both after-school and summer programs for entire classes and schools.

“No other organization in Atlanta reaches as many kids in as many different ways as does the Shakespeare Tavern,” Hanthorn asserted. “We touch kids’ lives and show them that things they thought of as difficult can be fun and engaging, that there is value in studying the human condition, and that there is a reason to reach out and become involved in the human conversation.”

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BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

I enjoy stage magic as a form of communication.

GREG HANTHORN

While he is most excited about the transformational experiences the ASC and its supporters have made available for public schools with few resources, Hanthorn’s own children also have been touched. He credits an early visit to the tavern with helping Greg Jr. and Stephen develop a love of literature and reading for which he will be forever grateful.

Hanthorn has served the ASC for five years and currently is chair of the Finance Committee. He stepped down recently after three one-year terms as board chair, an event that triggered a most unusual gift. ASC tradition calls for a Shakespearerelated memento, but Hanthorn’s already extensive collection of memorabilia left the staff and his board colleagues stumped.

A line famously spoken by Hanthorn’s favorite Shakespeare character, Richard III – “Off with his head!” – eventually provided curious inspiration. The departing chair was presented with the opportunity to replicate his own noggin – sans connection to his body – via the same pink-goo process used to duplicate actors’ heads for scenes requiring “heads to roll” from the guillotine. As Jeff Watkins, ASC artistic director, explained when the finished product was presented to Hanthorn in front of an opening-night crowd, “It was extremely difficult finding a Shakespeare gift for Greg that he didn’t already have. Now Greg has a good head to go with the one on his shoulders.”

MORE BALLS IN THE AIR

Regardless of his intense involvement with profession, playwright and progeny, Hanthorn has managed to keep still more balls in the air. He is a deacon of Mount Harmony Baptist Church near his home in Mableton, Ga., and he teaches an adult Sunday school class. Being

a Christian impacts and informs every aspect of his life.

“Without a personal relationship with my Savior, whatever I do would be just flinging things randomly in the air,” he explained. “I can’t live that way.”

He also is a magician, performing from time to time for Cub Scouts or church-camp groups. He took up the study of magic at about 8 years of age and has kept his fingers nimble over the years.

“I enjoy stage magic as a form of communication,” he explained. “A wellperformed trick tells a story, and the story quickly becomes more important than the physical manipulations to make it work. It’s a way to talk to kids and have them listen.”

Hanthorn and Judy both have remained highly involved with Berry. She is a member of the Alumni Council; he serves on the Board of Visitors and has participated in Career Day. Both are active supporters of the High School Scholars’ Bowl and College Bowl tournaments on campus; he recently made his 30th appearance reading questions at the high school tournament that first brought him to campus. They have missed only one Mountain Day in 27 years and sometimes go to campus for “no particular reason.”

“I’m a big fan of Berry,” Judy said. “It is easy to be a fan of something that does such a good job. It is impressive to me how Berry has gone above and beyond to reach out to students who would be a good fit.”

When it comes to school pride, however, the juggler wins.

“If it has a Viking on it, Greg’s buying it,” Judy deadpanned. “If it’s silver and blue, he’s trying to find a way to make it ‘Berry.’”

Another example of Hanthorn’s method-based “madness”?

Probably not, but once again Hamlet applies: “What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty!” B

PHOTO COURTESY OF BOBBY DUNCAN (50C)

Prestidigitation – magic – grabbed Hanthorn’s interest as a child. He now uses it to get the attention of today’s children, performing for church groups and Cub Scouts.

Man leaves footprint on the moon, Berry makes mark on

NASA

by Elizabeth Cady (08C)

Forty years ago last summer, the world watched in wonder as astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon. In July, several Berry alumni who were involved with the space program at the time of the Apollo 11 moon shot shared their firsthand experiences with alumna Elizabeth Cady, then a reporter with the Rome News-Tribune. We are honored to reprint that article in Berry magazine so we may share with our readers the amazing impact Berry graduates had on that seminal moment in history.

Sincere thanks are extended to the Rome News-Tribune for giving us permission to do so.

W

ith eyes glued to the television screen, Berry alumnus Wayne Wagnon could not understand what Neil Armstrong said through the static, but he felt the significance of being partly responsible for man’s first step on the moon.

“I didn’t know what he said because the quality of the communication was quite poor, but we learned later

BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

13

50C

A number of Berry alumni were instrumental to the Apollo program at NASA, as well as to many missions that followed. Among them are seven Berry graduates interviewed

by Elizabeth Cady (08C) for this story on the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Bobby Duncan

57C what he said,” said Wagnon, a 1954 Berry College graduate and chief engineer of the lunar rover program at NASA. “It was very rewarding to know that you’d been a part of the huge effort,” said Wagnon.

“A lot of people were involved in it (the Apollo 11 mission), several thousand in fact, but it was rewarding because your fingerprint was on it.”

NASA, and the United States, earned a place in history when it placed man on the moon July 20, 1969. And a significant number of the engineers, physicists and mathematicians who made the mission a reality were Berry College alumni.

“Berry taught you the value of work, and it was just a great place to go to school,” said 1961 alumna Ann Fite Whitaker, who after one year left a fellowship at the University of Alabama when offered a job at NASA. One of the few women to work at NASA in the 1960s, Whitaker said she took the job because so many other physics majors were interested in the space program at that time and “it just seemed like the thing to do.”

During the Apollo 11 mission, Whitaker was working in the materials and processes laboratory at the Marshall Space Center in Huntsville, Ala. One of her projects was developing lubricants that would work in outer space.

“I saw the landing on the moon at home, and it was pretty late in the evening,” she said, and recalling her feelings at the time, she added, “It was kind of like you were working in the best place in the world.”

However, working at NASA was no piece of cake. Wagnon would often work 40 to 50 hours of overtime, going home for a shower and a quick meal before returning to the office.

“But I told people many times that I would’ve paid people to work there,” he said.

“To me, it was so exciting. I was like a dead pig in the sunshine.”

Jack Jones

62C

Malcolm McDonald

62C

Larry Mullins

53C

Marion Sanders

54C

Wayne Wagnon

61C

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APOLLO 11 LAUNCH PHOTO COURTESY OF NASA

Ann Fite Whitaker

LAUNCHING HISTORY

Jack Jones, who graduated from Berry in 1957 and worked at NASA for 40 years, didn’t want to miss the Apollo 11 launch.

He flew from Huntsville to Cape Canaveral, Fla., around 1 o’clock in the morning the day of the rocket launch,

watched it, got back on the plane and headed straight into work when he got back to Alabama.

“It was very exciting to know that you were really a part of a historic moment,” said Jones. “But the full impact of being a part of it didn’t sink in for a long time.”

His main job was evaluating the rockets involved in different NASA missions and analyzing information, like the vibrations the rockets made during takeoff.

However, more impressive to Jones than the success of Apollo 11’s launch was the effect landing on the moon had on the United States and the world.

“There was a lot of national pride, and people were very excited to see such a feat accomplished, and at that time it was affecting the economy and the political scene,” said Jones.

He added, “It was during a lot of Civil Rights upheaval and the Vietnam War and it was nice to have something that really stood out, that was a shining beacon of something good going on in the middle of all that trouble.”

number of his students to become involved in the space program.

Although he was not directly responsible for the Apollo 11 mission, he recalls feeling thrilled when it took place.

“It was exciting, my goodness,” said McDonald.

“Even though the TV was not near the quality of TV today, it was exciting to know man was walking on the surface of the moon.”

BACK TO THE FUTURE

ANSWERING THE CALL

While the residual emotional impact of the space program may have faded over the years, the technological advances that resulted are still prevalent in our daily lives.

“All of our digital technology is almost a direct offshoot of the space program,” said Malcolm McDonald, a retired Berry College physics professor. He said the invention of CDs and DVDs was due to the need to record data and take pictures in outer space.

“Today we are more familiar with digital photography,” said McDonald, which he explained was another space program creation. “They needed a way to digitize pictures and send them back down to earth in little radio signals.”

A professor at Berry until 2001, McDonald graduated from the college in 1962 as a physics major. He was offered a job in Huntsville but declined following in the footsteps of his classmates, taking a teaching position at Berry instead.

As a professor, he did eventually become involved with research programs at NASA during the summer holidays and inspired a

For Bobby Duncan, the Apollo 11 mission was a bit more personal. His job was on the line.

A 1950 graduate from Berry, Duncan was working for Sperry Microwave Electronics Co. in Clearwater, Fla., when NASA was finalizing aspects of the mission.

“I got a call one day from NASA, and they said Apollo was in real deep trouble and they needed some help,” he said.

The problem was communication. NASA needed a way to receive the 1-watt radio signal from the astronauts when they were 240,000 miles away.

“If you had a 1-watt signal from a TV station or a radio station, you would get nothing but static,” said Duncan, explaining the difficulty in accessing such a weak signal.

After many long hours, Duncan and a crew of about 12 top scientists devised an amplifying unit that would recognize the signal. After developing the unit, they had to make eight copies and place them around the world so the astronauts would have constant communication with Earth.

Bobby Duncan (50C) shared treasured memorabilia related to the Apollo missions, including Newsweek’s coverage of the moon landing and “Earthrise” (NASA photo on page 13), which was taken by the crew of Apollo 8 and showed Earth from deep space for the first time.

Waiting to hear from the astronauts on their return trip was nerve-wracking for Duncan. He said his whole family jumped when they heard the first words successfully transmitted.

“I guess I feel better today than I did because then I was working on all sorts of projects ... We were just happy it came through and felt very pleased with it,” said Duncan. “But when you sit back and think, they wouldn’t have gone to the moon if it hadn’t been for us.”

After working at NASA for 45 years, Larry Mullins likes to think of the part he played in the Apollo 11 mission as just a part of his job.

“It wasn’t that amazing to us; we expected it,” recalled the 1962 Berry alumnus, who worked in the aero-astro dynamics lab. “The kind of work we did was mathematical work with computers. We weren’t nuts and bolts kind of people. We were more theoretical.”

Mullins, who worked in Huntsville and still resides there, said landing on the moon was just one milestone along the way for NASA. “There’s a lot of exploring on the moon that we didn’t get to do,” said Marion Sanders, a 1953 Berry grad, who began work with NASA in 1957 on several missile guidance programs.

According to Sanders, the systems he worked on were a part of both the command module and service module of Apollo 11.

He was on location at EDITOR’S NOTE: We continue to seek the Kennedy Space information about Berry Center at Cape alumni who have been Canaveral when it involved with the space began its ascent into program at any point in space. its development. If you “It was pretty have been involved – or exciting,” said are now – please send a Sanders, adding that brief bio or outline of everyone left the your involvement with launch room to watch NASA (and current it take off. contact information) to “The Apollo krogers@berry.edu with “NASA” as the subject program has ended, line. but there are a lot of things that I think would be valuable to go back and explore on the moon.” B

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Brewing change one cup at a time

ALAN STOREY

by Rick Woodall

HE AROMA OF A FRESHLY BREWED

T

CUP OF COFFEE is one of the first

sensations many people experience each morning. The smell – and accompanying taste – stimulates the senses and provides the perfect pick-me-up at the start of a long day.

For Karen Akridge-Houghton (01C), it’s all that and more. As the “bright ideas coordinator” for Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee, she knows that every cup of Rwandagrown coffee her company sells has the potential to positively impact the lives of people living halfway around the world.

“We are a catalyst for reconciliation and change in Rwanda and a creator of community locally and globally,” she explained. “Who knew coffee could do all

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that? It’s so true, and it’s all tangible.

What you’re drinking is tangible change.”

FINDING HER NICHE

Akridge-Houghton has always had a heart for service and a desire to live out her Christian faith, but she never imagined that the coffee business would be the ideal outlet for both.

Her first whiff of coffee as a career came at the Psychological Studies Institute (now Richmont Graduate University) in Atlanta, where she was pursuing a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy. It was there that she met the Rev. Jonathan Golden, the founder of Land of a Thousand Hills, who

was working as an adjunct professor at the school. After graduation, she took a job as a business coaching consultant with another firm he owned; it didn’t take long for her to get caught up in the coffee business as well. Four years later, she is a self-described “full-time coffee gal.”

“I’m here for the long haul,” the former resident assistant, freshman mentor and Vikette dance team member exclaimed. “I’m excited to see where it goes and what it does.”

MISSION-FOCUSED

At the time Akridge-Houghton joined Land of a Thousand Hills, the company was little more than a vision: “Drink Coffee. Do Good.”

Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee is working to improve the lives of Rwandan farmers by ensuring they receive a fair price for their crops. The company also invests in critical necessities, such as replacements for the dangerous wooden bikes that are used to bring in coffee beans.

PHOTOS BY DEAN JACOBS

to stress that the ability to be a differencemaker isn’t limited to one religion.

“Churches are our big supporters, and we’re so thankful for that,” she said. “But we never want to be just for churches, because everybody can engage in doing good.”

NEXT STEPS

Four years later, the staff has grown from three to 36, but that simple ideal remains the same.

“It’s an amazing thing,” she said. “I love the idea of being a part of something bigger than myself.”

Land of a Thousand Hills’ mission manifests itself through a vertical market connecting the farmers in Rwanda directly with coffee drinkers in the United States.

Unlike many other coffee growers around the world, these farmers are paid a fair living wage for their crops. The coffee is then sorted, washed and shipped to America, where it is Artisan roasted and distributed directly to consumers through churches, company-owned coffee shops and other venues. Profits are invested back into the Rwandan communities, helping to pay for critical necessities such as shoes and medical care as well as a soccer field, a coffee washing station and other quality-of-life improvements.

“It’s not about charity,” AkridgeHoughton stressed. “It’s very much about sustainability and coming alongside them and investing in them and helping them to be successful.”

Material investment is only the beginning for Akridge-Houghton and her colleagues.

They are also working to facilitate forgiveness and reconciliation between the Hutu and Tutsi clans in the wake of the 1994 genocide that resulted in the slaughter of 800,000 people. As one of her many responsibilities, the one-time photographer for Berry’s Campus Carrier newspaper and Cabin Log yearbook has the opportunity to put her communication skills to work as a writer sharing the story of former enemies who are now working together for the benefit of all.

“We’re committed to excellent coffee, building community and social justice, which are all things I’m very passionate about,” she said.

Akridge-Houghton’s role varies by the day – fitting for someone who cobbled together many varied interests while earning a degree in interdisciplinary studies at Berry. A short list of her duties includes marketing, merchandising and overseeing the operation of the company’s three coffee houses.

“It definitely suits me,” she said. “I never get bored.”

The Marietta, Ga., native loves the fact that her job is ministry-oriented but is quick

While Akridge-Houghton has been able to “grow along with the company,” one thing she has yet to do is make the trip to Rwanda herself. That will change later this year as Land of a Thousand Hills (www.DrinkCoffee DoGood.com) begins leading “visioning trips” to Rwanda that will allow coffee buyers to experience firsthand the fruits of “conscious consumerism” by meeting the very people their purchases help to support.

It’s a natural progression for AkridgeHoughton, a self-described “adventurous, independent traveler” who crisscrossed the globe in the years immediately following her graduation from Berry, once even taking a job with an outdoor company leading youth groups into the Australian Outback. As she sees it, all of those experiences, as well as her time at Berry, helped prepare her for the path she now travels.

“I do not regret anything or any choices that I made along my journey,” she declared. “I’ve traveled the world, I’ve lived overseas, and I’ve invested in people.” B

BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

17

Coming

“

It was here that I first experienced herds of deer, mud-wrestling and albino skunks.

And now this Mountain Day – this opportunity to celebrate Martha Berry’s birth with so many old friends – feels like an opportunity to come home.

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”

JOHN COLEMAN

home

A 2009 Mountain Day message

EDITOR’S NOTE: This address was made

by John Coleman at the 2009 Mountain Day Chapel Service. It so inspired those in attendance, we couldn’t resist reprinting it for all to enjoy. John was an award-winning writer and orator at Berry who is now a published author and dual-degree candidate pursuing both his MBA and MPA at Harvard University.

HANK

T

YOU, DR. BRIGGS, FOR

THAT WARM

INTRODUCTION. You know, if I’ve learned one thing today, it’s that you always want to be introduced by a college president who never had to deal with you as a student. When Dr. Briggs mentioned he had “looked through the records,” I got a little worried. I thought maybe he had spoken to Dean [Thomas] Carver.

Dr. Briggs arrived shortly after I graduated, but he and the rest of the administration are doing wonderful things for Berry right now, and we should thank them for their vision and hard work. The new residence halls, the Cage Center, and the additions to Krannert and Dana are spectacular. If you haven’t seen the new residence halls, in particular, I’d encourage you to take a look. I also want to thank Chris Watters in the Alumni Center for all she’s done helping me prepare for Mountain Day and this speech. She doesn’t take much credit for these events, but she’s been both indispensable and incredibly kind, and I’ve been truly grateful for all her help.

Perhaps most importantly, I want to thank all of you for giving me the great privilege of speaking with you about a place I love so dearly. What an honor. I’ve sat in those seats a hundred times listening to pastors, professors, civil rights leaders and at least one guy I always assumed was

Pennsylvania Amish. To stand here now – at my five-year reunion – is a humbling and exciting experience. Not the least because this place, Berry College – this campus, these professors, these old beautiful buildings, this community – means the world to me.

This is a place where, once upon a time, I fell in love, developed my passions and spent the occasional night at Old Havana smoking cigars. It’s a place where I debated philosophy, pranked the other men of Dana Hall and flirted shamelessly with the girls of Ford and Morton Lemley. It was here that I first experienced herds of deer, mudwrestling and albino skunks. And now this Mountain Day – this opportunity to celebrate Martha Berry’s birth with so many old friends – feels like an opportunity to come home.

What does it mean to you? You lived here and worked here just like me. Why is it that we’re gathered here on a Saturday in October as the coolness of fall settles over this sprawling estate? What does it mean to say that a place like this – a college – is a home?

I don’t know about you, but I’ve lived and worked in a number of other places since I left. I’ve cycled through two jobs, three cities and two additional graduate schools – leaving my wife and parents wondering if I’ll ever find steady employment. But nowhere has felt quite like this place. Nowhere has possessed this magic and warmth or so persuasively called me back each year. Why? Why did some of us travel hundreds or thousands of miles to be here today?

I remember distinctly the first time I felt an attachment to Berry. It wasn’t freshman year or even when I first visited the campus to apply. It was before that, in the fall of 1999. Each year, the seniors in my high

by John Coleman (04C)

school took a trip to the Mountain Campus here at Berry to talk about life, faith and leadership. I was 18, and I thought I was a pretty hot commodity. I had a cool red Jeep Cherokee, a starting position on the high school basketball team and the frosted blond highlights of a Backstreet Boy. I had also decided I’d attend one of three large universities: Georgia Tech, Tulane or UGA. But all that changed in a weekend. When I arrived at Berry, something clicked. I hung from pine trees at Winshape, talked about the future on the sunlit hills of the Mountain Campus and prayed silently in the shadowy pews of Frost. Every Berry student I met was warm and welcoming. And the mottos I heard resonated with me: “Not to be ministered unto, but to minister.” “Whether at work or play, do your best.” “An education of the head, the heart and the hands.”

Immediately following the trip, I called Berry about my application. Within weeks I had applied, visited the school once more and decided to attend. I had realized, quickly, that this was not just a university. It was not just a place to learn or party or pass time. It was something entirely different – a home.

When I was a student here, a wonderful professor of ALAN STOREY

BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

19

“

Less than an hour later, Professor Roseman showed up at the Waffle House to help us study.

Who does that? At what other school would that happen?

mine, Bob Frank, taught me the concept of the “epideictic” speech – a speech of praise or blame. Well, this is, unabashed, a speech of praise for Berry College, Martha Berry and all of you. But I hope it’s more than that.

I hope you’ll join me and use this as a time to remember and a call to action. For if our lives have been changed by this “Miracle in the Mountains,” shouldn’t we seek to create the environment we experienced here elsewhere? Shouldn’t we use these lessons to reach out to the struggling and rootless people around us and anchor them in the similar satisfaction of a home? Berry is an example. It offers us and future students just what it offered those first poor mountain children a century ago. And I think it’s done so because it is each of three things that make a place a home. It’s a family, a foundation and a place to come back to.

A FAMILY

What do I mean by that? Well, first, any home must have a family. Whether through blood relatives, friends, pets or romantic partners, these places surround us with love and acceptance. These families offer us support in good times and bad. They share in our hopes and passions and help us shoulder the burdens of life when they grow too heavy to bear.

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BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

I don’t think it’s a stretch to call what we find here at Berry a family. This concept resonated with me a thousand times in my four years on this campus, but a few examples stand out. In the spring semester of my freshman year, a friend and I were taking Professor Gary Roseman’s Principles of Economics class, and late one night we were cramming hard for our first big test. Around 11 p.m., we decided to move from our dorms to the Waffle House for an order of coffee and hash browns – scattered, covered and chunked. On the way there, we randomly drove past Professor Roseman, who was taking a late night jog. We talked for a moment, told him we were headed off to study for his test and moved on.

Less than an hour later, Professor Roseman showed up at the Waffle House to help us study. Who does that? At what other school would that happen? Professor Roseman saw his job as teaching, and he obviously didn’t see that job confined to the classroom, so he stayed at the Waffle House until 1 or 2 a.m. to make sure we were learning the concepts we needed to know.

That, my friends, is not just a college. It’s something more.

I felt the same way when I attended a recent wedding here in Barnwell Chapel.

Two professors, Randy Richardson and

”

Kathy McKee, were tying the knot; and when I arrived I realized I recognized friends not just from my time at Berry but from across the generations. Stretching back to when Dr. Richardson first coached the forensics team here at Berry in the early 1990s, these students had all travelled as far as many of you have today to see two dear friends find happiness together. It was striking. Not just because so many of the people in attendance felt a close bond, but because that bond wasn’t even, in some cases, based on personal friendship, but rather on the idea that in being a part of this great place, we were a part of one another too.

And if you need any further evidence, know that at least one person at Berry, quite literally, has become my family. You see, my sophomore year, a beautiful young lady named Jackie Feit came to Berry as a freshman and joined the speech team.

Nothing happened right away – she thought I was kind of sketchy, and I thought she was a big dork – but five years after we met, as I was about to delete her number from my cell phone, we reconnected. After 30 minutes of chatting, we’d pretty much decided to date, and in two years, we were married. Perhaps most tellingly, as I stood up at the altar and watched her walk down the aisle, I saw

many of the faces here in this room today.

Family is important. It’s the “who” of a home. And it’s what I found at Berry.

A FOUNDATION

Before a place can be a home, it must offer some sort of foundation for life. When I was growing up in my own home, my mother was careful to cultivate in me certain beliefs and values. My mom realized that for a place to be “home,” it has to address every part of you: intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual and physical. And in doing so, it develops your character – the foundation for what you will become. More than any university I’ve seen, Berry takes seriously the concerns of the “whole” person – the same “me” my mother worried about – with its emphasis on the head, the heart and the hands.

Rather uncontroversially, Berry has exceptional programs for the development of the mind. Each year, it’s ranked among the top liberal arts schools in the country. Berry alums have gone on to do remarkable things, as evidenced by so many of you here today.

The professors here care deeply about teaching, something that can be said of few modern universities. And the school is dedicated to a classical education that teaches students not just what to think but how to think for themselves.

But that’s not what truly differentiates Berry. Rather, it is the school’s deep and sincere focus on an education of the heart and the hands. This is modeled in a number of ways. Almost everyone here has probably participated in on-campus work – and Berry must be the last private college in the world that deeply believes in having so many of its freshmen work landscaping and food services. Chris Watters mentioned yesterday that Berry is now focused on making its campus work program the premier program of its kind in the U.S., featuring new studentoperated enterprises. And it has always focused, as Martha Berry put it, on ministering unto others – with campuswide service projects and a fully integrated faithin-life program.

Nowhere did I see this more clearly than in a little group on campus called HHOPE: Hunger and Homelessness Outreach, Programs and Education. Wholly student-

formed, HHOPE quickly rose from a new organization in 2001 to one of the largest on campus in 2004. And if you watched it, you would have seen a cadre of dedicated students – Meagan Kiger, Shalyn Hernandez, Jessica Rabun, Wes Wood and dozens of others – pouring their hearts and hands into helping the least fortunate in society. This wasn’t done as an addition to resumes but as an extension of the love for others that was so carefully cultivated by this school.

The members of HHOPE realized – just as thousands of Berry students before them – that Martha Berry was right. We’re never quite so happy or fulfilled serving ourselves as we are serving others. We’re never quite so near to God as when we’re ministering, quietly and out of sight. And we’re never quite so whole as when we cultivate everything that makes us distinctly human – our heads, hearts and hands – into a habit of character. I challenge you to find another school that takes that precept as seriously.

A wise man once remarked of Berry: “When I think of my own children and wish success for them, it is the kind of success that will make each of them a lifter and not a leaner … I believe in [Berry] because it was initiated and is being carried on … in a spirit which combines to an extraordinary degree adherence to a very lofty ideal with the most practical common sense in realizing it.”

That man, incidentally, was President Theodore Roosevelt, whose cabin lies only a few hundred yards in that direction. Not too shabby, Martha.

A PLACE TO COME BACK TO

Finally, home is a place you can come back to. One of my favorite literary passages is from G.K. Chesterton’s book, Orthodoxy.

In it, Chesterton tells the story of his own return to Christianity. As a young man, he

wandered from his Christian roots searching for a philosophy that could lead him to truth.

Thinking he was destined to be a trailblazer – a pioneer – Chesterton sought answers for life’s deepest and most difficult questions in every corner of the philosophic world. He was surprised when, after all that searching, he was led back to the orthodoxy of his youth. He described this intellectual journey with the metaphor of a young British explorer bent on finding a new world. To quote Chesterton: “I have often had a fancy for writing a romance about an English yachtsman who slightly miscalculated his course and discovered England under the impression that it was a new island in the South Seas. ... His mistake was really a most enviable mistake. ... What could be more delightful than to have in the same few minutes all the fascinating terrors of going abroad combined with all the humane security of coming home again? ... What could be more glorious than to brace one’s self up to discover New South Wales and then discover, with a gush of happy tears, that it was really Old South Wales.”

Berry is kind of like my Old South Wales.

While I was here, I was searching. I studied economics, government and philosophy to better understand this world; and I prepared myself to leave Berry for what I thought would be the start of my real life.

But five years out, I’ve also realized that this place was, in so many ways, exactly what I’d been looking for all along. Have you ever had that experience? Sure, it’s nice to move on to new things – all of us need to after a while. But it’s still good to know that Berry exists, isn’t it? That it’s a place we can return to. A place where our memories live. A place where we’ve built a family and a foundation.

And a place where we can always come back to find ourselves.

John Ed Pearce once said, “Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave and grow

BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

21

“

And finally, current students: I know the last thing you want or need is one more old guy in a necktie telling you how to enjoy your college experience. But we old guys are stubborn.

My commission to you is simple: Love this place.

old wanting to get back to.” Think about that for a moment. And tell me that, at least in some measure, you don’t feel like that’s exactly what you’ve come back for today.

CLOSING

In closing, I want to offer three short commissions. One, for the faculty and administration of this school: Keep this place a home. Martha Berry herself once said, “My fear isn’t death, but that people, perhaps wellmeaning ones, may try to make just another school out of Berry. I’d rather see the doors close.” She’s right. The worst thing we could do is make this just another school. It’s better than that. It’s a family, a foundation and a home; and we, the alumni, beg you – even in the midst of these financial pressures, please do everything you can to preserve Berry’s

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BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

character, its values, its emphasis on service and work-study, and the academic and personal excellence we’ve come to expect.

Second, alumni and friends: Take the lessons of Berry with you where you go. This world is full of both struggle and hope. We’ve learned something special here about how to establish institutions that create community, foster leadership and care for the development of the whole person. Let’s not let them go to waste.

And finally, current students: I know the last thing you want or need is one more old guy in a necktie telling you how to enjoy your college experience. But we old guys are stubborn. My commission to you is simple: Love this place. Berry is something special.

Don’t work so hard or live so fast that you miss the community here. Take advantage of

”

your education of the head, the heart and the hands. And please do your part to preserve and improve a campus so many of us consider home.

Alright, the preaching’s over. Let’s celebrate! Take advantage of this weekend.

Remember, be remembered and create a few new memories in the process. Spend some time reflecting in Frost Chapel and then, if you’re up for it, roll down the hill outside. Sit in a desk and try to recall the trepidation and anticipation you felt taking that seat for the very first time. Make this your day, our day, and if you have a spare moment, close your eyes and wish Martha Berry a very happy birthday. She laid the foundation, but this is now our school as much as hers.

Thank you, everyone – particularly you, class of 2004. And welcome home. B

LEARN. LIVE. GIVE.

Virginia Webb House a lifetime labor of love A fitting reward for

F

OR NEARLY 50 YEARS, Virginia Webb (44c) has worked tirelessly to advance Berry’s mission, asking for nothing in return but the satisfaction she enjoys from helping young people attain a Berry education. She’s always had the deep gratitude of the college, but her lifelong labor of love was formally recognized in November with a campus “naming” of special honor: The dwelling that has been the residence of Berry College presidents and their families since 1956 now will be known as the Virginia Webb House.

“After a lifetime of loyal support, active involvement and wise leadership, we wanted to honor Virginia in a way that was especially meaningful,” said Bettyann O’Neill, vice president for advancement. “Virginia has always been there to welcome our new presidents, extend the hand of friendship and offer the wisdom of her experience. It seemed fitting to name this gracious residence in her honor.”

Berry’s president, Dr. Steve Briggs, agreed and offered more insight into the selection of the home. “Martha Berry had this house designed for her sister, Mrs. Moses (Bess) Wright. It was built in 1940 about the time that Virginia arrived at Berry as a student. Like Virginia, this beautiful house has been dependable, warm and welcoming. Both have served the college ably and are rightly fixtures in Berry’s history.”

Webb, a native of Columbus, Ga., has practiced civil law since 1951 and was among the earliest female attorneys in Georgia. Her contributions to Berry over the years are many and varied, ranging from bringing prospective students to campus to rolling up her sleeves during Alumni Work Week. She has provided financial support for student scholarships, the student-operated Berry Farms Genetics Enterprise, the baseball team and music funds, and the general fund.

She has also created a book fund and a studyabroad scholarship. To date, 39 students have been able to attend Berry because of Webb’s generosity, and still more have expanded their horizons through study abroad.

Because Webb’s greatest priority is helping economically disadvantaged students attend Berry, she recently agreed to endow four Gate of Opportunity Scholarships through her estate, one for each academic year.

Preference will be given to orphans, children of single parents or those with other significant family issues. She also added $700,000 to her initial gift for the Steven J. Cage Athletic and Recreation Center, bringing her total support for that initiative to more than $1 million.

Gate of Opportunity Scholarships represent partnerships among students

Dr. Steve Briggs and former Berry president Dr. Scott Colley thank Virginia Webb for a lifetime of loyal support and service.

PHOTOS BY ALAN STOREY

and their families, Berry College and a donor with a deep belief in Berry’s mission. All contribute approximately one third of the cost of the student’s education, with the student portion generated through participation in Berry’s premier work experience program. The scholarships offer students with financial need the chance to attend Berry and to graduate debt free.

Webb’s work with the college began in the early 1960s when she joined the Alumni Council.

She has since served in many capacities including Berry Alumni Association parliamentarian and as a

member of the Alumni Association Awards Committee, the Berry Heritage Committee and her class reunion planning committee. In 1994, Webb was given a much-deserved Distinguished Service Award.

Webb’s close friend, Carolyn Thompson Smith (53C), shared that Webb has always been an advocate for Berry.

“She has taken it upon herself to do anything she can for Berry,” Smith said. “I’m very pleased that the president’s home has been named for Virginia. I’m glad to see her honored in this way because she deserves it as much as anyone I know.” B

BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

23

Putting rugged to the test

BILL DAVIN

by Debbie Rasure

As an ecology class collects data about the fish population in a campus pond, Alayna LeCroy enters the data in one of eight rugged computers given to the college.

A

LAYNA LECROY GOT A TASTE OF HIGH-TECH

scientific inquiry fall semester while sitting on the bank of Rollins Pond on Berry’s campus.

She and her ecology classmates were among the first Berry students to conduct a field study using one of eight rugged laptop computers donated by John Schneider and Teri Schneider of Duluth, Ga., and General Dynamics Itronix. In addition to the laptops, four notebook computers and four tablet computers also were donated, bringing the total value of the gift to more than $83,000.

John is president and CEO of General Dynamics Itronix, a leading provider of rugged, mobile computing equipment.

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BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

And when they say rugged, they mean it.

Itronix computers can withstand everything from the subzero temperatures of Norway to the broiling heat of the Sahara Desert. Weather extremes are no problem, and neither are drops, dust or vehicle vibrations. These computers are so tough, they are used around the world by a variety of entities including military and governmental organizations, law enforcement agencies, and fire and emergency management services. Now they are in use at Berry.

Seldom does one gift meet so many varied needs. Academic and administrative departments from across campus have all put the mobile computing equipment to the test.

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE

When Dr. Bill Davin heard about the gift, he knew exactly what he would do with a rugged computer.

“Immediately, I thought of my Coral Reef Ecology class and the field trip we take to the Caribbean,” the associate professor of biology said.

“Students spend all day in the water exploring the corals and other marine life. We don’t take a computer on the boat, so by the time the students get back to land to do their course work, they have forgotten many of the key characteristics they need to

identify the unknown organisms.”

Having a water-resistant computer on board will allow Davin’s students to get immediate feedback. Then, if they need to return to the water to recheck their observations, it will be possible because they will still be on site.

PROTECTING BERRY’S ENVIRONMENT

Environmental study of another kind was on Eddie Elsberry’s mind when he learned of the gift. Elsberry, director of the college’s Office of Sustainability and Environmental Compliance, is charged with helping to protect Berry’s magnificent natural resources.

Elsberry and his student workers routinely travel throughout Berry’s 26,000-acre campus, monitoring construction sites, checking exhaust emissions, measuring energy use, examining electrical transformers and completing many other tasks to ensure the college is in compliance with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations.

This semester, Elsberry and his students began collecting and analyzing water samples from streams on and off campus to determine water quality.

“Many of the waterways we regularly sample are accessible only by foot, and gear has to be backpacked in,” Elsberry said.

LEARN. LIVE. GIVE.

“

Here is a school with a lot of heart, a lot of potential, a lot of personality. What could the students and faculty do if they had even better tools?

“The smaller and more compact the gear, the better. This rugged laptop is a useful addition to our mobile lab.”

THE ADVENTURE OF SELFDISCOVERY

Students taking adventurebased courses such as canoeing, rock climbing and wilderness first-aid come away with much more than know-how and a fun experience.

“We’re teaching outdoor skills, but the real lessons are self-understanding, selfconfidence, teamwork – the sorts of things students can take to other places and on other parts of their life journey,” said Mike King, director of the Berry Outdoor Leadership Development (BOLD) program.

Until now, King has carried a collapsible whiteboard to help him capture teachable moments in his wilderness classrooms. The Schneiders’ gift opens up a whole new way to teach and learn.

“Pre-program interviews and post-program evaluations provide only a partial picture of the true impact of participating,” King said. “Real-time observations and comments captured during campfire chats, breaks at

ONE GIFT, MANY USES

These are just a few of the many creative ways Berry faculty and staff plan to use the rugged mobile computing equipment. Dr. Timothy Knowlton, assistant professor of anthropology, will use his mobile computer to document sacred Mayan sites in Guatemala as part of a research partnership through Tulane University. The communication department will equip its mobile journalists with a rugged notebook computer.

The chemistry department will use its unit to enter and maintain records regarding chemical and equipment inventories, safety inspections of all chemistry labs, and EPA compliance inspections of hazardous waste storage areas.

John isn’t surprised by the many ways Itronix computers are being put to the test at Berry.

“The college is a microcosm of the world itself,” he said. “It warms my heart to hear about

all the ways they are being used.”

John and Teri began to consider giving a gift to Berry after visiting campus with their son, Kyle, who enrolled this fall.

“When we visited, we saw the great things that were being done with faculty-student research on campus,” John said.

“The more we talked to people, the more we felt there was a need we could meet.”

Teri, a biology teacher at Peachtree Ridge High School, was especially excited about doing something that would help students with their research.

“I am so happy that the gift from Itronix will benefit the science department especially,” Teri said. “I continue to promote field research in my gifted high school classes and explain the phenomenal opportunities that are available at Berry for my students who are interested in pursuing a career in the sciences. We certainly consider it a blessing and a privilege that

”

our son is a student at Berry!”

John presented the idea to General Dynamics Itronix, and even though the company doesn’t typically make contributions to charitable organizations, they agreed to give the computers to Berry. In gratitude for their generosity, Berry faculty and staff will provide feedback about how the products work and how they might be improved.

But for John, the gift to Berry is about much more than researching how to improve his company’s product.

“God put me in a position to do something for Berry,” he said.

“I feel blessed and fortunate to be the facilitator of this gift. My biggest driver was more about the school. We thought, ‘Here is a school with a lot of heart, a lot of potential, a lot of personality.

What could the students and faculty do if they had even better tools?’” B

ALAN STOREY

John Schneider and son Kyle, a Berry freshman.

the base of rock walls, on the river bank or in the van on the way home will provide invaluable data that previously has been less than accurate, if not lost all together.”

JOHN SCHNEIDER

Students Jessica Crumbley and Will Brooks record readings from a weather station at the quarry.

BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

25

LEARN. LIVE. GIVE.

their stories: Students’ lives shaped by scholarships

Whitney

Filling the gap Whitney Walker gives thanks for Annual Fund donors

W

HITNEY WALKER’S ELDERLY AUNT may have thought she

was just babysitting, but during the many hours she spent with her niece she planted seeds of understanding and compassion that years later inspired the Berry College senior’s life path. And Annual Fund donors may have thought their yearly gifts couldn’t change the course of a student’s future, but Walker is living proof.

Walker is pursuing a psychology degree at Berry in preparation for graduate school and a career as a counselor for the aged – and she’s doing it thanks to support for the Annual Fund. Gifts to the Annual Fund provide need-based scholarships and wages for the student work experience program, both critical to Walker’s ability to attend Berry.

“I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Annual Fund donors,” Walker emphasized. “It means so much to me that people believe in the Berry mission and want to help students like me become a success. The fact that they are willing to give part of what they have worked so hard for to help us achieve our dreams is overwhelming. It motivates me to do my best.”

To Walker, it seems like Berry has always been part of her life.

She grew up in nearby Cedartown and remembers fondly the many times she and her family visited the campus for family outings and special events. In addition, two teachers who have been particularly influential in her life are Berry graduates: Dale Tuck (86C) and Donna Bojo (77C).

“They were really good teachers, and from that I knew they had a good education,” Walker said. “In them I saw what a Berry graduate could do. So when it came time to choose a college, Berry was at the top of my list.”

After attending a Discover Berry program and seeing the college from a student’s perspective, Berry became Walker’s only choice.

“The size of the school, the faculty, the emphasis on service and the focus on students as individuals were all things that drew me,” she explained. “I felt like I fit here. I knew it was where I wanted to be.”

Like most students exploring colleges for the first time, Walker did not know how much a college education would cost. “By the

26

BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

time I found out, my heart was already set on Berry,” she said. “I knew my family’s income was not low enough for me to receive the Pell Grant, but it was nowhere near enough for my parents to be able to send me to Berry.”

With nerves on edge, Walker and her parents awaited word from Berry’s financial ALAN STOREY aid office.

“When I received my financial aid letter that said I was eligible for a need-based scholarship and that I could get an oncampus job to help pay my expenses, I was thrilled,” Walker said.

“That helped me close the gap and made it possible for me to come to Berry. Without those things, I would have had to go to a large state school that I didn’t want to go to.”

Walker, who began working in the financial aid office during her freshman year, is now a student supervisor responsible for 10 student workers. She works the maximum number of hours allowed each week, as well as working full time over breaks. It is a schedule she calls “crucial” to her ability to pay for her tuition and other expenses. But what she gets in return is well worth the effort.

“The variety of classes, student work, volunteer opportunities – everything has helped me see the bigger picture and where I fit,” Walker declared. “A Berry education goes so much further than just a lecture. The hands-on experiences have enabled me to grow as a human being. I’ve been able to integrate aspects of myself with what I am learning. I love it here. My family and I are so grateful that I have been given this opportunity.”

by Debbie Rasure

Donor’s No. 1 priority:

Helping students attend Berry

H

ELPING MAKE IT POSSIBLE for students to

John Lipscomb

honored SPECIAL TRIBUTE to John Lipscomb (40H, 44c) during Mountain Day celebrations this fall by naming the Hermann Hall advancement office the John Lipscomb Suite.

Lipscomb came to Berry from the Pentagon in 1965 as director of development. He retired in 1987 but returned the next day to serve as special assistant to the president until his second retirement in 2000.

According to Bettyann O’Neill, vice president for advancement, Lipscomb not only has given of his own personal wealth, but also has brought millions of dollars of support to Berry students through his work.

“Although John is often teased that he unlocked the original Gate of Opportunity, we know for a fact that he ensured it stayed open,” O’Neill asserted.

“Naming the advancement office suite in his honor seemed a very appropriate way to thank John for dedicating his life to furthering Berry’s mission and to the success of our students.”

Clinton G. and Doris Ames, $10,000 for student scholarships Anonymous, $50,000 for the placement of 130 oak trees along the Road of Remembrance and Memorial Drive Anonymous, $29,000 for the general fund ARAMARK Corp., $28,982 in support of the general fund Chick-fil-A Inc., $220,583 addition to the Chick-fil-A Scholarship

BEQUESTS The Estate of Chester A. Roush Jr. for the Chester A. Roush Jr. Scholarship The Estate of Louise M. Smith, unrestricted

32.5

THE CENTER OF IT ALL BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

million

26

6.5

THECAGE

19.5

Total raised as of Dec. 31, 2009: $28,539,917

CAMPAIGN FOR

13

B

ERRY COLLEGE PAID

attend Berry was clearly on the minds of our alumni and friends as 2009 came to a close. Of the 22 major gifts and pledges made during the fall, 18 were for funds that support students through scholarships and the work experience program.

Other major gifts provided important resources to support and enrich the educational program at Berry. Regardless of the purpose or the size of the donation, all gifts help students gain the one-of-a-kind experience of a Berry education.

The following gifts and new pledges of $10,000 or more were made from Aug. 1 through Dec. 15, 2009. Thank you for your faithful and generous support!

O’Brien & Gere Engineers Inc., $10,000 to establish the O’Brien & Gere Gate of Opportunity Scholarship Frances G. Smith, $10,000 addition to the Hugh G. Smith Memorial Endowed Scholarship Lola Coleburn Stubbs (39C), $10,000 charitable gift annuity for the general fund The Elster Foundation, $25,000 to establish The Elster Foundation/Nicole Acuff Endowed Scholarship Robert H. Webb (47H), $10,000 for The Berry Farms Genetics Enterprise Manager Work Endowment William B. Stokely Jr. Foundation, $10,000 addition to the William B. Stokely Jr. Scholarship Bob (62H) and Kay Williams, $58,400 in-kind gift of automobiles

Daniel Foundation of Alabama, $50,000 to establish the Daniel Foundation of Alabama Expendable Gate of Opportunity Scholarship and the Daniel Foundation of Alabama Gate of Opportunity Scholarship General Dynamics Itronix, John Schneider and Teri Schneider, $83,335 in-kind gift of rugged mobile computing equipment Hubert Judd Charitable Trust, $13,500 in support of the general fund Kathryn Judd Charitable Trust, $56,991 to support the Steven J. Cage Athletic and Recreation Center Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation, $124,000 addition to the Lettie Pate Whitehead Scholarship Roy N. Miller (58C), $25,000 to establish the Roy Miller Endowed Entrepreneurship Scholarship Milton Ratner Foundation, $10,000 addition to the Milton M. Ratner Endowed Scholarship Milton A. (51C) and Frances P. (51C) Morgan, $12,500 addition to the Milton A. and Frances P. Morgan Endowed Scholarship

27

WHERE? ALUMNI CLASS NOTES

are they now

Richard R. Holland Jr. (79C) is Southeast regional sales manager at Bar-S Foods Co. He resides in Acworth, Ga., with wife Patty and children Amber (21), Brittany (20), Autumn (19), Brett (18) and Rylee (6).

1980s Deidre Mercer Martin (85C) was named “Outstanding Fundraising Professional” by the Greater Augusta Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. She is vice chancellor for university advancement at the University of South Carolina-Aiken.

1970s

1990s

Joe K. Dunagan (76C) and Kathy Kelley were married Oct. 25, 2009.

The couple resides in Macon, Ga. Sue Pilkington Brown (77C) was awarded the Richard Brooks Visionary Award for her contributions to the arts. Past winners include renowned pianist Charles Wadsworth and country music singer/songwriter Alan Jackson. Sue is a retired music teacher and is serving her second term as a member of the Coweta County (Ga.) Board of Education. She resides in Newnan, Ga.

Amy Melissa Fairrel (90C) has been named controller of CompNation, an IT and office supply company located in Franklin, Tenn.

Lisa M. Keith (90C) is new chair of the natural sciences department at Shorter College and was named the Junior Faculty Member of the Year for the 2009-10 academic year.

Jennifer Gundlach White (93C) and husband Thomas announce the Aug. 14, 2009, birth of son Elisha Thomas. The family resides in Carrollton, Ga.

Adding

up to

A

+

excellence MATH TEACHER JENNIFER GREER (89C)

has been selected for the second consecutive year to serve on the Teacher Advisory Council convened by State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox to discuss how decisions made at the state level affect teachers in Georgia’s classrooms.

The council comprises a group of 30 teachers from across Georgia.

Greer has 21 years of experience as a math educator, instructing all levels of math for grades 7-12. She also has coached math teams and cheerleading squads and has directed dance line. In addition to her Berry degree, Greer has a master’s degree from Jacksonville State University and completed post-master’s work in gifted education at the University of Georgia. She teaches at Model High School in Rome.

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BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

CLASS YEARS are followed by an uppercase or lowercase letter

that indicates the following status: C College graduate G Graduate school alumna/us A Academy graduate H High school graduate c, g Anticipated year of graduation from Berry College a Anticipated year of graduation from academy h Anticipated year of graduation from high school FFS Former faculty and staff FS Current faculty and staff

[Legend]

1950s

Emily Anthony Mullis (53C) has made a name for herself competing in the food preparation categories (senior division) of Florida’s Central Panhandle Fair, claiming numerous awards and distinctions for her Southern pecan pie, red velvet cake and other culinary delights. A retired educator living in Panama City, Fla., Emily is also active in community service, logging more than 3,500 hours at Bay Medical Hospital. She is an annual participant in Alumni Work Week and has many fond memories of her time at Berry.

SEND ALL CLASS NOTES TO: alumni@berry.edu or Alumni Office, P.O. Box 495018, Mount Berry, GA 30149-5018 All class notes are subject to editing due to space limitations. Class notes and death notices in this issue include those received through Dec. 15, 2009.

Michelle Williamson Wilson (93C) and Daniel Wilson were married Nov. 21, 2009, in Barnwell Chapel. Michelle is a sales and marketing specialist for A&L Shielding in Lindale, Ga., and Daniel is a teacher at Armuchee High School. The couple resides in Rome.

Leslie Stewart Summer (94C) and husband Lloyd announce the May 2009 birth of daughter Margaret “Maggie” Stewart. The family resides in Suwanee, Ga. John Marshall Bruner (95C) earned a doctoral degree in clinical psychology in August 2009. He, wife Katie, and daughters Caroline (4) and Ella (2) reside in Braselton, Ga. Mark Wallace Maguire (95C) is director of magazines for Cobb Life Magazine, Sandy Springs/ Dunwoody Life Magazine and Cherokee Life Magazine. He was awarded second place for Best Serious Column in the 2009 Society of Professional Journalists’ Green Eyeshade Awards. He resides in Fayetteville, Ga., with his wife and two sons.

Joshua James White (95C) has been named executive vice president of the Georgia Cattlemen’s Association. He has been actively breeding Limousin cattle for 20 years and is a past president of the Georgia Limousin Association.

Juliette Newton Smith (96C) and husband Joey announce the May 10, 2009, birth of son Logan

Joseph, who weighed 6 pounds, 7 ounces and measured 17 inches long. The family resides in Lawrenceville, Ga. Brian J. Brodrick (97C) and Susan Wells Brodrick (97C) announce the July 13, 2009, birth of daughter Rebecca Wells. She joined sister Phoebe (6) and brother Aaron (2) at the family home in Watkinsville, Ga. Elizabeth Robinson Burgin (97C) and husband Will announce the April 22, 2009, birth of son Alexander Wilds, who weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces and measured 20 inches long. He joined brother Liam (3) at the family home in Columbus, Ga. Alyson Kendrick Lansdell (97C, 00G) and husband Jason announce the May 20, 2009, birth of son Julian Liam. The family resides in Silver Creek, Ga. Regina Peel Vivanco (97C) and husband Jose announce the July 30, 2009, birth of daughter Gianna Marie, who joined siblings Isaac (9), Christina (8), Zachary (7), Daniel (4), Elijah (3) and Nathaniel (3) at the family’s home in Sugar Hill, Ga. Regina is dean of students and faculty at Regina Caeli Academy, an accredited home-school hybrid in Norcross, Ga. Daniel Robert Marks (98C) and Melissa MacKenzie Marks (02C) were married March 21, 2009, and reside in Roswell, Ga. Chad Aaron Drey (99C) and Dina

?

Laird Drey (00C) announce the Sept.

29, 2009, birth of son Ethan Jeremiah. The family resides in Jonesborough, Tenn.

Ashley Goddard Flagello (99C) and husband Cliff announce the Sept. 12, 2009, birth of daughter Evey Elizabeth. The family resides in Rome.

Carrie Roy Gray (99C) and husband John announce the Oct. 12, 2009, birth of daughter Julianne Lily, who weighed 6 pounds, 7 ounces.

Carrie is an audio conference producer at AHC Media in Atlanta, and John is an investment consultant at SunTrust Bank. The family resides in Lawrenceville, Ga. Laura Thompson Hall (99C) and husband Doug announce the Sept.

30, 2009, birth of daughter Leila Nell, who joined brother Carl at the family home in Moultrie, Ga. Laura is an accountant at Moultrie Technical College.

2000s Daniel Lamar Alban (00C) and Emily Marie Howard were married April 4, 2009, in Lockhart, Texas, and honeymooned in Barcelona, Spain, and Southern France. They reside in Arlington, Va. Both are attorneys in the Washington, D.C., area.

Kimberley Sewell Benefield (00C) and husband Brandon announce the May 15, 2009, birth of son Tate Thomas, who joined sister Kaylee (1) at the family home in Cumming, Ga. Kimberly is now a stay-at-home mom.

Kristen Hill Stone (00C) and husband Adam announce the July 29, 2009, birth of daughter Callie Morgan. The family resides in Marietta, Ga. Jennifer Davis Conley (01C) and husband Jason announce the Oct. 2, 2009, birth of daughter Riley Kate, who joined sister Carsyn at the family home in Woodstock, Ga. Megan Carson Jenkins (01C) and husband Jim announce the Aug. 10, 2009, birth of son James, who joined sister Ellie at the family residence in Tucker, Ga. David James Poissant (01C) and Marla Ray Poissant (01C) announce the Aug. 23, 2009, birth of twin daughters Elisa Lilana and Isabelle Avery. Jamie has been named a Best New American Voice for 2010 for

his short story, “Lizard Man.” He read alongside other best new American voices at the 2009 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, Tenn., and will do so again in April at the 2010 Association of Writers and Writing Programs National Conference in Denver.

Russell Thomas Hunt (02C) and Dana Migliore Hunt (01C, 07G) announce the March 30, 2009, birth of son Andrew Thomas, who weighed 6 pounds, 14.4 ounces and measured 19.5 inches long. The family resides in Cartersville, Ga. Daniela Bouldin Peele (02C) and husband Brian announce the Feb. 19, 2009, birth of son Nicholas James, who joined sister Jessica (2) at the family home in Huntsville, Ala. Daniel Boyd Wright II (02C) and Sarah Gowder Wright (04C) announce the July 30, 2009, birth of daughter Grace Elizabeth, who weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces and measured 20 inches long. Sara is a physical therapist for both Union General Hospital and the Union County (Ga.) Schools. The family resides in Blairsville, Ga. Nathan David Butzen (03C) and Stephanie Kaye Nowacki-Butzen (04C) both graduated from Regent University in May 2009 with doctorates in clinical psychology, and both have accepted positions with the Charlottesville League of Therapists, a private practice in Central Virginia. They reside in Norfolk, Va. Michael Seth Weinstein (03C) and Katherine Aho Weinstein (01C) announce the Sept. 29, 2009, birth of son Riley Seth. The family resides in Atlanta.

Amy Moskovitz Williams (03C) graduated from Emory University in May 2009 with a master’s degree in global public health. She works at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Blake Winton Cone (04C) and Brittany Southerland Cone (05C) were married April 4, 2009, at Frost Chapel. Brittany is an attorney in Atlanta, and Blake is a marketing representative for an insurance broker based in Tennessee. They reside in Alpharetta, Ga. Daniel Blake Smart (04C, 06G) was named assistant golf coach for

Sunsational!

WHEN MORE THAN 1,000 ECO-CURIOUS ATTENDEES toured Georgia Tech’s sun-spectacular “Solar D” House during its grand opening at the Tellus Museum in Cartersville, Ga., in October, they came face to face with some of the most advanced sustainable building technology and resources available today, compliments of the Green Habitats Foundation founded by John Lie-Nielsen (54H).

Green Habitats has been named steward of the award-winning solar house, which has been described as one of America’s most ambitious and sophisticated projects aimed at harnessing energy from the sun. Green Habitats contributed to the project and arranged for its recent move to the Tellus.

“If this exhibit sparks interest in children and makes them think solar energy is something they may want to be a part of in their lives, then we’ve accomplished our mission,” Lie-Nielsen said. More than 150,000 visitors, including many school groups, visited the museum in 2009 alone.

Among the very livable solar home’s most impressive features are 39 photovoltaic panels capable of generating more than 3,600 watts of power from sunlight. Other sustainability features include a water capture and reclamation system and an insulating polyurethane base.

Green Habitats is committed to promoting sustainable building by supporting research and educational programs to design and build housing that conserves water and energy. Green Habitats conducts its own research and development for water-monitoring and conservation technology and will continue to fund projects like the Solar D house that add more comprehensive research and education on what is possible through sustainable energy.

“If we can implement eco-consciousness at the design stage, the builders will follow the designs,” Lie-Nielsen explained.

Prior to founding Green Habitats, Lie-Nielsen accumulated more than 30 years in real estate. In 1983, he founded Johnstown American, a business that grew to provide management services for 180,000 apartment and condominium units. In 1995, he established HandyTrac Systems, a supplier of computerized key control systems for the multi-housing industry.

The interior of the Solar D House.

BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

29

Introducing...

Berry alumni authors

BERRY MAGAZINE HAS BEEN NOTIFIED about the following new alumni-authored books since our last listing. Congratulations!

■ Sandra Beck Allen (63C), Forever … After Words, Quill Publications, May 2009, www.sandrabeckallen.com.

■ Joseph E. Dabney (49C), The Food, Folklore and Art of Lowcountry Cooking, Sourcebooks, scheduled for May 2010, www.sourcebooks.com.

■ Mary Ellen Pethel (01G), Berry College: A Century of Making Music, Arcadia Publishing, April 2010, www.arcadia publishing.com ■ Dr. H. Oliver Welch (56C) and E. Denby Brandon Jr., The History of Financial Planning: The Transformation of Financial Services, John Wiley and Sons Inc., October 2009, www.wiley.com.

■ Jennifer Marston William (92C), Killing Time: Waiting Hierarchies in the Twentieth-Century German Novel, Bucknell University Press, 2009, http://www.bucknell.edu/script/ upress/book.asp?id=384 or www.amazon.com.

If you have a newly published book (2009 or 2010) you’d like us to include, please send your name and class year, book title, publisher, publication date, and a Web address for a synopsis and/or to order to krogers@berry.edu with a subject line of “Berry Alumni Authors.”

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BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

the University of Oklahoma. He previously served as head coach of the golf team at Kennesaw State University.

Laura Kate Brown McKee (07C) teaches special education at Westminster Christian Academy in St. Louis, Mo. She is pursuing a Master of Arts degree in teaching with a special education emphasis through Liberty University.

Rhett Michael Smith (07C) graduated in May 2009 from the University of Tennessee at

Chattanooga with a Master of Science degree in industrial/ organizational psychology.

Cade Coffman Strippelhoff (09C) and Lindsey Haines Strippelhoff (09C) were married May 10, 2009 (the day following their graduation from Berry). Cade is attending graduate school in public policy at Georgia Tech, and Lindsey is a medical student at the Georgia campus of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. The couple resides in Suwanee, Ga.

Perseverance

pays off

MICHAEL STRICKLAND (90C) NEVER TASTED INDIVIDUAL GLORY as a

high school or college runner, but he’s found his stride on the over-40 masters circuit.

Strickland, an honorable mention for the 2007 Masters Runner of the Year award given by Running Times magazine, crossed the Atlantic last summer to compete in the World Masters Association Track and Field Championships held in Lahti, Finland.

He met his goal of a top-10 finish in the 5,000-meter run with a strong finishing kick that carried him across the line in 16 minutes, 14.24 seconds. He also competed in a qualifying heat for the 1,500, missing the finals by less than one second after posting his best time of the year.

“Top 10 in the world sounds nice, especially when you are a journeyman runner like myself,” Strickland said. “I guess that is the reward of sticking with something so long! Next year will be my 30th year of running competitively.”

Strickland added another feather to his cap in December as captain of the Atlanta Track Club’s cross country team that won a national championship in the 40-49 age group at club nationals. Teammates included current Berry running coach Paul Deaton (91C) and David Matherne (87C), another former Viking.

When he’s not defying his age on the track, Strickland is an awardwinning teacher at Ridgeview Charter School in Atlanta. He is married to Dr. Kim Lunney Strickland (90C).

life or just to update us on what you’re doing these days. Check the appropriate boxes, and we’ll use your information in Berry magazine and/or on our Alumni Community Web site. If you check neither, we’ll simply update your records. WRITE RIGHT NOW! ❑ Alumni Community Web site ❑ Berry magazine Name

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Deaths

1940s

Woodfin G. Jones (41c) of Athens, Ga., Sept. 24, 2009.

Marie Weldon Carlisle (42c) of LaGrange, Ga., March 2, 2009.

Thomas H. Holcomb (42H) of Flowery Branch, Ga., April 29, 2009.

William C. Smith (42c) of Austin, Texas, Nov. 3, 2009.

Hollis R. Smith (43C) of Duluth, Ga., Nov. 11, 2009.

Frances Beggs Tune (43c) of Florence, Ala., Oct. 20, 2009.

Tandy N. Dalton (44c) of Blaine, Tenn., Oct. 12, 2009.

Bonnie Alday Kearney (44c) of Chapel Hill, N.C., July 5, 2009.

Louise Burson McClure (45c) of Decatur, Ala., Nov. 11, 2009.

Cohen C. Jackson (46c) of Rome, Ga., Aug. 25, 2009.

W. Frank McNabb (46c) of Mount Pleasant, N.C., Nov. 25, 2009.

William E. Newsome (47C) of Immokalee, Fla., Nov. 4, 2008.

Carey Hill Strickland (48C) of Savannah, Ga., Dec. 11, 2009.

M. Buford Franklin (49C) of Columbia, S.C., Oct. 4, 2009.

Roland T. Puryear (40H) of Molena, Ga., Nov. 23, 2009.

George T. Carmichael II (41c) of Knoxville, Tenn., Aug. 23, 2009.

M.D. Bond (50c) of Auburn, Ala., July 11, 2009.

Berry College extends sincere condolences to family and friends of the following alumni. This list includes notices received through Dec. 15, 2009.

1930s Earl R. Mackery (35C) of Jacksonville, Fla., Aug. 31, 2009.

Andrew Marion Collins (36c) of Camilla, Ga., Aug. 15, 2009.

Mellin C. Huff (36C) of Decatur, Ga., Sept. 30, 2009.

Ivan J. Martin (36c) of Cincinnati, Ohio, July 9, 2009.

Margret Parris Sinclair (36C) of Marietta, Ga., Sept. 4, 2009.

Joe M. Studstill (36C) of Broxton, Ga., Oct. 21, 2009.

John W. Clapp (37H) of Winder, Ga., Feb. 11, 2009.

Herbert L. Beavers (38H, 42c) of Mesa, Ariz., Aug. 8, 2009.

Gladys Ward (38H) of Candler, N.C., July 18, 2009.

1950s

Floyd E. Mayo (50C) of Cumming, Ga., Aug. 27, 2009.

Graden Mullis (52C) of McDonough, Ga., Oct. 2, 2009.

Lindsey C. Altman (54H, 58C) of Manassas, Va., Nov. 4, 2009.

Elizabeth Thomas Cosper (54C) of Gulf Breeze, Fla., Dec. 3, 2009.

Sara Worley Clayton (55C) of Central, S.C., Aug. 7, 2009.

Leon Greeson (57C) of Acworth, Ga., Oct. 15, 2009.

W. Jack Wooten (59c) of Gainesville, Fla., Sept. 2, 2009.

1960s Billy J. Brock (61C) of Swainsboro, Ga., Sept. 4, 2009.

Sarah Ann LaRue Diaz (64C) of Concord, N.C., Aug. 20, 2009.

1970s Roy Fowler (72C) of Dallas, Ga., Oct. 13, 2009.

Ann Smith Mack (72C) of Kinards, S.C., Nov. 18, 2009.

Thurman D. Waits (73C) of Rome, Sept. 9, 2009.

Celon Cook Cotter (74C) of LaGrange, Ga., March 29, 2006.

Jane Dixon Drake (77c) of Visalia, Calif., Aug. 25, 2009.

Eula K. Nolan (77C, 88G) of Rossville, Ga., July 9, 2009.

1980s David A. Barton (80c) of Cleveland, Tenn., Sept. 1, 2009.

1990s Ronnie Lee Wheeler (94C) of Silver Creek, Ga., Sept. 25, 2009.

Amy Alyssa Morse (98C) of Madill, Okla., Sept. 1, 2009.

2000s Tabitha Reno Norton (00C) of Canton, Ga., Nov. 21, 2009.

In memoriam Berry College extends deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Joyce Knight Blackburn, who died Oct. 23, 2009. A writer best known for her Suki children’s books, Blackburn also wrote biographies for young readers. She won the Literary Achievement Award for Non-Fiction from the Georgia Writers Association for Martha Berry: A Woman of Courageous Spirit and Bold Dreams.

BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

31

MEMORY AND HONOR GIFTS

Mr. Russell S. Ashton Mrs. Doris L. Ashton Mr. Lindsey Altman Dr. and Mrs. Harlan L. Chapman The Rev. and Mrs. Fred L. Maddox Mr. James L. Banks Mr. and Mrs. Wayne W. Canady Mr. and Mrs. Lemuel V. Banks Mr. and Mrs. Wayne W. Canady Mrs. Rheba Woody Benoy Ms. Jean Benoy Lacey Miss Martha Berry Mrs. Elizabeth Nesbitt Krupa Dr. and Mrs. John R. Bertrand Mr. Jack L. Pigott Mr. Billy J. Brock Mr. Aaron Ellis Mr. William G. Bullock Mrs. Sara Evelyn Stovall Bullock Mr. David R. Burnette Mr. Burton E. Winfrey Mrs. Frances Black Cain Ms. Shirley Darlene Cartwright Mrs. Sara Worley Clayton Dr. and Mrs. Joe F. Allen Mr. Tandy N. Dalton East Tennessee Berry Alumni Chapter Mrs. Sarah Ann LaRue Diaz Mrs. Joy Padgett Johnson Mrs. Mattie Lee Dilbeck Mrs. Vera Lowery Pennington Dr. Byron Dunn Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Dunn Mrs. Mildred Morton Durden Mrs. Vera Lowery Pennington Mrs. Ella Eldridge Miss Leah Eldridge Mr. Ray F. Faulkenberry The Rev. and Mrs. Fred L. Maddox Mr. Alfred D. Fears Sr. Mr. and Mrs. Douglas G. Cawthorn Mr. Eugene W. Dabbs IV Mr. D. Keith Forton Mr. and Mrs. R. Wesley Haley Mr. and Mrs. Robert Jones Mr. and Mrs. Tom D. O’Dell Ms. Kisha I. Vaughn Mr. Fred H. Fulmer The Rev. and Mrs. Fred L. Maddox Mr. Frank D. Garrett Jr. Mr. Jack L. Pigott Mrs. Julia Hairston Gilmore Mr. and Mrs. Billy Ray Traynham Mr. Thomas C. Glover Dr. Jeanette Justice Fleming Mrs. Regina Free Gust Mrs. Leila May Grantham Mr. and Mrs. William L. Grantham Dr. Larry A. Green Ms. Kelly Ann Cochran Mr. Leon C. Greeson Mr. Edwin M. Elrod Mr. Thomas M. Fisher Ms. Evelyn Gaines Mr. and Mrs. Delbert B. Hart Mr. Robert H. Morrison Ms. Susan Kay Ousley Mr. and Mrs. Tarver L. Shirley Mrs. Beth Simpson Mrs. Anne Sims Hawkins Mr. James F. Hawkins Mr. L. Johnson Head Mr. Maurice B. Thompson Mr. Joseph J. Hillman Mrs. Evelyn Wall Hillman Mr. Ellis K. Hite Mrs. Jessie Hamrick Hite-Harkins Mrs. Margaret Houston Jarrett Dr. and Mrs. Joe F. Allen Mr. Rudy Langford Dr. Mary Elizabeth Outlaw Mr. Bill O. Burns

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BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

Mrs. Lenore Wyatt Lipscomb Mr. Maurice B. Thompson Dr. Milton McDonald Mrs. Catherine M. McDonald Mr. E. Thaxton Mullis Mrs. Marguerite K. Mullis Mr. Graden Mullis Mr. and Mrs. Charlie J. Weatherford Mr. and Mrs. George Nesbitt Mrs. Elizabeth Nesbitt Krupa Mrs. Barbara York Parisi Mr. and Mrs. William L. Grantham Mrs. Pyungim Park Mr. Sunny Park Mr. Christopher J. Parker Ms. Leigh Dianne Harris Lt. Col. and Mrs. Eugene P. Malkoff Mrs. Margaret M. Robinson Dr. and Mrs. Gary A. Waters Mr. Julio Sanroman Ms. Gloria Georgina Sanroman Mrs. Laura Sexton Mrs. Elaine Sexton Foster Mr. R. Wayne Shackelford Mr. Billy R. Blocker Sr. Mrs. Faye H. Fron Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Martin McElyea Mr. & Mrs. Keneth Shaver Mrs. Charlotte Shaver Ortiz Mrs. Grace Lipscomb Thompson Mr. Maurice B. Thompson Mrs. Rosa Mae Owen Whitfield Mr. and Mrs. Milton W. Whitfield Mr. Richard Wood Ms. Kelly Ann Cochran

HONOR GIFTS Aug. 1 - Dec. 15, 2009 Mr. and Mrs. James T. Cantrell Dr. and Mrs. Joe F. Allen Dr. Ouida W. Dickey Mrs. Margaret Kelly Sonnier Mr. and Mrs. James Larry Ellison Mr. and Mrs. Charlie J. Weatherford Mr. Terry Lee Frix Mr. Perry Frix Mr. and Mrs. William F.J. Frix Miss Imogene T. Patterson Mrs. Ruth A. Glover Dr. Jeanette Justice Fleming Mr. Dennis L. Goshorn Ms. Debbie E. Heida Dr. Vincent M.L. Grégoire Mrs. Gabriela Elias Broome Mrs. Frances Busha Hart Mr. and Mrs. J.M. Patterson Mr. Peter N. Henriksen Mrs. Katherine Young Armitage Mr. Jack A. Jones Mr. Noel Lawrence Hillman Mrs. Evelyn Wall Hillman Mr. Walter Buford Jennings Mr. and Mrs. J.M. Patterson Mr. and Mrs. Bill Johnson Mrs. Bettie Jean Linscott Mr. David Carl Kowalski Mr. and Mrs. Michael David Williams Dr. Peter A. Lawler Mr. Jeffrey Douglas Horn Mr. John R. Lipscomb Mr. Maurice B. Thompson Mr. J. Lowell Loadholtz Brevard County Farm Bureau Dr. Laurence W. Marvin Ms. Ashley Laine Bowden Ms. Lydia Marie Salcedo Ms. Debbie E. Heida Mr. Jerry W. Shelton Mr. and Mrs. Charlie J. Weatherford Mrs. Evelyn Spradlin Standridge Mr. Donald E. Rhodes Mr. Robert Aaron Taylor Mrs. Karen B. Taylor

MEMORY AND HONOR GIFTS Special thanks go out for the following gifts to Berry, which were specifically designated in memory or honor of an individual. Honor and memory gifts can be made by noting your intentions and the name of the person recognized at the time you make the gift. Note: Memory gifts have been designated to scholarship funds named for the honoree unless otherwise specified by the donor.

NAMED SCHOLARSHIPS Aug. 1 - Dec. 15, 2009 Frank and Kathryn Adams Endowed Scholarship Dr. and Mrs. John Franklin Adams Dr. Christina G. Bucher Dr. Ellen Johnson Dr. James H. Watkins Dr. Lara B. Whelan African-American Alumni Chapter Scholarship Ms. Darya Dionne Dismuke Ms. Evelyn L. Hamilton Mrs. Stacey Dionne Jones Mr. and Mrs. Cecil A. Thompson Agriculture Alumni Endowed Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. William N. Clackum Dr. Joseph Alton Daniel III Mr. and Mrs. Michael Matthew Little Mrs. Elizabeth Senn Lusby Mr. and Mrs. Weldon Arvile Smitherman Mr. Benjamin O. Willingham Leo W. Anglin Memorial Scholarship Dr. and Mrs. Wade A. Carpenter Dr. Karen A. Kurz Dr. Jacqueline Macy McDowell Ms. Jeanne Mar Schul Perry Anthony Memorial Scholarship Mrs. Emily Anthony Mullis Barton Mathematics Award Mr. Rayford W. Barton Berry College Class of 1958 Endowed Scholarship Dr. and Mrs. Harlan L. Chapman Mrs. Elizabeth Ashe Cope Mr. and Mrs. Billy Ray Traynham Mr. and Mrs. Charlie J. Weatherford Dan Biggers Distinguished Actor Award Mrs. Shannon W. Biggers Frances Berry Bonnyman Scholarship Dr. Isabel Bonnyman Stanley Joshua Bradshaw-Whittemore Memorial Endowed Scholarship Mr. Richard N. Bass Mr. and Mrs. Ronald P. Whittemore Katie Brookshire Leadership Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. Timothy H. Tarpley Horace Brown Chemistry Scholarship Merck Company Foundation Louise Paul Brown Work Scholarship Dr. Horace D. Brown Merck Company Foundation Wanda Lou Bumpus Endowed Scholarship Ms. Julie A. Bumpus David R. Burnette Agriculture Leadership Endowed Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. Cloyd D. Denard Mr. Leach Delano Richards Sr. Maj. and Mrs. Richard Allen Terry N. Gordon Carper Endowed History Scholarship Mr. Ralph S. Daniels Microsoft Corporation Tom and Betty Carver Endowed Scholarship Ms. Barbara S. Robertson A. Milton and Joann Chambers Endowed Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. William M. Chambers

[Gifts]

MEMORY GIFTS Aug. 1 - Dec. 15, 2009

Chick-Fil-A Scholarship Chick-fil-A Inc. Class of 1943C Scholarship Dr. Clayton C. O’Mary Class of 1950C Reunion Fund Mr. and Mrs. Ray Abernathy Mrs. Laura Pollard Babb Mr. Dan Leslie Bowden Dr. Ouida Word Dickey Mr. and Mrs. Raymond W. Douglas Mrs. Irene Gay DuBose Mrs. Mary Fulmer DuBose Mrs. Betty Perry Duffey Mr. and Mrs. Earl Durham Dr. and Mrs. Kermit Hutcheson Mrs. Martha Dodd McConnell Mr. and Mrs. William J. Roberts Mrs. Virginia Harrell Williams Class of 1951C Memorial Endowed Scholarship Mrs. Linnie Lane Gibson Class of 1954C Endowed Scholarship Mr. A. Randall Cooper Mr. Julian M. Cosper Mr. B. Leon Elder Class of 1957C Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. Milton A. Morgan Mr. and Mrs. C. L. Tate Mr. and Mrs. Charlie J. Weatherford Class of 1959C Reunion Fund Mrs. Dorothy Everett Sundy Class of 1960C Gate of Opportunity Scholarship Mr. Tommy D. Cummings Mrs. Lena Moore Fleischhacker Mr. Tolbert A. Fowler Mr. and Mrs. J. Lowell Loadholtz Ms. Eleen Rowell Mitchell Mr. John W. Mixon Mrs. Marjorie Dees Patterson Mrs. Ann Nichols Pope Mr. and Mrs. W. Cleveland Rowland Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Stanley Mr. Michael A. Sutton Mr. and Mrs. Glynn Tindall Mr. Gilbert A. Tucker Brevard County Farm Bureau Coca Cola First Generation Scholarship Georgia Foundation for Independent Colleges Inc. George W. Cofield Memorial Scholarship Fund Dr. Latha Mimbs Barnes Ms. Floye T. Hood Mrs. Patricia Hoffman Iles Mrs. Sharlene Kinser Stephens Mr. Franklin D. Windham Richard V. and Nancy Concilio Scholarship Dr. and Mrs. Richard V. Concilio Daniel Foundation Gate of Opportunity Endowed Scholarship The Daniel Foundation of Alabama Daniel Foundation Gate of Opportunity Expendable Scholarship The Daniel Foundation of Alabama Kirstin Davis Memorial Scholarship Mr. Mark George Moraitakis Angela R. Dickey Scholarship Dr. Jennifer W. Dickey Dr. Ouida Word Dickey Edward Gray and Doris Cook Dickey Endowed Scholarship Mrs. Anne Cook Neal

Garland Dickey Endowed Scholarship Mr. Renald F. Bryner III Dr. Jennifer W. Dickey Mr. Charles Matthew Hunter Jennifer W. Dickey Scholarship Dr. Ouida Word Dickey Dr. Ouida W. Dickey Endowed Scholarship Dr. Jennifer W. Dickey B. Leon Elder Endowed Scholarship Mr. B. Leon Elder Motorola Foundation J. Mitchell and Cleone Elrod Expendable Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. J. Mitchell Elrod Jr. Elster Foundation/Nicole Acuff Endowed Scholarship Elster Foundation J. Paul Ferguson Endowed Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. Randy Berry Mr. and Mrs. Roger W. Lusby III Ms. Jeanne Elizabeth Mathews Mr. L.P. Roberts Judy Lane Gilbert Memorial Foundation Leary Doss Finley Endowed Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. William G. Fron Ruby and Clifton Fite Endowed Scholarship Dr. and Mrs. J. David Fite Mr. and Mrs. Bobby L. Whitmire George Gaddie Endowed Scholarship Mrs. Cherrie D. Shaw Gate of Opportunity Scholarship Ms. Ashley Laine Bowden Mr. John L. Brock Mrs. Gabriela Elias Broome Mrs. Joan Costley Brown Mr. Samuel Johnan Duenckel Mrs. Katherine Fowler Flanary Ms. Jessica Faye Foley Mrs. Jennifer Butler Frady Mrs. Kay Stone Hanson Mr. Philip Mills Herrington Ms. Amy Joy Hunter Dr. and Mrs. Kermit Hutcheson Ms. Amy Beth Pedigo Ms. Jennifer Lynn Ponder Mrs. Cynthia Detweiler Simpson Ms. Kimberly Anne Terrell Mrs. Allison Hill Ventura Mrs. Alison Williams Yeomans GFIC/Chevron Scholarship Georgia Foundation for Independent Colleges Inc. GFIC/UPS Scholarship Georgia Foundation for Independent Colleges Inc. Ed and Gayle Graviett Gmyrek Scholarship Mrs. Gayle Graviett Gmyrek Jorge and Ondina Gonzalez Endowed Scholarship Mrs. Ondina Santos Gonzalez Kathleen Granrose Memorial Endowed Scholarship Dr. Cherlyn S. Granrose Larry A. Green Memorial Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. William G. Fron Lyn Gresham Endowed Scholarship Mr. Walter K. Gill Hamrick Family/Aunt Martha Freeman Scholarship Mr. John K. Hamrick Sr. Dr. Karen A. Kurz Heneisen Service Award Mrs. Laurie Hattaway Chandler Cathleen Ann Henriksen Memorial Scholarship Anonymous Dr. Emmaline Beard Henriksen Howell Hollis Scholarship Mr. Howell Hollis III

Lewis A. Hopkins Endowed Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. Stephen P. Hawkins International Business Machines Ruby Hopkins Outstanding Student Teacher Award Mr. and Mrs. Stephen P. Hawkins Mr. Howard A. Richmond II International Business Machines Indonesian Scholarship Vanguard Charitable Endowment Emily T. Ingram Endowed Scholarship Raymond James Charitable Endowment Amy Jo Johnson Scholarship Fund Mr. and Mrs. Brian Land Mr. and Mrs. Tom A. Youngwirth Mendel D. Johnson Memorial Scholarship Mrs. Josephine J. Jackson H.I. Jones Endowed Agriculture Scholarship Mr. Harold L. Jones Mrs. Joy Jones Neal Joseph R. Jones Endowed Spanish Scholarship Dr. Lucia I. Llorente Kappa Delta Pi Endowed Scholarship Dr. Mary C. Clement Dr. Mary Elizabeth Outlaw Clay Kenemer Memorial Scholarship Anonymous Dr. and Mrs. Harlan L. Chapman Ms. Catrina Celeste Creswell Mrs. Bernice Arnold Holcomb Mrs. Jane Daniel Nettles Mrs. Pamela Millwood Pettyjohn Miss Marlene S. Schneider Ms. Carolyn Thompson Smith Mrs. Rethia Camp Spence Mrs. Joy Bernice Ogle Whaley Michael and Elizabeth Nesbitt Krupa Scholarship Mrs. Elizabeth Nesbitt Krupa Peter A. Lawler Endowed Scholarship Mr. Jeffrey Douglas Horn Ms. Carol S. LaBarre Mrs. Rita Kay Lawler Dr. Michael B. Papazian Mr. Thomas Rutland Pope Mr. and Mrs. Daniel S. Sweitzer Ray M. and Mary Elizabeth Lee Scholarship The Ray M. and Mary Elizabeth Lee Foundation Fred H. Loveday Endowed Scholarship Mr. Archie Burton Mr. Robert T. Campbell Mrs. Clyde Padgett Dean Mr. C. John Hardy Jr. Mr. Robert Lance Hutchins Mr. and Mrs. Sherrod Stipe McWhorter Sr. Mrs. Vera Lowery Pennington Mr. Knox M. Pitts II Mr. Art and Mrs. Betty Hawkins Pugh Anita and Howie Lowden Expendable Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. Howard J. Lowden Sr. Ross Magoulas Endowed Scholarship Mr. Art and Mrs. Betty Hawkins Pugh Percy Marchman Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. Michael C. Marchman Jr. Dr. L. Doyle Mathis Endowed Scholarship Mrs. Retha Burch Brown Roy and Linda Miller Endowed Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. Roy N. Miller James E. Minge Endowed Scholarship James E. Minge Charitable Trust Amos Montgomery Expendable Scholarship Ms. Lisa Fraley Rasheed

Audrey B. Morgan Gate of Opportunity Scholarship The Audrey and Jack Morgan Foundation Audrey Morgan Endowed Scholarship Dr. and Mrs. Gary A. Waters Milton A. and Frances P. Morgan Endowed Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. Milton A. Morgan Graden Mullis Expendable Scholarship Mr. Billy R. Blocker Sr. Mr. Robert J. Carter Mr. and Mrs. Edward A. Colter Dr. Ouida Word Dickey Ms. Donna Drake Dr. and Mrs. A. Richard Gray Dr. and Mrs. W. Nevin Jones Deborah Lovett Ms. Jan P. May Mrs. Gwendolyn Parrish Mullis Mr. Thomas G. Mullis Ms. Jane E. Mullis Dr. and Mrs. Bill Reeves Mr. and Mrs. Neal L. Reynolds Ms. Marjorie S. Rhodes Mr. and Mrs. Roy Stuart Mrs. Almaleen M. Stuckey Dr. and Mrs. Walter Thomas Jr. Mrs. Edna Earle Whatley Ms. Sandra Williamson Ms. Katherine M. Zachary Salem Baptist Church of McDonough Mary and Al Nadassy English Scholarship Dr. Christina G. Bucher Dr. Ellen Johnson Dr. James H. Watkins Dr. Lara B. Whelan Mary Finley Niedrach Endowed Scholarship Mrs. Mary Finley Niedrach Mrs. Julie Williamson Trejo NSDAR Scholarship DAR – Texas Bluebonnet Chapter NSDAR Bobby Patrick Endowed Scholarship Mrs. Mary Camp Patrick Accucard Inc. James L. Paul Jr. Memorial Scholarship Mrs. Violet Paul Neal Quitman and Emily Lowe Pope Scholarship Fund Mr. and Mrs. Harley F. Drury Jr. Sara Powell Expendable Scholarship Mr. John W. Powell Sr. Milton M. Ratner Endowed Scholarship Milton M. Ratner Foundation Chester A. Roush Jr. Scholarship The Estate of Chester A. Roush Jr. Ann Russell Memorial Scholarship Mrs. Kathleen Robinson Ray Vesta Salmon Service Scholarship Ms. Ashley Brooke Harp Dr. Mary Elizabeth Outlaw Ms. Charlene P. Pettyjohn Mr. and Mrs. James A. Reynolds Mrs. Angela P. Reynolds Mrs. Maki Reynolds Mrs. Vesta A. Salmon Mr. and Mrs. Charlie J. Weatherford Gordon and Mattie Schneider Endowed Scholarship Miss Marlene S. Schneider Larry L. Schoolar and Mary E. Schoolar Clark Endowed Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. Larry L. Schoolar Gloria Shatto Presidential Scholarship Mr. Mark George Moraitakis Michele Norman Sims Endowed Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. Robert Miller Bergman Mr. and Mrs. Robert Daniel Price

Hamilton/Smith Endowed Scholarship Mr. Kevin Deshawn Allen Mrs. Terri Colson Earls Ms. Portia V. Ellis Ms. Evelyn L. Hamilton Mrs. Darcel Kemp Ivey Mrs. Minnie Ruth Willis Marsh Ms. Hester Jean Parks Mrs. Mitchell Mignon Price Mrs. Beverly Ann Smith Willis Funeral Home Hugh G. Smith Memorial Scholarship Mrs. Frances G. Smith Stephens-Riley Scholarship Mrs. Lori R. Day William B. Stokely Jr. Scholarship The William B. Stokely Jr. Foundation Reginald E. Strickland Gate of Opportunity Scholarship Lt. Col. and Mrs. Reginald E. Strickland Student Scholarships Mr. Matthew Armstrong Barrett Mr. Roger Dean Birkhead Mr. Curtis A. Coman Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Stephen Davis Ms. Kayleen Ellen Elsbree Mr. Perry Frix Mr. and Mrs. Scott Patrick Gibbons Mr. John G. Grelck IV Ms. Leigh Dianne Harris Mrs. Myrtle Beckworth Hogbin Ms. Candace April Jackson Mrs. Lou Brown Jewell Ms. Christie Lynn Johnson Mrs. Jennifer Sinard Leggett Dr. Jonathan Edward Littlefield Ms. Erin Elizabeth McCrary Merrill Lynch & Company Inc. Mrs. Jacquelyn Sue Mitchell Mrs. Tracey Van Dusen Musial Mr. Aaron Duane Pickering Ms. Edith G. Purcell Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Eastwood Ragan Mrs. Lisa Marschke Rhudy Ms. Sarah Catherine Richards Mrs. Merrie Beth Lewis Salazar Ms. Gloria Georgina Sanroman Mrs. Beth Simpson Ms. Melissa Lauren Stone Mrs. Jennifer Lee Ray Walter Mr. and Mrs. Thomas W. Wichser Ms. Mary Beth Wiles The Lois and Lucy Lampkin Foundation Price/Blackburn Charitable Foundation Inc. Troy/Gardner Endowed Award – Art History Dr. Virginia G. Troy John M. Tucker Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. Francis W. Tucker Mr. John M. Tucker Alexander Whyte Whitaker III Endowed Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Whyte Whitaker IV Lettie Pate Whitehead Scholarship Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation Inc. Jeff Wingo Memorial Scholarship Ms. Starr Wright Boylan Mr. and Mrs. Brian Cordell Carmony Mrs. Kathryn M. Wingo Clarence and Marie Witt Expendable Scholarship Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Edward Witt Craig Allen Wofford Scholarship Mrs. Elaine Sexton Foster AT&T Foundation Yoda Scholarship Dr. and Mrs. Koji Yoda

BERRY MAGAZINE • SPRING 2010

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B ERRY magazine P.O. Box 495018 Mount Berry, GA 30149-5018

Quick off the blocks Berry student-athletes left the competition from NCAA Division III challenger LaGrange College in their collective wakes during the first-ever varsity swimming and diving meet held in the Cage Center.

ALAN STOREY