Berry magazine - Fall 2017

BERRY Fall 2017

Fast lane

Jeff Jahn (07C) races to entrepreneurial success

An angel soars

Pilot Ben Cason (67C) flies with a purpose

VOL. 104, NO. 1 | FALL 2017

BERRY Features

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Fast lane

Jeff Jahn (07C) races to entrepreneurial success

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Pearly prospects

Brant Sanderlin

10 Distinguished Alumni Awards

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Kellie Soafer (17C) detours dental dreams for Duke research assistantship

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An angel soars

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Inside the Gate

• Academics on the move • Governor’s Honors Program • The day the “Queen of the Air” came to Berry • Athletic success “by the numbers” • Bluebird lovers flock to crowdfund new houses • Berry people: Remembering Peter Lawler; awards and appointments

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Well Done!

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Brant Sanderlin

Departments

Brant Sanderlin

Pilot Ben Cason (67C) flies with a purpose

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12 President’s Essay 25 News from You 30 Thank You

Blake Childers (15C)

Teacher-Mentor-Scholar

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21 The Campaign for Opportunity

• BCIL directorship named for 1935 alumni couple • Young alumni weigh in on president’s video challenge

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This sign became a hit on social media after its recent installation along the college entryway as part of an ongoing effort to enhance campus signage.

Photo by Brant Sanderlin.

Cover photo by Brant Sanderlin

INSIDE THE GATE

BERRY

From health care to Hawaii: Academics on the move

An impressive number of new academic opportunities for Berry students have been launched or unveiled recently, including the following new majors, programs, partnerships and advances.

magazine

Published three times per year for alumni and friends of Berry College and its historic schools Editor Karilon L. Rogers Managing Editor Rick Woodall (93C)

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Staff Writer Debbie Rasure

University of Hawaii at Hilo now allows students to earn a physics degree from Berry and an astronomy degree from UH Hilo, which is located near some of the world’s most sophisticated telescopes atop the Mauna Kea volcano (pictured).

Design and Production Shannon Biggers (81C) Chief Photographer Brant Sanderlin News from You and Gifts Listings Justin Karch (01C, 10G), Joni Kenyon, Jeff Palmer (09C, 11G) and Carrie Rigdon Contact Information News from You and change of address: alumni@berry.edu; 706-236-2256; 800-782-0130; or Berry Alumni Office, P.O. Box 495018, Mount Berry, GA 30149.

Editorial: rwoodall@berry.edu; 706-378-2870; or Berry magazine, P.O. Box 490069, Mount Berry, GA 30149.

BERRY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION President: Frances Richey (83A, 87C) President-Elect: Jonathan Purser (85C) Vice Presidents: Alumni Events, Julie Patrick Nunnelly (88C, 00G); Berry Heritage, the Rev. Valerie Loner (91C); Financial Support, Jason E. McMillan (98C); Young Alumni and Student Relations, Samantha Knight Tuttle (11C); Alumni Awards, Patricia Tutterow Jackson (82C)

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Vice President for Advancement Bettyann O’Neill President Stephen R. Briggs

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kinesiology, communication and business to prepare students for careers in professional and amateur sports administration, sports and recreation facilities management, and other health and fitness industries.

new MBA health care management A track focuses on health care economics and policy, quality management, and health care law in a format that makes it possible for working health care professionals to earn an MBA in as little as a year and a half. In addition, the traditional MBA has been rebranded as the MBA Professional Management Track and serves individuals from all industries looking to take the next step in their professional development. A

pplied behavior analysis course­ A work, already integrated into the psychology major and available to all students, is being enhanced and expanded with the addition of two faculty specialists in the field. On the drawing board are an autism endorsement for education majors and community teachers, local clinical training sites to augment Berry’s partnership with the Marcus Autism Center and other clinics, and coursework to meet requirements for graduatelevel behavior analysis board certification.

interdisciplinary major in sports administration combines studies in

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partnership with the Edward Via A College of Osteopathic Medicine gives high-performing Berry students aspiring to medical school access to a guaranteed interview and early guaranteed acceptance program.

VCOM has campuses in Virginia, South Carolina and Alabama.

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Secretary: Mandy Tidwell (93C)

Vice President for Marketing and Communications Nancy Rewis

pre-MBA minor allows any Berry student who takes the required subset of business courses and maintains a 3.0 GPA to waive the GMAT requirement to get into the MBA program.

■ ■A new environmental studies major in the Evans School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences equips students to investigate and understand how humans and human institutions interact with and impact our physical world and how we might live better and more wisely on the earth. The program examines cultural, social, philosophical, historical, literary and artistic aspects of human life on our planet.

Parliamentarian: Robert Aiken (82A)

Director of Alumni Development Jennifer Schaknowski

he dual-degree engineering T program has been expanded to include Kennesaw State University as a partner engineering school in addition to Berry’s longstanding agreement with Georgia Tech.

Chaplain: Clara Hall McRae (60C)

Historian: Dr. Jennifer Dickey (77A, 80C)

five-year dual-degree physics/ A astronomy program in partnership with the

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new master’s degree in educational A leadership that makes it possible for practicing teachers to work toward leadership positions in public and private schools has been approved by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission and is now available.

473 A RECORD CLASS A SEA OF BLACK ROBES surged across the Evans Hall

lawn on May 6 as Berry graduated the largest class in its history. A total of 473 students – including a record 424 under­graduates – completed their degree requirements in the spring.

Brant Sanderlin

They were joined at the ceremony by graduates who completed their degrees in August and December of 2016, pushing the total number of participants to more

Berry welcomes Georgia’s best SIX HUNDRED AND SIXTY-THREE

just a little better” every day by Rear Adm.

had one program participant proclaiming, “That’s it! I’m coming to Berry for service!” while helping to prepare 3,000 “super packs” of food for the “Backpack Buddies” program, packs of books for 1,200 children, and $1,000 worth of hygiene kits for homeless/ relocation programs.

“The Governor’s Honors Program aligns with Berry’s commitment to academic excellence,” said Vice President of Student Affairs Debbie Heida.

“It was a great opportunity to share the Berry experience with these incredibly talented high school students, and I hope to see some of them back at Berry for a full four-year experience.”

Vince Griffith (81C), a decorated naval officer and Berry Board of Trustees member who served as commence­ment speaker.

“While I doubt many of you will have to lead an attack in Iraq or face the Taliban, you will have your own challenges – dealing with a demanding boss, trying to manage your peers or getting a new business off the ground,” he stated. “Berry College has prepared you to face any of these trials, and you will be successful.”

student photographer Olivia Mead

student photographer Olivia Mead

RISING JUNIORS AND SENIORS

representing more than 130 Georgia high schools called Berry home for four weeks this summer as participants in the Governor’s Honors Program. This was Berry’s first year as host of the nation’s longest continuously running summer enrichment program, previously held at Valdosta State University.

The Berry campus teemed with activity as GHP students attended classes in specific areas of study each morning and afternoon. Evenings were filled with a variety of social and instructional opportunities.

Highlights included music, theatre and dance performances

by GHP students in a number of campus venues and an intro­duction to the Berry-style culture of leadership by Bill Lennie, executive vice president for outside sales and service at The Home Depot. There also was a night of service alongside Berry students and staff that

than 500. All were encouraged to “try to be

BERRY MAGAZINE • FALL 2017

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INSIDE THE GATE

SNAPSHOT in time

The day the “Queen of the Air” came to Berry her students to soar, she found one in 1934 in American aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart. The famed pilot spoke at the Mount Berry Chapel on Feb. 5, just three years before an ill-fated attempt to circumnavigate the globe claimed her life and that of navigator Fred Noonan somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. The unsolved mystery of their disappearance still captivates the world today, with new theories evolving as recently as this past summer.

According to The Berry es ge Archiv le ol C Alumni Quarterly, a near capacity Berry urtesy of photos co crowd of 1,000 students from both Berry College and the Berry Schools filled the chapel for Earhart’s presentation, which focused on the importance of equal opportunities for men and women from all walks of life. Her exact remarks were not recorded in any way, but she was known to often include descriptions of her air adventures and to discuss the meaning and possibilities of flying, especially as they related to women.

Earhart had won acclaim in 1932 as the first woman – and second aviator – to fly solo across the Atlantic; only Charles Lindbergh preceded her in making such a flight. The year after she spoke at Berry, she became the first aviator to fly solo across the Pacific from Honolulu to Oakland, Calif. These transoceanic flights were two of many “firsts” Earhart achieved and records she set, in addition to becoming a soaring figure in the broader aviation world.

Eighty years after her disappearance, Earhart is remembered for her courage, vision and groundbreaking achievements both in aviation and for women. It’s no wonder that Martha Berry invited her to campus or that she accepted the invitation.

Editor’s note: Special thanks to Archivist Michael O’Malley and the Berry College Archives.

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BERRY MAGAZINE • FALL 2017

Brant Sanderlin

IF MARTHA BERRY WAS LOOKING FOR A ROLE MODEL TO INSPIRE

Berry student teacher Emily Weir works with Kannaiyah Smith at the SRELC. Kannaiyah is wearing a hat she made as part of a lesson on dinosaurs.

STEM education comes to South Rome Early Learning Center THREE-YEAR-OLD STUDENTS IN THE SOUTH ROME EARLY LEARNING CENTER reveled in the 2016-17 addition of a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) classroom designed to further ignite a love of exploration and discovery while introducing scientific methods and mathematical concepts.

Funded by a grant from the Georgia Power Foundation Inc., the new classroom is the second at the center, which opened at Anna K. Davie Elementary School in 2015 as part of a strategic partnership between Berry, Rome City Schools and the South Rome Redevelopment Corp. The center’s purpose is to improve educational opportunities for local children and provide valuable experience for the college’s teacher-education students. Staff members have affectionately dubbed the facility Possum Trot South in reference to the historic “cradle of Berry College,” the old Possum Trot Church appropriated by Martha Berry in 1900 for her Sunday School classes.

The new STEM classroom is equipped with an impressive array of learning tools for educating young students in individual and group settings.

“The most rewarding aspect to me is introducing them to a concept and seeing their eyes light up,” said Dr. Jackie McDowell, dean of Berry’s Charter School of Education and Human Sciences and SRELC administrator. “You can see they are starting to think differently.”

numbers

Blake Childers (15C)

Success by the

It was another memorable spring and year for Berry’s student-athletes.

How well did they do? Let’s count the ways!

15 2 st 1 16 Southern Athletic Association Player/ Coach-of-the-Year honorees including Women’s Field Athlete of the Year Genesis Leggett (pictured), a twotime gold medalist in the SAA track and field championships at Valhalla.*

*T otal for the 2016-17 academic year

first-place finishes for equestrian team members Allie Robertson and Emily Lambert at the Inter­collegiate Horse Show Association Western Nationals, pacing another top-five team showing.

appearance for Berry in the NCAA Division III Women’s Golf Championships, with All-American Sydney Weaver (17C) placing seventh overall.

Berry student-athletes earning All-America recognition for achievements on the playing field or in the classroom.*

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victories for Berry’s recordsetting softball team, which earned a No. 1 national ranking during the regular season, again swept the Southern Athletic Association’s regular-season and tournament championships, and hosted an NCAA Division III regional for the second consecutive year.

place finish for Ryan Elmore (17C) in the NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championships; the three-time All-American was one of only 24 collegiate golfers across all divisions selected by the Golf Coaches Association of America for the 2017 All-Nicklaus Team.

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Southern Athletic Association Academic Honor Roll selections across all sports, recognizing those student-athletes who maintained a GPA of 3.25 or better in a particular semester.*

Bluebird lovers unite to rebuild nesting sites FANS – ENJOYED BY THE SCHOOL’S HIGH-PROFILE BALD EAGLES, bird lovers flocked to their aid last spring, contributing more than $5,600 to help rebuild their on-campus nesting sites.

Dr. Renee Carleton, associate professor of biology, launched the “Adopt-a-Nest Box” campaign on Berry’s new crowdfunding portal, BerryFunder, hoping to raise $2,000 to repair or replace 50 nest boxes installed across campus in 2002. Soon after campaign launch, an email appeared in her inbox with an offer to match all gifts to the project dollar-for-dollar up to $2,500.

“I was quite overwhelmed and, honestly, shed a few tears,” she said.

News of the anonymous donor’s matching gift set Berry’s bird lovers a-twitter. Within days, the campaign goal had been exceeded by more than 150 percent – with gifts flying in from as far away as Canada.

“I am humbled and honored by the response, support and generosity of everyone who contributed to the campaign,” said Carleton, who has many plans for Berry’s bluebirds.

Along with replacing, repairing and adding new boxes, all will be outfitted with predator guards. Carleton also plans to upgrade and restart the bluebird camera that has allowed aviphiles far and wide to watch the wondrous creatures and plans to establish a bluebird trail adjacent to Berry’s Viking Trail that will feature 10 new boxes.

This project is one of several special efforts championed by students, faculty and staff through BerryFunder. Another is a camera for Dr. Chris Mowry’s coyote research. Visit www.berry.edu/funder to see more projects completed or awaiting support.

BERRY MAGAZINE • FALL 2017

photo by Gena Flanigen

ALTHOUGH BERRY’S BLUEBIRDS DON’T HAVE THE FAME – OR LEGIONS OF

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INSIDE THE GATE

BERRY PEOPLE IMPOVERISHED BY OUR LOSS, ENRICHED BY HIS LIFE

The Berry community was shocked and saddened by the May 23 death of Dr. Peter Augustine Lawler, Dana professor of government. Although a nationally renowned scholar, frequent speaker, and prolific author and editor, he was first and foremost a member of the Berry faculty who devoted himself to his students. Many of the hundreds he taught, mentored and encouraged went on to earn advanced degrees and become leaders in diverse government and nonprofit positions.

“For 38 years, Peter has been a vital member of the Berry community and a legendary teacher, mentor and colleague,” said Berry President Steve Briggs. “A keen observer of human culture and the human condition, Peter will long be remembered for his teasing and provocative approach to teaching and writing. His passing reminds us of the fragility of this life, in which, as Peter

taught us, we are destined ‘to both wander and wonder.’”

Among Lawler’s many distinctions were his appointment by President George W. Bush to the President’s Council on Bioethics and receipt of the Richard M. Weaver Prize for Scholarly Excellence and the Ross Lence Master Teacher Award. He also was named the George Washington Distinguished Professor of the American Founding by the Society of the Cincinnati. He was the longstanding editor of Perspectives in Political Science and more recently was appointed editor of the distinguished journal Modern Age. In addition to wife Rita, Lawler is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Catherine and Patrick Jackson, and their children, Henry Augustus and Mary Elizabeth (Molly) Jackson, as well as by his sister-in-law, Sara Schnuck. (See page 12.)

Paul O’Mara

Dr. Peter A. Lawler:

Martindale Awards honor Terrell, Hayes A longtime member of the physical plant staff renowned for his work with students and a rising star among the music faculty were the 2017 recipients of Berry’s Martindale Awards of Distinction.

James Terrell claimed the staff honor for his meticulous attention to detail as grounds and building supervisor for the mountain campus, where he is responsible for cultivating the beauty of the House o’ Dreams James Terrell and other Berry landmarks. Dr. Adam Hayes won the faculty award after successfully navigating a “perfect storm” of responsibilities in 2016-17 that included his work as a talented teacher and trumpeter, chair of the fine arts department and Berry’s Faculty Assembly, and firstBrant Sanderlin

time father. He also was praised for his role in bringing the Georgia Governor’s Honors Program to Berry.

The Martindale Awards were endowed by Susan Byrd Martindale (73C) and her husband, Larry, to reward those who promote continuous improvement, implement innovative approaches to problem-solving and inspire others to extraordinary achievement.

Recipients of other spring awards included: • Dr. Curt Hersey (93C), assistant professor of communication, Vulcan Teaching Excellence Award • Dr. Julia Barnes, associate professor and department chair of foreign languages, Dave and Lu Garrett Award for Meritorious Teaching • Dr. Jeffrey Lidke, associate professor and department chair of religion and philosophy, Mary S. and Samuel Poe Carden Award for outstanding teaching, scholarship, and service to students and the college community • Dr. Samantha Nazione, assistant professor of communication, Elena M. Garrett Award for Meritorious Advising and Caring • Dr. Brian Campbell, associate professor of anthropology and environmental studies, SGA Faculty Member of the Year • Virginia Brock, dining services, SGA Staff Member of the Year • Brandon Williamson, head athletic trainer, John R. Bertrand Superior Student-Work Supervisor Award

Dr. Adam Hayes, left, with student Leif Atchley.

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student photographer Lindsey Campbell

VICTORIOUS VENUES Bressette named enrollment VP Dr. Andrew R. Bressette is Berry’s new vice president for enrollment management, responsible for overseeing the college’s admissions efforts. He succeeded Dr. Gary Waters (80C, 89G), who currently is filling the chief of staff post vacated by Whit Whitaker (81C) when he left Berry in 2016 to serve as president of King University.

Bressette has been a member of the Berry chemistry faculty since 1998, serving as both associate professor and department chair. In 2009, he was named associate provost and dean of academic services, and in 2016 he accepted the responsibilities of acting provost upon the departure of Dr. Kathy Richardson to serve as president of Westminster College. Bressette remained in that role through the transition period of new provost Dr. Mary K. Boyd.

A graduate of Assumption College, Bressette received his doctorate in chemistry from the University of Virginia. He has been a national leader in Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning and serves as a member of the POGIL Project Board of Directors.

Andy Bressette

student photographer Lindsey Campbell

Johnson selected as women’s basketball head coach Thomas Johnson, assistant men’s basketball coach since 2013, has been named head coach of the women’s team. He replaces Stephanie Dunn, who left Berry to accept a coaching position at Mount Paran Christian School in suburban Atlanta.

Johnson first joined the Berry staff after serving as an assistant at NCAA Division I East Tennessee State University. He also has coached at Samford University, Middle Tennessee State University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham and earned four Coach-ofthe-Year honors during 20 years of service at the high Thomas Johnson school level.

Board of Visitors gains alumni members Five alumni are new members of Berry’s Board of Visitors, an advisory group to President Steve Briggs made up of alumni and friends representing a wide range of career and life interests. They are: • Chris A. Goeckel (84c) of Duluth, Ga., founder and former CEO of Dinero Solutions • Jeff Jahn (07C) of Kennesaw, Ga., founder of DynamiX Web Design (see page 14).

• Angie Wilkey Lewis (89C) of Rome, community banking group executive for Synovus • Michael Maney (98C) of Minneapolis, senior director of communications for Target • Araya Mesfin (98C) of Atlanta, senior vice president of wealth management for UBS Financial Services

ALL ROADS LED TO BERRY LAST SPRING for competitors pursuing

championship dreams in two major regional and state athletic competitions.

Record attendance and scintillating on-court action highlighted the Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships, the first NCAA Division I event to be hosted by the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College. A total of 28 teams representing 15 colleges and universities competed over five days, with North Carolina claiming the

women’s title and eventual national champion Virginia winning the men’s crown.

Action also was fast and furious at Valhalla’s Clark Track and Dickey Field, which welcomed huge crowds of spectators as one of three sites for the Georgia High School Association’s state track and field championships. More than 1,200 student-athletes from public and private high schools across Georgia took part in the three-day competition, which will return to Berry in 2018.

SCIENCE MUSEUM OPENS BERRY’S MCALLISTER HALL WAS ENVISIONED WITH A MUSEUM

in mind, featuring wide hallways with ample room for scientific displays meant to inspire curiosity and ignite the imagination. Now, thanks to the generosity of the late Dewey (44c) and Irene (47c) Large, that vision is a reality.

Located on the first floor of McAllister Hall, the Dewey and Irene Large Science Museum showcases a wide range of exhibits – from a fossilized Allosaurus skull to photos from the Hubble Space Telescope – on loan from the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, Ga. The idea of incorporating a museum into McAllister’s design first was championed by Gund Professor of Biology Bruce Conn during his tenure as dean of Berry’s School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences. The possibility intrigued Dewey Large, who had served as curator for the American Museum of Atomic Energy while working at the Institute of

Nuclear Studies in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and he and his wife decided to support it.

“Dewey’s passion for guiding young people into the wonders of science was very much a product of what his experience as a student at Berry did for him,” Conn said. “He took this newly ignited flame from Berry to Oak Ridge, where he applied it to his work with the museum there. He and Irene were excited about bringing this back full circle to Berry as their lasting legacy.”

Their gift of property sold in 2014 after both had died, but current MNS Dean Gary Breton and other Berry officials made sure their wishes were honored. A committee led by Professor of Biology Bill Davin took responsibility for designing the facility and curating the exhibits, while construction was completed by Berry’s physical plant staff. A ribbon-cutting attended by family and friends celebrated the grand opening last spring.

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WELL DONE!

¡Hola Havana!

THE NATION OF CUBA – long off limits to

Americans – was a destination in July for 15 Berry biology and One Health students. The group studied “Tropical Biomedicine and Public Health in Cuba” with Associate Professor of Biology Chris Hall and “Tropical Ecology of Cuba” with Dana Professor of Biology Martin Cipollini.

While on-island, they also had the opportunity to visit many unique UNESCO World Heritage sites.

BERRY IS NOW ONE OF ONLY 64 COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

nationwide with a program fully certified by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and with this recognition of excellence comes a new opportunity for Berry biochemistry majors.

Graduating students from accredited programs are eligible to sit for a standardized exam and receive an ASBMB-certified degree. Dr. Alice Suroviec, chemistry chair, spearheaded the successful accreditation effort.

Milking it for all it’s worth

Conference by the University of Georgia and the Southeast Dairy Herd Information Association.

According to dairy staff, the awards are a direct reflection of the student work program and the dairy student workers’ 365-days-a-year commitment to the care and health of Berry’s herd. So, it should come as no surprise that one of those students – Elli Hayes of Dalton, Ga. – took part in the 2017 Jersey Youth Academy in Columbus, Ohio, during the summer. Thirty students from a total of 20 states were selected for the program based on merit, motivation and preparation.

BERRY’S ROLLINS DAIRY

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MEMBERS OF THE BERRY COLLEGE FORENSICS UNION keep talking

themselves into awards on the national level, bringing home several honors last spring.

Sophomore Nicole Harris was the national champion in extemporaneous speaking at the Novice Nationals tournament in Florida; overall, Berry students placed in seven individual categories and were second as a team in their division. In addition, Berry captured Nicole Harris both of Georgia’s two allotted spots in the Interstate Oratorical Association National Tournament held in Louisiana, with Nicky McHugh (17C) earning his place in the nation’s top 12 by advancing to the semifinal round.

Berry speakers now have claimed 30 national championship wins in the last 14 years.

Legislative learnings student photographer Olivia Mead

won second place in milk quality for the state of Georgia and earned one of 22 prestigious Cream of the Crop Milk Quality Awards presented at the 2017 Georgia Dairy

Successfully speaking

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Good genes

BERRY MAGAZINE • FALL 2017

Elli Hayes

TWO BERRY STUDENTS were among just 30 collegians working at the Georgia State Capitol last spring through the Georgia Legislative Internship Program. Communication major Taylor Anthony interned in the Office of Legislative Counsel, while international studies major Jessie Moore was assigned to the chair of the Health and Human Services Committee. Both are Berry Leadership Fellows and active members of the college community.

Brant Sanderlin

student photographer Saif Sarfani

Emilee Burroughs

Downton double?

“IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A COLLEGE that could double as

the setting of Downton Abbey, Berry College runs away with the award …”

So said Travel and Leisure magazine in naming Berry to its list of “The Most Beautiful Colleges in Every State.”

In making their selections, editors considered such factors as setting and scenery, architecture, and upkeep of grounds. In highlighting Berry, they noted that the campus – with its “27,000 acres of hills, streams, meadows and beautiful architecture” – has already been used as a film site for such major motion pictures as Remember the Titans and Sweet Home Alabama.

Prizeworthy professors BERRY FACULTY MEMBERS continue to make impressive marks in diverse fields. Among many recent distinctions, Professor of English, Rhetoric and Writing Sandra Meek was selected for a third time as Georgia Author of the Year in Poetry, this time for her book

An Ecology of Elsewhere, and Professor of Management Paula Englis was honored with the NIKOS Award for Excellence in Entrepreneurship Research and Practice by the University of Twente, The Netherlands.

Professor and Chair of Communication Brian Carroll received one of only six grants nationally from the Scripps Howard Foundation Visiting Professors in Social Media Program, spending the summer learning about news and informa­ tion delivery in a digital media world by working at WCPO Channel 9 in Cincinnati. In the program’s second phase, a WCPO editor will visit Berry for a week this fall to work with students, faculty and the student-run multi­ media website, Viking Fusion.

Education three-peats

Positive press

EVERY GRADUATING SENIOR

NEW GRADUATE EMILEE

in Berry’s teacher education program passed the Georgia certification exam this year, last year and the year before.

All totaled, 129 well-prepared undergraduates were successful on the rigorous test, achieving a 100-percent three-year pass rate.

Not to be outdone, 100 percent of the 16 candidates for the Master of Arts in teaching degree also passed their state examination over the same three-year period. And Berry’s Educational Leadership Program in Cobb County (Ga.) has completed its third year of addressing the growing need for administrators in Georgia schools by graduating a total of 137 “Berry principals.”

BURROUGHS (17C) took her

Christ-centered, fashion-forward, body-positive magazine for teens, Anointed, on the road to Las Vegas during the summer as an invited participant in the Student Entrepreneur Program of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council.

It was in a Berry entrepre­ neur­ship class that the communication major partnered with current senior Rob Himmelwright to develop a plan for launching her magazine.

She then took her creation all the way to publication and now plans to focus full time on the business of providing positive, uplifting messaging for teenagers.

Researching reefs THE ST. PETERSBURG (FLA.) COASTAL AND MARINE SCIENCE CENTER welcomed someone unusual as a research intern over the summer – an undergraduate student. It was Berry’s Carley Carder, an environmental science major with plans for a career in geological oceanography.

When Carder heard about the United States Geological Survey internship from Associate Professor of Geology Tamie Jovanelly, both went into overdrive to help her gain consideration. Although undergraduates are not normally high on the selection list, Carder’s diving skill, Berry-gained knowledge of isotopic dating methods, faculty support and impressive persistence paid off. She spent the summer working on the Coral Reef Ecosystems Studies project, which is monitoring growth of corals in the U.S. Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and Florida Keys.

BERRY MAGAZINE • FALL 2017

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Brant Sanderlin

DISTINGUISHED Distinguished Achievement KELLY FITE (68C) KELLY FITE IS A NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED FORENSIC SCIENTIST whose work has included such high-profile cases as Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in Memphis, Tenn., and the Alday killings in Donaldsonville, Ga. As a member of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, he personally supervised 250 major homicide crimescene investigations and provided expert reports in thousands of cases. He also has testified hundreds of times in Superior and Federal courts across the Southeast. His areas of specialization include firearm trajectory and crime-scene recon­ struction.

Upon his retirement – after a half-century of distinguished service in law enforcement – Fite was recognized for his selfless efforts to protect and serve the American public by the FBI, GBI, and U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. His many honors include the Governor’s Award (Ga.) for Outstanding Service in State Government, the State of Alabama Attorney General’s Certificate of Appreciation, and recognition by ATF for his leadership and dedication in the Operation Ceasefire Program and outstanding contributions to effective law enforcement in Georgia.

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Berry helped prepare me for what I did in my life. The hundreds of times I’ve testified in court I was so proud to say I have a degree in chemistry from Berry College in Rome.

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BERRY MAGAZINE • FALL 2017

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All of us who went to Berry have a tradition – service above self. I took that to heart, and I’ve always felt like it was my duty to give back.

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Distinguished Service CECIL B. WRIGHT III (73C)

BUSTER WRIGHT IS A PHILANTHROPIST with a particular focus on serving youth through such organizations as the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, United Way, and Rome’s Darlington School and Seven Hills Rotary Club.

He has worked with the Boy Scouts of America for more than 40 years, serving as chair of the Eagle Scout Board of Review and, in 2001, earning the organization’s prestigious Silver Beaver Award for Distinguished Service to Youth.

Wright also has spent countless hours working to better Berry. He has served as vice chair of the Berry College Board of Trustees and chair of the board’s Governance and Real Estate committees, as well as a member of the Master Planning, Budget and Finance, and Student Affairs committees. A member of the steering committee for the LifeReady Campaign, he has championed the Berry Center for Integrity in Leadership since its inception four years ago, including its unique Carper mentoring program and the Cecil B. Wright III Integrity in Leadership Lecture Series. In addition, Wright and wife Janice personally mentor the recipients of a scholarship he endowed in her name as a gift.

2017

ALUMNI AWARDS Nominations for the Distinguished Alumni Awards can be made online at www.berry.edu/alumni/awards.

Entrepreneurial Spirit JIM JOHNSON JR. (85C) JIM JOHNSON, PRESIDENT OF PROGRESS CONTAINER & DISPLAY in Winder, Ga., began his career there as a salesman and then rose to the position of vice president of operations. In that role, he transformed the small company into a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility that has consistently outperformed the overall market by a wide margin.

As president, Johnson has created strategic partnerships that have opened up opportunities and expanded the company’s reach to create one of the best supply chains in the industry. Under his leadership, the company saw 15 percent growth in 2015 and ended the 2016 fiscal year with 23 percent growth and $37.5 million in sales.

Johnson is a past honoree of TiE Atlanta’s Top Entrepreneurs Awards, which are based on company growth, profitability, sustainability, strategy for success, management style, innovation and culture. His company is active in community My time at Berry really opened my eyes to opportu­ service and sponsors a classroom at Rainbow Village nities in the business world and the great people out in Duluth, Ga., which provides homeless families there who are really motivated and passionate about what with housing and educational opportunities. With his company and family, Johnson endowed the Dr. they do. It was just the perfect place for me.

Janna S. Johnson (81C) Gate of Opportunity Scholarship at Berry in honor of his sister.

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Outstanding Young Alumni

”

ASHLEY HARP SHEPPARD (01C) AS A LEADER IN CREATIVE THINKING AND STRATEGY AT JACKSON SPALDING, an Atlanta-based marketing communications agency, Ashley Harp Sheppard has developed and managed social media strategy for brands like Orkin, SCANA Energy and Mattress Firm and applied her creative skills to product launches for Delta and Chick-fil-A. Her work has earned such professional accolades as PRSA Georgia’s Phoenix Award and American Advertising Federation ADDYs. Sheppard was deeply involved with Community Connection, a nonprofit providing social service information and referral, serving as a board member and president. She also pioneered SingleServe, a volunteer group for service-minded single adults. She has been featured in a Council of PR Firms “Making a Difference” profile and was a finalist for the Athens, Ga., Athena Award in I was able to work with amazing professors at Berry. Those recognition of career and community excellence. An experiences helped me believe in myself as a writer and to alumna of Leadership Oconee, Sheppard was pursue that passion. No matter how many years pass, Berry recognized by her peers with the James McLain Leadership Award. In 2009, she was named to the will always be a place I can call home.

Athens Banner-Herald’s “40 under 40” list.

“

”

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11

PRESIDENT’S ESSAY

Paul O’Mara

TEACHER-MENTOR-SCHOLAR

W

HEN PROFESSOR PETER LAWLER DIED

Dr. Stephen R. Briggs

UNEXPECT­EDLY ON

MAY 23, THE NATION LOST A PERCEPTIVE OBSERVER OF THE

AMERICAN SOUL. Highly regarded as a

political philosopher, he was a prolific author and provocative thought leader.

Within days of his death, a dozen heartfelt essays were published commemorating his life’s work.

Berry College’s loss was even more profound. Lawler was one of Berry’s most celebrated faculty members, every bit a living legend. Alluringly quirky, he would no doubt have chuckled at that characterization and then glanced to the side, muttering something ironic about not wanting to be confined to such an unforgiving corner.

Ben Riggs (15C) captured the essence of his professor’s eccentricity in a post to Lawler’s Facebook page, recalling a rainy day when he was sitting in Dr. Michael Bailey’s office as Lawler walked slowly by with a cup of coffee – as if it was a sunny spring day.

“Bailey and I both stopped our conversation and admired what was occurring,” he wrote. “Dr. Lawler lost in thought as rain is pouring down. He never stopped wondering as he wandered.

Something about Lawler drew you in and made you want to know more. It was as

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if his smile was concealing a secret that everyone wanted to know.”

In many ways, Lawler was a study in contrasts, as described by National Affairs editor Yuval Levin: “He was a Southern gentleman, though he had actually grown up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. He was deeply conversant in the popular culture, but also deeply learned in the Western tradition.

He reveled in irony and absurdity, but was more earnest than pretty much any political thinker of our time. He had a habit of speaking in riddles.”

Lawler seemed willfully inattentive to matters of appearance. His hair was habitually disheveled, and he managed to look rumpled even in a jacket and tie. He had a distinctive way of walking and sitting that conveyed a measure of indifference.

And his office was heroically messy, brazenly untended. It was as if to say such things matter little compared to the weight and wonder of ideas rightly understood.

Lawler’s interests were wide-ranging, but the heart of his work was “about coming to terms with the full truth of who we are.” As self-conscious creatures, we are necessarily both moral and mortal, and so we must learn to think rightly about love and death if we are to live well.

This core thesis runs through his 18 books and numerous essays; it also shaped and

informed the manner and the content of his teaching. His project was more than an intellectual pursuit; it also was a relational conviction. The truths that animated his writings and public presentations also invigorated his classroom, his mentoring of students and his down-to-earth befriending of people from all walks of life.

Although Lawler was complicated and sometimes hard to pin down, he provides an inspiring example of what it means to be a teacher-mentor-scholar.

SCHOLAR

Lawler was a student of Democracy in America, in practice and as observed in Alexis de Tocqueville’s seminal work. He showed how the concept of the individual framed in the U.S. Constitution – a compromise encompassing Christian and enlightenment perspectives – has veered increasingly toward a preoccupation with individual freedoms and rights.

We now believe we should be free to do whatever we want as long as it does not directly harm someone else. And in a world enriched by engineering wizardry, we can, more and more, pursue happiness free from the constraints that nature would impose as well as the binds of family, nation and God. Across many areas of interest, Lawler reminded us that this present-day view of the

TEACHER

For Lawler, higher education at its best involved teacher and students together reading a serious book and then arguing with both the text and each other about important ideas and questions. For that reason, he refused to use PowerPoint in the classroom, to compress something complicated into something simple to be memorized. As he teasingly put it: “I occasionally tell students that there are two beautiful things in this room – the great … text we are studying … and me. So why would I have you looking at a screen?”

Lawler wanted to complicate students’ understanding of what it means to live together in community in a way that allowed them to become fully human. He thought it important, as Damon Linker of The Week wrote, to “find oneself productively confused about the most basic questions of human life” and “come face to face with one’s own ignorance about oneself,” believing that to

Paul O’Mara

individual as self-sufficient and autonomous is a myth, a convenient fiction constructed as a means to limit the rule of authority over us.

Our problem is that we have come to believe the myth and thus have become “mere individuals,” uprooted relationally, restless and no longer fully human.

Lawler applied this insight to such diverse topics as science and technology, political and economic policy, higher education, and popular culture. He had a curious affection for television shows, movies and books that depict individuals pursuing freedom with abandonment only to find themselves emotionally adrift and confused as to what they are now free for. According to Hope College Professor of Political Science Jeffrey Polet, Lawler’s “interest in shows such as Girls resulted from his interest in reaching out to the lost and showing them that they had not lost the truth of their own condition, that they could aspire to more.”

Lawler was conservative in that he sought to conserve the best of human insights from pre-modern thinkers. He embraced innovation and progress, but believed that, despite our modern sophistication, we still have much to learn about the human soul from the wisdom of the past.

be the “best place – the truest place – from which to begin thinking about how to live, how to worship, how to engage in politics, and how to make sense of ourselves and the world around us.”

These classroom conversations were captivating. Students loved his seriousness of purpose quickened by his humor. They loved most of all that he took them seriously.

“Some great men make the rest of us feel small,” explained Matt Barrett (97C).

“Though a towering figure, … Lawler had exactly the opposite effect. Every class, every discussion, every unselfishly spent office hour, every pithy comment scribbled in the margin of a blue book, every mirthful wink left me, many, feeling a bit taller, better, encouraged. … He always delivered the praise, encouragement and criticism that my twenty-year-old self so badly needed.”

Lawler taught a range of courses – from American Government to Ancient Political Philosophy to Constitutional Law – and in each, part of his method was to spark classroom debates; his intent was for students to form and defend their own ideas.

As Dan Alban (00C) described, “Engaging with Dr. Lawler is one of the reasons I found being a student at Berry College a far more intellectually challenging and rewarding experience than attending Harvard Law School a few years later.”

MENTOR

Lawler’s formative influence was noted by students time and again.

“He listened to our questions and acknowledged our confusion while we floundered,” wrote Kate Agnew (16C).

“Rather than offering answers, he gave us his friendship. He held our hands along the path and pushed us into the mud without warning. Then he’d jump in with us so that we could all wallow in the unknown together.

He cared about us and never left our side.”

Sara Hinson Bond (05C), one of the self-described “crazy students who tried to restore order to the mad genius of Dr. Lawler’s office,” wrote: “No one has ever challenged and pushed, directed and guided, or inspired and awed me more. At Berry, I was often pulling myself in twelve different directions, trying to figure out who I was, what I wanted, where I wanted to go. But when I went to his chaotic office, I found stillness. He had a way of cutting to the heart of things with his dry wit and forcing me to stop and think.”

His continuing presence in the lives of his former students also was made clear.

“The whole decision-making process has been difficult and yet so markedly filled with grace,” Marissa Peace (15C) wrote. “I can’t begin to say thank you enough for teaching me that I don’t have to have everything figured out to move forward. Your guidance and support continues to challenge me to push myself out of my comfort zone amidst doubt.”

FULLY HUMAN

Lawler was every bit the individual and wonderfully idiosyncratic, with a deep awareness of his freedom to choose. Yet he intentionally committed himself to the ties that constrained his freedom in many ways but that also freed him to be more fully human and deeply happy in all the ways that matter. And he committed himself to Berry for nearly 40 years.

Although he had opportunity to choose other universities, he loved Berry as a virtuous community that valued human dignity and an education of the head, heart and hands. He also loved Berry because he believed that the superiority of a four-year college teacher comes from reaching beyond one’s own specialized discipline. After all, as he once said with a twinkle in his eye, “Everyone who really knows me knows I have no discipline. Just take a look at my office.” B

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13

FAS

ANE

by RICK WOODALL

photos by BRANT SANDERLIN

Jeff Jahn (07C) is quick to brand himself a “recovering introvert,” so it should come as no surprise that his first business pitch left him so panicked that he broke out in a rash and nearly bolted for the door. That he held his ground – and landed the job – speaks volumes about the inner drive of a self-taught computer whiz who launched his first business, hired a full-time employee and bought a house while still a student at Berry.

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T

HERE ARE MANY WAYS TO DESCRIBE JEFF JAHN’S CAREER JOURNEY. CONVENTIONAL IS NOT ONE OF THEM.

Insatiably curious, intensely creative and powerfully motivated, Jahn has forged a path all his own from enterprising teenager providing technical support services out of his parents’ home to successful business owner with six different startups to his credit.

“Being an entrepreneur means you aren’t afraid to take risks,” he said. “You have ideas. You might not be sure what you want to do with them, but you’re going to go out there and figure it out without the safety net of a boss or company to protect you.”

Sitting in the Kennesaw, Ga., offices of DynamiX, the award-winning Web development firm he founded as a Berry sophomore, Jahn almost could be mistaken for one of the students he now mentors in the college’s Campbell School of Business. He sports a DynamiX t-shirt and slight beard and is surrounded by toys and other curiosities symbolic of childhood passions that continue to inspire – from Hot Wheels cars and Disney toys to a life-sized statue of Bart Simpson.

“A lot of what drives me now are the things that I thought were so cool as a little kid,” he said, noting his habit of picking up a new toy car for the office whenever he goes shopping with his son. “If you lose that and ignore what got you excited, that’s when you start to not know who you are anymore.”

Jahn labors under no such uncertainty.

He’s a hard-charger, plain and simple, from the sports cars he drives to the company he has shepherded to explosive revenue growth (35 percent to date in 2017 alone) and extraordinary recognition underscored by more than 750 national and international awards since 2014.

FINDING HIS VOICE

Given all that he’s accomplished in the 10

short years since he graduated from Berry, it’s hard to believe this 2016 and 2017 finalist in the Atlanta Business Chronicle Small Business Person of the Year Awards was once so painfully shy that he often bumped into people because he was staring at his own feet.

Ideas were never a problem. As long as he can remember, Jahn has been dreaming up new and interesting ways of doing things; recently, he stumbled upon a boyhood sketch of a drone-type vehicle for delivering packages, complete with a giant slingshot to get it airborne. Interaction was another

matter; he simply wasn’t comfortable around people. He ultimately overcame this obstacle by attacking it head-on and forcing himself to talk to everyone and anyone who would listen, from strangers in the grocery store to friends of his parents.

“I always try to push myself,” he explained.

“The things that make me nervous or are anxiety-causing I make myself do so that I get past them.”

Especially astute about technology – he built a computer with his dad when he was only 9 – Jahn eventually spun conversations with his parents’ friends into an impromptu business providing IT support for local businesses. He loved the work but shuttered the enterprise after a year due to the inherent and sometimes embarrassing limitations of

trying to run a business as a teenager.

“In 1999 there were no cell phones for kids, so companies would call our house line, let my mom know they wanted to speak with me, and then I would chat with them about their needs,” he recalled. “At the conclusion, since I was 14 and couldn’t drive, I would ask when they could pick me up.”

UP AND RUNNING

Jahn’s next experience in entrepreneur­ ship, and first official business startup, came at Berry. Motivated by the desire to obtain a “really cool alarm system” for his supercharged Mercury Mountaineer SUV, the cashpoor sophomore began looking at services he might exchange for it. Finding the retailer’s Internet presence to be lacking, he decided to build a new website for them, even though he knew nothing about Web development.

Within three months, he had taught himself to design and code and created a website from scratch.

Ready to make his pitch, Jahn donned a collared shirt, drove to Atlanta and entered the business unannounced. He boldly walked up to the first person he saw but was able to spit out only a few words before panic rose in his chest and red splotches broke out on his face.

“Hi … umm, you have a website, but it’s not very good,” he stammered. “I made you a new one. Can I have an alarm?”

A passing salesman’s exclamation – “Dude, what’s wrong with your face?!” – only added to his misery.

“I almost ran,” Jahn recounted. “I was like, ‘They don’t know who I am yet. They won’t remember me. I can run, and nothing bad will happen.’”

Instead, he shakily agreed with the salesman’s assertion that he must be suffering an allergic reaction and somehow closed the deal.

“I think she felt a little bad for me,” Jahn

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15

acknowledged about the woman he had first approached. “She said, ‘You know, people come in here every week trying to sell us a new website. You’re the only person who’s ever come in with something already built.

It’s better than what we have. It’s cheap. Let’s do this.’”

One client quickly became two, with Jahn once again trading his work for upgrades to his car. With the interior of his Mountaineer tricked out in just about every way imaginable, the ambitious college student began considering other applications for his new skill set. Just a few weeks into his junior year at Berry, he took steps to make Web design his business, sketching the name “DynamiX” on a note pad and filing the paperwork for an LLC. GROWING PAINS

Being a full-time business owner and a full-time college student wasn’t as easy as his early successes made it appear. Jahn lost money on project after project, learning some tough lessons in the process. One unscrupulous client disregarded a signed contract and forced him to build a second website for the price of one, threatening to put him “out of business” if he didn’t.

“That helped me see where the red flags were,” Jahn related. “You never learn that stuff except by painful experience.”

A welcome helping hand was provided

by Dr. Paula Englis, a member of Berry’s business faculty who today directs the college’s growing entrepreneurship program. Recognizing his potential almost immediately, Englis became Jahn’s champion, making herself available as a sounding board for his ideas and sharing his story with other faculty members, encouraging them to be flexible in allowing him to make his business the subject of his class projects. It didn’t always work out, but most often it did.

“Faculty loved having a living ‘case’ in their class to use as an example, and they wanted to help him with his business,” Englis explained.

This support proved critical as Jahn juggled the needs of his business with a full 18-hour class load and other challenges of college life. In fall 2006, the Berry senior hired his first full-time employee and – finding himself in need of a new home after his off-campus living arrangements fell through – bought a house in rural Cobb County, resulting in a two-hour roundtrip commute each day. It’s no wonder Englis lauds her former student as “one of the 16

BERRY MAGAZINE • FALL 2017

hardest working people I’ve ever met.”

Jahn is equally gracious in praising his Berry mentor, marveling at her level of commitment and beaming with pride when recalling a celebratory text she sent years after his graduation when one of his subsequent startups – Home Elephant, the first neighborhood-based social media platform – earned a mention in Fast Company magazine.

“She was so invested in my success that she had set up a Google alert so that she knew right away whenever something cool happened,” he raved.

SPREADING THE WEALTH

The success of DynamiX and other ventures has resulted in numerous personal accolades for Jahn, including the Berry Alumni Association’s Entrepreneurial Spirit Award. It’s also made it possible for him to indulge in certain childhood fantasies – the Ferrari F355 Berlinetta some classmates might remember from a poster on his Dana Hall wall is now parked in his garage.

Away from the office, he takes a cue from his father in the time he devotes to son Patrick and daughter Emily. The family-first mentality modeled by his dad – himself an entrepreneur – was reinforced by a 2015 automobile accident that reminded Jahn “to RISK REWARDED stop being an overworking idiot and focus on In the years following graduation, Jahn the things that matter.” married Berry sweetheart Amber Cole (08C) One of his priorities is Berry. Jahn is and worked tirelessly to put DynamiX on the intentional in his service to the college map. A breakthrough came in 2012 when and sees great things on the horizon, he had the opportunity to build a website particularly as others lend their support for political commentator and former to an entrepreneurship presidential program that is building on candidate the institution’s inherent Herman Cain. strengths.

The challenge “Berry does things that was tremendous other colleges don’t,” he – three weeks enthused, “because they’re to overhaul not afraid to try stuff out an existing and see if it works.” bad design in A recent appointee to preparation for the Berry Board of Visitors, a July 4 national Jahn is actively exploring launch – but so new ways to assist Englis were the potential Jeff Jahn with wife Amber, daughter Emily and the next generation rewards. and son Patrick. of aspiring entrepreneurs.

“What I’ve One result is the “Ninja Fund” for found is that life is a plateau with stair entrepreneurship at Berry, which last spring steps,” Jahn said. “You make a good decision, opened the door for two students to win a you go up a step. You make a bad decision, regional “pitch” competition in Nashville, you go down a step. This was an opportunity Tenn. for us to either move up several steps or fall “I know there’s more support today down the stairs and go out of business.” than there used to be, but I want to be in a Working 20-hour days for the next three position to help facilitate the things that I weeks, Jahn and his small team of designers had to do myself,” Jahn said, adding with a met the ambitious deadline, satisfied the laugh, “I got three hours of sleep pretty much high expectations of their client and ensured every night my senior year. I want other a seamless launch for the site. As a result, students like me to get at least five.” B DynamiX was catapulted to new heights of visibility and credibility in the industry. That upward trajectory continues today, allowing Jahn to be extremely selective in his choice of clients while keeping the business intentionally small.

“We don’t want to be a factory,” Jahn said of his staff, which totals 13. “We want to take on a handful of really cool projects, do them right and not try to be everything for everyone.”

by KATHERINE EDMONDS, student writer

Brant Sanderlin

PEARLY PROSPECTS

B

IOLOGY GRADUATE KELLIE SOAFER (17C) MAY HAVE BEEN THE ONLY KID EVER WHO LOVED GOING TO THE DENTIST, and at Berry, she took every oppor­tunity

to prepare for her dream career in dentistry. But if you’re thinking about making an appointment with Soafer a few years from now, you’ll have to wait because she’s chosen to accept a too-good-to-refuse offer of a full-time research assistantship at the Duke Global Health Institute before moving on to dental school.

“I was floored,” Soafer recalled of the on-the-spot job offer delivered by Dr. Gregory Gray, professor of medicine and director of Duke’s prestigious Global Public Health program, while he was on campus leading a research seminar as a guest of Berry’s One Health program. “It suddenly felt as though I was watching my future unfold before my eyes.”

While the offer itself came as a surprise, Soafer’s choices throughout her four years at Berry positioned her for just such an opportunity.

As a Gate of Opportunity Scholar, she knew from the start that work would be a big part of her college experience.

Eager to work in her chosen field and cultivate professional connections within the dental community, Soafer asked for approval to seek out a dentist willing to sponsor her through

the Community and Industry arm of Berry’s Work Experience Program. By her sophomore year, she was assisting Dr. William Bennett at Foundations Orthodontics in Rome.

She supplemented her hours with Bennett as a lab assistant for Berry Associate Professor of Biology Christopher Hall. Her work with Hall, which included research on Trypanosoma cruzi, a parasitic disease of global interest, opened the door to another opportunity assisting Dr. William Nicholson (83C) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with on-campus summer field work related to research on Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

During this time, Soafer received two Berry scholarships supporting her research endeavors – the Richards Undergraduate Research Support Grant and the Kirbo Scholarship – and traveled to the CDC to develop a new project. While there, she got her first glimpse of a career path she had no idea she’d soon walk down.

That path came into sharper focus when Hall suggested she attend Gray’s on-campus presentation focusing on his research and the Duke program. Inspired by the subject matter, she made a point to introduce herself to the speaker afterward, not knowing that Gray had learned about her and her work the previous evening during a conversation with Hall.

Soon, she was giving the visiting professor a tour of the biology lab and sharing the results of her research. She was astonished when, at the end of the tour, he offered her a position at Duke.

Suddenly, the one thing that she’d been so sure about her whole life felt uncertain. Dental school was a lifelong dream, but Duke offered the chance to explore a whole new field of research at a prestigious university.

“In the end, I chose to accept Dr. Gray’s offer,” she stated.

“In the past I was torn between the two fields of research and dentistry. I felt like I had to choose one over the other, but now I know that I want to combine the two. Being able to study in a new field that blends my interests and backgrounds is an added bonus.”

The future dentist – AND global health researcher – paved her own road with hard work and is following it to a future she can sink her teeth into. B

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17

An angeel SOARS W

by KARILON L. ROGERS

photos by BRANT SANDERLIN

HEN BURN PATIENT PATRICIA

EFAW STEPPED ON THE TARMAC

OF THE AIRPORT nearest her parents’ North Carolina home in March 2014 for her first journey with Angel Flight Soars, she found more than a pilot in volunteer Ben Cason (67C). She met her guardian angel.

Four months earlier, Efaw had suffered third-degree burns over 40 percent of her body in a fire at her home in Little River, S.C. Although able to help her visiting

Ben Cason and Patricia Efaw in 2017.

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mother escape the flames, she became trapped herself, passing out on the floor and leaving an image of her body in the ash before being rescued by firefighters. Given just a week to live at the burn center in Augusta, Ga., and put into an induced coma for an eventual two months, she beat the odds and survived. But her long, hard road to recovery has included monthly trips to Augusta for painful surgery after surgery, journeys that Cason and Angel Flight Soars have been able to ease.

Based in Atlanta, AFS is a nonprofit volunteer organization providing free air transportation across the Southeast under the philosophy that “the cost of travel should never stand in the way of people receiving medical care.” With 900 instrument-rated aviators in six states who choose to “fly with a purpose,” AFS is part of a national network helping patients make their way to specialized health care facilities offering help and hope. The volunteer pilots donate both time and resources, covering the cost of flights and fuel themselves.

“It is absolutely the best charitable organization,” said Cason, who has flown

more than 100 “missions” in three years out of his home base in Raleigh, N.C., to destinations as far away as New Jersey, Delaware and Florida. “The staff is amazing.

It takes tremendous coordination between passengers and pilots to arrange more than 3,200 missions a year, and when the weather is bad, it is a nightmare for them to reschedule flights.”

Efaw’s first flight with AFS was Cason’s first as well. The former Air Force pilot had retired in 2011 from a regional leadership position with an insurance brokerage firm and, a few years later, followed his lifelong passion for flying into a role as a full-time instructor with Total Flight Solutions. The job gave him ready access to airplanes, a requirement for service with AFS. Moved by Efaw’s spirit and bravery, Cason told the young woman to call on him whenever she needed a flight, and he since has taken her on the vast majority of her trips to Augusta, first from North Carolina’s Rowan County Airport and now from a facility near her rebuilt home in South Carolina. To date, she has endured nearly 40 surgical procedures – with no end in sight.

“Since I met Ben, he has truly been my guardian angel,” Efaw said. “He took me under his wing and has protected me this whole time. He told me that he has a daughter the same age as me, and he would want someone to treat her kindly. He has even rented a car to take me from the airport to the hospital.”

Although Cason insists that many of the volunteer pilots do more than he does in support of AFS, Director of Mission Operations Bernadette Darnell disagrees.

“Ben is humble,” she said. “There is only one pilot who has done more missions in a year than he has. We say that it doesn’t take a miracle to get patients to their health care destinations, but it does take angels like Ben. Having a big heart is mandatory, and Ben has that.”

Migdalia Thompson of Delaware found out about Cason’s big heart in 2016 when her husband, Warren, needed to travel to a facility in Newnan, Ga., for treatment of metastasized prostate cancer.

“This was the only place to help him, but we didn’t have funds for the travel,” she recalled.

She saw an AFS pamphlet, researched the organization and applied. The Thompsons were quickly accepted for the long trips, which normally involve four legs of flight and four pilots.

“Ben always wants to give us one leg of our trip,” Thompson said, noting that on more than one occasion he has made the full trip himself. “Angel Flight Soars is wonderful. It is a real miracle that came exactly at the moment we needed it. And we love Ben to death!”

FLYING WITH A PURPOSE

Cason had known about AFS for many years but hadn’t had assured access to an airplane until he began working as a ground-school, flight and instrumentsrating instructor with Total Flight Solutions.

Since that time, he has managed to effectively combine the roles of volunteer and teacher, often taking trainees along on AFS missions with the dual intentions of helping them gain the flight hours needed for instrument rating and showing them how it feels to fly with a purpose.

“We have named Ben the ‘Angel Ambassador in North Carolina,’” Darnell said, explaining that Cason not only takes on many missions but also recruits student pilots to volunteer once they complete their training.

“We love that Ben is training pilots that we get to meet,” said Theresa Wilkins, whose husband, James, suffers from brain cancer and must travel from Savannah, Ga., to Duke University’s cancer center every six to eight weeks. “He is a very good instructor. I almost feel like I have a pilot’s license from listening!”

The Wilkinses became frequent passengers of Cason’s after their car literally gave out from making the trip to Duke so often.

“It is overwhelming to me that people would take their valuable time and unselfishly give of their resources to help people like this,” she said.

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Ben Cason at Georgia’s Moody Air Force base in the early 1970s.

GETTING HIS WINGS

Raised on a farm near Sparta, Ga., Cason came to Berry because it gave him the opportunity to work for his education.

He dropped out twice before notice of his eligibility for the draft during the Vietnam War convinced him to finish his studies as a math major. He competed for Berry’s highly successful cross country team and worked on the utility crew, installing many of the street lamps between the Ford Buildings and the newly-constructed Hermann Hall. After graduation, he enlisted in the Air Force, attending Officer Training School and then flight school to become both a navigator and pilot.

He jokes that a lackluster approach to his Berry studies made it all possible.

“It was difficult to get in as a pilot,” he explained, chuckling. “You had to be a college graduate and pass a rather difficult test and a physical exam that washed many out. And you had to have 20/20 vision, uncorrected. Not studying much in college saved me and my eyes.

Guys who studied too much ruined their eyes and couldn’t pass the eye exam!”

What studying he did, however, helped with the navigation examination. Before the days of GPS, the way forward was found through celestial navigation, which involves a great deal of math. Cason scored the highest grade in his class.

After serving in several non-combat locations, Cason was deployed to Thailand’s Ubon Air Base in October 1970 for a 12-month tour of duty. He flew 140 nighttime missions over the Ho Chi Minh Trail as part of an AC-130 Gunship crew with the 16th Special Operations

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Squadron using new and highly classified technology to seek out and destroy enemy truck convoys.

“It was high tech but quite dangerous,” he said. “Almost every night, one or more aircraft were shot down.”

Once stateside, Cason piloted a C-141 cargo airplane all over the world from his base in Charleston, S.C., before completing his service at Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks, Alaska. He left the Air Force in 1978 with the rank of captain and never looked back, except to visit the wives and children of buddies lost in the skies over Vietnam.

“It wasn’t a hard decision to leave,” he said. “My children were getting older, and we were nomads. We’d lived in so many different places, it was time to start a normal life.”

As a civilian, Cason worked for Michelin before serving for 20 years with the insurance brokerage firm. He retired in Wake Forest, N.C., as regional director for much of the South and Mid-Atlantic regions.

SHOWING THE LOVE

his average cost of fuel per flight is $600, and many missions take up an entire day – and then some.

Cason’s big heart goes out to all of his passengers, from the 3-week-old boy born with eye cancer “who could have been one of my grandkids” – to a baby weighing just 11 pounds at 5 months of age due to a birth defect preventing food from entering his stomach – to the Wilkinses, Thompsons and Efaw. His compassion drives him to regularly scour the AFS website looking for flights in his area and to make himself available for missions on a moment’s notice.

“Airline fare is very expensive, and these patients often can’t plan for exact times,” he said. “They don’t know when they will be discharged or what time their treatments will be over, and hotels can cost hundreds. Sometimes they get stuck and need someone to come and get them.”

Often, that someone is Cason, making him a Godsend to people like Efaw, who credits AFS with allowing her to rebuild her life as a hair salon owner in South Carolina.

“I appreciate Ben so much – and his wife, as well,” Efaw emphasized. “His generosity through Angel Flight Soars takes time away from her. It is very giving of both of them to do so much for a stranger. It is amazing the love one human being can show to another.” B

Cason is the proud father of daughters Nancy and Jeanne, a board-certified psychologist and an artist with an internetbased business, respectively, who live in the Denver area with their families, and son Michael, who followed in his father’s footsteps as an Air Force pilot. Michael now commands the 193rd Special Operations Wing in Harrisburg, Pa. Cason also has been blessed with eight grandchildren and his wife of 20 years, Alice.

All of his focus now is on flying, both through his work as an instructor and as a volunteer with AFS. Berry built a background of being a whole, Although he intended to compassionate person. The school didn’t give AFS just a few years, teach greed; it taught compassion. I always the stories of his passengers have left him say it is the friendliest place on earth and the unable to let go, despite most beautiful campus in the world. the large investment of – BEN CASON (67C) time and money his volunteer work requires;

on BERRY Ben

“

”

Campaign Priorities Expand opportunities for students to invest in their own success Develop leaders and entrepreneurs with character and compassion Create places and spaces that spur student achievement Meet current needs and fund future opportunities

What’s in a name?

Integrity.

by KARILON L. ROGERS

WHEN ELVIN AND FLETA PATTERSON SIMS GRADUATED FROM BERRY COLLEGE IN 1935, they could not have known that their names would become synonymous more than 80 years later with the institution’s emphasis on leadership with integrity. In fact, they might have protested the honor. After all, leadership and integrity were so deeply ingrained in the character of this dedicated pair of educators that they never imagined themselves special in any way.

But their son John Edward Sims of Flower Mound, Texas, knows different.

He recognizes that his seemingly ordinary parents were actually anything but as they quietly shaped the character of their two children and the lives of countless others – Elvin as a school principal and part-time pastor; Fleta as a home economics teacher.

And that is why Sims has made a $2 million gift to his parents’ alma mater to fund the Elvin and Fleta Patterson Sims

Directorship of the expanding Berry Center for Integrity in Leadership.

“After I retired and was in a position to, I wanted to make a gift to something beyond what I normally did,” Sims stated. “And one day it just occurred to me: Why don’t I do something for Berry? Berry played a key role in our family. Everything we are grew out of it.”

Certainly, Ed and his older brother, Robert, have Berry to thank for their very existence. That’s because their late parents met on campus. Elvin came from what was in those days a typical Berry background.

His large family lived on a farm about 10 miles outside of Villa Rica, Ga., and although they didn’t have much, education was a priority. When it came time for high school, many siblings lived together in one rented room in town, journeying home by buggy to work the farm on weekends. All became professionals, and Elvin earned a master’s degree in divinity from Mercer University in addition to his Berry physics degree.

Fleta, on the other hand, came from a smaller family and grew up in coastal Dania, Fla. Her motivation for pursuing an advanced education came from within; she was the only person in her family to attend college.

When the pair graduated from Berry, they went their separate ways. But when Elvin secured his first teaching position, he quickly journeyed to Florida to make Fleta his bride.

They then spent a lifetime as educators in Georgia’s Turner and Dooly counties.

Both put a great deal of emphasis on integrity and consistently took leadership roles in their industry and community, encouraging their students and children to do the same. In their later years, many past students reached out to acknowledge their positive influence. And now their lives have been memorialized by their son, whose many years of work in marketing for Fortune 500 companies were guided by their example.

“When presented a challenge of leadership or integrity at work, I often found myself thinking about what my parents might have done,” he explained.

Among many important responsibilities, the new BCIL director will work with Berry faculty to infuse coursework related to personal integrity and leadership into every major and develop tools and training for students to practice ethical problem-solving.

The college expects to fill the position in 2018.

“Ed Sim’s partnership with BCIL will generate immediate returns for our students’ professional development as responsible and caring leaders facing challenging times ahead,” said President Steve Briggs. “We are grateful for his vision and desire to honor his parents in a way that recognizes their lifechanging experience at Berry. Because of his generosity, generations of emerging leaders will be asked to think deeply about issues of conviction and character as part of their Berry experience.”

BERRY MAGAZINE • FALL 2017

21

BEING BERRY ...

President makes comical case for alumni giving

“I ALWAYS KNEW HE HAD IT IN HIM to do something

like that video,” said David Coe (08C) about President Steve Briggs throwing caution – and dignity – to the wind in issuing a one-of-a-kind “I always knew video challenge to “young he had it in him alumni” that stressed the to do some­thing importance of making an like that video.” annual gift of any size to DAVID COE their alma mater.

Last spring, Briggs literally put his money where his mouth is – from the bottom of a pile of Viking football players – when he offered a match of up to $25 per person for gifts made before July 1, 2017, by alumni who graduated since his arrival at Berry 11 years ago (2007-2017).

His President’s Challenge video delivered the message in grand tongue-in-cheek fashion as he gathered Blue Hen eggs in coveralls, drove the class bus in a tuxedo, cut “doughnuts” on a riding mower, encouraged drivers on the Hermann circle to “Honk if you love Berry” while sporting a cobalt-blue wig, and skimmed leaves in the Ford reflecting pool – zinc oxide-covered nose, tacky aloha shirt and all.

“The video was actually very funny seeing Dr. Briggs in all those different costumes and situations,” said Coe, who donated to the student emergency fund that supports Berry students in crisis. “I remember taking it home to my wife and telling her, ‘Hey now, this is actually a catchy video. I will donate because of this. It’s only $5.’”

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BERRY MAGAZINE • FALL 2017

Everyone who viewed the video, envisioned by Alumni Development Director Jennifer Schaknowski and created by Ryan Simmons (07C), was invited to visit Berry’s crowdfunding portal (www.berry.edu/funder) to make a gift directly to a cause of their choosing. Several hundred accepted his challenge, helping push the percentage of young alumni giving at Berry to new heights in the 2016-17 fiscal year. In the process, they provided significant support for some very special projects in each of Berry’s four schools, as well as athletics, student aid and other causes. They also sent an important signal to the outside world that Berry’s younger alumni really do believe in their school.

WHY’D THEY GIVE?

“I know that, looking on Facebook after watching the video, a lot of my “… a lot of my alumni friends were alumni friends commenting about were commenting how much they loved about how much seeing Dr. Briggs being they loved funny and goofy to seeing Dr. Briggs catch our attention,” being funny and said Kelsey Taylor goofy to catch (13C). our attention.”

Impressed that the KELSEY TAYLOR president took time out of his busy schedule to make the video, she looked closely at the crowdfunding options and

decided to give to her alma mater for the first time.

“I liked that you could give to specific areas at Berry instead of a general fund where you don’t know where your money is actually going,” she said, adding, “I feel fulfilled as a young alumna giving back to my school that is still near and dear to my heart.”

The video made a big difference to Kyle Fitting (14C), who found that it “reminded me of everything positive in my Berry experience and just served as my reminder to give back so that others could have similar experi­ ences to my own.”

The same “… reminded me was true for of everything Carson Kay (16C), positive in my who said she Berry wasn’t surprised experience …” to see Briggs KYLE FITTING mowing the lawn or working with chickens because he’s so immersed in campus life. But seeing the president in the reflecting pool made her laugh, and his oncamera offer of a match sealed the deal for her to become a donor.

“On a graduate-student budget, I worried my meager donation would barely scratch the surface,” she explained. “However, knowing that my donation would be

President Briggs under a pile of Vikings

BOLDLY “I felt honored and humbled to give back to the community that gave me so much.”

CARSON KAY

matched made me feel I could help make a small difference. I felt honored and humbled to give back to the community that gave me so much.”

On the other hand, the video had little to do with Blake Bannister’s (12C) participation in the challenge. Outreach from his former coach, Paul Deaton (91C), brought him on board.

“I applaud Dr. Briggs and the President’s Challenge.

I hope it is met with great success,” said the former

captain of men’s crosscountry and track.

“For me, simply connecting with my coach and being aware of his needs did the trick.”

Briggs declined to “I applaud Dr. announce how much Briggs and the his President’s President’s Challenge.”

Challenge cost him out-of-pocket because BLAKE the goal of the effort BANNISTER was to emphasize the act of giving rather than the amount.

“Speaking on camera is one of my least

favorite things to do, as you can tell from the bloopers segment,” Briggs chuckled. “But we wanted young alumni to remember why they loved Berry, and I had worked with Ryan when he was a student making the Kickin’ It Around Berry video, so I knew it would be off the wall. The best moment was being able to lay out flat in the reflecting pool when the day was done.

“I really appreciate all of the young alumni who accepted this challenge. If you loved your time here and want Berry to thrive, I hope you’ll participate in some small way every year.”

Editor’s Note: The President’s Challenge video (and bloopers) can be viewed at: www.berry.edu/presidentschallenge.

“I really appreciate all of the young alumni who accepted this challenge. If you loved your time here and want Berry to thrive, I hope you’ll participate in some small way every year.”

PRESIDENT STEVE BRIGGS

President Briggs and “Betsy” BERRY MAGAZINE • FALL 2017

23

The Helping Berry way students become LifeReady Alumni and friends demonstrated what it means to “Be Berry” this spring with gifts that will change students’ lives now and in the future. Below we list those who made LifeReady Campaign gifts, pledges, bequests and estate commitments of $10,000 or more from Feb.11 to June 20, 2017. We extend sincere thanks for every gift of every size, and it is our privilege to recognize all donors annually in the Berry College Honor Roll of Donors (www.berry.edu/honorroll).

Anonymous, $100,000 to the general fund Anonymous, $10,000 for the choir tour fund Randy and Nancy Berry, $20,000 to support the Berry Information Technology Students program Steven J. Cage (74C), $10,000 for the general fund Callaway Foundation, $15,798 to fund the F.E. Callaway Professorship Alton H. (61c) and Rebecca Browning (61C) Christopher, $22,500 for the Selma Hall Browning Memorial Gate of Opportunity Scholarship Georgia State Society Daughters of the American Revolution, State Regent Joyce Patton, $16,250 for the restoration of windows in Frost Chapel Edward England Jr. (57C) and Evelyn Quarles England (57C), $11,383, with $10,675 supporting the Ed and Evelyn England Endowed Scholarship and $708 for the George W. Cofield Memorial Scholarship Fund Georgia Power Company – Atlanta, $10,000 for the Georgia Power Internship Fund Bradford and Mary Gooch, $10,000 for the athletic administration fund J. Barry (71C) and Michele Irwin (70C) Griswell, $36,000 to support the Chair’s Prize for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

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BERRY MAGAZINE • FALL 2017

Peter N. (53H, 57C) and Emmaline Beard (55H, 59C) Henriksen, $18,088 to support the Henry and Jessie Henriksen Endowed Scholarship IBM, $11,700 for the general fund Dale A. Jones (71C), $13,000, with $12,000 for the Dale Jones Gate of Opportunity Scholarship and $1,000 for the Dale Jones Scholarship Hubert Judd Charitable Trust, $23,550 to support the general fund Roger W. Lusby III (79C) and Candy Caudill Lusby (82c), $17,000, with $12,000 going to the Mr. and Mrs. Roger W. Lusby III Scholarship, $2,000 to the general fund, $2,000 to the Bettyann O’Neill Innovation Fund and $1,000 to the Silver & Blue Save a Student Scholarship Paul C. and Velma Smith Maddox Foundation, $13,500 for the Paul C. and Velma Smith Maddox Scholarship Jason Emmett McMillan (98C) and Renee Spurlock McMillan (97C), $25,000 for the Jeanne Schul Endowed Dance Scholarship Nichols Trust, $10,000 to fund the Rudge Nichols Professorship W. Allen and Julianne Patrick (88C, 00G) Nunnelly, $25,000 for the renovation of Ford Auditorium Pierce Family, $10,000 for championship rings for the Berry football team Malcolm W. (58C) and Yvonne Jackson (59C) Quick, $10,000, with $5,000 for the Dr. L. Doyle Mathis Endowed Gate of Opportunity Scholarship, funded by the Class of 1958C, and $5,000 for the Garland Dickey Endowed Scholarship Fund Brent Dwayne Ragsdale (88C), $20,000 for the renovation of Ford Auditorium John Edward Sims, $2 million to fund the Elvin and Fleta Patterson Sims Directorship of the Berry Center for Integrity in Leadership

Reginald E. (51C) and Maxine Strickland, $25,000 for the Maxine Strickland Endowed Nursing Scholarship S. Denise Sumner (89C), $50,000 for the renovation of Ford Auditorium Frances Wood Wilson Foundation, $30,000 for the renovation of Ford Auditorium WinShape Foundation, $273,933 for the WinShape Scholarship

Bequests The estate of Margaret G. Kincaid, $40,000 unrestricted The estate of Edith Wyatt, $55,412 unrestricted

Priorities remaining ■ New animal science building ■ Renovation of Ford Auditorium ■ Entrepreneurship ■ Berry Center for Integrity in Leadership Always needed ■ Need and work-based scholarships ■ Crowdfunding and other annual gifts ■ Estate gifts For more information, visit www.berry.edu/lifeready.

Thank you!

News from you Wow!

CLASS NOTES – THE ORIGINAL SOCIAL MEDIA 1970s

Thanks for making this one of our largest “News from You” sections in several years! We’re pleased to run EVERY submission that comes our way — and as many of your photos as we can fit — so keep the good news coming! Simply email your news and photos with the subject line “Berry Magazine Class Note” to alumni@berry.edu, and we’ll publish in a future issue. Submissions also can be made online at berry.edu/alumni/infoupdate or via mail at Berry College Alumni Office, P.O. Box 495018, Mount Berry, GA 30149.

Sara Rosenquist (75A) practices clinical psychology in the Raleigh, N.C., area. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Duke University and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Kentucky and performed a residency in medical psychology at Duke University Medical Center. Her website is drsara.com.

Amy Ashworth Cain (77C) completed her Ph.D. in early childhood education at Georgia State University and received the Lorene Pilcher Outstanding Dissertation Award from the GSU College of Education and Human Development. She now serves as a kindergarten and first-grade ESOL teacher in Cobb County, Ga.

1960s

James and Mark Higdon

1940s James Leon Higdon (42H) celebrated his 95th birthday on May 22, 2017. On hand were three family members who followed in his Berry footsteps, son Mark Edward Higdon (78C), grandson Matthew James Higdon (12C, 16G) and granddaughter Lauren Elizabeth Higdon, a current Gate of Opportunity Scholar. James is a retired pilot now living in Knoxville, Tenn. His Berry memories include singing in a quartet at Martha Berry’s funeral.

1950s Leon Elder (54C) has received the Unsung Hero and Volunteer of the Year Award for his work with FAVOR (Friends and Volunteers of Refuges) Florida Keys. His more than 23 years of volunteer service includes removing invasive plant species from National Wildlife Refuge lands, installing signage, and helping with education and outreach.

He resides in Big Pine Key, Fla.

Dr. Jerry C. Davis (61H) is the 2017 recipient of the E. Burr Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award, one of six Distinguished Service Awards presented annually by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

He recently completed his 40th year of service as a college president, first at Alice Lloyd College in Kentucky (1977-88) Jerry C. Davis and now at Missouri’s College of the Ozarks (1988-present).

Charles Albiol (67C) lives in Ocala, Fla., with wife Rebecca. He is owner of Albiol and Associates Realty.

Wylene Vickers Hayes (67C) retired from teaching in 2002 and then taught math to middle-school students part time until her grand­ daughters were born. Though she later earned two advanced degrees from other institutions, she is extremely proud of her Berry education, feeling she received more than just a diploma. She resides in Ball Ground, Ga., with husband Bob Hayes (67C).

The couple recently returned to Berry for their 50th reunion.

Karen Burton Garner Karen Burton Garner (79C) has been named Gwinnett County (Ga.) Public Schools Media Specialist of the Year for her work at Couch Middle School.

1980s Rob Brock (83C) has been elected to a three-year term on the board of directors for the American Feed Industry Association. Rob

lives in Houston and serves as vice president of sales and marketing for Westway Feed Products.

1990s

Kimberly Jones Scales and son Alex Kimberly Jones Scales (91C) recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of the nonprofit organization she founded to “raise up servant leaders among high school students by engaging in local mission projects.” Flood Student Missions has facilitated 40,000 hours of nonprofit service by nearly 5,000 students and has grown to include student-led chapters in 16 schools across four Georgia counties.

She resides in Alpharetta and has two college-age children, one a sophomore at Berry.

W. Suzanne Rowell Thigpen (91C) has been appointed global general counsel for Orica Ltd., a global distributor of commercial explosives to the mining, quarrying, oil, gas, construction and seismic industries. She leads a team of more than 30 lawyers and legal professionals managing legal and government affairs for a business with more than 14,000 employees worldwide.

CLASS YEARS are followed by a letter that indicates Berry status. Uppercase letters denote graduates; lowercase letters denote attended/attending and anticipated year of graduation.

C,c College G,g Graduate school A,a Academy H,h High school SEND YOUR PERSONAL NEWS, which is subject to editing, to: alumni@berry.edu. Photos of sufficient quality will be used at the discretion of the magazine staff. News in this issue was received Feb. 11, 2017 – June 20, 2017.

BERRY MAGAZINE • FALL 2017

25

NEWS FROM YOU

Amelia B. Barton/Alabama Athletics Photography

Kevin Moore (97C) completed his 19th year of teaching and his first year of choral direction at Chapel Hill High School in Douglasville, Ga., in May 2017.

Drew Arrington (98C) is a U.S. Army major responsible for developing the training curriculum for Army chaplains and select chaplains from foreign countries.

The course has received high marks during his tenure as curriculum developer, with the capstone exercise recently earning praise as best in the Army. He is stationed at Fort Jackson in Columbia, S.C., where he lives with wife Allison and daughters Anna, Lizzy and Kate.

MBA), Kentucky and, most recently, Auburn. While at Kentucky, he was named 2015 National Assistant Coach of the Year by Baseball America and the American Baseball Coaches Association.

2000s Lori Pope Todd (01C) has been named Teacher of the Year for Glynn Academy High School in Brunswick, Ga., where she teaches biology and Advanced Placement biology. The seven-year classroom veteran also finished in the top-five for Glynn County Teacher of the Year.

Roderick Owens and Christopher Zefting Roderick Owens (02C), left, and Christopher Zefting (14C) graduated from Harvard Divinity School on May 25, 2017, Roderick with a Master of Divinity degree and Christopher with a master’s in theological studies.

Nicole Hunter Smith (03C) and husband Matt Smith (03C) have moved back to Georgia where Matt has taken a position as quality systems and continuous improvement leader for BASF. Nicole stays home with sons Logan (9) and Owen (7) and daughter Andie (4).

Bethany Tate Lambert (05C) and husband James announce the birth of sons Whit Joshua, Tate Elijah and Mack Isaiah on Jan. 4, 2017. The family resides in Fayetteville, Ga. Amanda Atwood (06C) earned an MBA in logistics and was inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma at the University of North Florida.

She is project administrator for International Auto Processing in Brunswick, Ga.

The Arendale family Brad Bohannon

Brad Bohannon (98C) is the new head baseball coach at the University of Alabama. The Berry baseball alumnus previously served as an NCAA Division I assistant at Wake Forest (where he earned his

Chris Arendale (02C) is vice president of finance with Concur, an SAP company in Bellevue, Wash., where he lives with wife Elizabeth Peek Arendale (01c) and their eight children: Alice (3), Samantha (16), George (13), John (5), Max (15), Henry (17), Mary Jane (10) and Frances (8).

photos by Cliff Lavelle/ClearEdge Photo/courtesy of Atlanta United

Mark Bloom’s (10C) Major League Soccer career brought him home to Georgia this year as a member of the new Atlanta United expansion franchise. Mark, who first reached the top tier of North American professional soccer in 2013, was acquired via trade last December and made his Atlanta United debut April 15 in Montreal.

Jacob and Joshua Freas Kathrine “Katie” Knowles Freas (04C) and husband Scott announce the July 9, 2016, birth of son Jacob William Freas. He joined brother Joshua at the family’s Canton, Ga., home.

Jennifer Kane Martin (04C) teaches high school English and American Sign Language. She resides in Byron, Ga., with her husband and two daughters.

The Cone family

Mark Bloom

26

Whit Joshua, Tate Elijah and Mack Isaiah Lambert

BERRY MAGAZINE • FALL 2017

Brittany Southerland Cone (05C) and husband Blake Cone (04C) announce the Nov. 8, 2016, birth of son Benjamin Blake Cone. The family resides in Kennesaw, Ga.

Nicholas Gerecitano Nicholas Gerecitano (06C) works for the Ultimate Fighting Champion­ ship (UFC) in Las Vegas and was part of the team that won a 2017 Sports Emmy for Outstanding Edited Sports Coverage for UFC Fight Flashback: Diaz vs. McGregor 2.

Clay Culpepper Clay Culpepper (07C) is sniper team leader for the Marietta, Ga., Police Department’s SWAT unit.

He also serves as a firearms and defensive tactics instructor for the team.

NEWS FROM YOU

Allison Hughes Galloup (07C) and husband Joe announce the Feb. 24, 2017, birth of daughter Genevieve. The family resides in Gainesville, Ga.

photo by Kevin Garrett

Genevieve Galloup

Connor Garrett (15C), top left, and Jawad Mazhir (13C), far right, are part of the team behind StudyHubb.

Studying? There’s an app for that!

Ruby Law Jessica Noice Law (07C) of Piedmont, S.C., announces the Feb. 19, 2017, birth of daughter Ruby Elise Law.

CONNOR GARRETT (15C) AND ALEX CHUNG HAVE

applications that would provide students

ALWAYS BEEN ENTREPRENEURS AT HEART,

a social incentive to hit the books.

trying

everything from washing cars to tutoring to earn extra money as kids.

academic performance,” he said. “When

These days, however, their entrepreneur­

people are social it gives them an

ship has moved beyond lemonade stands

incentive to study more frequently.”

to creative technology with the launch of the StudyHubb smartphone app.

Capitalizing on their past experiences

Callie McGinnis Starnes Callie McGinnis Starnes (07C) has been named news director for the Chattanooga NBC television affiliate WRCB-TV3. She previously served as assistant news director, news anchor and reporter. She and husband Brian have two sons, Brody and Brooks.

“I think this is going to help students’

StudyHubb had a soft launch in late April and is now building a user base at Berry and other colleges and universities.

as students – Garrett at Berry and Chung

Another Berry alumnus, Jawad Mazhir

at Kennesaw State – the duo created a

(13C), is serving as chief product officer,

way for students to seek out study

providing marketing and branding

partners online in the same way others

support for the app in addition to

might search for a date. Their app

working on a new suite of education

features a sleek, swipe-able design

tools scheduled for future rollout.

developed by Menlo Technologies that

“Our goal is to gain 20,000 users in

allows users to quickly create study

the Atlanta area this fall,” Garrett said. “I

groups with like-minded peers.

think we can do that. After all, we don’t

Inspired by long nights procrasti­

need to be the smartest. That’s what the

nating in “Club Lib,” the affectionate

app is for. We just need to be the hardest

nickname for Berry’s Memorial Library,

working, and everything else will come.”

Garrett envisioned an app with an

Visit studyhubb.com to learn more.

interface similar to popular social media

by KATHERINE EDMONDS, student writer

BERRY MAGAZINE • FALL 2017

27

NEWS FROM YOU

Where’d you go to college?

WHEN ERIC STILWELL (80C) JOINED A NEW SQUARE DANCE CLUB IN HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS,

the last thing he

Susan Cunningham Tatum (08C) and husband Matt announce the June 7, 2016, birth of second daughter Savannah Joy. She joined sister Jessica at the family home in Ooltewah, Tenn.

expected was to meet someone with shared Berry roots. Then he introduced himself to Ricki Livingston

Perry L. Little (50C).

“I knew Perry was a retired professor from Sam Houston State University,” Stilwell said.

“When he asked where I attended school, I said, ‘I went to the largest college in the world.’ Perry became very still. I then said, ‘Berry College, but you’ve probably never heard of it.’ He flashed the biggest smile I’ve ever seen, shook my hand and told me he was Berry College class of 1950.”

Charlotte Taylor-Martin and David Martin Charlotte Taylor-Martin (09C) married David Martin on Oct. 16, 2016. She has taught in Gwinnett County, Ga., since graduating from Berry and accepted an assistant principal job there for 2017-18.

Ricki Livingston (10C, 12G) has been named academic director of online programs in accounting for the University of Connecticut, overseeing the Master of Science in Accounting (MSA) and Accounting Certificate Program (ACP).

Both men have enjoyed square dancing since their student days. Stilwell, now a retired U.S. Navy captain, knew how to dance

Rachel Stewart

when he came to Berry. Little was introduced to the fun as a freshman in 1946. Now, more than 750 miles from their shared alma mater, the two friends continue to kick up their heels.

Eric Stilwell, left, and Perry Little.

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BERRY MAGAZINE • FALL 2017

Kimberly Harbrecht Kimberly Harbrecht (09C) was named a Public Broadcasting Service digital immersion partner for 2017.

She is one of 25 partners nationwide chosen for the new professional development program. She serves as a digital lead at Public Broadcasting Atlanta, where she also can be heard on WABE 90.1 FM. Ashley Justice Gordon (10C) and husband Ca’Ron announce the April 5, 2017, birth of first child Cash Griffin Gordon. After teaching at the high-school level for seven years, Ashley is now the media specialist at her hometown elementary school. The family resides in Macon, Ga.

Rachel Stewart (11C) was named 2016-17 Teacher of the Year at Model High School in Rome, where she teaches mathematics courses, including Advanced Placement calculus.

Roderick DeShon Battle (12C) is a project manager for Walmart and holds an MBA from Georgia Southern University. He also participates in the Alumni Mentoring Program for Berry’s multicultural and international students. He is married to Hilary Gann Battle (12C), an academic adviser at Kennesaw State University.

Allison Erdman Gregoire (12C) married Brian Gregoire of Westmont, Ill., in the Berry College Chapel on Nov. 5, 2016, with a reception following at Ford Dining Hall. Katherine McDonald (13C) served as maid of honor, and David Chiem (11C) was a groomsman. The couple resides in Atlanta, where Allison is an executive and internal communications specialist for Georgia Power.

NEWS FROM YOU

AlumniAuthors Maddy Esker Maddy Esker (13C) graduated from Ireland’s University College of Dublin School of Veterinary Medicine on June 19, 2017, and has accepted a position at a veterinary practice in Norway. She has passed her veterinary boards in North America and Europe, allowing her to practice on either side of the Atlantic.

John Keiler John Keiler (14C) works as a research biochemist in the research and development department at Deerland Enzymes, an enzyme and probiotic manufacturing and science company in Kennesaw, Ga. He credits his Berry biochemistry degree with preparing him for his success.

Abby Thomas (14C) works as coordinator of corporate partnerships for the Special Olympics in Washington, D.C.

Alyssa Hollingsworth Alyssa Hollingsworth (13C) has landed a two-book, two-continent publishing contract with Macmillian (U.S.) and HotKey Books (U.K.).

Her debut novel, The Eleventh Trade, will hit shelves in fall 2018, with another following in 2019.

Alyssa was a Gate of Opportunity Scholar at Berry who later earned her master’s degree in creative writing for young people from England’s Bath Spa University.

The Morrow family Jesse King Morrow (13C) and Nick Morrow (13C) announce the Nov.16, 2016, birth of first child Sutton Morrow. Jesse graduated from Mercer Law School, passed the bar and became a licensed attorney in 2016. Nick graduated from Mercer Medical School in May 2017. Nick is now serving his residency at Floyd Medical Center in Rome, while Jesse is working as an associate attorney.

Berry magazine has been notified about the following new alumni-authored books since our last listing. Congratulations! n Thomas

W. Adams (51C), My Journey Through Life in Service to Jesus of Nazareth for our Heavenly Father in His SBC-CBF Church, Xlibris, June 2016. n Joe

R. Cook (88C), Flint River User’s Guide,

University of Georgia Press, April 2017. n Joseph Blair Turner (70A), White Boy in the Colored Section, Nathan House Books, June 2016; Blood at Alamance, Nathan House Books, November 2016; and Victim of Valor, Instant Publisher, March 2017. n Laurel

A. Young (99C), P.D. James: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction, McFarland, May 2017.

Elizabeth Anthony Elizabeth Anthony (16C) is one of only 30 students nationally chosen for the prestigious Army Veterinary School scholarship. She has entered the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine and has been sworn into the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant.

Shelby Smith (16C) has completed a pediatric dermatology study at Emory University School of Medicine and has submitted the research abstracts to the International Forum for the Study of Itch. The study will be presented to the Food and Drug Administration for approval to be used in derma­ tology clinics nationwide.

Michael Stephenson (16C) and Allie Reed Stephenson (16C) were wed at Frost Chapel on June 3, 2017.

Jim Kurila (17C) has accepted an internship in the zoological program at SeaWorld in Orlando, Fla.

If you have a newly published book, please submit the information via email to alumni@berry.edu for inclusion in the News from You (class notes) section of Berry magazine, where alumni-authored books will be announced in future issues. Be sure to include your name and class year, book title, publisher, and publication date. You can also submit a photo of yourself or your book cover. Thank you!

BERRY MAGAZINE • FALL 2017

29

Condolences

BERRY COLLEGE EXTENDS SINCERE CONDOLENCES to family and friends of the following alumni and faculty/staff. This list includes notices

received Feb. 11 – June 20, 2017.

1940s

Ollie Knight Hayes (40C, FFS) of Arden, S.C., April 21, 2017.

Frances Threatt Lyman (40C) of Blythewood, S.C., April 8, 2017.

E. Malcolm Sellers (41H) of Baxley, Ga., Feb. 1, 2017.

John W. Eubanks Sr. (42H) of Chattanooga, Tenn., Oct. 6, 2015.

Lou Agnes Wright De Ramus (47H) of Estill Springs, Tenn., March 13, 2017.

Betty Ann Prachard Aitken (49c) of Rome, Aug. 29, 2016.

George Wesley Harper (51C) of Waco, Texas, Feb. 20, 2017.

Sally Fordham Scearce (51c) of Statesboro, Ga., May 14, 2017.

James W. Abercrombie (52c) of Wyandotte, Mich., April 5, 2015.

Loy Herschel “L.H.” Blackwell (52H) of Rome, March 6, 2017.

Paul Howard Turner (52C) of Frostproof, Fla., March 18, 2017.

Helen Walker Stephens (53c) of Nicholson, Ga., March 30, 2016.

Catherine Dickey Westenberger (53H) of Austell, Ga., Oct. 24, 2015.

Jerry C. Entrekin (54C) of Crossville, Tenn., Nov. 1, 2016.

James Robert “Jimmie” Borkowitz (56c) of Cheyenne, Wyo., Nov. 2, 2016.

Gleason L. Pool (56C) of Wedowee, Ala., May 31, 2017.

Paul Eugene McClure (57C) of Dahlonega, Ga., Feb. 28, 2017.

Dora Stuart Patterson (58C) of Brunswick, Ga., May 3, 2017.

Dennis T. “Tony” Adams (59H) of Americus, Ga., Jan. 23, 2017.

Daniel Leon White (66C) of Rome, April 25, 2017.

Stephen W. Barnette (68C) of Rome, Feb. 28, 2016.

1980s

John Edward Ware (82C) of Rome, May 6, 2017.

Bradley Byron Wood (82C) of Buford, Ga., April 11, 2017.

Mary Joan Thomas-Brewer (83C) of Mountain Brook, Ala., June 13, 2017.

Thank y ou 1950s

Avis Sears Wilson (50c) of McDonough, Ga., June 16, 2016.

Alan Elrod (51C) of Cathedral City, Calif., May 19, 2017.

1960s

Doyle Russell Burch (63c) of Saint Augustine, Fla., Jan. 24, 2017.

David Franklin Harper (65C) of Ellijay, Ga., Feb. 12, 2017.

Mary Elizabeth Stanley Riner (65C) of Bluffton, S.C., April 14, 2017.

Cecil M. Carney (66c) of Sanford, Fla., May 28, 2017.

Faculty and Staff

D. Dean Cantrell (FFS) of Milan, Tenn., June 11, 2017.

Peter A. Lawler (FS) of Lindale, Ga., May 23, 2017. (See pages 6 and 12.)

SPECIAL THANKS FOR: Memory and Honor Gifts and Gifts to Named Scholarships and Work Endowments. The following gifts were made in memory or honor of an individual and/or to named scholarships or work endowments Feb. 11 – June 20, 2017.

MEMORY GIFTS

Mrs. Natalie Henderson Bates Scott Jarvis (05C) Mr. Dan U. Biggers Bob Howell (82C) Mark Tate (82C) Ms. Frances Berry Bonnyman Anne Bonnyman Mr. Joshua Bradshaw-Whittemore Brian Krueger (03C) Mr. R. Frank Davis Joan Wilder Davis (66C) Mr. Michael Lester Degner Brian Krueger (03C) Miss Delaney Diamond Brandi Calhoun Diamond (93C) Mr. Robert Dickey Malcolm (58C) and Yvonne Jackson (59C) Quick Mrs. Jane Coker Dunbar Mrs. Estelle F. Higgins Mrs. Anne Sims Hawkins Jim Hawkins (49H, 53C) Mrs. Mary Hedden Hyink Carol Hackett Mr. Jack A. Jones Peter (53H, 57C) and Emmaline Beard (55H, 59C) Henriksen

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Mr. Henry Kummer Katherine Young Armitage (58c) Mrs. Hazel Harris Mayer Kenneth and Beth Mayer Dr. and Mrs. Milton S. McDonald Mackey James McDonald Mrs. Patricia Cannon Meier Carol Wilson Gore (67C) Mrs. Thelma York Morris Will (56C) and Carolyn York (57C) Grantham Lois Wehunt Stewart (50C) Mrs. Gwendolyn B. Murdock Charles Downey (64A) Mrs. Nan Lipscomb Nelms Frank Nelms Mrs. Jane Daniel Nettles Tim Howard (82C) Mrs. Barbara O’Grady Michael O’Grady (88C) Ms. Glenda Harper Orloff Sidney Bell Rita Bohannon Joan E. Christian (72C, 89G) Ouida Word Dickey (50C) Sheila McCoy Don and Jennifer Minnis

Mary Outlaw Mr. and Mrs. Tony Triplitt Carol Willis Sara Hightower Regional Library Mr. J. Dale Pass Shirley Kendall Pass (57c) The Rev. Robert F. Pierce Jr. Johnny Pierce (78C) Mr. Thomas Michael Prewett George Donigian (74C) Dr. R. Allen Scott Jackie Bradley Scott (83C) Mrs. Laura Sexton Elaine Foster The Rev. DeWitt B. Sheffield Delory Blackmon Joyce Coalson Mr. Robert Nathan Smelley Leon (49C) and Gilda Thompson (51C) Morris Mr. John Edward Ware David and Cathy Dohrmann Robert and Libba Harbin The Fletcher School Ms. Virginia R. Webb Bart Cox (92C)

Mrs. Bobbie Hayes Wilson Leon (49C) and Gilda Thompson (51C) Morris

MEMORY GIFTS TO NAMED SCHOLARSHIPS

Perry Anthony Memorial Scholarship Joy Anthony Morrow (54c) Natalie Bates Giving Tree Endowed Award Cecily Crow (94C) Ashley Justice Gordon (10C) Ashley Harzog (13C) Ellen Dutro Hearn (09C) Sydney Hulebak (14C) Alison Lounsbury Ritter (94C) Rhett Smith (07C) Rachel Stewart (11C) Lindsey Taylor Walt Wiley (07C) A. Milton and JoAnn Chambers Endowed Scholarship Allyson Chambers (80C, 84G) Peggie Hicks Ellington (66C) Malcolm (58C) and Yvonne Jackson (59C) Quick Charles (76C) and Terri Albright (77c) Wilkie

Percy N. Clark and Family Scholarship Paul (88G) and Shannon Hickman Clark Tom and Ruth Glover Memorial Scholarship Jeanette Justice Fleming (72C) Jorge A. and Ondina S. Gonzalez Family Endowed Scholarship Georgette deFriesse Larry A. Green Memorial Scholarship Janna Johnson (81C) Melanie Green Jones Joe Ray (93C) Jonathan Randall Hardin Endowed Scholarship Fund John and Brenda Cannafax Lewis A. Hopkins Endowed Scholarship Steve and Linda Hawkins Howard A. Richmond II Ruby Hopkins Outstanding Student Teacher Award Steve and Linda Hawkins Howard A. Richmond II Dr. Peter A. Lawler Endowed Scholarship Steve and Brenda Briggs Tom and Betty Carver Michael (93C) and Maria McEntyre (93C) Cash Bert (82C) and Cathy Clark Kevin and Stephanie Ferguson Mary Hall Jeffrey Horn (87C) Megan Jones (10C) Diane Land (88C) Gregory Lawler Keri Libby (07C) Juanita Lindsey Bettyann O’Neill Iris Papazian Margaret Papazian Katherine Powell Ryan (99C) and LaNell Anderson (98C, 02G) Rakness Adam Richardson Randy and Kathy Richardson Pete and Carol Snyder Roberts Mr. and Mrs. Tony Triplitt Frank Miller Memorial Scholarship Stan (65C) and Wanda Scott (65C) Aldridge Baxter and Beverly Burke Melanie Caldwell Glenda Huggins Davis (65C) Gail Miller Hudon and Rebecca Miller Melanie Prater Miller (91C, 99G) Jeff (75A) and Tara Miller (79A) Smith Tammy Miller Stine (77A) Dr. R. Melvin and Sarah E. Rozar Endowed Scholarship Melvin Rozar (57C) Alexander Whyte Whitaker III Endowed Scholarship Whit (81C) and Maria Crego (85c) Whitaker Nell Gilreath Williams Scholarship Pamela Hefner Jeff Wingo Memorial Scholarship Janna Johnson (81C) Jonathan (99C) and Kelly Brown (99C) Wingo Kay Wingo Craig Allyn Wofford Scholarship Ron Dean Elaine Sexton Foster

HONOR GIFTS

Mr. David L. Beasley Nathan (07c) and Whitni Bledsoe (09C) Freeman Trey Kilgore (13C) Berry Softball Team Debbie Heida Dr. Catherine Hamilton Borer Rick and Fran Buice

Mr. and Mrs. Woody Bruce Ashley Dekle (69C) Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Carver Keith (89C) and Naomi Carver (92c) Williams Ms. Allyson G. Chambers Marti Walstad Mr. and Mrs. Wendell Lamar Cook Will (56C) and Carolyn York (57C) Grantham Mrs. Lisa Michelle Crowley Ryker Lowe Ms. Patsy Denbroeder James Hall Dr. Ouida W. Dickey Malcolm (58C) and Yvonne Jackson (59C) Quick Mrs. Jane Dunbar John Dunbar Mr. George Gaddie Melanie Green Jones Dr. Randolph B. Green Richard and Susan Green Ms. Jerrica Ann Harness Jerry Harness Mr. Clay Johnston Steve Eubanks (63C) Ms. Emily Kate Lambert Debbie Heida Ms. Kasey Lynne Locke Michael and Jody Locke Ms. Margaret Taylor Massey Richard and Sharon Massey Mr. Bowen “Buzz” H. McCoy Randy and Nancy Berry Mr. Gary E. McKnight Luis Leon (67A) Mr. Fred H. Mercer Jr. Larry Webb (63C) Mr. Amos Montgomery Jr. Darcie Kemp Ivey (90C) Ms. Beverly Morgan Heather Maddox Hutchins (01C) Mrs. Kathryn D. Nobles Marti Walstad Mrs. Bettyann O’Neill Tom and Betty Carver Dr. Robert W. Pearson Ouida Word Dickey (50C) The Rev. William O. Priester Harry (57H) and Ginna Wise Ms. Allison Kathleen Robertson Debbie Heida Ms. Miranda Narin Smith Terry Smith and Deborah Dorsey Mr. Timothy H. Tarpley Melanie Green Jones Ms. Cori Ann Thiermann Debbie Heida Mr. Bill G. Thornton Jack Pigott (69A) Dr. Gary A. Waters Tom and Betty Carver Ms. Sydney Britton Weaver Debbie Heida

HONOR GIFTS TO NAMED SCHOLARSHIPS

Julie Ann Bumpus Endowed Scholarship Marcia Rary McConnell (83C) Laura Phillips Katherine Powell Carol Story Dr. Robert L. Frank Legacy Scholarship Donna Thompson Braden (96C) Steven Hames Jeffrey Horn (87C) Randee Walters Paraskevopoulos (92C) Terri Sidaras White (84C) Robert M. Skelton WinShape Scholarship Melissa Fairrel (90C) Todd (88C) and Amber Pruitt (89C) Grubbs Laura Gondolfo Ray (90C) Robert and Vicky Wood (87G) Skelton Terri Sidaras White (84C)

Janice Bracken Wright Endowed Scholarship Alice Enloe

OTHER GIFTS TO NAMED SCHOLARSHIPS AND WORK POSITIONS

Dr. Frank and Kathryn Adams Endowed Scholarship Frank (54H, 58C) and Kathy Adams Tina Bucher Jim Watkins Agriculture Alumni Endowed Scholarship Rodney Hilley (76C) Leo W. Anglin Memorial Scholarship Jacqueline McDowell Lemuel, Mary and James Banks Endowed Scholarship Theresa Kornegay Pittman (63C) W.L. Bell Sr. and B.B. Hill Jr. Gate of Opportunity Scholarship Jimmy (60C) and Luci Hill (60C) Bell Berry Family Gate of Opportunity Scholarship Howie and Anita Berry Lowden Berry High Schools and Academy Work Scholarship Reed (77A, 82C) and Shannon Walburn (81C) Biggers Charles Downey (64A) Bill Harrison (64A) Gary Hicks (67A) Ray Holton (67A) Bill Kline (67A) Ron (64A, 68C) and Judy Senger Sidney Stowers (67A) Gary Sweatt (64A) John R. and Annabel Hodges Bertrand Endowed Scholarship Fred and J’May Rivara Dan Biggers Distinguished Actor Award Shannon Walburn Biggers (81C) W.S. Black Conservation Scholarship Margie Black Glenn Hess (58H, 68C) Alan (64A) and Leanne Killin (69c) Woody Board of Visitors Endowed Internship Scholarship Brad (96C) and Nicole Alexander Horace Brown Chemistry Scholarship Paul Brown Selma Hall Browning Memorial Gate of Opportunity Scholarship Alton (61c) and Becky Browning (61C) Christopher Dr. David R. Burnette Agriculture Leadership Endowed Scholarship Carol Winfrey Burnette (64C) James H. Cammon Endowed Scholarship Jan Harrison Karen Rollins Cannestra Endowed Gate of Opportunity Scholarship Dianne Cannestra N. Gordon Carper Endowed History Scholarship Todd Carper (87C) Kathryn Roseen (76C) Michael Tumminelli (71C) Carpet Capital Chapter Scholarship Harlan (58C) and Doris Reynolds (57C) Chapman Celeste Creswell (93C) Bernice Arnold Holcomb (56H) Tim Howard (82C) Bernice Ogle Whaley (53H) Carpet Capital Alumni Chapter Dr. Harlan Chapman Endowed Gate of Opportunity Scholarship, funded by the Class of 1958C Ronald Norman (58C) Class of 1951C Memorial Endowed Scholarship Reg (51C) and Maxine Strickland Gene Wallace (51C)

Class of 1953H Staley/Loveday Gate of Opportunity Scholarship Charlie (53H, 57C) and Hazel Guthrie (59c) Underwood Class of 1954C Endowed Scholarship Gene Johnson (54C) Jean Mitchell Sheffield (54C) Class of 1955C Scholarship Lynn Thurman Mazzucchi (55C) Ed Parkerson (55C) Class of 1956C Endowed Scholarship Emmett (56C) and Opal Poss (56C) Sims Joyce Jarvis Vickery (56C) Bill (54C) and Janet Tate (55C) Waters Class of 1960C Gate of Opportunity Scholarship Lewis Copeland (60C) John Mixon (60c) W.C. (60C) and Sylvia Davis (60C) Rowland J.B. (60C) and Helen Rice (60C) Stanley Class of 1962C Dairy Milk Quality Manager Endowed Work Position Steve (63C) and Nancy Harkness (62C) Kelly Class of 1963C Gate of Opportunity Scholarship Bettie Hester McClain (63C) Class of 1964C Campus Carrier Editor-inChief Work Endowment Margaret Horne Laighton (64C) Class of 1965C Endowed Gate of Opportunity Scholarship Charles Collins (65C) Del Cook (65C) Jim (65C) and Lottie Snow (65C) Finney Kelly (65C) and Marian Loadholtz (65C) Fite Jacque Terrill Harbison (65C) Faye Lovinggood Hood (65C) Gene (65C) and Sandra Dickerson (66C) McNease Dallas (65C) and Judi Reynolds Jack Riner (65C) Everett (61H, 65C) and Donna Solomons William Solomons (61H, 65C) Koji (65C) and Reba Nichols (67C) Yoda Class of 1966C Assistant Gardener Endowed Work Position Raiford Cantrell (66C) Lois McAllister Hatler (66C) John Provine (66C) Class of 1967C Endowed Gate of Opportunity Scholarship Dorothy Vandiver Boutwell (67C) Charles (68C) and Elaine Cox (67c) Burdette Janie McJunkin Cromer (67C) Billy (67C) and Shirene Mulford (67C) Daniell Bennie (67C) and Lyra Cross (69C) Donahue Janett Cofer Fauley (67C) Nan Fisher (67c) Margaret Forrester (67C) Jerrie Walker Fowler (67C, 81G) Avalene Anderson Galloway (67C) Irene Gunter Hawley (67C) Bob (67C) and Wylene Vickers (67C) Hayes John (67c) and Gerrie Pearson (69c) Holbrook Baughn (69c) and Juanell Hindman (67C) Jenkins Norris Johnson (67C) Sandy Koedyker McDaniel (67C) Garland Meeks (68C) Edwin Moore (67C) Marti Sheats Perkins (67C) Dural Pritchett (63H, 67C) Kay Salmon Shahan (67C) Joan Hughes Shepard (67C) Ann Saywell Spears (67C)

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Andrea Boyd Stanley (67C) Pat Jackson Vaughn (67C) Michael (67C) and Penny White (69C) Walker Koji (65C) and Reba Nichols (67C) Yoda Class of 1969C Endowed Gate of Opportunity Scholarship Joan Yother Bohannon (69C, 85G) William (69C) and Sally Schwartz (69C) Epps Ray Tucker (69C) George W. Cofield Memorial Scholarship Fund Scott (91C, 96G) and Juliana Osvald (99C, 06G) Breithaupt Ed (57C) and Evelyn Quarles (57C) England Larry (57c) and Amelia Rollins (57c) Eidson Willis Hester (57C) Patricia Hoffman Iles (57C) Dean (57C) and Clo Clark (57C) Owens C.L. (57C) and Doris Little (57C) Tate Bill (57C) and Mary Charles Lambert (58C) Traynham Charlie (53H, 57C) and Hazel Guthrie (59c) Underwood Charlie (57C) and Keitha Davis (58C) Weatherford Frank Windham (57c) Dames of the Court of Honor Expendable Scholarship Georgia State Society Dames of the Court of Honor Lillian Dorton Endowed Gate of Opportunity Scholarship Yondi Linker Hall (80C) Jessiruth Smith Doss Scholarship Ebbert (49C) and Kathleen Shivers (49C) Evans Carolyn Denise Edwards Scholarship Ron (56H) and Robbie Barber (56H) Edwards J. Mitchell and Cleone Elrod Scholarship Mitch (37H, 41C) and Cleone Elrod Ed and Evelyn England Endowed Scholarship Ed (57C) and Evelyn Quarles (57C) England Jimmy R. Fletcher Memorial Endowed Scholarship Patsy Grindle Bryan (68C) Alan (64A) and Leanne Killin (69c) Woody Gate of Opportunity Scholarship Glenn Hess (58H, 68C) Gail Howard Gibson Endowed Scholarship Maria Ann Daniel Ed and Gayle Graviett Gmyrek Scholarship Gayle Graviett Gmyrek (67C) Lyn Gresham Endowed Scholarship Loretta Hamby (63C) Larry Webb (63C) Hamilton/Smith Scholarship Evelyn Hamilton (68C) Keri Libby (07C) Jonathan Randall Hardin Endowed Scholarship Fund Bobby and Robbie (94C) Abrams Jonathan Baggett Dan (94C) and Christel Harris Boyd Daniel Carpenter Lee Carter (76c) Laurie Hattaway Chandler (95C) Donna Childres Amanda Cromer (12C, 16G) Penny Evans-Plants (90C) Cindy Gillespie Randy and Nita Hardin Marvin Howlett (72C) and Annette Axley

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Jeff Smith James Terrell Monica Willingham Heneisen Service Award Laurie Hattaway Chandler (95C) Henry and Jessie Henriksen Endowed Scholarship Peter (53H, 57C) and Emmaline Beard (55H, 59C) Henriksen Edna F. Hetsko Scholarship Russ (02C) and Dana Migliore (01C, 07G) Hunt Becky Musser Hosea Scholarship Marshall Jenkins Tim and Odetta Howard Endowed Scholarship Tim Howard (82C) Alice Anderson Hufstader Scholarship Peter Hufstader Barbara Ballanger Hughes Scholarship Barbara Ballanger Hughes (71C) Stacey Spillers Dale Jones Scholarship Dale Jones (71C) Dale Jones Gate of Opportunity Scholarship Dale Jones (71C) H.I. “Ish” Jones Endowed Agriculture Scholarship Jane Jones Block (86C) Ebbert (49C) and Kathleen Shivers (49C) Evans Kappa Delta Pi Endowed Award Mary Clement Lois and Lucy Lampkin Foundation Gate of Opportunity Scholarship Lois and Lucy Lampkin Foundation Fred H. and Mary Loveday Endowed Scholarship Bob (60H) and Tanya Ann Campbell Tom (48H, 52C) and Ollie Hodge (51C) Poe Everett (61H, 65C) and Donna Solomons Cecil Spooner (49H) Alfred Wallace (51H) Alan (64A) and Leanne Killin (69c) Woody Mr. and Mrs. Roger W. Lusby III Endowed Scholarship Roger (79C) and Candy Caudill (82c) Lusby Frazier & Deeter Foundation James N. Luton Endowed Scholarship Tom (48H, 52C) and Ollie Hodge (51C) Poe Paul C. and Velma Smith Maddox Scholarship Paul C. and Velma Smith Maddox Foundation Ross Magoulas Endowed Scholarship Robert and Christine Dodd (70C) Puckett Dr. Charles Scott Markle Award Dale Ash Martha! Centennial Scholarship Reg (51C) and Maxine Strickland Dr. L. Doyle Mathis Endowed Gate of Opportunity Scholarship, funded by the Class of 1958C Billy (58C) and Carol Buchanan (56H, 58c) Blair Morris (58C) and Lecy Garner (59c) Brunson Harlan (58C) and Doris Reynolds (57C) Chapman Celeste Creswell (93C) Kay Davis Dunn (57C) James (57C) and Bonnie Pope (58C) Ellison Ray Fewell (58C) Frances Busha Hart (58C) Bernice Arnold Holcomb (56H) Forrest Jackson (57c) Juanita Womble King (57C) Doyle (58C) and Rheba Burch (57C) Mathis

Ellen May Partridge (57C) Pamela Millwood Pettyjohn (81C, 85G) Margie Grogan Pope (57C) Malcolm (58C) and Yvonne Jackson (59C) Quick Jerry Shelton (58C) Roy (57C) and Ileen Mobley (57C) Stuart Bill (68C) and Avis Cordle (57C) Thornton Bill (57C) and Mary Charles Lambert (58C) Traynham Charlie (53H, 57C) and Hazel Guthrie (59c) Underwood Charlie (57C) and Keitha Davis (58C) Weatherford Bernice Ogle Whaley (53H) Beverly Huff White (58c) Frank Windham (57c) Jerry (56H, 60c) and Louise Conaway (57C) Winton Carpet Capital Alumni Chapter Typhnes Fish and Donald Midkiff Gate of Opportunity Scholarship Donald (57C) and Typhnes Fish (57C) Midkiff Linda Mills Memorial Endowed Scholarship Stacey Spillers Amos Montgomery Scholarship Evelyn Hamilton (68C) Darcie Kemp Ivey (90C) Juanita Scurry (97C) Beverly Philpot Smith (69C) Stacey Spillers Lee-Anda Hutchens Uter (92C) Emily Moothart Scholarship Emily Hoppman Moothart (89C) Music Scholarship Lynn Davis Blalock (82C) Mary and Al Nadassy English Scholarship Tina Bucher Mark Taylor Jim Watkins Lara Whelan Mary Finley Niedrach Endowed Scholarship Mary Finley Niedrach (75A, 97G) NSDAR Scholarship Bonnie Cornish Terri Dean Cynthia Sweeney DAR – Dancing Rabbit Chapter DAR – Franklin County Chapter DAR – Gaspar De Portola Chapter DAR – Huntsville Chapter DAR – Lakeland Chapter DAR – Lucy Knox Chapter DAR – Maryland State Society DAR – New Jersey State Society DAR – Sacramento Chapter DAR – Sam Houston Chapter DAR – Six Flags Chapter NSDAR Bobby Patrick Endowed Scholarship Gene (70C) and Diana Wilson (69C) Lansdale Mary Camp Patrick (69C) Dr. Bob Pearson Scholarship Georgia Power Foundation Inc. Pollard Family Worship Coordinator Expendable Work Position Kathy Pollard Sara Powell Expendable Scholarship John Powell (58H) Kelley Bennett Poydence Endowed Scholarship Dan and Kelley Poydence Amber T. Prince Memorial Scholarship Janna Johnson (81C) Jamie (97C) and Elisha Wright (98C, 04G) Lindner

Barbara Robertson Student Government Association Secretary Endowed Work Position Barbara Robertson (79C) Vesta Salmon Service Scholarship Mary Outlaw Angie Reynolds Gordon and Mattie Schneider Endowed Scholarship Marlene Schneider (49H) Jeanne Schul Endowed Dance Scholarship Joanne R. Brewer Jason E. (98C) and Renee Spurlock (97C) McMillan Jeanne Schul Expendable Dance Scholarship Jason E. (98C) and Renee Spurlock (97C) McMillan Silver & Blue Save a Student Scholarship A total of 283 current students and recent graduates contributed to this scholarship through Berry’s Silver & Blue student philanthropy program.

Visit berry.edu/silverandblue/donors to see their names.

Tom and Barbara Slocum Gate of Opportunity Scholarship Delta Air Lines Foundation Ann Saywell Spears Scholarship Ann Saywell Spears (67C) Dr. Sam Spector Endowed Scholarship Allan Nelson (74G) Mary Alta Sproull Endowed Math Scholarship Jim Ann White Stewart (48H, 51C) Maxine Strickland Endowed Nursing Scholarship Deborah Hill Reg (51C) and Maxine Strickland Student Scholarships Kristen Diliberto-Macaluso Jennifer Harris (93C) Laura Lieberman (09C) Michael Maney (98C) Mac McDowell (59C) Martin (54C) and Barbara Camp (55C) McElyea Julie Patrick Nunnelly (88C, 00G) Matt Ragan (98C) and Shelly DriskellRagan (96C) Follett Higher Education Group Richard and Barbara Gaby Foundation Study Abroad Award Vincent Gregoire Fred J. Tharpe Endowed Scholarship Fred Tharpe (68A) Tibbals/Zellars Endowed Scholarship Randy Tibbals (79C) John Zellars Jr. Foundation The Trey Tidwell Experience: A Scholarship for Musical Discovery Mandy Tidwell (93C) Microsoft Corp.

Troy/Gardner Endowed Art History Award Virginia Troy Courtney M. Urquhart Endowed Communication Scholarship Randy and Judy Urquhart James Van Meerten Study Abroad Scholarship Jim Van Meerten (70C) James E. and Dorris Waters Endowed Scholarship Michael Waters WinShape Scholarship WinShape Foundation Richard Wood Scholarship Bill Crenshaw (65A) PFC Robert Adrian Worthington Endowed Scholarship Earl Worthington (52C)

Alumni Weekend & Work Week

Highlights

Special Recognition CLASS OF 1967C • Viking Cup (giving participation) • Martha Cup (percentage increase in giving participation) CLASS OF 1962H • Ford Cup (total gifts) CLASS OF 1967A • Reunion Cup (percentage in attendance) INDIVIDUALS • Rose Nix (FFS), Honorary Alumna • Dr. Randy Green (37H, 41C), Virginia R. Webb Exceptional Service Award • Al (61c) and Becky Browning (61C) Christopher, Alumni Association President’s Award • Dr. Bob Puckett, Berry High School and Academy Former Faculty/Staff Award

Mark your calendar for next year’s events: Alumni Weekend: May 18-20 Alumni Work Week: May 20-25

photos by BRANT SANDERLIN, ALAN STOREY and student OLIVIA MEAD BERRY MAGAZINE • FALL 2017

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

Solar spectacle

Valhalla was the place to be Aug. 21 as hundreds of students, faculty and staff paused on the first day of classes to gaze skyward – with Berry-themed eye protection, of course – at the “Great American Eclipse.” Guests munched on “Moon Pies” while enjoying narration by Professor of Astronomy and Physics Todd Timberlake, all with Moondance and other eclipse-appropriate tunes playing in the background. photos by Brant Sanderlin