Spring 2022 – The Talon

Central Methodist University

TALON

Celebrating Central

THE MAGAZINE FOR EAGLE ALUMNI

Spring 2022

Setting an Example of Service

W

atching from the dais at the catalyst and driving force behind our $6.5 commencement, I couldn’t help million project on the Fayette Square. J.B. was but think about how blessed appropriately selected last summer as the first Central is because of its alumni and friends. recipient of the Central Methodist University We sent another 275 young souls out into President’s Medal. the world last month, and they’re going to do Dr. Joe Geist is one of our shining great things, just like the alumni of yesteryear. examples of what a liberal arts college is all They will become teachers or doctors. about. He runs our esteemed Ashby Hodge They will become nurses, or lawyers, or Gallery of American Art. Alumni still talk software analysts. Or they will become about his famous field trips to galleries judges or business owners. around the world. They tell They will be some of the stories about what a joy he most well-rounded young was in the classroom as well. people on the planet. They’ll CMU alums love Joe, who is be community servants and simply focused on serving volunteers, seeking to make students and preparing them their home and their world a for their life journey. better place.

Whether it’s the Bentons or That seems to be a common Binghams, Joe can talk art; and thread for Central grads. Our he loves showing off our wide newly-minted alumni leave array of alumni collections Dr. Roger Drake, President here and do great things. They from Glenn Cox, ’51, Martha make a difference in someone’s Rogers Holman, ’47, and John world each and every day.

Hutcherson, ’56, to name a few.

We’ve had so many over the years. While While Joe has a chance to engage many many of them do good in their community, Central students still today, another alumnus they also manage to remember Central and serves just as many of them, often in accomplish great things on behalf of this obscurity. All of Missouri’s private college college. Just a few to consider: J.B. Waggoner, students owe a debt of gratitude to Bill ’91, faculty emeritus Joe Geist, Bill Gamble, Gamble, who leads ICUM – the Independent ’74, Susan Stegeman, ’84 , and Ted House, ‘81. Colleges and Universities of Missouri.

I’ll start with J.B. Waggoner. When it Not many Central students know Bill, but comes to doing good in his community and for he still helps them. He fights for them every Central, J.B. has a motor that never stops. He year as a lobbyist in Jefferson City. Year in, humbly and quietly works behind the scenes year out, Bill rolls up his sleeves and battles to make Fayette and CMU a better place. on behalf of independent colleges, making He works tirelessly in economic sure that state grant money and Bright Flight development, chairing the Moberly Area dollars remain available for students from Economic Development Corporation, and he is private colleges like Central. Bill is featured on

Page 18.

Like Bill, Susan Stegeman’s work goes largely unnoticed by the masses, yet she serves so many students each year. Susan is a prolific fundraiser and a dedicated servant leader, guiding MCF, the Missouri Colleges Fund.

She says MCF is generosity and community service at its highest level.

Susan is a proud alumna and an inspiring leader. She, too, is featured on Page 18, and she humbly credits Central and another alum, Clyde Lear, ’66, for shaping her into the person she is today.

And I can’t send you off into the summer without a word about Ted House, our commencement speaker. He described himself to the packed crowd as a recovering politician, but he was, and remains, the epitome of a public servant. Now retired, he was a state legislator and a circuit judge. We are blessed to have him serving on our board of trustees.

His message to the graduates was powerful: “The only life worth living is a life of service to others. CMU has equipped you to serve. Central Methodist graduates are servants. . . servants in the classrooms, in clinics and hospitals, in business and research facilities, in government and in churches. Our prayer is that God will take your life and use you for His purposes. . .”

This summer, let’s all make the world a better place. Let’s do what Central teaches.

Let’s serve.

Ted House, ’81, speaking at commencement

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CMU Senior Staff Dr. Roger D. Drake, President Dr. Rita Gulstad, Provost Brad Dixon, ‘07, Vice President for Student Life

Central Methodist University

TALON Spring 2022 Magazine

Chad Gaines, Vice President for Technology and Planning Dr. Joe Parisi, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Athletics Dr. Bill Sheehan Jr., ’84, Vice President for Advancement and Alumni Relations Julee Sherman, Vice President for Finance and Administration

Talon Staff Scott Queen, Editor Executive Director for Marketing and Communications 660-248-6238 | squeen@centralmethodist.edu Joe Waner Assistant Director for Marketing and Communications 660-248-6629 | jwaner@centralmethodist.edu

‘Doc R’: 43 Years Developing Minds ........................................................... 4 Spring 2022 Commencement...................................................................... 6 The Mud-Soaked Path to Success .............................................................. 12 Jimenez Becomes First Homegrown Teacher.............................................. 15

Emily Kesel Media Content Specialist 660-248-6684 | ekesel@centralmethodist.edu

Quigley-Duggan Goes Out on a High Note................................................ 18

Katie Bedsaul Social Media Specialist 660-248-6391 | kbedsaul@centralmethodist.edu

A Story About Love...and Delivering 11,687 Babies ................................... 26

Rachel Moore Assistant Athletic Director / Director of Athletic Communication 660-248-6358 | rmoore@centralmethodist.edu

Campus News........................................................................................... 20

New Alumni Board Leaders....................................................................... 28 Rivera on Her Way to Becoming OTA........................................................ 30 Youth Ministry Thriving at Pleasant Grove................................................... 32

Deanna Cooper, ’15 Director of Development 660-248-6397 | dcooper@centralmethodist.edu

Alumni News and Notes............................................................................ 33

Stasia Sherman Director of Alumni Engagement 660-248-6239 | ssherman@centralmethodist.edu

Hall of Sponsors Spring 2022..................................................................... 38

Alissa Watkins Director of Annual Giving 660-248-6683 | awatkins@centralmethodist.edu

Contributing Writers Grace Unnvik, ’21

On The Cover: It’s been a busy and successful year at Central, culminating with a campus-wide pep rally. We had more than enough fun-spirited students to spell out CMU on the floor inside Puckett Fieldhouse.

Composite drone photo by Joe Waner

In Memoriam............................................................................................. 36

Eagle Athletics............................................................................................ 40

Upcoming CMU Alumni Events: Athletic Auction .............................................................................. July 15 Family Day ............................................................................ September 24 Homecoming 2022 ................................................................ October 7-9 Visit www.centralalumnievents.com for more information

Our Mission CMU fosters a diverse and caring community, empowering students to become lifelong learners, committed to academic excellence, prepared to engage in a complex world.

Spring 2022 | The Talon 3

He Was Only Supposed to Stay A Year ‘Doc R’ Spent 43 Years Challenging, Developing Young Minds

BY SCOTT QUEEN

T

his summer, Dr. O.A. “Berre” Robinson is building an addition at his stately home on West Davis Street in Fayette. Robinson, who retired from Central Methodist University in 2021, “didn’t have any place” for all his books.

Robinson has been building something even greater for the past 43 years – he’s been building young minds and strong relationships. The longtime CMU philosophy professor can’t seem to part with the books that helped him nurture 10,000 CMU students along the way.

“I really never thought about doing anything other than this,” Robinson said. “I’ve been offered other positions but turned them all down.”

He remembers the exact moment that he decided Central Methodist was the place he would put down roots for the rest of his career.

“It was a 9 o’clock class, and a young woman came in wearing a chicken suit,” he laughed. “I lost it. I doubled over laughing. That’s when I decided this was a good fit and that I felt comfortable here.”

One of the best rewards from teaching, he says, is getting “to see the ‘aha moment’ when something finally makes sense to a student.

When their face lights up with understanding. That’s why I stayed in this business.”

At Central over the years, Robinson, who was hired by President Joe Howell, has taught the entire philosophy sequence: history, ethics, abnormal psychology, the study of death and dying, and a class simply called "Happiness." And he has served as dean and vice president.

“I came as an adjunct and was only supposed to stay a year,” he said. “But it worked out pretty well.”

Robinson has seen a lot at Central – he’s seen it at its best and at its worst.

“There were some hard times institutionally, but I’m really happy where things are now,” he said.

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“Central is pretty healthy financially. We have a good student body, and academically, we are doing a good job.”

“Doc R,” as he is affectionately called, has had many wonderful students over the years.

“There are just so many who have gone so many different directions and done so many great things,” he said. “I am so proud of them all.

“I never tried to be their friend,” Robinson added. “They didn’t need me to be a friend. They needed me to be their professor. I tried in my classes to give them some basics but not just information. I wanted them to understand the information and how important it was in their lives.”

He hears back from students frequently. Even the ones who didn’t do so well.

“I’ve had some who thanked me for failing them – they actually failed themselves,” he said. “But they told me it was a turning point in their lives.”

“There were some hard times institutionally, but I’m really happy where things are now . . . Central is pretty healthy financially. We have a good student body, and academically, we are doing a good job.”

In reality, Robinson has been far more than a professor. He’s been a mentor, advisor, counselor, and even served as an emergency driver to the hospital for students. He has published numerous articles, books, papers, and presentations over the years, and he has a long record of community service in Fayette.

Dr. Rita Gulstad, provost, said Robinson, now professor emeritus, was dedicated and faithful, and “cared for his students and wanted them to do their very best. He challenged them and supported them.”

Gulstad said students flocked to his ultra-popular “Happiness” class, which focused on personal peace and general happiness in life. This was a special course he developed over an intensive period one summer.

Robinson earned his PhD in philosophy in 1977, his master’s in 1976, and his bachelor’s in 1964. He is respected by his colleagues across campus, including longtime friend Dr. John Carter.

“Berre was one of the two faculty I first met in the summer of 1980,” Carter said. “He had a long line of students he shepherded toward graduation, including my sister. . . these students offer a chorus of success stories in which Doc R played a critical role.”

Carter said that Robinson and his wife, Anne, a graduate of the MU journalism school, “made us feel welcome at Central and in Fayette in the way I came to know as his hallmark.”

Robinson, who Carter described as “not flashy but substantive,” married Anne in 1968. They had met years earlier by chance on a train, both returning to mid-Missouri colleges from Thanksgiving break.

During the Vietnam War, Robinson was in the Air Force and stationed in Saigon. He was in Cholon (the Chinese market area of Saigon), during the Tet Offensive. Shortly thereafter, he and Anne arranged to be married on his “R and R” in Hawaii. He returned to Saigon, and she returned to San Francisco where she worked.

And they’ve been together ever since, most of the time being spent in that stately house on West Davis. Building minds. And now a place for books.

Middle right, Abby Addleman, ‘18, receives her Robinson Hall of Sponsors Scholarship from President Drake and Anne and Berre Robinson. At right, Anne Robinson with her husband, Berre.

Spring 2022 | The Talon 5

Spring

Commencem T

he Central Methodist University community packed Puckett Fieldhouse on May 14 for the Spring 2022 Commencement ceremony. Graduates receiving their master’s, bachelor’s, and associate’s degrees were celebrated by their families, friends, and honored guests for their achievements at Central.

This year’s commencement address was given by Ted House, ’81, a former Missouri judge and legislator who earned a degree in political science from CMU. House, who labeled himself a “recovering politician,” told graduates that he and the institution have great confidence in their ability to lead and advised them to continue the CMU tradition of service.

“Today, you embrace with gratitude the mantle of leadership, the joy of service, the torch of Central’s legacy,” he said. “Let that torch burn deep into your hearts. We who love this place, and who carry Central Methodist with us in our souls, welcome you and invite you to share that magical legacy with generations of Eagles to come.

While this year’s graduates took in House’s words and awaited their chance to cross the stage, CMU President Dr. Roger Drake recognized Rev. Jerry Moon with an honorary Bachelor of Arts degree. Moon came to Central in 1953 and was one credit shy of graduating when he left to become a rural Methodist minister. Drake and others agreed that he has more than earned the recognition through his service to his community and to Central.

The members of the class of 2022 graduating with honors were recognized as well, along with the winners of Central’s top three awards given annually. This year’s Selecman Award went to Grace McIntosh, while Caroline Weatherford was given the Human Relations Award, and Jessica Justice earned the Victoria Award.

McIntosh won Central’s most prestigious award after maintaining a 4.0 in the marine biology program and graduating with honors in the major.

She was a member of the NDA National Champion dance team, president of Zeta Psi Lamba and the marine biology club, and a tutor for seven different classes. The Selecman was just one of her many awards earned in her time at Central.

Weatherford’s Human Relations Award comes as no surprise to those who know her. Serving as the president of the Student Government Association, she embodied the spirit of the award with her contributions to the school. Weatherford also graduated with a 4.0, majoring in exercise science and minoring in biology.

Justice was voted the Victoria Award winner for best demonstrating

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2022

dedication and the principles of CMU. She was a leader and member of more than half a dozen organizations, including the president of Game Geeks and the Sigma Tau Delta English honor society. She won numerous awards this year and graduated with a 4.0 after majoring in education with an emphasis in mathematics.

Central is proud of these and all its Spring 2022 graduates.

Above: Jessica Justice receives the Victoria Award from vice president of student life, Brad Dixon, ’07. Opposite page top: Javionna Smith and Chely Stratton. Middle left: Grace McIntosh receives the Selecman Achievement Award. Bottom left: Caroline Weatherford receives the Human Relations Award. Bottom right: Prof. John Flanders leads the graduation procession.

ment

Spring 2022 | The Talon 7

“Today, you embrace with gratitude, the mantle of leadership, the joy of service, the torch of Central’s legacy” -Ted House, ‘81

8 The Talon | Spring 2022

Achievement Awards Spring 2022 Accounting Excellence Award — Leah Smith ACDA National Student Choral Award — Morgan Puffer Alpha Epsilon Delta Anatomy Award — Grace Wilkinson Alpha Epsilon Delta Harold L. Momberg Award for the Outstanding Pre-Med Student — Chely Stratton Alpha Epsilon Delta Physiology Award — Tierra Wood American Nurses Association Award — Lisette Gonzales Banking and Finance Excellence Award Aquila Muneamo Da Silva Mucubaquire Dr. Robert Barker Award for Excellence in Sociology — Sara J. Ratliff Noble Emmett Baskett Scholarship in Business Award Alessandro Lacerti and Mason Parker Beta Beta Beta Outstanding General Biology Students Samantha Doisy and Joshua Henderson Clyde and Hazel Blattner Mathematics Award — Alysssa Moore Dr. Richard T. Bond Mathematics Award — Jessica Justice General Business Award (Business Administration) — Marina Pereira Alsonso International Business — Rachel Smith Herman C. Byrd Award — Jacob Keller CMU Biology Alumni Award — Whitney Pascoe Communication Department Student Media Award — Joshua A. Morrow Criminal Justice Excellence Award — Katelyn E. Streeter R. Paul Drummond Memorial Award — Connor Rich Estill Entrepreneurship Award — Tatsuya Mochizuki Future Entrepreneurship Award — Bryanna Cribb Gentry Estill Award for Total Business Excellence — Patrick Gittemeier Susan Estill Award for Total Business Excellence — Rachel Smith Gamma Sigma Epsilon Excellence Award in General Chemistry Samantha Doisy and Carter Kawkins Gamma Sigma Epsilon Excellence Award in Organic Chemistry Peyton Schafer and Katie Weber Dr. Joseph E. Geist Prize in Performing Arts — KeKona Asi Lisa Powell Goessling Merit Scholarship — Ashlee Godier Chester E. Hanson Outstanding Computer Science Award — Heran Gietu The Judge Andrew Jackson Higgins Award for Excellence in Pre-Law Studies — Johnathan P. Kirmse Martin C. Harral Memorial Music Award — John T. Bott Hern Award for Excellence in Religious Studies — Brittany M. Dush Dr. George Heslar Leadership & Service Memorial Scholarship Amanda Mantel John C. Hinkle Scholarship — Amanda Mantel The Keith House Band Fellow - Tour Manager — Madalyn Bartholomew Inscape Poetry Award — William Delaughter lnscape Fiction Award — Keagan O’Riley Inscape Creative Nonfiction Award — Alissa Simmons Inscape Photography & Art Award — Sara Ratliff Inscape Cover Art Award — Emily Millstead Nancy Thompson Jones Gem Award — Emily Gann and Dalton Myler Dr. Glenn R. Joyce Memorial Award — Micah Blankenship Kappa Mu Epsilon Mathematics Award — Jayklin Smith Martin E. Kooi Excellence in Communication — Myah J. Salas Martin E. Kooi Excellence in Theatre Arts — Hailey Sage Mike Magyar Fine Arts Leadership Award — Makenzie Sisney Excellence in Management Award — Bryanna Cribb Future Marketing and Advertiser Award — Keighlan Cronin Marketing and Advertising Excellence Award — Allison Procter The General Lewis M. Means Award for Excellence in the Study of Political Science — Chase R. Dembowski

The Missouri Federation of Music Clubs — Ezechiel Daos Professor Paul A. Montemurro Award — Mike Watts MTNA Student Achievement Recognition Award — Jessica Arnold Dane Nelson Memorial Award — Addylyn Gabriel Dr. Niels C. Nielsen Outstanding Chemistry Student Award — Tate Hananers Outstanding Nurse Clinician Award — Grace Turnbow Outstanding Nursing Scholar Award — Brea Hindersman Outstanding Senior in Accounting Award — Zachary Severns Outstanding Senior in Business Award — Allison Procter Outstanding Senior in Sports Management — Andrea De Miguel Villar Pannier, Cavanaugh and Robb Excellence in Education Award McGwire Dean and Mariah Smith Dr. Larry J. Peery Award for Excellence in Physics — Dillan Lembke Pennacle Award — Taylor Dial Dr. Jerry Priddy Mathematics Award — Jayklin Smith Phi Mu Alpha Honor Award — Connor Sanchegraw Phi Mu Alpha Scholastic Award — Wesley Spargo Pi Gamma Mu Award for Scholastic Excellence — Nzelu K. Maitha Excellence in Psychology Award — Rebecca D. Neighbors Glenn C. Riegel Student Science Award — Jessica Justice Sarah Rutherford Prize — Grace McIntosh W.D. Settle Memorial Music Education Award — Hannah Bailey Seward Award for Excellence in Band — Madalyn Bartholomew Ken and Nancy Seward Band Fellow — Makenzie Sisney Shallenburger Accounting Principles Excellence Award Exavier Coburn and Evan Workman Sigma Alpha Iota Collegiate Honor Award — KeKona Asi Sigma Alpha Iota Scholastic Award Joni Lehman and Elyse Travis Sigma Theta Ta, International Nursing Honor Society Carlie Baldus Abbigayle Danner Grace Turnbow Kelsey Brown Summer Einerson Alyssa Yung Abigail Burns Brea Hindersan Sigma Epsilon Pi Madalyn G. Brea D. Hindersmann Allison K. Procter Bartholomew Jessica A. Justice Sara J. Ratliff Micah J. Blankenship Tatenda Katsande Mariah D. Smith Kelsey F. Brown Kaitlin A. Larison Elyse M. Travis Alexis R. Carrasco Joni L. Lehman Marius O. Unnvik Ezechiel A. Oca Daos Grace A. McIntosh Payton K. Warren Jacqueline T. Decker Danielle E. McQuenn Kaitlyn E. Weber Elise K. Dewey Kelsey M. Noll Caroline R. Weatherford Addylyn E. Gabriel Taylor P. Pennington Luther T. Spayde Award — Phillip Rob Brown Harold W. Sunoo History and Political Science Award — Sara J. Ratliff T. Cecil Swackhamer Award — Wesley C. Spargo Swinney Conservatory Outstanding Freshman Award — Paul Reinert Swinney Conservatory Outstanding Musician Award — Bailey Caldwell Swinney Conservatory Super Hero Award — Wesley Spargo Theta Alpha Kappa — Hunter M. Melugin, Wesley C. Spargo, Elyse M. Travis, and Kennedy K. Walker Helen Puckett Thogmorton Award for Excellence in Music — Mikayla Kinkead Raney Winter NAfME-C Award — Michelle Swink Erwin and Hazel Wiedle Outstanding Nursing Graduate — Robert “Wade” Spilman Jeff Wilcox “Raising the Bar Award” — Tate Hanners Dr. Farris H. and Leona Woods Memorial Award in Biology — Emily Lawler

Clockwise from top left, Vanessa Hughws, Jonathan Brown, Morgan Wilson and Katelyn Streeter, Brandy Wedlock, Grace McIntosh, Fernando Jimenez, Theresa Keown and Elizabeth Dufour, Cameron Newbill

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Want more photos? Check out our Flickr album https://bit.ly/39qibfR 10 The Talon | Spring 2022

Opposite Page: top left, Ted house fist bumps President Roger Drake. Top right, Alexis Carrasco, Lydia Stewart, and Elyse Travis. Jerry Moon recieves an honorary degree from Drake. Botoom left, Michelle Swink. Bottom right, KeKona Asi makes a heart with her hands.

This Page: Top left, Drake and Megan Hess. Top right, Rachel Smith, Mason Fitzgerald, Kaitlin Larison, and Nicolas Thebeau. Middle left, Mackenzie Becker, Chyler Hahner, Kristofer Samuels, Kylie Campbell, Summer Einerson, Alexis Garlock, and Matthew Hoss. Middle right, Drake with Robert Wiegers. Bottom Left, Ted House. Bottom Right, Connor Sanchegraw, Michelle Swink, and Megan Adams

Spring 2022 | The Talon 11

The Mud-Soaked Path to Success

BY EMILY KESEL

I

t’s a typically gray-skied, rainy day in Valkenburg, Netherlands, and fans of a niche sport are gathered by the thousands around a muddy track. In the middle of the venue, the most hardcore of those fans populate a rave tent, celebrating and wearing costumes and having a blast.

The sport is cyclocross. The event is the 2018 World Championships. And somewhere in all the chaos is Raylyn Nuss, '13, experiencing the “aha moment” that would change the path of her life.

Nuss had been competing in the sport already as a way to train for the cycling portion of triathlon, but her trip to Worlds inspired her to pivot to cyclocross completely. Part of the appeal was the more rigorous athletic demands of the sport – which consists of about 50 minutes’ worth of laps around a course that can include all types of terrain and must force a rider off their bike at least once – but she also saw the value of the community-oriented nature of cyclocross.

“At that moment I was all in,” she said of seeing the Super Bowllike crowds at the World Championships. “I dropped triathlon and told myself I’d do everything I can to be able to race in this race.”

She did just that, quickly working her way up the ranks of the women’s cyclocross riders in the U.S. within a couple years of picking up the sport. As a basketball player for the majority of her life, including her time at Central, Nuss says the discipline suited her background well.

“In traditional cycling, you can get away with just being very smart and savvy, kind of sitting in groups,” she said. “But with this sport, you’re exposed, and there’s no hiding. So you have to have the fitness. You have to be very punchy and quick.”

You also have to be prepared to face the elements of nature, as the competitive season takes place in the fall and winter months for the Northern Hemisphere. Racers compete in the rain and snow, on grass, dirt, sand, and what little pavement there may be at the starting line – mostly riding, but also carrying their bikes while running up stairs or around other impediments.

Nuss trained hard whenever she could in her early years of racing while working full-time as a scientist at Pfizer, running, biking, and doing fitness training on her lunch breaks or after work. The routine helped her land a few podiums and earn a number seven ranking in the U.S. for the 2019 season, but as she began racing in World Cups – the top level of the sport – she knew she had to commit further.

“The buildup before going over [to Europe] while working fulltime was kind of the moment where I’ve never been more stressed out in my entire life,” said Nuss. “And I knew that if I really wanted to pursue this career as a cyclist while I’m still young enough to be able to do it, I would have to leave my job.”

Photo by Kenza Barton Schlee

So she quit in 2020 “during COVID, from Pfizer, of all companies” and helped start a professional cycling team. She now says it was the best decision she’s ever made and that her history as a student athlete had a great effect on her decision not to simply join an existing team.

“Everyone was telling me, ‘Just sign on with a team,’” said Nuss.

“It is easier to just be an athlete and only worry about training and performing, but because of being a student athlete, I’ve got to have some sort of side hustle, or I’m going to get bored of just doing a sport.”

Ironically, she wasn’t doing much of the sport for her first year after getting the team up and running, as events were sidelined because of the pandemic, but the extra time gave Nuss the opportunity to put all her effort into the formation of Steve Tilford Foundation Racing. And when the competition came back in 2021, she was ready for a breakout year.

Nuss won the Pan American Championships and placed second at the National Championships, qualifying for the ultimate race, the one that won her over to the sport in the first place: the World Championships. The major cyclocross event has been taking place since 1950, and for only the second time in history, it was held in the United States in 2022, in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The proximity allowed Nuss’s family from the St. Louis area to be in attendance, as well as her friends from Lawrence, Kansas, where she now resides. The crowd of nearly 10,000 people was the largest she’s raced in front of, since most of her biggest competitions have occurred while audiences were limited by the pandemic.

“The buzz and the atmosphere were just incredible. It was one of the best days of my life,” said Nuss, who finished 15th on the day. “I thought it would be great to be in the top 20, but when I found myself in the top 15, I was pretty stoked. It was really good to build off of that.”

Soon after her Worlds experience in January, Nuss received an invitation to join Team USA, where she’ll be one of the faces of the U.S. cycling federation for the next three or four years. She’s looking forward to the opportunity to use both that platform and her team to elevate the sport, especially in the eyes of college-aged women.

“You can get into the sport, like I did, at around 25 years old and still be really good at it,” said Nuss. “I think there’s such an untapped market, and I’m going to investigate that a little bit. I’m coming for you, collegiate female athletes.”

Nuss says learning the “logistics” aspect of running a team was a challenge, but she enjoys it and is happy to be able to provide other athletes with the kind of atmosphere she likes to have around herself. And when she’s retired from racing, she wants to continue in the sport as a team director, even though “you can count on one hand” the number of women that own and operate cycling teams throughout the world.

“I’m in big shoes right now, but I’m really passionate about trying to pave the way for some younger riders,” said Nuss, who is already working to involve more women in the STF Racing team.

“Right now in women’s cycling, almost all the women have to work jobs while also trying to race because there’s just not enough pay.

But it’s starting to change a little bit, and through my team I’m trying to help pave that pathway for some new women.”

Follow Raylyn and the Steve Telford Foundation Racing team on Instagram @raylynnuss and @stevetilfordfoundationracing and on the team website, stevetilfordfoundationracing.com

Wade Welton, left, and Darren Pannier ’90 in the training room at Central Methodist.

Central Shenanigans Build Lifelong Friendship

BY SCOTT QUEEN

C

ountry music artist Aaron Tippin is still touring and performing, singing his hit “I’m Leaving” and many others. The peak of his popularity came in the 1990s, about the same time that his midMissouri look-alike, Wade Welton, was becoming Central Methodist’s first full-time athletic trainer.

Welton is still called “Aaron Tippin” by a few friends, but mostly by his old Central roommate, Darren Pannier, ’90.

“I was with my wife at the Missouri State Fair a few years ago, and I heard this voice calling out ‘Aaron Tippin’ and of course it was Darren,” Welton said.

Pannier gave his good friend the nickname some 30 years ago while working as a graduate student at Central. Welton had just become athletic trainer and was befriended by Pannier and a group of grad students. They roomed together in an off-campus house, and the two became lifelong friends.

Welton remains at Central Methodist today, having switched over to the academic side of athletic training a few years ago. He played a big role in transitioning Central to a master’s program in athletic training.

Pannier took a job in the Sedalia School District as a P.E. teacher and ended up at State Fair Community College, where he has been athletic director for nearly 25 years. Under his leadership, State Fair has grown from two to 16 sports.

The two built a lifelong friendship that started in that little rental house

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on Herndon Street in Fayette. They were even in each other’s weddings.

Their wives, Sonya Welton and Sara Pannier, ’95, have listened to their husbands’ countless stories about shenanigans at the old MacMillan’s Café and other locations. Eventually though, life got in the way and their visits were fewer and further between.

But they picked up just like no time had passed earlier this year, when Central and SFCC were working together on an articulation agreement for athletic training, allowing SFCC students to seamlessly transfer to Central to finish their master’s.

Their relationship made the agreement much easier, said Dr. Rita Gulstad, CMU provost and vice president for academics.

“It’s all about relationships,” Pannier said. “In fact, when I visit with student-athletes, I talk about transferring and their next steps academically. I remind them that the next step also involves building relationships. It was the best thing that Central gave to me.”

Both Pannier and Welton say their wives and children still tease them about continually getting stopped by people they know while they are out to dinner or attending an event.

“They joke that we know everybody,” Pannier said. “But it’s all about the relationships you build along the way.”

And they’re both very thankful for the relationship that started when a new graduate student befriended an Aaron Tippin look-alike.

Fernando Jimenez, '22, instructs students while student-teaching at Shepard Boulevard Elementary in Columbia, Mo.

Jimenez Becomes First Homegrown Teacher from Central

BY EMILY KESEL

F

ernando Jimenez, ’22, may not begin his first year as a full-time teacher for a couple more months, but he already has just about every type of teacher story there is.

After a semester of student-teaching at Shepard Boulevard Elementary in Columbia, he has an abundance of funny and inspiring stories – and even some gross stories. That type comes to mind quickly as he recalls his time as a student-teacher, recounting the day a sick student vomited loudly during an otherwise silent and smooth class period.

But even those stories come with lessons essential to working in an elementary school.

“As a teacher, you just have to be quick and know what to do,” said Jimenez about his response to the incident, adding that, when the other students in class react the way kids might be expected to, “You can’t laugh with them.”

Luckily for Jimenez, the majority of his experience in Central Methodist University and Columbia Public Schools’ Grow Your Own Teachers program hasn’t required

cleanup of that nature. Jimenez was the first student from CPS to be admitted to Central under the program, and even before his graduation in May, he knew where he’d be spending his next four years, having secured a job as a third-grade teacher at Shepard.

What started out as a way to make some money over his summer break quickly became a focus of his life, as Jimenez signed up for a teaching assistant job as a sophomore in high school and ended up doing the same almost every year since.

“They offered $10 an hour for the summer job and I thought, ‘It’ll be easy, I’ve taken care of my brothers and sisters before,’” he recalled. “And after I left that summer I knew I was really going to miss [the students], and I really liked what I did. It sounds too cliché, but the impact I made and their smiles and conversations made me want to keep doing it.”

Jimenez stayed with the program throughout his time at Battle High School and in 2018 received a full-tuition scholarship to CMU thanks to the Grow Your Own

partnership between Central and CPS. In addition to his tuition, the program also covers his room and board and provides a stipend for food. “I have everything paid for, nothing has come out of my college fund,” he said.

But the program does come with some strict requirements. Jimenez and others in the Grow Your Own program meet regularly with their cohorts and attend events in the Columbia community, in addition to having their grades checked by supervisors. They also have to be outstanding representatives of the school district and the university.

“Before we even go to teach, we make connections and network with administrators and non-profit organizations,” Jimenez explained. “You have to go to events and get your name out there and represent the program to the organizations that contribute to it.”

Jimenez has had no problem representing his school well in the community, proving to be an effective leader at Central over the years by joining many different clubs and even becoming the vice president of the Student Government Association.

His time at Central also provided plenty of important mentors and examples of great teachers to emulate, starting with his freshman advisor, Barbara Thurmon, ’02. The former professor of education retired after Jimenez’s freshman year, but the two kept in touch throughout his CMU experience.

“She would just give me these wonderful tips, and she was real,” he said. “She was real about the hardships of teaching and what I would love and what I wouldn’t like. And it has come true since I’ve done my student teaching and field experiences. She was right.”

Jimenez was so impacted by Thurmon’s mentorship that he ended up taking classes with her husband, marine biology professor Greg Thurmon, and taking part in marine biology trips to Dauphin Island, Alabama.

He hopes to achieve that level of inspiration as a teacher himself as his career progresses, knowing that as an elementary school teacher he’ll often spend more time with his students than even their own parents.

“I have all this influence and I’m molding them and they’re taking it all in,” he said.

“It’s nice because I’m teaching, and then they’re going out and experiencing things for themselves, and they’re in awe. And I’m the one that facilitated that.”

Spring 2022 | The Talon 15

Gamble’s Focus Remains Private College Independence

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ill Gamble, ’74, says a faculty member at Central Methodist probably changed the course of his life.

As a junior political science major, Gamble was seriously considering law school. And Dr. Harold Sunoo told him one day matterof-factly that he was going to be doing an internship. “I don’t think he really even gave me a choice,” Gamble joked.

That internship with a state legislator turned into a successful career as a lobbyist in Jefferson City, which in turn enabled him to become a champion of private colleges across Missouri. Law school wasn’t in the cards.

For nearly 30 years, Gamble has been widely known as the voice of Independent Colleges and Universities of Missouri (ICUM).

He and his firm, Gamble and Schlemeier, lobby for the interests of Central Methodist University and dozens of other private colleges in ICUM. “We do our best to preserve the independence of private colleges in the state,” Gamble said. “Our colleges don’t get an appropriation for operations, equipment and FTE (full-time equivalency), so we try to prevent government overreach.”

Probably one of the biggest battles Gamble has fought was over the Access Missouri grant program. He said some

legislators initially wanted the grants only to go to students of public institutions.

“We want to make sure students at private colleges have the same opportunities for grants and scholarships as the ones at public colleges,” he said.

Bill Gamble, ‘74 (center), with the two lawmakers who co-sponAnother big sored legislation for the Access Missouri Grant, Kevin Windham issue Gamble dealt D-St. Louis (left) and Rusty Black R-Chillicothe. with on behalf of ICUM was a bill to force public and Gamble, who lives in Jefferson City with private institutions to require a course on the his wife, Cyndi, is proud that his alma mater constitution. always has stayed active in ICUM. “Teaching the constitution is very, very “Central has had three presidents, all important,” Gamble said. “But philosophically, of whom have served as president of the we should have the independence to offer the organization,” Gamble said. “Dr. [Roger] coursework and curriculum that is best for Drake and Dr. [Marianne] Inman both served our students. It’s what makes our institutions twice.” unique.”

While Gamble’s livelihood is defending Another ICUM focus is keeping students private colleges’ rights to make their own on track to graduate in four years, “not in six choices, he’s glad that Dr. Sunoo didn’t give years at the public institutions.” him a choice all those years ago.

Stegeman Loves Telling Powerful Stories

BY SCOTT QUEEN

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usan Stegeman’s life has always been about building strong relationships.

Stegeman, ‘84, spent 31 years cultivating her mid-Missouri relationships and fundraising with Special Olympics Missouri, the final two and half years as president. Her time there had many highlights, including the wildly popular Law Enforcement Torch Run and completion of the 16-acre Training for Life Campus in Jefferson City. But everything changed when an EF-3 tornado in 2019 caused $5 million in damage to the new facility.

“It was disheartening for our team – for the board, staff, donors, and the community,” Stegeman said. “We’re just thankful there were no injuries. And the way the community rallied around us was something I’ll never forget.”

16 The Talon | Spring 2022

With her son’s wedding just days away, Stegeman found another gear and saw through the rebuilding and reopening of the Training for Life Campus. Then COVID hit; They pivoted to virtual work, all the while adapting to serve athletes.

By then, she was drained. She gave her board several months’ notice and turned in her resignation.

But Stegeman couldn’t stay away from nonprofit work very long. With the start of the new year, she became president of the Missouri Colleges Fund (MCF), raising scholarship dollars for students who attend the private liberal arts colleges that are a member of the MCF consortium.

“Everyone has a story,” she said. “And I look forward to hearing all the stories about lives that are changed because of the

opportunities created by these scholarship dollars. It’s so inspiring. I need to hear the stories and to tell them.”

She heard one very powerful story already. It was in March, at the first scholarship dinner she attended as president. A young girl received her college acceptance letter the same day her mother received an eviction notice. The girl told the crowd how grateful she was because she knew she would have a roof over her head in college and be able to eat.

Stegeman says the MCF is generosity and community service at its highest level.

The donors of the MCF know their money is more of an investment in people and the community, she said. For instance, Central Bank has been a major contributor for 63 years, Emerson 64 years, Commerce Bank 66 years, and on and on.

One of Stegeman’s top priorities is meeting all of the college presidents whose institutions comprise the MCF. Stegeman, who has already met 12 of the 16 MCF college presidents, said attending an MCF member college herself – Central Methodist – made a difference for her because she benefited from generous scholarship support.

“Central really did prepare me to be flexible and to be able to adjust,” she said.

“It’s where I built relationships. And I have to credit and thank Clyde Lear, ’66 (Learfield Communications),” she said. “I owe him so much for hiring me out of college.”

In her six years at Learfield, Stegeman did “a little sales, a little marketing, and some grant and research writing,” preparing her and giving her the versatility she needed for Special Olympics.

Stegeman’s husband, Steve, has been at her side all along the way. In fact, she said he is widely known at Central’s Homecoming.

“He’s been coming with me to Homecoming so long that he gets his own nametag,” Stegeman said.

Their children, Scott, ’17, and Seth, ‘20, are Central grads, as is Scott’s wife, Melody, ‘17.

The relationships she built at Central were her “foundation for the future.”

She still visits annually with seven “very close Zeta sisters,” and the former CMU Homecoming Queen remains good friends with Dr. Bill Sheehan, vice president for advancement, who was alongside her as Homecoming King.

Skinner Still Doing Things at a High Level First Responder Was ‘Shaped’ By Central

BY SCOTT QUEEN

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eing a first responder is often a career dream – the attraction could be wearing the uniform or making the world safer.

Or it could be helping others.

For Scott Skinner, ‘02, it was pretty much all of the above. Skinner says he is fortunate and blessed to serve as a detective with the Boone County Sheriff’s Office, where he has worked for nearly 20 years.

“Being a public servant is a worthy profession,” he said. “Law enforcement, fire service, medical care. . . these are all critical areas.”

Skinner is particularly quick to praise the emergency medical personnel he works with on a day-to-day basis.

“They just don’t get enough credit or respect,” he said. “They are undervalued by so many, but they are so dedicated and committed.

We all need to do a better job appreciating them.”

The stress can be difficult for law enforcement as well. Just recently, Skinner was called to the scene of an individual who had been shot and left for dead on the side of the road, and his phone rings nonstop from people who need help on the multitude of cases he is involved in.

Yet Skinner handles it in stride. He is a family man guided by a deep faith and manages to keep a smile on his face.

“Only the Lord knows when it gets to me,” he said.

Skinner was hired as a patrol deputy and remained in that role until 2008, when he was reassigned to the investigation unit. He later transitioned to the drug unit and participated in a multijurisdictional federal task force on violent crime for the next four years. That time was spent alongside the ATF, Columbia Police Department, and University of Missouri Police Department. But last year, the task force was disbanded.

Now, he’s working in a variety of roles.

Skinner’s life’s work in law enforcement really started before he became a deputy, when he was studying criminal justice at Central. He said Central “shaped” him in many ways. On the track, his coaches constantly pushed him to do more. He said Coach Gary Stoner was an encourager and mentor who did great things for kids and for the school.

In the classroom, it was guidance from individuals like F.E. Knowles Jr., his first

criminal justice instructor, or Dr. Richard Bradley or Dr. O.A. Robinson.

“I had so many opportunities at Central,” he said. “It is still very much a part of my life.”

His Central connections run deep. When Skinner was at the police academy, it was run

by Teri Haack, now a professor of criminal justice at Central, and one of his good friends is Dr. Kendal Clark, a current physics professor at CMU. “And I can’t forget Keith Abernathy,” Skinner said. “He’s gone now, but he always invited me to come speak to his criminal justice classes.

And he encouraged me to get my master’s.”

Before graduating, Skinner even spent time as a sports writer for the Fayette Advertiser, reporting to then-owner and editor Jim Steele, ’64. His strongest Central connection, though, is family. Skinner’s parents were both alumni – the late Estill Skinner, ’71, and Patti Stiegemeyer-Skinner, ’74. And so is his aunt, Jeri Stiegemeyer-Campbell, ’70.

“I love Central as much as I love it here in Boone County,” he said. “I still enjoy coming to Fayette.”

In fact, Skinner may have caught a bit of a teaching bug from being around CMU for so long.

“I enjoyed speaking at Keith Abernathy’s classes,” he said. “I really enjoy education, and I believe in lifelong learning. . . I love taking our folks in field training and encouraging them.

I always tell them to make sure to get more education and expand who they are.”

Skinner loves being an investigator, but “I know I won’t be able to do it forever. Whatever I do, it has to be at a high level. So, maybe someday, I could help teach young people.”

He’d be good at it.

Spring 2022 | The Talon 17

Quigley-Duggan Goes Out on a High Note

BY EMILY KESEL

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or Dr. Susan Quigley-Duggan, a lifelong career of music had its roots in the fantastical world of Disney.

So it was only fitting that her last Opera Workshop as full-time faculty at Central Methodist University was full of “Frolic, Folly, and Fairytales.”

She can’t remember the name of the song itself, but the tune of it still comes back to her easily as she recalls the roots of her musical life.

“My first recollection is that my brother and I used to swing in the backyard and sing together, the Walt Disney tunes from way back,” she said. “We had a neighbor, a little old lady down the street, who called my mother and said, ‘You ought to give those kids music lessons. They sound pretty good!’”

Their mother took that advice, and Quigley-Duggan began piano and voice lessons, but it wasn’t until college at the University of Hartford (Connecticut) that she was introduced to opera. She got the chance to play some roles in her first year and fell in love with the discipline.

“We had a really great Hungarian professor who loved to teach us about acting, drama, and so forth and how to move on the stage and evoke emotions,” she said.

“If you want to sing and develop your voice, [opera] requires development for fine voice, and plus you can move with the music and the music is so dramatic. I just enjoyed it.”

More than 30 years later, her enjoyment hasn’t waned, whether she’s teaching in

The CMU Opera Workshop performs “Frolic, Folly, and Fairytales.”

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the classroom, directing another opera workshop, or driving a van full of singers to Illinois for a competition. And while teaching a subject that some may consider “elitist” at a small school may come with its challenges, Quigley-Duggan has always met them head-on and with an attitude of intent to see her students learn and thrive.

“I always just loved the students, teaching them and seeing them grow from freshman to senior year. They’re so passionate about learning – most of them,” she joked. “The ones that are in it because they love it are just so inspiring to me to teach them to do the best they can.”

Often throughout her 16 years at Central, that teaching has come in the form of shaping future teachers. Quigley-Duggan says her purpose was two-fold: to give people performance skills necessary to develop their voice, and also to get teachers out into the state of Missouri that could address vocal development for the next generation.

“I worked very hard to make sure my students really understood pedagogy and teaching,” she said. “I tried to focus my energy on having them understand how a voice works, the anatomy of it, and how to teach older students versus younger students. “[My students who became teachers] are doing a really good job, and I feel good about that. After 16 years I have about 2025 teachers out there making some kind of impact in a global way,” she said.

One of those teachers is 2011 CMU graduate Lacey Gladden, who also now serves as an adjunct professor of voice at Central

and says she’s truly grateful for everything she learned from Quigley-Duggan.

“Dr. Duggan not only provided an endless wealth of knowledge, but she was incredibly supportive in all her students’ endeavors.

She gave each student her heart and soul, rejoiced with us when we accomplished something amazing, and lifted us up when life was just too much,” said Gladden. “It is because of her that I can provide my own students with techniques for healthy singing habits. I hope to be able to channel her work ethic and empathy throughout my career.

I could not have asked for a more amazing mentor.”

Now that she’s finished navigating her

final semester as a full-time professor, one that she called one of “the most chaotic” of her career, Quigley-Duggan is looking forward to slowing down a bit. She doesn’t plan to be away from teaching for long.

“I don’t think I’m the kind of person that’s going to be able to retire totally,” she said, adding that she’s already looking to work as an adjunct or to direct community theatre and opera. “It’s just what drives my reason to be, so the thought of sitting in a rocking chair and shifting to something else is just not that appealing to me.”

All the opera fans in Fayette would surely be interested in whatever she has to offer next.

Above: Dr. Susan Quigley-Duggan joins her students for a group picture ahead of her final opera season at Central. Below/left: Quigley-Duggan is recognized as professor emeritus by Dr. Roger Drake. Below/right: Rob Brown and Hailey Sage perform at Quigley-Duggan’s last show.

Spring 2022 | The Talon 19

Brad Dixon New Vice President for Student Life

Ashby-Hodge Showcasing Mid-Missouri Artist in Summer Exhibit

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his summer’s show at the AshbyHodge Gallery of American Art will give “A Missouri Perspective,” with local artist Vivian Carwile featured alongside former University of Missouri professor Robert Franklin Bussabarger. The show opened on May 22 and will continue through July 21.

Carwile is a native Mid-Missourian who has spent a career both making art and sharing it with others. As an elementary school teacher for 17 years, she had the pleasure of sharing the art process, aesthetics, and history with her young students, in the same way she learned from acclaimed artists like David Drummond, Marylin Bradley, and Ann Kullberg.

“My style and a yearning to put my thoughts and imagination into visual representation travel with me wherever I go,” said Carwile. “I try to grow constantly as an artist sampling new materials, techniques, and mediums.”

Using different media and techniques has helped her take part in a variety of exhibits and earn recognition for her work in the form of multiple awards. Carwile says her first award came in 2001 with a “Best in Show” recognition at the amateur level of the Jefferson City Art Club’s adult art exhibit.

rad Dixon, ‘07, is no stranger to Central Methodist University’s senior leadership team. But now he comes to the table with a new title -- vice president for student life.

Dixon earned his bachelor’s degree from Central in 2007.

His promotion was one of four big pieces to an administrative restructuring announced recently by President Roger Drake.

A native of Houston, Mo., Dixon was a member of the baseball team while a student at Central. He was also an active participant in the Student Government Association, an organization he now oversees as a member of the senior staff. He graduated from CMU with a degree in recreational administration and business management.

President Roger Drake was quick to praise Dixon and the other leaders.

“We have a great depth of leadership here to take us into the future,’ Drake said. “I’m looking forward to what’s next.”

Dixon served previously as Central’s dean of students and associate dean. He was hired at Central in 2015.

Dixon and his wife, Natalie, also a 2007 CMU graduate, are the parents of two children, Hayden and Henley.

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Since then she has earned recognition in the JCAC professional division and the Top 50 exhibit at the Missouri State Fair on two occasions.

Many of Carwile’s works, using largely watercolor and colored pencil, showcase small-town life in the Mid-Missouri towns of her childhood.

Alongside Carwile’s work in Gallery 3, works by the late Robert Bussabarger will be featured in Gallery 1. Bussabarger was a celebrated artist, researcher, and teacher, who joined the MU faculty in 1953 and spent nearly four decades teaching ceramics and painting in Columbia.

His work has been exhibited and is held in private collections throughout the United States and India, including the Air India Collection in Bombay, the Springfield Art Museum, the State Historical Society of Missouri, and the Montminy Art Gallery in Columbia.

The summer show will be open to visitors from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. each Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from May 22 through July 21. Special tours are also available by contacting curator Denise Haskamp at 660-248-6304 or dhaskamp@ centralmethodist.edu.

Theatre Scholarships Awarded at Center Stage

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entral Methodist University’s Center Stage scholarship competition once again brought a wealth of talent and potential to The Little Theatre with February’s contest. Half a dozen high school seniors brought home scholarships after the event, with Columbia’s Gram Coalier taking the Gold level prize.

Coalier, a Rock Bridge High School student, performed Biff’s monologue from Death of a Salesman and a portion of Noise Off. He says he’s been involved in theatre for several years now but in the last couple of years has become more invested in the art.

“It wasn’t until 10th grade that I was really invested in it,” Coalier said. “I got into the all-school musical and play and have found a home in being different characters.

Theatre, for me, is a combination of the arts, every detail made perfect to bring emotion.”

Also receiving scholarships on the day were Elizabeth Thomas of St. Mary’s, Kan. and Laura Roth of Blackwater at the Silver level, along with Margaret Powell of Pilot Grove, Lillian Wade of Marshall, and Tucker Sauer of Affton at the Bronze level.

All received offers of theatre scholarships to add to their academic offers and other financial assistance.

The competition was so strong that Dr. Dori Waggoner, chair of the fine arts department at CMU, asked for permission to make larger offers than originally planned to the students in attendance. “[You brought] exactly the kind of work ethic and skill that we want in our program,” Waggoner told the students before presenting the awards. “We really see you guys fitting into our culture.”

Dr. Mark Kelty, professor of theatre, expressed the same enthusiasm toward the students, adding that he was moved and impressed by the essays submitted for the competition.

“I seriously got choked up, and I’ve been in education for a long time,” he said.

“It just reinforced for me why I’m still in education. . . It fills me with hope and great pleasure to read the things that you guys had to say.”

Olivia Rowles of Trine University and CMU’s Destiny Minor, ‘18, and Tristan Riggs, ‘21, teamed up to take third place in professional crime scene investigation at the March ACJA Conference.

Team Takes Third at ACJA Conference Eight Students Attend Event

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entral Methodist University joined schools all across the nation in attending this spring’s American Criminal Justice Association – Lambda Alpha Epsilon National Conference. The 83rd iteration of the event took place from March 21-24 in Kansas City. CMU brought home a third-place finish in the crime scene competition at the professional level.

Members of Central’s criminal justice fraternity, Pi Lambda Alpha, attended the conference and competed in academic testing on a variety of topics, plus crime scene investigation, physical agility, and firearms.

Though all the students and teams performed well, only the professional-level crime scene investigation team of shooting coach Tristan Riggs, ‘21, chapter advisor Destiny Minor, ‘18,

and Trine University’s Olivia Rowles, came away with an award.

In preparation for the event, students practiced for the physical competitions and studied hard for the academic tests. They also welcomed Howard County coroner Trisha Clark, who shared her knowledge of crime scene investigation and helped answer the students’ questions.

Overall, Minor was happy with the team’s showing at the conference and is looking forward to more preparation for the regional competition in the fall.

“Even though we may not have placed as high as we wished, we are extremely proud of the hard work and dedication that our students have put in,” Minor said.

Central students attending the conference included Katelyn Streeter, Rachel Rodawald, Dacus Leech, Jobe Edwards, Bailey Grossman, Katarina Morris, and Johnathan Kirmse.

The trip was made possible by generous gifts from CMU donors.

Music Scholarships Awarded at CGT

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entral Methodist University is about to add even more outstanding talent to its already robust music program. With the latest iteration of the annual Central’s Got Talent competition in February, two dozen of the region’s best recruits in vocal and instrumental music and praise band were awarded scholarships. Sofia Burks of Macon and Matt Hamilton of Troy were announced as the grand prize winners of full-tuition awards.

On what they’re most looking forward to about attending Central and being part of the Swinney Conservatory of Music, both CGT winners pointed to the welcoming community and beautiful campus, which they experienced throughout the day of competition.

“It’s really relaxing, like a small neighborhood. And the teachers actually care about you,” said continued on page 22

Spring 2022 | The Talon 21

continued from page 21

Hamilton, who performed on trumpet. “I’ve gone to other colleges and they haven’t had that, and it just doesn’t make you feel welcome. Here, I feel welcome.”

“Hearing the students talk about how welcoming and friendly and homey it is, that’s probably the top of the list,” Burks, who participated in the praise band competition, said for what she looks forward to about being a CMU student.

“Being a part of the worship band, that’s definitely there, too.”

Burks, a senior at Macon High School, performed “Names” by Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music, which she said has lyrics that are very meaningful to her.

She added that Maverick City Music was a group that motivated her to get into singing and performing at her church, which was not always in her “comfort zone.”

As for Hamilton, a senior at Troy Buchanan High School, playing the trumpet has been a focus of his life since sixth grade.

He has since earned accolades at the district and state level for his performance and chose Herbert L. Clarke’s “The Bride of the Waves” for his CGT performance piece because it challenged him.

Burks and Hamilton were the top prize earners out of an elite group of six finalists on the day. The remaining finalists included Natalle Canote of Harrisburg in praise band, Evalyn Mateski of Morris, Ill. and Mallory Boyer of Troy in vocal performance, and Hannah Raley of Jefferson City in instrumental performance. All were awarded music scholarships stackable with other academic awards.

The rest of the field of performers, who also received music scholarships from Central, included Thomas Libbert of Freeburg, Mariah Nichols of Fulton, Taylor Baker of Mt. Vernon, Josh Abbott of Wardsville, Lillian Wade of Marshall, Shane Winston of Sweet Springs, Nealia Toedebusch of Centralia, Max Blankenship of Troy, Madisyn Conway of Salisbury, Quinsie Millar of Salisbury, Trinity Thompkins of Independence, Devin Rodgerson of Ashland, Neb., Jordyn Williamson of Boonville, Kate Schneringer of Boonville, Madelyn Ganley of Hallsville, Tambria Wilson of Cape Girardeau, Allison Gowin of Moberly, and Vincent Srader of Lee’s Summit.

22 The Talon | Spring 2022

DECA team members (from left) included Rachel Smith, Caitlyn King, Alexis McClure, Stephanie Rodriguez, and Alan “AJ” Joens. McClure (below) brought home a third-place trophy in Managerial Accounting.

DECA Students Top 10 at ICDC Competition

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he Central Methodist University DECA team gave its most impressive performance yet at April’s Collegiate DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC) in Baltimore, Md. All five CMU students made the finals of their respective competitions, while sophomore Alexis McClure brought home a third-place trophy.

Representing Central at the international competition were McClure in Managerial Accounting; senior Rachel Smith, chapter president, in Travel and Tourism; sophomore Caitlyn King in Fashion Merchandising and Marketing; and sophomore Stephanie Rodriguez and junior Alan “AJ” Joens in the Event Planning team event. The CMU five were among nearly 70 Missouri students and advisors to attend the conference.

Competition occurred in two rounds, with high-scoring competitors selected to compete in the second and final round. All Central participants made the final round cut in this year’s competition, earning them recognition on stage and medals to take home. McClure and Smith earned proficiency medals as well for scoring high in the individual events.

Central collegiate DECA advisor Dr. Dave Hickman called this year’s results “very significant and a big improvement for CMU,” as just one student made it to the final round at the 2021 ICDC. In addition to the competition, the CMU Collegiate DECA chapter’s semester also saw its completion of the Leadership Passport Program. The passport program is a set of activities completed by chapters and/ or individuals that are completed in order

to achieve different levels of recognition.

Activities come from categories emphasized by DECA: Academically Prepared, Community Oriented, Professionally Responsible, and Experienced Leaders.

Central was the only chapter in Missouri to complete the program and one of only 18 chapters in the country to do so. Eight CMU students earned individual recognition as well, the only Missouri DECA students to do so. Rodriguez, Keighlan Cronin, Daylor Dial, Mia Mueller, Madison White, and Egle Kavaliunaite earned recognition at the Executive level, while Kelena Oots and Jayklin Smith achieved the Diplomat level, which is the second-highest possible.

The mission of Collegiate DECA is to prepare emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe. This mission translates into graduates who are academically prepared, community oriented, professionally responsible, and experienced leaders. DECA values competence, innovation, integrity, and teamwork. As a member of DECA, students apply their academics and develop professional skills through community service, individual and professional development activities, and academic competition.

Dr. Paula Findlen speaks on Laura Bassi and Maria Gaetana Agnesi in her Perry Lecture on Faith and Science.

Perry Lecture Addresses Faith and Science Findlen Discusses 18th Century Women Scientists

BY EMILY KESEL

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he Thomas A. Perry Faith and Science Lecture was held on campus at Central Methodist University this semester for the first time since 2019, as Central welcomed Dr. Paula Findlen to speak.

Findlen, who was originally scheduled to give the lecture in 2020, finally got the chance to present her talk on “Scientists and Saints: Laura Bassi and Maria Gaetana Agnesi in Eighteenth-Century Italy” in front of a crowd in the Inman Lecture Hall.

“We’ve been planning this for almost three years now, thanks to COVID,” she said as she was introduced. “It’s still, for some of us, a novelty to go somewhere you haven’t been and actually give a live talk to a live audience.”

Findlen spoke for nearly an hour on Bassi and Agnesi, “two of the most prominent and celebrated women of science in the 18th century,” as she called them.

“They are complementary examples of what it meant to pursue faith with science and science with faith,” explained Findlen.

Both women were born in Italy in a time when the trial of Galileo in the previous century – for believing that the Earth revolves around the sun – was sparking efforts to reconcile some of the differences between science and religion in Catholic Italy. This relationship between faith and science was key to both women’s lives, though in meaningfully different ways, according to Findlen.

Bassi, a member of a middle-class family from Bologna, worked to educate herself and became the first woman in the city to earn a degree and a professorship. She gave her first lecture in public in 1732 in front

of many male scholars and clerics, who surely had in mind the Biblical passages that forbid such a thing.

“But I think Bassi, and many of the clerics there, also knew the passage from Galatians [3:28]: ‘There is no longer. . . male nor female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus,’” Findlen posited. “Thus, she became a woman to teach physics and philosophy to men in this university, with full support of church leadership, and did that for the rest of her life.”

Agnesi, on the other hand, was the oldest daughter of a wealthy man in Milan who encouraged her to debate on scientific subjects at his parties.

She would eventually be offered a professorship by the same patron who encouraged Bassi – the man who eventually became Pope Benedict XIV – but she turned it down and, after her father’s death, focused on promoting the “urban mission of faith” through charity, education, and social work.

“That was her answer for what she ultimately thought it meant to be useful,” said Findlen, “to use her knowledge and her learning, but also to use her faith.”

Both women were ultimately remembered for their scientific contributions and their faithful charity, subjects that were never really in opposition to each other for either of them.

Findlen, who concluded her talk by taking questions for half an hour, is a professor of Early Modern Europe and History of Science in the Stanford University History Department. Her research and teaching focuses on the early history of science and medicine, including the relationship between knowledge and faith in Galileo’s world and the history of early modern women pursuing science.

Dr. Thomas Perry, the namesake of the lecture series, spent 20 year as chairman of the English department at Central. He was also the chair of the Division of Literature and Languages and chair of the honors program. He sponsored Scribblers and Scrawlers, a club for aspiring creative writers, hosting and entertaining them monthly at his home. Perry is the late father of Tad Perry, former chairman of the Board of Trustees at CMU. To view Findlen’s full lecture, visit https://vimeo.com/697426717

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Dr. Tobias Winright gestures as he speaks on “Just and Unjust Policing” in April’s Fleer Lecture.

Winright Addresses Policing in Fleer Lecture Concerned with Theological Approach

BY EMILY KESEL

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he 2022 Fleer Lecture at Central Methodist University brought prominent ethicist and author Dr. Tobias Winright to the Fayette campus in April, where he gave a talk on “Just and Unjust Policing: Abolition or Reform?”

Central’s Dr. Kevin Carnahan, professor of philosophy and religion, introduced the featured speaker for the night, calling him “a person with both practical knowledge and theoretical knowledge” on the subject of policing.

“Tobias actually served in uniform. . . which is important because, as opposed to many people in the area of ethics, he actually did the things that he writes about,” said Carnahan.

Indeed, Winright began his talk by describing his background as the only member of his family to go to college, while at the same time becoming a police officer in the same department where his mother also served. Being from a Christian background, he said, he quickly became interested in the issues around policing that persist to this day, such as racism and excessive use of force.

“These were issues I thought hard about,” said Winright, who is now a professor at Saint Louis University. “I saw a lot of things; I experienced a lot of things, and I wrestled with them.”

He went on to earn a master’s degree in theology and ethics at Duke University, then attended Notre Dame for his doctoral studies.

Winright said he started at Notre Dame two years after the Rodney King incident and later wrote his dissertation on the subject of the use of force in policing, having been affected by seeing things of the same nature in his time as an officer.

Winright’s talk addressed the relationship between Christian theology and the ethics of policing, saying that violence has always been an important moral issue for Christianity, but rarely have theologists had much to say on policing specifically. He did, however,

24 The Talon | Spring 2022

say that Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis preached about treating criminals with human dignity because humans are all created in the image of God. “It’s hard to see a murderer. . . in the image of God,” Winright said, but “the image of God is not something that’s earned, and it’s not something that can be lost.”

The professor went on to describe different methods of policing around the world and even within the United States, outlining four models in particular: the crime fighter/military model, the emergency operator model, the social enforcer model, and the social peacekeeper model. Winright called for a move from the military model toward the peacekeeper model in the US, citing the need for a communityoriented approach addressing the root causes of crime.

He wrapped up the lecture by taking questions from the audience in Linn Memorial United Methodist Church.

Winright is Associate Professor of Theological Ethics in the Department of Theological Studies and Associate Professor of Health Care Ethics in the Gnaegi Centre for Health Care Ethics at SLU. His most recent books are the T&T Clark Handbook of Christian Ethics, published in 2021 by Bloomsbury/T&T Clark, and Serve and Protect: Selected Essays on Just Policing, published in 2020 by Cascade Books.

The Fleer Lecture series on values-based education is generously funded by Dr. Gilbert Fleer, ‘55, and his wife, Ruth, ‘58. Fleer was an assistant professor of religion at CMU from 1959-1965. He went on to serve as a United Methodist counselor for many years working with young adults. The Fleers’ strong support of leadership training led them to fund the Gil and Ruth Fleer Fund for Excellence in ValuesBased Education at CMU. To view Winright’s full lecture, visit https://vimeo.com/698991118

CMU band director Roy “Skip” Vandelicht, ’77, is presented with the MSHSAA Distinguished Service Award, at right.

Vandelicht Receives MSHSAA Distinguished Service Award

BY EMILY KESEL

C

entral Methodist University band director and alumnus Roy “Skip” Vandelicht, ’77, added one more prestigious award to his noteworthy collection this winter, receiving the Distinguished Service Award from the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA).

The award program recognizes individuals who have served MSHSAA “in a manner that is unique and whose contributions have been beyond the ordinary.” Vandelicht was presented with the award at the second general session of the Missouri Music Educators Conference on January 26.

“I was very honored and humbled to receive the MSHSAA Distinguished Award,” said Vandelicht. “I have always been happy to serve the music education profession in any way I can, as I truly love and belive in what being involved in music can do for young people.”

Vandelicht, who has served as CMU’s director of bands since 2008, has certainly made extraordinary contributions over the years, both at the collegiate level and in the Fayette School District. His achievements and leadership have earned him inductions into the Hall of Fame for both the Missouri Bandmasters Association (2013) and the Missouri Music Educators Association (2020).

Vandelicht received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from Central in 1977 and a Master of Education degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1984. The Fayette High School Band earned numerous honors and awards, including playing for the Missouri Music

Educators Association Convention four times, under his leadership.

Besides his tenure at Fayette, Vandelicht also served as Adjunct Marching Band Director at CMU from 1983-1995.

A native of Fulton, he served from 1992-1994 as Chairman of the Missouri All-State Band for the Missouri Bandmasters Association and from 1994-1996 as President of MBA. Vandelicht is an instrumental music adjudicator trainer for Missouri State High School Activities Association as well as a member of the MSHSAA Prescribed Graded Music List and Sight Reading Committees. He also served MMEA Band Vice-President from 2008-2010 and College/University Vice-President from 2014-2016.

Vandelicht received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award from Central Methodist in 1990, the Bandworld Legion of Honor Award in 2004, and the National Federation of High School Activities “Music Educator of the Year Award for Missouri 2008.” He received a Gold Chalk Award for excellence in teaching in 2013 and the Carolyn and Tad Perry Fellow Award in 2014.

“I have been blessed to live and work in Fayette, a community that values and supports music education in its schools,” he said. “I have had so many wonderful students, parents, colleagues, and administrators who have allowed me the opportunity to do what I love to do in a place that I love to do it for 45 years, and for that I am forever grateful.”

Vandelicht is an active clinician, adjudicator, and conductor for bands in Missouri and surrounding states.

Spring 2022 | The Talon 25

Dr. Joe Belew, ‘53, smiles for a photo.

becoming a doctor. Always the long-term planner, he realized his selection of the right undergraduate program was crucial to his success in getting accepted into medical school.

He chose Central because he was impressed with the number of pre-med students who got accepted and went into grad school from the college. One of his professors, the beloved Dr. Lester Shell, made it a point to introduce the pre-med program to several grad schools, which afforded Central students a better chance at getting accepted to medical school. Upon meeting Joe, Dr. Shell quickly took the young student under his wing and appointed him as his student assistant. Joe reported that he traveled with Dr. Shell at least once a month, recruiting student-athletes.

Another of Joe's tasks required him to clean the labs and storage rooms down in the basement of T. Berry Smith Hall. If you ever run into Joe, you'll want to ask him tell you the story about how he managed to get the chemistry department's storage floors the cleanest they've ever been in Central Methodist history!

Joe shared that few Central Methodist students had their own transportation back in the day, so if they needed to get home, they often resorted to hitchhiking. He recalled a time during his senior year, as he waited for a ride, he saw a tall, lanky, freshman CMC basketball player by the name of Don Spalding who was also hitching a ride home. Joe offered to hitchhike with him.

Sharing similar interests in pre-med and sports, this particular journey became the basis of a lifelong friendship. Joe went on to become an OB/GYN while his friend became a radiologist.

Through the years, the two played golf together. Joe is proud of one particular tournament they won together in 1991 at the Forest Hills Invitational.

A look around the room and one can see his undying love for his wife, Jane, whom he met in the Eyrie on the Central campus.

He grins like a young college student, and his eyes twinkle when he talks about her. They had three children – two daughters and a son. One of the girls, Taina, ‘77, graduated from Central Methodist's first nursing program.

Joe says his kids are all extremely successful and have wonderful children of their own. Jane passed away in March 2021, but the love remains stronger now than it did in 1953. I asked Joe how they stayed in love all those years. He said, "We shared a strong faith in God. We rarely had a day that was all good, but we always ended the day good." Good words to live by from a man who knows how to be happy and how to show others they matter.

Joe enjoyed the classes he took, and you can be sure that he excelled in everything he did. He discovered a passion for learning German, becoming quite efficient at speaking the language. Joe's hard work and dedication landed him with an offer from more than a few med schools. He chose Saint Louis University. Upon graduation, Joe was required to join the U.S. Army Medical Corps as an OB/GYN. His ability to understand and speak German came in handy, as he was able to help reduce the mortality rate of pregnant German women married to American G.I.s. Joe attributes this exemplary achievement to simply correcting their dietary intake.

It was getting late, so I had to wrap it up.

"One more question, Joe. How many babies did you deliver during all those years of practice?" His response was astounding!

"11,673 babies."

A Story About Love…and Delivering 11,687 Babies

BY REV. BILL O’NEAL

I

t was a promising, sunny day when I arrived for my appointment with Dr. Joe Belew, ‘53. I was looking forward to our visit, as I wanted to hear his stories about Central Methodist and how his life had evolved after all these years. Joe's kind smile greeted me as he opened the door to his apartment.

I knew instantly this man wearing a bright red Palm Springs golf shirt was a golf fanatic. Golf memorabilia from fabled courses around the world adorned his home. The back door to his balcony was open, allowing the summer’s fresh air to flow into his beautiful home.

The sound of heavy equipment rose from four stories below. I was curious as to what was going on down there, so I asked Joe what was with all the ruckus.

“They are building a community putting green,” he said.

“I bet that’s a huge disappointment for you,” I responded.

I instantly realized that this man was a hoot and that we were going to have a great conversation. But I wasn’t there to discuss golf; I wanted to learn about Joe’s time at Central Methodist.

As a farm boy from St. Clair, Mo., Joe spent his early years dreaming of

26 The Talon | Spring 2022

Helping Veterans Navigate Bureaucracy

BY GRACE UNNVIK, ’21

W

hen Martha Bradley J.D., ’18, was a student at Central Methodist University, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do after graduation. She was interested in criminal justice and law, but she wasn’t confident about where she would fit in. With the help of her advisor and others, Bradley found her true calling. Today, she is an attorney, helping some of the most vulnerable in this country - veterans.

Bradley works for the University of Missouri School of Law Veterans Clinic, which represents veterans in their disability compensation claims before the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as discharge upgrade cases.

“Most veterans come back from service with injuries and/or disabilities, and they don’t always know that they are entitled to compensation for those disabilities,” Bradley said. “Many of those who do file claims for compensation either get denied or are not awarded the proper disability rating.”

As an attorney at the clinic, Bradley works to hold the VA accountable by helping veterans navigate a complex appeals system. The clinic works on a pro bono basis, meaning the veterans they help do not have to pay. They rely on generous donors, for whom Bradley is grateful.

Along with her services as an attorney, Bradley also directs the clinic’s rural outreach program, Tigers for Troops. The program travels to rural Missouri to hold free legal consultations for veterans who do not have access to certain veteran resources.

“Since its inception in 2019, we have reached 88 counties and conducted 150 one-on-one legal consultations through this program alone,” Bradley said. “Because there is such a great need for attorneys to help veterans, we also train attorneys in veterans’ law by way of free CLEs (continuing legal education) in an effort to expand the pool of veterans’ advocates in the state of Missouri.”

Bradley is grateful for her time at CMU and attributes where she is today to her advisor, Collin Brink. He helped her navigate the LSAT and applying to law schools and instilled confidence in her. She is also appreciative of Dr.

Bradley with her fiancee, Paden Kleinhesselink, ’16

John Carter, Dr. Robert Wiegers, and the late Professor Keith Abernathy.

“Their instruction and expertise were invaluable to me as a student and prepared me not only for law school but for life in general,” she said.

The small, close-knit environment is something Bradley loved about Central. She fondly remembers the relationships she made with faculty, which will last a lifetime.

Celebrating the Sewards

C

entral Methodist University celebrated the inspired work of Ken, ’51, and Nancy, ’52, Seward at a special band concert in their honor on March 6. The Sewards were directors of the Central Band from 1964-1967. They built on the tradition of excellence in the Central College band from the day they returned to campus as faculty.

The concert was made possible by a generous donation from Lynn D. Howard, who wanted to remember the Sewards in a meaningful way. At the concert, Central’s own Madalyn Bartholomew, a senior music education major from Salisbury, Mo., was honored as the first recipient of the Seward Band Award for Excellence. The winner of the award each year will receive a cash stipend.

Front row: Steve Seward, Madalyn Bartholomew, and Lynn Seward Fryer. Back row: Roy “Skip” Vandelicht, ’77, Dori Waggoner, ’92, and President Roger Drake

Spring 2022 | The Talon 27

New Alumni Board Leaders Eager for First Year

T

here’s new leadership on the Central Methodist University Alumni Board.

Combine that with the fading of the pandemic, and 2022 has been a big year.

New President Julie Parrish, ’05, says the alumni board is poised to appear at many alumni socials and regional events this year, helping alumni stay better connected with their alma mater, regenerate the CMU spirit, and have a great time.

“I encourage alumni to celebrate the future of CMU by hosting their own regional events and by joining us at CMU events,” Parrish said.

Parrish, from Fayette, is passionate about the success of her alma mater and her hometown.

“I plan to play my part in keeping this partnership (between CMU and Fayette) strong,” she said. “It is an exciting time to see everything happening in the downtown area of Fayette, which is due to the outstanding relationship with Central Methodist University.”

Parrish is a vice president at Commercial Trust Company in Fayette.

Her new alumni board vice president, Alexandria Nichting Buckman, ‘12, lives in Fayette and works at Columbia Dentistry for Children. She said she is proud of the Central culture and eager to give her time back to the campus that gave her so much.

The new secretary is Caryn Jeffries, ’13, from Columbia. She looks forward to her role and to recognizing alumni over the decades,

28 The Talon | Spring 2022

Julie Parrish, ’05

and she deeply appreciates Central’s core values.

Also new to the alumni board is Rick Cowart, ’75, of Lee’s Summit, Mo., who spent 28 years working in the Central admissions office. He is currently employed by Northwest Missouri State University.

Julie Biesemeyer Ziegler, ’91, of Caseyville, Ill. has also joined. Ziegler is employed at her husband’s business, the Fairview Heights Animal Clinic, and has a long list of community service and volunteerism.

Rounding out new members is Doug Hansen, ’06, of Wentworth, Mo., who has a law degree from University of North CarolinaChapel Hill and an MBA from UCLA. He is employed by the Air Force training junior JAG attorneys.

Alexandria Nichting Buckman, ‘12

Caryn Jeffries, ’13

CMU Events:

Columbia Alumni Social Nearly 60 alumni gathered at Waves Cider Company in Columbia, MO on April 28 for an alumni social.

Men’s Soccer Head Coach Alex Nichols and Director of Athletics Jeff Sherman, ’83

Alumni Board Member Kathy Dempsey, ’86, and Trustee Tim Jackman, ’81

Preston Ary, ’18, and his son

Healther Clark, ’97, and Stephanie Jones, ’98

Trustee Tim Jackman, ’81, David Fox, ’83, and Jana Fox, ’82

Kent Van Landuyt, ’68, and Ron Bolm, ’68

More photos from the 2022 Columbia Alumni Social: https://www.flickr.com/ photos/194562910@N02/ albums/72177720298501784

Spring 2022 | The Talon 29

Vanessa Rivera, ‘22, receives her diploma at the Winter 2021 commencement ceremony.

‘Resilient’ Rivera on Her Way to Becoming OTA

BY EMILY KESEL

W

hen Vanessa Rivera began researching colleges she could attend after graduating from Battle High School, she had two main needs in mind: proximity to her family in Columbia and a small school where she could receive a personalized education.

She got exactly that at Central Methodist University.

“I always figured I wanted to go to a small school where I was able to get that one-on-one relationship between teachers and professors,” said Rivera, who graduated in December with an associate’s degree in occupational therapy assistant (OTA). “I did get what I asked for.”

Rivera and her OTA professors, Dr. Rebbecca Fenton and Kelly Rohrbach, developed a strong bond over her time at Central, and both now say they’re proud of the healthcare professional she’s come to be.

“I would describe her as extremely resilient during tough times,” said Fenton. “She stuck with her goals and rose to every challenge presented.”

Persevering through the tough times was a must for Rivera, who became the first woman in her family to graduate from college when she earned her Associate of Applied Science. Having been born outside the United States and coming to the country under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, she was ineligible for federal student aid, meaning her parents paid for her education out of pocket. When the OTA program was impacted by the pandemic, with virtual learning and social distancing becoming the norm, it was difficult at times to keep going. But she knew she had to press on.

“It was a great feeling [to graduate] because I know I don’t just do it for me. It’s for my parents, for my mom and dad who’ve killed themselves to pay

30 The Talon | Spring 2022

for my school,” said Rivera. “The times that I did want to quit, I remembered that it wasn’t just for me but for them and even my family in Mexico.”

Rivera says she couldn’t have done it without both her family’s support and that of Fenton and Rohrbach, adding that the professors’ “holistic” outlook as occupational therapists was crucial to helping her achieve her goals.

“I don’t think I would have been able to complete the program without them,” she said. “And I know that they’re going to continue helping kids, and that makes me glad. It makes me very happy that when a kid wants to go [to Central], they’re going to have the professors I had, and it’s a great feeling.”

As for her future, Rivera completed her boards exam in May and as of press time, was hoping to return to where her interest in healthcare began, at a nursing home in Columbia.

“I would like to stick with the nursing home setting because I really enjoy working with the elderly population, and I feel like I understand them a little better,” she said.

Rivera’s teachers are confident that she’ll succeed wherever she ends up working.

“Her fieldwork educators commented frequently on her ability to develop rapport with the clients and flexibility with patient care and daily schedules, which are two extremely important traits in a healthcare professional,” said Rohrbach.

“Vanessa has natural strengths that make her very client-centered; she is polite, respectful, and empathetic,” Fenton added. “I feel great pride in her successes. She deserves the best in life.”

CMU Events:

Lenk Concert

To honor the late Tom Yancey, ’54, Central Methodist University alumnus Jerome Lenk, ’79, returned to his alma mater in April for a guest recital to benefit the Swinney Conservatory Scholarship Fund. The program included piano pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Sergei Rachmanioff, Enrique Granados, and Frederic Chopin. Lenk serves as Director of Music and organist for Mission Dolores Basilica in San Francisco. He is also experienced as a vocal coach and assistant conductor.

His credits include the San Francisco Opera Merola Program, Opera San Jose, the Bay Area Summer Opera Theatre Institute, San Jose/Cleveland Ballet, San Jose State University Opera Workshop, and the University of Iowa.

Lenk’s professional memberships include the American Guild of Organists, the American Federation of Musicians, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music Fraternity.

Row 1 – Robert McNeill, ‘77; Jerome Lenk, ‘79; Kaye Carson Harrelson, ‘79; Alice Freese Kennedy, ‘80; Chuck Dale, ‘79; and John Ditto

Row 2 – Mary Jane Nance, ‘80; Laura Murray Arnold, ‘76; Becky Bonacker, ‘79; Brenda White Kueck, ‘78; and Kelley Head, ‘81 Jerome Lenk, ‘79, and Robert McNeill, ‘77

Row 3 – John Schultz, ‘80; Charles Harrelson, ‘77; and Ellen Hahn Vince, ‘81

New Campus Chaplain Ready to Take Reins

C

entral Methodist University is welcoming a new chaplain this summer – Rev. Scotty Wall.

Wall starts his new position July 1 but has been working on his transition from the West Plains, Mo. area for quite some time. He has made a few trips to mid-Missouri in preparation for the big move.

Wall and his wife, Laurie, have three children – ages 23, 20, and 18.

The youngest will be a freshman at CMU. Wall has been associate pastor at First United Methodist Church at West Plains since 2017.

“We’re very excited,” he said. “The last month has been full of emotion, leaving a place we’ve been for almost 10 years. But the house has sold, and I’ve started making a few trips in to get things sized up.”

Wall said he made it to a chapel service during a Fayette visit in the spring and has already met some of the student leadership in the Center for Faith and Service.

He said he was particularly grateful to outgoing chaplain Kayla Kelly, ’13, for her kindness and graciousness during the transition. He also praised the help of Vice President Brad Dixon, ’07, and Linn Memorial United Methodist Church Pastor Bill O’Neal.

Wall said he looks forward to getting to Fayette and meeting faculty and staff this summer and even more students in August.

He plans to be “outreach-focused” in his position and open to

Laurie and Rev. Scotty Wall

“conversations about God. I want to start up conversations and extend an open invitation to chapel.”

While Wall has been a United Methodist pastor for about five years, he has a wealth of experience as a non-denominational pastor from 19972017.

Spring 2022 | The Talon 31

Grove United Methodist Church in Hatton, Mo., just outside of Auxvasse.

It is a rural church that is well-known across the state for its very large youth ministry. Klepees tells guests to prepare for up to 130 kids on any given Wednesday night.

“It’s pretty rare to have that many kids in a youth ministry program,” said Pastor Bill O’Neal, a friend of Klepees’ and pastor at Linn Memorial United Methodist Church in Fayette. “It’s rare even for large, metropolitan churches.”

The secret, Klepees said, is authenticity.

Paul Klepees, ’16, with “his kids” and Eddie the Eagle at Pleasant Grove.

“When selecting the people to work with our youth, authenticity is what we’re looking for,” Klepees said. “Sometimes, it’s not the people you would think.

BY SCOTT QUEEN But they are authentic, and the kids respond.” aul Klepees, ’16, and his wife, Margie, Klepees said that today’s society is always were pretty comfortable with their life. trying to persuade youth and adults to be He was in hospital administration. She someone else – star football players, models, was a nurse. They already had their dream etc. house. But that call to the ministry moved from “This and everything else going on in the the back of his head to the forefront. world causes kids to struggle. . . with their They pondered. And they prayed. And identity, with anxiety, and other issues,” he together, they dove in. They put their house said. “So, we focus on not asking them to be on the market and fell in love with a church like someone else, and we try to provide a safe that needed them. and comfortable space.”

Fast forward, and Klepees is now finishing And it is working. The kids come from all up his fifth year as senior pastor at Pleasant over mid-Missouri – from Columbia, Centralia,

Youth Ministry Thriving at Pleasant Grove UMC

P

32 The Talon | Spring 2022

Mexico, North Calloway, South Callaway, and Fulton – to be a part of it.

“If we grow any more we are going to have to start having some serious discussions here at the church about space,” he joked. “We don’t even have another closet available. All the space is taken.”

Pleasant Grove even had strong Wednesday attendance during COVID. “At first we did Zoom,” Klepees said. “I loaded up some YouTube videos and did some dorky dancing. We basically provided the kids a chance to get together.”

Klepees said his county “opened up” the second year, and the church produced proper health forms and voluntary quarantining to allow the program to occur in-person.

“We took the approach that we were going to let the families decide what was best for their kids,” he said. “And we actually grew during this time period. Even then, and for sure now, you’d be hard-pressed to be around them and not smile and feel their life and their joy.”

Klepees, who has provisional status and will hopefully become ordained in 2023, doesn’t take credit for the success of his widely-known youth ministry. He credits all the volunteers, the church, and his 20-hour a week Nexgen minister Kris O’Neal for two generations of people who “had an eye for this” and started a youth program to create biblical discipleship.

Klepees says he merely guides the program. He credits his education at Central in the College of Graduate and Extended Studies program for shaping his hospital administration career. He said the issues he faced in rural Missouri hospital administration were “very transferrable” to his ministry life at Pleasant Grove UMC. “It couldn’t have been a better fit [going to Pleasant Grove],” he said.

Alumni News & Notes

1960s

Michael Jones, ’64, retired after more than 40 years in the insurance business with Mutual of Omaha and Blue Cross Blue Shield.

A Note From Alumni Board President Hello Alumni Friends and Family, I am so excited to serve as the new President of the Alumni Board of Directors! Please allow me to introduce myself: I am a native of Fayette and graduated in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science degree. I am employed at Commercial Trust Company as Vice President, and I also work at Emmet’s Kitchen and Tap as a tax preparer. My heart and passion rests in being an active supporter and leader in organizations that strengthen the local communities.

The Alumni Board of Directors has been busy discussing many exciting events coming up including Alumni Social in Kansas City on June 22, Eagle Athletic Auction on July 15, Band Day on October 1, and Homecoming weekend on October 7-9.

Last year’s Homecoming was filled with fantastic memories and events! The Distinguished Alumni Award ceremony held on Homecoming Sunday was the closing event for the weekend, and the love for Central overwhelmed the room. That memory will forever make my heart glow. I observed friends tightly hugging after years of time had separated them; then they would jump straight into reliving stories from the past about our beloved Central Methodist. Celebrating Central has brought us together, and that legacy will continue forever. I am anticipating 2022 Homecoming to be just as delightful and filled with excitement for Central.

I am looking forward to seeing you all there and making more memories to cherish!

Sincerely,

1970s

Barry Orscheln, ’72, was awarded the Governor’s State of Missouri Conservation Award.

Stephen Hamilton, ’73, retired after 48 years of public service in Alabama and North Carolina.

Laurie Muns Turner, ’73, has retired as an accounting professor at Truman State University.

Rev. Robert B. Kolvik-Campbell, ’77, will be the conference superintendent for the Binghamton and Oneonta Districts with the Upper New York Conference beginning July 1.

1980s

Keith A. Gary, ’82, PhD is the vice president of mission acceleration at the Washington, DCbased ALS Association.

Fr. Dominic Lenk, ’82, published a new book, Voices From The Upper Room.

Andrew Glover, ’83, was appointed president of C.L. Barnhouse Co. in Oskaloosa, Iowa.

Elaine Eversmeyer Henderson, ’83, is the interim superintendent for the Pike Co. R-III (Clopton) School District.

Julie Parrish, Class of 2005 President, Alumni Association Board of Directors

Have some good news you want to share?

Send us your special news and we’ll share it in an upcoming issue of the Talon.

Visit: bit.ly/CentralUpdate to update your contact information, celebrate a milestone, or just tell us something good!

Curtis Tucker, ’88, is in his 8th year as artistic director for First Coast Opera in Saint Augustine, Fla. His original family opera, The Trial of B.B. Wolf, was performed at the National Opera Association’s annual conference in January 2022.

1990s

Jill Wilmsmeyer Wiseman, ’96, will retire as the Fayette superintendent at the end of the 21-22 academic year.

Jeremy Barclay, ’98, is the branch chief for training and development within the Mitigation Readiness Division of the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Deborah Davenport Lands, ’99, was named a 2022 Exemplary New Principal by the Missouri Association of Elementary Principals. She is the principal at Kelso Elementary in Kelso C-7.

Spring 2022 | The Talon 33

Dean’s Fifth Book to Hit Presses Darren Dean, ’01, now a professor of English at Lincoln University, is preparing for the launch of his fifth book, Roads, a powerful story of revenge, justice, salvation, and retribution. Dean was an English Fellow at Central. He earned his MFA in fiction from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. His work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize three times.

Dean lives in Jefferson City, Mo., with his wife, Cassie, and their children, Claira and Finn.

2000s

Amy Sneed Hodge, ’00, was selected as one of 20 fellows for the Nashville Chamber Commerce Leadership in Public Education cohort. It is a 6-month public education leadership development appointment, comprised of community leaders from a wide array of professions. The program empowers individuals with the knowledge and skills to serve in community leadership roles that will further support and advocate for Metro Nashville Public Schools.

Scott Pierpoint, ’00, was promoted to crew leadership with Tallawah MPC in San Diego, Calif.

Xaivier Tipler, ’00, was recognized by Continental Who’s Who for his years of work in the chiropractic field.

Daren Dean, ’02, has a novel, The Black Harvest: A Novel of The American Civil War, that has been nominated for the Pen/Faulkner and for the W. Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction. In addition, an excerpt (The Centralia Massacre) was nominated for a Pushcart prize.

Valerie Simpson, ’03, and her husband, Scott, started Simpson Machining in Fayette, Mo.

CORRECTION A group of Central alumni gathered recently in St. Louis to share a lunch and many memories. From left: Billie Devine, ’54; Bob Devine, ’56; Dottie Luther, ’56; Shirlee Kirby, ’56; Sondra Spalding, ’57; and Dr. Caryl (Stinson) Schieszer, ’56; and her husband, Professor Fred Schieszer. Some of their names were misspelled the last edition of the Talon. We apologize for the error.

34 The Talon | Spring 2022

Zachary F. Towe, ’03, was an honoree at the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame basketball luncheon. Zach was a member of the Filbert Five men’s high school basketball team.

Tony Vestal, ’03, is the head baseball coach at Moberly High School.

Amy Pottebaum Switzer, ’04, started her own business as an independent contractor for Fedex Ground.

Brent C. Holtgrewe, ’05, received the Mid America Athletic Trainers’ Association Denise Fandel Award for Advocacy and Diversity.

Nolyn Nyatanga, ’05, is a medical oncologist with New York Cancer and Blood Specialists.

Maria Winn-Ratliff, ’05, is the new softball coach at Trinity Valley Community College.

Derek Skaggs, ’06, is the secondary principal at Pilot Grove High School.

Adrienne Holloway Mills, ’08, accepted the role of vice president, ancillary and support services at Stormont Vail Health in Topeka, Kan. Kelly L. Loepker Theiss, ’08, was promoted to assistant vice president and processing manager with Citizens Bank in New Haven, Mo.

2010s

Eric Reigelsberger, ’11, Is the athletic trainer for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimps.

Lyndsey Talbot, ’11, received the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Diamond 9 Award.

Lindsey is the softball coach at State Fair Community College.

Ashanti Williams Caine, ’12, is the softball coach at Battle High School.

John Coleman, ’12, is an elementary school nurse in the Hazelwood School District.

Addie Layne, ’13, is a senior project manager at Barkley Advertising in Kansas City, Mo. Gregory Ray, ’13, was named head coach of the Oklahoma Pandhandle State University women’s basketball team.

Alex Kirby, ’14, is the director of bands at Greenville University.

Herman Lee Jimerson, ’18, has been named a college unit director for Northwestern Mutual in its Chesterfield, Mo. office. Jimerson will continue to serve as a financial advisor while he coaches and leads a team of college financial representatives who are participating in the firm’s internship program.

Jessica Travlos, ’14, is the director of events for The Club at Old Hawthorne in Columbia, Mo.

Kansas City Comets as a forward in the Major Arena Soccer League.

Conner White, ’14, is the head football coach at Webster Groves High School.

Courtney Scott Owens, ’21, is the chief nursing officer at Texas County Memorial Hospital.

Nathan Goodwin, ’15, was recognized for five years of service with the Kirksville Police Department.

Births, Marriages, Engagements

Carlei Bryan Wies, ’15, was named the new principal at Cedar Ridge Elementary School in Columbia, Mo. for the 2022-2023 school year.

Danielle Beumer, ’17, was named State Fair Community College 2022 Instructor of the Year.

Juliaetta Nichole Bratton, ’17, is a pediatric nurse practitioner with St. Francis Clinic in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Michele Laas, ’17, was named chief nursing officer at Bothwell Regional Health Center in Sedalia, Mo.

2000s

Hannah Lilienkamp Nacarato, ’20, and Matt are expecting their first child, September 2022.

Mikayla Schoolcraft, ’20, married Adam Schoolcraft Oct. 23, 2021.

Kelsy Parrott Saunders, ’14, & Mitchell had a baby girl, Waverly Grace Saunders, Sept. 24, 2021 Aaron, '12, & Sabrina, ’14, Shockley had a baby girl, Ember Reign, Nov. 16, 2021.

Remington Slama, ’17, is an attorney with Keating O’Gara in Lincoln, Neb.

Kathleen "Katie" Harris, ’10, and Derek Jones had a baby, Jesse Thomas Harris-Jones, Nov. 18, 2021.

Jacob R. Kent, ’18, is the director of athletic training at Buena Vista University.

Mauka M. Shaw, ’06, married Meganne K. Greenwood Shaw, ’10, Feb. 14, 2022

Jessica N. McCain, ’18, is a family nurse practitioner with Regional Physician Services in Poplar Bluff, Mo.

Jason Jarvis, ’00, and Tarilyn Jarvis had a baby boy, Westin Edwin Jarvis, Nov. 22, 2021.

2020s

David ’00 & Kate Samson celebrated the birth of their third child, James Lorenz, October 14, 2021.

Gray Goes Into Southwestern’s Hall Of Fame Dr. Wallace Gray Jr., ’48, was posthumously inducted in April into the Leaders in Service Hall of Fame during Southwestern College’s Founder’s Day ceremony in Winfield, Kan. Gray was professor and chair of the department of philosophy and religion at Southwestern, where he taught for 40 years. He did his postdoctoral work at the University of Hawaii and pastored small churches in Missouri and Texas before taking a pastoral appointment at First Methodist Church in Lawton, Okla. He and his wife, Ina Turner, ’48, were married in 1948.

As a scholar, more than 200 publications are credited to him, including several contributions to various print and electronic media.

At Central, Gray graduated with a BA in English. He was a member of Pi Gamma Mu, Alpha Phi Gamma, and the Student Christian Organization.

He received Central’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2008.

Gray passed away in 2019.

Junior Kazeem, ’20, has signed with the

Spring 2022 | The Talon 35

One of Central’s Oldest Alumni, Ruth Nickerson, Passes Away

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uth F. Higginbotham Nickerson, ‘43, one of Central’s oldest living alumni, passed away peacefully in her Webster Groves, Mo. home on Saturday, March 5. Born February 18, 1920, Ruth’s 102 years were ones of independence, musical talent, sharp wit, devoted care for others, and generosity to many.

Born at Potosi Hospital, Ruth was the only living child of parents George Howard Higginbotham and Idabelle Smith. Educated in the Potosi schools, she lived through the depression, played on the women’s basketball team, and began her music studies. She graduated in 1938 and received a scholarship to Central Methodist College to study music and English. While there, she met and married W.T. (Tribby) Nickerson after her graduation.

They moved to Texas, where Tribby obtained his ordination as a Methodist minister.

Together, they served in several churches in Texas and Kansas City, Ruth singing and accompanying on piano or organ.

Ruth returned to St. Louis on her own in 1961, to begin a very successful career as a music teacher in private schools and as an organist for various congregations across the city. She was proud to have been given the privilege to play some of the most illustrious organs in the region. She was honored to sing with the St. Louis Metros. Ruth always considered Potosi home and often returned to visit close friends, Wilma Loomis, Mildred Cresswell Graff, Dorthy Ann Watson, and many Higginbotham cousins.

Ruth never forgot the importance of the music education opportunity Central Methodist College gave her and gave back to the school by endowing their music library on the Fayette campus. Her philanthropy extended to many non-profit organizations such as the Potosi Methodist Church, Souls Chapel Cemetery, and the new Potosi Towns Square project. She has been honored by both

In Memoriam 1940s

Orpha M. Crowder Cox, ’42, of Prairie Village, Kan. died Jan. 23, 2022.

Ruth Higginbotham Nickerson, ’43, of Webster Groves, Mo. died Mar. 5, 2022.

36 The Talon | Spring 2022

the Salvation Army and the Missouri Humane Society for her gifts. Volunteering for Meals on Wheels brought her great enjoyment after her retirement.

Traveling was a great passion of Ruth’s.

She began traveling with her mother as well as her lifelong companion, her cousin Kathleen Sloan, on a three-week bus trip to California to visit family in 1933. Ruth traveled throughout the U.S., Europe, and North Africa, always making new friends and bringing home wonderful stories.

Margaret E. Dennis Adams, ’46, of Chillicothe, Mo. died Jan. 1, 2022.

Lois Read Elliott, ’46, of Saint Louis, Mo. died Mar. 6, 2022.

Carolyn B Smith Jacob, ’48, of Columbia, Mo. died Dec. 6, 2021.

Robert H. Easterday, ’49, of Leawood, Kan. died Oct. 12, 2021.

1950s

Eileen Caldwell Byquist, ’50, of Salina, Kan. died Mar. 13, 2022.

Shirley Jean Howell Clemons, ’50, of Bonne Terre, Mo. died Oct. 9, 2021.

Lewis C. Odneal, ’52, of Prairie Home, Mo. died Mar. 20, 2022.

Patricia Ann Letsinger Cerny, ’54, of Eureka, Mo. died Nov. 30, 2021.

Mary A. Precht Lindsay, ’54, of Arlington, Wash. died Jan. 18, 2022.

William J. Thorne, ’54, of Iowa City, Iowa died Feb. 24, 2022.

Charles H. Moore, ’55, of Fayette, Mo. died Oct. 18, 2021.

William H. Bunge Sr., ’56, of Independence, Mo. died Apr. 11, 2022.

Joseph R. Bakewell, ’57, of Sumner, Texas died Feb. 1, 2022.

Shirley Bond Hannah, ’57, of Mt. Dora, Fla. died Oct. 16, 2021.

Shirley Tipton Summers, ’57, of Elgin, Ill. died Mar. 20, 2022.

Philip D. Blakemore, ’58, of Holliday, Mo. died Nov. 24, 2021.

James W. Snell, ’58, of Montgomery City, Mo. died Nov. 18, 2021.

Jane H. Amrhein Barton, ’59, of Farmington, Mo. died Dec. 31, 2021.

Charles C. Bartig, ’59, of Wentzville, Mo. died Dec. 27, 2021.

Paul Thomas, Sr. Crews, ’59, of Enumclaw, Wash. died Nov. 1, 2021.

Celia Utlaut Drake, ’59, of Waverly, Mo. died Feb. 1, 2022.

Ann G. Alexander Imhoff, ’59, of Jamestown, Mo. died May 1, 2022.

L. Arlen Liberty, ’59, of Tucson, Ariz. died Dec. 24, 2021.

1960s

Jerry Lee Parrott, ’60, of Knob Noster, Mo. died Nov. 17, 2021.

Beth Hicks Youle, ’60, of Petersburg, Ill. died Oct. 27, 2021.

Ronald Lee Struchtemeyer, ’61, of Alpharetta, Ga. died Dec. 13, 2021.

Mildred R. Landes McNeel, ’64, of Derwood, Md. died Oct. 26, 2021.

Stephen Wayne Burnham, ’65, of Boonville, Mo. died Feb. 21, 2022.

Margaret L. Mathae Mekler, ’66, of Saint Louis, Mo. died Jan. 9, 2022.

Robert Lynn Britton, ’67, of Fayette, Mo. died Jan. 24, 2022.

Marilyn Miller Young, ’67, of Columbia, Mo. died Feb. 9, 2022.

Ned Joseph Wantz, ’67, of Mechanicsville, Va. died Oct. 13, 2021.

Mary Lyn Jackson Campbell, ’68, of Jefferson City, Mo. died Nov. 20, 2021.

E. Boone Schlanker Jr., ’68, of Ballwin, Mo. died Mar. 1, 2022.

John R. Barrett, ’69, of Charleston, Mo. died Dec. 19, 2021.

Stephanie L. Hoos, ’69, of Columbia, Mo died Jan. 1, 2022.

Linda L. L'Hote, ’69, of Owens Cross Roads, Ala. died Dec. 15, 2021.

1970s

Larry J. Leech, ’70, of Gulf Breeze, Fla. died Apr. 4, 2022.

1980s

Victoria L. Cole Neill, ’82, of Columbia, Mo. died Nov. 11, 2021.

Melissa Knauer Cooper Bazley, ’82, of Winterset, Ia. died Mar. 5, 2022.

Rose Marie Brown, ’89, of Gilliam, Mo. died Mar. 20, 2022.

1990s

Dwayne Charles Abbott, ’90, of Linn, Mo. died Apr. 24, 2022.

Susan R. Downey Huff, ’92, of Potosi, Mo. died Feb. 2, 2022.

Nancy Buerky Murphy, ’93, of Slater, Mo. died Nov. 24, 2021.

Diana S. Hill, ’94, of Billings, Mont. died

Apr. 6, 2022.

Sarah Lynne Smith, ’96, of Washington, Mo. died Mar. 7, 2022.

Aaron Michael Dennis, ’98, of Independence, Mo. died Dec. 7, 2021.

2000s

Jane Marie Bade, ’00, of New Haven, Mo. died Dec. 18, 2021.

Katherine M. Compton, ’03, of Bonne Terre, Mo. died Dec. 19, 2021.

Patricia Ann Crowley, ’05, of Fayette, Mo. died Oct. 9, 2021.

2010s

Tareva Sharesse Williams, ’10, of Fayette, Mo. died Nov. 8, 2021.

Cody Bear Ruggles, ’11, of Moberly, Mo. died Feb. 14, 2022.

Marshall Ray Westfall, ’12, of Macon, Mo. died Dec. 18, 2021.

Susan E. Henn, ’15, of Collinsville, Ill. died Oct. 20, 2021.

Jeffrey L. Bramer II, ’17, of Union, Mo. died Oct. 1, 2021.

Carolyn Burgin of O’Fallon, Mo. died Nov. 12, 2021.

Grace L. Conrad of Sedalia, Mo. died Mar. 30, 2022.

Juanita Dickerson of Fayette, Mo. died Apr. 7, 2022.

Phyllis Faulks of Columbia, Mo. died May 2, 2022.

William C. Faulks of Columbia, Mo. died Apr. 23, 2022.

Jane Franck of Columbia, Mo. died Oct. 7, 2021.

Jacqueline High-Pagni of Rocheport, Mo. died Jan. 2, 2022.

Ann Kreutzer of Fayette, Mo. died Jan. 28, 2022.

Henry B. Mueller of Fayette, Mo. died Mar. 1, 2022.

Lois Marlene Ragland of Farmington, Mo. died Apr. 2, 2022.

E. Eugene Rooney of Jefferson City, Mo. died Oct. 16, 2021.

Susan D. Wason of Republic, Mo. died Dec. 17, 2021.

P. David Weigel of Kansas City, Mo. died Nov. 15, 2021.

CMU Friends, Former Faculty, Staff

Randall D. Barron of Chesterfield, Mo. died Nov. 16, 2021.

CMUHONOR ROLL VISIT OUR CENTRAL METHODIST UNIVERSITY ALUMNI PAGE AT CENTRALMETHODIST.EDU TO SEE OUR LIST OF HONOR ROLL DONORS.

Spring 2022 | The Talon 37

Top: Delta Pi Omega students and alums gather for a group photo at homecoming 2021. Bottom left; Katie Guevara, Dailee Sewell, Quibillah Harvey, and Jayda Fulkerson. Bottom right; Nikki Kretzer Victor, Jessica Caszatt, Michelle Merk, and Amanda Allison

Delta Pi Omega Establishes the Ms. Pape, Delta Pi Omega, Hall of Sponsors Scholarship

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elta Pi Omega came out in force scholarship endeavor, was determined to in October to celebrate its 75th achieve the group’s goal and see the scholarship anniversary at 2021 Homecoming. available to award the fall of 2022.

While the decades of classmates Through Vieth’s tenacity, who made the journey to reunite the incredible support of the was incredible, the group also Delta Pi Omega active members, left their mark for generations the reunion committee and of Delta members to come. numerous generous donors, Delta Pi Omega was founded the reunion would turn out in 1946 by Ms. Eulalie Pape, to be a smashing success, and someone who would become the Ms. Pape Delta Pi Omega a Central legacy of her own Hall of Sponsors Scholarship through her life as an educator would become a reality by the and mentor. Ms. Pape would December 31 deadline. teach at Central from 1930 to Delta Pi Omega Reunion and 1965 and was the Delta Sponsor Scholarship committee members Kathy Vieth, ’66 from 1946 to 1966. Ms. Pape’s included committee chair expectation of professionalism, Kathy Vieth, ’66, Carolyn Perry, discipline, and social protocol would remain ’66, Caryn Jeffries, ’13, (Delta Sponsor), Kim signature among the Deltas. Many successful Caldwell, ’82, Margo Kennedy, ’81, Murphy members would reflect the same today.

Quint, Susan Reichert, ’82, and CMU Board of During the early stages of reunion planning, Trustee Chairwoman, Dr. Nancy Peacock, ’82. the Ms. Pape/Delta Pi Omega Hall of Sponsors The Ms. Pape/Delta Pi Omega Scholarship Scholarship was initiated to honor their beloved will officially be awarded to a second-year Delta founder. The challenge at hand – raise $30,000 Pi Omega member for the fall 2022 academic among their group in just five months. year who is in good standing with the university.

The scholarship, a brainchild of Delta We applaud and congratulate the tremendous member Kathy Vieth, ’66, would take a great effort and collaboration in accomplishing this deal of collaboration and effort for all involved. endeavor!

Vieth, chair of the reunion committee and

38 The Talon | Spring 2022

Charles "Dude" and Marjorie McMillan Hall of Sponsors Scholarship Established

D

ana McMillan Jacob, daughter of Fayette legends Charles “Dude” and Marjorie, '48, McMillan, and her husband Gus Jacob have established a Hall of Sponsors Scholarship in Dude and Marjorie's name. The scholarship will be awarded to an education major from Howard County, with a preference for a graduate of Fayette High School.

Dana wanted to honor her parents and could not think of a more fitting tribute than to establish the scholarship. The Fayette and Central community meant everything to Dude and Marjorie, and they were as deeply woven into both as one could be.

Margorie McMillan was a member of the Class of 1948, and, after delaying her education for a time with family, she would graduate from Central in 1972 and spend 17 years in the Fayette School District. Many of her students who graduated from FHS would further their education attending Central.

Dude McMillan was a businessman in Fayette who owned and operated McMillan’s Café a.k.a. the infamous “Mac’s.” The stories are legendary of alumni who credit Dude for helping them overcome challenging times while at Central and encouraging them to stick with their path and continue their education. Some would even refer to Dude as “Professor.” The subsequent friendships he cultivated would prove to be lifelong. Hundreds of Central alumni would not consider coming to Fayette without stopping by to see Dude.

The story of Mac’s would begin in 1928 with Dude’s father and uncle as proprietors.

The original business was known as “McMillan Brothers” and was the local bar.

Students would patron the establishment then as well. To survive prohibition, the name would be changed to “McMillan’s Café.” With “Café” in the title, there was less likely to be trouble from being known as a bar. Mac’s would also accept checks, and for students alike, would also be much less alerting as Café on the records back home.

Mac’s was part of the community from 8:00 am to 1:00 am. The mornings would bring the local “coffee crew,” where Dude would serve a warm cup of coffee at 10 cents per cup, as he prepared for the day ahead.

Lunch would be available with pizza, hot dogs, and sandwiches and a pool table in the back room where high school students would gather after school. Once evening business was in full swing, there would always be a latent group of young Central men who had dropped their dates back off at Central to meet curfew at the women’s dorm only to continue their evening at Mac’s. Central was most aware of the student patronage and even established a rule in the student handbook, noting patronage at Mac’s would bring consequences of dismissal if caught.

Dude never took offense and would see it as the best advertisement ever.

If you would like to make a gift in honor of Dude and Marjorie, for the Charles "Dude" and Marjorie McMillan Hall of Sponsors Scholarship, please go to https:// givetocentral.org, or send your check to Central Methodist University, Dude and Marjorie McMillan HOS Scholarship, 411 Central Methodist Square, Fayette, MO 65274.

Alpha Phi Gamma/Mokers Do It Again

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lpha Phi Gamma, otherwise fondly and Lynette, ’88, Harrison the first Saturday in known as “MOKERS” and steeped April. The annual event, originally established in CMU tradition, in memory of CMU alumnus accomplished the funding and Moker, Todd Phillips, ’91, of the second Moker Hall of is rich in Moker tradition, and Sponsors Scholarship honoring the Harrisons, along with Mike Moker alumni. The first Moker Eiser, ‘94, and Keith Frazier, scholarship was funded in 2015 ‘86, annually create and paint a in honor of fellow Moker and Moker brick for each attendee CMU legacy Braxton Rethwisch, in addition to mapping the ‘64. event route. The opportunity A 76th Moker anniversary to complete the scholarship was celebrated during the 2021 funding at the annual event, Homecoming. In preparation would simply be too good to of the grand event, the reunion pass by and of course would Dave Bandy, ’66 committee, charged by Moker come to fruition. and CMU alumnus Dave Bandy, ‘66, created a While Mokers may have a reputation for challenge to establish a second Moker Hall of shenanigans, the organization also hosts a Sponsors Scholarship. group of alumni who truly believe in making The Alpha Phi Gamma, Moker, Hall of a difference in the world around them. The Sponsors Scholarship was officially funded opportunity and life-changing impact of an in April of 2022. The new scholarship will be education is one Mokers support with a whole awarded to a Moker who is in good standing heart. with the university and maintains a 3.0 GPA, Join us in celebrating the funding of Alpha beginning fall 2024.

Phi Gamma, Moker, Hall of Sponsor Scholarship On the first saturday in April, the new and thank you all for your thoughtfulness and scholarship achieved its goal at the annual Moker generosity extended in this endeavor. You truly Pub Crawl, hosted by CMU alumni Donn, ‘89, make a difference!

Spring 2022 | The Talon 39

celebrating Eagle Athletics

Central athletes gather in the shape of CMU at a 2022 pep rally 40 The Talon | Spring 2022

To honor the tremendous success of Central Athletics this year, CMU held a pep rally to celebrate national tournament appearances by football, baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, cross country, men’s wrestling, women’s wrestling, men’s golf, track and field, softball, volleyball, and cheer, and a national title for dance. The event packed Puckett Field House and concluded with a special recognition of new athletic director Jeff Sherman, ’83. There were 688 special T-shirts printed to commemorate the day – one T-shirt for each victory Sherman had during his 37-year tenure as head men’s basketball coach.

Spring 2022 | The Talon 41

Eagle Broadcaster Proud Of His Alma Mater

BY RACHEL MOORE

H

igh above the seats in Puckett Field House or the bleachers at Davis Field, nestled in the confines of the press box or birds' nest, you will often hear a familiar voice. One that serves as a voice for Eagle Athletics.

Charlie Brown, ‘78, has served as the voice of Central Methodist University football and basketball for the past four seasons. You can also hear him broadcasting local high school games around Missouri as one of the lead broadcasters of Prepcast Sports, a regional streaming network that specializes in high school and college athletics.

During his time with the Eagles, Brown has been on the call for many notable milestones, including the women’s basketball sweep of the Heart regular season and tournament championship in 2019-20, the men’s basketball upset victory over No. 3 William Penn in December 2021, and the football upset of sixtime defending Heart South football champion Baker University this past fall. Central’s football program went on to win its first outright conference championship since 1975.

Brown’s passion for Central Athletics is clear. He loves to tells stories of his time as a Central baseball player and later as an assistant coach.

42 The Talon | Spring 2022

His story, however, starts in the small town of Saint Mary, 13 miles south of Ste. Genevieve, Mo. Brown attended Ste. Genevieve High School, where he played both baseball and basketball. During his senior year at Ste. Genevieve, admissions representative Braxton Rethwisch, ’64, visited his school in November of 1973, looking for the next generation of Eagles.

Brown went through the process of visiting campus and applying to Central.

“What really interested me about Central was the class size,” he said. “It was small. I was not going to do well in a class of 200 students.

When I came to campus in the fall of ‘74, I only knew one person, who was a fellow classmate from Ste. Genevieve.”

Brown came to Central on an academic scholarship and quickly acclimated himself to life on campus. He tried out for a thenstruggling baseball program and made the team as a pitcher. The program, which was last in 1974, flipped the script the following year, winning the conference tournament championship over William Jewell College.

Brown concluded his time as the program record holder in wins with a 16-4 overall mark.

Following his career as a player, Brown spent many a night in Puckett Field House as

the public address announcer for basketball, recruited by Hall of Fame basketball coach Ken Ash. After obtaining a degree in business administration, Brown aspired to work his way up the corporate ladder and become the head of a company. Following a brief stint working out of the area, Brown found his way back to Fayette and was working at a bank when

Coach Steve Phipps asked him to join his staff as an assistant baseball coach.

Central baseball is deeply rooted in Brown’s life and it comes through in one very special story.

“My wife, Cynthia, recalls that she went on her honeymoon with 18 college guys,” Brown said. “We were going to get married on the pitcher’s mound at the baseball field between games of a doubleheader. However, a rainout changed that, and we were able to get married at the house we planned on living in at Boonville.”

Brown continued to coach before moving on full-time as a banker. He also did work for the local radio station in Boonville in 2014.

“I called up the radio station director and told him, ‘Listen I have never broadcasted a game in my life, but I know a lot about baseball.’ The director gave me a shot and once I got through the first year of baseball, I moved on to softball and then basketball and football,” Brown said.

During one of Brown’s games, he met James Damon of Prepcasts Sports. Damon asked him if he ever wanted to do more than just broadcast games to give him a call.

Soon thereafter, Brown made that phone call and was able to expand Prepcasts coverage to Smith-Cotton, Boonville, and Warrensburg, all of which are under Brown’s supervision. He remained connected with Central Methodist through several coaches, notably Jeff Sherman, ’83, now the director of athletics, and Mike Davis, ’83, head women’s basketball coach. He made his broadcasting debut in Fayette in fall 2017 with the football program and added men’s and women’s basketball the following season.

When asked to reflect on this unique return to his university and the format of his contributions, Brown stated, “It’s nice to come back and give back, and I try to get some of the Central folks that I know to come back and help with broadcasts because I know they are interested in it. They have stories that many people would find interesting, such as David Fox, ’83, and Danny Widhalm, ’85, just to name a couple.”

Both Fox and Widhalm were staples of the men’s basketball program in the early 80s and are part of Hall of Fame teams.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed what has happened with the athletic department and am elated that every sport is competitive,” Brown said. “It is encouraging to see this school grow, to see it excel academically, athletically, and as a true partner with the city of Fayette. It's my alma mater, and I am proud of it.”

Eagles Top Seed as Tournament Begins

C

entral Methodist entered NAIA National Tournament play as the Heart of America Athletic Conference regular season and tournament champions and as the top seed in the Bowling Green bracket of the opening round. Coach Pat Reardon’s team won a 1-0 pitchers’ duel against St. Mary of the Woods to begin the tournament, followed by a Day two split against Tennessee Wesleyan, 0-1, and Campbellsville, 5-4. Central concluded its season with an 8-7 loss to Tennessee Wesleyan in the Opening Round Championship by a final of 8-7.

Prior to the national tourney, the Eagles completed a sweep of the Heart Conference Tournament Championship with two wins over Mount Mercy (2-1, 3-1) in the championship series. Central reached the championship after surviving a Day Three split, falling 4-0 to Mount Mercy but bouncing back with a 6-0 win over Evangel. The loss snapped a 28-game winning streak for the Eagles, the longest streak in the last 15 years.

Nine Eagles were recognized with AllConference honors, including Madison White as Player of the Year and Mykala Johnico as Freshman of the Year. Joining White and Johnico with First Team nods were Keighlan Cronin, Kelli Gorman, Katelyn Kiser, Micaela

Harcrow, and Kelena Oots. Madison Love earned Second Team honors, while Mykayla Pennell was named Honorable Mention.

Reardon was also named Heart Coach of the Year for the ninth time in his career and his staff was named the National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association Region V Coaching Staff of the Year. In addition, five Eagles were named All-Region including Madison White (First Team), Keighlan Cronin (First Team), Mykala Johnico (First Team), Katelyn Kiser (Second Team), and Micaela Harcrow (Second Team).

Mykala Johnico was also named a finalist for the 2022 NFCA NAIA Freshman of the Year.

Baseball Back-to-Back Conference Champs

T

he Central Methodist University baseball team claimed the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament trophy with a 4-3 win over Mid America Nazarene on May 10, punching their automatic ticket to the NAIA national tournament for the second straight year. Central overcame an early 2-0 deficit and held off a ninth-inning surge by the top-seeded Pioneers for the win.

Coach Nate Breland’s team then entered the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round as the No. 2 seed in the Bellevue Bracket, where they lost a tight game against Tabor College 5-2 in 10 innings. The Eagles then fell to Concordia (Neb.) by a final of 10-3 to close their season.

Ten team members earned All-Conference honors, including Robbie Merced, the Heart

Player of the Year. Bobby Nichols and Nick Merkel joined Merced on the First Team, while Jeff Vance, Tanner Sears, Cole Luedeking, Beau Atkins, and Sebastian Escobar earned Second Team nods. Tommaso Giarola and Grant Victor received Honorable Mention recognition for the Eagles, who held an overall record of 4215 at season’s end.

Spring 2022 | The Talon 43

CMU Events:

2022 Hairston Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony The Central Methodist University Department of Athletics inducted its 2021 Hairston Hall of Fame class on January 8, 2022. The Hairston Hall of Fame was established in 1983 through a gift from William L. Hairston, ‘33, and honors the outstanding accomplishments of CMU athletes, coaches, administrators, and teams.

This year’s inductees include Amy Dority, ‘97 (women’s basketball), Daniela Georgieva, ‘05 (track), James Hazlett, ‘83 (baseball), Jill Pratte (athletic trainer), Francis “Gene” Reardon (softball coach), Michele Rupard, ‘15 (softball), Melvin Tillman, ‘14 (men’s basketball), Eric Trelz, ‘80 (football), Aubrey Utley, ‘14 (softball), the 1982-83 men’s basketball team, and the 2014-15 softball team.

Director of Athletics, Jeff Sherman, ’83, Gene Williams, ’80, Dale Mason, ’79, and Tom Stine, ’79

Melvin Tillman, ’14, and Derek Kitch, ’13

Aubrey Utley, ’14, and Michele Rupard, ’15

44 The Talon | Spring 2022

Daniela Georgieva, ’05

James Hazlett, ’84

Melvin Tillman, ’14

Michelle Rupard, ’15

Aubrey Utley, ’14

1982-83 Men’s Basketball Team: Mike Davis, ’83, Dan Widhalm, ’85, Ron Mills, ’83, Richard Tharp, ’85, Mark Dempsey, ’85, and Jeff Sherman, ’83

Eric Trelz, ’80

2014-2015 Softball Team: Coach Francis “Gene” Reardon, Neil Hansen, ’14, Michelle Rupard, ’15, Lauren Howard, ’17, Alyson Enyeart, ’18, Haley Hotelling, ’16, Briana Bradbury, ’15 Jessie Wilmes, ’16, Lyndsey Talbot, ’11 and Pat Reardon, ’90

More photos from the 2022 Athletic Hall of Fame: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ cmueagles/albums/72177720295872192

Spring 2022 | The Talon 45

Indoor Track Teams Succeed at Conference Meet Central Women’s Basketball Makes Fab Four Appearance

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he Central Methodist women’s basketball program put together one of the most storied seasons in program history during the 202122 campaign, finishing with a record of 31-6 in a season that was highlighted by a remarkable run in the NAIA National Tournament.

After posting second-place finishes in both the Heart regular season and tournament championship, the Eagles really got hot and encapsulated the true meaning of March Madness. Central entered the national stage as the No. 4 seed in the Liston Bracket of the tournament.

The Eagles would begin their tournament run with a matchup against Freed-Hardeman in the first game of the Alexandria quadrant on March 11 in Alexandria, La. CMU cruised to a convincing win over a team that had ousted Central from the tournament four years ago, by a final score of 79-61.

CMU punched its ticket to the opening round championship against Talladega on March 12 and recorded its best offensive output of the year.

CMU dropped 118 points against the Tornadoes to secure a spot in the NAIA Round of 16 in Sioux City, Iowa.

The Eagles then had the tall task of having to knock off the defending NAIA National Champs, Westmont College, featuring the reigning National Player of the Year, to make it to the quarterfinals. CMU won the heavyweight battle, outscoring the Warriors in the fourth quarter 23-16 to earn a 71-65 win.

Central marched on and secured a 10-point victory over Marian (Ind.) in the quarterfinals, solidifying their spot in the NAIA Fab Four. This marked the first national semifinal appearance for the Eagles since the 1998-99 Hairston Hall of Fame team.

Despite falling short in the national semifinals 82-62 to eventual champion Thomas More, the Eagles rewrote the record books, and in doing so set a foundation of success for years to come. Altogether, Central knocked off the No. 4, and No. 2 teams in the country en route to a Fab Four finish.

The Eagles were 17-1 at Puckett Fieldhouse and rattled off win streaks of 10, 8, and 8 games.

46 The Talon | Spring 2022

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he Central Methodist Track and Field program made history this year as the women claimed their first Heart Indoor Conference Championship ever in Maryville, Mo. The women placed first out of 12 teams, edging out Grand View, with 156 total points, while the men finished sixth of 13 teams with 76 points.

The highlight on the women's side was sophomore sprinter Kailey Johnson, who was the highest point-scorer for the second year in a row with 38 total points. The Columbia, Mo. native placed first in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.80, a new school record. This was followed by a first-place finish in the 60m dash in a time of 7.72 and a first-place standing in the long jump with a mark of 5.49m.

Johnson also took third in the 200m dash with a time of 25.68 and earned second in the 4x400m relay, clocking in at 3:59.40 with teammates Jessica Bailey, Dayana Montenegro, and Rhakala Blackmon.

Fellow freshman Megan Aubuchon joined Johnson on the podium with a third-place finish in the 60m hurdles with a final time of 9.11 seconds.

Junior Kaitlyn Weber was crowned the conference champion in the triple jump at 11.38 meters, good enough to hit the 'B' standard for the national championships. Sadie Heisner finished third in the event with a mark of 11.03 meters.

Weber also posted a third-place finish in the long jump at 5.29 meters, while Carter Hawkins won the pole vault with an NAIA 'B' standard mark of 3.42 meters. Heisner joined Hawkins on the podium with a second place standing at 3.27 meters.

Lilian Patterson earned a second-place standing in the 3000m racewalk at 18:16.90. Montenegro hit the 'A' standard in the 600m run with a time 1:35.99 seconds.

On the men's side, senior thrower Taylor Bottomley won both the men's shot put and weight throw. In the shot put, the senior out of Harrisburg, Mo. hit the 'A' standard with a final mark of 16.08 meters and submitted a record-breaking throw in the weight throw at 21.66 meters, the best throw in the nation this season.

Freshman Ethan Smith won the heptathlon with 4586 points, claiming victory in both the 1000m run and the shot put. Mohammed Nyaoga placed third in the 400m dash at 49.39 seconds. He joined the 4x400m relay team of Curis Johns, Alexander Ayala, and Adam Trachsel that earned a silver medal with a time of 3.19.33 seconds.

Men’s Basketball Returns to NAIA Tourney

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he Central Methodist men’s basketball team finished the 2021-22 season with an overall record of 22-11, an appearance in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals, and their first trip to the NAIA National Tournament since the 2017-18 season.

Central’s most notable victory of the season came December 8, when the Eagles upset No. 3 ranked William Penn 79-73 inside Puckett Field House. Sophomore guard Jonathan Brown recorded a career-high 35 points in the victory over the Statesmen.

At the end of the regular season, four Eagles were named to Heart All-Conference teams including Jonathan Brown (First Team), Fode Camara (Second Team), Tim Cameron (Honorable Mention), and Isaiah May (Honorable Mention).

Brown earned Third Team All-American honors from the NAIA, becoming the first Eagle since 2017-18 to be recognized.

In addition, Cameron was also recognized as the Heart Defensive Player of the Year and was named to the Bevo Francis Top 100 Watch List

by Small College Basketball in early January. The list features the top players from NCAA Division II, Division III, NAIA Division I and II, and the USCAA and NCCAA. With the appointment of Head Coach Jeff Sherman to Director of Athletics, Associated Head Coach Matt Sherman was named Head Coach on March 15, 2022.

Matt Sherman Takes Reins as Eagle Basketball Head Coach

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he best assistant coaches always get “the itch.” They eventually want to have a program of their own.

It was no different for Central Methodist University’s former assistant and now head coach, Matt Sherman, ’10.

“I was probably about to pay attention to the itch to start looking,” Sherman said.

“You know, I never thought I would even be an assistant here. These changes are all about timing, and things lined up nicely for me and for my family.”

They did indeed. After 37 years as head basketball coach, Matt’s father, Jeff Sherman, moved upstairs to the athletic director position, and President Roger Drake didn’t hesitate to offer the head coach position to the seven-year assistant coach.

Matt is hitting the ground running. He was able to hire his assistant coach quickly.

He is recruiting, and he’s finishing up the non-conference schedule for the 2022-23 version of the Eagles, who are coming off of an NAIA national tournament appearance.

“I’m excited to see if we could build on this past year,” he said. “Not just to get back to the national tournament but to achieve consistency and to make it an expectation to be there every year.”

Matt is no stranger to success and to high standards. He received all-state honors in his senior year at Fayette High School, and he helped guide the Falcons to the state quarterfinals.

He moved on to Central to play for the Eagles and helped CMU reach the 20-win plateau for three consecutive seasons. The Eagles had a 28-7 record his junior year and advanced to the NAIA tournament where they upset Georgetown (Ky.) in the opening round of what was arguably one of the greatest wins in Eagle history.

Matt was an NAIA all-American and graduated from CMU with a bachelor’s degree in physical education. In 2015, he was one of the youngest to ever be inducted into Central’s Hairston Hall of Fame.

Matt and his wife, Stasia, live in Fayette. Stasia is the director of alumni engagement at CMU. They have a son, William, and a daughter, Charlotte.

Jeff Sherman, ’83, with his sons Matt, ’10, and Ryan, ’13.

Spring 2022 | The Talon 47

Veteran Coach Jeff Sherman Spells Out Goals For New Role As Athletic Director

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or the first time in more than 37 years, the sidelines in Puckett Field House during men’s basketball games will be patrolled by someone other than Jeff Sherman, ’83, the longest-tenured and winningest coach in the history of Central Methodist University.

However, those wishing to find Jeff won't have to look too far. He has moved quarters to the student center as the Director of Athletics.

“When this job came open and I was asked about it, there were a couple things that stood out from my standpoint more than others,” Sherman said. “One is to work at a university that has been very good to me,” noted Sherman.

“And a university that has been good to others whom I met through the community or via work. The support from our administration for the athletics department and the potential makes this the place to be.”

Sherman has long been a fixture at CMU, with a tenure beginning in 1980 as a member of the men’s basketball team. While with the Eagles, he helped lead CMU to its first Heart Conference Championship in 1981. Despite sustaining a knee injury his senior year, Sherman remained an active participant in the world of basketball. Following graduation in 1983, he held coaching positions at the high school level before returning to CMU as an assistant coach under Hall of Famer Ken Ash. Following Ash’s departure after the 198485 season, Sherman was appointed as the

48 The Talon | Spring 2022

head basketball coach – at age 24. That was the beginning of one of the most successful basketball coaching careers in not only the state of Missouri but the entire country.

Sherman amassed 668 career victories, numerous conference championships, and NAIA national tournament appearances. For his efforts as a coach, he has been inducted into two Hall of Fame classes.

Sherman said he had a lot to learn during his time on the sidelines. When asked what he has picked up during his time as a basketball coach Sherman said, “Balancing academics.

Our players earning their degree has always been important, not only to me but their own families. Those families trust us to help prepare their child and set them up for future successes.”

Despite relinquishing control of a program he loves dearly, Sherman feels it is in the right hands. It didn’t take long for the newest basketball coach to be named, as the reins were handed over to Jeff’s son, Matt, a 2010 alumnus of Central and his father’s assistant coach.

“Matt is ready to lead; he is more than qualified and is loyal to the university” the elder Sherman said. “What made it better in my eyes was that he was my son, he’s had success here, and he was born and raised in this community. He is one of our own.”

Matt was a four-year starter and two-time NAIA All-American during his career in an

Eagle uniform. His 433 career three-pointers remains the school record to this very day. For the past seven years, Jeff has groomed his son for this position. Matt has served alongside his father for the past seven seasons, first as an assistant coach and then as associate head coach. For his accomplishments as a player, Matt was inducted into the Hairston Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2015.

As Jeff turns his attention to the administrative side of the athletic department, he already has goals he would like to see achieved over the next year.

“We have a phenomenal coaching staff, and we have tremendous success within our teams,” he said. “We must identify what our needs are to maintain that success and what we need to do to get better. I want to be the guy behind the scenes, and my goal, if I’m doing my job right, is no one will really notice me a lot.”

The ultimate goal, though, for Jeff is simple: continue to win championships and build character.

“The goal should be to develop lifelong leaders of character through academic and athletic excellence within our administration and coaching staff,” said Sherman. “If we can help better our student-athletes during their time as players, we can help prepare them not just for their time here at CMU but for life after.”

Central Restructures Leadership in Athletics, Student Life

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Roger Drake announced major changes to CMU athletic department earlier this spring.

The athletics department will now report under the umbrella of Dr. Joe Parisi, vice president of enrollment and athletics, with longtime basketball coach Jeff Sherman as the new athletics director. Parisi will guide the overall strategic direction and culture of athletics.

President Roger Drake chose not to do a national search, saying “we have plenty of talent right on this campus.”

“We have a great depth of leadership here to take us into the future,” Drake continued. “I’m looking forward to what’s next.”

Jeff Sherman leaves an unmatched basketball legacy at CMU as one of the longesttenured coaches in the nation.

He is the winningest coach in Central Methodist history, with one 30-win season, four conference titles, a divisional title, five NAIA national tournament bids, three Sweet 16 finishes, and 14 seasons ranked in the top 25 in the NAIA. Parisi, who has been at Central nearly five years, is one of the winningest wrestling coaches in NAIA history, with seven national championships under his belt. He has athletic management experience at three different institutions.

CMU Acquires Former Dollar General

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building that sat vacant on the Fayette Square for more than three years will soon have new life, and Central Methodist University will have one of the largest collegiate Esports facilities in the country.

The 6,000 square foot space held Fayette’s Dollar General store three years ago. Central plans to rehab the space and open its new Esports facility in the fall.

“This is an enormous commitment to Esports,” said Dr. Joe Parisi, vice president

for enrollment management and athletics.

“Esports produces such quality students.

We’re excited about the future. We project having more than 100 Esports competitors in the next year or two.”

Central is “reimaging” the space, and will commit square footage to each of the games the teams compete in – Fortnight, Rocket League, Rainbow 6, Madden, Hearthstone, and League of Legends – providing a “modern and sought after” gaming facility. Not only will it be the home of CMU’s teams, there will

be tournaments and high school nights in the facility, Parisi said.

“This gives us a chance to host events and engage with Howard County high school students who have been looking for a place to compete,” Parisi said.

Mike Dimond, ‘85, executive director for Fayette Main Street, was encouraged by the news and said the change was positive for Fayette, filling an empty building and bringing more activity to the square.

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Men's Golf Claims Heart Tournament Championship

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he Central Methodist men's golf program made history this spring, winning the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship at Raymore Golf Course in Raymore, Mo. It marks the first Heart Championship for

the program since the 2013 season. Central finished the tournament with a three-round score of 877, 11 strokes better than secondplace Mount Mercy and 25 strokes better than third-place Grand View.

The men qualified for the NAIA Men's Golf

National Championships, taking place at Talon press time from May 17-20, at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill. In addition to its championship finish, Central swept the Heart superlative awards.

Head coach Stephen Main was named the Heart Men's Golf Coach of the Year. Overall, Main led the CMU men to seven top-three finishes at tournaments this year.

Senior Matias Baccola won the individual title with a three-round score of 206, including an impressive final two rounds of 68 and 66.

For his efforts, Baccola was named the Heart Men's Golf Player of the Year and landed on the Heart All-Conference Team.

Teammate Tomas Lopez Mazzalay was recognized as the Heart Newcomer of the Year and a Heart All-Conference performer.

Sophomore Aaron Teece finish tied for fourth with a three-round score of 219, while Tiago Swart landed just outside the Top 10 with a T12. The duo of Teece and Swart rounded out the Heart All-Conference performers from CMU. Cade Basson placed T16 with scores of 77, 72, and 79 for a final tally of 237.

Eagle Envy Dance Wins National Championship

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he Central Methodist Eagle Envy Dance Team took home its first national title this spring, in the NAIA Hip Hop Division of the 2022 NDA College Dance National Championship in Daytona Beach, Fla. The title comes in the first season under interim head coach Matt Fohn, ’20.

Envy began the preliminaries of the Hip Hop competition with a score of 85.5429, putting them in second place heading into the finals.

CMU then tallied a finals score of 89.0 to win the championship.

Central also competed in the NAIA Jazz Division, posting a sixthplace finish with a score of 83.3143.

50 The Talon | Spring 2022

Women’s Wrestling Making Noise

New Wrestling Coach Schmitz Has Winning Background

he Central Methodist women’s wrestling program had numerous individual accomplishments during the 2021-22 season. The Eagles received votes in the national polls on several occasions and featured as many as four wrestlers in the individual rankings.

The first-year duo of Lillian Gough and Alexis Miller both made history, becoming the first women’s wrestlers in program history to earn Heart Wrestler of the Week honors in December of 2021.

Central posted three first-place finishes at the EZFlex Open on January 8 in Ottawa, Kan., and Gough was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the event. Central concluded the year with four topfour finishes at the Heart Conference Championships and a trip to the NAIA Women’s Wrestling National Invitational in Jamestown, N.D. In addition, six women were recognized by the National Wrestling Coaches’ Association as NAIA Scholar AllAmericans.

entral Methodist University’s new director of wrestling and head men’s wrestling coach comes to the Eagles with no shortage of hardware. Sam Schmitz has three consecutive national titles as the women’s coach and several top-five finishes as men’s assistant coach at McKendree University.

“I’m nervous, and I’m excited,” said Schmitz, who started his job at Central in April.

“This is a big step for me and for my family.”

Schmitz said that one thing won’t be any different, though.

“The recipe for success doesn’t change,” he said. “It always has come straight from my heart.”

Schmitz has nine years of experience under his belt as a head coach, but some of that coaching prowess was learned from his old college coach and now Central Methodist’s vice president for enrollment management and athletics, Dr. Joe Parisi.

“His success was unmatched as a head coach, and I did a lot of learning,” Schmitz said.

“He created the blueprint, especially with the small things he did outside of coaching. I’ve learned from that. I’m not going to do exactly as he did, but I’m adding my own touch and making the approach mine.”

Parisi said that he and athletics director Jeff Sherman, along with President Roger Drake, have high expectations for their new coach.

“He’s got great tools and a great heart,” Parisi said. “He is a master technician and an excellent recruiter. We can’t wait to see the changes in our program.”

As a college wrestler under Parisi, Schmitz was an NAIA All-American on two of Parisi’s seven national championship teams.

He has a proud history with Parisi, but Schmitz is also looking forward to working with legendary coach and now CMU athletic director Jeff Sherman.

“You see a lot of things in 37 years as a head coach,” Schmitz said. “I can’t wait to visit more with him and learn.”

Schmitz has three consecutive NCWWC national championships under his belt at McKendree. In addition, Schmitz was the one coach nationally to serve as a clinician earlier this year at the prestigious high school national championships.

Besides being the men’s head coach at Central, Schmitz will serve as the director of wrestling, overseeing the Eagles’ successful women’s wrestling program and head coach Brieana Delgado. She is looking forward to learning from the veteran.

“He has a great reputation, and I’m looking forward to working with him,” Delgado said.

“I’m also looking forward to re-connecting with his wife, who is one of my old teammates.”

Schmitz, from Oregon, comes to Central with his wife, Michaela, a three-time national champion and the first female to win a boys’ high school championship. They have two children.

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Shelton Stars For Men’s Wrestling

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MU men’s wrestling spent a majority of the season mentioned in the national polls, receiving votes in the rankings for six consecutive weeks. Central’s Brenden Shelton was among the top wrestlers in the NAIA at 285 pounds.

The native of Colon, Mich. was ranked as high as No. 6 in mid-December and qualified for the NAIA Men’s Wrestling National Championships March 4-5 in Wichita for the second-straight season. Shelton is Central’s first-ever two-time NAIA National Qualifier.

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