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Around Campus
The Year of Two Commencements
May 2021 saw the Classes of 2021 and 2020 graduate with all the pomp, circumstance, and joyousness expected of long-anticipated in-person ceremonies. Both events were held outside on Joe McDaniel Field.
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CLASS OF 2021: MAY 22, 2021
Milton Moreland, Centre’s 21st president, was beaming as he presided over his first Centre commencement. The procession included his innovation, a Centre banner, in addition to the bicentennial mace used for the first time at the 2019 opening convocation.
Turning to a traveling metaphor, he told the 339 new graduates to “always take the winding road.”
“Take a lot of side roads, living a life filled with improvisation, exploration, and courage,” he said. “Along the winding road, use your Centre education for good: seek justice and equity for others.”
In her commencement address, Andrea Abrams, Centre’s vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion and an anthropologist, used a concept anthropologists favor, liminality, to aptly describe the graduates. Liminality, she said, is “a state of transition between one stage and the next, especially between major stages in one’s life. . . In other words, you are no longer one thing, but you are not yet quite another.”
The valedictorians were Nicole Frey ’21 and Luke Martin ’21. Frey won the Wiseman Prize and Martin received the Welsh Prize as the woman and man with the highest GPA.
The Class of 2021 included students from 34 states and eight foreign countries (Brazil, China, Egypt, Ghana, India, Japan, Morocco, and Vietnam). The top five majors were 1) economics & finance; 2) biology; 3) international studies; 4) behavioral neuroscience; and 5) a three-way tie with history, politics, and psychology.
CLASS OF 2020: MAY 29, 2021
The Class of 2020 finally had the in-person graduation they had been promised. Thanks to COVID, they had to wait a year to be back on campus. Last year a virtual ceremony was held on their originally scheduled graduation day, but it specifically was not called “graduation” (although they did receive their diplomas).
The weekend started with the traditional baccalaureate service, during which President Emeritus John A. Roush and former First Lady Susie Roush were honored for their 22 years of service. Board Chair Mark Nunnelly ’80 unveiled the new name for the student center— the Roush Campus Center. In addition, he announced that the green between the Roush Campus Center and Old Centre would be known as the Susie Miller Roush Lawn. Rick Axtell delivered the baccalaureate sermons for both classes, his 10th and 11th such talks.
The next day, John Roush, who retired in June 2020, gave the commencement address to the 352 members of the class, Centre’s largest class ever.
Roush spoke about the importance of courage, which he defined simply as “do the right thing.” And with courage comes the challenge of being consistently courageous even when it’s hard, he added.
“I promise you that within the hour, some of us will be faced with the choice of doing the right thing,” he said. “Or choosing to be ‘quiet’ even when you know that ‘misinformation’ is being paraded as truth. The challenge to do the right thing will happen right outside these gates. It will be your choice, my choice, and we must summon the courage to make the right choice—do the right thing.”
Susie Roush also addressed the graduates.
“Class of 2020—do not deny yourselves the joy of ‘building bridges’ and ‘planting trees’ for those who follow after,” she said. “P. Roush and I will be watching and, of course, cheering you on.”
Both Roushes received honorary degrees as part of the ceremony.
The Class of 2020 valedictorians were Emily Brown ’20 and Matthew Joshua Ko ’20, the first year there has been a tie. Brown received the Wiseman Prize and Ko received the Welsh Prize as the woman and man with the highest GPAs.
The Class of 2020 had graduates from 31 states and six foreign countries (China, Japan, Myanmar, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand). The top five majors were 1) economics & finance, 2) behavioral neuroscience, 3) international studies, 4) biology, and 5) politics.
Opening Convo Introduces New Faculty and Class of 2025
The College welcomed 377 new first-year students and 12 transfer students at the opening convocation that marks the official start of the academic year. Thirteen new members of the faculty were also introduced (five in Division I, and four each in Divisions II and III).
The speakers were two professors, Mary Daniels (Spanish) and Shana Sippy (religion). In an effort to de-densify the Newlin Hall event that typically attracts 1,000 people, sophomores, juniors, and seniors watched the video later to receive their two convo credits.
In remarks titled “¡Presente!,” Daniels wondered how to regain the missing sense of presence after 18 months of masking, social distancing, online learning, and fear.
“There are more casualties of the pandemic than I care to name, but what I was graveled by was the loss of the language that had sustained me—the loss of presence,” she said.
“I know I am looking forward to walking into my Spanish class and calling the roll,” she continued. “Because what will I hear the students say? ‘¡Presente!’ ‘Here.’ I am here with you. A promise that teacher and student enter into together. A pledge to be present.”
Sippy spoke about “Seeing the Silence” and referenced the Jewish theologian Judith Plaskow in her remarks.
“Silence exists in many different forms,” Sippy said. “The ones I want us to explore are not the silences of transcendence, meditation, or prayer but ones that signify erasure, complicity, ignorance, and apathy; silences that occur both intentionally and unintentionally but which, as Plaskow notes, are easily mistaken for reality.”
The first-year students come from 33 states and territories and 18 foreign countries. Their average GPA is 3.68; 20 percent had a 4.0. Fifty-nine percent are from Kentucky, and slightly more than half are female. More than 28 percent of the first-year students are people of color: 6.9 percent identify as Hispanic or Latinx, 6.6 percent as Black, 4.8 percent as Asian or Pacific Islander, and 3.2 percent as bi- or multiracial. Twenty-one percent of the first-years are first-generation college students (neither parent has a four-year college degree). The Class of 2025 includes 189 who were recruited as student athletes, of whom 85 are female athletes.
Total enrollment at Centre is 1,320.
Class of 2025
FALL SPORTS NEWS
Five teams were involved in postseason play this fall and several individuals received Southern Athletic Association Conference honors. Women’s soccer advanced to the Sweet 16 but fell to Loras College. The 13th-ranked Colonels ended the season 17-2-2 overall. It was the team’s ninth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Jay Hoffman ’96 was named SAA Women’s Soccer Coach of the Year. E.J. Bryant ’25 was named Women's Soccer Newcomer of the Year, and Cameron Zak ’22 was named Defensive Player of the Year. Men’s soccer made its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance but fell to No. 11-ranked Emory. The team ended its season 10-5-4. Field hockey reached its fourth Sweet 16 but fell to No. 5 Bowdoin to close with a 15-4 overall record. Jenelle Downs was named SAA Field Hockey Coach of the Year. Meredith Wickenheiser ’22 was named Offensive Player of the Year. Women’s cross country made its debut at the Great Lakes Regional Championships, finishing 11th out of 42 teams. The team won the SAA Championship. Lisa Owens was named SAA Women's Cross-Country Coach of the Year. Erin Haugh ’25 was named SAA Newcomer of the Year. Meghan Owens ’23 was named SAA Runner of the Year and received All-Great Lakes Region honors. Men’s cross country wrapped up the 2021 season after making its debut at the Great Lakes Regional Championships. The Colonels finished 14th out of 42 teams. Centre’s esports program competed in the postseason National Esports Collegiate Conference Tournament. The Rocket League team had a huge 3-2 upset of No. 1-seed University of Southern Mississippi. The playoff semifinals against North Central College were Nov. 30 (at press time). The Overwatch team bowed out in the playoff after posting a 5-2 regular season record, including a promotion up to a tougher division.
Abrams Promoted to VP for Diversity
Andrea Abrams has been promoted to vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in recognition of her significant work over the last three years as Centre’s chief diversity officer. The promotion was effective in April 2021.
Evan Aroko ’20 and Andrea Abrams Intercultural Suite in the Roush Campus Center.
“I take seriously the mission of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion to promote and sustain a diverse and inclusive learning, living, and working environment in which all members of the community thrive and succeed,” she says.
A key initiative of hers was launching Building Bridges and Community Day in 2018. Now in its fourth year, its goal, she says, is to create “intentional opportunities for all of us to better understand the wonderful variety of voices and perspectives present on our campus.”
She is also developing a strategic plan to enhance DEI aspects of campus life and is involved in finding ways to more effectively recruit, hire, and retain a diverse faculty and staff. Other efforts include expanding anti-racism programming.
Abrams joined the faculty in 2007 as a postdoctoral fellow teaching anthropology. She is the author of God and Blackness: Race, Gender and Identity in a Middle Class Afrocentric Church (New York University Press, 2014), published the year she was promoted to associate professor with tenure. She is currently working on a novel that features anthropology, magic, and mystery. She continues to teach courses in African American studies, anthropology, gender studies, and social justice studies.
A native of Mississippi, she earned a B.A. in sociology and anthropology at Agnes Scott College. She earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in anthropology as well as a graduate certificate in women’s studies at Emory University.
Sarah Nolan has been named Centre’s vice president for strategic marketing and communication, a new position for the College. She began in September 2021.
“I’m excited to join the wonderful team at Centre and build on our efforts in digital marketing and public relations,” she says.
Nolan came to Centre after a varied career that included higher education, the State Department, and several political campaigns.
Most recently she was assistant vice president for alumni relations and development and campaign communications at the University of Chicago. In that position she was responsible for strategic and philanthropic communications and digital marketing. She also was
Abrams began her work as chief diversity officer in 2018. Since then, her staff has increased in order to accomplish critical campus initiatives and projects. The office is now housed in Stuart Hall, a complement to the
the first director of international communications at Chicago, working on public relations and reputation management in China, India, Europe, and elsewhere around the world.
Centre President Milton Moreland praised Nolan as “an experienced higher education executive who has been working in strategic marketing at one of the world’s top universities.”
Prayat Poudel, a member of the search committee who teaches in the mathematics program, was equally enthusiastic. He was impressed by the breadth of her experiences and also by her commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues. Nolan, he says, “has consistently demonstrated a willingness to spend personal capital in advancing DEI concerns.”
Prior to the University of Chicago, she was at the U.S. Department of State, where she held positions in the Secretary’s Office of Global Partnerships and helped develop public-private partnerships that brought together U.S. and foreign government officials, as well as business, academic, and civic leaders.
Early in her career, she worked on a number of U.S. political campaigns at both state and national levels, including three presidential campaigns.
Born in Washington, D.C., Nolan moved to Kentucky as a child. She earned a master’s in art history and modern history at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, then pursued further education at the University of Chicago in the advanced leadership program and through the executive education program at Chicago’s Booth School of Business.Sarah Nolan
MILTON C. MORELAND THE INAUGURATION ofTHE MORELAND CHAPTER BEGINS AS TWENTY-FIRST PRESIDENT OF CENTRE COLLEGE
by MICHAEL STRYSICK, Executive Director of Communications
Milton C. Moreland was inaugurated as Centre’s 21st president on Oct. 14 in a ceremony that focused on the theme “Building a Community of Inclusive Excellence.”
“Our community flourishes when we are agile, open to new ideas, engage with people who have different identities, and pursue our curiosities,” Moreland said in his inaugural address. “That is Centre’s foundation for building an inclusive community.”
Looking ahead to the aspirations he hopes to achieve during his tenure, Moreland focused on a number of initiatives intended to build on the College’s existing strengths.
“Driven by our belief that the freedom and open exchange of ideas promotes a more just and inclusive society,” he said, “we will expand opportunities at this college for all of our students to be involved in applying their knowledge through experiential learning, community engagement, internships, and living and working in even more study abroad and study away locations as they prepare for their future careers.” not merely managed to endure during the global pandemic but how it has thrived and positioned itself to be even stronger once we emerge from this extraordinary period.”
Kentucky Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman ’04 brought greetings from the governor, Andy Beshear, and spoke about her experiences as a Centre student.
“Many of the values that have come to define me were cultivated right here at Centre,” she said, including hard work, resilience, rising to meet the moment, and learning to see the world through the eyes of others.
“When I came to Centre and was exposed to a diversity of experience and thought that was different than my own, I became a better student, a more informed citizen, and a more mindful leader,” she said.
Marjorie Hass is currently president of the Council of Independent Colleges and was president of Rhodes College when Moreland was provost.
In her remarks, she complimented Centre as a place that focuses on the “education of the spirit” and described its “real curriculum” as being about “helping each student come to see that their insights and actions matter.”
Reflecting on their years working together, Hass added, “As a leader, Milton has a special gift for keen-eyed clarity and an ability to look challenges squarely in the eye. Yet he remains a boundless source of optimism and energy. Over and over again, I witnessed his creative and compassionate problem solving—I often describe him as Solomon-like for the way he spots hinge points that motivate people to find common ground and row in the same direction.”
More than 1,200 guests attended the inauguration, including 100 alumni representatives and institutional delegates from colleges and universities across the country, trustees, and the campus community. The event was held the day before Homecoming and the October Board meeting.
Following the ceremony’s conclusion, guests joined President Moreland, his wife, Dina, their two sons, Marcus and Micah, and their daughter-in-law, Caroline, for a reception in their honor on the lawn in front of the Norton Center for the Arts.
MARK NUNNELLY ’80, BOARD CHAIR
Moreland took office on July 1, 2020, but postponed his inauguration due to issues surrounding COVID-19 until it was safer to gather.
Mark Nunnelly ’80, chair of the Centre Board of Trustees, presided over the ceremony.
“Milton Moreland is the right person at the right time to lead this great institution that has grown from strength to strength since its founding in 1819,” Nunnelly said. “Rather than finding ourselves paralyzed by the grip of current challenges, I am immensely proud of the way Centre College has
p Gabby Romines ’22 leads the inaugural procession with the bicentennial mace followed by new president Milton Moreland.
p Board Secretary Crit Blackburn Luallen ’74 puts the presidential medallion over the new president’s head.
u Moreland with a childhood friend, Mike Powers, from Rocky Mount, Virginia. p Dear friends from Rhodes College attended the celebration: Marjorie Hass, president of the Council of Independent Colleges and former president of Rhodes; Timothy Huebner, associate provost of Rhodes; Justin Rose, dean for faculty recruitment, development, and diversity at Rhodes; and Carroll Stevens, interim president at Rhodes, flank Moreland outside the Norton Center.
The Story behind the Name HIGGINS HALL
For more than 40 years, Frederick Marshall Higgins ’65 was the mastermind behind Minit Mart Foods, an innovative convenience store chain that opened in 1967. At its peak it had 300 locations throughout the South and Upper Midwest and more than 1,200 employees. Centre is the beneficiary of a family trust. The building was dedicated as Higgins Hall at Homecoming.
Fred Higgins ’65 Fred Higgins opened the first Minit Mart with his father, Ralph, while he was still a law student at the University of Kentucky. By the time he graduated, they had six stores throughout Lexington.
“It wasn’t like a business,” Higgins told the Bowling Green Daily News in 1990. “We just had fun. We worked together as a family.”
After two years with Army Military Intelligence during the Vietnam War, he incorporated the by then 18 stores in 1972, marking the official beginning of Bowling Green-based Minit Mart Foods.
Minit Mart found its niche by locating in rural communities and small towns. It was one of the first convenience store chains to add the now ubiquitous gas pumps in the 1970s. Over the years they added groceries, gaming machines, video and DVD rentals, and branded fast food such as Godfather’s Pizza and O’Deli’s sandwich shops.
Widely acknowledged as a leader in the convenience market arena, Higgins was elected chair of the National Association of Convenience Stores, an international trade association, in 1996. During his tenure, he oversaw the growth of technology and standards within the industry. He also was pivotal in strengthening the organization’s advocacy programs for convenience stores.
“In the beginning, we had to educate ourselves; then we were educating the different groups that affect our industry and have influence,” said Higgins in 2010. “It’s educating legislatures about this industry. The thing that makes me most proud about this industry is having seen it come from its infancy to today. It is regarded as a force.”
Among his honors was being named Citizen of the Year by the Bowling Green Noon Lions Club in 1990.
“My mom and dad gave me an appreciation for the Lord and for the fact that in this world, you can’t just take,” Higgins said at the time. “You’ve got to give. That’s just something you should do.”
Business First named him Regional Retail Entrepreneur of the Year in 1995.
Other accolades included Ernst & Young’s Retail Entrepreneur of the Year (1995), Kentucky Grocers Association’s Grocer of the Year (1996), and Kentucky Association of Convenience Stores’ Convenience Store of the Year (2008).
His civic ventures included being chair of Kids on the Block of Southcentral Kentucky, an organization that his late wife, Jamie, had co-founded. He was also chair of the Buckhorn Children’s Center and served two terms on the Centre board. During several mission trips to South and Central America with the Presbyterian Church, he helped install water purification systems to areas that lacked access to clean water.
He died in 2019, at the age of 75, survived by his wife, Kathy Booth Higgins, three daughters, Carrie Leigh Thomas, Leslie Embry, and Heather Higgins Jeffrey ’97; and two stepchildren, Elizabeth Foley and Mark Booth.
Higgins Hall represents the ever-evolving possibilities of Centre buildings. When it opened in August 1940, it was the men’s dining hall and had student rooms on the second floor. When Cowan Dining Commons opened in 1960, the first floor of the former dining hall was converted into Parsons Health Center and Infirmary with a $50,000 gift from Charles H. Parsons, Class of 1916, an Ashland, Ky., dentist. From 1946 to 2017, the building was named McReynolds Hall after a Supreme Court justice and Kentucky native who did not attend Centre but had made an unrestricted gift to the College upon his death. In 1997, the first floor was renovated to house Information Technology Services when the health center relocated to Sutcliffe Hall. The building still houses ITS and continues as a student residence.
—D.F.J.
Remembering My Dad
Dad used to say all the time if he could have figured out a way to stay in school forever, he would have. The next best thing was for Dad to share his love for Centre with the next generation.
When he spoke of his professors, it felt like he was talking about rock stars or real-life spy novels.
Higgins Hall is the perfectly tied bowtie on Dad’s Centre story. Centre never left Dad’s heart, and now Dad gets his wish. He will be in school forever. From remarks at the Dedication of Higgins Hall Heather Higgins Jeffrey ’97
FiveAlumni ElectedtoCentre Board of Trustees
The fall meeting of the Centre College Board of Trustees took place Oct. 15 and included the election of five new board members. “We are pleased to welcome this talented group of alumni,” said President Milton Moreland. “Their commitment to the College and their leadership experiences will ensure that Centre continues to thrive.” The new trustees are Wijdan Jreisat ’91, Jane Hopkins ’94, John R. Farris ’95, Leonard Napolitano ’97, and Stephen Hodges ’99. Wijdan Jreisat ’91
Wijdan Jreisat is a litigator with Katz Teller in Cincinnati, focusing primarily on family and employment law.
She graduated from Centre summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with degrees in English and history, before earning a law degree at the University of Virginia. Jreisat has many happy memories of her Centre experience, though she is proudest of being part of a group that planned and launched the College’s first residential study-abroad program, Centre-in-London, in 1990.
“The current menu of travel abroad options brings me joy and great satisfaction at having played a small role in setting the plan in process,” she said.
The new trustees are Stephen Hodges ’99, John R. Farris ’95, Jane Hopkins ’94, Wijdan Jreisat ’91, and Leonard “Nappi” Napolitano ’97
“Centre has always been one of my ‘happy places,’ a place with which I have a visceral positive connection,” she said. “But as I grow older, I appreciate all the ways in which it shaped the person I am. I hope to give back some of what this special place has given to me and to challenge us to greater success.”
Jane Hopkins ’94
While at Centre, Jane Hopkins participated in as many things as she could, including swim team, piano, Centre-in-London, and the sorority Kappa Alpha Theta. “One of the special things about Centre is that it nurtures the whole person, the academic life but also the social, the physical, and mental wellness,” Hopkins said.
She is especially excited by the new Initiative for Wellness and Athletic Excellence, which she thinks will enhance the College’s long-standing emphasis on all aspects of its students’ lives.
After graduating from Centre as a government major, Hopkins, originally from Lexington, Ky., obtained a master’s in public administration at New York University.
She is now president of the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, an initiative the company began in 1986 to celebrate its 100th anniversary. Each year the foundation receives about 100,000 applications for its 150 scholarships that support high school seniors with strong academics, demonstrated service, and leadership experience.
It’s a position that particularly suits Hopkins. She graduated from Centre convinced she was looking for “a calling with a purpose,” and the Coca-Cola scholarships are more than just financial support.
“The hope is we are creating this whole network of service-minded leaders who remain connected to each other to amplify each other’s voices, to connect, inspire, and engage with each other,” said Hopkins. “We want this to be an ongoing investment in their leadership skills and to continue to help them show up as the best version of themselves in all situations.”
John R. Farris ’95
John R. Farris has seen Centre through almost every possible lens. As a student, he participated in Centre-in-London, played on the tennis team, and helped with research for economics professor Harry Landreth’s textbook before graduating Phi Beta Kappa with majors in economics and philosophy. After earning a master’s in public administration at Princeton, he taught part time for six years at the College and was interim CFO and an advisor on the endowment. Farris also worked as an analyst at the World Bank and as secretary of the Kentucky finance and administration cabinet. He recently started AgriCapture, an agriculture tech company that captures carbon off farms in the Mississippi River Valley.
He also founded two other companies, LandFund Partners, which manages more than 40,000 acres of farmland in the Mississippi River Valley for pooled fund and direct investors, and Commonwealth Economics, which works with both public and private sectors to fund infrastructure projects. He is especially pleased that the three companies have hired a number of Centre graduates and about 25 interns over the years.
“I had great internships and professional mentors while at Centre, so I have always tried to ‘pay it forward,’” he said. “It is so nice to see so many of my former students grow into leaders in business and their communities.”
Leonard Napolitano ’97
Leonard “Nappi” Napolitano came to Centre after service in the Army, where he rose to the rank of specialist. He majored in history, played football, participated in Greek life as a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, and was a member of the Army’s Reserve Officer Training Corps.
Napolitano attended Centre thanks to the G.I. Bill, Pell Grants, the Green to Gold scholarship, and other financial aid. He has been such an enthusiastic volunteer that in 2007 the College named him Centre’s first Young Associate of the Year.
As an Army reservist, Napolitano was mobilized in connection with the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Furthermore, he served as a Red Cross Disaster Action Team volunteer, a role that took him to the Gulf Coast for several months immediately following Hurricane Katrina.
The New York native has enjoyed a remarkably successful career as an entrepreneur in educational software for higher education. A founding employee of Blackboard Inc., then a start-up internet software company, he helped build it into one of the world’s premier providers of software to higher education. Most recently, he joined Capture Higher Ed, a leading enrollment management and marketing firm based in Louisville, in 2019, and is now its C.E.O.
“Providing access and support, and enabling all students to achieve their exceptional potential has always been central to a Centre education,” Napolitano said. “I’m looking forward to being able to help ensure that for future generations of students.”
Stephen Hodges ’99
Stephen Hodges has made his career in banking and investing, most recently with ZimCal Asset Management, a company he founded in 2015 that invests in niche, illiquid, and complex credit-related opportunities. Prior to ZimCal, Hodges worked for two successful credit-focused investment firms.
An economics major—and standout basketball player—at Centre, he was also a leader in the Diversity Student Union, organized an annual basketball camp for underprivileged teens in Danville, volunteered with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kentucky, and tutored middle schoolers in mathematics. He later earned an M.B.A. at the University of Chicago, where he focused on analytical finance and graduated with honors.
In addition to starting his own investment firm, Hodges also co-founded a nonprofit inspired, in part, by his mother’s generosity. She made him realize that “we should do as much as we can to help our neighbors and communities now rather than later,” he said.
Born and raised in southern Africa, Hodges’ parents were from Zimbabwe and England, which imbued him with a multicultural viewpoint. Hodges came to the United States to attend Centre.
“I’ve always felt incredibly grateful for the people and organizations that have helped me get to where I am today—and Centre is a big part of that,” he said.
