Kalmia Financial Report

healthcare advertising and marketing for Carolinas HealthCare System in Charlotte and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis after a lengthy career with Chernoff Newman Communications in Columbia S.C. Risinger earned his undergraduate degree in marketing at the University of South Carolina and completed the Advanced Leadership Program at the Center for Creative Leadership.

Sharp started at Premier Growers, Inc., a wholesale grower and supplier of annual flowers and bedding plants to the landscape industry, in 1998. At that time, the company was a supplier to a small number of landscape designers and installers in the metro-Atlanta area. Since then the company has grown from a $1.5 million company to more than $10 million company, and has clients throughout the entire Southeastern United States. Sharp graduated from Coker in 1993 with a B.S. in Business/Marketing and was a member of the Cobras basketball and baseball teams. He resides in Braselton, Georgia, with his wife, Lori, and 10-yearold daughter, Tiernan Grace.

The Coker University Board of Trustees maintains broad responsibility for the mission, long-range direction, policies and financial condition of the institution.

Coker Hires Six New Faculty Members

Lynn Bowers is assistant professor of psychology. Bowers worked most recently as an interdisciplinary team member and expert witness for the Franklin County District Court. Prior to that, she was an assistant professor of psychology at Kentucky State University, and a visiting professor of counseling and human services at Lindsey Wilson College. Bowers is a licensed psychological associate, certified social worker, and certified school social worker, all in Kentucky, and plans to pursue licensure in South Carolina. Bowers has a bachelor’s in psychology from Transylvania University, a master’s of public administration from Kentucky State University, a master’s in clinical psychology from Spalding University, and a master’s of social work and Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Kentucky.

Reed Hanna is visiting professor of music. Hanna worked most recently as an instructor at Georgia Southern University, an adjunct instructor at Newberry College, Midlands Technical College, the University of South Carolina, and the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Hanna has a bachelor’s in music education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a master’s in music performance from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and a doctorate of musical arts in music performance from the University of South Carolina. Hanna’s compositions are known among wind players for their interesting and imaginative musical ideas that challenge performers and captivate audiences.

Tim Perkins is assistant professor of chemistry. Perkins worked most recently as a research and teaching assistant at Northern Illinois University, and a graduate research fellow at Argonne National Lab. He has a bachelor’s in chemistry from Maryville University and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Northern Illinois University. His dissertation work focused on novel rare-earth metal-organic frameworks and rare-earth semiconductors, and his specialty is solid-state chemistry. In 2018, he was awarded Northern Illinois University’s Kevin Cull Memorial Teaching Award.

Kirsten Piatak is assistant professor of criminology. Piatak worked most recently as an instructor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and East Tennessee State University, and as a crisis intervention specialist at Armstrong-Indiana Crisis. She has a bachelor’s in criminology and Spanish from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a master’s in criminal justice and criminology from East Tennessee State University, and is completing her Ph.D. in criminology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Piatak’s research interests include sexual assault/rape victimization, intimate partner violence, and racial, gender, and ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system.

Sorina D. Riddle is special lecturer instructor of first year writing. For the past six years, Riddle has been an adjunct associate lecturer in English at Coker. Prior to coming to Coker, she was a faculty member at Davidson County Community College and Pfeiffer University. Born and raised in Romania, Riddle has a bachelor’s of philology from the University of Craiova, Romania, and a master’s in English from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Natalia Schradle is visiting professor of dance. She worked most recently as an adjunct faculty member at Old Dominion University and Christopher Newport University, and as artistic director at ANAHATA Dance. Schradle has a B.F.A. in dance and a M.F.A. in dance and choreography from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and is certified in AOS massage therapy and Eastern modalities from the Swedish Institute College of Health Sciences. She has presented research nationally and internationally, most notably at the International Conference for Kinetography Laban.

Coker’s Campus Activities Board (CAB) Recognized at NACA South

The National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) is the leading association for campus life and student activities, and it offers many types of learning resources and professional development for its institutional members, including Coker University. One such opportunity is attending NACA South, which Coker’s Campus Activities Board (CAB) attended in Chattanooga in late September.

Coker CAB has a leadership team of 12 students, including executive director, McKenzie Hite, ‘20, and an open membership program, which currently includes about 60 students that volunteer their time to help put on events. CAB is responsible for most of the Coker campus traditions, including Homecoming, COW Days, Fall Formal, and Crew Races, and events throughout the year, including trivia nights, student trick-or-treats, talent shows, and more.

Hite along with Caroline Carter, director of student activities and leadership at Coker University, have both found a professional home in NACA, and both were acknowledged at NACA South this year for their many contributions.

Carter won the C. Shaw Smith Founders Award. The highest honor presented by the NACA South Region, this award goes to a student, staff member or an associate member at a NACA South member school who has consistently given of their time and talents and contributed significantly at NACA’s regional and national levels.

Hite won the Outstanding Undergraduate Student Leader Award. This award is presented to an undergraduate student leader at a NACA South member school who has demonstrated dedication and commitment to campus activities, has been active in NACA activities, and is an active member of the institution’s programming board.

WIN

THE DAY

FORMER PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL PLAYER JARRED MERRILL COMES TO COKER – BY MADISON HODGE, ‘21

This past April, Jarred Merrill joined Coker as the new head coach of the men’s basketball team. Originally from Abilene, Texas, Merrill went to college at Oklahoma Christian, which led to an opportunity to play basketball overseas professionally for seven years. After coming back to the United States, he landed in Oklahoma City, where he coached high school basketball for a year and then at Southern Nazarene University for two years. After that, Merrill moved on to Mercer University for four years, where he got the opportunity to be an assistant coach under head coach Bob Hoffman.

Merrill feels blessed to have the opportunity to be head men’s basketball coach at Coker University. “Not many people get the opportunity to be a head coach,” says Merrill. “I don’t take any day for granted being here at Coker.”

Merrill recalls being emotional when he found out he got the job. He remembers getting a call from Lynn Griffin, vice president of athletics and athletic facilities at Coker, at 10:30am on Good Friday.

“I used to sit and think about being a head coach when I was nineteen or twenty,” says Merrill. “Some of those years you think ‘man, I’ll never get to do this’ and then it comes.”

Merrill’s goal for the men’s basketball team this year is to make the conference tournament, which he feels is a tangible goal. He wants his players to do better academically and be stewards for the university by visiting the local elementary schools.

“I want to try to hit them in other ways than just basketball and see if we can impact their lives,” explains Merrill. “Lord willing, I’ll be here another ten, fifteen, even twenty years, and they can come back and say ‘thank you, coach’ when they’re married with kids and have a career. To me, that’s what it’s really about.”

Merrill says it can be difficult at times trying to keep the players motivated as 18 to 22 year olds tend to think that tomorrow is guaranteed and that they can put things off until the next day. To curb this, he’s created a motto called “win the day” and there are five staples of the program––execution, energy, effort, encouragement, and engage. He tries to have the players live by the program and make the most out of every day. Merrill says, as a result, their teamwork is the best it’s ever been.

For college athletes, Merrill’s advice is not to think that tomorrow is promised. He figured that out for himself as a college sophomore and it changed his life––his grades changed, his body changed from lifting in the weightroom, and his performance changed on the court. He encourages his players to ask themselves, “what can I do to maximize today?” He believes the biggest thing is to win the day and make the right decisions.

While playing basketball overseas for seven years, Merrill had the chance to visit many places. He visited Poland, Luxembourg, Spain, Argentina, Dubai, Bahrain, Lebanon, and even Egypt. His last stop was in South Korea, and he got married to his wife, Candace, right before he went there. Merrill said that’s when he knew he didn’t want to play professionally anymore. The emotional strain of being away from his wife for months made him miserable. Some people thought he was crazy for giving up a professional career, but he thinks it was the best decision for his family.

Merrill’s family consists of his wife, Candance, and their three kids. His oldest child is his daughter Jaya, who is eight. Then he has his two sons Mannix and Jarred Jr. Mannix is four and Jarrred Jr. recently turned two in October.

“My wife means a lot to me,” Merrill says. “As a coach, you have to have someone. She keeps the train on the track.”

The Coker Men’s basketball team kicked off their season in November. Merrill says the team has done everything he’s asked, and he believes they’ll get better over time and their hard work will pay off.

Some of those years you think ‘man, I’ll never get to do this’ and then it comes.