FALL/WINTER 2020-21
A MISSION OF SERVICE,
Shaped by a Family’s Activism
A Dream Come True Martin Center for the Arts
Jerseys for Social Justice
Retired Maj. Gen. Harrell – National Hall of Fame Inductee
Fall/Winter 2020-21 ETSU President Brian Noland Executive Editor Fred Sauceman
2 15
A Dream Come True Martin Center for the Arts slated to open in 2021
34
Retired Maj. Gen. Gary Harrell Inducted Into Army ROTC National Hall of Fame
A Mission of Service, Shaped by a Family’s Activism
1
The President’s Perspective
30 Crushing the IT Box
6
Grants Fund Major COVID-19 Research
8
People Come First
31 Alumna Named Among ‘Inspiring Black Scientists’
40
Jerseys for Social Justice
Managing Editor Joe Smith Advancement/Alumni Editors Pamela Ritter Whitney Goetz Contributing Writers Savannah Bennett Karen Crigger David Czarlinsky Lee Ann Davis David Fox Mike Gallagher Jennifer Hill Amanda Mowell Christine Mullins Melissa Nipper Brian Noland Fred Sauceman Jon See Joe Smith Graphic Design Jeanette Henry Jewell Photographic Services Ron Campbell Dakota Hamilton Larry Smith Charlie Warden
COVER PHOTO BY CHARLIE WARDEN PHOTO BY RON CAMPBELL
11 Out of COVID-19 Comes Creativity
32 ETSU Nurse Practitioners Turning Health Disparities Around in Appalachia
13 Resilience Forward
37 Treasures
14 Coping with 2020 Can be a Piece of Cake
38 Model Mill Provides Space for Advancement, Alumni Offices
10 Voice Behind the Mask
18 Distinguished Faculty Award in Teaching 20 Who’s Going to ETSU? 24 International House Opens 25 The ETSU Advantage Becomes Even More Affordable 26 Dateline: ETSU 29 ETSU’s Newest Board of Trustees Member: Melissa Steagall-Jones
39 The Alumni Legacy Scholarship: Following the Footprints 42 Sadé Smith’s Race for Change 43 Adapting to an Anomaly 46 Class Notes 48 Obituaries
PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE: BRIAN NOLAND
A
year ago, 2019 was drawing to a close. As always, the final days of the year are a time of reflection – a reflection of the people, the events, and the memories that defined the past months. It is also a season of hope and anticipation for what the upcoming year promises to bring. For East Tennessee State University, the year 2020 would have been the time we celebrated the completion of not one but two long-awaited building projects: the renovation of the D.P. Culp Student Center and the construction of the Martin Center for the Arts. New initiatives such as ETSU Promise Plus were slated to launch, our esports varsity team would play its first game, the inaugural graduates of our engineering program would receive their degrees, and our basketball team was poised for a successful season.
PHOTO BY LARRY SMITH
Most importantly, 2020 would be a time when the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of more than 14,000 students would be realized. When 2020 began, the novel coronavirus had just been identified, but within a matter of weeks the reality of the pandemic would touch the life of every person in this country in some way. As you know, it resulted in significant changes and modifications to practically every aspect of our academic and business operations. Today, our campus looks much different than it did when we closed down in 2019 for winter holiday; however, many of our dreams for 2020 were still realized. Inside this issue of ETSU Today you will see photos of our extraordinary Martin Center for the Arts, a facility that has been a dream of this community for more than a quartercentury. The hopes, dreams, and aspirations of the Class of 2020 were realized as we conferred over 2,200 degrees at our spring commencement and more than 1,500 degrees on December 12. Our men’s basketball team won the Southern Conference tournament, and our inaugural Overwatch esports team earned a tournament spot as well. We had the highest fall-to-fall retention rate for first-time freshmen and also set a record for the highest graduation rate. The start of the fall 2020 semester brought the sense of excitement and anticipation that the beginning of a new academic year traditionally brings. As you will read in the pages ahead, several initiatives and process changes were made to safeguard the health and safety of everyone. Fortunately, our numbers of positive cases as well as those who were placed in quarantined housing have remained relatively low in comparison to other institutions. As we move into 2021, we have new dreams and new aspirations. And, most importantly, we have hope. May the new year bring continued safety for you and your loved ones.
Sincerely,
Brian Noland President
FALL/WINTER 2020-21 x 1
A Dream
2 x ETSU TODAY
Come True
Martin Center for the Arts slated to open in 2021 s enrollment grew in ETSU’s arts programs through recent decades, steadily outgrowing the aging facilities that were their longtime homes, faculty, students, alumni, and administrators began dreaming of the possibility of a new home – a new home with more space for performances and classes and with the state-of-the-art technology students need to learn to use. Exactly when the dream for the new Arts Center began, Anita DeAngelis cannot say. The Associate Dean for the Arts in the ETSU College of Arts and Sciences and Director of the Mary B. Martin School of the Arts says that she first heard talk of it when she joined the Department of Art and Design faculty in 1994, and she remembers intense conversations about the arts on campus when she became associate dean nearly 17 years ago. The ETSU Arts Initiative began in 2013 to raise funds for the center after ETSU gained approval from the state of Tennessee and the Tennessee Board of Regents for its request for a partnership with the City of Johnson City to build a new facility for the arts. Ground was broken in 2017 on the 93,000-square-foot, $53 million facility across State of Franklin Road from the ETSU campus. The new center would come to be named the James C. and Mary B. Martin Center for the Arts, following the leadership gift of $3 million from the Martins, and an additional $1 million from their daughter, Sonia S. King. Nearly 600 supporters contributed to the effort. Today, the university is seeing this longstanding dream come to fruition. “This building will put ETSU and our performing arts programs in a completely different place than we’ve ever been,” DeAngelis said. “The benefit this will bring to students is hard to express. And another important aspect is that we have a place to bring guest artists to the university at a level that we’ve never had previously.” DeAngelis pointed out that the Martin Center gives the university enhanced technical capabilities for dance and musical theatre performances that it did not have before, better training in behind-the-scenes aspects FALL/WINTER 2020-21 x 3
of production, and more. She says it will also serve as a ‘front door’ to the university as it hosts activities for prospective students, and it is expected to boost the regional economy. The Martin Center was initially slated to open in the summer of 2020 in time for the Fall 2020 season, but the COVID pandemic resulted in construction delays. In the meantime, while the contractor has put finishing touches on the building, staff of the Martin School have settled in and begun planning to bring musical theatre and Broadway tours, major musical artists, dance troupes, and more to the new stages in the Fall 2021 season and beyond. Several music classes have started to be held there. The extra time has also provided opportunity to host some safe, limitedattendance performances by university ensembles for major donors, which allows staff to train and evaluate how people move in and through the facility. Rachel Gardner, a senior music performance major from Jonesborough, was among the first students to sing on the Grand Hall stage during such performances. “I’m super-excited for the ‘MC,’ as we music students have shortened it to,” Gardner said. “It’s really nice to have such a beautiful rehearsal space where we can all safely spread out and still have the acoustics we need to prepare our pieces. And what an honor it is to be able to sing in the Grand 4 x ETSU TODAY
ABOUT THE MARTIN CENTER 1,200-SEAT Foundation Grant Hall featuring Eastman Credit Union Stage, balcony, fly system, orchestra pit, theatrical lighting and sound, and more 200-seat Powell Recital Hall Bert C. Bach Theatre – black box performing space with flexible staging and seating Well-appointed dressing rooms Hall with the ETSU Chorale! Have you heard the acoustics?
I had a chance to hear a few of our pianists play in there and it was stunning.”
“As a musician, I’m incredibly excited for all the possibilities for performances this building provides,” she continued. “We’ve relied on other venues for events for a long time. I’m grateful that these places have been generous enough to host such large events, but it will be amazing to accommodate large numbers of people ourselves.”
The Department of Theatre and Dance is likewise thrilled with its new spaces in the Martin Center for the Arts. Its black box theatre will provide a high-tech, fully flexible space that can be set up in many configurations. Its scene and costume shops – as opposed to the repurposed locker rooms in Brooks Gym – are learning laboratories with the latest equipment and much more space in close proximity to the stage.
Gardner said the evening she was able to sing for Martin Center donors, not only as a soloist but also with the Chorale and the student-led mixed a cappella ensemble Ascension, was one of her most thrilling performances yet. She said that while she regrets that social distancing regulations prevented her from mingling afterward to speak with audience members, she is very thankful for the opportunities their generosity provides. Dr. Matthew Potterton, Professor and Chair of the Department of Music, echoed his student’s enthusiasm for the acoustics. “The Martin Center is beautiful inside, both aesthetically and sound-wise,” he said. “The sound in the Grand Hall is spectacular. The new rehearsal rooms have recording capabilities, and we are excited we’ll be able to rehearse in these rooms once we are all able to be together in a smaller room. The Recital Hall is probably my favorite space.
Green rooms Costume and dye shop Scene shop Music rehearsal and practice rooms 3,000-square-foot Tindall Lobby with box office
“The Martin Center will give acting and dancing students superior stages to perform on, and our design/production students state-of-the-art facilities and equipment with which to create,” Department Chair Karen Brewster said. “And all of our dance students, and perhaps especially the aerial dance students, can more fully realize their potential on the Martin Center stages.
Sonia S. King Plaza
“It will be a wonderful place for theatremaking, teaching our students, and entertaining our audiences,” Brewster continued. “The Martin Center will allow our ETSU Theatre and Dance graduates to be truly competitive in a highly competitive world. What this facility will give our students – that is what we are most excited about.”
Constructed by Denark Construction, Knoxville
Jennifer Hill is Assistant Director in the ETSU Office of University Relations. | Photos by Charlie Warden
Office suite Designed by McCarty Holsaple McCarty, Knoxville
1320 State of Franklin Road Johnson City
etsumartincenter.org
Mary B. Martin School of the Arts
@artsatetsu FALL/WINTER 2020-21 x 5
GRANTS FUND MAJOR COVID-19 RESEARCH AT ETSU
As COVID-19 brought many activities across the country to a grinding halt in spring 2020, the pandemic had the opposite effect at ETSU’s Center of Excellence for Inflammation, Infectious Disease, and Immunity. Work intensified early in the pandemic as CIIDI researchers mobilized their expertise and resources to focus on SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. So far, their research has resulted in two major COVID-19 grants and two articles under review for major publications. Future developments underway include a wing with dedicated space for COVID-19 research. “And this is just the beginning,” said Dr. Jonathan Moorman, division chief of infectious, inflammatory, and immunologic diseases at ETSU Health and a member of Governor Bill Lee’s Coronavirus Task Force. Since the spread of COVID-19, Moorman has focused his attention on developing a biorepository, which is a storage bank of cellular material that is frozen and cryopreserved to use at a later time. “ETSU and the James H. Quillen Veterans Affairs Medical Center at Mountain Home have a biorepository that allows us to collect samples from people with any kind of infection or inflammatory disease,” 6 x ETSU TODAY
Moorman said. “It is an open repository that is not linked to any one particular study, so it was perfect timing for COVID-19 because we didn’t have to create a new biorepository for COVID-19 studies.” By early summer, ETSU and the VA began recruiting patients who had recovered from COVID-19 to donate a sample of their blood to the biorepository to be used for current and future coronavirus research. “People who give us their blood are giving us an opportunity to see what a successful immune response to this virus looks like. We need to look at these successes to discover how to treat and prevent the disease in others,” Moorman said. So far, the CIIDI team has collected dozens of blood samples and will continue to collect more in 2021. Dr. Zhi Q. Yao, a CIIDI member, was the first to use the biorepository for COVID-19 research. He was awarded a $100,000 grant from the American Diabetes Association to explore the impact of diabetes on COVID-19 and the impact of COVID-19 on diabetes and related complications. The grant was ETSU’s first major funding for COVID19-specific research.
“The goal of this study is to gain fundamental insights and guide future management of patients with COVID-19 with or without diabetes and its complications,” said Yao, professor in ETSU Quillen College of Medicine’s Department of Internal Medicine and the director of both the ETSU Center of Excellence for HIV/AIDS and the Hepatitis (HCV/HIV) Program, Department of Veterans Affairs. Yao is joined by co-investigator Dr. Juan Zhao, postdoctoral associate in Quillen’s Department of Internal Medicine, for this innovative translational study. The second major grant came in fall 2020 when Moorman was given a Biomedical Laboratory Research and Development Merit Review Award by the Department of Veterans Affairs to explore trained immune responses to COVID-19. “Characterizing trained immune responses to COVID-19” was one of 18 funded studies awarded from a pool of 104 applications. “The new project’s goals are to determine the importance of innate immune responses in responding to repeat exposure to viral antigens following COVID-19 recovery and identify ‘trained’ innate immune memory responses to SARS CoV-2 antigens following COVID-19 recovery,” said Moorman, who was invited to speak about his research at a National Institutes of Health COVID-19 research panel. As he looks toward the future of COVID-19 research at ETSU, Moorman underscores the importance of the biorepository and encourages adults who have recovered from COVID-19 to consider donating blood to it. “The biorepository will allow us to continue important COVID-19 research. Participants who donate are giving a gift that can be vastly multiplied,” he said. Melissa Nipper is Assistant Director for Communications in the ETSU Office of University Relations. | Photos by Charlie Warden
FALL/WINTER 2020-21 x 7
PEOPLE COME FIRST NEW ACADEMIC YEAR BEGINS WITH ENHANCED SAFETY MEASURES Classes were in session. Lights were on in the residence halls. The doors of the library were open. Meals were served in the Dining Hall. The Basler Center for Physical Activity was near capacity of cyclers, runners, and lifters. Academic departments and university offices were staffed 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
ground courses,” said Dr. Wilsie S. Bishop, Senior Vice President for Academics and Interim Provost. “One of the factors driving these decisions was whether these course competencies should be taught on ground and, if so, how might we accomplish physical distancing guidelines in the classroom.”
In many ways, it was a typical fall semester on the ETSU campus, even though “typical” and “routine” have been loosely redefined during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bishop noted that accommodations were made, as possible, for those students who have on-ground courses but are not able to be present on campus.
Classes were in session, though the majority were offered remotely. Students returned to the residence halls in a single-occupancy setup. Sherrod Library embraced more virtual services while limiting its operational hours. The Dining Hall was open but tables were physically distanced, as was the fitness equipment at the CPA where patrons had to reserve a time for a workout. And while offices remained open, staff members rotated between working remotely and having a limited presence in the office.
Significant enhancements were made to ETSU’s academic infrastructure to support online learning, according to Dr. Karen King, Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice Provost for Information Technology Services.
“The institution’s values are clear: people come first,” said ETSU President Brian Noland. “Each of us has a responsibility to make decisions that safeguard our own health as well as the health and safety of others. Protecting the health of everyone and maintaining a safe campus environment have been our highest priorities throughout this pandemic, and the decisions we have made are all aligned with that goal.”
The fall 2020 academic calendar was also adjusted. Fall Break was moved to the week of Thanksgiving, and all on-ground classes moved online following the Thanksgiving holiday.
PHOTO BY CHARLIE WARDEN
“We procured more than 200 hotspots that students can check out as well as additional laptops,” King said. “All of our classrooms have full web conferencing and lecture capture capabilities. Our team is also in the process of enhancing our outdoor Wi-Fi.”
PHOTO BY RON CAMPBELL
Reducing campus population density As part of an overall effort to reduce the population density on campus during peak times, more than 80 percent of the course sections offered in fall 2020 were taught online as many employees continued to work remotely. “Our faculty spent the entire summer reviewing each course and evaluating the possibility of altering the format of course delivery, such as transitioning some on-ground courses to online, or providing remote options for select on8 x ETSU TODAY
PHOTO BY RON CAMPBELL
PHOTO BY CHARLIE WARDEN
Increased cleaning and sanitation protocols “Our Facilities Management team is committed to adhering to the highest protocols for cleaning and sanitation and to doing everything we can to ensure the safety of our students, faculty, staff, and campus visitors,” said Dan O’Brien, Executive Director of Facilities Management. According to O’Brien, the E-Mister – a new disinfectant spray for cleaning surfaces – is being used across the ETSU campus daily. Within residence halls, the E-Mister is sprayed multiple times each day in community restrooms and shower areas, and in the common areas and hallways at least once per day. The E-Mister is also used in classrooms, restrooms, and hallways on campus. PHOTO BY CHARLIE WARDEN
A safe ‘home away from home’ “Hundreds of our students depend on us to provide housing as well as access to our dining facilities,” said Dr. Joe Sherlin, Vice President for Student Life and Enrollment. Though the university’s residence halls opened, the overall capacity of students living on campus was significantly decreased for the fall in order to reduce the population density. In a typical year, ETSU Housing and Residence Life can accommodate nearly 3,000 students in its 10 residence halls, but for the fall 2020 semester, that number was lowered to approximately 60 percent. “We have also made the proactive decision to transition all of our residence halls to single occupancy for the fall semester,” Sherlin said. “Some facilities such as Centennial Hall and Buc Ridge provide individual rooms for our students, but the majority of other facilities are designed as double rooms. With this move to single occupancy, all students will have their own bedroom.”
Testing for COVID-19 Through ETSU Health, the university offered testing to any student, faculty, or staff member who was symptomatic or asymptomatic. In mid-October, a new process for testing made results available within 24 hours.
Within classrooms and laboratories, modifications have been made to meet physical distancing guidelines. This includes moving desks apart and placing limitations on the number of persons sitting at a table. “Hand-sanitizing stations can be found at the main entrances of all of our buildings,” said Laura Bailey, Assistant Vice President for Capital Planning. “In addition, Plexiglas Service Shields have been installed in many offices, particularly in high-traffic student service areas.” The Basler Center for Physical Activity is now open to students, faculty, and staff on an appointment-only basis. Equipment has been spaced apart to allow for physical distancing, and the CPA is closed each day from 1:30 to 3 p.m. to allow for a complete sanitization of the entire building. “The steps we have taken as a campus to protect the health of everyone are similar to the measures being taken by businesses, schools, health care systems, and communities across the region,” Noland commented. “We are all in this together, and together, we will get through it.” Joe Smith is Executive Assistant to the President for University Relations and Chief Communications Officer at ETSU. FALL/WINTER 2020-21 x 9
PAYING ATTENTION TO THE
VOICE BEHIND THE MASK
Teachers have returned to in-person instruction in their classrooms with a new learning objective of their own: protecting their voices while teaching and wearing a mask. Dr. Chaya Nanjundeswaran Guntupalli, associate professor in the Department of Audiology and SpeechLanguage Pathology in the ETSU College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences, is helping teachers navigate this issue by offering voice tips. “This has been a year like no other for our teachers,” Guntupalli said. “Educators are already at a higher risk for vocal fatigue because of their increased voice use for their job. But now that we add a mask, it is harder for listeners to hear. Teachers in turn need to project their voice to get louder and be heard. By the end of the day, they may start to experience vocal fatigue or changes in their vocal quality.” Vocal fatigue, a term people often use to describe their voice getting tired, is Guntupalli’s area of expertise. Guntupalli developed a Vocal Fatigue Index, which is a series of 19 questions to help identify whether people have vocal fatigue. Her index has been translated into different languages and used around the world. Last year, she received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to study new approaches to treatment for vocal fatigue. “Vocal fatigue can present itself as tiredness, a weak voice, and strain or effort to produce voice with voice use. As a consequence, people tend to avoid using their voice in both occupational and social settings,” Guntupalli said. To help people avoid this problem while teaching and wearing masks, she developed a handout of tips that she has distributed to several local school systems. She also hosted a short video seminar on Zoom for teachers who wanted to learn more.
BUCS HELPING BUCS 10 x ETSU TODAY
GUNTUPALLI’S TIPS FOR TEACHERS (AND OTHERS) WHO WANT TO AVOID VOCAL FATIGUE WHILE WEARING A MASK: • Choose the right type of mask. The fit should allow for movement of your articulators and free movement of the jaw. • Exaggerate your articulation behind the mask. Open your mouth wide and enunciate every sound with precision. • Speak slower and pause frequently to take breaths. • Project your voice from your mouth and diaphragm. • Take vocal naps (short breaks for your voice). Set your teaching activities to incorporate breaks every 30 minutes to rest your voice. • Drink water during vocal naps. • Use other means of communication, such as gestures and writing on the board. • Clap your hands or use a drum or bell to get the attention of children. • A microphone with a portable amplifier can enhance your loudness. • Listen to your voice. As much as your vocal symptoms bother you, it impacts the listener’s comprehension, too.
Melissa Nipper is Assistant Director for Communications in the ETSU Office of University Relations.
All funds help support the Buccaneer Student and Staff Crisis Funds, Bucky’s Food Pantry, and the ETSU Counseling Center. 796 gifts
$132,500 raised
As of December 2020
OUT OF COVID COMES CREATIVITY ETSU students find new ways to engage and entertain
As waves of uncertainty blanketed university campuses across the country last spring, the ETSU Student Activities and Organizations team went to work. “We got creative and stepped out on a limb,” recalled Carter Warden, director of SAO. The team refused to accept the flurry of cancellations at face value and began rethinking what student engagement could look like in a pandemic environment. Warden immediately connected with peers as well as the management company that assists with booking talent for major concerts and events typically held on campus and in person. He quickly encountered roadblocks as bands and group acts were seeking safety and canceling performances. Refusing to give up on the goal to bring some fun and normality to students, he and his colleagues continued brainstorming. What about comedians? “No one wanted to do comedy during a pandemic and certainly not in front of a screen,” Warden said. However, three cast members from “Saturday Night Live” agreed to Zoom Q&A sessions with Warden as moderator. The Laughing Alone Together Comedy Series featured cast members Mikey Day, Chloe Fineman, and Kenan Thompson. Each night provided a brief respite from the surrounding uncertainty to reminisce about some of SNL’s funniest moments and catch a glimpse of Chloe Fineman’s impressive wig collection. The SAO team did not stop there. Staff and graduate assistants continued to consume every resource they could find about the videoconferencing and webinar platform that had become a way to describe days working or “Zooming” from home. Word about their knowledge spread across Zoom meetings and email inboxes so Warden began receiving questions about how departments could hold activities virtually instead of canceling them. Additionally, a repository of Virtual Activities Resources was developed and shared on the SAO website to help ensure that all 250 student organizations remained connected and finished out the year. “Engagement is our priority. The academics will continue, but students still need a space to interact and connect,” Warden said. FALL/WINTER 2020-21 x 11
Videoconferencing certainly has its benefits. Instead of 20 individual in-person sessions, almost every organization across campus was represented during one virtual training session held before the start of the fall semester. “When this passes, we will keep the good parts of the virtual elements that allow us to communicate with people no matter where they are physically located,” Warden said. The SAO team was unfazed by the extension of COVID-19 safety guidelines into the fall semester. Welcome Week kicked off with the first of several drive-in movies planned in partnership with the student organization Buctainment, and X Ambassadors, a rock band originally scheduled to perform at Freedom Hall in the spring, played live for a virtual audience. In October, a virtual Five Night Concert and Comedy Series featured musical acts and Q&A sessions with TV personality Jonathan Van Ness and a return appearance by Chloe Fineman. Country music artist Brett Young, known for his “Caliville” sound, gave an exclusive live virtual performance for the Fall Major Concert sponsored by the Student Government Association. In addition to putting a new spin on entertainment, SAO started a new ETSU Meet-Ups initiative allowing students to attend and plan
12 x ETSU TODAY
their own small in-person gatherings following safety guidelines. Popular meetups were pumpkin and canvas painting, succulent planting, and hikes. “I can really appreciate the steps the university has taken to follow these protocols and keep us all safe, while still giving us the opportunity to have face-to-face connections on campus,” said Kaley Daniel, a student in ETSU’s speech language pathology program. Students have also had opportunities to engage with peers through Leadership and Civic Engagement, Fraternity and Sorority Life, and the Mary V. Jordan Multicultural Center. Some highlights of the fall were an election watch party, academic seminars, and Hispanic Heritage Month activities. “Luckily none of us are afraid to try new technologies,” Warden said. “This has been a total shift for us, but our entire team has continued to be creative, listen to feedback, and follow our mission to support students.” Amanda Mowell is Director for Communications in the ETSU Office of University Relations. | Photos by Charlie Warden
RESILIENCE FORWARD ETSU is home to new Strong BRAIN Institute
PHOTO BY RON CAMPBELL
A new partnership between ETSU and Ballad Health has resulted in the establishment of a first-of-its-kind institute to promote the awareness and empirical study of adverse childhood experiences, also known as ACES.
the creation of this institute will make our region the national hub for future study on the effects of adverse childhood experiences,” Ballad Health Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Alan Levine said.
ACEs are considered traumatic experiences, such as abuse, neglect, and family dysfunction, that can disrupt the safe, stable, and nurturing environments that children need to succeed and thrive. ACEs can have lasting effects on children as they mature into adults, leading to adulthood disease, disability, and social impediments.
“From the beginning, Ballad Health leadership has recognized the importance of studying how ACEs shape our children as they grow into adulthood, and one of our primary goals with the institute is to develop effective interventions and techniques to better the health, happiness, and wellbeing of our children.”
Studies have found that the more adverse events a person experiences as a child, the higher the risk of that person having health, social, and economic problems.
“We cannot thank Ballad Health enough for once again stepping up to offer this gift that will not only bring additional national recognition to ETSU, but this institute will truly benefit the people of this region, both directly and indirectly,” said President Noland. “In forming this institute, one of our main strategic objectives was to ensure the research center serves as a resource nationally and even internationally on the study of adverse childhood experiences and the social determinants it can have on health.”
The ETSU Ballad Health Strong BRAIN (Building Resilience through ACEs-Informed Networking) Institute will facilitate the development and dissemination of evidenced-based practices that prevent, reduce, or mitigate the negative effects of ACEs on health and health disparities. Established through a five-year grant from Ballad, the institute will work to inform the citizenry and workforce in the Appalachian Highlands in the importance of being resilience-informed. “Some groundbreaking work on the study of ACEs is already being done right here in the Appalachian Highlands, and we hope
A 2016 study on adverse childhood experiences in Tennessee found 61 percent of participants had at least one adverse childhood experience, while 27 percent of participants reported having three or more ACEs. Emotional abuse, separation/ divorce, and substance abuse were the most commonly reported ACEs in the study.
Dr. Wallace Dixon, chair of ETSU’s Department of Psychology, was chosen as the founding director of the Strong BRAIN Institute. “Our focus is on promoting resilience,” Dixon said. “Recognizing and acknowledging individuals’ trauma histories is extremely important, but focusing on promoting resilience allows us to make a difference moving forward. With this institute, our mission is to create a campus that is resilience-informed. In the weeks and months ahead, we will conduct trainings, learn how to do better trainings, and do pilot studies to see what works best with different groups.” In addition to the work that will be done on the ETSU campus, Dixon said the institute is also developing a certificate training program for members of the community, especially the Ballad Health workforce, which was a primary objective of Ballad’s philanthropy. Dixon noted he is especially excited about the additional staff that is being hired for the institute as well as the new advisory council for the institute that will begin meeting in 2021. Joe Smith is Executive Assistant to the President for University Relations and Chief Communications Officer at ETSU.
FALL/WINTER 2020-21 x 13
COPING WITH 2020 CAN BE A PIECE OF CAKE
write, telling me how much it made them feel a sense of community, and that they really needed that now. My students and colleagues shared how the treats were a nice stress reliever, too.” “COVID-19 created a void in people’s lives that made them long for some kind of connection with others,” said Dr. Cynthia Chambers, associate dean at the Clemmer College. “Dr. Malkus’ ‘porch pieces’ have created an uplifting opportunity for people to celebrate unity and commune around the amazing sweetness of cake. Her service has been a blessing.” “I bake a cake and keep it in the refrigerator. When one cake is gone, I start to work on a new one,” Malkus adds. Malkus says this has become a creative outlet for her and she enjoys making up new recipes. This fall, she embraced spice cakes and pumpkin. “I hear from a lot of people who have never been by for a slice of cake but tell me that just seeing the cake pictures makes them feel better,” she said. “They share how it brings back memories of their grandmas and the wonderful sweets they would bake.”
PHOTO BY AMY MALKUS
Joe Smith is Executive Assistant to the President for University Relations and Chief Communications Officer at ETSU. PHOTO BY CHARLIE WARDEN
Dr. Amy Malkus says when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she decided to revert to her comfort zone and do something she has always enjoyed doing. “I have been baking since I was three years old and I come from a long line of women who thought that food cures everything,” she said. “So I decided to bake my way out of the stress.” Malkus is a faculty member in the Clemmer College at ETSU and was looking for ways to cheer up her students after classes were moved to all-remote learning. In the beginning she would post funny pictures of her cats, and later she added photos of the cakes she had baked. 14 x ETSU TODAY
Why not share the cakes? she thought. After baking one of her sweet delights, Malkus posted on her Facebook page that if anyone wanted a “contactless” piece of cake to let her know and she would wrap up a slice and have it waiting on her front porch for an easy drive-by pick-up. Turns out, she had a lot of takers. One cake turned into two cakes, and soon, Malkus was baking a new cake each week. “More and more people kept stopping by,” said Malkus, who teaches in ETSU’s Department of Early Childhood. “I enjoyed waving at them as they came to pick up their cake slices, and many would
COVER STORY
“O
urs is not a drive for power, but purely a non-violent fight for India’s independence.”
Mahatma Gandhi, from a speech in Bombay (now Mumbai), August 8, 1942 Mention Dr. Aruna Kilaru’s many achievements, and she immediately redirects your attention to other people who made them possible—academic mentors, parents, grandparents, students, her daughter Rachana. My interviews over the years with Aruna, who is Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at ETSU, have usually centered on her vast knowledge of mosses, the properties of avocados, and Theobroma cacao, the tree whose seeds are used to produce chocolate. She is a teacher and research scientist of the first order, bringing in more than $1 million in extramural funding since her arrival on the ETSU campus in the fall of 2011. But this interview was different. It turned on one question about her family background. That question uncovered a fascinating family history she had never spoken of to me before. Aruna is the granddaughter of freedom fighters who spent years in prison for their role in the movement to achieve India’s independence from Great Britain. Aruna’s grandmother, Anasuya Anne, who lived to be 92, remembered Mahatma Gandhi visiting her village in the southern part of India during the freedom movement. At 13, she felt so strongly about the cause that she donated all her gold jewelry to support it. Aruna describes her grandmother as her role model, whose teachings still guide her life. PHOTO BY CHARLIE WARDEN
Dr. Kilaru with one of her mentors, Dr. Karl Hasenstein.
A MISSION OF SERVICE,
Shaped by a Family’s Activism
“In the 1950s, she spent three years as a political prisoner, and she fought for her rights not to be separated from her six-month-old son and toddler daughter, my mom,” Aruna tells me. “So, they, too, spent time in prison with her. She spent every bit of her energy fighting for justice and women’s rights. And she donated her eyes to the blind and her body to science.” Venkateswararao Anne, Aruna’s grandfather, also served time in an Indian prison for his political beliefs but overcame those hardships, living to the age of 88. His political imprisonment was even longer than his wife’s: 14 years. “He, too, literally worked until his last breath,” Aruna says. “He fought for the rights of agrarian and tribal communities. A self-made man and an intellect, he taught himself to read and write in English while in prison. He was already proficient in two other FALL/WINTER 2020-21 x 15
languages—Telugu, our native language, and Hindi, our national language. All of us speak the three languages. I think my grandparents’ and parents’ penchant for learning and their belief that education is the key to economic success greatly influenced my path.” Aruna knows her maternal grandparents’ stories so well because of the fact that they raised her. Her separation from her parents did not occur because of any family discord. It was purely an economic necessity. Her father, Seetharamaiah Kilaru, was an engineer in India’s sugar industry, and he had to relocate, with his wife Kalpana, to remote sections of the country to find work. “But my mother spent a considerable part of the year helping us with studies, especially during the term-end exams,” Aruna adds. For two months during the summer, Aruna and her brother vacationed with their parents. “My parents were very focused on providing education for their children and several others, as the key way to change lives,” says Aruna. PHOTO BY CHARLIE WARDEN
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
Rachana Kilaru with her greatgrandmother.
“My parents were very focused on providing education for their children and several others, as the key way to change lives.” Aruna Kilaru
She would follow her parents’ example, earning a bachelor’s degree with majors in botany, zoology, and chemistry and a master’s degree in biotechnology, both in India, before striking out on her own as a young entrepreneur, operating a tissue culture company in her home, along with greenhouse and nursery space. She raised banana and teak plants, among others, before selling them to buyers. Although the business was lucrative, she was drawn to research in plant biology, through the encouragement of her master’s thesis advisor, Dr. Yogesh Jasrai. Building on her burgeoning interest in how plants have evolved and what they do at the cellular and molecular levels, Aruna applied for the Ph.D. program at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where she came under the tutelage of Dr. Karl Hasenstein. “I give credit to him as to who I have become as a scientist,” says Aruna. In 2017, Hasenstein was able to reunite with his former doctoral student when he spent a semester teaching and lecturing at ETSU as holder of the Wayne G. Basler Chair of Excellence for the Integration of the Arts, Rhetoric, and Science.
16 x ETSU TODAY
PHOTO BY CHARLIE WARDEN
Aruna and her “lab family,” consisting of undergraduates, graduate students, and a high school student as well. After earning her Ph.D., Aruna completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of North Texas, working with Dr. Kent Chapman, whom she credits as the inspiration for her work with mosses, the first plants to emerge from water to land some 450 to 500 million years ago. Her next stop was Michigan State University, where her post-doctoral advisor, Dr. John Ohlrogge, sparked her interest in avocados and the oil they produce. Aruna managed to complete her doctorate and post-doctoral programs while raising her daughter Rachana on her own. Rachana spent a lot of time in laboratories as a child. “She really believed that my research was saving the chocolate world,” Aruna tells me, with a laugh. Now 23, Rachana holds a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from the University of Chicago and is currently taking classes through ETSU.
PHOTO BY CHARLIE WARDEN
Aruna contemplated a return to India to fulfill her mission of changing lives through teaching. But then she connected with ETSU. “While I had opportunities at bigger universities, I felt, one, that ETSU was beautiful,” she says. “I have to admit to the aesthetic nature of this location that I completely fell in love with. And the nature of the community that I have seen at ETSU and the population that ETSU serves is very representative of what I wanted to do going back home. “This is a developing area. There’s a lot of underserved population here. So, I earn a lot of gratification in being able to contribute to that community where the need is. I feel like through my service here—teaching as well as research—I’m able to affect many students’ lives, and to me that’s the most attractive and humbling and gratifying experience of all.” Fred Sauceman, ’78, ’80, is Executive Editor of ETSU Today. FALL/WINTER 2020-21 x 17
DISTINGUISHED FACULTY AWARD IN TEACHING Dr. Brooks Pond reflects on rewards and challenges of teaching during a pandemic Dr. Brooks Pond, a professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, has faced some of her best moments as a teacher during the past year and also some of the most challenging. A highlight of Pond’s 13-year teaching career at ETSU came in August 2020, when she received the university’s highest teaching honor – the Distinguished Faculty Award in Teaching. “It’s been a really rewarding year for me as a teacher, but due to COVID-19 and courses being moved to an online format, this has also been a really crazy year,” Pond said. “In fact, aside from my first year of teaching, this has been the most challenging year I’ve experienced professionally.” Pond joined ETSU Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy as a founding faculty member in 2007 and has participated in didactic teaching of students within the College of Pharmacy and the Biomedical Science Ph.D. program. Her teaching accomplishments have been recognized by both her students and her peers. For more than a decade, she has instructed and coordinated the Human Physiology course, a major foundational course for student pharmacists. In addition, Pond teaches pharmacology associated with several courses in the second and third years of the pharmacy curriculum. She has been selected four times as the Gatton College of Pharmacy Teacher of the Year and has been recognized by her college peers when she was named Outstanding Teacher in 2015. Most recently, she was selected as a Teaching and Learning Peer Consultant by the ETSU Center for Teaching Excellence. Pond also has received accolades from her students over the years. Each year, the Gatton College of Pharmacy graduating class selects a faculty member who has been most influential on their education to serve as a “faculty hooder” at graduation. Pond has received this honor six times, more than any other Gatton faculty member. 18 x ETSU TODAY
“The students are the most rewarding part of my job,” Pond said. “At Gatton, we care about more than just academic performance; we want to mentor our students and make sure that they have the best experience that they can here.” During the COVID-19 pandemic, the student experience has been different than in the past, and Pond and her colleagues have had to adapt to changes and technology in the classroom in order to connect with them. Through her experience in teaching online courses during COVID-19, Pond has studied best practices and developed some of her own techniques for keeping student pharmacists engaged and accountable in a virtual format. She has adapted one of her favorite teaching methods, known as Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning, or POGIL, to the online classroom by using breakout rooms where student pharmacists can work on activities in small groups. Pond makes her rounds to each group virtually, just as she would in the physical classroom, and has been pleased with the initiative and engagement among the students. In addition to her teaching, Pond contributes to the service and research missions at Gatton. Her research focuses on psychostimulants’ long-term effects on the brain, and she has opened her research lab to all types of students, including high school, undergraduate, pharmacy, and Ph.D. students. During her tenure, she has mentored 51 student pharmacists through research projects. Pond earned a B.S. in biochemistry and molecular biology at Centre College in 2000 and a Ph.D. in pharmacology and certificate in cell molecular biology at Duke University in 2004. She also completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “After 31 years in academia, and 17 as a department chair, I have rarely encountered a more gifted, conscientious, and
effective teacher,” said Dr. David Roane, professor and chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. “Her talent reveals itself in numerous ways, including clearvoiced mastery of content, but most evidently in student engagement, where engagement means enticing students to grapple with complex material and stretch themselves beyond their customary effort.” Despite everything Pond has learned about teaching during a pandemic, her advice to new teachers who are just beginning a teaching career remains the same – find passion for the subject matter and the students. “That passion and excitement can transfer to the students and you can really connect with them,” Pond said. “It’s been tougher during COVID, so I try getting on Zoom a little bit early for each class meeting to chat with the students about things that aren’t necessarily school-related so that we can still make those important connections. “The past year has made me appreciate the opportunities we do have to connect with the students more than ever before.” Melissa Nipper is Assistant Director for Communications in the ETSU Office of University Relations. | Photo by Charlie Warden
“The past year has made me appreciate the opportunities we do have to connect with the students more than ever before.� Brooks Pond
FALL/WINTER 2020-21 x 19
WHO’S GOING TO ETSU?
SHIVAM PATEL Like all other ETSU students, Shivam Patel spent the last part of the spring 2020 semester at home connected to the campus via his laptop. The virtual world was not just his classroom; it was his campaign ground. “During the process of campaigning for the SGA presidency, I had to spend most of that time using social media to get the word out about issues,” said Patel, who won the election and is currently serving as the 2020-21 SGA President. “What meant the most to me about winning the election was that it showed that despite the challenges and changes our students were experiencing, they exercised their voices and backed a cause,” he said. Patel says he has a passion for making change, and the opportunity for students to have a voice at ETSU is one of the reasons he says he loves the campus so much. “I am very interested in policy, and one of the reasons I got involved in SGA was that students have the unique opportunity to have a voice at the tables of boards and committees and to tell the administration what the students want,” Patel said. Patel added that it is important for all students to get involved on campus in some way. “You are not just one voice, because chances are that there are others who have experienced similar struggles, and you can help bring them to light.” Currently in his junior year, Patel is studying health sciences and says he is a firm believer that health is the first step to happiness. Ten years from now, Patel hopes to hold both a Master of Public Health degree and an M.D. degree and to be working to address the health challenges in rural Appalachia. Patel graduated from a high school in Morristown and notes that he was surprised by the cultural impact being made by ETSU. “I was amazed by the different cultural groups embraced by this campus that demonstrated what diversity brings and how they felt included,” he said. “I was a name and not a number. People see differences and they embrace them.” Photo by Charlie Warden
20 x ETSU TODAY
FALL/WINTER 2020-21 x 21
YOU EARNED IT! WEAR IT!
YOU EARNED IT! WEAR WEAR IT! IT! YOU EARNED IT! YOU EARNED IT! WEAR IT! YOU EARNED IT! WEAR IT!
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WHO’S GOING TO ETSU?
ARAMINTA RAY
Araminta Ray’s path to the Quillen College of Medicine took a 2,190.9-mile detour that required some of the same tools she has used as a medical student – resilience, perspective, and community. Ray was accepted to Quillen in 2018. “I don’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t want to become a doctor,” Ray said. “But I’ve also known I was going to hike the Appalachian Trail about as long as I’ve known I was going to be a doctor. It’s been a part of me and one of my lifelong goals for years.” Ray knew that she would not have time for a thru-hike as a medical student or resident, so she deferred her acceptance into Quillen for one year to undertake what Appalachian Trail hikers call a “flip-flop” thru-hike, meaning she would start in the middle of the trail and hike one half of the journey, then return to where she began for the second leg in the opposite direction. Ray applied to become an Appalachian Trail Chaplain, which is a ministry of the Holston Conference of The United Methodist Church. She was the first female chosen for this role, and thus began her journey as a trail chaplain on June 15, 2018. She started in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, and hiked more than 1,100 miles northbound to Maine, where she summited Mt. Katahdin, the northern terminus of the trail, on September 3. “Then I took about a week off to prove to my mother that I was still alive,” Ray said. After her short break, Ray flew back to Harpers Ferry to complete the southern (and her favorite) portion of the trail, hiking about 1,000 miles down to Springer Mountain, Georgia, the southern terminus. She finished on November 10, 2018. Earning the trail name “Blueberry,” Ray became part of the closeknit AT community, which she describes as “a small country that moves 20 miles a day on a 3-foot-wide path.” Through her role as trail chaplain, she was able to connect hikers with churches along the trail for lodging, food, and rest. She also prayed with fellow hikers and provided “a safe space” when they needed to talk. The journey was rewarding, but not easy. The stretch through Virginia was especially tough for Ray, as she hiked through two hurricanes while it rained 21 out of the 28 days it took her to cross the state. She also got extremely sick from a waterborne parasite, which waylaid her journey by nine days. “Long-distance hiking has become probably the strongest resilience framework that I will ever have,” Ray said. “It’s given me an incredible capacity to walk through adversity and to have hope when hope seems lost, and also just to make suffering more bearable.” Now, as a second-year medical student, Ray sees several parallels between her experience on the AT and medical school. “As difficult as people say medical school can be, and as hard as the trail was, it is still entirely possible to find balance and joy – even in the midst of suffering,” Ray said.
At Quillen, Ray has found balance through service. She is co-president of the Family Medicine Interest Group and the Wilderness Medicine Interest Group as well as the service chair for the Student National Medical Association. She also works part-time at Munsey Memorial United Methodist Church. When she completes medical school, Ray hopes to “serve the underserved,” perhaps with a career in primary care. Someday, she also wants to complete the “Triple Crown” of hiking and add the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail to her trail résumé. “I am so grateful for what I have learned along the way.”
FALL/WINTER 2020-21 x 23
INTERNATIONAL HOUSE OPENS Though they are hundreds of miles from home, international students at ETSU now have a place on campus to call their own.
Now, the students have place where they can meet with their friends, study, meet with advisors, and also participate in new programs.
The new International House opened this fall and is located on the west side of campus near Lucille Clement Hall.
“For our international students, it’s their own living room where they can connect with their friends,” Keller said. “We have a lot of student success initiatives in place, and our International House will be a place where our staff can do group check-ins, talk about any new regulations that have emerged, and also focus on available career services.”
“The Earnest House has been one of the Honors College facilities for a number of years, and we wanted to use the building more effectively for our international students,” said Dr. Chris Keller, Dean of the Honors College and Senior International Officer. “We wanted a place dedicated just for them.
24 x ETSU TODAY
ETSU currently has 275 international students representing over 45 countries including Nigeria, China, Saudi Arabia, and Ghana.
THE ETSU ADVANTAGE BECOMES EVEN MORE AFFORDABLE PHOTO BY CHARLIE WARDEN
ETSU is more affordable than ever for outof-state students. Starting in the fall of 2021, recent high school graduates and transfer students residing in the states of Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, and beyond, will find the value of an education from ETSU tough to beat.
attracting out-of-state students; however, list price is a key factor in decision-making and the pandemic has caused families to become even more cost-conscious. This is a straightforward approach to allow more students the opportunity to experience the ETSU Advantage.”
The ETSU Board of Trustees has approved a new out-of-state tuition strategy for incoming first-time freshmen and transfer students beginning next fall. Students residing in five surrounding states (Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia) who meet admission requirements to ETSU will pay $10,500 in tuition for the 2021-22 academic year (15 credit hours each for two semesters), while those beyond the five states will pay $13,500 per year.
Throughout the fall, ETSU Admissions representatives traveled across Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia to share this exciting news during Bucky’s ETSU Road Trip.
Dr. Joe Sherlin, Vice President for Student Life and Enrollment, says, “This new tuition strategy allows us to get in the door on price and compete on the basis of our strong academic programs.” The out-of-state tuition rates will be open to any incoming undergraduate student who is fully admissible to the institution and will allow ETSU to be more competitive with in-state public institutions in Virginia and South Carolina, while expanding into more diverse metropolitan areas. “ETSU is committed to accessibility and affordability,” Sherlin said. “We are already
“It was our way of bringing ETSU to our prospective students,” said Caleb Bennett, ETSU assistant director for recruitment. “College visits are the highlight of the high school senior year experience. We recognize that many students and parents would prefer staying close to home during this pandemic, so that is why we brought the campus visit experience to them.” There are no GPA or financial requirements to receive the new low out-of-state tuition rates, and students may qualify for academic scholarships and need-based aid. Moreover, residents of select border counties in North Carolina and Virginia are still eligible to pay in-state tuition and can be considered for ETSU’s in-state scholarships. These new affordability initiatives are all part of the ETSU Advantage that includes nationally recognized academic programs, a
15:1 student-to-faculty ratio, and the highest fall-to-fall retention and graduation rates in the history of the institution. Additionally, 92 percent of ETSU students receive financial assistance. “I think this is a tremendous opportunity to increase our footprint in several major areas and then word of mouth will keep students coming because we offer quality academic programs and student experiences,” said Dr. Virginia Foley, a member of ETSU’s Board of Trustees. Current out-of-state and international students will not qualify for the new tuition rates; however, out-of-state students will continue to receive Carter, Carter Plus, and Gilbreath Scholarship awards through graduation and will not see any increase in the out-of-state portion of their overall tuition costs. Other current scholarships at ETSU that remove out-of-state tuition costs will also be unaffected. More information about the new out-ofstate tuition strategy for students in five surrounding states, border counties, and beyond is available at etsu.edu/advantage. Amanda Mowell is Director for Communications in the ETSU Office of University Relations.
FALL/WINTER 2020-21 x 25
SEPTEMBER 1
DATELINE: ETSU
Two College of Nursing clinics celebrate milestone anniversaries in September: the Mountain City Extended Hours Health Center (30 years) and Hancock County School-Based Health Centers (25 years).
JUNE 15
SEPTEMBER 3
More than 100 health care professionals, students, and community leaders participate in the White Coats for Black Lives event organized by the ETSU Student National Medical Association, the Gold Humanism Honor Society, and the Organization of Student Representatives.
The Quillen College of Medicine announces that its Department of Biomedical Sciences has received more than $7 million in extramural funding that year alone to conduct research ranging from substance misuse to kidney disease.
SEPTEMBER 7 The September issue of the American Journal of Public Health features several articles written by experts from the ETSU College of Public Health.
JULY 1 The School of Graduate Studies and the School of Continuing Studies and Academic Outreach merge to form the College of Graduate and Continuing Studies.
AUGUST 21
SEPTEMBER 14 The College of Business and Technology announces the holders of two endowed chair positions, each charged to provide expertise to academic programs and assist in fulfilling the strategic mission of the college while Golden Harlan building regional and international partnerships. David Golden has been named professor of practice and Allen and Ruth Harris Chair of Excellence in Business, and Jim Harlan has been named professor of practice and AFG Chair of Excellence in Business and Technology.
The 2020 recipients of the Distinguished Faculty Awards, the highest honors bestowed to ETSU faculty members, are announced: Dr. Brooks Pond, Gatton College of Pharmacy (Teaching); Dr. Mohamed Elgazzar, Quillen College of Medicine (Research); and Dr. Donna Cherry, Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences (Service).
AUGUST 26 ETSU receives one of seven Rural Health Research Center grants, awarded by the Health Resources and Services Administration, Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, to create the Center for Substance Misuse in Rural America.
26 x ETSU TODAY
SEPTEMBER 22 ETSU Theatre and Dance announces that its fall season productions will be produced virtually.
OCTOBER 14 SEPTEMBER 25 ETSU introduces the 22 students who are part of the inaugural esports varsity team. The two teams are competing in Overwatch and League of Legends. In October, ETSU announced that the Overwatch team had earned a spot in the Fall Cup Playoffs.
SEPTEMBER 30 The National Science Foundation awards $500,000 to a research team that includes ETSU’s Dr. Candace Forbes Bright for the study “The Role of Museums in the Landscape of Minority Representation.”
ETSU announces that Fall Commencement Exercises on December 12 will be held virtually.
OCTOBER 19 Six student pharmacists from Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy are accepted into the prestigious Tennessee Area Health Education Centers Scholars Program.
OCTOBER 28 The Dr. Patricia Robertson Pride Center is dedicated. Located on the second floor of the D.P. Culp Student Center, the facility offers a space for gathering, programming, support, and resources for LGBTQ+ students, faculty, staff, and allies.
OCTOBER 1 Four University School students are named as semifinalists for the 66th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
OCTOBER 5 A $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education is awarded to the Clemmer College to provide tuition assistance for students in the Access ETSU program, which serves men and women with intellectual disabilities and prepares them for meaningful employment.
OCTOBER 12 The National Institutes of Health awards Dr. Chuanfu Li a $2.19 million R01 grant to research the role of lactate in sepsis-induced cardiovascular dysfunction.
OCTOBER 29 ETSU Health opens COVID-19 collection site offering test results in 24 hours.
OCTOBER 30 Cesar Gracia is named Chief of Police and Director of Public Safety. Gracia received his B.A. degree in criminal justice from ETSU in 1999 followed by a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies in 2012.
FALL/WINTER 2020-21 x 27
28 x ETSU TODAY
ETSU’S NEWEST BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEMBER
MELISSA STEAGALL-JONES ’91 As the daughter of Charles Steagall, one of the region’s most respected accounting professionals, Melissa Steagall-Jones arrived on the ETSU campus in fall 1987 following in familiar footsteps. She was an accounting major, but her initial plans were to couple her degree with law school and possibly pursue a career as a tax attorney.
Through the years, Steagall-Jones has been a guest speaker for many accounting classes and participated in a number of Alumni Return to the Classroom events. Presently she is a member of ETSU’s Government Relations Advisory Council and is in her second year as Chair of the Roan Scholars Leadership Program Steering Committee.
Steagall-Jones quickly took advantage of every learning experience available to her. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays were spent in class, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays she worked at Blackburn, Childers & Steagall PLC. Saturdays became another 8-hour day at the office during tax season.
Within the community, Steagall-Jones has served as a board member and past chair of the Johnson City-Jonesborough-Washington County Chamber of Commerce and has also been a member of the Mountain States Foundation and the ETSU Foundation.
Four years later she knew she had found her calling and chose not to pursue law school. Graduation day came in May 1991, and after spending a week at the beach with her family and friends, she returned that Monday as a fulltime member of the firm. Today, Blackburn, Childers & Steagall and ETSU are still the fabric of her life. SteagallJones earned her Certified Public Accountant designation in 1993 and became a partner with the firm in 2002. She is also a Certified Internal Controls Auditor and concentrates the majority of her practice today in audit, governmental, health care, employee benefits plans, and taxation. This fall, she became the newest member of the ETSU Board of Trustees. “Even though I graduated almost 30 years ago, I feel like I never left the campus,” SteagallJones said. “I’m a ridiculously huge Bucs fan, and if the football and basketball teams are playing, you will find me cheering in the stands. I still remember that game when ETSU beat the Arizona Wildcats in the 1992 NCAA Tournament in Atlanta. We were there!”
“I really love doing charity work and spent many years with the United Way,” she said. “I have also been active in the children’s ministry program at Central Baptist Church, helping with the preschool and children’s choir ever since my daughter Lydia was old enough to join.” Lydia is also following in the Steagall family footsteps. Last December she earned her B.B.A. degree in accounting and is currently pursuing an M.B.A. while working at Blackburn, Childers & Steagall, a job that grew from an internship during tax season. The proud mom can also be found in the stands at Science Hill High School games where her son Evan, a junior, plays football in the fall and is part of the track team in the spring. Her husband Jeff, also an ETSU accounting graduate, is a Senior Vice President at Citi in nearby Gray. As part of her duties with the ETSU Board of Trustees, Steagall-Jones is chairing the board’s Audit Committee. She is a past recipient of the College of Business and Technology Horizon Award and the ETSU National Alumni Association Award of Honor. Photo by Larry Smith
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NEW STUDENT BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEMBER AUSTIN RAMSEY:
CRUSHING THE IT BOX to receive the 40 Under Forty recognition from The Business Journal of Tri-Cities Tennessee/Virginia a short time after being named an inaugural Appalachian Highlands Twenty Under 20 award recipient. “When you build a business, you put all this time and effort into it, so I was truly honored and consider these awards confirmations that I am on the right path. Now I can continue to ‘crush new boxes’ and grow and hopefully launch another business at some point,” Ramsey said.
Being involved in business is part of my DNA. Austin Ramsey Austin Ramsey’s world revolves around “crushing boxes.” He uses this analogy often when engaging with clients for his consulting business, Pointech, and to define his leadership philosophy. Obviously, Ramsey is doing more than programming his way through the information systems curriculum at ETSU. He says each opportunity to lead, learn, and grow is a building block toward new experiences and even bigger opportunities, like being a member of the National 4-H GPS/GIS (geographic information systems) Leadership Team or the youngest person
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During his senior year of high school, Ramsey was nominated for ETSU’s Roan Scholars Leadership Program. He progressed through a very competitive interview process and was selected to the Class of 2021. As a young entrepreneur, Ramsey often seeks the wisdom of business owner and Roan founder Louis Gump. He says this connection confirmed he was “in the right place” at ETSU. From lemonade stand to DJ business, providing droneography services and aerial consulting and now offering technology solutions for businesses, Ramsey is already putting his minor in business management to use. As “Chief Box Crusher” and founder of Pointech, Ramsey works with regional business owners to “crush the IT box.” IT infrastructure and security assessment is in high demand this year as the business world has experienced an unexpected shift to remote work. More than once, Ramsey says he’s made an appointment to meet with a new client in person and caught a strange glance the first time they see his 21-year-old face. Ramsey is unfazed by whether someone thinks he is old enough to own his own business, or to represent the entire student body on the ETSU Board of Trustees. He just keeps on “crushing boxes.” Ramsey is a senator in the SGA in addition to serving as Student Trustee on the ETSU
Board of Trustees. In this role, he actively participates in the shared governance process for the institution. “I really try to be a voice for students and to go back to the SGA and let them know what policies are being implemented,” Ramsey said. “Especially during this challenging year, I feel I have an important role in helping students understand and translate the decisions being made and their impact. It’s been a great learning opportunity to see how the Board of Trustees governs the institution.” It is probably no surprise that Ramsey is actively involved in ETSU’s Entrepreneurs Club, and as a member of the National 4-H GIS Leadership Team, he conducted award-winning geospatial research using GIS to map sets of health data. In 2018, he traveled to Haryana, India, to assist with infrastructure development as part of his summer of service with Roan Scholars. That same year, he was one of the thought leaders chosen to present at IDEAcademy, a leadership development series hosted by Eastman and the ETSU College of Business and Technology, where he talked about using droneography and geographical data to help identify big picture trends and patterns. “Being involved in business is part of my DNA,” Ramsey said. “I discovered that everything we have in life we can put into a box and in order to grow and expand, it’s about crushing the box and seeing things in a new way. I’ve translated this into how I work with other businesses by challenging them to think about their problems as boxes – What is the bottleneck in your business? Don’t be afraid to crush it.” Amanda Mowell is Director for Communications in the ETSU Office of University Relations.
ALUMNA NAMED AMONG ‘INSPIRING BLACK SCIENTISTS’ ETSU alumna and current biological sciences faculty member Dr. Cerrone Foster was recently listed among “100 more inspiring Black scientists in America” by the science blog CrossTalk.
were no visible representations in my neighborhood where I grew up, I had very good teachers who exposed me to things and made sure I was able to see myself in science and math.”
CrossTalk is the official blog of Cell Press, which publishes biomedical and physical science research and reviews. The blog “is fueled by a hunger for all things related to science, research, and publishing and is a home for scientists and science enthusiasts,” according to the CrossTalk website.
Foster says she has a diverse group of students working in her research lab, and it is important for her to serve as a role model to them as an African American female scientist.
Foster says it means a lot to her to be recognized among fellow scientists in this listing as it allows her an additional outlet to serve as an example and role model for aspiring young scientists. Although she knew that there were many Black scientists who went before her, Foster said she did not see as many Black scientists represented in academia as she pursued her education as today’s students see. And, she hopes that the efforts she and others are making in increasing diversity in academia, and particularly in the sciences, will pave the way for future young scholars who may not yet see their potential as scientists. Foster adds that she has a niece and nephew who are closely following her career, and it is her hope that they will be able to see themselves as scientists. “If we don’t have examples around us, how are we to be able to see and know that we fit in those spaces?” asks Foster, who was the first in her family to go to college and, thus far, is the only person in her family to earn a Ph.D. – a distinction that will be short-lived as others in her family are now pursuing advanced degrees. “Even though there
“In mentoring my students, I talk with them about overcoming the disparities that still exist in academic environments and work environments,” she said. “I experienced things when I was their age, and here we are 20 years later and some of those things are still happening. People 20 years before me definitely had to experience some hardships, and they paved the way for me to be here. And so I am hopeful that in another 20 years, with this next generation that I am now mentoring, things will be very different – that they will move forward to make it better for other students, regardless of their ethnic background, religion, or anything. “My focus in teaching as well as mentoring is that we all play a role in creating an inclusive environment. We all play a role in creating an environment for everyone to grow.” Foster’s current research, funded by a grant from the American Heart Association, examines the mechanisms of estrogen loss and its effects on the heart after menopause. She holds a B.S. from The College of New Jersey and earned her Ph.D. at ETSU in 2007 before joining the university faculty in 2011.
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ETSU NURSE PRACTITIONERS TURNING HEALTH DISPARITIES AROUND IN APPALACHIA Matthew 25:40: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of these my brethren, ye have done it to me.” Drs. Teresa Owens Tyson, Paula Hill-Collins, and Christine Mullins are ETSU College of Nursing alumni who care for the people of the rural Appalachian mountains in Southwest Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, and Northeast Tennessee. Dr. Tyson is the President and CEO, Dr. Hill-Collins is the Clinical Director, and Dr. Mullins is a faculty volunteer. All of them are family nurse practitioners serving in a network of nurse-led clinics called the Health Wagon. Drs. Owens Tyson and Hill-Collins have been lifelong friends and shared a dorm room while in the BSN program at ETSU. Dr. Mullins was a student from the first BSN to DNP cohort and later joined the Health Wagon as a faculty member.
About the Health Wagon Forty years ago, Sister Bernadette Kenny of the Catholic order Medical Missionaries of Mary founded the Health Wagon. Sister “Bernie,” as she is most affectionately known, traveled on rural mountainous roads in her Volkswagen Beetle to deliver healthcare to individuals of Southwest Virginia. Today, the Health Wagon relies solely on grant funding and donations from individuals, foundations, and corporations for operating costs. It serves as a safety net for the uninsured, underinsured, and underserved people of rural Appalachia. 32 x ETSU TODAY
Currently, the Health Wagon is a $3.6 million nonprofit healthcare network with two stationary clinics, four mobile healthcare units, and a mobile dental unit. The Health Wagon mobile units travel to the most remote and poorest areas in Virginia including Coeburn, St. Paul, Pound, Oakwood, Big Stone Gap, Lebanon, McClure, Duffield, Clinchco, and other areas as needed. In 2019, the Health Wagon served 4,713 patients with 19,926 healthcare visits. During these visits, cancers were diagnosed, diabetes was managed, hepatitis C was cured, hypertension was controlled, and heart failure was reversed, resulting in positive health impacts and the saving of lives.
Most importantly patients found a medical home and were provided health care that otherwise would not exist.
Partnerships and Innovations The Health Wagon team has established partnerships throughout the United States, allowing the people of the region to receive healthcare second to none. The Health Wagon delivers telehealth at no cost and last year conducted the first tele-wound care clinic in the nation. Psychiatry and counseling appointments are scheduled via telehealth for patients who have mental health needs. The Health Wagon has an existing network of over 1,500 medical and general volunteers willing to serve during healthcare outreaches. Drs. Owens Tyson, Hill-Collins, and Mullins are on the forefront of health care innovations. In 2015, Drs. Tyson and Hill-Collins were instrumental partners with Flirtey and National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Langley Research in the first Federal Aviation Administration-approved drone delivery in the United States. The drone was used to deliver pharmaceuticals to patients. They are also actively participating in a research project with the University of Virginia where cystoscopies are being performed via telehealth for the first time.
The Health Wagon team is most proud of the efforts to bring public healthcare outreach to the area including the Wise County Remote Area Medical, now known as Move Mountains Medical Mission (M7), a massive health care service, telemedicine specialty consultations, health fairs, lung cancer screening programs, community COVID-19 screenings, grant writing efforts, a community garden with an exercise track, and a student preceptorship program. Most recently, The Health Wagon has united with the Virginia Department of Health to offer free COVID-19 screenings throughout Appalachia. And the Health Wagon partners with over 50 universities and colleges to bring academic and clinical rotations. Drs. Tyson, Hill-Collins, and Mullins are heavily involved in research, scholarship, teaching, and practice. These women demonstrate leadership, faith, perseverance, and resilience in transforming healthcare in Appalachia. Prayers and the passion to serve others drive the team to deliver the best healthcare possible to those who are in need. If you would like to learn more about our needs, volunteer, or donate to The Health Wagon, please visit https://thehealthwagon.org/ Christine Mullins is an Associate Professor in the ETSU College of Nursing.
THESE HEALTH WAGON ALUMNI HAVE RECEIVED A MULTITUDE OF LOCAL, STATE, NATIONAL, AND INTERNATIONAL ACCOLADES: Local Awards
National Awards
2017 Advanced Primary Care Community Leadership Award
2019 Breaking the Barriers Through Telehealth MATRC Award
2015 Mountain Empire Community College Distinguished Alumni Award
2019 American Association of Colleges of Nursing Novice Faculty Excellence in Clinical Teaching Award
2015 ETSU College of Nursing Distinguished Alumni Award
2019 PBS Be More Award
2014 Daily Point of Light Award
2018 American Association of Colleges of Nursing and Apple’s Digital Innovation Boot Camp Awardee
2014 Cabot Community Celebrity Award
State Awards 2019 Top 100 people in Virginia to Meet in 2020 2019 Community Transformers Award 2019 Governor’s Volunteerism and Services Award 2017 Virginia Nursing Foundation Leadership Excellence Award 2007 Virginia Governor’s Volunteerism and Community Service Award for Outstanding Nonprofit Group Award 2007 Governor’s Nonprofit Volunteer Award 2004 Virginia Governor’s Community Service and Volunteerism Administrator Award 2004 Virginia Rural Health Association’s Best Practices Award
2017 PCPCC Primary Care Community Leadership/ Research Award 2017 AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation Connections for Cardiovascular Health Grant Awardee 2015 ETSU National Alumni Association Alumni Award of Honor 2012 AANP Domestic Humanitarian Award 2009 AANP Nurse Practitioner State Award for Excellence 2001 American Breast Cancer Foundation Outstanding Devotion to Community Award
International Award 2017 Inspiring Global Nurse Award, United Nations
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HARRELL INDUCTED INTO ARMY ROTC NATIONAL HALL OF FAME A MEMBER OF THE GRANTLAND RICE BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP FOOTBALL TEAM IN 1969, MAJ. GEN. GARY HARRELL WENT ON TO EARN A GREEN BERET AND COMMAND OPERATIONS DEPICTED IN BLACK HAWK DOWN 34 x ETSU TODAY
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etired Maj. Gen. Gary Harrell (’73), alumnus of ETSU Army ROTC, was inducted into Cadet Command Hall of Fame during a special ceremony held on campus this fall.
Harrell is one of 22 National Hall of Fame inductees for 2020. These former ROTC cadets from across the country have distinguished themselves in their military or civilian careers. In addition to being the fourth from ETSU to receive this high honor, Harrell is also part of an elite group of only 11 officers commissioned through ETSU’s Army ROTC Program to achieve the rank of Army General Officer. Before earning his Green Beret and commanding special operation Delta Force in Somalia, later chronicled in the book and film Black Hawk Down, Maj. Gen. Harrell was a student at ETSU and member of the Grantland Rice Bowl Championship football team in 1969. Harrell received his commissioning as a Second Lieutenant and earned his degree in industrial technology from ETSU in 1973. Four years later, he earned a Green Beret and was assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group. His assignments over the next 35 years supported the 82nd Airborne Division, the 7th Special Forces, and he commanded Delta Force (1st SFOD-D) and operations in Panama, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. “General Harrell stands as an inspiring model of leadership and selfless service for our cadets to take pride in and aspire to follow,” said Maj. Kent Monas, professor of military science at ETSU. During his deployment to Panama with Delta Force, Harrell was part of the successful hostage rescue of U.S. citizen Kurt Muse, who was held captive in a Panama City prison. Harrell also led forces in Colombia against Pablo Escobar, an operation that later culminated in Escobar’s death. During his deployment to Somalia for United Nations relief efforts, Harrell commanded combat operations, a portion of
which was later depicted in the book and film Black Hawk Down. He was severely wounded during the raid. Harrell was later assigned to Joint Special Operations Command for operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm and assumed responsibility for the protection of U.S. forces in 25 nations surrounding the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. After the attack on the USS Cole, he deployed to Yemen where his actions provided safety for the surviving crewmembers and investigators who arrived to conduct the post-explosion investigation. Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, Harrell served as the assistant division commander for the 10th Mountain Division during Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan. As the commander of special operations, CENTCOM, he also commanded the largest special operations forces assembled since World War II during Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2005, Harrell was responsible for NATO forces taking operational control of Afghanistan. “People may know about your service record, but they likely do not know the countless ways you help our university,” said ETSU President Dr. Brian Noland at the Hall of Fame Ceremony. “Thank you for personifying the mission of this university to improve the quality of life for the people of this region.” Harrell is a member of the ETSU National Alumni Association Board and past member of the ETSU Foundation. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus in the Armed Forces Award (2001) and an inductee of both the College of Business and Technology Hall of Fame (2004) and ETSU Army ROTC Hall of Fame (2012). Amanda Mowell is Director for Communications in the ETSU Office of University Relations.
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Good things happen when we work together.
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TREASURES
LOUISE GOFF REECE A WOMAN AHEAD OF HER TIME
Jeannette Rankin of Montana, in 1916. Four years later, on August 18, 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified, granting women the right to vote. Louise’s eagerness to work and learn in a male-dominated field maintained the momentum that the Suffrage movement began. She was a woman ahead of her time who helped pave the way for other women in American politics. In one of Louise’s rare floor speeches, she reflected on the Nineteenth Amendment and, specifically, Tennessee’s role in the solidification of the final vote for ratification. She declared, “I feel highly honored to be a Member of the present delegation from the great Volunteer State that made this contribution to the progress of our country and to women in particular.” By the time Louise served as a Congressional Representative in the 1960s, she was only the second woman to serve as a United States Representative for Tennessee.
PHOTO BY REBECCA PROFFITT.
As the daughter of Guy D. Goff and the granddaughter of Nathan Goff, both United States Senators from West Virginia, Louise was introduced to American politics at an early age, though the concept of striving for a political career was discouraged by her family due to her gender. She married Brazilla Carroll Reece in 1923 and quickly became indispensable to him and his congressional career. In March of 1961, B. Carroll died of lung cancer two months into his 18th congressional term. Louise announced her intention to seek the GOP nomination shortly after his passing so that she could complete the remainder of his term. The local Republican committee members unanimously chose her as their candidate and called for a nominating convention. Louise campaigned for five weeks and was elected without opposition as the United States Representative for Tennessee’s First Congressional District.
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ouise Goff Reece (1898-1970) was elected to represent Tennessee at the 1964 Republican National Convention. This featured medal from the Reece Museum Collection advertises her engagement as a delegate at the convention, which occurred outside of San Francisco. Louise had previously attended the only other Republican National Convention held on the West Coast in 1956 as an alternate delegate. Her story of political engagement as a United States Representative is a compelling reminder of the progression of women in American politics. The first woman to serve as a member of Congress was
When Louise took her oath on May 23, 1961, she was assigned to the Committee of Public Works. During her service, she took part in issuing a report in opposition to the Public Works Acceleration and Coordination Act on the grounds that the act would overwhelm the bureaucracy. Some of her other political interests as a Republican representative included juvenile delinquency and school building projects. She did not seek reelection in 1962 but continued her term until January 3, 1963. Louise remained a member of the Republican National Committee until her death on May 14, 1970, in Johnson City. Savannah Bennett is a student in the Appalachian Studies M.A. program and a graduate assistant at the Reece Museum.
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MODEL MILL PROVIDES SPACE FOR ADVANCEMENT, ALUMNI OFFICES The Model Mill Development, located on Walnut Street across from The Firehouse Restaurant, is the new home for the ETSU Office of University Advancement and the ETSU National Alumni Association. The space is being leased by the ETSU Foundation. “The restoration of the mill has been a long-anticipated project for this region, and we are honored to have a presence in the beautiful new facility and to be part of this historic move,” said Pam Ritter, ETSU Vice President for University Advancement and President/ CEO of the ETSU Foundation. “Our advancement and alumni staff are engaged within the community 365 days each year, and our presence at the mill positions us closer to our donors, alumni, and other friends within the community.” The Model Mill was constructed in the early 1900s and is located on the corner of Walnut and Sevier streets near the ETSU campus. Local business leaders Grant Summers and Rab Summers purchased the
mill in 2016 and began a massive renovation of the facility. Grant Summers, President of Summers-Taylor, says his longstanding dream was for ETSU to have a presence at the facility. “ETSU is an important leader in our region, and from the beginning President Brian Noland has been very supportive of the university partnering with us, and that commitment gave us the confidence to move forward with this project,” Summers said. The designer for the Model Mill Development is Thomas Weems Architect. “Our students, faculty, staff, and alumni have an active presence in Downtown Johnson City throughout the year, and we recognize the potential that Walnut Street offers in forming deeper linkages between the university and the downtown area,” said Whitney Goetz, Executive Director of the Alumni Association.
THE CAMPAIGN FOR ETSU For nearly 110 years, the people of the Appalachian Highlands have campaigned for ETSU. In fact, it was a campaign for better public schools that led to the establishment of ETSU in 1911. Our mission over the past century has been to improve the quality of life for the people of this region. Community-backed campaigns have helped us achieve that mission in so many ways. The Campaign for ETSU, a five-year effort set to culminate in June 2022, sets an ambitious goal of raising $120 million in four primary areas: • Student Support ($21 million) to provide scholarships, study abroad opportunities, graduate student stipends, and other experiential learning. • Faculty Support ($23.5 million) to empower faculty through distinguished professorships, chairs, and endowments. • Program Support ($35 million) to fund exciting new programs to attract students and ultimately transform their lives. • Facility Support ($40.5 million) to breathe new life into campus through critical matching funds required for future buildings and renovations. 38 x ETSU TODAY
With the backing of our outstanding alumni, friends, faculty/staff, and partners, our goal is within reach. We have raised $89.3 million (74%) as of December 2020 but we need your assistance to put us over the top and truly transform the landscape of higher education in the region. This is your opportunity to help write the next chapter for East Tennessee State University. Join us for the Campaign for ETSU, and thank you for all you do for this great institution.
$21M
$40.5M
FOR STUDENTS
FOR FACILITIES
Campaign for ETSU FUNDING GOALS
$120M
$23.5M FOR FACULTY
To learn more, visit etsu.edu/CampaignforETSU
$35M
FOR PROGRAMS
THE ALUMNI LEGACY SCHOLARSHIP:
FOLLOWING THE FOOTPRINTS
A longstanding scholarship program at ETSU provides support for incoming students who are following in the footsteps of their parents. The Alumni Legacy Scholarship was established in 1995 and was known then as the Challenge 2000 Scholarship. Incoming freshmen who meet eligibility requirements and who have a parent or legal guardian who is an ETSU graduate may apply for the scholarship. “ETSU PRIDE is something that extends through many generations,” said Whitney Goetz, Executive Director of the ETSU National Alumni Association. “Nothing matches the pride and joy our alumni experience when their sons or daughters arrive on our campus as Buccaneers ready to follow in their footprints. The Alumni Legacy Scholarships create that pathway for members of the ETSU family.” Goetz says over 72 Alumni Legacy Scholarships have been awarded since 2015. In the most recent pool of applicants, the average GPA was 3.9 and the average ACT score was 29. “When students complete the general online scholarship application, they are automatically placed into a pool to be reviewed for many ETSU scholarships,” she added. “Those applicants who indicate having a parent, stepparent, or legal guardian who is a graduate are considered for the legacy scholarship.” For information about how you can support the Alumni Legacy Scholarship program, call 423-439-4242.
Alumni Legacy Scholarship Information/Requirements: 3.5 high school GPA Legal guardian or parent must be an ETSU graduate Applicants will be evaluated on leadership and extracurricular activities
This is a four-year renewable scholarship; recipients must complete 12 credit hours per semester and maintain at least a 3.0 GPA
The Alumni Legacy Scholarship cannot be combined with other ETSU scholarships Scholarship deadline: March 1, 2021
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Jerseys for Social Justice THE ETSU DEPARTMENT OF INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS’ WHAT’S IMPORTANT NOW (WIN) committee announced plans in September, and carried out those plans in October, for a 12-part video series Jerseys for Social Justice in which Black ETSU studentathletes and coaches shared their experiences as Black Americans and discussed the biggest issues facing the Black community today. “It’s always an honor to serve incredible student-athletes and staff at East Tennessee State University and the Jerseys for Social Justice series highlighted members of our athletic department family and their resilience as Black Americans,” athletic director Scott Carter said. “What’s Important Now is that we as human beings treat one another with dignity and respect as our university mission commands.” The video series took shape in ongoing WIN committee meetings within ETSU Athletics that have been held since the death of George Floyd May 25 in Minneapolis. The committee, made up of staff members within the athletic department, has also led action on a voter registration campaign, mandatory staff-wide racism and equality training, and a series of discussions between student-athletes and staff on ways in which the department can lead on the topics of racism, equality, and social justice. “WIN aligns with the vision of the Office of Equity and Inclusion at the university to
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best serve our underrepresented student-athletes,” athletics’ associate director of external operations and WIN committee chair Calvin Claggett said. “It is the mission of the WIN committee to provide experiences, opportunities, and education for our students, staff, and university. In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of the fierce urgency of now. It is in 2020 that those same urgencies exist. WIN is committed to addressing these urgencies and impacting the lives of those that we serve.”
often they are seen as strictly entertainment and not as the genuine, productive, intelligent people that they are. We want to give them a voice so they can lead and be heard on the topics that are affecting them, and the hope is that this is a good first step in better supporting and empowering our Black studentathletes as individuals.” Jerseys for Social Justice began with ETSU football running back Quay Holmes who, along with other members of the ETSU football team, organized a march to raise awareness for racial injustice the day after the video was released on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and ETSUBucs.com.
“We need to humanize student-athletes, and in particular, our studentathletes of color.” Mike Gallagher The video project that emerged from the committee featured six Black studentathletes, two Black coaches, administrators within athletics who discussed their support of the Black community at ETSU and beyond, as well as the top diversity and inclusion officers at the university to lend an expert point of view to the topics they dedicate their professional lives to. “We need to humanize studentathletes, and in particular, our student-athletes of color,” creator and host Mike Gallagher, a member of the WIN committee, said regarding the goal of the video series. “Too
“Doing this video series was important because it gave Black student-athletes and coaches a platform to speak on sensitive, but necessary, topics,” Holmes said. “It gave us a chance to be seen as real people instead of just athletes, and by having multiple people speak, we were able to give multiple points of view on how we are affected by what’s going on in society. As for the march the day after the series began, it was historic and special. For us as studentathletes and young people, that was another step that we felt like we needed to take to raise awareness for social injustice and racism in the Tri-Cities and across the country.”
Following the march and the six student-athlete videos that comprised the first half of the Jerseys for Social Justice campaign, three coaches were featured during the series, including head volleyball coach Benavia Jenkins. “I pray that what we’re doing here at ETSU will bless someone’s life,” Jenkins said. “I want to inspire people to start loving more and to push the hatred out. We are all God’s people. We are all one human race. It’s time we start acting like it.” The series culminated October 27-29 during the NCAA’s diversity and inclusion social media campaign with an announcement from ETSU President Dr. Brian Noland that Claggett, in addition to his external operations position within athletics and his WIN committee post, will serve as head of diversity, equity, and inclusion for the department, as well as Special Assistant to the Vice President for Equity and Inclusion campus-wide. “We as an institution have taken a series of proactive steps to support not only our student-athletes but our campus community as a whole,” Noland said. “One of the areas that has been brought front and center in those efforts is the need for our student-athletes to be provided with support services, outreach opportunities, counseling services, and mentoring roles. I can’t think of a more perfect person to lead these efforts than Calvin.” Claggett’s work, which picks up where the Jerseys for Social Justice series left off, has already begun, with plans for more impactful work in the not-sodistant future.
“I’ve definitely hit the ground running,” Claggett said. “With the help of (ETSU Vice President for Equity and Inclusion) Dr. Keith Johnson, I’ve completed the framework for a strategic, long-term plan for equity and inclusion within athletics. We also completed our voter registration and Bucs To The Ballot campaign. But these are just the first steps. There’s a long way to go. The Jerseys for Social Justice series was a great start in giving our student-athletes a voice, and we’re dedicated to building on that and making our athletic department, and campus community, more equal, just, and safe for students of every skin color.” Mike Gallagher is ETSU Athletics Assistant Director of Broadcasting and the creator/ host of Jerseys for Social Justice. To view the entire Jerseys for Social Justice series, go to etsubucs.com or search Buccaneer Sports Network on YouTube.
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SADÉ SMITH’S RACE FOR CHANGE ETSU Triathlete Joins a Movement on the National Stage Sadé Smith of Haymarket, Virginia, an ETSU freshman triathlete, noticed at a young age that the sports she was passionate about were dominated primarily by White athletes. She did not let that stop her from being a successful athlete as a young Black woman. Smith competed in her first triathlon at eight years old. Her swim team participated in a triathlon, and she placed fifth overall in her age group. At the age of 11, Smith fell in love with the sport of triathlon. “I love that triathlon is a variety of sports,” she said. “I’m not just doing one thing.” When she began racing in triathlons, Smith competed for fun. For seven years, the sport became more competitive, and as she continued, so did her success within the sport. In 2018, she was ranked the No. 5 Duathlete in the nation among the 16-17 age group and was in the top-35 of triathletes. “I had a lot of help from people around me,” said Smith. “I was really passionate and dedicated to my races and my training. This wasn’t the end goal for me. I always want to keep improving.” As a Black woman, Smith is unique in the sport of triathlon. Less than 1 percent of triathletes are Black, and since its debut in the 2000 Olympics, only one triathlete was a Black woman.
Across the 35 NCAA Triathlon programs, there are just seven Black college triathletes, which explains why USA Triathlon created the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access Advisory Group. The group is made up of members of the USA Triathlon board, professional triathletes, a gold medalist, and multiple Olympians. After her commitment to ETSU, Smith got an email from the CEO of USA Triathlon asking her to join the advisory group. A week later, she found out who was on the council. She discovered that she was not only the youngest member but the only collegiate athlete on the committee. “I was mind blown.”
“I want people to know, even if you don’t look like the people on TV or look like the people around you, you can pursue your dreams.” Sadé Smith
Growing up in the predominantly White sport, Smith noticed that she stood out. “I was one of a few, if any, Black athletes in the triathlon races I participated in,” she explained. “I never let that get to me.” She mentioned that at a young age in the pool, there were only a few Black swimmers. This was no surprise to Smith. When she began competing in a triathlon, often times she was the only Black participant. “At the time, I didn’t have any role models who were Black,” she said. “I didn’t see myself continuing the sport in the future. Now, as I’ve continued the sport, I’ve met Black triathletes and they inspire me to keep going.” Smith wants to have an influence on potential Black triathletes. “I wanted to be a role model to people who were younger than me, who look like me and who want to try triathlon in the future. I want to show people what I’m doing and that I’m participating in the sport I love. I want to show people that it’s possible to be a triathlete even if you don’t look like the rest of them.” 42 x ETSU TODAY
Two years ago, in a proactive effort to increase diversity at the collegiate triathlon level, Hampton University, an HBCU, was awarded a grant from USA Triathlon to increase awareness of the sport to Black athletes. For Smith, this grant was a big first step to bring more awareness about the sport to minorities.
ETSU Triathlon head coach Allie Nicosia has been coaching triathletes at the NCAA level for five years and Smith is the first Black triathlete she has had the privilege to coach. “It is amazing that Sadé gets to be a part of this committee as a college athlete,” said Nicosia. “When you look at swim or triathlon teams, it is not a color you used to see much of and now it is becoming more prevalent. As a college triathlete, Sadé can be a person someone can look up to and that is incredible.” In America, the African American community is the second largest racial minority, accounting for 13.8 percent of the population. Last season, there were fewer than five Black triathletes across the three NCAA Divisions. As the sport grows at the NCAA level, Smith and Nicosia are hopeful that the number of Black triathletes will continue to rise.
In addition to diversity, the advisory group looks to address equity, inclusion, and access. The organization is committed to ensuring fair treatment and access, fostering a welcoming community, and is dedicated to breaking down entry barriers to the sport. “One of my goals as a part of the committee is to spread awareness for diversity in this sport,” said Smith. “I want people to know, even if you don’t look like the people on TV or look like the people around you, you can pursue your dreams.” After ETSU, Smith’s goal is to follow in the footsteps of her role model, Gwen Jorgensen, and participate in the Olympics as a triathlete. David Czarlinsky works in Sports Information for the ETSU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics.
ADAPTING TO AN
Anomaly
The year 2020 will live forever infamously in sports history. In mid-March, the college sports world was turned upside down when conferences began canceling their basketball tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic that had made its way into the United States. Just days later, the NCAA shut down the Big Dance and the rest of spring sports—a difficult decision with ripples felt at all levels. Fast forward to August as schools were awaiting the answer to the newer question of “Will there be fall sports this year?” Ultimately the NCAA left the decision
up to its respective conferences and individual institutions. ETSU followed the Southern Conference’s decision and opted to postpone fall sports until a later time when it was deemed safe for students and student-athletes. It was easy for student-athletes and coaches to feel down with everything going on around them, especially when COVID-19 postponed their seasons without an end in sight. However, in sports you are taught to take advantage of things thrown your way and to adapt to change.
At ETSU, different coaches and studentathletes had their own ways of “taking advantage” of the cards that were dealt to them this fall. Take one of the biggest sports that the NCAA has to offer in the fall, college football. ETSU Head Football Coach Randy Sanders has not had a fall season without football since he was nine years old. “It has been very unusual when you have gone 46 years of being involved in the game of football and trying to find ways to win games each weekend,” stated Sanders. “That said, I have had time to appreciate the changing of
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the leaves this year and go to the lake a few times. I have always said that one day I want to experience that, but I am not ready for that yet. I am ready to get back to football, and I hope that this will be the true anomaly and not the norm. We need to be playing football and getting back to normal. I know that I need it, our players need it, our campus needs it, and I think the country needs it.” The lack of football in the fall has not stopped Coach Sanders and his team from preparing for a time when football will return. “In many ways, not playing this fall was a little bit of a blessing because we came back to campus not in the best of physical condition as a team,” commented Sanders. “We were able to stay active and start coaching these guys. From a physical standpoint, we needed the extra time to try and work our way into shape. When we found out we weren’t going to play this fall, we were able to plan it out and progress our practices to get in shape. If you are not physically conditioned, you cannot be mentally conditioned.” Transition to basketball at ETSU, led by firstyear Head Coach Jason Shay: The Bucs were poised to make a statement in the NCAA 44 x ETSU TODAY
Tournament in the spring of 2020 before the season was halted. “It has been difficult because we missed out on an opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament, which is what every basketball player dreams about,” commented Shay. “You want to play in March, on the big stage and on
“I am ready to get back to football, and I hope that this will be the true anomaly and not the norm.” Coach Randy Sanders national television. Then there was a long four to five months where our players couldn’t get the work in the gym due to COVID. Finally, we get to come back and now have to manage the protocols and safety of the players, in terms of the virus. Unfortunately, we have had to quarantine twice due to a couple of positive
tests. The morale of the team has fluctuated, up and down. The biggest concern as a staff has been their mental health and trying to keep them upbeat.” Losing 28 days to quarantine takes its toll on any team, especially one that is set to commence the season in late November. “We have been able to talk to the guys on Zoom during quarantine,” stated Shay. “We have been able to talk them through some plays and how we want to play on both sides of the ball. We have discussed our defensive principles and just trying to keep the guys mentally sharp, as well as we can. Our strength coach has put together a plan for the guys to work out in their rooms to stay in playing shape. This has been a very difficult time since you lose a lot of physical strength when you have to take 14 days off. Trying to get the guys back to playing at a high level of conditioning and physicality has been a challenge.” If there is one key thing Coach Shay has learned as a first-year head coach, it is the role of relationships with the players. “Keeping the players on an even keel is very important because of the peaks and
players, including four young women who will be coming in January. I have two South African commits and the leading goal scorer in the top Finnish league. I have now had a whole season to work with the team and get to know them and allow the women to get to know our staff better.” Yelton is one to always look at the silver lining and asks his squad to do the same. “With the season around the corner, the team is as fit and conditioned as one can be during this time. The players have bought into what we are trying to do here. I have been beyond pleased with how the team has handled this pandemic: competing only against themselves, staying safe, and taking the situation seriously.” Looking to build off her SoCon All-Freshman campaign is ETSU Volleyball’s outside hitter Lauren Hatch. The Illinois native is one of 11 underclassmen who were eager to hit the court this fall. “My teammates and I have been able to practice hard in the gym, allowing us to stay ready for when our time comes that we get to play,” says Hatch. “We have welcomed a lot of fresh faces, so we are now working on not only getting strong in the weight room, but also building that bond and connection on and off the court so that we can be successful this season. Keeping a positive mindset during this time is critical, but knowing that volleyball isn’t going anywhere helps. We just now have more time to prepare and get better for when the spring comes.” Not all was lost for the Bucs this fall as it was announced that men’s and women’s cross country would be the only teams to have a chance to compete for a Southern Conference Championship in November.
valleys with social distancing and being shut down,” added Shay. “They are in an unusual environment right now. They don’t have a typical support system this year. Their support comes from the coaching staff. So, managing and developing those relationships and trust has been even more impactful now. Basketball is our link with these guys and when that is taken away, you have to be creative and find new ways to build that relationship and the trust.”
From one first-year head coach to another: ETSU Women’s Soccer Head Coach Jay Yelton. Yelton was set to make his collegiate head coaching debut this fall before the pandemic shut down his season. “For the first 49 out of 51 days after I got the job, I traveled all over to work hard on recruiting,” stated Yelton. “It was obviously strange for all of that to have to come to a halt after pushing so hard. At the same time, I saw it as an advantage as well since I have now been able to verbally commit eight
“We have adjusted to the fall by continuing to train for the season,” said Cross Country Head Coach George Watts. “I am not putting pressure on the teams to win, just go out and have some fun and try to improve from one season to the next.” Watts emphasized to the team just how important it is to stay in shape because you never know when the moment will come that the team is called upon to compete. “You can go back to this past spring when we weren’t able to compete and see how that impacts your fitness and competitiveness down the road,” commented Watts. “However, I feel that the team did a great job of staying in shape during the spring FALL/WINTER 2020-21 x 45
and summer and they stayed motivated in hopes of having a full schedule. Unfortunately, we were only given two meets this fall, but that is just how it has to be right now.” The Bucs were able to win their one warmup meet as ETSU swept all four championships, including Matt Scarr and Lindsey Stallworth claiming the individual titles, at the inaugural Newberry Invitational October 30. Stallworth missed the entire 2019 season due to an injury and worked her way back to full health, only to find out that the pandemic had originally shortened her season. “I made the decision to see it as an opportunity to get better,” commented Stallworth. “The season to me was not lost, but just meant to be utilized a different way. I can vouch for my teammates in that we have been able to use this time to build a stronger base for the spring season.” Both men’s and women’s golf competed this fall as well, with women’s golf sweeping the platform at the Terrier Intercollegiate October 27 for their first team win since the 2017 season. Senior Warda Amira Rawof
rallied on the final day to capture her first individual collegiate victory. It has not been easy to be in collegiate sports during this time. However, being a coach and
David Fox is Assistant Director for Media Relations at ETSU. | Photos by Dakota Hamilton
CLASS NOTES 1970s
1980s
Maj. Gen. Gary L. Harrell (Ret.), Class of 1973, was inducted into the U.S. Army Cadet Hall of Fame. His degree is in Industrial Technology. Dr. Robert W. Robertson, Class of 1974, has been awarded a Graduate Diploma in International Development by the London School of Economics. His degree is in Geography.
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Michael E. Lynch, Class of 1984, received the 2019 Distinguished Writing Award for Biography from the Army Historical Foundation. His degree is in English. Col. Mark A. Cooter (Ret.), Class of 1985, recently co-authored the book Never Mind We’ll Do It Ourselves – The Untold Story of the Predator Program. His degree is in Mathematics. Dr. Sheri L. Holmes, Classes of 1989 and 2001, was a recipient of the 2020 Healthcare Heroes award, which is given to individuals and organizations who go above and beyond the call of duty in the region’s healthcare industry. Her degrees are in Nursing and Medicine.
Dr. William D. Epps, Class of 1975, became Board Certified by the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy as a Clinical Chaplain and as a Pastoral Counselor. His degree is in Social Work. Janet Vest Hardin, Class of 1977, became Washington County’s General Sessions Judge. Her degree is in Social Work.
a student-athlete is not for the faint of heart. Obstacles are always thrown your way and you have to adjust to the changes. It is clear that the Buccaneers have done just that.
1990s Dr. Catherine Killeen Monteroso, Class of 1990, has been appointed Dean of the College of Education at West Liberty University. Her degree is in History.
Dr. Pamela Evanshen, Class of 1984, recently coauthored the book Room to Learn: Elementary Classrooms Designed for Interactive Explorations, published by Gryphon House. Her degree is in Education.
Lt. Col. Carter E. Honeycutt (Ret.), Class of 1992, is the Principal Owner and Wealth Management Advisor at Highland Wealth Management, LLC, in Johnson City. His degree is in Physical Education.
Dr. William A. Block, Jr., Class of 1992, was a recipient of the 2020 Healthcare Heroes award, which is given to individuals and organizations who go above and beyond the call of duty in the region’s healthcare industry. His degree is in Medicine, and he currently serves as Dean of ETSU’s Quillen College of Medicine.
Michael R. Hicks, Class of 1993, retired from the North Carolina State Highway Patrol after 30 years of service as a Sergeant with the Criminal Interdiction Unit. His degree is in Criminal Justice and Criminology. Shameika R. Rhymes, Class of 1999, is a journalist who has created her personal brand, “Check the Rhymes TV.” Her bylines include “Entertainment Tonight,” Parade magazine, Shondaland, and cover stories for USA Today special publications. Her degree is in Mass Communication.
C. David Sullivan, Class of 2003, made the 2020 Class of Alabama Associated General Contractors’ 40 Under 40 list. This list highlights 40 individuals who demonstrate an incredibly high level of leadership, professional excellence, and commitment to construction throughout the state of Alabama. His degree is in Engineering Technology.
Emily Kilgore Thompson, Class of 2007, has been named the new Executive Director of Fun Fest in Kingsport. Her degree is in Mass Communication.
Nicholas H. Mitchell, Class of 2011, started a new job as Manager at Eastman Credit Union. His degree is in Political Science.
Dr. Kristin Orr Bresowar, Class of 2008, was a recipient of the 2020 Healthcare Heroes award, which is given to individuals and organizations who go
Dr. Blair Abelson Reece, Class of 2012, was a recipient of the 2020 Healthcare Heroes award, which is given to individuals and organizations who go above and beyond the call of duty in the region’s healthcare industry. Her degree is in Medicine.
Dr. Daryl A. Carter, Classes of 2004 and 2006, has been named Interim Director of ETSU’s Africana Studies Program. His degrees are in Political Science and History.
2000s Alison Greenwell Johnson, Classes of 2001 and 2004, was a recipient of the 2020 Healthcare Heroes award, which is given to individuals and organizations who go above and beyond the call of duty in the region’s healthcare industry. Her degrees are in Management and Nursing. Emily Booth Masters, Class of 2001, was elected to the Metro Nashville Board of Education. Her degree is in English. Celeste C. Taylor, Classes of 2001 and 2004, was a recipient of the 2020 Healthcare Heroes award, which is given to individuals and organizations who go above and beyond the call of duty in the region’s healthcare industry. Her degrees are in Social Work and Counseling. Jonathan K. Godfrey, Class of 2003, is Senior Vice President and Commercial Banking Executive for the Tennessee Region at Fifth Third Bank. His degree is in Marketing.
Jill Shoun Hughes, Class of 2004, was a recipient of the 2020 Healthcare Heroes award, which is given to individuals and organizations who go above and beyond the call of duty in the region’s healthcare industry. Her degrees are in Management and Nursing. Dr. Beatrice Owens, Class of 2004, has been selected as ETSU’s Doctor of Physical Therapy Program Director. Her degree is in Biomedical Sciences. Sara Strong Rollins, Class of 2004, started a new position as Staffing Manager at Randstad USA. Her degree is in Business Administration. John D. Chapman, Class of 2005, has been promoted to Sergeant at the Johnson City Police Department. His degree is in Marketing. Dr. Kristen Lawson McHenry, Classes of 2005, 2007, and 2013, is an Assistant Professor at Boise State University. Her bachelor’s and master’s degrees are in Allied Health, and her doctorate is in Educational Leadership.
Nicole Oaks Martin, Classes of 2003 and 2006, started a new position in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at Georgia Institute of Technology. Her degrees are in Mass Communication and Professional Communications.
Timothy A. Carlson, Class of 2006, has been promoted to General Manager of the PGA TOUR Superstore in the Greater Boston area. His degree is in Mass Communication. Mark R. Bryan, Classes of 2007 and 2011, has been promoted to Senior Vice President/Commercial Lender at SouthEast Bank of Knoxville. His degrees are in Finance and Business Administration.
above and beyond the call of duty in the region’s healthcare industry. Her degree is in Medicine. D. Caleb Buchanan, Class of 2008, started a new position as Service Manager at Precision Electrical Company. His degree is in Physical Education. Andrew S. Gilbert, Class of 2009, started a new position as Loan Portfolio Analyst at Appalachian Community Federal Credit Union. His degree is in Economics. Matthew C. Halter, Class of 2009, started a new position as Senior Research Associate at Synthorx Inc. His degree is in Biology. Ashley Craig Weinreich, Classes of 2009 and 2012, is Managing Director of Executive and Specialty Search at Hire Velocity. Her degrees are in Sport and Leisure Management and Kinesiology and Sport Studies.
2010s Brian P. Broyles, Class of 2011, has been promoted to Executive Director of Regional Advancement at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. His degree is in General Studies. Casey M. Carringer, Classes of 2011 and 2013, was a recipient of the 2020 Healthcare Heroes award, which is given to individuals and organizations who go above and beyond the call of duty in the region’s healthcare industry. Her degrees are in Interdisciplinary Studies and Business Administration.
Dr. John W. Greenlee, Class of 2013, graduated with a Ph.D. in Medieval Studies from Cornell University. His degree is in History. Sandra M. Sloan, Class of 2013, is now working as a Customer Service Representative for TTEC. Her degree is in Business Administration. Cameron R. Butler, Class of 2015, started a new position as a Mental Health Counselor at Counseling Wellness & Health LLC in Charlotte. His degree is in Psychology. Desiree M. Lewis, Class of 2015, is a Home Health Specialist at Kindred at Home in Nashville. Her degree is in Human Services. Casey A. Stallard, Class of 2015, is IT Business Analyst-Manager at Dixon Hughes Goodman. His degree is in Accountancy. Emily E. Ford, Class of 2018, is Communications Coordinator for the University of Tennessee’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Her degree is in Communication Studies. Brooke E. Beasley, Class of 2019, received Honors from the Physiology Graduate Program at Tulane University. She finished with a 4.0 grade point average. Her degree is in Health Sciences. Jazmine Stair, Classes of 2019 and 2020, is Financial Services Office Staffer for Ernst and Young in Jacksonville, Florida. Her degrees are in Business Administration and Accountancy. T. Chase Valentine, Class of 2019, is Sales Manager at Safe Haven Security Services. His degree is in Business Administration.
2020s Emily B. Estes, Class of 2020, is Marketing Specialist at the Colin & Carly Group in Johnson City. Her degree is in Communication Studies. Moboni T. Mokikan, Class of 2020, is an Epidemiologist for the Tennessee Department of Health. Her degree is in Public Health.
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OBITUARIES 1940s
Dr. Melvyn Lewis Jackson, Johnson City September 11, 2020. BS ’72 Biology
Dr. Vivien King Ely, Richmond, Virginia August 15, 2020. BS ’41 Elementary Education
Suzanne Yount Munson, Anna Maria Island, Florida August 18, 2020. BS ’72 Elementary Education
Ruth C. Montgomery, Kingsport October 29, 2020. BS ’49 Business
Frederick “Pal” Barger, Jr., Kingsport BS ’55 Business. October 29, 2020. Founder of Pal’s Sudden Service restaurants
Calvin Theodore “Ted” Morris, Johnson City September 1, 2020. BS ‘49 Kenneth Clark Susong, Greeneville September 23, 2020. BS ’49 Business Administration
Denver E. Wallace, Boxford, Massachusetts August 8, 2020. BS ’50 Social Studies James “Jim” Ross Goode, Johnson City September 7, 2020. BS ’55 Economics Gene Range Campbell, Elizabethton November 24, 2019. BS ’56 Business Administration Joe Frederick Bettini Jr., Church Hill September 9, 2020. BA ’57 Mathematics Norma Jaynes Mulliniks, Marietta, Georgia July 28, 2020. BS ’57 Physical Education Bobby Joe Varner, Farmville, Virginia August 2, 2020. BS ’57 Business Education Carroll Edker Brown, Riverview, Florida August 24, 2020. BS ’58 History
Camille Turner Lawrence, Thomasville, North Carolina September 4, 2020. BS ’53 Art Jerry Ronald Ford, Kingsport September 18, 2020. BS ’54 Business Administration, MA ’58 Education Betty Cantwell Mowell, Kingsport August 7, 2020. BS ’54 Elementary Education, MA ’61 Education
Felix C. Lowe, Bluffton, South Carolina August 31, 2020. BS ’59 Industrial Technology Donald B. McClellan, Atlanta, Georgia September 27, 2020. BS ’59 Speech Pathology
1960s Myrna Fisher Mulkey, Indian Land, South Carolina July 31, 2020. BS ’60 Elementary Education Judith Carolyn Bible, Russellville, Tennessee April 29, 2020. BS ’61 English Juanell Randolph Cathey, Rosman, North Carolina August 31, 2020. BS ’62 Elementary Education
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Irma Lea Nunn Webb, Bluefield, Virginia August 20, 2020. MA ’73 Elementary Education James Earl Frazier, Nokesville, Virginia July 31, 2020. BS ’74 Environmental Health
1950s
John Davis (J.D.) Lee, Knoxville September 7, 2020. BS ’51 Business
Gary Wayne Potter, Johnson City October 10, 2020. BS ’72 Speech Pathology
Frederica “Rikki” Dare Cornett, Bluff City July 30, 2020. BS ’63 Chemistry, BS ’82 Computer and Information Science Philip J. Lawson, Knoxville August 29, 2020. BS ’65 English Martha Carolyn Quillin Nelms, Key West, Florida August 18, 2020. BS ’65 Art
Josephine Evans Susong Burkey, Greeneville August 20, 2020. MA ’75 Educational Administration Randall Clay Agee, Universal City, Texas August 16, 2020. BS ’76 General Psychology, MA ’79 Psychology Laurice Young Yett Coxe, Johnson City August 7, 2020. BS ’76 Office Administration Arthur Lee Johnson, Kingsport June 8, 2020. BS ’76 Accountancy
Bobby Joe “B.J.” Tipton, Cleveland, Tennessee September 5, 2020. BS ’65 Music
James Thomas Kinley, Kingsport September 9, 2020. BS ’76 Computer and Information Science
Clarissa Jane Harrison, Knoxville May 19, 2020. BS ’67 Sociology
Judge James Arthur Nidiffer, Johnson City September 7, 2020. BS ’76 Political Science
John Brian Leishear, Falls Church, Virginia August 10, 2020. BS ’69 Political Science
1970s Eddie “Butch” Marvin DeBord, Staunton, Virginia August 24, 2020. BS ’70 Industrial Arts Education
Dr. Raymond Bruce Stewart, Bristol, Tennessee March 18, 2017. BS ’76 Microbiology Biology
1980s
Gary Wayne Dellinger, Bristol, Virginia August 8, 2020. BS ’70 History
Lanny Dale Smith, Elizabethton July 30, 2020. MA ’80 Educational Administration
Norman Wayne Goodwin, Elizabethton September 2, 2020. BS ’70 Geography
Carol Pansy Garland Dula, Erwin August 8, 2020. AS ’82 Nursing
Emmett Wayne Cumbow, Talbot, Tennessee September 25, 2020, BS ’71 Business Management
CPT. Jack Wayne Page, Jonesborough July 31, 2020. MACC ’82 Accountancy
Robert Joseph “Bob” Parkey, Gibson Station, Virginia July 15, 2017. MA ’71 Educational Administration
Delman G. Garland, Elizabethton September 24, 2018. BS ’84 Criminal Justice and Criminology
1990s Thomas Donly Moore III, New Rochelle, New York
Margaret Bregenzer Squire, Bushnell, Florida August 7, 2020. BS ’90 Art Debbie Suzanne Elliott, Simpsonville, South Carolina August 20, 2020. BBA ’91 General Business
Major W. Geer Jr., Carrboro, North Carolina July 2, 2020. BBA ’91 Business Management
Ronald E. Ledwell II, Johnson City August 24, 2020. BS ’91 Speech Pathology
FACULTY AND STAFF OBITUARIES Sarah B. Hankins, Johnson City September 7, 2020
Dr. Lyndell M. Kerley, Jonesborough September 12, 2020. Dr. Kerley was a professor of mathematics at ETSU from 1967 to 2008.
Dr. Patsy M. Pampkin, Kingsport July 30, 2020. Dr. Pampkin taught in the ETSU College of Nursing.
Dr. George Nilsen, Johnson City October 4, 2020. Dr. Nilsen was Professor of English at ETSU from 1972 until 1986.
Joyce Guinn, Johnson City October 20, 2020. She worked at ETSU for 27 years, including positions in the Counseling Center and the Office of Housing and Residence Life.
Dr. Monroe T. Morgan, Johnson City October 15, 2020. Dr. Morgan taught at ETSU from 1963-99 and was founding professor and chairman of the Department of Environmental Health.
Rachel S. Henry, Johnson City October 24, 2020. She served as an Executive Aide for the ETSU Department of History and for the Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Country Music Studies Program within the Center for Appalachian Studies and Services.
James Robert “Bob” Sidney Grove, Gulfport, Mississippi August 18, 2020. BS ’95 Criminal Justice and Criminology Thelma Mullins Mounts, Grundy, Virginia September 16, 2020. BBA ’96 Accountancy Sue Lykins Sublett, Kingsport September 10, 2020. BGS ’96 General Studies Anna Dawson Williams, Clarksville, Tennessee September 11, 2020. BS ’98 Public Health
2000s Reggie Vernon Tiller, Knoxville July 23, 2020. BS ’02 Computer and Information Science David John Crowe Sr., Gallatin, Tennessee August 28, 2020. BA ’03 Economics, BS ’03 Philosophy
John Allen Rider II, Dacoma, Oklahoma August 17, 2020. Dr. Rider taught in the College of Business and Technology at ETSU.
Dr. Richard Blaustein, Johnson City November 4, 2020. Dr. Blaustein taught old-time fiddle and banjo at ETSU and served as Director of the Center for Appalachian Studies and Services.
Carolyn Penelope Wolfe Pridemore, Jonesborough September 15, 2020. BSN ’06 Nursing East Tennessee State University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award baccalaureate, master’s, education specialist, and doctoral degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097, telephone 404-679-4500, or http://www.sacscoc.org, for questions about the accreditation of East Tennessee State University. ETSU is an AA/EEO employer. ETSU-UR-0040-20 97500
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ETSU TODAY P.O. Box 70709 Johnson City, TN 37614-1710
SAVE THE DATE! Saturday, April 17, 2021
There’s No Place Like
Homecoming For more information, visit etsu.edu/homecoming