The Magazine of Elon, Summer 2012 by University Communications

M A G A Z I N E

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ON LOCATION

ELON EXPANDS DOMESTIC STUDY PROGRAMS

Contents

 RESEARCH AS INTERVENTION BY KRISTIN M. SIMONETTI ’05

Professor Cindy Fair may never write a prescription or raise a scalpel, but she’s making a major impact on the lives of young adults living with HIV/AIDS.

 AGGRESSIVE COMPASSION BY KRISTIN M. SIMONETTI ’05

An exercise program developed by Prince Deese ’77 gives people with Parkinson’s Disease a chance to improve their quality of life – and helps Deese keep a link to his athletic past.

 DEEP BREATHS BY ERIC TOWNSEND

Inspired by her brothers’ struggles with respiratory diseases, Professor Mary Jo Festle examines the complicated physical and emotional experiences of lung transplant patients in her new book.

Cover Story

{ Cover photo by J McMerty }

 HOME SCHOOL As Elon prepares to expand its off-campus study programs in the United States, the thriving Elon in New York, Elon in Los Angeles and Bridges programs show just how transformative these initiatives can be.

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Under the Oaks Phoenix Sports Alumni Action Class Notes Making a Diﬀerence

I AM ELON Rising senior Lauren Clapp can tell you exactly when she realized the importance of her Elon College Fellows research. She was administering surveys at a Burlington, N.C., farm stand when a group of boys strolled up to check out the produce. They confused the oblong yellow squash with bananas. “It was a very real moment,” Lauren says, “and a concrete example that what we’re trying to do out there is important.” The project is a tangible representation of Lauren’s interest in food justice: a community garden for the patrons of the Mayco Bigelow Community Center in Burlington. It dovetails with her double major in human service studies and public health studies – majors she chose specifically because they offer “the best opportunity to really make a difference.” Lauren will bring that enthusiasm to campus this fall as she and another student make presentations to first-year students advocating equality and healthy behaviors. Also active in Spectrum, Elon’s QueerStraight Alliance, Lauren looks forward to helping eliminate health disparities within the larger LGBTQ community once she graduates in May.

LAUREN IS ELON. Visit elon.edu/magazine to see more of her story, part of our â&#x20AC;&#x153;I Am Elonâ&#x20AC;? multimedia series featuring Elon students in their own words.

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{ Upper left: Hunt Softball Park will open in spring 2013 across Williamson Avenue from Latham Park. Lower left: Rising junior Kelsey Harris helped Elon women’s basketball reach the 2011 Women’s Basketball Invitational. Below: Rising senior Ali Deatsch became the ﬁrst student-athlete to receive Elon’s Lumen Prize in 2011. }

TITLE IX LEAVES A LEGACY AT ELON This summer marks the 40th anniversary of Title IX, legislation that changed the landscape of college athletics forever – and continues to shape the intercollegiate athletics program at Elon. University trustee Deborah Yow Bowden ’74, athletics director at North Carolina State University and one of the most accomplished women in the world of athletics administration, summed up the law’s impact: “Title IX was the second-most important piece of civil rights legislation passed in this country. Had it not passed, opportunities for women in this country and the world would be vastly different.” When I asked legendary Professor Emerita Janie Brown to reflect on the birth of women’s athletics at Elon, she sounded like a Nike commercial: “We just did it.” The desire for women’s athletics opportunities arose from the students themselves, and they did everything from buying their own uniforms to driving their own cars to games to make it happen. Janie recalls that student-athlete Teddy Ireland Baxter ’76 had a sewing machine and took charge of sewing numbers on uniforms. Our earliest record of women’s athletics is a handwritten schedule for the basketball team in 1970–71, but more official records for the team exist beginning in 1971–72. Volleyball was added in 1972–73. Both teams were coached by one of the true greats of intercollegiate athletics, the late Kay Yow. Today, Elon celebrates the addition of its 10th women’s intercollegiate sport –

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lacrosse. Construction proceeds apace on Hunt Softball Park, named in recognition of trustee Vicky Hunt and The Hon. Sam Hunt of Burlington, N.C., whose generosity demonstrates our continuing commitment to advancing women’s intercollegiate athletics. The ripple effects of women’s athletics at Elon are tremendous. This summer, more than 1,100 girls visited Elon to participate in camps for basketball, volleyball, soccer and softball, preparing future generations of students with lessons in leadership, teamwork, discipline and commitment to personal excellence. Forty years after Title IX, Elon has emerged as an institution offering both topflight academics and Division I athletics. Our women student-athletes, such as rising senior Ali Deatsch, are pursuing amazing accomplishments. Ali, a volleyball star and physics major, became the first studentathlete to receive Elon’s prestigious Lumen

Prize, which funds exceptional research and creative projects for top students. Her project, “Optimizing Heating Efficiency of Magnetic Microspheres for Magnetic Hyperthermia Treatment of Malignant Tumors,” studies a method of destroying malignant cancer cells while leaving healthy cells untouched. It’s hard not to come full circle and appreciate how proud Kay Yow would be to see a team she began with such humble resources now attracting student-athletes with the intellectual gifts to study and help conquer the disease Kay so courageously fought. As the father of two daughters, I am grateful for the tide of opportunity that Title IX swept in. We should all celebrate the fact that American higher education will be forever better because of the progress that has been achieved over the past four decades. Leo M. Lambert President

facebook.com/leomlambert twitter.com/headphoenix

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RAGHU TADEPALLI NAMED LOVE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS DEAN

Xavier University. He also taught at North Dakota State University and the University of Illinois at Chicago, winning numerous awards for teaching, research and service. Tadepalli said he looks forward to bringing that experience to his work with the Love School’s outstanding faculty and staff. “Our collective goal will be to provide our

students with an educational experience that transforms them into knowledgeable, responsible business professionals and leaders who make a difference in their professions, their organizations and the global economy,” he said. Tadepalli holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in commerce with a major in accounting from Andhra University in India. He completed a Master of Business Administration degree from Arizona State University and earned his doctorate from Virginia Tech. Tadepalli succeeds Scott Buechler, assistant professor of business communications and chair of the Department of Management, who served as interim dean of the Love School of Business.

Photo by Dwight Carter

Raghu Tadepalli began duties as dean of the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business on July 1. Tadepalli came to Elon from Babson College in Massachusetts where he served as Murata Dean and Professor of Marketing in the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business. “Raghu understands the importance of an undergraduate business education in the context of a liberal arts university,” Elon Provost Steven House said. “His international and graduate education experience will be a tremendous asset for the Love School of Business.” Before his tenure at Babson, Tadepalli served as dean of the graduate school and associate dean in the Williams College of Business at

Maya Angelou to headline Elon’s Fall Convocation Distinguished poet and author Maya Angelou will visit Elon this fall for an evening event to share stories of her life and people she has met, as well as recite her award-winning poetry. “An Evening with Maya Angelou” will take place Thursday, Oct. 4, at 7:30 p.m. in Alumni Gym. Angelou has served on two presidential committees, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011, Presidential Medal of Arts in 2000 and Lincoln Medal in 2008, and has received three Grammy Awards. The list of her published verse, nonfiction and fiction includes more than 30 bestselling titles. Tickets will be available to the general public this fall through the Elon University Box Office.

Bold innovation leveraged through an open dialogue will create new ways to solve problems. You do it every day on Facebook and Twitter. Be bold, take chances and follow your passion. This is your time for greatness. Steve Schuckenbrock ’82, president of Dell Services, in his May 19 address to the Class of 2012 at Commencement Under the Oaks.

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EDITOR

Kristin M. Simonetti ’05 DESIGNER

Christopher Eyl PHOTOGRAPHER

Kim Walker EDITORIAL STAFF

Holley Berry Keren Rivas ’04 Eric Townsend STUDENT WRITERS

Natalie Allison ’13 Caitlin O’Donnell ’13 VICE PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Daniel J. Anderson

Aisha Mitchell named youth trustee A member of the Class of 2012 who majored in international { Aisha Mitchell ’12 } studies, Aisha Mitchell joined the board of trustees at its spring retreat, becoming the body’s newest youth trustee. She will serve a two-year term on the board. An outstanding student, Mitchell received dean’s or president’s list recognition each semester she spent at Elon and annually received a Phillips-Perry Black Excellence Award for academics from 2009 through 2011. She studied abroad twice in China and once in India and plans to attend graduate school to study international affairs or international development.

EDITORIAL OFFICES

The Magazine of Elon 2030 Campus Box Elon, NC 27244-2020 (336) 278-7415 elon.edu/magazine

BOARD OF TRUSTEES, CHAIR

Wesley R. Elingburg p’11 Greensboro, N.C. ELON ALUMNI BOARD, PRESIDENT

John Hill ’76 Severna Park, Md. YOUNG ALUMNI COUNCIL, PRESIDENT

Britten Ginsburg Pund ’06 Columbia, Md. PARENTS COUNCIL, COPRESIDENTS

Kelly & Meredith Graves p’12 p’13 Charlotte, N.C. BOARD OF VISITORS, CHAIR

Russell R. Wilson p’86 Burlington, N.C. SCHOOL OF LAW ADVISORY BOARD, CHAIR

David Gergen Cambridge, Mass. SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY BOARD, CHAIR

Brian Williams p’13 New Canaan, Conn. LOVE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS ADVISORY BOARD, CHAIR

William S. Creekmuir p’09 p’10 Atlanta, Ga. PHOENIX CLUB ADVISORY BOARD, CHAIR

Mike Cross Burlington, N.C.

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Josh Hexter to lead Elon women’s lacrosse Josh Hexter will be the first head coach of { Josh Hexter } the Elon women’s lacrosse team when it takes the field beginning in 2013–14 as part of the Atlantic Sun Conference. Hexter served as an associate head coach with the Duke women’s lacrosse program for the past eight seasons, during which the Blue Devils amassed a 119–42 record, and won three ACC regular-season championships and an ACC Tournament title. The team reached the national semifinals five times. “Not only does Josh have head coaching experience, but he has been an integral part of developing lacrosse programs that are achieving high levels of success year in and year out,” Elon Director of Athletics Dave Blank said.

Hexter looks forward to beginning a similar tradition with the Phoenix. “A solid foundation for success has been built at Elon, and my job now is to extend that excellence to the women’s lacrosse program,” he said. “We’ve got a tremendous plan in place, and I am looking forward to getting started.” Prior to his arrival at Duke, Hexter served as head women’s lacrosse coach at Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts and assistant women’s lacrosse coach at The College of the Holy Cross. A 1995 graduate of Assumption College, Hexter starred as a defenseman for the lacrosse team and became the first player in school history to earn a spot in the East-West New England All-Star Game.

University purchases Elon Homes property, expands South Campus Elon has agreed to purchase the Snyder Campus of Elon Homes and Schools for Children, located south of the railroad tracks. Elon originally purchased 75 of the property’s 95 acres in 2003 to establish South Campus, which houses Holt Chapel, Harden Clubhouse, the Phoenix Club Sports Fields, Worsley Golf Training Center and Driving Range and two administrative buildings – Johnston Hall and Truitt Hall. In 2009, Holland House, previously the residence of Elon presidents, was moved from Haggard Avenue to South Campus. Over the next year, Elon will engage in a planning process to determine how the new facilities and land will be used to advance the university’s core academic mission and support operations. The property currently includes five buildings and a soccer field. The purchase is the latest chapter in a relationship that began in 1907, when the Chris-

tian Orphanage, the forerunner of Elon Homes and Schools for Children, opened adjacent to the Elon College campus. Both institutions were founded by leaders of the Christian Church, the predecessor of today’s United Church of Christ, and shared deep community ties and generous donors who supported both the college and the orphanage.

FOLLOW US Stay updated on university happenings and connect with fellow Elon students, parents and alumni through several of our social media accounts:

FACEBOOK Search for these pages: Elon University Elon Alumni Association Elon Phoenix Elon University School of Law Elon University School of Communications Elon University Martha and Spencer Love School of Business Elon University School of Education Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences Elon University Admissions Elon University Poll Imagining the Internet

TWITTER @ElonUniversity @ElonNews @ElonAlumni @ElonPhoenix

INSTAGRAM ElonUniversity

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SAYING GOODBYE TO HARPER CENTER Harden Dining Hall may have been the place where you ate lunch on your first campus visit. Moffitt may have been where you met your freshman roommate and eventual best friend on move-in day. Staley may have been the place you stayed up all night long, cramming for fall semester finals with your hallmates. On June 21, work crews began demolition of Harper Center, a dormitory/ dining complex that’s been a staple of the campus landscape since 1968. The demolition makes way for construction of the new Global Neighborhood living/ learning community (see page 7). We asked alumni to share their favorite memories of Harper Center with us on Facebook, and more than 120 responded. Here are some of our favorites.

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Becki Burchette Buffaloe ’69 I lived in Staley the year it opened and we still had construction going on around us. It was radical for its times to have girls and guys technically in the same building with a dining hall included. It seems like just yesterday. Andy Tracewell ’96 WSOE Studio, Back Door Pizza, Harper Center lounge & pool hall, temporary workout facilities, fireworks and water balloon fights down Moffitt Hall, the stench of the stairways – especially on warm weekends, sneaking into Staley and bringing girls into Moffitt, dry pinto beans for a steak swap in the dining hall, (not) getting out onto the Moffitt roof … Lynne Adams ’76 OMG. I crawled through a window there to get in after curfew! Dave Morrow ’07 L’10 My mother lived in Staley when they put phone lines in each room, and I lived in Moffitt when they disconnected the phone lines because everyone uses cell phones now. Great memories there with my roommate, Clifton Johnson ’07!

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View more photos and recollections of Harper Center at elon.edu/magazine, and follow E-Net for updates on the construction of the Global Neighborhood.

Anne Fowler Gilliam ’77 Back in the ’70s, Moffitt guys would climb out on the roof on their side late at night and “moon” the ladies in Staley. And then there was the “pencil-in-the-door” trick after lockup (this was when the ladies had a curfew), so we could get back in the dorm after eating at Waffle House in the wee morning hours. Tonya Albert Creamer ’08 Harden meal in PJs because it was just downstairs … taking about eight chocolate chip cookies back up to our room to warm in the microwave, which may or may not have burned and set off the alarm.

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Alex Kennedy ’03 I will miss you, Harden, especially when it was Family Weekend, Homecoming, etc., and the food was awesome. Chuck Taylor ’74 I lived in Moffitt 1970–73. I remember one time the housemother gathering those from the boys and the girls sides of the building in the lobby. I can’t remember what we’d done that was so egregious, but I distinctly remember her saying: “I … am … appalled.” Jill Norman Ruppe ’01 I remember being a brand new freshman, walking back and forth from North Dorm to Harden with a crew of great girlfriends. Nearly 15 years later, they still razz me for my meal choices – Harden fries and pizza. Even though the campus must change, the relationships built there will last a lifetime! David King ’89 Lived in Staley dorm freshman and sophomore year – watched the Space Shuttle (Challenger) accident in 1986 in the student commons area. Pat Utz ’76 What happens at Staley stays at Staley… Tiffany Rudy ’08 Moffitt … some of the best memories from freshman year (’04–’05). No one throws a late-night Slip ‘n’ Slide party like Moffitt Misfits!

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Elon athletics selects ﬁve for Hall of Fame Five outstanding athletics alumni will be honored Saturday, Sept. 8, as part of Elon’s 42nd Sports Hall of Fame Class. Lakia Hayes Morton ’98 (women’s basketball), Kelly Lloyd Roscoe ’99 (softball), Derrick Moore ’01 (football), Whit Bryant ’03 (baseball) and Brandon Mason ’04 G’06 (football) will be inducted at a 1:30 p.m. ceremony in Whitley Auditorium. They will be recognized during halftime of Elon’s home opener against North Carolina Central at 7 p.m. in Rhodes Stadium. Admission to the afternoon ceremony is free. Tickets for the football game are available via the athletics ticket oﬃce at (336) 278-6750 or elonphoenix.com.

FACULTY/STAFF SPOTLIGHT { l-r, Deborah Long, Jim Donathan, Rebecca Todd Peters & David Copeland }

Four faculty & staﬀ members were honored May 9 at Elon’s annual awards luncheon for superior scholarship, teaching, mentoring and service. David Copeland, A.J. Fletcher Professor in the School of Communications and director of the interactive media master’s program, received the Daniels-Danieley Award for Excellence in Teaching. Rebecca Todd Peters, associate professor and chair of religious studies, received the Distinguished Scholar Award. Jim Donathan, associate director of academic advising and director of academic support, received the Ward Family Excellence in Mentoring Award. Deborah Long, director of the Elon Academy and professor of education, received the Periclean Award for Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility.

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Six staff members were recognized May 25 at the university’s annual Staff Appreciation Day. Dave Worden, director of environmental services, was named Physical Plant Staff Member of the Year; Marsha Boone, executive assistant to the vice president of admissions and financial planning, was named Office Staff Member of the Year; and Carolyn Nelson, director of design in University Communications, was named Administrative Staff Member of the Year. Three new awards were given for 2011–12: Jennifer Fish, administrative assistant for the Teaching Fellows program, received the Phoenix Rising Award; Brian Chandler, HVACR supervisor, received the Phoenix Community Engagement Award; and J McMerty ’99, director of the Elon in Los Angeles program, won the Phoenix Innovation Award.

Five faculty from Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the School of Communications published books in recent months. Anthony Weston, professor of philosophy and environmental studies, has written his 12th book, Mobilizing the Green Imagination: An Exuberant Manifesto. Jeffrey Coker, associate professor of biology, completed his first general-interest book, titled Reinventing Life: A Guide to our Evolutionary Future. Barbara Miller, associate professor of communications, published her first book, Marketplace Advocacy Campaigns: Generating Public Support for Business and Industry. Vic Costello, associate professor of communications,, also finished his first book, Multimedia Foundations: Core Concepts for Digital Design. Naeemah Clark, assistant professor of communications,, joined two former colleagues in writing Diversity in U.S. Mass Media.

RICHARD MCGEORGE ’ ELECTED TO COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME President Emeritus J. Earl Danieley ’46 recalls a time he visited Hawaii in the early 1970s, when a hotel porter took note of his Elon College luggage tag. “He looked at me and said, ‘I don’t know much about Elon, but I sure hope McGeorge can do something for the Packers this season,’” Danieley says. The man referred to former Elon football player Richard McGeorge ’71, whom the Green Bay Packers drafted with the 16th overall pick in the 1970 NFL Draft. And in July, McGeorge added to his impressive list of accolades, becoming the first Elon football player to be enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind. McGeorge was one of seven people inducted into the Divisional Hall of Fame, which considers players and coaches from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA), Divisions II and III, and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The personification of the term “student-athlete,” McGeorge, a tight end, was twice named a first-team All-American and an Academic All-American during his collegiate career. Danieley recalls another story about McGeorge: the night he was drafted twice. “The night of the NFL draft was the same night of the Selective Service draft in Washington, D.C.,” Danieley explains, adding that several Elon students gathered in Alamance to find out if they’d been drafted into the military. McGeorge was the first to have his birth date drawn; later, he learned the Packers selected him, too. cGeo g played nine years in the NFL, all McGeorge with the Packers. P He was inducted into the Elon Sp Sports Hall of Fame in 1979 and the NAIA H Hall of Fame in 1980.

After McGeorge’s collegiate career came to a close, his parents gave Danieley this handpainted ﬁgurine in full Packers uniform with McGeorge’s name and number on the jersey. “They wanted to make sure I remembered him,” Danieley says.

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{ The Elon Academy’s Ambassadors Program places students in local elementary schools to spark children’s interest in higher education. }

CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON GLOBAL NEIGHBORHOOD Site work began in June on the Global Neighborhood, a residential complex that will replace the former Harper Center and Story Center buildings beside Lake Mary Nell. Slated for completion before the fall 2014 semester, the five residential buildings of the Global Neighborhood will house 600 first-year students, upperclass resident mentors, international students and a faculty scholar-in-residence. The Global Neighborhood will be the new home of the Isabella Cannon International Centre and include faculty offices, an international café, meeting rooms, and a theatre and international media room. An expansive commons building will overlook Lake Mary Nell and facilitate student and faculty interaction. It will include a grand hall large enough to host major campus events. The Global Neighborhood is part of Elon’s Residential Campus Plan, which will increase the number of upper-class students living on campus and integrate students’ academic, social and residential experiences. The plan calls for seven distinct campus neighborhoods designed to meet the needs of students at various stages of their college careers.

ELON ACADEMY CELEBRATES FIFTH ANNIVERSARY AT GALA Several students in the Elon Academy, a three-year program for academically talented Alamance County students with no family history of attending college or who come from homes with ﬁnancial need, joined the program’s alumni, faculty and benefactors at an April 27 gala at Alamance Country Club. In addition to comments from President Leo M. Lambert, program director Deborah Long and a

handful of alumni and current students, attendees listened to a keynote speech from former North Carolina state Sen. Howard Lee, currently executive director of the N.C. Education Cabinet. He encouraged them to “pay it forward” by supporting the Elon Academy and its students. “It isn’t just money, it’s giving a part of yourself,” Lee said. “It’s investing your time to say to a young person, not only are you valuable, but you are capable of succeeding no matter what ZIP code you come from or live in.” The Elon Academy welcomed its sixth class of scholars to campus in June.

LAKE MARY NELL

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A ONEOFAKIND LIBRARY The relationship among science, religion and culture has been a focus of American culture for decades, yielding both raging debates in the public sphere and measured consideration and deep reflection in churches and schools nationwide. A major project led by Pranab Das, professor of physics, sought to shed light on the questions underlying this dialogue and offer a unique resource to teachers, students and scholars in the United States and around the world. For the past four years, Das led the International Society for Science and Religion Library Project, which produced a 225book collection now considered the definitive authority on the subject. “Examining these issues was an intellectual opportunity like no other,” says Das, who served as the project’s executive

editor and program manager. The effort was supported by a $2 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation. “Science and religion are the two great enduring human knowledge systems. Through these traditions, we have come to our way of knowing. Over the centuries, these two fields have complemented one another and also been in conflict.” Das started the project by identifying about 2,000 books and narrowed the list to 400 finalists, each of which was reviewed by an editorial board of four international scholars. Authors included historians, philosophers, theologians and scientists. There were books about faiths, including Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Islam, Confucianism and others. There were books about science, including biology, physics, cos-

{ Pranab Das }

mology, mathematics, ecology and others. There were classic works by Charles Darwin, Bertrand Russell and Immanuel Kant, as well as contemporary tomes about bioethics, biotechnology and sustainability. The final products – more than 35,000 volumes – were shipped to universities and research centers in 47 countries on six continents. Forty sets of the library were sent to the United States, and Elon owns one that is kept in the Truitt Center for Religious & Spiritual Life. Das calls the experience,

which affected his own thinking on complex issues related to science and religion, “the most intellectually satisfying pursuit” of his life. “I’m proud to have been a part of this interdisciplinary work,” he says. “We hope that this collection can fruitfully serve students, scholars and lay readers by offering the most important idea systems, underlying information and categories analysis relevant to each of the main strands of dialogue in science and the human spirit.”

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT Four recent alumni received awards from the prestigious Fulbright Program to support study, teaching and travel abroad next year. Jensen Suther ’12 will study in Frankfurt, Germany on a Fulbright U.S. Student Grant. Shannalee Van Beek ’12 (Bahrain), Natalie Lampert ’11 (Sri Lanka) and Hunter Gros ’10 (India) will travel with the support of Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship grants. Ten Elon students or alumni, including these recipients, have been awarded Fulbright grants since 2007.

Amanda Bienz ’12 and Chelsie Wagner ’09 were selected to receive Graduate Research Fellowships from the National Science Foundation to support their doctoral studies. Bienz will study scientiﬁc computing at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign, and Wagner will study marine ecology at the University of California at Santa Barbara or the University of Hawaii. They are two of only four Elon students who have received the NSF grants, joining Larissa Ferretti ’09 and Geoﬀrey Lynn ’07.

{ l-r, William & Paige Barnett P’07 & senior Jamie Albright }

Gloria So, a rising junior, received the LIN Media Digital Scholarship Award, which guarantees her internships over the next two summers and up to 20,000 for expenses during her ﬁnal two years at Elon. So is an Honors Fellow who is pursuing an independent major in human rights and social justice activism.

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Jamie Albright, a rising senior and Lumen Prize recipient, received the ﬁrst Thomas Barnett ‘07 “Breaking Down Barriers” Scholarship at April’s Omicron Delta Kappa leadership honor society annual awards program. Barnett died in June 2007 after a lengthy battle with Friedrich’s Ataxia, a rare genetic disorder, and was an advocate for people with disabilities on Elon’s campus. Barnett’s parents, William and Paige, established the award in their son’s memory. Albright, a human service studies major, is studying messages that adolescents who were born with HIV receive from medical care providers.

CAMPUS UNCOMMONS BY CAITLIN O’DONNELL ’13

When Mark Albertson joined Elon in 1978 as assistant registrar, he parked his car in a lot in front of Alamance, where Fonville Fountain now resides. Students completed registration and paid tuition and fees by hand in Alumni Gym. And the size of the graduating class that year? 307 – about 1,000 fewer students than the Class of 2012. No matter the changes or challenges Albertson has faced in his 34 years at Elon, he’s always met them with a smile and the needs of the student in mind. “I’ve had a philosophy of remembering people as individuals, and I’ve always tried to implement policies as if I were the student at the other end of it,” Albertson says. That’s partly because, during his first decades on campus – before computers and the Internet – he sat face-to-face with those very students. “Along with keeping up with advances in technology and applying good common sense, (that philosophy) has kept me in reasonably good graces with the administration, our students and the faculty.” Reasonably is an understatement: When Albertson retires at the end of the calendar year, he’ll leave rather large shoes to fill. But he’s confident Elon will keep humming along just fine. “I think whatever accomplishments I’ve had, the most critical and most important has been the staff I put together,” he says. “My staff is what makes this office.” What faculty or staff member do you think is uncommon? Send a suggestion to themagazineofelon@gmail.com.

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LONG LIVE ELON BY JALEH HAGIGH

TOO YOUNG FOR PLANNED GIVING? Think again.

John Gardner ’01 joins advancement staﬀ 2001 alumnus John Gardner has returned to Elon to serve as assistant director of major gifts in the Oﬃce of University Advancement. He will meet with alumni and parents interested in supporting the university. Gardner spent 11 years in political fundraising, working on state and national campaigns. As an undergraduate, he served as Student Government Association president during his junior and senior years and was a member of Elon’s chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, which he now advises. Gardner is a past member of the Young Alumni Council and the board of the Triangle Alumni Chapter. “I am excited by this new opportunity to work with parents and alumni who want to support Elon,” Gardner said. “My Elon experience continues to exceed my expectations, and I look forward to helping move this great university forward.”

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It’s never too early to start thinking about making a planned gift to Elon, says Carolyn DeFrancesco, the university’s new director of planned giving. An attorney with years of experience to her credit, she’s worked in development offices at Brown University and most recently at Greensboro College, where she served as vice president for institutional advancement. DeFrancesco sheds some light on this often overlooked yet meaningful way of supporting Elon. Providing for Elon in your will is a common way for a donor to make a planned gift to the university. What makes these gifts so popular? Gifts through wills or trusts, known as bequests, are popular because they do not require a current financial contribution and are easy to arrange. A few sentences in a will indicating your intention to leave a specific amount or percentage of your estate to Elon would be enough. These gifts do not affect your current lifestyle in any way, and they provide vital resources for Elon’s future. How can these gifts beneﬁt Elon? You can direct your gift to support a particular program or area of interest, or make a gift with no restrictions, which gives Elon maximum flexibility to use

Why are planned gifts important to Elon’s future? Planned gifts help build a pipeline of support for generations to come because they represent future dollars. They are essential to the long-term financial health, stability and success of Elon. We hope more alumni, parents and friends will choose planned giving as part of their financial planning.

the funds where they are needed most. You also can modify your bequest should your needs change in the future. Whatever priority you choose, you will create an important legacy at the university.

Are there ﬁnancial beneﬁts to making a planned gift? Yes. Most planned gifts offer attractive advantages for reducing your tax liability, including gift and estate taxes. You also can diversify your holdings by creating charitable trusts. A thorough discussion of popular planned gifts and how they work can be found at our website (please visit elon.plannedgiving.org). I encourage readers to call me to discuss the many options that are available. I am happy to take you through the process and help you find the gift that suits your needs. Planned gifts are appropriate for donors of all ages.

{ Carolyn DeFrancesco }

How does Elon recognize donors who make planned gifts? Donors who make planned gifts become members of Order of the Oak, Elon’s planned giving recognition society. Order of the Oak members are invited to cultural events and special receptions on campus each year. The most important benefit you will receive from joining Order of the Oak is the satisfaction of helping to secure Elon’s future.

Are there planned gifts that can beneﬁt donors and the university today? Yes. For example, a charitable gift annuity (CGA) is an option. The university suggests a minimum gift of $10,000; you will receive an immediate tax deduction and a fixed monthly payment based upon your age. Many donors find this to be an attractive investment strategy because they can make a gift to Elon now and receive a higher percentage return than many CDs or money market accounts are offering. You also can name Elon as a beneficiary of a retirement or life insurance plan.

DeFrancesco can be reached at cdefrancesco@elon.edu or (336) 278-7454. See page 39 to learn more about how alumni such as David Beahm ’83 make a diﬀerence at Elon through planned gifts.

UNDER THE OAKS

Practice makes perfect Parents support critical rehearsal space expansion for performing arts From country hams to hamming it up onstage, Elon’s Gerald L. Francis Center is staying true to its origins. The building, which formerly housed operations for Smithfield Ham, will include an expansion for performing arts. The expansion project received a major boost this spring following a $750,000 gift from Don and Ellen Scott, parents of Teddy Scott ’10, an alumnus of Elon’s nationally acclaimed music theatre program. The family’s gift is the first significant commitment to the project, which will be named Scott Studios. “The Department of Performing Arts is one of the jewels of Elon University,” Don Scott says. “Ellen and I were pleased to learn of the acquisition of the (Francis Center) space and hope our contribution will help Elon achieve complete funding for the studios.” Elon completed renovations on about 40 percent of the Francis Center in January to house the School of Health Sciences. The nearly 13,000-square-foot expansion for performing arts will serve students in the acting, music, dance, music theatre, theatre studies, and theatrical design and production programs. It will complement the department’s home in the Center for the Arts, which includes McCrary Theatre, Yeager Recital Hall, Black Box Theatre, and several dance and rehearsal studios. Plans for the renovated space include a studio theatre, a rehearsal studio similar in size to the McCrary Theatre stage, a dance studio and music rehearsal space. Currently, students and faculty use McCrary and Yeager for rehearsals and live performances. Both venues regularly host major campus events, limiting the time performing arts students can use them. “This expansion is going to take performing arts at Elon to the next level in the complexity of shows we can do, as well as enhance the outstanding performances we are already doing,” says Fred Rubeck, chair of the Department of Performing Arts. To learn more about how you can support this and other capital projects at Elon, visit elon.edu/giving.

SYLLABUZZ SYLLA BUZZ

BY KEREN RIVAS ’

{ GST : Nutrition in the st Century }

besity is on the rise in the United States. Meanwhile, millions of people around the world are malnourished or die of hunger every day. How can we reconcile these facts? What can we learn, if anything, from cultural and societal trends related to nutrition, and what can we do as individuals about global hunger? These are some of the issues Barry Beedle, professor of exercise science, addresses in his Nutrition in the 21st Century course, a new take on the Science of Nutrients class he has taught for years. Topics of emphasis include the role nutrition plays in helping cognitive, emotional and physical function; trends and controversies related to nutrition around the world; and ways this knowledge can shed light on issues such as renewable resources, organic farming, food insecurity and terrorism. Students begin by focusing attention on their own eating habits and nutritional needs. Beedle assigns articles about practical skills, such as reading and understanding food labels and writing reﬂection papers about their diets. While nutrition has become a popular topic in mainstream America in recent years – stories highlighting the

{ Barry Beedle }

beneﬁts or downsides of consuming certain foods are commonplace in news and talk shows – Beedle says it seldom translates to positive changes at the personal level. “You need to think about what you eat. You need variety among and within each food group,” he says. Eating salads every day, for example, doesn’t provide the necessary variety. The course then turns to broader issues related to nutrition. For instance, students might study the use of botany as medicine in Central and South America, the function of certain foods as health boosters and the relationship between diets and chronic diseases. Elon’s emphasis on study abroad means many of these students have seen other parts of the world, an experience Beedle says helps them make better connections with the course material. Beedle taught the class online this summer, so many of his students completed the

assignments while traveling or working outside of Elon. He says he hopes students complete the course with a better knowledge of nutrition that they can apply in their personal and professional lives. “I want them to understand the relationship of food and cultures and to integrate that knowledge into being good global citizens,” Beedle says.

ABOUT THE PROFESSOR Beedle has been a member of the Elon faculty for 34 years. He has taught a variety of courses, including physiology exercise, research methods and senior seminar. His research interests focus on physical ﬁtness testing and training.

RECOMMENDED READINGS Nutrition: An Applied Approach by Janice Thompson and Melinda Manore Staying Healthy with Nutrition by Elson Haas with Buck Levin Food Smart: Understanding Nutrition in the 21st Century by Diana Hunter

summer 2012 11

PHOENIX SPORTS ▶ elonphoenix.com

WELCOME TO #MERLENATION Join the n io conversaty using b r e t on Twit rleNation the Me d following n hashtag anPhoenix lo @E

here is Merle Nation, you ask? If there were such a place, Elon, N.C., would be its capital and Rhodes Stadium would be its White House, where its most famous citizen gets work done. But Merle Nation isn’t a place – it’s a Twitter hashtag (#MerleNation) and a community of Phoenix football fans who hang on every acrobatic catch made by senior Aaron Mellette, who according to ESPN NFL draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. is among the best wide receiver prospects in the nation. Why is it called “Merle” Nation, you ask? “Merle is actually my first name. A lot of people are surprised when I tell them that,” explains Mellette, a Sanford, N.C., native. “It’s my father’s name, but I’m not a ‘junior.’ We have different middle names.” That’s just one of many things you likely don’t know about Mellette. In a conversation with The Magazine of Elon, he shed some light on a few others.

12 the magazine of elon

When did you realize you had the skills to be a star receiver? After the Richmond

game (Mellette caught 18 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns in the Sept. 17, 2010, matchup). Before that, I knew I could play, and my coaches always told me I was raw material. After that game, everything clicked in my head, and it took off from there. Take us inside the locker room two hours before a game. What are you doing? I’m

listening to random game day music, anything from rap to country, even slow jams just to help me relax. I’m eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch – I’ve gotta have a little container of that before the game. I’ll even have some at halftime. Then I’m walking around, joking with my teammates or out on the field warming up. Whatever I can do to relax and

get ready to play. I try not to bother anybody, because we all have our own pregame rituals. Let’s play some word-association. I say Rhodes Stadium, you say: My home. Coach Jason Swepson: Second father. Appalachian State: (he pauses, then

laughs) Rivals. 2013 NFL Draft: Can’t wait. What are people telling you about your prospects for the draft? I can’t talk to NFL

teams or agents. But my parents, they’ll Google my name – I don’t know why, but they do – they’ve seen some things. So far, it’s looking pretty good. I’ve been told I’m projected as one of the better wideouts in the next draft. Hopefully, I’ll have a great season, an injury-free

PHOENIX SPORTS

Does that add any extra pressure for your upcoming season? If I let it, I

feel like it could. In the back of my head, I’ll be thinking, “I really want to have a good game.” But when it comes down to it, once I find my sense of relaxation, it becomes just another game. I won’t stress about it. I know my teammates are going to be there to help take the pressure off my shoulders so I don’t have to try to do everything every Saturday. What’s been your favorite part of playing football at Elon? Watching

If you could write the script for your senior season, how would it end?

It’d have eight wins, as of now. Just the mark to get to the playoffs. I want to put a banner up in there (Rhodes Stadium) beside the one that’s already there. Winning a first-round playoff game. I want to be on the first team in so long that’s won a playoff game. That’s definitely how I’d like it to end. I know that much.

GOING OUT ON TOP In April 2011, Amy Salek (l) finished second to Western Carolina University’s Felicia Garren (r) in the 400-meter finals at the Southern Conference Track & Field Championships. When Salek returned to Elon last August to begin her senior season, she vowed it wouldn’t happen again. “I came into this year wanting to have fun with my races. I wanted to go out with a smile on my face,” she says. “But I also said ‘I want to win the 400 at conference.’” In April 2012, Salek made good on her promise. In the finals of the 400 meters, Salek and Garren entered the last turn shoulder-to-shoulder before Salek pulled away in the final stretch, defeating her rival for the SoCon crown in 54:66. “It was an awesome, humbling experience,” says Salek, who became the first Elon champion in the event. “I remember every moment so vividly. It’s something I dreamed of doing since freshman year.” Salek’s competitive sprinting career may be at its end, but she has no plans to leave the running trade, which she’s plied since age 7. This summer, she worked as a coach with the U.S. Olympic Cross Country Team in Lake Placid, N.Y., and the exercise science major looks forward to entering the field of corporate wellness.

Photo by Stefan Fortmann

how the seniors approached their last season. It’s something I’ve watched ever since I got here back in ’08 – listening to them and seeing how they prepared themselves for each practice, knowing that it’s one step closer to their final game. I’d watch how they prepared mentally and learn as much as possible, because at some point, I knew my time would come. Unfortunately, Catch Aaron that time for me Mellette in action is coming really this season at quickly. I’m Rhodes Stadium! going to enjoy Tickets for all every facet of it, home games even the offseaare available at son – I’ll enjoy elonphoenix.com early workouts for a change. They’re going to be the last ones with my teammates. It’s going to be hard when I don’t see these people every day.

Photo courtesy of Southern Conference

season, and get invited to the (NFL) Combine where I can show off my skill set alongside the top wideouts from the FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) conferences.

Across the pond The Elon men’s and women’s tennis teams traveled to England in July, attending Wimbledon, playing matches against top British tennis academies and taking in the sights of London – such as this visit to Westminster Abbey. Seventeen studentathletes joined coaches and administrators on the voyage, which marked just the second study abroad program organized by Elon’s Department of Athletics. Sophomore Stefan Fortmann shares his thoughts on the experience at elon.edu/magazine.

summer 2012 13

RESEARCH AS INTERVENTION BY KRISTIN M. SIMONETTI ’05

n a quiet morning a few days “Because of the advances in medicine, chilafter Commencement, Cindy dren who were born with HIV in the 1980s and Fair found herself in a place she ’90s and weren’t expected to live past age 2 are hadn’t spent much time in the now reaching their 30s,” Fair explains. past few months: her office on But support for the psychosocial effects the the second floor of Alamance disease has on patients and their families hasn’t Building. The professor of exactly kept pace with technology. human service studies returned in May after “They’re asking questions about how to navispending a yearlong sabbatical studying the gate relationships, about whether they want to fertility desires and intentions of youth living or should have children,” Fair continues. “They with perinatal HIV infection – or, put more sim- need the knowledge and tools to manage the ply, whether young adults born with HIV want disease in this new phase of life.” to or expect to have children. Her focus on Some of the problems facing these young reproductive decisions grew out of her previ- people are systemic. Many adolescents with ous research examining adolescents’ transition maternally transmitted HIV have received from pediatric to adult infectious disease care. care via Medicaid, but that often ends at age

14 the magazine of elon

{ How does Cindy Fair handle the stress of such emotionally draining research? “I eat a lot of chocolate. I’ll intentionally rent movies like ‘Terms of Endearment’ that it’s OK to bawl at,” she says. “It makes me deeply appreciative for my healthy children.” }

18 unless the person enrolls in college or has private insurance. The pediatricians these patients have grown up with typically see 60–100 patients in a practice, while the adult physicians they’re transitioning to might see more than 1,000, spreading time, technological and financial resources thin. Other problems are more personal. Adolescents born with HIV often develop strong bonds with their pediatricians over several years and find it difficult to forge comparable rapport with their physicians in the adult clinic. These patients may not feel comfortable talking about their disease status or asking questions about sex and the potential for transmitting HIV. There are many implications for this phe-

nomenon, but one of the most alarming is that many patients are falling out of treatment altogether, which could turn back the clock on the progress that’s been made in bringing HIV/AIDS under control in the United States. Using her professional connections with local agencies, the National Institutes of Health and Duke University Medical Center, where she served as a clinical social worker and researcher for five years in the late 1990s, Fair spent hundreds of hours in the past year studying young adults with HIV, their families and medical providers via interviews, focus groups and surveys. She’s found that a patient’s level of disease knowledge is directly related to the quality of their interaction with their doctors; that a creative writing therapy group is an effective, low-cost means of helping teens with HIV become comfortable talking about the disease; that the overwhelming majority of young adults with HIV intend to have children; and that providers aren’t informing teens considering motherhood about the proper ways to ensure they don’t pass HIV on to their children. “In the early 1990s, before treatments were approved, mothers with a high viral load had a 30 percent chance of passing the virus to their children. Now, with treatment and education about how to interrupt maternal transmission of the disease, mothers have less than a 1 percent chance of passing HIV on to their children,” Fair says. “But our research found that few patients were being asked by providers, ‘Do you want to have a child?’ or ‘Do you know that you can have a healthy child?’” Fair’s interest in HIV/AIDS – particularly the psychological aspects of the disease – dates to the year after she graduated from Davidson College in 1987. She was an assistant teacher at a school for children with emotional problems in San Francisco, where many of the school’s children were bussed from Oakland. At the time, Oakland was gaining a reputation as the crack cocaine capital of the world, and the Bay Area was becoming ground zero for the emerging HIV/AIDS epidemic. For many of the children she worked with, HIV was quickly becoming a fact of life. Fair, who grew up with a mother who suffered from diabetes, found herself able to relate to some of their struggles. “If you take away the stigma of HIV/AIDS, it’s just like having a family member with any other chronic disease, like multiple sclerosis,” she says. The experience and her personal history led her to work as a clinical social worker at the National Institutes of Health and Duke and later complete doctoral studies in public health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In her nearly 20 years as a scholar,

she’s published more than 30 articles in leading HIV. She worked closely with Fair over the past journals and made more than 25 presentations year conducting interviews with patients and at national and international professional and surveying providers to find places where their perspectives intersect and diverge. Last Sepscholarly conferences. “When people in our field conduct a lit- tember, Albright joined Fair and Wiener at a erature review or are learning about HIV/AIDS “think tank” at the NIH that brought together and children, Cindy’s name will come up, or leading scholars and practitioners in the fields her academic publications will come up,” says of social work, psychology, medicine, nursing Dr. Lori Wiener, head of the pediatric psycho- and more to address the issue of the adolescent social support and research program at the HIV transition. “People talk a lot about sitting at the ‘big table,’ and working with Dr. Fair I’ve been able to do that and have a voice, not just tag along for the ride,” Albright says. Albright coauthored a study Fair presented at the 19th International AIDS Conference in July and two other abstracts accepted for presentation at October’s national American Public Health Association meeting. By the time Albright graduates in May, Fair estimates, she likely will have four coauthored journal articles to her credit. That’s more publications than many firstyear faculty members in the field can list on “People talk a lot about sitting at their resumes, Fair adds. “They keep me on my toes, organized and the ‘big table,’ and working with busy – especially this past year I’ve been on sabbatical,” she says. “It’s like going to the gym Dr. Fair, I’ve been able to do that with a friend. It’s a lot easier to go when you’ve and have a voice, not just tag got someone else to go with you and hold you accountable.” along for the ride.”  Jamie Albright ’13 These research relationships offer Fair the chance to keep a toe in the pool of social work. National Cancer Institute and a longtime col- Despite spending more than a decade in acaleague of Fair’s. “Her work guides practice and demia, she still feels a strong pull toward the informs interventions.” immediate impact of clinical care. She thinks Fair’s scholarship attracts Elon’s best and of her scholarship as “research as intervenbrightest students. She has mentored nearly tion;” though she’s not providing direct care two dozen undergraduate research projects to the people she works with, she’s able to offer since arriving in 1999, and those relationships them an opportunity to make positive change have not only produced presentations and pub- in their lives. lications, but also professionals contributing “I’ll speak with someone who’s never told to the field of HIV/AIDS care, such as Britten their story before, and they’ll tell me things Ginsburg Pund ’06. they wouldn’t even tell their families,” Fair says. “My work with Dr. Fair is why I do what I “It’s very meaningful, very powerful for them to do now,” says Pund, a senior manager of health have their story listened to. It gives me goosecare access for the National Alliance of State bumps just thinking about it.” and Territorial AIDS Directors who was named Fair may never write a prescription for meda 2010 “AIDS Hero” by a national nonprofit ication or counsel a young woman born with organization. “She instills a sense of confidence HIV through her difficult decision of whether in your ability to take ownership of a project, to have children. But Wiener, for one, is cerand the knowledge base and experience to suc- tain Fair’s research will have a lasting impact ceed as a professional. The skills I learned from with the patients she studies – and people her I use every day.” well beyond. “This work will make a difference because Two of Fair’s most recent mentees, Lauren Taylor ’10 and Jamie Albright ’13, received the nothing is out there about this at this point. It’s Lumen Prize, Elon’s premier award to support not only applicable to HIV and AIDS, but also and celebrate academic research and creative other infectious diseases,” Wiener says. “It’s achievement. pioneering work, and it will have implications Albright’s Lumen project dovetails with not only for our country but also for the rest Fair’s current research about the reproduc- of the world over time as people struggle with tive decisions facing young adults born with these issues.”

summer 2012 15

P AGGRESSIVE COMPASSION BY KRISTIN M. SIMONETTI ’05

16 the magazine of elon

rince Deese ’77 has the look of a former football player – and a pretty good one at that. He has broad shoulders, thick legs and an air of powerful confidence about him. Yet when an elderly couple walks into A.C.T. by Deese, his Greensboro, N.C., fitness studio, on a Wednesday morning, his jaw loosens into a big smile. “How are you doing sir?” he asks in a booming voice. “I’m here,” the man responds in a significantly weaker tone, his hands shaking as he tries to grip the handles of his walker. “No,” Deese responds, reaching out to shake the man’s hand. “You’re better than just ‘here.’” He guides the man and his wife toward Tom Robinson, one of Deese’s certified staff trainers, who gets the man ready for the 10 a.m. exercise class specifically designed for people with Parkinson’s Disease. Deese’s Parkinson’s program, which he began in 2003, is recommended by a number of neurologists throughout North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad region. In 2009, Club Business International, a leading magazine for the health and fitness industry, devoted a feature

to Deese and the program. To Deese’s knowledge, it’s one of a few in the state and just a handful nationwide. “When you get calls from people from Raleigh to Winston-Salem saying, ‘My neurologist told me to contact you for help,’ or when clients ask you, ‘Where else can we go for training if we move?’ you know you’ve got something rare,” Deese says.

“We don’t use ‘can’t’ in here,” Deese says as he walks through A.C.T.’s new facility, which opened in May. “You might say, ‘I don’t understand’ or ‘I need assistance,’ but you don’t say ‘can’t.’” It’s a lesson learned from a lifetime of overcoming obstacles. Once upon a time Deese was, in fact, a very accomplished football player, starring at running back for coach Shirley S. “Red” Wilson’s Fightin’ Christians in the mid-1970s. A member of the Elon Sports Hall of Fame, Deese drew scouts from the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Elon’s games his junior season. He hoped to join the latter club in 1977. Fate, however, had other plans. In one of the final games of his senior season, a defensive lineman landed on Deese’s ankle during a tackle, shredding ligaments and tendons and dislocating his ankle so dramatically that doctors at Duke University Medical Center wondered how the bone hadn’t broken in two. Though he tried to rehab the injury, two years later he finally put his NFL dreams to rest. “I decided that walking without a limp was more important to me than playing football,” Deese recalls. The next two decades saw Deese pursue several different careers in teaching and coaching at the high school level, pharmaceutical sales, manufacturing and entrepreneurship. But he still felt drawn to the world of athletics. “Football players are aggressive by nature. When you’re not playing anymore, you need some way to release those aggressions. Otherwise, psychologically, you’re going to blow up,” he explains. Deese found his outlet in personal training and fitness coaching. He worked at it on the side throughout the 1980s and early ’90s, as “fitness wasn’t quite a full-time career yet,” he says. In 1993, he decided to try the career full time, joining Ronney Barnes Nautilus, a Greensboro-based gym, as a personal trainer and later became its general manager and fitness director.

THE SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE Dyer Diehl G’01, an assistant professor in the University of Indianapolis’ Krannert School of Physical Therapy, teaches courses in neuroscience and conducts research about exercise interventions for people with Parkinson’s Disease. Recently, Diehl and several colleagues studied the ways a specially designed boxing training program aﬀected the balance, mobility and quality of life for people with mild to severe Parkinson’s. An article summarizing the study, published in the January 2011 edition of the Journal of the American Physical Therapy Association, stated that people who took part in the program “showed shortterm and long-term improvement in balance, gait, activities of daily living and quality of life after the boxing program.”

becoming a college football player but was born with one arm and weighed about 140 pounds. Deese had his work cut out for him, but he and the teenager worked to add more than 30 pounds of muscle to the youngster’s slight frame. As luck would have it, the young man’s mother worked with a neurologist and asked if Deese might be able to help her with a handful of people who’d stopped making progress in their treatments for Parkinson’s. Deese took up the challenge, diving into research about the disease and its effects on the body. “The physical effects are a cycle: The symptoms make it hard to move, so you move less. Moving less makes it even harder to move. But exercise can help break that cycle,” says Jane Freund, an associate professor in Elon’s Department of Physical Therapy Education. For example, Freund says, people with Parkinson’s often have a short, shuffling gait. Walking on a treadmill encourages a person to lengthen his or her stride to keep up with the belt. Routine treadmill workouts, coupled with verbal cues, can help that person walk with longer strides in his or her everyday life. “Once people finish a prescribed physical therapy regimen, they need a place to continue exercising, and that’s the piece that’s missing – community access to programs like this,” Freund says. Deese received guidance and referrals from neurologists and therapists in the Greensboro area, and the program grew from six to 25 people within a year. In 2007, when the gym he worked for closed, Deese and his wife, Gina, took the opportunity to open their own fitness The inspiration for Deese’s Parkinson’s pro- studio, and A.C.T. by Deese was born. gram didn’t actually have the disease. In 2001, Today, A.C.T. counts more than 300 mema teenager came to Deese’s gym asking for bers from all walks of life: athletes seeking help bulking up. The young man dreamed of advanced training, people recovering from

surgery, even those just looking for a comfortable environment in which to work out. Yet programs for clients with special needs were some of the early staples of Deese’s business. At its largest, the Parkinson’s program has served 60 clients at a time. Right now, he says, it’s hovering around 40.

The Parkinson’s class at A.C.T. is held twice weekly, on Mondays and Wednesdays, and on this Wednesday morning, 10 clients sit in a semicircle of chairs, taking instructions from Shawn Ijames, a former Deese colleague who joined A.C.T. two years ago. “I won’t hire trainers unless they can work with our special needs clients,” says Deese, who pops in on classes when he can but has passed much of the day-to-day operation of the special needs programs to his staff. “If you can’t work with this group, how can you work with anyone else?” The group Ijames works with today includes people in various stages of Parkinson’s, from those suffering just a slight hand tremor to those who struggle to walk even with assistance. He instructs them to cross their legs at the ankles and stretch slowly toward their feet. He helps those less flexible accomplish the task. Next, he asks the group to stretch their hands and fingers. As they stretch, he asks them questions to associate the action with an everyday task. “What do you use your fingers for every day?” Ijames asks as he walks around the room. “Writing checks? Getting money out of your wallet?” Freund says that while exercise isn’t a cure, research suggests that when people with movement disorders such as Parkinson’s engage in physical activity under appropriate guidance, the effects of the disease may diminish. And that’s exactly what Deese hopes to achieve. “Our class is like a lifeline. It helps put our clients back in the mainstream,” Deese says. “It gives them an opportunity to enjoy life a little bit longer.” To underscore his point, Deese tells a story about one of his first Parkinson’s program clients who passed away a few years ago. The man, a salesman for a local textile company, walked into Deese’s program and hadn’t been able to tie his shoes for eight years. For a man who’d experienced much professional and personal success, being unable to complete such a minor task was particularly difficult to accept. “After several sessions, one day he walked in and he told me ‘I actually crossed my legs and tied my shoes today!’ To some, it seems like such a small thing, but for me to see that, it was big,” Deese says, smiling at the memory. “When you see someone do something they couldn’t do before they came in, you want to shed tears.”

summer 2012 17

DEEP BREATHS

ohn Festle lived like most boys in the 1970s, playing baseball and basketball with friends, devouring pretzels at every opportunity, even working as a batboy for the Chicago Cubs while in high school. As Mary Jo Festle, professor of history, writes of her brother in the introduction to her new book, Second Wind: Oral Histories of Lung Transplant Survivors, “others may have wondered about his frequent coughs … but they didn’t distract him.” Those frequent coughs, as the Festle family knew all too well, were the effects of the cystic fibrosis ravaging John’s lungs. Daily pounding on his chest for respiratory therapy, piles of pills he needed for treatment and increasing frequency of hospital visits all signaled the irreversible decline that Mary Jo and her family knew they couldn’t stop without a miracle. Though John had made plans to be evaluated for a lung transplant, he drew his last breath in a hospital bed, just after

18 the magazine of elon

midnight on Christmas Day 1990, his family at his side. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the Festle family’s last encounter with the disease. In Second Wind, published this spring by Palgrave McMillan, Festle probes the psyches of men and women who wait for, receive and deal with the side effects of lung transplants for conditions including cystic fibrosis, primary pulmonary hypertension, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The book includes interviews with 58 lung transplant recipients, as well as Dr. James D. Hardy, the first surgeon to successfully complete a human lung transplant. Emotions range from anxiety to gratitude among American lung transplant recipients. Survivors who spoke with Festle reflected on the guilt they sometimes felt at using the lungs of someone who died; the anxiety of their wait, not knowing if they would ever leave the hospital; and the excruciating recovery that can take years, assuming the

Mary Jo Festle examines the lesser-known side of lung transplantation BY ERIC TOWNSEND

{ l-r, Bob & John Festle }

lungs weren’t rejected. Bearing witness to the complexity of transplantations serves survivors and potential transplant patients alike. “People who are waiting for transplants need a support system,” says Tom Archer, president of the national Second Wind Lung Transplant Association. “It’s a lonely time (while) waiting. If you become immobile and you’re stuck at home, you don’t see people.” Over the course of several years beginning in 1997, Festle enlisted the help of undergraduate researchers and students in her upper-level general studies courses about the

history of lung transplants. Some of these students conducted interviews with survivors for class projects, traveling the state to visit patients in their homes and experiencing perspective-altering interactions. There was Courtney Wells ’01, a broadcast communications and journalism double major who lied to her roommates when they heard her sob over a homework assignment. Years later, Wells still remembers the handout: the story of a father who lost his son in a car accident and, some time later, asked if he could press his ear against the chest of the transplant patient who received his son’s heart. “From the movies or TV, you get the impression that people get a transplant, and everything is hunky-dory, and they live happily ever after,” Wells says. “There are two sides to every story. There’s the family that lost someone and the family that got to keep someone.” Or take Melissa Pace Garrison ’98, an accounting and history double major and one of the first students to take part in Elon’s Summer Undergraduate Research Experiences. Garrison worked with Festle in 1997, conducting four interviews with lung transplant recipients. One of the most difficult interviews, Garrison recalls, was with a woman about the same age as her who had recently undergone a double lung transplant. “I was thinking of all the things I looked forward to in the future, and I started to worry about her future,” Garrison says, adding the woman has since passed away. “She would have done it (the transplant) again. It bought her some years of life, even though they weren’t as good. I was very, very sad.” Then you have Gretchen Buskirk ’04, a sports medicine major whose childhood friend died while waiting for a heart transplant. That early experience led her to Festle’s course, for which she interviewed a female lung transplant recipient. Years later, Buskirk heard from the woman’s family after she died and learned that the woman had kept a tape of their interview. After her death, a daughter discovered the recording and sought Buskirk to offer gratitude for the opportunity to hear her mother laugh again. “What we did in that class was more than a project. It helped so many people,” Buskirk says. The years of work behind Second Wind exemplify why Festle has been recognized often by her peers at Elon. Currently serving as the associate director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, Festle has received the Elon College Excellence in Teaching Award and the university’s

first Senior Faculty Research Fellowship. In 2011, she received the prestigious DanielsDanieley Award for Excellence in Teaching. Since joining Elon’s faculty in 1993, Festle has published a book on women in athletics and articles in respected journals. Yet Second Wind has been a profoundly personal affair, carrying with it bittersweet memories. Festle had a very close relationship with her youngest brother, Bob. Like John, Bob suffered from cystic fibrosis. “The apple of my eye,” she writes in the book, “I vowed to know what he was thinking and feeling.” By 1996, Bob found himself close to death in Chicago, hundreds of miles from Mary Jo, as he, too, awaited lungs. Unlike John, Bob’s new lungs arrived just in time for transplantation. Over the next five years, Bob completed his college degree, traveled to Italy and taught middle school. But

before long, chronic rejection set in, and Bob died of complications from the rejection in June 2001 at age 27. Mary Jo dedicated Second Wind not only to John and Bob but also to “all those who know lung disease and organ transplantation,” including doctors, nurses and advocates. “There certainly were times when it felt more urgent and meaningful because of personal connections, and there were times when it was more difficult because of those connections,” Festle says. “In the beginning, Bob was alive, so I saw this partly as a way to be connected to his experiences but also to a larger community of people having similar experiences. The dedication is to them – but it’s also to anyone with a connection to lung transplantation.”

‘I WAS A REALLY SICK MAN FOR A VERY LONG TIME’ Lee Wallace ’86 received a double lung transplant in January 2012 as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis attacked his body. The following are excerpts from Wallace’s interview with the Office of University Communications; a full transcript of the interview can be viewed at elon.edu/magazine. When did you first realize something was wrong?

The symptoms started about ﬁve or six years ago. I felt more out of breath after my regular dog walks, and at the end of the workweek, I felt a lot more exhausted than usual. It turned into getting out of breath talking on the phone or eating and, really, my wife Leslie noticed things a lot more than I did. I just attributed it to getting older. What were the considerations made when you decided you wanted a transplant?

I really did not want to do it for a long time. Lung transplants don’t have a great success rate. I remember being at Duke (University Medical Center) with pneumonia, and my doctor talked with Leslie about how to call Hospice and what to expect when Hospice came to the house.

I thought, ‘I’m either going to die, or maybe I’ll give this thing one more shot.’ Do you think about the circumstances behind the donation?

The nursing staﬀ on the transplant ﬂoor all speculated that my lungs came from a teenager. I think that our bodies are kind of like clothes that we wear while we’re here in this plane of existence, that our spirits are another entity that exist beyond the world. Everybody should take care of their bodies to make sure organs are good enough to use for somebody else if they’re not around to use them. Are there lifestyle changes you’ve had to make since the transplant?

I take a handful of medicine every day, twice a day. There are

{ l-r, Leslie & Lee ’86 Wallace }

breathing and physical exercises. Cleanliness is a big issue, too. Dust, mold and food cleanliness, we have to pay a lot of attention to that. What resources would you recommend to those interested in lung transplants?

There’ve been a couple of national organizations that have helped us. One is helpHOPElive.org to manage fundraising money and make sure money was spent appropriately. Leslie and our good friends have really made me able to do this. I was a really sick man for a very long time. Sitting here today on this beautiful day hanging out in my backyard with my dog, reading a book and talking to you feels pretty awesome.

summer 2012

HOME SCHOOL

L.A. Photo by J McMerty

20 the magazine of elon

t’s no secret that over the past two decades, Elon has distinguished itself among the nation’s best universities for study abroad opportunities. Yet as Elon’s international programs grew exponentially, a small but strong contingent of students sought to connect their classroom learning to real-world situations a bit closer to home. They looked not overseas but toward destinations such as New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Bay St. Louis, Miss.

Summer programs in New York & Los Angeles lead Elon’s expansion of domestic study programs

“A sequestered on-campus experience isn’t what our students are looking for. They want to take their Elon education on an adventure, and they can encounter cultural, political and religious difference and diversity in this country as well as they can abroad,” explains Associate Provost Connie Book, who leads the committee developing a new Office of Domestic Programs at Elon. For example, the Kernodle Center for Service Learning and Community Engagement regularly takes students on alternative break trips to places such as the Gulf Coast for hurricane relief and the mountains of Appalachia to support affordable housing programs. Each Winter Term, Teaching Fellows travel to the nation’s capital to participate in seminars at The Washington Center and visit relevant sites, including the U.S. Department of Education. “Our students come back thinking differently about educa-

summer 2012 21

What is Elon in New York? tion and their voice in it,” says Glenda Crawford, professor of education and director of the Teaching Fellows program. “We don’t want our students to think only about the classroom but how their role shapes and is shaped by the political world around them. And there’s no better place to do that than in Washington, D.C.” While the existence of domestic programs isn’t a recent phenomenon, to date there hasn’t been the kind of organization and guidance for Elon’s U.S.-based study programs akin to that for interna-

“Our students want to take their Elon education on an adventure, and they can encounter cultural, political and religious diﬀerence and diversity in this country as well as they can abroad.”

be. The nine-week programs provide students affordable housing in each city. Each student takes at least one academic course and completes an internship in a field ranging from journalism to entertainment to business. Alumni and parents in the New York and L.A. metropolitan areas reach out and connect with students, helping them build professional and personal networks. Book, who served as associate dean of the School of Communications when both the Elon in New York and L.A. programs were established, has seen firsthand the change in students when they return to campus each fall. “They are much more aggressive about their education and that makes them great role models for first- and second-year students,” she says. “The trickle-down effect is that it shows those younger students how to take advantage of their education.” But don’t take Book’s word for it. In the following pages, students and alumni of the Elon in New York and L.A. programs, as well as the new Bridges programs for recent graduates, offer insight about how they have been forever changed by their domestic study experiences.

– Associate Provost Connie Book

tional programs. Often, faculty and staff organizers of domestic programs alone bear the responsibility for marketing their programs to students, assigning and collecting payments, and ensuring planned activities and assignments achieve appropriate rigor to receive course credit. That’s a lot for just one or two people to handle. And that’s exactly the kind of work that will be assigned to Elon’s new director of domestic programs, who will begin work this fall. Incorporating a streamlined model for domestic program development and management – similar to how the Isabella Cannon International Centre manages study abroad programs – will allow the university to provide additional and more diverse programs and enable faculty and staff to focus on deepening the intellectual and experiential aspects of their courses. The thriving Elon in New York and Elon in L.A. summer programs offer perhaps the best examples of how transformative domestic study programs can

22 the magazine of elon

N.Y.

A nine-week summer experience for up to 30 students of any major. Students take one general studies course and complete an internship for six credit hours. They live in housing at The New School on Manhattan’s Lower West Side and receive mentoring from Elon alumni and parents in the area.

What is Elon in Los Angeles? A nine-week summer experience for up to 40 students, especially those in communications. Students choose one course from several electives and complete an internship for six credit hours. They live in corporate apartments in Burbank, Calif., and receive mentoring from Elon alumni in the area. Beginning in spring 2013, Elon will oﬀer a spring-semester program in L.A. open to students from all colleges and universities in the nation.

What is Bridges? Established this year, the nine-week program gives recent graduates the tools they need to succeed as professionals in New York City and Los Angeles. They live in apartment-style housing, attend seminars about job search strategies, personal ﬁnance, relocation and networking, and have access to an on-site career adviser to give their postgraduate lives a kick start.

What additional domestic study programs are in development?

NNEKA ENURAH ’ associate producer, PopSugar Studios

Book says programs may vary in length, from travel as part of an Elonbased course to service or educational trips held during breaks. Currently, several Winter Term 2013 course oﬀerings will incorporate domestic travel. These include a history course taught by Assistant Professor Amy Johnson examining the African diaspora in America; a religious studies course taught by Associate Professor Toddie Peters about religious pluralism; and an environmental studies course taught by Professor Anthony Weston focusing on life in an Arizona biosphere.

How can you support Elon’s expansion of domestic study programs? While these programs don’t require a visa or an international ﬂight, they aren’t inexpensive. If you’re interested in making a gift to Elon to support student access to domestic study opportunities or other urgent institutional needs, please contact the Oﬃce of Annual Giving at (336) 278-7459.

Photo by J McMerty

L.A.

I can safely say that I would not be where I am professionally if I had not participated in the Elon in L.A. program. During my summer in L.A., I connected with industry professionals, gained an appreciation and better understanding of networking and learned how much work it would be to move across the country and begin a career all on my own. It also gave my mom a chance to come to terms with the fact that I was serious about not going back to Marietta, Ga., after graduation. Today, I work for PopSugar Studios & TV as an associate producer. The job includes covering live events from the Academy Awards to this summer’s premiere of “The Amazing Spider-Man.” It’s always been my dream to be a producer, but until the Elon in L.A. program, it seemed out of reach. There’s no class on how to become a producer or how to make it in the entertainment industry. You have to get out there and connect with people, try things, fail and learn from your mistakes. Being able to collaborate with like-minded students, learning how to juggle academics and a full-time internship at Fox Studios, and adjusting to life in a new city while still an undergraduate helps bigtime. It’s also impressive to future employers. Today, I’m proud to say I’m still actively involved with the Elon in L.A. program. Besides serving as a mentor, I show support by attending events and helping students find internships and jobs whenever I can. I know the positive impact it can have on students, and it’s also great to be connected to the Elon community while being so far away.

summer 2012

CHRISTOPHER BOSAK ’ intern, Fremantle Media

L.A.

Elon in L.A. is perfectly summed up in its slogan, “living, learning, interning in Los Angeles.” Every second is spent doing one of those things and, often, we do all three at the same time. For many of us, the internship is the most valuable part of the program. For me, it’s like entering the minor leagues of baseball; the big show is right around the corner. This summer, I’m working at Fremantle Media. You may not know them by name, but you’ve probably seen a few of their products, such as the hit shows “American Idol” and “The Price is Right.” Tuesday through Friday, I’m researching and compiling information for various projects. It can be tedious, but it’s worth it for the little moments, such as when you realize “America’s Got Talent” is produced in the offices above your desk. We’re also honing our skills in an academic setting. Every Monday, all the students meet and study production, acting or public relations. Not only are we learning valuable information, but we’re also producing materials that look professional enough to send to employers. These “reels” are a must-have when entering the job market. Elon in L.A. is about exploration, too. We’re taking in the city’s unique culture and human landscape. In the last few weeks I’ve seen the Dodgers take on the White Sox, a Cirque Du Soleil show in the Dolby Theatre (formerly Kodak Theatre) and movies you can see only in select cities. We’re not merely living in L.A., we’re experiencing L.A. For me, the element of Elon in L.A. that has helped the most is the group with which I’ve traveled. Elon faculty and students are the perfect companions to venture with into an unknown city. The enthusiastic people around me erased the discomfort I usually get when I don’t know my way around a new place. Having these friends nearby have allowed me to bravely explore these alien streets, get to know Southern California and, maybe, decide to make L.A. home soon.

24 the magazine of elon

HOLLACE JEFFORDS ’ production intern, Broadway Artists Alliance

I enrolled in Elon in New York last summer for several reasons. First, there was the selfish opportunity of getting to live in the heart of Manhattan for nine weeks and to take advantage of all that the city has to offer. Then there were more practical reasons, mainly that I knew I wanted to live in New York at some point in my life, so the program became a kind of test for me. Could I live in New York on my own? Would the city break me? Was I really ready to take a step like this? It turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life, and for that I’m “truly blessed and duly grateful” (I thought it’d be appropriate to bring in a song lyric, from John Bucchino’s “It’s Only Life,” con– Hollace Jeﬀords ’12 sidering how many musical shows and theatrical productions I had the privilege of seeing last summer). I was working as an intern with the actor Alan Cumming, which meant I spent my days transcribing his video footage, organizing and scheduling his calendar and even getting treated to some great premiere parties, including the New York opening of “The Smurfs” movie! Beyond work, Elon in New York forced me to meet challenges of living

N.Y. in the city head-on. I learned about the history and culture of the city, how to navigate the subway and keep myself safe, and most importantly how to get my job done while balancing life and class in the best city on Earth. I learned that life in New York City is hard, and the rollercoaster is never ending. I ended last summer more mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted than I ever had been in my life, but it was a lesson that I needed to learn and

“The program became kind of a test for me. Could I live in New York on my own? Would the city break me? Was I really ready to take a step like this? It turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life.” gave me the preparation I needed to come back and start my career. And now I’m here again, working as a production intern for Broadway Artists Alliance, a professional training program for young musical theater performers. It’s an opportunity I couldn’t have found without an Elon contact. My experience in Elon in NYC is the only reason I feel successful living here again. And for that I’m “truly blessed and duly grateful!”

REBECCA SMITH ’ NYC Bridges program

GRACE ELKUS ’ intern, Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine

N.Y.

During my first two years at Elon, I developed a strong sense of what I hoped to do career-wise after I graduate, which is to work for a food publication. But the one thing the incredible resources offered to me on campus couldn’t provide was the real-world experience I need to be competitive in the job market. That’s why I applied to Elon in New York. What’s great about this program is that it takes care of all the logistics that go with spending a summer in the city. Knowing that my credits would transfer and my housing was in place, I was able to focus fully on searching for an internship. When I accepted an offer to be an editorial intern in the food department of Every Day with Rachael Ray, I knew I had taken the first step toward what would be an unforgettable summer. My internship allows me to do fun and exciting things every day, from whipping up pesto in the test kitchen and assisting with taste tests to attending cooking classes and participating in staff meetings. I’ve also received invaluable advice from many of the editors, and their food expertise has inspired me to attend culinary school after I graduate from Elon. The Elon in New York course has been equally stimulating. We don’t gather in a classroom but out in the city. We’ve taken a walking tour of the Lower East Side, conducted research at the New York Public Library and sat speechless as we saw the newest reporting technology at The New York Times. We’ve been to Broadway, Wall Street and Madison Avenue, getting a view of the city and its biggest industries that we simply couldn’t get on campus. When I’m not in the office or class, I spend my time exploring the city – Central Park, Murray’s Cheese Shop, Little Italy, Chelsea Market, the Highline and more. I can’t believe how quickly the summer has passed, and I say this with my fingers crossed – I won’t be bidding my final farewells at the end of this summer. This is just the beginning.

N.Y.

As I started packing for New York, I realized that I wasn’t just relocating for a summer internship like last year, when I went to Emmaus, Pa., to work at Rodale Magazines. I needed to figure out what to do with everything I owned and without knowing when I’d be returning home for a visit. During my taxi ride from the airport to our temporary housing in The New School’s dorms in Chelsea, I made myself repeat “this is home” over and over. During our first week in New York, we met alumni and friends of Elon who work in the city in advertising, magazines, finance, movies, theater and public relations. Getting to have conversations in small groups with each speaker has been so valuable. Each person we met would list several people they knew in the city who could help us land a job. After one week, we all had several contacts that we considered mentors. We even took self-defense and cooking classes, and enjoyed a panoramic view of the city from atop Rebecca Smith ‘12 “30 Rock,” the NBC building. After that, we were on our own to network and find our jobs. The connections we’ve made wouldn’t be possible without the doors Bridges has helped open. Getting to wake up in the city every morning and call New York home has been one of the most amazing feelings. Every night, the eight of us come back with ideas and connections for the other people in the group. At Commencement, President Lambert says “You may leave Elon, but Elon will never leave you.” I only left campus two months ago but I’ve seen how this is true. I have met so many Elon graduates ready to reach out and help the newest arrivals to New York, and all of us in the Bridges program talk about how we can’t wait to be the next mentors. This program has helped us learn how to balance the life we left behind with the life we’re looking for now.

{ l-r, Rebecca Smith ’12 & mentor Katie Sherman ’04 }

“Each person we met would list several people they knew in the city who could help us land a job. After one week, we all had several contacts that we considered mentors.”

summer 2012 25

ALUMNI ACTION

NEED SOME ELON IN YOUR LIFE? ith fall just around the corner, there are many chances to reconnect with Elon. From athletic contests to alumni chapter and club events to Homecoming Weekend, there’s something to interest just about everyone. If tailgating and cheering on the football team is your thing, you won’t want to miss the season opener against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Saturday, Sept. 1. Gather your family and friends for a pregame Elon tailgate on UNC’s historic Polk Place quad. Afterward, stroll over to Kenan Stadium { Sallie Hutton ’92 } as the Phoenix take on the Tar Heels for a 12:30 p.m. televised matchup (see p. 27 for details). Yearning to return to campus and reconnect with the people and places that were part of your Elon experience? Homecoming Weekend, Oct. 19–21, is a prime opportunity to gather your former classmates and journey to Elon for a weekend full of reminiscing. With a multitude of events planned, we’re confident that you’ll want to attend. For the most up-to-date information about Homecoming happenings, visit elon.edu/homecoming. Elon’s alumni chapters and clubs will ramp up their events schedules in the coming weeks. If you can’t come back to Elon, I encourage you to see what they have in store near you and make it a priority to attend at least one event in the waning weeks of summer and first weeks of fall. Visit our website, elon.edu/alumni, for a constantly updated schedule of regional programs.

From all of us at Elon, we hope to see you soon. Sallie

26 the magazine of elon

Sign up for the online alumni directory The Elon Alumni Association’s new online directory gives graduates unprecedented resources for personal and professional networking. Make sure to update your profile today! The password-protected database offers basic and advanced search options to help alumni reconnect and also allows graduates to quickly update contact information with the university. Visit elon.edu/alumni and click the “Alumni Directory Register/

Login” button (pictured above) on the right side of the page. For questions, call the Office of Alumni Engagement at (877) 784-3566 or email alumni@elon.edu.

Elon hosts ﬁrst alumni Volunteer Leadership Summit More than 60 graduates from all eras attended the May 4–5 event, learning how to become critical partners, advocates and investors in Elon. The summit included tours of new campus facilities and a Friday night volunteer appreciation dinner with President Leo M. Lambert, who challenged the group to assume ownership of Elon and responsibility for furthering its success. On Saturday, alumni heard updates on Elon’s current strategic plan, The Elon

Commitment, before participating in breakout sessions addressing various facets of the alumni experience, such as managing volunteers, supporting Elon admissions and advancement programs,

and connecting students with career opportunities. Several alumni presented or led discussions in the breakout sessions, including Jodie Luke ’79, Mark Richter ’99, Lindsey Goodman Baker ’04, Dan Hanson ’05, Natasha Christensen ’07, Kristin Smith ’07, Devin Kelley ’08 and Kelsey Glover ’11. Trustee Kebbler McGhee Williams ’98 closed the day’s meetings with a brief address about the importance of alumni engagement in the life of the university. “I’ve recognized that there were people who came before me who made my Elon experience possible, and because there is no way I can pay them back directly, I must pay it forward,” she said. “I encourage you to partner with, advocate for and invest in Elon. The future of this institution depends on it.” Following the summit, the Elon Alumni Board and Young Alumni Council held their spring meetings, at which John Hill ’76 and Britten Ginsburg Pund ’06 assumed the presidency of each body, respectively. For more information about how to get involved as an alumni volunteer, visit elon.edu/alumni.

ALUMNI ACTION

Here’s to dear ole Elon…

Elon vs. UNC football trip

don your maroon and gold and fire up the fight song:

Homecoming 2012 is almost here! What’s on tap

Back by popular demand

= Guided tours of campus with President Emeritus J. Earl Danieley ’46 and Associate Dean of Admissions Barry Bradberry ’75

Phoenix Phest returns: Join alums of all eras for an evening of live Motown, beach, R&B and Oldies music.

= Phoenix Club golf tournament = Receptions hosted by the schools of communications, business, education and arts & sciences = Young Alumni Party at The Fat Frogg = NPHC Step Show = Stop Hunger Now meal-packing service event = Elon Alumni Association Awards ceremony = Pregame tailgating throughout campus = Alumni Sunday worship services = And much more!

Celebrate your milestones These groups will hold reunions or gatherings: = Alpha Kappa Alpha = Alpha Omicron Pi = Band Alumni = Black Alumni Network/NPHC Alumni

Support the Phoenix as they take on the Tar Heels for the first time on Saturday, Sept. 1. Register today for the Phoenix Club’s package: for 75 per person, enjoy roundtrip transportation from Elon to UNC, admission to the pregame tailgate party and a game ticket. Alumni interested in the game but not the package may purchase tickets for 35 per person. Admission to the tailgate party is 15 per person. Following the game, stop by the official Elon gathering at He’s Not Here (112 W. Franklin St., Chapel Hill) for some live entertainment. To place your order, call the athletics tickets office at (336) 278-6750. For questions, please contact the Phoenix Club’s Hilary Fogle ’11 at hfogle@elon.edu.

= Classes of 1962, 2002 and 2007 = Emanons = Kappa Alpha Order = Kappa Delta = Lambda Chi Alpha

New this year Get in on the ground floor of Elon’s new HispanicLatino Alumni Group. An interest meeting will be held on Saturday morning.

= Sigma Chi = Sigma Kappa = Sigma Phi Epsilon = Sigma Pi

Get loud, get proud

= Teaching Fellows

Cheer on All-American senior receiver Aaron Mellette and the Phoenix football team against Western Carolina in a pivotal Southern Conference matchup in Rhodes Stadium.

For more information Visit us online at elon.edu/homecoming.

summer 2012 27

Elon graduates throughout the country gave back to their communities during the inaugural Nationwide Alumni Month of Service. Chapters and clubs organized events in April to share the Elon tradition of service in their cities and towns. Several alumni registered activities of their own to make an impact on their communities.

28 the magazine of elon

Other Languages through the Orange County (N.C.) Literary Council. The programs are held at an elementary school in Eﬂand, N.C., just down the road from Elon. “I was fortunate to have a great upbringing and a great education,” he says. “I am proud to share some of that with those who have not been so lucky but are striving to make better lives for themselves.”

David Vetter ’85 David volunteers as a teacher of English for Speakers of

ELON ALUMNI ‘RISE UP AND SERVE’ IN APRIL

Ashe County (N.C.) chapter and spent much of April helping the organization construct its ﬁrst house. “My ﬁrst introduction to Habitat was while I was at Elon,” she says, “and now, here I am, still involved and applying what I learned to serve others. So cool – so blessed!”

Tracy-Lynn Schuster ’94 G’05 Tracy serves as president of Habitat for Humanity’s new

Christie Allen ’05, Bernadette Bui ’09 and Jennifer Hiltwine ’09 packed meals for an afternoon at the Moveable Feast Food Bank, where the chapter has held service events for the past several years. “Each time we have participated in an event there, we’ve had the opportunity to learn a little more about the individuals we’re able to help,” Tiﬀany says.

Baltimore Chapter Tiffany Stephens ’99, Steve Earley ’04 G’10,

individuals in greater Boston. Heather ’06 and Sean White ’06, Meghan Cronen ’09, Libby Russell ’10 and Kyle Shade ’10 attended the event. “We feel that it’s important for us to continue our ‘Elon ways’ of valuing service and living our daily lives with compassion for each other and those less fortunate,” Libby says.

Boston Chapter Alumni volunteered at the Pine Street Inn, which serves more than 12,000 homeless

Here are just a few examples. See more at elon.edu/ riseupandserve

ALUMNI ACTION

Chicago Chapter Jeanette Olli ’03, Katie Olinger ’07, Katie Reese ’09

Washington, D.C. Eighteen alumni volunteered for an afternoon at the D.C. Central Kitchen, which prepares more than 5,000 meals daily for the homeless in the nation’s capital.

Larissa and Brian participated in the Auburn, Ala., Relay for Life event to support the American Cancer Society. It’s a personal cause for Larissa, whose father, Richard, is a lung cancer survivor. The family raised approximately $2,000 for cancer research.

Larissa Ferretti ’09 & Brian Beaty ’09

president of the Elon Alumni Board, led several of his colleagues in the company’s annual day of corporate service. The group volunteered at the United Way of Hudson County, N.J., preparing donated clothing and household goods for sale at the organization’s retail store.

Chris Martin ’78 Chris, president and ceo of Provident Bank and past-

Seattle Fifteen graduates took part in a volunteer outing at the Ballard Food Bank downtown.

part in the Best Buddies Friendship Walk in Centennial Park.

Nashville Alumni gathered to take

Charlotte At their two April events, chapter members donated school supplies to Classroom Central, an organization that operates a “free store” for teachers in seven school districts surrounding the Queen City.

and Emily Sanner ’10 joined alumni of other universities to help refurbish St. Margaret Mary School in Chicago. “Making the community you call home a brighter place in some way can only improve the environment where you live,” Jeanette says, “and hopefully it will inspire others to give back, too.”

Atlanta Ten alumni participated in the Knock Out Cancer 5K Run in Marietta, Ga. Alissa Wilke ’09 won the women’s division of the race, which supports the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

OTHER SERVICE ACTIVITIES

Alumni attended two events to support the needy in central North Carolina. They collected canned goods at a social then donated the items to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina while volunteering on-site a few days later.

Triangle Chapter

ALUMNI ACTION

WELCOME TO THE CITY

Help Elon graduates new to your city feel at home! You won’t want to miss these popular events hosted by our Elon Alumni Association chapters and clubs around the country. For details about the listed chapters and information about events we’ve just added, visit elon.edu/alumni. We’re looking forward to seeing you! AUG. 

Charlotte AUG. 

Atlanta AUG. 

New York City AUG. 

Boston

SEPT. 

Philadelphia

SEPT. 

Baltimore

SEPT. 

Washington, D.C.

SEPT. 

Charleston

summer 2012 29

CLASS NOTES

Sara Hook Burton, the eldest daughter of Elon legend Dr. A.L. Hook, recently turned 96. Her daughter reports that she is now living in a memory care unit at an assisted living community.



“Even down here in Wilmington, you don’t have to explain when you mention you’re an Elon graduate,” says Jesse W. Harrington, who served as president of the Class of 1939. He remembers meeting his wife, Edna Barrier Harrington ’42, when he visited Elon, and they married during World War II when he was granted leave from the army.



Elizabeth “Lib” Armfield Hobson fondly recalls be-



ing a cheerleader for the Fightin’ Christians, especially supporting Walter L. Hobson Jr. ’42, her husband and an Elon Sports Hallof-Famer. Now 90, Lib stays busy gardening and swimming three days a week – she won two gold medals at the state’s senior games a few years ago. Janet Olivia Ward Brown

 Linda Clark Doxey ’81 & Keith Doxey

says Elon’s growth is “the greatest honor it could be given.” She encourages Elon students and alumni to go into the world and share our freedom with others.

 Cecil G.S. Coates ’81

Michelle B. Clifton ’92

Todd Hershey ’92, Jennifer Hershey, & children Oscar, Henry, Jackson & Oliver

Carrie Mize Genaway re-

members life in the old Ladies’ Hall because, “being an only child, I loved sharing with my classmates,” she says. She advises students and alumni to keep up personal connections with special friends and teachers.



John D. Vance fondly remem-



Daniel C. Patton remembers

bers choir trips to Virginia, New England and New York City; meeting his wife, Martha Veazey Vance ’50; and performing plays in Whitley with the drama group under the direction of Betty Smith. He lives in Leesburg, Fla. well his excellent religion professors, Dr. Sloan and Dr. Reynolds. But it was his math professor, Dr. Coble, whom he recalls most fondly. “He took so much time with me after class to help me struggle through geometry,” Daniel says.

Sarah Noble Dougherty ’95, Stephen Dougherty, & children Graycen, Ryan & Erin

30 the magazine of elon



Gail McCutcheon Michael

advises current students to use their educational background

and to allow time to develop their faith. In short, says Alfred I. “Al” Capuano, “Elon saved me.” He recalls coming to Elon after a terrible first year of college at the University of Miami. “Elon gave me a second chance. When I attended, it felt like I was part of an extended family, and I hope it never changes that aspect of its character,” Al says. “I always believed Elon stood for honor, integrity, industriousness and excellence in how we should live our lives. I’ve tried my best to be true to those Elon core values.”





Roger E. Wood was named



Charles L. “Chuck” Ball says

the 2011–12 president of the Virginia Dental Association. He lives in Midlothian, Va. his novel, Mingo’s Cave, is now available through Amazon in the United States and several other countries. All proceeds from book sales go to Ocean Cure Inc., which gives free surfing lessons to medically fragile and at-risk youth and adults. Chuck lives in Kill Devil Hills, N.C.



Page W. Summerlin and Barbara Krauss Summerlin

’75 live in Lynchburg, Va., but are

looking forward to spending more time at their North Carolina beach house. Page retired in June after 17 years working for his bread distributing business.



Faith Pease Fredericks has

retired after 37 years of teaching elementary and middle school Spanish in the Catholic Archdiocese of Maryland’s school system. She has begun a second career teaching Spanish in Baltimore County’s Senior Community Centers. She lives in Middle River, Md. Dennis B. Bullis retired in March after 35 years with Lowe’s Companies. He lives in Graham, N.C.

 

1st Sgt. Don Ritter gave the

keynote speech at the West Chester, Pa., Memorial Day Parade on May 26. Ritter has received the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal and Army Commendation Achievement Medal among other decorations. He served in Iraq in 2005–06 and 2008–09. Don, still active in the Delaware Army

National Guard, is a safety director at Chalmers & Kubek in Philadelphia. Lisa Foster Faulk retired in August after 30 years working with Winston-Salem/Forsyth County (N.C.) Schools. She most recently served as a curriculum coordinator for the school district. Lisa lives in Winston-Salem with her husband, Turner Faulk ’79, who owns Faulk Trucks, Inc.



Linda Clark and Keith Doxey were married on 11/28/11. The couple live in Great Yarmouth, United Kingdom. ■ Cecil G.S. Coates lives in Raleigh, N.C., where he is the secondary student support team coordinator for Wake County Public Schools. He is president elect of the North Carolina School Counselor Association and also owns a business, Cabin Antiques.





Bill Coffman {MBA’88} re-

minds his Sigma Pi brothers about the fraternity’s 35th anniversary at Homecoming 2012. For additional information, email him at bcoffman@coffmanmenswear.com. ■ Jeffrey L. Smith received the 2011 Duke Energy Citizenship Service Award from the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Chamber of Commerce at its annual meeting. He is a litigation paralegal for Syngenta Crop Protection LLC. Ken Bobbitt and his wife, Ann, recently purchased a beach house in Beaufort, N.C., which has been named the “coolest small town in America.”





Todd D. McGirk is senior



Kathleen Woods Mills has



Kelly Rochelle Adkins

vice president of vendor management for Bank of America in uptown Charlotte, N.C., where he’s lived since 2005. He’s enjoying reconnecting with fellow Elon graduates and fraternity brothers.

joined the Wake Forest University School of Medicine as a prospect research analyst for the development office. She lives with her husband, Robert, in Greensboro, N.C.

has graduated from the University of Richmond’s pastry arts program. ■ John G. Bell was promoted to principal of Selma Middle School in Johnston County, N.C. He lives in Louisburg, N.C.,

CLASS NOTES

with his wife, Maryann Caverly Bell ’91. ■ Last fall, Michelle B. Clifton wrote a chapter and co-edited a handbook, Personal Injury Practice in North Carolina, in partnership with the North Carolina Advocates for Justice. Michelle practices in Winston-Salem, N.C., and belongs to the North Carolina and Forsyth County bar associations. ■ Todd Hershey and his wife, Jennifer, recently celebrated their ninth anniversary and welcomed their fourth son, Oscar Campbell. Oscar joins big brothers Henry, Jackson and Oliver.



Michele Woodward Adams

joined ReEmploy Ability as a marketing representative, managing the company’s accounts in Texas and Oklahoma and developing business throughout the Midwest. Michele and her daughters, Abby and Grace, live in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, area. ■ Gray West and Debbie Ziton-West welcomed twins Eli and Marina on 1/27/12. The family lives in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Ron M. Shovlin and his wife, Kara, began a clothing line, “I Dare You Challengeware,” in 2010 to help motivate people to get active. Check out their products at challengewear.com. They live in Westfield, N.J.

 

Sarah Noble Dougherty

and Stephen Dougherty welcomed a daughter, Graycen Lynn, on 12/8/11. She joins older siblings Ryan and Erin. The family lives in New Smyrna Beach, Fla. ■ Kristin Elizabeth Hayes and David Hartnett welcomed a daughter, Story Grace, on 4/14/11. The family lives in Long Branch, N.J.



Heather Shaffer Braue

and Tim Braue welcomed a daughter, Harper Tinsley, on 1/18/12. Harper joins older brothers Maddox and Hudson. The family lives in Fallston, Md. ■ Suzanne Silvestro Stevenson and Robbie Stevenson welcomed twins Jacob Thomas and Joshua Loudon on 12/19/11. They join older brother Ryan. The family lives in Tulsa, Okla.



Christel James Aviles has

launched Breathtaking Youth Players, a performing arts group that raises money for pediatric asthma patients at the Children’s Hospital of

Philadelphia. The group was inspired by Christel’s oldest daughter, Domonique, a gifted young actress and vocalist who suffers from severe asthma. ■ Jason Forsythe and Lisa Forsythe welcomed a son, Wyatt James, on 5/9/11. Wyatt joins older siblings Ava and William. Jason is an internal sales manager for Lincoln Financial, and the family lives in Glenside, Pa. ■ Lisa Roark Scotto and Joe Scotto welcomed a son, Thomas Joseph, on 2/6/12. Thomas joins older sister Claire. Lisa is a commercial account manager for TriSure in Raleigh, N.C. Sarah Elder Burford and Thaddeus Burford welcomed a daughter, Marley Michaela, on 4/19/12. The family lives in Virginia Beach, Va. ■ Daniel Anderson “Andy” Dietrich is co-owner of Champion Chevrolet Cadillac in Johnson City, Tenn. It has been the top Chevy dealer in the state for the past four years and won multiple “Mark of Excellence” awards from GM. Andy was named one of upper-east Tennessee and southwest Virginia’s “top 40 under 40” this year. ■ Jenny Thigpen Kelly and Casey Kelly welcomed a son, Michael Anderson, on 1/4/11. Jenny is a staff accountant with Gold Crown Management, Inc. The family lives in Myrtle Beach, S.C. ■ Susie A. Mahoney has joined the University of Cincinnati and works in the Office of Student Activities and Leadership Development. She completed her doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies from Indiana University last year and received a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina in 2002. ■ Kent Wyatt was featured in the quarterly newsletter of the Oregon City/ County Management Association about his family’s legacy in municipal government. Kent works as a senior management analyst for the city of Tigard, Ore., and his father, Ed, served as the manager of several cities in North Carolina. Kent also founded an organization, Emerging Local Government Leaders, which fosters relationships between organizations in the public and private sector.





Emily Tucker Barzee and

Scott Barzee welcomed a son, Braxton, on 1/14/12. The family lives in Huntersville, N.C. ■ Katie Sheffler Bittle and

CHARITABLE GIFT ANNUITIES CAN PROVIDE INCOME FOR LIFE a charitable gift annuity of $10,000 or more to Elon will guarantee you a fixed income for the rest of your life. With market interest rates near historic lows, a gift annuity is an attractive way for you to increase your income and make a gift to Elon at the same time. You will receive immediate tax benefits and can defer capital gains. The payment rate of a charitable gift annuity depends on your age at the time of the gift – the older you are, the higher the rate.

rates as of january ,  ONE BENEFICIARY

T WO BENEFICIARIE S

AG E

ANNUIT Y R ATE

AG E

ANNUIT Y R ATE

60 65 70

4.4% 4.7% 5.1%

60/65 67/67 71/73

4.0% 4.4% 4.7%

Annuity rates are subject to change. The annuity rate remains ﬁxed once your gift is made.

To calculate a gift annuity for you, your spouse or a family member, visit elon.plannedgiving.org.

Talk with us today about how you may benefit from a life income gift to Elon and other gift planning opportunities. please contact: Carolyn DeFrancesco, Director of Planned Giving (336) 278-7454 • cdefrancesco@elon.edu • elon.plannedgiving.org

summer 2012 31

CLASS NOTES

Devaughn Bittle welcomed a daughter, Olivia Ann, on 5/14/11. Katie is a second-grade teacher at Middletown Primary School in Frederick County, Md.

Suzanne Silvestro Stevenson ’96, Robbie Stevenson, & children Jacob, Joshua & Ryan

Janell Snyder Fisher ’03 & daughter Holland

Lisa Roark Scotto ’98, Joe Scotto, & children Thomas & Claire

Cory Yankush Wilharm ’03 & Dustin Wilharm

Stephanie Kearns Kepplinger ’04, Keith Kepplinger & children

Julie Faulk Grooms ’04 & Billy Grooms

Laura Wright Casey ’04 & Michael Casey

Emily Tucker Barzee ’02, Scott Barzee & son Braxton

Todd Harra ’04, Melissa Harra & daughter Brooke

Stan Smith ’05, Katie Smith & daughter Lola



Janell Snyder Fisher and



Brian Baute {MBA} has

Shaun Fisher welcomed a daughter, Holland Maria, on 6/24/11. The family lives in Marietta, Pa. ■ Michael C. McQuarrie became the new athletic director at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Md., this summer. ■ Cory Elizabeth Yankush and Dustin Wilharm were married on 10/8/11 in Asheville, N.C., where they live. Alumni in attendance were Kelsey Wells Zgieb, Beth Hickman ’02 and Megan Elliott LaRoque ’02.

joined Queens University in Charlotte, N.C., as a manager of enterprise application systems. ■ Steven Dennis has joined Lorillard Tobacco as a marketing director. He lives in Greensboro, N.C. ■ Dan Evans was promoted to a supervisory special agent at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., where he will instruct agents working

LIGHTS, CAMERA … Grace McPhillips ’03 is making a movie, and she’s looking for a few good Elon alumni to take part. A graduate of Elon’s music theater program, McPhillips has worked for several years as an actress, writer and producer in Chicago. A short film she produced and starred in, “Fitting,” was featured in a March screening series in Chicago. Now she has embarked on a much larger project. In partnership with a Los Angeles-based screenwriter, McPhillips wrote a feature-length script about the life of Zelda Fitzgerald, the wife of author F. Scott Fitzgerald. Zelda and McPhillips share a hometown of Montgomery, Ala., where McPhillips hopes to shoot the film. Tentatively titled “Beautiful Little Fools,” the story follows lead character Zelda Stone, who moves from Seattle to Montgomery with her husband and discovers she shares a name with one of the town’s most famous natives. In addition to co-writing and producing the film, McPhillips expects to play one of the film’s lead roles. She and her partner, veteran Hollywood producer Bob Hudgins, plan to begin filming in the fall. She’s interested in getting Elon alumni involved in several capacities, from on-screen talent (the script has 76 speaking roles) to production staff and investors. “I love connecting with people I know and trust,” McPhillips says. “I would love Elon people to have a role in this film.” Email grace@sterlingrockproductions.com if you are interested in getting involved.

32 the magazine of elon

to fight cyber crimes. He lives in Arlington, Va. ■ Julie Denise Faulk and Billy Grooms were married on 4/14/12. Julie is a physical therapist with Palmetto Healthcare, and the couple live in Darlington, S.C. ■ Todd Harra and Melissa Harra welcomed a daughter, Brooke Ann, on 3/9/12. Todd is a funeral director for McCrery & Harra Funeral Homes in Wilmington, Del. ■ Stephanie Kearns Kepplinger and Keith Kepplinger welcomed a son, Landon Thomas, on 8/2/11. The family lives in Rolesville, N.C. ■ Sarah Southard Nelson and Brian Nelson ’05 welcomed their first child, Lydia Faye, on 3/30/12. The family lives in Knoxville, Tenn. ■ Renita Leak Webb is the new elementary director/principal for Kestrel Heights School, a public charter school in Durham, N.C. ■ Laura Wright and Michael Casey were married on 10/1/11 in Cape Hatteras, N.C. The couple have lived in Beijing, China, for the past two years. Alumni in attendance were Anna Molaski Lamb ’02 and Katie Batten Page ’02.



Joseph F. Richardson com-



Bre Keenan Bolivar grad-

pleted his MBA from the University of Phoenix in June. He is the director of Mountainside Summer Camp, a division of Bar-T Summer Camps, and lives in Gaithersburg, Md. ■ Stan Smith and Katie Smith welcomed a daughter, Lola Mae, on 1/10/12. Stan is a teacher at Ledford High School, and the family lives in High Point, N.C.

uated with medical and Master of Public Health degrees from Wright State University’s Boonshoft School of Medicine. She and her husband, Omar, will be moving to Asheville, N.C., where she will work as a resident physician in obstetrics and gynecology at the Mountain Area Health Education Center. ■ In April, David C. Douglas received a regional RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting. After spending four years with WISC-TV in Madison, Wis., he left to become a freelance cross-platform journalist based in Chicago. Visit his website at daviddouglas. tv. ■ Melissa Holland Hlinovsky thanks all her fellow Elon alumnae who threw her a baby shower in April. Head women’s tennis coach Elizabeth Anderson, Kelly Fleck,

CLASS NOTES

A NEW WORLDVIEW

{ Beth Roberts ’07 }

BY CAITLIN O’DONNELL ’13

he may have been thousands of miles from home, but Beth Roberts ’07 was surrounded by reminders of the United States – specifically, President Barack Obama. “Malians love Americans, and you can buy anything and everything with Obama on it,” Roberts says. “They think Obama is African, even though I’m always telling them he’s American. You can buy Obama biscuits, cookies, boxer shorts, bags and T-shirts.” For nearly two years, Roberts worked as a small enterprise development volunteer for the Peace Corps in the western African nation of Mali, where the citizens think of the United States primarily in terms of its wealth. “They think all Americans are really rich, have huge cars and big houses,” she says. “Anything we could ever want in life we can get, because we’re in America.” On April 8, a coup d’etat and a rebellion in north Mali forced an evacuation of volunteers, including Roberts. But during her time in the country, Roberts tried to bring a little bit of the American spirit of entrepreneurship to empower the citizens of a small Malian village. She taught English classes at a local high school and led a health and wellness course for women. She also worked closely with a group of women producing shea butter to sell at a local market, teaching them basic math and management skills. “All but one of the women I worked with were illiterate, so we tried to figure out ways they could function as an organization without everyone being able to read and write,” Roberts says. She picked up a local language called Bambara, which allowed her to communicate not only in her daily activities as a volunteer but also in less formal conversations with villagers. “It’s a very social culture, so it was just sitting around, drinking tea and talking about what’s going on in the world,” Roberts says. She also enjoyed the company of fellow Elon alumni Henry Cauley ’10 and Emily Alpert ’10, whom she met during the Peace Corps pre-service training. Both were health education volunteers and primarily worked with local health centers. For about four months, Cauley and Roberts worked together to train volunteers entering the program. “During a time of transition and culture shock, it was nice to know that I already shared a bond with several other members of the group,” Roberts says. “We were going to Mali to represent not only the United States but also Elon together.” Roberts says while she hopes her work positively affected some of the citizens of Mali, she can see the bigger picture. “Members of the Peace Corps the world over will say what you have to get used to is not seeing progress, because two years to us seems like a long time, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s a blip of time,” she explains. Yet Roberts says her time in the Peace Corps strengthened her passion for politics and believes some of the strategies

and eﬀorts that are directed at foreign nations can be used to improve quality of life for needy Americans, too. “I think often we’re looking across the ocean, not in our own backyards,” she says. “This experience has inspired me to continue to serve my community in the best way my time, money and talents can be spent.” Now living in Washington, D.C., Roberts says she hopes to apply her experiences from the Peace Corps in a career focused on international issues.

summer 2012

CLASS NOTES

Michelle Mastaler Henson, Catharine Mullen Palmer, Whitney Butcher ’09, Allison Carney ’09, Jennifer Tucci ’09 and Paige Kensrue ’10 were in attendance. ■ Laura K. Mackie has received

her master’s degree from Smith College School for Social Work. She will begin a postgraduate fellowship this fall at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Center for Counseling and Psychological Health. ■ Day Peery and George Palmer were married on 4/30/11 in Charlotte, N.C. Alumni in attendance were Kathryn Atkinson, Scott Christenbury, Stephanie Freeman, Zach Jonas, Erin Lewis,

David C. Douglas ’06

Melissa Holland Hlinovsky ’06 & fellow Elon tennis alumnae

Jill Pniewski, Lindsay Reinhardt, Elizabeth Shandley, Leigh Virtue, Kim Delp ’05, John Menser ’05, Ryan Nicolls ’05, Elliot Cardano ’07, Caity Cummings ’07, Anna Hinson Menser ’07 and Harriet Pharr ’07. ■ Kathleen Searles and John Nickerson were married on

7/23/11 in Asheville, N.C. Alumni in attendance were Amanda Taylor ’05, Kimberly Bari, Ian Bearup, Hayley Gravette, AJ Luce, Bill Primrose, Emily Sears, Tracy Trave and Monica Van Dongen. The couple live in Augusta, Ga., where Kathleen is an assistant professor of political science at Augusta State University and John is an account manager with Arc. ■ Laura Somerville has been named one of Nashville’s Top 30 Under 30 by the local chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The list recognizes individuals who exemplify leadership, professionalism and service. Laura is an account assistant at DVL Public Relations and Advertising and serves as co-president of Elon’s Nashville Alumni Chapter. ■ Christopher B. Sponaugle graduated from Ross University School of Medicine in June. He will serve his residency at Virginia Tech Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, Va.

 Kathleen Searles Nickerson ’06 & John Nickerson ’06

Day Peery Palmer ’06, George Palmer & friends

Tara Sissom ’07, center, with actor Nathan Lane

Jacqueline Spry ’08

Alex Nickodem ’09 & Kristi Townsend Nickodem

34 the magazine of elon

Breanna Hart Raue ’07 & Jason Raue ’07

Laura Sinden Callinan ’08 & Marty Callinan ’08

Ashley Poole McEwen ’09 & Kevin McEwen

Kristin N. Hilgartner ’10

Rachel Eresman is a voca-

tional assessor for Easter Seals Tri-State and will relocate to the North Carolina Triad region soon. ■ Thomas M. Halloran graduated from Georgetown University in May with a Master of Public Policy degree. He will remain in Washington, D.C., as an environmental consultant with David Gardiner & Associates. ■ Breanna Hart and Jason Raue were married on 8/26/11. Liz McConville served as maid of honor. The couple live in Cherry Hill, N.J. ■ Jarrett G. Meadors is now a full partner with Merrill Lynch’s sports and entertainment group in Charlotte, N.C. ■ Tara Sissom appeared in a recent run of Eugene O’Neill’s “The Iceman Cometh” that starred Nathan Lane at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre. Two collages produced by Megan Coyle were accepted into the Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art’s permanent collection. The works, “Mallard Duck” and “Flamingo Dancers,” can be viewed at the museum on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Megan



lives in Alexandria, Va. ■ Kelsey C. Davis received a Master of Education in bilingual/bicultural education and English as a second language from DePaul University. ■ Jake Emerson completed his MBA at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business in May. He works as an assistant vice president in EagleBank’s commercial lending department and lives in Chevy Chase, Md. ■ Joseph R. Mills and Christina Lynnette Reynolds were married on 4/28/12. Joseph is a photographer and Christina is a massage therapist. The couple live in North Redington Beach, Fla. ■ Jennifer Rampal and Matthew McGreevy were married on 4/21/12 in Jekyll Island, Ga. The couple live in Los Angeles, Calif. ■ Rob Saunders has joined Northwestern Mutual Financial Network in Winston-Salem, N.C., as a financial representative. ■ Jeffrey Schointuch and Monica Kobelinski ’10 were married on 6/25/11. Jeffrey works as a business development manager for C.H. Robinson and Monica will begin studies at the University of North Carolina Medical School in the fall. The couple live in Chapel Hill, N.C. ■ Laura Sinden and Marty P. Callinan were married on 3/17/12. Alumni in attendance were Lauren Durr, Andy Fox, Chris Gaudreau, Marissa Hardcastle, Brad Hartland, Sean McCauley, Todd Ruffner and Hillary Stoker. Laura works as a statistician for the Centers for Disease Control and Marty is a stats analyst for ESPN. They live in Atlanta, Ga. ■ Katie Spell received the Southeastern Panhellenic Conference’s New Professional Advisor of the Year Award at its annual conference in Atlanta, Ga. She is the assistant director of fraternity and sorority life at the University of South Carolina, where she earned her master’s degree. ■ Jacqueline Spry graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a master’s degree in social work. She will begin a fellowship for 2012–13 in the Veterans Administration’s Interprofessional Psychosocial Rehabilitation Fellowship. ■ Matthew Thornell graduated with honors from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business with a master’s degree in technology commercialization.

CLASS NOTES

{ Stacey Walters ’92 }

BY THE BOOTSTRAPS BY NATALIE ALLISON ’13

f it’s true that adversity builds character, Stacey Walters ’92 has gotten quite the workout over the past several years. When Stacey graduated with honors from Elon with a degree in biology in 1992, married her high school sweetheart, Roland, a year later and moved to Michigan in 1995 to begin law school, she figured they had left Roland’s family’s dairy farm for good. She never imagined the sharp turns her life would take after that. Toward the end of the couple’s time in Michigan, Roland’s father learned he had cancer. After traveling back to North Carolina frequently to look after the family’s Efland farm, the Walters moved to Roanoke, Va., before settling back down in their home state, taking over the farm after Roland’s father died. But that wasn’t all. In 2008, the Walters welcomed their second child, daughter Shayla, who was born with a heart defect. Five months later, Shayla’s heart stopped for 45 minutes, and she was left with cerebral palsy, cortical vision impairment and conditions requiring her to use a feeding tube. Needing time to care for her daughter, Stacey left her job in insurance defense litigation in Greensboro and took a job that promised more flexibility. But she was laid off just a few

months later and has been unable to find employment since. Meanwhile, Roland had put significant energy toward turning their farm into a viable business. “He had a vision of trying to make the farm sustainable,” Stacey says, which required Roland to learn a way of farming far different from what he’d experienced growing up. “Because it was just Roland (working), we had to gear it toward one man being able to run it on his own.” In 2004, they began feeding their cows grass instead of grain. Then they stopped using chemical treatments Roland’s family had relied on when he was growing up and bought a herd of goats to help manage the weeds. They started offering free-range roaster chickens and eggs and pastured pork and, last summer, they stocked a pond with catfish. Recently, they added produce and planted 500 blueberry bushes with plans to start a “pick-your-own” program that would open to the public next spring. Stacey brought the Earth-friendly spirit to their home, making her own cleaning supplies to eliminate toxic chemicals. Yet the transition to sustainable farming – like seemingly everything else in the Walters’ life – hasn’t gone without struggles

and financial setbacks. In 2007, during a severe drought, the farm’s well went dry and they needed to dig a new one. They later sold more than half their herd to avoid going further into debt to buy hay for the cows they kept. But she and Roland are looking past the setbacks toward possibilities for the future. Stacey says when the farm begins to turn a profit, they would like to start a farm-to-fork restaurant and possibly open a bed and breakfast overlooking a waterfall near the back of their property. Stacey also is looking to reinvigorate her legal career, opening S. Walters Law in Mebane in February. Though she’s currently the firm’s only employee, she’s working hard at spreading the word about her business. “When I can pull myself up by the bootstraps, I know there will be a success story behind it – because I’m not a quitter,” Stacey says. “I feel like all the varied experiences I’ve had throughout my life and at Elon have made me a more wellrounded person.” Visit waltersunlimited.com to learn more about the Walters’ farm and their chemical-free products; swalterslaw.com provides information about Stacey’s law practice.

summer 2012

CLASS NOTES



Alisha Corbin graduated

summa cum laude from the University of Florida in May, earning a Master of Pharmacy with emphasis in forensic DNA and serology. ■ Scott D. Leighty completed his master’s degree in education with a focus on student affairs from N.C. State University. He has joined Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity in Charlotte, N.C., where he will serve as the director of standards and accountability. ■ Katie Mannen graduated from the University of Wyoming College of Law in May. ■ Alex Nickodem and Kristi Townsend were married on 1/21/12. Scott Jones served as best man, and Sean O’Connor and Travis Meeks were groomsmen. The couple live in Greensboro, N.C., where Alex serves as a brand representative for Red Oak Brewery. ■ John E. Planisek is teaching high school choir in Chicago, Ill. In May, he and his show choir performed for an audience that included First Lady Michelle Obama at an

event during the NATO summit.

■

Ashley Poole and Kevin McEwen

were married on 4/21/12. They live in Kingsport, Tenn. ■ Nicole M. Quarles-Thomas’s book, Think Career! The Young Person’s Guide to Career Planning in the Real World, was published in April. She hopes to help teens, young adults and recent high school graduates learn techniques of successful individuals. She lives in Atlanta, Ga. ■ Barron L. Thompson {LAW} and Emily Thompson welcomed a daughter, Ava Annabelle, on 4/14/12. Barron is an attorney in Asheboro, N.C. ■ Chad W. Zimmermann graduated from the Dickinson School of Law at Penn State University in May and plans to sit for the Pennsylvania Bar Examination this summer. Megan Cunningham graduated from Florida State University in April with a master’s degree in French with a concentration in contemporary French and Francophone studies. ■ Lindsay J. Eversole and Joseph A. Simmons were married on 7/9/11 in Chapel Hill, N.C. Alumni participating in the wedding were Christopher Beeson and Amelia



Martin. Lindsay is a fifth-grade

teacher at Elon Elementary School and Joseph is pursuing graduate studies in physics at N.C. State University. The couple live in Mebane, N.C. ■ Kristin N. Hilgartner graduated summa cum laude from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a master’s degree in Spanish. She will begin a doctoral program in Spanish at the University of Virginia this fall. Kristin is the first in her immediate family to complete college, and her younger brother, Joshua Hilgartner, is an Elon Academy scholar who will attend Wake Forest University next year. ■ Makaila McKinley completed a Master of Arts in Teaching degree in child development from the Eliot Pearson Department of Child Development at Tufts University. ■ Barbara McPherson Smith {M.Ed.} has received her National Board Certification in special education, birth through age 21. She lives in Cary, N.C. ■ Katie Strickland and Brian Swift were married on 10/15/11. Alumni in attendance were Kathryn Huffman, Sara Pasquinelli, Brian Fisher, Jana Schibler, Cindy

In Memoriam Lindsay Eversole Simmons ’10, Joseph Simmons ’10 & friends

Katie Strickland Swift ’10, Brian Swift & friends

Class of 2011 alumni at the Rock ‘n’ Roll D.C. Half Marathon

Laura Wylie McDougall ’11 & Scott McDougall ’09

Ashley Ward Brown ’11 & Jonathan Brown

36 the magazine of elon

Brittany Cadwallader Burton ’12 & Philip Burton

Lawrence G. Gordon Sr. ’38, Winston-Salem, N.C. 4/7/12. Silvio W. Caruso ’41, Clinton, N.C. 2/27/12. The Rev. Jesse Howard Cates ’45, Burlington, N.C. 4/1/12. Julia Williams ’45, Green Lake, Wis. 4/27/12. Blanche Hunter Coghill Harper ’48, Acworth, Ga. 5/6/12. George T. Parker ’49, Columbia, S.C. 5/9/12. James N. “Jimmy” Hall ’51, Burlington, N.C. 5/6/12. Henry T. Hoppe III ’52, Charlotte, N.C. 1/19/12. Albert M. Stephens ’53, Washington, N.C. 1/26/11. Rebecca A. “Becky” Bradley Johnson ’55, Greensboro, N.C. 4/30/12. Francis S. “Tony” Stump ’55, Danville, Va. 5/7/12. William B. Barham ’60, Burlington, N.C. 5/3/12. William T. “Bill” Brooks ’60, St. Petersburg, Fla. 4/23/12. Milton C. Grose ’64, Asheboro, N.C. 5/14/12. Charlie H. Strigo ’64, Brevard, N.C. 12/22/11. Larry C. Rayfield ’67, Greensboro, N.C. 4/6/12. The Rev. Dolan A. Talbert ’68, Suffolk, Va. 5/9/12. Daniel “Cecil” Johnson ’70, Raleigh, N.C. 5/16/12. Harold L. Thornton ’73, Mebane, N.C. 5/14/12. Harriet Bolger Payne ’75, Greensboro, N.C. 4/8/12. Bobby L. Goodman ’79, Burlington, N.C. 4/19/12. Tamara Miller Poretsky ’85, Sparks, Md. 2/4/12. Randolph D. “Dolph” Mills III ’98, Henderson, N.C. 4/27/12. Carroll B. “Carey” Scovel ’06, Columbia, S.C. 4/21/12.

CLASS NOTES

{ Kyle Wills ’81 }

THE LIFER BY NATALIE ALLISON ’13

yle Wills ’81 just can’t stay away from Elon athletics. Mere hours after his wedding, Wills found himself at an Elon College football game at Lenoir-Rhyne University – a quick stop before he and his wife, Linda Lloyd Wills ’82, began their honeymoon in the North Carolina mountains. When their only child, Lindsey, was born in 1989, he left the hospital a few hours later to attend an Elon basketball tournament. Some people might think he’s crazy, but Wills just loves what he does. Currently Elon’s senior associate athletic director for business operations – the latest in a string of titles he’s held in Elon’s Department of Athletics – Wills oversees the department’s entire budget. And he hasn’t missed a home football game since 1970. Based on an average of ﬁve home games per season over 41 seasons, that’s well more than 200 games. That doesn’t count playoﬀ

and championship games, which Elon hosted regularly in the 1970s and ’80s. Wills’ streak began at age 12, when his father, Terry, joined Elon as an athletic trainer in 1970. Wills went on to attend Elon for college and, ﬁttingly enough, he roomed in the gym alongside his best friend and former Elon football star Mitch Rippy ’80. They were responsible for shutting down late-night pickup basketball games and locking up the building. “It was awesome,” Wills remembers. “Think about it as a guy would: At 5:30 or 6 p.m., teams ﬁnished practicing, and the gym was packed until 11, when we ran everyone out. I’d shower and change in the locker room, and I could cut the lights back on and shoot basketball by myself if I couldn’t sleep.” Though he’s spent the majority of his life at Elon, Wills says he’s never felt a pull to leave. “It’s never stagnant. I think what keeps a lot of people here is that

Elon is always moving and changing, especially over the past 20 years,” Wills says. He adds that one of the benefits of being part of Elon athletics for so long has been seeing some of the university’s best athletes in their prime. Even more special to him is when one of those stars is the son of a college buddy, such as Scott Riddle ’11, whose father, Jimmy Riddle ’79, was a star in his own right back in the day. “Scott felt like a little bit of a son, because Jimmy and I were so close,” Wills says. “I’d say (Scott) is one of the top five best players I’ve seen in Elon’s history.” In his early years, Wills’ devotion to Elon football was at his own leisure. But now employed at Elon, attending football games has been a welcome part of nearly every position he’s held on staff. “We only have five or six home games a year, so it’s sort of all hands on deck,” he says. “It feels like you need to be there for all those games when you’ve got up to 11,000 people in the stands.” But Wills is always there. And he doesn’t mind.

summer 2012 37

CLASS NOTES

Blanchard, Molly Costigan, Walt Yates, Sarah Vavrek, Lisa Bodine, Lindsay Depow and Jessica Flammer ’09. The couple live in Seattle, Wash. ■ Kimberly Duggins Wiseman has received

a master’s degree in psychology from the University of Wyoming. She lives in Laramie, Wyo. Sean M. Butler was recognized last December as an AllAmerican Flag Football Official by American Collegiate Intramural Sports at its national tournament hosted by the University of West



Help us keep you in touch with your classmates and Elon. If you have moved, send us your new address and telephone number.

Florida. He lives in Flanders, N.J. ■ Daniel W. Higginbotham is one of several alumni who learned under the wing of Bill Webb, associate professor of performing arts. Daniel works with Cirque du Soleil’s “LOVE” in Las Vegas; Paige Carter ’12 is interning with Cirque Du Soleil’s “Ka,” Matt Artigues ’12 is interning with PRG, a production company; and Stuart Richie ’10 is a stage manager for Cirque du Soleil’s “Alegria” traveling show. Bill frequently travels to Las Vegas on business-related trips, Daniel

says, and he always stops by to see how his students are doing. ■ Several members of the Class of 2011 gathered in Washington, D.C., March 17 for the Rock ’n’ Roll USA Half Marathon. Natalie Lampert, Jesse Lee and Erika Pescatore participated in the race, and Riley Beetner, Rachel Perron, Kayla Hicken and Christy Zimmerman attended to cheer on their fellow alums. ■ Ashley Nicole Ward and Jonathan E. Brown were married on 4/7/12. ■ Laura Ann Wylie and Scott MacDougall ’09 were

Turn yourself in!

married on 3/31/12 in Vienna, Va. Laura works as a first-grade teacher for Fairfax County Schools and Scott is a government analyst. They live in Oakton, Va.



Brittany Nicole Cadwallader

and Philip A. Burton were married on 4/14/12 in Lake Wylie, S.C. Brittany manages development and marketing for The Salvation Army of High Point, N.C., where the couple live.

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MAKING A DIFFERENCE

{ David Beahm ’83 }

‘ELON HAS STOLEN MY HEART’ BY JALEH HAGIGH

sk David Beahm ’83 why he gives back to his alma mater, and he’ll give you a simple answer. “If we as alumni don’t step up, who will?” he says. “We have to invest in Elon to move the university forward.” Beahm made an estate gift that in the future will provide scholarship assistance for students in the Department of Performing Arts, where Beahm earned a degree in music. “Elon gave me a foundation and professors who believed in me. Without that, I really and truly believe I wouldn’t be where I am today,” he says. “Elon showed me that I could soar.” Beahm is president of David Beahm

LEARN MORE

Design, one of the nation’s premier event-planning firms, and David Beahm Destinations, which provides upscale travel experiences across the globe. His client list includes plenty of celebrities, but good luck getting Beahm to talk about any of them. He’d rather talk about his love for Elon and the professors who changed his life, including Fletcher Moore ’34, a former dean, longtime music faculty member and a gifted pianist and organist. “He was the first professor who made me realize that I had a voice. I’ll never forget him,” Beahm says. “The music faculty were a family, and they took me under their wings and showed me my potential.”

about how you can make a diﬀerence at Elon by contacting Carolyn DeFrancesco, Director of Planned Giving ■ (336) 278-7454

■

After graduating from Elon, Beahm taught music in his home state of Virginia before pursuing a career in the arts in California and New York. He left the stage in 1998 to launch David Beahm Design. Beahm encourages other alumni to consider placing Elon in their estates. “The process of making this gift was a lot simpler than I thought it would be, and it makes a lot of sense,” he says. “I have to be fiscally responsible to my company now, but I’m not going to miss the money when I’m gone. I want to know that my money is going where it can do the most good. What can I say? Elon has stolen my heart.”

cdefrancesco@elon.edu

■

elon.plannedgiving.org summer 2012 39

COMMENCEMENT  University photographer Kim Walker captured unforgettable moments from Commencement, such as this smile from Ashley Jobe ‘12, pictured at right. Our graduates shared some great ones via Instagram, too. See more from Walker and our newest alumni at elon.edu/magazine.

I look forward to coming back to reunions and being introduced to the loves of your lives. I look forward to being invited to weddings, and I look forward to opening the mail to see the announcements of your ﬁrst-born children. We’re a family now, and that’s what a family does. TAYLOR MARTIN ’, CLASS PRESIDENT

Nonproﬁt Org. U.S. Postage PAID Raleigh, NC Permit  686

Oﬃce of Alumni Engagement PO Box 398 Elon, NC 27244 Toll Free: (877) 784-3566 elon.edu/alumni Change Service Requested

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