VIRES
For Members of The Florida State University Alumni Association
THE CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATIVE
The Moment Saturday, November 21, 2009 1:31 p.m. The Marching Chiefs salute the FSU Alumni Association Centennial Photo by Michelle Edmunds Vires 1
VIRES is the first torch in the university seal and represents strength of all kinds: physical, mental, and moral.
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C o n t e n ts
Departments
Features
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Pioneers
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Connecting Generations
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Q&A Student Alumni The Final Word
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100 Distinguished Graduates
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Reubin Askew leads the parade of Florida State’s all-star graduates
Perfecta! How the class of 1909 spawned a 100 year legacy
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A Home for the Second Century Florida State alumni have a classic and modern place to call home thanks to the vision of Jim Melton
Buried Treasure Class members from the 1950s share their college experience with the Florida State family of 2109
The Year in Review 100 events in our 100th year—a visual diary of the centennial
Fiction from Tabloid Dreams Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Olen Butler bags a winner from the supermarket checkout line
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T h e F l o r i d a S tat e U n i v e r s i t y B o a r d o f T r u st e e s Jim Smith, Chair Harold Knowles, Vice Chair Derrick Brooks Susie Busch-Transou Emily Fleming Duda David B. Ford Manny Garcia Wm. Andrew Haggard Robert J. Jakubik James E. Kinsey, Jr. Richard McFarlain Leslie Pantín, Jr. Eric C. Walker
VIRES
F o r m e m b e r s o f T h e F l o r i d a S tat e U n i v e r s i t y A l u m n i A s s o c i at i o n The Florida State University Alumni Association 1030 West Tennessee Street Tallahassee, FL 32304 850.644.2761 | alumni.fsu.edu Editor: Scott Atwell President and CEO Assistant Editors: Allison Helms Tara Stalnaker Designer: Jessica Rosenthal Contributors: Robert Olen Butler Jill Elish Jeffrey Seay Robin Sellers Bayard Stern The Alumni Association would like to extend a special thank you to the FSU Photo Lab, Ray Stanyard and others for allowing us to use your photographs in the magazine.
Scott Atwell President and CEO FSU Alumni Association
100 Words on 100 Distinguished Graduates The occasion of our centennial celebration provided the opportunity for all things 100, including the list of distinguished graduates that unfolds on the following pages. I am certain you will lose a button or two marveling at the impact these alumni have made on our state, nation, and world. We are privileged to call them Seminoles. Still, the graduates not included in this list are every bit as extraordinary. With more than 280,000 alumni worldwide, such a poll can only scratch the surface. I am hopeful this list will be received as it was intended—in a spirit of pride. To join an online discussion on this topic, visit alumni.fsu.edu
On the cover: Today, this view down College Avenue is anchored by the Westcott Building, but at the turn of the 20th century the dirt road ended at College Hall (postcard at left). When our Alumnae Association was founded in 1909, College Hall had been razed and the Westcott Building was under construction.
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100 D i s t i n g u i s h e d G r a d u at e s
DISTINGUISHED GRADUATES There’s a pair of astronauts, three Florida Supreme Court justices, a couple of governors, five university presidents, four Rhodes Scholars, three Pulitzer Prize winners, and 16 athletes, including a pair of Heisman Trophy winners. And that’s only a third of the list. One hundred names in all, woven together with two threads of commonality: they are graduates of The Florida State University who have distinguished themselves in their lives and careers. The names on the following pages are presented alphabetically, but they made their way to the list by allocation of points from a diverse group of judges, each of whom expressed a measure of difficulty in their task. “It’s the hardest thing I’ve done,” says American University Professor Emeritus Laird Anderson, who knows a thing or two about making tough choices. “I edited a book on the best Pulitzer Prizewinning editorials in history, and that was a lot easier than choosing this list.” Like his fellow judges, Anderson could have easily made the list himself. A former ODK Grad Made Good, he traveled the world as a journalist and is considered one of the foremost authorities on the American newspaper industry. As difficult as it was to settle on a list of 100, there was little argument over number one, where former Florida Governor Reubin Askew rose to the top of the polls, again. Vires 7
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Still the One F o r m e r G o v e r n o r R e ub i n A s k e w w i n s a n o t h e r a m o n g d i s t i n g u i s h e d F l o r i d a S tat e g r a d u at e s As student government president, Reubin Askew famously lobbied Dean of Women Katherine Warren to allow coeds to stay out until midnight on weekends. Nobody messed with the tough-as-nails Warren, and Askew’s success in the matter was both legendary and telling. After law school, Askew landed a job as field officer at the Florida State Alumni Association, with a travel schedule that allowed him to lay the foundation for a future statewide political run. Askew served a dozen years in the Florida Legislature, and in 1970, won the first of two terms as Florida governor, where he championed sweeping disclosure laws and restored the people’s faith in government. He won historic battles over reapportionment, school busing, and corporate taxation; delivered the keynote address at the 1972 Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach; and was lauded by Harvard University as one of America’s most effective governors of the 20th century. Askew served in Jimmy Carter’s cabinet as U.S. Trade Ambassador and eventually made his own run at the presidency. After political life, he settled into his true love, teaching public administration at Florida’s ten major public universities. Academic programs at both Florida State and the University of Florida bare his name. In 1988, more than a decade before the millennium, the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges selected Askew as Florida State’s Most Outstanding Alumnus of the century. It’s fitting the title continues to hold up into the 21st century.
As an Alumni Association field officer, Askew’s most important connection came on a trip to Miami, where he met fellow grad Donna Lou Harper ‘55. They’ve been married 53 years. 8 Vires
p o l l , as t h e to p vot e - g e t t e r
100 D i s t i n g u i s h e d G r a d u at e s Larry Abele (B.S., biology 1968; M.S. 1970): provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs at The Florida State University; expert in the biology of crustaceans; former dean of the Florida State College of Arts and Sciences and chairman of the biological sciences department Caroline Alexander (B.A., classics 1976): winner of Florida State’s first Rhodes Scholarship in 1976 and a distinguished American author whose books include “The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty” James Ammons (M.S., public administration 1975; Ph.D., government 1977): president of Florida A&M University and former chancellor of North Carolina State University Reubin Askew (B.S., social sciences 1951): former governor of Florida, member of the Florida Senate, U.S. Trade Representative, and former candidate for president of the United States Jim Bacchus (J.D. 1978): former member of the U.S. House of Representatives and a former chairman of the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization Kenneth B. Bell (J.D. 1982): former associate justice of the Florida Supreme Court Michael Berenbaum (Ph.D., religion 1975): scholar, professor, rabbi, writer, and film-maker who specializes in the study of the memorialization of the Holocaust; founding director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Sara Blakely (B.S., communication 1993): philanthropist, entrepreneur, and inventor of “Spanx” undergarments Philip G. Boggs (B.S., mathematics 1971): diver who won the gold medal in the springboard event at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada Jesse Earle Bowden (B.S., journalism 1951): editor emeritus of the Pensacola News Journal; author, historian, and preservationist Allen Boyd (B.S., accounting 1969): U.S. Rep. from Florida and member of the House Armed Services Committee Derrick Brooks (B.S., communication 1994; M.S. 1999): member of the Florida State Board of Trustees; former NFL Man of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and 11-time pro bowler as a linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Norma E. Brown (B.S., physical education 1949): Air Force Maj. Gen. and Air Wing commander of the 6940th Security Wing Mack Brown (B.S., education 1974): college football coach who led the University of Texas to the 2005 National Championship Raoul G.Cantero III (B.A., English 1982): Florida lawyer and former justice of the Florida Supreme Court; grandson of Cuban president and military ruler Fulgencio Batista, who was overthrown in 1959 by Fidel Castro Archie F. Carr III (B.S., biology 1967): American biologist instrumental in establishing the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary in Belize; son of Archie Carr, famous naturalist Rita Coolidge (B.A. 1967): vocalist and winner of multiple Grammy Awards, scoring hits on Billboard's Pop, Country, Adult Contemporary, and Jazz charts Lee Corso (B.S., physical education 1957; M.S., administration 1958): former head football coach at Indiana University; sports broadcaster and football analyst for ESPN Vires 9
10 0 D i s t i n g u i s h e d G r a d u at e s Maxwell Courtney (B.A., mathematics 1965): first African American graduate of The Florida State University Dave Cowens (B.A., criminology 1971): retired professional basketball player and NBA head coach; 1973 NBA Most Valuable Player and MVP of that year’s NBA All-Star game; member of the Basketball Hall of Fame Charlie Crist (B.S., political science 1978): current governor of Florida and a former Florida attorney general, Florida secretary of education, and member of the Florida Senate Meg Crofton (B.S., marketing 1974; M.B.A., finance 1975): president of the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida Thomas M. Culligan (B.A., political science 1973; M.P.A., 1977): executive vice president of Business Development for Raytheon Company and CEO of Raytheon International, which specializes in defense and homeland security Ruby Diamond (B.S., chemistry 1905): one of the university’s most revered alumni and benefactors; namesake of auditorium in the Westcott Administration Building Daniel Dillon (B.S., business 1965; M.B.A., 1967): retired CEO of Welch’s who engineered growth in company revenue from $200 million to $600 million over his 23-year career; member of Florida State College of Business Hall of Fame Walter Dix (B.S., social sciences 2008): NCAA track champion who helped lead Florida State to three NCAA titles; winner of two bronze medals in track and field at the 2008 Beijing Olympics Warrick Dunn (B.S., information studies 1997): three-time pro bowl running back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons; established the Warrick Dunn Foundation and received the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award in 2004 Hugh Durham (B.S., marketing 1959; M.S., commerce 1961): former Florida State basketball player and coach who led the Seminoles to the NCAA finals in 1972; all-time winningest coach at three different Division I schools, an NCAA record Martin Dyckman (B.A., American studies 1957): columnist and editorial writer at the St. Petersburg Times for nearly a half century; 1984 winner of the Florida Bar Foundation Medal of Honor in recognition of his investigative reporting Sylvia Earle (B.S., marine science 1955): National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence; former chief scientist for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; famous deep-diving pioneer, author, and conservationist Mostafa El-Sayed (Ph.D., chemistry 1959): current Julius Brown Chair and Regents Professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Georgia Institute of Technology; member of the National Academy of Sciences and recipient of the National Medal of Science in 2007 Daisy Parker Flory (B.A., history 1937): trailblazing former dean of faculties at Florida State Neil Frank (M.S., meteorology 1959; Ph.D. 1970): former director of the National Hurricane Center Davis Gaines (B.A., theatre and art history 1976): Broadway performer best known for his lead role in The Phantom of the Opera Jay Garner (B.S., history 1962): retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. selected to lead the post-war reconstruction efforts in Iraq following the 2003 invasion
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100 D i s t i n g u i s h e d G r a d u at e s Robert S. (Bud) Grace (B.S., mathematics 1965; Ph.D., physics 1971): syndicated cartoonist for the award-winning strip Ernie, later renamed The Piranha Club Kay Hagan (B.S., American studies 1975): lawyer and U.S. Senator from North Carolina Franklin L. Hagenbeck (M.S., education 1978): Army Lt. Gen. and superintendent (president) of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point Winfield Scott Harpe (B.S., economics 1959): former Maj. Gen. in the U.S. Air Force and former deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Air Force Headquarters Raymond G. Hemann (B.S., geology 1957): defense/aerospace executive and government defense/intelligence consultant Kitty Hoffman (B.S., chemistry 1936; honorary doctorate, 2007): established the first Florida State College for Women alumni chapter outside of Florida; former dean of women, Faculty Senate president, and longtime chemistry professor at Florida State; namesake of the Katherine B. Hoffman Teaching Laboratory Gordon S. Holder (B.S., music education 1968): retired vice admiral in the U.S. Navy; senior vice president for Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., a leading strategy and technology consulting firm Robert A. Holton (M.S., chemistry 1970; Ph.D. 1971): chemistry professor at Florida State and inventor of the semi-synthesis process for making Taxol, an important anti-cancer drug; founder of the MDS Research Foundation, which is devoted to advancing basic research and medical applications of molecular design and synthesis Dick Howser (B.S., physical education 1958): former American Major League Baseball shortstop; former baseball coach for the Kansas City Royals, New York Yankees, and Florida State; manager of the 1985 World Series champion Kansas City Royals Marvalene Hughes (Ph.D., education 1969): president of Dillard University; former president of the University of California-Stanislaus Jim Joanos (B.S., social sciences 1956): retired appellate judge from the Florida first district; past president of the FSU Alumni Association Betty Lou Joanos (B.S., human sciences 1957; Ph.D., education 1985): retired educator and former associate director of the FSU Alumni Association; President-elect, Emeritus Alumni Society Garrett Johnson (B.S., political science and literature 2005): Rhodes Scholar and NCAA shot put national champion in 2006 Manuel H. Johnson (M.S., economics 1975; Ph.D. 1977): former vice chairman of the Board of Governors for the Federal Reserve System William A. Kerr (M.A., American studies 1973; Ph.D., history 1975): clergyman in the Catholic Church who was granted the title of Monsignor; a leading human rights figure and executive director of the Claude Pepper Center; former president of La Roche College Nancy Kulp (B.A., journalism 1943): american actress best known as “Miss Jane Hathaway� on the popular television series The Beverly Hillbillies John Marks (B.S., business administration 1969; J.D., 1972): mayor of Tallahassee and former chairman of the Florida Public Service Commission Doug Marlette (B.S., philosophy 1971): Pulitzer Prize-winning, syndicated cartoonist and novelist who wrote The Bridge and Magic Time Vires 11
10 0 D i s t i n g u i s h e d G r a d u at e s Mike D. Martin (B.S., education 1966): head baseball coach at Florida State; one of only four baseball coaches in NCAA history to win 1,500 games at the Division I level; member of the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the Florida Sports Hall of Fame Mel Martinez (B.A., international affairs 1969; J.D., 1973): former U.S. Senator from Florida, chairman of the Republican Party, and U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development James L. Massey (B.S., finance 1965): president and CEO of Salomon Brothers Marjorie S. Matthews (M.A., religion 1971; Ph.D., humanities 1976): first woman bishop of United Methodist Church Max Mayfield (M.S., meteorology 1987): former director of the National Hurricane Center; chairman of the World Meteorological Organization’s Regional Association-IV, which supports 26 members from Atlantic and Eastern Pacific countries Andy Miller (B.S., marketing 1973): visionary chairman of Seminole Boosters, Inc. who spearheaded development of the University Center Paul D. Miller (B.S., finance 1963): retired admiral in the U.S. Navy; former commander in chief of the U.S. Atlantic Command; former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic; retired chair of Alliant Techsystems Inc., an aerospace and defense company Kenneth A. Minihan (B.A., arts and sciences 1966): U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. and former director of the National Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency Katie Montgomery (B.A., education 1918): physical education faculty chair at the Florida State College for Women and namesake of the institution’s first gymnasium Beth Moor (B.S., home economics and mathematics 1918; honorary doctorate, 1983): former president of the Florida State College for Women Alumnae Association who played a vital role in procuring the school’s first alumnae building DeVoe Moore (honorary doctorate of humane letters, 2005): philanthropist who endowed an academic Center in the FSU College of Social Sciences dedicated to increasing knowledge and public understanding about the role of government in a market economy Herbert Morgan (B.A., arts and sciences 1962, honorary doctorate of humane letters, 2003): influential leader in the Florida Legislature from 1974-1986 and recipient of FSU’s rare Westcott Medal Jane Srygley Mouton (M.S., psychology 1951): famous scholar and management theorist who co-developed the Managerial Grid, a model that measures leadership behavior; co-founder of Grid International, Inc. (formerly Scientific Methods, Inc.) and Grid Organization Development, LLC Mary Lou Norwood (B.A., English 1947, honorary doctorate, 2007): goodwill ambassador who led efforts to preserve FSU history through publications and funding of Heritage Protocol; catalyst for construction of Heritage Tower Fountain near University Center Joe O’Shea (B.S., philosophy and social sciences 2008): 2007 Rhodes Scholar and Truman Scholar; former Florida State student body president who helped launch the TRUE Seminole campaign Kathleen Connor Parker (B.A., Spanish 1973; M.A., Spanish 1976): Washington Post Group syndicated newspaper columnist and staff writer for the Orlando Sentinel; 2008 Grad Made Good
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100 D i s t i n g u i s h e d G r a d u at e s Thomas Franklin Petway III (B.S., business 1962): chairman and CEO of Zurich Insurance Services, Inc., a national insurance marketing and administrative services company; served on the Florida Board of Regents; partner in the Jacksonville Jaguars; former chairman of the Florida State Foundation board of directors Orrin Pilkey (Ph.D., geology 1962): famous geologist and professor emeritus at Duke University William L. Proctor (B.S., education 1956; M.S., 1964; Ph.D., 1968): Florida House Representative; former president of Flagler College Thomas S. Ray (B.S., biology 1976): ecologist who created and developed the Tierra project, a computer simulation of artificial life; professor of zoology and adjunct professor of computer science at the University of Oklahoma Burt Reynolds (honorary doctorate of humane letters, 1981): film and television actor who reigned as America’s top box office attraction in the 1970s; winner of Golden Globe and Emmy Awards for his work on the TV series Evening Shade; has appeared in over 90 feature films including Boogie Nights, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award; endowed FSU’s first eminent scholar chair Marcus Roberts (B.A., music 2004): jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and recording artist committed to celebrating classic standards and jazz traditions; assistant professor of jazz studies in the music program at Florida State Diane Roberts (B.A., English 1979; M.A., creative writing 1980): professor of creative non-fiction and Southern literature at Florida State; author, journalist, and commentator for National Public Radio C. Paul Robinson (Ph.D., physics 1967): former director of Sandia National Laboratories which develop science-based technologies to support national security Gary L. Rogers (B.A., marketing 1966): former vice chairman and CEO of General Electric Company Myron Rolle (B.S., exercise science 2008): 2008 Rhodes Scholar and former safety for the Florida State football team Ion Sancho (J.D., 1987): supervisor of elections for Leon County in Florida Winston E. Scott (B.A, music education 1972): retired U.S. Navy captain and former NASA astronaut who flew on two space shuttle missions; former vice president and associate dean of Student Affairs at Florida State Jeff Shaara (B.S., criminology 1974): novelist and son of Michael Shaara, a former Florida State English professor and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Jim Smith (B.A., political science 1973): former Florida Attorney General and Secretary of State; Chairman of The Florida State University Board of Trustees Jayne Standley (B.M., music therapy 1966; M.M., 1969; Ph.D., mental disabilities, 1976): Robert O. Lawton Professor of Music at FSU and chair of the music therapy program; cutting-edge researcher whose specialty lies in music therapy for premature infants; former president of the Faculty Senate at Florida State Alan C. Sundberg (B.S., political science 1955): former chief justice for the Florida Supreme Court
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10 0 D i s t i n g u i s h e d G r a d u at e s R. Eugene Taylor (B.S., finance 1969): former president and vice chairman of Bank of America Norm Thagard (B.S, engineering 1965; M.S., engineering 1966): engineer, medical doctor and U.S. Marine pilot who became a NASA astronaut and made five trips into space; first American launched in a Russian vehicle and cosmonaut on 115-day mission to MIR Space Station; associate dean of the FAMU/FSU College of Engineering Mark Thiemens, Ph.D. (Ph.D., oceanography 1977): distinguished astrophysicist and dean of physical sciences at the University of California-San Diego; internationally acclaimed for his research, teaching achievements, and active programs in cosmochemistry, atmospheric science, oceanography, and geology; member of the National Academy of Sciences J.T. Thomas (B.S., business 1973): first black student athlete to letter in football and graduate from FSU; won four Super Bowls as part of Pittsburgh Steelers famed “steel curtain” defense Hansel E. Tookes II (B.S., physics 1969): former president and CEO of Raytheon International, a leading defense and aerospace systems supplier James Towey (B.S., accounting 1978; J.D., 1981): former director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives; current president of Saint Vincent College Robert Urich (B.A., radio & television communications 1968): actor noted for his starring role in the television series Spenser: For Hire (1985–1988) and Vega$ (1978–1981) Charlie Ward (B.S., education 1993): Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback who helped lead Florida State to its first-ever national championship in football in 1993; former point guard for the New York Knicks (1994-2004), San Antonio Spurs (2004), and Houston Rockets (2004-2005); former assistant coach for the Houston Rockets David Ward-Steinman (B.M., music composition 1957): composer and music professor Chris Weinke (B.S., education 2000): winner of the 2000 Heisman Trophy as a quarterback at Florida State; helped lead Florida State to its second national championship in football in 1999; former quarterback for the Carolina Panthers (2001-2006) and San Francisco 49ers (2007) T.K. Wetherell, Ph.D. (B.S., education 1967; M.S., 1968; Ph.D., 1974): president of The Florida State University; former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives; former president of Tallahassee Community College Bailey White (B.A., English 2002): author and regular radio commentator for the National Public Radio program All Things Considered Mark S. Wrighton (B.S., chemistry, 1969): current chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri; former provost of Massachusetts Institute of Technology Jawole Willa Jo Zollar (M.F.A., dance 1979): founder and choreographer for Urban Bush Women, a non-profit dance company dedicated to exploring the cultural influences of the African Diaspora Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (B.M., music 1960; M.M., 1962): first female composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music; former composer-in-residence at Carnegie Hall
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The Selection Committee The selection committee was composed of alumni of The Florida State University who worked independently of each other to formulate individual lists of 100 Distinguished Graduates. The lists were then aggregated to form a final compilation. Here, the judges are given the opportunity for one “make good.” Laird Anderson Professor Emeritus of Journalism, American University I wish the list included: Florence Ashby (B.A., music education/mathematics 1957): Professor Emerita Montgomery College and former systems analyst with IBM, working on the Tiros Weather Satellite launch program at Goddard Space Flight Center Gerald Ensley Senior Writer, Tallahassee Democrat I wish the list included: “Radical” Jack Lieberman, an ineligible alumnus who did not complete his FSU degree. But, says Ensley, “From leading endless political demonstrations to teaching his infamous course, ‘How To Make Revolution In The USA,’ Jack embodied the freedom, energy and intellectual exploration of the college experience.” Laymon Hicks Former Student Government President I wish the list included: Scott Speicher (B.S., business 1980): U.S. Navy pilot that was the first American casualty of the 1991 war with Iraq Lee Hinkle Vice President for University Relations and Advancement I wish the list included: Jim Seneff (B.S., business 1973): chairman and chief executive officer of CNL Financial Group, a global investment company with more than $23 billion in assets Jim Melton Former Alumni Association President Melton did not make an addition to the list, saying it was “perfect.” Mike Pate Former Publisher, Tallahassee Democrat I wish the list included: Cliff Madsen (Ph.D., music 1961): Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor at The Florida State University and one of the most renowned music educators in the country Jeffrey Seay Editor, FSTimes I wish the list included: William G. Smith (B.S., business 1976): chair, president, and chief executive officer of Capital City Bank Group, Inc. and chairman of the board of Capital City Bank; chairman of FSU Foundation Board and former chair of Seminole Boosters, Inc. Jayne Standley Past Faculty Senate President I wish the list included: Cliff Madsen (Ph.D., music 1961): Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor at The Florida State University and one of the most renowned music educators in the country Frank Stephenson Editor, Research in Review I wish the list included: Ron Numbers (M.A., history 1965): philosopher of science and medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison; prolific author; considered the foremost world expert on the creationist movement in the U.S. Vires 15
Perfecta! How The Class of 1909 Spawned a 100 Year Legacy By Robin Sellers, Ph.D.
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Ode
to t h e a lu m n a e
C h a s t e b e t h e s ta r t h at s m i l e d u p o n o u r b i r t h , Calm be the sea whose freighted bosom bears Ou r lau n c hed bark. Who knows b e fore the worth Or import of a plan? Who sees the end, A n d s e t t i n g o u t c a n t e l l t h e fu t u r e t r e n d , O r c h a r t t h e u n k n o w n v o ya g e d o w n t h e y e a r s .
On November 10, 1952, Effie Doane Pettit penned a letter to the secretary of The Florida State University Alumni Association. The secretary was accustomed to receiving letters from graduates of the university, but this missive was different. Effie Pettit had attended Florida State College for Women (FSCW), the forerunner of the university, and had been a member of FSCW’s first graduating class in 1909. In her letter to her alma mater, Pettit noted that her diploma read “Florida Female College,” but “Florida State College for Women” had issued the invitation to her commencement exercises. That same year (1909) the College issued diplomas to 60 women who had graduated from state schools prior to 1906. But the comment that most interested the secretary was, “our graduation date is the same as the Alumnae Association’s birthday date – 1909.” During the 1909-1910 school year, members of the Class of 1909 and earlier graduates actively supported a permanent FSCW Alumnae Association. Any graduate of the College could join the Association; annual dues were $1, and life memberships were $10. Former students of the College who did not receive a degree but who completed at least one year in the
“academic department” were permitted to join as associate members after the class with which they entered had graduated. Students seeking a masters degree could be honorary members, and all faculty were considered honorary members entitled to social and open meetings of the Association. The Association encouraged graduating seniors to attend its annual meeting held at the College during Commencement Week. Three women who graduated prior to 1909 and had been “grandfathered in” as alumnae served as presidents during the formative years of the Association. Bessie Damon, Class of 1905, was the 1908-1909 president, but no record of the activities during her tenure exists. Alice Cordes, nee Corbett, Class of 1906, was president from 1909-1911. During her time in office, the membership voted to give a scholarship to a Florida student. It took some time to build the fund, however, and the first scholarship was not awarded until the fall of 1912. Once awarded, a scholarship could be held until graduation. Ruth Reynolds, Class of 1908 and 1912, presided over the Association from 1911-1913. During her tenure, the Association finally found its footing and began to fulfill its stated objective “to promote fellowship among the Alumnae, to further the well-being of the
This page: Effie Doane Pettit returns to FSU for her 50th class reunion in 1959. Opposite page: Oldest existing minutes from the FSCW Alumnae Association. Vires 17
Print from the 1915 Flastacowo, the FSCW yearbook.
College, and to cooperate in its work.” Reynolds faced several challenges: the Association’s original constitution had been misplaced, and the minutes of the 1911, 1912, and 1914 meetings were never turned over to incoming secretaries. She appointed a committee to draft a new constitution, but the fate of both the old and new constitution and the proceedings of the three meetings are unknown. The identity of the early scholarship holders remains a mystery as well.
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Raising funds for scholarships quickly became a cornerstone of the Association’s raison d’etre. During the spring of 1913, College president Edward Conradi and College business manager J. G. Kellum made personal contributions to the scholarship fund. Members of the Florida Legislature presented the proceeds of their annual House-Senate baseball game to the fund that same year. The Association also sponsored “entertainments” and teas for both College residents and local Tallahasseeans for a number of years in order to supplement the funds. In April of 1915, a Shakespearean pageant netted $56.50. A tea and musicale at the Leon Hotel and a “movingpicture” benefit at the Daffin Theater in the spring of 1917 added almost $70 to the account. In 1919, the Association finally gained enough funds to increase the original scholarship amount to $150 per year, $85 of which was to be a loan and an additional $50 loan (soon increased to $100) was also introduced. One decade later, the scholarship fund had increased to $4,200. During the 1920s, various graduating classes and several alumnae established scholarship funds in specific categories. Eventually, College administrators took over the management of scholarships and loans. Between its inception in 1909 and the laying of the cornerstone for the Student-Alumnae Union in 1939, the Alumnae Association held meetings in any available space on campus. That space was often located in Bryan Hall or the Westcott Building, then known as the Administration Building, but never a room, much less an entire building was dedicated specifically to student and alumnae activities. Faculty and students alike recognized the need for a permanent gathering place early on, but the campus was small and money hard to come by. That did not, however, deter early attempts to make such a space a reality. Throughout the 1920s, various graduating classes donated funds for the eventual construction of a student activity building. In 1930, the “Silver Jubilee”
Class presented the Alumnae Association with a comfortably furnished room on the second floor of the Administration Building. At last, the Association had a “permanent” home where returning alumnae could be welcomed. Funds for a student-alumnae building accumulated slowly but steadily. During the 1930s, the Association put aside several hundred dollars each year “toward the possibility of securing the student activities building.” Late in 1937, Beth Walton Moor, the newly elected alumnae president and a Tallahassee resident, proposed a serious investigation into the cost of such a building (estimated at a minimum of $250,000) and the possibility of the Alumnae Association employing a professional fundraising company to assist them. The idea failed to gain acceptance with members. The Association continued to explore other means of acquiring the sum needed to purchase the building. With the country suffering through the Depression, FSCW business manager J. G. Kellum applied for New Deal funding for campus construction and renovation, including a student activities building. In the spring of 1938, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) authorized a substantial portion of the necessary funds – $96,904. The College also provided $65,675 and materials, such as tile and pipes that were already on hand. Eventually, the Association secured another $8,000 for furnishing the building – furniture, rugs, draperies, landscaping, etc. With some money in place, Board of Control architect Rudolph Weaver went to work on the plans. Formal ground-breaking ceremonies for the building took place on May 4, 1938. The long-awaited building was collegiate Gothic in style, four stories high, and constructed of reinforced concrete and brick with a tile roof. Its main entrance faced west, towards Jennie Murphree Hall. The ground floor contained a lounge and locker room for day students, a supervisor’s office, storage rooms, offices for the Florida Flambeau (campus newspaper), and a utility room. The basement eventually housed the “Soda Shop,” a
College business manager J.G. Kellum (above). Contribution letter from Flastacowo, the FSCW yearbook (left). Vires 19
Longmire was being dedicated even before it opened in 1940.
20 Vires
popular campus meeting place where students could get cold drinks and ice cream. Others floors provided office space for the Alumnae Association, College Government Association, YWCA, and College publications such as the Flastacowo (College annual) and Distaff (campus magazine). Eight bedrooms on the third floor accommodated visiting graduates and distinguished guests. The top floor consisted of conference and club rooms. Work on the building progressed rapidly. At a time of economic distress in the country, this campus project furnished employment for more than 200 workmen over a nine-month period. The cornerstone was laid on May 5, 1939, a year
and a day after ground was broken. It contained a 1938 FSCW catalogue, a report of the 1935 Phi Beta Kappa installation at FSCW, copies of the local newspaper, the campus newspaper, the campus magazine, and a photograph of Rowena Longmire.
A graduate of George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, Longmire came to Tallahassee in 1906 to live with her sister Rosa and brother-in-law Arthur Williams. Arthur “Pi” Williams taught history at Florida State College for Women; Miss Longmire joined the College
student activity building, Longmire died at her home on College Avenue. The campus truly mourned her passing. No FSCW building had ever been named for a faculty member, but when the time came to name the new student-alumnae activity
faculty as an English instructor. During her tenure at FSCW, the College gave her an honorary M.A., and she attended the University of Chicago, from which she received bachelor’s and master’s degrees. She was also one of the most popular teachers on campus. Longmire showed an enthusiasm for and commitment to the Alumnae Association from its inception. Between 1909 and her death in 1938, she served as the Association’s president (1916-1918), chairman of the Social and Entertainment Committees, chairman of the Faculty Committee on Cooperation with the Alumnae, chairman of the Executive Board, a member of the Board of Directors, and in any other capacity in which she could benefit the organization. In 1920, the Association granted her a life membership as an expression of appreciation “for her untiring efforts on behalf of the Association.” In 1929, the alumnae voted to name the Association’s original scholarship after her. Sadly, not long after construction had begun on the
building, the building committee agreed that the new structure would be called “The Rowena Longmire Student-Alumnae Union.” Thus, the Longmire Building became the first structure on campus named for a faculty member. A commemorative plaque bearing Rowena Longmire’s name was mounted on the building in the main entryway. The building formally opened on May 4, 1940 – two years and $208,279.68 after its inception. The 1940 Flastacowo dedicated the edifice to Longmire and celebrated its completion as “the final unity of students who were, are, and will be . . . a symbol of ageless devotion to (their) alma mater.”
President Edward Conradi (below) dedicates the building in memory of Rowena Longmire (center). One of the Association’s earliest bulletins bears the signature of Rowena Longmire (below left).
Vires 21
Bet h M oor
of The Florida State University Alumni Association
B
Beth Moor never held a paying job with the Alumni Association, but few people have worked harder on its behalf. She ascended to the volunteer role of alumnae president in 1937 and, despite economic hardships strewn in the wake of the Great Depression, became the guiding force behind the nation’s first publicly financed alumni building. In 1983, the university awarded her an honorary doctorate of humane letters.
Beth Walton of Pensacola always seemed to be working ahead of the curve. She started first grade at age four and along the way to graduation from high school was able to exempt two years’ worth of classes. In 1918, a year ahead of schedule, she graduated from the Florida State College for Women with a double degree in home economics and mathematics. After she and Frank Moor married, they moved to Tallahassee in 1924. By the mid-thirties, Moor had become convinced that a student alumnae building was desperately necessary, so she set out on a volunteer task to make it happen. She wrote to 24 universities which already had such buildings, collecting information in an effort to learn from their experiences. She also met with campus organizations to see how they might utilize
the building and assisted in the development of floor plans with the state Board of Control. Determination was a hallmark of Moor’s Alumnae Association presidency, a role she reprised for the 1939-1940 term. When Governor Fred Cone vetoed a bill that would have provided funds for the purchase of furniture for the new alumnae building, Moor started a fund-raising campaign. In commemoration of Moor’s efforts, the first floor lounge of the Longmire Building was named in her honor. Those who knew Moor considered the Alumnae Union to be her home and accorded her ultimate respect: for years, a piece of furniture would not be moved in Longmire without first consulting the building’s matriarch, the woman who had the vision and perseverance to make the building a reality.
Former President Bernie Sliger (above) escorts Beth Moor on the occasion of her 1983 honorary doctorate ceremony in Opperman Music Hall.
Vires 23
M il d r ed Pa r r ish
B
Back when Kuersteiner was a dean and not a building, Mildred Parrish said she was the first director of The Florida State University Alumni Association. Reporting directly to President Doak S. Campbell, Parrish forged an alumni association where practically none existed, wearing many hats to keep the institutions’ early graduates in touch with their alma mater, and promote its new status as a coeducational research university.
Men were welcomed into a new “Alumni” Association under Mildred Parrish. 24 Vires
As she reached out to the alumnae of Florida State College for Women and future FSU students still in high school, Parrish was often a one-woman show, making it up as she went along. In retrospect, she seems to have gotten it right. “The Alumni Association and the publications office were one and the same,” said Parrish during a 2004 interview. “It was the promotional part of the university at that time. We didn’t have a university relations or public relations office. We didn’t even know back in those days whether we were going to be funded. But, we worked our heels off. Our main goal was to promote the university in any possible way we could.” Her first day on the job was Sept. 20, 1948. To get the association up and running from its offices in the Longmire Building, Parrish wrote and published its quarterly newsletter, wrote its bylaws, and developed an alumni mailing list from scratch and kept it up-to-date. “We took care of (FSU graduates throughout) the nation, not only in Florida,” she said. Moreover, Parrish scheduled the Symphony Orchestra and even took frantic phone calls from mothers who insisted she try to help their daughters get into
one sorority or another. Parrish’s duties away from Longmire took her all over Florida and beyond. She organized alumni clubs and visited them, and traveled to high schools to introduce the young university to potential students. “I developed a slide presentation about the university, and I’d go to visit a high school and show them. It was recruiting, plain old recruiting,” she said. Parrish also acted as a goodwill ambassador, attending various political functions, including the inaugurations of Florida’s governors. A native of Blountstown, Fla., Parrish earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism on scholarship from the University of Missouri School of Journalism in 1948. Later that year, another Blountstown native, Mode Stone, who was the dean of the university’s College of Education, convinced Parrish to come to work at FSU. Amid her comings and goings, Parrish found time to earn her master’s degree from FSU in 1950. She died on April 28, 2006, but will be forever be remembered for her extraordinary efforts in pioneering relationships between the institution and its alumni.
Tom m y Wait s
I
In 1960, Tommy Waits had been using his Florida State University accounting degree for nearly four years as a state auditor when a job opening at the Florida State Alumni Association caught his attention. The interview process included a meeting with university President Robert Manning Strozier, who declared that Waits sounded “like too much of an extrovert to be an accountant.” That meeting started Waits down a path of association work that eventually landed him in the Florida Tourism Hall of Fame.
There is no question Strozier had pegged Waits to a tee. Having served in the military prior to enrolling at Florida State, Waits was older than the average student but still had the youthful energy of an undergraduate. He found a home as a rigger and performer in the young FSU circus and then landed a role as a Florida State cheerleader, eventually becoming the Head Cheerleader. Waits, it seems, never waited for anything. “The second year in my fraternity (KA) I became the treasurer and that paid for my meals,” says Waits. “So I had three jobs: KA, working in the athletic ticket office (on West Campus) and rigging at circus, which paid $15 a show on the road. So between circus, the Athletic Department, and my officer position with the fraternity and my GI Bill, I made it through college.” After almost three years as assistant director of the Alumni Association, Waits was elevated to executive director in 1962, a position he held for 11 years. It was an era that enhanced the growth of Seminole Boosters and gave birth to The Florida State University Foundation, organizations that grew from the groundwork of the Alumni Association.
The first Foundation employee was funded by the Alumni Association payroll, and for many years during the 1960s, Waits served a dual role as executive director of the Alumni Association and the athletic Boosters. After shepherding the Alumni Association into the modern era of scholarship fund raising, club activity, and database management, Waits embarked on a 26-year career as chief executive officer of the Florida Hotel & Motel Association, which is credited with the creation of VISIT FLORIDA, a partnership recognized worldwide as the model for successful private/ public-sector tourism marketing. In 2002, Waits was inducted into the Florida Tourism Hall of Fame, and at the beginning of 2005, he retired from the state lodging association and was named its president emeritus. “I am truly proud to participate in our Alumni Association’s 100th celebration,” says Waits. “For one hundred years, this organization has been the ‘glue’ that binds together the alumni branch of The Florida State University family to produce an enviable record of love, dedication, service, and support to our great alma mater. We are challenged and energized to make the next one hundred even greater!”
Tommy Waits poses on the familiar steps of Longmire. Vires 25
Photo by Ray Stanyard
A Home for the Second Century F l o r i d a S tat e A l u m n i
h av e a c l a s s i c a n d
m o d e r n p l ac e to ca l l h o m e , t h a n ks to t h e vision o f former
J i m M e lt o n By Bayard Stern
A s s o c i at i o n P r e s i d e n t
Bernie Sliger (top) strikes a familiar pose on the porch of the President’s House. Today (center) the Old President’s House in its new role as the Pearl Tyner Welcome Center. 28 Vires
When The Florida State University’s first president’s house, now the Pearl Tyner Alumni Welcome Center, began showing signs of its age by the early 1990s, university administrators knew a decision had to be made about the future use of the historically important property. The wooden structure, originally built in 1888 in downtown Tallahassee, was moved by Florida State in 1948 to the sloping hill on the corner of Tennessee Street and Woodward Avenue, soon becoming known as the "house on the hill." Its purpose was to serve as a home for the university’s first official president, Doak
Campbell, who served from 1941 to 1957. In the following years, seven more university presidents and their families lived in the home. It became an integral part of Florida State culture, peaking when Florida State President Bernard “Bernie” Sliger, who served from 1976 to 1991, started the tradition of inviting the entire student body to an ice cream social held at the house. The last university president to live there was Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte, president of Florida State from 1994 to 2003. He and his wife Patsy Palmer decided to move into a private residence because of structural problems
in the home. The future use of the house and its 14 acres of land soon came into question. “The original idea when Patsy and I moved out was that the university property was too valuable and scarce for it to be supporting just two people,” said D’Alemberte, who is currently a professor of law and President Emeritus at Florida State. “John Carnaghi (senior vice president of Finance and Administration) and the facilities planning people reviewed the various needs and asked for ideas. Beverly Spencer said she thought it would be a perfect place for the Alumni Association. We asked (the Association) about this idea, and when they agreed to raise private money for the project, we found their proposal to be quite attractive.” Beverly Spencer, retired vice president of University Relations and Florida State alumna from the Class of 1962, remembers those early meetings and the excitement she felt over the prospect of moving the Association to its current location. “I immediately knew that this was an incredible opportunity for the Alumni Association,” Spencer said. “I went back to my office and called Jim Melton right away. We really felt that we needed a place for Florida State alumni to call home. It was hard to get
into the University Center, the Association’s previous location, and it didn’t really offer a sense of place for alumni. Jim Melton immediately jumped right on board when I told him about the possibility of moving (to the president’s house). It ultimately became quite an ordeal, but it was well worth it when you see what we have today.” James Howard “Jim” Melton, the longest serving executive director of The Florida State University Alumni Association, is credited with spearheading the fundraising and overseeing the construction of the Alumni Association Center and the Pearl Tyner Alumni Welcome Center. “Beverly Spencer called and said Sandy D’Alemberte wanted to give the Alumni Association the president’s house as the Alumni Center, and can we move over there tomorrow?” Jim Melton said. “I said, ‘Beverly, it’s an old house. I just can’t move the Association and run it over there right away, but give me a day.’ I knew it would be a great place and a beautiful piece of land for the Alumni Association." “We had to raise $6 million,” Melton said. “We did a feasibility study and then started the fundraising. We borrowed $4.5 million on behalf of the Association, and we started
Beverly Spencer and Jim Melton (above left) were the visionaries and Pearl Tyner (above right) the first benefactor. Vires 29
President Sandy D’Alemberte and wife Patsy Palmer joined Melton in breaking ground for the alumni center. Today, alumni come home to the facility year-round. 30 Vires
construction. We were able to build, over a twoyear period of time, what would become the new home of the Association.” Melton oversaw every aspect of the project, yet he never moved into the new complex when it was completed. “It was just timing,” he said. “I was 62 at the time, and we were three months away from moving into the center when I retired. I had some health issues at the time, and I just felt someone else should take over. I had done everything I could do to make sure the project was completed, and I am extremely happy with the way it turned out and very proud to have been a part of building it. I think it’s beautiful
and it’s a terrific place for alumni to come see and visit, and I hope all Florida State alumni have a chance to do so.” Melton started his career at Florida State as a management consultant to help with administrative computing records after a fire destroyed much of the Westcott building. In 1972, he became Florida State’s director of administrative computing, where he worked for eight years. He then moved to the Florida State Foundation as director of annual funds. In 1982, Florida State President Bernard Sliger named him executive director of the Alumni Association, where he served until his retirement in 2004.
Anne Leftharis enjoys the likeness of her grandfather, FSU’s longest serving alumni president, whose place in history was cemented by the contributions of friends. The FSU Board of Trustees also proclaimed the alumni center’s front drive Jim Melton Way. Vires 31
The Grand Ballroom can seat more than 200.
In appreciation of Jim Melton’s decades of dedication to Florida State, he has received many university honors including being named the 2005 Homecoming Grand Marshal and being recognized with a MORES Torch Award in 2006. In 2008, an inscribed bench located in the courtyard of the Alumni Association was dedicated to him.
Alumni Complex is designed to serve many functions The Alumni Complex was designed to serve the needs of all Florida State alumni, the university, and the Tallahassee community in a variety of ways. The Center is well equipped to meet many types of requests, from intimate gatherings to the grandest of affairs, featuring more than 20,000 square feet of space. “The beauty of the Alumni Center is the manner in 32 Vires
which the past is connected to the present,” said Scott Atwell, the current president of the Alumni Association. “The original president’s house resonates with all alumni, and on every visit, they must walk past that home or through it on the way to our ballroom and offices. It was a stroke of genius to create this environment, for it is a physical manifestation of the alumni spirit.” The Alumni Complex includes the Pearl Tyner Alumni Welcome Center, the Grand Ballroom, courtyard space, and multiple conference rooms. In addition, the Complex houses the Alumni Association’s staff, alumni memorabilia, and different types of spaces that can be rented by the public for a variety of functions. Life Members of the Alumni Association always receive a discount on the rental of these spaces.
The old president’s house (above) has been renovated to its original beauty.
Photos by Ray Stanyard Vires 33
ALUMNI HALL Completed
in
2005
Lewis+Whitlock, PA Architect LLT Building Corporation Contractor
Contributors to the Alumni Center Francis Eppes Society
Pearl Tyner Bruce A. Rendina
Doak Cam p b el l Ho no r Ro ll
Mr. Raymond R. Schroeder and Mrs. Charyl M. Schroeder Raymond Cottrell, M.D. and Mrs. Stella S. Cottrell Mr. Thomas O. Goldsworthy and Ms. Sandy Goldsworthy Mrs. Evelyn M. Baber Ms. Sharon A. Licamara
Robert Strozier Honor Roll
Mr. Thomas M. Woodruff and Ms. Cheryl A. Woodruff Mr. Gene Walden and Ms. Virginia M. Walden Mr. Charles A. Bruning Tom C. Haney, M.D. and Ms. Dianne G. Haney Mr. Ronald G. Smith and Mrs. Patricia P. Smith Mr. Terry R. Smith and Mrs. Valerie P. Smith Mr. Charles F. Tunnicliff and Ms. Cynthia S. Tunnicliff
President’s Society Honor Roll
Mr. Mark Hillis and Mrs. Nan C. Hillis Mr. David D. Mobley, Jr. and Ms. Catherine C. Mobley Donald O. Alford, M.D. and Mrs. June M. Alford Atlanta Seminole Club, Inc. Mr. Charles S. Isler, III Ms. Cassandra D. Jenkins Mrs. Connie E. Jenkins-Pye and Mr. Benjamin Pye Mr. James H. Melton and Mrs. Patricia S. Melton
For a complete list of donors visit alumni.fsu.edu 34 Vires
A Moment in Time Class
1950 s s h a r e t h e i r S tat e F a m i ly o f 210 9,
mem bers from the decade of the
co llege ex pe ri en c e wi th t he
Flor ida
g i f t i n g a t i m e ca psu l e to b e o p e n e d o n t h e
A l u m n i A s s o c i at i o n ’ s 200 t h
anniversary
Vires 35
Time Capsule is Buried Treasure from the 1950s By Scott Atwell
This page: A brass plate provides explicit instructions for opening 100 years from now. Opposite page: Grace Albritton ‘52, Bob Ryals ‘53, Colin English ’54, Jim Joanos ’56, and Ben Brown’59 represent their classmates in the dedication ceremony. 36 Vires
It lies there now beneath the shape of a diamond, outlined in polished, black granite and counting down to the Bicentennial of The Florida State University Alumni Association. A bronze center plate provides explicit instructions: to be opened on September 26, 2109. It’ll be a Thursday. In a year-long celebration of Alumni Association history, few events have proven more memorable than this gem in the centennial line-up. The time capsule literally preserves memories: letters, pictures, artifacts, and love, vacuum-sealed and buried three feet under the center courtyard, equidistant from the back door of the original Florida State
president’s home and the new Alumni Center— hallowed ground for the next century. The time capsule is a project that grew out of opportunity. Classes from 1952, 1953, 1954, 1956, and 1959 had raised money for 50th Reunion Gifts and were looking for a suitable project to fund. The occasion of the Alumni Association’s Centennial in 2009—hosted in the Association’s new home—spawned the idea of a gift that would preserve the history of the very constituents who funded it. Alumni from the 1950s were invited to contribute artifacts to the capsule, and the items arrived in small waves. Jake Jacoby, a 1959 grad, was a student manager on the Florida State men’s basketball team that opened Tully Gym in 1955. He kept a ticket and game program from the first game played there and mailed in those items along with a team photo. Classmate Hugh Durham, who played in that first game and later coached basketball at Florida State, promised a piece of wood from the original floor and later penned a hand-written letter of his Tully Gym memories. Multimedia was also provided, including a 45 rpm record by Elvis Presley, black-andwhite film from the 1957 football season (Burt Reynolds’ final year) transferred to DVDs by ’58 grad Mel Pope, and other discs featuring Florida State history. Should technology outpace the era, a brand new portable DVD player was also sealed, just in case. The time capsule includes old and new: a freshman rat cap juxtaposed with the Alumni Association’s new centennial NIKE cap. Materials of the day help to cement time and place of the modern Florida State, including a university phone book and a letter from President T.K. Wetherell.
T i m e C a psu l e M a n i f est
In another nod to campus history, the university’s Master Craftsman program was commissioned to handle the design and creation of the capsule, its markings, and a companion, commemorative bench that was placed on the grounds of the Alumni Center courtyard. On the sunny early evening before Florida State’s home football game with South Florida, representatives from each of the classes in the 1950s provided brief remarks about their place in the timeline of Florida State history and gathered together to ceremoniously lower the time capsule—adorned with the university seal—into its resting place for the next 100 years. September 26, 2109. What will The Florida State University family be thinking on that day? We are certain they will be amused by archaic technology that passed for modern in the 20th and 21st centuries and humbled by the period in which so many traditions were born. We hope they will discover something timeless and familiar: a love and appreciation for The Florida State University spirit that is just as fresh as the day the time capsule was sealed.
Letter from President T.K. Wetherell The Florida State University: A History of Traditions Book Freshman Beanie – Rat Cap 2009 Florida State Alumni NIKE Hat International Programs Guide DVD of 1957 football highlights DVD history of Marching Chiefs 8mm film from 1959 1950s 45 rpm records Fight song autographed by Tommie Wright Various photos and news clips Letters from graduates Ticket and program to first FSU basketball game at Tully gym Wood from original Tully Gym floor Letter from former basketball player and coach Hugh Durham (on next spread) Ribbon from dedication ceremony Photos from dedication ceremony Speeches from dedication ceremony Tallahassee Democrat from Sept. 26, 2009 Letter from Alumni Association President Scott Atwell Cell phone Campus Phone book Bottle of Seminole water FSU annual report, 2008-2009 FSTimes, October 2009 Florida State Fact Book 2009 Florida State Audit report Unconquered Magazine Yearbooks from 1953, 1954, 1956, and 1959 DVD video history of The Florida State University Portable DVD player
Vires 37
Hugh Durham by
A L e t t e r A b o u t T u l ly G y m
A LETTER FOR ALL TIME Hugh Durham’s
Today is Labor Day, September 7, 2009. In my mind I see Tully Gym, surrounded by open space for parking, tennis courts, and woods. This building, which meant so much to so many Seminoles for so many years is now dwarfed by the buildings around it. As a former student, athlete, coach, and forever proud alumnus, most of my memories of Tully are of basketball, but more of that later . . . It was in September of 1956 that Tully was ready for occupancy. It defined multi-purpose, providing office space for faculty, staff, and athletic administration. There were classrooms, locker rooms, training and equipment storage areas, and a 40,000 square foot maple wood floor surrounded by pull-out bleachers. There was fierce competition for use of that floor. Physical education classes had to be scheduled, intramural competitions were held, beauty contests, cheerleader tryouts, and concerts booked the space. Nevertheless, we managed to hold varsity practice and events, i.e., basketball, volleyball, and gymnastics. There were even occasional football practices in Tully Gym during hurricane season. Registration was held several times a year, and there was always the possibility that graduation would be moved from outside to inside Tully because of inclement weather. You do know about June in Tallahassee so you can imagine 4,000+
Hugh Durham's handwritten letter about Tully Gym (right) was included in the Time Capsule, along with a ticket from the first game (opposite). 38 Vires
h a n d - w r i t t e n m i s s i v e to t h e
S e m i n o l e N at i o n
of
2 10 9
people crammed into a non-air-conditioned gym, sitting on bleacher seats in their Sunday best (or cap and gown!), with outside temperature in the 90’s. Those of us required to attend these exercises would count the number of unfortunate who passed out and were carried away. I think the record was 12. I remember, particularly, one concert. Our son, David, who was then six or seven, loved the Beach Boys so the family went to Tully for their performance. It was so hot and humid, (and this was February) that the Beach Boys were soaked in their own perspiration and repeatedly shocked by their electrical instruments. That was an interesting evening. Dolly Parton was interesting too . . . For a quarter of a century, Tully Gym was the home of Seminole basketball. For 22 of those years, I was a part of that history, first as a player (1956-59), then as an assistant coach (1960-66) and as a head coach from 196678. The very first game was played on December 13, 1956, my sophomore year, a 74-83 loss to Texas A&M. Exactly two years later, December 13, 1958, we enjoyed our first
waiting for us on the ground “to pay you the tribute you so richly deserve.” We were overwhelmed. Florida State became a member of the Metro Conference in 1976, joining Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Memphis, St. Louis, and Tulane. In our record year in the league, 1977-78, we won our first championship with a record of 11-1. Again, we played in the NCAA tournament, losing to the eventual national champion, the University of Kentucky. From 1966 to 1978, we achieved national rankings, won holiday tournaments, conference titles, and NCAA regional championships. Tully hosted 131 wins and only 15 losses; Tully, our tiny, stifling hot basketball home where on some nights it was so loud, there was no sound. Amazing! The records belong in the record books. For me and my family, the memories remain of relationships with players, coaches, staff, and friends of Seminole basketball . . . of students standing in near freezing temperature at 7am, to get into Tully at 5pm, to sit in the bleachers for a 7:30 game, so they could be our 6th man . . . of Chief Full-a-Bull decapitating a dead fish at mid-court before a Jacksonville University Dolphins game and wringing a rubber chicken neck before playing the South Carolina Gamecocks . . . of our cheerleaders . . . the pep band . . . Now, more than another quarter century has passed and Seminole basketball is played in the Tallahassee Leon County Civic Center. It is not as hot as Tully or as uncomfortable, and may not be as loud. It will never be the same. But it’s still Seminole basketball built on the proud tradition of one of the most unique venues in Division I basketball history. It wish you could have been there.
A L e t t e r A b o u t T u l ly G y m by
Hugh Durham
basketball victory over arch-rival Florida, 82-60. During the first decade of Tully history, the win-loss record was respectable. We were a new NCAA Division I independent program and experienced victories over Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, LSU, Memphis, and Miami. But things were about to change . . . In the spring of 1966, a big red-head from Newport, Kentucky, signed with the Seminoles. During his Florida State career, Dave Cowens established scoring and rebounding records, led us to our first NCAA tournament appearance, and was the first basketball player to have his jersey retired. In my opinion, he is the greatest basketball player in Seminole history. Dave was picked fourth in the 1970 NBA draft and, as a Boston Celtic, was named the 1971 Rookie of the year. In 1973, he was league MVP and went on to lead the Celtics to two World Championships. Dave was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of fame in 1991. Another 1966 signee was Lenny Hall, a junior college All-American from St. Pete Junior College and the first African American to sign and play basketball for a Division I institution in the Deep South. Lenny’s start as a Seminole was eagerly anticipated by Seminoles everywhere. In just over two minutes of play he scored four points, grabbed two rebounds, had an assist, and suffered a dislocated knee. Though his career as a basketball player ended, Lenny’s contribution endured. His personality, positive outlook, his relationships with teammates, other students, the faculty and fans eased the tensions of integrating Florida State athletics. Today his grandchildren are proud Seminoles. In 1972, after a 23-5 regular season ended with another NCAA tournament bid, the Seminoles began their march to the Final Four in Los Angeles. On the way, we defeated Eastern Kentucky, Minnesota, perennial power Kentucky, and North Carolina to meet UCLA for the National Championship. Though we lost 86-76, we finished with the best ever season record, 27-6, and won the respect and the hearts of many. As we approached Tallahassee on our return flight, the captain announced there were thousands
FSU All the Time,
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Time Capsule Donors Class of 1953 Donors
Class of 1952 Donors Mrs. Jean C. Albright Mrs. Grace R. Albritton Mrs. Doris F. Alvarez Mr. Robert J. Anderton Mr. James A. Ball, III Mrs. Virginia Balfour Mrs. M. Betty Broman Mr. Thomas M. Cumbie Dr. Harrell R. Cushing Col.(R) Alice J Delgado Dr. Steve Edwards, Jr. Mr. John D. Fellers Nancy S. Fichter, Ph.D. Mrs. Betty J. Fischer Mrs. Martha N. Flewellen Mr. Taft H. Green, Jr. Ms. Margaret Redding Hallam Mrs. Barbara P. Hansen Mrs. Dorothy L Hires Mr. Richard J. Iacuzzi Mrs. Grace W. Kane Mrs. Patricia A. Kerlin Mr. Jim E. Kirk, Jr. Mrs. Louise S. Kloeppel Ms. Nancy S. Knuckey Mr. Ney C. Landrum Mrs. Mary L. Littleton Mr. Kendall G. Lorch Mrs. Betty Jane Luttrell Mr. Bradford L. MacGowan Mrs. Lou H. Marling Lt. Col.(r) Kenneth Martin, Mrs. Julie H. Matthews Mrs. Shirley G. McBride Mrs. Dorothy B. McCrain Mrs. Margaret M. McGill Ms. Catherine N. McClellan Miss Cynthia A. Mink Mrs. Edwina J. Morse Mrs. Virginia H. Muth Mrs. Catherine P. Norfleet Mr. William W. Pearson Mrs. Edna J. Peeples Mrs. Virginia L. Porter Mrs. Joan W. Schlueter Mrs. Eleanor G. Sexton Mrs. Mary G. Sheppard Mrs. June Caroline Smith Mrs. Patricia Caro Smith Mrs. Kathryn Evelyn Smith Dr. Rose F. Spicola Mrs. Lois B. Staggs Mrs. Margaret E. Steele Mr. Richard Sundberg Mrs. Jean C. Albright Mrs. Helen H. Usher Mrs. Joan D. Walker Mrs. Vivian Z. Wells Miss Westendick Mrs. Wyer The Eufaula Tribune Publishing Co., Inc. 40 Vires
Mrs. Jo-Ann G. Anderson ‘Mrs. Carol H. Beasley ‘Mr. Donald G. Bookmyer Mr. Van Ness R. Butler, Jr. Mrs. Patricia S. Carter Dr. George R. Corradino ‘Mrs. Jo Nell Duda ‘Mrs. Betty-Jane T Free Walter A. Grage D.D.S. ‘Mr. Ralph J. George ‘Mrs. Mary T. Hancock Rev. Kenneth W. Harrison Mrs. Betty L. Herndon Dr. Mary Alice Hunt Mrs. Barbara R. Jones Mrs. Jane S. Krogh Mrs. Katherine S. Lord Mr. Dwight L. Marsee Mrs. Ethel G. McCormick Mrs. Patricia S. Moore Mrs. Rosemary J. Moore Mrs. Mary-Leslie Olson Mrs. Betty G. Owens ‘Mrs. Nancy L. Packard Mrs. Carmen C. Perez Mrs. Martha Anne Proctor Mr. William T. Proctor, Jr. Mrs. Emily Rector Rehberg Mr. William J. Reitter Mrs. Kay U. Simmons Mrs. Alynn C. Snyder Mrs. Frankie B. Stevens Mr. Haywood O. Taylor Mrs. Sally K. Turner Mrs. Madge A. Vining Mrs. Dorothy E. Whittle Mr. Herbert L. Wiles Mr. Robert B. Willis Mr. George F. Wilsey, Jr.
Class of 1954 Donors Mrs. Nancy C. Alvers Bailey Family Foundation Mrs. Miki K. Bean Mrs. Jane P. Bowles Mrs. Juanita H. Brandon Ms. Fe C. Brittain Mrs. Jo L. Burge Dr. Roger M. Busfield, Jr. Mrs. Joan C. Charlton Mrs. Nancye J. Clark Mr. Kenneth J. Cruger Mrs. Ann C. Cullison Mrs. Evelyn F. Deyo Miss Virginia B. Dicristafaro Mr. J. Colin English, Jr. Mrs. Marjorie P. Evans Mrs. Patricia C. Faulconer Miss Martha A. Hart Mrs. Ellen L. James Mrs. Ola H. Joyce Mr. Arthur G. Kennerly, Jr. Mrs. Patricia P. Kickliter Mr. David Lang, Jr. Mrs. Patricia G. Maxwell
Class of 1959 Donors
Mr. James A. McCauley Mrs. Roberta H. Williamson-Musco Mr. Ted E. Olson Mrs. Betty P. Pierce Dr. Bert Powell, Jr. Mrs. Doris B. Renick Mr. James P. Ristig, Jr. Mrs. Delores K. Rowley Mr. Frank S. Shaw, Jr. Mr. Ronald G. Smith Mrs. Alice M. Stanley Mrs. Jean H. Stephens Mrs. Ann B. Turco Mrs. Anibel K. Tyrrell Mrs. Betty F. Veal Ms. Lenora W. Holman-Warriner Mr. Lee A. White, Jr. Mrs. Alma M. Whitehead Mr. Thomas A. Williams Mrs. F. Irene Yerger
Class of 1956 Donors Mrs. Mildred C. Adicks Ms. Virginia S. Sparks Barnard Mrs. Barbara B. Chazal Mr. William L. Daye Mr. Gordon D. Gaster Mrs. Jean M. Gilliland Mr. Jackie L. Hamilton Cdr. Grant W. Hibbard Mrs. Judith R. Hofman Mrs. Alicia P. Panetta Mrs. Patricia J. Rabb Mrs. Carol T. Richardson Mrs. Melinda B. Roane Mr. Kent Lester Schroeder Mr. Albert Selvaggi Mr. Michael K. Sheridan Ms. Martha W. Sinclair Ms. Frankie H. Strickland Dr. James G. Staples, Jr. Mr. Hans W. Tews Dr. Jane Wentworth LTC(R). Stanton R. Withrow
Mrs. Margaret J. Allen Mrs. Anna C. Antemann Ms. Joyce J. Ayers Mr. Robert E. Baker, Jr. Mrs. Barbara W. Born Ms. Germaine M. Brand Mrs. Barbara S. Brock Mr. Ron Brock, Jr. Mrs. Joan P. Brown Mrs. Cynthia A. Brunner Mrs. Grace L. Chester Mrs. Helen H. Correll Mrs. Gail B. Cowan Mrs. Nancy W. Cude Mr. Robert L. Campbell Mr. Donald L. Chamberlin Ms. Jane A. Coleman Mr. and Mrs. William C. Coleman Mr. Guido Controni Mr. Ronald R. Dallaire Ms. Gloria M. Drogosz Mrs. Frances P. Finlay Mr. Jerry M. Fleming Mrs. Sandra F. Genetin Mr. Alton M. Haeger Mrs. Rita N. Haynes Mrs. Donie Ann D. Henderson Mrs. Nancy H Hensley Mrs. R. Ann Hinson Mr. R. Marvin Ingram Mrs. Jackie P. Jacoby Mrs. Betty S. Jackson Dr. Carl B. Johnson Mrs. Merle S. Jones Miss Roberta M. Kienzle Mr. John E. Lauer Mrs. Joyce Lenz Mrs. Betty J. Leonard Mrs. Ann D. Livingston Mrs. Bonnie L. M. Milsom Mrs. Gaile J. Ortgies Dr. Harold D. Orville Mrs. Sandra R. Osborn Mrs. Barbara R. Overholt Mr. Douglas J. Rogers Mrs. Jane Skogstad Mrs. Laura B. Smallwood Mrs. Sara E. Smith Mrs. Hilda C. Strom Mrs. Patricia J. Swartley Mr. Chester H. Taylor Mr. John R. Taylor Mr. Leigh A. Thompson Mrs. Sandra D. Tickel Mrs. Mary Anne Jackson-Trumbull Mrs. Charlotte B. Warren Mae M. Waters, Ph.D. Mr. Howard J. Weller Mr. James E. Wetmore Mrs. Barbara M. Williams
Professor Tommie Wright performs a night of Gershwin at Event No. 1 of the Centennial Celebration
The Year in Review 100
e v e n ts i n o u r
100 t h
y e a r — a v i s ua l d i a r y o f t h e c e n t e n n i a l
Centennial Kickoff Event “1 of 100” - Night of Gershwin Seminole Club Leadership Conference Orlando - Admissions Seminar Orlando - Night at the Movies Jefferson County Emeritus Reception Tampa - Admissions Seminar Tampa - Night at the Movies Panama City Campus Golf Tournament Emeritus Alumni Society Board Meeting Ira Flatow and “Science Friday” Science and Arts Fair E.O. Wilson Lecture Atlanta - Admissions Seminar Atlanta - Night at the Movies PFF Workshop Grand Opening Ceremony of Mode L. Stone Building “The Origin and Evolution of Jazz: A Tribute to the Evolution of America’s Own Musical Art Form” Women’s Soccer Reunion Miami - Admissions Seminar Miami - Night at the Movies Class of 1959 Reunion Weekend College of Medicine & PIMS Reunion Spring Football Game Tailgate FSU vs. UF Baseball Tailgate with SAA Tampa - Career Jump Start Tampa- Rhodes on the Road Luncheon Tampa Black Alumni Reception Orlando - Career Jump Start Orlando - Rhodes on the Road Luncheon Emeritus Alumni Society Recognition Weekend Spring Alumni Picnic - Panama City Campus Higher Education Hooding Ceremony Spring Graduation at Westcott FSU in NYC - “Sight, Sound & Motion” Gainesville Emeritus Luncheon Tampa Area Emeritus Luncheon Atlanta - Career Jump Start Atlanta - Rhodes on the Road Dinner Miami - Career Jump Start Miami - Rhodes on the Road Luncheon West Palm Beach Seminole Club - New Student Reception Joint Board Celebration - Tailgate at the Ballpark May Board of Directors Meeting Leadership Breakfast Series ATL Seminole Club Emeritus Society Workshop and Board Meeting SAA Day-Glo Event Marianna Emeritus Luncheon Summer Seminoles - Waynesville Emeritus Luncheon Film School’s Open House and Golden Gala Summer Graduation at Westcott Jacksonville Seminole Club - New Student Reception Crestview/Destin/ Pensacola Emeritus Luncheon 59th Annual Kickoff Luncheon International Students Reception Mini-Leadership Conference FSU vs. Miami Tailgate Emeritus Wine & Cheese Reception at the Joanos’ Emeritus Alumni Society Board Meeting Open House BYU Welcome Reception BYU Tailgate Panama City Emeritus Luncheon Open House September Board Meeting Class of 1959 Time Capsule Dedication Boston College Welcome Reception FSU vs. Boston College Tailgate Ringling Arts Festival FSU Alumni Cup Golf Tournament Open House FSU vs. GA Tech Tailgate SAA Flag Football Event UNC Welcome Reception UNC Tailgate Seminoles at Sea Cruise Homecoming Court Reception with Clay County Seminole Club Dedication of Maxwell Courtney Room Homecoming Parade VIP Luncheon Homecoming Parade Clock and Seal Pow Wow Nole Fest - Panama City Campus Open House Meeting of the Circle of Gold & Reception Black Alumni Association Reunion Weekend Homecoming Awards Breakfast All-College Alumni Tailgate Clemson Welcome Reception Clemson Tailgate Wake Forest Welcome Reception Wake Forest Tailgate SAA 30th Birthday Party Honoring FSU Presidents Alumni Association Half-Time Performance Clay County Seminole Club Tommie Wright Performance FSU vs. UF Welcome Reception FSU Night at the Theatre - Memphis Emeritus Alumni Society Board Meeting Big Band Dance Fall Graduation at Westcott Event Vires 41
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SEMINOLE CLUB LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE Event No. 2 | March 5-7
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Seminole Club leaders from all over the country gathered at this annual conference for the chance to meet fellow ‘Noles and discuss their membership, programs, and events. The weekend included guest speakers, workshops, networking opportunities, and the basketball game against Maryland. 1. Don Yaeger provided the keynote 2. Kevin Carmody from the Orlando Seminole Club 3. Ricky Kohly from the New York Seminole Club 4. Members from the Southwest Florida Seminole Club visit the vendor table 5. Brian Neil from the Charlotte Seminole Club 6. Licensing Director, Sherri Dye, speaks with Seminole Club leaders 7. Brian Battle, Associate Director of Athletics, speaks about NCAA compliance 8. Jim Bloomfield from the Triangle Seminole Club 9. Coach Jimbo Fisher and Max Zahn 10. Board members Michele Adair and Marty Hall 42 Vires
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THE CLASS OF 1959 REUNION WEEKEND Event No. 21 | April 3-4, 2009 The Class of 1959 returned for its Golden Reunion and induction into the Alumni Emeritus Society. 1. Student Bobby Seifter speaks to the crowd about the Protect our Professors fundraising initiative 2. Members of the Class of 1959 on the front steps of the President’s House
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EMERITUS ALUMNI SOCIETY RECOGNITION WEEKEND Event No. 17 | April 17-18, 2009 The Emeritus Alumni Society (50+ years since graduation) arrived to a glorious Tallahassee spring for their annual reunion weekend that included an awards ceremony and a trip to the Flying High Circus. 3. Family members of Dr. and Mrs. Herman Gunter 4. Carolyn Clark Barrow and Hilda Strom 5. Miriam Arnold and Reubin Askew 6. Ginger Wetherell speaks with Bess Lux at a President’s House reception 7. Tommy Waits accepts the gavel from former President of the Emeritus Alumni Society, Jane Bowles
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FSU SPRING OUTREACH Event No. 3, 4, 6, 7, 13, 14, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 37, 38, 39, 40 | March 10-May 13, 2009 The Alumni Association charged through the southeast for a spring swing in Tampa, Miami, Orlando, and Atlanta. Our Florida State marquee included a screening of the film school’s best student features from the past 20 years, an admissions seminar, a career jump start session, and “Rhodes on the Road,” featuring our three most recent Rhodes Scholars. 1. Joe O’Shea reaches out to an alumnus and signs autographs in Tampa 2. Myron Rolle in Miami 3. Roy Neil, Ashley Cleveland, and Garrett Johnson in Atlanta 4. Florida State’s three most recent Rhodes Scholars (Myron Rolle, Joe O’Shea, and Garrett Johnson) with President T.K. Wetherell 5. Myron Rolle in Tampa
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JOINT BOARD CELEBRATION TAILGATE AT THE BALLPARK Event No. 42 | May 15, 2009 3
The conclusion to the spring meeting of the Alumni National Board of Directors was a tailgate outside Dick Howser Stadium during the Grambling State series. 1. Coach Mike Martin stops by in between a double header 2. Recognizing the outstanding contributions made by Maury Kolchakian during his time as chair of the Alumni Board, president Scott Atwell (right) and board member Allen Durham (left) presented him with a feather from Chief Osceola’s spear during the 2008 season
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SEMINOLE KICKOFF LUNCHEON Event No. 53 | August 21, 2009 Over 1,500 FSU alumni, friends, and fans packed into the Civic Center for the 59th year of this highly-anticipated event. The highlight of the program was Coach Bobby Bowden’s State of the Seminoles address and for the first time ever, lucky attendees had the chance to dine with the players and coaches.
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3. FSU quarterback Christian Ponder 4. The cheerleaders welcoming guests to the 2009 Kickoff Luncheon 5. Assistant VP for Governmental Relations, Kathleen Daly and Lieutenant Governor, Jeff Kottcamp 6. Defensive Line Coach Odell Haggins and wife, Robin 7. Coach Bobby Bowden and president of the Emeritus Alumni Society, Tommy Waits with his two grandsons, Thomas and Tory Vires 45
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FRIDAY NIGHT OPEN HOUSES Event No. 59, 63, 70, 83, 92 September 11-November 20, 2009
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A second-year tradition of Alumni Association Open Houses were held the Friday evening before each home game, welcoming alumni and friends with family-friendly festivities, food, and the southern hospitality of Florida State. Live entertainment was provided by FSU groups such as the Golden Girls and All Night Yahtzee, student a cappella group. 1. Bridget Chandler and Jane Bowles chat with SAA adviser, Joe Mahshie 2. Board member Tom Hynes and his wife, Leonore 3. Some of the best-dressed men who attended in their tropical Seminole attire 4. The Golden Girls perform their routine in the Alumni Center courtyard 5. Judge Joanos gets his face painted by a Lady Spirithunter 6. Even little ones were racing up the front steps of the Pearl Tyner Welcome Center 7. Alumni from the classes of ’52, ’53, ’54, ’56, and ’59 attend the Time Capsule dedication 8. Diane Andrews, Lucy Baer, and Sandy Johnson 9. Reagan Block gets a helping hand from her father, Tom Block Vires 47
SEMINOLES AT SEA Event No. 75 | October 22-25, 2009 The first-ever FSU alumni cruise set sail on October 24 with 350+ Seminoles on board, including host Chris Weinke. The Disney Wonder headed to Nassau and Castaway Cay for a 3-day Bahamas cruise. In addition to all of the activities provided by Disney, special FSU programming included an FSU vs. UNC football game-watching party on the pool deck, a private cocktail reception, the President’s Ice Cream Social, and a rebroadcast of the 1999 National Championship game. 1. A private cocktail reception for FSU alumni in the Waves Night Club on board 2. Chris Weinke shakes hands with Alumni Association president, Scott Atwell, before the FSU vs. UNC football game 3. Allen and Patty Durham with their two sons, Grantham and Greyson 4. Sandy D’Alemberte toasts ice cream with Magen Naret at the President’s Ice Cream Social 5. The two winners of our Seminoles at Sea Cruise giveaway contest, Allyson Dare and Mary Edmonds 48 Vires
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HOMECOMING 2009: IGNITED BY TRADITION Event No. 77, 78, 79, 81, 83, 84, 86, 87 October 30-31, 2009 Homecoming was an opportunity for alumni to return to campus and connect with fellow Seminoles. Events included the Homecoming Parade, Crowning of the Chief and Princess at Pow Wow, the Homecoming Awards Breakfast, and the new tradition of the All-College Alumni Tailgate. 1. Members of Burning Spear beat the Spirit Drum in the Parade 2. General Counsel Betty Steffens with T.K. Wetherell at the presentation of her Circle of Gold Award 3. Black Alumni Association president Benjamin Crump with Val Demmings at the BAA Reunion 4. Homecoming Chief Tyson Brock and Princess Shannon Brockman being crowned at Pow Wow 5. Faculty Grand Marshall Bill Moeller with wife, Helen, and Parade Grand Marshall Mickey Andrews with wife, Diane 6. Lee Hinkle visits with Reubin Askew before the Homecoming Awards Breakfast 7. Board chair Don Eddings with Bernard F. Sliger Award recipient, Bill Durham 8. 2009 Homecoming Court on the field at halftime 9. A cheerleader talks to a future Seminole at the All-College Alumni Tailgate 50 Vires
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FSU ALUMNI CUP Event No. 69 | October 9, 2009 The 6th Annual FSU Alumni Golf Tournament played to a sellout field. Students from the Professional Golf Management (PGM) program participated by taking different shots on each hole, making this one of the area’s most unique golfing events. 1. Participants in the FSU Alumni Cup play with a PGM student 2. First Place Team: Byron Wells, Terry Godbold, Keith Paniucki, and James Graganella
AWAY GAME PROGRAMMING Event No. 61, 67, 74, 89, 91, 96 September 18-November 28, 2009 Partnering with our network of Seminole Clubs around the country, the FSU Alumni Association provided pre-game programming and events at all football away games in 2009. 3. A Seminole family at the BYU reception 4. Don Eddings and Chad Carson at Clemson 5. The Utah Seminole Club distributes football posters to fans 6. The setting in Park City, UT 52 Vires
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HONORING FSU PRESIDENTS Event No. 93 | November 20, 2009
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One of the most distinguished events of the year was a reception that honored FSU’s four living presidents. The night concluded with the unveiling of a new song written especially for the Alumni Association and its Centennial Celebration. 1. Tommie Wright opened his songbook and along with voice professor Larry Gerber made a magical evening 2. Our four living presidents: Stanley Marshall, Dale Lick, Sandy D’ Alemberte, and T.K. Wetherell 3. T.K. Wetherell, Al Dunlap, Sandy D’ Alemberte, and Judith Dunlap 4. Shirley Moore, Donna Lou Askew, and Ginger Wetherell 5. Fred Flowers, Kitty Hoffman, and Doby Flowers
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FSU NIGHT AT THE THEATRE Event No. 97 | December 2, 2009 FSU Night at the Theatre in New York featured alumni starring in the Broadway production of MEMPHIS. Our FSU alumni enjoyed a pre event reception, discounted ticket price and a Q&A session following the performance. 6. Montego Glover ‘96 and Kevin Covert ‘92 at the post-show meet and greet, exclusively for FSU alumni
BIG BAND DANCE Event No. 100 | December 11, 2009 The dance of the century featured the music of Thursday Night Music Club and closed out the year with a bang. 7. Shoes came off and the curtain came down.
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No. 101 The Next Chapter Alumnus Eric Barron W e l c o m e d a s 14 t h P r e s i d e n t
"I am extremely gratified and honored to return to my alma mater and serve as its next president. This is an outstanding university that is poised to become one of the finest in the world, and I look forward to helping it reach that goal." - Dr. Eric Barron ’73 54 Vires
C o n n e c t i n g G e n e r at i o n s
The Great Depression: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
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The Great Depression taught millions of Americans how to get creative with dwindling resources. At Florida State College for Women (FSCW), administrators learned how to think outside the box as they struggled to guide the school through the lean thirties. When many students and their families faced financial crises that threatened their enrollment, school leaders worked hard to develop innovative financing options. These efforts explain how, in 1934, Kitty Blood Hoffman found herself paying for her education with oranges. Hoffman was a sophomore at FSCW when her funding dried up. Due to a slump in sales at her father’s orange grove, her family could no longer afford the costs of tuition, room, and board. Reluctant to leave school, Hoffman spoke with the business manager and the dietician to explore her alternatives. Together, they decided that her father’s produce would stand in for traditional payment.
C o n n e c t i n g G e n e r at i o n s
Hoffman hopped on a bus home, helped her father pick and pack up the fruit, and rode back with him on his truck. She had her tuition money, and FSCW had oranges on the menu more often than not. This particular arrangement paid dividends for many years. While pursuing her master’s degree at Columbia University, Hoffman helped start an FSCW alumnae chapter in New York. After earning her degree, she came back to teach chemistry at the College. She taught for over forty years, earning a solid reputation as one of FSCW’s (later, Florida State University’s) most beloved professors. Today, Florida State students are taught chemistry and biochemistry daily in the Katherine B. Hoffman Teaching Laboratory named in her honor.
Linen postcard of Florida orange groves. Photo: The Florida Archives. Right: Hoffman in 1934. Kitty Hoffman’s yearbook photo from 1936 (above). Vires 57
C o n n e c t i n g G e n e r at i o n s
He is FSU: Alumnus Joe O’Shea Opposite page: Joe O’Shea in Rwanda at an orphanage and technical school built through his work with FSU’s Global Peace Exchange. During the trip, FSU’s delegation also presented the president of Rwanda with an honorary degree.
Photo by Bill Lax 58 Vires
C o n n e c t i n g G e n e r at i o n s
Many people have come to think of Joe O’Shea ’08 as the face of today’s Florida State. What they may not realize, however, is that he also represents the school’s heart. Certainly, the two have a lot in common. O’Shea was drawn to Florida State because its strong values mirrored his own. “The first time that I visited, I knew it was the place for me,” he said. “It is a humble school that prides itself on being inclusive and inviting. It also opens its doors to students who otherwise wouldn’t have opportunities in higher education. Those values are the reason I fell in love with FSU. It has a rich tradition as a warm community.” During his time at Florida State, O’Shea was familiar to people throughout Tallahassee. As president of the student body and an active volunteer in the community, he became both well-known and well liked. But it wasn’t until he won two prestigious scholarships— the Rhodes and the Truman— that he entered the national spotlight. In 2007, O’Shea was one of just 32 U.S. students selected as a Rhodes Scholar, an elite program that funds Americans who want to study at Oxford University. Around that same time, he was also named a Truman scholar, which provides generous graduate funding in exchange for public service. Earning both scholarships is a rare accomplishment, to say the least. A quick look at his credentials reveals the secret behind his feat: in his four years at Florida State, O’Shea established himself as a leader, an innovator, and
an all-around Samaritan. Before the age of 21, he had founded a health clinic, led a coalition for health care reform, and helped establish an international exchange program for students. He also happened to have a 4.0 GPA. While Florida State helped him find opportunities to learn in the world, O’Shea also absorbed a lot in the classroom. He studied philosophy, a discipline that is often stereotyped as impractical or lofty. O’Shea is a unique pragmatist in that he sees philosophy as absolutely essential to everyday life. “I thought that if I studied philosophy, it would be useful no matter where I was in my life or what I was doing,” he said. “I knew it would give me a foundation— a deep knowledge of who I am and what my place in society is— that I could always return to.” “Philosophy is a lifelong journey, a quest to find truth and knowledge. The philosophy department at FSU really helped me find that.” Perhaps that existential bent is what led him to become a driving force behind the TRUE Seminole campaign, an initiative he helped launch during his senior year. The campaign, which was designed to bring together students, alumni, and the larger Florida State community, focuses on what it means to be a Seminole— those shared values that drew O’Shea to Florida State as a young man. Now, as he begins a life dedicated to public service, he plans to share the campaign message on a much larger scale. For O’Shea, the world would be a better place if everyone could find their inner Seminole. Vires 59
C o n n e c t i n g G e n e r at i o n s 60 Vires
Odds & Evens
Football fans across the country have tracked the Florida State-Florida rivalry for decades, but fewer people know about Florida State’s other historic rivalry…with itself. It isn’t easy to envision an era when athletes didn’t feel compelled to look beyond the campus to find worthy opponents, but many decades before there was “The House that Bobby Built,” there were the Odds & Evens of Florida State College for Women (FSCW). Make no mistake, it was a contest so intensely felt that there was an entire culture built around it, not unlike the traditions surrounding Florida State athletics today.
C o n n e c t i n g G e n e r at i o n s
It all started around 1907, when FSCW Classes were assigned an Odd or Even status according to their year of matriculation. That year, incoming students were Odds, as were juniors; sophomores and seniors were Evens. While such a system may seem arbitrary, team allegiances were deeply felt and endured through a student’s four-year tenure. The College designed the rivalry to bolster school spirit and encourage deep friendships, and it was successful on both counts. Eventually, the school built the entire athletic program around Odds & Evens, with teams regularly facing off in sports such as volleyball, swimming, and baseball. Student athletes worked hard to gain membership to the “F” Club, which was founded in 1920. To qualify, students had to play for at least two teams per year, and the competition for this special program recognition was fierce. Basketball was especially popular. Custom held that the Odds & Evens basketball teams would face off on Thanksgiving Day— a tradition so revered that its organizers refused to cancel the game during the influenza epidemic of 1918, when churches and theaters had closed their doors throughout Tallahassee. The annual game ended a week long demonstration of team spirit. During that week, Odds & Evens produced plays and held pep rallies, bonfires, pajama parties, and parades. The campus was strewn with team colors (red, white, and purple for Odds; green and gold for Evens), and everyday activities turned into contests that gave each team an opportunity to prove its superiority.
The Thanksgiving game itself was always well attended. Faculty members were loyal fans; some consistently rooted for one team or the other, yet others rooted for whichever team happened to have the senior class as members. People in the community were so taken with the rivalry that they not only attended games but also paid admission for the privilege. When FSCW became a coed institution and the athletics program needed to expand, the Odds and Evens were an unavoidable casualty. Still, the spirit of the Odds and Evens rivalry continues to thrive at Florida State today.
Basketball was among several sports highlighting Odds and Evens competition at FSCW, a precursor to modern intercollegiate athletics. Vires 61
TEN QUESTIONS With
professor
Tommie Wright,
composer of the
1. If you hadn’t gotten into music, what profession would you have followed? I was always interested in airplanes and flying. My early days with the Air Force were spent flying, and I loved it, so I probably would have continued that had I not loved music more. 2. What don’t we know about Tommie Wright that would surprise us? When I first came to Florida State, I thought I would come down from New York and stay for a year in Florida and have a good time. I thought for excitement I’d go down to Miami every weekend and have fun. I didn’t know Miami was 500 miles from here and that you didn’t do that. But I stayed here for awhile and thought “someday this is going to be a great School of Music and a great university; I think I am going to stay here and stake my whole future with this university.” 3. Why did you decide to hitch your musical star to George Gershwin? I loved his music when I was a teenager. Later on in life, I decided that I would do some research and got a script together about his music. I became George Gershwin— impersonating him on the stage. I would tell how I wrote the Rhapsody in Blue and then play it; and then I’d do “An American in Paris” and songs from Porgy and Bess. I did that show across the country. 4. You’ve had a knack for composing songs for occasions, even one for Wendell Willkie’s presidential campaign. What’s the key to that kind of work? You find out what should be expressed in the song and then put it together in a poem. Sometimes I write the words first, and sometimes I write the music first. 5. You’ve composed several FSU songs in addition to the Fight Song. After the obvious, which is your favorite? I think probably the victory march that I composed the first time we ever beat Florida. It was exciting: to begin the football game, all the Gators on the other side waved white 62 Vires
FSU F i g h t S o n g handkerchiefs which signified they thought we were still a girl’s school. It infuriated the Seminoles, and the celebration in Tallahassee was probably the greatest celebration since the end of World War II. They closed off Tennessee Street, and everyone came out in the street; there wasn’t a Gator left in town by 8 o’clock in the evening. 6. You don’t like to mention your age but what’s the key to your longevity? Genetics I guess. My folks lived to be quite old and so has everyone in my family. I was blessed with good genes.
7. Your career in the classroom lasted twice as long as the average professor (58 years). What made you want to keep teaching? I love teaching and I love students, so I loved what I was doing. I just wanted to keep on going, and I did. 8. You taught 59,000 students, and if one of them runs into you, they’ll wonder if you remember them. How do you handle that? Oh, I see students all the time, not only here, but throughout the country, wherever I happen to be. I was playing a concert out in Los Angeles and went to dinner at a restaurant looking over the Pacific Ocean. I got out of my car and someone said “Tommie Wright, I had you for my class.” I see former students everywhere, and I ask them what they are doing and if they made a good grade. 9. What was more exciting: hearing the fight song played for the first time by the Marching Chiefs in 1950 or directing the Marching Chiefs in 2009? I composed the fight song on the piano, so I suppose hearing the band play it for the first time was the most exciting; to actually see the song done on the football field was a thrill. 10. Most people will remember you for the Fight Song. What do you want to be remembered for? My family.
Photo by Bill Lax
November 21, 2009: Tommie Wright directs the Marching Chiefs in his most famous composition, the FSU Fight Song, 59 years after it premiered on the very same field. Opposite page: Wright with wife Rosalinda and daughters Jessica (with baby Tommie) and Nicole. Vires 63
National Board of Directors
Donald L. Eddings, ’68-Chair
Scott Atwell, President
Jeffrey L. Hill, ’69-Chair Elect
Laurel R. Moredock, ’78-Vice Chair
Allen D. Durham, ’93-Secretary
Michele M. Adair, ’72-Treasurer
Candace Rodatz Barnes, ’98, ’01
David Brobst, ’86
Benjamin L. Crump, ’92, ’95
Kyle Doney, ’07
Sandra B. Dunbar, ’72
Diane S. Ervin, ’72
Karema TymsHarris, ’92, ’05
Lee F. Hinkle, ’71
Thomas V. Hynes, ’80
Maury Kolchakian, ’75, ’78
Joda Lynn, ’01, ’05
Frank Moreno, ’00
James A. Riscigno, ’66
Susan S. Sarna, ’89
Barry J. Scarr, ’78
Raymond R. Schroeder, ’65
Patricia Sibley, ’74
Delores O. Spearman, ’98
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P ast B oa r d C h a i r s
Ruth Ruggles Akers, ’04
Ken Alexander, ’93, ’94, ’98
Jane Tronnier Fader, ’96
S. Dale Greene, ’78
1909-1911 Bessie Damon ’06 1911-1912 Alice Corbett Cordes ’07, ’08 1912-1913 Ruth Reynolds ’08, ’09 1914-1915 Jessie Palmer Partridge McCall ’13, ’14 1915-1916 Myrtie Warren Felkel ’10 1917-1918 Rowena Longmire ’12 1919-1920 Inga Olla Helseth ’14, ’20 1921-1922 Katherine W. Montgomery ’18 1922-1923 Lillian Walker Page Hough ’22 1924-1925 Allie Lou Felton Gilbreath ’21 1925-1926 Lillian Elizabeth Conradi Boone ’21 1927-1928 Caroline LaFontisse Palmer ’01 1929-1930 Clara Craig Johnson Wallis ’24 1931-1932 Frances Tippetts Johnston ’17 1932-1934 Dorothy Johnson Nilson ’19 1934-1937 Cecil Jenkins Beeson ’18 1937-1938 Beth Walton Moor ’18, ’19 1938-1939 Willie Igou Gamble ’19 1939-1940 Beth Walton Moor ’18, ’19 1940-1942 Gracie Flournoy Ashmore ’26, ’50 1942-1943 Ella Taylor Slemons Bisbee ’19 1943-1945 Florence Reno Tryon ’26 1945-1947 Margaret Josephine Boyle ’22 1947-1949 Eleanor Brewer Morgan ’21 1949-1951 Alma Warren ’39, ’51 1951-1953 Ellen Knight Whiteside McDonnell ’31 1953-1955 William Warren Meigs ’48 1955-1957 Ruth Teal Dichtenmueller ’25, ’49 1957-1959 L. B. (Buck) Vocelle ’49 1959-1961 Fred O. Drake, Jr. ’49 1961-1962 Philip J. Fleming ’50 1962-1964 Edward M. Eissey ’50, ’67 1964-1965 Charles F. Mixon, Jr. ’56 1966 Harry W. Massey ’55 1967 Mallory E. Horne ’50
1968 Gordon D. Gaster ’56 1969 Melvin L. Pope, Jr. ’57 1970 James E. Joanos, Jr. ’56 1971 Donald E. Stone ’56 1972 Arthur E. Hempel ’57 1973 Hans W. Tews ’56 1974 B. Kenneth Gatlin ’55 1975-1976 Carmelo (Carmen) L. Battaglia ’58, ’60, ’68 1976-1977 James C. Smith ’62 1977-1978 Walter Leon Revell ’57 1978-1979 Mary Celia Diamond Findley ’47, ’66, ’80 1979-1980 William O. Cullom ’58 1980-1981 Wayne L. Rubinas ’70, ’72 1981-1982 June Fouts Strauss ’52 1982-1983 Melvin L. Pope, Jr. ’57 1983-1984 John L. Smith ’63 1985-1986 Bruce B. Blackwell ’68, ’74 1986-1987 Betty Lou Whittle Joanos ’57, ’85 1987-1988 H. Ken vanAssenderp ’63 1989-1990 William G. Smith, Jr. ’76 1990-1991 William M. Parker ’51 1992-1993 Donald A. Gifford ’70 1993-1994 Donald A. Gifford ’70 1994-1995 J. Lester Kaney ’69, ’73 1995-1996 J. Lester Kaney ’69, ’73 1996-1997 C. David Smith, MD ’76 1997-1998 Cynthia Skelton Tunnicliff ’67, ’71 1998-1999 Hugo H. de Beaubien ’70 1999-2000 Raymond Cottrell, MD ’69 2000-2001 Tom C. Haney, MD ’64 2001-2002 Thomas O. Goldsworthy ’67 2002-2003 Cheryl Stephenson Beckert ’72 2003-2004 Gene Walden ’68 2004-2005 Gene Walden ’68 2005-2006 David D. Mobley, Jr. ’83 2006-2007 Ronald R. Richmond ’62 2007-2008 Thomas M. Woodruff ’65 2008-2009 Maury R. Kolchakian ’75, ’78
A l u m n i A s s o c i at i o n S ta ff Scott Atwell, President and CEO Megan Barnes, Programs Assistant Tom Block, Seminole Club Relations Mandi Capeletti, Sr. Director of Programs and Outreach
Steve Oelrich, ’70
Katie Patronis, ’08
Michael J. Raymond, Ph.D. ’81
Valerie Colvin, Asst. Director of Membership Jennifer Santoro Dascomb, Asst. Director of Marketing Sarah Hayes, Operations Assistant Kathleen Harvey Helm, Office Manager Joe Mahshie, Asst. Director of Programs Salvatore Nuzzo, Chief of Staff Jessica Rosenthal, Chief Designer Tara Stalnaker, Director of Marketing and Membership Jay Wirth, Seminole Club Relations Tommie Wright, Ambassador
Gordon J. Sprague, ’65
Cindy Davis Sullivan, ’85
Thomas A. Waits, ’56 Vires 65
Seminoles Forever FSU S t u d e n t A l u m n i A s s o c i at i o n C e l e b r at e s 30 Years of Spirit, Tradition, and Pride By Jill Elish, FSU News and Public Affairs
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The motto of the Florida State University Student Alumni Association says it all: Students Today. Alumni Tomorrow. Seminoles Forever. An organization that fosters spirit, tradition, and pride, the Student Alumni Association (SAA) has been helping its members to develop as leaders, scholars, and future alumni since it was founded three decades ago. “It’s rewarding for us to celebrate the SAA’s 30th anniversary in the same year we celebrate the Alumni Association’s centennial,” said Scott Atwell, president of the Alumni Association. “The success of this program over the years has made Florida State a better place, and we are grateful to all of the students who have been part of this remarkable program.” The Student Alumni Association traces its roots to a student fundraising organization called the Student Foundation, which was established in 1979 by Ron Hill of the Dean of Students Office and Meredith Smith of the FSU Foundation. Then in 1983, Phil Barco ’76, who had been serving as FSU’s director of student activities and organizations, became the associate director of alumni affairs. “Many of the student leaders I had gotten to know through my role as director of student activities would drop by the alumni office to visit,” Barco recalled. “My brainchild was to start a Student Alumni Council through which we could involve these students with the Alumni Association, thus cultivating them to be loyal alumni.” Barco’s vision was ahead of a trend that was just beginning to gain momentum at major universities across the country. He felt strongly that there should be a student group housed within the association but did not want to start something that would compete with the Student Foundation. Instead, he and Smith served as co-advisers of the group, which was renamed the Student Alumni Foundation. The next year, Barco became the sole adviser of the organization, and he served in that capacity until 1991. In 1992, the organization formally changed its name to the Student Alumni Association.
Barco wanted the association to be an honor for the students choosing to participate, and he established an application and interview process to ensure that the membership comprised the “best of the best” of the student body. To hear former members recall their SAA experiences, it’s no wonder membership became a coveted mark of distinction for students. Allen Durham ’93 joined the organization in 1990 at the recommendation of a friend. In the association, he found not only many opportunities to become involved in the university and network with alumni, but he also found a home away from home. “SAA was a fantastic way to interact with FSU’s incredible alumni, and the staff of the Alumni Association really became a second family to many of us,” Durham said, citing as an example a close friendship with former Alumni Association Associate Director Betty Lou Joanos (affectionately known to students as “Dr. J”) and her husband, Judge James Joanos, that has continued to this day. In fact, Durham enjoyed his experience so much that he served as SAA adviser following his term as president of the group. He currently serves as secretary on the Alumni Association Board of Directors. The SAA remained a very competitive leadership organization of about 120 members
until about four years ago when it opened its membership to all undergraduate and graduate students in an effort to cultivate relationships with potential future members of the Alumni Association. “They are going to be alumni a lot longer than they are going to be students here,” said Joe Mahshie, assistant director of alumni programs and current SAA adviser. “So it makes sense for students to begin establishing a long-term relationship with Florida State before they graduate.” Atwell agreed. “The student organization allows us to teach these future alumni what it takes to be a great alumnus,” Atwell said. “It teaches leadership, the importance of staying involved, and introduces the concept of stewardship. It’s imperative for alumni to give back to the university whether it’s time, talent, or treasure.” The SAA now counts more than 1,000 students as members, and that number is expected to double in 2010, according to Mahshie. SAA members receive a T-shirt, newsletter, and “brag bag” and are invited to exclusive events, programs, and networking opportunities. They also receive discounts from many local businesses. Leadership is still at the heart of SAA, however, and establishing the SAA Leadership Council has retained that component. Student leaders who have grade point averages of at least 3.0 now vie for fewer than 40 seats on the Leadership Council.
Opposite page: 2009 President, Katie Fletchall celebrates the Student Alumni Association's 30th anniversary at the carnival-themed birthday party. This page: Allen Durham ’93 (far left) and other members of SAA. Vires 67
Members of the Leadership Council act as liaisons between the university and its alumni by coordinating, organizing, and hosting events. For example, members coordinate the Homecoming parade, organize Homecoming Court activities, and serve as student hosts in the President’s Box during all home games. Other activities include performing community service; assisting Seminole Clubs across the country and hosting the annual Seminole Club Leadership Conference; hosting New Student Orientation Events; serving ice cream to students at the President’s Ice Cream Social; and greeting alumni at the annual 50th class reunion during Emeritus Weekend. Over 300 students came out to participate in the flag football tournament hosted by SAA. Student groups participated to earn points for the annual Homecoming competition.
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“By serving as a host for university events, you get to hear wonderful stories about Florida State’s past as well as share your experiences of the present,” said 2009 SAA President Katie Fletchall, who graduated in December with a degree in business. “To serve as a representative of the student body is truly an honor.” This year, the SAA collaborated with the Student Government Association and the Alumni Association to produce one of its most ambitious projects to date, the publication of “The Florida State University: A History of Traditions.” About 2,000 copies of the pocketsize book were distributed at the New Student Convocation. Student Body President Robert Jakubik, who has been an SAA member since 2007 and served on the Leadership Council in 2008, proposed the “Traditions” book in an effort to educate students about the university’s rich history. “As I talked to incoming freshmen at Orientation, I realized there was no publication and really no resource for them to learn about our many great traditions,” Jakubik said. “I think this book was needed and is truly important for incoming students to become familiar with our traditions and strengthen their connection to the university.” Spearheading the production of the book is one way he has given back to the university— and the organization— that has given him so much. “My SAA experience has been nothing short of amazing,” said Jakubik, who credits his current success as a student leader to his SAA experience. “I got a chance to see a whole other aspect to being a college student: life after college. Between interacting with alumni and hosting events, I grew as an individual and so did my love for FSU.” To celebrate the association’s 30th anniversary, the SAA hosted three events over the past year— one to celebrate each decade of its existence. In July, the SAA hosted a Day-Glo themed party in recognition of the neon clothes and pop music that predominated the 1980s and
it held a flag football tournament in October to honor the university’s two national football championships in the 1990s. The celebrations culminated with a big, carnivalthemed 30th birthday party in November. “It has been really special to be a part of an organization that is one of the oldest on campus,” Fletchall said. “Over my four years of being involved, I can see why SAA has been around for so long. It is a great organization that has enriched my time here at Florida State and allowed me so many great opportunities.”
Looking to the future, 2010 SAA President Janie Hoffman, a sophomore communication major, has big plans for the association. In addition to efforts to double the association’s general membership, she hopes to host more events that connect the general student body with alumni and work more closely with the Seminole Student Boosters. “I am proud to be a part of such a large and diverse organization and would like to harness that individuality to unite us as one body,” Hoffman said. “I want all of us to strengthen our relationships not only with one another but with our alumni, who can teach us the importance of preserving our past so that we have a firmer foundation to build an even stronger future.”
A celebration of 30 years was held in the Alumni Courtyard on November 20th. Current students and alumni enjoyed carnival themed games and food.
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fiction In celebration of FSU’s nationally-ranked creative writing program, VIRES presents the following short story from the collection of Pulitzer Prize-winning faculty member, Robert Olen Butler.
“Woman Loses Cookie Bake-Off, Sets Self on Fire” From Tabloid Dreams The day my husband died, I baked a batch of cookies. Hold-Me-Tight Chocolate Squares. Bar cookies that took forever to eat, never going away no matter how long you chewed, sticking between your teeth and up into your gums and making your hands quake and your tongue feel like it was about to dissolve. I put in two cups of sugar. That was a different time in my life. The end of a time, and the only way I knew to enjoy it was in the terms I’d lived it. So I put in two cups of sugar and three cups of milk chocolate chips and ate the whole pan-full that night. I was still shaking from it three days later at the funeral and everybody thought it was grief. Even Eva. Of course, she wouldn’t suspect it was anything else. Bless her heart. My friend Eva. She came up to me by the open coffin and she was smelling of lavender. She tried to make some lavender cookies once, its being her favorite smell outside of the kitchen. Lavender is in the mint family, after all, and I admire her now, thinking back, for trying that. She couldn’t possibly have had a real hope that lavender cookies would please her family. Or maybe she could. Still, her husband Wolf threw them across the room. She blamed herself. So at the coffin she said, “My poor Gertie. I’m so sorry.” And she took my hands, which were having this sugar fit even then, and when she felt them, she rolled her eyes. “I know how you feel.” Wolf had died almost a decade before. Barely turned sixty. Arteries stuffed full of her Butterball Supremes, I suspect. Not that she wanted it that way. At the time, I wept with her, thinking she was so dreadfully unlucky, thinking, Oh God, how could I bear this myself. But when the moment came for me, when Karl went all white in the face with my Delft tureen in his hand at the dinner table and he put it gently down before pitching forward into the Weiner schnitzel, I began instantly to bear it, and my mind turned, as it so often has in my life, to cookies. Of course Eva thought she knew how I felt. I can’t blame her. We’d spent the better part of forty years thinking we knew what each other felt. Most of my daughters were sitting in the funeral parlor at that very moment with stricken faces, and I figured I knew what they were feeling, though waiting now before one of a hundred electric ovens in the Louisville Fair and Exposition Center, waiting for our judgment at the Great American Cookie Bake-off, I’m not so sure. Maybe I don’t know anything about anybody.
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But Eva held my hand and she couldn’t even recognize what was really going on in me. We’d quaked like that together over our kitchen tables more than once, laughing at what we’d just done, baked a batch of cookies and eaten them all. We could do that together, our little unconscious thumb to the nose. But we’d go right back and make another batch before Wolf and Karl and our children came home. These sweet little things were for them, after all. First and foremost for them. So when Eva held my hand by the coffin, I looked into her face and I felt scared. Both for my having this dreadful feeling of relief— that’s the only word I could find for what I was feeling about the death of the man I’d lived with for more than forty years— and for having this dear friend, my other self, so blind to what was really going on in me. I wanted to run away right then. Down the aisle of the funeral home and out into the street and home to my kitchen and I would bake more cookies— Peanut Butter Bouquets, those were the cookies in my head beside the coffin— I would make a batch of Peanut Butter Bouquets and I would eat them all and I wouldn’t even hear the clock ticking over the sink or the afternoon breeze humming in the gutters or the daytime TV coming from the open windows next door and I wouldn’t have to watch the laundry lifting on the line and snapping and falling and lifting again or the sun filling the empty lawn and then yielding to the shadow of our roof, sucked in by the shadow of our house like so much bright lint on the rug disappearing into the vacuum. Another sound. The vacuum. Roaring. And smelling like burnt rubber. My hands smelling of Lemon Joy. Or Lysol. Clean. Everything clean. Smelling clean. But all that was transformed by the turn my life had taken. I could bake cookies and sit and Karl would not be coming home that night and the girls were all in their own kitchens in various distant places and I would eat and eat and there would be no more batches to make unless I wanted to eat some more. Eva expected me to be baking my Peanut Butter Bouquets in the Bake-Off today. Six months before Karl failed to finish his evening meal, she and I sat at her kitchen table and there was bright sun in the yard and sheets on the line— we neither of us liked the smell of the laundry when it came out of our electric 72 Vires
dryers— and I could hear the sheets flapping. Eva and I sat at her kitchen table and there was a Good Housekeeping open between us and the full-page ad said that cookies were what made a house a home and now somebody was going to earn a hundred thousand dollars for baking her best cookies. “Wouldn’t it be something to win that?” Eva said. “Yes,” I said. “Not that I need it. Wolf was so smart.” That was apparently true. Eva’s life did not change in the slightest after he was gone. Like in the Bible the brother would marry the sister-in-law after she was widowed, Eva was married now to Wolf ’s interestbearing accounts. Even though there was just his money, she kept her house the same way she always had, and she slept alone on those sheets that always smelled of the sun and the fresh air. And I always admired her for this. With a great swelling of the chest and a catch in the throat, I would speak of Eva’s life to my other friends and my words would be full of admiration. “You could do your Peanut Butter Bouquets,” she said. “You should enter alone, Eva,” I said. “You win this year and I’ll win next.” “It wouldn’t be like we’re competing,” she said, putting her hand on mine in the center of her tabletop. “We’ll root for each other. I want to do this with you.” So we sent in our recipes and on the same Tuesday afternoon, Eva and I got our letters. I was sitting at my kitchen table and I always worked my way down the pile of mail one thing at a time. So after seeing what Lillian Vernon and Harriet Carter had to offer, considering for about the hundredth time buying 20,000-hour lightbulbs, I found the notice from the contest sponsors. I read how they congratulated me warmly, Mrs. Gertrude Schmidt, and were looking forward to my joining ninety-nine other cookie bakers in Louisville in the fall and they said that my wonderful Peanut Butter Bouquet recipe qualified me, but if I wanted to invent something brand new, I could do any cookie I wanted at the final bake-off. Once they had their special one hundred, they liked surprises. You could use anything you wanted in your recipe as long as you greased your pan with their brand of no-stick aerosol cooking spray. Sincerely
yours. Then the phone rang and it was Eva and she was weeping with excitement. “I will do something new,” she said. “But I like your Butterball Supremes,” I said. “They were Wolf ’s favorites.” She was silent for a long moment, and I was afraid I’d just made her sad, bringing up Wolf like that. I punched my forehead with the heel of my hand and waited out her silence. Then she said, thoughtfully, without any throb of pain, “Do you think it should be like a tribute?” “No, no. I was wrong. Do something new. That’d be fun.” “You think so? “Sure,” I said. “Yes,” she said. “I’ll pretend he’s alive and bake the cookie of his dreams.” At the time, this notion touched me. Now it makes me sick to my stomach. Eva was assigned the oven next to mine this morning and she’s been baking for him, every moment. When we began, we all stood before our ovens, the auditorium so quiet I expected to hear sheets flapping somewhere, and our preparation tables were behind us and I glanced at Eva and her face was lowered and there was another face beyond hers and another and another stretching far away, all of us waiting to do our life’s work, and I looked again at Eva and she was thinking about Wolf, I knew, and she was trying to ignore me, it had come to that, and I should have been ignoring her too, but there we were, and on the day we learned that we’d made the bake-off finals, my own husband was still very much alive. “Yes,” I said to Eva. “I’m sure Wolf ’s spirit is still somewhere there in your kitchen. Make the cookie of his ghostly dreams.” I don’t know what came over me to say that. I think I wanted to reassure her that he was still present in her life or something. But I said it badly, and she took this idea with a long moment of silence and then she said, “Yes.” She said it with a throb of resolve in her voice and we hung up. I sat for awhile, thinking about breaking the news to Karl. And it wasn’t just the sounds of this place or all the minute things I saw every day of my life or the smell of my hands or my sheets or my upholstery that were mixing in my head and heating up and getting
ready to pop out of the oven when eventually Karl pitched forward into his food. It was him too. It was him. It was me sitting there and not knowing how to say to him that there was actually a reason for me to go to Louisville, Kentucky, and try to do something. Damn my misguided Eva, I thought. It was a sweet “damn” that I spoke in my head, sweet and with an arm around her, but damn her for the whole idea, I thought. I shouldn’t have to be facing this fact about my husband. I shouldn’t have to be sitting at my kitchen table trying to figure out— with a quake in my hands that wasn’t from too much sugar— how to talk to my husband about cookies that weren’t for him. And I wasn’t coming up with any answers. As it turned out, I never did tell him. I put it off that night. He came home and he pecked a kiss into the empty air between us and he went to his recliner and he sat down and he opened his paper. Then there was dinner— pot roast and new potatoes and red cabbage and cream corn and a tossed salad and Black Forest Honey Drops— a spicy little cookie that my grandmother taught me— and coffee, and there was no talk then either, not even a word about the cookies, though it had been some years since I’d made them and he ate them with obvious pleasure, dobbing the crumbs up with a wetted fingertip, and this was my test for the night. If he said nothing about these cookies, I would say nothing about Louisville. After the last crumb was gone and the last drop of coffee drunk, he leaned back and breathed deep and grunted the air out and said, “Good.” That didn’t count. That was what he’d said every night for forty-odd years and he thought it counted, but it didn’t count. Not that night. Not any night. Though I can feel this heat in me now— my cookies off to the judges and the hundred ovens growing cool and me standing here with the vast, steel-webbed ceiling of the auditorium soaring above me like in a cathedral— though I can feel heat now about Karl’s monosyllabic approval, at the time I just let it go. I didn’t get angry. I was off the hook for the night, after all. I wouldn’t have to tell him about Louisville. And the next night he was dead before the main course was through. And maybe he died from those cookies. Since they were from my grandmother, since they were from those days of my childhood in Germany— how far away they seem, but how Vires 73
clear— when my grandmother and my mother and I worked at a rough oak table with a coal oven heating nearby and the kitchen full of the smells of allspice and nutmeg and cinnamon and cloves and we made mounds and mounds of these cookies, maybe all the goodness that could come from the hands of three generations of women built up such a force of gustatory gratitude in the eater that if he did not vent it off with a lighting of the face and a warmth of the eyes and a tender loving touch and whole sentences of praise, the repression of that force would put a terrible strain on his heart and he would die within twenty-four hours. Maybe that’s what happened. I’d like to think so. He died, and when the ambulance had gone, I laid out the ingredients for the Hold-Me-Tights and even before I could grease my pan I knew what I was going to feel about my dead husband. I can’t say I expected it, exactly, but it didn’t surprise me either. I knew I couldn’t talk about it. Anybody would take me for a hard, cruel person if they knew. Eva certainly would. It would shock her terribly. What did surprise me was what I began to feel about her. She came to my house the next morning and rang the bell and I was still in the bed. I hadn’t slept a wink. I’d lain catty-corner in the double bed, cutting across both spaces, and I’d thrashed around from the sugar rush, but it was more than that. The bed was empty. I lay on my back and scissored my legs and waved my arms like making angels in the snow and I couldn’t get old show tunes out of my head and I hummed them in the dark and I moved my arms and legs in time. “Ol’ Man River” and “You Cain’t Win a Man with a Gun” and the one about the oldest established crap game in New York. It was a night filled with music and a kind of dance. 74 Vires
Then the sunlight came, and the doorbell. I peeked out my window at Eva. She had a plate of cookies. I figured I knew what they were. The fatal Butterballs. Sprinkled with powdered sugar. I had the same impulse myself the night before, but from Eva the sweetness of the cookies made me strangely restless and pouty and I let the curtain fall shut and I crawled back into bed and curled up and I didn’t answer. I did talk to her on the phone later in the day and I lied. “Honey,” Eva said, “I rang your bell over and over.” “I was asleep,” I said. “I took some pills.” “I understand.” She didn’t, of course. That’s what I realized. I barely understood myself, at that moment. “I brought you some cookies,” she said. “I’m sorry I missed them,” I said. “I put them in a Baggie and left them in your mailbox,” she said. “I’ll get them,” I said. “I’m oh so sorry about Karl.” She began to cry. “Don’t cry,” I said, a little harshly, I think. But she didn’t seem to notice. “We’re both bereft now,” she said. “I better get the cookies before the mailman thinks they’re for him,” I said and I hung up. They weren’t the Butterballs. I lifted them from the mailbox and they were red and round and fusing wetly together. She was experimenting. I opened the bag, and the smell— sweet and liquory— made my head spin. They were for Wolf. And Karl, not even buried yet, would have loved them too. I could see him licking the ooze off his fingers. I zipped the lock on the bag and carried the cookies through the house and punched the pedal of my stand-up galvanized trash can with my toe and the top popped open and the cookies were gone and the lid clanked shut. I stepped into the middle of the kitchen floor and I found that I was breathing heavily. What was the rest of my life to be? That was the question of the moment. But I had no answers and I fought off the other question: what had all of my life been? I just stood panting in the middle of my kitchen and all I could hear was my breath. I couldn’t hear the clock.
The wind was moving the trees outside and no doubt was humming in the gutters but I couldn’t hear that either. I could hear only my own breathing. In spite of the Hold-Me-Tights still coursing in my veins, I had to make some cookies. Something basic. A simple chocolate chip. Chewy. I like them chewy. And I moved quickly to the cabinets and I laid it all out: uncooked oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, unsalted butter, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, milk chocolate chips, granulated sugar, brown sugar. And the Crisco. I’d use a lot of Crisco. When I was a little girl I always wanted my cookies chewy and I never outgrew that. And my own daughters were the same way. We’d make cookies in this very kitchen, always chewy, and I was lucky, I guess, that Karl liked them chewy, too, and on the first morning of my widowhood, I could see those girls around me in this place and the cookies were shaped into balls and they were on the cookie sheet and I said “Come, my sweet ones, come and make your thumbprints here on the cookies,” and they did, they came and pressed their thumbs into the cookies and these little images of my daughters went into the oven. I was breathing hard again. So I made the chocolate chips, just the way I knew to do it. Two and a half cups of the oats. One and three-quarters cups of the flour. One cup of the granulated sugar. One cup of the brown sugar. And so forth. Going straight to the oven with the mixture— no chilling in the fridge— so that they would be chewy. And when they came out, I put them on the table and I could smell the sugar in them and my hands suddenly wouldn’t hold still and the thought of the milk chocolate made my teeth hurt. So I let them sit. I did not eat even one of them. But those were the cookies I turned to today. The Grand Chef and his entourage came down the row of ovens and we were all standing there in our oversized paper aprons with the Great American Cookie Bakeoff emblazoned on them and the TV cameras were following along and he had his clipboard and he asked each contestant what they were going to bake this fine day and the lady on one side of me said “Macadamia Mud Drops” and he wrote it down and then they all came to me and I could feel Eva’s eyes on me from the other side and she was expecting to go up against
my Peanut Butter Bouquets, but I said, “Chocolate Chip Cookies.” The Grand Chef ’s pen paused over the clipboard. He was expecting a more exotic name, I’m sure. “With capital letters,” I said. “Yes,” he said, with an understanding nod, though he didn’t understand at all. I saw him print the name there all in capitals: CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES. He moved on. I didn’t care. I felt I could win. Somewhere in the auditorium there was a panel of tasters and the world for them was what the world had always been for those of us about to bake cookies in this place: mounds and rows and tin-fulls of sweet little lies. After the funeral I sat in Eva’s kitchen. She was mixing cookie dough with a rubber spatula and she was weeping. “I’m all right,” I said to her. She stopped and turned her face to me. “You’ve been very brave.” “I don’t think so.” “Yes you have.” “It’s not courage,” I said. This was true as far as it went, but I didn’t know how to say any more. Even for myself. “Yes it is courage.” “It’s crust,” I said. “Worse. It’s . . . I’ve been in the oven too long. All the sugar’s crystallized, turned black, burnt up. There was too much of it to start.” “I don’t understand what you’re saying.” “I don’t either,” I said. “I’ve never burnt a cookie this bad in my life. Maybe the bottom blackened. Early on. When I was learning. But not this. What if you kept the oven on all day and night and then the next day and night and the cookies kept baking and burning and turning to a cinder. What happens to all the sweet things when they stay in the fire for years?” “You’re scaring me,” Eva said, but when she said it, she didn’t put down her bowl and come to me, she didn’t come and give me a hug and tell me to go home and go to bed and take a cookie with me. She turned and began to stir her batter. And I didn’t have a clue about what was going on in me. Not a clue. I didn’t call her the next day, though it was my turn. Or the next. We didn’t talk again. How did we Vires 75
know not to talk again after all those years of talk? The Grand Chef passed on and a local TV reporter, a young woman who I bet never ate a cookie in her life except from a grocery store package, stuck her microphone in my face and the bright light came on and she said, “Why are you here?” It was a good question, I guess. But there was only the one answer. “I’ve always made cookies,” I said. “When you come down to it, people can’t change what they’ve always done.” She and the microphone and the lights passed on, and I didn’t look toward Eva, who was next. But I heard her voice, clear and loud, announce her cookies: Cherub Cheek Cherry Charms. The Grand Chef cried out in pleasure at the very idea of such a cookie and I bent over my hands lying on the top of my preparation table. My Great American paper apron crinkled. Some things can’t change, but some things can. I’d brought the milk chocolate chips, but something had prompted me to bring semi-sweet, as well. Karl found them bitter, the semi-sweet chips. But Karl was also dead. He had another kind of bitter to deal with. I never much liked the semisweet chocolate either, but tastes change. Semi-sweet seemed right to me today. And then we were all facing our stoves and the auditorium rang with the voice of the Grand Chef and he said, “Bakers, start your ovens,” and we did. And all the ingredients were before me and I laid them out, just as I had on the morning after Karl died. I sprayed my pan with their aerosol cooking oil and I mixed the oats and the flour and the cinnamon and the baking powder and the baking soda and the salt, and then I peeked at Eva. Her hands were scarlet. Whatever gave her cherubs’ cheeks their blush was all over her hands. I stopped and watched her and I think there were tears in her eyes, and I guess they were for Wolf. I turned to my cookies and it was time to make the sugar mixture. My hand went out to the granulated sugar, but I paused. My recipe asked for one cup of granulated sugar. But I’d had enough of that. I put in one cup of brown sugar. Just one cup of brown. The judges will thank me, I thought. After the Macadamia Mud and the Cherub Cheeks, they will turn away from all the desperate cloying and my cookies will touch them like something real, something true, like 76 Vires
a mother’s embrace. And they will chew and chew and the results will just have to wait because they won’t want to stop chewing, and I will go home to my house tonight and I will make another batch of cookies just like this and I will chew all through the night and then on until the sun rises. I lay in bed when I was a little girl and it was in the mountains, in Baden, and my mother and my grandmother both tucked me in and I’d secretly wrapped a cookie in the sleeve of my nightgown and surely they knew, the way they smiled at me and at each other, and it was Christmas or almost Christmas, that’s how I remember it always, and it was no matter that my father was by the fire smoking and rocking and talking only to the other men, they did not even exist, there was no one in the world but these two women and me and there was the cookie wrapped in my sleeve that we three had just baked, and my mother and my grandmother pulled the covers over me and I wanted to grow up and be just like them, I would be large and warm and smart in the ways that women are smart, and under the covers, with the kisses of my mother and my grandmother still wet on my face, I ate my cookie and it was chewy and it lasted and lasted and it seemed that I would never even have to swallow, it would stay sweet in my mouth forever. But of course I was wrong. Another life came upon me, and I know now that the cookie I had in my sleeve was good for the child but baked for the man by the fire, and if I go home tonight and make these very same cookies, the bed I will take them to is full of the smell of another man, even if he is dead. They are for him. They were always for him. This is what the two women I loved taught me. I have no doubt tried to teach my own daughters this same thing. I am nearly seventy years old. And the winner has just been announced and Eva is weeping again, in joy. Her Cherub Cheeks have prevailed and I am happy for her. May she never wash her red hands clean. And now I have a match in my hand and I light it and my apron is made of paper and the cooking spray will grease my way home.
Robert Olen Butler is the Francis Eppes Professor of English at Florida State University and winner of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize.
APRIL 9 – 11TH, 2010
SAVE the DATE
Emeritus Weekend & Class of 1960 50th Reunion • Educational Programming and Lectures • Emeritus Alumni Society Induction Dinner and Awards Brunch • Circus Performance • Pre-Game Tailgate and Garnet & Gold Game
Register online at alumni.fsu.edu or call (850) 644-4021
THE FINAL WORD ing on le, reflect u s p a c like e uld look tion’s tim o ia w c y o s it s s r A e univ ied to lumni what the ho had tr for the A f w o y r r t t o s t n a a e c r e t n r is y fo min repare a offering m st Florida State ad d sked to p n a a s y a a w d ea r I o ham mad not the fi ked like t When k s o c a e lo w B e . I t a t t M a rida S rlotte and red th what Flo ents Cha d in size I discove e d , . s u n w a t e o S io r n t c f u o in m it t fro been Dean ding at ins 100 years will have f our gre r Women ned as lan s o o ig u f e s p r e e u g d m t e a s u ll c f f o t e resen eir roo be State C predict th biles will d, “Our p of them having th , Florida e o t 0 m 3 ic 9 o d t 1 e u r a may p in s, many Back 955, she gton, we r housing g 1 o in f y in h d s s B a il e . t g u s W a b a r ern from orec ing in ed ga 25-year f with mod rs leading eral build constr uct d o d e t y e t t f ll la o a ia a c d c s e m e ly p o s ick es. S cue fr well a will be th s for plan ilding as king our ld a u e t b fi , t o f a t f h t o g res g in le rs 457 ac om build and takin n probab e r e f v v o s e c s s is la c u it and camp ing to ions, supplied, r renovat , our main skaters go 9 jo r 0 a o 0 f m 2 s 3 y n a 1 I . . dw facilities, t campus xpansion s e e w have spee .” e t w n u h t o 1 u b 5 a o the S , right oor ve seen nsion of the world a floor to fl kham was certainly 2003 alone, we ha d p x n e u o g r a in clud e and Bec ince g space, in s around the stat Dean hassee. S in a d ll il a curricula. u T b e n n f e li w o h n o c t t t o e n e e r d f w t n uare ms a erially ience s near do million sq ad progra ill be mat ate exper o t .5 r w S 4 b e a a s ly e r id y h r a d n and t e u lo and n e, the F nown me methods, laimed st k c im g t c y a ll in e , a h s m n c a a m io s e a l and t : “As to t y interna e materia At the ical progr s b h e d t e u n g e in m t iv in l t n g a n o n e egio ast c pleme will b through r kham’s 1930 forec uctor sup str uction r t in s e in h t t n f c e Be resid r uch o Dean with the n likely m 30 and he n a 9 h 1 io t is e in v r n o le e e ear. t M for Wom duation y adio and changed. a e r r g g f e o ll f o s o n C s a rdles State y me te as mni, rega women b lorida Sta ’s Florida lu F m a .” t s a t a ll h a n k d e c e o d t e iv u B e st other and s familiar 963, I arr es, Dean m 1 ic g t y n n testing th is I a r M . e h . y t c y a c r e a nal w h t histo e char spite th and perso p to Smit ke ancien hare som u p s li Yet de e e s e v ld d o u m r e y o d r e w s e e 1955 in a v ience l ee. W cteristics al manua Tallahass my exper predicted a y , r o t o t a n R h e e c a v d , e o u t r s g s tho strin ay’s ha d we d I know freshman. To tod d up with eraser wit Beach an ie r t a e n x it o r o t b y w a e d p r -old d in D rdboa one ty a 17-year 1957 For ens, and case, a ca a p it u p s ic u B e d it e f n k one o c a Samso handful here was father pa d a T a , . r h s e I p m . a t o p u o ond the r pe got o hones in erasable b Hall and ct and ho p e f ll o o o n c m e a ll r a e e r c r, a u ad to here w typewrite h Hall. T d hope yo me, you h end. it n o a e h m h d S t ll n a n in c ie o r a g h r girlf ionin make little br us alling you air-condit If you wanted to c o e n r e s a w w u by. if yo There in the lob uarters in n q ) w t o u d p e ’d n u yo continued ( r O . pay pho it e k would ta utes. Mamma hree min t in t u o didn’t r un
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I remember going to Tully Gym to register for classes. There was a great big bull ring over there with all the faculty sitting inside the ring and signs indicating their subjects hanging on a clothesline above them. I was 17 years old, had come out of a high school with less than 100 people in it, and I walked up to the history location and said, “I want to take Western Civ.” Professor Jim Jones was sitting there and looked at me. I was pathetic— almost wanted to cry. He got up from behind his table and handed me a card for an available section. I said, “I can’t take it then. I’ve got math.” He said, “Son, you’ve got to figure it out.” He walked me around Tully Gym and finally got me through the whole process. That experience was incredibly meaningful to me, but it was not unique. First and foremost, this place has always been all about the students. That’s why I came to Florida State, why 40,000 are here today. It’s about the Jim Joneses walking out from behind the desk and helping a 17-year-old kid who didn’t know what he was doing. It’s about the other faculty who say, “I’ll teach another section rather than crowd Williams Hall.” Or “I’ll write an extra grant, or I’ll stay for an extra lecture.” “I’ll be online.” “I’ll be at the office.” “You can come by and see me.” As I leave the presidency and a new person takes over, I’m convinced that he or she will maintain and build on our traditional priorities and will be an advocate for students, just like our past presidents and just like Dean Beckham, Coyle Moore, Dr. Jones, and everyone else who has been at The Florida State University. In 1930 and then to1955, 1963, and 2009, Westcott Fountain has shimmered in the Tallahassee heat and tradition still holds that pranksters will periodically toss bubbles, dye, or the occasional new 21-year-old into the water. So may it be in 2109. And in 2109, may this community still be saying proudly, “It’s all about the students.”
Ginger and T.K. Wetherell 80 Vires
The Florida State University Alumni Association proudly acknowledges our Centennial Circle donors and thanks each for their support of our 100th Anniversary programming: Michele & Lynn Adair Les & Ruth Akers Alumni Emeritus Society Reubin & Donna Lou Askew Scott & Jennifer Atwell Sally & Duby Ausley Lucy & Gary Baer Howard & Cheryl Beckert Bruce & Julie Blackwell Art Bougae Dennis & Robin Boyle Ken Cashin Bridget M. Chandler FSU Class of 1952 FSU Class of 1953 FSU Class of 1954 FSU Class of 1956 FSU Class of 1959 Mary & David Coburn Raymond & Stella Cottrell Caryl & Bill Cullom Hugo & Mary deBeaubien Allen & Patty Durham Don Eddings Helen & Steve Edwards Dr. & Mrs. Frank Fain
Mary D. Findley David B. Ford N. Terry Godbold R. Martin & Cheryl E. Hall Tom Haney Jeff & Denise Hill Mark & Nan Casper Hillis Cliff & Lee Hinkle Lucy M. I. Ho Katherine B. Hoffman Jacksonville Seminole Club Cassandra Jenkins Jim & Betty Lou Joanos Maury & Diana Kolchakian Mayor John & Jane Marks Stanley Marshall Coach Mike Martin Jim & Pat Melton DeVoe Moore Russ & Genie Morcom Laurel & James Moredock Mabel Jean Morrison Frank & Marcia Murphy Joe & Monterey Nosari Mike & Judy Pate Betty Petway
Tom Petway Sherrill & Jimmy Ragans Jim & Ginger Riscigno Charyl Schroeder Ray Schroeder Kenneth & Robin Sellers Bud Cash/Seminole Club of Broward County Seminole Club of Greater Miami, Inc.Seminole Club of North Texas Seminole Tribe of Florida Patricia Sibley Ron & Pat Smith Guy & Delores Spearman Beverly Burnsed Spencer Betty & Gordon Sprague Gus & Frances Stavros Gene Walden Ginny Walden A. Gary Walsingham Dr. Janet Wells T.K. & Ginger Wetherell Tommy Williams Tom & Cheryl Woodruff * As of October 20, 2009