Miamian, Summer 2017

miamian The Magazine of Miami University

Summer 2017

IN THIS ISSUE:

Cubs Ring Bling American Heroes Love & The Lancer

Peace Corps’ strength is real people helping each other

D R AW ING O N AFRIC AN HE R I TAG “Ance E stral S pirit D #576,” ance a 40"x 32" oil on ebo pastel ny boa rd, refl colorfu ects th l natur e e of its Willis creato “Bing” r, D a v who op is MEd ened t ’67, he Dav Art Stu is dio and EbonN Gallery ia in Day ton’s h Wrigh istoric t-Dunb ar Bus Distric iness t after he retir from t ed eachin g.

Staff Editor Donna Boen ’83 MTSC ’96 Miamian@MiamiOH.edu

Vol. 35, No. 3

miamian

Senior Designers Donna Barnet Belinda Rutherford

Web Developer Suzanne Clark

STORIES

Copy Editor Beth Weaver

18 World Champions — Has a Nice Ring to it

Student Assistant Jessica Gonsiewski ’18

Among the Cubs sporting World Series rings are nine Miamians who handle everything from finance to VIP seating in the Chicago team’s front office.

Design Consultant Lilly Pereira www.aldeia.design

20 The Humane Connection

University Advancement 513-529-4029 Vice President for University Advancement Tom Herbert herbertw@MiamiOH.edu Alumni Relations 513-529-5957 Assistant Vice President for Alumni Relations Ray Mock ’82 MS ’83 mockrf@MiamiOH.edu

Although they come from different decades, these four share similar Peace Corps experiences that are life-changing.

26 Miami Friends, American Heroes Friends first, heroes always. (see page 26).

Before 1967 classmates Terry Graves and Rich Higgins became two of Miami’s most decorated veterans, they became best friends in college.

Office of Development 513-529-1230 Senior Associate Vice President for University Advancement Brad Bundy Hon ’13 brad.bundy@MiamiOH.edu

IN EACH ISSUE

MiamiOH.edu/alumni

To and From the Editor

Send address changes to: Alumni Records Office Advancement Services Miami University 926 Chestnut Lane Oxford, Ohio 45056 alumnirecords@MiamiOH.edu 513-529-5127 Fax: 513-529-1466 ON THE COVER Alumni devote two years to the Peace Corps, intent on helping to change others’ lives, only to come home transformed themselves. Page 24.

Summer 2017

The Magazine of Miami University

Photographers Jeff Sabo Scott Kissell

2 From the Hub

14 Media Matters

3 Back & Forth

16 My Story

6 Along Slant Walk

30 Love & Honor

10 Such a Life

32 Class Notes

12 Inquiry + Innovation

46 Farewells

Miami Shines in Service

Angel’s Trumpet, a greenhouse showstopper. (see page 12).

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Campus News Highlights

Race the Ohio

Stunning Blooms, Research Discoveries Opus Web paper features FSC® certifications and is Lacey Act compliant; 100% of the electricity used to manufacture Opus Web is generated with Green-e® certified renewable energy.

New Works by Alumni

Life, Love, & The Lancer

High Energy CEO

Notes, News, and Weddings

48 Days of Old Game, Set, Match

Illustration by Lilly Pereira.

Miamian is published three times a year by the University Advancement Division of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056. Copyright © 2017, Miami University. All rights are reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Miamian is produced by University Communications and Marketing, 108 Glos Center, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056, 513-529-7592; Fax: 513-529-1950; Miamian@MiamiOH.edu.

from the hub

Miami Shines in Service

By President Greg Crawford During my first day on the job at Miami, while Renate

Servantleadership runs deep in the Miami DNA.

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and I were visiting the three campuses, a Hamilton student handed me a wooden nickel to pass along when I see someone do a good deed. The coin is part of Project Civility, a program begun by the Hamilton campus’s Student Government Association that has spread into the community.

I knew then that Miamians are passionate about making the world a better place. Servant-leadership runs deep in the Miami DNA. To empower our students and graduates as selfless and successful leaders in a globalized and diverse world, we instill in them the values and virtues of our Code of Love and Honor (miamioh. edu/iammiami) and our liberal arts foundation.

Recognizing the importance of character and intellect, we elevate the qualities of compassion, courage, generosity, openness, humility, conscientiousness, and optimism.

Miamians practice servant-leadership early and often during their undergraduate years — from spontaneous acts of kindness to programs organized through our Office of Community Engagement and Service and student-directed initiatives. Consider these exemplars among the 23 impressive students who earned President’s Distinguished Service Awards this spring: Anne Marie Misey ’17, a speech pathology and audiology major, has been involved, since her first year at Miami, with Opening Minds through Art, an intergenerational program for people with dementia. Her dedication to community elders extends through her work with Miami’s chapter of Threshold Choir, which sings to people in Hospice.

Gianna Sheffield ’17, a computer science major, led the founding of Miami’s Girls Who Code chapter, which introduces teenage women to programming in a supportive environment.

Such commitment extends beyond our region and our nation — our students participate in many international service projects. Josh Gabbard ’17, an

architecture and interior design major, created a sun shelter for the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan.

Thanks to three generous alumni who dedicated their lives to service and leadership, Miami students now enjoy opportunities on campus to embrace the philosophy through the William Isaac and Michael Oxley Center for Business Leadership and the Wilks Leadership Institute in the Division of Student Affairs.

Countless faculty and staff model servant-leadership and mentor thousands of students and graduates. One example, Daryl Baldwin, director of the Myaamia Center and our May commencement speaker, earned a MacArthur “Genius Grant” last year for leading the revival of the Myaamia language as well as other linguistic and preservation efforts.

In this Miamian, you’ll read about other leaders, including Terry Graves and Rich Higgins, 1967 classmates who became best friends at Miami.

As Marines, both made the ultimate sacrifice in service to others and received the highest military honors of all of our graduates. You’ll also You are invited to write to meet four alumni in the Peace President Greg Crawford at president@MiamiOH.edu.

Corps, joining the nearly 1,000 Follow him on Twitter Miamians who have volun@PresGreg. teered since its inception.

The Peace Corps impacts the world through selfless giving to promote mutual understanding.

These students and alumni, and the many faculty who have inspired and mentored them, reveal the heart of who we are at Miami — our passion to make a difference in the lives of others in everything we do. The Miami family, with its traditions, its values, and its connections, is powerfully equipped to provide meaningful leadership around the world in the 21st century.

back & forth

Thank you, Professor Cayton In 2011, I was given a copy of Distinguished Professor of History Andrew Cayton’s book Frontier Indiana. At the time I was researching and writing about a series of Indian treaties that took place in St. Marys, Ohio, in 1818.

Professor Cayton was receptive to meeting on one of my frequent trips to Oxford. What resulted was an incredible series of meetings, calls, and emails in which Drew mentored me.

Even though I was an amateur historian who never took a history course at Miami, I was a systems analysis major, he helped me in between his own research and writing, teaching responsibilities, graduate adviser duties, and other diversions that come to one recognized throughout the U.S. for his expertise on the Early Republic.

To me, he seemed to have no other priorities than to nudge me along.

What I came to understand about Drew was that his willingness to find time for me was really a theme in his life. I discovered he had a well-deserved reputation among professional and academic

historians as one willing to set aside his own interests to collaborate.

In 2013, when Drew was guiding me on my third project, I decided to recognize his collaborative spirit and academic accomplishment.

Drew demurred from the personal attention this would bring.

None-the-less I was able to convince him of the benefits to his students and peers in terms of recognition for Miami’s history department as well as the gained academic insights.

As a result, during the 2014-2015 school year, four professors who had collaborated with Drew visited campus and delivered fascinating lectures. Renowned Jefferson scholar Annette Gordon-Reed delivered the last one.

Seeking Your LUXEMBOURG Stories and Photos

Little did we know, but this series honoring Drew was the capstone to his Miami career. During the course of the lectures, he confided to me he would be leaving Miami after 25 years. He had accepted an endowed chair in history at Ohio State. At the same time, he was guiding me toward the publication of my manuscript. He pointed me to particular academic presses, provided sample introductory letters, and allowed me to reference his mentorship.

By the final lecture, Kent State University Press had agreed to publish my book as Forging the Bee Line Railroad, 1848-1889: The Rise and Fall of the Hoosier Partisans and Cleveland Clique. Unfortunately, its release in January 2017 came after

Send letters to: Donna Boen Miamian editor 108 Glos Center Miami University Oxford, Ohio 45056-2480 Miamian@MiamiOH.edu; or fax to 513-529-1950.

Include your name, class year, home address, and phone number.

Letters are edited for space and clarity.

If you studied at Miami’s Luxembourg campus, Miamian wants to hear your favorite memories and funny stories for an upcoming article in anticipation of MUDEC’s 50th anniversary Oct. 7–11, 2018. Please share with Miamian editor Donna Boen at Miamian@MiamiOH.edu before Sept. 1, 2017. Send your photos too!

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his death. Regretfully the lecture series represented a closing celebration of Drew’s life.

The recent publication of my book has provided me yet another opportunity to reflect on Drew’s contributions — to me personally, and to those committed to conveying the story of the Early Republic.

—Andy Olson ’72 Marco Island, Fla.

P

Now That’s a Miami Family I am the youngest of eight kids, and seven of us graduated from Miami University between 1979–1992. We have a variety of degrees, from education to paper engineering. When I graduated in 1992, President Pearson asked my mother to stand at the ceremony. He recognized her for attending Parents Weekend every year from 1975–1991.

#LoveHonorPoem

Winners celebrate diversity For National Poetry Month, the Miami community participated in a social media poetry contest in April.

Students, faculty, and staff posted micro-poems on Twitter and photos of short poems on Instagram, using the hashtag #LoveHonorPoem.

Below is the entry from one of the three Grand Prize Winners. To see all the submissions, go to tinyurl.com/LoveHonorPoems.

Red bricks paved/a road too small.//Whose history/is the mortar.//Stitched in the fabric// of over 200 years./Where unity was a dream// and diversity an illusion.//Now building a new road//Where red bricks must be only a part.//Not the whole. — BY S H A MIKA KA RIKA RI

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I am happy to say that my third child just committed to Miami as well. I will actually have three children at Miami this fall — Luke, a senior in chemical engineering; Liz, a junior in IMS and graphic design; and my newest — John, a freshman in the Farmer School for finance.

Many Miami alums hope to have one of their kids choose Miami.

To think that I will have a senior, junior, and freshman on campus together — at my favorite place on Earth — is overwhelming to me.

Just wanted to share my joy.

Love and Honor.

—Mollie Davis Marot ’92 Fairfield, Ohio Treasured Diaries Found My mother, Mary Jane “Cookie” Hugh Brower ’56, has talked for many years about the assignment she completed as part of a history class she took her senior year. The class was taught by W.E. Smith, and students were given a choice of a final project. My mother chose what she thought would be the easiest option: keeping a daily diary during the course of the class.

As the family historian, I was assigned the mission of finding the diary in the university archives.

About a year ago I reached out to Jacky Johnson in the Walter Havighurst Special Collections & Archives. Jacky attempted to find my mother’s project, but due to the move of some items to and from Withrow Court, she was not able to locate them.

This spring, my mother and I visited the new home of Special Collections on the third floor of King Library. We were joined by my daughter, Samantha ’17, who was finishing her shift as

“We disappeared into the past as Mom read aloud about Ike’s declaration that he would run for another term.” student manager of the Howe Writing Center.

We introduced ourselves to Jacky who recalled my emails requesting assistance. She found several boxes containing projects from Dr. Smith’s history classes during my mother’s time. None contained her diary. Upon further research, Jacky learned that many more boxes existed at another location. I made plans to pick up the search another day.

A few days later I learned Jacky had continued looking and finally located the diary from fall 1955. As an added bonus, she found its mate from spring 1956.

Trembling with excitement, Mom and I, and my youngest daughter, Jackie (OU ’19), arrived at Special Collections a week later.

Jacky handed us the two diaries, and we disappeared into the past as Mom read aloud about Ike’s declaration that he would run for another term and the invasion of Afghanistan by Russia. We heard about breakfast Uptown at the CI and the football team’s big win.

It was fascinating learning how much and yet how little things had changed at Miami over 60 years.

Most importance to us was Mom’s account of her courtship by my father, Frederick Brower ’50, which began a few pages into the

back & forth

diary. After a five-year stint in the Marine Corps, Dad had returned to Miami as a grad student. In Mom’s own words we learned exactly what she thought about this “fine young man” over the course of their first few dates. Skipping to the end of the second diary, we read about their April engagement shortly before her graduation. A wedding was planned for June 12, 1956, and she hoped “it hurries along!”

As we made plans to return and finish our reading another day, we were greeted by William Modrow, head of Special Collections & Archives. From his office, he heard my mother reading the events of 60 years ago. Understanding the significance of the day’s events to our family, he graciously offered to have the diaries copied for us.

As we later shared snippets of the contents with my father, he recounted that Mom had been saying for much of their marriage how she wished she could read those diary entries made so long ago. Thanks to the care of many MU staff, my mother’s wish finally came true.

—Becky Brower Osborne ’81 Mason, Ohio

Facebook comment Response to “Staying Connected: MUSF bridges past, present, and future,” in Winter/Spring 2017 Miamian: Glad that MUSF is still going strong. It has provided so many of my Miami memories as well as lifetime friends. — Dana White Bolar MS ’89, Prairie Village, Kan.

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Inka Dinka Doo My first memory as a freshman, aside from being baffled by all the red

brick, is of my mass communication professor bouncing around the large lecture room in Hughes with a mic.

“Anybody got a joke? A story they want to tell?” he asked. From that point on, he captured our full attention, exactly as he intended. During one class, Dr. Vogel spotted a grand piano on stage. Faster than a minister, a priest, and a rabbi can walk into a bar, he ran over to the keyboard and warmed up his fingers and his students with a few flourishes.

As funny as he was, his classes were no laughing matter. A “B” from him was hard earned. Lenny Dave ’79 can testify to that. He swears that Vogel gave him a “C.” Well, the joke’s on Bob now, and he’s loving it because Lenny and Bob have playfully switched roles.

Retiring after 41 years at Miami, Bob wanted to fulfill his “Walter Mitty” aspiration to be a professional entertainer. He put together a demo CD and contacted his former student for guidance. Lenny happily obliged, remembering Bob as one of his favorite professors.

Then Lenny went a step further. The nationally recognized speaker, author, and humorist hired Bob as his musical director. The two now travel the senior circuit presenting “The Great Comedians & Their Memorable Music!” I sat in on their show at The Knolls of Oxford.

Interacting with the audience throughout the performance, Lenny requests Bob play a few notes of a legendary comedian’s theme song.

He then asks the audience to name the comedian. “Jack Benny!” someone yells out. Lenny proceeds to share a bit of history about Benny, master of the long pause. For 90 minutes the two entertain and educate about stars from the past, from The Great Schnozzola, Jimmy Durante, and his theme song “Inka Dinka Doo,” to the hotheaded Archie Bunker.

Anyone who knows Bob Vogel might imagine it’s hard for him to sit at the piano and not talk. Nah. He had enough limelight while teaching and enjoys watching Lenny take the lead. Some assume he taught music. He’s quick to correct that notion.

“The big difference between a real musician and me is that a real musician you listen to sober. With me, you have a glass of wine. And if you have another one, I sound even better!”

To close the thoroughly delightful Friday afternoon at The Knolls, Lenny leads the group in singing Charlie Chaplin’s melody “Smile.”

That should be Bob Vogel’s theme song. It’s his favorite in the show.

“It’s a bit melancholy when we end each show. I’m also relieved that it’s over, and I haven’t screwed up!” Good night, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are. —Donna Boen ’83 MTSC ’96

Bob Vogel commands the keyboard as comedian historian Lenny Dave ’79 entertains and educates at The Knolls of Oxford.

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Showcasing Student Research Zeke Rosenbloom, a junior majoring in architecture, explains his project during the 23rd Undergraduate Research Forum.

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Is it possible to construct artificial skin for burn

victims and prosthetic limbs that simulates the stiffness properties found in older adults’ skin?

Is there a way to quickly and safely break down a stroke victim’s blood clots using noninvasive and inexpensive methods? What most influences a person’s job satisfaction?

Undergraduate students at Miami are researching these questions with guidance from their professors.

More than 700 of these student researchers showcased their creative and scholarly activities throughout the day on April 26, presenting over 350 projects during Miami’s Undergraduate Research Forum.

“In designing and implementing studies, analyzing data, and presenting results, these students have worked to move beyond just an idea — becoming innovators, collaborators, and creators,” President Greg Crawford said. “Students as scholars and creators of knowledge speak to an essential quality of the Miami Experience.”

In its 23rd year, this forum is the premier event celebrating independent inquiry by undergraduate students at Miami, Crawford said.

They are part of a community of scholars that includes their faculty mentors and the more than 1,500 additional undergraduates who worked with professors on funded research during the 2016–2017 academic year.

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New Coaches Take the Court Men’s and women’s basketball name head coaches within days of each other

I’M GLAD YOU ASKED A couple of weeks before spring commencement, we asked seniors:

What should every Miami student experience before graduating?

Find a professor who inspires you and can act as a mentor.

Sydney Stevens ’17, Naperville, Ill., special education major

“Our identity is going to be on the defensive side. We’re going to be tough and physical.”

“I am excited … to bring back a fan base and for the alumni to get hungry about basketball.”

In Jack Owens, men’s basketball acquires a coach who has advanced to postseason play in 13 of the past 17 seasons and gone on to the NCAA Tournament in 11 of the past 13 years, including four trips to the Sweet 16. He also has helped secure several top recruiting classes, produced NBA talent, and developed some of the nation’s top players. The 1999 Eastern Illinois graduate spent the past nine seasons at Purdue University, three as an assistant coach and the past six years as its associate head coach.

Megan Duffy is the new head coach of

women’s basketball. The Dayton, Ohio, native and 2006 Notre Dame graduate spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Michigan.

She worked with the Wolverines’ point guards and wing players as well as the strength and conditioning staff to implement team conditioning, strength, and nutrition regimens. A diligent recruiter, Duffy assisted in sealing recruiting classes that ranked fifth (2015) and 12th (2016) nationally.

“The Miami Tribe and Miami University now share a seat together around the fire burning in our historic homelands of Myaamionki.”

—Daryl Baldwin, director of the Myaamia Center at Miami University, 2016 MacArthur Fellow, and featured speaker at spring commencement. For his entire speech, go to MiamiAlum.org/Miamian.

Take the time to really get to know the people around you. They will become your best friends.

Gavin Rodgers ’17, Milford, Ohio, strategic communication major

Enjoy having all of your friends within walking distance. It will probably never happen again.

Rachel Cogan ’17, West Chester, Ohio, nursing major

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NOTEWORTHY

Western College Alumnae Association and Ann Elizabeth Armstrong, associate professor of theatre, received 2017 Civil Rights and Social Justice awards from the National Civil Rights Conference for work in support of human dignity, civil rights, and social justice. Western, now Miami’s Western campus, hosted Freedom Summer 1964 when an estimated 800 volunteers learned how to help blacks in the South register to vote. Armstrong has led several community engagement efforts with Freedom Summer, which has a memorial (seen above) on Western campus.

Marc Rubin ’75, PriceWaterhouseCoopers Professor and chair of the accountancy department since 2003, became interim dean of the Farmer School of Business when Matt Myers left June 30 to become dean of the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University.

The plan is to hold on-campus finalist interviews late fall semester.

RISING RANKS

96.6 #1

Percentage of 2015-2016 Miami Oxford graduates employed or continuing their education by fall 2016.

Pardon Our Dust As students and families drove out of

town for the summer, construction crews came in, wasting no time putting up detour signs and fences.

Among the more visible changes is a new look for the arts plaza between Shriver and Performing Arts centers.

The fountains are gone, making way for an extended lawn and sculpture park Also gone is Scott dining hall, part of the renovation of Scott and Minnich halls. It became obsolete with the 2013 opening of Maplestreet Station, which is going through some changes of its own.

At Maplestreet, the Pacific Rim, Americas, and First Stop are being

Hillbilly Elegy: A

Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis — the story of author J.D. Vance’s upbringing and family history in Middletown, Ohio, and Kentucky — is the book for Miami’s 2017 summer reading program. Operated continuously since 1982, the program plays a prominent role in convocation, an event that will welcome first-year students Aug. 25 this year.

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in the nation for undergraduate participation in study abroad programs among public doctoral universities.

Drawing of planned arts plaza between the Center for Performing Arts and Shriver Center.

redesigned into one buffet-style restaurant in time for fall semester.

The first phase of Pearson Hall’s renovation started in June, requiring that some research space move to Hughes.

The Armstrong Student Center’s new east wing opened in time for tours Alumni Weekend.

And then there’s parking. Some 140 spaces are being added across six lots.

The North Parking Garage was closed July 1 for six weeks of maintenance.

To improve pedestrian safety, a “raised table” or raised intersection is going in at the corner of Maple and Spring streets between Sesquicentennial Chapel and the student center.

That intersection sees 10,000 crossings a day, a number that is expected to increase with the opening of Armstrong’s east wing.

In addition, a pedestrian crossing and small safety island are being added on Patterson Avenue from the east lot of Shriver Center to near Western Drive.

People driving south on Patterson can no longer turn left into the north end of Western Drive near Bachelor Hall.

Southbound drivers must enter Western Drive near the art museum.

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The East Wing: The Red Zone, a sports-themed no-alcohol restaurant; the 88-seat Joslin Student Senate Chamber; seven large meeting rooms; Café Lux coffee shop; and Brick & Ivy supplies and technology store — all will be available in the Armstrong Student Center’s new east wing when fall semester starts. Career Services, renamed the Center for Career Exploration and Success, moved into the east wing’s lower level after spring commencement, and the women’s center is moving into Armstrong’s central section. For more photos, go to tinyurl.com/ArmstrongNewEastWing.

A Special Graduation Recognition When sophomore Jerry Williams earned

a place on the 1936 football team, he became the first African-American to compete in that varsity sport at Miami.

Playing halfback, the physical education major helped his team win the Buckeye Conference championship.

His athletic prowess was no surprise. In high school, he ran on the state championship relay team anchored by Jesse Owens, hero of the 1936 Summer Olympics.

Although he excelled as an athlete and a student and earned enough credits to

graduate in 1939, he didn’t. At that time, schools in Oxford and Butler County prohibited African-Americans from teaching. Without student teaching, he couldn’t finish.

After serving in World War II, he eventually became a teacher. But he never received his degree from Miami — until May 14, 2017. During the College of Education, Health and Society divisional spring commencement ceremony, Dean Michael Dantley awarded Williams’ long overdue degree to his children.

THE POET’S SHACK When Miami’s and America’s first poet-in-residence Percy MacKaye came to campus in 1920, he requested a simple studio in the woods where faculty and students could come talk with him and listen to his new works. Called “The Poet’s Shack” by students, it was built in Lower Campus (Bishop Woods). An Ohio historical marker for the well-known poet and dramatist and his shack was dedicated in Bishop Woods June 21. During his fellowship, MacKaye wrote “The Trees of Miami,” engraved on an outside wall of Upham Hall.

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such a life

RACE THE OHIO Jackson Gray paddled 981 miles down the Ohio River with friends Quinton Couch ’17 and Tyler Brezina earlier this summer to raise awareness of suicide prevention.

The three began their adventure May 20 in Pittsburgh, finishing 40 days later in Cairo, Ill., where the Ohio flows into the Mississippi River.

Gray, a senior from Canton, Ohio, came up with the idea to honor the memory of his best friend from high school.

Along with Couch, who is from Ross, Ohio, and Brezina, a student at Bowling Green State University, he set a goal to raise $7,000 for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The three reached and surpassed their financial goal well before the end of their journey.

For more photos and details about their race down the Ohio, go to tinyurl. com/3RaceTheRiver.

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inquiry + innovation

Stunning Blooms, Research Discoveries Jack Keegan welcomes curious to Belk Greenhouse on Miami’s Western campus

By Margo Kissell

Alexandra Conant, a senior economics major, was looking for something interesting to shoot for her photography class.

“Trying to find cool things to photograph in the middle of February is hard, so someone suggested I come here,” said Conant, who graduated in May. “It was a good idea.”

Here is the Belk Greenhouse, which is attached to Boyd Hall on Miami’s Western campus.

The greenhouse is home to blooming orchids, lush ferns, prickly cacti, and a gigantic Philodendron selloum that shed its original 4-inch pot decades ago.

This is where Miami’s Institute for Food’s seedlings, such as its tomatoes and peppers, get their start before being sown into the ground at the sustainable teaching farm just north of the Oxford campus. It’s also where research projects lead to new discoveries.

John “Jack” Keegan, greenhouse manager and botany instructor, enjoys watching others discover the lives hidden behind the whitewashed windows protecting delicate leaves from harsh sunlight.

“Crush this in your fingers,” he offered. “Cinnamon.”

That long vine nearby? Vanilla, which flowers from time to time. “The pod is actually the fruit of the vanilla orchid,” he noted.

This August, Keegan will mark his 40th year as greenhouse manager. He happily shares all sorts of

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interesting details about the various vegetation scattered across the eight sections of the greenhouse.

For instance, he warns about brushing against the needle-sharp leaves of the Ferocious blue cycad and points out its species name is horridus.

“This is one of the kinds of plants that were on Earth when the dinosaurs were,” he said.

One of his favorites is Angel’s Trumpet, which has large peach-colored blooms that hang like bells and, in their natural habitat, are pollinated by bats.

For education and enjoyment Many Miami students come here to learn. But it’s not just students studying the sciences who come here. It’s been a destination for classes studying photography, drawing, and watercolor painting.

To see more photos of the greenhouse’s stunning inhabitants, go to tinyurl.com/BelkGreenhousePhotos

inquiry + innovation

John “Jack” Keegan, Belk Greenhouse manager and botany instructor, examines a Bougainvillea in the tropical room.

flower, named for its distinct odor that smells like a decomposing animal.

About 3,000 people came through the greenhouse to see — and smell — the flower, while a webcam drew tens of thousands of curious Internet viewers seeking a glimpse.

“It was so neat, it really was.”

Today, he has several corpse flower plants in the greenhouse. When will the next one bloom?

“I would love to know,” he said, explaining the detailed process each one has to go through before flowering. He looks forward to that happening again — but not the odor.

On this day, he breathed in the heavenly aroma of a lemon tree. “See the little lemons just starting,” he said. “Ah, that aroma.”

The greenhouse is open year-round. It never closes because plants need to be watered every day — even on the holidays.

“We have done commercials here. We have done fashion shoots. You never know what’s going to happen,” he said with a hearty laugh. “When the weather isn’t good, a lot of people from the art department come over.”

Younger students from local schools visit as well.

Keegan has watched third-graders delight in hiding under the Philodendron selloum, which has practically taken over the tropical room like something out of Jurassic Park.

As for students, professors, and alumni dropping by without an appointment, he said, “Most definitely, it’s not a bother. In fact, it’s the opposite. I’m glad when people come in.”

They came in droves four years ago to see the blooming Titan arum, better known as the corpse

An essential facility Richard Moore, associate professor of biology, said the greenhouse provides an important space for researchers and their teaching missions.

Keegan grows plants for botany classes and also provides space for researchers such as Moore, who focuses on the evolution of sex chromosomes and genetic diversity of papaya (Carica papaya). Papayas have three sexes — males, females, and hermaphrodites, which have reproductive organs normally associated with both male and female sexes.

“This is actually of great interest to farmers who grow papaya because most papaya that are grown are hermaphrodites because they can self-pollinate,” Moore said. Some farmers would prefer to grow hermaphrodites that only produce hermaphroditic offspring. However, that isn’t always the case as some are female.

The research continues on fruit-bearing papayas that reach toward the ceiling in the greenhouse.

“It’s a really essential facility,” Moore said. “I’m glad that we have it.”

To watch Jack talk about the giant philodendron that started in a 4-inch pot, go to tinyurl.com/JackandGiantPhilodendron

“We have done commercials here. We have done fashion shoots. You never know what’s going to happen.”

—Jack Keegan, greenhouse manager and botany instructor

Margo Kissell is a news and feature writer in Miami’s university news and communications office.

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media matters

Hoping to Ease the Pain Laura Dewire ’14 and her second-grade pupil collaborate on a book Kailen Offutt was 4 when her brother was “born sleeping.” Now 8, Kailen and her teacher, Laura Dewire ’14, have created the picture book A Corner of Heaven to help parents explain similar loss to their children. The photo above of Kailen and Laura is by Cincinnati photographer Lisa Hezlep, who also took pictures of Kailen’s brother as a remembrance for his parents and sisters.

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When Laura Dewire ’14 asked her first- and secondgraders to draw pictures of their families, she wasn’t prepared for 7-year-old Kailen’s.

In the upper right corner was a baby angel. Kailen explained that most of her family lives on Earth, but that her baby brother, Kulen, lives in heaven with God. “There wasn’t any kind of disconnect because he was in heaven,” says Laura, who teared up over the picture.

“That was still her brother, and she was still going to reference him and acknowledge him as such.”

Heartbroken, the first-year teacher at St. Michael, a small Catholic school in the tiny Ohio river town of Ripley, couldn’t forget that sweet portrait and the family it represented, the Offutts. She wanted to create a tool that grieving parents could use to help explain to their other children why the baby wasn’t coming home.

Laura sat down at her kitchen table, prayed for the words, and finished the story for a children’s picture

book in 20 minutes. With the Offutts blessing, Laura started interviewing local illustrators.

“Every time I met with one of them I gave them Kailen’s original portrait. It dawned on me as I was doing that, that it only made sense for Kailen to do the pictures because it’s her story and it’s her brother and it’s her life.”

Laura collaborated with Kailen to produce A Corner of Heaven. The teacher would read a snippet of her story, written in simple language young children could understand, and her student would draw what she felt.

Through their publisher, KiCam, they decided to donate a portion of the proceeds to Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, a nonprofit that asks photographers to take bereavement photos free of charge for families who have lost a child.

“My hope for the book is that it falls in the hands of every family who needs it.”

media matters

It Happens Every Spring Ira Berkow ’63 Triumph Books Former New York Times Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Ira Berkow captures the spirit of America’s pastime in this collection of opinions, stories, and observations from his distinguished career. From memories of Ted Williams and Satchel Paige to reflections on Jackie Robinson, Barry Bonds, and the soul of the beloved game, this work combines Berkow’s eye for detail with the comedy and drama revealed by the subjects themselves, bringing to life some of the most famous baseball personalities from the past half century.

Forging the Bee Line Railroad, 1848–1889 Andy Olson ’72 Kent State University Press Andy Olson chronicles one of the Midwest’s earliest railroads, which became tied to Ohio’s growing mid-19th century economy. The Bee Line started as an informal combination of two railroads extending from Indianapolis toward Cleveland in 1848. By 1853, they became financially beholden to the Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati Railroad (CC&C), and the three colloquially became known as the Bee Line. Ultimately, the CC&C consumed the two and extended its control to St. Louis.

Vietnam Warrior Voices Mark Massé ’74 Mark Henry Massé In 2014-2016, Mark Massé explored post-traumatic growth in the lives of Vietnam War vetauthors Philip Caputo, John Del Vecchio, Robert Olen Butler, and Tim O’Brien, and he learned how the past shaped their writing of enduring stories. His book is in the Vietnam War Collection at La Salle University Library.

Black and Blue Jeff Pegues ’92 Prometheus Books In this journey to the heart of a growing crisis, CBS News Justice and Homeland Security Correspondent Jeff Pegues provides facts, statistics, and perspectives from both sides of the community-police divide.

Pegues has rare access to top law enforcement officials, including former FBI Director James Comey and police chiefs in major cities. He also has interviewed police union leaders and community activists — people on both sides trying to push law enforcement in a new direction.

Perilous Prophecy Leanna Renee Hieber ’01 Tor Books Cairo in the 1860s is a bustling metropolis where people from all walks mix and mingle, mostly in complex harmony. When evil

ghosts and unquiet spirits stalk the streets, the Guard are summoned — six young men and women of different cultures, backgrounds, and faiths, gifted with great powers. Their leader, gripped by doubt, and her Guard have little time to master their powers as an ancient prophecy roars toward its deadly conclusion.

Predicting the Turn Dave Knox ’03 Paramount Market Publishing In a business environment constantly disrupted by innovation, it’s important to understand that today’s competition is not your future competition, innovationdriven acquisition can be great R&D, and incumbents have the infrastructure to disrupt the disrupters.

Shipwrecked Deedee Presser ’07 CreateSpace Below the deck of a cruise ship, the smells are often so foul and the scenery so bland you forget you’re on a world-class floating vacation vessel. In her first non-fiction book, Deedee Presser sheds light on the dirty details as she chronicles her absurdly entertaining contract as sport staff aboard the MS Voyager of the Seas.

POETRY Daily Basis Robert Lovitt ’75 First Thought Press

In this collection, Robert Lovitt presents snapshots of his life organized (or disorganized) by the seasons, followed by a section of boy/man poems and some glittering souvenirs from his travels in Asia.

Summer 2017

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Mace Warner ’72

my story

Life, Love, & the Lancer

By Mace Warner ’72 MY STORY is a place for you to share reminiscences and observations about everyday happenings.

Submit your essay for consideration to: Donna Boen, Miamian editor, “My Story,” 108 Glos Center, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056 or Miamian@ MiamiOH.edu. Please limit yourself to 900 words and include your name, class year, address, and home phone number.

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It was the fall of 1971 and the official start of my senior year in Oxford. I was going to live off campus on Sycamore Street. 102 E. Sycamore to be exact. Living off campus was sure to be a liberating experience compared to the two years of cramped dormitory life and one year in the often noisy, but fun, fraternity house. Not only that. I was reuniting with my girlfriend after the cruel separation of a long, lonely summer. With visions of Uptown movie nights at Talawanda Theatre, football games, and romantic strolls along Slant Walk, life seemed next to perfect … only it wasn’t.

my story

There was something missing.

And then it happened.

My former roommate, and lifelong friend, suggested we invest in a used automobile. Not just any used automobile. This was a 1961, four-door, push-button transmission, Dodge Lancer station wagon. Black.

His thinking, which I wholeheartedly agreed with, was that transportation (cars) being a rarity in Oxford at that time, the Lancer would allow us to: (a) Park close to campus on cold winter days, (b) Procure food and assorted beverages (beer), and most important, (c) Impress our girlfriends with their new “date” ride.

So, throwing caution to the wind, we purchased it for a grand total of $50 — $25 apiece.

“It’s a bargain … any way you look at it,” said our smiling fraternity brother who sold it to us.

Happy with our new investment, we laid out a detailed schedule of when we could each use it.

Actually, it came down to every other weekend it was mine. During the week, our schedule was less specific.

Right away we noticed a few inconveniences. The major one being the reverse button on the pushbutton automatic transmission was missing. This meant you had to pre-plan where to park or be ready to push the car backward out of its spot.

The other oddity was that in the process of accelerating past 40 mph, the car would start to shake.

Mildly at first, but with each mile per hour over 40, the shaking would become increasingly violent to where it was hard to carry on a conversation with your teeth rattling faster and louder than the sabers in an old Errol Flynn movie.

If this wasn’t enough, suddenly it seemed we were putting as much oil in the vehicle as gas. The oil was starting to disappear as quickly as beer on “ $1 Pitcher Nights” at Al & Larry’s.

Taking all this into consideration, we adopted a 15-mile-radius policy. Anything more than 15 miles in any direction was off-limits. I’m sure this policy saved us numerous and expensive towing bills.

Luckily there were few “incidents and accidents” as the old Paul Simon song goes.

One small incident did occur when the Lancer was pressed into service. Homecoming was rapidly approaching, and our assigned task was to get chicken wire, a necessary component in building a float.

All started smoothly as our “detail” (four guys and an envelope stuffed with chicken wire funds) piled into the Lancer and drove to the local feed and grain store outside of Oxford.

After making our purchase, we realized some of the tightly wound bales would have to ride on top.

Latching down the bales with rope, we proceeded back to campus. As the car gained momentum, the shaking started. Apparently this loosened the knots.

Suddenly, chicken wire bales were hurling off the back of the car like a salvo of ammunition off an aircraft carrier, each bale exploding and unrolling as it hit the road.

We stopped, gathered the somewhat twisted bales, and hurriedly threw them back on the roof. With no rope available, our new plan was to hold on tight to the wire. With arms stretched out each window and clutching the mangled metal, we proceeded. Slowly.

The arm-fatigued “detail” eventually made it back to Oxford safely, and, as I remember, the float turned out to be quite a success.

All in all, the Lancer served its purpose. It kept us warm on those cold winter days, and our trips to Hueston Woods, Bang’s Junction House, and Kroger remain memorable.

The girlfriend’s impression is another story.

Toward the end, the Lancer was spewing so much oil that when you came to a full stop, a bulbous cloud of whitish smoke would completely envelop the car.

This embarrassed my girlfriend, who while cruising down High Street, would bend completely over, grasping her knees, resulting in some sort of contorted Heimlich maneuver. She would remain in that position until she felt safely out of sight.

My relationship with my girlfriend didn’t last long after college. I’ll never know if the “Lancer episodes” had anything to do with its demise, but it probably didn’t help. My friend, on the other hand, married his college sweetheart, a wonderful Miami Merger that continues strong to this day.

Before graduation, we sold our Lancer to a younger, unsuspecting fraternity brother.

For $50.

As we handed him the keys, I think we both simultaneously remarked, “It’s a bargain … any way you look at it.”

Suddenly, chicken wire bales were hurling off the back of the car like a salvo of ammunition off an aircraft carrier.

Mace Warner ’72 of Mount Dora, Fla., is semi-retired and enjoys an occasional game of golf, scuba diving, and driving a vehicle that requires minimal oil consumption.

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(HAS A NICE ((RING)) TO IT) 9

Miamians in Cubs front office receive ‘World’s’ Blingiest Baseball Diamonds

For a man who deals with data and analytics all day long, Nate Halm ’08 must have a streak of the daredevil about him.

When his longtime girlfriend, Jenna King ’07, asked why he hadn’t proposed yet, Halm quipped, “As soon as I get my ring, you’ll get your ring.”

Considering he meant a World Series ring and considering he worked for the Chicago Cubs, it seemed like one of the world’s safest bets. After all, the Cubs hadn’t won the Fall Classic for more than a century.

Flash forward to a rainy November night in 2016, and suddenly Halm and his teammates are quenching that drought with buckets of champagne. The Cubs just clinched their first MLB championship since 1908, ending the longest dry spell in North American pro sports.

The baseball wives and girlfriends pour into the Cleveland clubhouse, and King has only one question: “When do I get my ring?”

“I thought she might forget,” Halm mused recently. But being a man of his word, the Cubs advance scouting coordinator produced the diamond on Maui.

Of course, Jenna’s bling can’t touch Nate’s: 108 diamonds representing the years between championship wins, a circle of sapphires, and “CUBS” spelled out in rubies.

“It’s obnoxiously big, in a good way, and incredibly flashy, and I haven’t worn it yet,” Halm said. Might we suggest his wedding?

Halm is part of the “RedHawks Nine,” a team within a team in the Cubs front office. These alums handle everything from finance to parking to VIP seating. They’re one of the club’s largest alumni contingents, and the “most vocal and maybe most annoying group that works here,” Halm said. “There’s certainly not a lack of Miami pride in the Cubs front office.”

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The RedHawks contributed to the Cubbies winning 103 games last year, the most in baseball in 2016, and, crucially, the championship. They serve throughout the organization: Halm, Matt Kenny ’00, and Ryan Mortensen ’11, baseball operations; Caroline Phillips ’09 and Kristi King ’10, client services; Andy Blackburn ’98 and Charles Zubrod ’14, ticketing; Laniesa Shafer ’11, corporate partnerships; and Laura Kisling Christy ’09, finance.

Of all the RedHawks, only Halm played pro, proudly wearing the maroon and gray of the Baldham/ Munich Boars. Former Miami head baseball coach Dan Simonds linked Halm up with a European recruiter, and the Miami catcher hopped on a flight to Munich — without understanding a word of German.

Halm uses that pro edge when he shares scouting reports with players. “I know how hard the game is at times. I try to relate to what they’re going through.”

When the 2016 Cubs moved into the playoffs, Halm decided a certain Mexican restaurant was their lucky charm, and he and King returned every time the team was in town.

For Caroline Phillips, it was a blue bracelet a friend in fashion brought her at the sixth game of the World Series. “It was working, so I didn’t take it off.”

As manager of premier service, Phillips elevates the baseball experience for the Who’s Who of Chicago. She joined the Cubs

Photo courtesy of Jostens

M A R S H B E T S A B Y

WORLD CHAMPIONS

R E D H A W K S

after a college internship with the Cincinnati Reds and four years with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

At Miami, then Athletic Director Brad Bates hired Phillips on the spot. Anthony Azama MBA ’15 brought her in to handle RedHawks game entertainment and promotion.

“He was a very, very, tough boss,” Phillips recalled of Azama, now at Columbia University. “He taught me to shake hands properly. He said, ‘You’re a female working in sports, you need to have a strong handshake for people to take you seriously.’ I laughed at the time, but my boss at the Dodgers said he hired me because of my handshake.”

N I N E

CHARLES ZUBROD ’14

CAROLINE PHILLIPS ’09

NATE HALM ’08

MATT KENNY ’00

KRISTI KING ’10

RYAN MORTENSEN ’11

LANIESA SHAFER ’11

ANDY BLACKBURN ’98

LAURA KISLING CHRISTY ’09

Today, her dainty hand might look overwhelmed by the huge championship ring worth thousands, but “That’s OK, I’m fine with that.”

The ring fits Blackburn’s hand quite comfortably, and he’d be glad to make room for more.

“We have the best fans in sports,” Blackburn claimed from his office as Cubs senior director of sales. “When the Ricketts family bought the team several years ago, they set out a plan to reward those generations of fans with the World Championship, and do it more than once.” Assessing this season’s young team, Blackburn sounds almost like a Magic 8 Ball: “If we can maintain humility, the future looks bright.”

Blackburn senses the RedHawks Nine presence. “It is pretty amazing to have such a large and influential crew from Miami.”

For Halm, who transferred from Seton Hall before his junior year, the Miami culture took some adjustment.

“Miami is so big on group work,” he said. “You have to work through problems to do your presentation, and then it can get frustrating, with other people’s work and schedules.

“But that was perfect, because that’s how things are. You work through problems as a team. You respect each other’s ideas. You work toward a common goal.” A goal that, in Chicago, just might take the shape of another incredibly flashy World Series ring.

While glad to give the Chicago Cubs their 108-year due, Betsa Marsh notes that, to keep her Cincinnati passport, she is officially a fan of the Reds.

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HuMane

Con nection 20

miamian magazine

By Tom Kertscher ILLUSTRATI ONS by LI LLY PE R E IRA

Peace Corps’ strength is real people helping each other Summer 2017

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S

hawn Dubberly ’09 answered her phone and was stumped. She didn’t know the caller, yet the Moroccan woman was inviting her somewhere and wanted her to come daba (now). “Daba, daba,” the woman excitedly repeated and hung up.

Miami AND The Peace Corps

32 Miamians volunteer in more than

Top: Shawn Dubberly ’09 (left) sharing about American Diversity on MLK Day. Bottom: Ian Vanness ’10 teaching in the Darija language (Moroccan Arabic). Far right: Alexandra DeCraene ’15 (left) and another volunteer, Katie Miller, during pre-service training.

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Come where? Dubberly was seven months into her service as a Peace Corps volunteer in a rural Moroccan village. She was learning the local Arabic language, Darija. But stripped of body language and eye contact, this phone conversation was nearly incomprehensible to her.

Who was this woman, where did she live, and what was the invitation about? Seeing this as another shared adventure with these warm, friendly people, Dubberly set out on foot to find the caller. Failing that, she could at least ask around and hope word got back that she’d tried.

“It only took one woman to see me, inquire what I was looking for, and off down the rabbit hole we went, landing right in the middle of a party,” she recalls.

The entire neighborhood was in this one house, singing and dancing. Women beat on sheepskin drums, tapped spoons against metal serving plates, clapped their hands, and sang so compellingly even Dubberly tried to pick up a few words of the chorus.

“This is my Peace Corps. This wandering around only to be found and brought right to the middle of it all,” says Dubberly, who focused on youth development from 2015 until the end of her service this April.

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countries.

932 Miamians have served in the organization since its inception.

A M E R I CA’ S BEST HOPES

An independent agency within the U.S. executive branch, the Peace Corps is a service opportunity for “motivated changemakers to immerse themselves in a community abroad, working side by side with local leaders to tackle the most pressing challenges of our generation.”

It took hold in 1961 “because it was one of those events that was in the air,” says historian Elizabeth Cobbs, author of All You Need is Love, the first historical book on the agency. “A really good leader doesn’t just invent something out of whole cloth, but

In April 2017, Miami Merger Shawn Dubberly ’09 and Ian Vanness ’10 finished their two years in Morocco. Before that, they taught English in Thailand.

Alexandra DeCraene ’15 has been an English teacher in Ukraine since March 2016.

Bob Jackson ’73, volunteered in Niger in 1974-1976. He then worked for the Peace Corps from 1977-1990 as deputy director in Kenya, country director in Liberia, and finally in Washington, D.C.

rather somehow channels the popular spirit and will, and then takes it to a new level.”

2017 marks the centennial of the birth of that leader, President John F. Kennedy.

And the Peace Corps, which he established on March 1, 1961, is among his most enduring legacies. To date 220,000 volunteers have served in 140 host countries, working alongside each country’s citizens to fight AIDS and hunger and protect the environment, three of many projects they’ve undertaken through the decades.

“Americans across the political spectrum in every state are willing to

sign on to the spirit of the Peace Corps,” Cobbs says. “That’s because it represents America’s best hopes of itself. It’s this human connection the Peace Corps makes again and again, and that people remember, that is perhaps its biggest success.”

MIAMI’S CHANGEMAKERS

Miami University has often placed near the top among midsized colleges and universities with its number of Peace Corps volunteers. Currently, 32 Miamians

volunteer in more than 20 countries. All told, 932 Miamians have served in the organization since its inception. Among the many drawn to this mission to promote world peace and friendship are: •Alexandra DeCraene ’15, an English teacher in Ukraine since March 2016.

•Shawn Dubberly ’09 and Ian Vanness ’10. In April 2017, this Miami Merger finished their two years in Morocco. Before that, they both taught English in Thailand.

•Bob Jackson ’73, a retiree in Viroqua, Wis. He volunteered in Niger in 1974– 1976. He then worked for the Peace Corps from 1977–1990 as deputy director in Kenya, country director in Liberia, and finally in Washington, D.C. All four share an interest in travel and helping others, two elements that attracted them to the organization.

Jackson credits the late David McLellan, a political science professor at Miami from 1971–1990 and author of several books on post-World War II international relations, with teaching him to “try to make a contribution, try to do something of quality.” Opposed to the war in Vietnam at the time, Jackson

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H E A R T F E LT A P P R E C I AT I O N

considered his service a way to “step up and do something that at that point made sense to me.”

Dubberly and Vanness found the immersion philosophy appealing.

Volunteers stay with host families to experience how the locals live.

Vanness, who studied geography and international development at Miami, found Morocco, a Muslim-majority country, a “stable place where people were incredibly welcoming to us and really took care of us.”

“I have my whole life to focus on myself. Being in my late-20s, it was a good opportunity to be able to kind of give back,” he adds. “The real service part comes from my family and friends having me be the vector for them to see how other people live.”

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>>

Above: Alexandra and her fourth-grade Ukrainian students.

Right: Young Moroccan girls watch Girl Rising, a video promoting the importance of education.

In that moment I really felt part of my coMmunity, sitting with the families and being thanked so warmly. And I cried again on the walk home thinking about leaving all of them in just a year and how fast the time has gone.”

Teaching English is a common assignment. That’s what DeCraene teaches in first through 11th grade in Ukraine. She’s also helped submit grants to provide textbooks written by native-English speakers. This is important to her students who must provide their own books, many written by non-native English speakers.

On the last day of classes this year, her fourth-graders, who were graduating from primary school, invited her to their celebration with all their families. They performed funny skits and traditional dances and showed videos from their time in school. When they thanked their teachers, they presented DeCraene with more flowers than she could carry home.

“I was sitting with one of my older students and her family watching her younger brother, and everyone was crying. In that moment I really felt part of my community, sitting with the families and being thanked so warmly.”

She cried again on her walk home as she thought about leaving all of them in just another year. The two years is going too fast for her.

Nearly 2,300 miles southwest of Ukraine, Dubberly also teaches English as well as healthy lifestyles, cultural differences, and self-esteem for girls in Morocco. The program is called GLOW — Girls Leading Our World.

NEW VIEWS

The impact of Peace Corps’ work is perhaps most intensely felt in the one-on-one interactions. But it offers broader and long-lasting effects as well — particularly in shaping others’ views of Americans.

DeCraene says that when local residents in Ukraine hear someone speaking English, the conversations quickly turn to the Peace Corps. One man told her, “You can’t understand how much it means to the people of our country that Americans come, and you feel safe to send your people to our country. It makes us feel safe, and we know that we have a friend in America.”

Of course, friendships can be silly as well as serious. DeCraene certainly reinforced that point when she taught her students the words and motions to the

>>

When Jackson volunteered in Niger, more than a thousand miles southeast of Morocco, he tapped into his construction experience to help build water wells. Drought had left nomadic tribes without their herds and sedentary ones malnourished.

He truly appreciated living among the villagers.

“It taught me that you treat people with respect, and you’ll find that they’re very welcoming the world over,” he says. “The experience to this day is well regarded by employers, so there’s a practical value. It can’t help but benefit you in your career. But more importantly, it’s simply how we ought to act with each other.”

Vanness also recognizes the personal benefits, saying he and Dubberly and their young marriage matured by being in the Moroccans’ presence.

“You have to let go of expectations,” he says, “and just really go with the flow and be adaptable.”

Bob Jackson ’73 as a Peace Corps volunteer in Niger in 1975.

B E YO N D D O L L A R S AND CENTS

Village People’s disco song “Y.M.C.A.” Actually, she had help with a male volunteer from the next town over who came to her school for the day. Although her students are used to volunteers, they’d all been women until his visit.

“They were excited to meet an American guy. I remembered when I met them, and how shy they were. But when Chuck came to visit, they had so many questions and were excited to use their English. I felt really proud of how far they’d come.”

These four Americans have come a long way, too, learning much from their generous hosts.

Vanness recalls, “One thing we would always hear from people in our own town is other Western countries, they don’t learn Arabic, but the Americans do.”

The residents respect the volunteers’ commitment to the immersion.

The people in Niger, Jackson recalls, were amazed that young kids from America were willing to give up two years to go over there and actually live among them. “It taught me that what matters most in life is the quality of interaction you have with other people.

Despite distances and cultures, we all aspire basically to the same things.”

Vanness believes Americans don’t know enough about other countries and cultures and would benefit greatly if more U.S. citizens went out and began to see and understand the way others experience life.

The Peace Corps may have grown out of the idealism of the 1960s, but it remains relevant, the Miami alumni agree. “In an ever-interconnected world,” Vanness says, “Peace Corps is more relevant now than ever.”

DeCraen prefers a stronger word.

She says it’s vital given how media have changed the world, and people’s perception of it. For her, the Peace Corps shatters stereotypes.

Jackson says the idea of sending Americans — common people — to share of themselves and their values is as needed today as it was in 1961. “It shows a side of America that goes beyond dollars and cents.”

That’s why the two-year commitment is key, Dubberly adds, explaining that it gave her neighbors in the small Moroccan town time to observe her and Vanness during downtimes, watching what they wore and how they carried themselves.

“There is a lot of beauty in just being there and spending every day getting your vegetables,” she says. “On a global level, the more we know about other cultures and other ways of life, hopefully, the more global solidarity we can have and more understanding and respect we can have for the way people choose to live.”

Tom Kertscher is a PolitiFact Wisconsin reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. His reporting on Steven Avery was featured in Making a Murderer. He’s also the author of sports books on Brett Favre and Al McGuire.

Summer 2017

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BY R I C K G R AV E S ’ 7 1 A N D DONNA BOEN ’83 MTSC ’96

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ON THAT SOLEMN FRIDAY afternoon in early November, the two brothers faced each other in Stanton Hall’s parking lot. Nearby maples in Miami’s South Quad gloried in orange and red hues. But Terry and Rick Graves saw no beauty in this moment.

1967 Recensio

MIAMI FRIENDS, AMERICAN HEROES

Two of Miami’s most decorated veterans became best friends in college

Terry Graves ’67

William “Rich” Higgins ’67

IDYLLIC COLLEGE LIFE

2nd Lt. Terry Graves’ first patrol in Vietnam, December 1967.

He is standing on far right.

Only days before, Terry Graves ’67 had graduated from The Basic School in Quantico. Designated a U.S. Marine Corps second lieutenant at Miami’s spring 1967 commencement six months earlier, he’d returned to campus for three precious days with his fiancée, Sylvia Beam ’68. After hugging her goodbye outside Hamilton Hall, he’d walked two blocks south to the freshman dorm for a heart to heart with Rick. From here he would head to Camp Pendleton near San Diego. Then Vietnam.

Terry was more honest with his little brother, four years his junior, than he’d been with his parents and young sister during his too-brief visit home to Edmeston, N.Y. “He made it real clear to me that what he was going to do was extremely dangerous,” said Rick ’71, who remembers that conversation like it was burned into his brain. Terry was serious and direct, a tone he never took with Rick.

The chances of his returning unscathed were not good. Younger brother needed to be ready to be strong for the family.

“He indicated that he was kind of putting me in a tough situation. Not only would I become the guy for my parents, but also a shoulder to lean on for Sylvia if something happened.”

One of Terry’s best friends, 2nd Lt. William “Rich” Higgins ’67, followed a similar path.

This story is about two men who became Miami friends and American heroes. It is also about a younger brother who continues to idolize both.

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HIGH SCHOOL PREP

Education was a top priority in the Graves family, with Terry’s father being a school superintendent. Terry’s father was also a Navy officer and flight instructor during World War II, making military service a highly respected pursuit in the minds of the Graves children, Terry, Rick, and Katherine.

A Boy Scout, president of his church fellowship, and perpetual defender of the little guy, Terry was appointed by his New York congressman to the U.S. Air Force Academy.

He also received an NROTC scholarship, which provided a “full ride” to one of a number of outstanding universities.

With all due respect to the all-male Air Force Academy, one stroll down Slant Walk convinced Terry. Not only was the Miami campus one of the most beautiful college settings he’d visited, but the female student population he observed left a most positive impression as well.

Where Terry was gregarious, Rich was more reserved.

An avid student of history and politics from as early as his family could remember, Rich was driven by the idea of being in the military. At Louisville’s Southern High School, his leadership skills made him successful as a class officer.

Rich’s talent was clearly demonstrated by his Kentucky congressman’s appointing him to the U.S. Naval Academy. But, like Terry, Rich was also awarded an NROTC scholarship, and Miami was one of the universities on his prospect list.

Among the 2,800 entering freshmen in 1963, with their button-down Gant shirts, were Terry and Rich. Within a couple of weeks, they had introduced themselves to each other during a get-together at Rowan Hall, the NROTC building.

As their friendship grew, they visited each other’s homes in New York and Kentucky.

Rick remembers Rich well.

Terry and Rich were never roommates, but they might as well have been. Rich spent enough time in the Beta Theta Pi house with Terry and his roommates that he might have been considered an “honorary Beta.”

By 1965, the U.S. was sending regular combat units to Vietnam, and Terry and Rich felt poised to be in the “right place at the right time.” Their enthusiasm for their Marine commitment remained steadfast. The two’s leadership qualities were recognized their senior year when Terry and Rich were named the Miami NROTC unit’s battalion commander and deputy battalion commander respectively. That made them the top two student officers in charge of all four companies — 272 NROTC undergraduates.

After graduation, Rich was married, and Terry served as his best man. Terry and Sylvia decided to wait.

ON THE WAR FRONT

By December 1967, Terry was in Vietnam as a second lieutenant in the 3rd Force Recon Company, 3rd Recon Battalion of the 3rd Marine Division. He led an eightman reconnaissance patrol, which had the unenviable job of penetrating the jungles and countryside to determine enemy positions and strength.

Terry’s team and their endeavors were referred to as “Operation Box Score.”

Their base camp was in Con Thien, South Vietnam, two miles from the North Vietnam border (DMZ).

Rich Higgins’ first assignment was as platoon commander of 3rd Platoon, Company C, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, leading mine-clearing operations near the DMZ. Arriving during the monsoon season of mud and muck, Rich and Terry were stationed within 10 miles of each other. They never got together.

On Feb. 16, 1968, during the height of the Tet offensive, Lt. Graves was leading his fourth patrol when they ambushed seven North Vietnamese Army regulars. One of his men was wounded in the encounter, and Graves decided to have the team extracted.

By the time help arrived, the men were surrounded by 300 NVA soldiers.

The courage of the eight on the ground and the efforts by the helicopter gunships and aircraft pilots during “Operation Box Score” was among the most well-documented actions in the Vietnam War and resulted in one of the most decorated American military episodes in the 20th century.

The two’s leadership qualities were recognized their senior year when Terry and Rich were named the Miami NROTC unit’s battalion commander and deputy battalion commander respectively. That made them the top two student officers in charge of all four companies — 272 NROTC undergraduates.

The following excerpt from Terry’s Medal of Honor citation, signed by President Richard Nixon, describe Terry’s actions: “He then began moving the patrol to a landing zone for extraction, when the unit again came under intense fire which wounded two more Marines and Lt. Graves.

Refusing medical attention, he once more adjusted air strikes and artillery fire upon the enemy while directing the fire of his men. He led his men to a new landing site into which he skillfully guided the in-coming aircraft and boarded his men while remaining exposed to the hostile fire. Realizing that

one of the wounded had not embarked, he directed the aircraft to depart and, along with another Marine, moved to the side of the casualty. Confronted with a shortage of ammunition, Lt. Graves utilized supporting arms and directed fire until a second helicopter arrived. At this point, the volume of enemy fire intensified, hitting the helicopter and causing it to crash shortly after liftoff.

All aboard were killed.”

The family of 2nd Lt. Terrence C. Graves accepted the posthumously awarded Medal of Honor at the White House on Dec. 2, 1969. It is believed Terry is the only Miami graduate to ever receive the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest recognition for military valor.

Once the Oxford campus heard the tragic news, shades in most fraternity houses were pulled down and left that way for three days, Rick recalls. Terry was 22.

PEACETIME HORROR

Exactly 20 years to the day after Terry was killed in Vietnam, the world awoke to the devastating news that Lt. Col. William “Rich” Higgins had been kidnapped by a group assumed to be Hezbollah extremists.

He had been on a routine daytime jeep patrol as a member of the United Nations peacekeeping unit in Lebanon when his vehicle was surrounded by armed men who covered his head and whisked him away.

Within days, his captors publicly accused Rich of being a CIA spy.

To everyone’s horror, after excruciating months of fear and hope, on July 31, 1989, a tape was received of a limp body, turning at the end of a noose. U.S. military experts, along with his family, believed it was indeed Rich.

On Dec. 22, 1991, an anonymous caller notified the American University Hospital that a body had been dumped along the side of a Beirut road. The next day, U.S. and U.N. physicians confirmed it was Rich.

He was buried at Quantico National Cemetery with a full-honors service normally reserved for general officers. His wife and daughter accepted in his name the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, which is the United States’ highest non-combat related military award and the highest joint

service decoration. The Presidential Citizens Medal was bestowed upon him by President George H.W. Bush on March 18, 1992. It is the second-highest civilian award in the U.S., second only to the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

In 1997 the U.S. Navy commissioned a guided missile destroyer in Rich’s name. The USS HIGGINS continues to operate today and is homeported in San Diego.

IF ONLY

This fall, during his class’s 50th anniversary year, Medal of Honor recipient Terry Graves will be recognized during Homecoming activities. Rick and his wife, Nancy Armstrong Graves ’70, are planning to attend, along with Terry’s one-time fiancée, Sylvia Beam ’68, now Sylvia Harnesberger, and her husband. The two couples live 30 minutes apart in Atlanta and have become good friends.

In a letter he penned three days before he was killed, Terry told his brother how pleased he was Rick had pledged Beta Theta Pi. He went on to write, “I miss the hell out of Dad, Mom, you, Kath, and Syl, but God, how the time has gone by. It’ll be good to get back home and forget all that I’ve done and seen.

Write often, Rick. Love, Terry.”

Rick Graves ’71 retired last year as vice president for Crystal Cruises. Now that he has more time, he’s considering writing a book about his older brother. Donna Boen ’83 MTSC ’96 is editor of Miamian.

ARE YOU A MIAMIAN AND A VETERAN?

Miami University and the Miami University Alumni Association wish to celebrate the tradition of military service by its alumni and ensure its records are up-to-date. If you are a U.S. military veteran or want to make sure a deceased Miamian who served is recognized, go to MiamiAlum.org/VeteransTribute and complete the online reporting form. The same site will tell you about a veterans tribute being developed for the Oxford campus.

Summer 2017

Col. William “Rich” Higgins

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love & honor

High Energy CEO Duke leader Lynn Jones Good ’81 believes in team power Q&A with

Lynn Jones Good ’81 (above right).

Book you’re currently reading?

Alexander Hamilton

by Ron Chernow.

Favorite movie?

A Few Good Men. Hobbies?

Travel, reading, and golf.

If you weren’t CEO of Duke Energy, what would be your dream job?

Principal dancer for the NYC Ballet.

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Driven by evolving customer expectations, rapidly changing technologies, and new public policies, the energy industry will go through more change in the next 20 years than in the past century, predicts Lynn Jones Good ’81, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Duke Energy, one of America’s largest electric power companies.

“From a customer’s point of view, we’re entering a golden age of choice, convenience, and control,” says Good, CEO since 2013. “This includes more options for energy efficiency programs, different ways to use technology to meet customers’ needs, and more choice in where their energy comes from.”

Good, who double majored in accountancy and systems analysis in college, received the Distinguished Achievement Medal from the Miami University Alumni Association in May. Fortune magazine lists

her as 11th among the “Most Powerful Women in Business” and Forbes magazine calls her one of “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.”

Acknowledging that leadership is a vast topic, she believes resilience, courage, and perseverance have made a difference in her own career.

The Fairfield, Ohio, native knows much about these three attributes of character. After graduation, she joined Arthur Andersen as an auditor in the Cincinnati branch. Eleven years later she became one of the accounting firm’s few women partners.

Then in October 2001, Enron, a client of the firm, filed for bankruptcy. The Enron scandal deepened and in early 2002, Arthur Andersen was indicted.

“Overnight, everything I had worked for during two decades was gone,” she says. “Although I had nothing to do with Enron, I had to start over and be resilient in

love & honor

the face of an unexpected detour. Detours happen in every career. Leadership takes resilience, and it’s how I lead my company through crisis and change.”

Seven months after she became CEO of Duke Energy in Charlotte, N.C., she faced a crisis that tested her courage.

In February 2014, a pipe that had been in place since before Good was born catastrophically failed 40 feet below the surface and released 39,000 tons of coal ash into the Dan River.

The company made a mistake and its reputation was deeply damaged, she says.

“I needed to lead by setting the tone and ensure we grew from our mistake, and that took courage. We used the event as a catalyst to establish new, higher standards of operational and environmental performance throughout the company.”

As for perseverance, Good thinks one of the greatest challenges of being an effective leader is not just making the hard decisions, but resolving to see them through.

The energy industry is going through extraordinary change, she says, pointing out that this change is creating opportunities for those companies determined to innovate and lead.

“You’ll find that as you move up in a company, your shadow gets bigger and the decisions only get tougher.

Having the perseverance to push through challenging decisions has served me well.”

She learned perseverance early through her parents and honed that trait at Miami. Her father encouraged her to pursue systems analysis because the computer age was beginning to dawn. She supplemented that degree with work in the business school, accumulating enough credits for a second degree in accountancy.

“I fell in love with Miami when I visited my sister, who graduated in 1977. The beautiful campus setting and outstanding academic reputation represented a great combination.”

She also fell in love with classmate Brian Good ’81, who double majored in accountancy and systems development. A Miami Merger, they are the parents of John, 23, and Michael, 22. Brian began with IBM and has continued in the software development industry.

“Success often takes a winding path, but I learned early on about the power of a team,” Good says. “Accomplishing big things in a complex world demands effective teamwork, which includes bringing together diverse talent aligned around a common goal and working with great passion and commitment to the success of the company.”

CELEBRATING ALUMNI Award winners: (l-r) Joyce Barnes Farmer ’57, Amy Farmer Joseph ’86, Jonathan Elliott ’00 MS ’13, Ben Menker ’09, Kay Phillips Geiger ’78, Jess Bolton ’17, and Brandon Brooks ’11.

The Miami University Alumni Association recognized 11 exceptional individuals as well as the Farmer Family Foundation during its awards banquet May 5.

Earning the Bishop Medal as a positive role model to youth, LaKeisha Thomas ’04 takes her passion for service everywhere. Kay Phillips Geiger ’78 is synonymous with community service, and she received the John E. Dolibois Award for her many contributions to the Cincinnati region.

Honoring Jonathan Elliott ’00 MS ’13, assistant director of operations at Goggin Ice Center, with the A.K. Morris Award was an easy call because of his contributions behind the scenes at Alumni Weekend. Melissa Mendenhall never forgets a face during her work at the Marcum Hotel and Conference Center, one reason she was given the Dave Roberts Award.

Lynn Jones Good ’81, the Distinguished Achievement Medal recipient, is nationally recognized as one of the most powerful women in business as the leader of Duke Energy.

Known for inspiring others, Mark Lacker ’79, the John W. Altman Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship, earned the Effective Educator Award. Many assume Patricia Oxley already is a Miami graduate because of her deep ties to the school. The Honorary Alumni Award she received strengthened that bond. Recognized for his service to the alumni association, Ben Menker ’09 received the H. Kenneth Gambee Young Alumni Award.

Brandon Brooks ’11, Young Philanthropist of the Year, helped bring attention to Miami’s Athletic Performance Center with his gift to name the offensive line team meeting room. Bruce Henke ’72 has long served Miami on a volunteer basis and encapsulates the Spirit of Philanthropy Award. Jess Bolton ’17 is Student Philanthropist of the Year.

After a record-breaking $40 million donation to the Farmer School of Business, the Farmer Family Foundation was named Philanthropist of the Year.

For more about the 2017 honorees, go to MiamiAlum.org/ AlumniAwards.

Summer 2017

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days of old

Game, Set, Match “Your serve.” A vigorous tennis match on the Oxford College court during May Day celebrations in 1912.

Tennis, like football and baseball, started as a club at

Miami in the late 1880s. Hard to believe these days, but students apparently “sneered” at the mere mention of athletics up until that time.

In its Oct. 1, 1888, editorial espousing athletics’ value, The Miami Student stated, “One of the best means of recreation at college, and at the same time of securing physical development, is the practice of athletic sports. Base-ball, foot-ball [sic], tennis, are among such sports that should be participated in by every student.”

Photo from Miami University Libraries, Frank Snyder Collection By 1893, the tennis club served 38 members. “Tennis is a popular sport at Miami, and the courts are constantly occupied in fair weather.”

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Ah, the tennis courts. The first ones seem to have been located south of the original football field, on the southwest corner of High and Patterson, where Hughes Laboratories is today. By 1910, they’d become an eyesore, at least to a number of the university trustees.

“Tennis had hit a new low, and when attempts were made to revive it at this time, the board of trustees objected drastically to the location of the courts, saying their appearance was not in accord with the rest of the campus,” writes Elizabeth Steinebrey Kinzig in her thesis on the development of physical education and athletics at Miami.

“A tennis association was set up and an assessment of fifty cents was made to remedy the ill.”

The students aced that one.

Creativity City popped up on Farmer’s front lawn for one week in April as students challenged themselves and passers-by to tap into their right minds and innovate.

Fall 2013

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Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage

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