Miamian, Spring 2018 by aldeia

miamian The Magazine of Miami University

Spring 2018

An unforgiving river. A 2,190-mile trail. And the transformation of three Miamians who tested their limits.

J O U R N E

IN THIS ISSUE:

Being Myaamian Whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Behind The Post? Misheard Adventures

Y S

GOOD BOY, DUFF A freelance brand designer and illustrator in Cincinnati, Dick Close ’74 enjoys the spontaneity of watercolor painting, a pursuit he began in 2007. Much of his work elevates the status of everyday objects through heroic composition, dramatic shadows, and rich color. “Duff” was part of both the annual Watercolor USA exhibit at the Springfield (Mo.) Art Museum and the 2017 International Watermedia Exhibition in Houston.

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

Vol. 36, No. 2

miamian

Senior Designer Belinda Rutherford

STORIES

Web Developer Suzanne Clark

18 Picking Up the Threads

Katin Angelo ’18 didn’t truly understand what it meant to be a member of the Miami Tribe until she became friends with other Myaamia students.

Copy Editor Lucy Baker Design Consultant Lilly Pereira www.aldeia.design University Advancement 513-529-4029 Senior Vice President for University Advancement Tom Herbert herbertw@MiamiOH.edu

22 The Post’s Katharine Graham: Behind the Headlines Revitalized language leads to a renewed culture (see page 18).

Three Miamians discover who they really are when they test themselves against nature.

IN EACH ISSUE

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

2 From the Hub

Celebrating Common Heritage

3 Back & Forth

To and From the Editor

MiamiOH.edu/alumni

ON THE COVER Tess Cassidy ’16 hiking the Appalachian Trail. Page 24. Cover photo provided by Tess.

For 14 years, Evelyn Small ’70 worked with Washington Post chairman Katharine Graham on her Pulitzer Prizewinning memoir, producing memories of her own.

24 Journeys

Alumni Relations 513-529-5957 Executive Director of the Alumni Association Kim Tavares MBA ’12 kim.tavares@MiamiOH.edu

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

Spring 2018

The Magazine of Miami University

Photographers Jeff Sabo Scott Kissell

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

16 My Story

Finding Humor in Hearing Loss

6 Along Slant Walk

32 Love & Honor

10 Such a Life

34 Class Notes

12 Inquiry + Innovation

46 Farewells

Campus News Highlights

Alum’s first novel may play at a theater near you (page 15).

14 Media Matters

‘We’ll Always Have Paris’

Cars That Heal Themselves

‘Finish Living First’

Notes, News, and Weddings

48 Days of Old

Lacrosse With a Tribal Twist

Miamian is published three times a year by the University Advancement Division of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056. Copyright © 2018, 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, 22 Campus Avenue Building, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056, 513-529-7592; Fax: 513-529-1950; Miamian@MiamiOH.edu.

from the hub

Celebrating Common Heritage By President Greg Crawford

Kiiloona Myaamiaki.

This means “We are Miami” — in the original Myaamia language. The new Myaamia Heritage Our Myaamia Center, under the leadership of Logo symbolizes the unique relationship between the Miami Daryl Baldwin, is working with the Miami Tribe of Tribe of Oklahoma and Miami Oklahoma to revitalize the language and culture of University. Its design references ribbonwork, a traditional the tribe. Inevitably, this will enhance the language Miami Tribe art form. Learn and culture of Miami University as well. how it embodies an entire relationship at MiamiOH.edu/ Our amazing relationship, spanning 45+ years Miami-Tribe-Relations. and rooted in common geographic, historic, and cultural interests, is a source of pride to every Miamian and a differentiating factor for the university we all love. We are always looking for new opportunities for partnership and collaboration, "tending the fire" of our legacy and our shared future. We are telling more shared stories, highlighting the research and education efforts we jointly support, and using images that blend symbols of the tribe and campus. The new Myaamia Heritage Logo, a collaborative creation, is further evidence that our relationship is living and evolving. This partnership rests on a foundation of people dedicated to celebrating our common Reviving a onceheritage, modeling the benefits of diversity for all. The Myaamia phrase for “we are lost voice is diverse” — kakapaaci iišinaakosiyankwi — is revitalizing the an action verb that makes me think about diversity in more energetic ways. Miami Tribe’s Diversity and inclusive excellence are culture as well. leading priorities for me, and I have valued the Myaamia relationship deeply since I arrived at Miami in 2016. Chief Douglas Lankford was on the platform when I was inaugurated and again at our spring 2017 commencement, where Professor Baldwin spoke to graduates, six women from the tribe received their diplomas, and trustees wore new stoles that bear symbols of the tribe and university. Renate and I visited the tribe in Oklahoma to participate in the Winter Stomp and Storytelling.

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It was awe-inspiring to consider that the amazing stories we heard in the Myaamia language — compelling characters, clever metaphors, imaginative twists, energetic delivery — became possible only in the past few years because of our center's work with the tribe. More than 30 Myaamia students are on our campus today, meaning that our learning from each other — neepwaantiinki — happens in real, personal human relationships, not just lectures and books. One of those students is junior Gloria Alaankahanihsaata (“Shooting Star”) Tippman, an integrated language arts education major from Fort Wayne, Ind. “Some of my first words were Myaamia,” she says. In addition to the students from the tribe who come to Miami University, New trustee stole with the students travel from here to symbols of the Miami Tribe the tribal lands to conduct and Miami University. research. The Myaamia Center research includes work with old missionary texts, helping the tribe revive an ancient tongue whose last native speakers passed away over 50 years ago. Now several hundred members of the tribe are using the language. That is true scholarship, the heart of what unites us at Miami. Together, we are creating knowledge with real-world implications for a sovereign people. “The real voyage of discovery,” as Marcel Proust wrote, “consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” At Miami, it includes ears to hear a new language and a once-lost voice that has been revived. Kiiloona Myaamiaki.

back & forth

Good job, Steve I enjoyed the feature on Steve Fitzhugh’s Good Name Summit (Fall/Winter 2017 Miamian). Like Steve, I attended Walsh Jesuit High School, and he definitely embodies the school motto of “Men and Women for Others.” I commend him for using his resources and connections to effect positive change in his community, and I hope he might one day expand his program to Cleveland, which is still technically an NFL city. —Mark Croce ’91 Euclid, Ohio Luxembourg inspiration Sitting in my apartment in Minsk, I just read “The Luxembourg Esprit de Corps” feature in the Fall/Winter 2017 Miamian, and I couldn’t be more thankful for the decision to locate Miami’s European Study Center in Luxembourg. When I studied there during the summer of 1989, I thought the location was perfect. It was so easy to explore a different part of Europe — including the UK, Scandinavia, and Eastern Europe — each weekend

and make it back on an overnight train for class Monday morning. What I took away from the accounts in Miamian—and the ones online — was how inspired we were to travel and explore. I’m lucky that I’m still inspired by traveling and exploration and try to conjure my 19-year-old, wide-eyed self whether I find myself in China, Turkey, Indonesia, Cuba, or Belarus. The spirit of my summer in Lux has animated the last 10–15 years of my academic career, and I’m sure will exert influence on where I go next. As Will Rogers said, “The world is a pretty big place, and I intend to see as much of it as possible.” I’d like to offer a big, heartfelt thanks to all those involved with the founding and operation of MUDEC, which was a door opening onto the entire world for me, and look forward to thanking them in person in October at the 50th anniversary celebration. —Bob Eckhart ’91 Visiting assistant professor, Minsk State Linguistic University It was with great joy and nostalgia that I read the recent feature story about MUDEC of Luxembourg. I smiled reading through the anecdotes from the ’70s and ’80s, but I wanted to hear more recent Luxembourg memories as well. I often find myself reflecting on today’s bumpy and troublesome global events. In doing so, I am reminded of one of the main reasons

I so strongly value open-mindedness and a global view of our society: my time in Luxembourg. Whether it was experiencing the simplicity of life in the Greek Isles, hearing the firsthand account of a concentration camp survivor, or bonding together while living abroad during the 9/11 attacks, those many once-in-a-lifetime moments brought more to my global perspective than reading any book or newspaper could ever do. Studying abroad truly provided me with some of the happiest and most exhilarating months of my life, and I can confidently speak the same on behalf of my many Lux friends that I still keep in touch with today. Many, many alumni from the fall 2001 class are lifelong friends — traveling together to new places, organizing reunions, attending each other’s weddings, and meeting each other’s children. I can only hope that my three children will someday have the same travel opportunities and lifelong friendships that MUDEC provided to me and so many others. —Sarah Carufel Hauer ’03 Minneapolis, Minn. Dr. Griffith’s European tours A flood of memories were brought back by the letter about Dr. Griffith’s class convincing the writer to attend Miami. I also attended his human physiology class and learned about his eightweek summer European tours.

Send letters to: Donna Boen Miamian editor 22 Campus Avenue Building 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.

See additional letters online at MiamiAlum.org/Miamian.

Spring 2018

back & forth

“In fact, if there is a group with the greatest stake in world peace, it is those who pay the highest price to preserve it.”

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That type of trip was a goal, and I joined about 20 other students on a whirlwind trip from Glasgow to Lisbon, Athens, Stockholm, and points in between during the summer of 1968. He had everything well-coordinated and was the best host, helping us out of jams and allowing us freedom to explore on our own. Since this was just before the Luxembourg campus opened, we were fortunate to have this experience with other Miami friends. It was certainly a highlight of my Miami years and instilled me with a love of travel. Thanks to Dr. Griffith for some of my best memories. —Nancy Smith Sutch ’69 Ballwin, Mo. Ox College fans Thank you so much for the story by Pat Holweger Glynn ’60 (“Old Miami, New Miami” in the Fall/ Winter 2017 Miamian). Although I graduated from Miami a little more than 10 years after Pat, her reflections made it sound like a different school than the one I attended. Evening vespers in pj’s at 9 p.m. with biblical readings and songs, sitting rooms for receiving visitors, meals at a linen-covered table where the “Doxology” was sung, taking calls downstairs in the phone booth. Her story made me nostalgic for the simple things and the finer graces that most students today could not imagine and many haven’t learned. I only wonder how much better our communities could be if we lived at a slower pace and initiated some of these “outdated” practices again. —Holly Howell Barclay ’71 Longmont, Colo.

Oxford College Hall was my home for my first two years at Miami. I smiled throughout Pat Holweger Glynn’s “My Story” about her experiences there several years earlier. I recalled being in great shape after walking long blocks to and from campus twice a day. I had to work three meals daily in Ox’s gorgeous dining hall, so lovely even Dean of Women Warfel chose to dine there each evening. I made 50 cents an hour, but doubled that when, in the 1964– 1965 school year, I was promoted to head waitress. (I was told that was the highest-paid student job on campus!) Hearing about JFK’s death from a loud transistor on Slant Walk sent me back to Ox to spend three days sharing grief with my dormmates. What a memory when someone asks, “Where were you …?” I could easily walk to Mama Corso’s small market and to the art movie theater where, as a student in Herr Sanger’s class, I could feel smug about translating before reading subtitles of Das Boot. My future husband and best buddy Marine showed up in their dress blues and were admired by all who came through the lobby. Claudia Brest, an adviser who lived on the second floor, helped all with questions, as did Ms. Rogers. My long work hours kept me from doing lots of what others did around Oxford, but I loved and appreciated every day. Old Miami was very good to me and my friends there, indeed. —Esther Sarris Rupp ’67 Seffner, Fla.

Seriously offended In response to the letter by Louis Pumphrey ’64 in the Fall/Winter 2017 Miamian, I appreciate Mr. Pumphrey’s service to our country during the Vietnam War, and I, too, appreciate that Miamian would publish stories on both the Peace Corps and the two Miami grads who served in the Vietnam War, no matter which article was featured on the cover. In fact, I champion anyone who dedicates time to the service of others, no matter the endeavor. However, I take serious offense at Mr. Pumphrey’s use of the phrase “War Corps” at the end of his letter, and the editor’s decision to publish it. As a retired Marine officer who also had an uncle (killed in action) and father-in-law (two Purple Hearts) serve in the Vietnam War, a Miami classmate who was killed while serving as a Marine officer, three older brothers who served as Marines, and a son currently serving as a Marine officer, I am offended by the phrase “War Corps” and its obvious connotation. Men and women who serve honorably in the Armed Forces of the United States do more to ensure peace, for both the people of our country and people around the world, than any other group. In fact, if there is a group with the greatest stake in world peace, it is those who pay the highest price to preserve it. Mr. Pumphrey’s choice of words is unfortunate at best, or intentionally offensive at worst. The choice of the editor to publish that phrase is ignorant at best, or disrespectful at worst. Semper Fidelis. —Bill Brannen ’86 (USMC, Ret.) Fredericksburg, Va.

back & forth

Among the first Great Peace Corps story (“The Humane Connection,” Summer 2017 Miamian)! Lois Loesch and I were among the first Miamians to volunteer. We signed up as soon as it was announced, married, and served in Liberia as teachers 200 miles into the rain forest. —Steve Hirst ’62 Flagstaff, Ariz. Thanks for the memories Tears come to my eyes as I read about Miami’s past in several articles including one on Ara (“Love and Honor Always, Coach,” Fall/ Winter 2017 Miamian). Thanks for bringing these memories to life and bringing joy to an old grad. —Bruce Derylo ’56 Naperville, Ill. Thank you for the excellent coverage of Ara Parseghian ’49. President Crawford’s column was very nice. I was the athletic trainer for Ara during his eight years at Northwestern. Ara gave me my first head trainer’s job! —Tom Healion ’52 MEd ’54 Brunswick, Maine

Facebook comment Response to President Crawford’s memories of Ara Parseghian: Well said, Mr. President. Coach was and is the rock on which Miami is built. Long may his memory and achievements live in the minds and hearts of all of us who love Miami and were/are privileged to recall the University so fondly.— Roger Shelley ’64, New Rochelle, N.Y.

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Smelling B, You Say? Recalculating When my sister-in-law opted for a take-home testing kit instead of a full-blown colonoscopy, she persuaded her husband, my oldest brother, to drop off her sample at the clinic on his way to work. He was happy to do it. Wouldn’t even need to recalculate his route. Gingerly carrying the byproduct in its triple-sealed bag, he walked into the clinic thinking he’d hand it to the person at the front desk and be off. But no one was there. While waiting, he responded to several emails, then went back to the desk, and called out again. Still no one. Now pressed for time, he left the properly marked bag on a visible shelf where someone official was bound to find it, and headed out. Talking into his smartwatch, Dan assured Jen he’d completed his assignment. “Left your poop on the elf” was the text she received. I guess we’re too far into this technology, and we’d feel lost without Apple’s Siri, Goggle’s Alexa, and Amazon’s Echo, but we appear to be entrusting our most valuable assets to virtual assistants who can’t pass a second-grade spelling bee. I’d allow Siri to claim, “Typo,” and let this drop. But she won’t stop. She continues to embarrass us with her malaprops. I fear we’re letting our smartphones totally uncross our t’s under the guise of spell checker. When my other brother, Den, wanted to stay home from a weekly book study, feeling too sentimental and a tad teary on the eve of their 25th anniversary, my sister-in-law Elsa texted the group. Her friend wrote back, “Elsa, you better reread what you sent us.” “After 25 years, we’re staying home because Den is really ready.” When teary becomes ready, you have to wonder. Has anyone thought to give Siri a reading comprehension test? My Fitbit Blaze is willing to serve as timekeeper. And the evolution continues. My nephew received a Google Assistant for Christmas. We spent the better part of the evening yelling at it. “Hey, Google, tell us a joke.” “Hey, Google, play a game with us.” My mom is spooked that Google is always listening. I scoffed, but now I’m not so sure. I just read that GE is designing ceiling lights with microphones and speakers. A Ceiling Siri, some are calling it. If that happens, I’ll really need to speak up because at 5-foot-3 I won’t exactly be eye to eye with her when I tell her to dim the chandelier. “Siri! Stop it! I told you to turn off the light! Turn off, not cough.” If worse comes to worse, I suppose I can unplug her and put her on the elf. —Donna Boen ’83 MTSC ’96

Nearly 700 writers entered the 2018 Erma Bombeck Writing Competition. My essay, which you see here, earned an honorable mention. In fact, three Miamians received honorable mentions, the other two being Rosalie Hoops Bernard ’81 MEd ’82 of Miamisburg, Ohio, and Dale Ehrlich, who teaches in Miami’s English department.

Spring 2018

along slant walk

Honoring Activism U.S. Rep. and civil rights icon John Lewis of

U.S. Rep. John Lewis received Miami’s Freedom Summer of ’64 Award, created by university architect emeritus Robert Keller ’73, in the U.S. House of Representatives March 19. See highlights at https:// tinyurl.com/MiamiURepLewis-Award-1min.

miamian magazine

Georgia has received the inaugural Freedom Summer of ’64 Award from Miami University. In 1964, Lewis, then chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), encouraged college students across the U.S. to help register blacks in Mississippi to vote. Nearly 800 of those students trained for that work in Oxford, Ohio, on the campus of Western College for Women (now part of Miami.) Lewis began his civil rights activism with the 1961 Freedom Rides, challenging segregated interstate bus terminals across the South. He was beaten by angry mobs and arrested by police. On March 7, 1965, he was a co-leader of more than 600 peaceful protesters who marched

across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., intending to demonstrate the need for voting rights in the state. The marchers were attacked by Alabama state troopers in a brutal confrontation that became known as “Bloody Sunday.” Lewis has been active in numerous other civil rights efforts and activities over the years. He was elected to Atlanta City Council in 1981 and to Congress in 1986. “This award honors the legacy of the civil rights movement, but is also a new call for students, faculty, staff, and citizens to reconnect with civic service and civil rights at a time when participation, and standing up for one’s belief in their fellow humans, is more important than ever,” Miami President Greg Crawford said.

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Time to be Boldly Creative is Now

I’M GLAD YOU ASKED After students, faculty, and staff returned from the Miami Tribe’s Winter Gathering in Miami, Okla., we asked:

Investing in innovation that solves the world’s most intractable problems

How were you affected?

Wendy Lea, CEO of Cintrifuse, joins President Greg Crawford in introducing the $50 million “Boldly Creative” initiative in Cincinnati.

proposals that will generate new achievement, research, student enrollment, and that will become self-sustaining.” Crawford, an Ohio-trained physicist who holds 21 patents, as well as patent applications, and who has co-founded two companies, said, “Universities must lead. We bring talent, technical expertise, an entrepreneurial mindset, and solutions to the table. “As we move into a Boldly Creative future, we will breed innovation and creativity that solves the most intractable problems facing Ohio, our nation, and the world.”

“The more you read … from places you never have been to, from people you never thought you would read, the more encouragement you will find, not only to be a writer, but to be a human being.” —Lemony Snicket, aka novelist Daniel Handler, author of A Series of Unfortunate Events, discussing “Lemony Snicket’s Bewildering Circumstances” for Miami’s Lecture Series in February

As I snipped, glued, and recreated a paper version of Myaamia ribbonwork, I was overwhelmed by the thought of the center’s exacting mission to revive the Myaamia language and culture. Andrew Offenburger, assistant professor of history

Karen Baldwin

Andrew Sander ’02

Miami will invest $50 million in the next three to five years to build new programs that will give its graduates the skills they need to excel, President Greg Crawford told state leaders in March. Unveiling “Boldly Creative” at an event in the Ohio Statehouse, he said the new initiative is more than a program, it is a “spirit to think big.” Three pilot projects planned for this year will help train Ohio health care workers in advanced data and analytics, expand the university’s nursing programs to produce at least 40 new graduates annually to fill a critical need, and create professional degrees to help workers advance their careers. In future years, the faculty will generate the ideas for investment, all aimed at sustaining Miami’s premier undergraduate experience and creating new partnerships with industry and government, he said. Miami assembled the initiative’s funds internally through budget savings, he explained, and all of the money will be invested back into academics. Remarking on the announcement, Provost Phyllis Callahan said, “We are thinking big. We’re encouraging

An evening of stomp dancing begins.

I was most surprised to enjoy the stomp dance. It was such a beautiful physical demonstration of community. Alyse Eversole Capaccio ’12, designer in university communications and marketing

Spring 2018

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NOTEWORTHY

Miami is among the nation’s best colleges for academics, career preparation, and affordability/ financial aid, according to The Princeton Review’s 2018 edition of “Colleges That Pay You Back: The 200 Schools That Give You the Best Bang for Your Tuition Buck.” The Princeton Review conducted a comprehensive analysis of 658 colleges, looking at academics, cost, financial aid, graduation rates, student debt, and more.

A unique winter-spring term program provided 20 Miami students with a oncein-a-lifetime learning experience during the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea as they assisted athletes at the luge competition. Sooun Lee, professor of information systems and analytics, who helped create and launch the study abroad program that included this opportunity, said he received many compliments about the quality of the students’ work and their high spirit of volunteerism. Wright Brothers Institute of Dayton and Miami have started collaborating to identify technologies from an Air Force Research Lab’s more than 1,000 patents that have potential commercial use for public good. The new agreement creates the Miami University–AFRL Research Technology Commercialization Accelerator.

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RISING RANKS

3rd

among all public universities, 16th overall, in The Princeton Review’s 2018 Top Schools for Game Design

Miami graduate programs in Top 100 of U.S. News and World Report’s 2019 Best Graduate Schools rankings

No Place for Bigotry President Greg Crawford, other university leaders, and student groups have renewed a commitment to make Miami more welcoming in the wake of offensive social media posts, said Claire Wagner, director of university news and communications. A student used a racial slur in a social media platform in November; in March there were two additional offensive comments posted to social media. This spring, concerned students have been talking to administrators, as well as protesting, to publicly say that they are experiencing racism here and to call on Miami to more actively reject it. “Miami stands with them,” Wagner said. “While even hateful speech is protected by the First Amendment, President Crawford has asked the community to clearly stand against hate and bigotry.” Late last fall, Rodney Coates, professor of global and intercultural studies, was asked to lead a working group on diversity and inclusion, which anticipates sharing a report in May. This spring, Crawford and other Miami leaders have met with dozens of students to hear their concerns,

Professor Rodney Coates is leading a working group on diversity and inclusion.

including those who have formed a group called BAM (Black Action Movement) 2.0. In early April, students presented a list of demands, some of which had already been addressed, and some of which the university will discuss with students in future meetings, Wagner said. In an attempt to gauge the climate for all students and employees, Miami offered the One Miami Campus Climate Survey last fall. An outside agency helped coordinate it, and results are to be shared in early May. “All agree, ‘Love and Honor’ is most meaningful when it reflects actions, as well as words,” Wagner said.

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Colorful Festival: Miami’s Indian Student Association hosts Holi, inviting all students to participate in the annual Hindu cultural and religious festival. Also known as the “Festival of Colors,” it is the biggest Hindu festival after Diwali and is typically a two-day festival celebrated in March with bonfires, colored powder, and colored water. It celebrates the beginning of spring, as well as the triumph of good over evil, and is among numerous cultural events observed by students.

Author’s Worldwide Exclusive A worldwide exclusive stirs up the Summer Reading Program this year. With author and visiting scholar Wil Haygood ’76 planning to address students at convocation in August, he has arranged for them to receive a special early delivery of his next book, TIGERLAND: The Miracle on East Broad Street. Others must wait until its October release by Penguin Random House. TIGERLAND is a saga of race, politics, and high school sports set during the racially tumultuous time of 1968–1969,

only months after the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, when the Tigers of Columbus’ East High School won both the state basketball and baseball championships. A former writer for The Boston Globe and The Washington Post, Haygood penned the story “A Butler Well Served by this Election” for The Post. The article became the basis for the award-winning 2013 film The Butler and for Haygood’s New York Times’ best-selling book of the same title.

SPRING COMMENCEMENT Philadelphia Eagles guard Brandon Brooks ’11 will be the spring commencement speaker May 19. An integral member of the team that won the 2018 Super Bowl, he distinguishes himself through his community involvement, continued pursuit of advanced higher education, and public support for mental health awareness. The 6-foot-5-inch Milwaukee native played for Miami 2008–2011 and earned second-team AllMAC honors three of those years.

Spring 2018

such a life

‘WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS’ With a final twirl at the Musée d’Orsay, an art museum on the left bank of the Seine, Elizabeth Nourse ’18 and her Moroccan boyfriend say goodbye. A French major from Cincinnati, Elizabeth fell in love during her study abroad last summer in Dijon, France. She left intending to find a job in Paris after she graduates this May. “However, sometimes love isn’t enough,” she says, “and distance takes a toll when you promise each other it won’t.” Now that her plans have changed, Elizabeth has switched her career search back to the United States.

Spring 2018

inquiry + innovation

It’s Just a Scratch What if a car could easily repair its chipped paint

By Heather Beattey Johnston

Almost everyone has experienced the disappointment that comes with the first scratch on a new car, a freshly painted wall, or a just-out-of-the-box cellphone. But what if the car or wall or phone could repair itself?

If Dominik Konkolewicz has anything to do with it, that fantasy may become reality. An assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Miami, he has received a CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development program, which means $600,000 over five years for his research on polymers. “If you look around a room, and you remove the air, metals, ceramics, and the small amount of water,” he says, “just about everything else is a polymer.” Polymers can be natural or synthetic. Natural polymers include cellulose, which is the main component of wood and paper, and proteins or DNA, which are essential for life processes. Among the dozens of commodity synthetic polymers are polyethylene milk jugs and plastic wrap, polystyrene packing materials, and epoxy glues. Polymers are also included as components of paints and other coatings used to finish surfaces like those of cars, walls, and cellphones. From a chemistry perspective, polymers consist of smaller molecules, or repeating units, linked together to form a larger molecule. This larger molecule is like a necklace, with dozens to tens of thousands of smaller molecules making up the individual links. In many

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materials, such as cured epoxy glue and soft contact lenses, long polymer chains are linked to form a mesh or network-like structure at the molecular level. “The links that bind these chains together are a little like staples,” Konkolewicz says. “They’re permanent. When a material becomes damaged or fractured, the material becomes useless because there’s no way to recover the original properties.” Chemical ‘paper clips’ Konkolewicz’s work focuses on creating links between the chains that he says are more like paper clips than staples, ones that can be reused many times. If one link is damaged, it can be exchanged for another, allowing the material — whether it’s wall paint or a truck tire — to heal itself when scratched or punctured.

inquiry + innovation

Dominik Konkolewicz has been awarded an NSF CAREER grant to help fund his polymer research, which may one day lead to scratched paint and punctured tires repairing themselves.

The trade-off in this kind of chemistry, which was pioneered in the late 1990s and early 2000s, is between dynamism and stability, Konkolewicz says. The types of “paper clips” used to hook units together either allow a material to recover its original properties quickly or allow it to maintain its original shape over time, but typically not both. To understand this trade-off, think about truck tires. If they were made out of a material that could heal quickly when punctured by a nail, drivers could avoid the time, expense, and hassle of being stuck with a flat. However, if that same highly dynamic material were also highly unstable, the tires would lose their shape as they were squeezed between the truck and the road. That’s the dilemma Konkolewicz says currently exists in this type of materials science.

Quick healing and permanent shape The innovation Konkolewicz is pursing involves introducing two different types of links in the same material. One type would allow the material to heal itself quickly, while the other — which would be activated by applying heat, pH, or light — would “lock in” the permanent shape. In the case of truck tires, that means they could both recover from a nail puncture and remain perfectly round. Another consideration that he says is important in materials science is the ability to withstand seemingly minor damage. Once a brittle material acquires a small chip or other defect, he points out, any little bump could cause it to shatter. The types of dynamic bonds he is using can increase material toughness, he says, extending the useful lifetime of products made from those materials. Konkolewicz’s work has clear implications for sustainability. “If you don’t need to throw something out over time, if something has a longer lifetime, that’s a huge benefit,” he says. “It’s a much smaller drain on resources.” The assistant professor supervises eight graduate students and has 11 undergraduates on his team who work with him on his CAREER project, as well as other projects. The NSF CAREER grant is one of the organization’s most prestigious awards in support of junior faculty who “exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education, and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations.” To support his NSF CAREER project’s integrated education objective, Konkolewicz is conducting community-based STEM outreach for K-12 students in collaboration with Dayton Public Schools and the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. He is also continuing to develop innovative activities to use in the undergraduate classroom. In addition, the CAREER grant will provide funds for a student from an underrepresented group to work in Konkolewicz’s lab each summer.

“If you don’t need to throw something out over time, if something has a longer lifetime, that’s a huge benefit. It’s a much smaller drain on resources.”

Heather Beattey Johnston is associate director of research communications in Miami’s Office for the Advancement of Research and Scholarship.

Spring 2018

media matters

New Tricks for Ambitious ‘Dogs’ Follow your canine’s clues to become a pack leader at work A quick read sprinkled with humor, The Fido Factor demonstrates how dogs can motivate humans to become more effective leaders at work. Authors Dan ’81 and Krissi Hehmann Barr ’81 MBA ’83 live in Cincinnati with Kaiser and Clover.

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If you want to succeed in business, act like a dog. That’s

the premise of The Fido Factor: How to Get a Leg Up at Work, written by Miami Merger Dan ’81 and Krissi Hehmann Barr ’81 MBA ’83. No, the Barrs aren’t advocating that you growl at your boss and bite your colleagues. Longtime owners of furry tail-waggers, they have studied canine behaviors for many years — including thousands of hours of ear scratching and tennis ball throwing — and discovered key lessons that managers can adopt from their four-legged friends. So what can people learn from their pooches? “They have proven leadership genius,” Dan says. “They instinctively know what personal qualities they need to develop to be their best. And they’re naturals at exhibiting the traits needed to be leader of the pack.” The Barrs say those traits can be boiled down to four: faithful, inspirational, determined, and observant.

Take the first letter of each of these themes, and you end up with Fido. Another reason Dan and Krissi chose such an unusual theme for their second book together is because so many people relate to dogs, allowing them to offer a “fresh take on leadership.” “You don’t get to decide whether you’re a leader or not. That’s the job of the pack,” the Barrs write in the book’s conclusion, “The Tail End.” The pack members — or in the case of humans — your colleagues listen to how you speak, watch how you behave, and measure your results, they reason. “The good news is you control your attitudes and actions, and they ultimately determine your leadership brand,” the Barrs say. “When you continue to do everything within your power to improve yourself, you — like every dog — will have your day.”

media matters

Conrad Leslie’s 12 Laws For Selecting a Stock Conrad Leslie ’47 Independently published These 12 simple rules can guide your investment decisions for the stock market and beyond. The result of 60 years of securities and commodity futures investing, these basic principles have survived the test of time and varying markets and economic conditions.

The Dallas Nightclub Murders Rick Suttle ’81 R.B. Publishing It’s the mid’80s and several women last seen at Dallas nightclub Renegades have been murdered. The club’s weekend bouncer, Nick Saunders wonders if the killer is a patron or an employee. It becomes personal when Nick’s girlfriend is kidnapped by the killer.

Maggie Bonnie Johnston ’61 CreateSpace A blend of fact and fiction, this historical novel traces the Riffle family, among the earliest settlers near Dayton, Ohio, during turbulent times on the American frontier. A scout, David Riffle participated in both the Indian Wars and the American Revolution.

Carolyn’s Song Elizabeth Swanson Huss ’93 Amazon Digital Services Combination locks, confusing schedules, Algebra, and a handsome senior with gray-green eyes. And that’s just the first week of classes for freshman Lynn James, who is trying her best to navigate through the confusing halls of Trelawney High School.

Cattle, Crops, & Spurs David Gobeille ’68 Deep River Books For David Gobeille — Oregon rancher, successful businessman, and certified executive and business coach — the cowboy ideal of hard work, honor, and adventure provides a source of inspiration and a model for honest, godly leadership.

Mixing Memory & Desire Brian Kennedy PhD ’93 Folklore Publishing Brian Kennedy looks at a variety of fiction recently written about World War I and contends the cultural process of grieving concerns the fear of forgetting and the need to build a narrative arc to contain events that shaped the past century, as well as the present.

Lu Beth Barovian Troy ’02 MA ’04 Kingsbury Publishing Moving back in with her family after her boyfriend cheats on her lets Lu Sokolowski run away, but it also means suffering their attempts to reassemble her failed life. Success and friendships restore Lu to the family and faith she’d left behind. From Slave Ship to Supermax Patrick Alexander ’06 Temple University Press This first interdisciplinary study of mass incarceration to intersect literary studies, critical prison studies, and human rights argues that the disciplinary logic and violence of slavery haunt depictions of the contemporary U.S. prison in 20th century black fiction. Love and Other Alien Experiences Kerry Winfrey ’08 Feiwel & Friends Mallory hasn’t walked outside the house in 67 days — since her dad left. She attends class via webcam, watches The X-Files, and chats with BeamMeUp on New Mexico’s alien message board. When she’s nominated for homecoming queen, life takes a surprising turn.

AT THE MOVIES Overwatch Matthew Betley ’94 Simon & Schuster’s Emily Bester Books

Thunder Road has acquired film rights to Matt Betley’s first novel, Overwatch, which was nominated for a Barry Award. He has since written Oath of Honor, and his third thriller in the Logan West series, Field of Valor, comes out this spring.

Spring 2018

my story

Runchy Brun? Huh? 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,” 22 Campus Avenue Building, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056 or Miamian@MiamiOH.edu. Please limit your essay to 900 words and include your name, class year, address, and phone number.

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By Jo McCulloch Bailey ’65

When I was a freshman in Miami’s Porter Hall, my roommate, Nancy Walters, and I were laughing one night over outdoor games we played with neighbor kids while growing up. She mentioned Red Rover, and I told her about Runchy Brun and asked if she’d ever played it. “What’s that?” she replied. I described it. She giggled and said, “Jo, that’s Run Sheep Run.” That should have been my first clue to my hearing loss, but no. I simply made up or assimilated what I heard, no matter the sense it made. How did I ever make Mortar Board?!

my story

Later while earning my master’s in speech and hearing disorders at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, we students were assigned to administer 50 audiometric exams to each other. (“Raise your finger when you hear the beep.”) I soon realized that no one wanted to test me, as it took so long for me to hear the beep. When my parents came to visit, I made them let me test them. I diagnosed my dad’s otosclerosis and a profound hearing loss. No wonder Mom would send him back to the grocery store to get her requested items versus the ones he had written down. Then I realized, “OK, Nancy Drew, otosclerosis is inherited. Those tiny bones (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) become ‘squishy’ and cannot conduct sound waves appropriately.” So, Dad and I both got hearing aids. I suspect he often kept his turned off at home. My audiologist warned me when he placed them in my ears that I would get in my car and think it was falling apart. I heard sounds I never had before. I was now part of the world. No longer did I have to smile and nod, uncertain what folks were saying, yet wanting to be included. I’ve worn binaural aids for years, taught myself to informally lipread, asked for clarification, and sometimes just gone with what I misheard. One rule most of us hearing-impaired folks have is don’t talk from another room when you’re telling us something. My husband, Mike, who has one deaf ear from Hong Kong Fever as a child, and I are fairly loyal to that rule. One day, however, when we lived in a ranch house, he was making the bed at one end of the house as I prepared our lunches for work clear at the other end in the kitchen. He called out to me,”Did you hear about the bombing of Beirut?” I responded, “Why would they bomb him?” He came into the kitchen and said, “What?!” “Babe Ruth,” I said. “He’s already dead.” And so, my life goes. We are blessed with 14 grandchildren and one adopted granddaughter who lives near us. She was 6 when we planted a garden together. While in the woods gathering nuts, she told me, “Gramma Jo, I have something serious to ask. Do you have witches in your woods?”

I told her a great story, longer than necessary, I’m sure, about the kind witches who guarded the animals on our acreage. She simply stared at me in confusion. “I asked you if you had wood ticks in your woods.” There are times when the listener with a hearing loss will make up his or her own version of what you have said. They are not trying to be funny, rather processing what may have made sense to them. If you know they have a loss, turn your face toward them when you speak. I have trained myself to focus on the triangle that forms the speaker’s nose and mouth. This is awkward, as I naturally want to look into their eyes when speaking to them. However, it brings greater clarity to me. Hearing loss is the third most prevalent chronic health condition facing adults over age 65. Forty-eight million Americans of all ages have a hearing loss. If you think about it, you usually lose your hearing slowly, so your brain will start to turn things up, little by little. Eventually, your brain won’t be able to “turn it up” anymore. That’s why it starts playing fill-in-the-blank. A friend told me this one: A grandma was grocery shopping with her 6-year-old granddaughter. They took all the bags to the car, and she strapped the little one in securely in the back. Her granddaughter called from the back, “Gramma, what is sex?” Gramma was a bit taken aback but decided to keep it simple and answer her, despite blushing bright red. After she was done with her explanation, the little girl said, “Gramma, you always say ‘wait a sec,’ and I don’t know what ‘sec’ means.” I’ve published these stories and several others, along with advice and tips, in my book, O Kinky Turtle — a phrase I joyfully bellowed out in youth choir, not realizing until years later that everyone else was singing O King Eternal. Many tell me their partner is the one who needs my book. (“The TV is turned up way too loud!”) There are veterans who fought in the midst of noise, not unlike some concerts. Sometimes a person has worked in a factory with noisy machines and no earplugs. I know many of you have your own frustrations over a hearing loss or that of your partner. Hang in there. Help is available. It also doesn’t hurt to hone your sense of humor.

“Blindness separates people from things. Deafness separates people from people.” — HELEN KELLER

Jo McCulloch Bailey ’65 of Bayfield, Wis., now retired, was a college counselor who aided students with disabilities for 30 years. If you would like to discuss hearing concerns or share a story with her for possible inclusion in her next book, she encourages you to contact her directly at cty41523@gmail.com.

Spring 2018

KATIN ANGELO â&#x20AC;&#x2122;18 flourishes in Myaamia community

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Picking Up the Threads She wanted to leave. Close to her parents and her younger siblings, 14-year-old triplets, she found Oxford too far from home. Plus, the transition to college had been rough. Katin Angelo doubts she would have stayed at school after her freshman year if it hadn’t been for the other Miami Tribe students. They and staff at the Myaamia Center gave her the sense of family she needed.

BY DONNA BOEN ’83 MTSC ’96

Spring 2018

“

amily and community — key words to the Miami Tribe as they revitalize their language, their culture, their way of life. Much of this was lost to them when their language went dormant in the early 20th century, a result of their relocation and the loss of their land. But work conducted by the Myaamia Center — one outcome of a 45-year partnership between the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and Miami University — is bringing back the tribe’s language to a younger generation and with it, a growing appreciation of who they are. The federally recognized Miami Tribe is headquartered in the Oklahoma City of Miami (pronounced my-am-uh). Known as the Gateway to Oklahoma, the city of nearly 13,500 is just west of the Missouri state line. In January, Miami University students, faculty, and staff took a 637-mile bus ride to the tribe’s headquarters. For some, this would be their first visit to the tribe’s Winter Gathering and Stomp Dance. Others, including Angelo, have made the university-sponsored trip many times. Now a senior, the life science and chemistry education major will never forget walking into the council house for the first time and watching the Gourd Dance. She knew what to expect, having learned the details in the Myaamia Center’s Heritage classes, but that didn’t prepare her for the goose bumps. “I could feel the pounding of the drums,” she says. “I learned about this multiple times, but getting to live that experience is completely different. That’s when I knew I had to go back.”

Angelo grew up knowing almost nothing about her Myaamia heritage. She had a membership card that confirmed her lineage, thanks to her Grandma Barbara. She also recalls hearing that her grandmother, like many Native American children of her time, was forced to attend an assimilation boarding school where children’s clothing, names, and language were stripped from them.

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For more information about the Myaamia Center at Miami University and to watch highlights from the 2018 Winter Gathering, go to MiamiOh.edu/ Myaamia-Center.

They returned home with European clothing and haircuts, unable to speak to their parents in their own language. “We talk about how our community is a web, and there are different aspects to our weblike culture: dancing, food, kinship,” Angelo says. “All those things are important to make the Myaamia community strong, so if you let go of those threads, the web breaks.” The Miami Tribe is picking up those threads.

aalhsoohkiiyankwi (we tell stories)

On Friday evening of Winter Gathering, tribe members and guests sit in a semicircle in anticipation. George Ironstrack’s Storytelling 101 session earlier in the day has somewhat prepared the audience members who are new to this experience.

Their historical narratives and “winter” stories — told only from the time the frogs fall silent until the frogs wake up again in the spring, followed by a thunderstorm — in no way resemble European fairytales. They are deeply philosophical and have extremely loose beginnings and endings and no titles. Most important for this generation of revitalization are the 10 storytellers who chose to have their stories recorded, both in English and in myaamiaataweenki, their heritage language. “For Myaamia people, we very much feel as though the stories are a reflection of us,” explains Ironstrack MA ’06, assistant director and program director of the education and outreach office at the Myaamia Center. He has participated in Myaamia language renewal projects as a student and a teacher since the mid-1990s.

Our community is a web, and there are different aspects to our weblike culture: dancing, food, kinship. All those things are important to make the Myaamia community strong, so if you let go of those threads, the web breaks.” —KATIN ANGELO

“So in many ways, we are the stories that we tell ourselves about ourselves. It’s how we reflect on who we are, where we’ve been, and where we’re going.” It’s also how people, both inside and outside of the tribe, deepen their understanding of each other, he says, adding that the same is true with their dancing.

neehineeyankwi (we dance together)

On the Saturday evening of the Winter Gathering is the Stomp Dance. In the summer, everyone would be outside, spiraling counterclockwise around a crackling fire, but although the weather is pleasant for January, it is too cold for dancing into the early morning hours. Scheduled to start at 7, everyone knows it will be at least 8 before it begins. Members of other tribes are here, and everyone wants time to catch up on the latest news. Like people who favor a specific pew in church, families go to their favorite areas to sit in chairs encircling the room. Eventually a man, one of the trained leaders, is chosen to go to the center, near the imitation fire. People from his community follow, lining up man-woman-manwoman. In the past, the women, called shakers, would have worn turtle shells on their legs to make noise and keep the beat. Nowadays it’s easier to strap on small tin cans. They’re louder, too.

After the core group begins to sing and move, others join in, maintaining the manwoman order. “This is a social dance, and this is for your community,” Shawnee Tribe Second Chief Ben Barnes says. Like Ironstrack with storytelling, he’s giving a Stomp Dance 101 lecture. “And when community comes together, sings and dances together, it builds those bonds in the community, and you feel stronger and more connected to each other.” This is a social dance open to all, as long as they follow the etiquette. Children are encouraged to participate although parents are cautioned to keep them on the outside of the circle in case it starts to move too fast for the little ones.

paahpiyankwi (we play together)

People crowd around two colorful blankets on the council house floor. After teams choose sides, a person from each team walks onto the blanket. Kneeling, one hides three white marbles and one black marble under four decorated pads the size of potholders. To win, the opponent must call the bluff and find the black marble, flipping each pad over with a long stick as the crowd laughs and applauds. This is the Moccasin Game (mahkisina meehkintiinki). Reclaiming their language has allowed them to bond together over the traditional games, such as this one and lacrosse.

The moccasin pads are decorated in ribbonwork, an intricate art form once made with silk ribbons and now with taffeta. The ribbonwork pattern connects the game to the highly decorated moccasins of the past. In 2014, the Myaamia Center received a National Endowment for the Arts grant. With the money, Karen Baldwin, a tribe employee and a tribal spouse, collaborated with two others to publish a ribbonwork instructional book and held workshops. Participants were so responsive that Baldwin continues to teach the art. She has also created ribbonwork in the traditional colors of red, white, and black for Miami University’s presidential medallion and a sash for the chief in a matching pattern. In addition, every graduating Myaamia student is gifted a sash to wear at commencement.

meenapiyankwi (we are a community)

Angelo will be wearing one of those sashes this spring. After graduation, she wants to be a high school science teacher, like her mom. She’ll go into this career with quite a bit of experience for someone her age, having taught at the Miami Tribe’s youth camps in Fort Wayne and Miami, Okla. Some of the youngsters she has taught know more about their culture than she did when she came to college. What a difference four years makes. Now she’s teaching her family the Myaamia language. She is also working with her dad to come up with her Myaamia name. They are mulling over characteristics, traits, and nicknames. Ironstrack and Daryl Baldwin, director of the Myaamia Center, are helping her guide her dad through the process. “My father gets to pick because he’s the tribal side,” she says. She will be the first in her family in at least three generations to have a Myaamia name. “I’m hoping to have it so it can be announced before I graduate. That would be nice. And I plan to get my siblings their names, too. I don’t see why we couldn’t do all of us at the same time.” They have picked up the threads. Donna Boen ’83 MTSC ’96 is editor of Miamian.

Spring 2018

The Post: KATHARINE GRAHAM EVELYN SMALL ’70 SHARES HER OWN “PERSONAL HISTORY” OF WORKING WITH KATHARINE GRAHAM ON HER PULITZER PRIZE–WINNING MEMOIR

Katharine Meyer Graham, president of The Washington Post, poses in her office in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 3, 1964. Opposite: Evelyn Small ’70 worked closely with Katharine Graham for many years.

Nearly 17 years after her death, former Washington Post President and Publisher Katharine Graham is making headlines once again due to the Oscar-nominated movie The Post. The story of how the newspaper handled the publication of the Pentagon Papers in 1971 — told in the movie through the talents of Meryl Streep as Mrs. Graham and Tom Hanks as editor Ben Bradlee — is a familiar one to readers of Graham’s memoir, Personal History.

BY DONNA BOEN ’83 MTSC ’96

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Associated Press

BEHIND THE HEADLINES A decade after The Post had grown into a national paper through its coverage of the Vietnam War’s Pentagon Papers and the Nixon administration Watergate scandal, Evelyn Small ’70 went to work at The Washington Post Co. as a researcher and writer. Katharine Graham was no longer publisher of The Post, having turned that position over to her son Donald in 1979, but she was still chairman of the company. Small had been working at The Post for only a few months when Mrs. Graham called her into her office and shared with her that friends and colleagues wanted her to

write a memoir. Not being a writer and never having kept a diary or journal, she didn’t know where to begin. There were some old papers in boxes at her house, and she asked Small to have a look. Small rushed to the Georgetown house, she said, and tore up the stairs to the third floor. “Behind the first door I opened were boxes stacked to the ceiling. I got the highest one down, pulled apart the cardboard lid, and picked up the letter on top, addressed to her mother and postmarked May 10, 1923. It began, ‘We took a trip to the White House and I sat in the president’s chair.’ ”

“ We have to report what the government says, and then we have to report what it does, as opposed to what it says it does. … This is, in my view, our difficult and increasingly complex job.” — KATHARINE GRAHAM

After going through several more boxes, she raced back to Graham’s office and told her that she had a responsibility to write her history. “She dove into the project from the beginning and did her homework as always, ending up doing more than 250 interviews with friends, colleagues, reporters, business people, and others who had known her and her family,” said Small, who sat in on all but one, serving as a backup and prompter to make sure certain questions were asked and that shared recollections of various situations were caught on tape.

For 14 years, Small worked on the book with Mrs. Graham — she was always “Mrs. Graham” to Ev, despite her invitation that Ev call her Kay — while continuing as senior researcher for The Washington Post Co. and becoming a de facto historian for both the company and the newspaper. A political science and English major at Miami who grew up in Greenville, Ohio, Small headed to graduate school in the fall of 1970 and earned a PhD in political science, with a concentration in international relations and foreign policy.

She went off to teach, first at the University of South Dakota, and then, because of her desire to see real-world politics, at Catholic University in Washington. She moved on to the White House as director of Congressional Communications for President Jimmy Carter. In her early years at The Washington Post Co., Small and her husband, who still live in Arlington, Va., raised two children. For Evelyn, that meant serving as a Brownie Scout troop leader, participating in her son’s and daughter’s schools, and cheering in the stands at almost every game in any sport they played, all while also earning a master’s in library science, focusing on archival studies and special collections. The last five of her 25 years at The Washington Post Co. were spent as a contributing editor in the newspaper’s Book World section. No wonder the trait Small liked best about Graham was her love of learning. “She would say, ‘Oh, Ev, you’ve got to come to this event. It’s going to be good sightseeing.’ ” When Mrs. Graham talked about the value of things, Small added, “It was never in dollar-sign terms.” Reflecting on the interviews for Personal History, Small found it impossible to pick a favorite, although she recalled three memorable sessions with Bradlee, whom Graham hired, and three with investment guru Warren Buffett, “with us hanging on his every word.” “Buffett confessed to Mrs. Graham that at one dinner at

her house in the country, he was ‘attacking the shellfish from the wrong side. … And you very gently pointed [that] out to me.’ ” People’s first impressions of Graham, known even in high school for her “manly stride and hearty laugh,” were much like Buffett’s, that of a likable, genuine person without arrogance or imperiousness, Small reflected. When people met her, Small said, “they saw her as someone who listened, who took you in.” Small consulted on the movie The Post and worked behind the scenes to help ensure accuracy. The first time she met Streep, the actor told her that she was reading Graham’s memoir and noted that she was always crediting somebody else for her own successes. At that moment, Small knew that Streep truly understood the publisher. That’s also when she knew the movie would “go in the right direction.” These days, Small — who calls herself a kind of “book whisperer” — continues to help others shape their writing. As for Katharine Graham, Small wants movie-goers and readers of Personal History to know that Graham never took her eyes off the First Amendment and its importance to American democracy. Donna Boen ’83 MTSC ’96 is editor of Miamian. Katharine Graham was “gobsmacked” that so many people read her book, and that it was on the best-seller list, Evelyn Small ’70 said, adding, “The Pulitzer Prize absolutely overwhelmed her.”

Spring 2018

BY MARGO KISSELL

An unforgiving river. A 2,190-mile trail. And the transformation of three Miamians who tested their limits.

R N

Y S

ad at the rain, Tess Cassidy hiked fast. Painfully aware of the tooheavy backpack digging into her shoulders, she realized she hadn’t been happy in days. She’d already conquered more than 1,600 miles of the Appalachian Trail. But she faced another 590. If she stopped here, no one would blame her. Except herself. Jackson Gray’s hands — sunburned from paddling on the Ohio River — tingled. Then they began to burn as if someone had poured boiling water over them. Stroke by stroke, he extended his paddle deeper into the water so that his hands went under as well. Submerging them for brief moments temporarily eased the pain. Gray was traversing all 981 miles of the Ohio River with Quinton Couch and Tyler Brezina in a canoe and kayak. The three friends were on a mission to raise awareness and funds for suicide prevention. With donations flowing in and people following their Facebook page, they were determined not to quit. The Appalachian Trail and the Ohio River — two difficult, yet self-imposed journeys, each punctuated with tearful setbacks and fist-pumping triumphs, dangerous mistakes, and clever solutions. These are their stories and their revelations — about the discoveries they made, both in themselves and in people they met along the way.

Spring 2018

THE TRAIL BECKONS Tess Cassidy graduated early from Miami University in December 2016 so she could hike the 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail (AT) before starting her career. Perhaps not an obvious pursuit for a woman who had backpacked overnight only twice before. The idea gained a toehold during the summer after her sophomore year while she volunteered for the Appalachian Service Project in Tennessee. On her days off from helping to improve substandard housing, she explored local trails. Back at school, Cassidy drove herself hard. Majoring in supply chain and operations management, she made the dean’s list or president’s list every semester in her three-and-a-half years. That time was, in her words, “go-go-go.” By graduation, she longed for the physical and mental challenge of a thruhike — a 160-day journey from Georgia to Maine. She needed to complete it before October, when she was due in White Plains, N.Y., for her new job. “I’m not looking to escape this lifestyle, but rather force myself to slow down,” the Dublin, Ohio, native wrote in her blog, Lost & Found on the AT. “On the trail I have one goal each day: hike.” 1

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RACING THE RIVER James Halley was Jackson Gray’s best friend growing up in Canton, Ohio. They might have become lifelong friends, except Halley committed suicide as a college freshman in 2014. For a long time after Halley’s death, Gray had a recurring dream of the two sitting at their school lunch table: “If you feel like doing something, tell me right now,” Gray says to Halley. Responding that he doesn’t know what Gray is talking about, Halley stands up and walks away. Gray felt like he needed to honor his best friend. At the same time, the Miami senior majoring in civic and regional development wanted to launch a fundraiser that would call attention to suicide prevention. Taking on the Ohio River became his focus. Tyler Brezina signed on for the journey. Now a student at Bowling Green State University, he was on the same high school swim team as Halley and Gray. Filling the third spot, Couch graduated from Miami in May 2017 with a major in diplomacy and global politics. He’d heard Gray talk about his plans as they steamed sandwiches behind the counter at Oxford’s Bagel & Deli. Couch, who has experience helping people struggling with mental health, respected Gray for his vision. “It seemed like a really noble mission,” he said, “and a huge undertaking for someone our age.”

JOINING A ‘TRAMILY’ When Cassidy showed up on March 19, 2017, at Springer Mountain, Ga., she was greeted by Blue Ridge Mountains that had yet to shake off their brown winter hue. Although only one in five who begins an Appalachian Trail thru-hike completes it, she found the southern gate to the AT clogged with optimists. Her heavy backpack grew heavier after she added the first few days of meals she’d cooked and dehydrated. She planned to buy additional food while passing through towns, and her mom was going to send more dehydrated meals to pre-arranged mail drops. Two friends from Miami on spring break joined her on the 9-mile hike to the first campsite, where they spent the night with 60 others. She was clueless about where to pitch her tent. “That night, I was very scared of the dark even though a bear was not going to come near us because there were so many people.”

There is no one to tell me ‘no’ out here. There are only the trees to show me how tall I can become if I stand the test of time — the tribulations of the seasons, strong winds, and frigid downpours. — TE SS CASSIDY ’ 1 6

Cassidy’s friends and family could track her progress through her blog. There she proclaimed: “Join me in my journey of getting LOST in the power and beauty of the trail, & FOUND in who the trail molds me to be.” As the miles accumulated and the number of hikers dwindled, she started to connect with others — Munch, Waffles, Minnie Mouse, Bunyan, High Noon. Hikers give each other nicknames for something notable. Her best trail friend earned “Velveeta” because of his cheesy jokes and brightly colored shirts. “You camp near the same people at night,” she said, “and you end up forming what we call a trail family or a ‘tramily.’ ” Cassidy became Rabbit when they arrived at a town after their first week in the woods. “Everyone was excited about the Mexican food and the grill. I went to the grocery store and bought this huge bag of broccoli and carrots — no ranch dip, nothing — and just ate raw broccoli and carrots,” she said, laughing at the memory. In the beginning, she was scared or nervous much of the time — more scared of people than animals and more nervous in town than in the woods. She felt safest at camp, even though she often was the only female. Backpacking is traditionally a male sport. The longer she was on the trail, the more empowered she felt. Struck by the beauty of nature around her, she recorded a poem on her phone as she hiked: 3

“It does not confine me, yet it shows me my limits. It humbles me, then it picks me back up. … There is no one to tell me ‘no’ out here. There are only the trees to show me how tall I can become if I stand the test of time — the tribulations of the seasons, strong winds, and frigid downpours.” INTO THE WATER At 3:30 a.m. on May 20, 2017, Gray, Brezina, and Couch started a two-hour drive to Pittsburgh, where the Allegheny and Monongahela come together to form the Ohio. Halley’s mother, Mary, pulled up as they were putting the kayak and canoe into the water. In tears, she hugged each young man and wished them well. She then sprinkled some of her son’s ashes on the river so that he might join their journey.

1 Tess Cassidy ’16 starts her trek in Georgia on March 19, 2017. 2 The men camp at a boat club near Cincinnati, where a member had lost a loved one to suicide. 3 Cassidy documents her journey in photos. 4 Quinton Couch, Jackson Gray, and Tyler Brezina (l-r) say they’ll never forget the people they met along the river.

Their first goal was to raise $7,000 for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention by completing the 981 miles in 40 days. Their other goal was to start an important conversation about suicide, the second-leading cause of death among college students. NO PAIN, NO MAINE Cassidy was consuming 3,000 to 5,000 calories a day, munching until she was

Spring 2018

full as she trudged north through 14 states, averaging 15 miles a day. “I can’t eat peanut butter for the rest of my life,” she said. She discovered that her decision to hike 830 miles, from Virginia to Connecticut, without a day off was a bad idea. When a bite of her favorite chocolate caramel protein bar tasted weird, that should have been a red flag. Instead she packed it away and kept hiking. Although exhausted, she needed to make camp before nightfall. When she finally arrived, she wanted to be alone. “I took my mopey self down the steep, awful 0.5 (mile) descent to the water source,” she wrote in her blog. At the spring, she lay down and cried. The light rain added to her mood. Suddenly feeling sick, she jumped up and sprinted as far away from the water as possible. After throwing up, she returned, filtered the water she needed and began a sluggish ascent back to camp. Sick through the night, she was drained. To keep going, she played a game with music. Taking 10 hours to hike 11 miles, she could only rest after each song ended. But that wasn’t her worst day. That day brought two hours of rain and thunder. Rain is the bane of most thru-hikers, explaining their mantra: No rain, no pain, no Maine. She hiked fast because she was mad at the rain and the mud and a guy she didn’t 5

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like, who was trying to keep up with her. She could hear his trekking poles hitting the rocks and roots behind her. “What if I quit?” she asked herself. She left the trail and spent the day in town, seriously considering a hotel room for the night. But pizza and ice cream strengthened her resolve. Determined once again, she headed back to the trail. UNANTICIPATED COMPLICATIONS The guys mapped out places to eat, nap, and camp for the night. In West Virginia, they worked up the courage to knock on doors and ask if they might sleep in people’s backyards. Some flatly refused. Others were skeptical, taking a peek at their Facebook page before agreeing. Two weeks into the journey, on their first day in Kentucky, a fun swim in the river to cool off turned serious when a piece of glass nearly severed Gray’s right big toe. A woman who had agreed to let them pitch their tent in her yard drove him to the ER for six stitches and strong antibiotics to stave off infection.

5 Cassidy hikes north through 14 states, averaging 15 miles a day. 6 Gray and Brezina work as a team in the canoe while Couch paddles the kayak. 7 Rabbit and Velveeta atop a Virginia mountain. 8 Gray, who kept a journal, hopes to write a book about the river journey.

Each morning, Brezina, an Eagle Scout, sealed Gray’s leg in a black plastic trash bag with duct tape to keep it clean and dry. Complications still surfaced. Overwhelmed by the setbacks, Gray broke down in tears inside his tent. But he wasn’t about to quit. “We were in it together,” he said. “We knew we were going to make it through, come hell or high water.” In addition to submerging his hands in the water while paddling, he wore a pair of tight gardening gloves he’d found along the river. They looked ridiculous, but the tightness provided pressure that eased the burning. The day before they reached Cincinnati, the halfway point, a doctor told Gray to stop taking the pills prescribed to prevent infection. One side effect was sensitivity to light, and he was spending up to 12 hours a day in the sun. Within two days, the pain subsided.

A NEW SEASON The landscape transformed along with Cassidy. Once gloomy, it now teemed with life. Croaking frogs serenaded her to sleep. Singing birds woke her the next morning. “The panoramic vistas show me how small I am in the world,” she wrote in her poem. “Yet, those same mountains I climb prove to me I can conquer anything. They show me even the largest hurdles to overcome can be tackled one small step at a time. The mountains empower me to take on the world, no matter how minute I may seem.” Cassidy traveled more than half the trail with Velveeta, the upbeat young Pennsylvanian who enjoyed the rain. “He knows me better than most people will ever know me,” she said, “because he’s seen me at my worst and my best.”

You play back scenarios of the last time you interacted with the person, and you look in the rearview mirror looking for signs. You’re just constantly battling that desire to go back in time and prevent it.

7 — STE VE SIP L E ’ 9 0

A TRAGIC BOND The young men’s schedule developed a rhythm. As they moved west, they rose at 4:45 a.m. They’d have sleeping bags rolled up, journals, books, and other items packed in dry bags, and breakfast finished so they could be underway by 6. “It was orchestrated like a ballet,” Couch said, noting that Brezina’s Scout experience was invaluable. “All the little things you don’t think about, like tying the rope up at night so you don’t trip over it. Getting a plan set for the morning. All the intricate details that saved our ass a bunch of times.” Steve Siple ’90 of Birmingham, Ala., spotted their story on Twitter.

“As chair of the AFSP (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention) national board, I am so very moved to see this story from my alma mater. Well done, gentlemen!” he tweeted. Siple lost his father to suicide in 2001. Struggling to find a “new normal,” he wanted something positive to come out of his pain. Living in Cincinnati at the time, he participated in one of the first Out of the Darkness Community Walks sponsored by the AFSP. “I got involved at the local level there, and it’s just been a growing journey for me ever since,” Siple said. Like many other survivors, he found his complicated grief process focusing on “why.” “You play back scenarios of the last time you interacted with the person, and you look in the rearview mirror looking

for signs. You’re just constantly battling that desire to go back in time and prevent it. I think that leads to wanting to help others avoid that situation.” Tragically, his is an all-too-common experience. All along the river, Gray, Brezina, and Couch connected with people over the topic of suicide. No one seemed untouched. While they set up camp in one family’s backyard, the woman asked if they needed anything. Walking back to the house, she paused, turned around, and told them her brother had committed suicide. “And that,” Couch said, “was the story every night.” ‘WHAT IF’ MOMENTS After she reached Pennsylvania, her halfway point, Cassidy knew her body could hike 20 miles a day. But could her mind? Mental exhaustion caused far more issues than tired feet. “To be able to get up every day, take down your tent, get breakfast, and then choose to hike 20 miles,” Cassidy said, “you have to want that.” She did want it — bad. Psychologists say most of us feel a compulsion, perhaps even an obligation, to take on challenges greater than ourselves once our basic and psychological needs are met. Amy Summerville, associate professor of psychology at Miami, explained that

MENTAL HEALTH ALLY PROGRAM The volunteer program, coordinated through Miami's Student Counseling Service, offers education for faculty, staff, and students on how to engage students experiencing emotional or mental health concerns and refer them to mental health and other support services.

Spring 2018

Where are they now? TESS CASSIDY is in the leadership development program at DanoneWave, formerly Dannon Co. She is a deployment planner in the company’s White Plains, N.Y., headquarters. JACKSON GRAY , who takes classes on Miami’s Hamilton campus, graduates in May. He plans to move to Austin, Texas, in June to work as a national account representative for Arrive Logistics, a supply chain services provider. QU INTON COU CH recently completed a fellowship through Chicago Votes, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, in which he led a servicelearning project at a Chicago high school. TYLER BREZINA is a sophomore majoring in aviation at Bowling Green State University.

9 Cassidy walks on a swinging bridge in Miami’s natural areas. 10 Gray and Couch, at Hueston Woods State Park, reminisce about their journey. 11 The longer Cassidy was on the trail, the more empowered she felt.

So we run grueling marathons, stress over starting our own businesses, and spend years writing and rewriting book manuscripts — all to see if we can. — AMY S UM M ERVIL L E , AS S OCIATE PROF ES S O R O F P SYCHO LO GY

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we do this because we want to fulfill some sense of who we are and our purpose in life. So we run grueling marathons, stress over starting our own businesses, and spend years writing and rewriting book manuscripts — all to see if we can. Some even suggest it’s far better to fail than to regret never trying. As director of Miami’s Regret Lab, Summerville studies the intricacies of this most common of our negative emotions, one we all deal with. She is analyzing when and why people focus on “what might have been,” and its effect on us. “These thoughts have important influences on behavior,” she said, “and also drive the experience of regret, the negative emotion stemming from the realization that one’s actions could have resulted in better outcomes than actually occurred.”

BEST OF HUMANITY Despite battling 14 mph headwinds and pop-up storms, the guys were progressing on schedule to Cairo, Ill., where the Ohio joins the Mississippi. Their last night out, they set up camp and sat around a fire. Only 20 more miles. It had taken them 41 days. “That moment,” Gray said, ”we were the only ones who could truly grasp how momentous this trip was.” They almost missed their finish line. Out on the water, it wasn’t obvious where the two rivers met. “Remember how rough the river was that day?” Couch asked Gray. “I was thinking, this river is not going to give us one day. Not one.” Their families were gathered at a state park to greet and congratulate them. Among them was a family they’d met from Paducah, Ky., who had lost a daughter to suicide.

“It was an amazing journey,” said Halley’s mom, Mary, proud of all they accomplished. “They got a lot of people talking, and I know they raised quite a bit of money.” In the end, they collected $10,000, surpassing their goal by $3,000. But the money was only part of their outcome. Their adventure was filled with awe-inspiring moments under the stars and poignant conversations with people touched by suicide. “The collective humanity along the Ohio River really did it for me,” Couch said. REACHING THE SUMMIT For Cassidy, approaching the end of the trail on Aug. 25 posed its own special challenges. She met back up with Munch and Velveeta for the final 3-mile climb to the top of Mount Katahdin in Baxter State Park.

“At first you’re in the trees and it is kind of hard, then some larger boulders start appearing that you have to climb over. Then, when you have to skirt above the tree line, you have a view for miles of all these lakes in Maine but,” she said, laughing, “you have to rock climb that section.” Didn’t matter. Nothing could stop her now. When they reached the sign marking the end, all three kissed it at the same time. “It was one of the best days of my life,” she wrote in her blog. “The day was full of triumph, emotion, and sad goodbyes to lifelong friends.” She called the journey raw, rewarding, and full of joy. She thought she could put into words what reaching the summit meant but realized the summit wasn’t a moment. It was a five-month test of her resolve. Weeks later, she choked up talking about the people, the memories, and the end. The trail will always be a large part of who she is and who she becomes. The experience gave her a newfound sense of calm, something Cassidy noticed near the finish in Maine. It was nighttime, a thunderstorm was approaching, and she was by herself in the back country, miles away from a road. “I was very at peace and very comfortable. I wasn’t nervous at all about being alone in the woods.” Margo Kissell is a news and feature writer in Miami’s university news and communications office. 11

SUICIDE PREVENTION If you suspect someone may be at risk, call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1–800– 273–TALK (8255). For tips and warning signs, go to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s website at afsp.org.

To watch a first-person account of their challenges, go to MiamiOH.edu/news/journeys.

Spring 2018

love & honor

‘Finish Living First’ Truesdell family sets up golf scholarship in Jamie’s memory By Josh Chapin ’02 Top: Bailey Truesdell’s May 2016 graduation from Miami was a bittersweet day with his parents, Stephanie and Jamie ’82. Opposite right: Bailey and his dad, Jamie, sharing their love of golf.

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His sport at Miami was football, but Jamie Truesdell ’82 grew up playing golf as well, a

passion he passed down to his son, Bailey ’16. Bailey will always treasure the time he spent with his dad on the links in his hometown of Flint, Mich., especially when he turned 12 and started winning. “He was like, ‘I don’t want to play anymore,’ ” Bailey said, laughing. But Jamie really didn’t mean it, and father and son continued teeing up together. A love of golf wasn’t the only passion Jamie shared with Bailey.

love & honor

Because of his dad, Bailey heard lots of stories about Miami University. Lots. And often. He heard Jamie talk about when he played offensive lineman for Miami football. He heard about how hot practices would get in August in Oxford. He heard about lifelong friendships his dad formed with his teammates. Bailey discovered Miami through those stories and through the red and white memorabilia Jamie displayed in their home. Jamie didn’t push his son to choose Miami, but once the younger Truesdell visited the Oxford campus, his became an easy decision. Jamie led by example in other ways as well, and his son watched closely. Bailey saw selflessness in his dad’s service to his community, hard work and the success in business that resulted, and true determination as Jamie battled colon cancer for seven difficult years. “He was so driven on not letting the disease run his life,” said Bailey, a four-year member of Miami’s varsity golf team. “That was something he always told me, ‘I know I’m dying, but I want to finish living first.’ ” Jamie passed away in December 2016 at the age of 56, but his practice of perseverance and support continues with the Truesdell Family Miami Men’s Golf Endowed Scholarship. The scholarship was on a list of 25 items that Jamie wanted to accomplish, a list he shared with his wife, Stephanie. “This was the one last thing he wanted to do,” Stephanie said. After earning a degree in business management, Jamie became the third generation to work for family-owned J. Austin Oil of Flint, serving as president until the business was sold in 1991. Although hours from Oxford, he also continued to keep a close eye on Miami athletics as he and Stephanie enjoyed life in Grand Blanc, Mich., with sons Bailey and Carson. A huge sports fan, Bailey was happy to spend time with his father cheering on Miami football. Traveling to Bowling Green in 2003, the Truesdells watched Ben Roethlisberger ’12 lead the Red and White to a MAC championship. “We would see Dad’s college buddies now and again,” Bailey said. “They would have a million stories. You could tell how many great experiences they had together.”

Like his father, Bailey built strong relationships with his teammates during his own days in Oxford. One former teammate, Brian Ohr, currently a redshirt junior from Northbrook, Ill., was the first to receive the Truesdell scholarship. When Bailey, now living in Charlotte, N.C., and working for Bank of America, returned to Oxford last year, he and Brian spent the evening swapping stories about Bailey’s dad. “Bailey was a huge positive impact on my first few years at Miami,” Ohr said, “and on the golf team. “He treated me like a younger brother, guiding me through the ins and outs of college, and never hesitated when I was in need of help. I only had a few encounters with his dad, but I could see where Bailey got his generosity and character.” And his love for Miami. “The lessons Jamie learned from Miami and football carried through his life,” Stephanie said. “Giving back, doing service, working on boards, doing what is right — that is how Jamie made a difference.” His nonprofit work included 10 years on the Whaley Children’s Center board and serving with the Foundation for Mott Community College and Goodwill Industries of Mid-Michigan. No matter how busy, Jamie kept in touch with his Miami teammates over the years, especially close friends and 1982 classmates Trey Busch and Bob Simpson. And, despite the cancer, Jamie continued to attend Miami football games. During Bailey’s student days, father and son chatted on the phone often about all of Miami’s athletic programs. When it came to Bailey’s golf tournaments, nothing could stop Jamie from showing up and walking the 18 holes. “If he was sick, and he was sick most of the time, he would not let on,” Stephanie said. “He was so determined to always put that best foot forward without complaining. I think that’s another tribute to his love for Miami, just to show that, ‘I can do this.’ ”

To learn more about how to support Miami, visit GivetoMiamiOH.org/GivetoMU.

Josh Chapin ’02 is assistant director of editorial services in Miami’s university advancement division.

Spring 2018

days of old

More than a Game

Fierce competition. The Miami Tribe’s cultural revitalization efforts include traditional games such as peekitahaminki (lacrosse), a Myaamia game that dates back to at least 1667. Today, many Myaamia students enjoy playing it.

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Throughout the Miami Tribe’s history, lacrosse — known as peekitahaminki in the Myaamia language — has played an important role within its community, allowing young men and women to engage in strenuous physical competition and vent frustrations in a healthy manner. Peekitahaminki is a ball game played by Myaamia people for sporting and social reasons. Historically, each player carried a wooden stick with a small bent hoop on the end. The hoop had a small pocket constructed of a leather thong or cordage string in which a ball, made from a knot of wood, was carried, thrown, and caught. “The ball is generally referred to as a ‘whistler ball’ — the holes are drilled into it so it whistles as it flies through the air, giving players a chance to duck before getting beaned,” says Meghan Dorey, manager of the Myaamia Heritage Museum & Archive in Miami, Okla. “It’s pretty obvious why we don’t play with these anymore.” Working as a team, players sought to carry or throw the ball to their opponents’ goal post and scored by striking the post with the ball. In the past, the only rule was that players could not touch the ball with their hands. They sincerely hoped their head never touched it. Today, the Myaamia community observes a few additional rules for safety reasons, and players often use contemporary lacrosse sticks manufactured out of metal and plastic. The ball is plastic as well. Peekitahaminki is extremely popular at Myaamia language and cultural programs and at tribal gatherings in the summer. Its communal popularity led many elders to make a dying request that a lacrosse game be held in their memory a year after their death. George Ironstrack MA ’06, assistant director and program director of the education and outreach office at Miami University’s Myaamia Center, says, “Clearly, some individuals thought of the activity as something more than mere sporting entertainment.”

Photo of traditional peekitahaminki (lacrosse) stick and whistler ball courtesy of the Myaamia Heritage Museum & Archive in Miami, Okla.

Springtime in Oxford, when trees and tulips bloom and students shed their winter gear.

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