The Hill, Summer 2017

The Mc DA N I E L C O L L E G E | S u m m e r 2 0 17

The

McDaniel College Summer 2017 Vol. 33, Number 2 The Hill is published three times yearly by: McDaniel College 2 College Hill Westminster, MD 21157-4390 www.mcdaniel.edu Associate Vice President of Communications and Marketing: Gina Piellusch Editor: Kim Asch Staff Writers: Peggy Fosdick, Cheryl Knauer Design: Aldeia / Lilly Pereira Questions for Alumni Relations?

Email alumni@mcdaniel.edu or Call 410-857-2296 or send to: The Office of Alumni Relations McDaniel College 2 College Hill Westminster, MD 21157-4390 All other correspondence to: kasch@mcdaniel.edu 410/857-2290 or The Office of Communications and Marketing McDaniel College 2 College Hill Westminster, MD 21157-4390 McDaniel College, in compliance with federal and state laws and regulations governing affirmative action and nondiscrimination, does not discriminate in the recruitment, admission and employment of students, faculty and staff in the operation of any of its educational programs and activities as defined by law.

The diverse views presented in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or official policies of the College. Š2017 McDaniel College

On the cover: One of many members of the Class of 2017 who decorated their mortarboards with meaningful messages.

Photograph by C. Kurt Holter

Newly commissioned 2nd Lt. Andrew Patrick Schiller (thumbs up) joins the traditional walk through Ward Arch on the way to Honors Convocation on the eve of Commencement. He was awarded the Bates Prize for the most outstanding male graduating senior.

F E AT U R E S

10 A Fulbright Future

Grads win prestigious awards to teach abroad.

12 Top of Mind

If you want to know what members of the Class of 2017 were thinking on Commencement day, just check out their mortarboards.

14 Lost in Translation

When no word exists in your native tongue to precisely describe an experience, look to other languages to expand your emotional vocabulary.

16 The Rye Guy

Chad Albertson ’96 has made a career in the liquor industry, but his job at Sagamore Spirit is more like a mission — to restore rye whiskey to its Maryland roots.

D E PA RT M E N T S 2 Mail

20 Invested

4 Carpe Diem

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Alumni Updates Life since college

First Jobs

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Back Story What they were thinking

Missives to and from The Hill

Advancing the vision

News around campus and beyond

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McDaniel degrees at work

C. KURT HOLTER

Class Noted Guess who is finally a fully trained doctor of veterinary surgery after 10 years of schooling and supervised practical experience during which she operated on everything from a fox to a lion to a camel? See page 50.

mail

Missives to and from The Hill

ROSIE JOCHUM

Red-shouldered hawk nesting outside Whiteford Hall with newly hatched young.

[THE STORY CONTINUES…]

This Hawk Is No Dove Lindsay Olsh had a personal — and unfortunate — encounter with one of the hawks that were nesting next to Whiteford residence hall and were featured in the Back Story article in the spring issue of The Hill. Olsh had just gotten out of her morning class and was walking to her car. Suddenly, she felt the impact of something that seemed like the weight and size of a textbook hitting her on the head. The collision almost knocked her over and caused her to see stars; when she looked up, she saw the offending raptor. “Immediately then thinking of Hitchcock’s film The Birds, I quickly got to my car and shut the door, baffled, confused, shaken and in disbelief of what

had just transpired.” Olsh called her mom, Senior Lecturer in English Suzanne Nida, who advised her to go to the emergency room to get checked out. Olsh was diagnosed with a concussion as well as cranial contusions.

Olsh found out later that the hawk’s behavior was due to aggressive parenting instincts. Signs were posted and campus emails circulated warning passersby to proceed with caution when walking past the nesting place. Hawks are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. “Though what happened was unfortunate, and quite annoying and painful the following few weeks, I couldn’t be mad at the hawk,” Olsh says. “Honestly, if I was the hawk and saw an unknown something or someone getting dangerously close to my fragile unhatched babies, I would’ve done the same thing.”

Several readers wrote in to identify the species of the Whiteford raptor as a red-shouldered hawk. “They are a very common species in Maryland particularly within the Patuxent River watershed,” wrote Matt Olear ’00, who remembers watching a pair of red-shouldered hawks nesting in the National Zoo’s Beaver Valley while he worked there from 2002–09. “Certain species of hawks can be difficult to identify or can be easily confused for one another, especially in juvenile plumage, but the distinctive black-and-white tail and flight feathers of adult red-shouldered hawks make them pretty easy to ID.” Because red-shouldered hawks return to the same nesting territory year after year, Physics professor and avid birder Jeff Marx has been able to observe them over the years. “Red-shoulders are known for eating reptiles and amphibians, and I have seen this bird bring back more than one snake to the nest.”

—Editor

CARPE DIEM TRIVIA WINNER In the Spring 2017 issue, we asked you to identify which year the gazebo known as Carpe Diem was converted from its original use as an icehouse to its current use as a lovely campus gathering place.

Jill Hurlbrink ’60 correctly answered 1907 and won the drawing for a McDaniel College sweatshirt.

Let your voice be heard The Mail department is your place to sound off about what you read in The Hill.

Letters should include your full name, address and phone number or e-mail address so we can contact you for confirmation.

Letters may be edited for length, style, clarity and/or civility.

Send to: Kim Asch, managing editor, The Hill magazine, 2 College Hill, Westminster, MD 21157.

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The Hill

BE HERE ON THE HILL FOR THESE SPECIAL EVENTS: Homecoming Weekend & 150th Anniversary Celebration F RIDAY, OCT. 20 AT 6 P.M.

A L U M N I A S S O C I AT I O N AWA R D S B A N Q U E T Help us cheer on Alumnus of the Year Stephen Ports ’83 and the rest of alumni being honored with the Professional Achievement, College Service and Community Service awards, as well as induction into the Green Terror Sports Hall of Fame. Cost is $35 per person.

SATURDAY, OCT. 21

H O M E C O M I N G & B I R T H D AY PA R T Y Enjoy festivities throughout the day, including a timeline exhibition highlighting each decade of College history, children’s activities and historic tours of campus. The Birthday Party continues at Kenneth R. Gill Stadium with the football game against Muhlenberg beginning at 2 p.m. and a cake-cutting ceremony during halftime.

Holiday Light Show NOVEM BER–DECEMBER

The Kenneth R. Gill Stadium will be illuminated with a drive-through light display synchronized to music starting Nov. 25 and continuing throughout the holiday season.

For more information go to 150.mcdaniel.edu

News around campus and beyond

Data as Art Form “People in My Vicinity”

by Lindsay Russell for the Dear McData project inspired by the book Dear Data, by Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec.

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“One of the defining features of 21st-century life is the prevalence of data. Whether it is the complexity of Google algorithms or the simplicity of a Fitbit’s measurements, data is everywhere,” writes Communication professor Robert Lemieux, by way of introduction to a unique exhibition his students mounted this spring in Hoover Library.

“Standing at the center of this data vortex is... you. The activities that comprise your daily life are what give meaning to data. In an attempt to show data in its many, unique forms, the students in COM 2201: Quantitative Research Methods have been tasked with collecting and visually presenting data associated with their ‘ordinary’ lives. Every Monday, for the next six weeks, the students will add their visual data postcards to the weekly timelines. Each postcard will portray a detail of daily life. At the exhibition’s conclusion, it should be apparent that there is nothing ordinary about McData.”

The Hill

STEP RIGHT UP “Visions of the Circus,” a major exhibition highlighting the cultural and historical significance of the circus, will premiere in Peterson Hall’s Rice Gallery. The exhibition examines such themes as the mesmerized public; the rise of the big top; life behind the scenes; aerial, animal, clown and one-of-a-kind acts; sideshow performers; as well as how the circus is depicted in art.

Curated by Robert Lemieux, associate professor of communication and cinema, the exhibition is designed by graduate students at the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., with professional assistance from the National Gallery of Art. Materials are on loan from The Ringling, Whitney Museum of American Art, Circus World and Illinois State University.

The exhibition runs Aug. 24 through Oct. 12. A reception will be held Aug. 31 from 5:30–7:30 p.m., with a gallery talk at 6 p.m. Marc Hartzman, author of American Sideshow, will speak on “The Allure of the Circus Sideshow: A Brief History” on Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. in McDaniel Lounge.

[OVERHEARD ON CAMPUS]

“... Today, as we march out and into our 151st year, you will join the ‘Long Green Line’ composed of over 35,000 graduates over the past 147 years. May I urge you to take pride in your solid liberal arts education, esteem your alma mater that changed your life, and glory in its historic past.”

— Professor Emeritus of Mathematics James E. Lightner ’59, speaking to the Class of 2017 upon receiving the Honorary Doctor of Letters degree. (See story on page 26.)

Summer 2017

Come see “Carrie” if you dare Yes, the musical thriller based on the Stephen King novel will be performed this fall on campus. Co-starring none other than Theatre Arts professor Elizabeth van den Berg, the show tells the story of Carrie White, a misfit who is bullied by the popular kids at school and tormented by her overprotective mother at home. But she has just discovered she has a special power — and when she’s pushed too far, she’s not afraid to use it.

Showtimes: Nov. 15–18 at 7:30 p.m. in WMC Alumni Hall. Tickets cost $10 for adults and $8 for seniors, students, military and the McDaniel College community. For information, call the Box Office at 410-857-2448.

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Reinventing the Wheel

Ride with Pride will provide accessible, affordable and stylish transportation to people with disabilities.

Ride with Pride is a service to provide accessible, affordable and stylish transportation for people with disabilities in Carroll County. Devised by the student team of Louis Schaab ’18 and Justin Arter ’20, it took the top prize of $10,000 at McDaniel’s second annual Innovation Challenge.

“We can improve the quality of life for people with disabilities by making transportation affordable and accessible — and if that vehicle is a converted SUV or Jeep that gives people a stylish ride, then that will be really awesome,” said Arter, a dual Mathematics and Economics major, explaining that they will also use federal grants, state funding and donations from private donors and charitable organizations to establish the service.

The $5,500 prize for second place went to D1V3RG3NT, a single, all-purpose tailgating table with multiple games. The $2,500 third-place award, chosen by the audience, went to BookSWAP, an app for buying and selling used textbooks.

Five finalists from 17 entries presented their ideas to a panel of business-savvy judges — which included the Motley Fool’s Kritine Harjes ’15 and entrepreneur Danielle Rowlett Tate ’03 — and an audience of more than 200 people.

The McDaniel Innovation Challenge is sponsored by The Encompass Distinction and made possible with the support of Dennis Sisco ’68 and Alexine Lesko through The Sisco Fund for Enterprise Management.

Our Boys of Summer A pair of Green Terror baseball players are staying in the game this summer after being picked for high-profile summer collegiate baseball leagues. Antonio Rosanova ’18, a shortstop, is playing for the North Adams SteepleCats of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL). The NECBL is highly regarded as one of the best summer prospect leagues in the country. Since the league’s inception in 1994, it has sent 125 alumni to the major leagues, including 37 currently playing in the major leagues. Will Strauss ’20, a third baseman, is part of the Sag Harbor Whalers of the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League (HCBL). The HCBL is also regarded as a top collegiate prospect league in the country. Since its inception in 2008, the league has had 125 alumni drafted, with nine making it to the major leagues.

QUANTIFY

4:30

1,680

Number of crabs consumed at the senior crab feast, a donor appreciation event for members of the Class of 2017 who contributed $20.17 or more to the class gift.

Donors who made gifts of at least $25 were invited to arrive 30 minutes early.

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Price, in dollars, for students to attend the McDaniel Belly Dance Club’s annual Hafla, billed as a performance with a little bit of teaching thrown in.

Hour of the afternoon on May 2 when “A Time for Prayer” was held in Little Baker Chapel. The Intervarsity Christian Fellowship invited all students, faculty and staff to attend, asking: “Do you feel stressed, overwhelmed, worried, or even thankful and excited? Do you have questions about prayer or want someone to pray with you? Do you want to talk to God personally? There is a time to address these things!”

The Hill

A Give-and-Take in Tokyo Alexaundria Leonard ’17 was among just 15 undergraduate and graduate students from across the nation selected for a new Japan exchange program.

As a member of the inaugural class of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Leadership Institute’s 2017 Emerging Leaders: Japan Exchange Program, the Political Science major with a minor in Religious Studies was given an expense-paid trip to Tokyo in March.

Funding came from the “Kakehashi Project,” a youth exchange program between Japan and the United States.

The goal? Expanding opportunities for African-Americans in an era of increasing globalization. The itinerary included touring cultural landmarks, participating in lectures on U.S.-Japan relations and visiting high-tech industries and businesses.

Leonard has become an accomplished student leader who served as president of the Student Government Association and as a charter member of the Upsilon Gamma Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. — the first-ever black sorority, founded in 1908 at Howard University. In the fall, she will begin graduate studies in political management at George Washington University.

She quickly connected with the Japanese people. “One of my favorite opportunities was spending time with university students.

It was awesome to share our different perspectives and learn what life is like for them,” she says, adding that she enjoyed a conversation with a Japanese student in German, a language they both study.

Among Leonard’s observations: Japan is one of the cleanest places she’s ever seen; the Japanese think of Americans as really loud, which wasn’t surprising because she thought of them as really quiet; stewardship of the environment is central to the culture.

Leonard especially appreciated her visit to a Shinto shrine dedicated to Mt. Fuji. “It was extremely humbling to be able to parDay in April when ticipate in a prayer service,” she says, while students gathered for many worshippers weren’t permitted inside a free workshop titled, due to space constraints.

“The Game of Life.”

Useful information Her “most powerful takeaway,” she says, was shared about rent, is the network she formed with other highmortgages, wedding achieving students. “To be able to travel planning and pet ownership more than 6,000 miles with an entire black to help students prepare to navidelegation was unspeakably amazing,” she gate post-college living. Free Rita’s says. “We were all college-educated people Italian Ice was served to sweeten making an impact on how black people are the experience. perceived on a global level.”

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Summer 2017

Terrorism or Mental Illness?

Last fall, Katie Keegan’s curiosity sparked an Honors research study about perceptions of mass murder committed by Muslims versus Christians. The Psychology major thought she saw a trend in story headlines reporting attempts and actual mass murders. If the perpetrator had a Christian-sounding name, the media seemed to portray them as mentally ill. If the perpetrator had a Muslim-sounding name, the media portrayed them as possible terrorists.

The resulting paper landed her a presentation spot at a national conference. “The research is groundbreaking — I haven’t seen anything quite like it,” says Keegan’s research advisor, Psychology professor Wendy Morris.

“A lot of people have associated the perceptions of Muslims with terrorism but there just isn’t anything out there about associating Christians with mental illness in the same or similar crimes.”

Keegan ’17, who completed an internship before beginning her full-time job with the Customs and Border Protection division of Homeland Security after graduation, decided to try to decode the differences. Funded by a McDaniel Research and Creativity Grant and with support from Morris, she designed an experiment that extended current research into new territory.

She had 320 college students read a mock news story about a mass murder in which three independent variables were manipulated: perpetrator’s religion, weapon used and U.S. citizenship status. Keegan’s study showed what she had suspected all along, that Muslims were more likely to be viewed as terrorists while Christians were more likely to be viewed as mentally unstable.

Just days after her May graduation from McDaniel, she was in Boston sharing her research, “Mass Murder in the News: How Religion Influences Perception of Terrorism and Mental Illness,” at the Association for Psychological Science conference.

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first o s

McDaniel degrees at work

With a passion for chemistry as big as her smile, Chemistry major Margaret Rosario will pursue a Ph.D. at the University of Rhode Island School of Pharmacy/ Pharmaceutical Science.

Leesa Malczewski from Denton, Md., will continue to work for the Department of Defense after graduation.

The Computer Science major will start a new position as a computer network analyst this month.

WENDY PLOGER ’90

Chemistry major Matthew Meyers will attend University of Maryland School of Dentistry to pursue a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree.

Law on Order Andy Baranauskas had already started putting his Political Science ma-

jor to good use prior to Commencement by working as the legislative aide for Maryland state senator Justin Ready, a position he has continued since graduation. He served as vice president of the Student Government Association and, as a junior, he was among the inaugural group of students to participate in the National Model United Nations conference in New York City. In the fall, he will start law school at the University of Baltimore. He says he’s learned that life is full of opportunities and chances to make memories and friends. “You just have to be courageous enough to put yourself out there.” Of his alma mater, Baranauskas says: “McDaniel College to me will always be a shining campus upon a hill whose beacon of light guides freedom-loving people everywhere. I will always be proud to call myself a Green Terror!”

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History and Spanish double major Lucy Benson has a full-time job with Bytelion, where she will conduct market research while managing the software development company’s social media.

Psychology major Katie Keegan has a fulltime position with the Department of Homeland Security in Human Resources after completing an internship there during senior year.

Communication major Shane Douglass is putting his new degree to work doing an internship with IMG in sports marketing while he plays linebacker for the Baltimore Lightning.

The Hill

English major Ian Yoshioka will be teaching English in Thailand through the nonprofit XploreAsia after he spends the summer working as a lifeguard and swim instructor.

Communication major Casey Marson of Norwich, N.Y., is off to American University’s Washington College of Law this fall.

Michelle Forbus, an Exercise Science and Physical Education and Sociology double major, will pursue a Master of Science in Prosthetics and Orthotics at Baylor College of Medicine.

English major Luis Miramontes will be teaching middle school in San Antonio through Teach for America.

Summer 2017

Sustainable Success Samantha Yates, winner of the Mary Ward Lewis Prize for the most outstanding female graduating senior, is working in Peru this summer with the Andean Alliance for Sustainable Development.

Yates graduated magna cum laude with an English major and Economics and Writing minors. She also earned The Makosky Award for Excellence in English. Her passion for community service led to her selection as one of only 218 student leaders nationwide selected as a 2016 Newman Civic Fellow. She was also awarded a Griswold-Zepp award for helping to start a composting initiative on campus, which she will remember as one of her greatest achievements: “The day that we finished building the compost bin was one of my fondest memories.”

On to the Next Goal Nicole Hill Butler, winner of the Faith Millard/Dr. Carol Fritz medal as the female member of the class with the best athletics record, went to work as a PGA Tour intern, where she manages 900 volunteers for upcoming tournaments. The women’s soccer standout and Business Administration major netted lots of valuable experience in various aspects of sports management while on the Hill. She served as the manager of the women’s basketball team, as a Sports Information assistant and as a buddy for Special Olympics and Tournament of Champions. She will also return to McDaniel to pursue a master’s degree in Human Resource and Development.

DAVID SINCLAIR ’00

Andrew Schiller, an Exercise Science and Physical Education major who received the Bates Prize for the most outstanding male graduating senior, will serve as a U.S. Army 2nd Lieutenant in the Ordnance Branch.

He will attend the Ordnance Officer Basic Course at Fort Lee, Va., and will then be assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division in Fort Campbell, Ky.

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Melanie Ojwang spent last year teaching in India on a Fulbright.

A Fulbright Future Grads win prestigious scholarships to teach abroad

M

elanie Ojwang ’16, who recently returned from her Fulbright-funded work as an English teaching assistant at a majority-Muslim school in India, says it’s impossible to summarize nine months abroad. “Every day was a different surprise, honestly. Though having a monkey perch on my knee at sunrise was probably the biggest one. All those surprises helped me learn to be more honest and earnest with others and 10

myself.” She adds that the experience also affirmed her interest in working with marginalized and underrepresented communities.

For Cicely Hazel ’15, who deferred a graduate assistantship in Art History at the University of Georgia to teach in Turkey on a Fulbright, the experience not only affirmed her interest in new cultures, but also gave her different ideas about how to learn and teach.

This year, four McDaniel students received the prestigious Fulbright awards for English Teaching Assistantships, which cover all travel costs, provide health insurance and a stipend for living expenses. Jaime

Calderon ’17 is off to Andorra and graduate alumnae Mariah Ligas ’16, MS’17 and Maggie Myers ’16, MS’17, will teach in Romania and South Korea, respectively. Ema Barnes ’17 was awarded a Fulbright to teach in the Czech Republic, but opted instead to pursue a career in publishing in New York City, where she landed a competitive internship at Penguin Random House.

This is the fourth consecutive year that a McDaniel student has received a Fulbright — the positive outcome of a greater focus by faculty and Center for Experience & Opportunity staff to encourage students to submit applications and navigate the process, says Fulbright Program Advisor Josh Ambrose, CEO executive director.

“All of our winners have completed five or six drafts of their essays with feedback from the faculty and staff on our Fulbright Panel,” says Ambrose, adding that four of this year’s six applicants received Fulbrights.

“The process of applying for the Fulbright really is helpful for students as far as learning how to tell their own story and market themselves. Even if they don’t get it, it’s absolutely worth their time.”

This year’s Fulbrights are eagerly anticipating experiencing new cultures and sharing their own culture with their students and the people of the towns and villages where they will live. They all feel that they have as much to learn as they have to teach.

“South Korea is one of the leading countries in education. As an aspiring teacher, I want to be exposed to as many teaching methods as possible in order to ensure that I am providing the best education for my students,” says Myers, who is from Finksburg, Md. “I felt as though South Korea could provide that for me.”

Andorra, a tiny nation between Spain and France, is the perfect place for Calderon, who has studied and is fluent in both Spanish and French.

“The fact that I will be working with students who want to learn, who want to be taught the English language and culture, is pretty amazing,” says Calderon, of Falls Church, Va. “I am excited for this experience, and I am already preparing lesson plans for them.”

The Hill

During her year studying abroad in Germany, Ligas, of Aldie, Va., visited a friend and her family in Romania and was taken by “the kindness they showed me, the intricate unique spunk of the language, and the strikingly colorful and dignified culture.” She felt drawn to the country when she learned it has a rich and thriving theater history. “I’m honored and ecstatic to have this chance to experience more of this resilient and multilayered culture and share some of mine,” she says.

Each of McDaniel’s newest Fulbright scholars has made the most of their opportunities at McDaniel.

Calderon, a Spanish major with minors in English Literature and French Culture and Literature, chose to apply to Andorra because of its historical connection to Spain and France, in addition to Spanish and French being spoken there. He is most excited to meet the people and begin teaching English language and American culture.

Calderon grew up in El Salvador and moved to the United States when he was 15 years old. He studied abroad in Peru with The Forest Online, an interdisciplinary course at McDaniel that spanned the entire academic year and incorporated a Jan Term 2016 trip, and has also traveled to Montreal, Canada. Active on campus, he was the arts and culture editor of the McDaniel Free Press student newspaper and a member of Contrast literary magazine’s editorial board.

He was a first-year peer mentor and has held leadership positions with the French Club, serving as president during his junior and senior years. In addition, he performed with the McDaniel College Choir and The McDaniel Madrigal Singers, including at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in November 2016.

Calderon was a writing center tutor and has tutored Spanish for the World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures department, as well as for McDaniel’s Student Academic Support Services Office. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Lambda Delta national honor societies, Omicron Delta Kappa leadership honor society, as well as Phi Sigma Iota foreign languages honor society and Sigma Tau Delta English honor Summer 2017

I’m honored and ecstatic to have this chance to experience more of this resilient and multilayered culture and share some of mine.”

MARIAH LIGAS ’16, MS’17, who will teach English in Romania.

society. As a sophomore, he was the recipient of the Jean Alpaugh Award for Interdisciplinary Study.

He spent the summers following his sophomore and junior years teaching English as a second language at the English Language Institute at Wyoming Seminary in Kingston, Pa. His future plans are to apply to graduate school to pursue a master’s degree in Hispanic literature. He also wants to travel around the world, specifically in Latin America.

Ligas, who graduated from the Better Educators for Students of Tomorrow (BEST) graduate program in May with a master’s degree in secondary education, was a student teacher at Westminster High School. A 2016 alumna of McDaniel, Ligas graduated magna cum laude with departmental honors in both German and Theatre Arts. She was awarded The Edith Farr Ridington Writing Award for the graduating senior with the best paper, as well as The Frank and Margaret Malone Award for Excellence in a Foreign Language and The Lynn F. Gruber Medal for proficiency in extracurricular activities.

As an undergraduate student, Ligas was a member of leadership honor societies Omicron Delta Kappa and Trumpeters.

A member of the Alpha Psi Omega National Theatre Honor Society, she was involved in technical theater, including serving as stage manager. She was also a Global Fellow and studied abroad in Heidelberg,

Germany, where she taught English in a German school.

Myers, who also graduated from BEST graduate program in May with a master’s degree in secondary education, was a student teacher at Shiloh Middle School in Hampstead, Md., and also studenttaught at Manchester Valley High School in Manchester, Md., as well as served as a substitute ESOL teacher in Carroll County Public Schools. She graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in English from McDaniel in 2016 and was a recipient of a Delta Kappa Gamma scholarship for women educators pursuing advanced degrees. She most recently was selected as a “Maryland Teacher of Promise” by the Maryland State Department of Education.

As an undergraduate student, Myers was a member of Kappa Delta Pi, the international Maggie Myers education honor society, as well as Sigma Tau Delta English honor society and Alpha Lambda Delta national honor society. She earned The Duke of Edinburgh’s silver medal for her achievement in community service, physical Jaime Calderon fitness, special skills and adventurous journey.

In addition, she worked as a writing center tutor and tutored English for McDaniel’s Student Academic Support Services Office.

She also volunteered for Palabras 2 Words, a stuMariah Ligas dent organization at McDaniel that tutors native Spanish speakers in English, and worked as a summer counselor teaching English as a second language at the English Language Institute at Wyoming Seminary in Kingston, Pa. 11

Top of What was the Class of 2017 thinking on Commencement Day? Look no further than their mortarboards.

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Mind The Hill

Summer 2017

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LÖST ÎN TRÀN When no word exists in your native tongue to precisely describe an experience, look to other languages to expand your emotional vocabulary.

Here, from professors in both the History and the World Languages, Literatures and Cultures departments, are some words and phrases with no exact English equivalent.

CHINESE

Kaixin

Literally translates to “break heart.” But the Chinese use it to describe when someone is so happy that their heart cannnot hold such happiness and it exploded. Yet it does not make any sense in English.

—Professor Qin Fang SPANISH

Sobremesa

The time period after a meal when the food is all gone but the conversation continues.

—Professor Amy McNichols

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GERMAN

Fernweh

Means “longing for the faraway” and describes the travel bug, itchy feet, travel lust or the yen to see distant places. Germans love to travel and they have six weeks paid vacation each year.

—Professor Mohamed Esa FRENCH

Dépaysé

Literally means “out of one’s country.” But it is used both figuratively and literally to describe the feeling of being far from home, or far away from one’s usual routine.

—Professor Martine Motard-Noar ARABIC

Na’eeman

It means pleasant. However, it is used (mainly in Palestine and Jordan) when someone takes a shower or shaves. We wish that person, “I hope you had a nice shower or that you had a nice shaving.” I know it sounds weird to wish someone something like that, but for me as an Arab, this is the height of respect and affection.

—Professor Mohamed Esa

The Hill

ŠLÃTÍØN CHINESE

Xinsuan

Literarily means “heart sour.” It refers to an uncommunicable sadness, regret or hopelessness.

It is usually translated into English as “gutwrenching,” something that causes mental or emotional anguish. But the Chinese term emphasizes the state of “being unspeakable.”

—Professor Qin Fang GERMAN

Schadenfreude

It is a negative word that describes the malicious delight you experience when someone you consider to be bad, mean or an enemy suffers a misfortune, a loss or bad luck. —Professor Mohamed Esa ARABIC

Yoa’burni

Literally means “you bury me.” It’s a declaration of one’s deep love for someone and a wish they die before them so as to never lose them. Commonly used by parents when expressing their deep love to their children.

— Senior Lecturer Carol Zaru

Summer 2017

FRENCH

Décomplexé

Indicates someone who has lost their inhibitions.

I don’t think it has particularly positive or negative connotations. For instance, I have read that the new French president, Emmanuel Macron, was a “libéral décomplexé,” meaning that, while originally a socialist, he does not seem to feel self-conscious and is not apologetic for leaning to the right in terms of his economic agenda.

—Professor Martine Motard-Noar ARABIC

Sofra Daymeh

This phrase means “Thanks for the meal.”

However, it is said after you were served a nice meal by friends. “Sofra” is the word for feast, but it indicates that you have a lot of various food on the table. “Daymeh” means eternal. When we use that term after we finish a meal at a friend’s place, we mean that “I pray to the Lord that you will always be able to have such a feast,” which again means that I wish you a lot of wealth.

—Professor Mohamed Esa

SPANISH

Te quiero

The more standard way to say “I love you,” even among family and friends, but students of Spanish sometimes are afraid it sounds weird because the word “quiero” can also mean “I want.” —Professor Amy McNichols GERMAN

Berührungsangst

Could be translated to chiraptophobia, or the fear of being touched by another person. You remember the film with Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt, As Good As It Gets. However, in Germany, we use it in a positive way, when we say, “Ich habe keine Berührungsängste” (I have no fear of talking and socializing with people), which means I am a social person. It is me. I have no problem talking and dealing with people regardless of their social, political, religious or ethnic background. —Professor Mohamed Esa ARABIC

Ghurba

Literally means yearning and longing for one’s homeland. Whether someone willingly migrates to a new country or is forced out of their homeland and becomes a refugee, this word is a very powerful and important emotion used by Arabs around the world. — Senior Lecturer Carol Zaru FRENCH

Les retrouvailles

This is a meaningful, emotional and positive reunion between people who have not seen each other, after a long absence. This French word is not as neutral as the English “reunion.” Retrouvailles always indicates a positive reunion full of happiness and good emotions, and typically after a fairly long separation. —Professor Martine Motard-Noar 15

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The Hill

CHAD ALBERTSON

HAS MADE A CAREER IN THE LIQUOR INDUSTRY, BUT HIS JOB AT SAGAMORE SPIRIT IS MORE LIKE A MISSION — TO RESTORE RYE WHISKEY TO ITS MARYLAND ROOTS

THE

RYE

BY KIM ASCH • PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN WAIRE

GUY

T Our goal is for people to hear ‘rye whiskey’ and automatically think of Maryland.”

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wo days before the Preakness on a sunny Thursday afternoon, Chad Albertson ’96 is leading yet another private tour of Sagamore Spirit’s brand-new distillery in South Baltimore. Even though Alberston has been treating business associates and friends to previews since well before doors opened in April, he never seems to tire of showing off the ambitious operation or of sharing the story of why and how the startup company makes rye whiskey.

Albertson was hired as employee number seven a little over a year ago. He is not just director of sales but a key champion of the Sagamore Spirit brand, one that blends Maryland pride with the state’s gritty personality and its more refined history in thoroughbred racing. Those who know him say he’s the perfect person for the job. “I’m so passionate about this company.

It’s so much bigger than whiskey,” Albertson says. The private business is owned by Under Armour founder and chief executive Kevin Plank, whose many enterprises are bringing new vigor to the city while celebrating Maryland traditions.

Sagamore Spirit whiskey is proofed with spring water trucked to the distillery from Sagamore Farm, the iconic property in Glyndon purchased by the Plank Family in 2007. The farm was once owned by racing giant Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt and was the breeding and training ground for hall-of-famer Native Dancer, winner of both the Preakness and Belmont stakes in 1953. Plank’s Sagamore Racing intends to bring back those glory days by one day producing a Triple Crown winner.

The three maroon diamonds incorporated into Sagamore Spirit’s logo and emblazoned on everything from the whiskey bottle labels to the 40-foot copper column still are borrowed from Vanderbilt’s original jockey silks design and are a visual cue for the distillery’s connection to racing.

Albertson planned to be at Pimlico, where Sagamore Spirit’s signature product made its debut last year and would once again be featured as the exclusive rye whiskey of the Preakness. The fact that it is 83-proof pays homage to the spring water’s journey down I-83 from the farm to the distillery.

At the corporate village, guests would be served BlackEyed Rye cocktails instead of the traditional bourbonbased Black-Eyed Susan. After all, this is Baltimore, not Louisville.

“We’re really out to disrupt the whiskey industry.

Our goal is for people to hear ‘rye whiskey’ and automatically think of Maryland,” Albertson says.

“Kentucky can stick with bourbon. We’re going to take back rye.”

RYE

whiskey has deep roots in Maryland dating back to the 1700s, and that history is essential to the Sagamore Spirit brand. Visitors who peruse the Welcome Center’s multimedia exhibit learn its origin story, which Albertson tells to anyone who listens, especially the hundreds of distributors, sales reps, liquor store owners, clerks, restaurateurs, bartenders and waiters he meets in his quest to expand the market for the product. Sagamore’s rye is now sold in 15 states, including Kentucky.

“There are a lot of great whiskeys out there but not many with a great story,” Alberston says. “I’m all about story. I can sell lots of things, but brand loyalty is created when there’s depth and authenticity.”

Prior to Prohibition, Maryland was home to 44 distilleries, with at least 13 in downtown Baltimore.

And even after Prohibition, Maryland was one of the country’s leading rye whiskey producers, putting out its hallmark style that skews a touch sweeter than others. By 1939, the state held one-third of the nation’s rye whiskey supply —110 million gallons. When the U.S. entered World War II, distilleries began producing ethanol to support the war effort. After the war, very few of those ethanol plants converted back to rye whiskey distilleries and the rye whiskey industry in Maryland almost disappeared, making way for Kentucky to dominate production of both corn-based bourbon and rye. The rye is made mostly of rye grain, but often incorporates some corn and barley.

The past several years have seen a rise in the popularity of all whiskeys, including rye. According to the Distilled Spirits Council, rye sales in the U.S. market have “skyrocketed” since 2009 and continue to grow, with a 20-percent sales increase in 2015 and another 17 percent increase in 2016. It’s a good thing, Albertson says, because Sagamore recruited a master distiller and began making its whiskey in a facility out of state before anyone could be certain there would be much demand for it. Rye whiskey needs to age for four years before it can be bottled.

Albertson had 13 years of experience in the liquor industry working on the wholesale distribution side when he learned about the job opportunity at Sagamore. He had risen to the level of division manager of a portfolio that included Jack Daniels, Woodford Reserve and Korbel, and had noticed how whiskey-based classic cocktails were making a comeback with younger crowds. “Old-fashioneds, Manhattans and Sazeracs were no longer just drinks your parents ordered,” he says. At the same time, he wanted to shift away from the culture among The Hill

Sagamore Spirit’s new distillery can produce 14 bottles of rye whiskey per shift — of course it must be aged in barrels for four years before it’s ready to drink. distribution companies that focused more on numbers and gross profits than employee satisfaction.

Albertson, a former Boy Scout and lifelong extrovert, had been reading books and watching TED Talks by marketing expert Simon Sinek, including Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. He realized his “why” was about making people happy and finding ways to positively motivate his direct reports. He loved his industry because it was all about people enjoying themselves. After college, he waited tables at festive TGI Fridays, where he worked with his future wife.

Albertson believed that the numbers would soar when everyone on the team felt invested and empowered, and he also knew: “I can do whatever I want as long as it involves dealing with people. That’s the great thing about being a Sociology major.”

Plank’s vision to put Maryland back on the map as a premier producer of rye whiskey resonated with Albertson, who grew up in Timonium and passed Sagamore Farm many times over four years of college while taking the rural route home from the Hill.

He told Sagamore Spirit president Brian Treacy during his initial phone interview that he wanted to help build the locally conceived company into a worldclass brand.

“Rye just fits here. It has a lot of spice and flavor — it’s not a smooth vodka or a bubbly champagne. And it has a gritty personality,” Albertson says. “That’s Baltimore.

That’s Maryland. We’re scrappy.” company’s Baltimore operation began in the City Garage, a former bus depot that was converted by another of Plank’s companies into an innovation center in Port Covington. The South Baltimore waterfront industrial area is also home to Sagamore Spirit’s brand-new distillery and welcome center, which features a retail shop and tasting rooms. (A restaurant is slated to open there this fall.) Port Covington’s $5.5 billion transformation will ultimately include a new Under Armour campus.

The whiskey’s unique flavor comes from aging two different rye mashes — a “high rye” of nearly 100 percent rye and a “low rye” of just over 50 percent rye — and then blending them according to its proprietary recipe.

The liquor is clear when it goes into charred oak barrels and over four years its color transforms to caramel as the rye is absorbed and released when the pores of the wood expand and contract with the weather. This process accounts for at least half the spirit’s flavor, Albertson says.

THE

Summer 2017

After it comes out of the barrel, the distilling team proofs the whiskey with Sagamore Farm’s spring-fed water.

The signature 83-proof American Straight Rye, which sells for $40 per bottle, hit the market at the Preakness in May 2016. The Cask Strength Rye Whiskey ($75 per bottle), which ranges between 111 and 113 proof, was ready for sale in December. Together, the whiskeys have won 13 national awards for taste and packaging.

Signing on early with a startup meant Albertson was called upon to pitch in wherever needed and put in many, many hours each week. “We worked 40, 60, 80 hours. I had never worked that hard in my life, but have never had so much fun,” he says. “If I hadn’t had a liberal arts degree, I couldn’t have jumped in as employee number seven and worn all these hats.”

The small Sagamore Spirit team struggled to keep up with demand after sales kicked off in 2016 for that first batch of rye that went into the barrels in 2012.

They began hosting bottling parties, inviting friends and family to come down for a tasting and to help package the whiskey for sale. Quinn Salamandra ’97, a Sig Ep fraternity brother, was among a group of McDaniel alumni who formed a volunteer crew to do just that.

Salamandra, a New Jersey native who co-owns with Shane Ireland ’97 the Annapolis-based staffing solutions company Corporate Brokers, says Albertson’s passion for his mission is intoxicating. “The more I get to know Maryland, the more I realize Marylanders love Maryland things,” he observes. “Chad is a true believer in Sagamore Spirit’s potential to disrupt the rye industry. They found the right guy to be the steward of that brand.”

—

Black-Eyed

Rye

A Preakness specialty, this is a drink inspired by fast horses and oh-so-slow aged Sagamore Rye Whiskey.

INGREDIENTS

• 1.5 oz Sagamore Spirit Rye Whiskey • 0.5 oz lime juice • 0.75 oz Blackberry Simple Syrup* • 3 oz ginger beer • 1 mint leaf; a few fresh blackberries DIRECTIONS

1. Shake and double strain into a Collins glass.

2. Top with ginger beer.

3. Garnish with mint sprig and three skewered blackberries. * Blackberry Simple Syrup: Mix equal parts water, sugar and blackberries in a pot. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes.

Chill overnight and strain.

19

invested

Advancing the vision

Getting Gill in Shape Major renovation planned for home of new Kinesiology department A major renovation will facilitate the growth of the department housing the College’s most popular major.

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A $6.6 million project to expand and modernize classroom and research facilities in the Gill Physical Education Learning Center will be supported by a significant grant approved by the State of Maryland during its most recent legislative session. The state will match gifts made by private donors of up to $3 million, essentially doubling their value.

The major renovation will facilitate the growth of the department housing the College’s largest major, known most recently as Exercise Science and Physical Education (EPE).

As of July 1, the official name of both the department and the major is Kinesiology. The name change signals the program’s evolution to its current scientific focus on the study of how the human body works and how to enhance or rehabilitate it. McDaniel is the only independent college or university in Maryland to offer the Kinesiology major.

Since the 1889 opening of the College’s first gymnasium, the department has undergone many changes. It has offered courses in personal hygiene, sportsmanship and discipline;

it has supported intercollegiate athletics; and it has taught individuals how to educate others about fitness and health and how to coach athletic teams. Today, intercollegiate athletics is a separate department with its own mission and students’ personal fitness goals are supported by the Merritt Fitness Center. While the Department of Kinesiology will continue to offer a variety of courses designed to promote fitness and lifetime wellness as part of the College’s general education requirement for all students, its academic focus has become increasingly science-related.

As the number of Kinesiology majors grows, so does the need for classrooms and laboratories. Twenty-eight percent of the student body uses Gill Center for classwork; however it does not have sufficient classroom space. Gill Center houses two Kinesiology laboratories, but they are located in spaces designed for other purposes (one occupies a former storage area and another a former weight training room).

And although anatomy and physiology is a requirement The Hill

of the Kinesiology major, there is no space in Gill Center for the labs, which at present are located in Eaton Hall. The number of faculty and staff in Kinesiology and athletics has doubled in 30 years, however the space for offices remains virtually the same as it was in 1984.

The renovation will maximize underutilized spaces within the existing Gill Center complex. New classrooms, offices and human performance, neuromuscular, anatomy and physiology labs will be created in reclaimed space under old Gill; the mezzanine level of the main gymnasium will be reconfigured to create additional classrooms and spectators’ areas; and the main gymnasium space will be divided into two halves with a retractable acoustical wall to enable the space to be used simultaneously for different purposes.

The EPE program (now Kinesiology) has a strong record of preparing high-quality trainers and teachers, as well as graduate students in the allied health professions. Department alumni have gone on to receive advanced degrees in the discipline from McDaniel’s graduate program, as well as at 36 other institutions across the nation, including Oklahoma State University, the University of Kansas, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of North Carolina. A significant number of McDaniel alumni have also gone on to receive advanced training in nursing, chiropractic, podiatry, optometry and physical therapy.

Gift Highlight $500,000— From Trustee Robin Salomon and his wife, Sarah, parents of Ryan ’16. The bulk of the gift is earmarked for experiential learning opportunities, including need-based scholarships for undergraduate summer research of $2,500 each for up to 10 students (up to $25,000 each summer) and Experience Awards of $500 each for up to 50 students annually (up to $25,000 each year) to help defray the cost of unpaid experiential learning opportunities. Funding also supports faculty who provide strong mentorship and experiential learning opportunities to students, such as undergraduate summer research. The gift will also support programs facilitated by the Student Academic Support Services (SASS) office.

Summer 2017

Board Bolstered by Talents of Newest Trustees Stephen “Steve” R. Chapin, Jr., of Leesburg, Va., is an entrepreneur with more than 20 years of business leadership experience.

Chapin founded LifeMinders.com, an online direct marketing company, which was sold to Cross Media Marketing. He is currently the owner of JARS Residential Properties, which owns and manages more than 1,500 apartments throughout the Southeast, and he teaches in McDaniel’s Economics and Business Administration department. Chapin attended the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating with distinction, and served in the Navy as the Secretary of the Navy’s liaison to the House of Representatives and as a Surface Warfare Officer aboard USS Doyle (FFG-39). He earned a master’s degree from Georgetown University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. A native of Carroll County, Md., he is a graduate of Westminster High School. He and his wife, Julie, have three sons.

Keith Swain ’90 of Chicago is the group president of Marmon Retail Products, a Berkshire Hathaway Company, overseeing Wells Lamont, LLC, the largest maker of high-quality work, performance and garden gloves, work socks and work wear; Campbell Hausfeld, a producer and distributor of air compressors and pneumatic tools; and Marmon Retail Electrical Products, previously known as Cerro retail, specializing in electrical products.

Prior to this role, he served as president of Wells Lamont, where he also worked as vice president of supply chain operations. He was founder and president of Strategic Sourcing Services, Inc., where he established a turn-key retail and apparel sourcing company to service the sock industry with offshore manufacturing and global sourcing needs. He also worked for Hanesbrands Inc., as director of offshore operations and manufacturing, as well as senior manager of offshore processing. Swain earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Business Administration, and is a graduate of the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University. He lives in Winnetka, Ill., with his wife, Belinda, and their two sons.

21

back story

What they were thinking

April 27, 2017 More than 35 McDaniel students, including Sabrina Biehl ’18 (left) and Ana Salas ’18 (right), joined thousands of marchers who gathered in the nation’s capital JASON SCULLION

for the People’s Climate March.

“It’s not just about the stereotypical tree-hugging hippies trying to save the Earth — it’s about like-minded people coming together to make an impact,” says Sabrina Biel ’18, an Environmental Studies major from Chesapeake Beach, Md., who joined the McDaniel contingent organized by the College’s Green Life club and Environmental Studies professors Jason Scullion and Mona Becker.

The students, with a diversity of majors ranging from Psychology to Political Science, boarded the bus bound for D.C. in the early-morning hours for the opportunity to express their opinions to their elected representatives. “I wanted to make history, be a part of history,” says Biel. “I want to be a part of the impact for my future children and grandchildren, and for the sake of everyone else.”

For Ana Salas ’18, a Cinema major from Orlando, Fla., marching was a way of showing everyone that people can make an impact. “I think often times people are discouraged from taking action, such as recycling, for example, because they think ‘one bottle won’t make a difference,’” says Salas. “The atmosphere at the march was very empowering. Walking through crowds of people who are just as passionate about the environment as I am made me feel like we can bring about change if we all stand together.”

56

The Hill

A POE T I C C O N T EST

Happy Birthday HAIKU How to play: Write a haiku that celebrates your experiences on the Hill, the College’s history or how your liberal arts education has empowered your life. All entries will be entered into a drawing for a McDaniel sweatshirt. Our panel of qualified judges will pick their favorites for publication in the anniversary issue of the magazine.

Submit: Birthday Haiku, The Hill magazine, 2 College Hill, Westminster, MD 21157. Or email kasch@mcdaniel.edu Deadline: October 6, 2017

What’s a Haiku?

Haiku is a Japanese poetic form consisting of three lines of 5, 7 and 5 syllables each.

For example:

One hundred fifty Ever fearless and bold, we Cheer our bright future

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage 2 College Hill Westminster, MD 21157-4390 Change Service Requested

We’re really out to disrupt whiskey.

Kentucky can stick with Bourbon — we’re going to take back Rye.” — Chad Albertson ’96 of Sagamore Spirit distillery

Chad Albertson is a key ambassador of the rye whiskey company owned by Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank that is spurring Maryland to reclaim its spirited roots. Read all about it on page 16.

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