Marietta Magazine (Spring 2017)

S PRING 2017

CHAMPIONING THE ARTS MARIETTA STUDENTS BRING BRICK STREET ARTS BASH TO COMMUNITY

THE MAGAZINE OF M AR IE T TA COLLE G E

ALSO: Alumni couple’s donation inspires new academic program College charters two new Regional Associations

Transitions

> T HE T R A D IT I O N CO NTI NU E S

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very year, for the last 180 years, a new group of educated citizens mark the beginning of their journeys into the world as Marietta College graduates by gathering on a Sunday in May to celebrate their achievements.

PHOTOS BY NATE KNOBEL

This year, about 300 new graduates made the march across the stage to receive their diplomas. “Now is the time that your life begins to accelerate,” says Robert Dyson ’68, the 2017 Commencement speaker. “Now is the time to take your college degree and use it to make our world an even greater place to live.”

MARIETTA COLLEGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Me ssag e f ro m the Pres ident

O

DR. WILLIAM N. RUUD

ver the course of the past year, I have met with hundreds of alumni who all start their conversations the same way: “I love Marietta College.”

From there, the lifelong Pioneers begin to share stories of their days as undergraduates — from the first time they stepped onto campus to the day they met their future spouse or partner in class. When it comes to alumni, the decision to attend Marietta College is already a no-brainer.

The challenge that lies ahead is reaching the next generation of Pioneers. With so many colleges to choose from, how can we make Marietta College stand out?

We spent months working with Creosote Affects, one of the nation’s top branding companies that specializes in higher education, to create a pathway leading Generation Z to Marietta.

Working with a cross-section of campus and alumni, Creosote Affects has provided us with a new blueprint on how to advance our brand. Though we already knew what makes Marietta College a remarkable place, what Creosote provided us is a branding strategy that unifies the way we share our story with various audiences — whether the audience is a prospective student, current students, the PRE SI D E N T RU U D O N L I N E alumni base or prospective donors. twitter.com/President_Ruud instagram.com/presidentruud As we consistently share our story, our image facebook.com/MariettaCollegePresident will grow and people who don’t know us now will forge a great and lasting impression of Marietta College. We have unique accomplishments to share and guiding principles that set us apart. This branding strategy guides the words and the design we use, and the stories we highlight, to help us express our points openly and authentically.

Our brand is more than a logo or a tagline — but the message, “Bring forth a Pioneer,” is one that will be ingrained in all our communications. It’s more of a feeling and a promise of who we are. Through consistent design and messaging, we will build and craft the way people think about Marietta College — it’s our personality. The brand will impact prospective students, current students, employees, alumni, donors and more.

We’re in the early stages, but we’ve already developed some new publications that express the new brand and created a video, which we will use in movie theaters in Central Ohio to reach one of our targeted audiences.

Marietta is more than just a small, liberal arts college in southeast Ohio. Marietta College is an experience that makes a tremendous impact on the lives of all it has reached. The stronger our brand messaging, the greater the potential is to attract and retain talented students and professionals to be a part our Marietta family. These future Pioneers also love Marietta College … they just don’t know it yet.

2 < SPRING 2017

Chair George W. Fenton Vice Chair Patricia (Patti) Kral Zecchi ’71 Secretary William H. Donnelly ’70 Treasurer Michele Marra Robert M. (Bob) Brucken ’56 T. Grant Callery ’68 Christopher Cortez ’71 Harry H. (Hap) Esbenshade III Andrew D. Ferguson ’95 Barbara A. Perry Fitzgerald ’73 James B. Fryfogle ’73 Matthew J. Macatol ’97 C. Brent McCurdy ’68 Michael D. Milone Michael L. Moffitt ’91 Kathleen Mitchell Murphy ’82 Kevin R. O’Neill ’87 Marc R. Ponchione ’96 Jason C. Rebrook ’96 Ronald E. (Ron) Rinard ’72 Toni M. Robinson-Smith William N. (Bill) Ruud Michael J. Salvino ’87 Edgar L. Smith Jr. Charles W. (Chuck) Sulerzyski Elliott L. Thrasher ’62 Dale L. Wartluft ’63 Matthew B. Weekley ’81 Jo Ellen Diehl Yeary ’76 ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chair Andrew D. Ferguson ’95 Vice Chair Stephanie Esparza Peloquin ’06 Patty Bain Bachner ’77 Timothy J. Bennett ’85 Jocelyn Crum Brooks ’95 Amanda Burtt ’02 Marianne Candido ’85 Keith Coleman ’77 Janice Downey Donoghue ’75 Brooke A. Exley ’11 Frank Fleischer ’71 S. Jason Gromelski ’98 Susan Hauck-Bell ’85 John E. Hopkins ’65 Adam Kopp ’88 Tia Knowlton Lane ’98, MALL’02 Kathy Wilcox Lentner ’97 Dan Leonard ’85 Rocco Manzo ’59 Jennifer Roach Offenberger ’86 Jazmyn Barrow Stover ’06 Christine Zernick Suter ’84 Mark Vizza ’98 Travis Wells ’97

Contents

SP RING 2017 | I SSU E 21

6

9

11 22 12

24

Inside this issue

EDITORS Tom Perry and Gi Smith

14 | CHA M P ION O F T H E A RT S

PHOTOGRAPHERS Robert Caplin, Robert Crawford, Nate Knobel, Courtney Wentz

Marietta College music students spent months preparing to bring a day filled with music, art,

CLASS NOTES Jacque Prichard and Mandee Young

theatrical performances and dance to the region. This daylong Brick Streets Arts Bash showed the

PRESIDENT Dr. William N. Ruud

ART DIRECTOR Ryan Zundell

PROVOST Dr. Janet Bland

community how the arts enrich the lives of everyone.

4 | M A RIE T TA S C E N E New and notable campus and alumni updates

10 | JOURNA L 20 | P IONE E RS Athletic news

VP FOR ADVANCEMENT Angela Anderson

24 | DEVELO P MEN TS News from our Advancement Office

26 | MA RIETTA MO MEN T Alumnus takes a road trip to spend a weekend with his Lambda Chi Alpha brothers

29 | TH E LO N G BLU E LIN E Class notes

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ANNUAL GIVING AND ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT Brandee Norris M A R I E T TA The Magazine of Marietta College is published by the Office of Strategic Communications & Marketing. The magazine serves its readers by providing information about the activities of Marietta College alumni, students, faculty and staff through the publication of accurate and balanced content that informs and stimulates intellectual discussion.

Text, photographs and artwork may not be reprinted without written permission of the Executive Director of Strategic Communications at Marietta.

C ON TA C T U S Send address changes, letters to the editor and class notes to Marietta Magazine, 215 Fifth St., Marietta, OH 45750.

Fax: 740-376-4509 Phone: 740-376-4709 | 1-800-274-4704 Email: alumni@marietta.edu

COVER BY NATE KNOBEL

M A R I E T TA > 3

N E W A N D N O TA B L E

NATE KNOBEL

COURTNEY WENTZ

NATE KNOBEL

NATE KNOBEL

MARIETTA SCENE

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This year’s Esbenshade Series brought top talent to the community, including a performance by the Branford Marsalis Quartet with guest vocalist Kurt Elling.

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COURTNEY WENTZ

Students were excited to see the return of Doo Dah Day this spring. Trey King ’17 competes in one of the many games set up for students near Harrison Hall.

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Mandee Young ’18 discusses her internship with Mediavest | Spark with Dr. Bob Van Camp during the poster session of All Scholars Day.

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New to campus this year was the Snapchat Squad. Receive fun updates of what’s happening on campus by following us @MariettaCollege.

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The Theatre Department enjoyed another successful season of performances, including Crimes of the Heart this spring. Kat Watkins ’17 (left) and Morgan Thompson ’18 were two of the stars of the show.

4 < SPRING 2017

NATE KNOBEL

Dozens of students and employees gathered on The Christy Mall this spring to do landscaping and other work as part of Green Up Day.

RE VIEW

COMMENTS FROM OUR READERS

DEAR EDITORS,

DEAR EDITOR,

In your Fall 2016 issue of Marietta Magazine there was published a Letter to the Editor by an alumna which was, to the best of my knowledge, not factual on at least one point. The letter writer states that, among others, Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity “admitted non-Christians only as social members.” In fact, TKE, new then to the Greek fraternity system at Marietta College, admitted both non-Christians and non-whites as full-fledged members. That was the reason many of the freshmen class in 1958 joined that fraternity. TKE remained totally inclusionary as to both race and religion through my tenure at MC and I believe it did so for the entire time it had an affiliation at the College. Thank you for allowing me to correct this misinformation.

In her letter in the current issue of Marietta, my former classmate paints a somewhat misleading picture. She lists fraternities that were on campus during our time and contends that all practiced religious discrimination. I can’t speak for the others, but I chose Delta Upsilon in large part because of its explicit policies of non-discrimination and non-secrecy. In my experience, these values were upheld not only in principle, but in practice.

DAVID DUBUISSON ’65

RESPECTFULLY, WILLIAM L. LANE ’62

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Because Marietta Magazine seeks to present a wide diversity of subject matter and content, some views presented in the publication may not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or the official policies maintained by Marietta College.

Letters commenting on the material or topics presented in the magazine are encouraged and are available for publication unless the author specifically asks that they do not appear in public print. Published letters may be edited for style, length and clarity.

EMAIL: mariettamagazine@marietta.edu FAX: 740-376-4509 MAIL: Editor, Marietta Magazine, Office of Strategic Communications & Marketing, 215 Fifth St., Marietta, Ohio 45750-4004

Lo n g B lu e Lines

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GI SMITH, EDITOR

f you had to describe the city of Marietta to a friend, which words would you choose?

Quaint? Sleepy little riverboat town? Quiet?

If so, you might be due for a booster shot of Marietta. Allow me to set the scene of an actual drive I took with my kids down Front Street one evening this past winter.

Me: Oh, look kids, ice sculptures on the sidewalk. There’s a man breathing fire. Look at all the people downtown. It’s so lit up. Did you see the musicians performing on the corner?

GI SMITH Them: WATCH THE ROAD. Me: Pop-up stores — look, the College has a pop-up store, and its own ice sculpture. You’d have to be very careful making one of those. I think they use chainsaws …

Them: WATCH THE RIVER. Years ago, the only times the city seemed to be flooded with people and activities were Sternwheel Festival weekend or river flooding cleanup efforts. If Marietta was once described as a sleepy little town, these days she appears to have taken a liking to Red Bull.

From First Fridays events — which draw visitors to enjoy music, the arts and the local businesses to the downtown district — to the Peoples Bank Theatre and the amazing performances, people are drawn to the down-

town area. In March, my family and I watched the Shaolin Warriors perform on stage for free, courtesy of the Esbenshade Series. The series, created by an endowed fund memorializing Frederica G. Esbenshade, also brought the Branford Marsalis Quartet with Kurt Elling in April and other top talent throughout the 2016-17 academic year.

Of course, the town’s staples are still here: Teri Ann’s, the Historic Lafayette Hotel, the Harmar Tavern, the Busy Bee Restaurant, Tampico and the Town House. But over the past decade, there’s also a mix of newer blood in town, like Nacho Average Taco, Jeremiah’s Coffee House, the Adelphia Music Hall and Over the Moon Pub & Pizza.

As you’ll read a few pages into this edition of Marietta Magazine, the College has played an important role in fostering the thriving artistic and cultural rejuvenation of the Marietta community. On our back cover, you’ll notice that our alumni are also using their talents and commitment to the arts to improve the lives and the liveliness of our city and state.

Go online and check out Marietta Main Street, the Peoples Bank Theatre and the Marietta College website to see the list of upcoming events and the many restaurants and shops that are keeping a steady stream of traffic going through the city. And while you’re at it, take a walk through campus and memory lane. You will always be welcome here. If you come during one of the First Fridays events, I may see you.

Don’t worry; I’ll park first.

M A R I E T TA > 5

ALUM NI & C A MP U S N EWS

NATE KNOBEL

Journal

> ON CAMPUS

Marietta student elected to international leadership post

S

itting with his friends in the Great Room in Andrew Hall during the last days of midterms, Omar AlMjmad ’19 could be spending these crucial hours preparing for exams or finishing important term papers.

Instead, he and his fellow Alwihda members are collecting gently used clothing to donate to a Marietta women and children’s shelter.

“This is something we are called to do for our community,” AlMjmad says of himself and his friends Mansour Abdulaziz ’19, Mohammad Al Badi ’19, Fatemah Hussain ’20 and Anfal Altemeemy ’20 — all members of Alwihda, which is a Kuwaiti student organization.

This year, AlMjmad, a petroleum engineering major, was elected as a conference delegate in the NUKS election. He was one of 11 students internationally to be voted into a delegate position.

“I was elected with 1,263 votes and, for me, it is a two-year service,” he says. “I represent Alwihda, a Kuwaiti organization founded on the principles of justice, equality, freedom and democracy.”

“This year, there were two elections: one for administration and one for members,” he says. “Alwihda won members.”

Led by its elected leadership, NUKS organizes international students to provide support to the communities in which they study. Tina Thomas, Assistant Professor of Petroleum Engineering, says AlMjmad is the perfect ambassador for the NUKS organization.

6 < SPRING 2017

“I have a lot of Kuwaiti students as advisees, and Omar always stood out as the natural leader of that (incoming freshman) class of 2015,” she says. “He’s always wanting to make sure all of the Kuwaiti students are OK, and he’s always sharing credit for whatever projects they’re doing. He’s a genuinely warm and caring person.”

Altemeemy was one of the students who participated in the clothing drive this year. Her parents, Ali Taha ’00 and Eman Al-Buloushi ’00, inspired her to come to Marietta College to earn a degree in petroleum engineering.

“Helping others is something I love to do,” she says. “This allows me to do that.”

The clothing drive was part of the Alwihda Cares effort, which involved Kuwaiti students in 22 states and nearly 50 cities in the United States.

“I love my organization and what we represent,” AlMjmad says. “I want to thank Professor Tina Thomas, who is like my mom here. When I do something, she is the first person to show up. I also thank all of the faculty members, staff and students for being supportive of us.

Marietta College is a peaceful place. Everyone is welcoming to us.

That is why I will always love Marietta.”

GI SMITH

> ON CAMPUS

Increasing need for ‘data-informed decisions’ leads to College’s first full-time institutional researcher

B

ill Clark is accustomed to co-workers who don’t completely comprehend what he does as an institutional researcher.

Want to look at historical enrollment data to see if there is a quantitative answer on how to improve admission efforts in the New England states? Bill Clark can help. Maybe you are interested in how graduates of the past five years are doing since they left campus. Bill Clark is a great person to start with.

Clark joined the College this spring as its first Institutional Researcher.

“It is important to have someone in place who does this to provide access to information that is scattered in different places,” says Clark, who earned a master’s degree from Kent State and two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Washington. “I serve as a translator for the questions that people have on campus, but don’t know how to obtain the data or even where they are housed. You may have a certain question that you articulate in plain language. I can articulate it in the language the databases have.”

Provost Janet Bland said Economics Professor Greg Delemeester did a great job filling the IR position in a part-time capacity, but the College needed someone who could do it full time.

“With the creation of this position and the arrival of Bill Clark, there are so many opportunities for us to enhance our performance. People talk

about ‘data-driven decisions’ — in many ways I prefer ‘data-informed decisions’ as there is always a human factor,” Bland says. “We’re very happy to have him join our team and help us take the College forward.

Every college and university gathers a huge amount of data — but to make it meaningful, you have to manage it, organize it and understand it in order to make informed decisions.”

Bland also added that the College needed help in responding to the data that must to be collected for a variety of accrediting bodies.

“This is what cutting-edge higher education looks like — institutions that succeed are able to support their decisions, to guide their choices, to research what has worked and what doesn’t, to increase the chances of success because we were able to draw conclusions about retention, admissions, assessment of student learning, all based on data,” she says.

Clark came to Marietta from the University of Akron-Wayne College. He says he backed into this type of work after beginning his career by teaching statistics and later working as a data analyst for the National Institute of Mental Health.

“It’s not like I said, ‘this is what I want to do,’” he says. “I’m glad to be here and I have a chance to put my stamp on this. Everyone has made me feel very welcome and my arrival was highly anticipated. … In just my first week, I already felt palpable progress.”

TOM PERRY

L E AV E A L E G A C Y Connect with future generations of Pioneers by including Marietta College in your estate planning. Learn about the many benefits of planned giving at HTTP://GIFTPLANNING.MARIETTA.EDU OR CALL 740.376.4446

M A R I E T TA > 7

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ALUM NI & C A MP U S N EWS

> ON CAMPUS

Student-led firm provides guidance to public library CAM PUS AND COM M UNI T Y I NT E RE S T BUI LD S F O R F I F T H STR EET C O N SU LTI N G

8 < SPRING 2017

NATE KNOBEL

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or New Matamoras, a sparsely populated town 30 miles northeast of campus, the little branch of the Washington County Public Library that sits along State Route 7 is a major hub in the community. It’s one of four smaller branches of the library system, which is centered by the main location in Marietta.

Improving the communication between all of the locations was one of the main goals undertaken by the student-led communication and media consulting firm, Fifth Street Consulting. The firm is the result of what students learned in Dr. Alane Sanders’ Applied Organizational Development course taught during the spring 2016 semester. It consists of two sections: student leadership, who work mostly on the administrative tasks, and partners, who work closely with the client. Dr. Dawn Carusi served as the advisor for this year’s team members.

“This counts as a 3-hour practicum credit and some departments are substituting it as an internship,” says Clayton Evans ’17, an Organizational Communication major and member of the student leadership team. “It’s the same commitment as an internship, so one credit means you do 50 hours of work. And it’s meaningful work because you’re doing what you learned in the classroom. You get to put that knowledge to work.”

Once the Washington County Public Library system was identified as the team’s first client, the students met with the members of the library staff to determine what their goals were, as well as needs that the firm identified. Students sent out surveys, collected and reviewed the data, developed marketing and communication strategies for the library and planned to walk their client, including its board of trustees, through the recommendations so they could be implemented.

Emily Drabeck ’17, an Organizational Communication major and one of the senior partners, focused on the library’s internal communication needs.

“We visited all of the branches and I got to speak with the branch managers about their needs, which varied,” Drabeck says. “In Marietta, the library is an option for the people living in the community. For New Matamoras, the library is a necessity.”

Kelly Brady, branch manager for the New Matamoras location, spoke with Drabeck about the needs the library filled in her community.

“I love the library,” Brady says. “I love what we do for our community. We live in an economically depressed area, so what we provide — internet access, free Wi-Fi, access to books and DVDs — is very important. For some people, we may be the only way for them to file

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P R O MO T I N G O TH ER S (From left) McKenzie Fleeman ’17, Emily Drabeck ’17, Lucy Welles ’17, Caroline Sigmon ’17, Ruolin Zhang ’20 and Matt Peters ’18 were among a group of Marietta College students who worked on Fifth Street Consulting’s marketing and communication project this year.

their taxes or to file for unemployment, so our role in the community is absolutely necessary.”

Though the firm is composed of mostly Communication majors, Evans says students in other majors have also taken an interest in being a part of the team. Caroline Sigmon ’17, a Graphic Design and Advertising/Public Relations double major, used her skills in graphic design to help the team, but also learned other aspects of being a part of a consulting group.

“My focus was on the branding and development of promotional materials,” Sigmon says. “What we did was more business focused, which was very eye opening. I learned a lot about working within the structure of a firm.”

For Evans, learning how other disciplines work and how to collaborate with people who have other special skillsets was one of the most meaningful aspects of the Fifth Street Consulting experiences.

“It’s honestly one of the most rewarding things I’ve done at the College,” he says. “Being a consultant is something I would like to do.”

GI SMITH

> ON CAMPUS

Animating history PR O FESSOR CREATES HUM OROUS VI DE OS T O E NG A G E ST U D EN TS I N C O MP L EX H I ST O R I C A L EV EN T S

ROBERT CAPLIN

S

Visit these links to watch the videos: Lay Investiture Swings https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b504joz1lXY Henry VIII Rocks and Rolls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6ip9t4PSwQ Why Isn’t Rome in the Holy Roman Empire? Medieval Doo-wop https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5KapbGkvCU

ome professors treat themselves to a night on the town when they earn tenured faculty status.

Dr. David Torbett celebrated his accomplishment by creating a funny teaching aid video about Henry VIII. Since that first video in 2012, Torbett, who is the Israel Ward Andrews Professor of Religion, has created a total of three history-based videos that he uses in various classes to tackle difficult topics. The short parodies, which are on YouTube, are being used around the world.

“Henry VIII Rocks and Rolls has more than 2,000 views,” Torbett says. “The most popular one is the Lay Investiture Swings; it has over 6,000, which is not viral.

But it means there are a lot of people watching it. I know that some teachers have used it in the classroom and I have a feeling that a lot of students watch because the views are mostly during the school year. And I think the comments on it indicate that they are either teachers or students, often studying world history in high school.”

One of the videos has been watched in 79 different countries, with most of the views happening during the school year.

Torbett sang the lead and played acoustic, electric and bass guitars in the videos. His son, Thomas, a rising junior at the College of Wooster, played the marimba on all three. His wife, Jill, sings harmony on two of the three clips. His daughter, Nora, has made her own videos and plays the piano, but didn’t record on her father’s tracks.

Biochemistry major Rachel Stahl ’17 took Torbett’s history class to fulfill a general education requirement.

“I really liked the songs as a teaching aid because they broke up the lecture-style teaching that most history courses employ, and kept me interested in the topics,” she says. “I thought they were clever and creative; I have a strong background in music, so I can appreciate the effort that went into the songs. I didn’t necessarily use the videos as a study guide, but they gave a summary of the topics in an engaging style to help remember the key concepts.”

Torbett says the videos don’t replace his lectures but they do provide a lighter approach to learning about historical events.

“They are good supplements, and that’s what I wanted them to be. I did it for fun, and that was a big part of the reason. I had the idea. I show it to the students as history can be fun,” he says. “It’s not a substitute for reading, but it reinforces the reading and helps you organize and memorize the facts.”

GI SMITH

M A R I E T TA > 9

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ALUM NI & C A MP U S N EWS

> ALUMNI

Taking Marietta College on the road: Alumni en

PHOTOS BY NATE KNOBEL

Greater Columbus Regional Association receives charter

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Sally Heckert Uhde ’63 and her husband, Dick enjoy an evening with alumni.

W

hen asked why she chose to study mathematics at Marietta College, and why she remains connected to her alma mater more than 50 years after earning her degree, Sally Heckert Uhde ’63 had a ready answer.

“For myself, in addition to acquiring a top-notch education, I also formed many lasting memories and lifelong friends,” Uhde says.

“Excellent education, lasting memories and special friendships are just a few of the reasons why I along with five of my Sigma Kappa sorority sisters and their spouses — most spouses are not Marietta graduates — have returned to campus for Homecoming every five years since graduating in 1963. We all have a deep affection for Marietta and look forward to coming back for our 55th in 2018.”

Though it had only been a couple of weeks since Uhde had visited campus, she and her husband, Dick, were among the first alumni to arrive to the chartering ceremony for the Greater Columbus Area Regional Association in mid-April. More than 50 alumni and friends registered for the event, which was held at the Grange Insurance Audubon Center on April 18.

President William N.Ruud gave the crowd updates on what’s been happening at the College including the new branding strategy, burgeoning academic programs and news on the athletics front. As the seventh Regional Association formally chartered by the College, Ruud issued a challenge to “Lucky No. 7.”

“Here is my challenge to you,” he says, “figure out how to muster up as many events in the Columbus area as you possibly can. There are about 3,000 alumni living in the greater Columbus area; find ways to get together and then take it a step further.”

He encouraged the group to share with fellow alumni and other Regional Associations what they’re doing, whether it’s attending a baseball game, coordinating volunteer projects or establishing scholarships for future Marietta College students coming from their region.

10 < S P R I N G 2 0 1 7

>

Lucy Welles ’17 speaks with Nick Brady ’15 and Taylor Myers ’15.

“I know you won’t be able to attend every event planned, but we’re still going to invite you to every one of them,” he says. “You will always be welcome.”

That invitation struck a chord with Ellen Beaver Rumpff ’97.

“This is the first event (in Columbus) I’ve been able to attend,” she says. “With work and raising a family, it’s not always easy to get away to these types of things, so I’m happy (Ruud) said that.”

Rumpff was happy to see a familiar face at the launch, Jessica Vaughan Melfi ’97.

“We didn’t know each other well but we were in the same class,” Melfi says. “I wasn’t sure if I’d see anyone I knew, so it’s nice to catch up.”

Ruud also invited alumni to come back to Marietta for Homecoming Weekend (Oct. 19-22).

“This is our 20th reunion this year,” Melfi says. “(Ellen) and I talked about possibly making it a girls’ weekend at Homecoming.”

Melfi and Rumpff haven’t made it back to Homecoming for a number of years, but both always take a detour through campus whenever driving past Exit 1 on Interstate 77 to see the place that provided so many fond memories and dear friends to so many generations of alumni.

“You asked, ‘Why Marietta?’ It doesn’t take long to realize that Marietta College is truly a very special place, not only for graduates,” Uhde says, “but for anyone who has had the opportunity to experience Marietta College from the outside looking in.”

GI SMITH

Get involved with the Regional Association Program! Learn how at www.marietta.edu/alumni/regional-associations VIEW PHOTO GALLERIES OF THESE REGIONAL EVENTS HERE Columbus: http://www.marietta.edu/alumni/columbus-regional-association Philly: http://www.marietta.edu/alumni/philadelphia-regional-association

njoy two newly chartered regional associations Special bond helps Philly-area alumni stay connected to Marietta

> Kim White ’92 chats with alum Tim Bennett ’85.

N

ear the end of the evening, Katie Transue ’16 and Eileen Walsh ’16 started to laugh and debated whether there was any sort of retroactive discipline that could be levied against them.

Confident they would be OK, they started to share their big secret as students at Marietta College.

“We had a paper or a project for Dr. (Carolyn) Hares-Stryker’s class, and we knew we wouldn’t get it done if we went back to our room,” Transue says.

“So we hid in a cabinet in Legacy Library until they locked up the place,” Walsh finishes. “Are you sure we won’t get into trouble?”

Transue and Walsh were among about 25 Marietta College alumni gathered at the Bourbon Blue in Philadelphia to help launch the College’s eighth regional association — Cincinnati and Cleveland will be added in June. Attendees snacked on items like shrimp cocktail shooters, crab cakes and meatball lollipops, while sampling a special Marietta drink … yes, it was blue.

“We came tonight to reconnect with people and it’s nice to see some familiar faces, and also see how the College is doing,” says Kim Malsin Glynn ’95. “It’s nice to know what’s coming up, what’s new and see how we might contribute.”

Glynn, who experienced a near-fatal car accident as a student, says Marietta is the type of school who helped her graduate despite her long recovery.

“My life is my life because of Marietta,” she says. “I met my husband (Tom ’95) and we have two kids. I knew my professors by name and that small community was important.”

Transue, who carpooled with Kelsey Schenck ’16 and Benjamin Burkhart ’14, reminisced a bit on the 90-minute drive from New Jersey.

“We talked about the professors we had, as well as the lives we had outside of the class,” says Burkhart, who grew up in Barnesville, Ohio.

> Philadelphia-area alumni show their Marietta pride at the Bourbon Blue.

“I’m still meeting people from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s who had similar experiences, and that’s Marietta.”

Schenck said they all agreed they weren’t quite ready to say goodbye to Marietta after graduation.

“On the drive over we talked about how none of us packed because when we graduated our parents showed up and we weren’t packed and ready to leave,” she says. “We didn’t want to leave. We weren’t prepared to leave.”

Walsh echoed those sentiments.

“I feel like Marietta is this gem that not a lot of people know about.

I’m so excited to be here and meet other people from Philly and New Jersey,” she says. “We’re here to see how our experiences were and reminisce on that and share the spirit of it. Marietta is a spirit of trueness. People are so genuine at Marietta. I love Marietta and that we can have (a regional association) here.”

Tim Bennett ’85, a member of the Marietta College Alumni Association and champion for the Philadelphia area having a new regional association, is looking forward to seeing how Marietta alumni from this region continue to come together in the name of the College.

“Back in the late ’80s, Philadelphia had a very active regional association, or club, as we called it. Having just graduated Marietta, and moving to a new city, the regional club was a great way to maintain my connection to the College,” he says. “Thirty years later, the same holds true. The regional associations are a way to stay connected, and in many cases, re-engage with Marietta College as evidenced with the Philadelphia launch. There are so many positive things happening at Marietta College right now and we should all join in and be part of the success. If you can’t make it to Ohio, your regional association is the next best thing to celebrate the Navy Blue and White.”

TOM PERRY

M A R I E T TA > 11

Journal

ALUM NI & C A MP U S N EWS

> ON CAMPUS

Job shadowing experiences pay dividends for Marietta students

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(Top) Rob Hennings ’20 and John Jaeckin ’18 meet with a Columbus Blue Jackets employee to learn what they will be doing during their job shadow experience. (Bottom) Amanda Arrowood ’19 said she enjoyed learning from professionals in the NHL.

12 < S P R I N G 2 0 1 7

alking through a concourse just outside the rink at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, John Jaeckin ’18 was reminded why he came to Marietta College to study sports management.

“I hope that I can be lucky enough to find myself employed with a major league team one day,” says the Olmsted Township, Ohio, native. “It wouldn’t matter what sport I was involved with because each sport has a major following in some way, and being able to put on a massive event like this would be a dream come true.”

Jaeckin was one of four Marietta College students who spent a day interacting with employees of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets before and during a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Rob Hennings ’20, Jack Hirschfield ’20 and Amanda Arrowood ’19 also shadowed Blue Jackets employees and assisted throughout the evening.

The experience was informative and enjoyable for Arrowood.

“I enjoyed knowing in detail what the people who work for the Blue Jackets do, rather than just knowing the fact that there are people in those positions but never knowing what their job description meant,” says the Reynoldsburg, Ohio, native.

The students started the day with a tour of the arena, and they also met with different departments, including marketing, product partnerships and the ticket office.

“Having these connections can give you that needed edge over the competition when it comes to the job hunt. Being able to say I was involved with the Columbus Blue Jackets during a game day atmosphere is not something a lot of people can say.”

— John Jaeckin ’18 “Experiences like this are so valuable because it gets your foot in the door. It gives connections between students here at the College with those employed with pro sports teams,” Jaeckin says. “Having these connections can give you that needed edge over the competition when it comes to the job hunt. Being able to say I was involved with the Columbus Blue Jackets during a game day atmosphere is not something a lot of people can say.”

Setting up these type of opportunities for Marietta’s students has been a priority for Rick Smith, Assistant Professor of Sports Management, since he arrived in August. During fall semester, students in the program did job shadowing at the University of Notre Dame, West Virginia University and with Heinz Field during a Pittsburgh Steelers game. In the spring semester, students have worked with Columbus Sports Commission and the NCAA Division II Women’s Elite 8 and ticket operations at the University of Akron.

“The Columbus Blue Jackets were fantastic hosts for our job shadowing experience,” Smith says. “The students were able to see the behind-the-scenes work of the game presentation team, ticketing staff and corporate sales team. Perhaps one of the most eye-opening things learned is that two interns, who are both still in undergraduate degree programs, are helping to run the game presentation. It gives our students a realistic look of what they could be doing in the near future with their internship requirements and eventual degrees from Marietta College.”

TOM PERRY

> ALUMNI

Transcribing history A L U MN U S V O L U N TEER S WI T H SMI T H SO N I A N IN S TITU TE TO H E L P P R ESERV E H I ST O R I C C O N T EN T

P

atrick Tegge ’14 spent plenty of time as an undergraduate history major researching old documents and transcribing their content for his research, so when he learned about an opportunity for him to help as a volunteer with the Smithsonian Institute doing the same type of work, he jumped at the chance.

“As far as the transcription process goes, there are many transcription projects you can work on that pertain to your interests,” he says. “This includes historic documents focused on government, biology field notes, letters, music and much more.”

His work involves the Freedman’s Bureau, an organization established after the Civil War that helped newly freed slaves and poor white farmers adjust after the South’s agricultural industry’s collapse.

“The main goals were to provide food relief, establishing school and education, providing legal counsel and other services to help rebuild the South,” he says.

For every project, a team of three volunteers transcribes and proofreads the transcriptions multiple times. “This is all done online using scanned copies of the documents and a transcription program the Smithsonian uses,” Tegge says. “Once all three people approve, it then goes off to a professional at the Smithsonian for one more check. I have recently started a new position in March so I have done some proofreading and am working toward getting time to do the first transcription of some of the documents.”

Transcribing the documents so they’re accurate and available online helps preserve the original pieces and makes them accessible to historians, educators and the general public.

Tegge, who was also a McDonough Leadership Scholar, works for The Ohio State University Extension Office in Athens County as a SNAP-Ed Program Assistant. Funded by grants through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the role focuses on the health and well-being of communities. His job focuses on nutrition programming to children, adults and senior citizens who receive SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits. The skills he learned as an education, history and McDonough student have allowed him to approach his work with the mindset of empowering his clients to make healthy choices within their reach, rather than applying unreasonable or unreachable expectations on them.

“We always tell our students that leadership is not about the leaders,” says Dr. Gama Perruci, Dean of McDonough. “It’s about their commitment to making a difference in their followers’ lives. Patrick certainly has taken this admonition to heart.

He serves as a great example of how leadership can be transforming to everyone.”

Tegge’s Marietta experience prepared him for his volunteer work with the Smithsonian. His capstone project involved the Cornelius Ryan Archives at Ohio University. “In that collection there are handwritten notes that I had to read and get information from,” he says. “I feel that this helped in my current situation because reading handwriting is sometimes the most difficult part of transcribing these documents. In other classes, I was exposed to a range of historic documents that allowed me to learn and understand the differences in language used in different time periods. Most of these were already transcribed showing how this volunteering comes full circle.”

GI SMITH

M A R I E T TA > 13

14 < S P R I N G 2 0 1 7

S

itting on the bricks lining Putnam Street, Music Education major Calaya Rake ’20 staples a couple hundred small handwritten notes to a poster board shaped like a tree. She gives each one a quick read, followed by a smile, as she finds an open area on one of the branches.

As chair of the Arts Education Advocacy Committee for the first ever Brick Street Arts Bash, Rake asked guests who visited the 12-hour festival to jot down why the arts are important to them.

“My favorite one says, ‘I love the arts because words complicate things,’ ” she says. “I also love watching the little pictures that the young children make for the board. They take their time and are so creative and sweet.”

The brainchild of a group of Marietta College students — most of whom are involved in the music department — the Brick Street Arts Bash was held in downtown Marietta in mid-April and showcased dozens of musicians, visual artists, dancers and actors to countless patrons drawn by the opportunity to celebrate a variety of creative talents. The students worked under the guidance of Associate Professor Marshall Kimball, the McDonough Leadership Program and Leaderin-Residence Donna Collins, who is also the Executive Director of the Ohio Arts Council (OAC).

“Marietta students began working on this in September,” Collins says. “It started with them dreaming up ways to promote the arts, possibly having workshops; and then it grew from there into a 12-hour festival showcasing the creativity, innovation and talent of students in the region and of professional artists.”

The responsibilities the students undertook were as varied as the types of artists featured during the actual event.

“We initially received a $4,000 grant through the McDonough Foundation, and that was our entire budget,” Kimball says. “The students knew that, for what they wanted to accomplish, that wasn’t going to even come close to covering it, so they started writing grants. A lot of people and organizations stepped up to (financially) make this day happen. The students really worked their tails off to put it all together.”

W R I T T E N B Y G I S M I T H | P H OTO S B Y N AT E K N O B E L

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Sadie Johnson ’19 performs with her band during the night’s Rockin’ Wrap Up Jazz/Blues Concert.

M A R I E T TA > 15

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Calaya Rake ’20 served as the chair of the Arts Education Advocacy Committee.

Kimball says 14 students were part of the Leader-in-Residence team. An additional 100 student, faculty and community volunteers were also involved in the planning and event hosting, supporting the 39 displaying arts and 150 performers featured during the bash.

Marietta College, the McDonough Leadership Program, OAC, Peoples Bank and Peoples Bank Theatre were the primary sponsors for the festival.

If the months preparing for the event were a marathon, then the early morning hours leading up to the opening of Brick Street Arts Bash were definitely comparable to a 100-meter dash.

Just before 6 a.m., student organizers, Kimball, Collins, workers from the city’s Street Department and other volunteers began setting up pop-up tents in case Mother Nature delivered what forecasters were predicting: cold and rain.

By 9:30 a.m., a stage was built, artists were in place, food trucks were parked and ready, and the Peoples Bank Theatre was gearing up for performances by the Marietta Children’s Choir and the Parkersburg High School A Capella Choir, the first acts of the day.

“When Donna and I were on stage about to introduce the (Marietta) Children’s Choir, I looked over at her and said, ‘This is really going to happen.’ That was a very proud and exciting moment for me,” Kimball says.

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T

heatre majors Morgan Thompson ’18 and Colin Rhodes ’17 smiled as they showed a group of children their stage swords and demonstrated how they choreograph fights for the theatre.

“I think the arts haven’t gotten enough representation in today’s society,” Rhodes says. “Without the arts, life is pretty bland. Seeing all these artists together and these people showing interest in the arts is great.”

The Brick Street Arts Bash highlighted artistic talents, exposed visitors to a variety of artistic mediums, and allowed artists and patrons to discuss the arts.

“When I was a junior in high school, the money ran out and they shut down our music program, art and home (economics) because people didn’t see them as a necessity,” Thompson says. “I couldn’t believe they were trying to take away this thing I love. (The Brick Street Arts Bash) allows us to make connections with the community to show how the arts influence everything.”

Both Thompson and Rhodes plan to work in the theatre after earning their degrees from Marietta.

A block away, Carolina Alvarez, an adjunct instructor in the Theatre Department, takes the stage for her one-woman show as Margaret Blennerhassett, an aristocrat and poet who was born in the 1770s and died in 1842. As Blennerhassett, she discusses her worldly

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(Top) Artist David Griesmyer speaks with a patron about his weld sculptures. (Bottom) Marietta Children’s Choir performed at Peoples Bank Theatre. (Right) Marietta College Adjunct Instructor Carolina Alvarez portrayed Margaret Blennerhassett during her one-woman show.

travels and her life as the wife of Harman Blennerhassett, as well as calls upon an audience member to join her onstage to give him a lesson on “fanology,” also called “fan language” — a set of gestures a lady can make with her fan to send private messages to someone in her presence. From a wide open fan — which signals “wait for me” — to a closed twirling fan — signaling “I wish to be rid of you” — Blennerhassett spent about five minutes giving her onstage guest and the audience a lesson on the secret language.

After her first of two solo shows — the second highlighting suffragist and abolitionist Frances Barker Gage — Alvarez is approached by the man and his guest to pose for a photo and to thank her for the show. Two of her students, Economics major XiRui Guo ’20 and Geology major Skout Barger ’20, were also in the audience to watch their instructor on stage.

“I thought it was really neat,” Barger says. “I’ve enjoyed seeing all the different types of arts that are here, and all of the artists are really welcoming and friendly.”

Alvarez loves to educate her audiences about historical figures by bringing their stories to life on stage.

“Events like this are very important,” Alvarez says. “The mission of the Brick Street Arts Bash is to bring the talents of the region togeth-

er and also to help highlight the importance of the arts — not only for students K through 12, but also in higher education and in everyone’s daily life. It was also important to Donna, Marshall and the students to bring visual arts, theatre, dance, and music to the area for free to make sure the day was inclusive, not exclusive. Everyone should be able to experience the arts.”

A

fter performing with the Marietta Children’s Choir, 11-year-old Amelia Schenkel was happy to have the opportunity to perform for the community in the newly renovated Peoples Bank Theatre.

“We worked really hard on the songs and it was really fun to do,” she says. “Most of us were pretty nervous. (The festival) is exciting because some people don’t get to see these kinds of things.”

For visitors entering the festival at the corner of Fourth and Putnam, the first images they come to include a giant yellow metal fish sculpture and other large pieces created by weld artist David Griesmyer, of Malta, Ohio. He is currently working on an art installa-

M A R I E T TA > 17

>

(Clockwise from top left) Artists were on display during the all-day festival. > Dancers from TRANSIT ARTS gave multiple performances throughout the day. > Grace Matombe ’20 sang gospel music as Sadie Johnson ’19 provided backup vocals and played guitar during a taping of PBS’s Songs at the Center. > Steven Moore ’13 and fellow musician Larry Hall performed a song for a large crowd.

tion that would start in Zanesville and follow the Muskingum River to Marietta. The pieces would include nine of the giant fish and 25-foottall buck and doe sculptures.

“When people first come up to one of my pieces, they assume it’s been cast. When I tell them it’s all been TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas) welded and that there is no frame — so I built them from the bottom up — that really gets their attention,” Griesmyer says. “They see it in a whole new way. I love what art can do.”

Music Education major Tabby Lewis ’17 was one of the chairs of the festival and spent the day checking on artists and supporting the many volunteers who staffed the events.

“My hope was to bring a positive experience to the community, and I think we’ve accomplished that,” she says. “These types of experiences really tie you to your community, so we wanted people of all

18 < S P R I N G 2 0 1 7

ages and all backgrounds to be able to have this type of enrichment.

Plus, it’s a good lead-in for arts advocacy.”

Steven Moore ’13, two-time National Banjo Champion, was happy that Kimball reached out to him about the festival. He performed for an hour on an outdoor stage at the corner of Front and Putnam streets.

“I’m happy to come back,” Moore says. “Marietta College has done a lot for me. It’s a great place to come, even if you aren’t planning to study music. You can still perform or be a part of the arts. A lot of my fraternity brothers were in the theatre while majoring in something else. Marietta College gives you many types of experiences.”

Grace Matombe ’20 and Sadie Johnson ’20 were part of a special PBS taping of Songs at the Center in the Peoples Bank Theatre. Four up-and-coming young musicians were invited to perform for the

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Marshall Kimball (far right) recognized the Brick Street Arts Bash planning committee, made up of Marietta College students, for their months of work leading up to the event.

show, which will air at a later date. Matombe, who is an international student from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, performed gospel songs she wrote with Johnson playing her guitar and providing vocals, as well. Johnson, a seasoned blues guitarist and vocalist, also performed original works for the show’s taping.

“Coming here, I could never imagine myself singing so frequently as now. It started in my church, the First Nazarene Church, then in the women’s choir,” Matombe says. “The first time I got to sing with Sadie was in Marshall’s church. Since then, almost every month in Marietta, I find new opportunities as singing the National Anthem for the basketball games, opening for Delbert McClinton with Sadie, winning the President’s Award and even more. Really, I am so grateful for this community that is able to help and believe in someone’s gift even more than the person itself does. Coming to Marietta has certainly been the best choice I’ve ever made in my life. I love this community, I love my Congolese friends who always come and support me. I am very grateful, and I can’t wait for many other big things to come.”

By the end of the event, Kimball reflected on the entire process involved in making the Brick Street Arts Bash a reality for the Marietta area.

“The main original objective of this large project was to teach all our music majors how to truly be an advocate for the arts and how to show everyone how important arts are in the lives of everyone,” he says. “Anyone attending could see the joy, peace, love and unity that were present. The laughter of children, the smiling faces on the faces of all adults, the life in the step of all ages were all present. You could see a great mixture of all the ages at the concerts, at the painting tables, at the dance demonstrations, at the concerts. When the Transit Arts Music and Dance Group — a bebop and hip-hop group — gave their performance in the Peoples Bank Theatre, the most enthusiastic parts of the audience were the older generation in attendance.

The arts transcend all age divisions. The Brick Street Arts Bash was a smashing success in its principal goal and many others as well.”

As for the many Marietta College students involved in the planning and working the event, Collins had high praise.

“Our music education students can go into the workforce today saying that they truly developed and executed a full regional arts festival and that they have experience collaborating with artists, local government and the mayor’s office, vendors and volunteers,” Collins says. “Not many music education majors can say that.”

M A R I E T TA > 19

Scorebook PIONEER

AT H L E T I C N E W S

Straight balling!

NATE KNOBEL

WOMEN’S TEAMS TAKES GIANT STEP FORWARD IN REVITALIZING PROGRAM

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Jordanna Rauch ’17

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“I’m so proud of what we accomplished and I feel like we have a special place in the program’s history. But I don’t want this to be the end. I want this to be the beginning of many great seasons to come.” — Jordanna Rauch ’17

J

ordanna Rauch ’17 shifts her weight in her seat, and her eyes begin to water as she tries to talk about the 2016-17 women’s basketball season.

Rauch knows she was part of something bigger than herself … and she hopes the beginning of something even greater.

“This is the start of it,” she says, wiping a few tears away. “I know it is.

Unfortunately I don’t feel like my first three years were; but I think with the people in this program, women’s basketball at Marietta is on the verge of something great.”

Under first-year coach Kole Vivian, the program definitely reached new heights. After 21 straight seasons with a losing record — averaging 7.4 wins and 18.4 losses — the Pioneers finished fourth this year in the Ohio Athletic Conference and reached 16 victories.

It was the first winning season since the 1994-95 team went 13-12.

To put that into perspective, Rauch was born a few weeks into that season. Marietta’s 16-11 record is tied for second most wins in program history with the 1986-87 team. The 1989-90 team, which was led by All-American Cathy Clark ’90, has the school mark at 20-7.

“This was by far the most fun of any season I’ve had playing basketball at Marietta College,” says Brooke Borich ’18, daughter of Cathy (Clark) Borich. “Our chemistry was amazing, and we all just wanted to win that bad.”

Following a 79-65 loss to Ohio Northern on Jan. 7, the Pioneers’ record had dropped to 7-6 overall and 1-5 in the OAC. Instead of fulfilling the promise and expectations that the coaching staff saw in the preseason, Marietta was playing uninspired.

That’s when Vivian did some of his best coaching and Marietta went on an 8-4 winning streak to close out the regular season. The run included five consecutive victories from Feb. 1-15 over Mount Union (76-62), Heidelberg (76-71), Capital (64-48), Wilmington (57-42) and Muskingum (74-67).

“The big on-the-court turnaround was at Mount Union,” Vivian says.

“We were down nine with five minutes to play and we had a big rally to win. … After that Mount Union win, we started to believe a little more.

We played really well in February and I think the teams in the OAC started to take notice.”

The season took a tragic turn during winter break when star point guard Amisha Herd’s brother, Shey, 22, was killed in a car accident.

Herd ’18 missed a few games, but her teammates and coaches helped her cope. Herd and her cousin, Jo Herd-Middlebrooks ’19, also added the “Shey Way” on their shoes to remind them to put the team first.

“The whole team contacted me and helped me get through it,” says Herd, an Athletic Training major. “He would be so mad at me if I quit basketball or didn’t work hard. Coming back to the team gave me some sense of normalcy.”

It also seemed to bond the team as it closed out the season on a hot streak, and earned a first-round bye in the OAC Tournament. In the quarterfinals, Marietta dominated Capital for an 89-64 win — the first postseason win for the Pioneers since a 65-49 victory over Heidelberg in 1996.

TOP 5 SEASONS Season

Record

Winning %

1989-90. . . . . . . . 20-7. . . . . . . . . . .741 1974-75 . . . . . . . . . 9-4. . . . . . . . . . . .692 2016-17. . . . . . . . . 16-11. . . . . . . . . . .593 1986-87. . . . . . . . . 16-11 . . . . . . . . . . .593 1985-86. . . . . . . . 14-10. . . . . . . . . . .583

“One of our goals this season was to get a home OAC Tournament game,” Vivian says. “We were picked to finish ninth at the start of the season, and that fired up our team. The highlight of the year was getting that game and beating Capital. In the first half they hung with us, but in the third quarter we put it on them.”

Borich, who is majoring in Accounting, said the players could barely contain their emotions after the Capital win, especially in front of a nearcapacity crowd that was on hand to watch the women play before the men’s game.

“Beating Capital like that at home in the tournament was huge,” Borich says. “This is what all of us on the team have been talking about doing. This is the first season that we’ve had that is very successful and we want to keep getting better.”

The season ended on what many of the players believe was one of their best performances. Vivian’s team put a scare into nationally ranked and previously undefeated Ohio Northern two nights later, but came up one point shy of the upset — losing 61-60. Five days earlier, in the season finale, Ohio Northern crushed Marietta 82-43.

“We had a chance with six seconds left to get the win,” Rauch says.

“We played so well, and we were playing like a team that wanted to get that win.”

Now Rauch will watch to see if what the 2016-17 team accomplished really is the beginning of a resurgence. She plans to attend games and watch her sister, Katie, who will be a freshman on the team this fall.

“I’ve already told her and my teammates that I expect them to be better than we were this season,” says Rauch, who earned a degree in Information Systems this year. “I’m so proud of what we accomplished and I feel like we have a special place in the program’s history. But I don’t want this to be the end. I want this to be the beginning of many great seasons to come.”

TOM PERRY

M A R I E T T A > 21

Scorebook PIONEER

Still talking M

oments before Duke and Notre Dame tip off in the ACC Basketball Championship in March, Bill Rosinski ’75 took a moment to make sure he was ready.

Bill doesn’t miss a beat as he does the ESPN radio broadcast from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Working alongside color analyst Bob Valvano, the veteran play-by-play announcer gets the final call on Duke’s 20th ACC tournament championship.

“This is what I’ve wanted to do since I was 7,” says Bill, who grew up in Tonawanda, New York. “I remember in the early 1960s, my dad bought a reel-to-reel recorder. I’d take that thing and pretend to be calling a game.”

More than 40 years after he graduated from Marietta College with a degree in Radio and Television, Bill is still considered one of the best play-by-play guys in the business.

“He has emerged as our No. 1 college football play-by-play guy,” says ESPN’s Executive Producer John Martin. “He’s recognized in the industry for being passionate, professional and talented. He’s also multitalented, which means he can do basketball, golf or the NBA. I don’t think we’ve had him do baseball, but I’m sure he could.”

Bill joined ESPN Radio in July 2009 as the play-by-play commentator for college football and basketball broadcasts. During the same year, he started calling golf for the PGA Tour Radio Network.

This was after an already illustrious broadcast career that had included stops as the Voice of the Atlanta Falcons (1992-94) and the Voice of the Carolina Panthers (1995-2004), as well as calling NFL and college basketball games for Westwood One Radio (2005-09).

“I always wanted to do play-by-play for a team,” Bill says.

“I found out about the Falcons and I was able to get that job.

Then the team changed radio stations and someone contacted me about the Carolina Panthers. I sent out some feelers and became the Voice of the Panthers for 10 years.”

His time with Carolina landed him his first Super Bowl as a play-by-play announcer in 2004. “That’s easily at the top of my list of best career moments,” he says. “The week went by so quickly and it was a great game, even though the Panthers lost.”

Bill and his wife, Jane Kading Rosinski ’75, still reside in Charlotte, North Carolina, and he says Panthers fans still 22 < S P R I N G 2 0 1 7

remember the call he made when Carolina defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship.

“I said, ‘Yes, Charlotte, there is a Super Bowl and we’re in it,’ ” Bill says.

Bill and Jane, who is his statistician at games and who drives the golf cart when Bill’s covering a PGA event, have traveled the world because of his job. They have two adult sons — Greg and Bobby — and both agree that not having a typical 9-to-5 job has suited them well. Bobby has even followed in his father’s footsteps and has a radio show on an ESPN affiliate in Charlotte.

“It has been a great opportunity for us,” Jane says. “I love sports. It keeps me totally involved in the game and I enjoy the people.”

While they knew each other as classmates at Marietta, they didn’t start dating until after college. Bill’s first professional job with was WMOA-AM 1490 in Marietta, while Jane was teaching and coaching at Waterford High School.

“Once we got married, we were going to (Ohio Athletic Conference) games and I helped him keep the stats,” Jane says.

“When he went to the Falcons, I started doing stats for all of the home games. It’s a great way for us to spend time together.”

ESPN hired her part-time to help Bill at games, and they have worked together at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the British Open at St. Andrews’ Royal Troon. Still, some of Bill’s fondest memories are from the time he spent at Marietta.

“I remember talking with (former basketball coach) Phil Roach after a game and using it on WMOA,” he says. “The thing that was great about Marietta back in those days is you got a chance to do everything.”

As a freshman, Bill was running a camera for the student TV station and was a DJ on the student radio station.

“If you go to a Syracuse or another major school, you might be lucky to do that when you’re a senior,” he says. “I was able to experience and try things in the business at a young age — to find out if this is really going to be my career. Marietta was great.”

TOM PERRY

ROBERT CRAWFORD

ESPN’S BILL ROSINSKI ’75 REMAINS ONE OF THE BEST PLAY-BY-PLAY ANNOUNCERS GOING

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Bill Rosinski â&#x20AC;&#x2122;75 (right) on press row at the ACC Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Basketball Tournament with ESPN colleague Bob Valvano.

M A R I E T T A > 23

Developments

A D VA N C EMEN T N EWS

The healing gift of music ALUMNI COUPLE’S DONATION INSPIRES MUSIC THERAPY PROGRAM AT MARIETTA

I

t was a call Sadie Johnson ’19 will never forget.

Ritters also initiated a $500,000 matching gift challenge to support Over the winter break, Sadie was at her home near the department over the next five years.

Indianapolis when Don Ritter ’81 — a fellow musician she “We have to go through the accreditation process with the Ohio met during her freshman year of high school — called to Department of Higher Education, the Ohio Music Therapy give her news she had been waiting to hear for many years.

Association and the American Music Therapy Association,” says “Don calls and says, ‘Alright (Don and his wife, Leslie Straub Marshall Kimball, Associate Professor of Music and Chair of the Ritter ’85) just donated a million dollars to Marietta College for Department. “What the College will apply to offer is a Bachelor of a music therapy program. Merry Christmas.’ I was a sobbing Music in Music Therapy, which would be accredited through three mess,” she says. “My entire life, I have never done anything by the different organizations. It could eventually lead to a master’s probook. I’m a female blues guitar player. The gram as well.” thought of being here as the music therapy Marshall says the Ritters have already program is developed is the coolest thing provided a great deal of support to the muI’ve ever done.” sic department by donating dozens of highDon, who works in the oil and gas inquality instruments and equipment. dustry, and Leslie, who is a principal for a “This gift is transforming the arts at consulting firm that specializes in executive Marietta College,” says Dr. Janet Bland, coaching, merger integration and execuProvost and Dean of the Faculty. tion of human resource strategy, committed Music therapists have to be proficient in If you would like to participate in the $1 million to the College to support the guitar, singing, acting, voice, piano, percusmatching program, please contact Angela Anderson, Vice President for Advancement, at creation, staffing and facilities for a Music sion and a principal instrument, Marshall aa001@marietta.edu.

Therapy major. The College is in the final says. stages of hiring a faculty member, who will “Plus, the major also has a strong psyMusic Therapy is an allied health profession that uses music interventions during teach one course in the fall and also design chology component, so that department will therapeutic treatment for a patient’s physical, the academic program. also be involved,” Marshall says. “This is an emotional, cognitive and social needs. In The College will enhance the McKinney unbelievable gift and I can’t thank Don and addition to hospital settings, music therapists also work in nursing and rehabilitation building this summer to add a fully Leslie enough for their generosity. This is facilities, hospice care and schools. equipped recording studio and transform going to help so many people.” the radio station to include Music Therapy The Ritters knew the program would observation studios. Don says the College will also be able to incorbe successful after a feasibility study was completed for Marietta porate the television studio into the program, as the Ryan Seacrest College by Ohio University’s music therapy program.

Foundation has established several radio and television studios in “OU’s program is full,” Don says. “I really think that, with the hospitals around the country in support of music therapy. These right amount of promotion and a quality faculty member leading facilities could provide Marietta an advantage in the world of muthe program and the right facilities, there should not be a reason sic therapy education. The studio and practice space will be open why this program couldn’t grow.” Don says. “Ninety percent of the to non-music majors to help promote a “live music” culture. The music therapists are female. This campus needs help with that layer

24 < S P R I N G 2 0 1 7

NATE KNOBEL

of diversity. This is a growing field and a perfect platform to further distinguish Marietta as an institution providing the graduates needed in the coming years.”

Marshall says his phone began ringing as soon as the announcement was made about Don and Leslie Ritter’s donation.

“The music world is pretty connected,” Marshall says. “The first calls I got were from people interested in filling the position. I started getting calls from high school students wanting to know more about the proposed major. And then the hospitals, hospice and nursing homes started calling.

Forty percent of OU’s music department are music therapy majors. But none of them stay in this region once they graduate.”

For Don, the idea to establish a music therapy program at Marietta developed organically. Having had a successful career in the oil and gas industry, Don also maintained his love of music. About 12 years ago, while looking to purchase a custom amplifier for an electric guitar, he met a fellow musician who also built amps on the side.

“A year later, we started a company called Category 5,” Don says.

“We’d decided that we’d give the money we’d probably never make to charity. Lo and behold, we started doing that and, interestingly enough, some pretty good guitar players started to play them.”

That top talent includes Joe Bonamassa, Gavin DeGraw, Chris Rodriguez, Keith Urban, Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift Band, Brad Paisley, The Allman Brothers, The Kenny Chesney Band and numerous other respected musicians in the industry. During Category 5’s early days, Don became involved in Blue Star Connection, a charity that provides instruments to seriously ill children and young adults, hospitals and music therapy programs.

“We’ve donated instruments to 54 music therapy programs and I have personally delivered instruments to about 30 of them,” Don says. “I have interacted with music therapists, watched what they do, talked with the doctors and got real insight to how having access to instruments affects the kids.”

About the same time Category 5 was taking off, Don met Sadie while she was performing with her sisters at a music festival.

“I had seen her over the years at this festival and I started to get to know her,” he says. “I talked to her about what she wanted to do and she said she was going to skip college and tour. She was already doing that — she was touring Europe as a guitar player. But knowing a lot of musicians from my other business, I told her that she really needed a Plan B if she was going to be a lifelong musician, and one that could transcend the performance-only world. And while she was an accomplished guitar player already, Marietta has also transformed her singing.”

>

Don Ritter ’81 speaks to students and faculty about the proposed music therapy major, which is being developed after Ritter and his wife, Leslie Straub Ritter ’85, made a generous donation to the College.

Sadie recalls that conversation and how Marietta College was brought into it.

“Don asked me, ‘Have you thought about college?’ and my reply to him was, ‘No way, I’m going to be a rock star,’ ” she says. “But he persisted and told me about Marietta, where he went. He said, ‘I want to start a music therapy program there and I want you to be the first to graduate from it.’ That’s a lot of blind faith in me. Of course, my dad was standing there and said, ‘Yes, sign her up.’ I fought it until my first visit here.”

Her volunteer work over the years with Blue Star Connection has solidified her decision to take her musical talents to a different level. She has worked with new music therapists to show them how electric guitars can benefit their therapies because they are lighter, easier on the fingers and are easier to make neat noises with than acoustic guitars.

“To think how many people we’re going to impact — students, patients and the community — this is exactly what we’re supposed to be doing,” Sadie says.

GI SMITH

M A R I E T T A > 25

Marietta Moment

D EFI N I N G MEMO R I ES O F C OL L E GE L IFE

Take Me

HOME Country Roads

D

RIVING INTO SCENIC OGLEBAY PARK NEAR WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA, I’M THINKING HOW REMARKABLE IT IS THAT ALMOST 40 YEARS SINCE WE GRADUATED, 35 MARIETTA COLLEGE ALUMNI HAVE PUT ASIDE REAL LIFE

SCHEDULES TO SPEND A LONG WEEKEND TOGETHER. THIS COMPLEX-TO-PLAN ANNUAL EVENT STARTED ROUGHLY 30 YEARS AGO WITH A SMALL GROUP OF CLEVELAND-AREA GRADS WHO SUFFERED THROUGH BROWNS GAMES TOGETHER.

BIOGRAPHY Joe Quinn ’78 spent many great years as a TV anchor at the CBS affiliate in Little Rock before being unceremoniously tossed out by new station management. Like many old anchors he gravitated to politics ending up as Gov. Mike Huckabee’s policy director. The father of two teenagers is now in corporate affairs at the largest company in the world (Walmart), helping tell the company story to stakeholder groups across the United States. He still enjoys boring his wife and children with stories about college before cell phones.

26 < S P R I N G 2 0 1 7

Most of this group graduated between 1976 and 1982. All of the reunion attendees were Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity members when that house was a key part of the campus. Think of our little band of brothers as a throwback to the heart of the politically incorrect years on college campuses. We did not need safe spaces to retreat to; we preferred the library steps or the legendary downtown hangouts like the Time Out. My most ingrained memories of Marietta are the damp mornings when the fog rolled in off the river, the musty basement of Andrews Hall where we learned broadcasting, the professors who challenged us in ways that never happened in high school, and the absolutely perfect moment on a Friday afternoon when the weekend possibilities seemed endless. But above all else I remember the friends I’m about to see.

I finished a business trip in Washington and spent four hours driving here. As I put the rental car on cruise control and drifted through quaint West Virginia towns, I’ve had ample time to listen to The Michael Stanley Band and other groups that were the blaring soundtrack of Lambda Chi life. The old music brings back the smell of stale draft beer in The Pit, and the sound of local bands jammed into fraternity living rooms.

Bruce Kinney ’79, Bill Kingzett ’79 and Bill Corwin ’78 have been the keepers of the flame for all the reunions. They have bought supplies, planned menus, made deposits, rented cabins, arranged golf games, as well as created a T-shirt and soundtrack for each year. It is a staggering amount of work to organize all this, but it is work that has held our little group together.

>

Members of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity met at Oglebay Park for their annual reunion.

I’ve never made time to get to the reunion. For years I just passed, telling Bruce that it didn’t fit with babies or business travel or family events, but every year I heard from the soft spoken steel company executive saying it was time for me to come back. But now I’ve done that, and I’m slightly nervous about seeing the men I shared my bad haircut, bell-bottom years with.

When I step into the state park cabin, the first thing I notice is the pictures — thousands of them that have been slowly assembled over the years. They are blown up photos from our Marietta days that show us all as happy, laughing, thin young men with full heads of hair. The women we dated, or wanted to date, all look beautiful and young and captivating. It’s a magical look back in time to the cobblestone streets of the Marietta campus. Each picture has a story behind it, and as the cold beer is opened, one story rolls in to another, and we all drift back to the vivid tapestry of our youth.

The room is a cross section of American demographics. There are divorces, second marriages, there are two men who have lived through the loss of a child, and there are guys few would have expected to do as well in business as they did. There are knee and hip replacements to be discussed and old songs to be turned up loud. Some have grandchildren and some still have kids in high school. There are a few already retired. There are also toasts to the friends who passed too soon.

Do you have a defining Marietta Moment you would like to share?

But the single thing that unifies all of us is the genuine appreciation for what Marietta College and the Lambda Chi house gave us. I remember the classes at Marietta where patient professors taught us to ask the right questions, but just as important were the lessons we learned about life and friends, about pain and joy, about the magic of a fall afternoon when large stereo speakers were dragged out into the warm sun. Looking around the cabin, I understand with the harsh clarity of age, that all of those lessons were learned with these friends.

After much laughter and only slightly embellished stories, Thursday afternoon turns into Sunday morning in the blink of an eye. Sunday dawns as a stunning fall day as I point the rental car toward the Pittsburgh airport and back to the real world. I fumble to plug my iPhone in to the small car audio system to listen to Bruce Springsteen as I think about my son who, only four weeks earlier, became a freshman in college. He has joined a fraternity at a university far larger than Marietta. My hope for him is simply that he has college and fraternity friends he still wants to see when he is my age, and that he will feel the love for his school that I still feel for the little campus nestled against the Ohio River.

I also hope he has friends from the glory years who keep the flame in the lamp burning, and relentlessly put in perspective the simple things that really matter in an angry world.

Send us a description of your experience.

EMAIL: mariettamagazine@marietta.edu

MAIL: Editor, Marietta Magazine, Office of Strategic Communications & Marketing, 215 Fifth St., Marietta, OH 45750 M A R I E T T A > 27

Marietta will always be home Katie Plas ’17 Katie Plas ’17 is ready for the next phase of her life.

“Don’t get me wrong, if I had to do it all over again I’d pick Marietta College every time,” she says. “I love everything about it. But I’m excited about my future and how I will proudly represent Marietta College.”

Katie will earn degrees in both Petroleum Engineering and Geology, as well as a certificate in Engineering Leadership. She will join Chesapeake Energy as a Field Engineer on June 26, after interning with the company last summer. Prior to that, she interned for two summers with Southwestern Energy.

During her four years at Marietta, Katie was also able to travel to Dubai for a conference and was an EXCEL leader the past three years. “I cried at the end of EXCEL this fall. Every year you are adding family, and that experience has been a huge part of my development.”

With so many positive experiences under her belt, Katie didn’t hesitate when a classmate asked her to make a Senior Challenge gift for The Marietta Fund.

“Of course I said yes,” she says. “Marietta College has helped shape me into who I am today. This is always going to be home.”

To find out how You Are The Marietta Fund and make your gift today, visit www.marietta.edu/Give.

28 < S P R I N G 2 0 1 7

TH E L O N G BL U E L I N E > C L ASS NOTES Harvey ’56 and Madeline Winograd Krauser ’59 are happy to announce the birth of their first great-grandson, Jaxson Ash Xanthus, who was born on June 8, 2016. The couple have three children, six granddaughters, a grandson-in-law and now one greatgrandson. “My wife Maddy and I met at Marietta College and celebrated our 60th anniversary on Feb. 9th,” Harvey says. “We live in Boca Raton, Florida, during the winter months and Lee, Massachusetts, in the summer.”

Maurice Dion ’61 has recently moved to the Otterbein Retirement Village in Lebanon, Ohio. His mailing address is 4313 Oriole Court, Lebanon, Ohio 45036. Maurice and his wife, Judy, plan to spend the remainder of their days enjoying the campus atmosphere of the facility.

Almost 14 years ago, at the age of 60, Nancy Hoye Mufti ’65 retired after working for the federal government in the Government Accountability Office for 27 years. Nancy and her husband of 52 years, Abed Mufti, a Syrian American, live a quiet life in good health in Richmond, Virginia.

They maintain intense interests in current world affairs, reading the classics, currently the works of Victor Hugo, and classical music by listening and Nancy’s playing the classics on her grand piano each evening. Nancy has very pleasant memories of several years spent as the piano accompanist in the late 1950s and early 1960s for MC Singers, led by Professor Albert Gifford. She keeps in close touch with many of her friends from her days at Marietta and work in D.C. Nancy and Abed also keep in close touch with their son, who lives on the East Coast.

Alison Hyman Palmer ’69 (Alpha Sigma Tau) has retired from Custom Maid, a residential cleaning service that she founded in 1985, with her stepdaughter now running the business. Alison has been very active in the Association of Residential Cleaning Services International. She served as president of the association in 2008, 2010 and 2014. Once a year Allison gets together with Barb Mount Hartong ’69, Ernie Hartong

’71, Peggy Hosmer Perkins ’69 and Pam Murphy McGrath Sergey ’69.

This year, the group plans to meet in Charleston, South Carolina.

Robert Bruni ’76 was inducted into the San Diego Chapter of the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame on October 1, 2016. Bob has been involved with lacrosse in San Diego for four decades. He was previously named the San Diego County Lacrosse Coach of the Year while serving as the boys’ high school varsity head coach. He is currently serving as the vice president and member of the board of directors for the San Diego Chapter of U.S. Lacrosse.

Martin E. Santini ’78, ’88 (Delta Tau Delta) will be inducted into the MidOhio Valley Athletic Hall of Fame in June 2017. He spent 37 years teaching and 29 years coaching at Warren School District in Vincent, Ohio. He has previously been inducted to the Ohio Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame and the Warren High School Football Hall of Fame.

Gregg Nibert ’79 was awarded the 2017 John Lotz “Barnabas” Award at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Coaches Dinner at the National Association of Basketball Coaches convention during the Final Four weekend in Phoenix. This award is presented annually to honor a basketball coach who best exhibits a commitment to Christ, integrity and encouragement to others, and lives a balanced life.

Gregg recently completed his 28th year in charge of the Presbyterian College men’s basketball team. The winningest coach in the program’s history, Gregg has led the Blue Hose to more than 400 wins and compiled six 20-win seasons. He is the first men’s basketball coach in Presbyterian College history to reach the 300-win plateau, an honor he reached during the 2005-06 season after becoming the first to accomplish 200 wins in the 2000-01 season. He is also the only coach in the history of the South Atlantic Conference to coach a squad to the Sweet 16 of the Division II Tournament. Over the years, Gregg and his wife, Peggy, have provided foster care to 44 children.

In 2015, Leanne McCullough ’09 and her husband, Kemp Langhorne, moved to Stuttgart, Germany. Since then, they have enjoyed traveling and have welcomed many visitors, including two of Leanne’s Chi Omega sisters.

In January 2016, Kimberly Page ’08 visited, and together they traveled to Strasbourg, France; Salzburg, Austria; and Berlin, Germany. In November 2016, Virginia Hynes ’11 visited, and together they traveled to Budapest, Hungary; Vienna, Austria; and Prague, Czech Republic. (Left) Ginny and Leanne in Budapest, Hungary. (Right) Leanne and Kim in Strasbourg, France.

Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Air Force Combat Action Medal and U.S. Army Combat Action Badge. He is looking forward to a peaceful retirement from the military with his family in Colorado and many tight lines.

Don Southard ’79 sent in a throwback picture from Doo Dah Day 1978. “In the picture are Eric Rahnenfuehrer ’78, Case Weaver ’78 and Don Southard ’79. We were all members of the Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society, which was a big club back then for Chem majors. We were selling old chemistry glassware.”

David B. Tenney ’90 CPA and managing director of Tenney & Associates, in Marietta, Ohio, and Parkersburg, West Virginia, is celebrating 26 years with the public accounting firm. At the firm, Ryan D. Becker ’00, CPA, was recently admitted as a partner, Heather M. Peters ’08, CPA, was promoted to senior manager, Justin D. Tidd ’10 passed the IRS’s enrolled agent exam, and Kenneth D. Barth ’77 celebrated four years as an associate.

Lt. Col. (retired) John Matthews ’89, U.S. Air Force (Alpha Sigma Phi), has honorably retired from the U.S. Air Force after serving 26 years and three days. During his tenure, he completed two yearlong combat deployments to Afghanistan, where he earned many notable accolades that include a

Anthony Beck ’92 and his wife, Laura, recently celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary this past summer by taking a cruise to Alaska and spending a few days in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Anthony’s company, G & M Sales Group Inc., the largest team of independent sales agents in the pool and spa industry in Canada, is celebrating

M A R I E T T A > 29

T H E L O N G BL UE L I N E > CL ASS NOTES its 13th anniversary this year. Anthony and Laura’s daughter begins her freshman year of college this fall, with plans of studying health sciences.

Ryan Zundell ’93, head swim coach of the Marietta Marlins Swim Team, was awarded two marketing awards from USA Swimming in April. The Marlins won Best Use of Social Media and Marketing Club of the Year (1-150 swimmers) for their consistent social media strategy focused on unique and engaging content. Their series of Kickboard Confessional videos and the club’s “Try it and Like it” campaign

were extremely effective, creating 25 tryouts and 20 new members.

Melissa Varga ’10 has been selected to participate in the inaugural cohort of the Community Engagement Fellows Program at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The program aims to improve collaboration and community building in science. It will provide a year-long professional development opportunity to individuals who cultivate member engagement and collaborative relationships within scientific associations and research collaborations.

Alumni and friends from the East Texas Regional Association gathered for the annual Marietta College Alumni Golf Tournament in October at Cypresswood Golf Course in Houston to raise money for the College’s Petroleum Engineering Department. The event drew 80 participants and three new teams to the course, and raised $4,200.

Josh Hahn ’12 and Kylee Hamilton ’12 (Alpha Xi Delta) were married on Sept. 24, 2016. In attendance were many Marietta alumni, including groomsmen Chase Oberfield ’12, Conner Kilpatrick ’12 and Jordan Nichols ’12.

Logan Wern ’10 and Marco Aguiniga ’09 were married on Oct. 1, 2016.

Many members of The Long Blue Line were in attendance. (Pictured from back to front & left to right) Dan Holloway ’09, Jeffrey Kimble ’09, Jakob Loukas ’09, Joe Ropp ’09, Cory Parish ’10, Greg Geisler ’10, Jason Monk, Brenda Puckett Wilkerson ’10, Micho Aboukhaled ’10, Kimberly Nelson ’10, Sarah Hathaway ’10,’12, Holly Casto Booth ’10, Wes Casto ’09, Sean Wainwright ’08, Lyndsay Offenberger Monk ’10, Marco, Logan, Jennifer Valentic ’10, Katherine Knight Kimble ’09,’10, Ashley Weiss ’11, Hailee Stender ’10, Tom Fogle ’09 and Corin Bonnett ’11.

30 < S P R I N G 2 0 1 7

Recently, a group of former Marietta College administrators and faculty enjoyed brunch in Naples, Florida, when they were all in town for the week.

(Pictured from left to right around the table) Gail Iannotti (adjunct faculty 1974-80); Bob Walker (Chemistry faculty member from 1972-2009); Art Acton (History Professor and Associate Vice President, 1967-86); Mike DeWine; Sid Potash (business faculty member 1974-2012); Marilyn Potash ’72; Gloria Stewart (Director of Physician Assistant Graduate Program 2001-13); Sue DeWine (Provost 2000-07); Mary Ann Acton; and Jean Scott (President 2000-12). A combined 133 years of service to Marietta College were represented at the table.

TH E L O N G BL U E L I N E > I N MEMORIA M

IN

MEMORIAM

> 1940s Patricia Gray ’41 (Alpha Xi Delta) of Marietta, Ohio (12/20/16).

Clyde W. Campbell ’42 (Delta Upsilon) of Kailua, Hawaii (2/11/17). Survivors include his daughter, Cristina Campbell Rathyen ’69 (Chi Omega), son, Kim D. Campbell ’72 (Delta Upsilon), and son-in-law, Wayne M. Rathyen ’68 (Tau Kappa Epsilon).

Jeanette Calakins Hoffman ’43 (Chi Omega) of Sanborn, New York (11/11/16).

Barbara J. Calvin Edwards ’47 (Chi Omega) of Worthington, Ohio (1/22/17).

Michael C. Schotz ’47 of Santa Monica, California (12/17/16).

Charles T. Mindling ’48 of Indianapolis, Indiana (12/27/16).

Ruth Williamson Blauvelt ’49 (Chi Omega) of Parkersburg, West Virginia (11/27/16). Survivors include her daughter-in-law, Susan Voelker Blauvelt ’87.

> 1950s James E. Hart ’50 (Lambda Chi Alpha) of New Smyrna Beach, Florida (12/1/16).

Alfred E. Nicoletti ’50 of Wilmington, Delaware (11/8/16).

Glenn L. Shira ’50 of Manassas, Virginia (1/21/17).

Patsy Mulligan Costolo ’51 (Sigma Kappa) of Mount Dora, Florida (11/1/2016).

Myron D. Farley ’51 of Marietta, Ohio (12/6/16).

Melvin A. Grossman ’51 of Maumee, Ohio (10/7/16).

Clifford F. Holden ’51 of Marietta, Ohio (11/7/16).

Donald C. LeBlanc ’51 of Avon Park, Florida (5/16/16).

Sheldon E. Flaxman ’56 of Atlanta, Georgia (12/23/16).

Leo F. Follett ’62 of Ocala, Florida (4/8/16).

Garnet Wilhelm Stephens ’51 of Marietta, Ohio (12/12/16). Survivors include her daughters, Jane Stephens Auge ’76 (Chi Omega), Ann Stephens Ellis ’80 and Sarah Stephens Beard ’83.

Joseph V. Nowell ’56 of Marietta, Ohio (3/23/17).

Richard K. Lee ’62 of Lakeland, Florida (1/20/16).

Anthony L. Drapelick ’57 (Alpha Sigma Phi) of Simsbury, Connecticut (10/31/16). Survivors include his daughter, Barbara Drapelick Mitchell ’89 (Alpha Xi Delta), and son-in-law, David Mitchell ’90 (Alpha Sigma Phi).

Jane Callicoat Saluta ’62 (Chi Omega) of Charleston, West Virginia (12/31/16).

Edward L. Winslow III ’51 of Cincinnati, Ohio (2/27/17). Survivors include his son, Peter Winslow ’77 (Delta Upsilon), and daughter, Marcia Winslow Schnicker ’81 (Alpha Xi Delta).

Arlene Braun Cisler ’52 (Sigma Kappa) of Springfield, Ohio (2/1/17).

Julia A. Sheets ’52 (Chi Omega) of Parkersburg, West Virginia (3/15/17).

John E. Drummond E’53 of Weedsport, New York (4/16/17).

John D. Hamilton ’57 of Parkersburg, West Virginia.

L. Sue Mehlberg ’57 (Alpha Xi Delta) of Marietta, Ohio (12/13/16).

Oran R. Adams ’58 of Waterford, Ohio (1/7/17).

Nedra Harper Nokes ’58 (Alpha Xi Delta) of Willis, Texas (3/27/17).

Braden M. Nida ’53 of Marietta, Ohio (11/5/16).

William J. Blemings ’59 (Alpha Sigma Phi) of Winston Salem, North Carolina (1/18/17).

Mary Ellen Williams Golby ’54 (Chi Omega) of Washington, D.C. (9/2/16).

Bruce S. DeMoll ’59 of Vienna, West Virginia (10/12/16).

George T. Hepburn Jr. ’54 (Lambda Chi Alpha) of Montclair, New Jersey.

(11/15/16).

Ann E. Fortney ’59 of Marietta, Ohio (11/11/16).

Robert L. Modie ’54 (Alpha Sigma Phi) of Beverly, Ohio (3/19/17). Survivors include his wife, Sally Cowell Modie ’54 (Sigma Kappa), and son, Gary Modie ’79 (Alpha Sigma Phi).

Robert E. Schilling ’55 of Newark, Ohio (11/20/16).

Joan Johnson Woodring ’55 (Sigma Kappa) of Julian, Pennsylvania.

(12/18/2016).

Paul S. Cohen ’56 of New York, New York (1/3/17).

Everett G. Elder ’56 (Alpha Tau Omega) of Cary, North Carolina (3/31/17). Survivors include his wife, Sally Nesseltre Elder ’55.

George H. Gadbois Jr. ’59 of Versailles, Kentucky (2/16/17).

Kay Oesterle Loeffler ’59 (Chi Omega) of Sunnyvale, California (1/14/17). Survivors include her husband, Helmuth C. Loeffler ’58.

Nancy Jensen Gilroy ’63 (Alpha Xi Delta) of Spring Lake Heights, New Jersey (1/14/17).

Brian J. Illencik ’64 (Alpha Sigma Phi) of Ocean City, New Jersey (1/29/17).

Survivors include his wife, Barbara Bryan Illencik ’66 (Sigma Sigma Sigma).

Ernest J. Cejka Jr. ’65 (Alpha Sigma Phi) of Ormond Beach, Florida (11/21/16).

Peter J. Mitchell ’66 of West Newton, Massachusetts (2/21/16).

Burke G. Barker Jr. ’67 (Alpha Sigma Phi) of Woodinville, Washington (3/15/17). Survivors include his wife, Jeanne Capri Barker ’69 (Chi Omega).

Lee E. St. Clair ’67 (Delta Tau Delta) of Miami, Florida (6/8/2016).

Nancy L. Drake ’67 (Alpha Gamma Delta) of Rochester, New York (3/31/17).

Norma Greiner Doane ’68 of Parkersburg, West Virginia (2/3/17).

James T. O’Brien ’59 (Delta Upsilon) of East Haddam, Connecticut (11/1/16). Survivors include his wife, Patricia Kalafus O’Brien ’58 (Chi Omega).

Fredrick E. Hartman ’68 of Memphis, Tennessee (2/6/17).

> 1960s

> 1970s

Joseph R. Strain ’60 (Delta Upsilon) of Pharr, Texas (11/21/16).

Charles J. Alessi Jr. ’70 (Lambda Chi Alpha) of Hamburg, New York (12/8/16).

Nancy Richardson Schornstheimer ’69 of Columbus, Ohio (10/10/15).

Janet Rouff Richardson ’61 of Hendersonville, Tennessee (10/24/16).

M A R I E T TA > 31

T H E L O N G BL UE L I N E > I N MEMORIA M

IN

MEMORIAM

Keith C. Fletcher ’70 (Alpha Tau Omega) of Gardner, Massachusetts (8/5/11).

Pilar Gonzalez Moore ’70 of Fort Thomas, Kentucky (12/28/16).

Donna Giamportone Moseley ’72 (Alpha Xi Delta) of New Berlin, New York (1/14/17). Survivors include her husband, James E. Moseley ’72 (Tau Kappa Epsilon).

Bruce M. Campbell ’77 of South Fayette, Pennsylvania (1/1/17).

Survivors include his wife, Constance Lappa ’76 (Sigma Sigma Sigma).

Albert Prince of St. Petersburg, Florida (11/26/16). Survivors include his son, Frederick C. Prince ’82.

Herbert E. Rupp ’79 of Stuart, Florida (1/28/17).

>TRUSTEE EMERITUS

> 1980s

Margaret Smith Murray (widow of Emeritus Trustee Norman Murray) of Durham, North Carolina (3/7/17).

Eugene R. Anderson ’71 of Parkersburg, West Virginia (1/22/17).

Joy Giebell Noland ’72 of Pennsboro, West Virginia (1/28/16). Survivors include her son, Seth Noland ’05.

Stephen B. Ericson ’71 (Alpha Sigma Phi) of Palm City, Florida (1/27/17).

Michael J. Bresnahan ’74 of Youngstown, Ohio (3/14/17).

Lewis M. Le Blond ’82 (Alpha Tau Omega) of Cincinnati, Ohio (1/20/17).

Theodore K. Heller ’71 (Tau Kappa Epsilon) of Chalfant, Pennsylvania (5/12/16).

Richard E. Miller ’74 (Delta Tau Delta) of Hamden, Connecticut (12/10/15).

Survivors include his wife, Bonnie Merchant Miller ’73, brother, Bruce Miller ’69 (Delta Tau Delta) and his sister-in-law, Elizabeth Thompson Miller ’73 (Alpha Sigma Tau).

Larry J. Stoltzfus ’86 of Baton Rouge, Louisiana (12/31/16). Survivors include his son, Zachary Stoltzfus ’15.

Allen L. Miller ’71 of Marietta, Ohio (2/24/2017).

>FACULTY EMERITUS

Timothy J. Grubert ’89 (Delta Upsilon) of Eugene, Oregon (11/29/16).

Survivors include his sister, Katrina Grubert ’94 (Sigma Kappa).

Jay A. Runkel ’75 (Alpha Sigma Phi) of Ballston Spa, New York (12/9/16).

>ASSOCIATE EMERITUS Charles E. Hugel Jr. of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire (12/5/16). Survivors include his son, Jeffrey C. Hugel ’77, and granddaughter, Stephanie C. Hugel ’09.

>STAFF Gene E. Newlon of Lowell, Ohio (5/15/2017). Survivors include his daughter, Karley J. Newlon ’14.

Robert “Bob” Walsh ’62 1940—2017

Joel T. Wunnenberg ’20 1998—2017

Marietta College was saddened by the loss of Hall of Honor member Robert “Bob” Walsh ’62, who died in late January while traveling abroad on business. He was 76.

After studying in the newly formed Mass Media Department at Marietta, Walsh progressed professionally, becoming a well-respected name in professional sports, broadcasting and business. As a broadcast producer on the national stage, he booked shows hosted by the likes of Regis Philbin and NBA legend Bill Russell.

Russell later hired Walsh to serve as the Assistant General Manager of the Seattle SuperSonics. After leaving the team in 1976, Walsh began representing professional athletes and promoting major sporting events. He is credited for creating the March Madness celebration while serving as Executive Director of the NCAA Final Four Host Committee in 1984.

His ability to organize and manage quality sporting events allowed him to channel his gifts to help others in need nationally and internationally. In 1990, Walsh partnered with TBS founder Ted Turner and other agencies to produce the Goodwill Games. His work led him to travel to three dozen countries to coordinate events and establish nonprofit corporations that provide medical care, nutritional support, education and other community-supporting endeavors worth about $1 billion.

In addition to all of his national and international ties, Walsh remained loyal to his alma mater by volunteering his time to speak to classes and as an advisor to the College’s Athletics Founders Board.

The Marietta College community suffered a tragic loss earlier this year when Joel Wunnenberg died unexpectedly from a medical complication. He was 18.

Though Joel had only been a Pioneer for a few months, he made a lasting impact on campus. In addition to being a Petroleum Engineering major, a McDonough Scholar and member of the Pioneer football team, Joel was active in community service, particularly with the Humane Society of the Mid-Ohio Valley.

To honor his memory, the Pioneer football team will retire Joel’s No. 38 jersey for the upcoming season and helmets will display a sticker with his number.

“He did everything right, even when no one was watching,” head coach Andy Waddle says. “He had courage and discipline — everything you want in a player. It wasn’t about the glory for him; it was about the brotherhood and the team.”

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Marietta College unveils new branding strategy

M

arietta College has a story to tell — and it’s yours.

Last spring, Marietta began working with Creosote Affects, a strategic marketing firm that specializes in higher education, to develop a plan to improve the College’s marketing efforts. In February, the firm’s principal, Joe Cliber, and lead writer, Barb Ruppert, made a presentation to campus that unveiled the strategy and the theme, “Bring forth a Pioneer. This is the time. This is the place.”

Over the course of nearly a year, Creosote met with various groups on campus, conducted surveys and also reviewed current College admission and alumni marketing materials. In addition to rolling out a new strategy on how to best share Marietta College’s story, Creosote also provided a brand guide to help establish language and visual identity parameters.

“There is a huge difference between marketing and branding. People are the brand; you are the brand,” Cliber told the students, faculty and staff attending the meeting. “What marketing does is open up a sight of view to what you do and how you serve your audiences. It’s simply a window to allow others to see what you do. Marketing can be the oceanfront window, and we can show you that beautiful view; or we can spin around and show you the Dumpsters behind the building. Marketing plays a role in making sure we’re creating the best view.”

President William N. Ruud says the new strategy will help the College better connect with alumni and students, and he’s excited about sharing those stories to a broader group.

“What’s important to understand is that the Marietta College brand is who we are,” Ruud says. “Our logo depicts Erwin Tower. Our brand strategy is how we tell the story. Our audience — whether that is our alumni, faculty, current student or prospective student base — will become accustomed to hearing ‘Bring forth a Pioneer. This is the time. This is the place.’ What we have done, with guidance from Creosote Affects, is to establish the elements of our brand story.”

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NATE KNOBEL

> T H E P RO G RESSIVE PIONEER

Bill White ’78 GOVERNOR APPOINTS ALUMNUS TO PLAY A KEY ROLE IN THE OHIO ARTS COUNCIL

> “My job is to empower all types of people to bring their talents forth. I look forward to representing the people of Ohio, especially southeastern Ohio, in a great cause that draws a straight line between all art forms and economic development in Ohio and beyond. The return on investment is well documented and reaches every corner of our state. Whatever we can do to encourage arts in education and in our communities enriches us all.”

B I O G R A P H Y: For Bill White ’78, music has always been a creative

expression in his life, believing that the common denominator of art is that it comes from imagination, a human expression. This year, White was appointed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich to serve on the Ohio Arts Council’s Board for a two-year term. White is the co-founder of Offenberger & White, Inc., a Marietta-based marketing consulting firm that serves local, national and international clients. White, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps who served in the Vietnam War, is actively involved in the music scene as performer and songwriter. He is the keyboardist for his classic rock band, The Fossils, a performer with the acoustic group, JW3 Trio, and plays the air calliope in local parades and festivals.