Women’s Studies Celebrates 20 Years with a New Name and Focus
t ex N I es Its loyd S IN duc ny F o ro nt nt, T I U e MH resid P
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The Magazine of Mars Hill University | Spring 2018
MAGAZINE STAFF: Editor: Teresa Buckner, Director of Publications Associate Editor: Mike Thornhill ’88, Director of Communications Additional Contributors: Rick Baker, Sports Information Director Kristie Hollifield, Media Services Dr. Ann Peiffer, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Coordinator of the Women’s Studies Program
President’s Leadership Team Dr. Dan Lunsford ’69, President Dr. Carol Boggess, Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Grainger Caudle, Executive Director of Planning and Auxiliary Services Bud Christman, Vice President for Advancement Samantha Fender, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications Dr. Joy Kish ’82, Assistant Vice President for Human Resources & Strategic Initiatives Rev. Stephanie McLeskey, University Chaplain David Riggins, Director of Athletics Neil Tilley, Vice President for Finance and Facilities Management Mindy Bliss, Interim Associate Vice President for Student Development and Dean of Students
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Mars Hill [mahrz hil] noun 1. A site in Athens, also known as the Areopagus, where Paul used persuasive reason and logic to preach Christ to the intellectuals of first-century Greece, as detailed in Acts 17:21 of the Bible. 2. A town in the mountains of North Carolina known for the beauty of its surroundings and its welcoming, small-town atmosphere. 3. A university in the town of Mars Hill which strives to provide the best in liberal arts education for its 1200-some students. 4. A concept (esp. for faculty, students, staff, and alumni of Mars Hill University) signifying that place where faith meets reason, to lay a foundation for a life of character and compassion. Mars Hill, The Magazine of Mars Hill University is published regularly by the Office of Marketing and Communications. It is distributed, without charge, to alumni, donors, and friends of the university. Notices of changes of address and class notes should be addressed to the Alumni Office, Mars Hill University, P.O. Box 6792, Mars Hill, N.C., 28754. Phone 828/689-1102. E-mail alumni@mhu.edu. Letters to the editor and all other correspondence regarding the magazine should be addressed to the Office of Marketing and Communications, Mars Hill University, P.O. Box 6765, Mars Hill, N.C., 28754. Phone 828/689-1304. Fax 828/689-1105. E-mail tbuckner@mhu.edu. Postmaster: Send address changes to the Alumni Office, Mars Hill University, P.O. Box 6792, Mars Hill, N.C., 28754. Copyright 2018. All rights reserved. Cover photo: Dr. Ann Peiffer discusses a recent exhibition at Weizenblatt Gallery with artist Connie Bostic, whose artistic focus is the vulnerability of women, particularly with respect to their sexuality. The exhibition was sponsored by the women’s studies program and the art department. Background photo: A river scene from Daniel Boone Park in Boone, N.C. Photo by Kristie Hollifield.
In This Issue: Letter from the President................................ 4 Mars Hill Announces New President: Tony Floyd................................................. 5 Women’s Studies Celebrates 20 Years............... 6 Faculty Focus................................................. 8
Dr. Hal McDonald: A Journey Into Memory
Amazing Alumna Susie Hopson Shelton ’96......10
Standing Tall, On and Off the Court
Understanding Our Past, Shaping Our Future...13
A New Exhibition at the Rural Heritage Museum
Amazing Alumnus Bob Chenman ’71................14 Still Catching Waves Mars Hill Legacies..........................................16
Paying Tribute to Those Who Left Us This Year
Around Campus.............................................21 Student Athlete Lauren Hochstetler................22
First Team All American
Class Notes...................................................24
Mars Hill, the Magazine | Spring 2018 3
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
As this issue of Mars Hill, the Magazine is being prepared, the daffodils are blooming at Mars Hill. Spring is well underway and with some bittersweet nostalgia, I contemplate the half-century that Mars Hill has been so much a part of my life. Some 53 years after I first stepped foot on the campus, I have reached a time of transition in my long relationship with Mars Hill University. In the coming weeks and months, I will be preparing to depart the presidency of this grand old institution. As I have said before, I never dreamed I would one day be president, and I certainly never dreamed that my presidency would last for 16 years. As I write this letter, Tony Floyd, J.D., currently of Coker College in Hartsville, S.C., has been chosen and announced as the 22nd president of Mars Hill University. I am so appreciative of the hard work of the Presidential Search Committee and the Board of Trustees, who truly put their time, their hearts, and their prayers into seeking the very best candidate to take the presidential role. I am also appreciative of the positive things that were said about my tenure in the last issue of this publication. But now, as the transition has begun to a new administration, it is time to look to the future. I have found my time with Mr. Floyd most enjoyable. I am very impressed with his sincerity and his excitement about joining the Mars Hill community. And so, it is with great confidence that I prepare to turn over the office that has meant so much to me. I trust that Mr. Floyd will find, as I have, that Mars Hill continues to be a very special, transformative place. For 16 years, I have had a front row seat to watch as remarkable faculty teach remarkable students, who grow into remarkable alumni. I am impressed again and again by faculty, staff, and especially students, as they demonstrate creativity, hard work, and intelligence in all the endeavors of higher education. I feel a deep personal pride when they represent the institution so well in various ways off campus, and I am deeply thankful when they show compassion to the world, through projects to alleviate the suffering of those affected by manmade and natural disasters. As I’ve said before: this is the best job I’ve ever had, and I count it among the great blessings of my life. It has been my great honor to lead YOUR university. I look forward with joy and anticipation to a new stage in mine and Beverly’s lives, and I look forward to a new chapter in the long and wonderful history of Mars Hill University. I believe in the future of Mars Hill University, and that future is bright indeed.
Dr. Dan Lunsford ’69 President
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Tony Floyd Introduced as the Next President of Mars Hill University The Mars Hill University board of trustees introduced John Anthony “Tony” Floyd, J.D., on Friday, March 9, 2018, as the next president of Mars Hill University. Floyd will succeed Dan G. Lunsford, who retires at the end of the academic year. Floyd currently is executive vice president of Coker College in Hartsville, South Carolina, where he also serves as coordinator of the political science major and coordinator of the pre-law specialization. He will begin his position at Mars Hill on June 1. Speaking to a packed house in Broyhill Chapel, Floyd told the assembled students, staff, faculty, and community members that his “heart was pounding” with excitement over the opportunities John Anthony “Tony” Floyd the university presidency presents. “I want to encourage us to dream and to stretch,” he said. “I’m going to push -- I’m going to be here to nudge you forward, to ask you to stretch beyond what you think you can do, because that’s what I’m doing.” Floyd acknowledged the university’s commitment to the liberal arts, to its Christian heritage, and to offering to students a scholarly faculty from which to learn. “I can’t wait to get here and work with you to turn out these young people, citizens of the world -- citizens who can be responsible and be a solution to what our world face,” he said. Floyd will be only the sixth president of Mars Hill University since 1897. He praised the university community’s commitment to upholding its traditions. “Traditions are powerful at Mars Hill,” he said. “One of the traditions you have is that you don’t do this very often, and I’d like for you to keep that tradition. This is only the sixth time in 121 years. I recognize the responsibility that comes with that.”
And he paid tribute to the strong work of his predecessor, promising to build on Lunsford’s 16 years at the helm: “I give you my pledge today that we’re going to honor what you’ve done here and we’re going to keep going.” Lunsford promised to be of assistance in any way needed by the new president, but also promised to “stay out of his way,” saying he had “absolute confidence” in Floyd to be the next leader of the institution. Floyd was joined by his wife, Terry, and daughters, Olivia and Sarah. Floyd earned his bachelor of science degree in business management from the University of South Carolina, and his juris doctor from Campbell University. Following a 23-year career in private law practice, he joined Coker College in 2012 as vice president of administration and legal counsel, and was named executive vice president in 2015. His duties include serving as legal counsel and chief financial officer. He is responsible for strategic planning, endowment management, compliance, campus dining, facilities and grounds, student success, student and residential life, campus safety, and human resources. Floyd describes his leadership style as “focused on shaping the college campus experience for multiple constituencies.” Lunsford announced in January 2017 his plan to retire during the 2017-18 academic year, with the specific date dependent on the search for his successor.
The Floyd Family: Terry, Tony, Olivia, and Sarah.
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Women’s Studies The Lunsford YearsCelebrates 20 Years by Dr. Ann Peiffer
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Twenty years ago, five graduates earned the first interdisciplinary minors in women’s studies at Mars Hill College. The program offered students an organized curriculum to analyze and understand women’s diverse histories while exploring the relationships among sexism, racism, classism, and other kinds of discrimination. It was brought to the hill by six dedicated faculty members – Betty Powell (English), JoAnn Croom (biology), Beth One of the first women’s studies classes in 1998, with Durner (health/PE), Kathy Meacham (religion), professors Kathy Meacham (first row, left), Pat Verhulst, George Peery (political science), and Phyllis Smith and Betty Powell (both middle back row). (history). Over the last 20 years, as we have strived to provide a transformative, interdisciplinary helping the Center for Community Engagement experience that is open to all students, the program construct washable feminine hygiene pads, called has grown. We now include almost 20 faculty “MwaPads”, for their Haiti trip, bringing the “Ain’t I members on the program committee, and following A Woman” production to campus with the Office December’s graduation, 65 students have walked of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, responding to across the stage as a women’s studies minor. Connie Bostic’s art work on women’s vulnerability with the Weizenblatt Gallery and the art therapy Members of the program committee represent program, and discussing the diversity and impact the minor’s strongest resource and provide of Appalachian Nurses with the Judge-McRae students with a variety of role models exploring School of Nursing. their individual disciplines with a commitment to promoting equality and the stories and experiences As we move into the 2018-2019 academic year, we of women. Unlike most programs at MHU, women’s will have a new title: Women’s and Gender Studies. studies is not housed in a single department This name change better reflects what we teach in or discipline. Rather it embraces a true liberal our curriculum and general movement in the field arts perspective and coexists among several at large. We are expanding our program through departments across campus as an interdisciplinary enhanced interdisciplinary partnerships to reflect program. Some students find connection to the a larger global perspective and the intersection minor through a course in their major taught by of women’s studies with other marginalized someone on the program committee or by a strong identities. As before, our ultimate goal remains connection to advocacy and social justice. Many cultivating students who understand their own of our graduates have pursued social justice work personal agency to impact their own lives, their locally as well as globally. communities, and the social institutions in which they operate. While our programming changes year to year based on current events, we bring several events to campus each year. In the fall, the Clothesline One of the major projects of the women’s studies (WS) program is the Clothesline Project, which honors victims of domestic violence. Project, an offshoot of the national Clothesline Dr. Ann Peiffer, coordinator of the women’s studies program, is Project (www.clotheslineproject.org), is held to pictured at immediate left with Joyce Cody, Cheryl Conway, and Crystal Webb of My Sister’s Place. Recently, the program also raise awareness about interpersonal and domestic coordinated (far left) a drive to construct “MwaPads,” reusable violence. In the spring, we celebrate Women’s women’s sanitary pads, for women in Haiti. The pads make it History Month in March with several speaking easier for young women to continue to go to school in locations where disposable hygiene products are not available or affordable. events including at Tuesday’s chapel celebration. Pictured are (l-r): Deb Myers, Director of the Center for Community To celebrate our anniversary, this spring we have Engagement; Dr. Phyllis Smith, one of the founding professors for planned several exciting collaborations with the WS program; Dr. Peiffer; and student Storm Cash. various offices and departments. These include Mars Hill, the Magazine | Spring 2018 7
FACULTY FOCUS
Dr. Hal McDonald, professor of English, describes the personal journey that led him to research the intersection of literary theory and nostalgia. He is currently working on a book, to be titled, Ars Nostalgia: The Art of Happy Remembering. He will present his research at the “Interdisciplinary Conference on Nostalgia in Contemporary Culture” in Denmark in June 2018.
“What exactly was going on inside my head, I wondered, when driving past a swing set in a city park triggered an intensely sweet sadness that would rival a Schumann composition?”
When my youngest child left home for college a few years ago, I found myself overwhelmed with nostalgia. Since all three of our children grew up in western North Carolina, I couldn’t drive half a mile without passing some ball field or dance studio that held fond memories for me, and these confrontations with the vanished past left me curious about the precise nature of my complex
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and powerful emotional reactions to them. What exactly was going on inside my head, I wondered, when driving past a swing set in a city park triggered an intensely sweet sadness that would rival a Schumann composition? My curiosity set me off on a research project that has lasted the better part of four years,
Dr. Hal McDonald: A Journey Into Memory leading me to an exploration of the connections between literary theory and the psychology and neuroscience of nostalgia. My search began with the psychology of nostalgia, and I was encouraged to find that a handful of psychologists have, in fact, been conducting formal research on the subject since the late 1990s. This research has identified many triggers of nostalgia (e.g., sensory stimuli such as smell, of course, but also emotional states such as loneliness, boredom, “existential void”), and dispelled a general mistrust of nostalgia as an unhealthy attachment to the past by revealing many unexpected benefits to nostalgic experience (e.g., mood regulation, selfcontinuity, creativity). Psychologists in England have even created an inventory for measuring “nostalgia proneness” in individuals—a test I scored pretty high on, I freely admit. But while this research revealed a lot about things that make people nostalgic, and the effect that nostalgia has upon their mental well-being, it didn’t satisfy my curiosity about the mechanisms that actually produce the intense physical reactions associated with nostalgia. In other words, what sort of neurochemical cocktail was behind the feeling of nostalgia? This question led me to cognitive neuroscience, which deals with the biological processes behind cognition. It turns out that very little research has been done on the neuroscience of nostalgia, per se, but a great deal of research has been done on the neuroscience of both memory and emotion, the two faculties that work together to produce nostalgic experience. While I don’t pretend to understand how either memory or emotion “work,” my reading in these two fields of study has at least given me a glimmer of insight into what might be going on in our brains when we experience nostalgia, and it turns out that this process has unexpected connections with my own chosen field of endeavor, literature.
memory is constructive rather than reproductive. Whenever we retrieve a memory from our past, we don’t simply call up a file and hit the “play” button, as we would with a YouTube video, but construct it anew every time we remember it, very much like we construct a literary text such as a story, poem, or play. When we think of an autobiographical memory as a text, a second parallel between nostalgia and literature becomes apparent. Enjoyed strictly for its own sake, with no discernable “useful” purpose, nostalgia is arguably an aesthetic rather than a utilitarian form of memory, making a nostalgic memory more like a short story or poem than, say, a guide to car maintenance. Yet another parallel between literature and nostalgia involves the relationship between our memories of the past, and the emotions they trigger. We tend to think of our emotions as being secondary reactions to our conscious awareness of various stimuli in our environment (including our memories), but in reality the reverse is true. Our brain causes our body to respond to our environment, and then we become aware of the bodily processes set into motion by the response. As one neuroscientist describes it, our body’s physical reaction to a stimulus is an “emotion,” and our secondary awareness of the reaction is a “feeling.” The bottom line is that emotions are largely unconscious processes to which we have very little—if any—direct conscious access. The relationship between our constructed autobiographical memories—to which we have direct access, and our conditioned emotional responses—to which we do not have direct access, is very much like that between a writer constructing a text and the audience within whom he or she wishes to create an emotional response. It is only in the audience’s overt reaction to the text that the writer knows what that actual response is.
The first connection to literature comes from the nature of memory itself. Autobiographical Mars Hill, the Magazine | Spring 2018 9
Amazing Alumna Susie Hopson Shelton ’96 by Teresa Buckner
Susie Hopson Shelton ’96, Mars Hill University athletic hall-of-famer, is at a point in her career where she is arguably among the most well-known and successful women’s high school basketball coaches in North Carolina. Since 1999, when she took over as head women’s coach for Mountain Heritage (in Burnsville, N.C.), her Lady Cougars have gone 365-134. In the last seven years, the team has gone 171-17 and won seven straight conference and tournament titles. Most recently, the Lady Cougars reached the final four in the state playoffs before losing to North Wilkesboro, 51-48. And yet, two months ago, as MaxPreps upped the Cougar’s ranking to first, and as hopeful fans began counting down the days until the state playoffs, Shelton was deliberately putting the possibility of state rankings out of her mind. “I try not to think about it,” she said.
Susie and Jackie Shelton (both in gray shirts) intently watch the Lady Cougars.
“When I first started coaching, I was a worrier,” she said. Then, she realized that worrying about future games only made her nervous during the current game. And that has a snowball effect. “When I get nervous, it shows, and then the kids get nervous.” A much better approach, she said, is to take it one game at a time. “We’re just going to do what we do and do it right and hopefully it will pay off,” she said. “If we win a state championship, it would be a great memory, but I couldn’t care any more about those girls, or love them any more than I do now. They’re special to me, no matter what.”
photos courtesy of Keith McCurry, Welcome to the Pit Blog.
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That low-key, one-game-at-a-time philosophy, coupled with an obvious love for
Standing Tall, on the Court and Off “her girls,” has made Shelton a coach that is admired both on and off the court. “She’s a great coach but she’s an even better person,” said Joey Robinson, athletic director at Mountain Heritage High School. “Coach Shelton’s consistency, paired with her fierce competitive spirit, have really established her as one of the area’s best basketball coaches,” he said. Robinson called Shelton an “outstanding teacher of the game.” Her players understand their roles and as well as their coach’s expectations and demands before they ever hit the court, he said. “Coach Shelton is the perfect role model for our players and students,” Robinson said. “She has a firm understanding and belief in who she is and what she stands for in her daily walk. Her character is impeccable and she demands that her players represent our school in the same manner.“ Basketball success is something that has been a constant in Susie Hopson Shelton’s life, back to her days on the Lion’s basketball team, and even before, as a student and player at Mountain Heritage. In fact, when she graduated from Mars Hill College in 1996, she had been All-SAC all four years, she was the South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year, she averaged 19.1 points per game (the best in SAC history at the time), and she held MHC records for the highest scoring average in a season and the highest field goal percentage in a season and in a career. Given that history, and combined with a height that literally makes her a standout among women (she is 6’2”), perhaps it is surprising, disappointing even, that Shelton’s entrance into the game that would shape so much of her life began, not as a passion, but simply as a way to get exercise. “I became a diabetic in second grade,” she said. “My doctor recommended exercise, so my mom signed me up for basketball.” She describes her childhood in Yancey County as an idyllic one for a self-described tomboy: lots of rough play on the farm with two older brothers and male cousins, and lots of time shuttling to and from basketball practice. The time and the work paid off, though. By the time she graduated
Susie (#43) was a standout player for the Lady Lions in the mid-1990s. Photos from The Laurel, 1996.
from Mountain Heritage High School in 1992, she was “getting looks” from several coaches, including some at much larger institutions than Mars Hill College. She credits then-MHC women’s basketball coach Susan Blakely with bringing her to Mars Hill. “I went for a visit at Mars Hill, and Coach Blakely told me that I had a scholarship waiting if I wanted it. That made me feel like she really wanted me. Plus, I wanted to be close to home so that my family could see me play,” she said. “Bigger schools looked at me, but my comfort level wasn’t there. I think Mars Hill was where I was supposed to be. So, I went there, and I had four great years.” Soon into Shelton’s career at Mars Hill, Coach Blakely left and Sylvia White came in as women’s basketball coach. According to Shelton, Coach White was “a great lady,” who influenced much of her concept of what a coach should be. “Coach White really cared about us as people. She knew your family, she knew who you were dating, she knew what your grades were, she knew if something was wrong in your life. And she made basketball fun. She could be tough, but she made it fun, too.” Basketball took up a lot of Shelton’s time at Mars Hill. She tried playing softball her freshman year, but decided that one varsity sport was all she could handle. She did have time, though, to meet and begin dating her now-husband and fellow coach, Jackie Shelton. Although four years older, Jackie had taken off some time before coming to Mars Hill, so he graduated in 1995. The two got Mars Hill, the Magazine | Spring 2018 11
married in the summer of 1995, just after Jackie’s graduation and just before the beginning of Susie’s senior year. For a short period after her graduation, Shelton taught elementary physical education in Madison County Schools. But then, she tried out for—and made—a coveted spot on the start-up WNBA team, the Charlotte Sting. She only played for The Sting for one season, but it was an experience that she cherishes, even now. “It was definitely a different role for me,” she said. “In high school and college, I had always been one of the better players. And now, suddenly, I was backing up a two-time Olympic gold player, Vicky Bullett.” Shelton said her year with the WNBA taught her even more about the game, including what it’s like not to be the biggest and the best on the team.
As the boys got older, they were favorites of the players. Susie remembers that her players never seemed to mind ending practice with a game of “duck, duck, goose” or even being shot by the boys’ Nerf guns.
The Shelton family: (l-r) Jackie, Justus, Jesse, and Susie.
“Everybody thinks I’m a big woman, but when you get there, I’m just average size. The athleticism and speed of those women was phenomenal,” she said.
It was an exciting season, with lots of travel. Jackie came to all the home games and traveled with the team as much as possible. But then, Susie realized she needed a full-time job. And importantly for a diabetic, she needed a job with health insurance. She took a job as a physical education and assistant women’s basketball coach at Mountain Heritage. Two years later, in 1999, she became head coach, with Jackie as her assistant. Every basketball season since then, the Sheltons’ life has revolved around the gym, and that did not stop when they became parents to Justus in 2001, and Jesse in 2004. “We had a permanent playpen in the gym,” Susie said. “I would put a screen over the top so that the balls wouldn’t bounce in and hurt them.”
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Mothers, managers, and the players themselves voluntarily took turns babysitting, but Susie recalls stopping practice many times to go change dirty diapers. She also remembers stalking about at courtside, yelling commands to her players while a baby slept soundly in a carrier on her chest.
Looking back now, she realizes how much she has learned about coaching since she began. “I try not to get too fancy and overthink myself. Keep it simple,” she said. “Sometimes you can just put too much information in their heads and they just get bogged down. I want my kids to have freedom to play.”
And, like the best coaches in her life, she pays attention to all aspects of her players’ lives: boyfriends, prom, future plans, family, and grades. “I have expectations on the court, and I have expectation for the classroom too, because most high school kids are never going to play anything other than intramurals. And even if they do, when they get in college, they’re going to have to be disciplined enough to make the grades while they do play.” In 2004, Shelton was inducted into the Mars Hill College Athletic Hall of Fame for her history as a player at MHC, but she continues to build a coaching legacy in Yancey County. “I would like to think that the people I’ve coached against have respect for me as a person and as a friend,” she said. “And I hope the kids that played for me have positive thoughts and good memories, and when their daughters get old enough to play for me, I hope they think, ‘I’m glad she’s getting to play for her, too.’”
Rural Heritage Museum presents
Understanding Our Past, shaping Our Future This interactive exhibition, based on Cherokee language and culture, employs sound recordings as the basis for presenting a coherent Cherokee story in words, text, and artifacts. It was developed with Cherokee community input with the assumption that language shapes thinking. In creating the exhibit storyline, the project team used the Cherokee language to reflect inherent Cherokee values.
March 20 - May 27, 2018
The Rural Heritage Museum is open daily (except Mondays) from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and by appointment. It is located in Montague Hall, 80 Cascade Street, Mars Hill, North Carolina. From Asheville, take US 19 North to exit 11, then left on Rt. 213, 1.3 miles to the campus of Mars Hill University. (828) 689-1400. www.mhu.edu/museum. Admission is free. The exhibition is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, an independent federal agency, through a grant to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
Give to The Mars Hill Fund Mars Hill University has had a unique and lasting impact on the people of our region. There’s no better way to nourish that legacy than by investing in our “future alumni” through The Mars Hill Fund. The 1856 Society is a special circle of friends who believe in the mission of the institution, and invest in its future at the leadership level of $1,000 or more each school year.
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Amazing Alumnus Bobby Chenman ’71 by Teresa Buckner
When Bobby Chenman talks about surfing, it is clear that he’s discussing his passion. It’s more than an exercise; it’s more than a hobby. For Chenman, surfing is an art form. “It’s almost like you’re painting a canvas with your movements,” he said. “Conditions have to be just right. It’s something that happens with the wind and the ocean and the tide. Everything comes together at a certain point and it’s perfect free style expression. It doesn’t happen often, but it happens, and the energy is just unbelievable.”
ago, he was inducted into the East Coast Surfing Championships (ECSC) Legends Hall of Fame for a lifetime of dedication to the sport. “It’s been a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s been a great ride. I get to travel and meet some of the best in the world. I’m not as flexible as I was when 17 and 25, but I’m still having a lot of fun and it’s been a wonderful life.” A native of Virginia Beach, Virginia, Chenman grew up spending as much time in the water as possible. “The beach was in my blood and as a kid, I was in the ocean as much as I could be,” he said. “I learned all the water sports as a kid. At first, I learned to ride floats, and then I got my first surfboard at around 12. And from then on it was full speed ahead.”
Chenman knows what he’s talking about. Called the “Godfather of the Longboard,” Chenman has competed in 49 of the 55 competitions hosted by the East Coast Surfing Bob Chenman poses in his Virginia Beach home with one of Championships (ECSC), the many art pieces he has collected through the years. Right: Chenman the oldest running surf on the water, and with a few of the surf boards he has collected. contest in the country. So, how did a young He has competed man who spent so much time in the ocean end up numerous times in the Eastern Surfing Association (ESA) competition in Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, attending a college in the mountains of western North Carolina? and won the event twice: once in the senior men’s longboard division in 1994, and once in the grand “I had a neighbor who was a year older than me. He master’s shortboard division in 2005. He has was a sophomore at Mars Hill when I came there competed in five U.S. championships, placing third my freshman year. He lived up the street from me in 1999, in Oceanside, California. in Virginia Beach and we were always boyhood buddies. I had thought with him there, it would be As recently as 2015, he placed fourth in the Malibu a help to me in my freshman year,” he said. Longboard Invitational. And in addition to all that, he has traveled to and surfed in more exotic locations around the globe than he can count.
At 69, he is still one of the most well-known surfers on the eastern seaboard, and a few months 14 Mars Hill, the Magazine | Spring 2018
The irony of that decision was that not long after Chenman came to Mars Hill, his buddy transferred to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. But Chenman soon found that, “Mars Hill was the
Still Catching Waves greatest.” He loved the small school and he made many friends, among both students and faculty. Chenman already knew that he would have a job in the family scrap metal business started by his grandfather in Norfolk over 100 years ago. So, he did not feel pressure to choose a particular degree. He started out majoring in business, but soon found himself drawn to the religion department. “And that was kind of funny because I was the only Jewish person at a Baptist college,” he said, chuckling. “But I enjoyed the professors, I was interested in the topic, and I already knew what I’d be doing when I got out of school.” But enjoying Mars Hill did not prevent Chenman from continuing to get in the water as much as he could. “I’d strap my board to the top of the car, get some friends and take a road trip to the South Carolina beaches or the Outer Banks as often as I could,” he said. Chenman graduated in 1971 with a bachelor of arts in religion. And as planned, he joined the family business. Today, he continues to live in Virginia Beach with his wife, Janet, and he continues to be the owner of L. Chenman, Inc., in Norfolk. He said he enjoys the business, and he enjoys that it affords him the opportunity to travel and to pursue his passion for surfing. The business employs eight people and tries to be a good business citizen. “We’re not the biggest,” he said. “But we’ve got good customers and we treat them right and we treat them fair.” In addition to surfing, Chenman is a collector of art, most of which is surfing-related. He collected his first piece at 14 when he paid an artist who lived near him to paint a scene from a magazine. Since then, he has collected pieces of art and surfboards— which he says, are an art form—from all over the world. Recently, Chenman was invited to be a member of the Board of Advisors of Mars Hill University. He, with other alumni who are leaders in business, law, and education, will form part of the advising network of the university.
He is also considering selling the family scrap metal business and retiring, but he has no plans to give up surfing. He says it’s a great workout that keeps him young. In addition to the workout, he has another theory on how surfing promotes physical vigor: “It’s being in all that foam. There’s something about it that just energizes you,” he said. He plans to continue traveling and surfing for the rest of his life. “I don’t think I’ll ever retire from surfing. As long as I’m able to paddle out and stand up to catch waves, I don’t think I’ll ever stop doing that.” Mars Hill, the Magazine | Spring 2018 15
Mars Hill Legacies... Mars Hill, the Magazine normally profiles one long-time faculty or staff member in each issue who has left a legacy on the university. In the past year, however, the campus community has lost several people who were part of the ethos of Mars Hill, and whose memories live on through colleagues and students. It seemed fitting, therefore, to ask colleagues and students to express what these special people had meant in their lives.
Bob and Rachel Chapman Both Bob and Rachel Chapman were among my professors when I was pursuing my business degree at Mars Hill College. Bob Chapman was my teacher for business correspondence. Business correspondence was, for me, a necessary course on the way to my degree, but shorthand, taught by Rachel Chapman, was among my favorite courses. Those were the days when we had classes six days a week. I saw Mrs. Chapman six days a week, two hours a day, and as you may imagine, when I finished the course, I had a firm grasp of shorthand and how to use it efficiently in any business setting. I respected the Chapmans tremendously, as I did all my professors. Of course, I realized they were very nice people who cared about me as a student and an individual. But I would never have known, at that time, how much these two precious people would come to mean to me later in my life. After college, I worked in Burnsville and Arden for several years, and then in 1972, I came back to Mars Hill College as an employee in the business office. At that time, I got to know Bob and Rachel Chapman as colleagues. They, like so many faculty and staff of that era, represented the culture and the heart of Mars Hill College. My relationship with the Chapmans changed again in 1998, when I moved to Bailey Street, across the street from them. They were aging by that time, and I became involved in their lives as a neighbor: when it snowed, I would bring their paper or shovel their sidewalk; when they went on trips, I would pick up their mail at the post office, water their flowers, and “just look after things.” And they became my dear, dear friends. In 2005, I lost both of my parents, and I moved into my mother’s house, which was two doors down from the Chapmans. During those years, my relationship with the Chapmans continued to 16 Mars Hill, the Magazine | Spring 2018
grow. I would sometimes drive them to appointments in Asheville and we enjoyed “leisurely” lunches on those days. They were just so special, so kind, and so appreciative of anything you did for them.
Bob and Rachel Chapman, in 2016 (above), and during their early days at Mars Hill (right), in the 1940s. Read more about the Chapmans in the Fall 2012 issue.
Anyone who knew the Chapmans knew that there was a “properness” to them that was part of their personalities. For example, for years after I moved near them, Mr. Chapman continued to call me “Ms. Ferguson.” I asked them, please, to call me Naomi. Finally, after several years, he consented to call me Naomi, and in turn, I called them “Mimi and Poppi.” In many situations from then on, they introduced me as their third daughter (in addition to their daughters Susan Chapman Richardson and Melanie Chapman Vinten-Johansen). It was and is a title I cherish. Bob and Rachel Chapman were first my professors, then, my colleagues, my neighbors, my dear friends, and finally, my second parents. Their memory will always be dear to me, as it will to many who love Mars Hill College/University. Naomi Ferguson, retired staff, Human Resources
Vernon Chapman Vernon Chapman became one of my best friends after he came to Mars Hill College in 1969. He spent the early part of his career teaching and coaching in the public schools of Alabama. He came to MHC and directed the full-year internship for teachers before becoming chairman of the department of education, head of the teacher education program, and director of the Upward Bound program. He served with distinction and received the Outstanding Faculty Member award. His tenure at MHC extended from 1969 through 1987. His expertise in teacher education was recognized statewide, and he chaired the state evaluation committee for teacher education.
Vernon Chapman (above) in 1996 and (left) in the early days of his tenure at Mars Hill.
He returned to the public schools in 1987 as superintendent of Yancey County Schools, where he enjoyed the respect and love of students, teachers, and parents, as well as other school personnel and elected officials. He retired in 1998 after an extremely successful career. On July 19, 2017, he was recognized by Mayland Community College as a Distinguished Citizen, just three months before his death on October 19, 2017. Vernon was passionate about his family. He was married to “the love of his life,� Mamie, for 62 years, and he loved and admired his three children, Amy, Susan, and Michael, and their extended families. Family reunions were held often and were joyous occasions.
Vernon was a master storyteller. He could take any mundane incident and make it hilarious in the retelling. He did not exempt his friends or relatives from becoming the main characters in his stories. I was fortunate to work with Vernon from 1969-1984, but we maintained a close relationship beyond those years. He was a person of honesty, integrity, and deep loyalty to his friends. He was a dear friend, and I really miss him. Dr. John Hough, retired MHU professor of education Page Lee In 1956, I enrolled at Southeastern Seminary at Wake Forest and met a man named Page Lee, among many other students. Little did I know that he would be a large part of my life for 61 years. In fact he was, as a friend, a fellow teacher and scholar, and a fellow traveler. We studied for the same degrees in the same years at Southeastern, the Bachelor of Divinity and the Master of Theology. As fate would have it, we enrolled the very same year, in 1964, to study at Southern Seminary for the Ph.D. Then in 1976, I joined him on the faculty at Mars Hill College. We both taught biblical students: he, the Old Testament and I, the New Testament.
So I had a good vantage point from which to observe his life and work. I observed him in regional and national meetings of religion professors, where he was elected to leadership roles. He was a good leader within his department and in the college as a whole. Page was highly respected by the administrators and faculty at Mars Hill. He was an excellent departmental chair. Never do I remember a major disagreement within the department during the time Page was chair, and that was due to his good leadership. Mars Hill, the Magazine | Spring 2018 17
Mars Hill Legacies... Page Lee, cont...
Page was a gentle spirit; working with him was easy. That certainly made it more pleasant to teach together in the religion department. When your leader is considerate, life is always better. This also helped us all to be more productive in our work.
A recent photo of Page Lee (right), and a photo from the 80s (below).
Scholarship and teaching were important to Page. The church was crucial to him, both at the local level and the larger church. He wanted to put his theology into practice “in the trenches” in churches and in the region rather than just in the classroom or on paper. He did this by serving many churches as interim pastor. Page Lee made a mark on the college, the community, and the region, and he impacted the lives of many people, including my own. We will miss him greatly, but we will never forget him. Dr. Tom Sawyer, retired MHU Professor of Religion
Lloyd Moore In the year 1972, a new face appeared on the Mars Hill campus. This tall, friendly gentleman with a tremendous smile was Lloyd Moore, the new director of the Upward Bound program as well as the new assistant basketball coach for both the women’s and men’s teams. Lloyd was a lover of youth and basketball. Of course, the basketball teams immediately bonded with Lloyd and began to call him “Papa Smurf.” He immediately became dedicated to his Upward Bound students, going so far as to bail one out of jail and bring him to the campus for the Upward Bound program in the summer. (That student later was able to start his own business.) Once on a chilly trip with the group to the Brevard area he pulled off his own coat and handed it to a student who did not have one. A tremendous amount of success stories of students in the Upward Bound program can still be heard today. He made sure each student’s birthday was celebrated with a home baked cake. Once when there was a birthday celebration in the Upward Bound office, Miss Frances Snelson came to see
18 Mars Hill, the Magazine | Spring 2018
what was happening. Lloyd told her, “Miss Snelson, we’re just celebrating a birthday and the little time we’re celebrating we made up coming back from a trip (in snow) with the students and arrived at 3:00 a.m.”
Lloyd and Elaine Moore, photographed recently on their 65th anniversary.
Due to health concerns, Lloyd left Mars Hill in 1992. A heart attack took him from his beloved family on January 29, 2018. He will long be remembered by the students he served at Mars Hill on the basketball teams and in the Upward Bound program. He leaves a Christian role model and a legacy of success to all his students. Sylvia Murphey, retired staff, Adult and Graduate Studies
Jane Renfroe A hand-thrown ceramic dish filled with tiny seasmoothed pebbles, an iridescent snail shell, a rock from my beloved Blue Ridge, a tiny coast redwood cone, a clam shell carried along the Camino de Santiago all the way from the banks of Loch Linnhe in Scotland, and a pair of delicate whorled silver earrings: my own little treasures. Jane works with a student in the art studio in 2012 (above), and earlier in her career (left).
Almost five years since I graduated college, moved out of the country, then back, and then west across it, and all I have to do to remember Jane Renfroe is glance at my bedside table. I see her in the ceramic evidence of her tutelage, and the beautiful silver earrings she once made for me, right before my eyes. It is still so easy to hear her voice and remember our conversations. How do you sum up a life like hers? Can you? What I can say is this: Jane was a woman filled with love and beauty. The way she glowed when speaking about her daughters, grandchildren, and great-granddaughter could be the very definition of love. The gentle way she taught in that basement studio, the years of raising money through art for the Empty Bowls charity, and her drive to help others learn to build their own businesses—so much of her time was spent helping and loving others. The last time I saw her we spoke for well over an hour in her office. I was moving to Scotland the next month and had just a little while to visit a few folks in Mars Hill before I left. Jane was always quick to listen and ready to encourage. I can’t
remember everything we talked about but I know our subjects ranged from teaching techniques, to house renovation, to starting a business, to news about her family, and so many other things. Of her illness she spoke little, saying only that she had adopted the mantra of “keeping centered.” Those familiar with hand-thrown ceramics learn early to center clay on a wheel. It takes both strength and constant attention from the potter. A potter knows better than most that being centered takes work. Staying positive takes work. Jane was always so kind and positive, no matter what she was personally going through or feeling; she made the choice each day to positively impact those around her. She chose to greet the days with joy. It can be impossible to know the last words you will share with a person. That’s the nature of life, but I knew this conversation was important. I knew it would be at least a year before I could make it back for another visit. She hugged me tightly, promised to keep in touch, and as I was leaving to walk up the back steps of the studio, from her office door she called up to me, smiling that she was certain I would find a place to get my hands in the clay in Scotland. Of course I wasn’t able to; it was very remote, after all. But that is how I will always remember Jane: standing in the doorway of her office, smiling at me, offering her own kind of blessing, and assured in her faith that I would always find a way back to the clay. I firmly believe that the best way to honor her memory is to make the choice to center yourself. This does not mean being “self” centered, but rather making the choice to center your life around something greater. Learn to make something beautiful, or learn how to appreciate what others have made. Find a way that you are uniquely equipped to help and support those around you. Choose to live your life in a way that makes your presence a gift and balm to others. Sarah Wilson ’13, Occidental, California
Mars Hill, the Magazine | Spring 2018 19
Mars Hill Legacies... Walter Smith I most remember Walter Smith’s welcoming smile. No matter how busy he appeared to be (the fastest two-finger typist I ever saw), he would stop whatever he was doing and devote full attention to the issue presented at his always-open office door. His unwavering encouragement and forbearance made this shy yearbook photographer feel valued and appreciated. Mars Hill afforded opportunities I might never have realized at a larger institution. Walter was an expert photographer and master of both the bulky newsman’s Graflex camera in use at the time, and the somewhat spooky darkroom in the basement of Montague Hall. I’m pretty sure I spent more time down there than in the library, but paradoxically, this commitment motivated me to get more serious with my studies. I learned important lessons about dealing with people and situations from observing Walter. Whenever the inevitable frustrations and disagreements arose as section deadlines for the Laurel or Hilltop editions loomed, Walter would sooth ruffled feathers and propose a journalist’s reasoned way forward with clarity and efficiency. Over the years when faced with a dilemma or conundrum, I would often find myself wondering “what would Walter do?” In reflecting on my years at Mars Hill, I now appreciate the extent to which I was being nurtured by beneficent “aunts and uncles” (the legendary Mars Hill family). I recall with humility and gratitude Uncle Walter’s impact on my life and career, but of course, I was only one of many so blessed.
A recent photo of Walter Smith (above), and a yearbook photo (right) from the 80s. Read more about Walter Smith in the Fall 2015 issue.
Ted Ellmore ’70, Blacksburg, Virginia
Arthur Wood
A recent photo of Art Wood above, and a photo from earlier in his tenure.
20 Mars Hill, the Magazine | Spring 2018
I met Art Wood in mid-March 1973 when I came to interview for a position within the mathematics department. At that time, Emmett Sams, Nancy Medford, and Art were the veteran members of this department. All three enjoyed long careers here as they were superb classroom teachers. Art Wood’s history with the town and college began in 1931. That year, his father, Vernon Everett Wood, joined the science department of the college, and taught chemistry here until his retirement in 1964. All of Art’s pre-college, formal education, was with the local public school system. After high school, Art was a member of the Army Air Corps (navigator) during World War II. After completing his military service, Art Wood and Joyce Allen were married on June 1, 1945. Their four children [Bob ( career officer: U.S. Navy), Mary ( industrial engineer), Jean and Joan (career educators)] all received bachelor’s degrees from
Art Wood, cont...
Mars Hill College, and all had professional careers. Joyce Wood died of cancer in 1998. Upon receiving his B.S. degree from the University of Tennessee in 1949, Art Wood became a member of the science department. In 1952, he earned an M.S. from Clemson. Art did further graduate study at Clemson and the University of Colorado. His academic career divides into his junior college years (1949-1962), and his senior college years (1962-1991) at Mars Hill. During the junior college years, Art was a member of the science department and taught physics courses. In addition he taught surveying, statics, and electricity courses as part of the pre- engineering curriculum. During his senior college years, Art Wood was a member of the mathematics-physics department. He taught the standard two-course sequence in general physics. He also taught service courses in physics, such as: Physics for Home Economics, The Physics of Music, Model Construction, and Solar Home Design. In addition, he taught college algebra, pre-calculus, and finite mathematics.
Around Campus “Stories of Grace” Both Venicka Girtman and Brandon Rice have stories of overcoming the odds against them to succeed at Mars Hill University. They shared what they call their “stories of grace” with trustees at the board’s fall 2017 meeting. This winter, trustee Charlie Trammel invited Venicka and Brandon to share their stories again with over 300 employees at Kirby Pines Lifecare Community in Memphis, Tennessee. Venicka said: “Mr. Trammell trusted that we could touch and inspire his employees to look ahead for success. Through this opportunity, both Brandon and I understand why our stories matter. We saw how difficult times for one person may be used to keep another person going.”
In the classroom, Art Wood was a natural. He could simplify and explain complex scientific principles, and used excellent examples that illustrated these concepts. He understood the problems students had with these concepts, and with patience, he would bring clarity and understanding. As a colleague and a dear friend, Art would brighten any day. He was always positive, and always ready to help with any extra task that the department needed to complete. He was a fine athlete, and is a member of the Mars Hill Athletic Hall of Fame. I remember him for his skill and savvy as a tennis player. Art Wood had a long record of service to the community, and to the town of Mars Hill. He was elected and re-elected many times as a Town Alderman, and he served in this position from 1955 till 1985. On January 1, 2000, Art Wood and Nancy Medford were married. Art Wood was a dear friend, and I have many great memories of him. Don Russell, professor of mathematics
Student Support Services Leadership Seminar Mars Hill University Student Support Services hosted a Leadership Development Seminar at the Biltmore Center for Professional Development in February. Around 40 MHU students attended. Topics for the day included workplace etiquette, communication, emotional and social intelligence, and team building. Keynote speaker for the event was Mike Kelly’82, MHU trustee and owner of Kelly Financial Planning.
Left: MHU students who attended the Leadership Seminar. Right: Mike Kelly
Mars Hill, the Magazine | Spring 2018 21
22 Mars Hill, the Magazine | Spring 2018
Lauren Hochstetler First Team All-American by Rick Baker
Mars Hill volleyball’s Lauren Hochstetler was named to the 2017 Academic All-America® Division II Volleyball Team as chosen by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on December 12, 2017. Hochstetler was named First Team for the first time in her career. Hochstetler is the first volleyball player in Mars Hill history to earn a First Team All-America® selection and the first volleyball player since 1985 (Denise Groh, Honorable Mention) to get recognized by CoSIDA. Hochstetler will graduate with a 4.0 GPA while studying chemistry with minors in biology and preprofessional studies. While at Mars Hill University, Hochstetler served as a chief marshal, member of Alpha Chi honor society, National Society of Leadership and Success, and Forge ministries, while also representing the Chemistry Club as their vice president.
“Being part of the volleyball team at Mars Hill means more than just wins and losses,” Hochstetler said about her athletic career. “Playing for Mars Hill, you are surrounded by a group of athletes that share the love of the game, who are willing to fight as a team and prove our place in this conference. It has been a pleasure to be a part of this team and experience growth as a player and student.” The senior from Sarasota, Florida, recorded her 1,000 career kill on October 24 versus Tusculum, spiking down 12 kills and recording a season-high 32 digs in the 3-1 victory. Throughout her career, her season totals in digs improved vastly each year (299, 319, 382, & 447) as did her digs per set, culminating with a career-average of 3.24. “Lauren is the student-athlete that all coaches are looking to have represent their program,” Mars Hill head volleyball coach Tony Fontanelle said about his senior outside hitter. “The words I would use to describe Lauren on the court and in the classroom are: dedicated, goal oriented, passionate, responsible, disciplined, and motivated.” Fontanelle added, “Lauren also finds time to be involved in her community at home and here at Mars Hill.”
“I have been Lauren’s professor and advisor since her freshman year and over that period of time I have seen her grow as a chemist, an athlete, and a person,” said Amanda R. Knapp, Ph.D., associate professor of chemistry. “I have been impressed by her intelligence, dedication, maturity, passion, and work ethic. I can say that Lauren is one of the best Hochstetler played in every set over the last four all-around students I have ever taught. In addition years (446) for the Lions. Captaining Mars Hill for to her excellent grades in my classes, she was the last three seasons, Hochstetler ends her career always punctual for class and lab, asked questions, with 1,085 kills, 1,447 digs, 124 blocks, and 118 and was engaged during all aspects of the class. aces. Lauren has the maturity to admit she needs help “I am very happy Lauren was chosen for this award. and to ask for it right away. I wish all of my students I feel it is well deserved,” Fontanelle said. cared as deeply about their learning as Lauren Hochstetler said about her time at Mars Hill does!” University, “Mars Hill has granted me a firm The four-year starter placed first on the Lions in foundation to which I am able to achieve 2017 in kills (255) and service aces (29). She led the professional success, while also providing team in kills in nine contests, including a seasoninvaluable life lessons and friendships with high 17 kill effort against Lincoln Memorial on amazing people.” October 10. She finished with double-digit kills in 14 of 28 contests and recorded double-doubles in 13 of those games.
Mars Hill, the Magazine | Spring 2018 23
Class Notes Mars Hill, the Magazine of Mars Hill University welcomes your personal snapshots when you send in news of weddings, babies, accomplishments, etc. Send your news and photos to alumni@mhu.edu, or Alumni Office, P.O. Box 370, Mars Hill, NC 28754.
1960s Dr. T. Bob Davis ’61 was recently awarded the prestigious 2018 Humanitarian of the Year Award from the American Dental Association for his continuous efforts to serve those in need through dental missions in various countries including Mexico, Nicaragua, and Guatemala. He currently serves as president for the Academy of Dentistry International. T. Bob Davis In addition, Dr. Davis is a talented
musician who has recorded over 13 albums of his piano stylings. He is the convocation pianist for over a decade for the Academy of General Dentistry and the Academy of Dentistry International, and now for the International College of Dentists. Angela Priester Mathis ’65 has written a children’s book entitled: Although She Was a Hen, They Called Her Edward Glenn. The heartwarming story is based on actual events that occurred in the author’s family in rural North Carolina in the 1920s. The book is on sale at Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and Amazon. Dave and Peggy Roberts Beaman (both class of ’66) celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a hiking trip to the Austrian and Italian Alps. Dave
invites you to be a part of our 2018 tour to beautiful
s
sle I k e e r G e th d n a e c e e r G
September 12-22, 2018 For more information, call or email: Darryl Norton, coordinator, Mars Hill University Tours 828-689-1347 w dnorton@mhu.edu
24 Mars Hill, the Magazine | Spring 2018
the superintendent for Saluda County Schools in South Carolina.
is retired from Atlantic Packaging Corporation and Peggy is a retired educator. They live in Asheville, N.C. Larry D. Rhodes ’67 was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine recently by the governor of N.C. The award is one of the state’s highest honors and is presented to individuals who have proven record of extraordinary service to the state. Rhodes has served Ashe County as a commissioner for 22 years and says he was honored and humbled to receive this award. Barbara Blythe Snowden ’67 of Currituck, N.C., has been appointed to the North Carolina Historical Commission by Gov. Roy Cooper. Snowden is retired from Currituck County Schools. She is president of the Currituck Historical Society, a member of the North Carolina Maritime Council, and vice chair of the Outer Banks History Center Associates.
1980s
Dave and Peggy Beaman
Larry Rhodes
Wilson and Barbara Snowden
1970s Mike Cranford ’74, a member of the MHU Board of Trustees and the human resources director for Gregory Poole Equipment Company in Raleigh, N.C., was recently inducted into the North Carolina Society of Human Resources Management Hall of Fame. Mike has been with Gregory Poole about 30 years. Dr. Sigsbee Walter Duck ’74 has been named the 2017 Physician Achievement Award Winner from the Wyoming Medical Society. Dr. Duck lives with his wife, Cindy, in Rock Springs, Wyom., where he is an otolaryngologist. Dr. David McLendon Mathis ’79 has been named deputy superintendent for college and career readiness with the South Carolina State Department of Education. Previously, he served as
Mark Cabaniss ’82 and trustee has received the “Believe in Music” award from the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM). He has also been honored by his high school alma mater, Shelby High, which named its 100-seat theatre, “The Mark Cabaniss Theatre.” Allen Stines ’84 retired July 2016 from Madison County Schools after 32 years. During his career Stines taught at Hot Springs Elementary, Walnut Elementary, and Madison Middle School, where he taught math, science, business, and preengineering. He also drove a bus for over 30 years. Upon his retirement, Allen started driving for Young Transportation and Tours of Woodfin, N.C. Matthew Monteath Miller ’86 of Arlington, Va., a member of the MHU Board of Advisors, was just appointed deputy assistant secretary at the Department of Labor Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS). Don Bradley ’88 has been named associate dean of the Howard College of Arts and Sciences at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. Since 2014, Dr. Bradley and his wife, Dr. Joanna Deaton Bradley ’89, have served at Samford - he as the chair of sociology and she as assistant professor of world languages and cultures. Don Cole ’89 was honored by Winston-Salem State University with induction into the school’s sports hall of fame in November 2017. He played football at Mars Hill before transferring to WSSU to pursue a successful career on that school’s wrestling team. In his senior year, the team ranked 15th in the nation, the first time a historically black college had ever been ranked by the National Wrestling Coaches Association. 1990s Kelly Tennille Grooms ’99, earned the Doctor of Ministry degree from Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond on May 28, 2016. She and her husband, Mars Hill, the Magazine | Spring 2018 25
Class Notes
George L. Payne (’54) own and operate Grooms & Payne, Ltd., Pipe Organ Builders, located in Louisa, Va. She has recently played for several special events, including the annual gathering of the Alliance of Baptists, and the inaugural service Kelly Grooms for BTSR’s third president. Kelly is one of only a few female members of the American Institute of Organbuilders, the nation’s only professional organization in the field. 2000s Seth Graham ’05 has been selected as Rowan County Baseball Coach of the Year for the third straight year. In his first three seasons as head baseball coach at West Rowan High School, he has amassed 63 career wins and three conference championships in a row. Jason Miller ’06 has been named principal of Barnardsville Elementary School. Previously, he was assistant principal at Joe P. Eblen Intermediate
School in McDowell County, N.C. Amy Garrison ’07 gave birth to a son, Branson Phillip Garrison Rice, on October 15, 2017. Branson weighed 8 pounds and was 21 inches long. Amy is the advancement services associate for Mars Hill University.
Branson Garrison Rice
Cassandra “Cassie” Moore ’07 has joined the Cobras softball coaching staff at Coker College in Hartsville, S.C. After graduation from Mars Hill, Moore joined the AmeriCorps VISTA. For the past five years, she has served as service learning coordinator at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, N.C. David DeSilva ’08 married Kimberly McCarthy on September 16, 2017, in Vienna, Va. The couple lives in Alexandria, Va., where David is a commercial underwriting managing director for The Hartford Insurance Group. David was a member of the Mars Hill College baseball team from 2004 to 2008.
Building Our University Campaign in Home Stretch Still Time to Participate! With the largest campaign in the history of Mars Hill University scheduled to conclude on May 31, 2018, the campaign at press time stood at 98% toward completion of our $42 million goal. Amazing naming opportunities remain in the soon-to-be-constructed Ammons Athletic Field House. And remember, all gifts to the Mars Hill Fund through May 31 are counted toward the campaign. The Mars Hill Fund, the university’s unrestricted annual initiative, is a valuable financial tool that is used every day to improve the lives of students.
THE CAMPAIGN FOR
26 Mars Hill, the Magazine | Spring 2018
According to Bud Christman, vice president for advancement, “Now is the time for everyone who loves Mars Hill, but has not yet participated in the campaign, to do so. We want to show the world how much Mars Hillians believe in our university.” To make a campaign gift online go to: www.mhu.edu/alumni/giving/ To make a gift by mail or to receive more information please contact: Office of Advancement Mars Hill University P.O. Box 6792 Mars Hill, N.C. 28754 828-689-1102
Class Notes solicitor of Dorchester County, near North Charleston, S.C.
2010s Cathryn Hughes ’10 married Andre’ Barnette in a ceremony December 16, 2017, in Burnsville, N.C. Cathryn is an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher and a media specialist for Yancey County Schools, as well as an adjunct instructor of American federal government for Murray State College in Oklahoma. Andre’ is a loan officer for State Employees’ Credit Union. The couple lives in Burnsville.
Cathryn and Andre’ Barnette
Oxford Coates
Tyler Coates ’11 and Lynsey Rice Coates ’15 celebrated the birth of their son, Oxford Ryan Coates, on January 29, 2018. The family lives in Weaverville, N.C. Heather Lynn Huckabee ’13 recently passed the bar exam and accepted a position as assistant
Heather Huckabee
Richie Covington ’15 has been named the new head women’s basketball coach for Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute in Hudson, N.C. Richie was a member of the Lions basketball team for the last two years of his college career.
Richie Covington
Kelsey Blair ’16 has joined the staff of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Taylorsville, N.C., as director of children’s ministries. Prior to this position, Poole worked as a staff member with South Mountain Christian Camp. Teddy Guyer, the Lions’ head swimming coach, was inducted into the Warren Wilson College Athletics Hall of Fame in October Teddy Guyer 2017. Guyer has been the coach of the Mars Hill swim program since its inception in 2005. Guyer started his career in 1993 at Warren Wilson as aquatics director and he founded the swim teams there.
In Memoriam 1930s
Dr. Harold S. McGuire ’35 , Sylva, N.C., December 23, 2017 Melba Holt Moore ’35, Kingsport, Tenn., November 17, 2017 Clara Lee Bowen Lowder ’36, Tampa, Fla., January 3, 2018 Lenora Mincy Berry McDaniel ’39, Roanoke, Va., July 20, 2017 John Frank Ray ’39, Concord, N.C., August 22, 2017 1940s Conrad Norwood Carter ’40, Winston-Salem, N.C., December 11, 2017
Edna May Clark Riggsbee ’40, Durham, N.C., June 8, 2017 Ernestine Hagler Cameron ’41, Southern Pines, N.C., August 24, 2017 Lowell Stephen Miller ’41, Nada, Texas, April 7, 2017 Emily Davis Washburn ’41, Boiling Springs, N.C., July 29, 2017 Marjorie Lee Parker Corbett ’42, Farmville, N.C., October 30, 2017 Lindsay “Clement” Yancey ’42, Raleigh, N.C., July 14, 2017 Harold Howard Zeugner ’42, Cary, N.C., July 15, 2017 Mars Hill, the Magazine | Spring 2018 27
In Memoriam
Elizabeth Morris Bell Day ’43, Wilmington, N.C., January 5, 2018
Joyce E. Wheeler Knight ’47, Concord, N.C., June 25, 2017
Oveda Voss Heller ’43, St. Petersburg, Fla., December 15, 2017
Louis Patrick Nipper ’47, Hernando, Fla., November 24, 2017
Charles Eltinge Marsh ’43, Burleson, Texas, February 21, 2017
Mary “Blanche” Willis Westmoreland ’47, Macon, Ga., September 4, 2016
Sarah Kerns Orr Allen ’44, Hilton Head Island, S.C., February 19, 2017
Thomas Lewis Wilson, Jr. ’47, Macon, Ga., August 25, 2017
Margaret “Elizabeth” McEntire Barbee ’44, Rutherfordton, N.C., November 11, 2017
Elizabeth “Libby” Ann McManus Dunn ’48, Greensboro, N.C., January 15, 2018
Belzoni Ainsworth Corbett, Jr. ’44, Melbourne, Fla., August 30, 2017
Grace Elizabeth “Betty” Sullivan Hain ’48, Bartow, Fla., February 12, 2017
Galen Porter Freeman, Jr. ’44, Augusta, Ga., August 24, 2017
Margie Louvina Clayton Howard ’48, Inman, S.C., June 27, 2017
Dr. Angus Gerard Sargeant, Jr. ’44, Raleigh, N.C., August 21, 2017
Albert Lee Norman ’48, Asheboro, N.C., November 1, 2017
Helen Martin Teague Sawyer ’44, Winston-Salem, N.C., August 9, 2017
Blanche Louise Boone Armstrong ’49, Pensacola, Fla., August 13, 2015
Judge Jesse MacDowell Seller, Jr. ’44, Jacksonville, Fla., April 2, 2017
Robert Carney Kinser ’49, Asheville, N.C., December 13, 2017
Mary Frances Vinson Buchanan ’45, Athens, Ga., February 19, 2017
Marvin Clay Kiser ’49, Charlotte, N.C., July 14, 2017
Joseph Clifford “Cliff” Fagan, Jr. ’45, Greenwood, S.C., November 10, 2017
Fred Davis Long, Jr. ’49, Salisbury, N.C., January 26, 2017
Phyllis Adelaide Penley Gregg Maney ’45, Asheville, N.C., August 27, 2017
William “Bryan” Thornburg ’49, Robinson, Texas, August 3, 2017
Darlene Helen Wallin Holcombe ’45, Hickory, N.C., December 2, 2017 June E. Skeen Hunt ’45, Greensboro, N.C., December 31, 2017 Nathan Wilson LeGrand, Jr. ’45, Conyers, Ga., September 26, 2016 Ruby Lee Reeves ’45, Mars Hill, N.C., February 1, 2017 Mary Lena Owen Seiver ’45, Rocky Mount, N.C., December 1, 2017 Flora Lloyd Pickett ’46, Durham, N.C., October 6, 2017 28 Mars Hill, the Magazine | Spring 2018
1950s Mildred “Mimi” DuBose Cheney Cohen ’50, Waynesboro, Ga., April 17, 2017 Max McElree Freck ’50, Charlotte, N.C., March 4, 2017 Helen Elizabeth Wilkie Hagan ’50, Pittsburgh, Pa., January 9, 2018 Jackie Lynn Revis Hall ’50, Brevard, N.C., December 2, 2017 James “Barnett” Hobgood ’50, Roxboro, N.C., December 30, 2017 Broadus Fernly “Fern” Horton ’50, Palm Harbor, Fla., July 9, 2017
In Memoriam
Alford “Al” Charles Sinclair ’50, Ocala, Fla., September 1, 2017
Johnny “Max” Greene, Sr. ’55, Claremont, N.C., November 15, 2017
Jean Weaver Stevens Stockton ’50, WinstonSalem, N.C., November 11, 2017
Lunsford Benjamin “Ben” Orcutt ’55, Roanoke, Va., November 27, 2017
Faye Louella Kilpatrick Gillespie ’51, Gastonia, N.C., January 13, 2018
Richard Evans Sale ’55, Florence, S.C., September 13, 2017
Dr. Max Errington Lassiter ’51, Danville, Va., November 6, 2017
Winifred Ann Moore Thurkill ’55, Lenoir, N.C., July 8, 2017
Barbara Glenn Ellis Patterson ’51, Hickory, N.C., September 8, 2017
Frederick Lewis Bibb ’56, Scottsville, Va., June 27, 2017
Grace Nettles Maxwell Sparrow ’51, Macon, Ga., January 10, 2018
James Daniel “Dan” Pardue ’56, Mars Hill, N.C., December 25, 2017
Lankford “Skip” Morrow Storey ’51, Asheville, N.C., December 28, 2017
Janet “Jan” Faye Lewis Rice ’56, Winston-Salem, N.C., September 9, 2017
Ernest Hamilton Brown, Jr. ’52, Houston, Texas, November 29, 2017
Frances Cleo Rowe ’56, Athens, Ohio, February 8, 2017
Dewey Alphonso “D.A.” Heggie, Jr. ’52, Yukon, Okla., March 17, 2017
James “Jim” Rogers Berry ’57, Earlysville, Va., July 1, 2017
Laura Ann Morrison Trivette ’52, Statesville, N.C., May 4, 2017
Philip “Flip” Clair Culver ’57, Mims, Fla., June 9, 2017
Nancy “Colleen” Redmond Heath ’53, San Angelo, David Lorrain Eagerton ’57, Florence, S.C., August Texas, April 3, 2017 3, 2017 Carol “Ray” Rogers ’53, Florence, S.C., August 14, 2017
William Thomas Hill ’57, Mars Hill, N.C., December 19, 2017
Joyce Seawell Scardiglia ’53, Chapel Hill, N.C., November 13, 2017
Mary Katherine “Kathy” Turk Stith ’57, Charlotte, N.C., December 14, 2017
Gloria “Kay” Pearson Winstead ’53, Roxboro, N.C., Harold Richard Watts, Sr. ’57, Hixon, Texas, November 27, 2017 September 3, 2017 Edna Mae Forester Burke ’54, Los Angeles, Calif., August 1, 2017
William “Bill” McCall Brinkley ’58, Valdese, N.C., September 2, 2016
Loretta Shirley Walker Ellis ’54, Suffolk, Va., January 7, 2018
Patricia “Pat” Ann Munday Campbell ’58, Statesville, N.C., November 1, 2017
Zane Andrew Grey, Sr. ’54, Richmond, Va., March 27, 2017
Grace O’Kelley Cartledge ’58, Hiawassee, Ga., February 6, 2017
Charles Alan “Al” Painter ’54, Hendersonville, N.C., December 23, 2017
Barbara Mae Lawrence ’58, Urbandale, Iowa, October 13, 2017
Mable “Louise” Cash Farrow ’55, Winston-Salem, N.C., October 27, 2017
Orville “Bud” Leonard Noland, Jr. ’58, Waynesville, N.C., December 24, 2017 Mars Hill, the Magazine | Spring 2018 29
In Memoriam
Shirley “Rubynel” Austin Pilch ’58, White Gate, Va., November 21, 2017
William “Bill” Davis Baber ’64, Silver Spring, Md., October 16, 2016
Joseph “Joe” Carter Purcell ’58, Raleigh, N.C., December 29, 2017
Donald Ray Martin ’64, Roanoke, Va., June 7, 2016
Jay Burton James ’59, Mebane, N.C., July 2, 2017
Mary Jacqueline “Jackie” Sechrist Gouge ’65, Asheville, N.C., September 26, 2017
Nancy “Lucile” Ponder Sprinkle ’59, Marshall, N.C., December 7, 2017
William Marshall Cannady, Jr. ’66, Oxford, N.C., December 25, 2017
Charles Ernest “Ernie” Summey, Sr. ’59, Gastonia, James “Jim” Bunn Tapp ’66, Glen Allen, Va., N.C., December 13, 2016 January 8, 2018 Thomas Elbert White ’59, Marshall, N.C., June 20, 2017 1960s William “Bill” Roger Best ’60, Arden, N.C., September 27, 2017 Stanley “Terry” Moore ’60, Laurel, Del., September 16, 2017 Mary E. Noble Williamson ’60, Evergreen, Ala., March 1, 2017
Richard Harold Anderson, Jr. ’67, Mars Hill, N.C., August 7, 2017 Benjamin “Ben” Francis Rogers, Jr. ’67, Easley, S.C., August 3, 2017 Harriet Elizabeth Hunter Hunt ’68, Atlanta, Ga., July 26, 2017 1970s Linda Lucille Canter Floyd ’70, Rincon, Ga., September 24, 2017
Eugene “Bill” Little Crump, Jr. ’61, Richmond, Va., Gloria Louise Corbin Stancil ’70, Lakeland, Fla., December 1, 2017 January 8, 2018 Frances Louise Gallimore ’61, Phoenix, Ariz., January 18, 2018
Wayne Everette Collier ’71, Harrison, Tenn., May 19, 2017
Donald “Don” Lee Moore ’61, Winston-Salem, N.C., October 27, 2016
James “Lefty” Hagood Stevens, Jr. ’71, Pulaski, Va., June 9, 2017
Lindsay Ann Mason Robinson ’61, Milledgeville, Ga., April 17, 2017
Sandra Mae Phillips Pollard ’72, Winston-Salem, N.C., August 19, 2017
Mirinda Bennett Davis ’62, Mechanicsville, Pa., February 28, 2017
Barbara Kay Ginn Wallace ’72, Greenville, S.C., December 28, 2017
Alice L Robbins Newton ’62, Greensboro, N.C., September 9, 2017
Nancy Elaine “Laine” Calloway ’73, Asheville, N.C., October 9, 2017
James Michael “Mike” Randleman ’62, Lincolnton, N.C., August 5, 2017
Edward “Eddie” Hubbard McIlvaine ’73, Alexander, N.C., August 15, 2017
Jalana Marie Carpenter Ware ’62, Glendora, Ga., December 20, 2017
Barbara Katherine “Kathy” Donahue Abbott ’74, Evington, Va., May 27, 2017
Mary Lee Hurt Ashman ’63, Forest, Va., August 28, 2017
Mary Ellen Gardner Metcalf ’74, Mars Hill, N.C., January 23, 2018
Mary Elizabeth “Beth” Briggs Ross ’63, Mars Hill, N.C., June 19, 2017
Curtis “Bryan” Rice ’74, Asheville, N.C., January 6, 2018
30 Mars Hill, the Magazine | Spring 2018
Iona Miller Vinson Rhodes ’75, Asheville, N.C., July 1, 2017 Steven “Steve” Eustas Bellamy ’77, Lakeland, Fla., January 3, 2018 Stephen Charles Sasse ’77, Brick, N.J., May 6, 2017 Larry Allen Fulk ’79, Fancy Gap, Va., April 23, 2017 Rev. George Dewey Holland ’79, Gaffney, S.C., December 20, 2017 Mark Coan Jones ’79, Deerfield Beach, Fla., December 24, 2017 1980s Rick Eugene Cornatzer ’83, Mocksville, N.C., December 18, 2017 Danny Jackson Nichols ’84, Asheville, N.C., December 12, 2017 Doris Jean Franklin Rigsby ’85, Weaverville, N.C., August 12, 2017 Dr. Sonny Thomas Abraham ’87, Garner, N.C., April 16, 2017 2000s Grant Petersen Michel ’00, Williamston, N.C., December 30, 2017 Christie Mae Herring ’04, Wilmington, N.C., January 19, 2018 Lisa Christine “Christy” Daley ’06, Cameron, N.C., October 27, 2017 2010s Samuel “Sam” Benjamin Hartshorn ’11, Asheville, N.C., September 8, 2017 Mark Edward Nadler ’15, Greensboro, N.C., June 29, 2017 Faculty/Staff Dr. Rachel Ruth Messick Chapman ’44, retired business faculty, Mars Hill, N.C., November 27, 2017 Dr. Robert “Bob” Roscoe Chapman, Jr. ’45, retired registrar/business faculty, Mars Hill, N.C., September 27, 2017
Vernon B. Chapman, Jr., retired education faculty, Mars Hill, N.C., October 19, 2017 Randy Cole, former facilities staff, Spruce Pine, N.C., December 12, 2017. Dr. Barbara Dale Hollingsworth, former athletic director, Harrisburg, N.C., January 15, 2018 Lloyd T. Moore, former director of Upward Bound and assistant basketball coach, Petal, Miss., January 29, 2018 Jane Sibley Renfroe, retired art faculty, Mars Hill, N.C., October 1, 2017 Walter Price Smith ’49, retired faculty/director of publications, Mars Hill, N.C., October 17, 2017 Robel Marion West, retired staff, Mars Hill, N.C., June 24, 2017 Trustees Ruth “Patricia” Richardson Austell ’43, trustee emerita, Greenville, S.C., July 19, 2017 Joe Brock Bingham ’68, trustee, Macon, Ga., August 28, 2017 E. Lee Cain, former trustee, High Point, N.C., November 30, 2017 William Goodman Lawrence, Jr. ’50, trustee emeritus, Murfreesboro, N.C., August 24, 2017 Dr. Robert “Bob” Lewis Merrill, Sr. ’49, former trustee, Brevard, N.C., November 16, 2017 Eloise Young Spangler, former trustee, Shelby, N.C., September 24, 2017
The “Voice of the Lions”
George Campbell “Cam” Dowdle passed away on March 13, 2018, at age 50 after a year and a half battle with cancer. Cam was "The Voice of the Lions" serving as the play-by-play announcer for Mars Hill's football and basketball live audio and video feeds for over 13 years. During that span he provided play-by-play for over 120 football games and over 500 men's and women's basketball games. Mars Hill, the Magazine | Spring 2018 31
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