Campus News

Campus News

Bailey Mountain Cloggers Invited to Perform at Festival in Greece

The Bailey Mountain Cloggers, Mars Hill University’s precision dancing team, have been invited to perform at this summer’s Festival Days in Greece. The international folklore festival will be held June 22–26, 2022, in Paralia, a tourist seaside village on Greece’s eastern coast.

“Traveling abroad to represent the USA, North Carolina, and our university is an absolute honor,” said Danielle Plimpton ’06, managing director of the Bailey Mountain Cloggers. “Not only do we share our dance and music traditions with the world, but we have the chance to experience other cultures and learn dances from several countries.”

The team’s most recent international trip included performances in Ireland and Portugal in 2019. In fall 2021, BMC won its 29th national championship in October and performed in the Chicago Thanksgiving Parade in November.

During the trip to Greece, the cloggers hope to visit the Areopagus, or Mars Hill, in Athens. The university’s name comes from a New Testament passage about the Apostle Paul’s visit to the site. The Bailey Mountain Cloggers were organized in 1974 by students at what was then known as Mars Hill College, and were influenced by an older championship team, the Bailey Mountain Square Dance Team, which began performing in 1950. The Bailey Mountain name is derived from the mountain adjacent to the college campus. They serve as ambassadors of goodwill for the university and the dance traditions of the Southern Mountains.

During their history, the Bailey Mountain Cloggers have performed throughout the United States and internationally in countries including Austria, Canada, England, Ireland, Mexico, Portugal, and Scotland. The Bailey Mountain Cloggers dance company has established a national and international reputation for American clog dance excellence. The Bailey Mountain Cloggers are led by managing director Danielle Buice Plimpton and assistant director Dallas Moffat. For more information, visit www.baileymountaincloggers.com.

Mars Hill University Honors Four for Community Engagement Work

The Center for Community Engagement recognized three individuals and one organization in December for their work in the Mars Hill community or their local community. The Bryan Awards are given annually in honor of the late Dr. G. McLeod (“Mac”) Bryan, who was a member of the Mars Hill class of 1939 and a professor at Wake Forest University. Eric Stone, the student recipient of the Bryan Award, is an integrated education major from Zacapa, Guatemala. He was nominated for the award because of his work volunteering with Children First Communities in Schools Afterschool Program, the Madison County Public Library, and Project Transformation in Texas, transcribing documents for the Library of Congress, among other service activities.

Kelly Spencer, Ph.D., LCMHCS, ATR-BC, is an assistant professor at Mars Hill, teaching in the art therapy, psychology, and women’s and gender studies programs. She was recognized with the faculty/staff Bryan Award for her work with community partners and students, integrating art therapy course work with community engagement. The Community Engaged Partner Award recognizes a partner that has shown commitment to providing meaningful and innovative academic community engagement projects. Jodi Brazil, coordinator of the Madison County Health Consortium, accepted the award on behalf of the health department. The Bonner Alumni Award goes to a former MHU Bonner Scholar who has maintained and sustained the Bonner Common Commitments to community building, civic engagement, spiritual exploration, diversity, international perspective, and social justice. Selena Hilemon, class of 2001, is this year’s recipient. Hilemon is executive director of Hands and Feet of Asheville, one of nine national sites for the Young Adult Volunteer program of the Presyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Left to right below: Eric Stone and Kelly Spencer, Jodi Brazil, and Selena Hilemon. Landry Phillips (center) with Bob and Corny Wood, Art Wood’s son and daughter-in-law

Landry Phillips of Spruce Pine Selected for Wood Nursing Scholarship

James Landry Phillips of Spruce Pine, N.C., is the fall 2021 recipient of the Arthur Everett Wood Endowed Nursing Scholarship. Phillips is a senior in the pre-licensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing program in the university’s Judge-McRae School of Nursing, and is president of the senior nursing class. He has worked with several community outreach programs, including COVID-19 shot clinics, and has worked with Hospice and Palliative Care of the Blue Ridge, in Spruce Pine. Phillips earned his associate degree from Mayland Community College before enrolling at Mars Hill.

The Wood Scholarship is awarded to a student with demonstrated need who maintains high grades overall and is passionate and compassionate, as well as invested in and committed to the calling of nursing. It was established in memory of Art Wood, a member of the Mars Hill class of 1947 and a Mars Hill professor of mathematics and physics from 1949 to 1991.

Campus News

Upgrades Are Ongoing IN Chambers

Work is ongoing in Chambers Gymnasium to upgrade the lobby, bathrooms, and basketball locker areas into state-of-the-art space that not only boosts morale but enhances Mars Hill University as a competitive institution. Over $100,000 necessary to complete the renovations was raised entirely by the Lions Athletic Club.

Stuart Jolley ’86, president of the LAC, said, “Enhancing this space will lead to more satisfied players, a boosted sense of morale, better recruitment, higher retention, and more games won. It is not simply an investment in a building, it is an investment in the Mars Hill University community.” More pictures of the rebuild will be coming in the fall issue of Mars Hill, the Magazine. For more information on the Lion’s Athletic Club, or to donate, visit: www.mhu.edu/athletics/lions-athletic-club/

Four students representing MHU were triumphant in the 11th annual NCICU Ethics Bowl February 11. They delivered and defended oral arguments on three case studies considering this year’s theme, “Ethics in Democracy.” The MHU team of (l-r) Marcus Orta, Lauren Sermersheim, Cassie Berrie, and Ciara Mitchell, went undefeated, winning their rounds against Belmont Abbey College, N.C. Wesleyan College, and St. Augustine’s University. Advisor for the team is Ryan Bell (far right).

Grammy-winning entertainer, musician, storyteller, historian, and television host David Holt is the recipient of this year’s Bascom Lamar Lunsford Award. The award has been given yearly since 1980 to “an individual who has made significant contributions to the folk, musical, and/or dance traditions of the southern mountain region.” The award usually is presented during the Bascom Lamar Lunsford Mountain Music Festival , which was canceled this year due to COVID-19. More than fifty people joined the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) through a Be the Match® drive on campus February 16. Be The Match is a nonprofit organization that connects patients with their donor match on the registry for life-saving bone marrow and stem cell transplants. Below, left: MHU Student Jesse Clark swabs his cheek to join the National Marrow Donor Program. Below, right: Be the Match representative Taylor Durell meets President Floyd.

The Memories Collection Website is up and running!

Information about The Memories Collection, a living history project featuring the personal reflections of over 100 people associated with Mars Hill University, is now available on a website dedicated to the project. Alumni, researchers, and other interested parties may access information about the collection, and even view portions of selected interviews, at thememoriescollection.org. Physical copies of The Memories Collection DVDs are housed in the Renfro Library and may be viewed in the Liston B. Ramsey Center for Regional Studies located on the lower level of the library.