19 minute read
Letter from the Editor
from Journal S20
a Word from your Editor
From start to finish, publishing a magazine is a five-tosix month process. First you gather story ideas, and assign writers to develop those stories. Then you imagine creative ways to tell those stories on the page and begin to collect images. After that are many stages of layout, approvals, proofing, and printing, which can take three weeks. As COVID-19 grew from a concern to a full-blown crisis in less than two weeks, we were about halfway through this process. As Northeast Georgia shut down, we had to shelve some stories for many different reasons.
Getting professional photographs was a big concern.
So, some of the images in these pages do not sparkle. Some were taken in quarantine with phones by friends and spouses. We make no apologies and simply did the best we could.
For many days, our group discussed how we might represent the coronavirus in these pages. Ultimately, we decided to let our alumni tell their stories. We connected with some heroic ones who were fighting on the front lines against the disease. Somehow, amid the chaos, they found time to speak with our writers.
To a person, all acknowledged the gravity of the fight. But they were hopeful, even optimistic for the future. At the time of this writing, all were in fullbattle mode. The image on the cover reflects that grit.
Thanks to all of them for sharing their stories. I know we are better for reading them.
John Roberts, Editor
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS We welcome letters on any topic covered in the Journal. They should be limited to 150 words, refer to a subject from the most recent issue, and include the writer’s name, city/state, and class year/degree (if applicable). Your notes may be emailed to Journal@piedmont.edu. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor and may be edited for length and clarity.
In praise of Ayers feature
I really enjoyed reading the recent Journal article by John Roberts on my great Uncle “Doc” Ayers. Doc is the brother of my dad’s mom. It’s one of the best written articles I have read on him. I am proud to say that my father, Gary, is a member of Piedmont’s Class of 1969. Below is an image of him as a child with Uncle Doc (in the Navy uniform) and his Uncle Bill Ayers (Doc’s brother).
– David G. Stephenson, Ph.D.
Through the years of my husband’s (Howard “Doc” Ayers) wonderful coaching career, he has had many articles written about him. However, I want to thank you for the outstanding article that appeared in the Fall 2019 edition of Piedmont College Journal, “A Beloved Legend.” So many of his family and good friends saw the article and contacted us to say how much they enjoyed reading it. This was very special to Doc. There was so much information about his career, as well as his family. Doc, after reading it, said it brought back so many wonderful memories.
On behalf of Doc, his family and friends, thank you so much.
Piedmont College and the wonderful people that represent it are very special to Doc.
– Mrs. Doc (Glenda) Ayers
News and events from our campuses in Demorest & Athens
Almost Done
By John Roberts
Workers are currently putting the finishing touches on the renovation of Nielsen Hall, which will serve as the new home for Piedmont’s School of Education.
The 17,000-squarefoot building, located on the college’s historic quad, includes eight classrooms, four seminar rooms, a technology classroom, and administrative offices. The $3 million project will be completed in July.
The building will be dedicated as the Charles and Catherine Sewell Center for Teacher Education later this fall. A $1 million gift from the Atlanta couple paved the way for the project. Charles Sewell ’54 is a former Piedmont Trustee. The Sewells provided the naming gift for the Sewell Organ nearly two decades ago.
An architectural centerpiece of the building will be the Tommy and Bernice Irvin Atrium, which will be located in the center of the building and named in honor of the couple’s foundation, which made a $240,000 gift to the project. Thomas Irvin, a former Piedmont Trustee, served as Georgia’s Commissioner of Agriculture from 1969 to 2011. The Irvin Foundation was incorporated in 1997 to support
the couple’s charitable causes. Thomas and Bernice Frady Irvin died in 2017 and 2014, respectively.
The School of Education, the college’s largest single academic unit, includes almost 1,400 majors and is currently housed on the ground floor of the Arrendale Library. It offers the largest graduate program for teacher education in the state and is the second-highest producer of new teachers annually among all colleges and universities in Georgia.
“Since our founding in 1897, Piedmont has been known for training teachers,” said Piedmont College President James F. Mellichamp. “This project provides a wealth of teaching and meeting spaces for our students and faculty. Education is our signature program and now it will have a home that reflects its prestige and history.”
New podcast offers modern twist on Lillian E. Smith's vision
By E. Lane Gresham ’10
Podcast
The legacy of Lillian E. Smith is experiencing a revival through a contemporary platform. Six episodes of “Dope with Lime,” a new podcast hosted by Lillian E. Smith Center Director Dr. Matthew Teutsch, are now available for those intrigued about the life’s work of the accomplished author and activist. The title is a nod Smith, a steadfast advocate for social justice to Smith’s editorial and racial equality, lived column of the same and worked at the former Laurel Falls Camp for name, referring to Girls, now the home of the regional habit the LES Center. The title is of adding lime juice a nod to Smith’s editorial column of the same name, to cut Coca-Cola’s referring to the regional thick sweetness. habit of adding lime juice to cut Coca-Cola’s thick sweetness. The column ran in a literary journal coedited by Smith and partner Paula Snelling.
Teutsch said the podcast is one of several platforms he will use to highlight and expand the mission of the LES Center. Serving as the center’s director since April of 2019, he is eager to engage others in thoughtful discourse around the still simmering conversation about racial and societal injustice.
Guests thus far, Teutsch said, have offered a scholarly approach to Smith’s work. Academic thought leaders agree she would likely be highly engaged in current communication methodology, including social media and podcasts.
Smith was continually looking in the mirror, unafraid to examine her identity as a white, liberal woman living in the South as she worked to change societal norms, Teutsch said.
“Because that’s the key of what’s she’s doing – she’s looking at herself,” he said. “The discussion she’s having in the mid-1930s through 1966 is still relevant.”
The challenge, he said, is to bring Smith’s perspective to a broader audience. Few people realize the role she played leading up to and during the Civil Rights era, supporting the work of Martin Luther King, Jr. and others. For the next batch of episodes, scheduled for release in the fall of 2020, Teutsch plans to interview individuals who knew Smith, including former campers from Smith’s time leading the Laurel Falls Camp for Girls. He hopes to share more of the history of the individuals impacted by Smith’s mentorship. “People who knew Smith and her story,” he said.
Another goal is to bring middle and high school students to the center for experiential learning opportunities. Teutsch is already working with local schools to host field trips in the center’s woodland oasis. Additionally, plans for professional development for educators are in the works.
A partnership with Piedmont College Mass Communications senior Julie Adams to expand the reach of the podcast is part of the promotional plan, Teutsch said. Adams is working on podcast outreach as part of an advertising practicum.
“I have helped Dr. Teutsch set up a structure to get the podcast on all of the podcatchers and keep a tally of that,” Adams said. “The next steps are public communications locally about the podcast and LES.” For more information, follow the LES Center on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The podcast is available through Soundcloud and iTunes.
Taylor, retiring business school dean, has changed attitudes and mentored many
By John Roberts
According to some statistics, the average working adult will shift careers between five and seven times during adulthood. That number is about right for Dr. Ed Taylor, who is retiring June 30 as Dean of the Walker School of Business. Taylor, a Kentucky native, has been a computer software engineer, military colonel, computer systems manager, supply chain manager, plant manager, and college professor.
Three common threads have been woven throughout each career stop: business, management, and cultural change.
The youngest of four brothers, Taylor received a healthy dose of the first two at a very young age while clerking and managing a grocery store in rural Bluegrass Country during the late 1940s and early 1950s. At that store – about the size of a small country church – Taylor learned basic accounting, customer service, and inventory management.
Graduating in 1968 from Morehead State University with a degree in business and political science, Taylor took his first job with the state of Kentucky as a computer programmer. It was a low-paying job, but Taylor took it because his academic advisor told him that programmers would soon be in high demand.
A computer system pioneer, he wrote programs and developed systems that integrated functions and improved efficiencies at the state’s finance and administration division. At 29, he was put in charge of the state’s entire information systems division.
Taylor performed similar functions at two private companies, Dura Corporation and Cowden Manufacturing.
In 1979, he joined Kuhlman Electric Corporation, which manufactures distribution transformers that are sold to utility companies, as an information systems manager. Once there, he put the latest software technology to work and improved payroll, labor distribution, scheduling, production management, and sales processes. His good work earned him more responsibility as manager of the plant’s global supply chain. Two years later, he was named manager at the company’s Versailles plant in north-central Kentucky.
Constructed in 1969, the facility was a trouble area for Kuhlman. In 13 years, it had suffered through seven managers, 12 strikes and lost money each quarter. It also logged about 250 worker grievances annually. Top brass at Kuhlman wanted Taylor to succeed where many had failed.
During a time when many managerial processes were simple and linear, Taylor pushed for new thinking at Versailles. He had supervisors take communication classes and installed incentives. Taylor helped factory-floor workers become advocates for the company’s product and brand. And he wanted everyone – from the factory floor to corner office – to understand their role in the company’s success and know that all work was honorable.
This cultural shift – Taylor calls it moving from compliance to commitment – took some time.
But when it happened, employee morale, productivity, and profits improved. After the third year under Taylor’s guidance, the Versailles plant was meeting production quotas. It was profitable and employees were happier. There were no strikes, and grievances sunk to one a month. It was a dramatic turnaround and paved the way
Outside of his career in business and academia, Taylor served 15 years as a commander in the Kentucky Army National Guard.
for a successful initial public offering three years later.
But 20 years of management had taken a toll on Taylor. He worried constantly about production, margins, layoffs, and many other issues that keep business leaders up at night.
“Over time, being the person in charge just wears on you. I was well on my way to having ulcers,” he says. “When you do that kind of work, there is a strain that never goes away. I never had a goal to retire, but I knew I wouldn’t have the constitution to take on the stresses I endured in my forties when I was sixty-something.”
So, in mid-career, Taylor began casting about for another way to earn a living. To that point, his path had been shaped by mentors. In addition to the academic advisor at Morehead, Taylor had been mentored by Lawrence Appley, a member of Kuhlman’s board of trustees, leading management and organizational theorist, and 20- year president of the American Management Association.
He wanted to pay those mentoring experiences forward. Teaching was the obvious choice. So, nearly 30 years after enrolling as a freshman at Morehead State, Taylor returned as a graduate student. He earned his MBA in 1995 and, later, a Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky after his dissertation on “mentoring in the workplace.” He worked two years at UK as an assistant professor before joining Piedmont in 1999. On a campus that values personal relationships, hard work, and mentoring, Taylor was a perfect fit. Well-read and studious, he was a natural academic, and his years in computer systems made him a natural in research. But he
Waller named Dean of WSOB
Dr. J. Kerry Waller, Associate Dean of Piedmont College’s Harry W. Walker School of Business, has been promoted to Dean.
Waller, who has served on the faculty since 2011, emerged from a national search that attracted many strong candidates. He will begin his duties July 1.
A native of New Jersey, Waller earned a B.A. in economics from Dickinson College (Carlisle, Pennsylvania) and a Ph.D. in economics from Clemson University. His primary area of interest is sports economics. Waller has also taught at Clemson University, Dickinson, and the University of South Carolina Upstate (Spartanburg, South Carolina).
Waller received the Delta Mu Delta Excellence in Teaching Award in 2017 and the Alpha Sigma Pi National Society of Leadership and Success, Excellence in Teaching Award in 2014. Promoted to Associate Dean of the School of Business in 2017, he replaces Dr. Edward Taylor who is retiring. Waller has been an active member of the college’s faculty senate and has also served as chair for the Center for Teaching and Learning.
Camp Hall in the Spring
brought something more to Piedmont: practical experience as a business executive and an entrepreneurial spirit.
“He just knows so much about everything,” said Dr. Kerry Waller, who will succeed Taylor as dean in July. “His depth of knowledge is extraordinary.”
Taylor served as department chair of the Walker School of Business for more than 10 years, director of Athens business school operations for five years, and directed the MBA program on the Demorest campus for eight years. In 2016, he was elevated to dean. Since then he has stewarded the school through a very successful assessment process and recruited faculty and guest lecturers who have practical business experience.
His goal: give students the knowledge and skills they need to be job-ready after graduation while instilling ethics and humility.
“I want them to know that you can be successful and still be kind,” Taylor says. “It has always impressed me that one of the two highest awards given to students at Piedmont is the kindness award.”
It’s an attitude that spills out of Taylor’s office and into the building’s corridor. He makes sure the school’s lobby area is stocked with complimentary snacks and coffee. And he greets everyone with a warm smile and (if time permits) a sit-down story.
“People actually come to the Walker School Business to hang out,” says Waller. “That was not always the case, and it’s because of Dr. Taylor. He has developed a very warm culture here. Everyone just loves him.”
Ibarra finished what he started after near-fatal accident
By Terrie Ellerbee ’95
In Athens, the Georgia Bulldogs had pulled ahead of Vanderbilt 16-10, but an unanswered touchdown two minutes into the final quarter ultimately put the Commodores in the win column. It was October 15, 2016. Piedmont College student Gilbert “Bert” Ibarra ’20 had attended the game with a couple of lacrosse teammates. Walking back to the car, another friend texted him with an invitation to Gilbert Ibarra was a senior captain a bonfire at a farm on the men's lacrosse team before a horrific ATV accident. in the same county as Piedmont’s Demorest campus. Ibarra asked if he could bring his four-wheeler.
Dropped back at Johnson Hall, he packed for camping, loaded the All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) into his truck and headed for the farm.
“We did have a fun time, but I don’t remember the bonfire,” Ibarra said. “It was like I blinked, and it was the next day. I was on the four-wheeler and everything was already packed up. I said, ‘I’ll be right back.
to him and the way he watched over his lacrosse teammates, making sure they were working hard and staying out of trouble. Ibarra was named a senior captain.
“As a coach, you look for those kids who can influence your younger guys in a positive way. Gilbert was a natural choice for us because of how he handled himself off the field, in the classroom, how he handled himself in the weight room,” Dunton said. “He had that type of personality. He’s fun, willing to learn, willing to be coached. Those are the types of people you want to have more of on your team.”
In addition to studies and lacrosse, Ibarra held down two jobs and set aside time for family and friends.
A fighter
When Ibarra woke from the coma, he couldn’t ask what had happened because he was unable to speak. Schroeder provided cousel to Navajo “My face was blank, like native Americans in counselN talking to a robot. I couldn’t The ATV accident left Ibarra with serious Ibarra with his mother, Ana. Posters behind show emotions,” he said. “My injuries, including traumatic brain injury and his hospital bed are signed by friends from whole right side was paralyzed. broken wrists. Piedmont. That’s what my life was like for I’m going to take it for one last spin.’” two or three weeks after I woke up. It was terrifying.”
He recounts what happened next from the memories Back at Piedmont, lacrosse teammates and of others who were there. He doesn’t remember the ATV other friends held a prayer vigil on the quad. When flipping and landing on him, causing his heart to stop Ibarra later continued his recovery at Shepherd beating on impact. Center, a facility in Atlanta that treats spinal cord
He doesn’t remember the friend of the friend at the and brain injuries, many of them came to visit. farm who was an EMT, or the CPR and tracheotomy Photos and videos document Ibarra’s progress. that he performed to bring Ibarra back to life. There is his father, Candido, helping him eat. His
He was life-flighted to Grady Memorial Hospital in first steps after the trauma were captured on video. Atlanta, where he died again. Revived a second time, he In another, he says, “Hi,” to his mother, Ana. fell into a coma and remained unconscious for weeks. Ibarra’s recovery was expected to take at least a year,
Abbey Dondanville, Piedmont’s program director and but by early 2017 he was back home. Once there, the professor of athletic training and associate dean of health even harder work began. Gone were freedoms previously sciences, remembered Ibarra before the accident as “very taken for granted: driving, taking classes, even going cool, very self-assured, very machismo—in a polite way.” outside alone. The years 2017 and 2018 seemed eternal.
Coach Tim Dunton noticed how people were drawn Ibarra retrained himself to run, which cleared his
form facial expressions or
mind and helped him get back into the weight room. all need to make it work.’ We were all crying.”
“The only thing I can attribute me coming She said everyone who meets Ibarra back to is I’m a fighter,” Ibarra said. “A lot of can’t help but root for him. people say how driven I am after what happened “And he’s doing it,” Dondanville said. “He passed to me, but I don’t see myself as special.” his classes on his own merit. He did the work.”
Finally, in the fall of 2019, he was back in class.
Assistant Professor of nursing & health sciences John A man with a message Koshuta taught Ibarra the same courses pre- and postOutside of class, Ibarra holds two jobs as he did accident: cross-cultural health and health policy and law. before. He is a security guard and a seasonal server. Ibarra shared what Even lacrosse is happened with back in his life. He fellow students. coaches part-time
“The focus could at Riverside Military be on himself, but Academy (RMA) in Gilbert chooses for it Gainesville following to be about finishing a chance meeting with what he started and RMA’s lacrosse coach at the same time at one of his sister’s potentially helping volleyball games. others understand,” “One thing led to Koshuta said. “We talk another and ba-daabout DNRs (do not boom, I’m coaching,” resuscitate), people’s Ibarra said. rights when they are Ibarra never not conscious, and thought of himself how people need to as a coach or, for have documentation that matter, a helmet for things like that. He’s advocate. He now very open and vocal “would speak in front about that experience. of a thousand people” He’s got an opportunity about wearing one. His to make a difference in capstone subject was other people’s lives.” traumatic brain injury.
Ibarra was also As Dunton said, in Dondanville’s From left, Parker Ellison '15, Dale Morley '15, and Sumner Gantz '15 were among the many friends from Piedmont who visited Ibarra as he “Unfortunately, he research methodology healed and rehabilitated. has that story to class last fall. tell, but fortunately
She described him as more thoughtful and for some other people, his story can go a long way.” purposeful now than prior to the accident. Like his fellow Had he worn a helmet the day of the accident, students, Ibarra was required to give a presentation. Ibarra might have graduated as planned in
“He did such a great job. He was so prepared,” 2017. He is on track to graduate this July with Dondanville said. “His classmates gave him an honesta degree in health care administration. to-goodness ovation and one of his classmates, another “There are a lot of things that I could have done lacrosse player (Zach Czulada), stood and said, ‘We that I can’t do now,” Ibarra said. “Some doors closed. love you, man. We are so proud of you for the work Some doors opened. I don’t know why God kept me you’ve done. If you can make this work, then we here—twice—but you can bet I am going to find out.”
