Piedmont College Journal Summer 2015 by Piedmont University

JOURNAL SUMMER 2015 | Volume 8, Number 1

Athletic Director Dzik passes the torch

JOURNAL

CONTENTS

SUMMER 2015

FEATURES

NEWS

President James F. Mellichamp Vice President for Advancement Amy Amason

Director of Special Projects and Community Relations William S. Loyd

Programs

Students learn about history, literature, and writing in role-playing games.

Students

Outreach & Impact

Graphic Design Specialist Regina M. Fried

Piedmont has heart In a first for the State of Georgia, Piedmont offers new four-year degree in cardiovascular technology.

Associate Director of Development Mary Colston Associate Director of Alumni Relations Katie Porter

An old soul New graduate Austin Tenchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s connections to Piedmont go back six generations.

Send Address Changes to: Piedmont College Institutional Advancement P.O. Box 429 Demorest GA 30535 www.piedmont.edu/updateinfo

Piedmont College

@PiedmontGA

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Published by the Office of Institutional Advancement

Fine Arts

Athletics

Coordinator of Development Services Debbie Zimmerman Website Coordinator Brian Carter

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Director of Public Relations David Price

Director of Development Justin Scali

Reacting to the past

Alumni

Class Notes

Obituaries

Back to school Fredda Wheelerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s path to a Piedmont degree took a 38-year detour. Now it is on to an MBA!

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Piedmont Partners During the past three years, we have greatly expanded our efforts to reach out to friends and alumni around the country. Our visits have taken us from coast to coast. Last month, Vice President Amy Amason, Chaplain Ashley Cleere, and I spent a lovely week in Massachusetts and Connecticut. While meeting old friends and gaining new ones, we spent time at a number of Congregational churches.

of the keen intellectual spirit of the Congregational tradition.

There are myriad ways that alumni and friends can support their interests in furthering the unique and treasured legacy of Piedmont. Every gift, small or large—to First United Church of Christ the annual fund, to Milford, Connecticut student scholarships, or for capital projects—is a way to honor your interest in serving future generations.

Many of you have been partners with Piedmont in helping to promote our

Not only do your gifts help us continue important stewardship of our beautiful facilities, they also help us ensure we have the best classrooms, labs, and rehearsal and performing spaces to recruit and retain the absolute finest faculty for our students.

New England Congregationalists, descended from the Pilgrims, started many churches in that region. With a long history of supporting higher education, they founded Harvard, Yale, and some 60 other colleges across the U.S. These same folks also founded Demorest and, in 1901, took Piedmont under their wing. If you have visited the Northeast, then you are familiar with the pristine Colonial churches made of white clapboards, with clear glass windows and high steeples – most of them topped with weathervanes. Oftentimes these vanes are shaped like quill pens, emblematic

that abiding commitment.

Best wishes for a joyous summer. And, when you encounter a weathervane, think about Piedmont College and the impact we have had on so many lives.

core values of inquiry, service, and legacy. The weathervane atop the Piedmont Chapel, a replica of the Mayflower, presents a visible symbol of

James F. Mellichamp

PROGRAMS

REACTING TO THE PAST Classroom game leads to historical and literary insights

By Dr. Stephen Whited Professor of English How about this for a different literature course experience? Students are assigned historical roles to play, and they react to historical challenges faced by our ancestors. The course addresses a simple proposition: Can we reach real-world solutions any better than they did? For example, early in the semester, it’s 403 BC, and the Spartans have abandoned their occupation of a decimated Athens. Political factions quickly form around the hated oligarchs, the distrusted followers of Socrates, the aggrieved radical democrats, and the unpredictable moderate democrats—each faction represented by three to four students. Numerous individual roles include a rich athlete, a poor farmer, and an out-of-work sailor. An Assembly is called, and Athenian citizens meet at the Pnyx in sight of the Parthenon, seeking to restore the glory and power

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of Athenian democracy without antagonizing Sparta and resuming the war. Can these embattled factions agree on anything? Or after midterm, perhaps during the Ides of March, 44 BC, Roman Senators of all ranks and titles gather in one of the many temples of Rome just after the assassination of Julius Caesar. Marcus Antonius threatens to take up where Caesar left off. Lepidus and the young Octavius maneuver to advance their plans. Cleopatra keeps a close watch on the proceedings with her son—that is, Caesar’s son, or so she claims. War appears imminent. In this game, students play individual roles, seeking advantage, power, or survival at any cost. Can anyone be trusted? I facilitate these games in my course “English 2201: World Literature I,” for sophomores, which focuses on preRenaissance literature in translation, touching up memories of Western cultural history, reinforcing critical reading skills, and—one hopes—

supporting a student’s major course of study with a range of aesthetic, ethical, and philosophical considerations. Connecting literature and a student’s major can be a difficult proposition when assignments require students to read somewhat difficult texts abundant in unpronounceable character and geographical names, unfamiliar political history, perplexing cultural assumptions, and literary formats that only a passionate reader could love. It’s a tall order. So I decided to better manage the readings and course topics by assigning only Greek and Roman writers. While I love these writers—Homer, Herodotus, Plato, Euripides, Lucretius, Cicero, St. Augustine, to name a few— and make every effort to unpack the teachings they offer, millennials don’t take to incessant questions about arcane reading material. These bright kids prefer hands-on, self-directed projects, and real-world application.

In this game, students seek advantage, power, or survival at any cost. Can anyone be trusted? The solution came to me in an intriguing conversation with a colleague who recommended a “Reacting to the Past” conference at UGA; and there I played “The Rome Game”—the most fun I’ve ever had in a room full of professors. I could see immediately the games would connect reading and thinking with experience and action. I began using the games in sophomore literature surveys five years ago, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the students’ response. I now make room for two games per class. The historical role-playing concept, originally developed by Barnard College historian Mark Carnes, has become a national consortium of instructors who can now choose games covering a wide range of historical topics. Each game comes with a textbook of rules, debate topics, strategies, and accompanying texts. In my class, we spend three weeks reading, writing, and responding to assigned authors, refining our views of their values and the concerns that

Dr. Whited strategizes with Lucius Cornelius Cinna while graduate assistant Marjorie Hammond, the class preceptor, advises Cleopatra.

questions and sometimes quietly stir the pot in collusion with the risk-takers. I have to admit that so far no game has produced a peaceful consensus.

motivated them. We then spend a week reviewing the game details, the history of that moment, and our previous discussions. And then we play the game for two weeks.

Students discover many “not-soobvious” lessons: Information collected with enthusiasm is easier to remember when taking exams. When invested in an activity, a writer is more focused, and the writing is more substantive. And class discussion is always more spirited and creative when students bring confident and critical attention to the readings. And more to the point, they learn for themselves that ideas and choices often generate unpredictable consequences that require quick thinking, flexibility of thought, patience, and understanding.

Reacting games are run entirely by the students; in my role as “Gamemaster,” I offer advice, keep score on student activities, and review their written proposals—a minimum of one per week, also posted on the Smart Board for presentation during class. Debate can be very lively as they learn to maneuver through the various tasks and trials of governance. The first “Greek” game teaches them how to play, while the second “Rome” game adds more complexity in scope and structure. Both games reveal to students their powers of selfmotivation and independent thinking, their capacity for strategic planning, and their aptitude for leadership, which is always greater than they expect.

Imagine that in an “ancient literature” class, they learn to plan their agenda, review all possible evidence, set the plan into motion, and then stick by their convictions. I love teaching, and I’ve never had so much fun working with students. I can’t imagine running a class without Reacting to the Past.

During the two weeks of the game, emails fly in all directions. I answer numerous unsolicited, insightful

A skeptical Caesarian, Quintus Pedius, considers a proposal.

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Lucius Scribonius Libo offers the Senate a compromise.

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Piedmont has heart School of Nursing & Health Sciences to provide Georgia’s first four-year degree in cardiovascular technology practice at The Heart Center of Northeast Georgia Medical Center.

Dr. Prad E. Tummala, left, and Paul Braum, center, of the Cardiovascular Technology Institute in Gainesville demonstrate a 3-D ultrasound machine used for echocardiography for Piedmont College administrators Dr. Perry Rettig, Vice President for Academic Affairs; Dr. Linda Scott, Dean of Piedmont’s R.H. Daniel School of Nursing and Health Sciences; and Piedmont President Dr. James F. Mellichamp.

In a first for the State of Georgia, Piedmont College is now offering a four-year Bachelor of Science program in cardiovascular technology (CVT). In launching the new major, Piedmont is partnering with the Cardiovascular Technology Institute (CTI) in Gainesville, which will provide specialized instruction and faculty for the program. CTI includes technologists and cardiologists who

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“CVT is one of the fastest growing fields in health care,” said Dr. Linda Scott, Dean of Piedmont’s R.H. Daniel School of Nursing & Health Sciences. “This joint program will give our graduates a definite advantage as they enter this exciting career field.”

Scott said the new program is accepting students for the fall semester and is available at both the Demorest and Athens Piedmont campuses. President James F. Mellichamp said he is looking forward to working with The Heart Center staff. “The Northeast Georgia Medical Center was recently named the number one hospital in Georgia in five different

areas, including cardiac and vascular surgery; and it is number two in the nation for overall care,” he said. “That demonstrates to me the type of quality programs we will be able to provide by working together. Paul Braum, who will be director of the cardiovascular technology program, is one of the leading CVT instructors in the country and has extensive experience both in the field and in training technologists.” The medical director for the new program will be Dr. Prad E. Tummala, who joins the Piedmont faculty as a senior cardiovascular fellow. Dr. Tummala is also medical director of the Cardiac Care Unit at Northeast Georgia Medical Center. Scott said the Piedmont program is the first in the state to offer a fouryear Bachelor of Science degree in cardiovascular technology. “There are only 10 universities nationwide with similar bachelor’s programs, but it is the direction in which the field is moving,” she said. “Cardiovascular technologists are called on to perform increasingly complex tests and therapeutic procedures, to the point that a bachelor’s degree will soon be a necessity.”

COMPASS College students have always participated in a wide variety of ventures outside the classroom. Chaplain Ashley Cleere says the college’s Compass Program channels that ethos into organized and thoughtprovoking learning experiences. “There is no academic credit for Compass endeavors, but there are other rewards as students work with faculty and staff sponsors who guide them to examine how an experience may change their perspective,” Cleere said. To get an idea of what Compass is all about, it helps to look a few Compass endeavors students have worked on recently. This past spring McKay Petitta and 15 fellow students organized the first “Piedmont Athletic Lions (PAL) Games,” an entire Olympic-style event for more than forty special needs students attending area elementary schools. The students designed the

leading students in new directions

games, the T-shirts each participant received, and made sure that every young athlete went home a winner. For other Compass endeavors, students have assisted bear researchers at an Athens animal sanctuary, helped produce a video on northeast Georgia race relations for the Lillian E. Smith Center, and tested streams for E. coli. Students have provided safe heaters for families in need, and they have even worked to promote rock climbing as a fitness routine. “Compass endeavors enable students to engage with other students, as well as faculty, staff and many people in the community,” Cleere said. “Projects can build on students’ existing interests or introduce them to new areas entirely. We anticipate that exposure to varied contexts will help students become more intentional about what they hope to gain from and contribute to various experiences, not only as

undergraduates, but throughout their lives.” Bridgette Kelly, a freshman on the women’s basketball team, was one of the students involved in the PAL Games and agreed that the event was a valuable experience. For the event, some 45 Piedmont students were paired with special needs students for the day. “Being able to help with the PAL Games was a life changing experience for me,” Kelly said. “I’m glad I was a part of something so incredible!” Cleere said Kelly’s experience is what the Compass Program is all about. “It provides an opportunity for students to test the waters of personal and professional possibilities before setting their sights on a particular career,” she said. “Hopefully, they will become more purposeful outside of their occupational settings, as well.”

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STUDENTS

JUST A MUSICIAN LIVING HIS DREAM By Justin Gallagher Courtesy of Now Habersham You may have seen him perform with the Piedmont Singers or recently enjoyed hearing him play at the United Methodist Church in Toccoa. Nikolai Peek has many talents, but the one he holds dear to his heart is playing the organ. Peek’s interest in music began during a visit to Piedmont in 2003, when he attended the dedication of the Sewell Pipe Organ in the Chapel. “I fell in love with the organ, and I told my parents that I wanted to take organ lessons,” he recalls. “They said, ‘You must start with piano first.’” From the very beginning Brian and Angie Peek were supportive of their son and helped make sure Nikolai took the right steps in becoming successful. “They have worked hard in their lives and have taught me to have a good work ethic, too,” Peek says. Peek followed his parents’ advice and began taking piano lessons, performing his first recital when he was 11 years old. Mary Turner of Demorest was his piano teacher until the end of high school. “She helped me sight read well, so now it’s easy for me to do,” Peek explains.

Peek’s dream of playing the organ became a reality in 2008 while still in high school, when he began studying with Piedmont College music professor—now president— James F. Mellichamp. He enrolled at Piedmont after graduating from Habersham Central High School in 2010. “Dr. Mellichamp, as a professor, loves to teach,” Peek said. “He wants the very best for his students and wants to see them succeed. Even

though it might be difficult, it is very rewarding.” Peek savors the reward of his efforts each time he sits down to play. “The organ, in a nutshell, is any color or sound of an orchestra,” he said. “As an organist, it is exciting to imitate an orchestra, all at your fingertips,” he said. “The immense sound of most high school instruments can’t rattle the windows, but the organ

does. It’s very expressive, whether it’s loud or soft, and it can be majestic for the organist and moving for an audience.” Peek said he chose to attend Piedmont College because of the professors, good reputation, and of course, the Sewell Pipe Organ, which was built by one of the world’s premier organ companies, Casavant Freres of Ste. Hyacinth, Quebec. Named in honor of Piedmont alumnus and former trustee Charles K. Sewell, the organ was designed by Mellichamp with some 3,691 pipes and a mechanical-action keyboard. The case is constructed of oak and features hand-carved and gilded pipe shades. It is the instrument that so impressed Peek as a child and continues to give his dreams flight. Peek graduated from Piedmont in May and will continue his studies at Indiana University to earn a master’s degree in music, with a focus on sacred music and organ performance. “I want to be an organist and choir master at large churches and a concert organist that tours around the world,” he said. It’s been a long journey marked by countless hours of study and rehearsal, but it’s clear from the sound of the music Peek creates it’s been worth it. The dream he latched onto just days before his 10th birthday has come true. Now this 22-year-old is moving beyond Habersham’s borders, carrying his talent and new dreams along with him.

Nikolai Peek is this year’s recipient of the Charles Spence Citizenship Award, named after the founding president of Piedmont. It recognizes a student in the senior class who has performed service to the College and surrounding community, with an emphasis on leadership roles.

Piedmont’s Sam Thomas makes a point during the first round of the GPDA debate tournament. Thomas was named thirdplace speaker in the state competition.

Debate team hosts state tourney Piedmont debaters Sam Thomas and Sarah Smagur advanced to the semi-finals of the 2015 Georgia Parliamentary Debate Association state varsity tournament, but in the end it was Mercer University that took the title. The two-day tournament held Feb. 13-14 in Demorest featured varsity and novice teams from Mercer, Piedmont, Valdosta State University, Oglethorpe University, Morehouse College, and the University of North Georgia. A joint team from Valdosta and UNG won the novice division title. In addition to the semi-finalists awards, Thomas was named thirdplace speaker in the varsity division, and Sarah Smagur was the 17th speaker in the varsity division out of 42 speakers. Piedmont debaters Augusta Gailey, Hannah Thomas, Reynaldo Marcos Herrera, Julia Burtt, and Rusty Crumley won several debate rounds and received achievement and participation awards. Thomas Looney received the 15th place speaker award in the novice division.

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An Old Soul Graduate Austin Tench has long ties to Piedmont history You might say that Austin Marcus Tench was destined to wear the green and gold. When Tench graduated May 2 with a bachelor’s degree in business, he was just the most recent of six generations of family members to walk the halls of Piedmont College. In fact, his greatgreat-great grandfather helped found the college way back in 1897, when it was called the J.S. Green Institute. Charles Edward Hendrickson of New Bedford, Mass., moved his family to the wilds of northeast Georgia in 1891 as president of the local bank and a new firm called the Demorest Home Mining and Improvement Company. With the help and charisma of a well-known prohibitionist, William Jennings Demorest, Hendrickson and other investors chartered the town of Demorest and worked to attract businesses ranging from saddletree makers to bathtub manufacturers. When in 1897 the town fathers decided to form a college, Hendrickson donated land and served among the first trustees. 8

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The next generation, Tench’s great-great-grandfather Edward Durfee Hendrickson, his wife and eight children made their home in Demorest as well. He established the Demorest Foundry and Machinery

Treasurer of Piedmont College and as a trustee for many years.

Tench’s great-grandparents Frank Hastings Hendrickson and Martha (Mattie) McMillan, both attended Piedmont in the early years of the 20th century. Grandparents William Douglas Barnett and Doris Theresa Hendrickson met while students at Piedmont in 1941, when Doris was a sophomore and Doug a junior. With World War II interrupting, Doug graduated in 1946 and was a member of the New graduate Austin Tench with his parents Lynn (’78) and J.S. Green Society and Marcus Tench at the May 2 Commencement. Tench’s Piedmont the orchestra. ties go back six generations to the college’s founding in 1897. His great-grandparents are pictured above in photos from about 1910 .

Works and eventually took over as president of the bank upon the death of his father. Edward also served as

Tench’s mother, Theresa Lynn Barnett Tench enrolled at Piedmont in 1973 as one of the first three students to participate in dual-enrollment with

Habersham Central High School, and she graduated as a member of the Class of ’78. She married Marcus Tench, who is the odd-man out in this story and did not attend Piedmont, but graduated from Georgia Tech. The pair have been longtime supporters of the college, and Lynn has served as an officer in both The Torch and the Alumni Association Board of Directors. Their daughter, Allison, also attended Piedmont in the dual enrollment program.

spring from Piedmont, continuing the family’s relationship with the school.

So it was pretty much inevitable that Austin Tench would graduate this

Tench graduated from Habersham Central in 2011 and enrolled at Piedmont that fall. He played baseball

“I did consider other places, but I grew up knowing that Piedmont was going to be one of my top choices,” Tench said. “It was always kind of there in my mind, but I looked at some larger schools, mainly for baseball, to see what my options were. But I wanted the small classroom environment and did not want the whole ‘200-peoplein-a-classroom’ experience.”

for his first three years before being sidelined with a shoulder injury. “I decided then I should start focusing more on my grades.” That seems to have worked out, as he earned a spot as a Dean’s Scholar with a 4.0 gradepoint-average in his final semester. For the future, Austin said he plans to use his business degree to open his own business, probably right here in Habersham County. And so maybe another generation will be at Piedmont some day. “I’m a family person,” Tench said. “The fact is that Piedmont has a lot of ties with my family, and Demorest is home—it all fits.”

TRAVEL STUDY 2015

Pictured left clockwise are students at the Eiffel Tower; the Palace of Versailles; with little Leo the Lion on a train from France to Switzerland; and at the Oberbaum Bridge in Berlin.

Since the inception of the Travel Study program, more than 865 Piedmont students and 25 full-time faculty members have traveled together around the world. This past May, students made trips to France and Switzerland, Germany and the Czech Republic, and Italy.

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Back to School A new meaning for Fredda Wheeler For Fredda Oglesby Wheeler, finishing what you start is important—even if it takes almost 40 years. When Wheeler graduated from Stephens County High School in 1974, she already had a job with Coats & Clark Thread Company in Toccoa, so the following Monday, she went straight to work. She remained with Coats & Clark for 18 years until the company moved its operations to Charlotte, N.C. “My last day was on a Friday,” Wheeler said, “and I started working at Toccoa City Hall on Monday.” And she has been at City Hall for 23 years now, working in payroll and customer service, then customer service manager, and since 2009, City Clerk.

hands and started rethinking my life. I thought about going back and getting my degree. I thought it would be a tool in my arsenal. I also wanted it to be a lesson to my son and grandchildren. Education is of the utmost importance. Education, job, and career may not come in the order we had planned, but it will benefit you if you stick with it.”

and statistics, the two classes I dreaded the most. You think ‘I’ll never get this,’ but you get in there and you get it. And it’s very rewarding to get it.” “The professors all certainly make themselves available, and they do anything and everything they can to make sure you get it,” she said. “Ed Taylor—I can’t say enough about him—I could go on and on. And Robert Perella, I think I took on a little of his passion for investing. Math professor Deland Docsol was a tremendous source of inspiration and encouragement.”

And so at the Commencement ceremonies held this past December, Fredda Oglesby Wheeler received her Fredda Oglesby Wheeler is surrounded by family members after graduating diploma, to the cheers with a degree in business. But in the back of her of 15 family members mind, there was always watching from the audience. So 38 years after she left college, some unfinished business. In 1976, Wheeler was back at Piedmont, with Wheeler had enrolled at Piedmont different professors, but often in the College to earn a business degree, “I am absolutely proud that now I same classrooms. “It was a little surreal,” but the demands of school and work, can say that I have a degree from she laughed. while also being a full-time wife and Piedmont,” Wheeler said. “And you mother, began to add up, so she put know, as it got close to the end, I those plans on hold. thought, ‘I’m really going to miss this.’ Wheeler also found that going “Back to So I thought about it, and starting this School” was nothing like the Rodney September—I’m starting on my MBA!” Dangerfield movie. “I’d leave work When her husband, Lealon, died five on Friday and be in the books until years ago, and with her son now Sunday night,” she said. “I took calculus grown, Wheeler said, “I had time on my

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Commencement 1

4 5

1 Moses Das of Ellenwood, pictured

with his parents, earned an MBA degree to go with his undergraduate business degree in sports marketing.

2 Rev. Nancy Taylor, senior minister of Old South Church in Boston, Mass., was the Baccalaureate speaker.

3 Alex Sridej of Dacula poses with Leo the Lion after Baccalaureate.

4 Janus Institute Founder Dr.

Robert H. Pittman presented the undergraduate Commencement address.

5 Brock Bennett, K.J. McCoy, professor

6 Athens-Clarke County Chief Magistrate

Jennifer Arbitter, and Brandon Williams at Baccalaureate.

Judge Patricia Barron gave the graduate Commencement address.

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IMPACT & OUTREACH

What’s happening at the Lillian E. Smith Center New facilities and a new version of ‘Lillian Smith’s Strange Fruit’ Improvements to the Lillian E. Smith Center in Clayton continue, says director Craig Amason, even as Smith’s works also continue to inspire new stage productions. Amason said construction is just about finished on the two bunkhouses that will house up to 12 people each. The added sleeping space will make it easier to conduct larger classes at the Center for extended periods, he said. The Center also sports a new and larger sign at the main entrance off Highway 76 to make it easier for visitors to find. Work is progressing on three loop trails for the Center’s 150 acres on Screamer Mountain. Amason said Piedmont biology professor Dr. Tim Menzel and local plant specialist Jack Johnston are helping to lay out the trails for use by students and other visitors to study the many plant species, a mountain bog, and the Screamer Mountain ridge. A presentation of the one-womanshow “Jordan is So Chilly,” featuring Atlanta actress and playwright Brenda Bynum, was a great success at the Dillard Playhouse on May 9. Drawn largely from Smith’s autobiographical writings, the play “is an intimate conversation with the audience and is intended to be deeply personal and reveal the woman and the artist behind the icon,” Bynum said. “For me, it has been a true labor of love to bring her back to life in this way, and I have been extremely gratified by the

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responses to her story, particularly from the many people who are hearing her story for the first time.” Amason said the event helped to reintroduce Lillian Smith, the Center, and Piedmont College to many residents of Rabun County. Smith’s legacy will return to the stage in October in an adaptation of her original play, “Lillian Smith’s Strange Fruit,” based on her novel of the same name. New York actor and director Thom Fogarty will be in residence at Piedmont for six weeks working with students and the Theatre Department to prepare for the show, which is scheduled for performances at 7:30

p.m., Oct. 1-3; and 2 p.m., Oct. 4, on the Swanson Center Mainstage. Fogarty’s script is based on Smith’s play, which ran on Broadway in 1945. Alice Friman, professor emerita of English and Creative Writing at the University of Indianapolis and currently Poet-in-Residence at Georgia College in Milledgeville, is a resident artist at the Center this summer. She will present a reading from her work, including her latest collection of poems, “The View From Saturn,” at 4 p.m., Oct. 15, at Piedmont’s Demorest campus. Friman’s collection, “Vinculum,” won the 2012 Georgia Author of the Year Award in Poetry.

Workers put the finishing touches on one of two bunkhouses constructed at the Lillian E. Smith Center that will house up to 12 visitors each.

Tommy Brown of Athens, moderator Jane Kidd, and Don Johnson of Athens discussed the 1964 murder of Lt. Col. Lemuel Penn in Madison County. Penn, a decorated veteran of World War II and Washington, D.C., educator, was returning home from reserve training in Alabama when his car was ambushed by members of the Ku Klux Klan near Athens. The murder and resulting trial focused attention on the newly passed 1964 Civil Rights Act.

First Lillian E. Smith Symposium ‘What kind of an extremist are you?’ As Don Johnson read his father’s words from the transcript of a notorious 1964 murder trial, a hush fell over the Meeting House at the Piedmont Athens Campus. Johnson, a former Congressman and now director of the Rusk Center for International Law and Policy in Athens, read the description of Lt. Col. Lemuel Penn’s murder near Athens, just as he had heard it 50 years earlier in the hot Madison County courthouse. In a scene right out of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Johnson recalled sitting in the courthouse as his father, Solicitor General Clete D. Johnson, implored the jury to convict two Klansmen accused of killing Penn for no other reason than the color of his skin. In a round table discussion, Johnson and Tommy Brown of Athens recounted their memories of Penn’s murder just outside of Athens, an event that shocked the nation just days after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Penn, a Washington, D.C., educator working on his doctoral degree, was shot from a passing car while driving across the Broad River Bridge.

Johnson’s father prosecuted two of the defendants, Cecil Myers and Joseph H. Sims, and Brown described how he had overheard a conversation at work that helped authorities charge the pair. Despite considerable evidence indicating their guilt, an all-white jury acquitted both men. Sims and Myers were Moderator Barbara Brown Taylor with symposium speakers both later convicted on Imani Perry and CNN’s John Blake. conspiracy charges and sentenced to 10 years University. A frequent commentator each under the new Civil Rights Act. for National Public Radio, CNN, and the New York Times, Perry discussed the persistence of racial inequality into The Penn discussion was part of the the 21st century. Following breakout first “Lillian E. Smith Symposium on sessions, Piedmont professor Barbara Arts and Social Change,” which was Brown Taylor and Blake conducted a held at the Athens campus March wrap-up discussion of the day’s talks. 14. Attendees also heard from CNN correspondent John Blake, who discussed his book “Children of the The symposium is named for Clayton Movement,” in which he interviewed author and civil rights pioneer Lillian the children of civil rights leaders and E. Smith. Mel Palmer, director of the segregationists; and Imani Perry, a Athens Campus, said he hopes the professor with the Center for African new symposium will be a continuation American Studies at Princeton of Smith’s legacy. SUMMER 2015

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Examining creative construction

Workers put the finishing touches on one of two new bunkouses at Piedmont’s Lillian E. Smith Center in Clayton.

Piedmont Educator Renewal Conference More than 150 educators and education students in northeast Georgia gathered for the annual Piedmont Educator Renewal Conference (PERC) March 14 at the Swanson Center. “This is our third annual PERC event, and it has proven to be a good way for educators in the area to exchange information about best practices,” said Dr. Donald Gnecco, Dean of the School of Education. Sessions were conducted by Piedmont faculty and recent graduates from the college’s master’s, specialist, and doctoral programs. Dr. Betty Siegel, President Emerita of Kennesaw State University and a member of the Piedmont College Board of Trustees, gave the keynote address.

Dr. Betty Siegel

Pictured from left are Piedmont Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Perry Rettig; Dr. Lonnie C. King Jr.; Piedmont President Dr. James F. Mellichamp; and Piedmont Chaplain, the Rev. Dr. Ashley Cleere.

King receives Piedmont honorary degree Civil rights pioneer Lonnie C. King Jr. of Atlanta was presented with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Piedmont College during a ceremony June 12 in Demorest. The presentation was made during the annual meeting of the Southeast Conference United Church of Christ held at the college. The honorary doctorate was just one of the honors King collected, as the Piedmont Board of Trustees also presented him with a proclamation highlighting his long career on the front lines of U.S. and international civil rights campaigns. King helped form local and national civil rights organizations, including the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, in the 1960s. He graduated from Morehouse College in 1969 and earned a master’s degree from the University of Baltimore. A former college history professor, in 2010 King founded the Peachtree Hope Charter School in Atlanta and plans to organize more charter schools to open doors of opportunity and achievement for disadvantaged children.

FINE ARTS Toshio Ohi: Japanese pottery star MSMA hosts reception for Japanese ceramic artist The Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art in Demorest held a reception for artist Toshio Ohi and representatives from the Japanese Consulate in Atlanta on Jan. 22. Ohi is one of the 30 artists whose works were represented in a world-traveling exhibit of studio ceramics from the Japan Foundation, which ended a two-month stay at the museum on Jan. 31. Pictured from left are Japanese Consul General Kazuo Sunaga of Atlanta, artist Toshio Ohi, President James F. Mellichamp, and Art Department Chair Chris Kelly.

Spanish organist Raúl Ramírez performs Internationally acclaimed concert organist Raúl Ramírez of Madrid, Spain, put the Sewell Organ through its paces in a concert March 15. Ramírez is the first Spanish organist

in recent times to establish himself among the elites of the international concert scene. At age 27, he was appointed as the first Organist-inResidence of the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid—Spain’s National

Organist Raúl Ramírez, left, meets with one of his fans, Tom McCook of Grayson, following a concert in the Chapel.

Concert Hall. Within the first six months of his appointment critics hailed him as one of the most exciting talents on the music scene in Spain. Ramírez is now a successful concert organist with a busy global schedule that takes him to major festivals and concert halls—from the Mariinsky Theater and Moscow House of Music in Russia, to organ dedications and major venues through Europe and the U.S. Since 2013, Ramírez has served as the organist in residence at Sursa Concert Hall and on the organ faculty at Ball State University. He is also the artistic director of the annual summer International Organ Festival in Barcelona. For the Piedmont concert, Ramírez performed works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Franz Liszt, César Franck, Camille Saint-Saëns, and Charles Marie Widor.

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THEATRE 3

1 Monique Leaphart as one of the

2 Brecken Watts and Jacob McKee in a

3 This scene from ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’

‘weird sisters’ and Jason Sheffield in a scene from ‘Macbeth.’

scene from ‘Hush.’

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includes, from left, Zach Grizzle, Tyler Dale, Thomas Gerren, Ryan Robinson, Kayla Buice, Zack Turner, Jacob Passmore, Brecken Watts, Terrance Ogden, and Michael Cox.

4 Ryan Robinson as Chief Bromden in

3 Jacob Passmore as Macbeth and Pearl

‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.’

Oppenheimer as Lady Macbeth.

MUSIC 3

1 The Piedmont Wind Ensemble, which includes musicians from five area high schools, presented its Spring

2 Elizabeth Parmer, Amin AbrahamQuiles, and Ben Rikemen in a scene from the Opera Workshop performance in January.

3 The Piedmont Singersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; spring

concerts included a stop at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church in Buckhead.

Concert April 21. .

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Steven Lawson, Diane Johnson, Thomas Faracco, and Sharon Beckstead joined President James F. Mellichamp in a concert of voice, organ, and piano

‘James and Friends’ Concert features national and international performers New York—and Canada and Philadelphia—came to Piedmont in April as a concert featuring five organ, piano, and voice performers lit up the Chapel.

years. His concerts include solo recitals at the Washington Cathedral, Berlin Cathedral, and the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. In 2013 he performed seven concerts across Russia.

The concert included James F. Mellichamp on organ and piano, organists Sharon Beckstead of Toronto and Steven Lawson of New York, along with soprano Diane Johnson of New York and tenor Thomas Faracco of Philadelphia. Selections included works by John Cook, Charles Ives, Denis Bédard, Frances Allitsen, Felix Mendelssohn, Ferdinand Hummel, Maurice Ravel, and Leonard Bernstein.

Beckstead has served as music director at Leaside United Church in Toronto, conducting the Chancel Choir and young voiced Junior Choir since 1993. She currently provost of the Honourable Company of Organists in Toronto.

The audience was in for a rare treat as Mellichamp--for the first time in ___ years--accompanied singers not on the organ, but the piano. Mellichamp has performed organ concerts throughout the U.S. and Europe for more than 40

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Faracco has appeared with a number of orchestras, including the St. Louis and Minnesota symphonies, the Cincinnati Opera, and the Marlboro Music Festival. Recent performances include the American premiere of the English version of Oskar Straus’ “The Merry Nibelungs” in New York and Philadelphia.

Johnson is artist-in-residence at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in her hometown of Brooklyn, N.Y. She received a master’s degree in voice from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. As a recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship, she studied abroad in Italy and was later an apprentice at the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program for Singers. Lawson is the assisting organist at the Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York City, a position he has held since 1997. He was for 10 years the director of music at St. Luke Lutheran Church in the Theatre District. He is active in the New York City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and is the creator of “The New York City Organ Project,” an ongoing effort to document the organs past and present in the five boroughs of New York City.

ATHLETICS ON

THE

COVER

Jim Peeples named new Athletic Director Peeples takes the helm of the Piedmont Athletic Department following the retirement of longtime AD John Dzik. Peeples in turn said he wanted to emphasize “what a great job John Dzik has done in the last 10 years. I want to thank him for being a fantastic mentor.”

Jim Peeples

Head baseball coach Jim Peeples has been named Piedmont’s new athletic director, taking over from John Dzik, who retired June 30 after 10 years as AD. Peeples, now in his 14th year as coach, also served as Associate Athletic Director for Facilities. He began his new role as Athletic Director on July 1 and will continue as baseball coach. President James F. Mellichamp said he was “thrilled to have someone within Piedmont College who has the talent and leadership to move into the position. That means there shouldn’t be an opportunity for any lost momentum. Jim is well respected and highly regarded by everybody here as well as in our athletic conference and will do a great job for us.”

During Dzik’s decade as director, the athletic department has grown from 195 athletes on 11 teams to more than 300 student athletes on 15 teams. The period was also one of the most successful in Piedmont athletics history, with teams winning more than 20 conference titles and making 16 NCAA National Tournament appearances. The program collected four President’s Cup titles, presented each year to the most successful overall athletics program in the conference. Peeples has been responsible for a large part of that success, posting a 316-262 record for a .547 winning percentage during his first 13 years as head baseball coach. As the new AD, he will be responsible for all Piedmont sports teams, which compete in the USA South Conference of NCAA Division III. In addition to baseball, the college currently fields teams in men’s and women’s basketball, cross country, lacrosse, golf, soccer, and tennis, as well as women’s volleyball. This year the program began organizing for men’s and women’s track as well. Peeples and his wife, Laura, live in Demorest and have two daughters, Taylor, a recent Piedmont graduate, and Ashley, who is currently in high school and attends joint enrollment classes at the college.

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Pictured at the awards ceremony are, from left, Kaitlin Norman, Kelsey Schaffernoth, Caleb Neill, and Jessie Jenkins.

Senior athletes honored Close to 50 graduating members of the Green and Gold were honored at the Senior Student Athlete Awards Ceremony hosted in the Swanson Center by the P-Club. Honored as the Outstanding Male StudentAthlete was senior men’s basketball player Jessie Jenkins of McDonough, while the Outstanding Female Student Athlete was Kelsey Schaffernoth of Snellville, a senior defender for the women’s soccer team. The Academic Award for the graduating male and female student athletes with the highest GPA went to volleyball player Kaitlin Norman of Good Hope and baseball player Caleb Neill of McDonough. Jenkins was a D3Hoops.com South Region Rookie of the Year in 2012 and is one of the program’s most prolific rebounders, ranking first among all Piedmont players since 2007 in

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offensive, defensive, and total rebounds. He also tops the charts in career blocks with 37. Jenkins was twice named a USA South Academic All-Conference honoree. Moving on to complete his engineering degree at Georgia Tech, the senior is also the program’s first Capital One Academic All-District honoree. Schaffernoth was a four-year starter at the centerback position for the team that allowed just 12 goals on the season. She helped Piedmont to a regular season conference title this past fall and leaves having guided Piedmont to two conference tournament titles as well as a pair of NCAA National Tournament appearances. Schaffernoth was a 2014 Capital One Academic All American and a two-time USA South Academic All-Conference honoree. Neill is a three-time USA South Academic All-Conference honoree, and graduated with a double degree

in political science and criminal justice. He has earned a spot on the Dean’s List and Athletic Director’s Honor Roll and is a member of Alpha Lambda Delta and Sigma Alpha Pi, the National Society of Leadership and Success. As the senior class valedictorian, Norman received the H.M. Stewart Award of Excellence, presented by South State Bank. Norman is the only two-time Capital One Academic AllAmerican in Piedmont history, and will also go down as one of the most powerful hitters to ever walk through the door at Cave Arena. She averaged more than 2.30 kills per set in her career and more than 100 assists. She was an All-Freshman Team selection in 2011 before earning USA South All-Conference honors three years in a row. Norman Graduating in biology, she has been accepted into the the doctoral physical therapy program at the University of North Georgia.

SPRING SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS

Women’s Golf

Women’s Tennis

On the women’s side, senior Cortney Boggs of Colbert posted a medalist finish in her final event. She began her career as GSAC Freshman of the Year and competed in all but six of the 68 rounds since arriving at Piedmont, while earning a nursing degree. She added eight top-10 finishes and six top-five finishes in her stellar career.

The women’s tennis team finished 8-11 and also finished the season on a strong note, winning four of their final five matches. Included in the late season surge was a first-round victory at the USA South Athletic Conference Tournament. Picking up honorable mention All-Conference accolades was junior Nicole Parrish of Baldwin, who returns next year for her senior season. The eight-member squad featured six freshmen who gained valuable experience this year and the entire roster returns for next season.

Men’s Tennis

The men’s tennis team finished with an overall mark of 10-8, impressively winning five of their last six matches, including a first round USA South Tournament victory. Leading the way for the men was freshman Nathan Metzger of Auckland, New Zealand, who was named second-team All-Conference; and his brother, sophomore Matthew Metzger, who was named honorable mention All-Conference. The squad returns six of eight letter winners next year.

Men’s Golf

The men’s golf team was led by freshman Sam Hill of Orlando, Fla., who had a team-best 74.47 average. Just behind Hill was junior Joseph Morris of Auburn, who averaged 78.05. Hill carded six of the seven low rounds this season for the men, as the team finished in the top-3 in two separate events, and played in the Bermuda Collegiate Invitational in March. At that event, Morris tied for the individual title against a field of nationally ranked players.

SPRING SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS

Women’s Lacrosse

Women’s lacrosse had another banner season as they were 14-2 on the year, which included a perfect 6-0 record in USA South regular season play, good enough for the regular season championship. The Lady Lions picked up several year-end awards as juniors Mckynsey Douglas and Maggie McDaniel, both of Newnan, were named First Team All-Conference. Joining them were sophomores Jenine Brideau of Fayetteville and Blake Forrest of St. Johns, Fla., while freshman Francesca Malabad of Ocoee, Fla., was a secondteam selection. Douglas scored 63 goals this year, third most in the conference. Alexis Narducii of St. Johns, Fla., was named the program’s first Capital

One All-District selection.

Men’s Lacrosse

The men’s lacrosse team finished at 4-12, with half of their losses by a slim three or fewer goal margin. The team had four players score more than 20 goals on the year, led by senior Nick Green of Kennesaw and junior Taylor Carter of Penacook, N.H., who had a team-best 29 goals on the year. Fellow seniors Spencer Ortis of Cumming and Steve Blanchard of Ft. Mill, S.C., were tied for second on the season with 26 goals. Green and Ortis both reached 100 career goals in the same game. On the program’s first ever senior night, a goal by Patrick Ammons of Marietta was so impressive it made the SportsCenter Top 10 plays of the day. The squad also hosted the first Southeast Independent Lacrosse Championship (SILC) in April, falling in the semi-final to Ferrum College.

Baseball Softball

The Lady Lions finished the season at 17-14, and freshman Jessica Bagwell of Cumming was named the USA South Rookie of the Year and second-team All-Conference. Also on the All-Conference squad was First Team selection Abby Smith of Washington and fellow Second Team honorees Laura Carter of Locust Grove and Sarah Walker of Lawrenceville. Senior shortstop Whitney Wolfe of Buford was also named honorable mention All-Conference. Smith batted an impressive .442 on the season, good enough for seventh best in the conference this year, and was also selected as a Capital One All-District honoree. Walker’s 2.67 ERA was the fifth best mark in the league, and her record of 13 wins was third best.

The baseball team finished the 2015 season with a 23-17 overall record, highlighting the year with two home victories over nationally ranked opponents. The Lions defeated #23 Emory University in February and in April defeated #6 Birmingham Southern University in a thrilling 10-inning walk-off win. Leading the way this year was a group of juniors – Evan Gresham of Fayetteville, Josh Thomas of Canton, and Will Skidmore of Cumming were all named First Team All-Conference performers; and junior Michael Barnes of Dacula was an Honorable Mention. Gresham had a stellar year at the plate, batting .378, the third highest single season mark in the NCAA era. Thomas highlighted the pitching staff this year with a 1.53 ERA, an NCAA-era record at Piedmont. Gresham and Thomas were named All-Region performers by both the ABCA and D3baseball.com, and Thomas was selected as the program’s first Capital One All-District honoree.

ALUMNI

Tee-off at The Orchard Annual Coach Cave Memorial Golf Tournament Director of Development Justin Scali greets Reid Mullins (‘59) of Dacula prior to the start of the tournament. This year’s tournament included two grandsons of the late Leon O’Neal Cave. Pictured are Robert Baker, left, and Jacob Baker, right, with parents Kathy Cave Baker and Niles Baker of Locust Grove.

For the 27th year, golfers teed off in the annual Piedmont College Coach Cave Memorial Golf Tournament, held at The Orchard Golf and Country Club May 29. Finishing in first place among the 55 golfers was the team of Chris Gilstrap of Lula, Byron Kennedy of Homer, Charles Jordan of Toccoa, and Mike Speed of Homer with a score of 51 in the scramble tourney. Second place went to Richard DeMore of Cornelia, Brandon DeMore of Demorest, Trent DeMore of Mt. Airy, and Mike McCall of Clarkesville, who came into the clubhouse with a 52. In thirdplace with a 55 were Mike Rosser of Flowery Branch, Scott Pryor of Sugar Hill, Chris Dietzel of Monroe, and Kent Scolamiero of Loganville. Fourth Place went to Brian Davidson, Donny Fordham, and Mike Duncan of Baldwin and Lee Caudell of Mt. Airy with a 59. The tournament is named for the late Leon O’Neal Cave, who served as a coach and athletic director at Piedmont from 1948 to 1983. All proceeds go to the Coach Cave Scholarship and general funding for athletics.

Jim Peeples and his brother John Peeples line up a putt in the scramble tournament.

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LAST ROAR SENIOR EVENT

TERRAPIN BREWERY TOUR ATHENS Piedmont College rolled out On the Move, hosting events off-campus to connect with alumni in surrounding towns and cities. This year, we hosted our inaugural Last Roar event, shuttling seniors to Athens for a last hoorah and welcoming them as soon-to-be alumni.

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Board names four new Trustees Fran Davis Jarrett has been associated with AcreeDavis Funeral Home in Toccoa, the family business, her entire life. She is a graduate of Greenleaf Business College. Jarrett is a member of the Toccoa Symphony Board of Directors, Toccoa First United Methodist Church, and various civic organizations.

The Piedmont College Board of Trustees named four new members at its regularly scheduled meeting in May.

Kara Keel Moody (’94) practices dentistry in Cumming. She earned a BS degree in biology from Piedmont and received her DMD from the Medical College of Georgia. An active member of the Alumni Association Board for more than 10 years, she served as Alumni Trustee for three years.

Do get your knickers in a twist!

Michael S. Santowski, Jr. (’06) of Cumming, Georgia is a vice president, principal banker for Wells Fargo’s Business Banking Group. He serves as Alumni Trustee and is a member of the Alumni Association Board. While at Piedmont, he earned a BA degree in business, played baseball and served as a member of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee.

James F. Sievers (’63) of Fort Myers, Fla., is a retired vice president and national account manager for Bristol-Myers Squibb Nuclear Medicine Division. At Piedmont, he earned a BA degree in business administration, played basketball, baseball and golf, and was sophomore class president.

You are invited! Join Piedmont alumni and friends for an escorted tour of London capped with a concert by President James F. Mellichamp on the organ at historic Westminster Abbey.

July 7-13, 2016

For trip details, pricing, and how to sign up, visit piedmont.edu/westminster or contact Katie Porter at 706-778-8500 ext. 1329, kporter@piedmont.edu. SUMMER 2015 | THE PIEDMONT COLLEGE JOURNAL

P-Club Hall-of-Famers

From left, Lauren Fritsch Goza, Spencer Shelton, and Jenni Deitz Shepard are the newest members of the P-Club Sports Hall of Fame.

Goza, Shelton and Shepard recognized The P-Club inducted three new members to its Sports Hall of Fame April 11, during Alumni Weekend activities held in Demorest. This year’s class includes Lauren Fritsch Goza (’05, MBA ’07) of Dahlonega, Spencer Shelton (’10) of Peachtree City, and Jenni Deitz Shepard (’03) of Mt. Airy. Goza was a four-time All-Conference soccer player for the Lady Lions and a team captain for three years. She broke all pre-existing records for goalkeeping at Piedmont and graduated with high honors with a BA degree in political science in 2005 and an MBA degree in

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2007. She served as an assistant coach for the soccer team while earning an MBA degree at Piedmont in 2007. Shelton was a four-year starting pitcher for the baseball Lions and was the 2007 Great South Athletic Conference All-Freshman selection and the 2009 Pitcher of the Year. He was a three-time All-Conference selection and in 2010 signed a professional contract with the Chicago White Sox organization, pitching one year with the Bristol White Sox (now Pirates). He earned a BA degree in business administration in 2010.

Shepard earned GSAC softball All-Conference honors as both an outfielder and a catcher. She was a two-year team captain and named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association and the NCCAA AllAcademic Teams. Shepard earned BA degrees with honors in business administration and Spanish in 2003 and an MAT degree in education in 2005. She was an NCCAA All-America Honorable Mention in 2003 and served as an assistant softball coach at Piedmont in 2004-05. She has served as head coach of the Truett-McConnell softball team for the past 10 years.

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION PRESENTS 2015 AWARDS The Piedmont College Alumni Association presented awards to four graduates at a special dinner held at the Demorest campus April11 during Alumni Weekend.

Carolina, specializing in tax services and business valuations. Boss graduated with a BA degree in psychology and a minor in English, and she earned an MA degree in English

administration at Piedmont. She has provided leadership and support for the Alumni Association through her service as a member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors, a sponsor of The Torch Honor Society, and a supporter of The Patriots of Piedmont. Linda is in her 19th year at Piedmont, where she served as registrar for 12 years and currently works as the assistant to the vice president for academic affairs.

Del Bradshaw of Piedmont, S.C., a member of the Class 1974, received the group’s Distinguished Alumni Award; and Renee Nelson Boss of Lexington, Ky., (’96, MA ’98) earned the Excellence in Education Award. Linda Wofford of Clarkesville (’99, Holmes MPA ’01) was graduated with chosen for the a BA degree Alumni Service in music Alumni award winners, from left, Del Bradshaw, Maghan Holmes, Linda Woffard, and Renee Boss. Award; and and an MAT Maghan Holmes degree in music of Madison (’10, education. She education. Since graduation, she has MAT ’12) took home the Pacesetter is now in her third year at Morgan been a high school English teacher, Award, presented to young alumni County Elementary School, where served as an Education Program who exhibit outstanding achievement she is a music teacher and a Relay for Consultant and Academic Core Branch early in their careers. Life team member. She is involved in Manager for the Kentucky Department non-profit communities such as Sisters of Education, and is currently an Bradshaw graduated with a BA degree Helping Sisters and active in volunteer instructor at the University of Kentucky in accounting with honors and after opportunities throughout the Madison and initiative director at The Fund for college taught as an adjunct instructor area, where she helps raise money Transforming Education in Kentucky. at Greenville Technical College. In for various children’s organizations. 1980 he founded Bradshaw, Gordon & Holmes is currently enrolled in the Wofford graduated with a BA degree in Clinkscales LLC, where he currently is Education Specialist Program at sociology and a minor in history, and a senior partner. His firm is now one of Piedmont College. she earned a master’s degree in public the largest CPA firms in upstate South

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CLASS NOTES Alumni John and Bobbie Foster of Cornelia have been named to the Georgia Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Both longtime broadcasters, the Fosters are co-owners of WCON AM/ FM. Bobbie is president and general manager of Habersham Broadcasting Company and the 1999 recipient of the GAB “Broadcaster of the Year” award. John served in the Georgia Senate for 18 years and has served as a Piedmont College Trustee since 1987.

are Lamar Allen, Candy Herron, Mary Hill Towns, Trisha Dukes Barrett, Wanda Humphries Gillum, and Stephanie Olah Lozel; second row: Eddie Adams, Don & Kay Hudkins Campany, Karen Gallipeau Palermo, Henry Pollitz, Ben Barrett, Carl Maak, Mike Gillum, and Ron Webb; third row: Jenny Matthews Lund & Chris Lund, Brenda Watleigh Steedly, Dianne Sisk Hardy, Roger Cook, and Doug Lozel; top row: Linnie Methaney, Dock Sisk, Paul Hawley, and R.E. Beck.

Three Piedmont alumni were named by Gov. Nathan Deal to Georgia Education Advisory Boards to provide input on education issues facing the state. Among the appointments are Jeff Cher (M ’02), principal of Eastside High School in Newton County; and Barry Lollis (EDS ’14), principal of Putnam County High School. Also appointed was Piedmont College Trustee Dr. Martha Cantrell (’80, EDS ’10, EDD ’12). Cantrell teaches AP math at Habersham Central High School and is coordinator of the county gifted program.

Robert S. Davis (’78) of Hanceville, Ala., received the national Lloyd Dewitt Bockstruck Award for work in genealogy and the lifetime achievement award from the Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution. He also appeared in April in a four-hour documentary on the Civil War on the History Channel.

C.W. Davis (’47) of Oakwood has created a scholarship to assist Hall County teachers who seek advanced degrees. Davis, now 94, served as superintendent of Hall County Schools from 1977-1983. C.W. Davis Middle School in Hall County is named for him. The new scholarship will be administered by the North Georgia Community Foundation.

Douglas W. McDonald Sr. (’67) of Cornelia participated in an Easter wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. McDonald is Grand Master of The Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons for the State of Georgia. “It was one of the most moving and emotional military experiences of my life. An unforgettable memory,” McDonald said.

2 Members of the classes of 1971-76

held a reunion at the home of Dock Sisk in Homer. Pictured front from left

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Charles Michael McFarlin (’79) of Westminster, Colo., has been named safety manager at Pinnacle Precision Services for NextEra (formerly Florida Power & Light) at Turkey Point Nuclear Plant in Homestead, Fla. Mike England (’88) of Watkinsville, a captain with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Law Enforcement Division, was presented the National Safe Boating Council’s 2014 Boating Safety Award at the 55th Annual National Association of State Boating Law Administrators Conference in Bar Harbor, Maine. A 24-year veteran with the DNR Law Enforcement, England played a key role in the Department’s efforts to pass historic boating legislation during the 2013 legislative session. Prakash Silwal (’89) of Kathmandu, Nepal, has been named director of the USAID Bengal Tiger Conservation Project in Bangladesh. Prakash and his family moved from Kathmandu just weeks before the devastating April earthquake there. Brian Rickman (’98) of Tiger has been named by Gov. Nathan Deal to serve on a new 10-member commission to

CLASS NOTES advise the General Assembly on how to implement new laws on the use of medical cannabis. A member of the Piedmont Board of Trustees, Rickman is District Attorney for the Mountain Judicial Circuit and serves on the Georgia Board of Public Safety and the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia. He was recently recognized by the Fulton Daily Report as one of Georgia’s 40 Rising Legal Stars under 40. Clayborn Knight (’01) of Lawrenceville has been named principal at Graves Elementary School in Gwinnett County. He previously served as principal at Nesbit Elementary School. Jennifer Thomas (’01) of Pine Lake has been named executive director of the Georgia Commission on Family Violence. The Commission was created by the General Assembly in 1992 to develop a comprehensive plan for ending family violence in Georgia as well as working throughout the state to help create task forces made up of citizen volunteers working to end domestic violence in their communities. Chris Ansley Chitwood (’02, MAT ’04) of Cornelia, a math teacher at Habersham Central High School, has been named assistant principal at Hilliard A. Wilbanks Middle School, by the Habersham County School Board. His wife, Jennifer Sisk Chitwood (’01, MA ’03), is assistant principal at Fairview Elementary School.

Deidre (DeeDee) Byrd McIntyre (’02) has joined SouthCrest Bank of Peachtree City as Vice President, SBA Lending. McIntyre also has served as an executive committee board member with the Henry County Council for Quality Growth and was recently named their Member of the Year. Patrick S. Franklin (’03, MAT ’06, EDS ’07) of Mt. Airy has been named principal of Clarkesville Elementary School by the Habersham County School Board. He formerly was assistant principal at North Habersham Middle School.

Featherbone Communiversity recently honored nine area educators as “Masters in Teaching” in ceremonies in Gainesville. Among the honorees were Matthew Gruhn (MAT ’03) of Winder; Ann Brunk (EDS ’08) of Oakwood; and Cynthia Kinsey (MA ’12) of Clermont. David McNeill White (’03) is performing in “Grandaddy’s Watch” at Buttonwillow Civil War Dinner Theater in Whitwell, Tenn. For info, visit civilwardinnertheater. com. Laura Evans (MAT ’04, EDS ’07) of Atlanta has joined Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Education and Digital Media division as Education Project Manager. Evans will be implementing GPB educational projects and resources for teachers across Georgia. Evans has taught middle grades and high school English language arts and journalism for 11 years. For the past three years, she served as Instructional Learning Manager at the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, where she managed the curriculum, instruction, and assessment initiatives for Georgia’s birth to five early learning programs. Michelle Petersen (’04, MA ’15) of Homer has been accepted to the University of Georgia Science Education EDD program and will begin in the fall 2015. She currently teaches at C.W. Davis Middle in Hall County. Parke Wilkinson (MA ’04) of Rome has been named principal of Anna K. Davie Elementary School in Rome. He previously served as principal at East Central Elementary School. Cindy Williams (’04) of Morganton has been inducted into the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame. She was a member of the 1999 Fannin County High School state champion women’s basketball team. Cindy is president of the BlairsvilleUnion County Chamber of Commerce.

David (’05, MBA ’10) and Amanda Hall McMillion (’05, MA ’09) of Gainesville announce the birth of a son, William Everett McMillion, March 20, 2015. Carmen Blair Power (MA ’05, EDS ’07) of Ball Ground received the Georgia Excellence in Teaching About Agriculture Award from the Georgia Farm Bureau. Power is a teacher at Free Home Elementary School in Cherokee County. Cameron Brooks (’07) of Athens was recently featured in the Atlanta JournalConstitution as part of the paper’s “Great Georgia Teachers” series in an article written by UGA professor Dr. Peter Smagorinsky. “If you’re looking for a creative, smart person who teaches effectively in a neighborhood public school, Cameron Brooks, third-grade teacher extraordinaire at Chase Street Elementary School in Athens, provides as good an exemplar as I could imagine,” Smagorinsky wrote. Cameron has been teaching for eight years and was named Chase Street’s Teacher of the Year in 2011.

Catie Gearhart Lees (BSN ’07) and Timothy J. Lees (’10, MA ’12) are living in Athens, where Timothy is a math teacher and cross country coach at Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle School. Catie is a school nurse for the Clarke County School System and during the summers an emergency room nurse at Athens Regional Hospital. Catie says they also “stay busy chasing daughter Raygan Lees, who turned 2 in February!” Yetta Bailey (’08) of McDonough has been named head girls basketball coach at Hampton High School in Hampton, where she is a special education teacher. Tessa Heaton (MA ’09, EDS ’13) of Homer has been named head women’s soccer coach at Duluth High School. She has served as an assistant coach at DHS since the 2009-10 school year and was an assistant coach and goalkeeper coach at Piedmont before joining Duluth.

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CLASS NOTES E. Lane Gresham (’10) of Clarkesville has joined Tallulah Falls School as director of employee and community relations.

landmark company founded by his late uncle, Brian Green. Watch the full report at www.ktxs.com.

Brandon Worley (’11) of Homer has been named head football coach at Jackson County High School. He formerly served as an assistant coach at Dacula High School.

Faculty

William H. Hewlett (’13) of Charleston, S.C., has been named South Carolina marketing manager for Coastal Select Insurance and GeoVera Holdings.

Emily Benfield (’15) of Clarkesville has been accepted into the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia. Chelsea Prince (’15) of Kingsland has been accepted into the master of science program in forensic science at Marshall University. Chelsea earned a BS in biology with a chemistry minor at Piedmont. Nick Green (’15) of Abilene, Texas, was featured in a video and article by KTXS 12 television station about taking over as general manager of the Cypress Street Station restaurant and brewery, a

The latest issue of The American Genealogist begins with a tribute to Piedmont Professor Emeritus Dr. David L. Greene. “The continued existence of America’s leading independent genealogical journal may be attributed to Dave’s ceaseless efforts and vigilance,” the forward says. Greene was editor and publisher of TAG from 1992-2014 and is a Fellow and past president of the American Society of Genealogists.

Friends 5

President James F. Mellichamp recently visited with Trustee Emeritus Walter Kalaf and his wife, Janie, at their home in Gainesville, Fla. Walter served on the Piedmont Board of Trustees from 1989 to 2002. He is retired after 40 years in the ministry and was the founding pastor of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg, Fla., where he served from 1948 to 1963.

’65 celebrates 50th Members of the Class of 1965 celebrating their 50th reunion were presented with commemorative prints of Daniel Hall by the Alumni Association. Pictured from left are Nancy Graham of Athens, Madge Addisson of Toccoa, President Mellichamp, Gerald Dunn of Canton, Arnold Meeks of Homer, and Linda Purcell of Watkinsville.

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1930s

Obituaries

Boyce Dodd Sullivan (’34) of Decatur died Jan. 3, 2015. She was 99. A Habersham County native, she worked for the State of Georgia, MGM Booking Department, and Superior Trucking Company. A longtime member of Oakhurst Baptist Church and First Baptist Church of Decatur, she was a poll manager for DeKalb County Board of Electors. Ida Ruth Smith Sosebee (’36-38) of Demorest died Nov. 17, 2014. She was 98. The widow S.Y. Sosebee (’39), she taught elementary school in Rabun and Habersham counties. She was a member of Habersham Baptist Church, where she was active for many years as a Sunday School teacher. Marjorie Fields Lewis (’39) of Vero Beach, Fla., died Jan. 22, 2015. She was 94. Born in Wabasso, Fla., at Piedmont, she was a member of the YWCA, Theta Zeta Phi literary society, and the Drama Club. She was a teacher for the Dade County School District for 35 years before retiring in 1985, and she earned a master’s degree in education from Florida State University. She was a member of the Community Church of Vero Beach, did volunteer work with the Guide Dog Foundation, and enjoyed art classes at the Vero Beach Museum of Art.

1940s

Ann Elizabeth Garrison (’46) of Olathe, Kan., died March 2, 2015, in Duluth, Minn. She was 89. Originally from Hendersonville, N.C., she sang solo at Piedmont’s 1946 Commencement. She earned master’s degrees in education in 1948 at Southwest Missouri State College in 1948 and from the University of Kansas in 1963. She and her husband of 67 years, Ellis Garrison, taught together at the

Shawnee Mission School District in Johnson County, Kan., where Ann taught for 30 years. After retiring from teaching, she began a second 30-year career in the antique and flea market business.

Mary Patricia “Pat” Thomason Minter (’49) of Cleveland, Tenn., died Dec. 22, 2014. She was 84. Born in Toccoa, Mrs. Minter graduated at age 19 from Piedmont, where she met her husband, Gerald H. Minter. A science teacher and minister’s wife for 49 years, she earned a master’s degree in education from the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga. She taught junior high and high school classes and taught at Tomlinson College from 1968 to 1992. She also taught biology at Lee University. She taught life enrichment subjects at Family and Marriage Retreats and youth camps for the Church of God of Prophecy and taught the Life Strategies Sunday School class at Peerless Road Church for 30 years.

longtime educator in Florida and loved music and playing piano.

T. Leroy Whiting (’51) of Flowery Branch died March 22, 2015. He was 87. A lifelong resident of Hall County and U.S. Navy veteran of the Korean War, he was retired from Country Charm Egg Distributors. He was a member, deacon and Sunday School Teacher at Flat Creek Baptist Church. Bee Weatherly Broadrick (’52) of Clayton died Nov. 24, 2014. She was 95. Born in Mountain City, she taught for 37 years in the Rabun County and Rockbridge County school systems. After retiring, she volunteered at the local hospital and volunteered at Sharing and Caring and Meals on Wheels. She was a member of the Georgia and Rabun County Retired Educators Association and the Kelly’s Creek Homemakers Club.

1950s

Reba Nelle Jones (’52) of Lula died Dec. 28, 2014. She was 92. Born in Banks County, she was part of the Jones Sisters Trio, which sang weekly for WGGA radio. She taught fifth grade and typing for nearly 50 years at the Lula School, where she was Teacher of the Year multiple times. She compiled her educational philosophy and reflections on a halfcentury of teaching into a book, which will be published under the title, “Old School.”

Robert H. “Bobby” Stephens (’51) of Eustis, Fla., died Oct. 8, 2012. He was 84. At Piedmont he was a member of the Protropian literary society. He was a

Rebie Mooney Bullock (’53) of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., died Jan. 13, 2015. She was 93. Born in north Georgia, she became a teacher while still in the sixth grade after the teacher in her one-room school took another job. She graduated from Piedmont with a degree in elementary education without having attended high school. She taught first grade for many years and retired from Shalimar Elementary School in 1984. She was a founding member of Palm Chapel Primitive Baptist Church.

Kathleen Crawford Tucker (’49) of Greensboro, N.C., and formerly of Cornelia, died April 21, 2015. She was 86. Born in Habersham County, she was a homemaker and member of the First Christian Church of Greensboro.

R. Herman Black (’50) of Demorest died May 30, 2015. He was 88. Born in Habersham County, he was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II. He retired from Ethicon in Cornelia after 38 years of service. He was a member of Bethlehem Baptist Church and worked with the local Boy Scouts for many years.

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James Andrew “Jay” Thornton (’53) of Thomasville died Jan. 9, 2015. He was 85. Born in Oglethorpe County, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy after high school and served on the USS Cutlass submarine. At Piedmont he lettered in basketball and baseball and later coached the Madison County girls’ basketball team to a state championship in 1957. He earned a master’s degree and two specialist degrees in education from the University of Georgia. He served as an administrator at a number of schools and retired as principal of Thomasville High School. General Ray Rumsey (’54) of Clayton died Nov. 15, 2014. He was 83. Known by his students and friends as “Coach” or “Papa Ray,” Rumsey was born in Anderson, S.C., and served in the Air Force during the Korean War. He was a retired teacher and football coach for the Rabun County School System. Joe Bond Sartain Jr. (’53-54) of Gainesville died Nov. 27, 2014. He was 81. Sartain was a Korean War veteran and the founding partner of Sartain Law Offices in Gainesville. Born in Madison County, he attended Piedmont, where he met his wife, Carolyn Batson, and later graduated from Georgia State University in 1956. He earned his law degree from the University of Georgia in 1957. With more than 45 years of law practice, he served for two years in the administrations of governors Jimmy Carter, George Busbee, Joe Frank Harris, Zell Miller and Roy Barnes. In 2004, he was awarded the State Bar of Georgia Workers’ Compensation Distinguished Service Award. He served on the Salvation Army Advisory Board for eight years, two as chairman. He served on the board of directors of the United Community Bank in Dahlonega since 1998. In 2003, Sartain published “Memories from the Cotton Patch to the Courthouse,” a book of poems, pictures and stories chronicling his life. Amelia Earlene Kelker Stowe (’55) of Eastanollee died Nov. 25, 2014. She was 93. Born in Pennsylvania, she lived most of her life in Stephens County. She taught in the Stephens County School System for 24 years. She was a member of Grace

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Baptist Church and taught Sunday School. Robert Lee Terrell (’55) of Toccoa died May 7, 2015. He was 91. Born in Stephens County, he was a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II and served in the Pacific Theatre. He was retired from Liberty National Insurance Company and a was a member and chaplain of VFW, a member of the D.A.V, the Sons of the American Revolution, Masonic Lodge 309, and Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church. Joseph Raymond Mixon (’56) of Dillard died Jan. 18, 2013. He was 79. A veteran of the U.S. Army, Mixon retired from Greenville Tech, where he worked for 33 years as Director of Planning and Grants and was an assistant to the president. Dr. Bill Mason (’57) of Birmingham, Ala., died Nov. 17, 2014. He was 79. Born in Tennille, he worked for the FBI in Washington, D.C., before enrolling at Piedmont College and graduating summa cum laude. At Piedmont he served as president of the Protropian Society and was a standout on the basketball team, later named to the Piedmont Sports Hall of Fame. He served in the U.S. Army in Germany and returned to teach at Forsyth County High School in Cumming. He was then awarded a National Science Fellowship and a Paul Steere Burgess Fellowship to attend the University of Arizona, where he earned a master’s degree in botany. Mason then entered the University of Tennessee School of Medicine to study dermatology and graduated in 1970. He practiced in Dothan, Ala., for many years before retiring to Birmingham. With his partner of 50 years, Bobby Scharfenstein, Mason was an avid art collector and served on the Advisory Board and Collections Committee for the Birmingham Museum of Art. Together they helped found the Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art at Piedmont College in 2011 as a

permanent home for their collection. He was a member of the Piedmont Board of Trustees since 2006. Thad L. Aycock (’58) of Northbrook, Ill., died Feb. 20, 2015. He was 83. After serving in the Navy Seabees in Alaska and Guam, he earned a degree in education from Piedmont and served as an elementary school principal. He then worked for the Georgia State Patrol and retired from the Northwestern University Traffic Institute after 28 years.

1960s

Edgar Eugene “Eddie” Waldrep (’62) of Gainesville died Nov. 25, 2014. He was 75. Born in New Holland, he played basketball at Piedmont and graduated with a degree in education. He was a teacher and coach in Lumpkin County for two years before returning to his high school alma mater, East Hall, where he served as a teacher, coach, and administrator for 11 years. He earned master’s and specialist degrees from the University of Georgia and then served as principal at Lula Elementary. He retired from the Buford City School System after 16 years as an elementary and high school principal and system administrator. Dan Pierce Wood (’62) of Westminster, S.C., died March 17, 2014. He was 86. Born in Clarkesville, he was retired from the School District of Platte County, where he worked as School Administrator and was a member of Westminster First Baptist Church.

1970s

Harold Byrd “Deke” Richards (’71) died Feb. 27, 2015. He was 71. Born in Augusta, he earned degrees in psychology and sociology from Piedmont. He coached the first football team at Lyman Hall School in 1968 and worked for more than 37 years as a social worker for the City of Gainesville. He was a volunteer for numerous organizations, including the 1996 Olympics, and was a member of Gainesville First Baptist Church.

Michael J. “Mike” Barden (’77) of Cornelia died Jan. 16, 2015. He was 60. He was a longtime member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors, serving as president for the last two years. He also served on the Piedmont Board of Trustees since 2013. Among his many honors, he was named Outstanding Kiwanian and Kiwanian of the Year by the Cornelia Kiwanis Club and was a member of Habersham United Way. He served on the executive board of the Northeast Georgia Council of the BSA and was past chairman of the Currahee District. He received the Silver Beaver Award for Distinguished Service, the highest Council-level recognition awarded by BSA. For several years, he served as treasurer of the Habersham Central High School Touchdown Club and in 2014 was inducted into the Ring of Honor. George Martin Knox (’78) of Martin died Dec. 15, 2014. He was 90. Born in Stephens County, he graduated from Lavonia High School in 1942 and joined the U.S. Navy, retiring in 1973 as a Chief Petty Officer. After graduating from Piedmont he owned and operated a cattle farm. He was a Sunday School teacher at Clarks Creek Baptist Church and a member of the Lavonia Chamber of Commerce, the American Legion, VFW Post 5897, Farm Bureau, and a former member of the Elks Club.

1980s

David McLoy Fitzpatrick (’85) of Braselton died May 4, 2015. He was 65. He served as a pastor for more than 30 years, including the past 17 years at Gainesville Vineyard Christian Fellowship. Bobby Ray Rickman (’85) of Martin died Feb. 27, 2015. He was 62. A lifelong resident of Stephens County, he was a U.S. Army veteran and vice president of contract administration at Patterson Pump Company in Toccoa.

1990s

Donna Kesler Collins (MAT ’98) of Toccoa died May 30, 2015. She was 54. A lifelong resident of Stephens County, she received a BS degree from the University of Georgia and an EDS degree from Argosy University. She taught school for 30 years and recently retired as principal of Stephens County Middle School.

2000s

David Ricardo Lumia (EDS ’06) of Gainesville died May 30, 2015. He was 65. Born in Syracuse, N.Y., he was a teacher at Chestatee Academy for 17 years. Audrey Jean Scoggins Young (MA ’06, EDS ’07) of Fairmont died May 3, 2015. She was 53. She was a first-grade teacher at Fairmount Elementary School and a member of Oak Hill Baptist Church.

2010s

Darren C. Faulk (MA ’13) of Flowery Branch died May 2, 2015. He was 46. Born in Bellingham, Wash., he graduated from Auburn University with a bachelor’s degree before earning his master’s degree at Piedmont.

Friends Nancy Fleming Adams of Clarkesville, died Nov. 8, 2014. She was 79. She was formerly director of the Piedmont Learning Support Center and was the wife of former Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Carlton J. Adams. She was a first and second grade teacher in Newton and Banks counties for 30 years. Dr. Paul E. Knox of Fairfield, Conn., died Feb. 8, 2015. He was 84. Born in Greenville, Texas, he received an honorary doctor of music degree from Piedmont in 1992 for his long career as a church musician, including 32 years as choir director at the United Congregational Church of Bridgeport, Conn.

The Rev. Dr. Fredrick Nels Nelson of Naples, Fla., died Dec. 19, 2014. He was 105. Born in Arvika, Sweden, he and his family emigrated to the U.S. in 1913. After graduating from Hamline University and Garret Seminary at Northwestern University, he was ordained as a Congregationalist minister. During World War II he served as a Navy Chaplain in New Guinea, Australia, and the Philippines, attaining the rank of Lt. Commander. He pastored churches in Iowa and Florida and served as chairman of the Florida UCC Board of Trustees and as president of the Florida UCC Conference. After retiring, he served as a chaplain at Piedmont College and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree in 1954. Jack Phillip Nix of Cleveland and Atlanta died Nov. 28, 2014. He was 93. Nix received an honorary doctoral degree from Piedmont in 1967. His wife, Ruby Ash Nix, is a 1952 graduate. Born in White County, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was a longtime agriculture teacher in Habersham and Banks counties, school superintendent of Banks County, state supervisor of teacher certification, state director of vocational education, and Georgia State School Superintendent until his retirement in 1977. During his educational career as vocational supervisor and state school superintendent, he established the statewide kindergarten program. Alfred Erwin Stroud of Clarkesville, died Jan. 2, 2015. He was 84. A former softball and golf coach at Piedmont, he was a U.S. Army veteran and served in the Korean War. He was retired from Habersham County Medical Center, where he worked as a security guard. He was a member of Clarkesville Masonic Lodge #325 F&AM, YAARAB Shrine Temple, and the Mountaineer Shrine Club.

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NON-PROFIT U. S. POSTAGE PAID BURLINGTON, VT PERMIT #19

I got my acceptance letter!

Be a part of the story.

Meet Kaitlin. Kaitlin Norman is from Good Hope, Ga., and graduated May 2, 2015. During her four years at Piedmont, she was active on the volleyball team, in student government, was a student worker and a biology tutor, and was valedictorian. She lived in Wallace Hall, and her favorite spot on campus was on the fourth floor of the Arrendale Library—overlooking the wetlands. As a biology major, she will continue her education toward a doctorate in physical therapy. When asked what she will miss most about Piedmont her response was “I will miss my professors, the cafeteria workers, and having my friends close.” Not only was Kaitlin an active member of the Piedmont family, she was a scholarship recipient as well. Your gifts to Piedmont played a pivotal role in Kaitlin’s journey—and for that she is forever grateful. You can have the same impact on the next generation by making a gift today online at www.piedmont.edu/giving or by utilizing the enclosed envelope. Your gift to Piedmont allows students like Kaitlin to THRIVE!

piedmont.edu/giving

For more information on how you can support Piedmont College, please contact Mary Colston, Associate Director of Development, at mcolston@piedmont.edu or 706-778-3000 x1149.

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