PC Magazine: Winter 2023

This year, we will all bear witness to a pivotal moment in Presbyterian College history.

Since early 2021, a team of PC trustees, faculty, staff, and students have been hard at work, conducting research and laying the groundwork for a strategic market position that speaks to what makes PC such a unique and remarkable place of learning.

It’s no secret these are trying times for higher education, particularly for small, rural liberal arts colleges like our own PC. We face mounting challenges: rising costs across the board, price sensitivity, questions about the value of college, the commodification of credentials, unfavorable demographics and tough competition from peer institutions. We know that it is no longer enough to differentiate ourselves based on small class sizes or caring faculty. In the last two years, our team dug deeper, and the result is our bold new market position as America’s Innovative Service College.

When PC students leave Clinton, they go on to lead impactful careers. They serve as powerful forces for positive

community and world change. What PC offers students is a real-life proving ground to practice the grace-driven art and science of changing lives. We’re a champion of innovative service and social mobility, helping students discover and realize potential they never knew they had.

This fall, all of our research, our initiatives and our timelines came together and began paving the way for the future of our college. We believe 2023 will be the year that PC truly takes off.

In this issue of Presbyterian College Magazine, you’ll hear more about this transformational moment in PC history. You’ll learn about the programs we’re building, the people we’re lifting up, the ways in which we’re enthusiastically embracing our calling to make a Presbyterian College education relevant, useful, and engaging.

We ask you, as we take these first courageous steps forward for the future of PC, to support our new strategic direction by speaking about PC with audacious, relentless enthusiasm and confidence. The PC championship spirit is booming. It resides in each of us, and it’s a story that needs to be told by each of us.

Ruth Roper Chair, Board of Trustees

Matt vandenBerg President

PHILANTHROPY AT

PC donors shatter fundraising record with $18.3 million in gifts

A record-breaking effort set the new standard for fundraising at Presbyterian College.

PC announced last summer that alumni and friends gave $18.3 million in total gifts and multi-year pledges, nearly doubling the college’s previous fundraising record of $9.9 million set in 2005.

“The truly exceptional vision, passion, and generosity of many individuals catapulted PC beyond our highly ambitious fundraising goals for the year,” said PC president Dr. Matthew vandenBerg. “Our alumni, parents, and friends have enabled the construction of new facilities, created and enhanced scholarships, supported faculty, and enriched the educational experience of our students.”

Overall, five seven-figure gifts and 25 six-figure gifts propelled PC to this historic achievement.

Marianne ’71 and E.G. ’69 Lassiter led the way with a transformative $5 million commitment – the largest in college history – to endow one of the most prestigious chaplaincy programs in the country,

the Marianne and E.G. Lassister Chaplain and Dean of Spiritual Life.

Likewise, an inspirational seven-figure gift from college trustee Louise Slater endowed the Rogers-Ingram Vice President for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) position.

An anonymous seven-figure gift also endowed the Jack and Jane Presseau Associate Chaplain for Student Volunteer Services position.

2002 alumni Chad and Pam Prashad helped establish and fund two new signature initiatives: PC’s Service Entrepreneurship Competition and the Jacobs Scholars Program. One of the largest competitions of its kind in the nation, the Service Entrepreneurship Competition provides scholarships and robust support for students who wish to address societal challenges at their root causes. The Jacobs Scholar Program also provides scholarships and a strong foundation of support for students who have experienced the foster care system.

PC’s record-breaking year also includes several signature capital improvement projects. Gifts and pledges helped PC to purchase and renovate the Capitol Theatre in Laurens into a community performing arts center and headquarters for the Blue Hose esports program. The college also surpassed an $8 million capital campaign, called the “Championship Spirit,” for athletic facilities upgrades. The Championship Spirit initiative

Dr. Selena Blair (second from left) was introduced last summer as PC’s inaugural Rogers-Ingram Vice President for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Blair is pictured (left to right) with professor emeritus of political science Dr. Booker Ingram; PC trustee Louise Slater, whose gift endowed the VP for JEDI position; and PC president Dr. Matthew vandenBerg.

WORK

& pledges

exceeded its funding goals to build a new multipurpose facility for men’s and women’s wrestling, acrobatics and tumbling, and competitive cheer, as well as significant improvements for softball, baseball, and the Templeton Physical Education Center.

At the groundbreaking ceremony in August, vandenBerg announced that the multipurpose facility will be named the John McIntosh Athletic Center –the MAC – in honor of 1961 alumnus John McIntosh, South Carolina’s former deputy attorney general. McIntosh’s generous seven-figure philanthropic gift to the Championship Spirit initiative came just a few years after endowing the John W. McIntosh ’61 and Family Endowed Scholarship for first-generation college students.

The rededicated Bob and Betty Strock Weight Room honors former coach and associate professor emeritus of physician education Bob Strock and his wife, Betty, both honorary alumni and stalwart Blue Hose supporters.

President vandenBerg expressed the college’s gratitude to everyone who played a role in PC’s philanthropic success this year.

“PC’s students, faculty, and staff are deeply grateful to our benefactors and volunteers for their tremendous leadership and support,” he said. “Working together, we will build on our momentum and ensure that PC’s best and brightest days are ahead of us.”

GIRLS & BOYS

STATE SCHOLARSHIPS GIRLS & BOYS STATE SCHOLARSHIPS

Last summer in Belk Auditorium, Presbyterian College president Dr. Matthew vandenBerg took the stage wearing a kilt to address the American Legion Auxiliary Palmetto Girls State delegates. It was an impressive first impression – but not the most lasting one by far.

President vandenBerg announced the largest scholarship commitment in the college’s history by offering each delegate who is admitted and enrolls at PC a $25,000 annual scholarship – a four-year, $100,000 commitment per student.

The same scholarship offer is available to all American Legion’s Palmetto Boys State delegates, as well, the college announced.

As a former delegate to Michigan Boys State, vandenBerg said the Girls and Boys State programs’ values – leadership and citizenship –align perfectly with PC’s mission as America’s Innovative Service College.

“This scholarship program is a powerful way for PC to invest in future servant leaders and equip them to address our society’s most vexing challenges and bring about positive change,” he said.

President vandenBerg also made the case for delegates to choose PC.

“If you want to learn how to solve real-world problems through creativity – if you want to serve your community and the world and help people facing struggles – if you seek a life of meaning and purpose – THAT is

what you get from an education at PC,” vandenBerg said. “That’s who we are. No matter what field you enter – health care, law, business, government, or nonprofits – solving problems and helping people are what it’s all about. That is what makes PC different. Wherever you go, or whatever line of work you enter, PC gets you ready to make the world a better place.”

Palmetto Girls State and Palmetto Boys State are one-week leadership and citizenship training programs, created to educate outstanding high school students about state and local government and citizenship. They are selected based on the leadership skills and involvement they have shown in their respective schools and communities.

With the new Palmetto Girls and Boys State Scholarships, PC is fully committed to bring these young leaders to campus and help them reach their fullest potential in public service.

Francis Schodowski joined the Presbyterian College community in August as the new vice president for advancement.

Before taking over the advancement office at PC, he served as the executive vice president at Columbia College in Columbia, S.C., where he also served as vice president for advancement from 201618.

Schodowski aptly began his tenure at PC just as students arrived for the new academic year.

“Arriving at PC in August, it was just like beginning as a first-year student,” he said. “Any trepidation was quickly overcome with the excitement and enthusiasm for what is possible.”

Right away, Schodowski said he was impressed.

“It is evident that the motto, While We Live, We Serve, is embedded into the lifeblood of PC,” he said. “I have been impressed with all those whom I have come in contact, and recognize the importance of the work that my team and I do in serving the college and our alumni. I am looking forward to helping to connect our supporters in meaningful ways that will provide a transformative education for our students.”

Before joining the administration at Columbia, Schodowski served as associate vice president for advancement at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Penn.

Prior to that, Schodowski joined the staff at Millersville University in Pennsylvania as director of development. While there, his responsibilities evolved to include service as director of planned

Get to know...

SCHODOWSKI FRANCIS

giving, interim executive director of the Millersville University Foundation, and interim assistant vice president of alumni and development. During his tenure at Millersville and with its institutionallyaffiliated foundation, the endowment doubled, and a comprehensive campaign was designed, conducted, and concluded with gifts exceeding $85 million.

He began his professional career in 1996 as an admissions counselor at Alvernia University in Reading, Penn. In just under a decade, Schodowski advanced in various roles both in admissions and advancement. He served as assistant director of admissions, director of undergraduate admissions, director of development, and assistant vice president of development, before completing his time at Alvernia as associate vice president of advancement.

Schodowski is a 1996 graduate of Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania, earning a bachelor of science in business administration and marketing. He earned a master’s degree of business administration from Alvernia in 2003 and is completing a doctorate in education from Northeastern University in Boston, Mass.

He and his wife, Amy, have three children – Kaylee, George, and Makenna.

Joshua Eargle, ’18

REMEMBERED

A FAMILY TURNS GRIEF INTO GIVING WITH ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP FOR RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

Joshua Eargle ’18 was a bright young graduate of Presbyterian College with a deep desire to learn and the soul of a servant. While his tragic death in 2019 left a piercing wound in his family’s heart, his selfless life inspired a special gift that honors his legacy.

Eargle was a religious studies major at PC, completing his Master of Divinity degree from Hartford University in Connecticut when he suffered a seizure while swimming. His sister, Dr. Carly Eargle-Chapman ’09, said losing her youngest sibling was brutal, but she and her family wanted to find a way for Eargle to always be remembered at PC. His family generously did just that by endowing the Joshua Eargle Memorial Scholarship for Religion.

“We are a very close-knit family, and a large piece of our collective heart is missing,” Eargle-Chapman said. “We were looking for a way to keep his memory alive and for him to keep impacting lives for years to come. We wanted his name to be on something more meaningful than just his headstone.”

PC awards the Joshua Eargle Scholarship for Religion to religion and philosophy majors. Eargle-Chapman met the first recipients, Lawson Page ’23 and Kennedy Elise Perry ’24, last spring so she could learn more about them – and they could learn more about her brother.

“Both recipients seemed very well qualified and very appreciative of the scholarships,” Eargle-Chapman said. “They both will be excellent representatives of his memory.”

That is saying a lot, as Eargle-Chapman called her

brother one of the most selfless people she has ever met. Eargle was an avid blood donor who wrote and delivered Valentine’s Day cards to patients at the Children’s Hospital in Columbia. He purchased a year of school for an underprivileged child in the niece’s honor as a gift for her first birthday.

“He was always willing to lend a helping hand in any way he could,” Eargle-Chapman said. “He was a true representation of Dum Vivimus Servimus. He was always encouraging people to continue their own educational and personal development pursuits. By helping students to fund their education, he is continuing to help people meet their academic goals.”

Page said representing the Eargle family as a scholarship recipient pushes him harder to achieve in the classroom. Getting to know them personally makes the scholarship as meaningful as it is beneficial.

“I enjoyed my interaction with Joshua’s sister and getting to learn more about him,” Page said. “I learned that he loved music like I do, and he also was a religion major. Even though I never met Joshua, I feel like I know him because of his sister.”

Family members of the late Joshua Eargle ’18, (left to right) brother-in-law, Ashton Chapman, and sister, Dr. Carly Eargle-Chapman ’09, meet with Eargle Scholarship recipients Kennedy Elise Perry ’24, and Lawson Page ’23.

There are hundreds of small liberal arts schools across America that are much like Presbyterian College. Hundreds of institutions in small towns and major cities with modest enrollments tell high school seniors how much more attention they receive in small classes. Telling them they will be part of a close-knit community where students are known by name and not the number on their ID.

All these traits are factual for hundreds of small liberal arts schools in the US, and it’s certainly accurate at PC. PC boasts small class sizes and a caring community built around students’ personal growth. At PC, the benefits of attending a small, residential, liberal arts college are real.

But not distinctive.

When PC’s 19th president, Dr. Matthew vandenBerg, came to PC in 2021, he began his leadership tenure with a listening tour of stakeholders across

A strategic plan

campus and beyond–students, faculty, staff, local leaders, alumni, and trustees. He listened to and learned about PC’s history. He discovered for himself the ideals that make PC great. He heard the challenges PC faces and its aspirations to become the best version of itself.

And he found a piece of college history that shaped PC’s past –and will shape it again.

for a bold, new future

PC’s 12th president, William Plumer Jacobs II, led the college from impending closure during the Great Depression to financial and enrollment success. He did anything but play it safe. Instead, he invoked the college’s “Championship Spirit” to clear economic hurdles and ultimately prevail with a new and distinctive approach.

On Friday, Oct. 21, PC invoked the Championship Spirit once again with a bold declaration of its place in higher education as America’s Innovative Service College.

This market position is not a catchy slogan or snazzy catchphrase. It is based on essential values 142 years in the making and born from a dream to provide opportunities through a liberal arts education. Shaped by its history into an institution that values service as its highest ideal. Primed for the future with an audacious strategy to inspire and empower the college’s next generation of servant-leaders and entrepreneurs.

In his address at PC’s new strategic plan launch in October, vandenBerg said PC’s market position as America’s Innovative Service College is “an unapologetic and calculated bet on the exceptional people of Blue Hose Nation.” From last year’s start of the planning process, facilitated by 3Enrollment Marketing, the PC community brainstormed and developed ideas.

Later, a representative group of faculty, staff, and trustees guided and refined those ideas into three conceptual pillars that define the college:

• Interdisciplinary Innovation

• Outrageous Service

• America’s Presbyterian College

PC also gathered seven working groups comprised of faculty, staff and board members over the summer to develop initiatives that support not only the three pillars but also four more strategic initiatives to distinguish PC in the enrollment marketplace, including:

• Nonprofit and Service Entrepreneurship

• Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

• The Jacobs Scholars Program

• Center for South Korean and East Asian Studies

More than a dozen programs and initiatives are underway, and there are undoubtedly more to come. What is abundantly evident in the early stages of the college’s new strategic focus is that PC’s traditional Championship Spirit is at work – a tailwind propelling the college forward with a resonant message for future Blue Hose.

PC is America’s Innovative Service College. Always has been, really. Always will be.

embracing innovation INTERDISCIPLINARY

The career landscape today is evolving rapidly.

Factors like globalization and the constant integration of new technologies make for a highly competitive time to enter and succeed within the workforce. Even the nature of daily work has changed in recent years, with remote work growing in popularity and flexible schedules becoming a norm.

Gone are the days when an individual stays in one career for their entire life. In fact, some of the jobs Presbyterian College students will one day go on to work in don’t even exist yet.

These dynamic, unpredictable circumstances make a liberal arts education — the curriculum practiced and celebrated at PC — the best way to prepare students to navigate the workforce today.

A liberal arts degree helps students develop a wide range of strong, transferable skills, including communication, analytical and problemsolving abilities, and a proven capacity to apply knowledge and skills in real-world settings.

At PC, students build broad world views. Their capacity for ideas, creativity, compassion and service expands. The PC liberal arts education is a force for positive, enduring change in the world. It’s the key students need to succeed, and it is why interdisciplinary innovation is the first of the three strategic pillars mapped out in the new PC strategic plan.

Interdisciplinary innovation explores ways in which strategic and creative problem solving can be applied in any setting, in any profession.

“Solving complex problems and excelling in serving humanity requires innovative thinking across multiple disciplines,” says Dr. Kerry Pannell, provost and vice president for academic affairs. “Problems like homelessness and climate change don’t confine themselves to a single subject area.”

Through interdisciplinary innovation, PC students are challenged to explore opportunities in entrepreneurship and social impact.

Interdisciplinary innovation at PC offers new, credential-bearing

programs that address society’s emerging needs, giving students the tools they need to be successful no matter what life throws their way after graduation.

“PC’s strategic plan will enable us to explore innovative ways of delivering interdisciplinary both inside and outside of the classroom,” said Dr. Erin McAdams, associate professor of political science at PC. “We are working to discover how to best develop new collaborative teaching opportunities, co-curricular connections, residential experiences and student-faculty research opportunities both across and between disciplines.”

Top initiatives for interdisciplinary innovation at PC are already underway, including building the framework to offer select undergraduate degree programs in just three years; to offer stackable, multiple degrees that can be completed in four years; to offer firstin-kind partnerships with premier graduate schools; and to expand transfer-friendly policies and procedures.

Story by Sarah Murphy

One offering in place is a new partnership launched in 2021 with the Indiana University O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. The partnership gives PC graduates a unique opportunity to pursue a graduate education at the nation’s top-ranked school of public affairs.

Furthermore, qualified PC graduates are eligible to have their application fees waived, and admitted students can receive a 25 percent tuition reduction toward their program of choice.

One alumna is already taking advantage of that opportunity. This fall, Ndayishimiye Florence ’22 became the first PC graduate to enroll at the O’Neill School.

“Presbyterian has a long and storied tradition of producing smart, sensible and service-minded problemsolvers who aspire to help others and fundamentally improve their communities,” said PC president Dr. Matthew vandenBerg, a graduate of the O’Neill School. “Our graduates are an excellent fit for O’Neill’s transformative programs, and this partnership will surely advance the greater good.”

Through interdisciplinary innovation, PC is enthusiastically embracing the call to make the PC education relevant, useful, and engaging. The result of this programming and our creative partnerships will further cement PC’s status as “America’s Innovative Service College.”

CANCERRESEARCH

Story by Hall Milam

Professor, students engage in important cancer research

Think a small liberal arts college can’t engage in research like the big universities do? Well, think again.

Presbyterian College professor of biology Dr. Austin Shull ’11 teamed up with a colleague from the Medical University of South Carolina to conduct very important cancer research.

Using cell lines created at MUSC, Shull and a small group of PC students perform experiments to determine cancer’s effect on cell’s epithelial integrity – essentially investigating what happens inside cells that make them more cancerous and gives them the ability to migrate.

PC’s work is part of a network of seven undergraduate institutions and three research universities that collaborate and provide students meaningful research opportunities. Funded by a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the collaborative biomedical work is also advancing the fight against cancer.

“It’s really good for our department and the college,” Shull said. “It allows me to continue pursuing my research with my students and has helped me become a better teacher just by further developing my expertise as a scientist and a mentor.”

Shull said students bring a lot to the laboratory and the field of study.

“They are making real contributions to our knowledge of how cancer works,” Shull added. “Their work is part of a greater experiment that is progressing our understanding and the possibility of finding a breakthrough. That may seem small, but it is very important for further advancing science and that is something our students get to be a part of.”

Dr. Austin Shull ’11, Layne Benson ’22

INSPIRING SERVICE

Embodying Our Motto: While We Live,

Service is vital at Presbyterian College. It is the literal crux of its longtime, long-term identity. Dum Vivimus Servimus – While We Live, We Serve – is the value that defines and distinguishes PC and everyone associated with it.

When PC announced a commitment to Outrageous Service as part of the college’s new strategic plan this fall, it ushered in a new era of service. PC’s goal is to be regionally and nationally known for bold and exceptional service to current and prospective students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the community.

Outrageous service on a college campus begins with students, said vice president for enrollment Woody O’Cain.

“It’s important to remember whom we are here to serve,” he said. “Students are the reason for our work, so outrageously serving them is not only the right thing to do – it’s also the strategic thing to do.”

PC’s commitment to outrageous service to students has already begun, especially for students of underserved communities. Programs like Presby First+ for first-generation students and the Jacobs Scholars Program for students impacted by foster care are up and running. The Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion division is hard at work to create a more inclusive environment on campus.

The college also wants to better serve students by becoming one of the country’s most fun and socially-engaging campuses. This spring, PC will open 112 – a café and pub on Musgrove Street in downtown Clinton with ample space for events and meetings. With programs designed and

run by students, 112 will be an exciting new social hub for students, as well as a public restaurant serving the community.

“We believe 112 will reshape and enliven the relationship between PC and the Clinton community,” said Landon Norizsan, junior from West Union who has worked on the project. “112 is a space where students can be a part of the collaborative environment that has become Laurens County. I’m most excited to see our students utilize their creativity to make the building and community a better place, together.”

A year ago, PC acquired the historic Capitol Theatre on the Public Square in Laurens as the headquarters for the college’s esports program and a performing arts center for the college and the local community. In addition to esports matches, films, and live performances, the Capitol will house a restaurant.

Students are in for enjoyable transportation to and from these new social hotspots. This fall, PC announced it had purchased a trolley to transport students once the new venues are in operation.

PC is improving student satisfaction in other ways, as well. PC will develop a “onestop shop” location under one roof on campus that offers concierge-style support and houses the services students use most often. Improvements are being made to the course registration process for students to gain access to their required courses, thus improving student retention and on-time graduation. A central electronic system is

Landon Norizan ’24 Landon Norizsan, a junior from West Union, speaks during the fall open house event at 112 in downtown Clinton.

ICE

Live, We Serve

Story by Hal Milam

also in the works to help manage all student forms.

The college plans to provide outrageous service to faculty and staff by becoming one of the best workplaces in South Carolina. Vice president for human resources and Title IX, Terri Tibbs, said PC is hard at work strengthening employee health insurance and retirement benefits and plans to invest in more professional development opportunities. However, recruiting and retaining excellent faculty and staff takes more than good pay and benefits.

Tibbs said the college will host more celebratory events for faculty, staff, and their families to enjoy and is actively finding new ways to engage employees.

“If employees don’t feel appreciated and engaged, they don’t stay,” she said. “We want PC to be a top choice for people looking for a place that values them as individuals and their contributions to our mission.”

Positioning PC as a go-to destination to work in South Carolina also serves Laurens County by attracting talented new residents eager to live in an up-and-coming community. The 112 and Capitol Theatre projects are also economic and cultural development engines that strengthen the Laurens and Clinton communities.

Alumni, too, are being invited to provide and receive outrageous service. PC is engaging alumni as mentors for every graduating senior and has enhanced a newly reimagined student referral program – the 1880 Student Referral Program – that awards scholarships to incoming students in the name of the referring alumni or friend of the institution. A new formal alumni network to connect peers with career opportunities and relocations is also in the works.

TRAVEL TROLLEY BY

When you announce a goal to become one of America’s most socially engaging colleges, you better grab the “cool factor” dial and crank it up.

Presbyterian College is tackling the challenge with several exciting new ventures – a restaurant and pub in downtown Clinton and a historic movie theater and restaurant on the Public Square in Laurens. And just to move the dial a little higher, PC will offer an equally engaging way to get students there and back to campus.

If you want to travel in style, Blue Hose, catch a ride on the PC Trolley.

This fall, PC announced that it had acquired a trolley from the City of Laurens with a gift from Chip Cooper of Cooper Motor Co. in Clinton. The trolley will regularly transport students to and from 112 in Clinton and the Capitol Theatre in Laurens. 112 will open this spring as a restaurant and social gathering hub, while the Capitol is being renovated as headquarters for the new esports program and a cultural arts center for live performances and films.

The trolley also can be used to transport students, faculty, or staff to the Lake Campus at Fellowship Camp and Conference Center on Lake Greenwood for a variety of activities. PC is also exploring opportunities to partner with the City of Clinton to provide community transportation to and from local health and wellness outlets.

The trolley, which made its debut on campus this past Homecoming weekend, offers students a stylish, even nostalgic, traveling experience.

“I believe students are really going to enjoy taking the trolley to events and social engagements in Laurens County,” said PC president Dr. Matthew vandenBerg. “Piling a bunch of excited college students onto a vintage-type vehicle for a bite to eat, a movie, or cheering on the Blue Hose esports team sounds like fun to me.”

PRESBYTERIAN PROUD

PC spreads its branches by nurturing its church-related roots

There is a sign facing South Broad Street that reads for all the world to see, “Presbyterian College.” The sign says it all when it comes to PC’s origins and identity. From its humble beginning as a school founded by a local Presbyterian minister and supported by churches, PC has always been a church-related institution.

And always will be.

This fall, when the college announced its new market position as America’s Innovative Service College, PC proclaimed a vigorous recommitment to church-relatedness – promoting one of its conceptual pillars as “America’s Presbyterian College.”

In other words, where many church-related schools – including Presbyterian ones – have shied away from or de-emphasized their relationship with the denomination, PC is purposely leaning in.

But what does that mean, and how will it look? The Rev. Dr. Buz Wilcoxon ’05, the college’s first Marianne and E.G. Lassiter Chaplain and Dean of Spiritual Life, believes that PC’s churchrelatedness stems from bedrock Reformed ideals such as serious study of scripture, strong articulations of grace and the calling to serve, justice and reconciliation, the welcoming and belonging of all people, and an openness to continually reform.

The focus for PC students dates back to a powerful idea that originated with the church’s Great Reformers. They believed the term “vocation” applied not only to members of the clergy but to each individual. Everyone is called to serve in some way – and PC’s purpose as America’s Presbyterian College is to help its students discover and vigorously pursue their calling into meaningful careers.

The college’s traditional liberal arts approach will continue to guide students academically, socially, and spiritually as they explore their calling into a life of service.

Wilcoxon also stressed that PC’s emphasis on its Presbyterian roots coexists with an openness to welcoming all people. Inclusivity is a strong value for both the church and the college.

“At its best, the Presbyterian tradition finds a balance in being both deeply faithful and radically inclusive,” he said. “The image I keep thinking of is a tree. The deeper its roots grow, the more stable it becomes – and that stability enables its branches to grow really wide, welcoming all. This radical inclusion of all people grows out of God’s radical grace for all of us. That’s at our core as Presbyterians. It compels us to be welcoming at a personal level but also at an organizational level, building new patterns and structures that match the contours of who we aspire to be as a community.”

Story by Hal Milam

PC is vigorously pursuing new plans to extend those branches to prospective students – in churches and wider communities. This fall, the college announced the Presbyterian Promise, which offers students who are members of Presbyterian churches or attend Presbyterian-related schools at least a $20,000 a year scholarship to attend PC. The college is also exploring additional scholarship support for students from presbyteries and congregations.

The new Center for South Korean and East Asian Studies is already building strong partnerships with the thriving Presbyterian churches and seminaries in South Korea and Korean-American churches in the United States. PC also plans to form a formal relationship with a historically black college or university that is a member of the Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities to facilitate faculty and student exchanges.

As the only APCU member with a pharmacy program, PC is offering the Presbyterian Advantage program to all students from APCU institutions. Graduates from those schools will receive the same benefits PC undergraduates receive – preferred admissions, guaranteed interviews, and scholarship support.

PC also has plans to strengthen its commitment to the overall Presbyterian Church. For generations, the college has supported undergraduates who discern a call to ordained ministry and will continue to do so in various ways. A strategic relaunch of the Celtic Cross program on campus will prepare students interested in both ordained and lay leadership in churches. Articulation agreements with Presbyterian seminaries are also in the works for students interested in graduate-level theological studies.

“I’ve been having conversations with young people in high school who are sensing the call to ministry in one shape or another and wondering what that looks like for them,” Wilcoxon said. “And they’re excited about things like Celtic Cross and our articulation agreements with seminaries, which will enable them to go ahead and begin exploring theological education.”

PC has robust plans to develop church leadership training for congregational leaders – ministers, elders, deacons, and educators. Retreats and workshops on campus are in the works, as is a formal partnership with the Fellowship Camp and Conference Center on Lake Greenwood to provide educational, co-curricular, and recreational opportunities at a “Lake Campus” for students, faculty, and staff.

A partnership with the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy’s Lake Institute on Faith and Giving is being developed for church leaders of all denominations throughout the Southeast. The Lake Institute fosters a deeper understanding of the dynamic relationship between faith and giving, through research, education, and public conversation.

PC has already made significant strides on its mission to become America’s Presbyterian College. In addition to transforming the

college chaplaincy into an endowed, cabinetlevel position, the college announced the endowment of the Jack and Jane Presseau Associate Chaplain’s position. The associate chaplain’s chief role is to provide pastoral care, worship leadership, and support to PC’s signature student ministry –Student Volunteer Services. The new associate chaplain will begin serving at PC on Feb. 1, joining the Chaplain’s Office team, which also includes Perrin Tribble, the Cornelson Family Director of Church Relations. The newly reestablished PC Choir is also spreading goodwill and fellowship between college and congregations this year.

During his visits to Presbyterian churches as a guest preacher, Wilcoxon has seen firsthand how excited congregations are about the possibilities of a renewed relationship with PC. More than any program or event, though, is the importance of building a great relationship between a churchrelated college and college-related churches.

“There is strong momentum and energy in this season where we are strongly celebrating our story with its deep relational roots in the church. Church leaders are very excited to see this and are eager to get involved,” he said.

“What’s permeating through the college right now is this sense of authenticity in what we’re doing and what we’re talking about. These days, our motto, ‘While We Live, We Serve,’ applies to the church as well. PC was birthed by the church, and now when the church is in a time or need, it’s our time to serve!”

BUZWILCOXON Get to know...

One of Presbyterian College’s own is serving the college as its first Marianne and E.G. Lassiter Chaplain and Dean of Spiritual Life. The Rev. Dr. Searcy Allen “Buz” Wilcoxon IV ’05 was called last summer to minister to his alma mater following a national search.

PC president Dr. Matthew vandenBerg said Wilcoxon is just what the college community needs – a “widely admired leader who brings tremendous charisma, interpersonal skills, and energy, as well as an ardent commitment to PC’s history, values, and strategic vision.”

PC classmates will remember Wilcoxon as an exemplary student. In addition to earning valedictorian and Outstanding Senior honors, he also earned the Lewis S. Hay Religion Award, the Jack and Jane Presseau Service Award, and the Outstanding Senior in Religion and Philosophy.

His graduate career was equally impressive. Wilcoxon earned his master’s degree in divinity in 2008 from Columbia Theological Seminary. He earned the Florrie Wilkes Sanders Prize in Theology, the Anna Whitner Memorial Fellowship, the Wilds Book Prize, and was a Columbia Scholar.

Wilcoxon also earned his doctor of ministry degree from Columbia, where he was honored with the Lyman and Myki Mobley Prize in Worship and the George and Sally Telford Award.

Wilcoxon was ordained as a minister of word and sacrament by the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 2008. He served as associate pastor at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Greenville and was the senior pastor at Spring Hill Presbyterian Church in Mobile, Ala.

Wilcoxon is a former member of PC’s Board of Church Advisors and a current member of the Columbia Theological Seminary Board of Trustees. He has been a stalwart servant in the larger church, having served on numerous committees in the Presbytery of South Alabama, the Synod of Living Waters, and the PC (USA).

Wilcoxon also has never lost his passion for community service and involvement. He is a board member of the Christus Theological Institute at Springs Hill College and a member of the Downtown Mobile Rotary Club. Wilcoxon has worked with other faith leaders to bridge racial divides in Mobile, including developing a partnership with Yorktown Missionary Baptist Church in historic Africatown and planning the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Community Interfaith Worship Service.

Wilcoxon said he is deeply honored to be called to a new and exciting role.

“PC’s church-relatedness and commitment to service were major factors in my decision to attend as a student over two decades ago,” he said. “I have seen firsthand the lifelong impact that programs like Student Volunteer Services and Celtic Cross have had,” he said.

PC’s faculty, staff, and alumni shaped Wilcoxon into the person he is today, he said. Now, he welcomes the opportunity to do the same for future generations of students experiencing the joys of a church-related liberal arts education.

“Living authentically as people of faith in our world today is nothing short of a grand adventure,” he said. “PC is uniquely poised to play a significant part in forming faithful, wise, and servant-minded adventurers that the world needs.”

E.G. Lassiter ’69 and his wife, Marianne ’71, established the college’s endowed chaplaincy and dean of spiritual life program with the single largest gift in PC’s history. Their $5 million philanthropic investment created one of the country’s most prestigious chaplaincy programs and sets PC on a path to become the PC (USA)’s flagship higher education institution.

Wilcoxon and his wife, Ryann Jordan Wilcoxon ’05, have two children, Lohi and Wilson.

Impacting meaningful change through creative problem-solving

ENTREPRENEURSHIP FOR GOOD

Maggie Judd ’26 had already begun forming her non-profit organization when she began her freshman year at PC last fall. While still a senior in high school, Judd entered PC’s Service Entrepreneurship Competition and set out to form a business that lends durable medical equipment to those in need.

Her business plan became an actual business: Upstate HELP (Health Equipment Lending Program). The state of South Carolina granted the organization a certificate of existence.

“From the moment I saw the competition, I was immediately intrigued and researched more about the college’s service culture and realized how closely my philosophy aligned,” Judd said.

“I almost immediately understood that going to any other college was going to make me take a step back from being serviceminded. Instead, Presbyterian College allows me to immerse myself in service for the next four years.”

Judd won the competition, PC’s first-ever service entrepreneurship competition and the largest competition of its kind in the country. She earned a full scholarship to PC for her efforts. Just as significant, she was part of an initiative that helped set the stage for PC to boldly define and claim its position as America’s Innovative Service College.

Taking the Service Entrepreneurship Competition Nationwide

“Service entrepreneurship” is PC’s take on “social entrepreneurship,” a term which was first used in the early 1980’s. Service entrepreneurship involves creative problem solving that addresses societal challenges at their root causes.

In PC’s first-ever Service Entrepreneurship Competition, PC invited high school seniors from across the state of South Carolina to create a business plan that solves a problem in their community. Students could win a full scholarship to PC or a scholarship covering at least 70% of their tuition. Plus, scholarship recipients receive up to $10,000 in the form of coaching, mentoring, and independent study class credit to put their plan into action.

The competition was so successful that the college opened its second iteration to high school seniors nationwide.

Judd participated in other colleges and universities’ competitions when she was in high school, but she said they were “strictly academic.”

“None of the other scholarships provided me the same sense of purpose or opportunity this has,” she said. “Having the hands-on experience that the Service Entrepreneurship Competition gave me was incredible. I enjoyed the creativity the competition demanded of me.”

She says that making the Service Entrepreneurship Competition a national competition helps establish PC as America’s Innovative Service College.

“This will set PC apart from other colleges locally and nationally by showing how we really care about others and our communities,” Judd said. “PC is willing to give back in any way possible. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of a school like that?”

Maggie Judd ’26

Story by Stacy Dyer ’96

Focusing on Innovation, Service, and Faith

While the Service Entrepreneurship Competition seeks to promote the college’s service mission nationwide, the college plans to interject innovation, service, and faith into all that we do–inside and outside of the classroom.

Brad Bryant ’75, a member of PC’s board of trustees, says that focusing on innovation, service, and faith continues the college’s mission.

“One of our faculty members wisely stated that innovation, service, and faith is what we - the students, faculty and staff, and alumni - do every day,” Bryant said. “In a sense, this effort to intentionally focus on innovation, service, and faith properly calls out the mission of the college.”

Students will have opportunities to experience innovative service inside and outside the classroom. The college plans to offer a minor in service entrepreneurship and create student-faculty research opportunities which incorporate service entrepreneurship into the curriculum.

“Our students step on campus with this innate calling to serve others and the larger community,” Bryant said. “Formal academic instruction and research within the philanthropic and nonprofit sector provides discipline. It develops ‘muscle mass’ for our students which prepares them, within a strong liberal arts curriculum, to use their degree to build a life of purpose and contribute to the common good.”

Outside the classroom, students will have access to highquality internship experiences. Fostering strong relationships with employers in the nonprofit, corporate, and government sectors that demonstrate a commitment to community and public service will be a cornerstone to providing these internships.

PC’s culture of service will be injected into all that the college does, from curricular and extracurricular activities to programs, policies, and procedures.

“Presbyterian College is a steward for a better future,” Bryant said. “The college is given a very short window to nurture, mentor, and guide gifted and talented students. What we say and do as faculty and staff, as alumni, and as friends of the college absolutely matters.

Nonprofit and Service Innovation

The college plans to create distinctive initiatives to establish PC as America’s Innovative Service College.

In the fall, PC partnered with the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at IUPUI to offer PC graduates a special opportunity to pursue an education with the nation’s first school of philanthropy.

“As the academic world shrinks, strong collective and interdependent relationships are critical to the value proposition of a PC education,” Bryant said.

PC will also offer certificates and high-quality professional development programs for building capacity among nonprofits and faith-based institutions and their leaders.

We have partnered with the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy’s Lake Institute on Faith and Giving to offer the Executive Certificate in Religious Fundraising (ECRF) with the in-person two-day training portion in the Greenville area in May.

These new programs emanate from PC’s culture of service. Service to others, rooted in a faith tradition and inspired by bold innovation, embodies the long-held virtues of higher education.

“Our college motto, Dum Vivimus Servimus, unapologetically states that our very existence turns on service,” Bryant said.

“Those words are hollow unless we demonstrate, in everything we do at PC, that service is at the heart of our actions. Spend quality time with faculty and staff, with our students, or with our alumni and you will be swept up into a spirit of service - the PC Spirit - that is fostered at PC and abides in us throughout our lives.”

the mindset

mindset

BUILDING A ROBUST JUSTICE, EQUITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION DIVISION

Story by Sarah Murphy

In 2006, the percentage of minority students at Presbyterian College was only seven percent.

This number has grown immensely in the last decade and a half, and the PC campus make-up has evolved. Now, in 2022, nearly 26 percent of the PC student body are minorities – an upward change to be proud of. And yet, in PC’s quest to become a microcosm of the dynamic, diverse world into which PC students will enter, it is clear that the work is ongoing.

It is also clear that the work is about so much more than just numbers, and that diversity means much more than just race and ethnicity.

PC has long recognized the importance of being an inclusive and diverse campus community. Rooted in its values as a churchrelated institution, PC believes in the inherent dignity and selfworth of every individual, regardless of background or ability.

In 2009, PC developed a Diversity Aspirational Statement (DAS) that acknowledged the college’s existence within a broader social and historical context in which access to education and employment had been unduly restricted for certain groups. Though termed “aspirational,” the tenets were grounded in strategy: PC would be able to achieve its desired results by expanding diversity in curriculum, increasing the enrollment of students with diverse backgrounds, and having faculty and staff who are more representative of the student population.

In 2017, PC created a part-time director of diversity and inclusion (DDI) position, and in 2018, the Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council (DIAC) was formed to assist in addressing issues of racial bias and discrimination, and develop policies to promote cultural competency.

This approach paved the way for the new Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) division — PC’s most comprehensive diversity initiative to date.

Launched as one of the seven core initiatives in the college’s new strategic plan, the PC JEDI division is committed to building a campus community that is diverse, inclusive, and continually affirming to everyone.

JEDI flows seamlessly across all curricular and extra-curricular initiatives, programs and policies, ensuring that every PC element is built and operated with the spirit of JEDI at the center.

Also housed within the division are programs created to support the entire community, including counseling and wellness services, accessible education, the Presby First+ program for first-generation students and the Jacobs Scholars Program for those impacted by foster care.

Even before PC launched its new strategic plan, JEDI was making swift strides in its mission.

Last fall, PC president Dr. Matthew vandenBerg announced a seven-figure philanthropic commitment from PC trustee Louise Rogers Slater to name and endow the role of vice president for JEDI. Slater’s gift honors the memory of her late parents, Bill and Connally Rogers and celebrates the legacy of PC professor of political science emeritus Dr. Booker T. Ingram, the college’s first African American professor and first director of diversity and inclusion.

In May, vandenBerg introduced Dr. Selena Blair as the college’s first Rogers-Ingram Vice President for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. In her role, Blair oversees the JEDI Division and works to cultivate a just, inclusive environment at PC.

“With the increased diversification of student bodies nationwide, now more than ever, colleges must be intentional with creating just, equitable, and inclusive environments where individuals can be fully embraced and respected for being their authentic selves,” said Blair upon first being named to the role. “I am so grateful to have the opportunity to collaborate with all stakeholders to make this a reality for all who live, learn, work, and visit PC.”

JEDI’s top initiatives are already outlined and in progress, including securing a signature JEDI space on campus in which to house and deliver services; providing Presby First+ programming and support for first-generation college students; launching the Jacobs Scholars Program; and expanding PC’s curriculum to include a racial justice general education course and a minor in race and ethnic studies.

Ultimately, in addition to fostering a greater sense of belonging amongst PC students and employees, JEDI seeks to drive positive enrollment, retention, graduation and career placement outcomes. It’s something PC has been dedicated to for decades, and yet, in many ways, the work has just begun.

Selena Blair Get to know...

Dr. Selena Blair, PC’s inaugural Rogers-Ingram Vice President for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, is excited to be leading PC’s JEDI division at this significant moment in PC’s history.

A philanthropic commitment from PC trustee Louise Rogers Slater established the endowed position, which honors the memory of her late parents, Bill and Connally Rogers and celebrates the legacy of PC professor of political science emeritus Dr. Booker T. Ingram, the college’s first African American professor and first director of diversity and inclusion.

Blair was able to make an immediate connection with PC when she saw the job description for her position.

“When I saw the initial job posting, I could not believe how much it aligned with the research study I completed for my dissertation. It was as if someone read my dissertation and wrote the job description,” Blair said. “In my heart, I believed this position was tailor made for me and came to PC with the desire to make a significant impact and be a real agent of change on our campus.”

In addition, the position allows Blair to demonstrate her passion for the work of JEDI.

“This position allows me to draw upon my passion and professional work experience to drive my desire to make sure that every person has a chance to succeed,” Blair said.

As a biracial female raised by her Caucasian mother, Blair has personally experienced the struggles of students in underrepresented or minority groups. Sometimes she was the only person of color in her environment growing up.

“I’ve always had an interest in assisting students, particularly students who are historically underrepresented,” Blair said.

Initially, Blair did not see herself pursuing higher education.

“I never wanted to go to college, although I was my high school’s valedictorian. I wanted to be a United States Marine. So everything I did was to prepare for the military,” Blair said.

Blair was a member of TRIO Educational Talent Search, a federally funded program dedicated to helping low-income, firstgeneration students attend college. It was through this program that she began to realize college was a good option for her, after all. Her TRIO counselor guided her through applications and pushed her to succeed.

Because of this counselor and others in her circle, Blair not only graduated with her bachelor of social work from Limestone University but also continued pursuing higher education, earning a master of arts in counseling from Webster University and a doctor of education in professional leadership from Converse University. She recently served as the director of equity and inclusion at Limestone University in Gaffney and has previously served as the director of TRIO Student Support Services at Greenville Technical College and at the University of South Carolina Upstate.

Blair’s experiences make her a perfect fit for PC’s VP for JEDI position, and she hopes to make PC a place where everyone feels at home, and students of all faiths, identities, and backgrounds are embraced and celebrated.

“Change is not going to happen overnight,” Blair said. “However, with consistency and intentionality, we can make a difference.”

Despite the brevity of her time at PC, Blair is making progress towards her goal: to create a welcoming, nurturing, and empowering environment for all who live, learn, work, and visit.

“When people hear the word ‘JEDI,’ they automatically think about Star Wars,” Blair said. “JEDI has nothing to do with Star Wars, but everything about creating an environment where people can be their authentic selves.”

Blair thanked her colleagues in the division – Susan Gentry from counseling and wellness, Dr. Shebby Neely-Aiken in the newlyformed Jacobs Scholars Program, and Dr. Joleesa Johnson in the Presby First+ program for first-generation students – for supporting JEDI’s mission.

“JEDI work is everyone’s responsibility,” Blair said. “Even though I may have the title, we all have a responsibility to advance the work of JEDI.”

Blair also acknowledges the role of ministry in her program.“JEDI work and Presbyterianism [go] hand in hand. You can’t do ministry without embracing JEDI, and you can’t embrace JEDI without doing ministry,” Blair said. “Regardless of how you choose to believe religiously, the goal is that everyone inherently has worth.”

Story by Kathryn Dover ’24

JACOBS SCHOLARS PROGRAM

PROVIDES OPPORTUNITIES FOR FOSTER YOUTH TO THRIVE

Youth impacted by foster care face enormous obstacles when pursuing a higher education degree.

Limited academic resources. Mental and emotional instability. Lack of financial support.

Experiencing just one of these hurdles can make college a challenge for anyone. But bearing the burden of all three? It can be insurmountable.

Nationwide, only about half of youth raised in foster care end up finishing high school. From there, less than three percent go on to graduate from a four-year college.

Presbyterian College was founded in 1880 as a higher education institution for orphaned children. Today, PC still embraces this founding vision, creating opportunities for those impacted by foster care with the new Jacobs Scholars Program.

Named for the Rev. Dr. William Plumer Jacobs, founder of Presbyterian College, the scholars program seeks to provide full tuition, fees, room, and board to students impacted by foster care. But it doesn’t stop there — built into the program are wrap-around support services, including supplemental academic and mental health support, alumni mentors, faculty advocates, host families

and special cohort-based programming. The program will work in unison with all PC departments, faculty and staff to admit the first Jacobs Scholars cohort in Fall 2023.

“The Jacobs Scholars Program will change the trajectory of so many young lives,” says Dr. Shebby Neely Aiken, program director. “It will give foster youth hope for themselves and for their future families. This program is transformative and impactful on so many levels.”

The Jacobs Scholars Program is housed within the newly formed Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Division at PC, led by Dr. Selena Blair, the Rogers-Ingram Vice President for JEDI. The division encourages every member of the PC community to broaden their horizons; to realize the inherent dignity and worth of every individual. It plays an essential role in supporting the Jacobs Scholars Program, with the ultimate goal of driving positive enrollment, retention, graduation, career placement, and outcomes across all PC initiatives, programs, curricula and policies.

Thus far, the Jacobs Scholars Program has already made significant progress laying the groundwork for its first year. The team has established relationships with schools such as Thornwell Home for Children, Connie Maxwell Children’s Home and Epworth Children’s Home, as well as with agencies such as the South Carolina Department of Social Services and Fostering Great Ideas of Greenville, through which PC will channel training and collaboration resources and recruit qualified students to the Jacobs Scholars program.

The establishment of the Jacobs Scholars Program is possible thanks to a remarkable seven-figure donor investment by Chad ’02 and Pam Munkers ’02 Prashad. In order to build the program sustainably, PC seeks to secure additional transformative philanthropic gifts for an endowment. Achieving this will firmly establish PC’s role and legacy as the nation’s preeminent college for students who have experienced foster care.

Story by Sarah Murphy

Thornwell Orphanage and Presbyterian College founder Rev. William Plumer Jacobs (standing, far right) posed for a picture with female orphans in front of the Home of Peace on South Broad Street in Clinton.

“Many colleges and universities attempt to provide at least one of the three major needs for foster youth seeking a higher education,” says Neely Aiken. “Presbyterian College is the only higher education institution in the country addressing all of the needs of the foster students who desire to pursue a college degree. I consider this a colossal responsibility that must be taken on, only with the guidance from the Holy Spirit.”

PC alumni and employees can become alumni mentors and advocates for students in the Jacobs Scholars Program. The two positions are instrumental in providing students the support they need to navigate their college careers. Individuals who are interested in getting involved with the program can contact Shebby Neely Aiken via email at jspprogram@presby.edu.

SHEBBY

NEELY AIKEN

As the inaugural director of PC’s Jacobs Scholars Program, Dr. Shebby Neely Aiken has found a position that fits her perfectly and allows her to demonstrate her passion for helping students who have experienced foster care.

Neely Aiken is originally from Laurens County and recently moved back to the area from Virginia. Her first job was working with the Department of Social Services in Laurens County. Upon returning to Clinton, she saw PC’s job advertisement for a position that was just right for her.

“I wanted a position where I could put the three major aspects of my life together, personally and professionally, and spiritually,” Neely Aiken said. “So Presbyterian College was a very good fit for me.”

After serving as a missionary to Kenya and Haiti in addition to her time in Virginia, she is pleasantly surprised to find herself back in Clinton, South Carolina.

“It’s remarkable how the Lord has guided me back to this environment,” Neely Aiken said. “To me, I have come full circle.”

PC alumni Chad and Pam Prashad’s (’02) generous donation established the Jacobs Scholars Program to provide scholarships and support for PC students who have experienced foster care.

Through her position as director of the Jacobs Scholars Program, Neely Aiken is able to merge many aspects of her life, her past careers and experiences, and her future goals. She is building the foundation for a program that will become a trademark of Presbyterian College, embracing PC’s original purpose as a college for the students of Thornwell Orphanage in Clinton. She looks forward to helping Presbyterian College become more inclusive of students impacted by foster care and fulfill this purpose.

Without a doubt, Neely Aiken’s skills make her an ideal candidate. She has a bachelor of science in psychology from Winthrop University, a master of social work from the University of South Carolina, and a doctor of philosophy in social work from USC and has spent her entire life working with youth impacted by foster care. Her past positions include being the master of social work field director for Norfolk State University in Virginia and the clinical director of the Williamston Youth Academy in Williamston. In addition, she has held various academic roles and is a licensed and ordained minister.

But being the director of the Jacobs Scholars Program is more than just a position for her.

“I would like to think that this position was just for me,” Neely Aiken said. “It is in my hometown, it was in foster care, it was service, and it was working with students. I am very grateful to be able to build a program from the very beginning and build it with, as I say, a spirit of excellence.”

Story by Kathryn Dover ’24

EXPANDING HORIZONS

EXPLORE A NEW CENTER FOR SOUTH KOREAN AND EAST ASIAN STUDIES

Presbyterian College’s new strategic plan is developing a distinctive new program to help students walk confidently across the world stage.

The college is establishing a new Center for South Korean and East Asian Studies that invites language and cultural exchanges and opportunities for PC students to study abroad. The initiative may also serve as an avenue for recruiting students from the region to study in the U.S.

The center makes sense, according to PC history professor Dr. Roy Campbell. In addition to his scholarly interest in East Asia, colleagues Dr. Jim Wetzel in biology and Dr. James Wanliss in physics have close personal ties to that part of the world.

South Korea, in particular, presents PC with many intriguing possibilities, Campbell said. There are, for example, an estimated 10 million Presbyterians in South Korea – one of the largest Presbyterian populations globally – and several Korean-American Presbyterian congregations in the U.S. From that vantage point alone, a focus on South Korea is an exciting opportunity.

PC also plans to serve as a economic development resource by providing translation services or training for South Korean and East Asian companies doing business in the region.

As a historian specializing in East Asian studies, Campbell also finds the initiative personally rewarding.

“It’s a new challenge and equally a new opportunity,” he said. “As in any profession, one’s always looking for new initiatives to work on and new possibilities to pursue. With this strategic initiative centered on South Korea and East Asia more broadly, there is an opportunity for me to learn and expand my experiences and understanding of this important region of the world.”

PC students will also benefit from the new initiative – especially those interested in Korean popular culture.

“A few years ago, ‘Parasite’ was not just the best foreign film but won Best Picture at the Academy Awards,” Campbell said. “The director, Bong Joon Ho, brought South Korean cinema into the mainstream, as have Netflix shows like ‘Squid Game.’ That’s just the cinematic side of it. There’s this whole music universe of KPop that is very appealing to young people today.”

Campbell believes the program gives PC a distinctive recruitment tool – domestically and

in East Asia.

“We are hopeful we can offer short-term and long-term academic experiences,” he said. “I think we can host a large number of South Korean or East Asian students either for a semester or a year, but we’re also working on ways to recruit more full-time, fouryear students from the area.”

Students from South Korea, for instance, should be enticed by PC’s strong business program and its graduate programs in the health sciences. Campbell said several colleagues representing a variety of academic disciplines are very interested in partnerships overseas.

As designed, the Center for South Korean and East Asian Studies fits nicely into PC’s new strategic plan.

“I’m excited about international education, probably more so than anything else throughout my 20-plus years at PC,” Campbell said. “I think the way it fits with our positions on interdisciplinary innovation and our relationship with the Presbyterian Church is very complementary to what we’re trying to accomplish.”

Story by Hal Milam

Presbyterian College sent a delegation to South Korea in December to meet partners from Hannam University and the local Presbyterian Church. At Hannam, history professor Dr. Roy Campbell (back, far left), PC president Dr. Matthew vandenBerg (back, center), and Lassiter Chaplain and Dean of Spiritual Life Dr. Buz Wilcoxon (back, far right) meet with the university’s students.

Students present service entrepreneurship ideas during poster symposium

INNOVATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVERS

A special group of first-year students at Presbyterian College presented innovative solutions to many of the world’s challenges.

The 18 members of PC professor Karen Mattison’s first-year experience class on service entrepreneurship shared their ideas for changing communities for the better at a poster symposium in the Cornelson Center last November.

Ideas ranged from community gardens and homeless shelters to ventilation systems for cars and equine therapy for veterans.

Maggie Judd, the inaugural winner of PC’s Service Entrepreneurship Competition, presented her plan for the Upstate HELP (Health Equipment Lending Program), designed to create a durable lending program serving Greenville County residents.

Firstyear student Travis Camp wants to keep young people in his native Philadelphia from becoming victims of violence. His idea to help is to build partnerships throughout the city to fund resources for children to play sports and be involved in something positive.

“I grew up there for 14 years, and I watched a lot of guys I was really close to not have the funds to play sports and the impact that had on their lives,” he said. “I was inspired to take the class because

it helped me think a little more outside of the box towards finding a solution to a real-world problem.”

Reese Bradberry wants to help classmates who struggle to pay for books by holding a textbook drive and fundraiser on campus. She said the class opened her eyes to more significant service opportunities, especially in her immediate community.

Ma’Khi Holmes is an artist who wants other people to have space to create.

“I want to create an art center where people can go and make art if they don’t have space in their own homes or if they don’t have the means to purchase their own supplies,” he said. “Where I grew up, there wasn’t a whole lot of space where I could draw or no real place to go and get art supplies.”

Holmes said he also hopes the art center will offer new technology for digital artists to use and develop their skills.

Story by Hal Milam

Ma’Khi Holmes ’26

Lily Shelburne initially had two personal interests –horses and working with veterans.

“I’ve always had a passion for horses and worked at a ranch last year,” she said. “At first, I wanted to open my own dude ranch and then I thought about working with veterans because I have so many in my family and I have such respect for them.”

Now, after taking Mattison’s service entrepreneurship class, Shelburne plans to unify her interests into an equine therapy center for veterans in Upstate, South Carolina – pairing rescued horses with veterans suffering posttraumatic stress.

“I think it would help veterans who’ve been through dangerous and traumatic deployments to bond with horses that have also experienced trauma,” she said.

Angel Baker is from the small town of Whitmire, where the last remaining grocery store was closed. People in her community who have no transportation have few options to purchase nutritious food, so her idea is to develop a community garden in her hometown.

“This has been something I’ve wanted to do – to help my town or to help people in the world,” she said. “I think this class was a good way to get an idea and get started. I’ve gotten a lot of ideas for starting my own business and hopefully make someone’s day a lot better than it has been.”

Lily Shelburne ’26

Angel Baker ’26

Class Notes

Jerry Smith celebrated his 96th birthday in July, 2022. He has six grandchildren and is a loyal Blue Hose to the Scotsman Club and PC’s endeavors. He says he is “PC Blue all the way through!”

of 1950

Class

The Rev. R Shane Owens retired after 41 years of pastoral ministry. He preached his last Sunday on Sept. 19 at Union Presbyterian Church. Throughout his career, he has served as pastor at churches in North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. He and his wife, Susan, will continue to live in Whispering Pines, N.C.

Ashley Powell has been working as an IT consultant since 2015. She is married to PC chemistry professor Dr. Craig Powell ’86. The couple has two sons who also graduated from PC – Alec Powell ’17 and Robert Powell ’21.

Judy Bolton Jarrett celebrated her 80th birthday with the opening of her solo art exhibition at the state Botanical Garden of Georgia at the University of Georgia. Titled “Art and Attitude (Artitude),” the collection of 31 new originals hung in the Conservatory/ Visitors’ Center. Judy owns ArtCan Studio Gallery in the historic First Chapin Bank building at 108 Beaufort Street in Chapin, where she has joyfully created art for 31 years.

Class of 1964

Geraldine Haydock Fincannon was inspired her English professor, the late Mr. S. Alan King, to write In Short Measures, A Saga from the American South The historical fiction novel is set in Upstate South Carolina between 1941-1947. It is available on Amazon.

Rusty and Nancy Nelson left their home overlooking Palouse, Wash., and moved back to Spokane to be closer to family, friends, and services. The couple recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

John Perry recently retired after 21 years as vice-chancellor and foundation executive director at USC Upstate.

Floyd Vernon Chandler recently published Ponderings: Reflections on the Stuff of Life. Vernon is a retired U.S. Army chaplain and retired Unitarian Universalist minister. He and his family reside in Ansbach, Germany.

Class of 1982

Mark R. McCallum recently had 11 songs he co-wrote released on Katy Shea’s debut country CD “Sorry Ain’t Working.” Since 2013, Mark’s lyrics have been featured in 31 songs with three artists and are available on all music platforms. Previous releases included country artist Hadley Elizabeth’s “What Do I Know” (2019) and pop artist Robert B. Meadows’ “Let’s Try That Again” (2013).

Dr. Chesley Richards, Jr. retired from the Centers for Disease Control in Nov. 2020 after 22 years of service.

Sgt. David Padgett retired after a 30-year career in law enforcement with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department. He also retired in 2018 as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves after 30 years of service. The military awarded him with the Legion of Merit for his exemplary career.

John Morgan started selling residential real estate in Atlanta, Ga. In 2015, he co-founded Park Realty, a boutique real estate brokerage in Candler Park. In 2021, John and his wife, Andrea, moved their family to Decatur. In November of last year, Ed Brailsford ’89 made a surprise visit to Atlanta, and they ended up at the Rolling Stones concert that night with Scott Moller ’90.

Class of 1985

Charles Larry, Sr. joined XPO Logistics as director of operations in Naperville, Ill., and assumed responsibility for the Dow Chemical account. He previously served as director of quality assurance at Trinity Industries in Dallas, Tex.

Class

A group of PC grads, including Brad Sims, gathered for Anne Carey’s birthday party in Greenville in early December. Pictured are: (Back row, left to right) Brad Sims, Barron Grier ’94, Heather Griffith Pyles ’94, Katie Jones ’94, Betsy Chesno Grier ’94, Jay Pullin ’93, Dina Padgett Grant ’94, Sid Kilgore ’91, Justin Grow ’94 (Front row, left to right) Rai Curtis Pullin ’94, Angela Mills Sims ’92, Elliott Nicholson Grow ’94, AC Toole Rodwell ’94, and Amy Kimball Kilgore ’94.

Class of 2003

Amy Riddle Rizzo and her husband welcomed a son, Miles Ezequiel Rizzo, in 2020. Miles was born with an unexpected rare blood vessel condition called Vein of Galen. He underwent 14 surgeries during the first seven months of his life and overcame many complications. After spending 182 days in the NICU, Miles is a happy and thriving little New York City boy.

Brad Riddlehoover married Susan E. Monks at Hollyfield Manor in Manquin, Va., on Dec. 31, 2021. Travis Hall ’05 served as one of the groomsmen.

Class of 2005

Class of 1994

Benjamin Betsill reached the summit of Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the contiguous United States, during a climb in California on July 28, 2021.

Class of 2004

one of the bridesmaids. Family and friends came from across the country to celebrate with the couple, including fellow PC alumnae Lindsey Spring ’04, Jane Harper Hicklin Dollason ’04, Barbara Stelling Warren ’04, Kelley Glenn ’04, Rebecca Wilson Hagerla ’04, and Elizabeth Ann Herring Stahley ’05. Laura received her MBA from The Citadel in 2020 and works as a quality and safety manager at the Cancer Integrated Center of Clinical Excellence at the Medical University of South Carolina. Her husband, Brandon, is the owner of a packaged foods company, Chipper Dog BBQ.

Class of 2006

After 12 years in education, Thomas McKenzie, has changed paths and begun a new career with Chickfil-A in their corporate office in Atlanta, Ga.

Matthew Owens is entering his fourth season as head football coach at his alma mater – Ninety Six High School. His wife, Laura Tate Owens ’05, is finishing up her Master in Education degree to become a licensed school counselor. She currently serves as the success coach in Greenwood School District 52. Together, they have two children – Kayden (6), and Karsen (4).

The Very Rev. Dr. Gray Lesesne was appointed dean and rector of Christ Church Cathedral (Episcopal) in Indianapolis, Ind., in December 2020. He previously served the congregation as their canon and senior associate from 2008-2015.

Class of 1997

Jessica Flanagan Freeman was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Leadership from the University of the Cumberlands on Aug. 27, 2020

Class of 2007

On Jan. 19, 2022, Weston Nunn and his wife, Celly Marshall, welcomed twin girls: Julia Lee Weston and Mary Celeste Marshall.

Brandon Page, owner of Steamers Cafe in Clinton, is opening Stogies, also in Clinton. He and his wife, Catherine Cruickshanks Page ’09, have three beautiful daughters – Riley (11) Ashtyn (6), and Carsyn (3). Brandon proposed to Catherine under the bell tower next to Neville Hall.

Andrew Manley married Dr. Amy Clark on Feb. 26, 2022, at Cannon Green in Charleston, S.C. She is a Louisville native, and a pediatrician employed with St. Elizabeth’s Physicians in the greater Cincinnati area. The wedding was officiated by Andrew’s sister, Ellison ’97, and his brother, Matthew ’01, was the best man. Andrew’s parents, Carlton ’69 and Belinda Ritter Murphy ’71, were also in attendance.

Chris Heiden married Kelly Fitzgerald on June 12, 2021, in Marietta, Ga. Chris was a member of Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity and a varsity lacrosse player at PC. The wedding party included the Rev. AJ Mealor ’07, Grant Yarbrough ’08, and Andrew Buccellato ’08 is currently a lead solutions engineer at Salesforce and an MBA candidate at Boise State University. Kelly is a third-grade teacher and varsity cheerleading coach at the Westminster School in Atlanta, Ga. The couple lives in Marietta with their children, Ruthie Jeanne (8) and Harrison Chris Heiden (6).

Class of 2010

Sara Naeseth ’10 is engaged to be married to Phillip Armstrong. The two met in a dog park in Charlotte, N.C., where they plan to reside after they wed.

recently welcomed a baby girl, Ella Rue Murphy. They live on her husband’s family farm, and Maggie began a new job at a local elementary school.

Class of 2011

and Will welcomed their first child, daughter Elliana “Ellie” Grace, on Feb. 16, 2021. They currently reside in Simpsonville, S.C., where McKenzie is a high school English teacher. Will recently joined Furman University’s communications team as associate director of strategic

Dr. Shelley Whitehead ’11 and Daniel McCombie, Jr. were married on Oct. 16, 2021, at First United Methodist Church in Bradenton, Fla. Fellow PC alumni in attendance included father of the bride, , bridesmaids Molly Erin Emory ’11, and guest Cameron Hardee DeLong ’13. Rev. Megan McMillan ’09 helped officiate the ceremony. The couple resides in

Class of 2008

Class of 2009

Hannah Lea and Seth Law were married in the mountains of Washington state on Sept. 8, 2021. They currently live in Lexington, S.C., where Seth works in human resources at W.P. Law, Inc., and Hannah is a music teacher.

Marlie Briggs Smizer was married on March 26, 2022, in Columbia, S.C.. Many Blue Hose alumni were in attendance to celebrate the bride and groom including matron of honor Ann Howe Wilson ’13, Chelsea Hathaway ’13, Susan Hayne Cobb Furse ’13, Larkin Julian Blackwell ’13, Eliza Spencer Truett ’13, Grant LeFever ’13, Olivia TowersSolis ’13 and Det Cullum ’13, Catherine Houston ’13, Erika Swanson and Carter Barnhardt ’13, along with Hannah Story Price ’12. The couple currently resides in Atlanta, Ga. Marlie works as a physical therapist at Emory St. Joseph’s Hospital, and her husband, Dexter, works for Mizuno golf.

Dr. Linda Cassidy Davis graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in 2021 and began an ophthalmology residency at Prisma Health Richland in Columbia.

Joseph McMillan is currently entering his twelfth year of teaching. He and his wife, Danielle, recently celebrated their seventh wedding anniversary. The couple has one daughter, Kensley.

Dr. Jonathan Mitchell recently graduated with a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Auburn University.

Class of 2016

Dr. Alexandria Yarborough, a pharmacist, joined the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of S.C. 2021 class of South Carolina’s Finest.

Dr. Stewart Curry received his Ph.D. in industrial engineering at Georgia Tech in 2019.

Class of 2012

B. Scott Todd has been named a partner in the law practice of Steve W. Sumner. –now Sumner & Todd Attorneys at Law, LLC. Previously, Todd served as the lead DUI prosecutor from 2016-20 in both Spartanburg and Pickens counties, where he also prosecuted drug, domestic violence, criminal sexual conduct, and assault and battery cases. A native of Laurens, S.C., Todd graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2015, where he was the CALI Award Winner for Criminal Law, as well as a member of the Mock Trial Team. He clerked for the Fifth Circuit Solicitor’s Officer and the Hon. Judge Donald B. Hocker in the Eighth Judicial Circuit.

Class of 2014

Dr. Dillard Stephens graduated from Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed a family medicine residency at Self Regional Hospital in Greenwood. He and his wife, Haley, live in Simpsonville with their son, William Gray Stephens. Dillard practices at Family Healthcare in Clinton.

Anna MacGregor received her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine on May 13, 2022, at Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium in Spartanburg. She will be attending residency at Griffin Memorial Hospital in Norman, Okla., where she will be specialize in psychiatry.

Class of 2015

Whitney Yongue Taylor and Russell Taylor were married on Jan. 1, 2022, in Little Mountain. Classmates Chynna Myers Issacs ’15, Anna Shelley ’15, and Mary Catherine Russell ’15, served as bridesmaids. Whitney works as a prosecutor with the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Solicitors Office, and Russell works for MEARS Group as a pipeline corrosion technician. Russell is also a captain in the S.C. National Guard. The wedding was held at the Cotton Press in Little Mountain with a subsequent reception at the Cotton Press on March 5.

Jordan Ashley put Dr. Tobin Turner’s entrepreneurship class to the test by starting a digital marketing agency with a fellow MBA classmate in January of 2020.

Class of 2019

Reese Bates and Joseph Stanton were married April 30, 2022.

Class of 2017

Peri (Imler) Stark married Josh Stark on July 17, 2021, in Rock Hill. Blue Hose bridesmaids included Danielle Gibson ’18, Katherine Turnley ’18, and Annie Willetts ’18. Joel Tillerson ’18 sang “The Prayer” during the ceremony, just as he and Peri planned when they met during freshman orientation in 2014.

ONE CLUB. TWO FUNDS. YOUR CHOICE.

SCOTSMAN CLUB

1930s

Sara Clark Byars ’38 of Clinton, S.C., died July 3, 2021, at the age of 104.

1940s

Martha Irene “Martharene” P. McMillin ’40 of Atlanta, Ga., died Feb. 22, 2021, at the age of 101.

Branch R. Fleming ’43 of Huntsville, Ala., died Oct. 5, 2021, at the age of 97.

Walter Allen (Sticky) Burch ’44 of Greensboro, NC, died July 28, 2022, at the age of 104.

MacDonald Brown “Mac” Fleming ’47 of Hoover, Ala., died Jan. 6, 2022, at the age of 98.

Elizabeth Barnado Mabry Trammell ’47 of Clinton, S.C., died May 26, 2021, at the age of 94.

Carl Allen Bramlette, Jr. ’48 of Austell, Ga., died June 5, 2021, at the age of 95.

Theodore (Ted) H. Campbell, Jr. ’49 of Woodstock, Ga., died Jan. 12, 2021, at the age of 95.

Rev. Dr. Lewis Scott (Pete) Hay ’49 of Clinton, S.C., died July 30, 2022, at the age of 93.

Shirley Dawkins Hughes ’49 of Greensboro, N.C., died Nov. 30, 2020, at the age of 92.

Clarence Steven (Big C) Sikes ’49 of Norwalk, Conn., died Oct. 19, 2021, at the age of 96.

1950s

Rev. Joseph Daniel Beale ’50 of Covington, Ga., died Jan. 19, 2020, at the age of 96.

Harold Joe (Rock) Cooper ’50 of Mount Pleasant, S.C., died May 25, 2021, at the age of 93.

Richard T. (Dick) Lindsay ’50 of Beaufort, S.C., died Aug. 24, 2021, at the age of 95.

James (Jimmie) Albert Williams, Jr. ’50 of Camden, S.C., died April 28, 2020, at the age of 93.

William Daniel “Dan” McLeod ’51 of Pensacola, Fla., died July 17, 2021, at the age of 94.

Dr. Henry Clayton “Speedy” Starnes, Jr. ’51 of Great Falls, S.C., died October 23, 2022, at the age of 95.

William Mayes Wollet ’51 of Huntsville, Ala., died June 16, 2021, at the age of 94.

Lt. Col. Robert “Bo” Virlyn Atkinson ’52 of Carmichael, Calif., died in 2020, at the age of 90.

Don Kay Hill ’52 of Hickory, N.C., died Nov. 21, 2021, at the age of 91.

Robert (Bob) Francis Hunt ’52 of Augusta, Ga., died July 18, 2022, at the age of 91.

John Kleiser Thurman ’52 of Atlanta, Ga., died Jan. 12, 2022, at the age of 91.

Capt. Donald Warthen ’52 of West Columbia, S.C., died Nov. 15, 2021, at the age of 92.

Richard B. “Dick” Weldon ’52 of Chapin, S.C., died on April 22, 2022, at the age of 92.

John Mitchell Witsell, III ’52 of Walterboro, S.C., died Dec. 21, 2021, at the age of 92.

Emmet Arnold Faulk ’53 of Evans, Ga., died Sept. 26, 2020, at the age 89.

Rev. A. Bruce Galloway ’53 of Clyde, N.C., died June 27, 2022, at the age of 90.

John David Harper, Sr. ’53 of Gainesville, Ga., died July 30, 2020, at the age of 89.

John M. Jones, Jr. ’53 of Pierce Township, Ohio, died Sept. 23, 2020, at the age of 89.

Jacob Oscar “Pete” Kafer, Jr. ’53 of Florence, S.C., died Oct. 23, 2021, at the age of 90.

Willard Thomas McFayden ’53 of Ellerbe, N.C., died July 19, 2022, at the age of 90.

Andral Bratton (A.B.) Plexico, Jr. ’53 of Mebane, N.C., died March 25, 2022, at the age of 90.

Col. James Barnum Robinson, Jr. ’53 of Albuquerque, N.M., died Dec. 1, 2020, at the age of 89.

Dr. Paul L. Walker ’53 of Kennesaw, Ga., died Feb. 23, 2021, at the age of 89.

Worth Browning Wilson ’53 of Wilmington, N.C., died Aug. 13, 2022, at the age of 90.

Lt. Col. Thomas Tyler ’54 of Canton, Ga., died Jan. 6, 2021, at the age of 88.

Robert E. Cothran ’55 of Aiken, S.C., died Dec. 3, 2020, at the age of 88.

Jack Barron Edmunds, Jr. ’55 of Hartwell, Ga., died Aug. 29, 2021, at the age of 87.

Joseph (Joe) Grady Elliott ’55 of Cary, N.C., died Oct. 16 2020, at the age 87.

Harry Ross Hamilton ’55 of Seneca, S.C., died Oct. 28, 2021, at the age of 87.

Norman G. Morrall ’55 of Lady’s Island, S.C., died June 7, 2021, at the age of 87.

Edwin Harrison Stultz, Jr. ’55 of Gainesville, Fla., died Aug. 29, 2022, at the age of 89.

Lynwood Houser Gaskin ’56 of Sacramento, Calif., died June 4, 2021, at the age of 87.

Clifford E. Waddell ’56 of Hartwell, Ga., died March 14, 2021, at the age of 87.

Willie James “Bill” Ware, Jr. ’56 of Appling, Ga., died April 21, 2018, at the age of 60.

Robert (Bob) H. Burnside ’57 of Columbia, S.C., died Aug. 2, 2021, at the age of 88.

Miles Franklin McAlister ’57 of Roswell, Ga., died Feb. 21, 2022, at the age of 86.

Henry Tennent Neville ’57 of Montreat, N.C., died May 9, 2021, at the age of 86.

Dr. Thomas J. Reeves, Sr. ’57 of Denmark, S.C., died Feb. 5, 2022, at the age of 86.

Donald Eugene Rickett ’57 of Pine Mountain, Ga., died Feb. 24, 2022, at the age of 86.

Myron Watson Stockman ’57 of Laurens, S.C., died Sept. 4, 2016, at the age of 82.

William Tsacrios ’57 of Clearwater, Fla., died July 14, 2018, at the age of 88.

Donald Rawlings Bloxham, Sr. ’58 of Duncan, S.C., died June 6, 2021, at the age of 91.

Julian Butler, Jr. ’58 of Laurinburg, N.C., died Nov. 27, 2020, at the age of 84.

Frederick Everett “Ted” Parker ’58 of Walterboro, S.C., died Nov. 18, 2021, at the age of 87.

Jimmie Ray Suttle ’58 of Ferguson, N.C., passed away June 30, 2021, at the age of 88.

Thomas “Tom” Winslow Westmoreland ’58 of Gastonia, N.C., died Aug. 18, 2019, at the age of 83.

James Sylvester Binder ’59 of Easley, S.C., died Dec. 11, 2021, at the age of 88.

Talmadge Sanders Callaway ’59 of Statesboro, Ga., died Nov. 27, 2021, at the age of 89.

Kenneth Allen Caswell ’59 of Boone, N.C., died March 12, 2021, at the age of 84.

Nak Young Choung ’59 of Boulder, Colo., died Sept. 14, 2022, at the age of 88.

Herbert Lee “Herb” Entrekin, Jr. ’59 of Peachtree Corners, Ga., died July 29, 2021, at the age of 84.

John Thomas McBride ’59 of Henderson, N.C., died Aug. 31, 2022, at the age of 91.

William E. “Bill” McElveen ’59 of Auburn, Ala., died June 8, 2022, at the age of 85.

Robert (Bob) Lacy Stone, Jr. ’59 of Statesville, N.C., died June 14, 2022, at the age of 90.

1960s

Davis “Bucky” R. Holland, Jr. ’60 of Clinton, S.C., died March 28, 2021, at the age of 83.

Charles Grandison Howard, Sr. ’60 of Darlington, S.C., died March 15, 2022, at the age of 83.

R. Cecil Morris ’60 of Cummings, Ga., died Jan. 5, 2022, at the age of 84.

Medford Rockstroh ’60 of Fleming Island, Fla., died Nov. 22, 2021, at the age of 86.

Lawrence (Larry) Avera Wood ’60 of Ocean Springs, Miss., died Jan. 30, 2022, at the age of 83.

James E. (Butch) Woodward ’60 of Highlands, N.C., died July 16, 2022, at the age of 84.

Paul O. Ard, Jr. ’61 of Roanoke, Va., died Aug. 1, 2022, at the age of 82.

Sue Nunnally Bowie ’61 of Fredericksburg, Va., died Tuesday, March 23, 2021, at the age of 80.

Herbert Veal Hammett, Jr. ’61 of Fayetteville, Ga., died April 22, 2022, at the age of 82.

Dr. William Singleton Ogden ’61 of Lake Waccamaw, N.C., June 15, 2021, at the age of 81.

Joseph Michael Pracht ’61 of Lexington, S.C., died May 2, 2020, at the age of 80.

Jesse Floyd Fuller ’62 of Boone, N.C., died May 29, 2021, at the age of 85.

Edwin (Ted) Caldwell Hentz ’62 of White Rock, S.C., died June 16, 2022, at the age of 82.

Lynn Douglas Hudgins ’62 of Salem, S.C., died Oct. 19, 2022, at the age of 81.

Douglas Edwin Miller ’62 of Wilmington, N.C., died Jan. 10, 2022, at the age of 81.

Joseph (Joe) Oscar Nixon ’62 of Clinton, S.C., died Aug. 24, 2021, at the age of 81.

George Jerry Hammock ’63 of Spartanburg, S.C., died May 20, 2022, at the age of 81.

Robert Pressley Piephoff ’63 of Clinton, S.C., died Nov. 10, 2021, at the age of 80.

Max Winston Walker ’63 of Stone Mountain, Ga., died May 8, 2022, at the age of 80.

Murray B. White, Jr. ’63 of Fort Mill, S.C., died Feb. 16, 2021, at the age of 79.

Charles Brison Barnwell, Jr. ’64 of Orangeburg, S.C., died Aug. 17, 2021, at the age of 79.

William “Bill” M. Degner ’64 of Mount Pleasant, S.C., died April 29, 2021, at the age of 79.

William David Gettys ’64 of Columbia, S.C., died Jan. 23, 2019, at the age of 83.

John C. Hope ’64 of York, S.C., died Nov. 22, 2020, at the age of 79.

Creighton E. Likes, Jr. ’64 of Charleston, S.C., died Nov. 27, 2021 at the age of 79.

Lt. Col. William (Bill) Ernest Tyson ’64 of Wachapreague, Va., died Oct. 26, 2021, at the age of 79.

Joe Eddie Aiken ’65 of Greenville, S.C., died March 16, 2022, at the age of 83.

Rev. John Carl Boyer, Sr. ’65 of Pine Mountain, Ga., died Jan. 21, 2021, at the age of 85.

Arthur C. “Artie” McCall, Jr. ’65 of Greenville, S.C., died July 2, 2022, at the age of 78.

Russell Haydn McLean ’65 of Marietta, Ga., died March 24, 2022, at the age of 79.

Patterson Wynne Brown ’66 of Athens, Ga., died Dec. 27, 2021, at the age of 78.

James Edward “Ed” Clowdis, III ’66 of McDonough, Ga., died May 18, 2017, at the age of 73.

David Sage Veneklasen ’66 of Clinton, S.C., died Nov. 2, 2021, at the age of 77.

Howard Bern Letzring, Jr. ’67 of St. Petersburg, Fla., died Dec. 11, 2021, at the age of 77.

Neill Willcox McKay, Jr. ’67 of Macon, Ga., died Jan. 4, 2008, at the age of 62.

Rev. David S. Templeton, Jr. ’67 of Savannah, Ga., died Feb. 18, 2021, at the age of 74.

Robert (Bob) Eugene Deaver ’68 of Mint Hill, N.C., died Sept. 6, 2021, at the age of 75.

Cecil Laverne McClary ’68 of Manning, S.C., died Dec. 6, 2019 at the age of 73.

James Orren Kelly McKay ’68 of Durham, N.C., died April 26, 2009, at the age of 62.

Thomas “Tom” Armlon Leonard ’68 of Miami Shores, Fla., died March 27, 2021, at the age of 74.

James J. “Jim” Therrell, Sr. ’68 of Lake City, Fla., died Feb. 16, 2022, at the age of 76.

Lawrence “Larry” Joseph Bullis ’69 of Savannah, Ga., died March 16, 2022, at the age of 74.

Larry Smith ’69 of Bradenton, Fla., died Sept. 28, 2022, at the age of 75.

Charles Wright Weston ’69 of Columbia, S.C., died June 25, 2022, at the age of 75.

1970s

Dr. Carl Weiss Dohn, Jr. ’70 of St. Simons Island, Ga., died Jan. 26, 2022, at the age of 72.

James “Jim” Hills, Sr. ’70 of Myrtle Beach, S.C., died June 14, 2021, at the age of 72.

Sharon Connell Shackelford ’70 of Alexandria, Va., died Jan. 9, 2020, at the age of 72.

Marsha B. Kirwan ’70 of Clarksville, Tenn., died March 20, 2021, at the age of 73.

Allen Ross Fogle ’71 of San Marcos, Calif., died Aug. 14, 2021, at the age of 71.

Jesse Paul Reeves ’71 of Aiken, S.C., died Nov. 25, 2020, at the age of 71

Raymond Stephen Rood, III ’71 of Interlachen, Fla., died Jan. 21, 2021, at the age of 71.

Gail Anne Cordes ’72 of Woodstock, Ga., died Aug. 2021, at the age of 71.

Harry Lee Jones, III ’73 of Bluffton, S.C., died July 21, 2022, at the age of 72.

George Porter Kennington, Jr. ’73 of Myrtle Beach, S.C., died July 18, 2021, at the age of 70.

Richard “Rick” Giles Laurens, Jr. ’73 of Easley, S.C., died Sept. 30, 2022 at the age of 70.

Sally Garrett Turner ’73 of Columbia, S.C., died Oct. 11, 2021, at the age of 69.

Terry Franklin Dover ’74 of Covington, Ga., died Sept. 8, 2022, at the age of 70.

Carolyn Henderson “Spunky” Hollingsworth ’74 of Greenwood, S.C., died July 11, 2021, at the age of 79.

Stephen Ernest Lowry ’74 of York, S.C., died April 15, 2022, at the age of 71.

Mark Lawrence Jolly ’77 of Gaffney, S.C., died March 26, 2020, at the age of 65.

Steven Alexander McDougall ’77 of Columbia, S.C., died March 26, 2022, at the age of 68.

Mark Thomas Nelson ’77 of Thomasville, Fla., died March 13, 2022, at the age of 66.

Peter Bruce Huff ’78 of Laurens, S.C., died Aug. 21, 2022, at the age of 67.

Lee James Padgett ’78 of Athens, Ga., died May 8, 2022, at the age of 66.

Debra (Debbie) Solee Davis ’79 of Land’s End, S.C., died on Jan. 4, 2021, at the age of 63.

1980s

Marshall Thomas Little ’80 of Charlotte, N.C., died Nov. 5, 2017, at the age of 59.

Shanler (Shan) Sanders-Wooley ’81 of Brentwood, Tenn., died March 9, 2021, at the age of 67.

Crystal (Chris) Henderson Bourne ’82 of Martinez, Ga., died April 10, 2022, at the age of 60.

Wendy Burdette Dempsey ’82 of St. Helena Island, S.C., died March 19, 2022, at the age of 62.

Jonathan T. Van Deventer ’82 of Monticello, Ga., died July 10, 2022, at the age of 61.

William F. (Tommy) Wade ’82 of Columbus, Ga., died Aug. 28, 2019, at the age of 60.

George R. Hall ’83 of Augusta, Ga., died Sept. 26, 2021, at the age of 59.

Scott Alan Wilhide ’83 of Columbia, S.C., died March 31, 2021, at the age of 59.

JoAnne Barlow Bachman ’84 of Simpsonville, S.C., died March 20, 2021, at the age of 59.

Mathew L. Thomas ’84 of Hilton Head, S.C., died Feb. 23, 2021, at the age of 59.

Charlene Melissa Bairefoot Cathcart ’86 of Irmo, S.C., died July 31, 2021, at the age of 57.

Sarah Pinckney Branch ’87 of Midlothian, Va., died July 28, 2021, at the age of 56.

Lynn Stuart Barnes ’88 of Lexington, S.C., died March 8, 2020, at the age of 52.

George Teall Stewart, III ’88 of Fernandina Beach, Fla., died June 17, 2022, at the age of 61.

William Montague Miller ’89 of Tega Cay, S.C., died Nov. 1, 2021, at the age of 54.

1990s

Kenneth Andrew Kasan ’90 of Tampa, Fla., died Feb. 14, 2021, at the age of 52.

Orlando T. Clyburn ’93 of Greenwood, S.C., died June 19, 2022, at the age of 52.

Robert (Bobby) L. Erwin ’93 of Barre, Vt., died Dec. 16, 2021, at the age of 50.

Ronnie Shaw Mixon, Jr. ’93 of Rome, Ga., died Jan. 24, 2022, at the age of 51.

2000s

Roger Austin Harrison ’01 of Mansfield, Ga., died Jan. 25, 2022, at the age of 43.

Damien Dericus Jackson ’01 of Columbia, S.C., died March 29, 2021, at the age of 42.

Sarah Ann Renz ’05 of Leawood, Kan., died Oct. 9, 2021, at the age of 37.

Joseph Carson Davis ’08 of Simpsonville, S.C., died May 5, 2021, at the age of 35.

Kathryn Lois Kleckley ’08 of Hilton Head, S.C., died Feb. 12, 2022, at the age of 36.

2010s

James Courtney Johnson ’11 of Greenville, S.C., died Nov. 11, 2020, at the age of 31.

2020s

Haley Clare Hughes ’21 of Kinards, S.C., died Oct. 18, 2021, at the age of 22.

Morgan Rae Megna ’21 of Blythewood, S.C., died Nov. 20, 2021, at the age of 22.

Charles Herbert Chadwell, III of New Braunfels, Tex., died April 13, 2022, at the age of 92.

George Henry Cornelson, IV (Hon. ’04) of Clinton, S.C., died July 8, 2021, at the age of 89.

Rev. Dr. Joe Bryan Donaho (former trustee) of Germantown, Tenn., died March 23, 2020, at the age of 82.

Larry Walter Massey (former trustee) of Dawson, Ga., died Feb. 17, 2021, at the age of 71.

Frances Williams McSween of Clinton, S.C., died March 14, 2021, at the age of 100.

Dr. George W. Ramsey (Professor Emeritus) of Arlington, Va., died Nov. 7, 2021, at the age of 83.

Donny Wilder (Hon. ’03) of Clinton, S.C., died Nov. 2, 2021, at the age of 89.

Rev. Dr. Jack R. Presseau (Professor Emeritus) of Flat Rock, N.C., died June 25, 2022, at the age of 88.

Ray Bunting (former employee) of Mountville, S.C., died Sept. 1, 2022, at the age of 64.

John Richard Swetenburg, Jr. of Clinton, S.C., died Sept. 22, 2022, at the age of 87.

PC MOURNS RECENT LOSSES OF THREE REVERED RELIGION PROFESSORS

NEVER FORGOTTEN

Presbyterian College alumni often say their professors were far more than classroom instructors who handed out assignments and graded tests. For students of every generation, professors are deep wells of wisdom, trusted mentors, and valued friends – near-mythic figures whose impacts echo down the corridors of their lifetimes.

In less than a year, PC mourned the loss of three beloved titans from the Religion Department – the Rev. Dr. George Ramsey, the Rev. Dr. Jack Presseau, and the Rev. Dr. Pete Hay.

Professor of Bible, praised his former colleague for his service to the church, his family, the college, and the community.

“He was not just a master teacher of the Bible; he was mastered

Ramsey, the Kristen Herrington Professor Emeritus of Bible, passed away on Nov. 7, 2021, at 83. Students fondly remember his introductory classes in Old and New Testament, his gracious wisdom, and his good humor. He was a master educator named PC’s Professor of the Year in 1975 and Outstanding Professor in 1990.

The Rev. Dr. Bob Bryant, who succeeded Ramsey as Herrington

by the loving God it proclaims,” Bryant said. “Indeed, if a legacy is a gift of great value that is passed from one person to another, then God has surely blessed a great many people with a legacy of faithfulness through their relations with George.

“I think it is clear to all who knew him that he embraced God’s love for himself and for everyone – for the whole world – and he carried God’s love happily and ably to others wherever he was. He epitomizes for me a life well lived in Christlike service for others. He has been and ever will be for me an abiding source of encouragement for faithfulness and the model Christian scholar and teacher. I’ll always give God thanks for my relationship with George and the great blessing he is.”

Presseau, a Professor Emeritus of Religion, died on June 25 at 88. He will be remembered forever as the premiere champion of the college’s motto, Dum Vivimus Servimus, and the founder of Student Volunteer Services.

“Jack Presseau’s mark on the history of Presbyterian College is profoundly deep,” said PC president Dr. Matthew vandenBerg.

Rev. Dr. George Ramsey

Rev. Dr. Bob Bryant

“Myriad alumni, parents, and friends of PC acknowledge him as an essential figure in the course of their lives and for that alone we owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude. Jack lived and breathed ‘Dum Vivimus Servimus’ and will always inspire us to make the world a better place.”

Jack Presseau’s prodigious legacy will continue to be honored at PC. In 2021, an anonymous gift endowed the Jack and Jane

Presseau Associate Chaplain for Student Volunteer Services. In turn, the Presseaus left a fund to support SVS programs in perpetuity.

Professor Emeritus Dr. Pete Hay ’49 passed away on July 30, 2022, at age 93.

After graduating from PC, Hay put his mathematics degree to work at his family’s gasoline and fuel oil business. But his minor in religion fueled a more profound desire to become an ordained minister. Along the way, Hay discovered his true call to ministry –teaching religion and Greek at his beloved alma mater.

PC loved him right back. In addition to being named Professor of the Year, students dedicated the 1966 PaC SaC to him, and, in 1978, he was named the Emma Bailey Cornelson and Rev. George H. Cornelson, D.D. Professor of Christian Religion. Hay retired in 1993 after 38 years of service, and that same year, the PC Alumni Association presented him with the Alumni Gold P Award, the college’s highest alumni honor.

To this day, the Hay Religion Award, given by the Department of Religion and Philosophy to the student with the highest grade point average in four semesters of religion or philosophy during their first two years at PC, is presented annually in Hay’s honor.

PC will always miss this trio of giants in the religion department and remains dedicated to preserving their brilliant legacies.

Rev. Dr. Pete Hay

Rev. Dr. Jack Presseau

Rev. Dr. George Ramsey

Rev. Dr. Jack Presseau

Philanthropic support for Presbyterian College is still a critical component to keeping PC competitive. For PC to remain a top Liberal Arts College and School of Pharmacy, we must secure support from those who believe in our ability to educate students who will lead lives of leadership, success, and service.

Every gift to Presbyterian College makes a difference in the lives of our students, staff, and faculty. Your generous support is essential and helps us attract intelligent, community, and service-oriented students, recruit and retain outstanding faculty, and strengthen our campus facilities.

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WHO WILL BE THE NEX T SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT?

The 1880 Student Referral Program allows you to refer future Blue Hose, who are 9th to 12th-grade high school students, who you think should experience a life-changing education at Presbyterian College. When you refer a student to PC, they will be eligible to receive an annual scholarship award of $1,880 in your name, as long as, they are referred before they are accepted into PC.

The scholarship recipient is a student who will be shaped by the many opportunities PC offers and can make a positive impact in the PC community.

Refer a PC student today!

www.presby.edu/referral-scholarship