A publication for the Prescott College Community
Prescotteers
Dear Prescott College Community,
The role of higher education is to educate; to be a safe space for students, faculty, and staff to come together as a community, to ask questions, to engage, to learn, and to be vulnerable. At Prescott College, we will always serve our community through the lens of diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging, as we have done for nearly 60 years. As practitioners of social justice, environmental awareness, climate advocacy and mental health, we stand in solidarity with one another, as educators, against hate and injustice.
We will remain steadfast in our protection of all our students, faculty, and staff regardless of their national origin or citizenship. We will protest any attempts to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion. We will defend academic freedom and our value of justice as central to our work. We will support and nurture one another. To quote our mission statement, together we create interdisciplinary, experiential, and diverse learning environments that inspire future leaders to create a healthy, just, and sustainable world.
Let us continue our commitment as changemakers to move forward as part of the solution.
With resolve,
Barbara J. Morris, Ph.D. President Prescott College
Alum ‘12
AARON WILSON
New Alumni Relations Director
New Alumni Relations Director: Aaron Wilson
“The road that brought me to Prescott College was anything but a straight path. I had always been a bit of a free spirit and a wanderer, but if I’m honest, it had been in opposition to a standard issue life. It wasn’t until I discovered Prescott College and the eclectic community it housed, that I felt like I had “arrived”. Not where I had intended to go, but where I needed to be. While here I found my sense of direction through its experiential outdoor curriculum; I gained the ability to see with depth as I learned to ask critical questions in its cultural and regional studies courses. Most importantly, I learned to appreciate the journey and be present through the experience. My time at Prescott College has provided value beyond measure, and with my new role in Alumni Relations, I’m looking forward to connecting with other Prescotteers to see how their time here has nurtured them. Maybe most importantly, I’m excited to be able to share these experiences with the current PC Community and see how these stories will inspire the next round of graduates.”
- AARON WILSON
RACHEL YODER
Alum ‘01
I wrote my first short story at Prescott College in 2001 under Melanie Bishop’s tutelage, and thus began the rest of my life. I went to the University of Arizona to earn an MFA in fiction, took a yearlong pitstop in Prescott to teach and edit Alligator Juniper, and then headed to the University of Iowa for an MFA in creative nonfiction.
Today, I’m the author of Nightbitch, my debut novel from 2021, about an ambivalent stay-at-home mom who thinks she’s turning into a dog. (Yes, a dog.) I live in Iowa City with my family, and we all eagerly await the release of the film adaptation, starring Amy Adams and directed by Marielle Heller.
I also recently published a longform essay on Pennsylvania Dutch folk medicine in Harper’s Magazine, entitled “In the Glimmer,” which you can read online.
Alumni Acknowledgments: Rachel Yoder
Before Prescott College, I secretly wanted to be a writer, but didn’t think this was a viable dream. Of course, Melanie and the PC philosophy showed me otherwise. I find myself still talking about Prescott College and what it meant to me as a young person, lost and looking for a place to belong. I found an intellectual and spiritual home at PC and carry with me the lessons I learned there about selfdetermination, possibility, and freedom.
The film will be also shown at the Prescott Film Festival in July.
racheljyoder.com/nightbitch
Rachel’s Novel Nighbitch has been adapted for the screen and will be in select theaters on December 6th, 2024
Alumni Updates
Joseph McElligott ‘06
My PC course experience made me decide to continue my service through learning education by joining the United States Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic after graduation.
Currently, I work in the field of social work, using my learning through service education experience from Prescott College to help at-risk Latino youth in Houston.
Reaching out to current and future alumni through the Prescott College Transitions magazine will raise the knowledge and resources about an endowment fund I initiated.
From 2004 to 2006, I studied abroad in Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Peru, Bolivia, and Venezuela with my former professor and lifelong mentor, Dr. Bernardo Aguilar-Gonzalez, Ph.D.
I established a legacy endowment fund as part of my senior project for Future PC Students. I sought to recognize the work of the Latin American Studies program and the efforts of the Aztlan Center in Association with the Northern Arizona Interfaith Coalition, locally coordinated by Ligia Umaña Ledezma, MA (a PC graduate, too).
This fund aims to support students studying environmental and economic issues in Latin America in the twenty-first century due to the high costs of international travel to and from Central and
South America. In my view, the most authentic way of understanding the effects of economic and environmental models is to go to the country, and experience and discuss its reality with the locals. Any donation, no matter the size, will be crucial to support this legacy for future students, human rights, and service-learning education in Latin America.
Jess Dods ‘ 70
I graduated in 1970 as a proud member of the Charter Class. My years leading up to that were a wonderful adventure in the areas of learning, outdoor activities and the unforeseen world of the sixties. I studied in a variety of areas, including math, biology and Spanish. I took this education with me to graduate school and living and working around the world.
I can still visualize time in the Granite Dells and kayaking on the lake. Other things that come to mind are socializing and the dining hall at the time in the original campus. Another activity was teaching skiing for PC students at the Arizona Snow Bowl.
After graduating, I served as the first Alumni Trustee. This was a valuable experience for me, and I took the experience with me to many areas. Now I am a self-employed Career Coach. I work with people in job search and those who want to improve their job performance. I wish everyone the best-may the unique philosophy of PC be with you.
UPDATES
Todd Trautner ‘82
Hi Everyone! My Prescott College Wilderness Leadership /Adventure Education degree led me to many memorable outdoor experiential educator opportunities during my career.
The following Monday post PC graduation I discovered a note in my student mailbox indicating a job opening at the Chadwick School in Palos Verdes CA. I flew to LA the very next week, interviewed, and secured employment as the new in-house Outdoor Education faculty.
The way for this position had been paved for many years by the PC alum run Boojum Wilderness Institute, which provided contracted Environmental/ Adventure learning programs for both private and public schools in southern California.
Next up was living the dream of becoming an Outward Bound Instructor. Over the next five years I worked with at-risk populations at Pacific Crest Outward Bound School, Rancho San Antonio Wilderness Program, and the TresslerCare Wilderness School.
After eight years in the field, I returned to school at Mankato State University where I was a teaching assistant and graduate student in Experiential Education. After completing my Experiential Ed, MA I was hired as a PC Wilderness Orientation Course Director for two years. During this period, I also facilitated “Group Process for Wilderness Leaders” and “Alpine Mountaineering”.
After my stint back at PC I took a full-time position at the Oregon State Hospital from “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s” fame. I served for 23 years as the Outdoor Therapeutic Specialist, assigned to direct and train staff to use nature and outdoor recreation as a learning opportunity and a door opening back to their lives in the community and personal recovery.
Wow! Thanks to my PC education I was able to make a difference in the world and have a memorable career. I love my life and I love Prescott College. I’m now happily retired and living in Salem Oregon.
Ericha Scott ‘04
Dr. Ericha Hitchcock Scott, PhD, is a licensed psychotherapist and healer who walks between mysticism and evidenced-based psychotherapy. For 39 years, she has worked with those who struggle with substance and behavioral use disorders, survivors of trauma, complex trauma, torture, dissociation, and victims of sex trafficking and ritual crime.
Her investment in social change via the arts worldwide includes travel, presentations, collaboration, and cultural exchange in 4 continents.
“I credit my success to the power of art to heal and transform even the most challenging problems.”
She has created an endowed scholarship in memory of her husband, Randy Tufts Memorial Scholarship in GeoSciences of which many fellow alumni of theirs have contributed.
Leza Packard ‘03
Lisa (Lēza) Packard loves to create from scratch. After earning a Master’s in Environmental Ed at Prescott College, she built the Highlands Center for Natural History’s Schoolyard Habitat Program - literally from the bare ground up - at six public schools.
In 2011, Lēza and her sons moved to Maine to be near family. In that same year, Maine passed a law permitting the creation of 10 public charter schools. She saw a need for school choice for teens in rural Maine. The dream to found a public charter school kindled for years while she worked as an education director, executive director, and organic farmer.
Following a lengthy, competitive application process, the Ecology Learning Center opened on September 1, 2020 as Maine’s 10th public charter school. Now in its 5th year, the school enrolls 120 students in grades 9-12. The campus has grown each year to now include a performing arts center with a 200-seat theater. Lēza continues to serve as the founding superintendent and principal.
“My graduate studies at Prescott College very much inspired and informed my vision for this placebased, outdoor adventure school. I’m grateful to my graduate advisor, Bob Ellis, and to Prescott College.”
ALUMNI
Lēza also credits the Highlands Center for her success and that of her sons. Ezra (age 24) currently studies architecture at Rice University and Vernon (age 20) studies environmental engineering at Montana State University in Bozeman.
Chuck Smith ‘70
The Prescott College years set the tone for my life, photography, love of the outdoors and flying. I have been flying myself for 50+ years and have turned that passion into my work, selling aircraft for the past 34 years. CJJETS.COM. Started out selling WWII fighters with the Museum of Flying in Santa Monica and stepped up to corporate aviation. Turboprops and corporate jets mostly from King Airs to Bombardier Challengers, Globals and Falcon Jets. Best part of my business is that I meet interesting people all the time and no two days are the same. I live in Camarillo, CA on a bluff that overlooks the airport,
KCMA. Quality of Life in California is being able to get to work without getting on the freeways. Do what you love, love what you do.
UPDATES
Karen Cooper ‘93
My name is Karen Dismukes Cooper, and I graduated from Prescott College in 1993, with a degree in Fine Art Photography with a minor in Outdoor Education.
Following Prescott, I worked as a raft guide in Colorado, Arizona and Honduras where I honed my skills in Outdoor Education, broadened my command of Spanish as a second language and had many great adventures on memorable and breathtaking rivers.
Later, my love of adventure and travel took me to Mexico, where my husband, William Cooper (also a Prescott College Graduate) and I started an import company of custom design Mexican products. That business evolved into importing products from France and placed me within the wholesale gift and home industry.
For over 20yrs I worked within the wholesale gift industry in product development, marketing and sales while traveling across America and Europe. All while basing in my hometown of Nashville, TN and raising two beautiful children. Nashville was an easy place to start a family as it offers music, culture, southern charm and enough sophistication without being too large and homogeneous.
From Nashville, the stars have led me to open a retail shop in a historical building owned by a dear friend. The name of the shop is Honky Tonk Couture, and it’s located in the L& L Market on Charlotte Ave
(www.landlmarket.com) 10 minutes from the heart of downtown Nashville. I like to say the store is a little bit hippie, a little bit gypsy, and a lot of cowgirl! We have the privilege of styling and dressing many entertainers and many other nice people from Nashville and abroad. so, if you find yourself in Music City USA, please be sure to stop by and say hello!
We love to hear about what our Alumni are up to and the impact your making in your communities.
FreeWill
Through our recent partnership, FreeWill is delighted to help you create your legal will with or without including the college in your plans. It’s 100% free to you, and most people finish in 20 minutes or less.
Kim Reynolds ‘84
Prescott College gave me the courage to follow my dreams and believe that I could. After pursuing cool jobs like being an instructor for Outward Bound, a ski Patroller in Aspen, a river guide and a field safety instructor in Antarctica, I became an entrepreneur and created programs that didn’t exist.
I’m a co-founder of The dZi Foundation, a nonprofit working with rural communities in Nepal to create lasting improvements in their quality of life. I started Chicks with Picks women’s ice climbing clinics that empowered women to face fears and become self-reliant climbers. Finally, Mind Over Mountains, currently the home of The Saging Way: the art of gracefully navigating transition and change. The bottom line is I love having meaningful work and helping people.
22 years ago, I became a Certified Professional CoActive Coach and integrated follow-up coaching into my programs, ultimately taking it beyond the Outdoor Industry. I currently work for Sounding Board Inc. as a Leadership Coach, and I like to think that I am changing the world one leader at a time! Now more than ever, we need leaders who will give us hope for a better future. I am grateful!
www.dzifoundation.org
www.mindovermountains.com
Asia Caldwell ‘21 and Jake Pasdertz ‘06
Asia and Jake are both employed with Touch of Nature Outdoor Education Center, a part of Southern Illinois University.
Asia is splitting her time between attending graduate school and working at Touch of Nature where she gets to create spaces for folks to learn and grow outside. Through her studies, Asia is working towards the publication of her thesis investigating outcomes of outdoor education programs on outdoor leaders.
Jakob is currently the Program Assistant for the campus recreation department at SIU. Through this position, he is able to fulfill the program’s mission of “enhancing the lives of all people through outdoor experiences.” He is also pursuing an MS in Outdoor Program Administration through the creation of a Student-Led Adventure Education-based leadership development program at Southern Illinois University.
As mammals, they enjoy frolicking in the forest and watching the seasons change from their cabin in the Shawnee.
UPDATES
Brendan Haggerty ‘05
What’s up, Prescott Community! I was thrilled when I heard from my friend and colleague Alison Zych about this opportunity to share my story since graduating from Prescott College in 2005. It is a story of connections.
My career in education began at Mile High Middle School and I was in the process of piloting the Expeditionary Learning (EL) model under the leadership of teacher Maggie Kane and EL School Designer Dave Denhartog.
After my student teaching, I accepted a position at Northpoint Expeditionary Learning Academy, located in Prescott, to help develop the school’s foundation in its second year.
During this time, I was engaged to Lara (Davis) Haggerty, who utilized PC’s GIS lab while working on her master’s thesis on projects focused on pronghorn conservation in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy and local cattle ranchers (Lara also taught at Northpoint for two years).
After three years as a science teacher and instructional guide at Northpoint, we moved back home to be closer to our families and help start another Expeditionary Learning high school, The Greene School, in West Greenwich, Rhode Island.
Another former teacher, Alex Edelmann, and I modeled this new school after Northpoint with a mission centered around environmental sustainability. We ambitiously pioneered new wilderness orientation programming and interdisciplinary real-world learning expeditions while creating all the new systems required for a successful school. Jennifer Seidel was the Greene School’s first Expeditionary Learning (now ELEducation) school designer.
Also, In 2011, after realizing that educating children was likely to have a more significant impact on the planet’s future sustainability, Lara decided to join The Greene School as a biology teacher.
After twelve amazing years at the Greene School, new opportunities inclined me to make a career transition. The Greene School National Network, which executive director Jennifer Seidel is now leading, was rapidly expanding and was hiring a new team of strategy coaches to work with the schools across the network. Serendipitously, I am also now working under David Denhartog, the Lead Strategy Consultant.
GSNN distinguishes itself from EL Education (Expeditionary Learning) as it is more focused on student health and the integration of leadership practices into the improvement of campus sustainability. Currently, I serve as a strategy coach, and I am helping the team further develop quarterly sustainability dashboards that help school districts analyze and reduce their energy, water, and waste impacts.
I am grateful of Prescott College’s faculty and community for motivating me to discover a fulfilling direction in life. I have been able to build a career that aligns with my values, which is to assist future generations in leaving behind a beautiful and sustainable planet, Earth.
Alum ‘00 & ‘14
JEN CHANDLER
Jen Chandler couldn’t imagine where life would take her when she came to the Resident Degree Program in January 1997. Jen always struggled in high school and at community college, not because she was a bad student but because she was a terrible test taker. In 1992, while in high school her Advanced Biology teacher, Mike Trimble, shared the Prescott College course catalog with her and said something like “you’re smart and you learn differently, this place is perfect for you,” planting an important seed. A number of years later she got the courage and discovered the true value of learning that demonstrates competence through action and experience. Her time as an undergrad student deeply influenced her career path landing her a position in the Visual Arts Program. In 2014 she earned a M.A. in Art Administration/Nonprofit Leadership through PC’s Adult Degree Program while working as an Instructor and Coordinator of the Art Gallery at Sam Hill Warehouse.
After 15 years at the college, Jen transitioned to using her talents to help support a small group of Elders who were interested in doing something about climate change and who were just forming a group they were calling Elders Climate Action (ECA). Today, as Director of ECA Jen spends her days building an all-volunteer movement of Elders (older generations) who are taking action on climate change by pushing for solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and our dependence on fossil fuels. With tens of thousands of members across the U.S. and beyond, ECA’s members are urgently pushing for climate policy and practices at a local, state and federal level to meet the growing crisis. ECA that understands the voice and actions of all generations are necessary to build the political will needed to protect current and future generations and all life on this planet.
PC prepared Jen in ways she couldn’t imagine to be ready to lead an advocacy organization like Elders Climate Action. “All of the learning spread across the Southwest and a deep reverence for the natural world instilled in me by faculty like Steve Munsell, Chris Black and Deb Ford helped me fall in love with the places (and people) I now want to protect. PC’s small group style prepared me to walk confidently into the offices of Member of Congress’s and offer them constructive feedback and suggest climate policy solutions. A well-rounded liberal arts education prepared me to take on whatever role I need to assume daily, including leader, organizer, fundraiser, trainer, tech support, public speaker, program specialist, policy wonk, advocate mental health support and so much more. More importantly PC and all the faculty and students I worked with gave me the critical thinking skills to understand how interconnected, interdependent and intersectional our world is and how to advocate for myself and others while also solving problems. I’m grateful to use all I carry from Prescott College towards finding and implementing climate solutions at a policy level.”
Knowing the connections and passion we all developed while at Prescott College, Elders Climate Action is a perfect place to put our energy now that we have a little more wisdom, life experience, and a deeper concern for what comes next.
Learn more about Elders Climate Action at www. eldersclimateaction.org or reach out to Jen directly to learn how you can get involved.
jenc@eldersclimateaction.org (and tell her you’re from PC!)
SOCIAL JUSTICE CONFERENCE
Regenerating Hope Through Connection: Organizing, Mutual Aid, And Community Care
From Cirien Saadeh, PhD
Alum of MAP - Humanities in ‘15, PhD in ‘19, and MRSC in ‘23
February 28 - March 2, 2025
Hope, connection, regeneration: those ideas are at the center of our inaugural social justice colloquium to be held on-campus from Feb. 28 - March 2. All members of the Prescott College communityalumni, current student or prospective student; any program, any major - are invited to attend and participate.
The conference is hosted by our Social Justice Studies (formerly Cultural and Regional Studies) and Social Justice and Community Organizing programs. Our hope with this inaugural conference is to bring as many members of our community together to discuss what social justice means to our community and to envision what our responsibility to a socially just world is (alongside our shared responsibility to sustainability).
The conference will include a keynote - soon to be announced - and workshops on a multitude of issues near and dear to our college community. We’ll also have some time for shared movement, shared meals, and shared art-making.
The conference came about because it’s been too long since our college’s social justice community has had an opportunity to gather for a colloquium, a Prescott College tradition. At the same time, we want to make sure that all members of our community have the opportunity to engage in social justice learning and our college’s social justice commitment.
In the next couple of weeks, an opportunity to RSVP and respond to our “Call for Participation and Volunteers” will be distributed.
We hope to see you there, on-campus, from wherever you are in the world.
Innate Curiosity and Love of Learning
From Rasheda Vereen , PhD
My journey to the PhD program at Prescott College is not surprising to my family and friends because of my innate curiosity and love of learning. I have been fortunate to experience many learning environments, but none more community-centered than Prescott College.
I am a Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine physician and researcher focusing on health disparities, equity, and justice. Through my clinical and research experience, I developed an interest in examining systemic causes of inequity to better contextualize the disparity with the hope of finding sustainable solutions.
Before matriculation to Prescott College, for me, reporting and describing health disparities was no longer good enough, and re-orienting myself as a researcher who focused on preventative and proactive community-based solutions became my goal.
Within the Ph.D program, I have been given the tools to explore and integrate concepts of decolonization and cultural responsiveness to explore sustained, place-based, and interdisciplinary solutions. This new focus has influenced my most recent collaborative publications– with recent publications that examined the impact of the nationwide formula shortage, a qualitative analysis of reproductive and pediatric healthcare in the military healthcare system, and the importance and influence of physician workforce diversity on health disparities.
The Prescott community has been welcoming, and I find myself inspired by its membership. I am proud to have collaborated with faculty within the
PhD program on book chapters, grant writing, and research. Collaborative and multidisciplinary action and education are hallmarks of Prescott College and also the propelling force that will sustain the college and its graduates into the future.
The Importance of Having Roots
From Copland Rudolph ‘91 & ‘94
It was 6 AM on September 27th when I started to hear and feel the first 100 ft. trees fall. By noon, millions of trees across western North Carolina would be uprooted by tornadoes, landslides and flooding from Hurricane Helene. Suddenly, an area of the country that climate scientists indicated was immune to a major climate catastrophe was in an apocalyptic crisis with no power, no water, and no wifi or cellular service. In this moment and in every moment where I must face the unexpected and the difficult, I was overwhelmed with gratitude for my Prescott College roots.
In 1988, I was a southern girl who had never skied, rowed a river or ridden a mountain bike. I underestimated what I was capable of at ever turn. Prescott College allowed me to experience my strength, resilience, and connection to nature through many southwest classroom adventures.
The moment when I was two pitches up and off route with Julie Munro at Smith Rocks. The protection I thought I could place wasn’t holding and I just had to climb a grade or two above my skill level with no protection. That moment in Mexico when food poisoning hit our group on the bus ride from El Rosario to La Paz … and the bus bathroom was locked and out of order. Reconning an orientation route and the water we thought was there wasn’t there or the moment crouched on our sleeping pads waiting for the lightening to pass. Bus Number 1 running out of gas…
So on September 26th, I went and filled my car with gas, I filled water jugs, I charged my headlamp and put batteries in my lantern. When we lost power and water, not showering or being able to flush a toilet didn’t send me into a panic like most adults on my block. Prescott College taught me how to persevere and lead in good times and bad.
Currently I am the Executive Director of the Asheville City Schools Foundation where we fund innovation in the classroom and deliver programming to support students to live a curious life.
Now more than ever as “ once in a lifetime” climate events are beginning to happen monthly, students want and need experiential education, connection to nature, and opportunities to struggle- and no young person I know is in denial about climate change. Prescott College has been centering the climate conversation and delivering the best outdoor education coursework in the country for decades. While education is under fire in our country at every level and families are questioning the investment in higher education, PC alumni know the investment we made in Prescott College tuition continues to pay off in ways we never imagined.
As alumni, we need to meet this moment and connect students and families to Prescott College. We need to collectively climb two grades higher than we have been climbing and recruit folks to PC as if the life of the college ( and our planet) depends on us.
I am beyond honored to be a member of the Prescott College Board of Trustees and I invite each of you to reach out to the board with your ideas, your energy, and your financial support.
Onward, Copland Arnold Rudolph
Badfish, Big Moves
From Zack Hughes ’95 and Mike Harvey ’98
Zack Hughes ’95 and Mike Harvey ’98 met as rookie raft guides on the Arkansas River in 1993. Zack had been traveling to Honduras as part of his education at Prescott guiding rafts and leading multi-day kayak adventures. Mike was also chasing his love for kayaking which led him to Honduras where Zack and Mike became close friends that pursued a love for whitewater and kayaking in Central America, California, and Colorado and beyond.
Both Mike and Zack eventually settled in Salida Colorado in 1998. Mike started working for an engineering firm that specialized in the development of whitewater parks focusing on kayak features, trails, and community access to rivers. Zack had started his own successful business in the trades.
In 2005, Mike worked on one of the first whitewater parks in Colorado located in Pueblo. On a return trip to inspect the park, much to Mike’s surprise, a few locals were surfing surfboards on one of the standing waves. Mike called Zack, who is a lifelong surfer from San Diego and asked if he wanted to go try to surf some of Zack’s boards in Pueblo. After a few hours of surfing together in Pueblo the wheels of innovation were swirling around in Zack head to create a better board.
Zack is a consummate designer and maker and took his love for ocean surfing and fused it with knowledge of kayaking and rivers to create the first Badfish boards. Zack and Mikes skill sets complemented each other and they decided to try to build a river surfing brand from Zack’s garage.
Today Badfish makes and sells river surfing boards, stand up paddle boards, Whitewater rafts and many other fun toys to be used on the water. Badfish sells their products through specialty outdoor retail shops across North America and at their Flagship store in downtown Salida, Colorado.
2024 MAASAILAND ALUMNI REUNION
JULY 26-AUGUST 2, 2024
Prescott College alumni and friends visited Kenya’s Dopoi Center in August 2024. The trip was a transformative experience, showcasing the strength of community building and celebrating 20 years of collaboration with the Maasai people, such as land returns to the Maasai and the training of Maasai paralegals by recent PhD graduate Perry Stern ‘24. Board members Jennie Marie Duran and Dean Pavel Cenkl joined in celebrating this milestone, underscoring the importance of community and shared vision. During their stay, our visitors also got to experience cultural activities ranging from traditional Maasai dances, beading workshops, wildlife observation, and learning the Maa language. Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make this a meaningful experience.
“The reunion was a chance for me to reconnect with an important project from my time on the Prescott College Board, to view the amazing infrastructure created at the Dopoi Center since my last visit 10 years ago, and make new friends and connections.”
-DAN BOYCE
“For me, what felt so special is that the programming and experience was Indigenous-led and directed.”
-JENNIE MARIE DURAN
“Happily, the time we spent in Kenya with so much guidance and friendship percolates within me and inspires me to expand what I know into a living, breathing and growing understanding and passion.
My gratitude goes out to all of my fellow travelers, Prescott College, and especially to all the kind souls in Kenya who gifted us a warm welcome, mountains of knowledge, and even wisdom.”
-MARIA FLURRY
ANA MARTINEZ
For nearly five years, I’ve worn the hat of the Assistant Director for Development and Communications at the Kino Bay Center in Sonora, Mexico where each day is different, and no two days are alike. My work focuses on fundraising, donor relations, supervising the Media and Communications program, implementing systems to distribute information produced at the Center, and supporting the Executive Director and Assistant Director of Operations. My day-to-day activities, however, can vary from preparing and distributing grant reports to making crab costumes for the town parade; from presenting our fundraising results at a council meeting to helping dispose of a stranded grey whale on the beach.
I was born in Hermosillo, Sonora and raised in the laboratories of my parents, both scientists as they worked to complete their doctorates. There, while watching fungi grow in petri dishes and washing pipettes and test tubes, my passion for biology was born. These experiences complimented by trips abroad for my parents’ research led me to pursue a master’s degree in biology focusing on marine life ecosystems in the Gulf of California. Through my work at the Center, I can continue to learn about the Gulf and contribute to its conservation so that future generations can discover and enjoy the beauty of my childhood ‘backyard,’ where the desert meets the sea.
I am very happy and proud to be able to work in a place that has values and objectives that I believe in and gives me the opportunity to be surrounded by such a diverse group of people. It is a privilege to learn from scientists of all different fields, participate in activities with Prescott College students, work with a multicultural staff and learn from community members and indigenous people, all while working toward the conservation of the Gulf of California.
Save THE Date
60TH YEAR ALUMNI REUNION
OCTOBER 2026
Choose your adventure, starting the week of Oct 13 through a culminating event and celebration on Saturday, October 17th, 2026. Keep posted for additional information coming soon!
KATHY YOUNG
Alum ‘85
Prescott College was a pivotal experience in my coming of age and becoming a healthy adult. I had a challenging family environment and had been to several colleges that were not healthy learning environments, being told I would never be capable of much was very disempowering. Prescott College was a last-ditch effort to succeed in an undergraduate education. After graduating with a degree in Outdoor Education, I headed to Oregon to work for Pacific Crest Outward Bound School and worked seasonally for Outward Bound and several others teaching and leading trips with kids, adults, and ‘youth at risk’.
In 1987, my polar career launched in Antarctica. I worked in the Berg Field Center, the equipment warehouse supporting field parties before moving into the field, managing the remote basecamps for research teams. One of my favorite and most challenging tasks was when a small group of us would be flown in by a C130 aircraft on skis into the ‘deep field.’ We were dropped off with pallets of gear, food, and equipment to build a camp for the researchers.
In 1996 I went to Greenland to work at Summit Camp at 10,000 feet above sea level as a field assistant. It’s a place where the ice depth is even greater than its elevation and the site of a critical paleoclimate drill hole that has provided great insight into how rapidly the climate can change. It’s an outpost in an otherwise unlivable place. For several years, I worked in both Antarctica and Greenland each year. I love the great white landscapes. It makes my heart sing.
Eventually, I chose Greenland and became the Summit Station manager. I recruited the first allwomen crew to ‘winter over’ at the station in 2008. We proved ourselves with an outstanding season, accomplishing all the science projects despite an incredibly stormy winter and the central furnace failing with temperatures of -60f.
In 2010 I moved to managing field equipment and field operations for science research in Greenland. I was based in the sea-level airport town of Kangerlussuaq, an old US airbase from World War II. I flew to remote villages to coordinate logistics and aviation, where weather plays a significant role. A big part of my job was problem-solving and managing risk and often in the field assisting researchers. I had incredible experiences with local communities and have made lifelong friends. Greenland is a place of dramatic change right now.
Prescott College was the catalyst to my career. The skills I learned with the many outdoor courses I took at the school were applied in everything I did in the polar regions. Critical skills learned at Prescott were logistics, risk management, communication, and group dynamics.
Currently, I’m working at the college managing the Field Equipment Warehouse. It’s been an opportunity to give back to the college for what it gave me. Working with the students and mentoring them in methods and work ethic has been fun.
Recently we had an event at the College showing the film; Sila and the Gatekeepers of the Arctic. I wanted to share with others the immense beauty of Greenland and the challenges of climate change to spark people to make a difference.
Dean of Student Affairs: The Future of Student Affairs
The Future Of Student Affairs
The evolution of Prescott College Student Affairs is built on three pillars: Academic Support; Wellness and Belonging; and Engagement and Community. The growth and development of these areas is holistic, designed to impact the total student, whether online or on-campus, to provide a safe, inclusive learning environment that promotes a culture of wellness, to support their learning to achieve future professional goals, and encourage and enhance their engagement and contribution to the Prescott College community.
Michelle Relyea Dean of Student Affairs
Meet Michelle Relyea! With over 26 years of experience in student success and enrollment, she’s passionate about enhancing the student experience. As the founding Senior Vice President for Student Success at The New School, she created the foundation for a new organization focused on the integration of the admission experience, student engagement, and student outcomes from pre-enrollment through graduation. She worked to create supportive environments for students in New York and Paris.
Michelle is excited to join Prescott College, where she is creating a fully integrated suite of programs, services, and support for our amazing and unique student population. She believes in the power of community and is committed to helping students thrive on their educational journeys.
In collaboration with our academic partners, co-curricular experiential learning opportunities will become an integral part of our degree programs. To provide consistent communitybased experiences for students, a servicelearning program will be required for all undergraduate students. In addition, all undergraduate students will be required to complete an external professional internship. Additional areas of collaboration will include international partnerships and supporting low-residency opportunities and experiences.
“Alumni can play a critical role in the life of a student from mentorship, guest lecturers, career placement and even in helping us recruit students who will be successful at Prescott College. We welcome alumni in the future of student affairs.”
-JANE RATZLAFF
Reflect. Reimagine. Regenerate.
From Pavel Cenkl, Dean of Academic Affairs
The Prescott College Curriculum and Learning Community
For nearly 60 years, the Prescott College community has cultivated a deep commitment to place-based education, where students engage directly with human and more-than-human communities in ways that foster knowledge, empathy, resilience, and meaningful outcomes to support their work as powerful changemakers in the world. We continue to build on these strong foundations to equip our students to engage with ever more complex global challenges with the same focus on experience, creativity, care, and interconnected thinking that are the heart of a Prescott College education.
At Prescott, learning goes beyond sustainability to actively restore, renew, and revitalize the individual and collective learning processes and the broader social and ecological systems in which they occur. The concept draws from regenerative practices in ecology, agriculture, and systems thinking and applies these principles to learning and education to emphasize:
• Holistic and Systems Thinking
• Renewal and Resilience
• Learning and a Living System
• A Place-based Focus
• Integration of Ethics and Values
• Experiential and Transformative Learning
• Collaboration and Community
The Vital Importance of Place
At Prescott College, place is central to how our students learn and grow. ‘The Southwest is Our Classroom’ – our location in the Southwest isn’t just a backdrop – it’s an active and integral part of the educational experience. Students here don’t just study the environment; they immerse themselves in it, exploring diverse ecosystems and engaging with the local community in authentic ways that don’t always neatly fit into disciplines but rather address real-world problems in ways the build upon their learning experience while building regenerative relationships with human and more-than-human communities.
Ecology is the foundation of our learning model, which is the case for all programs from Counseling to Adventure Education to Field Ecology, Environmental Humanities, Regenerative Design, Social Justice, and more across the curriculum.
This deep connection to place helps our students develop a strong sense of belonging and responsibility. We learn from all the communities around us, shaping our learning in a way that’s both personal and profound as well as engaging and impactful. This approach ensures that when our students leave Prescott, they carry a deep respect and life-long engagement with the world they’ve come to know and are ready to make a tangible and meaningful impact in the world.
It is not just on our campus through undergraduate residential and immersive low-residency graduate degree programs, but also through global partnerships and distributed learning that supports site-based
and practice-led education for students who opt to engage with our curriculum at a distance. We invite all Prescott College students to come to campus at least once during their studies and be supported to engage in meaningful work where they are.
A Regenerated Curriculum
Much of the College community has been engaged in a curriculum regeneration this year to reimagine a curriculum built upon the nearly 60-year history of Prescott College’s focus on experiential learning and authentic engagement with ecological systems, human and more-than-human communities, education, and leadership.
The curriculum is the framework for a renewed focus on residential undergraduate programs, as well as a refocusing of graduate programming while enhancing opportunities for transdisciplinarity by decreasing required core credits for undergraduates and including certificates and concentrations for all interested students. We are also inviting graduate students to participate in immersive low-residency sessions on campus, and further professionalization of both undergraduate and graduate programs through partnerships, practica, internships, and service learning.
Essential to our revised curriculum is that it builds upon and integrates the many years of Prescott College’s focus on adventure and experiential education, leadership, social justice, fieldwork in ecology and environmental studies, psychology, and more in an integrated and transdisciplinary curriculum and living-learning community that speaks
to the needs and aspirations of our graduates, their families, and their prospective employers.
Key elements of a revised curriculum include:
• 5 undergraduate degree programs
• 8 master’s degree programs
• Sustainability Education PhD
• 4 new certificate programs
• Decreased undergraduate major core requirements from 60 to ~40 credits
• New concentration options for undergraduates across the curriculum
• Support for an undergraduate internship
• Undergraduate service learning
• Many more global partnerships and placement opportunities for all students
Pavel Cenkl Dean of Academic Affairs
Gifts of Time, Talent and Treasure
OCTOBER 3, 2024
Dan Garvey created the tradition of naming buildings, and it continues today as we work to revitalize our home. On October 3, we had the honor of naming the One Stop Student Center the Betsy Bolding Center and the Ellen Heffernan & Paul Gibson Healing Garden. Friends, alumni, students, and faculty gathered to recognize these special ribbon cuttings. We also honored the ongoing work of the Butte Creek Restoration Project and all who have contributed to it. This celebration reflected the many gifts of the Prescott College community: some financial, some of time and energy, and some of special abilities. Together, these gifts represent the can-do spirit of Prescott College and our willingness to come together to make a difference.
“Whether learning on our campus basecamp, in the field, or virtually, the gifts of the Prescott College community help us provide students with the experiential and authentic learning experience Prescott College is known for.”
-BARBARA MORRIS
“Transitions” is such a joy for us to create. The stories that fill the history of Prescott College are many, varied, and impactful. I often call people and hear, “I don’t think I have done much, so I’m not sure what to say to those whose passion for what they do is so loud.” They don’t think about themselves as the center. I well up with pride and sometimes tears at the humbleness of our alumni. Whether you are making a huge impact, or day to day difference, you are a true Prescotteer.
So why Prescotteer. It just seemed to fit and as I reached out to alumni and attended events. It is how people describe this incredible bond to an experience that impacted their lives in both subtle and big ways.
Please know we are proud of you. Share your story in our monthly email newsletter, or for the next Transitions, or just because. We look forward to having you join us for events in your area, to connect with other Prescotteers and share the wealth of our diverse experiences and achievements.
Warm Regards.
Jane
Email: jane.ratzlaff@prescott.edu
Phone 928-350-4503
INVEST IN FUTURES
Prescott College has always been at the forefront of experiential and collaborative learning. This curriculum regeneration strengthens our commitment to providing an education that is dynamic and responsive to the world’s most pressing challenges. Your support through our year end annual appeal is critical. Only together can we ensure that today’s students have the same base that has allowed you to be successful in your endeavors. Paying it forward is the hallmark of our college.
Thank you for your help!
- President Morris -
PS: Tony Ebarb and Liisa Raikkonen have generously offered a $30,000 match for donations in December.
