Ripon Magazine: Summer 2022

6 THE FOLSE ERA BEGINS

Victoria N. Folse begins her tenure as the first woman who will be formally inaugurated as the president of Ripon College.

14 ALUMNI PROFILES

From their own backyards to the world stage, Ripon College alumni are making an impact on the wider community around them.

22 BACK TOGETHER IN PERSON

More than 500 alumni and guests returned to campus to celebrate the first full June Alumni Weekend since 2019. The Ripon family remains vibrant.

24 CELEBRATING THE CLASS OF 2022

Stories We Tell: Connecting to Our Community through Theatre” was the theme as the Class of 2022 celebrated the connections they made during their years at Ripon College and the connections they carry forward into their futures.

Sports

Around the Clocktower

Memoriam

Remarkable Ripon

ON THE COVER: Victoria N. Folse began her tenure as the 14 th president of Ripon College July 1, 2022.

LEFT: Nickie Zeman Stangl ’17 , left, and Maddie VandenHouten McCoy ’17 celebrate their five-year reunion at the Rally Run/ Walk during Alumni Weekend 2022.

Maintaining Ripon’s shared sense of community will lead us toward our future

With more than 20 years of diverse leadership experiences in higher education, I have always been aware of and cultivated the human connections that flourish inside a campus community. However, it was only after serving on a presidential search committee at my alma mater that I understood, above all else, that it is the president who is charged with the responsibility of building, growing and establishing a sense of community based on a shared vision.

The greatest professional honor of my life will be combining my passion for building community through thoughtful and deliberate leadership with the responsibility of stewarding the 171 years of academic excellence, tradition and relationships at Ripon College.

While the professional and personal drive to become a college president has been present for some time, I was very selective in considering where I wanted to be. The higher education model has been challenged, more than ever, in recent years: changing demographics, financial uncertainty, social justice issues and the debatable value proposition of a four-year liberal arts degree. As I started my journey with Ripon and began to learn about and experience the history, the people, the curriculum, the financials, the city, I became more and more confident that Ripon was exactly the place for me.

Ripon College is positioned for success amid these incredibly challenging times for small private institutions rooted in the liberal arts and sciences, and I am honored to steward the future of the College. However, without intentionality and relentless pursuit, being positioned for success does not inevitably equate to achieving success. I believe one of Ripon’s strongest relative advantages has to do with the relationships established among faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends. You should know that I am prepared to leverage

the strength of those connections and loyal institutional memories to maintain an unwavering commitment to the liberal arts core while unapologetically establishing a shared yet innovative and strategic vision for the future.

My first priority as your 14th president is to initiate a comprehensive and inclusive strategic planning process. We will use our upcoming 175th anniversary to anchor our timeline, and you will receive regular communication throughout the discovery, construction and implementation phases of the process. The strategic vision will, first and foremost, prioritize the student experience. This will maximize students’ ability to maintain a liberal arts foundation while majoring and minoring in career-ready areas and preparing for graduate programs through experiential learning, including internships, undergraduate research and study abroad.

As a first-generation college student myself, I know firsthand the power and influence a well-represented campus community has in lifting up the next generation of graduates. I look forward to working together to ensure that Ripon College remains an attractive and relevant option for the next 171 years.

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Fund, Red Hawks Club

27, 2022.

When women claimed their place in intercollegiate athletics

This is the 50th anniversary year of the passage of the Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972. This federal equity law prohibits federally funded educational institutions from discriminating against students or employees based on sex or gender.

Among other achievements, Title IX opened the door for NCAA women’s competition. In this excerpt from an Oral History Interview, Ripon College archivist Andrew Prellwitz talks with Elaine Coll, a pioneer in NCAA Division III athletics and the founder of the modern-day women’s intercollegiate athletic program at Ripon College. During her 20year career at Ripon, she coached volleyball, basketball and track and field.

WHEN DID YOU FIRST BEGIN WORKING AT RIPON COLLEGE AND IN WHICH POSITIONS?

1973 was my first year. In ’72, they had to hire somebody to coach the women because of Title IX, so I was the first woman to come and coach. I started the programs in volleyball, basketball, and track and field. I was hired to do that and to teach half time.

AND WHY DID YOU TAKE THE POSITION?

Well, I had been at UW-Oshkosh for three years, and my husband and I used to come over on the weekends to Ripon, and we’d watch the football team. It’s a lovely little setting. We’d go over and we’d stand outside the fence and we’d watch the little team on the little toy field. (laughs). And then we’d go over to the Union and have coffee. And we just loved it; it’s just a great place to be. I always thought, if I ever got a chance, it’d be really nice. So, I did that, and a good friend of mine, Missy Allen, ran a dance program here. She was the dance instructor. It was a full-time position until 1973 (laughs), when it became half time. See how that works?

AS SOMEONE WHO GREW UP BEFORE TITLE IX, HOW DID YOU FIRST BECOME INVOLVED IN ATHLETICS? DID YOU PLAY?

Well, if you played, you played. I was a tomboy. I always wanted to play, and my parents never discouraged me, and I loved to do it. But all you could do was go down and hang out at the little league field, you know, because you couldn’t play at all. And if there were just pick-up games happening, I’d do that. You know, they’d let me. And I always wanted to play basketball. It was three-on-three in those days. All women rules at the time with three offensive players and three defensive players. And there was, of course, the half court line. There was no over and back because there was no over. (laughs). You played on your half if you were offense and if you were defense, you played on the other half. And they advanced that so that you could have two dribbles and in the very later years, a rover. So one of the offensive players could play full court. Then it would be four-onfour. The reason for these rules was they thought the women weren’t fit enough to be able to play full court. It was just bad for them altogether to have that much exercise, and it was masculine.

HOW DID YOU GO FROM BEING A TOMBOY TO A COACH?

You just get lucky. Because, you know, when I went to school in physical education, you had a class in volleyball. And you had a class in basketball. And at Ohio University, where I got my undergraduate degree, I did play. There was an intercollegiate basketball team that played three-on-three, six player. And we got to play three games a year, and you wore whatever you had and a pinnie. We played Ohio State, Marietta and Cincinnati. Well, that was around 1965.

WHAT WAS THE CLIMATE LIKE FOR WOMEN AND ATHLETICS WHEN TITLE IX PASSED?

Well, the administration clearly had to do something. So they had to have somebody coach. And they advertised. And they were willing, as long as you didn’t want too much. You know what I mean?

WELL, WHAT DOES “WANT TOO MUCH” MEAN?

The budget for women was $100 per sport.

WHAT WAS THE MEN’S BUDGET?

Just guess. Who knows? Those were always kind of secretive; it’s not a public institution. And even if it was a public institution, you don’t know where money’s coming from, or how much. At any rate, we had $100 per

sport. The men clearly had much more. The equipment man who packed the bags and did the laundry for the men’s teams wouldn’t do the women’s. He refused. Well, all of a sudden, his job was going to double, too. But, anyway, he said, “No, I’m not doing that.” We didn’t have any uniforms, and when we finally got them ... I don’t know how long it took — two, three years? We used them for all the sports. We had one set of uniforms. One of the athletic players, in fact, the first woman to go in the athletic hall of fame — Linda Secor ’78 — her mom made us our traveling bags. There was no money for traveling bags, either, so we had this snappy little red corduroy job with nice white trim. Very nice.

HOW MUCH SUPPORT DID YOU RECEIVE FROM ADMINISTRATION BEYOND THE $100? WERE PEOPLE SUPPORTIVE OF YOU AND THE PROGRAMS?

Yes! As long as you didn’t make a lot of trouble. You know, people wanted you to succeed and they were happy. And we succeeded. We did very well.

DID YOU MAKE TROUBLE?

A couple of times. You know, I’d go make demands. (laughs).

AND WHAT DID YOU ASK FOR?

Well, one time I said … “We don’t have any volleyball nets. We need a decent net, one net.” And (the athletic director) said, “Well, there’s no money for nets.” And this is true most of the time, if you just wait and shut up, things happen. (laughs).

Anyway, one day he came in and said, “I have a surprise, a treat for you.” And I said, “What’s that?” “I got you, you got a new net.” It’s not my birthday. I felt like I’m a professional person; I don’t need some gift from the athletic director. So, I said, well, “Thank you.” What are you going to say? Thank you. We managed to get shot clocks because you had to have them for basketball. It was a rule. And finally, the rules said you had to have visible shot clocks, (laughs) instead of my husband with a stopwatch. And so, at that time, I think (then-Athletic Director) Charlie Larson, he got shot clocks for us. One of the issues (with Title IX) is there’s not double the money. There’s not double the gym. There’s not double the equipment. And there’s not double the good time. So it was always a struggle as to who, especially during basketball season, gets to practice when? That was always a struggle. And we always practiced late; we got the late time.

WHY ARE ATHLETICS IMPORTANT TO YOU?

Because it gives you a chance! There’s a great joy in being able to move and to learn how to move your body in all these great ways. It was always important. There’s a great, wonderful world of learning how to do something well. People do all kinds of things, life experiences, and they want to do them well. Well, you need to have that chance. So, to be able to learn how to do something, do it well, have proper instruction, and to have admiration ... People like athletics, and so you want to be important, too. They don’t like women’s athletics as much as they like men’s, but still women’s teams are important. They make a difference! People care about what they do.

ANDREW PRELLWITZ

On the bench with the women’s basketball team, 1977.

In a huddle with the women’s basketball team, 1983.

Cheering on men’s track and field teammates, 1986.

Victoria N. Folse is Ripon’s 14 th president

The transformative power of education was revealed early to Victoria Noltkamper Folse, and it is that environment that she plans to foster and expand within the context of the liberal arts at Ripon College.

Folse is from the southern Illinois city of Belleville, a metro east suburb of St. Louis. Her parents divorced when she was an infant, and she was raised by her mother who worked a series of low-paying jobs and relied on the government to provide food and medical assistance for her family. Without a college education and without adequate resources, her options as a single mother were limited.

“I knew early on that education was my opportunity to advance — both in terms of social mobility and to realize my dreams of being an independent, strong, female leader,” she says.

She also knew early on that she had the natural mettle to excel in the field of nursing, especially in emergency situations. In grade school, she was racing to play tetherball and collided with another child. He and others on the playground stared in horror at the gash on her forehead “so I remained composed and recommended actions to school personnel.”

In the midst of the turmoil of her ambulance ride to the hospital, she felt a calm demeanor. “What was fascinating to me, with all the chaos around me, was that I was energized by the excitement and enthralled by the healthcare providers in the emergency department,” she says. “I asked for a mirror to watch the suturing which cemented my interest in healthcare as a career. I later learned the emergency department is the front door for many mental health crises.”

That led to her decision to go into the nursing profession and become an advanced practice registered nurse (clinical nurse specialist) in adult psychiatric nursing.

“Nursing was an attractive choice for me because I would have guaranteed employment, and it would provide me with the capacity to make an impact on people’s lives,” she says.

“I just really was hungry to learn,” she says. “I loved the idea of a liberal arts college experience coupled with the opportunity of being a nurse. I wanted to simultaneously study philosophy, religion and English. The choice of a small, residential liberal arts college was deliberate and one of my best early-life decisions.”

She received her undergraduate degree from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois, in 1986. “I devoured every philosophy, sociology and psychology course I could find,” she says. “It’s important that students who are pursuing a professional or pre-professional degree also be engaged in the study of the humanities while pursuing their passions for areas like music or athletics. That allows a graduate of the liberal arts to be fully immersed in the world and ignites a passion for lifelong learning and engagement. That’s central to the liberal arts.”

At Illinois Wesleyan, she also met her future husband, Dick Folse. Dick was a biology major as an undergraduate and later received a Master of Fine Arts. Folse says it

was the liberal arts core that allowed him to pivot to his passion for studio art instead of pursuing the career in medicine he originally envisioned. He has worked as a university art instructor, managing director of the Illinois Shakespeare Festival and director of grants and foundation relations.

“Our backgrounds are so diverse,” Folse says. “Dick’s family was well off and education was at the core of everything they did. I didn’t have that. I benefited from being around individuals who were quite successful professionally and who recognized the social and philanthropic responsibilities that come with privilege. Dick’s family represents a beautiful combination of science and art — working

Victoria N. and Dick Folse at One Merriman Lane.

President Folse visits with Jodi Berens, mother of first-year student Jack Berens, in Willmore Center after Matriculation Convocation in August.

AT A GLANCE

Select Leadership Experiences and Awards at Illinois Wesleyan University:

• Director of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences

• Caroline F. Rupert Endowed Chair of Nursing

• Executive Director of Counseling and Heatlh Services

• Interim Director of the School of Music

• Kemp Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence

in surgery, bonsai, music, painting, woodworking and pottery.

“Dick is very much the same. He is the embodiment of the liberal arts, showcasing art, music and science.”

Together, the Folses have forged a strong, supportive partnership. Folse went on to earn a master’s degree in adult psychiatric/ mental health nursing from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Ph.D. in nursing with a concentration in research methodology from Saint Louis University.

Folse is an advanced practice registered nurse and also a licensed clinical professional counselor. She is an active scholar, researcher and national and international lecturer and consultant, with expertise in areas such as eating disorders, suicide risk, self-concept and sexuality, and abuse of drugs and alcohol.

Through early leadership roles in her sorority and early career opportunities, she discovered that “leadership was a good match for my skill set,” she says. “It’s a pretty natural fit and one in which I could make an impact.”

She completed her master’s degree in 1989 while working full time. She continued to practice, did some adjunct teaching and started on her Ph.D. about the same time she

and Dick decided to start their family after 10 years of marriage. Folse continued to work full time during her doctoral studies.

“It was a deliberate decision that we made jointly,” Folse says. “I couldn’t have done it without the support of my husband. His role at home intensified with the children.”

Their first daughter, Mason, was born in 1995 and now lives in southern California. She has earned two degrees from Pepperdine University — an undergraduate degree in marketing and communication and an MBA with a concentration in entrepreneurship — and is now a secondyear law student with a vision to help startup companies and underserved

Professional Experience:

• Clinical Nurse Specialist in Adult Psychiatric Nursing

• Advanced Practice Registered Nurse

• Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor

• Active scholar, researcher, national and international lecturer and consultant with expertise in areas such as eating disorders, suicide risk, selfconcept, sexuality, drugs and alcohol, interprofessional communication, leadership, and quality and safety in healthcare.

Educational Background:

• Ph.D. from Saint Louis University, School of Nursing, concentration in research methodology

• M.S. from University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Nursing, adult psychiatric/mental health nursing

• B.S.N. from Illinois Wesleyan University

Select Honors:

• Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society

• Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society

• American Association of Colleges of Nursing Leadership for Academic Nursing Program Fellow

• Wharton Executive Leadership Fellow

“My transformative undergraduate experience is something I want to replicate at Ripon to create that sense of place, that sense of community.”

— VICTORIA N. FOLSE

populations be successful in business. Folse notes that Mason’s vision keeps evolving as she is introduced to new areas of law.

Their second daughter, Kennedy, was born in 1998 and owns a home with her husband, Oleg, in Burke, Virginia. She is a graduate of Georgetown University with a nursing major and a public health minor. She works as a NICU nurse and is in the process of applying to graduate school. Oleg, originally from Ukraine, is a staff sergeant in the United States Air Force.

Folse loves to run, starting with 5k runs on the weekends early in her marriage. She ran her first Chicago Marathon in 1994. One of her favorite marathons was Memphis which benefits St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. She and Mason trained together for the Marine Corps Marathon,

and Kennedy has asked about running a marathon with her, too.

“I used to run for time goals, but now I’ve replaced running with a specific outcome in mind for running for pleasure — and without earbuds. What I love about running is the ability to think and be in the present,” she says. “The ability to run and not talk brings great tranquility and mental clarity.”

Another passion her family shares is traveling. Both of her daughters studied abroad as undergraduates: Mason for a year in Florence, Italy, and Kennedy for a semester in Dublin, Ireland. Folse’s favorite places outside the U.S. are Barcelona and the Amalfi Coast; she has been to most Western European countries with other memorable trips outside North America including Russia, Chile, Argentina, Morocco and South

Africa. The family is widely traveled and have spent holidays in Spain and the south of France. They love spending time together — including time they have spent in Ripon.

“We’re excited about learning new things and being immersed in different cultures,” Folse says. “Travel is life-transforming. I will revisit study abroad at Ripon College and

“The ability to make a difference in people’s lives is what motivates me each day.”

— VICTORIA N. FOLSE

President Folse talks with alumnae during Alumni Weekend.

consider its role as a signature experiential program in the post COVID-19 world.”

She also wants to strengthen Ripon’s sense of community. “The privilege of higher education is bringing people together for a shared sense of purpose,” she says. “My transformative undergraduate experience is something I want to replicate at Ripon to create that sense of place, that sense of community.

“We need to do a better job of making liberal arts relevant to prospective students and their families, of relating how the liberal arts develop critical-thinking and problemsolving skills, and how those skills form the foundation of global citizenship.”

She says she gets so caught up in her plans for moving Ripon forward that she sometimes gets late texts from Dick at the President’s House asking if she’s going to come home. But, they both understand the weight of the role.

“I’m excited to be here,” she says. “The ability to make a difference in people’s lives is what motivates me each day.”

JAYE ALDERSON COLLEGE EDITOR

President Folse addresses members of the Class of 2026 and their families at Matriculation Convocation in August.

SUPPORTING THE PRESIDENT

Dick Folse, husband of President Victoria N. Folse, is relishing his new home in Ripon.

“I’m newly retired,” he says. “I’ve been a landscape painter for 35-40 years. My passions include horticulture, bonsai, fishing, music, reading and, of course, art.

“Retiring into Ripon’s presidential house with its view of the Ceresco Prairie Conservancy is a dream come true for a landscape artist.”

He’s also comfortable with his new role. “I’m the spouse of the president,” he says. “I support her. I’m very proud of her.”

Folse has a deep appreciation for higher education and the advantages it provides. He grew up in Springfield, Illinois, in a family deeply grounded in higher education. His father was a physician educated at Johns Hopkins who helped found the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield. His mother has a master’s degree from Peabody Conservatory and taught voice at the university level. Folse and all of his siblings received advanced degrees.

“I developed a love of lifelong education,” he says. “It helps us understand other people’s perspectives in a global society. It helps us understand history and what we might learn from history. You can do anything if you have an education like the one schools like Ripon College are providing. The skills you learn are universal for success in life.”

Folse has had a variety of jobs in academia and private industry and has been an active member of several notfor-profit organizations. “The culminating piece is that, as a servant leader, I’m interested in relationships with others and how to promote their success,” he says.

In Ripon, he and President Folse plan to be active in campus and community events. “I want to get to know the College community to see how I might best support it,” he says. “I want to be heavily involved in engaging students, faculty, staff and alumni, making sure they feel involved and are welcomed and valued.”

Ripon College’s previous presidents

William E. Merriman FIRST PRESIDENT, 1863-1876

On April 23, 1863, the Rev. Dr. William E. Merriman, a graduate of Williams College and Union Theological Seminary, was elected the first president of Brockway College, at a salary of $1,000 a year. He immediately relinquished his salary (except for living expenses) to bring the College out of debt. There were two unfinished buildings and a debt of $20,000. The faculty included himself and one other professor for a mere half-dozen students. Within a year, he brought East and Middle colleges to completion, liquidated the debt and obtained a new charter with the institution’s name as Ripon College.

Richard Cecil Hughes FOURTH PRESIDENT, 1901-1909

He was a Presbyterian clergyman and teacher of psychology and was instrumental in designing and implementing a college curriculum for the 20th century at Ripon. Preparatory classes were greatly reduced and the educational program expanded to include most subjects comprising a modern liberal arts curriculum. In 1906, Hughes obtained a $20,000 matching gift from Andrew Carnegie which resulted in a total gain to the College of $40,000.

Edward H. Merrell SECOND PRESIDENT, 1876-1891

He was a graduate of Oberlin College and Oberlin Theological Seminary. He was appointed principal of the preparatory department and professor of languages in 1862, then president in 1876. During his 16-year tenure as president, a new chemistry laboratory made it possible to discard the obsolete method of exclusive textbook-lecture instruction; East Hall was expanded to twice its original size; the College acquired its first athletic field, Ingalls Field, in 1888; and the original $50,000 endowment was multiplied several times. He retired as president in 1892 but remained on the faculty until his death in 1910. His seven children all attended Ripon College.

Silas Evans

FIFTH PRESIDENT, 1910-1917 & 1921-1943

Silas Evans, a graduate of the Ripon College Class of 1898, Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary, resigned as teacher of Greek and Hebrew at the University of Wisconsin to accept the presidency of his alma mater. He led Ripon College for the next 32 years — except for a stint as president of Occidental College in California from 1917 to 1921. Ripon grew to full maturity; preparatory classes were dropped for good in 1913. In spite of the Great Depression, he continued to build the College’s physical capacities by adding Lane Library, Tri-Dorms and Harwood Memorial Union. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters upon his retirement in 1943. Three of his children attended Ripon.

Rufus Cushman Flagg

THIRD PRESIDENT, 1892-1901

He was a widely respected biblical scholar and Congregational minister with a flair for financial management. Within one year of assuming office, he raised $50,000 in pledges, thereby qualifying the College for an $80,000 gift. He also launched a program for modernization by adding men like O.H. Ingram and Albert G. Farr to the Board of Trustees and by gently bringing about the retirement of several of the more conservative board members. Ingram Hall (now no longer standing) was built in the last year of his administration.

Henry Coe Culbertson

SIXTH PRESIDENT, 1918-1920

He had been a student of law and divinity and president of Emporia College in Kansas before serving briefly as Ripon’s president between the two terms of Dr. Silas Evans. His skill in public speaking made a strikingly favorable impression, but health and personal problems often interfered with his duties. He returned to the ministry in 1921 and went on to an outstanding career as a pastor and preacher in California and Ohio.

Clark G. Kuebler

SEVENTH PRESIDENT, 1943-1954

Clark G. Kuebler was a scholar, lecturer and teacher of classics. He was Ripon’s first president without a ministerial background. He helped establish a national reputation for the College by conducting lecture tours across the United States and abroad, seeking students from diverse backgrounds, expanding and improving the faculty, and establishing local chapters of national organizations at Ripon – most notably, Phi Beta Kappa. The College’s centennial was observed during his administration with a Second Century Program which expanded the physical plant and added to the endowment.

Bernard S. Adams

NINTH PRESIDENT, 1966-1985

Bernard S. Adams was a graduate of Princeton University, Yale University and the University of Pittsburgh. He taught English literature and had a wide range of administrative responsibilities at Princeton, Pittsburgh and Oberlin College. At Ripon, he continued the expansion of the physical plant and continued modernization of the administration and the curriculum, overseeing the addition of off-campus, independent study, self-designed and interdisciplinary programs. The Wehr Learning Resources Center addition to Lane Library was completed in September 1974.

Fred O. Pinkham

EIGHTH PRESIDENT, 1955-1965

A graduate of Kalamazoo College and Stanford University, Pinkham previously was assistant to the president of George Washington University and executive director of the National Commission on Accrediting. He also was a teacher and lecturer. He helped expand the student body, faculty, administration and physical plant, and administrative procedures were modernized. His Long-Range Development Program added the John Storzer Physical Education Center (now Willmore Center), a clinic and infirmary, and new campus heating facilities. He also was instrumental in forming the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, of which Ripon is a member.

William R. Stott Jr.

10th PRESIDENT, 1985-1995

Under Stott, the College’s endowment nearly tripled. He was responsible for several major renovation projects including TriDorms, Bartlett, Scott Hall and Farr Hall. Stott taught an English class each semester and led popular classes and tours for the general public on topics such as Shakespeare, the Globe Theatre and bird-watching. His wildlife art, photography and poetry were published and exhibited at Caestecker Gallery in 1995, and he led tours to the Antarctic, Costa Rica and other exotic locations.

David C. Joyce

12th PRESIDENT, 2003-2011

He previously was vice president for institutional advancement at Otterbein College in Ohio and president of Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky. He received degrees from Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer, North Carolina, Yale University Divinity School and North Carolina State University, as well as a doctorate in human resource development from Vanderbilt University. At Ripon, renovations were made across campus, Hughes House became Evans Admission Center, the student apartment building was constructed and the Ethical Leadership Institute was inaugurated. Enrollment topped 1,000 and there were expansions in the curriculum, investments in technology, service learning efforts, and added green space and walkways to the campus.

11th PRESIDENT, 1996-2002

Paul B. Ranslow had been executive vice president for admission at Pitzer College in Claremont, California. He had more than 22 years of higher education administration experience, including interim president at Pitzer in 1991-1992. Ranslow participated in campus activities and lent a sunny, positive approach to the task of leading a small liberal arts college to a better understanding of its strengths and of potential areas for growth and exploration.

Zach P. Messitte 13th PRESIDENT, 2013-2021

He worked for the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, United Nations and Cable News Network (CNN) before academic appointments at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and the University of Oklahoma. He was widely published and hosted “World View,” an award-winning program on National Public Radio, from 20092012. During his Ripon tenure, the Imagine Tomorrow campaign raised $67 million, the endowment nearly doubled and Willmore Center was built. He also oversaw numerous renovations and upgrades to facilities and the establishment of the Franzen Center for Academic Success, Catalyst curriculum, Center for Politics and the People, Career Discovery tour and growth in diversity and inclusion.

Paul B. Ranslow

Jared Zeman ’19 , right, and his advisor at Marquette University, Dr. Adam Dempsey, stand next to an optical rapid compression machine. This machine is being used in the project to help them characterize the sooting tendencies of gasoline/ethanol fuel blends.

Ph.D. project by Jared Zeman ’19 could have major impact on heavy-duty engine emissions

some day in the not-too-distant future, you see heavy-duty equipment that isn’t puffing out black clouds of soot, you may have Jared Zeman ’19 as one of the people to thank.

Zeman, a Ph.D. candidate at Marquette University, is among a small team he’s helped cultivate that is working toward creating an ultra-low emission combustion engine that can be used in heavy-duty machinery. Their project is promising enough to earn a $2.5 million grant from the Department of Energy (DOE).

A mathematics and physics double major at Ripon College, Zeman noted that his professors strongly supported him as he worked toward his engineering dreams. “Dr. Christina Othon, Dr. Brett Barwick, Dr. Andrea Young … and then Dr. Mackenzie Lamb were all very supportive in my desire to move on to the next level,” he says. “They really did lay the foundation for me to be able to succeed.”

At Marquette, Zeman has worked closely with a professor to build up the school’s engine research lab so that it could develop a test cell for advanced combustion research. His master’s degree focused on creating the cell; now he and five other researchers hope it will help them make a huge technological leap.

“Our lab’s goal is to target the use of alternative fuels in heavy-duty platforms,” Zeman says. “Alternative fuels can be easily implemented into passenger vehicles. … But this is a challenging thing to do when you consider the larger-scale engines, which typically rely on highly reactive fuels like diesel fuel or heavy fuel oils: your bulldozers, your semi trucks, your marine travel ships. … They’re also very pollutant rich.”

While the market moves toward passenger vehicles powered by electricity, Zeman doesn’t see that as a viable option for heavy-duty applications such as bulldozers. “That’s the target: at a high level, implement renewable fuels into heavy-duty platforms that currently are criteria-pollutant rich” — meaning full of soot, unburned hydrocarbons and nitrous oxides.

In response, his team aims to create an engine that can burn different fuels and release almost no emissions.

“The DOE is interested in this concept because it allows us to burn ethanol as well as other renewable fuel sources,” Zeman says, adding that another team at Marquette that he sometimes assists is working on a similar technology that would use methane. “Both of these projects utilize the same technology but are being used in drastically different manners. This is why this technology is so exciting: it is fuel-agnostic and extremely versatile.”

Partnering with Zeman’s team are companies and organizations such as John Deere, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and ClearFlame Engine Technologies. In fact, Zeman says that ClearFlame expects to test this technology in a fully operational multicylinder John Deere engine near the end of their three-year project.

Zeman becomes almost giddy explaining the work they’re doing.

“I love doing this. I enjoy doing it,” he says. “... I think it’s really interesting that what I’m doing, especially very early on in my career, could be potentially a very large

— JARED ZEMAN ’19

contribution to reducing CO2 emissions and other criteria pollutants. It’s just the idea that there is a sense of being a game changer. It’s still very early, but … I’m doing cutting-edge research that might make a big impact.”

And he’s proud to be doing so as a Ripon College alumnus.

“The education there lays the foundation for you to do great things outside of Ripon College,” Zeman says. “For me, that’s been the take-home message: Ripon prepared me to do what I’m doing now, and I’m forever grateful for that.”

IAN STEPLETON ’98 ADJUNCT INSTRUCTOR OF JOURNALISM

Jared Zeman ’19 stands in the engine lab at Marquette University, where he’s helping develop a new technology that could enable heavy-duty engines to operate while emitting fewer pollutants.

If,

“For me, that’s been the take-home message: Ripon prepared me to do what I’m doing now, and I’m forever grateful for that.”

First steps by Rachel Resop-Vatakis ’08 taken at Ripon toward studying HIV in Zambia

she applied to the National Institutes of Health’s Fogarty Global Health Research Fellowship consortia, which supports global health researchers. Through Fogarty, she now is in the early days of a two-year grant-funded fellowship in Lukasa, Zambia, researching preterm birth in women living with HIV.

on a large Gates Foundation-funded research project on anemia in pregnancy. This topic interests her in particular, given that she’s battled anemia at times herself.

Without the flexibility and opportunities Rachel ResopVatakis ’08 discovered while studying at Ripon College, she might not be spending the next two years studying ways to help pregnant women living with HIV in Zambia.

“I was grateful for the opportunity to take courses in several areas of interest (global studies, language, women’s literature, biology and chemistry) during my first year at Ripon,” she says, explaining that her biology studies helped foster an interest in infectious diseases and led to summer research projects with professors such as Robert Wallace, professor emeritus of biology. “I found a love for the mystery, intellectual stimulation, hard work and discovery of biomedical research, and decided to pursue a research career.”

Resop-Vatakis is originally from nearby Berlin, Wisconsin, and went on to earn her Ph.D. from UCLA, followed by postdoctoral studies at UCLA and George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Initially, she researched T-cell development in the context of HIV infection and later expanded on her HIV research with an increasing focus on public health. When it came time to move on to her next position,

Though Lusaka is a fast-growing city, reliable, quality healthcare for expectant mothers is not accessible for all women both in Lusaka and throughout Zambia, Resop-Vatakis explains. “I will never forget my first tour of the maternity ward at University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka. ... Generally speaking, many women in Zambia do not have access to the World Health Organization-recommended number of antenatal care visits and those who do may experience a caliber of care that most women from my relatively privileged background in the United States would find unacceptable.”

This compounds the array of extra challenges that pregnant women living with HIV already face, such as a poorly understood increased risk for preterm birth. This is a problem that Resop-Vatakis is especially interested in learning more about, particularly in light of the quality of health care available there. “Greater understanding (of this problem) represents an opportunity for action, and potentially a tangible future improvement in the health and quality of life for women in Zambia and other vulnerable settings around the world,” she says.

Resop-Vatakis is hopeful that, by studying samples from pregnant women living with and without HIV who have experienced preterm birth, she may be able to identify clues regarding who may be at greatest risk for a preterm birth. She’s also collaborating

What’s next? Resop-Vatakis is “open to various paths, but my overarching goal is to continue to learn as much as I can while here and then apply this knowledge and experience to future work in the realm of health advances for women in

vulnerable settings,” she says. “This may be in sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe, the South of the United States, or many places around the world where improvements in healthcare for women and children are desperately needed.”

Resop-Vatakis received Ripon’s Distinguished Young Alumni Award in 2018.

“I was grateful for the opportunity to take courses in several areas of interest (global studies, language, women’s literature, biology and chemistry) during my first year at Ripon.”

— RACHEL RESOP-VATAKIS

IAN

Rachel Resop-Vatakis ’08 stands outside University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia, where she is researching preterm birth in women living with HIV. Her work there is part of a two-year fellowship funded by the National Institutes of Health’s Fogarty Global Health Research Fellowship consortia.

Best friends take kinship from hardwood at Ripon to hard coastal trail

Technically, the path toward Canada begins at the trailhead of the Pacific Crest Trail at the U.S.-Mexico border. But for Chelsea Sorbo-Willard ’14 and her best friend Skye Gonyo ’12 , it actually began at Ripon College.

They met while playing on the Red Hawks women’s basketball team; both played guard, both majored in sports management. Gonyo moved to Colorado for a time after graduation; Sorbo-Willard moved to Oregon. The distance could have driven their friendship apart, but it only grew, in part because of a love of hiking each discovered after Commencement.

“My interest in long-distance hiking began after graduation when I moved to the coast of Oregon,” Sorbo-Willard says. “Looking for something to fill my free time, I started hiking. A friend suggested I look into the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) if I was getting into backpacking, and I became obsessed quickly, reading everything I could get my hands on!”

Gonyo hadn’t considered the concept of thru-hiking — the process of hiking the complete length of a trail — but she was in.

“Chelsea is one friend I call when I want to travel around Wisconsin,” Gonyo says. “When Chelsea called me about the PCT, I was a little hesitant because of all the logistics that go into a trip of a lifetime. Ultimately, our shared interest is in adventure and I wasn’t missing the

opportunity of a lifetime.”

The logistics were no joke. While neither took extra steps to condition themselves for their first thru-hike, they put countless hours into ensuring that they would have the supplies they needed along the trail when they’d need them. They mapped out their plan on a spreadsheet, with entries such as these:

• Mile 485.8 - Lake Hughes: Mail a resupply box. Miles until next stop: 72.7

• Mile 702.2 - Kennedy Meadows: Mail a bear box & new shoes; mail bear bag ahead to KM North. Miles until next stop: 86.7

• Mile 1906.6 - Shelter Cove Resort: Mail new shoes. Miles until next stop: 46

The planning, Sorbo-Willard knew, was vital: “I have read about the trail for years so the biggest focus was our resupply boxes. These boxes were sent to small towns along the trail filled with food and supplies for the next section of trail. …  It was always exciting getting a resupply box because friends and family would put extra treats and notes to keep us going.”

The hike began May 7, 2021, at the Mexican border, and hiking continued, essentially every day, for nearly five months. Only small disruptions interrupted their journey; wildfires and trail closures in northern California and Oregon meant the friends had to skip some sections of the trail, but

otherwise they completed the hike in one long trek.

Not that it was easy.

Sorbo-Willard recalls some of the hardships of desert hiking in her journal.

“To the Desert, Thanks for beating us up just enough to remind us how capable we are. Thanks for all the good times & the tough ones. I’ll miss waking up to your warm mornings. I’ll miss the smell of sagebrush as it hits our ankles. We appreciate how you always provided shade, water, and epic views just in time. We love you and we appreciate you. Every time I think I can’t go any more, the trail provides, just like magic. A hot springs in the middle of nowhere, a cold swimming hole, cake from a gender-reveal party, a visit from friends, a freshly stocked water cache, new trail friends, reuniting with our ‘tramily,’ exciting news from home, McDonald’s, a fiery sunset, the list goes on.”

Friendships were forged along the dusty trail, with everyone gaining new “trail names.” They hiked with a “trail family” that included a father/daughter duo from Tennessee (Bearquake and Cowboy), Pepperjack from Minnesota, Echo from South Carolina, and others. Chelsea became Crunchy Bean, and Skye was Purple Legs.

At one point, they ran into Timothy Olson, a hiker who would go on to set the record for the fastest thru-hike of the PCT in history at

opposite Chelsea Sorbo-Willard ’14 ,left, and Skye Gonyo ’12 make camp July 3, 2021, at Evolution Lake in California. “This day we climbed over Muir Pass to the famous Muir Hut, where we encountered hail and lightning and we raced to the top,” SorboWillard says. “We watched huge storms just miss us all day as we navigated a moon-like landscape. I jumped into Evolution Lake once we got camp set up and when I got out a rainbow stretched itself over camp. We passed a Ziplock bag of confetti cake mix, mixed with water around the tramily and watched the rainbow shift as the sun went down.”

“We are incredibly dirty, we are at the peak of our smelliness, it is the middle of another heat wave, we are sore, and we have never been happier. I only wish everyone could experience this type of fun, this feeling of physical and mental satisfaction, a feeling of pure bliss while being stripped of every human comfort we think we need to survive.”

Skye Gonyo ’12 , left, and Chelsea Sorbo-Willard ’14 pause their hike of the Pacific Coast Trail just before climbing over Donahue Pass and descending into Yosemite National Park on July 10, 2021. “We were buzzing with excitement all morning knowing how close we were to Yosemite National Park, a bucket list destination for us both. We took a bus into the heart of the park the next day, renting bikes to cruise around and a soak in the sights,” Sorbo-Willard says.

Chelsea Sorbo-Willard ’14 , left, a “trail family” friend and Skye Gonyo ’12 leap for joy Sept. 19, 2021, as they close in on the end of their trek. After 135 days of hiking the Pacific Coast Trail, Sorbo-Willard and Gonyo were just 80 miles from the Canadian border at a town called Stehekin, Washington, known for its rugged beauty and massive cinnamon rolls.

a blazing 51 days. Though clearly in a rush, he kindly stopped and snapped a photo with the friends, before running into history.

For Gonyo, it’s the people as much as the trail that she remembers. She recalls one day early in the trek when they hitchhiked into the desert town of Tehachapi, California, for lodgings and ran into hikers they knew.

“When we walked in, there were tables put together in the center of the restaurant. Little did we know, there were going to be 30 of us eating all at once. … We enjoyed each other’s company for a few hours, exchanging trail stories and background stories.”

On the trail, the friends never knew what they’d encounter. Kearsarge Pass in the Sierras greeted the friends with hail and lightning, forcing them to run up some exposed switchbacks. Washington in September blessed the friends with splashes of yellow, red, orange and green (foliage), as well as cooler temperatures.

“The Cascade Range is overrun with wild blueberry and huckleberry bushes making it nearly impossible to hike more than an hour without stopping. Our fingers and tongues are always stained blue,” Sorbo-Willard wrote in her journal. “The berries are sweet and warm from the sun. We get lost in the fields and time slips away.”

Finally, on Sept. 24, 2021, they reached their destination far to the north, with pangs of excitement and regret.

“No words can do it justice and no thought can comprehend it all,” Sorbo-Willard says. “There was a heavy sadness because I’d miss this beautiful existence along the trail. But overwhelmingly I felt, and still feel, incredibly privileged for what we experienced.”

Gonyo agrees: “I felt sad it ended, exhilarated to accomplish something so big. Emotionally, I was drained. Physically, I was fatigued and mentally exhausted. After all of that, the only thing I could think of is, ‘What’s the next challenge?’”

IAN STEPLETON

Scott Boback ’91 finds a career through following his joy

If

anyone epitomizes the transformational power and adaptability of a Ripon College liberal arts education, it is Scott Boback ’91 Now a full professor of biology at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, he took a circuitous route of getting there.

Boback, originally from Barrington, Illinois, wasn’t particularly interested in going to college, but his parents assured him it would be a good thing to consider.

A Ripon College representative at a college fair impressed him. After visiting other colleges, he knew Ripon was the place for him. “None of the other schools compared to Ripon,” he said. “I felt like it was home. These are my people.”

He took his father’s advice: “Take classes

you enjoy. That’s going to lead you to your profession.”

“I grew up hunting and fishing with my dad from the age of 2,” Boback says. “I fell in love with nature. I wanted to be outside, walking around.” So he majored in biology.

“I had no clue what that was going to lead me to,” he says. “But I fell in love with Ripon, fell in love with biology.”

Although he says he was enthusiastic about school, he was just “coasting through.” His grades weren’t high enough to get into veterinary school or other graduate programs to which he applied.

“It started sinking in: ‘You’ve got to figure this out.’ I loved school. I wanted to continue my studies. I applied to 13 graduate

programs. I was accepted at one. So I went to the University of Northern Colorado, not knowing anything about graduate school.”

There he was offered a paid position to teach laboratories. He discovered a passion for teaching.

After graduation, he worked for the California Department of Justice for two years in the DNA Forensics Lab in Berkeley, California, then earned his Ph.D. from Auburn University and did a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Alabama.

His love of teaching took him to Dickinson in 2007. “I wanted to do what my mentors at Ripon did,” he says. “I like the fact you can inspire people to look beyond the everyday. I love inspiring people to go outside and love nature. I still get excited about the basics of biology every day.”

He teaches courses in ecology, evolution, vertebrate, natural history and physiology. He also is an active researcher, focusing on reptiles and amphibians, especially snakes. He has a lab of 75 boa constrictors on campus, and his work has been widely published in papers and the press.

“I’m always grateful I went to a liberal arts college,” Boback says. “I’ve stayed in biology, and I’ve taught in biology. It’s part of laying a foundation.”

JAYE ALDERSON COLLEGE EDITOR

Scott Boback ’91 working in the field.

More than 500 celebrate Alumni Weekend 2022

Alumni Weekend 2022 marked the first full Alumni Weekend at its regular time in June since the start of the pandemic.

More than 500 alumni and guests represented 30 states and two countries from the classes of 1962 through 2022.  Highlights included Ripon’s 14th president, Dr. Victoria N. Folse, speaking at the State of the College and visiting several reunion gatherings with her husband, Dick.

The Doc Weiske ’50 Memorial Golf Scramble welcomed 227 golfers to the Golf Courses of Lawsonia and raised more than $30,000 for Red Hawks Athletics.

The 2022 award recipients, honored at the 1851 Awards Dinner, were:

• Distinguished Alumni Citation: Bradley W. Alberts ’92 of Dallas, Texas, president/CEO of the Dallas Stars Hockey Club; Susan J. Bundock ’82 of Takoma Park, Maryland, retired after 39 years with C-SPAN, where she most recently was executive producer of American History TV.

• Outstanding Young Alumni Award: Gisela J. Ortega ’12 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, director of startup community for gener8tor, a Milwaukee turnkey platform for the creative economy that connects startup founders, musicians, artists, investors, universities and corporations; Erin R. Schaick ’12 of Concord, New Hampshire, vice president and director of development and community relations for CATCH Neighborhood Housing in Concord.

• Athletic Hall of Fame: Natalie Geenen Anderson ’09 of Evansville, Wisconsin, softball; Michael J. Diedrick ’97 of Delafield, Wisconsin, football, track and field; Michael J. Milburn ’97 of Austin, Texas, and Kevin G. Weber ’98 of Limerick, Pennsylvania, tennis; Aristotle B. Wurtz ’12 of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, basketball.

More about the recipients is available at ripon.edu/2022-Awards

Alumni Weekend 2023 will be held June 22-25.

1. George “Skip” Wittler, professor emeritus of biology, leads a walk on the Ceresco Prairie Conservancy.

2. Shannon Sorbo ’21 and Austin Bunders ’20 participate in the Doc Weiske ’50 Memorial Golf Scramble

3. Nancy Buck Hintz ’82 and Susan Boothroyd Loomer ’67

4. Kevin Warmack ’79

5. A spirited game of bags.

6. Christine Dingman ’92 catches up with Professor Emeritus of Biology Bob Wallace.

7. Norm Loomer, left, professor emeritus of mathematics and computer science, talks with incoming President Victoria N. Folse and Presidential Spouse Dick Folse.

8. Caroline Rothrock ’12 at the “That Was Then” memory sharing session.

Celebrating the Class of 2022

T

he Ripon College Class of 2022 celebrated the 156th Commencement ceremony at Ripon College on a pictureperfect day May 15. The new graduates came together with joy, spirit and pride to celebrate a traditional ceremony after cancellations and modifications of the event during the pandemic.

The theme was “The Stories We Tell: Connecting to Our Community through Theatre.”

Honorees included:

• Brenda DeVita, artistic director at American Players Theatre, outside of Spring Green, Wisconsin. She received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree.

• Anne Negri Lewinthal ’03, a drama specialist in District 65 Evanston-Skokie public schools in Illinois and an awardwinning playwright for young audiences. She received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree.

• Dr. Jeanne Lyke, a Ripon pediatrician who also has served as chair of the Green Lake County Health Advisory Committee and as medical advisor for the Ripon Area School District. She received the 2022 Founders’ Day Award.

• Jordan Pollard of West Allis, Wisconsin, who received the Distinguished Educator Award. He is a fourth- and fifth-grade educator at Franklin Elementary School in West Allis and a member of the theatre directing staff for the West Allis School District.

DeVita said that theatre and story-telling build community. “There are studies that prove that after food, drink and shelter, the next most important thing necessary for a human being to survive is connection,” she said. “Community gets us through those challenging situations. Alone is a very hard place to be.”

As the graduates go out into the world, DeVita said, they need to be true to their authentic selves. “Your first job is figuring how to build you,” she said. “When you take risks and express yourself and your ideas, and when you feel seen and accepted for that, anything feels possible in that moment, and anything is.

“Confidence comes from a deep knowledge of what is true about themselves, owning that truth and being proud of it,” DeVita added. “Spend the time to actually contemplate what you know you’re good at, admit what you know you’re bad at and what is worthy about you. There’s always something worthy. You are enough. … Then you can begin to own who you are, and then you can begin to own who you want to become.”

She added, “Everybody’s afraid they’re not remarkable, but they can be. This journey of authenticity together is a sacred space and that’s what community is for. Community is that safety net that will catch you when you make mistakes.

“The world out there needs all of you. They need the real you, they need the true you. I hope you can really love your lives and that comes from loving yourself and each other. … If you stay present and open, it will be remarkable.”

The student class speaker was Sarah Elizabeth King of Superior, Wisconsin.

Interim President Andrea Young urged the graduates to remember the things that make Ripon College so special — its unique spaces, people and legacies.

“It may be too soon for you to be able to picture what your Ripon College legacy will

be,” Young said. “For the last four years, you have woven your threads into Ripon’s rich tapestry as well. Believe me when I say that you are now part of a community that extends well beyond the people gathered here today. It includes the alumni who came before you — and those who are yet to be part of the Ripon experience. ...

“Part of your legacy will be what you do next with the excellent education, the lifechanging experience, you have had here. You have the opportunity, now, to go into this world and make a difference. Live a purpose-driven life. Make the changes that need making. … And those contributions you make in your communities and in the world — well, they will add to the Ripon legacy, as have the contributions of generations of alumni before you.”

Dr. Jeanne Lyke

Jordan Pollard

Anne

Zachary Fischer and

Brenda

Honorary degree recipient finds theatre’s greatest strength is ‘connections’

Brenda DeVita, artistic director of American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin, has spent a lifetime in the theatre — as an actor, director and administrator.

At Commencement 2022, Ripon College recognized her with an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree. Commencement featured the theme “The Stories We Tell: Connecting to Our Community through Theatre.”

“The whole point and mission of theatre is to tell great stories,” DeVita says. “Stories in our lives are the ways that we connect.”

She says that in every crisis, instances of loneliness or need for community, needs have to be filled in with our experiences.

“We often, when someone is having trouble, will respond, ‘I felt that way, too, when this happened to me,’” she says. “Our first instinct is to comfort them and try to understand them better by sharing our story. Studies have found that after food, shelter and water, connection is the most important thing.

“Theatre offers this incredibly safe place for people to commune together. They’re safely in their seats and they’re able to watch and experience the story on stage, take in things they understand and things they’ve never experienced. I believe theatre is like a little drop of sand. Every drop of sand expands one’s understanding. That sand piles up to a tipping point, and actual change happens. That is the power of story-telling on the stage.”

American Players Theatre is one of the country’s most popular venues for theatre classics. DeVita started with the company in 1995 and has served as company manager, casting director and associate artistic director.

She says a magic thing about theatre is the communion of the audience. “I am so attuned to this massive group of humans who can all see each other and they all have an understanding as they experience the story and simultaneously as one laugh together, audibly sigh together, breathe and hold their breath together,” she says.

“They are taking in someone’s stories and

it’s affecting them as a connected group. We need more of these experiences in order to grow as a community and as a society.”

When artists do their job right, “some things unlock in our minds and our bodies,” she says. “There is a shifting around in someone’s heart and spirit that is not only felt, but thought about. We are aligning our inner self around something we might not know we needed.”

In theatre, she says, people are exposed to things they don’t understand and can fully consider and experience other people’s outlooks, how they are motivated and how they move through the world. “It helps us understand ourselves,” she says. “It’s a powerful way of examining ourselves and the reason we’re here, and to experience what it means to be a human being. That’s what theatre allows us to do. It creates connection, it creates community, it creates an understanding of why we need to be connected. The answer to solving our problems is connections.”

Theatre is a communal experience for Anne Negri Lewinthal ’03

lso receiving an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree was one of Ripon College’s own: Anne Negri Lewinthal ’03

A

Lewinthal is a drama specialist in District 65 Evanston-Skokie (Illinois) Public Schools and has written several plays for young audiences. “With Two Wings,” published by Dramatic Publishing, received the 2014 American Alliance for Theatre and Education Distinguished Play Award, the 2010 Kennedy Center ACTF-Theatre for Young Audiences Award, was a finalist in the Bonderman Playwriting for Youth Symposium, and has been produced nationally and internationally (Japan and Taiwan).

In 2020, Lewinthal received the Illinois Theatre Association’s Award of Excellence in Creative Drama.

She says sharing stories with young people is vital. “Sometimes, in the stories we tell young people, it is the first time they’ve ever thought about that idea. Our job as theatre creators, writers and thinkers is to give them hope. That’s one of the wonderful things about children’s theatre. The goal is always to see that light and to see hope in that story.”

She says her story ideas come from various sources — including her own imagination and adaptations of existing sources such as folk tales and fairy tales.

“The story has to have something about it that makes me curious and makes me ask questions,” she says. “When I work on that play and we share it with other people, there has to be something in the story that has a question to be asked and explored, not just something to sit and watch.

“Theatre is a communal experience. The stories we tell have the big questions and tackle the big challenges in life. It makes us feel like we’re not alone. There is that hope that we can figure things out and work with others, and a story can inspire us in real life.”

Other plays include: “Maddie’s Fridge,” “Girls Who Wear Glasses,” “Cave Boys,” “The JunGirl Book,” “Robyn Hood, Not a Test,” “Oz: The Land That Time Forgot,” “The Transfer Student,” and “The Dancing Dog!” Two of her 10-minute plays are published by YouthPLAYS: “The Case of the Missing Rooster” and “A Portal to Fairytale Kingdom.”

Lewinthal is originally from Kenosha, Wisconsin, and came to Ripon because of the opportunity to major in theatre and French and also participate in forensics. During a children’s theatre class with Professor Emeritus of Theatre Ken Hill, she experienced a pivotal moment to enhance her lifelong love of theatre.

She later received a master of fine arts in theatre for youths from Arizona State University.

Ripon provided many pivotal moments, she says. “I stayed an additional year to get my education license because you could get certified to teach whatever you had majored in. It was another moment. I didn’t think I needed a teaching degree, but I thought I’ll just do it to have it in my back pocket.”

But that changed the course of her life. Now, she says, “I am a teacher. I am a drama teacher. There was that journey of discovering myself. I discovered playwriting, I discovered education. It all started at Ripon.”

“I am a teacher. I am a drama teacher. There was that journey of discovering myself. I discovered playwriting, I discovered education. It all started at Ripon.”

— ANNE NEGRI LEWINTHAL ’03

Where are they heading?

Here is a sampling of plans for some of our 2022 graduates

PAYTON RAHN

of Omro, Wisconsin, majored in English and politics and government with a minor in ancient, Renaissance and medieval studies.

She will attend law school at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

THOMAS BIANCHI

of Two Rivers, Wisconsin, majored in business management with a minor in military leadership. He has been commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

MOHAMMAD NAFISI BAHABADI

of Bushehr, Iran, majored in mathematics with a minor in physics. He has moved to San Francisco, California, and started a tech company to create a social e-commerce platform.

EMMA KLAIBER

of Chicago, Illinois, majored in educational studies and sociology with a minor in anthropology. She will return to Ripon in the fall to complete her student teaching and plans to teach at the elementary school level.

GUADALUPE “LUPITA” AVILES

of Wichita Falls, Texas, majored in Spanish with a minor in studio art. She will study for a master’s degree in Latin American studies at the University of New Mexico.

MORGAN SCHWITTAY

of Peshtigo, Wisconsin, majored in psychobiology with a minor in military leadership. She plans to train as a military police officer in the Army and then attend a physician assistant program.

IVY HOFFMAN

of Pine River, Wisconsin, majored in history and politics and government with minors in psychology and criminal justice. She plans to work and attend the FBI Academy in Stafford, Virginia.

KEARA DUFFY

of McFarland, Wisconsin, majored in psychology with a minor in French. She will work with the Budweiser Clydesdales, traveling with the West-Coast hitch and working on the crew caring for the horses.

AUSTIN KRAUSE

of Waupun, Wisconsin, majored in physical education with a minor in health. He plans to student teach and then seek employment.

STEVEN KLIKA

of Berlin, Wisconsin, majored in elementary education with minors in psychology and English. He will be a middle school teacher working with a hands-on-based learning curriculum in Berlin.

KELSI MORRIS

of Dousman, Wisconsin, majored in biology with a minor in chemistry. She will attend Michigan State University to pursue a double Ph.D. in human nutrition and environmental toxicology, with a master’s in epidemiology.

REN ZWASCHKA

of Mankato, Minnesota, graduated in three years with a major in economics. After an internship with JPMorgan over the summer of 2021 in New York City, she will start a full-time, two-year rotational program there in September 2022.

EVAN BARBIAN

of West Allis, Wisconsin, majored in communication with a minor in sociology. He will hold an internship with the Milwaukee Brewers Community Foundation through the remainder of the major league baseball season.

OLIVIA AMBROSE

of Appleton, Wisconsin, majored in psychobiology with a minor in chemistry. She will attend Carroll University to study for a master’s degree in the nursing-direct entry program. She also will continue to work for Ripon Guardian Ambulance.

LINDSEY WIGAND

of West Allis, Wisconsin, majored in theatre and psychobiology. She will attend the University of Nevada-Las Vegas as a graduate assistant as she pursues a master of fine arts degree in stage management.

BRIANNA BEMBENEK

of Campbellsport, Wisconsin, majored in chemistry-biology and psychology. She will attend the Mayo Clinic Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (MPET) Ph.D. program.

ELLIOTT HOLT

of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, majored in computer science-mathematics with a minor in business management. He will continue to help out in the community promoting mountain biking and getting more people together to enjoy outdoor activities.

ABIGAIL STITGEN

of Lodi, Wisconsin, majored in chemistry with minors in English and psychology. She will attend graduate school at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities to pursue a Ph.D. in chemistry.

Walker jumps into Ripon’s record books

The old saying goes that records are meant to be broken. Some just take a little longer to fall than others.

Competing at a meet at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in April, Ripon junior Dameco Walker shattered the longest-standing record in school history. He broke a 98-year-old mark in the long

jump set in 1924 by Ripon Athletics Hall of Famer and Olympic Trials Qualifier Ralph Christophersen, Class of 1925. Walker recorded a distance of 25 feet and 10 inches, the fifth-longest in all of Division III this year, and snapped Christophersen’s mark of 23-06.

“When I broke the outdoor school record in the long jump, I knew I had a big jump but didn’t realize I broke it until the announcer said the mark out loud,” Walker recalled. “It feels good to know that I’ve broken the longest-standing record in school history.”

Although Walker also holds school records in indoor 200m, 4x200 relay, triple jump and outdoor 4x200 relay, the long jump is where his heart is, as he holds the school record in the event for both indoor and outdoor seasons.

“Long jump is definitely my favorite event because I love how weightless I feel at the start of my jump,” he says.

Walker’s record-breaking performance is an exclamation point to what is already arguably the greatest season by a track and field student-athlete in school history. In February, he led Ripon’s men’s team to its first-ever Midwest Conference Indoor Championship, leading all point-scorers at the meet with 41.25 points. He followed that up by being the top point-scorer at the MWC Outdoor Championships, leading the Red Hawks to their first Outdoor team championship since 1924 — when Christoffersen led Ripon to their only other title 98 years ago.

“I knew we would be able to place in the top three with the work that the team had been putting in and seeing the results from our track meets before the conference meet,” Walker says. “Everyone was very excited after winning.”

This year also saw Walker qualify for the Division III National Championships (both

Long jumper Dameco Walker ’23 broke the Ripon College record.

indoor and outdoor) for the first time in his career, doing so in the long jump. He became the first men’s student-athlete in Ripon history to qualify for Nationals in the indoor long jump and finished 17th in the country in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. “Nationals was very exciting, but I didn’t treat it any differently than how I do at any other meet throughout the season,” Walker says.

Walker is an exercise science major from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and hopes to become a physical therapist assistant. Although he has accomplished so much already as a student-athlete, he has more goals.

“I have two main goals remaining,” Walker says. “I want to win a national championship, and I want to improve my track times and jump marks at each meet. I want to see just how far I can go.”

SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS

2021-22 ACADEMIC YEAR WAS

OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL FOR RIPON COLLEGE

IN SCHOOL HISTORY.

The Red Hawks won the Ralph Shively Cup for the Midwest Conference Men’s All-Sports Award for the first time in 22 years and just the second in the 50 years the award has been presented. The award is calculated by earning nine points for a first-place finish, eight for second place, seven for third place, etc.

MEN’S TEAMS

The men’s teams claimed three conference titles: men’s basketball, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field. Finishing third in league play were football, men’s tennis and baseball, and finishing fourth were men’s cross country and men’s swimming and diving. Men’s soccer was in a tie for eighth place. The nine varsity programs combined for a league-high of 61.5 points, 6.5 more than the next highest total.

WOMEN’S TEAMS The women’s teams placed third in the All-Sports standings, their highest finish in 17 years. That came in large part because of two winter sport championships in basketball and indoor track and field. The Red Hawks also recorded third-place finishes in cross country and outdoor track and field, and fifth in swimming and women’s tennis.

INDIVIDUAL HONORS Softball’s Abby Gilbertson ’23 of Marquette, Wisconsin, was named Division III Player of the Week in the final week of the season, helping her land a Third Team All-Region selection. Named All-Conference selections were Mikaela Lawrence ’24 of Anchorage, Alaska, and Brennah Bronk ’23 of Tujunga, California. BASEBALL Cormac Madigan ’22 of Rosendale, Wisconsin, earned Academic All-District honors and Third Team Academic All-America. Nick Terrell ’22 of Peoria, Illinois, earned a spot on the Division III Team of the Week early in the season.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Alison Leslie ’23 of Clayton, Wisconsin, was named Division III Wisconsin Private College Player of the Year after leading the Red Hawks to their fourth consecutive conference championship and their second appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament in three seasons. Head Coach Lauren Busalacchi was named Division III Wisconsin Coach of the Year.

ELITE 20 Earning the MWC’s prestigious Elite 20 Award: Lauren Bahr ’24 of Wittenberg, Wisconsin, in women’s swimming; Kiana Fall ’23 of Clayton, Wisconsin, in women’s basketball; Preston Wurtz ’22 of Ripon, Wisconsin, in men’s tennis; and Payton Rahn ’22 of Omro, Wisconsin, in women’s outdoor track and field. The award is given annually to a student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average, participating in his or her respective sport’s culminating championship or tournament event.

COACH OF THE YEAR Ripon received six awards during the spring semester: Lauren Busalacchi, women’s basketball; Ryan Kane, men’s basketball; Steve Burns, men’s tennis; and Bob Wood, men’s indoor track and field, women’s indoor track and field, and men’s outdoor track and field.

NATIONAL ACADEMIC AWARDS The men’s and women’s swim teams; men’s basketball; men’s and women’s track and field teams; and men’s and women’s cross country teams all were recognized.

“Nationals was very exciting, but I didn’t treat it any differently than how I do at any other meet throughout the season.”

Runaway success: Red Hawks track teams score big

Ripon’s men’s and women’s track teams experienced unprecedented success this year. During the indoor season this winter, each team won its respective conference championship for the first time in program history, finishing first at the Midwest Conference Championships.

The men’s team snapped Monmouth’s streak of 21 consecutive championships as the Red Hawks scored 172 team points — 38.5 more than Monmouth’s second-place total.

On the women’s side, Ripon scored 173.5 team points, 24.5 more than the second-highest score, 149 points by Monmouth Colege.

Ripon’s coaching staff, led by Head Coach Bob Wood, was named Midwest Conference Coaching Staff of the Year for both the men and women. The two teams combined to earn 33 All-Conference honors, while breaking three school records during the meet.

The Red Hawks kept that momentum going during the outdoor season as the men’s team won the MWC Outdoor Team Championship for just the second time in history and the first time in 98 years. They finished with 158 points, 18 ahead of the runner-up, while again receiving MWC Coaching Staff of the Year honors.

The women’s team placed third in the Outdoor Championships, its best finish in program history, setting a school record with 125.5 team points scored. This was fewer than nine points shy of the secondplace total.

Altogether, Ripon earned 29 All-Conference honors, including three conference champions, and broke five school records during the meet, bringing the program’s total to 20 school records set this year.

1. Ben Fisher ’23 of Waupun, Wisconsin, holds school records in the indoor high jump and 4x200 relay, and the outdoor 4x200 relay.

2. Ripon’s men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams after each team won the MWC Championship for the first time in program history.

3. Ripon’s men’s outdoor track and field team after winning their first MWC outdoor championship in 98 years.

at right ,

Mikayla Flyte ’23 of Coloma, Wisconsin, broke the school record in the 10K this season.

Payton Rahn ’22 of Omro, Wisconsin, holds school records in the sprint medley relay, 4x100 relay and outdoor 4x200 relay. She also won the Midwest Conference Outdoor Track and Field Elite 20 Award and the Ruth Peterson Award for highest grade-point average and participation in the culminating championship.

Emma Spalding ’23 of Waterford, Wisconsin, holds nine school records — indoor 60m, 200m, 300m, 4x200 relay, 4x400 relay, sprint medley relay, outdoor 100m, 4x100 relay and 4x200 relay.

Cade Gray ’25 of Belleview, Florida, broke school records in the outdoor and indoor pole vault, and the outdoor triple jump this season.

Ripon won the MWC Outdoor Men’s Coaching Staff of the Year honors. from left Logan Galezio, athletic trainer; Maggie Martin, assistant coach; Jackie Zeman ’21, assistant coach; Rachel Leonard, assistant coach and recruiting coordinator; Sara Bradley, assistant coach; Jayson Duffy, assistant coach; Corey Bins, head coach of cross country and associate track and field coach; and Bob Wood ’09, director of cross country and track and field.

right Bob Wood poses with his team’s championship trophies after Ripon’s men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams each won the MWC Championship for the first time in program history.

1. Ripon, Marian University agree on cross-registration

The Ripon faculty has approved cross-registration with Marian University of Fond du Lac, which allows qualified Ripon students to take up to two classes per semester at Marian and vice-versa.

This is a first step to facilitate academic collaborations between the two schools, which are about 25 miles apart. Cross-registration will expand the number and type of classes available to students at each college, and it will allow them to meet and work with more faculty members than either school can offer alone.

“Ripon students in particular will benefit from coursework at Marian in hands-on fields such as graphic art, social work, marketing and forensic science,” says Brian Bockelman, professor of history and interim director of strategic initiatives. “These practical subjects nicely complement Ripon’s core focus on the liberal arts and sciences.”

He says this new study option also will allow students from each campus a wider network of social and extracurricular activities.

2. Sale of Carnegie brings administrators back to campus

Ripon College has sold the historic Carnegie building in downtown Ripon to a local developer to support the growth of the community. The building housed the Office of the President, the Office of the Vice President and Dean of Faculty and the Office of Marketing and Communications for the past several years.

The College purchased the building in 2011 as the downtown area was struggling. It was meant to demonstrate the

College’s commitment to a partnership between the College and community.

Now, as downtown Ripon thrives again, the new owners plan to create more space for business downtown. The offices of the president and vice president and dean of faculty have been returned to Smith Hall in the heart of campus, where they previously had been located.

The Office of Marketing and Communications has moved to the second floor of Harwood Memorial Union.

3. City of Ripon formalizes College internship program

While Ripon College students have long served mutually beneficial internships for the City of Ripon, the city has now formalized a program to enable students to receive management internships with the city, college credit and scholarships.

Professor of Political Science Henrik Schatzinger worked with the city to formalize the partnership. “The program will provide a strong foundation by which student interns are able to build a successful career in local government and public management,” he says. “Overall, the partnership between the city and the College will help cultivate the next generation of municipal leaders.”

City Administrator Adam Sonntag ’08 shadowed a former Ripon city administrator when he was in college and says this program will benefit both students and the community.

4. Willmore Center atrium named in honor of Zach Messitte

In honor of the many accomplishments Ripon College enjoyed during the tenure of 13th president Zach Messitte,

Messitte’s vision for the $24 million renovation and expansion of Willmore Center was realized in the fall of 2017. Since that time, Willmore Center has drastically increased student-athlete enrollment, enhanced student life and campus vitality and has served as another connector to the community of Ripon.

Messitte left the College at the end of 2021 to pursue other opportunities in higher education on the east coast.

Welcome to incoming Class of 2026

From numbers recorded Aug. 26, 200 first-time, first-year students plus 12 transfer students are starting at Ripon College this fall.

Among this year’s class, there is 23% ethnic diversity and 36% are first-generation students, whose parents/guardians did not receive a four-year college degree.

There also are 19 legacies, those with another family member who has attended or is attending Ripon.

The majority, 64%, are from Wisconsin, with others from 18 states and the countries of Myanmar and Canada.

5. Erin K. Bryan excels on national stage

Assistant Professor of Music Erin K. Bryan won an honorable mention as a finalist in the 2022 The American Prize in Vocal Performance — Women in Art Song and Oratorio. The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts is the nation’s most comprehensive series of contests in the performing arts.

the atrium of Willmore Center has been named The Zach P. Messitte Atrium.

In addition, Bryan’s research on the final Neapolitan operas of Niccolò Jommelli (1714-1774) was selected for a poster paper presentation at the 2022 National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Conference in Chicago in July. She has created modern piano/vocal editions of four contrasting soprano arias extracted from previously unedited scores. She says these “will allow sopranos to branch out from the safe familiarity of the 18th-century operas already in the vocal canon.”

6. Rafael Francisco Salas appointed to Wisconsin Arts Board

Gov. Tony Evers has appointed Professor of Art Rafael Francisco Salas to the Wisconsin Arts Board, the state agency responsible for the support and development of the arts throughout Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin Arts Board is governed by a 15-member board appointed by the governor to serve three-year terms.

7. Brian Bockelman awarded residential fellowship

Brian Bockelman, professor of history and interim director of strategic initiatives, has been awarded a residential fellowship at Dumbarton Oaks, a Harvard-owned estate, museum and humanities research center in Washington, D.C., for the spring 2023 semester. The competitive national fellowship, which provides both a stipend and housing near the estate in Georgetown, will support his research and writing while he is on sabbatical from Ripon College next year.

His fellowship is related to a book he is finishing on Argentine history in the 1880s — ‘Down with the Palms of the Plaza!’: Replanting the Seeds of Argentine Discord in Modern Buenos Aires, c. 1883

8. Larry Daugherty ’98 summits Mount Everest

In May, Larry Daugherty ’98 of Eagle River, Alaska, summited Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world. He has climbed five of the seven summits, the highest mountain peaks on each of the continents; run the Iditarod sled dog race in Alaska five times; and written The ABCs of Climbing for Kids, available on amazon.com.

Daugherty is a radiation oncologist in Anchorage, Alaska. Many of his adventures support the nonprofit Radiating Hope, which works to improve cancer care in developing countries.

9. Familiar outdoor sculpture on campus given facelift

“Synchronicity,” an outdoor sculpture installed between Smith and East halls, has been refurbished. Created in 2000 by Ann and Kim Pahlas of Pahlas Metalworks studio of Ripon, it was a gift from the Class of 1998. Pahlas Metalworks took off all of the old paint, did repairs and repainted.

“’Synchronicity’ and other sculptures are on upper campus near the historic buildings, and other works surround C.J. Rodman Center for the Arts as part of the Caestecker Sculpture Garden,” says Associate Professor of Art Travis Nygard. “It is a great place to walk and enjoy art.”

10. Pilot Dmitri Smirenski ’00 featured in promotional film

Dmitri Smirenski ’00 was one of the pilots on the inaugural passenger flight for the new fuel efficient Airbus 321neo at Delta Air Lines, flying from Boston to San Francisco May 20, 2022.

The video can be viewed at ripon.edu/Delta. “You’ll see me

in the beginning (the first officer), and at the end I wave out of the window as the aircraft is pushing back from the gate and you hear my voice as I acknowledge the welcome from Boston ATC,” Smirenski says. “My wife, Marina Smirenski, also class of 2000, was on board and appeared in the video when the passengers wave at about 5:35. She’s in fourth row on the right side (from camera’s view).”

Smirenski is a first officer and instructor on the A320 fleet.

He is expected to upgrade to captain in September.

11. Christopher T. Wood named artist-in-residence in Milwaukee

Christopher T. Wood, adjunct instructor of art during the 2021-22 year, has been named the 13th artist-in-residence at The Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee. Wood, a Milwaukeebased pataphysical illustrator, is working in the hotel’s lobby-level Artist Studio through April 2023.

12. Winningest Head Football Coach Ron Ernst retiring after 32 years

Red Hawks’ head football coach and defensive coordinator Ron Ernst will retire at the end of the 2022 season — his 32nd at the helm.

He has led the Red Hawks to 184 wins and 113 losses, making him the winningest football coach in both the Midwest Conference (MWC) and Ripon College history. He has had 26 winning seasons, producing a .614 win percentage, capturing three MWC North Division titles (1995, 1996 and 1997) and two MWC Championships (1996 and 2001), among other honors.

Jake Marshall ’11, associate head coach and offensive coordinator, will take over as head coach in the 2023 season.

WALTER PAUL KASUBOSKI , known by generations of Ripon College students as Father Wally or Padre Pablo, died July 20, 2022. He was a Ripon native and ordained in the Order of Capuchin Franciscans. He dedicated his life to mission work. Since 1988, his work was focused on the jungle in southeast Panama. His greatest achievement was construction of a dam high in the mountains to provide fresh water to more than 1,000 indigenous residents. Through the years, he hosted many mission trips by Ripon students to help construct this dam.

DORIS FRY CLARK ’40 of Santa Clara, California, died Jan. 3, 2022. At Ripon, she majored in English and speech communication and participated in music and Kappa Delta/ Delta Phi Sigma. She taught high school until she could join the U.S. Army Air Corps where she served as a corporal until 1945. She and her family moved to Chico in 1979 where she opened Venus De Milo Health Spa. After retiring, she enjoyed walking every morning in Bidwell Park with her friends. She volunteered at Enloe Hospital for many years and served as auxiliary president from 2001-2003. Survivors include one son and one daughter.

JOHN X. JAMRICH ’43 of Savannah, Georgia, died Feb. 20, 2022. At Ripon, he majored in mathematics, physics and German and participated in music and Lambda Delta Alpha/ Delta Upsilon. He received Ripon’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1983. He also received degrees from the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps before embarking on a career in higher education administration. He served in Iowa and Nebraska, then as the eighth president of Northern Michigan University from 1968 to 1983. He impacted academic programs, autonomous student life and infrastructure. John X. Jamrich Hall is named in his honor. After retiring, he was a consultant and volunteer. An accomplished pianist, he performed at nursing homes and Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. Survivors include his daughters.

MIRIAM BIELKE HUTH ’45 of Roswell, Georgia, died April 14, 2022. At Ripon, she studied music and English and participated in Alpha Xi Delta/Kappa Theta. She also was a member of Partners in the Legacy. She earned a master’s degree in Christian education from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. She was a music specialist in the Madison, Bangor and Oshkosh, Wisconsin, public school systems for more than 20 years. She was deeply committed to her faith. She shared her talents with children and adult choirs in her church, teaching Sunday school and serving in women’s ministry. She also was involved in the political process. Survivors include one daughter. Her husband, HAROLD E. HUTH ’50 , died in 2004.

DORIS CABALLERO VAN AKEN ’45 of Santa Barbara, California, died Feb. 20, 2022. At Ripon, she majored in mathematics and physics and participated in Alpha Chi Omega/Alpha Gamma Theta. While working at a research lab at Bell & Howell, she developed a novel method of

measuring lens coatings, presenting a research paper on the subject to the American Society of Optical Engineers. That year, she was the only woman inducted into the society. She also taught college-level physics to officers-in-training in the Army. She volunteered in political campaigns, at hospitals in New York and Chicago, and in the Drug Prevention Office of the County Health Care Services of Santa Barbara. She enjoyed doing watercolors, tennis and duplicate bridge. Survivors include two sons.

WAVERLY RUTH WENDORF PETERSON ’47 of Marshfield, Wisconsin, died March 29, 2021. She attended Ripon and graduated from the Milwaukee Business Institute in 1946. Before marrying, she was office manager for the Wisconsin Gas Co. in Sparta. She later lived in Madison, Beloit and Marshfield. She was an active member of Faith Lutheran Church and enjoyed weekends in northern Wisconsin, big band swing music, reading, gardening, music, dancing, golf, traveling and playing cards and bridge. Survivors include three sons and one daughter.

ELEANOR HEALY ANDERSON ’48 of Racine, Wisconsin, died June 7, 2022. At Ripon, she majored in speech communication and history and participated in Alpha Phi/Kappa Sigma Chi. She taught at Union Grove High School from 1948 until 1961. She enjoyed being outside, gardening, writing short stories and traveling with her husband. They had been to all 50 states and several foreign locations, including Europe, Israel and China. She was a member of Calvary Memorial Church and was involved in Sunday school, camp life, missions and youth group ministries. Survivors include her husband, Henry Anderson; one son and one daughter; and a sister, HELEN HEALY EDINGER ’55 . Her uncle was SILAS EVANS, a longtime president of Ripon College.

JOY CULLEN HOLPERIN ’48 of Eagle River, Wisconsin, died June 19, 2022, At Ripon, she majored in biology and chemistry and participated in student government and Alpha Phi/Kappa Sigma Chi. She worked at her husband’s family grocery business and later at her son’s business, TV Tronics, well into her 90s. She was deeply involved in the First Congregational United Church of Christ, teaching Sunday school and serving on various boards and committees. She was a Cub Scout den mother, cancer fundraiser, nursing home volunteer, and library and arts advocate and donor. She enjoyed reading, traveling, playing competitive bridge and fitness. Survivors include her husband, Jim Moon; three sons and one daughter; stepchildren; a nephew, KEITH A. CULLEN ’75; and a niece, CONTANCE E. HOLPERIN ’72. Her first husband, RUSSELL H. HOLPERIN ’48 , died in 1993.

ROBERT M. LASKE ’49 of Middletown, Rhode Island, died May 28, 2022. At Ripon, he majored in chemistry and participated in basketball and Sigma Alpha Epsilon/Delta Sigma Psi. He received a master’s degree in international affairs from George Washington University. He was a pilot in the Naval Air Corps, and his assignments included patrolling the Soviet Union border from the Alaska Territory; serving in Japan during the Korean War and in Saigon, Vietnam; patrolling the Mediterranean in Morocco; and working as a communications officer for the USS Forrestal in Norfolk, Virginia, and editor of the Naval War College Review. He attained the rank of commander. He enjoyed traveling,

wintering in Pensacola, Florida, and golf. Survivors include his wife, Shirley; one son and three daughters.

MYRON DUDEK ’50 of Bensenville, Illinois, died April 7, 2016. He served in the U.S. Navy in the submarine service for three years during World War II. He then attended Ripon for one year. He was a postal clerk for seven years; a partner in the Dudek-Jensen Insurance Agency in Racine and Milwaukee for 15 years; and administrator of the Central Baptist Home in Norridge, Illinois, for 18 years. He also was active in the North American Baptist General Conference churches in the Christian Education Ministries and their state summer camp programs, as well as numerous community programs. Survivors include his wife, Caroline; one son and two daughters.

SARAH “SALLY” UIHLEIN FITZGERALD ’50 of Mequon, Wisconsin, died Aug. 16, 2021. At Ripon, she majored in philosophy. Survivors include her children.

RICHARD R. MCKEON ’50 of Stuart, Florida, died Feb. 6, 2022. At Ripon, he majored in history and participated in Ver Adest and Sigma Chi/Omega Sigma Chi. He began studies at Ripon but enlisted in the Air National Guard and was called to active duty on April 7, 1952. He served as an air defense specialist and an assistant to the base chaplain. He joined his brother, Robert Jr., in Ossining (New York) Sash and Door, a successful building supply and home improvement business. In the late 1970s, he worked independently to build homes and retired in 1980. He was a master bridge player. Survivors include his wife, Shirley; two sons; and a nephew, TODD NOGGLE ’94

GERALD L. WADLEIGH ’50 of Geneva, Illinois, died Feb. 23, 2022. At Ripon, he majored in biology and participated in Theta Chi/Alpha Omega Alpha. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He worked for Travelers Insurance Co. After retiring, he worked at Ace Hardware in Geneva. He was a member of the Scottish Rite, the Fox Valley Shrine Club and the Geneva Masonic Lodge, and he was a Master Mason. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, golfing, attending his grandsons’ baseball games and fishing with all of his grandsons. Survivors include one son and one daughter.

PATRICIA KEELEY WINTER ’50 of Downers Grove, Illinois, died Feb. 20, 2022. At Ripon, she majored in psychology and participated in Ver Adest and Alpha Delta Pi/Pi Tau Pi. She was a former co-publisher and business manager of Reporter/Progress Newspapers and Printers, publishers of numerous newspapers. She was active in several clubs and organizations in Downers Grove, including the Chamber of Commerce, Women’s and Junior Women’s clubs, AAUW, DuPage Easter Seals, Special Events Committee, Community grants Commission, and Good Samaritan Auxiliary. She enjoyed traveling and spending winter months in Marco Island, Florida. Survivors include two sons, including CRAIG R. WINTER ’76 ; and a nephew, ROBERT S. KEELEY ’79 . Her husband, CHESTER JOHN “JACK” WINTER ’49 , died in 2001.

GERALDINE “GERRY” CAREY ’52 of Lake Bluff, Illinois, died May 20, 2022. She attended Ripon and received her degree from Northern Illinois University. She taught for more than 32 years in California and Illinois, and retired from

North Chicago High School. She was an avid athlete and a championship golfer, a member of the Glen Flora Country Club for 60 years and a proud member of its Hole-in-One group. She also enjoyed spending time at her cottage in Wisconsin and boating on Legend Lake. She visited more than 60 countries and 50 states.

LEE J. HARRER ’52 of Clearwater, Florida, died April 14, 2021. At Ripon, he studied biology, participated in Ver Adest and Theta Chi/Alpha Omega Alpha, and was commissioned through ROTC. He served in the U.S. Army from 1952 until retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1973. He did a tour in Korea and two tours in Vietnam. In Clearwater, he was a real estate agent/broker. He loved books and collected and sold them. He was a member of First Lutheran Church, Clearwater and was involved in many areas of the church and school. He was a founding member of the Florida Bibliophile Society, a member of Caxton Club of Chicago, Kiwanis, Sons of American Revolution, and The University of Tampa Library. Survivors include one daughter.

DONNA L. WAFFENSCHMIDT DICKIE ’53 died May 9, 2022. After attending Ripon for one year, she worked in clerical positions in the Baraboo area. She then farmed with her husband in the town of Freedom for more than 50 years. She was a member of North Freedom Baptist Church, where she served as pianist, women’s ministry leader, Sunday school teacher and clerk. She enjoyed reading, playing the piano, daily crosswords and playing bridge. Survivors include three daughters.

JOAN C. BUTLER HART ’53 of Pewaukee, Wisconsin, died Sept. 13, 2021. She attended Ripon College and Prospect Hall Business School. She lived in Chicago while her husband, Howard, was in optometry school and Stamford, Connecticut, while he was in the U.S. Army. They then lived in the Milwaukee area. She enjoyed reading, crossword puzzles, rug hooking, quilting, playing the piano, gardening, singing in the church choir, talking with friends, playing bridge and collecting cheese dishes. Survivors include her husband, Howard; one son and one daughter.

NATHAN KITTLESON ’53 of Brookfield, Wisconsin, died May 19, 2022. At Ripon, he majored in economics, participated in athletics and Sigma Nu/Theta Sigma Tau, and was commissioned through ROTC. He received a master’s degree in orthodontics and a doctorate in dentistry from Marquette University. He served in the Army Dental Corps as a dentist and attained the rank of captain. He and his brother, RUSSELL KITTLESON ’55 , established two successful orthodontic practices in the greater Milwaukee area. He enjoyed traveling, outdoor activities and spending time at his lake house. Survivors include his wife, Nancy; two sons and one daughter, including DAVID KITTLESON ’86 ; and his brother, Russell.

America Pageant. For many years, she was the director of the Miss Green Bay Pageant. She was a baton twirler for the Green Bay Packer Lumberjacks from 1949 to 1951, taught physical education at Corpus Christi in Sturgeon Bay and night school at NWTC. She retired as a postmaster after 25 years working for the U.S. Postal Service where she helped to expand service as a national management trainer. She enjoyed singing in her church choir, swimming, attending theatre and visiting Door County. Survivors include three sons.

WILLIAM J. JENSEN ’54 of Altoona, Florida, died Feb. 24, 2022. At Ripon, he majored in mathematics, participated in Sigma Nu/Theta Sigma Tau and was commissioned through ROTC. He served in Germany as a 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Army for two years and was honorably discharged as a 1st lieutenant from the Reserves in 1962. He earned a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of WisconsinMadison and spent his career as a sales engineer in industrial refrigeration. After retiring, he traveled around the world. He enjoyed golf, crafts and woodworking, gardening, and playing cards and board games. He volunteered at church, ushered at theaters and worked at golf tournaments, including the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Survivors include his wife, Roberta; and two daughters.

ANN WILSON WOOD ’54 of Santa Barbara, California, died Nov. 18, 2021. At Ripon, she participated in Ver Adest and Alpha Phi/Kappa Sigma Chi. She graduated from the University of Minnesota and earned a credential in early childhood education from the University of California Berkeley Extension. She was a nursery school teacher and director, then parent coordinator for the University Children’s Center at the University of California Santa Barbara until retiring in 1998. She advocated for the education of young children as a frequent speaker and membership in several related organizations. She sang in the Santa Barbara Chorale Society for many years, performed music at La Mesa Community Church, and enjoyed camping at Yosemite National Park with her family. Survivors include three sons and one daughter.

ELIZABETH ELTON MERCHANT ’55 of Rothschild, Wisconsin, died May 22, 2022. At Ripon, she majored in biology and participated in Alpha Xi Delta/Kappa Theta. She attended from 1951-1953. She lived in Germany for two years while her husband served in the U.S. Army. They then lived in Beloit. She moved to Rothschild in 2009. She loved gardening, her cats, doing cross stitch, antiquing, reading and traveling, especially camping and visits to Sanibel Island, Florida, Mazatlán, Mexico, and their cabin in northern Wisconsin. Survivors include two sons and one daughter. Her husband, GEORGE D. MERCHANT ’55 , died in 2007.

Force and was employed for many years in management for Commonwealth Edison. He was an active member of Christ United Methodist Church and volunteered for several community organizations, including One Body. Survivors include his wife, Margaret; two sons and one daughter.

ROBERT D. SCHIELER ’56 of Warrenville, Illinois, died July 20, 2021. At Ripon, he majored in philosophy and participated in Ver Adest, athletics, Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Delta Theta/Alpha Phi Omega. He received a master of divinity from Eden Theological Seminary and his doctorate of ministry from Garrett Evangelical Seminary in Evanston. He first served as a young parish minister with his father in Ripon, Wisconsin, was the chaplain and professor at Elmhurst College for 13 years and then senior minister of First Congregational United Church of Christ of Downers Grove, Illinois, for more than 17 years. He wrote the book Revive Your Mainline Congregation. He enjoyed sports, outdoor activities, music, singing and dance. Survivors include one son and one daughter. His wife, CHARMAINE WEYER SCHIELER ’56 , died in 2013.

JANET NELSON GRANT ’57 of Richfield, Minnesota, died Nov. 3, 2021. At Ripon, she majored in economics and participated in Alpha Phi/Kappa Sigma Chi. She also studied education at Chicago State University. She taught at various high schools in Chicago and then worked for AT&T. Survivors include her husband, James L. Grant; and one son, DAVID L. GRANT ’85

JUDITH M. STIKA OSBORN ’58 of Lakeland, Minnesota, died May 26, 2022. She attended Ripon for one year and then graduated from Lyons Township Junior College in LaGrange, Illinois. In Downers Grove, Illinois, she was active in the American Legion Auxiliary, school, church, Brownies and Girl Scouts, and worked for a camping trailer dealer and the Downers Grove Reporter. In St. Paul, Minnesota, she worked for the Ramsey County Historical Society as an administrative assistant and set up gift shops at the Gibbs Farm Museum, Landmark Center and Bandana Square. From 1986 to 1992, she and her husband owned and ran a country gift store in Bandana Square and Woodbury. She enjoyed volunteer work, gardening, reading, sewing, scrapbooking, knitting and quilting. She had two daughters.

MARY LOU ZENDER LATZER ’53 of San Luis Obispo, California, died March 17, 2022. She attended Ripon from 1949-1953 and majored in Spanish and participated in music, student government, Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Xi Delta/Kappa Theta. She also studied education at California State University-Stanislaus. She had worked as an elementary school teacher.

include two daughters; and a niece,

PHYLLIS KESSLER SACHO ’53 of De Pere, Wisconsin, died March 7, 2022. She attended Ripon College and Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. She was a Miss Green Bay and the 1949 Miss Wisconsin, placing in the top 15 at the Miss

CHARLES P. STATHAS ’55 of Chicago, Illinois, died Feb. 16, 2022. At Ripon, he majored in economics, participated in Sigma Nu/Theta Sigma Tau and was involved with ROTC. He received a master’s degree in finance from Indiana University-Bloomington. He served in the U.S. Army at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He started with Morgan Stanley, formerly Dean Witter, in the early 1960s and retired as a vice president/securities analyst in 1997. He had worked in both the Chicago and New York offices. He was a member of the Greek Orthodox Church and enjoyed watching sports and theatre events.

ROGER W. NEWELL ’56 of Rockford, Illinois, died May 28, 2022. At Ripon, he participated in Sigma Chi/Omega Sigma Chi. He was a veteran of the United States Air

ALLEN M. PETERS ’59 of Reedsville, Wisconsin, died June 16, 2022. At Ripon, he majored in physical education and biology, participated in basketball and Phi Kappa Pi (Merriman) and was commissioned through ROTC. He taught biology and physical education and coached for three years at Bowler High School and for more than 30 years at Reedsville High School. At Reedsville, he was head boys basketball coach for 16 years, assistant football coach for 31 years and athletic director for 32 years. He received many coaching honors, including being inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame in 1987. He retired from teaching and coaching in 1998. He enjoyed spending time with grandchildren, traveling to Door County and golf. Survivors include his wife, Barbara; two sons and three daughters.

JON R. WALTERSCHEIT ’59 of Marshall, Wisconsin, died Aug. 9, 2022, At Ripon, he majored in economics, participated in Lambda Delta Alpha/Delta Upsilon, and was commissioned through ROTC. He was both an offensive and defensive lineman for Ripon’s National Championship football team. He retired from the U.S. Army Reserves as an officer in 1967. He worked for AAA for more than 25 years.

He also co-founded a family archery business that grew into an archery distributorship and retail pro shop known as Little Jon’s Archery. The business won distributor of the year in 1994. He also owned and worked a beef cattle farm. He enjoyed the outdoors, bow hunting, and particularly fishing in Canada, the Florida Keys and the north woods.

Survivors include one son.

GAIL BRAINARD LANGDON ’60 of Springfield, Missouri, died Feb. 24, 2022. At Ripon, she studied biology and participated in Alpha Chi Omega/Alpha Gamma Theta. She also served in her 50th Reunion committee. She lived in the Chicago area until 1977, when she and her husband purchased Fish ‘n’ Fun Resort in Shell Knob, Missouri. They later moved to Springfield. She was an active member of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Springfield. She also was an avid gardener. Survivors include three sons and three daughters, including MARY LANGDON ROGERS ’89 Her husband, ROBERT E. LANGDON ’58 , died in 2010.

CONSTANCE “CONNIE” HOMUTH NEWMAN ’60 of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, died Oct. 27, 2021. She attended St. Olaf College in Minnesota and Sacramento State before earning a degree in English from Ripon College. She worked on the Fond du Lac Public Library Bookmobile for many years. She had been a volunteer at Act Two and Just Fare. She was an active member of Church of Our Saviour, where she had served as a lector and was a member of Tabitha Circle. She was also a member of Light House Investors. Survivors include two sons.

ANINA RADDANT BEARROOD ’61 , of Altoona, Wisconsin, died June 5, 2022. At Ripon, she was a member of Pi Tau Pi sorority. She earned a degree in accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She and her husband lived in several places, including California, Minnesota, Arkansas and Arizona, retiring in Wisconsin to be closer to family. She worked for the State of Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry for more than 30 years, retiring as director of accounting. She enjoyed international travel, downhill skiing, golf, various crafts and needlework, reading and jigsaw puzzles. Survivors include her husband, Sheldon; two sons; and a brother, ROBERT RADDANT ’66

JOYCE ANN PROUT KASSON ’61 of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, died April 3, 2022. She attended Ripon from 1957-1959, studied biology and physical education, was a cheerleader and participated in Alpha Chi Omega/Alpha Gamma Theta. She later served on reunion committees and supported the Red Hawks Club and Ripon Booster Club. She received a degree as a registered nurse and worked for Portage County and St. Michael’s Hospital in Stevens Point before her retirement. She was an active member of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church. She enjoyed reading, tennis and traveling to visit family. Survivors include her husband, PETER KASSON ’59 ; two sons and one daughter, including RICHARD KASSON ’91 and CONNIE KASSON NEGAARD ’85 ; and a sister, BARBARA PROUT DIXON ’58

JOHN M. ACKLEY SR. ’62 of Pewaukee, Wisconsin, died May 16, 2022. At Ripon, he majored in economics, participated in athletics and Sigma Chi/Omega Sigma Chi, and was commissioned through ROTC. He earned a master’s of business administration degree from Ohio University. He was a business executive and enjoyed cycling, sports and cheering on Wisconsin teams. Survivors include his wife, HELEN STEINMAN ACKLEY ’63; one son and one daughter.

BONNIE BUCK BARRETT ’62 of Raleigh, North Carolina, died Dec. 26, 2019. She attended Ripon from 1958-1961, majoring in physical education and participating in sports and Alpha Xi Delta/Kappa Theta. She became a youth soccer coach when her children played and also enjoyed golf and tennis. At the age of 51, she completed her college degree at North Carolina State University, graduating summa cum laude with a degree in accounting and passing the entire CPA exam on her first attempt. She had a successful career as an accountant, retiring in 2006. She enjoyed crossword puzzles, reading and knitting. Survivors include one son and two daughters.

ELIZABETH “LIZA” BLACK KRAMER ’62 of Westerville, Ohio, died Nov. 3, 2021. At Ripon, she participated in Alpha Phi/Kappa Sigma Chi. She received a nursing degree from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s degree from Marquette University. She worked as a nurse, nursing home administrator and home healthcare provider. Survivors include one son and one daughter.

JUDITH A. LAWSON MAGDICH ’62 of Dixon, Illinois, died Aug. 9, 2022. At Ripon, she majored in music and educational studies and participated in Alpha Delta Pi/Pi Tau Pi. She was an elementary school music teacher in Addison, Illinois, before moving to Dixon 58 years ago. She was a member of PEO, for which she also was past president; Jaycettes; several bridge clubs; and First Presbyterian Church. She was an English as a second language instructor, a member of the Dixon School Board and a KSB Hospital Pink Lady. She enjoyed golfing and traveling, especially to Hawaii. Survivors include one son and two daughters, including AMY MAGDICH CLEMENS ’86 . Her husband, TOMAS M. MAGDICH ’61 , died in 2014.

MICHAEL G. MULLEN ’62 of Appleton, Wisconsin, died July 4, 2022. He played basketball for one season at Marquette University before transferring to Ripon. He majored in physical education, participated in basketball, baseball and Phi Delta Theta/Alpha Phi Omega, and was commissioned through ROTC. He was elected to the Ripon College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991. He served in the U.S. Army in Germany from 1962-1964, then taught physical education and coached for two years in Reeseville, Wisconsin, and 28 years in Seymour, Wisconsin. He also played BABA basketball, semi-pro baseball with the Watertown Cardinals, and slo-pitch softball with The Gallery and The Hotel. He enjoyed Wisconsin professional and school sports teams, card games and golfing. Survivors include his wife, Margaret; one son and two daughters.

ROSEMARY DAELLENBACH CHAMPION ’63 of Mission Viejo, California, died June 21, 2022. At Ripon, she majored in music, participated in track and was president of the Alpha Chi Omega/Alpha Gamma Theta sorority. She received a master’s degree in music from the University of Montana. She played in the Missoula Civic Symphony and taught on several Indian reservations in the area. She was the longtime band director at Carlisle Middle School in Guntersville, Alabama. She also taught jazz and private flute lessons. Throughout her life, she directed band, orchestra, choir, musicals, jazz band and marching band and played for weddings and funerals. She also enjoyed being a pilot, skydiver and water skier. Survivors include one son.

MARY LOU COMBS ’63 of Wilmington, North Carolina, died Feb. 14, 2022. She attended Ripon and graduated from the Wisconsin State College Oshkosh. She received her physical

therapy degree while serving at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas, and was stationed in Germany during the Vietnam War. She served in the Army Medical Corps for four years and obtained the rank of captain. She earned a master’s degree from Ohio State University where she then worked as coach of the women’s basketball team and athletic trainer for the football team. She was chief physical therapist for the Nisonger Center for the state of Ohio; worked for the Orient State Institute for the developmentally disabled; and physical therapist for more than 30 years around Wisconsin. She also was a chaplain. She enjoyed traveling, gardening and her pets.

JAMES H. FALKENRATH ’63 of Locust Grove, Virginia, died Feb. 3, 2022. At Ripon, he majored in mathematics, was a member of Sigma Nu/Theta Sigma Tau, was vice president of his class and was commissioned through ROTC. He earned a master’s of business administration degree from the University of Alabama. He served in the U.S. Army for 21 years, with assignments all over the world. He earned the Legion of Merit and Bronze Star and retired as a lieutenant colonel. He then worked for Honeywell Federal Systems Inc. as a tech support manager, including leading major efforts throughout the Republic of South Korea. He enjoyed watching football, playing golf and traveling. Survivors include his wife, Sharon; one son and one daughter.

MARCIA MACLEISH HIGGINS ’63 of Sarasota, Florida, died Jan. 29, 2022. At Ripon, she majored in history, participated in Alpha Phi/Kappa Sigma Chi and served as Class Agent and 45th Reunion Committee coordinator. She was a teacher and later the office manager for Libertyville Vision Center. She was an avid golfer who enjoyed traveling and boating on Green Lake, Wisconsin. Survivors include her husband, JUDSON HIGGINS ’62; two sons; a sister, LORNA MACLEISH ’64 ; and a cousin, PHILIP K. MCCULLOUGH ’69

JAMES F. PYLE ’63 of Whitehall, Michigan, died Dec. 2, 2021. At Ripon, he majored in biology and participated in football and Phi Delta Theta/Alpha Phi Omega. He also studied business administration at Michigan State University. He served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. He was a pattern maker for Pyle Pattern and Manufacturing for 30 years until his retirement in 1996. He was a member of the White Lake Eagles and AMVETS. He enjoyed fishing on Lake Michigan, captaining the PYLOT, snowmobilingboth competitively and recreationally, and spending time at the “farm” and at his cabin on the Little Manistee River. Survivors include his wife, LINDA BULGRIN PYLE ’66 ; one son and two daughters.

WILLIAM K. ANDREW ’64 of Palos Verdes Estates, California, died Sept. 5, 2019. At Ripon, he majored in history, participated in Sigma Nu/Theta Sigma Tau and was commissioned through ROTC. He received a master’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Missouri, Columbia. He lived in South America for 10 years, and his work there included serving as an assistant engineer on the Guri Dam project in Venezuela while working for the Guy F. Atkinson Construction Co. After moving to California, he was involved with Metrolink, Southern California’s transit system, and worked for CRSS Construction. Survivors include his wife, Edith; and two daughters.

JOHN E. ROMBERG ’64 of New London, Wisconsin, died Feb. 4, 2022. At Ripon, he majored in economics as well as politics and government, participated in Beta Sigma

Pi and was commissioned through ROTC. He received a master’s degree in business administration from Indiana University, Bloomington. He was assigned to the United State Army Mobility Equipment Command, Secondary Items Division, in St. Louis, Missouri, and retired as captain. He worked for Bemis (Curwood) for 34 years before retiring in 2002. For the city of New London, he was mayor for four years, alderman, and member of the New London Family Medical Center Board and Foundation Board. He enjoyed the outdoors, fishing and membership in the Twin Hunter’s Club. Survivors include his wife, Mary Ann; one son and two daughters.

CATHERINE ZENDER CUMMINS ’65 of San Antonio, Texas, died Jan. 31, 2022. She attended Ripon College from 1961-1962 and the University of Texas at San Antonio. She holds a degree in anthropology and a master’s degree in education. She taught for more than 50 years. At San Antonio Academy, she created Early Bird Reading and Reading Masters. She taught more than 15,000 children to read. She also conducted training at schools around Texas. Her nonprofit charity, Ninos de la Calle, assisted impoverished families in Mexico. She served as president and board member of the Coppini Academy of Fine Arts in San Antonio, where she also developed and directed Coppini Kids. She enjoyed traveling, especially to Europe and the Texas coast. Survivors include one son; and one daughter, MICHELE CUMMINS KORNET ’95

BARBARA ANN “BARB” HODSDON ROGUSKE ’65 of New London, Minnesota, died July 29, 2022. At Ripon, she majored in history and was a member of Alpha Xi Delta/ Kappa Theta. She lived in Atlanta, Georgia, and Burnsville, Willmar and on the Crow River near New London in Minnesota. She was an insurance service representative for Rogers’ Benefit Group. She was a Sunday school teacher for 40 years, led Brownie and Girl Scout troops, and sponsored many children at Agua Viva Children’s Home in Guatemala. After retirement, she volunteered as a reading tutor to second-graders. She traveled to more than 70 countries for pleasure and mission work and was a passionate fan of baseball. Survivors include her husband, FREDERICK R. ROGUSKE ’64 ; one son and one daughter; and a sister-inlaw, CAROLYN ROGUSKE MACKLEM ’71

KENNETH VON KLUCK ’65 of Eagle River, Wisconsin, died Feb. 10, 2022. At Ripon, he majored in English and economics and participated in student government, College Days and Sigma Nu/Theta Sigma Tau. He earned a law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He had been a lifelong resident of the Chicago area before retiring in Wisconsin. He was an attorney for 46 years and an artist. He served on many civic, health-related and not-for-profit boards and committees, and was an aficionado of the cultural arts, history, sports cars and Scotch. He enjoyed the outdoors, biking, boating and gardening. Survivors include his wife, Martha; two sons; his half-brother, JAMES ROSELLINI ’72 and his sister-in-law, JANET KAISER ROSELLINI ’74

DIANCY “DOTS” TAYLOR ADAMS ’67 died Sept. 1, 2021. After attending Ripon, she lived in Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, St. Peters, Missouri, and Dubuque, Iowa, finally settling in Montpelier, Vermont, in 1986. She later graduated from Woodbury College as a paralegal. She enjoyed motorcycles, coffee, old movies and her cats. Survivors include one son and four daughters.

ROBERTA “BOBBIE” THOMPSON ’67 of Granger, Indiana, died June 1, 2022. At Ripon, she had a triple major in history, German and drama. She received a master’s degree in history from Bridgewater State University. She taught high school and a few semesters at Cape Cod Community College. She also was a volunteer for the Notre Dame women’s basketball team and Saint Michael’s Episcopal Church. She also was a lifetime member and supporter of the NRA. She enjoyed reading, animals and early American antiques, as well as traveling to Hawaii, Cape Cod, the Bahamas, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and overseas. She was a strong supporter of the Boston Bruins, Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots.

JEFFREY L. GOHLKE ’68 of Viroqua, Wisconsin, died May 3, 2022. At Ripon, he majored in economics and participated in Phi Kappa Pi (Merriman). He served in the U.S. Army and had a long, distinguished career helping build Milwaukee’s economy and contributing to the success of local businesses. He started at the Department of City Development in 1971 and retired as vice president of industrial development from the Milwaukee Economic Development Corporation in 2001. After retiring in the Viroqua area, he served for six years as Viroqua city administrator and held officer roles at the Vernon Economic Development Association, Viroqua Development Association and the Viroqua Area Rotary Club. Survivors include his wife, Carol; two sons and two daughters.

MELODY MOLAND KANTEN ’69 of Baldwin, Wisconsin, died Jan. 11, 2021. She received a degree in fine arts from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and was an advertising executive for Colle & McAvoy Advertising Agency in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She loved animals, living on a farm, downhill and cross country skiing, scuba diving, kayaking and flying. She also enjoyed riding horses, bicycling, walking and creating objects out of wood. Survivors include her husband, Tom.

DAVID A. BUSH ’70 of Edina, Minnesota, and Belleair, Florida, died July 1, 2021. He played football for one year at Ripon College, then worked at restaurants his father owned. He moved to Edina in 1977, was an active member of the Edina Hornet football staff for 41 years and an officer with the Edina Police Department from 1969-1980, and after retiring from law enforcement, had a career in sales. Survivors include one son and one daughter.

CLAUDIA L. KASPEREK ’70 of Chicago, Illinois, died Oct. 29, 2021. At Ripon, she participated in Alpha Phi/Kappa Sigma Chi. She earned a degree in art from the University of Illinois-Chicago and attended graduate school at the University of Chicago. She held administrative positions at various companies before becoming a massage therapist. Survivors include her wife, Susan Prohaska.

KATHRYN “KATHY” WILSON BRIMHALL ’71 of Morristown, Tennessee, died March 26, 2022. At Ripon, she studied anthropology and psychology and participated in Alpha Delta Pi/Pi Tau Pi. She received a degree in anthropology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and received master’s and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Connecticut. She was a professor of sociology and anthropology at Lakeland College near Sheboygan, Wisconsin, before graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine. She practiced psychiatry in Sheboygan and Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, before moving to Lexington,

Kentucky, and then Morristown, Tennessee. She was a member of PEO, hosted many international exchange students, and enjoyed gourmet cooking, reading, traveling, needlework and crafts. Survivors include her husband, Conrad L. Brimhall; one son, CRISTOPHER “KIT” BRIMHALL ’22 , and one daughter.

THOMAS E. STECKBAUER ’71 of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, died Nov. 19, 2021. He attended Ripon College and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and served in the Army National Guard. For most of his career, he worked in food service sales. He enjoyed boating, the Green Bay Packers, his dogs and grilling on his deck. He was a devout Catholic. Survivors include his wife, Judy.

PAUL M. HOFFMAN SR. ’73 of Clintonville, Wisconsin, died May 12, 2022. At Ripon, he majored in physical education and participated in football, baseball and Phi Kappa Pi (Merriman). He earned a master’s degree in education and was assistant defensive football coach at Northern Michigan University. He also coached football at Kansas State University. He worked for the Soo Line Railroad in Escanaba, Michigan, for a time, then in corporate insurance for about 25 years. He ran his own insurance firm, Paul Hoffman & Co., in Chewelah, Washington, and owned a 120-acre beef ranch. He moved back to Clintonville last year and was a member of Christus Lutheran Church. He enjoyed traveling to Mexico, coaching, and watching professional sports teams. Survivors include his wife, Kathryn; one son and two daughters.

JAMES L. “POKEY” REITER ’73 of Shawano, Wisconsin, died April 18, 2022. At Ripon, he majored in economics, sociology and anthropology and participated in cross country, football and Phi Kappa Pi (Merriman). He earned a master’s degree from Silver Lake College. He was passionate about serving his Menominee Tribe. He was associate director of Ripon Upward Bound, working to get many Menominee youths to look toward college. He also belonged to the National Indian Education Association and Native American Tourism of Wisconsin; served as director of the JOM education program; and was general manager of the Menominee Casino for more than 19 years, winning an award from the National Indian Gaming Association for pioneering and longevity in gaming. Survivors include his wife, Amy; two sons and one daughter.

GREG DRYANSKI ’74 of Norman, Oklahoma, died July 7, 2022. At Ripon, he majored in biology and participated in wrestling. He studied medicine in Poland before completing his doctor of medicine degree at the American University of the Caribbean on the island of Montserrat. He had medical practices in Cleveland, Ohio, Detroit, Michigan, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Norman, Oklahoma, where he worked at a Veterans Administration Hospital. He enjoyed history, fine-scale models, table-top gaming and visiting museums. In retirement, he lectured on topics of military history, particularly the struggles of Poland and its people in the 19th and 20th centuries. Survivors include his wife, Eva; one son and two daughters.

DANIEL J. MINNEMA ’74 of Summerfield, North Carolina, died July 27, 2022. At Ripon, he majored in chemistry and biology and was a member of Beta Beta Beta Honor Society. After working for the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, he earned a Ph.D. in toxicology from the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond and did postdoctoral work as an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati. He later

worked at a Covance research facility in Great Falls, Virginia, and Syngenta in Greensboro. He enjoyed fishing, boating, science, science fiction, reading, watching old movies, building shelves and teaching. Survivors include his wife, Kristi; and three daughters.

KENT W. “ROCKY” ROBINSON ’74 of Houston, Texas, a former member of the Ripon College Board of Trustees, died July 9, 2022. At Ripon, he majored in economics and politics and government and participated in football and Phi Kappa Pi (Merriman). He received a law degree from Southern Methodist University and a master of business administration from Cox Business School. He began his legal career in 1978 at Andrews, Kurth, Campbell and Jones, now Hunton Andrews Kurth, where he remained until retiring as a partner in 2018. He belonged to numerous professional organizations and served on several local and state boards. He enjoyed coaching his children’s soccer, softball and baseball teams. Survivors include his wife, Deborah; one son and two daughters; a brother PERRY ROBINSON ’79 ; a sister-in-law, SARAH HEMSTOCK ROBINSON ’89 ; and a cousin, ROBINSON BUTZ ’73

KATHRYN JEFFERS ’75 of Iola, Wisconsin, died May 21, 2021. At Ripon, she majored in communication. She was an adjunct faculty member for 25 years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Professional and Executive Development. She traveled the country teaching conflict resolution to CEOs, owners and employees. She was the author of The Long Road to Arlington, Return to Base Camp and Don’t Kill the Messenger. She also served with many community organizations and events, including the Food Co-op, Wellness Institute, and Women’s Resource Center. She was a hospice volunteer and a onetime owner of the Amherst Landmark Coffee House. Survivors include her partner, John Knechtel.

SHERYL GUMZ ALBERS-ANDERS ’76 of Cottage Grove, Wisconsin, died May 28, 2022. At Ripon, she studied art. She earned a law degree from the University of WisconsinMadison and a certificate in human resources from Madison College. She worked on the family farm, served on the Sauk County Farm Bureau Board, was a founding member of the Sauk County Women in Agriculture-Eagle Bluff Chapter. She was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in a special election and served until her retirement in 2009. She also practiced law, worked in human resources at the Department of Corrections and had a private pilot’s license. She enjoyed sewing and tailoring, traveling, attending races and entertaining friends. Survivors include her husband, Steve Anders; one son and four stepchildren; and seven siblings, including JOLANDE “JONDI” GUMZ ’75 and JOY GUMZ ’78

MICHAEL H. ZEHFUS ’76 of Spearfish, South Dakota, died May 4, 2022. At Ripon, he majored in chemistry and participated in swimming, Beta Sigma Pi and Phi Beta Kappa. He received a master’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Chicago and a doctorate in physical biochemistry from Oregon State University. He held postdoctoral positions at the University of Pennsylvania and in Madison, Wisconsin; and taught at Ohio State University, Ohio Northern University and for more than 20 years at Black Hills State University. He retired in 2019. He played saxophone in the Northern Hills Community Band, Belle Fourche Cowboy Band and the university’s Concert Band; sang in his church choir; and was an avid outdoorsman and Eagle Scout. Survivors

include his wife, Betty; and two children, including TORIN ZEHFUS ’10

GINNY MICHAELS ABRUZZO ’77 of Libertyville, Illinois, died March 26, 2022. At Ripon, she majored in art and participated in Alpha Chi Omega/Alpha Gamma Theta. She retired in March 2021 after more than 25 years working for the Health Information Management team at Advocate Condell Medical Center. She loved the outdoors, wildlife, Chicago sports teams and gardening. Survivors include her husband, Joseph; two sons and one daughter.

NATALIE S. ADAMS ’77 of Colorado Springs, Colorado, wife of former Ripon College president Bernard S. Adams, died Feb. 13, 2022. In Ripon, she was a founding member of the Green Lake Festival of Music, board member and president of the Ripon South Woods Park Association and a choir member at First Congregational Church. She enjoyed tennis and for one year coached the Ripon College women’s tennis team, leading to a conference championship. After retiring in Colorado, she was a member of Broadmoor Community Church where she was a member of the choir, chair of the Arts Committee and a lay caregiver minister. She also served as president of the Symphony Guild and volunteered at Pikes Peak Hospice. Survivors include one son and one daughter.

MARSHA BLANCHE JONES BURZYNSKI ’84 of South Milwaukee, Wisconsin, died Aug. 3, 2022. At Ripon, she majored in biology, was a member of Beta Beta Beta Honor Society, was a resident assistant in Tri-Dorms and Bartlett Hall, and participated in track and field. She received a master’s degree in biological sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She worked for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources from 1991 until the time of her retirement in 2021. She played a crucial role in numerous contaminated sediment cleanups in southeastern Wisconsin. She enjoyed gardening, and camping. Survivors include her husband, Thomas.

SHARON REJMAN OGLE ’84 of Green Lake, Wisconsin, died June 5, 2022. At Ripon, she majored in biology, participated in student government and was a resident assistant in TriDorms. She received a master’s degree in speech therapy from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. She was a Wisconsinregistered speech-language pathologist and worked for the Berlin/Green Lake school district in its special needs program. Survivors include her husband, CHRISTOPHOR OGLE ’80 , vice president and dean of students at Ripon.

RICHARD “RICK” LEONHARD ’86 of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, died July 14, 2021. At Ripon, he majored in politics and government and participated in basketball. He also studied at the U.S. Air Force Academy. He co-founded Viking Masek Packaging Technologies. As CEO, he led a team of 85 co-workers, and in 2020 Viking Masek was recognized as one of the best companies to work for in Wisconsin. The essence of his life was his faith. Survivors include his wife, Julie; and three daughters.

KEVIN R. NORRIS ’89 of Palatine, Illinois, died Jan. 2, 2022. At Ripon, he majored in business management and participated in student government, rugby and Beta Sigma Pi. Survivors include his wife, Linda; and two daughters.

MICHAEL PAUL ’89 of Portage, Wisconsin, died Jan. 25, 2022. At Ripon, he played football. He led the A&W Drive-In in Portage. He also was active in the community,

serving as an alderman for the City of Portage and on the Board of Zoning Appeals; coaching Portage Youth Football; and serving in various ways at Grace Bible Church. Survivors include his wife, Ronda; three sons and two daughters.

ROBERT J. GILL III ’93 of Glendale, California, died March 29, 2021. At Ripon, he majored in economics and participated in athletics and Phi Kappa Pi (Merriman). He worked in the high-tech industry in California for many years, then did independent programming. He taught himself the Russian language and enjoyed his family, dogs and sports.

JODI MISSAK FULTON ’00 of Tampa, Florida, died May 16, 2022. At Ripon, she majored in French and educational studies and participated in athletics and Alpha Delta Pi/Pi Tau Pi. She was an artist and a teacher, and had taught children at Metropolitan Ministries Academy in Tampa, a nonprofit organization that served the homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless by promoting dignity and instilling self-sufficiency. Survivors include a brother, MICHAEL MISSAK ’01 , and a sister-in-law, APRIL RYDZ MISSAK

ELIZABETH “LIBBEY” VOPAL CATES ’04 of Roy, New Mexico, died Oct. 31, 2021. At Ripon, she studied philosophy. She received a master’s degree in sociology from Colorado State University. She spent her career teaching. She also served her church, United Church of Roy. Survivors include her husband, Hiram; and her mother, Claudia Vopal.

ANDREW BESWICK ’06 of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, died Jan. 26, 2022. At Ripon, he majored in German and psychology and participated in numerous campus activities, including intramurals, Spirituality Association, WRPN, Sigma Nu/Theta Sigma Tau, for which he served as president, EGOR, College Bowl and Choral Union. He studied for a master’s degree in clinical psychology at Cardinal Stritch University. He had worked as an assistant manager at the Oconomowoc Developmental Training Center. Survivors include his wife, JESSICA FUOCO BESWICK ’07 ; and one son.

ELLEN DUNPHY ’09 of Redwood City, California, died July 4, 2022. At Ripon, she majored in theatre with a minor in communication and participated in WRPN, theatre productions and Symphonic Wind Ensemble. She spent time in the Milwaukee and Chicago theatre communities before settling into the San Francisco scene for the past seven years. She was a company member of the Left Coast Theatre Company. She performed with many theatre companies and advocated for gastric cancer research during the pandemic and her own illness. She also wrote and performed her solo show, “Imaginary Endings,” about the intersection of her disease and her role as a patient. She was an avid traveler, visiting 10 countries and many national parks. Survivors include her husband, Andrew Clinnin.

KEVIN O. HERNANDEZ GODOY ’14 of San Antonio, Texas, died Sept. 10, 2021. At Ripon, he studied kinesiology and played football. He graduated from Texas A&M San Antonio in 2018, then earned his master’s degree in special education from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in 2020. He was a longtime member of Extreme Youth Leadership then worked for nearly four years at Reagan High as a special education teacher, PALS sponsor and assistant football coach. His faith was very important to him and he regularly attended Maranatha Church in San Antonio.

PHILIP B. CLARKSON of Carmel, California, professor of theatre at Ripon from 1963-1972, died April 29, 2022. At Ripon, he was head of the drama department and interim dean. He received the May Bumby Severy, Class of 1908, Award in teaching, and an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree in 1994. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University and also trained at Central School, London, and the University of Paris. He had extensive experience as a director and producer, wrote numerous books and was literary executor to playwright William Inge. He also served Norwich University, Morningside College and SUNY at Plattsburgh. He lived in Carmel Valley for more than 40 years, was active in his church, taught at Monterey Peninsula College, worked in community theatre and led a play reading group for more than 25 years.

STEPHEN F. MOWE of Ripon, Wisconsin, professor of military science at Ripon from 1980-1983 and a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, died Feb. 3, 2022. He studied at Wentworth Military Academy, Murray State University, Georgia State University and The Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He was a U.S. Army helicopter pilot, commander and educator for 24½ years, including service in Vietnam and Iran. He was awarded three Meritorious Service Medals, Army Commendation Medal, Bronze Star and Legion of Merit. After retiring from the Army, he was a professor at Camden Military Academy in Camden, South Carolina, for seven years. He enjoyed golfing, fishing, watching sports, and volunteering in his community and at church. Survivors include two sons and one daughter.

HARALD M. NESS JR., adjunct instructor of mathematics and computer science in 1998-1999, died Sept. 28, 2021. He served his country in the U.S. Air Force, rising to the rank of captain. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Wisconsin State College in Superior, Wisconsin, received graduate meteorology training in the University of Wisconsin-Madison in conjunction with his Air Force service, and obtained a Master of Arts degree from Central Michigan University. After his Air Force service, he taught mathematics at high schools in Hayward and Kohler, Wisconsin, and at the University of Wisconsin Center-Fond du Lac, and was the mathematics department chairman for the University of Wisconsin Center System. After his retirement, he taught at UW-Fond du Lac, Marian College and Ripon College, among other institutions.

PEARL M. TERBILCOX , a food service cashier at Ripon College for many years, died July 17, 2022. She received the Julie Johnson Staff Spirit Award during the Rally athletic awards in 2018. She enjoyed crocheting, solving crossword puzzles, elephants, and anything about Betty Boop. Survivors include two sons.

Adjunct Instructor of Music TODD A. TRUESDALE of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, died Thursday, May 19, 2022, after a brief illness. He received music degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and enjoyed performing and teaching percussion. In addition to Ripon College, he taught at Xavier High School, Neenah High School, Shattuck Middle School of Neenah, Little Chute High School, Oshkosh West High School and Appleton Music Academy. He also performed with the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra, Manitowoc Symphony, Vento Winds, Wisconsin Symphonic Winds and his hometown band 3 Way Street. He was self-employed through Truesdale Drum Works and also repaired percussion equipment and restored vintage drums. He enjoyed building things, barbecuing, camping and bow hunting. Survivors include his wife, Hannah; and two children.

Ripon College in the news

• Chris Czerwinski Holicek ’71 of Fish Creek, Wisconsin, president of the Friends of Peninsula State Park, received an Individual Member HERO award from Friends of Wisconsin State Parks. Her honor was featured Nov. 19, 2021, in the Door County Pulse newspaper.

• Professor Emeritus of Politics and Government Martin Farrell spoke about President Joe Biden’s first year in office, and Paul Schoofs, professor emeritus of economics and Patricia Parker Francis Professor of Economics Emeritus, continues to give regular interviews with radio station WMDC 98.7 FM of Mayville, Wisconsin.

• Bill Quistorf ’80 of Everett, Washington, chief pilot with the Snohomish County Helicopter Rescue Team in the state of Washington, is featured on an episode of National Geographic’s “Extreme Rescues.” The “Back from the Dead” episode details a dramatic and dangerous mountain rescue in 2018.

• Travis Nygard, associate professor of art, was featured Feb. 3, 2022, on the television station WLUK Fox 11 News of Green Bay, Wisconsin. The report was about a table hand-crafted in Ripon in 1892-93. The Ripon Historical Society is raising $3,000 to cover the cost of purchasing the table from a Seattle antiques dealer and bringing the unique piece back to Ripon.

• An interview with Professor of Art Rafael Francisco Salas was published Feb. 16, 2022, in the Ripon Commonwealth Press after his appointment to the Wisconsin Arts Board by Gov. Tony Evers. The appointment also was shared by media around the state.

• Brit Dick ’09 of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, was featured March 7 on EmeraldMountainEpic.com. She is a world-ranked ultrarunner, USA Triathlon All-American and Champion Burro Racer and spoke in advance of several races she planned to complete this summer.

• The announcement of the hiring of Dr. Victoria Folse as the 14th president of Ripon College was widely shared in May by media around the country.

• Umer Hussain, assistant professor of business management, was quoted in an article May 26, 2022, on The Analyst, a digital site about sports. He was interviewed for “The Untold stories of Qatar and the FIFA World Cup,” examining controversy about Qatar being the first Middle Eastern country to host the World Cup.

• Soren Hauge, professor of economics, spoke June 16, for Spectrum News 1, a statewide news and information network. He discussed key interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve in an effort to tamp down inflation. Spectrum also has aired features with President Victoria N. Folse and Head Football Coach Ron Ernst.

It’s a small world for Ripon College alumni

John Rodgers ’69 of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, and Celebration, Florida, shares, “We met Charlie ’00 and Kersten Holm Larson ’00 on our daily walk in the neighborhood. It turns out we have been neighbors for quite a while and didn’t realize it until they spotted my ever-present red Ripon College hat.” Above are Carol Rodgers, left, John Rodgers ’69, Charlie Larson ’00 and Kersten Holm Larson ’00.

Ripon alumni meet up again and again through the Army

Ripon touchpoints abound for Col. Brian North ’96 and 1st Lieutenant Aubreigh Zimmerman LaFleur ’19

They met when North, a colonel in the U.S. Army, spoke at a military event on the Ripon College campus when LaFleur was a senior. She was going into the signal corps, as did North, which provides communications support to Army units. North told her to contact him if she ever needed help in the “signal world.”

“Not even a year later, he would be my brigade commander at Fort Hood,” LaFleur says.

“I, too, had been a signal officer when I started as a signal lieutenant 25 years ago,” North says. “I knew that, because we had the same job, we would probably see each other, but I didn’t know she was going to be one of the officers in my brigade!”

As Signal Corps officers assigned to the 11th Signal Brigade, both took part in Warfighter Exercise 21-04, the Army’s largest multinational exercise, in April 2021. It included U.S. Army units from III Corps at Fort Hood, 1st Armored Division from Fort Bliss, 1st Division from the United Kingdom and 1st Division from France. The primary purpose was to demonstrate the ability for the three nations to operate in conjunction to oppose enemy armed conflict.

“I am chosen for the majority of change of command and change of responsibilities in our battalion and the 11th Corps Signal Brigade,” she says. “For some reason, they like my voice and keep coming back to me.”

North returned to school on an Army fellowship to complete his Ph.D. in American history at the University of WisconsinMadison. This summer, he reported to the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., where he is serving as director of the Army Initiatives Group, the Army’s internal think-tank and strategic planning element.

His wife, Tanya Hennes North ’97, recently completed post-graduate certifications in biotechnology and stem cell research.

LaFleur is now executive officer of Bravo Company and second in command to the company commander. She is married to 1st Lieutenant Justin LaFleur ’19

North praises the mutual education they received at Ripon. “I credit Ripon with setting my career up, teaching how to think, write, ask the right questions,” he says. “I value the unique educational experience we had at Ripon College and the connections that we had.”

Philicia King-Spenard ’05 is principal of Ernest A. Becker Middle School in Las Vegas, Nevada. “There’s also a Ripon College connection,” she says. “Former professor Suzanne Katz was a drama teacher at the same school during her time in Las Vegas in the ’90s. What a small world!” Here, in a throw-back photo, she celebrates her first day as principal at the school.

LaFleur was assigned as platoon leader for the large switch platoon which directly supported the III Corps headquarters, the same job North held at Fort Bragg early in his career. LaFleur led the team of soldiers who installed, operated and maintained the secure internet and voiceover-IP telephone network supporting the large staff and three-star commander overall in charge of the exercise.

After two years in command of the brigade, North left the unit shortly after the international exercise. And the narrator at his final ceremony was — LaFleur!

Mixed Media

• Susan “Suki” Forrest-Lobb Jeffreys ’81 of Phoenix, Arizona, is featured in Women of Courage, vol. 5, published by Professional Woman Publishing in February. The anthology features stories of and thoughts about courage by Jeffreys and other women around the world.

After retiring from a career in corporate information technology, Jeffreys became a life coach and founded Courage Rises life and courage coaching. She is creating a movement where women feel safe to work through fears by understanding their behavior and experiencing the transformational aspects of courage.

• The jazz album “Under the Venus Moon,” featuring songs by Mario Friedel ’88 of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, was released Aug. 30, 2021. It features Friedel’s greatest hits from a lifetime of songwriting in new big band jazz arrangements.

Primary vocals are by prominent Wisconsin jazz vocalist Janet Planet. Friedel’s wife, Sherry Thompson Friedel ’87, is a background singer.

The album reached the ballot portion of the nomination process for the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Album of the year. While the album did not make the final cut, it did place among the top 78 entries out of 10,000 submissions.

• Ken Luber ’60 of Idyllwild, California, has books available on amazon.com. The most recent is the Kindle edition of An Angel, A Dealer, The Deal, released Feb. 15, 2022. It is described as “a novel of love, angels and reincarnation.”

• The second edition of the book, TranSpirations — Guidance for the Head & Heart through Career and Beyond, by Thomas Bachhuber ’71 of Wauconda, Illinois, includes new content on Ignatian Spirituality. The book is a career development and spiritual companion for those in a job, career or retirement transition. It is available on amazon.com.

Bachhuber is a former career center director at the University of Maryland and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and co-founder and president of the board of directors of the Center for Life Transitions Inc.

• Jeffrey Ryan ’80 of South Portland, Maine has a new hardcover book out Sept. 1, 2022. This Land Was Saved for You and Me chronicles the establishment of America’s public lands between 1864, when Yosemite was first being considered for protection, and 1964, when The Wilderness Act became law. He cites contributions of well-known figures such as Frederick Law Olmsted, Gifford Pinchot, Theodore Roosevelt and Aldo Leopold, as well as several lesser known figures. The book is Ryan’s sixth. The book is available at amazon.com. More information is available at JeffRyanAuthor.com.

• Cetonia Weston-Roy ’15 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has purchased a historic building in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Milwaukee to open her bookstore, Niche Book Bar.

• Jondi Gumz ’75 of Santa Cruz, California, is working on the news magazine Coastal Health & Wellness. The issue includes a study on Earthing, an explanation of Ayurveda from a local practitioner, and a recipe from Chris Wark, who beat stage two colon cancer in 2003 with surgery and dramatically changed his life.

• Daphne Myers Leigh ’05 of New Berlin, Wisconsin, has started a podcast with a friend. They read and break down books, fiction and non-fiction, geared toward the anti-racism movement and include a feature on commonly banned books. “We look for pieces that we, and our listeners, can act on to begin their own journey in anti-racism and activism while broadening our reading spectrum,” she says. The podcast can be found on Google or Apple podcasts or on Spotify, at Starting Small: An Anti-Racist Book Chat

• Associate Professor of Art Travis Nygard has a chapter in the new book A Companion to American Agricultural History, edited by Douglas Hurt and released June 1. His chapter, “Agriculture and Art,” explores how farming has been depicted in art over the past 200 years, showing that paintings, sculptures, photographs and illustrations have helped farmers understand their role in a changing world. Similarly, consumers looked at art as they bought, cooked, ate, and celebrated agricultural products.

SCHOLARLY PUBLICATIONS

• Geoff Guevara-Geer ’92, associate professor of Spanish, had an article published in the November 2021 issue of the journal Chasqui, meaning an Inca messenger, in Volume 50, Number 2. “The relación between Hispanics, the Body, and American University: Genre Trouble in Spanglish and Real Women Have Curves” discusses Latina college applicants as they write their Personal Statements, as per 21st-century films.

“Such an article might push us to reconsider how our young applicants view themselves as they write their way into Ripon College,” he says.

• Memuna Khan, professor of biology, and several students published a paper in the August 2021 issue of the journal Northeastern Naturalist. “Do We Impact Neighboring Nests

When Managing for House Sparrows on Nest-Box Trails?” featured work by Micaela M. Rivera ’21 of River Falls, Wisconsin; Max Mindiola ’20 of East Troy, Wisconsin; Erin Engstrom ’20 of Madison, Wisconsin; and Caren B. Cooper, an associate professor at North Carolina State University.

Also, her paper “Social polygyny in the Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)” was published in the December 2021 volume of the Wilson Journal of Ornithology

• Travis Nygard, associate professor of art history and co-director of the Caestecker Gallery, had an article, “Complex Maya Computations: Math, Time, Astronomy, and Hieroglyphs,” in the Dakota Digital Review, published by the North Dakota University System.

• Karlyn Schumacher ’15, former assistant librarian-access services, wrote a blog post titled, “Starting from Scratch: OER at a Small Liberal Arts College,” for OER and Beyond, posted Oct. 6, 2021. The blog post was about open educational resources.

• Nicholas Eastman, assistant professor of educational studies, and Ethan Hansen ’23 of Raymond, Wisconsin, collaborated for “Classroom Exchanges: Big Data and the Commodification of Educational Communication,” in Education & Culture, the journal of the John Dewey Society.

• A peer-reviewed article by Professor of Spanish Timothy Reed was published in The Coastal Review. “Hauntology and Epistemology in Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth and Juan Antonio Bayona’s The Orphanage” touches on contemporary Hispanic cinema, historical memory and the fantastic.

He also published “Garden Imagery, Hauntology, and the Semiotic in Adelaida García Morales’ El Sur” in the spring issue of Hispanic Journal. It addresses gender roles in Francoist Spain, feminism and trauma studies.

R E MAR K A B L E RIP O N

Robert Needham ’86 joins in a cake-cutting at the recent July 4 celebration at the Consulate General.

Robert Needham ’86 with U.S. men’s soccer star Weston McKennie, who plays in Turin, Italy, for Juventus.

Robert Needham ’86, far left, during his days competing with the Ripon College track and field team.

Robert Needham ’86: Taking his worldview around the world

Currently Consul General at the U.S. Consulate General in Milan, Italy, Robert Needham ’86 has long been a citizen of the world.

He was born in England and grew up in Northern Ireland before immigrating to Wisconsin with his parents in 1979. As a high school student in Racine, Wisconsin, he was selected to attend Badger Boys State hosted on the Ripon College campus.

“My counselor was one of Ripon’s admission counselors at the time,” Needham says. “I guess he did a good sales job! I liked the campus, the courses offered, and the chance to get involved in sports and campus activities. When I arrived, I was able to do all those things and make some lifelong friends. It was a great four years.”

around the world and being involved with foreign policy issues was exciting, so I decided to take the exam. Eventually, this led to a job offer. I never expected to stay more than 30 years.”

His postings include Poland, Oman, Croatia, England, Denmark, Ukraine and the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Belgium and Afghanistan.

From 2017 to 2019, he was executive director for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs and for the Bureau of International Organization Affairs at the State Department in Washington, D.C.

He came to Milan in October 2020 and manages a staff of more than 40 Americans and more than 60 local staff, overseeing America’s interests in northern Italy.

“For example, we have a lot of economic interests in northern Italy because this area generates much of Italy’s wealth,” he says. “I encourage Italian investment in the United States and assist U.S. firms and individuals doing business in northern Italy.

He was always interested in international affairs and majored in politics and government. Professor Emeritus of Politics and Government Marty Farrell suggested he consider Syracuse University’s Maxwell School for a master’s degree in international relations.

“It was while I was at Maxwell that I found out about the State Department,” Needham says. “The idea of working at our embassies

“I also promote our strategic relationship with Italy and foster a receptive environment for our U.S. military presence here in the north, where we have two large bases with more than 12,000 U.S. military personnel and their families. In addition, I participate in numerous outreach and cultural events with Italians, giving speeches at conferences, business meetings or at universities. The Consulate also assists American citizens in the region and issues visas to Italians wanting to visit or study in the U.S.”

This is Needham’s 10th country, and each culture influences the work environment, he says. “All Foreign Service officers must adapt to this as we move from assignment to assignment. This assignment is different for me personally due to the level of the

position. In Milan, I am responsible for the safety and security of an entire community, which is not something I take lightly. It is also a new experience being the public face of the Consulate and being involved in so many events entailing public speaking.”

In addition to his work, he is a certified soccer coach and has coached youth soccer in Switzerland, Ukraine and Denmark.

He says his Ripon liberal arts education “provided me with a well-rounded education which gave me the ability to see things from more than one point of view. The capacity to keep an open mind has been extremely important to me in this career and in life away from the workplace. I did not appreciate this while I was at Ripon, but this has been a real asset.”

JAYE ALDERSON COLLEGE EDITOR

“The capacity to keep an open mind has been extremely important to me in this career and in life away from the workplace.”

Robert Needham ’86, Consul General at the U.S. Consulate General in Milan, Italy, presides over a promotion ceremony for a U.S. Marine Detachment.

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Flash Back 2001

Dante A.C. Houston ’01 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, walks after receiving his diploma at the 2001 Commencement.

“Many members of my very large family don’t drive, so they opted to charter a motorcoach/tour bus for the drive from Milwaukee to Ripon,“ he says.

“Interestingly enough, they almost missed the start of Commencement as the driver got lost and ended up in Green Lake before the ceremony.” Houston is a loyal Ripon supporter. He is a Ripon College Trustee, Advancement Committee vice chair and president emeritus of the Alumni Board of Directors.