Rocky Now - January 2011

Vol. 6 Issue 1

Fresh news every day at www.rocky.edu

January 2011

All About Our Students

Photo: Dave M. Shumway, RMC

Haitian students Judith Jeannot and Peterson Fussaint survived the deadly earthquake that ravaged their country last January.

They now attendi Rocky Mountain College, thanks to support from Dr. James Hinshaw and Ann Doll, RN.

Lighting Our Legacy

Haitian Students Recover at RMC from Ruinous Earthquake On January 12, 2010, a 7.0 earthquake assaulted the Caribbean nation of Haiti, severely damaging a vibrant, colorful culture. The capital city of Port-auPrince was almost entirely leveled to rubble, forcing citizens to take refuge wherever they could, in tents and makeshift cardboard shacks. Others weren’t so lucky. They were left without shelter in the chaotic streets, or abandoned the city for open fields.

Peterson Fussaint and Judith Jeannot, two Rocky Mountain College students from Haiti, were among the more fortunate survivors. On the day of the earthquake, Peterson was visiting a friend and talking about studying in the U.S. Just as he was leaving, he was shaken to the ground. Looking toward the mountains, he saw all of the houses flattened and a huge dust cloud.

“I thought it was a bomb, like a war was starting,” Peterson recalled. “There were U.N. forces and cops with their guns drawn looking for where the enemy was coming from.”

Peterson ran home to check on his mother. “I saw many people hurt and there was a lot of blood,” he said. “Everywhere I walked, there were dead people.”

Peterson found his neighborhood was relatively safe; he didn’t tell his mother what he thought had happened as he didn’t want her to panic. Instead, (Please see All About Our Students on back page)

Candlelight Dinner Set for February 10 The 102nd Annual Rocky Mountain College Candlelight Dinner, to be held Thursday, February 10, 2011, will celebrate two worthy alumni.

Robert FitzGerald, RMC’65, will be awarded the RMC Alumni Association Outstanding Service Award, and Dustin Smith, RMC’05, will be honored Photo: Dave M. Shumway, RMC with the RMC Alumni Association Bob FitzGerald, left, and Dustin Smith, right, will be honored Outstanding at the RMC 102nd Annual Candlelight Dinner, February 12.

Achievement Award.

“Both honorees are examples of people committed to bettering the world in which they live, and both have made significant sacrifices toward that end. Rocky can be very proud of Bob and Dustin,” said Vicki Davison, RMC director of development.

The Candlelight Dinner will be held in the Great Hall of Prescott Hall, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $20. Please RSVP to the RMC Alumni Office, 406-657-1005, by Tuesday, February 1, 2011.

Insider

By Michael R. Mace, President

New Look, Better Website for New Year When we say that Rocky Mountain College is “all about our students,” we mean it. And we also mean it when we say we are bound and determined to increase the number of students who will find, as their predecessors have, that a Rocky education is a transformative event. Those privileged with an RMC diploma transform the lives of others. Our graduates become citizens who make a positive contribution in their communities, as well as their careers.

How we attract more and brighter student prospects is a critical part-perhaps one of the most vital elements--of our strategic plan for Montana’s oldest established institution of higher learning. How we do that has changed dramatically from the days of sending out a letter, a catalog, and maybe making the all campus meeting to reveal a phone call. In today’s world, young At the new logo and website, faculty people use a variety of media--much and staff received gift bags. Inside, of it is via web-based mobile devices- was a polo shirt with the new RMC logo.

-to access information. They want straightforward answers simply, but The new Rocky Mountain College more importantly, fast. The RMC logo, right, was revealed at a website is the single most important January 7 all campus meeting.

The logo incorporates elements gateway for those prospects to depict RMC’s history, church begin their exploration of how Rocky that affiliations, architecture, and might meet their college education geography, while evincing the expectations. hope, enlightenment, education, and free ideas that are at the core To help with this key component of Rocky life. of our strategic objectives, we contracted with Noel-Levitz, a nationally recognized enrollment management consulting firm. The contract is comprehensive in that it analyzes our current admissions and financial aid practices. The goal is to increase net revenue for the institution through increased enrollment, as well as a strategic use of financial aid awarding. It is working, as the numbers from this year -- the biggest freshmen enrollment in our history -- dramatically demonstrated.

To carry on that success, we continue to develop our tools.

In May we will launch our new website. It will look different, but it’s not just about “window dressing.” The functionality will be even more important. Finding information more readily is the goal. Instead of clicking though web page after web page, one click should get you where you want to go.

“Not four clicks. One click,” said Kelly Edwards, vice president for admissions and financial aid.

The information will be easier to find, easier to read, and easier to use. This functionality will enhance a prospective student’s first look at Rocky, and lead them to explore further. Studies show this initial first impression of information is a defining moment in how prospective students regard the institution itself, and weighs heavily in their decision.

Of course, nothing beats a personal Photo: Dave M. Shumway, RMC visit to our beautiful campus. That’s where our admissions staff and student ambassadors excel with campus tours that include class visits and interviews with faculty. That’s when a prospect begins to not only see how she or he would fit in, but feels it. They try on the Rocky experience.

That’s why another element of our new look is being launched. An institution’s brand, just as a product brand in advertising, is important. We will be adopting a new logo as part of that look that conveys something about who we are. The new logo incorporates elements that depict our history, church affiliations, architecture, and geography, while evincing the hope, enlightenment, education, and free ideas that are at the core of Rocky life.

Our new website will be launched this May. We hope you will find it a useful and expedient tool to access information about Rocky.

The new logo will be used beginning this new year.

Bowmans Donate Jet Engine to R Two longtime members of the Rocky Mountain College National Advisory Council arrived in November with a special gift for the RMC aviation program: a small jet engine.

Jon and Ann Bowman are both NAC members. The Bowmans operated Galt Aviation, in the Seattle area, for years. Jon is also on the RMC Aviation Industry Advisory Committee, according to Dan Hargrove, RMC aviation director.

“He provides valuable advice to me about our program, curriculum, the industry, and what we can do for our graduates,” Hargrove said.

A founding member of the Boeing Museum of Flight, Jon is also a museum board member.

“He is very involved in their issues, including their current campaign to bring one of the Space Shuttles to the museum permanently,” Hargrove said.

At one time, Jon owned three French training jets, which he flew in air shows across the U.S. Photos: Dave M. Shumway, RMC

Jon Bowman and Trevor Smith make some adjustments to a small jet engine that Jon and his wife, Ann, delivered to the RMC aviation program in November.

Focus on Alumni & Friends

A Tribute to a Remarkable Son on a Mission of Hope (Dustin Smith, RMC ’05, will be honored at this year’s 102nd Annual Candlelight Dinner with the Rocky Mountain College Alumni Association Achievement Award. Also honored will be Bob FitzGerald, who was featured in Rocky Now February 2010. FitzGerald will receive the RMC Alumni Association Outstanding Service Award.

The following article, by Dustin’s mother, Lesley Bruce Smith, describes why he is worthy of the award she will accept in his honor on Feb. 10, 2011.)

What does it take to trade a life of relative ease on Chicago’s North Shore for one lived in a place where there is no rule of law, no readily available source of clean water, lots of big bugs, intense heat and humidity, and a rather limited food supply?

My son, Dustin Smith, should know, having grown up in Lake County, Illinois.

Dustin lived a life with wide margins.

He struggled in school to conform to a way of life that was heavily biased towards those who loved a classroom and a learning style suited to books.

Although he loved reading, he was independent and learned best while seeing and doing. In high school, he was marginalized by teachers and, with his long hair, often accused of drug abuse.

Maybe this nurtured his keen sense of justice. A sturdy athlete, his favored sports were skiing, mountain climbing, and kayaking, none of which were part of the extra-curricular program.

Recognizing Dustin’s adventuresome spirit, his dad and I gave him a flying lesson for his 15th birthday. Two years later, he had his private pilot’s license, graduated a semester early from high school to spend three months in Baja, Mexico, with the National Outdoor Leadership School, and then headed to Rocky Mountain College. After three and a half years, Dustin graduated

with a degree in aeronautical science, achieving his instrument, multi-engine, commercial, and flight instructor pilot ratings.

At RMC, he befriended many foreign students and, after graduation, visited his Belizian classmates.

Having done a research paper his senior year Photo: Courtesy Lesley Bruce Smith on humanitarian aviation, his eyes Dustin Smith pilots a Wings of Hope airplane in the Congo. were drawn to a Cessna 206 with animals such as grizzly bears, wolves, a Wings of Hope insignia on it at the mountain lions, and prairie dogs. When Belize Airport. He returned to Montana he wasn’t flying, Dustin was trying to where he was an RMC flight instructor, capture the illusive trout inhabiting the and supplemented his income with rivers around Dubois, Wyoming. It was a construction work while corresponding solitary life, especially in the winter, for with Wings of Hope about a position a young man of 24. After eight months, with them. Months went by with little he returned to Montana for a short or no word about a possible opening. while flying a UPS route, and then took Dustin continued flight instructing, a seasonal position flying a Cessna 206 while also instructing whitewater in McCall, Idaho, transporting goods, kayaking. He spent a good deal of his fishermen, hunters, and their gear in and free time fly fishing the pristine rivers out of the mountainous back country. of Montana in the shadows of the As the hunting season was drawing Beartooth Mountain Range. to a close, and Dustin saw a relaxing Losing hope that humanitarian winter of ski instruction in his future, the aviation would be in his near future, he call from Wings of Hope came. Would accepted a position with a company he be willing to go to Africa and be a in Northwest Wyoming doing radio pilot field director for a new operation telemetry tracking of wild animals Wings of Hope was being asked to start in the Grand Teton and Yellowstone in Tshumbe, Democratic Republic of National Parks. This involved learning Congo? It didn’t take long for him to the nuances of flying a two-man, respond affirmatively. light-weight, tail-dragging Arctic In January 2009, after an intensive Tern aircraft. He spent months in the three month training course in remotest parts of our country doing (Please see Alumni & Friends on back page) low level mountain flying while tracking

ocky’s Aviation Program “A couple of months ago, I told my advisory committee we needed a small jet engine for a 300-level class called Aircraft Power Plants,” Hargrove said.

The course is required for all Aeronautical Science majors, and the majority of the course is about how jet engines work, which is important information for graduates when they get their first job.

It didn’t take long for Hargrove’s request to get a response.

“Jon called and said he had an engine from the French jet that had been slightly damaged about eight years ago by gravel in the blades. The engine is very valuable, but needed repairs, so he was glad to give it a home at Rocky where our students could learn from it, and we were delighted to get it,” Hargrove said.

In November, the Bowmans hauled the engine to Billings and delivered it to the program.

Dan Hargrove, RMC director of aviation, and Clete Knaub, RMC aviation professor, left and center, admire a small jet engine gifted to the program by Ann and Jon Bowman, far right.

Neighbor to Neighbor

Students Lend Hand to ‘Living Treasure’

By Barb Skelton, Chairman of the Board of Rocky Mountain College the buildings in Nevada City, maintained The letter to RMC President Michael Mace was the antique music machines, kept the handwritten, with a beautiful Virginia City Christmas card locomotive steam engine running, and included. The sketch on the card, of Virginia City in winter, delivered countless lectures to throngs was drawn by John D. Ellingsen. of tourists and students. He researched The stationery John uses, he printed himself. He set the and wrote “If These Walls Could Talk,” type by hand, and then printed it with an historic press that the first book on the buildings of Virginia City. was used to print the first book ever published in Montana, John lobbied for the purchase of the Bovey properties titled “Vigilantes of Montana,” in 1865. by the State of Montana, which finally came to pass in 1997.

“Thank you very, very much for your students’ help in Until 2009, he was employed as curator of history for these moving my house logs and other items from the Heritage properties by the Montana Heritage Commission.

Commission land behind my place in Nevada City onto my John received an award from the U.S. Secretary of the own ground last fall,” John wrote President Mace. “How to Interior for his work and the Montana Governor’s Award for move these logs caused me much worry and many sleepless Historic Preservation. Despite ill health, he remains active nights. The students accomplished this task so quickly and in civic affairs. He is chairman of the Virginia City Historic wonderfully!”

Preservation Advisory Commission. He was one of the first President Mace knew about John’s dilemma from a members of the Montana Ghost Town Preservation Society, meeting in Virginia City to discuss John’s ongoing work and served many years as its president. in preserving both Virginia City and Nevada City. Rocky John has been a good neighbor to all of us in Montana, Mountain College, since taking on the summer operation of helping to preserve our mining and pioneer legacy for future the Virginia City Opera House, has developed a keen interest generations to enjoy. He’s been a good friend to Rocky, in the historical importance of this gold rush country. appreciative of the fine summer shows directed by Gerry John was clearly troubled about preserving the log house, Roe, RMC theatre professor. which first needed to be relocated to his property. President What our students did for John shows they know how to Mace and Greg Kohn, RMC vice president for community be good neighbors, too. relations, sought help for John when they returned to Being a good neighbor means you get the best out of campus, and soon RMC students, supervised by Tim others when you give the best of yourself. This is just one Lohrenz, RMC’s outdoor recreation instructor, were on their example of Rocky doing that, giving the best of ourselves, way to provide assistance. to help others.

The students were “kind and energetic,” John wrote President Mace. “Thanks again and again.”

Also included with the letter and Christmas card was a copy of the newsletter John publishes and sends to friends and fans of Virginia City. John wrote that relocating historic collections--from log buildings to old machinery--to his land from land that the State of Montana owned and allowed him to use, had been an arduous undertaking, made easier thanks to our “very kind” students. It was not a simple job. Each heavy 25-foot log had to be hauled by hand 800 feet and stacked. This was the job RMC students rolled up their sleeves to do, casting wary eyes for the potential hazard of rattlesnakes that might be in the area.

This was a real service to one of Montana’s most valued citizens.

John is the only person designated as a living treasure by the State of Montana. He earned this title for being a devout historian and preservationist in one of Montana’s most famous historic places, Virginia City. A native of Great Falls, John earned his master’s in history and architectural history, and worked at the McGill Museum (now Museum of the Rockies). During the summers, he worked for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in the preservation of Garnet, a ghost town Photo: Dave M. Shumway, RMC located near Missoula, Mont.

Rocky Mountain College students, organized by Tim Lohrenz, RMC director of adventure recreation, far right, From 1972, until 1997, John was John Ellingsen, front row, far left, with a project in Virginia City. RMC students who volunteered to help curator for Bovey Restorations, Inc., the helped with the Ellingsen project included Jerusha Jose, Andrea Coimbra, Kimy Clark, Luke Duley, Seth Livengood, Laura restorers of Virginia City and Nevada Barsotti, Joseph Benzel, Emma Weiss, Ben Nuttall, Jeff Kuykendall, Alex Emerson, Andrew Sugich, and Kelsey City. During that time, he built about half Flathers.

Focus on Faculty & Staff

A Good Year for Battlin’ Bears and More to Come

By Robert Beers, RMC Athletic Director

Photo: Dave M. Shumway, RMC

The Rocky Mountain College Battlin’ Bears Women’s Volleyball showed their spirit, hamming it up as 1980s disco dancers for a preseason photo shoot. The team played an exciting brand of volleyball and advanced to the NAIA national tournament. In adition to excellence on the court, the team demonstrated excellence in the classroom, earning an average GPA of 3.4.

The holiday season always makes us wax nostalgic, and urges us to look back on the year that was. I have a pretty fleeting memory these days, but in the recent past, we have enjoyed one of the most successful fall campaigns in Rocky athletic history. Our student athletes, under excellent coaching, have competed across the western region of the United States, and have had a good amount of success.

As I began this recap in December, our women’s volleyball team was still playing at Nationals! Coach Laurie Kelly really found her groove with this squad, and they played an exciting brand of volleyball. Every successful team has its share of hardships to endure, and our girls responded when an injury knocked out dominant junior, Jillian Stanek. With the leadership of Coach Kelly’s first senior class, a group of juniors who emerged as stars, and some coming-of-age underclass women in this group, the team could make a run at national competition in years to come. They also strive for excellence off the court; the team achieved an average GPA of 3.4.

Our soccer programs enjoyed a good season. Rocky’s Director of Soccer,

RMC Earns NAIA 5-Star Champions of Character Award

Richard Duffy, has both the men’s and women’s squads playing well. The women were tough at home this year, and just missed out at hosting the Frontier Conference tourney. Graduating from this year’s team was the all-time leader in goals scored at Rocky--Allison Beckers. This was only the second year for the men’s program, and they have performed very competitively and quickly by finishing third in the region. Watch for good things next year when all players on the men’s team return.

Both golf teams are sitting second in the Frontier Conference at the end of the fall portion of their season. Our women have several experienced golfers leading the way with seniors Lindsey Holzworth and Katie Sauvageau. The men are young this year, and are looking to build this spring from the success of the fall.

Our cross-country teams literally ran all over the conference this fall, and qualified four runners for the NAIA National Championships. Coach Alan King continues to develop runners within his programs with an eye toward the future.

All four national qualifiers--Meagan Beam, Ana Richter, Robby Baker, and Noah Kiprano--will be back, along with a

Excellence in academics and involvement in the community are among the criteria used to determine winners of the Five Star Champions of Character Award by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. This year the athletic program at Rocky Mountain College has been notified it is a recipient of the 2009-2010 NAIA honor.

“Rocky has long been a place where the student athletes have excelled in the classroom and in their respective arenas. It is great to be a Champion of Character Institution and it reflects well on our student athletes, our coaches and

strong group of young runners for next fall. The cross-country team was also recognized for their accomplishments in the classroom by the NAIA. The Battlin’ Bears clawed their way to a successful football season, finishing second in the Frontier Conference with a record of 6-5. It was the first winning season for RMC since 1999. Individually, it was a great final year for senior quarterback Kasey Peters, who was named the Frontier Conference Offensive Player of the Year. Second year coach, Brian Armstrong, was chosen the Frontier Conference Coach of the Year, which was earned as the Bears found their stride late in the year finishing with four wins in a row.

It’s been a fun fall to be a spectator watching this group of student athletes compete. With the men’s and women’s basketball teams gearing up for Frontier Conference play, and our ski team praying for snow, the winter sports seasons are moving into high gear. I hope all our fans enjoy their performances on the court and the slopes.

We look forward to seeing you at Rocky athletic events supporting our Battlin’ Bears.

their hard work, but it also speaks to the type of school Rocky Mountain College has always been,” said Robert Beers, Rocky Mountain College athletic director.

Rocky’s program scored well for its athletes maintaining an above average cumulative GPA, and for its involvement in the community.

The program continues to grow and impact people throughout the nation as a result of the passion and commitment of NAIA member institutions such as RMC, according to Lori Thomas, NATA senior vice president for membership and character initiatives.

Alumni & Friends (Continued from inside)

mechanical maintenance on the Cessna 206, and a crash course in French, a language Dustin had never studied, he departed for the DRC capital of Kinshasa. It takes a special kind of adventurous spirit to go to the Congo alone, completely unaware of what lay ahead. It takes a person with a brave and especially big heart to want to go help others in a part of the world that is not very friendly to life. All of his previous experiences had worked together to prepare him for this mission. When he asked Doug Clements, the CEO of Wings of Hope why he had been called for this mission, Doug replied, “Do you see all these applications on my desk of pilots wanting to fly for us? You were the only one who was patient, polite, and persistent enough to win my attention. That is exactly what you are going to need in the Congo.”

It took about six weeks of thrashing his way through a uniquely Congolese mountain of red tape to get his Congolese pilot’s license and get the aircraft, already shipped ahead of him, prepared and cleared

All About Our Students (Continued from front page)

Peterson turned on the radio and heard the announcer say everyone was to leave their houses and buildings because they might collapse. He helped gather his neighbors in the street and lead them into the woods, where they prayed.

Immediately following the earthquake, two volunteers from Montana, Dr. James Hinshaw and Ann Doll, RN, headed for Port-au-Prince with Midwives for Haiti, a non-profit organization which educates Haitian women in prenatal care and skilled birth assistance.

“Haiti has the second highest maternal and infant mortality rate in the world,” Ann confirmed. “Conditions for women were deplorable, and access to care very marginal. I treated women in the rubble piles with very little privacy and dignity. I was amazed at their incredible resilience.”

Interpreters were needed as neither James nor Ann speak French or Creole.

That’s where Peterson and Judith came in.

Both speak English and translated for the wave of doctors, nurses, and many other humanitarian aid workers.

to fly to Tshumbe, which is in the south central part of the Congo. On those first journeys, Dustin was accompanied by an experienced Congolese pilot who flies for Missionary Aviation Fellowship. Congo has no air traffic control to speak of, and no radar systems since the African war that tore through that country less than six years ago. Navigation utilitzes out-of-date maps, dead reckoning, and lots of pilot experience. Dustin often calls people on his cell phone to get weather reports in towns of destinations ahead of him.

When asked why he finds this mission rewarding, he will tell you, “I have been given a wonderful gift and I want to give back, while I am young.” In the year Dustin has been in the Congo, he has learned to be fluent enough in French to manage his way through the always corrupt, incredibly unpredictable RVA (Congolese Aviation Authority) maze of red tape. He has gained tremendous skills of diplomacy.

Dustin is a pilot who is providing much needed air transport to medical staff, injured, and ill patients, and recently to an infant who needed medical care from a hospital over a 100 kilometers away.

“Judith volunteered for the Adventiste Hospital as a translator, where we met,” Ann said. “She was a quiet, gentle presence who assisted in the makeshift delivery room and clinic. There was rarely anyone available to help, and Judith has an instinctual nursing sense,” Ann remembered.

Peterson was assigned to interpret for James and Ann, and the three of them quickly became friends. Peterson told them of his love of language and how he had always dreamt of attending college. In Haiti “you have to pay an agent to even be considered, so it gets really expensive just to apply,” he confessed. However, Peterson was certain he would have a chance at higher education and managed, over time, to save money he would need for a passport.

“I was impressed with Peterson’s passion for education and his faith,” Ann revealed.

“His mother was committed to providing an education for her children -- an opportunity she did not have.”

“Much of the devastation in Port-auPrince included centers of higher learning, so Peterson’s and Judith’s best options, by far, were overseas,” James continued.

While visiting Dustin, we watched an ever menacing sky filled with black thunderhead storms approach from two different directions. The unspoken awareness was that Dustin would not be able to return home from his flight to take a group of Belgian surgeons to a remote village. In the quiet village of Tshumbe, the sound of the approaching plane engine is unique and always a sound for rejoicing. We sat in the guesthouse, eating a late meal, when we lifted our eyes to one another with the question: is that the plane? In a moment, we ran to the window just in time to see the little white plane with the two red medical crosses pass overhead to our shouts of exhilaration and joy. Our pilot had returned safely from another journey.

In between his many flights taking doctors and medicine in and out of the remotest parts of the Congo, Dustin is working on a joint project to establish a nutrition center in a remote village, a long day’s journey by vehicle, boat, and on foot from Tshumbe. It will provide care for the many malnourished and starving children in that area. His journey of hope brings hope to others.

Returning to Montana, James and Ann knew they had to help Peterson and Judith get out of Haiti’s devastation and into college.

“They gave a very good impression and seemed very capable,” James said, and Rocky Mountain College was the first choice.

Peterson and Judith, after a strenuous student visa process and lengthy flights, are now settled in their residence halls at Rocky and learning around the clock.

“We’ve had many discussions regarding effective change in Haiti,” Ann affirmed.

“Eighty percent of young people are not educated, and Peterson is committed to the belief that education will bring significant change to Haiti.”

“It has been a lot of fun having them in Montana, and we look forward to observing their progress,” James asserted.

“Knowing these young people has greatly enriched my life,” Ann added.

Story by Michael West, RMC director of international programs