Rocky Now - June 2008

ROCKY NOW Vol. 3 Issue 5

Fresh news every day at www.rocky.edu

June 2008

Rocky Now: Keeping our friends and supporters informed about what’s new and exciting at Rocky Mountain College

It’s all about our students If you help support Rocky Mountain College, you should know whether your contribution makes a difference. Nick McDonald, our featured student this month, provides ample proof that it does.

Big works RMC has exciting summer surge of renovation and construction

Photo: Dave M. Shumway, RMC

Nick McDonald was a finalist in the prestigious national essay contest.

As Billings Gazette reporter Mary Pickett noted in an article she wrote on RMC senior Nick McDonald computer geeks can be good writers. Contrary to the idea that computer geeks hate to write, McDonald said there are many at RMC who are very good wordsmiths. The 21-year-old graduate of Skyview High School in Billings is a case in point.

A double major in computer science and literature, McDonald was named one of national finalists in the 2008 Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics. Earlier this year, McDonald s essay, which compares Aristotle s Nicomachean Ethics and Cormac McCarthy s 2006 novel The Road, became one of 75 semifinalists in the national contest named after the Nobel Peace Prize winner. Then, in May,, he was one of 13 finalists nationwide. McDonald wrote the essay for an Ancient Greek Philosophy class taught by Dr. Ellie Bagley, RMC assistant professor of philosophy and religion. English professor Dr. Andrew Kirk also helped McDonald with the essay. McDonald s success will encourage other students to enter national contests, he hopes. The importance of reaching out to the lonely people was on his mind as he wrote the essay a few months after a disaffected student shot other students and faculty at Virginia Tech.

Compassion is the key to the survival of the human race, McDonald said.

Architect depiction/CTA

Gutting the old Kimball Hall in preparation for renovation and new construction of the new Morledge-Kimball Hall is underway. This architectural rendering represents the current plan for the building.

Returning students and new freshmen will be amazed when they arrive at the Rocky Mountain College campus in August. They will be greeted by the results of a summer surge of renovation and new construction work from one end of the campus to the other.

Topping the list of major construction is the renovation of Kimball Hall and the building of an annex with 29 brand new faculty offices and seven new classrooms.

Thanks to the Morledge family, this nearly $5 million dollar project will represent a major improvement and new addition for the second oldest building at RMC. It is consistent with President Michael Mace’s goal to provide new offices to an outstanding faculty.

We have excellent academics because we have excellent teachers, and along with raising their compensation, we need to provide outstanding office space for them. They have been more than patient for the College to get to this important time and place when we can redeem their trust with this investment, President Mace said.

Of course, he added, this is due to the unparalleled generosity of the Morledge family, which has nurtured campus improvements for decades. The new building, which will be named Morledge-Kimball Hall, will be a major attraction for recruiting students and retaining faculty. There have been no more devoted and enduring supporters of RMC than the late Charles Morledge and his wife, Patricia, honored as RMC s 2008 Philanthropists of the Year.

(More on Big Works, please turn to back)

Memorial for Dr. DeRosier to be held at RMC July 11 Dr. Linda Scott DeRosier, wife of Dr. Arthur H. DeRosier, Jr. has announced there will be a memorial service to celebrate the life and times of Dr. DeRosier at 11 a.m., July 11, 2008, in Losekamp Hall. Dr. DeRosier, RMC’s seventh president, died Nov. 15, 2007 in Louisville, Kentucky at the home of his son, Brett, with his wife, Dr. Linda Scott DeRosier, and other family members by his side. At that time, the family announced it would hold a service in Montana this summer.

Photo: Dave M. Shumway, RMC

Terry Corey, RMC athletic director, pitches in to remove the old bleachers at Fortin in preparation for brand new ones.

Big works!/(Continued from front side) The Morledge family, along with the families that live in the local area surrounding the college began a special neighborhood beautification project last spring, and other friends of the college are responsible for funding a long overdue new signage project. Two large, attractive, new signs will be at the northeast corner of the campus, on Rimrock Road near Prescott Hall, at the south entrance on Poly Drive. Four other campus building locator signs will be placed strategically on campus to help people with directions.

The new signs are consistent with the progress on many capital improvements. They are beautiful, incorporating the sandstone rock of many of our historic buildings with the College seal, said Shari VanDelinder, RMC director of development, who worked with the Morledge family on the sign designs.

While the new Morledge-Kimball Hall may be the most conspicuous and dramatic change on campus, two other major improvements will also be completed. As part of a $600,000 Fortin Education Center project that included a makeover of coaching offices, conference rooms, the RMC Athletic Hall of Fame room, and the Herb and Clara Klindt Corner, a $250,000 project to replace the bleachers in Fortin gym will be completed this summer. Thanks to the Fortin family and estate trustee Nick Cladis, the details for a major donation from the Fortin family estate were executed to fund the gymnasium project.

Visitors will have to stand back and look up to see another major project.

A new roof on Technology Hall will be a great asset. That building is comprised of the most classrooms on campus, as well as the Ryniker-Morrison Art Gallery, and having the new roof ensures its use for years to come. We will also be updating the two class rooms upstairs and building a new handicap accessible entrance.

Thanks also to the generosity of RMC s 2007 Philanthropists of the Year, Judith. C. and Sam. E. McDonald, Jr., for their six figure gift that helped make these improvements possible.

We re looking beyond the horizon when we plan these projects, to make sure we are ready for the growth in our enrollment that is sure to come, said President Mace.

Photo RMC Archives:

Dr. Arthur H. DeRosier, Jr., RMC’s seventh president.

8th Annual Alumni Golf Tourney set for June 27 The Rocky Mountain College Alumni Association will hold its 8th Annual Alumni Association Golf Scramble at Peter Yegen Golf Course on Friday, June 27, 2008.

Registration will open at noon with a shotgun start at 1:00 p.m. A BBQ will follow at the Red Door Lounge with hole prizes, as well as team gross and net prizes.

The fee is $85 per person or $340 for a team.

Call Heather Nitz at 657-1007 or visit the alumni page www.rocky.edu Photo: Dave M. Shumway, RMC for on-line registration.

Bill Ballard, who served This tourney provides scholarship as RMC board chair for assistance to children and grandthree years, a board children of alumni. member for 20 years, Sponsors this year include and worked on two capiPremier Sponsor, Carl Hansen and tal campaigns that D.A. Davidson & Co., Hansen raised $40 million, Management; Major makes sure he’s ready Wealth for a round of golf at last Sponsor, Biomet Osteo Systems; year’s annual alumni and hole sponsors, The Udder tournament.

Company and Aflac.

1511 Poly Drive n Billings, Montana 59102 Ph: 1.800.877.6259 Find out more about what’s new and exciting at Rocky online at:

Rocky Mountain College

n

www.rocky.edu

Memorial for Dr. DeRosier to be held at RMC July 11 Dr. Linda Scott DeRosier, wife of Dr. Arthur H. DeRosier, Jr. has announced there will be a memorial service to celebrate the life and times of Dr. DeRosier at 11 a.m., July 11, 2008, in Losekamp Hall. Dr. DeRosier, RMC’s seventh president, died Nov. 15, 2007 in Louisville, Kentucky at the home of his son, Brett, with his wife, Dr. Linda Scott DeRosier, and other family members by his side. At that time, the family announced it would hold a service in Montana this summer.

Photo: Dave M. Shumway, RMC

Terry Corey, RMC athletic director, pitches in to remove the old bleachers at Fortin in preparation for brand new ones.

Big works!/(Continued from front side) The Morledge family, along with the families that live in the local area surrounding the college began a special neighborhood beautification project last spring, and other friends of the college are responsible for funding a long overdue new signage project. Two large, attractive, new signs will be at the northeast corner of the campus, on Rimrock Road near Prescott Hall, at the south entrance on Poly Drive. Four other campus building locator signs will be placed strategically on campus to help people with directions.

The new signs are consistent with the progress on many capital improvements. They are beautiful, incorporating the sandstone rock of many of our historic buildings with the College seal, said Shari VanDelinder, RMC director of development, who worked with the Morledge family on the sign designs.

While the new Morledge-Kimball Hall may be the most conspicuous and dramatic change on campus, two other major improvements will also be completed. As part of a $600,000 Fortin Education Center project that included a makeover of coaching offices, conference rooms, the RMC Athletic Hall of Fame room, and the Herb and Clara Klindt Corner, a $250,000 project to replace the bleachers in Fortin gym will be completed this summer. Thanks to the Fortin family and estate trustee Nick Cladis, the details for a major donation from the Fortin family estate were executed to fund the gymnasium project.

Visitors will have to stand back and look up to see another major project.

A new roof on Technology Hall will be a great asset. That building is comprised of the most classrooms on campus, as well as the Ryniker-Morrison Art Gallery, and having the new roof ensures its use for years to come. We will also be updating the two class rooms upstairs and building a new handicap accessible entrance.

Thanks also to the generosity of RMC s 2007 Philanthropists of the Year, Judith. C. and Sam. E. McDonald, Jr., for their six figure gift that helped make these improvements possible.

We re looking beyond the horizon when we plan these projects, to make sure we are ready for the growth in our enrollment that is sure to come, said President Mace.

Photo RMC Archives:

Dr. Arthur H. DeRosier, Jr., RMC’s seventh president.

8th Annual Alumni Golf Tourney set for June 27 The Rocky Mountain College Alumni Association will hold its 8th Annual Alumni Association Golf Scramble at Peter Yegen Golf Course on Friday, June 27, 2008.

Registration will open at noon with a shotgun start at 1:00 p.m. A BBQ will follow at the Red Door Lounge with hole prizes, as well as team gross and net prizes.

The fee is $85 per person or $340 for a team.

Call Heather Nitz at 657-1007 or visit the alumni page www.rocky.edu Photo: Dave M. Shumway, RMC for on-line registration.

Bill Ballard, who served This tourney provides scholarship as RMC board chair for assistance to children and grandthree years, a board children of alumni. member for 20 years, Sponsors this year include and worked on two capiPremier Sponsor, Carl Hansen and tal campaigns that D.A. Davidson & Co., Hansen raised $40 million, Management; Major makes sure he’s ready Wealth for a round of golf at last Sponsor, Biomet Osteo Systems; year’s annual alumni and hole sponsors, The Udder tournament.

Company and Aflac.

1511 Poly Drive n Billings, Montana 59102 Ph: 1.800.877.6259 Find out more about what’s new and exciting at Rocky online at:

Rocky Mountain College

n

www.rocky.edu