Roanoke College Magazine, Issue 2, 2022

The Alumni Gym clock peeks through the crimson foliage of a sugar maple tree in its full autumn glory. Photo by Griffin Pivarunas ’16.

‘A Beautiful Surprise’

After spending most of his life at big universities, Frank Shushok Jr. never imagined himself leading a small liberal arts college like Roanoke College. Now, just five months into his term as the school’s 12th president, he can’t imagine being anywhere else.

BY RALPH BERRIER JR.

Side by Side

As her husband settles into the Roanoke College presidency, the Rev. Kelly Shushok is ready to put her own strengths to work for their new community.

BY LINDSEY NAIR

Shooting for the Moon

Terry L. St. Clair ’65 has been inducted into the Langley Research Center’s NACA and NASA Hall of Honor.

BY BETH JOJACK

row: Brandy Suggs ’25, Lewis Edwards ’24, President Frank Shushok Jr., Annaya Osinuga ’23, Ethan Palaskas ’24; fourth row: Juniper Rogers ’26, Sha-Nyce Tweed ’24, Kaleb Parsons ’23, Indeya Paige ’23; fifth row: Georgia Slappey ’25, Yelyzaveta Satynska ’26, Connor Hart ’24, George Layton III ’24; sixth row: Fariha Sehar ’23, Vanessa Figueroa ’26, George Kendall ’24, Matthew Smith ’24, Esther Darko ’26; seventh row: Jonathon Perry ’26, Kasey Draper ’23, Fritz Kendall (George’s brother and a prospective Maroon!).

Ms.

Mr.

Mr. David B. Mowen,

Dr.

Mr. Kenneth J. Belton Sr. ’81

Mr. Kirk Howard Betts

Dr. Paris D. Butler, MPH ’00

Ms. Pamela L. Cabalka ’76

Dr. M. Paul Capp ’52

Mr. Joseph H. Carpenter IV ’99

Ms. Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo ’78

Mr. W. Morgan Churchman ’65

Iwasa 19-year-old community college student when Roanoke College took a chance on me, awarding me a generous transfer scholarship that allowed me to continue my undergraduate studies. Without that aid, I could not have attended an institution of Roanoke’s caliber.

But money wasn’t the only factor that opened doors for me. I had brilliant, caring professors in the English Department, including Denis Lape, Mike Heller, Katherine Hoffman, Virginia Stewart and Bob Walter. I made friends who opened my eyes to different worlds, staff members who invested energy in my well-being, and alumni who buoyed me as I set out to find my purpose.

Now, after 16 years in newspapers and six years in higher education communications, I find myself back where it all began as I take over for retired College Editor Leslie Taylor. It feels different to walk this campus as an older adult — if you have not done it since you graduated, I urge you to experience it. You will simultaneously be wrapped in memories and keenly aware of the immense growth that has taken place since you left, because Roanoke College does not rest on its laurels.

In this issue alone, you’ll find much that is new: our president and first lady, Frank and Kelly Shushok; our dean, Kathy Wolfe; a competitive cycling program; an MBA program; and more. It is an exciting time to be invested — or reinvested — in what it means to be a Maroon.

I look forward to bringing you more compelling stories about our alma mater and sharing with fellow alumni what’s new in your world, too. Please keep in touch!

Lindsey Nair ’98 College Editor

Ms. Danae Psilopoulos Foley ’92

Mr. Robert P. Fralin

The Rev. Harry W. Griffith

Mr. Michael P. Haley ’73

Ms. Judith B. Hall ’69

Mr. Richard S. Hathaway ’73

Ms. Peggy Fintel Horn ’78

The Rev. Robert F. Humphrey

Mr. John E. Lang ’73

Mr. Patrick R. Leardo

Ms. Nancy B. Mulheren ’72

Mr. Brendan O’Donnell ’09

Mr. Roger A. Petersen ’81

Mr. J. Tyler Pugh ’70

The

Mr. C. Micah Spruill ’11

Mr. Daniel E. Strelka ’89

Mr. Andrew K. Teeter ’71

Dr. Garnett B. Whitehurst

Ms. Helen Twohy Whittemore ’80

Mr. Gregory M. Terrill ’94 and

Mrs. Nicole (Brewer) Terrill ’95 (Ex-officio, Co-Chairs of the Parent Leadership Council)

Mrs. Cara (Bayersdorfer) Kenney ’98 (Ex-officio, Chair of the Alumni Executive Council)

Mr. James Chisom ’84 (Ex-officio, Chair of the President’s Advisory Board)

Roanoke College Magazine

Editor

Contributing Editors

Contributors

Lindsey Nair ’98

Teresa Gereaux ’87

Alicia Petska

Leslie Taylor

James France

Alex McCarthy

Ralph Berrier Jr. Karen Doss Bowman

Beth JoJack

Laura Connelly ’09 Kaylen Ayres ’24 Ivey Kline ’23

Photography

Design & Production Printing

Vice President, Marketing and Communications

Griffin Pivarunas ’16 Sam Dean Ryan Hunt ’18

Mikula-Harris Bison Printing Melanie Tolan

Roanoke College does not discriminate against students, employees or applicants on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, national or ethnic origin, disability or veteran status.

Roanoke College Magazine is published twice a year by the Office of Marketing and Communications for alumni, students, parents, staff and friends of Roanoke College. Editorial rights are reserved.

Questions, comments and corrections may be sent to: Magazine Editor

Roanoke College Office of Marketing and Communications 221 College Lane Salem, VA 24153-3794 rcmagazine@roanoke.edu

221 College Lane | Salem, VA 24153-3794 | www.roanoke.edu

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Mr. Malon W. Courts ’92, Chair

Kathryn Snell Harkness ’73, Vice Chair

James S. Frantz Jr., Secretary

Treasurer

Frank Shushok Jr., President of the College

Rev. Dr. Theodore F. Schneider ’56

It is an exciting time to be invested — or reinvested — in what it means to be a Maroon.

“

PRESIDENT ’S PEN

and that we have a sense of agency to influence their achievement. Further, we can actually learn to have hope by understanding how it works.

In his book, “Making Hope Happen,” Shane shared a little secret to maintaining hope through challenges. He wrote that “there are many paths to [our] goals” and that “none of them is free of obstacles.” As we focus on achiev ing any goal, we have to ask ourselves questions to discover “agency”— our perceived ability to shape our future one step at a time. Do we actually believe we can make progress? Are our goals more compelling than our obstacles?

This exercise may not feel easy at first, but here’s the thing: Hope is a muscle that can be stretched and strengthened. Hope gets unleashed in small moves — what Shane called “tiny ripples.” He put it this way: “The tiny ripple of hope you set into motion can change the path

During my interview process for the presi dency of Roanoke College, a student described the College as a hopeful place, a beau tiful truth I have seen and experienced first hand in just a few months on the job. I have learned that members of our community are among the most tenacious, joyful and generous people around and that offering hope to others — in all ways big and small — is the essence of being a Maroon.

With community DNA like that, I find myself asking, “What can’t we do together?” As the new president, I’m excited to facilitate a community conversation that leads us toward even more hope as we embrace new and bold goals that bring about our next best iteration. Since 1842, Roanoke College has been in a constant state of becoming, and now it is our turn to carry the baton for a season. In truth, I’m confident that Roanoke College can be among the most hope ful places on Earth and that our students can become hope ambassadors in their future work places and communities.

My late friend, Shane Lopez, studied and researched the construct of hope. Shane’s life’s work boiled down to a simple message: Hope is a choice, hope can be learned and hope can be shared with others.

Shane taught me that hope has several com ponents. Hope requires that we have clear goals, that we see pathways toward reaching them,

of someone’s life. It can make their future better. You don’t have to take big bold action or raise a ton of money to spark change. You merely need to create momentum where there was none.”

So let’s dream big together and see where our hope might take us — turning ripples into waves to transform lives. As one of my heroes, Nelson Mandela, put it: “It always seems impossible until it is done.”

Here we go, with hope, Frank Shushok Jr.

As the new president, I’m excited to facilitate a community conversation that leads us toward even more hope as we embrace new and bold goals that bring about our next best iteration.

Shushok talks construction with future homeowner Sirena Perry during the R House build in June.

snapshots

Multimedia Producer Griffin Pivarunas ’16 gets an unexpected shower at the pop-up dog park on Alumni Field on Aug. 26 (top left, continuing clockwise). • Riya Patel ’24 creates a magnificent fireball during the Magic of Chemistry show on Family Weekend. • Jasmine McFadden ’26 and Madison Harris ’24 dance to live music at Fiesta on the Quad. • The 150 th anniversary of the founding of Sigma Chi’s Tau Chapter at Roanoke College drew almost 500 brothers and their guests to Hotel Roanoke during Alumni Weekend 2022. • Roanoke’s newly named campus cat, Salem, relaxes near the Colket Center.

c o l lege n e w s

Roanoke College on its way to an MBA

IT HAS BEEN A CENTURY since Roanoke College last offered graduate courses, but in just a couple years’ time, some students may cross the commencement stage to pick up a master’s in business administration.

Faculty voted in March to approve an MBA program that could be offered to students as early as summer 2023. If approved by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, it will be the first time Roanoke has offered graduate courses since the 1920s, when it offered masters-level chemistry courses.

“I appreciate how Roanoke College and the faculty are always looking to the future and constantly seeking to uncover the next best iteration of what Roanoke College will be,” said President Frank Shushok Jr. “Launching the MBA represents a wonderful and inspiring ‘next’ for our community.”

The MBA degree provides in-depth knowledge and applica tion in the core areas of business: accounting, leadership, ethics, economics, management, marketing, finance and data analysis. The MBA program connects to and supports the liberal arts tradition at Roanoke College by enhancing the knowledge students receive as undergraduates and preparing them for career and professional advancement.

Roanoke’s program will be a four-plus-one program, allow ing students to complete an undergraduate degree in four years and an MBA after a fifth year. It will require summer and regular-term courses and will consist of 11 courses taken by yearly cohorts of 20 students. These cohorts will contain four

teams working together on projects that will culminate in a comprehensive team project.

Richard Grant, senior advisor to the president for strategic initiatives, spearheaded the movement alongside a number of faculty and staff, including Sharon Gibbs, associate dean of academic affairs and student engagement; Michelle Hagadorn, associate professor of business administration and economics; Gail Steehler, associate dean of academic affairs and adminis tration (retired); Shannon Anderson, director of strategic health initiatives and associate professor of sociology and public health; and Charlene Kalinoski, professor of modern languages.

Roanoke College has an established academic reputation in business administration. The Princeton Review has named Roanoke a Great School for Business/Finance Majors every year since 2014. Thirty percent of Roanoke graduates are busi ness majors. The program offers students a wide array of realworld learning experiences in addition to a solid background of the major functional areas of business.

“I’m grateful for the hard work and creative thinking of those that brought this proposal to completion,” Grant said. “This is a great step forward for Roanoke College and our students. It provides a clear, intentional pathway for students interested in expanding their career opportunities in business. It also sets the foundation for the development of new undergraduate and graduate programs designed to better connect our students to high-value careers and meet the needs of the Roanoke Valley and beyond.”

“ Launching the MBA represents a wonderful and inspiring ‘next’ for our community.

— President Frank Shushok Jr.

Johanna Sweet, associate professor of business administration and economics, meets with a student in her office.

ACADEMICS

Building a bridge to the past

OFFICIALLY, THE GENEALOGY OF SLAVERY PROJECT at Roanoke College’s Center for Studying Structures of Race this summer involved research to develop a database of information about enslaved people in Southwest Virginia before and during the Civil War.

Unofficially, the student researchers were working to restore the names and stories of people who have been virtu ally erased from history.

Six students worked on the project alongside Jesse Bucher, college historian and director of the Center for Studying Structures of Race (CSSR), and Whitney Leeson, professor of history and anthropology. They aimed to gather names and information about enslaved people who worked to build and maintain Roanoke College in its earliest days, and to investigate the centrality of those people to the development of Roanoke County. So far, the project has identified the names of approximately 2,500 people who were en

slaved in Roanoke County. The research is funded by the Council of Inde pendent Colleges (CIC) NetVUE Grant for Reframing the Institutional Saga. Researchers spent most of their time in the county archives, located in the Records Room at the Roanoke County Courthouse. Each student fo cused on a specific source, such as will books, birth register, death register, and inventory and appraisal books (estate property records). That meant poring over large, bound books with old, hand written records in search of references to enslaved people, and making hand written notes — because computers are not allowed in the Records Room.

Michele Eaves ’24 read through a book that listed residents’ assets. “Unfortunately, many of their assets were human beings,” she said. “For example, one woman left her entire enslaved population to her nephew, then he later willed them to someone else. I have been tracking the mi

Student researchers Reece Owen ’24 and Sydney Pennix ’24 discuss their findings with Jesse Bucher, college historian and director of the Center for Studying Structures of Race, in the Records Room at the Roanoke County Courthouse.

“Black history is American history and vice versa. They’re not two separate things, they are built on top of one another. It’s important that we merge the two.”

— Sydney Pennix ’24

gration of those enslaved people within the area.”

The team also conducted field research with CSSR curator Lacey Leonard. That included traveling to the University of Virginia to see its memorial to en slaved people formerly owned by the university; visiting Poplar Forest, Thomas Jefferson’s home in Bedford County, Virginia; and visiting the local home of Sarah Betts, a wealthy slaveholder who turned up frequently in the research.

For the research team, absorbing and documenting facts about people who were enslaved was emotionally difficult work. Enslaved people were viewed as property, often not even named in the records, but assessed for their “value” in the same way as other kinds of property.

“You’ll see farm equipment listed, household items, and then a section for horses and cows. Black people are listed there, like there’s no divide. So of ten they were considered just basic property, not as human beings or fami lies or children ... It’s hard to read,” said Sydney Pennix ’24

The students also found that Black history is hard to research, as most records are not online and physical sites have limited open hours. That makes it more difficult for Black families to do genealogy. “These records are not accessible to the average working person,” said Ivey Kline ’23. “One of the big points of the project is to make this history known but also to make it easily findable.”

Four of the students will continue to work with CSSR during the academic year, following up on existing research and recording information in a data base. The researchers will also present their findings in several academic venues, including the CIC Symposium on Remembering and Reckoning with Slavery’s Legacies at Sewanee and the Universities Studying Slavery confer ence at U.Va.

“Black history is American history and vice versa,” Pennix said. “They’re not two separate things, they are built on top of one another. It’s important that we merge the two.”

Eaves agreed, saying, “There is an ongoing connective tissue between what we’re studying and now … Putting in the time and reading these docu ments, it’s been a great opportunity.”

SUPPORT

A gift with ‘transformative impact’

JOANNE LEONHARDT CASSULLO ’78 has been a devoted Roanoke College trustee since 1999, but she said her recent work on the advisory board for the College’s Center for Studying Structures of Race is the most satisfying of her lifetime.

“I am deeply inspired by the research being done by our students,” Cassullo said. “Their work has captured my imagi nation and has opened my eyes to the im portance of researching the untold truths of our history. I am grateful to the College and to Dr. Jesse Bucher, the center’s director, for adding purpose to my life.”

To underline that sentiment, Cassullo gifted a $1.5 million en dowment to support the center, which was established in 2019. Her gift will make possible aca demic programming, public lectures, exhibits, performances, conferences and workshops, student-faculty research projects, course development and staffing. It will also help fund interpretation of the planned memorial to en slaved persons and other histori cal structures on and around campus, and the center’s Maurice Berger Memorial Archive and Library.

One of the students who has been impacted by the center’s work is Ivey Kline ’23, who helped found its Genealogy of Slavery project to uncover and interpret untold stories from the history of Roanoke College and the surrounding area.

“To be able to try out real scholarly research and see how it is actually done and what grad school might be like has been so good for me,” Kline said. “I feel like I’ve grown a lot in that work.”

Bucher called Cassullo “a champion of the kinds of unique learning experiences that take place every day at Roanoke Col lege. Her unequivocal support for the center, and her dedication to supporting new educational opportunities for Roanoke College students, faculty and staff through tremendous acts of philan thropic generosity, will have transformative impact.”

“Their work has captured my imagination and has opened my eyes to the importance of researching the untold truths of our history.”

Roanoke makes two new administrative appointments

PRESIDENT FRANK SHUSHOK JR. has appointed two administrative staff members at the College. Ennis McCrery started as executive director for administration in the President’s Office on Oct. 17, and this summer Richard Grant was named senior ad visor to the president for strategic initiatives.

McCrery comes to Roanoke from Virginia Tech, where she served as special assistant to the vice presi dent for Student Affairs. She was an administrator at Tech for 20 years, serving in multiple roles including director for student conduct, senior Title IX investigator and gender-based violence prevention specialist, graduate student ombudsperson, English instructor, and technical editor for the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.

At Roanoke College, McCrery will be responsible for the administration, activities, communications and initiatives of the President’s Office, and she will assist in the development and implementation of projects that advance the overall welfare of the College.

“I had the privilege of working with Ennis for 13 years at Virginia Tech,” Shushok said. “She is collabo rative, team-oriented, a terrific administrator, gifted editor and poet, and an even better human being.”

In his new role, Grant will manage high-level projects to enhance and improve student outcomes. This will include leading a collaborative Col lege-wide task force to improve stu dent retention and graduation rates by focusing on student experience, including academic engagement, belonging and overall well-being.

He will also work closely with Kathy Wolfe, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College, and other stakeholders to advance the center for Purpose, Life and Career Exploration (PLACE).

“I am grateful to Dr. Grant for taking on this critical role,” Shushok said.

“His successful tenure at Roanoke College, most recently as interim dean, will be enormously helpful as we work to achieve our collective hopes for students and Roanoke College.”

Board welcomes new members

FIVE NEW MEMBERS have been appointed to the Roanoke College Board of Trustees: Greg Terrill ’94, Nicole (Brewer) Terrill ’95, Cara (Bayers dorfer) Kenney ’98, Brendan O’Donnell ’09 and the Rev. Harry Griffith.

Greg and Nicole Terrill have been named co-chairs of the Parent Leadership Council, making them ex-officio members of the board of trustees. Greg earned an English degree at Roanoke and an MBA from Seton Hall University. He was a research analyst at CIBC Oppenheimer and is the president of Chervan, Inc. and TXTUR, furniture manufacturing companies based in Roanoke. Nicole holds degrees in English and

sociology from Roanoke and a Master of Public Health from Colombia University. Her background is in health care administration, project manage ment and education, and she is a community volunteer. The Terrills’ daughter, Nora Terrill ’24, is an environmental studies major at Roanoke College.

Kenney is the new president of the Roanoke College Alumni Association, which makes her an ex-officio member of the board. She replaces Joe Carpenter ’99, who will remain a member of the board of trustees. Read more about Ken ney in Alumni Association News on P. 44.

O’Donnell, who earned a degree in business

administration, is a hospitality industry entrepre neur. He helps oversee real estate assets for Bellevue Capital Partners of Newport, Rhode Island, including three brick-and-mortar restau rants, five food trucks and Newport Craft Brewing and Distilling Company.

Griffith, the retired pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Virginia Beach, is the new Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Repre sentative, replacing Richard Goeres. He is a 1974 graduate of California Lutheran College. His daughter, Karen Griffith ’19, is coordinator of management services for the homeless at The Planning Council of Hampton Roads.

McCrery

Grant

G. Terrill

N. Terrill

Kenney

O’Donnell

Griffith

Roanoke College, Carilion Clinic double down on collaboration

SHANNON ANDERSON, coordinator of public health studies and associate pro fessor of sociology at Roanoke College, has been named director of strategic health initiatives, a role that will bolster the College’s newly announced partner ship with Carilion Clinic.

The partnership, announced in June, formalizes Roanoke’s collaboration with Carilion to prepare students for health care careers, support professional devel opment for Carilion staff and improve community health.

In her new role, Anderson will gather campus colleagues across disciplines and connect them with community lead ers. Their goal will be to brainstorm possibilities for creative and collaborative programs around applied health and well-being, in both clinical and nonclinical settings.

“Roanoke College and Carilion Clinic understand the deep connections between health, wellness, education, employment and the regional economy,” Anderson said. “The partnership will build on shared goals and values and find ways to serve the needs of the most vulnerable in our community by leveraging the resources of both organizations.”

As two founding stakeholders of the Blue Ridge Partnership for Health Sci ence Careers, Roanoke and Carilion had already formed a connection that has resulted in students interning and doing community research with profes sors. The new partnership will greatly expand that effort, establishing a twoway pipeline that will present commu nity-based learning opportunities for students and continuing education opportunities for Carilion employees.

“In many ways, our region’s success has been built on a foundation of partnerships between health care and higher education,” said Jeanne Armentrout, Carilion’s executive vice president and chief administrative officer. “Carilion has benefited from hiring many talented Roanoke College graduates in the past. Their skills and abilities, combined with a passion for serving others, make them an excellent fit for our culture and mission.”

Anderson

“The partnership will build on shared goals and values and find ways to serve the needs of the most vulnerable in our community by leveraging the resources of both organizations.”

— Shannon Anderson

Fall term speakers promote thought, discourse

One of college’s greatest selling points is the ability to routinely catch engaging lectures that open the mind. This semester, Roanoke College students got the chance to hear about everything from pecans to politics. Here’s a sampling:

ROBERT FABRIKANT — Sept. 15

“The Life and Times of Chief Justice Warren Burger”

Fabrikant, a Los Angeles trial lawyer who served as a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger, was the College’s Constitution Day speaker. He outlined Burger’s formative years and pre-judicial career; dis cussed legal aspects of important Burger decisions, several of which advanced civil rights in the U.S.; and shared personal reflections about what Burger was like. He also announced that Todd Peppers, the Henry H. and Trudye H. Fowler Professor of Public Affairs at Roanoke, has agreed to write a biography of Burger.

DR. JOSHUA GOLDHABER — Sept. 28

“Hijacking Biology to Fight Heart Disease in America: Hype or Hope?”

Dr. Goldhaber visited Roanoke College as part of the Shirley C. and Donald E. Morel Lecture Series. Goldhaber, who is the chair of laser research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, is a specialist in the cell biology of the heart. His research employs modern experimental methods to understand pace making and contraction function of both healthy and failing human hearts.

STEPHANIE STUCKEY — Oct. 6

“A Journey in Entrepreneurial Innovation: Stuckey’s Leadership – Then and Now”

Stuckey traded her life as a successful lawyer and politician to buy her family’s business, the roadside chain famous for its pecan rolls. She has since grown the brand, and her talk focused on that journey. Her visit was part of a lecture series sponsored by Pi Lambda Phi Fraternity and the Center for Leadership and Entrepreneurial Innovation.

REV. WALTER KIM — Oct. 11

“Are Evangelicals a Political Movement?”

Kim, who is president of the National Association of Evangelicals, presented the 2022 Bishop Crumley Lecture, which is sponsored by the Benne Center for Religion and Society. Kim has spent nearly three decades preaching, writing and engaging in collab orative leadership to connect the Bible to significant intellectual, cultural and social issues of the day.

STEVE FORBES — Nov. 15

“The Case for Free Enterprise Over Socialism” Forbes, who is chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media, visited campus as part of The David L. Guy ’75 Lecture Series. His talk was also made possible by the Center for Economic Freedom and Young America's Foundation. Forbes lunched with students and taught a class before his evening lecture, which addressed free markets, inflation and the gold standard, flat income tax and the 2024 presidential election, among other topics.

Edward Delos Myers ’27 celebrated in new book

ROBERT C. AYERS ’47 PENNED THE PREFACE in a new book that celebrates the life of Roanoke College Dean Edward Delos Myers ’27

In his life, Myers read and wrote extensively, spoke in hundreds of venues, affected multiple educational institu tions and befriended some of the most influential intellec tuals in the world.

“As the years went by, I came to realize how much I owed to Dean Myers,” Ayers said. “In the spirit of this debt, I thought there ought to be acknowledgement of Myers’s contribution to Roanoke College at a time of post-war tran sition, and a recognition of the gifts he exercised then, and in his continuing work with Arnold Toynbee and the U.S. Department of State.” Toynbee, a famous British historian

RCMediaBytes

The Demands of Millenials & Gen Z: A Guide to Meeting Their Needs

Forbes.com, Oct. 5, 2022

“One thing that I learned my first semester is problem-solving. I think that parents want to come in and save their children in distressful moments. Let your kid take on the challenges, let them spread their wings, let them go and chase after their dreams, even if they don’t know what their dreams are. My parents did a phenomenal job with allowing me to problem-solve, allowing me to make my own choices, and allowing me to deviate away from what other people were doing.”

— Sam Connolly ’25

Many factors drive prevalence of childhood obesity in Roanoke

The Roanoke Times, Sept. 25, 2022

“Ensuring that children have a healthy start includes an array of factors beyond any single metric. Improving childhood health does include support ing nutritional goals such as access to fresh, healthful food and whether kids have healthy school lunches. But we frame the issue of overall childhood health more widely to include other factors such as physical activity, mental health, neighborhood safety and more.”

—

Elizabeth Ackley, Brian H. Thornhill Associate Professor of Health and Human Performance; director, Center for Community Health

Here’s What a $2 Million Retirement Looks Like in America

The Wall Street Journal, Aug. 29, 2022

“My mantra is to wake up in the morning and make a difference in someone’s life … I need to figure out what my next act is. I’m not a person who can sit around.”

— Judy Hall ’69, member, Roanoke College Board of Trustees

and philosopher, was a close personal friend of Myers.  Ayers sponsored research for the book, which was started by Benjamin P. Pullen ’16 and completed by Sandra Brown Kelly, a former adjunct faculty member at Roanoke who also wrote the book. Mark F. Miller, David F. Bittle College Historian Emeritus at Roanoke College, served as the research supervisor and Robert D. Benne, Jordan-Trexler Professor of Religion Emeritus and re search associate and founder of the Roanoke College Benne Center for Religion and Society, contributed the theological postscript.

“Dr. Edward Delos Myers: Professor, Dean, Author, Speaker, Diplomat” will be available for purchase at the Roanoke College bookstore.

COLLEGE IN THE NEWS

Teachers preparing for ‘pandemic slide’

WDBJ (CBS), Aug. 10, 2022

Students are “isolated and they have trouble relating to peers. They didn’t build those relationships with peers that we would normally have seen … It’s really not the child’s fault; they may not have been around any other fifth graders and they’re in fifth grade now, not third grade. The expectations that their third-grade teacher had of them, they’re still meeting; only those expectations have shifted.”

— Lisa Stoneman, associate professor of education, chair of Education Department

Economic experts weigh in on effects of Biden student loan relief plan

WSLS (NBC), Aug. 29, 2022

“Some people benefit from programs, some people don’t. Any time there’s a program that excludes at least some people that isn’t universally accessible to everyone, you get into the idea of fairness. I’ve seen the idea of fairness a lot more with this issue than with others, so that confuses me a little bit … If you’ve already paid your loans, then it’s no longer an issue. We’re targeting particular people who are suffering from current conditions.”

— Michael Enz, associate professor of business administration and economics

Mixed reactions about transgender model policies in public schools

WSLS (NBC), Sept. 19, 2022

“The way they are actually written is going to be really damaging to transgender and non-binary students … I think that our public schools should be safe spaces where students are growing because that’s our goal as educators.”

— Samantha Rosenthal, associate professor of history

Texas is a state of mind...

We unearthed our cowboy boots and hats, dug out our favorite flannels and denims, and brought that big Texas spirit to the MAQ for the Shushok Shindig on Oct. 7. More than 1,000 Maroons and guests showed up to celebrate a new academic year under the leadership of new president Frank Shushok Jr., who hosted the event with his wife, the Rev. Kelly Shushok. The shindig honored their Lone Star State heritage with country music, a mechanical bull and a mouthwatering BBQ feast prepared by Dining Services. Students lined up for free cowboy hats more than an hour before the event began and they were still line dancing to twangy tunes long after the cobbler was eaten and the sun went to bed.

Photo by Ryan Hunt ’18.

‘A beautifu l su rprise’

After spending most of his life at big universities, Frank Shushok Jr. never imagined himself leading a small liberal arts college like Roanoke College.

Now, just five months into his term as the school’s 12th president, he can’t imagine being anywhere else.

BY RALPH BERRIER JR.

Frank Shushok Jr. was late for his first day at school.

Shortly after he was named president-elect of Roanoke College last spring, Shushok was on his way to his first meeting with faculty. He arrived on cam pus 30 minutes early on a gray, drizzly day, which allowed plenty of time to walk from the parking lot to the meeting inside the Cregger Center, accompanied by Roanoke Board of Trustees Chair Malon Courts and others.

They didn’t make it on time.

“We walked across campus, and every single per son we came across, Frank stopped to introduce him self,” Courts said. “He asked people what they were interested in, who they were. By the time we finally got there, we were a few minutes late to the faculty meeting.”

Meet Frank Shushok, the 12th president of Roanoke College. Almost everybody else on campus already has.

“I’m a true people person,” Shushok said during an interview in his office in the Administration Building, one day before fall term began.

At Roanoke, he will be surrounded by fewer people than at any place he has worked in more than 30 years in higher education. Shushok — a 53-year-old father of three who has been married to his wife, Kelly, for 30 years — started his presidency July 1, 2022, after 13 years as an administrator at Virginia Tech, where his most recent job was vice president for Student Affairs. He was also a tenured associate pro fessor of agricultural leadership and community edu cation at Virginia Tech. Since 1987, Shushok has attended or worked at major research and NCAA Division I universities that also include Baylor University, The Ohio State University and the University of Maryland, College Park.

The division he led at Tech has more employees (3,000) than Roanoke has students (1,827). He said that working at Tech was like running a huge company, while being president of Roanoke College is like lead ing “a community.”

“At Virginia Tech, I led a $200 million enterprise,” Shushok said. “The opportunity to lead a community is a shift, but it is aligned with how I want to live my life.”

Meeting the people who make up that community is paramount, whether it’s asking students what’s good about their day, watching games from the stands or chatting up alumni. Shushok is also a pro lific social media user, especially Twitter (@fshushok), where he frequently records his campus rounds.

He posts photos of himself hanging with the DJs on campus radio station WRKE, taking selfies with students during lunch at the Commons, racing with grade school students he believes will make future Maroons, and swinging hammers with Kelly during a Habitat for Humanity project. He has also posted pictures of stu dents visiting Roanoke’s City Market and petting the Shushoks’ adorable 1-year-old family dog, Maple, now considered a cam pus mascot.

Frank Shushok is everywhere, it seems.

Judging by his Twitter feed, it looks like he’s having fun out there, but Shushok knows that the challenges facing higher education are severe, especially as Roanoke College and other institutions battle to find footing in a post-pandemic world. Change won’t always be easy, but higher ed must adapt if it is to remain viable to people’s lives, he said.

“Higher education and all organizations are mostly designed for a previous genera tion of people,” Shushok said. “How do we reimagine ourselves meeting the current generation and generations to come? That will be the biggest challenge, to create a culture at Roanoke that is designed to meet the needs of future generations. This will require innovation, courage, agility and flexibility.”

He added: “The old language of higher education used to be, ‘Are students ready for us?’ That is not a right question any longer. A better inquiry is, ‘Are we ready for them?’”

Shushok is ready to meet those chal lenges, according to friends and colleagues who have known him for years. Many point to his energy, enthusiasm, intelli gence, empathy, and ability to build per sonal bridges among disparate people and groups.

“He’s just as comfortable speaking in front of a board of trustees or legislators

as he is playing cornhole with students,” said Edward Spencer, a former Virginia Tech vice president who hired Shushok back in 2009.

Seyi Olusina, a Virginia Tech graduate who cited Shushok as a mentor during his time as a student, called him a “high-ener gy, passionate leader.”

“He’s one of the best humans I’ve ever met,” said Olusina, now a hospital admin istrator in Charlotte, North Carolina.

ABOVE: Shushok with his family (left to right): Kelly, Christian, Brayden and Ivy Anne.

AT RIGHT: The president grabs a photo with Archie Jacinto ’25 after the Black Student Alliance Faculty/Staff vs. Students Basketball Tournament on Family Weekend.

“ That will be the biggest challenge, to create a culture at Roanoke that is designed to meet the needs of future generations. This will require innovation, courage, agility and flexibility.”

— FRANK SHUSHOK JR.

‘

As Shushok’s college roommate Tim Tutt put it: “Frank was born to be a college president.”

Not bad for a kid from Texas who almost didn’t get into college in the first place.

Frank showed up’

Shushok has filled big roles in his life, but he started small. After spending part of his child hood in Dallas, the Shushoks moved north to McKinney, Texas, a small town — in the mid-1980s, anyway — of about 12,000 people.

In those days, Shushok said, McKinney was a no-stoplight town that was home to a single high school and, as he put it, “two well-regarded restaurants: Dairy Queen East and Dairy Queen West.”

Being the youngest of a family of five girls and three boys afforded Shushok hours of independence, as his parents had long shrugged off trying to keep up with their brood. He and his pals splashed and fished in creeks and played baseball in open fields until it was too dark to see the ball. He loved baseball, especially the Texas Rangers, who were lovable losers during most of his childhood.

“I was incredibly independent. When you’re the eighth kid, no one is micro managing you,” he said. “You have to fend for yourself quite a bit. But everyone was looking out for everyone else, too. That’s where I got my first sense of community.”

He was a popular kid in school, accord ing to Kelly, who met Shushok when they were both 15. The teenagers soon started dating, and they’ve been a couple ever since.

“When I look at him now, I think he’s lived a whole life in one single direction,” Kelly said. “He has always been a natural leader and a people magnet, but not in a hog-the-limelight way. He has also always been focused on everyone else. And I think he just came that way because it’s been true of him for as long as I can remember. We were both nominated for class favorite, and he also won best dressed, which I tease him happened only because he was dating me.”

What he didn’t win was student of the year. Shushok had trouble reading and was diagnosed as a first-grader with a

series of learning disabilities, and he accepted a belief that he wasn’t smart. Shushok muddled through until high school, when a few teachers recognized his potential before he recognized it himself.

“I needed a couple of people to really kick me in the tail and say, ‘You can do this,’” he said. “It wasn’t overnight, but a new sense of confidence allowed me to believe in myself and to begin unraveling the things that kept me from learning effectively. I was dyslexic. I had to take dif ferent approaches to learn and tackle problems. I had to unravel the puzzle, and eventually I hit learning momentum.”

He improved his grades too late in high school and barely got into college. In fact, Baylor University initially rejected him. But when a family friend contacted the university and advocated on his behalf, a deal was struck: If Shushok passed two summer classes — physics and public speaking — he could enroll that fall.

“To my surprise, I got two As,” Shushok said. “It was a shocker.”

He hit his stride as a college student, even earning Baylor’s top honors as both

Shushok poses with students and Rooney during Friday on the Quad.

“ He has always been a natural leader and a people magnet, but not in a hog-the-limelight way. He has also always been focused on everyone else. And I think he just came that way because it’s been true of him for as long as I can remember.”

— KELLY SHUSHOK

outstanding sophomore and outstanding senior. In this moment of personal suc cess, a life dedicated to learning and cham pioning the success of others had begun.

“My life has been a surprise,” he said. “A beautiful surprise.”

He also spent summers working at YMCA Camp Grady Spruce as a camp counselor during high school, and by his 20s, he understood that he could meld aca demics and mentoring into what would become his life’s work.

“The college environment had qualities of summer camp, where I coached, men tored and supported people,” he said. “It was the same on a college campus, with intellectual life included. I realized, ‘Wow, I love learning.’ It was easy for me to see that I could dedicate my life to that kind of environment.”

One of his earliest mentees was Jennifer Meyer Schrage, a student at Northern Arizona University, where Shushok worked with student leaders. She had learned the hard way that leading people and ordering necessary changes can be met with fierce resistance. When her sorority peers bucked important poli cy changes, Shushok backed her.

Meyer Schrage became a lawyer, educa tor and writer who founded RESOLV ED LLC, a think tank that advocates for diver sity and innovation to resolve campus issues and enact social changes. She cred its Shushok for giving her confidence that she could make a difference in the world.

“Very simply, he stood up for me,” Meyer Schrage said. “He heard through the grapevine what I had done and how my peers had responded. He looked up my

class schedule and met me after class and said, ‘Kelly and I are having you over for dinner tonight.’ That night, they talked about their own experience as student leaders. They were there for me during that time. Frank showed up. He literally showed up.”

Making connections

Shushok has a slight sense of selfdeprecation that distinguishes him from other scholars.

Tutt, his college roommate at Baylor more than 30 years ago, remembered when Shushok was a student leader who had to address a huge throng of incoming students during Welcome Week. Shushok took the stage with a guitar in hand and sang … not too well, according to Tutt.

“Frank is smart, athletic, funny and a terrible musician,” Tutt said. “For some rea son that I’ll never know, he played guitar and sang to the incoming freshmen at Baylor. It was earnestly presented and pretty bad. But you could see that this guy had no fear of being authentic and goofy and was not afraid to make fun of himself. He put all of those nervous freshmen at ease. He set a good example for not being

“

Frank has this talent to make a one-on-one connection in a roomful of people and make it feel like it’s just the two of you. He’s in-depth, really trying to figure out what you’re passionate about.”

— SEYI OLUSINA

Frank and Kelly Shushok chat with students during summer orientation in August.

afraid to fail, even in front of a large group of people.”

Olusina had a similar experience at Virginia Tech when he met the then-asso ciate vice president near the end of his freshman year while participating in a fundraising talent contest for the Honors Program. After Olusina performed a hip-hop dance called the “Dougie” for the judges, he invited Shushok onstage and taught him how to do the dance, which was inspired by the popular 2010 club hit “Teach Me How to Dougie” by Cali Swag District.

Did Shushok nail it?

“Oh no, he wasn’t great at all!” Olusina said. “He tried his best with a smile on his face. He didn’t care. He had fun with it.”

Then, after the competition was over and the laughter ended, Shushok button holed Olusina offstage.

“So, what are you here for?” the associ ate VP asked the young student.

That was the real reason Shushok had jumped onstage — to make a personal connection with a student to find out how he could help him achieve his goals.

“Frank has this talent to make a oneon-one connection in a roomful of people and make it feel like it’s just the two of you,” Olusina said. “He’s in-depth, really trying to figure out what you’re passionate about. He wanted to know what I wanted to do with my life.”

Over the next three years, Olusina joined the Student Life Council, helped edit Shushok’s work for an academic jour nal and served as a student representative to Virginia Tech’s Board of Visitors. Today, he is director of business operations for Atrium Health in Charlotte.

“There are so many like me who say, ‘Frank changed my life,’” Olusina said.

also tells you something about how much we saw in this position, how far we came after learning how unbelievably golden it is. Really though, it was par for our life course. Another beautiful surprise.”

Shushok’s enthusiasm is tempered by his concern for the mental health of stu dents, who have endured much in recent years, including political polarization, vio

— TIM TUTT

‘ Places of healing

The college experiences of the Shushoks’ two older children prompted Shushok to consider a shift that led him to Roanoke College. When their oldest son, Brayden, graduated from Virginia Tech, Shushok realized that Brayden had been a very small part in that gigantic “enterprise.” Their middle child, Christian, is a student at Sewanee: The University of the South in Tennessee, which has an enrollment around 1,800.

“Both had great experiences, but watch ing Christian have all those mentoring and coaching relationships, and that investment in all parts of life, really opened my mind,” Shushok said.

Shushok didn’t initially apply for the Roanoke College position, but then his daughter, Ivy Anne, a senior at Blacksburg High School, took a campus tour. She was so impressed that she encouraged her father to apply for the job.

The Shushoks talked about the oppor tunity as a family, then Frank scrambled to submit his materials, joining a pool of more than 100 applicants. Kelly said that the decision to apply was “a 180-degree turn” from the life they had planned, which included spending more time on their 42-acre farm in Blacksburg.

“Frank was the last person to apply for the position,” Kelly said, “but that, I think,

lence, technological upheaval and a oncein-a-century pandemic. Roanoke College, and higher ed in general, must address the needs of its students, which are enormous, he said.

“Many of our young people are discour aged. They are discouraged by political polarization. They’ve seen positive attrib utes of technologies but have seen the deleterious effects of them, which has influenced the increased polarization and affected their overall mental health and well-being. Their sense of their inadequa cies is on overdrive because of curated but mesmerizing images, and they are com paring themselves constantly. They’ve seen a political climate where it doesn’t look like people are working together. They had to persevere through really chal lenging moments related to racial reconcil iation,” he said.

“This is a generation that has struggled a lot, and they want a different world. It’s been hard. In some ways, I dream of Roanoke College being a place of healing. My innate belief is that the people here can make the world better. If we can do that together, then the possibilities are endless. Since joining Roanoke College, Kelly and I have come to believe that this decision will be more than a beautiful sur prise — it’s absolutely shaping up to be beautiful on purpose.” RC

“ You could see that this guy had no fear of being authentic and goofy and was not afraid to make fun of himself.”

’

To the delight of students, Shushok took a turn on the mechanical bull at the Shushok Shindig on Oct. 7.

SIDE BY SIDE

As her husband settles into the Roanoke College presidency, the Rev. Kelly Shushok is ready to put her own strengths to work for their new community.

By Lindsey Nair

Kelly Shushok relaxes on the President’s House patio.

In small-town Texas, it was nearly impossible to miss the arrival of a new boy from Dallas at McKinney High School. It was even more difficult for 15-year-old Kelly Whisenant because the preppy new kid, Frank Shushok Jr., was assigned the locker right next to hers.

He clearly made a good impression, because Frank and Kelly Shushok have been side by side ever since. They’ve been married for 31 years, raised three children (Brayden, 23, Christian, 20, and Ivy Anne, 18) and supported each other’s careers, but their profes sional pursuits have never fully converged — until now.

When Frank was offered the presidency at Roanoke College, his partner — who insists on being called “Kelly” instead of “first lady” — knew it would be a whole-family, bet-the-farm kind of decision. And after the family voted unanimously in favor, Kelly knew she wanted her background in education and ministry to play a role in

”This developmental space is among the most sacred spaces that exist in life, and that’s why Frank and I are so excited to do this together, because I’m not sure there’s another moment in life that holds as much imagination and possibility as this one does.

her husband’s mission to strengthen the College, support every student, and lead the community with creativity and enthusiasm.

“We’ve long lived parallel lives, but we’ve always wondered what it would be like to have the same focus,” Kelly said. “It’s beautiful to say, ‘ You love this thing, so I’m going to love it, too.’ But it’s a whole other level to say, ‘ We’re going to love this thing together, and we’re going to see where it takes us together.’”

From a young age (first grade, to be exact), Kelly knew she want ed to teach. She earned a bachelor’s in elementary education from Baylor University and a master’s in education from Northern Arizona University, then taught elementary school for 12 years.

The call to ministry caught her by surprise, popping into her thoughts unbidden one day at a teaching conference. For a woman who grew up Southern Baptist, the idea of going to seminary felt “as foreign as if I’d had the thought, ‘I think I should be a belly dancer,’” she said. She found encouragement from her husband and her beloved paternal grandmother, whom she and her sister called “Mommu.”

“I began following this pathway into ministry at a time when it wasn’t very open to women, and when lots of people had lots of opinions and advice about that,” Kelly said. “Mommu is the one who said, ‘ Well, we say that God can do anything.’ She leaned into what she knew to be truest and didn’t worry about the rest of it. Everybody should have a cheerleader like that.”

By the time Kelly graduated from Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond in 2013, she’d already transitioned to the United Methodist tradition and become pastor at edges, a progressive congregation of Blacksburg United Methodist Church. At edges,

everyone was invited to join conversations about God, even those who did not necessarily believe. “If it can’t be for everyone, I don’t believe it speaks for God, and so that was the bottom line,” Kelly said.

Under her leadership, the edges congregation grew exponential ly, but after almost a decade at edges and 20 years in church min istry, she began to crave a change. She and Frank had always want ed a small farm, so they bought 42 acres in the Catawba Valley and “a closet full of overalls,” she said. That’s when the Roanoke College opportunity came along, and that felt “real, sacred and a lot of fun.” For now, the farm has become a weekend getaway and a future place to board Ivy Anne’s horse, Dagwood, while the Shushoks focus intently on shepherding Roanoke into the next era.

For both Kelly and Frank, learning is like breathing. At any given time, they have at least a dozen books scattered across their bed, and they are both avid podcast listeners (her favorite is

“On Being” with Krista Tippett; his is “The Daily” ). As a result, they see college as a critical phase in many young people’s lives.

“For many students, it is the first time they ask themselves, ‘What are my own thoughts?’ ‘What are my own values and principles?’” Kelly said. “This developmental space is among the most sacred spaces that exist in life, and that’s why Frank and I are so excited to do this together, because I’m not sure there’s another moment in life that holds as much imagination and possibility as this one does.

“I think our job is simply to partner with students as they claim who they are deep in their bones, and our job is to bring that to the surface in a way that they can become themselves with courage, hope and promise, and without too much fear as they do and believe new things.”

When she looks around Roanoke College, Kelly sees a strong community of people who are capable of helping students suc ceed on those journeys. She also sees history and tradition along side so much future potential, and she believes that mixing those juxtaposed qualities is a recipe for excellence in all walks of life.

“I think it’s so important to understand the story that we’ve come into and to hold that with great care,” she said, “and at the same time, in order to go forward, we have to find new language and new ways of being. I think that’s the role of the church, that’s the role of the academy, and I think that’s the role in every family. I think that is what love looks like.” RC

Kelly Shushok drives nails alongside students at R House Day in July.

SHOOTING FOR THE MOON

By Beth JoJack

Terry L. St. Clair ’65 had never traveled outside Southwest Virginia when he came to study at Roanoke College.

He made up for lost time.

Over the years, his career as a nationally known chemist, respected for innovation in materials sci ence, took him around the world to places like South Korea and Japan.

This July, in recognition of St. Clair’s storied career at NASA, which spans more than a quarter-century, he was inducted into the Langley Research Center NACA and NASA Hall of Honor.

“I don’t consider myself that smart,” said St. Clair, a Roanoke Valley native who is now retired and living in Mechanicsville. “It’s an ability to think and understand chemistry and under stand applications and try to understand how to mesh those two together in order to make them useful.”

Some scientists develop new materials and publish articles, St. Clair said, but they never figure out how to put those materi als to work to benefit humanity.

“You’ve got to be able to do that integration work,” he said, “and work with engineers and people who have much different backgrounds than you have.”

A teacher first prompted St. Clair’s interest in chemistry at Andrew Lewis High School in Salem. After high school, he elect ed to go to Roanoke College in part to save money by living at home. In addition to classes in chemistry, his major, St. Clair found himself in religion, psychology and philosophy classes.

“It’s always good to have a liberal arts background, even if you didn’t know you needed it when you were younger,” he said.

Following graduation, St. Clair decided to go straight to work. He got a job at the DuPont plant in Waynesboro monitoring the quality of Orlon fiber, then went to the Radford Army Ammunition Plant as a rocket quality assurance engineer.

One day, on a day off, St. Clair made a trek to the Powell

Pharmacy in Salem, where he bumped into his former chem istry professor, Charles Bondurant Jr. Bondurant insisted on taking St. Clair to Virginia Tech the following week to meet the chemistry faculty.

“Before we left that day, they enrolled me,” St. Clair said. “He was the one to twist my arm and shove me in there, so that was the reason I went to grad school.”

While at Virginia Tech, St. Clair fell in love with fellow chemistry student Anne King. They married in 1971. The fol lowing spring, after obtaining a Ph.D. in organic chemistry, St. Clair took a post-doctoral research position at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

“My job was to look at polymer chemistry that had already been made there and see how we could turn those into good adhesives for aerospace applications,” he said.

In 1975, NASA hired St. Clair as a senior scientist. He contin ued working on advanced adhesives for NASA’s supersonic air craft program. Over the first 15 years of his career, he frequent ly partnered on innovations with his wife, who also worked at NASA. She later moved to another department. “We worked together really well,” St. Clair said.

In 1984, St. Clair became head of the Polymeric Materials Branch. Over his career, he served on three NASA shuttle teams, studying problems such as how to eliminate debris during takeoffs and what chemical issues contributed to loss of foam on the shuttle’s main tanks.

“He is one of the greatest chemists at NASA,” said Cheol Park, one of many scientists St. Clair mentored who is now a senior research engineer at NASA. “He has more than a hun dred patents and all kinds of awards. So many of his products have been licensed and commercialized as well.”

But St. Clair’s legacy at NASA goes well beyond scientific discoveries.

“He believed in diversity of thought,” said Patricia McDaniel,

another mentee of St. Clair’s who is now a senior research scientist for the U.S. Army.

Early in St. Clair’s NASA career, he found himself sur rounded by mostly white, male scientists. If he wanted to work with scientists who came from different backgrounds, he real ized, he’d have to find them himself.

When he brought up the lack of diversity to NASA adminis trators, St. Clair didn’t receive a warm response. “They became defensive and I became offensive,” he said.

St. Clair set out to recruit women and minorities to his department. One of his early finds was Joycelyn Harrison, an African American woman who was finishing her Ph.D. in chemical engineering. St. Clair’s manager said they couldn’t afford to hire Harrison, but St. Clair found funding through a national fellowship program.

As a fellow, Harrison set up the first smart materials lab at NASA. NASA administrators insisted that St. Clair give a talk about the new facility even after he suggested Harrison would be a more appropriate speaker. When the big day came, St. Clair told the assembled scientists he’d been ill, so Harrison would give the presentation.

Although St. Clair’s manager was “visibly upset,” everyone else was wowed by the talk. “The upper management told my manager to ‘hire that lady,’” St. Clair said.

Harrison, now a professor and associate dean for the College of Aeronautics and Engineering at Kent State University, describes St. Clair as “the most influential person in my life.” She knows at least a dozen scientists, all minorities or women, who were mentored by St. Clair.

“He recognized that it was important to build a pipeline with highly qualified people of diverse backgrounds that could take on, in the future, leading roles in our national labs and in science and engineering,” Harrison said. “He took the long view, and he impacted so many people.” RC

HE RECOGNIZED THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO BUILD A PIPELINE WITH HIGHLY QUALIFIED PEOPLE OF DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS THAT COULD TAKE ON, IN THE FUTURE, LEADING ROLES IN OUR NATIONAL LABS AND IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING.

— Joycelyn Harrison

g i v i n g n e w s

Retired registrar honored with scholarship

FOR MORE THAN 40 YEARS, Leah Russell ’79 was the steady rock that supported the functionality of Roanoke College. Whether she was registering and scheduling students, ensur ing that transcripts were accurate or announcing graduates’ names at commencement, Russell made an impact that will carry on for years to come.

“It has been an honor and privilege to serve the Roanoke College community,” said Russell, who retired in June. “I tried my best to do right and help all these years. I’m just thankful to have had the opportunity.”

Russell, a Roanoke native, served the College in multiple roles, including director of academic records and services, di rector of admissions and financial aid, and eventually associate dean/registrar. But she said her greatest joy has been helping students and learning more about their interests, future plans and journeys after graduation.

Russell is also a champion of community service, volunteer ing in a number of capacities in the Roanoke Valley. She serves on the board of directors for Children’s Trust, and in 2017, she received the Clarine Spetzler Guardian Angel Award for making significant contributions in raising awareness of child abuse.

and Admissions offices. Later, Russell guided her through the interview process for a position in Annual Giving.

“Leah practiced every day with me on how to interview, what questions to ask, and what to wear to my first big inter view,” Heather said.

She credits Russell with helping to begin her career in higher education and said she’s indebted to Russell for her mentorship. She added that many alumni approached her during Alumni Weekend 2022 to express that Russell had been instrumental in shepherding them to graduation, as well.

As a result, Heather and her husband, John Coiro ’91, de cided to ensure that Russell’s legacy lives on, so they created The Leah L. Russell ’79 Endowed Student Scholarship, which will be available to any Roanoke College student with demon strated financial need.

— Heather Coiro ’89

One alumna, Heather Davis Coiro ’89, credits Russell as the “single most influential person” in her life. The two met in 1986, when Heather lost her paper ticket for course registra tion and the registrar swooped in to help. While she was still a student, Heather worked with Russell in both the Registrar’s

“My husband and I are honored to provide the initial funding for the scholarship and hope that many more past students will realize the impact Leah had on their lives and donate as well to the fund,” Heather Coiro said. “We hope that Leah’s legacy of mentorship will far outlast our time on this earth and that countless more students will forever be touched by her legacy. Leah has touched thousands of students’ lives at Roanoke.”

For more information and to contribute to The Leah L. Russell ’79 Endowed Student Scholarship, please visit www.roanoke.edu/Rus sellScholarship.

“

My husband and I are honored to provide the initial funding for the scholarship and hope that many more past stu dents will realize the impact Leah had on their lives and donate as well to the fund.

Leah Russell in her office with hundreds of photos alumni have sent to her over the years.

Giving back for future Maroons

NICHOLAS “NICK” A. BOCCELLA ’71, a Pennsylvania native, chose Roanoke College because he wanted to play basketball.

A member of the 1967-68 freshman hoops team, he didn’t get a lot of play time. But Coach Charlie Moir realized Boccella had other talents: Tap ping into Boccella’s experience as a sports reporter during high school, the legendary coach recruited him as the College’s sports information director.

“I did that job all four years as a student, and it paid for my college tuition,” said Boccella, who also did radio play-by-play for the basketball team and public relations for the Mason-Dixon Conference.

Those experiences launched Boccella’s career. After graduating, he was hired as Old Dominion University’s sports information director. Nearly two years later, he moved to the University of Richmond, overseeing media rela tions for Spiders athletics.

Boccella is grateful for the encouragement and support he received from Moir and other campus leaders such as David Thornton ’48, who oversaw the College’s development office, and Clarence Caldwell Jr. ’41, Roanoke’s longtime vice president of finance and board treasurer.

Wanting to ensure that today’s students receive the same positive experi ences, Boccella has made generous donations to the College each year since 1978. He belongs to the Associates Society, a giving level recognizing donors

Honor their names to support future Maroons

THANKS TO THE THOUGHTFULNESS and generosity of the extended Roanoke College family, a number of new scholarships recently were estab lished in memory of special alumni. If you are moved to contribute to one of these worthy projects, please contact Kim Blair at kblair@roanoke.edu or 540-375-2230.

• The AWS1 James Buriak ’12 Scholarship will ensure that Buriak, who died in August 2021 in the crash of an MH-60S U.S. Navy helicopter embarked on the USS Abraham Lincoln, will have a lasting legacy and impact at his alma mater.

• The Jill Hughes ’91 Endowed Memorial Scholarship was created by Hughes’ parents, John and Maureen Hughes, to honor Jill, who died in 2011, and her daughter, Kate, by providing support to a Roanoke student who has suffered the loss of a parent.

• The Clint Andrew Nichols ’05 Fellows Program will ensure that Nichols’ legacy of service and leadership will live on in perpetuity. Nichols died in May 2021.

• The Durward W. Owen ’55 Leadership Scholarship will be awarded to students with a demonstrated record of values-based leadership, a dedication to service for Xi Chapter and the greater College community, and a strong record of academic achievement.

• The Kyle T. Rohweder ’19 Endowed Scholarship: Read more on P. 43.

• The Seals Family Endowed Scholarship is named for Debbie Williams Seals ’70, an English major, Delta Gamma, and lifelong and professional Girl Scout. This award will go to a student in the English Department each year.

who make annual gifts of at least $1,000. Boccella directs his contributions to the Maroon Fund and to Roanoke’s intercollegiate basketball program.

“Roanoke was a great place for me,” said Boccella, who lives in New Jersey with his wife, Fran. “It was small enough that everybody knew everybody else. I was heavily in volved with the athletic program, and I enjoyed my time there.”

In 1983, Boccella made a career change to the investment industry, joining Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, and in 2012, he cofounded Marquis Wealth Advisors, a firm that manages about $500 million in assets. He also devotes substantial volunteer hours and financial support to Children’s Specialized Hospital, the nation’s leading preeminent pediatric rehabilitation hospital.

Boccella hopes his contributions will help Roanoke remain accessible to qualified students from all backgrounds. He also wants to help boost the caliber of Maroon athletic programs.

“College tuitions everywhere are way too expensive,” Boccella says. “Alumni giving is important to supplement Roanoke’s budget and keep tuition afford able. It’s also important to have a solid athletic program. The College has outstanding athletic facilities. I hope Roanoke will continue attracting superior student athletes — and maybe someday win a national championship.”

— Karen Doss Bowman

Boccella on the job at Marquis Wealth Advisors, the company he co-founded in 2012.

“Alumni giving is important to supplement Roanoke’s budget and keep tuition affordable. It’s also important to have a solid athletic program.”

Linda and John Snyder ’64 donate $5 million for Science Center project

tration of their unwavering dedication to the College and what it means to build a life of purpose. Their generosity will have an immeasurable impact on our science programs, which will have a profound effect on the lives and ca reers of countless students and the communities in which they live.”

Plans for the new Science Center include state-of-the-art teaching and learning spaces, plus a complete renovation of the Life Science and Trexler buildings. The College has raised more than $50 million in cash and pledges for the Science Center to date.

John Snyder, a native of Kentucky, earned a B.S. in biology at Roanoke College. During his college career, he was also president of Kappa Alpha fraternity, president of the Honor Council, vice president of the fresh man class, president of the junior class and a track athlete. As an alum nus, he has served his alma mater as a longtime Associate, member of the Class of 1964’s 40th Reunion Com mittee, and member of the board of trustees from 2005-2012.

chosen to honor Roanoke with a $5 million commitment of sup port that will put the College one step closer to its goal for construction of a new Science Center.

The Snyders said their gift was inspired by John’s fond memories of Roanoke College, respect for President Emeritus Michael Maxey, and a belief in the importance of quality science education.

“Roanoke College is so fortunate to have people like John and Linda Sny der as part of our beautiful Maroon family,” said Roanoke College President Frank Shushok Jr. “Their generous gift for the new Science Center is an illus

Following graduation, Snyder worked for several years at the U.S. Department of Agriculture before he founded EPI Corporation, a Louisvillebased nursing home operator. He said that spending his career in a sciencebased industry only strengthened his belief in the importance of science ed ucation, which in turn fueled the couple’s decision to donate to the Science Center project.

“Courses in science are invaluable. They teach people how to think, and the key thing is that they teach people how to separate fact from fiction when they are attacking a problem,” Snyder said. “I’m excited that there will be a building at Roanoke College where students take these critical classes, graduate with degrees in an area of science, and go on to do great things in the world.”

Roanoke Hillel giving challenge surpassed

ABOUT ONE YEAR AGO, Scott Lustgarten ’87 and his wife, Suzi, issued a giving challenge: If donors contributed a combined $100,000 for Roanoke College’s Hillel Jewish student group, the Lustgartens would match that amount from their own pockets.

“A strong Hillel is a home base for Jewish students and signals that Roanoke College welcomes all faith backgrounds,” said Lustgarten, who has strong memories of his own time at Roanoke, when President Emeritus Michael Maxey — then director of planned giving — and his wife, Terri, welcomed students into their home to celebrate Jewish holidays such as Yom Kippur.

The College is excited to announce that the Lustgarten challenge was not only matched, but surpassed. These generous contributions will

boost the endowment established earlier by the Lustgartens and other key donors. It will also support new initiatives including a Jewish Cultural Week, scholarships to help recruit and retain students of Jewish heritage or religious affiliation, and the hire of an Israel Fellow to engage students with their Jewish identity and with Israel.

“It has warmed our hearts to see the Roanoke community embrace and support Mike Maxey’s long-standing commitment to tolerance and inclusion at the College,” Lustgarten said.

To learn more about the Lustgarten challenge, contact Heather Johnson, assistant director for leadership giving, at 540-375-2041 or hljohnson@roanoke.edu.

ROANOKE COLLEGE ALUMNUS John Snyder ’64 and his wife, Linda, have generously

Linda and John Snyder

“I’m excited that there will be a building at Roanoke College where students take these critical classes, graduate with degrees in an area of science, and go on to do great things in the world.”

Grings gift Roanoke $3.5 million

The plaza of the new Science Center will be named the Dr. David M. and Susan D. Gring Plaza.

“Dr. Gring essentially formalized and extended undergraduate research at Roanoke College dur ing his tenure, which makes this donation espe cially wonderful and fitting,” said Michael Maxey, the College’s recently retired 11th president. “David and Susan’s contributions to Roanoke College are immense, and we are grateful for their service to the College. Science has been an important part of both of their lives, and we are thrilled that they have directed their gift in a way that will bolster the sciences at Roanoke College for future students.”

During Gring’s 15 years as president, the College embarked on several building projects, including completion of the Fintel Library and the Colket Center. In addition, the student body became dramatically more diverse; the faculty

AS A STUDENT at Franklin & Marshall College, David Gring experienced firsthand the value of undergraduate research, which impacted his early career path as a college biology and genetics professor. His wife, Susan, served as executive director of the Carilion Foundation, where she helped raise money for community health and wellness programs in western Virginia.

It was fitting, then, that Roanoke College’s ninth president and first lady this summer com mitted to making a gift approximating $3.5 mil lion to support a student research endowment and the College’s planned Science Center.

“There’s a warm spot in my heart for the place of science in a premier liberal arts college where students and faculty are engaged in the excite ment of co-inquiry,” Gring said. “Susan’s career was spent in health care, which is integrated completely with the sciences.”

To date, the College has raised $50 million toward the $70 million goal for the construction of the new Science Center, which is a critical capital project on the College’s agenda. Every student at Roanoke takes at least three courses from the programs that will be housed in the Science Center. One-third of all courses on campus will be taught in the Science Center. Most of the student research will take place there, and it will house three of Roanoke’s 10 most popular majors: psychology, biology and environmental studies.

acquired a Phi Beta Kappa chapter; and facultystudent interaction increased, with an emphasis on independent study, internships and the Sum mer Scholars program. Gring said it was impossi ble not to get excited about the possibilities cur rently present on the Roanoke College campus.

Gring praised President Emeritus Maxey and First Lady Terri Maxey for their leadership during a period of unprecedented challenges not faced by the College since President Charlie Smith led it through World War II. To maintain forward progress during their tenure was extraordinary, he said.

“When built,” he added, “the Science Center will provide a facility that matches the quality of the faculty and students who will teach, research and learn there.”

“There’s a warm spot in my heart for the place of science in a premier liberal arts college where students and faculty are engaged in the excitement of co-inquiry.”

— President Emeritus David Gring

David and Susan Gring

athletics n e w s

New team, big dreams

“ ”

A 32-HOUR ROAD TRIP with a yowling cat is nobody’s idea of a good time, but Shelley Olds ’03 has never been one to refuse a challenging ride — especially when the finish line promises such a fulfilling reward.

For Olds, the chance to return to her alma mater and coach Roanoke College’s first competitive cycling program for men and women was worth every traffic jam on the roads from Ari zona to Virginia (and every protest from her kitty, Josie). Olds, a collegiate soccer star who went on to become a world-class cyclist and member of the U.S. Olympic Team, said returning to Salem to help build the new program was a “no-brainer.”

“Roanoke College is like my family,” she said. “They asked me to come home and I said yes, of course. I have every inter est in making this the best program that it can be because I want the best for the school, always.”

Roanoke’s cycling team, which has been registered with USA Cycling, is competing this semester as a club sport. The team will soon be elevated to varsity status, at which point it will compete as part of the Atlantic Collegiate Cycling Confer ence (ACCC).

“We’re very excited that Shelley has come home to her Ma roons family,” said Tom Rambo, dean of students at Roanoke. “She is an example of Roanoke College being a place where students can develop and find their purpose. We are all proud

We are all proud of Shelley and know she will be a great educator, mentor and coach.

— Tom Rambo, Dean of Students

Olds, pictured here with one of her bikes, said returning to the Roanoke College campus was like coming home.

Olympian Shelley Olds ’03 signs on to lead Roanoke College’s new competitive cycling program.

Olds shows off the cycling team’s jersey.

of Shelley and know she will be a great educator, mentor and coach.”

Olds, a native of Groton, Massachusetts, was inducted into the Roanoke College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016 for her achievements in soccer and cycling. As a midfielder on the women’s soc cer team, she was a two-time NSCAA All-South Region selection, the 2002 ODAC Player of the Year, and a four-time All-ODAC selection, includ ing three first-team honors to close her career. She left the program as the all-time leader in scoring (98 points) and assists (26), and she came in second in career goals (36).

After college, Olds joined her family out west and began training for a marathon to stay in shape, but a case of Achilles tendonitis forced her to seek a different activity. She began cycling and soon found herself riding competitively. After winning the UCI Road World Cup in China and a stage of the women’s Giro d’Italia, she joined the U.S. Olympic Team and competed in the London games. Despite pouring rain and a flat tire in the

closing kilometers, she finished 7th overall.

Olds’ return to Virginia’s Blue Ridge coincides with the area’s rapidly expanding identity as a cy cling destination. The region, which boasts ideal terrain for cycling, has been named America’s East Coast Mountain Biking Capital and has earned a silver-level ride center designation from the International Mountain Biking Association.

A recent addition to the scene is Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24, a national cycling team based in the Roanoke Valley that aims to prepare female cyclists for the Olympics. Nicola Cranmer,

with whom Olds trained in California, is founder and general manager of the team, which she said is recognized as a valued recruitment platform for young athletes heading to college. Olds was hired by the team last year to direct their races.

“I’m thrilled that Roanoke College will be an additional pathway to education for cycling stu dents,” Cranmer said.

Just days after completing that long road trip back to the East Coast, Olds joined three-time gold medalist Kristin Armstrong, the most deco rated U.S. women’s cyclist of all time and the best time trialist in the sport’s history, for Virginia’s Blue Ridge’s 35th annual meeting in Roanoke. In addition to talking with the media about TWENTY24 and Roanoke’s new team, Olds joined Armstrong for a community meet-and-greet on the Roanoke River Greenway.

“Southwest Virginia is a hidden gem for cy cling that Virginia’s Blue Ridge has already begun to highlight,” Olds said. “I think the start of Roanoke College’s cycling team will help bring national and international recognition to the re gion for its stunning beauty and as an ideal place for cycling.”

Although Roanoke College’s cyclists are start ing as a club, Olds said they’ll be expected to commit to the team and be disciplined and pro fessional. They will register and compete in USA Cycling events, earning points as both a team and individuals. Olds is confident that if she and the team put in the work, they will see big rewards.

“The sky is the limit for what this team be comes,” Olds said, “but one thing will be for cer tain: The riders will be encouraged to dream as big as possible.”

“The sky is the limit for what this team becomes, but one thing will be for certain: The riders will be encouraged to dream as big as possible.”

—

Shelley Olds ’03

Olds’ contributions to the soccer team, along with her cycling accomplishments, scored her a spot in the Roanoke College Athletic Hall of Fame.

Olds competes in the 2012 Olympics Women’s Road Race.

‘A PROUD DAY’

Pirro honored in Hall of Fame ceremony

JOHN PIRRO ’77 has been described as a legendary lacrosse player, a great teammate, a supportive and enthusiastic coach, a wonderful father and a devoted friend. Now, the three-time All-American, who died in 2013, can also be called a National Lacrosse Hall of Famer.

More than 400 attendees, including family, friends and former teammates of Pirro, gathered at the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Mu seum in Sparks, Maryland, on Oct. 15 to cele brate the nine 2021 inductees, who waited an extra year for their event because of COVID-19.

Pirro’s sons, Joe and Nick, and his sister, Mary Jo Pirro-Reynolds, were on hand to accept the award on his behalf. A large group of his friends and former teammates were also in attendance.

“It’s been a long time coming, but it’s quite an accomplishment for a tiny little school in South west Virginia to have somebody in a national hall of fame,” said Roanoke College Athletic Director Scott Allison ’79, who was also a teammate of Pirro’s. “This is a proud day for Roanoke College.”

Pirro’s accomplishments are numerous: He was the first athlete in the history of Roanoke College to be named a first-team All-American

three times. He also won the national Most Out standing Defenseman award twice. He played in the 1976 Superstars Game and the 1977 North/South All-Star Game, and he was twice named an All-South Atlantic Region All-Star.

After two years as Roanoke’s assistant lacrosse coach, Pirro became head coach in 1982 and coached for five seasons. In just his second season at the helm, he led the Maroons to the national title game. Roanoke won the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship every year of Pirro’s coaching career. He was elected to the Roanoke College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1987 and was the first Roanoke lacrosse player to have his jersey retired.

Pirro is just the second Maroon to be enshrined in the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, following in the footsteps of his teammate, Bill Beroza ’77 Beroza attended the induction ceremony.

“I feel fulfilled as a friend, as a player, as a teammate, as a lacrosse enthusiast that John got the well-deserved award,” Beroza said. “Granted, it’s posthumously, but you know what? It doesn’t take away from the accomplishments for him that he can pass along the legacy to his children, his family and his friends.”

John Pirro’s sons, Nick (left) and Joe (right) accepted the award on behalf of their father. Former Roanoke College Lacrosse Coach Paul Griffin (center) presented. Photos courtesy of National Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Museum.

“It’s been a long time coming, but it’s quite an accomplishment for a tiny little school in Southwest Virginia to have somebody in a national hall of fame.”

— Scott Allison ’79

Pirro family, friends, former teammates and Roanoke College representatives gather for a group shot at the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Museum induction ceremony on Oct. 15.

MEN’S SOCCER

10-7-2 (6-3-1 ODAC) Head Coach Ryan Pflugrad ’02 earned his 100th career win, beating Ferrum 6-1.

WOMEN’S SOCCER 9- 10 (5-5 ODAC)

FIELD HOCKEY 12-7 (5-3 ODAC) The team set the school record for most consecutive shutout wins (6) with a 2-0 victory over Sweet Briar.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL 13- 13 (5-7 ODAC)

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY 3rd in the 2022 ODAC Cross Country Championships

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY 8th in the 2022 ODAC Cross Country Championships

MEN’S SWIMMING

3rd at ODAC Relays, 2-0 in dual meets

WOMEN’S SWIMMING 3rd at ODAC Relays, 2-0 in dual meets

WRESTLING

Competed in the 2022 Southeast Open on Nov. 5

NOTE: As of Nov. 9, 2022

RC | highlights

For the latest scores, go to roanokemaroons.com

This season, Grace Vernarelli ’25 was an ODAC Field Hockey Athlete of the Week and was named to the Synapse Sports Div. III Honor Roll and All-Tournament and All-ODAC second teams.

WRESTLING

The wrestling team, which is entering its second season, held its intrasquad Bast Center Battle on Oct. 29 and hosted the 2022 Southeast Open on Nov. 5. Notable returners included All-American and regional champion Mahlic Sallah ’23 and NWCA Scholar All-Americans Jarrod Pominville ’25, Nick Young ’25, Will Kennedy ’25, Mac Cafurello ’25 and Sawyer Dereszynski ’25.

FIELD HOCKEY

Grace Vernarelli ’25 and Saige Bullock ’24 were both named ODAC Field Hockey Athlete of the Week during the regular sea son, while Vernarelli was included on the Synapse Sports Div. III Honor Roll. Martha Hurley ’23 was selected for the 2022 Victory Sports Tours/Division III Senior Game. Hurley and Vernarelli both were named to the All-Tournament and All-ODAC second teams. Hope Keller ’24 was also named to the second team, while Viktoria Warweg ’26 was a third-team All-ODAC selection.

SOCCER

MC Petrucelli ’24 was named ODAC Women’s Soccer Athlete of the Week and led the offense with Morgan O’Neill ’24 in goals and points. Eliza Ryan ’23 earned first-team All-ODAC honors, O’Neill and Petrucelli were named to the second team and Cameron Shackford ’25 collected third-team honors. Harrison Kraus ’25 led the men’s team in goals (9) and points (20), while Zach Behe ’23 has recorded seven shutouts for the team. Kraus was named ODAC Rookie of the Year and made All-ODAC second team. Behe was named ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Scholar-Athlete of the Year and made third team. Dylan Berk ’23 and Chris Jerrild ’23 made All-ODAC first team.

CROSS COUNTRY

Lauren Brown ’23 was named ODAC Women’s Runner of the Week after being the top ODAC finisher at the 2022 Rooney Invitational. Cooper Neeble ’23 has recorded the best overall finish on the men’s team with a second-place finish at the EMU Invitational. Neeble and Chamberlain Zulauf ’23 have been consistent top performers for the Maroons, with Zulauf earning second-team All-ODAC honors after a 14th place overall finish at the 2022 ODAC Cross Country Championships.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Peyton Kirchner ’25 was named ODAC Volleyball Athlete of the Week twice this season and led the team in points, total blocks and hitting percentage. Kirchner’s performance this season earned her second-team All-ODAC honors, while Kennedy Clemmer ’23 was named to the All-Tournament team.

SWIMMING

Women’s swimming won 10 events over Bridgewater in their first dual meet of the season. Both teams finished in the top three at the ODAC Relays.

Mahlic Sallah ’23, an All-American and regional champion, returns to the mat for Roanoke this season.

Cooper Neeble ’23 recorded the best overall finish on the men’s cross country team with a second-place finish at the EMU Invitational.

Peyton Kirchner ’25 was ODAC Volleyball Athlete of the Week twice this season and led the team in points, total blocks and hitting percentage. She was named to All-ODAC second team.

a l u m n i n e w s

class notes

1970s

You can write to us at: Office of Alumni Relations, Roanoke College, 221 College Lane, Salem, VA 24153-3794; call us toll-free at 1 866-RCALUMS; fax us at 540-375-2398; email us at alumni@roanoke.edu or update your record online at www.roanoke.edu/alumni

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James Turk ’79 was appointed to the Radford University Board of Visitors by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Turk is a partner at the law office of Harrison, Turk & Turk, P.C.

1980s

George Meyls IV ’87 has joined Park Sterling as senior vice president and head of private banking. Most recently, Meyls served as private banking director at StellarOne Bank. He holds a B.A. in urban studies and economics from Roanoke.

1990s

Cherie Grisso ’90 is serving as chief executive officer for Richfield Living in Salem, Virginia, after serving as interim CEO. Grisso joined Richfield in 2015 and held the position of chief financial officer until her appointment as CEO. She holds a B.B.A. from Roanoke and a graduate degree from University of North Carolina –Chapel Hill.

Kathy (Marven) Moses ’91 earned the Advanced Pallia tive Hospice Social Work Certification (APHSW-C) in June 2021. Moses has worked as a medical social worker for Good Samaritan Hospice for 28 years. She lives in Roanoke, Virginia, and holds a B.A. in psychology from Roanoke College and a M.S.W. from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Richard Owen ’92 is executive vice president, mortgage banking and corporate sales director of Carter Bank & Trust, headquartered in Mar tinsville, Virginia.

Owen, who has more than 25 years of experience in the finan cial services industry, joined the bank in

2017. He was instrumental in starting the bank’s mortgage division, previously serv ing as senior vice president. Owen, who holds a B.B.A from Roanoke, has also helped launch new programs ranging from traditional mortgages to new construction solutions.

Kim Blair ’93 is one of four regional business and commu nity leaders appointed in June to the board of advisors of Ridge View Bank, headquar tered in Roanoke, Vir ginia. The inaugural group will provide leadership and guidance as the area’s newest bank continues its expansion in the Roanoke region. Blair, who is vice president for advancement at Roanoke College, holds a B.A. in political science from Roanoke and an M.A. from the University of Lynchburg. She previously served as the assistant vice president of advancement for Roanoke at Virginia Tech, and she has held other leadership posi tions in higher education including at Roanoke College, Ferrum College and Virginia Tech.

Russell Hertzberg ’95 and his com pany, Ticket Spicket, received a Rising Star Award from the Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council. The award, presented May 19 at the coun cil’s TechNite event, recognizes an earlystage technology company, emphasizing the importance of small firms on the re gion’s technology economy. Ticket Spicket, of which Hertzberg is co-founder and CEO, is a no-cost digital ticketing platform for schools, districts and associations. In just two years, the tool has grown to 1.4 mil lion unique users, conducting 2.7 million transactions. Hertzberg holds a B.S. in computer information systems from Roanoke.

Israel Pattison ’97 has received his Master of Science degree in business ana lytics from the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business at Elon University. Pat tison was also inducted into the Sigma Iota Epsilon honor fraternity and invited to Lavender Graduation, which is sponsored by the Elon University Gender and LGBTQIA Center. He is scrum master at

Elisabeth Shuba ’92 was selected as 2022 District Teacher of the Year for the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools in Europe East. Shuba, who serves as the ESOL teacher at Ram stein Intermediate School on Ramstein Air Base, Germany, represents a district that operates 31 schools in Germany across 10 communities. In addition to teaching ESOL, she serves as the district ESOL Parent Leadership Council facilitator and provides professional learning to other ESOL teach ers in collaboration with the district office. While assigned to Mannheim, Germany, she taught kindergarten, ESOL and pre school services for students with disabili ties. She has taught for DoDEA for 12 of her 22 years in education. Before joining DoDEA, Shuba taught in Fairfax County Public Schools and the Poudre School District in Fort Collins, Colorado. She holds a B.A. in international relations from Roanoke College and an M.Ed. from George Mason University.

SoftPro, a provider of real estate closing, title and escrow software in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Barry Hubbard ’99 has been named the new dean of the School of Trades, Ad vanced Technologies and Sustainability and the School of Busi ness, Professional Studies and Education at Santa Fe Community College in New Mexico. Hubbard holds a B.A. in music from Roanoke. Previously, he served as

Roanoke College magazine welcomes news of your recent accomplishments and/or transitions.

Masters honored at Medical College of Wisconsin

Bettie Sue Siler Masters ’59 received an honorary Doctor of Science degree at the 2022 commencement ceremonies at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Masters, of Durham, North Carolina, was additionally honored with the dedication of a conference room in her name.

Masters, the Medical College of Wisconsin’s (MCW) first female department chair, led the Department of Biochemistry as profes sor and chair from 1982 to 1990. She is credited for establishing MCW’s joint M.D./Ph.D. program (the Medical Scientist Training Program).

Before joining MCW in 1982, Masters was a professor of bio chemistry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. She left MCW in 1990 to become the first Robert A. Welch Distinguished Professor in Chemistry at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She is now an adjunct professor of biochemistry at Duke University Medical Center.

Over the course of a 45-year career in academic medicine, Masters was awarded research grants by the National Institutes of Health totaling $17 million. Masters’ scientific honors include the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Excellence in Science Award and the American Society for Phar macology and Experimental Therapeutics Bernard B. Brodie Award. She was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and also served as president of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

In 1996, Masters was elected to the National Academy of Medi cine (formerly the Institute of Medicine of the National Acade mies), one of the highest honors for an American scientist or

dean of the Associate in Science Degree Programs at Hillsborough Community Col lege, Dale Mabry Campus, in Tampa, Flori da, where he was responsible for the aca demic operations and administration of more than 60 associate degrees and col lege credit certificates. He served as dean for four years and worked at the college for 15 years, serving as a faculty member and department chair for computer sci ence. He has also worked in student af fairs and administrative roles at Saint Leo University and in the College of Education at the University of South Florida. In addi tion to his degree from Roanoke, Hubbard holds an M.Ed. in curriculum and instruc tion and a Ph.D. in instructional technolo gy, both from the University of South Florida.

Carrie McConnell ’99 is president of Ridge View Bank, a newly chartered finan cial institution headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia. Ridge View is the first new bank to enter the Roanoke market in about two

and a half years. In May, the bank an nounced plans to open a 2,600-squarefoot branch in Salem. McConnell holds a B.B.A. from Roanoke and an MBA from Radford University.

2000s

Amy (Layman) Bayse ’01 has been named vice president, sales and professional service for NorthWinds Technology Solutions.

Jointly owned by Delta Dental of Illinois, Delta Dental of Wisconsin and Delta Dental of Virginia, NorthWinds provides dental and vision administrative platforms and infrastructure services. Bayse has been with Delta Dental and its affiliates for 11 years and has more than 20 years of experience in benefits and health care management. She holds a B.A. in Spanish from Roanoke.

Masters receives an honorary Doctor of Science degree at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

physician. Masters is one of the science alumni who serve on the Roanoke College Science Center Campaign Committee. She re ceived her first honorary degree from Roanoke College in 1983.

The Masters family has many Roanoke College connections. Her late husband was Robert Sherman Masters ’54 and her daughter is Deborah Masters Camitta ’87

Joel Christian Gill ’01 has been named the inaugural chair of Boston University’s M.F.A. in visual narrative and associate professor in the univer sity’s College of Fine Arts School of Visual Arts. Gill, who earned a B.A. in art from Roanoke College and an M.F.A. from Boston University, is an awardwinning cartoonist and historian. His memoir “Fights: One Boy’s Triumph Over Violence” was named one of the best graphic novels of 2020 by The New York Times, and it won the 2021 Cartoonist Studio Prize. Gill also wrote and illustrated “Fast Enough: Bessie Stringfield’s First Ride” and an award-winning series of graphic novels, “Strange Fruit: Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History,” in addition to three volumes of “Tales of the Talented Tenth.” He is currently working on a new graphic novel of Ibram X. Kendi’s “Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America,” which is due out from Ten Speed Press in 2023, and a graphic young adult memoir, “Fitting In,” which was written by CNN’s Don Lemon.

Winning with flying colors

Craig Lefebvre ’74 has been awarded first place in the American Experi ence Category of the 19th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest.

His image, “Indigenous Swirling Colors,” features a member of the Indigenous Enterprise intertribal dance troupe dancing through the sun and shadows in Tlaquepaque, an arts and shopping village in Sedona, Arizona.

The contest received more than 47,000 photographs taken in more than 180 countries. Winners were announced on April 4.

To capture “Indigenous Swirling Colors,” “part of the trick was figuring out where [the Indigenous Enterprise troupe] would be moving around,” Lefebvre told Smithsonian Magazine. “I was trying to work with the light and shadows that were dancing around that courtyard the entire time.”

“Indigenous Swirling Colors” was first exhibited in the Annual Juried Members Exhibition at the Sedona Arts Center, where it sold, and later at the LA Artcore Annual Photographic Competition and Exhibition in Los Angeles, where it received an Honorable Mention Award.

Lefebvre holds a B.A. in psychology from Roanoke and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from North Texas State University. Lefebvre, who said he spends much of his leisure time “leaning into photog raphy,” is a thought leader, leading practitioner and researcher in the application of marketing principles to public health, environ mental and other social issues. He is a founding member for the In ternational Social Marketing Association and serves on editorial boards for two leading social marketing academic journals. He has received awards for his work on improving international public health through social media.

Chris Kilcoyne ’02 has been appoint ed director of athletics at Hollins University after serving for sev eral months as interim director. Kilcoyne joined the Hollins staff in 2021 as director of athletic communications after serving for five years at Roanoke College as director of athletic communications. Prior to his work at Roanoke, Kilcoyne worked as associate director of communications for the Atlantic 10 Conference, assistant ath letic director and sports information direc tor at Randolph-Macon College and sports information director for the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. He earned a B.A. in sociology at Roanoke and an M.S. in sports leadership from Northeastern University.

Sirena (LaBrake) Akers ’03 is strate gic program execution liaison with SAIC (Science Applications International Corpo ration), an information technology compa ny. Akers, who recently moved to Tampa, Florida, with her husband, Jerry, holds a B.A. in criminal justice from Roanoke.

Sarah (Melton) Bayer ’03 has been appointed supervisor of math for Roanoke County Public Schools. Bayer has been with the school system for 11 years, most recently as math teacher at Hidden Valley Middle School. She holds a B.A. in religion from Roanoke, an M.Ed. in curriculum and instruction from the University of Virginia, and an M.A. in curriculum and instruction from Virginia Tech.

Kym (Davis) Ricketts ’03 has joined 5Points Creative in Roanoke, Virginia, as creative lead. Previously, she worked as creative director for z8 Studios and pro

duction manager for Wallace360. She holds a B.A. in art from Roanoke.

Khaled W. El-Nemr ’05 has earned an Ed.D. in educational leadership and policy studies from Virginia Tech. El-Nemr holds a B.S. in mathematics and physics from Roanoke and an M.S. in engineering from the University of Alabama. He lives in Culpeper, Virginia, with his wife, Christie (Vanpelt) El-Nemr ’05

Bennett Love ’06 has joined Churchill Asset Management LLC as principal and head of fund finance.

Love is based in the Charlotte, North Carolina, office of Churchill, an invest ment specialist that provides financing solutions to private equity firms and their portfolio companies. Prior to joining

Churchill, he spent 12 years at Wells Fargo, most recently as director of corpo rate debt finance. He holds a B.B.A. from Roanoke and an MBA from Queens University of Charlotte. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst certification.

Dessa Gypalo ’07 is chief data officer for the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology in Chicago. Gypalo earned degrees in history and business adminis tration with a minor in French at Roanoke College. Previously, she was the inaugural chief data officer for Cook County, Illinois.

Cory Lawson ’08 is the co-founder and artistic director of The Outside In Festi val, a new venue in Lubbock, Texas, that is committed to show casing devised works through the fostering

“Indigenous Swirling Colors” by Craig Lefebvre ’74

and presentation of both national and international artists. Lawson is an actor, director, fight choreographer and current Ph.D. student in interdisciplinary fine arts at Texas Tech University. He has created and performed in shows with the Dutch theatre company Orkater in both Amster dam and New York City. He has also creat ed work with The Living Theatre and helped to found Ready Set Go Theatre, which created the world’s first Shake speare Webisodes. He has also appeared in national commercials and various televi sion episodes. Lawson holds an M.F.A. in

ALUMNI PROFILE

acting from The New School for Drama and a B.A. in theatre performance and drama turgy from Roanoke College. Currently, he serves as director of The Wallace Weekend Players, a theatre education program for youth in West Texas.

Kendra Fagg ’09 has been named as sistant principal at South Salem Elemen tary School in Salem, Virginia. Fagg joined the South Salem staff in 2018 and has taught fourth grade

and been a reading specialist during her tenure at the school. “I am incredibly thankful to be part of the South Salem family and have the chance to lead in the same school division I was part of as a student,” said Fagg, a graduate of Salem High School. She holds a B.A. in psycholo gy with a minor in elementary education from Roanoke and an M.A. in reading education from Virginia Tech. She is completing her certification in educational leadership and administration through James Madison University.

2010s

Alex Burkhead ’11 was one of six in ductees to the Forsyth Country Day School Athletics Hall of Fame in May 2022. Burk head, a 2007 gradu ate of Forsyth Country, a private college preparatory school in Lewisville, North Car olina, was all-conference in football and lacrosse and earned honorable mention all-state honors in football in 2006. He

Getting into the spirits

After graduating from Roanoke College with a B.A. in psychology, Jeff Grimm ’92 worked for several years at the University of Pittsburgh, splitting his time between the Ath letic Department, where he served as an assistant basketball coach, and the Admissions Office.

When interviewing admissions ap plicants, Grimm often shared what he learned during his years at Roanoke: “That a well-rounded undergraduate degree simply demonstrates a broad capac ity to learn,” said Grimm, a student-athlete and member of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity in college.

Since then, much of Grimm’s career has been spent in the information technology services space, which eventually led to his current position as strategic account execu tive with Piper Companies, an elite staffing agency headquartered in McLean, Virginia.

In addition, through a personal friend, he became an investor in — and now equity owner of — a small-batch, handcrafted spir its company called Dr. Stoner’s.

“I was drawn to Dr. Stoner’s through a personal friendship with their national VP of sales,” Grimm explained. “I was im pressed with the product mix, their business plan and pro forma, so I became an investor in 2019.”

Dr. Stoner’s is named for one of the founders, Dr. Craig Stoner, a retired dentist from Winchester, Virginia. It is a four-year-old, small-batch brand of flavored spirits distilled in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and distributed in 22 states and a select number of loca tions in the Caribbean.

Products carry eclectic descriptions such as smoky herb whiskey, fresh herb vodka, island bush herb rum, several vari eties of tequila and, soon to market, “a fresh-charred, ghost pepper varietal for those who like a bit more heat in their cocktail glass,” Grimm said. Ready-to-drink canned cocktails were launched this fall.

“It’s been fun to see the company grow so quickly, as our brand is now the No. 1 selling Virginia-made craft spirit in the commonwealth,” Grimm said. “Rumor has it that a second distillery, tasting room and merchandise headquarters are all in motion for Las Vegas next year.”

Grimm’s time as a student-athlete, along with the opportunity to join Pi Kappa Phi, provided “experiences that were invaluable,” he said. Pi Kappa Phi’s Ability Experience, a philanthropic initia tive that promotes a greater understanding of people with dis abilities, “easily was one of the most impactful and challenging things I’ve ever done.”

In all, “Roanoke had and has so much to offer — the memories are just incredible,” said Grimm, who lives in Ashburn, Virginia, with wife, Lori, and children, Lucas, 16, and Avery, 11. “It’s easy to talk about my time at Roanoke!”

“It’s been fun to see the company grow so quickly, as our brand is now the No. 1selling Virginia-made craft spirit in the commonwealth.”

Dr. Stoner’s is a four-year-old, small-batch brand of flavored spirits distilled in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and distributed in 22 states.

went on to play lacrosse at Roanoke, where he was a three-time all-ODAC se lection and a two-time U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Division III All-Ameri can. Burkhead, who played professional lacrosse for the Charlotte Hounds and the Charlotte Copperheads, is director of prod uct and business for Findlay International in New York. He holds a B.B.A. from Roanoke and an M.B.A. from Durham University.

Phoebe Madden ’13 has launched African Tails, a luxury travel company she describes as “a bespoke travel agency bringing people to Africa.” Madden says she acquired a passion for travel within southern Africa after moving to Lusaka, Zambia, in 2015. She invites members of the Roanoke family to discover South Africa, “a beautiful country with lots of things to do,” including Cape Town tours, safaris and visits to mighty Victoria Falls. Madden holds a B.A. in communication studies from Roanoke. For more about African Tails, visit african-tails.com.

Nicholas Wright ’16 has completed his Ph.D. in biochem istry at Duke Universi ty. He defended his dissertation, “Struc ture, function, and pharmacology of hu man nucleoside trans

ALUMNI PROFILE

porters,” in June. Wright’s research focus is on structural and functional studies of human drug transport proteins. He will be staying on at Duke to complete his ongo ing research. Wright and his wife, Isabel, have a one-year-old daughter.

Madeline Sefcik ’17 is the newly appointed assistant to the county administra tor in Roanoke County, Virginia. She moved to the position after serving as clerk to the board of supervisors and manager of public affairs in Franklin County, Virginia. Sefcik is a Maroon Mentor for Roanoke students interested in local government; Alpha Sigma Alpha advisor for the Roanoke College chapter; a member of the Junior League; and was named one of Roanoker magazine’s “40 Under 40” for 2022. She holds a B.B.A. from Roanoke.

Kelsey Goodman ’19 has been named assistant coach of the women’s volleyball team at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. She moves to her new position after serving as head coach of the women’s volleyball program at Mitchell College in New London, Con necticut. Prior to joining the staff at Mitchell, Goodman served as an assistant coach at Randolph College in Lynchburg,

Taylor Briese ’17, a teacher and cocoordinator of the middle school program at Noel C. Taylor Learning Academy in Roanoke, Virginia, was selected as a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Scholar. Briese participated in an NEH Summer Teacher Institute titled “Common Ground: Americans and Their Land During the Gilded Age and Progres sive Era.” The two-week program was held July 11-23 in New York City and at SUNY Cortland’s Camp Huntington in the Adirondacks, New York. Briese, who holds a B.A. in history from Roanoke, is one of 25 teachers selected from a national applicant pool to participate in the program. Each Summer Scholar received a stipend of $2,200 to cover their travel, study and living expenses.

Virginia, and worked summer camps at Midlothian High School, Richmond Volley ball Club and STAR Volleyball Camps. A native of Chesterfield, Virginia, she was a four-year letter winner in women’s volleyball at Roanoke and a member of the College’s SAAC (Student-Athlete Advisory Committee) all four years. She holds a B.S. in health and physical education from Roanoke and an M.S. in sports manage ment from Liberty University.

2020s

Claire Kivior ’20 is public relations manager for Thinknum Alternative Data in New York, New York. She holds a B.A. in communications and political science from Roanoke.

Rebecca Marsh ’21 is regional staff assistant for U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine. Marsh, who is based in Kaine’s Roanoke, Virginia, office, holds a B.A. in communications and political science from Roanoke.

Gudino receives library conference grant

Erica Gudino ’21 has been selected by the Virginia Library Association to receive a travel grant to attend the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color in St. Petersburg, Florida, in October.

The Joint Council of Librarians of Color, formed in 2015, is a nonprofit organization that advocates for and addresses the common needs of the American Library Association ethnic affiliates. The travel grant will provide Gudino $1,500 to be used for conference regis tration, travel, meals and accommodations at the conference hotel.

Gudino is a library assistant at the William R. and Norma B. Harvey Library’s Peabody Special Collections at Hampton University.

“I am extremely excited to have received the JCLC Travel Grant from the VLA,” Gudino said in a news release announcing the award. “As a library professional new to the field, I look for

ward to attending the JCLC Conference to better serve my patrons. With this opportu nity, I plan to learn how other HBCU libraries, and other predominantly minority-serving libraries, are working to better connect with their patrons and expand their collections.”

Gudino, who holds a B.A. in sociology from Roanoke, is currently pursuing a Master of Library and Information Science degree at Old Dominion University. After completing her degree, she plans to continue her career in librarianship at a community college library in Virginia to help patrons from all walks of life continue their education.

“I am primarily interested in any new out reach initiatives for more user engagement, both digitally and in person, since the pandemic has drastically impacted our patron traffic,” Gudino said.

Maroons cross country/track and field alumni gathered April 15 for dinner in Salem with former Head Coach Finn Pincus. From left to right, Melissa Bauerle ’16, Claire Brooks ’17, Margot (Warner) Fintel ’17, Ellen Bauer ’18, Hannah Cline Curtis ’15, Jed Curtis ’13, Haylee McGuire ’19, Caity Ashley ’17 and Coach Pincus, who served for 25 years as head coach for men’s and women’s cross country and track and field at Roanoke.

marriages

Katherine Fielding ’05 and Mark Hasty wed on March 19, 2022, in Freder icksburg, Texas. She was in Delta Gamma at Roanoke and is now in her 17th year with Fidelity Investments. The couple make their home in Northlake, Texas.

Eryka Darrow ’15 and Joseph

Tedeschi married on April 9, 2022, at the Winery at Bull Run in Centreville, Virginia. Alumni in the wedding party included bridesmaids Morgan Elston ’15 and Alison (Velchik) Makepeace ’15, and officiant Nicholas Apelquist ’15. The newlyweds live in Chantilly, Virginia, with Freya, their Swedish vallhund.

Dylan Torey ’15 and Jillian Vasco ’15 were married at The Sailfish Club in

Three Roanoke College alumni played Division II lacrosse during the spring 2022 season as they worked toward their MBA degrees at Florida Tech. They were given an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA because of COVID-19. Pictured from left to right are: Sam Balch ’21, Josh Vetter ’20 and Cole Marini ’20. All three were starting defensive players for Florida Tech this season, and Vetter is also a team captain and pre-season All-American candidate.

Palm Beach, Florida, on April 23, 2022. A number of fellow Roanoke alumni were in the wedding party, including Margaret “Molly” Maloney ’15, Anna (Boyer) McGrath ’15, Kate Nasca ’15, Bridget (Daily) Long ’16, Thomas Wilson ’15, James McGrath ’15, Gilman Long ’14 and Wes Pancoast ’15. Vasco works as senior associate of consultant relations at EnTrust Global of New York and Torey is an

investment sales broker for Marcus & Millichap, a commercial real estate firm in New York. They make their home in New Canaan, Connecticut, with their dog, Brut.

Alexandra Martin ’16 and Clark Crutchfield ’16 were married on June 11, 2022, in Roanoke, Virginia. She is the daughter of Martha (Anderson) Martin ’84 and Bill Martin Jr., a manager in Roanoke College’s Landscaping and

Alexandra Martin ’16 and Clark Crutchfield ’16 with the bride’s father, Roanoke College staff member Bill Martin Jr., and mother, Martha (Anderson) Martin ’84. Vasco-Torey wedding

Roanoke alumni in attendance at the Smith-Brodeur wedding.

Fielding-Hasty wedding

Harkey-Brown wedding

Darrow-Tedeschi wedding

Grounds Department. Martin works for the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs, a professional hockey team, and Crutchfield works for Branch Builds. The couple live in Roanoke.

Bree Smith ’16 and Daniel Brodeur ’17 wed on March 19, 2022, in Richmond, Virginia. Nearly 25 Roanoke alumni were in attendance. The couple live in Midlothi an, Virginia.

Clair Harkey ’18 and Evan Brown ’19 married on Feb. 4, 2022, at the Manor House in Littleton, Colorado. Twenty-three Roanoke College alumni were in atten dance. The couple live in Denver, where she is an IT account executive for Technol ogy Integration Group and he is an analyst for Willis Towers Watson, a multinational risk management, insurance brokerage and advisory company.

families

Patrick E. Leardo ’06 and wife Emma celebrated the birth of son Patrick Michael Leardo on May 22, 2022. Big sister Rose marie is enjoying her new role! The family

lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Bennett Love ’06 and wife Tamara welcomed a son, Holden James Cao Love, on April 12, 2022. The family lives in Char lotte, North Carolina.

Albert “Nickel” Lietzau V ’09 and wife Danielle welcomed a daughter, Anna Catherine Lietzau, on Feb. 28, 2022. Anna joins siblings Albert VI, age 4, and Quinn, age 3. Lietzau is a risk management con sultant with the Oxford Risk Management Group in Sparks, Maryland.

Michael Martin ’09 and Lauren (Price) Martin ’10 celebrated the birth of son Caleb Raymond Martin on May 19, 2022. Caleb joins big sister Lily, age 4. The family lives in Roanoke, Virginia, where Michael is a teacher and Lauren is a social worker.

Matt Bolling ’10 and wife Kelsey (Gillenwater) Bolling ’12 celebrated the birth of daughter Molly Pierce Bolling on Feb. 24, 2022. Molly joins big sister Helen Claire Bolling, who is 2.

Michael Willson ’10 and wife Sarah welcomed daughter Adeline James Willson on Jan. 19, 2022. The family lives in York, Maine.

Margot (McDonald) Aker ’11 and husband Colin welcomed daughter Carter Frances Aker on Dec. 23, 2021.

Stanley “Chip” Ward Jr. ’13 and Lichele (Pace) Ward ’14 welcomed their second child, a son named Carr Simeone, on July 23, 2022. Carr’s brother is 18month-old Kite. The family lives in Need ham, Massachusetts.

in memoriam

Charline (Buchanan) Tinnon ’37 (Marion College) died on May 18, 2022, at her home in the Meadow Ridge retire ment community in Redding, Connecticut. She was 106. Tinnon received her teach ing credentials from Roanoke’s sister college, Marion Junior College, in 1934, then went on to attend the College of William & Mary. After a brief teaching career, Tinnon worked as a full-time homemaker and mother. She was a mem ber of Daughters of the American Revolu tion for more than 40 years and a member of The Mayflower Society. She enjoyed playing bridge and golf.

Elizabeth (Snyder) Fisher ’46 died on March 3, 2022, in Roanoke, Virginia. At Roanoke College, Fisher served as pres ident of her freshman class and joined Sig ma Kappa Phi, devel oping friendships that lasted a lifetime. At Roanoke, she also met Carlton H. Kiser ’49, whom she would later marry. The couple raised four daughters, all of whom attended Roanoke College. In the years that followed, grandchildren, nieces and nephews would also become Maroons. Fisher was active for many years in the Long Island Alumni Association Chapter and served as a Girl Scout troop leader. After Carlton Kiser’s death in 1979 and the death of her second husband, William Roe Sr., in 1981, she married Charles “Hap” Fisher ’28, a beloved member of the Roanoke College family, in 1991. The two remained married until his death in 2011 at the age of 104. Surviving family mem bers include daughters Lynn (Kiser) Fisher ’68, Lauren (Kiser) Dawson ’71, Patricia (Kiser) Cosenza ’73 and

Patrick Michael Leardo

Anna Catherine Lietzau

Caleb Raymond Martin Holden James Cao Love

Molly Pierce Bolling

Margot (McDonald) Aker ’11 with husband Colin and new baby girl Carter Frances.

Stanley “Chip” Ward Jr. ’13 with 18-monthold Kite and baby boy Carr Simeone. Adeline James Willson

‘A life that we all can aspire to live’

It is hard to sum up the life of George Kegley ’49 in a few words. He was a longtime, old-school journalist, serving as a reporter and business editor of The Roanoke Times for 42 years. After he retired, he focused on his volunteer jobs — and there were many of them. He was the editor of The Virginia Lutheran newsletter for 60 years.

Kegley died on Feb. 16, 2022, at the age of 93.

Kegley was a legend at Roanoke College. He graduated in 1949 with a B.A. in English and began working at The Roanoke Times and World-News that same year. Kegley was a lifetime Roanoke College Associate and was a member of the Society of 1842. He received an honorary degree from Roanoke in 2001 and the Roanoke College Medal in 1985 — the highest honor alumni can receive.

“George Kegley lived a life that we all can aspire to live through his service, leadership and compassion for others,” said Michael Maxey, 11th president of Roanoke College. “He is among Roanoke College’s greatest graduates.”

— George Kegley ’49

Kegley served two years in the U.S. Army stationed at Ft. Knox, Kentucky, before returning to Roanoke.

His volunteer service included working with refugees and atrisk children, and working at a homeless shelter. He donated blood at the American Red Cross on a regular basis. He was a de voted member of local historical groups and was a founder of the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation. He was a leader in the Historical Society of Western Virginia, a director of the Virginia History Federation and a board member for the Western Virginia Land Trust. He owned a historical home and did much to save and restore it over the years.

Kegley also was a devoted Lutheran. In addition to his work with The Virginia Lutheran newsletter, he taught Sunday school and served his church in a variety of ways.

In 2014, Roanoke College Magazine profiled 10 alumni, all of whom embodied what is central to the College’s mission and purpose, and all of whom had discovered what it means to be engaged in making a difference in the lives of others. Kegley was one of those 10. His profile contained a description of his volunteer service:

“Through the Lutheran Cooperative Ministry, he rounds up inner-city children each summer, outfits them with camping supplies and takes them to a week-long camp near Luray, Vir

ginia. For years, he has worked with refugees, including families from Vietnam, Hungary, Afghanistan and Liberia. He is chairman of the Endangered Sites Committee of the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation. He has served on the boards of the Roanoke Rescue Mission, Pastoral Counseling Center, Western Virginia Land Trust, the Brandon Oaks Advisory Board and more. George edits the Journal of the Historical Society (he has worked for the Historical Society of Western Virginia for more than 30 years), as well as the monthly Virginia Lutheran and the quar terly insert for The Lutheran national magazine.”

That was only a portion of what could have been written.

Kegley said then that in the years since his retirement, “I have become increasingly aware of the many needs facing less fortu nate people in our community. As I work with refugees, people at our church food pantry and those on my Meals on Wheels route, I see so many elderly and disabled folks who for many different reasons are barely getting by with little or no hope of a comfort able future.

“If I can make their lives a little brighter, I hope I have helped the community and I have a sense of fulfillment.”

“If I can make their lives a little brighter, I hope I have helped the community and I have a sense of fulfillment.”

Kegley makes a delivery on his Meals on Wheels route.

Pamela (Kiser) Goodwin ’73; grand daughter Barbara (Long) Bishop ’90; grandsons James Goodwin ’02 and Garrett Cosenza ’06; nephew William Sny der ’72; and niece Janet K. Snyder ’67 William “Bill” Williams ’49, of Ardencroft, Delaware, died on Aug. 16, 2021. Williams was retired from DuPont. Cynthia (Ellis) Barone ’51 died on March 11, 2022, in Watertown, Connecti cut. Barone served as vice president for Walsh Computer Systems in the 1980s, later opening her own business, Barone’s Computer Systems, which she operated until 2021. Barone, an avid gardener, was very involved with her church and was a lifelong New York Yankees fan.

Audrey (Schneider) Marshall ’52, of Fullerton, California, died on July 18, 2022.

Marshall earned a B.A. in political science from Roanoke in 1952.

After working in insur ance, she became as sistant to the editor of political science text books in the College Division at Prentice Hall in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. She was preceded in death by her husband, John C.L. “Chuck” Marshall Jr. ’52, whom she met as a student at Roanoke.

Ira L. Gravett Jr. ’55, of Petaluma, California, died on Feb. 10, 2022.

James E. Peverall Sr. ’57, of Mar

IN MEMORIAM FACULTY/STAFF

tinsville, Virginia, died on March 11, 2022. Peverall was a decorated Korean War vet eran and a Virginia state trooper. He retired as a special agent with the U.S. Treasury Department.

Dr. Gilmer C. Ayers ’58, of Waynes boro, Virginia, died on May 24, 2022. After graduating from Roanoke, he entered the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He then served in the U.S. Air Force for two years at Pope Air Force Base before continuing his life’s mission of helping people as a physician. Ayers was prede ceased by his wife, Florence (Robey) Ayers ’58

Ernest M. “Ernie” Clayton Jr. ’58, of Annapolis, Maryland, died on March 2,

2022. After graduating from Roanoke, Clayton earned a master’s degree in edu cation from the University of Maryland. He had a 30-year career with Anne Arundel County Public Schools, serving as a teacher, guidance counselor and adminis trator. After retiring, he pursued part-time work as a florist. He also co-led a Cub Scout troop, was an active member of the Community United Methodist Church in Crofton, Maryland, and enjoyed activities with the Seasoned Seniors.

Robert G. “Bob” Garrett Jr. ’58, of Roanoke, Virginia, died on April 7, 2022. Garrett worked for Appalachian Power Company before joining Roanoke Electric

Remembering Jenny Rosti, ‘angel on Earth’

Jenny Rosti sent students to places they never dreamed they could go.

As Roanoke College’s director of major scholarships and fellowships since 2013, Rosti was directly responsible for shepherd ing nearly a decade’s worth of students through the arduous process of applying for nationally competitive opportunities. And with her support, dozens of students received top awards.

“Jenny changed lives,” said Wendy R. Larson-Harris, chair of the English and Communication Studies Department. “There was a continuous stream of students coming to her office, and Jenny had the warmth and energy to give everyone the attention and assistance they needed.”

Rosti, who died on March 18, 2022, taught English and was director of the Writing Center at Roanoke before taking on the role of helping students prepare award applications. She took a burgeoning program and built on that foundation to elevate the College’s profile into that of a national powerhouse producing Fulbright Scholars and other national fellowship recipients.

Rosti’s dedication to the program was highlighted in the 2017-2018 academic year, when the College made the list of top Fulbright U.S. student-producing institutions. The College has had at least one Fulbright winner every year since, in addition to recipients of other awards, including Gilman Scholarships and Critical Language Awards.

Savannah Scott ’17 received the College’s first Fulbright to Europe in 2017, which allowed her to study at the University of

Technology in Vienna, Austria.

“It is so hard to come up with words to describe the sunshine that Jenny brought with her,” Scott said. “She is the reason I had the opportunity to study and work as a Fulbright student, and she is the reason I became the person I am today. Jenny had this way of making you feel like you could do anything and was always the first to cheer when you achieved your dreams. That will be her legacy.”

Her radiance and positivity are remem bered by those who knew her.

“Jenny Rosti was a one-of-a-kind woman — a real angel on Earth,” said Colleen Mor rison ’13. “She cared more about her stu dents than anyone, and she was the best cheerleader and support system. She could make you laugh no matter what mood you were in. Put simply, to know her was to love her, and I’ll miss her very much.”

Rosti’s family has established a scholarship in her name at Roanoke College.

“Roanoke College students routinely achieve the most presti gious awards, grants and fellowships in the nation; Professor Rosti is the reason,” said Daniel Osborne ’17. “I speak for all students who have worked with Professor Rosti when I say this: The magic to her method was not merely an ability to see brilliance in students, but her unique power to make us see brilliance in ourselves.”

For more information and to contribute to the Professor Jennifer O. Rosti Endowed Scholarship, please visit roanoke.edu/rostischolarship.

Jenny Rosti

A beloved mentor’s final curtain

George Arthur, Roanoke College’s longtime technical director of Olin Theater, died on April 1, 2022. He was 67.

Arthur retired in 2015 after working in Olin for 37 years. He was the technical director for Olin Theater, an instructor in the Theatre Program, and the set and lighting designer for Theatre Roanoke College events for many years. He also assisted in the production of countless events at Olin Theater. In addition, he taught in the College’s Elderscholar pro gram and worked with schools and local theatre performances.

Arthur was the 1996 recipient of the Dean’s Council Award for Exemplary Service for his excellent work with fac ulty, staff, students, artists, dignitaries and the public. Arthur held a Master of Fine Arts in technical theatre from UNC-Chapel Hill.

At his retirement party, Arthur was surprised by several for mer shop assistants and alumni of Roanoke’s Theatre Program. He was especially pleased by the announcement that an en dowed scholarship was being created in his honor. The George N. Arthur Endowed Student Scholarship in Technical Theatre Arts was created in recognition of his service, mentor ship and commitment to students in pursuit of excellence in the technical theatre arts.

Arthur was a master woodworker and often could be found at campus and regional craft shows. He put his skills to use in the creation of a special piece that hangs in Roanoke College’s Antrim Chapel: the Bittle Tree of Life Cross. Arthur crafted the symbolic cross from wood of the Bittle Tree, a tulip poplar planted by Roanoke Col lege founder David Bittle. The tree was damaged and had to be removed in 2013 after more than 100 years. When Chaplain Chris Bowen wanted to update Antrim Chapel, he enlisted the newly retired Arthur to create the beauti ful cross.

Tributes for Arthur poured out on social media and in conversations as alumni recalled his influence.

“Even though he had retired in 2015, for generations of Roanoke College stu dents, there is no Fine Arts Department, Olin Hall or Theatre Roanoke College without George,” said Jeff Walker ’88. “He was more than a mentor to nearly everyone who majored or minored in theatre, or even just took stagecraft. We were blessed to know him and will now cherish the memories even more.”

“I remember working on ‘Trojan Women,’ where I had to deliver lines from the top tier of very high scaffold ing on the stage,” said Toni (Herron) Payne ’87. “George worked with me to overcome my fear of heights so I could do it. I’d go by Olin Hall when he had office hours, and he’d encourage me as I went higher little by little. It is one of my fondest memories.”

Payne also attended Northside High School in Roanoke County, Virginia, where Arthur’s wife, Karen, was the theatre teacher. “Since Karen was my director, George literally taught me everything I know about technical theatre since we built all our North side sets under his direction too!”

Amy Chiarello Barnett ’89 said simply, “George was a very special part of my Roanoke experience.”

Kent Raine ’88 posted this lovely tribute on Facebook:

Jeff Walker ’88

“We will miss George’s occasional visits since his retirement,” said Gordon Marsh, chairman of the College’s Fine Arts Depart ment. “Just a week ago, he was in the main office, happy as a clam. Passionate about our mission of bringing the arts to the community, George loved hearing what was going on in Olin, and he took particular pleasure in learning what students were up to in theatre.”

“He didn’t die. He just turned off the lights, struck the set, packed up his tools and headed to the next venue. He’s loading in now. We will all hear his laugh, listen to his instruc tions and mount yet another produc tion when the time is right. Our stage here is dimmed, for sure, but another stage elsewhere is ready for the curtain to go up. He’s there, shooting blow darts backstage, fixing things at the last second, admonishing people to be quiet and encouraging them to give it their best. Brush up on your Shakespeare, George … the lights are coming up.”

more information and to contribute to the George N. Arthur Endowed Student Scholarship in Technical Theatre Arts at Roanoke College, please visit roanoke.edu/ArthurScholarship.

For

“Even though he had retired in 2015, for generations of Roanoke College students, there is no Fine Arts Department, Olin Hall or Theatre Roanoke College without George.”

—

Arthur at work in Olin Theater.

Former music professor dies at 90

Donald G. Moe, professor of music emeritus, died on July 16, 2022, at his home in Waynesville, North Carolina. He was 90.

Moe earned a B.S. in music educa tion from the University of Wiscon sin Milwaukee, a master’s in choral conducting from Indiana University, and a Ph.D. in choral literature from the University of Iowa. He began teaching music at Roanoke College in 1968, retiring in 1996.

Moe was a lifelong organist, pianist, choral conductor and scholar who specialized in the music of J.S. Bach. He was the first person to play the Casavant pipe organ when it was originally installed at the dedication of Antrim Chapel in 1970. He returned in 2018, after his retirement, to play the renovated organ dedicated in his honor.

Patricia Trail ’83 remembers Moe as a caring professor. “He was extremely knowledgeable about sacred music, and for me that ended up being my career,” she said. “He just had a wealth of knowledge, especially about Bach and his compositions, and he always had a door open for students.”

Trail has been a church musical director for 37 years and is also the conductor of the Roanoke Valley Choral Society. She said the lessons she learned from Moe have been instrumental in her

Steel, where he worked for more than 25 years as a project manager. A member of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Roanoke, Virginia, for more than 50 years, Garrett served on its board of trustees and was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution.

Carey B. Washburn ’58, of Kinston, North Carolina, died on March 10, 2022. After graduating from Roanoke, Washburn was employed for 30 years as a chemist at DuPont. He served on the Kinston City School Board, the Kinston City Council, ElectriCities of North Carolina, the Lions Club, the Lenoir Memorial Hospital Foundation, and other civic and charitable organizations. He was a 64-year member of Spilman Memorial Baptist Church in Kinston.

William E. Johnson Jr. ’59 died on Jan. 10, 2022, at his home in Maricopa, Arizona. Johnson grew Johnson Foods, Inc. into a company spanning multiple states, operated a successful Angus cattle farm and created Johnson Investments, Inc. He also served on the board of Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia, from which he graduated before entering Roanoke College.

Richard “Dick” L. Engel ’60, of Char

lottesville, Virginia, died on July 4, 2022. Engel attended Roanoke College on an athletic scholarship and graduated with a degree in education. He dedicated his life to teaching and coaching in the Char lottesville public school system, coaching golf, soccer, lacrosse and field hockey. He was awarded the Andrew M. Kirkpatrick Memorial Award from the U.S. Lacrosse Coaches Association for 20 years of serv ice as a lacrosse official. He was also the official scorekeeper for the University of Virginia basketball team for many years and was a devout fan of U.Va. athletics. Engel was inducted into the Roanoke Col lege Athletic Hall of Fame in 1983 for his service to his community and the Com monwealth of Virginia as a coach, official and administrator.

Barrie D. Booth ’61, of Daleville, Vir ginia, died on Nov. 27, 2021. According to his obituary, Booth was known as a great storyteller, spreading laughter throughout the company for which he sold heavy equipment. He taught Sunday school to adults for many years, but his greatest joy was instructing toddlers and preschoolers in religious teaching.

Mortimer J. Altshuler Jr. ’62 passed

career. “I didn’t know at the time how valuable what he was giving me was. It took some years of maturity and growth and working with people before I really realized the impact of what he taught me.”

In addition to teaching, Moe participated in a number of musi cal organizations, including the American Guild of Organists, for which he served as dean of the Roanoke, Virginia, chapter. He was also a singer and consultant with the York County Choral Society.

Moe was a committed Christian who served many churches as organist, choir director, singer and in other volunteer capaci ties. He remained active in the community after retirement, in cluding at Oakland Avenue Presbyterian Church in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where his son, Tim, served as music director.

“Don was loved and respected by his many students,” said Jeffrey Sandborg, Naomi Brandon & George Emery Wade Professor of Music. “He was a peerless musician and a warmly supportive colleague during his years at Roanoke and beyond. I always admired his adherence to a highly principled life, both professionally and personally.”

away on Aug. 1, 2021. Born in New York City, Altshuler worked as a stockbroker for 45 years before retiring in 2014. He was an avid New York sports fan and a devoted father who coached all of his children in team sports.

D. Kyle Umberger III ’62, of Roanoke, Virginia, died on April 7, 2022. After grad uating from Roanoke, where he served as president of the Sigma Chi chapter, Umberger embarked on a career in bank ing and finance in Roanoke. Outside of work, he enjoyed music, having performed with choirs in high school and at Roanoke College, and later with the Roanoke Choral Society and the Brandon Oaks Balladeers. He volunteered with Big Brothers, Big Sisters; the Roanoke Ronald McDonald House; and WVTF Public Radio fund drives. Surviving family members include son Jason Umberger ’92 and daughter Emily Umberger ’94

Schiela (MacPherson) Weir ’66, of Warrenton, Virginia, died on April 8, 2022. Weir enjoyed a career with the airline industry, working for American Airlines, Pan Am, SATO Travel, Midway Airlines and several travel agencies. She dedicated much of her time to service at Saint

James Episcopal Church in Warrenton and Grace Episcopal Church in The Plains. In 2012, she graduated from the School of Theology, University of the South, complet ing four years of Theological Education by Extension, Education for Ministry.

James Dennis “Denny” Hagan ’68, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, died on June 3, 2022. Hagan worked for 33 years as a professional systems engineer at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, earning multiple awards for his work. He enjoyed building and flying remote control planes and riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle.

Jo Ann (Majerczyk) Saunders ’68, of Vinton, Virginia, passed away on May 24, 2022. After graduating from Roanoke, Saunders had a nearly 40-year career with Norfolk Southern Corp. before retiring.

Diane (Davick) Tackett ’69, of Buchanan, Virginia, died on March 30, 2022. Tackett, who graduated from Roanoke with a B.A. in French, enjoyed her family, traveling in the United States and abroad, and researching family genealogy. Surviving family members include daugh ter Margaret Tackett ’00

Deborah (Williams) Seals ’70, of

Donald G. Moe

“He was a peerless musician and a warmly supportive colleague during his years at Roanoke and beyond.”

— Jeffrey Sandborg

Martinsville, Virginia, died on May 29, 2022. Seals was a lifelong and profession al Girl Scout, devoting more than 30 years to the organization. In 2005, she was awarded the Thanks Badge, the highest award given to adult Girl Scouts. More re cently, she was a specialist with the Amer ican Lung Association, for which she facili tated community outreach and patient ad vocacy, and helped raise funds for re search and education. Surviving family members include husband George W. Seals Sr. ’70

Elbert G. Booth Jr. ’71, of Princeton, West Virginia, died on Oct. 30, 2021. Booth was a retired technical director of radiology at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Sa vannah, Georgia.

William Doxanas II ’72, of Maryland, died on March 28, 2022. Doxanas was Roanoke College’s first All-American lacrosse player and the first to participate in a postseason all-star game. He was also gifted in other sports, including basketball, and he enjoyed working on his golf game. He was inducted into Roanoke’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978. Doxanas owned and operated Bel-Loc Diner, a beloved restau rant in Parkville, Maryland, for 50 years until his retirement in 2017.

Robert Arthur DeVaughn ’73, of Chicago, Illinois, died on July 5, 2021. DeVaughn earned a B.A. in political science from Roanoke College and went on to study sculpture and special effects at The Art Institute of Chicago.

Glenn E. Dunville ’74 died on Feb. 14, 2022. Dunville loved to work and loved every job he had, from golf caddy to busi ness owner, according to his obituary. After retirement, he volunteered with the Virginia Department of Health.

Paul A. Wood III ’83, of Houston, Texas, died on Dec. 27, 2021.

Michael L. Caudill ’92, of Roanoke, Virginia, died on Aug. 11, 2022, at age 52. After graduating from Roanoke, Caudill went on to study at the Culinary Institute of America. He became a fixture in the down town Roanoke dining scene as a chef and restaurant manager. The restaurant he opened with a business partner in 2006, Table 50, remains a Roanoke favorite. When he wasn’t working, he enjoyed out door activities such as kayaking and hiking.

John Q. Harris ’12 of Roanoke, Vir ginia, died on July 30, 2022. Harris served as a combat medic in the U.S. Army, doing two tours in Iraq before being discharged from active duty. He continued to serve in

IN MEMORIAM FACULTY

Kyle T. Rohweder ’19 died June 12, 2022, after an almost three-year battle with pleomorphic liposarco ma. Rohweder earned a degree in exercise science with a minor in public health from Roanoke College, but the cruel disease robbed him of a chance to pur sue a career. He had a passion for health and fitness, and he was a proud Kappa Alpha at Roanoke, serving as purser for his chapter. The Rohweder family, with Kyle’s encouragement, has established a scholarship fund in his name to benefit a KA brother each year. The Kyle T. Rohweder ’19 Endowed Scholarship will be awarded to a KA who embodies Rohweder’s most admired qualities: strength, courage, persistence, discipline and compassion. The fund quickly met the minimum for endowment and is still growing. To contribute to the fund, visit roanoke.edu/rohwederscholarship.

the National Guard. After service, Harris earned a business degree from Roanoke, where he was a member of Pi Kappa Phi. He worked with disabled veterans in the prosthetics department at the Salem VA Medical Center.

David O. Nahigian ’14, of Weston, Massachusetts, died on Feb. 28, 2022. Nahigian, a senior financial analyst at PTC, was working toward his MBA at Babson College.

Andrew H. “Drew” Tate ’20 died on March 1, 2022. A member of the men’s track and field team at Roanoke, Tate earned a B.S. in health and exercise sci ence. He worked as a COVID-19 vaccina tion site coordinator for the Blue Ridge Health District, serving as lead coordinator in charge of driving and maintaining the mobile health unit. Away from work, Tate enjoyed golf, hunting, fishing, camping, playing guitar and horseback riding. RC

College remembers psychology professor

Charles

“Chuck” E. Early, professor of psy chology emeritus at Roanoke College, died July 10, 2022, in Bluffton, South Carolina. He was 77.

Prior to his retirement in 2015, Early served the College for 27 years, including as chair of the Psychology Department. Before he earned a Ph.D. in psychology, Early was a major in the U.S. Air Force and received a black belt in Tae Kwon Do while stationed in South Korea.

“Chuck led the department with compas sion, empathy, gentle humor and wisdom,” wrote his friend and colleague Dino Pran zarone, professor emeritus of psychology. “He had a wonderful unceasing smile. We were all honored and joyful to be part of his harmonious crew.”

Early was an excellent advisor to his students and was pas sionate about teaching psychology, especially the history of the science, about which he edited a textbook. He was also interested in the nature of consciousness and the adventure novels of Edgar

Rice Burroughs, as well as other science fic tion and fantasy novels. He was a devoted “Trekkie” and occasionally used episodes of “Star Trek” to teach psychology lessons to students.

Early’s sweet tooth was legendary in the department, and he could often be found checking out the daily dessert offering in the Commons. Fruit pies were his favorite, partic ularly the cherry pies baked by his colleague, Psychology Lecturer Angela Allen. According to Pranzarone, “this extra special cherry pie was often brought to him on Chuck’s birth day, or for any other frivolous excuse, so as to witness his ecstatic reaction.”

Early was also an amateur astronomer, traveling several times to the Texas Star Party, an annual stargaz ing party at the Prude Ranch near Ft. Davis, Texas.

“He was liked by everybody on campus and was a super nice guy,” Pranzarone said. “You couldn’t ask for a nicer friend. He will be missed.”

Chuck Early

Introducing your new Alumni Association president

Dear Fellow Alumni,

It is an incredible honor to serve you and our beloved alma mater as Roanoke College’s new Alumni Association president. It was a privilege to work alongside our former president, Joe Carpenter ’99. We would like to thank Joe once again for his unparalleled dedication and service to our Alumni Association.

This is a time of new beginnings at Roanoke. In July, we welcomed our 12th president, Frank Shushok Jr., and a new dean, Kathy Wolfe. New programs and community connections are in the works to strengthen our school and expand opportunities for students and alumni. This fresh start is an excellent opportunity for involved alumni to double down on that momentum, and for others to re-engage with “Dear Old Roanoke.”

The Office of Alumni & Family Relations recently conducted an Alumni Engagement Survey. The results provided helpful feedback that can be a roadmap for future engagement opportunities. In the survey, we asked what types of engagement opportunities appeal to our alumni. Many indicated that they were interested in local social events, service opportunities, career networking, extracurricular hobbies, athletic teams, and fraternity or sorority events. We are committed to serving our alumni in ways that are meaningful, engaging and bring together Maroons from throughout our community.

As Maroons, we know what it means to “find our purpose” and the impact that has had on our lives. Now consider making that transformative experience possible for students and other alumni today. Philanthropic support is just one of many ways you can help. You could be a career resource or a mentor to students and young alumni, host a career event, help plan alumni chapter events or chip in to help plan a class reunion. I would love to see more alumni bring their passions to the table.

As we embark on this new adventure, we will need your help to find new and varied ways to get more alumni involved. We look forward to hearing your ideas and helping to usher in a new era of alumni engagement at Roanoke College.

Yours in education, Cara Kenney ’98

Cara Kenney ’98

“

”

We are committed to serving our alumni in ways that are meaningful, engaging and bring together Maroons from throughout our community.

Oh, the places he’ll go!

During his first few months in office, President Frank Shushok Jr. has made an effort to meet as many Roanoke College alumni as possible, often with his wife, Rev. Kelly Shushok, by his side. Haven’t met our new leader yet? Look for alumni chapter events near you — or come back to campus for Alumni Weekend on April 21-23, 2023!

1. Ingrid Strelka ’89, Kelly Shushok, Dan Strelka ’89 and President Shushok at the Roanoke Valley Alumni Chapter event in Roanoke, which was hosted by the Strelkas.

2. Left to right: Shaun McConnon ’66, Vice President for Advancement Kim Blair ’93, and President Shushok grab a selfie at McConnon’s home in Rockport, Massachusetts.

3. President Shushok poses for a picture with Anthony Brantley ’10 at the Boston Alumni Chapter event hosted by Lily Moore ’14. 4. President Shushok meets Roanoke College alumni and friends at a luncheon held at the Roanoke Country Club. 5. President Shushok chats with Greg Terrill ’94 and his wife, Nicole (Brewer) Terrill ’95, co-chairs of the Parent Leadership Council, at a community meet-and-greet in Roanoke. 6. Nancy and Kevin Dye chat with Frank and Kelly Shushok during a community meet-and-greet hosted at the Dye home in Roanoke. 7. The Shushoks join Tommy Maddux ’99 and his wife, Kristen, for the Northern Virginia alumni meet-and-greet hosted by the Madduxes.

MAROON MUSINGS

BY DEAN KATHY WOLFE

‘On This Maroon Journey’

As I write this, I’m three months into my work here at beautiful Roanoke College. I so appreciate the warm welcome I’ve received, and I make a point of greeting the campus cat, Salem, as I walk to the Administration Build ing each day. I’ve been here a long enough time to feel at home, and a short enough time that new acquaintances still ask how I’m settling in and how Southwest Virginia compares to other places I’ve lived.

These aren’t my first mountains — I’ve lived in South west Colorado, Costa Rica and upstate New York — but the Blue Ridge has a special beauty, and my partner, Kent, and I enjoy going out for hikes and birdwatching just about every weekend. Kent has even become an official counter for the area Hawk Watch! I’m a Nebraska native and have spent most of my life in wide-open spaces under big skies, so forests and peaks will always feel fresh to me.

Of course, there are differences in the historical trajec tories of the Salem/Roanoke area and Lincoln, Nebraska, but I found some intriguing similarities as well: Both

“

I think we who get to work at colleges are among the luckiest people alive, and I am energized by the positive, open and collaborative team we have here at Roanoke, which includes engaged alumni.”

— Dean of the College Kathy Wolfe

were traveler crossroads because of salt deposits, both became railroad towns, both have “Star City” as a nick name, health care is a prominent industry in both areas, both county populations are about the same, and both are home to high-quality liberal arts colleges. At both my new home, Roanoke College, and my alma mater, Nebraska Wesleyan Univer sity, students receive personalized mentoring from brilliant and tal ented faculty, staff and alumni who help students discover both their full potential and their fulfilling purpose. As we say here at Roanoke, “Our pur pose is to help you find yours.”

I feel so fortunate to be on this Maroon journey with the College’s new president, Frank Shushok Jr. Our very first conversation centered on how exciting it is to help students discern the “sweet spot” where their skills, passions and values, and the needs of their communities, inter sect — so they can pursue a fulfilling career and life path and make the

world a better place. I think we who get to work at colleges are among the luckiest people alive, and I am energized by the positive, open and collaborative team we have here at Roanoke, which includes engaged alumni. Look for our creative faculty and staff to continue launching pro grams that enable us to serve our students and community even bet ter — and for us to reach out and get you involved!

Part of my professional life was spent at a national higher education organization, which afforded me the opportunity to learn a great deal about all kinds of colleges and uni versities. In my view, liberal arts in stitutions are the best places to both

discern purpose and learn how to put it to work, professionally, civi cally and personally. No education is both as mind-expanding and as practical, over the long term, as one in which interdisciplinary breadth and cross-cutting skills inform every academic program, from traditional to preprofessional, and from under graduate to graduate.

A liberal arts education is the gold standard — the best preparation to be agile in a rapidly changing world, where complex problems must be solved collaboratively and many of the jobs our graduates will hold don’t yet exist.

People at Roanoke College believe deeply in providing this kind of ed ucation, connecting it to our broader community and ensuring that more students have access to it. I’m ex cited for the opportunity to work as part of this community to fulfill

that vision, and I’m excited to meet more Maroon alumni in the course of that work. RC

Kathy Wolfe joined Roanoke College on July 1 as vice president for academic af fairs and Shirley C. and Donald E. Morel Dean of the College. She has 28 years of teaching experience and 12 years in ad ministrative leadership, most recently as dean of engaged education at Hamilton College. She holds a B.A. in English from Nebraska Wesleyan University and a Ph.D. in English from Texas Christian Uni versity. She is a member of the American Association of Colleges and Universities, the American Conference of Academic Deans, the National Academic Advising Association, and the National Council of Teachers of English/College Composition and Communication.

“In my view, liberal arts institutions are the best places to both discern purpose and learn how to put it to work, professionally, civically and personally.”

Wolfe (center) at convocation with President Frank Shushok Jr. (left) and the Rev. Chris Bowman, dean of the chapel.

aws and Reflect

Campus Critters (then and now)

Roanoke College has a raging case of puppy (and kitty) love since the recent arrival of two new four-legged Maroons. We’ve welcomed Maple, the Shushoks’ Australian mountain doodle, and Salem, an emerald-eyed tabby cat adopted by the whole campus.

xa samplin g :

Hijinks involving cows were popular in Roanoke’s earliest years. Sometimes they were herded into classrooms as a joke; other times, they wandered onto campus from nearby farms and trampled the shrubbery. Here we see a “cow-canning,” where students tied cans to a cow’s tail and let it run the quad. In the words of research student Ivey Kline ’23, who found this gem, “I’m not sure why.”

Retired history professor Mark Miller’s book, “Dear Old Roanoke,” mentions a mutt named Harry Jr. that became a campus mascot in the early 1930s.

Mac Johnson ’70, retired VP and dean of students, remembered Lucky, a cocker spaniel who was a fixture in the joint office of coaches Fran Ramser and Jean Beamer. “Pets were not allowed on campus,” he said, “but I think this was seen as Fran’s quirk, and no one wanted to tangle with her over it, especially as Fran had a feisty personality.”

xJ. Wellington Wimpy, a student’s pet squirrel, clawed his way into hearts and pockets until his untimely demise, which was chronicled in this 1933 Brackety-Ack blurb.

If you’re aware of other campus critters, feel free to drop us a note at rcmagazine@roanoke.edu.

How many other beasts have made the College fur-crazy over the years? Here’s

A Helping Hand

ROANOKE COLLEGE HAS CHANGED DRAMATICALLY in the three decades since Dr. Kristen (Fischer) Powell ’91 was a student. It boasts a larger and more diverse student body, newly constructed or renovated campus facilities, and expanded opportunities for research and real-world learning experiences.

But at its core, Roanoke remains the same, Powell said. Then, as now, the College fosters close interactions between students and faculty. Powell has seen her daughter, Caroline Powell ’23, benefit from the College’s continued focus on relationships.

“One of my fondest memories of Roanoke was walking through that line of professors at graduation and getting so many hugs,” said Powell, a pediatrician in Richmond. “Roanoke always had that close-knit feel, where you couldn’t walk across the campus without running into a pro fessor who would greet you and ask how your day was going. I felt like the faculty knew me as a person, and that’s what I’ve seen for Caroline, too. It’s been an absolute joy to watch my child experience Roanoke. She has truly grown up, come into her own, built her confidence and thrived there.”

Proud to pass on the Roanoke legacy to her daughter (a psychology major, just like her mom), Powell is a longtime supporter of the College. In recent years, she has designated a portion of her gifts to the future Science Center.

“The Science Center will be absolutely fundamental to the next generation of students that come through Roanoke College,” Powell said. “Caroline is still sitting in the same Life Science building that I sat in way long ago. I’m super excited about the possibility of a modern building where students can engage in scientific exploration.”

At Roanoke, Powell was an honors student, a resident advisor and a member of Chi Omega. She earned her medical degree from Virginia Commonwealth University

School of Medicine (then Medical College of Virginia, or MCV) in 1997. She also completed her pediatrics residency and a fellowship in neona tal-perinatal medicine at MCV. Powell is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics sections on both neona tal/perinatal medicine and adoption and foster care.

A member of the Parent Leadership Council, Powell has appreciated opportunities to connect personally with Roanoke’s administrative team and learn about “the inner workings of the College,” she said.

“Having that personal involvement with Roanoke has increased my feelings of affection for the College even more,” said Powell, who was excited that her daughter had one of her favorite professors, Ned Wisnefske, the Charles & Helen Schumann Professor of Lutheran Theology.

Powell’s commitment to philanthropy was inspired by her parents. Both are alumni of Lutheran-affiliated Wagner College in Staten Island, New York, who have faithfully supported their alma mater, where they established an endowed scholar ship. Now, Powell is passing along that legacy of giving back for her daughter.

“My mom and her Roanoke friends are so passionate about their college experi ence and still give back where they can,” said Caroline Powell, a member of the Honors Program. “That’s been inspiring for me. Even though I’m not in the position to give now, their commitment is really motivating for the future.”

“

The Science Center will be absolutely fundamental to the next generation of students that come through Roanoke College.”

— DR. KRISTEN POWELL ’91

Caroline Powell ’23 and Kristen Powell ’91 during Family Weekend

Powell serves as physician advisor for Friends of Barnabas Foundation, which provides health care to communities in remote areas of Honduras.

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