Stetson Magazine

STETSON GAME CHANGERS

As the university builds its future on a history of intellectual vibrancy, student/faculty collaboration, community wellness and more, new creativity and innovation are evident from students — both of today and yesteryear. Recent international recognition for excellence in game design (above) is one example.

Sounds of Spring

The School of Music’s 53-member choir traveled on a spring tour Feb. 24-27, performing in North Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The tour started with a convention appearance in Raleigh for the American Choral Directors Association, performing in the Ecumenical Music and Worship event at the historic Christ Church on Capitol Square. The students also performed in concerts in Hickory, North Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; and Jacksonville, Florida. The choir made connections with high school choral programs, churches, Stetson alumni and parents. All performances were conducted by Professor of Music Timothy Peter, DMA, with piano collaboration by Jacob Lytehaven ’19. This photo was taken at the Wesley Monumental United Methodist Church in Savannah. Insets: a performance in the church, which was established in 1868 — 15 years before Stetson.

Photos: Stetson University/Jeanne Peterson

Features

20 An Idea ‘Likely Too Big’

Philanthropic Andrew Carnegie, feisty Lincoln Hulley and how charmingly quaint Sampson Hall came to be constructed on campus.

26 Game Winner

In an international competition of digital arts programs, Stetson’s game-design training gains unprecedented acclaim.

30 Leaders of the Pack

Three Florida governors who were at least partly shaped by Stetson made both history and a difference.

STETSON UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

SPRING 2022 • VOLUME 38 • ISSUE 1

President Christopher F. Roellke, PhD

Vice President of University Marketing

Bruce Chong

Editor Michael Candelaria

Designer

Kris Winters

Art and Photography

Joel Jones, Ciara Ocasio, Jeanne Peterson

Writers

Kate Bradshaw, Rick de Yampert, Robbie Harper ’02 MBA ’06, Cory Lancaster, Ashley McKnight-Taylor, R. Boyd

Murphree ’84, Christopher F. Roellke, PhD, Jack Roth, Susan Ryan, MLS, Trish Wieland

Class Notes Editor

Cathy Foster

STETSON UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE is published by Stetson University, DeLand, FL 32723, and is distributed to its alumni, families, friends, faculty and staff. The magazine is printed on FSC-certified paper.

STETSON UNIVERSITY: The College of Arts and Sciences, School of Business Administration and School of Music are at the historic main campus in DeLand. The College of Law is in Gulfport/St. Petersburg. The university also has one satellite center: the Tampa Law Center. The mission at Stetson is to provide an excellent education in a creative community where learning and values meet, and to foster in students the qualities of mind and heart that will prepare them to reach their full potential as informed citizens of local communities and the world.

Want to add, remove or change your magazine subscription?

Email universitymagazine@stetson.edu. Also, we accept paid advertising. Email inquiries to universitymagazine@stetson.edu.

34 Nuclear Scholar

For Jack Kelly ’11, tracking illicit nuclear materials across Europe is Hollywood action coming to real life.

36 ‘Move Forward’

Alumna Primrose Cameron’s own personal journey hasn’t always been smooth, but she continues to make a difference in the lives of others, particularly the most vulnerable.

40 Seeds for Life

The Alliance for International Reforestation, founded by Professor Emeritus Anne Hallum, PhD, continues to grow — improving human and environmental health in Guatemala.

44 Global Understanding

Fulbright student recipients Estefany Arenas ’19, Malina Morales ’19 and Fred Lee ’17 are taking different paths to a common destination abroad.

48 Supreme Service

Hatters have a history with the Supreme Court of Florida that dates back to 1925 — and continues strong today.

52 Laying Down the Law

Ed Patricoff Jr. ’82 JD ‘85 literally has a world of legal experience — all starting with a taunting campus roommate and “amazing” professors.

ON THE COVER:

Stetson game changers are everywhere — students, professors and alumni. The most recent example is new Top 50 acclaim within the Digital Arts Program, including (from left) students Amber Waterman, Sara Cook, Joseph Dallas and Zoe Boykin; professors Dengke Chen, MFA, Nathan Wolek, PhD, and Chaz Underriner, PhD; and students Andy Ramirez Garcia, Rose (Keanu) Johnson, Megan Stoughton and Brielle Miller. Additional impacts are represented by Primrose Cameron ’02; professor Lou Paris, MBA, flanked by student entrepreneurs Kendall Buck and Chipper Stempkowski; science students Maggie Struble and Briana Hall; and Fulbright recipients Estefany Arenas ’19, Fred Lee ’17 and Malina Morales ’19.

FLORIDA GEM TO NATIONAL TREASURE

Stetson is a great university. As we seek to build on our very rich history of excellence going forward, we must be strategic in our planning, clear in our vision and precise in our direction.

Rest assured, we are working to make this happen.

That fact was quite evident in mid-February, during the university’s Board of Trustees meeting, with a focus on “strategic priorities for Stetson’s near future.”

We have been talking about Stetson’s trajectory as advancing from “Florida Gem to National Treasure.”

Sure, for many of us, in our hearts and minds, we’re already a national treasure. Yet, the hope now is that our planning will ensure that Stetson’s stellar education is better known throughout the nation. Throughout our journey together, it certainly helps to have Game Changers, such as those featured on the cover and throughout our magazine.

What would this national treasure look like? It would look much like our Stetson does today — but only better — in the form of the premier small university where learning and values meet.

Core themes to build this future include being student-centered, preparing them for life after Stetson; having intellectual vibrancy and close collaboration between faculty and students; featuring modern and pragmatic liberal arts and science; and maintaining interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary collaboration. And more, much more.

Other critical components encompass financial and environmental sustainability; community wellness and vibrancy; creativity and innovation; and greater intentionality around career readiness. Plus, we must make our university accessible to really smart, really engaging young people, coming to us from a wide range of social, ethnic, geographic and economic backgrounds.

Again, it’s who we are today, only we will be even better tomorrow.

None of this, however, will occur without deliberation, collective effort and strategic thinking.

For example, how do we resource the most potent learning experiences for our students — the investments needed to support the highest levels of academic excellence and success?

How can we invest effectively in the vitally important first-year student experiences (both within and outside the classroom), and establish clear and attainable pathways to graduation and career success?

What current and future societal problems will our curriculum and co-curriculum be prepared to tackle?

What interdisciplinary structures and collaborations can we envision among faculty, staff and administration to enhance Stetson’s value proposition?

The soon-to-be-completed Cici and Hyatt Brown Hall for Health and Innovation has been built around this premise.

Generally, in the highly competitive landscape of higher education, how can we distinguish ourselves as the Premier Small University — and move from Florida Gem to National Treasure?

These are among the many vital questions we must address as we chart Stetson’s future. And I am certain that we will answer these questions collectively and will do so with insight, with passion and with a laserlike focus on our students.

It is with a healthy balance of humility and confidence that I know we are up to this task. How confident? Please turn to Page 67. That’s how confident I am that the best days of Hatter Nation lie ahead.

SPRING 2022 CENSUS ENROLLMENT SNAPSHOT

3,928

Christopher F. Roellke, PhD President, Stetson University

1,651

2,588

14% 16% 17% 22% 9% 22%

931 409 117 96 32 32 28

LAW

INTELLIGENTSIA

‘Topping Out’

On Jan. 7, construction on the Cici & Hyatt Brown Hall for Health & Innovation reached a milestone — its “topping out” — with the final beam being placed atop the structure.

Construction began last June, led by the Williams Company, project general contractor, and the architectural team of Harvard Jolly Architecture / Kahler Slater. With the topping out, the two-story structure, measuring 40,153 gross square feet, reached its maximum height of 40 feet.

Work now is ongoing toward a scheduled opening in late November.

Brown Hall, as it’s already being called on campus, will be home to several College of Arts & Sciences areas of study, including the Center for Optimal Health Across the Lifespan; Environmental Science and Studies; and a graduate program in counselor education.

The design will incorporate a diverse mix of formal and informal spaces that encourage opportunities for spontaneous collaborations. Over time, that design flexibility is intended to support the continued development of Stetson’s interdisciplinary successes.

In addition to Brown Hall, Stetson’s existing Sage Hall Science Center was renovated to create a cluster of research labs and student collaboration spaces, among other improvements. Work was completed before the start of the fall 2021 semester.

The two buildings will be connected through internal glass walkways, with their combined size totaling more than 120,000 square feet — creating a science complex for students studying the health sciences, environmental sciences and other fields. —

Michael Candelaria

Now under construction, the Cici & Hyatt Brown Hall for Health & Innovation is scheduled to open in late November.

NEWS AND NOTES ABOUT KNOWLEDGE

Meeting All Demonstrated Financial Need For Presidential Scholars

In late February, Stetson announced it will meet 100% of demonstrated financial need for students who qualify as Presidential Scholars and are enrolling for fall 2022. The move is part of a strategic priority to minimize student debt; reduce the financial barriers for low-income, historically underrepresented populations; and allow students to focus on their future.

“Moving toward meeting 100% of a student’s demonstrated financial need is part of our strategic initiative to provide an affordable education for all students who will benefit from the unique, private education Stetson offers,” said Raymond Nault, vice president of Enrollment Management. “Removing the financial barriers to higher education for our Presidential Scholars is an essential part of Stetson’s mission, and we are doing this by providing need-based financial assistance that is directly tied to each student’s and family’s financial resources.”

At Stetson, Presidential Scholars receive a scholarship of up to $31,000 per year, awarded based on high school record, standardized testing and community service. The awards are given to incoming first-year students and cover eight semesters or until undergraduate graduation, whichever comes first. Eligibility is decided by the admissions committee upon completion of the student’s application.

Nault also announced all first-time-in-college and transfer students are eligible to receive a $3,000 early filing award for fall 2022, regardless of their demonstrated financial need. To qualify, students must submit their financial aid application by their admission application deadline. This award is renewable in subsequent years as the students complete their financial aid application by the financial aid deadline each year.

Notably, demonstrated financial need is the difference between the cost of attendance and the amount a family is expected to contribute. Studentdemonstrated financial need is determined through a comprehensive needs assessment of a family’s financial strength. That information is obtained through the financial aid application process, which includes both the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the College Board CSS Profile.

In addition to that Stetson Presidential Scholars program, Stetson is known for the Stetson Promise, which, regardless of financial circumstances, provides qualifying students with guaranteed access to a Stetson experience that is truly life-changing. If students are unable to graduate in four years or less, through no fault of their own, the university covers up to one full semester of tuition to allow them to complete their degree without any additional tuition expense.

“The Stetson Promise and Stetson Presidential Scholars program are examples of the ways in which the university is addressing the needs of high-achieving, underrepresented students to access the benefits of a private education,” said President Christopher F. Roellke, PhD. “We know a high percentage of our students graduate in four years or less, and we want to remove financial barriers if they are unable to do that.” — Michael

Candelaria

DID YOU KNOW?

Bonita Dukes, who arrived at Stetson in May 2019 as associate vice president for Facilities Management, left in March to become vice president for Facilities and Planning at Clark Atlanta University — a career advancement as a chief facilities officer. Dukes had left Clark Atlanta to come to Stetson.

Dukes was instrumental in planning and stewarding both the significant renovation of Sage Hall Science Center and the construction of the Cici & Hyatt Brown Hall for Health & Innovation. She also was heavily involved in planning future ADA improvements for the university and assisted with contractual matters in the creation of the College of Law’s Advocacy Center. Further, Dukes provided “tremendous leadership” as the university established safety protocols on campus during the pandemic, cited Bob Huth, Stetson’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, who is serving as the committee chair to find her replacement.

Altering Butterfly DNA

Inside the Sage Hall Science Center, students now are working in a lab with microscopes and needles to alter a strand of DNA in butterfly eggs.

The students are using CRISPR gene-editing technology to change the color of butterfly wings from orange and brown scales to black scales — with one simple cut.

Lynn Kee, PhD, an assistant biology professor, received a $299,996 grant from the National Science Foundation to teach students about the technique. Meanwhile, Melinda Hall, PhD, a philosophy professor, is teaching about the bioethics surrounding its use.

“The point of the grant was to bring CRISPR into the classroom in the sense that I want students to learn about this technique because it’s so new,” Kee said. “It’s not even really in textbooks. My genetic textbook has literally two, three paragraphs about it. And so what I want them to learn is about what’s currently happening in society, what’s happening in science, what’s happening in medicine.”

The discovery of CRISPR technology was awarded a Nobel Prize in 2020 and today is used in medicine, agriculture and food production.

CRISPR is actually a molecule that acts like a pair of scissors to cut a strand of DNA at a very precise location. Scientists are using the technology to try to treat a variety of diseases and medical conditions, such as sickle cell disease, by correcting the mutation in the gene that causes the disorder. In January, doctors transplanted a genetically modified pig heart into a male patient after using CRISPR gene editing to make the organ less likely to be attacked by the patient’s immune system.

At Stetson, Kee introduced the technology in a 2019 pilot

project, teaching students how to disable a gene that makes a certain bacteria glow green.

For the NSF grant, Kee is using butterflies, raising them in Sage Hall from caterpillar to chrysalis, a process that takes about a month. Once the butterfly emerges, it will live for about three weeks and, if provided certain leaves, will lay eggs there. These blue eggs will be collected and used for the CRISPR gene-editing technique.

Once the DNA is altered, the butterflies will not be released into the wild.

Kee used the NSF grant to purchase microscopes and microinjection systems for the lab and other specialized equipment and supplies to analyze and sequence the DNA. The three-year grant will fund two research assistants each year in the lab, beginning this semester. A postdoctoral faculty fellow will be hired starting this fall to help teach classes. The grant also will provide funds for Kee to train faculty from other colleges in implementing CRISPR technology in the classroom. — Cory Lancaster

Left: Junior Maggie Struble works with Lynn Kee, PhD, assistant biology professor. Below: Struble and junior Briana Hall partner on research. Bottom: Junior Chloe DeYoung (left) and sophomore Hannah Swartz collaborate.

Photos: Stetson University/Ciara Ocasio

Stetson’s VITA Program Returns

In what has become an annual tradition — curtailed only by the COVID-19 pandemic — Stetson’s VITA program was back in action in February after an almost two-year pause.

In 2019, the Stetson VITA program celebrated $2 million in tax refunds for 2,000 local families during the previous 10 years while also saving clients on the cost of tax preparation.

The VITA program, as in Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, is administered through the School of Business Administration and sponsored by the United Way of Volusia-Flagler Counties. This year, the program features approximately 25 Stetson students providing free tax services to community members in need.

Stetson’s involvement began a decade ago in the Department of Economics before being brought to Stetson’s M.E. Rinker, Sr. Institute of Tax and Accountancy program, where it now resides. Students, however, may participate from any major across the university in what has grown into a proven win-win for both students and the community, according to Bonnie Holloway, MBA, an adjunct instructor in accounting and one of the VITA site coordinators (along with Maria Rickling, PhD, associate professor of accounting and chair of M.E. Rinker, Sr. Institute of Tax and Accountancy).

Serving as tax preparers, the students meet with clients in person and complete the returns just as professionals would do. Students train for a total of 16 hours prior to meeting with clients. Business students who are seeking experiential credit must complete eight tax sessions. Clients must meet certain income restrictions.

“I can say all kinds of lovely things about the students,” said Holloway, who is semiretired and teaching two classes this spring, including a new class, Personal Financial Decision Making. — Michael Candelaria

Two Memorials Honor Former Professor

Two Stetson memorials were established in February to honor the life and legacy of Greg Sapp, PhD, a Stetson professor of religious studies from 2006 to 2020. Sapp also was the former Hal S. Marchman Chair of Civic and Social Responsibility, a faculty adviser for the Bonner Scholars Program and the instructor for its required First Year Seminar, “Self and World.” Sapp passed away in September 2020.

Donations will support the installation of a memorial bench outside the window of Sapp’s former office in Allen Hall. Sapp was known to generously give time to office visitors.

In addition to the bench, which will be dedicated during Homecoming 2022, Oct. 28-30, a memorial was created to remember the impact he had on countless students through his contributions to the joint College of Law and DeLand campus Civil Rights Travel Course.

That memorial includes the original framed photo of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as he emerged from the Birmingham Jail. The photo was given to Bob Bickel, Stetson Law Professor Emeritus, by King’s personal photographer and friend, Chris McNair, whose 11-year-old daughter had been killed when the Ku Klux Klan bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church on Sept. 15, 1963. Sapp treasured the King photo, which now hangs in the Carlton Union Building on campus.

Donations to support the memorials are still being accepted. (Contact Rina Arroyo at rarroyo@stetson.edu or Grady Ballenger, PhD, at gballeng@stetson.edu.) — Michael Candelaria

The late Greg Sapp, PhD

Business Ethics on Display

The Stetson Business Ethics Team made the final round of the 17th annual McDonough Business Strategy Challenge, held in February at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. Team members included Bec Hett (team captain), senior human resource management and religious studies major; Amandine Louis-Charles, junior international studies and accounting major; Matthew Clements, senior finance major; and Mark Manglardi, senior management major.

The international competition brought together top business school students worldwide with consulting professionals to provide nonprofit organizations in the Washington, D.C., area with innovative solutions to real-world challenges.

In its bracket, Stetson competed against four other teams: Babe--Bolyai University of Romania, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, the University of Calgary and ESADE Business School. Along with Stetson, other bracket winners were the University of Toronto, Maastricht University School of Business and Economics, and Singapore Management University.

Stetson was the smallest university to field a team in the international competition and the only U.S.-based school to make the finals. Other U.S. schools in the competition included Emory University, Florida State University, Georgetown University, Oakland University and George Washington University.

Also notably, the Templeton Business Ethics Case Competition, hosted annually by Stetson’s School of Business Administration, was held virtually Feb. 17-18 — featuring undergraduate students from 16 invited institutions. Through the philanthropic support of Troy and Sissy Templeton, the competition included teams from as far away as Canada and Mexico.

As the host, Stetson did not compete in the event, which was described as a “premier program of experiential learning for business students from universities in the United States, Canada and Mexico” by Stetson’s John Tichenor, PhD, co-director of the competition and associate professor of management.

For the second consecutive year, Campbell University students placed first in the competition. — Robbie Harper ’02 MBA ’06

HR Gains New AVP

Graciela (Chela) Dufour has been named the new associate vice president for Human Resources and Organizational Development. She begins on campus May 2.

Dufour arrives with a wealth of knowledge and has been a respected leader in the human resource field for more than 20 years, with a specific focus in higher education. Her role in HR has included responsibility for key areas such as strategic initiatives, diversity/inclusion, recruitment/ retention, staff development, mediation/conflict resolution and communication. In addition, she’s been especially vigilant about the continual advancement of technology within HR, as well as helping to guide university initiatives.

As AVP for Human Resources at Lewis University in Illinois, she also served as the Title IX coordinator. In addition, she was president of the Illinois chapter of the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources, where her 14 years of work also included serving the state’s HR industry as a whole. — Michael Candelaria

The Lynn Business Center houses the School of Business Administration.

Graciela (Chela) Dufour

Meet Margo Thomas

From her earliest days in college, it was clear that Margo Thomas was a team player. Back then, Thomas, a Nebraska native, played four years of varsity golf at Flagler College before graduating in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in English. Not surprisingly, she was a team captain.

Now, Thomas is leading a very different charge but with the same spirit as the executive director of Alumni Engagement and Sustainable Giving at Stetson. She assumed the role in January.

From 2006 to 2022, Thomas served Flagler in numerous roles,

Budding Entrepreneurship

During the fall semester, Lou Paris, MBA, director of Stetson’s Prince Entrepreneurship Leaders Program and an assistant professor of management, received the Outstanding Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization Chapter Advisor of the Year Award.

The Prince Entrepreneurship Leaders Program coaches and prepares select students for product-pitch competitions, with Paris in the lead role. And the 2021-2022 academic year has been a banner year for those students, including senior Chipper Stempkowski.

Stempkowski, an Eagle Scout and the Boy Scouts of America Central Florida Council’s program specialist, created an online merit-badge system that provides Scouts with a way to enter their accomplished tasks for rank advancement during the COVID-19 pandemic. His system led to the YourCEtracker, which sends subscribers notifications and reminders before an organization’s accreditation or employee’s professional certification lapses. The app also has a dashboard that features certification statuses and can track continuing education credits.

Last fall, YourCEtracker was a big hit at the annual global pitch competition presented by the Collegiate Entrepreneurs

including overseeing annual giving, alumni relations, special events and donor engagement. That tenure was marked by her own continual advancement, beginning with work on the college’s “phonathon” before becoming director of the Annual Fund. She then was the director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving and the senior director of Alumni Relations and Special Events.

Also notably, Thomas chaired Flagler’s 50th Anniversary Celebration in 2018, and she oversaw the fundraising campaign and opening of Flagler’s Alumni House in 2017.

All during that time, Thomas sought to nurture ties that were mutually beneficial between alumni and their alma mater. She intends to do the same at Stetson.

“My job, as I see it, is to create a partnership,” said Thomas, who in 2019 earned a master’s degree in public administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. “But it has to be symbiotic relationships — that we are listening to what the alumni have to say, that we are providing a network for them.”

As such, alumni giving is only part of the equation.

“I strongly believe that the relationship an institution has with its alumni is so important,” Thomas added. “It says a lot about who the institution is and who they want to be in the future. The alumni can play a big role in that, which is really exciting. And that goes hand in hand with the sustainable-giving piece. That’s a really great way to bring alumni into the fold and get them supporting the things that mean the most to them from their time at Stetson, and to help them engage as partners in the future.” — Michael

Candelaria

Organization, the largest and most prestigious group in the college entrepreneurship field.

Not coincidentally, a pilot initiative is taking flight within Stetson’s entrepreneurship program: the Hatter Angels Network, which debuted last spring. Students conduct research on real-world startup companies for potential “angel investors” from outside the university. The students’ research and recommendations are then used to help investors determine whether to commit funding to a company. —

Michael Candelaria

Margo Thomas

Assistant Professor Lou Paris, MBA, celebrates success with students Kendall Buck '23 and Chipper Stempkowski '22.

Stetson Law to Establish Jacobs Public Interest Law Clinic

In December, Stetson College of Law announced a leadership commitment from alumnus Richard O. “Dick” Jacobs and his wife to establish the Dick and Joan Jacobs Public Interest Law Clinic for Democracy and the Environment.

The Jacobses previously established the Dick and Joan Jacobs Public Interest Environmental Law Clinic and Institute of Environmental Justice. However, because of their growing concern about political chaos and the state of American democracy, they chose to broaden the scope of their project.

Dick Jacobs graduated magna cum laude from Stetson Law in 1967 and has practiced law for more than five decades, in addition to authoring several books and legal publications.

The Jacobses believe the health of the nation and local communities is inextricably linked and entirely dependent on a functioning democracy. As a result, the new Clinic for Democracy and the Environment will facilitate collaboration among law students, faculty and practicing attorneys to pursue and defend important issues.

“Attorneys constitute a large percentage of legislators, government employees and lobbyists,” Dick Jacobs said. “They are the most significant group of influencers who put us on the road we travel as a country and state. We need them to be steeped in public service. We also need a nonpolitical forum to provide public information and public service. The center will be a tool of a thriving democracy.”

The new center will build upon the expertise of Stetson Law’s Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy and the Social Justice Advocacy Concentration. Also, the effort will be aided by Stetson Law’s leadership in the Florida Law Schools’ Consortium for Racial Justice. The center will focus on tackling issues such as voting rights, gerrymandering and fair representation, as well as bolster checks and balances in state and national governments.

The Jacobses have contributed $1 million and committed to raise additional funds for their centers. — Kate

Bradshaw

Stetson Law Dean to Depart

In late January, Stetson announced the planned departure of College of Law Dean Michèle Alexandre, JD, this summer. She will become dean of the Loyola University Chicago School of Law, effective July 15.

Arriving as dean at Stetson Law in June 2019, Alexandre was an accomplished leader on numerous fronts. They include building on Stetson Law’s reputation in advocacy and legal writing, with Stetson Law consistently ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in advocacy and among the top five nationwide in legal writing by U.S. News & World Report.

Despite pandemic-related challenges, she helped build on the College of Law’s success, namely in recording the best Florida Bar Examination pass rate for first-time test takers since 2016 in July 2021, steering positive enrollment metrics, expanding experiential opportunities, creating a new business law concentration, and co-leading the university’s two-year climate work. Also, the College of Law was successful in securing its largest planned gift, raising more than $20 million for scholarships, building projects and other law school initiatives.

Additionally, in the past three years, Alexandre fostered partnerships in Tampa Bay and across the state, including helping to lead the establishment of the Florida Law Schools’ Consortium for Racial Justice, establishing a scholarship to support the LGBTQIA community, and helping Stetson Law win the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine in both 2020 and 2021.

“I am proud to have been part of some transformative success on campus, success that will greatly benefit students and the Stetson community at large,” Alexandre said in January.

Professor Theresa J. Pulley Radwan was appointed as the interim dean, effective June 24. Radwan joined the Stetson Law faculty in 2001. — Kate Bradshaw

Michèle Alexandre, JD

Dick Jacobs JD ’67 and wife Joan

Moot and Resolution Muscle

Chalk up more top-notch showings by students from Stetson Law.

Participating in the prestigious 2022 Hunton Andrews Kurth National Championship — described as the "Super Bowl of moot court competitions" by Stetson Law Professor Brooke Bowman — Stetson won a semifinalist award, barely missing out on the final round against numerous law-school heavyweights.

The event in late January involved the nation’s 16 best teams to argue on either side of an issue concerning general vs. personal jurisdiction in the context of a class-action suit.

Stetson’s team consisted of students Elizabeth Kellar, Jessica Merker and Peter Farrell, who had been preparing for the championship since October. Aside from the team award, Merker was named the third-best oralist.

It was the 10th time Stetson has participated in the competition, making it to the elimination rounds six times, including one time as the national champion (2015). A Stetson student also has been recognized as one of the top oralists four times, and Stetson teams have won two best-brief awards.

This year, among the competition’s judges were U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Kim Wardlaw and U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jennifer Elrod.

Stetson Stetson Showcase Showcase

Additionally, in February, for the fifth consecutive year, Stetson Law’s Dispute Resolution Board won the Florida Bar International Law Section’s Richard DeWitt Memorial Vis Pre-Moot. Also, team member Taylor Simonds won the award for Best Oralist. In the 17 years the Florida Bar International Law Section has sponsored this competition, Stetson Law has won 13 times; the school has won Best Oralist eight times.

The team consisted of students Pedro Jimenez Lopez, Sierra DeMartino, Mario Makram, Ben Lazarus, Jessica Zelitt and Taylor Simonds, and student coach Joseph Kim. All team members were competing for Stetson Law for the first time.

Although the event had “Florida” in its name, it was global, with teams from Hong Kong, Brazil, India, Germany, China and Canada competing with teams from throughout the United States. —

Kate Bradshaw

Stetson Showcase: ‘Resilience. Resurgence. Revival.’

“Showcase is back!”

Those were the immediate and enthusiastic words from Kimberly Reiter, PhD, when asked about the status of Stetson Showcase 2022.

Since 1999, Showcase has been a springtime tradition that celebrates the research and scholarly achievements of students from across the DeLand campus. Hundreds of students — representing all class years and schools — have shared their research with the general public through presentations, portfolios, posters, readings, music and theater performances, art shows and multimedia work.

In essence, while many Stetson students have the opportunity to display their work at professional meetings across the country, Stetson Showcase has provided an additional opportunity for them to present in front of faculty and fellow students, along with judges and interested members of the wider community.

For the past two years, however, the COVID-19 pandemic halted the big show, leaving students with only an online platform to share their prowess.

Yet, at press time, the return of Showcase was only days away, set for April 12 — live and in person. (One session was available for students, regardless of major, to present online.) In addition, Stetson President Christopher F. Roellke, PhD, was the scheduled keynote speaker.

Appropriately enough, the 2022 Showcase theme was “Resilience. Resurgence. Revival.”

“We have almost no students who remember what a normal Showcase looks like,” noted Reiter, associate professor of history and longtime chair of Stetson Showcase. “The only students who remember what a normal Showcase looks like are in the graduating class, and they were freshmen who probably didn’t participate in Showcase 2019.”

Reiter, nonetheless, was anticipating a very busy day.

“Everybody is engaged,” she added, “and sessions will be going on all over campus.” — Michael

Candelaria

The virtual 2022 Hunton Andrews Kurth championship was described as the "Super Bowl of moot court competitions."

Adapted from original poster artwork by Diana C. Rodríguez Allende ’23

MY FRIEND

MAX CLELAND

The late Max Cleland '64 in Normandy, France

“He gave everything he had to give to his country, and he truly deserves to rest in peace. But, Max, Baby, I will miss you.”

BY SUSAN M. RYAN, MLS

Cleland served in Vietnam, where he lost both legs and his right arm during combat.

One of Stetson’s most beloved alumni, Max Cleland ’64, passed away on Nov. 9, 2021, at the age of 79. Many of us knew that day was coming, but it did not make it any easier or less heartbreaking.

A former head of the Veterans Administration and U.S. senator with a long and honorable career of public service, Max had achieved a rare level of success — and he had done it after losing both legs and his right arm in Vietnam. He was a national hero, a passionate public servant and a Stetson legend. More importantly to me, he was my friend.

I cannot remember the first time I met Max. Since the 1970s, he had visited Stetson now and then — each time generating a buzz on campus and a level of excitement that followed Max wherever he went. You could not help but notice him and the positive effect he had on everyone he encountered.

In the early 2000s, he began eight years of service on the Board of Trustees, which brought him to campus more frequently. Our real friendship began, however, in 2007 when Max decided to donate much of his personal, military and professional memorabilia to Stetson’s Archives and Special Collections at the duPont-Ball Library, and I became the curator of his gifts.

The Max Cleland Collection is huge. It includes more than 12,000 photos; 1,000 memorabilia items; uniforms, medals, tapes, and a diary from Vietnam; letters and cards from presidents and well-known political figures; videos; DVDs; and much more. It took me more than a year to process it all, and throughout that time, Max would come to Stetson on occasion and sit with me for hours, describing the backstory of different objects, the context of the photos, and his memories of Vietnam, recovery and rehabilitation, and his life in politics.

Max was a born storyteller, and as we sat down in a corner of the ground floor of the library, he would make me laugh so hard — and sometimes almost cry.

Max shared his life with me during those hours in the basement, and he relived things he had not thought of in years. In the bottom of one of the hundreds of boxes of his items — this one long stored in his parents’ basement — I had found an old diary that said Khe Sanh on the front. I opened it randomly to the date of 11 March 1968 and read in Max’s handwriting:

“But, just the same, one has to look over the edge of darkness into the pit of death to appreciate his life, and one doesn’t really know himself until he does. Then, after that, if he survives his wilderness experience, he becomes stronger in the broken places and is more happier than ever in the small enjoyments that he has.”

I was immediately taken aback. In 1980, Max had written a book and titled it (with a nod to Hemingway) “Strong at the Broken Places.” And here in the diary, a 25-year-old Max Cleland, at the end of his Vietnam tour, had unknowingly described his future just 28 days before he would be blown up by a grenade that took three of his limbs and that sent him to the edge of darkness.

When I showed Max the diary, and told him the page I had first opened, he teared up and said quietly, “Unbelievable.” He had completely forgotten that he had even kept a diary in Vietnam, and he had not seen it in almost 40 years.

I was privileged to have many such personal moments with Max over the years. As I worked through reading all of the letters he had received, I would occasionally come across somewhat racy love letters sent between Max, who remained single his entire life, and some long-ago girlfriend.

Cleland is shown here at the dedication of his Max Cleland Collection in 2007.

The Max Cleland Collection includes more than 12,000 photos as part of the personal memorabilia he donated to Stetson.

In working together, Cleland and Susan M. Ryan, MLS, shared a special bond.

I called Max, and asked him what he wanted me to do with them. The big booming Southern voice came over the phone, “Hey, Baby! You know what to do with those letters. Read ’em, get a good laugh and make ’em disappear!” (Max, by the way, called pretty much everyone “Baby,” and he got away with it. I often wondered if he called Hillary Clinton “Baby” when they sat next to each other in the Senate. My guess is that he did, and that she let him get away with it.)

Like his diary, the audiotapes that Max sent home to his parents portrayed a young man wise beyond his years. In more than eight hours of recordings, Max chronicles his time in Vietnam and his voice on the tapes gets older, sadder and more resigned as the year goes on. In the background, the sounds of helicopters and artillery can be heard — making Max’s words even more impactful.

Max and I worked together on a number of projects over the years. In 2011, Ken Burns’ production company came calling, and we began to work with his producers to provide information, photos and videos from Max’s time in Vietnam for their future documentary, “The Vietnam War.”

Max himself was a featured participant in the film, and we were pleased to have a small role in the production. Max, always thinking of Stetson, called me to make sure that the library got on-air credit for the photos we provided. “You got to get the credit, Baby — make sure you get that Stetson credit.” And, sure enough, in a documentary viewed by millions, the credits rolled with Stetson University Library Archives included alongside the National Archives, the Library of Congress and presidential libraries.

We got the credit.

Max often called me out of the blue — days and nights and weekends. More than once, he woke me up on a Sunday morning. “How ya doing? Just calling to check in.” And, no doubt in my mind, he truly wanted to know how I was doing. He would ask over and over — are you OK? How’s it going at Stetson? Do you need anything? He acted as if he had nothing better to do than to check in on his friends to make sure that they were doing well.

Max Cleland, former head of the Veterans Administration, former U.S. senator, appointed by President Obama as secretary of the American Battle Monuments Commission, was just checking in on me. I learned over the years that he would call dozens and dozens of people just to see if they were OK and to ask if they needed anything.

A number of years ago, I visited Max in his apartment in Georgia, and we spent a few days talking about the remaining political memorabilia he kept in his home, as well as eating our way through Atlanta. When you went

Cleland received an honorary degree from Stetson in 1977.

Left: The Obamas greet Cleland at a 2014 Battle of Normandy commemoration event. Bottom left and right: Cleland’s U.S. Senate campaign was a success. He served Georgia from 1997 to 2003.

into an Atlanta restaurant with Max, you realized at once that you were accompanying a rock star. Five minutes did not pass without another person coming up to the table, wanting to say hello to Max Cleland.

Some got an autograph, some wanted to tell him a story, some just wanted to shake his hand. Max never seemed bothered, and greeted every person like his best friend. This memory came back to me in November, when I listened to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow pay tribute to Max on Veterans Day, two days after he passed away.

“I interviewed him a bunch, spent some time with him. I spent a little bit of time with him in his home state of Georgia. I'll tell you the thing that you could not escape in the presence of Max Cleland was the height, the sort of hurricane scale size of his personality. I remember once going into a restaurant with him in Buckhead, and it was like the lights went off on every other person in the whole place. The only thing you needed to know about that restaurant for the next two hours was that Max Cleland was in it because nothing else mattered. The sheer force of him just filled every room.”

So it wasn’t just me. It was Rachel Maddow, and it was literally hundreds of people, famous or not, who felt the same thing when in the presence of Max Cleland.

I considered Max Cleland to be one of my closest friends. And so did a whole bunch of other people. Because when Max was with you, even if only for a few minutes, he made you feel like his closest friend.

Max Cleland did not have an easy life. He lived the majority of his life as a triple amputee. He fought PTSD and depression. During the last couple of years of his life, he struggled with declining health.

He gave everything he had to give to his country, and he truly deserves to rest in peace. But, Max, Baby, I will miss you.

MAX CLELAND’S POLITICAL CAREER

Georgia State Senate, 1971-1975

Staff Member, U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, 1975-1977

Head of the U.S. Veterans Administration, 1977-1981

Georgia Secretary of State, 1982-1996

U.S. Senator (Georgia), 1997-2003

National Commission on Terrorist Attacks (9-11 Commission), 2002-2003

Board of Directors, Export-Import Bank of the United States, 2003-2007

Secretary, American Battle Monuments Commission, 2009-2017

MAX CLELAND LEADERSHIP STETSON PROGRAM

Max Cleland was instrumental in the success of Leadership Stetson, which began in 2008. Since that time, more than 350 Stetson alumni, parents and friends have participated in the program, which provides the opportunity to deeply engage with university leaders during a three-day, on-campus event. Shortly before Cleland’s passing, the program was officially renamed to honor the man who gave so much to its beginnings, to Stetson and to the United States. The Max Cleland Leadership Stetson Program will accept members into its 14th cohort in February 2023. Later this spring, past participants will return to campus for a reunion and celebration in honor of Cleland.

Susan Ryan, MLS, is the Betty Drees Johnson Dean of the Library & Learning Technologies at Stetson.

Cleland was always a popular visitor among students on campus.

A gathering of Leadership Stetson in 2015 — with Cleland squarely in the middle of the action

AN IDEA

‘LIKELY TOO BIG’

Philanthropic Andrew Carnegie, feisty Lincoln Hulley and how charmingly quaint Sampson Hall came to be constructed on campus

BY SUSAN M. RYAN, MLS

Circa 1912, female students and faculty stand in front of Sampson Hall.

Excerpted and revised from a longer article originally published in Library & Information History, March 2013

Andrew Carnegie, railroad and steel magnate, is known for the more than 1,800 public libraries he funded across the country. Less attention, however, has been paid to the 108 academic library buildings he helped build.

Carnegie favored smaller rather than larger academic institutions, funded a number of colleges serving African American students, and had somewhat of a bias against church-related schools.

John B. Stetson University, a small school, yet segregated and firmly affiliated with the Baptists, made an interesting study of how such an institution pleaded its case for Carnegie funding and received one of the larger gifts of the 108 academic recipients. Stetson’s ultimately successful application was not seamless, though — and this is the story of President Lincoln Hulley, PhD, and his relentless campaign to get a Carnegie library at Stetson.

In 1905, one year after taking office, Stetson President Lincoln Hulley, PhD, commenced a relentless pursuit of a new library.

EARLY STETSON LIBRARIES

A small library collection formed in 1887 when C.T. Sampson, an early supporter of the institution, gave $1,000 to secure a library of about 1,000 volumes. Located on the second floor of DeLand Hall — the university’s only academic building at the time — the original collection shared a room with the science laboratory.

The library became the Sampson Library in 1889 in honor of C.T. Sampson’s continuous contributions.

Upon his death in 1893, Sampson left $20,000 to the university, designated as an endowment for the purchase of library books, which left Stetson in a far more advantageous position than other Florida college libraries at the time. Yet, in a theme that was to repeat itself often throughout the university’s history, the library had outgrown its current quarters.

The library moved to the first floor of the north wing of Elizabeth Hall in fall 1897, where it would remain until it moved to what is now known as Sampson Hall in 1909.

In fall 1904, Lincoln Hulley, PhD, a former Bucknell University professor, became Stetson’s second president. Thanks to the Sampson endowment, Hulley found Stetson’s library compared very well, and even surpassed, other college libraries in Florida. As an example, the University of

Florida’s library collection at the time was called “practically worthless,” and many considered Stetson’s library to be the finest in the state.

Under Hulley, Stetson aspired to greatness, and the library reaped the benefits of his attention during the early years of his presidency.

THE CARNEGIE LIBRARY APPLICATION

An entry in the 1905 Stetson University catalog lamented that the library had outgrown its temporary home, and it had become apparent that a freestanding library was needed. Hulley had undoubtedly heard of the other academic Carnegie libraries that were going up around the country, and he must have known that rival Rollins College, only 35 miles away, had applied for Carnegie library funding in 1904.

Hulley began sending letters to Carnegie in late 1905, requesting a personal interview to discuss a library building for Stetson.

In the first brief letter, Hulley did some name-dropping and informed Carnegie that if he needed to know more about John B. Stetson University, he could inquire of the railroad mogul Henry Flagler and Philadelphia Mayor John Weaver, among others. Subsequent letters outlined more detail about the university, including information on the Sampson book endowment,

the employment of a full-time librarian and the quality of the library collection.

Hulley claimed that Stetson challenged “comparison with the very best high grade, but not large universities of the North.” He told Carnegie the university already had plans and specifications for building a library that would cost $100,000, but he had no money to build it.

A quick return letter from Carnegie’s personal secretary, James P. Bertram, indicated very bluntly that Carnegie “has not the time to give for interviews.”

Bertram, who handled all the library requests sent to Carnegie, was a central figure in the funding of Carnegie libraries and had refined the application process so that it ran smoothly and efficiently by a firm set of rules. Bertram’s streamlined procedure made it possible to process applications quickly, and funding for libraries was approved with surprising speed by today’s standards.

Bertram responded to Hulley with the standard application form, simply titled College Library Building. The concise form included 16 questions (the first three being the name, location and date of incorporation of the college), and it elicited all the information Bertram needed to determine eligibility and the level of funding required.

A careful read of Stetson’s application shows that Hulley understood how to

The Sampson Library, named in 1889, served the university well until being outgrown, prompting Stetson’s request for funds from Andrew Carnegie (right).

portray the Baptist-affiliated university in the best light in terms of the Carnegie criteria for granting funds. One question asked: If denominational, the religious sect that supports and controls the institution? The answer provided by Hulley: “[Nobody] controls. President and [three-fourths] trustees must be Baptists.”

While technically true, the Baptists had substantial control over the university at that time and for decades to follow. Although Hulley touted the Baptist connection in some circles, he downplayed the relationship to the Carnegie staff. He claimed that Stetson imposed no religious restrictions on students or faculty (true) and that the university had “as little sectarian spirit” as did the University of Chicago (surely an exaggeration). Carnegie apparently questioned this answer and had Bertram follow up:

“… . I must inquire further into the sectarian connection, inasmuch as you report that the president and three-fourths of the trustees be Baptists. … Give us a list of the President and Faculty and particulars of their church affiliations with some indications of the church affiliations of the student body.”

No record was found of the reply to this request, although it must have been answered to Carnegie’s satisfaction at some point. While the religious affiliations of the faculty members at the time are not known, the student body was religiously diverse, and there were more than twice as many non-Baptist students as Baptist students in the early part of the 20th century.

Question 10 asked: What provision exists for maintaining the Library? Here, the Sampson endowment came into play and surely helped make Stetson’s case that donor support was in place for the collection.

Another question asked: From what permanent and assured source is money for upkeep to be obtained, and to what amount can this be guaranteed by the Trustees in the event of a building being provided? This information was central to Carnegie’s requirement that colleges commit to supporting adequately a new library building, and Hulley answered with the trustees’ guarantee of $2,000 annually for building upkeep.

HULLEY’S CONTINUAL PLEAS

In addition to filling out the required application form, Hulley, who was never shy in advocating for the university, continued to write directly to Carnegie with supplemental information to plead the case for a $100,000 building. He asked the philanthropist to consider 22 enumerated points, including the following:

• The state’s future is assured, having the climate of Italy, and being in winter, only 20 hours from New York.

• The state is settled largely by Northern people and in that sense is a Northern state.

• We are building a university here for 1,000 years to come. Our work is planned to last.

• It challenges comparison, meaning no disparagement, with all other higher institutions put together that Florida has ever had.

• It is not subject to control of any religious association. It is the gift of Northern Baptists and others for Florida education.

Hulley, knowing the requirements for matching funds, went on to say that “Mr. [John D.] Rockefeller’s General Education Board is considering, I am told favorably, a request for endowment, and Mr. John B. Stetson [the university’s major benefactor] also is considering favorably a request for endowment. If you could give us $100,000 for the library, I have some assurance it will be covered twice over by these other persons.”

In the end, the Rockefeller funding never materialized, and although Hulley had no way of knowing it, John B. Stetson would unexpectedly pass away just weeks after this letter was written.

Bertram was apparently unimpressed and, in fact, rather annoyed by Hulley’s lengthy 22-point discourse. His return letter begins:

“Mr. Carnegie has no time to waste on an application made with so little judgement that a gift of $100,000 is asked to put up a library building where a library building a third of the cost is ample and where one of the arguments given is ‘We are building a university here for 1,000 years to come. Our work is planned to last.’ Pardon me, but if you come to Mr. Carnegie for assistance, it is necessary for you to come out of the air and down to solid ground. Mr. Carnegie has no sympathy for an appeal, unless it is in proportion to what exists and to the number of students and the number of books.”

A STEP BACK

Just days later, Hulley, surely stung by Bertram’s strong rebuff, wrote a conciliatory return letter:

“My dear, Mr. Bertram: Allow me to thank you for your letter of January 30th. Your plain words were none too severe. My ideas are likely too big, due, perhaps, to my Harvard and Chicago training. … In presenting my petition to Mr. Carnegie, if I should

err, through ignorance or foolish blundering, I shall gratefully accept any correction. … Please do not allow our interest to suffer through my stupidity. We need a library badly. … The South needs education. It needs education badly.”

Hulley then asked Bertram to send a representative to the campus to see the “fine university” and even offered up $150 to defray the expenses of such a visit. Although Hulley seemed to be well-versed in Carnegie’s views on religious institutions and his educational philosophy, he was obviously woefully misinformed on the application process itself.

Stetson’s case could have been made with nothing more than the application form, as very few smaller institutions that could make a decent case for a library building were turned down. In fact, Stetson fit in very well with Carnegie’s record of funding schools with endowments of less than $250,000. (Stetson’s endowment at the time of the application was $204,000.) The idea of a fledgling university catering to the uneducated masses in the relatively backwater state of Florida would have appealed to Carnegie.

Ignoring Hulley’s request to send someone to the campus, Bertram replied that Hulley’s apologies had put him back on “solid ground.” He reminded Hulley, however, that he had failed to provide a new dollar amount necessary to build the library “proportionate to the amount you are able to guarantee annually and to the needs of your institution in the present and the immediate future.”

Hulley responded with a revised request for $70,000 that he deemed would cover the cost of a sufficient building, and added that Stetson could meet the matching-fund requirement by using securities bearing 4% for its maintenance.

Yet, never one to give up easily, Hulley could not restrain himself from ending the letter with, “Kindly examine the photographs I sent of our beautiful buildings, and you will understand why our people want to put $100,000 into a building commensurate with our plant.”

Bertram must have been taken aback by the aplomb of this Florida college president,

and it is a wonder that he continued to entertain the application at all. In an attempt to bring Hulley back on track, Bertram responded that “seventy-thousand dollars for a library building for your institution is only a degree less unreasonable than your first application.” He went on to inform Hulley that his plan for matching funds out of the existing budget was unacceptable and insisted that the matching funds be a new endowment because Carnegie did not “believe in ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul,’ which is what your offer amounts to.”

Somewhat repentant (and perhaps just a little disingenuously), Hulley immediately replied that the amount seemed high to him as well, and blamed the $70,000 figure on the building plan’s architect.

‘WILLING TO DO ANYTHING?’

At this point, Hulley apparently realized that he could not quite figure out Bertram’s formula and asked for whatever could be given: “Will Mr. Carnegie be so good as to indicate what he is willing to do for us, if he is willing to do anything? We will gratefully accept any proposition that his kindness may dictate… . And if he will set a figure anywhere up to $60,000, I will work my finger nails off to raise an equal amount provided he will give me six months to do it in.”

Bertram, for his part, consulted New York City architects Whitfield & King and asked the firm to advise Stetson on its building. Bertram’s attitude toward Hulley and Stetson’s lofty plans was clear in a letter to the architectural firm: “I feel you understand the situation perfectly and will help me to hold these fellows down. When I tell you that one of Mr. Hulley’s arguments was that he was building for a thousand years, you will understand the need of a cool head to hold down enthusiastic educators.”

Hulley, for his part, must have felt a bit of panic that he had overreached and lost the chance with Carnegie, because he wrote follow-up letters to Bertram almost begging for consideration and assuring that he could raise matching funds.

Finally, in a letter dated March 12, 1906, the good news arrived: Andrew Carnegie had granted $40,000 for a library building for

John B. Stetson University, providing that an additional $40,000 in new endowment was raised for the maintenance of the library.

Hulley replied that he would begin the search for matching funds immediately. Although the $40,000 figure must have been somewhat of a disappointment, given the original goal of a $100,000 building, in reality it was quite a generous sum. Of the 108 academic institutions receiving Carnegie library funds, only 17 got more than $40,000.

As the university’s principal benefactor, John B. Stetson, had died in February 1906, Hulley naturally turned to his widow for the needed money. Mrs. Stetson agreed to establish the $40,000 matching trust, and the deal with Carnegie was sealed.

True to Hulley’s irrepressible nature, he could not resist saying in a letter to Carnegie that Mrs. Stetson would be happy to match up to $60,000 should Carnegie see fit to raise the amount of his gift. A return letter from Bertram simply ignored Hulley’s request to up the ante.

STETSON’S CARNEGIE LIBRARY, AT LAST

Hulley set about working with an architect to make do with far less than he had originally hoped. In 1908, the 15,000-volume library collection was moved to the first floor of the new building, which was designed to hold 40,000 volumes. The new structure was described in the university’s catalog as “one of the most beautiful buildings on the campus … an imposing structure 150-feet long by 50-feet wide, not counting the portico in front, nor the stack rooms in the rear. It is two stories in height.”

The building commanded a certain reverence; one student described it as having a “dignified authority.”

The importance of Stetson’s Carnegie Library should not be underestimated; it was surely one of the finest libraries in Florida at the time. Hulley highlighted the library’s importance in an address on Feb. 21, 1908, to dedicate the library:

“This library given to us by Mr. Carnegie, endowed by Mrs. Stetson, and also by Mr. Sampson, is to bless the whole State. It leads in the march of education now, and it will for years to come. It will inspire hope in all who come here to

dream dreams for the betterment of their fellow men. The library is to be the workshop in which the students are to learn the mighty thoughts of the past. In it they are to commune with immortals. In it they are to drink at the fountain of wisdom. In it they are to learn that knowledge is power. In it they are to have opportunities unequaled not only in this state, but in all the South portion of the country. And when our work is done, and we have given place to those who are to follow after us, the sons of men shall rise and call these blessed who laid the foundations of this library.”

The Sampson Library, now known as Sampson Hall, still sits at the center of campus today — housing art galleries and studios, along with multiple academic departments.

With “Education is Power” engraved at its front, the building retains its Carnegie style and serves as a symbol of Stetson’s early growth and advancement.

Susan Ryan, MLS, is the Betty Drees Johnson Dean of the Library & Learning Technologies at Stetson.

Today, Sampson Hall is a highlight of popular Palm Court.

WINNER GAME

In an international competition of digital arts programs, Stetson’s game-design training gains unprecedented acclaim.

Chen, MFA, Nathan Wolek, PhD, and Chaz Underriner, PhD; and students Andy Ramirez Garcia, Rose (Keanu) Johnson, Megan Stoughton and Brielle Miller

Stetson’s Digital Arts Program recognized by The Princeton

Review

as one of the top gamedesign educations in the nation?

As a student, Alex Ramirez ’19 had no idea the program that he was part of would reach such heights. All he hoped for was a chance to have a career in video. Today, he’s an associate game designer at Electronic Arts (EA) Sports in Orlando.

Nathan Wolek certainly didn’t know as a student on campus in the late 1990s. And in recent years, even as Nathan Wolek, PhD, Stetson professor of digital arts and music technology, achieving that kind of acclaim clearly was a goal that drove him and his colleagues, but it was far from a guarantee.

In March, among 150-plus institutions offering game-design coursework and/or degrees across the United States, Canada and countries abroad, The Princeton Review included Stetson in its Top 50. Stetson was ranked No. 41 in this 13th annual ranking of Top Game Design Schools for 2022. The colleges making the 2022 list were based on a survey The Princeton Review conducted last year of school administrators, with the selection and ranking of schools

based on criteria that broadly covered the quality of faculty, facilities and technology. The Princeton Review also factored in data collected from the schools on their curriculum and career services. The same type of ranking is done for graduate schools.

A college admission services company, The Princeton Review developed the survey in 2009 with the assistance of an advisory board composed of faculty at top institutions that offer game-design courses and professionals at leading companies in the gaming industry. Stetson is one of only three schools in Florida to earn the distinction.

“It [the Digital Arts Program] has come very far,” Ramirez says.

Actually, the same is true for his career, and in a very short time. Ramirez began at Stetson as a finance major coming from DeLand High School, just down the street. In his sophomore year, he switched to digital arts and got heavily involved with Stetson Broadcast Productions as a video editor. Then an early digital arts course in 3D modeling and animation brought his aha moment.

“That’s when I saw that, oh, this is what I want to do,” he describes.

His senior project was a virtual-reality video game experience in which the players defend their castle against a horde of ravenous zombies placed in the medieval era.

Following a two-year stint directly out of Stetson with ESPN in Charlotte, North Carolina, Ramirez found himself at EA working on the Madden NFL series, one of the most popular video game series of all time. His current role centers on Madden 22 (to be released in August).

Acknowledging that he never thought he’d be working at EA, Ramirez does provide this assessment of his preparation: “You work hard for everything you do at Stetson. There’s no slacking off. You don’t get to slack off at Stetson.”

INTERCONNECTED COURSES

Stetson’s Digital Arts Program began in 1996 as a partnership among the computer science, studio art and music departments. In 1999, Wolek was one of the first graduates of the program, and after getting his graduate degree, he joined the faculty in 2005 and helped to lead the program for many years.

Then enter Dengke Chen, MFA, associate professor of Digital Arts.

Chen specializes in 3D animation and digital video. His artworks have been exhibited at numerous national and international venues, including the Electronic Literature Organization 2020 Festival; Tanganyika National Library in Tanzania; Alexandria Museum of Art in Alexandria, Louisiana; and the Art Konsult in India.

In 2018, Chen took over the game-design controls.

“A lot of the credit for this ranking goes to Dengke,” Wolek says, first citing the managerial duties. “He has been the one keeping up with the survey paperwork for consideration these last four years. … Dengke recognized the value and put in the work each year to make sure we were considered by the selection committee. He did not give up those years that we were overlooked. Without his persistence, we would not have this ranking.”

Further, adds Wolek, Chen teaches about animation and game engines — key pieces of the game development process. “He has taught and mentored all students who participated in this program since it was established. There are many new ideas and models he developed for this program, especially collaborating with other

programs to seek more funding for students,” Wolek explains.

Chen points to the increasing number of graduates working in the video game and animation industry as one reason for the new recognition. Another reason is the connections with other game and animation academies and the industry. Additionally, he cites gamedesign's comprehensive approach to training.

“Our Digital Arts Program and the Computer Science Department offer a range of courses that covers all areas related to video game and animation production,” notes Chen.

Courses include graphic design, web design, 3D computer animation, hand-drawn animation, video game development, artificial reality and virtual reality, digital photography, interactivity art, digital video, audio recording and production, electronic music and sound design, and scoring for multimedia.

With a total of roughly 30 students in game design, Chen teaches 3D computer animation, hand-drawn animation, video game development and other courses related to digital video.

“All topics in our courses are interconnected, and we are also connected with the Computer Science Department,” Chen continues. “For example, students can take computer science courses to learn programing languages. Then, they take the 3D animation

courses to learn how to design and create characters for video games. They take the video game development course to build video games in different genres, and they collaborate with students who take electronic music courses to compose background music and sound effects for the game.”

On average, there are six students who make video games or 3D animations as their senior project, with all of them having experience in the game/animation industry.

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING

Technology also is a big component in fostering creative work.

“Having a flexible curriculum is important as the technology continuously changes,” says Wolek. “We are certainly not teaching the same techniques that I learned as a student in the late 1990s.”

For example, Wolek teaches Electronic Music and Sound Design, where students can choose a path into “procedural audio” — the basis for doing sound-design work on gaming.

In 2017, a game-changing partnership emerged, involving the University of Central Florida’s Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy, or FIEA. The partnership was modeled after the widely successful Stetson Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE),

using donor funding and strategic alliances.

FIEA, in collaboration with EA Tiburon, delivers an industry-based video game career education in a world-class facility in downtown Orlando. Each summer, two or three Stetson students are given the opportunity to learn the latest game-development processes for producers, artists and programmers, and they’re expected to pursue a self-designed research project. As with SURE, the students work with a faculty mentor to develop an idea for a project to complete at FIEA. They work full time on the project and receive a $2,500 grant.

Not coincidentally, most of them continue graduate studies at FIEA and subsequently work in the industry.

“This recognition of Stetson University as a top school for game design is important, as it showcases the development of great talent not only for video games, but also for the emerging experience economy and metaverse ambitions forming across industries around the world,” said Daryl Holt ’90, vice president and general manager of EA Tiburon (Orlando, Austin, & Madrid). “Stetson’s program goes beyond the classroom and forms real-world connections with industry partners like EA. We have enjoyed interacting with students from the program at our EA Tiburon studio in Orlando, and we have benefited from a partnership dialogue with faculty that can impact future curriculum development.”

Holt graduated from Stetson with a bachelor’s degree in accounting

Left: For his senior project, Alex Ramirez ’19 created a virtualreality video game. Right: Professors Underriner, Chen and Wolek play leading roles in elevating the design experience for students.

and a minor in management information systems.

Wolek, who steered the FIEA Summer Research program until fall 2018, agrees.

“The FIEA partnership really has been a win for both Stetson and UCF,” Wolek comments. “They get a chance to work with some of our top students and start recruiting them for their master’s program. Our students get a chance to work with graduate faculty for the summer and preview what it takes to make it in the gaming industry.”

MORE PLAYERS AND MORE SKILLS

Within the Digital Arts Program, two other principal players for game design are Matt Roberts, MFA, professor of digital arts; and Chaz Underriner, PhD, assistant professor of digital arts.

Roberts’ expertise ranges from real-time video performance, new media applications and Augmented Reality to physical computing, video projection mapping and photography. Each is a component of game design. His work has been featured internationally and nationally, including shows in Taiwan, Brazil, Canada, Argentina, Italy and Mexico, and nationally in New York, San Francisco, Miami and Chicago.

Most of Underriner’s work revolves around the concepts of landscape and portraiture in the context of experimental music. He has composed works for solo instruments, chamber ensembles, chamber and symphony orchestras, jazz combos, electronics, film, dance and choir. Each of those components can have a role in game design.

“This is really a program that offers a lot of skills for someone who wants to go into the game industry,” Underriner affirms.

One outcome, of course, is making The Princeton Review’s list — after trying the past four years.

Who knew?

Zoe Boykin ’22 didn’t. A digital arts major who is graduating a year early, she wanted to learn about game design simply because she enjoyed playing video games. She had no idea how they worked, conceding, “I never understood them.”

Now, it’s a different story — both for her and Stetson’s newly ranked game-design training within the Digital Arts Program.

“Game design just really drew me in,” Boykin concludes, “and I feel like it’s always going to be a passion of mine.”

The same goes for Yolanda Patino ’19, who majored in digital arts with a minor in studio art. She received an FIEA summer grant in 2018 and completed a master’s degree at FIEA. Now, she’s a technical artist at Grove Street Games in Gainesville.

“Stetson was a great starting point for my career in game development and digital arts as a whole,” Patino says. “I hadn’t planned to end up where I am now, but coming to Stetson gave me a little taste of everything and allowed me to really figure out what it was I love about digital arts, and being able to understand many different skills is an important part of being a tech artist.

“I really loved seeing how my work had changed over the course of just a few years, and I am so glad I was able to experiment with different classes and programs to finally discover my passion for game development!”

Left: Yolanda Patino ’19 used an FIEA summer grant to help become a technical artist. Boykin (above) and Rose (Keanu) Johnson (below), both seniors, are getting ready for their next career steps.

PACK LEADERS OF THE

Three Florida governors who were at least partly shaped by Stetson made both history and a difference.

BY R. BOYD MURPHREE ’84

Former Florida Gov. Doyle Elam Carlton Sr. graduated from Stetson in 1909. He is sitting in the second row, second from the right among members of the Stetson Apollo Glee Club, which performed between 1901 and 1905.

Photo: Stetson University Archives

On Oct. 27, 1972, the Stetson Reporter announced the death of former Florida Gov. Doyle Elam Carlton Sr. The governor’s passing was noted on the last page of the Reporter, far from the frontpage headline announcing the possibility of peace in Vietnam and after a story of a debate challenge from the “Stetson People for McGovern” to the “Young Republicans.”

Born in 1885, Carlton’s life must have seemed far removed from the political passion aroused in students by the presidential election of 1972. Yet, as a student at Stetson in the early 20th century, Carlton embraced politics, too. There, he developed the speaking and debating skills that helped forge a successful political career that eventually led to becoming Florida’s head of state.

Carlton wasn’t the only such leader with Stetson ties..

Two other governors, William Sherman Jennings and David Sholtz, also had similar connections.

WILLIAM SHERMAN JENNINGS

Jennings’ administration was the earliest. Born in Illinois during the Civil War on March 24, 1863, he was a cousin of William Jennings Bryan, the fiery orator and perennial losing Democratic presidential candidate.

Jennings moved to Brooksville, Florida, in 1885. He was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1892 and later served as speaker of the House. In 1891, he married May Elizabeth Austin Mann, who proved to be a tremendous political personality in her own right as a leading voice for women’s suffrage and environmental conservation. Jennings won the Democratic primary and the governorship in 1900.

The Jenningses were staunch Baptists. Given Stetson’s close association with the Florida Baptist Convention at the time, the governor’s faith and political prominence made him a perfect candidate for a seat on Stetson’s Board of Trustees, which he joined in 1900 and where he remained until his death in 1920.

Jennings’ tenure on the board was not without controversy, however. In summer 1901, rumors of an affair between Stetson President John F. Forbes, PhD, who was married, and a female instructor began to spread, engulfing the university in a scandal that absorbed newspaper readers across the state. The episode caused a rift among the faculty and shattered what had once been a solid relationship between Forbes and university benefactor John B. Stetson.

Jennings, in his capacity as a trustee and leading member of the Florida Baptists, supported Forbes’ claim that the accusations against him were false and malicious. Jennings and the board exonerated Forbes, and the Florida Baptists followed suit, proclaiming Forbes, also a prominent Baptist, innocent.

William Sherman Jennings was once a member of Stetson’s Board of Trustees. Photos: State Library and Archives of Florida

DOYLE ELAM CARLTON SR.

Carlton was a student at Stetson during the Forbes controversy. Born on July 6, 1885, in Wauchula, Florida, Carlton was from a cattle-raising and citrus-growing family, and one of 10 siblings. He entered Stetson as a student in its college preparatory academy in 1902, rooming in the original Conrad Hall that burned down that year. Carlton graduated from the academy in 1905 and from the university in 1909.

Carlton was a model student. He joined the Literary Society, the student newspaper (Weekly Collegiate) and the Glee Club. Carlton became the university’s top student orator. During the summer of 1908, the university put his speechmaking skills to work by having him travel the state to recruit new students. It was also at Stetson that he met Nell Beauchamp Ray, his future wife.

Like Jennings, Carlton was a devout Baptist who did not smoke, drink alcohol or gamble. His commitment to temperance led to his first foray into political activism. In 1910, sponsored by the Anti-Saloon League, Carlton, an alumnus and three Stetson students formed a singing quartet that toured the state, giving performances and speeches in favor of statewide prohibition. After graduating from law school at Columbia University in New York in 1912, he moved to Tampa to practice law and continued to promote prohibition.

Carlton won election to the Florida Senate in 1916. He worked to ratify the 18th Amendment, which instituted Prohibition, and endorsed legislation to strengthen Florida’s child labor laws and implement workers’ compensation. These achievements and his growing civic reputation in Tampa encouraged Carlton to run for governor in 1928. He won the Democratic primary and beat his Republican opponent in the general election.

When Carlton entered office in January 1929, Florida was in an economic crisis that had been going on long before the onset of the Great Depression, which occurred later that year.

The bust of the Florida Land Boom and the horrendous impact of hurricanes in 1926 and 1928 devastated the lives and livelihoods of countless Floridians. This string of biblical-scale disasters continued in the early months of the administration when a plague of Mediterranean fruit flies infested Florida’s citrus crops. Carlton also had to address the terrible condition of the state’s finances due to a large deficit from previous road projects.

Carlton tried to solve the fiscal crisis by cutting government spending — he laid off state workers and reduced salaries, including his own. He got the state Legislature to increase the gas tax to help counties pay off their large debt and to help fund public education. He cooperated with the federal government to construct massive dikes to prevent future flooding in the Everglades, which had caused so much damage in the previous hurricanes. And he did his best to combat the Medfly epidemic.

By the time Carlton left office in 1933, Florida and the nation were entering the darkest days of the Great Depression. The state had few resources for public assistance and could do little to alleviate the misery of the growing numbers of the unemployed. Yet, Carlton could say he had prevented the collapse of state government in the face of overwhelming difficulties.

DAVID SHOLTZ

The man who succeeded Carlton was another Stetson graduate. Sholtz was born on Oct. 6, 1891, in Brooklyn, New York. His parents were RussianJewish immigrants. Sholtz received his early education in New York and did his undergraduate work at Yale University. While he was at Yale, his father visited Daytona Beach and invested in the city by founding an electric streetcar company and funding other infrastructure projects.

In fall 1914, Sholtz enrolled in the College of Law at Stetson. He had already earned law credits at Yale, so he was only at Stetson for his final year. Like Carlton, he joined the Glee Club. He also became a member of Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity and Moot Court. His 1915 yearbook entry was glowing: “Our Dave is the Millionaire Kid, and the Yale Grad, and a better fellow was never made: full of Wisdom and Smiles.”

Also described as a young man in a hurry, Sholtz built a successful law practice and got to know Volusia’s business and governing elite. Elected to the Florida House in 1916, he joined the Navy during World War I. In 1925, he married Alice May Agee. In the 1920s, Sholtz served as a state attorney, and as a municipal judge in Daytona Beach, and rose in the ranks of civic and business organizations.

Carlton became Florida’s governor in January 1929.

Photos: State Library and Archives of Florida

Those associations, combined with a talent for speechmaking and an outgoing personality, made him a gubernatorial prospect by 1932. He won election that year, becoming the only Florida governor of Jewish heritage — although he had converted to Christianity years earlier. During his campaign, he had to fend off anti-Semitic attacks and rumors that he was some sort of New York radical.

Sholtz followed Carlton’s agenda of lowering taxes and limiting government spending. However, he embraced President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal, welcoming federal dollars to fund public works programs. When Roosevelt was almost assassinated in Miami, Sholtz rode with FDR on the train carrying him back to Washington, D.C. His good relationship with the president helped Florida acquire more New Deal investments.

Sholtz worked to provide more money for state welfare programs to assist the vast

number of unemployed Floridians. He was instrumental in applying federal funds to relieve the poor economy of Key West, which was in terrible shape even before the Great Depression hit. He also created the Florida Park Service and the Florida Citrus Commission to conserve Florida’s forests and restore confidence in the state’s citrus industry after the Medfly devastation. His term ended in 1937.

Neither Sholtz nor Carlton ever served in elective office again. They both tried to win U.S. Senate seats but failed. Sholtz and Jennings died of natural causes in middle age, Sholtz at 61 and Jennings at 56. Carlton lived to be 87.

Over the decades, Stetson recognized Carlton’s continued service to the university. He was a trustee from 1919 to 1972 — dedicating the Carlton Union Building in 1957 and establishing the Doyle E. Carlton Award in 1969 to recognize individuals devoted to Christian education, the development of Stetson, and service to the DeLand community and Florida.

Jennings and Sholtz shouldn’t be forgotten, either. Like Carlton, they were leaders at least partly shaped by Stetson. And they were governors who made a difference.

R. Boyd Murphree ’84 received a bachelor’s degree in history, followed by a master’s degree and doctorate in history from Florida State University. In 1998, he began work as an archivist with the State Archives of Florida in Tallahassee. He left the archives in 2012 to become an assistant editor with the Papers of Abraham Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois. In 2016, Murphree started his current position as a project manager with the University of Florida’s George A. Smathers Libraries. He and Robert A. Taylor coedited “The Governors of Florida,” the first in-depth history of all of Florida’s territorial and state governors, which the University Press of Florida published in 2020. That year, the Florida Book Awards recognized the book with the Phillip and Dana Zimmerman Gold Medal for Florida Nonfiction.

Gov. Sholtz rides with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Jacksonville.

David Sholtz graduated from Stetson’s College of Law in 1915.

Photos: State Library and Archives of Florida; Stetson University Archives

SCHOLAR NUCLEAR

For Jack Kelly ’11, tracking illicit nuclear materials across Europe is Hollywood action coming to real life.

BY TRISH WIELAND

This sure sounds like the makings for an action movie:

Good Guy wonders where all the missing bits of nuclear material have gone. He joins a think tank in Europe to learn how to stop the bad guys from getting their hands on it. He brings back everything he’s learned to the United States. And saves the day!

This isn’t Hollywood, though. It’s reality for Jack Kelly ’11, political science alumnus turned espionage expert in the world of nuclear weapons.

First, some background information.

There are nine countries with nuclear weapons, but more than that number have nuclear-power capacity. Europe has the most experience in dealing with countries that have nuclear-related issues — such as those that have lost their rights, cannot find nuclear materials for a variety of reasons (lost in transit, mishandled, etc.), and need to dispose of nuclear waste from power plants.

By contrast, the United States hasn’t dealt with those same issues, along with the risks of illicit nuclear material, simply because Europe is closer geographically to the involved countries.

Now, enter Jack Kelly.

“I’m looking at the best European practices for the past 80 years to see how the U.S. can adapt them domestically,” Kelly says. “This is probably done in a classified sense, but it’s not done publicly. For example, the Soviet Union had nuclear-powered lighthouses. Those went dark when the country fell. But nuclear material doesn’t expire.

Jack Kelly ‘11

Where is that material? Who has it? How is it being tracked? What if someone wishes to use it against us?”

There’s more to that story.

“We’re not just talking about building a nuclear weapon,” Kelly continues. “We’re talking about a dirty bomb — a smaller version and much more concerning one, due to the level of material available. No matter the damage done, the government has to take action to remediate the cleanup. It’s very damaging, costly and a feather in the hat of a terrorist.”

So, how does a 33-year-old from Ormond Beach, not far from the Stetson campus, become inspired to do such work?

It began with a comic illustration — but not of any superhero type.

“When I was working for the New York attorney’s office in 2014 and 2015, I was captivated by France’s Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper being terrorized for illustrating the Prophet Muhammad in a comic, which is considered blasphemous,” explains Kelly. “I was really awestruck that somehow it was not known what the reaction would be. I decided that I wanted to use my skills to help keep people safe. I’m an American who has grown up in this culture of spy movies and intelligence thrillers, and this is the moment where I thought I really could do this.”

From 2018 to 2020, Kelly attended Mercyhurst University in Pennsylvania and earned a master’s degree in applied intelligence. His thesis was titled “The Nightmare Scenario: Understanding the Plausibility of Terrorist Nuclear Weapon Creation and Use by Black Market and Dark Web Means.”

Kelly’s research focused on the plausibility of nuclear weapons being sourced, built, moved and used inside the United States by nonstate actors using openly available methods.

Upon graduation, he and his professors felt there was more research to be done and that Kelly’s topic was worthy of applying for a Fulbright Scholar Award.

Following an intense application process, as 2021 came to an end, Kelly was reaping the fruits of his hard labor — granted a prestigious Fulbright Award and on sabbatical from his job as an intelligence analyst at Bank of America to conduct six months of research at the Antall József Knowledge Centre in Brussels, Belgium.

The Centre is a Budapest-based Hungarian think tank that works to advance democratic ideals, just as József Antall, the first democratically elected president of Hungary (1989),

worked to do. Specifically, Kelly’s Fulbright grant is a Schuman grant, which is named after Robert Schuman, one of the “founding fathers” of the European Union. The grant is intended to promote knowledge-sharing between the European Union and the United States.

As such, Kelly is learning how the European Union and Visegrad Four Regions (Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia) work to track and understand where illicit nuclear material might be hidden.

As the new year began, Kelly transitioned to work with the German Marshall Fund, where he’ll remain to complete the grant. The German Marshall Fund is a large U.S. think tank that also works to promote EU and U.S. cooperation.

Ultimately, Kelly is conducting research to answer this one question: How do we prevent a bad actor from getting bits of nuclear material to harm us?

“A lot of what we practice here in the U.S. for security is top-down. We don’t look for things that are ‘lost.’ But Europe does,” says Kelly. “Are there deposits of this material somewhere? Where are they? Who is monitoring this material? For example, a man in India was trying to sell uranium. Someone knew he had it, and they took action against him. So, I’m learning how they knew that this guy had uranium. I want to learn the tracking techniques they have in Europe and how we can apply these in the U.S.”

‘HIS WISDOM RUNS DEEP’

People who knew Kelly best during his time at Stetson are not surprised about him. One of them is David Hill, PhD, professor of political science and associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

“[Kelly] was a very smart and creative student, who I knew would one day be successful in whatever path he chose,” Hill comments.

Another person is Rina Tovar Arroyo, assistant vice president for Development and Alumni Engagement. They had become friends when Kelly was a student.

“When I saw the article that Jack had been selected for a Fulbright, I swelled with emotion and pride,” says Arroyo. “And when I read about the subject for his research and incredibly important work, quite frankly, I teared up.

“I always knew Jack would continue to impact the world. I am deeply grateful for the incredibly important work he is doing … . Jack has an incredible balance between his head and

his heart. As evidenced by his Fulbright Award, Jack has the mind to impact our world in significant ways, while his heart centers his work in areas to improve humanity. His wisdom runs deep.”

And, quite apparently, support from Stetson doesn’t ever expire. When Professor William Nylen, PhD, chair of the Department of Political Science and co-director of the International Studies Program, learned of Kelly’s research trip to Brussels, he began connecting dots. Nylen reached out to Slavina (Sally) Ancheva ’20, a former standout student who had been among a mere handful of finalists for a Global Rhodes Scholarship in 2019.

“When I had heard that Jack won this award, and that he was planning to go to Brussels, we had just graduated one of our finest political science students ever,” Nylen remembers. “I was never able to say goodbye to Sally, thanks to COVID and my 2020-2021 sabbatical in Brazil. But we kept up some contact through Facebook. I knew that she had landed a job with the European Parliament in Brussels. So, when I heard that Jack was heading there, I asked Sally if he could get in touch.”

Nylen’s move was no mystery to Kelly, who credits his Stetson experience, as well as his professors, for preparing him to “really think.”

“I was very challenged by my Stetson professors,” Kelly says. “You had to have thick skin and get used to having an uncomfortable question put toward you.”

Now, Kelly searches for uncomfortable answers.

At the suggestion of a professor, standout alumna Slavina (Sally) Ancheva ’20 and Kelly have collaborated abroad.

A French satirical newspaper helped to steer Kelly toward keeping people safe.

Alumna Primrose Cameron’s own personal journey hasn’t always been smooth, but she continues to make a difference in the lives of others, particularly the most vulnerable.

BY MICHAEL CANDELARIA

‘MOVE FORWARD’

Primrose Cameron ’02

Primrose Cameron ’02 self-published her first book in 2018, titled “Princess Primrose Goes to Washington DC,” about a young girl who blossoms with love and care.

It’s an engaging tale that promotes family togetherness, kindness and patience. Similarly, her second book, “Princess Primrose goes to Jamaica,” was self-published in 2020.

Yet, in reality, the story of Cameron’s own life is even better.

Born to Jamaican parents who immigrated to Connecticut and willfully carved out a new life with their only child at top of mind, the girl grew to become a mother, educator, counselor, life coach, motivational speaker, community advocate, union activist and author — all the while advocating for families and young adults of all races and genders.

Oh, and by the way, those don’t entirely represent Cameron’s official job. That would be as the professional development and educational research director for the Florida Education Association. The FEA is a union that advocates and supports public education, along with its members and students.

This is one Hatter who, well, wears many hats. Not coincidentally, at Stetson

Homecoming 2021 Cameron was the recipient of the Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award — personifying “commitment to making other people better.”

So, maybe call this story “The Blossoming of Primrose in Her Garden of Good.” Or perhaps it’s “How to Do Everything at Once to Inspire and Uplift.”

‘ANY WAY POSSIBLE’

“It’s going to be all or nothing. I’m part of the ‘all’ movement,” describes Cameron, who earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Bethune-Cookman College, followed by the master’s in counseling from Stetson and a doctorate in counseling psychology from Argosy University.

“I just want them to have it all in any way possible. They’re going to have to work for it, but I want them to know that the world is not as scary as what it sometimes seems to be.”

Cameron’s comment was in reference to her efforts with Sisters Build Network for Girls Inc., a mentoring group for girls in grades 3-12 that she founded. However, the same could be said literally for all of her work, including the Calling a Few Good Men conference, which she founded to help hold men accountable for the lives of children and encourage mentorship.

Also, it goes for her leadership roles, both present and past, with, among others, the Juvenile Diversion Alternative Program; DeLand Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority; the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranches; the Florida Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development; Daughters of the King, OES; the Florida Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development; West Volusia Branch of the NAACP and the DeLand Junior Service League.

Further, Cameron’s speaking engagements encompass such topics as building relationships in the workplace, effective communication, building self-esteem and confidence, community engagement, building racial equity in the classroom, and functional families. Also, she once hosted a weekly blog radio program and currently is a newspaper columnist for The West Volusia Beacon (DeLand).

Many of those efforts are placed under the umbrella of Cameron Enterprises LLC, established in 2014 in DeLand. She takes great pride in her volunteer/community service work, truly believing that such efforts “allow others to succeed and grow.”

Then there’s the FEA, with its focus on professional development, growth and

support of those who serve Florida’s students. Founded in 1886, FEA is the state’s largest association of professional employees and the largest labor union in the Southeast, with more than 150,000 members in 100plus local unions. That makes Cameron a union activist, too. Among her highlights: helping teachers obtain their required ESOL certification to teach English for Speakers of Other Languages.

‘WE HAD GOALS TO ACCOMPLISH’

Her explanation for staying this engaged: “I have a problem, because when I have a passion for something, I do it on overload.”

That’s what happens when, she explained in her characteristic broad smile, you are raised by parents who have been together for more than 45 years, and you are shaped by their devotion.

Both of her parents wound up in Stamford, Connecticut, leaving their homeland of Jamaica without knowing each other. Attending different Stamford high schools, they met. While Dad graduated from high school and later joined the U.S. Army, Mom left high school and later earned her GED — so that she could stand by his side and raise their child, Primrose.

When Cameron was 2, her father, Patrick, seeking to do what’s right for the ones that he loved and honor his family, got married

Cameron: “I have a problem, because when I have a passion for something, I do it on overload.”

Although initially reluctant after being told she would be a “great counselor,” Cameron has proved to be one.

to Rose and joined the military. He spent 20 years serving in the Army, with Cameron attending many schools around the world and graduating from high school in Germany, where the family was stationed.

At the same time, he was always there for his daughter. “I have the best father ever,” Cameron says, again with her trademark smile. “He just loved us [her and her mother, Rose] unconditionally and created a life for us.”

Her grandmother also holds significant influence. Cameron travels to Jamaica to “give to those who live near the land that allowed my grandmother to take care of my family and create a sense of accomplishment for generations to come.”

On sort of a wing and a prayer, Cameron left Germany to attend Bethune-Cookman College (now Bethune–Cookman University) at age 17. Classmates in Germany were applying for schools in the States, so Cameron did the same. The only school she recalled vividly

was Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach, where she had once spent time with her family.

After applying, although never receiving an official acceptance letter in the mail, she arrived on campus, hopeful. “I got into this long line [of enrolled student] and asked, ‘Is my name on the list?’ And, fortunately, it was,” she remembers.

Still, there were more “blessings” to prepare for, such as having a son in her sophomore year. Undaunted, she moved forward, because that’s what she had been taught growing up, and “we had goals to accomplish. … My family motto was to ‘move forward.’” She often worked three jobs at a time to take care of her son and herself while taking a full load of courses.

Cameron graduated in four years — sharing that “education saved me, but my son ultimately made me into who I have become.”

‘CAN BETTER SERVE OTHERS’

With her English degree, Cameron then wanted to write books and “make lots of money,” but following the words of her academic adviser, Margaret Duncan, PhD — who noted there was a son to raise — she instead became an English teacher at T. DeWitt Taylor Middle-High School in nearby Pierson. Cameron’s words: “That became the best decision I could have made.”

She spent four years teaching there, married and divorced during that time, before “stumbling upon Stetson and DeLand.” Advice from a guidance counselor at Taylor Middle-High, Sue Hofstrand, then steered her toward counseling, reluctantly. “I was told that I would make a great counselor. And my reaction was, ‘Stop playing.’”

Yet, eventually, it happened.

By virtue of a scholarship that enabled her to take one class, any class, at Stetson, she enrolled in a multicultural class taught by

Patrick Coggins, PhD

Professor of Education Patrick Coggins, PhD. He became her mentor, and Cameron was on her way to steering lives of her own. And she continues to work with Stetson on numerous fronts.

“I have always been impressed with the fact that she had the energy; she had the intelligence and had what I consider the creative drive to make a difference,” Coggins says, looking back at their past two decades of collaboration.

Coggins first pointed to their background threads, which created a natural connection, with Cameron from Jamaican roots and his from native Guyana. Then Coggins cited example after example of her effective work.

There was a joint effort to promote the Tuskegee Airmen, which resulted in a special production on C-SPAN television during Thanksgiving 2008. The show featured retired Air Force Lt. Col. Hiram Mann of Titusville talking about the experiences of the African American pilots during World War II. “I give her the credit for working out all of the details,” says Coggins.

Also, working with the NAACP in Volusia County, Cameron “did something that no one has been able to do,” Coggins describes — organizing the group’s youth into productive relevance and providing a needed jolt of energy.

She displayed further community commitment last year, creating a Juneteenth event that brought together diverse sectors and demonstrated unity. Coggins attended the event in DeLand, which celebrated the federal government’s establishment of Juneteenth as a national holiday to commemorate the emancipation of African American slaves. “She took it upon herself to organize this. … That would never have happened if it weren’t for her imagination and her energy,” Coggins says.

“She has been an innovator and really made a difference, and continues to make a difference.”

Coggins offered a personal note, too, lauding her for raising a son alone:

“To me, that’s a special feat.”

“Primrose is someone whom I would categorize as a ‘Mission Driven’ educator,” comments Chris Colwell, EdD, associate professor and chair of Stetson’s Department of Education. “Over

the years, I have found her to be, without exception, focused on making a difference in the lives of teachers and students, that is her mission. Her expertise, her team-oriented approach to problem-solving and her passion for the work are evident to anyone who has the privilege to know her.”

Quite a story, huh?

It hasn’t ended. At some point, Cameron would like to step aside and “pass the baton,” noting that “somebody passed it to me, and I want to pass it to the next generation.”

Just not now.

The family motto Move Forward still motivates.

“My mind is always on public education — how we provide students with the necessary opportunities that lie ahead, how do we access resources for them and how do we truly support all of our educators [from teachers to support staff to bus drivers],” Cameron says.

“That’s something I do. If you see a need, you are to address it, you are to take care of it, and you are to be your brother’s keeper and your sister’s keeper.”

“Everything that I choose to do,” she concludes, “is within the lineup of my life and how I can better serve others.”

Chris Colwell, EdD

Cameron is looking to “pass the baton” — just not quite yet.

Since 1993, AIR Guatemala has trained approximately 5,000 rural families in their own communities and planted 7.2 million native trees, among other achievements, in a picturesque country that also has significant environmental challenges.

LIFE SEEDS FOR

The

Alliance for International Reforestation, founded by Professor Emeritus Anne Hallum, PhD, continues to grow — improving human and environmental health in Guatemala.

BY JACK ROTH

In 1991, Anne Hallum, PhD, was teaching political science at Stetson when the university announced it needed a professor to take a few students on a trip to Guatemala. Experiencing some upheaval in her life at the time, she “recklessly” volunteered. Hallum did not own a passport, and she did not speak Spanish. Also, she knew little about Guatemala.

She learned quickly.

Two years later, Hallum established the Alliance for International Reforestation Inc., also known as AIR Guatemala, which today is recognized globally for its work in education and agroforestry, improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the developing world and benefiting the environment.

And nearly 30 years after the organization’s first roots sprouted, the nonprofit work continues to flourish under the nurturing eye of Hallum, who today is a Professor Emeritus at Stetson.

Hallum remembers that fateful first flight.

“Before we even landed, I looked out the airplane window and asked where the trees were,” she recalls. “I immediately noticed the deforestation … the mudslides and barren mountains. The environmental devastation was shocking, but when we traveled to the villages and met the locals, I was inspired by their strength. I felt called to return to Guatemala, but only if I were doing something positive.”

Nueva Concepción, a Guatemalan town adversely affected by soil erosion and food shortages, left a particularly dramatic impression.

“[In the town] I held this little girl, and she was so weak she couldn’t hold her head up,” Hallum describes. “I asked the mother how old she was, and she said she was 3, and I had a 3-year-old child at the time who was active and vibrant. I was haunted by the difference.”

Not long after Hallum returned home, a student suggested they form an organization that would help counter the devastation they had seen. With expertise in environmental politics, Hallum knew all too well that climate change and deforestation were critically important issues to be addressed. So, she didn’t need much prodding.

Student and professor went to a restaurant in downtown DeLand and came up with the idea for AIR.

“Meeting the wonderful people of Guatemala changed my life,” Hallum continues, “and I was determined to return. I knew if we could train local farmers in sustainable agriculture and establish tree nurseries, it would improve both human and environmental health for the long term.”

During her sabbatical, Hallum returned to Guatemala and began managing AIR’s early growth in Guatemala and Nicaragua by hiring professional local staff in those countries while fundraising in the United States. She was able to combine the service work in rural regions of those countries with her own academic research and find ways for Stetson students to earn academic credits in independent studies, such as immersion Spanish, environmental activism, Latin American studies (Mayan culture), and religion and the environment.

In 2000, Hallum’s husband, Jan Wilgers, joined by Fred Hoffmann of DeLand and Stetson graduate Cecil Paul Jones, designed and built AIR’s training center, funded by Presbyterian churches. The center has become a well-known headquarters in Guatemala for farmer training and rural development.

Anne Hallum, PhD

Over the years, the AIR organization has developed a multidimensional approach of farmer training, reforestation, school programs and tree nursery businesses. Self-sustaining projects led by residents ensure continuous growth within each community being served.

The results: more nutritious food crops, improved soil, cleaner water sources and greater environmental conservation.

Since 1993, AIR Guatemala has trained approximately 5,000 rural families in their own communities; planted 7.2 million native trees; constructed 880 fuel-efficient stoves; and incorporated education programs, scholarships, tree nurseries and gardens in 38 rural schools.

“We do it the right way, which is slowly,” explains Hallum, who now lives in Atlanta, working (nonsalaried) as president of the organization. “The trees last because we do five years of farmer training and don’t leave the village until the farmers understand the value of the living trees. The mountains are still reforested, the soil is better, and the farmers are

not using dangerous chemicals on their crops. Slower is longer-lasting. It takes time for the planet to heal, and I’m grateful we’ve been doing it in a sustainable way.”

In 2013, AIR Guatemala received the Momentum for Change Award from the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Warsaw, Poland. In 2017, it received further acclaim from the United Nations as one of the winners of the Equator Prize — one of only 15 organizations chosen as the most effective development organizations in the world.

For Hallum, who left her professorship for volunteer work with AIR Guatemala in 2012, the recognition is gratifying but not the goal.

“Right now, I’m in my office looking at the awards we’ve won for doing this work,” she notes, “and it means everything to me because we’re doing good work, and the work is resulting in positive change — and making positive change is what it’s all about.”

In other words, while awards are nice, changing lives is everything.

CREATING TRANSFORMATIONAL STUDENT EXPERIENCES

Clearly, Hallum hasn’t succeeded alone, and she’ll be the first to say it. She points to strong partners, highlighted by David and Leighan Rinker, longtime ardent Stetson benefactors who have helped to support AIR Guatemala since 2000.

The partnership actually began in 1999 when David offered to support student trips with Hallum through the Marshall E. Rinker Sr. Foundation. David learned of Hallum’s early experiences working in Guatemala, and he simply wanted students to benefit from learning through study abroad and cultural exchange.

THEN NOW

The travel expenses for each of the students have been covered by a Marshall E. Rinker Sr. grant. Annual grants total approximately $9,000 each summer for hotels, food, ground transportation, small stipends and continual supervision by AIR Guatemala staff members for a period of three to eight weeks.

Thirty-eight selected students — based on grades, a reflective essay and an interview — have now participated in these immersive experiences in Guatemala and Nicaragua, thanks to the Rinker grants.

Hallum’s husband, Jan Wilgers (far left), helped to design and build the AIR training center in 2000. Wilgers passed away in 2011, and his name is inscribed on the center in Guatemala (pictured today).

Hallum established AIR Guatemala in 1993. This photo was taken in June 2021 during her 58th visit to the country.

Adam Darragh '08 (yellow shirt) shares time with rural schoolchildren in 2008.

The pandemic, of course, halted travel in the past two years. Hallum is now planning to host larger groups of Stetson students, but for shorter stays with AIR Guatemala, in the form of “alternative spring breaks.”

In the past, students have built stoves with Mayan families and the AIR staff; they have actively engaged at rural schools; and they’ve planted fast-growing trees on deforested slopes.

Meanwhile, the students grow, too.

“When the trips were eight weeks long, a pattern developed,” Hallum says. “At the beginning of the trip, students were excited, but they would get homesick, push through for a few days and suddenly become totally immersed in the experience. Something clicked, and it was amazing to watch. They realized they weren’t tourists and instead were part of something bigger than themselves.

“It’s challenging, but incredibly rewarding.”

And those experiences make a difference.

Matt Morton ’06 was an impressionable 19-year-old when he spent six weeks with AIR in Guatemala. He later received a full scholarship to Oxford in England, spent more than four years with the World Bank, has been an international advocate for troubled youth and is now a research fellow at the University of Chicago.

Caity Peterson ’11 participated as a first-year student and learned the “sheer joy of an exhausting day of service, especially outdoors.” She then worked in Colombia for Conservation International, received a doctorate in ecology at the University of California-Davis and now is an associate director and research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California.

There are numerous other examples of personal and professional transformation.

In addition, the organization is having a sort of second-generation impact. In 2017, Adam Darragh ’08, then a campus minister at Louisiana State University and a filmmaker, brought students to volunteer with AIR Guatemala because of its impact on his life.

“When I look back on this journey, I feel joy and gratitude to have been able to do it,” Hallum

AGROFORESTRY: A REGENERATIVE AND SUSTAINABLE APPROACH TO LAND MANAGEMENT

The National Agroforestry Center at the U.S. Department of Agriculture defines agroforestry as a land-use management system in which trees or shrubs are grown around or among crops or pastureland.

This diversification of the farming system initiates an agroecological succession, like that in natural ecosystems, and starts a chain of events that boosts the functionality and sustainability of the farming system.

Trees also produce a wide range of useful and marketable products from fruits/nuts, medicines, wood products and more. This intentional combination of agriculture and forestry has multiple benefits, such as greatly enhanced yields from staple food crops, enhanced farmer livelihoods from income generation, increased biodiversity, improved soil structure and health, reduced erosion, and carbon sequestration.

says. “Some of these forests are back to being full. When you feel called to something and you do the work, and then you see the results, it’s an incredible feeling.”

A recent trip to Guatemala, while driving with her staff, even left Hallum unsure.

“I didn’t recognize where we were,” she explains. “And they told me that when I was there last, it was barren mountains. I didn’t even recognize it. There were trees AIR had planted all over the place, and it was lush. That was one of the best days of my life.”

The mission isn’t complete.

“I always feel like there’s much more to do,” Hallum says. “I look at Brazil and see how we’re destroying the lungs of the world, and I get discouraged. But I look at the photographs of what we HAVE done, and it makes me realize I’ve done all I can do as one person.”

Still looking ahead, a thankful Hallum has relished her past.

“Stetson not only allowed me to start this journey — with sabbaticals, traveling over the summer and changing my research focus — the university encouraged this journey,” she concludes. “And I will always be grateful for that.”

A group of volunteers work on mountainside reforestation in 2017, including George Winsten ’18 (in white pants).

GLOBAL UNDERSTANDING

Fulbright student recipients Estefany Arenas ’19 and Malina Morales ’19 and Fred Lee ’17 are taking different paths to a common destination abroad.

BY MICHAEL CANDELARIA

The simple math is difficult to deny: three for three. And perhaps it could be four for four, with that outcome still pending.

We’re talking about three applicants from Stetson for a coveted Fulbright U.S. Student Program award — the only three Hatters to apply — and each becoming a scholarship recipient as part of Fulbright’s 2020 and 2021 award cycles.

Those three winners nearly double the university’s total of seven student recipients since 1970. Plus, a fourth Hatter is a semifinalist and awaiting word for a scholarship in the 2022 cycle.

The 2021 award winners are Estefany Arenas ’19 and Malina Morales ’19, while Fred Lee ’17 was awarded for 2020, with his Fulbright experience delayed because of the pandemic.

Garrett Zeiss ’22, part of Stetson’s Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies program, is the university’s only student to apply in the current Fulbright award cycle. At press time, there was no official announcement about his scholarship candidacy. Notably, his desired destination is Moldova, a small former Soviet state that is wedged between Ukraine and Romania.

Impressive student achievements?

“This is a really prestigious scholarship,” answers Martin Blackwell, PhD, a visiting professor of history who helps students with their Fulbright applications.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers research, study and teaching opportunities in more than 140 countries to recent graduates and graduate students. During their grants, the students meet,

work with, live with and learn from the people of their host country. The program facilitates exchanges through direct interaction in the classroom, field and home, and in routine tasks, allowing the students to gain an appreciation of others’ viewpoints and beliefs, as well as insight into residents’ daily lives.

The Fulbright Program was created in 1946 to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries, with the primary source of funding being an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Each year, more than 2,200 U.S. students, along with 900 U.S. college and university faculty and administrators, are awarded Fulbright grants. In addition, approximately 4,000 Fulbright foreign students and visiting scholars come to the United States annually to study, lecture, conduct research, or teach their native language in U.S. institutions of higher education.

Stetson is now firmly part of the legacy.

“These students are rock stars!” asserts Roxanne Lewis, coordinator of International Student and Scholar Services at Stetson’s World: Rinker Center for International Learning.

“For many, many years, Stetson had no Fulbright student awards. Now, three in two

years’ time!” adds Bill Nylen, PhD, professor of political science and Stetson’s campus coordinator for the Fulbright student program. “This is an incredible outcome.”

In addition to the Fulbright experiences, which typically are eight to 10 months in length, the students receive, among numerous other benefits, round-trip transportation to the host country; funding to cover room, board and incidental costs; full or partial tuition; book and research allowances; language study programs; and 12 months of noncompetitive eligibility hiring status within the federal government.

The students, however, are anticipating even richer returns.

‘AN INCREDIBLE PLACEMENT’

With COVID-19 delaying travel for all, Arenas was the first of the Stetson students to depart, arriving in Asturias, Spain, in September.

Arenas, who majored in international studies with minors in political science, Latin American studies and community engagement, is an English teaching assistant.

Growing up, she was an English learner herself, having immigrated to the United

States from Mexico when she was 7. Her mother was a farmworker, and nearly all of her ancestors were from Spain.

“I quickly became a reliable translator and an English teacher for my mother all in one,” says Arenas. “My upbringing consisted of finding the best diagrams, analogies and books so that regardless of our learning style, my siblings, my mother and I always found the best ways to communicate in English.”

A Bonner Scholar at Stetson, Arenas interned at an elementary school near the campus, helping children and their parents learn English. She created interactive YouTube videos to accommodate the different language learning styles of students, and translated a weekly newsletter to increase parental involvement.

“My desire to understand Spain and my devotion to helping others in their journeys shaped my passion for education,” she explained in her written application for the

Fulbright scholarship. “In Spain, through teaching, art and service, I would finally immerse myself into the world of my ancestors and, likewise, work towards a better exchange of ideas and perspectives between American and Spanish cultures. The experience would unquestionably strengthen my character and prepare me to continue my professional interests in immigration, education, and international studies in graduate school.”

In March, after six months abroad, Arenas had this to say about both the adventure and the education: “Asturias is an incredible placement. I have spent a lot of time exploring, hiking and enjoying fresh air. I’ve been working closely with two high schools, and at one of them the students and I have started a student-led volunteer program. The students and I meet on a biweekly basis to discuss how to better connect their community’s needs, career aspirations and involvement.”

Estefany Arenas

'GIVE BACK AND HELP PEOPLE’

Morales received bachelor’s degrees in psychology and digital arts, and she was an Army ROTC cadet who became a second lieutenant (serving in the Medical Service Corps as a reservist). On March 14, she traveled to Argentina, which was the first Latin American country to legalize same-sex marriage, thus offering a “unique opportunity to learn about the progress of the Latinx LGBT community.”

“Learning about the population’s view of the LGBT movement will allow me to understand my country’s legislations and influences moving forward,” explains Morales, who hopes to incorporate the cultural insight gained in Argentina into her professional psychiatric practice at home. “As a Fulbright ETA [English teaching assistant], I would also share my background with students and the local community to facilitate a cultural exchange of ideas.”

At Stetson, Morales worked as a teaching assistant on campus in psychology and completed a one-semester psychology internship at a nearby school. After graduation, she earned a TESOL certificate, which qualified her to work as an English instructor for Chinese and Taiwanese students varying in age.

Although her father is Venezuelan, seeking to fully assimilate in America, he didn’t share much of his culture or Spanish language with the family. Morales now speaks “intermediate” Spanish and wants to learn about her heritage. She calls the Fulbright award “a miracle” and quickly

adds, “Of course, I want to give back and help people learn English.”

“I could organize fitness-training activities, healthy cooking classes, and/or painting workshops,” she cited in her Fulbright application. “For my Supplementary Project, I would explore Argentina’s history with LGBT rights. With powerful Catholic influences along with a history of military dictatorship, Argentina understands the importance of democratic secularization. Activists have played a major role by requesting referendums. Recently, change has been demanded after the murders of transgender people. Laws now allow individuals to change their gender legally and require the documentation of hate crimes. Cities actively work with LGBT organizations like the Federacion Argentina de LGBT, a national nonprofit that promotes activism and a group I would like to join. This would provide me with insightful ways to address homophobia and inequality in the US’s Latino community.”

WORLD: Rinker Center for International Learning at Stetson.

Lee also followed his passion with work as a member of AmeriCorps, where he learned “how to bridge the gap between what students need and what schools can provide in areas of concentrated poverty at the high school level,” he noted in his Fulbright application.

On April 1, he left for the Universidade Federal de Uberlândia in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

As an English teaching assistant there, he will seek to “incorporate my instructional training and experience while designing lesson plans tailored to my students’ abilities” — employing real-life scenarios and cultural competencies, among other components.

“I look forward to developing an understanding of the pedagogical traditions that help to serve a diverse community of learners,” Lee continued in his Fulbright Statement of Purpose.

‘HEADFIRST INTO THE LOCAL CULTURE’

Lee’s passion for language acquisition and cultural understanding was nurtured by majoring in Spanish, studying abroad in Chile and working as an ambassador for the

“While I am in Brazil, I will become part of the community through singing and volunteering to teach English. I am a classically trained vocalist who has been part of many choirs since I was a child. I am eager to join one in Brazil and learn local music. I will volunteer to teach English with an organization similar to Cidadão PróMundo to provide educational opportunities for underserved populations. Furthermore, as a representative of the United States, I will advance international awareness through cultural presentations and discussions, both in the school and the community.”

Lee concedes that, ironically, he wasn’t a good communicator growing up.

“When I was still very young, my parents told me they were divorcing and wanted to know how I felt. I could not articulate how

Malina Morales

Fred Lee

profoundly hurt I was,” he recalls. “The only thing I was able to say was, ‘Okay.’ I felt like I did not have a voice. As a result, I learned to listen.”

And he learned about exploration.

“While my parents told stories of the places they had visited, I listened rapt with wonder,” he adds. “I was particularly interested in my mother’s stories of her travels in Latin America, where she would become part of the local communities she visited. She did not stay in a resort but rather haggled over prices in the bustling markets and made friends with her neighbors. It was clear to me even then that she had a more genuine experience because she dived headfirst into the local culture.”

Now, like Stetson’s other two Fulbright recipients, Lee is taking that leap of faith.

APPLYING IS WORTH THE EFFORT

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is only one of several distinguished scholarships and fellowships available to students at Stetson. Another honor went to Skye Cronje, who received a 2021 Newman Civic Fellowship.

Cronje is a junior majoring in world languages and cultures. She was honored by virtue of passionate advocacy for human rights — working to strengthen immigration programs for immigrant families and unaccompanied minors in Central Florida.

Such awards fund undergraduate tuition, study abroad and postgraduate research, among others. The awards are highly competitive, with selections by a variety of organizations based on a long list of criteria. They include academic or professional record, personal qualifications, language preparation, and extent to which the candidate and the project will help to advance the Fulbright aim of promoting mutual understanding. As a result, the application process and evaluation are lengthy.

Nonetheless, Stetson has a proven track record of having professors prepare students for such pursuits. And students are highly encouraged to make the effort, starting as early as possible on campus.

“It’s never too early to start planning and thinking about their application. … I try to encourage those younger students especially to think long term, to plan ahead and to not be intimidated,” says Grace Kaletski, assistant professor and Learning and Information Literacy librarian, who works to promote the scholarship opportunities to students.

Even if students aren’t selected for an award, the effort is worthwhile, Kaletski adds, commenting, “It’s still going to be an invaluable learning experience for them. They’ll be putting a résumé together, maybe for the first time, and they’ll be writing a personal statement — writing and working with advisers to reflect on their goals. It’s not a waste of time.”

Visiting Professor Martin Blackwell, PhD, agrees, while also advocating preparation.

“The earlier students can get interested, the better,” Blackwell says. “This is about more than academics. Tutoring helps; community work helps. What are your skill sets and your intellectual sets, and what is your ambition? What will you bring back to the U.S.? These answers are needed to get the committees’ approvals.”

SUPREME SERVICE

Stetson has a history with the Supreme Court of Florida that dates back to 1925 — and continues strong today.

BY RICK DE YAMPERT

The Nuremberg Military Tribunal of the Doctors’ Trial in 1946 included Florida Supreme Court Justice Harold L. “Tom” Sebring (far left). Sebring became dean of Stetson Law in 1955. Photo: Collection of the Supreme Court of Florida Law Library, Archives

Florida

Court

In August 1947 when Sebring returned to the Florida Supreme Court, where he served from 1943 to 1955, he brought with him “stacks and stacks and stacks” of mimeographed transcripts of the Doctors’ Trial, which he had bound into 40 beefy hardback volumes at a Tallahassee print shop, according to Supreme Court Archivist Erik Robinson. Sebring also brought four photo albums from Nuremberg, which included scenes of “piles of dead bodies and photos of particular defendants,” Robinson said. Both the print and photo volumes are housed in the archives of the court’s library.

“In trying the case,” notes the court’s website, floridasupremecourt.org, “Sebring and the other judges developed the modern concept of ‘informed consent’ that now is the accepted legal standard in the United States and elsewhere.”

As such, in sitting on the Doctors’ Trial, Justice Sebring became the first member of the Florida Supreme Court to earn the status of an international law judge.

Sebring served as dean of Stetson Law from 1955 until his death in 1968, just five weeks before his planned retirement.

Yet, while Sebring’s experiences with what were called the “subsequent Nuremberg trials” are likely the most striking of Stetson’s connections with the Florida Supreme Court, they’re by no means the only ones.

They were, in fact, just one of many.

In all, eight of the 91 justices who have served the court since its founding in 1846 — a year after Florida became a state — earned Stetson law degrees. An additional five justices, including Peggy Ann Quince, the court’s first African American female justice and later its first African American female chief justice, were awarded honorary Doctor of Laws degrees by Stetson.

Plus, Ben F. Overton, one of those honorary degree holders, taught as an adjunct professor at Stetson Law from 1971 to 1974 before serving as a justice on the court 1974-1999.

A quick take on the math, therefore, reveals that 11% of the court’s justices throughout its history have a direct Stetson tie. And that’s not including those honorary degree recipients.

Also notably, all of this was accomplished with Stetson Law, now in Gulfport near St. Petersburg, getting a late start in the action. As Florida’s first law school, the college was founded in DeLand in 1900, 17 years after the university’s undergraduate program was established and more than a half-century after the court’s founding.

Of course, the Supreme Court of Florida in Tallahassee is the highest court in the state, containing seven members — the chief justice and six justices. At least five justices must participate in every case and at least four must agree for a decision to be reached.

The first from Stetson? Louie Willard Strum, who earned his LL.B. from Stetson Law in 1912, was the court’s first Stetson alumnus and its 40th justice, serving 1925-1931.

The most recent to sit on the bench? Frederick Brennan Karl served 1977-1978. Karl was in the Army during World War II and was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart. After the war, he graduated from the University of Florida and then earned an LL.B. from Stetson in 1949.

SUPREME COURT JUSTICES AND MORE

The story doesn’t end with justices. Stetson’s connections to the Florida Supreme Court include alumni and current students — both from Stetson Law and undergraduates — who have served and continue to serve

Dan Humphrey ’16, right, clerked for Florida Supreme Court Justice John D. Couriel from August 2020 to August 2021.

Sebring’s experience as a post-World War II judge — and notes from his work in Germany — added distinction to his time at Stetson.

Eight years before

Supreme

Justice Harold L. “Tom” Sebring was appointed dean of Stetson University College of Law, he served as a judge in post-World War II Nuremberg, Germany. As one of four judges appointed by President Harry Truman to serve on the U.S. military tribunal known as the Doctors’ Trial, Sebring heard evidence of atrocities perpetrated by Adolf Hitler’s personal physician and 22 other Schutzstaffel (SS) members, Nazi doctors and personnel who had conducted medical experiments on Jews, other minorities and prisoners of war.

as clerks, interns and staff attorneys.

Dan Humphrey ’16 is an Ohio native who earned a double degree in political science and economics from Stetson, where he founded the undergraduate mock trial team. Humphrey earned his Juris Doctor degree from Fordham University in 2019. He clerked for Florida Supreme Court Justice John D. Couriel from August 2020 to August 2021 before joining the Miami law firm Brodsky Fotiu-Wojtowicz as an associate attorney.

Elise Engle JD '20, a Lakeland native, clerked with Justice Jamie Grosshans from October 2020 to January 2021, shortly after Grosshans became the newest member of the court. Engle currently is an attorney in the Tampa and Tallahassee offices of Shutts & Bowen LLP, where she is a member of the Appellate Practice Group.

Adam Poe, a Clermont native who will graduate from Stetson Law in May 2022, was accepted into the Florida Supreme Court Internship Program for Distinguished Florida Law Students. Poe served as a law clerk in fall 2021 for Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles T. Canady. Upon

graduation, Poe will work full time as Canady’s staff attorney.

Sabina Fernandez, Poe’s classmate, also was in the internship program, serving as a law clerk to Justice Jorge Labarga last spring.

BEING A CLERK

“Clerking is something a lot of people in law school want to do, and it’s considered very prestigious,” Humphrey says. “Those positions are very selective. There are only so many judges in the country, and there are a lot more law students than there are judges. Clerking used to be straight out of law school, but more and more a lot of judges want experience before they will hire somebody.”

Yes, connections within the legal community, in both academia and the “real world,” play a role, Humphrey continues, noting, “I would be disingenuous if I said connections didn’t help or they never came into play.”

At the same time, however, connections cannot work magic alone.

“Connections are important, but they’re not going to get you somewhere that you otherwise wouldn’t be,” Humphrey adds. “You have to have the whole package in order to land one of these. Without the résumé and the background and the grades and a demonstration of working hard, the connections aren’t going to get you there.”

Humphrey’s undergraduate education at

Stetson, where he was a J. Ollie Edmunds Distinguished Scholar, prepared him for his legal career “through the critical thinking and analytical skills that are incumbent in a liberal arts education,” Humphrey cites.

“You can’t graduate from Stetson without being a deep thinker and a critical thinker … and knowing how to deal with really complex topics,” he says. “The political science department at Stetson did a great job teaching us how to see both sides of an issue and forcing us to argue a side with which we might not agree.”

While the court has a strict policy prohibiting former law clerks from talking about specific matters they worked on, clerks can reveal the workings of the court in more general ways. A common clerk duty is helping the court to determine whether it has jurisdiction to even hear a case.

“Clerks are like the initial gatekeepers for even bringing a case into the court,” Engle says.

“My primary duty was to draft determination of jurisdiction memorandums,” Poe says. “Basically, I would see the attorneys’ briefs for petitions for jurisdiction and write an analysis of whether jurisdiction exists. I always assumed it was like that of the U.S. Supreme Court, but it isn’t. Learning the unique and narrow jurisdiction of the Florida Supreme Court was the biggest surprise to me.

Elise Engle JD ’20 clerked with Justice Jamie Grosshans from October 2020 to January 2021.

Stetson Law student Adam Poe, right, clerked with Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles T. Canady, left. Poe will serve as Canady’s staff attorney after he graduates in May 2022.

Photos: Florida Supreme Court

“Beyond that, I helped the law clerks with whatever they needed help with. These additional assignments consisted of tasks like researching, proofreading or checking citations. Some fun activities I got to attend were oral arguments and the investitures of Justice Couriel and Justice Grosshans.”

All of the justices and their staffs work on the fourth floor of the court at 500 S. Duval St. in the capital city. As a result, there’s no separation of justices and staff.

“So, as you’re walking down the hallway, you might bump into one of the justices or one of their law clerks or one of their judicial assistants or somebody from the Supreme Court Historical Society,” Humphrey describes.

“One of the coolest things for me was just being on that floor surrounded by some of the greatest legal minds in the state of Florida. The justices would just pop into your office and be like, ‘Hey, I was thinking about this. What do you think?’ Or, ‘I saw your suite is working on this. What direction are you guys thinking about going?’ It was that kind of a close-knit community.”

As a result, clerks can no doubt feel the weight of the law, the weight of the Florida Supreme Court and its role in society. Cases are being decided that will have a significant, even profound effect, on people’s lives.

“The Florida Supreme Court hears all direct appeals from a sentence of death,” Humphrey says. “So, in certain aspects, we were advising the justices on life-and-death decisions. Literally.”

“Now I’m a civil attorney, so I don’t really do much with criminal law,” Engle says. “But it was really impactful to see whether someone will live or die is hinging on these death-row cases. I was assisting with a couple of those. When you read the facts of those cases, it’s definitely hard not to feel something about it. There is a lot of pressure to get it right, and as a lawyer you have to look past how you feel about certain things and what your personal opinion is. You have to do what the law says.

“That’s important for lawyers and judges, and I’m glad I got the chance to learn that right out the gate — that it doesn’t matter how I feel about a case; it doesn’t matter what my thoughts are on it. It matters what the law says.”

“The whole internship was a lesson for me,” Poe says. “I will not be starting from level zero when I begin working full time as Chief Justice Canady’s staff attorney. The internship developed my writing skills that I will use throughout my career. Also, from observing many oral arguments, I will take away tips and tricks pertaining to oral advocacy and court decorum.”

And those lessons could be found almost anywhere.

During Engle’s clerkship, the pandemic had slowed in-person activities at the court, and one day she and a fellow clerk “just kind of decided to go explore,” she says. “We went in the basement and looked at all the old books. We went in the library, and the historian was showing us these books. There’s one from Spain that’s hundreds of years old.

“We stood in the lawyers lounge where lawyers prepare for oral arguments. You feel the energy in there. So many people were standing in that room and went in the court and gave their oral arguments, advocating for their client. Just being in that building and seeing all of the history, it put into perspective how much people respect this profession and how long this profession has been running in Florida. It kind of helps you respect everything a little bit more.”

FLORIDA SUPREME COURT JUSTICES WITH STETSON TIES

• Louie Willard Strum was the court’s 40th justice, serving 1925-1931. He earned his LL.B. from Stetson University College of Law in 1912.

• Roy Chapman was the 43rd justice, serving 1937-1952. He graduated from Stetson Law in 1908.

• Elwyn Thomas was the 44th justice, serving 1938-1969. He graduated from Stetson with a BS degree in 1912 and an LL.B. degree in 1915.

• Harold Leon “Tom” Sebring was the 46th justice, serving 1943-1955. (See main story.)

• Tolbert Frank Hobson was the 48th justice, serving 1948-1962. He earned a Bachelor of Law from Stetson in 1924.

• Edward Harris Drew was the 51st justice, serving 1952-1971. He graduated from Stetson Law in 1923 and was given a waiver to start his law practice at age 20.

• Vassar Benjamin Carlton was the 57th justice, serving 1969-1974. He sought a medical education at the University of Florida before being lured to Stetson on a football scholarship. He graduated with a law degree from Stetson in 1937.

• Hal Dekle was the 61st justice, serving 19711975. He graduated from Stetson Law in 1940.

• Ben F. Overton was the 62nd justice, serving 1974-1999. Previously, he had served as an adjunct professor at Stetson Law 1971-74, and he later received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Stetson. He was the first Florida Supreme Court justice to be selected under the merit-selection process, which was established in 1973 and designed to remove politics from Florida’s judicial system.

• Frederick Brennan Karl was the 66th justice, serving 1977-1978. He earned an LL.B. from Stetson University in 1949.

• Stephen H. Grimes was the 72nd justice, serving 1987-1997. Grimes received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Stetson in 1980.

• Major B. Harding was the 74th justice, serving 1991-2002. He received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Stetson in 1991.

LAYING DOWN THE LAW

Ed Patricoff Jr. ’82 JD ‘85 literally has a world of legal experience — all starting with a taunting campus roommate and “amazing” professors.

BY RICK DE YAMPERT

As a student in DeLand, Ed Patricoff Jr. “studied the legal systems of six or seven countries around the world.” Since then, he’s traveled globally, both for sometimes harrowing work and pleasure.

The oligarchs of Vladimir Putin – yes, that Vladimir Putin – were no match for attorney Ed Patricoff Jr., a triple-degreed Stetson alum whose international business law skills have led to court battles and complex contract negotiations involving more than 50 countries.

Patricoff, who graduated in 1982 with a double degree in political science and biology, and from Stetson Law in ’85, led a Russian-born client through a life-or-death court showdown with Russian authorities.

Patricoff took on, and beat, the U.S. Treasury Department.

Patricoff flew to Japan eight days after the tsunami-fueled Fukushima nuclear disaster to conduct contract negotiations for two emergency power plants to be built.

Also, he faced former Apple executive John Sculley in a divorce case.

Patricoff doesn’t claim the above are typical, all-in-a-day’s-work type of efforts. Rather, he says, those extraordinary cases are among “the most satisfying” of his 36-year career.

Since graduation, he had worked at the Miami office of the law firm Shutts & Bowen, where he was a partner and co-chair of the firm’s International Dispute Resolution Practice. In January, he joined Duane Morris LLP as a partner in the Trial Practice Group of the firm’s Miami office, where he practices in the areas of international dispute resolution, litigation (domestic and foreign), arbitration and regulatory matters.

It’s been quite a journey. Throughout the ride, he attributes his multifaceted liberal arts Stetson education with supplying him with the tools, knowledge and insights to be a successful lawyer, maybe even a superior one.

“I think, ‘My God, I couldn’t have gotten a better education,’” Patricoff asserts. “I’m still applying the knowledge those professors gave me 35, 40 years ago. A lot of students will say, ‘Why am I taking psychology? Why am I taking humanities? I’m not a psychologist.’ But I’ve used psychology often to help me resolve lawsuits and to give clients legal advice. I also understand basic sociology from courses I took at Stetson. And I also had an excellent English professor who helped me learn to write very clearly, concisely and compellingly.”

AT STETSON

Harold Edward “Ed” Patricoff Jr. first became interested in the law as a youngster growing up in Miami and “watching Perry Mason on TV,” he notes, adding that “the justice system was intriguing to me.”

He graduated from Northwest Christian Academy in 1977, where he was valedictorian and the most valuable player on the school’s basketball team. His coach, who also was the principal, “was a very religious man, and at that time Stetson was a Southern Baptistaffiliated school,” Patricoff remembers. “He was a big fan of [Stetson men’s basketball] coach Glenn Wilkes [Sr.].”

So, his coach recommended that Patricoff attend the university.

Patricoff, who didn’t play basketball at Stetson, began as a political science major. However, his roommate, a biology major studying to be a doctor, “would taunt me — 'Oh, those liberal arts classes are so easy, but if you were in the science department, you would really see what school is all about,’” Patricoff describes.

The poli-sci major took up the gauntlet and, rather than enrolling in biology for non-majors, he took Biology 101 for majors, “and I fell in love with it.”

Patricoff credits “two amazing professors” with steering him toward his double degrees: T. Wayne Bailey, PhD, chairman of the political science department, and Keith Hansen, PhD, a professor of biology, “who was a mentor and friend,” Patricoff says.

“After I took Keith’s two classes, 101 and 102, I said, ‘I’m going to add biology as a major, and I just may go to medical school.’ I was very conflicted about whether to go to medical school or law school.”

Additionally, his interest in “international

matters” was spurred by a comparative politics course taught by Gary Maris, PhD. “We studied the legal systems of six or seven countries around the world,” Patricoff says. “It was so interesting to me to learn that the systems of government were so different, and that’s sort of what got me leaning in the direction of international law.

“Dr. Bailey was also a big proponent of the law and talked a lot about constitutional rights and how society maintains order. It was a big tug-of-war. The science professors were pulling me in the science direction, but the two poli-sci professors were pulling me in the direction of the law, especially international law.”

Patricoff graduated with a double degree in political science and biology before moving on to Stetson Law.

CAREER ASCENSION

Upon graduation, Patricoff applied to both law and medical schools. It wasn’t until his girlfriend and soon-to-be-wife, Tracey Irey ’83, decided to attend medical school in Tampa that Patricoff thought “we didn’t need two doctors in the same family,” and he enrolled at Stetson College of Law.

One client grateful for Patricoff’s decision is that wealthy Russian-born entrepreneur during his Putin courtroom showdown.

“He was in the process of immigrating to the U.S., but he still had a lot of business interests in Russia,” Patricoff says about the client. “When you are in the upper Russian business circle, you are always tied into the Putin net of oligarchs, so it’s almost impossible to escape that.”

The case, according to Patricoff, was both “very challenging” and “frightening at times.”

“I spent many sleepless nights thinking about that man. A lot of people who are in this gentleman’s situation end up in jail for life, and some even end up dead,” Patricoff explains. “I helped get him back to the United States safely and then defeated his enemies in court in New York. The client said, ‘You saved my life, literally.’ What a sense of relief, joy and satisfaction to bring a man back home to his family, his wife and his children. He’s been living here in Miami happy and safe.”

Another “incredibly satisfying” case involved a Miami-based aviation fuel company that was owed money for a sale to a Peruvian airline. Patricoff filed a lawsuit against the airline to collect the money, but two months later the U.S. Treasury and its Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers economic and trade sanctions in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy interests, blocked access to the air-

line’s funds, charging the airline’s owner with drug trafficking.

After much legal maneuvering, Patricoff and his legal team ultimately prevailed. The case not only marked the first time the Office of Foreign Assets Control was successfully sued to unblock funds, but it also set precedent in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and led to the reversal of some 800 other such decisions that had involved drug trafficking.

“My client was not a drug dealer,” Patricoff says. “My client was just a fuel company that sold fuel to an airline and wanted to get paid. I was elated beating the U.S. government, which is not easy, especially in a case where no one had ever done it before.”

Another career “wow moment,” Patricoff points out, came when the chairman of an energy company asked him to fly to Japan in 2011 eight days after an earthquake and tsunami caused the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster. His mission: negotiate with the Japanese electric company to build two emergency power plants.

“My father was really angry with me,” Patricoff says with a sardonic laugh. “He said, ‘How could you possibly fly into the middle of a nuclear disaster?’ But I’m a soldier. I lived through quite a few aftershocks — one was 6.7 on the Richter scale. The client did build two emergency power plants in 60 days to help relieve the energy crisis in Japan.

“The people in Japan were so grateful and gracious that we came. They actually couldn’t believe that people from America would come to Japan to this nuclear disaster zone and provide relief and help them.”

A high-profile client of a different sort came in 2013, when Patricoff represented Carol Lee Sculley, the ex-wife of former Apple CEO John Sculley. The couple divorced in 2011, but she sued her ex-husband two years later, claiming he had failed to fully and honestly disclose his assets.

Because John Sculley had business interests in Canada, India, Israel and other countries, Carol Sculley “selected me as her counsel because I have this international experience,” Patricoff says. While the settle-

In January, Patricoff joined Duane Morris LLP as a partner in the Trial Practice Group of the firm’s Miami office.

ment was confidential, Patricoff’s biography on the Shutts & Bowen website contained a link to a story on pagesix.com with the headline “Former Apple CEO being sued by ex for ‘hiding millions’ in divorce.”

“Mr. Sculley, as you can imagine, is quite a business entrepreneur,” Patricoff says. “He’s been involved in a couple of hundred companies since Apple. Having the opportunity to spend three full days with John Sculley and taking his deposition was quite an education for me.”

REMAINING A HATTER

Patricoff has maintained ties to Stetson since his graduation. He serves on the Board of Advisors for the School of Business Administration, and he says son Nicholas, from his second marriage, is a senior “in love with the campus and the people and the Roland George Program.”

Rina Tovar Arroyo, Stetson’s assistant vice president for Development and Alumni Engagement, describes Patricoff as an “incredible resource” for many students and young alumni seeking career advice and networking.

“With Ed’s background in international law, he’s been especially helpful with students interested in the profession, as well as international students looking for guidance and connections,” Arroyo says. “His deep understanding of and respect for vastly differing global cultures is a true testament to his wisdom.”

Not surprisingly, Patricoff, who speaks Spanish and has been married since 2016 to his third wife, Nelea, an Italian-born lawyer, has difficulty citing his favorite country from the dozens he has visited. Atop his list, though, are Switzerland, Japan, Italy, Colombia and Argentina. “A lot of factors go into why somebody likes a place,” he says, “but the first thing usually is the people.”

Patricoff finds time for life away from work, too. He enjoys snorkeling, spearfish-

ing, snow skiing, hiking, horseback riding and “anything that involves the outdoors and gets me back to my biology roots,” he says.

Most notable is the snow skiing, a passion that he, a Miami native, acquired during his Stetson undergraduate days when his fraternity would take ski trips to North Carolina. It’s another nod to his Stetson education.

Yet, Patricoff’s passion for international law shows no signs of letting up. He recently taught a seminar for U.S. bankers that surveyed securities and lending laws worldwide.

The time-consuming research was “an opportunity to get educated on the laws of 30 countries,” Patricoff comments before concluding, “Which makes me a better and smarter lawyer, right?”

Patricoff is shown here with his wife, Nelea, and son Nick.

I think, ‘My God, I couldn’t have gotten a better education.’ I’m still applying the knowledge those professors gave me 35, 40 years ago. A lot of students will say, ‘Why am I taking psychology? Why am I taking humanities? I’m not a psychologist.' But I’ve used psychology often to help me resolve lawsuits and to give clients legal advice. I also understand basic sociology from courses I took at Stetson. And I also had an excellent English professor who helped me learn to write very clearly, concisely and compellingly.

BY RICK DE YAMPERT

STROKE OF GENIUS

Forgive Danielle Shelburne ’10, head coach of Stetson’s women’s golf team, if she feels like a baby boomer who has to get her grandchild to program the DVD player.

High-tech video equipment to help student golfers analyze their swings and calculate “club head speed”? That was the stuff of science fiction during Shelburne’s Hatter golf career from 2006 to 2010, when she was earning first-team All-Atlantic Sun Conference honors and leading Stetson to the ASUN Championship in 2009.

These days, however, video technology is as routine as a PGA Tour tap-in at Stetson’s new $3 million Edinger Golf Complex, which opened in 2020 but has continued to be fine-tuned.

Two years later, in late March, an open-house event officially celebrated the “Home of Hatter Golf.”

At the Edinger Golf Complex, student-athletes under Shelburne, in her fifth year at the helm, and first-year men’s coach Danny Forshey hone their game thanks to cameras

that are housed in three indoor hitting bays. (From under roof cover, the golfers are able to hit outside onto the golf range, rain or shine.)

“It’s funny because the players use the technology often, and because I didn’t really grow up around it, it’s a little bit more difficult for me to kind of dive right in,” Shelburne says with a chuckle. “I know the technology is really important, and it can be very helpful. But it’s challenging!”

Shelburne has ample reason to smile. While such technology has been around for some 15 years, it’s mostly been used by top amateurs and professionals, not college players. That is, until recently.

“People are using it to analyze the data of their swings and of how the ball reacts — different spin rates, miles per hour on your clubhead speed, ball speed,” she explains. “Using the data you gather over a session or

The Edinger Golf Complex is putting the Hatters well below par. And that’s a good thing.

Danny Forshey

Danielle Shelburne ’10

several weeks’ worth, you analyze it to see where your game is and how you can improve it. All the players enjoy using it.”

And, of course, they’re getting better.

Yet, it’s not solely the video tech at the Edinger Golf Complex that’s elevating Stetson on the links. The practice facility, on Marsh Road in DeLand a mere 12 minutes from campus, also features two pitching greens, a large putting green and five target greens (at 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 yards). As a result, Hatters have the opportunity to improve their short game as well as hit target greens up to 310 yards away.

The clubhouse, meanwhile, includes locker rooms for both the men’s and women’s teams, plus a common area for players to study and have meetings, coaches’ offices, a kitchen, and an oversized garage to house the travel vans for each team.

But there’s no grass on the course. Instead, the Edinger complex sports synthetic turf, a design feature that Shelburne and former men’s coach Larry Watson pushed hard for during the planning stages of the facility. The two coaches championed both the skillsenhancing aspects and the low-maintenance, environmentally friendly upkeep of faux grass.

Birdieing their argument, they won their case.

The two pitching greens of the Edinger complex have five different heights of faux grass, enabling golfers to practice from different ball positions. By contrast, a pitching green with real grass couldn’t be cut to that many different heights in its limited space.

Much of the facility’s funding came from its namesakes: former Hatter golfer Sandy Edinger ’65 and his wife, Martha, of Bradenton. (The

complex’s webpage on gohatters.com lists other naming opportunities for potential donors.)

“We are so thankful for Mr. Edinger’s support and for having this vision of what he wanted to create, but also what he felt the coaches needed,” Shelburne comments. “He got a lot of our feedback about what we wanted for the practice facility.”

Watson, who retired as the men’s coach in July 2021, is a former touring pro who competed on the PGA Tour, in Europe and later as an associate member of the Champions Tour. He took the lead role in making the synthetic turf a reality.

“Larry had been around a lot of different practice facilities, and he had a lot of really great suggestions on what he thought we should have, but we both got to give our input, which I was grateful for,” Shelburne adds. “Sandy [Edinger] would always say, ‘You guys are the ones who are going to use it, so you know how you will use the facility and what you need there in order for it to be successful.’ That’s what he wants. He wants us to get better, and we have.”

Shelburne remembers being less fortunate, not only regarding technology, but simply having a place to play — when a Hatter home for golf was “so foreign to me.”

“When I played, and it hasn’t been too terribly long ago, we bounced around from different area courses to practice,” she notes. Not anymore. No more chip shots upon the hilly Forest of Arden behind Sampson Hall. No more practicing shots from flower beds in the Sage Hall green space.

“Having your own practice facility — where the student athletes feel like, ‘Hey, I belong; this is something I can use’ — is huge,”

Shelburne continues. “You’re free to practice. If you have just a little bit of an imagination, you can hit any type of shot you want. You can be there, within reason, anytime you want, and you can get as good as you can out there.”

The new facility is helping to attract good golfers, too. Shelburne called it a “great recruiting tool.”

“Not every university can say, ‘Hey, we have our own practice facility,’” she says.

“Many of [the recruits] have never experienced something like this. So, we get a lot of ‘Wow, this is amazing. I can’t believe we have this 12 minutes from campus. What a beautiful place.’”

That’s particularly true for universities in direct competition with Stetson, which continues to play in the ASUN Conference.

“If you get to places — golf powerhouses, if you will — like Duke, Stanford or Arizona State, yes, they have beautiful complexes. But if you compare Stetson to other schools in our division, that mid-major level about the same size as our university, there’s not much that compares to what we have,” Shelburne asserts. “I would say we are close to the top of the list if not at the top of the list, from what I’ve seen and what I’m aware of that’s out there.”

There is a caveat: With the enhanced facilities come heightened expectations. Shelburne acknowledges them. Nonetheless, she can’t stop smiling.

“I don’t know if I want to call it pressure, but expectations of, ‘Hey, we have no excuse,’” she concludes. "We should be playing well. We have all the tools we need. It’s just a matter of using them.”

Forshey and Shelburne hope the Edinger complex will help swing things in their favor. Shelburne: “Having your own practice facility — where the student athletes feel like, ‘Hey, I belong; this is something I can use’ — is huge.”

‘EXPOSURE AND EXPERIENCE’

Supporting Stetson’s Internship Impact Fund means alumni and friends helping Hatters build careers as students.

Iwas fortunate to have had not one but two transformative internship opportunities during my undergraduate years,” recalls Katie Peterson ’11.

Having majored in political science and German, Peterson went on to earn a law degree, and she is currently partner and general counsel at Merchant McIntyre, a small government-relations agency in Washington, D.C.

“It will come as no great surprise that the late Professor [T. Wayne] Bailey helped me secure my first internship with the Florida Senate in 2009,” Peterson continues. “From there, I moved to D.C. for the summer of 2010 to intern with Sen. Bill Nelson. In that role, I worked closely with his health policy team and developed a deep understanding and appreciation of policy issues that would end up shaping the trajectory of my entire career.”

Without financial support, senior Gabriel Antonio Rey wouldn’t have been able to intern or afford summer housing as part of the University of Georgia Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant program in Brunswick, Georgia, in 2019.

“Thanks to the economic aid, I wasn’t stressed about the finance part of the internship, and this allowed me to focus more on learning and enjoying the experience,” Rey says. “I honestly think this is the best benefit of the Internship Impact Fund. Providing financial aid and reducing financial stress really allows [students] to concentrate on what really matters: learning! It’s the reason students do internships in the first place!”

As an intern, Rey assisted with field assessments, hydrologic/ hydraulic modeling, monitoring of stormwater green infrastructure, blue/green infrastructure design, project management and the construction of stormwater management features.

“I absolutely think every student should have at least one internship throughout [his or her] student career,” Rey says. “Academics can only get you so far. Exposure and experience can really set you apart from

your peers, and allow you a better perspective as to what you can do with your career or provide insight into where you want to head after school. To me, this internship motivated me to pursue more challenging courses in college and go after ambitious science projects and challenging environmental problems.”

After graduation, junior Dominic Carlucci plans to work in partnership sales at the professional sports level. His summer internship was a steppingstone where he learned “the ins and outs of the sports business industry in the collegiate sports realm.”

Carlucci interned in athletics marketing at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, commuting each day from DeLand.

“This experience actually helped me identify what I want to do post-graduation,” he says. “I was able to directly contribute to the bottom line, which was an incredible opportunity and has since given me a competitive advantage over my peers looking for similar roles. It helped me identify my love for that very specific, niche industry while giving me tangible experience and knowledge to help me get my foot in the door moving forward.”

Like Rey, Carlucci found financial help to be essential in allowing him to intern, noting that “without the funding, the internship would have been nearly impossible to complete, as I was already working a part-time job to financially support myself over the summer.”

Internships lead to jobs, too. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ 2021 Internship & Co-op Survey Report, the conversion rate of interns to full-time employees climbed nearly 20% in the past year and from 55.5% in 2020 to 66.4% in 2021.

It’s a statistic that underscores Stetson’s commitment to making internship funding a top priority. Internships are also a highimpact practice for employers — providing a

Junior

Dominic Carlucci:

“I was able to directly contribute to the bottom line, which was an incredible opportunity and has since given me a competitive advantage over my peers looking for similar roles.”

Katie

Peterson

’11, former intern and now intern advocate: “We pride ourselves on offering substantive, immersive and hopefully fun and rewarding internship experiences. Over the years, we’ve gone on to hire numerous former interns into full-time positions, some of whom have gone on to senior roles at the firm.”

Senior Gabriel Antonio Rey: “Providing

financial aid and reducing financial stress really allows [students] to concentrate on what really matters: learning! It’s the reason students do internships in the first place!”

talent pipeline and an opportunity to shape the next generation of the workforce.

Not coincidentally, Peterson has gone from intern herself more than a decade ago to someone who sees the great benefits on the employer side at Merchant McIntyre. She believes students should have the opportunity for at least one of these lifechanging, door-opening experiences “regardless of their ability to afford housing and other costs associated with pursuing internships in their field of interest.”

“We pride ourselves on offering substantive, immersive and hopefully fun and rewarding internship experiences,” she says. “Over the years, we’ve gone on to hire numerous former interns into full-time positions, some of whom have gone on to

senior roles at the firm. And while unpaid internships — particularly in the public sector — are common, we believe providing our interns with the resources necessary to meet their basic needs outside of the office directly correlates to their success in the office.”

For students seeking to afford summer 2022 internships, Carolyn Meeker, Stetson’s director of experiential and career education, says that funding requests far outpace funds available in the Karen Schmitt Roberts '80 Internship Impact Fund. As of late March, requests totaled $72,000 and counting, meaning that without an infusion of additional funds, Meeker estimates that only about half of the students’ needs will be met.

STETSON SOCIETY

Stetson’s goal is to increase its Internship Impact Fund reserves to meet current and future needs of students seeking internships.

To make a gift to the Internship Impact Fund, visit https://www.stetson.edu/ administration/development/career.php.

To hire Stetson interns, visit www.stetson.edu/ career and follow the Employers link to post internships through HatterJobs.

How Are YOU Ensuring Stetson Benefits Students for Years to Come?

IMPACT SCHOLARSHIPS INTRODUCING

Each year, Stetson awards more than $125 million in financial aid to more than 97% of its students.

Why is this important?

Scholarships generate a direct impact on students’ success by making a college education accessible and affordable, creating transformative experiences, and producing future leaders in your community.

This year, Stetson is offering an easy way for donors to support Stetson’s mission of

offering an excellent education where learning and values meet, preparing students to reach their full potential as informed citizens.

You can make an impact with Stetson’s newly introduced Impact Scholarships. With a $1,000 annual gift and a four-year commitment, you can give deserving students all the advantages that Stetson has to offer.

While Impact Scholarships are new, donor-funded scholarship aid is not.

“Without the scholarships I have been awarded, I don’t believe I would be in the position I am in today,” comments Hunter Bryan, who is now a fifth-year accounting major in the M.Acc. program and working toward her CPA license. “I wouldn’t have been able to attend Stetson and receive the education that I am so grateful for, and I wouldn’t have been offered a full-time employment opportunity for when I graduate. I’m very thankful to Stetson and my donors for getting me to where I am today.”

The “impacts” of such scholarship gifts have, and will continue to be, deep and far-reaching.

“Knowing that someone out there believes in me and my abilities and chooses to support my passions and dreams is incredible,” says Aspen Windesheim ’24, an early-education major who looks forward to

becoming a K-6 teacher after Stetson. “It is motivation for me to put forth my best effort into everything I do here at Stetson to prepare and lay out my future. [Donor investment] in me has helped me not only advance my academic career, but also has allowed me to meet my best friends, grow up away from home and transform myself into a more well-rounded person.”

To make a gift, go to www. stetson.edu/impact-gift.

A new way to make college more accessible and affordable for Hatters — one gift commitment at a time

Hunter Bryan

Aspen Windesheim

Send Us Your Class Note

STETSON UNIVERSITY is proud of its alumni and their accomplishments. We would love to hear about your achievements. If you are a graduate from the DeLand campus, please send your class note to Stetson University, Office of Alumni Engagement, 421 N. Woodland Blvd., Unit 8257, DeLand, FL 32723, or email your news to alumni@ stetson.edu.

If you are a graduate of the College of Law, send your class note to Stetson University College of Law, Office of Development and Alumni Engagement, 1401 61st St. South, Gulfport, FL 33707, or email your class note to alumni@law.stetson. edu. College of Law graduates also can fill out the online form at Stetson.edu/ lawalumninews.

We can only use photos that are high-resolution, and because of space limitations, we cannot guarantee use of all photographs.

1950s-1960s

’65, ’66, Denton, Texas, met for the first time at Stetson in the 1960s. The cousins both ended up in Denton as professors at the University of North Texas — and they remain Stetson proud!

Management Team of CAP’s COVID-19 relief mission in New Mexico, where volunteer crews flew time-critical shipments of coronavirus test samples and vaccines.

Starnes & Holt, P.A., practicing in environmental, land use and zoning law.

1980s

Loy Vian Kirschner Martin ’56, Sherman, Texas, had her second book published, “From out of the Blue: Stepping stones for your path.” Independently published, the title of this book tells how Martin’s poems came to life.

Gerald "Jerry" Callahan '58, Columbia, South Carolina, published “His Miracles and Ours.” Originally written as an auto-biography of his "journey" for his family, his words evolved into a book on how everyone experiences unexplainable events but never has the time to explore their meaning (available on Amazon).

Pearl Ellis ’61, Ramona, California, the first female volunteer fire chief in California, has written a coffee-table book about the fire departments in San Diego County. Ellis lost everything but her life in the 2003 Cedar Fire.

Louis J. Phillips Jr. ’64, New York, New York, had his book of poems, “Sunlight Falling to the Lake,” published by World Audience Inc.

Susan Riser Bailey ’69, Waynesville, North Carolina, was awarded the Ella Dickey Literacy Award for “The Twain Shall Meet.”

Jean Greenlaw ’62, MA ’65, and Lenora McCroskey

Margaret Jones ’65, DeLand, was voted into the Kentucky Golf Hall of Fame in September 2021. Jones coached Stetson Women’s Golf and was an educational counselor to studentathletes in the early 1990s. She secured the first endowed women’s golf scholarship at Stetson and was director of the national Women’s Western Golf Association for 51 years.

David E. Sumner ’69, Anderson, Indiana, published his seventh book, “Amos Alonzo Stagg: College Football’s Greatest Pioneer.” Sumner received a Platzman Memorial Fellowship from the University of Chicago to conduct the book’s research. (An interesting research note: Stetson and the University of Chicago had a student-exchange program from 1898 to 1910.)

1970s

Catherine Jenkins-Sack Reaves ’76, Norman, Oklahoma, was promoted to assistant principal Second Violin at the Oklahoma City Philharmonic.

Lisa Bradford Hewitt ’81, Winter Garden, was awarded Lifetime Membership by the American Orff-Schulwerk Association for exemplary service and dedication. She served on the Executive Committee of the National Board of Trustees from 2017 to 2022 and as president 2019-2021.

Michael W. Robinson Sr. ’81, Greencastle, Pennsylvania, was appointed by the Board of County Commissioners to the position of director/fire chief of the Carroll County Department of Fire and EMS. The appointment follows a nearly 33-year career with the Baltimore County Fire Department, where he retired as deputy chief.

David G. Finley ’68, Socorro, New Mexico, was named Civil Air Patrol’s national Public Affairs Officer of the Year for 2021. He was recognized for service on the Incident

Russell Schropp ’78, Fort Myers, was honored in the September issue of Naples Illustrated magazine as part of “Top Lawyers.” Schropp works for Henderson, Franklin,

C. Neil Gregory, JD ’84, Naples, a senior counsel in the Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC law office in Naples, was selected for inclusion in 2022 Best Lawyers in America in the

field of real estate law. He has practiced in the Naples area for more than 30 years.

1990s

quality assurance to be completed.

Brett DiMarzo ’98, Burlington, Massachusetts, is now director, Graduate Enrollment Digital Strategy at Boston College. A higher education professional for 18-plus years, he has worked at several universities in the Boston area.

together, can change the world.” The mission promotes empowerment and well-being among young people (weemacree. com).

John McCorvey ’84, JD ’89, and Blane McCarthy ’92, JD ’95, Jacksonville, helped launch the Jacksonville office of Miles Mediation and Arbitration. The firm specializes in dispute-resolution services.

Thomas H. Schmid ’84, Corpus Christi, Texas, was elected president and chief executive officer at The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. Schmid had been the CEO of Corpus Christi’s Texas State Aquarium for 25 years. He has more than 34 years of experience as a member of the international zoological community.

Steve S. Moseley Jr. ’91, Lakeland, was named president and CEO of MIDFLORIDA, a credit union, where he had worked since 1997 in nearly every aspect of the business. He now oversees MIDFLORIDA’s $6 billion in assets and 60 full-service branches, which serve more than 408,000 members statewide.

Amanda Sharkey Ross ’99, Bonita Springs, was honored in the September issue of Naples Illustrated magazine as part of “Top Lawyers.” Ross works for Henderson, Franklin, Starnes & Holt, P.A., practicing admiralty and maritime law.

2000s

Jennifer Rummell ’01, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, was promoted to Global HRIS systems operations specialist at The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.

G. Donald Thomson, JD ’84, Bonita Springs, was honored in the September issue of Naples Illustrated magazine as part of “Top Lawyers.” Thomson works for Henderson, Franklin, Starnes & Holt, P.A., practicing real estate law.

Rachel Roach Sterns ’92, Huntsville, Alabama, opened a bed and breakfast, called Bee on the Brow, in the town of Mentone on Lookout Mountain.

James L. Tinsley ’97, Crestview, has been working with the United States Census Bureau in the Post Enumeration Survey and Person Follow Up operations. Census operations in northwest Florida (Pensacola to Tallahassee) ended in August 2021, with final

Lulu Herrera Picart ’01, Windermere, is being featured in the Broadway revival of the musical “1776” at Harvard University’s American Repertory Theater this spring before moving to the Roundabout Theatre Company in New York City this fall.

Stephanie Byers Daige ’02, Sarasota, made her orchestration debut with “Hebrew Holiday,” performed by The Pops Orchestra of Bradenton and Sarasota last December. “Hebrew Holiday” is a medley of five Israeli folk songs and Jewish holiday music. Daige arranges and publishes chamber music, but this was her first large ensemble orchestration since her Stetson days. In addition, she performs and teaches private lessons on oboe, bassoon, clarinet, saxophone and piano.

Will Phillips ’05 and Brendan Rogers ’06, DeLand, co-owners of And You Films, were the proud recipients of two NATAS Suncoast Chapter Emmy Awards. They were recognized for a Public Service Announcement produced for the Daytona Beach Regional Library in the categories of Short Form Educational Content and Writing.

Julie Bressett Tingley ’03, Tampa, founded Wee Macree, an organization “founded with the realization that small acts, when compounded

Beth-Ann Taylor ’05, MAcc ’06, Bunnell, continues to rise up the ranks as a Certified Public Accountant. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the professional Women of Flagler County. She sits on the Boards of Rotary Club of Flagler County, Flagler Volunteer Services and the Stetson University Accounting Advisory Board. Her company, Phelan, Schroeder & Taylor LLC, is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Taylor has been a CPA since 2008.

William D. Aleshire ’90, Fayetteville, North Carolina, graduated with a Doctor of Ministry degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

MARRIAGES

Nefertiti Walker ’05, MBA ’06, Worcester, Massachusetts, is now the interim vice chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and chief diversity officer at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where Walker is also an associate professor of sport management.

Peter Urscheler ’06, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, ran uncontested for re-election in the Phoenixville mayoral race, receiving 96% of the votes.

Edward Washington II ’06, Orlando, has been re-engaged after joining the Metropolitan Opera Chorus during the 2019-2020 season’s acclaimed production of Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess.” Washington is performing in Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger von Nüremberg,” “Porgy and Bess” and “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” a new work by Terence Blanchard and Kasi Lemmons.

Genevieve “Genna”

Douglas ’07, Bethesda, Maryland, was featured on an episode of HBO’s “Level Playing Field.” She currently works for Bloomberg as a reporter on its Law’s Labor and Employment news desk.

Christine Purdue Jones ’07, Dumfries, Virginia, was elected by worldwide ballot to serve on the Board of Advisors of the International Trombone Association. In July 2021, she was selected to perform a solo recital at the prestigious International Trombone Association Festival at Columbus State University in Georgia. Also, she’s a member of the United States Air Force Ceremonial Band in Washington, D.C. Ryan Pagels ’07, Oklawaha, released “OrganCraft.” The album reimagines music from the “Minecraft” soundtrack, for organ and piano, originally written by Daniel Rosenfeld (aka c418). Most of the album was recorded on a

Andréa G. Caloiaro ’08, Gainesville, was promoted to senior lecturer for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences’ University Writing Program at the University of Florida. Caloiaro also serves as the coordinator for Professional Communication for Engineers and is an active committee member of UF’s Faculty Senate.

Holtkamp tracker-action organ. It’s available on all major streaming platforms.

Kennedy B. Legler ’08, JD ’11, Sarasota, has been promoted to Felony Division chief, Office of State Attorney for the 12th Judicial Circuit.

Ryan Lynch ’09, Columbus, Georgia, was tenured and promoted to

1 Sarah Glinski ’05 to Ben Jamieson, April 17, 2021.

2 Adam Rawji ’12 to Leanne Rawji, Nov. 25, 2020.

3 Rachel Miracolo ’13 to Nick Menta, Jan. 29, 2022.

4 Dalles Black ’16 to Jacob Gowan ’18, March 20, 2021.

5 Erin Foster ’16 to Matthew Drennan, Oct. 2, 2021.

6 Christina Borg ’18 to Wesley Dickson ’17, JD ’20, Oct. 16, 2021

7 Ady Goss ’13 to Harold Velez ’13, JD ’16, Dec. 18, 2021

8 Marisa Tsipouras-Clark ’19 to Conner Weber ’18, Jan. 15, 2022.

associate professor of history of the Islamic World at Columbus State University.

2010s

J. Ryne Cherry ’10, Crestview, earned third place and received the Janet Plucknett Award at the 44th annual Lyndon Woodside Oratorio-Solo Competition Finals Concert by the Oratorio Society of New York. Ryne was one of five finalists for 2021’s competition and was selected from 120-plus singers who participated in the 2020 competition prior to its cancellation.

Kayla Richmond, MBA/ JD ’13, Fort Myers, was honored in the September issue of Naples Illustrated magazine as part of “Top

BIRTHS

Lawyers.” She works for Henderson, Franklin, Starnes & Holt, P.A., practicing family law.

Alexandrina Andre ’14, Tavares, has a new feature documentary, “One Life to Blossom,” currently streaming on Philo, Roku TV, Fire TV, Vimeo on demand, Plex TV and Revry. The documentary follows the life of Black transgender activist and entertainer Blossom C. Brown as she undergoes face feminization surgery before making headlines at the CNN LGBTQ Town Hall.

Matthew Bardin ’17, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, continues to explore new ways to create and experience music. Currently, he’s a doctoral student and the most recent Composer-

in-Residence for University Presbyterian Church in Baton Rouge. Also, he teaches classes in creative JavaScript coding, audio production and using STEM technologies for artistic purposes.

Daniella Hankey ’17, Wilmington, North Carolina, has become a news anchor at WECT in Wilmington.

Caitlin Boyle ’18, Deltona, has joined Robinhood as a helpdesk associate.

Michael Rodriguez ’18, Miami, returned to the Metropolitan Opera Regional Auditions for a second time after winning the Met’s Texas District Auditions. He’s currently in the Young Artist program with Houston Grand Opera.

2020s

Joe Cuffel, JD ’20, St. Petersburg, joined Green Schoenfeld & Kyle LLP, a law firm specializing in estate and business planning, probate, elder law and corporate law. He is a member of the Florida Bar and Lee County Bar Association.

Grace Netanya Roberts ’20, Port Orange, opened a solo show

at NOMA Gallery in Ocala. Fables is a collection of mixed-media drawings that celebrate storytelling through figurative art and invites viewers to take a second look at familiar stories and consider an alternative interpretation.

Jose Kevin Simerilla Romero ’20, Orlando, was named the Grand Prize Winner in the 2021 Chicago International Music Competition’s professional division. Winners were chosen from more than 1,500 entrants and 25 countries. Romero has accepted a Fest Contract with Hanover Opera, beginning this fall.

10

11

8

13

9

14

1 Laura Myrick-Veal ’06 and Cody Veal, a son, Nathan Thomas, January 2021.

2 Megan Krinsky Albrecht ’07 and Kevin Albrecht, a son, Mason James, August 2021.

3 Katelyn Simmons Walker ’07, MS ’10 and Andrew Walker ’09, a son, Logan Andrew, August 2021.

4 Amanda Taylor Bailey ’08, MS ’17 and Ben Bailey, a son, David Rowan, through adoption, August 2021.

5 Michelle Metz Rizzo ’11 and Greg Rizzo ’11, a son, Gavin John, August 2021.

6 Callhan Garrett Soldavini ’11, JD ’14 and James Soldavini ’11, a daughter, Saqqara Rose, August 2021.

7 Leah Hampton Wimberly ’13 and Marquis Wimberly ’14, a son, Camalee Joseph, February 2020, and a daughter, Nailah, May 2021.

Lindsay Marsh Hamilton ’14 and Jon Hamilton, a daughter, Elise Helen, December 2021.

Brittany McCaughey Hightower ’14 and Sam Hightower ’13, a son, Landon Thomas, December 2020.

Lauryn Mohler Holbert ’15 and Kevin Holbert ’15, MAcc ’16, a son, Jack, June 2021.

Maria Casado Minutillo ’16 and Vince Minutillo, a son, Vincenzo Agape, June 2021.

12 Megan Schweizer Dunn ’17, JD ’20 and J. Taylor Dunn ’17, a son, Elijah, September 2021.

Kaitlyn Wilson Tredeaux ’17 and Richard Tredeaux, a son, Richard Daniel, September 2021.

Victoria Arnold Welsh ’18 and Derek Welsh, a son, Callen Dean, September 2021.

In Memoriam

1940s

Margaret Thomas Allen ’41

Jack H. Durey ’41

Byron F. Bond ’43

Evelyn Ogletree Kennedy ’43

Pat Peifer Knochel ’43

B. Ivey McGrew ’43

Mary Pardee Roberts ’43

Patricia Cloward Eriksen ’44

Eleanor Holdeman Turnbull ’44

Edith Johnsen Liner ’45

Clifton W. Loveland ’45

Elinor Edlin Roberts ’45

Leta Mitchell Wright ’45

Laura Richards Fisher ’46

Wilma Freeberg Golden ’46

William C. Kennedy ’46

Ruth McDaniel Oback ’46

Harry E. Whitsett ’47

Frances Collier Zeita ’47

Thomas L. Burgess Sr. ’48

Marjorie Wallace Grant ’48

Sarah McMillan Middlebrooks ’48

Barbara Cox Reeves ’48

Cleve L. Atkins ’49

Timothy H. Herring ’49, MA ’51

Vernon L. Kirchof ’49

Sybil Ramos Penland ’49, MA ’52

Sam W. Prather Jr. ’49

1950s

Harold R. Anderson ’50

Edwin Holden ’50

Bert M. Johnson ’50

Gloria Mertz Lausten ’50

Clyde W. Mauldin ’50

Joy L. Mogyorosy ’50

A. Ribet Jr. ’50

Samuel B. Siler Jr. ’50

Mary Nolen Templeton ’50

Bonnie Albinson ’51

Jonathan L. Draper ’51

Patricia Merritt Batson ’52

Annabelle Foster Fisackerly ’52

Samuel B. Seegers ’52

Hubert D. Smith ’52

Flora Alston Weiss ’52

Cecil E. Boyd ’53

Easter McGough Hughes ’53

Samuel A. Saltsman Jr. ’53

Robert L. Smith ’53

Kenneth M. Wing ’53

James A. Gray ’54

Thomas D. Prutsman ’54

Virginia Greene Williamson ’54

Stafford L. Wing ’54

Charles F. Granger ’55

Maribel Tucker Johnson ’55

Nancy Van Nus Slavik ’55

Frances Jones Bowers ’56

Lawrence E. Decker ’56, MA ’65

Harold S. Dickson ’56

Carey E. Ferrell Jr. ’56

Joel W. Healy Jr. ’56

Doyle W. West Jr. ’56

Harry L. Haskins, MA ’57

James C. Hilyer Jr. ’57

Dorothea Huggins Lisle ’57

Ann Wilkins Lorge ’57

William A. McInnis ’57

Victor C. Vaughen ’57

Oliver L. Green, JD ’58

John M. McCausland Jr. ’58

Roger G. Williams ’58

Joseph P. Pitman Jr., MEd ’59

Deanna Schooley Trice ’59

1960s

Manya Creel Ashley ’60

Robert A. Leclair ’60

Sydney Lane Read ’60

William C. Hallowes ’61

Michael B. Piper ’61

Marcella Hintz O’Steen Rohling ’61, MA ’68

Phyllis Carter Bubin ’62

Donald E. Sweat, MS ’62

M. Kay Ward ’62

Vincent J. Cunningham Jr. ’63

Margaret Stewart

Huegele ’63, MA ’66

Harry G. Kinnan ’63

H. William Perry Jr. ’63

Max Cleland ’64

Lawrence J. Domonkos ’64

Martha Boyer Lung ’64

Elizabeth Wolfe Nemchik ’64

Raymond W. Smith ’64

Jay M. Thorpe ’64

Paul C. Bremer ’65

David T. MacFarland ’65

Sandra Beasley Matsumoto ’65

William R. Turk III ’65

Annette Morris Zaytoun ’65

Ronald L. Dalton, MA ’66

Sally Jarman ’66

Marcia Robinson King ’66

Judith Witt Moore ’66

Christopher F. Sapp, JD ’66

Michael B. Hood ’67

Henry A. Davis Jr., JD ’69

Bernard J. McCabe ’69, JD ’72

1970s

Karin Goosmann Gillett, MBA ’70

Carole Owsley Lauger ’70, MEd ’71

John E. Sainsbury Jr., MBA ’70

Kristy Skuda ’70

Fred J. Stevens, MBA ’70

John R. Townsend ’70

Wendell R. Tucker, JD ’70

Richard R. Laurens ’71

Viva Johnson Outterson ’71, MA ’73

Samuel E. Barnes, MBA ’73

Nestor M. de Armas ’73

Mary-Francis Fricky Vaughn, MBA ’73

Elizabeth Mann Kibler ’74

Leonard A. Lattin, MEd ’74

Mary Ann Daws Roper ’74

Johnny Colvard Jr. ’75

Patricia Simpson Kimmel ’75

Mary Gillespie Gurnee, MEd ’76

Wesley R. Harvin Sr., JD ’76

Johnnie D. Haslem ’76

Martha Swenson Travillian ’76

Robert G. Halloway, MEd ’77

B. G. Hickem, HON. ’77

E. Alexander Peterman ’78

Timothy D. Scrantom ’78

Sharon Worthy ’78

Cheryl Tharpe Adams ’79

Jean Sinclair Faubion ’79

Peter R. Mayer, JD ’79

Jamie Richards ’79

1980s

James M. Hussey, JD ’80

Karen Kisten, MEd ’80

Stuart E. Michelson, PhD | 1952-2022

Gregory D. Smith ’80

Susan Penge Filson ’81, JD ’84

James G. Douglas ’82

James E. Gallimore, MEd ’82

Karen Mawhinney, JD ’82

Lynda L. Lee ’83

Lynn Offenhauer Morrison, MEd ’83

Shirlene Hart Anthony ’84

Keith R. Clark ’84

Donald R. Jarrell, JD ’86

Christopher L. Johnson ’86

Cimos A. Angelis, JD ’87

Marilyn Marchand Moore ’87

Alonzo V. Smith III, JD ’87

Pamela Lindstrom Brodsky, JD ’88

Eugene E. Waldron Jr., JD ’88

Robert H. Norment III ’89

Kahren Holland White ’89

1990s

Blake J. Dobson ’90

Michael Rebel ’90

David F. Cannon, JD ’91

James R. Evans ’91, JD ’94

Jennifer Ator ’93

Nancy Daley ’94

Andrenee Anderson, JD ’96

Evan T. Bell ’96, MBA ’97

David W. Reynolds, MA ’96

Mary Swiderski ’98

Neil D. Overholtz, JD ’99

2000s

Thomas S. Lobrano IV ’02

Satyen D. Gandhi, JD ’05

A beloved colleague, professor and friend for more than 20 years at Stetson, Stuart E. Michelson, PhD, served the university in many capacities: as chair of the Department of Finance, Roland and Sarah George Professor of Finance, executive director of the MBA program, former dean of the business school, a longtime chair of the university curriculum committee, and recently as a developer and lead writer for the Quality Enhancement Plan.

As an author of more than 100 published articles, he was often sought out and quoted in the financial news for his insight and expertise. His many accolades and honors within the school included the School of Business Administration Professor of the Year award (two times), Researcher of the Year (five times), Outstanding Service Award (three times) and Stetson School of Business Dean's Team Award. In recognition for his excellent research and community involvement at the university level, Michelson received the Stetson University Hand Award for Outstanding Research in 2008 and the Stetson University Hand Award for Distinguished Service & Community Impact in 2015.

Some Kind of Wonderful

On Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021, the university’s 10th president, Christopher F. Roellke, PhD, was officially inaugurated into office at a ceremony on campus. Roellke arrived at Stetson July 1, 2020, and his inauguration, of course, was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Roellke’s moving speech, in front of his family and friends plus the Stetson community — both in person and remote — included a poem. An avid fan of classic rock and blues music, Roellke adapted lyrics from the song “Some Kind of Wonderful,” a tune written in 1967 by John Ellison for his band, The Soul Brothers Six. Roellke’s message that day was STETSON IS, INDEED, SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL.

A few lines from his poem:

When we hold Stetson in our arms, You know she sets our souls on fire

Oh, when our Stetson teaches us, Our minds and hearts become filled with desire.

When Stetson wraps her loving arms around us, It drives us to achieve much more. CAN I GET A WITNESS?

STETSON!

Photo: Stetson University/Ciara Ocasio

STETSON is printed on FSCcertified paper.