The Cici & Hyatt Brown Hall for Health & Innovation arrives soon — raising expectations while taking a vision of study, research and the Stetson Student Experience to even greater heights.
Hyatt and Cici Brown in front of the building on campus that bears their name
“We are here together to make this a successful academic year, a safe academic year and a healthy academic year with deep learning experiences for all our students, strong interactions between faculty and students, and opportunities to make connections, whether in-person or otherwise within our entire community. STETSON IS BACK, BABY!”
-University President Christopher F. Roellke, PhD, at the conclusion of his Convocation Address, Aug. 17, 2022Photos: Afterward, students stream outside the Edmunds Center, where the university's convocation was held. Highlights included President Roellke’s spirited welcome (inset bottom left) and a warm keynote address by University Board of Trustee Michael T. Davis ’05, JD ’08 (inset top left). Davis encouraged students to build relationships with professors and embrace the diversity of their classmates.
22 ‘Proud to Claim You’ Scholar. Diplomat. Churchman. Fighter for freedom. Close friend of classmate J. Ollie Edmunds. Honorary doctor. The story of Stetson’s first Asian graduate is one of uncommon mutual admiration.
26 Indiana Jones With a Camera Fred Payne Clatworthy ’96 — as in 1896 — changed the history of photography while also shaping the landscape of the American West.
30 Not One Award, But Two Music history professor Daniil Zavlunov, PhD, set a new milestone for Stetson as the first faculty member to receive two of the school’s most prestigious awards in the same year. Daniil who?
UNIVERSITY
FALL 2022 • VOLUME 38 • ISSUE 2
Christopher F. Roellke, PhD
Bruce Chong
Michael Candelaria Designer
Kris Winters
Kristen Colesanti, Rick de Yampert, Joel Jones
Kate Bradshaw, Rick de Yampert, George Diaz, Robbie Harper ’02 MBA ’06, Ricky Hazel, Cheri Henderson, Olena Kolupayeva, PhD, Cory Lancaster, Kelly Larson, Patricia Letakis, Kimberly Reiter, PhD, Christopher F. Roellke, PhD, Jack Roth, Alicia Scott
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.
Email universitymagazine@stetson.edu. Also, we accept paid advertising. Email inquiries to universitymagazine@stetson.edu.
The new Cici & Hyatt Brown Hall for Health & Innovation, to open near the Stetson Green, stands as a golden opportunity that’s already making an impact.
A post-COVID first: Two professors led 19 students on a Rinker Global Scholars Program trip to Venice, Italy, to experience connections in art, food and the world.
Renewal of the Peace Corps Prep program — work in the field of international development as well as personal growth — serves as a universal example of the expanding Stetson Student Experience.
A student’s startling work, along with a multimillion-dollar endowment and new studio space, frame a future of exploration and growth for creative arts.
In July, a Stetson Law program introduced teenagers to “what is good for all of us as people” — advocacy.
ON THE COVER: Stetson benefactors Hyatt and Cici Brown proudly stand in front of the building on campus that bears their name. Photo: Kristen Colesanti
What an appropriate choice for a magazine cover!
Cici and Hyatt Brown, of course, are legendarily tied to Stetson. As university trustees, they’ve been guiding forces and pillars of leadership since the 1980s. Also, as generous donors, Cici and Hyatt have been, well, simply amazing through so many years.
Now, as our cover story describes, they recently watched as decades of progress at Stetson were literally cemented in the new building that bears their name: the Cici & Hyatt Brown Hall for Health & Innovation. (See Cover Story, pages 34-39.)
Clearly, the Browns are a vital part of Stetson’s past. Yet, even more impactfully, they are investing in Stetson’s future. That’s because our new strategic priorities — currently being finalized — put the university’s focus squarely on the Student Experience at Stetson. In fact, it’s the centerpiece of our strategy. And it’s exemplified at Brown Hall.
Connected to the existing Sage Hall, Brown Hall will provide spaces and result in experiences of collaborative discovery and innovative learning among both students and faculty. And it will happen at unprecedented levels.
Through our new strategic plan, we are reimagining our university. The vision: Stetson University, as Florida’s first private university, will reaffirm its excellence in innovation, academic preparation and experiential relationshiprich education to become widely recognized as the top comprehensive small university in the Southeast.
How will we get there? The short answer is through our students and their experiences inside and outside the classroom, across the campus and throughout the community.
More specifically, we will:
• Promote relationship-rich education focused intentionally and holistically on the needs and aspirations of 21st-century students.
• Build healthy, diverse and inclusive communities, where all Hatters experience belonging, well-being and transformational personal growth.
• Elevate Stetson’s regional and national reputation through a universitywide focus on the student experience and asserting an indefatigable commitment to student retention, graduation and success.
• Ensure that Stetson’s greatest assets — its people — are the centerpiece of Hatter Nation, creating and sustaining multigenerational relationships that last a lifetime and beyond.
• Celebrate Stetson’s story, communicate it nationally and internationally, thereby broadening the university’s geographic footprint.
As just one example of our laser focus on the student experience, we will ensure that our best faculty are present and available when first-year students arrive on campus. The Stetson Experience will begin on day one
— creating a mindset and a set of programs that begin at the time of student deposit to promote engagement, a sense of belonging and a feeling of efficacy, as students will immediately make progress toward their degrees.
It must be this way. Students have far too many choices about where to learn. According to a recent Educational Advisory Board report, “Moving forward, more than one-half of bachelor degree recipients will have some community college or junior college credit on their undergraduate transcripts. It is also becoming increasingly easy for this generation of students to transfer from one institution to another … .”
This is precisely why we are working so diligently to contemplate our present and our future, and to assert our core priorities.
Our new and majestic Brown Hall perfectly embodies those priorities.
For the entire Stetson Community — past, present and future — I thank you, Cici and Hyatt Brown. Your investment and your commitment inspire all of us.
Christopher F. Roellke, PhDPresident, Stetson University
Stetson moved higher in the Top 5 of Best Regional Universities (South) in the 2023 rankings by U.S. News & World Report.
In September, Stetson moved higher in the Top 5 of Best Regional Universities (South) in the 2023 rankings by U.S. News & World Report . Stetson ranked No. 4, up from No. 5 last year, on the list, which includes 135 schools.
U.S. News & World Report also selected Stetson as a top university in three other rankings for that category: Best Undergraduate Teaching (No. 12), Best Value School (No. 12) and Top Performer on Social Mobility (No. 29).
The publication cited Stetson’s emphasis on small class sizes, which offer a student-faculty ratio of 12:1, along with financial support for students and, ultimately, their success. The average undergraduate receives a financial aid package of $42,028 and can choose from more than 55 majors. Students also enjoy a 90% postgraduation success rate.
“Stetson University offers a world-class education built on academic excellence, small class sizes and our esteemed faculty,” commented President Christopher F. Roellke, PhD. “We immerse students in handson learning outside the classroom, providing opportunities to study
abroad, get internships and conduct research in close collaboration with professors.”
Additionally, Stetson’s College of Law placed at the top of its class in key areas in the 2023 U.S. News & World Report rankings for Best Law Schools. Stetson Law remains a top destination for Trial Advocacy, tying for No. 3. Its celebrated Legal Writing program, which is often ranked among the nation’s best, climbed to No. 3.
In August, Stetson was named one of the best undergraduate institutions in the nation, and in the Southeast, by The Princeton Review for the eighth year in a row. Only about 14% of four-year colleges in America are selected for the honor, which appears in the 2023 edition of The Best 388 Colleges. — Cory Lancaster
Yes, the headline is correct. By virtue of gifts and pledges received in the 2021-2022 fiscal year, which ended June 30, the university raised more dollars on an annual basis than ever before — providing money for scholarships, academic programs and facility improvements.
President Christopher F. Roellke, PhD, called the record fundrais ing “an extraordinary accomplishment,” noting the university’s previous record was about $29 million raised in 2018.
“I believe our donors, granting agencies and friends of the univer sity determined there was no better time to give to Stetson than right now,” Roellke said. “The pandemic has presented both unprec edented challenges and opportunities for higher education, and the extraordinary generosity of our donors has energized and inspired us all.”
The funding will provide scholarships and lab equipment, and support academic programs such as Fine Arts, Music and Health Sciences. The donations included a $16 million bequest from Antoinette “Toni” LaValle that is providing scholarships and other support to students in the arts and music. In addition, the donations will pay for renovations to athletic facilities, such as Melching Field for Stetson Baseball and the Edmunds Center, according to Krista Bofill, vice president of Development and Alumni Engagement.
The record fundraising comes only a few years after Stetson completed a $218 million compre hensive campaign in 2019, exceeding its $200 million goal.
“When people are giving their philanthropic dollars, they have so many more choices than they did 20 years ago,” Bofill said. “It says a lot for people to choose us at this time and for them to under stand that we are making a difference not only in the students we serve, but also in the community.” — Cory Lancaster
Stetson has appointed Kristen Marshall Mattson ’05 as the new director for the Gillespie Museum. Mattson previously coordinated environmental education programs, outreach projects and the annual fundraising campaign for the nonprofit Spring Island Trust in Okatie, South Carolina.
At Stetson, Mattson was a double major in environmental science and Spanish with a minor in biology. She also earned a Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Ecology with a concentration in botany from the University of Florida in 2006.
Her background includes community outreach, research, curriculum development and curating exhibits for all ages. She hosted YouTube channels on the natural history of native plants and astronomy (called Night Skies Over Beaufort County).
Yiorgos Bakamitsos, PhD, is no stranger to Stetson, but he’s now the new dean for the School of Business Administration.
Following a national search, Bakamitsos, who joined Stetson in 2013 as associate dean for graduate programs, was appointed after serving as the interim dean. He is also a professor of marketing.
Replacing Neal Mero, PhD, who left the university last year, Bakamitsos excelled in his interim role, according to Noel Painter, PhD, executive vice president and provost.
“Since his [interim] appointment, members of the search committee, business faculty, business administration advisory board and Board of Trustees have expressed enthusiasm over his
Stetson has launched a public polling center that will focus on Florida-based issues and poli tics. The new Center for Public Opinion Research (CPOR ) began operating in October 2022 from the third floor of the Marshall & Vera Lea Rinker Welcome Center.
Steven Smallpage, PhD, associate professor of Political Science, is overseeing CPOR, working in conjunction with Stetson students to poll and collect data. At press time, the goal was to have the first poll released before the critical midterm elections on Nov. 8.
The work of the polling center will extend the reach of the long-standing, newly reinvigorated Stetson Institute for Social Research, deploying “faculty expertise and creating excellent opportu nities for student learning and engagement,” cited Elizabeth Skomp, PhD, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Over time, the polling center will expand its reach nationwide.
With more than 2,500 undergraduate students at Stetson, Smallpage aims to harness a small but
leadership and vision for the school's future,” Painter said. “I am exceptionally grateful that he has agreed to shepherd the school as we prepare for the five-year AACSB accreditation report, and to work diligently with the entire Stetson community to strengthen the curricular, co-curricular and experiential education experiences in the business school.”
Bakamitsos' work has appeared in numerous industry journals. He is a member of the American Marketing Association, the Association for Consumer Research, the American Psychological Association, the Society for Consumer Psychology, the Hellenic Management Association and the Hellenic Institute for Marketing.
He has taught graduate, undergraduate and executive education courses at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University; the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College; the A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University; Centrum University in Lima, Peru; Bocconi University in Milan, Italy; the A.L.B.A. Graduate Business School in Athens, Greece; and the Burgundy School of Business, Dijon, France. — Michael Candelaria
mighty group of young adults with a passion for politics and polling. About 80% of the work will involve making phone calls to gather data.
“Our students’ course of study makes them ideal polling researchers — from political science to sociol ogy to computer science to marketing to the digital arts to journalism,” Smallpage said. “Not only will our students’ efforts benefit the university, but also their experience in public polling will enrich their education.
“Florida politics, for the next however many years, is going to be national politics. By focusing on Florida politics, Stetson will be part of the national conversation.” — George Diaz
Stetson’s second environmental STARS audit will be conducted this spring — that’s STARS as in Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System.
Robert Sitler, PhD, professor of world lan guages and culture, will take a sabbatical during the 2023 Spring Semester to conduct the audit, which enables institutions of higher education to track, manage and share information about their sustainability efforts in education and research; operations; and planning, administra tion and engagement.
Sitler describes the role as “a good fit,” given his lifelong interest in the environment, nurtured by the environmental awareness of cultures he has spent his career studying.
Reports on the audit are shared in The Princeton Review. Stetson was named a Green College in The Princeton Review’s Guide to 353 Green Colleges: 2015 Edition. The guide recog nized Stetson for environmental education, environmentally responsible purchasing, effi cient use and conservation of resources, mini mizing solid waste and hazardous materials, and its commitment to using indigenous plants in landscaping.
Sitler said he hopes to create a baseline by which Stetson can measure progress. He plans to complete the audit by no later than summer 2023.
“The university is a very different entity in 2022 than it was in 2012, 10 years ago,” he noted. “So, we need to have a more accurate picture of where we are in com parison with similar institu tions in our country.” —
Michael Candelaria
An environmental audit is coming soon.
Stetson’s Educational Leadership program in DeLand is now available at the university’s College of Law in Gulfport — providing a one-year program for educators in Pinellas County and throughout the Tampa Bay area.
The expansion elevates Stetson’s mission and values by joining together the two campuses to support one program, while also addressing the educator shortage in Florida and increasing the diversity in leadership representation within the industry.
Through in-person Saturday classes at the College of Law, students gain insight into the day-to-day life of Florida school district leaders. Their research prepares them to work in school leadership positions and executive district-level positions with the purpose of enhancing student success.
Having a bachelor’s degree and certification to teach public school qualifies a student to apply to earn the Ed Leadership degree. People who hold a master’s degree, and also are certified to teach public school, may apply to participate in a modified program of study and obtain certification in Ed Leadership. Both programs prepare students to pass the Florida Ed Leadership Exam, which is required for certification as an administrator. — Alicia Scott
Stetson's picturesque College of LawJeremy Posadas, PhD, arrived on campus in August.
As part of a project sponsored jointly by the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative and the U.S. Agency for International Development, Stetson Law Professor Luz Nagle spent part of her summer sharing her expertise about human trafficking and how to stop it in Colombia.
For Jeremy Posadas, PhD, an early hunger to address social inequity arose in a place of literal hunger. His first job was at a fast-food restaurant as he was preparing to attend college. Most of his co-workers weren’t so fortunate.
“I’ve never forgotten how hard that work is,” said Posadas, who grew up in a middle-class Navy family in multiple locales along the West Coast. “I recognized the importance of using the opportunities I have to create more opportunities and more equitable structures for everybody.
“A commitment to economic justice and equality is a central part of my scholarship and my activism.”
As the fall 2022 semester began, Posadas brought that sentiment (and much more) to Stetson, as he began serving as the Hal S. Marchman Chair of Civic and Social Responsibility. It’s a role established on campus in 2005 to help better the lives of margin alized populations. Posadas also has a joint appointment as associate professor of religious studies and gender studies.
Over his career, Posadas has combined the vocations of social ethicist, social justice educator and organizer, all focused on effective collaboration for social transformation, with the goal of “creating a society that ensures equity for all members and equal participation.”
This fall, his First-Year Seminar introduces students to core concepts and practices in community organizing and labor organizing. He chose that focus in response to the strong desire in the current generation of students to build a more just society, wanting to introduce them to skills they need to do so effectively.
Posadas earned his doctorate in religion from Emory University in Atlanta in 2012 after earning a Master of Divinity degree (concentrating in Hebrew Bible and Christian worship) from Union Theological Seminary in New York City and an honors undergraduate degree in the Great Books concentration at The University of Chicago. Prior to Stetson, Posadas taught for 11 years at Austin College in rural Sherman, Texas, on the border with Oklahoma. — Michael Candelaria
The USAID project — Connecting Paths for Human Rights, or CCD (Conectando Caminos por los Derechos) — brought Nagle to Bogota and Cartagena to present recommendations and guidelines to help local, regional and national officials and organizations combat human trafficking. The project helps to support the transition between humanitarian aid and medium- and long-term development for Venezuelan migrants, Colombian returnees and host communities in Colombia.
Nagle met with some of Colombia’s most vulnerable populations and spoke to numerous media outlets about how government leaders can directly reduce the incidences of human rights violations.
In the past, Nagle, an international law expert who has written and spoken extensively on how to prevent human trafficking, has worked with government agencies and nongovernmental organizations alike to develop effective strate gies for promoting human rights.
At the core of the problem, she has said, is money laundering, corruption she describes as the “grease that facili tates human trafficking.”
—
Kate BradshawIn late August, Stetson Athletics announced the selection of six former Hatter student-athletes for induction into its Hall of Fame during an Oct. 29 ceremony.
The Class of 2022 includes baseball player Robert Crews ’11; women’s tennis player Julie Johnson Lepre ’94; softball player Amanda Lindsey ’10; indoor and beach volleyball player Kaley Melville ’14 ’17; football player Donald Payne ’16; and women’s basketball player Jama Sharp ’15.
A Freshman All-American and two-time all-conference selec tion, Crews had a terrific career both in the field and at the plate. In 228 career games, he batted .316 with 42 doubles, 23 home runs and 137 RBI. Crews scored 180 runs and collected 282 hits, totals that still rank seventh and eighth, respectively, in the Stetson record book.
Johnson, a two-time first team all-conference selection, locked down the No. 1 singles position for the Hatters in the early 1990s. During her Hatters career, Johnson won 57 singles matches, including a school-record 38 victories at that No. 1 position. Julie Johnson Lepre is being inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame posthumously.
The all-time strikeouts leader in school history, Lindsey fanned 828 batters during her four-year career, surpassing the previous mark by more than 200 strikeouts. The right-handed hurler compiled a career record of 70-46 with a minuscule 1.48 ERA (earned run average). She received two NFCA All-Region Honors. Her résumé included three no-hitters and one perfect game.
A phenomenal athlete on the court and in the sand, Melville’s highly decorated career included ASUN Pair of the Year, ASUN
Stetson’s School of Music has announced the Jack and Martha Apgar Young Music Scholars grant award to the Stetson Community Music School, beginning in the fall 2022 semester. The award aims to build on the mission of the existing program and create additional pathways for K-12 students to participate in individual music lessons through full-scholarship awards.
Pair of the Tournament and two ASUN First Team AllConference honors. As a standout on the Stetson indoor volley ball team, Melville led in kills for four consecutive seasons.
Payne, a three-time All-American, three-time Pioneer Football League Defensive Player of the Year and four-time First Team All-PFL selection, was a defensive superstar in his four seasons with the Hatters. Payne then signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Ravens, becoming the first Hatter to join the National Football League. He went on to play three seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars, 2017 to 2019.
A two-time ASUN First Team all-conference selection, Sharp helped lead the Hatters during an era of unprecedented success. She played in all 133 games of her career — missing none — and scored a total of 1,261 points. In addition to all-conference awards, Sharp earned selections to the ASUN All-Academic team, the ASUN all-tournament team, the ASUN Winners for Life team and, in 2020, the ASUN All-Decade team. — Ricky Hazel
Since 1985, Stetson’s Community Music School has provided highquality music education to Central Floridians, especially K-12 students. The School of Music connects program participants with facultyrecommended Stetson student teachers, degreed instructors, collegiate-level facilities and a gateway to advanced musical study. Students who are selected to participate in the program receive scholarship opportunities to enroll in individual music lessons and ensemble programs within the
Stetson Community Music School. All lessons and ensemble rehearsals take place in Presser Hall on Stetson’s DeLand campus and include a final solo recital performance held in Lee Chapel, Elizabeth Hall.
The Apgar Foundation was founded in 2001 by Martha B. Apgar in large part to honor her late husband John Newton “Jack” Apgar. Martha Apgar’s family (the Browns) once owned the Hotel Putnam in DeLand, and many of her family members attended Stetson.
This isn’t exactly the Tony Awards, but it’s literally in the neighborhood.
Michael Allan Galvez ’16 and the company he works for, Feinstein’s/54 Below, a Broadway supper club, received a 2022 Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre. Feinstein’s/54 Below was one of five recipients recognized for “significant impacts within the industry.”
The Tony Honors, established in 1990, are awarded annually to institutions, individuals and/or organiza tions that have demonstrated extraordinary achieve ment in theater, but are not eligible in any of the established Tony Award categories.
Appropriately, Galvez’s own story is dramatic. At age 15, he moved with his family from the town of Rodriguez in the province of Rizal, Philippines — in the foothills of a long mountain range — and wound up at DeLand High School, just a stone’s throw from Stetson. Then, he arrived at Stetson as a student who was passionate about being a “storyteller,” almost regardless of medium. Learning about film actually was his original goal.
It didn’t take long, though, before theater became his love. As a sophomore, he took acting and theater history classes — part of Stetson’s liberal arts
approach to learning — and “got hooked,” he described. As a junior, he became a double major in English and Theatre Arts.
At Stetson, Galvez pushed artistic boundaries, exemplified by a senior project that uniquely blended live performances with augmented reality and prerecorded video sequences. Without the aid of supportive peer-reviewed and published research about the multilayered artistic approach, Galvez served as director and producer.
Today, part of New York’s Broadway scene, Galvez is an arts administrator with the official title of digital marketing asso ciate and pod cast producer. Independently, he’s also a writer and theater director. And, of course, he’s part of a Tony Honors for Excellence.
— Michael CandelariaCall this a bittersweet announcement you can bookmark. Susan Ryan, MLS, Stetson’s Betty Drees Johnson Dean of the Library and Learning Technologies, is stepping down from her administrative role at the end of the 2022-2023 academic year. However, Ryan will continue as a faculty member.
During 33 years as a Stetson faculty member, Ryan has served in many capacities. She began as the
Betty Drees Johnson Dean of the duPont-Ball Library and Learning Technologies in 2012, becoming Stetson’s first endowed dean.
Under Ryan’s leadership, the library’s endowments have tripled and now represent one of the largest library endowments among Stetson’s library peer group. Her tenure also includes the transformation of the duPont-Ball space into a comprehensive community learning hub — to include the Writing Center, the Hollis
Family Student Success Center and the Innovation Lab.
Throughout her time as a faculty member, Ryan has continued to publish, present and teach, as is evident through award recognitions that include the Catharine J. Reynolds Award for Excellence in the Field of Government Information and the Stetson University Hand Award for Research, Creative and Professional Activity. (She is a frequent contributor to Stetson University Magazine, as well.)
Just as the fall semester began, Stetson University College of Law introduced the Peter F. Lake “Spirit of the Law” Endowed Annual Award. Lake, a professor, is also director of the college’s Center for Excellence in Higher Education Law and Policy.
Each year, the award will be given to a graduating Stetson Law student who has dedicated time and service to the advancement of higher education law and policy and who has exemplified the “spirit of the law” by promoting development of character, compe tence and access to the law.
The award comes at a time of unprecedented challenges for colleges, universities and other institutions, and the legal questions they create for the industry, Lake said.
“There has never been a time where the need for Stetson-trained higher education lawyers has been greater,” he commented. “This award rewards students for exceptional commitment and achievement in the nation’s leading center for higher education law and policy.”
Nearly a dozen alumni and other members of the community helped to endow the award.
Founded in 2004, the Center for Excellence in Higher Education Law and Policy provides a resource for both attorneys and non-attorneys in advancing a better understanding of the ever-changing realm of higher education.
Every spring, Lake and his team host the National Conference on Law and Higher Education, which attracts stakeholders and decision-makers from across the country.
In addition, Lake often hosts webinars for national audiences of higher-ed industry members on emerging topics, and he frequently speaks to local and national media outlets on the many challenges facing the sector. — Kate Bradshaw
Stetson’s Professional and Corporate Education program (PaCE) has made new changes to meet the professional development needs of the corporate community in Central Florida. This fall, the program is offering custom ized corporate training for teams in modern classroom settings on Stetson’s DeLand campus or at individual company headquarters.
The training can be tailored to specific needs regard ing function and content but is rooted in two flagship disciplines that Stetson is known for: sales and leadership.
In the sales discipline, the Stetson PaCE program offers sales skills and techniques backed by the universi ty’s well-known Centurion Sales Program, which includes course offerings called “Sales Effectiveness,” “Customer Service and Communication” for support teams, and “Sales Management Development” for aspiring sales managers.
In the leadership discipline, programs are taught by faculty and outside experts with real-world experience. Course topics include “Talent Management & Employee Engagement”; “Influence Strategies”; “Effective Communication Strategies”; “Conflict Resolution”; “Leading Change in Modern Times”; and “Leading Teams to High Performance.”
“Before [COVID-19], companies could pick and choose the talent they wanted to hire,” said Bud Hanson, executive director for professional education at Stetson. “Now, employees have more leverage to choose companies that are going to make an invest ment in them.” — Robbie Harper ’02, MBA ’06
The PaCE program now offers customized corporate training.
The time capsule will be opened in 2072.
In fall 2019, before the world went sideways with COVID-19, Phi Alpha Theta, the history honors society, proposed burying a 50-year time capsule in the garden of the Cici & Hyatt Brown Hall for Health & Innovation.
Tickets were sold that fall for the chance to place an item in the time capsule, with a total of 25 students, staff and faculty winning the opportunity.
With the construction of Brown Hall nearing completion, the time capsule will be buried this fall — and will be opened Oct. 28, 2072 — exactly 50 years after Stetson’s 2022 ceremony for the new facility.
Madi Goff ’22 is one of the contributors.
“Think of all the changes we have gone through in the last two years; let alone, how much the world will change in 50!” she said. “Think of how special it would be in 50 years for a current student’s grandchild, carrying forward their Hatter legacy, to reopen this capsule and be provided a glimpse into what we valued so
dearly. Or how impactful it would be to come back to Stetson, 50 years later, to reminisce on our undergraduate years and the objects which aided our experience.
“Being on a college campus throughout a global pandemic is an experience unique to us, and it is imperative to document the experiences we have had and the items that have shaped our time at Stetson during COVID-19.”
The items placed in the capsule will eventually serve as primary artifacts. As items selected by the Stetson community, they will be analyzed and then situated in the context of cultural history on college campuses during a pandemic. The objects preserved could eventually be cited in scholarship.
“The idea of recognition as a primary source is appealing,” Goff added.
Fellow student Abigail Arient ’22 agrees.
“The time capsule is a way for students and community members to not only leave a legacy at Stetson, but to be a part of history as well,” Arient said. “It serves as a celebration to how much Stetson has grown with the addition of the new health science building and will remain to follow the further growth of Stetson after 50 years.”-— Kimberly Reiter, PhD
In case you missed it, the Stetson University Board of Trustees elected three new trustees during its late-May meeting at the university’s College of Law campus in Gulfport.
The new members:
Orestes V. “Gino” Santos, BS ’82, MBA ’85; president, Alpha Marketing Network; co-founder of AMN Distributors/Premium Blend (with his brother Enrique). Santos is also a member of Stetson’s advi sory board for the School of Business Administration and served on Stetson’s Entrepreneurship Board of Advisors. In 2019, he received Stetson’s Distinguished Alumni Award.
Megan G. Weinberger, vice president, Simple Life Medical; presi dent, Rescue Life, a
nonprofit animal rescue and rehabilitation sanctuary.
Weinberger resides in West Palm Beach with husband Eric Weinberger. The couple have two daughters, Zoie and Riley. Zoie is a current Stetson student and member of the Stetson women’s soccer team.
Amy R. Rigdon, BA ’05, JD ’08; attorney, Latham & Watkins LLP in Washington, D.C. Rigdon advises clients on the formation and operation of a variety of tradi tional and nontraditional private investment vehicles. She actively supports a number of nonprofit
organizations, including the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia. Rigdon is past president of the Stetson Law Alumni Association and serves on the Board of Overseers of Stetson’s College of Law.
“The support and guidance of our Board of Trustees is critical to the university,” said Stetson President Christopher F. Roellke, PhD. “Each of these board mem bers brings considerable devo tion to Stetson and brings with them a wealth of experiences and insights that are invaluable as we move the university for ward.”— Michael Candelaria
It was only late July, but it had already been quite a summer for professor Rajni Shankar-Brown, PhD, Stetson’s Jessie Ball duPont Endowed Chair of Social Justice Education.
The headliner: Shankar-Brown became president of the National Coalition for the Homeless, the nation’s oldest advocacy and direct service organi zation supporting people experiencing homeless ness and food insecurity. She is the first woman of color to hold that national position.
Shankar-Brown has been part of the NCH Board in various capacities over the past decade, including numerous leadership roles. Now, she is on center stage.
Among her summer’s highlights: Shankar-Brown was a lead member and visionary of Bring America
Home Now, a comprehensive grassroots campaign to end homelessness nationwide. She also serves as chair of the campaign’s racial equity and education pillars.
In June, Shankar-Brown helped with a national vigil at the Lincoln Memorial, as well as a peaceful NCH protest that gathered people from across the United States to speak about housing justice. Further, she was a featured speaker and a key orga nizer, helping to attract numerous housing justice advocates and organizations, at the Poor People’s Campaign Moral March on Washington.
Additionally, Shankar-Brown was actively involved as NCH launched a campaign called “Sweepless Summer 2022,” calling on cities to stop the forceful clearing of homeless encampments — inhumanely destroying the belongings of people who are experi encing homelessness and, in turn, displacing an already marginalized community, the professor described.
One more example of her busy summer: ShankarBrown spoke at a congressional briefing organized by U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters in coordination with NCH. Shankar-Brown delivered compelling remarks, urging Congress to invest in comprehensive solu tions and long-term infrastructure to solve home lessness and the affordable housing crisis.
“There are basic human rights that should be guaranteed for all of us, including safe, decent and affordable housing,” Shankar-Brown explained. — Michael Candelaria
Stetson’s commitment to the whole student — academically, emotionally, physically and spiritually — took another positive step forward with the addition of a Halal Dining option this fall. Halal simply means “permissible” in Arabic and relates to the rules of Islamic teachings. It is frequently used to describe the food that is allowed according to the Quran, such as prayer over the first and last animal in a slaughter and requirements for the humane treatment of the animals.
Students must use the Boost Mobile App to order the Halal food options, which are prepared on demand, as opposed to putting the food on the regular serving line. Once their order is placed through the app, students can use their meal card to swipe into the Commons and then pick up their order. There are approximately 35 to 50 Muslim students at Stetson each year.
Professor Rajni Shankar-Brown, PhD
Below and on left: As a picturesque country with plentiful public art was being attacked, its citizens "became stronger, more united."
F eb. 24, 2022, is the day that changed our lives, along with the life of Ukraine and the entire world.
In the evening of Feb. 23, I was preparing a presentation about the Department of Journalism and our specialty for experts, as the university where I taught was being accredited for journalism. At 9 a.m. that next day, I was meant to conduct a Zoom conference from the university with an overview of the material.
Until that time, we had lived ordinary lives, performed our daily duties, went to work, prepared for classes, had dinner, went to sleep.
No one believed.
When I woke up on the morning of Feb. 24, martial law had already been declared across the country, and we saw the first news on TV about the beginning of a full-scale war.
A series of missile attacks and bombings swept across Ukraine. My region of Khmelnytskyi was attacked by missiles; the runway of our military airfield was destroyed.
When I went outside my home, I saw blocked roads, military trucks, lines at banks, people trying to withdraw cash and huge queues at gas stations. People were trying to leave the country. We were given 72 hours to surrender.
Now, more than seven months later, our soldiers have been heroically defending our country. Many people signed up for territorial defense. Many have returned from abroad to fight for their native land. We stand. The world stands with Ukraine.
The war brought a new reality into our lives. We learned to pack in a few minutes, taking a torch, warm clothes, documents and some water with us. Sometimes, we slept dressed to be ready every minute to leave the house in case of an air-raid alert. As it was impossible to reach bomb shelters, the residents of my house turned the basement into a kind of shelter. We led light into the basement, set up benches, made improvised beds, brought blankets and water.
For the first few weeks, the alerts were so frequent that I got what is called now a phantom siren syndrome — a condition in which you hear the sounds of a siren, even though they are not actually there. Now it seems that every Ukrainian lives with a chronic feeling of anxiety and fear.
At the time, we were having classes online, and I was working from home. Some students attended, and some stayed in bomb shelters as they were in different parts of Ukraine or even abroad. The city developed an air-alert system. And when we heard a siren or found out through a mobile application that there was a threat of a missile attack, we interrupted our classes and went down to the shelter.
There were situations when the alarm continued throughout the night, and at 9 in the morning the students were simply sleeping. So, it became impossible to teach.
The decision to apply for a teacher-scholar position at Stetson University was a hard one. I was thinking a lot about whether I was doing the right thing. Everyone had the same question as me: Should I leave or stay? If I left, would I feel that I am a traitor to leave the country at the most difficult time?
“You are a patriot; why are you leaving?”
“Look, all those who consider themselves patriots are fleeing now.”
“We are not needed anywhere. Nobody wants us; we create only problems as asylum seekers, refugees.”
“No one cares; people care only about the gas prices and the cost of living, which is rising high because of global crisis.”
“Come on, Europe is tired, the world is tired of the war, of Ukrainians, of help … .”
Those are the statements I heard from people around me. All of that sentiment was running in my head.
But I understood that everyone in Ukraine was in their place — whether at home or abroad, doing what they can, fighting, volunteering, giving concerts, raising money to support the army, baking bread, writing songs, drawing pictures for our soldiers. Someone packs boxes containing humanitarian aid or delivers medicine to the elderly. Someone evacuates citizens from “hot spots” or weaves camouflage nets.
Everyone was sure that in this way they were bringing victory closer.
Ukrainians became stronger, more united. People of different ages and professions began to help our army and the civilians who suffered as a result of Russian aggression.
My native city, Kamianets-Podilskyi, became a significant humanitarian center that welcomed more than 30,000 internally displaced people. The city serves as an educational hub, where people from other regions can learn some basic professional skills, get psychological support, and improve spoken and written Ukrainian speech.
One of my students began taking a course on first aid. Many students joined an IT army of Ukraine. “We cannot help with weapon in our
hands, but we can bombard hostile Telegram channels, Facebook pages and websites, making complaints so as to ban these resources,” they reasoned. The students followed instructions on bombarding aggressor websites. They fought with Russian bloggers who supported the war.
Together with students, we signed a petition for NATO to close the sky over Ukraine. We believed so much that if NATO provided a no-fly zone over Ukraine, it would prevent Russian aircraft from flying over Ukraine. We believed if the world cut off Russian banks from SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication), Russia would withdraw troops from Ukraine.
At last, we believed that all those packages of sanctions would stop the war. Now we believe in our defenders. We believe in ourselves.
At the beginning of war, students went to look for hostile marks left on the roads, roofs and buildings, which were believed to serve as targets. The marks were mostly luminescent, glowing in the dark to help the enemy orientate where to shoot.
One of my students became a widow after her husband went to fight in one of the most challenging positions. She said she felt safe because he protected the positions. She was so proud of him, that he didn’t hesitate about doing the right thing. She believed so strongly that he would come back and raise children together in a free Ukraine. Now she writes songs and dedicates them to all defenders of Ukraine.
As an educator, I see my mission clearly: to tell American students what is happening in Ukraine, tell the truth, teach them how to recognize “fakes” as a tool of Russian propaganda and refute Russian narratives such as “Ukraine is not even a country”; “The war in Ukraine is staged and, Kyiv is a Hollywood set”; “Ukraine is filled with Nazis”; etc.
The position at Stetson University is a great responsibility and at the same time an honor to represent my country — a country that during the war has turned out to be the most united since its independence.
We greet each other “Glory to Ukraine.” We decided we would come back to the traditional “Good morning” and “Good afternoon” after our victory.
We have showed ourselves as a great nation with great people who would share their house, food and clothes with strangers who now have been united through pain and fear, but also hope.
Far left: Kolupayeva: "The position at Stetson University is a great responsibility and at the same time an honor to represent my country ... ." Left: The Hero City of Ukraine, an honorary title, was awarded to 10 cities in March 2022. Right: The District Council is protected by sandbags — a sign of war.We ask, “How are you?” which means “I love you; I care about you.”
We name our four-legged friends Bayraktar and Javelin, inspired by weapons that help our defenders stop Russian tanks.
We now have special dishes on our menus devoted to hero cities, such as Mariupol, Volnovakha, Kharkiv, Irpin and others.
We meet the bodies of our defenders on our knees; we cry; we pray.
We shelter animals that have been left without owners because we value every life.
We are more than ever proud to say: "I’m Ukrainian.”
Olena Kolupayeva, PhD, is a Visiting Teacher Scholar at Stetson’s Brown Center for Faculty Innovation and Excellence. Stetson is hosting Kolupayeva for the 2022-2023 academic year by virtue of philanthropic campaign, the Stetson Ukraine Initiative. She is teaching two classes in the fall and spring 2023 semesters for Stetson’s Department of Communication and Media Studies. In Ukraine, Kolupayeva is an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism at Kamianets-Podilskyi Ivan Ohiienko National University.
Four Ukrainian students are being hosted by Stetson during the 2022-2023 academic year, the result of the same communitywide philanthropic campaign that brought Olena Kolupayeva, PhD, to campus as a Visiting Teacher Scholar.
The students are Yuliia Balan, Veronika Shchur, Yana Verbova and Genevia Gayden. They applied for the opportunity and were accepted by Stetson.
Originally from Ternopil, a city in western Ukraine, Balan studied International Information at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, the oldest institution of higher learning in present-day Ukraine, dating back to 1661. Balan’s family and many of her friends still live in Ukraine. Her mother is a teacher; her father is a firefighter; she has an older brother and two nephews that concern her greatly.
Her words: “I call them every day just to see if they’re safe, just to be sure. And I tell them what has happened here,” Balan, studying political science with a focus on international relations, says from the four-bedroom, two-bath campus apartment the four students share.
“I thought this [attending Stetson] would be a great opportunity to study in this country. … And I want to gain some practical experience. Ukraine now needs — for its redevelopment and rebuilding — active, enterprising students with experience in studying abroad and who understand the world’s practices.”
Shchur grew up in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital city, and attended the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. “I love Kyiv; it’s my family; it’s my friends,” says Shchur, an economics major. “Everyone was there before the war, and everyone left.
“Now, I have the opportunity to be here in the U.S., in the center of democracy and the most influential and powerful country. I feel like it’s my chance to learn here, to get an education and build the knowledge I need then return to my country.”
Verbova, from the city of Chernivtsi in western Ukraine, acknowledges the leap of faith that landed her at Stetson wasn’t easy. But it was a must.
“I decided, ‘Why not’? When you have a chance, you just need to grab it in the heartbeat, and you just need to use the chance,” explains Verbova, studying pre-dentistry. “I didn’t expect anything to happen, but I’m here at Stetson. And I’m really delighted for that.
“I really miss Ukraine, and I want to return back and to rebuild the country after the war. So, I have faith in my country, and I believe that we will continue after.”
Gayden, growing up with a father who was a Ukrainian diplomat, lived in many places, including Russia. Life lessons were learned at an early age. Today, a student of political science, Gayden minces few words: “This is one of the most black-and-white conflicts of the 21st century. Russia is clearly the aggressor, the bad person — a terrorist, genocidal state.
“If I can make one more person here [at Stetson] think about Ukraine, to tell some news about Ukraine, to spread some information or to care, then I did something good. … I want people to know; I want people to care.” — Michael Candelaria
Stetson's Ukrainian students, from left: Genevia Gayden, Yana Verbova, Veronika Shchur and Yuliia BalanChik Wai Leung — friends knew him as “Chik” — was from Guangzhou, China, a large port city.
Scholar. Diplomat. Churchman. Fighter for freedom. Close friend of classmate J. Ollie Edmunds. Honorary doctor. The story of Stetson’s first Asian graduate is one of uncommon mutual admiration.
BY KELLY LARSON
Onesummer day in 1920, a young man headed north along Woodland Boulevard in search of John B. Stetson University. When he approached the stately red bricks of Elizabeth Hall and the stucco facade of Flagler Science Hall, he knew he had come to the right place.
The campus was grassy and open, dotted with young palm trees and shaded by tall pines. It was vacant at the time, except for a few administrators working over the summer, their office windows open wide to let in the breeze.
DeLand, the young man thought, was “a serene little country town,” a far cry from the bustle of Manhattan. It would have been sweltering out, and he must have been sweating beneath his suit, but perhaps he took that as a good sign. After all, he hoped to escape New York’s winters in favor of a more comfortable climate.
It is also easy to imagine that hot, humid Florida air may have reminded him of the weather back home. He had not been there in five years, for home was half a world away.
Leung Chik Wai (梁植槐) was from Guangzhou, China, a large port city known all across the globe at that time as Canton. A world-class entrepôt with a constant influx of foreigners from far-flung places, Canton was where one could find goods from Europe, meet Christian missionaries or encounter Western philosophies. Chik Wai’s father was among the local Chinese who found prosperity in Western enterprises. He was appointed the soleagent in his region for Standard Oil, which had found a booming market in China during the 1890s. (In accordance with Chinese naming conventions, Leung is the family name, Chik Wai the personal name. Chik Wai inverted his name while in the United States, going by Chik Wai Leung. Friends knew him as “Chik.”)
At 10, Chik Wai began a traditional Chinese education, which entailed the careful study of ancient philosophy, history and literature. These lessons were meant to prepare young men for an examination system that, for centu ries, had offered prestigious careers in the Chinese civil service to those who passed. By the time Chik Wai learned to recite Confucius’ Analects, however, China was on the verge of revolution. The examination system was abolished when he was still a child. Chinese families who could afford it educated their children in Europe or North America instead.
Chik Wai’s cousin, who became his guardian after the sudden passing of his father, arranged for Chik Wai to attend school in the United States. This was no easy feat. Anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States was rampant at the time, and the Chinese Exclusion Act banned all immigration from China. Yet, a company representative from Standard Oil endorsed Chik Wai, and the U.S. Department of State granted him a student visa.
He was only 15 years old when he arrived at the Seattle immigration
office, along with four other Chinese boys. The five children, who spoke no English, were detained for two weeks in a facility that Chik Wai called simply and politely, a “distasteful place.”
In Seattle, Chik Wai learned English and then processed through the eighth grade. Afterward, he relocated to New York City, where he attended high school and then enrolled at Columbia University. His education was off to a great start, but Chik Wai experienced respiratory trouble in the North that worsened each winter. His doctor recommended he relocate to a warm place, where he could expect sunshine and warm weather year-round. And that is exactly what Chik Wai did.
The man he found in 1 Flagler Hall, the dean of Stetson University, cut an imposing figure. Tall, handsome and erudite, G. Prentice Carson, PhD, was known as a dynamic lecturer and a stern disciplinarian. Surviving documents reveal Carson as a man of conviction, and very little pretense. He was a touch haughty, sometimes quarrelsome and a devout Methodist. Carson cultivated close relationships with his students — and held them to the highest standards.
Sitting across from the dean, Chik Wai provided his credentials, which included the coursework at
Chik Wai admired his professors, and they were equally impressed with him.Columbia. But he had more going for him than his academic qualifications. He was from a wealthy family that could afford a foreign education. Also, he was fluent in English, and he was from a part of China that had long absorbed Western influence, most notably, that of Protestant missionaries.
At last, Dean Carson gave his answer: Yes, Stetson could admit him. Meanwhile, Chik Wai's compatriots languished in U.S. immigration centers.
In 1920, John B. Stetson University was a deeply Christian institution. Students of all denominations were welcome, but the university was closely associated with the Florida Baptist Convention. Religious activity was integral to campus life, and students attended daily chapel services during the week, as well as a local church service each weekend.
Archival sources do not clearly indicate when Chik Wai became a Christian. One letter states that Chik Wai’s father had been a Baptist, and another says that
Chik Wai converted while attending Stetson. Perhaps both statements are true. In any case, he was listed in the university ledger as a Baptist student upon his arrival, attended the Baptist church each Sunday, and he treasured his faith for the rest of his life.
Classes were coeducational, but student behavior was strictly regulated. Among the activities forbidden of students were smoking, drinking and dancing. Yet, they found ways to enjoy themselves, and they didn’t always follow the rules. The 1921 yearbook shows plenty of parties, automobiles, day trips and sporting events. In these pages, students lightheartedly mocked one another and satirized the faculty, especially Dean Carson. One of their jokes, surely considered inoffensive at the time, made fun of the Chinese.
The student body was almost entirely made up of white Southerners, mostly Baptists from Florida or Georgia. But there had been exceptions over the years: Northerners who traveled to DeLand for its warm climate, along with a number of Cuban students. Chik Wai was the first to come from as far away as China.
It might have been surprising to see a Chinese man in the small, racially segregated town of DeLand, but it was not unheard of during that time. Chik Wai was preceded in town by Lue Gim Gong. Like Chik Wai, Lue had come all the way from Guangdong Province to find himself in rural Florida. In DeLand, Lue applied his knowledge of orange cultivation to the local groves, earning him the moniker “The Citrus Wizard.”
Lue was well known among the Stetson community, and although he was considered an eccentric figure, most locals expressed fondness for him. Perhaps the Stetsonian view of Chik Wai was filtered through their perspectives of the brilliant and enigmatic Lue Gim Gong. Perhaps that was enough for them to overcome the Sinophobia so widespread in the American mainstream.
Chik Wai became acquainted with Lue while in DeLand, and it must have
been comforting to meet another Chinese man from his own province. But that is not to suggest Chik Wai wanted for friends. In a report to Chik Wai’s family, Dean Carson wrote glowingly of his progress, noting that he was very popular. Among Chik Wai’s inner circle were Grace Watson, a gracious young woman active in the YWCA and Stover Theatre; James Day, who wanted to be a pastor; and one John Ollie Edmunds, who would later become president of the university.
Chik Wai admired his professors, especially Irving Stover, PhD, who taught speech; Warren Gordis, PhD, who taught English; and, of course, Carson, his history professor and dean.
Faculty members were equally impressed with Chik Wai. Carson remembered him as a brilliant student whom he had welcomed as a guest lecturer in his own history classes. In a 1936 issue of the Stetson Reporter, Carson said of Chik: “I never met a student here ... who was a finer boy than he.”
On June 5, 1923, Chik Wai and his classmates attended commencement in Lee Chapel. That evening, President Lincoln Hulley, PhD, presented Chik Wai a Stetson diploma, while Dean Carson placed an academic hood over his shoulders. Then, just like scores of students who came before him, he received what the alumni all called “the Carson push” — a gentle shove from the dean that meant Godspeed.
At the ceremony, President Hulley personally commended Chik Wai for his work at Stetson, and he expressed his confidence that the young graduate would one day make an excellent diplomat for China.
Hulley’s prediction was not far from the mark. After graduating from Stetson, Chik Wai completed an advanced degree at Columbia, married a fellow classmate and then journeyed back to China. In his hometown of Guangzhou, he began a
One summer day in 1920, a young man headed north along Woodland Boulevard in search of John B. Stetson University. He found much more.career as a senior government official. At the rank of colonel in Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang (KMT) army, he served Chinese leaders as adviser on foreign affairs.
These were prosperous and exciting years for Chik Wai and his family, but their lives were forever changed during World War II. They lived through the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong in 1941, and while Chik Wai considered himself lucky that his family was spared the worst of the occupation, they had to flee Hong Kong on foot, bringing only what they could carry with them. They eventually settled down in a remote village on the mainland.
Word of Japan’s surrender surely brought the Leungs a sigh of relief in 1945, but they suffered another tragedy shortly thereafter, when their town was severely flooded. As Chik Wai recalled: “We merely made our escape to the hilltop… . The meager belongings we had brought from Hong Kong were washed away, but the whole family [was] saved.”
Meanwhile, Chik Wai’s friends in the United States were concerned about him. Former classmate J. Ollie Edmunds, PhD, was, by that time, Stetson president, and letters from his files show that he attempted to locate Chik Wai after the war. Although his contacts in Hong Kong were doubtful that he would succeed, Edmunds eventually found an address for his old friend. After a period of instability and loss, renewed contact with Edmunds came as a happy surprise for Chik Wai, one he provided as evidence of God’s love in his autobiography. Perhaps word from his old alma mater, possibly the site of his religious conversion, helped to bolster his faith during a difficult time.
Despite the passing of more than two decades since their school days, Chik Wai and Edmunds began a regular correspondence that continued for at least another 20 years. They sent each other Christmas cards, gifts and family photos. In letters
After graduating from Stetson, Chik Wai completed an advanced degree at Columbia, married a fellow classmate and then journeyed back to China. But that's only part of his story.
kept in the university archives, the two friends wrote at length about politics, faith, their children and their work.
While Edmunds steered Stetson through the 1950s and ’60s, Chik Wai helped establish Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU). In order to develop a robust academic library there, he returned to the United States and studied library science.
While stateside, he returned to Stetson, reuniting with Edmunds and other Stetson friends. At the 1961 commencement ceremony, he received an honorary doctorate. It was their old friend Grace Watson who, after visiting with Chik Wai over the Christmas holiday months earlier, suggested to Edmunds that he bestow the honor. The citation begins:
“Chik Wai Leung: Scholar, diplomat, churchman, fighter for freedom, Stetson is proud to claim you as her own.”
Together, Edmunds and Chik Wai forged a formal relationship between Stetson and HKBU, and for many years students from Hong Kong received scholarships to attend Stetson. A student-exchange program still exists between the two universities.
After seven years of service to HKBU, Chik Wai retired to Canada. There, he devoted himself to yet another act of service as a founding member of the Vancouver Chinese Baptist Church.
Years later, Chik Wai sent Stetson a four-page autobiography. In it, he wrote that his life had been “enriched by genuine friendship for over fifty years,” noting that he was still in touch with good friends from his college days.
This document was received by Olga Bowen, the university archivist. And, as it happened, she remembered Chik Wai well. Bowen, also a Stetson alumna, had worked in Dean Carson’s office as his assistant. It is likely that she was present when Chik Wai arrived in Flagler Hall that fateful summer day in 1920.
Bowen graciously accepted Chik’s autobiography and sent him a letter of thanks in return. She deposited his life story in the university archives, where it remains to this day. Kelly Larson is archivist of Archives & Special Collections at Stetson’s duPont-Ball Library.
Editor’s note: This article uses both Mandarin and Cantonese spellings for Chinese personal and geographical names, according to how they are most commonly known to North American speakers.
Fred Payne Clatworthy ’96 — as in 1896 — changed the history of photography while also shaping the landscape of the American West.
BY RICK DE YAMPERTIn 1896, 20-year-old Stetson graduate Fred Payne Clatworthy packed up his beloved camera, one that he had saved for and bought when he was 13, and headed home.
That entailed loading his “wheel,” as bicycles were then called, onto a steamer ship at Jacksonville and sailing to New York City. From there, Clatworthy rode his wheel 80 miles a day, over dirt and gravel roads, to return to his parents’ home in Evanston, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. At the time, Henry Ford’s Model T, one of the first mass-produced, afford able automobiles, was more than a decade away.
“No hill too big!” Clatworthy wrote to his parents in one of his many letters from the road, adding that he felt “great when traveling.”
After earning a Juris Doctor degree from the Chicago College of Law through night school, Clatworthy felt his inner Indiana Jones calling. In other words, he sought adventure.
Eschewing the world of torts and contracts, he journeyed West in 1898 on that same wheel, eager to complete the transcontinental trek he had begun at Stetson two years earlier.
Clatworthy’s yearlong sojourn would change the history of photography and, in many respects, the history of the American West.
Of course, Clatworthy’s bulky 5-by-7 camera made the trip with him — it had been his near-constant companion ever since his teen years, when he sold photos
to family members and “occasionally to a gullible stranger,” he wrote in a later autobiographical essay. Clatworthy also took the chemicals and glass plates that would enable him to develop sepia mono chromatic photos on the road — “using water from nearby streams,” wrote Richelle Cross Force in her 2021 biography Fred Payne Clatworthy: Colorado’s Color Photography Pioneer.
Clatworthy wheeled to Denver, where he stopped to see his cousin George Winters, then traveled to New Mexico, where he was joined by his friend Wallie Johnston. The pair occasionally used their rifles to bag jackrabbits or antelopes for dinner as they continued their travels to Arizona. When Clatworthy’s bicycle broke down, they caught “half-wild” burros and fashioned makeshift saddles to continue their journey, Force wrote.
Meanwhile, Clatworthy was photographing the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains, the Grand Canyon and other iconic Western landmarks. He and Johnston even created an impromptu, wildly successful “hustling business,” as Clatworthy called it in one of his letters, selling photos during their adventure.
Another friend, Sydney Foote, joined the expedition. After Johnston dropped out, Clatworthy and Foote traveled up the coast of California and on to Washington via burros, horses, bicycles and steamer. Clatworthy took a train back to his parents’ Evanston home.
During that odyssey, Clatworthy took more than 1,500 photos, selling many of them along the way.
Spellbound by the Rockies, Clatworthy returned to Colorado in the early 1900s and traversed the state on horseback, looking for a place to call home. He settled in Estes Park in 1905, a northern Colorado town, and opened Ye Lyttel Shop, as he dubbed his photography studio and gift shop.
Not long afterward, magazine, newspaper and railroad people began clamoring for his landscape photos. They literally told stories in the publications; railroads liked them for use in promotional materials.
In 1914, three years after Clatworthy married Mabel Leonard, his life changed dramatically when a fellow photographer introduced him to autochromes, a color photographic process invented by the French Lumière brothers in 1907. While the process was expensive, exacting and tedious and had its limitations, Clatworthy was enchanted: Here, for the first time, was a way to capture the rich, true colors of nature’s majesty in photos — using a technique that was far superior to the practice of hand-coloring black and white prints.
Richelle Cross Force, author of Clatworthy’s 2021 biography Fred Payne Clatworthy, Stetson alumnus and famous photographerLeft: Clatworthy’s autochrome of Longs Peak, Colorado, framed by two aspen trees. Above: Clatworthy’s autochrome of the overlook on Trail Ridge Road in his beloved Rocky Mountain National Park. Below: a Maori girl in New Zealand.
Legendary photographer Alfred Stieglitz and many of his fellow so-called Photo-Secessionists, who championed photography as an art form and not just as a way of commemorating Grandpa riding a horseless carriage, disdained autochromes as too complicated. But Clatworthy, who proclaimed, “I’d rather go to the poorhouse taking pictures here than practice law in Chicago,” fell in love. He began using autochromes to capture the beauty of the American West, and soon he was hailed as one of the foremost color photographers in the nation, if not the world.
Clatworthy’s first step into the national spotlight occurred in 1917 when, at the request of Colorado Sen. John F. Shafroth, he exhibited his auto-
chromes of Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The first to see them were members of the U.S. Congress. Shafroth’s agenda: Entice Congress to increase the area of the park. The ploy worked. Further, the National Geographic Society took note of Clatworthy’s camerawork.
In 1923, National Geographic magazine astonished its readers by publishing the first of six Clatworthy photo essays, the initial one featuring his breathtaking photos of Rocky Mountain National Park, the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Colorado’s Garden of the Gods and other striking locales. Some 100 of his autochromes would appear in the
pages of National Geographic between 1923 and 1934.
In turn, railways and other transportation companies, realizing the value of astonishing color photos in their advertising and promotional materials, subsidized trips by Clatworthy to shoot Glacier National Park, sites in New Zealand and Tahiti, and other places.
Meanwhile, Clatworthy embarked on a secondary, tangential career as a slide-show lecturer during the 1920s and early ’30s, showing projected images of his landscape autochromes to jampacked houses at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, plus at hundreds of smaller,
This autochrome of a car between snowbanks in Rocky Mountain National Park was published by National Geographic in 1932. Photos courtesy of the Clatworthy collection of photo-historian Mark Jacobs.
less prestigious venues whose audiences were no less enthusiastic.
This was in the days before television or any sort of truly mass visual media, before commercial air travel and cross-country highways became ubiquitous, and when even a publication such as National Geographic wasn’t available at every drugstore’s magazine rack.
For many in Clatworthy’s audiences, it was as if the song “America the Beautiful” was magically, magnificently, realistically illustrated for the first time. Notably, that song’s words were penned in 1895 by Katharine Lee Bates after she saw Colorado’s Pikes Peak.
“The Grand Canyon’s transparent purples and blues defy the artist’s brush,” Clatworthy wrote in a 1928 National Geographic essay accompanying his photos. “It has remained for the autochrome plate to reproduce its exact colors.”
In that same essay, Clatworthy also revealed the sometimes-harrowing circumstances he endured to get his worldly photos. “He almost lost his life on a picture-taking expedition in Death Valley during a sandstorm. The man traveling behind him perished,” Force noted in her book.
According to History Colorado, a museum complex that’s home to Clatworthy manuscripts, black-and-white photographic materials and approximately 1,000 of his autochrome plates, his work was seen by more than 10 million people in more than 160 countries via his lectures and published images.
Clatworthy died in 1953 at age 77 in Estes Park.
While Clatworthy “meticulously documented everything he did” in journals and letters, starting with his westward trek by bicycle, “he never issued what I would call a philosophical statement on photography,” Force said during a phone interview from her home in Westminster, Colorado, a Denver suburb. “And he didn’t see himself as a conservationist so much. This was in the early days of the national parks, and his primary goal was to promote them and make the general public aware of their beauties and wonders. He was in awe [of the land].”
Clatworthy’s autochromes helped spur a Western tourism boom that began in the 1920s. “That’s why we have so many people in Colorado today,” Force added with a soft laugh.
Force, who holds a degree from Northwestern University’s prestigious Medill School of Journalism, was inspired to write Clatworthy’s story after becoming friends with his daughter Barbara “Bobbie” Clatworthy Gish, who was keen to preserve her father’s legacy.
Before Gish died in 2011 at the age of 90, “She took me down to her basement in Littleton, which is a suburb of Denver, and there were tables and tables piled with photographs, written materials and memorabilia of her father’s life,” Force said. “The thought occurred to me: ‘This is a book waiting to be written,’ and she was looking for someone to write her father’s story.”
John Wood, professor emeritus of English literature and photographic history at McNeese State University, wrote the forward in Force’s book — citing that Clatworthy is “a major American artist” who had “slipped through the cracks of photo-historical studies” — until the arrival of Force’s biography.
Clearly, Force believes, Fred Clatworthy, Stetson Class of 1896, can be captured as a major American artist.
“I do hope that Fred Clatworthy receives recognition,” Force concluded, “and not just him but the autochrome process itself and its importance in the history of photography, which we take for granted these days.”
Fred Payne Clatworthy began his college career in his native Ohio at Denison University, but he “elected to complete his education at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, where his cousins George and Harry Winters were enrolled,” wrote Richelle Cross Force in her 2021 biography, Fred Payne Clatworthy: Colorado’s Color Photography Pioneer.
While Clatworthy’s postgraduate exploits in the American West would prove he possessed all the intrepid spirit and derringdo of filmdom’s fictional Indiana Jones, the young photographer’s adventurous temperament already was on display during his Stetson days.
The Stetson Collegiate, the school’s newspaper of the time, mentioned Clatworthy twice in its November 1895 edition: “Dr. Leonard and Fred Clatworthy killed a fox near the poorhouse, November 23. It measured three feet from tip to tip.”
And this: “The Fencing Club, whose membership is limited to 10 persons, is now composed of the following named persons: Doctor A. N. Leonard, Prof. Sharp, Prof. Crippen, Prof. Rosa, Miss McBride, Miss Finley, Miss Bielby, Mr. Fred Clatworthy, Miss Phillips and Miss Anna Brown. Their instructor, Doctor Leonard, states that they are making good headway and may be able later on to give a drill before the public at some of the school entertainments.”
About Clatworthy’s Stetson tenure, Force wrote that “his parents intermittently stayed at a nearby convalescent camp. As a senior at Stetson, Fred took medical courses and considered pursuing a specialty in surgery. But he didn’t let his academic life interfere with his love of exploration, specifically by bicycle. … He traveled the shell roads of Florida’s unique terrain, investigating Indian mounds and unearthing bones and pottery, toting his camera with him.”
Music history professor Daniil Zavlunov, PhD, set a new milestone for Stetson as the first faculty member to receive two of the school’s most prestigious awards in the same year. Daniil who?
BY PATRICIA LETAKIS
Daniil Zavlunov, PhD, associate professor of music history and faculty award winner
Daniil Zavlunov, PhD, is passionate about music, or, as he puts it, “obsessed.”
It started when he was a teenager lis tening to opera music at the New York Public Library. When it was time to enroll in college, he decided on a double major: music and history.
“They went their separate paths at first, but then gradually they became one,” says the associate professor of music history.
Just like his double major, Zavlunov’s teaching career and research accomplishments have come together. This year, he was recognized for receiving both the William Hugh McEniry Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Hand Award for Research, Creative and Professional Activity — becoming the first faculty member at Stetson to receive both awards in the same year.
“That was a big shock,” Zavlunov says.
Although the professor had an inkling he was nominated for the research award because he had quite a few articles published in the past five years, the teaching award came as a complete surprise.
“I had no idea anybody nominated me,” he says about student and faculty nominations for the McEniry Award. “It is the first time that happened in Stetson history [both awards in the same year], so it is very unusual. Remarkably humbling, I’d say.”
According to Noel Painter, PhD, Stetson’s executive vice president and provost, since joining Stetson in fall 2014, Zavlunov has “proven himself to be not only a skilled teacher invested in the success of each student, but also a prolific scholar whose publications bridge both musicology and music theory.”
“To be recognized by both awards demands an incredible level of success in both arenas: teaching and research/creative activity,” Painter continues. “Dr. Zavlunov’s engagement in both of those areas at an exceptional level has led to this uniquely timed joint recognition.”
Sitting in his office sartorially stylish in a jacket and tie, his dark hair combed perfectly into place, Zavlunov is surrounded by the great composers. Behind his desk, floor-to-ceiling shelves are tightly packed with books boasting titles from “Beethoven” to “Verdi.” A small bust of Beethoven rests on the edge of a shelf. To his right, another bookcase is jammed with scores, “Don Giovanni” jutting out of his extensive collection. “I wish I had more time to spend listening to these scores,” he laments.
The back wall is home to a shiny black piano and racks of CDs.
Zavlunov, who was born in the Soviet Union and arrived in the United States at age 13 in 1993, studied piano as a child before immigrating to his new country. In graduate school at Princeton University, he learned to play harpsichord, which he pursued with great passion for almost a decade. Yet, studying music academically is what he enjoys most, possibly the result of all those days spent in the public library listening to overtures and operas during his youth.
“I was one of those crazy kids obsessed with opera. It’s been something that I’ve loved since I was about 9 or 10,” Zavlunov notes.
When asked to elaborate on why he finds opera so enticing, he replies: “I’ve contemplated that question for a very long time. I fell in love with music over a CD. I started with Rossini. Something I accidently picked up in a library. Then by the time I was in college at 18, I knew about 20 of his
operas. It really got me thinking about music, my obsession with the vitality of Rossini’s music.”
Gioacchino Rossini, an important Italian opera composer in the early 19th century, wasn’t the only composer of that period who fascinated Zavlunov. The life and works of Russian composer Mikhail Glinka, colloquially referred to as the father of Russian music, became Zavlunov’s focus in graduate school and has remained so during his profes sional career.
“One of the peculiar things is that you might think I became interested in Russian music because of my background, my being born there,” says Zavlunov. “But I got into Russian music through Italian opera.
“I was studying it in college when I became interested in Russian opera and began to see parallels between Italian opera and Russian opera. I gradually transitioned into that world.”
The professor has gone on to write studies/ articles on Glinka, Soviet musicology and other 19th-century-related topics that appeared in various publications.
“In one essay, I looked specifically at how people who knew Glinka started to construct an image of
The Hand Award namesakes are trustee emeritus and alumna Dolly Hand '49 and husband Homer Hand.him after his death. What I was interested in is how do you take a historical subject who existed and turn him into an object,” Zavlunov says.
In another article, he looked at the ways scholars in the past 40 years have made sense of Glinka in Russia.
Considered an expert on the Russian composer, Zavlunov was recently asked to contribute to a collection of essays and translation of Glinka’s memoirs. He’ll look at the entire history of scholarship on Glinka and identify the main trends over the past two centuries: how people thought about Glinka, his place in history and how politics have played into interpreting Glinka.
The professor’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed.
“In both volume and quality, Dr. Zavlunov’s publication record establishes him as one of the most active scholars at Stetson University,” says Painter. “His works — presented in such important journals as The Journal of Musicology, Music Theory Online, Russian Literature, Music & Politics — compile a list of domestic and international publications that stand out in the field of musicology.”
In addition to his teaching and published articles, Zavlunov has been working on a bigger project, a book on a subject that has captivated him for almost nine years.
“It’s a broader history of operatic culture in Russia during the reign of Nicholas I. Nicholas I ruled between 1825 and 1855, and this is a really important moment in the history of opera in Russia. Lots of things happened, one of which is Glinka,” Zavlunov says.
Elaborating on the composer, he continues: “So you have this father figure of Russian music who appears out of nowhere, or at least it seems he appears out of nowhere, and he writes these two operas and they become the foundation ‘stones’ for Russian opera. There was Russian opera for about 75 years before that, but it’s Glinka who is identified as the first canonic Russian composer.”
Being the researcher that he is, Zavlunov isn’t satisfied with exploring only Glinka’s contribution. He raises the question of how opera went from being predominantly an aristocratic genre enjoyed by the wealthy to a public medium for people living in urban centers or, in other words, mass entertainment. It’s that transition that makes this period so significant to Zavlunov’s research. He has completed five chapters of his book.
Zavlunov’s inquisitive mind is the force behind his teaching methods. Students like his holistic approach to teaching music history. It’s not just musical works or the study of musical styles or composers; it’s all of that, plus the study of culture, society and politics.
“It’s this big mix of things that we can zoom in on, and look at the minutia of musical notes on a page, and then we can zoom out and talk about historical processes like the French Revolution and what that does to music,” he says.
Christianne Wilson, a senior majoring in vocal performance, has taken Zavlunov’s music history class. Wilson’s comments crystalize his classroom stature.
“He’s so knowledgeable and understands the subject matter,” she says. “We read historical documents, and then he brings them to life, making the class entertaining for students.”
A big takeaway from his class is how she learned to look at society and the economy and then determine how it influenced the music of the period.
Zavlunov likes to present history as a puzzle to be solved by his students. He’ll lead them through a story, providing only some components, and challenge them to fill in the missing pieces by becoming historians themselves. The students work with primary sources, historical documents and letters, even reviews of concerts.
“I ask them to look at these things and try to interpret them as historians would,” Zavlunov says. “Try to make sense of how things happen, why they happened the way they did. Kind of get into the minds of the people living at the time of this music’s creation.”
He challenges them to extract themselves from their own mindset and try to think like people from the past.
To win the McEniry Award, winners must have a deep impact on the students they teach. Zavlunov checks the box in a big way, says Painter.
“While Dr. Zavlunov has very high expectations for his students,” Painter cites, “teaching in a very rigorous subject area, quite consistently his students recognize him as being in their corner, wanting their success, teaching beyond content toward meaning.”
Award namesake William Hugh McEniry was a former dean of the university.One would think that when Zavlunov isn’t teaching or researching opera, he’d search out some rock or jazz on Spotify. That’s not the case.
“The music that I go to when I have to distance myself from the world is the music of the Baroque,” he says.
It’s his favorite period of music and one of the reasons he studied harpsichord.
When it comes to reading for pleasure, the professor turns to poetry. “I’m really obsessed with poetry,” he says, “so there’s always a pile of poetry books in various languages on the shelf.”
Fluent in Russian and English, Zavlunov is — no surprise — also very comfortable reading French and Italian. So many of the documents he seeks out for research are in French. And, of course, Italian is the language of opera — his eternal love.
When I say that I miss college and I miss being a student, what I lament and crave for is that special four-year moment in time and space when you commit yourself to a particular type of self-discovery that can never again be replicated.
At no point in your life will you experience such a hyperconcentrated burst of diverse knowledge as you will in your four years here. Like you, I went to a liberal arts school (Queens College, City University of New York), which meant total immersion in everything you ever wanted to know … and everything you didn’t. As a double-major in music and in history, did I really need that introduction to English poetry or classical Greek drama, or the civilization of Islam, or Computer Science, or Renaissance philoso phy? Probably not. But in many instances, these courses that I thought strangely irrelevant to my pursuits proved to be the most rewarding and transformative. They made me encounter the world — and human ity — in all of their glorious messiness.
In the process, they began to remake who I was.
Combined with the courses in my majors, this holistic curriculum, taught by extraordi narily dedicated teachers, afforded endless opportunities to engage with and embrace
the textured complexity of life. To seek deeper understanding and nuance — to look past easy answers and quick fixes; to contemplate the more profound questions that often had no answers. Of course, that’s what some might call critical thinking.
I discovered in college that to be able to really think critically, you also need to learn to think self-critically. Self-critical thinking forces you to question yourself: to question who you are, your beliefs, your choices, your foundational assumptions about everything.
To think self-critically is to remove the safety net of certainty; it is to fight compla cency in yourself; it is to reject categorical answers, and it is to learn humility — because that is what it takes to admit that you might be wrong or that you might not know something or that you might not have all the answers. Self-critical thinking can be horrifying, daunting, overwhelming and anxiety-inducing. It was for me. And it still is.
But it is also liberating. Self-doubt is liberating and empowering because you don’t take anything for granted about yourself and your world. I would encourage you to savor your reflective moments of self-doubt. Savor the uncertainty of not knowing, of not understanding, of feeling
confused, of being intellectually insecure. Remember: Self-critical thinking takes courage, because anything that leads to intellectual growth and personal awareness takes courage.
The good news, and here is perhaps the most precious component of your college experience and the thing that in retrospect I miss the most about being a college student, is that you don’t have to practice critical or self-critical thinking alone. At no other point in your life will you be surrounded by so many people at such close quarters who care about you so deeply. Let me say that again: At no other point in your life will you be surrounded by so many people at such close quarters who care about you so deeply.
Your fellow students, your professors, your advisers, university administrators and staff — they are all rooting for you. Revel in that community. …
Immerse yourselves in this community. Become part of its colorful fabric. Take every advantage of it. In fact, make that your mission. Rely on it when you need it. Seek its guidance and help and comfort. But also continue to develop your capacity for empathy, respect and tolerance, so that you too can contribute to this community and to help others in it. …
‘IMMERSE YOURSELVES’An excerpt from the McEniry Address by Daniil Zavlunov, PhD, during Stetson Convocation, Aug. 17, 2022: Zavlunov arrived at Stetson in fall 2014.
The anticipation and excitement in the room that day were nearly as impressive as the collection of Stetson leaders committed to the university’s newest cause.
The date was Monday, April 9, 2018. Stetson’s then-President Wendy B. Libby, PhD, was there, along with Provost Noel Painter, PhD, members of Stetson’s board of trustees, faculty members, staff and students. DeLand and Volusia County officials were present, too.
However, center stage on the first floor of the Marshall & Vera Lea Rinker Welcome Center was reserved for J. Hyatt Brown and Cynthia (Cici) Brown.
Stetson benefactors Hyatt and Cici Brown
Hyatt Brown received an honorary doctorate from Stetson in 1992 and has served continuously as a Stetson trustee since 1981. He is chairman of the board of Brown & Brown Inc., a Daytona Beachbased insurance brokerage firm with an expansive global footprint. From 1972 to 1980, he was a member of the Florida House of Representatives and Speaker of the House during the final three years of that tenure.
Cici Brown has been a Stetson trustee since 1999. Before then, she was a member of the College of Arts & Sciences board of advisors, including a term as chair. A former buyer for Saks Fifth Avenue in New York prior to her marriage to Hyatt in 1965, she was also awarded an honorary doctorate by Stetson in 2007.
Together, they have a long history of philanthropic generosity, both locally and throughout Florida and beyond. In 2014, for example, their support led to the creation of the Brown Center for Faculty Innovation and Excellence at Stetson. In addition, they have supported Stetson scholarships, athletics, the School of Music and other programs through the years. In
2015, the Cici and Hyatt Brown Museum of Art opened in Daytona Beach, housing more than 2,600 of their paintings of Florida-based art.
Yet, on this day, any of their past heroics — ever impressive as they are — stood as mere sidenotes to their latest and greatest salute to Stetson: The Browns were donating $18 million to construct a new science building on the DeLand campus and expand science programs.
Stetson’s trajectory had changed, instantly and sharply, thanks to the announced Cici & Hyatt Brown Hall for Health & Innovation.
Three years later, construction began. The new building, which would connect with the existing Sage Science Center, was to measure two stories and more than 40,000 square feet. Ultimately, the hope, even the expectation, was that when the doors officially opened, it would mean much more.
Gradually, month by month through the COVID-19 pandemic, reality began to beckon — with a planned opening of the $19 million Brown Hall in time for the spring 2023 semester.
Fast-forward to early September 2022. The Browns, with hard hats on, had just made their first tour of a nearly completed Brown Hall. Actually, the building wasn’t three years in the making. Sage Hall was originally constructed in 1967 and expanded in 2009. At that time, Cici Brown chaired the board of trustees’ facilities committee. And even before then, the Browns were in the middle of discussions about campus expansions with Libby’s predecessor, H. Douglas Lee, PhD.
So, on the tour, the Browns weren’t merely viewing newly placed bricks and mortar; they were watching decades of progress being cemented.
“My emotions are running really high right now,” Cici says minutes after that tour. “I don't mind telling you, I've seen it on paper. I've watched it [being constructed]. But that’s the first time I've been in the building. I love it because I love the feeling of the building. It flows beautifully. And the light factor is incredible. We didn't build a box and put windows in it. We built a beautiful facility. … I'm just crazy about it.”
The new Cici & Hyatt Brown Hall for Health & Innovation, to open near the Stetson Green, stands as a golden opportunity that’s already making an impact.The Browns with Scott Thacker, associate vice president for Facilities Management
“I look at it as another lever to take Stetson up to the next level,” Hyatt Brown follows suit. “And the reason it's a lever is because young people today are very much impressed with new and cool and suave. And that [new building] is now suave. So, it’s a great place to learn. … Stetson will be able to attract even more high-quality students that we would not have been able to attract prior to this building.”
“The need for medical services of all kinds in Florida, obviously with the population that we have, is great — not only the numbers, but the aging population,” adds Cici. “There's a need, no question about that. So, to have bright and shiny new, up-todate, modern facilities is going to be attractive to a lot of people. Everybody doesn't want to go to a university with 100,000 students. That's right for some people, but not necessarily everybody.
“Education is key. … We have an opportunity to develop it, to grow it, to make it better. What’s to lose? Absolutely nothing.”
Indeed, industry numbers echo those thoughts. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, positions in health care will be among the fastest-growing occupations between now and 2029, with universities such as Stetson having an important role in supplying the future workforce.
As a result, Hyatt Brown asserts, the new building clearly is a big win for Stetson, as well as a major boost to its neighbors in surrounding Volusia County.
Fact is, he doesn’t use the word “gift” or “donation” in refer ence to the funding. Instead, he calls the dollars an “investment” in the future of Stetson, as well as the region’s economy. More students will arrive on campus. In turn, there will be more area health care resources; more medical doctors, nurses and technicians; and more related business.
“This will float the tide up, the economic tide in Volusia County and, therefore, children will have greater opportunities,” Hyatt says. “… So, this is an investment. And one of the nice things is that unlike a business, this can’t be sold. It’s not going anyplace.
“Stetson is in the catbird seat, assuming we have the facilities and the ability, which we do. And we'll have even greater facilities to attract even more of the kind of students we are really looking for.”
The construction scene from Jan. 22, 2022
Listen to Scott Thacker for just a few seconds, and it becomes clear the same type of collaboration that will thrive in Brown Hall also was responsible for its construction. Amid the industrywide challenges of materials delays and labor shortages, the building’s crews pulled together.
“This project has not been immune to those issues,” says Thacker, who arrived in mid-June as associate vice president for Facilities Management. “But Williams Company [the project’s general contractor] has managed that very well in terms of sourcing alternate materials where necessary or working around delays to be able to continue. And they’ve also communicated very well with us. There have been no surprises. So, construction has gone very smoothly, even though there have been some challenges. Fortunately, we’re at the point on the project where we’ve jumped all those hurdles. The project is on schedule and under budget. …
“Collaboration began much before the faculty and stu dents will get in there.”
The words of Stetson President Christopher F. Roellke, PhD, leave no doubts regarding his belief in the new building: “The Cici & Hyatt Brown Hall for Health & Innovation is an absolute game changer for Stetson and for our region. It is essential that higher education meets the contemporary needs of our society, and this extraordinary investment by the Brown family enables Stetson — our faculty, our students and our community — to do just that.”
Strictly by the university’s stated vision, the Cici & Hyatt Brown Hall for Health & Innovation is intended to create spaces and experiences that will allow ideas, learning and interests to converge and evolve into groundbreaking discoveries and innovative pedagogy.
The ceremonial groundbreaking June 11, 2021, was filled with great promise. From left: President Christopher F. Roellke, PhD; Elizabeth Skomp, PhD, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; former President Wendy B. Libby, PhD; and the Browns.
The design of Brown Hall incorporates a diverse mix of formal and informal spaces that encourage opportunities for spontaneous collaborations that are critical for interdisciplinary discoveries. In addition, design flexibility will support the continued develop ment of Stetson’s interdisciplinary successes over time.
Unofficially, and with a broad smile, Elizabeth Skomp, PhD, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, states Brown Hall has “so many exciting facets,” beginning with an “absolutely critical focus on students.”
Brown Hall will be home to the following areas within the College of Arts and Sciences: the Center for Optimal Health Across the Lifespan; Environmental Science and Studies; Health Sciences; Public Health; Sustainable Food Systems; and the graduate program in Counselor Education.
“There are such rich opportunities for student learning and collaboration,” Skomp continues, “and that is evident in all aspects of the building’s design and function. Because of the literal connection to Sage Hall, we’ll now have a Brown/Sage science complex.”
Renovations to the connected Sage Hall, completed in time for the fall 2021 semester, include a cluster of research labs that encompass four different research areas: cell culture, tissue culture, molecular research and microscopy. Additionally, the vertebrate anatomy teaching lab now houses a new Anatomage Table — a virtual, fully segmented, real human 3D anatomy system.
Throughout Sage Hall, similar to Brown Hall, formal and informal collaboration spaces are available for students, along with a new enclosed second-floor balcony.
The clear emphasis is on collaboration.
A case in point is the Center for Optimal Health Across the Lifespan (COHL), which houses three signature programs. Each is oriented toward collaborative community outreach, effectively extending the university’s impact beyond the campus.
The Play and Creativity in Counseling concentration, housed in the Department of Counselor Education, served low-income children in Head Start programs for five years prior to the pandemic. COHL will provide space for children and their families to engage in expressive arts and therapeutic play activities to facilitate the healing of trauma and other mental/behavioral health disor ders, as well as to support the health and well-being of families in Volusia County.
The SMART Lab is designed to teach and research the efficacy of stress management and resiliency skills within the Volusia County population and Stetson’s student body. The SMART Lab targets significant reductions in stress levels, using biofeedback monitors, and can be combined with self-report measures of psychological disorders and indicators of resilience. The SMART Lab is capable of intervening with wide age demographics, from children to geriatric, and can be combined with other health initiatives.
Main Lobby: At the entrance of Brown Hall is a large common area that communicates the university's vision for the new building and its inhabitants. A distinct design connection back to Sage Hall works to preserve and strengthen the interdisciplinary interaction between disciplines.
Main Floor/Grand Staircase: The openness of the building's design extends to the grand staircase, which guides traffic upstairs while encouraging interaction among community members.
Administration Area: A reception area welcomes gatherers and serves as a resource for visitors to navigate the building’s offerings.
Student Lounge and Study Area: Incorporating a diverse mix of formal and informal spaces, the Student Lounge encourages collaboration and opportunity. This casual setting also invites students to relax, study and eat between classes.
Upper Main Corridor: Located off the Main Corridor, a multitude of classrooms accommodate traditional lecture styles, small groups and active learning. These areas include the SMART Lab, Play Therapy room, and faculty and staff offices.
The Brain Fitness Academy is a cognitive rehabilitation program for older adults living with dementia. The program has had success in other parts of Florida and is particularly appropriate for west Volusia County, given the community’s high rate of dementia and lack of outpatient programs. Participants will attend four-hour group sessions twice per week, working with Stetson students on cognitive rehabilitation activities, physical exercise and socialization. Simultaneously, graduate students from the counseling program will lead caregiver support groups.
“These programs [COHL] resonate with so many people,” Skomp says. “I really think it’s an initiative for our time.”
Also, this summer Stetson hired a new full-time pre-health adviser, Natalie Bittles, MHA, to help guide students through the maze of careers in health. Now with space at Sage Hall, Bittles will be moving to Brown Hall and the new Health Professions Advising Office.
“We’re now able to enrich the experience for our students and provide additional support to increase their success as they navigate postgraduation pathways,” Skomp says about pre-health advising.
Other students are welcome, too, Skomp quickly adds.
“Health sciences remains the most popular field of inquiry for
A few key features of Brown Hall:
• General contractor is Williams Company, which also headed construction of the Marshall & Vera Lea Rinker Welcome Center and renovation of Sage Hall, and has begun renovations on Chaudoin Hall (student residences)
• Clerestory windows bring large amounts of natural light into the building and into every classroom and office
• Largest classroom holds approximately 65 people and can be divided by a partition wall that descends from the ceiling; the wall’s panels double as marker boards for note-taking
• State-of-the-art, 600-square-foot greenhouse with automated temperature controls, grow lights, curtains and weather station
• Supplemental solar system (38 kW) on the roof to produce renewable energy and reduce electricity costs
• Outdoor classroom and raised garden beds
• Health sciences lab that includes phlebotomy and body-testing rooms
• Large, multifaceted Teaching Kitchen with a total of five cooking ranges
• Connector corridors on both floors to Sage Hall
• Flooring is a combination of porcelain tile, vinyl tile and carpeting
• Lettering of the building name will be illuminated
undergraduate students, the largest major. But that’s not to say that students who want to enter the health professions are always going to be health science majors,” she explains. “There are a number of other majors as well, when we look at all of our prehealth students together. And we can imagine what it would look like to have many of our graduates achieving the appropriate degrees and certifications to come back and enter the health care industry in Volusia County and the surrounding area. That's where we really start to understand what the impact could be.”
Already, that impact is being enhanced by two research grants, with work to be accomplished by Stetson’s Counselor Education Department. The grants total $2,764,570 — the largest combined sum received by a department at Stetson.
The first grant, led by Primary Investigator Jesse Fox, PhD, associate professor of counselor education, is the Spiritual and Religious Competencies Project. The effort aims to improve mental health care and promote human flourishing by ensuring every mental health professional possesses the basic competencies
to attend to their clients’ religious faith or spirituality in clinical practice. It’s supported by a $5.1 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation. Stetson is among four universities participating in the project.
The second grant program, led by Page Thanasiu, PhD, associate professor and chair of counselor education, is the Hatters Behavioral Health Coalition. The four-year program provides counselor-education graduate students with an opportunity to counsel underserved populations by melding behavioral and medical health in an interdisciplinary approach to client care during a 12-month internship. Funding comes from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration’s Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program for Professionals.
Fox, who also heads up the SMART Lab, believes Brown Hall will help create a bridge from Stetson to the community and vice versa.
“This will provide an opportunity for us to leverage resources that we currently have, but are not leveraging to the maximum potential,” Fox says, also citing that Stetson’s SMART Lab already has built relationships with other institutions, such as The Ohio State University, to share data and information.
“Brown Hall is going to give our department a way to make a difference in the community,” says Thanasiu. “I feel like we already do that, but this is going to be a way in which we can finally engage with bringing the community onto campus and providing services that may not otherwise be available.”
Leila Roach, PhD, associate professor of counselor education, talks about the opportunity to “meaningfully engage the commu nity with our students to really further mental health.”
“It's such a huge need right now,” Roach says. “And so it's a very concrete way that we're pulling together — mental health and physical health. … We need creative and innovative ways to impact the community. And this is our way we can do it.”
Sarah Garcia, PhD, and Matt Schrager, PhD, leaders of the Brain Fitness Academy, agree that Stetson students are likely the biggest winners.
“One thing that isn't offered at a lot of other liberal arts colleges is direct practical application for our students in health care services,” Garcia comments, also mentioning the many potential community benefits.
According to Schrager, coming out of the pandemic, “students are looking for more experiential, direct learning.” COHL, combined with other aspects of Brown Hall, will help satisfy those needs, he says: “I think it will through students’ interactions with various groups within the local population and through senior research projects. These research-oriented experiences will also improve students’ chances of getting into top graduate and professional programs.”
As associate professor of environmental science and studies
and department chair, Ben Tanner, PhD, is particularly excited about the facilities his department will occupy.
“The new geographic information systems [GIS] labs will support our efforts to emphasize GIS in student training, a skill that is now essential for employment in so many environmental fields,” Tanner says. “I’m also especially excited about the new field labs that will house equipment that we use in soil and water sampling and analysis [much of this work has been supported by external grants], environmental surveying, and other pursuits that provide hands-on training for our students in the outdoors. The new teaching kitchen will provide vital support to our sustainable food systems program as it prepares students for complex global challenges related to a sustainable, equitable and healthy food future.
“The facility is designed to promote student collaboration — even outside of a formal class structure. I think that it will end up being a hub of student activity on campus and will be a preferred location for students to study, relax, collaborate and innovate.”
Even professors who aren’t making the move from Sage Hall to Brown Hall see the great potential. Melissa Gibbs, PhD, professor and director of the Aquatic & Marine Biology Program, calls the new building a “great recruiting tool for all of the STEM fields.”
“It is really important to not focus so much on a single major,” Gibbs says. “There are multiple majors that are major funnels into pre-health fields [with biology, biochemistry and health sciences being the biggest]. If we want to be most successful in recruiting, we need to recruit to all of those majors.”
Similarly, Asal Johnson, PhD, points out that while Brown Hall will “enable public health students and faculty to interact with one another more effectively” — as well as “interact with students in environmental studies, health science and sustainable food systems in more intentional ways,” all students across campus can benefit.
“I am hoping that this building, with some of its features, will help our students, regardless of their major, learn and experience the intersectionality of art, science and humanities,” says Johnson, associate professor of public health and director of the Public Health Program.
Michele Skelton, PhD, simply hopes to see the ascension of
About the construction of Brown Hall:
• 225,750 feet of wire
• 179 tons of steel
• 6 tons of embed plates
• 7.5 tons of brick angle
• 12.6 tons of miscellaneous steel (stairs, ladders, etc.)
• 18,500 square feet of floor deck
• 26,800 square feet of roof deck
• 74,898 bricks
• 1,130 cubic yards of concrete
• 150 tons (approximately) of water diversion/construction waste recycling
more students like Ashley Rutherford ’12. An associate professor, Skelton is department co-chair of health sciences, as well as the Lynn and Mark Hollis Chair of Health and Wellness.
Rutherford once sat in Skelton’s classroom. Now, she’s a U.S. Air Force captain who has served as a public health consultant, theater epidemiology team member and the Public Health Officer Course director for the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine. (Notably, Rutherford and her mother, Patricia Rutherford, have made a gift to name the new Health Professions Advising Office in Skelton’s honor. See the Naming Opportunities sidebar.)
“The Cici & Hyatt Brown Hall for Health & Innovation provides an environment for collaborative exploration using innovative pedagogies to attract students in the sciences and help them achieve their educational and professional goals,” Skelton affirms. “The excitement is palpable among students and faculty.”
That excitement is turning into reality. Such progress can happen.
Cici and Hyatt Brown certainly have no doubts.
“This,” Cici Brown says, “is an opportunity for Stetson to grow. And I think this is just the beginning.”
The university's vision for the Cici & Hyatt Brown Hall for Health & Innovation is to create spaces and experiences that will allow ideas, learning and interests to converge and evolve into groundbreaking discoveries and innovative pedagogy.
In turn, donors can create their own legacy at Brown Hall.
“Add your name to a space and help support Stetson in delivering a high-quality educational experience for students and future health profession leaders,” offers Tara Hamilton, assistant vice president of University Development Initiatives. (For more information, contact Hamilton at 386-822-7993 or tkhamilton@stetson.edu.)
onservationist Jack Hanna once famously likened the world to a classroom where the “most rewarding and important type of learning is through experience, see ing something with our own eyes.”
Last March, Stetson faculty members Sarah Cramer, PhD, and Luca Molnar, MFA, saw that concept manifested in their own lives, along with 19 undergraduates during a 10-day study abroad program in Venice, Italy.
The trip marked the first post-COVID cohort in the Rinker Global Scholars Program, funded by benefactors David and Leighan Rinker. Meanwhile, it exemplified faculty collaboration to innovate for student learning and showcased experiential learning.
The professors — Cramer, who specializes in sustainable food systems; and Molnar, a painter with a love for contemporary art — were immediately intrigued by the fall 2020 invitation to pursue the opportunity with an application for the donor funding.
“We put the proposal together, we applied together and then we built the course together,” said Cramer, assistant professor of sustainable food systems. “The application required the course to be interdisciplinary, so it had to have faculty of two different disciplines. That was another criterion we met through our collaboration.”
Cramer and Molnar quickly began to see connections in their divergent disciplines with overlaps in food studies and contemporary art. “There are lots of artists who are making work about food and making work with food,” noted Molnar, assistant professor of studio art and interim co-director of the Hand Art Center. (See Page 48 for another story about Molnar’s teaching efforts.)
The professors decided to put their interdisciplinary study under the banner of globalization, so their students could “see the effects of globalization … in the specific food studies examples and in specific examples from the world of contemporary art,” accord ing to Molnar.
“This is one of the first formalized opportunities that I’ve seen at Stetson to co-teach,” she added. “So that really excited me to be able to teach with Sarah, learn from her pedagogy, and try a totally new way of teaching and designing a class.”
Cramer had visited Venice before as a tourist, but the experience marked the coinstructor’s first time leading a study abroad program with students.
The course they developed, All Things are Delicately Interconnected: Global Food and Art in Venice, was divided into three parts. They based the pre-trip classroom studies on the textbook Globalization: The Key Concepts, which looked at broad themes such as speed, interconnectedness and migration. The team alternated teaching the students, applying each designated chapter to their discipline.
Then they and the students — chosen based on equitable criteria as a “diverse and representative group,” Cramer cited — visited Venice, seeing it through the lens of their studies. Upon returning, the class culminated in the production of a collaborative book, titled Delicate Connections: Global Food and Art.
Students who completed the four-credit program (in-class and study abroad) earned the designation of Rinker Global Scholars.
Preparing for the trip required more than an interdisciplinary understanding of globalization. Travel, especially in light of COVID-19, presented its own challenges, adding pressure to which Cramer and Molnar were not immune. They incorporated what the students needed to know, and do, into their curriculum.
Many of the students had never traveled. Some had never traveled without their families. Many didn’t have passports. All had to be vaccinated against COVID. They also needed to test negative before leaving for Italy and before coming home.
Zaikeria Patha, who is majoring in both international studies and world languages and cultures on the translation track, signed up for the trip to pursue her interests in art and food. Yet, she had never flown on a plane.
“Before the trip, I had only seen airports in the movies,” Patha said. “Honestly, I was nervous and did not know what to expect, especially as someone with a fear of heights.” A smooth takeoff and trip put her mind at ease, allowing her less anxiety on the trip home.
Classmate Natalie Brooks, an environmental studies major with a minor in sustainable food systems, had never trav eled without her family. The experience, through which she would have time alone to explore a foreign country, became a turning point for her.
“I still don’t truly feel like an adult or college student — more like a high-schooler
with extra responsibilities,” said Brooks. “But the trip helped me start the process of shedding my teenage skin.”
The trip marked many firsts for the students, as well as for the co-instructors, neither of whom had led an international academic program previously. They drew upon the expertise of CEPA (Customized Educational Program Abroad) to create an itinerary reflecting their areas of focus. Founded in 1997, CEPA is a German-based company that specializes in university-level academic faculty-led programs.
“Not only the itinerary was perfect for our course, [but] the places we got to go were so special,” Cramer described. “The people that we visited would say, ‘It’s so strange that a group of university students would come here to our farm or to our contemporary art gallery. We’re not on the radar for normal tourist things.’”
On their first full day in Venice, half the cohort visited the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, which features modern art, while the other half visited Punta della Dogana, highlighted by an exhibit of video artist Bruce Nauman. The groups then swapped sites.
The Rinker Global Scholars Program promotes intercultural competence and global citizenship, centering on an immersive study abroad program.
The program will be offered again during Stetson’s spring 2023 semester for 16 sophomores under faculty leadership to Venice, Italy. All except $1,000 of each student's out-of-pocket costs — including flight, room, most meals, international health insurance, local transportation and program activities — are subsidized.
Students can offset the out-of-pocket costs with grants or stipends applied to study abroad programs, as well as depart ment-specific scholarship options. Payment plans are also available.
Universally, the group appreciated the more accessible art at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection (part of The Guggenheim Museum), while struggling to appreciate the quirky Nauman exhibit.
“The course was my first experience with contemporary art, and I was both interested and a little frustrated with some of it,” commented Ryan Mason, who has majors in history and economics. “I had a hard time at first engaging with nontraditional art forms, particularly those in the form of videos.”
That experience, in effect, provided the chance for further learning, which continued after the trip when Molnar asked the students to explore their reactions.
“If you don’t like it, that’s totally valid, but why?” Molnar asked. “What specifically don’t you like about it? How is that maybe part of what he [the artist] is thinking about? Maybe he’s looking for a response that’s not just attraction and pleasure.”
In addition, dinner one night took place at Africa Experience, a venue owned by Hamed Ahmadi, an immigrant from Afghanistan who only hires refugees. “It’s become relatively well-known because in Italy, in general, there’s been a lot of nationalistic pushback against ‘ethnic food,’” said Cramer. “This idea of maintaining the purity of the Italian food culture has been a really controversial political topic.”
The cohort also became aware of Venice’s large population of Bangladeshi refugees. “I thought that was a really powerful statement that there are truly global, interconnected issues, and we can’t escape them. That also means they’re all of our responsibilities,” Cramer said.
Sometimes, the cohort learned, these interconnected issues are more complex than they initially seem. During a visit with conservation group We Are Here Venice, students learned about the push to ban cruise ships from the Venetian lagoon because of pollution. Later, they heard the flip side of the story from a hospitality industry representative about how vital cruise ships are to the local economy.
“It was the really interesting complication of an issue that
Many of the students had never traveled abroad; their lessons proved to be both interdisciplinary and entertaining.really seemed straightforward at first,” Molnar said. “That was something so exciting and would never happen sitting in the classroom.”
The trip, in fact, was rife with surprises. When visiting Brazzale Dairy, Cramer expected to find a “small family dairy [where they could] maybe milk a cow.”
Instead, Molnar found a high-tech cheese manufacturer that brought all its milk from the Czech Republic. “That was globalization in our faces in ways we didn’t expect,” she noted.
Then an experience at Le Stanze del Vetro, where the cohort saw glassmaking in action, became a eureka moment that would shape the remainder of the course. “[The glassmakers] talked a lot about artist-artisan collaboration and how a lot of people who do glass art are not actually the glass blowers themselves,” Cramer explained. “They work with someone who has that specific skill set to imagine their vision.”
Inspired by the artist-artisan collaboration, Molnar came up with the idea of pairing cohort members with students from her advanced painting class to create their final project. Their reflections on the trip, paired with their collaborative art, became their final project in “Delicate Connections: Global Food and Art.”
The project pushed many students beyond their comfort zones.
“The vast majority were not students who identified as artists or maybe identified as creative. A lot of them were very intimidated by it,” said Molnar, who worked with the students to create a rubric of how they would be evaluated.
Brooks, a former high school color guard and dance team member, had committed to trying five new foods on the trip. Then she worked with student painter Theodore Golberg to represent her reactions in paintings of dance moves.
The experience stretched Brooks in more ways than one.
“I tend to be very guarded when it comes to my work,” she said. “I like my assignments to be done early and in a particular way that makes sense in my mind. That being said, working with [Golberg] was also a lot of fun.”
Mason’s collaboration with artist Jade Ammones humorously represented, among other things, his aversion to the Nauman exhibit and a disappointing experience with tiramisu. The collaboration, though, “was fantastic,” Mason said.
The class became a total growth experience — both for the students and their teachers.
“It was really empowering to know that Sarah and I can handle that pressure together,” Molnar commented. “I feel confident taking students abroad again and kind of having things thrown at us and being able to figure them out.”
Brooks, a self-described picky eater, found herself trying and
enjoying new foods. She also came away with a view of “what to do and not to do in situations revolving around how the environment is affected when food is taken for granted.”
Patha’s horizons have broadened, as well. “I have become more open-minded and curious about art and how different people live in the world,” she said. She also has taken up photography, something she tried for the first time on the trip.
Mason overcame his initial culture shock and has learned how to adapt to other cultures. His new perspective: “Being respectful of customs and practices while traveling will … help you to represent yourself and where you come from in a more positive light.”
Will Cramer and Molnar try to do this again? Absolutely, although professors Kimberly Reiter, PhD, and Jason Evans, PhD, get the honors this spring.
“As many times as they let us,” Cramer concluded.
Following a two-year COVID hiatus, 44 Stetson students and eight faculty members took on Innsbruck, Austria, for the month of July 2022. Summer Innsbruck has been offered by the School of Business Administration for more than 25 years and continues to be a popular study abroad opportunity because it embodies adventure, education and intercultural experiences.
Participating in the Innsbruck program helps business students meet their Experiential Learning Requirement plus is a great way for students to meet academic course require ments while learning about and experiencing multiple cultures.
In July, aside from the adventure of taking courses in another country, students participated in a number of educational activities outside of the classroom. Activities included hiking the Zirbenweg Trail, sponsored by the Business School Foundation; a trip to historic castles in the southern German state of Bavaria; and a trip to Munich, where students and faculty took a bicycle tour of the historic old town. Students and faculty also traveled together to the Stubai Glacier in southern Austria along the Italian border.
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BY JACK ROTHIn December 2016, Stetson entered a five-year agreement with the Peace Corps for the establishment of a Peace Corps Prep program. The program — designed to advance the goals of the Peace Corps and Stetson by combining academic coursework with practical field experience and enhancing ongoing international initiatives — is now continuing with success.
Label the program another example of the Stetson Student Experience.
Peace Corps Prep advances
Stetson’s mission, goals and strategic values by providing professional development, leadership experience and training, intercultural competence, and academic growth. Upon completing the program, students receive a certificate from the Peace Corps and may have a competitive edge when applying for Peace Corps service.
The Peace Corps Prep Program is overseen by WORLD (World Outreach, Research, Learning and Development), with support from other departments.
“The Peace Corps has an extensive list of requirements, so getting a certificate of completion really helps our students if they decide to join,” asserts Carolyn Meeker, EdD, director of Experiential and Career Education within Career and Professional Development. “Not every school has this program, so it represents a great opportunity for them.”
Meeker explained that the agreement with the Peace Corps was to allow Stetson to oversee and coordinate the prep program.
“We submitted a report that explained what we do to reach diverse student populations and connect students to the recruiter,” she notes. “The Peace Corps wants to know we’re stewarding the program in a way that aligns with its values and mission. We recently renewed for another five years, signifying that we are meeting the goals of the Peace Corps.”
To prepare students for work in the field of international development and potential Peace Corps service, students build four core competencies through interrelated coursework, hands-on experience and professional development support. The four competencies, or learning objectives, are training and experience in a work sector; foreign language skills; intercultural competence; and professional and leadership development.
When it comes to training and experience in a work sector, leveraging concrete knowledge and skills is central to on-the-ground international develop ment work. Through the prep program,
students begin to build a professional specialty, which should serve their careers well whether or not they become Peace Corps volunteers, Meeker cited.
Students must take three courses that align with a specific work sector, with a total of 106 approved courses available for students to complete their sector academic requirements. Also, students must do a minimum of 50 hours of volunteer work or work experience in that same sector.
Stetson supports six sectors in which Peace Corps volunteers serve, including Agriculture, Education, Health, Environment, Youth in Development and Community Economic Development.
Stetson Peace Corps 2022 Top Hatter Leadership Awards winners: Tahiyya Khan, Ocean Crawley-Sweeney and Sidney Saxen.Foreign language skills are critical when working across cultures, which often entails verbal and nonverbal languages distinct from one’s own. Student requirements in this competency vary by language.
Intercultural competence is engaging thoughtfully and fluidly across cultures, beginning with self-awareness. With this learning objective, students deepen their cultural agility through a mix of three introspective courses in which they learn about others while reflecting upon their own selves in relation to others. The goal is for students to build their capacity to shift perspective and behavior around relevant cultural differences, noted Meeker.
Professional and leadership develop ment is not a sector that is difficult to enter; it’s not a sector at all. Instead, requirements for this core competency include attending a résumé workshop offered by Career and Professional Development or a résumé review by an approved nonprofit employer partner (such as Peace Corps, City Year, AmeriCorps).
Another requirement is attending an interview workshop offered by Career and Professional Development or practice interview with approved nonprofit employer partner. Also, students must
participate in a leadership education and development program and serve in a leadership role.
“The good thing is most students are gaining professional development and leadership experience engaging in other programs at Stetson,” Meeker comments, “so they can complete some of the requirements for the Peace Corps Prep program by being involved with the other campus programs they’re already involved with.”
Further, students don’t have to begin the program in their first year on campus.
“This is a great program for which most students can complete the requirements by the end of sophomore year,” Meeker adds. “But if you hear about the program as a junior or senior, you can still join and complete it, depending on what other programs or activities you’ve been involved with at Stetson.”
As a result, the Peace Corps Prep program provides students with many opportunities for personal and professional growth. Among the benefits of getting involved is gaining a sense of structure regarding international service.
Zaikeria Patha ’24 is co-executive leader of the Peace Corps Prep program. As an International Studies/World Culture and Languages double major, she became very interested in the Peace Corps mission, but prior to coming to Stetson she had never heard of the organization. She spent last summer in Mexico with indigenous populations and exploring sacred sites. Today, she can see herself in the Peace Corps, immersing herself in a completely different country.
In addition, her international studies classes line up perfectly with some of the program’s core competencies, although being in the program’s youth and development sector has required her to take
classes in education and psychology, as well as history and anthropology.
“I ran for office because I wanted to help the program be more hands-on and in-person after COVID,” says Patha, who might pursue either helping children or assisting businesses in South America. “Former students of the program have come back to Stetson to speak, and they wound up joining the Peace Corps. They all talk about how they’ve grown as individuals by helping others and, by extension, helping the world.”
The program has changed the way Patha is looking at postgraduation, as she can now envision herself living in a poor country for a few years. And she can imagine herself joining the U.S. Department of State as a diplomat or core service officer with Peace Corps experience.
“I highly recommend this program, even if you don’t want to actually join the Peace Corps,” says Patha. “You can build up your résumé and gain experience … get 50 work or volunteer hours in the sector you’re in and also meet other students and make friends. The program expands the way you think and see the world.”
Patha loves recruiting other students, too, so much in fact that she encouraged her friend Anuket Goins ’24 to join the program and serve as its marketing chair. Goins, a world culture and languages/ environmental science double major, believes Stetson is “incredibly effective” at advertising programs like this, both around campus and on school websites.
Before she arrived at Stetson, Goins always wanted to go abroad and learn languages, which prompted her to attend a campus study abroad fair to get more information about opportunities. She learned about the Peace Corps and, ultimately, became a prep-program participant.
“The program really prepares you to get involved with the Peace Corps
Carolyn Meeker, EdD
because the application process is much more involved than people realize,” Goins says. “With the Peace Corps, it just depends on what you want to do. There are great benefits to serving for a long time. I’m not sure what I want to do yet, but I know the program is a great way to gain experience and get a leg up on joining. The Peace Corps mission is incredible, and the organization really wants to help people; it’s just not some thing to be taken lightly because it’s a real commitment.”
Along with Patha, Brielle Miller, ’23, a senior digital arts major, is the Peace Corps Prep program’s co-executive leader. At the beginning of her first year at Stetson, she was looking for a club to join. Miller wasn’t
sure she wanted to go into Peace Corps service, but she thought “it felt like a good fit.”
Looking back, Miller believes joining the program has pushed her to do things she would not have normally done. Those activities range from completing volunteer hours to taking classes required for the economic development sector.
“I’ve thought a lot about it,” she says, “and I’m glad I was able to gain all of this experience through the program. Plus, joining the Peace Corps is always an option now. It’s a great program for any student because of the leadership opportunities, and it gets you more involved on campus. I’m grateful that Stetson offers this opportunity, but it’s no surprise it does because the university is great about immersion, engagement and global awareness. So, the program fits right in with its mission.”
Clearly, Meeker, who sees herself as a liaison between the program and the students, agrees. Does the program align with Stetson’s strategic direction? Check. Aligns with the university’s values of personal growth, intellectual development and global citizenship? Check. And from a larger perspective, does the program align with Stetson’s goal of helping students to be engaged and informed, both locally and globally? Check.
“It hits on so many bases for us,” Meeker concludes. “Go represent … go and provide a voice for Stetson in other communities. Help us understand through what you’ve experienced. This is our goal for students. I mean … just learning about the different Peace Corps work sectors is eye-opening. Even if they don’t go into the Corps, they’re learning about things outside of their current experiences.”
A student’s startling work, along with a multimilliondollar endowment and new studio space, frame a future of exploration and growth for creative arts.
BY RICK DE YAMPERT
Studio art major Marisa Ingram ’23, pictured here inside Sampson Hall, staged her “Recollection” exhibition in Stetson’s nearby, newly adapted Elsewhere Studio.
Photo: Rick de YampertWhen visitors stepped into Stetson’s nascent Elsewhere Studio on Feb. 11, 2022, to see the opening of the “Recollection” exhibit by studio art major Marisa Ingram ’23, they weren’t greeted by a typical exhibition.
Not in the least.
A handwritten tag on a shirt reads: “I got sexually assaulted in this shirt in my bedroom freshman year in high school. My parents were in the living room.” This shirt hangs in the closet of a bedroom installation created by Ingram for her exhibit, accompanied by other personal artifacts from fellow survivors.
In an adjoining room in the two-story Elsewhere Studio, Ingram’s paintings of a disjointed, mostly nude woman, partially clothed torsos, menacing eyes and a distressed, blue-tinted face shared wall space with blown-up writing such as “I can’t stop gagging” and “They didn’t believe me.” The words were written as a stream of consciousness during a panic attack. A black silk fabric draped over an armature, which seemed to contain a body in a fetal position, lay below those glaring eyes.
“Recollection” was unexpected, brave, poignant, startling — the very essence of art.
That bedroom installation included a home pregnancy test and a St. Jude candle. An adjacent room contained several metal lockers, standing amid walls pasted with dozens, perhaps hundreds, of sheets of paper with responses to a survey Ingram distributed to the Stetson community, asking the question: “What do you want to say about your experience with sexual harassment, stalking, sexual assault, sexual violence, sexual coercion, verbal abuse, domestic abuse, and/or grooming? Long or short. This is your time to speak up.”
The images, scenes and testimonies of “Recollection” “stem from personal experi ences,” says Ingram, who grew up in Port St. Lucie and arrived at Stetson in 2019 as a philosophy major. Now majoring in studio art with minors in philosophy, art history and theater, she had never taken an art class until enrolling in one of the painting courses of Luca Molnar, MFA, assistant professor of art.
Ingram’s inspiration for “Recollection” first visited her in spring 2021 when, she describes, “As cliché as this sounds, I woke up in the middle of the night thinking ‘I need to do this.’”
She wasn’t, however, certain the project would ever see fruition.
“I didn’t necessarily even think this could be an exhibition at first,” Ingram explains. “I just said, ‘This is a body of work that I feel that I need to complete as a person and as an artist.’”
The search for a venue included “looking for a hallway or a room in the Hand Art Center [on campus].”
almost-hidden, unassuming space for exhibitions and class projects.
“As I explored the space, I thought of the possibilities it could have,” Ingram says. “That catapulted this idea of the types of work I could exhibit and what this could be for myself and for the student population. The Elsewhere Studio helped my project become bigger than what it initially would have been. Because I had so much space, it really allowed my creativity to move forward, and it allowed more engagement from the student population and myself.”
A painting course by assistant art professor Luca Molnar, MFA, greatly altered Ingram’s student experience on campus.
Photo: Barnabás Neogrády-KissSerendipity arose when Stetson’s Department of Creative Arts decided to adapt and reconfigure the stand-alone studio of retired art professor Dan Gunderson into The Elsewhere Studio, an
The Elsewhere Studio isn’t the only recent boon for arts students. In November 2021, the university announced that the late Antoinette “Toni” LaValle had left $15 million [later updated to $16 million] to Stetson to create the Antoinette LaValle Endowed Creative Arts Fund.
Stetson President Christopher F. Roellke, PhD, said the endowment is the second-largest single gift in the university’s history, and noted that, while LaValle was not an alumna, she was “a dear friend of Stetson.”
According to Elizabeth Skomp, PhD, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, LaValle’s generosity “enables us to reaffirm and strengthen our institution’s commitment to fine arts, and it will absolutely enrich and expand the opportunities available to our students.”
With its riveting, thought-provoking style, Ingram’s work is, indeed, an example of that commitment.
Beginning this fall, two recipients were selected as LaValle scholar-artists and received full-tuition scholarships. Eventually, the number of recipients will grow to eight at any one time and include Stetson students majoring in art history, digital arts, studio art or theatre arts within the College of Arts and Sciences.
The LaValle endowment also will help fund general scholarships in the fine arts and experiential learning opportunities for students in Creative Arts and the School of Music, such as attending a theater conference or summer music festival, or supporting creative activities like senior projects.
“We’re swimming in possibilities now,” Molnar says of the LaValle endowment, although her statement also applies, on a different level, to The Elsewhere Studio.
“We don’t have to discourage students or tell them to think smaller. We can actually encourage them to think larger and be more ambitious and actually be able to follow through with support. It’s all really exciting.”
Pass by The Elsewhere Studio, just a short walk from the Hand Art Center, and you may think rusting lawn mowers and bags of fertilizer are stored inside. The small, cube-shaped building, composed of red brick with white paneling on the front side, screams “industrial,” with only a small black-and-white sign (as of this writing) announcing that art happens here: “CreativeARTS The Elsewhere Studio.”
Yet, the building, although nondescript, “is a space we really needed,” Molnar says. “… It’s giving students a lot of opportunity to do projects they have in their minds and just didn’t have a space to put them on.”
Following Ingram’s show, she and other students, working with associate professor
Katya Kudryavtseva, PhD, curated “Forsaken and Divided: The Photography of Margaret Bourke-White” in The Elsewhere Studio. That exhibition featured photos Bourke-White took in 1936-1937, as she traveled throughout the American South alongside writer Erskine Caldwell, gathering materials for their documentary photobook, You Have Seen Their Faces.
The exhibition statement, written by Gabrielle Creticos ’23, noted “the fruits of their labor offer a bleak, yet genuine, representation of America, one where inhumanity is both born from and breeding contention. Bourke-White’s photographs overtly condemn racial injustices while also diagnosing the sharecropping system as one of the greatest ills to plague this nation.
“Through Bourke-White’s images, we are forced to grapple with an America that has turned to division, has turned to religion, turned to anything for reason or solace as the nation turned on itself. Her photographs encourage us to find commonality with others, with genuine empathy, in spite of what may seem to be polarizing differences.”
“The show was fantastic and another
Poignant, sometimes startling scenes from the real-life "Recollection"
great use of the space,” Molnar comments, adding that four formal exhibitions and a “handful of less-formal class projects,” including one by a class of Matt Roberts, MFA, professor of digital arts, have utilized Elsewhere.
“From my end in the studio, more and more we’re seeing things that exist in what we call the ‘expanded field,’ Molnar says. “So, the expanded field of painting branches into installations and sculpture. More and more students are looking not just for a wall to hang a painting on, but a space that they can actually transform.
“Also, we’re seeing students who are interested in museum studies and working in galleries and the process of installation and exhibition design. So, they’re really hungry for something that is really their space, that they can be very hands-on in. The Elsewhere Studio is sort of a rough and ready space, so there’s not a lot of preciousness about what they do in there, and that allows for a lot of possibility too.”
“Anything can be art,” Ingram adds to Molnar’s description. “I like to branch out and try different mediums. It’s important to me as a person and as an artist to try different things that I wouldn’t normally think I could do.”
“Marisa is incredibly dedicated and hardworking, but more than that she’s really brave and not just in terms of difficult subject matter,” Molnar says. “She will say, ‘I have this crazy idea of doing something with stained glass, even though I’ve never worked with it and don’t know anything about it, but I just have this inkling that’s the right material for this project.’ She’s OK with failure, and that allows her to do so many interesting things with so many materials that create such a unique narrative when put together. She doesn’t just sit in the comfort of ‘I’m a good painter and so I’ll stay there.’ She’s very willing to push outside of those bounds.”
Ingram says her senior project will likely embrace Minimalism or Light and Space, similar art movements that typically embrace industrial materials and/or geometric, sculptural shapes in spatial settings, rather than paint splashed on canvases then hung on walls.
The gifted, daring student has high aspirations for the future.
“I want to continue creating an immer sive experience for my viewers,” Ingram says. “I want my job to uphold that, whether it’s in exhibition design or maybe becoming a professor. I’m definitely thinking about getting my MFA [Master of Fine Arts].
“I really did not anticipate a lot of the things that are happening in my life at Stetson. Creative arts allowed this outlet for me, and Luca and the other professors are so willing to help me with this process. I’m always going to continue to make art no matter what happens.”
Ingram about her work last year: “I didn’t necessarily even think this could be an exhibition at first. I just said, ‘This is a body of work that I feel that I need to complete as a person and as an artist.’”
Photos: Jade AmmonesSome young people build sandcastles or surf in the summertime. Others learn about law to make waves.
Over the course of a week in July, high-school students from in and around St. Petersburg got an up-close look at how government works at all levels — and how to use their voices to advocate for change. The eye-opening experience came courtesy of Stetson's College of Law in partnership with the nonprofit organization Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg.
BY KATE BRADSHAWA diverse group of local youth were invited to engage with Stetson Law faculty and staff, along with judges, lawyers and other professionals. The result: The students gained insights on the justice system, how laws are made, and how to promote social justice at the ballot box and beyond.
Additionally, thought experiments were conducted on how to create a society from the ground up, respectfully debate about the role government should play in everyday life, and learn lessons in post-high-school life and self-care.
Pictured are program participants. From left: Antonio Graham Jr.; Lachelle Allen; Corisa Foster; Kai Rutledge; Ciena Cumberbatch; Catie Parish; Julian Fuller; Kuiper Elza; Eniyah Cineas; Shyann Givens; Zach Kelly; JoShonna Harris; Antwon Howard; and Ava-Marie Rollins
The summer’s Youth Civic Engagement Program, in its second year, aimed to enhance civics education for the participants — thereby equipping students with a working knowledge of their rights and the avenues by which they can advocate for their communities.
“We must change the world for the better. No matter what,” asserted Carl Lavender, chief equity officer at the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg, as the
In July, a Stetson Law program introduced teenagers to “what is good for all of us as people” — advocacy.
program started. “As aspiring young leaders … you’re able to go to trial and litigate on behalf of what is good for all of us as people.”
During virtual and in-person events, instructors sought to give participants a deeper understanding of their place in the world and how to challenge the status quo.
“One of the things that we want to do is to motivate you to learn more about why things are the way they are,” commented Law Professor Judith Scully, who helped organize the program. “We want to also help you to understand that the words on the page that constitute the law may not always be the best possible way of protecting our rights.”
Notably, Stetson Law is ranked among the best nationally in trial advocacy by U.S. News & World Report. And for the college in Gulfport, it’s another example of local impact.
The students were selected to participate from an applicant pool of local youth ages 15 to 17. Program organizers sought diverse voices; participants ranged from an aspiring attorney to a talented visual artist. Among the issues they expressed interest in were criminal justice, civil rights, advocat ing for workers, LGBTQ+ issues, health care and intellectual property.
According to Carmen Johnson, executive officer for Diversity, Collaboration and Inclusion for Stetson, the College of Law’s role is to examine both the legal system and ways it can be used to foster a fairer society.
“Part of our work here at Stetson, and throughout higher education in general, is to analyze institutions that were created years ago and understand how many were not built with inclusion in mind,” Johnson said. “We want to find ways to benefit more and more people, and to ensure that people of all backgrounds belong and can thrive throughout these important spaces.”
Over the course’s five days, faculty and community presenters introduced the students to topics ranging from social justice, advocacy, human rights and civic responsibility to mindfulness, goal setting and planning for college.
Kuiper Elza, a student from St. Petersburg High School who participated in the program, said the emphasis on activism was a big draw for them.
“I found it really interesting to learn different tools for how to be an activist and advocate for yourself and communities — and different ways you can educate yourself, educate other people,” Elza said.
On the final day, participants and instructors boarded a bus to the St. Petersburg Judicial Courthouse, a branch of Florida’s 6th Judicial Circuit, where civil
trials and other proceedings take place for Pinellas and Pasco counties. There, Judge Steve Berlin gave them an overview of the judiciary and day-to-day life in the courtroom.
They also heard from three Stetson Law alumni currently working in different areas of law: Keongela Randle, an assistant public defender in the 6th Judicial Circuit; Forest Sutton, an assistant state attorney from the 12th Judicial Circuit, which comprises Manatee, Sarasota and DeSoto counties; and Assita Toure, an attorney with the RumbergerKirk law firm.
The alumni elaborated on their roles and shared insights on what Stetson Law was like before conducting a mock voir dire to show how attorneys vet potential jurors prior to a trial.
The Saturday following the program, students and their families attended a brunch reception where they celebrated their success and reflected on the week’s events.
Interim Dean Theresa Pulley Radwan praised them for taking time away from their summer break to be part of a chal lenging program.
“We are in unprecedented times in this country,” Radwan said. “Think about how you can be part of advocating for change about the things that you are most passion ate about. I know that it was not an easy week, and I appreciate that you were willing to take that week and be part of what I hope was just the beginning of your future as an advocate, as someone who’s passionate about making change in the world and finding your place in it.”
Law Professor Christine Cerniglia, who co-organized the program and led many of the sessions, commended the students for the openness she saw over the week.
“We heard a deep understanding of what needs to happen in our country. We tackled topics from abortion to the recent Supreme Court cases to systematic issues of racial justice,” Cerniglia concluded. “The voices were powerful; absolutely powerful.”
Karla O. Davis-Jamison, Stetson Law’s assistant dean for Strategic Enrollment, stands at the podium.When it comes to education, the NFL’s Donald Parham Jr. has a new goal line, prompting a return to Stetson to finish his degree.
BY CORY LANCASTER
Donald Parham Jr. enjoyed a breakout season with the Stetson Hatters during his senior year, leaving behind a recordshattering career that included most receptions, most receiving touchdowns and most receiv ing yards in school history.
But there was one thing he didn’t have when he left Stetson in 2019 — a college degree.
Now a tight end for the Los Angeles Chargers, Parham said he always knew he would be back for his degree. He enrolled for the spring 2022 semester and will return again next spring, gradu ating in May 2023.
“I’ll be back next spring, and we’ll be walking, hopefully graduating and making sure that I’m closing that chapter in my life, reaching that milestone,” Parham said during an interview last April, as he was wrapping up two classes and an internship on campus.
“It will be very important for my family and friends to see me walking across that stage.”
He enrolled for the spring semester during the NFL’s offseason. But he arrived for classes a week late in January because he was recuperating from “a really bad accident” in a game against the Kansas City Chiefs in December.
The 6-foot-8, 255-pound athlete jumped up to catch a touchdown pass in the end zone, landed hard and slammed his head against the turf. He lay motionless on the field, his arms locked in a rigid position. He was taken away on a stretcher to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with a concussion. He was fully conscious the whole time but unable to move his body.
“That was a really scary moment for me,” he recalled.
Parham has since fully recovered and received a clean bill of health. Still, the accident reinforced the need to finish his college degree and have a backup plan for professional football.
“The accident I had in December [2021] was just a real eye-opening thing,” he said. “It made me start overall thinking about what life will be after football, because it can be taken away from you within just a few seconds, just like it almost was.”
Growing up in Lakeland, Florida, Parham played both basketball and football. His father, who played college football at Albany State, told him to pick one sport or the other, and said his odds might be better in football, given his height and athleticism.
Parham wasn’t heavily recruited out of Lake Gibson High School in Lakeland,
and only received a call from Stetson in the spring of his senior year. But four years later, during his senior year at Stetson, he was a star, finishing the season as the top receiver in NCAA Division I football (FCS and FBS) for most receptions per game (9.4) and most receiving yards per game (146.6).
He thought he would be selected in the 2019 NFL Draft. When he wasn’t, he took a leap of faith and tried to land with NFL teams in Detroit, Buffalo, New England and Washington. After bounc ing around without any luck, he got a call from the XFL football league.
Parham told himself, “OK, this is where I can prove myself.”
He played for the Dallas Renegades in the spring 2020 season, which was cut short when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived. After five games with Dallas, he was the league’s top-performing tight end, posting 24 receptions for 307 yards and four touchdowns.
Parham returned to Los Angeles as soon as the spring 2022 semester ended, so he could join the Chargers as they prepared for their 2022 season.
“Literally, the week after the XFL shut down because of COVID, they [the Los Angeles Chargers] had called me up, or called my agent up, and they were like, ‘Hey, come on out,’” Parham recalled. “And the rest is history.”
In 13 games as a rookie in 2020, he had 10 catches for 159 yards and three touchdowns. In 14 games during the 2021 season, he had 20 catches for 190 yards and three touchdowns.
Professional sports teams are filled with athletes who left college early without their degrees. Some of them later return to school and graduate, including Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal and former Pittsburgh Steeler Troy Polamalu, just to name three.
For Parham, after two years with the Chargers, he was ready to enroll again at Stetson in the offseason. A couple of things kept the goal in the forefront of his mind, even as the years passed by.
“Well, one, it was my parents,”
Parham with a smile. “They kept pushing me to go back and always have a backup plan just in case. … Then, also just me wanting to finish here. Obviously, I had somewhat built a legacy here, so I wanted to finally establish myself as an alumni [member].”
He was living in LA, 2,500 miles away. But he knew he wanted to gradu ate from Stetson with a bachelor’s degree in communication and media studies.
“Stetson always had a little special place in my heart just because they gave me my only opportunity to play D-I [NCAA Division I] football,” he said.
In addition, Stetson “has such a great alumni base. It would be worth it to have a degree from here because you just never know who you might meet later down the line. … The alumni base here is pretty interesting because they’re very tightknit. They’re very willing to help at all times.”
Hatters head coach Brian Young said he and the previous coaching staff have always encouraged Parham to return for
his degree. Parham and Young grew close back when Parham played for the Hatters and Young was the team’s defensive coordinator.
“He is a role model, an excellent role model,” Young said, citing Parham’s hard work, determination and dedication. “He has shown what it is to be a great athlete, as well as what the true meaning of a student-athlete looks like. He recognized the importance of having a Stetson degree and what doors can be open for him after football.”
Young and the Athletics staff encour age other former players to return, too, if they left without their degree. “That is one of our core values here at Stetson Football, which is not only to win on the field, but also to win in the classroom as well,” Young noted.
In the NFL, a backup plan is essential because careers do not usually last long. Estimates vary, based on factors like a player’s position. But a player who makes
Parham: “Stetson always had a little special place in my heart just because they gave me my only opportunity to play [NCAA Division I] football.”
In 13 games as an NFL rookie in 2020, he had 10 catches for 159 yards and three touchdowns.
Photo: Los Angeles Chargers
the team’s opening day roster in his rookie season will average six years in the league, according to Sportscasting.com. The Houston Chronicle found the average NFL career for all positions was only about two-and-a-half years.
Parham is more optimistic.
“My ultimate goal is to reach that 10-year mark and then retire,” he said. “Then, I’m going to start my own business. I have a clothing brand that I’m starting now. … Maybe just hopefully that blows up after a while and we’ll see where that goes.”
Still in the planning stages, the brand name is RPC Entertainment, an acronym for respect, perseverance and courage. It will offer streetwear geared especially toward today’s youth.
“That’s how you have to live your life,” Parham explained. “You have to always respect others, persevere through adversity and have the courage to step out. … You have to sometimes be against
the grain to provide inspiration to the youth.”
With his clothing line in mind, he signed up for a professional sales class in Stetson’s School of Business Administration during the 2022 spring semester, aiming to sharpen his skills and learn about marketing. Plus, he took a gender and communication class, required for his major. He also interned for Stetson Athletics, working with the social media team and in the university’s production trailer, broadcasting Hatter athletic events live on ESPN3.
“Obviously, I wanted to see if I had a future in that kind of thing, either in front of the camera or behind the camera,” Parham said about TV production work. “Just watching and absorbing as much as I can to see if that’s something I want to do and pursue later on down the line in my career. … That’s just kind of like a backup plan behind my [clothing] brand that I’m starting now.”
While back at Stetson, his days started at 8 a.m. in the Athletic Training Center with a two-hour workout, designed by the LA Chargers’ strength coach to get him ready for the new NFL season, which began in September. After working out, he’d grab breakfast and head for the duPont-Ball Library to prepare for his classes.
He plans to return this spring for his final few classes and then walk in the May 2023 Commencement ceremony, cheered on by his parents, other family members and friends.
Along the way, he would like to inspire other athletes to complete their degrees, too.
“For the other athletes in the NFL, it’s very important to have a backup plan, no matter what it is,” he said. “I feel as though having a college degree would open a lot more doors and a lot more avenues for you to succeed later on in life.”
During his senior year at Stetson, Parham was the top receiver in NCAA Division I football (FCS and FBS) — most receptions per game and most receiving yards per game.Late one night in April 1965, six Stetson friends lounged in a dorm room, finishing off the last of the two-dozen doughnuts. They were Bob Eslinger, Jerry Jackson, Paul Martin, Bill Schneider and Dick Shuford (all from the Class of ’66) and Richard Swartz ’68.
Fueled by a sugar rush from a Krispy Kreme run to Daytona Beach, they began making their plans for Spring
Break. This was a time before exotic trips to Cancun or a week spent on social-service projects. Many students went home or to a nearby beach. This group decided on a trip to a little-known island in the Tampa Bay area, Egmont Key.
Two weeks later, the guys headed out in Eslinger’s family runabout, towing an aluminum fishing boat crammed with borrowed tents and camping gear. They spent the week exploring the untouched island, soaking up sun, swimming and water skiing. Most importantly, they talked, and their friendships deepened.
The following spring, they repeated the same trip.
A recent return to campus was bittersweet. The late Richard Swartz was not with them.
They originally became friends at Stetson in the random fashion students still do today. Their paths crisscrossed through rooming assignments, fraternity membership (Lambda Chi Alpha and Pi Kappa Phi), ROTC, Concert Choir and so on. None did all of the same things, but the threads ran together.
All became very active on campus. Out of that small group came class presidents, a student body president and vice president, Men’s Judiciary Council members, a fraternity president and more. There was also all-star recognition in intramural sports, plus membership in Scabbard and Blade. As a group, the six friends were leaders and covered virtually all aspects of campus life.
Four of the six fell in love at Stetson and married fellow Hatters following graduation. Those brides were Denice Barolo Eslinger ’66, Rebecca Phillips Schneider ’67, Gena Medrano Swartz ’67 and Charlotte Daniels Martin ’68. Jackson and Shuford met their wives after leaving Stetson. All remain married to those women, too.
An ode to six friends — the “Stetson Ennielites” — and the lifelong bond their alma mater bestowed on themIn 1965, six campus friends started their own Stetson tradition. Five are pictured here. Top row: Bob Eslinger (left) and Jerry Jackson. Bottom row, left to right: Paul Martin, Bill Schneider and Dick Shuford.
After graduation, Jackson and Swartz served in Vietnam, and eventually all six obtained graduate degrees. The group produced a college professor and dean, a chemist, a surgeon, a lawyer, a psychologist and a businessman/politician. And, for many years, the latter was the voice of the Hatters basketball games. Several returned to Stetson to watch one of their own receive the Distinguished Alumni Award.
The guys scattered across the United States, but they kept in touch. Still, the 1970s and early ’80s were spent establish ing careers and having families.
In 1989, however, Schneider decided it was time to reconvene. The men started gathering every other year for what they termed “Enniels,” with the proper numerical prefix for each year. They reminisced about Stetson days, became 19 again for a bit and caught up with one another. And Krispy Kremes were in order, if possible.
National parks often served as the spots for the get-togethers. They took on the Great Smoky Mountains, Glacier, the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion, and many other state and regional parks.
For the 40th gathering, they returned, for a day, to Egmont Key, now a Florida state park with historic markers, walking trails and signs declaring “No Camping.”
The group had given up camping after the trip in 1966 but definitely remained active at each gathering — rafting, kayaking, hiking — along with unfortunate clamming and scalloping misadventures at beaches in South Carolina and Florida. And, 50 years after the first trip, all in their early 70s, they completed a 10-mile hike to 10,000 feet in the Tetons.
At Stetson, they were given an education and experience as leaders that eventually guided them in their successful careers. But, equally important, Stetson gave them lifelong friends. They
are friends who could talk on the phone and laugh in the way that only old friends can, and who could call day or night with good news or bad.
Charles Darwin once said, “A man’s friendships are one of the best measures of his worth.”
In October 2019, five of the original friends met in the Great Smoky Mountains to scatter the ashes of Richard Swartz. At Stetson, a bench commemorating Swartz’s life was placed on campus near the Templeton Fountain. A second bench to honor the decades of friendship of these six men has been added under a live oak tree near the CUB.
When you return to campus and greet old friends, seek out Richard Swartz’s bench or the one labeled the “Stetson Ennielites.” Sit there for a while together, and reflect on the enormous gift of lasting friendship Stetson bestowed on you.
All it takes is one act of kindness, one encounter, one hour of your time, one conversation with a student, and that student is changed forever. How precious is this gift?
You be the judge.
Charles Gillespie, PhD, has generously supported Stetson for more than 20 years. From his gifts to the Gillespie Museum to his pencil drawings that adorn several walls around campus to his financial support, none compares to his recent gift of time to a senior art student on campus.
With the help of Stetson's Development staff, Gillespie recently had lunch with that student, Mario Saponaro, at the Hat Rack
café. Gillespie also toured the art classrooms at Stetson, reviewed Saponaro’s portfolio and posed questions regarding his technique, artistic vision and plans for his senior project.
Both benefited from their time together.
The mentor came away from the encounter with admiration for the student’s talent and enthusiasm, and graciously decided to support Saponaro’s efforts this fall semester and his senior project in the spring.
Gillespie gifted and delivered a roll of Italian drawing paper, a large portfolio and a special pencil eraser to Saponaro to help him meet current challenges and unlock
his potential to scale his drawings.
Coming together brings us forward together.
If you would like to champion a student, please call Melissa Atwell at 386-8227481 or email her at mlatwell@stetson.edu.
The benefit of a mentor? Simply, it’s that one person who changes the course of our life.Mentor Charles Gillespie, PhD, gives time and more to mentee Mario Saponaro, a senior art student.
Did you know that cash isn’t the only thing you can donate to Stetson?
Many alumni and friends are choosing to give stock shares because it has some significant financial benefits to the donor.
If your stock has lost money this year, sell it and give the cash to Stetson. You will be able to deduct the charitable donation if you itemize, and you will be able to take a capital loss when you sell the stock. You can use up to $3,000 in losses to reduce your income this year.
Tip: If you plan to take a loss and reinvest the proceeds, be mindful of the wash-sale rule. That is, you cannot use the losses to offset gains if you purchase the same, or a “substantially identical” investment, within 30 days before or after the sale.
Giving appreciated stock you have held for more than one year is better than giving cash. If you donate the stock to Stetson, you can take a charitable deduction for the fair market value on the day you give it away. You will also avoid capital gains taxes on the increased value.
Tip: If you love the stock, buy new shares to reset your cost basis at the current, higher rate. This will reduce your future capital gains exposure if the stock continues to grow.
By donating stock that has appreciated for more than a year, you are actually giving 20% more than if you had donated cash. Plus, you can deduct the full fair market value of the asset you donate from your income taxes. Once more, a donation strategy puts your capital gains to work funding your philanthropy.
Tip: Appreciated assets can include those not publicly traded, such as restricted stock or bitcoin.
Suppose your stocks have appreciated or lost value since you purchased them, or your portfolio balance is off due to gains or losses. Maybe you want to refocus on other investments next year. If you already give to Stetson, these scenarios should encourage you to review your stock portfolio with a donation strategy in mind.
Tip: Donating stock to the university is easier than you might think.
As the year comes to an end, count your blessings. Then add one more by making your portfolio work for you — ask Stetson for stock gift instructions. You will be glad you did!
After working at the Walt Disney World Resort for 10 years, Jennifer Farb joined her father’s tax-adviser busi ness. Then Stetson’s MBA program in Celebration (near Disney) “lived up to its promise,” Farb said.
She recently made a stock gift to Stetson, saying, “As a CPA and tax adviser, it made sense. Giving stock to Stetson saved me on capital gains, allowed me to get higher value out of the asset and make a greater gift than I would have by writing a check — and it was easy to do!”
Bruce Dahlgren ’83 and Allison Dahlgren ’85 Bruce and Allison Dahlgren are both alumni, trustees and proud parents of a Hatter. They first met in the Stetson cafeteria 40 years ago, and their careers moved them 11 times around the world.
Grateful for the opportunities Stetson gave them, they support the next genera tion of Hatters — so they too can have the same experience. In addition to making annual cash gifts, they find giving stock to Stetson an “equity play, easy to do and convenient.”
DID YOU LIVE IN CHAUDOIN?
Built in 1892, Chaudoin Hall still cuts a striking figure across from the Carlton Union Building. With a north wing added in 1894 and the south wing in 1935, Chaudoin was designed in Colonial Revival style with multiple dormers, gambrel roof and ornate windows.
It has served as home to thousands of Stetson women over the past 130 years, but this year the hall is closed for renovation, with planned completion in time for August 2023’s move-in.
“Our goal is to increase community space, accessibility and other updates that are attractive to today’s students while keeping Chaudoin’s historic charm,” says Larry Correll-Hughes, PhD, co-interim vice president and assistant vice president for campus life and student success.
Planned renovations include:
• Reconfiguration of rooms on the Main and North wings to have suite and private bathrooms like the South wing
Born into a farming family outside Plant City, Florida, Glenn Geiger never considered pursuing higher education. Soon after graduating from high school, a mentor changed his perspective. However, he still lacked the financial means to achieve this new goal until other members of his community steered him toward the opportunity of student work and scholarship programs at Stetson.
Finally, in 1959, with meager savings from blue-collar jobs and the sale of his prized 1954 Ford, Geiger headed north on his “Road to Freedom” to Stetson as the first in his family to go to college.
Geiger’s experience at Stetson changed the trajectory of his life. After receiving his BA in psychology in 1963, he went on to earn his PhD in psychology from the University of South Carolina. He joined the University of South Florida faculty in 1969, where he developed the graduate program in School Psychology. During his tenure of 35 years, he educated hundreds of future school psychologists.
Believing his time at Stetson was truly a gift, Geiger endeavored to pay it forward. Beginning with his first gift to Stetson in 1978, the generosity to his alma mater spans almost five decades. In 2010, he established the Perspective Endowed Scholarship at Stetson to provide students with the financial help to achieve their dreams. His final wish was a very generous endowment to this fund — a declaration of his belief in the empowerment of a liberal arts education for anyone.
• Addition of an elevator and increased ADA-accessible entrances, rooms and spaces
• Addition of laundry, kitchen, community lounge and study rooms (second and third floors)
• Relocation of kitchen (open concept) and additional community space (first floor)
• Installation of a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system
• Addition of fire-suppression sprinklers
• Upgrading of finishes throughout, including doors and windows Would you and your former hall mates like to be part of Chaudoin’s history and renovation? For more information about naming opportunities or making a gift, contact development@stetson.edu or visit www.stetson. edu/chaudoin.
STETSON UNIVERSITY is proud of its alumni and their accomplish ments. 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.
Dodi Lovett ’55, Centerville, Tennessee, now age 89, continues to teach, doodle and amaze — long after graduating with a degree in art education and a minor in stagecraft. Her love of pen-and-ink drawings of buildings has resulted in commissions throughout the United States, while her love of travel is reflected in many of her black-and-white sketches, which were showcased during the month of October 2022 at the Gallery on the Square in Centerville.
Paul K. Willenbrock ’68, Beverly, Massachusetts, has been honored by UnitedHealthcare for his contributions to the health and well-being of his community. He was one of six recipients of the company’s first New England Champions program to honor local senior citizens. Willenbrock received his award from former National Football League quarterback Doug Flutie in a ceremony on June 30, 2022.
Diane Disney ’63, West Chester, Pennsylvania, has been presented the Donald C. Stone Service award for “sustained commitment, dedicated service and exemplary contributions” by the American Society for Public Administration. Disney is in her second term on ASPA’s National Council.
Lance S. Loria ’72, Montgomery, Texas, was inducted into Stetson’s Accounting Hall of Fame (2022) in recognition of significant accomplishments over a 50-year career. He’s a poet, too, and recently his poem “Follow the Science” was published in Who’s Who in American Poetry 2021. Loria continues to write short stories and poetry while living in semiretirement.
’77, Annandale, Virginia, is a member of the board of directors for Fairfax/Burke Shepherd’s Center. Also, he was honored as the 2021 Volunteer of the Year at Hidden Oaks Nature Center in Fairfax, Virginia. His work there involves taking care of reptiles and amphibians and greeting people who visit.
’80, Bremerton, Washington, began his seventh year as a Russian Orthodox Priest and Rector of Saint Innocent Russian Orthodox Church in Silverdale, Washington.
Lynn Wilson ’83, Winter Park, Florida, was selected by peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America (2023), a publication typically regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence.
Russell P. Schropp ’78, Fort Myers, Florida, was named to 2022 Florida Trend Magazine’s Legal Elite. To compile this list, Florida Trend asks active practicing Florida attorneys to name the attorneys they hold in the highest regard. Schropp has dedicated his entire career to representing property owners through the zoning and land development process before local, regional, state and federal agencies.
’86, Orlando, Florida, was awarded the 2022 President’s Award for the National Association of Legal Assistants. The award recognizes outstanding accomplishments of, and contributions to, the future of the paralegal profession.
Derrick G. Williams ’86, Fishers, Indiana, was hired as the new boys basketball coach of the Cardinal Ritter Raiders. He has 35 years of experience in coaching at the high school, collegiate and college-exposure levels.
Williams is also a vice president at Citizens Bank in its Auto Finance Division.
Robert N. Brosofsky ’88, Lowell, Massachusetts, was named director of Materials & Contracts for AvCarb Material Solutions of Lowell. The company is best known as a producer of carbonbased materials, which are primarily used for gas diffusion layers in hydrogen fuel cells.
Samuel “Le” Church ’93, Hiawassee, Georgia, has been appointed to the physician seat on the AMA CPT Editorial Panel (American Medical Association, Current Procedural Terminology). The panel ensures CPT codes reflect the latest medical care available to patients.
’93, Sugar Grove, North Carolina, was named
executive director of the Appalachian Theatre of the High Country in Boone, North Carolina.
Abby Hamilton ’94, Tampa, Florida, had her book, Speak Up, Anak, published. The book, in hopes of raising awareness, presents the cultural challenges that Filipinos face in the United States.
Cindy Lovell ’94, MA ’96, Edgewater, Florida, joined 16 other Mark Twain scholars in contributing to a new critical analysis of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The book is titled Critical Insights: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Lovell's contributed chapter is “Tom Sawyer’s Complicated Relationship with Mark Twain’s Hometown.” This is the first entirely original collection of critical analyses of Tom Sawyer ever published.
Denise Kubik Cinnamond ’95, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, is the 2022 recipient of the Nancy N. Wood Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Lower School. She is the learning specialist at the Episcopal School of Jacksonville, Beaches Campus.
Karen Lenn Brown ’95, MAcc ’96, Orlando, Florida, was elected to a two-year term as board chair at the YMCA of Central Florida. In 2015, she volunteered to serve on the Downtown Orlando YMCA’s board of directors, which led to numerous other leadership roles within the organization.
Gregory W. Meier, JD ’95, Winter Park, Florida, was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America (2023), as published in U.S. News & World Report
Amanda Sharkey Ross ’99, Bonita Springs, Florida, a maritime law expert, presented “Laws Southwest Florida Boat Owners Need to Know” at the Broadway Palm Dinner Theater for the Rotary Club of Fort Myers in May 2022. Ross was elected stockholder at Henderson Franklin, a law firm, in 2020.
’02, Queens, New York, had his first novel published in May. Called Milo and Marcos at the End of the World, it was published by HarperTeen.
Kelly Underwood ’97, Oviedo, Florida, had her debut romantic suspense novel, Defending Honor, published. The planned release was in early October.
Brown ’02, Yorktown, Virginia, was promoted to vice president of Outbound Transportation for Dollar Tree, where she is responsible for running all of the company’s transportation for Dollar Tree and Family Dollar from their 28 distribution centers to their 16,000-plus stores.
Samuel A.
Bruning ’03, Stuart, Florida, was installed as president of the LEADERship Martin County Alumni Foundation for Youth. Graduates of the program continue their roles as leaders in the community by raising scholarship funds for outstanding student leaders in Martin County. Bruning graduated as part of the 21st class of LEADERship Martin County in 2011.
Tai O. Oney ’07, St. Louis, Missouri, joined the voice faculty at Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri.
Kathryn Turner ’07, Charlotte, North Carolina, is now the marketing director of Business Services at the University of North Carolina - Charlotte.
Yuliya Swaim, LLM ’09, JD ’12, Sarasota, Florida, is now a member of Hutton, Dominko & Swaim, PLLC, a new law firm. Swaim was born and raised in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, and earned her degrees in International Relations and International Private Law in the Kyiv Institute of International Relations of National T. Shevchenko University. After immigrating to the United States, she attended Stetson Law and now focuses her practice on complex business litigation.
Patricia Flanagan, MBA/JD ’08, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, was recognized by the South Florida Business Journal as a 40 Under 40 honoree. Flanagan assists emerging and industryleading companies with the protection and enforcement of their intellectual property rights at Fox Rothschild LLP.
Jr. ’12, Lake Charles, Louisiana, received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Shortly afterward, he accepted the tenure-track position of assistant professor of Music/director of Choral Activities at McNeese State University in Lake Charles.
Viviana Vasiu ’15, JD ’18, New York, New York, completed her Department of Justice Honors Program appointment in the Criminal Division as a trial attorney, and accepted a position to clerk for a U.S. district judge for the Southern District of New York (for 2022-2023).
Savannah Haughton
’20, DeLand, Florida, was selected to pilot the senior chief scribe position for the Southeast region for ScribeAmerica. Haughton directly oversees more than 120 sites, which comprise hundreds of medical scribes. ScribeAmerica is the largest provider of medical scribes in the United States.
Octavio Mujica ’21, DeLand, Florida, was named recipient of the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation Scholarship. He will use the financial award to complete the second year of his graduate studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Christian Barker, MBA ’09, JD ’12, Thompsons Station, Tennessee, was selected to Billboard magazine’s 2022 list of Top Music Lawyers. Barker is an entertainment and business litigation partner at Shackelford, Bowen, McKinley & Norton, LLP.
Thomas F. Rebman ’10, MEd
’11, Palm Bay, Florida, was recognized by the American Legion Department of Florida as Educator of the Year for 2022. The award recognizes dedicated and devoted individuals who, on a consistent basis, give “so much of themselves.”
Gladys Valle ’14, Andover, Massachusetts, graduated with a Doctor of Education from Northeastern University. Her dissertation, “¡Hacia Adelante! Building Resiliency in English Learners,” is being published this fall. Valle is currently working as the department head of the English Learners Program at Everett High School in Everett, Massachusetts.
John M. Bartel ’18, MBA/JD ’21, Winter Haven, Florida, was hired at Chamberlain Hrdlicka, a nationally recognized tax controversy and litigation practice. Last spring, he was awarded a Master of Laws degree in taxation from the University of Florida Levin College of Law.
Abigail Goodin ’19, Sanford, Florida, has been appointed interim executive director of the Florida Symphony Youth Orchestras. Her appointment began in March 2022.
Steiert ’23, Ripley, Mississippi, at home in their town square.
1 LeAnne Gallick ’94 James Carangelo, March 5, 2022.
2 Matthew J. Brown ’13 to Carly Meyerson, April 2022.
3 Jennifer Brann ’15 to Joseph Ponce, May 13, 2022.
4 Erin Davis ’15 to Daniel Lozada ’13, April 30, 2021.
5 Maggie Raught ’16 to Raymond Witherspoon ’16, Dec. 9, 2021.
6 Sarah Coffey ’18 to Hector Quesada, Sept. 3, 2022.
7 Alyssa Soto ’18 to Ian Weber ’18, March 19, 2022.
8 Asthon Craig ’20 to Michael Capen, Jan. 15, 2022.
Betty Jo Beville Andrews ’50
Nita Turner Hansen ’50
Ann Mace Hooks ’50
Jean Bartley Towers Lyerly ’50
Rebecca Dixon Miller ’50
James M. Shine ’50
Zenia Davis Spencer ’50
Joan Howard Teal ’50
Robert M. Turner ’50
Helen Barksdale Williamson ’50
William C. Young ’50
Nancy Williams Berry ’51
A. Rudolph Fagan ’51
John V. Foreman ’51
Mary Ann Peddy Holloway ’51
Alda Wadsworth Inman ’51
Pauline Johns Kirkpatrick ’51
Agnes B. Knight ’51
Eugene H. Lutke ’51
Dolores Raithel Magenheim ’51
Mary Ezzell Miedema ’51
Merle Dalrymple Murph ’51
Coreta Powell Pratt ’51
Roy R. Unkefer ’51
Nellie Raulerson VonFunk ’51
Dutton A. Bonnell ’52
George W. Carlton ’52
Jozan Ray Carlton ’52
Anne Clements Edwards ’52
Jane Chapman Gut ’52
George P. Harth ’52
William E. Lewis ’52
Eva Maye Cates Oeffler ’52
Mary Josephine Braddy Eakin ’53
John William Edwards ’53
Margie Brooks Harth ’53
Margaret Jordan Johnson ’53
William E. Johnson ’53
Daniel J. LeFevre ’53
John T. Lightsey ’53
Elinore Flowers Marang ’53
Merrilee R. Middleton ’53
Hoke H. Shirley ’53
Jackie Rich Sommerlad ’53, MA ’58
Audrey Price Swicegood ’53
Margaret Louise Feinsod Wing ’53
Marilyn Richards Bonnell ’54
Roger W. Dobson ’54
Richard L. Greaves ’54
Patricia Taylor Herig ’54
Dorothy Ross McAleer ’54
Arthur A. Fritz Sr. ’55
Dolores Meador Gold ’55
Bobbie Bronson Hammett ’55
George L. Painter ’55
Alton R. Pittman ’55
Betty Polk Sams ’55
Laurence M. Willard ’55
Rosalind Fordham Willard ’55 Hugh H. Young ’55
Mary Redman Carpenter ’56
Donald G. Holt ’56
Owen R. Hunt ’56
Jean Scheiferstein Wells ’56
Doris McIntyre Browning ’57
Renald Petrie Egan ’57
Henry Gonzalez ’57
Betty Grady Heard ’57
James A. Marsee Sr. ’57
Merrie Nixon Park ’57
Martha Jones Rothert ’57
James C. Shepard ’57
Roselyn Tobias Taylor ’57
Joseph L. Cardozo JD ’58 Alan E. Fearns JD ’58
Jerry L. Fitzgibbons ’58
Henry L. Hardin ’58
Victoria “Vicki” Anderson Marsee ’58
M. Lawrence Tucker ’58 Ed M. Edmonds ’59
George F. Hyde ’59
William A. Kicklighter ’59 John S. Oldham ’59
Betty DeLong Palmer ’59 Janet Reisinger Potts ’59
Winifred McKinley Slade ’59
James W. Taylor ’59
Paul T. Thomas ’59
Jack H. VanHart ’59
Joan Geitgey Waters ’59, MA ’61
John H. Head ’60
Lawrence H. Keith ’60
Peggy Curry Leonard ’60 Thomas E. Norwood ’60
Elizabeth Lottich Reedy ’60
Hilda Uren Stubbings ’60, MA ’62, MA ’65
Clifton S. Corlett ’61
Donald “Jack” Duncan ’61
Edgar J. L’Heureux ’61 A. Lamar Matthews Jr. ’61 Jack V. McDonald ’61
George H. Perino Jr. ’61 MA ’70
Martha Stokley Pierson MA ’61 Michael B. Piper ’61
Ruby Lee Weber ’61
Linda Fulford Aronoff ’62
Eleanor Mueller Warder ’62
Glenn M. Woodworth ’62
Cornelia Yarbrough ’62
John W. Donahoo ’63
O. Glenn Geiger ’63
Doris Carlson Paskewitz ’63, MA ’65
Roger E. Polk ’63
Ray E. Ulmer ’63
Larry M. Willis ’63
Ronald H. Cole ’64
Jeffrey A. Dease ’64, MBA ’71 John J. Hampton ’64
Dawson A. McQuaig Sr. ’64
Royce D. Pipkins ’64
Edward G. Arnett Jr. ’65
Christine Aaron Brewer ’65, MA ’66, Ed. Spec. ’83
Joanne Bennett Brown ’65
Barbara Ann Carroll ’65
Nisa Walker Crutchfield ’65, MA ’94
George S. Lamb ’65
Edwin T. Mulock ’65, JD ’68 Ronald J. Rice ’65
Alexandra Wilson Johnson ’66 Joel E. Laney ’66
Donna Healy Martin ’66 Alice Field Revis ’66
Janice S. Robinson MA ’66 Mary Kotsanos Thomas ’66 Elizabeth Gainey Bickelhaupt ’67 Virginia “Jeni” Lehton Bridwell ’67
Charles Coursey ’67
John D. Demmi JD ’67
James C. Fisher ’67
Robert S. Reese Jr. ’67 Frank J. Rouse ’67 Wesley E. Sedlacek Sr. ’67 James R. Smith JD ’67 John B. Tubb ’67
David L. Armbruster ’68
Frederick J. Beste III ’68 Joyce Hewitt Carefoot ’68, MEd ’90
Sandra Bowen Diaz ’68
William R. Hamilton III ’68 Betty Weyer Kelly ’68
Raymond A. McKenney ’68
Dorothy Felton Blackburn ’69 Elsa M. Caskey ’69
Thomas N. Fulton ’69
Margaret Ogden Hardy ’69
June Meilstrup Long ’69
Joan McCloskey MacBride ’69
Ronald McPherson MA ’69
Joseph T. Page ’69
Benjamin R. Cox III ’70
Maureen A. Jarrell ’70
William E. Mathewson Jr. ’70
Harry L. Sellards ’70
Leon F. Smith ’70
Smiley W. H. Thurston ’70
Loretta Crane Boyett ’71
Robert L. Fennell Jr. ’71
Stephen F. Lanier ’71
Mary Ann Lederhaus ’71, MBA ’72
John H. Pecarek JD ’71
Arthur C. Smith ’71
Sandra Gandee Valdes ’71
Janet Lower Brown MEd ’72
Theodore D. Lindgren JD ’72 W. Scott Lovejoy JD ’72
Bernard P. McCain MBA ’72 Harry Steinhardt ’72 Barbara Sawyer Taylor ’72 William B. Hicks JD ’73
William C. LaTulip ’73
James L. Murphy ’73 Marjorie Calhoun Richards ’73 Kay Gorton Thompson ’73 Bennie E. Aaron MEd ’74 Marc A. Gordon ’74 Lance B. Kurke ’74 Elsbeth Furlong Narwold ’74 James W. Spencer MBA ’74 William B. Von Gal ’74 June Hastriter Bennett ’75
Patricia Simpson Kimmel ’75 Mary Bohan Lambert ’75 Douglas E. Stevenson JD ’75 Lois Simpson Stonesifer ’75 Gail Gubbins Van Ormer MEd ’75
John J. Wall JD ’75
Beverly Hoag Wicker ’75
Thomas S. Beavers ’76 Kenneth W. Craig ’76 Bradford J. Hoch ’76 Eugenie Chazal Reid ’76
Maxine Carey Turner ’76 James Williams III ’76 William “Wiggins” R. Armstrong ’77 Vanda Y. Bayliss JD ’77
Marie McQuade Eggert MA ’77
John P. France ’77 G. Carey Nelson III JD ’77 Lois Geeslin Wegendt MEd ’77
Dwight E. Brock ’79
Stephen F. Ewing MBA ’78 Marvin L. Ivey JD ’78 Charles Michael Lay ’78
Douglas A. Mulligan ’78
Sylvia Steffen Wahlin ’78 Paul A. Young ’79
Maureen Riley LaRue MA ’80
Melinda Jones Culliver MEd ’81
Joseph W. Fanelli ’81
Zonia M. Clemens MEd ’82
Linda M. Hernandez JD ’82
John F. Ralph Jr. ’82
Lois Lerch Robinson MA ’82
Gerald Scott Anderson ’83
Nancy Lynn Goldhamer ’83
Robert L. Lord Jr. ’83
Stephen B. McGee ’83
Robert A. Patria MBA ’83
Lynda Virginia Stewart MEd ’83
Vincent M. Accardi ’84
Merrie R. Crowell ’84
Olin L. Jones ’84
William J. Nock ’84
Maureen Bapst Martin ’84
Theresa Lee Austin ’85
Joseph P. Dougherty SPCEN ’85
Randall H. Lee ’85
Nancy B. Rhoades JD ’85
Pam Chesnutt Roberts JD ’85
Maria Ann Sciaino ’85, MEd ’90
Donald R. Jarrell ’86
Monica Ann McDonough ’86
Ruth Neary Thropp ’86
Kelly Kilpatrick Ervin ’87
David A. Lamont JD ’87
Carol Tenbroeck Lawrence MEd ’87
Mary Monica Nolan ’87
Kevin H. Bridges ’88
Gene “Al” A. Finch Jr. ’88
Lynn V. Hyning Ramey JD ’88
Vincent J. Delosso III ’91
Patrick J. Gorman ’93
Julie Johnson Lepre ’94
David P. Mayer MA ’95
Donna R. McBride JD ’97
Madeline Ann Mellers ’98
Carleane Ings Earle MEd ’99
Judi Addelston MS ’00
Megan Thompson Diamandi ’03
Olaitan O. Abidoye JD ’05
William C. Kelly ’05
Robert J. Moore ’07
Michael O. Robertson JD ’14
Chris McMurray MAcc ’16
Grace Catherine Weite ’17
This photo was taken back in July 2018, when no pandemic to affect life on the DeLand campus was even remotely in sight. Hammocks in Palm Court — historically a staple at Stetson — have now returned, along with a renewed sense of Hatter normalcy.
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