Graduates from the Class of 2024 share their stories about mentorship, experiential learning and the Stetson Student Experience.
Surprise and Exhilaration
It was March 17, St. Patrick’s Day. The basketball world knew it as Selection Sunday, the day the Hatters would learn their fortunate fate. The stage was set at the jam-packed Warren and Barbara Carr Stetson Room on campus as the announcement was made on live national TV. The reactions were joyous, and the resulting national exposure was priceless.
In their first-ever appearance in the men’s NCAA Tournament — also known as March Madness — the Hatters were matched up against the UConn Huskies, defending national champions. On March 22, Stetson played valiantly but fell to the University of Connecticut, which went on to repeat as the nation’s No. 1 team. Ah, yes, but the entire country watched the Hatters, too.
Photo courtesy of Stetson University Athletics
28 STETSON UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE
SUMMER 2024 • VOLUME 40 • ISSUE 1
President
Christopher F. Roellke, PhD
Editor
Michael Candelaria
Designer
Kris Winters
Art and Photography
Jodi Cothron
Writers
Kate Bradshaw, Rick de Yampert, Taylor Hibel ’20, Boyd Jones ’75, DMA, Patricia Letakis, Andrea Mujica, Jack Roth, Trish Wieland
Class Notes Editor
Amy Dedes
20 ‘Bonner Love’
The student-run Bonner Program embodies the motto “Access to Education, Opportunity to Serve.” And that’s only the start.
24 Achievement Over Adversity
Two students from Ukraine became Stetson alumni in May — a big feat, to be sure, but only a small part of their stories. [COVER STORY]
28 Relationship-Richness
High achievement and the nurturing mentorship of students exemplify both the university’s mission and the “kind, empathetic and collaborative” Class of 2024.
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 FSCcertified 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.
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38 Bands of Brothers and Sisters
Stetson’s Greek life forges lifetime friendships, the type that continue long after a death.
44 Portraits of Relationship-Rich
Thanks to finding the “perfect place for me in every way,” Julie Kaplan ’93, a former music student, has turned Stetson into art.
48 Hands Together in Tribute
By letting their lives speak, Dolly and Homer Hand championed Stetson loudly and clearly — leaving an indelible legacy.
ON THE COVER:
Top row from left: Dominique Robinson, Isabella Recanzone, Kaira Thevenin, Alonso Tang.
Middle row from left: Yahia Adla, Isabella Thomsen, Trynyty Conway.
Bottom row from left: Halle Block, Isabel Barbato.
FORWARD TOGETHER
STRATEGIC PRIORITIES FRAMEWORK, 2023-2030
At the core of the plan are people, culture and inclusive excellence.
Back in late February, when President Christopher F. Roellke, PhD, officially shared the FORWARD TOGETHER Strategic Priorities Framework 2023-2030 — the university’s plan for the future — to faculty and staff on the DeLand campus, he made three points abundantly clear. Kindness, flexibility and collaboration, he asserted and repeated, will be integral to all. Roellke opened with a signature statement: “Kindness not only matters, it enables us to listen, to engage with others unlike ourselves, and to consider paths we forge together to make our community, in fact, the world a better place.”
He then continued to emphasize its importance, stating, “You’re going to hear an awful lot more about kindness and the importance of kindness in the society in which we live as we move forward together with our strategic plan, which is going to take Stetson from Florida Gem to National Treasure.”
(As this issue of the magazine showcases, substantial progress already is being made, particularly regarding student success.)
What exactly is the Strategic Priorities Framework 2023-2030, and why now?
As President Roellke explains:
For more than 140 years, Stetson University has been a gem in the educational history of Florida. The university was founded for the purpose of developing informed citizens of the world and has established a solid reputation for our relationship-rich approach to education, as well as for our creative community where learning and values meet. Hatter alumni regularly and enthusiastically describe the transformational effects of a Stetson education.
But in the past decade, the landscape in higher education has seen dramatic change. Enrollments at colleges and universities are down across the country. The demographic composition of the country is evolving. Existing economic models in higher education are under pressure as students, parents and benefactors reexamine the value of a college degree. Alternatives to the traditional college experience have emerged as employers acknowledge value in professional certifications and competency-based training. And advancements in technology make some courses and content more widely and easily accessible. A Stetson education, however, is qualitatively different more potent.
Stetson’s value proposition revolves around offering a distinctive, relationship-rich learning experience, drawing from our traditional strengths and integrating modern approaches. We commit to providing a holistic, integrated and contemporary educational journey. Our institution focuses on fostering personal growth, lifelong learning, civic duty and global citizenship through immersive, co-created learning experiences. Stetson seeks to nurture ethical, critical thinkers and leaders equipped for the demands of modern life and the professional world.
THE STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
EXPERIENTIAL, CONTEMPORARY & INTEGRATIVE
LEARNING
How we will move forward together:
• Expand access to high-impact practices and intensively mentored learning experiences through the reimagination of student and faculty time allocations. Examples of these experiences include senior research and capstone projects, research apprenticeships, teaching apprenticeships, lab assistantships, internships and externships, study abroad, fieldwork, colloquia and reading groups, community engagement projects, skills-based workshops, student competitions, select independent studies, and enhanced lab or studio activities. (See Cover Story, Page 28.)
• Capitalize on Stetson’s rich traditions and signature academic offerings to promote transformational journeys for all of our students.
• Launch new and innovative programs, particularly at the graduate-school level, to respond to changing demographics and a rapidly evolving global economy.
STUDENT-CENTERED SUCCESS & WELLNESS
How we will move forward together:
• Invest in exciting and modernized student spaces that foster a strong sense of community and are a piece of the scaffolding for our personalized learning environment.
• Create a robust comprehensive undergraduate firstyear experience and deliver on the promise of a relationship-rich education in a student’s first year on campus.
• Contribute to a culture of career preparation throughout a student’s journey.
• Promote a robust Greek Life community through encouraging self-governance, a revised and simplified Greek recruitment model, reimagined Greek Life spaces, and thoughtful partnership planning.
• Build a student-led intercollegiate athletics and club sport fan experience that is highly energized, builds community, and promotes Stetson’s brand.
• Expand the reach of initiatives that promote wellness, resiliency, and emotional health by investing in technology and human resources to support our students.
PEOPLE, CULTURE AND INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE
How we will move forward together:
• Enhance and fund the time-sensitive and actionable priorities that arise from Campus Climate Survey efforts and other assessments of campus environments.
• Enhance and reinvest in the university’s Cross-Cultural Center to promote belonging, cross-cultural collaboration and student retention.
• For university-wide centers and institutes, execute the vision and secure additional resources to promote activities that support research and application, student growth and learning, and community engagement across all Stetson campuses.
• Launch Stetson's Center for Public Opinion Research (CPOR) as a vehicle for promoting civil discourse and civic engagement.
• Support the development of employee resource/ affinity groups to help enhance employee satisfaction.
LIFELONG RELATIONSHIPS AND CONNECTIONS
How we will move forward together:
• Invest in a comprehensive marketing and brand development plan to differentiate Stetson and elevate the university to national recognition.
• Create more engagement opportunities with Stetson alumni at top global corporations to boost investment in Stetson and enhance student employment success.
• Ensure Stetson is widely considered a top place to work that attracts and retains the best talent within the education industry.
• Expand the Soul of Stetson initiative, associated with Hulley Tower, to embody the values and identity of the university and engage alumni, students, faculty, staff and community members.
COMPREHENSIVE SUSTAINABILITY
How we will move forward together:
• Optimize the use of physical resources in response to new Campus Master Plans and space analyses at the DeLand, College of Law (Gulfport), and Tampa Law Center campuses.
• Bolster Stetson financial resources through robust fundraising, continued grant-seeking, cost-saving efficiencies, and identification of new sources of revenue generation.
• Deploy comprehensive marketing, brand development, and enrollment plans to differentiate and elevate Stetson to national recognition.
INTELLIGENTSIA
Christopher
F. Roellke, PhD:
“Serving as Stetson’s 10th president has been the greatest honor and privilege of my professional life … .”
President Signs Contract Extension
This spring, with the unveiling of the university’s FORWARD TOGETHER Strategic Priorities Framework 2023-2030, the Board of Trustees asked Stetson President Christopher F. Roellke, PhD, to extend his contract through 2030 — and he enthusiastically agreed.
Roellke arrived as Stetson's 10th president, just after the COVID-19 pandemic had forced the university to move spring and summer classes online. At the time of his arrival, the state of Florida was an epicenter of the pandemic. Roellke immediately emphasized the importance of kindness, empathy and shared ownership — themes that continue to permeate the Stetson University community. Almost four years later, Stetson, founded in 1883, looks to a bright future.
Roellke’s goal is to take the university from “Florida Gem to National Treasure.” (See pages 6-7.)
In announcing the Board of Trustees’ decision, chair Steven Alexander was certain about Roellke.
“Aside from Chris’ unique talents of being kind and empathetic, he is a lifetime educator, a true educator,” Alexander said. “We have a president who actually teaches class; he’s a full professor. So, he has a great perspective of what students need. That’s been one of our main themes, that we’re putting students first. And Chris is a president who puts the students first. The biggest part of our strategic priorities is having him at the helm with those characteristics.”
Commented Roellke: “Serving as Stetson’s 10th president has been the greatest honor and privilege of my professional life, and I am eager to continue to lead our collective efforts in making our university the very best it can be. For me, it is always about our incredible students and how we equip them with the skills and dispositions required to be successful in an increasingly complex world.”
Roellke’s high energy, enthusiasm and focus on students are staples across the campus.
NEWS AND NOTES ABOUT KNOWLEDGE
Kyle Longest, PhD: New Dean for College of Arts and Sciences
In April, Stetson announced the selection of Kyle C. Longest, PhD, as the next Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He began that new role July 15.
Longest arrives from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, where since 2020 he has served as Associate Academic Dean and Professor of Sociology. He began his career as a faculty member there in 2009, teaching courses on everything from the Sociology of Religion, Sociology of Deviance, Research Methods, Quantitative Analysis, Youth and Adolescence, and Discovering Greatness to the Sociology of Harry Potter. He was chair of the Sociology Department for four years (2016-2020). Among other roles, he was the Interim University Registrar for an academic year, as well as associate director and facilitator at the Associated Colleges of the South’s annual Teaching and Learning Workshop.
At Stetson, Longest intends to hit the ground running.
“I don’t think Stetson can afford any delay,” he said in April. “It has already created such momentum, and with its strategic priorities and some of the initiatives that I know the university is undertaking, I don’t want to pause any of that work.”
Why Stetson? Longest was, in fact, attracted to Stetson because of the timing.
“When I started looking into Stetson’s mission, values and recently released strategic priorities, I kept coming away amazed at how close of a fit it was to my own perspective on where higher education should be headed,” said Longest, who received master’s and doctorate degrees in Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “There were times where I thought, it’s almost as if someone asked me how we should be approaching these real challenges.”
Most intriguing was Stetson’s emphasis on “relationships above all else.”
“Stetson is clearly very student-centric in a holistic way and focused on creating authentic value for students that will help them as they enter into the world after Stetson,” he explained. “This ties into engaged learning and new opportunities, and how I see Stetson embracing and championing the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion at all levels as a principle and foundational value for students, faculty and staff. These were all things that just continued to fit.”
Longest found Stetson’s “very student-centric” environment especially attractive.
“I knew I only wanted to make the transition from Furman if it was to a place that matched my vision — for the way I believe higher education is going to need to confront the real challenges that it’s facing.
“Stetson has a mission and a set of values and priorities that I believe are fundamentally how we, as an institution of higher education, should be confronting a really challenging situation.”
Kyle C. Longest, PhD, began his new role July 15.
New Dean of Library and Learning Technologies
Following a national search, Katy Webb was selected as Stetson’s new Betty Drees Johnson Dean of the duPont-Ball Library and Learning Technologies. Webb officially joined the Stetson community on July 1.
Webb replaces longtime popular dean Susan Ryan, who retired last fall.
In addition to overseeing the library’s $2 million budget, Webb, as the holder of the only endowed deanship at Stetson, will steward the use of the endowment’s annual, dedicated funds to support library projects, initiatives and/or programs. Other duties include hiring faculty and staff; pursuing fundraising and outreach activities; strategic planning and budgets; and fostering a climate of excellence and connectedness between the library and the other academic and non-academic units, as well as the rest of the university (including the College of Law in Gulfport). Further, Webb will play a role on the university’s Academic Affairs leadership team.
Webb arrives on campus from Yale University, where she was director of Yale Access Services and Bass Library. As director, she was responsible for setting priorities in support of the university’s teaching and research mission, and overseeing all administrative aspects of Bass Library. Her responsibilities also extended beyond the Bass Library to include high-use public spaces and collections located in Yale’s Sterling Memorial Library.
Prior to Yale, Webb held library roles at East Carolina University (as a tenured associate professor/ librarian) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
At Stetson, Webb will seek to continue positioning the library as a “central place for students to come together to learn and grow.”
“Libraries are key locations for institutions of higher education like Stetson University — not only do they serve as the ’third place’ on campus besides the classroom, residence hall or office for students and faculty, but they are also the intellectual heart of the university,” she said.
Katy Webb arrives on campus from Yale University.
Stetson University College of Law is again No. 1 for Trial Advocacy.
Central Florida Pledge, University Commitment
In late February, Stetson once again showed why it is Stetson. Several of the university’s leaders, along with five students, attended an event in downtown Orlando to launch the Central Florida Pledge — a Ginsburg Foundation-inspired, community-driven regional initiative to combat antisemitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of hate and discrimination throughout our communities. The pledge asks residents to commit to treating all people with kindness and respect, especially those with whom they disagree.
Stetson President Christopher F. Roellke, PhD, was the first university president to sign the pledge, joining a veritable who’s who of regional officials, dignitaries and local citizens.
Not coincidentally, the Central Florida Pledge dovetailed nicely with two other initiatives that in April took place on campus, United Against Hate and Better Together Week.
Stetson partnered with the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, the Hon. Roger Handberg, to host a United Against Hate training that aimed to improve hate-crime reporting by teaching community members how to identify, report and help prevent hate crimes, along with building trust between law enforcement and communities. At the conclusion of that training, representatives from the West Volusia NAACP and DeLand Pride joined student leaders from Hillel, Kaleidoscope and the Multicultural Student Council to sign The Pledge alongside Handberg.
Through weeklong Better Together events, Stetson's Interfaith Values Fellows led programs to help students learn about faith traditions other than their own, identify shared values and work together on communityservice projects.
Stetson Law Retains Top U.S. News Rankings
For the second year in a row, two key programs at Stetson University College of Law have garnered major recognition from U.S. News & World Report.
The College of Law’s renowned Trial Advocacy program has earned the No. 1 ranking for 2025, while the school’s nationally recognized Legal Writing program has maintained its No. 3 spot in that category. Both of the rankings remain unchanged from U.S. News’ 2024 voting cycle; Legal Writing ranked No. 3 for the third consecutive year.
Overall, the College of Law ranked No. 98 for its full-time JD program and No. 30 for its part-time JD Program.
Last fall, the College of Law opened the doors of its state-of-the-art Advocacy Institute, a large facility dedicated to the study and practice of this fundamental skill. With support from faculty, staff, alumni and other members of the community, students are invited to cultivate strong lawyering skills through competitive advocacy, transformative pro bono work, and immersive experiences like clinics and externships.
Meanwhile, Stetson Law’s Legal Writing program utilizes proven methods of developing legal communication skills while program leadership works diligently to ensure the curriculum evolves as emerging cultural and technological patterns continue to shape legal scholarship and practice.
Stetson Again Named a Top Game Design Program
Stetson has been named one of the Top 50 programs for game design in the country by The Princeton Review for the third year in a row.
The Princeton Review surveyed colleges in America, Canada and some countries abroad to compile the list. Stetson was selected No. 43 among undergraduate programs for 2024, based on the quality of academics, faculty and game design labs, as well as career outcomes for graduates.
“We highly recommend Stetson University, as well as the other outstanding schools on our 2024 lists, to students considering a career in the exciting field of game design,” said Rob Franek, The Princeton Review’s Editor-in-Chief. “Their faculties are superb. Their facilities are state-ofthe-art, and their alumni include many of the industry’s most successful game designers, developers, and entrepreneurs.”
Last summer, based on the program’s success,
Stetson added a second computer lab for students studying Digital Arts, upgraded equipment in both labs and hired an additional faculty member. Students in the program enjoy small class sizes, allowing them to work closely with accomplished faculty to build their portfolios.
Professors also help connect students with alumni who are working in the industry.
Further, Stetson’s Digital Arts program offers extra benefits to students, professors say, because it’s housed in the Creative Arts Department. Students can take classes in graphic design, web design, 3D computer animation, 2D hand-drawn animation, video game development, augmented reality and virtual reality, digital photography, digital video, audio recording and production, and electronic music and sound design. In addition, students are encouraged to pursue classes outside the program, such as computer science classes that teach coding for video games.
Dengke Chen, MFA, associate professor of Digital Arts, works with students in one of Stetson’s state-of-the-art computer labs.
Four Voice Students Become Latest Opera Orlando Apprentices
While few undergraduate voice students can claim experience with a professional opera company on their résumés, that’s not the case for four Stetson music performance majors. They are getting a jump-start on their careers through an apprenticeship program with Opera Orlando.
Nicholas Dieux ’25, Rachel Castillo ’25, Tajah Garrett ’26 and Kenneth Browning ’26 represent the second batch of Stetson students selected by audition to participate in an Opera Orlando season. All four are Voice Performance students in the Bachelor of Music degree program.
The apprenticeship program debuted last fall.
The students will work with opera professionals in every phase of production.
The collaboration with Opera Orlando “represents a unique and prestigious opportunity for our students,” said Stetson’s School of Music Dean Washington Garcia, DMA.
ALL IN for Voting
In May, Victoria Ramón ’25 was one of 137 college students from across the nation to be recognized in the 2024 ALL IN Student Voting Honor Roll. Ramón was further selected to be one of six students nationwide featured in a video on ALL IN’s Instagram highlighting the honorees.
The honor roll is composed of college students doing outstanding work to advance nonpartisan democratic engagement at participating campuses. The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge engages more than 1,000 institutions enrolling more than 10 million students nationwide.
“Young people who vote in their very first elections are 30% more likely to become habitual, lifelong voters,” noted Kevin Winchell, director of Community Engagement at Stetson, who nominated Ramón for the honor. “So, institutions of higher education have an opportunity, and a responsibility, to do all we can to ensure that our students are registered to vote, enrolled in vote-
“This partnership exemplifies Stetson’s commitment to providing real-world, professional experiences within our curriculum,” Garcia said. “By bridging academic training with professional practice, the apprenticeship program provides our students with the skills, confidence and connections essential for succeeding upon graduation.”
by-mail, educated about the issues from as many informed perspectives as possible, and supported in get-out-the-vote activities during early voting and on Election Day.”
Ramón is an Honors student with a selfdefined major in Social Justice and Community Engagement and a minor in Spanish. She also served as a Ginsburg Fellow this past year.
“I do this work for all the Stetson students who might be scared to vote or just have questions,” she said.
Top left to bottom right: Students Kenneth Browning, Nicholas Dieux, Tajah Garrett and Rachel Castillo were selected to participate in the Opera Orlando Apprenticeship Program.
Victoria Ramón ’25
Prestigious Economics Summer
Institute Accepts Two Hatters
Monetarily speaking, this is pretty big news. And it’s even bigger news academically.
Abigail Radisky and Alex Faulkner from Stetson’s Class of 2026 were accepted into June’s prestigious Expanding Diversity in Economics Summer Institute at the University of Chicago’s Becker Friedman Institute for Economics and the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy in Washington, D.C.
There were nearly 1,000 student applications for entrance into the institute, of which only 45 nationwide were accepted — including two from Stetson. Among the other universities represented are The University of Chicago, Standard University, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, University of Southern California, Swarthmore College and Duke University.
The 2024 cohort represents 33 universities in 17 states.
Radisky is pursuing a double major in Digital Art and Marketing, with an interest in Economics. Faulkner is an Economics major.
The Expanding Diversity program was launched in 2021 and aims to increase diversity in economics through finding and supporting outstanding undergraduates who are interested in the field. The goal is to foster a “new generation of academics and professionals who draw on the tools of economics to offer new perspectives and research ideas, and eventually make a positive impact in the world,” according to Becker Friedman Institute officials.
The program targets first- and second-year students. The costs of housing, travel and participation are covered for all participants, who also receive a stipend of at least $1,200 upon successful completion of the program.
Elizabeth Hall to Add an Elevator
Elizabeth Hall — part of Stetson’s Campus Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places — is making history again. The building is getting an elevator. Construction work continues through Aug. 9.
The new elevator will access all three floors of Elizabeth Hall. Also, a new accessible ramp and new stairs will be added at the entrances on the east side of the building, and new accessible restrooms will be added on all three floors.
With its center portion constructed in 1892, Elizabeth Hall was the first major building erected on campus by university benefactor and namesake John B. Stetson.
Abigail Radisky and Alex Faulkner from the Class of 2026.
Students celebrated the announcement about Elizabeth Hall’s new elevator.
School of Business Administration Flexes Competitive Muscle
By mid-Spring semester, teams from the School of Business Administration were already flexing their competitive muscle.
In late February, the Roland George Investments Program won the Florida Chartered Financial Analyst Research Championship. In early March, the Centurion Sales Competition Team won the prestigious National Collegiate Sales Competition. Then, in April, students on Stetson’s Business Ethics Case Competition Team won four first-place trophies at the International Business Ethics Case Competition in Boston. Additionally, two members of the Centurion Sales Team, Rosaileen Vega and Zane DeRienzo, won the Global Bilingual Sales Competition title.
The victories all added to a significant tally of recent and continued success against other top schools.
In the CFA championship, an annual global event, other schools included, among others, Barry University, Florida
International University, Lynn University, Florida State University, the University of South Florida and the University of Miami. Stetson teams have now won four years in a row.
For the Centurion Sales Team, the two spring wins meant concluding the 2023-2024 year with a triumphant Triple Crown — conquering the World Cup of Sales, the National Collegiate Sales Competition and the Global Bilingual Sales Competition. The National Collegiate Sales Competition is the country’s longest-running university sales role-play competition, dedicated to advancing the practice and professionalism of the sales career.
In the Business Ethics Case Competition, winning the four first-place trophies was a feat never before accomplished in the 27-year history of the event. Among the other schools competing were Penn State University, Wilkes University, Fordham University, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, California State University at Northridge and College of the Holy Cross.
Stetson’s Centurion Sales Competition Team (from left): Simon Choate, Robert ’Isaac’ Choate, Rosaileen ’Rosa’ Vega, Dakota Phillips and Valen Siddhartha Shankar Brown
The makeover will be primarily donor-funded.
Edmunds Center Renovation
The Edmunds Center, built in 1974 as the university’s largest multiuse facility, is getting a facelift. The center will be remade to meet current code standards under the Americans With Disabilities Act while also being enhanced aesthetically as a showpiece for Stetson Athletics.
The renovation will be primarily donor-funded, likely occurring in phases as fundraising efforts unfold. Completion of phase one is anticipated by next summer.
Among the planned additions are a new exterior façade and new lobby, including an expansion of concessions and an area dedicated to the Stetson Athletics Hall of Fame. Also, there will be new restrooms, new seating, a new sound system and a new elevator. The seating capacity is expected to be approximately the current 5,000.
In essence, from entry to exit, a completely new experience is being promised.
Highlights: The centerpiece of the first floor will be Stetson’s Hall of Fame, with glass trophy cases, a lounge and areas that recognize Hatter achievements through the decades, along with expanded spaces for retail merchandise and concessions. A “history of Stetson Athletics” wall will include a timeline that dates back to the 1800s, in addition to photos and more in Championship Hall, leading fans into the arena or via elevator/stairway to the second floor.
The second floor will house suites and offices for administrators and coaches, along with multipurpose spaces for use as classrooms/meeting rooms, or for receptions and other events. To see the renovation activity, check out the Edmunds Center Webcam.
Editor’s note: Want to donate? Naming rights are available for many of the new and enhanced areas. More information: Contact Heather McCormick, PhD, hmccormick@stetson.edu.
protected.
Stetson’s Water Institute Helps to Protect Historic Farmland
Stetson’s Institute for Water and Environmental Resilience continues to spread its influence. Among its most recent achievements is helping to put an endangered 561-acre farm in Gilchrist County in safer hands.
Thanks to the institute — IWER — Watson Farm, located within the Devil’s Ear Springshed in Gilchrist County, has been permanently protected through a conservation easement and will undergo a transition to lower-impact farming over the next 10 years. The 561-acre property represents a long history of agriculture and industry in North Central Florida.
The project involved the Alachua Conservation Trust, in partnership with the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Suwannee River Water Management District and IWER, working closely with the owners of the farm. The agreement they reached is among the first of its kind in Florida.
Notably, as another sign of increasing success, last fall IWER was awarded $1 million by the National Science Foundation. In addition, IWER and other environmental groups and governmental agencies received a $25 million federal grant for a lake/lagoon conservation program in Volusia, Lake and Flagler counties.
New 305-Bed Residence Hall on the Way
This summer, Stetson broke ground on a 305-bed residence hall in the center of campus that is designed to enhance the residential living experience for students and provide more places to gather and study.
The four-story residence hall is scheduled to open in 2026 near the Carlton Union Building and Templeton Fountain, expanding the heart of the DeLand campus with an amphitheater, open green spaces and gathering places for students.
The residence hall will offer a mix of attractive living spaces for students, including traditional double-occupancy rooms, shared suite-style rooms and individual rooms, along with community kitchens, lounges and other common areas.
“The vision behind our new residence hall is that it’s not just for the students who live there. It’s a new hub for all students to be in community,” said Jessica Day, executive director of campus Residential Living & Learning.
Thanks to a partnership involving Stetson, Watson Farm is now
The four-story residence hall is scheduled to open in 2026.
THE STORY BEHIND THE SOUND
As a teenager visiting the campus, my first reaction to hearing the Beckerath in Lee Chapel: “Oh, my! Organs really can sound that good!” I ended up here both as a music student and a professor.
BY BOYD JONES ’75
The organ in Stetson’s Lee Chapel was built in 1961 by the firm of legendary organ builder Rudolf von Beckerath of Hamburg, Germany. School of Music
Professor Paul Jenkins was the leader of the historic project, having become familiar with Beckerath’s work through the first American Beckerath organ, which today remains in a Cleveland, Ohio, church.
At the time, it was a rather revolutionary choice for our university. American builders had been building instruments with insensitive electric key action for many years, enamored of the possibilities brought about by modern electric technology. The selection of a classically designed mechanical key action organ, encased in reflective housing, represented a return to the design ideas of previous centuries, exemplified by many historical instruments throughout Europe.
In fact, Stetson’s Beckerath organ was the first such instrument (encased, with mechanical key action) in an American university’s primary performance space. There had been the Cleveland Beckerath and a Dutch Flentrop organ at Harvard University, housed in an art gallery. Stetson’s organ became a revelation to a generation of organists, who still hold it in high regard both as an instrument of excellence and as a historical monument.
The organ consists of 36 stops, 54 ranks of pipes and more than 2,700 pipes in total.
In late January, College Cliffs, a provider of higher-education rankings, included the Beckerath organ among its “20 Oldest and Most Amazing Organs in College Campus Chapels.”
My first encounter with the organ came in my senior year of high school. I was living in Louisville, Kentucky, and was studying with a fine organist, James W. Good. Dr. Good normally taught graduatelevel students, yet had taken me on. He was invited to do a guest recital at Stetson, and suggested that I come with him to meet Professor Jenkins and experience the organs here. The year was 1971.
As a teenager, I had many recordings of
Professor Boyd Jones, DMA
the great European organs. I also had lots of recordings of rock bands. I practiced on large American-made electric-action organs, buried in chambers in churches in Louisville. I had heard several famous rock bands in concert, and noticed they never seemed to sound as good as the recordings. The same seemed true of organs. None that I had played or heard came close to the glorious, living, breathing sounds of the great European organs on recordings. I just assumed that nothing sounded as good in person as it did on recordings. I vividly recall first hearing the Stetson Beckerath organ and thinking, “Oh, my! Organs really can sound that good!”
I ended up attending Stetson, and Professor Jenkins became my mentor, and remains the most influential teacher I ever had, despite my later study at Yale University and abroad. I know that scores of his former students, many of whom went on to the most distinguished graduate schools, share this assessment of his teaching prowess. He served as professor of organ in the School of Music from 1956 to 1993.
It has always seemed to me that such a then-radical choice for an organ in an academic institution could have only been made at a school like Stetson, where the decision could be made by one professor, one dean and one president. Schools still have trouble getting fine organs. Given the large costs, they often confront preferences for “lowest bid” considerations, preferences for nearby builders and committees making decisions without being really well-informed.
Rudolf von Beckerath was a builder of enormous importance. His organs are in several countries. He had apprentices who have gone on to be the heads of some of the most important organ-building firms around the world, including in the United States. He passed away in 1976, but his firm continues in Hamburg.
After Stetson, many schools acquired similarly excellent instruments. The next U.S. Beckerath, after ours, was built at the University of Richmond. In 1971, the same year that Stetson acquired a Beckerath
studio organ, Yale University had an instrument similar in size to the Lee Chapel organ built in their Dwight Chapel, in the center of the campus. Generations of students have learned from Paul Jenkins, and I hope from me, and also from the instruments here. In the case of organ study, people learn at least as much from the instruments they are able to study and practice on as they do from a professor.
We are fortunate at Stetson to have a total of six organs by Beckerath. The studio organ is a bit more than one-third the size of the Lee Chapel organ, and the others are small practice organs. All are still in excellent condition, and all possess the same key sensitivity that is so essential for refined organ study and performance.
The Lee Chapel organ is well known in the broader organ community. It seems an inevitability that guest recitalists will conclude their performances by bowing first to the audience, and then to the instrument. The organ here is arguably the finest work of art the university possesses. Later work provided an update to the case design. When the organ was built in 1961, the case of the instrument was a very plain Bauhaus-style German case design, as no expense was wasted on visual aesthetics. Years later, noted organ-case designer Charles Nazarian provided new encasement, without disturbing any of the acoustical aspects of the original design. He was attempting to do what Beckerath might have done had there been no budget
restrictions in 1961.
The casework is fascinating, including an “egg and dart” motive found in the proscenium arch of Lee Chapel, column design from the chapel’s interior, relief work copied from the exterior of Elizabeth Hall, “dental” work taken from the building’s design detail, and recurring shapes also employed on the exterior.
It has been an enormous privilege to learn on, teach on and play on this magnificent organ. It comes from what is considered the “sweet spot” in Beckerath’s building career (late 1950s to early 1960s). It is perfectly matched to the room’s acoustics in design, pipe scaling and voicing.
A restoration of the interior of the room about 20 years ago (with new wood for the seating, stage floor, etc.) required technicians from Beckerath to return and do subtle revoicing to have the instrument remain perfectly married to its surroundings.
The organ has been lovingly maintained, and remains a significant example of one of the greatest 20th-century organ craftsmen. I am honored to be associated with such an exemplary organ.
A 1975 alumnus, Boyd Jones, DMA, is now the Stetson University organist and the John E. and Aliese Price Professor of Organ. In addition, Jones performs extensively throughout the United States on both organ and harpsichord.
Jones: "It has been an enormous privilege to learn on, teach on and play on this magnificent organ."
The Bonner Program brings together individuals from diverse backgrounds with unique perspectives, experiences and expertise.
’BONNER LOVE’
The student-run Bonner Program embodies the motto “Access to Education, Opportunity to Serve.” And that’s only the start.
BY TAYLOR HIBEL ’20
As the Stetson Bonner Program celebrates 20 years of community engagement and transformative experiences, it’s a great time to celebrate the relationships, guiding principles and experiences that make this program a place where people feel connected to a vibrant community.
Since fall 2005, Stetson has been home to the Bonner Program, a national network of 65-plus schools providing relationship-rich opportunities that transform students, communities and campuses through service. The vision of former President Doug Lee, PhD, and the university’s Board of Trustees members — the visionaries and early funders of the program — has indeed come to fruition, as Stetson Bonners “Let their lives speak!”
I’ve been a part of the Bonner community at Stetson since 2018, first as a student and now in a staff capacity as the assistant director. Bonner has brought all of the best people into my life, so I am excited to reflect on what makes the program so relationship-rich.
A student-run program, Bonner embodies the motto “Access to Education, Opportunity to Serve” by bringing together folks who are committed to leveraging their knowledge and skills to engage in community well-being and social-change efforts. This program truly is a community where values-driven people gather to learn, grow and engage in solving the most complex challenges facing our local and global communities.
At the heart of Bonner, the program shows us the immense power of relationships — with community partners, fellow students, faculty and staff — to clarify values, shape lives and create positive change.
STARTING STRONG
The close relationships and community-
building efforts that Bonner is known for are layered with high-impact practices to maximize student learning and student success. From the moment students are accepted into the program, Bonner staff and student leaders plan experiences to help incoming students connect with other students in their cohort, as well as members of the broader Bonner community. We believe that students thrive with clear expectations about the program and support in making friends. As a result, a thorough orientation has been developed to help them learn both about what to expect and how to build community.
Beyond orientation, Bonners participate in many other shared experiences during their first year on campus. Our students take the same First Year Seminar, live in Conrad Hall together and work in the community as one, all of which are college experiences that include deep learning and high levels of faculty/staff support. Our students love this built-in friend group, and we see that our first-year students develop strong friendships from regular interactions in class along with unplanned, spontaneous interactions in Conrad. These experiences help students feel a sense of belonging during their first semester, and this sense of belonging only deepens as students experience more of the developmental cohort model of Bonner.
BONNER ACTIVITIES IN 2023-2024
Just a few examples of what Bonner students were doing in the nearby campus community during this past school year:
• Maddie Emmons, a Bonner sophomore working at the Chisholm Center, installed a Little Library at her site.
• Gabbey Gomez, a Bonner firstyear student working with United Way, went to Tallahassee to advocate for United Way’s public policy priorities.
• Jackie Maze, a Bonner junior working with Hispanic Health Initiatives, provided health assessments to community members by connecting with local churches and community centers.
• Evans Asuboah, a Bonner senior working with Black Homeschoolers of Central Florida, redesigned a website to improve the usability and fundraising capacity.
• Rodrigo Pereira, a Bonner junior working with The Neighborhood Center, Good Samaritan Clinic and Black Homeschoolers of Central Florida, created videos and social media content for fundraisers.
• Kaci Kruglewicz, a Bonner senior, worked on marine rescues in Portugal and Peru.
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
The principles of ethical community engagement that guide Bonner — focusing on mutually beneficial, reciprocal and asset-based work — help us form trusting relationships where we listen to understand, practice empathy and consistently show up. Through intentional training, shared experiences and practices that center connection, members of Bonner develop deep, trusting relationships with
other members of our program.
These trusting relationships are full of “Bonner Love,” a term of endearment we use to describe the care, affection and support we give to fellow Bonners.
We care deeply about our students and put time and effort toward making them feel valued, appreciated, seen and loved. We know it’s important to tell folks they matter and acknowledge their efforts are meaningful. So, we write Bonner Fuzzies (short notes) to share our affection with one another.
We create a community where all of our students can feel like they belong. With a significant portion of students being international or students of color (80%), the program brings together individuals from diverse backgrounds with unique perspectives, experiences and expertise. This diversity helps our program build bridges, engage in dialogue across difference and find common ground, which helps us form deeper connections.
STUDENT-CENTERED APPROACH
Within the Bonner program, we firmly believe in supporting holistic student development and creating environments where members can thrive as people, students, leaders and professionals. We seek to provide students with the right balance of challenge and support as they work toward finding their people, place and purpose.
All Bonners engage in paid internships with local nonprofit community partners, which often last throughout their entire time at Stetson. These internship of eight
to 10 hours per week represent long-term developmental involvement that allows our Bonners to build mentoring relationships with site supervisors and community members at their community partner sites, as well as with other Bonners who work on their team.
As part of their required 1,000-plus hours of work over four years, all Bonners also complete at least one paid, full-time Summer of Service with a nonprofit organization anywhere in the world. Additionally, Bonners participate in paid training sessions that provide opportunities for personal, professional and leadership development. This structured training model helps students build lifelong skills while also providing regular, planned interactions that support building community.
In addition to their weekly work and training, the Certificate of Community Engagement and Junior Capstone Project allow Bonners to integrate their academic interests and career goals with their community engagement efforts. We call this synergy the “Sweet Spot,” and find that it helps our students develop meaningful connections to faculty mentors, community partner co-educators and other students who share similar interests.
Through these experiential learning opportunities, Bonners gain more experience and skills while integrating more of their academic interests and career goals into their internships over time. This environment provides students with the right balance of challenge and support to make their goals and dreams happen. Bonner students must complete 1,000-plus hours of community work over four years.
CULTURE AND CONNECTIONS
Much of our culture and connections within the program are built through our Bonner Lead Team. This group of 10 to 12 student leaders plans events, shapes the direction of the program and invests time into making sure people feel included. They provide peer mentorship and support for personal, academic and Bonner-related challenges. Student leaders and staff practice transparency by telling students why we do community-building work, and we often talk about the importance of relationships. We frequently talk about making friends and sustaining relationships by highlighting the intentionality, thoughtful planning and time it takes to build community.
Trust, relationships and community are built in small moments over time. So, we show up in thoughtful ways, start meetings with connection questions and spend lots of time getting to know people.
One practice our Lead Team uses to encourage sharing, vulnerability and trusting relationships is the establishment of Brave Space Rules. These collective group agreements create a space where members of the program can feel comfortable learning, sharing and examining ideas. We develop these shared norms at the start of each fall semester, include them in every group meeting and frequently reference them. Brave Space Rules such as one mic
BONNER DISTINCTION
(no interruptions) and YOGOWYPI (you only get out what you put in) help us develop a meeting culture that is respectful, kind and intentional about “how we show up in spaces.” We want people to be OK with sharing their authentic self and know they won’t be shamed.
The intentionality of Bonner goes beyond Brave Space Rules. It is present in everything from small-group interactions to shared retreats, orientations and regular meetings. Every aspect of the program is designed to build a community with common values and relationships where members feel seen, heard and valued.
Through transparent communication and intentional acts of appreciation, both students and staff contribute to a culture of mutual support, understanding and grace.
As the Stetson Bonner Program celebrates its 20th anniversary, it serves as an example of why relationships matter when you are working to create meaningful change. With more than 300 graduates and a graduation rate of approximately 95%, the program has remained a community where people come seeking to make a difference and leave empowered to lead lives of meaning.
The Bonner Program is for people who know what upsets them to the point of action. These students join the program wanting to form relationships with other students who want to apply what they are
learning in the classroom to advance justice-oriented work in the community.
In reflecting on the past two decades, it’s clear that Bonner has led to many lives being touched, countless close relationships and impactful community outcomes. As someone who married a fellow Bonner she met in the program, I can certainly speak to how the close relationships in the program are lifelong. Bonner’s intentional community-building efforts, structured support and training, and student-centered approach are clear ways we build trust, promote our shared values and invest in relationships.
In a world where loneliness and cruelty are the norm (sadly), it’s exciting to know that graduates of the Stetson Bonner Program are departing with an understanding of how to cultivate warmth, joy and meaning.
We’re excited to see what the next chapter of the Bonner story holds, because it’s clear it will be one where we recognize our shared humanity, work to advance justice and continue to build a loving community.
Taylor Hibel ’20 is assistant director of the Bonner Program and Community Partnerships. A Bonner Program student at Stetson, she majored in Biology (with a concentration in community engagement).
The Bonner Foundation selected five interns for the 2024 National Bonner Summer Internship program from among its 75-plus Bonner programs — and two are from Stetson: Ariel Castillo, a junior this fall, and Abria Doe, a third-year senior.
The interns, from various universities and diverse academic backgrounds, focus on key strategic initiatives, including curriculum development, student coalition building, supporting career connections, video creation and researching models for servicebased scholarships.
Castillo, originally from Masaya, Nicaragua, majors in Digital Arts and minors in a Certificate of Community Engagement. Doe is majoring in English with the Certificate of Community Engagement minor.
Ariel Castillo Abria Doe
ACHIEVEMENT
OVER ADVERSITY
Two students from Ukraine became Stetson alumni in May — a big feat, to be sure, but only a small part of their stories.
BY TRISH WIELAND
From left: Yuliia Balan and Yana Verbova graduated in May, while Genevia Gayden plans to return as a student this fall.
Graduating from college is certainly a significant accomplishment for anyone, but it’s even more significant if you’ve been displaced by war from your native country while trying to earn that degree.
Two young Ukrainian students, Yuliia Balan and Yana Verbova, were among May's Stetson graduates and, with brave smiles, they stand proud of what they’ve accomplished. At the same time, they wrestle — as they have throughout their time on campus — with nonstop worry about their loved ones back home.
The original goal of the Stetson Ukraine Initiative was to bring four Ukrainian undergraduate students and one Ukrainian professor to Stetson for the 2022-2023 academic year. Joining Yana and Yuliia was Genevia Gayden, the third student, and a fourth student transferred for family reasons to a college in another state for the 20232024 academic year.
The faculty member is Olena Kolupayeva, PhD, who before coming to Stetson was an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism at Kamianets-Podilskyi Ivan Ohiienko National University. Kolupayeva joined Stetson as a Visiting Teacher-Scholar through the university’s Brown Center for Faculty Innovation and Excellence, with support for the program continuing into the recently completed academic year. Kolupayeva has accepted a continuing position at Stetson in the Department of Communication and Media Studies as an assistant professor of practice in Journalism (effective August 2024).
Mayhill Fowler, PhD, as the only Ukrainian-speaking faculty member on campus and an expert on Ukraine, served as the students’ initial faculty adviser. Those first experiences are something she won’t soon forget.
“We met frequently, talking about academics, their families, the war, in a mix of Ukrainian and English,” remembers Fowler, associate professor of History and director of Stetson’s Program in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies (SPREES). “I hope I was able to make them feel welcome and acclimated to Stetson, and I so enjoyed getting to know them.”
The students, in turn, got to know a welcoming Stetson.
“Before coming to Stetson, I was nervous about how I would feel in a new environment because I had never been to the United States,” said Balan, who received a Political Science degree at May’s Commencement ceremony.
“However, thanks to the enormous support of the organizers of the Ukrainian Initiative, including Dr. [Mayhill] Fowler, Dr. [Elizabeth] Plantan and Dr. [Martin] Blackwell, as well as international friends, faculty members and donors, I felt that I was in the right place and at the right time.”
Balan excelled while at Stetson, receiving the 2024 T. Wayne Bailey Award for Outstanding Senior Research in Political Science and being honored as an Outstanding Senior in the department. This summer, she also received a degree in International Information from the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Ukraine.
This fall, Balan will pursue a master’s degree in International Relations jointly administered by the Central European University in Vienna and Bard College in New York. “After this, I would like to apply for a PhD in political science or work at intergovernmental organizations,” Balan says.
Upon arrival, Verbova had similar mixed emotions.
“Stetson was definitely a perfect place to be, but it seemed like I was split into two worlds: leaving my fabulous country with my bosom friends and family, who undergo a lot of difficulties every single day fighting for their own life, or
building my own bright future in the USA,” she says. “No matter how tough of a decision it was to me, I consciously decided to give Stetson ‘a go,’ since studying in Ukraine was barely possible at that time.
“The first week of my transition was rough because I was in a complete shock and frustration, as I worried about the safety of my loved ones left behind in Ukraine. Step by step, I was starting to get used to my independent life in the USA. Yet, I cannot be fully calm when my country is suffering. That is why I have daily FaceTime calls with my parents at least to ask them how they are doing.”
“In these times of horrific war events, there should be light at the end of the dark tunnel,” Verbova continues. “Studying at Stetson was truly my lifelong dream that came true! If fate decides that this is your turn, you should grab this chance in a heartbeat. Stetson has been the love of my heart since my first day. This small community made me feel at home, made my heart warmer and renewed my long-lost belief in a fulfilled life.”
Verbova now plans to obtain her master’s degree in Public Health, likely with a health services concentration at Brown University, thanks to a generous fellowship and internship offer.
As for post-master’s plans, she isn’t quite sure, noting, “There is a possibility I will proceed with my educational career in the PhD field, or I will be lucky enough to find a job of my dreams in the long run.”
Elizabeth Plantan, PhD, faculty co-director of the Initiative and assistant professor of Political Science, is “immensely proud” of both graduates.
“It has been an honor to be a part of their undergraduate journey,” Plantan comments. “In interacting with both students, whether in class or at community-oriented events on Ukraine, I am consistently impressed with their high level of professionalism, poise and passion for their country. I have no doubt that they have bright futures ahead of them, and that they will continue to raise awareness of the war in Ukraine and eventually play a key role in rebuilding Ukraine.”
Gayden, who plans to stay at Stetson as a junior majoring in Political Science and Global Development, must reluctantly wave goodbye to them. Each arrived on campus separately but formed close bonds as roommates, classmates and compatriots.
“I’m going to miss Yana and Yuliia,” Gayden says. “[But] I am happy to know that they are going to do well in their future academic endeavors.”
Gayden also is grateful, citing Stetson’s continued support of Ukraine, Ukrainian community members, and the Ukrainian students and professor.
“While the support of Ukraine is crucial in this time,” Gayden says, “Stetson expanded its support to directly and fully funding undergraduate students in the U.S. We hope to do everything in our power to not let that assistance go to waste.”
Stetson hopes to continue that assistance.
“In the future, we would be open to and interested in finding a way to continue or expand the Initiative,” Plantan says. “Russia’s war against Ukraine has not ended, and there continues to be a need to support Ukraine and Ukrainians. Stetson’s particular strengths, such as its SPREES Program and faculty, helped to make this Initiative a reality alongside support from the administration, staff and generous funders.”
Indeed, the Stetson Ukraine Initiative has made an impact, both on the students and their professors.
Martin Blackwell, PhD, faculty co-director and Visiting Professor of History, calls his involvement in the Initiative his “most important work as a professional over these past two years.”
“Two of our students are now graduating,” Blackwell says. “They are going to be successful professionals in the future, true, too. But knowing that they have been out there on campus and in DeLand meeting people and making friends is really what’s most important to me. They are just bright lights in difficult cloudy times for the world as a whole.”
“I adore Yuliia and Yana and have the highest hopes for them!” concludes Fowler. “I wish they could go home right away to Ukraine, but war has changed so many life paths. I hope that in 10 years, Yana is working in public health and Yuliia is crafting security policy, and they both feel like their lives are meaningful. I hope they are safe and happy.
“They have taken everything possible from these two years, and they show us how transformative Stetson can be. They showed me how great Stetson can be. I could not be prouder of them.”
Olena Kolupayeva, PhD, is now an assistant professor of practice in Journalism at Stetson.
Mayhill Fowler, PhD, remembers thinking, “I hope I was able to make them feel welcome and acclimated to Stetson.”
Martin Blackwell, PhD, considers his involvement the “most important work as a professional over these past two years.”
Elizabeth Plantan, PhD: “It has been an honor to be a part of their undergraduate journey.”
RELATIONSHIP-RICH
HIGH ACHIEVEMENT AND THE NURTURING
MENTORSHIP OF STUDENTS EXEMPLIFY BOTH THE UNIVERSITY’S MISSION AND THE “KIND, EMPATHETIC AND COLLABORATIVE” CLASS OF 2024.
RELATIONSHIP-RICH
At Stetson’s 138th Commencement ceremony in May, President Christopher F. Roellke, PhD, took a moment during his opening address and prompted the new graduates to look around and acknowledge.
His words that day: “Please take a moment to look over to someone who has made a difference in your Stetson journey and in your life.”
Roellke followed with a message about kindness. Arriving on campus July 1, 2020, almost the same time many of the new graduates were beginning their Stetson journey, Roellke had immediately emphasized kindness and urged its belief as a core university principle.
While on the stage at Spec Martin Memorial Stadium, Roellke spoke of empathy and collaboration, congratulating the new graduates on their accomplishments in those areas — referring to them as the “Kind, Empathetic and Collaborative Stetson University Class of 2024.”
A similar message was delivered a day earlier at a ceremony held for the School of Business Administration, the School of Music and master’s degree graduates. All totaled, more than 860 students received Stetson diplomas that weekend.
Indeed, Roellke’s Commencement remarks were all about the need for — and the result of — creating a nurturing environment that is undeniably relationship-rich, distinctly Stetson and evidently working well.
How well? Below is a brief sampling of the evidence, personified by students from the graduating Class of 2024 who have achieved greatness at Stetson and, in reflection, because of Stetson.
‘OPENED MY EYES’
Some might say that international student Yahia Adla got lucky when Lynn Kee, PhD, associate professor of Biology, became his adviser. She was also an international student who had navigated an academic path in the United States and was well aware of programs and opportunities that Adla might have missed without some guidance.
Adla was born in Syria and moved to Egypt with his family in 2012. He applied to Stetson and was accepted in 2020.
While working on a degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology during the pandemic, Adla needed lab experience, and since Stetson had closed its labs, he turned to Kee for help. She offered him a summer position working alongside her as a course assistant for the Microbial Diversity Lab Course at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts.
“We built a connection, and afterwards she helped me make decisions and apply for my summer undergraduate research program,” remembers Adla, who completed a summer research fellowship — a National Science Foundation-funded REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) — at Johns Hopkins University.
“Dr. Kee opened my eyes to other opportunities that I could not see in the United States,” he continues. “When I met Dr.
Kee, I was in pre-med hoping to go to medical school.”
Kee encouraged Adla to try out other things as an undergraduate, and even helped him secure volunteer positions in DeLand clinics. In addition, Michael King, PhD, professor of Biology, was influential in mentoring Adla, who as a recipient of a Stetson SURE grant worked with King to conduct research.
“Yahia is intrinsically curious and loves to learn, so I encouraged him to pursue opportunities to gain more research and lab experiences,” describes Kee. “At Stetson, Yahia was able to be closely mentored by faculty, like Dr. Mike King and myself. I was able to support in unique ways that allowed him to gain valuable experience in biology.”
With Kee’s guidance, Adla came to the realization that he immensely enjoyed research and being in a lab. That’s when Kee introduced him to the possibilities of MD-PhD programs. “I could go to medical school, but also get a PhD. It’s a connection between being a physician and a scientist.”
It’s the route Adla is now taking. He is working as a research technician at Northeastern University in Boston and studying for his MCAT. He plans to apply to medical school next year with the final goal of becoming a physician scientist. — Patricia Letakis
YAHIA ADLA
‘ALWAYS CHECKING ON ME’
Music has been a lifelong passion for Stetson graduate Isabel Barbato, who received her bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance. This fall, she will be pursuing a master’s of Music at the Yale University Institute of Sacred Music.
It’s been quite the journey from nearby Winter Park High School.
During her time at Stetson, Barbato earned several accolades. Most recently, she won first place at the SERNATS vocal competition. She has performed diverse leading roles in Stetson Opera Theatre’s productions. Last fall, Barbato was one of two Stetson students to be selected as an apprentice for the Opera Orlando Apprenticeship, an opportunity that allowed her to perform in Puccini’s Tosca at Steinmetz Hall in downtown Orlando.
The success hasn’t come easily, and she hasn’t done it alone.
In December 2021, Barbato’s life took a 180-degree turn when she was diagnosed with lymphoma. After the diagnosis, she made the decision to withdraw from Stetson for a year to focus on her treatment. She is now cancer-free.
“I decided to come back to Stetson,” she explains. “I don’t know if I would have made that decision if I hadn’t had the experience I had the first couple of years here and the support
I felt not only in those first years, but in the year I left. People were always checking on me, making sure I was doing well.”
Upon her return to school after undergoing treatment, Barbato was welcomed back to the Stetson community with a benefit concert in her name, with the purpose of raising funds to aid other people battling lymphoma.
And, on campus again, Barbato excelled.
“Her instrument is crystalline and agile, with a unique color that is perfectly suited to a variety of styles,” says Karen CokerMerritt, DM, associate professor of music, voice, who helped to guide her. “This ability to shape-shift perfectly into many styles is perhaps her hallmark.”
Barbato is excited to start her master’s education at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, a joint venture between the Yale School of Music and Yale Divinity School that will enable continued academic and professional growth.
Her dream: changing the world for the better, one performance at a time.
“She has inspiring ideas about the intersection of music and medicine, born amidst the year she spent receiving chemotherapy for lymphoma,” Coker-Merritt says. “She is literally changing the world for the better, and if anyone can do it, it will be her.” — Andrea Mujica
ISABEL BARBATO
‘CHANCE TO DIVE DEEPER’
Halle Block is quick to point out the two things that helped her succeed at Stetson: smaller class sizes and one-on-one time with professors.
During lectures, she was able to ask questions — something her friends at other universities told her is impossible for them. “I was able to gain a deeper understanding of the materials that I was learning, especially by spending time with professors in their offices one-on-one,” says Block, who attended Boone High School in Orlando.
Working toward her major in Physics, Block had two advisers, Holley Lynch, PhD, associate professor of Physics; and Kevin Riggs, PhD, professor and chair of Physics.
Lynch was her research adviser, helping Block with her two 2024 Stetson Showcase projects, “Bioplastic Decomposition and Comport Fertility” and “Axolotl Cell Shaped Analysis During Tissue Spreading.”
“Halle could have succeeded anywhere because she was a motivated and hard-working student, but she had the chance to dive deeper because of the student-to-professor relationship in Physics at Stetson,” Lynch comments. “Intellectually curious, she would often take advantage to ask questions in office hours trying
to get a deeper understanding of the material.”
Block, who sought out additional research opportunities, also worked as Lynch’s assistant for independent study work. All her efforts paid off as Block, who served as the president of the Sigma Pi Sigma Physics Honor Society, was named Stetson’s 2024 outstanding graduating senior in Physics.
When it came to the next step, choosing a graduate school, Block credits Riggs for showing her the way.
“He helped me find my passion for sustainable materials, which is actually what my senior research was about, and I’m continuing to further my education in that subject,” she notes.
Block has been accepted at Purdue University, where she’ll pursue a doctorate in Material Science and Engineering on a full fellowship this fall. She will be researching and developing innovative, sustainable materials.
Although Block acknowledges that striving for academic excellence comes naturally to her, she knows her advisers made a difference.
“Professors at Stetson applauded me for my preparation,” she concludes. “They also have encouraged me to dive deeper into expanding on different topics and conversations that go into the coursework.” — Patricia Letakis
HALLE BLOCK
‘ENTHUSIASTICALLY EMBRACED EVERY OPPORTUNITY’
Being a student-athlete.
That was the first thing on Trynyty Conway’s mind as he considered his college options.
“I had a couple of schools I was talking to, but Stetson stood out to me,” says Conway, who attended Columbus High School in Miami. “They showed me the most love.”
However, Conway — the first in his family to attend college — had no idea that what started as an opportunity to continue playing football would also open the door to knowledge and potential he didn’t know he possessed.
When he arrived on campus, Conway still was unsure of what he wanted to do in life and to study in school. Yet, it wasn’t long before business became an attractive option.
With guidance, he “enthusiastically embraced every opportunity to increase self-knowledge and pursue personal success,” describes Joseph Woodside, DBA, associate professor of Business Systems and Analytics.
“As a result, he successfully achieved his data analytics certification, earning an academically rigorous digital credential that validates knowledge of analyzing and communicating data analysis findings. … Trynyty is well-prepared and positioned for future success,” Woodside adds, noting that Conway combined his business knowledge and his personal passion into a successful project presentation about sports viewership.
Being able to participate in such various experiential-learning opportunities, and utilizing the resources available at the university, came in handy as Conway navigated college while playing football.
“It allowed me to throw myself out there and become a professional,” he says.
Last summer, Conway worked as a bank intern in Miami, where he learned how to conduct operations in diverse areas of the industry, ranging from bank security and IT to wealth management.
Then last fall, as a senior, Conway had two other impactful college experiences: becoming part of the Multicultural Student Association and playing football alongside his younger brother, Shiloh Conway.
“In MSC, you have so many different cultures here that become one big group of people,” he explains. “It’s composed of such diverse people that are now just Hatters. Also, being able to enjoy my football experience, as well as my college experience, with my little brother has been the biggest thing that’s happened to me. … That was amazing.”
Conway’s growth has certainly been noticed, both by Woodside and another mentor, Randall Croom, PhD, associate professor of Management.
“Trynyty’s best qualities are that he is principled, persevering and a leader,” Croom comments. “People like that get difficult things done. As he moves into the next phase of his life and career, I encourage him to stay connected to his foundational values and build something great on that foundation.” — Andrea Mujica
TRYNYTY CONWAY
DOMINIQUE ROBINSON
‘ALWAYS BE WILLING TO HELP’
For Dominique Robinson, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Music Education, teaching was always the path to take.
“I’ve always wanted to be a teacher; that’s never changed,” she describes. “Before, I wanted to be an art teacher. Then I wanted to be a general education teacher. It wasn’t until I got to middle school that I realized I wanted to be a music teacher, after I joined an official choir. My middle school choir director inspired me because I always had so much fun in choir. I wanted to be that teacher for someone else.”
In addition, Robinson’s love for music has always burned brightly. A fun fact about Robinson: Choir was her favorite class at Stetson.
“That’s a class I took every semester. … I love the teamwork that goes into it. It’s such an emotional experience for all of us, and we get to bond in a special way that you can’t do in other classes,” she says.
Being a perfectionist, Robinson excelled in all her classes both in high school (Dr. Phillips in Orlando) and in college. Plus, at Stetson, she learned a lasting lesson about life: letting go.
“I’m very Type A, I’m very perfectionist, everything has to be right. But I learned that ‘life is life,’ and it should be taken lightly, when appropriate, and things will happen the way they are supposed to happen,” she asserts.
Also, during her time as a Hatter, Robinson was showered with opportunities to conduct for the Stetson choir and others outside the university. She performed well there, too.
“I have witnessed this firsthand in many choral rehearsals, and even on a grand stage,” says Karen Coker-Merritt, DM, assistant professor of music, voice, at Stetson. “But I have also heard effusive praises from many colleagues in this regard … . Her preparation of each piece is careful and detail-oriented, and her choirs exhibit this consistently.”
In turn, Robinson credits her faculty at the School of Music.
“I always reached out for help, either to the dean or some of my professors, and they would always be willing to help in finding a little job or by letting me join work study,” she asserts.
Further, Robinson was part of the Stetson NAfME Collegiate association (chapter of the National Association for Music Education) and the Pi Kappa Lamba music honor society.
“The connections and relationships I made here, those are the things I will always cherish,” she adds. “If I needed help, or if I wanted to share my achievements or if I needed someone to go to when I’m struggling, there were always people at Stetson willing to help.”
As part of the experiential learning opportunities Stetson offers, Robinson interned at Beachside Elementary School in Daytona Beach, where she demonstrated her singing abilities as well as her empathic nature, notes Gregory LeFils, PhD, Stetson visiting assistant professor of music, music education.
“Her dedication and passion for education were evident in the innovative and effective teaching techniques she employed,” he says before adding, “As Dominique embarks on this new chapter of her life, I want to remind her that she has all the tools she needs to succeed.” — Andrea Mujica
ISABELLA THOMSEN
‘REALLY WILLING TO SUPPORT YOU’
For Isabella Thomsen, Stetson was a safe haven from the first moment she stepped on campus.
“When I was doing my college search, I was looking for smaller schools throughout the South, and Stetson was the only Florida school I ended up applying to,” says Thomsen, from Sarasota's Cardinal Mooney Catholic High. “I ended up coming here because of the business school. I knew I wanted to be a Finance major, and I really enjoyed the Roland George Investments Program here.”
She received a bachelor’s degree in Finance with a concentration in investments and minors in applied statistics and business systems and analytics.
A member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority, Thomsen took advantage of the university’s relationship-rich environment with active involvement in club volleyball, as well as competitions within the School of Business Administration, which took her to Miami, New York and all the way to Vancouver.
This spring, she was part of the Roland George Investments Program team that won the Florida CFA Research Championship.
“The faculty and your peers are really willing to support you and guide you,” she says. “I don’t think I would have had these
opportunities if I didn’t come to Stetson or if I didn’t make sure to reach out to faculty, because I’ve been encouraged to do a lot of things that I initially didn’t think I was capable of.”
Her personality proved to be a winner, too.
“Izzy is a joy to be around,” comments Matthew Hurst, PhD, associate professor of Finance and director of the Roland and Sarah George Investments Institute. “She is always smiling and in good spirits. She takes everything in stride. Beyond her academic ability, which is top-rate, she has poise, grace, and maturity far beyond her years.”
Adds another mentor, John Tichenor, PhD, associate professor of Management and chair of Management: “I am glad she is going into the finance industry. We need more people with Izzy’s perspective in the industry. In the courses I was fortunate enough to have Izzy in, she was extremely curious and challenged her classmates and me when she had questions.”
Now, Thomsen is heading to Vanderbilt University, where she will pursue a master’s in Science and Finance.
Her parting words: “Probably the biggest thing I learned at Stetson is that what you put in is what you get out. … Give everything you have into the Stetson experience, and it’s going to be so rewarding.” — Andrea Mujica
‘OPEN AND EAGER TO LEARN’
Some people are fortunate enough to pinpoint the field they want to work in even before walking the halls of a university. Isabella Recanzone, now with a degree in Public Health and a minor in sociology, is one of them.
“I was in an International Baccalaureate program in high school (Spruce Creek in nearby Port Orange) and had to do a 4,000-word essay,” Recanzone explains. “I wrote about antibiotic resistance, and I realized how much of an issue it was, between
people not taking their medicines long enough to doctors not prescribing correctly or over-prescribing.”
That was the turning point when she decided Public Health was what she wanted to study.
At Stetson, her adviser Asal Mohamadi Johnson, PhD, MPH, associate professor of Public Health, recognized Recanzone’s dedication to learning. “Mentoring will not succeed if the mentee is not open to new ideas and adventures,” she says. “Isabella was outstandingly open and eager to learn.”
That, Johnson points out, made her incredibly easy to mentor.
Recanzone, in turn, says her advisers at Stetson opened a ton of opportunities for her. With Johnson’s encouragement, Recanzone served as co-president of the Stetson Public Health Association and as a (Michael) Fronk scholar, educating the campus community about issues related to heroin and opioid addiction. In these roles, she organized and facilitated presentations, training, workshops, Narcan training and other outreach activities.
Within the Public Health program, she was able to work closely with professors and was invited by Johnson to be her teaching assistant for a Global Health and Statistics for Public Health and Environmental Professionals class. The support she received went even further, with Johnson helping her land a job at the Sanford Department of Health upon graduation. There, Recanzone is now working as an epidemiologist focusing primarily on infectious disease prevention.
Also, with Johnson’s guidance, Recanzone plans to obtain a master’s degree in public health from Rollins and eventually become a health educator. — Patricia Letakis
‘EVERYONE
GETS TO KNOW EACH OTHER’
The journey to Stetson was certainly an uncommon one for Alonso Tang, who received a bachelor’s in Accounting and Finance.
Born in Hialeah, a suburb of Miami, to Peruvian parents, Tang moved to Lima, Peru, during his early years and was raised there. At Stetson, he became the first member of his family to attend college in the United States.
“Growing up, I had heard that the Finance program here was really good and competitive,” he recalls. “One thing I like about the School of Business Administration is that it gives you the option to start doing some type of research, and it presents opportunities to get some experiential learning requirements.”
Nonetheless, he was nervous at first.
“The biggest challenge was, when I graduated from high school in Peru, before COVID-19, I had to take a gap year because of financial problems,” Tang explains. “Then, the
ISABELLA RECANZONE
ALONSO TANG
‘ENRICHED MY UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIENCE’
All it took was one question in her first year on campus for Kaira Thevenin to get on a path of consistent mentoring at Stetson.
Her adviser, Kristine Dye, PhD, assistant professor of Health Sciences and Biology, likes to tell the story of how that happened.
“I was just starting up my new research lab,” Dye says. “I was eager to find a freshman that I could work with for the next four years. I knew there were a group of really driven students with high career goals that would benefit from long-term research beginning in their freshman year. It was only a few weeks into the online class that I knew Kaira was the one.”
Then, one day after class, Thevenin, who was majoring in Health Sciences and minoring in Chemistry, asked if there were any research opportunities. Dye and Thevenin worked together since that time, investigating how viruses cause cancer.
“My relationships with faculty and staff members have enriched my undergraduate experience by allowing me to gain a greater sense of community while on campus,” Thevenin comments. “It is these relationships that aided me in navigating through college, whether that be via academic support, advice to encourage personal growth, etc.”
Among Thevenin’s noteworthy accomplishments was her SURE project, “Exploration of Merkel Cell Polyomavirus Small Tumor Antigen Localization in Transformation and Tumorigenesis.” Through the years working with Dye, she has been at the forefront of discoveries in the area of skin cancer. Although Thevenin started out with aspirations of becom-
ing a medical doctor, the research experience with her mentor have fueled a new passion toward being a research scientist.
“Dr. Dye had supported me both in and outside of the laboratory,” Thevenin says. “With the addition of her extensive support and guidance over the years, I was able to reach my next step after Stetson, pursuing a PhD.”
Now, that pursuit takes her to Emory University, regarded as one of the nation’s best schools for biomedical sciences.
— Patricia Letakis
COVID-19 situation was really bad in Peru, and it took us a while to get back to the normal level of living. Coming here, getting to know a different culture, it took me a couple of semesters to adapt. … Stetson is such a small school, everyone gets to know each other at some point, which is something I deeply value.”
Tang became involved in multiple organizations, including the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity and Alpha Kappa Psi, a coed professional business fraternity, as well as the Roland George Investments Program.
He eventually found his footing.
“Alonso is a delightful student. He’s smart, considerate and, most of all, he genuinely cares about the people around him,” asserts David Mascio, PhD, professor of Applied Investments.
“… I would like to say to him, ‘I am always a phone call away, and I know whatever you choose to do, you will make it a great experience for all who meet you.’”
This summer, Tang started a new chapter at Stetson in the Master of Accountancy program. He intends to complete the program in a year and then focus on becoming a Certified Public Accountant.
“It took me a while to convince my parents about me coming here. But now … they are realizing that there are a lot of opportunities for me here, so they are super-proud of me,” he says.
Both literally and figuratively, he has come a long way.
“I came here with no experience and no knowledge of the business world,” he adds. “I had no idea what that meant.”
— Andrea Mujica
Editor’s note: To read more about top students from the Class of 2024, go to Stetson Today and search “Academic Student Awards And Faculty Recognition Celebrate Achievement.”
KAIRA THEVENIN
B A NDS OF
Stetson’s Greek life forges lifetime friendships, the type that continue long after a death.
BY RICK DE YAMPERT
BROTHERS AND SISTERS
Longtime fraternity brothers in Stetson’s chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha, from left: Bill Johnson ’71, Vernon Krause ’73, Jim Hobbs III ’69, George Mitcheson ’70, Tom Somerville IV ’71, Chris Carley ’70, Ernie Ahlquist ’70, Jim Russell III ’70 and Bill Armour ’70
For years, Ernie Ahlquist ’70 has been retreating to his “little fishing cabin up in the mountains,” as he calls his bucolic getaway nestled in the northwest corner of Georgia. The picturepostcard beauty of the lakes and Appalachian Mountains around the town of Hiawassee would make Henry David Thoreau, he of “Walden Pond” fame, quite envious.
That beauty and serenity were diminished after Ahlquist’s beloved late wife, Molly, was diagnosed in 1997, at age 48, with early-onset Alzheimer’s.
“The wheels came off, and my life as I knew it had ended,” Ahlquist says, his sturdy but friendly baritone revealing his Southern roots in the Atlanta area, where he still lives today.
After years of providing his wife inhome care, followed by a year she spent in an assisted living facility, Ahlquist made the heart-rending decision a decade-and-ahalf ago to move Molly to a skilled nursing facility.
“That was when they really started coming — you know, when I was sitting up there in the cabin by myself,” says Ahlquist, who retired after working 15 years at a steel mill and 20 years as a representative for “boutique specialty domestic steel mills.”
That “they” is Ahlquist’s fraternity brothers in the Stetson chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha.
‘HOW CAN WE HELP … ’
When George Mitcheson ’70 heard the sobering news about Molly’s move to a nursing home, with the help of fellow fraternity brother Bill Armour ’70, he put word out to his Lambda Chi mates from his days at Stetson.
“We said, ‘How can we help Ernie
maintain a little bit of a positive outlook?’” says Mitcheson, a marketing and finance graduate, founder of the sports merchandising company Native Sun Sports, and a St. Petersburg resident.
And so, 15 years ago, a dozen Lambda Chi’s — a band of brothers — convened at Ahlquist’s own version of Walden Pond for four days of reinvigorated friendships and fellowship. The bonhomie was so overflowing that the gathering has become an annual tradition at different locations, continuing after Molly’s passing in 2020. There are customized T-shirts, too, to mark the occasions.
That Lambda Chi gathering is a palpable, although serendipitous, example of Stetson’s initiative to make the university “relationship-rich.”
“At Stetson, it is all about the people,” President Christopher Roellke, PhD, said in an October 2022 faculty meeting address. “As we embark on making Stetson as ‘relationship-rich’ as possible, let us remember that building a lifelong relationship with an institution requires kindness, empathy and shared ownership over this magnificent enterprise.”
Greek life in toto, by its very nature — in which fraternity and sorority members embrace each other as “brothers” and “sisters” — will play a significant role in Stetson’s relationship-rich focus. All
totaled, members of Stetson’s nine fraternities and eight sororities represent 18% of the student population.
Indeed, Renee DuBois, director of Fraternity & Sorority Life, will sometimes refer to Stetson’s fraternities and sororities as “relationship organizations,” as well as the more common “social organization” term.
CHANGE AND REVITALIZATION
While the university pursues its relationship-rich goals, DuBois notes that Stetson’s Greek life, even as it celebrates its storied past, is in the midst of a period of change and revitalization.
Thoughts of such change in campus Greek life might seem incongruous.
Check the Fraternity & Sorority Involvement page of Stetson’s website, and such words as “tradition” and “roots” will come to mind, along with images of a bygone era when Greek-columned buildings were a proud staple on U.S. campuses.
While the Stetson chapter of Alpha Tau Omega was founded in 1983, the fraternity’s national founding date was Sept. 11, 1865, just five months after the end of the Civil War. Pi Kappa Alpha, established at Stetson in 1977, traces its national founding to 1868.
Sigma Nu’s national founding date was 1869, paving the way for Stetson’s
Renee
DuBois, director of Fraternity & Sorority Life (inset photo), will sometimes refer to Stetson’s fraternities and sororities as “relationship organizations."
chapter to become the university’s oldest fraternity when it was founded in 1913. (Stetson, of course, was founded in 1883.)
The university’s oldest sororities, Pi Beta Phi (national founding date 1867) and Delta Delta Delta (national founding date 1888), were each established on campus in 1913.
This year, the fraternities Lambda Chi Alpha and Sigma Phi Epsilon are celebrating their 75th anniversaries at Stetson. Mitcheson says Lambda Chi Alpha will be holding a huge gala for its alumni at Homecoming in the fall. In February, Sigma Phi Epsilon held a banquet, with alumni returning to campus to celebrate with the chapter. In 2025, Delta Sigma Phi will celebrate its 100th year at Stetson. Also, Phi Sigma Kappa celebrated 50 years in 2023, while Delta Delta Delta and Pi Beta Phi each celebrated 110 years on campus.
That’s a lot of tradition, and tradition
often dictates that things shouldn’t change. Yet, the Fraternity & Sorority Involvement page of the university’s website also proudly proclaims that “Greek life is always growing and changing at Stetson.”
Part of that change is borne in response to recent trends.
Stetson’s 18% Greek enrollment is down from 2016, when the university’s Greek members were 30% of the undergraduate population.
The pandemic hit Greek life especially hard because participation in fraternities and sororities comes with a fee (averaging about $500 per semester), and students “didn’t want to have to pay for what would be a virtual experience,” DuBois says.
However, she adds, “This year our numbers are going back up, which we’re very excited about. Thankfully, President Roellke (who was not a fraternity member during his college days, she notes)
has made fraternity and sorority involvement one of the top priorities for the university.”
To that end, DuBois’ job changed on July 1 when her duties will no longer include advising non-Greek student organizations.
“We’re creating a department just for fraternities and sororities, and I will be working strictly with them,” says DuBois, an alumna of Gamma Phi Beta sorority from her days at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. “With that come changes for our Greek community, with more support and resources for them.”
As for growing on campus, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. became Stetson’s newest Greek organization, and the
university’s second historically Black sorority, when it joined the community in 2022. Zeta will relinquish its “newest” title when Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority Inc., founded nationally in 1975 as the nation’s first Latina sorority, opens on campus this fall.
More Greek life revitalization has been in the works.
At the two Hatter Saturday events this spring, student organizations and other facets of campus life, including fraternities and sororities, were for the first time in recent history given individual tables to greet potential new members. In previous years, there was only a single Greek station. Hatter Saturdays are generally university events to help bolster student enrollment.
DuBois credits John Downey, PhD, vice president of Campus Life and Student Success, and Jeffery Gates, LPD, senior vice president of Enrollment and Marketing, for enabling Greek organizations to reach out to new students far in advance of the hubbub that surrounds the start of a fall semester.
LEADERSHIP AND PHILANTHROPY
When Colleen Coughlin, a senior Psychology major and Biology minor from Ormond Beach, attended Stetson’s “involvement fair” at the start of her sophomore year, she suspected sorority members might be “partiers and kind of like that rude, clicky type that high school is for a lot of people. Growing up, I only heard about Greek life in movies, so it was pretty stereotyped.”
Yes, Coughlin had seen “Animal House,” that outrageous 1978 comedy about college Greek life. However, she adds, that day at the fair she “met some of the sorority girls, and they seemed a lot nicer than they do in movies.”
Coughlin joined Zeta Tau Alpha, and she became the Stetson chapter’s president in December 2023. She notes that Zeta’s national philanthropy is breast cancer education and awareness. Additionally, the Stetson chapter, seeking hands-on involvement in the local community, also takes on such service projects as beach cleanup and helping at a local Humane Society.
Further, Coughlin asserts with pride that Zeta has one of the highest GPAs of any group on campus.
During this past academic year, Stetson’s Greek organizations “raised over $70,000 for different philanthropies,”
DuBois says. “Last semester, we had 116 fraternity and sorority members make the Dean’s List, and 113 members make Honor Roll, which is huge considering right now we only have 402 members in our community.”
Fraternities and sororities also present leadership opportunities within their organizations, and networking opportunities. As Zeta’s president, Coughlin is traveling to Indianapolis this summer to represent Stetson at the national Zeta convention, where she will be joined by more than 600 Zeta members and advisers.
Greek alumni “are always finding ways to work with our undergraduate students, whether it’s helping members find internships or get jobs outside of college,” DuBois adds.
“We are deeply grateful for our Greek alumni — especially our chapter alumni board members and chapter advisers!”
Colleen Coughlin '25
’BUILDING BALANCE’
Matt Murray, a junior Finance major with an Investments concentration and a Sales minor, joined Sigma Phi Epsilon in fall of his freshman year. In March 2023, he became the fraternity’s president.
“I realized that Greek life was a way to get myself involved,” says Murray, who grew up in Plainville, Massachusetts. Older siblings and friends convinced him that fraternities offer “the ability to not only make friends in the short term, but also to forge bonds that can last a lifetime.”
The message: If you come into joining a fraternity expecting it to be all fun and all partying, you’re in for a rude awakening.
“SigEp is all about building balance in men,” describes Murray. “It’s all about not only achieving academic excellence, but also making sure you grow as a person in your time in the fraternity. The professional and the business side of a fraternity is extremely important. The amount of connections you can build through alumni networking and many other factors, just knowing brothers at other chapters. You really can’t put it into words how impactful those relationships with alumni and other SigEps across the world can be.”
Spearheaded by Mitcheson, the Lambda Chi band of brothers holds its annual springtime meetups at various locales in
Georgia and Florida, with attendees numbering from 10 to 14 fraternity alumni who travel from as far as Chicago and Denver.
When the gathering is held at Ahlquist’s cabin, the four-day weekend includes golfing, pontoon boat rides and barbecue. The gatherings sometimes embrace somber moods, along with the solace that only dear friends can provide. Ahlquist recalls that one of his fraternity brothers had a 9-year-old son who died. Another fraternity brother had a 29-year-old daughter who passed away just two months after giving birth to her second child.
Yet, mostly, Ahlquist says, the mood “is kind of like you’re 18 years old again, sitting in the fraternity house. We’re talking and laughing, joking and reminiscing about the crazy stuff we did all the way back to 1966.”
As country stars Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton sang in one of their hit songs: “You can’t make old friends.” That is to say the deepest friendships can only evolve, organically, over time.
“Lambda Chi always preached — and I’m sure this is the case with the other Greek organizations — that our relationships were not just for a mere three or four years, but for life,” Mitcheson says. “Most of my lifelong friends are from Lambda Chi and Stetson. Lambda Chi is one of the greatest things that’s happened to me in my life, and I know a lot of brothers feel the same way.”
“I was telling someone in Stetson’s alumni relations office that ‘I wasn’t an undergrad at Stetson. I was Lambda Chi at Stetson,’” Ahlquist says. “That is the way we felt about it. That was who we were.”
Matt Murray '26 (inset) is president of Sigma Phi Epsilon.
SCENES FROM GREEK LIFE ON CAMPUS
Thanks to finding the “perfect place for me in every way,” Julie Kaplan ’93, a former music student, has turned Stetson into art.
BY JACK ROTH
Julie Kaplan ’93
PORTRAITS OF RELATIONSHIP-RICHNESS
Afew years ago, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Stetson School of Music graduate Julie Kaplan ’93 fed her artistic thirst by adding painting to her repertoire.
Her strong desire to make beautiful things — whether by playing music or painting — was nurtured at Stetson, where relationships with her professors and fellow students shaped her future.
“During COVID, I found myself with so much time on my hands, and I needed some creative juices to start flowing in a different way,” Kaplan explains. “I was never particularly interested in painting, but I always had an appreciation for artistic expression and the sharing of that. My kids [daughter and son] really inspired me to paint, and I wanted to paint something for them.”
A clarinet player who never took art classes, Kaplan suddenly and inexplicably felt a strong desire to paint iconic buildings located on college campuses. She began her new endeavor by doing a painting of the Deering Library at Northwestern University, where her daughter attended. She posted it on the Northwestern Parents Facebook Page, and parents started asking her to paint other buildings for them on commission.
Kaplan went on to paint just about every major building on the Northwestern campus, then turned eight of the best of them into a series of notecards. From there, she began painting buildings from other campuses, including the University of Florida, where her son attended, followed by Stetson, her alma mater.
“I’ve always been fascinated with campuses and their buildings, but I have to admit, when I go back and look at the first ones I did, I think they’re awful,” she concedes, “but I did get better, and since I love college campuses, painting those buildings was a joy.”
Today, Kaplan sells her notecards, art prints and originals on Etsy and also offers them at a gift shop in downtown DeLand. She recently finished a series of eight Stetson campus scenes that she has turned into another notecard series.
FATEFUL MEETING
Kaplan grew up in the small town of Delavan, Wisconsin, and, especially during the cold winter months, would vacation in Florida with her family. The Kaplans loved Florida, so during Julie’s junior year in high school, she started to apply to Florida colleges that had music programs. Stetson was one of them. And that’s how she met Lynn Musco, DM, a music teacher who would become a lifelong friend and mentor.
Musco, now Professor of MusicClarinet, Woodwind coordinator, chair of Faculty Development, and director of Stetson’s Clarinet Clinic, was in her first year teaching at Stetson when she heard about Kaplan.
“It was the spring of 1989, and I was in Milwaukee for my brother’s wedding. Julie was only a short drive away, and I knew she was a Stetson applicant, so I made arrangements to visit her at her high school,” Musco remembers. “I knew immediately she was a perfect fit for Stetson: smart, intuitive and energetic with a good work ethic. She played a bit for me, but the majority of the visit was conversation.”
Musco quickly learned Kaplan was excited about being a music educator. Musco knew they would work well together and that Kaplan had everything needed to be successful and make a
Kaplan recently finished a series of eight Stetson campus notecards.
difference. Kaplan narrowed her choices to Stetson and Florida State, and chose Stetson because it was smaller and more like her hometown.
“I’ll never forget visiting Stetson for the first time,” Kaplan says. “I was walking down Woodland Boulevard and the church bells started ringing, and it was like a sign that this place was for me. To be honest, I wasn’t a stellar player, but Lynn took a chance on me. I was her inaugural student at Stetson, and she believed in me.”
Most music students focus on their instrument to become choir or band directors, but Stetson allowed Kaplan to participate in both chorus and band. She took voice lessons, became a member of the concert choir and played clarinet in the band. Looking back, she is glad she did it because it prepared her to teach at the elementary-school level.
“We discovered really early that the clarinet wasn’t physically friendly for Julie because her hands weren’t designed to play that instrument,” Musco recalls. “But we also learned she had a strong love and talent for singing, as well as a piano background, and through many conversations, tears and laughter we began to focus on her vision of a future teaching elementary-school music, which was a perfect blend of all her talents.”
Between their work together, along with the work Kaplan did with her vocal professor, plus her grit and determination, Kaplan laid the foundation and built her confidence. In turn, that enabled her to amass an incredible musical vocabulary and, ultimately, become an outstanding educator.
LIFELONG CONNECTIONS
Today, Kaplan lives with her husband in Chuluota, in nearby Seminole County, and gives private piano lessons to 32 students at her own studio. Her daughter, Molly, 24, recently graduated from Northwestern and plays French horn. Her son, Sam, 22, is a senior at the University of Florida and plays the tuba. They have both attended summer music camps at Stetson, a place Kaplan looks back on fondly.
“It was the perfect place for me in every way — small class sizes and very nurturing,” says Kaplan, who remains in touch with the School of Music. “I’d go over to my professors’ houses for dinner, so it was truly a family. I found my niche because of my professors, who took me under their wings and saw my potential. Our lives became connected, and that’s really special.”
Musco believes it’s crucial for the student-teacher dynamic to be built on trust, honesty and communication. So, the goal is to begin establishing those areas of the relationship from the very first meeting, which sometimes starts before the student actually enrolls and is on campus.
“It’s something that continuously grows and changes as the relationship develops,” she says. “It’s seeing each individual and building a relationship with them that will best help them move toward their goal. It means we work through the trials and tribulations, as well as the successes.”
What they do in the School of Music, Musco adds, is so personal that success depends on the quality and sincerity of that teacher-student bond.
Her life’s work is to help students find their voices, Musco continues. Therefore, it’s important to be able to see and hear what they are telling you, both directly and indirectly, as sometimes they do not know what direction is truly best for them.
“I’ve had many students veer away from their degree in music to do some unbelievable things, but it was the trust in our relationship both while at Stetson and after that helped them find their journey,” she asserts. “No matter where they are in their lives they know they can contact me if they have a question, concern, quandary or just want to touch base and say, ‘Hey.’”
For Kaplan, Stetson is about shaping young lives, and her advice to incoming freshmen would be to embrace these connections.
Her words: “Do what you love and find your people, those who are also passionate about the same things, because they will be the ones who stick with you throughout your college days and beyond. Professors go into teaching because they’re passionate about teaching what they know, and you have four years to learn from these amazing people. So, ask questions and don’t be afraid to make relationships with them. Nothing makes professors happier than seeing their students flourish.”
Indeed, the enduring friendship between Kaplan and Musco, and what it has meant to both of them, is a testament to the type of relationship-rich learning environment that Stetson has created.
“Julie is one of the special ones, perhaps because she’s a fellow ‘cheese-head’ Wisconsinite, or because she’s one of my first recruits, or because she just worked so dang hard to push past the hurdles that were thrown in her way to get where she is today,” says Musco. “She’s one of those students I consider family … dear to my heart, cherished and valued each and every day.”
Kaplan says she was nurtured at Stetson, where relationships with her professors and fellow students shaped her future — both in music and in art.
By letting their lives speak, Dolly and Homer Hand championed Stetson loudly and clearly — leaving an indelible legacy
BY TRISH WIELAND
IN TRIBUTE HANDS TOGETHER
TThere are certain facts about Frances “Dolly” (’49 LLB, ’08 Hon.) and Homer Hand that are steadfast and unwavering: their deep faith in God, their love for each other, and their generous support for their community and education.
Such devotion remains widely evident at Stetson.
As a grandson of some of Southwest Florida’s early pioneers, Homer was born in the small town of LaBelle on Jan. 15, 1928, to Homer G. Hand Sr. and Pauline Manning Hand. He attended Clewiston High School and left to join the U.S. Navy in 1945 as World War II was coming to a climax. He served in the Pacific through 1946.
Frances Rutledge was born in, appropriately, Good Samaritan Hospital in West Palm Beach to her pioneering parents, Fleming L. “Slim” Rutledge and Frances Post Rutledge. The Rutledges moved to Belle Glade in 1926 and experienced the “Killer Hurricane of 1928.” Barely surviving the storm herself, Mrs. Rutledge gave birth three months later to a tiny baby girl who would affectionately be known as “Dolly.”
Dolly grew up in Belle Glade and graduated from Belle Glade High School at age 15. She graduated from Palm Beach Junior College (now Palm Beach State College) and Stetson, receiving a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1949 (attending the law school when it was on the DeLand campus). She became not only the youngest to obtain a Stetson law degree at 20, but also was the only woman in her class.
The couple met in the early 1950s at a skating rink in Clewiston, about a 20-minute drive for Dolly from Belle Glade, recalls their niece, Brenda Herring Lopez ’75. Not coincidentally, it turned out, Lopez now serves as a Stetson trustee.
“Their relationship was very special for several reasons,” Lopez recalls. “They tried to be always totally honest with each other. They made it their policy to never speak negatively of each other to anyone. They trusted each other completely. And, if they had a disagreement, it was discussed privately, never publicly. Their relationship with each other and others was always more important than any material possessions or wealth.”
The couple was married on June 6, 1954, the 10th anniversary of D-Day and made their home in Belle Glade.
With their passings — Dolly at age 95 in January and Homer in November 2022 at age 94 — it can be said now they were a match made in Stetson heaven.
‘AN AMAZING FORCE’
“I would say they were both humble and grateful people,” comments Linda Davis, now retired as a longtime Stetson staffer (in a variety of roles) who befriended the Hands when she started working with the Stetson Board of Trustees in 1979. “That was clear if you spent any time with them at all. Homer had a quiet, strong confidence and deeply loved Dolly. Dolly was more animated and was a strong voice in her community. Their love was very evident.
“They served on community, local and regional boards and were very active in serving others. Together, they were an amazing force in the world, generous and quiet philanthropists with a deep faith. They earnestly lived out their faith and lived life with a purpose. If you had met them, they were truly authentic people living life with purpose. They ‘let their life speak’ in many ways.”
And the Hands together (quite literally) spoke loudly for Stetson.
Dolly and Homer were noted philanthropists, generously supporting her alma mater and their community through the years. They led the effort to create a performing arts center for the Belle Glade community, which opened in 1982 and now bears Dolly’s name. Her educational and cultural commitments have led to vital community programs, such as the Center’s CAFE (Cultural Arts for Education) Series on the Palm Beach State College campus, serving more than 12,000 students each year.
Dolly received numerous awards and recognitions, such as the CHIEF (Champion of Higher Independent Education in Florida) Award, Belle Glade Outstanding Citizen of the Year Award, Distinguished Service Award from the Belle Glade Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Arts Recognition Award and more.
At Stetson, Dolly was elected to Stetson’s Board of Trustees in 1994 and received an honorary doctorate in 2008. She was named Trustee Emerita in 2012. Among her Stetson honors were the Distinguished Alumni Award and being inducted into the College of Law’s Hall of Fame.
During his many years of public service, Homer served as the chair of several community organizations, ranging from the Palm Beach County Planning & Zoning Board and the Palm Beach Community College Board of Trustees to the City of Belle Glade Planning & Zoning Board. He was named Belle Glade Citizen of the Year in 1994. Also, he was a recipient of the Governor’s Heartland Award in 1997 and was selected as Champion of Higher Education in 1996 by the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida. At Stetson, he was made an Honorary Alumnus in 2010.
In sum, the Hands’ contributions to Stetson are almost incalculable.
They were financially generous to Stetson through scholarships, grants, faculty awards, and buildings on both the DeLand and Gulfport campuses. They donated funds for the construction of the Homer and Dolly Hand Art Center on the DeLand campus. Their support also brought the Hand Awards for Distinguished Faculty Achievements, the Dolly and Homer Hand Scholarship and Global Awareness Scholarship for Study Abroad, and the University Chaplain Endowment Fund.
“They viewed philanthropy as being good stewards as to how they’ve been blessed by God,” Davis describes. “Countless students have been supported through their generosity. Part of their legacy was students receiving this life-changing education
at Stetson. That was an important part of their legacy: that their values continue through all these students.”
Says Lopez, “They would be quick to add that their goal was to also be generous with their time and talents to loyally support the educational mission that Stetson espoused.”
In October 2010, the College of Law named the Dolly and Homer Hand Law Library in their honor.
“It seems like just a few short years ago that I was a student in the law school back when it was located in DeLand,” Dolly said in her poignant remarks that day. “Stetson provided a unique opportunity for this young country gal of the Depression and World War II. My heart has been here ever since. The greatest honor I have received on this day is to look up on that wall and see my name next to Homer’s. For that is the way it has always been and that is the way it will always be … Homer and Dolly, side by side.”
‘LASTING CONTRIBUTIONS’
Dolly and Homer also loved the arts and were well-versed and knowledgeable about the world through different cultures.
“My husband, Pepe, and I traveled the world with the Hands,” says Lopez. “From Europe to Africa to Asia to Australia, we walked many miles and tried to immerse ourselves in the cultures we experienced. We tried many kinds of food and talked to many wonderful strangers about their lives. We ended every day with ’Happy Hour,’ talking about what we saw, laughing at ourselves and our reactions to new cultures, and making plans for the following day.”
Yet, for as far and wide as they traveled, the Belle Glade community and Stetson were always home to them.
Lopez graduated from Stetson with a double major in English and Spanish. It didn’t happen by accident.
“Family lore has it that Dolly would lean over my crib and whisper, ‘Stetson, Stetson, Stetson,’” Lopez says. “Her strategy obviously worked! In fact, I never applied to any other college or university.”
The Hands always put Stetson near the top of their list.
“Stetson was important to them because it provided wonderful educational opportunities to many students in the hope that they would become productive, upstanding citizens in this country which they so fervently loved and supported, and steeped in the principles which made it so great,” Lopez says. “I would hope their legacy would be to be remembered as a couple that made significantly meaningful and lasting contributions to Stetson University and its students in a deliberate effort to support education, which they saw as a necessary tool to make our world a better place for us all.”
Dolly Hand graduated from Stetson and Stetson’s College of Law as the only woman in her law class and the youngest person at the time to graduate from Stetson Law. That was just the beginning of her history with the university. Together, Dolly and Homer became noted philanthropists, generously supporting her alma mater and their community through the years, including their namesake art center on the DeLand campus and law library in Gulfport.
HOME RUN HIRE
Meet Ricky Ray, EdD, new Athletics Director for the Hatters. Seeking a fast start, his game plan will center on “keeping the momentum alive going forward.”
BY MICHAEL CANDELARIA
The name Ricky Ray has a certain ring to it. Stetson’s search committee surely thought so — in April unanimously recommending Ray to become the university’s new Director of Athletics. With final approval by President Christopher F. Roellke, PhD, he officially began that role May 6, replacing Jeff Altier ’82, MEd ’87. Altier retired after 27 years in the position and spent a total of nearly five decades at Stetson.
Ray has a stellar résumé to match his name. He arrived on campus from William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, bringing more than 20 years of leadership experience in intercollegiate athletics and professional sports. At William & Mary, Ray oversaw marketing, ticketing, creative services, communications and licensing for the college’s 23 NCAA Division I sports. During his two years there, he set revenue records and served as interim CFO.
Ray began his career in various external roles at Georgia Southern University. He then became a broadcaster for East Carolina University; served as director of External Affairs for the Carolina Mudcats, a minor league baseball team; and was general manager at Troy University in Alabama. Also, he worked as deputy athletics director for his alma mater, Campbell University in North Carolina, where he earned a BA in Mass Communication. He earned a Doctor of Education from Marshall University in West Virginia.
Further, as a student at Campbell, he worked in the communications office for the athletics department, including as a broadcaster when the Campbell women’s basketball team played the Hatters in the Edmunds Center.
What’s the Ricky Ray game plan for Stetson? Just before arriving on campus — as he was literally driving on the move to DeLand — he outlined his approach, along with insight about Stetson.
INITIALLY, WHAT STRUCK YOU MOST ABOUT STETSON?
I had some experience on the Stetson campus in high school. We came down for camp every summer (from North Carolina). I was familiar with the campus and the university, and the area, from that time.
I went to Campbell (for undergraduate school), and at that point we were still in the same conference. I was able to get back down to Stetson in college to broadcast some games. So, I had known about Stetson for a long time. And knew about the beautiful campus and the great location.
When I got the call from the search firm about the job opening and started digging a little deeper, it was evident there’s a ton of potential here. I thought Stetson combined a lot of the things I liked at other places. I worked at a private school that had Pioneer League football and nationally ranked baseball (Campbell has appeared in five straight NCAA regionals). I was working at a high academic institution with competitive sports (William & Mary). There were just a ton of different facets of Stetson that were really appealing. That includes the town and all the things DeLand has to offer.
AT YOUR INTRODUCTORY
CONFERENCE,
YOU MENTIONED “KEEPING THE MOMENTUM ALIVE GOING FORWARD.” WHAT DID YOU MEAN?
There has to be no better time to be interviewing to be an athletic director than when the institution is coming off its first NCAA tournament (at Stetson in men’s basketball). And the timing of it was such that I was able to watch the ASUN Championship game. And then I did a Zoom interview a couple of days later, and then we hit pause for the NCAA tournament. All of that was going on at the same time, and it was so much fun to watch how the institution (Stetson) was responding — how DeLand was responding, and all the national media coverage.
The thing now is how do we take that momentum, all that media attention, all that goodwill, and use that to move both basketball and the athletic department, as well as the university, forward. There was a ton of excitement about it, and how do we grow from there? So, that will be the key thing: hitting the ground running. We can use the championship to grow not only the interest in basketball, but all our teams and our programs.
PRESIDENT ROELLKE HAS PRAISED YOU ABOUT YOUR FINANCIAL ACUMEN WITH REGARD TO FUNDRAISING. HOW BIG A DEAL WILL FUNDRAISING BE FOR YOU?
It will be a big deal. And I think it’s not just fundraising as philanthropy, but revenue generation as a whole. I look at it as one larger goal. Yes, we need philanthropy to continue, but we also need our ticket revenue and our corporate sponsorship revenue to grow. I’m really going to be diving into all of it and seeing how we can improve our fan experience and reach new patrons.
We’re going to have to put in the effort and the time to identify how to grow all those different revenue streams. It’s no secret that it is getting more and more expensive to do the things that you have to do in athletics, especially for the well-being of the student-athletes. Growing our resources will be key.
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT PROMOTING THE WELLBEING OF STUDENT-ATHLETES?
It’s crucial to pay attention to their development. There are so many different facets of a student’s college experience, and then you have the student-athlete part of it — the time commitment it takes and the addi-
tional mental focus and physical strain. So, we have to be really focused on things to help our student-athletes, whether that’s mental health, nutrition or other areas in the holistic model that we can focus on.
I think we’ve got a ton to offer here at Stetson for students: great academics, great location, a beautiful campus, good people. So what are the other things that we can do to make the entire experience worthwhile? It’s been my experience that happy students become happy graduates, and that’s an important piece for them and the institution.
WHAT WILL BE YOUR APPROACH IN WORKING WITH COACHES?
I’m looking forward to getting to know them further. On the night of my announcement (April 4), I think I had either a phone call or text exchange with every head coach. I wanted to reach out as fast as I could, just so they had my number and could start the conversation to get to know them a little bit. We’ve been talking during this transition period, as well — getting to know them, and I need to get to know all the details of their program.
POSTSEASON PLAY FOR THREE SPRING TEAMS
After the academic year came to a close, three teams continued in competition, impressively advancing to postseason play.
The women’s tennis team won the ASUN Championship before losing to the host University of Florida in round one of the NCAA Tournament. Florida was ranked No. 14 nationally.
At the West Lafayette NCAA Regional in Indiana, men’s golf made history by advancing to its first-ever NCAA Regional. While the team didn’t win the ASUN, it was good enough to be selected as part of the tournament field.
In baseball, the Hatters made noise in the Tallahassee Regional by beating the University of Alabama before being eliminated in a close game against the University of Central Florida.
For details, visit GoHatters.com.
It is important to know each of them and what they are about. As part of the transition, I sent out a form (questionnaire), and I ended the form with “tell me about yourself.” I want to get to know the coaches as people and understand them, what they stand for, and I think that helps you understand a little bit more about them professionally as well.
WHAT’S YOUR THOUGHT ABOUT ATHLETICS CONTRIBUTING TO THE OVERALL COLLEGE EXPERIENCE FOR STUDENTS, AS A WHOLE, ON CAMPUS?
I think, number one, we must think of ways to integrate the student body into what we are doing — students singing the anthem, student groups performance at halftime, and making sure we are intentionally inviting them to our games. Anything that we can do to bring our student body into our space, and to include them in what is going on, is great for everybody. It helps the entire enterprise. And we want to be part of that overall student experience. Athletics offers an opportunity for students to do some things on weekends and nights, where they can have some fun and take a break. We want to make that a space where everybody is welcome. My experience in athletics as a student is the main reason I am in this field, and I believe there is a place for everyone in our campus community to participate.
WILL THE LOCAL DELAND COMMUNITY BE A PRIORITY, A BIG PART OF THE GENERAL FAN EXPERIENCE?
Absolutely. That’s been a major focus of what I’ve done in the past, and that’s all part of growing revenue. You must have a good experience for fans. But then we’ve also got to get out and try to meet people where they are. We have to find them. One of the things that I have learned about DeLand and the surrounding communities is there’s an opportunity to spread the word. If you
didn’t grow up there, we (the Hatters) don’t have to be your favorite college team, but we can be your second favorite team and a place for you to enjoy a game.
If you’re from another state and a fan or graduate of an institution there, that’s great. You still need something to do with your family, or for entertainment. We want to get you involved with us, supporting our student-athletes. And then I think we must get out, make sure we’re part of the community. And by we, I mean, the athletics department, our student-athletes and me. I want to get out and try to be a part of the community — to help us be a part of what the community is trying to achieve and make sure the Hatters are included in ways to help the region grow further.
YOU GOT INTO BROADCASTING BEFORE BECOMING AN ADMINISTRATOR. WHY BROADCASTING?
I thought that was my career path. When I was doing that, and I might be dating myself, but it was before streaming. If you were a broadcaster at that point, you were on TV or you were on the radio. Those were the only options. So, obviously it was a lot harder to get jobs; there was not an ESPN+ type option at that point.
I pursued broadcasting for a while and realized that I enjoyed the administrative side and the difference you can make there. And after spending a little time in minor league baseball, I realized I missed campus. At that point, there was a big difference between pro sports and college sports, and I missed being on campus and getting to know the student-athletes. Everywhere I have been since, they’ve let me be the PA (public address) announcer or broadcast a game or two — just to scratch the itch a little bit, and that’s always appreciated.
The thing that I enjoyed the most about broadcasting, and this sounds very coach-speak in a way, I always enjoyed the preparation for the game. I enjoyed
that almost more than calling the game — getting the game notes together. I loved that part of it, and the game was secondary.
FINALLY, WHAT DO YOU ENJOY DOING, AND WHAT ABOUT YOUR DOG, RIGBY, WHOM YOU MENTIONED IN YOUR CAMPUS INTRODUCTION?
Rigby just perked up in the passenger seat when he heard his name. I think he will enjoy the warmer weather. I have always joked that all good music was made in the ’60s or the ’90s. I’m a huge Beatles fan; that’s where Rigby’s name came from. I’m a North Carolina native, so I have grown to be a big Carolina Hurricanes (hockey) fan.
Growing up in North Carolina made a town like DeLand appealing. I grew up in the suburbs of Raleigh (in Zebulon); my parents were raised on the coast (in North Carolina). So, that’s where a lot of my love for the beach comes from. I’ve always loved the ocean and seafood and the trips down to the coast when I was younger, and DeLand has a lot of those characteristics. It feels like a great place to live.
Rigby is now a Hatter, too.
Hulley Tower’s Historic Reconstruction
Earlier this year, alumni attended screenings of the “Remembering Innsbruck: The Story of the 1979 Avalanche” documentary, which inspired Hulley’s rebuild:
Jan. 21 in Atlanta, hosted by Jill Jinks ’79 and Mildred Cross Spalding ’81
April 18 in Tampa, hosted by Lu Prats ’78, JD ’81 and Katy Pelzer Prats JD ’83
April 21 in Boca Raton, hosted by Susan Perry Brockway ’79 and Peter Brockway ’78
Boca Raton: (from left to right) Stuart Pavlik ’79, Nancy Schwager Aiken ’80, Karen Schmitt Roberts ’80, Michelle Blank ’80, Mickey Nolen ’79, Mildred Spalding, Susan Perry Brockway ’79, Joyce Bird Paty and Bo Paty ’79
Tampa: (from left to right) Carol Lonquist Russell ’80, Sandra Torcise Fuller ’81 and Nancy Juckett Nick ’80
Tampa: (from left to right) Katy Pelzer Prats JD ’83 and daughter Jessica Prats-Murray ’10, JD ’14.
Boca Raton: (from left to right) Marilyn Johnston ’53, President Chris Roellke and trustee Christine Lynn Atlanta: Jill Jinks ’79
DeLand: (from left to right) DeLand Mayor Chris Cloudman MBA ’12 and Charles Matousek ’76
Atlanta screening
DeLand: Tim Hulley, the Hulleys’ great-grandson, and wife Morgan
INVESTING IN THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY
Building upon its longstanding reputation in the political realm, Stetson University has launched the Center for Public Opinion Research (CPOR). This program provides additional educational experiences for students while generating vibrant research that advances the university and meets public needs. This polling center represents the first step in Stetson’s effort to carve out a space dedicated to advancing social and political discourse and fostering cross-cultural understanding in our nation.
Stetson Double Hatter Jay Landers and his wife Pam Forrester’s generous gift of $1 million will support the expansion of the Center for Public Opinion Research (CPOR). This growth will eventually transform it into a Center for Democracy, which is currently housed within the Department of Political Science.
Landers was active on Stetson’s Board of Trustees from 1995 to 2014, serving as chair from 2002 to 2006. In May 2014, he was named Trustee Emeritus.
The Max Cleland Leadership Stetson program recently graduated its 15th class, with alumni ranging from the Class of 1971 right up to the Class of 2020. Alumni who attended Leadership Stetson were given an in-depth look at the inner workings of the university and provided an avenue for them to reconnect.
Leadership Stetson has become a prestigious and competitive opportunity for Stetson alumni to engage with their alma mater and university leaders on an in-depth, personal level.
The dates for Leadership Stetson 2025 are February 27–March 1. Email alumni@stetson.edu for more information.
HOMECOMING 2024 Legacy Lives On
The 2024 Max Cleland Leadership Stetson Class
Eric Carr ’95, Bill Dellecker ’77, MBA ’78 and Nancy Jordahl ’86
Alumni Board President Scott Boore ’76 with Gwen Azama-Edwards ’71, MA ’83
STETSON CELEBRATED
Stephanie Hollis ’94, Bill Watson Jr. ’59, Janelle Watson ’59 and Dr. Michelle Skelton ’84 at the Jacksonville alumni event.
Rachael Sutliff Gallagher ’03 and Marilyn Talton Johnston ’53 at the Fort Lauderdale alumni event.
Gina Cabrejo LLM ’16 and Sandra Cuello LLM ’16 at the Tampa alumni event.
Fort Lauderdale event hosts Ted Bohne ’89, Peter Thiel ’93, John Dunn ’85 and Jamie Ball Richardson ’89 pose with President Chris Roellke.
We continued to celebrate Stetson’s 140th anniversary this past spring with events in Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, and Jacksonville. These events could not have been done without the help of our alumni hosts Bill Roberts ’65 in Tampa, Ted Bohne ’89, John Dunn ’85, Jamie Ball Richardson ’89 and Peter Thiel ’93 in Ft. Lauderdale and Henry Brown ’98 in Jacksonville.
Planning for fall alumni events are underway and can be found online at stetson.edu/alumni/events
If you’re interested in hosting an event in your area, email alumni@stetson.edu
stetson.edu/photos
Matthew Guinn JD ’23, Lillian Johnson JD ’23 and David Brunswick JD/MBA ’23 at the Tampa alumni event.
Lynn Langford McDaniel ’70 and Tampa event host, Bill Roberts ’65 at the Tampa alumni event.
Anthony Howard, candidate for JD; Ben Barros, Dean and Professor for College of Law; Christina Mesa JD ’91; Brandon Prescott, Executive Director of Development and Alumni Engagement for College of Law; and Michael Mesa, Christina’s son.
Brandon Wright, Director of Football Operations and Jim McCammon ’19.
See all the pictures here!
Send Us Your Class Note
STETSON UNIVERSITY is proud of its alumni and their accomplishments. We would love to hear about your achievements. If you are a graduate from the DeLand campus, please send your class note to Stetson University, Office of Alumni Engagement, 421 N. Woodland Blvd., Unit 8257, DeLand, FL 32723, or email your news to alumni@ stetson.edu
If you are a graduate of the College of Law, send your class note to Stetson University College of Law, Office of Development and Alumni Engagement, 1401 61st St. South, Gulfport, FL 33707, or email your class note to alumni@law.stetson. edu. College of Law graduates also can fill out the online form at Stetson.edu/ lawalumninews
We can only use photos that are high-resolution, and because of space limitations, we cannot guarantee use of all photographs.
1960s
Walt Kilcullen ’68 publishes a free online magazine called Stroke and Traumatic Brain Injury Life Magazine. The publication is in its fifth year, and the number of subscribers and readers increases each year. You can request a copy of the most recent issue or subscribe at satbilmagazine@gmail.com.
Michael Thompson ’68 was appointed Professor Emeritus at Tufts University of Dental School Medicine, retiring after 48 years at Tufts. He received his MA and PhD from Emory University in 1972 and did postdoctoral work at The University of Edinburgh (Scotland) and Tufts University School of Medicine.
1970s
Richard Brown ’71 was elected as the board chair for Bridges Outreach Inc. Bridges ends homelessness through outreach
and individual case management focusing on health, housing and independence. By demanding change, Bridges helped reduce the crisis of the unhoused in Newark, New Jersey, by 57.6% in 2023.
William Padge Dorne ’74 retired after practicing dentistry in Palm Coast, Florida, after 44 years.
1980s
Eddie Kertis ’84 has been swimming for most of his life and continues to push his limits. At The College of the Florida Keys, he spends his time coaching, judging or swimming in U.S. Masters competitions.
Richard McKay JD ’84 was honored by the Atlanta Sports Council with the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award. He received the award, presented by Coca-Cola, during the 2023 Atlanta Sports Awards in December. McKay joined NFL’s Atlanta Falcons in 2004, rising to be the top executive in owner Arthur Blank’s organization.
Lori DrummondCherniwchan ’85 retired from the Rockford Public Schools in Illinois after three decades of teaching. She now teaches part time as an ESL instructor at Rockford University.
Suzanne Forbes ’87, managing partner of James Moore & Co., has been named by Forbes magazine (no relation) as one of the Top 200 CPAs in America.
1990s
Courtney Brown ’92, MS ’02 is the founder of
Holistic Horse Wisdom for Families, which provides a horse-inspired coachingcounseling transformational program.
Kip Rupp ’93 was one of 16 investor relations officers inducted into the Institutional Investor All-America Executive Team Hall of Fame. The honor recognizes executives at public companies who are consistently recognized as best in class in their profession by the institutional investment community.
Daniel Herron ’98 began a new position as public relations account manager at Furia Rubel Communications. In this role, Herron serves as the primary liaison to, and strategic adviser for, law firms and other professional services clients.
Bill Laird ’99 has established Riverside Wealth Partners, an independent wealth management adviser practice. Laird has worked
in the financial services industry for more than 20 years, previously managing approximately $500 million in assets at FORVIS Wealth Advisors before launching Riverside Wealth Partners.
2000s
Primrose Cameron MS ’02 received the Michael E. Williams Service Award. Cameron is founder and CEO of the Sisters Build Network for Girls Inc., which inspires neighborhood youth in grades 3-12 toward leadership and personal development.
Ryan Benson ’03 and Andy Bringardner, owners of A. Vernon Allen Builder, are now extending their craft to Sanibel, Florida, after the devastation of Hurricane Ian. Benson has also been elected as first vice president/president-elect for the Florida Home Builders Association, and
was appointed chair of the Florida Housing Finance Corporation board of directors.
Cedric Leiba Jr. ’03 has had a successful career on New York stages, both TV and film, while also touring the United States and Canada with several shows. Leiba performed at the Théatre du Châtelet in Paris and during the height of the pandemic co-founded a production company, DominiRican Productions.
In April, Leiba was planning to debut as co-producer in the new revival of “The Wiz.”
Davis Mallory ’06 released an original holiday track, “FA LA LA LA,” produced by Gustav Blomberg, written by Maria Broberg and Mallory, and mixed and mastered by Daniel Deiev (Depdramez). Inspired during a festive gathering in Sweden, Mallory accepted a playful challenge from his cousins to craft the catchy holiday song. Currently, he is enrolled at the Los Angeles Academy of Artists and Music Production.
Joseph Percopo ’06 was elected as one of Dean Mead’s newest shareholders. He is a member of the firm’s Estate & Succession
Planning department. Percopo has been published by The Florida Bar and the Orange County Bar Association on multiple occasions.
William Perry Jr. ’06 was appointed by His Majesty King Charles III to the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem. His formal investiture is scheduled for October in New York.
Brendan Rogers ’06, co-founder and head director of And You Films, won an Emmy for Directing in Short Form Content during the 47th Annual Suncoast Regional Emmy Awards. Rogers, who also serves as the creative director for Spooky Empire’s Horror Film Festival, won the award for his direction of the festival’s 2022 commercial, titled "A Spooky Invitation." That Emmy was his second received at the NATAS Suncoast Chapter Emmy Awards. The first was for producing “THE LIBRARY...AND YOU” in 2021.
Tammy Briant Spratling JD ’06 was honored by the Tampa Bay Lightning as a Community Hero. The Lightning Community Heroes Program is the signature philanthropic initiative of the Lightning Foundation
and has been lauded for its innovative contributions throughout the sports community.
Spratling is CEO of Community Tampa Bay.
Savannah-Jane Griffin ’07, MBA ’08 was a recipient of a Daytona Beach NewsJournal’s 40 Under Forty award.
Bart Sheard ’09 was appointed to the position of senior adviser to the U.S. Secretary of Labor.
2010s
Elizabeth Draper ’10 was awarded the Golden Apple for Collier County from the Champions For Learning. Draper is a Spanish teacher for eighth-graders at Oakridge Middle School in Naples, Florida.
Christine Xine Hann ’10 had a solo art show last November in Orlando. Hann uses pages from vintage books, magazines and more to create these works of art.
Rebecca Renner ’12, MFA ’18 published the book “Gator Country,” the twisting true story of the impossible choices individuals must make to stay afloat in the world. Through its blend of reporting, nature writing and personal narrative, the book transports readers to vibrant and dangerous Florida landscapes and offers intimate portraits of those who call the region home.
Makeda Smith ’15, creator of Sio Ceramics, appeared on “Good Morning Washtington” to talk about her journey and the history of Sio Ceramics, a ceramics studio/pottery store in Washington, D.C.
Thomas Ingui ’17 serves as organist at First Presbyterian Church of Lakeland, Florida, and is a collaborative pianist for both Southeastern University and Harrison School for the Arts. Ingui arranged a program to make the First Presbyterian Church an area center for music.
Carli Turngren ’17 was elected as the next chapter president for the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association.
2020s
Alyssa Williams ’21 was promoted to Registered Behavior Technician II at InBloom Autism Services in Orlando, Florida.
Nicholas Schefstad ’22 will pursue a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance on a full-tuition scholarship, beginning in fall 2024 at the University of Notre Dame. Only one DMA organ applicant is accepted per year at Notre Dame. Schefstad has broad experience working in both Catholic and Protestant traditions, collaborating extensively with large choirs and Gregorian chant scholas of the Catholic Novus Ordo Mass and Traditional Latin Mass.
Briyanna Pierce ’22 and Ameyon Hawkins were chosen by the Tampa Organization of Black Affairs as co-chairs for the 2024 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Breakfast. The breakfast, held Jan. 15, attracted approximately 1,000 community and civic leaders, elected officials, government and business leaders, educators, religious leaders, students and youth leaders and grassroots organizations. Pierce is studying for her Certified Financial Planner certification while employed as a financial representative for Northwestern Mutual.
Mia Hartley MBA/ JD ’23 started a new role as associate attorney at Wood, Smith, Henning and Berman in Tampa, Florida. Her practice focuses primarily on insurance coverage. She earned an MMus degree in Ethnomusicology as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of London, Royal Holloway.
Lena Fucile JD ’23 joined the Rebecca L. Palmer Law Group in Orlando. Fucile is experienced in family law areas such as divorce, alimony, child custody, and preand post-nuptial agreements. Rebecca L. Palmer ’91, JD ’94 (on right in photo) is founder and managing partner of the firm.
BIRTHS
1 Laura Loveday Maury ’10 and Joseph Maury ’10, a son Teddy, March 2023.
2 Lauryn Mohler-Holbert ’15 and Kevin Holbert ’15, MAcc ’16, a daughter Kendall Brooke, December 2023
3 Mark Johnson ’14 and Emily Nolen-Johnson, a daughter Lucy, August 2023.
1 Stacey Mann ’11 to Eric Chappel, August 2023.
2 Nicole Agnew ’16 to Trevor Clark, October 2023.
3 Kendal Diehl ’17 to Jeremiah DeWitt, October 2023.
4 Mary Dreggors ’16, MS '19 to Jedidiah Cox, January 2024. (not pictured)
5 Rachel Pierce ’17 to Jeffery Hahn ’17, September 2023.
In Memoriam
1940s
Carl R. Garrett ’44
Elizabeth Tucker Harner ’47
Esther Rucker Painter ’47
Lucy Effinger Dover ’48
Claude Duncan ’49
Claire Lupfer Forrester ’49
1950s
James C. Cox ’50
Ruth Pendleton Perdue ’50
Helen Murphy Riddell ’50
Mary Prince Lipstate ’51
Mary Brewin Porter ’51
James R. Rose ’51
Betty Grover Andrews ’52
H.M. Flournoy ’52
Susan Wilson Hilton ’52, MA ’66
Laura Langwish Ives ’52
Edward G. Stephany ’52
Ruby Fletcher Mobley ’53
Victor A. Muzii ’53
Helen Grimsley Roberts ’53
Jane Allen Rowe ’53
Barbara Pence Folmar ’54
Carolyn Cole Hightower ’54
Norma Bainbridge Beckler ’56
Barbara Caldwell Plank ’56
B.F. Singletary ’56
Carl S. Whiddon ’56
Curtis A. Golden, JD ’57
A.J. Starp ’57
Gordon T. Wells ’57
Charles J. Hunt ’58
Patricia McBride Lievendag ’58
Sarah Beasley Mack ’58
Merrill D. Nelson, JD ’58
Harry P. Dews ’59
Joseph B. Folds ’59
Jo Anne Norman Geiger ’59
Robert H. Hiller ’59
James A. Sawyer ’59
Ralph Steinberg, JD ’59
1960s
Ross S. Carter ’60
Robert L. Maynard ’60
John H. Ellis ’61
Judith Grentner Stowe ’61
John B. Davis ’62
Laurence A. Deets ’62
Thomas F. Granahan, JD ’62
Roger O. Sanders ’62
Richard L. Colling ’63
Angeline M. Forest ’63
William C. Grose ’63
Kenneth C. Lasseter ’63
Bruce T. McKinley ’63, JD ’66
Sandra Ivery Mugg ’63
Richard F. Reiff ’63, MA ’71
Alice Stewart Schweitzer ’63
Robert A. Stebbins ’63
Diane Futch Trotter ’63
James R. Austin ’64
Mabel Smelcer Carnahan ’64
Aubrey E. Cox, JD ’64
William L. Kahle ’64
Dianne Scott Matthews ’64
Richard L. Nichols, JD ’64
Barbara Mihm Sucher ’64
Gwynne Williams Barber ’65
Donna Dollens Kelley ’65
William Nelson ’65
Sheila Olson Bryan ’66
Richard G. Greenwood ’66
Diane B. Hoopes ’66
Sally K. Jarman ’66, M.Ed ’76
Harry J. Parker ’66, JD ’69
William F. Purkey ’66
C.R. Seibold ’66
Gwen Knight Snowden ’66
Cecilia W. Dyal ’67
James B. Gentry ’67
Gerald R. Herms, JD ’67
Richard O. Jacobs, JD ’67
Robert D. Lenholt ’67
Thomas P. Prince ’67
Barbara Whitley Wright ’67
Richard B. Badgley ’68
Raymond F. Johnson ’69
1970s
Catherine Joel Anderson ’70
Gilbert W. Atnip ’70
Scott W. Bray ’70
Phyllis Blanchard Hartley ’70
Rebecca Ray Letzkus ’70
John R. McArthur, JD ’70
Ronald L. McKenzie ’70
Theodore F. Zentner, JD ’70
Stephen M. Kleinberg ’71
George Winston ’71
Pamela Sible Hannah ’72
Richard W. Heberle ’72
Stephen A. Stutts ’72
Mark E. Cleeland ’73
Luke V. Coderre ’73
Kenneth R. Hauger ’74
John S. Murray ’74
Nancy Larson Rotta ’76
Jack W. Smith ’76
A.R. Thoreen, JD ’76
George E. Seiler ’77
Kenneth R. Hall ’78
Freddye Clay Moore ’78
Valerie D. Dawkins ’79
Delores D. Menendez, JD ’79
LaRita W. Rollins ’79
1980s
Peter L. Oatman ’81
Rose M. Perrino ’81
Lisa Schultz Smith ’81
Mary T. Wester ’81
Robert A. Hamilton ’83
Sandra Smalley Bessenger ’84
Faith Juba Eriksen ’84, MA ’88
Joseph E. Gayton, JD ’84
Albert W. Manchester ’84
Genie Fowler Rothman, JD ’85
Shirley Haas ’87
Jeffrey A. LeHeup ’87
Gerard E. Schloth, JD ’89
Sandra D. Borriello ’89
Bonita R. Clark ’89
1990s
Kathleen Van Nimwegen ’90
Loretta M. Personius ’91
Linda K. Albers ’93
Kim R. Helper, JD ’93
Carrie Colling Cox ’94
Kathleen Shanas Parker ’94
Catherine G. Doyle ’97
Carol T. Emery ’97
Joan D. Barratt ’98
Carl W. Green ’98
2000s
Donna J. Lonsberry, JD ’00
John A. O’Keefe ’07
William R. Schult ’07
2010s
Samantha R. Pickens ’13
Hats Off
Most of the graduating students entered Stetson in fall 2020 — in the midst of a pandemic and just before the worldwide death toll from COVID19 had reached 1 million people. Four years later, Stetson’s Class of 2024 survived, receiving their degrees in May by virtue of uncommon persistence and commitment. With her degree in one hand and a Stetson hat in other hand (of course), a smiling Aspen Windesheim (Education major) represents that perseverant journey.
Photo: Stetson University/Jodi Cothron
Office of University Marketing 421 N. Woodland Blvd., 8319 DeLand, FL
STETSON is printed on FSC® certified paper.
Students gather near Holler Fountain with Sampson Hall in the background, 1951.
