SPRING 2022
Riders Come
TOGETHER to set
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CONTENTS 4 A griculture is thriving at Prussing Farm, where students and staff raise herds of cattle, grow crops and care for the university’s live mule mascots.
16 A bby Lyons, a UCM Biology graduate student,
spent six weeks in southern California last summer surveying the habitat of an endangered butterfly.
COV E R S TO RY
19 RECORD-SETTING HOMECOMING PARADE Alumni and volunteers from across Missouri came to Warrensburg to make history at UCM’s 150th anniversary Homecoming celebration.
DEPA RT M ENT S 1
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
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PHILANTHROPY NEWS
26 CLASS NOTES 28
FEATU RE S TO RI ES
4 FEEDING THE FUTURE UCM Agriculture prepares students for a rapidly changing industry. 10 FINDING THE FARM Two former art chairs discover their family’s roots through painting.
MULENATION NEWS
30 ATHLETICS 33
UCM NEWS
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PLANNED GIVING
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IN MEMORIAM
40 PARTING SHOTS
12 HEROES TO HIVES Veterans learn the basics of beekeeping at Mitchell Street Farm apiaries. 16 DELICATE BALANCE UCM Biology professor takes rare butterflies under his wing. 22 REAL-WORLD LEARNING Business students partner with Powell Gardens to plan a fundraising event.
On the cover: UCM set the world record for the “Largest Ridden Parade of Mules” during the 2021 Homecoming parade.
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EXECUTIVE EDITOR Kathy Strickland ART DIRECTOR Linda Harris, ’91 CONTRIBUTORS Sarah Chamberlin, ’97, ’16 Dylin Cline Tiffany Cochran, ’05 R. Tyler Habiger Jackie Jackson, ’09, ’12 John Kennedy, ’92, ’13 Emily Kepley, ’22 Jeff Murphy, ’80, ’95 Travis Seek, ’16 Peggy Shaul, ’91 Alexandra Stella, ’21 An Quigley, ’94 Kelly Waldram Cramer, ’99, ’03 2022 by University of Central Missouri. All rights reserved. Views and submitted content do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of UCM Magazine, the UCM Alumni Foundation or the University of Central Missouri. ©
Find us online: ucmfoundation.org/magazine. UCM Magazine welcomes story ideas and letters to the editor at ucmmagazine@ucmo.edu. Submit address updates at ucmfoundation.org/ update, by email at alumni@ucmo.edu or by phone at 660-543-8000. UCM Magazine is published biannually by the University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO 64093. Printed by Neal/Settle Printing Inc., 14004 Norby Road, Grandview, MO 64030. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
UCM Magazine, Smiser Alumni Center, University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO 64093. To view the University of Central Missouri’s Nondiscrimination/Equal Opportunity Statement, visit ucmo.edu/nondiscrimination.
CELEBRATING UCM’S STRONG COMMITMENT TO AGRICULTURE
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rowing up in rural Georgia, I gained a deep appreciation for the significant impact agriculture has on our daily lives. Whether it is the food we eat, the clothes we wear, or the raw materials we use in the construction of our homes, agriculture is an integral part of our society and economy. This is not only because it helps us meet our basic needs but also because, from a higher education perspective, agriculture education serves as excellent preparation for a tremendously diverse set of careers. At the University of Central Missouri our proud heritage in graduating generations of agriculturalists began when the university was a State Normal School that prepared individuals who could teach agriculture. Today, our alumni are working in agribusiness, agronomy, animal science, education and horticulture. Our graduates serve our state and nation in a wide variety of ways, including operating family and corporate farms, practicing veterinary medicine, marketing seed products and conducting life-changing research in crop, livestock and soil science. You will even find our alumni working at golf courses, greenhouses, florists, state and national parks and in a wealth of other occupations where land resources, production and agriculture technology intersect. As UCM Agriculture embarks on a new era, which includes the establishment of a stand-alone department and a revitalized master plan for our two farms, we highlight in this issue of our alumni magazine many opportunities that are available to our students. You will learn more about how our alumni are utilizing their degrees in real-world applications and the great faculty influences contributing to their success. You will gain insight into initiatives such as Heroes to Hives, which offers military veterans a new career opportunity after leaving the service; how Events Marketing and Management students from the Harmon College of Business and Professional Studies are assisting Powell Gardens; efforts by our UCM Biology faculty and students to protect endangered butterfly species; and so much more. We hope you enjoy this issue of UCM Magazine. We are proud of the work our faculty, staff and current students are doing to make your university even better. Thank you for your continued engagement and support — and everything you do to make us better!
Council for Advancement and Support of Education District VI 2020–21 Bronze Award in Magazine
Roger J. Best, Ph.D. UCM President University of Central Missouri Magazine
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Alumnus Donates $1M for New College of Education Facility
Michael Hough
Greg Thurman, ’74, has gifted $1 million for capital improvements to the gymnasium in UCM’s Lovinger Building. His gift is intended to fund a state-ofthe-art mixed-use educational facility named the Dr. Michael Hough Education and Counseling Center in honor of his nephew, a ’93 and ’98 UCM College of Education alumnus.
While serving as a middle school principal, Hough was also an adjunct professor at UCM, teaching law courses to graduate students. He is currently the superintendent of the Holden R-3 School District, one of the university’s oldest and most valued partners in preparing effective educators. “I believe in giving back, and UCM was part of the path that
led to the opportunities of my good luck,” says Thurman. “Mike’s dedication to learning and applying that passion to his professional career is a terrific example for young people enrolled at or considering UCM. I hope this gift can help others find a path that leads to success and their own way of giving back.”
Music Practice Room Dedicated to Alumnus at Homecoming UCM Music alumnus E. Daryl Duff, ’89, ’90, got a warm welcome at Homecoming 2021. He returned to his alma mater to sing the national anthem before the Homecoming game and was ushered into his own room in the Utt Building. The children of Adrian and Margaret Harmon dedicated a music practice room in honor of their longtime family friend. When Duff was a student,
members of the Harmon family, along with his UCM family of professors, encouraged him to try out for the U.S. Navy Band Sea Chanters Chorus. He was selected as a member of the chorus and logged many appearances for the White House, including singing for four U.S. presidents. Duff is now assistant professor of commercial music and voice at Liberty University of Music in Lynchburg, Virginia.
The Honorable Bob G. Russell, a 2021 Founding Philanthropist Award recipient, made a contribution to the Jennies Volleyball program to renovate the team’s locker room. Russell is pictured with Coach Philip “Flip” Piontek and Courtney Goddard, executive director of the UCM Alumni Foundation. 2
E. Daryl Duff and his wife, Claudia, E. Daryl Duff gets a big hug from his also a UCM alum, stand outside the UCM voice professor, Conan Castle. practice room door. The couple’s son, Josiah Duff, a 2021 UCM graduate, also attended the dedication.
The Jennies Golf program is looking forward to the arrival of their team’s Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van, thanks to support from Nick and Denise Rallo; Central Bank of Warrensburg; Rand, ’85, and Kelly, ’86, Harbert; and other generous donors.
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Dane Power, ’07, right, has established the Danny Power Honorary Scholarship in honor of his father, a ’73 graduate, at left. The scholarship will support an athlete on the Mules Wrestling team who is pursuing a degree in the Harmon College of Business and Professional Studies.
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Higher Education Advocate Gives $1M for Business Scholarship Former student Phil Roberts donated $1 million to establish the Phil Roberts Scholarship Endowment, which will benefit more than 20 students per year in the Adrian and Margaret Harmon College of Business and Professional Studies.
Gabriella Polony-Mountain made provisions in her estate to establish the Rocky and Gabriella Polony-Mountain Endowment via a trust, providing support for the UCM Gallery of Art and Design. In addition to this gift, Polony-Mountain, shown here with Gallery Director Christian Cutler, donated 104 pieces of artwork from her personal collection.
Roberts grew Phil Roberts and UCM President Roger Best up in the Kansas to work hard to achieve,” says City area and began his higher UCM President Roger Best. education at UCM in 1947. “Having personally experienced He completed his degree in the Depression, he understands finance and general business the impact that determination at Missouri State University in coupled with a college degree can 1950. Roberts served honorably create for the individual and has in the U.S. Army and attained long shown a commitment to his higher education through assisting students with making the GI Bill. college affordable. We look “Mr. Roberts demonstrated forward to honoring his legacy at an early age a willingness through these awards.”
Shirley, ’67, and Steve Kleppe, shown here with UCM Alumni Foundation Executive Director Courtney Goddard and UCM President Roger Best, have established three endowments: the Kleppe Foundation Art Education Scholarship, Kleppe Foundation Gallery of Art and Design Endowment, and the Kleppe Foundation Visual Arts Visiting Artists Endowment.
Alumni Generosity Creates Opportunities for Students The Stewart family, after providing generous annual scholarships for many years, has endowed the Leland R. Stewart Memorial Mules Basketball and Jennies Softball Scholarship. Leland’s wife, Marlene, ’70, ’74, and sons, Ed, ’80, and Scott, ’84, graduated from UCM.
The Homer, ’78, and Becky, ’78, Kay “I Matter” Scholarship Endowment has been established to support students who participated in the Operation Breakthrough Ignition Lab in Kansas City prior to attending UCM.
Joe Roop, ’63, has established the Joseph F. Dolecki Economics Scholarship Endowment in honor of the professor emeritus to benefit upperclassmen interested in a career as a professional economist.
Phyllis Huang, ’87, has established an endowed scholarship to support students who demonstrate financial need, have a history of academic success and are committed to serving their community.
James, ’68, and Jean, ’68, Fullerton have established two endowed scholarships to support students pursuing degrees in secondary education or business.
Interested in setting up an endowed scholarship? Visit www.ucmfoundation.org/scholarships. University of Central Missouri Magazine
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FEEDING THE FUTURE By Jeff Murphy, ’80, ’95
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ong before Andrew Beeman, ’16, graduated from the University of Central Missouri, he had already carved out the pathway for his future career. His inspiration and preparation came not only from a slew of educators who contributed to his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture–Business Management, but from generations of family members who instilled in him an appreciation for agricultural life.
“I was in a unique position coming into college because I knew I had a job waiting for me upon graduation,” he says. “I did not go to UCM to get a job; I went to become a wellrounded citizen.” Beeman, who resides on a farm south of Windsor, Missouri, has a life story that may sound familiar to UCM students and alumni who have experienced a tradition of family farming. His early influences in agriculture began with his grandparents, who purchased a farm in the 1950s that they expanded throughout the following two decades.
Upon graduation, he became the thirdgeneration manager of Beeman Farms. This operation includes beef cattle, meat goats, corn, soybean and wheat production. He is in charge of the cattle operation and partial manager of row crops, with other duties that range from feeding cows and treating sick animals to making genetic selections and working with business partners and landlords.
Beeman was immersed in the family agriculture operation from an early age.
“The education I received at UCM taught me how to learn,” Beeman says.
UCM alumnus Andrew Beeman shows his youngest son, Logan, age 3, around the family farm.
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With aspirations to continue what his grandparents began, he enrolled at UCM and gained a greater understanding of agribusiness as well as many other subjects that help in farm management.
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UCM Agriculture Prepares Students for a Rapidly Changing Industry Learning to Grow The UCM Agriculture program has served an important role in Missouri’s agricultural fabric for decades. The university is in a prime location to offer academic programs and the types of facilities that serve the career goals of individuals who either want to continue their family heritage in agriculture or be the first to chart their own path in a field with growing career options.
UCM Agriculture welcome students from all walks of life who want to pursue roles in the production and supply of food, feed, fiber, biofuel and much more in one of the fastest-growing industries in America. With more than 400,000 people in Missouri working in some form of agriculture, the door is wide open for anyone who is willing to make this field their career choice.
While it is estimated that nearly half of the students enrolled in the university’s agriculture-related degree programs come from backgrounds where production is the main source of income, opportunities are not limited to a student’s upbringing. The dedicated faculty and staff who comprise
“We want to be inclusive of all students who have an interest in agriculture,” says agriculture professor Kyle Lovercamp. “We want to feed the world, so to speak, and we strive to achieve that with the agriculture programs we have here.”
A faculty member at UCM since 2009, he recently served as the interim chair of the Department of Agriculture while the College of Health, Science and Technology (CHST) began to transition agriculture programs from being part of an academic school to a stand-alone department. Following a national search during the spring 2022 semester, Michelle Mullins Santiago, professor of agribusiness economics at Murray State University
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in Murray, Kentucky, was hired as department chair with plans to begin her new duties on July 1, 2022. “Agriculture is about tradition and change, stability and growth,” Santiago says. “Our nation’s agri-food industry is one of the most diverse, innovative industries, providing a wealth of career and technical opportunities.” Upon accepting the position at UCM, Santiago thanked Lovercamp and associate professor of agriculture Mark Goodwin for their dedication and leadership. Also
contributing to the quality program is assistant professor of agronomy Sushil Thapa, who brings real-world applications to the classroom and laboratory through his row crop (corn and soybean) research program. Mike Keilholz is a faculty member on the education side with 30 years of experience teaching agriculture education at the high school level in Missouri. “The passionate and talented faculty in the Department of Agriculture have a great commitment to experiential learning and service to students,” Santiago says.
Photo by Lindsey Megan Photography
UCM Agriculture students and staff harvest hay at Prussing Farm.
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“While our industry is recognizable for the products produced, it is the connections between people that make it so strong.”
Cultivating Connections Countless UCM Agriculture alumni agree with newcomer Santiago’s assessment, crediting Lovercamp, Goodwin and others for their caring mentorship and for providing a hands-on education that led to a successful career. “The core agriculture faculty created a community culture for ag students on campus,” says Tiffani Scott, ’16, a wildlife and natural resource conservation graduate with a general agriculture minor who met her husband, Trent, ’16, an agriculture– agronomy major, in Lovercamp’s class. “We still reconnect with our fellow alumni whenever possible and have taken advantage of many networking opportunities that were initiated during our time at UCM. Our experience became so much more than education because of the great people we connected with.”
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Tiffani Scott now serves as district specialist for the Pettis County Soil and Water Conservation District. She is also pursuing a Master of Science in Career and Technology Education (CTE) and a Graduate Certificate of Agriculture with a plant science emphasis from UCM. With a new chair and new program offerings, the Department of Agriculture seeks to build UCM’s reputation as a first-choice destination in Missouri by providing academic choices that not only meet the demands of industry but have broad appeal. Within the Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Science are emphasis options in agribusiness management, agronomy, animal science and horticulture. This is in addition to the Bachelor of Science in Education in Secondary Education– Agriculture. Students who choose one of these degree options, according to Lovercamp and Goodwin, can expect to receive strong classroom learning experiences coupled with many hands-on opportunities in the main disciplines. These are provided at either
Prussing Farm, a property donated by Natalie (Prussing) Halpin with facilities just east of Warrensburg city limits, or Mitchell Street Farm, about two blocks east of campus. They also come in the form of internships, which are required of all degree-seeking students in the department and involve agriculture-related businesses and government agencies. “We don’t learn it until we do it,” Lovercamp says. “That’s one of the aspects of agriculture I love is that it gets your hands dirty literally, not figuratively.” “It’s also true for our faculty,” agrees Goodwin, who is in his 15th year of teaching at UCM. “We learned it by doing, so we have our students do the same thing.” They stressed the value of relationships with other academic departments to make learning opportunities possible. UCM Agriculture, for example, works in cooperation with the academic biology and chemistry programs to help prepare students who want to become
Makayla Hill used the skills she learned working with livestock at UCM while earning her doctorate in veterinary medicine. veterinarians. This is familiar to 2018 alumna Makayla Hill. After earning a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Science with an emphasis in animal science, she completed the four-year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) program at MU. “Many students accepted into the veterinary program were never able to get hands-on experience with livestock prior
Photo by Lindsey Megan Photography
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to attending,” Hill says. “Through my undergraduate career at UCM there were many opportunities for livestock handling instruction, breeding program education, vaccination programs, as well as an overall education on the intricacies of each operation. My time at UCM has made me a better veterinarian because I understand the needs of the producer to have a successful season.” UCM Agriculture also works closely with Career and Technology Education to prepare educators for teaching middle school and high school students about food production, in addition to advising FFA programs and adult education
groups. Offering the B.S. in Education in Secondary Education–Agriculture ties closely with a long tradition that has roots in the university’s beginning as a Normal School for preparing Missouri teachers.
demonstrating to local elementary school students how edible plants are grown. All agriculture students utilize a greenhouse complex on Broad Street, and the farm staff bales hay and plants agronomic research plots on the land adjacent to the university’s Max B. Swisher Skyhaven Airport.
Hands in the Dirt
UCM’s 260-acre Prussing Farm provides a strong educational value while serving as a financial engine to help make the university farms selfsupporting. Leadership toward meeting this goal, along with an ambitious vision, comes from UCM director of farms Travis Hume, ’15, ’18, a two-time alumnus with a bachelor’s emphasis in agribusiness and a Master of Science in Career and Technology Education.
UCM’s agricultural facilities continue to evolve to meet the needs of training agriculture students and serving the global community. Mitchell Street Farm, purchased in 1909 as a 36-acre plot on the southeastern outskirts of Warrensburg, now spans 120 acres. On this site, meat goats are raised, and there are opportunities to do livestock evaluations. Students produce hay and grow warm- and cool-season grasses for protein research and to feed the livestock. Additionally, UCM provides an apiary managed by military veterans in the MU Extension’s Heroes to Hives program (see page 12), a butterfly garden used for biology research and a small teaching garden that Goodwin was instrumental in developing for
Director of farms Travis Hume with then-students John White, Curtis Reese and Makenzi (Stoy) Harms.
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Hume, who works closely with farm manager Brandon Nevils, ’17, spent four years as a student employee living in the Mitchell Street farmhouse. He was promoted to farm manager upon graduation in 2015 and assumed his most recent role as director of farms in 2021. Along with developing a facilities master plan that will seek funding to improve the university farms, Hume works with his team to carry out a vast number of responsibilities. This includes overseeing a herd of Simmental cattle and a registered Aberdeen Angus herd donated by former ConAgra Foods executive Stephen Price Rea, ’71, who holds a degree in
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Centerview areas. Two years ago Smith donated a subscription for an electronic app, Climate, that is being used at the farm to help map data from planting to harvest to ensure crops are being produced as efficiently as possible. This contributes to the data-driven precision agriculture goal, as using the technology ultimately helps reduce the cost of seed, fertilizer and fuel. Agriculture student Curtis Reese, who graduated in 2019, feeds the cattle at Prussing Farm. Agriculture–Agritech. The Aberdeen Angus herd has ancestry dating back to the first such cattle on North American soil. Jared Wareham, ’02, ’04, is one alumnus who says the experience he gained working with cattle at UCM set him up for a successful career. His product development team at ABS Global focuses on genetic technologies and scientific innovations that drive profit and efficiency throughout the beef value chain. Wareham credits Professor Emeritus Densil Allen for inspiring his career.
“Dr. Allen’s classes lit a spark in me that still burns to this day,” he says. “They really helped confirm that my true passion in life was working with cattle.”
Future of Farming Besides cattle, UCM keeps two live mule mascots at Prussing Farm in the 100-by-65-foot mule barn built by George Prussing, Halpin’s grandfather, in 1902. Hume is dedicated to maintaining the historical farmstead while also keeping abreast of the latest technology in agriculture. “We’re actively and aggressively pursuing a precision agriculture program,” Hume says, adding that doing so means getting supportive agriculture alumni involved. Among such individuals is Clint Smith, ’16, an agribusiness graduate and part of a multigeneration legacy family of UCM alumni and farmers from the Warrensburg and
“This is more or less a software that takes the guess work out of it,” says Smith, who also donated the seed for this year’s soybean crop at Prussing Farm. “You might say it helps you make decisions.” Dean Ford and Cody Narron of C&S Construction in Higginsville donated labor and materials to construct two grain bins at the farm. This will benefit both the agribusiness and agronomy programs — not to mention help produce what agriculture is all about: food. Regardless of which career path a UCM Agriculture graduate may choose, alumni understand the tremendous need for the work they do, and Beeman is one of many great examples. While his UCM degree could open a lot of doors in today’s multilayered farm-to-table economy, like generations of family members who came before him, he chose to keep his focus on food production. It’s hard work, but a career he embraces with passion. “Making a living feeding people is the most fulfilling operation I could be doing,” Beeman says. “I realized the opportunity I had to return to the family business and the responsibility to maintain it.”
Support UCM Farms at www.ucmfoundation.org/ give/magazine.
University of Central Missouri Magazine
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Finding the Farm
Emeriti Chairs Discover Family History Through Art
By Kathy Strickland childhood — no matter how long ago W it may have been — there can be a fine hen straining to remember one’s
line between photographs and memories. Sometimes the moment captured in the photo becomes our recollection, and we develop a narrative around it.
Little is more deeply imprinted in our memories than the places where we’ve lived. Every room, hallway and step of a childhood home becomes a maze in our mind’s eye. Every stone, tree and path of the world outside our front door — however small it was and big it once seemed — weaves its way to our hearts. For UCM Professor Emeritus Richard Luehrman, age 94, it’s the act of painting that breathes life into the childhood memories etched in his mind. It’s the watercolors that flush the faces of his parents and restore the red paint — as always, “rather faded” — to the barn where he and his older brother worked and played
while growing up on their family’s farm a mile east of Lexington, Missouri. There are no photographs of the farmstead, and at the start of 2022 he began working to recreate it in a medium he knows like the back of his hand: watercolor. “Remembering is a God-given privilege,” Richard says. “The more you work at it, the more the beautiful memories keep popping up. … If there’s love there, the beautiful memories all bubble up to the top.” Richard graduated from what was then Central Missouri State College with an art degree in 1952 and joined the faculty in 1965. He became chair of the department in 1979, five years after his son, Mick Luehrman, graduated with a degree in commercial art. After Richard retired in 1993, Mick followed in his father’s footsteps, joining the art faculty in 1999 and becoming department chair in 2006, the same year
“ Seems like every time I looked down that way there were the mules being harnessed,” Richard recalls while pointing out the harnessing shed in the farmstead he is painting. “Dad talked to them. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but he didn’t curse very often.”
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“Somebody Lives Here,” one of Mick Luehrman’s works of art, draws from his career at UCM and the decade he spent prior to that teaching at Whiteman Air Force Base Elementary School. “We think of the home as a nest, but some kids, their nest is thorny,” he says. Richard Luehrman taught at the secondary and community college levels in Centerville before joining the faculty at UCM.
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the institution changed its name to the University of Central Missouri. Mick retired last year and is now happily making music with the “12-piece trio” Luehrman, Shaffer and Check, and creating art in his father’s basement studio. Their styles are very different, but the two retired chairs work side by side in harmony. As memories return through the act of painting, Richard is able to share them with his son and thus carry on the Luerhman family history, along with the legacy of art that will always be part of their shared alma mater and the university they served for a combined 50 years.
“ We would sit on the front porch and talk about little things,” Richard says. “Those years of drought we would notice lightning off to the south, and I remember him [Grandpa] saying it was nothing, just ‘heat lightning.’ I still don’t really know what heat lightning is, but it filled out the answer to the question of wondering if it might rain.”
Legacy and history merge as Richard remembers the “beautiful, friendly mules,” Kate and Beck, who helped his father with “everything tractors do today.” The other mule team, Jack and Jim, were more spirited and restless. Like UCM’s live mascots, Tammy and Molly, the mules were part of the family.
Honor this legacy family by making a contribution to the Richard A. Luehrman Art Scholarship using the dropdown menu at www.ucmfoundation.org/give/magazine. University of Central Missouri Magazine
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From Camouflage to Black and Yellow By Alex Wilson, ’22
UCM Farm Hosts Beekeeping Program for Military Veterans Every day for eight years, Santiago Valdez woke up early to conduct important procedures as a mechanic for the 509th Maintenance Group at Whiteman Air Force Base in Knob Noster, Missouri. Today, he still wakes up at the break of dawn, not to maintain planes and other aircraft, but to manage, grow and create products for his home goods company, Raw Buzz. Santiago and his wife, UCM alumna Julie (Kryshchendyuk) Valdez, ’17, sell high-quality handmade goods ranging from honey to wax candles to soaps made with goat milk from Julie’s family farm. Santiago and Julie’s participation in the Heroes to Hives program last spring and summer provided them with the chance they needed to learn about the craft of beekeeping in order to expand their blossoming business. Heroes to Hives is a free program providing the opportunity for U.S. veterans from all branches of the military, their spouses and dependents over age 18 to learn the art of beekeeping. Launched by U.S. Army veteran Adam Ingrao in 2016 at the Michigan State University Extension, the program has since expanded to training sites in Minnesota, Nebraska and Missouri. In Missouri, UCM collaborates with the MU Extension to provide resources and land for an apiary at Mitchell Street Farm in Warrensburg.
Photo by Lauryn Morrow, UCM undergraduate student
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Bees in Mule Country
Making an Impact
Nationally recognized as a Military Friendly® School (see page 33), UCM is dedicated to serving active military personnel and veterans by helping them transition to both higher education and civilian life. Travis Harper, an agronomist with MU Extension who teaches the course at Mitchell Street Farm, says he was hoping for 20 or 30 students in 2021, the Missouri program’s first year. He was surprised when more than 290 veterans enrolled in the online course with optional hands-on experience; of those, more than 150 attended at least one field day in Warrensburg.
While Heroes to Hives teaches practical beekeeping skills like how to properly wear a protective suit, handle the hives and equipment and safely harvest the beeswax and honey, the program also highlights the importance of bees. Beekeeping has been more vital than ever in recent years due to the decline of bee populations across the globe. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), each winter since 2006, the number of beehives has declined approximately 30% due to habitat loss, poor nutrition, disease, parasites and environmental contaminants. The USDA
All necessary equipment, such as protective gear, is provided to members of the program. Items constructed by participants during the program, such as swarm traps, can be taken home for their personal use.
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“I learned about beekeeping through friends I had on the base,” he says. “Heroes to Hives is the right environment with the right people to learn.”
The relationship between honeybees and the natural environment further illustrates the importance of an educated beekeeper. As the population of honeybees has decreased, so has the vast population of wild and native bee species, which may be more effective pollinators. Maintaining the balance of resources between wild bees and honeybees is important to ensuring the upkeep of both the natural and agricultural world. Responsible beekeeping is a practice with an overall positive impact on food sustainability, according to 2020 research published in the international peer-reviewed journal Science of the Total Environment. Programs such as Heroes to Hives promote environmentally responsible beekeeping.
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To date, Heroes to Hives has spawned approximately 5,000 new beekeepers across the country who actively maintain apiaries, including Santiago.
estimates that honeybees pollinate $15 billion worth of crops every year, so keeping them alive and healthy is important to both the economy and food accessibility.
When the couple was starting their business, Julie brought to the table the value of her UCM education in business/managerial economics, while Santiago contributed what he had learned during his time in the Air Force. Santiago cited discipline, time management and the ability to work under pressure as important skills he developed during his military service. y to b Pho f ity o vers Uni eist, aG Lind ion tens i Ex our Miss
The couple’s commitment to using organic and natural ingredients required both of them to step outside their comfort zone. Learning about beekeeping was an important part of the business plan.
UCM agriculture education student Kyle Day (above) helped veterans and their spouses, including Julie, a UCM alumna, and Santiago Valdez (left) learn the basics of beekeeping at the university’s Mitchell Street Farm.
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One can rest easy knowing that many who served to protect their country are now helping to protect the nation’s food supply. While veterans are doing their part for these pollinators, the bees are also helping their keepers.
Benefits of Beekeeping For many veterans, finding rewarding career opportunities can be a struggle. Heroes to Hives is a great resource to open doors in apiculture, the profitable field of large-scale beekeeping. The program also gives them a chance to enrich their lives by building relationships with fellow veterans.
“It builds camaraderie … which is something that is missing for some vets.” Since completing the program, Larry has gotten involved in various community clubs and now operates 17 hives of his own. Whether by teaching veterans a marketable skill, preparing them to launch their own business, providing resources to combat challenges related to PTSD or simply giving them a way to connect with a constructive community, Heroes to Hives enables these outlets through beekeeping. Kyle Day, a UCM student studying secondary education–agriculture, has
“There is a lot of opportunity in beekeeping right now — on a local, state and even national level,” says Kyle. “I have always been fascinated with bugs. Around here everyone does cows, row crops; I wanted to do something different.” Kyle met Travis when helping pour the foundation for a new agriculture classroom at Mitchell Street Farm in spring 2021. Travis invited him to collaborate with the Heroes to Hives program, providing expertise and resources for participants looking to start their own hives. Through these efforts, Kyle has connected with other bee enthusiasts like Cory Stevens of Stevens Bee Co., an expert in breeding bees with built-in defenses against disease and parasites.
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“Between the class days, field days and online classes from Michigan, you learn a lot about beekeeping and making connections,” says twotime UCM alumnus Larry Soles, ’13, ’16, a U.S. Army veteran who served in Alpha Co. 82nd Combat Aviation.
assisted with the program and can attest to that fact. His business, Sunny Day Beekeeping, offers resources for beginners, beekeeping supplies, honey, honey products and the insects themselves. Kyle got into beekeeping as a high school student through an FFA scholarship opportunity and in 2017 became the first Missouri Honey Ambassador for the Missouri State Beekeepers Association (MSBA). In fall 2021, the MSBA held its biannual conference on UCM’s campus.
Joh nH ess, “A
Perf ectly Ord inar y Pa rad ise”
As in his military days, Larry continues to work in a team contributing to community efforts — now with a personal platoon of honeybees. In March he passed on his knowledge to the larger community as a presenter at a Johnson County Missouri Beekeepers Association workshop. Santiago has incorporated his new skills into the business he started with his wife. He continues to wake up at the crack of dawn to protect something that he holds close to his heart.
Pho to b y
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Pho to b y
Heroes to Hives provides veterans with marketable skills in beekeeping while emphasizing the importance of protecting bees from threats such as habitat loss, disease, parasites and environmental contaminants.
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For people like Kyle and Cory, beekeeping is more than a hobby; it’s an opportunity to turn a passion into a career. For Santiago and Larry, it’s another way to grow and prosper after serving in the military.
To learn more about Heroes to Hives, visit heroestohives.com.
Did you know? Honeybees build hexagonal cells because that shape can store the most honey while using the least amount of wax. To produce a pound of wax the colony must consume approximately 7 pounds of honey. Bees also need enough honey left in the hive to survive the winter.
Photo by Tevin Uthlaut, University of Missouri Extension
University of Central Missouri Magazine
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Balance
UCM Biology Professor Takes Rare Butterflies Under His Wing By Kathy Strickland
When Dan Marschalek was
6 years old, he embarked on the “treasure hunt” of collecting butterflies around his home in Madison, Wisconsin. He remembers visiting his grandparents’ farmland near St. Louis in the summers and being drawn more to the insects in the pastures than the cattle. “I would often go on walks with my grandpa to look at the cows,” says Marschalek, who is now an assistant professor of biology at the University of Central Missouri. “He’s checking out the cows while I’m looking at more of the natural world.” It didn’t take Marschalek long to realize that the butterflies in mideastern Missouri were different from the ones he’d collected in southern Wisconsin. That’s because many species have extremely restricted habitats. Some live in only one location on the entire planet. Motivated to help protect endangered species, Marschalek decided to pursue a bachelor’s degree in wildlife ecology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He considered forestry as a double major, but when his introductory-level class started discussing the effects of insect “pests” on forests, he realized it was actually those “pests” he wanted to study. He switched to a double major in entomology and went on to earn his Ph.D. in the field.
Endangered Species
People throughout North America are familiar with the plight of the monarch. This orange-and-blackwinged beauty really gets around, migrating 3,000 miles to Mexico each fall and back to Canada each spring. The species’ population has declined more than 90 percent in recent decades, according to the National Wildlife Federation, and there are now tri-national efforts to restore its native habitat. In cities across its
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Hermes copper butterfly
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Palomar Mountain, best known as home of the Hale Telescope. The goal is to help the Laguna Mountains skipper become reestablished on its namesake mountain, where it was last seen in 1999. Because these butterflies are incapable of long flights, the San Diego Zoo is now helping to transport them there. Marschalek studied the Laguna UCM Biology professor Dan Marschalek is working to protect the tiny Harbison’s dun Mountains skipper while doing his skipper, a species threatened by wildfires and drought (pictured larger below). postdoctoral research at San Diego State University. He previously earned vast migratory path, people are planting his master’s in biology at San Diego State native flowers that provide nectar and studying three other threatened butterfly cultivating the monarch caterpillar’s sole host plant: milkweed. Without milkweed, species in the area: the Hermes copper, Quino checkerspot and Harbison’s the monarch is unable to complete its life dun skipper. cycle, made even more daunting by the fact that the trek across the continent is a Like the Laguna Mountains skipper, multigenerational endeavor. the tiny Harbison’s dun skipper has a But the monarch isn’t the only butterfly in danger, and Marschalek points out that it’s actually fortunate to have the ability to travel long distances and to have dozens of types of native milkweed across the continent that can serve as appropriate hosts. In California, a type of skipper, a group of butterflies named for their skipping flight patterns, is not so fortunate. Laguna Mountains skipper caterpillars have a single food source, Cleveland’s horkelia, which is only found in meadows amid the coniferous highland forests of San Diego and Riverside counties. Having such a confined area in which to live and breed makes this tiny black-andwhite butterfly with a 1-inch wingspan naturally vulnerable. That, coupled with drought from global warming and destruction from grazing cattle, leaves little hope for the species that now exists in just one location on the planet:
limited distribution and a single host plant: the San Diego sedge. Wildfires and drought are two serious threats to this skipper. UCM graduate student Abby Lyons spent six weeks in California last summer surveying this species’ habitat in an effort to quantify their population size and learn more about their movement patterns. After graduating in May 2021 with a dual major of chemistry and biology from Concordia University near her hometown of Dwight, Nebraska, Lyons is pursuing her master’s in biology with a focus on ecology at UCM. Her interest in ecology grew on a study trip to Costa Rica over spring break of
2020. She was able to observe insects in the rainforest, including a glass-winged butterfly, before the trip was cut short by the pandemic. She then discovered the opportunity to study the Harbison’s dun skipper through a research assistantship at UCM. Like Marschalek, her mentor at UCM, Lyons grew up chasing butterflies. “When I was 5 my dream job was to be an entomologist,” she says. “Some of the best Christmas presents I ever got were insect identification books. … It’s really the perfect fit — a childhood dream come true.”
Home on the P rairie
Trading the mountains of California for the tall-grass prairies of Missouri, Marschalek is now working to protect species like the regal fritillary butterfly in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Conservation. This species used to be found from the Great Plains to the Atlantic Coast but has suffered massive declines in the past 50 or 60 years and is now rarely found west of the Mississippi River. UCM undergraduate students had the opportunity to visit areas near Sedalia deemed remnant prairie, meaning the land has never been plowed. The virgin soil allows for a mix of native grasses and flowering plants to drop seeds and grow without having to compete with fescue. The bare ground is also important for organisms that maintain the health of the ecosystem. It is in this remnant prairie that Marschalek and his students run through the tall grass with huge nets, chasing down the regal fritillary in order to mark their wings and track their populations. The butterfly resembles the monarch with orange and black markings on one side of its wings University of Central Missouri Magazine
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and has dark gray coloring with silvery white spots on the other. Lyons says it’s easier to catch than the Harbison’s dun skipper because it’s much larger and flies in a straighter line. Understanding and appreciating the importance of native habitats for not only butterflies but many other species, Marschalek developed a new course at UCM called Restoration Ecology this spring. Students wrote a restoration plan for particular properties identified by the Missouri Department of Conservation and Knob Noster State Park. Marschalek says butterflies are being used around the world as indicators of climate change and the health of an ecosystem. “They can be considered an indicator species, kind of like the canary in the coal mine,” he explains. “Each butterfly species only feeds on a couple of plant species, so based on the butterflies you have, you get an indication of the diversity and quality of the habitat.”
Abby Lyons, a UCM Biology graduate student, spent six weeks in southern California last summer surveying the habitat of the Harbison’s dun skipper.
Dan Marschalek marks the wing of a regal fritillary butterfly to track the population at a remnant tallgrass prairie near Sedalia. 18
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UCM SETS
WORLD RECORD AT HOMECOMING 2021
On Oct. 23, 2021, in recognition of the university’s 150th celebration, UCM set the world record for the “Largest Ridden Parade of Mules.” A total of 50 volunteers came from across Missouri and neighboring states to ride their mules in the parade, which coincided with the state’s bicentennial celebration. With the mule being both the state animal and the university mascot, there was no shortage of enthusiasm from the community to help mark these anniversaries and achieve a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title!
The volunteer mule riders get a pep talk and hot coffee on the chilly morning of the parade.
Mule shoe tracks line the sidewalks for the historic Homecoming parade.
The youngest rider in the parade was 6-year-old Wyatt Wells, who came with his dad, Wesley Wells. Wesley rode J-Lo and Wyatt rode Gizmo.
The 50 mules ridden in the parade were a fitting tribute to the university’s 150th anniversary.
Billie and Darren Stewart ride their mules, Jordan and Elvis.
UCM’s official mule riders, Victoria Happy, left, riding Molly, and Holly Hagood, riding Mancow (aka Tammy), lead the parade down Holden Street. University of Central Missouri Magazine
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Alumni Riders
Certified Mules
These alumni came back to their alma mater to help us set the world record!
Brandy Von Holten, ’08, of Mora, Missouri, rides CoCo.
Charlotte Jerome, ’03, of Warrensburg rides Rebel.
Alex McCorkle, ’20, of O’Fallon, Missouri, rides Alfon.
Garrett Niemeier, ’21, of Bethalto, Illinois, rides Candy.
Former student Jill Smith of Holden, Missouri, rides Julia. 20
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Setting the world record was no small feat. A Coggins report was required for each mule to prove it was not a carrier of equine infectious anemia, along with paperwork demonstrating it was at least 1 year old and the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. The mules had to travel at least 1 kilometer (0.62 mile) down Holden Street, maintaining a distance apart of no more than 3.96 meters (13 feet). A veterinary physician was on site to ensure the safety of the animals participating.
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Warrensburg Mayor Scott Holmberg volunteered to be the official counter at the parade starting point. University of Central Missouri Magazine
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UCM Students Experience Powell Gardens Is Fertile Ground for Real-World Learning, Community Service By Alexandra Stella, ’21 rchid Fever” is a term for the Victorian-era obsession with a flower first introduced to Europeans by British naturalist William John Swainson in the early 1800s. He reportedly used unbloomed orchids as packing materials on a trip home from Brazil without any knowledge of what the plants were. During the journey the exotic flowers bloomed, setting off a mass hysteria when the crates were opened. Collectors in Europe funded orchid-hunting expeditions to tropical forests in far-away countries with hopes of bringing back new and rare varieties. When Powell Gardens paid tribute to orchid madness in March, UCM students helped spread the excitement.
Beyond the Classroom At the beginning of the academic year, students in UCM assistant professor Keira Solon’s Advanced Events Management course chose to partner with Powell Gardens, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with more than 175 acres of botanical space and seven themed gardens open to
UCM students visited Powell Gardens while planning their “Orchid Delirium” event. Front row, from left: Rashiya Shakur, Jessica Litschgi, Kaylee Tieman, Shelby Langhorst and Noah Sweeney. Back row: assistant professor Keira Solon, Whitney Smith, Jacob Meeker and Rachel Schultz. the public. They selected Powell Gardens as return of that budget, so we are glad their “client” because of its size and location. to be expanding our reach with this particular partnership.” Situated between Warrensburg and Kansas City, the gardens draw people from rural The EMM major was established at UCM and urban areas, with more than 140,000 in 2016 for students pursuing careers in total visitors in 2021. Powell Gardens is the events planning and management, events largest client that communication and sales, and hospitality. students in the Since the program’s inception, Solon’s Events Marketing students have worked with local community and Management groups Warrensburg Main Street and RISE (EMM) program Community Services. As the program is still have ever fairly new, there are roughly 40 students worked with. enrolled. The small class sizes allow students to effectively work together as a team on “Having a larger real-world projects and form lifelong networks client allows my with UCM alumni like Hali Mieser, ’17, students to have events specialist for Powell Gardens. more opportunities and experiences Mieser was introduced to her future employer within the project as a student in UCM’s Public Relations itself,” says Solon. program when she visited Powell Gardens “They provided as part of professor Adam Horn’s inaugural the highest Entertainment Public Relations course. – Hali Mieser budget and also He created this course to give students the have the highest opportunity to get a glimpse of what different expectations on PR jobs are like and to talk with professionals
“ I have been in their [the students’] shoes and really want to help them as they work toward their future careers.”
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in the industry before their first job interview. “Not all learning happens in the classroom,” says Horn, who also teaches a Sports Public Relations class that does site visits of athletic venues in the Kansas City area. “We provide opportunities for our students to learn from industry professionals at their places of business by taking class on the road. As we work to educate our students, and to help them become job-ready, we try to treat them more like colleagues in training than students. We try to encourage our students to not treat a class as simply a class, but rather treat class like a job-training opportunity.” Mieser took that advice to heart. After the class trip, she followed up with Kalie Hudson, ’07, who was then Powell Gardens’ director of marketing and communications and this year became chief content officer at Kansas City PBS. Hudson hired Mieser as a summer intern, and later that year she landed a full-time position. When Horn’s Entertainment PR class took its annual trip to Powell Gardens the following spring, Mieser was on the other side as the professional answering the students’ questions. “I was in these students’ position just a few short years ago, so it is really fun to be on the other side and watch this cycle come full circle,” she says. “This experience has given me a sort of kinship to these students; I have been in their shoes and really want to help them as they work toward their future careers.”
Phalaenopsis Da Shang Lighten University of Central Missouri Magazine
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Designing the Experience When Mieser began working with students in Solon’s class at the start of the 2021–22 academic year, she told them her main objective for their project was to attract a new demographic. “Most of our visitors are families and retirees,” Mieser explains. “While we are so grateful for these clients and love having them, we would like to be able to better target and retain the younger demographic, specifically young adults starting at age 21 and up.” With this in mind, the students came up with an event called “Experience Delirium,” coinciding with the “Orchid Delirium” exhibit featuring select blooms from Powell Gardens’ collection of more than 600 orchids, 43 of which have protected conservation status in the wild. The late-night event on March 24 featured a nightclub vibe with a neon black-light jungle, signature cocktails, food trucks and a pop-up dance club with DJ.
Paphiopedilum unregistered hybrid
Paphiopedilum Spicerianum
Kaylee Tieman, a senior EMM major, was excited to introduce Powell Gardens to her peers through the event she and her classmates spent two semesters planning. “A lot of us had never been to Powell Gardens,” says Tieman. “We pass it on the highway, but we never stop in and check it out.”
Oncidium intergeneric hybrid
The collaboration was a win-win for both the nonprofit and their future clientele. It was also a picture-perfect example of experiential learning in action and UCM’s longstanding culture of “Education for Service.”
Cymbidium Phalaenopsis OX Queen
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Phalaenopsis Yu Pin ‘Lucky Lady’
University of Central Missouri Magazine
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C L A S S N OT E S
Alumni News Steve Corey, ’69, ’77, has retired after a 50-year career in the mental health field, including as a Job Corps consultant and 30 years in private practice in Kansas City. George “Rob” Robbins, ’76, ’81, retired from full-time work as a tax accountant but will continue to prepare returns during tax season for Cardinal Accounting and Tax in St. Louis County. Phil Vinyard, ’78, was named director of physician services, Kansas City Market, at Providence Medical Center and Saint John Hospital. Jack Ventimiglia, ’79, ’80, was inducted into the Missouri Newspaper Hall of Fame. Bruce Lyon, ’81, ’99, was named vice president of the Board of Certified Safety Professionals. Michael Howard, ’83, retired in 2021, was named chair-elect of the Children’s Trust Fund of Missouri and received the Justine Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award. Andrea Spillars, ’86, was appointed by the Biden Administration as FEMA’s Region 7 administrator in Kansas City. Lisa Randazzo, ’88, a nurse with more than three decades of service at the SSM Health 26
St. Mary’s Hospital in Jefferson City, received the DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award. Her late husband, Col. Mark Randazzo, ’86, recipient of a host of prestigious medals including the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star, was posthumously inducted in 2021 into the Missouri National Guard Hall of Fame. This spring a building was named after him at the Missouri National Guard Ike Skelton Training Site in Jefferson City. John Howie, ’94, has started his new position as AFJROTC senior aerospace instructor at Asheboro High School in North Carolina. Bryan Wheeles, ’94, has been named the new police chief of Topeka, Kansas. LaTonia Collins Smith, ’95, has been named president of HarrisStowe State University in St. Louis after serving as interim president since June 2021. Margaret Lawler, ’95, became the executive director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Blackburn College in Carlinville, Illinois. Sonia Rucker, ’95, became the vice president of inclusion and belonging at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
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Brian Gilmore, ’97, has retired from Bristol Myers Squibb after a 25-year career in the pharmaceutical industry. John Comerford, ’98, has been appointed to Ohio’s Delaware County Finance Authority. Leslie Meyer, ’99, was appointed as the Audrain County, Missouri Eastern District Commissioner. Todd Fraley, ’01, ’11, was promoted to superintendent of the Sedalia School District after Steven Triplett, ’01, retired at the end of the 2021–22 academic year. Mary Sherwood, ’01, executive VP for A2 Advertising, was named the 2021 Distinguished Marketing Executive by UCM’s American Marketing Association chapter. Jaz Brewer, ’02, Emmy Award-winning artist and lead engineer at 64111 Studio in Kansas City, has been hired as an adjunct instructor of Digital Audio Production at UCM. Melissa Huenefeldt, ’02, ’06, was hired by Milliman Inc. as a consulting actuary.
C L A S S N OT E S
Tina Ellsworth, ’03, ’10, was elected to the National Council for the Social Studies Board of Directors. Kalie Hudson, ’07, has been promoted to chief content officer at Kansas City PBS after serving as the station’s director of marketing and engagement. Kaitlyn Roach, ’10, was appointed as associate circuit judge for Johnson County in the 17th Judicial Circuit. Manny Abarca, ’10, ’12, spoke at a Leadership Lunch for students in Warrensburg and at the Lee’s Summit campus for the 2022 Martin Luther King Jr. celebration. Kristi Franz, ’12, is the new executive director of the Sioux City Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Holly Hildreth, ’12, was a platinum medalist in the Professional Photographers of America’s 2021 International Photographic Competition. Aaron Brandt, ’13, has been named director of the Fisher Delta Research, Extension and Education Center, in MU’s College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. Matt Faupel, ’13, ’15, graduated from the St. Peters, Missouri, Citizen Police Academy and is serving on the national leadership council for Cushman & Wakefield. Kristen Hirlinger, ’13, was nominated for two major awards: an Emmy for her work as a dialogue editor on “The Haunting of Bly Manor” and a Golden Reel Award for sound editing on “Fear Street: Part Two - 1978.” Brandon Banks, ’15, has been named one of CoMo Magazine’s Class of 2022 “20 Under 40” in Columbia, Missouri.
Clint Carlson, ’17, was promoted to program director of education technology innovations at the University of Colorado. Angela Cloud, ’17, was named one of the 2021 Top Women in Safety by the American Occupational Safety journal. Amber Nieznajko, ’17, was nominated and selected as the Blue KC Sporting Samaritan for October 2021, celebrating students and teachers who enrich the Kansas City community. Carrie Leimbach, ’19, assumed a new position as a neonatal nurse practitioner at Cape Neonatology Specialists in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Skye Melcher, ’21, has been named the education and county government reporter for the Sedalia Democrat.
Baby Corner Are you the proud parent or grandparent of a new baby? Get a free UCM bib and a chance to be featured in UCM Magazine when you share your big news at www.ucmfoundation.org/newbaby and email a photo to alumni@ucmo.edu. Michael Howard, ’83, welcomed granddaughter Avery Cowart, daughter of Jimmy and Sarah Cowart, in February 2021.
Jessica, ’11, and Chris Morris welcomed Raegan Morris (pictured with older brother, Wyatt) in August 2021.
Are you a UCM alum with news to share from within the past year? Let us know at www.ucmfoundation.org/classnotes and email a photo to alumni@ucmo.edu. Only submissions with photos will be considered for publication. University of Central Missouri Magazine
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COLLEGE HIGH REUNION Alumni from UCM’s College/University High School gathered in Warrensburg for an all-class reunion Sept. 17–18, 2021, in Warrensburg.
BREAKFAST CLUB
MULENATION FLORIDA
Alumni and friends got their Mule Spirit on at the second annual donor appreciation breakfast in Elliott Student Union before the Homecoming parade Oct. 23, 2021.
Members of MuleNation held two 2022 events in Florida: dinner at the Seahorse Grill in Ponte Vedra on Feb. 15, followed by a gathering at the Hampton Social in Naples on Feb. 18.
David and Teresa, ’84, Pearce.
Ronald Rice, ’67; Kelley Mustion, ’81; Richard Mustion, ’81; Kenneth Keth, ’64; Carol Keth, ’63; Randall Rahe, ’77; Patricia O’Leary; Terrence O’Leary, ’65; and Nola Rahe.
Diane, ’77, and Barry, ’84, Whitworth.
Meryl Lin McKean, ’80, and Phyllis Collins, ’81.
Velma Duff; Josiah Duff, ’21; Claudia Duff; Daryl Duff, ’89; Megan Duff, ‘05; and Pauline Pettiford Duff.
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Bob Horn, ’77, and Robert Wrap, ’84.
Mark Seifried, ’82; Denise Meade; Roger Baldwin, ’69; Connie Baldwin, ’69; Philip Stabenow, ’69; Micheal Davidson, ’72; and Linda Stabenow, ’77.
Michelle Ream, ’09; Dan Ream, ’07; Nancy Allen and Mark Allen, ’83.
M U L E N AT I O N N E W S
MULENATION KANSAS CITY
PARTY IN THE PARK
Alumni from across the state closed out UCM’s 150th year celebration Dec. 15, 2021, at the Carriage Club in Kansas City.
Party band KC FLO entertained in Selmo Park after the Homecoming parade Oct. 23, 2021.
Logan Carlyle; Chelsea Carlyle, ’14; Kevin Smarr, ’06; Sarah Smarr; Bill Carlyle, ’76; Gina Carlyle; Jack Lotspeich, ’01; Amanda Lotspeich, ’07; Casey Cochran, ’06; Tiffany Cochran, ’05; Johnny Mallery, ’90; Carmen Mallery, ’95; Steve Abney; Cathy Abney; and Matt Lotspeich, ’05.
Homer Kay, ’78; Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas; and Becky Kay, ’78.
Laurel Hogue, ’98, and Preston Hogue, ’96.
Angela Skaggs and Rick Skaggs, ’81.
Karen White, ’78, and Ron White.
Mary Hardy Johnson; Anthony Stephenson, ’80; and David Turner.
Janet Crouch, ’77; Larry Wade, ’70; and Linda Wade, ’70.
Anthony Jackson, ’81; Rebecca “Becky” Gordon Bradley, ’80; Shirley Cole, ’81; and Tim Jones, ’81.
Vivian McGraw, ’67; Charlie McGraw, ’67; Ross Jensen, ’67; Jennifer Jensen; Larry Johnson, ’65; Linda Johnson, ’64; Tom Karczewski, ’66; and Richard Phillips, ’65, ’68, ’72.
Members of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority: Suzette Leftwich, ’05; Stacy Jackson, ’91; Trissi (Tricia) Hardin, ’92; Jaya Thompson, ’21; Stephanie Doakes, ’91; Rosalind Davis, ’90; Sonja Harris, ’84; Valerie Jones, ’82; and Samantha (Saundra) Hughes, ’96.
Get involved in a MuleNation chapter near you! Visit www.ucmfoundation.org/mulenation. University of Central Missouri Magazine
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Caitlin Peterson Set for Success as Jennies Volleyball Head Coach By Dylin Cline, PR undergraduate student
T
he University of Central Missouri Jennies Volleyball team has a long-standing tradition of success, thanks in large part to the all-star line of coaches that have been with the program over the years, starting with the legendary Peggy Martin in 1975. The Jennies now have a new coach to add to that amazing tradition with UCM alumna Caitlin Peterson, ’10, ’12. Taking over for Head Coach Philip “Flip” Piontek, ’88, in January 2022, Coach Peterson brings not only the experience of being assistant coach but also of being a former Jennies Volleyball player herself. After graduating from UCM with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, Peterson became a graduate assistant coach while pursuing her master’s in kinesiology. Before taking the full-time position under Coach Piontek in 2013, Peterson was coaching with Martin at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, after the longtime UCM coach returned to her hometown to
Since Coach Flip Piontek started in 1986, the Jennies Volleyball team has consistently ranked in the AVCA Top 25. 30
Caitlin (Pankratz) Peterson, as a student (right) and as the new head coach of a team ranked fourth in the nation in the 2021 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II poll. help rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. When the job for an assistant coach at her alma mater came up, Peterson jumped at the opportunity. Both Peterson and Piontek credit Martin for much of the program’s beginning growth and success over the years. “There were coaches before, and there will be after us,” says Piontek, who has been with the program since 1986, “but Peggy was the one who really laid the foundation for the program.” Piontek will retire as the second-winningest coach in the history of Jennies Volleyball. He served as head coach for 13 seasons, starting in 2009 after 23 seasons as assistant coach. In his first season as head coach in 2009 — the same year starting setter and team captain Caitlin (Pankratz) Peterson earned AVCA All-American and First-Team All-MIAA — Peterson led the Jennies to their first outright MIAA championship in a decade. That year UCM hosted the NCAA South Central Regional as the No. 1 seed. During Piontek’s tenure as head coach, the Jennies have earned 20 MIAA championship titles and 32 NCAA tournament appearances.
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Peterson says what Coach Piontek has taught her has been invaluable. She wants her players to understand the program’s history and the people who have brought Jennies Volleyball to where it is today. Since taking the head coach position, she has invited former players to talk with the current team in an effort to bridge the gap between their journeys. Team member Jackie Storm, a junior majoring in business management, recognizes that teams throughout the history of Jennies Volleyball have had different dynamics, in part due to differences in coaching styles.
Caitlin (#5) has been a player and assistant under legendary coach Peggy Martin.
AT H L E T I C S
Coach Peterson is excited to give back to the program that did so much for her. There are a lot of goals and achievements that she hopes to accomplish in her debut season as the head coach.
Caitlin Peterson, second from right, standing next to Head Coach Flip Piontek, started as assistant coach in 2013. “Cait and Flip in my mind were a great combination to play under,” Storm says. “Flip wanted to push you but also cared about you so deeply. Cait has similar characteristics but adds a little bit of fire. She will push you to your limits in order to make you the best you can be.” Peterson agrees that she and Piontek were a powerful duo that helped lead the Jennies to great seasons and wins over the years, including three MIAA tournament championships and a bid to every NCAA tournament. “He is a very caring person, and sees students as more than just athletes,” Peterson says of her partner for nearly a decade. “He wants to make sure that they’re doing a good job in class and representing the program well.”
“If someone is slacking, we will hear about it [from Coach Peterson],” Storm says. “I think that’s something we need as a team. It really is a family dynamic with the way we care for each other and do activities outside of volleyball.” In the fall semester of 2021, the team had a cumulative GPA of 3.82. They posted a 29–4 overall record and took home their 25th MIAA regular-season title and 14th MIAA postseason tournament championship in program history. They advanced to their 36th NCAA tournament and hosted the NCAA Division II Central Regional for the first time since 2011. Peterson believes that “if we can win the conference title, we know we have a pretty good shot at winning that national one too.”
Piontek is excited and ready to hand the team over to Peterson, saying that “she’s clearly ready for the responsibilities of being the head coach, so it was really an easy transition for me.” He noted that Peterson had been gradually taking over head coach responsibilities. The story of Peterson’s journey from student-athlete to head coach is quite remarkable. The sky’s the limit for this alumna who was inducted into the UCM Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019 and the MIAA Hall of Fame in 2020. The athlete who remains UCM’s all-time second in assists and ranks eighth in assists in the entire record of the MIAA is now looking to set more records as coach. “The red and black just really has my heart,” Peterson says, “and I’m excited to continue the legacy of Jennies Volleyball.”
Support your Mules and Jennies at www.ucmfoundation.org/give/ muletrain.
Being a former student-athlete herself, she holds the team to a very high standard. She expects the team to be not only excellent athletes but even better students.
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Fall-Season Sports Highlights Jennies Soccer
Mules Football
Jennies Soccer compiled an overall record of 20-4-1 and an MIAA mark of 9-1-1 in 2021. UCM won its 12th MIAA regular-season championship and captured its sixth NCAA-II Central Regional title, advancing to the NCAA-II national quarterfinals before falling to No. 1-ranked Grand Valley State, 1-0.
Mules Football had 12 student-athletes named All-MIAA, including a pair of First Team honorees in defensive lineman Chima Dunga and wide receiver Cameron Saunders. Saunders also garnered D2CCA Second Team All-Super Region III accolades and was named a Don Hansen First Team All-American. UCM defensive back Codie Bell earned Second Team CoSIDA Academic All-American honors for his performance on the field and in the classroom. The upcoming season will be the first under new Head Coach Josh Lamberson. He is the Mules Football program’s 30th head coach, following in the footsteps of Jim Svoboda, under whom Lamberson served as offensive and recruiting coordinator from 2010 to 2014. Most recently he was offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and associate head coach for Division I Abilene Christian University.
Jennies Cross Country
Mules Cross Country
Jennies Cross Country finished runner-up at the MIAA championship and seventh at the NCAA Division II Central Region championship. Mariah Elmore (pictured), Risper Mengich and Lilian Busienei all earned First Team All-MIAA honors after finishing in the Top 10. Mengich also earned NCAA-II All-Region accolades with a Top 20 showing at the Central Region championship meet.
Mules Cross Country finished fifth at both the MIAA and NCAA-II Central Region championships and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA-II championship. It was the first time since 2017 that the Mules earned an appearance in the NCAA championship meet. Freshman Bryan O’Barr (pictured) led the Mules with a 10K time of 32:46.2.
Tim Poe Inducted Into Missouri Sports Hall of Fame
Bryanna Cote Named PWBA 2021 Player of the Year
Mules Golf Head Coach Tim Poe, ’87, was honored with a 2022 enshrinement in the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) Hall of Fame in 2016. During his 31 seasons leading the Mules, Poe has been named MIAA Coach of the Year 15 times, NCAA Division II Regional/ District Coach of the Year 10 times and National Coach of the Year in 2010. He also was head coach of the winning 2011 U.S. Palmer Cup team. 32
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The Professional Women’s Bowling Association (PWBA) honored Bryanna Cote, ’08, with the 2021 Player of the Year award. While bowling for the Jennies from 2005 to 2008, Cote was a four-time National TenPin Coaches Association AllAmerican and four-time NTCA Division II/III National Player of the Year.
UCM NEWS
UCM News Award, Partnerships Demonstrate University’s Commitment to Military Students Viqtory Media has awarded the University of Central Missouri the 2022–2023 Military Friendly® School Gold designation for its “leading practices, outcomes and effective programs.” Factors in the ranking included student retention, graduation, job placement, loan repayment, persistence (degree advancement or transfer) and loan default rates for all students — and specifically for student veterans. Out of more than 1,800 higher education institutions, UCM was one of 282 earning the gold status. The university has a strong relationship with individuals who serve in all branches of the military. This year UCM collaborated with nearby Whiteman Air Force Base to bring industry-recognized certificate courses to the base. On-site classes began in March and are offered at various times and days of the week. If students are deployed during a session,
they will have the opportunity to complete the course online. Another new opportunity can be completed fully online through UCM’s partnership with the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF) Air University Associate to Baccalaureate Cooperative (AUABC). Members of the U.S. Air Force who want to further their education have two new pathways to obtain a Bachelor of Science in Environmental, Safety and Risk Management (ESRM) from UCM. Individuals who earn this Jessica Meyers is a member of the Air Force National degree are eligible to receive Guard at Whiteman AFB, a nursing student at UCM the Graduate Safety Practitioner and a Veteran Affairs work-study employee. designation through the Board of Certified Safety Professionals. Learn about UCM’s Military and Veterans UCM offers in-state tuition for all active-duty Services at www.ucmo.edu/military. and military veterans and a military tuition package that helps reduce costs not covered Support active-duty and veteran students at by traditional military benefits. The Career www.ucmfoundation.org/give/military. Services office hosted its first-ever Hire a Veteran Career Fair in fall 2021.
New Course Bridges the Gap in Surgical Nursing In the Greater Kansas City area, hospitals are struggling to staff operating rooms and other key surgical positions. Shortages are a result of an aging workforce coupled with the lack of exposure to surgical nursing for undergraduate students. To meet this need, UCM’s School of Nursing is partnering with North Kansas City Hospital (NKCH) to offer a new three-hour Perioperative elective course in the summer of 2022. The course is taught by a Certified Perioperative Nurse (CNOR) and will provide new nurses with invaluable experience and integral knowledge in surgical services. It is open to undergraduate UCM students who are enrolled in the traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program and meet specific application criteria.
From left, NKCH staff members Andrea Shavnore, perioperative educator; Kerri Jenkins, chief operating officer; and Leslie Petruzzelli, interim director of surgical services, worked with UCM to create the new course.
UCM’s School of Nutrition, Kinesiology and Psychological Science held an athletic event to promote health and fitness while honoring the university’s 150th anniversary. The UCM 150 Celebration Team Challenge charged a group of 13 students and seven faculty members with remotely traveling 150 miles from the university to the state capital in 150 minutes. The course was designed to be similar to what travelers experienced in 1871, when UCM was founded. Three different transportation methods were utilized: running, cycling and rowing across a river. All three workouts were simultaneously completed by subgroups using a treadmill, stationary bike and rowing machine. The team reached the 150-mile mark in just 130 minutes.
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UCM NEWS
Faculty/Staff Achievements David Aaberg, professor of music at UCM, composed a new jazz composition, “Sidecar,” which premiered at the Missouri Music Educators Association (MMEA) conference in Osage Beach. Micah Alpaugh, associate professor of world history, spoke at Portsmouth (UK) University’s French Revolution Online Seminar about his new book, “Friends of Freedom: The Rise of Social Movements in the Age of Atlantic Revolutions,” published by the Cambridge University Press. Roger Best, president of the University of Central Missouri, was recognized as the inaugural 2021 Dr. John E. Sallstrom Honors College Alumnus of the Year at his alma mater, Georgia College, in Milledgeville, Georgia. Best graduated from Georgia College in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in business management and went on to complete his Ph.D. in finance at Florida State University in Tallahassee in 1996.
in Washington, D.C., crisis and disaster management students at UCM presented their projects over Zoom with interpreters signing for the UCM students and voicing for the Gallaudet students. Morgan Ely, assistant instructor of educational foundations, presented a session on “Literacy Strategies in the Health Science Classroom” to a group of 150 people at the National Consortium for Health Science Education (NCHSE) conference in Cincinnati. Nabat Erdogan, assistant professor of literacy, gave two presentations at the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) 2022 Convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: “Translating Knowledge of Phonetic Theory into L2 Classroom Practices” and “Engaging Elementary English Learners in Writing in the Digital Era.”
Terrell Brown, associate professor of educational foundations, was invited to serve on a commission to examine the Teacher Educator Standards for the Association of Teacher Educators.
Gregg Etter, professor of criminal justice and criminology, received Student Technology Fee funds to purchase a crime scene dummy as well as an Institutional Improvement Grant to invest in state-of-theart equipment that allows for hands-on investigation of numerous scenarios.
Dianna Bryant, associate professor and director of the Institute for Rural Emergency Management, co-presented a paper at the American Deafness and Rehabilitation Association’s national conference. In partnership with social work students at Gallaudet University
Jeff Kaiser and Alex Smith, associate professors of music at UCM, presented “Integrating Music Technology Into Your Music Program” at the MMEA 2022 conference at Lake of the Ozarks.
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Kaiser
Smith
Carlotta Kimble, professor of communication disorders, earned a 12th Award for Continuing Education from the Continuing Education Board of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Mary McCord, professor emerita of business and social enterprise, was honored with the 2022 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award. Pictured from left are Jamie Brisbin, chair of the Warrensburg Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors; McCord; and Lover Chancler, director of UCM’s Center for Multiculturalism and Inclusivity. Bryan McDonald, Mike Pantleo and Doug Thomas, all UCM College of Education faculty members, participated in a cross-discipline presentation at the Missouri Association McDonald of Colleges for Teacher Education (MACTE) conference “Analyzing the Performance Assessment for Aspiring School Leaders.” This presentation focused Pantleo on Missouri’s School Leader Performance Assessment and UCM’s involvement in statewide efforts for collaboration, scoring, consistency and professional growth. Joe Mullins, consultant for UCM’s Center for Workforce and Professional Education, has been named to the Truman Heartland Community Foundation Board of Directors.
Thomas
UCM NEWS
Chris Opatrny-Yazell, professor of management, spoke about supply chain issues at AACSB’s International Conference and Annual Meeting in New Orleans. Bobby R. Patton, who served as president of UCM from 1999 to 2005, received the Marquis Who’s Who Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. The Patton Broadcasting Building on UCM’s campus bears his name, and he received both the Cesar E. Chavez Award and the Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award in the year of his retirement. Most recently he co-authored the book “Keys to Healthy Communication, Authenticity, Empathy and Empowerment.” Aaron Scully, instructor of theater, was recognized at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival for his adaptation of “Oedipus,” produced by State Fair Community College.
Elisabeth Stimpert, associate professor of music at UCM, was represented with her ensemble, Alarm Will Sound, on NPR’s Staff Picks Top 10 Songs of 2021 for the recent release titled “For George Lewis” by composer Tyshawn Sorey. Staff Sgt. Courtney Swoboda, a U.S. Air Force veteran who serves as UCM’s director of Military and Veterans Services, was recognized as an Adopted Warrior by the Exercise Tiger Association (ETA), a national nonprofit commemorative foundation. Her flight chief, Master Sgt. James Nichols, represented her leadership. Jon Taylor, professor of American and public history, was selected by the National Council on Public History and the National Park Service to contribute to the WW II American Heritage Cities theme study.
UCM’s Welch-Schmidt Center for Communication Disorders is a recipient of the Parkinson Voice Project’s 2021 SPEAK OUT! & LOUD Crowd Grant Program. UCM offers Parkinson Voice Project’s speech-therapy program in Warrensburg and surrounding areas at no cost to residents. Through the grant, the clinic will receive therapy supplies and training for UCM’s speechlanguage pathologists and graduate students. The grant program honors Daniel R. Boone, a world-renowned speech-language pathologist and voice expert who recognized in the late 1950s that individuals with Parkinson’s could improve their communication by “speaking with intent.”
Miaozong Wu, associate professor and program coordinator of the Master of Science in occupational safety management, was awarded a third grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to protect workers in high-risk industries from electric arc injuries. UCM is the only institution in Missouri to receive funds through the Susan Harwood Training Grant program of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Yu Zhao, assistant professor of software engineering, was the lead writer with seven other researchers from the U.S., China and Singapore on the article “ReCDroid+: Automated End-to-End Crash Reproduction from Bug Reports for Android Apps.” Their work aims to give app developers a tool to resolve mobile phone crash issues with less human effort.
UCM’s College of Education hosted 450 area middle and high school students this fall for the Future Teacher Academy. Launched in 2018 with support from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s “Grow Your Own” grant, the Future Teacher Academy is designed to help students explore teaching as a career. This event brought faculty and students from more than 30 Missouri school districts and representatives from the Heart of Missouri Regional Professional Development Center (RPDC) and Central Missouri RPDC. Darrion Cockrell (pictured), 2021 Missouri Teacher of the Year, gave the keynote address.
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PLANNED GIVING
Home Is Where Mule Spirit Is UCM Power Couple Paints MuleNation Red
R
ob Ruth, ’75, is a strong advocate for the University of Central Missouri. He started working in student recruitment soon after graduation. Although his career took him to several different states, he’s been bringing students to the university — and back — ever since.
Championships. When the Mules returned to the World Series in June 2021, Rob and Susie were there. They traveled from their home in Colleyville, Texas, to Cary, North Carolina, to watch the team take second place in the nation.
Being super fans is just one way the Ruths show their support for UCM Athletics. Rob helped Rob and Susie, ’74, ’77, met found an annual tradition for as undergraduate students in Mules Baseball: the First Pitch UCM’s College of Education. Rob and Susie Ruth in front of the Achauer House with Mo the Mule. Banquet. He serves as a co-chair Rob served as president of the of the fundraiser, now in its Physical Education Majors reunions. In April 2021, Susie Dallas–Fort Worth chapter of sixth year. Association and wanted to be MuleNation and recruiting was on campus to award the a coach. Susie’s dream was to Beyond that, the couple has other alumni, of which there Sigma Kappa–Delta Eta Chapter teach home economics. They established a living trust that Alumni Scholarship to three are more than 1,200 in the both ultimately fulfilled these leaves a percentage of their students during the sorority’s DFW area. Rob and Susie help goals, although not in the way estate to UCM — half to Mules family weekend. On that same organize MuleNation events they expected. Baseball and half to the Central trip, the couple attended the in their region, including an Annual Fund, supporting the After a few years of recruiting groundbreaking for the James R. annual gathering at the Texas students for UCM’s Department university’s most critical needs. Crane Stadium expansion and Rangers AA ballpark in Frisco. As a current member of the of Continuing Education, Rob visited with Crane, ’76, one of UCM Alumni Foundation Board When Rob took the job as a landed his first position at State Rob’s Mules Baseball teammates. of Directors, Rob knows how recruiter fresh out of college, he Farm Insurance, the company The Ruths were back again crucial it is for the university to recognized the value of having where he would serve for the in October for UCM’s 150th have a pool of unrestricted donor current students conduct duration of his 36-year career. anniversary Homecoming dollars that can be drawn upon campus tours for prospective Susie left her job in the public celebration, watching fellow as needed. Mules and Jennies. After all, school system to put her teaching alumni and friends set the world they were the ones who knew and home economics skills to “Being on the board, I realized record for “Largest Ridden best what student life was like. good use with the three children that there are a lot of times when Parade of Mules.” The UCM Student Ambassador they would raise. Rob got to the university needs unrestricted program he founded was a live his dream of being a coach funds to go to whatever the need “We don’t want to miss a success and continues to this for youth baseball, basketball Homecoming; we see so many is at the moment, as opposed to and soccer. friends,” says Susie. “We’ve only day. Furthermore, recruiting tying it to something specific,” he says. “States have dramatically missed four, and that was when both students and alumni is a While a student at UCM, lifelong passion. four of our 12 grandchildren reduced their funding since Rob was a four-year starter were born on Homecoming we were in school, and every for Mules Baseball. He played “What UCM has to offer, in university in America is leaning weekend.” At the 2017 centerfield under Coach Bob my opinion, far exceeds any heavily on funds coming through Homecoming, Rob received the other school in the country,” Tompkins, after whom Robert their foundation. There’s a need Distinguished Alumni Award N. Tompkins Field was named. Rob says. “Not to mention a to give back to the university to for Service. He was an all-MIAA player for great environment and a great help keep it affordable.” the 1974 Mules Baseball team, While Rob is officially retired setting geographically in the which is now enshrined in the Rob and Susie both were from his career, he never quite center of the country. I don’t UCM Athletic Hall of Fame involved in Greek Life at UCM left his first job: spreading the understand why a high school for being the first team to reach and enjoy coming back for Sigma word about UCM. He was senior would choose any place the NCAA Division II National Phi Epsilon and Sigma Kappa instrumental in founding the other than UCM.”
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IN MEMORIAM
In Memoriam The UCM Alumni Foundation holds dear the memory of emeriti, alumni, faculty and friends who have passed away. Every person listed here was an integral part of the university family and will be missed.
Kenneth Dale Allen
Along with Rob and Susie Ruth, these generous alumni were recently inducted into the Heritage Society by documenting, or updating their documentation of, a planned gift to the University of Central Missouri: Patricia Burton, ’65, ’66, has made provisions in her estate planning to establish the Patricia E. Gosney Burton and Jerald A. Burton Scholarship Endowment via a trust. Pam Smith Kelly, ’80, and Jim Kelly have named the UCM Alumni Foundation as a beneficiary of their trust to establish the Pamela Smith Kelly Music Scholarship benefiting a student pursuing vocal or instrumental education. Art Kurth, ’69, ’72, ’82, and Sue Parsons-Kurth, ’76, ’79, have named the UCM Alumni Foundation as a beneficiary of their trust, providing gifts that will grow the endowment investments in the Dr. Larry Dilley Scholarship in Mathematics Education and the Edwin C. Ellis Scholarship in Art.
Kenneth Dale “Ken” Allen, age 82, was born April 5, 1939, and grew up in Warrensburg. He graduated from College High School in 1957 and earned his Bachelor of Arts from Central Missouri State College in 1960, graduating as class president. As an officer of the National Student Association, he was invited to Cuba after the revolution, where he interviewed both Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. After graduation, Allen earned a law degree from George Washington University. He and his wife, Donna Sue (Viator) Allen, a 1962 CMSC graduate, raised their family in Texas. They retired to Estes Park, Colorado, in 1997. In 2004, UCM presented Allen with an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree for a lifetime of achievement and service.
Dorothy Lee Craig
Dorothy Lee (Van Camp) Craig, age 85, was born Jan. 25, 1936, and grew up in Kansas City. She married Elton “Sonny” Craig in 1954, and they started a family in Knob Noster. After raising her four children, the book lover took a position in 1979 as library assistant at Central Missouri State University, where she worked until her retirement in 2001.
Roger William Denker
Roger William Denker, age 88, was born July 2, 1933, in South Dakota. He graduated from South Dakota State University and married Connie Goodell in 1956. The couple came to Central Missouri State College in 1963, where he taught physical education and served as head wrestling coach (1963–81) and assistant football coach (1963–72). Denker guided the wrestling team to six Top 20 finishes at the national tournament, including 10 All-Americans and 163 national qualifiers. He was inducted into the South Dakota Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Missouri Wrestling Association Hall of Fame in 1994. During his career, he reached the rank of colonel in the Army National Guard with more than 30 years of distinguished service.
Waldemar R. Dzula
Waldemar “Wally” Dzula, age 68, was born Sept. 11, 1952. He joined the faculty of Central Missouri State University in 1995 as a life safety instructor, where he served until his retirement in 2018. Dzula also operated a carpet business and was a military fireman with the U.S. Air Force.
Sharon A. Gabel
Sharon A. (Thomas) Gabel, age 79, was born Dec. 22, 1942. After earning her Bachelor of Science in Education from Central Missouri State College in 1964, she taught high school English in the Chilhowee, Raytown South and Warrensburg school systems before pursuing a career with Levi Strauss & Co. She retired from Levi Strauss as military sales manager for Europe, having lived in San Francisco, California; Washington, D.C.; Richmond, Virginia; Dallas, Texas; and Frankfurt, Germany. Gabel was a member of the Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority, the UCM Foundation Board (2009–2015), the Founders Society and the Heritage Society.
There are many ways to leave your legacy! To learn more, contact the UCM Alumni Foundation’s Office of Planned Giving at 660-543-8000, giving@ucmo.edu or ucmo.giftlegacy.com.
Harvey Alfred Gossen
Harvey Alfred Gossen, age 90, was born May 19, 1931. He came to Central Missouri State College in 1969 as a supervisor of student teachers and served as a professor of curriculum and instruction until his retirement in 1996. During the 1980s, Gossen worked with other faculty members to conduct workshops designed to help school districts in Missouri communities transition from junior University of Central Missouri Magazine
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IN MEMORIAM
high school to middle school systems. He also conducted Supervisors as Mentors workshops for schools and state agencies. Gossen previously served as an elementary school teacher, principal and superintendent.
William Eugene Hauser
William Eugene “Bill” Hauser, age 90, was born March 16, 1931, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He loved languages, especially Spanish, which was the focus of his doctoral studies at the University of Kansas. Hauser became a Spanish professor at Central Missouri State College in 1966 and retired after 30 years in 1997. During that time he taught all levels of Spanish and supervised the student teaching of undergraduates pursuing a Spanish Education degree. Hauser enjoyed hosting foreign exchange students and loved to travel.
Charles Edward Keseman
Charles Edward “Charlie” Keseman, age 85, was born Dec. 5, 1936, near Lincoln, Missouri. Keseman graduated from Central Missouri State College in 1958, married Esther Louise Kisker in 1960 and earned his master’s from CMSC in 1961, the same year he joined the industrial arts faculty. In 1987, Keseman became the first recipient of the T. R. Gaines Outstanding Faculty Award and received the William H. Byler Distinguished Professor Award in 1993, the same year he received the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. He retired as a professor of graphics in 1999. Keseman served his country in the U.S. Air Force Reserves, including active duty during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Jane Anne Walker
Jane Anne “Janne” (Markey) Walker, age 80, was born July 22, 1941, in Kansas City. Her father, Ephraim Amos Markey, was a Warrensburg native, a 1921 graduate of Central Missouri State Teachers College and a high school football coach. After his death, Walker and her mother, Mary Jane Irvine Markey, established the E. A. Markey and Mary Jane Markey Football Scholarship for UCM students. After earning her master’s in education from the University of Missouri, she married Donald Walker, whose career in the Navy led them to live in many states; Yokosuka, Japan; and Italy. In 2009, she retired from teaching in Norfolk, Virginia, and continued a life of volunteerism, philanthropy and oyster bowl parties. Walker was a member of the UCM Alumni Foundation’s Founders Society and Heritage Society.
Make a gift to UCM in a loved one’s memory at www.ucmfoundation.org/ give/in-memory. 38
1930–1939 Mildred B. (Allinson) Roth, ’39
1940–1949 Esther S. (Straten) Coffman, ’44 Alice Amelia Pragman, ’46 Kathleen L. (Bridges) Taylor, ’46 Dorothy Ellen “Dotty” (Cook) Hook, ’47 Carlida (Breckenridge) Wymore, ’47 Ruth Evelyn (Clark) Graham, ’48 Patricia Dawn (Stewart) Elrod, ’49 Shirley Ann (Fieth) Smith, ’49, ’67
1950–1959 Vonda Leah (Lankford) Johnson Gourley, ’50 Mary Ann (Smith) Theiss, ’50 Harrold F. Duebbert, ’51 William G. “Bill” Mack Sr., ’51, ’65 Mary Ann (Vogel) Fitchett, ’52 Beverly Ann (Topping) Johnson, ’53 Mabel Virginia Davis, ’54 James M. Strong, ’54 Mary “Carolyn” (Leftwich) White, ’54 J Richard Dick, ’55 Mary Ann (Stevens) Hicks, ’55 Bill G. Carpenter, ’56 George M. Stathopoulos, ’56 Jay Douglas Fajen, ’57, ’68 Gerald “Jeri” Robbins, ’57 Benjamin “Paul” Roper Sr., ’57 Robert Joseph “Bob” Baxter, ’58 Mary Louise “Mary Lou” (Mitchell) Bishop, ’58 Patricia Ann “Pat” (Smith) Briggs, ’58 Celia May (Steele) Engelhardt, ’58 Kenneth Wayne “Ken” Gentry, ’58 William Richard “Bill” George, ’58 Mary Patricia “Pat” (Tuttle) Hampton, ’58 Roger Lee Hink, ’58, ’60 Charles Edward “Charlie” Keseman, ’58, ’61 Robert Joseph “Bob” Cupito, ’59 Richard “Glee” Guess, ’59 Herbert “Dale” Hoeppner, ’59 Dennis H. Pleimann, ’59
1960–1969 Carol Sue (Sachs) Albright, ’60 Kenneth Dale “Ken” Allen, ’60 Kenneth Hugh “Ken” Bauer, ’60 Harold W. “Brownie” Brown, ’60 John Edwin Bryan, ’60 Richard Charles “Rich” Davies, ’60 Mary Lee (Newman) Jones, ’60 Loyce June (Cartwright) Shortt, ’60, ’70, ’77 Harold “Gene” Allison, ’61 Neil G. Amos, ’61 Margaret Ann (Lee) Bardgett, ’61 David Lynn Bryant, ’61 James Michael “Jim” Coyle, ’61 Robert C. “Bob” Frerking, ’61 Harlie Kay Gallatin, ’61 William Grant “Bill” McCrary, ’61 Jerry Lee Parrott, ’61 Roger Eugene Bailey, ’62
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Boyd Harris Eversole, ’62 Shirley June (Hilgedick) Keisker, ’62, ’88 Jerry D. Shreeves, ’62 Larry Charles Callis, ’63 Frederick W. “Fred” Eberting, ’63 Susan (Breitkreutz) Kimball, ’63 Charles Joseph “Chuck” Coxon, ’64 Patricia Anne Ferris, ’64 Sharon A. (Thomas) Gabel, ’64 Jean Marie (Kendrick) King, ’64 Linda Dee (Laswell) Roberts, ’64 Larry Douglas Smith, ’64, ’69 Charles L. Carpenter, ’65 John A. Dunham Sr., ’65 Betty J. (Hurt) Jaeger, ’65 Richard A. “Rick” Bailey, ’66, ’76 Jerry Lee Long, ’66 Clara Jeannette (Tucker) Maddox, ’66 Terry Earl Paasch, ’66 Lawrence Dean “Larry” Cook, ’67 Thomas Eugene Gibson, ’67, ’78 Christine May “Chris” (Zumsteg) Grossman, ’67 Dorothy Ellen (Laffoon) Maffitt, ’67 Sue A. (Brush) Miller, ’67 Norma L. (Payson) Dunn, ’68 Ralph Lynn Foster, ’68 John William Kennish, ’68, ’85 Thamous Lee Wooten, ’68 Ronald Eugene “Ron” Boeth, ’69 Robert Freeman “Bob” Bronner, ’69 James Lester Butler Jr., ’69 Thomas William “Tom” Foraker, ’69 Lloyd “Edward” Lowe, ’69 James H. “Jim” Richerson, ’69 Janie (Grandorff) Veach, ’69 Huell Lovell “Russ” Warren, ’69
1970–1979 Dennis D. Bean, ’70 Herbert William “Herb” Beck, ’70 Mickey Rand Bowler, ’70 Jerry R. Doty, ’70, ’72 Hazel Leona (Forsberg) Gohring, ’70 Jewell “Ann” (Schroeder) Reavis, ’70, ’72 Phillip H. “Phil” Schmiedeskamp, ’70 Esther Maria (Wood) Snellings, ’70 Larry Francis Strait, ’70, ’76 Linda Sue (Brand) Symes, ’70 Richard Dunkley Corum, ’71 Patricia M. “Pat” (Johnson) Davis, ’71, ’75 Sharon Kay (Miller) Gates, ’71 Linda Rae (Neuenshwander) Rose, ’71 Rebecca Jane “Becky” (Butner) Abbott, ’72, ’91 Philip Joseph “Phil” Catalano, ’72 David Dow DeJarnette, ’72 Ellen Marie Ervin, ’72 Charles Henry “Charlie” Fulks, ’72 Phillip Martin “Phil” Hale, ’72 Harold Dean Hancock, ’72 Michael Dean Johnson, ’72 Paul M. Oetting, ’72 Robert Brown Prettyman, ’72 Glenda Sue (Estes) Prewitt, ’72 Robert J. “Bob” Barr, ’73 Robert Creighton “Rob” Forsythe, ’73
IN MEMORIAM
Kenneth W. “Ken” Lange, ’73 Leon C. Nieder, ’73 Wayne Ray Parsons, ’73 Cynthia M. “Cindy” (Rost) Dorrell, ’74 Lawrence Michael “Larry” Farrington, ’74 Randel Clair Kyle, ’74, ’76, ’80 David Lee Priddy, ’74 Jeanette (Bodkin) Welch, ’74 Dianna Lynn (Clutter) Wood, ’74 Barbara Lynn (Peters) Hiles, ’75, ’76, ’79 John A. Mynatt, ’75 Michael J. Sawyer, ’75 Margie J. (Grable) Elliott Wells, ’75 Mark Alan Gerke, ’76 Joyce Elaine (Blevins) Noakes, ’76 Diane Sue Hunter, ’77 John C. Irwin, ’77 Timothy Michael “Tim” Maskil, ’77 James Edward “Jim” Niemann, ’77 James Randolph “Jim” Palmer, ’77 Homer George Robinson Jr., ’77 Ella Mae (Ross) Rowan, ’77 Dianna Lee (Pearson) Dryer, ’78 Sheila Renee (Dixon) Garrett, ’78 Kenneth Paul Luther, ’79 Steven Ray “Steve” Mahaffey, ’79 Glen Edward Trullinger, ’79 Robert Allen “Bob” West, ’79
1980–1989 Cheryl Lynn (Van Voorhis) Anderson, ’80 Eugene Alli, ’82 Karen Lisa Elwell, ’82 Janet Nan (Smith) Ritzinger, ’82 Linda Kay (Holman) Struchtemeyer, ’82 Peter William “Pete” Trull, ’82 Phillip Wade “Phil” Culberston, ’83 Julia Ann (Colvin) Dutile, ’83, ’91 Brad Dee Fredrickson, ’83 Karen Dianne (Highfill) Moulder, ’83 Robert S. “Rob” Butts, ’84 Patricia Ann “Pat” (Hanna) Pennell, ’84, ’86 Christopher Neil “Chris” Pierce, ’84 Douglas Steven “Doug” Sparling, ’85 Steven R. Dodds, ’87 Michelle Carmen (Bruno) Martin, ’87 John C. Matthews, ’88 Alice June (Carstensen) Meins, ’88 Deidre Lea (Larsen) McCormick, ’89 Randal Kay “Randy” Reed, ’89 Carl Anthony Wiseman, ’89
1990–1999 Dolores E. (Ayers) Crumm, ’90 Andrew Carpenter “Drew” Wheeler, ’90 Brian K. Barnum, ’91 Harold Allen “Hal” Russell, ’91, ’99 Nancy Elizabeth (Lee) Duncan, ’92 Terry Michael Lee, ’92 Deborah “Debbie” (Vaughan) Stevens Pilkington, ’92 Tracye E. (Johnson) Smith, ’92 Curtis Lynn Warren, ’92 Sylvia (Bradley) Borders, ’93
Tressie (Robinson) Brown, ’95 Louise Cecilia (Lundstedt) Smith, ’95 Jeffery Alan Hartle, ’97 Jennifer A. “Jenny” (Bandler) Winders, ’97 Dustin W. Marker, ’98 Nelson Lee Sears, ’99
2000–2009 Denise Lorraine (Kephart) Clarida, ’00 Ricky Ray Shulse, ’02 James Marcus “Jim” Esarey, ’03 Stephen Gregory “Greg” Hopper, ’04 Lisa Ann Holm-Block, ’05, ’11 Mark Andrew Ransom Sr., ’06 Juanita Marie Dubbert-Mummert, ’08, ’10 Theresa Lynn (Franklin) Tanner, ’08
2010–2021 Daryl Wayne Cronk, ’10 Nicholas Eli “Nick” Warner, ’10 Lauren Michele Way, ’11 Harold Allen Ray, ’13 DeAnn Deauna Warren, ’14 Rebecca Jean “Becky” (Perlenfein) Higgs, ’15 Samantha Nicole “Nikki” Van Trump, ’21
Former Students Charles Clifton “Charly” Baile Julia Nann (Jones) Barnett Ellen June (Pitchford) Becker Donald L. Bell Brendon Wayne Bolden Ella “Marcene” (Penny) Boothe Ronald W. Brown Alexandra Nichole “Allie” Carlson Gary Duane Carrell Robert “Dean” Cecil Jr. Michelle Renee Christensen Clarence “Wayne” Church Sherrill Ann (Beil) Cochran Roberta (Austin) Coker John “David” Crabtree Joseph Dennis “Joe” Darnell Dennis Dwight Darr Bret Allen Easter Edward Stephen Emery Scott J. Erb Sr. Margaret Darlyne (Intelmann) Fajen George Patrick “Pat” Garrett Stephen William “Steve” Gerhardt Anita Margaret (Mike) Glisson Leo Kenneth Greeley James William Gudde Eva Marie (Semsch) Hall Charles “Terre” Hargrove Bruce E. Hartwig William F. Hilburn Jr. Judith Ann (Bolar) Jones Annette (Straw) Kanoy Donna Sue (Clayton) Kendrick Esther Clara (Kipp) Knuth Edith (Wittig) Lakin Jack Lamb
Larry Dean Lauderback Janice E. (Stager) Law John Fredrick “Fred” Loman Marcus Eugene Maggard Mark John Marlborough Dennis Michael McGlone Harry “Mark” Murray III Joyce Marie (Graupner) Nuessle Frederick Moses Okatcha Anna (Stephens) Page Michael Curtis “Mike” Panknin Christa Lynn Patrick James Nicholas “Jimmy” Reed Bobbie Joe Reynolds Jack M. Reynolds Jr. Robert Maurice “Robbie” Robinson James Merritt “Jim” Rose Jr. Leonard L. Shackles Jeanne (Reitz) Silverthorn Hugh Edward Smith Pamela Sue “Pam” (Nickles) Stoenner Roger Leman Thomson Kevin Dale Tiller Phyllis (Boland) Weinrich Steven Keith “Steve” Widaman Allan Dean Wood Charles N. “Charlie” Yancey Stephen Dale “Steve” Young
Faculty/Staff Nicholas Ryan Baeth Connie Sue (See) Barker Brian Joseph Buckman Daryl Wayne Cronk Patricia Anne Ferris William Robert “Will” Ford Jeffery Alan Hartle Linda (LaHue) Hayes Kegri C. Ilu Frederick Dean Margrif Stephen Garland Penuel Harold Allen Ray William Lloyd Stucker William John Tague Jr. Jeanette (Bodkin) Welch Patricia “Pat” (Golff) Witt
Friends Ida May (Haydel) Belt Zona “Zoe” (Dressel) Douglass Jean Faye (Bitney) Hardin Berniece Earline (Vineyard) Ketcherside Lawrence Allen Lockard Larry S. Mancino Burney Lou (Bailey) Mendenhall Donald Ward “Don” Putnam
College High Alumni Kenneth Dale “Ken” Allen Margaret Ann (Lee) Bardgett Robert Joseph “Bob” Baxter Karen Lisa Elwell Wanda Ruth (Simpson) Jones William James “Bill” Scroggs Jerry D. Shreeves University of Central Missouri Magazine
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PARTING Spring Chick This photograph was taken in June 2010 by UCM Biology Professor Emeritus John Hess, who writes: “This young kestrel is one of a small brood, reared successfully atop the Humphreys Building. … This youngster could fly a little but seemed reluctant to leave home.” Since retiring after 30 years at UCM, Hess has published two books featuring hundreds of nature photographs. “The Galapagos: Exploring Darwin’s Tapestry” was published in 2009, and “A Perfectly Ordinary Paradise: An Intimate View of Life on Brawley Creek” was released at the end of 2021. UCM English Professor Emerita R. M. Kinder, whose 2021 release, “A Common Person and Other Stories,” has something in common with the “ordinary,” gives this review: “Though facts and meticulous details are the foundation of this lovely book, Hess’ prose is the real magic — lucid, vivid and graceful. The exploration of Brawley Creek over eras and seasons unfolds like a story filled with characters we come to understand, even cherish. It’s a forward looking, hopeful and uplifting book by a natural storyteller. A joy to read.” Learn more at www.brawleycreek.com.
Want to show off your photos? Submit your UCM-related photography to ucmmagazine@ucmo.edu for consideration in a future publication.
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Spring 2022 | www.ucmfoundation.org/magazine
Out-of-State Tuition? Not for the Lucky 13! Do you know a prospective student who would be a great fit at UCM but does not live in Missouri? Don’t let worries about out-of-state tuition stand in the way of a bright future. The UCM Bound Out-of-State Scholarship allows incoming, regularly admitted students whose permanent residence is in one of the eight states that border Missouri or the five Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) border states to pay in-state tuition and fees for all classes on the main campus in Warrensburg.
UCM BOUND OUTOFSTATE SCHOLARSHIP NO OUTOFSTATE TUITION
SAVE UP TO
$7,747
FOR EIGHT BORDERING STATES AND FIVE MIAA BORDER STATES
INSTANTLY
• Arkansas • Colorado • Illinois • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Nebraska • New Mexico • Oklahoma • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Wyoming
Visit ucmo.edu/ucmbound to learn more and apply today at ucmo.edu/apply. University of Central Missouri Magazine
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P.O. BOX 800 WARRENS BURG, M O 6 4093- 5 038
UCM Homecoming: October 14-15, 2022
Get ready for another exciting parade, all-alumni Party in the Park and, for the first time ever, two class reunions! Learn more and register at www.ucmfoundation.org/homecoming.
