Marlin Magazine Fall 2016

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A World of Possibilities

Students like Kirstin Sessoms are ge etting the oppo ortunity of a liffetime thanks to the College’s Global Scholars Program Virg in ia We sle ya n C o lle g e Ma g a zin e Fall 2016 / 1 /

PHOTO: JON LIMTIACO/EXPOSURE PHOTOGRAPHY

Transformations: A Message From The President

On Virginia Wesleyan!

“On Virginia Wesleyan, on to victory. Let’s go get ’em, Wesleyan, let’s make history.”

So begins Virginia Wesleyan’s fight song, one of the many Wesleyan traditions I embraced when I became president of VWC in July 2015. Since that time I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing events such as Mud Games and Seafood Party in the Dell, all Virginia Wesleyan style, and the privilege of meeting and working with the friendly and supportive VWC community.

My first year as president was a very busy and productive one. A memorable Commencement capped a successful year at the College. It was especially meaningful to watch 326 new Marlin graduates process into the Jane P. Batten Student Center, joining approximately 10,000 alumni worldwide, and to welcome Carrie Hessler-Radelet, Director of the Peace Corps, as keynote speaker.

It was a year of milestone events: the groundbreaking and beam signing for the new Greer Environmental Sciences Center; dedication of Birdsong Field; establishment of the Boyd Institute for United Methodist pastors; the grand opening of the Lighthouse; welcoming Volunteer Hampton Roads to our campus; congratulating Evan Cox on winning the national championship in golf, and our softball team on their ODAC title; productive relationships with the YMCA, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Shenandoah University, area community colleges, and many other partners.

In addition, I’ve made significant changes to our enrollment processes and the ways we build our next class of incoming students. Under the leadership of David Waggoner, Vice President for Enrollment Services, we have launched a call center, developed new marketing and branding strategies, and initiated an ambitious but realistic plan for growing enrollment over the next five years.

To keep our campus an up-to-date living and learning center, we have begun a Campus Master Plan which is addressing facility needs and goals in areas of academics, student life, athletics, and aesthetic and environmental opportunities. The plan is being coordinated with our Strategic Plan and a $60 million capital campaign, Pathway to Prominence.

As we begin the 2016-17 academic year, all trends are positive, yet there is much more to be

done in annual giving, enrollment management, operational efficiency and long-range academic planning. As we prepare to offer our first graduate degree program and explore other initiatives, it is critical that we continue to forge collaborative partnerships and enhance private giving while strengthening our outstanding academic programs.

The strength of our curriculum and the vibrancy of our campus life endure not only as a point of pride for all Virginia Wesleyanites, but also as a way to differentiate ourselves from many other institutions. Virginia Wesleyan graduates continue to demonstrate the value and importance of a liberal arts education in their lives and careers as resourceful, influential leaders. As I travel around the region to meet with alumni, the strong bonds of tradition and ongoing relations with faculty and former classmates that link graduates of all generations continue to inspire me.

Our tradition of academic excellence and achievement is affirmed by those timeless bonds. It is also evident in our reaffirmation of accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Their most recent communication indicated no recommendations and no required follow-up reports—an outstanding “report card” on the health and progress of our College.

Many of you have heard me say that this is a critical time for much of higher education.

Especially for small, residential, liberal arts institutions such as ours, we must have peak financial performance. Let me therefore close with an invitation to all Virginia Wesleyan alumni and friends to express support for our mission and forward momentum through personal giving.

We can take special pride in continuing to offer an affordable, accessible and excellent education to all who can benefit from it. To ensure that incoming students can receive the same quality education which has provided a lifelong foundation for alumni, we need to secure new gifts and pledges.

Your financial support for the College is needed and valued. I encourage you to visit our new online giving page at www.vwc.edu/giveonline or use the envelope provided in this publication. Together, we can continue to create a dynamic future for Virginia Wesleyan College.

Sincerely,

Scott D. Miller President of the College

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F e at u r e s

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A World of Possibilities Global Scholars Program offers opportunities of a lifetime

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Standing Together Center for the Study of Religious Freedom Marks 20th Anniversary

Math Majors Recent graduates earn Ph.D.s in mathematics

CONTE N

2016-17 BOARD OF TRUSTEES

PRESIDENT AND LEADERSHIP

DAVID L. KAUFMAN

DR. SCOTT D. MILLER

CHAIR

PRESIDENT

SCOTT D. MILLER, PH.D.

DR. TIMOTHY O’ROURKE

EX OFFICIO

VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS AND KENNETH R. PERRY DEAN OF THE COLLEGE

JONATHAN E. PRUDEN VICE CHAIR

CARY SAWYER VICE PRESIDENT FOR FINANCE

WILLIAM H. THUMEL JR. SECRETARY

DR. KEITH E. MOORE VICE PRESIDENT FOR STUDENT AFFAIRS

ANNE B. SHUMADINE TREASURER

DR. MORT GAMBLE VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADVANCEMENT

D. HENRY WATTS H’07 PARLIAMENTARIAN

DAVID WAGGONER VICE PRESIDENT FOR ENROLLMENT

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

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WESLEYAN WINDOW

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ACADEMIA

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LIVING & LEARNING

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ATHLETICS

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ALUMNI PAGES

GARY D. BONNEWELL ’79 IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR

VICE PRESIDENT FOR FACILITIES AND OPERATIONS SUSAN TORMA BEVERLY ’72 THOMAS C. BROYLES DEBORAH H. BUTLER NANCY T. DEFORD O. L. EVERETT WILLIAM H. GEORGE SUSAN S. GOODE ALEXANDER B. JOYNER* SEONYOUNG KIM SHARMA D. LEWIS* JOHN F. MALBON VINCENT J. MASTRACCO JR. MAVIS N. MCKENLEY ’11* SCOTT D. MILLER, PH.D.* TASSOS J. PAPHITES ’79 DEBORAH M. PAXSON ’75 CYNTHIA G. RODRIGUEZ ’14 WILLIAM S. SHELHORSE ’70 M. WAYNE SNEAD* JOSEPH R. THOMAS LINDA THOMAS-GLOVER KENNETH G. TRINDER II GEORGE K. (CHIP) TSANTES III ’83 MICHAEL J. WHITE ’81

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ROBERT LEITGEB CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER

JOANNE M. RENN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS

LAYNEE TIMLIN EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF OF STAFF

ADVANCEMENT AND ALUMNI RELATIONS SUZANNE SAVAGE, ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADVANCEMENT LORI MCCAREL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ANNUAL GIVING AND ALUMNI RELATIONS GENERAL INQUIRIES FOR ALUMNI RELATIONS CAN BE SENT TO: ALUMNI@VWC.EDU

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS *ex officio

TRUSTEES EMERITI

COVER PHOTO: COURTESY OF KIRSTIN SESSOMS ’16

BRUCE VAUGHAN

JANE P. BATTEN H’06 GEORGE Y. BIRDSONG H’16 S. FRANK BLOCKER, JR. ROBERT FRIEND BOYD H’09 JOAN P. BROCK H’10 ROBERT H. DEFORD JR. WILLIAM J. FANNEY JAMES W. GRIFFITHS ELIZABETH F. MIDDLETON ‘91 JOHN A. TRINDER BENJAMIN J. WILLIS JR.

LEONA BAKER CHRISTINE HALL JANICE MARSHALL-PITTMAN MICHAEL SKIPPER STEPHANIE SMAGLO LAYNEE TIMLIN

MARLIN MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED TWICE A YEAR UNDER THE DIRECTION OF VIRGINIA WESLEYAN’S SENIOR MARKETING TEAM. INQUIRIES ABOUT CONTENT CAN BE SENT TO MAGAZINE@VWC.EDU. PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER

BY JONES PRINTING SERVICE

WATCH THE BUILDING COME TO LIFE THROUGH OUR LIVE WEBCAM: www.vwc.edu/GESClivecam

PHOTO: JANICE MARSHALL-PITTMAN

Wesleyan Window

Pictured (from left): Then Chair of the Virginia Wesleyan College Board of Trustees Gary D. Bonnewell '79, Billy and Fann Greer, Professor of Marine Biology Soraya Bartol, Professor of Earth Science Christopher Haley, and President Scott Miller.

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Building for the Future GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY SETS CONSTRUCTION IN MOTION FOR THE GREER ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES CENTER, COMING SUMMER 2017 Virginia Wesleyan College held a ceremonial groundbreaking in January 2016 for the nearly 40,000-squarefoot environmental sciences center that will change the landscape of the College.

President Scott D. Miller told guests in attendance that the Greer Environmental Sciences Center, scheduled for completion in summer 2017, will not only provide unprecedented instructional and laboratory opportunities for students, but it will also expand the College’s regional collaborations with organizations such as the Virginia Aquarium, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Brock Center and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

“The Greer Environmental Sciences Center honors former President Billy Greer’s advocacy for the sciences and commitment to sustainability,” said Dr. Miller.

“It also marks the College’s declaration to society and the

greater academic community that Virginia Wesleyan is resolved to be a premier liberal arts college in the field of environmental science.”

The building’s indoor and outdoor learning spaces will embody “science on display” and promote hands-on experiences, interactive learning and interdisciplinary research in environmental science, marine biology and more. Construction materials and plantings will demonstrate how a building can operate with efficiency and sensitivity to the natural world.

Since 2010, the College has invested more than $4.5 million in the natural sciences through facility renovations, additions of major equipment and STEMfocused scholarships. As a result, enrollment in the natural sciences has grown by 99 percent and biology has flourished to become one of the most popular majors.

Wesleyan Window

Paying Tribute to Their Passion In February 2016, Alice Clarke, along with her family, formally approved the changing of the name of Virginia Wesleyan’s estate giving society—The Heritage Society—to The Lambuth M. and Alice A. Clarke Heritage Society. The name honors the contributions of one of Virginia Wesleyan’s most consequential first families while reinforcing the College community’s awareness of the tradition of philanthropy.

The Heritage Society was formed many years ago by Wesleyan friends and family with the Clarkes among the inaugural members. It continues today to recognize individuals who have arranged for a deferred gift to the College through their estate plans.

“The Clarke name has long stood for admirable values and extraordinary service,” says VWC President Scott D. Miller. “We thank the family for the commitment and pride they continue to demonstrate in Virginia Wesleyan’s progress.”

Like the Clarkes, you can make a meaningful investment in a young person’s future. For a confidential conversation about including the College in your estate plans, contact Lori L. McCarel ’94 at 757.233.8786 or lmccarel@vwc.edu.

PHOTO: JANICE MARSHALL-PITTMAN

HERITAGE SOCIETY RENAMED TO HONOR LAMBUTH AND ALICE CLARKE

Great Things Ahead for Gates Scholar As a high school senior, Maurica Bynum spent nearly every day applying for college scholarships. So naturally when she heard about a generous grant program funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, she went for it. The competitive need-based scholarship, offered through the United Negro College Fund, enables 1,000 students per year to attend the most selective private and public schools in the country—at no cost.

Twenty-two forms and nine essays later, Bynum was selected as a 2012 Gates Millennium Scholar and chose to attend Virginia Wesleyan. She majored in environmental studies at VWC because, as she puts it, “why stop at the science?”

“Environmental studies gives you a broader look at the environmental topic as a whole,” says Bynum, who graduated cum laude from VWC in May 2016. “It’s not just studying the soil and the earth. It’s also studying why we value it, why it’s important, how to use it, and how to preserve it.”

The Gates Millennium Scholars Program covers tuition for up to five years of undergraduate study, two years of a master’s program, and four years of doctoral school. Bynum hopes to attend Eastern Virginia Medical School’s graduate program in global environmental health, but first, she’s taking a year off.

“I want to go in with my research question in mind, my data collected— I want to be prepared.”

COLLEGE RECEIVES $350K CAMPUS PLANNING GRANT

Lambuth Clarke, pictured with his wife, Alice, served as President of the College from 1966-92.

In December 2015, Virginia Wesleyan received a grant of $350,000 to facilitate a master planning initiative that includes a space study, parking study, facilities condition assessment and master plan. A 16-member Master Planning Committee has been working with professionals from Aramark Engineering Solutions and Derck & Edson Associates throughout the planning process, which has included the opportunity for input from the entire campus community. The initiative is expected to be completed in 2016 and once future needs and improvements are defined, they will be shared with the greater community.

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PHOTO: LEONA BAKER

Boyd Institute Honors Founding Board Member Active and retired clergy from the Virginia Conference of The United Methodist Church gathered at Virginia Wesleyan in March 2016 for continuing education and fellowship as part of The Robert F. Boyd Institute (formerly the Continuing Education Series).

Recently renamed to honor one of the founding members of VWC’s Board of Trustees, the Institute pays tribute to Robert F. “Bob” Boyd, now a Trustee Emeritus at the College.

Boyd was recognized at the event for his vast contributions to Virginia Wesleyan and the United Methodist Church.

Bishop Timothy W. Whitaker served as keynote speaker, giving a presentation entitled “The Future Identity and Mission of the Church.” The two-day lecture focused on the biblical origins of the church and the first 300 years of the primitive church. The annual seminar awards one continuing education unit for clergy, who travel from all parts of the state to participate.

FAITHFUL FRIENDS: Trustee Emeritus Bob Boyd (left) with VWC Chaplain Rev. Greg West at the 2016 Boyd Institute.

SHELTER CELEBRATES 10 YEARS For a decade, Virginia Wesleyan’s On-Campus Winter Homeless Shelter has provided safety and comfort for homeless men and women during one of the coldest months of the year. Offered each January, it is one of the only shelters of its kind operated on a college campus in the United States, serving approximately 60 guests per night with the help of around 150 volunteers.

It was established in 2007 by former VWC students Felecia Kiser and Nuni Rae ’09 in partnership with the Portsmouth Volunteers for the Homeless.

“I initially thought it was a cool thing to do,” Kiser said in 2011.

“But I also thought: Why? Any church can give them shelter. We just do it so much differently.”

The difference, Kiser and hundreds of other shelter volunteers and guests have found, is in the personal touches and human interactions. It is a tangible opportunity for students and other volunteers to come face to face with the human toll of homelessness, to make meaningful connections with guests.

“It was born out of compassion and sustained out of compassion,” says VWC Director of Community Service Diane Hotaling. “It’s a beautiful thing.”

Since the shelter’s inception, Portsmouth Volunteers for the Homeless has helped nearly 350 guests attain permanent or transitional housing and more than 1,500 VWC students, staff, faculty, and alumni volunteers see the condition of homelessness differently. / 6 / MARLIN

PHOTO: THOMAS MILLS ’16

WINTER HOMELESS SHELTER SERVES COMMUNITY, CHALLENGES PERCEPTIONS

Wesleyan Window

Birdsong Field Opens

PHOTO: JANICE MARSHALL-PITTMAN

It was a picture-perfect day September 1, 2015, as the VWC Field Hockey Team took on St. Mary’s College in the first-ever game played on Birdsong Field. The new $2.9 million synthetic turf venue supports field hockey, men’s and women’s lacrosse and soccer, and intramural sports.

The field is named in honor of George and Sue Birdsong and Birdsong Corporation, who in January 2014 made a $1 million challenge gift to be put toward its construction. The lead gift came at a time when VWC was immersed in a strategic planning process that is now setting the direction for the future of the College.

“The turf field will make a statement in terms of both function and form for Virginia Wesleyan,” said George Birdsong. “In addition to its many benefits for current and future athletes, it will be an attractive visual addition to campus that is part of our broader strategic goals for creating an inspiring sense of place.”

Birdsong Field features a prominent entryway with ticketing, concessions and restrooms, an electronic scoreboard, field lighting, aluminum fencing and landscaping, a new parking lot, and surrounding green space for picnicking and tailgating.

Potential for expansion exists for the future, including plans for a press box.

An official dedication ceremony took place in October 2015, where the Birdsongs were presented with an original drawing of Birdsong Field by artist and VWC parent Robbie Garrity.

GAME ON: Wesleyan’s field hockey team played the inaugural game on Birdsong Field in September 2015. Ceremonial first shots were taken by (from left) Athletics Director Joanne Renn, President Scott Miller, Asiah Allen ‘17, Sue Birdsong, Sam Jackson ‘16, George Birdsong, and Head Field Hockey Coach Christina Restivo.

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REND REN R RE NDEERIN R G: G WW WW W.H W. W .H HOU OURI O U GA GANC GAN AN A N ONS ONST O STR RUC RUCT UCTIION. O CO COM C M

COMING SOON: An early rendering illustrates plans for a 6,000-square-foot shared-use facility that will be located at the entrance to Wilson Arboretum.

YMCA Joint-Use Facility Coming May 2017 With 300 acres of trees, trails and the beautiful Lake Taylor, Virginia Wesleyan College provides the perfect setting for partnership with the YMCA. In March 2016, President Scott Miller shared the approval of plans for a new joint-use YMCA facility on campus.

Scheduled for completion by May 2017, the 6,000-square-foot facility will be located in front of the arboretum near the trail leading to Lake Taylor. It will contain three classrooms that open into a large multipurpose room, four offices, a reception area, kitchen, and an adjacent 240-seat outdoor amphitheater with stage.

The facility, funded by private donors, will be used during the academic year by the College and during the summer months for YMCA Camp Red Feather.

Virginia Wesleyan has been home to Camp Red Feather for about a decade, the result of a long-time partnership between VWC and the YMCA of South Hampton Roads. The relationship has led to various recreational additions on campus, including a treehouse and dock near Lake Taylor and the 2011 installation of the Alpine Tower—the 50-foot structure located off Smith Drive designed for climbing and team-building exercises.

The new facility will complement the College’s forthcoming Greer Environmental Sciences Center, with construction by Hourigan Construction. A groundbreaking will take place in late 2016.

PHOTO: JANICE MARSHALL-PITTMAN

Wesleyan Welcomes VOLUNTEER Hampton Roads

COMMUNITY CONNECTION: (From left) VOLUNTEER Hampton Roads staff members Susan Pleasants, Leigh-Anne Cade, Kate Meechan, Callah Terkeltaub, Angel Coyle, and Crystal Waitekus at the ribbon cutting held on campus in spring 2016.

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VOLUNTEER Hampton Roads now has a home on the campus of Virginia Wesleyan College. A ribbon cutting ceremony took place in March 2016 to mark the official opening of their Virginia Beach office (located in Village II) and to celebrate collaboration between the two organizations.

“We’ve had a long partnership with Virginia Wesleyan, and we’re really excited to go even deeper with the College as we create and expand service in the community,” said Kate Meechan, Executive Director of VOLUNTEER Hampton Roads.

The organization has hosted its annual Family Volunteer Day at the College for more than a decade, inviting hundreds of guests to collect nonperishable food items for area nonprofits. In 2015, VWC friend and Trustee Emeritus George Birdsong was honored with VOLUNTEER Hampton Roads’ Lenora Mathews Lifetime Achievement Award.

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Eye on

VWC

A COLLECTION OF PHOTOS FROM VIRGINIA WESLEYAN’S 2015-2016 ACADEMIC YEAR

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1. An early architectural rendering shows a potential interior design for the Greer Environmental Sciences Center, currently under construction and scheduled for completion in summer 2017. Read more on page 4. (Rendering courtesy of VMDO Architects) 2. Less-than-perfect weather couldn’t stop students like Clarity Cotman ’16 from enjoying the feast and fun at the College’s annual Seafood Party in the Dell in April 2016, typically held on Batten Lawn but sometimes moved into Boyd Dining Center. (Photo by Kayla Skeete ’16) 3. Batten Professor of Social Work Ben Dobrin and his fellow volunteers were featured in a January 2016 “Making Your Mark” segment on WVEC Channel 13 for their work with the Virginia Beach EMS Marine Rescue Dive Team. (Photo by LaSalle Blanks, 13News Now) 4. VWC alumni gathered at Norfolk’s Chrysler Museum of Art Glass Studio in April 2016 for a special meet-and-greet with President Scott Miller, pictured here with Charlotte Potter, Adjunct Assistant Professor at VWC and Glass Studio Manager & Programming Director at the Chrysler.

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5. Fred Mednick, founder of Teachers Without Borders, served as keynote speaker at VWC’s first Symposium on International Education in April 2016.

Educators gathered in Hofheimer Library to highlight challenges facing students and teachers worldwide with the theme of “Think Globally, Teach Locally.”

6. Virginia Wesleyan welcomed more than 100 prospective students and families for its VWC Day Open House in April 2016. Student ambassadors like Michael McOsker ’18 helped visitors explore the campus, get to know faculty and even spend some time with Bob Marlin, the College mascot.

7. Communication major Sydney Wiseman and approximately 325 of her fellow graduates crossed the stage to receive their diplomas during Virginia Wesleyan College’s 47th Commencement Ceremony on May 14 in the Jane P. Batten Convocation Center.

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8. Beloved Hampton Roads civic leader Robert C. “Bob” Nusbaum, pictured with his wife, Linda Laibstain, and President Scott Miller, was honored by Virginia Wesleyan in April 2016 for his original vision and enduring support of the College’s Center for the Study of Religious Freedom, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Read more on page 16.

9. For its spring 2016 production, the Virginia Wesleyan College Theatre Department presented Urinetown by Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann, directed

by Travis Malone, Associate Professor of Theater and Chair of the Division of Humanities. (Photo by Kayla Skeete ‘16) 10. The VWC community celebrated Earth Day in the best way possible— covered in mud. The 2016 Mud Games took place on April 22 at its new location on Rose Lawn. The event presented the College’s student-led organization Marlins Go Green with the perfect opportunity to raise environmental awareness.

11. Volunteers from Virginia Wesleyan, Western Bayside Community United, the Virginia Beach Police Department, Bayside High School and young participants like Wesley (pictured) came together for a 2016 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, themed “I Have a Dream for My Community.”

12. A self-portrait by Kayla Skeete ’16 was among the works exhibited in the two-part Face Yourself senior art show during the spring 2016 semester in the Neil Britton Art Gallery. The exhibit included a variety of mediums from clay sculpture to animation and more. (Photo by Stephanie Smaglo)

Unless otherwise noted, all photos by Janice Marshall-Pittman

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A world of

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BARCELONA AND BEYOND: Recent graduate Kirstin Sessoms’ dreams came true when she was selected to study abroad as part of VWC’s Global Scholars Program and traveled to Spain for a semester.

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“I have been dreaming about this experience since my freshman year, and finally it is becoming a reality.”

These are the words of Virginia Wesleyan biology major Kirstin Sessoms ’16. Her wishes came true a week later as she departed for Spain as part of the College’s Global Scholars Program. She kept a travel blog about her spring 2015 study away experience at Sevilla’s Universidad Pablo de Olavide.

“A Semester in Sevilla with Kirstin” elaborates on Sessoms’ adventures in Spain—its history, food, nature, and landmarks like Plaza de Espana and the Cathedral of Saint Mary. She also shares details about trips to Madrid and Toledo and travels outside the country to Morocco and Portugal. And she even found time to write about her academic experience.

“All of my professors have been very welcoming and seem enthusiastic about teaching international students,” she writes. “Their passion for teaching is very apparent and they seem happy to be part of our study abroad experience.”

The day-to-day moments of students studying abroad add up to transformational experiences and memories that last a lifetime. Many students who travel abroad describe their experiences as life changing.

“I have never felt so welcome coming into such an incredibly foreign place,” Sessoms writes. “It’s nice to hear so many

15 study abroad experiences each year.

Students from all majors are chosen through a competitive application and interview process.

Virginia Wesleyan’s Study Away Program, part of The Lighthouse: Center for Exploration and Discovery, offers a wide variety of semester study away opportunities as well as shortterm programs during the College’s Winter Session and summer months.

The Lighthouse also engages students in internships and undergraduate research—learning experiences outside the classroom. For Kirstin Sessoms and countless others, the opportunity to study away has made a world of difference.

THE LIGHTHOUSE SHINES “The value of an education in a liberal arts college is not the learning of many facts,” Albert Einstein wrote, “but the training of the mind to think something that cannot be learned from textbooks.”

The famed physicist’s quote is a permanent fixture in large print on the wall of Virginia Wesleyan’s new Lighthouse Center for Exploration and Discovery— and an appropriate one for its mission of engaging students in three keys areas of learning outside the classroom: study away, internships and undergraduate research.

The Lighthouse, located on the first floor of Clarke Hall on the VWC campus,

PHOTO: COURTESY OF KIRSTIN SESSOMS ’16

“The Lighthouse is here to help students to achieve their dreams.” positive voices encouraging us all to make the most out of our time right now. To relax, to find love, to travel, to not worry, to try new things, and to let yourself go.

Through these words of wisdom that I have heard each day, it has really hit me.

This is my time now.”

Launched in 2012, Virginia Wesleyan’s Global Scholars Program aims to increase the number of semester abroad experiences for students. Made possible by a gift from an anonymous donor, the award program covers costs associated with room, board, tuition and incidentals for approximately

held a grand opening celebration in the fall of 2015 and is now actively serving as a one-stop shop for students to get all of the information and resources they need to take advantage of these opportunities.

The name “The Lighthouse” is a metaphor for the center’s purpose and was a student suggestion chosen via a campus-wide contest.

“The Lighthouse is here to help students to achieve their dreams,” says Sara Sewell, Executive Director of The Lighthouse and the Quality Enhancement Plan. “We believe that the best way for students to (CONTINUED ON PAGE 14)

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A world of

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THE LIGHTHOUSE IS SPONSORING A SPECIAL SERIES IN 2016-2017 CALLED “ON DECK” THAT INCLUDES NATIONAL SPEAKERS AND ELECTION-THEMED EVENTS. TO LEARN MORE, SEE PAGE 17 OF THIS ISSUE OR VISIT WWW.VWC.EDU/LIGHTHOUSE.

GUIDING LIGHTS: Student Crew members for The Lighthouse like (below, from left) Stephanie Harron, Sydney Covey, Joshua Ford and Lena Ngyuen, all members of the Class of 2016, share their study away, internship, or research experiences with other students and Center guests.

PHOTO: LEONA BAKER

decide what they want to do with their lives is simply for them to try new things and meet new people. In The Lighthouse, we open up opportunities so that students can have the experiences that will make a critical difference in their lives.”

The reception area of The Lighthouse offers a colorful gathering and working space with a welcoming coffeehouse atmosphere in which members of the campus community can relax and engage in stimulating dialogue, often while enjoying a cup of coffee or tea.

Faculty and staff offices now located in The Lighthouse space correspond to the three key areas of learning. They include the Study Away Program, the Career Development and Internship Program and the Undergraduate Research Program. These programs help students plan for academic, professional, and personal success in a systematic way. The Lighthouse also offers experiential learning grants, an array of instructional workshops, and individualized support services for students.

The Lighthouse “Crew” is composed of students who have undertaken immersive study away, internship, or research experiences. In many cases, Crew students have completed all of these experiences.

The signature program of Virginia Wesleyan’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), See Change—Sea Change, is supported by the services of The Lighthouse: Center for

Exploration and Discovery. The Lighthouse supports faculty as well as students. Study away course development grants, special event funds, assistance with transportation to off-campus learning activities, and faculty development opportunities are all a part of this new Center.

Research supports the importance of a center like this on the Virginia Wesleyan campus. Educators widely acknowledge the links between experiential learning and student engagement.

As Janet Eyler (2009) summarizes, “Experiential education can…lead to more powerful academic learning and help students achieve intellectual goals commonly associated with liberal education, including a deeper understanding of subject matter than is possible through classroom study alone.”

Experiential learning nurtures the essential knowledge, skills and values required of an engaged citizen. The Lighthouse will do just that.

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 PONDERING PI: “It isn’t true that mathematicians sit around memorizing digits of Pi. It’s just not that interesting of a question,” says David Weirich ‘09, who earned his Ph.D. in mathematics in 2016.

For the record, the former VWC math major prefers pastries to the mathematical constant.

David Weirich ’09 is one of a handful of recent graduates earning their Ph.D.s in mathematics as job opportunities for the math-minded are multiplying Mathematics is a universal language that demands both creativity and rigor. Its inherent beauty, its search for pattern, and its ability to provide a means through which the natural world can be described are examples of its power.

Uniquely attuned to this power is David Weirich, a 2009 Virginia Wesleyan graduate who double majored in mathematics and music composition and minored in computer science. Weirich’s mathematical inquiry has continued far beyond Wesleyan, as he went on to earn his master’s in mathematics, and in summer 2016, finished his doctorate in the subject with a concentration in pure mathematics.

He completed his Ph.D. at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where his PHOTO: JANICE MARSHALL-PITTMAN AND MARY MILLAR HESTER

research focused on weighted dyadic operators defined over spaces of homogeneous type.

“Imagine an abstraction of threedimensional space where we don’t know what it looks like, but we know what its properties are,” he says humbly.

“Specifically the properties we’re interested in are an abstraction of the notion of distance and an abstraction of the notion of volume.”

To put it a bit more simply, he says, one could describe his work as abstract harmonic analysis.

“It’s such a highly specialized thing,” he says. “There are only a couple hundred people in the world who understand it.”

Three people who have a fair shot at understanding are Ashlee Edwards ’11, Kelli Karcher ’08 and Amanda Working ’08—all

former VWC math majors who also earned their Ph.D. in mathematics in 2016.

Math majors are on the rise. With a growing importance being placed on technology, big data, and economic efficiency, job opportunities for the mathminded are multiplying. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of mathematicians is projected to grow 21 percent between 2014 and 2024, faster than the average for all other occupations. [1] A logical path for many with math degrees is academia, but David Weirich is taking a different direction for now. He’s currently working as a computer programmer, but plans to one day pursue teaching—perhaps even at Virginia Wesleyan. Now there’s a great equation.

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CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM MARKS 20TH ANNIVERSARY

Standing Together

Among the presenters this fall will be Clint Smith (Sept. 30) whose two TED Talks, The Danger of Silence and How to Raise a Black Son in America, collectively have been viewed more than 4 million times. A town hall discussion on the same topic will be moderated by Barbara Hamm Lee (Oct. 1), Host and Executive Producer of Another View radio program on WHRV 89.5 FM. The CSRF is co-sponsoring a special election series this year titled “What’s at Stake? Election 2016” (see facing page) in partnership with VWC’s Department of Political Science and The Lighthouse: Center for Exploration & Discovery and leading up to the Nov. 8 national election. Among the speakers is Bill Adair (Oct. 27), founder of the Pulitzer Prize-winning website PolitiFact and Knight Professor of the Practice of Journalism and Public In 1995, in a letter to then President Billy Greer, Robert “Bob” Policy and Director of the DeWitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Nusbaum proposed the idea for the Center for the Study of Religious Freedom at VWC. The letter cited Thomas Jefferson’s Policy. His talk will be called “Just the Facts: Truth and Media Statute for Religious Freedom as a “bright light” in the struggle to Coverage.”

The CSRF’s hallmark program, the “Nexus Interfaith overcome religious intolerance and its “continuing saga of man’s Dialogue,” will also have an election focus with two events inhumanity to man.” Last spring, in honor of his original vision and enduring support, Nusbaum was named the Founding Fellow moderated by Cathy Lewis, Host of HearSay with Cathy Lewis on WHRV 89.5 FM: “Jewish and Muslim Perspectives on Election of the CSRF. During the 2016-2017 academic year, the CSRF will celebrate 2016” (Sept. 26) and “Christian, Hindu, and Sikh Perspectives on Election 2016” (Oct. 24). its 20th anniversary with a series of events focused on “Standing The annual One Love Festival (Oct. 1) will drum its way onto Together” in an effort to move beyond mere tolerance of one campus again this fall and includes a presentation by Paul K. another’s differences as we face increasingly contentious Chappell, Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, called religious, racial, political and other challenges in contemporary society. The Center’s activities focus on respectful dialogue with “Why World Peace is Possible: Exploring the Anatomy of Violence and War” in addition to the world’s largest drum circle. the goal of understanding one another, the issues we face, and how religious freedom is a cornerstone of that understanding. As President Dwight Eisenhower once said, “This concept is indeed a VISIT THE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM part of America, and without that concept we would be something WEBSITE AT WWW.VWC.EDU/CSRF OF CALL 757.455.3129 FOR DETAILED EVENT AND PROGRAM INFORMATION. else than what we are.”

The Arts at VWC

Wherefore Art Thou, Wesleyan? students. The spring theatre production will be the 18th-century She Stoops to Conquer (March 8-12) by Oliver Goldsmith.

A chorus of student concerts will be music to your ears beginning with the Homecoming Showcase (Oct. 8) and In a whirlwind week of performances, art exhibits, and Hark! I Hear the Harps Eternal! (Oct. 21). A long-running lectures, Virginia Wesleyan’s Fine Arts Department will VWC tradition continues Dec. 2-3 with A Wesleyan Christmas commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of the Bard featuring holiday classics. In the spring, listen for The Music of himself with Shakespeare Week (Nov. 7-11). The signature Michael McGlynn (March 15), Jubilant Jazz (April 26), and event for Shakespeare Week is a presentation of Romeo & Yearning to Breathe Free: A Story of Refugees (April 28).

Juliet (Nov. 9) by the internationally recognized American Meanwhile, the Virginia Wesleyan Concert Series offers Shakespeare Center. diverse and delightful professional performances from The Also during Shakespeare Week: A Shakespearean Tidewater Guitar Quartet (Sept. 9), QuinTango (Oct. 10), Celebration in Song (Nov. 7); Shakespeare on Film—A The Thirteen (Oct. 24); Patricia Nixon, soprano (Feb. 6); Discussion (Nov. 8); Religion and Church Music in Jason Squinobal and James Harris (March 27); Duo Vela Shakespeare’s England—A Discussion (Nov. 10); and (April 10); and Red Priest (April 25).

The Invencia Piano Duo Interprets Shakespeare (Nov. 11).

The VWC Center for Sacred Music presents its Fall In the Neil Britton Art Gallery this fall will be A Feast of Hymn Festival—This Little Light of Mine at Virginia Beach Languages (Sept. 2-Dec. 9) featuring artworks by artists from United Methodist Church on Oct. 2 and the annual Sound the local NEON and ViBe arts districts. The exhibition title is & Symbol Lecture Series (Sept. 29-March 9) in which borrowed from a line from Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost. VWC faculty and guests explore women’s roles in the world’s A corresponding exhibit titled A Feast of Responses (Nov. religions and cultural frameworks.

7-Dec. 9) will feature VWC art students responding to works All events throughout the 2016-2017 arts season at Virginia by artists in the original exhibit.

Wesleyan are open to the public. Prices and times vary. Event VWC Theatre Department offerings this season include details are subject to change. For the most current listings, Noel Coward’s sharp-witted farce Blithe Spirit (Oct. 5-9). ticket prices and campus locations, visit www.vwc.edu/arts.

The Student One-Act Play Festival takes place Nov. 18-19 featuring a variety of plays produced and directed by VWC

SHAKESPEARE WEEK, NOVEMBER 7-11, CELEBRATES THE BARD AND SERVES AS THE CENTERPIECE FOR AN EXCITING SEASON OF ARTS OFFERINGS AT VWC

PHOTO: MICHAEL BAILEY; JOSH CLARK AS ROMEO AND ZOE SPEAS AS JULIET IN ROMEO AND JULIET

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PHOTO: JANICE MARSHALL-PITTMAN

Academia

INNOVATIVE TEACHING: Pictured with fish models he made with a 3D printer, Professor Bill McConnell focuses his research on integrative STEM education in elementary contexts.

Education Professor Brings Science to Life BILL MCCONNELL USES 3D PRINTER TO TEACH FOURTH GRADERS ABOUT ADAPTATION, PART OF EFFORT TO EXPAND ACADEMIC PARTNERSHIPS A small school of fish sits on Bill McConnell’s desk in Eggleston Hall. The melodic rhythm of a MakerBot Replicator 3D Printer hums in the background, steadily creating an aquatic addition to the plastic pile.

McConnell, an assistant professor of education at Virginia Wesleyan, is printing the fish models as part of a science lesson on adaptation for students at Cedar Road Elementary School in Chesapeake.

A day earlier, McConnell showed teams of fourth graders how to use 3D software to design a fish that could potentially survive 500,000 years from now. He returned to the class with the finished models, where the students engaged in scientific argument to provide evidence for their designs. Beyond the science, says McConnell, this is a valuable lesson in critical thinking.

“My research suggests that instruction incorporating scientific modeling with the use of 3D printing technologies may be correlated to students’ increased spatial abilities and enhanced scientific argumentation.”

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McConnell—who teaches VWC education courses on elementary curriculum and classroom management and teaching strategies—has since partnered with additional elementary-level teachers on similar lessons and plans to continue in the future.

The initiative is part of an ongoing effort by the College, under the leadership of Batten Associate Professor of Education Hilve Firek, to expand mutually beneficial academic partnerships in the community.

Partnerships to date have included the NABT/BSCS Biology Teacher Academy; a series of biology student visits from King’s Fork and Green Run High Schools, Nansemond-Suffolk Academy and Bayside High School Health Sciences Academy; an interactive day on campus for Virginia Beach Public Schools STEM Academy students; and a Shark Tank-style practice session for Bayside Middle School students competing for a spot in the Maker Challenge leg of the Virginia Beach STEM Trifecta Challenge.

PHOTO: JANICE MARSHALL-PITTMAN

Academia

MARLINS OF MERIT: Professors Kathy Stolley and Scott Liverman with honorees for Outstanding Student Achievement in Criminal Justice or Sociology.

Students’ academic and leadership accomplishments were recognized in April 2016 during Virginia Wesleyan’s annual Spring Honors Convocation, held in the Convocation Center inside the Jane P. Batten Student Center.

The event celebrated more than 80 students for their outstanding contributions to VWC’s academic community. President Scott D. Miller, Dean Timothy O’Rourke STUDENTS APPLAUDED FOR and Chaplain Gregory West were joined by VWC faculty, staff and members of the ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS AND community, who presented the awards.

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH Individual departmental award recipients were acknowledged along with undergraduate research participants, honor society members, graduating PORTfolio students, student AT 2016 SPRING HONORS CONVOCATION & ACADEMIC FAIR executive council and senators and the Class of 2016.

Following Honors Convocation, students displayed undergraduate research projects in the library as part of the Academic Fair and had an opportunity to discuss their research process and findings with faculty, staff and fellow students.

HONORS AND BEYOND

It’s in the Bag Kathleen Casey, Assistant Professor of History at Virginia Wesleyan College, has been awarded the Maurice L. Mednick Memorial Fellowship by the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges. The award supports her project, The Things She Carried: Women and the Power of the Purse.

While conducting research for her book, The Prettiest Girl on Stage is a Man: Race and Gender Benders in American Vaudville, Casey says she was struck by the critical role that costuming played in the development of

HISTORY PROFESSOR’S MEDNICK AWARD SUPPORTS A SOCIAL AND CULTURAL BIOGRAPHY OF THE PURSE

each performer’s persona—in particular, one performer’s matching dress and purse made out of 4,000 pennies.

“I became intrigued by the performative role the purse played in shaping the identities of its holder,” Casey explains in her project narrative. “This realization prompted me to consider how purses serve both ornamental and functional purposes, facilitating women’s desires to spend, work, travel, fit in, and stand out. I wondered, then, how purses helped generations of American women

negotiate the changing conditions of their lives.”

The Things She Carried will be a book-length social and cultural biography of the purse. The Mednick Fellowship supports Casey’s research, which has included travel to the Henry Luce III Center for the Study of American Culture at the NewYork Historical Society and the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at Harvard University.

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Academia

Publisher's Desk

The Gender Gap The Political Battle of the Sexes: Exploring the Sources of Gender Gaps in Policy Preferences Leslie Caughell Lexington Books, 2016

“The link between sex and politics has a long and nuanced history,” writes Virginia Wesleyan Assistant Professor of Political Science Leslie Caughell in the introduction to her book, The Political Battle of the Sexes: Exploring the Sources of Gender Gaps in Policy Preferences.

During an unprecedentedly contentious election season, women’s and gender issues have remained front and center in political debate, and Caughell offers new insight into the overall role gender plays in political preferences and how those preferences translate to the ballot box.

Caughell’s work provides the first comprehensive look at political gender gaps on a range of policy issues from the 1980s to the present and provides a theoretical framework for explaining them.

“These gaps are significant,” says Caughell, “because they create gender gaps in vote choice and those gender gaps shape which candidates win elections.”

Though there is no one cause for gender differences in policy preferences, factors include biology, socialization, values, and political knowledge, and often a combination of two or more of these. Caughell’s book looks most closely at the causes of gender gaps in foreign policy and social issues, two policy domains where gender gaps continue to increase. It also introduces a new way of conceptualizing biological factors involved.

Caughell teaches courses in American politics and political theory. Her research focuses on the complex relationship between public opinion and political communication.

Life and Loss in Verse Breath Enough Vivian Teter Wolf Ridge Press, 2016

English professor Vivian Teter’s full-length volume of poetry, Breath Enough, inspired by the death of her sister Carolyn following a long battle with cancer, was recently published by Wolf Ridge Press.

“One might expect a grieving poet’s verse on the loss of a loved one to consist of unalloyed sadness, anger, even regret,” wrote Teter’s friend and former colleague, Bill Ruehlmann, Professor Emeritus of Journalism and Communication, in an article in the Virginian-Pilot. “But Teter manages more. / 22 / MARLIN

Hers also are songs of gratitude and appreciation for what was, not what might have been – for lives steadily shared.”

“Though it is closing time, the lady/wide-eyed, silent now/waits for him to finish,” writes Teter in the poem ‘Treasured Story: The Prom Dress.’” “She waits/for you, who will dance/dress swirling, three nights from now/ dancing and dancing/past any reasonable hour.”

Teter’s poem “Of Shores” also appears in the 2016 issue of Artemis Journal. She has received two Pushcart Prize nominations and several fellowships from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the Poetry Society of Virginia and the Metro Public Arts Project selected one of her poems to be included in a permanent installation at a new D.C. Metro station.

Academia

A Mischievously Comic Trio When he’s not teaching, traveling or telling jokes, Virginia Wesleyan religious studies and communication professor Terry Lindvall is busy writing books.

Lindvall, whose official title is C.S. Lewis Endowed Chair in Communication and Christian Thought, is known for his quick wit and admittedly sarcastic nature. In a unique blend of humor and religion, Lindvall has authored three new books, in his words, a “mischievously comic trio of works.”

A Mirror for Fools: An Illustrated Alphabet of Religious Satire Terry Lindvall Koehler Books, 2015

Written by Lindvall and illustrated by his longtime friend John Lawing, A Mirror for Fools is a mix of verse, illustration and commentary designed to teach and delight.

Beginning with a cartoon version of a historical character who contributed to the practice of humor and satire, the book introduces readers to the rich, varied tradition of wit and humor being used for moral and spiritual reform.

God Mocks: A History of Religious Satire from the Hebrew Prophets to Stephen Colbert Terry Lindvall NYU Press, 2015

God Mocks ventures into the muddy and dangerous realm of religious satire, chronicling its evolution from the biblical wit and humor of the Hebrew prophets through the

Roman Era and the Middle Ages up to the present. Lindvall takes readers on a journey through the work of Chaucer, Cervantes, Jonathan Swift, and Mark Twain, and ends with the mediated entertainment of modern wags like Stephen Colbert.

Divine Film Comedies: Biblical Narratives, Film Sub-Genres, and the Comic Spirit

Accelerated Degree Options Give VWC Students an Edge Virginia Wesleyan College offers several accelerated degree options in cooperation with other colleges and universities. In most cases, these programs involve a course of study at Virginia Wesleyan followed by a related course of study at the partner institution.

Joint Program in Medicine with Eastern Virginia Medical School Through the creation of the joint program in medicine, talented, qualified students may apply for admission to Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) during the fall semester of the sophomore year.

Early Assurance Program with Eastern Virginia Medical School Through the College’s Early Assurance Program with Eastern Virginia Medical School, students have an enhanced opportunity to earn graduate degrees in eight EVMS master’s programs.

Terry Lindvall (Routledge Studies in Religion and Film) Routledge, 2016

Divine Film Comedies creates a meaningful dialogue between stories in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament and comedies spanning the history of film. Drawing on three disciplines, humor/comedy studies, film studies, and theology, as well as films from the silent era to the 21st century, the book highlights parallels between comedic subgenres and sacred narratives, parables and proverbs, illuminating a path to seeing and understanding both Scripture and film through a comic lens.

Pre-admittance/Joint Degree Options in Pharmacy with Shenandoah University An official Agreement with Shenandoah University’s Bernard J. Dunn School of Pharmacy for Pre-Admittance and Joint Degree Options gives priority status to a maximum of five Virginia Wesleyan students per year who have completed at least 64 semester credit hours, provided they meet certain other criteria.

Pre-Engineering Program with Old Dominion University The Pre-Engineering Program offers students the opportunity to earn both a Bachelor of Science degree from Virginia Wesleyan College and a Master of Civil, Environmental, Mechanical, Electrical, Computer, or Aerospace Engineering from Old Dominion University in five years.

Cooperative College Program with Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment Virginia Wesleyan students interested in environmental management or forestry have a unique opportunity to further their education as part of a cooperative degree offering between Virginia Wesleyan College and Duke University.

Find out more about VWC’s Accelerated Degree Options at vwc.edu/academics.

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PHOTO: STEPHANIE SMAGLO

Living & Learning

UNITED THEY STAND: Virginia Wesleyan’s Model UN delegation met for a practice simulation in March 2016 before traveling to the NMUN conference in New York City.

A First for VWC’s Model UN Team VIRGINIA WESLEYAN’S ZIMBABWE DELEGATION EARNS “DISTINGUISHED DELEGATION AWARD” AT NATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE Virginia Wesleyan students traveled to New York City in March 2016 where they represented not only VWC but the entire Republic of Zimbabwe at the National Model United Nations (NMUN) conference.

The team of 21 diplomats achieved a first for the College, receiving a “Distinguished Delegation Award”— to date the highest ranked award VWC has received at the conference. In addition, Wesleyan students Nathan VanRensselaer ’18 and Lindsey Walker ’17 each received a “Best Delegate Award,” and Alexis Turner-Lafving ’16 was chosen to serve as chairperson on her committee.

Participation was part of the College’s “Model United Nations” course, led by Assistant Professor of Political Science Antje Schwennicke. Throughout the semester, the

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class studied the inner workings of the UN as well as the politics and culture of Zimbabwe in preparation for the trip.

“Most importantly, the students had a lot of fun and learned a lot,” Schwennicke said. “All of them were always engaged in long discussions with delegates from all over the world, and many took on leadership roles in their committees. They were outstanding diplomats and really came together as a team.”

The National Model United Nations conference brings together more than 5,000 college and university students, more than half from outside the United States, to discuss current global issues and solve pressing concerns relevant to the 21 simulated UN committees.

Living & Learning Meet the Staff

PHOTO: JANICE MARSHALL-PITTMAN

SEE SOMETHING SAY SOMETHING

DIRECTOR OF COUNSELING SERVICES How long have you been at Virginia Wesleyan, and what brought you here?

I’ve been here for 17 years. I had worked at the Virginia Beach Mental Health Center for a number of years before the best man at my wedding showed me an ad in the newspaper for this position. He never forgave me for getting the job.

What makes Virginia Wesleyan special?

From the first day I was hired, I have felt like this was my home. There is something about Virginia Wesleyan and the people that work here that feels uniquely accepting and supportive.

What do you want students and parents to know about Counseling Tell us about your role at Services?

VWC. What is a typical day The Counseling Center can assist with almost any problem. like for you?

My day tends to be divided Our clinicians genuinely want between administrative meetings to be helpful to students and or tasks, supervision sessions we tailor our service to each with staff, individual sessions individual. From just a “bump in with students and periodic the road” to an ongoing need for collaboration with the Office support, we have the time, the of Student Affairs and other expertise and the sincere wish departments seeking to help to help. students.

Your office is home to an What’s the best part of unusual collection. Tell us your job? about it.

The students are by far the best Over the years, I have put part of my job. Clinicians often together a truly impressive work with specific populations collection of art glass marbles. of clients, like the elderly, I have close to 500 marbles on those hospitalized, children or display in my office, with all the chronic mentally ill. Of all sizes and some that even “glow” the populations though, young under ultraviolet light. Students adults are the most interesting, have told me that it is fascinating intelligent and motivated for to look these over, since they change and growth. always see something new.

Emani Thomas thought she’d found love, but it wasn’t long until her high school boyfriend turned adoration into abuse. Thomas eventually built up the courage to walk away from her emotionally and physically abusive relationship, and today she is helping others do the same as president of the Red Flag Campaign Club.

In fall 2015, Thomas led the domestic violence awareness movement, The Red Flag Campaign, at VWC. This is the fourth year the College has participated in the nationwide campaign, which uses an intervention strategy encouraging bystanders to say something when they see warning signs for interpersonal violence—coercion, emotional abuse, sexual assault, victim blaming, excessive jealousy, isolation, and stalking.

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 26)

PHOTO: STEPHANIE SMAGLO

Q&A: BILL BROWN

RED FLAG CAMPAIGN ENCOURAGES BYSTANDERS TO SPEAK UP AT FIRST SIGNS OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS: As president of Virginia Wesleyan’s Red Flag Campaign Club, Emani Thomas ‘17 helps her peers recognize warning signs of dating violence.

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Living & Learning

SEE SOMETHING SAY SOMETHING (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25)

“I know firsthand how it feels to be a woman in that type of situation,” says Thomas, a senior political science major and business minor. “I’m here to give support to any person who’s going through it. I want to show people that they’re not alone. Most people feel that way. I know I felt that way.”

Though it is a year-round program, the Red Flag Campaign is more visible at Virginia Wesleyan in October as part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Events are planned by the Red Flag Campaign Club in collaboration with students in the sociology course “Family Violence,” as well as other student and faculty groups.

“The Red Flag Campaign can make a difference on a community level in raising awareness about dating violence,” said Marganski, then Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice and faculty advisor to the Red Flag Campaign Club. “It can also make a difference at an individual level by helping students understand red flags in relationships and seek support. In all, it is about awareness, prevention, and intervention.”

Last fall’s Red Flag Campaign events included the planting of more than 200 red flags between Boyd Dining Center and Hofheimer Library and campus-wide placement of campaign posters; a Relationships Poetry Slam; and a Red Flag Movie Night. The Red Flag Campaign Club also holds weekly meetings throughout the academic year.

“Family Violence” students took the lead on a second domestic violence awareness effort—The Clothesline Project/Love Shouldn’t Hurt. The class hosted an information table inside the Jane P. Batten Student Center and a Clothesline Project t-shirt display on the pathway between Boyd Dining Center and Hofheimer Library.

Through these and future events, Emani Thomas hopes to communicate an important message to domestic violence sufferers: “You are not alone. Being in this relationship is not your only option.”

exploring iNTELLECTUAl PROPERTY Incoming students learned about intellectual property during a fall 2015 orientation session hosted by Hofheimer Library. As part of an interactive exercise, they were asked to write down what they plan to create as Marlins. Here are some of their colorful responses.

marlins are creators SEE MORE STICKIES ON THE VIRGINIA WESLEYAN COLLEGE FACEBOOK PAGE!

PHOTO: JACK MELLOTT

Athletics

Swimming and Women’s Golf Coming to VWC Virginia Wesleyan College recently announced the addition of three sports programs to its NCAA Division III lineup—Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Women’s Golf. With these programs in place, the College will boast a total of 22 men’s and women’s Division III athletic teams.

“Division III athletics encourages the student-athlete to develop not just in his or her chosen sport, but also in the classroom and as productive members in their campus community,” said VWC President Scott Miller. “The addition of swimming and women’s golf will enhance those experiences, help in the recruitment and retention of strong students and position Virginia Wesleyan favorably among its peer institutions.”

ON DECK: The addition of Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Women’s Golf brings Virginia Wesleyan athletics to a total of 22 NCAA Division III teams.

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 28)

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Athletics

Swimming and Women’s Golf Coming to VWC (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27)

The men’s and women’s swimming programs are made possible through the generosity of Trustee O. L. Everett and former Trustee John Lingo. Recruiting will get underway during the 2016-2017 academic year with the goal of competition beginning in the fall of 2017. The College’s existing 25-yard, eight-lane swimming pool, located in the Batten Student Center, will serve as the training facility for these student-athletes.

The women’s golf program will begin competition right away in the fall of 2016, building on the men’s program, which recently garnered the College’s first national championship in that sport (see facing page).

The Old Dominion Athletic Conference currently hosts six schools in women’s golf with Virginia Wesleyan being the seventh program.

Both the men’s and women’s golf programs will be led by Head Coach Rick Bidnick. A PGA Coaching Professional, Bidnick comes to Virginia Wesleyan from the staff of Nansemond Suffolk Academy.

The inaugural schedule for VWC Women’s Golf includes a pair of tournaments in the fall including the Bridgewater Invitational in September and the ODAC Generals Invitational in October. The spring schedule will include the Glades Springs Tournament near Beckley, West Virginia.

“The strength of our overall athletics program will only continue to grow as we add these new sports and bring on talented student-athletes and coaches who will allow us to complete among the best,” said Executive Director of Athletics Joanne Renn.

PHOTO: J.J. NEKOLOFF

Athletics

Marlins Claim Ninth ODAC Softball Title The top-seeded Virginia Wesleyan softball team rallied from a 9-5 sixth-inning deficit to claim the program’s ninth ODAC title on May 2, 2016 with a 10-9 extra-inning victory over Eastern Mennonite University. This is the second time the championship game has reached extra innings with the Marlins defeating Shenandoah University 8-6 in 19 innings in the 2013 tournament.

The Marlins led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a Kiersten Richardson ’18 single. Eastern Mennonite, not wanting to face powerful slugger Cassetty Howerin ’18, walked her intentionally to advance Richardson into scoring position. Kayla Dost ’16 made the Royals pay for the walk with a double down the left-field line to score Richardson and make it 9-6.

EMU went to the bullpen after Dost’s double, bringing Lauren Seale in to face Taylor Galvin ’16. The Marlin catcher lined a ball to left, but it was enough to plate Howerin for a 9-7 margin.

Essence Jackson ’19 singled to move Dost to third where, following another out, she scored on Cardamom’s pinch-hit single.

EMU led 9-8 with just one inning left to play to force a second and deciding game, but could not shut down the Marlin offense.

Courtney Bogan ’18 led off the seventh with a single off Sydney Reath, stealing second in the next at bat. Following a Richardson hit by pitch, Howerin connected on a single that plated Bogan for the tying run. The Marlins advanced the winning run to third base, a fine defensive double play ended the threat as Galvin lined out to center field where Tiffani Shaheen threw into third for the twin killing.

Virginia Wesleyan pitcher Mary Shipp ’18 faced just one batter over the minimum in the eighth and ninth innings to set up the Marlin victory. With one out and no one on base, the Royals intentionally walked Howerin for the third time on the afternoon.

Following a flyout in the next at bat, Galvin doubled into the leftcenter field gap to score Howerin from first.

Howerin came around to score each of the three times she was intentionally walked, scoring four times on the afternoon. She went 3-for-3 at the plate to increase her batting average to .508 while upping her on-base percentage to .587. She was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

Cox Wins NCAA Golf Title, All-American Honors

2015-2016 ALL-AMERICANS

Golf standout Evan Cox (right) fought through a tough playoff round in May 2016 to earn the NCAA Division III National Championship. Cox’s win was the College’s first national title in golf, and he is the first to win an individual national title in any sport.

Cox and former Golf Coach Bryan Hearn wrapped up a historic golf season by earning All-State Player and Coach of the Year respectively from the Virginia Sports Information Directors. Cox was also named ODAC Player of the Year and earned All-American accolades for his performance in the national championship.

Evan Cox, Cox Golf Courtney Bogan ’18 ’18, Softball Cassetty Howerin ’18 ’18, Softball Kandis Kresinske ’19 ’19, Softball

PHOTO: GRACIE WITHERS

Tiffany Barrett ’17, ’17 Volleyball Marissa Coombs ’18 ’18, Women’s Indoor Track & Field Josh Currier ’16 ’16, Men’s Lacrosse

PHOTO: JANICE MARSHALL-PITTMAN

Alumni Pages

Athletic Hall of Fame Inducts Eighth Class Virginia Wesleyan College inducted the eighth class into its Athletic Hall of Fame during a special ceremony in February 2016. Members of the new class represent the best of the best from the College’s athletic history. The six inductees are (pictured from left): Lawrence D. Hultgren—NCAA Faculty Representative, Anna Bowers Ratcliff ’93—Softball (1990-93), Samuel B. Snow ’77—Men’s Soccer (1973-77), Jacquelyn Griffin Koch ’04— Field Hockey (2000-04), Laura E. Wallace ’06—Women’s Lacrosse (2002-06), and Kevin J. Flanagan ’04—Baseball (1996-99). Members will be permanently recognized in the Athletic Hall of Fame installation located adjacent to the entrance of the Jane P. Batten Student Center. For more information about the Athletic Hall of Fame, visit www.vwc.edu/hof.

ALUMNI PROFILE

Cam Garner ’ 72 Cam Garner has founded or cofounded more than 15 companies, the majority focused on pharmaceuticals.

He serves on 10 boards—five for which he is board chairman. It’s hard to pinpoint a specific professional title for the 1972 Virginia Wesleyan graduate, but when asked, he describes himself as a “serial healthcare entrepreneur.”

He wasn’t always so work-driven.

As a Virginia Beach teen, Garner says he focused more on surfing than schoolwork, taking an extra year to graduate high school and attending a handful of junior colleges before arriving at Virginia Wesleyan in 1968.

Through VWC, Garner landed a work study job at Norfolk General Hospital.

The biology major paid his way through college with the position, which rotated him through the hospital’s pathology departments—special chemistry, the morgue, histology and psychology.

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healthcare and medicine,” he says.

“When I look back at my career, if there was one sort of pivotal thing in terms of the direction that I took, that was probably the most significant.”

An early job in pharmaceutical sales paved the way for executive-level sales and marketing positions, CEO posts, ownership titles, and one of his proudest accomplishments—an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. A great deal of his success can be attributed to his liberal arts education, he says.

“At the end of day, a lot of business is done on a social basis. Having the self-confidence to talk about a variety of subjects in depth speaks well to who you are as a person. That benefits you when you’re doing business with other people.

I think they see you a little differently.”

Garner lives in San Diego with his wife, Wanda, and has two daughters, Adair and Anna. He enjoys golf and traveling the world for his other passion— landscape and seascape photography.

2015 ALUMNI AWARDS EACH YEAR THE VIRGINIA WESLEYAN COLLEGE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION PRESENTS ACCOMPLISHED GRADUATES WITH ALUMNI AWARDS, CELEBRATING THOSE WHO HAVE ACHIEVED DISTINCTION IN THEIR FIELDS AND SERVED THEIR COMMUNITIES IN A VARIETY OF WAYS. THE 2015 AWARD RECIPIENTS WERE HONORED SEPT. 3 DURING FALL CONVOCATION. IF YOU KNOW A VIRGINIA WESLEYAN GRADUATE WHO DESERVES TO BE RECOGNIZED, SUBMIT A NOMINATION AT WWW.VWC.EDU/ALUMNIAWARDS

J. TIM BAILEY ’83 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD

Division President Compass Group/Canteen

CHRISTINE A. (LANGSAM) WILLIAMS ’97 ALUMNI SERVICE AWARD

Director DurretteCrump PLC

MATTHEW H.C. RYAN ’09 GRADUATE OF THE LAST DECADE

Cinematographer/ Director of Photography

Alumni Pages ALUMNI PROFILE

Lee Stevenson ’85 Many alumni describe their Virginia Wesleyan experience as transformational, but Lee Stevenson ’85 claims his years at the College rewired his entire DNA. “I went from being a shy kid and a mediocre student to a highly engaged member of the school community,” he says. “From my first day on campus, I was challenged by both faculty and upperclassmen to put myself out there and get involved.”

The recreation and leisure studies major played on the VWC golf team, volunteered through Circle K, and helped start a fraternity on campus. But it was largely his three-year role as student intramural director that he credits for his current success as managing director at the global firm Marsh & McLennan.

“It was the foundation for a lot of the things that I do in business—the ability to organize, the ability to communicate, to lead others,” he says. “Wesleyan provided a platform that allowed me to tap into the strengths that I didn’t even realize I had.”

Stevenson arrived at Marsh in the mid-1990s and has worked his way to the top. Today he manages the firm’s Central region, its largest territory with more than 20 retail brokerage offices. He sits on Marsh’s U.S. Executive Committee and its President’s Council, made up of the company’s top executives worldwide.

A native of Virginia’s Eastern Shore, Stevenson is a self-proclaimed “gypsy,” having lived in Manhattan, D.C., Atlanta, and now Chicago. He married his VWC sweetheart, Lara (D’Domenicus) Stevenson ’88, with whom he has three children, Taylor, Jack, Natalie. In his free time, he golfs, travels, boats and fishes.

Class Notes

1970s

Rev. Karla Kincannon (1976) has been appointed executive pastor at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Alexandria.

1980s

Rev. Susan P. (Burke) Jones (1980) joined Baylor University as a senior fellow in the Institute for Faith and Learning. Previously, she served as associate dean for ministerial formation at Duke Divinity School. She is a frequent retreat leader for lay and clergy groups, and her writings have appeared in publications including Faith and Leadership, The Christian Century and The Upper Room.

Rev. Dr. Ted Smith (1984) was put forth by the Virginia Annual Conference for United Methodist Bishop at the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference in July 2016.

Heather Baker Weidner (1989) published her debut novel, Secret Lives and Private Eyes, in June 2016.

1990s Chris Harriman (1991) was featured in the Virginian-Pilot on in November 2015 for his role as director of food services at Chesapeake Regional Medical Center.

Michelle (Meesh) Peters (1992) received the 2015 Rotary Women in Action Award Kirk Kincannon (1980), the director of Fairfax for Rotary District 7610 for her service County Park Authority, has been elected as in Swaziland and South Africa in training a Fellow to the American Academy for Park educators that work with students with and Recreation Administration. disabilities.

Paul C. Nichols III (1980) has been named superintendent of Mecklenburg County Public Schools in Virginia.

Matt L. Smith (1998) has been selected as the principal for Tom Glenn High School, which opened in fall 2016 in Leander, Texas.

Vanessa Castaneda (1999) was hired as reservations manager overseeing resort sales at Palmetto Dunes Resort on Hilton Head Island. Vanessa, her husband and their two young daughters moved to Hilton Head Island from Michigan.

2000s Thomas Taylor (2000), the Superintendent of Middlesex County Public Schools, was named Regional Superintendent of the Year for Region III, which is comprised of school divisions spanning from Gloucester to Fredericksburg in Virginia.

Christine Olson (2001) was named vice president of human resources at Chartway Federal Credit Union. Olson began working at Chartway in 1987 as a teller and worked in retail branch locations for 15 years before joining the Human Resources team in 2002.

Rhea Vaflor (1995) was named an associate principal and the director of Lifestyle Interiors, an award-winning interior design studio, at Hickok Cole Architects. Rhea’s Dr. Clair Berube (1983), an assistant professor Dr. Adam Rosenbaum (2002) published his husband, Geoffrey Wardzinski (1994), was for Hampton University’s Department of promoted to managing editor at Advanta first book, Bavarian Tourism and the Modern Professional Education, received the 2016 Medical Solutions. The couple lives in World, 1800-1950 (Cambridge University Executive Vice President and Provost’s Washington, D.C. with their daughter, Sloane.

Press, February 2016). He is an assistant Innovation Teaching Award. She and a professor at Colorado Mesa University and colleague helped create a textbook of Rod Bennett (1996) was named the 2016 received his Ph.D. from Emory. nanoscience modules, or lessons, that Gloucester Daffodil Festival Print Artist. teachers can use in their classes.

Raegan Baker (2003) published Anastasia’s Mari (Keefer) Mann (1996) is associate Sisters: Their Diaries, Letters and Memories, Richard Esposito (1983) has been named the producer for the film Eyes of the Roshi, her second book about the Romonav Empire. new sales manager of Long & Foster Real which had its Red Carpet Sneak Preview Estate’s McLean office. He currently resides Bladen Finch (2003), a Senate Page Program in August 2016 at the Museum of in Northern Virginia with his wife, Maureen, Director for the Senate of Virginia, received Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach. Mari and their children, Erin, Michael and Patrick. special recognition as the Virginia General earned her master’s degree in humanities Assembly received the 2015 Kevin B. from California State University. She has Rev. Scott Davis (1984) was recently appointed Harrington Award for Excellence in written three novels and a book of short District Superintendent of the Lynchburg Democracy Education. The award is given stories.

District of the United Methodist Church. annually by the National Conference of State Amy Insley (1997), a theatre teacher at Legislatures to an individual or organization Kelly Traylor Jackson (1984), Mary York High School, was among 14 teachers that advances public understanding of state Charlotte Roach Elia (2003), Christa nationwide who received the Kennedy or local level representative democracy.

Mercer Springstead (2007) and Stephanie Center/Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Kimec Parker (2008), all clergy alumnae, Erica (Clarke) Tachoir (2005) married Evan Teacher Award. The prestigious national participated in the Center for Sacred Music’s Tachoir on March 5, 2016 in Harrisonburg, award offers a $10,000 grant and is designed Monumental Moments Epiphany service, Virginia. She is the director of Career to recognize teachers by spotlighting their “Women’s Christmas,” in January 2016.

Services and instructor of communication at extraordinary impact on students.

The Pennsylvania State University, Greater Allegheny Campus. / 32 / MARLIN

Alumni Pages Matt Lewis (2007) has been named executive director of the Y in Pasadena, Maryland.

For the last 10 years, he served in various roles with the YMCA of South Hampton Roads, and most recently, he was the executive director of the South Boston Family Center Y. Christa (Mercer) Springstead (2007) has been appointed lead pastor at St. John’s United Methodist Church in Norfolk.

Ali Southard (2008) was named Teacher of the Year at Flat Rock Elementary School in Powhatan County, Virginia, where she’s taught for four years.

Holly (Phaneuf) Taylor (2008) has been elected to the school board in Williamsburg-James City County.

Ryan Monastra (2009) was named Baltimore Ravens Cheerleading Rookie of the Year.

He says: “Thank you Virginia Wesleyan College cheerleading. It has been an incredible journey indeed, and I would never have had this opportunity without your support...Go Marlins!”

2010 s Janet Boehnlein (2011) earned a Master of Arts in Strategic Communication and Leadership from Seton Hall. Through a fellowship with the State Department, she manages internal communication outreach and assists the Office of eDiplomacy in its efforts to cultivate the innovative use of technology to facilitate internal collaboration of employees and information.

Victoria Blaze Byrd (2011) has been appointed as communications manager for the Elite Clubs National League in Glen Allen, Virginia.

Submit a Class Note: We want to share your news! Send us an email at alumni@vwc.edu with your career moves, awards, graduations, weddings, births, mini-reunions, and more.

Theresa Delp (2011) has been named director of business planning at Chartway Federal Credit Union, where she has worked since 1994. She also serves as Secretary/ Treasurer on the We Promise Foundation’s Board of Selection.

Ksera Dyette, PsyD, BCB (2011) began a postdoctoral clinical fellowship in psychology at Cambridge Health Alliance/ Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, Massachusetts in August 2016. Dr. Dyette is working on the Child and Adolescent Assessment Units and Psychiatric Emergency Services at Cambridge Hospital, which also serves as a teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard School of Dental Medicine and Tufts University School of Medicine. She earned her doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology at Widener University in May 2016. During her graduate career she published five articles related to the care of institutionalized children for journals in Australia, Scotland, and South Asia.

She was recently made a 2016-2017 Fellow of the American Psychoanalytic Association in recognition of her graduate research and extensive involvement in the psychoanalytic psychology community.

Heather (Templeton) Tebbenhoff (2011) accepted a position with Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/Albemarle County as the Tutor Recruitment and Storytelling Specialist. She is responsible for recruiting volunteer tutors to work with students of many nationalities who are working toward learning the English language. She also manages all marketing aspects of the organization.

Jennifer Schrum (2014) was named head field hockey coach at Jamestown High School.

Hannah Blanco (2016) was accepted into the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Master of Information Sciences program for their inaugural program in User Experience and Accessibility.

Births Laura Ezell (1975) and Rick Ezell (1975) welcomed their grandson, Jonah, on October, 9, 2015.

Jonathan Buckingham (1998) and Emily welcomed Parker on October 12, 2015.

He joins big sister, Caroline.

Jon Trullender (1999) and wife, Mallory, welcomed Caden Nico on May 9, 2015.

He joins big sister, Isabella.

Sarah Simms (2002) and Jake Harsh welcomed Ezra on August 15, 2015.

Matt Tefft (2004) welcomed Luca on August 19, 2015.

Sara (Northam) Reedy (2006) and Marshall welcomed Tommie Nicole on June 23, 2015.

Big brother Massey is thrilled.

Ambra Jones (2008) and Randy Buffington welcomed Braxton on October 4, 2015.

Lauren Melton (2009) and J.C. Protzman welcomed Elijah on July 1, 2015.

Brook (Russell) Massenburg (2010) and Matthew welcomed Finn on September 22, 2015.

Kala Bohigian Baskerville (2011) and DeJuan welcomed DeJuan “DJ” Baskerville III on November 19, 2015.

Sarah (Giamarino) Patillo (2011) and George “RP” Patillo (2011) welcomed Kayleah on September 16, 2015.

In Memoriam Tonia Brown (1974) December 24, 2015 Colon Whitehurst (1974) December 18, 2015 George Dow (1975) March 9, 2016 Russell “Rusty” Price (1995) April 11, 2016 Nancy Kelly (2015) April 24, 2016

Virg in ia We sle ya n C o lle g e Ma g a zin e Fall 2016 / 33 /

Alumni Pages

PHOTO: JANICE MARSHALL-PITTMAN

New Leadership for Annual Giving, Alumni Relations

SAY HELLO: Lori McCarel ‘94 wants to hear from you. Reach out to our new Executive Director of Annual Giving and Alumni Relations at 757.233.8786 or lmccarel@vwc.edu.

2016-2017 ALUMNI COUNCIL The Alumni Council represents all VWC alumni by serving as advocates to the College. Members volunteer their time, actively participating in the planning of networking events, regional socials and Homecoming & Family Weekend. The Council’s goal is to provide leadership as alumni and to connect, participate, champion and support Virginia Wesleyan College.

Meet the members of the 2016-2017 Alumni Council:

/ 34 / MARLIN

Lori L. (Simpers) McCarel, VWC Class of 1994, has been named Virginia Wesleyan’s new Executive Director of Annual Giving and Alumni Relations.

Since 2007, McCarel has served in various capacities in the College’s Center for Advancement, including roles as Director of Annual Giving, Director of Special Gifts, and Director of Corporate Relations. Her professional experience and love and appreciation for the culture, heritage, and traditions of Virginia Wesleyan will serve the College well as it aims to increase alumni service and engagement and secure needed resources from Marlin graduates, friends, and other constituents, notes Dr. Mort Gamble, Vice President for Advancement.

“Lori brings a breadth of experience, a propensity for relationship building, and a keen understanding of our College,” says VWC President Scott Miller. “I am confident she has the ability, experience and passion to take our alumni and annual giving programs to the next level.”

McCarel’s responsibilities will include implementing innovative means of engaging alumni in the life of the

OFFICERS Mavis McKenley ‘11 President Vice President and Trust Officer, AMG National Trust Bank

College; increasing the percentage of alumni who contribute to The Excellence Fund and other campus giving programs; and managing communications and outreach to the nearly 10,000 Marlins who call Virginia Wesleyan their alma mater. She will also serve as staff liaison to, and provide support for, the VWC Alumni Council.

“I feel very fortunate to have served Virginia Wesleyan for the past nine years, and I’m excited to continue my service at my alma mater,” says McCarel. “I’ve seen the positive impact our alumni have on current students as well as in their communities and around the world. There is huge potential for growth to recognize, communicate and engage with more of our alumni, and I look forward to helping build upon that at Virginia Wesleyan.”

McCarel earned her B.A. from VWC as part of the Liberal Arts Management Program (LAMP). She is a Founding Sister of Tri Sigma Sorority and a former member of the Marlin field hockey team.

She has three children, Zac McCarel ’18, Kylea McCarel ’20, and Connor McCarel, and her fiancé, Joe Harris, is a 1994 graduate of the College.

MEMBERS Aaron Bull ‘95 Owner/President, Bull & Company MediaWorks Anne Marie Burroughs ‘04 Realtor, William E. Wood

Troy DeLawrence ‘93 Vice President Sr. Quality Assurance Analyst, CACI Jesse Fanshaw ‘72 Retiree, Virginia Wesleyan College Rachel Rigoglioso ‘10 Secretary Linda A. Ferguson Certified Paralegal-Licensing, Faculty Liaison LoanCare, LLC Professor of Management, Business, and Economics Cathy Holava ‘93 Treasurer Kimberly H. Harriman ‘90 Enrollment Counselor VP, Global Fraud Detections, Virginia Wesleyan College Senior Programmer/Analyst, Bank of America Vikki Holliday-Keiffer ‘05 Special Projects Manager/ Amy Mallett Rickard ‘98, Documentation Specialist Immediate Past President Mode Transportation Manager, Client Services, AGL Resources

John Maravich ‘11 Energy Data Analyst PlotWatt Patrick McMahon ‘02 Vice President, Advisor Consultant NuVeen Investments Kevin Otey ‘05, Class Agent Ambassador Community Partnership Manager, Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia Molly Phillips ‘02 Teacher and Coach, Dover High School Shelby St. Gelais ‘12 Specialist, Apple Ron Swan ‘77 President, ADS Nicole Thurston ‘07 Attorney, Poole Mahoney

CONNECTING Classroom to Career THROUGH THE EXCELLENCE FUND

‘‘

The personal attention from faculty and staff at VWC was the best. I had one-on-one conversations with my professors and the whole College was invested in how well I was doing in class, how my research was coming along, how my fraternity was developing, and how I was developing as a person. This enriched my college experience and allowed me to perform to the best of my ability.

Britton “Britt” Hipple ’16 is pursuing his passion.

After earning his bachelor’s degree in chemistry in just three years, he has been accepted into Virginia Tech’s prestigious Ph.D. program in biochemistry. His career goal is to engage in innovative drug research as a biochemistry professor.

At Virginia Wesleyan, Britt made his mark on campus as an exceptional student, resident assistant, cofounding president of Chi Beta Psi fraternity, and genuine friend. During his senior year, Britt presented his scientific research at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Diego.

‘‘

BRITT HIPPLE ’16

He credits his drive to excel in the sciences to the education, training, and experiences he received through the VWC biology and chemistry departments—experiences provided by support of the Excellence Fund.

The Excellence Fund provides growing numbers of students with high-impact academic experiences like internships and undergraduate research, vibrant campus life opportunities, and library and technology resources. These benefits contribute to the success of our students as well as the College’s excellent academic reputation.

CONTRIBUTE TO MEANINGFUL FUTURES Support the Excellence Fund Use the envelope provided in this publication, visit www.vwc.edu/giveonline, call the Office of Annual Giving at 757.455.3115, or email excellencefund@vwc.edu.

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OFFICE OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS 1584 Wesleyan Drive Norfolk, Virginia 23502 757.455.3200 www.vwc.edu

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