Chronicles

PHOTO BY JUNE WILLIAMS

Once in a while go to a mountain top and take stock of yourself and beliefs and inquire into your expectations of yourself. Demand a satisfying answer.”

President Robert E.R. Huntley ’50, ’57’s 1982 Commencement speech. Read the full speech at go.wlu.edu/ huntley-1982-commencement.

CHUTES AND LADDERS

BY LOUISE UFFELMAN

F

ORTY YEARS AFTER earning his B.A. in accounting, Frank Williams ’82, who works for a global reforestation startup, has been thinking about President Robert Huntley ’50, ’57L’s 1982 commencement speech.

“Then, and now, I’ve been deeply touched by his words,” said Williams. “The reminder that we should figure out what’s important to us and then do it. That surprises will find us, but there is a humility in learning to move past them. And there’s value in seeking out intelligent risks for the greater good. I’m so grateful I’ve been willing to let that philosophy be my North Star.”

Williams received the WSJ Student Achievement Award (highest GPA in the Williams School) and the university’s Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award. He thought he was heading to the University of Strasbourg as a Fulbright scholar but learned at the end of his senior year that his research project had been rejected.

So, after a “brief pout,” he followed Huntley’s advice and “brushed myself off and rejoined the dance.”

His forward path led him to a job with KPMG, a law degree from U.Va. and a stint as a public finance attorney. But one day, mindful of Huntley’s counsel, he and his wife, June, decided to lean their ladder against a different wall.

The couple joined World Vision International and embarked on service missions to the DR Congo and other countries building schools and managing food security and economic empowerment projects. While serving in Haiti, Williams and his son lost contact with his wife and two daughters during the 2010 earthquake, concluding they had died in a collapsed building. When reunited, “I went from being the poorest guy in the world to being the richest.”

He added, “We have been assaulted, robbed, evacuated during violent government overthrows and other disruptions, stuck in a river all night and landed on grass airstrips many times (watch out for the goats). We’ve engaged with the UN officials at the highest levels, presidents of nations, and, most importantly, with children in villages around the world.

“Whether 22 or 82, continually take small — and sometimes really big — risks for the common good. You will keep the angels busy, and you will have an extraordinary adventure.”

Setting Records

In July, Josephine Schaeffer Covington ’96, P’24 became the first undergraduate alumnae Annual Fund chair. She takes over from Andrew Tate ’98, who served as chair for five years.

Josephine Schaeffer Covington ’96 is no stranger to setting records. She posted blisteringly fast times on the cross country and track teams, earning her a berth in W&L’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007. Two-and-a-half decades later, she set a different kind of record for her milestone reunion. Answering the call to serve as co-chair of her 25th class reunion giving campaign in 2021, she and her classmates broke the record for most money raised by a 25th reunion class, with more than $4.6 million in overall giving. She and

“When it’s co-chair Russell Croft are just as proud something of getting their class over 50% participation during a challenging year. you love, “The truth is, when it’s something you love, you don’t feel like you’re you don’t selling anything,” said Covington. feel like “I’m encouraging other alumni to think about why they love W&L and encouryou’re aging them to pay it forward. So much of our experience was because of those selling who came before us.” anything.” Covington looks forward to the challenge of chairing the 2022-23 Annual Fund and hopes to continue her streak of breaking records by increasing overall alumni participation. Her new volunteer position will also give her more opportunities to visit campus, where her oldest daughter, Nell, is a rising junior. “Nothing speaks more highly of a school than when they have a strong, supportive alumni base,” said Covington.

“That means they had a great experience and want others to have the same experience.” n

MORE ABOUT JOSEPHINE

Growing up in Memphis, Tennessee, Covington never thought she would attend W&L, even though her father Fred Schaeffer ’64 was an alumnus. “I don’t think he ever dreamed his daughter would go there,” said Covington. But when it came time to visit colleges, Covington quickly fell in love. She knew the university would offer a full college experience that included leadership, academics and sports. Covington, a biology major, ran track and cross country (the first woman to earn All American in two sports), served as a head resident advisor and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.

W&L Magazine 204 W. Washington St. Lexington, VA 24450-2116 www.wlu.edu

Non-Profit U.S. Postage PAID

Bedford, Va Permit No. 3

SCENE ON CAMPUS

1 3 5

2 4

1. W&L hosted its first Greek Leadership Institute on Jan. 5-6, providing development opportunities designed specifically for student leaders in the university’s Greek community. 2. Alexandra Byler ’25, Lilly Jordan ’25, Georgia Bernbaum ’25 and Aoife Braverman ’25 relax on the Front Lawn. 3. Elisabeth Matthews ’23 and Will Winstead ’22 work together on the Holekamp Hall porch. 4. Gavin Fox, associate professor of business administration, plays a little ’90s rock in the Cohen Family Amphitheater. 5. Author Rebecca Makkai ’99 gave this year’s Tom Wolfe Lecture Series address in University Chapel. 6. Sarah Martin ’23 shows Georgia Ballew ’23 the video game she wrote in her Video Game Design class.