hoop dreams hoop realities

Transcription

* hoop dreams
hoop realities
behind the legend of
Anthony Johnson ’97
BE LOUD.
BE PROUD.
BE A PART OF
OUR CROWD.*
Where will you be cheering on your Cougars?
By acting now, you can secure the best seats in the house in
the Carolina First Center – our brand-new home for Cougars
basketball and volleyball.
Summer 2008
Volume XII, Issue 3
Editor
Mark Berry
Art Director
Alfred Hall
Associate Editor
Alicia Lutz ’98
Contributors
Amanda Becker ’08
Melanie Caduhada ’09
Dan Dickison
Sam Fleming ’10
Mike Ledford
Mandy Manoski ’08
Nick Porter ’07
Mike Robertson
Lindsay Rogerson ’11
Robert Stockton
Amberjade Taylor ’11
Melissa Whetzel
Photography
Nancy Santos
Alumni Relations
Karen Burroughs Jones ’74
Executive Vice President for
External Affairs
Michael Haskins
Contact us at
magazine@cofc.edu
Call 843.953.8255 or go online to
www.cofcsports.com and click
on the Cougar Club link for more
information about season tickets and
premium seating options.
*FACE AND BODY PAINT ARE OPTIONAL, BUT STRONGLY ENCOURAGED.
College of Charleston Magazine is published
three times a year by the Division of
Marketing and Communications. With each
printing, approximately 45,000 copies are
mailed to keep alumni, families of currently
enrolled students, legislators and friends
informed about and connected to the College.
Diverse views appear in these pages and do
not necessarily reflect the opinions of the
editor or the official policies of the College.
[ table of contents ]
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A Prayer of Perseverance
Departments
30
Around the Cistern
by Mark Berry
Basketball is a passion for many people. For Anthony Johnson ’97, it’s more than that. It’s
a way of life – one that highlights the constant struggle of playing at the highest level.
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Life Academic 8
Making the Grade 14
Their Own Tour of Duty
by Alicia Lutz ’98
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Several students learned the true spirit of “giúp dÕ, ai” – a Vietnamese phrase for giving
help to someone. And on their service-learning trip to Vietnam, they learned quite a bit about
themselves as well.
Self-Reliance 101: 5 Things Every
Entrepreneur Should Know
40
Who doesn’t yearn to be The Boss? If you’re one of the dreamers, then these five lessons
and our different alumni experiences might just inspire you to take that great business idea
you’ve been sitting on and run with it.
Teamwork 20
Point of View
24
Philanthropy
46
Class Notes
My Space
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64
cover photo by Robert Seale
AROUND the CISTERN
RealSports in the Real World
Roger Clemens, Marion Jones
and Michael Vick: America has learned
the hard way that its sports heroes can’t
always live up to its expectations. The
question of whether athletes should be
seen as role models has attracted a lot of
attention lately, and so did Frank Deford
when he addressed the topic at the
College last February.
In a panel discussion titled “Pros
and Cons: Are Athletes Role Models” –
presented by the College’s Friends of the
Library as part of its spring speakers
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series – Deford, an acclaimed author,
National Public Radio commentator,
HBO RealSports correspondent and
Sports Illustrated senior contributing
writer, discussed the fall of the
athlete-as-hero with Bobby Cremins
and Nancy Wilson, the College’s men’s
and women’s basketball coaches; Les
Robinson, athletic director for The Citadel;
Katrina McClain, a two-time Olympic
gold medalist and an All-American and
Women’s Basketball Association superstar;
and Darryl Hill, the Atlantic Coast
Conference’s first black football player.
“I think it’s perfectly understandable
for children to look up to athletes,”
Deford believes. “But, having said that,
I don’t think it’s going to change the
behavior of many of these guys. … I don’t
think they have an obligation to be a role
model. They’re professional athletes and
their job is to play ball.”
And so, as athletes continue to get
bigger and better numbers in the game,
they might see their overall score
plummet with their fans.
| Photo by Damon Smith |
| Photo by Leslie McKellar |
AROUND the CISTERN
Hail to the Chief ... to Be
If you’re a political junkie, then
the College was ground zero for your
presidential fix leading up to last
January’s South Carolina primary.
Beginning with former New York City
mayor Rudy Guiliani in May 2007,
several candidates, both Republican and
Democrat, stopped at the College on their
long and winding campaign journeys to
talk with students, faculty, staff and the
greater Charleston community.
Many of the presidential hopefuls
came to campus under the aegis of
the Bully Pulpit series, organized by
the Department of Communication
and sponsored by Allstate Insurance
Company, to discuss the importance of
presidential communication with the
press and public. On the Republican
side, John McCain and Ron Paul spoke to
packed houses in Physicians Memorial
Auditorium, and Democrats John Edwards
and Barak Obama took the rally approach,
speaking to students and supporters on
Physicians Promenade and in the Cistern
Yard, respectively.
Obama’s talk on the Cistern, attended
by thousands, captured international
headlines, from The New York Times, The
Wall Street Journal and The Los Angeles
Times, to Al Jazeera, International Herald
Tribune (Paris, France) and World News
Australia. Specifically, former presidential
candidate and current senator of
Massachusetts John Kerry endorsed
Obama’s candidacy at the event and
shared the stage with him.
Depending on the outcome of the
Democratic National Convention, one
may argue convincingly that George
Street was the road to the White House –
at least for a moment.
Check out the Bully Pulpit’s multimedia
gallery at www.cofc.edu/bullypulpit.
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Around the Cistern in 3
Seconds
• Last February, the College community dedicated an African
American cemetery memorial on Rivers Green in front of the
Addlestone Library (pictured here). The twin monuments
honor the African Americans who were once buried in
the cemeteries adjacent to the library and commemorate
Charleston’s historic black organizations – specifically, the
Brown Fellowship Society, the Humane Brotherhood and
the Plymouth Congregational Church – and their work in
promoting community and racial improvements during the
slavery and Jim Crow eras.
• There will be a lot more Cougar faces among this year’s class
of Peace Corps volunteers – 25 to be precise. These students
and College alumni have set a single-year record for the
College. Currently, there are 19 volunteers serving around the
world – the most of any university in South Carolina.
• The College’s School of Education, Health, and Human
Performance complex, which opened in the spring 2007, was
honored with the Committee to Save the City’s Three Sisters
Award for its distinguished architecture.
• The College ranked in the top 14 percent of the nation’s
public universities in providing “a first-rate education without
breaking the bank,” according to Kiplinger’s Best Values in
Public Colleges. Out of 500 public universities, the College
ranked 70th for best value for in-state students and 67th for
out-of-state value.
• Applications are at an all-time high. For the fall 2008
semester, the admissions office received a record number
of applications – 11,955 (up more than a thousand from the
spring 2007 numbers) – for 2,800 slots.
CALLING ALL WRITERS.
We need your entries for the second annual College
of Charleston Magazine Fiction Open.
The rules are easy:
1. You must be a College of Charleston student or have attended the College (either undergraduate or graduate programs)
to be eligible.
2. The story must be previously unpublished material.
3. Word count: between 1,500 and 3,000 words.
Please e-mail your story or any
4. The story has to be set somewhere on the College’s campus.
questions to ATTN: Fiction Contest at
5. Deadline: September 1, 2008
magazine@cofc.edu
The winning entry will be published in the magazine.
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(include your name and class year, if applicable).
AROUND the CISTERN
Campus Construction
If you haven’t visited campus lately,
you may have missed some of the College’s
newest additions. Here’s what we’ve been
building while you’ve been away.
pAtriots point
AthletiCs CompleX
These renovated facilities
– which include new
covered, chair-back seats;
a hospitality deck; seating
for 2,000 fans; improved
training rooms; and a
3,000-square-foot indoor
practice facility – are home
to the College’s baseball,
softball and soccer teams.
GeorGe street proJeCt
This block-size complex
stretches from George to
Liberty Street. Opened in
fall 2007, it includes two
residence halls (George
Street Apartments and Liberty
Street Residence Hall), a
26,000-square-foot dining hall,
a 618-space parking garage
and 20,000 square feet of
retail space.
neW sCienCe Center
The science center is the
newest construction on
campus, having begun
late last fall. Completion
is expected in fall 2010.
sChool of the Arts eXpAnsion
The Marion and Wayland H. Cato Jr.
Center for the Arts is being added to
the existing Albert Simons Center for
the Arts. The expected completion
date is spring 2009.
CArolinA first Center/
John Kresse ArenA
The new 270,000-square-foot
sports complex and 5,000-seat
arena will open in fall 2008.
sChool of eduCAtion, heAlth,
And humAn performAnCe
This 24,000-square-foot facility, which
includes the Jeremy Warren Vann
Teacher Education Center, opened in
April 2007.
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contribution: 1. Ted Stern (president),
2. Fred Daniels (director of admissions),
3. Carrie Nesbitt Gibbs (one of the
first African American students),
4. Lucille Whipper (the College’s first
African American administrator),
5. Tony Meyer ’49 (director of athletics
and executive secretary of the Alumni
Association), 6. Remus Harper ’72 (first
male African American student-athlete),
7. Otto German ’73 (one of the first
African American student-athletes),
8. Carl Gathers ’78 (president of the
Afro-American Society), 9. Olivia Guest
White ’73 (first female African American
student-athlete). Not pictured are John
Lofton ’40 (alumnus who began a letterwriting campaign in 1964 to admit black
students), Owilender Grant (first African
American faculty member) and Eddie
Ganaway ’71 (first African American
graduate and featured in the fall 07
College of Charleston Magazine).
The Faces of Change
This year, the College commemorated
the alumni and community members who
led the College through desegregation
40 years ago. The faces of the College’s
integration story were highlighted in
an exhibit, Portraits of Change, which is
being presented throughout the year in
different places around campus.
Here’s a quick breakdown of
the exhibit’s key players and their
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AROUND the CISTERN
similarity aside, no documentation
connects Manigault with the Blacklock
design. Blacklock was a member of
the building committee for the Bank
of the United States (now City Hall, at
Broad and Meeting Streets), which was
built the same year and designed by
Manigault. However, the Adamesque was
an international style, with a universal
architectural vocabulary.
Blacklock’s house has many of those
elements. Stone and stucco accents to
the Flemish bond brickwork, an oversized
lunette in the pediment, door and
window openings set in blind arches,
sinuous tracery in the smaller lunette
and sidelights of the entrance, delicately
wrought iron railings, all are characteristic
of the style. The interior also has fine
Adamesque woodwork and plaster work
and a graceful curving stair. Similar
features are found in other houses of the
period. The imposing entrance gates to
the extensive garden have counterparts in
Charleston and elsewhere.
Know Your Campus:
The Blacklock House
William Blacklock built his elegant
home, now 18 Bull Street, in the thenpopular Adamesque style. Named for
British architect-brothers Robert and
James Adam, the style was inspired by
archaeological excavations at Pompeii, a
Roman city buried by ash from a volcanic
eruption in 79 A.D. The digs revealed
that Roman private homes were more
humanly scaled than the public temples
and palaces on which Renaissance and
Georgian architecture had been based.
A new style, initially called Pompeian,
was created, with an emphasis on slender
and delicate forms, classical figures and
gesso ornamentation.
Blacklock, an Englishman who made
his fortune in maritime trade, had the
date of his house, 1800, chiseled in stone
above the basement entrance, below the
front stair landing. The Tuscan columns
with fluted necks, which support the
landing, are reminiscent of those that
Gabriel Manigault used in designing the
Orphan House Chapel on Vanderhorst
Street (demolished in the 1950s). That
A less conventional, more quirky taste
is indicated, however, by the Gothic
faux vaulting of the stairwell ceiling,
and the Gothic arched openings of
the outbuildings. Such elements, then
considered exotic, were anticipatory of
the Gothic Revival style.
Later owners of the property included
Emil Jahnz, German consul on the eve
of World War I, and Richard Jenrette,
the well-known stockbroker and
house collector.
The Blacklock House, now owned by
the College of Charleston Foundation,
was designated a National Historic
Landmark in 1974 and houses the Office
of Alumni Relations.
– Robert Stockton is an adjunct
history professor.
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LIFE ACADEMIC
Just Good Chemistry
X-ray absorption spectroscopy,
sulfur oxidation, metal specificity,
reaction intermediates, protein
purification. Welcome to Pamela RiggsGelasco’s polysyllabic world.
Fortunately, it doesn’t take an atom
smasher to figure out what particles
make her tick. Riggs-Gelasco, the Mebane
Chair of chemistry and biochemistry,
believes that “if you’re not doing
research, then you’re not doing science.”
That being said, Riggs-Gelasco is
doing science – and a lot of it. Her
overall work with enzymes and toxins
have proven ample fodder for the top
academic journals in biochemistry, and
she consistently earns “beam time” at
both the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation
Laboratory and the National Synchrotron
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Light Source at Brookhaven National
Laboratory – a competitive process
among research scientists to run
their experiments on this very highdemand equipment.
But what really sets Riggs-Gelasco
apart is that her high-level research is
done in an undergraduate setting.
“I believe doing research is a critical
part of our experience at the College,”
she observes. “And I try to have our
students do work in the lab that is
meaningful, useful and that has realworld application. For example, some
of my students have been setting up
experiments to dissect the mechanisms
of how enzymes work in order to better
understand their connection to disease.”
“Overall, research does more than
just help our students grasp the subject
better,” she adds. “Research is great
preparation for graduate school and,
more importantly, helps them better
compete for the top programs.”
In recognition of her original research
accomplishments with undergraduates,
Riggs-Gelasco was awarded one of the
seven 2007 Camille and Henry Dreyfus
Teacher-Scholar Awards, which provides
grant money for unrestricted research.
These funds will be used to finance the
undergraduate research component of
Riggs-Gelasco’s work, specifically for lab
and student travel expenses.
Check out some of her work on the
molecular and chemical approaches
to disease at www.cofc.edu/inbre/
riggsgelasco.html.
LIFE ACADEMIC
The Healing Arts
this collection is that it includes the work
of 54 artists, each practicing in South
Carolina, and thus represents the largest
single gathering ever of work by artists
from the Palmetto State.
Mark Sloan, the director of the College’s
Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, is
the curator of this exhibit. Standing in
the massive
atrium of this
new facility,
with Lucille
Akinjobi’s
intricate
sweetgrass
baskets and
Marge Moody’s
colorful
canvases
displayed
nearby, Sloan
explains that
the impetus
| (l to r) Art pieces by Erik Johnson and Kristi Ryba ’88 |
for this
“Art is medicine for the mind and
body.” So states the promotional copy for
the Carolina Contemporary Collection –
an exhibition of more than 870 original
works of art that adorn the rooms and
hallways of the Medical University of
South Carolina’s new Ashley River Tower
in Charleston. What truly distinguishes
collection came from MUSC President
Ray Greenberg. “He wanted this building
to have a greater connection to the
region and its people, and it’s been
proven that art evokes calm and elicits a
relaxed state of being that can enhance
the immune processes and promote
more rapid recovery for patients.”
Sloan, along with his assistant Lindy
Abrams ’06, and the committee MUSC
assembled for this project, received
submissions from more than 300 artists.
Ultimately, they narrowed the field down
to 72 and made studio visits around the
state to review the work firsthand and
interview the artists.
The resulting collection is amazingly
diverse, consisting of folk art, abstract
and conceptual pieces, as well as
representational work. The individual
works include quilts and Catawba
pottery, photographs and etchings,
paintings and sculptures, drawings
and batiks.
“We tried to be sensitive to what
would be happening in each area,” says
Sloan regarding the placement of each
piece. “For a number of the areas, we’ve
chosen work that is vibrant and colorful,
something that is joyful, particularly
in the surgery waiting rooms.” In that
context, one of the most remarkable
installations is Jocelyn Chateauvert’s
lily clouds, more than 130 of which
are suspended from the ceiling in the
hospital’s nondenominational chapel.
Several artists whose work is included
in this permanent collection are directly
connected with the College. For example,
adjunct instructor Erik Johnson of the
studio art department produced several
whimsical iron sculptures and the
aforementioned Akinjobi, who works
with the physical plant’s staff, wove 30
sweetgrass baskets for the collection.
Johnson’s artwork adorns the dining
facility while Akinjobi’s baskets can be
found all around the building.
And that’s really the point, suggests
Sloan. “Wherever you are in this hospital,
even if you’re being wheeled down the
hall on a gurney, you’re in the presence
of art.”
Check out these art pieces, including
those from alums Julia Smith Cart ’87,
Townsend Davidson ’01, Kristi Ryba ’88
and Manning Williams ’63, online at
http://artwork.musc.edu.
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A New Starter Home for Real Estate
When it comes to real estate,
the three most important words are
“location, location, location.” When it
comes to studying about the world of real
estate in South Carolina, the three most
important words are now “College
of Charleston.”
The College recently established the
Carter Center for Real Estate as part of
the School of Business and Economics.
Interim Director and Assistant Professor
of Finance Jon Wiley says this program is
designed to equip students with the skills
and experience necessary to analyze a
broad spectrum of issues related to real
estate development.
“Charleston is a very unique laboratory
for examining issues in real estate,”
he notes.
The program will give students
a true understanding of the many
interrelated factors that affect success
in the real estate industry, from finance
and appraisal to planning as well as
Faculty Fact
• Each spring, the College recognizes
outstanding faculty members in the
areas of teaching, research, service
and advising. Here are this year’s
class of winners: Distinguished
Teaching Award: Brad Huber
(professor of anthropology);
Distinguished Research Award:
George Dickinson (professor of
sociology); Distinguished Service
Award: Hugh Wilder (professor of
philosophy); Distinguished Advising
Award: Carol Ann Davis (associate
professor of English) and
Brenda Sanders (senior instructor
of sociology); Distinguished
Teacher/Scholar Award: Angela
Halfacre (associate professor of
political science).
• There will be a few more minds
turning their thoughts with renewed
enthusiasm to long-overdue beach
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environmentally and culturally sensitive
land use.
Wiley stresses this new real estate
program will incorporate other areas of
study at the school, such as economics,
entrepreneurship, urban planning and
architectural design. “This concentration
and the liberal arts education at the
College will broaden the real estate base
of our students.”
So far, the new program has been well
received. Atlanta real estate developer
Ben Carter pledged $1.5 million dollars to
establish the Carter Center for Real Estate
at the College. Charleston-area businesses
have also made substantial monetary
contributions to the new program.
Students are also sold on the idea of
the new program. Last year, the College
developed a student real estate club.
As soon as it was approved, 85 students
signed up.
It’s safe to say that the interest rate in
this program is up.
ids
reading, relaxation and other
hobbies this summer. Accounting
for nearly 400 years of combined
service to the College, 15 faculty
members retired at the end of
this spring semester. They are
Alpha Bah (history), Jack Bass
(humanities and social sciences),
Talaat Elshazly (accounting), Robert
Fowler (foundations, secondary and
special education), William Gudger
(music), Ann Harper (mathematics),
Bishop Hunt (English), Caroline Hunt
(English), Wayne Jordan (history),
Charles Kaiser (psychology), Mike
Katuna (geology), Peter McCandless
(history), Mick Norton (mathematics),
Faye Steuer (psychology), Sue Turner
(Hispanic studies) and Janice Wright
(Hispanic studies).
• The Graduate School begins a
new chapter of leadership. Amy
Thompson McCandless (pictured
here), who had been serving as
interim dean, has officially taken
over the reins as the new dean of
the College’s graduate program. She
has worked at the College for more
than 30 years – first as an editor of
South Atlantic Urban Studies, then
as a faculty member teaching U.S.
women’s and British history, and
then as associate provost before
assuming her current role as dean of
the Graduate School and associate
provost for research.
LIFE ACADEMIC
Learning the World Over
Every year, the U.S. government
sends 800 distinguished scholars and
professionals to more than 140 countries
for its prestigious Fulbright Scholar
Program. This year, the program selected
three College faculty members to be
Fulbright Scholars, giving them the
opportunity to lecture and conduct
research in their respective academic
fields. Here’s a little glimpse into
their experiences.
Thiruvananthapuram, india
With its states’ boundaries corresponding
roughly to whichever one of the 22
government-recognized languages
happen to be spoken there, India can
be a linguistically challenging country
to travel – especially when trying to
understand road signs that may be
written in Malayalam script one minute
and Tamil script the next.
It’s just one of the things that Mary
Beth Heston, associate professor of art
history, grew accustomed to while she
was in Thiruvananthapuram, India, on
her Fulbright Scholar grant from June
2007 to January 2008. Besides working on
her research project – titled “The Book of
War: A Commentary on Kingship in the
Ramayana Murals, Mattancheri Palace”
– while she was there, Heston overcame
the linguistic barriers and enjoyed some
of her favorite south India cuisine, like
iddly and appam.
| (l to r) Jack DiTullio (biology),
Mary Beth Heston (art history) and
Joyce Barrett (communication) |
Naples, Italy
If you live near Mt. Vesuvius, chances
are the Italian government has offered
you money to pack up and move. And,
while you like the idea of living in an area
that isn’t in immediate danger of being
overcome by the lava of a major volcanic
eruption, chances are you turned down
the offer because it wasn’t enough to buy
a comparable house elsewhere.
The Italian government, however,
hasn’t offered Jack DiTullio, professor
of biology, any monetary incentives for
moving since he arrived in Naples on his
Fulbright Scholarship last December.
DiTullio is working at the Stazione
Zoologica (Zoological Station of Naples),
about six miles from Mt. Vesuvius. When
he’s not researching the effects of light
and temperature on biogenic sulfur
compounds and mycosporine amino
acid production in Phaeocystis antarctia,
DiTullio is enjoying Napolitano pizza, a
traditional treat that incorporates the
region’s long-established expertise on the
wood-fired brick oven, delicious homegrown tomatoes, local olive oil and worldrenowned Buffalo mozzarella. It’s no
wonder people don’t want to leave.
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Victoria’s Secret goes to Burkina Faso
to explore the possibility of using
the country’s organic cotton in its
lingerie. The French cosmetics company
L’Occitane goes to Burkina Faso to
get shea butter from the country’s
shea trees. Joyce Barrett, an adjunct
faculty member in the communication
department, traveled to Burkina Faso as
a Fulbright Fellow to work with students
in the Department of Journalism at the
University of Ouagadougou.
In addition to working with the
journalism students, Barrett – now a twotime Fulbright Fellow – spent the month
of March speaking about government
communication in crisis situations,
training senior communication directors
within the Burkina Faso government
and collaborating with Burkina Faso
journalists on media ethics and
international standards of fair, accurate
and balanced reporting.
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The Committed Class
Violent. Dangerous. Unpredictable.
That’s how many people would describe
prison inmates. But not Heath Hoffmann
or his students who join him in prison
for class.
“Inmates are not what is narrowly
portrayed in media on shows like HBO’s
Oz and MSNBC’s Lockup,” Hoffmann
says. “Interacting with these inmates
will probably change the students’
perceptions about criminals.”
For the past semester, Hoffmann, an
assistant professor of sociology, has
been teaching a sociology class inside
prison at the Coastal Pre-Release Center
in Charleston County. Starting in the fall,
he’ll bring freshman students with him
in the First Year Seminar “Altered States:
The Culture of Alcohol and Drug Use
in America.” The college students and
inmates will work together on a project
looking at the themes and messages
related to alcohol and drug use.
“These college students will likely
have grown up in a much different
environment than the inmates – one in
which they weren’t afraid of being shot
every day or being exposed to drug buys,”
Hoffmann notes. “I think the opportunity
for interaction will be much more
educational than seeing something
on TV.”
So, how would Hoffmann describe his
inmate students? “They are more similar
to many of us not in prison than they are
different. In three words? Eager. Hopeful.
Committed.”
Anything but Ordinary
It’s unexceptional, commonplace
and downright dull.
Ordinary life is nothing to write home
about – unless you’re Anthony Varallo,
assistant professor of English. He turned
ordinary into extraordinary to win the
prestigious 2008 Drue Heinz Literature
Prize for Out Loud, his second collection
of short stories.
Best-selling author and competition
judge Scott Turow said that “the stories in
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Out Loud are just awfully damn good.”
Varallo infuses feeling into ordinary
life events like walking through your
neighborhood or getting ready for a high
school football game.
“I write for the readers, envisioning
them getting involved in the story,” Varallo
says. “Disappointment, loss and longing
appear in the periphery of these stories,
but each is essentially hopeful, rendered
with a light touch of humor and grace.”
The Drue Heinz Literature Prize
has been awarded for more than 25
years and is a major American literary
award for short fiction. Out Loud
was chosen from a field of nearly
300 entries and will be published
this fall by the University of
Pittsburgh Press.
“I feel honored to be part of such an
amazing tradition,” Varallo says.
He now plans to take everyday life
to the pages of a novel – starting a
new chapter in a writing career that is
anything but ordinary.
LIFE ACADEMIC
Inside the Academic Mind: Dinesh Sarvate
Known for his sense of humor, charming Indian
accent and his ability to take a student’s “math-phobia” and
turn it into “math-philia,” Professor Dinesh Sarvate has been
teaching mathematics at the College since 1988. He took a
few minutes to answer some of our most pressing questions.
Where did you grow up? You assume I’m grown up! But
seriously, I was born and raised by my maternal grandfather
in India. I think my maternal grandmother and he were my
first real teachers. He loved mathematics, and she had a great
value system. I could receive only part of both.
You definitely have some miles on your CV –
undergraduate years at Indore University (India)
and graduate work at Kurukshetra University
(India) and Sydney University (Australia). How did
you end up at the College? My first job after my PhD
work was in Papua New Guinea. Professor Herb Silverman in
the Department of Mathematics came to visit the university
where I was working. He suggested that I should apply to the
College … and I did … and I’m here.
What music do you listen to while you grade
papers? I cannot enjoy music when I’m cursing.
What is your favorite breakfast cereal? No cereal:
aloo paratha (bread stuffed with spicy potatoes).
What’s your favorite math formula? (a + b)2 = a2 +
b2 – It’s exactly the same as what many students believe in and
I use it, when it’s right.
Chalkboard, whiteboard or overhead projector?
Overhead projector: I can beam it on a sleeping student.
What class do you enjoy teaching the most?
I enjoy teaching discrete mathematics. Computer science
students take it, and I usually get a student to do research with
me from that class or a couple of students who solve some
problems for math journals.
Who is your math hero or heroine? Nal Raja (King
Nala). He was the first person I heard about who developed
counting techniques. He had methods to count even the
number of leaves on a tree. However, no proof exists that he
ever lived.
“Inside the Academic Mind” is a recurring feature in each issue
of the magazine, and we need your input. For the fall issue,
we will sit down with Chris Lamb, professor of communication
and expert on the art of the political comeback and putdown.
E-mail a question you would like us to pose to Professor Lamb
at magazine@cofc.edu.
SU MM E R 2 0 0 8 |
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MAKING the GRADE
A Concert with a Cause
Adorned in a most respectable
pinstriped blouse – indicative of the
appreciation, love and pride she carried
that evening – sat Andrew Walker’s
mother: a survivor, a muse, a woman
whose near-fatal brush with breast
cancer inspired her son to pursue a
dream that evolved into a charity concert
paying tribute to the creative genius of
Radiohead, a pioneering British
rock band.
| (l to r) Julia Harlow (music department),
Lee Marchbanks ’09, Jessie DeMare ’10,
Andrew Walker ’08 and Lonnie Root ’09 |
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14
Senior Walker and junior Lee Marchbanks
began working on their concert idea,
called Fitter Happier, early in the winter
– carefully studying, dissecting and
recreating the band’s highly complex
music. The music majors’ intention: to
arrange a montage of instrumental pieces
for a small troupe of chamber musicians
in order to raise money for the Charleston
Breast Center.
After countless late nights around the
piano, scribbling fervently on musical
staff paper, pouring through recording
after recording, groping through their
imaginations in attempts to capture
Radiohead’s elusive melodies, Walker
and Marchbanks finally finished the
easy part of their toils. Their next task
was to organize a concert in which they
could present their creation, with several
features in mind.
The previous year, the duo had
pulled off a similar feat – of lesser
ambition – and performed a showcase
of Radiohead’s music. Their concert
unexpectedly flooded the modest Simons
Recital Hall with hundreds of devoted
Radiohead fans, exceeding legal capacity
by more than 150. To avoid this debacle
again, they chose a more appropriate
and larger venue, the College’s historic
Sottile Theatre.
Making the Grade
The other improvement they wanted
to make was to involve other students.
According to Walker, “Life is all about
putting positive energy out into the world;
when you live your life this way, you’ll be
amazed by how much it reciprocates, in
every way.”
It was with this pure, channeled
deliberation that these two students
managed to draw support from nearly
all of the departments of the School of
the Arts. One by one, students saw Fitter
Happier as an opportunity to unite, and
signed on to contribute to the cause with
their unique mediums of expression.
The Arts Management Program was
charged with promoting and marketing
the event. The studio art department
provided five students who painted, during
the concert, to the music and auctioned
off their pieces immediately afterward.
The theatre department handled the
lighting and technical aspects of the show.
The student-run a cappella group, the
Chucktown Trippintones, adjusted their
busy schedules to add a choral element to
the performance. And, of course, a number
of music students – held together by Julia
Harlow, one of the evening’s conductors
and an adjunct faculty member – gave life
to the music that Walker and Marchbanks
worked so passionately to prepare.
The concert Fitter Happier stood out
Service with a Smile
Much more.
“There’s a lot we could do if everyone
could commit to one cause,” says Harper,
whose own causes seem to number in
double digits and counting.
The senior communication major
with a minor in Spanish is an activist
| Photo by Alice Keeny ’04 |
Her smile alone – radiant,
infectious, life-affirming – would have
made her a suitable candidate for the
Conrad Festa Humanitarian Award, given
each year to a student who reaches out
to the greater community. But Jamilla
Harper is more than just a pretty smile.
as a symbol of unification, a paradigm
of collaboration and an explosion
of imagination and creativity. More
importantly, it was a night of inspired
charity and a night that undeniably rocked
both the city and the College.
– Sam Fleming ’10
par excellence and has been an
ubiquitous influence around campus
and in Charleston. Harper serves as an
intern at Metanoia Freedom School,
works as a tutor in the after-school
program at St. Mathews Community
Outreach Center and is a counselor in
the College’s SPECTRA program. She is
also the president of the Student Union
for Multicultural Affairs, a participant
in Leadership CofC and the recipient of
numerous awards, including the Ketner
Emerging Woman Leader Scholarship,
the College’s 2005 New Student Leader
Award and the College’s 2005–06 student
employee of the year. Last fall, she played
a key role in organizing the student trip
to Jena, La., as well as traveled to Kenya in
December on a service-learning trip (see
page 24 for more about the trip). And as
the presidential election draws near, she
is also involved with voter registration
through Charleston’s NAACP chapter.
Now add award-winning humanitarian
to an already lengthy résumé, and that’s
certainly something to smile about.
SU M M E R 2 0 0 8 |
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|
Dancing the Night (and a Good Part of the Day) Away
For a number of students this
winter, dancing was more than just good
fun, it was a great way to give back.
Approximately 300 students descended
on the John Kresse Arena for the second
annual Dance Marathon and shook their
moneymaker to raise money for the
Medical University of South Carolina’s
Science Fiction to Science Fact
| Photo by Alice Keeny ’04 |
Childhood aspirations and dreams
often shape who we are and what we
become. Some dream of cheering crowds
as they slide into home plate, others
imagine themselves saving lives or writing
a bestseller. For senior Alexander Endert,
a computer science major and research
assistant for the robotics research
program, the beginning of his lifelong
interest began more innocuously: “When
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16
I was little and playing with Legos,” he
notes, “I was fascinated with getting a
machine to do things for you.”
In May 2007, Endert, along with Isaac
Green, assistant professor of computer
science, began research on autonomous
robots: machines that can navigate and
map their way around a region without
any interaction from humans. This project
has great potential both for artificial
Children’s Hospital. Students in the Higdon
Student Leadership Center organized the
event, which raised $42,000 – double the
amount from last year.
intelligence and advanced mapping of
regions currently inaccessible to humans.
“The robot is controlled through a
single-board computer running a small
footprint linux build,” Endert explains.
“The testing we have conducted has been
in a controlled indoor environment,
such as the hallways of the J.C. Long
Building. So far, we are pleased with our
results, as well as our progress, and I feel
the project will continue even after
I graduate.”
For Endert, this is just the beginning.
Even as he lays the foundation for future
students to continue his research, he’s
preparing for graduate work at Virginia
Tech this fall. There, he will continue his
work in robotics by helping the school’s
DARPA Urban Challenge Team. The
Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency, or DARPA – the Department of
Defense’s research branch – has asked
teams across the country to create a
robot that can autonomously navigate
urban environments.
“Working on a project funded by
the Department of Defense and at a
prestigious graduate program,” Endert
laughs, “not too bad for a kid who got his
start playing with Legos.”
– Nick Porter ’07
Making the Grade
It All Adds Up
It started off as a simple class
project. During the start of the spring
semester, the students in Assistant
Professor Amy Langville’s Math 452 class
were assigned a project to apply math to
a real-world problem.
Self-described basketball fans Neil
Goodson and Colin Stephenson decided
they would go a different path than their
fellow classmates, and came up with
a mathematics project that would be
sports related. Since the NCAA basketball
tournament was about to begin, these
seniors decided to focus their energies
at coming up with a mathematical
formula to rank the teams playing in the
tournament and ultimately predict the
winner of the championship.
The two “bracketologists” developed
several extremely complex algorithms
that accounted for more than 5,000
regular season and conference title
games for most of the NCAA men’s
basketball teams. Accounting for upsets
and other factors of the game, the two
filled out their brackets and, like millions
of other Americans, waited to see if their
picks would be correct.
Word of their mathematical formula
leaked out and soon they received a call
from National Public Radio. In an interview
with reporter Robert Siegel, Goodson
told the NPR audience that, according
to the formula, one of the upsets in the
first round of the tournament would be
11th-seed Kansas State beating 6th-seed
Southern California. That evening, the
prediction came true.
Days later, Goodson and Stephenson
did a live segment on CBS’s The Early
Show talking about the mathematical
predictions.
As the tournament progressed, they
noticed that their Final Four predictions
were coming true: Kansas, North Carolina,
Memphis and UCLA.
Right, right, right and right.
Ultimately, their mathematical
formula picked Kansas to beat Memphis
in the final game to win the national
championship.
Right again.
Goodson says he was a little bit
surprised by all of the publicity he
received concerning the math formula.
“On the other hand, there’s nothing like
sports to get people excited about math,”
he says with a smile.
SU M M E R 2 0 0 8 |
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|
The Great Debater
Don Bailey is a regular college kid.
He wears Chuck Taylors and T-shirts,
spends afternoons in the library doing
homework and sunny days long boarding
at Folly Beach. But, while Bailey may be
just another college freshman, he’s one
you never want to argue with.
Bailey recently won the Lincoln-Douglas
debate at an Ohio State University forensic
tournament. He defeated Ohio State
and Otterbein College students to set an
undefeated record for the preliminary
round, won the final round with a 3.0
and was recognized as the first-place
speaker overall.
“Debating is not a natural talent, but
a learned talent,” observes Bailey, who
began working on his “talent” the first year
he attended Mauldin High School in the
Upstate. As a freshman, Bailey didn’t know
what he was good at. All he knew was that
he didn’t want to take a computer class.
“It was way too boring,” he says, “so I
dropped it, and my mom made me register
for debate.”
Knowing better than to argue with his
mother, Bailey began learning how to
argue. And he found out that he wasn’t so
bad at it.
He joined the Mauldin Speech and
Debate team, and – with the help of Kerry
Cottingham – qualified as a tournament
semi-finalist his freshman year. “She made
the team good,” Bailey says matter of
factly. “My first year we had only eight
members, and when I graduated we had
more than 60. It was all because of her.”
During Bailey’s high school career, Mauldin
Homecoming and a Home
Homecoming was better than ever
this year, especially for the Nelsons.
That’s because, when it was all said and
done, this family of five actually had a
house to come home to.
As part of the Cougar Spirit Initiative,
2,000 students, staff and faculty pooled
their carpentry skills and their altruism
to construct a three-bedroom Habitat for
Humanity house for the family. But the
two-week Blitz Build wasn’t just about the
Nelsons; it was also about strengthening
the Charleston community and expanding
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18
the College’s connection
to the city. “The Blitz Build
embodies the values that make
the College special – a sense
of social responsibility and
the desire to work with our
neighbors to improve the city
that we live in,” says Whitney
Hinds, president of the Student
Government Association.
“This project makes me truly
proud to be a College of
Charleston student.”
reigned as the state’s speech and debate
champions.
He received a full scholarship from
Western Kentucky University and
an invitation to join their nationally
recognized debate team. Bailey attended
one semester there, but decided to transfer
to the College this past spring. “Western
Kentucky has the number-one debate
team in the nation,” Bailey explains, “but I
needed a school that offered more.”
Realizing sunny, urban College of
Charleston was more of his ideal college
environment, Bailey contacted the
Department of Communication to inquire
about debating. He talked to three-time
former national debate champion Brian
McGee (chair of the department), who
encouraged him to try out for the team.
And, the progress he’s made since he’s
arrived, Bailey attributes, once again, to the
talent of his mentor.
“I made it to the final rounds in one
tournament after only three weeks of
working with Professor McGee,” he says.
“I honestly think he’s more in tuned to
teaching debate than any other forensic
professor out there.”
Not yet ready to declare a major, Bailey
intends to use what he does know in the
future. And, he knows that you can’t get
where you’re going unless someone shows
you how to get there. Bailey plans to spend
the summer coaching high school students
at a debate camp in his hometown.
Because, essentially, all it really takes is a
good mentor, every now and then, to shine
a spotlight on developing talents.
And you can’t argue with that.
– Melanie Caduhada ’09
Making the Grade
Time Stamp: The STudent Lens
We asked freshman studio art
major Lindsay Rogerson to take
her camera and snap a few
photographs around campus.
She went out on a rainy spring
day and captured some of the
College’s uncommon beauty:
looking out from Marcia Kelly
McAlister Residence Hall on
St. Philip Street, a close-up
of the Cougar statue on
Cougar Mall, the Stern Student
Gardens and the rain-soaked
herringbone bricks on
College Way.
SU MM E R 2 0 0 8 |
19
|
| Photos by Leslie McKellar |
TEAMWORK
A New Home-Court Advantage
As you enter the carolina first
Center, the sounds of construction can be
deafening. But to Athletics Director Joe
Hull, the constant hammering, whirring
and buzzing are simply music to the ears.
As Hull knows, the current cacophony
is just a prelude of the greater noise to
come. In a few short months, this place
is going to be echoing with the raucous
cheers and screams of the Cougar faithful.
“Our new home for athletics is coming
together quite nicely,” observes Hull,
as he stands on the unfinished court
wearing a white hard hat plastered with
Cougar stickers.
“Think entertainment park meets
cathedral,” Hull smiles. “Then, you’ll have a
better idea of the Carolina First Center.”
the SPORTSTICKER |
And Hull’s right. There is an
unmistakable grandeur to this place.
There’s a feeling of size and scope that
the old arena never had – and couldn’t
due to its space limitations between
George Street and the old tennis courts.
For fans, this new arena will
revolutionize the way they experience
Cougar athletics. Forget the lower back
pain you started feeling in the second half
while leaning forward in the old bleacherstyle seats. The new arena has 5,000 seats
with chairbacks – with the exception
of the student section. And forget the
long lines for concessions and bathroom
breaks. In the Carolina First Center, there
will be four women’s and four men’s
restrooms and four concession stands
on the concourse level – a 400 percent
increase over the old arena.
Perhaps one of the most impressive
features for some fans will be the new
3,500-square-foot hospitality suite on
the upper level, with its outdoor terrace
and view of the Cooper River and
Ravenel Bridge.
“Obviously, we took great pains in
assessing our fans’ needs,” Hull says,
“but we also put a great deal of emphasis
into the student-athlete experience. And
this is going to make a big difference in
our recruiting.”
There are the little details, Hull points
out, such as the men’s locker room having
8-foot doors to accommodate those
basketball recruits who have spent their
The men’s swimming and diving team won the inaugural Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association Championship. + Head coach
Bruce Zimmerman earned Men’s Swimming Coach-of-the-Year honors and Marc Herbert was named Men’s Most Outstanding
Freshman Performer. + Junior guard/forward Jill Furstenburg earned All-SoCon second team honors in women’s basketball. + Freshman guard Tonia Gerty earned a spot on the
SoCon’s All-Freshman Team. • Former Cougar goalkeeper Corbin Waller ’07 signed with Major League Soccer’s two-time defending champion Houston Dynamo. + Freshman soccer
standout Justin Fojo participated with the Trinidad and Tobago National Senior Team in a friendly match against El Salvador in March. + Freshman track-and-field runners Isabel
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TEAMWORK
lives ducking when entering and leaving
a room. “It’s a small thing that can go a
long way in making recruits feel that
the College understands them and
welcomes them.”
Walking into a cavernous, bare room on
the arena level, Hull paints a picture of a
much-improved and much-enlarged sports
medicine area, with exam rooms, taping
area, offices and a hydro room. “It will have
a hydro-track and deep-water plunge,” he
notes, “both of which are cutting-edge
rehabilitation and training devices that
will decrease the injury recovery times for
our student-athletes.”
But the arena is more than just a
sports palace devoted to the physical
needs of players. It also addresses the
“student” aspect of a student-athlete.
On the arena level, there is an academic
support area, with a classroom, individual
study rooms, a meeting room and offices
for academic advisors. “We are here to
graduate student-athletes,” Hull says,
“and to give them an opportunity to grow
and learn how to be the best people they
can possibly be – and academics plays a
critical part.”
The dust settles around Hull as he
stands before a glassed entrance. Looking
down the alleyway leading to George
Street, where throngs of students will
come into the building on game days,
Hull moves his thoughts from the new to
the old. “After we finish here, we turn our
attention to the Johnson Center.”
The F. Mitchell Johnson Center is getting
more than just a facelift – it’s getting a
full gamut of reconstructive surgery. The
new and improved Johnson Center will
have a varsity practice court, an exercise
deck, stadium-style classrooms made
from the former southside stands,
racquetball courts and a strength and
weight-training room.
“Just as the Addlestone Library enhanced
our students’ academic opportunities
and raised the bar of what to expect on
campus,” Hull says proudly, sweeping his
hand to signify the massive construction
site in front of him, “the Carolina First
Center and the planned renovations to
the Johnson Center will move the College
forward. And it’s going to change the way
you look at the Cougars.”
Boersma and Brynne Johnson set a new school record in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.98 at the Western Carolina Invitational. + The equestrian team claimed its
fourth straight IHSA Zone 5 championship and its 21st title in the last 25 years overall at the Zone Finals in Sewanee, Tenn. + Sophomore tennis player Anna Lee Evans earned
All-SoCon second team honors at No. 5 singles. Evans and senior Chelsea Albertz were named to the league’s All-Conference squad at No. 3 doubles. + Women’s tennis coach
Angelo Anastopoulo reached a milestone in his career this season – 300 wins. Anastopoulo has a 472-194 overall coaching record that includes a 172-79 mark as the school’s
men’s coach for 10 seasons (1992–2001). + Junior tennis player Omer Abramovich was named first team All-SoCon in men’s singles play. Abramovich and sophomore Steven
SU M M E R 2 0 0 8 |
21
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Doing Just Swimmingly
It’s the Coastal Collegiate Swimming
Association Conference Championships
and one can feel the nerves and adrenaline
filling the humid aquatic center.
It’s a tradition that the number-one
seed in the race chooses the song to
which the heat makes its entrance. The
men walk out of the locker room with
their shoulders back and heads up.
Intensity is etched in their faces. The
tension mounts, when suddenly Shania
Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like a Woman”
blares through the loudspeakers. The
competitors look from one to another
– some laughing, others confused. And
then at once, they realize who has picked
this song – Randy Buchanan.
the SPORTSTICKER |
This selection of music is not unusual
for the 6'1" sophomore swimmer. The
Charleston native is actually notorious
for picking this type of music. “I don’t
get nervous,” Buchanan says. “So I try to
choose music that makes everyone laugh
and lightens up the mood.”
Perhaps Buchanan’s success in the
swimming pool has something to do with
his lack of nerves. In this past season,
Buchanan has broken four individual
school records in the 200-yard IM,
400-yard IM, 100-yard breaststroke and
200-yard breaststroke. In addition he
broke four conference records, helped
his team win their first-ever conference
championship and was named CCSA
Swimmer of the Week on three
separate occasions.
But Buchanan’s swimming success
did not start in college; it began at the
age of 7, when he decided to take up the
sport to be like his big brother and fellow
Cougar teammate, Bucky.
“He swam, so I swam,” Buchanan
observes. “I just wanted to be like my
big brother.”
By the time Buchanan was 10, he
was ranked nationally and had the
14th-fastest time in the 200-meter IM
in the country for all 10-year-olds. He
participated in club swimming in Mt.
Pleasant and swam for Wando High
School. When it came time to start
looking at colleges, Buchanan was
recruited by many of the top ACC
schools, such as Virginia Tech, Florida
State, Clemson and North Carolina
State. But the family-oriented Buchanan
decided that the College was the place
for him.
“This was a better fit for me,” Buchanan
says. “I like the campus, being close to
home and swimming on the same team
as my brother. My parents come to all of
my meets and I can go home to eat and
do my laundry whenever I want.”
Buchanan has found out that
swimming at the College is not an easy
task. His days normally begin at 5:30 a.m.
with a two-hour practice, followed by a
grueling academic schedule of business
administration classes, then time spent
studying in the library, and then another
two-hour practice followed by an hour of
weights and conditioning.
Though this schedule becomes a little
less strenuous during the off-season,
Buchanan does not take much time off
to relax. Next up on his agenda: spending
the summer training so he can go to the
Olympic Trial Cup in Nebraska.
“The two fastest swimmers in each
event qualify to go to the Olympics,”
Buchanan explains. “It’s always worth
a shot.”
So this year’s Olympic hopefuls
should get ready for some interesting
song selections.
– Amanda Becker ’08
Myers earned first team All-SoCon honors in doubles competition. + Sophomore Harrison Moore earned All-Conference
honors at this year’s men’s golf SoCon Championship, where the Cougars finished second. + Former Cougar standouts Lee
Curtis ’05 (infielder) and Sam Moore (closer) were inducted into the College’s Baseball Wall of Fame, located on the left field fence at Patriots Point Stadium. In 2002 and 2003, Curtis
earned SoCon Player of the Year as well as All-American honors. Moore played for the Cougars from 1992 to 1995 and earned Trans America Athletic Conference honors in 1992, 1994
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22
TEAMWORK
Water Before Whistle
“You wanna know my dream?”
asks freshman David Baker, leaning
forward in his chair.
An easy smile slides onto his face as he
almost whispers: “I want to coach college
basketball. Start as a graduate assistant
at Kentucky and go from there.”
Settling back into his seat, he nods his
head. “Yep. That’s what I want to do.”
Only a dream felt with that kind
of intensity could explain Baker’s
dedication to the men’s basketball team.
During the season, he’s at every team
practice. He makes each team meeting.
All his weekends are consumed with
games, both home and away. He never
misses. He’s in the gym or on the court
seven days a week, five or six hours a day.
Yet, Baker doesn’t wear a Cougar
jersey. You won’t see him warming up
with jump shots before a game. His face
isn’t the one smiling on the evening
news after a big win next to Coach
Bobby Cremins.
Actually, unless you’re an insider with
Cougar athletics, you probably don’t even
know that Baker exists. But the team and
coaches certainly do.
Baker may not be running layups, but
he keeps basketballs available so the
team can. His face may not be on the
news, but he’s at each practice helping
the team prepare for that big win, doing
whatever the coaches ask of him.
He is, by definition, the equipment
manager. However, when you ask him, his
position is more than that. He’s part of a
mutual relationship that will help make
his dreams come true.
For Baker, the College’s basketball
staff are his mentors. Watching them
carefully, cataloguing their ideas and
conversations, he considers himself lucky
to be learning the ropes of his dream
job. He takes note of how team meetings
are held and how coaches handle
certain situations, getting more out of
his experience with the basketball team
than the folded towels and filled water
bottles they get from him. Apparently,
when basketball is your dream, you can’t
beat unfettered access to all the behindthe-scenes action.
That’s what keeps him coming back.
“It’s basketball,” he says, as if that
statement should explain completely his
sacrifice of time and energy. But to Baker,
it is that simple. There’s nowhere else
he’d rather be.
It’s often said that those who can’t
do, teach. Well, in this case, those who
can’t coach, get the water. But for Baker,
each water bottle he fills takes him one
step closer to fulfilling his dream on the
college basketball court.
– Mandy Manoski ’08
and 1995. + Former centerfielder Brett Gardner made quite a splash during this year’s spring training. The New York Times even devoted an article about his prospects to fill
the shoes of Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and Bernie Williams as the everyday Yankee centerfielder. Gardner started the season with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees
(Triple A affiliate). + The College’s women sailing team won 16 of 24 races to sweep the A and B Divisions and win the SAISA Spring Women’s Championship, held at the
J. Stewart Walker Sailing Center at Patriots Point. The win qualified the Cougars for the ICSA Women’s National Championship to be held in late May in Newport, R.I.
SU MM E R 2 0 0 8 |
23
|
POINT of VIEW
[ student ]
Project Harambee : Let’s pull together
Last fall, a group of students worked tirelessly to
raise money for Project Harambee – a facultyand student-inspired service project to build a
clinic in Kenya for orphans whose parents died
of HIV. In December, 23 students accompanied
mutindi ndunda, associate professor of foundations,
secondary and special education, on a long journey
to Africa – an emotional and amazing trip of
service and self-discovery.
by Jessica Lancia ’07 (MA)
At one point, I looked up, squinting from the hot Kenyan
sun and the sweat stinging my eyes. I saw a chain of humans,
some black, some white, some young, some old, all passing
ochre bricks rhythmically down a line as if linked in a fluid,
swinging motion.
One woman started softly singing a tune in Kikamba – a gentle
yet powerful sound that melodiously swelled as it was picked
up by the rest of the group. As it reverberated in loud, multipart harmonies into the mango trees and vegetable patches
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24
surrounding us, I had the distinctive feeling that the entire
universe was in sync. I, who am so used to separating myself from
the crowd, now found myself happily within it, a part of a whole
that made more sense than any individual experience I knew of. As
we stacked bricks along the perimeter of the foundation that was
to become a clinic for the orphans of this community, one thing
became very clear: I was enveloped by a feeling of belonging that
made no rational sense.
It hadn’t been easy to get to Mbitini, a remote village in the
heart of the Kenyan countryside. It had taken us five hours of
driving on bumpy roads from Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, over 12
hours of flying across two continents and countless hours of
planning, fundraising and meeting in Charleston. What had started
off as a dream and a small series of e-mails in the summer of
2007 had somehow – through luck, dogged perseverance and the
overwhelming generosity of friends and strangers – turned into a
$50,000 fundraising success. And now, we were headed to a place
so remote not even Kenyans (or our driver!) knew where we were
going. Though we were for all intents and purposes lost to the
world, when we crossed the boundaries of the Mbitini orphanage,
I knew I had found myself anew.
During our week in Mbitini, the 23 of us divided our days
between building the clinic and interacting with the orphans
POINT of VIEW
and the culture we had entered, and realized that the focus we
placed on time and material possessions was virtually nonexistent
in this village.
Of course, the trip was not without conflict. The stresses of a
new environment, physical exertion and lack of sleep all took their
toll on us. There was one instance where I felt myself separate
from the group. The founder of the orphanage, Esther, had told
us near the end of our stay that some of the orphans might
themselves be HIV positive because she never had a chance to
test them. This news hit everyone quite hard, as we had all grown
close to the children.
Many tears later, a few students on the trip got together and
decided that they wanted to get the children tested the next day
so that they would know the result before we left. They went
around to all the College students, and everyone reached deep
into their pockets, giving money they were saving to buy souvenirs
or food in Nairobi. They pooled together more than $300 – enough
to get all the children and administrators an HIV test and a full
physical checkup.
I stood aside, looking at the stress that Esther and the other
administrators were going through. I knew that Esther would
drop everything to please us, at whatever cost to her. I thought it
was unfair of us to pressure her into changing all her busy plans
and doing something the very next day because we wanted to
know the results. Surely the kids could get tested after we left
and we could be told the results upon our return. Thankfully,
the conflict was short lived, cured by a ranting journal entry and
my realization that because these students were so concerned,
they couldn’t think of any reason that justified their not knowing
immediately. I was, once again, touched by the caring and
generous nature of the students I came with. In retrospect, it all
turned out just fine, and, more importantly, all the children and
orphanage administrators tested negative.
I had embarked upon the project because it was a noble
cause, because I wanted to be part of the solution of eradicating
poverty and yes, because I wanted to get the hell out of South
Carolina. But in this self-proclaimed selfless endeavor, I
found myself humbled by the real nobility of those around
me – those dealing with sickness, death and hunger
on a daily basis. And as I experienced a true sense of
community, I realized that what I had given through
my presence and the funds I had raised, was
nothing compared to the lessons I had learned
from this little village. In a place where there
was sometimes not enough food to go
around, there was an abundance of joy,
of love, of happiness, that defies every
| Photos by Amberjade Taylor ’11 |
and our newfound community. We learned how to lay mortar, mix
concrete and place bricks. We managed to live without electricity,
plumbing or running water. We bathed naked by the well under
the moonlight and hiked across long distances just to overlook
the beautiful countryside. We compared the culture we came from
conception
of poverty.
The paupers,
I felt, were the
people like me and
those I’d left behind,
not because they were
attached to money or material possessions, but because so many
had guarded their trust, love and affection so closely that it was
as if they had locked it in a vault which they had forgotten how
to access. As I left Mbitini, I felt incredibly lucky to have re-found
that part of myself and determined never to let it go again.
In the spring, Project Harambee (Swahili for “Let’s pull together”)
became an officially sanctioned student group on campus,
ensuring future student involvement with the Mbitini orphanage
in Kenya. And since earning her master’s in history, Lancia has
joined the Avery Research Center on campus as an archivist.
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POINT of VIEW
[ faculty ]
Art Is Work
One artist looks inward and throughout history to
answer the all-consuming, never-ending question:
Why does art matter?
BY Cliff Peacock
Artists are translators. They are sometimes eyewitnesses.
Their work is theoretical, theosophical, empirical, speculative,
sensationalist, Populist, realist, tragic and celebrated. I don’t
happen to subscribe to any all-encompassing definition regarding
what Art is or is not.
So, perhaps my thoughts will serve as a poor guide to those
who question why artists commit themselves to an unprofitable
profession. I don’t presume this is how people feel. The subject
has come up. Art is habitually confused with entertainment and
promulgation. If the reader happens to be someone who thinks
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Art is a racket, I ask this question: What does the world look like?
Everyone has seen a sunset, the stars, possibly a garden and
an advertisement. Twenty-five thousand years ago man crawled
into caves to mediate the world he knew with ash and clay.
Fast forward to the 19th century. Eugene Delacroix paints a lion
hunt. What can we learn from these images? They are, of course,
different, but do they share a commonality of purpose? The
American painter Philip Guston maintained that man is an
image-maker and image ridden. I believe this is true. Visual
acuity is as important to our understanding of who we are as
is knowledge in math, science and philosophy. The origin of Art is
the visible world.
Art can remind us of what we sometimes forget. When I think
of the late flower paintings by Edouard Manet, executed with
peerless facility, tactility and a somber palette of infused light like
the memory of color, I remember, oh yes, this is the world as well.
This is available. The enormously talented Manet painted these as
POINT of VIEW
| Artwork by Cliff Peacock |
Art can remind us of what we sometimes forget. ... Art is an
antidote for calamity and despair, two of its more important sources.
a last statement. Art is an antidote for calamity and despair, two
of its more important sources.
Arguably, the most mysterious depiction of Christ in Western
art is found in Piero della Francesca’s Resurrection. Artists at one
time were commissioned to paint miracles. Piero presents us with
a riddle, translating height, width and depth in two dimensions.
In the image of Christ there is painted something inextricable,
something that resists interpretation. With an exigency of
emotion, Piero sternly affirms, for us, our capacity for exhilarating
awareness when true form is unexpectedly discovered. Volumes
have been written about this artist, about this painting and its
poetic power and influence on 500 years of artistic expression.
Our interest in the image is inherent.
There is a late Rembrandt self-portrait at the Frick Collection
in New York. The artist illuminates himself mysteriously in an
atmosphere without temperature. He is costumed in a gold
tunic with a red sash. The circumstances of the painter’s life
were, by then, wrenchingly diminished. The hat he wears casts a
shadow over his eyes. The light on the rest of the face is a lesson
in alchemy: paint made flesh. The eyes are a darker value than
the hat and emit a black light. This image of devastating self-
chastisement reverberates with sense, wisdom, intuition and
instinct. I’m reminded of a comment by the artist Mark Rothko to
a collector: “Now you have to pay for the folly of wanting it, as I
had to pay for the folly of making it.”
The history of Art is not a moribund tradition. Interpretations
abound in Art and this is necessary. A constant is what one man
can learn from another man’s experience. In Art, a detail of the
world can teach us volumes about ourselves, our perceptions,
about what we have lost. It can show us the trajectory of unseen,
hidden things that lie beneath the surface. Art is equation and
celestial measurement. Artists are not the painting monkeys, the
misfits, generously exploited by Hollywood writers who would
have us believe that dumb luck and emotional instability are the
catalytic reasons behind artistic glory. Inspiration is a myth. Art is
work. It can be found in museums and collections throughout the
world. It can be found in churches and mausoleums. And it can be
found on the street.
– Cliff Peacock is a professor of studio art and recipient of
numerous grants and fellowships for his art. Most recently,
he received an individual support grant from the
Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation.
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POINT of VIEW
[ alumni ]
Get in the Game
A pioneer of the College’s storied athletics program
shares her thoughts on the importance of sports
and the active life for girls.
BY Gail Townsend Bailey ’67
Growing up in Charleston in the fifties and sixties
was very different from now. The town was small and life
was very simple. My first introduction to athletics teams was
at the East Bay Playground. It was later named for Hazel Parker,
the playground director for many years. Children of all ages
frequented the playground for a variety of sports and
other activities. The competition on the playgrounds was
always intense.
I started running track at a very young age, and Hazel
Parker was my sole coach and a great mentor. She influenced
me in many ways and fueled my competitive drive. She
emphasized sportsmanship and enforced a very strict set of
rules and disciplinary policies. She instilled in me a passion for
competition, never leading me to believe that I couldn’t win. And
she strengthened my confidence and taught me about mental
toughness. I have nothing but great memories of those years.
I attended Ashley Hall, a small girls’ school in downtown
Charleston, which played a large part in making me the person I
am today. I played other sports there, but continued to run track
through the playground system. There were city, county and state
meets and the ultimate goal was to compete in AAU meets.
I was extremely competitive and success was very important to
me, but there was never any real feeling of pressure to win. After
high school, I came to the College. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a
women’s track team. But Tony Meyer ’49, the College’s athletics
director at the time, talked me into running on the newly formed
men’s track team. A lot of attention was brought to me, but
mainly because I was breaking a barrier and participating on a
men’s team.
I knew when I joined the men’s team that my success would be
limited. Boys, in general, are much stronger and faster, but I loved
track and field and I wasn’t ready to give it up. Competing against
girls was very different because I was expected to win. I actually
never lost at 100 meters until I ran against boys. I was a hardworking team member, but I never won an individual event. I did
run a leg on the medley relay that was successful.
Supposedly, I was the first female in the nation to do such a
crazy thing. Life magazine even covered one of our meets. The
boys were very cordial, but the coach probably thought I was a
distraction. I also played basketball and tennis. The intramural
program was very popular and everyone at the College played.
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It was a close-knit group, and we had a lot of fun. I feel relatively
sure that student-athletes today still have fun, but the focus is on
one sport and it’s all business. It’s virtually impossible to play more
than one sport in college today.
Coaches at all levels today feel the pressure to win to keep
from losing their jobs, and subsequently the student-athletes feel
pressure to perform at a high level. They feel that the only way to
get an edge is to concentrate on one sport at a young age and play
on club teams in addition to their school team. I see many girls
also hire private coaches.
As a parent, I always encouraged my own children to play all
of the sports that they enjoyed. My children, Jimmy and Elizabeth
’01, enjoyed many different sports growing up. Elizabeth went
on to play volleyball for four years at the College, but she would
probably say her best memories come from high school. It’s a
shame that so many young athletes today give up the fun of high
school athletics to follow a dream that usually ends in burnout,
injury or disappointment. The pressure from club coaches is too
great, and the conflict with their high school coaches can be a
real problem. What happened to the days of playing for the sheer
enjoyment? I personally feel that high school girls should and can
play more than one sport. Exposure to many sports and various
activities just broadens a person’s character.
My association with athletics has been a consistent thread in
my life. I have been involved as a physical education teacher and
a coach for 25 years. My advice to my students is to stay fit for life
by finding something that they enjoy and stay active. I would love
to be remembered as an active, fun-loving person who instilled a
sense of pride and passion for sports and fitness. I hope that I have
been and will continue to be a good role model for the girls that
I teach and coach. I was fortunate to have had a couple of good
ones when I was growing up.
I have been very lucky to have coached at a school where a
high percentage of the girls are able to participate in a number
of different sports if they so choose. In large schools, the
opportunities might be less, but I would strongly encourage girls
to find a team on which they can be a part. Teams can be like a
family. They go through a lot together and it helps build character.
Some high schools have very large track and field teams and cross
country teams because the nature of those two sports allows many
participants. Unfortunately, there isn’t a team for everyone, so it’s
important to stay healthy and fit through any means available.
I continue to run five or six days a week for my personal health.
My experiences through running and athletics have carried over
to many life situations. It has given me the stamina to continue
doing what I do: teaching. Sports have taught me how to deal
with many adverse situations. One of my favorite quotes is from
the great runner Craig Virgin: “A champion is made as much from
| Illustration by Courtney Reagor |
POINT of VIEW
Exposure to many sports and various activities just broadens a
person’s character. ... My advice ... is to stay fit for life by finding
something that [you] enjoy and stay active.
his ability to deal with adversity as it is to deal with success.”
I have repeated it many times to the girls that I have coached.
It’s so true. Competition brings out the best and the worst in
a person. It teaches cooperation, compassion, unselfishness,
flexibility and many other things. “When the going gets tough, the
tough get going.”
Competing against boys at the College on the track team is
just a faint memory of something that I did – such a small part of
my enjoyment of sports throughout my life. Basketball trips to
rival schools in the Dixie Intercollegiate Conference are a great
memory. My era saw basketball transition from three guards and
three forwards who couldn’t cross the center line, to the rover
player, and finally today’s “real basketball.” Playing tennis on
the old soft courts behind the old gym with Tony Meyer and Bob
Dickson is a great memory that only a few of us will remember
when the new basketball arena is opened this fall on that site.
Billy Silcox ’65 and I had some intense games of intramural
badminton on the stage of the old gym. Hopefully, college
students are still playing intramurals today because it gives all
people an opportunity to enjoy athletics.
I have always been curious as to how I would have fared if I had
come along with today’s standards for athletes. I might not have
had the opportunities that I did when I was growing up. I feel so
fortunate to have grown up in Charleston, a small town back then,
and to have gone to the College, an intimate setting that allowed
us to play what we enjoyed. To some people, mine might seem
to be a very sheltered, unworldly life, but I feel that it’s been very
rich in love of sport and good friends.
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The sellout crowd at the Houston Toyota
Center erupts as the last phrase “home
of the brave” fades into a blaring hiphop beat. Under dancing lights, players
on both teams break from their lines
and shake out their arms, high-five one
another and bounce anxiously on size 14+
shoes. The whole place is a madhouse
of motion, color and anticipation as the
Rockets’ mascot, Clutch, races around the
court waving wildly to a near-frenzy crowd.
A lone figure from the opposing team, head bent and hands
behind his back, stands motionless near center court. Seconds
that seem like hours pass by. As a spectator, you can’t help but
notice this eye of calm in a hurricane of excitement.
No, you can’t ignore him. Many have tried, but each time,
somehow, some way, Anthony Johnson ’97 has been able to break
through and make people take note.
*Nature and Nurture
It’s cliché but true. Anthony Johnson was born with a basketball
in his hands. Well, maybe not born with it, but on the way from
the hospital, he was definitely reaching for it, according to his father.
Even though Charles Johnson sits in a recliner with his left
foot in a therapeutic boot, he emanates an uncommon physical
presence and vigor. You would too if you had served in the Air
Force, worked more than 30 years in fire and rescue and raised
four boys. Charles had coached all of his sons in sports, and when
he didn’t, their mother, Marie, took up the clipboard and whistle.
“Whatever season, my boys had a ball in their hand,” Charles
says. “Sports kept them out of trouble.” But it was more than that.
Charles and Marie kept a strict house, a good house. It was the
type of house of which Charles could look you dead in the eye,
with perfect certainty, and say about his four sons, who shared
one bedroom, “No, my boys never fought. They knew better.” And
you believe him.
Sports and religion play a central role in the Johnson family
dynamic. They reinforce one another. The lessons the Johnson
boys learned on the playing field matched those they heard and
absorbed in Sunday school and in the sermons at Church of
Christ on Azalea Drive in North Charleston.
By the time Anthony, the youngest of the four, reached high
school, he didn’t need much instruction in the areas of respect,
duty, courage and the power of teamwork. It was all there
intertwined in his DNA.
*A Star in Waiting
You would think that a multi-sport varsity athlete might raise a
few eyebrows. And he did. As a shortstop, Johnson could backhand
a hot grounder up the middle and fire it to first with ease. As
a quarterback, he could take a snap and make the split-second
decision to sidestep the diving tackle and throw a pinpoint pass
to a receiver breaking for the end zone. And as a point guard, he
could find the weakness of the defense and thread the needle with
a skip pass for an easy layup.
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“In each sport he played, Anthony was an extension of the
coach on the field,” notes Kim Deese ’78, who had been a parttime assistant coach to the College’s John Kresse and coached
Johnson in basketball at R.B. Stall High School. “Anthony was a
natural – a good leader and his teammates respected him.”
Even though Johnson was a stellar ball handler and could see
a play two or three possessions ahead of his opponents, he didn’t
attract the type of attention from college scouts you might expect.
“I was 6'3" and weighed maybe 160 pounds,” Johnson recalls. “I looked like a little fawn running up and down the court … just gangly.”
“Anthony was a pretty scrawny kid,” Deese agrees. “Remember,
he has a late birthday, so even during his senior year, he was still
playing against kids older, stronger and bigger.”
And, there was also a fairly big hole in his game – one you
don’t find in many starting point guards. “Anthony wasn’t a great
shooter,” Deese acknowledges. “He didn’t have the nice backspin
on his shot. He pushed out and didn’t have the picture-perfect arc.
His was more function over form.”
But that didn’t stop him from winning player-of-the-year honors
his senior season. Some Division II programs expressed interest
in him, but the Division I schools – where Johnson wanted to play
– weren’t as willing to take a chance on a gawky kid that was all
arms and legs and no shot. There was a prototype at the next level
for a point guard, and Johnson didn’t fit it. Fortunately, genetics played a role in shaping one coach’s
judgment.
John Kresse, the College’s basketball coach from 1979 to 2002,
was familiar with Anthony and the Johnson family. He had known
Anthony since he was 10, when he served as the team’s ball boy
and enthusiastically followed his brother around the then-new F. Mitchell Johnson Center. Anthony’s older brother, Steven ’88,
was and is an outright Cougar legend – a smooth-scoring, gamebreaking player that elevated the program.
As Anthony approached his own college career, his brother cast
a long shadow at the College and throughout the region, one that
Anthony was not too eager to be darkened by. In many circles,
Anthony wasn’t Anthony, but simply “Stevie’s little brother.”
Thankfully, shadows aren’t permanent and names can be changed.
“I didn’t push Anthony to the College,” Deese says. “I knew he
wanted to take his own path and create his own identity. But it
seemed such a natural fit. I had been running Kresse’s offense
and defense at Stall High, so Anthony was already intimately
familiar with the pace and style of play at the College. And
with no other major scholarships looming on the horizon from
Division I schools, things just worked out.”
“My assistant Greg Marshall had seen Anthony play a game
against Burke High,” notes Kresse, “and he was very impressed
with Anthony’s ball-handling and rebounding skills. By May,
which is very late in our recruitment process, we decided to take a chance on him. Anthony had good genes, so we weren’t too worried.”
Johnson has a slightly different recollection. “I spoke to Coach
Kresse on the phone and he offered me a spot on the team. I didn’t
really think much of it when I said ‘yes’ until I saw it on the news
the next day that I had committed,” he laughs.
And with that, another Cougar legend was born.
*An Injury Makes the Man
Here our story changes. Johnson joins a team full of high-school
heroes like himself. At this level, the game is faster, the players
are bigger, the pressure is exponentially greater. And Johnson
absolutely loves it.
But success isn’t handed to him. It doesn’t come easy like it did
on the neighborhood playground or in high school. He must suffer
before he can rise up. This lesson of fighting through pain and
disappointment would resonate with him the rest of his life.
How do you respond to suffering and transform it into an
ultimate positive? Johnson’s chance to answer that question came
his sophomore year when he tore his ACL. A common injury for
many athletes, it’s one that takes an uncommon commitment to overcome.
Johnson put the work in during his rehabilitation – long hours
of stretching and weight training – and his entire body responded.
Johnson not only overcame his knee injury, he overcame his
physical limitations. Entering his junior year, the scrawny little
brother had finally grown into his frame.
And everything changed.
*From Good to Great
You could say Johnson blossomed here, but you’d be wrong. He
exploded. His game soared to new heights, and along with it, so did
the Cougars.
For Johnson, that success was by no means an accident. Before
his junior year, he told his father, “Daddy, I’m going to lead the
conference in assists.” And he did. Johnson set firm goals and
achieved them.
He worked harder than almost everyone else on the team, doing
extra reps after the regular practice and hitting the weights hard.
“Anthony was intense in his physical preparation,” Kresse notes,
“but a good point guard goes beyond that, and Anthony did. He
was and is a true student of the game. He learned from other great
players at the College, such as Marcus Woods and Marion Busby.
He did a lot of background work in figuring out other teams and
finding ways for our system to exploit their weaknesses.”
As the leader on the floor, Johnson ran the Cougar system to perfection. While not setting any records with his own point scoring, his leadership and assists made everyone around him better.
The record speaks for itself. The Cougars went 54-7 during
his junior and senior years. They captured two TAAC titles, beat
top-tier teams such as Georgia Tech, Stanford, Arizona State and
Tennessee, cracked the Top 25 rankings, went to the NIT and
NCAA Tournaments, and lost a close game to the eventual 1997
NCAA champion, Arizona. With Johnson running the point, the
Cougars put their name in bold on the college basketball national
map – as did Johnson, who earned player-of-the-year honors his
senior year.
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* The Promised Land
*
“yes, i’ve had to
pack my bags a few
times. it’s been tough.
it’s both physically
and mentally taxing.
but i have a lot of
pride in my game. i play
hard and I play well.”
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34
Sharing a room with three other sports-obsessed brothers, Johnson
understood the allure of playing at the professional level. From
his place on the bottom bunk, he would sit propped on one elbow
listening to his older brothers hold court long into the night on how
they would have made the last shot, seen the open man or taken
the foul. A young Anthony would drift off to sleep looking up at his
poster of Magic Johnson, his hero in yellow and purple, and imagine
that he was leading the Lakers to another victory.
In College, he and his roommate, Rontell Grant ’98, along with
their other teammates and friends, talked about the sporting life
all the time – between classes, during hotly contested matches of
Madden football on the Sega, while riding around town in Johnson’s
white Honda Accord with burgundy interior (his Cougar blood runs
deep) or while relaxing on the front porch of their college home at
92 Wentworth Street.
Going pro was on everyone’s mind. No matter how distant and
improbable, it was The Dream of anyone who picked up a basketball: the “horse” enthusiast, the street baller, the weekend warrior, the college player.
For Johnson, The Dream became less fantasy and more reality
the summer between his junior and senior year. “I was playing in a
basketball camp with Stephon Marbury at Georgia Tech, who was
considered the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft. I didn’t outplay him,
but I could play with him. Once I realized I could play with the ACC
guys, I thought I might have a chance – if I worked really hard.”
With that knowledge, Johnson turned up the intensity. He and
Grant spent hours upon hours in the gym. “Anthony played three
or four times a day,” Grant remembers. “He shot free throws and
practiced his jumper. He worked out. He was really putting together
the blueprint then to become a professional athlete.”
And that blueprint worked. By June the following summer,
Johnson was sitting at his brother’s home in West Ashley with
his family, teammates, coaches, friends and a local camera crew
watching the NBA draft.
It was an impressive year of talent, with players such as Tim
Duncan, Chauncy Billups and Tracy McGrady going in the first
round. Thirty-nine names were called. Thirty-nine times Johnson’s
heart fluttered. As the draft went into the second round, when? was
the unspoken question hanging over the crowd like a dark cloud.
Then, sunshine. The Sacramento Kings called his name and let loose
a flood of relief: Anthony Johnson became the first player from the
College of Charleston drafted into the NBA.
The next day, he was in California’s capital city. From the airport
to the arena, Johnson and his parents rode in a limousine for the
first time on their way to the press conference. Sitting next to
Olivier Saint-Jean (the Kings’ first-round pick), Johnson stared out
into a sea of cameras and reporters.
Anthony Johnson had arrived.
*Not Quite the Fairy Tale
That’s not the ending of our story. In fact, it’s really the beginning of
Johnson’s education.
Being drafted in the second round doesn’t guarantee you a spot
on the roster. “It was a little stressful trying to make the team that
summer during training camp,” Johnson remembers. “I was up
against Bobby Hurley, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and Terry Dehere for
the point guard spot. Fortunately, things worked out.”
OK, now, he had arrived.
The dream life Johnson had imagined was a little different in
reality. Sure, it was glamorous: the 15,000+ fans screaming night
in and night out, playing against basketball icons like Michael
Jordan, signing an autograph on your own basketball card,
watching ESPN late at night to see your best plays and touring the
country as only a professional athlete can – with every door opened
for you and few closed to you.
We can roll a highlight reel of Johnson’s years in the NBA, and it
is impressive. In the 13,664 minutes that he has run up and down
the court so far, there are steals galore, behind-the-back passes,
fingertip blocks, no-look assists, alley oop lobs, jumpers, offbalance layups and game-changing threes. There’s a two-handed
dunk he threw down over a surprised Jermaine O’Neal. And there’s the game when he dropped 40 points on the Nets in the
2006 playoffs.
But that highlight reel doesn’t really capture Johnson as an
athlete. That reel doesn’t showcase his character, his will to
compete, his stamina to overcome challenge after challenge.
No, the highlights we need are a little too complicated, one that
doesn’t quite fit our definition of “highlights.” Most fans don’t
think about what it really takes to make it at the professional level – the daily grind and nightly pressure.
“Everybody has a bad day at the office,” Johnson observes, “but
when it happens to us, we have 20,000 people watching. We play
82 games a season. You can’t be on your game every time. You can’t
make every shot, every game.”
*The Fight to Survive
Fans – most of us, at least – assume that these athletes do things
naturally. It’s just a game, isn’t it? Sure, they work out and shoot
around, but how hard is that?
Frankly, it’s really hard. It’s a non-stop fight to stay at that
high level. The highlight reel we should see would show Johnson
away from the game court and in the practice gym working
methodically to reset his physical rhythm in order to improve
his shot. See him going up and down the floor endlessly so that
his dribbling comes to him as naturally as breathing. Watch him
struggle with the weights, pushing himself to get stronger, always
stronger. We should observe him after the game – nursing his
painfully sore ankles – before he has to get on a red-eye flight to
the next city and do it all over again.
And then we need a highlight reel that shows Johnson’s ability
to respond to the challenges off the court. Show him keeping his
head up despite getting limited playing time, being cut, being
sent to the NBA Development League and being traded – after the
best game of his career, while on his honeymoon or after the birth
of his newborn son. Amazingly, his response to these challenges
is always the same: a renewed commitment to working harder
than ever.
“I try to leave everything on the floor and play my own game,”
Johnson says. “Only a small percentage of teams actually have a
chance to win a championship. Most teams, naturally, are focused
on the bottom line. All I can do is understand that this is a business
and it’s not about me.”
“It takes an extraordinary personality to do what Anthony has
done,” notes Richard Howell, Johnson’s agent. “But being traded is a
part of life in the NBA. Anthony’s played for seven teams, including
Atlanta three times and Sacramento twice. It isn’t easy having to
immediately adjust to new coaches, new players, new styles. But
Anthony has responded well each time.”
“Yes, I’ve had to pack my bags a few times,” Johnson says with
a slight sigh. “It’s been tough. It’s both physically and mentally
taxing. But I have a lot of pride in my game. I play hard and I play
well. When things are not going my way, I stay focused and wait for
my opportunity. No matter how long I sit on the bench, no matter
who the coaches put ahead of me in the lineup, when I get my
opportunity, I’m going to outplay that guy and the guy I’m going up against on the court. It’s a constant struggle, but I just try to do
my best.”
Doing his best has kept him competitive and marketable while
many other players have gone the way of the 45-second shot clock.
Johnson has done a remarkable job of molding himself into the type
of athlete that has some staying power. From his draft year, only
10 percent of the players taken in the second round are still in the
league – and only 28 percent of that entire draft class remains in the
NBA. Those that make it to this level on average play for five years;
Johnson completed his 11th this season.
“Because of Anthony’s discipline,” Howell adds, “he has done
something many other athletes haven’t. Most athletes come into
the league, do well, then level off and down. Anthony continues
to improve his skills and understanding of how the game works.
The misnomer is that Anthony’s a journeyman. He’s not. He’s an
important rotation player.”
Through it all – the whirlwind life of an NBA player – Johnson
stays grounded. You can look at his left arm and know it. In a league
where players decorate their bodies with ornate sleeves of tattoos,
Johnson keeps it simple.
“When I was in college,” Johnson says, “I drove down to Savannah
with a friend and had ‘AJ’ put on my arm. Unfortunately, I only had
20 bucks so I didn’t have enough money to ink it in. It works for me
though. I don’t need anything flashy.”
*No Flash, All Substance
This summer, Johnson heads into a free-agency market and an
uncertain future. “The league has 60 point guards,” Johnson notes.
“With salary caps and the business of basketball in general, I know
I am not guaranteed anything, but I can still play and I will. I know
there is a fit for me.”
Like many professional athletes in their 30s, Johnson is now
considering his options as his active player days come to a close in
the next few years. The business administration major has already
created a company that specializes in stained-glass doors. AJ Custom Doors (www.ajcustomdoors.com), based out of Atlanta,
came out of Johnson’s own experience in trying to customize
stained glass in his own home. His company designed and
implemented locker room doors for the Dallas Mavericks and will do
the same in the College’s new Carolina First Center.
Johnson is also interested in coaching: “I love this game. I enjoy
competition. I see myself coaching at either the pro or college level.
There, I know I can make a difference and help guys do some really
great things.”
But until then, Johnson keeps preparing for his own “great
things,” keeps pushing himself to be better. Because, as Johnson
believes, there is more to be done and championships to be won.
And more prayers to be prayed – and answered with perseverance.
SU M M E R 2 0 0 8 |
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36
Their Own Tour
of
Although the conflict is more than 30 years in the past, Vietnam still resonates in
our country’s collective memory. It’s an ambivalent place for an entire generation
of Americans – simultaneously beautiful and war-torn, dangerous and safe, so
familiar yet so distant. For a dozen College students, Vietnam is not some old
exotic battleground. It’s a place that needs help – their help.
by Alicia Lutz ’98
photos by Nancy Santos
This is turning out to be even more of an adventure than I thought it would be – I don’t
even really know where we are going or what we’re going to be doing tomorrow, but I
know it’s going to be amazing.
When sophomore Rachel Reinke wrote those words on her blog, she’d only been in
Vietnam for one day. She and the other students on the service-learning trip were still
trying to get their bearings among the intermingling smells of cooking and garbage and
the overlapping sounds of commerce and play that fill the chaotic and colorful streets of
this unfamiliar country. With hazy expectations of “amazing” adventure and making a
difference in the world, these students had no idea just how eye-opening their experience
would be.
I eventually realized that, even though I couldn’t
Help the entire country of Vietnam
I could help some people. — Rachel Reinke ’10
The trip was organized and led by visiting professor of
education Tom Murray (now at the University of Central Florida),
a Vietnam War veteran who founded Think About the Children,
an organization committed to giving Vietnamese children the
tools and skills they need for a better life. Murray’s passion for
and belief in these children inspired 12 College students to give
up 10 days of their winter break to provide food and relief to
Vietnamese orphans and families enduring typhoon flooding on
top of ongoing poverty.
“We all wanted to help, and we all knew it would be a learning
experience,” says Lauren Grant, a junior majoring in business
administration. “But when you go on a service-learning trip like
this, you really can’t anticipate what you’re going to see or how
you’re going to be affected.”
It didn’t take long, however, for the students to feel the
emotional impact
of something they
had anticipated: the
country’s prominent
poverty.
“I expected to see
it, just not to the
extent that I did,” says
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38
Reinke, an English major. “Actually seeing it was incredible. It
was like nothing I expected. It was really hard for me to get my
mind around it.”
Faced with the reality of Vietnam’s widespread destitution, the
students began to realize what they were really up against.
“At first I would wake up each morning feeling more and more
overwhelmed,” says Reinke. “But I eventually realized that, even
though I couldn’t help the entire country of Vietnam, I could help
some people. That gave me a little perspective and made it a little
easier for me to move forward.”
As Sophia Lee, a sophomore majoring in history and secondary
education, puts it, “You have to figure out what you can do –
whose lives can you touch?”
One look at the bright smiles at the orphanage that the students
visited indicates that that was the perfect place to start.
“The children were always so excited to spend time with
us,” says Lee, explaining that they spent their afternoons
providing food and
companionship to the
207 children (including
eight babies under
90 days old) at the
Duc Son orphanage,
which is operated by 20 Buddhist nuns. “They really needed some
special one-on-one attention.”
And the students were happy to give it to them. They jumped
rope with them, played tag with them, braided their hair and –
more often than not – just spent time holding them.
“The kids were just the same as any other kid,” says Grant.
“They’re no different; they just have a lot more struggle in their lives.”
It’s a theme the students found to be true not just in the
orphanage, but in the villages where they supplied food, as well.
“People are the same everywhere,” says Grant. “Just because
these people live in shacks with no windows and have no food,
they still love their families just like we do. Everyone still wants
the most for their kids.”
Lee agrees that visiting the homes of the impoverished
villagers to whom they’d supplied food just reinforced the idea
that we’re all alike.
“Yes, life is very different in Vietnam,” says Lee. “But, we
all have personalities, friendships,
relationships. We all have the same
emotions. We all tell jokes. We’re all
basically the same. We’re all people.”
Getting to know the people behind
the poverty is something the students
believe makes all the difference.
“You know about these problems – you hear them referred to in broad
terms – but this trip made it real for me,” says Lee. “Seeing the
faces of the people – that kind of gave us all a specific heart for Vietnam.”
It’s that same love for Vietnam and its people that has motivated
the Think About the Children organization to plan more servicelearning trips in the future.
“Our trip was meant to pave the way for future visits,” explains
Grant. “The people need to be able to sustain themselves – that’s
the main goal. They need to learn skills like woodworking, sewing, gardening. For them, if they can farm, they can live a good life. The possibilities are endless.”
The idea that their trip to Vietnam was just the first of many is
a comfort to all of the students.
“Knowing that I had a part in the foundation of this aid makes
me feel a lot less limited,” Reinke says. “I realize now that it’s
possible that I can make a difference in the lives of these people.”
But it’s clearly not just the Vietnamese people whose lives have
been changed: The students’ lives are different now, too.
“When you get home
and look back on it all, it’s
like, ‘Wow, that was more
than I ever bargained
for,’” Grant says. “It really
opened my eyes to myself.
And that’s the most
surprising – and the best – part.”
The path of entrepreneurship can be fraught with danger.
We have your roadmap to success.
| Illustrations by Paula Pindroh |
But don’t give up before you even begin.
He moves his hands as he
speaks. But it’s the eyes
that tell the story.
The year was 1953. Tom Hutchinson was the
quarterback on his high school football team.
It was a night just like any other. His team, the
Winthrop Training School Tigers, was losing but
not by that much. The Kershaw team seemed like
giants. As he dropped back to pass late in the
game, he didn’t see the defender behind him. In
an instant, he was thrown to the ground and his
helmet was ripped off. In the ensuing chaos, his
head was trampled by three players.
Eight days later he awoke in a hospital room.
He tried to cry out, but no sound came. He
attempted to rip the tubes from his body, but his
hands wouldn’t budge. He was paralyzed. All he
could do was lie there helplessly as doctors talked
about him like he wasn’t in the room. He was a
prisoner in his own motionless body.
“It was the worst moment of my life,” he recalls,
his deep blue eyes looking off into the distance. “I saw no hope and did not want to live in a
useless body.”
But in that dark moment came a glimmer
of light. Tom Hutchinson could still see. After
seeming hours of effort, he found he could move
his eyes. And with that, he could hope.
“I promised right then and there that if I got
through this, I would do everything in my power
to give back motion and communication to those
who had lost it.”
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THE HEALING PROCESS It took him
six weeks of intense physical therapy to move
his lower body. Hours of excruciating exertion
therapy often left him worn out and with a
pounding headache. “It was like being in a bad
automobile accident,” he explains. “More than
once I felt like giving up.”
But he never did, and slowly but surely, he
regained the full use of his arms and legs. His
fractures began to heal. His headaches subsided.
His spirits lifted.
A pain-free head meant a clear mind. He
couldn’t help but think about how during this
entire process, when every other part of his body
was failing, his eyes continued to work. “I kept
thinking about that. The ability to point the eye
and focus is the first thing to come back. It’s
what makes people survive.”
Many months later, Hutchinson walked out of the hospital with a smile and the seed of a big idea.
FA L L 2 0 0 7 |
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|
or most of us, the heart of the American Dream is that
romantic notion of being your own boss. Admit it, we all
fantasize about it – actually making a true difference at
work, shaping the decisions (right or wrong) and, in the
process, earning our rightful lion’s share of profits. And it’s
not for a lack of ideas. We see possible businesses every day,
everywhere we turn. We have the Next Big Idea in the shower, in
the car, standing in the grocery line and walking down the street.
How many times have you said to yourself, “I could do that better.”
But most of us don’t have the first clue on what it takes to make
it as an entrepreneur … the lessons we need to know to hang out
our shingle in the business world – and to keep it hanging. Well,
wonder no longer.
We talked to John Clarkin, assistant
professor of entrepreneurship and small
business management and the director of the
College’s Tate Center for Entrepreneurship,
and he has shared five lessons every
entrepreneur should know. More
importantly, we have asked some of our
entrepreneurally minded alumni to
weigh in and share some of their
experiences.
So sit up, take out your
notebook and get inspired to live
your American Dream. Class is
in session.
You must know the
difference between an
idea and an opportunity.
Not every good idea is
feasible, marketable or
within the abilities of the
entrepreneur to execute.
While it may be true
that not all good ideas
can be executed, I believe
that conviction, passion and
determination (as well as excellent
planning) can overcome many
obstacles. In my opinion, to have a good
idea and not try to make it work is a bigger
failure than actually taking a risk on a good idea
and not achieving the intended goal.
It has been said that great love and great achievements involve
great risk. If you have a good idea, I say take a risk and go for it!
Whatever the outcome, remember to learn from it – if you are truly
an entrepreneur, there will be a next time and the lessons you have
learned from each success or failure can only help you.
When I started The Charleston Chemist, I had a pretty big fear
of failure, but I’m so glad that I was able to believe in myself and
believe in my idea to break through that fear to take a risk.
– Elin Cate ’96
Owner, The Charleston Chemist
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There is a clear distinction between an idea and an opportunity.
The idea for Flash-Med.com came to me in 1994. I was in medical
school and wanted to create electronic flash cards. The evolution
of this idea into a fully functional website took plenty of time and
hard work. Financial success was not realized until 2003. The site
now serves over a million pages per month and has more than
20,000 members. Later, I developed the idea for my company,
Chart-MD, which uses Web-based technology to facilitate patientcentered care by enabling patients to have online access to their
own medical information. These sites use the same technology
that permits safe online banking. Patients and physicians
can make timelines, create therapeutic strategies, document
medication changes, communicate results and graph successes.
Not all ideas will lead to opportunities. Only
you can give life to your ideas. Opportunity
occurs only when you work hard
and pay attention to details.
Develop a list of goals and
write them down in a journal.
Document your strategies
and monitor what works.
When you experience
success, enjoy the moment.
When you experience
failure, suffer through
and keep going. Use
your imagination.
Think about your
ideas inside and
out, backward and
forward. Let your
idea consume you, but
don’t assume that your
idea will consume those
around you.
– Jim Loynes ’91
CEO, Chart-MD
Making the right
decisions in business
is tricky. It’s important
to keep a constant flow of
ideas for change and growth –
especially when you’re an owner of
a shop and a fashion designer. Some
times, there will be amazing, ridiculous,
great and bad ideas discussed and brought to
the table.
After the initial thought or idea is created, it’s important to
never disregard that idea. Always write them down, think about
them and then think about them some more.
Depending on how big or small the idea, getting feedback from
people that have made the same decision is critical. Most people
are flattered and more than willing to share life lessons and
knowledge with a new business. So, always discuss ideas with a
mentor, business partner, lawyer, friend, customer, bartender,
your dog – really anyone that will listen. You never know where the
best advice might come from.
With that being said, trial and error is also a part of recognizing
the difference between a good or bad idea. Basically, with good
advice and experience, the difference between an idea and an
opportunity becomes more apparent over time.
– Rachel Gordon ’06
Fashion Designer and Shop Owner, Gordon Hall
the Brett Favre celebrity softball game. I still have “bad days”
and work long hours, but my passion for my career is the single
biggest reason for my success. It may require a great deal of soul
searching, but find your passion.
– Gene Hallman ’82
President, Bruno Event Team
You must have passion. Entrepreneurs typically work long hours
and are committed financially and intellectually to their concept
for most of their waking hours.
I have always loved this business of marketing communications
and public relations, which at the core is about reshaping and
reforming the image of a company or organization and helping
them see their position in the marketplace and to articulate that powerfully – through verbal (messages) and visual (graphics) means. With that, we set about to influence
human behavior via a change of attitudes and opinions and
ultimately seek some action on their part (like a sale, donation,
endorsement, headline).
As my degree is in psychology (and I love to write and am
an avid news hound), this profession seems a natural for me,
and I get turned on by it every single day. It is, however, a 24/7
proposition, and you must have inordinate passion for it, wherein
you get your energy, motivation and commitment to succeed.
There is never a guarantee of business, there will always be
solid competition for clients, great people are hard to find (and
you must reward them) and there is never enough money, so it
seems, especially in the unsettling economic times of late. To be
profitable, you must be top heavy with passion, light on overhead
and love what you do, so you never lose that burning passion that
fuels the fire inside every day.
– Elizabeth Boineau ’76
Owner/Principal, E. Boineau & Company
My company, Natural Body, completes me. Well, this statement
is a little bit of an exaggeration, as I hope to happily turn over the reins one day. That day may not be too far off and my plan is
that my “glorious days” are not incomplete without the status of my company.
So, what is passion? Does it drive us to commitment and a
desire to live richer, fuller lives? Is it the force you must have
behind you to enthuse people into leaving promising careers and
to follow you into unchartered territories without the promise of
a paycheck? The answer is “yes”; without passion, there is rarely
a career worthy of bragging rights. “Build it and they will come”
only works when you have passion for the game.
I knew the success of my company would be driven by my
passion the day the loan approval arrived by snail mail in 1988.
I barely had anything for debt collateral, and a natural cosmetic
and day spa concept was not an idea known by many, especially
in the Southeast. The Small Business Administration could not
even find a category for Natural Body. The Body Shop was not in
the USA at the time and only 50 day spas were in business in the
whole country. Yet, my desire to create something so incredibly
different was so overwhelmingly obvious and infectious
that everyone, including the SBA, believed that we were onto
something that would be successful.
So, I often think about that day, and I am charged to be a part
of an industry that was not an industry when Natural Body
originated. I’m happy to impassion our team to create wellness
in everyone we are privileged to touch. After all, “if you don’t take
care of your body, where are you going to live?”
– Cici Coffee ’86
CEO, Natural Body
Upon graduation, I saw so many people passively or randomly
select their vocation. I did the same thing starting with a career
in finance at a computer manufacturing facility. On the very first day of the job, I knew I had made a mistake. However, I kept the job and tried my best to focus on being successful and
gaining experience.
After five years on the job, I read an article in Sports Illustrated
about the man who pioneered sports marketing in the early
sixties. I knew immediately that was what I wanted to do with
my career. At 30 years old, I quit my job and moved in with my
parents and began a two-year odyssey to get into the sports
marketing industry. I did not initially focus on pay or job title. I just wanted my foot in the door. I knew that my passion for the industry would lead to success and that economic rewards
would follow.
After 17 years in the business, I co-own a sports and event
marketing company that employs 60 people. Our company runs
a diverse set of sports events including the U.S. Women’s Open
(golf), SEC baseball tournament, Alabama High School Athletic
Association, AMA Superbike Championship (motorcycles) and
If there’s not 100 percent commitment to your endeavor and a
deep passion for your business, then success cannot follow. The investment of time and money into a business is crucial, as it does indeed take money to make money and time, to
generate success.
A careful life balance, however, is equally as crucial for
ensuring your business success. In my own experience, I realized
early on that I had to maintain that balance in order to be the
business owner who could relate to employees as well as clients.
My involvement in the College alumni groups, my church, my
family and my sorority was all at a time when I was building the business.
A business owner who is single-minded/one-dimensional in
his/her approach to business may be doomed to professional and
personal failure. So, passion is essential on more than just the
business level.
– Lynne Mohrmann Bernthal ’67
President, Benefit Concepts Inc.
SU M M E R 2 0 0 8 |
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|
You must have persistence. Few, if any, entrepreneurs realize
instant success. Most endure many hurdles and setbacks, yet
find ways to learn from them and overcome them along their
entrepreneurial journey.
Persistence is most important when your business suffers,
which it will do at one time or another. We experienced this in
our second year. Customers or clients who initially supported our
business began to show up less often. Business went significantly
down, and it was discouraging.
But we looked for a way to stimulate interest. Ads in the
local papers had minimal results, so we decided
to get creative with our advertising. We
published in the local paper a “thank you”
letter to the communities for supporting
our dojo through the first year. This
opened a new door for our Aikido
school. A local elementary school
contracted with us to instruct
second through fifth graders
each semester as part of their
after-school enrichment
program. Children are now
exposed to the martial art of
Aikido, learn a little Japanese
culture in the process and
may become our future
Aikido student body.
Innovative methods often
yield interesting results,
maybe even growing your
business in a previously
unplanned direction.
– Anne Hill Buchanan ’60
Co-Owner, Aikido of Try-Co-Lan
In the up-and-down world
of the entrepreneur, the phrase
“persistence pays off” is one of the
key pillars to building your foundation
for success. Becoming an entrepreneur
doesn’t just happen overnight. It’s a process
in which life experiences and circumstances
present an opportunity to achieve.
Whether it’s a long-held dream or an idea that has
been brewing for just a few years, the key to becoming an
entrepreneur is to realize that you must first crawl, walk, trot,
then run in your mission to become a success.
I compare a business journey to the game of baseball. The
entrepreneur isn’t the one that hits a homerun every time up at
bat. Rather, you must wake up every day and try to hit singles,
which will enable you to score many runs throughout the innings
of your lifetime.
– John Reger Jr. ’79
PGA Professional and President, Briefcase Golf
Editor in Chief, Makes and Models Magazine
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44
You must view entrepreneurship as a process, not an event.
Entrepreneurs continually find ways to add value to their
customers, refining and often re-defining their product or
service as market dynamics create new challenges and present
new opportunities.
When I first went into business, I believed I could open a fitness
club and the concept was so good that customers would flock to it
and the company would almost just run itself. I immediately found
this view to be verging on ridiculous.
In the service industry, if you are not
constantly listening to your customers
and staying a step ahead of your
competitor, things will unravel at
an amazing pace. Having a viable
product and executing its launch
is the easy part, as only constant
and ongoing development and
management will allow that
product to succeed and
flourish, especially in a
competitive marketplace.
At O2 Fitness, to
maintain our competitive
edge, we were the first
clubs in the nation to
include Cardio Getaways
(dimly lit rooms with
bikes, treadmills and
elliptical machines for
the modern business
person to escape the daily
grind), as well as one of
the first to incorporate
touch-screen plasmas
on all cardio machines,
built-in iPod connectors
with the ability to actually
buy music from your account
while on a treadmill (charges
iPhones as well!), and a variety of
industry-leading fitness equipment – not
to mention countless customer service and
retention modules.
While you must eventually learn to delegate certain
responsibilities so as to not overwhelm yourself and to utilize the
expertise of others, an entrepreneur’s dedication and vision are
required throughout the life cycle of his/her business.
– Michael Olander ’04
President, O2 Fitness Club
Your next big idea is an event. Turning it into something is a
leap of faith. Making it into something sustainable and profitable
can be a lifelong process.
I’m working in my third company turn-around. I haven’t been
able to change the course of any one of the three overnight. In
fact, I’m in the fourth year of my current endeavor. For the last
few years, I have been working to completely transform a 24-yearold company from a manufacturer of electronic hardware to a
developer of visual communications software. Every year, quarter
and month, we evaluate our progress against a plan.
Each plan has two basic elements – strategies and tactics. The
strategies are based on research, analysis and informed intuition
at a minimum. The tactics rely on individual execution. Both
of these elements rely on people. Whenever you have people
involved, you have to evaluate their performance and progress.
And so runs the entrepreneurial process – think, plan, execute,
evaluate and think again. It’s not like they said it would be in the
last business book you read on the beach.
– Sean Matthews ’91
President, Visix Inc.
You must begin with the end in mind. An entrepreneur’s exit
strategy should be part of the initial planning process.
There are lifestyle businesses and then there are businesses
that can change your lifestyle (and possibly
the lifestyle of your grandchildren). The
entrepreneurs I have partnered with
that have been successful in generating
substantial wealth by selling their
business have almost always started
with the end in mind.
Visualize how much
value you want to create
and what the business
needs to look like to
generate that
outcome.
Focus on
building a
business
that has
strong controls
and processes in
place that can run
without you at some
point. Hire the best talent
you can afford. Recruit a board
of directors to provide outside
accountability. Spend extra for audited financials.
If you are building a company to sell, remember
trees don’t grow to the sky. At a certain point in a company’s
life cycle, it will start to maximize on its near-term ability to
generate value. This can be driven by market conditions, access
to capital or management’s ability. Try to recognize this and exit
before you cross that line. Timing can be everything!
Also remember, you must survive before you can prosper. So don’t get too ahead of yourself and keep it simple.
– Richard Maclean ’88
Managing Partner, Frontier Capital
Most self-help business books will lead you to believe that
passion for this or for that can be willed into existence if you find
the right thing to be passionate about. I don’t think passion is ours
to control in that way. Trying to make money, keep your payroll from
bouncing and keeping your family’s economic needs met are not
existential concepts, as any struggling entrepreneur can tell you.
Don’t look for something to be passionate about. Start where you
are with something that interests you and be ready for change in all
parts of your life. Ask yourself if your important life relationships
will help support the journey and embrace the change with you.
True passion from the inside creates that type of relationship and is
the foundation for everything else.
In our case with BookSurge, Bob Holt ’81 and I started something
and just kept solving the problems in front of our face. Typically, if
you do that really well, you can create the chance for an exit. Some
days that meant really innovating the book publishing industry
and other days it was just keeping the lights on and the business
running. When Amazon.com came calling, we took a sober look and
realized there was no one better positioned to take the business
we had given birth to and integrate it at a
massive scale. There was no way we could
create a better strategy than the No. 1 online
bookseller in the world. In addition to a
core internal passion, a key to being a
successful entrepreneur is having the
ability to be dis-passionate when it
is required.
– Mitchell Davis ’93
Co-Founder,
Booksurge
While these lessons
and first-person
experiences may
not guarantee
success in
business, they
do point you
in the right
direction. “I
consider these
lessons a middle
ground between
surviving and thriving
as an entrepreneur,”
Clarkin observes. “There
are a zillion things to know about
running a successful business, as these alumni
entrepreneurs know. Some of these lessons you learn
in school, some you learn later. However, tuition costs go up
considerably as the years pass. For those lessons you learn in the
real world, you pay dearly.”
But dreamers don’t despair. For most – as our alumni
entrepreneurs reaffirmed – the American Dream isn’t realized
overnight. It takes creativity, passion, common sense, persistence
and perhaps a little luck – and if you have those things, you’ve got a
good start.
Class dismissed.
SU MM E R 2 0 0 8 |
45
|
| Photo by Jeff Amberg |
Philanthropy
The Gift of Knowledge
Norman Arnold often tells the story
of how surviving pancreatic cancer 25
years ago gave him a fresh perspective on
the nature of wealth and the importance
of giving back, but his understanding
of the necessity of community service
actually has even deeper roots.
“My father grew up a very poor kid in
a community of Eastern European Jews
in New York,” he explains. “When he died
years later, of an unexpected heart attack,
I built the Boy’s Club in Columbia in his
name. That was very important to us
because my father knew just how much of
a difference this kind of organization can
|
46
make in a young person’s life.”
Today, Norman and his wife, Gerry
Sue, are making an enormous difference
in the lives of the students in the
College’s Yaschik/Arnold Jewish Studies
Program. Their gift of $1 million is
funding a distinguished visiting chair
in Jewish studies and will pave the way
to an expanded curriculum, including
additional language offerings in Hebrew,
special seminars and a renewed push for
community support on campus.
“We’re seeing a bigger demand all
the time for the Jewish Studies Program
among both Jewish and non-Jewish
students alike,” says Gerry Sue. “We would
love to eventually see a major in Jewish
studies offered in addition to the minor.”
“One significant aspect of the
expansion is to gather historical
documents of the Jewish role in the
history of the South,” Norman adds.
“There is actually an abundance of
these documents that just needs to be
organized into archives to be accessible
to students for research.”
The Yaschik/Arnold Jewish Studies
Program, an interdisciplinary academic
program that resulted from generous
donations by Henry and Sylvia Vlosky
Yaschik and Norman and Gerry Sue
Arnold, not only offers a minor to students
but also organizes community events
and outreach for the College’s nearly 800
Jewish students.
Religious services, celebrations and
special events organized by the Jewish
Student Union / Hillel affiliate foster
a sense of community and also build
bridges of understanding between
the diverse cultures represented
across campus.
Travel opportunities to Israel, Jordan
and Egypt – where students are able to
enrich their understanding of Jewish
tradition, thought, language, Biblical
history and the modern Middle East – are
also a crucial component of the program.
“When you have the opportunity to
see how other people live,” Norman
explains, “it gives you a new perspective
on your own life.” He hopes that the
expansion of the Jewish Studies Program
will provide new and varied ways for
students to better understand not only
the role of Jewish culture in world history,
but also specifically in the local history
of Charleston, South Carolina and the
American South.
“It’s a pleasure to see students,
after graduating, going back to their
communities,” he says. “That’s where they
will use the knowledge – and, hopefully,
wisdom – they have gained and begin to
make their own contributions.”
– Jason A. Zwiker ’97
PHILANTHROPY
After-School
Special
A Passion’s Gathering
While many people spend their
entire lives searching for passion, Rabbi
William A. Rosenthall spent his entire life
searching for artifacts of his. The result of
his pursuit for historical relics of Jewish
identity and culture is a vast collection of
rare books, artwork, stamps, photography,
manuscripts, engravings, medals and
other objects.
Rosenthall held the directorship of the
World Union for Progressive Judaism and
was the rabbi, and later rabbi emeritus, of
Charleston’s Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim
for close to 30 years. The Rabbi William A.
Rosenthall Collection of Judaica
was donated to the College by the
Rosenthall family and is now held in
Special Collections at the Marlene and
Nathan Addlestone Library. Special
Collections will inventory and research the
materials, scan the images and create an
illustrated online catalog for the public –
a process that is expected to take more
than two years. After all, cataloging a
lifetime of passionate pursuit is no
easy task.
Terry Peterson is on a crusade for
educational after-school programs, and he
has brought his campaign to the College.
As the new home to Peterson and the
Afterschool and Community Learning
Network – an initiative promoting afterschool learning nationwide – the College
has received a $450,000 four-year grant
from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
“The grant helps us create funding
streams and form partnerships at the local,
state and national levels,” says Peterson,
who has served as the network’s director
since 2001 and who is a senior fellow
in the College’s School of Education,
Health, and Human Performance.
“It allows us to provide expertise
to leaders and groups who want to
expand after-school opportunities.”
In its support of educational
opportunities, the Afterschool and
Community Learning Network works
with organizations and agencies to
develop strategies, policies and
partnerships for advancing the
availability and quality of after-school
and community learning centers.
“Quality programs require a
collaborative effort on multiple levels
from multiple agencies,” Peterson says.
“And when they’re done right, they not
only keep kids safe and out of trouble, they
give kids a real chance to catch up, keep
up and get ahead.” And that’s something
worth fighting for.
The Aviator’s Lasting Legacy
If there’s one thing that’s constant
about the field of biomedical sciences,
it’s change. But, thanks to a $1.5-million
grant from the Howard Hughes Medical
Institute, the College is keeping up with
it all.
The grant will be used to develop
curriculum, hire faculty and create
research opportunities in chemical
biology, neuroscience and computational
biology.
In addition to developing “learning
communities” in which first-year students
interested in these areas of study will live
and study together, the College will use
the grant to support pre-college education
in the Lowcountry and teaching-training
partnerships with the Medical University
of South Carolina. The goal is to build
interest in biomedical science research
and careers at a much earlier stage of
students’ academic careers.
SU M M E R 2 0 0 8 |
47
|
CLASS NOTES
1946 Roy Howell Jr. is still practicing
medicine at the Medical University of South
Carolina.
1947 Ed Albenesius reports that
he is still a “very retired” chemist from DuPont.
He and his wife, Lucy Teague Evans, have
four children and nine grandchildren, one of
whom – Andrew Albenesius – is a sophomore at
the College.
1948 Edward Johnson notes that
he “may be the only one still working”
from his class. Edward operated his own
insurance agency for 30 years, and nine years
ago, merged his business with Anderson
Insurance Associates in Charleston.
1949 Emerson Read received the
Order of the Palmetto, the state’s highest
civilian honor, for heading up a citizens’
group that convinced the state legislature
to reduce property taxes. In 2005, Emerson
founded NoHomeTax.org and spent 14 months
campaigning to abolish property taxes in
exchange for raising the state’s sale tax rate by
3 percent.
1958 Yvonne duFort Evans received
the Good Neighbor Award at the College’s
annual Multicultural ExCEL Awards program.
Liz Smith Tucker (also of the Class of 1981)
is the author of Pigs on the Patio, an anecdotal
memoir of raising her children on an old
rice plantation in the wilds of Hell Hole
Swamp (S.C.).
1960 Anne Hill Buchanan has been
teaching Aikido for three years in Tryon, N.C.
She and her husband, Paul, have 30 years of
experience in the martial art, having trained
across the U.S. and at the home dojo in Tokyo.
Melvyn Smith ’63 has completed
375 video interviews for the ongoing
Timeless Voices of Aviation Project
of the Experimental Aircraft
Association. Melvyn, who specializes
in World War II combat aircrews,
has traveled to air shows around the
country in a motorhome specially
adapted for taping his interviews.
Melvyn is also the president of MEL
Entertainment Co., a television
production and programming
company in Mt. Pleasant.
|
48
Martha Thomas Rudisill, who retired from
the Medical University of South Carolina’s
pathology department, reports that she is
enjoying retirement and is now an artist
painting on needlepoint canvases.
Britton Taylor has retired from his career as an
OB/GYN and lives in Rocky Point, N.C.
1963 Linda Myers Dove is a senior
vice president at the American Association of
Advertising Agencies in Washington, D.C.
1964 Richard
and Meri Roberts
have returned to Charleston in
Dame ’66
their retirement. Richard is still involved
in science as a review editor for the Marine
Ecology Progress Series and as a consultant for
a variety of scientific research groups. He was
recently listed in Who’s Who in the World, Who’s
Who in America and Who’s Who in Science and
Engineering. Meri is a volunteer in the HOST
Program at Midland Park Elementary School
and was inducted into Delta Kappa Gamma
International Society for Women Educators.
1965 Bob and Annette Buero Gill live
in Charlotte. Annette played the role of Mattie
in Theatre Charlotte’s production of Walking
Across Egypt. Last year, she also performed in
two shows at the Pineville Dinner Theatre.
1966
Meri Roberts Dame (see
Richard Dame ’64)
Lynda Davis received the Theodore S. Stern
Presidential Visionary Award for her lifetime
dedication to education at the College’s annual
Multicultural ExCEL Awards program.
Emily Fugiel Guess has retired after 34
years in education, many of which were spent
as a guidance counselor (one of the first in
South Carolina).
Rick Helfers was inducted into Phi Kappa
Phi National Honor Society for excellence in
graduate instruction. Rick has delivered more
than 75 graduate and undergraduate courses for
the University of Maryland’s Graduate School
of Management and Technology, Johns Hopkins
University, Capitol College and Potomac College.
Rick is also the contract support project
lead for the FAA’s System Wide Information
Management Program.
1973
David and Dolly Santos Jaffee
are loan officers with Shelter Mortgage and
’75
manage the company’s new builder division.
Debbie McConnell is an English teacher at
Branchville High School. Living in Santee,
S.C., Debbie reports that she’s doing a lot of
crappie fishing.
1974 Rebecca Grant-Richardson
retired from the College after 35 years of service.
Rebecca was the director of judicial services for
the residence life and housing office.
Randy Pierce is the town administrator
for Seabrook Island, S.C., and is the proud
grandfather of seven.
Stephen Viger lives in St. Cyran du Jambot in
France and warns students coming to study
abroad that life in Europe has become costly
with the weaker dollar.
1975 Aubry Alexander was elected to
the Charleston City Council.
Dolly Santos Jaffee (see David Jaffee ’73)
Barry and Jennie McMahan Redmond have
two children and live in St. Matthews, S.C. Barry
has worked for IBM for 31 years, and Jennie is
the dean of learning resources at OrangeburgCalhoun Technical College.
1976 Doug Bostick is a Charleston
writer and historian and authored two
books this spring: Sunken Plantations: The
Santee Cooper Project and The Morris Island
Lighthouse: Charleston’s Maritime Beacon.
Holly Hudson Denman is the principal and
founder of Cascade Heights Public Charter
School in Milwaukie, Ore. Holly is also pursuing
her PhD in educational administration. She and
her husband, Richard, have four children.
Donna Floyd Jacobs is a facility manager at
the Medical University of South Carolina’s
Transgenic Mouse Core Facility.
Wally Jenkins is the program coordinator for
the S.C. Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series,
an official program of the S.C. Department
of Natural Resources. Wally is also a marine
biologist in Charleston for SCDNR.
Angela Bambino Lewis is a teacher in
Arlington, Va.
1977 Michael Covington is the
director of administration for the S.C.
Department of Transportation in Columbia.
Lynn Lawandales Crooks is a commercial real
estate attorney for Clawson & Staubes LLC
in Charleston.
Mike Hughes is the CEO for the National Golf
Course Owners Association. Mike and his
wife, Linda Gurney Hughes ’79, have
three children and live on Daniel Island, S.C.
Linda is a kindergarten teacher at Laurel Hill
Elementary School.
Susan Castles Leland has retired from
a career of teaching and can now be found
selling antiques at Terrace Oaks Antique Mall
in Charleston.
Teresa Major Luhrs and John Camp were
married in September and live in Macon, Ga.
Louise Ratliff retired from active employment
back in April 2005 and is living in Chantilly, Va.
Louester Smalls Robinson is the director
of the Palmer Campus of Trident Technical
College and is also vice president of the
Lowcountry chapter of the College’s Alumni
Association. She was recently awarded the
Eddie Ganaway Distinguished Alumni Award
at the College’s annual Multicultural ExCEL
Awards program.
Cheryl Browne Smithen is a freelance
marketing and PR consultant in Charleston.
1978 Betsy White Parker earned her
nursing degree this spring.
CLASS NOTES
1979 Kristi Linn Servies Craig
received her master’s in counseling from the
University of North Carolina–Pembroke in
1999 and a post-master’s certification in
advance school counseling from UNCGreensboro in May 2007.
Pam Fowler came out of retirement and
returned to the U.S. Army Reserves in the fall
of 2007. Pam serves as the NCO in charge of
the chemical section of the 2/345th Training
Support Battalion at Fort Jackson, S.C.
Sara Chandler Hooks is a seventh-grade social
studies teacher at Waccamaw Middle School on
Pawley’s Island, S.C. She and her husband, Jim,
have two children.
Linda Gurney Hughes (see Mike Hughes ’77)
Keith Phillips is an engineer for Jacobs
Technology Inc. at Langley Air Force Base. Keith,
a lieutenant colonel, retired from the U.S. Air
Force last September after more than 26 years
of service. He and his family, Rolande, Suzanne
and Martin, live in Yorktown, Va.
Sally Buck Short is a national board–certified
teacher at Meadowfield Elementary School
in Columbia.
Margaret Brinkley Sordian is a principal at
Forestbrook Middle School in Myrtle Beach.
1980 Bill Bates lives in Lexington, N.C.,
with his wife and two children.
Debbie Holmes-Wilkens is the chairman for
the Talbot County (Md.) Hospice 2008 Festival of
Trees, a charity in its 24th year that raises more
than $1 million and includes 800 volunteers.
Linda Pate Mullinax retired as a supervisory
accountant from the Federal Civil Service in
2004 and lives in Goose Greek, S.C.
Lori Zander Wright lives in Glen Allen, Va.,
and is completing her 20th year as a principal
for Mercer, where she consults not-for-profit
organizations on retirement benefits.
1981 Carol Brittsan is a registered
vascular technologist at Roper Hospital
in Charleston.
Trissie Copses Farr works for Formation
Healthcare Group in Columbia.
George Hill is the owner of By George! Events
and Marketing in Charleston.
Margaret Leverette House is an instructional
coach at Ellen Woodside Elementary School
in Pelzer, S.C. Margaret and her husband
have also bought a second UPS Store in the
Greenville area.
Jayne Johnson-Matney teaches middle school
science at Hilton Head Preparatory.
Stacey Kraft is a nursing home administrator
with Ruxton Healthcare and lives in
Poquoson, Va.
Marshall Dow Sanderson is an Episcopal
priest and rector of the Church of the Holy
Communion in Charleston. Dow and his wife,
Fiona, have two sons, and their older son, Noah,
is a student at the College.
Charlie Smith owns a real estate brokerage firm
in Charleston.
Cheryll Novak Woods-Flowers is a realtor
with Keller Williams Charleston-Mt. Pleasant.
1982 Sandra Thompson Arrants has
authored a weight-loss book, two cookbooks
and three mystery novels. Sandra lives in
Pensacola, Fla.
Ron Cooper did a reading and signing of his
novel Hume’s Fork in February at the College.
Mary Goodale earned her master’s in education
from Southern Wesleyan University in
December. She and her two sons, Donovan and
Anderson, live in Liberty, S.C.
John Mark Hunter is a professor in the
Department of Teaching and Learning at
Tennessee State University in Nashville.
1983 Angelo Convertino is the CEO
of Loanfinders of S.C. in Charleston and is also
the broker in charge and owner of an affiliated
company called Special Services Realty.
David Frantz (MAT) is a partner of DVD
Video Production Services, a Mt. Pleasant
company that provides a variety of consumer
video services.
Donna Kelsch is a project administrator for
Delaware EPSCoR Program at the University
of Delaware.
Robin Brown Poston is a principal with
Harper, Poston & Moree CPAs in Georgetown,
S.C. Robin’s older child, Kathryn, attends
the College.
Ann Looper Pryor is the publisher of
Landscape Architecture magazine, a national
monthly journal on land use planning and
landscape design. Ann lives in Washington, D.C.
David Shillington is the senior vice president
and director of agency lending for KeyBank Real
Estate Capital in Dallas, Texas. He is leading the
group that originates Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac
and FHA loans.
1984 Dan Gentry is a professor and
director of health systems management for the
College of Health Sciences at Rush University
Medical Center in Chicago.
Julie Kornahrens was named the S.C. Adult
Education Director of the Year by the Adult
Education Directors’ Division of the S.C.
Association of School Administrators and
earned the S.C. Adult Education Hall of Fame
Award. Julie is an adjunct instructor in the
College’s School of Education, Health, and
Human Performance.
Sandy Call Wilder founded Leading
Edge Software Solutions, specializing
in software training and consulting
non-profit organizations.
1985 Bob Bouton and Jane Jernigan
were married last June. The Boutons live in
Greenville, S.C.
Liz Boyer Caldwell has been the Top Broward
County Real Estate Agent for EWM Realtors in
South Florida for the last 4 years consecutively.
She and her husband, Daniel, have three
children, William, Elizabeth and Christopher.
Kris Bowers Powers works for Epic Systems
Corporation in Verona, Wisc.
1986 Cheryl Myers Allran received
her National Board Certification as a middle
child generalist and teaches at Crowders Creek
Elementary School in Clover, S.C.
William Jones works for Piedmont Hendersonville
(N.C.) Anesthesia Associates and teaches evening
classes in body pump, yoga and spinning.
Keith and Brett Rutledge Martens have two
children, Hallie and Abigail, and live in Rock
Hill, S.C.
Help Us
Remember.
It’s simple, will only take a
minute and it’s something only
you can do.
Go online to alumni.cofc.edu.
Click on the tab for Update Your
Profile and tell us the student
clubs, organizations, sports
teams, fraternities and sororities
to which you belonged.
Office of Alumni Relations
843.953.5630
SU M M E R 2 0 0 8 |
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|
| Photos by Max Dolberg |
Taking the Bull by the Horns
Growing up in the early 1970s,
Michael Parlor ’81 worked on the tomato
and cucumber fields of Johns Island, S.C.,
listening to country music and dreaming
of becoming a professional bull rider.
More than 30 years later, the country
boy reared on the rural roads of the South
is still a cowboy – he even rides bulls – but
he’s also a cowboy fighting crime on the
surly streets of Los Angeles.
As a patrol supervisor with the Los
Angeles Police Department’s Southeast
Division, Parlor keeps watch over Watts,
arguably Los Angeles’ most dangerous
community plagued with violence and
|
50
poverty. “Think Boyz in the Hood and
Menace II Society,” Parlor observes.
Home to sets of both Crips and Bloods,
clashing factions of blacks and Hispanics
and the lowest household income in all
of Los Angeles County ($17,987 per the
2000 census), Watts is gang territory, a
drug slum, a den of racial disparity. “A lot
of people won’t work Southeast Division
unless they’re ordered to,” Parlor notes.
But the retired Marine Corps Reserve
major says he “wanted to be in the
toughest neighborhood.” What else
would you expect from a man who was
nicknamed “Major Pain” during the
infamous Los Angeles riots of 1992 and
helped rewrite the book on patrol tactics
for the LAPD?
Since 1989, Parlor has assisted with the
training of officers in the areas of patrol
concepts, crimes-in-progress, building
searches, vehicle pullovers, FireArms
Training Systems and the T.A.S.E.R. He
also helped the Commission on Peace
Officer Standards and Training update the
curriculum for the State of California and
the U.S. Army update the Military Police
Field Manual.
But before he started training officers
and serving on gang suppression and
CLASS NOTES
[ alumni profile ]
counter-terrorism units, Parlor joined the
Marine Corps and completed boot camp
at Camp Pendleton just three days prior to
starting his freshman year at the College.
Parlor majored in secondary education,
minored in psychology and probably
could have qualified for a Bachelor of Arts
in pulling pranks, had it been a credible
field of study. (He once dumped a bucket
of water from his College Lodge dorm
room onto Ted Stern, president of the
College at the time and the Stern Student
Center’s namesake.)
Mischievous, as he was, Parlor was a
go-getter, an over-achiever, a persistent
young man who, to this day, “won’t use
the word ‘c-a-n-apostrophe-t.’”
Halfway through his senior year,
Parlor’s college fund ran dry, so he called
anyone he could think of who might help
a young Marine pay for his last semester
of school. On the list was George “Papa
Bear” Halas, former head coach and thenowner of the Chicago Bears, but more
importantly, a member of the board for
the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation.
“I called him every day,” recalls Parlor,
“until finally his secretary called my dad
and said ‘Alright, we’ll give him the money.
Please, just tell him to stop calling.’”
The summer after Parlor graduated, he
worked as a head lifeguard at the Stern
Center before heading to Quantico, Va.,
to attend Marine Corps Officer Candidate
School. From there, Parlor was sent to
Twentynine Palms, Calif., home of the
largest Marine Corps base in the world.
Then, in 1984, he entered the reserves
and became a full-time police officer with
the LAPD.
“There’s never a dull moment,” says
Parlor about working in the City of Angels,
“not to mention shootings, robberies, drug
deals and celebrity breakdowns.”
He has patrolled everywhere – from
the Academy Awards in Hollywood to
the projects – but he prefers to suppress
harder criminals than members of the
paparazzi. “Fun is being on the streets,”
says Parlor, not even 24 hours after he
answered calls for two separate shootings
in Watts.
Surprisingly, after 15 years on the force,
Parlor has never been attacked, but he
has seen more than 30 of his friends and
coworkers die from gunshot wounds and
other injuries received while on duty.
Still, Major Pain remains sympathetic to
..............
“There’s never a dull moment
[in Los Angeles], not to mention
shootings, robberies, drug deals
and celebrity breakdowns.”
..............
the plights of the impoverished people of
Watts, especially the children.
“They’re hardworking people, but
they’re living in dire straits,” he says. “I’m
not making excuses, but I think there are
a lot of shootings and crimes committed
because of the economy – these people
are just trying to put food on the table
any way they can.”
Wilder Beach is less than 10 miles from
Watts, but most of the children have
never seen the ocean. One boy told Parlor
he had never been on the west side of the
405 Freeway, a mere five miles from Watts.
Stories like these prompted Parlor,
the father of two teenagers, to begin
sponsoring children in the community
years ago. He takes them to the beach
or rodeos, sharing with them his love
of surfing and childhood dream of
riding bulls.
But this honky-tonk aficionado is more
than just a cowboy with an iron fist and
soft spot for underprivileged children; he’s
an international politics buff and an avid
reader who, upon his retirement, hopes to
pack up his 3,000-book library and return
to the fields of Johns Island, this time to
raise horses instead of vegetables.
But retirement isn’t in the cards just yet
says Parlor after a recent trip to Laughlin,
Nev., for the River Stampede Rodeo. “I
reckon that I may stick around for a little
while longer now that I had a bit of honkytonk therapy.”
– Abi Nicholas ’07
SU M M E R 2 0 0 8 |
51
|
Lee Monts manages a group of geologists in the
Beth Smoak Knight is a K–5 guidance
1987 Steve Lowe is the director of
1991 Esther McMaster Andrew
Assessment and Corrective Action Division of
the Underground Storage Tank Program for the
S.C. Department of Health and Environmental
Control in Columbia and is also a successful
local artist who creates contemporary acrylic
paintings on canvas. Check out Lee’s artwork at
www.323artblogspot.com.
the University of South Carolina-Columbia’s
extended campus for the Upstate.
McBee Zimmerman is the executive director
of Palmetto Pines Behavioral Health in
Summerville, S.C.
1988 JJ Jahn Larson is the manager
for Psychological Services and the Greenville
County (S.C.) Detention Center. She and
her husband, Kurt, have a 5-year-old
daughter, Grace.
Elizabeth Holland McDowell launched
ELM Publicity, a firm supporting emerging
companies through public relations,
positioning, executive profile development and
positive brand awareness.
Anthony Meyer Jr. is the president of the
Lexington Medical Center Foundation
in Columbia.
Fred and Liza Parnell Roitzsch ’93 live in
Warner Robins, Ga. Fred is an outside sales
representative for Raffield TireMaster’s truck
tire division and was awarded the employee of
the year honor this past December. Lisa is a
therapist for Community Solutions Inc., which
counsels the parents and guardians of juveniles
involved in Georgia’s juvenile court system.
1989 Elizabeth Hammond is
the director of consultant relations at Citi
Alternative Investments in New York City.
Monique Blanchette-Swedberg Jacobs is
the society manager, editor and web content
manager for the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden.
She and her husband, Mark, have a daughter,
Sara Claire, and live in Columbia.
Laura and Wood Marchant announce the
birth of twins, Will and Anna Liles. Wood is
a social worker at the Medical University of
South Carolina.
Teresa Williamson lives in Scappoose, Ore.
1990
David Bey is a social studies teacher at Rollings
Middle School of the Arts in Summerville, S.C.
He and wife, Sheryl, have three children: Josh,
Lindsey and Mary Kathryn.
Steve and Shannon Bargery Blinn announce
the birth of a son, Brayden Elliott.
Rosalind Chorak and her husband, Mark
Mackie, announce the birth of their second
child, Nikolai Stewart.
Jackson “Corky” Davis is a director in the
Office of Diversity and Inclusion at Fannie Mae.
Stephan Futeral is a partner in the Lowcountry
Legal Group LLC in Charleston.
James Harper is a lieutenant colonel in the
military intelligence corps for the U.S. Army
Reserve. James and his wife, Diana, have two
teenage boys and live in Altamonte Springs, Fla.
Brian Hawkey is a district sales manager
for the Atlanta area with Kyphon, a division
of Medtronic.
James Hodge Jr. is the executive director of the
Center for Law and the Public’s Health and an
associate professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health.
|
52
counselor at Howe Hall AIMS, the arts-infused
magnet school for Berkeley County, S.C. She and
her husband, Michael, have two sons, Jackson
and Cade, and live in Goose Creek.
Lisa Levins Lynott is an area sales manager for
CooperVision. She and her husband, Wil, have a
daughter, Lia, and live in Orange Park, Fla.
opened an interior design business in Atlanta
called Esther Ashe Designs.
Rick ’92 and Catherine Wells Arnold live in
Florida with their four children.
Missy Fowler Copeland works for the legal
firm Williams Mullen in Raleigh, N.C.
Jennifer Doboszynski represented the College
at the presidential inauguration of Bentley
College in Waltham, Mass.
Malia Towles Dunn is an eighth-grade math
teacher at Long Middle School in Cheraw, S.C.
She is pursuing a doctorate in instructional
leadership, is an advisory board member for
the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention
and Advancement and is the state’s State Farm
liaison to the National Board for Professional
Teaching Standards.
Brian Freese is a staff member of the Office
of the Vice President for Instruction at the
University of Georgia.
Tamara Goldbogen is a faculty member
in the University of Pittsburgh’s theatre
arts department.
Tracey Floyd Hagy is a nurse in the postpartum
unit at the Medical University of South Carolina.
She and her husband, Todd, live in Mt. Pleasant
with their two children, Olivia and Connor.
Blake Hallman is an instructor in the Culinary
Institute of Charleston at Trident Technical
College. He and his wife, Liesl, announce
the birth of twin girls, Sadie Anne and
Susannah Blake.
Rich Harrill is the director of the International
Tourism Research Institute at the University of
South Carolina.
Hope Norment Murphy is the director of
children’s ministries at John Wesley United
Methodist Church in Charleston.
Trae Shepherd (see Emily Groggel
Shepherd ’93)
Jeslyn Siebert and Jonathan Harvey ’95 were
married in May 2007 and live in Charleston.
Scott Stuckey (see Ashley Gerhardt
Stuckey ’99)
Craig Tangeman (see Cayce Cole
Tangeman ’97)
1992 Rick Arnold
(see Catherine
)
Wells Arnold ’91
Kimberly Lee Becka works for the State of
Georgia. She and her husband, Scott, live in
Macon and have a son, Barrett.
Ernie Blevins is an archaeology field tech for
Edwards-Pitman of Smyrna, Ga. Ernie also
worked for a stint as a historic preservation
consultant to FEMA in New Orleans evaluating
the historic school buildings of Orleans Parish.
Melanie Giggleman Bodiford is a supervisor
of application support for Santee Cooper in
Moncks Corner, S.C.
Daniel and Cristina Bouchard Dougherty
announce the birth of their third child. The
Doughertys live in Fairfax, Va.
Murray Ann Gordon Green teaches 3-yearolds at Lexington (S.C.) Baptist Church Child
Development Center.
Dawn Wilson Kerr is a first-grade teacher at
Saint Johns Catholic School in North Charleston.
John Klem earned his PhD in counselor
education and supervision from Auburn
University in 2007 and is an assistant professor
at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. He and
his wife, Tonya, have two children, Conrad
and Isaiah.
John Liberatos is a realtor in Charleston. The
sales division of John Liberatos Real Estate
Company merged with Keller Williams to form
John Liberatos Keller Williams in Charleston.
Andrew McIntyre is a project manager for
Christopher Rose Architects PA in Charleston.
Joe Meyer is the director of strategic planning
and product development with MedCost LLC in
Winston-Salem, N.C.
Annaliza Oehmig Moorhead is a CPA in
Anderson, S.C. She and her husband, Kirk, have
a son, Kirkman. Annaliza is a member of the
College’s Board of Trustees.
Fran Ridgell and Robbie Clair ’98 announce
the birth of their daughter, Rivers Bea. Fran
is the guidance director for Baptist Hill High
School in Hollywood, S.C., and Robbie is a
glass artist with works in galleries throughout
the Southeast.
1993 Cathy Hill Andrew is working on
her master’s in globalization and education. She
and her husband have two children and live in
the Los Angeles area.
Jay Bradley is an orthopedic surgeon in New
Bern, N.C. He and Amy Connor Bradley ’94
have three children.
Jennifer Brumgardt is the director of
the internal audit department for the
McClatchy Company, the third largest
newspaper company in the United States.
She was previously the top finance executive
for The Fresno Bee.
Melissa Moulton Costello is the director of
operations for Innovative Card Scanning Inc.
She and her husband, Tony, have two children,
Nic and Olivia, and live in Taylors, S.C.
Cindy Clegg Davies is the dean of learning
resources at the Piedmont Technical College in
Greenwood, S.C.
Steve Delcioppo is a broker and owner of Sea
Island Mortgage in Mt. Pleasant.
Gus and Delores Falk Jahnke have relocated
to Houston, Texas.
Kathy Khalil is a realtor with Elaine Brabham
and Associates LLC of West Ashley.
Mark and Paige Spaulding Lawrence
announce the birth of their second child,
Camden Charles. The Lawrences live in
Mt. Pleasant.
Taylor Lee opened Patient ONE Medical Center,
an urgent and primary care facility in North
Charleston – the largest facility of its type in
the Southeast.
Janet Correia Lopez is a special education
teacher in the San Bernardino County school
system. She and her husband, Brian, have
two children, Emilio and Angelina, and live in
Riverside, Calif.
Alexander Lyons is the president of the S.C.
Society of Orthotists/Prosthetists.
John Oliver is a member of the Charleston
practice unit at Dixon Hughes PLLC.
Liza Parnell Roitzch (see Fred Roitzsch ’88)
William and Suzanne Allen Scoggins are
the owners of Closet Solutions. They have two
children and live in Mt. Pleasant.
Trae ’91 and Emily Groggel Shepherd have
three children and live in Charlotte.
Shelley Linnean Spake was named teacher
of the year for 2006–2007 at Cherokee Ridge
Elementary School in Walker County, Ga.
CLASS NOTES
1994 Anna Hamrick Blaschke is the
owner of Abbey Designs, a residential design
company in Mt. Pleasant and is also a mother
of three.
Bill and Kirsten Cottrill Bowman have a
3-year-old daughter and live in Hagerstown, Md.
Amy Connor Bradley (see Jay Bradley ’93)
Amy Case is a preschool teacher at Ashley Hall
School’s Early Childhood Center in Charleston.
Debbie DeLong is the Southeast regional
manager for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She
and Matt Carrothers were married in May 2007
and live in Atlanta.
Andrew and Michelle Epstein Garland ’03
announce the birth of a daughter, Alexandria
Renee.
Edward Knisley Jr. is a deputy county attorney
for Charleston County Government.
Cornell Mack is a business intelligence
consultant for Knowledge Forward in Charlotte.
Liz Clarke Robbins has published her first
book of poetry, Hope, As the World Is a Scorpion
Fish. Liz is an assistant professor of English
and creative writing at Flagler College in
St. Augustine, Fla.
John Sarra is a senior lecturer in the painting
department at Washington University in
St. Louis.
1995 Bobannounce
and Rebecca Smith
the birth of twin
Brennaman
boys, Noah James and Robert Zachman. The
Brennamans live in Mt. Pleasant.
Gray and April Odom Buchanan announce
the birth of their second child, Allison Elizabeth
“Ally.” The Buchanans live in Cranston, R.I.
Neysa Williams Burkes is a basic combat
training commander at Fort Jackson, S.C.
Bill and Jacque Rogers Foster announce the
birth of a son, Reece William. The Fosters live in
Greenville, S.C., where Jacque owns Moxie Media
Inc., publisher of the Upstate’s Little Black Book
for Every Busy Woman.
Verlin and Angie Mathis Frye announce the
birth of their second child, Anna Sophia. The
Fryes live in Old Hickory, Tenn.
David Hale is the sports copy editor for The Post
and Courier in Charleston. Before that, David
was the sports editor for the Beaufort Gazette.
Jonathan Harvey (see Jeslyn Siebert ’91)
Keith and Karri Meibers Hemmig announce
the birth of their third child, Ephram. Karri
has a photography business in Racine, Wisc.
Dorothy Porcher Holland is a teacher at
Trinity Montessori School and a youth minister
at Holy Trinity Church in Charleston.
Marty Huggins started Putt for Dough Greens
LLC in Florence, S.C., a company that installs
synthetic putting greens, artificial lawns and
golfscapes across the Southeast.
Alexia and Andy Isacco announce the birth
of a daughter, Isabella. The Isaccos live in
Mt. Airy, N.C.
Sean Jager is an agent with Prestige Real Estate
Group on Daniel Island, S.C. Sean and his wife,
Melanie, have two sons, Michael and Gabriel.
Kari Gilliland Kim is the owner of Sacred
Spaces in Mt. Pleasant, which helps people
to clear clutter, create an Earth-friendly
environment and discover their sacred space.
Kyle Varner Lahm is the director for the City
of North Charleston’s new Office of Education,
Youth and Family.
Dana Mallory is working toward her DMA in
music education through Boston University.
Chris and Revell Whittock Martin announce
the birth of a daughter, Julia Yeardley. The
Martins live in Wallingford, Pa.
Stefanie Raines and Russell Firestone III were
married last June. They live in Washington, D.C.
Drew Sineath started Drew Sineath & Associates
Inc., an independent real estate brokerage firm.
He and his wife, April, have two daughters and
live in Goose Creek, S.C.
Matt Sjostrom (see Heather Godbold
Sjostrom ’97)
Edward Wagner (see Stephanie Head
Wagner ’01)
Michael Walsh and Misty Thomas ’99 were
married in February.
1996 Anita Brandt was recognized as
employee of the year for Outpatient Physical
Therapy Center, where she is an athletic trainer.
Anita lives in Irmo, S.C.
Melissa Fuller and James Kubu were married in
November. Melissa is the executive director of
the Charleston Miracle League.
Cheryl Grant opened Rice Planter Pediatrics, a
private practice in Walterboro, S.C.
Michelle Tuchman Gregory earned her
master’s in education and is a resource
teacher at Drayton Hall Elementary School
in Charleston.
Michelle Fulton Hauser is a first-grade
teacher in Anoka, Minn.
Nathan Hughey is an attorney with Lourie Law
Firm LLC in Mt. Pleasant.
Che Jordan is a critical care specialist in the
pharmacy department at Grand Strand Regional
Medical Center in Conway, S.C.
Scott and Joanna Hanson Kirkland
Campbell Leigh. The Kirklands live in High
Point, N.C., where Joanna handles accounts
receivables for S&ME Inc. and Scott is the
president of Kirkland Inc.
Kevin Kurtz (MAT) wrote A Day in the Salt
Marsh, a children’s book that was a 2007 Green
Earth Book Award short-list finalist. Kevin is
a PhD student at the University of Oregon and
lives in Eugene.
Scott Leslie is an advertising specialist for UPS
in Atlanta.
Levin and Amy McLaurin Lynch announce
the birth of a son, Levin Davidson Jr. Amy is
a senior oncology sales representative
for Sanofi-Avenis.
Elizabeth Majeski is an internal medicine
resident at the University of Kentucky. She and
her husband, Jason Stroud, have a daughter.
Dewey McWhirter is practicing sleep medicine
with Sleep Associates of East Tennessee in
Knoxville, Tenn.
Karyn Moody Nummy is a commercial
electrical contractor and president of Power
System Inc. and DK Holdings. She is the mother
of two daughters and lives in Lexington, S.C.
Belinda Rogers Ogorek is a human resources
manager for the S.C. Budget and Control Board
in Columbia. She and her husband, Paul,
announce the birth of a second daughter,
Brooke Madison.
Sasha Russo and Melanie Barton were married
in June 2006 and live in Washington, D.C.
Elizabeth Shuffler is an attorney with Nelson
Mullins Riley & Scarborough in Atlanta. She and
Jeffrey Moore were married in November.
Bill and Jenni-Elizabeth Norman Smith
announce the birth of their second daughter,
Sarah Kaylie. The Smiths live in Gilbert, S.C.
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SU M M E R 2 0 0 8 |
53
|
Melissa Turner is a teacher at Annapolis
Michael Dennis ’99 is biking a
“century” in all 50 states and D.C.
in order to raise money for Habitat
for Humanity. This 5,100-mile trek
will take more than 100 days and
is basically the equivalent of riding
across the country and back and
then some. Look out for Michael on
your roads this summer.
1997 David Bogle is a major in the
U.S. Marine Corps and returned to Iraq in
March with the Marine Light Attack Helicopter
Squadron 773.
Katie and Michael Buchanan were married in
September and live in Sherman Oaks, Calif.
Russell Byrd is the current projects planner for
the City of Beaufort (S.C.) Planning Department.
Jill Tate Chapman is the president of the
S.C. Council for Exceptional Children and was
named the S.C. Exceptional Educator of the
Year in 2006. Jill and her husband, Troy, have a
daughter, Lacey, and live in Irmo, S.C.
DaNine Jenkins Fleming received her
doctorate from Youngstown State University.
She is director of intercultural programs at
Slippery Rock University and lives in Grove
City, Pa.
Ashley Gunnin is the general manager of
Lowndes Grove for Patrick Properties Events
in Charleston.
Ted Haley is the head coach of the men’s soccer
program at Post University in Waterbury, Conn.
Charles Hudgens is the city president of North
Charleston and Summerville for Ameris Bank.
Meredith Christenberry Kuester is an
executive board member for the Arthritis
Foundation of East Tennessee. She is a manager
for a medical practice in Knoxville. She and
her husband, Brad, have two daughters, Brady
and Graham.
Wayne and Andrea Mack announce the birth of
their second daughter, Charlotte. The Macks live
in Hockessin, Del.
Sheryl Kenney McAlister received her
certified financial planner designation from the
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards.
She works for WebsterRogers LLP.
Christina Mitchell is a middle school English
teacher at James Island Christian School. She
and Ben English were married in September.
Cheryl Moniz (MAT) is the director of
marketing and public relations at Trident
Literacy Association.
Jhon Montalvo is a law student at the University
of South Carolina.
John Rabun is a senior manager with ATT in
Atlanta and contributed to the launch of the
iPhone by providing key operating and financial
metrics and analysis to senior leadership.
Matt ’95 and Heather Godbold Sjostrom
announce the birth of their second son, Hugh
Dixon. The Sjostroms live in Mt. Pleasant.
Stephen and Caroline Fordham Smith
announce the birth of a son, Pinckney Syms. The
Smiths live on Daniel Island, S.C.
Cayce Cole Tangeman is a family medicine
doctor for Advantage Primary Care Physicians,
her own private practice in Mt. Pleasant.
She and her husband, Craig ’91, have a
3-year-old daughter.
|
54
(Md.) High School. She and Graham Mehl were
married in October.
Holley and Stephen Van Horn announce the
birth of a daughter, Isabel. The Van Horns live
on James Island, S.C.
Rocky and Kristin Yohler Varn announce the
birth of a son, William Rockwell. The Varns live
in Charleston.
Martine Oliver Warzecha has recently
relocated to Seattle, Wash., and is the mother of
a 3-year-old.
1998 Jessica Bobbitt is a senior
consultant for Blackbaud. She and Thomas Leddy
were recently married and live in Columbia.
David and Blair Davis Brown announce the
birth of their second child, Benjamin Davis.
Emily Rials Carpenter is a web content
manager for Kiawah Development Partners.
Robbie Claire (see Fran Ridgell ’92)
Price Clark Cook is a central research and
reference coordinator at the law firm Motley
Rice LLC in Mt. Pleasant. Price earned
an associate’s degree in public service
and a paralegal certificate from Trident
Technical College.
Kelly Edwards and Patrick Blandford were
married this fall and are living in Charlotte.
Brett Elrod is a geologist with Albrecht
Environmental Inc. in Charleston.
Melissa Epps earned a master’s in mass
communication from the University of South
Carolina in 2002 and is the executive director
of the S.C. Parent Teacher Association, located
in Columbia.
Elizabeth Garrett is the director of museums
for the Historic Beaufort Foundation. She and
Jason Ryan were married in November.
Marika Gessner is president of the Charleston
chapter of Habitat for Humanity.
Dani Grindlinger completed an MBA at
Columbia University in New York City and
is a director of advertising sales operations
and strategic initiatives for TiVo Inc. in
San Francisco.
David ’00 and Heather Tripp Henderson
announce the birth of a daughter, Maggie.
Heather is a pediatric resident at the University
of Alabama at Birmingham and will start a
cardiology fellowship at Emory University
this summer.
Jill and Andrew Johnson announce the birth
of a son, Riley. Andrew is a product manager
in the Foodservice Division of Pilgrim’s Pride
in Atlanta.
Debbie Klowas is a special education teacher
for Maine School Administrative District #51 in
Cumberland-North Yarmouth.
Jason and Bridget Van Marter Lee announce
the birth of their second child, Griffin Cooper.
Bridget is an English teacher at West Ashley
High School in Charleston.
Amy Macchiaverna is the marketing director
for all four S.C. offices of Burkett, Burkett &
Burkett, CPAs. She is based out of the West
Columbia office.
Ron Menchaca was named the S.C. Press
Association’s Journalist of the Year. Ron, who
writes for The Post and Courier, also received
first place for in-depth reporting, second place
for enterprise reporting and third place for the
J.L. Sims Memorial Award.
Mandy Simpson Merritt earned her MAT
in early childhood education from the
College and is a middle school teacher in
North Charleston.
Veronica Moras is a senior contract specialist
for InStil Health Insurance Co. in Columbia.
Melanie Pelouze is in commercial real estate/
investment sales for CBRE in Richmond, Va.
Todd and Heather Pieper-Olson announce the
birth of a daughter, Eleanor Ixchel. The PieperOlsons live in Saint Cloud, Minn.
Brian Reagin is an orthodontist in Summerville,
S.C., and is the father of two boys, Hughston
and Harrison.
Stephanie Figard Sams is a licensed
professional counselor in private practice in
Mt. Pleasant.
Steven and Dawn Hill Smith announce the
birth of a daughter, Wynne Caroline. The Smiths
live in Fort Meade, Md.
Julie Sudyk works for US Trust in Charleston.
Julie and Morgan Campbell were married
in March.
Scott Taylor earned his MBA and is a
commercial real estate broker in Columbia.
Daniel Vieira is a captain for SkyWest Airlines
and lives in Charleston.
Tiffany Wells earned her master’s in mass
communication from the University of South
Carolina and is a corporate trainer developer
for SCANA in Columbia. She and Robert Nettles
were married in November.
Brooke Wofford and Henry Shugart
were married in April. Brooke works for
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.
1999 Sherlonda Peake Adkins is
a realtor with Keller Williams Realty and
has been accepted into the Rookies Circle of
the Charleston Trident Association of
Realtors for her exceptional accomplishments
during 2007.
Emily Burts is the art collection curator for
Raymond James Financial in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Hollie Pittman Chinn is a doctoral candidate
at the Medical University of South Carolina’s
College of Pharmacy. She and her husband, Cory,
have two children, Carson and Elizabeth.
Emily Cassone Davis is a media specialist
at Daniel Island School and serves on the
grants committee of the Daniel Island
Community Fund.
Shelby Dominick earned her MEd in college
student affairs administration from the
University of Georgia in 2004 and is an
enrollment advisor for Piedmont Technical
College in Greenwood, S.C.
Jacqueline Glover-Skinner announces the
birth of a son. Jaqueline is also a graduate
student pursuing a master’s in accountancy and
lives on Johns Island, S.C.
Jaime Helems Gregory has written That’s My
Baby!, a children’s book about international
adoption. Jaime is a stay-at-home mom and a
columnist for www.catholicmom.com. She and
her family live in Charleston.
Skip Limbaker is a member of the American
Institute of Certified Planners and lives in
Greenville, S.C.
Peach Lowry is an ELCO liability administrator
for Enterprise Rent-a-Car and lives in
Woodstock, Ga.
Timothy MacFall graduated from the Medical
University of South Carolina this May.
Kristen Bentfeld McClendon announces
the birth of her second child, Ella Blair. The
McClendons live in Greenwood, S.C.
David and Kara Crowson Morris announce
the birth of their second daughter, Marin
Margaret. The Morris family lives on Johns
Island, S.C.
Marie Parnell works in the tax department at
Pratt-Thomas & Gumb, CPAs in Charleston.
Jill Plating Peter announces the birth of her
second daughter, Emma Hope. The Peters live in
CLASS NOTES
[ alumni profile ]
To Save Our Summits
| Photo by Kevin Adams |
memorable, she says, was a class with
There might not be many
She uses her “hard science” expertise
Professor Susan Farrell in contemporary
to handle projects like re-grading slopes
circumstances under which an English
Southern literature. “It changed my life.
to divert runoff, but she also can speak
major, a business administration major
I’m not afraid to say it,” she says.
knowledgeably with landowners about
and the holder of a master’s degree in
“I learned a lot about regional character
the public policy issues affecting their
environmental studies could wind up
and identity, an appreciation for the
properties. She credits her ability to bridge
working in interdependent jobs at the
natural surroundings.”
both science and policy to the training she
same company.
That appreciation, along with her
received at the College.
But that’s just what has happened
writing ability, took her into a position as
Beck had worked previously for a nonwith Kristin Harkey ’97, Jennifer Beck
a grants and development manager for
profit handling erosion control on the
’06 (MS) and John Bonham ’94, three
the Humanities Council SC, which funds
N.C. Outer Banks. She knew she’d need a
College graduates whose very different
documentaries, workshops and public
master’s degree to move up in the field,
educational backgrounds and a shared
programs in the humanities. She worked
though. She found that the College’s
love of protecting the environment
interdisciplinary program, which
have taken them to the same
spans both environmental
organization, the Carolina
science and the public policy
Mountain Land Conservancy in
surrounding land use issues,
Hendersonville, N.C.
gave her just the background
The conservancy, a nonprofit,
she wanted.
works with landowners to
The seeds of Bonham’s
protect land in the scenic but
expertise were also sewn at the
increasingly populated western
College. As farmland protection
North Carolina mountains.
coordinator, he works with
Since 1994, the organization has
landowners to place conservation
used conservation easements
easements on their property. The
and erosion control projects to
easements prevent the land from
help protect about 17,700 acres
being sub-divided or subjected
from unplanned development.
to high-density development;
Harkey, Beck and Bonham are
property owners receive tax
a big part of that effort, and
deductions for protecting the
the College played a big role in
scenic and rural beauty of the
catapulting them toward their
landscape.
current jobs.
Bonham, however, works with
Take Harkey, for instance.
an accountant-like eye on the
As director of development,
bottom line. With his bachelor’s
she writes grants and seeks
degree in business administration
other financial support for
and a master’s in agricultural and
the conservancy. Her zeal for
applied economics from Virginia
her work runs so deep that
Tech, he appreciates the financial
she can flip seamlessly from a
pressures farmers face. “They’re
modest discussion of her own
not just landowners,” he says.
background to a passionate
“They’re also business owners.
plea for support of the
The numbers have to work.”
conservancy’s mission.
The three College graduates
In North Carolina each year, she
see each other during weekly
notes, some 140,000 acres of
staff meetings. Beck marvels
forest and farmland are lost to
at how well their divergent
development, often for home
| (back) Jennifer Beck ’06 (MS) and John Bonham ’94;
educational backgrounds
sites and new subdivisions.
(front) Kristin Harkey ’97 |
mesh to help push the
Harkey traces her passion for
there from 2002 until last year, when she
conservancy’s mission forward.
the conservancy’s work to her studies as
took her post at the conservancy.
“Kristin gets us financial support to do
an English major. As she read writers like
Beck, who graduated from the master’s
the land conservation work, and our work
William Faulkner, Eudora Welty and Walker
in environmental studies program, was
helps her raise more money,” she says. “We
Percy, she developed an appreciation for
already there, managing the Upper Broad
really work off one another.”
the importance of the land in shaping
River Watershed Protection Program.
Southern culture and heritage. Particularly
– Eric Frazier ’87
SU MM E R 2 0 0 8 |
55
|
Greenville, S.C., where Jill is a director of youth
and children’s ministries at St. Matthew United
Methodist Church.
Lee Robinson is a science editor for McGrawHill Education and is pursuing a PhD in English
at Ohio State University.
Tamara Spader and Devon Hawkes were married
in December. They live in Midlothian, Va.
Daniel and Olivia Knight Speares announce
the birth of their second daughter, Reese
Chaney. The Speares family lives in Gaston, S.C.
Scott ’91 and Ashley Gerhardt Stuckey
Jackson Ray. The Stuckeys live in Hanahan, S.C.
Samuel and Sarah Swilling-Nunn announce
the birth of a son, Hayden. Sarah is a stay-athome mom and lives in Summerville, S.C.
Misty Thomas (see Michael Walsh ’95)
John Tiller is an assistant vice president with
Scott and Stringfellow. John and Aimee Tripp were
married in September and live in Mt. Pleasant.
Philip Toussaint is a peripheral nerve surgery
fellow in the department of neurosurgery at the
University of Pennsylvania. He and Corbett Neal
were married last April.
Jason and Millie Bowen Varnadoe announce
the birth of a son, Fisher Shaw. The Varnadoes
live on St. Simon Island, Ga., where Millie is a
third-grade teacher.
John Ward is the owner of Affinity Charters in
Charleston. He and his wife, Meghan, have two
children, Ailish and Tristan.
2000 Amber and Sam Correll announce
the birth of a son, Jackson Burton. The Corrells
live in Dallas, Texas.
Rebecca Gibson Coulter is a high school
teacher in Kernersville, N.C. Rebecca and her
husband, Benjamin, announce the birth of a
daughter, Rubygail.
Jason and Stephanie Cusher Davey announce
the birth of their third son, Sean. The Daveys
live in Mt. Pleasant, where Stephanie is a stayat-home mother.
Karen Earley is an administrative assistant in
the College’s registrar’s office.
Jeff Harper and Kristen Hustead ’02 were
married in May 2007. Jeff is an FA-18F Super
Hornet pilot for the U.S. Navy and is stationed
in Norfolk, Va.
Lea DeBosh Harriott works for the U.S.
State Department in Charleston. She and her
husband, Scott, announce the birth of a son,
Joseph Robert.
David Henderson (see Heather Tripp
Henderson ’98)
Courtney Hunter is a law student at Boston
University.
Jordan Johnson is a physician and industry
relations manager for PT Solutions in Atlanta.
She and Frederick Kuhn III were married in
May 2007.
Anthony and Valerie Sitton Kowbeidu
Anthony Kodjo II.
Jennifer Dahn Manning is a scholarship
services associate for the Community
Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne (Ind.).
Jennifer and her husband, Scott, have a
daughter, Mackenzie.
Robert McGahey is a commercial real estate
appraiser in Charleston.
Jason Miller is a senior software engineer for
ITT Advanced Engineering and Sciences and
lives in Hanahan, S.C.
Brian and Kelly Geyer Miller announce the
birth of their second child, Jacob Michael.
Ryan and Kate Simson Norfleet have
two children, Sayre and Wyatt, and live in
Scarborough, Me.
|
56
Christopher and Laura LeMieux Paes
announce the birth of a son, Elijah Christopher.
Kirk Perrow is an attorney with Morgan and
Morgan, PA in Jacksonville, Fla.
Bobby Pilch is a sales manager for Marriott’s
Courtyard in North Charleston. He and his wife,
Kasarda, have started their own fine cakes
company, Cakes by Kasarda.
Joe and Amanda McClelland Pitcavage
announce the birth of a daughter, Anna
Catherine. Joe is an optometrist in Charleston.
Jennifer Powell lives in Atlanta and oversees
Fiderion’s internal and external marketing
initiatives and manages the firm’s N.Y. office.
Christine Wozniak Raimondo is an ESL
teacher for Greenville (S.C.) County schools.
She earned her master’s in English as a second
language from Furman University.
Bill Ryan is a sales manager at MFG.com
in Atlanta.
Jason and Angela Hein Sawadske announce
the birth of a daughter. Angela is a real estate
appraiser in Charleston County.
Elizabeth Sigmon is a manager and personal
trainer at Anytime Fitness in Greenville, S.C.
She and Hunter Freeman were married
in March.
Ashley Jones Smith is the director of
philanthropy for the College’s School of the Arts.
Jeffrey Stander (see Dana Smigocki
Stander ’01)
Ashley Harris Warnock is manager of special
events for the Historic Charleston Foundation.
Carson Whittington and Alicia Principi
’02 were married in March 2006. Carson is a
dentist in Marion, and Alicia is an oncology
nurse for Carolina Health Care in Florence, S.C.
2001 Maren Anderson opened a
store on King Street called Global Awakening,
inspired by the movement toward fair trade with
developing countries.
Rebecca Ansert is a graduate student in the
University of Southern California’s public art
studies program.
Mark and Kimberly Magee Benyak announce
the birth of their second child, Patrick. The
Benyaks live in Houston, Texas.
Shawnta Bradley is an educational software
consultant for Blackbaud in Charleston.
Hank Bridges is a senior implementation
leader with the Value Engineering and
Strategic Analysis Group for BNSF Railway
in Ft. Worth, Texas.
Jeremy Clement is a financial coordinator in
the College’s IT division and is an MBA graduate
student at The Citadel.
Kyle ’02 and Amanda Bunting Comen
announce the birth of a son, Harrison Stuart.
The Comens live in the Charleston area.
Andrew Cook and Kimberly Ravenscroft
’05 were married in January. Andrew is a
consultant for RSG of Charlotte, and Kimberly is
a graduate student at Winthrop University. The
Cooks live in Rock Hill, S.C.
Tony Costello is the marketing and product
director for Snowden Pencer Plastic Surgery
in Chicago.
David Decker earned his JD from Bond
University in Australia and is a staff attorney
in the New York office of Skadden, Arps, Slate,
Meagher & Flom LLP. David and Catherine
Cohen were married in October.
Kellie Dickerson is a sales representative for
BB&T Payroll Services in Norfolk, Va.
Zak and Sarah Taylor Fanberg announce
the birth of a son, Connor Alexander. Zak is
a partner with the Tommy Crane Real Estate
Group in New Orleans, and Sarah is a senior
vice president at ASI Federal Credit Union and
director of ASII NonProfit, which was formed
to provide affordable housing for low-income
New Orleanians.
Rosemary Ford works for the National Bank of
South Carolina in Charleston. She and Michael
Bonham were married in October.
Laurie Hagberg is an accounting instructor at
Trident Technical College in Charleston.
Carly Howard is an attorney specializing in
estate planning for high-net-worth individuals
in Smith Moore’s Charlotte office.
Liz Nettles Johnson earned her nurse
practitioner certification from the Medical
University of South Carolina and lives in
Summerville, S.C.
Chad Kruse is a staff attorney with the Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency Bureau of
Water in Springfield.
Jackson Miller is the captain of a ship-docking
tug in Mobile, Ala., and is an applicant for Bar
Pilot’s Apprentice in Mobile.
Jen Moeggenberg is a sales manager for La
Samanna in New York City.
Sarah Morgan is a guest service director for
Kiawah Island Golf Resort.
Wayne and Elizabeth Davis Morton
announce the birth of a daughter, Clara Jane.
Elizabeth earned her master’s in counseling
from Asbury Theological Seminary in December
and is a counselor at the Center for Women,
Children & Families in Lexington, Ky.
Kellie Needham is a permit specialist in the
civil engineering department for Berenyi Inc.
in Charleston.
Erin O’Neal is a third-grade teacher in Fletcher,
N.C. Erin and John Lesh were married in August.
Melissa Pluta is a senior account executive for
E. Boineau & Co. in Charleston.
Lane Russell is a research associate at the
National League of Cities’ Institute for Youth,
Education and Families in Washington, D.C.
Joe Rutland was appointed to the board of
directors for the March of Dimes Central Florida
Division. Joe is a consultant for J. Rolfe Davis
Insurance in Maitland.
Kristin Adams Schulze (MAT) is an early
childhood instructor at Greenville (S.C.)
Technical College.
Andy Smythe earned his master’s in
international business from the University of
South Carolina and is working for CHEP in
Orlando, Fla.
Melanie Simon Snipes opened a professional
errand and virtual assistant service in the
Charleston area.
Jeffrey ’00 and Dana Smigocki Stander
announce the birth of a son, Myles Cole. The
Standers live in Germantown, Md.
Stephen Toth is the director of food and
beverage for the Lancaster (Calif.) JetHawks, a
Class A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.
Edward ’95 and Stephanie Head Wagner
have two children and live in Yuma, Ariz. Edward
works for the U.S. Border Patrol.
Daniel Weede (see McRae Smith ’04)
Amy Paradies Wieland is a corporate manager
for Noland Company’s bath and idea centers. She
and her husband, Eric, live in Newport News, Va.
2002 Alicia Amico is a leasing
specialist in Saugus, Mass. Alicia received an
Excellence in Leasing Award from the Roseland
Property Company.
Melantha Ardrey is an area residence hall
director for the College’s residence life.
Jake Banks received his law degree from the
University of Mississippi. Jake and Katie
Kitchens were married in October.
CLASS NOTES
Keep in Touch
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alumni.cofc.edu
Update us at
or fax this form to 843.953.7514 or
mail it to: Attention: Class Notest$PMMFHFPG$IBSMFTUPOt#VMM4USFFUt$IBSMFTUPOt4$t
SU MM E R 2 0 0 8 |
57
|
Gregory Holland earned his JD from the
Look for Margaret Anne Florence
’01 on the Big Screen in the near
future. Margaret Anne plays an
archeology graduate student in
Luis Berdejo’s The New Daughter,
starring Kevin Costner and filmed
in Charleston this spring (with some
scenes at the College). Margaret
Anne also appears on a variety of
commercials and has appeared in
several episodes of Guiding Light.
Liza Towell Boyd continues her winning ways
on horseback. She took the Triple Crown of
Working Hunters, winning the Capital Challenge,
Washington International Horse Show and
Pennsylvania National all last year. Liza and her
husband, Blake, live in Wellington, S.C.
Melissa Brabham is an employee benefits
specialist for Standard Insurance Company in
Brentwood, Tenn.
Kristy Clayton works for The Bank of South
Carolina. She and Matthew Coakley were married
in December and live in Summerville, S.C.
Desiree Runey Clement is employed at
Advintage Wines Distributing in Charleston.
Kyle Comen (see Amanda Bunting Comen ’01)
Natalie Thornthwaite Dougherty works
for Bon Secours St. Francis Health System in
Greenville, S.C.
Bruce and Amanda Cribb Gallup announce
the birth of a son, Reed David. Amanda is a
realtor for Prudential Source One on Pawleys
Island, S.C.
Eric Hartge is a graduate student in Johns
Hopkins University’s environmental science
and policy program as well as a manager of
an environmental education program for the
Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
Adam Hill and Kristin Coker ’03 were married
in June 2006. Adam is a benefit files analyst at
BlueCross Blueshield of South Carolina, and
Kristin is a business analyst for Perioperative
Services at Palmetto Health Baptist in Columbia.
Your
University of South Carolina in 2005. He and his
wife, Cynthia, live in Glen Burnie, Md.
Camille Worthington Horton is in the
pediatric dentistry residency program at the
University of Florida.
Heather and Andy Hurd announce the birth
of a son, Thomas Joseph. The Hurds live in
Wilmington, N.C.
Kristen Hustead (see Jeff Harper ’00)
Ivie Taylor Krum announces the birth of her
third daughter. The Krums live in Oakdale, Calif.
Danielle La Rocque is a neonatal intensive care
nurse at Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Tenn.
Katie McElveen earned her JD from the
Charleston School of Law and is an associate
attorney with Richardson Patrick Westbrook &
Brickman LLC of Mt. Pleasant.
Christine Meuschke started a nonprofit called
Write Today Change Tomorrow Inc. in order
to distribute newsletters to high schools and
highlight pending legislation in the House of
Representatives. Christine and Kevin Bingham
were married in September.
Alicia Principi (see Carson Whittington ’00)
Dudley Schiel is a realtor with Bob Parks Realty
in Nashville and is the president of the Nashville
area alumni group.
Christopher Wheeler reports that he is “living
the dream” on Folly Beach.
Melanie Wilson is the chief interpreter of
historic houses for The Charleston Museum.
Joe Winkler is a sales representative for Steel
Technologies Inc. in Louisville, Ky., and is a
graduate student in Bellarmine University’s
MBA program.
Whitney Wolf is a research specialist for the
Cystic Fibrosis Center at the University of North
Carolina–Chapel Hill.
Katrina Wright received her master’s in clinical
counseling from Webster University in 2005 and
is a clinical counselor for the Carolina Youth
Development Center in North Charleston.
2003 Shawn Beckham is an account
executive for the Los Angeles Kings/AEG and
lives in Santa Monica, Calif.
Ben Byrd (see Theresa Williams Byrd ’05)
LeAnn Chapleau works in the International
Trade Administration Office of Latin American
Affairs in Washington, D.C.
college
experience doesn’t end
after four years (or five or six).
Your ties
to the
College are for life.
Kristin Coker (see Adam Hill ’02)
Kyle Coleman is project manager for ImageRight.
Sara Connie is a co-director focusing on
fundraising at the Medical University of South
Carolina’s Children’s Hospital.
Briar Courtney graduated from the Art Institute
of New York City with diplomas in culinary arts
and pastry arts in 2004 and 2005, respectively.
She is a pastry sous chef for Charlie Palmer’s
Aureole restaurant in New York City.
Mac Cozier (see Leah Suarez ’05)
Kelly Dennis earned her JD from the University
of South Carolina School of Law and is an
attorney at Griffith, Sadler & Sharp PA in
Beaufort, S.C.
Chuck Diggle is the president of the Mt.
Pleasant Business and Professional Association
for 2008. He runs Diggle Publishing Company,
which produces Charleston military base
newspapers The Airlift Dispatch and
The Navy Shoreline.
Alison Douis is a facility planner in the
strategic planning department at Emory
Woodruff Health Sciences Center in Atlanta.
Josh Dukes is a customer support analyst for
Education Edge at Blackbaud in Charleston.
Megan Farfalla is a senior manager of client
services at Pierce Promotions in Chicago.
Michelle Epstein Garland (see Andrew
Garland ’94)
Christina Welsch Garrett is working
toward her MBA and is a recruiter and
account manager for an area staffing and
logistics company. Christina and her husband,
Zach, live in the Upstate.
Lindsay Greenwood is the president of the
Charlotte Chi Omega Alumnae Association.
Heidi Hawkins is an accounting specialist at the
National Cathedral School in Washington, D.C.
Allison Hicks and Matthew Kaczenski were
married in November and live in Atlanta.
Becky Imhoff is a senior management
assistant with Advanced Technology Institute, a
subsidiary of the S.C. Research Authority.
Amber Kamenicky is an import specialist
for U.S. Customs and Border Protection
in Savannah, Ga. Amber is also the vice
president of the College’s Savannah/Hilton
Head alumni chapter.
Shauna Bruin Kinsey is a kindergarten
teacher at St. Joseph School in Columbia. She
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|
58
CLASS NOTES
| Photo by Johan Vanbecelaere |
[ dream job ]
The Matchmaker
We are often advised not to combine
business with pleasure, but Kama Godek
’01 has found a way to do just that –
and thrive. As a high-end horse agent
in Holland, Godek has made a career of
her passion for horseback riding. When
she is not scouting horses at stables and
auctions across Europe, she’s riding them
on the competition circuit, transforming
the young and green into proven
contenders. As an equestrian trainer,
competitor and scout, Godek is doing
what she loves, and loving what she does.
She traces her interest in all things
equestrian back to a family vacation in the
Rocky Mountains, when, at age 7, she first
jumped into a saddle. Hooked, back home
in Northern Virginia, Godek began taking
classes in dressage and basic jumping at a
local lesson barn, trading work at the barn
for the opportunity to ride a horse in the
evening. At age 11, she acquired her first
pony, Mr. D., and it was not long before the
two of them were winning titles on the
regional circuit. By the time she got to the
College, she was a rider to be reckoned
with. As a star member of the College’s
equestrian team, she competed in the
national championships four years in a
row, routinely placing in the top five.
Godek’s forays abroad began in the
summer of her junior year, when she went
to work for renowned equestrienne Katie
Monahan Prudent in northeastern France.
Here, she came face to face with the very
best international shows and riders, and
spent her days exercising world-class
show horses.
After graduating with a degree in
business administration, she returned
to France to train and show horses for
another year, then put her degree to use
as a specialist in financial consulting in
Amsterdam. Even working at an office
job, Godek tended to her avocation: Each
evening after work, she rode at the stable
of John Swaab, a member of the 1972
Dutch Olympic team. After a few years
in the consulting business, she opted to
follow her heart and return to horses full
time. This took her back to the United
States for the winter circuit, when she
worked with another prominent rider –
Laura Kraut, who is currently on the short
list for the 2008 U.S. Olympic team.
In April of last year, Godek returned
to Holland to create her own brokerage
business. Having worked with some of
the most accomplished horses and riders
in the world, she brought an impressive
contact list to the table, and in short
order she was buying and selling on the
international market.
She notes that because most buyers are
looking for a horse that is already trained,
much of her work involves purchasing
younger horses at auction, then working
with them on the competition circuit until
they are ready to go to a client. Many of
those clients are American, which begs
the question: Why would an American
rider look to Europe for a horse?
Godek explains that, for one thing,
the sheer number of horses in Europe
can make a trip abroad well worth the
effort. (Holland alone produces more
than 15,000 foals a year.) For another,
breeding is much more selective on the
Continent than it is in the States. As
well, the cost to compete in Europe is
considerably lower, which helps keep
European breeders’ prices down. Finally,
because the competition also tends to be
stronger abroad, horses there have the
opportunity to truly prove what they are
made of.
So, it seems, does Godek. She makes
what might otherwise seem like a
daunting prospect – buying a horse
abroad – an appealing one. Her company
helps to arrange everything from travel
(equine and human) to quarantine
procedures (equine), and given the
time she spends in the field, scouting
and training and showing, her clients
rest assured that if anyone can make
the right match, she can. Looking for a
champion? Call Kama Godek.
– Charlie Geer ’94
SU MM E R 2 0 0 8 |
59
|
and her husband, Michael, have three daughters
and live in Blythewood.
Alison LeMaster works for a public relations
firm in Chicago.
Todd Lynch earned his master’s in city and
regional planning from Clemson University. He
is a realtor with John Liberatos Real Estate Co.
in Charleston.
Brian Mathias works in the Washington, D.C.
office of Accenture, a global management
consulting and technology services company.
Megan McNamee is a graduate student in The
Citadel’s MBA program.
Raquel Mendoza is a hotel talent coordinator
for the 2008 Latin Billboard Music Awards at
the Hard Rock Café in Hollywood, Fla.
Lauren Bennett Mulkey is a law student at the
Charleston School of Law.
Lilly Petrey is an area residence hall director for
the College’s residence life.
Reid Phillips is a graduate student in the College’s
MAT in early childhood education program.
Amy Falkingham Pillé graduated from Mercer
Law School in 2006 and is an attorney in
Mt. Pleasant.
Jermel President founded DAE Foundation,
a nonprofit that provides basketball skills
training and other valuable athletic and
academic services for student-athletes in the
Charleston area.
Abby Rosenthal is a media coordinator for
Levelwing Media, an interactive advertising
agency in Charleston.
Julie Shackett is the guest relations manager at
The Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary, N.C.
Laurel Stephens Shaler earned her master’s
in social work from Florida State University and
is starting her PhD work in counselor education
and supervision this summer at Regent
University. She and her husband, Nicholas, live
in Greenville, S.C., where Laurel works for the
Department of Veteran Affairs.
Crystal Smith had her short play “Never Trust
an Angel” performed at Cecil College (North
East, Md.) in January and that work is now in the
process of being made into a short film.
Sarah Snyder has traded the East for the West
Coast and now lives in San Diego.
Kate Spencer is a lead child-development
specialist with My House, an organization that
works with medically fragile children in DFCS
custory. She and Mike Gitonga were married in
2007 and live in Alpharetta, Ga.
Dianne Turgeon is an educator certification
analyst with the S.C. Department of Education.
Dianne and Michael Ross were married in
October and live in Lugoff, S.C.
Chris Voedisch heads up the trauma line
for Western North Carolina at Zimmer, an
orthopaedic company in Asheville, N.C.
Cecilia Weatherford is a vice president
and director of operations of the private
mortgage division for Atlantic Bank and Trust
in Charleston.
Amy Wheeler and Travis Warren were married
in April 2007 and live in Alpharetta, Ga.
Sara Saksewski Windjue (MES) is an energy
education specialist for the Wisconsin K-12
Energy Education Program.
Drew Yochum is a sales manager for Charleston
Harbor Tours.
2004 Thomas Bryan IV works in
Washington, D.C. for Tishman Speyer, a
global real estate owner, developer and
investment company.
Drayton Calmes IV is a commercial sales and
leasing associate with Norvell Real Estate Group
LLC in Charleston.
|
60
Brandon Cochran is responsible for business-to-
business sales with Verizon Wireless throughout
coastal South Carolina. He is also a graduate
student in Charleston Southern University’s
MBA program.
Burt Connelly is the athletic director for the City
of Hanahan (S.C.) Recreation Department.
Britton Delis is the hotel restaurant manager for
the Embassy Suites in North Charleston.
Jacki Dixon graduated from the Charleston
School of Law and is a law clerk to circuit court
Judge Carmen Mullen in Beaufort, S.C.
Laura Funderburk is a training and curriculum
specialist for the Department of Defense at
Ft. Rucker, Ala. Laura and Doug Kornacki were
married in October.
John and Loren Bridges Germeroth announce
the birth of a son, Joel. The Germeroths live
in Charleston.
Will Glasscock is a lobbyist for the Association
of Public Television Stations and lives in
Washington, D.C.
Jeffrey Godfrey is a medical student at Lincoln
Memorial University’s DeBusk College of
Osteopathic Medicine in Harrogate, Tenn.
Summer Hardee and Edward Pettigrew
were married in March. Summer is a sixth-grade
teacher at Memminger Elementary School in
Charleston, and Edward works for Hagemeyer
North America.
Michael Heinritz is in sales for Curwood, a
division of Bemis Company, and lives in
Neenah, Wisc.
Abby Henry-Sawyer is an English teacher
at Waccamaw High School on Pawley’s Island,
S.C. She and Philip Sawyer were married
in December 2006. Bridesmaids were
Heidi Altman, Emily Chandler,
Katherine Landrum-Mappus and
Ashley Plexico.
Jenifer Kampsen is a law student at Georgia
State University and works for the Atlanta
Volunteer Lawyers Association advocating for
children in abuse and neglect hearings.
Ellie LaBar is an entertainment consultant
with EastCoast Entertainment and lives in
Asheville, N.C.
Troy Lesesne is the assistant head coach of the
men’s soccer team at the College.
Tommy Linstroth (MES) is the head of
sustainable initiatives for Melaver in Savannah,
Ga. He wrote Local Action: The New Paradigm in
Climate Change Policy.
Meike McDonald is a teacher at Septima
Clark Corporate Academy on James Island. She
finished her master’s degree plus 30 and is
working toward her National Board Certificate.
Laura Mills graduated from the Medical
University of South Carolina’s dental program
and will begin a four-year oral and maxillofacial
surgery residency program this summer.
Lindsay Moon is a research coordinator for the
S.C. Office of State Budget and is a graduate
student in the University of South Carolina’s
public administration program.
Terri Lee Moore is a travel agent with Abbott
and Hill Travel in Charleston.
Matthew and Megan Fallon Nelson announce
the birth of a daughter, Morgan Elisabeth. The
Nelsons live in Virginia Beach.
Rachelle Olden is a graduate student in George
Washington University’s MPA program.
Rosemary Olson is a chef and first mate
aboard the catamaran yacht Pentesilea II in
the Virgin Islands.
Sarah Bennett Penton is an advocate
coordinator for Rockdale CASA, a non-profit
that trains volunteers to advocate for abused
and neglected children involved in juvenile
court proceedings. She and her husband,
Hunter, live in the Atlanta area.
Cameron Banner Renwick is the community
outreach coordinator for the Alzheimer’s
Association South Carolina Chapter.
Scott Riley is the director of promotions and
merchandise for the St. Paul Saints, a minor
league baseball franchise in Minnesota.
Lauren Silcott is a program director at
MUSC helping teenage girls who have been
sexually assaulted.
Ann Tierney Simpson is the Southeast
hospitality sales representative for Elem
Corporation, a distributor of luxury towels and
linens, and is based out of Charleston.
McRae Smith and Daniel Weede ’01 were
married in March. McRae is a corporate event
marketer for Blackbaud, and Daniel is an
account executive at Blackbaud. They live in
Mt. Pleasant.
Stephen Truluck works for Coppedge & Tison
Commercial Real Estate in Charleston.
Meghan Byrnes Weinreich is the public
relations and marketing coordinator for Crew
Carolina LLC.
2005 Jennifer Barbarino and Matthew
Reagin were married in January and live in
Charlotte, N.C.
Brevard and Heather Jackson Blythe have
a son and live in Eustis, Fla. Brevard is a senior
geologist for an environmental consulting
firm, and Heather is middle school teacher
at Faith Lutheran School and is participating
in the TEACH US History Grant with Lake
County schools.
Theresa Williams Byrd is the assistant
director of advancement services at
Washington & Lee University, where her
husband, Ben ’03, is a law student.
Courtney Collins is a graduate student in
Coastal Carolina University’s MEd program and
works for the Horry County School District.
Courtney and Ashley Rogers were married in
November and live on Pawley’s Island, S.C.
Camille Coniglio is an underwriter for the
asset-based lending group of JP Morgan Chase
in Dallas, Texas.
Kellen Cooney is a trader/programmer with
Automated Trading Desk in Mt. Pleasant.
Chris Crawford is a law student at Florida
International University in Miami. Chris is on
both the moot and mock trial teams and is the
Florida Bar representative, meaning he is in
the top 10 percent of students.
Grant Gimpel is a graduate student at New
York University’s music composition/film
scoring program.
Nicholas Glover is a junior board member
of the Court Appointed Special Advocate
Association in New York City.
Verdeanis Goodwine is a clinical counselor
with MUSC’s Institute of Psychiatry and is
a graduate student in Webster University’s
professional mental health program.
Jonathan Holland is an English teacher at
North Charleston High School.
Sasha Horne works in the radio department at
the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and is a
freelance reporter for NBC Universal’s DC Scene
and delawarehispanic.com. Sasha is a member
of the Greater Washington Urban League, the
Society of Professional Journalists and the
National Association of Black Journalists. She
also serves as a public affairs specialist in the
U.S. Air Force Reserve. She and Antoine Skrine
were married in March 2007.
CLASS NOTES
[ alumni profile ]
“I pledge allegiance to my MTV and
the reality television shows of America …”
While MTV fans can still tune into
Gauntlet III and That’s Amoré!, they can
also stay up to date on an even bigger
reality show contest: the one for the
White House.
As a part of MTV’s 2008 Citizen
Journalist squad, also known as the
Choose or Lose Street Team, Shantel
Middleton ’06 has been charged with
keeping young viewers and voters up
to date on South Carolina in this year’s
presidential race.
The team, made up of 51 journalists
from each state and Washington, D.C.,
covers state and local issues, as well as
topics more specifically affecting young
voters. MTV’s website, Think.mtv.com –
where she posts her stories – “is for
young people and about young people,”
Middleton says.
After graduation, the communication
major and former cheerleader was
working at ABC News 4 in Charleston
when the big break at MTV seemed to fall
into her lap at just the right time.
“I had finally finished my résumé tape
when a good friend and mentor e-mailed
me the link for the MTV job,” she explains.
“I had so much on my mind at the time –
especially in politics. The opportunity was
a perfect fit.”
After making it to the South Carolina
semi-finals, Middleton had to create
a documentary on a topic relating to
the elections. She chose healthcare,
something she knew a little something
about after working as a Camp Happy
Days counselor and seeing a 15-year-old
camper lose her insurance.
“The U.S. health system failed this
family,” Middleton observes. “When they
needed our government most, they
were abandoned.”
Last November, Middleton earned the
state’s MTV Citizen Journalist job. “I was
so scared,” she confesses. “I always said
that I’d never ‘one-man-band.’ I’m too cute
for that.”
Fortunately, Middleton had already
found out after graduation that a
broadcast journalist needs to know more
than the basics in front of the camera, so
she trained herself to shoot and edit her
own video.
| Photo by Alice Keeney ’04 |
The Political Beat on the Street
Middleton was ready for MTV’s
whirlwind training session in New York,
which included seminars on media law,
broadcast news, music and copyright
infringement.
A few days after Middleton returned
to South Carolina, the state’s Republican
primary was already in full swing.
“I was all over the state – all day, every
day,” she explains.
The toughest part of the citizenjournalist job is time management. Along
with holding down her part-time job at
the local ABC affiliate, she is responsible
for interviewing, shooting and editing her
own footage, with one video due per week
as well as other long-term projects. “This
isn’t a shoot-out-the story-and-you’re-done
type of job,” she said. “I’m always working.”
In addition to covering the daily grind
of S.C. politics, Middleton has taken special
interest in healthcare and hate crime
issues, as well as the economic disparity
found throughout the state. “South
Carolina has the best and worst right
next to one another,” she observes,
“which is something you can really see
here in Charleston.”
Middleton grew up in White Hall, S.C.,
where she felt the economic and social
effects of sharecropping on her family and
community firsthand. “I could not have
gotten to where I am without help,” she
says. “I want people to know that I’m not
the exception.”
Middleton’s Street Team reporting will
go through Election Day on November 4,
and she plans to continue reporting well
on afterward. “I got into journalism to tell
the stories that go untold,” she says. “I’d
like to keep doing that.”
– Erin Holaday ’06
SU MM E R 2 0 0 8 |
61
|
Steven Larrabee is a policy analyst for the Office
Chris Boehner ’06 is a volunteer
with Tour D’Afrique Ltd. Chris
guides clients along the Silk Road,
beginning in Istanbul, Turkey, and
ending in Beijing, China. Last year,
he cycled through eight countries,
covering 10,700 kilometers in 107
days and then went to Cairo, Egypt,
to work as a mobile blogger for the
2007 Tour D’Afrique race/expedition
across Africa.
James Jackson is a textbook manager for
eCampus.com in Lexington, Ky.
Christine Joy is an administrative assistant at
the Southeastern Fertility Center.
Taylor Kemp is an account manager at HD Supply,
Lumber & Building Materials in Charleston.
of the House Minority Leader (Representative
Bradley Jones Jr.) in Boston, Mass.
Laurence Long is a sales manager for a
conference center in Boston, Mass.
Jay and Jessica Downs Morton announce the
birth of a daughter, Delaney Elizabeth. The
Mortons live in Summerville, S.C.
Ashley Patton (MAT) is a teacher at Savannah
Grove Elementary School in Florence, S.C. She
and James Bratton were married in January.
Kimberly Ravenscroft (see Andrew Cook ’01)
Chris and Natasha Blasko Royer announce
the birth of a daughter, Charlotte. The Royers
live in Jacksonville, Fla., where Natasha is a law
student at Florida Coastal School of Law.
Natalie Rulong is a study abroad advisor
based in Austin, Texas, for International
Studies Abroad.
Cullen Schmitt works in the marketing and
communications department at the Harvard
Business School.
Leah Suarez and Mac Cozier ’03 were married
in March 2005. Leah is a jazz vocalist and is
president of Jazz Artists of Charleston. Mac is
pursuing his MAT degree at The Citadel.
Will Taylor is an environmental project manager
for Coastal Engineering & Testing Co.
Dona Toteva is a sales account executive at
Horizon Lines LLC in Oakland, Calif., and is a
graduate student in St. Mary’s College’s
MBA program.
Adam Townsend is a revenue manager
with Compass Cove Oceanfront Resort in
Myrtle Beach.
Andrew Woods is a law student at Catholic
University of America in Washington, D.C. He is
also the deputy finance director of Virginians
for Brian Moran, a Democratic gubernatorial
campaign in Alexandria.
Tanya Young is a financial aid counselor at
Brown Mackie College in Cincinnati and is an
MBA graduate student.
2006
Lisa Marie Ackerman (MAT)
is a first-grade teacher at the Daniel Island
School. She and John Ferguson were married in
December and live in Charleston.
Athan Barkoukis (MES) is the Northeast
Ohio program manager for Green Energy Ohio,
a state chapter of the American Solar Energy
Society. Athan was featured on the Weather
Channel regarding his work with solar energy
and the Amish.
| An Affair to Remember: The College’s Annual Alumni Reception honoring the Class of 2008 was truly a memory-making evening.
More than 1,300 alumni and guests made merry at the tented “Charleston Affair,” held in the Cistern Yard. |
|
62
CLASS NOTES
Pamela Corwin is a biologist for the S.C.
Deparment of Natural Resources in North
Charleston and recently joined the S.C. Army
National Guard.
Tyler Dockery is the assistant general manager
for the HarbourView Inn in Charleston.
Jeff Duke is a systems analyst for Charleston
Water System.
Kelly Forward works in the human resources
department at Automated Trading Desk in
Mt. Pleasant.
Eunice Gloster is a third-grade teacher in the
Fairfield County (S.C.) School District.
Ben Greene is the co-owner of Greene Flooring
Installation Co. in Greenville, S.C.
Erin Holaday is an analyst with Sherman
Capital Markets in Charleston.
Ian Jones is a chief engineer of information
systems for Richardson Patrick LLC in
Mt. Pleasant.
Katherine Grenci Jones is a customer service
representative for Atlantic Aviation Charleston
and has been accepted into the nursing program
at Trident Technical College.
Clay McElheny works in the Oconee Regional
Hospital Pharmacy and lives in Milledgeville, Ga.
Gordon McLeod is a program assistant to the
executive director of the Palmetto Trust for
Historic Preservation as well as a part-time
worker for the Historic Columbia Foundation.
Joe Mester is a project assistant at Charleston’s
Drayton Hall, where he is developing the site’s
archival management policy, facilitating
student internships, conducting research,
writing interpretation and assisting in the site’s
preservation. Joe collaborated with The History
Channel in creating a DVD walking tour of
Drayton Hall.
Ryan Phillips is a law student at Charleston
School of Law and is the associate editor-in-chief
of the Charleston Law Review.
Julie Proell is a graduate student in Kent State
University’s ecology program.
Matthew Rice is a software engineer at
Automated Trading Desk in Mt. Pleasant.
Matthew and Brittany Cogdill were married
in March.
Meredith Ritchie is a copy associate at
Woman’s Day magazine in New York City.
Brittany Rodgers is a graduate student at the
University of South Carolina School of Medicine.
Shondra Schlichenmayer is an assistant
coach for the ladies’ fast-pitch softball team at
Aiken Technical College.
Jessica Schweitzer coordinates environmental
grants for DHEC’s Bureau of Water in order
to prevent water pollution in South Carolina.
Jessica lives in Columbia.
Marwa Shideed is a software engineer on the
trading technology team at Automated Trading
Desk in Mt. Pleasant.
Laura Stroud is a project accountant with LS3P
Associates in Charleston.
Jennifer Thomas is a graduate student in
Capella University’s healthcare administration
program. Jennifer and Michael Juhasz were
married in March.
Lauren Towe is an events coordinator for the
College’s Office of Alumni Relations.
Brittany Warren is a sales team member at
Blackbaud on Daniel Island. She and Loren
Foster were married in August.
2007 Katie Abney is an assistant editor
for Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles magazine.
Deborah Acree is a biology teacher at Stratford
High School in Goose Creek, S.C.
David Ammons and Macie Lewis ’08 were
married in December.
Jodie Battles is the general manager of Fish
Restaurant in Charleston.
Sarah Bjorkman was presidential hopeful Rudy
Giuliani’s Lowcountry field director.
Sarah Bumgarner is working at a high school
in Colleton County, S.C. Funded by a grant,
Sarah and four other interventionists are
implementing a plan to improve testing skills
and scores for the Class of 2010.
David Butler II is a special assistant in the
Lowcountry for U.S. Congressman Joe Wilson
(Second District, S.C.) and lives in Hilton Head.
Cecelia Capps is a sales executive for Modern
Painters magazine in New York City.
Emily Castelli is an assistant account
executive on the Monster account for BBDO, a
worldwide advertising agency network. Emily is
based out of New York City.
Nakashia Dunner is a graduate student of
Latin American studies at George Washington
University’s Elliott School of International
Affairs. She received the Rangel Fellowship
and the Elliott School Fellowship. Following
graduation, she will be sworn into the
Foreign Service.
Joel French is working at the Santiago Marriott
in Chile.
Patrick Graves is an associate planner for the
City of Charleston’s Zoning Division.
Ashley Jarvis is a beverage broker in Louisville,
Ky., for Michaels and Associates, Dennery
Division.
Katie Kent is at the Federal Law Enforcement
Training Center in Glynco, Ga. After she
graduates this spring, she will be a deputy
U.S. marshal for the District of Columbia
Superior Court.
John Kohler is a medical student at the Medical
University of South Carolina.
Jessica Lancia (MA) is a processing archivist
for the Avery Research Center at the College.
Lizzie Lewis is an English teacher in
Alexandria, Egypt.
Megan Marshall is a travel advisor for STA
Travel in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Ryan Moncman is an affiliate with Daniel
Ravenel Sotheby’s International Realty in
Charleston.
Ashley Parker is a public relations assistant for
Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston. One of
her responsibilities is running the festival’s
press office.
Anthony Piccola is in the Management
Development Program of Chick-Fil-A, working
as a manager and service coach in Summerville,
S.C.
Holly Rickards is the conference services
concierge at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island.
Megan Schwab is the grassroots marketing
coordinator for the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball
Tour in Los Angeles.
David Stasiukaitis is a vice president with
Low Country Case & Millwork.
Kristy Wiegmann is a sales and service
specialist for PNC’s Wealth Management
in Baltimore.
2008 Macie) Lewis (see David
Ammons ’07
[ passages ]
Mary Martin Hendricks ’31
Alex Jones ’43
Timothy Asnip ’82
Thelma Knight Burgess ’32
Barbara Alward Polk ’44
Rebecca Newman ’82
George Cohen ’33
Dorothy McClenaghan Hamlin ’48
Krystyne Jusevic Kilbury ’91
Sara Jones Little ’34
Charlotte La Far Robbins ’48
Joshua Spruill ’96
Hazel F. Lilienthal ’38
Teresa Whetsell Pregnall Moore ’49
Gregory Cromwell ’01
Virginia Simmons McLeod ’42
Shirley Robinson McKnight ’53
Adam Robison ’04
Mary Elizabeth Harrington Palmer ’42
John Sughrue Jr. ’54
Emily Salisbury (student)
Margaret Finucan Gage ’43
William Payne ’75
Annie Patrick (former staff)
November 13; Altamont, N.Y.
October 4, 2005; Hendersonville, N.C.
February 6; Hollywood, Fla.
April 24, 2004; Chico, Calif.
August 30, 2004; Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
April 19, 2006; Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
January 10; St. Petersburg, Fla.
April 10; Summerville, S.C.
December 29, 2003; Griffin, Ga.
March 19; Hilton Head Island, S.C.
December 1, 2004; Alpharetta, Ga.
May 25, 2006; San Diego, Calif.
January 20; Charleston, S.C.
January 30; Greenville, S.C.
February 3; Woodstock, Ga.
April 19; Wilmington, N.C.
February 5; Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
January 30; North Charleston, S.C.
November 30, 2004; Lexington, S.C.
February 10; Charleston, S.C.
March 6; Charleston, S.C.
February 3; Charleston, S.C.
March 25; Charleston, W.V.
January 29; Charleston, S.C.
SU M M E R 2 0 0 8 |
63
|
My Space
Willard A. Silcox Physical Education and Health Center
One of my favorite places on campus
is the old gym. I roomed in the front of the
Silcox Gym in what are now the physical
education offices. My roommate, Tom Holst
’65, insisted on running his large window
fan year round. Before global warming,
Decembers in Charleston were somewhat
chilly with that fan going. Once, Tom even
woke up with his face iced over. To this day,
however, I can’t sleep without a fan running.
About half of the basketball team roomed
there in the gym, and I developed lifelong
friendships with my teammates.
|
64
There are many memorable sporting
events in the old gym, too many to name.
But my favorite has to be the ’63–64
season, when we defeated N.C. Wesleyan,
Lynchburg College and the heavily favored
St. Andrews College to win the First Annual
Dixie Conference basketball tournament.
I should also note that one thing that
everyone will remember about the old
gym (but not that fondly) is running
so-called “balconies” at practices or
during mandatory (and noncredit)
PE classes.
And one can’t think about that building
without recalling the lifelong contributions
of “Mr. Sil” himself [Willard Silcox ’33] and
Tony Meyer ’49. Both were very positive
influences in the lives of many alumni,
including my own.
– Marion Doig ’65 is a professor
of chemistry and biochemistry
at the College.
E-mail us at magazine@cofc.edu with your
favorite place on campus and what makes
it so special to you.
YOUR SUMMER
STARTS
NOW.
GEAR
UP!
GO COUGARS!
T-shirts, frisbees, books, hats, shorts,
kid’s apparel, keychains, decals, pens,
blankets, magnets, travel mugs …
everything you could ever want to
show off your school spirit.
Visit the College of Charleston Bookstore for all your Cougar needs.
160 Calhoun Street • 843.953.5518 • www.cofc.bkstr.com
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage PAID
College of Charleston
Charleston, SC 29424-0001

hoop dreams hoop realities

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