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<strong>Randolph</strong><br />

The <strong>Randolph</strong> college Magazine<br />

september 2010 Vol. 2 No. 1<br />

Founded as <strong>Randolph</strong>-Macon Woman’s <strong>College</strong> in 1891<br />

This is <strong>Randolph</strong><br />

Class of ’14 Joins Community of<br />

Artists, Scientists, and Scholars


<strong>Randolph</strong><br />

A Publication of<br />

<strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong><br />

Founded as <strong>Randolph</strong>-Macon<br />

Woman’s <strong>College</strong> in 1891<br />

2<br />

John E. Klein<br />

President<br />

<strong>Randolph</strong><br />

is published three<br />

times a year by the<br />

Office of <strong>College</strong> Relations<br />

Michael Quinn<br />

Assistant Vice President of<br />

<strong>College</strong> Relations and Marketing<br />

Brenda Edson<br />

Editor<br />

Dave Blount<br />

Jay Conley<br />

Linda Hoffman<br />

Keeley Cordingley Tuggle<br />

Design<br />

Barbara Harbison<br />

Special Contributors<br />

Jane Campbell ’12<br />

Louise Searle ’12<br />

Ellen Hostetter<br />

Jessie Thompson<br />

John Shupe<br />

Jack Parker<br />

<strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong><br />

Office of <strong>College</strong> Relations<br />

2500 Rivermont Avenue<br />

Lynchburg, Virginia 24503<br />

(434) 947-8142<br />

www.randolphcollege.edu/<br />

magazine<br />

We want to hear your story<br />

ideas and comments!<br />

E-mail us at<br />

magazine@randolphcollege.<br />

edu<br />

12<br />

24<br />

<strong>Randolph</strong><br />

FEATURES<br />

Vol. 2 No. 1<br />

“Luckiest Classicist in the World” 2<br />

Amy R. Cohen, a <strong>Randolph</strong> classics professor, is adding<br />

her own touch to the Greek Play tradition.<br />

COVER: This is <strong>Randolph</strong> 12<br />

<strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong> is filled with originals. Meet five<br />

members of the Class of 2014 and find out what<br />

makes them unique.<br />

2010 Summer Research Program 18<br />

Now in its 10th year, <strong>Randolph</strong>’s Summer Research<br />

Program continues to provide faculty members and<br />

students with the opportunity to conduct original research<br />

and share methodologies and results with the entire <strong>College</strong><br />

community.<br />

American Culture Moves Students to Think 24<br />

2010 program encourages students to explore major cultural,<br />

social, and literal movements in American history.<br />

18<br />

From the President 1<br />

New English Curriculum Provides<br />

Innovative Approach to Learning 4<br />

The World in Britain 5<br />

Renovations Enhance Riding Program 6<br />

Family Ties 8<br />

In Print<br />

David Schwartz: Consuming Choices: Ethics in a<br />

Global Consumer Age 10<br />

Marjorie Wheeler-Barclay: The Science of Religion<br />

in Britain 1860–1915 11<br />

Davenport Leaders 16<br />

Pay It Forward 17<br />

Summer Games 22<br />

Standing Out 27<br />

Finding Balance28<br />

Meet Allison Nichols 30<br />

Wanda WildCat Explores Lynchburg 32<br />

Lynn Stuart, Trustee Inside Back Cover<br />

Scan this code to view<br />

randolphmagazine.mobi on<br />

your iPhone, BlackBerry, or<br />

mobile device.<br />

Additional features are available at www.randolphmagazine.com<br />

On the move? Download a mobile device version at www.randolphmagazine.mobi<br />

Correction: Eric Struble’s name was incorrectly spelled in the April issue. The staff of <strong>Randolph</strong> regrets this error.


From the President<br />

<strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong> is beginning the 2010–2011 academic year with much<br />

to celebrate.<br />

This academic year marks our first time with four coeducational classes<br />

and, after a challenging transition, we are now investing in the <strong>College</strong>—its<br />

people, academic program, and facilities.<br />

The Class of 2014 and other new students arrived this fall bringing<br />

energy and excitement. They were met<br />

by enthusiastic upperclass women and<br />

men who helped them acclimate to<br />

our traditions and campus life. For the<br />

first time in years, we are enjoying an<br />

increase in first-year and transfer student<br />

enrollment, and the new students bring<br />

to our community many different talents<br />

and diverse backgrounds.<br />

At <strong>Randolph</strong>, academics are the<br />

priority, and we are making investments<br />

in our programs, while keeping a sharp<br />

eye on costs. This year, we had the lowest<br />

tuition increase in 20 years. At the same<br />

time, we have added the new RISE award<br />

program, which encourages student<br />

scholarship with grants, and have hired<br />

nine new faculty members this fall for<br />

art history, economics and business,<br />

communication studies, psychology, theatre, physics, and American<br />

culture.<br />

Campus facilities are an important part of our investment. We are<br />

completing the first phase of renovations to the main (fourth) floor of the<br />

library, with new paint, carpet, and furniture in the two rooms with vaulted<br />

ceilings. We have updated Main Hall lobby to be more welcoming to current<br />

and prospective students. We have sound-proofed the music practice rooms<br />

in Presser Hall, and the Riding Center has been enhanced in anticipation<br />

of supporting more riders. Planning for a major renovation of the Student<br />

Center continues; this exciting $5 million project received a large boost<br />

from Puff Gravely Hampson ’41, who recently announced her $2 million<br />

commitment to the project.<br />

These investments have been supported by the gifts of alumnae, alumni,<br />

friends, and others, which help us continue to provide a quality education<br />

for our students.<br />

This academic year promises to be one we will remember. I encourage you<br />

to visit campus and see all of the wonderful things happening at <strong>Randolph</strong><br />

<strong>College</strong>.<br />

President John E. Klein and his wife Susan met with new students and Davenport Leaders<br />

during orientation.<br />

John E. Klein<br />

President<br />

“At <strong>Randolph</strong>, academics<br />

are the priority, and we are<br />

making investments in our<br />

programs, while keeping a<br />

sharp eye on costs.”<br />

John E. Klein<br />

President<br />

1


“Luckiest Classicist in the World”<br />

Amy R. Cohen puts her own touch on Greek Play tradition<br />

Amy R. Cohen will never forget<br />

the first time she saw The Dell<br />

and the <strong>College</strong>’s Greek Theatre. It<br />

was a beautiful spring day, and she<br />

was interviewing for her current<br />

position as a classics professor.<br />

As she gazed out at the facility<br />

during a tour of campus, her jaw<br />

dropped. “It was one of those ‘Oh<br />

my God’ moments. They showed<br />

me this amazing space and told<br />

me about the Greek Play tradition.<br />

I just couldn’t believe it.”<br />

Eleven years later, Cohen is<br />

still amazed. “I feel like the luckiest<br />

classicist in the world,” Cohen said.<br />

“I get to teach Greek, and I get a<br />

real laboratory to work in, and I<br />

have these fantastic students.”<br />

The <strong>College</strong>’s first Greek Play<br />

was produced in 1909 when Mabel<br />

K. Whiteside led students in an all-<br />

Greek production of Euripides’<br />

Alcestis. She continued the<br />

productions until her retirement in<br />

1954. With Whiteside’s departure,<br />

regular productions of the Greek<br />

plays lapsed.<br />

Shortly after Cohen arrived<br />

on campus, she was asked to revive<br />

the Greek Play. In 2000—46 years<br />

after Whiteside’s last production—<br />

Cohen and her students produced<br />

Sophocles’ Antigone. “It was<br />

immediately something our<br />

current students took up,” Cohen<br />

said. “They saw its value to the<br />

history of the <strong>College</strong>, and at the<br />

same time, they saw how they<br />

could bring new life to it.”<br />

Now, Cohen’s productions<br />

have their own following and draw<br />

hundreds of spectators, including<br />

schoolchildren and alumnae. Her<br />

plays are performed in English<br />

and adhere to most of the original<br />

Greek drama conventions,<br />

including the use of masks,<br />

which are designed and<br />

created as they were during<br />

ancient Greek times.<br />

Betty Jo Hanna Harper<br />

’50 performed in the chorus<br />

of Whiteside’s productions<br />

and has returned to see two<br />

of Cohen’s productions.<br />

“Miss Mabel wanted this<br />

to continue, not only as a<br />

<strong>College</strong> tradition, but as<br />

a way of informing and<br />

educating people who have<br />

not had the advantage of<br />

studying Greek drama. She<br />

would be delighted,” Harper<br />

said.<br />

With a first scholars’<br />

symposium scheduled for<br />

October, Cohen’s dream of<br />

showcasing the <strong>College</strong>’s<br />

unique facility and program<br />

is coming true. The<br />

conference, which coincides with<br />

the 2010 Greek Play, Euripides’<br />

Hecuba, has attracted scholars,<br />

graduate students, and theatre<br />

professionals from around the<br />

nation.<br />

“I’m so proud of what we have<br />

accomplished here,” Cohen said.<br />

“Our students are well educated in<br />

theatre and understand how<br />

important these plays are to the<br />

history of drama. We’ve also been<br />

able to introduce the community<br />

to the power of Greek drama. Every<br />

time I go out to The Dell, I can feel<br />

Miss Mabel. I know she would be<br />

proud of what we are doing.”<br />

this fall<br />

Hecuba<br />

by Euripides<br />

in a new translation by<br />

Jay Kardan and Laura-Gray Street<br />

October 8–10, 2010<br />

4 P.M.<br />

For more information:<br />

randolphcollege.edu/greekplay<br />

(Above) Amy R. Cohen adjusts a mask used<br />

in <strong>Randolph</strong>’s Greek Play.<br />

3


New English Curriculum Provides<br />

Innovative Approach to Learning<br />

In the new program, students<br />

study English literature within<br />

the context of genres instead<br />

of the traditional historical<br />

approach…<br />

Professor of English Dan Stiffler<br />

Survey courses, long a staple<br />

of undergraduate English<br />

programs, offer students a sampling<br />

of authors and works within an<br />

historical time period. For English<br />

majors, they form the foundation<br />

of the work necessary to acquire a<br />

degree.<br />

<strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong> is about to<br />

rewrite the book on learning about<br />

English literature.<br />

The changes were sparked by<br />

the English department faculty<br />

recognizing three trends: more<br />

students were expressing interest<br />

in the creative writing emphasis;<br />

creative writing students were<br />

taking historical survey courses,<br />

which did not serve their needs<br />

well; and the students in the<br />

creative writing and literature<br />

emphasis areas were not learning<br />

together—even though they were<br />

all English majors.<br />

“Our students did not work<br />

together until their senior seminar,”<br />

said Dan Stiffler, a professor of<br />

English. “We decided to integrate<br />

the learning experience for creative<br />

writing and literature students.”<br />

After a six-year process of thought<br />

and planning, and plenty of<br />

input from students already in<br />

the program, an innovative new<br />

English program rolled out at the<br />

beginning of this semester.<br />

In the new program, students<br />

study English literature within the<br />

context of genres instead of the<br />

traditional historical approach<br />

that is often presented in<br />

anthologies published by Norton,<br />

for example.<br />

To ensure that all English<br />

majors have an understanding of<br />

the creative process—whether they<br />

intend to write or analyze English<br />

literature—students are required to<br />

complete Introduction to Creative<br />

Writing. They also complete three<br />

core courses dealing with poetry,<br />

prose, fiction, and drama. The core<br />

courses are designed to provide<br />

a basic understanding of English<br />

literature, reveal the structure<br />

of literary expression, and help<br />

students develop skills in critical<br />

analysis and creative expression.<br />

Students select their advanced<br />

courses in three categories:<br />

genre or mode; period, topic, or<br />

movement; and author(s). Within<br />

the categories, they will find, for<br />

example, existing courses, such as<br />

Magical Realism, a world literature<br />

course; courses that have been<br />

refocused, such as The Concord<br />

Circle, about the discourses of<br />

Romanticism; and new courses,<br />

such as Inspired by the Sea, about<br />

the sea not only as a setting but also<br />

as a transnational theory.<br />

The changes in the English<br />

program have spun off four new<br />

minors: drama, fiction, literature,<br />

and poetry. The minors provide<br />

English majors, and all <strong>Randolph</strong><br />

students, with an opportunity to<br />

delve into specific genres in which<br />

they are interested.<br />

“We’re excited about this fresh<br />

approach that offers our students<br />

a variety of tantalizing ways to<br />

engage literature and learn from it,”<br />

said Heidi M. Kunz, chair of the<br />

English department.<br />

4


The World in Britain<br />

Lars Franke continues family atmosphere, makes his mark<br />

on <strong>Randolph</strong>’s flagship study abroad program<br />

Lars Franke had the East Coast<br />

at his fingertips when he spent<br />

a week on American soil in the<br />

spring. But he did something<br />

very American, which is also very<br />

European. Instead of beating a<br />

path to Washington, D.C., New<br />

York City, or some other metropolis<br />

known for its tourist attractions,<br />

Franke went camping.<br />

It is one of his passions back<br />

in Reading, England, where Franke<br />

is beginning his second year as<br />

director of <strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong>’s The<br />

World in Britain program at the<br />

University of Reading.<br />

Before bedding down in his<br />

rented RV at a campground near<br />

Natural Bridge, Virginia, Franke<br />

spent time on <strong>Randolph</strong>’s campus<br />

in Lynchburg meeting with faculty,<br />

administrators, and students. He<br />

also delivered the <strong>College</strong>’s Quillian<br />

Lecture, “Study Abroad and the<br />

Shaping of Western Culture.” With<br />

a year under his belt in Reading,<br />

Franke is excited about the Reading<br />

program and his plans for the current<br />

academic year. He is also looking<br />

forward to the Reading Reunion<br />

planned for July 15–17, 2011.<br />

“It’s been everything I hoped it<br />

would be and more,” he said, adding<br />

that the chance to take the helm of<br />

the Reading program has given<br />

him “a real sense of feeling that<br />

I’ve finally found my spot rather<br />

than feeling like it’s a job.” Franke<br />

previously served as a visiting tutor<br />

and an interdisciplinary instructor<br />

of music for <strong>Randolph</strong> students in<br />

Reading. In addition to his duties as<br />

director, Franke is also an assistant<br />

professor of music at Reading<br />

and leads experiential learning<br />

tours. He earned his Ph.D. in<br />

musicology from the University of<br />

Southampton and holds master’s<br />

and bachelor’s degrees from the<br />

University of Surrey.<br />

Franke is emphatic about<br />

carrying on the familial atmosphere<br />

displayed by his predecessor,<br />

<strong>Randolph</strong> Ivy, who retired in 2009<br />

after 31 years of service. “The<br />

students know they can come and<br />

talk to me about things that aren’t<br />

necessarily academic,” Franke said.<br />

“That’s just as much a part of the<br />

program. The students are there<br />

to learn academically, but also to<br />

experience the culture and to learn<br />

about other ways of living, and to<br />

develop as human beings.”<br />

<strong>Randolph</strong> students spend<br />

either a semester or a year in<br />

England during the program. All<br />

students take the course The World<br />

in Britain, an interdisciplinary<br />

seminar that explores—in large part<br />

through day and weekend trips to<br />

a variety of locations—the politics,<br />

social issues, literature, art, and<br />

science of England spanning the<br />

Renaissance to the present.<br />

Originally from Germany,<br />

Franke has gained a wealth of<br />

knowledge from traveling and<br />

living abroad. “I would thoroughly<br />

recommend it to anyone who feels<br />

that they are interested in opening<br />

up to other cultures,” Franke said.<br />

“For anyone who attempts it, it will<br />

be a life-changing experience.”<br />

“The students are there<br />

to learn academically,<br />

but also to experience<br />

the culture and to learn<br />

about other ways of living,<br />

and to develop as human<br />

beings.”<br />

<br />

Lars Franke<br />

Director<br />

<br />

The World in Britain<br />

Lars Franke, director of <strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong><br />

Abroad: The World in Britain program<br />

5


Renovations Enhance<br />

Upgrades provide better facilities for riders and horses<br />

<strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong>’s Riding<br />

Center is not just a facility to<br />

riders like Lorna McFarlane ’12.<br />

For these students, the 100-acre<br />

horse center with its rolling hills<br />

and mountain views is a kind of<br />

sanctuary.<br />

“Having access to a reputable<br />

facility and a coach who helps<br />

me consistently improve is very<br />

important,” McFarlane said. “Not<br />

only is riding my all-time favorite<br />

sport, but the <strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong><br />

Riding Center is also a great place<br />

to go to get off campus for a bit.<br />

Working with horses is a great destressor.”<br />

Recent improvements to<br />

the Riding Center are benefiting<br />

students—and horses. One major<br />

project for the summer involved<br />

replacing fencing, a daunting task<br />

on such a large property. Other<br />

renovations include an addition to<br />

the main building, which houses<br />

tractors and other equipment, hay,<br />

sawdust for bedding, and additional<br />

stalls for the horses. Renovations to<br />

the offices in the main building are<br />

expected to come later.<br />

Students and staff are excited<br />

about the changes. “Renovations<br />

and updates are extremely<br />

important to the maintenance of<br />

the Riding Center as it is the only<br />

way we can provide the care our<br />

horses deserve,” McFarlane said.<br />

“Having access to a<br />

reputable facility and<br />

a coach who helps me<br />

consistently improve is<br />

very important.”<br />

Lorna McFarlane ’12<br />

Maintaining a first-rate<br />

facility is also important for a<br />

riding program that is nationally<br />

recognized. <strong>Randolph</strong>’s program,<br />

led by J.T. Tallon, has a longstanding<br />

reputation for excellence. Last year,<br />

Lizzie Kerron ’13 was named the<br />

ODAC Rookie of the Year. In<br />

addition, the WildCats have won<br />

three ODAC championships in<br />

the last 10 years and have placed<br />

riders on the All-ODAC Equestrian<br />

Team every year for the last 18 years.<br />

Tallon has been named the ODAC<br />

Coach of the Year three times since<br />

2000. He is also one of only three<br />

licensed hunter course designers<br />

in Virginia.<br />

The <strong>College</strong>’s riding program is<br />

designed to offer riders of all skill<br />

levels the training and experience<br />

they need. Students can receive<br />

lessons, the option to participate<br />

in extra rides, special coaching<br />

for schooling and showing, and<br />

opportunities to participate in<br />

clinics.<br />

“We teach all levels of<br />

experience,” said Tallon. “We offer<br />

a beginner class in the fall for those<br />

who have never ridden before. We<br />

start them from scratch. And by<br />

the end of the semester, they’re<br />

walking, usually cantering, jumping<br />

some small jumps, and that sort of<br />

thing.”<br />

The program also attracts<br />

more-experienced riders. “We get<br />

some very good technicians, riders<br />

with a great deal of horse show<br />

experience,” Tallon said.<br />

6


Riding Program<br />

The Riding Center complex<br />

includes two outdoor rings, a<br />

jumping amphitheatre, a schooling<br />

ring, the Claire Noyes Cox Indoor<br />

Riding Center, a hunter trial course<br />

and outside schooling jumps, and<br />

a modern 40-stall barn with 30<br />

horses.<br />

“The improvements not only<br />

are aesthetically more pleasing, but<br />

they improve significantly the<br />

effectiveness and efficiency of the<br />

barn operations,” said Tina Hill,<br />

athletic director. “We take great<br />

pride in the facility. When it<br />

functions well and looks beautiful,<br />

it provides a wonderful learning<br />

environment and place where both<br />

the students and horses can excel<br />

and achieve greatness.”<br />

“We take great pride in the facility. When it functions<br />

well and looks beautiful, it provides a wonderful learning<br />

environment and place where both the students and<br />

horses can excel and achieve greatness.”<br />

<br />

<br />

Tina Hill<br />

Athletic Director<br />

(Top) Gillian Baird ’10 takes Romeo out for<br />

a ride near the fence at the <strong>College</strong>’s Riding<br />

Center.<br />

(Right) Gillian Baird ’10 spends time with<br />

Romeo.<br />

7


Family Ties<br />

Judy Eagle Shelton ’98 shares connection<br />

to <strong>College</strong> and her career with two daughters<br />

8<br />

(Left to Right) Judy Eagle Shelton ’98 and daughters Lauren Shelton ’12 and Kayse Shelton ’10


“The girls were always on<br />

campus with me. … We<br />

would walk around the<br />

campus, and they loved it.<br />

So when they chose to go<br />

there, I think they just felt<br />

right at home.”<br />

Judy Eagle Shelton ’98<br />

Judy Eagle Shelton ’98 smiles<br />

brightly, clearly enjoying her<br />

job hosting the morning radio<br />

show with her husband Kenny on<br />

108 WYYD-FM Country. Shelton,<br />

who graduated from the <strong>College</strong><br />

with a communication degree and<br />

a teaching certificate, has always<br />

loved radio and has passed that<br />

passion on to her daughters.<br />

But radio is not the only thing<br />

the Shelton family shares. Kayse<br />

Shelton ’10 graduated from the<br />

<strong>College</strong> in May with a double major<br />

in political science and psychology,<br />

and Lauren Shelton ’12 is currently<br />

studying studio art.<br />

Shelton could not be happier.<br />

Twelve years ago, she earned her<br />

degree after returning to college<br />

as an adult student.<br />

“The girls were always on<br />

campus with me,” Shelton<br />

recalled. “Kenny would meet me<br />

down there, and I would bring the<br />

girls, and we would have dinner<br />

in the cafeteria. We would walk<br />

around the campus, and they<br />

loved it. So when they chose to go<br />

there, I think they just felt right<br />

at home.”<br />

Kayse considered other<br />

schools during her college search.<br />

But as the deadline drew near to<br />

commit to a college, the Sheltons<br />

made a visit to campus.<br />

“We sat there in those chairs<br />

in front of Leggett, and we were<br />

just talking,” Judy Shelton said.<br />

“And Kayse said ‘This feels right.’<br />

I think that’s how it is for many<br />

students. They walk on campus,<br />

and it just feels right.”<br />

The characteristics Shelton<br />

found at her alma mater remain<br />

the same for her daughters.<br />

“Academically, it was rigorous,<br />

but you really do feel like you know<br />

your professors, and they get to<br />

know you,” she said.<br />

After graduation, Shelton<br />

spent nearly a decade teaching<br />

at a local middle school. But she<br />

missed radio. So in 2008, she went<br />

back on the air. “It’s a dream come<br />

true,” Shelton said.<br />

She is pleased her daughters<br />

found a home at <strong>Randolph</strong><br />

<strong>College</strong>.<br />

Kayse said her professors held<br />

students accountable.<br />

“That’s something that I really<br />

like about them. And they’re really<br />

friendly. I always felt comfortable<br />

asking them questions or e-mailing<br />

them,” she said.<br />

Lauren knew from her mother<br />

and sister that her classes and<br />

instructors were going to be<br />

challenging.<br />

“As far as the professors and<br />

the classes go, it’s what I expected,”<br />

she said.<br />

Just like their parents, Kayse<br />

and Lauren have been bitten by the<br />

radio bug. Kayse works part-time at<br />

WYYD while she contemplates law<br />

school and charts her own career<br />

path. Lauren had her own show<br />

last school year on <strong>Randolph</strong>’s<br />

radio station, WWRM, known as<br />

The Worm. “I’ll probably do that<br />

again [this year],” she said.<br />

Sharing the <strong>College</strong>’s<br />

traditions has given the Shelton<br />

women a unique bond. Lauren<br />

even served as her sister’s squire at<br />

Commencement in May.<br />

“It’s special for me because my<br />

mom went there and Kayse went<br />

there,” she said.<br />

9


in<br />

print<br />

Consuming Choices:<br />

Ethics in a Global Consumer Age<br />

David Schwartz’ newest book examines consumerism, ethics<br />

The buying power and ethical<br />

responsibility of today’s<br />

consumer are at the core of David<br />

Schwartz’ latest book, Consuming<br />

Choices: Ethics in a Global Consumer<br />

Age.<br />

Schwartz, a philosophy<br />

professor at <strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong>, said<br />

the book originally focused on an<br />

ethical critique of purchasing meat<br />

from factory farms or confined<br />

animal feedlot operations. He<br />

said he has a strong interest in<br />

animal welfare issues and planned<br />

to examine whether it was moral<br />

for the consumer to purchase and<br />

eat products from these types of<br />

companies.<br />

“However, I soon realized<br />

that the questions at issue, and<br />

the arguments involved, had<br />

application and implications far<br />

beyond meat-eating,” he said. “They<br />

really applied to any product we<br />

might buy—food, coffee, clothing<br />

or electronics—that were produced<br />

with unethical means. These means<br />

include not only animal suffering<br />

but also worker exploitation, child<br />

labor, and serious environmental<br />

damage.”<br />

The book, published in<br />

May by Rowman and Littlefield,<br />

examines the ethical dimensions<br />

of consumer life and what sorts of<br />

unethical practices are at issue with<br />

today’s products. Consuming Choices<br />

assumes that a certain amount<br />

of wrongdoing by companies is<br />

known to consumers, who in turn<br />

commit wrongdoing by buying<br />

those products. “We are the crucial<br />

cog in these unethical machines,”<br />

Schwartz said. “Each of us must<br />

ask, ‘Ought I to purchase and<br />

benefit from products made with<br />

exploitative labor or the production<br />

of which caused environmental<br />

harm?’ In the end, ethics is about<br />

our own personal choices, regardless<br />

of how others may choose.”<br />

Schwartz finds the topic<br />

interesting for many reasons,<br />

especially for its practical import<br />

for trying to live ethically.<br />

“From a purely philosophical<br />

perspective, perhaps the most<br />

interesting conceptual aspect is the<br />

phenomenon of collective action,<br />

in this case collective wrongdoing,”<br />

he said.<br />

Schwartz added that in most<br />

instances of collective wrongdoing,<br />

a given action causes harm only<br />

when many other people also<br />

do the action. For example, one<br />

person driving a car does not<br />

harm the environment. However,<br />

when billions of cars are driven<br />

simultaneously, the environmental<br />

impact is tremendous.<br />

Schwartz’ interests in the arts,<br />

moral values, and public policy<br />

are reflected in the ethics and<br />

philosophy courses he teaches. In<br />

2000, he wrote Art, Education, and the<br />

Democratic Commitment: A Defense of<br />

State Support for the Arts.<br />

“Currently, I am reading a lot<br />

about the relation of ethics and<br />

aesthetics, particularly the question<br />

of whether one should take ethical<br />

considerations into account when<br />

judging artworks,” he said.<br />

10


The Science of Religion<br />

in Britain, 1860–1915<br />

Marjorie Wheeler-Barclay’s upcoming book hailed as<br />

“major contribution to the history of ideas, the history<br />

of religion, and British history”<br />

When Marjorie Wheeler-<br />

Barclay’s book is released<br />

in November, it will represent<br />

more than 20 years of research and<br />

work.<br />

“Some people get really tired<br />

of something when they do it over<br />

a period of time,” said Wheeler-<br />

Barclay, the Charles A. Dana<br />

Professor of History. “I never did.<br />

I kept reading new things and<br />

learning new things, and that<br />

kept me excited about what I was<br />

doing.”<br />

Wheeler-Barclay’s book, The<br />

Science of Religion in Britain, 1860–<br />

1915, is part of the Victorian Literature<br />

and Culture Series published by the<br />

University of Virginia Press. “I’m<br />

particularly pleased that it is going<br />

to be published in a series that has<br />

a good reputation for Victorian<br />

history,” Wheeler-Barclay said.<br />

She began work on the project,<br />

which is based on her dissertation,<br />

more than 20 years ago. During<br />

that time, Wheeler-Barclay’s<br />

research has taken her to London,<br />

Oxford, Cambridge, and Scotland,<br />

where she spent time delving into<br />

archives of personal papers and<br />

other documents of six scholars<br />

from the late 19th century who<br />

studied religion as a social and<br />

human institution.<br />

“What they accomplished<br />

was not so much to persuade<br />

people that religion was true or<br />

false, but rather to contribute<br />

to a changing understanding of<br />

what religion itself was,” she said.<br />

“For many years, the consensus<br />

among scholars in different fields<br />

was that as societies become more<br />

industrialized and modern, they<br />

become more secular, and religion<br />

seems to be less meaningful. The<br />

past 20 years would suggest it is not<br />

that simple. Religion just doesn’t<br />

go away because people aren’t living<br />

in peasant societies.”<br />

A graduate of the University<br />

of Illinois in Chicago, Wheeler-<br />

Barclay earned her Ph.D. from<br />

Northwestern University. She came<br />

to the <strong>College</strong> in 1986 and teaches<br />

modern European history.<br />

The book has received favorable<br />

reviews from fellow scholars.<br />

Jeffrey Cox, author of The British<br />

Missionary Enterprise since 1700,<br />

said Wheeler-Barclay’s book was a<br />

“major contribution to the history<br />

of ideas, the history of religion, and<br />

British history … Wheeler-Barclay<br />

has succeeded in defining ‘the<br />

science of religion’ and put each<br />

of its practitioners into an entirely<br />

new light. It is a considerable<br />

achievement.”<br />

She wanted her book to<br />

provide a different perspective of<br />

the Victorian era. “It’s important<br />

for people to know that during the<br />

second half of the 19th century,<br />

debates about religion were not<br />

just about whether the Bible was<br />

literally correct. There was a much<br />

wider grappling of problems going<br />

on. A lot of American and European<br />

culture today ignores big questions<br />

because we don’t think they can be<br />

answered. In the 19th century, they<br />

had more of a tendency to tackle<br />

things head on. I find it admirable,<br />

and it’s certainly more fascinating<br />

as you get to know about Victorian<br />

culture.”<br />

Now that her book is finished,<br />

Wheeler-Barclay is wasting no time<br />

starting a new project. She began<br />

work on her latest research this<br />

summer. She is studying the history<br />

of the 19th century controversies<br />

surrounding Stonehenge.<br />

“I think,” she laughed, “I’ll just be<br />

doing an article for that one.”<br />

11


This is<br />

Amy<br />

Mike<br />

12


<strong>Randolph</strong><br />

Kelsey<br />

Trey<br />

McKinley<br />

<strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong> is a community filled<br />

with originals: women and men who<br />

are not afraid to be who they are—or to<br />

admit they are still figuring it out. Behind<br />

the Red Brick Wall, these individuals merge<br />

into a family, one in which academics,<br />

honesty, and tradition are top priorities<br />

and intelligence is assumed. A shared<br />

desire to make a difference in the world<br />

is a hallmark that has not changed in<br />

more than 119 years. This fall, <strong>Randolph</strong><br />

welcomed the Class of 2014—another class<br />

of unique thinkers. Here are a few of their<br />

stories.<br />

be an<br />

original<br />

Amy Jacobs<br />

What started as a way to be more involved in the<br />

competitive horse show arena ended up a profitable<br />

business for Amy Jacobs ’14. After receiving her first<br />

camera during her freshman year in high school, Jacobs<br />

immediately took it to her favorite place—the horse<br />

ring.<br />

A year later, she owned an upgraded camera and her<br />

own photography business.<br />

“It started out really small,” said Jacobs, who is a<br />

competitive rider from York, Pennsylvania. “I would<br />

go to shows with my friends and take pictures. Word<br />

started getting around in the horse community, and it<br />

blossomed and grew from there.”<br />

While her focus has remained primarily on equine<br />

photography, Jacobs has expanded recently to include<br />

senior portraits.<br />

Owning and managing a small business while in<br />

high school was difficult for Jacobs, but fulfilling. In<br />

addition to juggling her riding schedule, academics,<br />

and shooting photographs, she also had to learn about<br />

tax returns, Web site design, marketing, and other<br />

logistics.<br />

“I’ve been my own boss,” Jacobs added. “I’ve dealt<br />

with customers. I’m a teen, but I’m in that more-adult<br />

world of running a business. I work mostly with adults,<br />

so I had to learn how to be on the same terms with<br />

them.”<br />

She feels fortunate to have a customer base<br />

interested in her product. “I can’t imagine myself doing<br />

13


e an<br />

original<br />

Meet the<br />

Class of<br />

2014<br />

“I absolutely love to learn, and I want<br />

to try everything. I want to learn from<br />

different people and take advantage<br />

of every opportunity. I want to know<br />

that I made the best out of my college<br />

experience.”<br />

McKinley Worley ’14<br />

a regular job now,” she said. “I love having the freedom<br />

to create my own schedule, and I like taking charge and<br />

doing what needs to be done.”<br />

Above all, she loves being able to merge her passions<br />

for photography and horses. “I just love doing this,” she<br />

said. “It doesn’t even seem like work to me.”<br />

be an<br />

original<br />

Michael Ehilegbu<br />

If Michael Ehilegbu ’14 has learned anything from<br />

his time with the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), it is<br />

how to balance a rigorous academic load with a love<br />

for competitive basketball. Ehilegbu has traveled and<br />

competed with an AAU group in his hometown of<br />

Raleigh, North Carolina, since he was 12. He also played<br />

the sport for his high school.<br />

“It’s definitely fun,” he said. “You get to meet a lot of<br />

new people, see lots of new places, and play everywhere.<br />

The core of our team had been together since we were<br />

little kids. We had a close bond.”<br />

The AAU tournaments have taken him all over<br />

the United States including Florida, New York, and<br />

Tennessee. “The traveling has taught me responsibility,”<br />

he said. “I’ve learned to manage money, and I’ve gotten<br />

used to being away from my parents.”<br />

It has also taught him to manage his time. A<br />

graduate of Ravenscroft School in Raleigh, Ehilegbu<br />

met the demands of a challenging academic program<br />

while spending dozens of hours a week in practices and<br />

games. “Getting a great education is really important,”<br />

he said. “I had to work hard to manage my time. You<br />

have to stay on top of everything.”<br />

Ehilegbu wasn’t always a success on the basketball<br />

court. He started playing when he was 6, but realized<br />

the sport didn’t come naturally. “I always work hard,<br />

finish everything out, and don’t ever give up,” he said.<br />

“Basically, I just try to work hard and get better.”<br />

He is excited about his first season with the<br />

<strong>Randolph</strong> WildCats. “I have the opportunity to get a<br />

great education and play basketball with a great team,”<br />

he said. “That’s important.”<br />

be an<br />

original<br />

Kelsey Abell<br />

Kelsey Abell ’14 comes from a long line of sports fanatics.<br />

Her father coaches college baseball, her uncle coaches<br />

college football, and her older brother played in the<br />

minor leagues. “I used to go watch my brother play<br />

when he played for the Broxton Rox,” she said. “I loved<br />

14


watching him play and seeing the relationships he built<br />

with his teammates.”<br />

Abell has found her own place on the softball field—a<br />

sport she has played since the third grade. “My dad<br />

encouraged me to try it, and I ended up loving it,” said<br />

the Rustburg, Virginia, native. “It’s a very competitive<br />

sport, and you make so many friendships from it. You<br />

become this really big family, and I like that bond.”<br />

She has played on her high school softball team,<br />

as well as on traveling teams. “I’ve learned a lot about<br />

leadership through softball,” she said. “And you learn<br />

a lot about responsibility.”<br />

Sports aren’t the only thing that runs in Abell’s<br />

family. Her grandmother and both of her parents have<br />

teaching backgrounds, and Abell wants to follow in<br />

those footsteps. “I was always in my mom’s classroom<br />

growing up, and I had some really good teachers who<br />

have inspired me. I want to do that for someone else.”<br />

be an<br />

original<br />

McKinley Worley<br />

When McKinley Worley ’14 goes shopping, she picks<br />

a bit of everything and puts it together to create her<br />

own style. Her approach to life embraces that same<br />

concept.<br />

“I don’t follow a statistical pattern,” she said. “I love<br />

being full of contradictions. When I’m shopping, I get<br />

clothes in all sorts of different styles and from different<br />

places and throw them together. People always tell me<br />

they couldn’t have pulled that off.”<br />

She sees her life as the same type of blank canvas.<br />

“I don’t worry about fitting in a certain way,” Worley<br />

said. “I am who I am, and I’m going to do what makes<br />

me happy.”<br />

At the same time, she’s happiest with schedule and<br />

order. “I’m organized, and I like to do what needs to<br />

be done.”<br />

A free spirit, Worley is a vegetarian and loves to just<br />

let go and dance. But when she wants to relax, she does<br />

math problems. Trigonometry was one of her favorite<br />

classes in high school. “If I’m stressed, I go home and do<br />

a math problem,” she said. “It centers me and focuses<br />

me.”<br />

French culture fascinates her, and she spends her<br />

free time playing for a band.<br />

“I absolutely love to learn, and I want to try<br />

everything,” said Worley, who is from Lynchburg,<br />

Virginia. “I want to learn from different people and take<br />

advantage of every opportunity. I want to know that I<br />

made the best out of my college experience.”<br />

be an<br />

original<br />

Trey Gaylor<br />

Trey Gaylor’s ’14 first foray into science was second<br />

grade. His teacher told students to catch an insect and<br />

track its behavior and lifespan. His lightning bug only<br />

lived two days, but Gaylor was hooked permanently.<br />

“That was the first thing that got to me on how science<br />

works,” he said.<br />

Gaylor’s fascination with science developed into a<br />

preference for medical biology and how the human body<br />

works. “I really like how the body works and how cells<br />

work with other cells,” he said. Originally from Bassett,<br />

Virginia, Gaylor enjoys the dynamics and intricacies of<br />

science. “I hate not being able to find an answer,” he<br />

said. “I’m a hands-on person, and I like being able to<br />

see how things work. You have to be creative and think<br />

outside of the box to see what will happen if you do<br />

this or that.”<br />

He plans to study biology and hopes to one day work<br />

in a diagnostic laboratory for a hospital. “I want to be<br />

in a profession where I can do my day-to-day job, but<br />

while I’m doing that, I can help people,” he said. “Even<br />

though it may not seem like it to me when I’m doing a<br />

test in the lab, I might be able to catch something that<br />

nobody else did. I might be able to help diagnose that<br />

person, and that diagnosis may end up saving a life.”<br />

Gaylor’s need to help others stems from his family<br />

and religious faith. “I<br />

try to go through life<br />

doing the right thing,”<br />

he said. “I’m a friend to<br />

everyone because it’s<br />

the right thing to do. I<br />

want to be in a situation<br />

where I can help people<br />

or do some small thing<br />

that helps a lot of<br />

people. That’s how I<br />

was raised.”<br />

15


Davenport Leaders<br />

New Summer Institute prepares students to lead<br />

The Davenport Leadership<br />

Institute was designed to<br />

build community and develop<br />

the <strong>College</strong>’s promising student<br />

leaders.<br />

The three-week Institute<br />

is a new part of the Davenport<br />

Leadership Program, which was<br />

created by Joseph Davenport<br />

in memory of his wife Susan<br />

Funkhouser Davenport ’69.<br />

Forty students, ranging from<br />

rising sophomores to seniors,<br />

applied for the 17 available spots<br />

in the summer Institute, and<br />

participants were selected based<br />

on written applications and an<br />

intensive interview process.<br />

“We are training our current<br />

students in areas we think are<br />

important for them and for the<br />

<strong>College</strong>; things like principles of<br />

leadership, how we understand<br />

community, and how we build<br />

community,” said Kim Sheldon,<br />

director of student success.<br />

During the session, workshops<br />

and seminars focused on such<br />

topics as leadership principles,<br />

conflict resolution, intercultural<br />

understanding, and mentoring<br />

skills.<br />

“It is highly important<br />

for students, not faculty<br />

and staff, to explain the<br />

<strong>College</strong>’s traditions to the<br />

first-years.”<br />

Allie Starbuck ’12<br />

<br />

Davenport Leader<br />

In addition to the leadership<br />

curriculum, Davenport students<br />

helped lead <strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong>’s<br />

early orientation programs this<br />

summer. In the past, orientation<br />

for new students was held the week<br />

before classes began. This year, two<br />

sessions were held in June as a way<br />

to ease the transition to college.<br />

“I am extremely excited to be a<br />

role model for my sister class, the<br />

first-years,” said Allie Starbuck ’12,<br />

one of the Davenport Leaders.<br />

The student leaders were<br />

enthusiastic about sharing their<br />

experiences on campus with the<br />

newest class of <strong>Randolph</strong> students.<br />

“It is highly important for students,<br />

not faculty and staff, to explain<br />

the <strong>College</strong>’s traditions to the<br />

first-years,” Starbuck said. “These<br />

traditions are something that the<br />

students share as a common bond<br />

between classes.”<br />

The end result of the new<br />

Davenport program was a winwin,<br />

according to Tina Johnson,<br />

director of <strong>Randolph</strong>’s Experiential<br />

Learning Center.<br />

“You get the benefit of a small<br />

group of students connecting with<br />

each other and having this leadership<br />

opportunity, and at the same time,<br />

having a big impact on the entire<br />

first-year class,” she said.<br />

16


Pay It Forward<br />

1941 Alumna Makes<br />

$2 Million Commitment<br />

Sadie “Puff” Gravely Hampson ’41 is long-time supporter<br />

of student initiatives<br />

1941 <strong>Randolph</strong>-Macon Woman’s <strong>College</strong> alumna who helped pay her<br />

A way through college by waiting tables in the dining rooms has made a<br />

$2 million commitment toward <strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong>’s planned Student Center<br />

renovation.<br />

The gift by Sadie “Puff” Gravely Hampson ’41, a long-time<br />

supporter of the <strong>College</strong>, kicks off fundraising for a $5 million<br />

renovation of the Student Center. The project is currently in<br />

the design phase.<br />

Puff’s gift is another opportunity for her to support the<br />

school that had a profound impact on her life. “I’m often asked<br />

about my favorite memories from my R-MWC years,” she said.<br />

“The honor system, to me, was one of the great things about<br />

the <strong>College</strong>. I loved playing basketball, the faculty, and the<br />

many lifelong friends I have from the school. It is a unique<br />

and special place.”<br />

After graduation from R-MWC, Puff taught high school<br />

before accepting a job with a DuPont nylon plant in Manassas,<br />

Virginia, which was producing nylon material for the war effort. She enjoyed<br />

her job but felt called to join with friends who were enlisting in the military.<br />

She served as an officer in the Navy through the Women Accepted for<br />

Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) and was stationed in Buffalo, New<br />

York. It was there that she met her husband. “I always teased Bob that I<br />

outranked him, even though it was only by three months!” she laughed.<br />

After the Navy, the couple married and raised five children in Detroit,<br />

where Bob became an executive at Ford Motor Company. Throughout their<br />

lives, the Hampsons have remained staunch supporters of the <strong>College</strong>. In<br />

addition to the Gravely-Hampson Global Studies Fund, which provides<br />

stipends for students going abroad, the Hampsons funded many other<br />

<strong>College</strong> initiatives, including the Hampson Lecture Hall in the Martin Science<br />

Building. Bob, who died in 2009, also served as a trustee from 1971–77.<br />

“<strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong> is fortunate to have the support of R-MWC alumnae<br />

like Puff Hampson,” said John E. Klein, president. “We are so very grateful for<br />

Puff’s commitment to the <strong>College</strong> and to our students and our community.<br />

The generosity of Puff and her husband Bob will continue to make a difference<br />

at <strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong> for years to come.”<br />

Puff is proud of <strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong> and sees her gift to the Student Center<br />

project as a way to improve the quality of student life. “She loves being<br />

involved with her college,” said Puff’s daughter, Jane. “It means a lot to her<br />

to be able to do this in her lifetime.”<br />

17


010<br />

Summer Research Program<br />

Students, faculty investigate everything from cryptology to historic districts<br />

A<br />

decade ago, the <strong>College</strong>’s Summer Research<br />

Program kicked off its inaugural year with just<br />

eight faculty members and 11 students. Today, the<br />

program represents a broad range of disciplines and is<br />

attracting a growing number of participants.<br />

During the 2010 program this summer, 20 students<br />

worked with 17 faculty members on projects ranging<br />

from cataloging<br />

historic architecture in<br />

Lynchburg to creating<br />

a plan to reduce the<br />

<strong>College</strong>’s greenhouse<br />

gases. The result was<br />

an eight-week program<br />

that provided students<br />

and faculty with the<br />

opportunity to focus<br />

on research and share<br />

methodologies and<br />

results with the entire<br />

<strong>College</strong> community.<br />

“One of the<br />

biggest benefits of<br />

the Summer Research<br />

Program is the<br />

opportunity it presents<br />

to bring all of these<br />

people together from<br />

different disciplines,”<br />

said Peter Sheldon,<br />

physics professor and director of the program. “Everyone<br />

is able to share not just their results, but how they do<br />

research in a close community setting.”<br />

Student and faculty research projects are selected<br />

through a competitive proposal process. During the<br />

program, which was established through a grant from<br />

the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, students work one-on-one<br />

with professors in active laboratory and field studies,<br />

and receive housing and a stipend for their work.<br />

Nick Marshall ’11 (left) and Associate Professor of<br />

History Gerry Sherayko<br />

Special seminars with guest speakers enrich the learning<br />

experience, and students share the progress of their<br />

research through casual forums and more formal oral<br />

presentations at the end of the session.<br />

Understanding the Past<br />

For Nick Marshall ’11, summer research was<br />

an opportunity to learn more about the historic<br />

architecture surrounding the <strong>College</strong>.<br />

Rivermont Avenue, on which <strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong> is<br />

located, was designated Lynchburg’s largest historic<br />

district in 2003 by the Virginia Department of Historic<br />

Resources.<br />

“This project allowed me to step back and realize<br />

how amazing the district is,” Marshall said. “I gained a<br />

better appreciation of both the <strong>College</strong> and where it’s<br />

situated in Lynchburg.”<br />

Gerry Sherayko, a <strong>Randolph</strong> history professor, is<br />

Marshall’s faculty mentor and president of Friends of<br />

Rivermont, a community organization dedicated to<br />

preserving the district’s history. The research conducted<br />

by Sherayko and Marshall this summer is helping<br />

create the first comprehensive record of the history of<br />

the district. They researched and categorized the area’s<br />

structures and the people who lived, worked, studied,<br />

and worshipped in them.<br />

The majority of the original homes and buildings<br />

remain standing, largely unaffected by recent<br />

development. “It’s amazing how many of these buildings<br />

are still here from pre-World War II,” said Sherayko.<br />

Marshall, a history major, said architecture has<br />

always interested him. “As someone with an ‘historical’<br />

mind, I view structures as necessary pieces of the<br />

historical record that represent a lasting statement of<br />

the people who built them and of the people who used<br />

them,” he said.<br />

Sherayko said the project will significantly expand<br />

Marshall’s experience as an historian. “By working with<br />

primary and archival sources, and engaging with the<br />

18<br />

(Opposite, left to right) Christine Gnieski ’13, Karl Speer ’12, and<br />

Associate Professor of Music Randall Speer are digitizing more than 200<br />

reel-to-reel tapes of historical <strong>College</strong> musical performances.


public, Nick is honing his history research skills, which<br />

will better prepare him for his senior research and for<br />

his career after graduation,” he said.<br />

Earthquakes in Virginia<br />

When most people<br />

think of earthquakes in<br />

the United States, the West<br />

Coast typically comes to<br />

mind. Earthquakes are<br />

not frequent in Virginia,<br />

but they do happen. Using<br />

<strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong>’s own<br />

seismograph, Tatiana<br />

Gilstrap, an environmental<br />

science professor, and<br />

Qingping Yu ’13 began investigating alternative<br />

methods for identifying and locating local seismic<br />

events this summer. Their research is the first step in<br />

a larger study.<br />

“I have been interested in earthquake engineering<br />

and geophysics since I was in high school,” said Yu. “I<br />

am really curious about the science of earthquakes.”<br />

The pair worked with semblance analysis to study<br />

the microseismicity of Central Virginia. They used<br />

the seismograph at <strong>Randolph</strong>’s Riding Center, one<br />

of a number of seismic stations throughout the state<br />

operated by Virginia Tech.<br />

(Left to right) Qingping Yu ’13 and<br />

Assistant Professor of Environmental<br />

Science Tatiana Gilstrap<br />

Preserving the <strong>College</strong>’s Musical History<br />

For decades, the <strong>College</strong>’s music department has<br />

sponsored performances by students, faculty, and guest<br />

artists. The events were recorded on reel-to-reel tape and<br />

stored in the Lipscomb Library. Some of 200 plus tapes<br />

are nearly half a century old, and their sound quality<br />

is degrading. Under the guidance of Randall Speer, a<br />

<strong>Randolph</strong> music professor, Christine Gnieski ’13 and<br />

Karl Speer ’12 are cataloging the performances, digitizing<br />

them, and converting them to compact discs. This is the<br />

second year of the painstaking project. Ultimately, the<br />

performances will be made available to the community<br />

at large through an online library catalog.<br />

“This project bears considerable significance in<br />

preserving primary historical data related to the musical<br />

heritage of this institution,” said Randall Speer. “When<br />

these materials become available to students and faculty,<br />

we will have a very valuable resource, unique to this<br />

institution.”<br />

His students agree. Gnieski found it intriguing to<br />

listen to the tapes and to relate to what students were<br />

experiencing decades ago, while Karl Speer enjoyed the<br />

span of music. “To be able to go through the music<br />

produced at this <strong>College</strong>, to hear that evolution, that<br />

growth, is a wonderful thing,” he said.<br />

A Climate Action Plan<br />

When the <strong>College</strong> became the first school in<br />

Virginia to sign the American <strong>College</strong> and University<br />

Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) in<br />

2006, the institution agreed to create a plan to reduce<br />

emissions of greenhouse gasses and ultimately<br />

approach “climate neutrality.” A student’s work is<br />

now moving the <strong>College</strong> closer to that goal.<br />

“I’m very passionate about the environment,” said<br />

Ludovic Lemaitre ’11, who is working to develop the<br />

plan with Karin Warren, the Herzog Family Chair of<br />

Environmental Studies. “Such research will benefit me<br />

because the environmental field is getting larger and<br />

more competitive every day, but a climate action plan<br />

is something very unique and valuable for a college<br />

student.”<br />

A climate action plan is a detailed description of<br />

strategies that an institution plans to use to reduce<br />

direct and indirect emissions of greenhouse gasses<br />

like carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane. The<br />

emissions result from a range of common activities on<br />

a college campus, like travel, laboratory activities, and<br />

landscaping. Climate neutrality is a long-term goal that<br />

is attained only after several decades of using a range of<br />

planned mitigation strategies.<br />

Warren said Lemaitre’s work on the plan will give<br />

him valuable experience in sustainability planning<br />

and make him proficient in a number of practical<br />

skills, including energy analysis, data compilation and<br />

presentation, communication, writing, and creative<br />

collaboration.<br />

Deciphering the Ciphers<br />

Using science to understand<br />

cryptology was the focus of<br />

summer research for Thawda<br />

Aung ’13 and Yesem Kurt,<br />

a <strong>Randolph</strong> mathematics<br />

professor. The duo used the<br />

software program Mathematica<br />

to look at cryptology, the<br />

study and practice of hiding<br />

(Left to right) Thawda Aung ’13 and<br />

Assistant Professor of Mathematics<br />

Yesem Kurt<br />

information. Aung researched how common ciphers<br />

20


were encrypted, how to break their codes, and methods<br />

for better encrypting information so that only those<br />

with the key can decode the messages.<br />

“I was fascinated with the subject,” Aung said. “It<br />

blends together many theories from math and computer<br />

science.”<br />

Aung’s calculus, physics, and graph theory courses<br />

helped him understand some concepts in cryptology<br />

related to math, such as linear algebra and how<br />

algorithms work..<br />

“The Summer Research Program is a great<br />

opportunity to teach students about one of the most<br />

relevant and recent applications of mathematics and to<br />

better prepare students for a career in academia,” Kurt<br />

said. “Thawda is an outstanding student who is<br />

determined to study mathematics and physics. I strongly<br />

encourage him to do so because with his enthusiasm,<br />

diligence, and talent, I am confident he will be a<br />

successful scientist or mathematician.”<br />

(Left to right) Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Karin Warren<br />

and Ludovic Lemaitre ’11<br />

The 2010 Summer Research Programs<br />

Cryptology with Mathematics<br />

Thawda Aung ’13 and Yesem Kurt,<br />

assistant professor of mathematics<br />

Science and Math Links: Research-<br />

Based Teaching Institute<br />

Courtney Collier ’12, Meredith<br />

Humphreys ’12, Peter Sheldon,<br />

professor of physics and astronomy,<br />

and Peggy Schimmoeller, professor of<br />

education<br />

A Climate Action Plan for <strong>Randolph</strong><br />

<strong>College</strong><br />

Ludovic Lemaitre ’11 and Karin<br />

Warren, associate professor of<br />

environmental studies<br />

A History of the Rivermont Historic<br />

District<br />

Nick Marshall ’11 and Gerry Sherayko,<br />

associate professor of history<br />

Earth’s Body II: An Anthology of<br />

Contemporary American Ecopoetry<br />

Anneka Freeman ’11 and Laura-Gray<br />

Street, assistant professor of English<br />

Four Writing Projects in Psychology<br />

Jerry Wells ’12 and Beth Schwartz,<br />

professor of psychology<br />

“Burn Her Who Is No Bride”: A<br />

Feminist Assessment of Theclan<br />

Traditions<br />

Lindsay Wood ’11 and Gordon Steffey,<br />

associate professor of religion<br />

Non-Repetitiveness As It Applies to<br />

Shortest Paths in State Graphs and to<br />

Integer Sequences<br />

Richard Coultas ’11, Neo Wang ’11, and<br />

Marc Ordower, associate professor of<br />

mathematics<br />

Using Semblance Analysis to Study the<br />

Microseismicity of Central Virginia<br />

Qingping Yu ’13 and Tatiana Gilstrap,<br />

assistant professor of environmental<br />

science<br />

Screening Indigeneity: The National<br />

Film Board’s First Nations Films,<br />

1939–2009<br />

Julianna Joyce ’13 and Jennifer Gauthier,<br />

associate professor of communication<br />

studies<br />

Memory As a Political Strategy: The<br />

Politics of Stalin Remembrance in<br />

Russia<br />

Kathleen Conti ’11 and Mari Ishibashi,<br />

associate professor of political science<br />

Sustainable Urban Development in<br />

Lynchburg<br />

Louise Searle ’12, Erinn Sudol ’12, and<br />

Rick Barnes, professor of psychology<br />

and environmental studies<br />

Investigation of the Properties<br />

of Luminescent Transition Metal<br />

Compounds in Silicon Dioxide Polymers<br />

and in Ionic Liquids<br />

Poojan Pyakurel ’11 and Bill Bare,<br />

associate professor of chemistry<br />

The Presence and Absence in the Works<br />

of Juan Rulfo<br />

Lis Chacon ’13 and Chet Halka,<br />

professor of romance languages<br />

<strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong>’s Musical Heritage:<br />

Exploring and Preserving Decades of<br />

Musical Performances at <strong>Randolph</strong>-<br />

Macon Woman’s <strong>College</strong><br />

Karl Speer ’12, Christine Gnieski ’13<br />

and Randall Speer, associate professor<br />

of music<br />

A Theoretical Investigation of Oxidative<br />

Pathways of Peroxynitrite<br />

Rosha Poudyal ’11 and Kurt Seidman,<br />

professor of chemistry<br />

Learn more about all of the 2010 Summer Research projects at www.randolphcollege.edu/magazine.<br />

21


Cameron Shepherd ’11 is one of several players who helped lead <strong>Randolph</strong>’s youth basketball camp.<br />

22<br />

“One of the things that college athletics does is teach life lessons. Sometimes<br />

that comes in ways you would never expect—like at a camp trying to teach<br />

a group of 8-year-olds. My players get the chance to serve as mentors while<br />

helping kids develop skills and an enjoyment of the game of basketball.”<br />

<br />

Men’s Head Basketball Coach Clay Nunley


Summer Games<br />

Athletic camps provide service to community, mentoring opportunities for student-athletes<br />

Derrick Woods-Morrow ’12 takes his role as a<br />

WildCat student-athlete seriously. So when the<br />

2009 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Rookie of<br />

the Year in basketball heard about <strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong>’s<br />

athletic summer camps, he jumped at the chance to<br />

help.<br />

“I want these kids to understand that basketball<br />

is fun and can take you far, but academics is the most<br />

important part of your growth,” said the forward and<br />

art major. He saw <strong>Randolph</strong>’s skill-builder camp as a<br />

way to share his love of the game with young fans and to<br />

teach them what it really means to be a college studentathlete.<br />

“Coaching at the camp helped me recognize<br />

my off-court impact not only at <strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong>, but<br />

within the greater community as well.”<br />

In addition to the youth basketball camp, <strong>Randolph</strong><br />

<strong>College</strong> offered camps in softball and volleyball this<br />

summer. The camps ranged from overnight weekend<br />

sessions for older students to week-long day camps<br />

for younger children. Coaches said their players often<br />

gain more than the campers. “Having to teach a camper<br />

different skills and strategies is a great teaching tool for<br />

our athletes,” said Jennifer Steele, who led the softball<br />

camps. “It’s sometimes much easier to perform a skill<br />

than teach it. So when our athletes have to actually sit<br />

down and think about how to teach a skill to a beginner,<br />

it takes their understanding of the skill and strategy to<br />

an entirely different level.”<br />

<strong>Randolph</strong> coaches often see strong relationships<br />

develop between the campers and the student-athletes.<br />

“One of the things that college athletics does is teach<br />

life lessons,” said Clay Nunley, men’s head basketball<br />

coach. “Sometimes that comes in ways you would never<br />

expect—like at a camp trying to teach a group of 8-yearolds.<br />

My players get the chance to serve as mentors while<br />

helping kids develop skills and an enjoyment of the<br />

game of basketball.”<br />

Johnathan Willis, head volleyball coach, has seen the<br />

camps have an impact on recruitment, especially from<br />

the local area. “Parents and students really appreciate<br />

the time we invest. When they have a positive experience,<br />

they share that experience with other area students<br />

and parents,” he said. “That helps us get our name out<br />

there.”<br />

Last year’s camps showed the impact <strong>Randolph</strong><br />

students can have on children in the community.<br />

Athletic Director Tina Hill said campers returned to<br />

campus later in the year to cheer on the <strong>Randolph</strong><br />

students during their games. “It’s a wonderful tribute<br />

to both our students and the members of the community<br />

to see how easily and eagerly these relationships<br />

develop,” she said.<br />

23


American Culture Program<br />

Moves Students to Think<br />

“Perpetual Motion: Americans on the Go” covers movement of ideas in America<br />

Cynthia Leonard ’10 entered the American Culture<br />

Program thinking she would be learning about<br />

transportation issues. Little did she know that a lettuce<br />

plant would have the biggest impact on her thinking.<br />

With a 2010 theme of “Perpetual Motion: Americans<br />

on the Go,” the spring American Culture Program<br />

explored movement and mobility in America. “I was<br />

thinking roads and cars and maybe moving products,”<br />

Leonard said. “I had no idea that movement was so<br />

broadly defined, that it could include the movement<br />

of ideas.”<br />

American Culture’s interdisciplinary approach<br />

uses classroom discussions, guest speakers, readings,<br />

and trips to immerse students in a general topic from a<br />

variety of perspectives.<br />

“The whole point of the American Culture Program<br />

is getting students to understand America and to give<br />

them context for understanding what is going on around<br />

them,” said Ellen Hostetter, the 2009–2010 Helen<br />

and Agnes Ainsworth Visiting Professor of American<br />

Culture. “We take a general theme and look at it from<br />

every angle possible.”<br />

During the spring, students studied everything<br />

from transportation and suburbanization to gay and<br />

civil rights to the growing sustainable food movement.<br />

The idea was to look at major cultural, social, and literal<br />

movements in American history.<br />

The program’s design “brings the material to life,”<br />

said Gerry Sherayko, history professor and American<br />

Culture faculty member. “You read the books. You<br />

hear the speakers, and then you go to the sites. This is<br />

experiential learning at its best.”<br />

Students traveled to sites in Virginia as well as<br />

Pennsylvania, New York, North Carolina, and New Jersey.<br />

Each trip focused on a different movement in American<br />

history. They studied jazz in Harlem, talked with the<br />

first female mayor of a New Jersey town, learned about<br />

the civil rights movement, and talked with participants<br />

in the Stonewall Riots. They traveled to Ellis Island and<br />

toured the Museum of Modern Art.<br />

“There is a different perspective to every facet of<br />

American history,” Leonard said. “They don’t teach<br />

this in high school. You might study the civil rights<br />

movement, but you don’t study the people who sparked<br />

it. You don’t study the harsh realities. Going through<br />

and critically examining it from every angle makes<br />

you understand it so much more. You learn the actual<br />

moment, the other people’s points of view, their history,<br />

and their version of the American dream. You take away<br />

from it that other people see things differently from you,<br />

and this is why.”<br />

“The whole point of the American Culture<br />

Program is getting students to understand<br />

America and to give them context for<br />

understanding what is going on around<br />

them.”<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

Ellen Hostetter<br />

The 2009–2010 Helen and Agnes Ainsworth<br />

Visiting Professor of American Culture<br />

(Above right) Ellen Hostetter looks at the Statue of Liberty during the<br />

American Culture trip to New York.<br />

25


During one trip, students visited the site of the<br />

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City, where<br />

nearly 150 workers were killed in 1911. The tragedy<br />

led to improved working conditions for millions of<br />

Americans. “It gives it meaning for students,” Sherayko<br />

said. “America changed for the better out of a terrible<br />

tragedy. It is a powerful thing to be there and see that<br />

after reading about it.”<br />

Julio Rodriguez, associate professor of sociology (left), talks with Will Berke ’12 during an<br />

American Culture trip.<br />

On a tour of highways in Pennsylvania, the group<br />

talked with engineers and other transportation experts<br />

about the evolution of highways and the differences<br />

between roads like the Lincoln Highway and the<br />

Pennsylvania Turnpike. The Lincoln Highway, the first<br />

transcontinental highway in the United States, was<br />

designed to encourage travelers to stop at towns along<br />

its route. In comparison, the Pennsylvania Turnpike was<br />

designed to get travelers to their destinations as quickly<br />

as possible.<br />

“The students were able to ride on those highways<br />

and think about what they had learned,” Sherayko said.<br />

“They were able to get a feel for how different things are<br />

now and what that has done to the American psyche.”<br />

The program’s approach provides students with<br />

hands-on knowledge of what they are studying. “It<br />

was hard at first, but it pays off when you start seeing<br />

things from so many different perspectives,” said Jane<br />

Campbell ’12. “You read about things. You listen to<br />

speakers. You look at images. You go on trips where you<br />

can see the places where these major events happened<br />

and experience them with your professors. You are not<br />

just being lectured. It makes it more real and much<br />

more interesting.”<br />

Faculty members in the program try to incorporate<br />

alumnae as much as possible. This year,<br />

students were taken on a behind-the-scenes<br />

tour of the Nemours Mansion and Gardens<br />

in Delaware by Grace Gary ’76, who serves<br />

as the executive director. They also met with<br />

Lynn Kehoe Rollins ’64, who talked about<br />

her role as senior advisor for women’s issues<br />

for George E. Pataki, the former governor<br />

of New York.<br />

“This program made me think more<br />

critically,” Campbell said. “It made me think<br />

about the country in a different way.”<br />

A favorite trip for many of the students<br />

was to visit Margaret Krome-Lukens ’07,<br />

who is assistant director of the Pickard<br />

Mountain Eco Institute in Chapel Hill,<br />

North Carolina. Students met people<br />

involved in the local food movement and<br />

were able to spend time working on the<br />

farm with Krome-Lukens.<br />

The discussions about sustainable food<br />

included a visit on campus from the market<br />

manager of Lynchburg’s Community<br />

Market and discussions about waste, American<br />

consumption, and the growing movement toward<br />

purchasing more local food.<br />

After the session on food, Leonard went out<br />

immediately and bought a lettuce plant. Today, she<br />

harvests leaves from the plant daily. “I see so many things<br />

from a completely different angle now,” Leonard said.<br />

“Take my lettuce plant. If everyone had their own plant,<br />

it would make a huge impact. That applies to everything<br />

in the American Culture Program: the movements, the<br />

civil rights, the transportation, the prison movement, the<br />

gay rights movement. All of them started with individual<br />

people. Enough people started paying attention, and<br />

eventually American thought changed.<br />

“Having that lettuce plant is a constant reminder to<br />

me of what I learned in American Culture,” she added. “It’s<br />

something I can do. It’s a way I can play a part.”<br />

26


Standing Out<br />

<strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong> one of just 10 schools in Virginia to receive national TEAC accreditation<br />

It took two years of preparation,<br />

but <strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong> is now one<br />

of just 10 schools in Virginia—and<br />

the first in Lynchburg—to earn<br />

national accreditation from the<br />

Teacher Education Accreditation<br />

Council (TEAC).<br />

National accreditation,<br />

especially from a respected program<br />

such as TEAC, gives colleges and<br />

Jamie Steigerwald ’10 teaches physical<br />

education at a local private school.<br />

their graduates an edge. “The<br />

reputation as a college that prepares<br />

its students to be highly qualified,<br />

caring, and competent teachers<br />

is extremely important to our<br />

students as they enter today’s<br />

job market,” said Gail Brown, a<br />

<strong>Randolph</strong> education professor.<br />

Founded in 1997, TEAC is a<br />

non-profit organization dedicated<br />

to improving academic degree<br />

programs for professional<br />

educators. The organization has<br />

accredited more than 100 schools<br />

in 21 states. TEAC requires<br />

schools to examine goals and<br />

student outcomes and to show<br />

that graduates meet criteria<br />

quantitatively and qualitatively.<br />

TEAC then sends an audit team<br />

for review.<br />

“I always thought our<br />

program was good,” said<br />

Consuella Woods, a <strong>Randolph</strong><br />

education professor. “But TEAC<br />

gave us an opportunity to make it<br />

even better. We have documented<br />

proof that our program can be<br />

compared, not just with other<br />

institutions around the state, but<br />

also at the national level.”<br />

In the review, TEAC<br />

recognized a unique aspect of<br />

<strong>Randolph</strong>’s undergraduate and<br />

master’s programs—the heavy<br />

emphasis on practical experiences<br />

in the classroom. Students receive<br />

classroom experience each year, a<br />

requirement hailed by students<br />

and graduates as a key element for<br />

preparing them for success. For<br />

Jamie Steigerwald ’10, it meant<br />

she was ready to handle her own<br />

classroom when she was offered a<br />

paid, part-time teaching position<br />

as a physical education teacher at<br />

a local private school during her<br />

senior year.<br />

The classroom placements<br />

help students develop and practice<br />

teaching strategies with the support<br />

and guidance of faculty members.<br />

In Steigerwald’s case, she was able<br />

to adjust to teaching in both a<br />

classroom and a gymnasium.<br />

“The strategies I learned were<br />

very helpful, and it was nice to be<br />

able to talk to professors about<br />

what things could be changed<br />

and modified to help,” she said.<br />

“Without all of the real experience<br />

I have received, I would not feel as<br />

prepared to teach.”<br />

Steigerwald believes the<br />

national accreditation will help<br />

her in the job market. Others agree.<br />

“For me, there is a great sense of<br />

pride in my alma mater as well as<br />

the security of knowing that I have<br />

been prepared to teach anywhere,”<br />

said Sandra Goldman ’10.<br />

Though the TEAC accreditation<br />

process was intense, faculty<br />

members said the time and effort<br />

was worth it. “This national<br />

recognition is a proud distinction<br />

for <strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong>,” said Peggy<br />

Schimmoeller, an education<br />

professor. “TEAC accreditation<br />

further validates the quality of<br />

<strong>Randolph</strong>’s teacher education<br />

program, its comprehensive<br />

curriculum, and the committed<br />

faculty and highly qualified teacher<br />

candidates.”<br />

27


e an<br />

original<br />

Finding Balance<br />

Dennis Stevens sees training for Fifth Degree Black Belt as next step in personal journey<br />

As vice president for academic<br />

affairs and dean of the <strong>College</strong><br />

since 2008, Dennis Stevens oversees<br />

and guides the academic operations<br />

of a liberal arts institution known<br />

for innovation.<br />

“My martial arts study<br />

has taught me the value of<br />

perseverance. You engage<br />

issues multiple times,<br />

and even fail, to achieve<br />

success.”<br />

<br />

Dennis Stevens<br />

Vice President for Academic Affairs<br />

and Dean of the <strong>College</strong><br />

He also embodies a fascinating<br />

quality of the liberal arts:<br />

combining diverse disciplines to<br />

create unexpected benefits.<br />

Stevens, a Fourth Degree<br />

Black Belt, applies his training and<br />

insight on campus in a confluence<br />

of vocation and avocation,<br />

intellectual and physical. This<br />

unique combination has a practical<br />

impact on his interactions with<br />

colleagues.<br />

“My martial arts study<br />

has taught me the value of<br />

perseverance,” said Stevens, who<br />

earned his Ph.D. in political science<br />

at Boston <strong>College</strong>. “You engage<br />

issues multiple times, and even fail,<br />

to achieve success.”<br />

Although he is considered an<br />

advanced martial arts practitioner,<br />

his quest for new challenges never<br />

ends. “It’s all about personal<br />

improvement,” said Stevens. “I<br />

reached a certain level and wanted to<br />

challenge myself again. It’s exciting<br />

to keep pushing yourself.”<br />

In recent months, Stevens has<br />

been training for his next challenge:<br />

successfully completing a test<br />

with the International Combat<br />

Arts Federation to acquire a Fifth<br />

Degree Black Belt. During the test,<br />

he will re-affirm his mastery of all<br />

of the skills required to attain his<br />

current level and also demonstrate<br />

mastery of the bo. This ancient<br />

weapon, a wooden staff made of<br />

oak that is six feet in length and<br />

one and a half inches in diameter,<br />

is used to strike an opponent and<br />

disrupt balance.<br />

Stevens was introduced to the<br />

weapon by Master Zefo in Illinois,<br />

with whom he trained in kuk<br />

sool won, a martial art technique<br />

used in the Korean royal court to<br />

protect the emperor. While the<br />

bo is an impressive implement, its<br />

origin is a simple stick or branch.<br />

“In the past, people used what<br />

they could find around them for<br />

defense, especially when weapons<br />

were prohibited,” Stevens said.<br />

“Weapons training is about having<br />

the implement become an extension<br />

of your body.”<br />

“Master Zefo passed his bo to<br />

me,” he said, “as a sign of respect.<br />

Now I’m honoring him by studying<br />

its use.” The student has also<br />

become the teacher. Stevens has<br />

taught self-defense to colleagues<br />

and students for more than 20<br />

years.<br />

His leadership style is deeply<br />

rooted in the philosophical aspect<br />

of his training. Stevens places value<br />

on the principle of water, a core<br />

tenet that emphasizes fluidity and<br />

flexibility. These characteristics are<br />

important in an environment that<br />

places increasing demands on the<br />

liberal arts to demonstrate value for<br />

students’ careers and futures.<br />

“You let your actions flow like<br />

water instead of opposing force with<br />

force,” he said. “The principle<br />

enables you to modify, redirect, and<br />

use force against itself. It’s not about<br />

brute force. You move, channel, and<br />

ultimately succeed. I try to apply<br />

that in my life as well.”<br />

28


Meet Allison Nichols<br />

<strong>Randolph</strong>’s close-knit community, academic focus, and athletic talent attract Lynchburg native<br />

standout on the court in<br />

A high school and college,<br />

Allison Nichols has always enjoyed<br />

basketball. But early on, she knew<br />

her favorite place wasn’t on the<br />

court—it was on the sidelines.<br />

“I’ve always loved playing,” said<br />

the WildCat’s new women’s head<br />

basketball coach. “But deep down,<br />

I really just wanted to coach.”<br />

Nichols took over the reins of<br />

the team in May, following Melissa<br />

Wiggins, who coached the WildCats<br />

for 12 seasons.<br />

The move to Lynchburg was a<br />

homecoming for Nichols, who grew<br />

up in nearby Campbell County.<br />

Nichols is familiar with the Old<br />

Dominion Athletic Conference;<br />

while earning her undergraduate<br />

degree at Bridgewater <strong>College</strong> in<br />

Bridgewater, Virginia, she was part of<br />

a team that won two regular season<br />

conference titles. After graduation,<br />

Nichols traveled to Augusta State<br />

University in Augusta, Georgia,<br />

where, in addition to earning a<br />

master’s in kinesiology and health<br />

science, she began her coaching<br />

career as the assistant women’s<br />

basketball coach.<br />

Nichols helped lead the Lady<br />

Jaguars to a top three finish in<br />

the South Atlantic region, a Peach<br />

Belt Conference regular season<br />

co-championship, and an NCAA<br />

Tournament berth. In 2008, she<br />

joined East Carolina University’s<br />

women’s basketball program as<br />

director of basketball operations.<br />

The move to <strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong><br />

was a chance for Nichols to return<br />

to Division III. “This is where I<br />

belong,” she said. “I believe that<br />

part of my job is to help my players<br />

meet their goals off the court. That<br />

means if they tell me they want to<br />

make the Dean’s List or become a<br />

teacher, it’s my responsibility to<br />

help them do that.”<br />

“What is most important<br />

to me is that we are building<br />

and improving and putting<br />

a better product out there<br />

with every game. Winning<br />

or losing aside, I want<br />

<strong>Randolph</strong> to have an<br />

exciting brand of women’s<br />

basketball.”<br />

<br />

<br />

Allison Nichols<br />

Women’s Head Basketball Coach<br />

Tina Hill, <strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong>’s<br />

athletic director, said Nichols’<br />

experience and dedication to<br />

students will be a valuable addition<br />

to the WildCat coaching staff. “She<br />

is a great motivator and will have<br />

high expectations for our students<br />

to excel in the classroom and on the<br />

court,” she said.<br />

The team’s first game is in<br />

November, and Nichols wasted<br />

no time getting started. She met<br />

with returning players in May<br />

when she arrived on campus and<br />

made contact with new players<br />

throughout the summer. She has<br />

already started recruiting efforts<br />

for next year.<br />

“It takes time to build a<br />

winning program,” she said. “What<br />

is most important to me is that<br />

we are building and improving<br />

and putting a better product out<br />

there with every game. Winning or<br />

losing aside, I want <strong>Randolph</strong> to<br />

have an exciting brand of women’s<br />

basketball.”<br />

She believes the team has what<br />

it takes to do just that. “This is a<br />

great group of players,” Nichols<br />

said. “They take their academics<br />

seriously, and they are willing to<br />

put forth the effort we need to be<br />

successful.”<br />

Nichols hopes her local<br />

connections will help with<br />

recruitment, and she believes<br />

<strong>Randolph</strong>’s close community is a<br />

selling point in itself.<br />

“There is something unique<br />

about this place,” she said. “To be<br />

able to bring a student on campus<br />

with their parents and be able to<br />

introduce them to the dean or the<br />

president in the Skeller or the<br />

dining hall is amazing. There is<br />

such a family atmosphere here.<br />

People don’t just say ‘hey’ to<br />

someone. They know them and<br />

genuinely care about them. It is<br />

impressive.”<br />

30


e an<br />

original<br />

Wanda WildCat Explores Lynchburg<br />

32


Decade of Service Provides Unique<br />

Perspective to Lynn Hume Stuart ’60<br />

“She really has a genuine<br />

interest in the future of the<br />

<strong>College</strong>, particularly how the<br />

campus will develop over the<br />

next 20 years.”<br />

The <strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong> Board of Trustees<br />

Rick Barnes<br />

Professor of Psychology and<br />

Environmental Studies<br />

and member of the<br />

Facilities Master Plan Committee<br />

Lynn Hume Stuart ’60 cannot drive by the entrance to the <strong>College</strong> without<br />

feeling at home. “I get a psychological lift every time,” she said. “It’s a<br />

beautiful campus, but there is so much more to it than that. There<br />

is tradition and the people. I’m proud of this place.”<br />

After serving for 10 years on the Board of Trustees, Stuart will<br />

be stepping down this year. Trustees may only serve two terms<br />

consecutively. What she will not do is disappear. Stuart, who lives<br />

in Lynchburg, plans to remain involved on campus.<br />

A history major, Stuart met her future husband Bill during<br />

her junior year, and the two married shortly after she graduated.<br />

She pursued graduate work while he was in the military, and<br />

she taught at Virginia Tech when he attended graduate school<br />

there. They moved to Lynchburg in 1963 when he was hired at<br />

Wiley|Wilson, an engineering firm.<br />

“This <strong>College</strong> prepared me for my life,” she said. “I learned<br />

how to do research and how to write well. It gave me a broad<br />

perspective on the world.”<br />

Stuart was involved with the <strong>College</strong> for years before joining<br />

the Board of Trustees. She was one of the first docents at the<br />

<strong>College</strong>’s Maier Museum of Art. She also served as president of<br />

the Alumnae Association and co-owned a local travel business<br />

with Marie Woody Harris ’57.<br />

A Texas native and mother of three, Stuart began her tenure<br />

on the Board of Trustees as a way to be more involved with her alma mater.<br />

She served on various committees including the Buildings and Grounds<br />

Committee and the Facilities Master Plan Committee.<br />

“She really has a genuine interest in the future of the <strong>College</strong>, particularly<br />

how the campus will develop over the next 20 years,” said Rick Barnes, a<br />

psychology and environmental studies professor who worked on the Facilities<br />

Master Plan with Stuart. “She brought a perfect balance of seriousness and<br />

purpose but was also able to keep things in perspective.”<br />

Stuart enjoyed being a part of the planning process. The 10-year plan,<br />

which was approved by the Board in 2008, will guide <strong>Randolph</strong> <strong>College</strong>’s<br />

future growth. “It was interesting to get input from faculty and students and<br />

staff and to see it all evolve,” she said. “Being involved in something from<br />

start to finish was satisfying. So many master plans go on the shelf. This one<br />

is being used, and it’s being considered when we build for future growth. It<br />

is a workable plan.”<br />

Stuart is looking forward to watching <strong>Randolph</strong> grow during the coming<br />

years. “This <strong>College</strong> has really shown that it has staying power and values that<br />

are going to persist,” she said. “We have an amazing group of people here.”


Office of <strong>College</strong> Relations<br />

2500 Rivermont Avenue<br />

Lynchburg, Virginia 24503-1526<br />

NON-PROFIT ORG.<br />

U.S. POSTAGE<br />

PAID<br />

LYNCHBURG, VA<br />

PERMIT NO. 6<br />

Save the Date<br />

2010 Family Weekend<br />

September 24–26, 2010<br />

www.randolphcollege.edu/familyweekend

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