Wake Forest Magazine September 2003 - Past Issues - Wake Forest ...

LASSNOTESGoingto theChapelIt was cheaper than an engagement ring although, for the record, Brian Baker didbuy Crystal Bowie a nice ring, too. But it was a $50 brick, placed in the alumni“Spirit Walk” between Tribble Hall and the Benson University Center, that carried hisproposal: “Crystal Bowie/Will You/Marry Me.” Baker left off the question mark andhis name, but after dating for six years he was pretty confident she would knowwhom it was from and that she would say yes.Baker (’97, JD ’00),a native of Marion, North Carolina, and Bowie (’96, JD ’02),anative of LaPlata, Maryland, knew each other throughout their undergraduate years,but they didn’t start dating until after college when they both remained in Winston-Salem. He went straight to law school after graduating; she worked in pharmaceuticalresearch for a few years and had planned on going to medical school beforechanging her mind and going to law school instead. Both are now attorneys—Bakerin Asheville, North Carolina, and Bowie in Winston-Salem.She admits to getting a little impatient waiting for him to propose and was “droppinga few more hints.”When she received an e-advertisement for engagement ringswith the tag line: “this is not a subtle hint, this is a brick to the head,” she promptlysent it to him. But Baker didn’t need a brick to the head; he just needed a brick.After his earlier plan to propose on a camping trip went awry, the brick idea poppedinto his head. “We both love Wake and obviously have spent a lot of time here, so it’sa special place for both of us,” he said.Because he had already told their families that he was going to propose on thecamping trip, he needed the brick fast.With the help of Kim Robertson in the Officeof Alumni Activities and Annual Support and a quick turnaround by Pine Hall Brick,it only took three weeks to get the brick engraved and installed in the walkway.Baker made up a story that his mother had purchased a brick for him, and on May 16he asked Bowie to come with him to campus to find it.When they found the brick,Baker pointed to it, pulled out the ring, and asked, “Will you?”“I’m usually pretty talkative, but for about ten seconds, I was utterly speechless,”Bowie said. “Once I recovered, I started jumping up and down and said ‘yes.’ I can’tthink of anything more fitting.We’re both die-hard Wake Forest fans, and we wouldnot be where we are without the scholarships and people we met at Wake Forest.”For future Wake Foresters who may notice their brick and wonder if CrystalBowie said yes, they’re thinking about adding another brick to tell the rest of thestory: “Meet me/at Wait Chapel/July 17, 2004.”Kristine VanDoran Rork is pursuing adoctoral degree in clinical child psychology inWest Virginia.Ally Fayard Sonntag received her MS inenvironmental science and policy from JohnsHopkins University in July. She is with BoozAllen Hamilton, a consulting firm, and is a seniorregulatory consultant for the EnvironmentalProtection Agency and Department ofTransportation in Arlington,VA, andWashington, DC.Gregory R.Trimble received his MD fromthe Medical College of Virginia and has begun afour-year double residency program in internalmedicine and pediatrics at the University ofUtah in Salt Lake City.2000Brian J. Chapuran (JD) is part of OperationIraqi Freedom, initially stationed in Kuwait andthen at Tallil Airbase, near An Nasiriyah. He isthe legal advisor and prosecutor for the 36thEngineer Group, dealing with many issuesincluding legal advice on designing and buildingan enemy prisoner of war camp in accordancewith the Geneva Convention.Katherine Cunningham is a first-year studentat the University of Virginia’s Darden GraduateSchool of Business Administration.Jim Fitzpatrick is assistant basketball coach atElon University in Elon, NC.Joshua Hoffman graduated from Case WesternReserve School of Law in Cleveland, OH.Richard McCluney continues his clinicalrotations at the University of Tennessee Collegeof Medicine. He plans to marry Trish House inDecember.Kelly E. Meachum is assistant director ofthe College Fund in the Office of UniversityAdvancement at Wake Forest.Kelly Perry graduated from Duke UniversityLaw School and is with Womble CarlyleSandridge & Rice in the Research Triangle Parkoffice.Stephanie Reddy is a graduate student at theUniversity of Texas at Dallas and is engaged toDavid White (’00).Thomas Ruffner received his JD from DePaulUniversity College of Law and is an associatewith Howrey Simon Arnold & White in Chicago.52 Wake Forest Magazine