Also inside: - Coe College

Cover Story: 

Coe’s 

Defining Moment 

Ice storm greets 

campaign kickoff 

Also inside: 

Alumni profile: 

Fred Jackson ’03 

Two decades of 

Writing Across 

the Curriculum 

Homecoming 2007 

Winter 2008

In the storied 156-year 

history of Coe, it’s hard to 

imagine a time when the 

college has received as much 

positive press as in the past 

few months. Within the span 

of seven weeks — from late 

October to early December — 

the college hosted a nationally 

televised presidential 

candidate’s forum, rode the 

coattails of an alumnus who 

made a splash in professional 

sports and launched the 

largest fundraising campaign 

in Coe history. 

The Defining Moment 

Campaign kickoff on 

Founders’ Day — Dec. 8 

— was a spectacular tribute 

to the college’s past and a 

glimpse of its very bright 

future. Despite freezing 

rain and a conflicting local 

appearance by Oprah 

Winfrey, the gala event in 

Sinclair Auditorium was 

attended by more than 400 

people, with nearly 300 

more watching via satellite 

broadcast on DISH Network. 

The campaign launch was 

covered by newspapers across 

the state. 

For those closest to Coe, 

it was indeed a defining 

moment, one that should 

inspire us all to dig deep into 

our resources and help the 

college achieve its $80 million 

goal. 

EDITOr’S 

NOTES 

Earlier, two events with much 

broader audiences — Iowa’s 

first-in-the-nation caucuses 

and the National Football 

League season — helped put 

Coe in the national spotlight, 

far beyond the college’s 

internal constituencies. 

Presidential candidates 

Barack Obama, John 

Edwards, Bill richardson and 

rudy Giuliani all made stops 

at Coe in advance of the Jan. 

3 caucuses. Edwards brought 

… it was a great semester for Coe. 

rock and roll Hall of Fame 

singer-songwriters Bonnie 

raitt and Jackson Brown with 

him for a Nov. 19 rally in 

Sinclair. 

But the highlight of the 

campaign season, from Coe’s 

perspective, came Oct. 29. 

That’s when MTV and 

MySpace broadcast their 

second presidential dialogue, 

which featured Obama, from 

Dows Theatre. 

The campus was abuzz as 

students endured long lines 

to claim one of 231 spots 

in the live studio audience. 

Theatre rehearsals were 

disrupted — and the set 

dismantled — as crews 

transformed Dows into a 

production studio. Several 

students got valuable work after totaling 151 yards in 

experience in support of the his starting debut Dec. 2 

event. 

against the Washington 

Even republicans, had they 

watched, would have been 

pleased with the portrayal of 

Coe on a picture-perfect fall 

day. 

redskins. By season’s end, 

Jackson amassed over 600 

all-purpose yards and was 

named to USA Today’s 

All-Joe team. Online voters 

picked him for the Bills’ 

MTV said the dialogue with Unsung Hero award. 

Obama and a prior one with 

Edwards in New Hampshire 

have been streamed 700,000 

times. Almost 3.3 million 

have watched them on MTV. 

NFL fans love Cinderella 

stories, and the glass slipper 

fit Jackson perfectly. The 

undrafted free-agent project 

out of Division III Coe 

College, which happened 

to also be the alma mater 

of Bills’ General Manager 

Marv Levy ’50, was the 

Online viewers submitted 

over 12,000 questions to 

Edwards and Obama for their 

subject of countless reports 

in the print and broadcast 

news. 

events. 

Among those waving the 

While Obama was the focus 

of the event, it couldn’t 

hurt a bit that Coe was 

prominently featured on 

a television network and 

online community that 

count teenagers and collegeage 

students as their target 

audience. 

Coe College banner was 

Curt Menefee ’87, the 

host of Fox NFL Sunday. 

The top rated NFL studio 

show was seen by an average 

of 3.1 percent of the 113 

million U.S. TV households 

this season. That’s 3.5 

million households that, 

at least potentially, heard 

An even broader audience Menefee talk about his 

was exposed to Coe through fellow Coe alumnus. 

the emergence of Fredrick 

Jackson ’03 as a running 

back for the NFL’s Buffalo 

Bills. Finally earning his shot 

after going from Coe to Sioux 

City and to Europe, Jackson 

To paraphrase former 

President Joe McCabe, it 

was a great semester for 

Coe. 

was the talk of the NFL —Lonnie Zingula 

Winter | 2008

Vol. 107 No. 3 Winter 2008 

Editor 

Lonnie Zingula 

Director of Production, Layout 

and Graphic Design 

Carole Butz 

Photographers 

George Henry ’49 

Ed Kempf 

Andy Molison ’03 

Class Notes Assistant 

Tara Richards ’10 

Proofreader 

James Larkin 

Sports Information Director 

Ryan Workman 

Director of Marketing and 

Public Relations 

Rod Pritchard 

Vice President for Advancement 

Dick Meisterling 

Director of Alumni Programs 

Jean Johnson 

Alumni Association President 

Sid Batten ’57 

Coe College President 

James Phifer 

Address changes — permanent 

and seasonal — and inquiries 

regarding alumni records may 

be addressed to Peggy Hill, 

Office of Advancement, phone 

(319) 399-8542, or e-mail: 

alumni@coe.edu 

Visit the Courier online at 

www.coe.edu/aboutcoe/pubs/ 

courier.htm/ 

Many alumni have added their 

e-mail addresses to Coe’s home 

page. To add yours, write the 

Office of Alumni Programs or 

contact Coe’s Web site. 

Contact the Courier editor at 

courier@coe.edu 

or (319) 399-8613. 

The Coe Courier is published for 

alumni of the college, parents of 

current and former students, and 

recent contributors to the Coe 

Fund. The magazine is published 

in the spring, summer and winter 

by Coe College, 1220 First Avenue 

NE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52402. 

Coe College Courier 

Contents 

COVER STORY: 

20 Amid an ice storm that challenged the participation of 

even the hardiest Coe supporters, the college unveiled 

the largest campaign in its history Dec. 8 at a gala event 

in Sinclair Auditorium. Defining Moment: The Campaign 

for Coe seeks to raise $80 million that will be used to 

bolster four major areas of the college. 

On the cover: Freezing rain that greeted Coe’s campaign kickoff 

event left the campus coated in a sheet of ice. 

FEaTuRES: 

11 Fredrick Jackson ’03 has accomplished his lifelong 

dream of playing in the NFL. Now he’s making the most 

of his opportunities with the Buffalo Bills. 

16 Cleveland school teacher David Kachadourian ’72 finds 

meaning in his work after being shot by a student. 

18 Coe admission is a family affair for Shannon Staker 

Cook ’02. 

24 Homecoming 2007. 

26 For more than two decades, Coe’s Writing Across the 

Curriculum program has stood the test of time. 

DEpaRTmEnTS 

2 Slinga da ink 

2 Pusha da pen 

6 Campus briefs 

8 Sport shorts 

29 Class notes

www.coe.edu 

2 

Shirer memorieS 

Sought 

I am writing a biography 

of Coe alumnus William 

L. Shirer ’25 (1904-1993), 

who won fame as a CBS 

radio foreign correspondent 

in the late 1930s and early 

1940s and as the author of 

17 books, several of which 

were bestsellers — including 

“Berlin Diary” (1941), “rise 

and Fall of the Third reich” 

(1960) and “The Nightmare 

Steele exploreS 

obama candidacy 

In his beautifully wrought 

and thought-provoking new 

book, “A Bound Man,” the 

award-winning and bestselling 

author Shelby Steele ’68 

attests that Senator Barack 

Obama’s groundbreaking 

quest for the highest office 

in the land is fast becoming a 

galvanizing occasion beyond 

mere presidential politics, 

one that is forcing a national 

dialogue on the current state 

of race relations in America. 

Says Steele, poverty and 

inequality usually are the 

focus of such dialogues, but 

Obama’s bid for so high an 

office pushes the conversation 

to a more abstract level where 

SLINGA 

DA INk 

Years” (1984). My book, 

tentatively titled “A Complex 

Fate: William L. Shirer and 

the American Century” will be 

published by the University of 

Missouri Press. 

The Courier invites letters on its contents or topics related to 

the college. Letters may be edited for style, length and clarity. 

Send letters to: courier@coe.edu 

or 

Coe Courier 

1220 First Ave. NE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52402 

PUSHA 

DA PEN 

race is a politics of guilt and 

innocence generated by our 

painful racial history — a 

kind of morality play between 

(and within) the races in 

which innocence is power and 

guilt is impotence. 

Steele writes of how Obama 

Shirer graduated from Coe 

with a BA in 1925 and immediately 

set out for Europe, 

where he spent much of the 

next 16 years; however, he 

always maintained ties to Ce- 

is caught between the two 

classic postures that blacks 

have always used to make 

their way in the white American 

mainstream: bargaining 

and challenging. Bargainers 

strike a “bargain” with white 

America in which they say, I 

will not rub America’s ugly 

history of racism in your face 

if you will not hold my race 

against me. Challengers do 

the opposite of bargainers. 

They charge whites with 

inherent racism and then 

demand that they prove 

themselves innocent by 

supporting black-friendly 

policies like affirmative action 

and diversity. 

Steele maintains that Senator 

Obama is too constrained by 

dar rapids, where his mother 

lived, and to Coe, where he 

had many friends. 

I would very much like to hear 

from any Coe alumni who have 

recollections of Shirer or information 

about him to share. 

I can be reached via e-mail at 

ken.cuthbertson@queensu.ca. 

Thank you. 

Ken Cuthbertson 

Editor, Queen’s Alumni Review 

Queen’s University 

Kingston, ON., CANADA 

these elaborate politics to find 

his own true political voice. 

Obama has the temperament, 

intelligence, and background 

— an interracial family, a 

sterling education — to guide 

America beyond the exhausted 

racial politics that now prevail. 

And yet he is a Promethean 

figure, a bound man. 

Says Steele, Americans are 

constrained by a racial correctness 

so totalitarian that 

we are afraid even to privately 

ask ourselves what we think 

about racial matters. Like 

Obama, most of us find it 

easier to program ourselves 

for correctness rather than 

risk knowing and expressing 

what we truly feel. Obama 

emerges as a kind of Every- 

Winter | 2008

man in whom we can see 

our own struggle to accept 

and honor what we honestly 

feel about race. In “A Bound 

Man,” Steele makes clear the 

precise constellation of forces 

that bind Senator Obama, 

and proposes a way for him 

to break these bonds and find 

his own voice. The courage 

to trust in one’s own careful 

judgment is the new racial 

progress, the “way out” from 

the forces that now bind us all. 

“A Bound Man,” 160 pages, is 

available in hardcover for $22 

from Free Press, a division 

of Simon & Schuster. ISBN 

1416559175. 

gorman’S lateSt 

myStery lauded 

Cedar rapids author Ed 

Gorman ’68 received a starred 

review from Library Journal 

for his new Sam McCain 

mystery “Fools rush In.” 

In the seventh installment 

in the series (each bears the 

name of a popular period 

song as its title), gumshoe 

McCain is asked by the town 

judge to look into the death 

of a young black man who has 

been dating the daughter of 

a wealthy white senator. The 

year is 1963, the height of the 

Civil rights Movement, but 

the few African Americans 

who live in the small town of 

Black river Falls, Iowa, do 

not interact with the white 

upper class as equals. 


The Library Journal said the 

whodunit is “not only a compelling 

crime novel but also 

a powerful depiction of the 

deep-rooted prejudice and 

social inequities in middle 

America.” Said reviewer Harriet 

klausner, “Gorman once 

again combines a fine murder 

investigation with a touch of 

nostalgia inside of the grand 

scale of the local, regional and 

national freedom marches 

that changed America.” 

“Fools rush In,” 229 pages, 

is available in hardcover for 

$25 from Pegasus Books NY. 

ISBN 1933648325. 

guenther’S Vietnam 

trilogy continueS 

“Dodge City Blues,” the second 

novel in the lost Vietnam 

trilogy by Dan Guenther 

’66, has been published by 

redburn Press and is available 

online through Amazon. 

com and Barnes&Noble.com. 

Like Guenther’s 1990 novel, 

“China Wind,” Southeast Asia 

is the setting for “Dodge City 

Blues.” A Viet Cong assassination 

squad exploits the Marine 

battle plan in Dodge City. To 

overcome their enemy, the 

Marines must reinvent their 

operational approach, linking 

with both an Australian Special 

Service advisor and the 

republic of korea Marines 

to develop an innovative and 

effective team. 

“It is a must read for veterans 

of prior wars and those who 

wish to grasp the nuances of 

the universal conflict we have 

subjected our best to fight,” 

said retired Marine Col. Bob 

Fischer, a former advisor to 

the Vietnamese Marine Corps 

and a lecturer on strategy 

and tactics of the insurgent at 

Naval War College. 

Additional reviews were provided 

by former Coe classmates 

and fellow authors Ed 

Gorman ’68 and Dow 

Mossman ’66. Gorman 

called it “a hell of a good 

book, frightening, sad and 

powerful.” Mossman said, 

“From the opening page, 

‘Dodge City Blues’ gathers 

momentum — a read one 

can’t put down.” 

The third book in the trilogy, 

“The Townsend’s Solitaire,” is 

set in Yellowstone during the 

early 1980s. It is scheduled 

for publication in 2008. 

“Dodge City Blues,” 300 pages, 

is available in paperback 

for $14.95 from redburn 

Press. ISBN 1933704020. 

alumna exploreS 

Kenyan hiStory 

Kenda Mutongi ’89, associate 

professor of history at Williams 

College, is the author of a 

new book titled “Worries of 

the Heart: Widows, Family, 

and Community in kenya.” 

Mutongi specializes in East 

Africa, urban history, and 

transport history and culture. 

She grew up in Maragoli, 

a small village in Western 

kenya that lies close to Lake 

Victoria and the equator. The 

area had been under British 

colonial rule since the early 

1900s, but local African leaders 

took over when kenya 

declared its independence in 

1963. 

Here Mutongi encountered 

a paradox: Maragolis of her 

parents’ generation still 

looked back fondly on the 

colonial rule, even though 

3 

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www.coe.edu 

4 

the British had enacted some 

“harmful and ill-conceived” 

policies. And they looked 

disparagingly on their African 

leaders, calling them corrupt, 

dishonest, and incompetent. 

In her book, Mutongi explores 

why. She returns to Maragoli 

to understand how British 

rule, and then kenyan independence, 

shaped people’s lives. 

She finds that the challenges 

and contradictions of colonialism 

are most pronounced 

in the lives of widows, who 

make up a significant part of 

the demographic. 

Under British rule, Maragoli 

widows would publicly air 

their social, political and 

economic problems — their 

“worries of the heart” — in 

order to compel men to help 

them. Later, during kenyan 

independence, they would 

invoke the language of rights 

and citizenship in their calls 

for assistance. 

Using widows’ lives as a “barometer 

for the harsh realities 

of rural kenya,” Mutongi 

explores the quest for survival 

in colonial and post-colonial 

Maragoli. The first part of her 

book gives a sense of everyday 

life during colonial rule, the 

second part tackles widowhood 

between 1930 and 1950, and 

the last part focuses on widows 

after kenyan independence. 

Binyavanga Wainaina, winner 

of the Caine Prize for African 

Writing, called “Worries of 

the Heart” a “magisterial book.” 

He added, “Mutongi has 

gotten under the skin of her 

material — and what we read 

is a living document: surely 

essential for every reading 

household in kenya, for 

schools, and for every department 

of African studies. It is 

at once a literary and academic 

achievement.” 

Mutongi has also published 

articles in Journal of African 

History, Africa, International 

Journal of African Historical 

Studies, Signs, and African 

Studies review. At Williams 

since 1996, Mutongi teaches 

courses on African political 

thought, the South African 

Apartheid, and Sub-Saharan 

Africa since 1800. 

“Worries of the Heart,” 272 

pages with 18 halftones and 

two maps, is available in cloth 

for $50 or paperback for $20 

from the University of Chicago 

Press. ISBN 0226554198 

and 0226554201. 

booK examineS 

domeStic programS of 

uS preSidentS 

Former teacher, government 

official and Air Force officer 

Richard Faber ’53 of Des 

Moines, Iowa, has teamed up 

with his daughter, Elizabeth 

Bedford, to write his third 

book, “Domestic Programs 

of The American Presidents: 

A Critical Evaluation.” Faber 

previously authored “Spitballers” 

(2006) and “The 

American Presidents ranked 

by Performance” (2000) 

with his brother, Charles 

Faber ’48 of Lexington, ky. 

Charles wrote the forward for 

“Domestic Programs of The 

American Presidents.” 

Since the Constitution delegates 

presidential powers in 

general rather than specific 

terms, the domestic influence 

of the president has increased 

over time, often varying 

greatly depending on the 

nature of the person hold- 

ing the office. From George 

Washington to George W. 

Bush, this volume 

takes an in-depth look at the 

domestic programs of America’s 

43 presidents. Written from a 

non-partisan viewpoint, each 

chapter focuses on a single 

presidency, providing information, 

analysis, interpretation 

and commentary regarding the 

domestic facet of each president. 

“Domestic Programs of The 

American Presidents” is 

available in paperback for $35 

from McFarland & Co. ISBN 

076431830. 

chaSe Sutton 

preSentS prize-winning 

poetry collection 

Winner of the 2007 Samuel 

French Morse Poetry Prize, 

“What Brings You to Del Amo” 

by Virginia Chase Sutton 

’76 is, by turns, both 

terrifying and comic. This 

collection of poems presents 

a vigilantly examined life, 

wringing wry and knowing 

but never smug composure 

from private and institutional 

experiences of mental illness, 

while also reminding us that 

the gap between extreme and 

ordinary states is often an 

illusion. 

Introducing the volume, 

Charles Harper Webb writes, 

“Sutton’s poems . . . delight 

with their fresh imagery, vivid 

perceptions, unusual perspectives, 

and general liveliness, 

Winter | 2008

even when their subject is 

suffering.” 

Sutton welcomes her readers 

with bright imagery and high 

energy so that they will eagerly 

tag along, very glad for 

the wild ride. Webb states 

that this book, “in other 

words, is — to use a term 

not often applied to poetry 

— good read.” The poems, 

“also explore less frequently 

chronicled aspects of mental 

illness, including the comedy, 

sexual highs/lows, manic elation 

— ‘this glory’ — of their 

bipolar narrator’s life.” Webb 

concludes, “I applaud the 

courage and craft required 

to write this extraordinary 

collection. I recommend it to 

you heartily.” 

Sutton’s first collection of 

poems, “Embellishments,” 

was published in 2003. Her 

poems have won the Louis 

Untermeyer Scholarship in 

Poetry at Bread Loaf Writer’s 

Conference and the Allen 


Ginsberg Poetry Award, and 

they have appeared in the 

Paris review, Ploughshares, 

the Antioch review and 

Quarterly West, among other 

magazines, journals and anthologies. 

She lives in Tempe, 

Ariz., with her husband and 

daughters. 

“What Brings You to Del 

Amo,” 88 pages, is available 

in paperback for $16.96 from 

Northeastern University 

Press. ISBN 1555536891. 

lundine detailS 

cedar rapidS hiStory 

Area historical author Cindy 

Lundine ’68 has written 

her second historical book. 

Following the 2006 release of 

“kenwood Park…Through 

The Years,” Lundine has 

published a book that is sure 

to appeal to Cedar rapidians 

past and present. Loaded 

with well-researched text 

and numerous rare historical 

photographs, “Cedar rapids…Chapter 

By Chapter” 

is an excellent source for 

details about the beginnings 

and development of the 

Cedar rapids and Marion 

area, from the middle 1800s 

through the present. 

With nine chapters, including 

“memory interviews” 

with longtime area residents 

and special “Did You 

know…” and “Then And 

Now” sections, this new book 

covers such fascinating his- 

torical aspects as its eateries, 

manufacturing and industry, 

commercial enterprises, 

recreation and amusements, 

churches, schools, transportation, 

disasters and recoveries, 

communications and media, 

and much more. Little-known 

facts abound, and readers will 

delight in the many memories 

shared and significant events, 

large and small, covered in 

a scholarly, yet heartwarming 

way in this quality work 

of non-fiction by a longtime 

Cedar rapids resident. 

Autographed copies of 

“Cedar rapids…Chapter By 

Chapter” are available for 

$15 ($18 if mailed outside of 

the Cedar rapids area) from 

Bridlewreath Studio Productions, 

P.O. Box 10873, Cedar 

rapids, IA 52410. 

Self-publiShed 

poet tendS hiS Voice 

faithfully 

Continuing to follow the 

advice of English Professor 

Vernon Lichtenstein, Tom 

Adamson ’72 has published 

his 12 th collection of poems 

and lyrics. “Stonewater 

Memories” is wide-ranging 

in subject matter, with God 

and the blues being heavily 

represented. 

Though he majored in political 

science, Adamson said his 

favorite classes were taught 

by Lichtenstein, who gave 

him the one piece of writing 

advice he has always tried to 

follow: “Find your own voice 

and tend to it faithfully, for no 

one else will.” To that end, he 

has self-published 12 books 

since 1986, including one 

each year since 2003. 

Adamson, an assistant 

professor of business at 

Midland Lutheran College 

in Freemont, Neb., won 

a Nebraska Humanities 

Council award in 1997 and 

continues to polish his craft. 

He says his major influences 

are Bob Dylan and Theodore 

roethke, as well as Leonard 

Cohen. 

“Stonewater Memories,” 81 

pages, is available in paperback 

for $8 from Tom Adamson, 

Assistant Professor of 

Business, Midland Lutheran 

College, 900 N. Clarkson, 

Fremont, NE 68025. 

5 

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6 

dooneSbury 

cartooniSt garry 

trudeau headlineS 

2008 cif 

Garry Trudeau, the creator 

and award-winning editorial 

cartoonist of Doonesbury, 

will be the keynote speaker at 

the sixth annual Coe College 

Contemporary Issues Forum 

on Feb. 26. 

Doonesbury was launched in 

1970 and now appears in nearly 

1,400 newspapers in the U.S. 

and abroad. Trudeau’s work 

has been published in 60 

hardcover, trade paperback 

and mass-market editions, 

which have cumulatively sold 

over 7 million copies worldwide. 

In 1975, Trudeau became 

the first comic strip artist to be 

awarded a Pulitzer Prize for 

editorial cartooning. He was a 

Pulitzer finalist in 1989, 2004 

and 2005. 

Trudeau has contributed articles 

to publications such as 

Harper’s, rolling Stone, The 

New republic, The New Yorker, 

New York and The Washington 

Post. He has also collaborated 

on Doonesbury-related projects 

ranging from Broadway 

plays to television shows. 

Trudeau earned his B.A. and 

an M.F.A. in graphic design 

from Yale University. He lives 

in New York City with his 

wife, Jane Pauley. 

Established by the late K. 

Raymond Clark ’30, the 

CAMPUS 

BrIEFS 

Garry Trudeau 

Contemporary Issues Forum 

presents the views of distinguished 

leaders whose work 

has shaped and altered the 

course of world events. In 

its first five years, the forum 

has featured former U.S. 

President George H.W. Bush, 

former Poland President 

Lech Walesa, deep-sea oceanographer 

robert Ballard, civil 

rights activist Myrlie Evers- 

Williams, and former Israeli 

Prime Minister Ehud Barak. 

preSidential politicS 

come to coe 

Coe students had ample opportunity 

to meet presidential 

candidates as the college was 

a frequent site for campaign 

events leading up to the firstin-the-nation 

Iowa Caucuses. 

Among candidates for the 

Democratic nomination, 

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, 

former North Carolina Sen. 

John Edwards and New 

Mexico Gov. Bill richardson 

all drew crowds to campus. 

Former New York City Mayor 

rudy Giuliani was the lone 

republican candidate to visit 

Coe, although Massachusetts 

Gov. Mitt romney delivered 

the 2006 Commencement address 

and received an honorary 

degree from the college. 

romney hadn’t yet declared 

his candidacy at that time. 

richardson spoke to an estimated 

150 people — including 

dozens of college students 

— in Gage Memorial Union 

on Aug. 28. Giuliani drew 

about 200 people to a townhall 

rally in Dows Theatre on 

Dec. 12. 

In between, Obama and Edwards 

were the central figures 

in campaign events that cast 

Coe squarely in the national 

spotlight. 

MTV and MySpace selected 

Coe for its second presidential 

dialogue, which featured 

Obama. Dows was transformed 

into a production 

studio for the Oct. 29 event, 

which was streamed live over 

the Internet and broadcast 

nationally on MTV. 

Seven of 231 selected Coe 

students attending the event 

were able to ask Obama questions 

on topics of personal 

interest during the hour-long 

broadcast. Hundreds more 

watched the event streamed 

live on a giant screen on the 

campus quad, where Obama 

stumped at the conclusion of 

the broadcast. 

Edwards brought rock and 

roll Hall of Fame singersongwriters 

Bonnie raitt and 

Jackson Browne with him 

to Coe on Nov. 19. Several 

hundred people filled Sinclair 

Auditorium for the concert/ 

political rally. Edwards also 

wrapped up an eight-day bus 

tour at Coe on Dec. 17 and 

drew about 300 people to Gage. 

Fueled largely by first-time 

caucus participants like those 

among the Coe student body, 

Obama scored an historic win 

in the opening contest of 

Democratic candidates hoping 

to represent their party in the 

November election. Edwards 

edged New York Sen. Hillary 

Clinton for second place. 

richardson was a distant fourth 

and ended his candidacy after 

a similar showing in the New 

Hampshire primary. 

In the republican caucus, 

Giuliani finished a distant 

sixth. Focusing primarily on 

the so-called “Super Tuesday” 

primaries, he had campaigned 

little in Iowa (his Coe appearance 

came on only his 16 th 

visit) or New Hampshire. After 

spending millions of dollars 

and campaigning heavily 

in Iowa, romney finished 

second to former Arkansas 

Gov. Mike Huckabee. 

Pushed up to Jan. 3 to 

maintain first-in-the-nation 

status, the caucuses drew 

record turnouts for both parties. 

Young voters were well 

represented even though most 

were on winter break from 

college. Coe students were 

given the opportunity to stay 

on campus if they returned 

Winter | 2008


Photo by Frank Micelotta/Getty Images 

Coe students made up the audience for the MySpace/MTV Presidential Dialogue with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama on Oct. 29. Dows Theatre was transformed into 

a production studio before the nationally broadcast event. 

to participate in the caucuses, 

but only a handful did. 

coe’S chapter of the 

Society of phySicS 

StudentS honored 

The National Society of Physics 

Students (SPS) has selected the 

Coe College chapter of the 

Society of Physics Students as 

an Outstanding Chapter for 

the 2006-2007 school year. 

Those chapters that are honored 

excel in physics areas such as 

research, public science outreach, 

tutoring programs, 

representation at physics 

meetings, and social interaction 

of chapter members. 

The Coe Physics Department 

is known worldwide for 

its accomplishments in glass 

research and resulting discov- 

eries. In the last decade, the 

department has received more 

than $2.1 million in external 

grant funding for equipment 

and programs. During that 

time, more than 80 articles 

have been published by Coe 

physics faculty and students 

in peer-reviewed publications, 

with over 250 student and 

faculty presentations at more 

than 70 scholarly conferences. 

More than 20 Coe physics 

students participate in 

summer research each year, 

working on projects normally 

reserved for graduate 

students. Coe physics 

students have the opportunity 

to travel around the world 

for research and conferences. 

recent destinations 

have included China, Japan, 

England, Germany, Bulgaria, 

Greece, France, Italy, Canada, 

Arizona, Hawaii, Florida and 

Maryland. 

Coe physics graduates are 

sought-after candidates at 

graduate schools and in industry. 

The commitment of professors 

coupled with funding 

for equipment and research 

helps Coe physics students 

advance to highly regarded 

graduate programs and professional 

positions. About 80 

percent of the graduates from 

the program have moved on 

to quality graduate schools in 

physics, materials science, an 

allied science or mathematics. 

Nationally, only about 5,000 

students graduate with a degree 

in physics annually. The 

Coe physics program typically 

serves 25 to 50 students 

majoring in physics, making 

it one of the largest physics 

programs in the state of Iowa. 

Created as a professional society 

for physics students and 

their mentors, the SPS helps 

to network and connect physics 

students to the professional 

community. Each academic 

year less than 10 percent of 

the total SPS chapters are 

nominated for depth and 

breadth of SPS activities 

nationwide. 

The Coe Physics Department 

is hosting an alumni reunion 

July 11-13. For information 

visit www.coe.edu/alumni/ 

physicsreunion. 

7 

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8 

KarKoSh, creaSon 

named outStanding 

athleteS 

Amber Karkosh ’08 and Jared 

Creason ’07 were named 

the 2006-07 Barron Bremner 

Outstanding Athletes at a recognition 

dinner on Sept. 29. 

karkosh was a standout on the 

kohawk volleyball and women’s 

basketball teams, while 

Creason was an All-American 

on the wrestling squad. 

karkosh helped lead the 

kohawk volleyball team to 

its first NCAA Tournament 

appearance in school history. 

The Toledo, Iowa, native 

broke the school record for 

digs in a three-game match 

with 29. She owns the singleseason 

digs mark with 679 

last season and also holds 

the career record. On the 

basketball floor, karkosh was 

a third-team All-West region 

selection and a first-team All- 

Iowa Conference selection. 

She owns the school records 

for single-season points, 

rebounds and steals. 

Creason won last season’s 

Iowa Conference 141-pound 

championship. With his Iowa 

Conference title, the Indianola, 

Iowa, native earned a spot 

at the NCAA Championships. 

Creason went on to place 

third at the national meet, 

finishing the season with a 

40-5 record. 

Other male finalists included 

SPOrT 

SHOrTS 

Mike Kilburg ’07, a first-team 

All-Iowa Conference and 

NABC All-West region 

selection on the men’s basketball 

team, and Ashton Northern 

’07, an honorable mention 

All-American and first-team 

All-Iowa Conference selection 

for the football team. 

On the women’s side, Molly 

Fiala ’09, an ITA All-American 

and Iowa Conference 

Player of the Year for the 

women’s tennis team, and 

Ellie Schultz ’09, a second 

team All-American and Iowa 

Conference Pitcher of the 

Year on the softball team, 

were the other two finalists. 

Funded by John Strohm ’79 

and his wife, Mary Pat Link, 

the Bremner award is given 

annually to the college’s top 

Amber Karkosh ’08 and Jared Creason ’07 were photographed with 

Hall of Fame coach and athletics director Barron Bremner 

following their selection as 2006-07 Outstanding Athletes. 

male and female athletes. The 

award is named in honor of 

Coe’s Hall of Fame coach 

and athletics director Barron 

Bremner. 

croSS country SendS 

two to nationalS 

A solid season for the kohawk 

cross country teams, including 

some of the best performances 

in many years, was 

capped by two Coe harriers 

qualifying for national competition. 

The men’s team finished 

fourth — its highest in school 

history — at the Iowa Conference 

Championships. Brad 

O’Neil ’09 finished ninth at 

the conference meet, earning 

All-Conference honors. He 

earned a spot at the NCAA 

Championships with a 14 th 

place finish at the NCAA 

regionals. 

O’Neil became the first 

kohawk male runner to 

participate in the NCAA 

Championships, where he 

placed 76 th out of 280 in a 

time of 25:41. The men’s 

team placed 14th in the regional 

championships — the 

highest in school history. 

The women placed seventh 

at the conference championships, 

with Ashley Schnell 

’11 placing 25 th . The freshman 

led the kohawks all 

Winter | 2008

season as she had four top-10 

finishes, including a firstplace 

finish at the Mount 

Mercy Mustang Gallop. 

Schnell also qualified for 

the NCAA National Championships 

after a 10 th place 

finish at the NCAA regionals. 

Schnell, just the third 

kohawk female runner to run 

at nationals, placed 65 th out 

of 280 runners with a time of 

22:40.7. 

women’S tenniS 

winS Second Straight 

iiac title 

The Coe women’s tennis team 

had its most successful season 

ever in the Iowa Conference 

this fall, going 8-0 in conference 

play and 12-0 overall. 

Along the way, the kohawks 

won the conference championship 

for just the second 

time ever. This year’s team 

proved to be one of the top 

teams in the nation after 

dominating nearly every team 

on the schedule and having 

a combined singles record of 

93-12. 

Along with the championship 

from the team tournament, 

Coe also had many 

high finishes in the individual 

tournament. Flight A singles 

saw four Coe players in the 

semifinals with Molly Fiala 

’09 defeating Andrea Schupbach 

’09, and second-seeded 

Hannah Jensen ’11 defeating 

Hillary Allen ’09 by identical 

6-2, 6-0 scores. Fiala defeated 


Molly Fiala ’09 became the first three-time women’s tennis MVP in Iowa 

Conference history. 

Jensen 7-5, 6-2 to capture her 

second individual singles title 

in three years, while Schupbach 

defeated Allen 6-3, 6-0 

for third place. 

In Flight A doubles, Fiala and 

Schupbach topped teammates 

Allen and Jensen 9-7 in an 

all-Coe championship match. 

It is Fiala’s second doubles 

title in three years. Fiala won 

both the singles and doubles 

championships as a freshman, 

but did not play in the 

tournaments last season as she 

competed at the ITA National 

Championships. 

Fiala was named the 2007 

IIAC Most Valuable Player 

for the third consecutive year, 

becoming the first threetime 

women’s tennis MVP 

in conference history. She 

reached the semifinals in both 

the singles and doubles draws 

at the ITA Midwest region 

Championship. She posted a 

16-1 overall singles record, 

with her lone loss coming 

in the semifinals of the ITA 

regional. 

Head Coach Eric rodgers 

also took home post-season 

honors, being named Iowa 

Conference Coach of the Year 

for the second consecutive 

season. This is his fifth Coach 

of the Year award, with three 

of those coming with the 

men’s team from 2003-2005. 

Volleyball finiSheS 

record-breaKing 

SeaSon 

With the kohawks’ 20-12 record 

this season, Head Coach 

DeAnn Woodin’s squad put 

together the first back-to-back 

20-win seasons since 1986-87 

for the Coe volleyball program. 

Woodin has led the 

team to a 46-20 record in her 

first two seasons. 

The kohawks started the season 

10-3, with all three losses 

coming to teams that eventually 

qualified for the NCAA 

Tournament. Coe took a 4-0 

conference record into Pella 

to face the 21 st -ranked Central 

Dutch in a battle for the 

Iowa Conference championship. 

Coe won the first game 

before dropping the next two. 

With their backs to the wall, 

the kohawks won game four, 

forcing a fifth and final game 

before falling 15-13. 

Coe went on to finish 6-2 in 

the Iowa Conference, which 

was good for the second seed 

in the conference tournament. 

After a first round bye, Coe 

topped third-seeded Wartburg 

in the semifinals to advance to 

the first conference volleyball 

championship match in 

school history. Central was 

too much to handle this 

time around, winning 3-0 

and earning the conference’s 

automatic berth in the NCAA 

Tournament. 

9 

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10 

One highlight for the kohawk 

squad was going undefeated 

at the newly remodeled 

Eby Fieldhouse. This past 

summer, the old bleachers 

and floor were replaced with 

new, state-of-the-art equipment. 

Coe finished a perfect 

5-0 in the new setting. 

While the team had a good 

mix of seniors and underclassmen, 

it was the core group 

of Emily Ita ’08, Shanon 

Nelson ’08, Nicole Spree 

’08 and Kristy Upah ’08 

that led the kohawks. After a 

13-22 record their freshman 

year, the seniors went 65-37 

in their final three years of 

volleyball. Along the way 

they combined for 18 school 

records. 

Three kohawks earned spots 

on the All-Iowa Confer- 

ence teams, led by Upah 

and Shayla Chalker ’09 on 

the first-team. Nelson was a 

second-team selection. 

KohawKS finiSh third 

in iiac StandingS 

For the second-straight 

season, the Coe College 

football team brought home a 

third-place finish in the Iowa 

Conference. The kohawks 

opened the season with 

four-straight wins, but an 

overtime Homecoming loss 

to Dubuque started a string 

of three-straight losses to the 

top three teams in the conference. 

The kohawks were able 

to bounce back and win their 

final three games to close out 

the season. 

The season came to an end 

Nov. 10 with the kohawks 

This diving catch by Tommy Breitbach ’09 rallied the Kohawks to a 17-6 victory over Cornell. 

hosting Cornell on Senior 

Day. The rams opened 

things up with a 6-0 halftime 

lead, but the kohawks scored 

17 second half points for 

Coe’s eighth straight victory 

over its Linn County rivals. 

Andy TeKippe ’08 completed 

a season-long 43-yard pass 

to an outstretched Tommy 

Breitbach ’09 to set up Coe’s 

go-ahead touchdown in the 

second half. 

One advantage the kohawks 

had this season was playing 

on a new FieldTurf surface at 

Clark Field. After losing three 

games at home in 2006, Coe 

went 4-1 on the new surface, 

the best record since the 2005 

team went 5-0 at Clark Field. 

With their 7-3 season, the 

kohawks broke or tied six single-season 

records. Tekippe 

completed 187 of his 348 pass 

attempts, both school records. 

Tekippe also had 464 plays 

of total offense, the most by 

any quarterback in school 

history. Breitbach joined Fred 

Jackson ’03 in 2002 and Jeff 

Baughman ’79 in 1978 as the 

only kohawks to return two 

punts for a touchdown in a 

season. Elliott Rausa ’11 tied 

Michael Herzberger ’07 for 

field goals in a season. Both 

rausa and Herzberger were 

freshmen when they hit 10 

field goals. Jordan Wilkens 

’09 broke the single-season 

tackles-for-loss record with 23. 

Seven different kohawks 

earned spots on the All-Iowa 

Conference teams, led by 

Wilkens and Breitbach being 

defensive first-team selections. 

Breitbach also earned a spot as 

a first-team return specialist. 

Nick Leerhoff ’08 and 

Tekippe were named to the 

offensive second-team, while 

Jordan Pinckney ’09 and 

Tate Harrison ’10 were named 

to the defensive second-team. 

Jeremy Squires ’08 was an 

honorable mention selection. 

The future looks bright for 

the kohawks as four of the 

top five rushers and all 11 

players who caught a pass 

return for the offense next 

year, while four of the top five 

tacklers return on defense. In 

all, Coe returns 15 starters, 

seven on offense and eight on 

defense. 

Winter | 2008

No CouNteRfeit Bill 

Don’t look for NFL 


stardom to have 

much of an effect 

on Coe’s Fredrick Jackson 

’03. This is a man who knows 

where he came from and what 

it took to get to the mountain- 

top of professional football. 

“It’s been fun more than 

anything,” Jackson said in a 

telephone interview as the 

NFL season was winding 

down. “I’m just trying to live 

the dream.” 

Jackson’s dream differs from 

all of his 52 teammates and 

nearly all of his 1,695 NFL 

colleagues. Signed by the 

Buffalo Bills as an undrafted 

free agent in 2006 after two 

years with the Sioux City 

Bandits of United Indoor 

Football, Jackson was one 

of eight former Division III 

student-athletes to make an 

NFL roster in 2007. 

So how did he spend his first 

NFL paycheck? “Paying 

student loans to Coe College!” 

That answer puts him in even 

smaller company. Jackson 

joined Carey Bender ’95, 

who spent two years on the 

Bills’ practice squad, as the 

Jackson finds action in Buffalo 

only Coe graduates to advance 

to the NFL as players. 

Bender was active in one game 

in 1996, while Jackson appeared 

in eight games for the Bills 

in 2007. After he toiled for 

most of the season as Buffalo’s 

“emergency” quarterback, 

injuries thrust him into the 

lineup at running back, where 

he proved to be an important 

part of the Bills’ offense. 

A diamond in the rough 

A native of Fort Worth, Texas, 

Jackson began his improbable 

journey to the NFL as a 

skinny kid who, along with 

twin brother Patrick Jackson 

’03, caught the eye of the head 

football coach and athletics 

coordinator at Nichols Junior 

High School. 

“They were small but tough, 

knew the game and were 

fundamentally sound,” said 

Coe Hall of Famer Wayne 

Phillips ’56. “Also, they 

were good citizens with good 

morals and high character. 

They needed an opportunity 

to get an education and play 

football and run track.” 

At Lamar High School in 

Arlington, the Jacksons had 

Fredrick Jackson ’03 made his first NFL start Dec. 2 against the Washington 

Redskins, netting 151 yards rushing and receiving. He is the first former 

Division III player to start at running back since Chris Warren in 2000. 

Photo courtesy the Buffalo Bills. 

the misfortune of being in the 

same class with Tommicus 

Walker, who won the 

Mayfield Workman Award in 

1998 as the area’s best high 

school football player. While 

Walker received a football 

scholarship from Division I 

Texas Christian University, 

Phillips steered the Jacksons 

to Coe, where each excelled in 

football and track and majored 

in sociology. 

“Coach Phillips really taught 

them the art of football,” said 

the twins’ mother, Latricia 

Jackson. “The best thing he 

ever did for them was take 

them to Coe so they could 

continue their football careers 

and get an education.” 

Walker drifted off the football 

landscape after transferring 

to Nebraska, where he never 

played a down. Fredrick, 

meanwhile, parlayed his small 

college experience into an 

NFL contract. 

A home away from home 

raised in a tight-knit family, 

the Jacksons struggled 

with homesickness their 

first semester at Coe until, 

at Phillips’ urging, Senior 

Development Officer Dan 

11 

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12 

Breitbach and his wife, katy, 

welcomed them into their own 

close family. 

“Their family was just 

wonderful,” Latricia Jackson 

said. “It was like going home 

for them when they met 

them.” 

Sunday dinner at the Breitbach 

home became a frequent 

tradition for the Jacksons and 

their teammates Dante Smith 

’02, Shaun Freeman ’03 and 

Rich Lane ’02 and future 

wives Danielle Allen ’05 and 

Mary Allison ’03. 

“We knew right off the bat 

that the quantity of food was 

going to be a major factor 

for us,” Dan Breitbach said. 

“They have become extremely 

close friends of our family.” 

By the time they were seniors, 

they even dictated the menu, 

katy added. “They just knew 

they could come over anytime,” 

she said. “It was just a 

way for them not to be homesick. 

I loved having them.” 

Whether wrestling in the 

living room, “Texas rules” 

foursquare on the back deck or 

beanbags in the basement, the 

Jacksons distinguished themselves 

with their competitive 

nature. They frequently 

attended the sporting events 

of Tommy Breitbach ’09, 

Kaitlin Breitbach ’11 and 

Hannah Breitbach, now a 

high school sophomore, and 

continue to play important 

roles in their lives. 

Fredrick learned he had made 

the Bills roster on Sept. 1, 

while Coe was opening its 

football season with a 24-6 

victory over Illinois Wesleyan. 

Despite his own achievement 

that day, he was more interested 

in discussing Tommy’s two- 

touchdown performance for 

the kohawks. 

“I was excited for him,” 

Fredrick said. “I check online 

every week to see how he’s 

doing.” 

kaitlin, a member of the 

Coe women’s basketball 

team, describes Fredrick as 

someone who remembers his 

roots regardless of any success 

he may have. “He always 

texts and calls the family on 

holidays, and even texts me 

about basketball games and 

how everything is doing,” she 

said. “Just this year we had a 

four-hour drive home from 

Minnesota and he said he’d 

stay up and talk to me and 

send pictures so that I wasn’t 

bored. It was awesome.” 

Similarly, the Breitbachs paid 

close attention to Fredrick’s 

progress with the Bills, 

hosting Sunday gatherings 

at a local bar to watch him 

play. When the Bills were 

on the road and Danielle 

was home alone with infant 

son Braeden, katy kept her 

company with text messages 

and phone calls. 

“I just reminded her how 

important she is to his 

success,” katy said. “She 

knows we’re there in spirit 

with her.” 

Home games were a different 

story, as the young couple 

typically hosted dozens of 

family and friends. “We 

generally have a houseful 

every home game,” Fredrick 

said. “We’ll probably do it 

every week next year.” 

That’s just fine with Danielle, 

who otherwise spends her 

days attending to Braeden 

or participating in charity 

activities with other players’ 

wives. “Anyone who knows 

me knows I like to be the 

little hostess,” she said. “It 

makes us feel like we’re back 

in college when people visit.” 

The Breitbachs hosted 

Fredrick and Danielle’s 

wedding and provided moral 

support to them both as 

Fredrick was completing his 

journey to the NFL. Once 

he made the Bills roster, 

his mom in Texas and his 

surrogate mom in Iowa knew 

he would succeed. 

Fredrick Jackson ’03 evades six-time Pro Bowler and 2006 NFL 

Defensive Player of the Year Jason Taylor en route to his first 100-yard rushing 

game against the Miami Dolphins on Dec. 9. He is the first former Division III 

player to gain 100 yards rushing in a game since Chris Warren in 1998. 


Winter | 2008

“I knew it was a matter of 

time,” Latricia Jackson said. 

“We’ve been headed toward 

this goal since second grade.” 

“I just knew he’d be awesome, 

if he got his chance,” katy 

Breitbach said. “What hasn’t 

he been the MVP of? I knew 

he’d be fine.” 

Defying the odds 

Jackson, the Iowa Conference 

football MVP his junior and 

senior seasons, nearly gave 

up on football when tryouts 

with the Green Bay Packers 

and Denver Broncos didn’t 

amount to anything. 

“I was standing right next to 

him when one of the scouts 

told him he wasn’t big enough 

to play tailback in the NFL,” 

said Coe Head Coach Erik 

raeburn. “He didn’t get 

discouraged. He just proved 

them wrong.” 

After graduation, Jackson 

worked as a youth counselor 

while starring for the Sioux 

City Bandits, earning 2005 

MVP honors in the United 

Indoor Football League with 

1,770 rushing yards and 53 

touchdowns. By now, NFL 

Hall of Fame coach Marv 

Levy ’50 had returned to 

Buffalo as general manager, 

and Phillips encouraged his 

former college coach to give 

another kohawk a chance. 

“Wayne is one loyal alumnus, 


I’ll tell you that,” Levy said 

in a telephone interview 

shortly after announcing his 

resignation from the Bills. 

After signing with Buffalo, 

Jackson was allocated to NFL 

Europe and led the rhein Fire 

in rushing with 731 yards. He 

spent the 2006 season on the 

Bills’ practice squad. 

In his second training camp 

with the Bills, Jackson led the 

team in rushing, receiving and 

kick returns. He survived the 

final cuts and made the Bills’ 

53-man roster as one of five 

running backs before signing 

a two-year contract. 

“It’s not the most common 

road traveled by any means,” 

Jackson said. “But if I had to, 

I’d do it all over again.” 

Making his mark 

In one game as the Bills’ 

starter, Jackson had 151 total 

yards, 82 rushing and 69 

receiving, in Buffalo’s 17-16 

victory over the Washington 

redskins. When rookie first 

round draft pick Marshawn 

Lynch returned to the lineup 

the next week against the 

Miami Dolphins, he and 

Jackson each rushed for over 

100 yards. It was a first for 

Buffalo since 1996. 

Emerging as Lynch’s primary 

backup, Jackson finished the 

year with 58 rushes for 300 

yards, 22 receptions for 190 

yards and three kick returns 

for 46 yards. His performance 

made him a fan favorite in 

Buffalo and a hot property in 

fantasy football leagues across 

the country. It also earned 

him a spot on USA TODAY’s 

All-Joe team, which celebrates 

the NFL’s unsung heroes, and 

the Bills’ Unsung Hero award, 

as selected by online voting. 

Levy cited Jackson as one of 

the “high character” players 

he targeted in his two years 

as general manager. “It’s one 

of those rudy stories,” he 

said. “It took him two years 

to finally get his chance, but 

he certainly performed when 

given the chance.” 

Though Levy has left Buffalo, 

he believes Jackson can write 

his own future with the Bills. 

“The coaches see him as a 

talent and asset to the team,” 

Levy said. “I think his future 

Photo by Kristy Upah ’08 

Danielle Allen Jackson ’05 

and Fredrick Jackson ’03 

were spotted with their son, Braeden, 

at a recent Coe basketball game. 

here is bright if he keeps 

the same work ethic and 

development on the path he 

has been.” 

There’s nothing to indicate 

otherwise. 

“Nothing’s changed,” Jackson 

said, “I’m still the same 

Freddie Jackson.” 

So it seemed on New Year’s 

Day, two days after the 

Bills’ season ended in a loss 

to the Philadelphia Eagles, 

when Fredrick and Danielle 

knocked on the door of the 

Breitbach home. The happy 

reunion inevitably led to 

dinner at Texas roadhouse. 

This time, however, Fredrick 

paid the tab. 

13 

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16 

Winter | 2008

NFL Hall of Fame coach 

Marv Levy ’50 shows no 

signs of slowing, even after 

stepping down after two years 

as general manager of the 

Buffalo Bills. 

“I’m stepping away, not to 

slow down, but to speed up,” 

Levy said in a telephone 

interview shortly after his 

resignation was announced. 

At 82 years old, Levy is 

keeping his options open — 

including a return to coaching. 

“I would entertain NFL head 

coaching opportunities,” he 

said. “really, it’s agonizing 

not coaching.” 

Levy led the Bills to an 

unprecedented four straight 

Super Bowls in the 1990s 

while becoming the winningest 

coach in team history. He 

retired after the 1997 season 

and had worked mostly as an 

NFL broadcaster until Bills 

owner ralph Wilson came 

calling two years ago. 

Coe graduates Fredrick Jackson ’03 and Marv Levy ’50 pause for a photo during a Buffalo Bills’ practice at 

Ralph Wilson Stadium. Levy, who resigned as the Bills’ general manager after the season, was instrumental in 

bringing Jackson to Buffalo. 



CHANGING 

“Following the 2005 NFL 

football season, Mr. Wilson 

and I agreed that I would 

return to Buffalo to serve as 

the team’s general manager 

for the following two-year 

period,” said Levy in a team 

statement. “It has been 

an experience that I have 

enjoyed immensely, and I am 

grateful to Mr. Wilson, to all 

the wonderful people in the 

Buffalo Bills organization, 

and to those incomparable 

fans who have inspired our 

team so magnificently.” 

Levy said he had accomplished 

his mission as the Bills’ 

general manager, a position 

for which he didn’t feel 

particularly well-suited. 

“I’m a coach, not an 

administrator,” he said. 

The Bills posted back-to-back 

7-9 seasons and failed to make 

the playoffs during Levy’s stint 

as general manager. However, 

he was instrumental in fortifying 

the roster with young, 

GEArS 

Levy steps down in Buffalo 

high character players abiding 

by his own mantra that ‘ability 

without character will lose.’ 

“When we needed a new 

focus and direction, Marv 

improved our organization’s 

morale, attitude and 

environment,” said Wilson. 

“All of that, plus the stability 

we needed to move forward.” 

Levy leaves the club 

encouraged about the team’s 

future. 

“Despite an unprecedented 

number of season-ending 

injuries, Dick Jauron, his 

coaching staff, and an 

admirable core of highcharacter 

players are heading 

in the right direction. If my 

contributions to their efforts 

have been meaningful, I then 

take my leave from One Bills 

Drive, thankful and gratified.” 

Barring any coaching 

opportunities, Levy said he 

will likely return to television 

broadcasting in some capacity. 

“I also like to write; maybe 

even a novel,” he said. 

Lettering in football, track 

and basketball at Coe, Levy 

graduated magna cum laude 

and was inducted into Phi 

Beta kappa. He later earned a 

master’s in English history at 

Harvard University. 

After coaching at the 

college level for seven 

years, Levy began his 

professional coaching career 

as the special teams coach 

for the Philadelphia Eagles, 

Los Angeles rams and 

Washington redskins. He 

then became head coach of 

the Montreal Alouettes in the 

Canadian Football League, 

leading them to two Grey 

Cup championships. 

Levy was head coach of the 

kansas City Chiefs from 1978 

through 1982. He joined the 

Bills as head coach in 1987 

and built a powerhouse 

franchise. He was inducted 

into the Pro Football Hall 

of Fame in 2001. Since his 

resignation in Buffalo, Levy 

has returned to Chicago, 

where he lives with his wife, 

Mary Frances. 

15 

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16 

teaCheR leaRNs 

he has the Right stuff 

Cleveland school 

teacher David 

Kachadourian 

’72 said he finally feels like a 

hero, although it has nothing 

to do with taking a bullet in 

the shoulder from a gunwielding 

student. 

kachadourian, 57, was one of 

four people injured Oct. 10 at 

SuccessTech Academy, a small 

school operated in the top 

three floors of a downtown 

office building owned by the 

Board of Education. 

Two days after he was suspended 

for fighting, freshman Asa 

Coon, 14, returned to the 

school armed with two revolvers. 

He fired eight shots, injuring 

two teachers and two students 

before killing himself. Police 

found a duffel bag stocked 

with ammunition and three 

knives in a bathroom, but did 

not find a suicide note. 

Math teacher kachadourian, 

who was treated and released 

for a minor wound to the 

David Kachadourian ’72 has 

returned to work at SuccessTech 

Academy after being wounded in a 

shooting by one of his own students. 

Photos by Brelynn Burgess. 

David Kachadourian ’72 

shoulder, doesn’t believe he 

was targeted by his beginning 

algebra student. 

“…I’m a hero 

because of how I 

live my life and 

do my job.” 

After hearing a popping 

sound, kachadourian went 

to the hallway to slow down 

students as they raced down 

stairs. Then he encountered 

Coon, who was waiving guns 

and yelling from about 15 feet 

away. 

“At that point, I didn’t think 

they were real guns,” he said. 

“I thought they were starter 

pistols or something.” 

kachadourian heard one or 

two more shots fired before 

feeling a stinging sensation in 

his back. He went downstairs 

and hurried students and 

another teacher into a closet. 

While waiting for what seemed 

Winter | 2008

like a long time, his back pain 

worsened and his skin felt wet. 

Emergency medical technicians 

eventually arrived and began 

treating kachadourian on the 

spot. Taken from the building 

on a stretcher, he heard a 

commotion. 

“I knew it looked like I was 

dead, but I really wasn’t,” he 

said. “I could have gotten 

up and walked out. I gave a 

thumbs-up to signal that I was 

okay.” 

After being bandaged at the 

hospital, kachadourian was 

released and felt well 

enough to appear on ABC’s 

“Nightline” the same day and 

“Good Morning America” the 

day after. 

“That celebrity thing was sort 

of fun and ok, but not real 

important,” kachadourian 

said, noting that he 

“purposely did not watch 

anything.” He also received 

calls and cards from friends 

and strangers from all over 

the country. “People would 

stop me on the street,” he 

said. “I had parents come 

up to me with tears in their 

eyes.” 

kachadourian said the 

support was uplifting, 

and that it was good to be 

considered a hero — even if 

for the wrong reasons. 

“As I thought about it, what I 


believe is I did a lot of heroic 

stuff, but not on that day,” he 

said. “Coming to school day 

after day and dealing with 

hundreds of kids while 

treating them with respect 

is really heroic. I’m a hero 

because of how I live my life 

and do my job.” 

In its sixth year, SuccessTech 

is an alternative high school 

in the public school district 

that stresses technology 

and entrepreneurship. The 

school ranks in the middle 

of Ohio’s ratings for student 

performance. Its graduation 

rate is 94 percent, well 

above the district’s rate of 55 

percent. 

Attracted by its small size and 

the opportunity to interact 

with smaller classes of 

students, kachadourian began 

teaching at SuccessTech 

four years ago. Budget 

cuts, however, had recently 

doubled class sizes to 30-40 

students and created a stress- 

ful environment, he said. 

The school was closed the day 

after the shooting and had 

already been scheduled to 

close that Friday. Teachers 

met with parents the 

following Monday and classes 

resumed on Tuesday. 

“I feel like I’ve been really gifted 

through this whole process,” he said. 

“I believe that this gift comes 

with a challenge and I’m excited but 

anxious to discern 

what that challenge will be.” 

“That afternoon we were 

supposed to have class, but I 

was a zombie,” kachadourian 

said. He returned to work on 

Wednesday, but took three 

days off. “I needed more time, 

but I also knew the most 

healing thing for me would be 

to be with the kids.” 

kachadourian said his physical 

recovery went quickly, but the 

emotional recovery took time. 

The school environment 

has also improved with the 

addition of two teachers in 

November, another security 

guard and a metal detector. 

kachadourian said he was 

never concerned for his 

personal safety or that the 

school lacked sufficient 

security. “I never expected 

anything like this to happen,” 

he said. “I didn’t expect it 

from this kid.” 

The incident changed his 

perspective and allows him 

to empathize with events 

like the Nebraska rampage 

on Dec. 5. In that case, a 19year-old 

gunman killed eight 

people and then himself at the 

Westroads Mall in Omaha. 

“When you’ve been through 

it, it seems really real,” he 

said. “I can imagine what 

those people feel like.” 

Since the SuccessTech 

shooting, kachadourian said 

there’s a “somewhat different 

feeling of appreciation and 

caring among teachers and 

students and being willing 

to express it.” That also 

helped with his feelings of 

frustration. 

“As a teacher, I often feel like 

I’m not accomplishing anything,” 

he said. “It happens a 

lot less since the shooting.” 

While he wouldn’t go so far 

to call the incident lifechanging, 

he admits that it 

was a profound experience. “I 

feel like I’ve been really gifted 

through this whole process,” 

he said. “I believe that this gift 

comes with a challenge and I’m 

excited but anxious to discern 

what that challenge will be.” 

17 

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18 

You’d be hard-pressed to find 

someone with stronger ties to 

Coe than Assistant Director of 

Admission Shannon Staker 

Cook ’02. 

Coe admissioN: 

a family affaiR 

Although she’s not a CHIP, 

she’s a SIB four times over. 

Make that six, counting two of 

her sisters-in-law. 

“I’ve been coming to Coe 

since I was five,” she said. 

“That’s what I tell prospects.” 

Cook and her four brothers 

— Cody Staker ’90, Lance 

Staker ’93, Shane Staker 

’97 and Tyler Staker ’06 

— all attended Coe. Cook’s 

then-future sister-in-law, Julie 

Kleis Staker ’93 served as her 

admission counselor. During 

her official campus visit, she 

met her future husband, Head 

Baseball Coach Steve Cook. 

If that’s not enough, her 

father, Steve Staker, joined 

the football staff in 2004 as 

defensive coordinator. 

Cook returned the same 

year with ideal credentials to 

attract future generations of 

kohawks. She doesn’t hesitate 

to tell prospects about her 

family’s Coe experience. 

These Coe CHIPs and their alumni parents and grandparents gathered for a reception Oct. 27 during Family Weekend. Front row (left to right) — Kristen 

Roppolo ’10, John Roppolo ’74, Jonathan May ’11, Vanessa Batey May ’78, Holly Bouma-Johnston ’11, Stanley Bouma ’74 (in between), Kathy 

Johnston ’74, Brittni Hamdorf ’09, Vicki Dewell Hamdorf ’84, Jeanne Ferguson Pinckney ’47 and Wally Pinckney ’49. Back row — Mary Cook 

Jorgenson ’80, Molly Jorgenson ’11, Mark Jorgenson ’80, Caitlin Gustafson ’11, Melody Wulf Gustafson ’86, Jordan Pinckney ’09 and Bill Pinckney 

’76. There are currently 61 CHIPs and/or grandCHIPs on campus, the most in at least a decade. 

Winter | 2008

Cody Staker ’90 (wearing shorts) was the first of five Staker children to 

attend Coe. Pictured here at a campus visit in 1986 are (left to right) Steve 

Staker (now an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Kohawk 

football team), Lance Staker ’93 (then 15 years old), Shane Staker ’97 

(11), Shannon Staker Cook ’02 (6), Cody (18) and Tyler Staker ’06 (2). 

“I tell them all,” she said. 

“That’s an immediate con- 

nection. My whole family came 

and found a niche. There’s 

something for everyone here, 

and that really resonates.” 

The Staker story is especially 

encouraging for first-gener- 

ation college students, giving 

their parents confidence that 

their son or daughter is going 

to be ok at Coe. 

“The school just has a spirit 

about it,” Cook said. “Every- 

one who comes on campus 

really feels that.” 

Cook, whose territory includes 

northeast Iowa and Illinois 

outside of Chicago, also serves 

as admission liaison to the 

alumni and parent councils. 

While she says Coe has some- 

thing for everyone, it’s not the 

right place for students who 

want to get lost in the crowd. 

“If you’re not wanting to make 

waves, don’t come to Coe,” 

she said. “I’m looking for 

students who are ready to rise 

to the challenge.” 

With the work of the entire 

admission staff, that message 

is beginning to get out as Coe’s 

recent freshmen classes have 

In an office adorned with mementos 

of her long family history at Coe, Assistant Director of Admission 

Shannon Staker Cook ’02 visits with a prospective Coe student and his father. 


showed gains in every important 

indicator of academic success. 

Coe registered 1,220 full-time 

students for fall term, up from 

the 1,182 full-time students 

enrolled in 2006 and on pace 

with the historically stable 

enrollment at the college. 

The academic profile of the 

incoming class remained 

strong, with an average ACT 

score of 25.5 and grade point 

average of 3.6 

Among members of Coe’s 

incoming class, nearly 10 

percent ranked first or 

second in their high school 

graduating class. In addition, 

30 percent of the first-year 

class members ranked in the 

top 10 percent of their high 

school graduating class. An 

impressive 51 of Coe’s first- 

year students scored 30 or 

greater on the ACT test or 

the SAT equivalent. 

Coe received a record 2,087 

applications for admission for 

the fall of 2007, the highest 

number in the college’s history. 

From this applicant pool, a 

total of 397 students enrolled 

at the college for the first time. 

“The academic profile of each 

of the last three entering classes 

has established the college at 

a new plateau of selectivity,” 

said Coe President James 

Phifer. “In addition, our 

overall full-time student 

numbers indicate historically 

strong and stable enrollment.” 

Alumni are encouraged to 

help with the increasingly 

competitive recruiting process 

by referring promising high 

school students to Coe. In 

addition to direct referrals, 

alumni can support the admis- 

sion efforts by volunteering 

or hosting receptions in their 

homes. 

For more information about 

helping the Admission Office, 

call (319) 399-8500 or e-mail 

admission@coe.edu. To refer a 

student online, visit www.coe. 

edu/alumnidevelopment. 

19 

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20 

COE’S DEFINING MOM 

A 

mid an ice storm that 

challenged the 

participation of even 

the hardiest Coe supporters, 

the college unveiled the 

largest campaign in its history 

Dec. 8 at a gala event in 

Sinclair Auditorium. Defining 

Moment: The Campaign 

for Coe seeks to raise $80 

million that will be used to 

bolster four major areas of the 

college, all with the goal of 

supporting academic quality. 

The kickoff event — which 

featured a retrospective of 

Coe history and a glimpse 

into the college’s future — 

was the largest event in college 

history. Despite freezing rain 

locally, more than 400 people 

attended the celebration at 

Coe, with hundreds of alumni 

and friends watching the event 

via a live satellite broadcast 

at two dozen gatherings held 

around the country. 

During the program, 

Jobin Abraham ’08 entertained the Defining Moment Campaign kickoff 

audience with a stirring rendition of “MLK.” 

Defining Moment Campaign 

Chairman Gene Henderson 

’68 announced that more 

than $55 million has already 

been raised toward the $80 

million goal. Coe’s previous 

campaign, One By One, 

ended in 2001 with $61 

million given to support the 

institution. The silent phase 

of the current Defining 

Moment campaign began in 

January 2005. The Campaign 

will extend through June 2012. 

The Clark gift leads to the 

Defining Moment 

The passing of K. Raymond 

Clark ’30 in 2005 made Coe 

the beneficiary of an unpa- 

ralleled gift of $18 million 

to its earning endowment, 

providing Coe with a 

foundation of financial 

security. However, Clark’s gift 

is not solely sufficient to spring- 

board the college into a new 

era of distinction for outright 

academic achievement. 

“Coe’s vision for the future is 

simple, yet powerful — to break 

out of the pack of good liberal 

arts schools with which it has 

traditionally competed and to 

establish itself as one of a small 

number of premier national 

institutions,” said Coe President 

James Phifer. “To take such a 

step will require the college 

to embark on a program of 

continuous enhancement 

of its academic program, 

one focused on the creation 

of world-class educational 

programs and experiences. 

Andy Doll ’08 was backed by fellow 

students as he closed out the event with 

“This Is The Moment.” 

Winter | 2008

ENT FrOzEN IN TIME 

Student Senate President Kevin Randall ’08 presents a check for $20,000 

from the student body to Campaign Steering Committee Chairman Gene 

Henderson ’68. Henderson announced that $55 million had already been 

raised toward the $80 million campaign goal, including $1.5 million from 

faculty and staff. 

This vision can become a 

reality through a successful 

Defining Moment campaign.” 

Defining Moment: The 

Campaign for Coe has four 

primary areas of focus. Most 

important among these, Coe 

seeks to increase the size of its 

endowment. Additionally, the 

college plans to enlarge and 

improve its science facilities, 

expand the campus space 

available for athletics and 

recreation, and promote the 

continuing growth of the Coe 

Fund. 

“All of these priorities serve 

the overarching purpose 


of the Defining Moment 

Campaign: to achieve a 

level of academic excellence 

at Coe unparalleled in the 

institution’s history, and to set 

Coe apart from colleges with 

which it presently competes,” 

concluded Phifer. 

More detailed information 

concerning the major 

campaign elements is as 

follows: 

Endowment Enhancement 

Goal: $45 million 

Coe College has long provided 

a quality of education compar- 

able to academic institutions 

President James Phifer was accompanied at the Defining Moment Campaign 

kickoff by daughter Tamsyn, wife Linnie, and daughter Trystan O’Leary. 

with endowments many times 

the size of Coe’s. Now, thanks 

in large measure to the Clark 

gift, Coe’s financial situation 

is the most stable it has been 

in 155 years, and the moment 

is at hand for the college to 

realize its vision of achieving 

a higher level of academic 

excellence. To do this, Coe must 

strengthen its endowment. 

Simply put, endowment gifts 

to Coe become investments 

that are held in perpetuity, 

with the money earned from 

the investments used to support 

the college’s many programs. 

A strong endowment provides 

recurring income that can 

benefit all aspects of the college, 

sustaining and supporting every 

effort it undertakes. Such 

income is a permanent source 

of funding that enriches 

teaching, learning and 

research. Endowed funds 

allow the college to hire and 

retain an outstanding faculty, 

provide essential scholarship 

support for students, and 

expand research, travel and 

foreign study opportunities 

for all members of the 

academic community. 

Gifts to the endowment offer 

donors the unique and 

important benefit of being 

able to touch the lives of 

students and faculty yet unborn. 

Further, an endowment gift 

honors publicly the name 

of the donor — or that of 

a family member, friend or 

beloved professor. A large and 

growing endowment is the 

engine that powers an insti- 

tution, and building such an 

endowment at Coe is the most 

important goal of the campaign. 

Peterson Hall of Science 


Peterson Hall, which houses 

the departments of biology, 

chemistry and physics, was 

built in the 1960s. As a 40- 

year-old building, Peterson is 

21 

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22 

showing signs of age. Coe now 

has an opportunity to 

improve teaching and research, 

impacting future generations 

of students and helping the 

college to maintain its lead in 

science and technology. 

Enrollments have increased 

significantly at Coe in recent 

years, and the rate of growth 

in the sciences has surpassed 

that of the college as a whole. 

In addition, the departments 

housed in Peterson Hall 

represent areas that have 

experienced great technological 

change impacting pedagogy. 

The need for a modern, state- 

of-the-art science facility is all 

the greater because of the 

sheer quality of Coe’s science 

programs and faculty. Further- 

more, the growing national 

recognition of the science 

programs has created an 

urgent need for modernizing 

teaching and research spaces 

to continue to move to the next 

level of academic excellence. 

To maintain and build on this 

hallmark, Coe envisions the 

expansion, reconfiguration 

and renovation of Peterson 

Hall. The project will entail 

the construction of a 32,000- 

square-foot addition. Further, 

it will involve reconfiguring 

Those attending the Defining Moment 

Campaign kickoff at Coe were treated 

to a dance following the program 

with music provided by 

The Bill Carson Big Band. 

space throughout the 

existing building, creating 

classrooms and laboratories 

that are flexible. With the 

combination of a faculty of 

enviable quality and a modern 

facility, the possibilities for 

achievement will be endless. 

Coe Fund 


While the Defining Moment 

Campaign marches forward 

to ensure the college’s future, 

Coe is equally committed to 

maintaining the excellence of 

its educational programs at 

present. The importance of 

the Coe Fund is underscored 

by the lives it touches. Academic 

programs for students, faculty 

and staff development, 

essential equipment, and new 

technology are just a few of 

the ongoing priorities that are 

supported by the Coe Fund. 

The Coe Fund is a resource 

to help the college meet its 

most pressing needs each 

year. Not surprisingly, the 

Coe Fund is one of the main 

components of the Defining 

Moments Campaign. 

Campus Expansion Project 


Through strategic planning, 

it became evident to Coe 

leaders in the fall of 2005 that 

preparations should be made 

with the long-term goal of 

increasing the physical size of 

the campus. Coe’s enrollment 

has grown to record levels, 

increasing by more than 20 

percent over the last decade, 

with the largest number of 

students living on campus 

in institutional history. The 

resulting Campus Expansion 

Project was undertaken to 

accommodate comfortably 

the needs of the college at its 

current student population 

level and in anticipation of 

possible future needs. 

Since January 2006, the 

college has acquired two- 

thirds of the properties in the 

identified area adjacent to the 

campus between 14th Street 

NE and 15th Street NE along 

A Avenue NE, B Avenue 

NE, and C Avenue NE. The 

Defining Moment Campaign 

seeks funding to continue the 

acquisition of property within 

Winter | 2008

A display of college archives in Dows Fine Arts Center was a popular attraction 

for campaign kickoff attendees. 

these boundaries to fulfill the 

previously announced plan. 

As the college acquires this 

property, it will be converted 

to green space for athletics 

and intramurals. Along with 

beautifying the campus and 


creating a more attractive 

setting for current and pros- 

pective students, the additional 

space gives the college 

flexibility in considering 

future construction projects, 

should they prove necessary. 

More than 20 people attended the campaign kickoff event at the Colorado home of John Strohm ’79 and Mary Pat Link. It was one of 22 satellite locations for the 

largest event in Coe’s history. 

The Campus Expansion 

Project is vital for the future 

success of Coe, but it also 

has the potential to serve as 

a catalyst for revitalization in 

the college’s lower northeast 

side neighborhood, including 

the adjoining business district. 

Special Projects 


A “Special Projects” category 

has been established within 

the Defining Moment 

campaign to fund other 

college projects or programs 

that may result from the 

campaign. 

Lori Sturdevant ’74 welcomes 

guests and kicks off the program in 

Minneapolis. 

For more information about 

Defining Moment: The 

Campaign for Coe, visit www. 

coe.edu/campaign. 

23 

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24 

Coe alumni, family members 

and friends enjoyed “Viva Las 

Vegas, Welcome to Fabulous 

Coe College” for Homecoming 

Weekend 2007. Events in- 

cluded the 19 th annual 5k run/ 

walk with 150 participants, 

the parade, the crowning of 

Homecoming royalty, and 

a heartbreaking kohawk 

football loss in overtime. 

Sinclair Auditorium was filled 

for the annual Homecoming 

Showcase Concert, featuring 

nearly 250 talented Coe 

musicians and five different 

musical groups. Over 600 

guests enjoyed the 17th 

annual Brat ’n Beverage Tent, 

sponsored by the Student 

Alumni Association. 

Throughout the weekend, 

reunion events were held for 

the classes of ’71, ’72 and ’73; 

Katie Mraz ’09 pins flowers on 

Homecoming parade grand marshals 

Bill and Janis Quinby. Bill, 

a former Coe athletics director and 

NFL referee, received the 

Eliza Hickok Kesler 

Outstanding Service Award at 

Commencement. 

Steph Beecher ’09 and Valerie 

Steele ’08 completed the 19th 

annual 5k run/walk dressed 

as slot machines in the spirit of the 

“Viva Las Vegas” theme. 

homeCom 

’82; ’91, ’92 and ’93; and ’97. 

The weekend also featured 

special reunions for Chi 

Omega alumnae and Lambda 

Chi Alpha alumni. A Spellman 

reunion in honor of beloved 

professor and coach Bill “Doc” 

Spellman, who died 10 years 

ago, was also held. 

The Coe Concert Choir, Jazz Band, Concert Band, Women’s Chorale, Crimson and Gold and Symphony Orchestra came together for the annual Homecoming 

Showcase Concert. 

Winter | 2008

iNg 2007 

Defensive back Jeremy Squires ’08 

lowers the boom on a University of 

Dubuque receiver who dared 

attempt to catch a pass over the 

middle in the Homecoming football 

game. Squires had two 

fourth-quarter interceptions 

and seven tackles for the Kohawks, 

but Dubuque prevailed 28-21 

in overtime. 


Kristy Upah ’08 and 

Brian McDonell ’08 

were crowned Homecoming 

queen and king at the 

Friday night bonfire. 

Upah raced back to Coe 

for the ceremony as she 

was participating in a 

tournament in Indianola 

with the Kohawk 

volleyball team. 

The Coe Athletic Hall of Fame class 

of 2007 included (left to right) 

Brenda Heisner Green ’95 (track 

and field), Eric J. Johnson ’92 

(basketball), David Showalter 

’82 (football), Randy Patton ’76 

(baseball and football) and Randy 

Johnson ’73 (basketball). 

James Nulick ’92 read from his debut 

novel “Distemper” in Perrine Gallery 

of Stewart Memorial Library. 

25 

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26 

WrITING ACrOSS 

THE CUrrICULUM 

STANDS TEST 

OF TIME 

by Jane Claspy Nesmith 

If you’re looking for the 

coordinator of Coe’s 

Writing Across the 

Curriculum program, don’t 

knock on doors at the English 

Department in Hickok Hall. 

And don’t bother trekking 

across campus to the home of 

the rhetoric Department in 

Eby Fieldhouse. 

You can find Esther and 

robert Armstrong Professor 

of rhetoric Bob Marrs’ office 

on the third floor of Peterson 

Hall, the science building at 

Coe. He’s been there virtually 

ever since he started teaching 

at Coe in 1980. 

Peterson Hall turns out to be 

a great place to share ideas 

about writing. 

“I often get involved in hallway 

conversations with Bob 

about writing,” said Associate 

Professor of Chemistry Steve 

Singleton. “It’s so rewarding 

to talk about what I’m trying 

to accomplish with students 

and get ideas about how to 

design writing assignments.” 

Exchanges like the ones that 

go on between Marrs and 

the chemistry faculty — 

discussions about writing and 

learning, about how to design 

and grade assignments, about 

how to encourage and 

challenge students to write 

better — happen all over 

Coe’s campus. That’s because 

every professor at Coe can be 

a writing teacher. 

Unlike many large universities, 

Coe does not require first-year 

students to take a “Freshman 

Comp” class. Instead, students 

take writing emphasis classes, 

available in every major across 

campus, throughout their four 

years at Coe. 

At the end of a recent semester, 

a group of Coe seniors discussed 

just how much writing 

they’d been doing recently. 

Chris Buhr ’08 described 

an advertising portfolio he 

was working on, one that 

required students to work in 

small groups to determine 

objectives, write ad copy, and 

write out an overall plan. 

There was a research paper 

Grant Elsbernd ’08 had to 

write for sociology. Brian 

White ’08 was working 

on a report on a company 

for business finance class. 

Even in her chemistry class, 

Amber Karkosh ’08 had 

to write — all semester she 

wrote letters to the editor 

about issues like global 

warming and car emissions. 

When asked if they’d finished 

the five required writing 

emphasis courses, the students 

laughed. “I think I had all five 

done by my second semester 

at Coe,” said karkosh. 

With 80 percent of faculty 

teaching at least one writing 

emphasis course each year, it’s 

hard to avoid writing at Coe. 

A New Approach to Writing 

Coe’s Writing Across the 

Curriculum (WAC) program 

began because Coe faculty 

wanted students to write more, 

and to write better. Many 

Esther and Robert Armstrong 

Professor of Rhetoric Bob Marrs 

delivers a speech to first-year students 

at opening convocation, an honor 

afforded him by his selection 

as the 2007 Charles J. Lynch 

Outstanding Teacher. In addition 

to teaching, Marrs oversees the 

college’s Writing Center and Writing 

Across the Curriculum program. 

faculty members felt students 

were not well prepared to write 

in college, and the English 

Department, which taught 

writing courses, was overwhelmed 

with students who 

needed to take writing courses. 

“More people wanted to take 

our writing courses than we 

were able to teach,” said 

Howard Hall Professor of 

English Terry Heller. “This 

pushed us to consider 

curricular change.” 

Faculty were also searching 

Winter | 2008

Andrew Decker ’09 is one of 60 

student consultants who staffs Coe’s 

Writing Center. 

for a new approach to writing. 

“At that time, many people 

saw teaching writing as 

punitive,” said Heller. “‘You 

didn’t get that grammatical 

point, did you? Gotcha!’” In 

addition, English Professor 

Neil Woodruff and some of 

his colleagues argued very 

forcefully that the English 

Department should not be the 

only “keepers of the writing 

flame.” 

An ad hoc committee, which 

included Heller, was commis- 

sioned in 1983 to seek a 

solution. They began by doing 

research on composition 

pedagogy. They read about 

the process approach to 

writing, which emphasized 

planning and revision. And 

they discovered college 


WAC programs, which had 

students using writing in all 

their classes. “We realized we 

wanted those,” said Heller. 

After a national search, the 

college hired Bob Marrs in 

1986 as WAC coordinator; 

Marrs also teaches writing 

courses, and is in charge of 

the college’s Writing Center. 

“Besides being an excellent 

teacher and passionate about 

the liberal arts, Bob is a great 

diplomat,” Heller said. “He 

needed to convince some 

of the more hesitant faculty 

about the new program.” 

According to Marrs, one 

reason the writing program 

garners so much support 

at Coe — even among 

initially-wary faculty — is its 

simplicity. The program is 

based on just one sentence: 

In Writing Emphasis courses, 

students must write 2,000 words 

with an opportunity for revision. 

“Everyone can define writing 

as their needs may be,” said 

Marrs. “Our program allows 

for an enormous range of 

possibilities.” Professors can 

have students use writing to 

enhance learning, or they can 

have students learn to write in 

a particular discipline — or 

both. “And it’s all on the honor 

system,” he said. “We don’t 

Student consultants and Writing Center coordinator Bob Marrs traveled to 

Kansas City in October for the Midwest Writers Center Association Conference. 

require faculty to turn in syllabi 

or have me check assignments. 

That way it’s not much of a 

burden for them or for me.” 

Faculty Support is Strong 

“I like assigning papers because 

I like seeing what my students 

think about things,” said 

Assistant Professor of Political 

Science kim Lanegran, who 

emphasizes writing in all of 

her classes. Participating in a 

WAC program was a given 

for Lanegran, who was hired 

in 2005. 

“Writing is the most important 

thing we teach students,” she 

said. “The facts will change. 

The theories will change. But 

students will always need to 

be able to synthesize evidence 

and communicate their ideas 

clearly. They will do that 

every day of their lives.” 

In Lanegran’s classes, students 

do a wide variety of writing 

assignments, from reading 

response papers to research 

papers to analysis papers. In 

her Women and Politics class, 

Lanegran’s students had to 

interview college students about 

their views on politics. They 

then had to apply theories 

about feminism and politics 

to analyze the answers. 

“They liked this paper, even if 

they really hated the person’s 

views,” said Lanegran. 

Lanegran likes the help her 

students can get from Coe’s 

Writing Center, an integral 

part of the WAC program 

and the largest undergraduate 

writing center in the country. 

The consultants there help 

students find their own voice 

and their own thesis. That’s 

the hard part. “And that’s 

27 

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28 

Writing Center consultants 

Heather Lewis ’09 and 

Dave Woehrle’09 work on a 

project at a staff retreat. 

what I want them to do,” said 

Lanegran. 

Singleton has found a way 

for his students to learn both 

writing and chemistry. “I 

asked myself ‘what’s going 

to get my students to think 

about these facts more?’ And 

I decided to have students 

write.” 

One of Singleton’s class 

assignments is for students 

to participate in an on-line 

forum. “I’ll ask questions like 

‘what should Coe’s policy be 

on global warming?’” said 

Singleton. “In class, maybe 

one or two students might 

have something to say. But 

on-line, all of them can have a 

voice.” And frequent writing 

seems to help clarify thinking. 

“In the process of crafting 

questions in writing, students 

sometimes find they actually 

know the answer. 

New faculty are given many 

opportunities to learn how 

to participate in the WAC 

program. Marrs runs summer 

workshops and retreats where 

faculty can discuss and read 

about issues like assignment 

design, portfolio grading, 

and how to teach research 

writing. Shorter workshops 

also occur during the school 

year. And, of course, Coe 

faculty rely on conversations 

with their colleagues. 

“One goal I have is just to 

gather faculty in a room to 

talk for a few hours about 

how we read and respond to 

student writing,” said Marrs. 

“This helps to establish 

a baseline perception of 

what good writing means at 

Coe.” Coe faculty have two 

opportunities each year to do 

this: once in the fall when they 

gather to read and score the 

writing exercise new students 

take when they arrive, and 

then later in the fall semester 

when they read and score 

first-year student portfolios. 

“Every year 50-60 faculty 

see what their colleagues are 

doing,” said Marrs. “And 

they can learn how to read 

in different ways—to listen 

to what the students are 

saying and see whether they 

can develop their ideas.” 

Incidentally, over 90 percent 

of Coe faculty agree on scores 

they give to student writing at 

these gatherings. 

Without faculty support, 

WAC would not be possible, 

points out President James 

Phifer. But faculty continue 

to support writing. “Even 

when they find it burdensome 

— like when they face a stack 

of papers to grade at the end 

of the year — they support it 

because they see what it does 

for their students.” 

Well-Prepared Students 

“I don’t know of a skill that’s 

more fundamental to making 

a living and making a life than 

the ability to write clearly,” 

said Phifer. “I often hear from 

employers that one of the 

things setting Coe graduates 

apart is that they simply write 

better than graduates of other 

colleges.” 

Perhaps this is because when 

students leave the campus, 

they’ll have written not just 

for English professors, but 

for professors from every 

discipline. “We want to have 

students regularly using 

writing,” said Marrs. “After 

four years, they’ll have had 

dozens of assignments, 

dozens of readers, dozens of 

opportunities for revision.” 

Coe students seem to 

understand this, too. 

“In my history class, I had 

to write an argument paper, 

and in theory, I had to do 

analysis,” said Melissa 

Entzminger ’09. “I think 

professors want to give us 

skills we can use in many 

different situations.” 

While no one paper can 

prepare students for the 

range of writing situations 

they’ll face in life, Coe’s WAC 

program certainly prepares 

students to be ready for 

anything. 

Jane Claspy Nesmith is a freelance writer and 

adjunct assistant professor of rhetoric at Coe. 

Winter | 2008

BY GEOrGE 

A look back at Coe through the lens of George Henry ’49 

Asampling of photos from the George T. Henry 

College Archives at Stewart Memorial 

Library, this page is dedicated to Coe’s 

history as captured through the lens of George 

Henry ’49. The collection includes an unparal- 

leled record of the life of a college over more than 

half a century by a single photographer. 

50 years ago — Head Coach Bob Schulz with members of the 

1958 Midwest Conference Champion basketball team including 

(seated, left to right) Al Pursell ’58, Mel Kupcinet ’58, 

Dick Keel ’58, Don Huff ’58, (kneeling) Don Roby ’58, 

Ralph Pucci ’58 and Billy Black ’58. 

The 1957-58 Kohawks went 20-7 and won the 

Iowa NAIA Tournament before advancing 

to the quarterfinals of the National NAIA Tournament. 

The Class of ’58 will celebrate its 50th Reunion June 6-8. 

For more information visit www.coe.edu/alumni/junereunion. 

25 years ago — A wrestling match at Eby Fieldhouse in 1983. On March 7-8, 

former Kohawk wrestlers and coaches are invited to reunite at the NCAA Division 

III Wrestling Championships in Cedar Rapids. Coe, along with Cornell and the Iowa 

Conference, will be hosting the championships at the US Cellular Center. 


10 years ago — Vice President for Student Affairs Lou Stark is a 

picture of concentration during the Coe-Lympics egg toss in 1998. 

Sponsored by the residence life staff, Coe-Lympics is a college tradition. 

45 

www.coe.edu

Join us in Cabo for a week of golf, charter fishing, horseback riding 

and fun in the sun! 

Coe College and the Athletic Department, along with Carl Froebel 

’60, are planning a trip to the tip of the Baja for Dec. 3-10, 2008. We 

are currently gauging interest among alumni, parents and friends of 

the college. 

If you are interested in learning more or holding a spot, contact 

Senior Development Officer Dan Breitbach at (319) 399-8612 or 1- 

877-KOHAWKS (564-2957). 

For general information on resorts, go to www.cabogolfadventures.com. 

1220 First Avenue NE 

Cedar rapids, IA 52402 

Change Service requested 

Parents: If this issue of the Courier is addressed to your son or daughter who has established a separate 

permanent residence, please notify us of that new address. Call (319) 399-8542 or e-mail alumni@coe.edu. 

We are no longer resending the magazine to corrected addresses provided by the U.S. Postal Service unless 

specifically requested by the addressee. Circulation will resume to the corrected address with the next issue. 

Non-Profit Org. 

U.S. POSTAGE 

PAID 

Permit No. 26 

Cedar rapids, Iowa

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