Monmouth College 2017 Summer Magazine by Monmouth College

A LOOK AT MONMOUTH LEGACIES OF LEARNING. OF LOYALTY. OF LOVE.

A WATERSHED MOMENT $20 MILLION COMMITMENT

IS LARGEST IN COLLEGEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S HISTORY

VOL 32 | NO 2 | SUMMER 2017

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

EDITOR’S NOTE

For the love of legacy

hen it was suggested we create a magazine based on a legacy theme, it immediately seemed like a worthy project. When I started mulling over just what we mean by “legacy,” however, I realized it’s not an easily defined concept. Derived from the Latin legare, “to bequeath,” its original meaning

was often tied to leaving property in a will. That has certainly been an important form of support for colleges like Monmouth, but legacy can also describe traditions that are handed down, careers that are devoted to serving the College and its students, leadership by presidents and trustees, and families that supply students to the College over multiple generations. I can particularly relate to the family form of legacy, with the Rankin clan having been honored as Family of the Year in 2016. Although I didn’t attend Monmouth, my father, brother, wife and daughter are all graduates, and members of our family have served on the College staff for a combined 100-plus years. Family legacies abound at Monmouth—the McMichael family, for instance, supplied two presidents and an influential business manager. This year’s Family of the Year—descendants of early music professor T. Merrill Austin—includes 14 alumni who are direct descendants, among them two trustees. In May, we began a new Commencement tradition of honoring graduates with Monmouth family connections in the printed program. We are pleased to feature on this page a photo of those newest alumni legacies. Monmouth’s newest alumni legacies gather at Commencement. Row 1 (left to right): Chelsea Lee, Jessica Simmons, Amanda Bowman, Abby Hubbard, Nadine Waran, Eva Gonzalesand Andrea Sandrock. Row 2: Trevor Oetting, Jacob Marx, Miranda Jones, Dulcie Sullivan, Aubrey Cook, Raquel Emeterio, Taylor Welch and Bayley Sackville. Row 3: Blake Sondgeroth, Sarah Johnston, Mary Griffith, Cole Pyatt, Meghan Cheever, Krista Hewes, Mackenzie Whiteside and Sarah Thompson.

Our lead story, “Linked by Legacy,” profiles six Monmouth alumni with legacy connections—from 2017 graduate Miranda Jones to retiring faculty member Lee McGaan ’69. Although they represent different generations and backgrounds, a common thread is their Monmouth pride and devotion. Another of those alumni, Ralph Whiteman ’52, has made a special commitment to legacy. Along with his brothers, he has established a hall of achievement and an annual lecture to inspire future generations of students. In the annals of Monmouth history, many non-alumni have also contributed to the College’s heritage. The legacy of early benefactor Ivory Quinby lives on in the home he built 150 years ago, which today serves as the residence for Monmouth presidents. Our Monmouthiana section is devoted to Quinby House in its sesquicentennial year. In the tradition of Ivory Quinby is longtime trustee and former board chair Peter Bunce, whose obituary appears on Page 53. Although he had no family or even local ties to Monmouth College, he provided more than four decades of exceptional leadership to the institution. Legacy also surfaces in our Books section. Flood, a novel by Melissa Scholes Young ’97, is set in her native Misssissippi River town of Hannibal, Missouri. The strong influence of the town and the river—which earlier inspired Mark Twain—pervade her gripping tale. Perhaps the same can be said of a beloved place like Monmouth College and the many legacies it continues to inspire.

—jeff rankin

VOL. 32 | NO. 2

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

SUMMER 2017

16 HAPPY ENDINGS AND BEGINNINGS Class of 2017 told to celebrate the stories of their lives, before and after college

19 LIVING LEGACIES Monmouth legacies represent diverse backgrounds and experiences, but are linked by a common thread of devotion

31 QUINBY HOUSE AT 150: A BRIGHT NEW LOOK Historic home of presidents receives stylish sesquicentennial makeover

42 ENJOYING THE FRUITS OF BEING ALUMNI Golden Scots savored a smorgasboard of intellectual activities and fellowship in June

EDITOR AND DESIGNER Jeffrey D. Rankin ASSOCIATE EDITOR Barry J. McNamara PHOTOGRAPHY George Hartmann Kent Kriegshauser CONTACT US Magazine Editor 309-457-2314 jrankin@monmouthcollege.edu

campus news 5 academics 8 newsmakers 13 sports 36 alumni news 47 last word 56

Monmouth College Magazine is published four times per year for alumni, parents and friends of Monmouth College. All opinions expressed in signed articles are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial staff or the College. We welcome letters about the College or the magazine. Letters will be printed on a space-available basis and may be edited for length, style and clarity. Send letters, queries or submissions to: Monmouth College Magazine, 700 East Broadway, Monmouth IL 61462-1998, or email jrankin@monmouthcollege.edu.

Monmouth College Magazine is printed on Cascades Rolland Enviro 100 paper, made with 100 percent post-consumer fiber.

Change of Address? Write: College Relations, Monmouth College, 700 East Broadway, Monmouth, IL 61462-1998. Or call 888-8278268. Web: monmouthcollege.edu/update

PRESIDENT Clarence R. Wyatt BOARD OF TRUSTEES Mark Kopinski ’79, Chairman Dr. Ralph Velazquez Jr. ’79, Vice Chairman Douglas R. Carlson ’66 Daniel Cotter ’88 Robert Dahl Rod Davies ’74 Nancy Speer Engquist ’74 Christine Beiermann Farr ’90 Larry Gerdes William J. Goldsborough ’65 Kevin Goodwin ’80 Augustin Hart III ’68 Mahendran Jawaharlal ’86 F. Austin Jones The Rev. Robert C. McConnell ’72 Michael B. McCulley, Esq. ’70 J. Alex McGehee ’81 Gary Melvin Bradley C. Nahrstadt ’89 Gail Simpson Owen ’74 J. Hunter Peacock J. Stanley Pepper ’76 Anthony J. Perzigian ’66 Dennis M. Plummer ’73 Anita Ridge ’88 Susan Romaine The Hon. John J. Scotillo ’72 Dr. Carlos F. Smith ’90 Sherman Smith Nancy L. Snowden Mark E. Taylor ’78 Dwight Tierney ’69 George E. Trotter III Beth Bowdoin Tyre ’96 Jean Peters Witty ’88 Richard E. Yahnke ’66 Jackie Bell Zachmeyer ’89 ALUMNI BOARD REPRESENTATIVES TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES Mary Alexander Corrigan ’82 Craig Dahlquist ’78 Jerri Picha ’75 ALUMNI BOARD EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Mary Corrigan ’82, President Danette Bagley-Thierry ’86, Vice President Jerri Picha ’75, Secretary Matt Clair ’05, Member at Large EDITORIAL BOARD Duane Bonifer Executive Director of Communications and Marketing Trent Gilbert Vice President for Enrollment and Communications Jeffrey D. Rankin College Editor and Historian Barry J. McNamara Associate Director of College Communications Hannah Maher Director of Development and Alumni Engagement NOTICE OF NONDISCRIMINATION

Monmouth College does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, national origin, ancestry, disability, age, military service, marital status, sexual orientation, pregnancy or other factors as prohibited by law. Monmouth College admits students of any race, religion, color, sex, national or ethnic origin to all rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to Monmouth students. Monmouth College, an Equal Opportunity Employer, is committed to diversity and encourages applications from women and minority candidates. Any inquiries regarding Title IX or the College’s Policy Prohibiting Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation (www.monmouthcollege.edu/nondiscrimination-policy) should be directed to the Title IX Coordinator identified below. The Coordinator will be available to meet with or talk to students, staff and faculty regarding issues relating to Title IX and this policy. Stephanie Kinkaid Title IX Coordinator Room 21, Poling Hall (lower level) (309) 457-2274 skinkaid@monmouthcollege.edu

$20 MILLION HISTORIC GIFT STRENGTHENS ENDOWMENT

onmouth College on April 22 announced the largest financial commitment in the history of the 164-year-old institution, and one of the largest gifts ever to an Illinois liberal arts college. The $20 million commitment—presented anonymously—includes $15 million over the near term and a $5 million deferred gift. Both amounts will be used to expand the College’s endowment, which currently stands at about $100 million.

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

COMMITMENT At a session of the Monmouth “This is an extraordinary time in the College Board of Trustees, rich history of Monmouth College.” THE $20 MILLION COMMITMENT WILL President Clarence R. Wyatt Emeritus board chair William SUPPORT THREE CRITICAL AREAS: said the couple who made the Goldsborough ’65 said the gift is commitment did so because they another step in securing Monmouth’s STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS believe in Monmouth’s mission future. AND FINANCIAL AID as a college of high opportunity “We are very grateful for this and high achievement. extraordinary commitment. It serves “The donors are longtime not only the Monmouth College FACULTY AND STAFF supporters of Monmouth of today, but also strengthens the DEVELOPMENT College, and they are passionate Monmouth College of tomorrow, about this College because they moving it to even greater levels of CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS FUND know the difference it makes ambition, acclaim and service,” said in young people’s lives,” said Goldsborough. “It also provides a Wyatt. “The couple knows that in order for Monmouth powerful example for others who believe in the mission to continue to be a leader, it must have a strong of Monmouth College to follow.” endowment that not only supports its mission but also Wyatt said the $20 million commitment to the helps the College to chart its own path with greater endowment will be used to increase student scholarships confidence and ambition, even in the face of external and financial aid, support faculty and staff development, uncertainties.” add to the College’s capital improvements fund, and Board of trustees chairman Mark Kopinski ’79 attract new donors. said the record commitment is also an affirmation “This $20 million commitment will help the College of Wyatt’s leadership of the faculty and staff of the continue its momentum and expand its mission of being College. a national liberal arts college that enables young people “This gift is an endorsement of Monmouth’s to find and free the possibilities inherent in their lives outstanding leadership and the inspiring vision it has through the liberating power of the liberal arts and for taking the College to a new level,” Kopinski said. sciences,” Wyatt said.

SUMMER 2017

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

THE MONMOUTH SAGA OUR EVOLVING STORY IS ONE OF OUR GREATEST LEGACIES

hen people gather, they usually tell stories.

We connect with family and old friends through oft-told stories so familiar that the listeners anticipate every detail, every inflection. We establish new relationships by telling stories that give others glimpses into our characters, our souls. Since 1853, innumerable stories have been told by, to, and about the people of Monmouth College. Whether told and retold over coffee in Stockdale, in fraternity or sorority living rooms, at Homecoming reunions, or at places around the globe where Monmouth people come together, these stories, taken individually, tell us something about particular people, places, and events. Taken together, they describe who we are as a community and how we came to be at this moment. Those stories also remind us—and allow us to tell others—of that which makes us distinctive. They become the place where we stake our claim to that which makes us special. Taken together, they form the Monmouth Saga. An old edition of Webster’s dictionary defines a saga as “any long story of adventure and heroic deeds.” Some tales told around the Monmouth fire certainly recount somewhat dubious adventures and deeds not quite to the standard of classical mythology. However, the collective story of Monmouth College is one of adventures pursued and prizes won, of heroic effort and commitment. From its founding moment, to the present day, Monmouth College has faced times when the ability to act boldly, to choose adventure over safety, proved decisive. The beginning of the Monmouth Saga is well known. Our nation was in great turmoil in the 1850s. The divisions over slavery, the issue that had come to be called America’s “original sin”—had become ever more extreme. Illinois stood at the heart of this turmoil, containing all stances and opinions, from south to north. In the midst of these events, a group of individu-

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

als looked to establish an institution of learning. In 1853, the Revs. James Porter and Robert Ross, along with prominent local citizens such as Ivory Quinby and James Madden, founded the academy that would quickly become Monmouth College. The founders of the College called David Wallace as the first president. Only 30 years old, Wallace already had a career of distinguished leadership. Any new beginning is an act of faith, but the establishment of a college in such a time of strife and uncertainty was especially so. From the beginning, Monmouth College was a voice for reason, for intellect, for community in the midst of chaos. Even as the Civil War swept across the country, President Wallace was determined to keep the College open, declaring in the fall of 1862—“We must educate, whether there be peace or war.” An especially dramatic reaffirmation of that spirit came this past spring, when an anonymous couple committed $20 million to the College. This gift marks a watershed moment in Monmouth’s history, placing the College on an irreversible path to greater service, strength, and ambition. Inspired by acts of generosity that preceded their own, the couple who made this extraordinary commitment will inspire others to follow their example. This spirit, this thread, runs throughout the Monmouth Saga. It is told through the lives of dedicated faculty and staff, engaged and creative students, and generous and visionary alumni and friends. In the pages that follow, you will see but a small sample of the power of this story, one that many of you have helped to write. Let us draw inspiration of these stories as we continue to write new chapters in the Monmouth Saga.

Dr. Clarence R. Wyatt President

CAMPUS NEWS

SCOT DONORS MAKE HISTORY FIRST NATIONAL DAY OF GIVING BRINGS RECORD TURNOUT The U.S. map was covered in Monmouth College tartan on April 18 as 533 alumni and friends joined together to give $168,392 to the College. Dubbed Scots Day of Giving to commemorate the College’s founding on April 18, 1853, the event attracted contributions from all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and several foreign countries. The money raised will be used to support scholarships and financial aid, along with special co-curricular initiatives and programs. The day’s initial goal was to attract at least 164 donors to celebrate the age of the College. But that mark was eclipsed before 10 a.m.—less than five hours after the start of Scots Day of Giving got underway with a bagpipe call of “Scotland the Brave” at 5 a.m. from April Zorn Memorial Stadium. Subsequent donor goals of 309 (Monmouth’s area code), 418 (a tip to the day of the College’s founding), were blown past by 6:30 p.m. Then at 10:18 p.m., the day moved past a final goal of 514 donors (to celebrate the day of Commencement 2017 on May 14), until the final tally was recorded at 11:53 p.m. It was the most one-day donations the College has received in its 164-year history. Donations poured in from across the nation all day long as well as from several other countries. When a gift was received early in the evening from a donor living in Montana, it meant that all 50 states were represented by donors,

$10.8M raised in strong giving year

which triggered a matching $50,000 gift from an alumnus. Monmouth students also participated in the day. Each student’s donation of $5 earned a ticket for a raffle of prizes that were donated by another alumnus. In the late afternoon, the College community was treated to an ice cream social on Dunlap Terrace. Meanwhile, around the country a total of nine alumni gatherings were held, spanning from Maryland to Arizona.

On June 30, Monmouth College closed the books on another strong fundraising year. With more than $10.8 million raised, the 2016-17 year ranks third in College history. It was also a successful year in terms of the overall number of donors and, in particular, the amount of faculty-staff participation. Donors increased 225 from the previous year—to 3,769—while 52 percent of Monmouth’s faculty and staff made gifts. “Seeing the number of alumni, parents, friends, faculty, staff and students who have chosen to support Monmouth this year is truly remarkable,” said Director of Devel-

Big Red joins development staff members in celebrating the end of a successful Scots Day of Giving.

opment and Alumni Engagement Hannah Maher. Some of the donor increase can be attributed to the inaugural Scots Day of Giving on April 18 (see above story). The Monmouth Fund—which supports continuing operations at the College—also saw a donor increase, with more than 180 donors from the previous year. In all, the fund raised more than $1.8 million. “The College is growing in so many ways, and with the support committed to the institution, we are able to continue that forward momentum, providing new experiences, resources and scholarship support for our next generation of Fighting Scots,” said Maher.

SUMMER 2017

CAMPUS NEWS

Giving society reaches out to recent Monmouth grads

A concept drawing of the new dining room.

NEW DINING EXPERIENCE TO GREET RETURNING STUDENTS When Monmouth College students return to campus in August, they’ll enjoy a renovated main dining room in Stockdale Student Center as well as a new service—all-access dining. The changes are part of a two-year, $750,000 investment by Aramark, the College’s food service provider. Last summer, Aramark renovated Scotland Yard, the food court on Stockdale Student Center’s lower level. The renovated main dining room will be brighter and feature new furnishings and several new gathering areas, which will expand the room’s community space. Some areas will also have the capability to be screened, providing a degree of privacy or separation for groups that want to meet there. Along with a new look will come all-access dining, which will eliminate the counting of meals on a student’s meal plan. All-access dining will allow a student to eat a full breakfast, lunch and dinner and still visit the main dining room at other times during the day to grab a beverage or snack at no additional cost. In addition to giving students more dining options, the system will also accommodate students’ diverse academic and cocurricular schedules.

Morningstar CEO Kapoor delivers 2017 Whiteman Memorial Lecture

Kunal Kapoor ’97

Kunal Kapoor, a 1997 Monmouth College graduate who in January was named CEO of the investment research company Morningstar Inc., returned to his alma mater in April to deliver the annual Wendell Whiteman Memorial Lecture. Kapoor told Monmouth students that companies such as Morningstar value employees with liberal arts backgrounds. A business and economics major who worked his way up through the company, Kapoor credited Monmouth faculty for serving as valuable lifelong mentors.

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

Monmouth College has a new way to celebrate its young alumni who give back to the College. Alumni who graduated less than 10 years ago now have special access to the College’s prestigious 1853 Society. “Many years ago, it became clear that we needed to recognize our elite donors who support the College with their yearly gifts,” said Mollie Harrod ’07, the program’s associate director. “This was the founding principle of the 1853 Society, which recognizes donors who contribute $1,000 or above to Monmouth College each year.” With the beginning of the 2017-18 fiscal year on July 1, graduates of the last decade can join the 1853 Society even if they give less than $1,000 a year to their alma mater. The donation required for membership depends on the number of years that an alumnus/a has been out of Monmouth. Entrance to the society will start at $100 for 2017 graduates, which is a monthly gift of $8.34. For each year an alum is out of school, the membership requirement will increase by $100 until the $1,000 level is reached in the 10th year. Harrod said monthly contributions are preferred “because we understand that making a leadership gift when you are first out of school is a lot of money.” “We want to make this process as easy and hassle-free as possible, and monthly contributions assist with that,” she said. Gifts can be restricted, although Harrod said gifts to the Monmouth Fund or the Fighting Scots Society are most needed, as they help fund a wide range of expenses, including academic scholarships. To enroll in the program, alumni may call Harrod at mharrod@monmouthcollege.edu or 309-457-2319. Individuals can also go online to monmouthcollege.edu/alumni, make a first contribution and put “Count Me In!” in the comments section. Harrod will then reach out to set up monthly contributions.

CAMPUS NEWS

BANNER YEAR FOR THE MONMOUTH DUO

ot since they were founded at Monmouth College in 1867 and 1870, respectively, have the Alpha chapters of Pi Beta Phi and Kappa Kappa Gamma—famously known as “The Monmouth Duo”—had such a year for celebration. Just one year after moving into their new chapter house, the Pi Phis observed their sesquicentennial anniversary. A highlight of the year was a visit in June by more than 100 alumnae, who boarded buses from the national convention in St. Louis for a pilgrimage to Monmouth, where they toured the new chapter house, along with visiting the founders’ graves and Holt House. Meanwhile, in April, the Kappas dedicated a spacious chapter house in a historic residence on Broadway.

KAPPAS CELEBRATE NEW HOME When Kappa Kappa Gamma sisters Karen Barrett Chism ’65, Gail Simpson Owen ’74 and Gena Corbin Alcorn ’88 at-

tended Monmouth College, they didn’t have a chapter house to call their own. That officially changed on April 22, when the Kappa Kappa Gamma Alpha Chapter House at 915 E. Broadway was formally dedicated. With current Kappa members in bright blue dresses lining the sidewalk and Kappa Kappa Gamma National President Beth Black in attendance, Chism and Owen took turns at the podium during the dedication ceremony. Alcorn, a Monmouth major gifts officer, helped raise funds to pay for the project along with her colleagues in the Office of Development and College Relations. “It’s a wonderful day,” said Chism. “I want to thank all the sisters who had the dream of a house for Kappa Kappa Gamma. They made it a reality for current and future Kappas. … It’s a perfect location for the house. Everything came together. This has been many years in the making.” The Alpha Chapter House, a grand Colonial Revival man-

sion, was built in 1896 and went through several owners until it was recently acquired to be the new home of the first Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter. The 3,516-square-foot house, which had undergone extensive renovation by the previous owner, sits on a lot that includes a tennis court and detached two-car garage. Alcorn said many Kappa sisters answered the call to support the fundraising project for the house. More than 150

Kappa Kappa Gamma actives and alumnae gather on the porch of their new home before the formal dedication.

donors contributed nearly $432,000, and there is an additional $95,000 in near-term pledges. Owen cited the “love, dedication and sacrifice

During a sesquicentennial tour of Monmouth, Pi Beta Phi alumnae from the national convention are shown the grave of founder Inez Smith Soule by Alpha chapter alumna Amanda Pilger ’07 (right).

of time of many Kappas of many different generations who believed in this house,” while officially making the charge during the ceremony to Kappa Kappa Gamma. “It is absolutely amazing to have this space,” said past chapter president Jessica Irons ’17 “There’s a group in here every single night, whether it’s committee meetings, or studying, or just hanging out. It’s also perfect for initiation ceremonies, and we were able to hold both our fall and spring ceremonies here this year.”

SUMMER 2017

ACADEMICS

NATIONAL UNDERGRAD RESEARCH CONFERENCE DEBUTS Two recent events embody Monmouth College’s national leadership in providing undergraduate research opportunities for students. In April, the inaugural Conference of Undergraduate Research & Scholarship was held on campus, hosted by the College and the Midwest Journal of Undergraduate Research (MJUR). Also that weekend, the latest issue of the journal was released. Founded in 2010, MJUR is a peer- and faculty-reviewed journal produced by a team of Monmouth

student editors and faculty mentors. Monmouth faculty member Judi Kessler said the inaugural conference was a success, with about 70 visitors to campus joining two dozen Monmouth students and faculty. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Isabel Wilkerson gave the conference’s keynote address. “MJUR editors, faculty advisers and conference committee members have received very positive feedback from conference presenters and other attendees—including inquiries about future

TALENTED CLASSICS DEPARTMENT SHINES NORTH OF THE BORDER

Dawn McRoberts Strauss ’03 is presented with the Kraft Award by her former professor, Tom Sienkewicz.

Monmouth College made a big impact at the recent meeting of Classical Association of the Middle West and South. At the 113th meeting of the association, held in April in Kitchener, Ontario, Monmouth students and a faculty member presented papers, a Monmouth alumna and faculty member received awards, and a Monmouth faculty member, staff member and student handled a large portion of the meeting’s logistics. Monmouth is the headquarters for the Classical Association of the Middle West and South—also known as CAMWS—a 32-state, three-province organization with more than 1,500 members. Award recipients at the conference included 2003 Monmouth graduate Dawn McRoberts Strauss, who teaches at Kenwood Academy High School in Chicago, and Assistant Professor of Classics Bob Holschuh Simmons. Strauss was presented with the Kraft Award for Excellence in Secondary School Teaching, while Simmons received the Outstanding Promotional Activity award from the Committee for the Promotion of Latin for the two Classics Days he coordinated on campus in 2016. Three members of the Monmouth community presented at the conference: Simmons and students Emma Vanderpool ’17 and Daniel Hintzke ’18. Monmouth Capron Professor of Classics Tom Sienkewicz,

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

MJUR-Monmouth College undergraduate conferences,” said Kessler. In addition to eight schools from Illinois, 10 other states were represented by schools that included the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Northern Michigan University, Eastern Washington University and Colorado Mesa University. The conference was unique among undergraduate conferences in the Midwest and Plains states because it was open to not only students in the social sciences and humanities but also to students in STEM disciplines, said Kessler.

who is CAMWS secretary-treasurer, and his administrative assistant, Jevanie Gillen, helped run the annual meeting, along with Vanderpool.

FORENSICS ENJOYS SUCCESSFUL YEAR The Monmouth College forensics team placed 10th in the President’s II Division at the National Forensics Association 2017 National Tournament in April. Held at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, the tournament included 77 schools and more than 500 students. Cole Downey ’17 was a top-eight finalist in dramatic interpretation and Anthony Adams ’18 was an top-eight finalist in impromptu speaking. “Despite only having 10 events, we placed in sweepstakes, beating out many programs with larger numbers in attendance,” said Monmouth Director of Forensics Rebecca Buel, who also directed the tournament. “I am not only proud of the competitive accomplishments the team made this year, but of the way they came together to fight coheDOWNEY sively and represent Monmouth.” The season concluded April 20-22, with Adams traveling to Lafayette, La., to represent the state of Illinois at the 2017 Interstate Oratorical Association Competition, which Buel called “the oldest and most prestigious oratorical competition in the ADAMS country.” He placed as a top 12 semifinalist.

ACADEMICS

STUDENTS STUDY BORDER ISSUES UP CLOSE Diana Rubi ’18 had a spring break she will never forget. Rubi was one of seven Monmouth students and three faculty and staff members who traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border south of Tucson, Ariz., to learn more about immigration issues. Rubi has a special interest in the topic because she identifies as part of the immigrant community. She By BARRY said putting faces with McNAMARA the facts made the experience all the more meaningful. “I will never forget the strength of Karolina, an Afro-Mexican transgender woman,” said Rubi. “She worked with Mariposas Sin Fronteras, an organization (in Tucson) that spends their time visiting migrants in detention centers, raising money for bonds and supporting those most vulnerable in detention cen- prison-like feel of the facility, to the inters, including members of the LGBT+ dividuals they met. The migrants at the detention center community, survivors of domestic viowere seeking asylum, fleeing violence lence and people with terminal illnesses.” This was the second time in three years that a Monmouth College group traveled It was disheartening to see how during spring break to the migrants’ humanity is stripped away. U.S.-Mexico border to study immigration. Diana Rubi ’18 Faculty members Tim Gaster and Dan Ott led the trip—which was funded by the Col- from their home countries. Ott said lege’s Lux Center for Church and there is a way out for the detainees, but Religious Leadership—along with As- it’s complicated. “The more you think you know about sociate Chaplain Jessica Hawkinson. “The students all did the read- how the system works, you get stuck ings before the trip, they asked great with other stuff,” he said. By federal law, detainees must stay in questions, and they were extremely enthe center for at least six months. The gaged,” said Ott. Gaster said the trip helped the stu- length of time varies—some detainees dents frame immigration in a more stay up to several years, depending on whether they were caught or turned human context. “It was an incredibly informative and themselves over willingly to seek asyemotional trip,” said Gaster. “We re- lum. A $7,500 bond is required for ceived a great deal of information, and release, which Ott said “most can’t post.” “The place was very secured—it we saw the human side of the issue.” The Monmouth group agreed that seemed like they were detaining a day they spent visiting with detain- high-level criminals,” said Rubi. Compared to the 2014 trip, Ott said ees was especially powerful—from the

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Monmouth students hike along the U.S.Mexican border in Arizona. Clockwise, from lower left: Melissa Hernandez ’18, Jessica Acosta ’19, Denzel Johnson ’20, Cheyenne Hacker ’19, Marilyn Carteno ’18 and Diana Rubi ’18.

that there is currently “a lot of fear and anxiety” along the border. “They haven’t seen any major changes yet, but everybody feels like they’re coming,” he said. The trip strengthened Rubi’s resolve to work with immigrants after she graduates from Monmouth. “It was devastating to see the damages that legislators, Border Patrol and this industry were causing migrants—other humans,” said Rubi. “It was disheartening to see how migrants’ humanity is stripped away due to privatization and xenophobia. This trip stirred many feelings, but most of all, it reignited my passion to work for the immigrant community and my desire to elevate the voices of those who are often drowned by power.” Rubi and the other students will get the opportunity to do some of that work in Monmouth, as action plans are being developed on campus for such events as a “Know Your Rights” workshop and a workshop on applying for citizenship. “We want to get the information to the people that need it,” said Gaster. “As a college, we should be pretty good at that.”

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SUMMER 2017

ACADEMICS

MONMOUTH IN MÉRIDA INAUGURAL YEAR OF COLLEGE’S IMMERSIVE MEXICO PROGRAM PROVES POPULAR For a group of Monmouth College students, the spring semester was an opportunity to become immersed in another culture. The five students were part of the College’s inaugural semester in Mérida, Mexico. Led by biology professor James Godde, the students did home stays with Mexican families, and most of their classes were taught by professors in a building in the northern part of Mérida occupied by the College. “The students were in an immersive environment,” said Godde. “They had home stays where the families spoke Spanish to them. They took all their classes, except for mine, in Spanish—including acting, anthropology and Spanish language courses, so I think it was a really good experience for them. They came back speaking Spanish much better and understanding it much better.” Being in Mérida and Godde used a series of field trips to constantly being exposed teach his class. to Spanish every day has “I decided to try a new approach to absolutely convinced me learning with my Reflections class, ‘Sacred Places,’” said Godde. “I decided that the only way to truly that every class period would be held in learn a language is to be completely immersed in it by a different sacred place, whether that be a church, the ruins of a Mayan temstudying abroad. ple or a cenote—one of the water-filled sinkholes that the ancient Mayans beCynthia Kamurigi ’18 lieved represented direct connections to the underworld. And so we traveled all around for every one of the 14 weeks of my class and actually visited the spots and talked about them there instead of sitting in a classroom.” “The Uxmal archaeological site (an ancient Maya city) really stood out to me,” said Cynthia Kamurigi ’18. “It just felt very majestic and grand. I also liked that it was not as crowded with tourists.” Kamurigi said her conversational Spanish skills benefited greatly from the semester in Mérida. “My Spanish has tremendously improved,” she said. “I was nervous because I had only taken one Spanish class before going on the trip, but now I am much more confident. Being in Mérida and constantly being exposed to Spanish every day has absolutely convinced me that the only way to truly learn a language is to be completely immersed in it by studying abroad.”

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MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

Godde (left) leads Monmouth students on an expedition to the Mayan ruins of Aka Chunyaxché, on the Yucatán Peninsula. Accompanying him are, from left: Haley Osborn ’18, Sergio Hernandez ’18, Becca Wahlberg ’19, Alex McDonald ’18 and Cynthia Kamurigi ’18.

A good deal of that immersion came with Kamurigi’s “caring and supportive” host family. “I felt like part of my host family from day one,” she said. “They taught me so many things. I miss them very much and I am planning to go back and visit them.” “One of my favorite memories was going to Cuba for our spring break trip,” said Haley Osborn ’18. “Being abroad gave me experiences I never would have gotten otherwise. It challenged me, both academically and personally. By the end, I was much more comfortable and confident using my Spanish, and I loved getting to go to the actual sacred sites and explore them in person.” As the state and regional capital of almost 1 million people, Mérida is a cultural center with multiple museums, art galleries, restaurants, movie theatres and shops. Godde said Mérida was a “logical place” for Monmouth to have an off-campus location because “we have a language requirement, and 80 percent of the students take Spanish to fulfill it.” Now that the College’s first self-run study-abroad semester is in the books, Godde forecasts growth. “We started out a little small, just to see how it would go, and I think it went well,” he said. “Next year, we’re going to send 12, and we look forward to growing that number.” —BARRY McNAMARA

ACADEMICS

HUMANIZING THE HOLOCAUST

Monmouth students photograph the railroad tracks leading to the infamous Birkenau Gate at Auschwitz II.

uring a faculty-led trip in May to study Holocaust sites in Europe, Assistant Professor of Psychology Blake Nielsen said he was struck most by a site that had no photos or words. “There is this large black void that was the centerpiece of this building,” he said of his experience at the Jewish Museum Berlin. “The void was representing all those that were lost during the Holocaust. … For me, that was one of the more memorable moments—to recognize the magnitude of the Holocaust and the loss of humanity that took place.” Three dozen students, including five 2017 graduates, accompanied Nielsen on the post-Commencement trip. Faculty members Michelle Damian, Kristin Larson and Joan Wertz were also part of the contingent. Prior to departure, the students had taken Nielsen’s spring semester class “Psychology of the Holocaust.” In addition to the opportunity to

‘

You see things that probably will stay with you the

’

rest of your life. Blake Niesen

study the psychological effects of authority, aggression and obedience, the students were also drawn by the ability to visit three countries—Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. The cities they saw included Berlin, Warsaw, Krakow and Prague. The Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps were among the many Holocaust sites the group visited during its 11 days in Europe. “You see things that probably will stay with you the rest of your life,” said Nielsen. “I saw more red eyes and tears falling down the faces of my students

when we went into a room in which there was just a whole mound of hair— human hair—that had been shaved off of those that had been sent to the concentration camp. … There was no way that you could deny what you were seeing and not recognize the gravity that at least six million people died during the Holocaust. … That really gripped a lot of the students.” One of those students was psychology and art major Brittany Bender ’19. “With the trip and the class, I got a deeper and more personal understanding about just how horrific the Holocaust was,” said Bender. “Hearing the facts and standing where the victims stood provide two completely different experiences and feelings.” “Auschwitz and Birkenau were humbling, unforgettable experiences and there are no words to describe it,” said Mary Griffith ’17. “There is so much the world needs to take away from the Holocaust. It’s high time to stop being bystanders. A goal of many places we visited was to remind the world to never let this happen again.” Kate Saulcy ’19 made an observation as the group left the infamous camps. “I learned how differently German citizens view the Holocaust, something that most definitely still affects many of them today,” she said. “I specifically remember our tour guide saying to us, ‘I could never say I’m proud to be a German, because of this. How could I?’” Bender said she also felt hope. “When we left Birkenau, there was a group of children who were wearing flags with the Star of David, and the boys were wearing yarmulkes,” she said. “They were also exiting the camp and were singing and dancing. It really made me think about how far we have come from this horrific period of time, and about there being a time after when people can heal.” —BARRY McNAMARA

SUMMER 2017

ACADEMICS

Stockdale Fellows participating in the Alternative Spring Break to Washington, D.C., were (clockwise from top left): Caleb Santana ’20, Jacob Poore ’20, Quinton Kaihara ’20, Mary Kate Luzzo ’18 (Stockdale Fellow mentor), Hadley Smithhisler ’20, AJ Angellotti ’20, Brennan Towery ’20, Lily Lindner ’20, Alyssa Hale ’20, Mackenzie Fletcher ’20, Alexis Brauer ’20 and Chase Cranford ’20.

for individual images to come into focus. “I am planning to go to law school once I graduate from Monmouth,” said history major Hadley Smithhisler ’19. “I am thinking about entering the political world, so visiting Washington, D.C., was a dream for me.” Smithhisler said she also enjoyed the Stockdale Fellows’ volunteer work at the Boys and Girls Club. “It was really great to explore the city and get to know a lot of the kids,” she said. “Some of them were really sad to see us go, which I know made us all feel like we had made some kind of impact on them.” She added: “I have a tremendous amount of respect for the men and women that work at these Boys and Girls Clubs. They have incredible amounts of patience, and they go out of their way to help the students they work with.” Added Ressler: “Working with kids that come from a completely different background was a new experience for most of us. It was a lot of fun to give back to others and have a little fun of our own while in our nation’s capital.” McLean is a veteran of the College’s Alternative Spring Break trips, participating in two during his time as a student. “You get a very tangible sense of personally making an impact,” said McLean of the service-based trips. “You might think to yourself what life might be like on a beach instead, but when you see the gratitude expressed for a project completed, and know that you made a difference, it’s life-changing.” The latest Alternative Spring Break experience was organized by Break a Difference, which coordinates Alternative Break programs and immersive weeks of service for young adults and students to serve communities by volunteering during school breaks in U.S. cities. “They organized everything,” McLean said. “In all, there were 53 participants there during our week, and we all stayed together in one of the Boys and Girls Club facilities. We helped the workers organize their space, including sorting through donated items they hadn’t had a chance to go through. We also did mentoring-type work with the kids, and we put on a college fair to help get them more excited about college, in general.”

D.C. TRIP OFFERS OPPORTUNITIES FOR FIRST GROUP OF STOCKDALE FELLOWS

side from rewarding work with children in grades 1-12 in Washington, D.C., a spring break trip for 14 Monmouth College students was about bringing things into sharper focus. That was also true for the group dynamic, as 13 of the students were Stockdale Fellows, the new campus leadership program started last fall. “It was a great opportunity for them to see more about themselves as a group,” said Assistant Director of Leadership Development Jake McLean ’15, who oversees the Stockdale Fellows program and led the Washington trip. “You could really see them tightening as a unit. They’re ready to give back as a team.” McLean said the spring break trip also “sets the stage for some type of legacy project for the Stockdale Fellows to give back to campus.” Stockdale Fellow Jack Ressler ’20 said it was evident that the trip helped the group come together as a unit. “We met some awesome people and made some great memories while bonding as a group,” said Ressler. “I think because of this bonding, the program will take off and become what the school envisioned when they created it.” Experiencing the nation’s capital was also an opportunity

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—BARRY McNAMARA

NEWSMAKERS MAMARY SELECTED FOR SEMINAR ON PLATO

HINTZKE RECEIVES CLASSICS AWARD

Anne Mamary, professor of philosophy and religious studies, was one of a select group of faculty members nationwide chosen by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) and the Center for Hellenic Studies to participate in an Ancient Greece in the Modern Classroom seminar, “The Verbal Art of Plato.” MAMARY Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the seminar took place place July 24-30 at Harvard University’s Center for Hellenic Studies campus in Washington, D.C.

Daniel Hintzke ’18 received a prestigious Manson Stewart Undergraduate Award from the Classical Association of the Middle West and South. The $1,000 prize was presented this year to five outstanding young classicists in the 32 states and three provinces within the CAMWS region. Hintzke attended the spring CAMWS meeting, where he presented research linking George Lucas’ story of Anakin Skywalker (who eventually becomes Darth Vader) in the Star Wars saga to Sophocles’ story of Oedipus in Rex and Colonus. In a typical year, there are six Manson Stewart Undergraduate Award recipients, including multiple winners from Big Ten schools and other large research universities.

HEWIT TO CONDUCT POST-BAC STUDIES Alex Hewit ’17 has received a post-bacca-

laureate fellowship to study an additional semester at Monmouth. Hewit will work with Psychology Professor Joan Wertz on a project that will not only enhance his research skills but will benefit the College as well. HEWIT “Alex is interested in mental health issues in incoming students, such as depression and anxiety, and how those issues may be related to college success and retention,” said Wertz. “Additionally, he’s interested in determining whether some early interventions during the first semester might help those students navigate the college experience more successfully.” Hewit said: “The College is doing a lot of reform with how they deal with incoming freshmen. I’ll be able to compare the scores on the questionnaire from the beginning to the end. The College will be able to have an idea of what programs are working and what aren’t. At the very least, they’ll get a better handle on how many of the incoming students are dealing with issues such as depression and anxiety.”

HAWKINSON ORDAINED BY PCUSA The Rev. Jessica Hawkinson was ordained by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and formally installed as the College’s associate chaplain in a ceremony on March 19 at Dahl Chapel. In addition to her work in the office of religious and spiritual life, Hawkinson heads the Lux Summer Theological InHAWKINSON stitute, a new program that “introduces high school students to theology and helps mold them into inspired learners.”

HINTZKE

COURIER STAFF BRINGS HOME AWARDS The staff of the Monmouth College student newspaper, The Courier, won seven awards at the 34th annual Illinois College Press Association convention, including three first-place honors. Kallie DiTusa ’17 was part of all three top honors. In the non-dailies under 4,000 students category, DiTusa had the top features page design, and she and Cooper Pauley ’18 had the top sports page design. In the open category, DiTusa added a first-place award for graphic illustration. DiTusa, co-editor Cristian Corbett ’17 and co-editor Miranda Jones ’17 received a second-place honor for front page layout. Michelle Ravel ’17 and Anthony Adams ’18 were also runners-up in the sports photo and sports column categories, respectively. The 11-member Courier staff earned honorable mention for general excellence among non-dailies under 4,000 students.

DiTUSA

MYANMAR NATIVE GAINS U.S. CITIZENSHIP In 2006, Duh Cem’s family had had enough of the political corruption and grim outlook in the Southeast Asia nation of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. They decided it was time to leave. So began a journey that reached a high point in April for Cem. The Monmouth freshman completed the application process for U.S. citizenship by passing his citizenship test. Cem’s parents and his four siblings escaped Myanmar in 2006, eventually reaching Malaysia. They stayed there until November 2010, when they moved to the United States. Cem said he wasn’t ready to leave his adopted U.S. city when he graduated from Monmouth-Roseville High School in 2016. The College’s hometown connection, plus its strong business program and Cem’s contact with men’s soccer coach Kooten Johnson, led him to enroll at Monmouth.

CEM

SUMMER 2017

NEWSMAKERS

THREE RECEIVE HATCH ACADEMIC AWARDS KUPPINGER

KESSLER

WITZIG

Three Monmouth College faculty members have been honored with Hatch Awards for Academic Excellence. Anthropology Professor Petra Kuppinger received the Hatch Award for Distinguished Scholarship, while Professor Judi Kessler (sociology) and Associate Professor Fred Witzig (history) received the Hatch Award for Distinguished Service for their work with the Midwest Journal of Undergraduate Research. MJUR was also a co-sponsor in April of the College’s inaugural Conference of Undergraduate Research & Scholarship. (See story, Page 8.) This is Kuppinger’s second Hatch Award for scholarship, as she also received the honor in 2009. The author of Faithfully Urban: Pious Muslims in a German City (2015), Kuppinger has published 11 articles in peer-reviewed journals and seven book chapters and other scholarly articles. She has been an editor for the journal

City and Society, co-editor for Urban Life and president of the Society for Urban, National and Transnational Anthropology. She has also given 21 presentations at conferences since 2010. Kuppinger joined Monmouth’s faculty in 2000, the same year she completed her Ph.D. at the New School for Social Research. She has a master’s degree from American University in Cairo, and she did her undergraduate work in Germany. Kessler and Witzig have led a multi-year effort to bring the Midwest Journal of Undergraduate Research to prominence, both on campus and across the country. Funded by the late 1957 Monmouth graduate W. Jerome Hatch, the Hatch Awards were established in 2004 to recognize outstanding work by Monmouth faculty in the areas of teaching and service, in addition to scholarship.

VETERANS ANNOUNCE RETIREMENT Political science professor IRA SMOLENSKY is wellversed when it comes to baseball, America and its politics and, certainly, the passage of time. Smolensky recently completed his 33rd and final year of teaching at Monmouth, a career so rich in teachable moments and relationships that he says he wouldn’t trade it for the fame of life as a professional athlete. “I followed the Brooklyn Dodgers, which was the first (Major League) team to integrate,” he said. “That made me socially conscious about race.” He continued: “There’s something beautiful about baseball—its aesthetics, the sounds and smells of the game. It relaxes me. I had a few good moments playing baseball. But if I had to sacrifice this career to be a major leaguer, I wouldn’t do it. I’d rather have this life.” Smolensky learned about Monmouth through his president at Wabash (Ind.) College. “I was covering four different areas in the discipline,” said Smolensky. “But I’m very much a generalist, so it was easier to come here for me than it would have been for some people.” During his more than three decades at Monmouth, Smolensky said he particularly enjoyed teaching his classes “Political Philosophy” and “Anarchism.” “The essence of political philosophy is to speak

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

usefully about justice —to speak idealistically and realistically about justice, simultaneously,” he said. “That’s the art of doing political philosophy.” Also retiring at the end of the academic year were professor of music JAMES BETTS (28 years), professor of communication studies LEE McGAAN ’69 (31 years) and vice president for student life JACQUELYN CONDON (37 years). SMOLENSKY A member of the faculty since 1989, Betts had a versatile career at Monmouth, chairing and teaching in the music department, teaching in the educational studies department and directing and performing in various instrumental ensembles. After attending the 1989 Fox Lecture in classics, he became interested in classical studies, and presented lectures to the Classical Association of the Middle West and South and the Illinois Classical Conference. He is also fluent in Spanish and has a background in video, digital sound and instructional technology. He holds a doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Iowa. BETTS Editor’s note: Lee McGaan is profiled on Page 23 of this magazine and also wrote “The Last Word” on Page 56. Jacquelyn Condon was profiled in the Spring issue of Monmouth College Magazine.

KOPINSKI TO LEAD BOARD OF TRUSTEES Kopinski said that building MonMark Kopinski ’79 has been elected mouth’s endowment is his “No. 1 goal.” chairman of the Monmouth College Not including a recent $20 million Board of Trustees. commitment, Monmouth’s endowA resident of New York City, Kopinsment stands at about $100 million. ki succeeds William J. Goldsborough “A stronger endowment will help ’65, who chaired the board for the last Monmouth in many, many ways— five years. not just from a student scholarship A retired chief investment officer perspective, but also from a faculwith American Century Investment ty-enrichment perspective,” he said. Management, Kopinski has served “Our faculty is deeply committed to as a trustee since 2004 and on the our students and their education, and executive committee since 2006. He the board is deeply committed to helphas also served as chair of the board’s ing our faculty achieve those goals.” finance and endowment committees. Kopinski said liberal arts colleges “It’s the culmination of a great exsuch as Monmouth offer students perience,” said Kopinski, who grew up opportunities that are not always in the Chicago area. “I had a great exavailable at larger universities. perience as a Monmouth student. The MARK KOPINSKI ’79 “I have several friends who work at College allowed me to do whatever I wanted to do, encouraged me to explore, and showed me Goldman Sachs, and when I asked them about the type of people they were hiring, they told me that they stopped that I could do anything I put my heart and head to.” Serving alongside Kopinski as vice chairman will be hiring MBAs and they were hiring more students from Dr. Ralph R. Velazquez Jr. of Peoria, Ill. Also a 1979 liberal arts colleges because they felt like they brought Monmouth graduate, Velazquez is senior vice president a deeper experience, they brought problem-solving skills and the ability to write,” he said. at OSF HealthCare Systems of Peoria.

MEET THE NEW TRUSTEES Dwight Tierney ’69 of New York City is executive vice president/managing director global human resources for Ipreo, a financial services company providing market intelligence, data and technology solutions. He was a member of the founding management team of MTV Networks, following which he served as corporate vice president for Viacom International, overseeing the company’s interests in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Pacific Rim. He served as Madison Square Garden senior vice president for human resources from 2008-11.

Kevin Goodwin ’80 of Kirkland, Wash., is chief executive officer of Signostics Limited, an Australian medical device manufacturer and a market leader in handheld ultrasound devices and bladder scanners. Previously president and CEO of FUJIFILM SonoSite Inc., the world leader in bedside and point-of-care ultrasound, he had been at the helm of the company since it spun off from ATL Ultrasound in 1998. At the time, he was vice president and general manager of ATL Ultrasound’s handheld systems group. He started with ATL in 1987 as a sales representative.

J. Alex McGehee ’81 of Silvis, Ill., is president/owner of Anchor Lumber Do-It Center in Silvis, the largest supplier of lumber in the Quad Cities. He began working for the company shortly after his graduation from Monmouth. McGehee is owner of Builders First Choice, a store with two locations which sells such construction materials as shingles, windows, vinyl siding, roofing and insulation. In addition, he owns several rental/development properties and a development business, Greenridge Properties, LLC, which was formed in 2008.

SUMMER 2017

Commencement COVER STORY

Classics major Amanda Bowman reacts to one of Sepúlveda’s anecdotes about growing up in a Hispanic family.

STORYBOOK ENDING T he members of monmouth college’s class of 2017 were told by commencement speakers that their stories matter.

A first-generation college student who became a Rhodes Scholar, PBS executive Juan Sepúlveda inspired and entertained graduates with stories of his uncoventional childhood.

By Barry McNamara

“We are wired as humans to be storytellers,” graduating senior Emma Vanderpool said in the student address. “Our task is to be the crafters of our own stories.” A total of 285 bachelor of arts degrees were conferred at the College’s 160th Commencement Exercises, held May 14 on a gorgeous summerlike afternoon on Wallace Hall Plaza. In his main Commencement address, PBS executive Juan Sepúlveda drew on his story of being a first-generation college student to colorfully illustrate four main points: where one comes from matters, not letting others define you matters, learning the rules of the game matters and relationships matter. To illustrate the second point, Sepúlveda told the story of one of his high school teachers in his native Topeka, Kan., who thought Sepúlveda had set the bar too high for himself when he applied to Harvard, Yale and Brown. He was accepted at all three schools before choosing Harvard. “Taking risks matters,” said Sepúlveda, who is PBS senior vice president, station services. Another way to put it, he said, was expressed in a Native American proverb: “As you go the way of life you will see a great chasm. Jump. It’s not as wide as you think.” Sepúlveda became the third Latino to be awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, and he earned degrees from Harvard University, Oxford University and Stanford University Law School. Sepúlveda told the graduates that had he not taken risks, many of his professional accomplishments

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

COMMENCEMENT Left: The final speaker of the day, class president Neddy Velez waves farewell to her classmates.

might not have been possible, including hosting his own public-television show, helping run President Obama’s 2008 campaign and serving in the Obama administration. And on a Commencement Day that coincided with Mother’s Day, Sepúlveda COMMENCEMENT M U LT I M E D I A PAG E also acknowledged the role his parents played in his bit.ly/mc-grad life. His stepfather drove 40,000 miles to deliver him to and from Harvard and Stanford; his mother, unlike his teacher, “was always there to tell my brother and me that we would go to college.”

In her student address, Vanderpool referenced Jonathan Gottschall’s book The Storytelling Animal, which was a shared text for students in the College’s “Introduction to Liberal Arts” course. Vanderpool, who last fall was selected as the College’s Student Laureate of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois, told her classmates that it’s all right if those stories contain contradictions, citing the poem “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman. In it, Whitman wrote, “Do I contradict myself?/Very well then I contradict myself/(I am large, I contain multitudes).” Vanderpool, a Latin, history and classics triple major, also urged her classmates to think of the College’s Latin motto, Sit Lux—“let there be light.” “We need to accept the contradictions we see in others and embrace them,” she said. “We need to offer our own light to a world that often seems dark and confused.”

Luke Kreiter is the picture of confidence during the march toward Wallace Hall.

(Continued on page 18)

Left: Kyle Ross and Jailene Leal share a lighthearted moment prior to the processional.

Above: Lincoln Laureate Emma Vanderpool honored her mentor, classics professor Tom Sienkewicz, on her mortarboard. Left: International business and accounting major Cindy Herrera celebrates with family following the ceremony.

Left: At the Senior Gala, members of the senior gift committee present President Wyatt with a check to fund a new campus picnic area.

SUMMER 2017

COMMENCEMENT

(Continued from page 17)

Summa cum laude business administration and public relations major Jessica Fox flashes a high sign from the Commencement stage.

Seniors Alec Dutko, Kelsi Ford, Nadine Waran, Kathleen Brown and Jamar Jones thrilled the baccalaureate audience with a rousing rendition of Katy Perry’s “Rise.”

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

The ceremony’s final speaker was senior class president Neriangela “Neddy” Velez, who gave an emotional talk in which she thanked her mother for being behind her on her college journey. “There were times we wondered who we were and why we are here,” Velez said in the “Farewell to the College” address. “There were times I thought maybe I should just quit while I was ahead. But we made it. We all made it. … Nice job on getting through it all.” Commencement Weekend also included the Baccalaureate Service, the Honor Walk and the Senior Gala, all of which were held on May 13. In his baccalaureate message, the Rev. Dr. Lewis Galloway, senior pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis, urged seniors to “thrive, don’t just survive.” “Part of what you gain here at Monmouth College is the knowledge of what it takes to thrive, not just survive,” said Galloway. “Remember that your character has been formed by the ethos of this great college. … Be odd, be out of sync with the world, be your own best self, be the person God has created you to be, not somebody (that) somebody else is telling you to be.”

In an annual tradition, President Wyatt wishes Godspeed to the newlygraduated seniors, while they are serenaded by a recording of Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young.”

With diploma in hand, Syrian native Khdr Eskandar, a cum laude biochemistry/physics major, joins the recessional.

Above: Seniors participating in the Honor Walk received a “talent”—a commemorative Wallace Hall medallion—which they publicly presented to individuals who played significant roles in their Monmouth experience.

LINKED BY

LEGACY FOR GENERATIONS, ALUMNI REPRESENTING DIVERSE STRANDS OF LOYALTY AND TRADITION HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO MONMOUTH’S UNIQUE DNA. HERE ARE JUST A FEW OF THEIR INSPIRING STORIES.

Stories by Barry McNamara

SUMMER 2017

LINKED BY LEGACY

RALPH WHITEMAN ’52

CHRONICLING ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT TO INSPIRE FUTURE GENERATIONS While it’s true that Ralph Whiteman’s fellow 1952ers have been treated to his regular, informative (and often witty) updates about their classmates for more than half a century, there’s more involved with his legacy at Monmouth College than his near-universal acclaim as “Best Class Secretary.”

ne needs to look no farther than the College’s Hall of Achievement for evidence. Or attend the annual Wendell Whiteman Memorial Lecture. Or enjoy a guest talk or awards ceremony in the Whiteman-McMillan Highlander Room in Stockdale Center. Whiteman’s fingerprints are all over those campus developments, often in conjunction with his two brothers who also graduated from Monmouth—Don Whiteman ’49 and Dick Whiteman ’64. The Whitemans grew up in Monmouth, just three blocks south of campus on South Eighth Street, which through a canopy of trees provides a perfect tunnel view to the front of Wallace Hall and its trademark cupola. Their father, Wendell Whiteman, attended Monmouth for a semester in the 1920s, before he had to withdraw because of financial reasons. Undaunted, the elder Whiteman went on to a 50-year banking career in Monmouth, retiring as bank president. Whiteman had early exposure to the College—“We were on campus all the time,” he said—and he always figured it would be where he’d wind up once it was his time to be a student. “In those days, when you went to Monmouth High School, it was almost a given that we all went to Monmouth College,” said Whiteman, who matriculated after serving two years in the Navy. “So that was kind of a tradition, and I was familiar with the College, and it had a good reputation.” Whiteman thrived as a student. He majored in business, played football and tennis, worked on the newspaper and yearbook staffs, and was part of the prestigious eight-

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

member Octopus Club, although that honor came with a snafu. “Octopus Club was active for over 20 years, and only once did the student body find out who was in it before the senior yearbook came out, and that happened to be our class,” laughed Whiteman. “One of our guys went into undercover work for the FBI, but we couldn’t even keep our identities secret for the Octopus Club.” Before Whiteman became a generous supporter of the College—including 24 years as a member of the Board of Trustees—he was a College employee, working in the newly built student center as a ... well ... let Whiteman explain:

“They hired me two weeks before they opened that Asked to evaluate the role that a Monmouth education building,” he said. “They had no programs set up, so it was played in his own exemplary life, Whiteman acknowledged a case of, ‘You build it, and they will come,’ which they did. the help it provided to his banking career. I’m not sure that either the College or I knew my title. I was “The important part of business in any association,” the student center director, but it amounted to director of he said, “is to be able to meet people, and have them feel student activities.” comfortable relating to you, so I think that’s part of the Whiteman worked for the College for three years, calling it liberal arts background.” a “sabbatical” from his career in banking. That career had its But it wasn’t just Whiteman’s life that benefitted from roots in a moment shared by the movie It’s a Wonderful Life, his education. He fondly recalled a class with sociology when Whiteman’s father asked him to return to Monmouth professor Madge Sanmann and said he thought of it often, because he was shorthanded at the bank. Like his father, especially during a stint as a house parent for nine orphaned Whiteman eventually retired as bank president, and that’s boys near the Great Lakes Naval Station, where he’d been when he really began to get busy. recalled following his college graduation. “After I retired in 1990, I was looking for some things to “My boys are now over 70, but I still have contact with get involved with,” he said. “My brother and I were looking three of them,” he said, calling the boys “nine big brothers” for at some of our graduates, his then 6-month-old daughter. and I think we came up with “When I got out of there I was Go over to the Hall of Achievement, going to become a sociology three Fortune 500 CEOs. So we decided, let’s start a just because of the and look, and see what people have professor, hall of achievement. In the experience I had with that.” meantime, I mentioned that Later, back in Monmouth, accomplished that have been in the idea to the public schools, to Whiteman continued that same spot that you’re in now. the superintendent, and he type of role, opening his immediately thought that was a home as a host to several of terrific idea, and they started their own program.” the College’s international students, of whom he’s equally Monmouth College soon followed, and 36 alumni have proud, including two young women from Ireland who have received the College’s most prestigious honor, starting with gone on to have rewarding lives in acting and international the first class in 1992. education, respectively. “The theory is that’s our report card,” said Whiteman. “We’ve really enjoyed them all, and we’ve had students “That’s the product that we’re turning out, how we’re doing. from different countries—Japan, China, Romania, France, But it really is pretty subtle in that it’s not only to recognize Senegal,” he said. the honorees, but it’s to give credit to the people that made it And during the entire time, Whiteman has continued to possible for them to achieve.” thrive in his role as class secretary. There’s been much to Additionally, Whiteman said, the respective halls offer write about. inspiration to students. “We had good people in our class,” said Whiteman. “We “Go over to the Hall of Achievement, and look, and see had four people in our class who published over three books what people have accomplished that have been in the same apiece, some of them as high as seven. We had a worldspot that you’re in now, standing in the same place,” he renowned theologian (the late Ken Bailey). ... Once I got a suggested. “See what they have done, set some goals in your quilt from the class that was Lois (Tornquist) Smith’s idea. life, and we’ll keep the light on here for you at the Hall of She was one of those authors (writing books about quilts). Achievement.” She sent a little piece of fabric to everybody in the class, and Around the same time, the Whiteman Lecture series they wrote a note back to me, thanking me for being class began. secretary. She put that all together, and I still have that quilt “Because my dad had been a banker, the initial thrust today.” was for someone from the financial industry that had been He added: “Our class is pretty cohesive, and that’s what a successful to come and give that lecture,” said Whiteman. small college is all about. We had relationships there that are “What we’re thinking about now is to make it a part of the still valid today, keeping in touch with each other.” leadership program on campus, and change it to ‘exemplary Some of that cohesion can easily be traced to “the glue lives,’ which would apply to all people, and be a goal for the guy”—the kid from just down the street who’s left quite a students to be influenced by that.” legacy at Monmouth College.

‘

’

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LINKED BY LEGACY

PERPETUATING A FAMILY LEGACY Maybe this November, Miranda Jones ’17 will finally get to witness her first Monmouth College Homecoming parade.

ones wound up passing on her first opportunity in 2010, when her late grandmother, former Monmouth trustee Marion Austin Jones ’50, invited her to tag along while she visited her alma mater.

“She just loved Monmouth College and the community atmosphere it has,” said Jones, who graduated in May with a degree in public relations. “She always had great things to say about it.” Her grandmother’s grandfather, T. Merrill Austin, was director of the College’s Conservatory of Music from 19011932—hence the name of the College’s Austin Hall. Marion Austin Jones was one of several of Austin’s grandchildren to attend Monmouth. She made a Monmouth sales pitch to Jones’ older sisters, but both attended the University of Northern Iowa, where their parents had also gone. However, one of those parents, Austin Jones, is now a Monmouth College trustee. He is the senior executive vice president, CFO and chief trust officer at Grinnell (Iowa) State Bank. Jones, whose full name is Miranda Austin Jones, was eventually persuaded to visit Monmouth as a place where she could continue her soccer career. Her meeting with the coach went well, and she began to see what her grandmother was talking about. “I remember driving into town, and I wasn’t that impressed, but then we got to campus, and I thought, ‘This is actually really nice,’” recalled Jones. “I don’t even think the weather was good that day. It was cold and windy, but I remember that the campus was beautiful, and the people I met were really nice. I really loved the attention that students get at a smaller campus.” Jones made her choice official in early 2013, but her grandmother had passed away toward the end of 2012. “She never got to know my decision,” said Jones. “She would’ve been so happy.” Jones’ next chance to attend Homecoming was in the fall of 2013, but as a member of the women’s soccer team, the scheduling never seemed to work out. That season, ironically,

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

Jones poses by a photograph of her great-grandfather, T. Merrill Austin, in Austin Hall.

the team traveled to play Grinnell College on the Saturday of Homecoming, and Jones’ family planned a marvelous postgame meal for Jones and her teammates – a gesture that was repeated when Monmouth played at Grinnell in 2015. The soccer schedule also had the Fighting Scots on the road for Homecoming in 2014 and 2015, but Jones thought she’d finally caught a break last fall during her senior season, when her team was home for the big weekend. She participated in many of the activities, but wet weather canceled the parade. That rainy day notwithstanding, Jones said her senior year was her best at Monmouth, in part due to the fun she had while serving as co-editor in chief of The Courier, Monmouth’s student newspaper. “It was a really good group,” she said of the staff. “We joked

around and socialized, but we were also there producing something together.” At the Illinois College Press Association awards in Chicago, the 11-member Courier staff earned honorable mention for general excellence among non-dailies under 4,000 students. They also experienced The Billy Goat Tavern on the recommendation of their adviser, Visiting Distinguished Professor of Communication Joe Angotti. “It was good to have an off-campus experience like that, where we were really doing something for the College,” said Jones, who also traveled to Ireland for academic credit at the end of her junior year. Jones said she learned a great deal under the advisement of Angotti, the former producer of NBC Nightly News, but that doesn’t mean he was above some shenanigans from his staff. “Angotti has a pair of eyeglasses that are ridiculously huge,” said Jones. “We’d all put them on, and they make you look cross-eyed. He knew about it. We’ve all joked about getting a tattoo of his glasses, and I think some of the staff aren’t even joking.” In the classroom, Jones was a fan of two political economy and commerce faculty members—Julie Rothbardt, who taught the human resources class, and Dick Johnston, her professor for Principles of Economics, who also served as her assistant soccer coach for two seasons. Jones’ post-graduation plan was to relocate to the Iowa City area to check out PR or graphic design jobs. She’s also considering Homecoming plans thanks to one of her Courier staff mates, Gianna Miceli ’17. “Gianna’s already got her hotel room booked,” said Jones on the last day of final exams in May. “She said she’ll let me crash with her. Those are the people I’m really going to miss.” Weather permitting, she might even see that elusive parade. Thinking back to 2010, Jones said, “I didn’t understand why my grandmother was so big on Monmouth and why she raved about going back for Homecoming. I understand now. I understand how much pride there is to be a Scot.” In fact, she might even adopt the cheerleader role of her grandmother. “My nephew is only 2 right now, but in another 12 years or so, I’d tell him that if you’re looking for connections with professors and with staff, and if you want to be involved in more than one thing, Monmouth is a great place. You really get close with a lot of people.” Grandmother Jones must surely be smiling to hear that.

Editor’s note: T. Merrill Austin had 14 direct descendants who became Monmouth alumni, and many more by marriage. The Austin clan will be honored as Family of the Year at Homecoming in November.

CAPPING A COLORFUL CLASSROOM CAREER Lee McGaan’s alter ego at Monmouth College, Chet Amagan, retired from his “MC Consulting” company in December. The announcement created quite a buzz on the Department of Communication Studies’ Facebook page.

‘M

any people were distressed,” smiled McGaan ’69, regarding the announcement that Amagan was closing the doors to his company. “Chet had a lot of fans.” Six months later, after 31 years as a professor at the College, McGaan is following Amagan out the door. McGaan’s career at Monmouth began in 1986 with a focus on lecturing to his classes, but his style evolved, leading to the creation of Amagan and a more project-centric teaching philosophy. “The early part of my teaching career at Monmouth, I was a lecturer,” said McGaan. “I thought I was quite good at it, but not everyone was as complimentary. I began to realize by the mid- to late ’90s that things needed to change. I came up with more in-class projects that allowed the students to apply what they’d been reading.” His methods continued to evolve, and he regularly communicated with his students in advance of a session, having them think about the day’s activity and what they needed to do to be prepared. Students in his “Organizational Communication” got to (Continued on page 25)

SUMMER 2017

LINKED BY LEGACY

CONTINUING McCLAUGHRY’S LEGACY In 1899, President William McKinley appointed Major Robert W. McClaughry as warden of the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kan. An 1860 Monmouth College graduate who had devoted his career to penal reform, McClaughry began transforming the former military prison into a modern federal correctional facility. Now, another Monmouth graduate is following the trail blazed by McClaughry.

hristie Nelson ’06 is a drug abuse coordinator at Leavenworth Penitentiary, where she supervises drug treatment specialists through live, group and individual supervision and reviews cases to determine if an inmate is eligible to participate in drug programming. In April, she returned to Monmouth College to deliver the keynote address for an undergraduate psychology research conference. Known as ILLOWA, the conference is the longest-running such event in the United States, and was attended by more 100 faculty and students from 11 colleges and universities. “The common question I hear is, ‘Why do you want to work in a prison?’” she told the audience. “First, working in that setting allows me the ability to help an underserved population make positive changes in their lives and the world. Second, working in that environment added an additional layer of challenge to the already puzzling field of psychology. It is immensely humbling to think of how impressed the 18-year-old version of me would be with who I am now, personally and professionally.” Nelson’s career has included work at federal prisons in five states, from New Hampshire to California “I’ve seen some pretty bad things,” she said. “They don’t necessarily stop being bad guys just because they’re in prison. … I realize there’s a likelihood that I won’t come home one day, but I believe it’s my calling. For better or worse, there has never been a boring day at work.” Nelson has also had to review, in horrific detail, other pretty bad things, such as when a schizophrenic young man brutally murdered his aunt—the person he loved most in the world. The man thought his aunt had been replaced by an identical robot. “I spent hours with this guy,” Nelson said. “He believed he was in a real-life Truman Show, and that none of what had happened was real.” Nelson experienced that case during her tenure at the maximum security Atascadero State Hospital in California,

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

where she was the youngest-ever psychologist on staff. Her assignment in that case was to determine if the prisoner could claim innocence by reason of insanity. That was indeed the result, but Nelson and others who worked on the case also had to wrestle with a dilemma: Did they keep the prisoner in a state where he thought he killed a robot, or gradually expose him to the jarring truth as his mental clarity improved? “It’s pretty crazy to work there,” Nelson told the audience of her time at Atascadero. Nelson’s work has also involved hostage negotiation, including keeping a keen eye and ear on the “hooks and barbs” of what draws hostage-takers into more productive

exchanges and what subjects not to broach. She did that work at the McCreary federal prison in Pine Knot, Ky., but she left because “I didn’t feel I was helping people become better human beings.” After helping start a new federal prison in Berlin, N.H., she decided after three years to “come home” to the Midwest and “put down roots.” She told the audience that the Leavenworth facility, where she began working in 2016, is one of the oldest U.S. prisons and has housed inmates such as Whitey Bulger, “Machine Gun” Kelly and James Earl Ray. The work she’s doing now is similar to what she anticipated doing when she enrolled at Monmouth.

“Going into matriculation day, I wanted to be a therapist working in drug and alcohol treatment,” she said. “It wasn’t until my undergraduate internship at Henry C. Hill Correctional Facility (in Galesburg, Ill.) during my sophomore year that the working-in-a-prison element was added.” Nelson, who earned both a master’s degree and a doctorate in psychology from Forest Institute of Professional Psychology in Springfield, Mo., recalled that during her entrance interview, one of the faculty members had some advice for his colleagues. “Provide her a more accelerated program, because she’s so well-prepared,” he said.

LEE McGANN

“No, nothing like that,” McGaan replied quickly, knowing that such soldiers in the Army carried huge radio equipment on their backs and that the enemy “shot the radio guy first.” The interviewer began running through a list of possible areas of interest. “You know, architecture, art and on down the line,” said McGaan. “He was getting near the end of the alphabet, and he said ‘social psychology.’ I said, ‘Yes, that’s it.’” That job “match” led to McGaan working with detainees at a military prison and to work involving making the Army experience better for enlisted men so that they’d re-enlist. Along the way, he had a commanding officer who was a “fabulous leader,” and his lessons in leadership and effective communication have stuck with McGaan since. Between his Army service and returning to Monmouth, McGaan completed his Ph.D. at Ohio University and taught at Olivet (Mich.) College and Wabash (Ind.) College. At the latter school, he was on the faculty with Ira Smolensky, who headed west to Monmouth two years before McGaan and, coincidentally, also retired this year. Six years after he left Wabash, McGaan said the person who held his position there was David Timmerman, now dean of Monmouth’s faculty. “When I applied to Monmouth, I interviewed with (theater professor) Jim De Young, who had been my first academic adviser,” said McGaan. “A short time ago, I was asked by Mortar Board to speak in their ‘Last Lecture’ series. Jim was there. He told me, ‘I saw your first lecture at Monmouth, and I wanted to see your last.’” McGaan isn’t certain what he’ll do when he joins Amagan as a retiree, but two family projects come to mind—organizing photos taken by the first Bailey to attend Monmouth in 1914, as well as making his first trip to Scotland to visit the Ayreshire grave of a McGaan ancestor that is specially marked as a friend of poet Robert Burns. “I need to renew my passport. I gotta get on that,” said McGaan. “I’ll be looking into finding ways to not be in Monmouth, Ill., in January.”

Continued from page 23

know Chet Amagan, who McGaan said “looked very much like me, only he always wore a hat.” “A lot of organizational communication is about knitting a culture, but college students don’t have a lot of job experience coming in,” said McGaan. “Talking about how corporations work is all foreign territory for them. So I created the simulated company so they could get a better feel of communicating in the professional world.” McGaan knows the value of a Monmouth education, both as a professor and as a Monmouth student. McGaan’s family benefitted from a United Presbyterian Church rule that allowed children of its clergy to attend a handful of colleges, including Monmouth, for free. Attendees included his mother, Lois Bailey McGaan ’30, for whom the College’s prize for excellence in communication is named. Among other family members, his brother and sister, Dean McGaan ’59 and Lynn McGaan ’61, graduated from Monmouth, as did an uncle, Hall of Achievement inductee Kenneth Bailey ’52. McGaan said it was during grad school that his appreciation for his Monmouth education reached a new level. “I remember thinking, ‘How am I going to compete with these university kids? They know more than I do.’ No, they didn’t. It wasn’t that I was smarter, but I was way better prepared to do graduate course work than they were,” he said. “While they were taking multiple-choice or short-answer exams, I was writing all those papers and conducting research.” Also key to his development was a stint in the Army, which McGaan says “is the only lottery I’ve ever won. I think my number was 65.” During an interview about his background to determine his best Army placement, he mentioned his communication experience. “Like radio?” asked the interviewer.

SUMMER 2017

LINKED BY LEGACY

SPANNING THE GENERATIONS THROUGH AN INTERNATIONAL LEGACY Sandra Pragas ’88 attended Monmouth after the College came to her in Malaysia. Three decades later, Nadine Waran ’17 followed her mother’s footsteps from Malaysia to Monmouth, ultimately walking across the Wallace Hall stage on Mother’s Day to receive her diploma. Beaming proudly in the audience was Pragas, who was visiting from Malaysia for the first time since her own graduation.

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Monmouth is a beloved second home for Malaysian mother and daughter Sandra Pragas (left) and Nadine Waran.

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

e have something very much in common now,” said Pragas, a few days after Commencement. “We were making eye contact during the ceremony. Those were special moments, seeing her graduate.” He wasn’t in the audience that day, but the man who set the two graduations in motion was former Dean of Admission Drew Boster. Pragas met Boster in Malaysia at a very opportune time, as she was in the process of deciding where in the world to attend college on a scholarship provided by Malaysia’s Sabah Foundation. She was part of the foundation’s pilot child development project to work with children ages 3–6. “We were the first in a line of teachers in that field,” she said. “The Sabah Foundation provided scholarships to study in that field and to apply what we learned upon our return to Malaysia. I could’ve gone anywhere. Drew was in the student recruitment agent’s office when I walked in that day. He said that Monmouth had elementary education, not early childhood education, but reassured me that a program could be tailored for me.” Pragas was eager to make her college decision, so after looking through the brochures Boster showed her, she said, “I signed up. Within a few weeks, I received my F1 visa to study at Monmouth College. It was a quick choice, and it led all this to unfold.” True to Boster’s word, a program was created at Monmouth for Pragas, who credited late education professor Frank Sorensen, as well as former faculty members Esther White and George Arnold. Pragas was delighted that, 30 years later, White was still living in Monmouth, and the two enjoyed lunch together with Waran. She also made a trip to visit Arnold and his wife during her time in the United States. “Frank was my adviser,” said Pragas. “He was a wonderful man. Esther took me under her wing. She and the others

helped me gain as much experience as possible. I visited almost every school in the Monmouth area, and Esther took me to an early childhood education center in Quincy.” As a new student who was already older than the upperclassmen, Pragas said she gravitated toward her professors, forming her closest friendships with them. She also became friends with her host family, Al and Peggy Kulczewski, and was pleased to reunite with Peggy on her recent visit. The Kulczewskis also served as hosts for Waran. In her pre-Monmouth days as a teacher in Malaysia, Pragas said, “We were learning all these theories, but we never saw it in real practice.” To illustrate the importance of actually seeing in a classroom setting Montessori methods or the pedagogy of kindergarten creator Friedrich Fröbel, she used a simple example. “In Malaysia, I had seen pictures of snow. But coming to the United States, and actually being in snow for the first time, you feel the cold. You don’t feel that cold just looking at a picture. So seeing those theories in practice during my time in the U.S. helped me to conceptualize them.” Pragas navigated her Monmouth education quickly and successfully, graduating cum laude in just 3½ years, double majoring in early childhood education and elementary education with a minor in psychology. The timing was critical, as Pragas’ scholarship was for four years, and she still needed to complete her master’s degree, which she did at the University of Shippensburg (Pa.). “My time in the United States was very well spent,” she said. “I saw the pendulum swing, all the way from the conservative Amish in Pennsylvania to being in Las Vegas—the city that never sleeps. The external education I received created a different person when I went back. The American influence was there.” In Malaysia, Pragas applied her classroom and external education at the Child Development Center in Sabah, where she was appointed principal. Upon her marriage, she transferred to Kuala Lumpur, where she also worked as a student affairs and public relations officer. Upon leaving the Sabah Foundation, she continued in her field of education and became the founding consultant for Gentle Care Learning Centers Malaysia before establishing a training provider company, which she has been doing since 2003. She’s started her own company, Graduate PLT. Her daughter’s story about choosing Monmouth

College is similar, as it also involved a Monmouth representative being in Malaysia (and bringing Pragas a new copy of her diploma), but there was also an important difference. After all, Waran could draw on her mother’s experiences. “I trusted her,” said Waran, who also committed to Monmouth without setting foot on campus. Asked if her mother had steered her right, she replied, “Oh, my gosh, yes! I’d do it again. I had a great experience.” Waran came to Monmouth to study music, following a strong family influence. “My grandfather, Datuk Peter Pragas, was an accomplished national composer and pianist,” said Waran. “He had composed many Malaysian popular and patriotic music pieces, but above all he had left his mark in the state of Sabah’s repertoire of music for the Harvest Festival. So he was a great inspiring figure to me,” as was Waran’s late aunt, who taught classical piano. At Monmouth, Waran came under the professorial wing of “vibrant” Carolyn Suda, who was her adviser and ILA instructor. “I had some homesick moments, but she really took care of me,” said Waran, who also praised music faculty members Tim Pahel and Ian Moschenross and former staff member Bren Tooley, who was the Monmouth representative who traveled to Malaysia. “Dr. Bren was so welcoming to the international students, having us over to her house and really creating a family atmosphere,” she said, recalling, in particular, carving pumpkins at her house around Halloween. Pragas was also part of an international community at Monmouth, which included about a dozen students from Malaysia. Today, some of them have joined Pragas as part of an active alumni chapter in Kuala Lumpur. Waran also enjoyed a family atmosphere through her women’s fraternity, Pi Beta Phi. She recently said of her sisters, “Saying ‘Yes’ to (Pi Phi) is one of the best decisions I’ve made since coming to America.” Now that she has her very own Monmouth diploma, Waran is busy checking out graduate schools to study music business and is also looking for internship opportunities. She’s not sure yet where she’ll land, but she does know one thing for certain: “It was exciting to walk on the same path as my mom. I developed a closer relationship with her. We’ll cherish this connection we have, always.”

SUMMER 2017

AN ADMISSION COUNSELOR’S LIFE-CHANGING LEGACY By DAN KEATING ’83

was intrigued, to say the least, when I received in early March of this year a big brown envelope with a return

address for “Ione Piché, Elmhurst, Illinois.”

Dan Keating was 17 when he was first contacted by Monmouth admission counselor Ione Piché.

Ione Piché. An unforgettable name for an unforgettable person. She was the Monmouth College admission counselor who changed the course of my life more than 38 years ago when I was a 17-yearold senior at St. Laurence High School in Burbank, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. Could she really still be alive after all these years? I certainly hoped so! Ione was not only alive, but she was clearly alive and doing very well, even though she is now 90 years old. In the brown envelope was a postcard in an acrylic frame with my own handwriting from 38 years ago, asking Monmouth College to send me information on their all-expense scholarship competition “immediately.” Along with the postcard was a Monmouth College Redbook from my sophomore year with headshots and home addresses for all of the students enrolled that year, plus the following handwritten note in immaculate cursive writing: Dear Dan, I came across this in my desk and thought you might like to have it. The card was received 2 days before you were to take the test. I picked you up at the high school and had per [my] mission to take your grades in a sealed envelope to Monmouth. This post card was the step for you being on board at Monmouth College. I thought Jane and the kids would get a kick out of seeing this card. In Warmth, Ione L. Piché My connection to Ione had all started with that very postcard that was now back in my possession after almost four decades. I had first received the “magic postcard” in the mail in late March of my senior year in high school.

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

Receiving this postcard in the mail recently brought back a flood of memories to the author, and led to an unexpected reunion.

The postcard came from Monmouth College, a name that meant nothing to me at the time. Yet the postcard still caught my attention because it mentioned an “all-expense scholarship” competition. Even though it was so late in my senior year, I still had no idea where I was going to college at that point. I had applied to a few colleges, but my main goal was to get a full-tuition scholarship, since I knew that my parents were not in a position to contribute significantly toward my college education costs. At that time, I had applied for a full-tuition scholarship at Vanderbilt University, but had not yet heard anything from Vanderbilt. So when I saw that Monmouth was offering not just a full-tuition scholarship, but an “all-expense scholarship,” I definitely wanted to compete for that. An added bonus was that Monmouth was just a three-hour drive from Chicago. When I sent the postcard back with my response on the other side of the card, I specifically requested information from the College regarding their all-expense scholarship weekend. Apparently, the College received my response postcard just two days before the test was to take place for the scholarship. Perhaps that helps explain why I wrote at the time to please send me information on the all-expense scholarship “immediately.” That also helps explain why Ione called me at home on Thursday night, the same day that Monmouth received my response card. She offered to pick me up after school the very next day, Friday, so that she could personally drive me from St. Laurence High School to the scholarship competition in Monmouth. The weekend that I spent at Monmouth College for the

all-expense scholarship competition was so positive that when I returned home, I told my parents that I wanted to go to Monmouth, whether or not I got the all-expense scholarship. Fortunately for me, a few days later, I got a call from Gordon Young ’61 (Monmouth’s director of financial aid at the time) telling me that I had won the scholarship. Ironically, shortly Keating is grateful to Piché for after the Monmouth call, being the influence that led to I got a call from Vanderhis marriage to fellow Monmouth bilt telling me that I had student Jane Stevens ’84. won their scholarship. When I explained to Vanderbilt that I would be turning them down to take the Monmouth scholarship, their incredulous admissions director said that this was the first time in history that that particular scholarship had been turned down. Fast-forward to this spring. When I received that well-preserved postcard and the handwritten note from Ione, I felt moved to send her a heartfelt, page-long typed response. Here are some excerpts from that letter: Dear Ione, Thank you so much for taking the time to send me that life-altering postcard, along with the Monmouth College “Redbook” from my sophomore year at Monmouth. Believe it or not, I have often made reference to that postcard as I have reflected on my life path. If I had not filled it out and sent it back when I did, and if you had not gone out of your way to enable me to participate in the all-expense weekend, my life would have looked very different than it does now. Most significantly, I would not be married to the love of my life, Jane, whom I met at Monmouth College. Your taking the time to pick me up after school and take me to Monmouth was a great first impression for me of Monmouth College and its personal touch. I never regretted turning down the Vanderbilt scholarship. My four years at Monmouth College were years of intellectual and personal growth and maturity, plus fun memories with great friends. And, of course, I met Jane there! I am convinced that sometimes God uses people as his

Keating and his wife, Jane (right), visited Ione Piché in her home, a month after the retired admission counselor contacted him.

agents or angels to enable his purposes to be fulfilled here on earth. In this case, I am convinced that God used you to see to it that I attended Monmouth College so that I could meet Jane. I am so grateful that you took the time last week to send me the “magic postcard” decades after the fact so that I could relive that special time in my life and reflect on those happy days. Sincerely, Dan Postscript: About a month after receiving Ione’s package this spring, Jane and I were visiting our older daughter, Amy, in the Chicago area. The three of us stopped by Ione’s house in Elmhurst to visit with her for about 45 minutes and to have Amy take a picture of Jane, Ione and me for this story. I am happy to report that Ione looked as good in person as she sounded in her handwritten note to me. I was thrilled also to have the opportunity to thank her in person for sending me “the postcard” after all these years and for enabling me to attend Monmouth College. SUMMER 2017

BOOKS

MISSISSIPPI RISING Hidden currents, beneath a seemingly tranquil surface, deliver a powerful first novel

FLOOD: A NOVEL By Melissa Scholes Young ’97 Hardcover, 304 pages, $26 Center Street

elissa Scholes Young’s fiercely honest and atmospheric debut novel, Flood, is a contemporary story set in Hannibal, Missouri, the town made famous by Mark Twain and his enduring literary creations Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. Young, a native of Hannibal, taps into many of the themes of the great writer’s work—the need for adventure, complicated ties to home, staking identity, emotional yearning—in a story about a young woman’s return to the town that both haunts her and draws her back. And as with Twain’s work, the river itself, the restless Mississippi, offers more than a mere backdrop, becoming a metaphor for the deep-running ties that bind us. At 28, Laura Brooks never intended to come back to Hannibal for more than a f ly-by visit. She left the town right after high school, studying nursing in St. Louis, before landing in Florida. But her life has not worked out as she dreamed, and after losing her job, and miscarrying an unplanned pregnancy, she makes her way back to Hannibal as a temporary fix. Little has changed there. Her resentful mother still lives in the same trailer near the river where Laura and her brother, Trey, grew up without a father. And Laura’s best friend, Rose, is living through the inevitable ugly divorce of couples who marry too young. Yet, there are still things that Laura loves about the town. With the Fourth of July approaching, the community is enmeshed in its annual contest to choose a

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher from among the local kids, and Rose’s son, Bobby—whom Laura loves as if he were her own—is a contender. Laura developed a love for the literary legacy of Hannibal’s native son thanks to an encouraging high school teacher, and she figures the least she can do is try to help Bobby snag the role. And then there is the mighty Mississippi itself, eternal and inspiring. Flood warnings are in effect, though, just as they were the fateful summer 10 years before when Laura left town, after the levees broke and her heart was broken, too, by a boy named Sammy. Laura is quickly embroiled in the small-town dramas, including those involving Rose and her estranged husband, and Trey’s dreams to buy some land. Her high school reunion, and all that implies, fast approaches. But it is when Sammy resurfaces that the emotional turbulence of the past fully f loods back into her life. Like Huck before her, Laura’s impulse is to f lee. If she makes the difficult choice to stay, though, there is always a chance at love—and at a rebuilt life in the place that, try as she might, she can never stop calling home. Melissa Scholes Young was born and raised in Hannibal, Missouri, and still proudly claims it as her hometown. Her writing has appeared in the Atlantic, Washington Post, Narrative, Ploughshares, Poets & Writers, and other literary journals. She teaches at American University in Washington, D.C. Scholes Young will speak at a book signing

at Monmouth College on Aug. 31.

MONMOUTHIANA

ELEBRATING

QUINBY’S LEGACY President’s Home Marks Sesquicentennial The name of one of Monmouth College’s earliest benefactors lives on in his former residence, which today is a beloved campus landmark. Built in 1867 by College trustee and benefactor Ivory Quinby, the home of Monmouth College presidents for more than half a century celebrates its 150th birthday this year.

SUMMER 2017

Standing in the redecorated library, President Clarence R. Wyatt and First Lady Lobie Stone are the seventh presidential couple to reside in Quinby House.

Lobie Stone Monmouth College First Lady

MODERN ELEGANCE WITH ASSISTANCE FROM GENEROUS DONORS AND TALENTED STAFF,

FRESH LOOK USHERS IN NEW ERA FOR HISTORIC QUINBY HOUSE

The dining room features an eclectic mix of antique furniture.

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

hen I first walked into Quinby

House, I immediately recognized this historic Italianate home was an architectural treasure.

The high ceilings. The arched windows. The gracious proportions. The architectural details were enthralling. I knew that a beautiful house lived beneath the dark Victorian decor that was not true to the home. The president’s home has a vital role to play in the life of a college. It’s a place to welcome guests, interact with students and celebrate with alumni, faculty, staff and friends of the College. With that in mind, we began in mid-2014 a renovation—funded by a pair of trustees and their spouses and carried out mostly by our talented physical plant craftsmen—carpenters Bo Scott and Joe Schreck, electrician Mark Ogorzalek, and painter Dana Poole—to refresh and celebrate Quinby House. In many ways, I prepared all my life to lead a renovation of Quinby House. I was fortunate to grow up in a wonderful classic revival house built in 1902. That experience nurtured a lifelong appreciation for the grace and beauty of historic homes. When I owned my own interior design firm and worked with cli-

MONMOUTHIANA

Wyatt and Stone relax in what was originally the Quinby family parlor.

A renovated kitchen (top) now opens up into a welcoming sitting area, which was previously an enclosed back porch.

We who are fortunate to reside in historic homes are stewards of the legacies that live within their walls. ents who owned historic homes, I drew on my liberal arts education in art and art history as well as my experiences living in other historic homes in New Orleans, Houston, San Antonio and Danville, Ky. Like Quinby House, those were beautiful spaces with important stories to tell. One of Quinby House’s first changes was to let in the light. We removed heavy drapes and shades and painted walls in warmer, brighter colors. Hardwood floors replaced worn carpeting. A little-used back porch was converted into a comfortable sitting area that now opens to a remodeled kitchen. A solid exterior door leading from the living room to the porch was replaced with a window from an interior bathroom. Now beautiful southeastern light flows into the living room, where I host “Lemonade with Lobie,” relaxed gatherings with the College’s female students where we have lots of great discussion and share our sto-

ries. These are among my favorite times at the College. The dining room is furnished with a chandelier I brought back from Germany, dining chairs from Paris and a buffet from Mississippi. The library displays some of the hundreds of books Clarence and I have amassed, reminding students that we are all lifelong learners. Our latest improvement project for Quinby House is its windows. We are currently renovating the original windows, thanks to the generosity of another trustee and spouse. We have filled Quinby House with art, antiques, chandeliers and sconces that Clarence and I have collected during our travels at home and abroad. Many of these items are conversation pieces with students. They also allow me to remind students to collect pieces of street art during their travels while studying at Monmouth, because art not only lasts forever but it also rekindles memories by taking you back to the time and place where you bought it. We who are fortunate to reside in historic homes are stewards of the legacies that live within their walls. It has been my great privilege to lead a project that has brought new life to Quinby House, creating a wonderful home important to the College’s history and preserving its legacy for future College presidents and their families. Monmouth College students researching Quinby House for a public history class are given a tour of its spacious attic by Lobie Stone.

SUMMER 2017

MONMOUTHIANA

An early lithograph shows Quinby House prior to the construction of a twostorey front porch in the 1890s.

QUINBY HOUSE PAYS TRIBUTE TO VISIONARY TRUSTEE

By JEFF RANKIN Editor& College Historian

or 150 years, the graceful Italianate/Greek Revival residence known as Quinby House has

watched over Monmouth College like

IVORY QUINBY

a beacon. Standing on a rise of land at the northwest corner of campus, its history is inextricably linked to the institution that its builder helped shape during its fragile formative years. An early Monmouth attorney, merchant,

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

banker, land speculator and judge, Ivory Quinby built the house in 1867, just two years before his untimely death at the age of 52. Although a lifelong Baptist, Quinby appreciated the educational opportunities afforded by Monmouth’s new Presbyterian college and accepted a position on its first board of trustees, serving on the executive committee, as well as treasurer and chairman of the board. Among his responsibilities were overseeing the construction of the new college building on the eve of the Civil War. At a time when cash was difficult to come by, he was one of the College’s most generous early donors. For nearly a century after Quinby’s death, the

Among the many original Quinby family documents in the College’s collection are original architectural drawings of the residence (left) and a pocket diary, in which Quinby recorded the purchase of materials for his new house.

comfortable home he occupied for just two years was enjoyed by three generations of his heirs. His widow, Mary, lived there until her death in 1907. It then became the home of her son, Ivory Quinby II, a longtime member of the College’s board of trustees, and her grandson, Ivory Quinby III, who succeeded his father on the board in 1929 and remained a trustee until 1964. In 1965, Quinby and his wife, Elizabeth, proposed deeding the family home to Monmouth College to be used as the president’s home. In exchange, the College agreed to let them live their remaining years in a handsome college-owned cottage near the campus. The first new residents of Quinby House were President Duncan Wimpress and his wife, Peggy, who furnished it with period antiques and made it the setting for frequent elegant receptions and dinner parties. Quinby House beame not only a College landmark, but a national one, thanks to the foresight of its third presidential resident, DeBow Freed, who in 1979 asked his administrative assistant, Eileen Sandburg Loya ’40, to prepare a nomination for listing the house on the National Register of Historic Places. Her yearlong research project uncovered a wealth of information, especially about the architect, John C. Cochrane, whose Chicago firm had designed

dozens of important public buildings, including the Illinois and Iowa State Capitols. Fortunately, the Quinbys had retained an extensive archive of family documents, including Cochrane’s original plans for the house. By the early 1990s, however, time had begun to take a toll on the house. Despite ongoing maintenance efforts by the College physical plant staff, trees and foliage surrounding the house had grown dense and led to rotting and mildew. The house’s mechanical systems were outdated and potentially dangerous. Salvation for the property would come in the form of a historic preservation grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation. The grant, which recognized Ivory Quinby’s role in helping establish the Burlington-Northern Railroad, funded the major portion of a two-year project, in which the house was gutted and rebuilt from the inside out. Through additional private donations, Quinby House was returned to its original elegance. A dedication of the renovated house at Homecoming 1997 drew a large crowd of townspeople and dignitaries. Cutting the ribbon to welcome new generations of the Monmouth College family were the daughters of Ivory and Elizabeth Quinby, Jane Lowell ’48 (now deceased) and Anne Dyni ’56.

Duncan Wimpress, the first president to occupy Quinby House, gives a tour to students Al Hatfield ’69 and Mary Pim ’69 in 1965. The original gas chandelier (above) was recently restored.

The historical basis for Quinby House’s inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places is outlined on a plaque, installed during the 1997 dedciation.

SUMMER 2017

SCOTSPORTS From left: Senior sprinters Beka Wollenburg, Briana Gardner and TaShea’ Tinglin came from different backgrounds, but under the direction of Coach Roger Haynes melded together as a powerful component of the women’s track and field team.

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

BEKA WOLLENBURG is a country girl from Aledo, Ill. TaSHEa’ TINGLIN is a city kid from the Chicago suburb of Calumet City. And BRIANA GARDNER is from the middle, just outside Peoria in the heart of Illinois.

TRACK TRIO THRIVED ON RESPECT

By Barry McNamara

They took different paths to get to Monmouth College, but

the diverse trio of senior sprinters became a dominant force, leading the Fighting Scots’ national-caliber track and field program. “I’m really pleased that all three come from such different backgrounds, but they’ve bought in to Monmouth College track and field,” said Roger Haynes ’82, who just completed his 34th year as head track coach, including 18 years in charge of the women’s team. “The way they’ve come together despite those different backgrounds is pretty remarkable. I have great respect for them. They’ve put their trust in a loud, old coach and really bought in.” The respect is mutual. Asked why Monmouth track and field has been so successful throughout the years—the program has produced an AllAmerican every year since 1985, and the (Continued on page 38)

SUMMER 2017

SCOTSPORTS

As a freshman, I looked up to the juniors and seniors, and when I became a junior, I felt I owed it to the team to work on keeping everybody on the right track. —Briana Gardner ’17

Gardner (left) and Wollenburg stretch before a practice.

TRACK TRIO Continued from page 37

men’s team has won every Midwest Conference indoor title this century—Wollenburg had a quick, short answer. “Coach Haynes,” she replied. “He just knows so much information, said the Honors Program student who graduated magna cum laude with degree in biopsychology. “He’s got an analogy for everything. He goes above and beyond to help people get better. His coaching plan is the best in the league. You’re not necessarily going to understand everything he says as a freshman or a sophomore, but he is just a fountain of knowledge about track.” Gardner, a graduate in exercise science, voiced a sentiment shared by the others—that Haynes is more than just a coach. “He’s very understanding,” she said. “I see him like a father figure. I can come to him with things, and he has an open heart and an open ear. I have a lot of respect for him. He believed in me, even though I didn’t believe in myself. It’s why I’m still here.” Tinglin, who graduated with a degree in biopsychology, had a similar experience. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to run track,” she said. “Some

I never expected to run the times I’m running. Every year, I’ve gotten better. Coach Haynes trains us so hard, and so specifically. —TaShea’ Tinglin ’17 38

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

of the upperclassmen on the basketball team (Jasmine Johnson ’14 and Kim Coleman ’14) said, ‘You’re so fast. Just do it.’ ... I got to know Coach Haynes, and he was very welcoming, very encouraging. Even though I was separate initially, I felt I could be a part of the team. With his coaching, and getting to know my teammates, it’s one of the reasons I’m still here.” Tinglin admitted that she was “nervous” to get to know her new head coach. “He’s just very blunt. But I love that aspect about him. He’s clear and concise,” she said. Tinglin explained how the training she’s received, including understanding race models, has made her a much faster sprinter than she was in high school.

Tinglin (left) receives the baton from Wollenburg at an indoor meet relay.

SCOTSPORTS

“In the 200, I used to be good for the first 120, and then I’m dead, I don’t have anything else to give. Now I’ve learned about force production at each stage of the race. I can run the race smarter, but still run it hard.” But she also knows the value of a good, old-fashioned motivational talk from her coach. “My most memorable moment was breaking the indoor sprint medley record this year,” said Tinglin. “We’d been pretty poor up until conference. We just didn’t have the right mindset. Coach Haynes gave us a pep talk—some tough love—and we all came together.” That team, which also included Wollenburg, set the new standard at 4:12.59. “I’m tremendously improved,” said Tinglin of her college career. “I never expected to run the times I’m running. Every year, I’ve gotten better. Coach Haynes trains us so hard, and so specifically.” Wollenburg also recalled an event from that recent Midwest Conference meet, but for a different reason. “One of the highlights for me actually wasn’t a good race,” she said. “It was the indoor 200. I talked to Coach Haynes afterward, and he asked me how it went. I told him, ‘Not well.’ He just hugged me and told me he loved me. That’s something I’ll never forget.” Gardner’s top highlight came during her sophomore year, when she took advantage of a “last chance” qualifier meet to set a personal best—her first sub-25-second 200-meter dash—a mark she then shattered at the national meet to become an All-American. “Nationals was quite an experience, and something I never imagined happening,” she said. “What Coach Haynes does, I don’t think you can set the bar too high for what you’re capable of doing. Everyone on the team has gotten better in some shape or form.” Haynes says the individual and team success the program experiences wouldn’t be possible without buy-in from team leaders. “They use their different personalities to put the message out there,” he said of the senior trio. “It’s good when the team hears it from someone different than me. They believe in what we believe.” He continued: “Track is everybody else’s punishment. It’s the back of a T-shirt, but it’s true. Our practices are challenging, and it takes discipline to run on days that

It’s good when the team hears it from someone different than me. They believe in what we believe. —Coach Roger Haynes ’82 maybe you don’t want to. They set the bar for our work ethic and attitude, and they bring a toughness to the team.” “It grew on me,” said Gardner of her leadership role. “As a freshman, I looked up to the juniors and seniors, and when I became a junior, I felt I owed it to the team to work on keeping everybody on the right track—kind of the ‘been there, done that’ thing.” Said Tinglin: “Of the three of us, I’m pretty much the most vocal—the one to say, ‘This is what we need to do to get better,’ both on the track and in the weight room. You’ve got to be strong to run fast.” “I tell recruits all the time, ‘It’s a family,’” said Wollenburg. “It’s a way to have a family, even when you’re away from home. You can go to someone on the team if something in life goes wrong, whether it’s academics or with your personal life. Coach Haynes is helpful with that stuff, too.” Haynes knows he had a special trio in the three senior sprinters. “Bri’s grown up, matured and overcome a lot,” he said. “Her confidence and communication skills have come so far. Shea’s got a great toughness to her, and she’s the voice of the team. She knows when to pat someone on the back and when to call someone out. She’s really strong with building relationships on the team and instilling discipline. And Beka’s really bought in on the hard work.” Said Wollenburg: “Track’s been a big part of my life, and Coach Haynes has had a key role in my career. He has a big plan behind everything we do. I know his plan will work out, and good things will come.” Good things, indeed, have come to the student-athletes who comprise the Fighting Scots track and field team—not only during competition, but in the classroom and in their lives, as well. “Even though we’re doing different kinds of events, we all have dedication, commitment and passion,” said Gardner. “It shows through, even though we come from different backgrounds, different high schools, different ages and even the female/male difference. We apply ourselves and compete. We’re really the definition of a team.”

SUMMER 2017

SCOTSPORTS

POLE VAULT PHENOM EVERS CONTINUES SCOTS’ ALL-AMERICAN STREAK By Dan Nolan Sports Information Director

ompeting in may at the ncaa division III

Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Geneva, Ohio, pole vaulter Dan Evers ’18 earned the fourth AllAmerican award of his career to keep a Monmouth streak alive—the Fighting Scots have produced at least one AllAmerican every year since 1985. Evers—who entered with the No. 2 height in the nation— passed on the first two heights, entering the competition at 16-0√ and clearing on his second attempt. He eventually equaled his personal-best of 17-0√ to lock in a third-place finish. Evers has earned All-American status in his last four NCAA Championships—two indoor and two outdoor. Racing collegiately for the final time, Ethan Reschke ’17 placed ninth in the finals of the 400-meter dash in 48.21, one spot shy of earning his ninth All-American award. Briana Gardner ’17 narrowly missed advancing to the finals in her two events. Gardner clocked at 25.36 in the prelims of the 200-meter dash, 38 hundredths of a second out of the final qualifying spot. She suffered the same fate in the 100-meter dash prelims, as her time of 12.48 missed a qualifying berth by a quarter of a second. Earlier in May, Monmouth’s men won their second straight Midwest Conference Outdoor Track and Field title while the women broke a pair of school records and won five events to finish a strong second. Led by Reschke and Gardner, Monmouth totaled nine individual and relay champions. Reschke won his second 400-meter title (48.12) and added the 200 crown with a time of 21.63. Gardner broke the tape in the 100 with a school and meet record of 11.93. She also broke the meet record in the 200 in 24.70 and helped the Scots defend two relay titles, running legs on the winning 4x100 (48.69) and 4x400 (3:57.98) squads. Cynthia Myers ’19 was also on both squads. She and Gardner were joined by TaShea’ Tinglin ’17 and Beka Wollenburg ’17 in the 4x100 and by Vanessa Caldwell ’20 and Joanna Podosek ’18 in the 4x400. Podosek added a school record time of 2:13.77 in the 800-meter run, where she placed third. “I knew Bri was going to be good, but I didn’t know it

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

DAN EVERS ’18 was going to be that good,” Coach Roger Haynes ’82 said of Gardner’s four-title performance. “Two conference records and the Most Outstanding Performer award were indicative of her doing a good job of taking advantage of her opportunities. She’s been intensely focused and has done everything we’ve asked her to do. The weekend was an accumulation of her volume of training, focus and confidence. It was one of the top performances at a conference meet that I’ve witnessed in 35 years. She turned in Constance Jackson (’01)-type numbers and we know where she ended up (M-Club Hall of Fame, 29 MWC titles, seven All-Americans).” Triple jumper Ashley Castellanos ’17 brought home the women’s fifth league crown, edging teammate Sydney Jones ’19 for the title. The senior landed a mark of 34-7∏, just ahead of Jones’ 34-4√ effort. Jones took second in the long jump with a leap of 16-11. Tyler Bland ’19 and Evers joined Reschke atop the men’s podium in their respective signature events. Bland won the steeplechase by nearly seven seconds in 9:50.75. Evers successfully defended his pole vault title, clearing 16-0√. He also posted a runner-up finish in the long jump, soaring 2110∑. “Dan really increased his efforts to move up in the sand

SCOTSPORTS

jumps,” said Haynes after Evers added a fourth-place finish in the triple jump (42-9∏). “He’s a talented athlete with good physical skills, but he’s willing to do other events besides the pole vault. His competitiveness in a championship meet is extremely important. That ranks up there with being an AllAmerican.” Haynes knew the meet would be close—the men’s team won by just 11 points—and he appreciated the extra effort that helped the men’s squad come out on top and the women place a solid second. “What people don’t realize in track and field is how hard it is to be your best on one particular occasion,” said Haynes. “I admire the kids who can put the training, the psychology and mental preparation all together to be their best on that one day when it matters most. It goes way beyond what we can do for them as coaches. They have to believe in what we do and, most importantly, believe in themselves.”

SCOT SPARKPLUG Ryan Sparks ’17 established new career records for hits (184), doubles (45) and total bases (277) while batting .314.

SPRING SPORTS SUMMARY WOMEN’S WATER POLO With a defense that

323, falling 19 strokes shy of

to Saxon Day ’18, who was

first-place St. Norbert.

13-8 in singles and 10-10 in

During the spring, Bi-

was dominant at times,

doubles.

the Fighting Scots posted

zarri’s team peaked with a

the best season in the

310 at Galesburg’s Soan-

lar players, only Cole Pyatt

four-year history of their

getaha Country Club and

’17 will be lost to graduation.

program.

shot in the 310s for much

winning streak in the middle they surrendered just 17

Natalie Curtis ’18

goals—coach Peter Ollis’s

Bizarri kept waiting for his

team set the single-season

top five golfers to shoot

victory record. Monmouth

well on the same day. Two

Division III Championships. Goalkeeper Natalie Curtis ’18 had another strong season, making the Collegiate Water Polo Association all-conference

With a season-best

SOFTBALL

of the year—during which

gram-best fifth place at the

BASEBALL

of April.

Fueled by a four-game

finished 9-9 and a pro-

Of the Scots’ seven regu-

or three Scots seemed to

The Scots finished just outside the conference’s top four, settling for a 10-8 mark in the MWC and an 18-17 record overall. Four one-run losses in

card solid rounds every

the league kept Monmouth

time out, and that was

from catching fourth-

again true at the MWC

place Lake Forest, a team

Championships.

the Scots swept 7-5, 4-2

Three Scots, including All-MWC golfer Nate

during the season. Liz Hippen ’18 was solid

winning streak of just Rebecca Gallis ’20 Hippen on the all-league team—catcher Rebecca Gallis, who led the team in average (.430), homers (7) and RBI (27), and outfielder Laura Dulee, who batted .425.

MEN’S TENNIS The Scots’ break-even

two games, coach Alan Betourne’s team could never pick up a head of steam. The Scots tied for third in the MWC South at 9-11, and finished 16-19 overall. Two highlights were a 6-5 victory over playoff-bound Cornell, when Austin Hardy ’17 drove in all six runs, and a 12-0 win over Knox,

season, which included a

featuring a one-hit shutout

Hopper ’19, had at least one

in the circle again, earning

4-4 record in the MWC, was

by Connor McDonald ’19,

round in the 70s at Aldeen

her third straight All-MWC

epitomized by Paulo Pliego

who led the teams in wins

Golf Course, but Monmouth

honor. She eclipsed Mon-

’18, who was second on

(4) and ERA (1.45). Hardy

couldn’t bunch more than

mouth’s career strikeout

the team in combined wins

hit a team-best .321 with

two of those rounds on the

record while posting a 10-9

while going 12-12 in singles

six homers and 31 RBI.

Throughout the sea-

same day. The Scots placed

record and a 2.19 ERA.

and 10-11 in doubles.

Both Hardy and McDonald

son, first-year coach Cory

third with scores of 326-319-

team along with Becca Dabrowski ’19, who led the Scots with 51 goals.

MEN’S GOLF

Two freshmen joined

The top wins honor went

earned All-MWC honors.

SUMMER 2017

2017 GOLDEN SCOTS CELEBRATION

‘A SURPRISE AT C

Above: John ’57 and Beverly Carlson Baumann ’58 sample fresh produce from the campus garden.

Left: Still an active piper, former Highlanders band member Rich Downard ’67 serenaded Golden Scots at a progressive dinner.

Below: Alumni enjoy the view during a star-gazing session at the Adolphson Observatory.

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

aroline Marvin ’67 was among the many alumni who came away impressed with Monmouth College during their return to campus for the Golden Scots Celebration, June 8-11. “There was a surprise at every turn,” said Marvin, who had not been back to campus in 40 years. More than 140 alumni and friends returned for the College’s ninth annual Golden Scots Celebration, which is held for alumni who graduated 45 years ago or longer. In addition to the “beauty and symmetry” of campus, Marvin also pointed out another of the College’s strengths. “I really enjoyed the camaraderie of the staff,” she said. “I could really feel that it was a community of people working together to make this place Caroline Marvin ’67 strong.” It was not unlike the experience Marvin had as a prospective student in 1963. “I could really feel myself here,” she said of that visit. “Nowhere else I visited gave me the feel that Monmouth did.” She said that once she had matriculated as a student, “I felt from quite a few professors a sense of investment in me.” Marvin was one of a handful of alumni who presented talks during the weekend. She discussed her career in psychotherapy, and she credited the late biology professor Robert Buchholz for being one of the Monmouth faculty who played an important role in her development. Classmate Rick Kaskel took his appreciation for Buchholz a step farther, featuring him in a talk about the importance of mentors in his life. “He showed a personal interest in his

Golden Scots demonstrate their disco prowess, dancing to the music of The Village People at a Saturday night event in the Center for Science and Business.

students’ success that was really exemplary,” said Kaskel, who showed a photo he took with Buchholz from his 40th reunion in 2007. “He told me then, ‘You’re one of the best investments we ever made.’ I really love the guy.” Two other members of the Class of 1967, Tom Oswald and Wendell Shauman, presented talks related to agriculture. Shauman provided statistics that illustrated improvements of the past half-century—crop yields have continuously spiked upward, while the input required for those yields has stayed nearly constant. In the half-century or so since the Golden Scots graduated, alumni noted a similar rise in their alma mater. While the College has maintained such elements as a caring faculty and staff, strong academic programs and the opportunity to make lifelong friends, alumni noted that the “impressive” campus has doubled in size and also added many new features and programs. “I was impressed by the telescope, and

EVERY TURN’

the football field with its new suites is very impressive,” said Barry Shatwell ’67, who also commented on the addition of a major in biopsychology. “That athletic center!” marveled Lucy Hyde Johnson ’72 after touring the Huff Athletic Center. “Even I want to go back in that gym.” Classmate Claudia Lawson Moss was pleased to see that Greek life is thriving and doing even more than when she was a student. “They’re doing so much more programming and charity work and philanthropies,” she said. “I was impressed by how much more

The Rev. Dr. Teri Ott, college chaplain, holds a “Flat John Calvin.” The cutout was given to Bob Ardell ’62 and his wife, Lee, by their daughter—a Presbyterian minister—to be photographed with them on their travels.

involved they are and how they have lots more responsibilities and are being held to higher standards.” “I was really taken by the presentation on the Lux Center (for Church and Religious Leadership) and how broadly they are thinking,” said Marvin, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister. “The Presbyterian tie feels much more evident now than when I was a student.” Another area of improvement is access to off-campus opportunities. “Look at what they can do now,” Kaskel said of current Monmouth students, referring to a slide in his presentation that showed several “Global Classroom” opportunities. “This is wonderful.” Students from the 1960s did have some opportunities to study off-campus and one, Bill Irelan ’62, used it as a springboard. “Monmouth College really opened the door to what has become quite an international life for me,” said Irelan, who has set foot in 83 countries. The final slide from Irelan’s presentation was one of the most memorable images from the weekend. It showed him at the top of the Great Pyramid, with the sun rising in the distance. It was Marvin who provided one of the celebration’s top sentiments: “This weekend really renewed my energy for Monmouth and my interest in what it’s doing.”

Above: Dr. Rick Kaskel ’67, an expert in pediatric nephrology, was one of several alumni who presented seminars throughout the weekend. Right: Retired business law professor Bill Maakestad ’73 entertains at the appreciation breakfast with songs that were popular 50 years ago. The Alumni Choir performs the “Monmouth College Hymn” at a nostalgic memorial chapel service that was filled with both humor and reverence.

—BARRY McNAMARA

G O L D E N S C OT S M U LT I M E D I A PAG E

bit.ly/golden-scots College historian Jeff Rankin tells the story of the theft Class of 1903’s cannon, and its discovery 50 years later in a nearby creek.

SUMMER 2017

2017 GOLDEN SCOTS REUNION CLASSES

Class of 1967 Row 1 (from left): Caroline Marvin, Ann Michael, Ginny Jacobson, Sonja Zedigian Lowry, Susan Pittenger Heffron, Anne Guilinger Dillibe, Leon Kraut, Richard Downard, William Wolma, Frederick Kaskel, Jay Edwards and Tom Oswald. Row 2: Katherine Lepard Wilson, Mary Ellen Biciste Porter, Susan Latham Klein, Lyle Fogel, Stephen Hern, Barry Shatwell, Michael Fredrick, Lee

Larsen and Will Munnecke. Row 3: Barbara Nesbitt, Sally Danner Bergeson, Elaine Baer Azuma, Judy Williams DeMien, Ron DeMien, Wendell Shauman, Robert Zika, Frank Killey, Leonard Porter, John Smith, Terry Koche, Steve Eisele and Richard Paasch.

Class of 1972 Row 1 (from left): Lucy Hyde Johnson, Mary Sanders Fritz, Claudia Lawson Moss, Jane Marshall Kellogg, Jennifer Gullion Brooks, Edward Jones and Craig Patterson. Row 2: Tim Naylor, Stephen Johnson, Becky Johnson, Harold Mitchell, Mary Auliff Havens, Lucille Harris Widerman, Mary Ryder, Roy Bockler and Dale Brooks.

44â&#x20AC;&#x192;

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

2017 GOLDEN SCOTS REUNION CLASSES

Class of 1962 Row 1 (from left): Janet Pearson Manning, Jane Robb Davis, Sandra Foreman Walker, Nancy Guilinger Coon, Judy Lips Stoffer, William Irelan and Deeks Carroll. Row 2: Larry Manning, Bill Hubbard, Jerry Greer, Kenneth Knox, David Spears, Julia Briggerman O’Hara, Bob Ardell, Tom Davis, Robert Best and John Kriegsman.

Class of 1952 From left: Gerald McDonald, Joyce Totten Apitz, Ralph Whiteman and Peg Deschwanden Foster.

Class of 1957 From left: John Baumann, Marlyn “Corky” Whitsitt Rinehart, Jim Bondurant, Charles Courtney and Stephen Lindell.

SUMMER 2017

IN THE SCOTLIGHT BY BARRY MCNAMARA

ED WIMP ’12

During a two-day campus visit in February, Ed Wimp left Monmouth College students with several “pearls of wisdom.” But one he omitted: One day, you could be sitting in a “Midwest Entrepreneurs” class, listening to an interesting guest speaker; a few years later, you could be that speaker.

hat experience is part of Wimp’s story—a story that already includes success in the music industry, authoring a book, and completing a master’s degree in entertainment business, with a law degree in the works. After graduating from Monmouth with a degree in business administration and a minor in political science, Wimp began transitioning to the business side of the music industry when he was presented with an opportunity to travel as part of the road management staff for legendary R&B band Earth, Wind & Fire. From there, he was able to travel and tour with hip-hop icon A$AP Rocky while he appeared in the “Under the Influence” tour with Wiz Khalifa. During his return to campus, Wimp met with two classes, including “Midwest Entrepreneurs,” spoke with several student groups, gave a talk about his new book and was featured in the College’s “Pearls of Wisdom” motivational lecture series, sponsored by the Wackerle Career and Leadership Center. One of the pearls Wimp imparted was the story of how he landed his full-time position with Earth, Wind & Fire. It required a combination of networking (he’d gone to high school with the children of the R&B group’s manager), determination (“I hounded him” for a chance to job shadow him during a show) and luck. The luck came when half of the group’s staff members got stranded at the previous venue, so Wimp was put to work during his job shadowing. He has never looked back. As a student, Wimp came to Monmouth College from Chicago. He said the small town “took me out of my comfort zone.” “It’s OK to be uncomfortable, to put

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

yourself in those situations,” he said. “Monmouth taught me how to live socially.” From his fraternity, Zeta Beta Tau, Wimp learned the power of teamwork. From his favorite class, “Midwest Entrepreneurs,” he learned “there’s lots of ways to make a living.” “We heard from people like the man who runs the local McDonald’s, a music executive and even a guy who’s in the grain storage business,” he said. “It was really inspiring to hear their stories.” A student asked Wimp if he ever encounters problems because of his last name. “That’s a great teaching point,” he replied. “People remember my last name. I’m not ashamed of it. No matter what quirk you have, it’s all right, as long as you own it.” Wimp’s writing skills led him to author Building Fans, Fame and Wealth: The 18 Revenue Streams of Music. The book helps artists understand there are more ways to make money in the business than “selling lots of CDs and selling out venues.” “Chance the Rapper is a great example,” said Wimp. “He gives away his CDs, but he makes it back in sponsorships, like his Kit Kat commercials. Licensing is also a way for musicians to make money in the industry,” such as selling a song to be used in a movie.

Wimp’s diverse professional ventures include speaker, author, artist manager and musician.

™

ALUMNI NEWS

WE WELCOME NEWS AND PHOTOS related to your career, awards, reunions or travel with your Monmouth College friends, and any other information of interest to your classmates or alumni. We also welcome announcements and photos of alumni weddings and births, as well as alumni obituaries. Please see page 48 for submission guidelines.

1953 1955 1958 1961

65th

REUNION

JUNE 7-10, 2018

Keith Droste of Globe, Ariz., remains active as a mining consultant. 60th

REUNION

JUNE 7-10, 2018

Alumnae of the women’s soccer team (mostly in red) returned to campus in April to play against members of the current team. The special day concluded with a surprise wedding proposal for Camille San German ’13 (lower right, in white).

1977 1980

40th

REUNION

NOV. 3-5, 2017

Robin Johnson of Monmouth was quoted in a June 11 Wall Street Journal article about strategies by Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) to attract rural Midwest voters. Johnson, who teaches political science at Monmouth College and hosts a weekly radio talk show on politics, is a veteran political consultant.

Paintings by Fred Wackerle were featured in February at an exhibit titled “Peoples & Lands” at the Jane Hamilton Fine Art Gallery in Tucson, Ariz. A specialist in plein air painting, Wackerle is an emeritus member of the Monmouth College Board of Trustees.

1981

1963 1965

Karen Bush Watts, a biology professor at Indiana University, visited Monmouth College in February to speak with chemistry students and professors. She was accompanied by her husband, Dan, who is also a member of the IU biology department.

Alex McGehee of East Moline, Ill., has been elected to the Monmouth College Board of Trustees.

1968

Chris Adams Velloff of Alton, Ill., has opened a business in downtown Alton in what is known as the “World’s Fair building.” Built in Alton in 1904—the same year that nearby St. Louis hosted the World’s Fair—the Black Forest woodwork used in the construction came from a German exhibit at the fair. Velloff’s store offers candy, fudge, specialty chocolates and hand-dipped ice cream. She and her husband, James Velloff ’85, have two daughters, who both followed Chris’ footsteps and joined Pi Beta Phi.

55th

REUNION

50th

REUNION

JUNE 7-10, 2018

John Smith of Fort Collins, Colo., is the retired president of North Colorado Medical Center Foundation.

1969 1973

Dwight Tierney of New York City has been elected to the Monmouth College Board of Trustees. 45th

REUNION

JUNE 7-10, 2018

Jane Kurtz of Portland, Ore., has authored Planet Jupiter, a book for middle school readers that honors the theme of music and busking while celebrating Portland. Kurtz has written more than 30 books for young readers.

1974

Rod Davies of Monmouth was reelected in April to his fourth term as mayor of Monmouth. In addition to his mayoral duties, he is a partner in the CPA firm of Cavanaugh, Davies, Blackman & Cramblet.

Kevin Goodwin of Kirkland, Wash., has been elected to the Monmouth College Board of Trustees. The Rev. Bryan Siverly is manager of network security for State Farm Insurance, and relocated in May to the company’s new Cityline facility in Richardson, Texas. He is still a United Methodist pastor, working part-time with his church’s youth group. In that capacity, he is accompanying the young people on a two-week mission trip to Costa Rica this summer.

1982

1987 1992 1993

35th

REUNION

NOV. 3-5, 2017

30th

REUNION

NOV. 3-5, 2017

25th

REUNION

NOV. 3-5, 2017

Bill Turner has relocated from Gainesville, Fla., where he was senior director of development for the University of Florida Levin College of Law, to become assistant dean for advancement at the University of Illinois College of Law in Champaign, Ill. He had previously served as director of advancement there from 2009–2012.

TURNER

SUMMER 2017

ALUMNI NEWS | CLASS NOTES

1995

Jennifer Thompson of Machesney Park, Ill., has been named the public information officer for the School District of Beloit (Wis.). She will handle media and community relations, marketing and fundraising, among other duties. She is also working toward her Ph.D. in education.

THOMPSON

1997

20th

REUNION

NOV. 3-5, 2017

Amy Countryman Smith of Oak Lawn, Ill., is a middle school reading teacher.

1999

Alison McGaughey has been named public information specialist at Western Illinois University-Quad Cities in Moline, Ill., after having served the past five years as a community college instructor for Eastern Iowa Community Colleges and Black Hawk College. McGaughey, who holds a master’s degree in English, has also taught English as a Second Language, GED and Adult Basic Education, specializing in reading improvement.

MCGAUGHEY

PODRAZA

Christina Podraza has been appointed as assistant principal at two Elmhurst, Ill., elementary schools. She has spent the past five years working as a learning support coach for a school district in Naperville, Ill. Previously, she was a classroom teacher in the suburban cities of Lisle, Bensenville and East Aurora. Podraza earned a master’s degree in elementary education from DePaul University and a doctorate in educational leadership and organizational change from Roosevelt University.

2001

Brooke Morgan Roth of Morton, Ill., is director of operations at Fort Transfer.

2009 2011 2012

Alex Morgan Iversen of Overland Park, Kan., is a channel marketing manager for FireMon.

REUNION

NOV. 3-5, 2017

Dawn McRoberts Strauss, who teaches at Kenwood Academy High School in Chicago, was presented with the Kraft Award for Excellence in Secondary School Teaching at the annual meeting of the Classics Association of the Middle West and South. Melissa Jones Bittner graduated from Texas Woman’s University with a Ph.D. in kinesiology. She has accepted a tenure-track teaching position at California State University-Long Beach. Stephanie Fritz Woodard of Galesburg, Ill., is assistant director of the TRIO Achievement Program at Knox College.

BITTNER

2005 2007

Kat Neilson Schlegel of Snyder, Texas, is director of college advancement at Western Texas College. 10th

REUNION

NOV. 3-5, 2017

Michelle Anstett Sherman of Washington, Ill., has started a job as a legal assistant at LeFante Law Offices in Peoria.

2008

Zak Edmonds of West Peoria, Ill., is an insurance agent with Unland Companies. Last year, he graduated from the East Peoria Leadership School. Joe Pilger of Monmouth has been named the new principal at Monmouth’s Lincoln Elementary School.

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

REUNION

NOV. 3-5, 2017

Julie Battcher Sullivan of Romeoville, Ill., is a support specialist at Rasmussen College, helping ensure that students—especially those in the nursing program—are on track for graduation.

2013

Samantha Seemann graduated from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine with a D.V.M. degree in May. Now an associate veterinarian with Banfield Pet Hospital in Rockford, Ill., she hopes to one day own her own practice.

2014 ics.

Evan Davis of Minneapolis, Minn., is a videographer and marketing lead of acquisition at Airborne Athlet-

2016

Mary Beth McGregor Luczu of Phoenix, Ariz., is a senior benefit specialist in pensions at Freeport Mc-

15th

5th

Mary Kate Beyer Black of East Peoria, Ill., is a physical education teacher at South Pekin Grade School.

MoRan.

2002 2003

Jason DeFord, of Morton, Ill., is a counselor for Chapin & Russell Associates.

OLSON

Amy Olson of Alexis, Ill., who teaches physical education at West Central Middle School in nearby Stronghurst, was named the recipients of an Outstanding Beginning Teaching Award from the Illinois Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. During her first year as teacher, she also led an initiative to raise funds for volleyball equipment for the school.

Drake Decker of Davenport, Iowa, is marketing and product coordinator for Republic Companies, a wholesale distributor of electrical, energy management, heating, air conditioning, hydronics, refrigeration and sign support systems. Emily Flint of Springfield, Ill., is a business risk staff accountant for Crowe Horwath LLP, a global public accounting firm.

Submission Guidelines Submit your news online at monmouthcollege.edu/ alumni/updates, by email to alumni@monmouthcollege. edu or by mail to Monmouth College Magazine, Attn: Alumni Programs, 700 East Broadway, Monmouth IL 61462-1998. Digital photos should have a minimum resolution of 300 pixels per inch. Please include a photo caption with full names that clearly match faces, class years, date and location. We reserve the right to reject images for any reason, especially those with low resolution and those that require purchase from a photo gallery website. Submissions will be published at the discretion of the editors on a space-available basis.

ALUMNI NEWS | CLASS NOTES

ALUMNI BOARD WELCOMES FIVE NEW DIRECTORS Five new members were recently elected to the Alumni Board of Directors. Hope Grebner Bibens ’11, of Windsor Heights, Iowa, is political papers archivist for Drake University. A summa cum laude history major, she earned her master’s degree in library science and U.S. history from Indiana University. Dr. Harvey Echols Jr. ’81,

regulatory compliance. A biology major, he earned his M.D. degree from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. Evy Lipecka ’06, of Chicago,

is advancement operations manager for Sigma Alpha Epsilon national fraternity. A sociology and anthropology major, she was a member of Alpha Xi Delta.

of Jacksonville, Fla., is northeast Florida regional medical director for WellMed Medical Management, where he educates primary care physicians about

Sean Maher ’95, of Brim-

field, Ill., is head of dealer digital and IT services for Caterpillar Inc. A summa cum laude math and computer science major

with a minor in physics, he holds an MBA from Bradley University. He has been with Caterpillar for 22 years. Michelle Perry ’89, of In-

dianapolis, is a senior consultant for TSE Consulting North America. She previously served 10 years as director of NCAA Division I women’s basketball. A business administration and management major, she was a member of Mortar Board and Kappa Delta, as well as a basketball and softball player. She earned her master’s in sport management from Western Illinois University.

SCENES FROM THE FOURTH ANNUAL FIGHTING SCOTS SOCIETY GOLF OUTING June 16, 2017 – Gibson Woods, Monmouth

Jenni Robinson ’98 grabs a selfie with Big Red.

Staff members Steve Bloomer and Hannah Maher hang signage.

Brothers Alex Tanney ’11 (QB - Tennessee Titans), left, and Mitch Tanney ’06 (Analytics Director - Denver Broncos), right, reunite with former Scots defensive coordinator/now head coach Chad Braun.

Team Welty: Chistopher ’09, Anthony ’06, Joe ’78 and Jon ’12.

Alumni Board members Chris ’84 and Bobbi Swarts Pio ’92 take charge of the beverage cart.

Teammates Gus Hart ’68 and Courtney Munson ’63 enjoy an animated lunchtime discussion.

SUMMER 2017

WEDDINGS

1956 Bonnie Lowrey and Walter Huff Jr. 2002 Catherine Cannon and Keegan Lannon

Rebecca Haines and Lee Sikorski

2003 Stephanie Fritz and Brian Woodard ’97 2007 Erin Johnson and Adam Cappel

Amy Brown and Brandon Hurckes

Hilary Hawkinson and Jacob Stott ’09

2008 Nicole Mason and Zak Edmonds

Brooke Morgan Roth and Mark

2011 Britta Nichols and Mitch Johnson ’12

Alex Morgan and Calvin Iversen

April 22, 2017 July 5, 2016 November 5, 2016 October 8, 2016 March 12, 2016 July 16, 2016 December 31, 2016 October 8, 2016 November 29, 2015 June 11, 2016 November 12, 2016

2012 Julie Battcher and Charlie Sullivan

October 16, 2016

Mary Kate Beyer and Corey Black

September 17, 2016

Leslie Hamer and Kris Judd ’10

November 14, 2015 WALTER HUFF ’56 AND BONNIE LOWREY

STEPHANIE FRITZ ’03 AND BRIAN WOODARD ’97

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

BRITTA NICHOLS ’11 AND MITCH JOHNSON ’12

HILARY HAWKINSON ’07 AND JACOB STOTT ’09

ALEX MORGAN ’11 AND CALVIN IVERSEN

BIRTHS

2000 Stefanie Riemer Mills and Walter a daughter, Alyssa Rose September 14, 2016 2001 Jamie Burkhart Liebich and Kyle a daughter, Kendall Elizabeth December 28, 2016 2002 Catherine and Keegan Lannon a daughter, Charlie Ann October 20, 2016 2005

2013 Brooke Anderson Anselmi and Andrew a daughter, Addison March 7, 2017

Rachel Jacob Donnelly and Jack a daughter, Vesper Shae April 10, 2017

Megan Pyle Ransbottom and Johnathan a daughter, Adelyn Lee August 4, 2016

2007 Erin Johnson Cappel and Adam a son, Grayson August 15, 2016

Ashley Gaul Hofman and Jon a daughter, Estella Grace April 17, 2017

2008 Jessica Atkins and Anthony a daughter, Emma Annemarie February 7, 2017

ANTHONY DEFORD (with parents Anna and Jason)

Brooke Morgan and Mark Roth a son, Morgan Amos February 23, 2016

2009 Anna and Jason DeFord a son, Xavier Anthony April 6, 2017 2011 Lindsey Gilliland Aberle and Drew a daughter, Amelia Jane April 6, 2017

ADDISON ANSELMI (with older sister, Brinley)

AMELIA JANE ABERLE

ADELYN LEE RANSBOTTOM

KENDALL ELIZABETH LIEBICH

SUMMER 2017â&#x20AC;&#x192;

OBITUARIES

1940

Hannah Hinshaw Willard, 97, of Brandon, Ore., died Aug. 25, 2016. She graduated with a degree in English and was a member of Pi Beta Phi.

(Colo.) College. She was preceded in death by her husband, Merle, and several in-laws who were Monmouth alumni. Survivors include sister-in-law Ethel Bailey ’52.

1944

Sarah Cooper Johnson, 95, of Traverse City, Mich., died May 20, 2017. She was a member of Alpha Xi Delta. Her husband, Harold “Swede” Johnson ’44, died in 2002.

Barbara Cooper Weber, 90, of Arlington Heights, Ill., died April 11, 2017. She studied English and was a member of Pi Beta Phi. She volunteered for more than 25 years at Northwest Community Hospital.

1946

1950

Rachel Buchanan Pollock, 92, of Washington, Iowa, died Dec. 10, 2016. She graduated with a degree in English and later earned a master’s degree in education from Indiana University. She was preceded in death by her husband, James Pollock ’44, and a sister, Helen Buchanan Coulter ’40.

1948

Annie Bullick Orr, 86, of Danbury, Conn., died Jan. 7, 2013. She studied biology and was a member of Kappa Delta. She completed her degree at Columbia Presbyterian School of Nursing. She volunteered as a nurse, nurse practitioner and clinic director for organizations including Planned Parenthood and the Red Cross. Orr received several awards for volunteering, which she continued until one month before her death. E. Louise Hoog Mulligan, 91, of Broomfield, Colo., died April 20, 2017. A vocal music major, she was active in Mortar Board, Kappa Kappa Gamma and theatre. She and her roommate, Doris Hipple ’48, double dated brothers Merle ’47 and Dale Milligan ’48 and later married them. While Merle attended graduate school, she taught kindergarten. She later taught voice and performed in operas at Adams State

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

James White, 86, of Dallas City, Ill., died Sept. 1, 2015. He was a member of the football team and Alpha Tau Omega. He spent his career in the grain industry and was active for decades in many organizations in western Illinois, including more than 40 years on the school board, during which time he helped unite Media and Stronghurst schools in the Southern school district.

1951

The Rev. Edmund Burkey, 96, of Adrian, Mich., died April 3, 2017. He majored in religious studies. He began his journey in higher education at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1942. After graduating from Monmouth, he received a master’s degree from Winona Lake (Ind.) School of Theology. Burkey began preaching prior to studying in Monmouth, and served churches in three states, concluding with 14 years at Fellowship Bible Church in Adrian. Janice Anderson Gundersen, 87, of Barrington, R.I., died April 12, 2017. A physical education major, she was a member of Alpha Xi Delta. She attended four other universities after Monmouth and taught health and P.E. at several locations, including 35 years in Barrington.

George Hartung, 89, died June 6, 2017, in Tucson, Ariz., after a short illness. A World War II Army veteran, he graduated with a major in political science. He was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon, Phi Alpha Theta, YMCA and International Club. He completed his master’s degree at the University of Northern Colorado and taught U.S. history at Crystal Lake (Ill.) South High School. Harriet Rhea Livermore of St. Paul, Minn., died May 16, 2017. She graduated with a degree in physical education and was a member of Kappa Delta. She had spent Mother’s Day with 16 of her 17 grandchildren. Survivors also include her husband of 64 years.

1952

Dorothy McAllister HallAdkisson, 86, of Rock Island, Ill., died March 21, 2017. She studied home economics and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma. She received a master’s degree from Western Illinois University in the 1990s. Hall-Adkisson worked 30 years at the Rock Island Arsenal. Survivors include her husband, Roy Adkisson ’52. High school sweethearts, Dorothy and Roy reunited in 2007 and were married eight years. Robert Ornst, 87, of Elm Grove, Wis., died Feb. 23, 2017. While at Monmouth, he was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, he joined his father in the construction business, working for more than 50 years at Selzer-Ornst Co., from which he retired as president and CEO. He was involved in the construction of many landmark buildings in the Milwaukee area. Jack Sheneberger, 86, of Midland, Mich., died Feb. 22, 2017. He graduated with a degree in chemistry and was a member of Theta Chi. Sheneberger, who worked for Dow Corning Corp. for 46

ALUMNI NEWS | OBITUARIES

IN MEMORIA M

Peter H. Bunce Trustee emeritus Peter H. Bunce, who guided Monmouth College through difficult times as chairman of the board of trustees from 1974–84, died April 12, 2017. He was 87. Although he had no personal ties to Monmouth College, Bunce was an active member of the board of trustees. He served on its executive committee for 45 years and continued to attend board meetings long after his retirement. The founder of a St. Louis construction firm who later became a contracting consultant, Bunce lent his professional expertise and leadership to the design and expansion of the College campus, which has more than doubled in size since he joined the board in 1971. A native of Palmerton, Pa., Bunce attended Princeton University, where he majored in economics. He enlisted in the Air Force after college and served as a combat intelligence officer before founding his steel building company in 1959. Bunce’s connection to Monmouth College came about in 1970, when he met Bruce Mainwaring, the president of a steel tubing company. Mainwaring had been a classmate of newly-installed Monmouth president Richard Stine at the University of Pennsylvania. Mainwaring was preparing to join the Monmouth College Senate—which preceded the Board of Trustees as the College’s governing board—and he suggested to Stine that Bunce be added to the College’s governing body. “I talked to Bruce at a meeting in Florida,” Bunce once reminisced, “and he said, ‘You ought to get interested in Monmouth College.’ And I was interested. My older sister was on the faculty of Oberlin (College in Ohio), so I had an interest in academic affairs, and I was also doing business in the area, constructing bank buildings.” It wasn’t long before Bunce was asked to succeed Caterpillar CEO Lee Morgan as chairman of the Monmouth governing board. That was a turbulent period in the College’s history, as it teetered on the brink of financial insolvency, but Bunce skillfully piloted the College to calmer waters. One of his most significant achievements in those years was convincing a dean from Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio, to accept the presidency. “In those days, we didn’t have a consultant; we ran the search ourselves,” Bunce explained. “Our only really good candidate was DeBow Freed from Mount Union. We offered the job to him, but he declined.” During a business trip to the East Coast, Bunce stopped at Alliance and had a conversation with Freed. “I told him we knew we were in trouble, and we needed someone who also knew we were in trouble, and who wanted to fix it,” he said. “As a result of that talk, Freed decided that he was that person, and it was largely through his strong management that we were able to get back on our feet financially.” Bunce’s leadership did not end with his tenure as chairman. He served as national chair of a capital campaign from 1983–86 that raised more money than all previous drives combined and reached its goal a year ahead of schedule. A plaza honoring Bunce and his wife, Gail, who survives him, was constructed outside the College’s Center for Science and Business in 2013.

years, is survived by his wife of 63 years, Betty Rossell Sheneberger ’52. Donovan Smith, 89, of Rockville, Md., died April 1, 2017. He graduated with a degree in physics and was a member of the track team and Sigma Phi Epsilon. He had a long career as a health physicist with the Atomic Energy Commission and, later, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Smith also earned his J.D. and was a member of the D.C. Bar. Survivors include his wife of 65 years, Lois Tornquist Smith ’52, and a daughter, Kristin Smith Curling ’81. Louise Brown Whiteman, 86, of Normal, Ill., died May 17, 2017. She graduated with a degree in physical education, participated in synchronized swimming, cheerleading and Crimson Masque, and was a member of Kappa Delta. Her career included time as a healthcare giver, orphanage parent and bank officer. She was As a cheerleader, 1949 preceded in death by a sister, Elizabeth Brown Robinson ’46. Sur v ivors include her t w in brother, William Brown ’52.

1953

Joan Garrison Lewis, 86, of Quincy, Ill., died May 8, 2017. She studied history. Lewis was an avid traveler and daring adventurer, with highlights including trips to the Arctic and Antarctica, as well as snorkeling with dolphins in Hawaii and riding a camel among Egypt’s pyramids. Survivors include her husband of 65 years.

1954

Lois Harvey Carroll, 84, of Springfield, Ill., died May 1, 2017. A member of Kappa Kappa Gamma at Monmouth, she later attended the University of Illinois. A graphic artist, she was a homemaker and volunteer for most of her life.

1955

Richard Ameen, 84, of Nevada, Iowa, died May 9, 2017. The son of Lebanese immigrants, he grew up in Monmouth, where he was an accomplished high

SUMMER 2017

school athlete. A mathematics major, he taught math for a time before moving to Southern California, where he worked as a computer programmer for TRW, a pioneer in spacecraft manufacturing. He later held supervisory positons for the Iowa Department of Transportation, in which he helped develop the Iowa online driver’s license issuance program. He also served as a data processing manager for the Iowa Department of Education, and continued to serve as a consultant following his retirement. His mathematical ability fueled a passion for duplicate bridge, which he played in tournaments throughout the Midwest. He was also an advocate for the protection of animals. Ameen was preceded in death by brother Robert Ameen ’48 and sister-in-law Ceceliamae Posey Ameen ’48, and by brother Albert Ameen Jr. ’57. Mary Pethtel Brumbaugh, 83, of Palos Verdes Peninsula, Calif., died March 18, 2017. A member of Kappa Delta, she completed nursing training at the University of Pittsburgh in 1956, the same year she married the late Norman Brumbaugh ’59. In 1998, she retired as a pediatric nurse practitioner for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

1956

Janice Youngquist Candor, 82, of Galesburg, Ill., died April 25, 2017. She graduated with a degree in elementary education and had a 37-year teaching career in Galesburg. Survivors include her husband of 56 years, Larry Candor ’62.

1957

Charles Ackman, 81, of Marengo, Ill., died Jan. 28, 2017. He graduated with a degree in geology and was a member of the football, basketball and track teams and Theta Chi. Ackman was past president of Marengo State Bank, Suburban State Bank and the Marengo Chamber of Commerce. Clement Futterer, 81, of Redding, Calif., died Sept. 19, 2016. He majored in chemistry and was a member of Theta Chi.

Jo Ella Thornberg Gormley, 77, of Lakewood, Colo., died July 26, 2013. She graduated with a degree in elementary education and was a member of Pi Beta Phi. Patricia Sawyer Price of El Dorado, Kan., died March 14, 2014. She completed her degree at Pittsburg State University. Carol King Turpin of Houston, Texas, died Aug. 11, 2016.

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

1958

Evelyn Cochran, 81, of Oquawka, Ill., died April 10, 2017. She graduated with a degree in chemistry, then earned her master’s degree in chemistry from the University of Kansas. She put her chemistry education to use in three St. Louis locations, including Barnes Hospital, where she completed several research projects. In her later years, she worked for three Oquawka businesses. Dorothea Jones Davison, 78, of Carlsbad, Calif., died March 28, 2015. She graduated with a degree in elementary education and was a member of Kappa Delta. Davison was a grade school teacher for nearly 25 years. Survivors include her husband of 57 years. Stuart Orser of East Amherst, N.Y., died March 31, 2017. He graduated with a degree in government.

1960

Dwight Diekman, 78, of Hudson, Ohio, died March 18, 2017. He graduated with a degree in physics and was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon. Judith Irelan Riggs, 78, of Davis, Calif., died Jan. 23, 2017. She majored in English and was a member of Alpha Xi Delta. She also attended the San Francisco Theological Seminary. Riggs was active in local theatre and musical groups throughout her life and also served as a library aide at Valley Oak Elementary for 27 years. Survivors include her husband of 55 years, Ralph Riggs ’60, a son, David Riggs ’87, a granddaughter, Rebecca Riggs ’13, and a brother, William Irelan ’62.

1961

Paul Ford, 80, of Bellevue, Wash., died Feb. 13, 2017. He graduated with a degree in biology and was a member of the football and track teams and Tau Kappa Epsilon. He earned a master’s degree from the University of Illinois. Ford, who served in the Army as an engineer, spent his career a civil geotechnical engineer in the Seattle area.

1962

Warren Werner of Denver died Feb. 24, 2017. He graduated with a degree in psychology and was a member of Alpha Tau Omega. He received a master’s degree in industrial technology from Northern Illinois University. Werner worked in security for decades in the Denver area, including for the city’s four major professional sports teams, as well as the Uni-

versity of Denver, the University of Colorado and Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

1963

Dorothy Parker Woodall, 91, of Monmouth, died April 12, 2017. Prior to attending Monmouth, she graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in journalism, and she also had a teaching certificate from Western Illinois University. Woodall taught physical education in Monmouth schools, and also taught at Monmouth’s Central Junior High School and at Monmouth College. She was preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, Woody, and is survived by a son, Dana Woodall ’80.

1964

James Bagwell, 75, of Rogers, Minn., died Feb. 2, 2017. He graduated with a degree in biology and was a member of the football team and Sigma Alpha Epsilon. A true “Renaissance man,” he worked as a project leader in medical research and sales and insurance actuary and group underwriting, and ran his own benefits consulting business. He also ran his own handyman business. A Shriner, he was part of the Zuhrah Funsters, and his clown name was “Baggy.” Survivors include a granddaughter, Kayla Petersen ’16. Mary Knudson Osborn, 74, of Broxton, Ga., died Feb. 26, 2017. She graduated with a degree in religious studies.

1965

Virginia Hookham Frattinger, 73, of Wheaton, Ill., died Jan. 3, 2017. A sociology major, she was a member of Alpha Xi Delta.

1968

Don Bockler, 70, of Peoria, Ill., died May 1, 2017. He graduated with a degree in business and was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon. Bockler earned a master’s degree in school administration at Illinois State University and spent his career in education, including 22 years as a principal. During the summers, he managed a swim club. Survivors include a brother, Roy Bockler ’72. Jack Ryan, 71, of Tonganoxie, Kan., died March 10, 2017. He graduated with a degree in history and was a member of the baseball and cross country teams.

1979

2019

FORMER TRUSTEES & EMPLOYEES

Kenneth Morris, 68, of Niceville, Fla., died April 24, 2017. He majored in sociology and was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon. Morris also had a degree from Loyola (Ill.) University. He worked in sales in four states, and in his later years was an acclaimed home designer in Tulsa, Okla. He retired as a real estate appraiser in Niceville.

David McCrery III, 59, of Galesburg, Ill., died Feb. 19, 2017. Before attending Monmouth, where he studied government, McCrery served as a deputy sheriff, among other jobs. He completed his bachelor’s degree at the University of Illinois, studying agricultural economics. He worked for Savoy Grain Co., and went on to own and operate his own grain company in Avon, Ill., with his brother. McCrery was also a district salesman for Ralston Purina and a lobbyist for the Illinois Water and Soil Conservation Association. In 1993, he earned a law degree from Southern Illinois University, and he spent the latter part of his career working for BNSF Railway. Survivors include his mother, Judith Purlee McCrery ’74, and his daughter, Evelyn McCrery ’07.

1974

1985

1970

Jo Liska, 68, of Blooming ton, Ill., died Feb. 20, 2017, of complications from esophageal cancer. She majored in speech/communication/theatre and was a member of Crimson Masque. After earning a master’s degree at California State University and a doctorate at the University of Colorado, she held academic posts at Cleveland State University, the University of California-Davis, the University of Colorado and Indiana University. She left academics to devote her energies to Bloomington Animal Care and Control.

1971

Carolyn Ruppel Gore, 67, of St. Jacob, Ill., died April 9, 2017. She studied English before completing a degree in education at Northern Illinois University. A certified teacher, she worked with children in several capacities throughout her career.

Larry Kryzaniak, M i n ne a p olis, Minn., died Jan. 16, 2017, just two weeks after retiring as chief financial officer of Hennepin County Medical Center and moving to Clearwater Beach, Fla.

64,

1975

Edith Kern Johnson of Gordonsville, Va., died Aug. 20, 2016, of breast cancer. A member of Alpha Xi Delta, she was a science major who finished her studies at Morris Harvey (W. Va.) College and became a registered nurse, an occupation she held for 41 years. Survivors include her husband, Richard Johnson ’73. John Szaltis, 66, of Monmouth, died March 3, 2017. He graduated with a degree in physical education and was a member of the football and wrestling teams. Szaltis, who served in the Army from 1970–76, later earned a master’s degree from Western Illinois University. He worked as a police officer in Monmouth and was an educator at Henry C. Hill Correctional Center in Galesburg, Ill., from 1986–2008.

Dan Jacobs, 60, of Galesburg, Ill., died March 3, 2017. He majored in biology and was a member of the baseball team. Jacobs retired as a major in the Air Force in 1997 after seeing action in the Gulf War. During his career, he flew three types of fighter jets. He held a master’s degree in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical (Fla.) University, pitched in the minor leagues for the Pittsburgh Pirates and is a member of the Dock Diving Hall of Fame. His dog, Missy, appeared on ESPN for a record-setting 28-foot-6-inch dive. Survivors include a son, Cory Jacobs ’06.

Kathryn S. Brant Burgess, 55, of Genoa, Ill., died June 4, 2017. A business and economics major, she was a member of Pi Beta Phi. She worked as a unit secretary at OSF St. Mary’s Hospital in Galesburg, Ill., as a teacher’s aide in Pontiac and Villa Grove, Ill., and as a substitute teacher in Genoa. Survivors include her husband, Joe Burgess Jr. ’84.

1992

Brian Welch, 39, of Norwalk, Iowa, died July 16, 2014. He was a member of the baseball and football teams and Tau Kappa Epsilon.

2012

Kim Maroney, 27, of Joliet, Ill., died May 11 following injuries sustained in an automobile accident. She majored in history. Survivors include her fiancé, Kevin Ross ’12, and their two daughters.

Austin Ray, 21, of Mt. Zion, Ill., died March 11, 2017, as the result of injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident near his home. He was working toward a degree in wellness administration. Ray was a member of the football and track teams, running on the conference-champion 4x100 relay squad as a sophomore. On the football team, he was a leader of the special teams unit. “He did it all,” said football coach Chad Braun of Ray, who was a first-team All-State player in high school. “Returned kicks, blocked punts and wreaked havoc for the opposing team on our kickoff unit. He would have been a starting running back on any other team.”

Benjamin Bailar, 82, of Lake Forest, Ill., a former trustee of the College, died Feb. 20, 2017. He served as postmaster general of the United States from 1975–1978 and was the Monmouth College Commencement speaker in 1976. Ken Grodjesk, 70, of Monmouth, assistant professor of education from 1997–2002, died June 9, 2017. Marianne Kustes, 57, of Davenport, Iowa, former registrar, died Feb. 13, 2017, of cancer. Lyle Larson, 87, a former faculty member who taught Japanese (1970–71), died April 20, 2017. Ron Van Ryswyk, 86, of Des Moines, Iowa, former dean of the College and an education professor (1972–74), died March 4, 2017. During his tenure, he was responsible for the development and expansion of baccalaureate programs in nursing and medical technology. He later served as president of Marycrest (Iowa) College.

SUMMER 2017

THE LAST WORD

LEGACY AND THE LIBERAL ARTS: A CONTINUING PARTNERSHIP

s i bring to a close 43 years of full-time teaching at three small liberal arts colleges—31 here at Monmouth—I am reminded of the observation of a friend as I left graduate school. He said, “When you teach at a liberal arts college you’re not choosing a career so much as a lifestyle.” Indeed, the kind of work I’ve done at Monmouth almost entirely blurs the lines between home and school, work and leisure, professional commitments and personal connections. For some jobs that sort of environment could be oppressive, but for a professor at Monmouth it is invigorating. Perhaps I feel the blending of all the features of my life at Monmouth College because, as a legacy myself, the connections I have here began even before I was born. My maternal uncle, Ewing Bailey ’21, was the first of my family to attend Monmouth, arriving in 1915, the son of a Presbyterian clergyman entitled to free tuition at this U.P. school. The other Bailey kids followed—another uncle, an aunt, and finally my mother, Lois Bailey McGaan ’30. By the late 1940s, two more Baileys—Uncle Ewing’s sons Jim (Bruce) Bailey ’51 and Kenneth Bailey ’52—arrived, and then my older brother, Dean McGaan ’59, and sister, Lynn McGaan Knox ’61, in the late ’50s. I arrived in time to catch the end of the 1960s. Family stories and encounters have allowed me to know a surprising number of significant Monmouth folks. I’ve known eight of our presidents and had personal connections to legendary faculty members: Sam Thompson ’24, Eva Cleland, Jean Liedman ’27, John Ketterer, James Pate ’63, Bob Buchholz, Gracie Peterson ’22 and “Doc” Kieft. Alice Winbigler (1877) was my mother’s math teacher. The first college faculty member I ever met was Garrett Thiessen, who entertained me in his lab at age 8 with “chemistry magic” when I became bored watching a home football game. (Thiessen was a member of my grandfather’s church as a teenager and remained a family friend.)

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

LEE McGAAN ’69

My graduate education, professional scholarship and teaching experiences have been guided by the connections I have to the traditions and great teachers of Monmouth. It follows that, as I learned to be a better teacher, I did so by pursuing scholarship relating to the needs of my own students. As I adapted to a more engaged, activity-based style of teaching—necessary to meet 21st-century student expectations—I became highly aware of the degree to which interactions I had with Monmouth faculty in the 1960s prepared me for my own career and personal life. The subject matter I teach and the way I go about it has been guided by the powerful impact on my life while at Monmouth of gaining a solid grounding in multiple disciplines, developing critical thinking skills, learning to communicate effectively with a range of people, and experiencing involvement with others in the community. Over the last few years I have become an advocate for making civic and engaged learning a key element of the Monmouth experience for our students. It fits who we were and are. The AAC&U (our liberal arts advocate association) defines engaged, “deep learning” as the hallmark of what great liberal arts colleges (but not necessarily all small colleges) make happen for students. With growing interest and support for off-campus study, internships, substantive student research, and civic engagement and service, Monmouth is poised to take advantage of our traditions of learning in community to create a culture of deep learning. As I retire, I look forward to following developments on a proposed Center for Engaged Learning at Monmouth. I envision such an initiative—should it come to fruition—as a significant enhancement to the College’s legacy. Lee McGaan ’69 is professor emeritus in the Department of Communication Studies. He is the 2016 recipient of the College’s prestigious Hatch Teaching Award.

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