Monmouth College Magazine - Spring 2018

VOL 33 | NO 1 | SPRING 2018

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

ART and the LIBERAL ARTS

EDITOR’S NOTE

Hatching imagination through art

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Generations of Monmouth alumni fondly remember the former chicken hatchery that housed the College’s art studios and gallery.

ith the most recent issue of Monmouth College Magazine having focused on the influence of music in the liberal arts experience at Monmouth College, it seemed only natural to follow that up with an issue devoted to the visual and graphic arts.

The Department of Art was not founded until 1931—78 years after the founding of the College. Even then, classes centered on art appreciation, and there would be no studio classes offered for nearly another three decades. (Although in 1948 an art studio was created in the old Fine Arts Building for a student organization called “The Bohemians.”)

Today, Monmouth is on the forefront of art education, with a robust offering of courses, from painting and drawing to sculpture and ceramics. Some of the most popular classes focus on book and poster design, typography, digital photography and foundry sculpture.

As is the case at most liberal arts colleges, art classes are not limited to art majors. Monmouth believes that developing creative skills prepares students for lives of fulfillment and purpose. An understanding of art history provides intellectual stimulation that will also serve graduates throughout their lives.

In the nearly nine decades since its founding, the art department has had surprisingly few faculty, but those who have served have been professors of considerable longevity and influence.

In the early days, before the advent of studio art, Tom Hamilton, class of 1907, was a versatile professor, teaching art appreciation from 1937 to 1971. Harlow Blum, whom we profile in this issue, had an equally long and impressive classroom career, and has been credited with modernizing the Department of Art. During his tenure, many students also learned to appreciate Asian art in seminars taught by Cmdr. Gilbert Boone and his wife, Katharine Phelps Boone ’30, in their museum-like home, just north of campus.

Other legendary professors have included George Waltershausen, who established the formidable sculpture program; and Cheryl Meeker, who developed a robust ceramics and pottery program. Of the current faculty, Stacy Lotz has followed in Waltershausen’s footsteps, teaching sculpture since 1995, while Brian Baugh has overseen painting, drawing and photography since the mid-2000s, just as his wife, Stephanie Baugh, has presided over the expanding graphic design program. Under the tutelage of the above-mentioned faculty, several talented professional artists have emerged, including Gary Carstens ’77, Dusty Scott ’03 and Jessica Bingham Ott ’12, all of whom are profiled in this issue. Ott has also brought her talent back to Monmouth, commuting from Peoria, Ill., to teach painting. Recently, exciting new talent has joined the department in the person of ceramics professor Janis Wunderlich.

Monmouth’s art facilities have expanded significantly since the early 1980s. Growing up in Monmouth, I fondly recall the former Art Center, which stood behind Liedman Hall. Occupying a remodeled chicken hatchery, the building was not lacking in character. Although drafty and leaky, the ancient complex nevertheless inspired unconventional thought and creativity. As a high school student, I had the good fortune of taking a sculpture class from George Waltershausen, and will never forget using the open-air foundry to cast molten aluminum sculptures, using the “lost-foam” method.

Today, McMichael Academic Hall serves as a much more suitable and versatile home for the department, while a professional gallery space in Hewes Library provides an elegant setting for displaying student art. In addition, under the creative leadership of First Lady Lobie Stone—herself an artist—much of the campus is evolving into an informal art gallery—inspiring students and faculty with splashes of color, even in traditionally sterile environments such as the corridors outside chemistry and physics labs.

—jeff rankin

ON THE COVER: Art, in its many forms, is as diverse as Monmouth art students. Pictured in rows (L to R) from back are: La’Melvin Russell ’21, Nia Robertson ’19 and Nick Callaway ’19; Yulissa Avila ’19, Ethan Olson ’19 and Kevin Liebano ’20; Tara Oakes ’18, Emily Shaw ’19 and Courtney Green ’20; Cheyenne Groat ’18, Tessa Barry ’18 and Remy Schwass ’19; Kevin Bernal Jr. ’21 and Angham Jaradat ’19.

PRESIDENT Clarence R. Wyatt

VOL. 33 | NO. 1

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

SPRING 2018

11 WHEN ART MEETS THE LIBERAL ARTS

Art is a state of mind at Monmouth­—not just in the studios and classrooms.

27 STILL INSPIRED, STILL INSPIRING

Now in his eighth decade as an artist, Blum prepares for another retrospective exhibit.

30 REWRITING THE RECORD BOOKS

Will Jones caps remarkable career

with a basketball season to remember.

34 A TASTE OF MARCH MADNESS

For the first time in a decade, the Scots

earn a trip to the playoffs and fans go wild.

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 3 academics 7 newsmakers 9 sports 30 alumni news 39 the last word 48 Monmouth College Magazine is published quarterly for alumni, students, 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.

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

Write: Development & College Relations, Monmouth College 700 East Broadway, Monmouth, IL 61462-1998 Phone: 888-827-8268 Web: monmouthcollege.edu/update

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 ’72 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 Andrew Kerr ’73, Vice President Michelle Moy ’89, Secretary Hilary Stott ’07, Member at Large EDITORIAL BOARD Duane Bonifer Executive Director of Communications and Marketing Trent Gilbert Vice President for Enrollment and Communications John Osterlund Vice President for Development and College Relations Hannah Maher Director of Development and Alumni Engagement Jeffrey D. Rankin College Editor and Historian Barry J. McNamara Associate Director of College Communications 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) 457-2272 skinkaid@monmouthcollege.edu

FIRST LADY’S MESSAGE

THE LIBERAL ARTS IN ACTION ART IS CENTRAL TO A SUCCESSFUL CAREER

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larence likes to say that I am a great example of the liberal arts in action. My mother was an artist—a very talented painter—and my father was president of a barge line. I majored in studio art, then went on to a career in business.

I started my business career working in the river transportation industry in New Orleans, then as a senior vice president for a Chicago-based oil company, running its Gulf Coast oil-trading and river transportation divisions in Houston. I went on to be a broker and vice president for two national stock brokerage firms, and a crude oil derivatives trader, also in Houston, and finally owner of an interior design practice in San Antonio.

At first glance, these two pieces of my background—art and business—might seem at odds, but each has enriched the other in powerful ways. I’ve always thought that my background in the creative arts helped me to see business opportunities in ways that others might not. At the same time, my business background helped me immensely when running a creative enterprise, such as my art consultant and design business.

The skills and attributes that art nurtures are essential to success in business or any other career. Creative thinking, the ability to see things in new and different ways, and the ingenuity to bring those new ways of thinking and seeing to life are the foundations of the industries that have shaped our nation and world for generations. To continue that progress, we should and must make the arts and the mindsets they encourage central to our educational system at all levels.

Beyond these examples, my love of art has informed and shaped my life in many powerful ways. Surrounding myself with art and beauty has been a saving grace in my life. Art has uplifted me during difficult times and has been an important part of some of my most joyous moments. I have collected art throughout my life, including buying local art during my travels. Since coming to Monmouth, I have enjoyed sharing that collection with our students. I tell them that each work of art has a story. I encourage them to begin collecting, telling them that a piece of art doesn’t have to be expensive to be beautiful or to bring lasting meaning to a moment in their lives. That moment will live on in that piece of art, enriching their lives forever.

For me, immersion in the arts as a young person has informed the rest of my life and everything that I do. For all these reasons, I am so pleased that the arts—the visual arts featured in this issue, as well as the performing arts—hold such a central place in our students’ experience, both on our campus and in the wider community.

Lobie Stone Monmouth College First Lady

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Remembering

IRA SMOLENSKY 1948-2018

E

meritus professor of political science Ira Smolensky, who transformed scores of Monmouth College students’ lives over a distinguished 33-year teaching career, died March 1. He was 69.

Smolensky remained active on cam- me in that direction, and I have been pus after retiring last spring from grateful and will be grateful to him for full-time teaching. A longtime orga- the rest of my life. I credit Ira completely nizer of the College’s Great Decisions with the blessing of my career.” program, he led this semester’s first “Ira’s massive impact on the lives of so discussion in January, and he was also many students is an important remindmeeting regularly with political science er of the role educators play in our lives,” students doing an independent study. said Kunal Kapoor ’97, CEO of Morning“I went to Homecoming last star Inc., who stayed year because I felt this strong in contact with Smocompulsion to see Ira,” said lensky the past two Amy Manning ’89, now a lawyer decades. “I will reIt didn’t matter what in Chicago. “He was absolutely you thought or where member him for his one of a kind. This really hurts.” intellectual ferocity, you were in the Brad Nahrstadt ’89, whose everlasting humanity political spectrum— and sheer warmth. gift to the Center for Science he would encourage and Business named a classHe was an amazing room in Smolensky’s honor, said human being—the you to have your his life was changed by his forkind we all aspire to.” own ideas, your own mer professor.

Nahrstadt, who thoughts, and to do “I would call him ‘The Great also used his political what you wanted.”

Encourager,’” said Nahrstadt. science background “It didn’t matter what you to go into law, said thought or where you were in the po- that Smolensky set the wheels of his calitical spectrum—­ he would encourage reer in motion by setting up a meeting you to have your own ideas, your own about law school and the profession even thoughts, and to do what you wanted.” before Nahrstadt was officially enrolled Manning said: “His encouragement as a Monmouth student. literally changed the course of my life.

“Here I was, this fresh-faced farm kid, When I was feeling a great deal of rest- and he thought he’d help me do somelessness my junior year and confided in thing I wanted to do,” said Nahrstadt.

Ira, he strongly encouraged me to go “He went out on a limb for me. He literto Washington Semester. ... I ended up ally changed the course of my life with working for a congressman on the Hill, that meeting.” and during the course of that experience Nahrstadt went on to take nine classdecided that my future was in law rather es from Smolensky. than medicine. Ira then helped shepherd “He was a consummate teacher

Ira Smolensky at his retirement reception last May.

in the truest sense of the word,” said Nahrstadt. “He was teaching you even when you didn’t think he was teaching —the way he interacted with people, the way he responded to people.”

Nahrstadt took Smolensky’s “Party Politics and Elections” class in the fall of 1988, a presidential election year. As part of the class, students were assigned to get involved with a campaign. A majority of the students worked for a local Republican, but Nahrstadt, a Democrat, expressed a desire to work on something bigger. Smolensky got Nahrstadt and a classmate involved in Michael Dukakis’s presidential campaign.

In lieu of a final exam, Smolensky had students report on their experiences.

Nahrstadt, stinging from Dukakis’s loss, wanted no part of it, but Smolensky persuaded him. “’You have to come,’ he told me. ‘I’m not going to make you come, but I think you have to come. I want the rest of the class to know what you’ve done, and even though you lost, that you still have that passion for what you did.’

“And let me tell you, it was a painful class,” said Nahrstadt. “But that was part of his beauty, part of his genius. It was a great lesson—you can’t run and hide.”

A member of the Jewish faith, (Continued on page 6)

SPRING 2018

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CAMPUS NEWS

STUDENT RESEARCHERS RECONSTRUCT WILLIAM JAMES’S LIBRARY AT HARVARD

Hernandez (left) and Rubi assist Algaier in Harvard’s Houghton Library.

Two Monmouth College students recently joined a faculty member on a research project that took them to the birthplace of American higher education.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies Ermine Algaier, who is reconstructing the personal library of William James, received a grant from the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy that allowed the students to accompany him on a research trip to Harvard University.

Melissa Hernandez ’18 and Diana Rubi ’18 accompanied Algaier to Cambridge, Mass., where they assisted him on research at Houghton Library, Harvard University’s primary repository for rare books and manuscripts.

One of the most influential U.S. philosophers, James has been called “the father of American psychology.” Nearly a century ago, 1,713 volumes from his personal library were donated to Harvard—the first U.S. college and James’s alma mater, where he also taught for more than 30 years.

“The work Melissa and Diana helped with could’ve taken me several months, but we pulled it off in five days,” said Algaier. “Their work was top-notch. They really loved it, and I hope I can continue doing something like this with interested students.”

Algaier is managing editor of the journal William James Studies and former secretary of the William James Society.

He’s published articles in Environmental Ethics, The Pluralist and William James Studies and has been awarded two Young Scholar Prizes for his writings on James.

Display says ‘we mean business’ The Haywood Business Wing of the Monmouth College Center for Science and Business has received a new addition that professors hope will inspire as well as inform.

A pair of video screens and a stock ticker have been installed at the wing’s entrance.

In addition to showing the latest prices of major U.S. stocks, the display also posts details about business markets along with world news supplied by Reuters news service. The display was paid for by a gift to the College’s Political Economy and Commerce (PEC) Department.

“We needed something to say ‘business’ besides just the fact that it says ‘Haywood Business Wing’ up above at the entrance to our department,” said Associate Professor Wendine Bolon, chair of the department.

Bolon said that the idea to install a financial news display came from PEC professor Tom Prince, who helped lead the project.

In addition to providing students, faculty and staff with current financial news, Bolon said the new display also serves a pedagogical purpose by getting students

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“to think about some things they might not have thought about before.”

“The whole idea is to not just tell people what’s going on in our department but to also get students excited about the financials—getting them to think, ‘Maybe I should open that app on my phone that I’ve never opened,’” Bolon said. “We want students to ask questions that they will get excited about.”

?

Befuddled about

I TCOI N

Bitcoin represents the next step in the evolution of money. That’s what students in a Monmouth College business class have been learning about the cryptocurrency, which has recently experienced wild fluctuations in value.

Students in Professor Mike Connell’s “Intermediate Macroeconomics” course have studied Bitcoin for the past three years. And Connell said that one of those students had a chance to show off her knowledge about the cryptocurrency—which at one point in 2017 increased in value by almost 20 times—at an internship last summer in Chicago.

“There was a meeting, and only she and one other employee knew anything about Bitcoin,” said Connell, the longtime chair of the College’s Department of Political Economy and Commerce. “Either you know all about Bitcoin, or you’re clueless.”

For those “clueless” about Bitcoin, Connell said it’s helpful to think of it the same way farmers think of commodities.

“Day to day, nobody knows the price of a bushel of corn—you have to look it up. Nobody knows the price of a barrel of oil—you have to look it up,” he said. “Bitcoin is similar. It’s speculative, and people are betting on what it might be worth. ... In my class, I try to introduce to my students the different kinds of money in a macroeconomy. There are many forms of money, and this is the new one.”

BIOLOGY SECURES RESEARCH GRANT The Monmouth College Biology Department has secured a five-year grant from the Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science program, a nationwide discovery-based undergraduate research initiative administered by Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Under the program, biology students will participate in wet lab and Conceptual drawing of a phage virus

bioinformatics research as they discover and investigate new phages—soil-dwelling viruses that infect bacteria.

REPORT EXAMINES POLITICAL ATTITUDES IN THE HEARTLAND A Monmouth College faculty member played a leading role in creating a report that aims to change the national political landscape.

Political science lecturer Robin Johnson ’80 worked with U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) to publish the 50-page report Hope from the Heartland: How Democrats Can Better Serve the Midwest by Bringing Rural, Working Class Wisdom to Washington.

Released in January, the report has attracted coverage in several national media outlets, including National Public Radio and Politico.

Johnson did the legwork for the report last summer, traveling throughout the Midwest to interview rural Democratic politicians. The goal was to speak to 50 individuals, but Johnson wound up conducting 72 interviews in such locales as Ohio, the farm fields of Illinois and Iowa, Minnesota and the dairyland of Wisconsin.

“For my students, (having this report) is really an opportunity to enrich the learning experience —to share more of this information with them and really have them see the Midwest as a region,” Johnson said.

Strength through sorority With a goal of empowering the women on Monmouth’s campus and strengthening sorority life in general, three College representatives attended the College Panhellenic Academy, held in Indianapolis in January. The academy is part of the annual National Panhellenic Conference.

“This is the first time that Monmouth has ever attended this conference,” said Assistant Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life Max Seisser ’15, who was accompanied by Emily Gabaldon ’19 and Bailey VanFleet ’19.

The three participants each followed an intensive 1.5-day track in their area of interest. Gabaldon learned more about leading a Greek organization as president, VanFleet studied recruitment, and Seisser participated in the adviser track.

Gabaldon and VanFleet are both on the executive committee of the College’s Panhellenic Council, which regularly brings together the sororities. A member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, Gabaldon serves as president of the council, while Bailey, a member of Pi Beta Phi, is vice president for recruitment.

Emily Gabaldon, below left, and Bailey VanFleet pose in Indianapolis with the flags of Monmouth’s three women’s fraternities— Kappa Kappa Gamma, Alpha Xi Delta and Pi Beta Phi.

SPRING 2018

5

REMEMBERING SMOLENSKY Continued from page 3

Smolensky was known for what Manning called “a unique elegance” of interacting with those who had opposing views.

“He would gently engage, always respecting the person while challenging the logic of their position,” she said.

“He was not afraid of opponents, once even befriending a known anti-Semite for the opportunity to create understanding.”

A former student who often held an opposing viewpoint of Smolensky’s was Nicole Figanbaum Suttle ’98.

“I was a huge Republican, and he was a huge Democrat, and we always had these big discussions,” she said.

“He never changed my views, but he taught me so much.”

She said that teaching continued after her four years at Monmouth.

“He was very special to me, and we had this special bond. He and I talked twice a month, and I’ve been out of college now for 20 years. He knew my life, he knew my kids, he sent me Christmas cards and birthday cards.

“He was more than a professor; he was family.”

Bishal Thapa ’96 still remembers the first question Smolensky asked him in a freshman-year “Politics in Film and Literature” class. “Name two books or films,” he said, “one which you consider overtly political, and the second which you consider to be political but is not obviously so.

That question spawned a thousand conversations over a friendship that lasted more than two decades. It was only when I said the final goodbye that I realized that it had been a trick question all along—that question had no answer.

“That was Ira. He set us on a course of inquiry, knowing that someday we would uncover a world of truth that leads to justice, equality and prosperity for all.”

When Smolensky was interviewed last year for a story about his retirement, he said other than teaching, his proudest achievement at Monmouth was adding Farhat Haq to the political science faculty. Haq, as well as her husband, Associate Dean of Students Mohsin Masood, were just as proud to call Smolensky and his wife, Marjorie, friends.

“To me, he was the essence of what is

Public Notice of Accreditation Visit Monmouth College is seeking comments from the public about the College in preparation for its periodic evaluation by its regional accrediting agency. The College will host a visit October 22-23, 2018, with a team representing the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). Monmouth College has been accredited by HLC since 1913. The team will review the institution’s ongoing ability to meet HLC’s Criteria for Accreditation.

The public is invited to submit comments regarding the College to the following address: Public Comments on Monmouth College Higher Learning Commission 230 South LaSalle Street, Suite 7-500 Chicago, IL 60604-1411 The public may also submit comments on HLC’s website at www.hlcommission. org/comment. Comments must address substantive matters related to the quality of the institution or its academic programs. Comments must be in writing.

All comments must be received by September 24, 2018.

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best about Monmouth College,” said Haq. “He was an extremely wise man, and wisdom is so rare these days. People get really into their silos and make quick judgments about others. Ira was completely opposite of that. He was open to different perspectives without jumping to conclusions. He had no sense of arrogance, and he met people where they were.”

Masood recalled that Smolensky was the first person he met in the United States.

“It was Aug. 22, 1990. He met me at the airport, and we’ve been friends ever since,” said Masood. “I’ve never had a better human being as a friend.

I call him my first Jewish brother. ...

He was a teacher to me and to Farhat, and both of our boys took classes from him, so he was a teacher for our entire family.”

Haq and Masood both spoke of how Smolensky “supported students in all sorts of ways”—academically, socially and even, on occasion, financially.

“He transformed students’ lives,” said Haq. “He took time to listen to students, and he cared about them.”

Smolensky often dodged the spotlight, but he was active in city politics, helping Shawn Gillen win Monmouth’s mayoral election in 1997.

“Ira was a trusted mentor, adviser and friend during my two years at Monmouth College, during the campaign for mayor, and during those four years as mayor,” said Gillen. “Ira had a gift for helping young people figure out what their passion is and how to make a career of it. He certainly did in my case, and I owe so much to him for that.”

Smolensky came to Monmouth in 1984, two years after receiving his Ph.D. from Rutgers University. He also earned his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree at Rutgers. He was a past recipient of the College’s Hatch Award for Distinguished Teaching.

In addition to his wife, survivors include his son, Matt Smolensky ’00.

ACADEMICS

CSI WITH A LIBERAL ARTS TWIST

From left, Myers and Sostarecz demonstrate fingerprintlifting techniques with students Attilio Angellotti, Alison Trettin and Praburaman Mohan.

Investigative forensics minor launched Monmouth College students can now select a minor that could lead them down a career path similar to Sherlock Holmes and other famous sleuths.

The College has launched a new minor in investigative forensics, and the minor’s architects have created a well-rounded program grounded in the liberal arts that will expose students to possible careers in fields from law to laboratory analysis, and just about everything in between.

A five-credit minor, investigative forensics will deepen students’ understanding of how evidence is studied and applied in a variety of academic disciplines, according to history professor Christine Myers, who helped create the minor.

What is especially noteworthy about investigative forensics is that the minor provides students with a broad knowledge base to prepare for a wide range of careers, such as criminology, covering crime as a journalist, forensic science and pathology, and law enforcement.

“We’ve made this a very interdisciplinary minor,” Myers said. “We want students to study it from many perspectives so they can see how a subject can be approached from many ways. This gives students a well-rounded approach and helps them discover various professional paths they might be interested in taking.”

All students who minor in investigative forensics will take a forensic science chemistry course, then four additional credits from at least three other disciplines, including biology, communication studies, digital photography, English, history and psychology.

Chemistry professor Audra Sostarecz teaches the minor’s forensic science class, which she said gives students several real-life views of the subject. The class teaches students how to lift fingerprints, examine hairs through microscopes and learn about analytical instrumentation.

“It’s a very nice course because it often involves faculty from other disciplines, such as biology and mathematics,” said Sostarecz.

As Myers points out, investigative forensics has been part of society for more than a century, popularized when Arthur Conan Doyle first published his Sherlock Holmes stories in the late 19th century.

“It’s something that’s always been part of society, and it’s increasingly studied in academia,” said Myers, who teaches a course in the minor about violence in Victorian Britain. “The purpose of this minor is to give students a taste of it, and then let them decide whether it is something they would like to pursue as a career or in graduate or professional school.”

NEW SOCIOLOGY COURSE: An insider’s examination of the Land of Lincoln The timing of a new Monmouth College class couldn’t have been better.

“Cultures of Illinois,” developed

by Anthropology Professor Petra Kuppinger, explores the state’s rich social and cultural diversity. It is debuting in the year of the Illinois bicentennial, and Kuppinger hopes it will cause students to view the state from a new perspective.

Illinois became the 21st U.S. state on Dec. 3, 1818.

“I’ve lived here for 17 years—Illinois is my adopted state,” said Kuppinger, who joined Monmouth’s faculty in 2000. “I got interested in the cul-

ture here, so I dug into it and I really learned a lot. Trying to decide what books to use for the course was a fun experience for me.”

In addition to examining the state’s immense social and cultural diversity, the course also explores rural-urban differences and what Kuppinger calls “contexts of considerable social inequality in different locations in Illinois.”

“We are trying to understand the past, present and future of our own environment,” said Kuppinger. “We seek to analyze our own position in this complicated cultural mosaic.”

Kuppinger’s class explores a variety of those cultures, as well as the cultural dichotomy between Chicago and most of the rest of the state.

“We’ll spend some time on the ruralurban issue,” she said. “It’s a huge cultural divide. There are people in Chicago who think the rest of the state is negligible, and there are people who live in places like Monmouth who say ‘I’ll never take my kids to Chicago—it’s the capital of crime and sin.’

“How do you get a functioning culture out of the mosaic of all those cultures?” asked Kuppinger. “That’s the guiding question of this course.”

SPRING 2018

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ACADEMICS

Destinations: Guatemala, Ecuador and Australia

WARMER CLIMES FACILITATE WINTER ACADEMIC TRIPS Approximately 40 Monmouth students expanded their global and cultural understanding by traveling south on academic trips to Guatemala, Ecuador and Australia during winter break.

Ten students spent two weeks hiking through Guatemala to study the “Economic Collapse and Resurgence of Mayan Civilization,” which was also the title of a course taught during the final half of the fall semester.

Led by the course’s instructors, political economy and commerce professor Ramses Armendariz and biology professor James Godde, the group learned that a number of factors led to the demise of the Mayan cities.

“The people began to leave the cities, but it’s a common misconception that it was because of one cataclysmic event,” said Armendariz, who teaches a course on environmental economics.

“It was really a sequence of bad luck and bad planning,” said Godde.

“They’d been exploiting the land for hundreds of years, and some of the cities had grown to sizes that were just unsustainable. They didn’t have a good understanding of sustainable development. Gradually, the people began to lose faith in their leaders.”

A College donor funded about twothirds of the trip, and Armendariz believes the investment paid off.

“This trip provided a life-changing experience for students,” he said. “They got to see a completely different lifestyle where commodities are hard to come by.”

Seven students took part in a 10day project in Ecuador that included working with children at some of the many farmers’ markets in the capital city of Quito.

The group was accompanied in Quito by staff members from United to

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Monmouth students and faculty straddle the equator during their winter break trip to Ecuador.

Benefit Ecuadorian Children, International. UBECI is an organization that provides educational resources to market children, with a goal of getting them into school when they’re of age.

“The farmers markets go from about 4 a.m. until 6 p.m., and the kids play and sleep at their booths,” said educational studies professor Michelle Holschuh Simmons, who led the trip, along with anthropology professor Megan Hinrichsen.

Two representatives from UBECI were the regular teachers. The visiting volunteers, such as Monmouth’s group, serve as what Simmons called “teaching assistants.”

“A typical day would be to go to a market in the morning, engage the kids for two and a half hours, break away for lunch, and then have another two and a half-hour session in the afternoon, either at the same market or at a new one,” said Simmons.

Hinrichsen is working on a book about her research in Ecuador and plans to return there this summer to complete more research. A medical anthropologist—and a member of the College’s Global Food Security Triad

faculty—she’s been studying health and well-being with a focus on nutrition and food security.

Nearly two dozen students who took a “Business in Australia” course under faculty member Tom Prince last fall got to experience the land Down Under in person Jan. 4-13. Led by Prince, the trip’s purpose was to learn more about how tariffs and trade have affected the Australian business economy.

The class studied the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement and explored the implications of the U.S. decision to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Prince said the different cultures among Australian people made the experience even more valuable for the students.

“It was a really good trip from a business perspective, and it was also really good from a cultural perspective,” said Prince, who started planning the trip two years ago. “In the city, there were all kinds of restaurants, representing all types of ethnicities. The cultural diversity was a really important part of the trip.”

NEWSMAKERS

ABDULRAZZAK EXAMINES SYRIAN REFUGEE ATTITUDES

SMITHHISLER LANDS PRESTIGIOUS FELLOWSHIP

Iman Abdulrazzak ’18, a psychology and music major from Syria, is performing leading-edge research on the attitudes and values of Syrian refugees.

Using social media to connect with ABDULRAZZAK almost 1,500 fellow refugees scattered in more than three dozen countries, she has found that displaced Syrians place less importance on the values of religiosity, familialism and collectivism than they did before leaving their native country. Those priorities further decrease for refugees who have relocated into Western cultures.

During her project, Abdulrazzak found similar research about Chinese immigrants, but she believes she might be the first to examine Syrian refugees.

Hadley Smithhisler ’18, a history and French major, is one of 15 select U.S. college students who will spend six weeks this summer at George Washington’s Mount Vernon home.

SMITHHISLER The Mount Vernon Leadership Fellows Program, which will be held May 26-July 6 on the banks of the Potomac River in Fairfax County, Va., “discusses leadership through the lens of George Washington’s legacy,” said Smithhisler, who was selected for the program from among hundreds of applicants. Fellows in the last three years have come from such universities as Harvard, Yale, Brown, Duke and Vanderbilt.

Smithhisler is also a member of the first class of Monmouth College’s competitive Stockdale Leadership Fellows program.

COLEY RECEIVES GUNDERSEN AWARD

THORNDIKE JOINS FACULTY OF GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH TRIAD

Jonathan Coley, assistant professor of sociology, is the latest recipient of the Monmouth College Gundersen Award for Junior Faculty. Presented to a faculty member with fewer than four years of service who has engaged in exemplary scholarship, research or creative work, the award was established by former COLEY distinguished visiting professor Lewis Gould in honor of Joan Rezner Gundersen ’68.

Coley’s first book, Gay on God’s Campus: Mobilizing for LGBT Equality at Christian Colleges and Universities, was published in March by University of North Carolina Press.

TRUSTEE NAMED BANK PRESIDENT F. Austin Jones, a member of the Mon-

mouth College Board of Trustees, has been named president and chief trust officer of Grinnell (Iowa) State Bank. A 31-year veteran of the bank, he was previously senior executive vice president, chief financial officer and senior trust officer. The son of a former trustee and the parent of a recent graduate, Jones has been a Monmouth College trustee since 2016.

JONES

Monmouth College’s new Global Public Health Triad program was recently strengthened by the addition to the faculty of Jennifer Thorndike, an assistant professor in the department of modern THORNDIKE languages, literatures and cultures. Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, she is teaching a language course for students interested in medical careers and another course called “Life, Values and Death.” Global Public Health, which has the option of pursuing an academic minor, also encompasses the departments of psychology and kinesiology.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURED WUNDERLICH Janis Wunderlich, assistant professor of art, was one of five women artists profiled in a 2008 documentary by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Pamela Tanner Boll. Who Does She Think She Is? examined women who refuse to choose between motherhood and art, while considering the role of women in art, from WUNDERLICH cultural muses in the ancient world to under-representation of female artists in museums. The film was screened in March at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.

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The opportunities for self-expression and self-exploration that art affords to majors and non-majors alike make it perfectly suited for the Monmouth experience.

T ART he composer Stephen Sondheim once wrote: “There are only two worthwhile things to leave behind when you depart this world of ours: children and art.”

Sondheim’s observation is a reminder that

children and art both inherit and reinterpret our traditions and customs, often taking them in exciting and unexpected new directions. To be

sure, civilization would come to a screeching halt without children; without art, civilization would lose meaning and purpose because individuals (Continued on page 12)

10

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

and the

LIBERAL ARTS

BY DUANE BONIFER

OPPOSITE AND BELOW: Remy Schwass ’19, an art major, puts the finishing touches on an abstract painting.

“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.”

ARISTOTLE

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11

would lack the creative tools to discover truth, beauty and goodness.

As Monmouth College First Lady Lobie Stone reminded an audience at a 2017 talk at the city’s Buchanan Center for the Arts, it was the artist Pablo Picasso who said: “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” On one lev-

Blending science and technology with the fine arts is at the heart of the Monmouth liberal arts experience.”

JANIS WUNDERLICH

washed away by art so that a person can view and make sense of the world, as well as contribute ideas, perspectives and inventions to civilization’s progress.

“Art is not just visual—it is experiential and cultural, and it helps us understand the world around us and provides insight into cultures that are not our own,” Jessica Bingham Ott ’12 explains in a story in this issue about her evolution New faculty member Janis Wunderlich loves teaching in Monmouth College’s liberal arts atmosphere and has introduced open studios in the ceramics lab for all members of the College community.

el, dust is washed away by art that then allows the everyday to be seen in a vivid, beautiful and meaningful way.

Ott’s comment reflects an important perspective at Monmouth, where art is not simply a

Dusty Scott ’03—whose paintings now hang

requirement students must fulfill in order to earn

in the Huff Athletic Center concourse—reflected

a degree. At Monmouth, art is more than a class,

that sentiment on a recent edition of the College’s 1853 Podcast. “Without art and people being different, think of how plain of a world we’d live in, how uninteresting things would be,” he said.

As Scott succinctly noted, art is “what makes life exciting.”

On an even deeper level, however, dust is Professor Brian Baugh, an accomplished painter who currently chairs the Art Department, leads a studio painting class in McMichael Hall.

12

as an artist.

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

ART AND THE LIBERAL ARTS

Veteran art professor Stacy Lotz, an accomplished sculptor, is as comfortable with a welding torch or pouring molten metal as some artists are with a brush and paint.

to a rich liberal arts experience, Baugh said that she and her colleagues hope to point them “in the right direction, encourage their own curiosity and their willingness to learn different subjects, to explore different areas of interest and to push themselves beyond what they might have thought they were capable of.”

Art also teaches students how to connect ideas and concepts. Dy-

Stephanie Baugh, who specializes in teaching graphic design, also teaches “Introduction to Liberal Arts,” in which she encourages freshmen to explore their curiosity.

namic first-year art professor Janis Wunderlich said on the 1853 Podcast that she was attracted to Monmouth because the College aims to help students realize how seema major or an academic department composed of imaginative faculty. Rather, at Monmouth art is a vital component of the liberal arts experience the College provides, one that equips and empowers its graduates with a worldview that prepares them to successfully navigate and negotiate the challenges of a dynamic knowledge economy.

In an interview on the 1853 Podcast, art professor Stephanie Baugh, who is coordinator of the College’s “Introduction to Liberal Arts” classes, summed up the essence of what Monmouth provides students. By exposing students

ingly disconnected disciplines, such as art and science, in reality complement one another and produce what she calls “a really good conversation.”

“Blending science and technology with the fine arts,” she said, is at the heart of the Monmouth liberal arts experience. It helps students “think creatively within multiple disciplines.”

As Wunderlich points out, if a student can leverage art to approach mathematics with a little more creativity, they will have “something that nobody else has. It can take you places that are unchartered territory.”

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Monmouth’s First Lady draws daily inspiration from art “I am made up of everything I’ve ever seen.”

M

– Henri Matisse

any people need their first cup of morning coffee before they feel a new day can truly begin.

But for Monmouth College First Lady Lobie Stone, a picture of great art does the trick.

“Through Instagram, I can visit museums and see what they’ve posted as their image of the day,” she said at a 2017 talk at the Buchanan Center for the Arts, titled “Art: The Heart of the Matter.” “It’s a part of my day, sometimes before I even get out of bed.

‘OK, I can breathe.’ It’s a wonderful thing to start every day with beauty.”

Stone’s mother was an artist, and she took to heart many of her mother’s ways, including taking time to simply be outside and appreciate her surroundings—for example, the way light moves through a tree or the many subtle colors of nature.

“She taught us all how to see,” said Stone of her mother’s influence on her and her four siblings. “We can look, and we can see, and those are two different things.”

While visiting museums’ posts on Instagram is nice, Stone said she much prefers seeing art in person. She said she has been “blessed” with many opportunities to travel, as well as to live in beautiful, art-centric cities such as Paris and New Orleans.

“I’ve lived through tumultuous times, and I’ve lived in different places,” said Stone.

“Art has been the structure in my life. Maybe ‘stabilizer’ is the right word. It’s sort of my chapel, in a way. During my travels, if I can get to an art museum, I’m good.”

When her husband, President Clarence R. Wyatt , was interviewing for the presidency

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MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

in 2014, Stone said the first place she visited in Monmouth was the Buchanan Center for the Arts.

After studying for two years at Centre College, she completed a bachelor of fine arts degree at the University of Minnesota. Stone then spent a year in Paris. “I took classes, I painted and I did photography,” she said. “It was life-changing to live in a city where art was appreciated and celebrated.”

Stone lived in New Orleans for seven years, where she found herself “living in art” in an apartment on Jackson Square in the city’s French Quarter.

“It was a wonderful way to live,” she said.

“I was surrounded by beautiful magnolia trees and great architecture. It reminded me to look up. I can thank my mother for that. She taught me to look up and see.”

Stone said art is not only beautiful in the moment but it also has staying power.

Reflecting on some of the best museum exhibits she’s seen, she recalled a Wassily Kandinsky show at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, when she was a student at University of Minnesota.

“They were amazing, colorful, vibrating, musical paintings,” she said. “I can still remember standing there. It was like I was surrounded by music.”

An exhibit of Claude Monet’s paintings of water lilies in Paris had a similar effect on her, as well as a Paul Gauguin retrospective in Boston, and a Pierre Bonnard show in New York.

“When I’m going through a stressful time, I can transport myself and surround myself again with those water lilies, the bold color palette of Gauguin, or the shimmering, calming cool colors of Bonnard,” she said.

And Stone said that you don’t have to vis-

Lobie Stone pauses in front of a painting by Shoshana McClarence ’17 in the Wallace Hall lobby—a space that she envisioned and developed as a public gallery for student and alumni art.

it a museum to find art. “Art and beauty are all around if you just look for it,” she said.

Stone said that on a walk through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, she discovered art on the ceiling of a tunnel between airport terminals, which she said turned a long day of travel into a “giddy, laughing, uplifting experience.”

“Most people we passed in the tunnel didn’t seem to notice it until they saw me taking photos, and then they started to look up to see what I was looking at and laughing about. Then they would smile,” she said.

Stone opened her talk at the Buchanan Center with the quotation at the top of the story, and she closed it with the following remark by artist Pablo Picasso, whose anti-war painting Guernica had a profound effect on her: “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”

—Barry McNamara

ART AND THE LIBERAL ARTS

Nia Robertson ’19, an art major from Chicago, has a passion for making bold, colorful statements through her sculpture.

late-blooming artist Fred Wackerle ’61 says in a story in this issue. “I’m 78 years old, and I’m still learning. Monmouth College kickstarted me in that direction.”

For most who study, experience and create art, the discipline will help reveal to them what Wackerle calls “part of our ethos.” It will inform their thoughts, encourage their creativity and lead them down roads that others did not even realize existed, much less considered taking. It will broaden their cultural denominator and help them engage in conversations with those from other backgrounds and cultures. They will enjoy a richer life because it is filled with art.

Then there are those who live a life of art.

They are the masters, those whose art enriches and deepens the lives of those who come in contact with their works. For Monmouth, the oeuvre and career of emeritus professor of art Harlow Art also teaches students how to interpret life.

Gary Carstens ’77 discovered that when he transfered problem-solving skills that he used in the food industry to running an art studio.

“I think of myself as an interpreter,” he says in a story in this issue. “‘A rtist’ is a label that others put on. Art is a human endeavor to interpret the work of nature. To learn how to see it helps you learn how to adapt it.”

For others, art is something to turn to after a successful career in another profession that utilized many of art’s principles and concepts.

“My Monmouth degree prepared me for life,”

Blum are a testament to how art can shape a community.

Blum brought studio art to Monmouth shortly The Buchanan Center for the Arts, a local community arts organizaton, provides a creative volunteer outlet for Monmouth College art students.

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ART THROUGH THE EYES OF AN ART MAJOR… When Gary Carstens ’77 turned a critical eye to the College’s 2017 Juried Student Art Exhibition, he said he “kept coming back” to one work.

That work, Eras Toxico by senior Lily Guillen, was selected Best of Show from the exhibit, which featured 35 works from an original list of 108 submissions.

In praising Guillen’s winning mixed media piece, Carstens noted its “strong story, beautiful skill, and deep and powerful concept,” adding it was “mature in its technique.”

All that was music to the ears of Guillen, who said she was caught by surprise by the Best of Show honor.

“I wasn’t expecting it at all,” she said. “It’s very rewarding to hear those things and the compliment about the craftsmanship—it almost made me cry.”

The title, which translates to “you were toxic,” comes from a personal place for Guillen, who said she tends to use real-life experiences in her works.

“I use art as a way to cope with things in my life,” she said. “The meaning behind that work is about toxic relationships. Of course, everyone can have their own interpretation.”

Guillen’s work is especially relevant, considering the current cultural landscape.

“My art is different, because I am,” she said. “My work deals with women’s issues, but told through the lens of women of color.

I hope my work is able to turn certain issues into sources of empowerment for women, instead of letting them cripple us. I am a strong believer that art can be used as a form of peaceful protest, and I think right now the time could not be more relevant. The impacts that art can make on people is incredibly wide, and I hope to be a part of that.”

Guillen has been involved with art at the College since interviewing for a high-end scholarship as a prospective student. She received the academic award, which requires that she take at least one art class per year.

Originally drawn to Monmouth by its communication studies department, Guillen said she appreciated the opportunity to get involved with the College’s television and radio stations right away as a freshman, as opposed to waiting until her upperclassman years.

During her junior year, she decided to move art from her academic minor to a major. She said she appreciates the developments she’s made and the role that faculty has played.

“They’ve really challenged me a lot,” she said of Monmouth’s art faculty. “They’ve helped me grow a lot as an artist. ... I feel that I have been able to develop my ideas and think critically of what I am doing. For example, I have learned to question every decision in my art-making process—making sure that every mark, every line, every color fulfills a specific purpose that I set for the artwork.”

A successful wedding photographer since she was 16, Guillen plans to pursue her MFA in photography after she graduates in May. “Receiving a liberal arts education has definitely influenced my artwork, because I have been able to re-examine a certain idea or a part of myself through the lens of different disciplines,” she said. “Many times, that has made me understand the concept better.”

Classes that influenced Guillen’s art included two Integrated Studies courses—“Immortal Voices” and “Theatre and Social Change”—as well as an English course, “Harlem-Black Arts Movement.”

Art is a human endeavor to

after he arrived at the College in the late 1950s,

interpret the work of nature.

and seeing the world, as well as an ambition for

To learn how to see it helps

number of hours in a day. Nurtured by fellow fac-

you learn how to adapt it.”

GARY CARSTENS ’77

16

Guillen with her Best of Show collage, Eras Toxico.

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

but he also introduced a new way of thinking learning and experimentation limited only by the ulty and a College that encouraged his creativity through grants and sponsored trips, Blum’s career was defined in parth by pushing boundaries and exploring new mediums.

ART AND THE LIBERAL ARTS

…AND A MATHEMATICS/ART MAJOR Before she came to Monmouth College, Natalie Curtis ’18 had never designed a

poster for a play, much less an entire set.

But in less than four years, she has put her creative stamp on Monmouth’s Department of Theatre. She has designed posters for a half-dozen of the department’s productions, including all of this season’s plays. Curtis has also designed the set for three plays—this season’s productions of Pieces of Glaspell and The Pitchfork Disney, and last season’s Oedipus Rex. Curtis came to Monmouth undecided about her major. She discovered theatre by first majoring in mathematics—a testament to how the liberal arts can open a plethora of career possibilities to students.

“I came in very undecided, and then I decided in my sophomore year to go with the math major with an art minor,” she said.

While working in the Department of Theatre, Curtis discovered that it was the place that “bridges math and art.” After she became more involved in theatre, Curtis added art as a second major.

The posters that Curtis has designed for plays have a distinctive style that appear deceptively simple. But embedded in what appear to be drawings created in freehand are hints about a production’s tone and theme.

“I read and review the play and find out

what its major themes are,” said Curtis. “Then I go to the director and find out what the director wants to do with the show. Then I brainstorm ideas about what they want to present, finding that balance between presenting too much information and not enough information.”

The sets that Curtis designs play a key role in establishing a production’s tone and atmosphere. For example, her set of Oedipus Rex brought the film noir style to the stage for a modern interpretation of the Greek tragedy. One of the sets Curtis designed for the two one-act plays in Pieces of Glaspell subtly created a suffocating environment that mirrored the life inhabited by the play’s protagonist.

“It’s looking at the show, seeing what is required for the show, but also looking at different themes that could be interesting to highlight or elaborate on,” she said.

“Then I meet with the directors and see what they had in mind. A lot of times it’s focusing on a central theme that brings some inspiration to minor details, such as color choice or decorations on walls.”

In 2017, Curtis won second place for set

Curtis with a scale model of a proposed hanging sculpture

models she entered into the regional competition of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. That resulted in a weeklong experience working at the Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas, which led her to being certified in stagecraft special effects.

“I have certification to use lasers, fog, haze and mist on stage,” the two-sport athlete said. “We also learned a lot about pyrotechnics, but unfortunately that’s not covered in my certification. … It was great hands-on training.”

Curtis will finish her Monmouth degree in December. She is still contemplating her career path, but she would like to explore working as a designer.

“I’m really grateful for the opportunities and the flexibility at Monmouth,” she said.

“I’ve been able to combine two different majors, which has helped me do a lot of cool things. It’s really been amazing.”

The quintessential Renaissance man, Blum is

said, “it’s inspiring students to see more, to try

an artistic polyglot, who by mastering many lan-

to find some forms and materials to match the

guages and mediums of art, has caused others

ideas they have.”

to see the artistic potential in everyday things and the objects around them.

In a feature story in this issue, Blum explains

In addition to inspiring colleagues and generations of Monmouth graduates, Blum also reminded people why art is one of the two great

that he embraced “the idea of transforming

legacies we can leave. “If you sit in a room that

something … into beauty.”

doesn’t have anything, it can be very blank, very

“If you turn that back into my teaching,” he

boring,” he said. “Art enriches your spirit.”

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Alumni Artists in Action

Few college students who study art—even art majors—pursue careers as professional artists.

FRED WACKERLE ’61

The sacrifices and financial uncertainties can be daunting. But for a handful who possess the talent, passion and drive, there is no other option.

Whether they jump immediately into an art career or come to the craft later in life, their devotion and creativity serve as an inspiration to all of us.

In celebration of all Scot artists, we present four talented alumni—each with a unique artistic style, and a unique story.

Stories by Barry McNamara

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MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

Retired executive search consultant now searches for that perfect landscape

ART AND THE LIBERAL ARTS

A

fter fred wackerle spent several years

taking art classes and workshops led by talented instructors—including some from the renowned Palette and Chisel Art Academy in Chicago—he had an epiphany.

“I was getting to a point where I was emulating my instructors,” said Wackerle, a Monmouth College trustee emeritus, who began painting about 25 years ago toward the end of a successful career in the field of executive search. “I wasn’t developing a technique of my own.”

Wackerle said the more one learns about art, the easier it is to look at the works of artists and see who their inf luences were.

“You can still see some of those inf luences in my work, but I’ve finally broken through,” said Wackerle, who has created more than 400 works, selling most of them. “I paint like Fred now.”

And when Fred paints these days, it’s a more abstract style—abstract landscape narratives, to be precise—done with oils and on a much larger scale than the plein air (French for “fresh air) painting he previously did.

“I’ve been painting that way for at least a half-dozen years,” he said, referencing the painting Cactus Bloom, hanging in the College’s Center for Science and Business.

“It’s not an exact painting of a cactus. It’s not the representative style, it’s an abstracted image. I like using different colors and different shapes. A lot of my paintings have a different color palette.”

While his work today draws from a Fauvist inf luence— Fauvists were a group of early 20th-century artists who Wackerle said asked, “Why can’t you have an orange tree, or a blue tree?”—Wackerle is now the one doing the inf luencing, as he teaches landscape and plein air painting.

It was while learning the plein air style from a “fabulous” teacher in Chicago that Wackerle said he “really got hooked” on art. But growing up, he also had inf luences, and they were right under his roof. His father was a painter and decorator who painted landscapes in his free time and his older sister was an accomplished painter.

“It was in my DNA, but that painting bug was latent in me for a number of years,” he said.

It began to show itself during his days as a Monmouth student, when he was among the first to take a class from the new art professor on campus, Harlow Blum. Wackerle said the course was part of his “very well-rounded” Monmouth education, which resulted in a degree in English after he “could not decipher the benzene ring” and halted his attempt at majoring in chemistry.

“My Monmouth degree prepared me for life,” said Wackerle, who now splits his time between Chicago and Tucson, Ariz. “It put me in a framework to accept learning throughout life. I’m 78 years old, and I’m still learning. Monmouth College kickstarted me in that direction.”

Three years after he graduated, that direction took Wackerle into the field of executive search. He is the retired CEO of Fred Wackerle Inc., a Chicago-based executive search consulting firm specializing in CEO succession. Named one of the nation’s top five general management search consultants, Wackerle was a frequent speaker and writer on CEO succession. His book, titled The Right CEO: Straight Talk About Making Tough CEO Selection Decisions, was published by Jossey-Bass in 2001.

Wackerle has also served his alma mater capably, joining the board of trustees in 1979 and the executive committee in 1994. He collaborated closely with the College to create the Wackerle Career and Leadership Center, which opened in 1996 and has helped students find internships and professional employment.

The business world was good to Wackerle, but he also has a deep appreciation for the role of art.

“I firmly believe that art influences the psyche,” he said.

“I’m a painter, and part of what we paint is for ourselves.

But we also paint for the viewer. The image escapes the surface and becomes fixed in the viewer’s mind and eye, and they derive pleasure from it. ... Art was found in the prehistoric caves, so it’s been around for some time. It’s a part of our ethos.”

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PHOTO: Stephen Gassman

Alumni Artists in Action

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MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

Back to the Earth

ART AND THE LIBERAL ARTS

‘M

GARY CARSTENS ’77 y big thing for students today

is for them to learn how to see and to find their voice,” said Gary Carstens ’77, who owns Mississippi Mud Clay Studios in Dubuque, Iowa.

Through the years, his studio has offered classes to groups, couples and individuals, and has also been the site of birthday parties, programs for Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and other special events, such as “Grill a Brat, Throw a Pot.” Wedding parties have used the studio, decorating bowls and firing them in the kiln to make unique bridal gifts.

Art is at the heart of the creative process he uses and teaches, but Carstens prefers a different word.

“I’ve never been an artist. I think of myself as an interpreter.

‘Artist’ is a label that others put on. Art is a human endeavor to interpret the work of nature. To learn how to see it helps you learn how to adapt it.”

Carstens told of a photographer he once encountered whose style was to tear his images into smaller pieces.

“I remember saying some flip comment to him at the time, like ‘It looks like that hurts.’ But his record of how he saw the world left an impact on me. Art is very important for that reason.”

It also has historical significance, he said.

“To me, art is important because it gives us a way to define the moments we’re in. Somebody had to look at, say, a portage trail opening and preserve it. We get to make the visual record of history.”

Carstens came to Monmouth from Chicago as an art major, and he immediately appreciated the difference between an urban and rural setting.

“It went from a thousand-miles-an-hour pace to 50 miles per hour,” he said. “Leaving Chicago gave me a chance to breathe, room to breathe.”

He intended to add a major in geology, and although that plan didn’t last, he said the subject “did stick with me. ... Sculpture tied in a lot to what was exciting for me about geology.”

A pivotal moment for Carstens occurred when the College hired ceramicist Greg Pieper to the faculty.

“I became Greg’s schlepper, I guess is the word for it,” he said. “I helped build a kiln and organize a studio. I took ceramics because it was a different animal for me, and I’m still doing it. I liked the combination of interpreting nature and the science of it.”

Carstens said he appreciates the liberal arts education he received at Monmouth.

“I learned how to think, and I developed skills that I wouldn’t have otherwise. I learned about not just looking at

something, but seeing something. That’s the value of the liberal arts to me.”

He particularly remembered an origin of language course taught by Harry Osborne and how it allowed him to leave the art world behind for a while.

“Courses like that freed my mind up from nagging art questions like ‘Where do I get the screws to put my sculpture together?’”

Upon graduation, Carstens didn’t immediately make a living from “art.”

“I’ve done a lot of things to put rent in somebody’s pocket and food on my table,” he said.

That includes working for Monmouth College and the Monmouth public school system in his first years out of school. He eventually found a long-term profession in college food service and catering.

Many of his work-related tasks have involved problem solving, and in the food business, Carstens said, that can be artistic problem solving.

“People eat with their eyes,” he said.

But just because he had a day job didn’t mean Carstens gave up his compulsion to create.

“Most college campuses have art programs and many had ceramic studios, so I’ve always made pots. I remember working at Millikin in Decatur (Ill.). I could work a dinner shift, then go out the back door, cross the alley, and be at the ceramics studio.”

Carstens left food service and catering in the early 1990s and said “art is center stage now,” driven for the past several years

by Mississippi Mud. “When I teach students about glazing, it’s all going back to the sciences,” he said. “I use a lot of the physical sciences to teach those concepts.”

Carstens said he developed an interest in wood firing, as opposed to gas kilns, which can be “a very intense process. You’re stoking the kiln almost every minute for 20 hours, but that’s how I get the results I want. ... It’s a long process. Making pots is not the hardest part. The conceptualizing is hard, and the drying takes forever.”

When reached in February, he said he was busy with three projects: one for River Action, an environmental company in the Quad Cities; design work for a realty company in Peru, Ill.; and glazing landscape discs (see accompanying photo) for a salt workshop he’s conducting in April.

Through Potters for Peace, he is also exploring the idea of a water filtration system that uses clay, calling the work “making clay that has an impact on someone’s life.”

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ART AND THE LIBERAL ARTS

Scott Spirit W

hen it came right dow n to it,

the pull of art was just too strong for Dusty Scott to ignore.

About a decade ago, the 2003 graduate committed his focus to art, and his most recent projects now hang in the College’s Huff Athletic Center.

One project, which hangs at the north end of the main concourse, is a large aerial painting of campus, with Wallace Hall front and center—the very spot where Scott and his wife, Autumn McGee Scott ’04, were married.

The other is a pair of paintings that hang separately at the south entrance—one featuring a bagpiper and the other a drummer. In the background of each is one half of the Monmouth crest, so the works could also be joined to form one large painting.

The works were unveiled in February in front of a crowd that included members of the media, as well as Monmouth President Clarence Wyatt and First Lady Lobie Stone, whose idea it was to commission the work.

“The goal was to add more of a spirit to the Huff Center when you walk in,” said Scott. “I think the Monmouth Fighting Scots and bagpipers will always be something that resonates on campus. My wife and I had bagpipers at our wedding. Wherever I’m at, and I hear bagpipers, it immediately links me back to Monmouth College. That march of the drum and the bagpipers sends chills through me, and I wanted to give that feeling through these paintings—so even just by seeing it, you could hear it.”

His aerial view features not only most of the campus buildings, but also the words “Monmouth College” in a blue sky with white clouds.

“I got that idea from the beginning of The Simpsons, the way ‘The Simpsons’ comes through the clouds,” said Scott.

“Even if in the future this becomes an old vision of what campus used to look like, there will be people who are nostalgic about how it looked when they were here.”

The paintings were pitched as two different projects, and

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Scott said being chosen as the artist for both made him “nervous and excited.”

“I can’t thank the people at Monmouth enough for giving me the opportunity,” he said. “I hope that I met their expectations.”

In 1999, art helped get Scott through the doors at Monmouth. He found out about an art scholarship that Monmouth offered and worked with his high school art teacher to put his portfolio together. After interviewing with “W”—former Monmouth art professor George Waltershausen—he won the scholarship.

At Monmouth, Scott was primarily a welding sculptor, taking only two painting classes. So his distinctive painting style—combining acrylics, airbrushing and spray paint—has evolved over time.

“I didn’t learn that combination from anybody—I really taught myself,” he said. “I like the control that I have with the acrylic, but I also like the randomness and the feel of an airbrush and the spray paint. Meshing those two worlds has been paying off. ... The opportunity to do what you love is such a huge rush. There’s a huge satisfaction when the vision in your head comes out onto the canvas.”

In addition to art, Scott earned a degree in physical education and used the latter major to get his start professionally.

After earning a master’s degree in exercise science, he worked as a personal trainer and fitness instructor for five years.

“But I really missed working with my hands,” he said. “My experience at Monmouth led me to believe I had something to say and do with art.”

Through the support of family, friends, his wife and social media, Scott said his commitment “just grew and grew. That kind of encouragement and support has led me to doing bigger and bigger projects.”

Included among those friends are Scott’s art professors at Monmouth, particularly Stacy Lotz and Cheryl Meeker.

“In the art world, you can run into some very harsh critics at times, and it can be very discouraging,” said Scott. “But knowing that you have someone in your corner like Stacy and Cheryl telling you to keep going really helps.”

Both of them were present for the unveiling ceremony.

“My need to want to create all started here at Monmouth,” said Scott. “It’s a desire inside of me that I can’t tone down.

If I’m not painting, I’m sketching and drawing out ideas. I’m not just in love with the summit—I’m in love with the climb.

A lot of times people like the idea of something, but they don’t like the hard road to get there. But for me, I love it all.”

Alumni Artists in Action My need to want to create all started here at Monmouth.”

DUSTY SCOTT

PHOTO: Kent Kriegshauser

DUSTY SCOTT ’03

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ART AND THE LIBERAL ARTS

Pursuing a Passion

F

or as long as she can remember , Jessica Bingham Ott ’12 has wanted to be an artist,

but it was an experience she had as a Monmouth College student that took her passion to another level.

“As a child, I never wanted to pursue any other field,” said Ott, who is an adjunct member of the College’s art faculty.

“My parents were really great about fostering my love for art and actually enrolled me in a community college summer drawing class when I was maybe 5 or 6. It must have been an all-ages drawing class because I remember there being quite a few adults and I was the youngest.”

Throughout her youth, Ott also made art informally, “always drawing or making objects” and turning decorating her childhood rooms into artistic events.

When it came time to pick a college major, art was the easy choice, and a fine arts scholarship she received from Monmouth helped solidify her college choice.

“Studying at a liberal arts college I think was the best route for me,” she said. “I come from a small town (Lynn Center, Ill.) and was accustomed to small class sizes. I think the oneon-one time with faculty also benefited me and my artistic goals. I was able to talk with the faculty more often.”

Ott said she didn’t enter college as an ideal student and had “a lot of growing up to do.” Much of that growth happened her junior year.

“That year, I decided I wanted to study abroad in Florence and became more focused than ever,” said Ott, who is married to Zach Ott ’11. “During and after Italy my work changed, I was more dedicated in the studio and I began applying for graduate schools, as well. Everything was falling into place, but it took time and a concentrated effort in and outside of the studio.”

Monmouth’s art faculty helped her through the process.

“I knew that my professors would help guide me in the right direction because they actually knew who I was and what I wanted to accomplish, and they would be honest with me about my artwork and career goals,” she said.

In addition to the one-on-one attention she received, she also appreciated her liberal arts education.

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“My broad education definitely influenced the way I look at myself as an artist, writer and curator,” said Ott, who took several business courses while pursuing a minor in that subject. “Like all Monmouth College students, I was required to take a wide range of courses outside of my discipline, which helped me grow as an artist and find my own voice. The art world is so broad. Artists are not just makers—we are entrepreneurs, educators, curators, directors, activists, collectors, writers, etc., so it has been very important to have a well-rounded education.”

Following her graduation, Ott stayed on campus for a year as a post-baccalaureate fellow. She then attended Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., earning a master’s degree in painting in 2014 and an MFA in painting two years later.

Today, Ott is the director and co-founder of Peoria’s Project 1612, an independent artist-run project space and residency. She served a residency last year at Peoria’s Prairie Center of the Arts and has another residency scheduled for this year in Springfield, Ill. Examples of her diverse work can be viewed at her website (JessicaBinghamArt.com).

“The art I make is quite personal,” she said. “It stems from my childhood experiences, the neighborhood I grew up in, and the loss of a dear friend. I take my story and apply it to paintings and installations. I try to not limit myself in the studio and make art in a way that best suits the idea.

And while the story behind my artwork is unique to me, that does not mean others cannot connect with my work.

We have all had a childhood and have all experienced loss in one form or another.”

That universal understanding is part of the appeal of art, she said. It can serve as a bridge to connect with others.

“Art is not just visual—it is experiential and cultural, and it helps us understand the world around us and provides insight into cultures that are not our own,” she said. “And most importantly, art teaches us empathy. Art can be a common ground between individuals who don’t always see eye to eye.

It can help us connect and grow together.”

Alumni Artists in Action

PHOTO: Kent Kriegshauser

JESSICA BINGHAM OTT ’12

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ART AND THE LIBERAL ARTS

Preserving our treasures

T MARY PHILLIPS

26

he James Christie Shields ’49 Collection of Art and Antiquities deserves top billing on any listing of Monmouth College’s permanent art collection, but many other impressive pieces are also part of it.

“The Shields Collection is by far the biggest collection in the permanent collection,” said Curator of College Art Collections Mary Phillips.

The son of Presbyterian missionaries, Shields spent most of his adult life studying and collecting art and artifacts, particularly from Egypt, the Sudan and the Mediterranean. In 1998, he donated more than 600 objects to his alma mater. The College displays selected works on a rotating basis.

Phillips, who took over as curator in 2000, said, “My initial work was shepherding the collection in all of the moves from one storage point to another,” related to extensive renovation of Hewes Library around that time.

Shortly before Shields’s death in 2009, much of the rest of his collection was donated to the College, raising the number of pieces in the collection to nearly 800.

When Phillips first started working at the College, she was in regular communication with Shields.

“I cherish some of the letters he wrote on his idiosyncratic typewriter,” said Phillips. “It was the same typewriter he used for his incredible files on the items in his collection. He was a consummate collector, and he cataloged everything brilliantly.”

Phillips discussed the issue of “provenance,” or the chronology of ownership of a particular item.

“Jim took copious notes on the provenance of his collection, which is great for us,” she said. “We’re not going to be called into question about any items, which is very important for our collection. ... As a curator, I’ve been so fortunate.

I haven’t had to worry about incomplete information. The Shields Collection is a wonderful opportunity for research for our students and the campus community. “ The Hewes Library renovation gave a dramatic facelift

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

to the Len G. Everett Gallery, which was created in 1987.

It consists of two spaces: Gallery 203 is used for the permanent collection and Gallery 204 is used for rotating collections.

Among Phillips’s favorite pieces in the permanent collection are the Cambodian Buddha at the entrance of Gallery 203, as well as an “exquisite” black bowl by Native American potter Maria Martinez and a Hatshepsut scarab. She called the John Singer Sargent painting Winding Road and Cypress Trees, San Vigilio—which was the gift of Kappa Kappa Gamma to commemorate the organization’s 100th anniversary—“an extremely treasured piece, and also pretty valuable.”

The permanent collection also includes traditional woodblock prints from Takashi Komatsu (Class of 1910), works of printmaking from the Carnegie Print Collection, contemporary Japanese prints and paintings from Dorothy and James Schramm, and artwork primarily of the Pacific from W. Stewart Riley ’45 .

In terms of exhibits, Phillips was especially proud to display the Karen Gould Collection of Medieval Manuscript and Printed Book Leaves, which was given to the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. It was loaned to Monmouth before the museum made it a part of its permanent collection.

“Over the years, people have given various artifacts of greater or lesser importance, sometimes from their own private collection,” said Phillips, who said Monmouth art students have also made donations. “We’re pretty judicious about choosing which pieces to add to our collection. We prefer things that can be used in relation to a course.”

At the end of the academic year, Phillips will retire, along with her husband, Hewes Library director Rick Sayre.

“It truly has been an honor to be in charge of all the collections, particularly the Shields Collection,” she said.

—Barry McNamara

FACULTY RETROSPECTIVE

EIGHT DECADES IN ART FOR EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF ART

HARLOW BLUM CREATIVITY KNOWS NO AGE.

T

hese days, Harlow Blum has two major projects on his plate. One is preparing for a retrospective exhibit, which will be on display at the

Buchanan Center for the Arts in downtown Monmouth later this year. It follows by almost a decade his “40 + 10 Retrospective” in 2009, with the “40” representing his years on the Monmouth faculty (1959-99).

Continued on page 28

Story by BARRY McNAMARA Photos by KENT KRIEGSHAUSER

SPRING 2018

27

Blum’s spacious studio

on the second floor of his home is a virtual warehouse of prints, paintings and collages, representing his evolving artistic styles over the decades.

A Japanesestyle rock garden

designed by Blum is one of several unique landscape features that greet visitors to his home.

28

Blum’s other project is creating his 2018 art for the exhibit, which will feature at least one piece from every year, going back to the 1950s.

“I keep working at it,” said Blum from the main working studio in his house on the east edge of Monmouth, several blocks down Broadway from the College. Following his retirement, he also designed a studio/gallery space above his detached garage, overlooking a creek and wooded area.

Blum’s creative talent began to be molded as a child in Chicago. Around the age of 12, he took an oil painting class and one of his works, a painting of a sunset, still stands out in his mind.

Soon after, he would frequent the Art Institute of Chicago, often traveling there by himself.

“The size of the paintings—the larger works—were especially of interest to me,” he said.

As Blum grew older and started college at the University of Illinois, he began to focus his work on another art form readily available in Chicago—jazz.

“I grew up in Chicago near a family that had three boys, just like we did, and one of the boys was around my age,” said Blum. “He went to Michigan State, but he was home for the summers, and we’d get together some and go to jazz spots. We saw Erroll Garner play the piano, we saw Chet Baker play the trumpet. I did a lot of figure work when I first started painting, and a lot of it was jazz.”

Another figure, painted during his senior year at Illinois in 1956, was of a Civil War soldier, which Blum created with essentially one color—Payne’s grey—save for the gold buttons on the soldier’s coat.

At Illinois, Blum was part of the ROTC program and, following graduation, he served as a second lieutenant in the Army. He was deployed in the tank corps, rather than the infantry, for one simple reason.

“I was signing up for my classes, and I had everything done except the ROTC part,” he recalled. “There was a very long line for infantry. I thought, ‘I’ll miss lunch.’ So I went to the tank line, where there were only a few people.”

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

After completing his military service in 1958, Blum earned a master’s degree in painting at Michigan State. During his early years at Monmouth, he earned his terminal degree in art, completing his MFA in printmaking over the course of five summers at Syracuse University.

What he found when he started at Monmouth was “no studio program at all.” Much like the collages he would later become known for creating, Blum built the art program layer by layer, gradually increasing staff while also overseeing location changes from the old Woodbine building, to the former Nichol’s Hatchery, to the current location in McMichael Academic Hall.

Along the way, Blum’s students didn’t simply learn about art history. They learned to “see.”

As a student himself, Blum had been taught about “negative space.” When looking at something in nature, such as a tree and its leaves, he learned to draw or paint the negative space between the leaves, as opposed to the positive space of each leaf.

“That was a really effective tool for my students, and it made my classes distinctive,” he said. “Students were able to see better after they took my class.”

While some of his students were experiencing that epiphany, it wasn’t long before Blum had one of his own. During his first sabbatical year in 1967-68, Blum traveled to Japan with his wife, Lila Blum ’61, and their three young children after he received a Ford Foundation grant.

He conducted research on printmaking techniques and also worked with Japanese printmakers in the study of traditional wood block prints called Ukiyo-e, and modern printmaking techniques called Hanga. He also spent six months in Kyoto, where he studied landscape gardens.

“I had started thinking about Asian art during an art history course at Illinois, and I had taken a course in Asian art at Michigan State,” he said.

property sloped 270 feet above sea level.

Blum traveled to a local quarry, where he encountered a group of rather large and rather uncooperative islanders.

“I could see the obit—‘Monmouth professor killed in Hawaiian quarry,’” Blum laughed. “But eventually, I found my way to their boss, and he told them I was a customer. Then they were very eager to But the opportunity to be immersed in it every day for a help. I picked out 180 rocks—boulders— year had a profound impact on Blum. and we got them back to Stew’s property.

“The gardens there are laid out by creative people,” he I still remember that truck, weighted said. “They want to create a sensation, something of interdown by all those rocks, struggling to est to look at it, through the various textures, the shapes of make it up that incline.” the rocks.”

It would not be the last time a truck From that year in Japan on, the former easel painter was required to move all of Blum’s found said, “I put down my brushes. It’s all done on the floor now.” materials.

He began doing his work with “found” items, starting with “A few years back, the College put on items from Japan. a production of Waiting for Godot, and “I got so intrigued with the handmade papers they had I was really struck by the expandable there. I was buying them like crazy,” said Blum, who would foam material that (theatre professor) Doug Rankin ’79 return to Japan in 1974-75 as director of the Associated used for the set,” said Blum. “I asked him, ‘Can I get a piece Colleges of the Midwest Japan Study program at Waseda of it?’ He said to come on Sunday, when they were striking University. “I started working with collages. I didn’t work the set. I took a truck over, and I wound up bringing home with a paint box. I the whole set.” didn’t even open it.”

Blum turned those pieces into the He became fascieye-catching icebergs that were part nated with “the idea of of his “Global Warming” series. transforming someIn all, Blum has put together well thing, to transform it over two dozen art series—based into beauty. ... If you around such themes as rust, corn and turn that back into my junkyards—several of them created teaching, it’s inspiring over the span of decades. students to see more, “An artist’s work can develop to try to find some and transform over the years while forms and materials to returning to familiar themes and materials,” he explained. match the ideas they Perhaps his favorite theme, he have.” said, is his series based on the And the materials A loft studio that Blum built over his garage after retirement Ryoan-ji gardens of Japan. don’t have to be sometakes a while to warm up on a cold winter morning. It is perhaps a “That’s been a major influence on thing as unique as fitting location for displaying his “Global Warming” collages—one of which can be seen on the wall behind him. my career,” he said. “I keep coming handmade Japanese back to it—the Japanese philosophy papers. of finding beauty in everyday things.”

“I can see the potential of stuff,” said Blum. “I think, ‘How In the pages of this issue, several opinions about the would I use that in a collage?’ Anything is fair game. I think value of art are expressed. Blum said his oldest daughter, of my rust works. I was able to have a full exhibition, all out Jennifer, might have hit the nail on the head. of rust, bringing something old, burned and almost buried “She’d gone away to college, and when she came back, back to a new life ... Whatever’s around that my eyes light on, she asked, ‘Can I take some of your artwork back with me?

I see the potential. It could be bark, or sand, or pebbles. All I can’t stand the bare walls in my dorm.’” of the rocks at the Boone House garden (in Monmouth) are For Blum, it’s all about beauty—finding it, creating it, rocks that I’ve found.” observing it and sharing it with others.

Blum also recalled a rock-finding excursion in Hawaii, “If you sit in a room that doesn’t have anything, it can be very where he’d been commissioned to build a rock garden blank, very boring,” said Blum.

“Art enriches your spirit.”

by Monmouth alumnus Stew Riley ’45, whose Kaneohe

I think, ‘How would I use that in a collage?’

Anything is fair game.”

Blum and his wife, Lila,

take time out for coffee in the kitchen of their home–just east of Monmouth— where they have lived for more than half a century.

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BASKETBALL

Future Hall of Famer caps off

W

ill jones hadn’t been on campus long when a new M Club Hall of Fame class was inducted during Homecoming festivities. His

head coach, Todd Skrivseth, remembers pointing out to Jones one of that year’s inductees, men’s basketball player Ivy Clark ’81.

“I told him, ‘That could be you before you’re done,” said Skrivseth, although Jones had yet to play a game for the Scots. “It was that evident, that early. He raised the competitiveness of our program.”

Jones’s impact on Monmouth’s won-loss record was immediate. After a postseason drought spanning 15 seasons, the Fighting Scots returned to the Midwest Conference playoffs his freshman year. The team won 16 games, with Jones averaging 14.3 points and earning All-MWC honors.

“I just try to do whatever it takes,” said Jones of his all-around game, which that season saw him lead the Scots in assists and steals while trailing only All-Region selection Andrew Mathison ’16 in rebounding and scoring. “Go get a rebound if we need a rebound, score if we need that, pass. I just want to win.”

During his Scots career, Jones won at a rate not seen since all-time leading scorer Lance Castle and his classmates left the court in 1995, before Jones or any of his

By Barry McNamara

PHOTO: Kent Kriegshauser

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MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

JONES

college career in style teammates were born. When he was named the conference’s Player of the Year this season, Jones became Monmouth’s third four-time All-MWC selection, joining Hall of Famers Pete Kovacs ’55 and Steve Glasgow ’02. He was the Scots’ first Player of the Year since Castle and only the second AllCentral Region player, after Mathison.

But what separates Jones from all the Fighting Scots greats—even including Castle and his school-record 1,827 points—is that he finished his career in Monmouth’s alltime top five in the four major basketball statistics—points, rebounds, assists and steals. His numbers warrant special line-by-line attention: 1,492 points (third) 680 rebounds (fifth) 324 assists (fourth) 172 steals (all-time leader)

For good measure, Jones finished one blocked shot shy of a top-five spot in that department.

“I’ve never coached a guy who’s had the impact he’s had in all the statistical categories,” said Skrivseth, who was honored as the MWC’s Coach of the Year after guiding the Scots to a 20-8 record and an NCAA tournament appearance. “One of the things that makes Will so special is his consistency. You know what type of person you’ll get every night, you know what type of effort.”

What also separates Jones is this year’s conference championship, the product of a 15-3 mark in MWC action. It was the Scots’ first regular-season title in the latest iteration of the non-divisional format, which began in 1998-99. It was also the Scot’s first triumph in a fourteam MWC tourney after losses in eight previous appearances.

During the MWC tournament, Jones also excelled on the defensive end. He was the primary defender on (Continued on page 32)

SCOTSPORTS Men’s hoops advances to NCAA tournament after taking MWC title

By Barry McNamara

M

onmouth’s best men’s basketball season in 28 years ended with a 91-76 loss to host UW-Platteville in the first round of the NCAA tourney.

The Fighting Scots fell behind the No. 8-ranked Pioneers by double digits in the first half but rallied to cut the lead to three at halftime. Justin Aluya fueled a 12-1 run early in the second half with eight points, and his three-point shot with 16:53 left put the Scots ahead 48-42.

Monmouth held the lead as late as the 13:23 mark, and four free throws by Will Jones at the 6:00 mark cut Platteville’s lead to 69-65. But the Pioneers then iced the game with a 9-0 run.

Playing in their final games, Jones and Aluya led the Scots with 24 and 19 points, respectively.

To reach the NCAA tourney, the Scots had to defeat a pair of Midwest Conference foes with whom they had split during the regular season. In both contests, the visitors took the early lead at Glennie Gym. In the semifinal, Lake Forest shot more 60 percent from the field in the first half and opened a 16-point lead two minutes before intermission. But Monmouth closed on a 10-2 run, fueled by three-pointers by Jones and D.J. Swift, to trail 50-42 at the break. The pair would combine for 47 points in the game.

“We were stretched out defensively and were too tight on our guy away from the ball,” said coach Todd Skrivseth. “We talk about being able to guard a manand-a-half, and we were able to make that adjustment in the second half.”

The refresher course on defense was a key, and so was a decisive 14-0 run that left Glennie Gym shaking to its very core.

Freshman Stephon Bobbitt’s layup provided what

The Scots celebrate their Midwest Conference championship, following a comeback win over Ripon.

(Continued on page 33) SPRING 2018

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SCOTSPORTS

It was our last time, and we knew we were good enough—we knew we could do it. Everybody had trust in everybody else, and we were prepared to handle the season.”

WILL JONES leading scorers Eric Porter of Lake Forest and Isaac Masters of Ripon, who shot a combined 10-of-29 (34.5 percent) from the field.

“That’s the other side of it,” said Skrivseth of Jones’s ballhawking abilities. “I think he’s the best perimeter defender in the league. He just sets the tone for us defensively.”

Skrivseth said normal gauges of effort don’t apply to Jones.

“The other coaches and I like to say that a 50-50 ball isn’t really a 50-50 ball if Will’s around it.”

All that said, between Monmouth’s postseason appearances his freshman and senior years, the ride got bumpy for the silky smooth guard. A promising 2015-16 campaign, which saw all five starters return from the playoff squad, ended awkwardly, as the Scots lost their final four games to miss the postseason with a 9-9 conference record.

“It was a huge disappointment,” said Jones. “That was a year we were supposed to win it. I know a lot of our guys took it hard.”

The next year, the Scots simply couldn’t catch a break.

They lost three conference games by three points or less, plus another that went triple-overtime, en route to a 6-12 league record, 6-17 overall.

“It was a nightmare, but looking back, that made it better for us for this year,” said Jones. “We were better prepared to battle.”

And with four seniors in the starting lineup to begin the season, Jones said there was also a sense of urgency.

“That was our philosophy from the jump,” he said. “It was our last time, and we knew we were good enough—we knew we could do it. Everybody had trust in everybody else, and we were prepared to handle the season.”

Perhaps there’s no greater example of the Scots’ maturity and experience than a weekend doubleheader in Glennie Gym in early January. Up first was a Ripon team that Monmouth had edged in Wisconsin in December. But the Red Hawks pulled away in the second half to win the Friday night game 85-70.

The Saturday opponent was a St. Norbert team that had defeated Monmouth 14 straight times. Rather than hang their heads and succumb to the pressure, the Scots battled to ensure there would not be a 15th straight Green Knight

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win. Jones led the way to a 70-67 overtime victory with 14 points and eight rebounds.

“That changed everything,” said Jones. “We had professors talking to us in class, saying ‘Good game’ and ‘Oh, you guys beat St. Norbert?’ That’s when we understood how good we were. We knew we could beat anybody in the conference after that.”

This season, the Scots did just that, and among the teams they defeated not once, but twice, was Grinnell.

Before Jones arrived on campus, the Pioneers had won 18 of the past 19 meetings with the Scots. But with Jones in the lineup, Monmouth won seven of the teams’ nine meetings the past four years. His matchups with the Pioneers serve as a strong example of his all-around game and what his arrival meant for Monmouth basketball.

Jones has always been able to handle big minutes, but he stepped up his training after Monmouth’s disappointing 2016-17 campaign. In fact, his teammate Justin Aluya can accurately say to Jones, “I know what you did last summer,”

SCOTSPORTS

BASKETBALL POSTSEASON

but the Scots replied again, taking their final lead when Bobbitt tipped an offensive rebound to junior Justin Batterton for Continued from page 31 an easy layup.

Moments later, with the Scots hanging onto a two-point turned out to be the game’s final lead change, putting the lead, Engo drilled a three-pointer from in front of the Scots’ Scots up 61-60. What happened next will be talked about by bench for a 69-64 advantage. The Foresters responded with Scots fans for years to come. their own three-pointer, but then Swift swished another Defensive standout Paul Engo III intercepted a pass and three, this one in front of the boisterous student section, and raced to the Scots’ basket at the far end. From Skrivseth’s the Red Hawks would never get the ball with the chance to vantage point, he could see a Forester measuring Engo’s tie again. pace to block a layup, but the senior rose high and Aluya made 16-of-18 free throws in the game, emphatically dunked the ball instead, eliciting including some key ones late, to lead MonPHOTO what may have been the loudest reaction in the mouth with 25 points.

TRIBUTE 35-year history of Glennie Gym. Skrivseth was asked when he knew this TO THE “I thought their defender was going to try to Monmouth team might be special.

2017-18 pin it against the glass, but Paul just punched it “I felt really good about the team early in the SCOTS in on him,” said Skrivseth. “Man, did Paul have season because we were guarding,” he said. “We NEXT PAGE a good weekend. He’s the heart of our team, no told the guys that if we guard, if we rebound and doubt.” if we take care of the ball, we’ll have a chance.

While Engo’s dunk—which included a free throw “I remember about eight games into the season, I was to complete the three-point play—was easily the highlight of talking to the team, and Paul stopped me.

He said, ‘Coach, the game, the key basket came later, also courtesy of Engo, Coach, we got this.’” who laid the ball in for an 84-79 lead with 1:40 to play. The That they did. After losing three tough road games Foresters would not get within four the rest of the way. around the holidays by a total of eight points, they were hard Engo also had a clutch—and loud—basket in the champito beat in the 2018 portion of their schedule, taking 12 of 13 onship game vs. Ripon. games heading into the NCAA tourney.

Monmouth fell behind early against the Red Hawks, trail“We never had that lull in the season, and that’s a testaing 14-5. But the Scots stormed back to take a 39-34 lead ment to our guys and the senior leadership we had,” said into the locker room.

Skrivseth.

In the second half, the Red Hawks rallied to lead by five,

WILL JONES Continued from previous page

as Jones went to California to live with Aluya’s family for three months.

“We worked out every day, lifted every day, did hill workouts,” said Jones, who is no stranger to the gym. His father, Anthony, coached on several college staffs and was head coach at Slippery Rock (Pa.) University for seven years.

Jones and Aluya were already all-conference players for the Scots, but both players saw most of their averages increase from the previous season. Jones became more efficient, shooting at a higher percentage while dishing out more assists, while Aluya became dominant on the glass, hauling down three more rebounds per game and joining Jones on the All-MWC first team. Included in Aluya’s improved average was his record-breaking 25-rebound effort against Grinnell on a night that also saw him score 37 points.

Asked late in the season what it meant to him to finish in

the top five on four career stat lists, Jones replied: “When I heard about that, I was so surprised. You talk about being the tops in scoring, and I’ve always been a pretty good rebounder. But I was never the point guard for our team, so I was surprised about the assists, and I never thought I got that many steals. But it really means a lot to me. I thought, ‘Dang, I guess I really was an all-around player.’”

What also means a lot to Jones is the faith that Monmouth’s coaching staff showed in him from Day One. “I’m fortunate to have had an opportunity to play here,” said Jones. “The coaches gave me an opportunity to play right out of high school.”

Four years ago, when Jones was considering his college options, he looked at small schools for basketball. But he also considered state universities such as Northern Illinois and Southern Illinois, knowing that would mean giving up the sport. These past four seasons—and Monmouth’s basketball record book—just wouldn’t have been the same without him.

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PHOTOS: Kent Kriegshauser

POSTSEASON

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PA N D E M O N I U M

SPRING 2018 

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SCOTSPORTS

EVERS VAULTS TO TOP

National champion also breaks Scots’ record

C

learing a school-record height in the pole vault, senior Dan Evers became Monmouth’s 11th national champion in track and field on March 9.

Evers vaulted 17-7¼ at the NCAA indoor meet in Birmingham, Ala., breaking his own personal best by nearly three inches and besting the runner-up by more than a foot.

Now a five-time All-American, Evers joined 2008 classmates Peter Sprecher and Jonny Henkins on the list of Fighting Scots vaulters to win a national title. Earlier in the season, he set Monmouth’s indoor record with a vault that equaled Sprecher’s outdoor mark. Prior to the meet, Evers was honored as the Midwest Region Men’s Field Athlete of the Year by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for posting the fifth-best vault in Division III history.

Two other Scots qualified for the national meet, but fell just short of All-American honors. Junior John Hintz placed 10th in the weight throw with a heave of 59-11¾, while senior Joanna Podosek ran her 800-meter prelim in 2:15.27, missing the finals by less than one second.

Evers also excelled at the Midwest Conference meet, as Monmouth’s men ran their indoor track and field championship string to 19. He won a pair of events— including the pole vault by more than three feet—to earn the Men’s Field Event Performer of the Meet honor.

Evers, who cleared 17-1 in the vault, added a first-place finish in the long jump (22-3½) and placed third in the triple jump (42-11). He was topped in the latter event by runner-up Seth Andersen (44-0√), who won the high jump title (6-3∏) en route to capturing the league’s Newcomer of the Year honor.

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MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

Dan Evers’ vault of 17-1 at the Midwest Conference championships propelled him to nationals, where he beat that height by half a foot.

Another two-time winner at the meet was Podosek, who led the women to a runner-up finish at the meet with firstplace points in the 800 (2:15.51) and mile (5:06.95).

Other individual winners for the Scots included seniors Vaughn Gentzler in the 60-meter hurdles (8.51), Lilly Mendez in the weight throw (51-7∑) and Madi Schulenberg in the high jump (5-3∑) and juniors Tyler Bland in the 800 (1:58.23) and Hintz in the weight throw (59-3∏).

The men’s team scored 145 points to edge a trio of other schools that bested the century mark, while the women were 51 points behind first-place St. Norbert.

SCOTSPORTS

INDIVIDUAL WINNERS — 2018 MIDWEST CONFERENCE INDOOR MEET

ANDERSEN

PODOSEK

GENTZLER

MENDEZ

SCHULENBERG

HINTZ

Tyler Bland leads the pack in the 800 at the MWC indoor meet.

WINTER SPORTS SUMMARY WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Late in the season, the Scots won four out of five Midwest Conference games to jump into a sixth place finish with a 6-10 mark.

The Scots were led in scoring by four different players in those wins, including a Scots’ season-high 27-point effort by sophomore Becca Gallis against Grinnell and a 23-point night for freshman Carley Turnbull vs. Illinois College.

In all, the Scots had six different high scorers on the season. Turnbull (a team-high 11.1), Gallis and senior Tia Robertson all averaged double figures, while Turnbull topped the team in rebounds (5.4) en route to becoming Monmouth’s first freshman All-MWC selection in 14 years. Sophomore Yvonne Ornelas was the steals and assists leader as the Scots finished 9-16 overall.

Preston Bocchi ’21

Becca Gallis ’20

SWIMMING Freshman Preston Bocchi made an impressive debut at the Midwest Conference Swimming and Diving Championships, taking two first-place honors while

setting several Fighting Scots records.

Bocchi won the 100- and 200yard backstroke races, establishing new top times of 51.38 and 1:53.66.

He also was part of two new relay marks. He teamed with senior Riley Hess and juniors Logan Hoepfner and Jake Hall to set a new record of 3:14.49 in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Bocchi, Hess, Hall and senior Tom Cangelosi set a new record in

the 400-yard medley (3:33.56).

Bocchi and sophomore Rik Doornenbal each had three topeight finishes, while Cangelosi had two as the men’s team placed fifth at the meet.

On the women’s side, the Scots placed seventh, led by freshman Miranda Pasky and senior Michelle Nafziger, who both had a pair of top-eight finishes.

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IN THE SCOTLIGHT

BARBARA PAJOR ’17 Language student pursuing her career dream in Brazil

By BARRY McNAMAR A

A 2017 graduate whose college experience was shaped by studying abroad and teaching English as a second language is continuing to enrich her linguistic skills in Brazil.

Through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, Barbara Pajor is participating in the highly competitive English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Program, which places Fulbrighters in classrooms abroad to provide assistance to local English teachers. ETAs help teach English language while serving as cultural ambassadors for the United States.

Based at the Universidade de Caxias do Sul, Pajor is teaching primarily undergraduate students Pajor visits an art exhibit at the Pátio do Colégio in São Paulo during orientation. enrolled in international business and English.

“I heard about the Fulbright program while cultures. (They can do that) just by being able to volunteer, studying abroad in Tarragona, Spain,” said Pajor, who ma- for example.” jored in international business and Spanish at Monmouth In addition to spending nine months in a university setting, and also spent a semester in Chicago through an Associated Pajor will have a chance to participate in an additional projColleges of the Midwest program. ect outside the classroom. It’s possible she could extend her “Something that I’ve really appreciated is that Monmouth stay by becoming a mentor. is really pushing people to study off campus and study abroad, Already fluent in Spanish and proficient in French, Pajor is and that’s something that I’ve really tried to help foster in excited to add another language to her repertoire. other students,” she said.

“I learned how much learning a language really benefits my “There are so many opporYou learn parts of the culture, such as the ESL students, and now I have the opportunity to learn Porhistory and food, that you really don’t understand tunities for people to learn tuguese,” she said. outside of the classroom until you actually experience them.

Pajor, who has encouraged other Monmouth students to and really have an experiBARBARA PAJOR ential learning experience look into the Fulbright program, said Monmouth faculty and instead of just trying to staff are willing and able to assist them.

“This is such a great opportunity for Monmouth College read something out of a textbook. … You learn parts of the students,” she said. “I would not have been able to go through culture, such as the history and food, that you really don’t unthis process without my advisers, and also without (Wackerle derstand until you actually experience them.”

Career and Leadership Center Director) Marnie Dugan (’95), That said, Pajor didn’t have to leave Monmouth to become an experienced teacher in English as a second language. She who was very supportive. As a recent grad, that’s when they worked in the local community, helping immigrants from were helping me.” countries such as Myanmar and Mexico become more familAfter her Fulbright experience, Pajor said “the dream” is to iar with English. attend either graduate school or law school, with the goal of “I taught people from all over the world when I was at Mon- working in immigration law. mouth, and also helped them apply for driver’s licenses,” she “I would really like to find another avenue to help immisaid. “I learned there is so much to learn from these individ- grant communities, not necessarily directly teaching,” she uals. People need to get off campus and learn about other said.

‘

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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 40 for submission guidelines.

1953

BUSH WATTS

Irwin Kirk of Cherry Hills Village, Colo., leads classes in history through Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes.

In 2018, his class is about the Russian Revolution.

Neil Alexander ’76 (left), longtime boys basketball coach at Lincoln

1958 1963 1965

first couple inducted at the same time. The couple maintains a joint general dental practice in Mount Zion.

60th 55th

REUNION REUNION

JUNE 7-10, 2018 JUNE 7-10, 2018

Judy Iverson of Algonquin, Ill., is one year into her retirement from Nordstrom in the Woodfield Mall.

Karen Bush Watts of Bloomington, Ind., has received the Hamao Umezawa Memorial Award, the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award for work in antimicrobial chemotherapy. She is the first female recipient in the history of the award, which is sponsored by the Microbial Chemistry Research Foundation of Japan. She received the award last November at the International Congress on Chemotherapy in Taiwan, where she also presented a plenary talk.

1968

50th

REUNION

JUNE 7-10, 2018

Russ Andrews of Beaufort, S.C., retired last year from Northwestern Mutual, where he was a financial representative.

1969

Merikay Waldvogel of Knoxville, Tenn., an internationally known quilt historian and author, was a featured speaker at a national Quilt Alliance conference in New York City last September.

1972

William Daniel of East St. Louis, Ill., was accorded the honored rank of senior counselor by the St. Clair County Illinois Bar Association for his 40 years of service. The honor does not coincide with retirement, as Daniel actively practices law on a daily basis.

1973

45th

REUNION

JUNE 7-10, 2018

Chip Cook of Shoreview, Minn., retired in 2016 as executive director of New Life Christian Church.

Deborah Drain Crawford of Linn Creek, Mo., has written children’s books for the past 13 years and has two series—one about the escapades of a kitty in the Lake of the Ozarks and the other about an iguana in Mexico. She has developed a company, The Culinary for the Literary, to help others with their dreams of being a writer, walking them through the “ingredients” it takes to make a good book.

1975

Dr. Peter and Dr. Julie Van Cleve Paulson of Mount Zion, Ill., were inducted into the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Alumni Hall of Fame last year, becoming the

(Ill.) High School, in January went head-to-head against Mahomet-Seymour (Ill.) High School coach Chad Benedict ’96. The Lincoln basketball court was recently named in honor of Alexander.

PETER PAULSON

1976

The basketball court at Lincoln (Ill.) High School has been named in honor of Neil Alexander, who has coached the Railsplitters boys basketball team since 1990. At the time of the ceremony, Alexander had guided Lincoln to 630 victories, and his overall mark of 829 wins at four Illinois high schools ranks third on the all-time list.

1978 1980

JULIE PAULSON

40th

REUNION

OCT. 5-7, 2018

Kevin Goodwin of Kirkland, Wash., has been awarded the inaugural Emergency Ultrasound Advocate Award by the American College of Emergency Physicians in recognition of the historical support Goodwin has provided for the field of highly miniaturized ultrasound technology and its adoption within emergency medicine.

1986

Mahendran Jawaharlal of Boca Raton, Fla., has joined CampusWorks as president and CEO. A higher education consulting firm, the company’s vision is to make higher education accessible to everyone. Jawaharlal has more than 30 years of experience as a strategic leader in global higher education, most recently at Macmillan Enterprise Services group, where he served as president. The chairwoman of CampusWorks’ board praised Jawaharlal for being “a motivational leader and visionary.”

1983 1988

JAWAHARLAL

35th

REUNION

OCT. 5-7, 2018

30th

REUNION

OCT. 5-7, 2018

For the second consecutive year, Dan Cotter has been included in the Illinois Super Lawyers listing for Business/Corporate. Cotter is an attorney for the Chicago firm Latimer LeVay Fyock.

1992

Jill Henson Darin of Geneseo, Ill., is the environmental health and safety coordinator at Midland Information Resources. She recently started a new business, PrimeTime FUNctions, which is a special event rental facility and venue. In 2017, Jill and her husband celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary, and she was elected to her township’s board of trustees.

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39

ALUMNI NEWS | CLASS NOTES

Hiroyuki Fujita, CEO of Quality Electrodynamics, an advanced medical device manufacturer in Cleveland, recently announced the opening of the QED Research Center in Mayfield Village, Ohio, a collaborative facility where medical researchers and business leaders can develop innovative health care technologies.

Laura Liesman of Brielle, N.J., is assistant vice president for athletics and recreation at Georgian Court University. Last year, she received a Garden State Award for “substantial and enduring contribution to intercollegiate athletics nationally, regionally and in the State of New Jersey.” She was recently appointed to serve a four-year term on the NCAA Division II Management Council.

FUJITA

1993 LIESMAN

25th

REUNION

OCT. 5-7, 2018

Floyd Boykin Jr. of Florissant, Mo., has released his fifth studio project—an EP album titled Phoenix. A blend of poetry, jazz, soul, hip hop and experimental music, it is available for download at f loydboykinjr.bandcamp.com.

1998

20th

REUNION

OCT. 5-7, 2018

Annamarie Cima Pionke of Hinsdale, Ill., is a senior accountant for Jones Lang LaSalle of Westmont, Ill.

2002

Tony Wash of Bartlett, Ill., is the director of a newly released crime horror film, High on the Hog, starring veteran actor Sid Haig. Shot in northwest Illinois, the grindhouse thriller tells the story of a marijuana farmer who will go to any lengths to protect his crop and his family.

2003

15th

REUNION

OCT. 5-7, 2018

Molly McNamara Klinger has moved to Covington, Ga., and is the new golf coach and instructor at Oxford College of Emory University.

2004

Bridget Lee Szakas of Medina, Ohio, is owner of Bfit Byou, a personal and online fitness and nutrition company.

SZAKAS

2005

Anna Beasley Dibble of St. Louis, Mo., has joined the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center as vice president of human resources. In her new role, she will work to inf luence and foster collaboration and partnership with employees and leadership.

Chris Knoepke of Littleton, Colo., was recently appointed to the cardiology faculty at the University of Colorado’s School of Medicine.

BEASTROM

Brian ’06 and Sara Pogge Potter live in Marquette, Mich., where Sara is an instructor at Northern Michigan University. Last year, she received the King-Chavez Parks Fellowship, which fully funded her doctoral studies for three years. She is focusing her studies on the intersection of feminism, motherhood and health advocacy issues. Sara recently had an article published in the Southern Journal of Linguistics and has presented papers recently at two conferences, including one on the 2017 women’s march on Washington, D.C.

2006

Evy Lipecka of Chicago was recently promoted to director of development at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation in Evanston, Ill.

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MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

2007

Sarah Zaleski Degarmo of Toulon, Ill., received National Board Certification for Teaching and is teaching art at Geneseo (Ill.) High School.

2008 2010

10th

REUNION

OCT. 5-7, 2018

Dusty Sanor Spurgeon of Rio, Ill., was presented with a 2018 Golden Beet Award from the Illinois Stewardship Alliance, highlighting progressive local food practices in the state. She is the co-owner of Spurgeon Veggies, a woman-owned family farm operation that organically grows nearly every vegetable possible in the state.

2011

Eric Grant of Monmouth has joined the staff at Midwest Bank in a dual role. He is an insurance adviser for the Porter-Hay Insurance Agency and a financial adviser for Midwest Bank Wealth Management Services.

Alex Tanney of Nashville, Tenn., has created the Tackle MS with Alex Tanney Fund to support organizations within the field of multiple sclerosis. An inaugural weekend of fundraising events, including a youth football camp, golf outing and dinner and auction, will be held in Monmouth in July. Tanney, who is entering his seventh NFL season (now with the Tennessee Titans), was inspired to create the fund after his sister-in-law was diagnosed with the disease.

2013

5th

REUNION

OCT. 5-7, 2018

Ellissa Sexton of Alton, Ill., has joined Riverbender.com and EdGlenToday.com as an Internet marketing consultant, continuing to fulfill her goal of a career in media.

2015

Corbin Beastrom of Salt Lake City is a capital budget, debt and grants analyst for Park City Municipal Government. “(At Monmouth) I studied the relationship between the self and the state,” he said. “Today, my job and current events make that education invaluable.”

2017

Barbara Pajor is spending much of 2018 in Brazil, serving as a classroom assistant for local English teachers. An international business and Spanish major, she is participating the highly competitive Fulbright English Teaching Program. (See page 38) Nick Mainz is an AmeriCorps volunteer at Bear Brook State Park in New Hampshire, where he is serving 10 months as an interpretive ranger.

CORRECTION: An incorrect class year for Andrea Berggren ’91 was published in the Winter issue’s Class Notes. We apologize for the error.

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.

WEDDINGS

1968 Lynette Cadwell and Steve Mortonson

December 2, 2017

2004 Bridget Lee and Steve Szakacs

October 7, 2017

2007 Maria Latrofa and Paul Rogers

July 4, 2015

2008 Nicole Wasilewski and Daniel Kennedy ’09 November 10, 2017 2009 Paige Halpin and Henry Smith

January 14, 2017

2014 Leslie Legg and Jeffrey Colegg

May 13, 2017

2015 Heather Nagle and Kyle Grubb

September 23, 2017

2016 Kayla Cherry and Andrew Bernard

PAIGE HALPIN ’09 AND HENRY SMITH

August 4, 2017

NICOLE WASILEWSKI ’08 AND DANIEL KENNEDY ’09

STEVE MORTONSON ’68 AND LYNETTE CALDWELL

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BIRTHS

TITUS ROBINSON

2005 Mollie and Jacob Emery

a daughter, Isla Renee

September 15, 2017 2006 Heather Weber Green and Jeremy

a son, Joshua

December 7, 2017 JOSHUA GREEN

Kristen Hotz Robinson and Jason ’03 a son, Titus Lee March 3, 2017

2008 Samantha Dwyer Baldyga and Robert

a son, Zeke Vernon

June 2, 2017

JAMES HOFFMAN

2010

Laura Thiesfeld Fitzpatrick and Charles ’11 a son, Thomas Alan March 19, 2017

Lauren Vana Pederson and Thomas ’11 a daughter, Jocelyn E. February 24, 2017

Megan Thornburg Sanders and Joseph a son, Jack Stephen June 1, 2016

2011 Shanan McLaughlin Hoffman and Nick

a son, James Walter

September 27, 2017

Alison Coulter Lafever and Barry a son, Kade Weston August 13, 2017

2009 Shannon Turczyn Reschke and Luke

a son, Graham Allan

August 24, 2017

Kimberly Martin Sheehy and Justin a daughter, Charlotte Marie October 17, 2017

Andrea Dorscheid Peterson and Jonathan ’10 a daughter, Grace Kathleen August 20, 2017

GRACE PETERSON

42

ISLA EMERY

THOMAS FITZPATRICK

MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

KADE LAFEVER

ZEKE BALDYGA

Want to make your reunion even more memorable?

Volunteer for your reunion committee today!

Classes celebrating reunions are: 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2003, 2008 and 2013.

HOMECOMING 2018 OCTOBER 5 & 6

Contact Jen Armstrong at jmarmstrong@monmouthcollege.edu

OBITUARIES

1939

Chiyoko Ohata Sue, of Honolulu, Hawaii, died July 3, 2015.

A native of Hawaii, Sue became a school teacher after graduating from Monmouth with a degree in sociology.

1948

Helen Mar Lowe of Pleasant Hill, Calif., died Aug. 17, 2015.

She graduated with a degree in biology.

Marian Thompson Mills, 91, of Monmouth, died Jan. 7, 2018. She graduated with a degree in elementary education and was a member of Pi Beta Phi. Mills was one of the first teachers at Monmouth’s Warren Achievement School, touching the lives of many special students over 20 years. She was preceded in death by her husband of 47 years, Donald Mills ’51.

1949

Richard Johnson, 90, of Windham, N.Y., died Nov. 28, 2017. He graduated with a degree in chemistry and was a member of the swim team and Tau Kappa Epsilon. Johnson was drafted in 1950 and stationed in Bremerhaven, Germany, where he met his wife of 63 years. The couple settled in Cranford, N.J., and Johnson took over Hexacon Electric, working there until his retirement in 1997.

1950

Donald Blair, 91, of Quincy, Ill., died Oct. 30, 2017. He served in the Navy during World War II, then attended Monmouth, studying business. He worked for Nabisco for 40 years, retiring in 1989.

William Grice, 89, of Kewanee, Ill., died Nov. 12, 2017.

A mathematics major, he was on the swim team and football team. Grice was the owner of Schmidt-Heinrich and Grice Insurance Company in Kewanee. He was preceded in death by his wife of 65 years, Nancy McDowell Grice ’50. Survivors include a daughter, Virginia Grice Kopper ’74.

IN MEMORIA M

Raymond C. Grills ’37 Raymond C. Grills, of Bradenton, Fla., a former Monmouth College trustee and a metallurgist for the Manhattan Project, died Dec. 10, 2017.

He was just five days shy of his 103rd birthday.

A chemistry major at Monmouth, Grills was on the football and cross country teams and was inducted into the Octopus Society.

Through the efforts of chemistry professor W.S. Haldeman, Grills received an assistantship at Indiana University, where he earned his master’s and Ph.D. degrees and also met his wife, Helen. In 1940, he began his 34-year career with the DuPont Co., where he worked in the explosive, textile fibers, film and international departments.

During World War II, Grills worked as supervisor at the Kankakee Ordnance Works, Joliet, Ill., and as chief chemical engineer at the Oklahoma Ordnance Works, Chouteau, Okla.

In 1943, Grills joined the Manhattan Project at the University of Chicago Met Lab and later at the Hanford Engineer Works in Washington state, where he was one of two men awarded a patent for a canning process that sealed uranium slugs for use in water-cooled nuclear reactors.

Following the war, Grills served DuPont in managerial positions in Virginia, Tennessee and Delaware, as well as Argentina. In 1965 he was named director of manufacture for DuPont’s film department, and in 1969 was named assistant general manager.

Grills, who served on the Monmouth College Board of Trustees from 1964 until 1970, received Monmouth’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1972. In 1974, he and his wife retired to Sarasota, Fla., where he served as commodore of a yacht club and helped found the Sarasota Community Foundation.

An avid runner, Grills was still running three miles per day and competing in 5K events in his 90s. He was preceded in death by his wife and by his brother, Richard Grills ’37.

Polly Huxley Kurtz, 91, of Portland, Ore., died Jan. 19, 2018. She studied English and, later in life, completed her bachelor’s degree at Portland State University. She was preceded in death by her husband, the Rev. Harold Kurtz ’48, with whom she lived 23 years in Ethiopia, where she homeschooled her children, taught local sixth graders and

Kurtz with Mother Teresa

worked with the women in the village of Maji. She also volunteered at an orphanage in Addis Ababa, founded by the Sisters of Mercy, where she met Mother Teresa. Survivors include daughters Caroline Kurtz ’72 and Jane Kurtz ’73.

CORRECTIONS: The obituary for Elizabeth Moffat Cundiff ’51, which appeared in the Winter issue incorrectly stated she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma. She was in fact a member of Kappa Delta. The obituary for Carolyn May ’68 (Winter issue) gave her place of residence as Tempe, Ariz. She actually resided in Queen Creek, Ariz. We apologize for the errors.

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MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

ALUMNI NEWS | OBITUARIES

Robert T. Matson, 91, of Mason City, Iowa, died Feb. 8, 2018. A public school teacher in the Monmouth area for 41 years, he also served 12 years as a Monmouth alderman.

A political science major, he was a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. He earned a master’s degree in educational administration in 1970. During World War II, he served two years in the Army in the Philippines, where he earned a Purple Heart, and in Japan on occupation duty. He had been aboard a ship to invade Japan when the war ended. Matson was an officer for countless civic and community organizations and served as mayor pro-tem for the City of Monmouth for two years. He was a founder of the Warren County Tourism Council, chairman of the Monmouth Municipal Swimming Pool building committee, and treasurer of the Wyatt Earp Birthplace, Inc., a museum he helped develop. He was a volunteer weatherman for the National Weather Service and attended the 50th anniversary of D-Day ceremonies in France, where he was featured on the CBS Evening News. Survivors include his wife, Melba Larson Matson ’52, daughter Jane Matson Lee ’80 and son Theodore Matson ’80. He was preceded in death by his son John Matson ’77.

Allan B. Lehmann, 90, of Napoopoo, Hawaii, died Nov. 17, 2015. A psychology major, he was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon. He was a Navy veteran and earned his master’s in counseling and guidance from Atlanta University. He was a retired high school counselor.

1951

Cynthia Noyes Hershberger, 88, of Waterloo, Iowa, died Jan. 18, 2018. She graduated with a degree in elementary education and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, while working her summers on Cape Cod. She was a fourth-grade teacher.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 60 years, David Hershberger ’51, who died in 2012.

Betty Phillips Holdt, 88, of Monmouth, Ore., died Jan. 17, 2018. She graduated with a degree in business and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma.

IN MEMORIA M

Marilynn Hofstetter ’49 Marilynn Hoffstetter, 89, of Ferndale, Calif., a retired attorney and former mayor, died Jan. 12, 2018.

A recipient of an honorary degree and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Monmouth, she followed both her parents to the College, where she majored in philosophy and pledged to Alpha Xi Delta.

After earning her J.D. degree in 1952 from the Berkeley campus of the University of California, she began the practice of law in Whittier, Calif., where she specialized in civil law.

Hofstetter’s political career began in 1960, when she became the first woman elected to the Whittier City Council. In 1968 she was the first woman to be elected mayor of the city of Whittier. Throughout her life, she was an ardent champion of women, and a role model.

As a young attorney, Hofstetter joined Soroptimist, a professional women’s service organization with 84,000 members in 82 countries. In 1980, she was installed as president of Soroptomist International of the Americas. During her tenure, she helped develop and promote programs to improve the status of women, including international training programs, day care centers and public works projects.

She headed numerous city, county and state committees and served on various federal commissions, including the President’s Committee on Employment of the Handicapped and the California Governor’s Task Force on Criminal Justice, Corrections Division. Monmouth College awarded her the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1981 and an honorary doctor of laws degree in 1989.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her sisters, Helen Hofstetter Raphael ’47 and The Hon. Patricia Hofstetter ’48.

Richard M. Scholten, 91, of Elk Grove Village, Ill., died Feb. 5, 2018. After serving with the Seabees in the South Pacific during World War II, he enrolled at Monmouth College, where he was met his future wife, Joyce Hansen Scholten ’52, while helping the freshman class move in. A math major, he was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon and played basketball and baseball. He was a retired purchasing director. He was preceded in death by his wife and is survived by his son, Scott Scholten ’08.

1952

R i c h a r d Fosse, 89, of Wichita, Kansas, died July 23, 2017. He studied mathematics and was a member of Theta Chi. He owned Fosse Sales Inc., an industrial supplies company.

Joan Stuart Renard, 86, of Galva, died Dec. 6, 2017. Her husband, Harold Renard ’51, died Sept. 22, 2017.

Raymond Reutlinger, 90, of Salem, Ore., died Dec. 30, 2017. He graduated with a degree in business and was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon. Prior to attending Monmouth, he served in the Navy and was enrolled at Pacific University. Reutlinger had a successful career in pharmaceutical sales for Hoffman-LaRoche.

1954

Elizabeth “Libby” Dugan Clark of Hanford, Calif., died Dec. 9, 2017. Clark followed her mother, Mary Moore Dugan ’24, to Monmouth, studying elementary education and joining Kappa Kappa Gamma. She and her late husband were founders in 1985 of the Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture in rural Hanford, which at its peak had 5,000 visitors per year. The couple decided in 2013 to close the museum, and their collection, consisting of 1,700 objects spanning 10 centuries, was acquired by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

SPRING 2018

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ALUMNI NEWS | OBITUARIES

1954— continued Joan McLaughlin Magnuson, 85, of Belvidere, Ill., died Dec. 29, 2017. She graduated with a degree in psychology, then did graduate work in library science at the University of Illinois. She worked at the Rockford (Ill.) Public Library, for Rockford Public Schools and at her husband’s construction business. She and her late husband were married 48 years. Survivors include siblings Grace McLaughlin Jones ’51 and John McLaughlin ’57.

Mary Ellen Johnson Morrison of Buffalo, N.Y., died Oct. 9, 2017. She studied sociology and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma before completing her bachelor’s degree at Purdue University. She was preceded in death by her husband of 56 years.

Donald R. Pearson of Rockford, Ill., died Feb. 5, 2018. A track and field athlete, he was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon and the Octopus Club. A biology major, he earned his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and worked as a clinical psychologist in private practice from 1969 until his death.

1955

Marjorie Johnson Roessler, 83, of Arlington, Texas, died May 3, 2016. A member of Alpha Xi Delta, she studied elementary education before completing her bachelor’s degree several years later at Northern Illinois University.

1956

M a r c i a “A n n e” Ec k l ey H ay n e s, 83 , of Bu sh nel l , Ill., died Feb. 4, 2018. A history major, she was a member of Pi Beta Phi, Phi Alpha Theta and the College band. She taught fifth grade in the Bushnell-Prairie City school system for 20 years. The daughter of the late journalism instructor Ralph B. Eckley ’23, she is survived by her husband, Jim, children Emily Sue Haynes Nelson ’77 and George Haynes ’79, and brother John Eckley ’58.

1957

Dr. Richard Cozine, 81, of South Portland, Maine, died Jan. 1, 2018.

He graduated with a degree in chemistry and was a member of the cross country and track teams and Sigma Phi Epsilon. Cozine received his M.D., from Johns Hopkins University, beginning a long and respected career in medicine, much of it

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MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

with the U.S. Air Force. He began private practice in anesthesiology but later switched disciplines to ophthalmology.

Mary Beth Willson Hoke, 82, of Gilbert, Ariz., died Jan. 15, 2018. She graduated with a degree in music and was a member of Kappa Delta. She taught elementary music in Newton, Iowa, for 28 years while also giving private piano lessons and serving as a youth choir director.

1958

Elizabeth Alanne, 78, of Freeport, Maine, died May 4, 2016. A member of Pi Beta Phi, she was on the synchronized swim team.

1960

Warren Messmore, 93, of Galesburg, Ill., died Dec. 16, 2017. He served in the Navy during World War II, stationed in the Pacific as a 5-inch gunner’s mate. After studying at Monmouth and the University of Illinois, he completed his bachelor’s degree at Western Illinois University. Messmore taught school and operated a service station before working for Butler Manufacturing, retiring in 1989 after 23 years as a foreman.

1963 1964 2016.

Connie Meredith Courtage of Portland, Ore., died Oct. 15,

Allen Carius, 75, of Milan, Ill., died Dec. 24, 2017. He graduated with a degree in economics and was a member of the basketball team, Octopus Club and Theta Chi. Carius retired after 28 years at John Deere Harvester Works in East Moline, Ill. He was preceded in death by his wife of 49 years. Survivors include his son, Brant Carius ’89.

Suellen Keller Lamb, 75, of Sun Prairie, Wis., died Jan. 19, 2018. She graduated with a degree in English and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma. She initially taught elementary school, then went into the business world, working in various capacities for Marmet Window Company, Wausau Metals Corporation and Marshall Erdmann and Associates, all in Wisconsin.

Bernard Sutinis, 76, of Nashville, Tenn., died Nov. 5, 2017. An economics major, he was a member of the tennis team and Alpha Tau Omega. He worked in the scrap iron and steel industry for more than 30 years.

1968 1969 2013.

Robert Chaplick of Las Vegas, Nev., died Dec. 25,

Charles Neam of Vienna, Va., died June 19, 2016. He graduated with a degree in sociology and was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon.

Mark Norris, 71, of Arlington Heights, Ill., died Feb. 2, 2018 after a two-year battle with lung cancer. A Marine Vietnam War veteran, he was a warehouse distribution systems analyst for WW Grainger until his retirement in 2006.

1971

William Papich, 69, of Farmington, N.M., died Dec. 19, 2017. He graduated with a degree in government and was a member of Theta Chi. After serving in Vietnam, he began a career that included working in a copper mine, helping to build the Metro subway in Washington, D.C., and serving as a television reporter in Anchorage, Alaska. He was best known as a newspaper reporter in Farmington and as a freelance writer whose work appeared in major newspapers throughout the country. He later worked in public relations.

1972

David Perri, 67, of Boston, Mass., died Sept. 19, 2016.

After attending Villanova University, he graduated from Monmouth with a degree in English and was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. He worked as a bartender and manager for several venues, including several in Boston.

Hugh Sumner, 67, of Frankfort, Ill., died Nov. 26, 2017. A history major, he was also involved with the college radio station.

Sumner worked for Dominick’s and the Summit Hill School District. Survivors include his wife Deborah Hook Sumner ’70.

1973

Michael Powers, 64, of Crystal Lake, Ill., died March 9, 2016. He graduated with degrees in English and religious studies and was a member of Alpha Tau Omega. Powers taught high

ALUMNI NEWS | OBITUARIES

school English, owned American Pizza Pie in Crystal Lake and was a sales representative for The Hode Group, Inc. Marsha Vece of Clinton, Conn., died Jan. 8, 2018. She graduated with a degree in psychology and was a member of Pi Beta Phi, serving as president. A drill sergeant with the U.S. Army, Vece also worked as a jail guard, a policewoman and an EMT.

1982

Eleni Hatzipanagiotis, 57, of Mt. Morris, Ill., died Oct. 22, 2017. She worked in IT for CGH Medical Center in Sterling, Ill.

1991

Sara Ann Tucker, 58, of Galesburg, Ill., died Nov. 7, 2017.

FORMER TRUSTEE Wayne Ashley, 89, of Ottawa, Ill., died Dec. 13, 2016.

A World War II veteran, he earned his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Oklahoma and maintained a private practice until the age of 87. He was also an accomplished jazz trumpet player. Ashley served on Monmouth’s board from 1976-84.

FORMER FACULTY & STAFF Laura Moffet, an instructor in English from 1948-50 and from 1967-70, died Dec. 25, 2017, in Oakland, Calif.

DuWayne Brooks, director of the Student Center, 1978-79, died Feb. 19, 2018.

Other deaths: John S. Janks ’69 of Houston, Tex., died June 3, 2014.

Beverly Trevor Canaday ’70 of Moline, Ill., died June 7, 2007.

Monica Jean Hoggay Andrews ’71 of Columbus, Ohio, died June 9, 2016.

Please join us for the 5th annual

FIGHTING SCOTS SOCIETY

GOLF OUTING FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2018 GIBSON WOODS GOLF COURSE MONMOUTH, ILL.

Proceeds from the outing support Monmouth student-athletes and coaches by funding travel, uniforms, equipment, training and rehab, recruiting outreach, and other benefits.

For more information or to register:

monmouthcollege.edu/golf-outing SPRING 2018

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THE LAST WORD

WHY ART MATTERS

I

never ask an audience or a student to like something. Equally as important, I never ask them to dislike something. But what I do ask of my audience or student is to consider what is presented and ask the simple question “why?”

Art gallerist and philanthropist Mary Boone said: “What one needs is the curiosity and the desire to truly see and feel. To perhaps be a bit uncomfortable as you learn to decipher how different art works make you feel, but to learn that on the other side of that discomfort lies pleasure—the pleasure of discovering a work that ‘speaks’ to you, or the pleasure that comes from simply gazing at something beautiful.”

Art allows you to feel comfortable to reside in a world of ambiguity. Art gives you an experience that nothing else can—it can excite, provoke, soothe, inspire and ignite a dialogue. Art matters because it reaches a part of our brain that the sciences do not stimulate.

Art reflects changing perspectives and inspires them.

Art changes the way we view our world in ways that facts cannot. The visual arts allow us to see a world through a unique lens with a language all its own. The theatre allows us to feel and evokes visceral reactions through the actor’s role. The recital or symphony gives us the opportunity to hear the sounds of art put to music.

Art is the vessel that challenges our perceptions and beliefs. John F. Kennedy said, “We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.” When we make our art, we are making our life and, in turn, interpreting the world around us and translating the truth that we see and experience.

Art is restorative. Art bridges the gap between opportunities and access, and addresses psychological and social needs. The biggest impact arts opportunities demonstrate is successfully connecting people to the tools they need to exercise certain skills. The arts serve as the conduit to connect the two.

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MONMOUTH COLLEGE MAGAZINE

KRISTYNE GILBERT ’90

As author Lisa Phillips noted, the result is a population of individuals who are more creative confident problem-solvers, and who are focused and able to receive constructive feedback, collaborate with others, and are dedicated and accountable.

When individuals learn and master these skills, they are better-equipped to work together toward solutions for issues affecting their lives as well as their communities.

Art and artists don’t just make things nicer to look at or give you something to do on a Saturday afternoon.

Artists make meaning out of spaces, time, and social and economic situations. They join together parts of a community and create a neutral space where all are welcome to work together on a common goal. Art and artists address the questions of what the possibilities are and what can be done to bring back a community’s economic vitality, rejuvenate a neighborhood, and create collaborative opportunities for businesses and residents.

Communities that embrace the arts are communities that are able to tackle economic and social challenges in creative ways—ways that provide returns on their investment in dollars and human capital. It is a mindful process filled with action steps and openness to partner with and work together with all parts of the community.

Everyone plays a role and everyone benefits.

Art matters because it shapes lives and communities, elevates and fosters economic prosperity, and presents opportunities to bring groups of people and organizations together that may not otherwise cross paths. The arts are the only voice for some individuals.

Remember that. If you’re not supporting the arts in your community—why?

Kristyne Gilbert is executive director of the Buchanan Center for the Arts in downtown Monmouth, a non-profit organization promoting artistic creativity, education and conversations.

“Monmouth taught me to take my own thoughts seriously and gave me the tools to pursue inquiry with moral, intellectual and practical purpose.

This is a journey we are all obligated to undertake.

And it is a journey we are obligated to facilitate for others, particularly current students, so that they are helped just as we were in learning how to cultivate and share our lives.”

Bill French ’08 Political Science major Ph.D. student, Northwestern University

Monmouth College Graduates Of the Last Decade are offered a special membership to the 1853 Society and its events, which traditionally requires a $1,000 gift annually. GOLD membership starts at $100 and increases until $1,000 is reached in the 10th year.

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Year 7

Year 8

Year 9

Year 10

Monthly

$8.34

$16.69

$25.00

$33.34

$41.67

$50.00

$58.34

$66.68

$75.00

$83.34

Annual

$100.08

$200.28

$300.00

$400.08

$500.04

$600.00

$700.08

$800.16

$900.00

$1,000.08

For more information about membership, contact the Associate Director of the 1853 Society: Jeani Talbott, jtalbott@monmouthcollege.edu, 309-457-2319

Named to honor the College’s founding year, the 1853 Society recognizes donors who give a minimum of $1,000 annually.

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