LRUnplugged

summer/fall 2017

LRUnplugged A publication of the School of Journalism

and Mass Communication

Climbing Into The Cage:

Ringside at LR student’s first MMA fight LR says

“No-Bacco!”

Eats on the

Hickory Streets

Hickory’s Homeless Mentoring Men on the Gridiron

table of contents

THE QUICK HITS:

5 6 7 7 11 16 34

Get Out and Run Former Bears Coach Triumphs New President’s Vision for LR LR’s Language Festival Debaters Going Strong

20 17

LR Goes Tobacco-Free Killing Procrastination

6

5

2

11

12 [summer/fall 2017] LRUnplugged

The 8 12 17 20 26 30

stories

Thinking Beyond Gender

Exploring Hickory’s Homeless Problem Eating Local in Hickory LR Student Becomes MMA Fighter Football Coach Mentoring Men on and off the Field Studying Abroad in Australia

26

2

30 LRUnplugged [summer/fall 2017]

3

Who We Are Cliff Barrett

Hey, I’m .

I am motivated, driven and filled with ideas. Playing for the Bears’ football team, I find myself always looking to find the action on and off the field. I grew up in South Carolina, and found my love for cameras at a young age. I love creating films. Making movies that inspire the world is one of my biggest dreams. My plans are for you to see my films on the big screen in the near future.

staff bios

David Bradham, Jr.

4

Lydia Black

Hi, my name is . I’m currently a high school senior. Questions? Save them for later. I’m usually seen wearing an oversized T-shirt, Nike shorts, and Birkenstocks. While most people my age are busy with relationships, breakups and heartbreaks, I’m still figuring out a way to wake up before 10 a.m. I prefer my puns intended and I’m a basset hound aficionado. If you see me smiling, it might be because I have no idea what’s going on.

May your life be as awesome as you pretend it to be on Instagram.

Hey, I’m , Lenoir-Rhyne Class of ‘17. I’m from Charleston, S.C. and the ocean water runs through my veins.

I’m not so great at talking about myself, because I’d rather listen to your story than share my own. For that reason, I love creating things, whether it be writing, photography or filmmaking. I play six different instruments but guitar is (and always will be) my baby. Without creativity, there is no world. Without individuality, there is no expression.

Without art, the universe ceases to exist.

Be you; be true. Stay classy.

Hunter Haire

My name is .

I am a Lenoir-Rhyne Class of ’17 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations. I am a hard and diligent worker who settles for nothing less than my personal best. I only put two things before work: religion and family. I thrive in a competitive environment as I always try to better myself and others around me with a positive work ethic and a sincere passion for whatever I am trying to accomplish at the given time. Writing is my passion – it allows me to guide a stranger down a particular path through the art of storytelling.

Emily Kessler

Hi, I’m , a junior Broadcast Communications major here at LR. I’m from Syracuse, NY and a captain of the women’s lacrosse team. I am an energetic and bubbly person who is obsessed with anything potato-related. During my free time you will probably catch me in the gym lobby socializing with just about everyone.

lru [summer/fall 2017] LRUnplugged

A host of runners get underway at the sound of the starting gun during Lenoir-Rhyne’s second-annual 5K. PHOTO BY LYDIA BLACK

MOTIVATION TO GET MOVING

GEARING UP FOR LR’S UPCOMING 5K CAN GET YOU UP OFF THE COUCH

By Lydia Black

Do you want to get in shape, but you spend more time in your pajamas than your running shoes? Do you want to tone up but lack the motivation to just get out there?

Well, signing up for a race might just be the best motivation there is.

So, why not this one?

A spring race is a can’t-miss opportunity to enjoy the outdoors.

Feel free to take advantage of that “not too hot” and “not too cold” climate, spend time with friends and family, and enjoy being fit and healthy.

For the past two years LenoirRhyne University has hosted a 5k race to celebrate the anniversary of the school’s founding. At last year’s event, runners took off in unison with the blast of the starting gun and experienced their own up close and personal tour of Lenoir-Rhyne’s campus. First-place LRUnplugged [summer/fall 2017]

finisher and Saint Stephens High School junior Jayden Hefner said, “It was a really fun course. I liked it and I look forward to next year’s race.”

If raising your heart rate, lowering your blood pressure, and relieving stress aren’t incentive enough to participate in running, then why not walk the course with a friend and take in the beautiful scenery surrounding the Bears’ home? Run Time Races owner Kelly Stewart said, “What I look forward to most about next year’s race is seeing new faces and young runners all coming out and enjoying what we have put together.”

So keep your eyes peeled, your laces tight, and your calendars marked, because Lenoir- Rhyne’s 3rd annual 5k is just around the corner.

Julie Simmons, 55, of Winston Salem, won third place in her age group at LR’s second-annual 5K. PHOTO BY LYDIA BLACK

Catawba County’s No. 1 runner, Micheal “Captain America” Lawson, stayed focused and calm during Lenoir-Rhyne’s secondannual 5K. PHOTO BY LYDIA BLACK

5

CHECKING IN WITH MIKE HOUSTON LR’S FORMER FOOTBALL COACH HAS GONE FROM SUCCESS TO SUCCESS

By Hunter Haire

In 2013 Mike Houston crowned his third (and final) year as Lenoir-Rhyne University’s head football coach by taking the Bears all the way to the national championship. That feat followed three back-to-back years of conference championships.

From there Houston stepped up to Division 1 football as head coach at The Citadel. In his second season he led the Bulldogs to a conference championship and a playoff appearance – their first in nearly a quarter-century.

Last year he took over the top spot at James Madison University. With Houston at the helm, the Dukes won the 2016 FCS National Championship against the Youngstown State Penguins.

Amid an assortment of coach of the year honors and various championships along the way, Houston has racked up a 57-20 record as the head coach of three teams on the rise. It’s a story that started at LR. The conclusion of the 2010 season for the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears looked bleak with former coach Fred Goldsmith retir-

ing after 45 years of coaching, four of which were at the helm of the Bears. A head coach position needed to be filled by someone who could lead and inspire the next generation of student athletes.

Fortunately LR didn’t have to look far.

Mike Houston, who was the defensive coordinator and secondary coach at the time, was ready and willing to take on the role. In the previous 2010 season, Huston’s defense led the South Atlantic Conference in total defense and was fourth in the nation on rush defense.

“Playing for Coach Huston was no easy task,” recalls Wide Receiver Grayson Wells. “The first year when he came in, we didn’t really know what to expect… I’ll never forget my first morning workout with him because it was one of the hardest transitions I have encountered while playing football.”

Placid Adjoku, a coach and former player under Huston, reflected on the years leading up to his current position as JMU’s defensive line coach.

“When Coach Houston came to my house my senior year of high school,

I looked straight in his eyes and listened and I could immediately tell that something was different about this guy,” Adjoku recalled. “As I played for him at LR, he was always pushing me to be my best and never once accepted anything less.”

Tight discipline and high expectations were the key.

“With Coach Houston, the standard is the standard and it will be met and not be lowered for anybody – no matter who you are,” Adjoku said. “Coaching with him this past year was no different.

He sets a standard for his staff and it is met by everybody whether you are a coach or an intern. He applies a championship mentality to everything, so both playing for him on his national championship run team at LR and coaching for him on his National Championship team at JMU were life-changing experiences.”

For Adjoju it’s simple: “I’ve said to people for years that Coach Houston is the best coach in America.”

Former Bears head football coach Mike Houston led his team to its most successful run in recent memory before stepping up to Division 1 coaching. SUBMITTED PHOTO

6

[summer/fall 2017] LRUnplugged

LR PRESIDENT DR. FRED WHITT’S VISION FOR LENOIR-RHYNE UNIVERSITY

By Cliff Barrett II

Q: What is your vision for LenoirRhyne?

Dr. Fred Whitt: It’s interesting – I’ve only been here a couple months, so I think it’s important for it not to be ‘my vision,’ but kind of a shared vision.

So, what I’m trying to do the first few months is listen and try to meet as many people as I can and hear their dreams and where they think LenoirRhyne can go.

I will process that over the summer, and we will come out in the fall and begin our work on a new strategic plan for Lenoir-Rhyne, and our vision will be put into that. To just come in and say, “Here’s where we’re going,” without listening and learning from others wouldn’t

be very appropriate, because it’s not Fred Whitt’s vision – it’s all of us working together and having a shared vision.

I do think the university’s vision is pretty clear in the current strategic plan.

It says to move Lenoir-Rhyne to a nationally-recognized liberal arts college of choice. So, I think one thing we want to do is raise a level of Lenoir-Rhyne. In other words, we’re in a great place today, but we want to raise the reputation. Whether it’s athletics, whether it’s the arts, whether it’s health science, liberal arts, student activities, we want to be really excellent in all we do.

What I want to happen is for your degree to be more valuable ten years from now than it is today.

HOLA, HALLA, ET BONJOUR A LOOK AT LR’S FOREIGN LANGUAGE FESTIVAL

By Hunter Haire

Experiencing the various cultures of the world can benefit not only your social understanding, but also enhances your ability to communicate with people from all walks of life. Lenoir-Rhyne University hosted the foreign language festival this April during which 16 teams from across North Carolina (and one from our Carolina to the south) participated in six different language competitions. They competed in Spanish, German, and French. They demonstrated their understanding of the different languages through poetry, skits, country knowledge and singing.

I was mesmerized by the various songs and dances that each group conducted during the competition’s musical portion.

LRUnplugged [summer/fall 2017]

This year marks the 42nd consecutive year that Lenoir-Rhyne has hosted this type of festival and it continues to grow. I took the opportunity to sit down with event organizer Debbie Tonnesen.

“Teams compete from all over and each language has six individual competitions that they compete in,” she said. “This is solely a high school competition and allows us to better understand the unique cultures of the various countries while at the same time enjoying friendly competition.”

The unique blend of the various cultures brought a sense of unity.

This cultural festival educates the upcoming generation about not only their own country’s heritage, but also their neighbors’ as well.

ILLUSTRATION

BY VECTEEZY

7

changin

The times are a A GENERATION OF AMERICA’S YOUNG PEOPLE LOOKING BEYOND BIRTH LABELS TO CLAIM THEIR OWN GENDER IDENTITY

By Lydia Black

8

[summer/fall 2017] LRUnplugged

Theta Xi is the first fraternity at Lenoir-Rhyne University to welcome a transgender brother – Kaleb Miller. PHOTO BY DAVID BRADHAM JR.

Kaleb Miller – to those who don’t know him, he’s the baby-faced short kid on the block.

He’s typically in comfortable athletic attire.

He sports thick sleek dark brown gelled back hair and a big smile and he’s usually seen associating with his peers. To members of the Theta Xi fraternity, he’s just one of the brothers. Although to some people around campus he’s known as the first transgender fraternity brother in LR’s Theta Xi Chapter.

“My brothers have been incredible,” Miller said. “Everyone here at Lenoir-Rhyne has been really supportive of me and they have done a lot to help me out.”

Like Kaleb, all of us carry labels applied by others.

Throughout the 21st-century, society’s views on “gender identity” have changed dramatically.

Both national and international groups are pushing for the addition of “gender identity” and “gender expression” to anti-discrimination laws establishing legal protections to those who have rejected the sex they were born with. The hope is more public acceptance.

“I think that most people, or people who aren’t educated enough, don’t realize that we are just people too,” Miller said. “It’s just basic human rights.”

While social conservatives may argue that these liberties only encourage this “sexual confusion,” schools like LR and the students inhabiting them are beginning to embrace this confusion as not necessarily such a bad thing.

“We are all the same,” Miller said. “Everybody is equal. We are all equal. There shouldn’t be any biases because of any differences that we may have.”

The Bible states, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male or female, for you are all one in Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 3:28) This verse continues to prove that all Christians are, in the fullest sense, “Sons of God.” All Christians are alike; no matter what their race, status, or sex, they’re standing on the same footing of sonship before God. What is true of one is true of all. Christianity, through one stroke, established the brotherhood and abolished the distinction.

But is this the standard Christian response to a person experiencing gender dysphoria today?

Gender dysphoria or gender identity disorder (GID) is the dysphoria (distress) some people experience as a result of the sex and gender

»SEE CHANGIN, PAGE 10 LRUnplugged [summer/fall 2017]

9

CHANGIN from page 9 they were assigned at birth.

“As a whole, I think there’s been a lot more negativity going around, maybe not specifically towards us,” Miller said.

For an increasingly visible number of Americans, being “male” or “female” has a lot more to do with how people express their authentic selves through clothing, speech patterns, and social mannerisms. For many, it’s not just about genitalia anymore.

One of the biggest issues circulating through the LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, Queer, and 50+ other new terms relating to gender) movement is that many people believe that being transgender is a relatively new thing. Individuals whose gender is different than the one designated at birth actually have a long history. A third gender, Hijra, referring to those assigned a male at birth but neither male nor female, can be traced back to the ancient times in India.

In ancient Rome, believers of the goddess Cybele underwent ritual castration, after which they would wear women’s clothing.

The famous American trans woman, Christine Jorgensen became a public face of the trans movement in the 1950s.

And in more recent times in a 20/20 interview with Diane Sawyer in April 2015, Bruce Jenner came out as a trans woman known now as Caitlyn Jenner. She told Sawyer that she’d dealt with gender dysphoria since her youth and that, “for all intents and purposes, I’m 10

a woman.”

Today many use the terms “sex” and “gender” incorrectly. At birth, a quick glance between the newborn’s legs determines what sex that child will be for the rest of his life. Biological sex is determined by physical attributes such as reproductive organs, hormones, and chromosomes. Gender is more complicated. As the relationship between someone sex and one’s internal sense of gender identity intertwines with their outward presentations through clothing and speech, people develop a gender identity that matches their biological sex.

“To me, being transgender is more of an understanding of who I am and my gender identity, Miller said.” “It helps me understand why I may react a certain way to certain things.”

Transitioning doesn’t only involve sex reassignment surgery. When a transgender person adopts the look and lifestyle of the sex they identify with, known as “transitioning,” there is no standard procedure. Some transgender

people do undergo hormone therapy or sex reassignment surgery as part of the transition. Some don’t. And, according to federal medical privacy laws, their decision on this matter is none of our business. Some opt for hormone replacement therapy, which helps to readjust voice pitch or to help generate breast tissue. But, ultimately transitioning is about selfactualization.

“I’m still in the process of transitioning. Currently, I’ve been going gender therapy for 13 to 14 weeks now. I’m waiting to start testosterone,” Miller said. “I knew pretty much from the point that I came out that I would want to start testosterone and not fully transition, but that I wanted to start.”

Forms of discrimination against gender identity in the workplace can include denying an employee access to the restroom facility of his or her choice, termination of an employee, harassment namecalling toward an employee, or any negative actions made against an employee who is part of the LGBTQ+ commu-

nity because of their sexual identity.

In the 70s, when male students with long hair were suspected of being homosexual, they were held down and given “haircuts” by pocketknife wielding “tough guys.”

In the 80s, when students were suspected of being homosexuals they were attacked and beaten. But society has steadily become more accepting. The male Hickory High student who wore a spandex suit and twirled the flag with the spirit team during the football team’s halftime show likely would have had a much different experience had he done so in 1954.

“Discrimination against me was pretty much something that I had to deal with on my own,” Miller said. “I had my few close friends who supported me and it was really just because of them that help me through it. But I definitely wasn’t supported in high school.”

Progress has been made, but clearly there is work still to be done. lru

Kaleb Miller is an LR music education major and the first transgender member of LR’s chapter of Theta Xi. FILE PHOTO

[summer/fall 2017] LRUnplugged

LR’S GREAT DEBATERS

WITH IGNORANCE PLAGUING THE WORLD, DEBATE IS ABOUT MORE THAN JUST ANOTHER TROPHY

By David Bradham Jr.

we still disagree on something we can learn from each other’s views – it’s a respect thing.”

It’s not about winning In the team’s inaugural year, they brought home the 2013 NPDA Novice National Championship.

“It was like winning the NCAA football championship between Clemson and Alabama,” Verner explained.

The team claimed the title once LR’s Debate Team takes the time to enjoy themselves with a breath of fresh air, far away from the chaotic more the following year, making days of non-stop tournaments. PHOTO SUBMITTED BY JACK VERNER the debate team the only LenoirRhyne team with two national From twitter fights, to Facebook artwelve-hour days, many starting at 5:30 titles – and the only team to win one guments – neither side of any argument a.m, would soon become the norm for since football’s 1960 NAIA title. really seems to take the cake. I flip on LR’s debaters. “Many nights, I would It’s no secret that LR’s debate team the news daily and can’t seem to escape only get about three hours of sleep,” has a room of shelves lined with troanother heated discussion where both Heike said. “It’s exhausting yet exhilaphies showcasing the success the team sides have to be 100-percent right, or rating.” has attained in its five years of exis100-percent wrong.

To anyone outside of the team, this tence, four of which were competitive Debate doesn’t work this way, at least, might sound like scraping the bottom seasons. Yet, Coach Hamilton will tell not in a civilized society. Yes, competiof the bucket list barrel. Many consider you that winning isn’t what’s important tions have a clear winner and a clear putting so much effort into debate torto him. loser, but both sides of the arguments turous.

“Teams that choose winning over score points with solid information. In “Sometimes I was like ‘I’d rather die other words, one team can only be more than debate right now,’” Heike said. “It’s people may experience victory, but in right than another, but not always right one of the most demanding and reward- a very limited fashion,” Hamilton said.

“Winning for me is more about seeing in every single aspect. ing things I have ever done.” a debater come out of a debate and care The intimidation game The team is composed of members more about something as a result of it.”

Yelling, shouting, sharing contradicwith a variety of belief systems and tory ideas. This is the common chaotic values. There’s no shortage of divergent Hamilton is passionate about debate.

“I am a real big fan of fair and sound behind the scenes of a debate opinions. tournament – intimidating for anyone “The team is almost never in absolute equable speech,” he said.

It’s all about the learning experience who is new to the game. Lenoir-Rhyne agreement,” senior debate team memfor him and his team. “I’ve learned University fronted a team of roughly ber, Jack Verner said. “It isn’t easy, but nine members, going up against schools in the end you learn something from it.” more from my debate team than I have in any of my other classes,” Verner said. ten times the size of LR’s that could Verner and Heike both noted that Another trophy will never trump the front as many as sixty members in any members will often change their viewexperience that the team members have given tournament. The inaugural season points on topics after learning more gathered. for LR’s debate team seemed like it had about it – a phenomenon that adds to “Debate taught me how to be a better a near impossible journey ahead. their belief that debate can be good for person, a better neighbor…to see both “We’ll be in a van for eleven hours or everyone. sides of the spectrum,” Hamilton said. so and it’s actually really fun since there “We’ve learned how to reason It’s something he wishes for all of his aren’t many of us,” senior debate team with one another and be fair and talk debaters. member Kaylie Heike said. Nonstop, through things.” Heike said. “Even if LRUnplugged [summer/fall 2017]

11

Stacy and David own one of two tents in their camp, which is strewn with trash.

They say it’s from previous residents and people who dump their garbage in the area where it gets blamed on the homeless.

PHOTO BY DAVID BRADHAM JR.

12

[summer/fall 2017] LRUnplugged

into the woods With Hickory’s Homeless EXAMINING A PROBLEM MANY PREFER NOT TO SEE

By David Bradham, Jr.

To us, it was nothing. Gather a bunch of cardboard boxes and build the fortress our inner chil-dren were screaming for. My fraternity brothers and I had it all, although it didn’t seem like much.

Boxes big enough to fit a car in. Rolls of Scotch tape that never seemed to end.

We had tarps, tents, and bungee cords.

Yet, we still complained. The objective was to be homeless for a weekend. The nine of us rejected our warm dormitories for a cramped, 40-degree, 48-hour stint in a cardboard clubhouse.

Honestly, we were spoiled. The city knew we did it each year, as well as when we did it, and where we did it.

Local businesses had no problem driving to campus to bring free food and tons of goodies. That was probably the best we’d eaten all semester. We stuffed our mouths full of Papa John’s Pizza and cupcakes delivered from the local bakery. With all that, we still complained. Cold nights awaited us, or so we thought. The soft padded mattresses we’d grown so accustomed to were gone. We had the ground. Intentions were good. We typically did fill three small pickup trucks full of canned goods to the local shelter…but we were missing the point.

I dared myself to learn more about just how bad the homeless situation was in Hickory. I chal-lenged myself, and finally found the opportunity to get a LRUnplugged [summer/fall 2017]

look at the lives of some down-and-out locals who live in a place they call “Tent Town.” I was in for a shock.

It was a little after 6 a.m. It was a brisk April morning. Bright purple peaked through the window as the sun was just starting to rise. I had absolutely no idea where my day was going. I’ve talked to my friend Micah Harshbarger for months about the homeless in Hickory, and why so many people seem to be on the streets. Never in my four years in this town did I think I’d actually spend a day among them. I’d camped out with my fraternity in the past to raise awareness, but our cardboard fortress and hundred-dollar sleeping bags rated for 30 below were the Ritz Hotel compared to what the actual homeless had. People sleeping, wrapped up in plastic bags to keep out moisture and preserve body heat, would greet my morning adventures. Today I was going to meet Roger Cornett, the director of Hickory’s Open Door Homeless Ministries.

Cornett can’t be missed. Not because he drives around town daily in his big, mid-90s, candy ap-ple-red Dodge passenger van that sticks out among the traffic. He’s almost always in neon. He sports an orange neon t-shirt, bright yellow neon hat, and sometimes tennis shoes with yellow neon highlights on them.

“I don’t really think much of it,”

Cornett said. “People always asked me, ‘Hey, Roger. Whenever we see you out and about…why are you always in bright neon colors?’”

They had a point. It seemed odd that a man working with people hidden so far into the woods would wear clothing that could be spotted from a mile away.

Yet, being spotted from a mile away is just what Cornett intended.

“These people live in the woods…I don’t want to walk in on a camp while they are using the bathrooms,” Cornett said. “Whenever I drive up, I always honk the horn twice so they know I’m coming. Then they see my bright neon clothes coming into the woods – I think that just helps a little bit.”

Although, giving a courtesy call to his friends in the woods is not his main concern. Drug abuse, alcohol addiction, and similar acts of desperation occur several times a day, sometimes all day, at various homeless camps.

“Another reason is that I’ve walked in on them while they’ve got a needle in their arm or they’re drinking,” Cornett said. “I tell them, ‘At ease. There isn’t any use in hiding it. I know what’s go-ing on. I know your drugs of choice, even.’”

It’s not that Cornett is turning a blind eye to an issue – he understands why his friends do what they’re doing.

»SEE WOODS, PAGE 14 13

WOODS from page 13 “They’re in their crisis,” Cornett said.

“They know when they get sick and tired of getting sick and tired, they can seek the help they need.”

It’s a common stereotype that people end up homeless because of an alcohol or drug addiction, and Harshbarger and Cornett are convinced that that’s usually the case.

“Drugs – alcohol. It’s just what makes them feel okay for a minute when ev-

erything else isn’t,” Harshbarger said.

We had to get to the camps early, as the homeless spend their days walking from meal to meal – consuming almost their entire day covering the miles. Many would look for jobs. Many blend in, not wanting to be seen, while others give in to dependency and drown their days away. Cornett refused to take me to the worst camps. They are fairly inaccessible, and Cornett’s failing health meant he probably couldn’t get back in there anyway. Without Cornett, I wouldn’t be

Stacy sits in the tent she shares with her partner, David. Clothes, food and gear are strewn alongside their bed and the tarps they use to keep bad weather out.

PHOTO BY DAVID BRADHAM JR.

He goes by the name “Uncle Don-Don,” and he seems to make the best of everything. A smile constantly on his face, Don-Don brings joy to those who spend time with him.

PHOTO BY DAVID BRADHAM JR.

14

welcome in the camps at all. The only reason people spoke to me was that I knew Cornett. Once I had his trust, I had theirs.

The tents out here aren’t much better.

Most don’t last very long, as their thin material is no match for harsh winds, heavy rains, and constant movement from camp to camp. Holes form very quickly, leaving many no choice but to look for a plastic bag to keep them dry.

“Most tents aren’t even tents,” Cornett said. “They’re mostly tarps.” The tents that are provided often cannot withstand the changing and unpredictable weather patterns that Hickory sometimes has. “Even then… tents get torn and get holes in them. That’s when tarps become essential to keep out moisture.”

The homeless face cold winter nights.

Many are hospitalized. Some have died from freezing temperatures.

“I see people out here wrapped up like a burrito,” Cornett said. “Only having plastic bags to try and keep out moisture.”

It’s a different world in tent town. It looked like a third world country. No electricity, no running water, and trash piled high. Some say community members dump their trash in tent towns knowing that the homeless will be blamed. It looked bad to me, but Cornett saw it differently. He called these the “Rolls Royces” of homeless camps.

Maybe so, but things were still rough.

I noticed old ashes blended with the red clay soil. Maybe a fire used to cook, left behind from the last group. Not so, Cornett said. That ash was all that re-mained of a tent town that came to a tragic end long ago. The old tents were highly flammable. A spark fed on the plastic coated tents and shrubbery to become a roaring forest fire that ravaged the little makeshift town. The blaze claimed the life Roger’s friend, burned to death in his own tent.

Cornett said the fatality convinced Hickory’s fire and police departments to drive the homeless out, leaving that first tent city vacant for years. That’s where I met Stacy. Like many homeless people, Stacy prefers to go by her first [summer/fall 2017] LRUnplugged

name only. She and her partner live in number to the local payphone where I delivery. one of two tents that have reappeared then spent the next few days not leaving Just the other day, it rained – hard. on the site of that deadly night. She that spot, waiting on that call that never Temperatures had dropped dramatically welcomed me into her tent as if I had came.” and the rain was cold running down my been her neighbor for years. It was hard It’s bad. Even people that work for back. I didn’t even stop to think that I to see how two people shared such a other homeless programs in big cities had a flannel and a windbreaker to keep small space. Their tent was smaller than often don’t fully grasp the situation until me warm. I had more than my friends the smallest of dorm rooms on on the streets did. How were the local college campus, which they doing it? The grass be-came heightened my understanding of a lake as the soil couldn’t take how good my peers and I have it. up water. How did they protect “Every morning waking up their supplies form getting ruis a job and a chore,” Stacy said. ined by mud, water, and what“It’s a job and chore for all the ever else came their way? homeless people out here just to I couldn’t imagine. lru get up and get motivated to get out and do.”

Much of her pain comes from an incident a while back. Stacy was run over by a Jeep. She didn’t want to get into the details, and winced when I asked Each year, the Theta Xi Fraterthe question. These days she A shopping cart from the local Dollar Store turned to its nity at Lenoir-Rhyne University side serves as a makeshift grill where meat and canned lives with plates in her leg and leaves their dorms. They grab food serve as a “home” cooked meal for men and women neck. their sleeping bags, build cardwho live in Hickory’s woods.

“Walking really takes a toll board “fortresses” and sleep PHOTO BY DAVID BRADHAM JR. on me,” she said. outdoors. They do it to raise Her physical limitations are a awareness of Hickory’s homechallenge. Her post traumatic stress and they work with Hickory’s Open Door less and to solicit donations bi-polar disorders make it worse.

Homeless Ministries. of food and supplies for local “I get about three…maybe four hours Cornett is quick to point out that homeless shelters. of sleep often over a two-day span – if many people do come to help, but they Although sleeping bags and I’m lucky,” Stacy said. don’t last long because they get overblankets keep the young men Hickory’s homeless may not have jobs whelmed. safe and warm, and although or money, but they can get food. In fact, “We’re used to thinking of homelesstheir “Homeless for a Weekthey can eat three hot meals a day. Day ness as a big city problem in places like end” event may resemble shelters provide breakfast while church- New York or De-troit,” Harshbarger, a camping more than it resemes and the Hickory Soup Kitchen feed long-time Open Door Homeless Minisbles actual homelessness, their the lunch crowd. Dinner can be found tries volunteer said. “But people are beintentions are good. at “Sali’s” –the in-crowd’s nickname for side themselves when they find out that Two members, Philip Heike the Hickory Salvation Army’s kitchen.

Hickory actually has one of the highest and Jake Robinson have been Maybe that doesn’t sound too bad. ratios of homeless-to-population in the homeless. Both spent periods “Three meals a day for free,” Harshentire country.” of their lives on the street. It’s barger said. “That is, if you want to Homelessness is more than the important for them to find a spend your entire day walking.”

Hollywood-drawn, hairy bearded man way to give back.

Driving from place to place would wearing an over-coat sleeping on a park When the weekend’s over, take just a few minutes, but the world bench. That’s an accurate description for the Theta Xi brothers gather looks a lot different on foot. When some, maybe, if they are lucky enough their donations of clothing and Harshbarger was homeless, he knew to have a coat. As for me, I couldn’t canned goods – three pickup that if he chose to search for a job that imagine going days without a shower trucks worth in 2015 and six day he probably would have to miss a just because the line was too long. in 2016. In the fall of 2017, the meal or two.

Sometimes I take two showers a day fraternity’s entire living room “You know, you can’t even get a job just to relax after a long day at work. I stacked high with clothes, if you can’t list a phone number,” he work alongside many who would be lost goods, and nonperishables. said. “I remember one day just listing a without GPS. And they’d starve without

»OF NOTE

LRUnplugged [summer/fall 2017]

15

TRANSITIONING TO A TOBACCO FREE CAMPUS

By Cliff Barrett II

Lenoir-Rhyne University, a school nestled deep in the Tobacco Belt – right in the piedmont region of one of the nation’s top three tobacco-producing states, is no longer tobacco-friendly.

The campus has outlawed smoking, chewing, dipping and vaping. Some felt the decision was a no-brainer. Others were annoyed at having their freedoms curtailed. We sat down with LR’s Dean of Students, Dr. Katie Fisher, to discuss

ILLUSTRATION BY VECTEEZY

this new anti-tobacco policy.

Q: How did the idea come up?

A: About a year and a half ago, one of the professors, Dr. Randy Bergman, brought it up at a Town Hall meeting that (LR past President) Dr. (Wayne) Powell and a whole bunch of the administrators were at.

Dr. Powell said, “That’s a great idea that should come as a proposal from the faculty.”

Dr. Powell tasked Dr. Bergman with getting a task force together, doing some research, figuring out if this is what the university wants to do or not. So they did a survey of undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff. They went and talked to the faculty at faculty assemblies, the S.G.A and the student government. They had staff forums. Ultimately, after a lot of research and study on what effects it would have on the health of students and the health of a campus as well as if it will affect whether students want to come to a campus or not, they finally decided to make LR a tobacco- and smoke-free campus, starting this coming fall.

Q: What does it mean for the school’s Future?

A: Well we don’t know actually.

We know a lot of the public schools have actually gone to tobacco-free campuses and a lot of private schools have too. I think the short term pain that we will experience is we have a good number of staff who work through Aramark who use tobacco.

We have a good number of

16

athletes who use tobacco products – not necessarily smoking but use dip and things like that. And then we have a lot of students who vape.

I think this will cause irritation to a fairly sizable population of the campus, because this is happening while they were already here. Long-term, after four years, the new freshman coming in to apply will know up front that we’re tobacco-free, but there will be some short term problems like, “It wasn’t a problem before, why is it a problem now?”

Q: What does it take to implement it?

A: Saying we’re going to do it is really easy. What we do is going to be a different thing, because I am not a big believer of just punishment for people.

I’d rather things be educational, but I also believe with things like this.

The research in scientific journals is pretty clear that nicotine is addictive.

However I think we need to provide cessation programs and find ways to do programs so that people can learn other habits so that they aren’t dependent.

Because, if we just say, “Everybody go cold turkey. Too bad,” and then we start punishing people, it wouldn’t be fair.

And what do you use as the punishment – make students pick up cigarette butts? Well, there will hardly be any, so that doesn’t work. Community service maybe? Fines? Some of that seems to be a little draconian, and we don’t want to fine everybody. Just stop using- you can’t use here. That would be my attack.

And what about guests, guests who don’t know we’re tobacco free. Do we have to put a sign on every corner?

That would be a little crazy. We can say it all day long. We can try to tell people, “You can’t smoke here. Put it out.” But if we’re going to do that for guests, then I think that’s the tack we should take for students.

We know it will be a challenge. [summer/fall 2017] LRUnplugged

happy eating Local Eating is

HICKORY RESTAURANTS YOU WON’T REGRET TRYING

By Emily Kessler

A spoon’s-eye view of the most American of all foods—a classic burger, alongside an assortment of steamed vegetables served at the Olde Hickory Station downtown at Union Square. PHOTO BY EMILY KESSLER

»SEE EATING, PAGE 18

LRUnplugged [summer/fall 2017]

17

EATING from page 17 Lenoir-Rhyne University students know they’re back in Hickory once they see the big blue highway exit sign full top to bottom with all the chain restaurants Hickory has to offer. From ChickFil-A to Hardees, Hickory has it all.

But there are three places you will not see listed on that blue highway sign: The Olde Hickory Train Station, The Olde Hickory Tap Room and Amos Howards. These three spots are locallyowned – and they’ve been here longer than some of you reading this article.

There are more than a dozen independently owned restaurants in the Hickory Area, so why choose to highlight these three? It’s because they range from casual to a little closer to fancy while still keeping a local Hickory feel.

And they’re owned by a pair of Hickory’s best-known restaurateurs: Jason Yates and Steven Lyerly.

“When my parents come down to watch me play lacrosse, we don’t want to go to a chain restaurant,” said LR junior Christine Faircloth. “The Hickory Tavern has slow service. Groucho’s (Deli) and Hatch (Sandwich Bar) have more of on-the-go type of feel to them, while places like BOCA and Café Rule are not places that I would show up in a T-shirt and shorts after a game. We want somewhere that is in-between that we can get good food and service.”

Located in downtown Hickory, The Olde Hickory Station and the Olde Hickory Tap Room are right across from each other with train tracks and downtown parking separating them.

Amos Howards Brew Pub is located about three miles to the west at 2828 US Highway 70.

So what’s so special about these three places?

The answer varies depending on which restaurant you are talking about.

Olde Hickory Tap Room The Tap Room has been here in downtown Hickory for 20 years. For generations they have seen the same loyal customers walk in and sit down for a meal.

“We have some customers who 18

have gotten married and had kids, and those kids come in with their kids. The memories are here,” Yates said.

The Tap Room is located amid a strip of little stores and restaurants in Hickory’s Union Square. There’s a huge green sign hanging outside the restaurant and a chalk board stating their daily specials out front.

Inside you will find a small stage for local music. The upper walls are completely covered with old beer taps and below them are wooden booths to sit in.

The left side of the restaurant is home to high top tables and the bar that has 20 on tap beers and a large liquor selection.

The Tap Room’s signature dish is fish-n-chips. What makes this dish so special is the batter. It’s made fresh from The Olde Hickory Brewery’s Piedmont Pilsner beer. This fresh batter is what makes the fish light and fluffy and keeps making people come back for more.

The Tap Room also hosts live jazz music on Sunday mornings -- one of the few places in Hickory that still has live music.

“The busiest times for us are normally Thursday nights, Fridays and Saturday mornings,” said Tap Room hostess Jessica Frausto. “The jazz music on Sunday mornings is very calming and really good -- something to definitely come check out.”

The food served mostly at the Tap Room is pub food. This ranges from half-pound burgers, sandwiches, signature pizzas and salads.

“The Tap Room is a place that me and my friends will go to on a Friday or Saturday night to get a quick bite to eat, nothing fancy just good local food,” Faircloth said.

Amos Howards Brew Pub Amos Howards is the one restaurant Yates owns that isn’t located downtown.

Amos Howards Restaurant and Brew Pub is located off of Highway 70, four miles away from LR. The first step inside the restaurant takes you through the center of a massive wooden barrel.

Once you’re through you’ll be greeted by the hostess.

The menu at Amos Howards is much different from the menus at the Tap Room and the Train Station. Wings and ribs are a specialty here. The chargrilled ribs are caramelized and go through three different spice rounds before winding up on your plate.

Amos Howards Restaurant serves Olde Hickory Brewery beer, which is owned by Yates and Lyerly as well. It also serves other local North Carolina beers.

“The one main difference between us and the other two restaurants is that we have a lot of regular customers here,” said waitress Delaney Tallent. “We know a lot of our regulars personally.”

Olde Hickory Station If you are looking to go a little more upscale than pub food, the Ole Hickory Train Station is the place to be.

The Station is a large brick building with outdoor seating right next to a train track that is still used today.

During your outside dining you may get lucky enough to watch a train pass by as you’re eating.

One half of the building is the Train Station Market. The market has local cheeses, freshly made desserts and OHB wine and beer.

“The Train Station is a little more of a farm-to-table experience, and the menu changes quarterly,” Yates said.

The Train Station menu is much smaller and more precise than the menu at the Tap Room. The entrees here are a step up from pub food and feature dishes like fresh fish, scallops and filet mignon. The Train Station bar is also home to 51 beer selections on tap.

Hickory Station Chef Ben Sullivan is new to the staff and comes with a passion for a style of cooking he calls Appalachian redux. It’s all about focusing on food that is indigenous to this area – your classic locally grown vegetables, grits, cornbread and beans – with a fresh approach.

“In comparison to the other restaurants, we have a different customer base here at the Train Station versus the Tap Room or Amos Howards,” said Original Market designer Heather Baker. “That’s [summer/fall 2017] LRUnplugged

Michelle and Heather tending to the market inside the Ole Hickory Station. PHOTO BY EMILY KESSLER

simply because our menu is different, our prices are a little different and we have the market.”

The Station works with the local Hickory Farmers Market as well.

“The Station is no white table cloth place, but our food can still hang with any establishment in Hickory, Charlotte and Asheville,” Yates said.

Local and Fresh All three restaurants are different, but there’s one big similarity: they’re focused on fresh and local.

“All of the food we have is fresh, from farm to table, local ingredients,” Yates, said. “Our food is never microwaved or prepackaged and just warmed to serve,” Yates realizes not everyone is going to eat at the same place all the time, but he has had customers come back from eating elsewhere saying that their meal LRUnplugged [summer/fall 2017]

did not have the same freshness and taste as it did after leaving the Tap Room.

“I normally don’t go to downtown Hickory that often, but when I do it is to eat, and when I go to eat I am normally eating at the Tap Room or the Train Station,” LR sophomore Rachel Elmore, said.

So, when you’re on your way back to Hickory, ignore that big blue highway sign filled with chain restaurants and skip right to the good local places. lru

ABOVE RIGHT: A pair of Hickory locals enjoy lunch in Amos Howards Brew Pub. RIGHT: Hickory’s own Amos Howards Brew Pub where wooden beer and wine barrels complete the atmosphere PHOTOS BY EMILY KESSLER

19

it's a calling

MMA: more than a sport – IMPA KASANGANAY ON WHAT COMPELLED HIM TO START FIGHTING

cover story

By Cliff Barrett II

20

[summer/fall 2017] LRUnplugged

Picture the average college student and you’ll think of things like parties and, occasionally, homework. Keeping your hands up, ducking and dodging, and double leg takedowns usually aren’t the first things that come to mind. In Impa Kasanganay’s case, they are.

Partying’s the last thing on his agenda.

Along with taking 26 credit hours of college courses, Kasanganay spends his spare time competing in mixed martial arts cage fighting – not your average college student. He got started in organized fighting in November 2016.

“When I was little I would watch all these videos of Muhammad Ali and I could quote every single thing about him. When I was young, my mother said I could never fight until I could pay for it on my own,” Kasanganay said. “When I grew older and started attending Lenoir-Rhyne University, I played football, then during one summer I thought I would just do mixed martial arts to train for football, because I could finally pay for it on my own.”

He was living his dream.

“I always felt like I liked to fight, anything that had anything to do with warriors, Spartans or bantu warriors, which is my dad’s culture, so that’s basically what inspires me to fight and my faith, that’s the basis of it all,” Kasanganay said. “My middle name actually means ‘warrior,’ Armand, which is my parent’s language.”

Kasanganay’s parents are from Congo and Central Africa. He explained that his fight name, Chilobo, means “the mighty warrior under God.” And, in the original language, Congo means “kingdom of hunters and warriors.” It is as though he were destined to fight.

Kasaganay participated in his first-ever organized fight in January of 2017, just a month after he first started his training, which is extremely quick. It takes many fighters years to grasp the vast array of techniques and concepts.

»SEE CALLING, PAGE 22 Impa Kasanganay sits beside the punching bag he split in half with punches and kicks during his training session in Statesville.

PHOTO BY CLIFF BARRETT II

LRUnplugged [summer/fall 2017]

21

CALLING from page 21 “I first started here in Hickory … I went and I was able to take people down because of being athletic and stronger than most people, but I didn’t have a grasp of it,” Kasanganay said. “You get a reality check when a 14-year-old kid can just throw you down or tap you out. It was definitely a learning experience, but I did pick it up pretty fast compared to the normal person.”

He embraced humility and continued learning.

“I just kept training.

Mixed martial arts, jiujitsu, Thai boxing, wrestling – it just helped me stay calm, and then, when I decided

to actually fight, I was really at peace,” Kasanganay said. “I feel like fighting is something I’m really meant to do. So I’m not anxious or nervous or overly excited. I was just ready to step in the ring, honor God, and do my job.”

When fight day came, Kasanganay made his way to CenterStage @ NoDa in Charlotte. Emotions were high. Fighters from all over were battling. The line outside the door stretched down the block as people waited to get in. Kasanganay’s was the fifth bout. When the fourth fight ended, he had a ten-minute wait before show time. The minutes ticked off the clock until finally a

moment of silence before the song “Call Upon the Lord”

by Elevation Worship played and Kasanganay walked up to the scale.

A middleweight, Kasanganay could be no heavier than 185 if he was to fight that night. He weighed in at 183.

Kasanganay didn’t look like most fighters as he entered the cage. There was no jumping around, no getting psyched up or hyping up the crowd. He simply took a knee and said a prayer. Then he was ready. He waited with an expression of serious, calm, focus and yes, happiness on his face.

His opponent, Charles Estep, walked into the ring.

It was the first fight for both

Impa Kasanganay squares off against Charles Estep for his first fight – a contest that Kasanganay won ninety seconds after it began. PHOTO BY CLIFF BARRETT II

22

men and they looked into each other’s eyes as the ref explained the rules.

He barked “Ready, ready,” and the fight began.

Kasanganay remembers going into tunnel vision at that moment.

“Everything was quiet around me – I couldn’t hear anything until after the fight,” he said. “It was just myself and Charles.”

Kasanganay instantly went on the attack. Estep looked stunned. Kasanganay was throwing punches left and right. At one point Kasanganay dropped his hands. Estep took advantage and landed a jab that split Kasanganay’s lip. Then the fight went to the ground with Kasanganay on top, landing punch after punch on Estep.

“When I was doing ‘ground and pound’ I wanted the ref to call the fight, because I don’t want him to get back up” Kasanganay said.

The ref finally did call the fight, because it was clear Estep could not defend himself.

It had lasted just 90 seconds.

It was over before Round Two. Impa Kasanganay had just won his first fight.

“When the ref called the fight I was in a daze. I was like, ‘What just happened?”

I felt this rush in me – I just knew I was supposed to be here,” Kasanganay said.

“God is so good. Every single thing you can think of just comes through. My family and friends were there; my coaches were hugging me. I don’t want to be the kind of fighter who’s bragging and jumping around, so I went and shook my opponent’s

»SEE CALLING, PAGE 24 [summer/fall 2017] LRUnplugged

LEFT: Family tops Impa Kasanganay’s list of priorities and they were by his side before, during and after his first fight in January 2017.

BELOW: Not many men have the heart to step into the cage for their first-ever mixed martial arts bout after getting started in the sport just two months earlier, but that’s exactly what Impa Kasanganay did. He walked into the cage untested, and he walked out victorious.

PHOTOS BY CLIFF BARRETT II

LRUnplugged [summer/fall 2017]

23

CALLING from page 22 coach’s hand and checked to see if he was alright.”

When Kasanganay was making his way to his family, an older man sprinted in before he could get there – it was Kasanganay’s father.

“My dad actually knocked a lady over trying to get to me to give me a hug,” Kasanganay said. “My dad is the best dad in the world and I also have the best mom in the world and a great brother and sister.”

“More than happy for him, we are very supportive of Impa.

His mother was very emotional because as a mother you don’t want your son to get hit,” David Kasanganay Sr. said. “When a father sees his son doing what he wants to do and be happy that means so much. We are really supportive of Impa. A lot of kids are in the streets doing drugs and bad things and he is doing something positive – we are really proud of him.”

His coach, Nick Rodrigues, is rising through the MMA ranks as well, and he knows what it takes to be successful in the sport. Rodrigues says heart is what sets Kasanganay apart.

“What separates him is definitely his work ethic,” Rodrigues said. “You can train in this sport for five years and come on Tuesdays and Thursdays and get where you’re going, or you can come in three times a day, take breaks when you go home, and just put everything you have into it – that’s exactly what Impa did, and that’s why he won his fight.”

Kasanganay knows how much his parents support him.

And he knows that, no matter what, he must get his two degrees: one in accounting and one in finance.

In the meantime, Kasanganay’s going to keep studying – and he’s going to keep fighting. lru 24

[summer/fall 2017] LRUnplugged

Go Bears 2017!

LRUnplugged [summer/fall 2017]

25

Lenoir-Rhyne University Defensive Backs Coach David Cole with a signed poster of his former player Rontez Miles who plays for the New York Jets these days.

PHOTO BY CLIFF BARRETT II

26

[summer/fall 2017] LRUnplugged

lifetime

Teaching lessons of a

LR FOOTBALL COACH DAVID COLE WANTS HIS PLAYERS READY FOR THE WORLD AFTER COLLEGE

By Cliff Barrett II

“If you’re not striving to be the best you can possibly be at something, then why are you wasting your time doing it?

If you’re put in a position to have a voice and be able to affect people’s lives in a positive way, why not capitalize on it to the best of your abilities?” asked LenoirRhyne University’s Defensive Backs Coach David Cole. “I want people to remember that I was one of the best to have ever done it. When it’s all said and done, I want my name to be up there with the Nick Saban’s, Urban Meyer’s, Lou Holtz’, Bobby Bowden’s, and the Tom Osborne’s, you know – the greats.”

Cole is an Ohio native who played wide receiver for California University of Pennsylvania. At Lenoir-Rhyne, he coaches defensive backs and special teams.

When he’s not on the field coaching his players, or out recruiting new ones, Cole can be found with his wife and two daughters. Hard work is key, because one of his biggest fears is not being able to provide for his family.

When it comes to his players, Cole gives them all he has on and off the field. He’s focused on teaching them life values, because if he can help mentor and keep his players motivated to be the best they can be in all aspects of their lives then he feels he’s done his job.

“My passion comes from seeing LRUnplugged [summer/fall 2017]

young men succeed, watching them grow and get better,” Cole said. “There are a lot of young men out there who have people telling them that they can’t or they won’t do certain things, and I’m here to see to it that I do everything in my power to make sure they defy the odds and achieve those goals.”

He’s sharing what he was given.

“I had a mentor, his name was Mike Conway. He came my junior year. He was our defensive coordinator,” Cole recalled. “He brought [the Fellowship of Christian Athletes] to the university and got me into F.C.A., which helped me get closer with the Lord.”

He owes Conway a deep debt.

“He helped develop me as a leader; he also helped start my coaching career,” Cole said. “Coach Luckhardt, who was the head coach of Cal P.A. at the time, did give me the opportunity, but coach Conway was the one who vouched for me and said, ‘I want to hire Dave.’ I was on his leadership council. He was the one who inspired me to continue in coaching.”

Coaches play a big part in a lot of young men’s lives – especially in college.

Playing football in college is a job, so the majority of a player’s time not spent in the classroom is on the field, in the weight room or watching film.

A lot of players grow up without a

father figure in their home, then they venture out to obtain their college education. That’s why they need as many people pushing them in the right direction as possible.

Cole wants to be that person in his DB’s lives no matter what the circumstance. He wants the best for them.

That’s why he makes them complete tasks such as writing a five-year plan and a resume, which he reviews with them. Sometimes it’s less formal. Sometimes he invites players to come in and just talk about life.

Maybe that doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it is to a player that has never really thought about what he wants to do after football. Some players think the National Football League is all the plan they’re going to need.

It doesn’t always occur to some of these guys that fewer than one in 250 of America’s college football players were drafted into the NFL last year. And it doesn’t always occur to them that pro football careers can be cruel and short.

Not many will make it to the league. Of those that do, few will retire wealthy.

This means college football players need backup plans that don’t include the NFL. And that takes preparation.

“I wasn’t a huge school person. I was

»SEE LESSONS, PAGE 28 27

Coach David Cole encourages his players Ivan Millikan (left) and Duane Bland (right) as they compete in a tackling drill at Lenoir-Rhyne University. PHOTO BY CLIFF BARRETT II

LESSONS from page 27 really struggling my freshman year and I just remember Coach Cole sitting down with me and telling me how everything I was doing in school would transfer to real life,” said Cole’s former Cal Pa. safety, Eric Harris. “At that age I didn’t think it was a big deal. But later on in life you learn to respect people that are always on time and doing the right thing.”

These days Harris plays for the New Orleans Saints. Life is good.

Cole wants to be the kind of coach who can guide more young men to successful lives. He remembers the kind of mentor he was looking for – the kind he found in Conway.

“I wanted a coach that was knowledgeable about football, who could teach me the actual game of football and not just my position. I also wanted somebody that I could relate to. A guy that, if I was going through something or I needed to talk about something, I could come in and speak with him and he could give me advice,” Cole said. “I wanted a guy that was going to help raise me as a man, tell me what I needed to hear not what I wanted to hear, and be honest with me – a guy I could look up to.”

He’s teaching what he was taught.

28

And it’s working.

One of Cole’s former players, Rontez Miles (who’s currently a safety for the N.Y Jets), said the advice Cole gave him as a young man still resonates.

“He told me, ‘Who you are off the field corresponds to the person you are on the field,’” Miles recalled.

It’s a lesson Miles took to heart.

“I told him I wanted to go to the NFL and I wanted to get my degree. He told me if I listened to him all that would happen,” Miles said. “He really knows what he’s talking about – he’s real passionate. If I had to tell the recruits going into their freshman year something about Coach Cole, it would be you have to have tough skin – he’s not going to baby you. He’s going to push you. You’re going to get somebody that cares.”

Those who know Cole know he won’t give an inch.

“Sometimes, you might think you’re competing with him for a spot, like he’s on the team and he’s trying to start over you,” Miles said. “He’s real competitive.”

There is no hypocrisy in Cole.

“When it came to him off the field, his example led more than his words,” Miles said. “I would come in, and he wouldn’t even want to talk about football. He would just want to hear how my day was. My off-the-field life was a priority to him too. … A coach can talk a big

game and tell you what you want to hear, but when you see it with your own eyes you respect it more.”

Cole keeps in contact with a lot of his players on a regular basis long after they graduate.

“We have a relationship like brothers and now he can benefit from me,” Miles said, adding that he plans to come down and train with Lenoir-Rhyne’s players and teach some things he learned in the NFL. Last season was tough on the football field. Our record was 3-8 – the last time our team won so few games was back in 2008. We’ve been in transition. Coaches have come and gone. It hasn’t been easy, but we’re focused on the future.

“Guys have really bought into the family aspect of this that it’s not just a program – it’s a family,” Cole said.

“There’s going to be arguments. There’s going to be disagreements, but like a family I’ve got your back in tough times and you’ve got my back in tough times.”

The Defensive Back core has found itself growing closer. Spending more time together, having player-only film sessions, going out and bonding, eating over at Cole’s house watching football has built a brotherhood.

“We set some goals,” he said. “It’s been exciting.” lru [summer/fall 2017] LRUnplugged

GETTING THE GREEN LIGHT CONSENT: IT’S NOT A COURTESY – IT’S THE LAW.

By Lydia Black

Students gather outside of Fritz Conrad Residence Hall to hear individual accounts of sexual assault. Every student had a candle with them to not only show respect for victims but to raise awareness. PHOTO BY HUNTER HAIRE

The night’s going well – you’ve both had a few drinks. You’re definitely in the mood… and you’re pretty sure your date is too, but how do you know? How do you make sure you’ve got the green light?

Bill Cosby’s just the latest in a long line of men who have been making headlines in the past few years for sexual assault. America is in the midst of a national conversation about what defines rape and what defines consent.

There seems to be one answer from the law and another from popular culture.

Activists have their own answers.

So it’s understandable if you’re a little unsure about what it is – and what it isn’t. Let’s be honest, nobody really ever wants to talk about the “C” word.

It’s not sexy and often times doesn’t flow easily into conversation. But, even though it isn’t such a hot topic, it’s imLRUnplugged [summer/fall 2017]

portant to talk about consent.

Almost everywhere we go, we are saturated by messages that challenge the necessity of active consent. Consent is more than just a legal term, and definitely more than just a box to check.

It’s mutual communication. It’s about respecting and listening to your partner.

By communicating, you are ensuring that you and everyone around you is safe and being respected.

One thing’s clear: if it’s not mutual – and your partner can’t communicate – it’s not consent.

So how do you know you have consent? What does that word really mean?

It can be a tricky concept.

Here’s how Lenoir-Rhyne University defines consent in the school’s Resource Guide on Sexual Misconduct: “LenoirRhyne University defines consent as clear, knowing and voluntary words or

actions, freely and actively given, that indicate a willingness to participate in mutually agreed upon sexual activity or actions. Consent is present when a reasonable person in the same situation would consider the words or actions of the parties involved an expression of willing permission to do the same thing, in the same way, at the same time.”

This university has spent the last few years educating its students about the issue, and that message is getting through.

“You know you have been given consent when he/she verbally says so, although body language/actions can say a thing or two as well. Consent means there’s been permission granted from both parties and both are okay with proceeding farther,” said LR freshman Brandon Lam. 29

studying abroad

while already being abroad?

HOW ONE LR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT SPENT A SEMESTER IN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

By Emily Kessler

It’s not unusual for American college students to study abroad. And plenty of international students spend some of their time studying abroad in the U.S. But when a student who leaves an American university to study abroad was already studying abroad in the U.S. in the first place – that’s unusual.

But LR sophomore Marta Escanero made it happen, and never looked back.

“One day I was just sitting in Starbucks on campus with a friend and she was like, ‘I really want to go to Australia,’ and I was like, ‘Australia, how?’ and she was like, ‘with the school, like study abroad – and I only have to pay for my airfare,’” Escanero remembered.

“I immediately went to LR’s Office for International Education to see if I could sign up.”

Escarano was born and raised in Alicante, Spain, which is located on the country’s southeastern coast. The weather is always warm, it never snowed, and it’s a five-minute walk from Escanero’s home to the beach.

“In my town, there is an agency that I went to for tennis,” Escanero said. “I told them I was interested in going to school in America. They told me tennis was my way.”

After applying and receiving a scholarship to play here at LR, Escanero was 30

ecstatic.

“It was always a dream of mine to go to school in America since I was little, and it’s unbelievable that I actually did it,” she said.

Escanero’s not alone. Sports brought many of LR’s international students to this school.

“I am from Edinburgh, Scotland and for me, soccer was my only way of traveling, studying and playing in America,” freshman Livi Murphy said.

Escanero is enjoying LR and she loves her hometown of Alicante, but they don’t compare to her experience in Sydney. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it.

“My schooling and room and board in Sydney was covered by LR. I had to pay for my plane ticket, which was around $1,500, and that’s it,” Escanero said.

On July 22, Escanero flew from Alicante to London, London to Singapore and Singapore to Sydney. Thirty hours in the air, and four countries later, she made it to Sydney at 6 a.m. It was July 24.

“It’s funny, I wasn’t jetlagged at all,” Escanero said. “My airline lost my luggage, so I bought a new pair of black Vans and dressed in all-black everything for the first week. I was however reimbursed the money from my airline that I had spent on the Vans and clothes,

which were so nice – free clothes? I’ll take it.”

Escanero was studying for the semester at University of Technology Sydney (UTS). She lived in a 21-story dorm that overlooked the city of Sydney. She shared her suite with five other students who were also studying abroad; they each had their own private room with a connected living room, kitchen and two bathrooms.

“My building was so nice. On the 21st floor there were windows with the prettiest view,” she said. “I could see the Sydney Opera House from the 21st floor window at all times. It was incredible.”

Escanero was in Australia during the country’s fall and winter season.

The temperature stayed around 70-90 degrees with an occasional drop of chilly weather, which made for easy traveling along Australia’s east coast.

“It’s funny, I would get random snapchats from Marta in October and November and it would be her on a beach. Next thing you know she’s in a van traveling the coast with her Spanish friends she met there. I was so jealous,” LR junior Paula Cortezano said.

For Escanero, traveling was one of the bigger, if not biggest part of her entire

»SEE ABROAD, PAGE 33 [summer/fall 2017] LRUnplugged

Marta Escanero, of Alicante, Spain, grew up five minutes from the beach. It’s a love that has stayed strong over the years, and it’s one reason she loved studying abroad in Sydney, Australia. SUBMITTED PHOTO

LRUnplugged [summer/fall 2017]

31

Marta Escanero, of Alicante, Spain, takes an opportunity to ride the waves during her time studying abroad in Sydney, Australia. SUBMITTED PHOTO

32

[summer/fall 2017] LRUnplugged

ABROAD from page 30 trip. On October 12, for spring break, Escanero and a few friends rented a van for $400 and traveled up the east coast of Australia for seven days. The trip started in Sydney and ended on the country’s northeastern coast in Cairns.

“I snorkeled in the Great Barrier Reef next to starfish and turtles three times the size of my head – it was exactly like ‘Finding Nemo,’” Escanero said.

Along the trip Escanero stopped in Byron Bay, Brisbane and Platypus Bush camp, places that she would recommend that everyone take the chance to go to if they follow her lead and study in Australia.

“My family and I have been to Byron Bay before – it’s a cool hippie town and I was able to have the experience of learning to surf,” LR freshman Cathleen Gaffney said. “Would I do it again? Absolutely,” As for the “studying” part of studying abroad, Escanero started her weekdays early at around 8 or 9 a.m. and went to her first class. After class she would play tennis for a little while to stay in shape and then study.

LRUnplugged [summer/fall 2017]

“A typical day for me was very simple: after my classes and working out, I would take public transportation (like the train or sometimes even walk) to the downtown markets or go the beach,” Escanero said.

Escanero’s Australian classes were more academically challenging than what she’s experienced in America.

At LR, Anatomy 1 and 2 are taken in two separate semesters. However in Australia she took both in a single semester.

“My GPA was lower studying abroad for sure, however my classes were more of a challenge, and I wanted to travel and see everything that I could. I had to take advantage,” Escanero said.

Australia, however, is more expensive; the U.S. dollar is only worth 77 cents in Australia, but minimum wage there is currently $17.70 per hour.

“It was very expensive during my trip. I would normally buy food to cook in my dorm because I didn’t want to pay to eat in the cafeteria,” Escanero said.

She found ways to make extra money.

“I would participate in paid re-

search, where I would sit in a room and fill out questions for around one to two hours, and they would pay me for my time,” Escanero said.

It took some time to get used to eating healthier too because fast food’s not as popular in Australia as it is here. As a result Escanero had cleaner skin and had more energy throughout the day.

“The closest thing to a Burger King Australia has is called Hungry Jack, plus everything is very close in Sydney and not spread out like Hickory is, so walking place to place is how people get around,” Escanero said.

Australian culture was a little different too.

“Everyone is very chill, there is no rush. Kids in Australia like to spend time outside surfing, not inside watching TV or playing video games,” she said.

Escanero credits Lenoir-Rhyne with opening the doors of travel for her.

“Honestly, without coming to LR there is no way I would’ve been able to travel and study in Australia,” Escanero said. “Although I’m happy to be back in America, I know for sure I’ll be back to Australia in no time.” lru

33

PROCRASTINATION: THE KILLER OF TIME DON’T GIVE IN TO THE TEMPTATION

By Lydia Black

“Procrastination is the thief of time – choke the life out of him!” is roughly what Charles Dickens said.

For a lot of students, college is the first time in their lives when they’re in total command of their daily schedule.

For many, this is the most free time they’ve ever had in their lives. Unfortunately it can also be the time when they’re most likely to fall prey to procrastination.

“Probably my worst procrastination horror story is from when I completely forgot I had to write and prepare a speech to give for my Public Speaking class freshman year,” says LR sopho-

more Jordan Jones. “It was not good. It definitely went really bad.”

Jones isn’t alone.

“Literally every paper I have written since I’ve started here has been written the night before,” says LR freshman Dillon Davis.

But why? Why do we create countless reasons to avoid the work we know we should be doing? In the end, all it does is stress us out – so why bother?

We’re ready to do better, so, how can we defeat procrastination?

Well, it’s going to take some serious commitment. No one tip works for everyone but to just getting rid of all

temptation goes a long way. Here are some ways that you can prevent procrastination before you even begin: • Create a to do list.

• Finish the hard stuff.

• Do two-minute tasks • Create a timed work frenzy.

• Give yourself a break.

• Remove your distractions.

• Don’t be a perfectionist.

• Focus on the end goal.

• Do one task at a time.

It’s time to take a deep breath and get down to business.

BATTLING FOR THE BALL

LRU women’s soccer player Sr. Kim Migliarese hip checks opposing North Georgia Nighthawks player Sr. Jacy Ramsey battling for the ball at Wednesday’s match.

PHOTO BY LYDIA BLACK

34

[summer/fall 2017] LRUnplugged

a view from above A look from above highlights Lenoir-Rhyne Univerisity’s Russell House standing alongside the P.E. Monroe Auditorium, two classic structures at the heart of LR’s ever-changing landscape. SUBMITTED PHOTO

LRUnplugged [summer/fall 2017]

35

Sunset over Lenoir-Rhyne University’s football field allows students a quiet moment to enjoy the subtleties of the college experience.

PHOTO BY HUNTER HAIRE