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Western Winter
2007
T h e Mag a z i n e o f We s t e r n C a ro l i n a U n i v e r s i t y
Big Cat on Campus
Newest Distinguished Professor
Brings Broadway to Cullowhee
Cover Story
Features
4 Top Honors
High- Achieving Students
Guide Western’s Renaissance
14 Lights, Camera, Action
Motion Picture Degree Prepares
Graduates for Movie Industry
18 Jet Set
Biotech Trailblazer Gives
Students a Whirlwind Tour
30 Any Given Sunday
WCU Alums Lead Cheers,
Make Tough Calls in NFL
Western Carolina University
Chancellor John W. Bardo
Vice Chancellor Clifton B. Metcalf
Advancement and
External Affairs
Associate Vice Chancellor Leila Tvedt
Public Relations
Managing Editor Bill Studenc
Associate Editor Teresa Killian
Art Director Rubae Sander
Chief Photographer Mark Haskett ’ 87
Contributing Writers Mike Cawood
Bessie Dietrich ’ 06
Randall Holcombe
Daniel Hooker ’ 01
John Kenyon
Joni Kenyon
Class Notes Editor Dianne Yount ’ 79
Designer John Balentine
Contributing Photographer Ashley T. Evans
Distinguishing Marks
Endowed Distinguished Professors
Provide Benefits to Students, Region
T h e M a g a z i n e o f W e s t e r n C a r o l i n a U n i v e r s i t y Western
Winter 2007
Volume 11, No. 1
14
8
30
18
8 The Magazine of Western Carolina University
is produced by the Office of Public Relations in the
Division of Advancement and External Affairs for
alumni, faculty, staff, friends and students of Western
Carolina University.
Junior guard Ashley Pellom of Wilmington drives
toward the basket in the Lady Catamounts’ season
opener against visiting Auburn. Coach Kellie Harper’s
Lady Cats, who upset ACC opponent Wake Forest,
and Coach Larry Hunter’s Catamounts, who
opened the season with a road win over rival
UNC- Asheville, are preparing for the heart
of the Southern Conference schedule.
For game and ticket information,
visit catamountsports. com. Cover photo by Martha Swope of musical theatre
professor Terrence Mann during his Broadway
performance of “ Cats”
Fast Break
The Magazine of Western Carolina University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University
Reynolds
Somehow, in schedules packed with papers and
club meetings, students in the Honors College make
time for “ chocolate and checkers” and readings from
regional authors. They transform a service project to
clean debris from a mountain lake into a social event
where the dean himself— an outgoing, casual, bow-tie-
wearing intellectual— jumps in the water, too.
The students do more than enjoy, devour and dissect
Ernest Hemingway’s writing. They go to France and
Spain through an Honors field course to walk in
his footsteps.
Such is the tightly knit, rapidly developing
Honors College— an academic community drawing
more and more high- achieving students. In 1996,
the university’s honors program served 77 students.
The number more than doubled a year later with the
opening of the residential Honors College— the first
in the University of North Carolina system. Today,
the college has grown to nearly 1,300 students, and
the average freshman SAT jumped 40 points in two
years— from 1227 in 2004 to 1267 in 2006.
The goal behind the college was to help top
students get more out of their undergraduate
education through social and academic initiatives,
and university leaders hoped its development would
inspire more of the brightest and best students
from Western North Carolina to stay in the region
for college. It made a difference to Michael O’Shea,
a sophomore from Hendersonville. “ If not for the
Honors College, I might not be at Western,” said
O’Shea, who at first thought Cullowhee was too close
to home. “ The reputation of Western is slowly catch-ing
up to the actual academics here. It’s a good time
to be here.”
In the past four years, the Honors College has
launched new programs and significantly expanded
others. The director of the Pre- Professional Program
moved to the college to offer specialized advising to
help students prepare for medical, pharmacy, physical
therapy, dental, optometry, physician assistant,
engineering or veterinary careers.
The Humanities Program, started in 2004,
helps students marry their interests to efficiently
double major in four years in subjects from Spanish
to professional writing. “ Why be just an art curator
when you could learn French and be an art curator
at the Louvre?” Steve Carlisle ’ 73, associate dean of
the Honors College, challenges students.
The Undergraduate Research Program refocused
on helping students go to the National Conference
for Undergraduate Research with research grants
and money for travel expenses for students invited
to present at the national conference. Last year,
Western was second in the nation in the number
of participants ( more on page 6).
An Honors College Scholars Program recently
began offering optional intensive courses for fresh-men.
“ We felt that students who are in the top
1 percent of the incoming class— students who
could go anywhere— needed some additional
academic challenges to become fully engaged at
Western,” Railsback said. One scholars group cre-ated
a magazine they named “ Imagine,” in which
they chronicled undergraduate research and achieve-ments.
A scholars class in philosophy hooked O’Shea.
It wasn’t a deadline that kept him up until 6 a. m. It
was his research topic— advertising and capitalism,
or, more specifically exploring “ if advertising was the
most necessary industry in capitalism since the post-industrial
revolution as production reached levels
higher than ever before,” said O’Shea. “ I enjoyed that
paper.” He went on to present it at the 2006 National
Conference on Undergraduate Research.
This year, the college formed the Distinguished
Scholarships Council to help prepare students who
want to compete for prestigious scholarships such as
the Truman or Fulbright award. Students also may
be able to seek advice and practice interviewing with
members of a new Highlands Advisory Board
( more on page 7).
Railsback directs a lot of credit for the college’s
growth to students, whom he invites to be leaders.
Junior Max Long coordinates a student- designed
mentoring program. The college’s Web site designer is
sophomore Caden Painter, who said he developed the
pages at honors. wcu. edu to be attractive and easy to
navigate, taking users where they want to be in three
or fewer mouse- clicks or less. The dean himself has an
all- student advisory board ( see page 6) that not only
delves into such issues as the college’s student service
requirements but also plans social programs and
lectures for enrichment. Students were instrumental
in such decisions as whether to move the Honors
College from Reynolds Residence Hall to a new
residence hall to be built near the current Dodson
Cafeteria location. “ The board advised me that the
campus’ future construction and development was
moving to the other side of campus— away from
us— with the new Millennial Initiative, and it would
be a disadvantage to stay where we are,” Railsback
said. The result? Half of a $ 44 million, 800- bed
residence hall designed in part by students will house
the Honors College. The first phase is scheduled to
open in fall 2008.
“ We will arguably be in a position in the near
future to say we are among the best honors colleges
in the Southeast. What we aspire to do is to provide
an excellent private liberal arts college experience on
a very modern, comprehensive university campus,”
Railsback said. “ Our Honors students and the faculty
who teach them will get us there.”
Growing Honors College Programs Attract High- Achieving Students
By TERESA KILIAN
Honors College students helped
design the $ 44 million, 800- bed
residence hall scheduled to open in
the fall semester 2008. The design
features a Louvre- like arch and such
amenities as garage band space, an
idea from sophomore Michael O’Shea.
“ It is impossible to store drums in your
room,” said O’Shea. “ They built a lot
of my ideas into the design, actually.”
The Reynolds Renaissance
Residence Hall
Renaissance The reputation of Western
is slowly catching up to the
actual academics here. It’s
a good time to be here.
“
”
— Michael O’Shea, student
Students such as Max Long fill many
leadership roles at the Honors College.
Long not only coordinates the college’s
student- designed mentoring program but
also participated in the scholars program
that offers an additional academic challenge
to Honors students, presented research at
a national symposium, and was a finalist
for the Truman Award.
The Magazine of Western Carolina University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University
Academic
Western was a hotbed for undergraduate research last
year... and the year before that... and the year before that.
In fact, for the past few years, WCU has ranked in the top 20
in the number of papers accepted at the National Conference
for Undergraduate Research, and 2006 was no exception.
With more than 49 projects by 70 student presenters on top-ics
from “ China and Japan: Defense Policies Following Politi-cal
Reform” to an “ Investigation of High Voltage Generation,”
Western arrived at the conference with the second highest
number of participants from any school in the country.
Fueling the Bunsen burners of research on campus is the
Honors College Undergraduate Research Program open to all
Western students. The program not only sponsors an annual
four- day Undergraduate Expo on campus but also offers
grants for research supplies or software, and pays registra-tion,
lodging and travel for Western students accepted to
present at regional conferences or the national conference.
“ This kind of work allows students to apply theory from
the classroom to real- world experience— to test drive what
they are learning at the university and accelerate their move
from students to professionals,” said Brian Railsback, dean
of the Honors College. “ We emphasize participation in the
National Conference on Undergraduate Research because it
is the premier conference of its kind and allows students to
meet and learn from other students in all disciplines from
around the nation.”
After an evening exploring the life and work of Edna
St. Vincent Millay, the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize
in poetry, Highlands resident Dr. Mark Whitehead and
WCU guest lecturer Brian Railsback explored another idea
— strengthening the link between two bastions of lifelong
education, the Highlands community and the nearby
university. Railsback, dean of the Honors College, knew
the growing college needed an external advisory board and
realized Highlands is a unique community of world travelers
with successful careers from whom Western students could
learn a lot. “ People in Highlands have achieved careers that
our students aspire to,” said Railsback. “ Our Honors students
need advice from lifelong high- achievers and people who are
proven lifelong learners.”
Now a year later, the Highlands Advisory Board to the
Honors College has drawn diverse members from the former
president of an insurance company to a founder of the
Chattanooga Conservancy. Their recommendations have
recognized the need for students to have global experiences
and fluency in another language, Railsback said. “ That gives
us an important goal and a challenge, and that’s what you
hope an advisory board will do,” he said.
In addition, the board is developing internship and
mentorship opportunities in Highlands and Cashiers.
Students who are finalists for prestigious scholarships,
such as a Fulbright or a Truman award, will be offered mock
interviews with people whose backgrounds are similar to
scholarship selection committee members or who won such
awards themselves.
Whitehead said the board also would like to see a bigger
WCU presence in Highlands, such as more courses offered
in the community that swells from an estimated 2,000 to
3,000 population to 30,000 in summer. “ We are going to see
what both communities need and facilitate a relationship
back and forth,” Whitehead said. “ If we work together, we
both benefit.”
Kaye Gorecki developed a career in
visual arts education and is director
of the Fine Art Center/ Bascom- Louise
Gallery in Highlands.
Carole Light is a clinical psychologist prac-ticing
independently and helping Hospice.
William Martin built a career in
manufacturing and served as business
manager for Trinity Church on Wall Street
in New York. He co- founded the Center
for Life Enrichment and serves on the
Highlands Community Foundation.
Jack Miller, an Asheville native, practiced
law in Miami for more than four decades
and serves as a board member of the
Center for Life Enrichment.
Hugh Normile, a Charles A. Dana Scholar,
holds a law degree from the University of
Florida at Gainesville and served on the
Brevard County Housing Authority.
Everett J. Tarbox Jr. is an emeritus
professor of humanities at Indiana
State University, where he won the
school’s President’s Medal for
Distinguished Service.
Sally Wallace, a Carleton College alumna,
owned a bookstore, served on St.
Petersburg, Fla., City Council, and is now
a member of the Mahaffey Foundation.
William Wallace, a Princeton University
alumnus, retired as president of
Wallace, Welch & Willingham, Inc.
He served as president of Florida
Orchestra and a member of the board
of directors of Florida West Coast
Public Broadcasting.
Kathy Whitehead, a music major at
Northwestern University, became a
registered nurse and owns Carlson-
Whitehead Orchids and The Gingham
Goose Needlepoint and Knitting Shop.
Dr. Mark Whitehead, a retired urologist,
graduated from Washington and Lee
University and Tulane Medical School.
Glenda Zahner earned a master’s in biology
from University of Michigan and helped
found the Chattooga Conservancy.
The dean of the Honors College admits there is one
nationally accepted guideline the college has not adopted.
Instead of a faculty advisory board, Brian Railsback said he
looks to an all- student group for advice on administrative
decisions. “ As much as possible, we try to make the Honors
College their college— the students’ college,” Railsback said.
The weekly meetings are casual. Railsback joins students
in sweatshirts ( and some in socks but no shoes) around a
table with notebook paper, binders, day planners, a laptop
and lots of ideas. Jessica Myers, the board’s president and
a junior from Peletier, reviews recent and upcoming social
events. The tailgating turnout at Homecoming was good,
and even though a banner wouldn’t hang, it seemed to work
fine on the ground. “ It was sort of a barricade around the
pizza,” Railsback said. Jennie V. Dowdle, a junior serving as
a board member and resident assistant in Reynolds Hall,
reports that students will clear out the freezer to make room
for ice cream for the next board game night, and the decora-tions
from last year’s Halloween party had been found.
Sacagawea dollars would be the prize for this year’s costume
contest— an event that, in the past, inspired such creative
attire as Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, Edward D. Wood,
and a Freudian note, uhm, “ slip.”
In academic business at a recent meeting, the board
celebrated acceptance of the official college seal it proposed,
scheduled a retreat to review the Honors curriculum and
brainstormed how to raise money for an annual bicycle
pledge ride for scholarships. “ The fact that we have a group
strictly made up of students that meets with the dean and
makes important decisions, knows what’s going on and
brings representatives from the student body is unique,”
said Myers. “ Having that voice is awesome.”
Dean Takes Cues from Student Board
By TERESA KILIAN
Highlands Advisory Board
Academic Advising Highlands Group Fosters Opportunities for Students
As much as possible, we
try to make the Honors
College their college—
the students’ college.
“
”
— Brian Railsback, dean
Advising
Research
Undergraduates Put Theory into Practice
Rebecca Frank, an Honors College student
majoring in education, wrote a story for Imagine
magazine about an exploratory mini- submarine
that undergraduate students at Western helped
prepare for underwater exploration.
The Magazine of Western Carolina University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University
For the world, John LeBaron, the Jay M. Robinson
Distinguished Professor of Educational Technologies, won
a Fulbright— his second— to share his talents assisting the
University of Helsinki in Finland in establishing a teacher
education program utilizing distance education and tech-nology.
In October, he participated in an international ef-fort
supported by the Euro-pean
Union to advance the
use of information com-munications
technology in
schools in Europe. Mean-while,
Jerry Miller, Blanton
J. Whitmire Distinguished
Professor of Environmental
Sciences, joined an effort
to study the ecology of
the Great Barrier Reef in
Australia and the transport
of heavy metals in a river basin in Bolivia.
Future professorships at Western will be in fields in-cluding
construction management, where Asheville philan-thropist
Joe Kimmel has committed to fund five endowed
distinguished professorships. Donations from members of
the WNC Health Organizations collaborative of hospitals
and health care facilities in Western North Carolina created
professorships to bring top instructors to the university in
physical therapy and nurse anesthesia, fields with short-ages
of employees in the region. “ We felt there was a huge
advantage to having a program situated in our region,
so that students who go to Western and study will hope-fully
stay in Western North Carolina for their professional
careers,” said Gary Bowers,
executive director of WNC
Health Organizations.
The Council for
Advancement and Support
of Education cites benefits
of endowed professorships
that include a better ability
to compete with private
institutions and to ensure
continuity in academic pro-grams.
Faculty positions
held by endowed professors would not be cut as a result of
budget reductions.
“ The bulb burns brighter with endowed professor-ships,
as if you are putting more electricity into the
system,” said Ed Broadwell, who serves on the University
of North Carolina Board of Governors. “ Western has a
bright future.”
Ron Rash eases into a chair and peruses a newspaper
as he waits for lunch- to- go at The Mad Batter. His
plaid shirt and salt- and- pepper beard blend into the
background of the café in Cullowhee, but the casual
presence on campus of the local, regional and national
award- winning writer is big, especially for students such
as Craig Buchner MA ’ 06. “ I’m a great fan of his poetry
and use of language. To be in the company of someone
so dedicated to his art was wonderful,” said Buchner,
who took a fiction writing class from Rash and often
stopped in his office for advice about the publishing
world and writing. “ Meeting him made writing seem
more real for me as a possible career. Then, when he won
the O’Henry Prize in 2005, I started to think I’d like to
win.” And earlier this year, with support from Rash and
other Western faculty, Buchner did win— an Association
of Writers & Writing Program national award for his
short story “ Good Night.”
What brought Rash to Western was an endowed
distinguished professorship— the John A. Parris Jr. and
Dorothy Luxton Parris Distinguished Professorship in
Appalachian Culture. Such faculty positions offer
competitive salaries, benefits and research support as
a way to draw nationally renowned experts to campus.
The jobs are supplemented with money generated from
endowments in the amount of $ 500,000, $ 1 million or
$ 2 million. The funds are created through private con-tributions
and matching grants from the North Carolina
General Assembly.
Ten years ago, Western had no distinguished profes-sorships.
Today, the university has 15 that are fully fund-ed—
the fourth highest number among the 16 universities
in the University of North Carolina system. “ Endowed
professorships allow us to recruit nationally and interna-tionally
known faculty members in a variety of fields to
help us assure that our curricula and the students’ educa-tion
are at the highest national or international levels,”
Chancellor John W. Bardo said. “ We’re trying to give
students the best instruction, and that means we have
to have star faculty. It is exciting to see how donors have
responded to the call to improve our academic stature
and rankings.”
At WCU, distinguished professors have helped
students craft commercials, investigate the region’s
water quality, and welcome the U. S. poet laureate to
campus. Bruce Frazier, Carol Grotnes Belk Distinguished
Professor of Commercial and Electronic Music, composed
a fanfare for the Pride of the Mountains marching band
this year and helped guide the first professional recording
of the Cherokee national anthem. Betsy Walker ’ 05,
who now works for the Nashville- based Country Music
Association, says Frazier’s classes in recording arts and
musical instrument digital interface or MIDI helped her
find her niche. “ I took many classes with Dr. Frazier, and
he was also my adviser,” Walker said. “ He led me through
college and inspired me.”
For the region, David Westling, the Adelaide Worth
Daniels Distinguished Professor of Special Education, has
led efforts to win more than $ 2.5 million in grants for
training and support for special education teachers. Tom
Hatley, Sequoyah Distinguished Professor of Cherokee
Studies, is working to strengthen the relationship between
the Cherokee community and the university while build-ing
Cherokee and Native American programs at WCU.
Meanwhile, David Strahan, Taft B. Botner Distinguished
Professor of Elementary and Middle Grades Education, is
collaborating with public schools in the region on initia-tives
to improve reading instruction in secondary schools
and mathematics instruction in rural areas as well as help-ing
revise curricula for WCU’s middle grades program.
Distinguishing Marks Students, Region Benefit From Distinguished Professor Program
By TERESA KILLIAN
Ten years ago, Western had no
distinguished professorships. Today,
the university has 15 that are fully
funded— the fourth highest number
among the 16 universities in the
University of North Carolina system.
Carol Grotnes Belk Distinguished Professorship in
Commercial and Electronic Music
Benefactor: North Carolina
philanthropist Irwin “ Ike” Belk in honor
of his wife, Carol Grotnes Belk
Professor: Bruce Frazier
Impact: Frazier, twice recognized with Emmy
Awards for contributions to dramatic underscore
and sound mixing, guides students on projects
such as adapting music for commercials for the
Great Smoky Mountains Railroad.
Jay M. Robinson Distinguished Professorship
in Educational Technologies
Benefactor: C. D. Spangler Jr., former
president of the University of North Carolina
system, in honor of public education legend
Jay Robinson
Professor: John F. LeBaron
Impact: LeBaron works with a course-development
group that helps faculty transition
from classroom to online teaching. He shares
his expertise internationally, and The Sloan
Consortium has cited his work as a best practice
in online teaching.
Blanton J. Whitmire Distinguished Professorship
in Environmental Sciences
Benefactors: Blanton J. Whitmire, president
and chief executive officer of Whitmire Research
Laboratories, and his wife, Margaret S. Whitmire
Professor: Jerry P. Miller
Impact: Miller involves students in studies
of water quality problems in Western North
Carolina and stream restoration projects. He also
recently explored mercury contamination in the
Amazon River basin and the ecology of
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
Ron Rash, an award- winning writer and the John A. Parris Jr. and Dorothy Luxton Parris Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Culture,
works with students in a class at Western.
Adelaide Worth Daniels Distinguished Professorship
in Special Education
Benefactor: Businesswoman and philan-thropist
Adelaide Key, former member of the
WCU Board of Trustees
Professor: David Westling
Impact: Westling helped secure more than
$ 2.5 million for a teacher support program serv-ing
public school teachers who work with special
needs students. The program has been embraced
throughout the region and named a “ program of
national distinction.”
The Magazine of Western Carolina University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University
When retired Greensboro businessman Wesley R. Eling-burg
’ 78 arrived at Western in 1974 after a stand- out career as
a high school baseball and basketball player, he came equipped
with dreams of joining the Catamount baseball team. Elingburg
earned a spot on the junior varsity squad his freshman year, but
decided to concentrate on his studies, opting to hit the books
instead of trying to hit home runs.
It’s a decision Elingburg has never regretted, as he would
go on to graduate summa cum laude ( with highest honors) with
a bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting.
He says his time at Western provided him with the education,
skills and confidence necessary to embark upon a successful ca-reer
in the world of corporate accounting. He has now stepped
up to the plate in a totally different fashion— through financial
contributions that have enabled his alma mater to create an
endowed professorship in the field of business education.
“ I will forever be grateful for the foundation of education
that Western provided me. To give back to the institution is my
way of saying thanks. The pro-fessorship
will benefit many
students in the future and will
help provide them with a simi-larly
solid foundation,” said
Elingburg, who recently made
the final contribution in a se-ries
of gifts totaling $ 250,000.
Combined with a dollar-for-
dollar match through a
program initiated by the General Assembly to encourage private
support of public institutions of higher education, Western
has created the $ 500,000 Wesley R. Elingburg Distinguished
Professorship in Business Innovation.
It is the 15th endowed professorship announced at
Western since 1996. The professorship will enable WCU to
recruit a nationally recognized expert in a business discipline
to join the faculty of the College of Business. The professor
will work closely with WCU’s undergraduate and graduate
programs in entrepreneurship, including a master’s degree
program that was named best in the nation in 2005— just
two years after its inception.
“ These generous gifts will have a significant and lasting
impact on academic quality and will substantially strengthen
Western’s future,” Chancellor John W. Bardo said. “ It is only
through the contributions of alumni, supporters and friends that
the university will be able to continue to move forward. Thanks
to gifts such as those from Wes Elingburg, we can build upon
our tradition of academic excellence by attracting some of the
nation’s top scholars to our faculty to share their knowledge and
expertise with our students.”
Elingburg recently retired after 25 years with Laboratory
Corporation of America, including the last eight as chief financial
officer. Also known as LabCorp, it is a Standard & Poor’s 500
company and the second- largest medical testing firm in the na-tion,
with revenues in excess of $ 3 billion and employing 25,000
people nationwide. He said he made the contribution to Western
out of a desire to give something back to a university he credits
for much of his success in his career and life.
“ Although my playing days came to end, my love for baseball
and for Western Carolina has never ended,” said Elingburg. In
fact, today he finds himself combining his passion for the game
with his educational and career path— as the co- owner of Greens-boro
Grasshoppers, a minor league baseball team affiliated with
the Florida Marlins organization.
aJnodh n D Aor. oPthayr Lrisu Jxtro. n Parris Distinguished Professorship
in Apalachian Culture
Benefactors: Estate of John and Dorothy Parris
Professor: Ron Rash
Impact: Rash has shared his award- winning writing
talents and worked with Western’s Mountain Heritage
Center on a performance series that highlights Appalachian
culture. Presenters have included a Cherokee storyteller,
gospel singers and an archaeologist.
Taft B. Botner Distinguished Professorship in
Elementary and Middle Grades Education
Benefactors: Estate of Taft B. Botner, former dean of
WCU’s College of Education and Allied Professions, and his
wife, Malvery Botner, who taught in the public schools
Professor: David Strahan
Impact: Strahan helped develop a grant proposal and
program for improving literacy instruction funded for more
than $ 280,000 that created a two- way partnership between
teachers from Asheville public schools and WCU faculty.
Stepping up to the Plate Minor League Owner Helps Provide Business Students a Field of Dreams
By BILL STUDENC OPtrhoefre sFsournshdiepds :
aCnadr oBlynen P Rle. m Pmhoinllsip Ps hillips Distinguished Professorship
in Musical Theatre
Benefactors: Estate of Carolyn P. Phillips of Waynesville
and matching money from the C. D. Spangler Foundation
Professor: Terrence Mann
Impact: Mann, a Broadway star who joined the faculty in
November, is teaching master classes in theatre and music.
Catherine Brewer Smith Distinguished Professorship
in Communication Disorders
Benefactor: Estate of Franklin resident
Catherine Brewer Smith, whose father attended WCU
Ambassador Jeanette W. Hyde Distinguished Professorship
in Gerontological Social Work
Benefactor: Wallace Hyde ’ 49 MA ’ 53 longtime
benefactor and former trustee of Western Carolina
University, in honor of his wife, current WCU trustee
Jeanette Hyde
Mountaintop Distinguished Professorship in
Advanced Optics Manufacturing
Benefactors: Developers of a lakeside golf club
in southern Jackson County
WNC Health Organizations Distinguished Professorship
in Physical Therapy
Benefactors: Regional health care providers
WNC Health Organizations Distinguished Professorship
in Nurse Anesthesia
Benefactors: Regional health care providers
Gimelstob- Landry Distinguished Professorship in
Regional Economic Development
Benefactors: Florida real estate businessmen
Herbert Gimelstob and Laurence D. Landry
Wesley R. Elingburg Distinguished Professorship
in Business Innovation
Benefactor Western alumnus Wesley Elingburg ’ 78,
retired chief financial officer from Burlington- based
Laboratory Corporation of America
Wesley R. Elingburg ’ 78 is co- owner of the Greensboro Grasshoppers baseball team.
“ Although my playing days came
to end, my love for baseball and for
Western Carolina has never ended,”
– Wesley R. Elingburg
Sequoyah Distinguished Professorship
in Cherokee Studies
Benefactors: The Friends of Sequoyah; Cherokee
businessman Jimmy Cooper; Eastern Band of Cherokee
Indians; Harrah’s Entertainment Inc.; and a National
Endowment for the Humanities challenge grant
Professor: Tom Hatley
Impact: Hatley has led a process of joint planning with
the Eastern Band that resulted in a new memorandum of
understanding with the tribe and new courses and programs,
including the Revitalization of Traditional Cherokee
Artisan Resources project.
10 The Magazine of Western Carolina University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 11
The career path for the newest Western faculty member to hold
an appointment as an endowed distinguished professor has taken
him from the cast of “ Cats” to the land of the Catamounts. Terrence
Mann, who originated the role of Rum Tum Tugger in the Broadway
production of “ Cats,” is WCU’s Carolyn Plemmons Phillips and Ben
R. Phillips Distinguished Professor of Musical Theatre.
Mann’s appointment means students in WCU’s musical theatre
program are learning tricks of the trade from a bona fide Broadway
star. He originated the role of the Beast in Broadway’s “ Beauty
and the Beast,” earning Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle
nominations. His stage credits include two additional roles he origi-nated
on Broadway— his Tony Award- nominated performance as
Inspector Javert in “ Les Miserables” and his portrayal of Chauvelin
in “ The Scarlett Pimpernel.” He also has taken the Broadway stage
in “ Lennon,” “ The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” “ Getting Away
With Murder,” “ A Christmas Carol,” “ Rags,” “ Barnum” and “ Jekyll
and Hyde.”
Tony Brown ’ 78, theatre critic for the Cleveland Plain Dealer,
gives rave reviews to Western’s new hire. “ Terry Mann is one of
Broadway’s and North Carolina’s true theatrical treasures. His
resonant voice, the intensity of his stare and those big, strong teeth
have allowed him to impose his outsized personality onto iconic
roles, which is especially notable because he injected that personal-ity
despite makeup painted on an inch thick or mechanical stage
pyrotechnics that tend to steal the spotlight from the actors,” said
Brown, son of a WCU English professor, who got his theatrical start
in a Cullowhee production of “ South Pacific” at age 9. “ Those roles
are notable because they are all ‘ heavies,’ yet Mann made them not
black- and- white bad guys, but shows us their humanity. The theatre
is full of great singers, but few artists can sing as gorgeously as
Terry does and, at the same time, capture the essence of a character
with his acting skills and heart.”
Mann is founding artistic director of the Carolina Arts Festival
and served as artistic director of the North Carolina Theatre for
14 years, directing more than 25 musical productions during his
tenure. He also was artistic director of “ The Lost Colony,” North
Carolina’s long- running outdoor drama.
At Western, Mann is leading a program designed to provide
students with practical work- related experience, build skills needed
in both music and theatre, and work on developing on- and off-campus
opportunities for undergraduate students. Working with
music director and coach accompanist Bradley Martin, he has
guided master classes for actors and singers, and will direct the
February production of “ The Music Man.” Mann also
plans to take students to New York to observe the
behind- the- scenes activities that go into mounting
a major Broadway production.
“ Terry has the talents and personality to
take an honored place in the pantheon of theatre
graduates and faculty at Western,” said Brown, the
theatre critic. “ I’ve always looked back at the many
hours I spent on the Niggli Theatre and Hoey
Auditorium stages as some of the most fun and
valuable of my life, and I think WCU’s theatre
department has long been one of the best small
programs in the region. The addition of Terry
to the faculty will certainly further WCU’s
expansion into musical theatre and will
attract a host of top- notch prospects to
that valley known as Cullowhee.”
The Music Mann
Tony- Nominated Broadway Star
Leads Musical Theatre Program
By BILL STUDENC
Western’s status as a university on the move— a
reputation due in part to dramatic growth in the number
of endowed distinguished professors— is beginning to en-tice
high- profile faculty members to come to campus even
in areas not supported by private endowments…. at least,
not yet. That rising academic stature helped convince two
internationally known academic figures to relocate to Cullowhee
from major North Carolina research institutions this fall.
One of the nation’s foremost economists, James F. Smith,
director of the Center for Business Forecasting in the Kenan-
Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina–
Chapel Hill, joined the faculty at Western earlier this fall. Orrin
Pilkey, founder of the Program for the Study of Developed
Shorelines, is moving his internationally prominent program
known for the integration of coastal science and management
from Duke University to WCU.
“ When we are able to attract professionals with the creden-tials
of James Smith and Orrin Pilkey to join us at Western, we
know we are not just doing something right, we are doing a lot of
things right,” said Provost Kyle Carter. “ Dr. Smith and Dr. Pilkey
are widely regarded as being at the top of their respective fields.
With enrollment increases, the development of new academic
programs, the dramatic growth of the Honors College and the
future possibilities to be found in our Millennial Initiative,
Western is in a very different position than it was just a few short
years ago. That’s why we are able to lure people of this caliber
away from institutions like UNC- CH and Duke.”
Smith, recognized in January by Bloomberg News for having
the most accurate forecast for long- term interest rates among
a national forecasting panel, holds a joint appointment in the
College of Business and in WCU’s Institute for the Economy and
the Future. In the IEF, which is WCU’s regional think tank and
economic development arm, Smith has special responsibility for
developing thought leadership and organizing, implementing and
leading policy studies, research and policy forums.
During a career spanning 30 years, Smith has been an
economist and analyst at the Federal Reserve Board; the National
Association of REALTORS;
Sears, Roebuck and Co.;
Union Carbide Corporation;
the University of Texas
at Austin; and Wharton
Econometric Forecast-ing
Associates, now Global Insights. He served as a consultant
to the President’s Council of Economic Advisers in 1981, and
formalized the process of economic forecasting for the Reagan
administration. The Wall Street Journal named him the “ most
accurate forecaster” three times in the past six years. He serves
on the forecasting panels of USA Today, Bloomberg News, Forbes
magazine, MMS International and the National Association for
Business Economics.
For Pilkey, relocation of the Program for the Study of
Developed Shorelines from Durham to Cullowhee represents
a passing of the gavel from a pioneer in the study of American
shoreline development policy to one of his top protégés. After
deciding to focus on writing books and articles, Pilkey says
he found just the right person to take over the program in his
former student Rob Young, associate professor of geosciences
at WCU, who has become known as one of the nation’s leading
experts on the science of hurricane impacts and coastal
management issues.
Set to open at WCU in January, the PSDS will continue its
emphasis on research focusing on beach replenishment and other
forms of shoreline stabilization, hazard risk mapping on barrier
islands, sedimentary processes on shorefaces, and mitigation
of hurricane property damage on barrier islands. “ I believe the
collaboration with WCU puts this program in a powerful position
to have an even greater impact on coastal management programs
nationwide,” said Pilkey. “ This is coming at a time when global
warming– induced sea- level rise is increasingly a threat to coastal
dwellers. I think the collaborative program will provide interna-tional
leadership in the search for economically viable and envi-ronmentally
sound solutions to our disappearing beaches and
our increasingly threatened beachfront development.”
Western Union Rise in Reputation Attracts
High- Profile Faculty
By BIL STUDENC
James Smith ( above) meets with
staff from the Institute for the
Economy and the Future.
Professor Rob Young ( left) looks over
coastal maps with Orrin Pilkey.
Terrence Mann on stage at WCU, and in cast of “ Cats”
Joe Tabacca
THE UNIVERSITY
of NORTH CAROLINA
at CHAPEL HILL
Duke U N I V E R S I T Y
The Magazine of Western Carolina 12 University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 13
experience in New York; Bruce Frazier,
Western’s Belk Distinguished Professor
of Commercial and Electronic Music, who
has won Emmy Awards for contributions
to TV programs; Arledge Armenaki, a
cinematographer with 19 motion picture
credits; Donald Connelly, director of
WCU’s broadcasting program who has 20
years experience with Clear Channel Com-munications;
and Elizabeth Heffelfinger, a
specialist in documentary and nonfiction
films. Terrence Mann, a Broadway star
who just joined WCU’s faculty to lead the
musical theatre program ( see related story
on page 13), will help students perfect their
craft as performers on the stage.
The New York Times recently called
degrees in media- related fields “ the new
MBA” because they teach skills such
as teamwork and team- building, time
management, writing, critical thinking
and technical competence with complex
equipment. Western’s program exposes
students to the history, craft and art of
motion pictures and television while pro-viding
hands- on experience with some of
the most up- to- date equipment in the
industry. Students are working in audio
and video studios located in Western’s
Center for Applied Technology. The
studios feature $ 4.5 million worth of
leading- edge video camera, recording
console, video switcher and video editing
equipment. The equipment includes a
high- definition digital video camera simi-lar
to the one used to produce the latest
“ Star Wars” movie and the same type of
video switcher used to broadcast “ Monday
Night Football” and “ The Tonight Show.”
While students are learning in a stu-dio
with all the latest bells and whistles,
Sholder said he also stresses the artistic
side of the business. “ We teach students
how to tell a story on the screen—
be it a
cinema screen, a television or a computer
— in an entertaining and original way.
We give them the technical skills to do so.
And we provide them with the breadth of
knowledge and the creative strategies to
adapt to whatever new technologies may
emerge,” he said.
Students already are working on
several projects, including a production
based on the short story “ Chemistry” by
Ron Rash, who holds WCU’s Parris Dis-tinguished
Professorship in Appalachian
Culture, and the making of a documentary
about the creative process. Alex Dillard of
Wilkesboro worked as a camera assistant
on the project. “ This program is the whole
reason I came to Western. I think the
potential is incredible for this program
and the students in it,” said Dillard, a 2003
graduate of Wilkes Central High School.
“ I am astounded that we have all this
expertise from the industry to share their
insights, that we have all this technology
on our campus and that we are actually
able to use the equipment as students.
The sky is the limit.” And that’s a wrap.
It’s “ lights, camera, action” and “ quiet
on the set” at Western these days, as the
university is offering a bachelor of fine
arts degree in digital motion picture and
television production, a program of study
led by a veteran Hollywood director and
screenwriter. The new degree— along
with existing programs in commercial
and electronic music, music performance,
broadcasting, theatre, dance and musical
theatre— means Western is preparing an
increasing number of students for careers
in the performing arts, be those jobs on
the stage or on the screen, behind the
scenes or behind the camera.
“ Western’s motion picture and TV
program is a very important piece in build-ing
the base of skills for this generation
necessary to work in an ever- increasing
visual world,” said Mary Trimarco of the
Western North Carolina Film Commis-sion.
“ It is critical for students to learn
how to express themselves visually, both
creatively and in business. We are looking
forward to working with the students and
graduates on their future projects.”
Western is no starry- eyed ingénue
when it comes to the film and television
industry. The new degree and the re-cent
relocation of several entertainment
professionals from the hills of Hollywood
to the Cullowhee mountains is just the
latest chapter in the university’s long- last-ing
love affair with the motion picture
industry. Before the late Josefina Niggli,
whose name graces Niggli Theatre on the
WCU campus, joined the faculty in 1956,
she enjoyed a successful career as a script-writer
for 20th Century Fox and Metro-
Goldwyn Mayer. And WCU professors in
theatre and related areas have for decades
been honing their skills on movie and TV
sets ( see page 16).
Following in Niggli’s footsteps is Jack
Sholder, director of “ A Nightmare on Elm
Street 2” and “ The Hidden,” who came to
Western in 2004. Sholder, who won an
Emmy Award for his editing work on the
TV production “ 3- 2- 1 Contact,” is pre-paring
students to take part in a rapidly
evolving entertainment industry. “ The
motion picture and television industries
have changed more in the last 10 years
than they have in the previous 50. With
the advent of the digital age and broad-band,
technology will continue to change
the face of these arts and industries at
a rapid pace,” said Sholder, who has
directed some 20 films and TV programs.
“ Students need to understand the whole
process, even though they may only work
in one segment of it. They need to know
how the real world of motion pictures and
television operates— the unspoken rules,
shortcuts and etiquette.”
Students at Western also are getting
the inside scoop from Terry Curtis Fox,
a Hollywood screenwriter whose credits
include “ Hill Street Blues,” “ Diagnosis
Murder” and “ Stargate SG- 1”; Padraig
Acheson, who heads WCU’s television pro-duction
program after 28 years of network
Screen Gems
Western student Corey Utke prepares the
cast and crew for action on the set of an on-campus
motion picture production ( clockwise
from top left), while Michael Montanez gets
camera pointers from faculty member Arledge
Armenaki. Jack Sholder, director of the new
motion picture degree program, reviews set
notes with student script supervisor
Christopher Hamilton.
New Motion Picture Production Degree
Helps Prepare Students for Careers in Growing Industry
By BIL STUDENC
The Magazine of Western Carolina 14 University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 15
Character Studies Professors Pick up Classroom Pointers from Movie, TV Roles
By BIL STUDENC
Courtesy of " Home of the Giants"
Courtesy of " Hallmark Hall of Fame"
Courtesy of HBO
Western alumni and faculty are making their mark in Hollywood.
Counterclockwise from top left, Sean Bridgers ’ 92 had a major
supporting role in HBO’s “ Deadwood.” Terry Nienhuis,
professor of English, co- starred in the television production
of “ The Water is Wide” earlier this year. Stephen Michael
Ayers, associate professor of theatre arts, plays a coach
in the upcoming basketball film “ Home of the Giants.”
And above, Nonalee Davis ’ 95, a professional stunt
coordinator and performer, gives new meaning to the
phrase “ hands- on learning” during an on- campus
workshop on fight choreography.
co- starring role on the critically acclaimed “ Deadwood” on HBO. Bridg-ers
attributes his success to the multitude of acting opportunities he
received as a student at Western. “ At other universities, students don’t
act in front of audiences much,” he said. “ At WCU, I got a lot of practice.”
A Sylva native, Bridgers sometimes finds his way back to his alma
mater to work with students. So does Nonalee Davis ’ 95, who has
worked as stunt coordinator and performer in film and television.
Davis returned to campus last year to give a series of workshops on basic
stage combat, hand- to- hand combat, fight choreography and weapons
choreography for theatre arts students and members of the University
Players and Black Theatre Ensemble.
For Nienhuis, who teaches drama and film classes in Western’s
English department, earning a role as a significant character on the
Hallmark Hall of Fame production of “ The Water is Wide” is the latest
in a string of appearances on the series. “ This was the third time I had
worked with director John Kent Harrison, and it’s my biggest screen role
so far. It’s certainly the most lucrative with the most screen time. My
character doesn’t have a whole lot to say, but he is certainly around all of
the time, and he is constantly being referred to by other characters,” said
Nienhuis, who also has appeared in past Hallmark Hall of Fame pro-ductions
“ What the Deaf Man Heard,” “ Having Our Say” and “ The Old
Man;” in films including “ Days of Thunder” and “ Paradise Falls;” and in
TV commercials for Shoney’s and First Union.
But Ayers and Nienhuis both say they get more out of their
extracurricular acting gigs than extra spending loot; their work on TV
and in motion pictures is helpful in the theatre and film classes they
teach at Western. “ It’s extremely useful to have the kind of practical
experience you gain from being on set. It’s really been invaluable to see
what happens in the process of making a film. I don’t think that I truly
understood film and how it works
until I started getting
some jobs and began
to set foot on film
sets,” Nienhuis said.
Students studying drama and film at Western Carolina University
are learning acting techniques from faculty members who sometimes
find themselves in front of the camera almost as much as they are in
front of the classroom these days. Stephen Michael Ayers, associate
professor of theatre arts, recently wrapped production on two major
motion pictures—“
The List,” a thriller starring Malcolm McDowell, and
“ Mr. Brooks,” a crime- mystery starring Kevin Costner and Demi Moore.
Meanwhile, Terry Nienhuis, professor of English and an experienced
stage and screen performer, nabbed his largest television appearance to
date in a supporting role in the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation of
“ The Water is Wide” earlier this year. It marked the fourth time Nienhuis
has worked on a Hallmark Hall of Fame production, widely acknowl-edged
as one of the highest quality series on television.
Ayers, head of WCU’s professional acting and directing program,
also enjoyed a four- episode guest- starring role on the NBC science- fic-tion
thriller “ Surface” and landed roles on three other motion pictures
during the past year, including an upcoming basketball film starring
Haley Joel Osment of “ The Sixth Sense.” A member of the Western
theatre arts faculty since 1985, Ayers portrays a high school basketball
coach in “ Home of the Giants,” a coming- of- age story filmed in Greens-boro.
He also spent about six weeks last summer working on two films
—“ The Work and the Glory: American Zion” and “ The Work and the
Glory: A House Divided”— directed by Sterling Vanwagenen, co- founder
of the Sundance Film Festival.
“ It has been sort of crazy all of a sudden,” said Ayers, an accom-plished
television and movie actor whose credits include recurring roles
on TV shows “ Matlock” and “ I’ll Fly Away” and parts in several motion
pictures, “ Days of Thunder” and “ That Darn Kat” among them. “ After
working on the two ‘ The Work and the Glory’ films last summer,
I was really ready for golf and my yard. Then I got a call
about a new feature being done with Haley Joel Osment.
They sent me the script, and I loved it. I went to read for
the director, and that was that,” he said.
During his work on the now- canceled NBC series
“ Surface,” which was filmed in Wilmington, Ayers shared
screen time with a former student, R. Keith Harris ’ 92.
The two also worked together on the film “ The List,” slated
to hit theaters sometime in 2007. “ How cool is that—
professor and former student working side by side
in the industry,” Ayers said.
Another alum, Sean Bridgers ’ 92, also has
found steady work in the movies and on TV,
including roles in the major motion
pictures “ Nell” and “ The
Chamber” and a
The Magazine of Western Carolina 16 University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 17
Tony L. White ’ 69 made his mark on the world by involving
himself in scientific explorations of the human genome, the compli-cated
DNA recipe that is the foundation of all human life. But it was
the underpinnings of his own life that were on his mind during
WCU’s summer commencement ceremony.
White, president and chief executive officer of Applera Corpora-tion,
attended the August ceremony to accept an honorary doctorate
of science. In his position at the Connecticut- based company, White
has helped open the way for a revolution in medicine based on the
genome. His company accelerated the race to decode the genome in
1998 when it announced plans to finish that project in three years,
and two years later, completion of that mission was announced at a
White House ceremony. Just a few months before, White found his
face on the cover of Forbes magazine with the headline: “ The making
of a $ 24 billion gene machine.” He has been widely recognized for the
key businessman’s role he is playing in the biotechnology revolution
and in development of the new field of pharmacogenomics.
But grand Washington ceremonies and magazine covers weren’t
mentioned in White’s acceptance speech. Instead, his speech focused
on a few words spoken in a long- gone Cullowhee landmark more than
three decades ago.
“ A couple of days before I left for the military, I was having lunch
at the Townhouse with my two favorite teachers, ( business professors)
Bill and Patsy Scott,” he said. “ As we parted, Patsy said to me that she
thought my only limitation in life might be my own imagination. For
the rest of my life, I have worked hard to keep that from coming true.”
Born in Havana, Cuba, White was raised in his father’s hometown
of Asheville and arrived in Cullowhee as a freshman in 1965. “ This
is where I gained the confidence to go ahead and grow up,” he said. “ I
had not been success- oriented in high school, but here I got a second
chance in an environment that was perfectly suited to my needs. I was
embraced by friends and faculty in very positive ways and allowed to
be transformed into a young man intent on success.”
After earning his undergraduate degree in social sciences and
economics, and following a stint in the Army, White began a 26- year
career at health care services company Baxter International Inc., ris-ing
in rank from sales representative to executive vice president. In
1995, he left Baxter to head Applera, the company formerly known
as Perkin- Elmer Corporation. He now heads an organization of 6,000
people. “ I have been lucky enough to make some pretty good moves
during my journey,” White said. “ But the best one, hands down, was
made while I was still here at Western. It was here that I convinced
Susan Bradley ’ 70 to be my wife.” White credited his mother,
Brevard resident Aida T. White, for providing the foundation
for his success. “ There is probably only one person who might
have predicted this,” he said. “ My mom always made us believe
that we had great potential.
“ I’m sure Chancellor Bardo has grown tired of me
always making the point that one of the great gifts this school
provides young people of our community is that second chance,”
White said. “ I’m grateful I got mine here, and I hope I have
made the best of it.”
GENE MACHINE
Business Grad Leads Biotech Revolution
By RANDAL HOLCOMBE
Former Forbes magazine cover model Tony L. White ’ 69 helped a group of WCU students and faculty take the term “ field trip” to a higher level recently
when he arranged to have them flown by private jet to tour the California headquarters of Applera Corp., the international life sciences company he heads.
The Catamount contingent enjoyed a guided tour of company laboratories with White ( lower left) to see how science works in the corporate world.
Students Carmen Batchelor and Chris Tennant ( lower right) even got some hands- on experience using microfluidics products.
The Magazine of Western Carolina 18 University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 19
By the time Scott Philyaw ’ 83 made his way to the stage
after hearing his name called for the third time in a single
afternoon, some audience members had come up with a new
label for Western Carolina University’s General Faculty Meeting
and Awards Convocation— the Scott Philyaw Invitational.
An associate professor of history and newly named direc-tor
of the university’s Mountain Heritage Center, Philyaw
chalked up the WCU faculty version of the soccer world’s
hat trick when he collected three major awards presented at
Western’s annual campus gathering. He received the Paul A.
Reid Distinguished Service Award for Faculty, was part of a
team that won the Integration of Learning Award, and was
acknowledged as WCU’s recipient of the University of North
Carolina Board of Governors’ Award for Excellence in Teaching.
“ It is quite an accomplishment for a faculty member to win
any one of these significant university honors, but to receive
three of these awards in a single year is unheard of,” said
Clifton Metcalf, vice chancellor for advancement and external
affairs. “ We’re pleased that Dr. Philyaw’s peers have chosen to
recognize him for his teaching and scholarly achievements, and
for his service to the university and surrounding community.
We’re doubly proud that he is a Western alumnus, because
these awards are proof positive of the caliber of education the
university offers to students— a tradition of high- quality
teaching and research that Dr. Philyaw experienced studying
here as an undergraduate history major, and a tradition he is
now continuing as a faculty member.”
In announcing Philyaw as the winner of the Reid faculty
award, Chancellor John Bardo praised him as a professor “ who
emphasizes critical thinking and its constant companion, clear
communication, in his courses; who makes his classes relevant
by stressing the advantages of collaborative learning in the
workplace; and who strives to give his students real- world
experience.” A faculty member at WCU since 1996, Philyaw
received the Integration of Learning Award along with
Kathleen Brennan, assistant professor of sociology; Michael
Despeaux, career services coordinator; Jubal Tiner, assistant
professor of English; and Josh Whitmore, assistant director
for outdoor programs. Their winning proposal, “ Adventure
Sports in the Mountains,” will bring together WCU’s outdoor
sports programming organization; the Mountain Heritage
Center; and faculty in English, sociology and history to
enable students to explore adventure sports as a part of
Western’s community and culture.
The Board of Governors Award for Teaching Excellence,
established in 1994 to underscore the importance of teaching
and to reward good teaching, is among the university system’s
top faculty awards. Brandon Alexander Robinson ’ 05, who
first met his future professor and adviser as a high- school par-ticipant
in a summer academic enrichment program hosted by
WCU, called Philyaw “ eminently qualified” to receive recogni-tion
from the Board of Governors. “ I have long believed that
the best teachers are also mentors. Dr. Philyaw has not only
broadened my mind, but has helped shape my character,” said
Robinson. “ Looking back on the seven years I have known Dr.
Philyaw, I am truly amazed at the extent to which he seeks
to unify all the drives of his life, and to enlist like- minded
persons. He has truly been what I hoped I would find in the
university faculty— the scholarly expert, the gifted teacher,
the insightful adviser, and the inspiring role model.”
Professor Scores Faculty Award “ Three- Peat”
By BIL STUDENC
T h eW CWU Expaondrsl Trdav el IAbsr oaOd Prougrarm Classroom
By JONI KENYON
China
Academic
Accolades
Scott Philyaw ’ 83 shares a laugh with Brandon Robinson ’ 05.
It’s an early November morning in
Cullowhee, but Elyse Jardine is already
dreaming about life on the other side
of the world. “ I picture China as a place
that is different from anything that
I have ever known,” Jardine said. “ I
want to go because it is a place that has
always been a curiosity to me.”
Jardine, a junior majoring in com-munications,
will finally get a chance
to visit the country June 2- 23 as WCU
for the first time offers its “ China
Abroad” program. It’s just one of many
countries on the itinerary this summer
through the university’s annual Sum-mer
Abroad Program, with a growing
number of students taking advantage
of a growing number of opportunities.
Students who participate in the
China trip will stay at Fudan University
in Shanghai as a part of three courses:
“ Basic Survival Skills in China,”
“ Principles of Marketing” and “ Modern
Asian History.”
Trip leaders Steve Henson,
assistant professor of marketing and
business law, and Gael Graham, associ-ate
professor of history, have made a
special effort to open the program to
all students in the University of North
Carolina system. “ My personal goal
for the trip is to establish a framework
that will allow dozens, and eventually
hundreds, of North Carolina students
to visit China,” Henson said.
Sarah Wong, a sophomore biol-ogy
major at North Carolina State
University, is happy to take advantage
of the course. “ I think it’s wonderful
that college can open so many doors
to opportunities like this,” Wong said.
“ I only wish that more students knew
about these programs.”
continued on page 22
20 The Magazine of Western Carolina University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 21
Munich
Japan
Ecuador
Top right: Nursing student Rebecca Miller
Above: Nursing professor Judy Mallory
A. J. Rowell ’ 05 visited New Zealand ( above) and Fiji ( left) as part
of his WCU travel- abroad experience. Images from Rowell’s travels
grace a calendar he is selling to raise money for several charities.
For information, visit www. whyiride. com
before, and will encourage students
who have been to Japan to further
their understanding of the Japanese
language and culture.”
Other international programs
offered during summer 2007 are well-established
parts of WCU’s summer
sessions. For the third year, the univer-sity
will offer a trip to Quito, Ecuador,
where students work with the local
population as a part of “ Special Topics:
International Missionary and Volun-teer
Nursing,” led by Judy Mallory,
assistant professor of nursing. Dates
for the trip are May 27– June 5.
“ Students can study about other
cultures and disparities in health care,
but to experience it first hand is
life- changing,” Mallory said. “ It is an
awesome experience to work with a
student as he or she assesses a child
who has never received ‘ formal’
health care before.”
Lee Rule, a senior RN- to- BSN Cap-stone
nursing major who participated
in the course last year, agreed. “ The
enrichment gained from these experi-ences
is immeasurable and definitely
far exceeds the credit hours earned for
the class,” Rule said.
“ Many of the Ecuadorians educated
us on their customs and beliefs and,
in this way, we were able to enter into
a dynamic relationship that promoted
collaboration and mutual respect with
the people we met,” he said. “ This, I
feel, is the purpose of international
learning experiences.” The course is
open to WCU students, with nursing
students having first priority.
continued on page 24
Several courses next summer,
including “ German Civilization” and
“ Special Topics: German Language and
Cultural Immersion,” also are open to
students outside of WCU. Students
in these courses will explore Munich,
have a picnic at Englischer Garten,
learn about the history of Dachau
( the notorious German concentration
camp), and visit the BMW museum
and the Bavarian Department of Edu-cation.
Students wishing to sign up for
the German courses must have some
prerequisite courses in German, said
instructor Donnie Stepp Jr., who him-self
did undergraduate study abroad
in Munich and completed a doctorate
program in Bamberg, Germany.
Instructors Erin Tapley, associate
professor of art education, and Masa-fumi
Takeda, Asian studies coordina-tor,
will lead a trip to Japan from May
7- 21. Tapley will discuss traditional
and modern art of Japan while Takeda
will cover Japanese language, daily
life, customs and education as a part
of “ Topics in Art” and “ Special Topics:
Japan Past and Present.”
Students will explore the Ueno
area to visit museums and national
parks; take a bullet train to Osaka to
visit classes at Osaka Kyoiku Universi-ty;
and visit temples, shrines, muse-ums
and workshops to study Japanese
art. Students also will experience the
Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima.
The main objective of the class is
“ to cultivate students’ sensitivity to
differing values and viewpoints that
exist in other cultures,” Tapley said.
“ This course will be an eye- opener for
students who have never been to Japan
continued from page 21
The Magazine of Western Carolina 22 University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 23
Horse Sense
Equestrian Club Unites Equine Enthusiasts
London
Bahamas
Western’s Equestrian Club may be small, but the tight-knit
group of a dozen or so horse lovers say the experience
— horse showing, equine- related service, fundraising and
just plain everyday horse care— is very rewarding. Intercol-legiate
horse show judges agree: Last year, Lauren Allen
’ 06 won her class and placed fourth over fences at this year’s
show sponsored by Wake Forest University. Elizabeth Mun-day
’ 06 left a St. Andrews Presbyterian College horse show
with back- to- back high point rider awards, having placed
first or second in both horsemanship and reining classes.
Brooke Mercier placed first and second in her novice classes
at a double- header at Virginia Tech. Maria Aponte earned
enough points to qualify for a year- end regional finals show.
Katie Evans won an advanced walk- trot- canter class at
Virginia Intermont. The list goes on.
The club began when a student and a prospective
student started exploring the idea with club adviser Nory
Prochaska, a lifelong rider who also directs the Mathematics
Tutoring Center and coordinates the University Experience
course for first- year students. They recruited through
word- of- mouth and a sign- up table at Valley Ballyhoo,
WCU’s annual back- to- school celebration. “ It grew from
there,” said Prochaska.
Unlike schools that have large, established
equestrian programs, the WCU team
depends on riders who bring horses
to the area while in school, or
local horse lovers willing
to allow their horses to be used by the team for practice.
The hunt seat team worked with a professional coach,
Cathy Schwartz of Smokey Hollow Farm in Candler.
The team also participated in IHSA- recognized western
horsemanship events, something new for the IHSA region.
“ With limited riding opportunities, our competitive efforts
are pretty low- key,” said Prochaska. “ But, the beauty of the
Intercollegiate Horse Show Association program is that it
has a place for riders of all levels to compete, and the large
programs provide all of the horses, so it’s remarkably acces-sible,
financially, for college students.”
Members of Western’s Equestrian Club find the extra-curricular
activity indispensable. Munday, who is from
Kernersville, said she realized when she got to Western that
she had to be around horses. “ I was too far away from our
farm or my horse trainer to be able to ride every day like I
was used to,” she said. And riding was so important to Allen
that she met with Prochaska to learn more about the Eques-trian
Club before deciding to transfer from Salem College.
The Sylva native went on to compete for three years, served
as captain for two and club president for one. “ My team-mates
quickly became some of my best friends,” said Allen.
Team member Becky Howard, who grew up riding
and showing horses in Hayesville, has high hopes for the
future of Western’s Equestrian Club. “ I hope to see the team
one day grow and have a barn of its own for a large, diverse
team,” said Howard. “ It has a lot of potential.”
A “ British Design Experience”
course is open to interior design ma-jors
at WCU who have completed their
sophomore- level design courses. Marc
Yops, associate professor of hospitality,
tourism and interior design, has of-fered
the course several years running.
Students travel to London in July for a
multi- faceted experience with a focus
on historical perspective, including
exploration of the furniture industry,
tours of design centers, visitations to
design showrooms, studio and factory
tours, and a visit to an English interior
design education program.
“ Environments of the Bahamas”
will be offered May 7- 21, led by
Blair Tormey, visiting instructor of
geosciences and natural resources
management, and Patricia Hembree,
assistant professor of science
education, geosciences and natural
resources management.
A geology course offers a
hands- on approach to investigate
the geologic and biologic aspects of
carbonate environments, while a
related science education course is
operated as part of the College of the
Bahamas Gerace Research Center on
the island of San Salvador. Students
will examine methods in field- based
learning and science education. Both
are open to students from all majors
and non- WCU students. Both courses
require well- fitted snorkeling gear.
Most trips cost between $ 1,600
and $ 3,000, in addition to tuition and
personal expenses such as food and
admission fees to temples and muse-ums.
Participants must be admitted to
the university before registering for a
course. For more information, contact
the Division of Educational Outreach
at ( 828) 227- 7397 or ( 866) 928- 4723.
continued from page 23
Students experience the
Bahamas both by land and by sea.
Members of Western’s Equestrian Club share their love of
horses through riding in shows, caring for horses and service
projects. Pictured at left with a horse named “ Chance” are
club members, left to right, Maria Aponte, April Greene,
adviser Nory Prochaska, Nicki Heim, Lauren Allen ’ 06,
Ashley Bordner, Brooke Mercier, Becky Howard and Eliza-beth
Munday ’ 06.
The Magazine of Western Carolina 24 University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 25
Western’s softball team was scram-bling
for someone to fill Cinderella’s
coaching shoes when first- year head
coach Megan Smith unexpectedly took
a position at Louisiana State after a sto-rybook
season that saw the squad claim
the Southern Conference championship
in its first year of existence.
Well, the clock did not strike mid-night
for Catamount softball fans. After
helping Virginia Tech to its first two
NCAA regional tournament berths over
the last two seasons as the top assistant
coach for the Atlantic Coast Conference
program, former collegiate pitching
standout Christine Hornak is now on
the job in Cullowhee as the second head
softball coach of the fast- pitch era for
Western Carolina.
“ I am very excited to be the next
head softball coach at Western Carolina
University,” Hornak said. “ I feel privi-leged
to continue developing tradition
and a history for this young program. I
look forward to being part of the Cata-mount
athletic family and working with
such talented athletes.”
Hornak takes over the reins of a
program that posted a 41- 20 overall
record, including a 16- 4 league record,
and featured six All- Southern Confer-ence
picks while setting a SoCon season
record for home runs by a team ( 81).
Among the returning starters are the
SoCon Pitcher of the Year ( Mendy
McKenzie) and the SoCon Freshman of
the Year ( Jenny Jackson). Also back on
the diamond in 2007 are two Louisville
Slugger/ NFCA All- Region selections
( McKenzie and Ashley Adams, who
belted a SoCon season conference
record 21 homers) and six All- Southern
Conference picks.
“ Christine is a great fit for Cata-mount
softball,” said Chip Smith,
director of athletics. “ This is a team that
has quickly earned the reputation of a
quality program. We are pleased that we
now have a coach with her experience
and background who is committed to
helping us take the next step.”
While at Virginia Tech, Hornak was
responsible for the Hokie pitching staff,
as well as conditioning, recruiting and
coordinating all travel plans. Under
her tutelage, pitcher Angela Tincher
became the first softball All- American
at Virginia Tech, being named Louisville
Slugger/ NFCA second team All-
American. Tincher, who was named
to the United States World University
Team, was also tabbed 2006 Atlantic
Coast Conference Pitcher and Player of
the Year as well as second team ESPN
The Magazine Academic All- America.
During her own playing days, Hornak
was a star pitcher at Campbell and UNC
Greensboro, earning all- conference
honors at both schools.
Three young men, all with a passion for athletics,
created a lasting bond this past summer. Josh Dees and Kyle
Greathouse of the Catamount men’s basketball squad spent
time during the off- season as volunteer coaches for Jason
Hedrick, a Special Olympics athlete. With their help, Hedrick
won a gold medal in track and field at the Special Olympics
USA National Games.
“ Jason and his mom came to our basketball games, and
we got to know them,” said Dees. Hedrick would wait after
each game to shake the hands of the players. After basketball
season, Dees and Greathouse decided to stay on campus for
summer school and to hone their basketball skills. Meanwhile,
Hedrick had placed high enough in the state Special Olympics
competition to qualify for the national event in Ames, Iowa.
“ Jason needed to continue his training for running,” said
Hedrick’s mother, Pat Beasley, coordinator for the Special
Olympics program in Jackson County. Remembering the
connection her son had made with the basketball players, she
asked Dees and Greathouse to train her son, and they accepted.
Each practice session incorporated exercising, running and
timing Hedrick. “ We asked WCU track athletes about training,”
said Dees. “ Then we started training Jason with different tech-niques,
like helping him start faster and run through the finish
line.” The three trained almost every day for approximately six
weeks, and they developed a plan. “ We worked out at different
times during the day,” said Greathouse. “ We wanted to vary his
runs from the afternoon heat to the cool of the evening.”
The WCU athletes were always positive with Hedrick, urg-ing
him to do his best at the competition, said Beasley. “ They
respected him and took his training seriously,” she said. On the
last day that the trio worked together, Dees and Greathouse
presented Hedrick with a stopwatch on which they had clocked
his final practice run. They told Hedrick to keep the timepiece
with him for good luck during the races because it held his best
time from all summer.
That is, it represented his best time until he took to the
track for the national Special Olympics meet, where Hedrick
won the gold medal in the 4x100 race. “ Jason shaved off three
more seconds at the competition,” said Beasley. He also ran
in the 100- and 200- meter races, placing fifth and earning
the silver medal in those events, respectively. “ We brought
competitiveness to it for Jason,” said Greathouse. “ It was
definitely his time to shine.”
The WCU athletes said they gained great insight from the
experience, and both found it extremely rewarding. “ I realized
how big of a deal it was. It was one of the best experiences of
my life,” said Greathouse. Dees agreed. “ It was rewarding
because Jason was a lot of fun. As athletes, Kyle and I like
to see improvement, and Jason worked really hard. It was a
good situation all around.”
During an era when many athletes seem to care only
about game stats or the highlight reel, it was refreshing to
watch Dees and Greathouse work with Hedrick, his mom said.
“ They helped Jason because they cared for him, not to get
recognition for doing it. It was just so special,” said Beasley.
“ Both young men were faithful to Jason. They showed up,
and they had a plan. They were organized, kind and truly
good sportsmen.”
GOING FOR THE GOLD
Basketball Players Make Special Olympics Even More Special for Local Athlete
By BESIE DIETRICH ’ 06
PITCH PERFECT
New Skipper at the Helm for Softball Cats in ’ 07
By DANIEL HOOKER ’ 01
Christine Hornak is Western’s new softball coach.
Jason Hedrick shows his Special Olympics medals to Josh Dees ( left) and Kyle Greathouse ( right).
WCUAthletics
The Magazine of Western Carolina 26 University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 27
The recently renovated football locker room in Western’s
Ramsey Regional Activity Center now bears the name of a
husband- and- wife team who helped lead the fundraising
effort that made the $ 225,000 upgrade possible.
Dale Hollifield ’ 65, who played guard for the Catamounts
from 1962 to 1964, and wife Dianne Hollifield ’ 66, have
contributed $ 85,000 toward the renovation. The longtime
members of Western’s Catamount Club are retired and live
in Kings Mountain.
In recognition of the Hollifields’ gifts, the executive com-mittee
of Western’s board of trustees bestowed on the expanded
facility the name the Dale and Dianne Hollifield Locker Room.
The action came during a specially called meeting in September.
“ This project is both a significant enhancement of the
football facilities and a visible demonstration of the Hollifields’
loyalty to the university,” said Chip Smith, director of athletics
at WCU. “ We are deeply gratified by their support of Catamount
athletics in such a generous manner.”
A ceremony officially dedicating the Dale and Dianne Hol-lifield
Locker Room came as part of Western’s Athletics Hall of
Fame weekend, when the Catamounts knocked off nationally
ranked Eastern Kentucky University.
Swing Shift
Catamount Golfer Atop
the Collegiate Leader Board
Western Carolina junior Matt Cook was rated as the
top male golfer in NCAA Division I, while teammate Andres
Cuenca is rated 35th in the nation, according to rankings
released in October by Golfstat. com. A native of Murphy,
Cook also was featured on the Golf Channel’s “ College
Central” for moving up from 10th in the previous ranking
to his current spot at the top.
“ To have the top- ranked collegiate golfer, as well as
the 35th ranked collegiate golfer, in the NCAA Division I
rankings speaks very highly of the direction that our program
is heading,” said head coach Gorham Bradley ’ 04. “ Cook’s
development in our program has been very exciting for all
of those involved with WCU golf. Personally, I feel that we
are just beginning to see the ability that Cook has to play the
game of golf and, as he continues to mature mentally, expect
him to continue to be successful.”
Already the most honored player in Catamount football
history, place- kicker Kirk Roach racked up yet another
accolade earlier this year when he watched as his No. 14
jersey was officially retired.
A member of the Southern Conference’s 75th Anniver-sary
Football Team and a 1996 WCU Athletics Hall of Fame
inductee who owns numerous WCU, Southern Conference
and NCAA records, Roach holds the distinction of being the
Catamount taken highest in the NFL draft, going in the fifth
round to the Buffalo Bills in 1987.
“ Having my jersey retired is an amazing honor that I will
forever cherish, and I am overwhelmingly flattered to have
this accolade bestowed upon me. I truly believe that this
honor is an absolute reflection of the support and encour-agement
given to me by my teammates, coaches and family,”
said Roach, Western’s and the Southern Conference’s first
three- time All- America selection ( 1984, 1986 and 1987). “ I
am grateful that WCU took a chance on me— when no other
school would— and gave me the opportunity to play college
football. The lessons and values that Coach ( Bob) Waters
instilled into me have undoubtedly helped me on a day- to-day
basis, in both my professional and personal life.”
Roach was the first player in league history to be a
four- time, first team All- SoCon selection ( 1984- 87), an
accomplishment that has since been duplicated just three
other times. The Doraville, Ga., native and current Cum-ming,
Ga., resident is WCU’s all- time scoring leader with 302
points. Roach still owns NCAA records for most field goals
attempted in a career ( 101), most field goals of 50 yards or
more made in a season ( seven) and career ( 11), most games
kicking two or more field goals ( 25), longest average distance
of field goals attempted ( 40.5), and highest percentage of
field goals made in a season from inside 40 yards, as he con-nected
on all 17 attempts in 1986.
“ Kirk’s football career is an important part of the
heritage of Western Carolina football, and he has continued
to be involved with the athletic program since that time,”
said Chip Smith, WCU director of athletics. “ He is a true
Catamount. I am delighted that we are able to honor him by
retiring his jersey.”
A marker honoring Roach’s retired jersey now stands
adjacent to the current marker honoring the retired numbers
of Art Byrd ( No. 54) and Jerry Gaines ( No. 23). Roach now
works for a computer software company near Atlanta.
Record- breaking Booter Kirk Roach Sees Jersey Retired
By MIKE CAWOOD
Football Locker Room Named in Honor of Dale, Dianne Hollifield
Just For Kicks
Former bare- footed kicker Kirk Roach and his family enjoy his jersey retirement ceremony with Chip Smith.
Matt Cook sinks the putt.
Dianne ’ 66 and Dale Hollifield ’ 65 and their grandson visit the renovated football locker room.
The Magazine of Western Carolina 28 University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 29
WHISTLE BLOWER ACTS
Retired Educator’s Favorite Football Team
Wears Stripes
When Tara Mull ’ 05 walks into a room, the energy
level of everyone around her increases by about 1,000 per-cent.
So it only makes sense that you would find her on the
sidelines of Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium, helping
to increase the energy level of more than 70,000 screaming
Carolina Panthers fans by about 1,000 percent.
A Waynesville native now living in Charlotte, Mull was
chosen from a field of about 200 candidates to be one of
the 35 “ TopCats” for the 2006 season. The social work
major and dance teacher now finds herself on the field
along with Brad Hoover ’ 00, the bruising fullback in his
seventh year as a Panther.
Mull has been dancing and performing most of her life.
She competed in dance in middle school, was a cheer-leader
at Tuscola High School, and was a member of the
dance team at Western. “ When I finished dancing at WCU,
it was like someone pulled the carpet out from under me,
when I thought of all that had come to an end,” she said.
“ But I knew I wasn’t finished performing. The closer TopCat
try- outs got, the more it became apparent that it was my
golden opportunity to continue doing what I love.”
Mull says the commitment of being a TopCat is pretty
demanding. On non- practice days, many of the Charlotte-resident
TopCats will meet up to do ab and cardio exercises
before working on their cheer routines. “ We motivate
each other, which is what keeps us all going,” said Mull. On
practice days, the team meets at the stadium and works
with the team choreographer.
In addition to practices, outside rehearsals and game
day, the TopCats volunteer to make appearances around
town. “ They ask that we do at least 15 appearances
throughout the season so that we do our part to help
out and represent the team throughout the community,”
Mull said.
Mull says that her experiences with Western’s
dance team began to prepare her for life as a TopCat.
“ We were very close knit, much like the TopCats, and we
were expected to be professional in and outside of dance
time, as are the TopCats,” she said. “ WCU had a great
group of fans, too.”
While Mull, an admitted “ small- town girl,” continues
to adjust to Charlotte life, she hopes she can achieve some
longevity with the team. “ We have 10- year veterans on our
team, so the sky is the limit. I love it,” she said. “ It’s not
work for me because this is my dream, so of course I think
it is fabulous. It is an honor to see little girls look up to you
because they want to be just like you when they grow up.
That is a feeling that warms your heart and never gets old.”
ALL THE RIGHT MOVES
Former WCU Dance Squad Member Makes NFL Cheerleading Squad
by LOYD VAN HORN ’ 02
A veteran of 25 years in the National Football League, Gerald D. Austin ’ 64
MAEd ’ 69 has officiated three Super Bowls and numerous playoff games, and is
coordinator for football officials for Conference USA. A retired public school
administrator with more than 30 years experience in leadership, Austin has
been an associate superintendent, high school principal, and program associate
at an international leadership training center. Head of a leadership development
group specializing in strategic planning, leadership training and team building,
he recently agreed to a question- and- answer session with the North Carolina
Career Network Magazine at www. careernetworkmag. com.
How did you get into officiating?
AUSTIN: The process started when I was in the 10th
grade. My basketball coach asked for volunteers to
officiate the seventh- and eighth- grade teams, and I
volunteered. I guess I’ve never really stopped since then.
In 1981 I applied for the NFL. I was selected to officiate
in 1982. I have been officiating for the NFL 25 years and
am currently ranked as the official with the most experi-ence.
Not the oldest, just the most experienced.
What motivates you to excel as an official?
AUSTIN: Like anything you do, you want to do it the best you
can. I want to be the best at whatever I do. I keep officiating
because, when I walk on that field on Sunday afternoon, there is
no other place I want to be. I have a sense of comfort that my
crew and I will be able to handle any situation. I love being there.
In some ways it’s like I am still a kid and still competing.
W e see what you do on the football field, but what is involved in being an official?
AUSTIN: You have to prepare yourself for three hours a day on Sunday and be ready to concentrate 165 times for seven
seconds. That is how long each play is. Some people think we are responsible for concentrating the entire game, but there
are different degrees of concentration. We have to execute any play properly. In a good ball game for officials, we have the
same euphoric feeling and adrenaline going as players when they win. When you screw up, it is a bad feeling and you can’t
wait to the next game to get rid of it.
Being the head official, how do you differ
from the other officials on the field?
AUSTIN: I have the responsibility for the preparation of the six guys
on my crew. My job is to set the tone. I am responsible for previous
games that may not have played well. I am also responsible for making
the call on replays, looking under the hood. I will officiate 20 NFL games.
Outside of the NFL, I assign Conference USA officials and will attend
12 to 15 college football games.
What advice would you offer anyone going
into this field?
AUSTIN: Anyone that feels like they want to officiate needs to know
three things… the rules, the mechanics ( where you are supposed to be and
when you’re supposed to be there), and don’t insert yourself into the game.
Let the players play and you make the calls. In reality, our job is to manage the
ballgame. When one team or player gets unfair advantage, then it is our job to step
up and the make the call. The rest of the time we simply manage the flow of the game.
You are probably the first person I have ever met that loves
the game of football, but doesn’t have a favorite team.
AUSTIN: You’re right. I love the game, but my favorite team wears stripes.
Tara Mull ’ 05 is now a TopCat.
The interview is reprinted in edited form with photos by Bo Calilung.
Gerald Austin ’ 64 MAEd ’ 69 makes the call.
Printed in edited form with permission of The ( Waynesville) Mountaineer with photo by Dwayne Woodard
30 The Magazine of Western Carolina University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 31
The arrival of Levern Hamlin Allen
at Western Carolina College on June 11,
1957, did not generate a lot of buzz on
campus, despite the fact that the 21- year-old
was bringing integration to Cullowhee
as the institution’s first African- American
student. Allen’s trek from her hometown
of Roanoke, Va., to enroll in a nine- week
graduate school summer session was
low- key, at most.
“ I left home very early and arrived at
Western about 3 o’clock in the afternoon,”
she said. “ I was hot, tired, and had
cramps in my feet and legs from the long
drive, and lots of anxiety. I persevered.
I went directly to the office of the director
of summer session, registered for
three classes, paid my fees and was
assigned a room.”
And thus Western entered a new era.
Allen had already earned a
bachelor’s degree in speech correction
and English in Virginia and was working
as a speech therapist in Charlotte- Meck-lenburg
schools when she enrolled at
Western with the goal of earning nine
hours of credit in special education to
obtain an advanced North Carolina
teaching certificate.
Allen’s arrival in Cullowhee came
three years after the landmark Brown v.
Board of Education Supreme Court
decision, which ordered an end to
racial segregation in the public schools.
All- white Southern colleges were just
beginning to receive applications from
African- American students. Some
schools, including Western, granted
admission, but many students won
admission only with a court order.
Allen says she found out much
later that her first days in Cullowhee were
carefully planned to avoid complications.
She arrived the day following regular
registration, avoiding reporters, and
the institution’s director of public
relations interviewed her and released
the story to the press.
“ My instructors had been chosen,”
she said. “ They appeared eager to have
me as a student. A black family with a
daughter about my age called to offer as-sistance
if I needed it. We became friends.
They were my lifeline to understanding
this new and different culture and a
source of comfort.”
Overall, the situation remained quiet
in Cullowhee. “ There might have been
some residents who feared change, but
it appeared to me that most resigned
themselves to the fact that change was
coming,” she said. “ While they did not
welcome it with open arms, there was no
violence, no fight, no mass resistance.
“ When I reflect on that summer, I
wonder why,” Allen said. “ There had been
a tremendous amount of violence in sev-eral
states, and more was to come. How-ever,
it never happened in Cullowhee.”
Allen went on to earn master’s
degrees at the University of Maryland
and George Washington University. She
retired in 1992 after working as a speech
pathologist in Washington, D. C.– area
schools for 25 years. Currently a resident
of Silver Spring, Md., she served Western
as a trustee from 1987 through 1995.
Although Allen’s 1957 arrival in
Cullowhee was quiet, her August 2006
visit to Cullowhee came with a lot of
fanfare as the university honored her
with an honorary doctorate in humane
letters in recognition of her contributions
to society as a pioneer of integration
and social change, and for her service
to the university.
“ I always knew that the summer
of 1957 was special,” Allen said as she
accepted the honorary degree at the
summer commencement ceremony.
“ I accept this honor with the love and
dignity in which it was presented.”
A Pioneer of Integration Recalls the Summer of 1957 By RANDAL HOLCOMBE
alumniAchievements
BreakingBarriers
In a recent return to campus, Lavern Hamlin Allen
re- creates her 1957 visit to Hunter Library.
Joel Queen ’ 05 shows one
of his traditional Cherokee pots.
Cherokee potter Joel Queen ’ 05 dug 6 feet
into muddy, soggy earth near a pond to mine for
scarce blue clay. The mica- rich material gets harder
and harder to find on undeveloped land, but Queen
refuses to give up the search. He seeks permis-sion
to retrieve bucketfuls from private property
and then dries, grinds, rewets, strains and works
with the temperamental material to help him feel
a connection with the past. Nine generations of
his family worked with blue clay. “ Before that, the
records are fuzzy,” he said. “ My grandmother was
Ethel Bigmeat. I did not get to work with her, but
she was an excellent potter. She was using blue clay
when she died.”
His story is one of many in the community
of Cherokee artists faced with depleted supplies
of once- common materials their ancestors used.
Helping them is the Revitalization of Traditional
Cherokee Artisan Resources initiative, funded by
the Cherokee Preservation Foundation and oper-ated
by Western Carolina University’s Cherokee
Studies Program. RTCAR has awarded about half a
million dollars in grants to entities
from businesses to universities
that agree to step forward
with plans to search for,
grow or study ways to
revitalize needed natural
resources. David Cozzo,
RTCAR project director,
said many projects have
focused on mapping and
planting rivercane.
“ It’s probably the signature material of Cherokee
basket makers,” said Cozzo. “ Rivercane is not
an endangered species, but it is considered an
endangered habitat.”
Vicki Ledford, manager of Qualla Arts and
Crafts Mutual in Cherokee, said artists are having
to go farther to find what they need, whether it’s
across state lines to acquire rivercane or deep into
the mountains to find the plants used for dyes.
Honeysuckle is fairly available, but hickory is get-ting
scarce, she said. “ Basket weavers are buying a
lot of white oak from a local gentleman who works
with construction and goes to different states,”
Ledford said. “ You can’t go out on your property
anymore and find your white oak tree. Nowadays,
you can run down to the hobby shop and get stuff
and assemble it, but that’s what we try to stay away
from. We have a tag on our pieces that tells the craft
worker, the date, the materials and the dyes.”
Supporting Queen’s quest for blue clay is a
prestigious $ 15,000 Wingate Fellowship. The fund-ing
helps him locate traditional blue clay sources
in the region and experiment with ways to use the
bluish gray tint to produce high- fired functional
art, such as pots that could be used for baking. “ It’s
hard work, though fortunately, the rain has made
everything muddy and soggy,” said Queen. “ The
fellowship will allow me to bring a functional piece
out that people will be able to use— pots to serve
and bake in. Luckily, there are still a few places
where you can mine this clay.”
Wary Potter
Cherokee Artist Strives to Keep Traditions Alive
By Teresa Killian
The Magazine of Western Carolina 32 University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 33
Involved and energetic, that’s how Kristian and Morgan
Buckner describe their grandmother, Katherine Abbott
Boydston ’ 67 MAEd ’ 79 EdS ’ 83. Boydston spends time
with them, and takes them places such as the WCU campus
to take photos for a county fair competition.
“ Miss Everything,” that’s how Chancellor John Bardo
describes her. Boydston’s resume of Western involvement
is long: current chair of the Council for the Advancement
of the College of Education and Allied Profesions, chair of
the WCU Foundation Board, president of the WCU Alumni
Association, leader of the Bird Alumni House restoration,
key fundraiser for the Alumni Tower, founder and chair of an
alumni association presidents group, founder of the Univer-sity
of North Carolina system alumni association presidents
council, and the list goes on and on. “ If it’s for Western, her
answer is ‘ yes,’” Bardo said. “ She gave and gave and gave to
this university, and still does.”
Western recently honored Boydston for her decades
of service with the Distinguished Service Award for the
initiatives she has led and aided to unify WCU alumni and
enhance the quality of education.
She traces her ties to the university to her family and
growing up in Cullowhee in the house next door to Bird
Alumni House. Despite earning a full scholarship to another
university, she had no question about where she would
attend college— not that she simply “ attended.” As a fresh-man
at Western, she was presented the Most School Spirited
Award. Boydston edited the Catamount yearbook, was a
member of Delta Zeta sorority and wrote a column for the
Western Carolinian. She graduated— the first time— in 1967
with a bachelor’s degree in business, marketing and
retailing. The second time, she earned a master’s degree in
middle grades education and the third time an education
specialist degree.
During her 35 years teaching in North Carolina— 33
of those in Haywood County— she has amassed numerous
teaching awards, including North Carolina DARE Educator
of the Year, Outstanding Elementary Science Teacher of the
Year and Outstanding Elementary Mathematics Teacher of
the Year. She has twice been named both Teacher of the Year
and Conservation Teacher of the Year. Today, she is the water
curriculum coordinator for Haywood County Schools. “ Kathy
became the consummate educator,” Bardo said.
In addition to building her career and raising her family,
she continued to volunteer countless hours to efforts to
improve Western and help students achieve their academic
goals, including helping raise money for a Haywood County
scholarship fund that still gives scholarships today. “ It was
just a natural thing to give back, and I have just begun,”
Boydston said. “ There is much to be done.”
WCU Wonder Woman
Boydston Shares Energy, Enthusiasm
By Teresa Killian
Vocalist Soars from
Cullowhee to Carnegie
By TERESA KILIAN
Jeanne Jolly ’ 01 sat on a stool at
Carnegie Hall in June for sound check
before a sea of red velvet chairs— empty
except for her biggest fans in the third
row. ( Her parents said they had to keep
pinching themselves.) “ I never would have
thought that I would have been able to
perform in Carnegie Hall this soon— if
ever,” said Jolly, featured vocalist with the
band of Chris Botti, a multiple Grammy
Award– winning jazz trumpet player.
For 10 panic- stricken minutes the day
of the concert, though, the Raleigh native
feared she still might not get to perform
in Carnegie Hall: A search for warm water
for tea left her locked in a stairwell, bang-ing
on every door. “ As I began to imagine
scenarios of Chris calling me to the stage
and not being there, someone finally
heard me,” Jolly said.
Not long after, she was giving life to
music from Botti’s album “ To Love Again”
and enjoying a standing ovation from a
sold- out auditorium. “ What a dream come
true,” said Jolly, 2006 winner of Western’s
Young Alumna Award.
The dream was born before Jolly
could talk, mimicking Beethoven’s Fifth
while riding in a car seat. “ You’d have to
ask my mom if I was in tune or not,” Jolly
said. At age 11, Jolly auditioned and was
selected to perform the national anthem
at a Carolina Mudcats baseball game. In
the summers, she would sing with youth
musical theatre programs. A 14- year- old
Jolly landed the role of the 60- something
mother abbess in “ The Sound of Music”
because she could pull off “ Climb Every
Mountain,” said her mother, Jeanne S.
Jolly. At Saint Mary’s School in Raleigh,
she developed her classical voice.
Jolly was recruited to the music pro-gram
at Western, where she was a Fletcher
Music Scholar. “ Jeanne has a very pure
quality in her voice,” said Robert Holquist,
WCU professor of music and director of
choral activities, “ She also has a warm,
down- home personality and a stage pres-ence
so engaging that when you watch her,
you will be drawn to her and her beauti-fully
clear voice.”
Holquist encouraged Jolly to sing it
all, she said. “ I tried out opera workshop,
concert choir, early music, technology
ensemble, jazz and big band. I really just
had a wonderful time performing with my
classmates, being creative, and buckling
down and really getting inside the music,”
said Jolly. “ Western was the perfect place
for me.”
Jolly then earned her master’s in
music from the extremely competitive
New England Conservatory and had
the chance to perform with the Boston
Philharmonic and at Opera in the Ozarks.
In Los Angeles, she worked as a sales and
marketing coordinator at a music produc-tion
company, where she did voiceover
work for movies, commercials and televi-sion
shows including NBC’s “ West Wing”
and Showtime’s “ Sleeper Cell.”
Botti heard Jolly’s voice on a demo
recording and invited her on the day of a
show to sing with the group. The next day,
Botti invited her on a 10- day bus tour that
grew into an invite to a Canada tour and
performances in more than 30 states. In
Honolulu, the orchestral musicians wore
Hawaiian shirts. In Florida, a crowded
rained- out show moved into a Rotary
clubhouse. A performance with the Pacific
Symphony inspired a man in the audi-ence
to tell her he cried thinking about
his daughter when she sang “ What’ll I
Do,” Jolly said. “ That is what it is all about
— creating music to reflect on memories,
to bring joy, to heal and to communicate
in ways you can’t otherwise.”
Songbird
Takes
Flight
Kathy Boydston ’ 67 MAEd ’ 79 EdS ’ 83 stands
outside the Bird Alumni House she helped restore.
Jeanne Jolly ’ 01 is hitting all the right notes in her singing career.
The Magazine of Western Carolina 34 University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 35
classNOTES
1939
The memoir Vera Jones Stinson
( left) wrote about her life,
“ Stumbling Blocks Were Stepping
Stones in Appalachia,” is in its third
printing. Stinson, who is 97, shared
memories of survival skills such as
smoking hams, canning, dispensing
herbal medicine, operating a still,
making footballs from hog bladders,
curing snakebites, and making
clothes and quilts. Her intention
was to show that no matter how
poor a person is, one can have a
loving, fulfilling life and be extremely
proud of this area in North
Carolina. Completing her degree at
Western Carolina Teacher’s College
took a decade, and among her
jobs was teaching 40 students in a
one- room schoolhouse in Cedar
Mountain.
1974
Joseph Crocker was appointed
to the board of directors of Bank
of Granite Corp. Crocker, a native
of Kings Mountain, spent nearly
32 years in the banking industry.
He is the director of operations at
the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation
in Winston- Salem, a private,
philanthropic, grant- making
organization.
Jenna Mills ’ 05 boarded the now- retired KC- 135 plane
three years ago wondering what weightlessness would feel like.
The plane soared, and Mills suddenly began to float and turn in
the air. “ It’s hard to describe. Some people say it’s like riding a
roller coaster, but, to me, it’s completely different. It’s the coolest
feeling in the world,” she said.
The fledgling journalist returned to Charlotte after complet-ing
her mission of taking video and documenting North Carolina
students’ participation in the Reduced Gravity Student Flight
Program. Then, she launched a mission of her own— to work
for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. “ I just
completely fell in love with Johnson Space Center,” said Mills.
“ Everyone who worked there was so nice and willing to help in
any way, and I thought ‘ I’d love to work for NASA,’ which was a
surprise for somebody who wasn’t strong in science and math.”
The Waynesville native gave two weeks notice at the
independent TV station where she worked, moved home and
returned to Western to finish her degree in communication. She
shifted her concentration from broadcast journalism to public
relations, where she learned such skills as putting together public
relations plans. “ Jenna has what it takes to be successful— good
organizational and analytical skills, attention to details,” said
Debra Connelly, assistant professor of public relations. “ She is
hard- working and self- motivating.”
Mills contacted the NASA Cooperative Education Program,
applied for one of 150 competitive positions and wrote the co-ordinator
weekly until she got the job. “ When people say persis-tence
pays off, persistence pays off,” she said.
At NASA, she helped market a series of short videos,
“ NASA Brain Bites,” which answer frequently asked questions
such as how an astronaut goes to the bathroom in space. She
conducted a hometown publicity campaign that promoted
stories about the people who work with the International Space
Station to publications in their hometowns. The internship and
co- op experiences at NASA developed into a full- time position
as a public affairs specialist.
“ She’s a jack- of- all- trades,” said Debbie Nguyen, public
affairs specialist who works with Mills. “ She brought a lot
of experience from different areas to the team, has a great
attitude and works hard.”
Mills now writes for NASA publications, fields media
calls during shuttle missions, develops publicity campaigns and
arranges events, such as a hurricane preparation briefing. She has
produced press kits, interviewed NASA officials and written press
releases. The Western student who took time off to figure out her
future has landed a job she loves.
Houston, we have lift- off.
classNOTES
3… 2… 1…
Alum Takes off at NASA
Wing Man
Growing WCU Community
Brings Alum Home
Western football alumnus Jim Rodgers ’ 96
began his search for the right place to open a
Zaxby’s restaurant in South Carolina but ended it
to the north, close to his college home. “ I couldn’t
have a better place to have a business,” said Rodg-ers,
a lifelong chicken finger fan who lives in Geor-gia.
“ Western North Carolina is a great part of the
country. Sylva’s Main Street has a lot of traffic. The
university and the community are growing, and it
means a lot to me to return to the WCU commu-nity.
It was just a perfect fit.”
His search for property and agreement to
occupy a former Hardee’s site in Sylva took six
months, and the restaurant opened earlier this
year. Zaxby’s created 38 jobs and boosted the
community through the remodeling and landscap-ing
completed in concert with the investment of
Kole Clapsaddle ’ 80, who constructed new shops
nearby, said Julie Spiro ’ 98, executive director
with the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce
and Travel and Tourism Authority. “ The building
itself went from an old, outdated structure to an
attractive new restaurant,” Spiro said.
In addition, Zaxby’s has supported community
events from a battle of the bands to the chamber’s
annual fundraiser. “ Jim and his father saw the
potential for a business like Zaxby’s to thrive in
Jackson County,” said Spiro, who noted state labor
statistics show the population grew 17 percent
to 35,369 and the workforce nearly 40 percent to
20,593 in the last decade. “ We appreciate their
enthusiasm and their investment. Welcome home
Jim Rodgers!”
classNOTES
1976
Two alums were selected to
be featured in the new book
“ Firestarters: 100 Job Profiles to
Inspire Young Women.” Beverly
Davis Setzer MS ’ 77 and
Michelle Triggs Owen ’ 95 are
two of 100 women whose career
achievements can offer inspiration
to girls and young women exploring
career options. Setzer, principal of
Rugby Middle School in Henderson
County, emphasizes the importance
of each person finding her niche.
“ Women need to decide what’s
important to them and follow
that, but they need to have passion
for what they’re doing. If you
don’t have a passion for it, don’t
do it.” Owen, a graphic designer
whose company is temporarily
inactive while she pursues other
interests and obligations, enjoys
not being tied down to a desk.
Design projects require research,
giving her a certain amount of
freedom. Her advice includes
the importance of education for
designers: “ Learn everything about
everything because it all comes
into play in design.”
1979
In June, Brenda Kay Ledford
MAEd returned for the second
summer to the Keith House at
John C. Campbell Folk School in
Brasstown for a reading of original
stories and poems. She won the
2005 Paul Green Multimedia Award
for her chapbook “ Patchwork
Memories.” A member of the
North Carolina Poetry Society, the
Tennessee Mountain Writers and
the Georgia Mountain Writers’ Club,
Ledford has had work published
in Our State, Carolina Country,
Asheville Poetry Review, Pembroke
Magazine, Main Street Rag and
other publications.
1980
Chief of police in Grand Rapids,
Mich., and internationally
known leader in the field of law
enforcement management, Harry
P. Dolan served in March as
instructor in the management and
leadership seminar at Southwestern
Community College in Sylva. He
has trained thousands of police
officers, supervisors and managers
throughout the country in the field
of community policing and police
leadership. In 2005, Dolan was
invited to Budapest, Hungary, to
provide training to law enforcement
practitioners from five eastern
European countries on the topic
of traffic stop data collection in
America. Last fall, he was in Russia
to provide similar training. Dolan
began his law enforcement career
as a deputy for the Buncombe
County Sheriff ’ s Department in
Asheville and also has worked in
law enforcement in Raleigh and
Lumberton.
1982
Owner of the Mountaineer
Publishing Co. of Waynesville,
Jonathan Key recently completed
a term on the North Carolina Press
Association Board of Directors.
Key also is president of the United
Way of Haywood County, president
of the Haywood County Schools
Foundation, and a member of the
Haywood Community Connection
Board and Haywood County
Chamber of Commerce education
committee. He and wife Barbara
have two sons – Jonathan, 13, and
Thomas, 10.
1983
Among the new Lenoir- Rhyne
College Alumni Board members
elected for 2006- 2007 is Becky
Roof Gladden MAEd. A media
specialist at Banoak Elementary
School in Catawba County, she is a
member of Sardis Lutheran Church.
Gladden and husband Jonathan live
in Vale with their children: Sarah, 17;
Caroline, 15; and Meredith, 12.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee
Indians has selected Robert
Jumper ( above) to manage its
Cherokee Bottled Water enterprise.
Jumper, an enrolled member of
the Eastern Band of Cherokee
Indians, had previously been the
marketing and public relations
coordinator for the tribe since
2002. As part of the Cherokee
travel and tourism promotion team,
he helped organize and promote
events including the Cherokee
Indian Fairs, the inaugural Festival of
Native Peoples and the Cherokee
Rod Runs. Jumper has 20 years of
product management experience
with Georgia- Carolina Radiocasting,
the Childress Broadcast Group,
Altria/ Philip Morris USA and the
The Class Notes section features news about
personal or professional accomplishments
of Western graduates. Alumni are
listed in the year in which they
earned their first degree at
Western. City and county
names not otherwise
identified are in
North Carolina.
Jenna Mills ’ 05
Jim Rodgers ’ 96
The Magazine of Western Carolina 36 University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 37
Berry Mauney ’ 68 admits attendance was pretty slim
when he and Betty Allen ’ 68 were trying to get the Western
Club of Gaston/ Lincoln Counties off the ground. “ There were
times we had meetings that turned out to be just the two of us,
but we still wrote up the meetings in the local paper to report
what we discussed,” Mauney said. “ It grew from there.”
They drew new members with social activities and meet-ings
at area restaurants, but Allen says what really brought
them together was a decision to raise money for scholarships
– a common goal that they all cared about. To date, the club
has raised more than $ 30,000 for scholarships for WCU stu-dents,
including $ 14,000 for an endowed scholarship that will
generate money every year for students.
The fundraising efforts began the same year WCU adopted
a requirement that all students have a computer. Chris Packer
’ 84 suggested hosting a golf tournament to help Western
students from their community with the cost, and Allen said
club members rallied to the cause. “ Working on an annual golf
tournament turned out to be a lot of fun,” Allen said. “ Without
that, I’m not sure we would have lasted the past 11 years.”
The club found corporate sponsors and golfers to enjoy
some friendly competition as well as barbecue and all the trim-mings,
cash prizes for winners ( including $ 4 for the last place
team), beverages, hot dogs, snacks and door prizes. “ Everybody
walks away with something— a ball cap, a stadium seat, an
umbrella, a Western shirt or other item,” Allen said. There are
even some non- purple and gold prizes for participating golfers
from rival ASU. “ We have discovered their money is green just
like Western’s,” Allen said.
The club also has hosted raffles. One year, it sold tick-ets
for a chance at four tickets to the Western/ Appalachian
football game with four meals at a local restaurant, two rooms
at a local motel, a voucher for the school store and spending
money. “ I actually sold the winning ticket in that raffle,” Allen
said. “ The winner was a young grad from the early ‘ 90s and
now, whenever I’m in Cullowhee at a football game, we’ll talk
for a bit. It’s been so great to meet alumni from across the spec-trum
and all the years through the Western Club.”
And though the Gaston/ Lincoln Western Club has met
the goal of creating an endowed scholarship that will generate
revenue to help students every year for years to come, mem-bers
are not through yet. They’re ready to issue a challenge to
other Western clubs who might be interested in a little friendly
fundraising competition. “ For us, to be able to contribute to
a student from Lincoln County and Gaston County, where
we know there is a need and where we know there are good
students, is phenomenal in the way it makes you feel,” Mauney
said. “ It feels great to be able to do that because we all have a
love for Western, and because of that, we love to give back.”
To find out more about a Western Club near you, call
Marty Ramsey ’ 85 at ( 828) 227- 7335 or check out alumni.
wcu. edu/ WesternClub. htm.
Gaston/ Lincoln Club Issues Challenge
Group Raises $ 30,000- Plus for Student Scholarships
Jack Eckerd Corporation. Cherokee
Bottled Water has been in business
since 1998 and was the 2001 Gold
Medal Winner of the prestigious
Berkeley Springs International
Festival of Waters tasting contest.
Jumper and his wife, Vickie, are
celebrating their 20th anniversary
this year. They reside in Clyde.
1988
A regional sales representative for
PhyTest, Dianne Cartwright is
married to Tracy Jackson, who
works as assistant county manager
with Iredell County. She also has a
current connection to Western—
her niece, Ashley Adams, was
a starter last spring with the
Catamount softball team.
1990
Atlanta resident Toni Jackson
Hannah and husband, Marc,
welcomed son Christian Marcellus,
their first child, in April. Hannah is a
senior human resources consultant
for Georgia Power and Light.
1991
After serving as head baseball
coach at Lander University in
Greenwood, S. C., for a year, in June
Bill Jarman MAEd was named
pitching coach at East Carolina
University. “ Our baseball program
is excited about Coach Jarman
joining the Pirate family,” said
ECU’s head coach, Billy Godwin.
“ With his recruiting experience,
knowledge of the game and ability
to develop players, we believe this
addition is going to give us the best
opportunity to compete at the
highest level in college baseball.”
Much of that recruiting experience
and knowledge of the game he
gained at Western, where Jarman
assisted with former East Carolina
coach Keith LeClair ’ 89, who
died in July. When LeClair became
Western’s head coach, Jarman
remained on staff as pitching coach
and recruiting coordinator until
1995, when he went to Coastal
Carolina University to work with
pitching and recruiting.
1996
Patrick Neil Mecimore
and wife Kimberley ’ 93 live
in Statesville, where he is plant
engineer and also is in charge of
environmental health and safety
at the local Armstrong World
Industries plant. His job keeps him
busy traveling to other Armstrong
facilities in the United States, and
he is working on his MBA through
the Gardner- Webb University
campus in Statesville. Kimberley is
an environmental health specialist
with the Iredell County Health
Department.
A faculty member at Cedarville
University in Cedarville, Ohio, since
1997, Beth Porter MA has been
promoted to associate professor
of vocal music. Cedarville is an
accredited Baptist university of arts,
classNOTES
Becky Abernethy ’ 69
Betty A llen ’ 68
Lesley Andrew ’ 88
& David A ndrew ’ 83
Carla H. Bailey
Shirley Bateman
& Floyd Bateman MAEd ’ 77
Bonnie W. Bell ’ 76 MA ’ 78
Mark A . Benge ’ 86
Bill Boydston ’ 68
Kathy Boydston ’ 67 MAEd ’ 79
EdS ’ 83
Lila Buchanan ’ 87
Bobby Byrd ’ 74
Jack A . Calloway Sr. ’ 69
June Causby ’ 69
& Jim Causby ’ 67 MAEd ’ 70
Sarah Chadwick ’ 04
Christine S . Cook ’ 79
& Phillip R. Cook ’ 79
Billy Cooper ’ 89
Country Classic Real Estate
Cullowhee Cafe
The Design Center
Dillsboro Smokehouse
Nicholas W. Dockery Jr. ’ 67
Brian S . E dlin ’ 97
Gerald E . E dlin ’ 67
Pat E . Daniels ’ 81
Vicky Faris ’ 66
& Paul Faris ’ 66
Kay Folsom
& Bob Folsom ’ 66 MAEd ’ 68
Susanne C. Goethals MS ’ 04
Leslie Greer ’ 90
Robert J. Griffin ’ 69
Brent D. Hall ’ 82
Marsha Harris ’ 83
& Charles F. Harris
Richard L . Harrison ’ 74
Tammy Haskett ’ 84
& Mark Haskett ’ 87
BB& T
Nationwide Foundation
Northwestern Mutual Foundation
SAKS Incorporated
Widener- Burrows and Associates Inc.
sciences, professional and
graduate programs.
1998
A detective from the West Palm
Beach, Fla., Police Department
assigned to the Violent Crime
Unit, A. J. Myers was named
Investigator of the Quarter in
April. The honor resulted from a
seven- month- long sexual battery
investigation in which a 24- year-old
man accused of abusing
a 13- year- old fled to London.
Through work with authorities
from U. S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, the U. S. Marshall
Service and the Dutchess County
( N. Y.), Sheriff ’ s Office, the man
was arrested in the Newark,
N. J., International Airport as he
attempted to re- enter the United
States and extradited to Florida to
face charges.
1999
Assistant baseball coach at
Lander University in Greenwood,
S. C., Chris Moore was named
head coach at the university last
Memorial Day. Drafted by the
Colorado Rockies after receiving
numerous honors during his career
at Western, Moore played for the
Asheville Tourists in the South
Atlantic League for four years and
made the all- star team in 2000.
Prior to going to Lander, Moore
served as assistant coach/ recruiting
coordinator at NCAA Division I
Davidson College. “ I am very
excited about being head coach. I
am thankful for the opportunity,”
Moore told the Index- Journal. He
and wife Aimee have a son, Carter,
and a daughter, Lillee.
2001
She didn’t study in the health care
field while at WCU, but Jerilyn
Hammond Martin ( right) is
drawing comparisons to one of
the best- known names in the
nursing game for resuscitating an
ailing Arizona publication. Martin,
who majored in print media with
a minor in photography, is editor
of Pinal Ways in Pinal County, Ariz.
“ After detailing the passing days
in longer, more descriptive essays
for decades, the magazine was on
life support, despite the yeoman
Matching Gift Companies & Foundations
AlumniAssociation
Scholarship Contributors
Mike Hill ’ 72
Tucker Hopper ’ 68
& Max Hopper ’ 69
Jack Hudson ’ 82
Howard B. Hyatt ’ 56
Laura L eatherwood ’ 93 MS ’ 96
William A . L inn ’ 88 MBA ’ 90
Cindi Magill
Mail Management Services
Berry Mauney ’ 68
Julia McManus ’ 90
& Phillip McManus ’ 88 MBA ’ 91
Teri G. Meeks ’ 81
Jayne O . Miller
N. A ndrew Miller ’ 48
Herman W. Mizzell MA ’ 68
Alice R . Morton ’ 42
William H. M. N elson II
Billy O vercash ’ 84
Thomas G. Parker
John C. Peden
Eric Powell ’ 91
Juanita Proffitt ’ 39
& Brank Proffitt ’ 42
Marty R amsey ’ 85
Joanne Reid ’ 68
& John Reid ’ 66 MA ’ 68
Robin Schaeffer ’ 71
& Dan Schaeffer ’ 79
Kirstin Schlenker ’ 97
& Christopher Schlenker ’ 96
Gwyn Smith ’ 70
Darnell P. S pann ’ 39
State Farm Insurance
Van Stayton ’ 65
Mr. Don B. S till EdS ’ 74
Elysia B. Versen MAEd ’ 04
Edna Waldrop ’ 84
& David Waldrop ’ 70 MAEd ’ 71
Western Club of Lincoln/
Gaston County
Mike Wilmoth ’ 90
B. N eil Wilson ’ 57
Jim Woodard ’ 68 MPA ’ 89
Brett Woods
Bryan D. Woosley ’ 92
June F. Wynne ’ 62
Zaxby’s of Sylva
Members of the Gaston/ Lincoln club include, left to right, Marshall Gunter ’ 78,
Chris Packer ’ 84, Paul Faris ’ 66, Vicky Faris ’ 65, Jack Spady ’ 65
and Betty Allen ’ 68.
The Western Carolina University Alumni Scholarship Fund provides
financial assistance to WCU students with close family ties to Catamount
alumni or whose parents work for the university. For information on how
to contribute, contact Brett L. Woods, director of annual and special gifts,
at ( 828) 227- 7124 or bwoods@ wcu. edu.
The Magazine of Western Carolina 38 University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 39
efforts of the previous editor,
who had a growing second job
of her own,” said Temple A. Stark,
editor of the sister publication Eloy
Enterprise. “ Like the legendary
Object Description
Description
| Title | Western : the magazine of Western Carolina University. |
| Other Title | Magazine of Western Carolina University |
| Date | 2006-12 |
| Description | Winter 2007 (Volume 11, no. 1) |
| Digital Characteristics-A | 7.9 MB; 23 p. |
| Digital Format | application/pdf |
| Pres Local File Path-M | \Preservation_content\StatePubs\pubs_borndigital\images_master\ |
| Full Text | Western Winter 2007 T h e Mag a z i n e o f We s t e r n C a ro l i n a U n i v e r s i t y Big Cat on Campus Newest Distinguished Professor Brings Broadway to Cullowhee Cover Story Features 4 Top Honors High- Achieving Students Guide Western’s Renaissance 14 Lights, Camera, Action Motion Picture Degree Prepares Graduates for Movie Industry 18 Jet Set Biotech Trailblazer Gives Students a Whirlwind Tour 30 Any Given Sunday WCU Alums Lead Cheers, Make Tough Calls in NFL Western Carolina University Chancellor John W. Bardo Vice Chancellor Clifton B. Metcalf Advancement and External Affairs Associate Vice Chancellor Leila Tvedt Public Relations Managing Editor Bill Studenc Associate Editor Teresa Killian Art Director Rubae Sander Chief Photographer Mark Haskett ’ 87 Contributing Writers Mike Cawood Bessie Dietrich ’ 06 Randall Holcombe Daniel Hooker ’ 01 John Kenyon Joni Kenyon Class Notes Editor Dianne Yount ’ 79 Designer John Balentine Contributing Photographer Ashley T. Evans Distinguishing Marks Endowed Distinguished Professors Provide Benefits to Students, Region T h e M a g a z i n e o f W e s t e r n C a r o l i n a U n i v e r s i t y Western Winter 2007 Volume 11, No. 1 14 8 30 18 8 The Magazine of Western Carolina University is produced by the Office of Public Relations in the Division of Advancement and External Affairs for alumni, faculty, staff, friends and students of Western Carolina University. Junior guard Ashley Pellom of Wilmington drives toward the basket in the Lady Catamounts’ season opener against visiting Auburn. Coach Kellie Harper’s Lady Cats, who upset ACC opponent Wake Forest, and Coach Larry Hunter’s Catamounts, who opened the season with a road win over rival UNC- Asheville, are preparing for the heart of the Southern Conference schedule. For game and ticket information, visit catamountsports. com. Cover photo by Martha Swope of musical theatre professor Terrence Mann during his Broadway performance of “ Cats” Fast Break The Magazine of Western Carolina University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University Reynolds Somehow, in schedules packed with papers and club meetings, students in the Honors College make time for “ chocolate and checkers” and readings from regional authors. They transform a service project to clean debris from a mountain lake into a social event where the dean himself— an outgoing, casual, bow-tie- wearing intellectual— jumps in the water, too. The students do more than enjoy, devour and dissect Ernest Hemingway’s writing. They go to France and Spain through an Honors field course to walk in his footsteps. Such is the tightly knit, rapidly developing Honors College— an academic community drawing more and more high- achieving students. In 1996, the university’s honors program served 77 students. The number more than doubled a year later with the opening of the residential Honors College— the first in the University of North Carolina system. Today, the college has grown to nearly 1,300 students, and the average freshman SAT jumped 40 points in two years— from 1227 in 2004 to 1267 in 2006. The goal behind the college was to help top students get more out of their undergraduate education through social and academic initiatives, and university leaders hoped its development would inspire more of the brightest and best students from Western North Carolina to stay in the region for college. It made a difference to Michael O’Shea, a sophomore from Hendersonville. “ If not for the Honors College, I might not be at Western,” said O’Shea, who at first thought Cullowhee was too close to home. “ The reputation of Western is slowly catch-ing up to the actual academics here. It’s a good time to be here.” In the past four years, the Honors College has launched new programs and significantly expanded others. The director of the Pre- Professional Program moved to the college to offer specialized advising to help students prepare for medical, pharmacy, physical therapy, dental, optometry, physician assistant, engineering or veterinary careers. The Humanities Program, started in 2004, helps students marry their interests to efficiently double major in four years in subjects from Spanish to professional writing. “ Why be just an art curator when you could learn French and be an art curator at the Louvre?” Steve Carlisle ’ 73, associate dean of the Honors College, challenges students. The Undergraduate Research Program refocused on helping students go to the National Conference for Undergraduate Research with research grants and money for travel expenses for students invited to present at the national conference. Last year, Western was second in the nation in the number of participants ( more on page 6). An Honors College Scholars Program recently began offering optional intensive courses for fresh-men. “ We felt that students who are in the top 1 percent of the incoming class— students who could go anywhere— needed some additional academic challenges to become fully engaged at Western,” Railsback said. One scholars group cre-ated a magazine they named “ Imagine,” in which they chronicled undergraduate research and achieve-ments. A scholars class in philosophy hooked O’Shea. It wasn’t a deadline that kept him up until 6 a. m. It was his research topic— advertising and capitalism, or, more specifically exploring “ if advertising was the most necessary industry in capitalism since the post-industrial revolution as production reached levels higher than ever before,” said O’Shea. “ I enjoyed that paper.” He went on to present it at the 2006 National Conference on Undergraduate Research. This year, the college formed the Distinguished Scholarships Council to help prepare students who want to compete for prestigious scholarships such as the Truman or Fulbright award. Students also may be able to seek advice and practice interviewing with members of a new Highlands Advisory Board ( more on page 7). Railsback directs a lot of credit for the college’s growth to students, whom he invites to be leaders. Junior Max Long coordinates a student- designed mentoring program. The college’s Web site designer is sophomore Caden Painter, who said he developed the pages at honors. wcu. edu to be attractive and easy to navigate, taking users where they want to be in three or fewer mouse- clicks or less. The dean himself has an all- student advisory board ( see page 6) that not only delves into such issues as the college’s student service requirements but also plans social programs and lectures for enrichment. Students were instrumental in such decisions as whether to move the Honors College from Reynolds Residence Hall to a new residence hall to be built near the current Dodson Cafeteria location. “ The board advised me that the campus’ future construction and development was moving to the other side of campus— away from us— with the new Millennial Initiative, and it would be a disadvantage to stay where we are,” Railsback said. The result? Half of a $ 44 million, 800- bed residence hall designed in part by students will house the Honors College. The first phase is scheduled to open in fall 2008. “ We will arguably be in a position in the near future to say we are among the best honors colleges in the Southeast. What we aspire to do is to provide an excellent private liberal arts college experience on a very modern, comprehensive university campus,” Railsback said. “ Our Honors students and the faculty who teach them will get us there.” Growing Honors College Programs Attract High- Achieving Students By TERESA KILIAN Honors College students helped design the $ 44 million, 800- bed residence hall scheduled to open in the fall semester 2008. The design features a Louvre- like arch and such amenities as garage band space, an idea from sophomore Michael O’Shea. “ It is impossible to store drums in your room,” said O’Shea. “ They built a lot of my ideas into the design, actually.” The Reynolds Renaissance Residence Hall Renaissance The reputation of Western is slowly catching up to the actual academics here. It’s a good time to be here. “ ” — Michael O’Shea, student Students such as Max Long fill many leadership roles at the Honors College. Long not only coordinates the college’s student- designed mentoring program but also participated in the scholars program that offers an additional academic challenge to Honors students, presented research at a national symposium, and was a finalist for the Truman Award. The Magazine of Western Carolina University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University Academic Western was a hotbed for undergraduate research last year... and the year before that... and the year before that. In fact, for the past few years, WCU has ranked in the top 20 in the number of papers accepted at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research, and 2006 was no exception. With more than 49 projects by 70 student presenters on top-ics from “ China and Japan: Defense Policies Following Politi-cal Reform” to an “ Investigation of High Voltage Generation,” Western arrived at the conference with the second highest number of participants from any school in the country. Fueling the Bunsen burners of research on campus is the Honors College Undergraduate Research Program open to all Western students. The program not only sponsors an annual four- day Undergraduate Expo on campus but also offers grants for research supplies or software, and pays registra-tion, lodging and travel for Western students accepted to present at regional conferences or the national conference. “ This kind of work allows students to apply theory from the classroom to real- world experience— to test drive what they are learning at the university and accelerate their move from students to professionals,” said Brian Railsback, dean of the Honors College. “ We emphasize participation in the National Conference on Undergraduate Research because it is the premier conference of its kind and allows students to meet and learn from other students in all disciplines from around the nation.” After an evening exploring the life and work of Edna St. Vincent Millay, the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize in poetry, Highlands resident Dr. Mark Whitehead and WCU guest lecturer Brian Railsback explored another idea — strengthening the link between two bastions of lifelong education, the Highlands community and the nearby university. Railsback, dean of the Honors College, knew the growing college needed an external advisory board and realized Highlands is a unique community of world travelers with successful careers from whom Western students could learn a lot. “ People in Highlands have achieved careers that our students aspire to,” said Railsback. “ Our Honors students need advice from lifelong high- achievers and people who are proven lifelong learners.” Now a year later, the Highlands Advisory Board to the Honors College has drawn diverse members from the former president of an insurance company to a founder of the Chattanooga Conservancy. Their recommendations have recognized the need for students to have global experiences and fluency in another language, Railsback said. “ That gives us an important goal and a challenge, and that’s what you hope an advisory board will do,” he said. In addition, the board is developing internship and mentorship opportunities in Highlands and Cashiers. Students who are finalists for prestigious scholarships, such as a Fulbright or a Truman award, will be offered mock interviews with people whose backgrounds are similar to scholarship selection committee members or who won such awards themselves. Whitehead said the board also would like to see a bigger WCU presence in Highlands, such as more courses offered in the community that swells from an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 population to 30,000 in summer. “ We are going to see what both communities need and facilitate a relationship back and forth,” Whitehead said. “ If we work together, we both benefit.” Kaye Gorecki developed a career in visual arts education and is director of the Fine Art Center/ Bascom- Louise Gallery in Highlands. Carole Light is a clinical psychologist prac-ticing independently and helping Hospice. William Martin built a career in manufacturing and served as business manager for Trinity Church on Wall Street in New York. He co- founded the Center for Life Enrichment and serves on the Highlands Community Foundation. Jack Miller, an Asheville native, practiced law in Miami for more than four decades and serves as a board member of the Center for Life Enrichment. Hugh Normile, a Charles A. Dana Scholar, holds a law degree from the University of Florida at Gainesville and served on the Brevard County Housing Authority. Everett J. Tarbox Jr. is an emeritus professor of humanities at Indiana State University, where he won the school’s President’s Medal for Distinguished Service. Sally Wallace, a Carleton College alumna, owned a bookstore, served on St. Petersburg, Fla., City Council, and is now a member of the Mahaffey Foundation. William Wallace, a Princeton University alumnus, retired as president of Wallace, Welch & Willingham, Inc. He served as president of Florida Orchestra and a member of the board of directors of Florida West Coast Public Broadcasting. Kathy Whitehead, a music major at Northwestern University, became a registered nurse and owns Carlson- Whitehead Orchids and The Gingham Goose Needlepoint and Knitting Shop. Dr. Mark Whitehead, a retired urologist, graduated from Washington and Lee University and Tulane Medical School. Glenda Zahner earned a master’s in biology from University of Michigan and helped found the Chattooga Conservancy. The dean of the Honors College admits there is one nationally accepted guideline the college has not adopted. Instead of a faculty advisory board, Brian Railsback said he looks to an all- student group for advice on administrative decisions. “ As much as possible, we try to make the Honors College their college— the students’ college,” Railsback said. The weekly meetings are casual. Railsback joins students in sweatshirts ( and some in socks but no shoes) around a table with notebook paper, binders, day planners, a laptop and lots of ideas. Jessica Myers, the board’s president and a junior from Peletier, reviews recent and upcoming social events. The tailgating turnout at Homecoming was good, and even though a banner wouldn’t hang, it seemed to work fine on the ground. “ It was sort of a barricade around the pizza,” Railsback said. Jennie V. Dowdle, a junior serving as a board member and resident assistant in Reynolds Hall, reports that students will clear out the freezer to make room for ice cream for the next board game night, and the decora-tions from last year’s Halloween party had been found. Sacagawea dollars would be the prize for this year’s costume contest— an event that, in the past, inspired such creative attire as Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, Edward D. Wood, and a Freudian note, uhm, “ slip.” In academic business at a recent meeting, the board celebrated acceptance of the official college seal it proposed, scheduled a retreat to review the Honors curriculum and brainstormed how to raise money for an annual bicycle pledge ride for scholarships. “ The fact that we have a group strictly made up of students that meets with the dean and makes important decisions, knows what’s going on and brings representatives from the student body is unique,” said Myers. “ Having that voice is awesome.” Dean Takes Cues from Student Board By TERESA KILIAN Highlands Advisory Board Academic Advising Highlands Group Fosters Opportunities for Students As much as possible, we try to make the Honors College their college— the students’ college. “ ” — Brian Railsback, dean Advising Research Undergraduates Put Theory into Practice Rebecca Frank, an Honors College student majoring in education, wrote a story for Imagine magazine about an exploratory mini- submarine that undergraduate students at Western helped prepare for underwater exploration. The Magazine of Western Carolina University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University For the world, John LeBaron, the Jay M. Robinson Distinguished Professor of Educational Technologies, won a Fulbright— his second— to share his talents assisting the University of Helsinki in Finland in establishing a teacher education program utilizing distance education and tech-nology. In October, he participated in an international ef-fort supported by the Euro-pean Union to advance the use of information com-munications technology in schools in Europe. Mean-while, Jerry Miller, Blanton J. Whitmire Distinguished Professor of Environmental Sciences, joined an effort to study the ecology of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the transport of heavy metals in a river basin in Bolivia. Future professorships at Western will be in fields in-cluding construction management, where Asheville philan-thropist Joe Kimmel has committed to fund five endowed distinguished professorships. Donations from members of the WNC Health Organizations collaborative of hospitals and health care facilities in Western North Carolina created professorships to bring top instructors to the university in physical therapy and nurse anesthesia, fields with short-ages of employees in the region. “ We felt there was a huge advantage to having a program situated in our region, so that students who go to Western and study will hope-fully stay in Western North Carolina for their professional careers,” said Gary Bowers, executive director of WNC Health Organizations. The Council for Advancement and Support of Education cites benefits of endowed professorships that include a better ability to compete with private institutions and to ensure continuity in academic pro-grams. Faculty positions held by endowed professors would not be cut as a result of budget reductions. “ The bulb burns brighter with endowed professor-ships, as if you are putting more electricity into the system,” said Ed Broadwell, who serves on the University of North Carolina Board of Governors. “ Western has a bright future.” Ron Rash eases into a chair and peruses a newspaper as he waits for lunch- to- go at The Mad Batter. His plaid shirt and salt- and- pepper beard blend into the background of the café in Cullowhee, but the casual presence on campus of the local, regional and national award- winning writer is big, especially for students such as Craig Buchner MA ’ 06. “ I’m a great fan of his poetry and use of language. To be in the company of someone so dedicated to his art was wonderful,” said Buchner, who took a fiction writing class from Rash and often stopped in his office for advice about the publishing world and writing. “ Meeting him made writing seem more real for me as a possible career. Then, when he won the O’Henry Prize in 2005, I started to think I’d like to win.” And earlier this year, with support from Rash and other Western faculty, Buchner did win— an Association of Writers & Writing Program national award for his short story “ Good Night.” What brought Rash to Western was an endowed distinguished professorship— the John A. Parris Jr. and Dorothy Luxton Parris Distinguished Professorship in Appalachian Culture. Such faculty positions offer competitive salaries, benefits and research support as a way to draw nationally renowned experts to campus. The jobs are supplemented with money generated from endowments in the amount of $ 500,000, $ 1 million or $ 2 million. The funds are created through private con-tributions and matching grants from the North Carolina General Assembly. Ten years ago, Western had no distinguished profes-sorships. Today, the university has 15 that are fully fund-ed— the fourth highest number among the 16 universities in the University of North Carolina system. “ Endowed professorships allow us to recruit nationally and interna-tionally known faculty members in a variety of fields to help us assure that our curricula and the students’ educa-tion are at the highest national or international levels,” Chancellor John W. Bardo said. “ We’re trying to give students the best instruction, and that means we have to have star faculty. It is exciting to see how donors have responded to the call to improve our academic stature and rankings.” At WCU, distinguished professors have helped students craft commercials, investigate the region’s water quality, and welcome the U. S. poet laureate to campus. Bruce Frazier, Carol Grotnes Belk Distinguished Professor of Commercial and Electronic Music, composed a fanfare for the Pride of the Mountains marching band this year and helped guide the first professional recording of the Cherokee national anthem. Betsy Walker ’ 05, who now works for the Nashville- based Country Music Association, says Frazier’s classes in recording arts and musical instrument digital interface or MIDI helped her find her niche. “ I took many classes with Dr. Frazier, and he was also my adviser,” Walker said. “ He led me through college and inspired me.” For the region, David Westling, the Adelaide Worth Daniels Distinguished Professor of Special Education, has led efforts to win more than $ 2.5 million in grants for training and support for special education teachers. Tom Hatley, Sequoyah Distinguished Professor of Cherokee Studies, is working to strengthen the relationship between the Cherokee community and the university while build-ing Cherokee and Native American programs at WCU. Meanwhile, David Strahan, Taft B. Botner Distinguished Professor of Elementary and Middle Grades Education, is collaborating with public schools in the region on initia-tives to improve reading instruction in secondary schools and mathematics instruction in rural areas as well as help-ing revise curricula for WCU’s middle grades program. Distinguishing Marks Students, Region Benefit From Distinguished Professor Program By TERESA KILLIAN Ten years ago, Western had no distinguished professorships. Today, the university has 15 that are fully funded— the fourth highest number among the 16 universities in the University of North Carolina system. Carol Grotnes Belk Distinguished Professorship in Commercial and Electronic Music Benefactor: North Carolina philanthropist Irwin “ Ike” Belk in honor of his wife, Carol Grotnes Belk Professor: Bruce Frazier Impact: Frazier, twice recognized with Emmy Awards for contributions to dramatic underscore and sound mixing, guides students on projects such as adapting music for commercials for the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. Jay M. Robinson Distinguished Professorship in Educational Technologies Benefactor: C. D. Spangler Jr., former president of the University of North Carolina system, in honor of public education legend Jay Robinson Professor: John F. LeBaron Impact: LeBaron works with a course-development group that helps faculty transition from classroom to online teaching. He shares his expertise internationally, and The Sloan Consortium has cited his work as a best practice in online teaching. Blanton J. Whitmire Distinguished Professorship in Environmental Sciences Benefactors: Blanton J. Whitmire, president and chief executive officer of Whitmire Research Laboratories, and his wife, Margaret S. Whitmire Professor: Jerry P. Miller Impact: Miller involves students in studies of water quality problems in Western North Carolina and stream restoration projects. He also recently explored mercury contamination in the Amazon River basin and the ecology of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Ron Rash, an award- winning writer and the John A. Parris Jr. and Dorothy Luxton Parris Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Culture, works with students in a class at Western. Adelaide Worth Daniels Distinguished Professorship in Special Education Benefactor: Businesswoman and philan-thropist Adelaide Key, former member of the WCU Board of Trustees Professor: David Westling Impact: Westling helped secure more than $ 2.5 million for a teacher support program serv-ing public school teachers who work with special needs students. The program has been embraced throughout the region and named a “ program of national distinction.” The Magazine of Western Carolina University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University When retired Greensboro businessman Wesley R. Eling-burg ’ 78 arrived at Western in 1974 after a stand- out career as a high school baseball and basketball player, he came equipped with dreams of joining the Catamount baseball team. Elingburg earned a spot on the junior varsity squad his freshman year, but decided to concentrate on his studies, opting to hit the books instead of trying to hit home runs. It’s a decision Elingburg has never regretted, as he would go on to graduate summa cum laude ( with highest honors) with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting. He says his time at Western provided him with the education, skills and confidence necessary to embark upon a successful ca-reer in the world of corporate accounting. He has now stepped up to the plate in a totally different fashion— through financial contributions that have enabled his alma mater to create an endowed professorship in the field of business education. “ I will forever be grateful for the foundation of education that Western provided me. To give back to the institution is my way of saying thanks. The pro-fessorship will benefit many students in the future and will help provide them with a simi-larly solid foundation,” said Elingburg, who recently made the final contribution in a se-ries of gifts totaling $ 250,000. Combined with a dollar-for- dollar match through a program initiated by the General Assembly to encourage private support of public institutions of higher education, Western has created the $ 500,000 Wesley R. Elingburg Distinguished Professorship in Business Innovation. It is the 15th endowed professorship announced at Western since 1996. The professorship will enable WCU to recruit a nationally recognized expert in a business discipline to join the faculty of the College of Business. The professor will work closely with WCU’s undergraduate and graduate programs in entrepreneurship, including a master’s degree program that was named best in the nation in 2005— just two years after its inception. “ These generous gifts will have a significant and lasting impact on academic quality and will substantially strengthen Western’s future,” Chancellor John W. Bardo said. “ It is only through the contributions of alumni, supporters and friends that the university will be able to continue to move forward. Thanks to gifts such as those from Wes Elingburg, we can build upon our tradition of academic excellence by attracting some of the nation’s top scholars to our faculty to share their knowledge and expertise with our students.” Elingburg recently retired after 25 years with Laboratory Corporation of America, including the last eight as chief financial officer. Also known as LabCorp, it is a Standard & Poor’s 500 company and the second- largest medical testing firm in the na-tion, with revenues in excess of $ 3 billion and employing 25,000 people nationwide. He said he made the contribution to Western out of a desire to give something back to a university he credits for much of his success in his career and life. “ Although my playing days came to end, my love for baseball and for Western Carolina has never ended,” said Elingburg. In fact, today he finds himself combining his passion for the game with his educational and career path— as the co- owner of Greens-boro Grasshoppers, a minor league baseball team affiliated with the Florida Marlins organization. aJnodh n D Aor. oPthayr Lrisu Jxtro. n Parris Distinguished Professorship in Apalachian Culture Benefactors: Estate of John and Dorothy Parris Professor: Ron Rash Impact: Rash has shared his award- winning writing talents and worked with Western’s Mountain Heritage Center on a performance series that highlights Appalachian culture. Presenters have included a Cherokee storyteller, gospel singers and an archaeologist. Taft B. Botner Distinguished Professorship in Elementary and Middle Grades Education Benefactors: Estate of Taft B. Botner, former dean of WCU’s College of Education and Allied Professions, and his wife, Malvery Botner, who taught in the public schools Professor: David Strahan Impact: Strahan helped develop a grant proposal and program for improving literacy instruction funded for more than $ 280,000 that created a two- way partnership between teachers from Asheville public schools and WCU faculty. Stepping up to the Plate Minor League Owner Helps Provide Business Students a Field of Dreams By BILL STUDENC OPtrhoefre sFsournshdiepds : aCnadr oBlynen P Rle. m Pmhoinllsip Ps hillips Distinguished Professorship in Musical Theatre Benefactors: Estate of Carolyn P. Phillips of Waynesville and matching money from the C. D. Spangler Foundation Professor: Terrence Mann Impact: Mann, a Broadway star who joined the faculty in November, is teaching master classes in theatre and music. Catherine Brewer Smith Distinguished Professorship in Communication Disorders Benefactor: Estate of Franklin resident Catherine Brewer Smith, whose father attended WCU Ambassador Jeanette W. Hyde Distinguished Professorship in Gerontological Social Work Benefactor: Wallace Hyde ’ 49 MA ’ 53 longtime benefactor and former trustee of Western Carolina University, in honor of his wife, current WCU trustee Jeanette Hyde Mountaintop Distinguished Professorship in Advanced Optics Manufacturing Benefactors: Developers of a lakeside golf club in southern Jackson County WNC Health Organizations Distinguished Professorship in Physical Therapy Benefactors: Regional health care providers WNC Health Organizations Distinguished Professorship in Nurse Anesthesia Benefactors: Regional health care providers Gimelstob- Landry Distinguished Professorship in Regional Economic Development Benefactors: Florida real estate businessmen Herbert Gimelstob and Laurence D. Landry Wesley R. Elingburg Distinguished Professorship in Business Innovation Benefactor Western alumnus Wesley Elingburg ’ 78, retired chief financial officer from Burlington- based Laboratory Corporation of America Wesley R. Elingburg ’ 78 is co- owner of the Greensboro Grasshoppers baseball team. “ Although my playing days came to end, my love for baseball and for Western Carolina has never ended,” – Wesley R. Elingburg Sequoyah Distinguished Professorship in Cherokee Studies Benefactors: The Friends of Sequoyah; Cherokee businessman Jimmy Cooper; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Harrah’s Entertainment Inc.; and a National Endowment for the Humanities challenge grant Professor: Tom Hatley Impact: Hatley has led a process of joint planning with the Eastern Band that resulted in a new memorandum of understanding with the tribe and new courses and programs, including the Revitalization of Traditional Cherokee Artisan Resources project. 10 The Magazine of Western Carolina University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 11 The career path for the newest Western faculty member to hold an appointment as an endowed distinguished professor has taken him from the cast of “ Cats” to the land of the Catamounts. Terrence Mann, who originated the role of Rum Tum Tugger in the Broadway production of “ Cats,” is WCU’s Carolyn Plemmons Phillips and Ben R. Phillips Distinguished Professor of Musical Theatre. Mann’s appointment means students in WCU’s musical theatre program are learning tricks of the trade from a bona fide Broadway star. He originated the role of the Beast in Broadway’s “ Beauty and the Beast,” earning Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations. His stage credits include two additional roles he origi-nated on Broadway— his Tony Award- nominated performance as Inspector Javert in “ Les Miserables” and his portrayal of Chauvelin in “ The Scarlett Pimpernel.” He also has taken the Broadway stage in “ Lennon,” “ The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” “ Getting Away With Murder,” “ A Christmas Carol,” “ Rags,” “ Barnum” and “ Jekyll and Hyde.” Tony Brown ’ 78, theatre critic for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, gives rave reviews to Western’s new hire. “ Terry Mann is one of Broadway’s and North Carolina’s true theatrical treasures. His resonant voice, the intensity of his stare and those big, strong teeth have allowed him to impose his outsized personality onto iconic roles, which is especially notable because he injected that personal-ity despite makeup painted on an inch thick or mechanical stage pyrotechnics that tend to steal the spotlight from the actors,” said Brown, son of a WCU English professor, who got his theatrical start in a Cullowhee production of “ South Pacific” at age 9. “ Those roles are notable because they are all ‘ heavies,’ yet Mann made them not black- and- white bad guys, but shows us their humanity. The theatre is full of great singers, but few artists can sing as gorgeously as Terry does and, at the same time, capture the essence of a character with his acting skills and heart.” Mann is founding artistic director of the Carolina Arts Festival and served as artistic director of the North Carolina Theatre for 14 years, directing more than 25 musical productions during his tenure. He also was artistic director of “ The Lost Colony,” North Carolina’s long- running outdoor drama. At Western, Mann is leading a program designed to provide students with practical work- related experience, build skills needed in both music and theatre, and work on developing on- and off-campus opportunities for undergraduate students. Working with music director and coach accompanist Bradley Martin, he has guided master classes for actors and singers, and will direct the February production of “ The Music Man.” Mann also plans to take students to New York to observe the behind- the- scenes activities that go into mounting a major Broadway production. “ Terry has the talents and personality to take an honored place in the pantheon of theatre graduates and faculty at Western,” said Brown, the theatre critic. “ I’ve always looked back at the many hours I spent on the Niggli Theatre and Hoey Auditorium stages as some of the most fun and valuable of my life, and I think WCU’s theatre department has long been one of the best small programs in the region. The addition of Terry to the faculty will certainly further WCU’s expansion into musical theatre and will attract a host of top- notch prospects to that valley known as Cullowhee.” The Music Mann Tony- Nominated Broadway Star Leads Musical Theatre Program By BILL STUDENC Western’s status as a university on the move— a reputation due in part to dramatic growth in the number of endowed distinguished professors— is beginning to en-tice high- profile faculty members to come to campus even in areas not supported by private endowments…. at least, not yet. That rising academic stature helped convince two internationally known academic figures to relocate to Cullowhee from major North Carolina research institutions this fall. One of the nation’s foremost economists, James F. Smith, director of the Center for Business Forecasting in the Kenan- Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina– Chapel Hill, joined the faculty at Western earlier this fall. Orrin Pilkey, founder of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines, is moving his internationally prominent program known for the integration of coastal science and management from Duke University to WCU. “ When we are able to attract professionals with the creden-tials of James Smith and Orrin Pilkey to join us at Western, we know we are not just doing something right, we are doing a lot of things right,” said Provost Kyle Carter. “ Dr. Smith and Dr. Pilkey are widely regarded as being at the top of their respective fields. With enrollment increases, the development of new academic programs, the dramatic growth of the Honors College and the future possibilities to be found in our Millennial Initiative, Western is in a very different position than it was just a few short years ago. That’s why we are able to lure people of this caliber away from institutions like UNC- CH and Duke.” Smith, recognized in January by Bloomberg News for having the most accurate forecast for long- term interest rates among a national forecasting panel, holds a joint appointment in the College of Business and in WCU’s Institute for the Economy and the Future. In the IEF, which is WCU’s regional think tank and economic development arm, Smith has special responsibility for developing thought leadership and organizing, implementing and leading policy studies, research and policy forums. During a career spanning 30 years, Smith has been an economist and analyst at the Federal Reserve Board; the National Association of REALTORS; Sears, Roebuck and Co.; Union Carbide Corporation; the University of Texas at Austin; and Wharton Econometric Forecast-ing Associates, now Global Insights. He served as a consultant to the President’s Council of Economic Advisers in 1981, and formalized the process of economic forecasting for the Reagan administration. The Wall Street Journal named him the “ most accurate forecaster” three times in the past six years. He serves on the forecasting panels of USA Today, Bloomberg News, Forbes magazine, MMS International and the National Association for Business Economics. For Pilkey, relocation of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines from Durham to Cullowhee represents a passing of the gavel from a pioneer in the study of American shoreline development policy to one of his top protégés. After deciding to focus on writing books and articles, Pilkey says he found just the right person to take over the program in his former student Rob Young, associate professor of geosciences at WCU, who has become known as one of the nation’s leading experts on the science of hurricane impacts and coastal management issues. Set to open at WCU in January, the PSDS will continue its emphasis on research focusing on beach replenishment and other forms of shoreline stabilization, hazard risk mapping on barrier islands, sedimentary processes on shorefaces, and mitigation of hurricane property damage on barrier islands. “ I believe the collaboration with WCU puts this program in a powerful position to have an even greater impact on coastal management programs nationwide,” said Pilkey. “ This is coming at a time when global warming– induced sea- level rise is increasingly a threat to coastal dwellers. I think the collaborative program will provide interna-tional leadership in the search for economically viable and envi-ronmentally sound solutions to our disappearing beaches and our increasingly threatened beachfront development.” Western Union Rise in Reputation Attracts High- Profile Faculty By BIL STUDENC James Smith ( above) meets with staff from the Institute for the Economy and the Future. Professor Rob Young ( left) looks over coastal maps with Orrin Pilkey. Terrence Mann on stage at WCU, and in cast of “ Cats” Joe Tabacca THE UNIVERSITY of NORTH CAROLINA at CHAPEL HILL Duke U N I V E R S I T Y The Magazine of Western Carolina 12 University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 13 experience in New York; Bruce Frazier, Western’s Belk Distinguished Professor of Commercial and Electronic Music, who has won Emmy Awards for contributions to TV programs; Arledge Armenaki, a cinematographer with 19 motion picture credits; Donald Connelly, director of WCU’s broadcasting program who has 20 years experience with Clear Channel Com-munications; and Elizabeth Heffelfinger, a specialist in documentary and nonfiction films. Terrence Mann, a Broadway star who just joined WCU’s faculty to lead the musical theatre program ( see related story on page 13), will help students perfect their craft as performers on the stage. The New York Times recently called degrees in media- related fields “ the new MBA” because they teach skills such as teamwork and team- building, time management, writing, critical thinking and technical competence with complex equipment. Western’s program exposes students to the history, craft and art of motion pictures and television while pro-viding hands- on experience with some of the most up- to- date equipment in the industry. Students are working in audio and video studios located in Western’s Center for Applied Technology. The studios feature $ 4.5 million worth of leading- edge video camera, recording console, video switcher and video editing equipment. The equipment includes a high- definition digital video camera simi-lar to the one used to produce the latest “ Star Wars” movie and the same type of video switcher used to broadcast “ Monday Night Football” and “ The Tonight Show.” While students are learning in a stu-dio with all the latest bells and whistles, Sholder said he also stresses the artistic side of the business. “ We teach students how to tell a story on the screen— be it a cinema screen, a television or a computer — in an entertaining and original way. We give them the technical skills to do so. And we provide them with the breadth of knowledge and the creative strategies to adapt to whatever new technologies may emerge,” he said. Students already are working on several projects, including a production based on the short story “ Chemistry” by Ron Rash, who holds WCU’s Parris Dis-tinguished Professorship in Appalachian Culture, and the making of a documentary about the creative process. Alex Dillard of Wilkesboro worked as a camera assistant on the project. “ This program is the whole reason I came to Western. I think the potential is incredible for this program and the students in it,” said Dillard, a 2003 graduate of Wilkes Central High School. “ I am astounded that we have all this expertise from the industry to share their insights, that we have all this technology on our campus and that we are actually able to use the equipment as students. The sky is the limit.” And that’s a wrap. It’s “ lights, camera, action” and “ quiet on the set” at Western these days, as the university is offering a bachelor of fine arts degree in digital motion picture and television production, a program of study led by a veteran Hollywood director and screenwriter. The new degree— along with existing programs in commercial and electronic music, music performance, broadcasting, theatre, dance and musical theatre— means Western is preparing an increasing number of students for careers in the performing arts, be those jobs on the stage or on the screen, behind the scenes or behind the camera. “ Western’s motion picture and TV program is a very important piece in build-ing the base of skills for this generation necessary to work in an ever- increasing visual world,” said Mary Trimarco of the Western North Carolina Film Commis-sion. “ It is critical for students to learn how to express themselves visually, both creatively and in business. We are looking forward to working with the students and graduates on their future projects.” Western is no starry- eyed ingénue when it comes to the film and television industry. The new degree and the re-cent relocation of several entertainment professionals from the hills of Hollywood to the Cullowhee mountains is just the latest chapter in the university’s long- last-ing love affair with the motion picture industry. Before the late Josefina Niggli, whose name graces Niggli Theatre on the WCU campus, joined the faculty in 1956, she enjoyed a successful career as a script-writer for 20th Century Fox and Metro- Goldwyn Mayer. And WCU professors in theatre and related areas have for decades been honing their skills on movie and TV sets ( see page 16). Following in Niggli’s footsteps is Jack Sholder, director of “ A Nightmare on Elm Street 2” and “ The Hidden,” who came to Western in 2004. Sholder, who won an Emmy Award for his editing work on the TV production “ 3- 2- 1 Contact,” is pre-paring students to take part in a rapidly evolving entertainment industry. “ The motion picture and television industries have changed more in the last 10 years than they have in the previous 50. With the advent of the digital age and broad-band, technology will continue to change the face of these arts and industries at a rapid pace,” said Sholder, who has directed some 20 films and TV programs. “ Students need to understand the whole process, even though they may only work in one segment of it. They need to know how the real world of motion pictures and television operates— the unspoken rules, shortcuts and etiquette.” Students at Western also are getting the inside scoop from Terry Curtis Fox, a Hollywood screenwriter whose credits include “ Hill Street Blues,” “ Diagnosis Murder” and “ Stargate SG- 1”; Padraig Acheson, who heads WCU’s television pro-duction program after 28 years of network Screen Gems Western student Corey Utke prepares the cast and crew for action on the set of an on-campus motion picture production ( clockwise from top left), while Michael Montanez gets camera pointers from faculty member Arledge Armenaki. Jack Sholder, director of the new motion picture degree program, reviews set notes with student script supervisor Christopher Hamilton. New Motion Picture Production Degree Helps Prepare Students for Careers in Growing Industry By BIL STUDENC The Magazine of Western Carolina 14 University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 15 Character Studies Professors Pick up Classroom Pointers from Movie, TV Roles By BIL STUDENC Courtesy of " Home of the Giants" Courtesy of " Hallmark Hall of Fame" Courtesy of HBO Western alumni and faculty are making their mark in Hollywood. Counterclockwise from top left, Sean Bridgers ’ 92 had a major supporting role in HBO’s “ Deadwood.” Terry Nienhuis, professor of English, co- starred in the television production of “ The Water is Wide” earlier this year. Stephen Michael Ayers, associate professor of theatre arts, plays a coach in the upcoming basketball film “ Home of the Giants.” And above, Nonalee Davis ’ 95, a professional stunt coordinator and performer, gives new meaning to the phrase “ hands- on learning” during an on- campus workshop on fight choreography. co- starring role on the critically acclaimed “ Deadwood” on HBO. Bridg-ers attributes his success to the multitude of acting opportunities he received as a student at Western. “ At other universities, students don’t act in front of audiences much,” he said. “ At WCU, I got a lot of practice.” A Sylva native, Bridgers sometimes finds his way back to his alma mater to work with students. So does Nonalee Davis ’ 95, who has worked as stunt coordinator and performer in film and television. Davis returned to campus last year to give a series of workshops on basic stage combat, hand- to- hand combat, fight choreography and weapons choreography for theatre arts students and members of the University Players and Black Theatre Ensemble. For Nienhuis, who teaches drama and film classes in Western’s English department, earning a role as a significant character on the Hallmark Hall of Fame production of “ The Water is Wide” is the latest in a string of appearances on the series. “ This was the third time I had worked with director John Kent Harrison, and it’s my biggest screen role so far. It’s certainly the most lucrative with the most screen time. My character doesn’t have a whole lot to say, but he is certainly around all of the time, and he is constantly being referred to by other characters,” said Nienhuis, who also has appeared in past Hallmark Hall of Fame pro-ductions “ What the Deaf Man Heard,” “ Having Our Say” and “ The Old Man;” in films including “ Days of Thunder” and “ Paradise Falls;” and in TV commercials for Shoney’s and First Union. But Ayers and Nienhuis both say they get more out of their extracurricular acting gigs than extra spending loot; their work on TV and in motion pictures is helpful in the theatre and film classes they teach at Western. “ It’s extremely useful to have the kind of practical experience you gain from being on set. It’s really been invaluable to see what happens in the process of making a film. I don’t think that I truly understood film and how it works until I started getting some jobs and began to set foot on film sets,” Nienhuis said. Students studying drama and film at Western Carolina University are learning acting techniques from faculty members who sometimes find themselves in front of the camera almost as much as they are in front of the classroom these days. Stephen Michael Ayers, associate professor of theatre arts, recently wrapped production on two major motion pictures—“ The List,” a thriller starring Malcolm McDowell, and “ Mr. Brooks,” a crime- mystery starring Kevin Costner and Demi Moore. Meanwhile, Terry Nienhuis, professor of English and an experienced stage and screen performer, nabbed his largest television appearance to date in a supporting role in the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation of “ The Water is Wide” earlier this year. It marked the fourth time Nienhuis has worked on a Hallmark Hall of Fame production, widely acknowl-edged as one of the highest quality series on television. Ayers, head of WCU’s professional acting and directing program, also enjoyed a four- episode guest- starring role on the NBC science- fic-tion thriller “ Surface” and landed roles on three other motion pictures during the past year, including an upcoming basketball film starring Haley Joel Osment of “ The Sixth Sense.” A member of the Western theatre arts faculty since 1985, Ayers portrays a high school basketball coach in “ Home of the Giants,” a coming- of- age story filmed in Greens-boro. He also spent about six weeks last summer working on two films —“ The Work and the Glory: American Zion” and “ The Work and the Glory: A House Divided”— directed by Sterling Vanwagenen, co- founder of the Sundance Film Festival. “ It has been sort of crazy all of a sudden,” said Ayers, an accom-plished television and movie actor whose credits include recurring roles on TV shows “ Matlock” and “ I’ll Fly Away” and parts in several motion pictures, “ Days of Thunder” and “ That Darn Kat” among them. “ After working on the two ‘ The Work and the Glory’ films last summer, I was really ready for golf and my yard. Then I got a call about a new feature being done with Haley Joel Osment. They sent me the script, and I loved it. I went to read for the director, and that was that,” he said. During his work on the now- canceled NBC series “ Surface,” which was filmed in Wilmington, Ayers shared screen time with a former student, R. Keith Harris ’ 92. The two also worked together on the film “ The List,” slated to hit theaters sometime in 2007. “ How cool is that— professor and former student working side by side in the industry,” Ayers said. Another alum, Sean Bridgers ’ 92, also has found steady work in the movies and on TV, including roles in the major motion pictures “ Nell” and “ The Chamber” and a The Magazine of Western Carolina 16 University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 17 Tony L. White ’ 69 made his mark on the world by involving himself in scientific explorations of the human genome, the compli-cated DNA recipe that is the foundation of all human life. But it was the underpinnings of his own life that were on his mind during WCU’s summer commencement ceremony. White, president and chief executive officer of Applera Corpora-tion, attended the August ceremony to accept an honorary doctorate of science. In his position at the Connecticut- based company, White has helped open the way for a revolution in medicine based on the genome. His company accelerated the race to decode the genome in 1998 when it announced plans to finish that project in three years, and two years later, completion of that mission was announced at a White House ceremony. Just a few months before, White found his face on the cover of Forbes magazine with the headline: “ The making of a $ 24 billion gene machine.” He has been widely recognized for the key businessman’s role he is playing in the biotechnology revolution and in development of the new field of pharmacogenomics. But grand Washington ceremonies and magazine covers weren’t mentioned in White’s acceptance speech. Instead, his speech focused on a few words spoken in a long- gone Cullowhee landmark more than three decades ago. “ A couple of days before I left for the military, I was having lunch at the Townhouse with my two favorite teachers, ( business professors) Bill and Patsy Scott,” he said. “ As we parted, Patsy said to me that she thought my only limitation in life might be my own imagination. For the rest of my life, I have worked hard to keep that from coming true.” Born in Havana, Cuba, White was raised in his father’s hometown of Asheville and arrived in Cullowhee as a freshman in 1965. “ This is where I gained the confidence to go ahead and grow up,” he said. “ I had not been success- oriented in high school, but here I got a second chance in an environment that was perfectly suited to my needs. I was embraced by friends and faculty in very positive ways and allowed to be transformed into a young man intent on success.” After earning his undergraduate degree in social sciences and economics, and following a stint in the Army, White began a 26- year career at health care services company Baxter International Inc., ris-ing in rank from sales representative to executive vice president. In 1995, he left Baxter to head Applera, the company formerly known as Perkin- Elmer Corporation. He now heads an organization of 6,000 people. “ I have been lucky enough to make some pretty good moves during my journey,” White said. “ But the best one, hands down, was made while I was still here at Western. It was here that I convinced Susan Bradley ’ 70 to be my wife.” White credited his mother, Brevard resident Aida T. White, for providing the foundation for his success. “ There is probably only one person who might have predicted this,” he said. “ My mom always made us believe that we had great potential. “ I’m sure Chancellor Bardo has grown tired of me always making the point that one of the great gifts this school provides young people of our community is that second chance,” White said. “ I’m grateful I got mine here, and I hope I have made the best of it.” GENE MACHINE Business Grad Leads Biotech Revolution By RANDAL HOLCOMBE Former Forbes magazine cover model Tony L. White ’ 69 helped a group of WCU students and faculty take the term “ field trip” to a higher level recently when he arranged to have them flown by private jet to tour the California headquarters of Applera Corp., the international life sciences company he heads. The Catamount contingent enjoyed a guided tour of company laboratories with White ( lower left) to see how science works in the corporate world. Students Carmen Batchelor and Chris Tennant ( lower right) even got some hands- on experience using microfluidics products. The Magazine of Western Carolina 18 University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 19 By the time Scott Philyaw ’ 83 made his way to the stage after hearing his name called for the third time in a single afternoon, some audience members had come up with a new label for Western Carolina University’s General Faculty Meeting and Awards Convocation— the Scott Philyaw Invitational. An associate professor of history and newly named direc-tor of the university’s Mountain Heritage Center, Philyaw chalked up the WCU faculty version of the soccer world’s hat trick when he collected three major awards presented at Western’s annual campus gathering. He received the Paul A. Reid Distinguished Service Award for Faculty, was part of a team that won the Integration of Learning Award, and was acknowledged as WCU’s recipient of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors’ Award for Excellence in Teaching. “ It is quite an accomplishment for a faculty member to win any one of these significant university honors, but to receive three of these awards in a single year is unheard of,” said Clifton Metcalf, vice chancellor for advancement and external affairs. “ We’re pleased that Dr. Philyaw’s peers have chosen to recognize him for his teaching and scholarly achievements, and for his service to the university and surrounding community. We’re doubly proud that he is a Western alumnus, because these awards are proof positive of the caliber of education the university offers to students— a tradition of high- quality teaching and research that Dr. Philyaw experienced studying here as an undergraduate history major, and a tradition he is now continuing as a faculty member.” In announcing Philyaw as the winner of the Reid faculty award, Chancellor John Bardo praised him as a professor “ who emphasizes critical thinking and its constant companion, clear communication, in his courses; who makes his classes relevant by stressing the advantages of collaborative learning in the workplace; and who strives to give his students real- world experience.” A faculty member at WCU since 1996, Philyaw received the Integration of Learning Award along with Kathleen Brennan, assistant professor of sociology; Michael Despeaux, career services coordinator; Jubal Tiner, assistant professor of English; and Josh Whitmore, assistant director for outdoor programs. Their winning proposal, “ Adventure Sports in the Mountains,” will bring together WCU’s outdoor sports programming organization; the Mountain Heritage Center; and faculty in English, sociology and history to enable students to explore adventure sports as a part of Western’s community and culture. The Board of Governors Award for Teaching Excellence, established in 1994 to underscore the importance of teaching and to reward good teaching, is among the university system’s top faculty awards. Brandon Alexander Robinson ’ 05, who first met his future professor and adviser as a high- school par-ticipant in a summer academic enrichment program hosted by WCU, called Philyaw “ eminently qualified” to receive recogni-tion from the Board of Governors. “ I have long believed that the best teachers are also mentors. Dr. Philyaw has not only broadened my mind, but has helped shape my character,” said Robinson. “ Looking back on the seven years I have known Dr. Philyaw, I am truly amazed at the extent to which he seeks to unify all the drives of his life, and to enlist like- minded persons. He has truly been what I hoped I would find in the university faculty— the scholarly expert, the gifted teacher, the insightful adviser, and the inspiring role model.” Professor Scores Faculty Award “ Three- Peat” By BIL STUDENC T h eW CWU Expaondrsl Trdav el IAbsr oaOd Prougrarm Classroom By JONI KENYON China Academic Accolades Scott Philyaw ’ 83 shares a laugh with Brandon Robinson ’ 05. It’s an early November morning in Cullowhee, but Elyse Jardine is already dreaming about life on the other side of the world. “ I picture China as a place that is different from anything that I have ever known,” Jardine said. “ I want to go because it is a place that has always been a curiosity to me.” Jardine, a junior majoring in com-munications, will finally get a chance to visit the country June 2- 23 as WCU for the first time offers its “ China Abroad” program. It’s just one of many countries on the itinerary this summer through the university’s annual Sum-mer Abroad Program, with a growing number of students taking advantage of a growing number of opportunities. Students who participate in the China trip will stay at Fudan University in Shanghai as a part of three courses: “ Basic Survival Skills in China,” “ Principles of Marketing” and “ Modern Asian History.” Trip leaders Steve Henson, assistant professor of marketing and business law, and Gael Graham, associ-ate professor of history, have made a special effort to open the program to all students in the University of North Carolina system. “ My personal goal for the trip is to establish a framework that will allow dozens, and eventually hundreds, of North Carolina students to visit China,” Henson said. Sarah Wong, a sophomore biol-ogy major at North Carolina State University, is happy to take advantage of the course. “ I think it’s wonderful that college can open so many doors to opportunities like this,” Wong said. “ I only wish that more students knew about these programs.” continued on page 22 20 The Magazine of Western Carolina University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 21 Munich Japan Ecuador Top right: Nursing student Rebecca Miller Above: Nursing professor Judy Mallory A. J. Rowell ’ 05 visited New Zealand ( above) and Fiji ( left) as part of his WCU travel- abroad experience. Images from Rowell’s travels grace a calendar he is selling to raise money for several charities. For information, visit www. whyiride. com before, and will encourage students who have been to Japan to further their understanding of the Japanese language and culture.” Other international programs offered during summer 2007 are well-established parts of WCU’s summer sessions. For the third year, the univer-sity will offer a trip to Quito, Ecuador, where students work with the local population as a part of “ Special Topics: International Missionary and Volun-teer Nursing,” led by Judy Mallory, assistant professor of nursing. Dates for the trip are May 27– June 5. “ Students can study about other cultures and disparities in health care, but to experience it first hand is life- changing,” Mallory said. “ It is an awesome experience to work with a student as he or she assesses a child who has never received ‘ formal’ health care before.” Lee Rule, a senior RN- to- BSN Cap-stone nursing major who participated in the course last year, agreed. “ The enrichment gained from these experi-ences is immeasurable and definitely far exceeds the credit hours earned for the class,” Rule said. “ Many of the Ecuadorians educated us on their customs and beliefs and, in this way, we were able to enter into a dynamic relationship that promoted collaboration and mutual respect with the people we met,” he said. “ This, I feel, is the purpose of international learning experiences.” The course is open to WCU students, with nursing students having first priority. continued on page 24 Several courses next summer, including “ German Civilization” and “ Special Topics: German Language and Cultural Immersion,” also are open to students outside of WCU. Students in these courses will explore Munich, have a picnic at Englischer Garten, learn about the history of Dachau ( the notorious German concentration camp), and visit the BMW museum and the Bavarian Department of Edu-cation. Students wishing to sign up for the German courses must have some prerequisite courses in German, said instructor Donnie Stepp Jr., who him-self did undergraduate study abroad in Munich and completed a doctorate program in Bamberg, Germany. Instructors Erin Tapley, associate professor of art education, and Masa-fumi Takeda, Asian studies coordina-tor, will lead a trip to Japan from May 7- 21. Tapley will discuss traditional and modern art of Japan while Takeda will cover Japanese language, daily life, customs and education as a part of “ Topics in Art” and “ Special Topics: Japan Past and Present.” Students will explore the Ueno area to visit museums and national parks; take a bullet train to Osaka to visit classes at Osaka Kyoiku Universi-ty; and visit temples, shrines, muse-ums and workshops to study Japanese art. Students also will experience the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima. The main objective of the class is “ to cultivate students’ sensitivity to differing values and viewpoints that exist in other cultures,” Tapley said. “ This course will be an eye- opener for students who have never been to Japan continued from page 21 The Magazine of Western Carolina 22 University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 23 Horse Sense Equestrian Club Unites Equine Enthusiasts London Bahamas Western’s Equestrian Club may be small, but the tight-knit group of a dozen or so horse lovers say the experience — horse showing, equine- related service, fundraising and just plain everyday horse care— is very rewarding. Intercol-legiate horse show judges agree: Last year, Lauren Allen ’ 06 won her class and placed fourth over fences at this year’s show sponsored by Wake Forest University. Elizabeth Mun-day ’ 06 left a St. Andrews Presbyterian College horse show with back- to- back high point rider awards, having placed first or second in both horsemanship and reining classes. Brooke Mercier placed first and second in her novice classes at a double- header at Virginia Tech. Maria Aponte earned enough points to qualify for a year- end regional finals show. Katie Evans won an advanced walk- trot- canter class at Virginia Intermont. The list goes on. The club began when a student and a prospective student started exploring the idea with club adviser Nory Prochaska, a lifelong rider who also directs the Mathematics Tutoring Center and coordinates the University Experience course for first- year students. They recruited through word- of- mouth and a sign- up table at Valley Ballyhoo, WCU’s annual back- to- school celebration. “ It grew from there,” said Prochaska. Unlike schools that have large, established equestrian programs, the WCU team depends on riders who bring horses to the area while in school, or local horse lovers willing to allow their horses to be used by the team for practice. The hunt seat team worked with a professional coach, Cathy Schwartz of Smokey Hollow Farm in Candler. The team also participated in IHSA- recognized western horsemanship events, something new for the IHSA region. “ With limited riding opportunities, our competitive efforts are pretty low- key,” said Prochaska. “ But, the beauty of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association program is that it has a place for riders of all levels to compete, and the large programs provide all of the horses, so it’s remarkably acces-sible, financially, for college students.” Members of Western’s Equestrian Club find the extra-curricular activity indispensable. Munday, who is from Kernersville, said she realized when she got to Western that she had to be around horses. “ I was too far away from our farm or my horse trainer to be able to ride every day like I was used to,” she said. And riding was so important to Allen that she met with Prochaska to learn more about the Eques-trian Club before deciding to transfer from Salem College. The Sylva native went on to compete for three years, served as captain for two and club president for one. “ My team-mates quickly became some of my best friends,” said Allen. Team member Becky Howard, who grew up riding and showing horses in Hayesville, has high hopes for the future of Western’s Equestrian Club. “ I hope to see the team one day grow and have a barn of its own for a large, diverse team,” said Howard. “ It has a lot of potential.” A “ British Design Experience” course is open to interior design ma-jors at WCU who have completed their sophomore- level design courses. Marc Yops, associate professor of hospitality, tourism and interior design, has of-fered the course several years running. Students travel to London in July for a multi- faceted experience with a focus on historical perspective, including exploration of the furniture industry, tours of design centers, visitations to design showrooms, studio and factory tours, and a visit to an English interior design education program. “ Environments of the Bahamas” will be offered May 7- 21, led by Blair Tormey, visiting instructor of geosciences and natural resources management, and Patricia Hembree, assistant professor of science education, geosciences and natural resources management. A geology course offers a hands- on approach to investigate the geologic and biologic aspects of carbonate environments, while a related science education course is operated as part of the College of the Bahamas Gerace Research Center on the island of San Salvador. Students will examine methods in field- based learning and science education. Both are open to students from all majors and non- WCU students. Both courses require well- fitted snorkeling gear. Most trips cost between $ 1,600 and $ 3,000, in addition to tuition and personal expenses such as food and admission fees to temples and muse-ums. Participants must be admitted to the university before registering for a course. For more information, contact the Division of Educational Outreach at ( 828) 227- 7397 or ( 866) 928- 4723. continued from page 23 Students experience the Bahamas both by land and by sea. Members of Western’s Equestrian Club share their love of horses through riding in shows, caring for horses and service projects. Pictured at left with a horse named “ Chance” are club members, left to right, Maria Aponte, April Greene, adviser Nory Prochaska, Nicki Heim, Lauren Allen ’ 06, Ashley Bordner, Brooke Mercier, Becky Howard and Eliza-beth Munday ’ 06. The Magazine of Western Carolina 24 University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 25 Western’s softball team was scram-bling for someone to fill Cinderella’s coaching shoes when first- year head coach Megan Smith unexpectedly took a position at Louisiana State after a sto-rybook season that saw the squad claim the Southern Conference championship in its first year of existence. Well, the clock did not strike mid-night for Catamount softball fans. After helping Virginia Tech to its first two NCAA regional tournament berths over the last two seasons as the top assistant coach for the Atlantic Coast Conference program, former collegiate pitching standout Christine Hornak is now on the job in Cullowhee as the second head softball coach of the fast- pitch era for Western Carolina. “ I am very excited to be the next head softball coach at Western Carolina University,” Hornak said. “ I feel privi-leged to continue developing tradition and a history for this young program. I look forward to being part of the Cata-mount athletic family and working with such talented athletes.” Hornak takes over the reins of a program that posted a 41- 20 overall record, including a 16- 4 league record, and featured six All- Southern Confer-ence picks while setting a SoCon season record for home runs by a team ( 81). Among the returning starters are the SoCon Pitcher of the Year ( Mendy McKenzie) and the SoCon Freshman of the Year ( Jenny Jackson). Also back on the diamond in 2007 are two Louisville Slugger/ NFCA All- Region selections ( McKenzie and Ashley Adams, who belted a SoCon season conference record 21 homers) and six All- Southern Conference picks. “ Christine is a great fit for Cata-mount softball,” said Chip Smith, director of athletics. “ This is a team that has quickly earned the reputation of a quality program. We are pleased that we now have a coach with her experience and background who is committed to helping us take the next step.” While at Virginia Tech, Hornak was responsible for the Hokie pitching staff, as well as conditioning, recruiting and coordinating all travel plans. Under her tutelage, pitcher Angela Tincher became the first softball All- American at Virginia Tech, being named Louisville Slugger/ NFCA second team All- American. Tincher, who was named to the United States World University Team, was also tabbed 2006 Atlantic Coast Conference Pitcher and Player of the Year as well as second team ESPN The Magazine Academic All- America. During her own playing days, Hornak was a star pitcher at Campbell and UNC Greensboro, earning all- conference honors at both schools. Three young men, all with a passion for athletics, created a lasting bond this past summer. Josh Dees and Kyle Greathouse of the Catamount men’s basketball squad spent time during the off- season as volunteer coaches for Jason Hedrick, a Special Olympics athlete. With their help, Hedrick won a gold medal in track and field at the Special Olympics USA National Games. “ Jason and his mom came to our basketball games, and we got to know them,” said Dees. Hedrick would wait after each game to shake the hands of the players. After basketball season, Dees and Greathouse decided to stay on campus for summer school and to hone their basketball skills. Meanwhile, Hedrick had placed high enough in the state Special Olympics competition to qualify for the national event in Ames, Iowa. “ Jason needed to continue his training for running,” said Hedrick’s mother, Pat Beasley, coordinator for the Special Olympics program in Jackson County. Remembering the connection her son had made with the basketball players, she asked Dees and Greathouse to train her son, and they accepted. Each practice session incorporated exercising, running and timing Hedrick. “ We asked WCU track athletes about training,” said Dees. “ Then we started training Jason with different tech-niques, like helping him start faster and run through the finish line.” The three trained almost every day for approximately six weeks, and they developed a plan. “ We worked out at different times during the day,” said Greathouse. “ We wanted to vary his runs from the afternoon heat to the cool of the evening.” The WCU athletes were always positive with Hedrick, urg-ing him to do his best at the competition, said Beasley. “ They respected him and took his training seriously,” she said. On the last day that the trio worked together, Dees and Greathouse presented Hedrick with a stopwatch on which they had clocked his final practice run. They told Hedrick to keep the timepiece with him for good luck during the races because it held his best time from all summer. That is, it represented his best time until he took to the track for the national Special Olympics meet, where Hedrick won the gold medal in the 4x100 race. “ Jason shaved off three more seconds at the competition,” said Beasley. He also ran in the 100- and 200- meter races, placing fifth and earning the silver medal in those events, respectively. “ We brought competitiveness to it for Jason,” said Greathouse. “ It was definitely his time to shine.” The WCU athletes said they gained great insight from the experience, and both found it extremely rewarding. “ I realized how big of a deal it was. It was one of the best experiences of my life,” said Greathouse. Dees agreed. “ It was rewarding because Jason was a lot of fun. As athletes, Kyle and I like to see improvement, and Jason worked really hard. It was a good situation all around.” During an era when many athletes seem to care only about game stats or the highlight reel, it was refreshing to watch Dees and Greathouse work with Hedrick, his mom said. “ They helped Jason because they cared for him, not to get recognition for doing it. It was just so special,” said Beasley. “ Both young men were faithful to Jason. They showed up, and they had a plan. They were organized, kind and truly good sportsmen.” GOING FOR THE GOLD Basketball Players Make Special Olympics Even More Special for Local Athlete By BESIE DIETRICH ’ 06 PITCH PERFECT New Skipper at the Helm for Softball Cats in ’ 07 By DANIEL HOOKER ’ 01 Christine Hornak is Western’s new softball coach. Jason Hedrick shows his Special Olympics medals to Josh Dees ( left) and Kyle Greathouse ( right). WCUAthletics The Magazine of Western Carolina 26 University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 27 The recently renovated football locker room in Western’s Ramsey Regional Activity Center now bears the name of a husband- and- wife team who helped lead the fundraising effort that made the $ 225,000 upgrade possible. Dale Hollifield ’ 65, who played guard for the Catamounts from 1962 to 1964, and wife Dianne Hollifield ’ 66, have contributed $ 85,000 toward the renovation. The longtime members of Western’s Catamount Club are retired and live in Kings Mountain. In recognition of the Hollifields’ gifts, the executive com-mittee of Western’s board of trustees bestowed on the expanded facility the name the Dale and Dianne Hollifield Locker Room. The action came during a specially called meeting in September. “ This project is both a significant enhancement of the football facilities and a visible demonstration of the Hollifields’ loyalty to the university,” said Chip Smith, director of athletics at WCU. “ We are deeply gratified by their support of Catamount athletics in such a generous manner.” A ceremony officially dedicating the Dale and Dianne Hol-lifield Locker Room came as part of Western’s Athletics Hall of Fame weekend, when the Catamounts knocked off nationally ranked Eastern Kentucky University. Swing Shift Catamount Golfer Atop the Collegiate Leader Board Western Carolina junior Matt Cook was rated as the top male golfer in NCAA Division I, while teammate Andres Cuenca is rated 35th in the nation, according to rankings released in October by Golfstat. com. A native of Murphy, Cook also was featured on the Golf Channel’s “ College Central” for moving up from 10th in the previous ranking to his current spot at the top. “ To have the top- ranked collegiate golfer, as well as the 35th ranked collegiate golfer, in the NCAA Division I rankings speaks very highly of the direction that our program is heading,” said head coach Gorham Bradley ’ 04. “ Cook’s development in our program has been very exciting for all of those involved with WCU golf. Personally, I feel that we are just beginning to see the ability that Cook has to play the game of golf and, as he continues to mature mentally, expect him to continue to be successful.” Already the most honored player in Catamount football history, place- kicker Kirk Roach racked up yet another accolade earlier this year when he watched as his No. 14 jersey was officially retired. A member of the Southern Conference’s 75th Anniver-sary Football Team and a 1996 WCU Athletics Hall of Fame inductee who owns numerous WCU, Southern Conference and NCAA records, Roach holds the distinction of being the Catamount taken highest in the NFL draft, going in the fifth round to the Buffalo Bills in 1987. “ Having my jersey retired is an amazing honor that I will forever cherish, and I am overwhelmingly flattered to have this accolade bestowed upon me. I truly believe that this honor is an absolute reflection of the support and encour-agement given to me by my teammates, coaches and family,” said Roach, Western’s and the Southern Conference’s first three- time All- America selection ( 1984, 1986 and 1987). “ I am grateful that WCU took a chance on me— when no other school would— and gave me the opportunity to play college football. The lessons and values that Coach ( Bob) Waters instilled into me have undoubtedly helped me on a day- to-day basis, in both my professional and personal life.” Roach was the first player in league history to be a four- time, first team All- SoCon selection ( 1984- 87), an accomplishment that has since been duplicated just three other times. The Doraville, Ga., native and current Cum-ming, Ga., resident is WCU’s all- time scoring leader with 302 points. Roach still owns NCAA records for most field goals attempted in a career ( 101), most field goals of 50 yards or more made in a season ( seven) and career ( 11), most games kicking two or more field goals ( 25), longest average distance of field goals attempted ( 40.5), and highest percentage of field goals made in a season from inside 40 yards, as he con-nected on all 17 attempts in 1986. “ Kirk’s football career is an important part of the heritage of Western Carolina football, and he has continued to be involved with the athletic program since that time,” said Chip Smith, WCU director of athletics. “ He is a true Catamount. I am delighted that we are able to honor him by retiring his jersey.” A marker honoring Roach’s retired jersey now stands adjacent to the current marker honoring the retired numbers of Art Byrd ( No. 54) and Jerry Gaines ( No. 23). Roach now works for a computer software company near Atlanta. Record- breaking Booter Kirk Roach Sees Jersey Retired By MIKE CAWOOD Football Locker Room Named in Honor of Dale, Dianne Hollifield Just For Kicks Former bare- footed kicker Kirk Roach and his family enjoy his jersey retirement ceremony with Chip Smith. Matt Cook sinks the putt. Dianne ’ 66 and Dale Hollifield ’ 65 and their grandson visit the renovated football locker room. The Magazine of Western Carolina 28 University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 29 WHISTLE BLOWER ACTS Retired Educator’s Favorite Football Team Wears Stripes When Tara Mull ’ 05 walks into a room, the energy level of everyone around her increases by about 1,000 per-cent. So it only makes sense that you would find her on the sidelines of Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium, helping to increase the energy level of more than 70,000 screaming Carolina Panthers fans by about 1,000 percent. A Waynesville native now living in Charlotte, Mull was chosen from a field of about 200 candidates to be one of the 35 “ TopCats” for the 2006 season. The social work major and dance teacher now finds herself on the field along with Brad Hoover ’ 00, the bruising fullback in his seventh year as a Panther. Mull has been dancing and performing most of her life. She competed in dance in middle school, was a cheer-leader at Tuscola High School, and was a member of the dance team at Western. “ When I finished dancing at WCU, it was like someone pulled the carpet out from under me, when I thought of all that had come to an end,” she said. “ But I knew I wasn’t finished performing. The closer TopCat try- outs got, the more it became apparent that it was my golden opportunity to continue doing what I love.” Mull says the commitment of being a TopCat is pretty demanding. On non- practice days, many of the Charlotte-resident TopCats will meet up to do ab and cardio exercises before working on their cheer routines. “ We motivate each other, which is what keeps us all going,” said Mull. On practice days, the team meets at the stadium and works with the team choreographer. In addition to practices, outside rehearsals and game day, the TopCats volunteer to make appearances around town. “ They ask that we do at least 15 appearances throughout the season so that we do our part to help out and represent the team throughout the community,” Mull said. Mull says that her experiences with Western’s dance team began to prepare her for life as a TopCat. “ We were very close knit, much like the TopCats, and we were expected to be professional in and outside of dance time, as are the TopCats,” she said. “ WCU had a great group of fans, too.” While Mull, an admitted “ small- town girl,” continues to adjust to Charlotte life, she hopes she can achieve some longevity with the team. “ We have 10- year veterans on our team, so the sky is the limit. I love it,” she said. “ It’s not work for me because this is my dream, so of course I think it is fabulous. It is an honor to see little girls look up to you because they want to be just like you when they grow up. That is a feeling that warms your heart and never gets old.” ALL THE RIGHT MOVES Former WCU Dance Squad Member Makes NFL Cheerleading Squad by LOYD VAN HORN ’ 02 A veteran of 25 years in the National Football League, Gerald D. Austin ’ 64 MAEd ’ 69 has officiated three Super Bowls and numerous playoff games, and is coordinator for football officials for Conference USA. A retired public school administrator with more than 30 years experience in leadership, Austin has been an associate superintendent, high school principal, and program associate at an international leadership training center. Head of a leadership development group specializing in strategic planning, leadership training and team building, he recently agreed to a question- and- answer session with the North Carolina Career Network Magazine at www. careernetworkmag. com. How did you get into officiating? AUSTIN: The process started when I was in the 10th grade. My basketball coach asked for volunteers to officiate the seventh- and eighth- grade teams, and I volunteered. I guess I’ve never really stopped since then. In 1981 I applied for the NFL. I was selected to officiate in 1982. I have been officiating for the NFL 25 years and am currently ranked as the official with the most experi-ence. Not the oldest, just the most experienced. What motivates you to excel as an official? AUSTIN: Like anything you do, you want to do it the best you can. I want to be the best at whatever I do. I keep officiating because, when I walk on that field on Sunday afternoon, there is no other place I want to be. I have a sense of comfort that my crew and I will be able to handle any situation. I love being there. In some ways it’s like I am still a kid and still competing. W e see what you do on the football field, but what is involved in being an official? AUSTIN: You have to prepare yourself for three hours a day on Sunday and be ready to concentrate 165 times for seven seconds. That is how long each play is. Some people think we are responsible for concentrating the entire game, but there are different degrees of concentration. We have to execute any play properly. In a good ball game for officials, we have the same euphoric feeling and adrenaline going as players when they win. When you screw up, it is a bad feeling and you can’t wait to the next game to get rid of it. Being the head official, how do you differ from the other officials on the field? AUSTIN: I have the responsibility for the preparation of the six guys on my crew. My job is to set the tone. I am responsible for previous games that may not have played well. I am also responsible for making the call on replays, looking under the hood. I will officiate 20 NFL games. Outside of the NFL, I assign Conference USA officials and will attend 12 to 15 college football games. What advice would you offer anyone going into this field? AUSTIN: Anyone that feels like they want to officiate needs to know three things… the rules, the mechanics ( where you are supposed to be and when you’re supposed to be there), and don’t insert yourself into the game. Let the players play and you make the calls. In reality, our job is to manage the ballgame. When one team or player gets unfair advantage, then it is our job to step up and the make the call. The rest of the time we simply manage the flow of the game. You are probably the first person I have ever met that loves the game of football, but doesn’t have a favorite team. AUSTIN: You’re right. I love the game, but my favorite team wears stripes. Tara Mull ’ 05 is now a TopCat. The interview is reprinted in edited form with photos by Bo Calilung. Gerald Austin ’ 64 MAEd ’ 69 makes the call. Printed in edited form with permission of The ( Waynesville) Mountaineer with photo by Dwayne Woodard 30 The Magazine of Western Carolina University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 31 The arrival of Levern Hamlin Allen at Western Carolina College on June 11, 1957, did not generate a lot of buzz on campus, despite the fact that the 21- year-old was bringing integration to Cullowhee as the institution’s first African- American student. Allen’s trek from her hometown of Roanoke, Va., to enroll in a nine- week graduate school summer session was low- key, at most. “ I left home very early and arrived at Western about 3 o’clock in the afternoon,” she said. “ I was hot, tired, and had cramps in my feet and legs from the long drive, and lots of anxiety. I persevered. I went directly to the office of the director of summer session, registered for three classes, paid my fees and was assigned a room.” And thus Western entered a new era. Allen had already earned a bachelor’s degree in speech correction and English in Virginia and was working as a speech therapist in Charlotte- Meck-lenburg schools when she enrolled at Western with the goal of earning nine hours of credit in special education to obtain an advanced North Carolina teaching certificate. Allen’s arrival in Cullowhee came three years after the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision, which ordered an end to racial segregation in the public schools. All- white Southern colleges were just beginning to receive applications from African- American students. Some schools, including Western, granted admission, but many students won admission only with a court order. Allen says she found out much later that her first days in Cullowhee were carefully planned to avoid complications. She arrived the day following regular registration, avoiding reporters, and the institution’s director of public relations interviewed her and released the story to the press. “ My instructors had been chosen,” she said. “ They appeared eager to have me as a student. A black family with a daughter about my age called to offer as-sistance if I needed it. We became friends. They were my lifeline to understanding this new and different culture and a source of comfort.” Overall, the situation remained quiet in Cullowhee. “ There might have been some residents who feared change, but it appeared to me that most resigned themselves to the fact that change was coming,” she said. “ While they did not welcome it with open arms, there was no violence, no fight, no mass resistance. “ When I reflect on that summer, I wonder why,” Allen said. “ There had been a tremendous amount of violence in sev-eral states, and more was to come. How-ever, it never happened in Cullowhee.” Allen went on to earn master’s degrees at the University of Maryland and George Washington University. She retired in 1992 after working as a speech pathologist in Washington, D. C.– area schools for 25 years. Currently a resident of Silver Spring, Md., she served Western as a trustee from 1987 through 1995. Although Allen’s 1957 arrival in Cullowhee was quiet, her August 2006 visit to Cullowhee came with a lot of fanfare as the university honored her with an honorary doctorate in humane letters in recognition of her contributions to society as a pioneer of integration and social change, and for her service to the university. “ I always knew that the summer of 1957 was special,” Allen said as she accepted the honorary degree at the summer commencement ceremony. “ I accept this honor with the love and dignity in which it was presented.” A Pioneer of Integration Recalls the Summer of 1957 By RANDAL HOLCOMBE alumniAchievements BreakingBarriers In a recent return to campus, Lavern Hamlin Allen re- creates her 1957 visit to Hunter Library. Joel Queen ’ 05 shows one of his traditional Cherokee pots. Cherokee potter Joel Queen ’ 05 dug 6 feet into muddy, soggy earth near a pond to mine for scarce blue clay. The mica- rich material gets harder and harder to find on undeveloped land, but Queen refuses to give up the search. He seeks permis-sion to retrieve bucketfuls from private property and then dries, grinds, rewets, strains and works with the temperamental material to help him feel a connection with the past. Nine generations of his family worked with blue clay. “ Before that, the records are fuzzy,” he said. “ My grandmother was Ethel Bigmeat. I did not get to work with her, but she was an excellent potter. She was using blue clay when she died.” His story is one of many in the community of Cherokee artists faced with depleted supplies of once- common materials their ancestors used. Helping them is the Revitalization of Traditional Cherokee Artisan Resources initiative, funded by the Cherokee Preservation Foundation and oper-ated by Western Carolina University’s Cherokee Studies Program. RTCAR has awarded about half a million dollars in grants to entities from businesses to universities that agree to step forward with plans to search for, grow or study ways to revitalize needed natural resources. David Cozzo, RTCAR project director, said many projects have focused on mapping and planting rivercane. “ It’s probably the signature material of Cherokee basket makers,” said Cozzo. “ Rivercane is not an endangered species, but it is considered an endangered habitat.” Vicki Ledford, manager of Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual in Cherokee, said artists are having to go farther to find what they need, whether it’s across state lines to acquire rivercane or deep into the mountains to find the plants used for dyes. Honeysuckle is fairly available, but hickory is get-ting scarce, she said. “ Basket weavers are buying a lot of white oak from a local gentleman who works with construction and goes to different states,” Ledford said. “ You can’t go out on your property anymore and find your white oak tree. Nowadays, you can run down to the hobby shop and get stuff and assemble it, but that’s what we try to stay away from. We have a tag on our pieces that tells the craft worker, the date, the materials and the dyes.” Supporting Queen’s quest for blue clay is a prestigious $ 15,000 Wingate Fellowship. The fund-ing helps him locate traditional blue clay sources in the region and experiment with ways to use the bluish gray tint to produce high- fired functional art, such as pots that could be used for baking. “ It’s hard work, though fortunately, the rain has made everything muddy and soggy,” said Queen. “ The fellowship will allow me to bring a functional piece out that people will be able to use— pots to serve and bake in. Luckily, there are still a few places where you can mine this clay.” Wary Potter Cherokee Artist Strives to Keep Traditions Alive By Teresa Killian The Magazine of Western Carolina 32 University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 33 Involved and energetic, that’s how Kristian and Morgan Buckner describe their grandmother, Katherine Abbott Boydston ’ 67 MAEd ’ 79 EdS ’ 83. Boydston spends time with them, and takes them places such as the WCU campus to take photos for a county fair competition. “ Miss Everything,” that’s how Chancellor John Bardo describes her. Boydston’s resume of Western involvement is long: current chair of the Council for the Advancement of the College of Education and Allied Profesions, chair of the WCU Foundation Board, president of the WCU Alumni Association, leader of the Bird Alumni House restoration, key fundraiser for the Alumni Tower, founder and chair of an alumni association presidents group, founder of the Univer-sity of North Carolina system alumni association presidents council, and the list goes on and on. “ If it’s for Western, her answer is ‘ yes,’” Bardo said. “ She gave and gave and gave to this university, and still does.” Western recently honored Boydston for her decades of service with the Distinguished Service Award for the initiatives she has led and aided to unify WCU alumni and enhance the quality of education. She traces her ties to the university to her family and growing up in Cullowhee in the house next door to Bird Alumni House. Despite earning a full scholarship to another university, she had no question about where she would attend college— not that she simply “ attended.” As a fresh-man at Western, she was presented the Most School Spirited Award. Boydston edited the Catamount yearbook, was a member of Delta Zeta sorority and wrote a column for the Western Carolinian. She graduated— the first time— in 1967 with a bachelor’s degree in business, marketing and retailing. The second time, she earned a master’s degree in middle grades education and the third time an education specialist degree. During her 35 years teaching in North Carolina— 33 of those in Haywood County— she has amassed numerous teaching awards, including North Carolina DARE Educator of the Year, Outstanding Elementary Science Teacher of the Year and Outstanding Elementary Mathematics Teacher of the Year. She has twice been named both Teacher of the Year and Conservation Teacher of the Year. Today, she is the water curriculum coordinator for Haywood County Schools. “ Kathy became the consummate educator,” Bardo said. In addition to building her career and raising her family, she continued to volunteer countless hours to efforts to improve Western and help students achieve their academic goals, including helping raise money for a Haywood County scholarship fund that still gives scholarships today. “ It was just a natural thing to give back, and I have just begun,” Boydston said. “ There is much to be done.” WCU Wonder Woman Boydston Shares Energy, Enthusiasm By Teresa Killian Vocalist Soars from Cullowhee to Carnegie By TERESA KILIAN Jeanne Jolly ’ 01 sat on a stool at Carnegie Hall in June for sound check before a sea of red velvet chairs— empty except for her biggest fans in the third row. ( Her parents said they had to keep pinching themselves.) “ I never would have thought that I would have been able to perform in Carnegie Hall this soon— if ever,” said Jolly, featured vocalist with the band of Chris Botti, a multiple Grammy Award– winning jazz trumpet player. For 10 panic- stricken minutes the day of the concert, though, the Raleigh native feared she still might not get to perform in Carnegie Hall: A search for warm water for tea left her locked in a stairwell, bang-ing on every door. “ As I began to imagine scenarios of Chris calling me to the stage and not being there, someone finally heard me,” Jolly said. Not long after, she was giving life to music from Botti’s album “ To Love Again” and enjoying a standing ovation from a sold- out auditorium. “ What a dream come true,” said Jolly, 2006 winner of Western’s Young Alumna Award. The dream was born before Jolly could talk, mimicking Beethoven’s Fifth while riding in a car seat. “ You’d have to ask my mom if I was in tune or not,” Jolly said. At age 11, Jolly auditioned and was selected to perform the national anthem at a Carolina Mudcats baseball game. In the summers, she would sing with youth musical theatre programs. A 14- year- old Jolly landed the role of the 60- something mother abbess in “ The Sound of Music” because she could pull off “ Climb Every Mountain,” said her mother, Jeanne S. Jolly. At Saint Mary’s School in Raleigh, she developed her classical voice. Jolly was recruited to the music pro-gram at Western, where she was a Fletcher Music Scholar. “ Jeanne has a very pure quality in her voice,” said Robert Holquist, WCU professor of music and director of choral activities, “ She also has a warm, down- home personality and a stage pres-ence so engaging that when you watch her, you will be drawn to her and her beauti-fully clear voice.” Holquist encouraged Jolly to sing it all, she said. “ I tried out opera workshop, concert choir, early music, technology ensemble, jazz and big band. I really just had a wonderful time performing with my classmates, being creative, and buckling down and really getting inside the music,” said Jolly. “ Western was the perfect place for me.” Jolly then earned her master’s in music from the extremely competitive New England Conservatory and had the chance to perform with the Boston Philharmonic and at Opera in the Ozarks. In Los Angeles, she worked as a sales and marketing coordinator at a music produc-tion company, where she did voiceover work for movies, commercials and televi-sion shows including NBC’s “ West Wing” and Showtime’s “ Sleeper Cell.” Botti heard Jolly’s voice on a demo recording and invited her on the day of a show to sing with the group. The next day, Botti invited her on a 10- day bus tour that grew into an invite to a Canada tour and performances in more than 30 states. In Honolulu, the orchestral musicians wore Hawaiian shirts. In Florida, a crowded rained- out show moved into a Rotary clubhouse. A performance with the Pacific Symphony inspired a man in the audi-ence to tell her he cried thinking about his daughter when she sang “ What’ll I Do,” Jolly said. “ That is what it is all about — creating music to reflect on memories, to bring joy, to heal and to communicate in ways you can’t otherwise.” Songbird Takes Flight Kathy Boydston ’ 67 MAEd ’ 79 EdS ’ 83 stands outside the Bird Alumni House she helped restore. Jeanne Jolly ’ 01 is hitting all the right notes in her singing career. The Magazine of Western Carolina 34 University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 35 classNOTES 1939 The memoir Vera Jones Stinson ( left) wrote about her life, “ Stumbling Blocks Were Stepping Stones in Appalachia,” is in its third printing. Stinson, who is 97, shared memories of survival skills such as smoking hams, canning, dispensing herbal medicine, operating a still, making footballs from hog bladders, curing snakebites, and making clothes and quilts. Her intention was to show that no matter how poor a person is, one can have a loving, fulfilling life and be extremely proud of this area in North Carolina. Completing her degree at Western Carolina Teacher’s College took a decade, and among her jobs was teaching 40 students in a one- room schoolhouse in Cedar Mountain. 1974 Joseph Crocker was appointed to the board of directors of Bank of Granite Corp. Crocker, a native of Kings Mountain, spent nearly 32 years in the banking industry. He is the director of operations at the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation in Winston- Salem, a private, philanthropic, grant- making organization. Jenna Mills ’ 05 boarded the now- retired KC- 135 plane three years ago wondering what weightlessness would feel like. The plane soared, and Mills suddenly began to float and turn in the air. “ It’s hard to describe. Some people say it’s like riding a roller coaster, but, to me, it’s completely different. It’s the coolest feeling in the world,” she said. The fledgling journalist returned to Charlotte after complet-ing her mission of taking video and documenting North Carolina students’ participation in the Reduced Gravity Student Flight Program. Then, she launched a mission of her own— to work for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. “ I just completely fell in love with Johnson Space Center,” said Mills. “ Everyone who worked there was so nice and willing to help in any way, and I thought ‘ I’d love to work for NASA,’ which was a surprise for somebody who wasn’t strong in science and math.” The Waynesville native gave two weeks notice at the independent TV station where she worked, moved home and returned to Western to finish her degree in communication. She shifted her concentration from broadcast journalism to public relations, where she learned such skills as putting together public relations plans. “ Jenna has what it takes to be successful— good organizational and analytical skills, attention to details,” said Debra Connelly, assistant professor of public relations. “ She is hard- working and self- motivating.” Mills contacted the NASA Cooperative Education Program, applied for one of 150 competitive positions and wrote the co-ordinator weekly until she got the job. “ When people say persis-tence pays off, persistence pays off,” she said. At NASA, she helped market a series of short videos, “ NASA Brain Bites,” which answer frequently asked questions such as how an astronaut goes to the bathroom in space. She conducted a hometown publicity campaign that promoted stories about the people who work with the International Space Station to publications in their hometowns. The internship and co- op experiences at NASA developed into a full- time position as a public affairs specialist. “ She’s a jack- of- all- trades,” said Debbie Nguyen, public affairs specialist who works with Mills. “ She brought a lot of experience from different areas to the team, has a great attitude and works hard.” Mills now writes for NASA publications, fields media calls during shuttle missions, develops publicity campaigns and arranges events, such as a hurricane preparation briefing. She has produced press kits, interviewed NASA officials and written press releases. The Western student who took time off to figure out her future has landed a job she loves. Houston, we have lift- off. classNOTES 3… 2… 1… Alum Takes off at NASA Wing Man Growing WCU Community Brings Alum Home Western football alumnus Jim Rodgers ’ 96 began his search for the right place to open a Zaxby’s restaurant in South Carolina but ended it to the north, close to his college home. “ I couldn’t have a better place to have a business,” said Rodg-ers, a lifelong chicken finger fan who lives in Geor-gia. “ Western North Carolina is a great part of the country. Sylva’s Main Street has a lot of traffic. The university and the community are growing, and it means a lot to me to return to the WCU commu-nity. It was just a perfect fit.” His search for property and agreement to occupy a former Hardee’s site in Sylva took six months, and the restaurant opened earlier this year. Zaxby’s created 38 jobs and boosted the community through the remodeling and landscap-ing completed in concert with the investment of Kole Clapsaddle ’ 80, who constructed new shops nearby, said Julie Spiro ’ 98, executive director with the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce and Travel and Tourism Authority. “ The building itself went from an old, outdated structure to an attractive new restaurant,” Spiro said. In addition, Zaxby’s has supported community events from a battle of the bands to the chamber’s annual fundraiser. “ Jim and his father saw the potential for a business like Zaxby’s to thrive in Jackson County,” said Spiro, who noted state labor statistics show the population grew 17 percent to 35,369 and the workforce nearly 40 percent to 20,593 in the last decade. “ We appreciate their enthusiasm and their investment. Welcome home Jim Rodgers!” classNOTES 1976 Two alums were selected to be featured in the new book “ Firestarters: 100 Job Profiles to Inspire Young Women.” Beverly Davis Setzer MS ’ 77 and Michelle Triggs Owen ’ 95 are two of 100 women whose career achievements can offer inspiration to girls and young women exploring career options. Setzer, principal of Rugby Middle School in Henderson County, emphasizes the importance of each person finding her niche. “ Women need to decide what’s important to them and follow that, but they need to have passion for what they’re doing. If you don’t have a passion for it, don’t do it.” Owen, a graphic designer whose company is temporarily inactive while she pursues other interests and obligations, enjoys not being tied down to a desk. Design projects require research, giving her a certain amount of freedom. Her advice includes the importance of education for designers: “ Learn everything about everything because it all comes into play in design.” 1979 In June, Brenda Kay Ledford MAEd returned for the second summer to the Keith House at John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown for a reading of original stories and poems. She won the 2005 Paul Green Multimedia Award for her chapbook “ Patchwork Memories.” A member of the North Carolina Poetry Society, the Tennessee Mountain Writers and the Georgia Mountain Writers’ Club, Ledford has had work published in Our State, Carolina Country, Asheville Poetry Review, Pembroke Magazine, Main Street Rag and other publications. 1980 Chief of police in Grand Rapids, Mich., and internationally known leader in the field of law enforcement management, Harry P. Dolan served in March as instructor in the management and leadership seminar at Southwestern Community College in Sylva. He has trained thousands of police officers, supervisors and managers throughout the country in the field of community policing and police leadership. In 2005, Dolan was invited to Budapest, Hungary, to provide training to law enforcement practitioners from five eastern European countries on the topic of traffic stop data collection in America. Last fall, he was in Russia to provide similar training. Dolan began his law enforcement career as a deputy for the Buncombe County Sheriff ’ s Department in Asheville and also has worked in law enforcement in Raleigh and Lumberton. 1982 Owner of the Mountaineer Publishing Co. of Waynesville, Jonathan Key recently completed a term on the North Carolina Press Association Board of Directors. Key also is president of the United Way of Haywood County, president of the Haywood County Schools Foundation, and a member of the Haywood Community Connection Board and Haywood County Chamber of Commerce education committee. He and wife Barbara have two sons – Jonathan, 13, and Thomas, 10. 1983 Among the new Lenoir- Rhyne College Alumni Board members elected for 2006- 2007 is Becky Roof Gladden MAEd. A media specialist at Banoak Elementary School in Catawba County, she is a member of Sardis Lutheran Church. Gladden and husband Jonathan live in Vale with their children: Sarah, 17; Caroline, 15; and Meredith, 12. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has selected Robert Jumper ( above) to manage its Cherokee Bottled Water enterprise. Jumper, an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, had previously been the marketing and public relations coordinator for the tribe since 2002. As part of the Cherokee travel and tourism promotion team, he helped organize and promote events including the Cherokee Indian Fairs, the inaugural Festival of Native Peoples and the Cherokee Rod Runs. Jumper has 20 years of product management experience with Georgia- Carolina Radiocasting, the Childress Broadcast Group, Altria/ Philip Morris USA and the The Class Notes section features news about personal or professional accomplishments of Western graduates. Alumni are listed in the year in which they earned their first degree at Western. City and county names not otherwise identified are in North Carolina. Jenna Mills ’ 05 Jim Rodgers ’ 96 The Magazine of Western Carolina 36 University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 37 Berry Mauney ’ 68 admits attendance was pretty slim when he and Betty Allen ’ 68 were trying to get the Western Club of Gaston/ Lincoln Counties off the ground. “ There were times we had meetings that turned out to be just the two of us, but we still wrote up the meetings in the local paper to report what we discussed,” Mauney said. “ It grew from there.” They drew new members with social activities and meet-ings at area restaurants, but Allen says what really brought them together was a decision to raise money for scholarships – a common goal that they all cared about. To date, the club has raised more than $ 30,000 for scholarships for WCU stu-dents, including $ 14,000 for an endowed scholarship that will generate money every year for students. The fundraising efforts began the same year WCU adopted a requirement that all students have a computer. Chris Packer ’ 84 suggested hosting a golf tournament to help Western students from their community with the cost, and Allen said club members rallied to the cause. “ Working on an annual golf tournament turned out to be a lot of fun,” Allen said. “ Without that, I’m not sure we would have lasted the past 11 years.” The club found corporate sponsors and golfers to enjoy some friendly competition as well as barbecue and all the trim-mings, cash prizes for winners ( including $ 4 for the last place team), beverages, hot dogs, snacks and door prizes. “ Everybody walks away with something— a ball cap, a stadium seat, an umbrella, a Western shirt or other item,” Allen said. There are even some non- purple and gold prizes for participating golfers from rival ASU. “ We have discovered their money is green just like Western’s,” Allen said. The club also has hosted raffles. One year, it sold tick-ets for a chance at four tickets to the Western/ Appalachian football game with four meals at a local restaurant, two rooms at a local motel, a voucher for the school store and spending money. “ I actually sold the winning ticket in that raffle,” Allen said. “ The winner was a young grad from the early ‘ 90s and now, whenever I’m in Cullowhee at a football game, we’ll talk for a bit. It’s been so great to meet alumni from across the spec-trum and all the years through the Western Club.” And though the Gaston/ Lincoln Western Club has met the goal of creating an endowed scholarship that will generate revenue to help students every year for years to come, mem-bers are not through yet. They’re ready to issue a challenge to other Western clubs who might be interested in a little friendly fundraising competition. “ For us, to be able to contribute to a student from Lincoln County and Gaston County, where we know there is a need and where we know there are good students, is phenomenal in the way it makes you feel,” Mauney said. “ It feels great to be able to do that because we all have a love for Western, and because of that, we love to give back.” To find out more about a Western Club near you, call Marty Ramsey ’ 85 at ( 828) 227- 7335 or check out alumni. wcu. edu/ WesternClub. htm. Gaston/ Lincoln Club Issues Challenge Group Raises $ 30,000- Plus for Student Scholarships Jack Eckerd Corporation. Cherokee Bottled Water has been in business since 1998 and was the 2001 Gold Medal Winner of the prestigious Berkeley Springs International Festival of Waters tasting contest. Jumper and his wife, Vickie, are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year. They reside in Clyde. 1988 A regional sales representative for PhyTest, Dianne Cartwright is married to Tracy Jackson, who works as assistant county manager with Iredell County. She also has a current connection to Western— her niece, Ashley Adams, was a starter last spring with the Catamount softball team. 1990 Atlanta resident Toni Jackson Hannah and husband, Marc, welcomed son Christian Marcellus, their first child, in April. Hannah is a senior human resources consultant for Georgia Power and Light. 1991 After serving as head baseball coach at Lander University in Greenwood, S. C., for a year, in June Bill Jarman MAEd was named pitching coach at East Carolina University. “ Our baseball program is excited about Coach Jarman joining the Pirate family,” said ECU’s head coach, Billy Godwin. “ With his recruiting experience, knowledge of the game and ability to develop players, we believe this addition is going to give us the best opportunity to compete at the highest level in college baseball.” Much of that recruiting experience and knowledge of the game he gained at Western, where Jarman assisted with former East Carolina coach Keith LeClair ’ 89, who died in July. When LeClair became Western’s head coach, Jarman remained on staff as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator until 1995, when he went to Coastal Carolina University to work with pitching and recruiting. 1996 Patrick Neil Mecimore and wife Kimberley ’ 93 live in Statesville, where he is plant engineer and also is in charge of environmental health and safety at the local Armstrong World Industries plant. His job keeps him busy traveling to other Armstrong facilities in the United States, and he is working on his MBA through the Gardner- Webb University campus in Statesville. Kimberley is an environmental health specialist with the Iredell County Health Department. A faculty member at Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio, since 1997, Beth Porter MA has been promoted to associate professor of vocal music. Cedarville is an accredited Baptist university of arts, classNOTES Becky Abernethy ’ 69 Betty A llen ’ 68 Lesley Andrew ’ 88 & David A ndrew ’ 83 Carla H. Bailey Shirley Bateman & Floyd Bateman MAEd ’ 77 Bonnie W. Bell ’ 76 MA ’ 78 Mark A . Benge ’ 86 Bill Boydston ’ 68 Kathy Boydston ’ 67 MAEd ’ 79 EdS ’ 83 Lila Buchanan ’ 87 Bobby Byrd ’ 74 Jack A . Calloway Sr. ’ 69 June Causby ’ 69 & Jim Causby ’ 67 MAEd ’ 70 Sarah Chadwick ’ 04 Christine S . Cook ’ 79 & Phillip R. Cook ’ 79 Billy Cooper ’ 89 Country Classic Real Estate Cullowhee Cafe The Design Center Dillsboro Smokehouse Nicholas W. Dockery Jr. ’ 67 Brian S . E dlin ’ 97 Gerald E . E dlin ’ 67 Pat E . Daniels ’ 81 Vicky Faris ’ 66 & Paul Faris ’ 66 Kay Folsom & Bob Folsom ’ 66 MAEd ’ 68 Susanne C. Goethals MS ’ 04 Leslie Greer ’ 90 Robert J. Griffin ’ 69 Brent D. Hall ’ 82 Marsha Harris ’ 83 & Charles F. Harris Richard L . Harrison ’ 74 Tammy Haskett ’ 84 & Mark Haskett ’ 87 BB& T Nationwide Foundation Northwestern Mutual Foundation SAKS Incorporated Widener- Burrows and Associates Inc. sciences, professional and graduate programs. 1998 A detective from the West Palm Beach, Fla., Police Department assigned to the Violent Crime Unit, A. J. Myers was named Investigator of the Quarter in April. The honor resulted from a seven- month- long sexual battery investigation in which a 24- year-old man accused of abusing a 13- year- old fled to London. Through work with authorities from U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U. S. Marshall Service and the Dutchess County ( N. Y.), Sheriff ’ s Office, the man was arrested in the Newark, N. J., International Airport as he attempted to re- enter the United States and extradited to Florida to face charges. 1999 Assistant baseball coach at Lander University in Greenwood, S. C., Chris Moore was named head coach at the university last Memorial Day. Drafted by the Colorado Rockies after receiving numerous honors during his career at Western, Moore played for the Asheville Tourists in the South Atlantic League for four years and made the all- star team in 2000. Prior to going to Lander, Moore served as assistant coach/ recruiting coordinator at NCAA Division I Davidson College. “ I am very excited about being head coach. I am thankful for the opportunity,” Moore told the Index- Journal. He and wife Aimee have a son, Carter, and a daughter, Lillee. 2001 She didn’t study in the health care field while at WCU, but Jerilyn Hammond Martin ( right) is drawing comparisons to one of the best- known names in the nursing game for resuscitating an ailing Arizona publication. Martin, who majored in print media with a minor in photography, is editor of Pinal Ways in Pinal County, Ariz. “ After detailing the passing days in longer, more descriptive essays for decades, the magazine was on life support, despite the yeoman Matching Gift Companies & Foundations AlumniAssociation Scholarship Contributors Mike Hill ’ 72 Tucker Hopper ’ 68 & Max Hopper ’ 69 Jack Hudson ’ 82 Howard B. Hyatt ’ 56 Laura L eatherwood ’ 93 MS ’ 96 William A . L inn ’ 88 MBA ’ 90 Cindi Magill Mail Management Services Berry Mauney ’ 68 Julia McManus ’ 90 & Phillip McManus ’ 88 MBA ’ 91 Teri G. Meeks ’ 81 Jayne O . Miller N. A ndrew Miller ’ 48 Herman W. Mizzell MA ’ 68 Alice R . Morton ’ 42 William H. M. N elson II Billy O vercash ’ 84 Thomas G. Parker John C. Peden Eric Powell ’ 91 Juanita Proffitt ’ 39 & Brank Proffitt ’ 42 Marty R amsey ’ 85 Joanne Reid ’ 68 & John Reid ’ 66 MA ’ 68 Robin Schaeffer ’ 71 & Dan Schaeffer ’ 79 Kirstin Schlenker ’ 97 & Christopher Schlenker ’ 96 Gwyn Smith ’ 70 Darnell P. S pann ’ 39 State Farm Insurance Van Stayton ’ 65 Mr. Don B. S till EdS ’ 74 Elysia B. Versen MAEd ’ 04 Edna Waldrop ’ 84 & David Waldrop ’ 70 MAEd ’ 71 Western Club of Lincoln/ Gaston County Mike Wilmoth ’ 90 B. N eil Wilson ’ 57 Jim Woodard ’ 68 MPA ’ 89 Brett Woods Bryan D. Woosley ’ 92 June F. Wynne ’ 62 Zaxby’s of Sylva Members of the Gaston/ Lincoln club include, left to right, Marshall Gunter ’ 78, Chris Packer ’ 84, Paul Faris ’ 66, Vicky Faris ’ 65, Jack Spady ’ 65 and Betty Allen ’ 68. The Western Carolina University Alumni Scholarship Fund provides financial assistance to WCU students with close family ties to Catamount alumni or whose parents work for the university. For information on how to contribute, contact Brett L. Woods, director of annual and special gifts, at ( 828) 227- 7124 or bwoods@ wcu. edu. The Magazine of Western Carolina 38 University WINTER 2007 WINTER 2007 The Magazine of Western Carolina University 39 efforts of the previous editor, who had a growing second job of her own,” said Temple A. Stark, editor of the sister publication Eloy Enterprise. “ Like the legendary |
| OCLC number | 137281166 |
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