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grande finale Campaign for Western Carolina strikes the proper chord with donors, students and faculty western carolina Winter 2010 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 Chancellor John W. Bardo Vice Chancellor Advancement and External Affairs Clifton B. Metcalf Managing Editor Bill Studenc Associate Editor Teresa Killian Tate Art Director Rubae Schoen Chief Photographer Mark Haskett ’87 Class Notes Editor Jill Ingram MA ’08 Designer Katie Martin Staff Writers Brandon Demery Bessie Dietrich Goggins ’06 MA ’09 Randall Holcombe Daniel Hooker ’01 Sarah Kucharski Christy Martin ’71 MA ’78 Steve White ’67 Staff Photographers Ashley T. Evans Jarrett Frazier Production Manager Loretta R. Adams ’80 Circulation Manager Cindi Magill Winter 2010 Volume 14, No. 1 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. Sections 6 News From The Western Hemisphere 16 Campaign Headquarters 26 WCU Athletics 34 Alumni Achievements 40 Class Notes 47 Calendar On the Cover Students such as Christina Banner (with Brandon Robinson ’05) are at the heart of the recently concluded Campaign for Western Carolina Features 4 California bound Alumni and friends are invited to join the marching band at the Rose Parade 10 Returning to the origin Renowned Darwin scholar leads a tour of the Galapagos Islands 12 drama queen Josefina Niggli is recognized for her place in WCU history 32 island getaway A New England artist foundation and residency program has WCU links 34 secret of his sucess Alumnus goes from bagging groceries to CEO of a supermarket chain 4 westerncarolina 16 12 16 10 NICE SHOT Student photographer Jarrett Frazier captured junior guard Mike Williams in early season action against Duquesne as Western Carolina hosted sub-regional rounds of the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic. Williams and the Catamounts are gearing up for the Southern Conference Tournament, set for March 4-8 in Charlotte. Ticket information catamounttickets@wcu.edu catamountsports.com 800.34.GOWCU 2 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 3 Alumni and friends are invited to join the Pride of the Mountains Marching Band at the 2011 Rose Parade By BIL STUDENC CALIFORNIA BOUND Taking part in the presentation of the Sudler Trophy are (above, from left) assistant band directors Matt Henley ’93 MA ’95 and Jon Henson ’05 MAEd ’07; Paula Crider, chair of the Sudler Trophy committee; director Bob Buckner ’67; past marching band director Aaron Hyatt. The alumni/band booster package trip includes: • Five days/four nights at an Anaheim-area hotel • Reserved parade seating • Tickets to Dec. 30 Bandfest • Parade float construction tour • Hollywood/Los Angeles tour • Airport transfers (if part of group flights) • Local transportation to all package events • Official Tournament of Roses program The following meals/receptions: • Welcome reception, Dec. 29 • Chancellor’s luncheon, at the University Club of Pasadena, Dec. 30 • New Year’s Eve party for band, alumni and friends • Lunch during Hollywood/Los Angeles tour • Breakfast, Jan. 1 • Post-parade lunch, Jan. 1 Cost per person – $999 (or less, depending on hotel choice). Airfare not included. Go With Us! For more information about travel packages or sponsorship opportunities, call 828.227.3052 or visit the Web site roseparade.wcu.edu. Bob Buckner ’67, your Pride of the Mountains has just won the Sudler Trophy, the nation’s highest honor for collegiate marching bands. What are you going to do next? “I’m going to Disneyland,” Buckner might reply, except for one fact. Buckner and the 350-plus members of the Pride of the Mountains Marching Band will be too busy getting ready for – and participating in – the 2011 Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year’s Day in Pasadena, Calif. That doesn’t mean that fans of the marching musical unit often referred to as “the world’s largest funk rock band” can’t squeeze in a visit to the so-called “happiest place on earth.” The university is organizing alumni and booster packages so that family members and others can accompany the band on the trip, set for Dec. 29 through Jan. 2. Although details were still being ironed out at press time, a variety of packages are in the works and are expected to include accommodations for up to five nights in a Los Angeles-area hotel, tickets to the band’s pre-parade performance at Bandfest, tickets to the 2011 Rose Parade, local transportation and evening special events. The band is seeking sponsors to help defray the cost of the trip, estimated at between $1,600 and $1,700 per student. “It is a supreme honor for our band to represent our university and our state on such a grand stage, and it’s especially exciting to be invited to march in the Tournament of Roses Parade the same year we’ve been awarded the Sudler Trophy,” said Buckner, director of athletic bands at WCU since 1991. “It is going to require a lot of effort on the part of our students to prepare, and we need to raise some funds to enable us to make the cross-country trip.” In addition to travel and accommodations for band members and staff, the university also must transport the Pride of Mountain’s instruments and elaborate staging to California. “It’s not going to be inexpensive to be able to accept this invitation, but it will certainly be worth it for the experience of a lifetime for our students and for the international exposure it will mean for Western Carolina University,” Buckner said. Surprise announcement of the band’s invitation to take part in the Rose Parade came during a ceremony recognizing WCU as winner of the 2009 Sudler Trophy. Representatives of the John Philip Sousa Foundation officially presented the award – a prize that has been called the “Heisman Trophy” of the collegiate marching band world – at halftime of WCU’s home football game Oct. 24. Band members were wearing yellow rose boutonnieres with purple ribbons on their uniforms for the Sudler presentation, thinking the adornments were representing the university’s colors, when they learned of the Rose Parade selection from the public address announcer. “The Tournament of Roses has selected Western Carolina University to participate in ‘America’s New Year’s Celebra-tion’ because of your band’s excellent musical talents, enter-tainment value, performance skills, and your outstanding directorship,” Stacy Houser, chair of the parade’s music se-lection committee, said in a letter to Buckner. The Pride of the Mountains is one of only 15 bands from around the world invited to participate in the 122nd Tournament of Roses Parade and the 29th annual affiliated event known as Bandfest, joining six annual invitees for a total of 21 bands taking part. Called “the Super Bowl of marching bands,” the parade is held annually on New Year’s Day in conjunction with the Rose Bowl college football game, part of the Bowl Championship Series. “The parade will be watched by 1 million people live, and an additional 1.5 billion around the world on television,” said Jim Hahn, the parade’s master of ceremonies and music adviser for the tournament. 4 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 5 Education and the environment were more than abstract concepts to the late Genevieve Whitmire MAEd ’69 and E.J. Whitmire, and results of the family’s devotion abound at WCU. E.J. Whitmire contributed site preparation for the football stadium, which bears his name, and was instrumental in establishing natural resources as a course of study. University faculty and students in that department continue to monitor forested stands at the family’s 1,000-acre Cherokee County farm (the majority now in a conservation easement and owned and operated by son Steve Whitmire). Over the years, three generations of the extended Whitmire family have established three endowed scholarship funds for students of education and contributed substantially toward the sciences through support of programs and a professorship. E.J. and his daughter, Genevieve Whitmire Burda, also demonstrated their commitment to the university through service on the board of trustees. Burda retired in 2009 after a decade, and according to Chancellor John W. Bardo, the university has “never had a better trustee.” Burda “was always there, was always prepared and could get people excited,” said Bardo in October, when he presented her with the university’s annual Distinguished Service Award. Burda’s brother Steve Whitmire said his sibling “usually can get what she wants with a little bit of charm and humor.” As a trustee, Burda served on the board’s finance and audit committee (including four years as chair) “during a time when the committee had a lot of work to do,” said Chuck Wooten ’73, vice chancellor for administration and finance. That committee oversees architect selection for construction projects, and primary was the university’s $46 million, 160,000-square-foot health sciences building. Scheduled for completion in 2012, the building is the first facility to be constructed on approximately 350 acres the university purchased on the west side of N.C. 107 and is the cornerstone of a planned neighborhood focusing on retirement, aging and health. From the beginning, Burda lobbied for an architectural firm with depth, but one with local ties that also was experienced in mountain construction. “My interest was definitely in having it fit with the lay of the land,” Burda said. Ultimately, the committee selected Pearce Brinkley Cease and Lee, an architectural firm with an office in Asheville. The building will feature a number of sustainable elements, including a rooftop garden that cleans water runoff by filtering it through dirt and vegetation; passive solar heat; natural light; and rooftop solar collectors that will aid in heating water. The building will be WCU’s first with LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, meaning it meets standards for environmentally sustainable construction. “I was just stunned when I saw the initial drawing,” Burda said. “It just fit into that mountainside so beautifully. It’s a signature building, and that’s what we hoped for.” Burda and her husband, Larry, who are retired and live in Mars Hill, have three daughters, Kathleen Wirth ’97 MAEd ’01, Cindy Burda and Carey Burda ’08. force of nature For Genevieve Burda, commitment to WCU is part of a long, strong family tradition By JIL INGRAM MA ’08 “Students not only have to prepare a race car for competition but also explain the design and cost considerations required to produce the car,” said Bumgarner. For Marshall Cannon, a freshman who wants to become an automotive engineer, the project is a perfect fit. Growing up near the Virginia International Raceway, Cannon always liked cars and earned a diploma from the NASCAR Technical Institute in Mooresville before enrolling at WCU. “After working on cars, you see the flaws that they have, and I want to make them safer and better,” said Cannon. “For this project, we have to engineer everything from the ground up. That includes the suspension geometry, the frame, and figuring out how to put the motor in and install the engine management program.” This is a building year for the team. The University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s automotive engineering program has loaned the group a previous Formula One car to use as an example. The group also has begun fundraising and prepared a sponsorship packet to share with those interested in making a tax-deductible donation to help with the cost of tools, parts, materials, safety gear and travel expenses. Top teams often have an annual $30,000 budget, said Bumgarner. WCU’s race car will be taken to area autocross events and the SAE competition in Michigan. Sponsor names and logos will be placed on the constructed race car, which will be displayed at campus and community events, as well as national and possibly international competitions. FAST TRACK Students to design and build a race car to enter in automotive engineering competitions By TERESA KILIAN TATE Genevieve Whitmire Burda waves to the crowd in the stadium that bears her father’s name. Members of the WCU student chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers examine a Formula One race car from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Ronald Bumgarner ’80 MS ’92 tinkered with a ’55 Willys Jeep when he was growing up. These days, it’s an ’04 Wrangler that Bumgarner, assistant professor of engineering and technology at Western Carolina University, modifies. One day he hopes to develop an electric commuting motorcycle and build an airplane – possibly an old Warbird replica. Bumgarner has a love for projects fraught with engineering challenges, and that’s just one reason he’s excited to work with the WCU students gearing up to design and build a race car to enter in a national Formula One racing series automotive engineering competition in 2011. His other reasons are academic: The WCU student chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers offers another fun, hands-on activity that would challenge students’ interest in engineering and allow them to use the tools and skills they are learning in their courses. “We initially had intentions of building a rock crawler as our first automotive project, but students this year jumped all over the quarter-scale Formula One racing series associated with SAE International,” said Bumgarner. In the competition, originally called the “Mini Indy,” a fictional manufacturing company contracts student design teams to develop a small Formula-style race car. Teams are evaluated at competition for their research, design, manufacturing, testing, developing, marketing, management and finances. For more information, send an e-mail to CatamountRacing@wcu.edu or call Ronald Bumgarner at 828.227.2157. 6 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 7 Student William Ritter doesn’t mind making the cultural jump from portraying the “Fiddler on the Roof” in a university theatrical production to sawing away on his fiddle in WCU’s Mountain Heritage Center, if that means he can participate in his newfound passion of old-time string band music. On any given Thursday during the fall and spring, about 5 p.m. or so, Ritter and other members of one of campus’s newest student organizations, the Porch Music Club, carry their stringed instruments into the museum’s lobby, exchange a few greetings, then sit down and start playing. There’s no Roberts Rules of Order here and no approval of the minutes from the last meeting. There is a good bit of string-tuning, followed by a suggestion of what song to play first (“‘Soldiers Joy’…? Okay.”) Then the action begins. Suddenly, the lobby is filled with live music that seems to fit perfectly with the museum’s exhibits and artifacts. The combination of sounds coming from guitar, fiddle and banjo blend together to create something that sounds sort of like bluegrass, but not really. Imagine bluegrass played with more of a folkish, mountain-sounding rhythm. One big difference is that the banjo is played in the traditional “claw-hammer style” rather than with the three-fingered roll that exemplifies bluegrass. Whatever it is, it works. Spectators soon have grins on their faces, and the mountain folks in the photographs on the wall would be clapping their hands in time, if they could. The formation of the Porch Music Club was sort of a humorous accident. Ritter, a Bakersville resident, and Andrew Payseur, a guitar player and entrepreneurship major from Lincolnton, had been getting together to play old-time string band music informally at the A.K. Hinds University Center. One day, they saw some fraternity brothers pledging, and joked that they should start an “old-time fraternity.” That comment led to the idea of starting a real student organization for fans of the music. They put fliers up to attract other musicians, “but mostly we just got people’s attention by sitting around the UC playing our instruments,” said Ritter, a theater major who works as a shop assistant in his program’s woodworking shop. David Brewin, curatorial specialist at the Mountain Heritage Center, invited the group to gather at the museum for its weekly sessions. Brewin serves as the club’s unofficial coordinator and has helped the students get several performance dates off-campus. When Thursdays roll around, they never know how many musicians are going to show up. Once, 14 people gathered to play, but a core group of four can usually be counted upon – Ritter; Payseur; Patrick Brady, a banjo player from Cullowhee and graduate student in anthropology; and Benjamin Rudolph, a guitar player from Asheville majoring in electronic and computer engineering. Sometimes local residents not associated with WCU join in, which always is a gratifying development, Ritter said. “One reason we started this club was because of community outreach,” he said. “This area is a hotbed of traditional music. We wanted to get some songs from the real deal.” A STUDENT ORGANIZATION OF NOTE The Porch Music Club fills the Mountain Heritage Center with the rhythms of the Southern Appalachians By RANDAL HOLCOMBE For George Frizzell ’77 MA’81, who grew up in Jackson County near the WCU campus, history close to home has become his life’s work. As the head of Special Collections at Hunter Library, Frizzell oversees the collection and preservation of an abundance of rare and unique materials that provide researchers with a realm of possibilities. After 27 years, it’s a job he continues to enjoy. “History and literature are great connectors that bring people together. Regardless of where you were born or grew up, you can develop great appreciation for a region,” he said. Even after all this time, it is still exciting to see people coming up with new and innovative questions and topics.” The collections focus on a variety of areas, notably the cultural and natural history of Southern Appalachia, Cherokee Indian history and culture, literary works of authors associated with the region, and – of course – the history of WCU. Among the treasures are family papers, organizational records, photographs, postcards, books and ephemeral publications. University students, faculty members, historians, literary authors, genealogists and local residents are finding out about and using the rare and unique materials on the library’s second floor. Producers for the recent Ken Burns documentary “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” traveled to WCU to see the library’s historical photographs of mountain life and the environment, choosing several that appeared in the Great Smoky Mountains segment of the PBS special. A selection from Special Collections of the work of George Masa, who captured mountain scenes from the early 1900s in beautiful photographs, was exhibited last fall at the WCU Fine Art Museum. Ron Rash, Parris Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Culture, is among a growing list of authors of historical fiction who have consulted Frizzell and used the library’s resources. “George’s generous sharing of knowledge was crucial as I did research for my novel ‘Serena,’” Rash said. Scholar Elizabeth Coonrod Martínez used documents from the library in her 2007 biography of Josefina Niggli, WCU theater instructor and Mexican- American author. (See related story on Page 12) The increased interest in Special Collections pleases Frizzell and his assistant, Jason Brady ’99, who want to spread the word about the historical resources available to the public, both in the collection’s reading room and online. In recent years, an expanding presence online has brought the collections to the attention of a wider audience. Digital collections feature an exhibit on the life and work of Horace Kephart, an author and former librarian who moved to Western North Carolina and helped establish the Great Smoky Mountains National Park; the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper, printed in the Cherokee language and in English; letters from the Civil War period; photographs of area schools; and a historical travel component of the library’s Craft Revival Web site, a digital history of a movement that started in the late 1900s to revive handcraft among the mountain people. “Ultimately, we are hoping to help preserve the collective memory of the region,” said Frizzell. “We could not do this without the generosity of those who have contributed materials to the collection and the interest of the people who use them in their research.” HISTORY PAPERS From documentarian Ken Burns to local history buffs, Hunter Library is becoming a valuable resource By CHRISTY MARTIN ’71 MA ’78 The four stalwarts of the Porch Music Club – (clockwise from top) Benjamin Rudolph, Andrew Payseur, Patrick Brady and William Ritter – get in some outside picking time before a Thursday night meeting. George Frizzell ’77 MA ’81 shows off some of the artifacts preserved in Hunter Library’s Special Collections. 8 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 9 A renowned Darwin scholar leads a tour of the islands where the famed naturalist made his first evolutionary observations By TERESA KILIAN TATE The story of Charles Darwin and the Galapagos Islands is often misunderstood, said Jim Costa, professor of biology and director of Highlands Biological Station. When Darwin observed the giant tortoises, mockingbirds, and other flora and fauna on the islands in 1835, he did not grasp how important what he saw would be to the work for which he is known – “The Origin of Species.” It was months after Darwin’s visit that, in retrospect, he connected the island observations to the concept of evolution and, even later, to natural selection – the mechanism for evolution presented in his book. “What’s interesting is to try to see the specific plants and animals of the Galapagos through Darwin’s eyes at a time when he didn’t realize their uniqueness or the lessons they hold,” said Costa, who led a tour to the Galapagos this fall at the invitation of the Harvard Museum of Natural History in partnership with Lindblad/National Geographic Expeditions. The trip was one of dozens Costa, a renowned Darwin scholar who authored “The Annotated Origin,” took near and far in 2009 to present at celebrations in honor of the bicentennial of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of “Origin.” “I was extremely excited to see the Galapagos landscape that Darwin memorialized so evocatively in his book ‘Voyage of the Beagle,’” said Costa. “I was keen to see some of the places and, of course, the fascinating organisms that Darwin saw during his visit and get a sense of the varied landscape that Darwin experienced – from vast desolate lava plains to lush mountaintop forests. In another respect, I was excited to experience the Galapagos as remote island archipelago. Oceanic islands are fascinating natural laboratories for ecological and evolutionary processes.” returning to the origin Jim Costa, professor of biology and director of Highlands Biological Station, recently led a tour to the Galapagos Islands, where Charles Darwin recorded observations of animals and plants that proved to be important in his book “The Origin of Species.” Pictured from his trip at left is Pinnacle Rock on Bartolomé Island, and at right, from top, flamingos; Costa; marine iguanas; Costa and fellow naturalists; a giant wild tortoise; and Bartolomé Island. 10 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 11 Josefina Niggli earns recognition for her place in WCU history By JIL INGRAM MA ’08 PHOTO CREDIT: North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill. When Steve Carlisle ’73 arrived on the campus of Western Carolina University from his hometown of Hendersonville in the fall semester of 1966, he had his future mapped. “I was a history major, wanting to go back to my local high school and become a basketball coach and history teacher,” Carlisle recounted. “That was my dream.” An encounter with Western Carolina drama instructor Josefina Niggli rerouted those dreams. Carlisle stopped thinking of theater as a hobby and committed himself to acting. More than 40 years later, Carlisle has worked with Susan Sarandon, Paul Newman, Burt Reynolds, James Garner and Jack Lemon, among others. Niggli had that effect on people. Small in stature – perhaps 5-foot-2-inches in heels – Niggli arrived at Western Carolina in 1956 as an established novelist, poet, screenwriter and playwright. “Theater was a special thing to her, and she made it a special thing to us,” said Luther Jones ’74 MAEd ’82, a former student who made a career in theater, film and television; his movie credits include “Patch Adams,” “My Fellow Americans” and “The Legend of Bagger Vance.” A Woman of Many Roles Born in Monterrey, Mexico, in July 1910 to parents of European descent, Niggli earned her undergraduate degree from Incarnate Word College in San Antonio in 1931 and a master’s degree in drama from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1937. She spent the 1930s and 1940s active in radio, television and film, and writing plays, short stories, novels and screenplays. A forerunner in the literature of Mexico, Niggli wrote in English and revealed Mexican life from an insider’s perspective. She once wrote: “When I was a young kid, drama Queen 12 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 13 Niggli hapenings Events and projects at Western Carolina University to commemorate author and teacher Josefina Niggli include: • A fall 2009 roundtable radio interview of former Niggli students, friends and co-workers, hosted by Don Connelly, head of the communication department, and intended to illuminate her personal side. The interview aired on WWCU-FM and also is available online. • A competition sponsored by the Fine Art Museum. The winner will create a commissioned portrait of Niggli to hang in Niggli Theatre, and artwork from all finalists will be displayed from April 1 to May 8 and again in July in the Fine Art Museum. • An original performance piece from students in the Theatre in Education Program, inspired by Niggli and images invoking Mexico. Students of Mark Mattheis, an assistant professor of broadcasting, will record the piece. • A display of Niggli holdings by Hunter Library’s Special Collections, on exhibit through Dec. 11 at the library. • An alternative spring break to Niggli’s birthplace coordinated by the Center for Service Learning. • An oral history project from the department of history. • A March 10 gender conference, sponsored by the Women’s Studies Program, featuring author and Niggli scholar Elizabeth Coonrod Martínez as the keynote speaker and including a screening of “Sombrero.” starting out as a writer, I had a shining goal. I was going to present Mexico and the Mexicans as they had never before been presented.” In 1945, Niggli published “Mexican Village,” a collection of 10 short stories; parts of it were adapted into “Sombrero,” a 1953 major motion picture from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starring Ricardo Montalban and Cyd Charisse. Niggli co-wrote the screenplay, and two later novels also were well received. Education was important to Niggli. She was a graduate of the Columbia University School of Journalism, received radio training at New York University and studied acting in Europe. She held positions at Chapel Hill and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro before joining the faculty of Western Carolina. Cullowhee’s Grande Dame Niggli, who taught journalism in addition to drama, made a big impression at the mountain school. Chain-smoking Marlboro cigarettes, clicking her fingertips like castanets, offering stage direction from the seat of a red recliner po-sitioned in the theater aisle, she was fascinating, imperial, dramatic, magical, revolutionary. Niggli introduced a climate of professionalism in WCU’s theater program that allowed her students to graduate highly trained and ready to work. Her classes studied classical acting, dramatic structure, period and style. They studied Shakespeare, Molière and Ibsen. They performed contemporary Broadway hits. Niggli’s productions were so popular that – despite a two-lane, winding road west of Balsam – people drove from Asheville to attend. Niggli retired in 1976 and remained in Cullowhee. She died in 1983, leaving money, property and personal effects to the university. To date, a theater arts scholarship Niggli funded has awarded more than $126,000 to 128 students. A Turn in the Spotlight Now, WCU is formally recognizing Niggli’s accomplishments. For the 2009-10 academic year, the Office for Undergraduate Studies is coordinating a series of interdisciplinary, campuswide events under the umbrella title of “Josefina Niggli: A Celebration of Culture, Art and Life.” University centers and academic departments have committed to integrating Niggli into coursework and coordinating projects in her honor (see sidebar). The university also has named her the recipient of a posthumous honorary doctorate. For years, Jones, now the University Theatre’s designer and technical director, and Carlisle, associate dean of the Honors College, have discussed recognition of Niggli beyond renaming the Little Theatre in her memory in 1984. “I just thought it was time to recognize her accomplishments,” Jones said. “I don’t think the significance of her work was understood at the time she was alive.” Agrees Carlisle, “She really was ahead of her time, and we didn’t know how to appreciate her. It has taken us 50 years to catch up to this woman.” The effort took some time to gain momentum, but ultimately the timing was perfect, said Glenda Hensley, coordinator of first-year experiences with the Office for Undergraduate Studies. The university already had instituted its plan of engaged, cross-disciplinary learning, and a committee had formed under the leadership of Carol Burton ’87 MAEd ’89, assistant vice chancellor for undergraduate studies, to expand the humanities. It was Jones who approached the committee about honoring Niggli. “We agreed this would be an amazing way to institute a campuswide thematic year,” said Hensley. Although she earned degrees in costume design and drama education elsewhere, Hensley took several classes at WCU, and once encountered Niggli as a guest speaker. “She was such a lady,” Hensley recalled. “I remember somebody escorting her up the steps of the Little Theatre, and she sat in the famous wingback chair.” The recognition comes during the 100th year since Niggli’s birth and amid growing academic interest, with a biography and two compilations of Niggli’s work published since 2007. A January “celebration premiere” was intended to “really kick up attention for the spring semester,” Hensley said. It included an invited reception and a performance by students and Kathleen Wright, professor emeritus of communication. Wright, whose tenure briefly overlapped Niggli’s, portrayed “Miss Niggli,” as her former students still call her, in a costume created by Leeanne Deaver ’09. Deaver, of Canton, studied costume design at WCU with the help of a Josefina Niggli Scholarship. She lives in New York and occasionally works for famed costume designer William Ivey Long. She volunteered to design the Niggli costume – a black-and-pink dress and “an elegant little black shawl” – because she wanted to repay Niggli’s generosity. “I was really thankful that I had the opportunity to create the costume,” Deaver said. “A lot of students get the scholarship, but not all the students get the opportunity to show appreciation for it.” While the yearlong program is primarily to demonstrate Niggli’s ongoing legacy to current students – “We want to keep learning front and center,” Hensley said – one event is of special interest to alumni: a reunion and performance planned for July 8-10. “Since the actual anniversary of her birth is in July, we decided that was a good time to allow alums and others who were devoted to Ms. Niggli to come to campus,” Hensley said. The centerpiece of the weekend will be a performance (the location is yet to be determined) directed by Carlisle and featuring Niggli’s former students. “This is going to be an inside look at how Josefina affected the lives of her former students,” Carlisle said. “It’s going to be a love-in – laughter, tears, hugging. These people are just itching to get back here and honor her.” Many participants learned of the event through the social networking site Facebook. A link to that page can be found on WCU’s Josefina Niggli site, niggli.wcu.edu. “The Facebook page had more than 100 fans in less than two weeks. People found it pretty quickly,” Hensley said. “We have managed to create a terrific communication network.” Calling Miss Niggli’s students: Niggli’s former students and others interested in learning more about the July reunion should contact Glenda Hensley of the Office for Undergraduate Studies at ghensley@wcu.edu or 828.227.2786. Among campus events to celebrate the life of Josefina Niggli (top left) are, clockwise from top right, an ongoing display of artifacts; a performance by Kathleen Wright, retired head of the department of communication and theater arts during January’s celebration; and a March screening of “Sombrero,” promoted in a movie poster held by Luther Jones ’74 MAEd ’82. 14 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 15 Emily Collman, an elementary education and Spanish major from the Gaston County town of Dallas, always knew she wanted to go to college to learn how to be a teacher. What she didn’t know was how she would pay for it, or if she had what it took to achieve her goal. That is, until she received the Taft and Malvery Botner Scholarship, which helped her pay tuition and fees, and which enabled her to gain the skills and self-confidence to succeed in the classroom, both as a student and as a student-teacher. “I have known since the time I was 12 years old that I wanted to be a teacher,” said Collman, a senior. “Here at Western Carolina, I have found nationally regarded professors who care about me, not just as a student but as a person. Receiving the Botner Scholarship was a huge validation for me, because scholarships are not like birthday presents that you get for surviving another year. Scholarships are a pat on the back, an ‘atta-girl’ in recognition of your perseverance and hard work.” For Brandon Robinson ’05, the fact that a university believed enough in the intellectual and academic ability of a first-generation college student from Mocksville to award him the History Excellence Scholarship gave him the self esteem not only to earn a bachelor’s degree in history, but to work toward a master’s degree in history at WCU en route to the ultimate prize – a law degree. “It’s obvious that receiving a scholarship helped me financially be able to attend the university,” Robinson said. “But it also signaled for me that point of confidence where I knew that Western Carolina University – and specifically the history department – had faith in me and my abilities, and they believed that I could come here and do great things and actualize my ambition of being a Renaissance man. You can have a lot of dreams like that when you come to college, but if you’re a first-generation undergraduate student like I was, when you have Ph.D.s and different committees and deans willing to invest in you and your intellectual abilities, that just sealed it for me.” Those are just two examples of the types of stories heard time and again across the campus as students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends came together in October to celebrate what Chancellor John W. Bardo characterized as “a most historic day in the life of our university” – the successful conclusion of the first comprehensive fundraising campaign in the university’s 120 years. After topping $51.8 million in contributions, the Campaign for Western Carolina is producing dividends for students and faculty By BIL STUDENC Investment in the Future $ 5 1 , 8 2 6 , 915 Y O U ’ R E E X T R A O R D I N A R Y ! campaign headquarters Opposite page, counterclockwise from top left: Campaign volunteers are thanked for their role in the fundraising effort; Emily Collman, Taft and Malvery Botner Scholarship recipient, speaks to donors; students line up to applaud campaign contributors; Founders Scholarship recipient Andrew Blair practices the marimba. Chancellor John Bardo presents a WCU cap to musician Matt Stillwell ’98, who performed at the campaign celebration. 16 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 17 campaign headquarters Making a Difference in Student Lives Thanks to the $51.8 million in contributions from benefactors who helped the university shatter its goal of $40 million in private support announced when the Campaign for Western Carolina was launched to the public in February 2007, more students like Collman and Robinson will be able to pursue their dreams of getting a college education, Bardo said. “A university has never been a collection of buildings, although it is in buildings where we do much of our work. A university has never been a geographic space. A university is about people. And the better the people of a university, the better the university. No university is better than its faculty members, and no faculty member can touch the future unless he or she has the right type of students who care about the future, who want to make a difference in their world. That’s what this university is about,” he said. It is for that reason that the Campaign for Western Carolina did not focus on money for new buildings or land purchases. Instead, it focused on endowed professorships, endowed scholarship and programmatic support, Bardo said. “This campaign was about extraordinary opportunities for our faculty, for our staff and, most of all, for our students. It was about making it possible to bring the very best minds in the world to Cullowhee.” The competition for attracting those bright minds has increased greatly, he said, and the only way to get those best and brightest is through endowed scholarships to bring top students to WCU and through endowed professorships to attract the nation’s preeminent scholars to teach those students. That is why the majority of the dollars raised during the campaign are directed to student and faculty endowments. Thirty-four percent of contributions are earmarked for faculty endowments, including commitments for 24 new endowed distinguished professorships in fields ranging from educational leadership to construction management. Thirty percent of campaign gifts are directed to student endowments, including scholarships, and to support such wide-ranging student activities as travel abroad opportunities, participation in skills-based competitions against students from other universities, and internships or master classes with world-renowned experts. For example, Andrew Blair, a senior from Liberty majoring in music education, was among only 30 students from across the nation selected to participate in a prestigious percussion class held in New York last summer under the direction of the world’s foremost marimba virtuoso, Leigh Howard Stevens. “It’s really a great honor as a musician and as a percussionist to be selected to participate,” said Blair, who performed selections on the marimba as part of the WCU Foundation’s annual scholarship luncheon during the week of campaign celebration activities in the fall. “I was studying with the father of our modern marimba techniques.” While The Campaign for Western Carolina was successful, university leaders continue to seek outside support. For more information, contact the Office of Development at 828.227.7124 (or 800.492.8496 toll free), or visit campaign.wcu.edu. Thanks to the Honors College Study Abroad Fund, Max DeGrove, son of WCU facilities management supervisor Andy DeGrove ’83 MIT ’84, was able to spend a summer in Shikoku, Japan, bicycling across the smallest of the nation’s four “big islands” and immersing himself in the culture. “It was truly a life-changing experience, one that I would have never been able to have without the support of donors and scholarships,” said DeGrove, a sophomore majoring in engineering technology. “I think that study abroad is something that every student should do. It gives you a sense of maturity from being on your own in a foreign country. I am certainly a better person because of it.” Christina Banner, a sophomore majoring in musical theater, said receiving scholarship assistance has meant she has not had to take a part-time job to help pay expenses, leaving time to focus on studies and on extracurricular activities ranging from working backstage at theatrical productions to involvement in student leadership groups. “My scholarship definitely helped me financially. I have an older brother and a younger brother, so I know my parents definitely appreciated it,” said Banner, from Conover. “But it’s also given me the opportunity to do more on campus. It has really freed me up to be able to take advantage of the college experience without having to worry about finances. I’ve been able to take a full course load, plus be heavily involved in the productions that the theater department does.” The Honors College Study Abroad Fund enabled Max DeGrove (above, left) to bicycle across a Japanese island. Scholarship recipient and campaign donor Brandon Robinson ’05 (above, right) relaxes in the stacks of Hunter Library, where he spends much of his time reading for school and pleasure. Professor Louis Buck, scholarship recipients Brandon Robinson ’05 and Christina Banner and Wesley Elingburg ’78 discuss the benefits of the campaign. 18 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 19 campaign headquarters It was just a few months ago that Wesley Elingburg ’78, a supporter of Western Carolina’s Loyalty Fund for 18 years, issued a challenge to other donors, backing up that challenge with an offer to match new and increased gifts of at least $1,000, up to a maximum of $50,000. Already, 23 people have taken him up on his challenge, making additional gifts to the Loyalty Fund that, when combined with his match, have resulted in an additional $73,283 to provide merit-based scholarships to WCU students. Elingburg says he is pleased at the success of the Elingburg Challenge – and its role in extending the success of The Campaign for Western Carolina. “I haven’t quit smiling since I got on campus this morning,” the retired chief financial officer with Laboratory Corp. of America said during a campaign celebration event in October. “I am so happy to be here today, and it’s such a privilege to be able to celebrate what has happened.” Cynthia Hamilton Beane ’71 is among those who have taken up Elingburg on his challenge. “I had given small amounts to the university each year for several years, but have long felt that I need to give more to my alma mater, to reconnect and to get more involved,” said Beane, a partner in the accounting firm Beane Swaringen & Co. “Learning of the Wes Elingburg Challenge made me realize that now is the time to do what I have always intended to do.” Additional gifts made through the challenge are helping maintain the momentum of the first comprehensive fundraising effort at WCU. Although the campaign resulted in $51.8 million in contributions and pledges to the university, additional needs remain. “Giving back to the campus and the community, that’s what I want to do. I want to give back to afford opportunities to students – opportunities that, without our help, a lot of deserving students won’t get,” Elingburg said. “How can we help as donors? We can help by giving back to institutions. Let’s think about writing that check. Think about the pleasure that you get from knowing that when you write that check to this institution, you are indeed helping a student.” CHALLENGE ACCEPTED Donors are taking up an alum’s offer to match their gifts to the Loyalty Fund By BIL STUDENC A significant slowdown in the construction industry resulting from the nation’s lingering economic downturn has led to the recent declaration of bankruptcy by a benefactor in the Campaign for Western Carolina. Contributions from Joe W. Kimmel and his company, Kimmel & Associates, in 2005 led to the naming of the Kimmel School of Construction Management and Technology. “For more than a decade, Kimmel & Associates has been among the nation’s top firms in placing construction managers in the U.S. construction industry, one of the strongest segments of the American economy. Western Carolina University anticipates that the company will rebound as the national construction industry, among the hardest hit segments of the national economy in the current recession, returns to normal,” said Clifton Metcalf, vice chancellor for advancement and external affairs. “Delay in fulfilling commitments planned in the Kimmel gift will mean that fewer student scholarships and less program support – such as brochures and student participation in conferences or competitions – will be available during the interim,” Metcalf said. Chancellor John W. Bardo expressed his sympathy for the Kimmels, who are among a large number of business men and women, and numerous U.S. companies, who are suffering economically. “The Kimmels are wonderful people with whom we have worked for a number of years and with whom we have a great relationship. They and many among the Kimmel & Associates leadership are close friends of the university and of many of us in the university family,” Bardo said. “Our current concern is for the Kimmel family and their employees. As one does with family, we will take the long view of this trying time. We wish them all the best. We will stand by them in every way we can, and trust that there will be a brighter day in the world economy soon.” Financial downturn will slow support for construction management Students Give Us Hope It was concerns about students being able to afford college and about the quality of their educational experience that led Wesley Elingburg ’78, retired chief financial officer with Laboratory Corp. of America, to contribute before, during and after the campaign. “It pains me when I hear stories of students who want to go to school but struggle financially to do so. I would like every student who wants to go to college to be able to do so without the burden of debt,” said Elingburg, whose gifts to the university during the silent phase of the campaign led to establishment of the Wesley Elingburg Professorship of Business Innovation, a position now held by Louis Buck, a former executive at one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies. “Western Carolina gave me the foundation that led me through my adult life. When I came to the university, I did not know what I wanted to do with my life. But there were faculty here and faculty advisers who gave me that guidance. For that, I will be forever grateful,” Elingburg said. “I’ve given back to Western Carolina. Anytime Western Carolina calls upon me, I am there, and I will always be there.” And Elingburg continues to be a major contributor to the university. In 2009, he issued a challenge to encourage increased giving to WCU’s Loyalty Fund, which provides scholarships and other support for WCU students, faculty and programs (see Challenge Accepted on next page). Elingburg is not alone in his desire to give back. Gifts to the campaign came from 9,564 donors from 48 states. Of those donors, 608 work at Western Carolina as faculty or staff. The majority of donors – 59 percent – were WCU alumni, with 5,661 individual alumni making contributions. Another 34 percent of contributors are not alumni, but are characterized as “friends of the university,” with corporations, foundations and other benefactors making up the remaining 7 percent. Four groups achieved 100 percent participation in the campaign – the university’s board of trustees, the WCU Foundation board of directors, the WCU Executive Council and University Police. Joan MacNeill, former chair of the WCU board of trustees, said there is a reason why so many people from so many walks of life from across the country were willing to give to the Campaign for Western Carolina – a reason far more important than tax deductions or naming opportunities. “The secret is, for my husband and myself, we are the ones who feel blessed,” said MacNeill. She accompanied Ashley Shemery, the recipient of the Joan and Malcolm MacNeill Scholarship, to a special lecture presented by the Jacksonville sophomore’s favorite professor after a special luncheon to thank scholarship donors. “For us, she’s really what it’s all about. Ashley has expressed her gratitude and thanks to us for the financial help she had received. But what she doesn’t know is we really thank her. She and students like Brandon and Christina have given us hope. They make us feel really good about the future.” From left, Ashley Shemery and her scholarship benefactors Malcolm and Joan MacNeill attend a lecture by a popular professor. For more information on the Elingburg Challenge, visit loyaltyfund.wcu.edu, or contact Natalie Clark, at 828.227.3090 or nclark@wcu.edu. photo credit: Will McIntyre ’76 and Deni McIntyre 20 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 21 campaign headquarters Fifty-two years. That is how long I have been observing “The Progress of an Idea,” the phrase Dean W.E. Bird used to describe the founding and progression of a little academy on a small plot of land in the woods of Jackson County to a vibrant, comprehensive university with international influence on a beautiful 600-acre campus in Cullowhee, USA. While Bird’s account of the development of Western Carolina University does not extend beyond 1957, the year I enrolled at Western Carolina, I have been blessed by the extraordinary opportunity to observe up-close, first as a student and then as an employee, the continued “Progress of an Idea.” I have witnessed a number of impressive events at Western Carolina over those 52 years, but none has made me prouder than the success of the university’s recent, first-ever comprehensive fundraising campaign: “Creating Extraordinary Opportunities.” Perhaps I was especially proud because of the historical perspective I brought to the campaign, a perspective that included memories of when the president of the college was the only person on campus with ready access to a public address system, when the cafeteria’s Sunday supper for students consisted of a pimento cheese sandwich and an apple in a brown paper bag, and when there was no store on campus where students could purchase books to supplement their rented texts or satisfy their desire for extracurricular reading. The individuals responsible for directing the fundraising campaign, which was publicly launched in 2007, insisted on thinking big: $20 million was the initial, unannounced goal. Conditioned perhaps by my 50-year knowledge of the need to penny-pinch, I wondered if the university was campaigning more for embarrassment than funds. Nonetheless, as the campaign progressed, the $20 million target was reset three times: $25 million, $30 million, and finally, a giddy $40 million. When WCU celebrated the results of its campaign on Oct. 15, 2009, Chancellor John Bardo announced that the campaign had generated nearly $52 million. The astonishing success of the campaign confirmed that WCU is capable of raising funds from private sources to support the “idea” Dean Bird recounted in “Western Carolina College: The Progress of an Idea.” Certainly, the $51.8 million raised will help students and faculty improve teaching and learning; and it will help the university attract even stronger faculty and students, serve more effectively the broader community, and enhance further the quality of the institution’s academic and athletics programs. But in the opinion of this appreciative alumnus and recently retired 40-year employee, the most pleasing and significant outcome of the campaign is confirmation that, in the eyes of alumni, friends, corporations and foundations, Western Carolina University is a vibrant, dynamic institution that is realizing its goal of offering opportunities to those who aspire to make a difference in their world, and is therefore worthy of private fiscal support. How much is this widespread sentiment worth to WCU? Certainly, more than $52 million. And that bodes well for the university’s future fundraising campaigns and the continued “Progress of an Idea” that began way back in 1889. Western North Carolina residents participating in an aphasia support group are benefiting from the expertise of a teacher and researcher who literally wrote the book on the disorder. Nancy Helm-Estabrooks, one of the nation’s top experts in adult neurological communication disorders, was appointed WCU’s first Catherine Brewer Smith Distinguished Professor of Communication Disorders in July. The focus of Helm-Estabrooks’ research and writing over the years has been aphasia, a communication disorder, typically caused by a stroke or other brain injury, that is related to understanding and producing language. In addition to teaching courses in aphasia and cognitive-communicative disorders, Helm-Estabrooks trains graduate students to work with individuals affected by aphasia who attend meetings of the Asheville Area Aphasia Support Group. As part of that effort, she also leads discussions for family members and friends who are living with aphasia through a loved one. During weekly meetings at CarePartners Health Services in Asheville, the support group offers free individual and group therapy for those who are no longer eligible for insurance coverage for rehabilitation services. Before coming to WCU, Helm-Estabrooks was a research professor in the division of speech and hearing sciences in the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she continues to hold an adjunct position. She was a clinical investigator for 32 years with the renowned Harold Goodglass Aphasia Research Center in Boston, and is co-author of the highly regarded “Manual of Aphasia and Aphasia Therapy.” Treatment methods and tests developed by Helm-Estabrooks and her colleagues, are now used by clinicians around the world. Ruby Drew, retired associate professor of communication disorders who helps lead the treatment program for the Asheville support group, said Helm-Estabrooks has a “special understanding of persons with aphasia” that is well-received by family and friends. “Nancy is a dynamic clinician and has intuitive knowledge about how the brain has been affected by aphasia, and she is indefatigable in her energy to assist those who have the disorder,” Drew said. Department head Bill Ogletree calls Helm-Estabrooks a “wonderful role model” for both students and faculty. “Her scholarly and clinical impact has laid the groundwork for future generations of researchers and practitioners, and her international reputation in the area of adult neurogenic communication disorders is simply second to none,” Ogletree said. A gift of $300,000 from the estate of the late Catherine Brewer Smith provided funding for the distinguished professorship in communication disorders. It was one in a series of family contributions made to honor the memory of Smith’s father, Albert Dudley Brewer, who attended the university. A native of Marion, Ind., Smith owned and managed a motel in Madeira Beach, Fla., for 26 years. She maintained residences in Franklin and Yankeetown, Fla. WCU combined $250,000 of Smith’s gift with matching state funds to establish the $500,000 professorship, while the remaining $50,000 was used to create an endowed fund that supports activities of the department of communication sciences and disorders. An aphasia expert has joined the communication sciences and disorders faculty as the first Catherine Brewer Smith Distinguished Professor By RANDAL HOLCOMBE A GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING Nancy Helm-Estabrooks works with a member of an aphasia support group. EXTRAORDINARY TIMES Thanks to the Campaign for Western Carolina, ‘The Progress of an Idea’ is climbing to new heights By GURNEY CHAMBERS ’61 Fashions and hairstyles have changed over the years; what has not changed is the university’s emphasis on student success, at the heart of the Campaign for Western Carolina. Gurney E. Chambers ’61 is dean emeritus of the College of Education and Allied Professions and served as chair of the faculty/staff component of the Family Gifts Division during the Campaign for Western Carolina. 22 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 23 Danna Harrell-Stansbury ’95 BA ’98 MPA Asheville, N.C. Director of marketing and administration, Land-of-Sky Regional Council. At WCU: Pi Gamma Mu international honor society for social science; Political Science Club; Alpha Xi Delta sorority; participated in intramural sports. Formerly: Jackson County Extension 4-H agent, 1999-2004; member, National Association of Extension 4-H Agents, 1999- 2004; member, N.C. Association of Extension Agents, 1999-2004; Jackson County Child and Family Council, 2000-04; volunteer, Jackson County Schools, 1999-2004; member, Webster Baptist Church, 2002-08; project administrator, Science Applications International Corp., Atlanta, 2004-06. Currently: Volunteer, Madison County Schools, 2006-present; member, Rotary International, Madison County Chapter, 2006-present; Local Government Volunteer Advisory Board, 2006-present; member, Mars Hill Baptist Church, 2006-present; volunteer, Habitat for Humanity, 2007-present; board member, State Employees’ Credit Union, 2009; member, N.C. Association of County Commissioners, 2009; member, WNC Association of City and County Managers, 2009; Public Executive Leadership Academy, N.C. School of Government, UNC-CH, 2009; community emergency response team training, 2009. Jeffrey A. Davis ’92 BS ’01 JD Mississippi College Cornelius, N.C. Assistant district attorney, supervisor of violent crime unit, 26th Judicial District, Mecklenburg County. At WCU: Pi Gamma Mu; Anthropology Club; Outstanding Anthropology Graduate, 1992; WCU Clean Campus Club; participant, WCU Research Conference, 1991 and 1992. Formerly: Member, Cornelius Transportation Advisory Committee, 2004-05; vice president, Mitchell County Chamber of Commerce, 1996-97; volunteer, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools “Lunch with a Lawyer” program, 2008; volunteer, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools “Teen Court,” 2003. Currently: Vice chair person, Charlotte Mecklenburg Zoning Board of Adjustment; member, Mecklenburg County Criminal Courts Committee. Dennis L. Howell ’73 BSBA ’76 JD UNC School of Law Burnsville, N.C. U.S. magistrate judge for the Western District of North Carolina. At WCU: Patrons of Quality Scholar; served on the Chancellor’s Inauguration Committee; vice president, Young Democrats Club; Alpha Phi Sigma; Phi Kappa Phi; Law Club; Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities; WCU College representative to the North Carolina Legislature, 1973; graduated summa cum laude; graduated first in class rank. Formerly: John Motley Morehead Fellowship in Law, UNC School of Law, 1973-76; class president, UNC School of Law, 1976; board member, Mitchell County Economic Development Commission; president, Yancey County Youth Football League; member of local board of directors, Southeastern Savings & Loan Association; member, WCU Alumni Board, 1980-82; member, John Motley Morehead District Selection Committee, 1982/1988; member 1986-90, vice chairman 1988-90, Yancey County Board of Education. Currently: Member, Mount Mitchell State Park Advisory Committee; member, N.C. State Bar; member of the Bar, U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit; member of the Bar, 24th Judicial District of the state of North Carolina. Tonya Wilson Reid ’88 BS Statesville, N.C. Lead school social worker, truancy court liaison, McKinney-Vento district liaison, day treatment liaison, Iredell Statesville Schools. At WCU: Resident assistant, Helder Residence Hall; member, WCU Inspirational Choir; member, WCU Baseball’s Batgirl Squad; Alpha Phi Alpha Little Sisters (an affiliation of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity). Formerly: Statesville All-America City Steering Committee, 2009; 115 Corridor Gateway Project Committee; Statesville Police Department Assessment Center for Sergeants; Rabbittown/Sunnyside Community Reunion Committee. Currently: Chairperson, South Statesville Weed and Seed; member, Statesville Police Department Citizen Academy Board; private sector member, ICARE Inc.; community member, National Night Out Committee. Paul T. Jones ’69 BSEd ’70 MAEd Forest City, N.C. Retired educator and coach, Rutherford County Schools. At WCU: Sports editor, Western Carolinian; Physical Education Club; captain, WCU’s first track and cross country teams. Formerly: Coach for 15 years, WCU track and cross country; NCAA II Cross Country Coach of the Year, 1974-75; WCU Athletic Hall of Fame, 2002; former sports information director, WCU; committee member, Catamount Club Auctions; committee member, Catamount Club Bob Waters Golf Tournament; president, Catamount Club. Currently: Member, WCU Catamount Club; member, Sunday school teacher and member of various church committees, Florence Baptist Church; lifetime member, Veterans of Foreign Wars; member, 1st Batallion 4th Marines Association; combat veteran, Vietnam War; work with Forest City Florence Mill Revitalization Committee; member, Forest City Owls Baseball Boosters Club. Joan Knipe Walker ’71 BSEd Hickory, N.C. Owner, Providence Home Construction LLC., N.C. licensed general contractor. At WCU: Student. Formerly: Board member, Habitat for Humanity; chairperson, Community Architectural Review Committee; vice president, Women’s Aglow Fellowship. Currently: Member, WCU Catamount Club; contributor, WCU Loyalty Fund; established Catawba County Christian Business and Professional Scholarship Endowment. Married to Phillip D. Walker ’71; two children, Jonathan ’99 and Melanie. NORTH CAROLINA DISTRICT 1 NORTH CAROLINA DISTRICT 2 Alleghany, Alexander, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Rutherford, Polk, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey counties. (Vote for one. The top vote recipient will serve a three-year term, 2010-12.) Dana Jones ’99 BSBA Ocean Isle Beach, N.C. Territory manager, Sherwin-Williams. At WCU: Student Government Association senator; represented WCU in national collegiate sales competition; InterFraternity Council executive board; member, Pi Kappa Alpha; volunteer, Mountain Area Hospice. Current & Former Activities: Five-time consecutive winner, Sherwin-Williams President’s Award (highest award given nationally); member, Sherwin-Williams Southeastern Division Management Training Quality committee; vice president, Bent Tree executive board; owner/member manager, Stone Crest of the Carolinas; Brunswick County U6 soccer coach; volunteer, Brunswick Boys and Girls Club; member, Liberty Baptist Church. Married with two children. Dale Sims ’78 BS Franklin, Tenn. Vice chancellor for business and finance, Tennessee Board of Regents System. At WCU: Student orientation leader, 1977; resident assistant, Reynolds Hall, 1976-77; resident director, Reynolds Hall, 1977-78; member, baseball team, 1974-78 (lettered in 1977 and 1978). FormerLY: Tennessee state treasurer, 2003-09; member, National Association of State Treasurers, recipient of Jesse M. Unruh Award, served in various association leadership roles; member, National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers, recipient of 2007 President’s Award, member of executive committee; member, Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Board; member, Tennessee Higher Education Commission; Public Finance Institute certification, Kellogg School at Northwestern University; Public Service Professional of the Year, County Officials Association of Tennessee, 2007. Currently: Member, National Association of College and University Business Officers; member, Southern Association of College and University Business Officers; member, finance committee member, Franklin First United Methodist Church; contributor, WCU Loyalty Fund; member, Catamount Club. Married to Debbie Davis Sims of Nashville, Tenn.; daughter, Jessica, and grandson, Jay. James A. Chandler ’94 BSBA ’97 MS ’98 PhD University of Tennessee Greenville, N.C. Associate professor, department of hospitality management; lead faculty, food and beverage management program, East Carolina University. At WCU: Member, Mortar Board national senior honor society; committee member, 1994 Mountain Heritage Day; member, Beta Gamma Sigma honor society; member, Alpha Mu Alpha honor society. Current & Former Activities: International Council of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education; board-certified educator, International Food Safety Council; board-certified educator, American Hotel and Lodging Robin Parton Pate ’97 BSBA ’99 MA University of Alabama Knoxville, Tenn. Vice president of program planning, HGTV (Home and Garden Television). At WCU: Student orientation leader; membership vice president, Alpha Xi Delta, 1995-97; Order of Omega; member, Homecoming planning committee; member, American Marketing Association; Walt Disney World-College Program. Formerly: Member, Atlanta American Marketing Association Research Executives Roundtable; senior research analyst, Turner Broadcasting Networks CNN, TBS and TNT. Currently: Member, National Association of Television Executives; executive member, 2009 Mentor Program, Women in Cable Telecommunications; Mark Awards Judge 2009, Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing; member, American Marketing Association; volunteer, Special Olympics; volunteer, Meals on Wheels. Association Educational Institute; National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation; past president, Southeast Council of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education; N.C. Council of Hospitality and Tourism Educators’ Association; N.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association; N.C. Tourism Industry Association; past treasurer and board of directors’ member, N.C. Tourism Education Foundation; N.C. Chapter, Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International; Pitt County Muscular Dystrophy Association Foundation; Pitt County March of Dimes; East Carolina University faculty senator; past chair, ECU College of Human Ecology Faculty Council; faculty and director, ECU Center for Sustainable Tourism; Kappa Omicron Nu national honor society, UT and ECU chapters. Donnie D. Rhodes ’71 BA Colorado Springs, Colo. Retired in 2002, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals management. At WCU: Member, Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity; active in intramural sports; member, Society for the Advancement of Management; Western Carolinian campus newspaper, 1970. Formerly: Past president, Broadmoor Rotary Club, Colorado Springs, 2008-09; member, Kiwanis, Wilmington, N.C., 1987-97; member, St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Wilmington; U.S. Marine Corps military service, 1966-69. Currently: Member (2002-present), program chairman (2004-present), Broadmoor Rotary Club; member, First Presbyterian Church; actively working with and supporting the Wounded Warriors Program at Fort Carson, Colo.; leading fundraising efforts for Citizens Soldiers Connection, a nonprofit benefit for families of military veterans; member, Marine Corps League, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the American Legion. OUT-OF-STATE DISTRICT 5 NORTH CAROLINA DISTRICT 4 Beaufort, Bertie, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Gates, Greene, Hertford, Hyde, Jones, Lenoir, Martin, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Pitt, Tyrell, Washington and Wayne counties. (Vote for one. The top vote recipient will serve a three-year term, 2010-12.) All states except North Carolina. (Vote for one. The top vote recipient will serve a three-year term, 2010-12.) Alamance, Anson, Cabarrus, Caswell, Catawba, Cleveland, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Gaston, Guilford, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Montgomery, Randolph, Richmond, Rockingham, Rowan, Stanly, Stokes, Surry, Union and Yadkin counties. (Vote for one. The top vote recipient will serve a three-year term, 2010-12.) Dennis A. Fox ’71 BSBA Raleigh, N.C. Vice president of market development, Trailcreek Investments. At WCU: Sergeant at Arms, Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. Formerly: Pi Kappa Alpha, Zeta Xi House Corp.; member, WCU Alumni Association and WCU Catamount Club; board of directors, Automotive Warehouse Distributors Association, 1997-99; Distribution Advisory Council, Dana Corp., 1981-83; Distribution Advisory Council, Ray-O-Vac Corp., 1991-92; management certification, Duke University, 1995; Distribution Advisory Council, Wix Filter Corp., 1995-96; volunteer, Special Olympics, 1999-2005; management certification, Ohio State University, 2000; automotive parts professional, University of the Aftermarket/Northwood University, 2003; volunteer, Habitat for Humanity, 2003-05. Currently: Married to Susan Dorato Fox; daughter and son-in-law, Mickkie and Andy Pickle; two granddaughters, Catherine and Emily. Robert W. Gibson ’87 BSBA Raleigh, N.C. Delivery systems manager, Local Government Federal Credit Union. At WCU: Chaplain, Pi Kappa Phi fraternity; intramural sports; Push America volunteer; United Methodist Youth Fellowship. Formerly: Youth director, Wake Forest Presbyterian Church; member, West Raleigh Rotary Club; member, Pi Kappa Phi, Gamma Epsilon Chapter Alumni board of directors; member, WCU Alumni Association board of directors, 2002–05; member, WCU Alumni Association, Triangle Chapter; established the Dean C. Plemmons Memorial Scholarship Fund at WCU; volunteer, Friends of St. Timothy’s School; member and volunteer, Council for Entrepreneurial Development; volunteer, Eastern North Carolina chapter, Multiple Sclerosis Society. Currently: High school and middle school Sunday school teacher, St. Timothy’s Church; secretary, St. Timothy’s Church Men’s Fellowship; member and webmaster, Hurricane Region, Porsche Club of America board of directors; member, WCU Catamount Club; volunteer, Habitat for Humanity; owner/ administrator, The Catamount Pride (a WCU-focused Internet discussion forum). Paula Freeman Mangum ’82 BSN Durham, N.C. Manager, Rex Cancer Center of Wakefield; Rex Healthcare. At WCU: Orientation leader; resident assistant; intramural sports; member, Organization of Ebony Students; employee of campus day care facility; Miss Alpha Phi Alpha, Homecoming Court, 1978. FormerLY: Leader, Kenwood Estates Young Teens Community Group; participant, Durham’s Ebony Debutantes; honoree, Eckerd Salute to Women; recipient, UNC Hospital Plus Person Award; member, Clinical Cancer Center Advisory Board; recipient, The American Cancer Society Lane W. Adams Award; former combat medic/U.S. Army nurse. CurrentLY: Director, Carriage House After School Program; Child Evangelism Fellowship (ministry outreach to children); Durham Urban Ministry Network; Notary Public. NORTH CAROLINA DISTRICT 3 Bladen, Chatham, Columbus, Cumberland, Durham, Edgecombe, Franklin, Granville, Halifax, Harnett, Hoke, Johnston, Lee, Moore, Nash, Northampton, Orange, Person, Robeson, Sampson, Scotland, Vance, Wake, Warren and Wilson counties. (Vote for one. The top vote recipient will serve a three-year term, 2010-12.) Board of Directors election 2010 WCU Alumni Association Announces: 24 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 25 ATHLETES’ FEATS Athletics 16 sports, 322 athletes one goal Four former Catamounts with ties back as far as the 1950s and a former coach who helped mentor athletes in three sports are the newest members of the Western Carolina University Athletics Hall of Fame following induction festivities held in November. Members of the five-person induction class, the 20th all-time at WCU, are Bob Ray ’57 (men’s basketball), Steve Spradling ’71 (football), Laura Echols Wellmon ’02 MPT ’04 (women’s basketball), Johnny Wike (football and golf coach) and Steve Yates (football). Ray played basketball for Western Carolina from 1951 through 1957, including a two-year break for military service in the U.S. Army, before returning as an assistant coach for seven years. The Buncombe County native, who concluded his playing career ranked second on the school’s career scoring chart with 1,187 points, still holds the 22nd spot on WCU’s all-time scoring list. Ray returned to Cullowhee in 1962 to become the school’s first-ever full-time assistant basketball coach, a position he held until 1969. He helped recruit and coach 17 all-conference players while on staff. Following a distinguished academic career at WCU, Ray went on to earn graduate degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a doctorate from the University of Georgia. After his coaching days, he served as head of WCU’s department of health, physical education and recreation from 1982 to 1993. Spradling was a three-year starter at wide receiver for the Catamount football team from 1967 to 1970, helping WCU compile a record of 19-8. The Pompano Beach, Fla., native twice finished among the NAIA’s top 12 pass receivers, including ranking fourth with 46 catches in 1969 – helping him earn All-North Carolina Collegiate, NAIA and Associated Press All-America honorable mention plaudits. All told, Spradling hauled in 95 career passes for 2,023 yards in three seasons, which included 1,020 yards in 1969, a mark that ranks sixth in the school’s single-season record books. He also continues to hold the WCU record with seven consecutive 100-yard receiving performances. Wellmon, who played at WCU from 1999 to 2003 as Laura Echols, finished her career as one of the most honored players in Catamount women’s basketball history. The program’s second-leading all-time scorer with 1,765 points, she also ranks seventh on the career rebounding charts with 790 boards in her four-year career. Wellmon still ranks on 10 career statistical charts, including second on scoring average (15.8 points per game), second on field goals made (718), and third on field goals attempted (1,421). A native of Conyers, Ga., Wellmon remains WCU’s only three-time All-Southern Conference selection, garnering first-team plaudits in 2000, ’01 and ’02. She also was a three-time SoCon Player of the Week during her career and earned Western Carolina’s Female Student-Athlete of the Year Award in 2001-02. A two-time Verizon Academic All- District Team selection in 2001 and ’02, she graduated from WCU with honors, majoring in chemistry with a minor in psychology, and also earned her master’s degree from WCU in physical therapy. Wike, a native of Mount Holly, spent more than 30 years of his life in service to Western Carolina coaching football and golf. He worked for 21 of those years as an assistant football coach (1964-73, 1984-94), serving under four head coaches and helping recruit several high-profile athletes, including three who would go on to play in the NFL and advance to the Super Bowl. When Bob Waters arrived at WCU in 1969 as the head football coach, he decided the Athletic Department needed to reinstate its dormant men’s golf program. From 1971 to 1973, Wike held the dual role of assistant football coach and head golf coach. Wike spent 1974 to 1977 as head football coach at Carson-Newman College in Tennessee, and afterward spent six seasons as head coach at Cullowhee High School. Wike returned to the WCU football staff in February 1984 as defensive coordinator, reprising his role as Waters’ chief recruiter. In 1991, he again took on duties as head coach of the men’s golf team, a position he held through 2004. He retired from the football staff in 1995, the same year he launched the women’s golf program. He retired as head coach of the women’s golf team in 1998. A member of the Catamount football team from 1971 to 1974, Yates was a two-time Associated Press All-America selection, receiving second-team accolades in 1972 and a first team nod in 1974. The Cabarrus County native was one of three linebackers named to WCU’s 20th Century All- Time Football team compiled back in 2000. Called “the most intense football player I’ve ever coached” by Bob Waters during the 1974 season, Yates continues to rank 10th on the Catamounts’ career tackles charts with 306 total hits, including 191 solo stops. He was the leading tackler on two teams that finished in the Associated Press top 10, including WCU’s first NCAA playoff team in 1974. The Catamounts posted a 25-9-2 record with him in the lineup. His 25 quarterback sacks also rank him third on the career ledger. The 20th induction class enters the Athletics Hall of Fame with four former players and a longtime coach By STEVE WHITE ’67 The newest members of the Athletics Hall of Fame are (from left) Bob Ray ’57, Laura Echols Wellmon ’02 MPT ’04, Steve Spradling ’71, Steve Yates and Johnny Wike. Winter 2010 | 27 COACHING THIRD Keith LeClair’s legacy is the subject of a book scheduled for release in March By TOM HALEY Lynn’s children were only 3 and 6 at the time and not ready to say good-bye. He was placed on the ventilator and lived until 2006 and the age of 40. That’s one of the riveting stories in a book titled “Coaching Third: The Keith LeClair Story,” written by Bethany Bradsher. It will be released in early March to coincide with the Keith LeClair Classic, a tournament that will feature ECU, WCU, Illinois and West Virginia in March in Greenville. The book’s title is a reference not only to the fact that LeClair always coached third base, but also to the fact that being stricken with the disease caused him to reorder his priorities and put God and his family first and second, and coaching baseball third. An intensely religious man, LeClair discovered that he had placed coaching No. 1 for a while, said Bradsher. She was familiar with LeClair and his story and thought his life would make an outstanding book. After all, few people have touched as many lives and accomplished as much in 40 years as LeClair. The ECU Pirates play in Clark-LeClair Stadium, he has a tournament named for him, his No. 23 uniform has been retired at WCU, he is in halls of fame and his records are mind-boggling. LeClair’s won-lost mark at Western Carolina was 229-135-2. He was 212-96-1 at ECU, guiding the Pirates to three consecutive NCAA regional tournament appearances before stepping down. Despite the amazing record on the baseball field, it is his battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease that is an important piece of his legacy and that promises to make the book a great read. “Even after he was unable to move or talk, he reached so many people. He e-mailed devotionals to hundreds of people,” Bradsher said. LeClair’s relationships with Leggett and Raleigh were special. Bradsher said the emotion that came from Leggett was intense as he she sat in his Clemson office and interviewed him for the book. “He (Leggett) looked at him as a son,” she said. “Hearing his stories was gripping.” After graduating from Fall Mountain Regional High School in Langdon, N.H., LeClair became one of Leggett’s top players at Western Carolina. After his college career, LeClair signed with the Atlanta Braves but chose not to report to the team’s minor league spring training, opting instead to work as an assistant coach with Leggett in 1989. When Leggett went to Clemson as an assistant in 1991, LeClair succeeded him as the head man at Western Carolina at the tender age of 25. LeClair’s relationship with Raleigh was no less special. After LeClair was housebound with the disease, Raleigh made the six-hour drive across North Carolina from Cullowhee to Greenville every February to visit him. Raleigh, now the head coach at the University of Tennessee, said even when the disease robbed LeClair of his ability to talk or move, it could not take his sense of humor. During one of Raleigh’s visits, the news broke about ECU’s new baseball venue being named Clark-LeClair Stadium. Raleigh told LeClair it should have been named LeClair-Clark Stadium. But the William H. Clark family of Greenville had donated $1.5 million toward the facility, and LeClair quickly typed on his computer screen, “Money is better than legacy.” Those who knew Keith LeClair might argue otherwise, and it is his legacy that is captured in Bradsher’s manuscript. Entering his third season at Western Carolina University, head coach Bobby Moranda begins a new era in Catamount baseball for the 2010 season with the founding of the 1002 Club. Representing the 1,002 miles between Cullowhee and Omaha, Neb., home of the College World Series, the number has a special significance in Catamount baseball. “Ten-oh-two has always been a battle cry for Catamount players and coaches,” said Moranda. “The club is being created to help raise the necessary funds to complete the mission and compete in Omaha. One-hundred percent of 1002 contributions go toward the WCU baseball program.” Western Carolina has long thrived in collegiate baseball. Currently Clemson’s head coach, Jack Leggett led the Catamounts to five NCAA tournaments in nine seasons at WCU. Former star player and head coach Keith LeClair ’89 made WCU history with a record 45 wins in the 1994 season. In six seasons at the helm, LeClair guided the Catamounts to four NCAA tournament berths and was the SoCon Coach of the Year in ’92, ’94 and ’97. With WCU’s impressive record in the American pastime and a top-notch fleet of players in the pros (Brent Greer, Corey Martin, Chris Masters, and Nick Liles were all Catamounts selected in Major League Baseball’s 2009 first-year draft), Moranda felt that WCU baseball was overdue for an organization of the 1002 Club’s magnitude. “As a team, we’re interested in first-ever achievements,” said Moranda. “The support from the 1002 Club allows us to continue to sign the best players and strengthens our program. The Catamount baseball team has shown time and again that we can compete with the big boys. The 1002 Club will help take us to another level of competition.” Impressed with WCU’s rich baseball tradition, Greg Parsons, former senior vice president of Blockbuster Entertainment, accepted Moranda’s request to be the 1002 Club’s inaugural president. “The dream of all Division I baseball programs is a trip to the College World Series,” said Parsons, who has close ties to longtime Catamount baseball supporter Larry Stanberry ’68. “In order to make the Omaha trip a reality, we need the help of fans and friends.” Several current players say they have noticed the level of support given to Catamount baseball. “I knew Western Carolina was the school to play for if I wanted to win,” said Ross Heffley, sophomore center fielder and 2009 SoCon Freshman Player of the Year. “Having all the support from the fans and alumni is awesome. It’s easier to play knowing that everyone is rooting for us and hoping we succeed.” Senior closing pitcher Daniel Ottone agreed. “Until 1002, I had no idea how many people really cared about our team. We have some of the best fans in the region. Alums are still coming back to watch games. It’s more than just a team here, it’s family,” Ottone said. “Tradition and our fans is what makes WCU baseball special,” said senior center fielder Dylan de Graaf. “We are by far the best-supported team in the SoCon. Our No. 1 goal is Omaha. We have the support, and we’ll do whatever it takes to make it there.” The 1002 Club features five levels of membership: SoCon, SoCon Tournament, Regional, Super Regional and Omaha. SoCon-level members donate $100.02 per year for four years of membership; SoCon Tournament members donate $250.50 per year for four years; and Regional members give $1,002 per year for four years. Super Regional members make a one-time donation of $5,002 for a lifetime membership, and Omaha-level members donate $10,002 for lifetime membership. Membership benefits range from 1002 Club T-shirts to weekend all-access baseball trips. All levels of membership are tax-deductible. Brandon Demery is a senior at Western Carolina University from Raleigh. He is majoring in English/professional writing with a minor in social work and communication. Athletics 16 sports, 322 athletes one goal Reprinted in edited format from the Rutland (Vt.) Herald. Todd Raleigh ’91 MAEd ’94 and Jack Leggett were driving across North Carolina together, two Vermont natives thinking they were going to say good-bye to a close friend. It was April 2002, and East Carolina University baseball coach Keith LeClair ’89 had just returned home with his team from a baseball tournament in Charlotte when he collapsed and became unresponsive. LeClair had only been diagnosed in 2001 with Lou Gehrig’s disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. His wife, Lynn, had to make a decision about whether to put him on a ventilator, a decision that came much sooner than she expected. Raleigh, the Western Carolina baseball coach at the time, and Leggett, the former WCU coach who holds the reins of Clemson University’s baseball team, were pretty sure they were going to see their friend for the last time. But Keith and Those interested in becoming 1002 Club members can fill out the online application at CatamountSports.com or call WCU baseball 828.227.7338. OMAHA OR BUST Coach Moranda begins a new era in WCU baseball By BRANDON DEMERY 1002Club Catamount B aseball Keith LeClair ’89 signals a player from his familiar post at third base. Bobby Moranda talks strategy with his Catamount baseball team, which he wants to lead to a berth in the College World Series. 28 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 29 HOOP DREAMS Women’s basketball team draws inspiration from a special ‘guest coach’ By BESIE DIETRICH GOGINS ’06 MA ’09 As the season began for Western Carolina University’s women’s basketball team, players and coaches received some extra motivation from one very special “guest coach for a day,” Madison “Madi” Hornbuckle. A student at nearby Cullowhee Valley Elementary School, Madi suffers from glioblastoma multiforme, a common and aggressive type of brain tumor. Karen Clarke ’83 MAEd ’86, Madi’s school counselor, said she developed the “guest coach” idea as basketball season started because she saw how upset Madi was about not being able to play basketball. “I wanted her to meet the WCU basketball team and connect with them,” said Clarke. One phone call to Coach Karen Middleton was all it took. “Karen invited us to meet the players and be at a practice,” said Clarke. “Then Madi could come to the game the next night.” When Madi attended the practice prior to the game, she was named “guest coach for a day,” Middleton said. “Madi is an inspiration to us all,” she said. “She always has a smile on her face and is very enthusiastic and excited to watch and follow our team.” Among the players to connect with Madi was Jessica Jackson, a senior guard. “Madi had a major impact on our team during practice,” said Jackson. “We shot with her, and she was able to be a point guard and pass the ball to another player while she worked on her post moves. And our coach even taught her how to shoot layups.” Along with being in the huddles at practice, Madi also received gear from the coaches. “When Madi did play basketball, she wore No. 20, and that had a special connection to our coach because that was also her basketball number,” said Jackson. On an early season game night, Madi was the team’s guest of honor and had a special place on the bench. “We knew that because of Madi’s condition, it was uncertain if she would be able to come to our game on Friday, so we were hoping that she had a special time at practice with the team,” said Jackson. “When we arrived at the game and saw Madi’s face, I was extremely happy to see her.” And her presence at the game had a solid impact on the team, which downed Wofford by a score of 71-65. “Seeing Madi at the game just put life in perspective for everyone,” said Jackson. “Madi’s character and personality has inspired us all to work hard and enjoy each day we are able to play basketball because we never know when it will be taken away from us.” Madi and Middleton share more than just a jersey number – they share a mutual admiration. “Madi is a true winner and is someone who has captured our team’s heart and inspired us,” said Middleton. “She has an open invitation to attend practice and any games she is able to come to.” In the fall, students and faculty from WCU’s College of Education and Allied Professions took part in a fundraising effort to help with Madi’s treatment costs by folding paper cranes out of dollar bills. The idea was inspired by a nonfiction book in which a sick Japanese girl believes folding paper cranes will help her recover. Athletics 16 sports, 322 athletes one goal Dr. Walter J. Durr, Western Carolina University Athletics Hall of Fame member and longtime benefactor of Catamount athletics, passed away at his daughter’s home in Florida on Sept. 29. Durr, whose medical career spanned more than half a century, was 97. A native of New Jersey with degrees from New York University and Long Island College of Medicine, Durr served under Gen. George Patton during World War II before moving to the mountains of North Carolina. He began his involvement with Western Carolina when he responded to public address pleas for a physician during a 1951 football game. He went on the field that evening to assist, becoming a fixture on the WCU sidelines as the football team’s official physician and sage, as well as unofficial adviser to the coaching staff, until the late 1990s. “Dr. Durr touched the lives of so many student-athletes here at Western Carolina University during his tenure,” said Fred Cantler, senior associate athletics director who came to WCU in 1978 and worked as an athletic trainer under Durr’s supervision. “Not a year goes by that a former student-athlete doesn’t ask me about Dr. Durr.” DEVOTED DOCTOR Remembering Hall of Famer and football physician Walter Durr By DANIEL HOKER ’01 For more information, contact the Office of Development at 828.227.7124. Memorial contributions may be made to the Durr Scholarship Fund by sending a check, with Durr Scholarship in the memo line, made payable to the WCU Foundation at 201 H.F. Robinson, Cullowhee, N.C. 28723. During his tenure in Western North Carolina, Durr attended to the medical needs of thousands of WCU athletes and faithfully supported the teams through his attendance and financial assistance. Durr served as the chief of surgery at C.J. Harris Hospital (now Harris Regional Hospital) in Sylva in addition to operating his own practice. Durr became a major benefactor to the football program in 1986 when he endowed the Dr. Walter J. Durr Football Scholarship, which is awarded annually. He also was part of the Cullowhee Legacy program, which includes individuals who have listed WCU as a charitable beneficiary in their estate plans. Members are alumni and friends who have made an ultimate and lasting commitment to WCU. Durr was inducted into the WCU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1991. He is survived by his daughter, Andrea Border, and his three grandsons, Jay, Andrew and Daniel. Two former Catamount standouts were recognized recently for their accomplishments handling a basketball and handling questions from the news media. Men’s basketball star Kevin Martin, who played at WCU from 2001-04, has been named to the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major All-Decade team for his outstanding performance during three seasons in the purple and gold. Martin became Western Carolina’s first-ever first-round draft pick when the Sacramento Kings selected him with the 26th pick in 2004. He was the 14th college player selected overall that year. The Zanesville, Ohio, native finished his three-year collegiate career ranked fourth on Western Carolina’s all-time leading scorer chart with 1,838 points, averaging 23.3 points per game. A three-time All-Southern Conference selection, Martin remains WCU’s top scorer the university become an NCAA Division I program in 1976-77. From the gridiron, Brad Hoover ’00 is the inaugural winner of the Tom Berry Good Guy Award, given to the player who is most cooperative with the NFL Carolina Panthers media during the course of the season. The award is named for a longtime, award-winning columnist and Panthers beat writer for the High Point Enterprise who passed away Aug. 30. Berry also worked for Hoover’s hometown Thomasville Times and for the Durham Sun, covering sports in North Carolina and the Southeast. “Brad Hoover is the absolute perfect selection for this award,” said Pat Yasinskas, the NFC South representative for the Professional Football Writers of America. “Brad symbolizes everything Tom Berry stood for. He’s always been courteous and polite with the media and a true gentleman.” Former Catamounts Martin and Hoover earn honors Madi Hornbuckle meets Paws (top) and player Jessica Jackson while serving as “guest coach” for the women’s basketball team. Team physician Walter Durr was a fixture on the football sidelines for decades. 30 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 31 A New England artist foundation and residency program grows under a professor’s guidance By SARAH KUCHARSKI Gaily colored petals of long-stemmed cosmos lilt along on the sea-swept winds that blow across Great Cranberry Island, off the coast of Maine, where Patricia Bailey, an associate professor of art at Western Carolina University, directs artist residencies and carries out other responsibilities as president of the Heliker-LaHotan Foundation. Formed in 1993, the foundation is dedicated to the artistic vision of two painters, John Heliker and Robert LaHotan, who made their home on the island. After Heliker’s death, LaHotan charged the foundation’s board specifically with forming a residency program that would enable artists to continue coming to the island to find inspiration and to create. And after LaHotan’s death in 2002, Bailey, a longtime friend of both artists, worked diligently as a leader on the foundation’s board to open the Heliker-LaHotan home and studios to artists. The foundation welcomed its first four residents in 2006. In 2007, there were eight artists; 11 in 2008; and 14 in 2009. Among them was printmaker Joseph Norman, who said he came during a transitional period in his life to learn to work again in silence and be comfortable alone and with his thoughts. The self-proclaimed night owl would come alive when the sun set against a low tree line, casting a warm pink light across the tidal basin and filling the studio with the glow of evening. In his first week alone he created 30 works. The island studios offer a wealth of natural light, views of the tidal basin and solitude on the private shore, which is what Heliker and LaHotan wanted. “This place is so supportive of uninterrupted work,” said Bailey. The foundation has a growing relationship with WCU. Tara Jones ’08 has served as Heliker-LaHotan facility coordinator and Bailey’s assistant. The foundation’s Web site, www.heliker-lahotan.org, is maintained by WCU alumnus Andrew Kinnear ’06. In addition, the foundation donated a 1989 Heliker painting titled “The Visit II” to Western Carolina’s Fine Art Museum. The work, hung in 2005 during an inaugural exhibition “Worldviews: Selections from the Permanent Collection,” helps anchor the focus of the collection, and will greatly strengthen the museum’s teaching mission, said Martin DeWitt, founding director of the museum. “As we examine the beautiful work of Mr. Heliker, we can discuss his early roots as a modernist, and trace his extraordinary journey as artist and teacher, the influence of which continues to this day,” DeWitt said. The Fine Art Museum may in coming years become host to an exhibit of some of Heliker’s works. In addition, DeWitt has a special connection to the Heliker-LaHotan Foundation. Both his brothers, each of whom is a painter, completed residencies on Great Cranberry Island. The cultural round-robin also has meant that artists such as painter and printmaker Norman have appeared as visiting artists at WCU, and through this connection learned about the Heliker-LaHotan Foundation and its residency opportunities. The artists’ vibrancy during residencies is contagious, Bailey said. Dinnertime conversations welcome lively discussion about academia, teaching methods and, of course, art. After time spent on the island, Bailey, who teaches drawing and painting, comes back to her WCU classroom with a renewed sense of purpose. “I’m energized,” Bailey said. “I’m energized by the artists I have the privilege of working with.” island Clockwise from far left, Heliker-LaHotan Foundation artists in residence paint “en plein air” and in the studio; some of the foundation’s buildings; WCU’s Patricia Bailey, with a friend, directs artist residencies at the Great Cranberry Island, Maine, retreat. Photos courtesy Heliker-LaHotan Foundation 32 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 33 alumni Achievements Jim Lanning ’80 got a job bagging groceries when he was a teenager barely old enough for a work permit. Lanning worked afternoons and weekends at a small grocery store in the Skyland community only a few miles from his school. By the time he got his high school diploma, the store also had given him an education. He already knew more than most boys his age about long hours and hard work. He also had discovered his affinity for the retail environment, and so he stayed on. Lanning, winner of WCU’s 2009 Professional Achieve-ment Award, is now the president and chief operating officer of that supermarket chain, Ingles Markets Inc., the Asheville-based company ranked by Forbes as one of the 400 Best Big Companies in America. “We’re proud to see our president, Jim Lanning, receive WCU’s Professional Achievement Award,” said Robert P. Ingle, founder and CEO of the supermarket chain. “Jim truly grew up in our business, working day and night while completing his education at WCU. His leadership has provided our company with the growth and direction needed to succeed in today’s market.” Lanning oversees operations in 202 stores, many of them three times larger than the one where he started work in 1975. In almost 40 years with Ingles, he has held key roles at every level of management in several states. He has watched the stores grow from 30,000-square-foot buildings providing basic staples, meats and produce to giant one-stop shopping centers with gourmet groceries, organic foods, pharmacies, card and book sections, bakeries, floral departments, media centers, delicatessens, coffee bars, self-checkouts and fuel centers. Ingles, employing 19,000 people, has supermarkets in North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia and Alabama. Annual sales top $3.5 billion. “It’s wonderful to have such a strong leader for a boss,” said Cindi Brooks, Ingles vice president for human resources, who has worked with Lanning for many years. “Jim is caring, extremely hard-working, inspiring and a pleasure to work with.” Employees in the six states where Ingles has stores admire and respect Lanning, an Asheville native, who regularly makes store visits during his long work week. He makes time to talk with them and is interested in hearing not only about their sales performance but also their personal lives. “Getting to know the employees and their families was a tradition started and cultivated by our founder, who has always encouraged his store managers to know and appreciate what’s going on in their employees’ lives,” said Lanning. “And for me, when I’m in the stores, I’m amazed when I talk to employees at how often I hear about WCU – someone has a child there, or is going to school there, or a family member has just graduated.” Lanning has never worked for any company but Ingles. Two years after he got that bagboy job, he was promoted to stock clerk. He was grocery manager by the time he graduated from high school. Others his age with a steady job and opportunities for advancement might have decided to forego college. “But for my mother and father, who have been part of everything in my life, there was never a question of if I would go to college. I was definitely going to college. It was just a matter of where,” he said. He kept working at Ingles, enrolled at WCU and, taking advantage of as many night classes and extension offerings as he could, managed to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in less than four years. After he graduated, Lanning kept moving up at Ingles. He was continually challenged to take on larger stores, and he showed results. In addition to Asheville, he held Ingles positions in Gaffney, Sumter and Moonville, S.C.; and in Winder and Hull, Ga., outside Athens, where he was a district manager responsible for northeastern Georgia. In 2003, Robert Ingle named him president and he returned to Asheville, where he lives with his wife Melody and their son and daughter. He provides support for pressing needs in Ingles’ hometown communities and helped organize the company’s “Tools for Schools” program, which has donated more than $7.9 million in educational equipment to schools. Lanning also is involved with his company’s donation program to food banks to help fight hunger among children and families in the communities where Ingles stores are located. His career advice for young people entering the job market? “These may be tough times economically, but there are always opportunities for people who are willing to start small and work their way up,” Lanning said. “They need to be flexible and willing to accept a position that may be a step or two below what they may have envisioned for themselves. But there’s light at the end of the tunnel, and if that’s where they want to be, getting a good education and being willing to work will get them there.” From bagging groceries to leading one of Forbes magazine’s best companies in America By CHRISTY MARTIN ’71 MA ’78 the secret of his success “Jim truly grew up in our business, working day and night while completing his education at WCU. His leadership has provided our company with the growth and direction needed to succeed in today’s market.” – Robert P. Ingle, founder, Ingles Markets 34 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 35 alumni Achievements When Errol Kilgore ’99 was a child growing up in Asheville, college graduates were like multimillionaires: He knew they existed, but had no personal relationships with any. “I noticed that the adults I knew who had never left the city didn’t have a college education,” said Kilgore. “For all I knew, Asheville was the best place on earth, but I wanted to have options, and going to college was something I knew I wanted to do to give me greater opportunities.” The first time he came to Western Carolina University was orientation before his freshman year, and the campus seemed daunting. It was his mother, Sylvia Kilgore, a preschool teacher who had not gone to college herself, who calmed him by simply telling him how proud she was. Four years later, the sight of her had the same effect. Sad about leaving his friends at WCU and wondering what the future held, Kilgore saw his mother, grandmother and sisters coming into Ramsey Regional Activity Center just as the lights dimmed before commencement. “Those are very special memories for me – like bookends,” said Kilgore. Between them was hard work. In the classroom, he studied toward a bachelor’s degree in industrial distribution with a concentration in marketing. He volunteered as a peer counselor for other African-American students and as a leader with WCU’s chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, the nation’s first African-American Greek letter organization. In addition, Kilgore worked 25 to 30 hours a week at Taco Bell or jobs on campus. During the summers, he also took on temporary jobs at factories or, once, digging ditches. Landing his first job after college was work, too, including arriving early enough to be at the front of a 200-person line at a job fair. He was elated when the temporary job he interviewed for with Johnson & Johnson was instead offered as a permanent, full-time job in pharmaceutical sales. “A week after I walked across the stage at graduation, they called to offer me the position. My mom and grandmother were there, and we were all very excited. I was the first generation in my family to graduate from college, and I was going to work for a Fortune 500 company.” He quickly racked up accolades and national awards, including “Rookie of the Year” and “Sales Excellence,” and promotions led him to the Chicago area. Now he is a biopharmaceutical representative in the Bone Health Division of Amgen and plans to learn Spanish so he can serve even more communities, perhaps abroad. His success came as no surprise to his friends from WCU. Stacy Morris ’98 describes Kilgore as consistent and genuine, and Joseph Hyman ’01 as goal-oriented and strong-minded. “He doesn’t just work hard. He works smart. He’s always there when you need him,” said Hyman. “He loves God and family, and is inspired by them.” Although Kilgore’s mother, who died in 2001, could not be with him at WCU this fall when he was honored with WCU’s Young Alumnus Award, his older sister, his grandmothers, an aunt and friends were by his side. “I am lucky to have such a large and supportive family,” said Kilgore. “They played a major role in helping me to develop into the man I am today.” FAMILY GUY Support from relatives helped this first-generation college graduate find his way By TERESA KILIAN TATE RYAN’S SONG A renowned geologist traces his career path back to summer programs in Cullowhee By CHRISTY MARTIN ’71 MA ’78 Jeffrey Ryan ’83 first came to WCU when he was in elementary school and lived in Raleigh. For several summers, Ryan attended The Cullowhee Experience, a summer enrichment program for academically gifted youngsters. Years later, his experience with “the Experience” helped him make an important decision. “When the time came to go to college, WCU was a campus I already knew. It was far enough away from home to make me feel like I was getting out into the world,” he said. “I decided to come back.” As a freshman, Ryan’s interests leaned toward science and creative writing. He wrote short stories and became editor of the student literary magazine. But in the classroom, it was geology that won him over. Led by professor Steve Yurkovich, Ryan and his classmates went on field excursions out and about in the mountains. Sometimes it seemed they also were going inside, around and under them. It was a geological journey to the center of the earth, of sorts, by way of the Southern Appalachians. “We went to quarries and old copper mines. There were all kinds of resources to investigate in the region. We were always rooting around for rocks,” he said. The rock-hounding of his college days was a stepping-stone to his life’s work. He graduated from WCU with high honors, earned a doctorate from Columbia University, and landed a post-doctoral fellowship at the prestigious Carnegie Institution of Washington. Afterwards, he was quickly hired by the University of South Florida and has been there since. One of the USF’s top researchers, he also chairs the geology department. “Jeff is an extraordinary person,” said Yurkovich. “As a student, he was self-motivated and always exceptional.” Ryan has won many accolades for his excellent teaching, including Florida Professor of the Year. He brings his undergraduate and graduate students together to work as teams in the lab, and promotes science and science education at every opportunity. His long-standing association with Yurkovich and other WCU geology professors has benefited many WCU students invited to Tampa to experience the tools, equipment and technologies of a major research lab. Geologists seek to understand Earth’s internal forces that create earthquakes, build mountains or produce volcanoes. Ryan’s work focuses on what happens miles below the surface to trigger volcanic eruptions, the geochemistry of mantle rocks and what happens at subduction zones, those areas where tectonic plates converge. He also studies the formation of lead, gold, silver, copper and zinc. His research has received more than $2.2 million in grants, most of it from the National Science Foundation. Today, the recipient of the WCU Alumni Association’s 2009 Academic Achievement Award who once clambered around the local mountainsides is being called much farther afield. In the past year alone, his research has taken him to Montana, Utah, Oregon, Switzerland, Romania, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand. Errol Kilgore ’99, below left and above center, credits family members including, from left, sister Nakia Lynch, aunt Earline Morgan, and grandmothers Annie Morgan and Barbara Kilgore for his success in the business world. Jeffrey Ryan ’83 conducts geological field research at Mount Hood, Ore. 36 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 37 alumni Achievements During his long tenure as an educator, the venues for Jack M. Campbell ’58 have included the classrooms of the Knoxville, Tenn., school system, but also the fir- and spruce-crested ridges of the high northeastern end of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Campbell’s job in the traditional classroom ended with his retirement in 1987, but his teaching work continues as he builds upon a 42-year career as a seasonal ranger in the Smokies. Raised in Maggie Valley, Campbell graduated from high school in 1953 and enrolled at WCU. He completed academic requirements to get his bachelor’s degree in industrial arts education in December 1957 and began his teaching career in Knoxville the following month, coming back to Cullowhee later that spring to pick up his diploma. Over the years, Campbell became known as a strict disciplinarian as he taught industrial arts to legions of Knoxville’s young people. He also built a reputation as a top-notch teacher, including being named “Most Outstanding Secondary School Teacher” in Knoxville City Schools in 1984 and one of the top 10 industrial arts teachers in Tennessee in 1975. After 10 years of teaching in Knoxville, Campbell began his second career as a seasonal law enforcement ranger stationed in the Cosby area on the Tennessee side of the park. “My wife, Sue, and I would move our family from Knoxville to the Smokies and live in park housing for the summer months,” Campbell said. “During the first 10 years, the whole family would move for the season until our three sons developed other interests.” Campbell’s work at Cosby continued mostly uninterrupted for 28 years, but since 1997 he has been working on the North Carolina side of the park as manager of Balsam Mountain Campground, the highest National Park Service campground in the East. Located on a Smokies ridgeline that separates the Cataloochee Valley to the east from the Big Cove section to the west, he lives in a combination office/home at the campground entrance from May through October. His wife, who has a business in Knoxville, joins him from time to time. There is no electricity in this remote corner of the Smokies that is connected to civilization by 10 miles of paved road, so a propane-powered pump provides water from a nearby well to the house and campground. Propane also heats the water and runs the refrigerator and cookstove. The fireplace provides warmth during the chilly summer nights at 5,320 feet elevation, and oil lamps and a couple solar-powered lights illuminate the house. Cell phone service is available “occasionally.” Campbell says he doesn’t mind the lack of modern amenities. “We didn’t have electricity when I was a boy until I was 10 or 11 years old,” he said. “I like not having TV up here. I have to go through a transition when I leave and go back to where there are modern conveniences.” Just as he did back in the Knoxville classrooms, Campbell runs a tight ship as he educates campground visitors about park regulations meant to promote their health and enjoyment while also protecting the park’s resources. But the regulations are administered with a twinkle in the eye as Campbell alerts campers about the bears and boars – and the occasional elk that wander up from Cataloochee Valley. Joe Pond, supervisory park ranger in the Smokies and Campbell’s boss, says Campbell has a long-standing reputation as a ranger “who goes the extra mile for every park visitor he encounters.” Campbell doesn’t limit himself to duties within the campground, either, Pond said, as he also can be found ranging around the area, clearing trees from roads, assisting stranded motorists, monitoring the elk herd, and generally keeping a close watch. “Jack Campbell represents to me a clear example of what public service is truly about,” Pond said. With his 42 years of seasonal work completed, Campbell has served under 10 of the 15 superintendents who have led Great Smoky Mountains National Park in its 75 years of existence. During the park’s 50th anniversary celebration in 1984, Campbell served on the security team for Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander. Campbell was back on duty this past September for the 75th anniversary bash held at Newfound Gap. Campbell said he has enjoyed every aspect of his work in the Smokies, and he plans to return to Balsam Mountain Campground in May. Looking back over the years, “I can’t imagine having two careers that I could have enjoyed more,” he said. SERVICE OF A HIGH NATURE With 30 years of classroom teaching in the bag, Jack Campbell continues to educate in the Smokies By RANDAL HOLCOMBE Jack Campbell ’58 patrols Balsam Mountain Campground (left) and greets a young visitor from Louisiana. 38 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 39 1961 Linda Collins was the lucky winner in a sweepstakes to throw the first pitch in a June game between the Atlanta Braves and the New York Yankees at Turner Field. In front of a 50,000-strong crowd, Collins threw to Braves pitcher Tommy Hanson. “I felt really good about my throw,” Collins said. “It went straight to him. Of course, I was not on the pitcher’s mound, but about halfway there.” An image of Hanson signing the ball flashed to the big screen, and Collins spent the remainder of the game watching with three friends from Turner Field’s posh 755 Club. 1963 Mel Gibson MAEd ’67 and Joanne Gibson MAEd ’67 participated in the 2009 N.C. Senior Games state finals this fall in Raleigh. Both participated in the 65-to-69 age group. Mel won gold in the standing long jump and the running long jump, and silver in basketball shooting. Joanne won silver in the standing long jump. 1964 Louise McTaggart MAEd, broker and owner of Louise McTaggart & Associates real estate agency in Blairsville, Ga., has been named 2009-10 chairman of the resources committee of the community council of the Georgia Mountain Research and Education Center. McTaggart will serve as liaison between the volunteer annual campaign organization and the council. Gary William Ramsey, retired from a career in retailing, has published his first novel, “The Soul Dies Slowly,” and is at work on a second. He and his wife, Susan, live in Kemah, Texas. 1972 W. Wat Hopkins MA ’73, a professor of communication at Virginia Tech, was named the Roy H. Park Distinguished Visiting Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina for the 2010 spring semester. Hopkins is teaching a course in communication law, working with graduate students and presenting his research during a colloquium series. 1973 Melody Jenkins has been a librarian for 34 years at the Moultrie- Colquitt County Library in Georgia. Michael A. Kollar MAEd ’74 has been re-elected as chair of the South Carolina Board of Examiners in Psychology. Kollar is a former recipient of the Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Psychology Award from the South Carolina Psychological Association. 1974 Terry Bell MAEd ’83 retired as director of auxiliary services in June after more than three decades with Macon County Schools. Bell has worked at various schools in the system, including as assistant principal at Franklin High School, his alma mater. 1975 Wanda Pate Jones was appointed regional attorney in the National Labor Relations Board’s Denver office. She assists in the enforcement and administration of the National Labor Relations Act in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah and parts of SHIRT TALE Bernice Cowan Higdon ’41 has donated a shirt featuring the autographs of a veritable “who’s who” of Western Carolina University to the Mountain Heritage Center. Higdon, a Jackson County native who now lives in Yuba City, Calif., performed embroidery over the signatures of professors and friends, including student body president Charles McCall ’41 and Robert Lee Madison, a founder of the institution that would become WCU. Earl Irby ’40 drew the Catamount on the shirt back. It is on temporary display at the Mountain Heritage Center. Nebraska, Idaho and Montana. The NLRB investigates labor practices and conducts elections to determine whether employees desire union representation. With the NLRB since the beginning of her legal career in 1979, Jones has worked in Hawaii, Las Vegas and Atlanta. 1976 Jay Edwards has launched Green Collar K-9 Development with three partners to train dogs for customers in the military, law enforcement, security and search/rescue fields. Edwards retired as a sergeant in the tactical division after 28 years with the Greensboro Police Department. He and his partners, who share law enforcement and dog training experience, raise the puppies from 8 weeks old. “These dogs will go anywhere and do anything,” Edwards said. 1977 Terry M. Fortner is vice president of industry relations and market development for LKQ Corp., the largest nationwide provider of aftermarket, recycled and refurbished collision replacement products. Fortner is responsible for the development, implementation and coordination of LKQ’s product offerings and services to the auto insurance and collision repair industries. He is married to the former Vikki Richards ’79. Mitch Lowrey established Mitch Lowrey Construction in Winston- Salem in 2000 and is a certified Energy Star builder. He was named Builder of the Year in 2008 by the Home Builders Associ-ation of Winston-Salem. He is married to Gloria Jennings Lowrey. More than 40 university alumni and friends gathered in November at the home of Bob Thomas ’70 and Pam Thomas in Alpharetta, Ga., to celebrate the successful conclusion of the Campaign for Western Carolina. The primary presenters at the event were Kyle Carter, WCU provost, who gave attendees an update about recent developments at the university, and Phillip D. Walker ’71, a senior vice president with BB&T and chair of The Campaign for Western Carolina, who talked about the fundraising effort’s theme of “Creating Extraordinary Opportunities.” Also participating was Pat Blanton Kaemmerling ’71, member of the Western Carolina University Foundation board of directors, who is chairing an Atlanta-area regional fundraising committee. Currently composed of seven members, the committee will expand its membership in the coming months, and is planning an organizational meeting in late February. GEORGIA POWER Peach State alumni and friends gather to celebrate and plan next steps classNOTES 40 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 41 classNOTES 1979 Sue Lynn Ledford MPA ’06 is community health director for Wake County. 1983 H. Lee Cheek Jr. MPA ’88 is associate vice president of academic affairs at Athens State University in Athens, Ala. Previously, he was vice president for advancement at Brewton-Parker College. The N.C. State Board of Community Colleges named Sharon Morrissey MAEd the system’s senior vice president and chief academic officer. Morrissey, the president of Richmond Community College, will begin her new role in March. She has worked in the community college system for 10 years. 1984 Sandy Hunter, a professor of emergency medical care at Eastern Kentucky University, served as a member of the national project advisory committee that helped create the curriculum for a cultural competency e-learning program produced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health. Sarah Lowell MAEd ’89 of Franklin was one of 100 semifinalists in the 2009 Energizer Keep Going Hall of Fame. Lowell is an elementary school physical education teacher and ultramarathon runner who raises money for children with cancer and for disabled athletes. Created in 2006, the Energizer Keep Going Hall of Fame recognizes individuals who inspire others with their perseverance and motivation. Amy K. Smith, a tax and estate planning attorney of Bell, Davis & Pitt PA, was named a “legal elite” in the January issue of Business North Carolina. 1993 David Lamanno is finding success as a photographer working with vintage cameras. He had an exhibit of work in September at the Looking Glass Artist Collective in Salisbury, and a photograph he took of Kure Beach Pier won honorable mention in Our State magazine’s 2009 annual reader photo contest. Lamanno is largely self-taught and performs his own developing and printing. He and his wife, the former April Arthur MA ’94, have a daughter and live in Spencer. 1994 Scott Adelman has accepted a position with the U.S. Department of Defense to teach band and chorus at the elementary and secondary W.T. Sampson School in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. R. Parrish Ezell has joined the advisory board of WCU’s College of Business. He is assistant vice president and senior financial adviser for Merrill Lynch in Asheville. 1996 Debbie Blackman Cravatta and her husband, Chad, welcomed son Joseph Thurman in August 2009. 1998 A series of acrylic paintings by Paul Nehring MA is featured in the February 2010 issue of American Artist magazine (shown here is “Micromacro”). Nehring teaches art at Western Michigan University. 1999 Jeff Lovette has joined the advisory board of WCU’s College of Business. He is vice president of product development for NetLert Communications Inc. of Asheville. Kevin Redding is executive director of the Piedmont Land Conservancy. 2000 Bradley Wayne Northington MBA married Kelly Virginia Davis in July in Taylors, S.C. Northington is manager of Internet technology finance for Bi-Lo corporate offices in Mauldin, S.C. 2003 Mitch Hall became defensive line coach at Newberry College, in Newberry, S.C., for the 2009 season. Hall came to Newberry after serving as the defensive coordinator at North Greenville University and coaching running backs and tight ends at Presbyterian College. He was a graduate assistant at WCU in 2003-04 and played for special teams at the university from 1998 until 2002. Stephanie Hunter MBA married Kevin Lee Cooke in the summer. The Cookes live in Fletcher. Jason Whaley, a former offensive linem
Object Description
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Title | Western : the magazine of Western Carolina University |
Other Title | Magazine of Western Carolina University |
Date | 2010 |
Description | Winter 2010 |
Digital Characteristics-A | 4984 KB; 25 p. |
Digital Format | application/pdf |
Full Text | grande finale Campaign for Western Carolina strikes the proper chord with donors, students and faculty western carolina Winter 2010 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 Chancellor John W. Bardo Vice Chancellor Advancement and External Affairs Clifton B. Metcalf Managing Editor Bill Studenc Associate Editor Teresa Killian Tate Art Director Rubae Schoen Chief Photographer Mark Haskett ’87 Class Notes Editor Jill Ingram MA ’08 Designer Katie Martin Staff Writers Brandon Demery Bessie Dietrich Goggins ’06 MA ’09 Randall Holcombe Daniel Hooker ’01 Sarah Kucharski Christy Martin ’71 MA ’78 Steve White ’67 Staff Photographers Ashley T. Evans Jarrett Frazier Production Manager Loretta R. Adams ’80 Circulation Manager Cindi Magill Winter 2010 Volume 14, No. 1 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. Sections 6 News From The Western Hemisphere 16 Campaign Headquarters 26 WCU Athletics 34 Alumni Achievements 40 Class Notes 47 Calendar On the Cover Students such as Christina Banner (with Brandon Robinson ’05) are at the heart of the recently concluded Campaign for Western Carolina Features 4 California bound Alumni and friends are invited to join the marching band at the Rose Parade 10 Returning to the origin Renowned Darwin scholar leads a tour of the Galapagos Islands 12 drama queen Josefina Niggli is recognized for her place in WCU history 32 island getaway A New England artist foundation and residency program has WCU links 34 secret of his sucess Alumnus goes from bagging groceries to CEO of a supermarket chain 4 westerncarolina 16 12 16 10 NICE SHOT Student photographer Jarrett Frazier captured junior guard Mike Williams in early season action against Duquesne as Western Carolina hosted sub-regional rounds of the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic. Williams and the Catamounts are gearing up for the Southern Conference Tournament, set for March 4-8 in Charlotte. Ticket information catamounttickets@wcu.edu catamountsports.com 800.34.GOWCU 2 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 3 Alumni and friends are invited to join the Pride of the Mountains Marching Band at the 2011 Rose Parade By BIL STUDENC CALIFORNIA BOUND Taking part in the presentation of the Sudler Trophy are (above, from left) assistant band directors Matt Henley ’93 MA ’95 and Jon Henson ’05 MAEd ’07; Paula Crider, chair of the Sudler Trophy committee; director Bob Buckner ’67; past marching band director Aaron Hyatt. The alumni/band booster package trip includes: • Five days/four nights at an Anaheim-area hotel • Reserved parade seating • Tickets to Dec. 30 Bandfest • Parade float construction tour • Hollywood/Los Angeles tour • Airport transfers (if part of group flights) • Local transportation to all package events • Official Tournament of Roses program The following meals/receptions: • Welcome reception, Dec. 29 • Chancellor’s luncheon, at the University Club of Pasadena, Dec. 30 • New Year’s Eve party for band, alumni and friends • Lunch during Hollywood/Los Angeles tour • Breakfast, Jan. 1 • Post-parade lunch, Jan. 1 Cost per person – $999 (or less, depending on hotel choice). Airfare not included. Go With Us! For more information about travel packages or sponsorship opportunities, call 828.227.3052 or visit the Web site roseparade.wcu.edu. Bob Buckner ’67, your Pride of the Mountains has just won the Sudler Trophy, the nation’s highest honor for collegiate marching bands. What are you going to do next? “I’m going to Disneyland,” Buckner might reply, except for one fact. Buckner and the 350-plus members of the Pride of the Mountains Marching Band will be too busy getting ready for – and participating in – the 2011 Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year’s Day in Pasadena, Calif. That doesn’t mean that fans of the marching musical unit often referred to as “the world’s largest funk rock band” can’t squeeze in a visit to the so-called “happiest place on earth.” The university is organizing alumni and booster packages so that family members and others can accompany the band on the trip, set for Dec. 29 through Jan. 2. Although details were still being ironed out at press time, a variety of packages are in the works and are expected to include accommodations for up to five nights in a Los Angeles-area hotel, tickets to the band’s pre-parade performance at Bandfest, tickets to the 2011 Rose Parade, local transportation and evening special events. The band is seeking sponsors to help defray the cost of the trip, estimated at between $1,600 and $1,700 per student. “It is a supreme honor for our band to represent our university and our state on such a grand stage, and it’s especially exciting to be invited to march in the Tournament of Roses Parade the same year we’ve been awarded the Sudler Trophy,” said Buckner, director of athletic bands at WCU since 1991. “It is going to require a lot of effort on the part of our students to prepare, and we need to raise some funds to enable us to make the cross-country trip.” In addition to travel and accommodations for band members and staff, the university also must transport the Pride of Mountain’s instruments and elaborate staging to California. “It’s not going to be inexpensive to be able to accept this invitation, but it will certainly be worth it for the experience of a lifetime for our students and for the international exposure it will mean for Western Carolina University,” Buckner said. Surprise announcement of the band’s invitation to take part in the Rose Parade came during a ceremony recognizing WCU as winner of the 2009 Sudler Trophy. Representatives of the John Philip Sousa Foundation officially presented the award – a prize that has been called the “Heisman Trophy” of the collegiate marching band world – at halftime of WCU’s home football game Oct. 24. Band members were wearing yellow rose boutonnieres with purple ribbons on their uniforms for the Sudler presentation, thinking the adornments were representing the university’s colors, when they learned of the Rose Parade selection from the public address announcer. “The Tournament of Roses has selected Western Carolina University to participate in ‘America’s New Year’s Celebra-tion’ because of your band’s excellent musical talents, enter-tainment value, performance skills, and your outstanding directorship,” Stacy Houser, chair of the parade’s music se-lection committee, said in a letter to Buckner. The Pride of the Mountains is one of only 15 bands from around the world invited to participate in the 122nd Tournament of Roses Parade and the 29th annual affiliated event known as Bandfest, joining six annual invitees for a total of 21 bands taking part. Called “the Super Bowl of marching bands,” the parade is held annually on New Year’s Day in conjunction with the Rose Bowl college football game, part of the Bowl Championship Series. “The parade will be watched by 1 million people live, and an additional 1.5 billion around the world on television,” said Jim Hahn, the parade’s master of ceremonies and music adviser for the tournament. 4 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 5 Education and the environment were more than abstract concepts to the late Genevieve Whitmire MAEd ’69 and E.J. Whitmire, and results of the family’s devotion abound at WCU. E.J. Whitmire contributed site preparation for the football stadium, which bears his name, and was instrumental in establishing natural resources as a course of study. University faculty and students in that department continue to monitor forested stands at the family’s 1,000-acre Cherokee County farm (the majority now in a conservation easement and owned and operated by son Steve Whitmire). Over the years, three generations of the extended Whitmire family have established three endowed scholarship funds for students of education and contributed substantially toward the sciences through support of programs and a professorship. E.J. and his daughter, Genevieve Whitmire Burda, also demonstrated their commitment to the university through service on the board of trustees. Burda retired in 2009 after a decade, and according to Chancellor John W. Bardo, the university has “never had a better trustee.” Burda “was always there, was always prepared and could get people excited,” said Bardo in October, when he presented her with the university’s annual Distinguished Service Award. Burda’s brother Steve Whitmire said his sibling “usually can get what she wants with a little bit of charm and humor.” As a trustee, Burda served on the board’s finance and audit committee (including four years as chair) “during a time when the committee had a lot of work to do,” said Chuck Wooten ’73, vice chancellor for administration and finance. That committee oversees architect selection for construction projects, and primary was the university’s $46 million, 160,000-square-foot health sciences building. Scheduled for completion in 2012, the building is the first facility to be constructed on approximately 350 acres the university purchased on the west side of N.C. 107 and is the cornerstone of a planned neighborhood focusing on retirement, aging and health. From the beginning, Burda lobbied for an architectural firm with depth, but one with local ties that also was experienced in mountain construction. “My interest was definitely in having it fit with the lay of the land,” Burda said. Ultimately, the committee selected Pearce Brinkley Cease and Lee, an architectural firm with an office in Asheville. The building will feature a number of sustainable elements, including a rooftop garden that cleans water runoff by filtering it through dirt and vegetation; passive solar heat; natural light; and rooftop solar collectors that will aid in heating water. The building will be WCU’s first with LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, meaning it meets standards for environmentally sustainable construction. “I was just stunned when I saw the initial drawing,” Burda said. “It just fit into that mountainside so beautifully. It’s a signature building, and that’s what we hoped for.” Burda and her husband, Larry, who are retired and live in Mars Hill, have three daughters, Kathleen Wirth ’97 MAEd ’01, Cindy Burda and Carey Burda ’08. force of nature For Genevieve Burda, commitment to WCU is part of a long, strong family tradition By JIL INGRAM MA ’08 “Students not only have to prepare a race car for competition but also explain the design and cost considerations required to produce the car,” said Bumgarner. For Marshall Cannon, a freshman who wants to become an automotive engineer, the project is a perfect fit. Growing up near the Virginia International Raceway, Cannon always liked cars and earned a diploma from the NASCAR Technical Institute in Mooresville before enrolling at WCU. “After working on cars, you see the flaws that they have, and I want to make them safer and better,” said Cannon. “For this project, we have to engineer everything from the ground up. That includes the suspension geometry, the frame, and figuring out how to put the motor in and install the engine management program.” This is a building year for the team. The University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s automotive engineering program has loaned the group a previous Formula One car to use as an example. The group also has begun fundraising and prepared a sponsorship packet to share with those interested in making a tax-deductible donation to help with the cost of tools, parts, materials, safety gear and travel expenses. Top teams often have an annual $30,000 budget, said Bumgarner. WCU’s race car will be taken to area autocross events and the SAE competition in Michigan. Sponsor names and logos will be placed on the constructed race car, which will be displayed at campus and community events, as well as national and possibly international competitions. FAST TRACK Students to design and build a race car to enter in automotive engineering competitions By TERESA KILIAN TATE Genevieve Whitmire Burda waves to the crowd in the stadium that bears her father’s name. Members of the WCU student chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers examine a Formula One race car from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Ronald Bumgarner ’80 MS ’92 tinkered with a ’55 Willys Jeep when he was growing up. These days, it’s an ’04 Wrangler that Bumgarner, assistant professor of engineering and technology at Western Carolina University, modifies. One day he hopes to develop an electric commuting motorcycle and build an airplane – possibly an old Warbird replica. Bumgarner has a love for projects fraught with engineering challenges, and that’s just one reason he’s excited to work with the WCU students gearing up to design and build a race car to enter in a national Formula One racing series automotive engineering competition in 2011. His other reasons are academic: The WCU student chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers offers another fun, hands-on activity that would challenge students’ interest in engineering and allow them to use the tools and skills they are learning in their courses. “We initially had intentions of building a rock crawler as our first automotive project, but students this year jumped all over the quarter-scale Formula One racing series associated with SAE International,” said Bumgarner. In the competition, originally called the “Mini Indy,” a fictional manufacturing company contracts student design teams to develop a small Formula-style race car. Teams are evaluated at competition for their research, design, manufacturing, testing, developing, marketing, management and finances. For more information, send an e-mail to CatamountRacing@wcu.edu or call Ronald Bumgarner at 828.227.2157. 6 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 7 Student William Ritter doesn’t mind making the cultural jump from portraying the “Fiddler on the Roof” in a university theatrical production to sawing away on his fiddle in WCU’s Mountain Heritage Center, if that means he can participate in his newfound passion of old-time string band music. On any given Thursday during the fall and spring, about 5 p.m. or so, Ritter and other members of one of campus’s newest student organizations, the Porch Music Club, carry their stringed instruments into the museum’s lobby, exchange a few greetings, then sit down and start playing. There’s no Roberts Rules of Order here and no approval of the minutes from the last meeting. There is a good bit of string-tuning, followed by a suggestion of what song to play first (“‘Soldiers Joy’…? Okay.”) Then the action begins. Suddenly, the lobby is filled with live music that seems to fit perfectly with the museum’s exhibits and artifacts. The combination of sounds coming from guitar, fiddle and banjo blend together to create something that sounds sort of like bluegrass, but not really. Imagine bluegrass played with more of a folkish, mountain-sounding rhythm. One big difference is that the banjo is played in the traditional “claw-hammer style” rather than with the three-fingered roll that exemplifies bluegrass. Whatever it is, it works. Spectators soon have grins on their faces, and the mountain folks in the photographs on the wall would be clapping their hands in time, if they could. The formation of the Porch Music Club was sort of a humorous accident. Ritter, a Bakersville resident, and Andrew Payseur, a guitar player and entrepreneurship major from Lincolnton, had been getting together to play old-time string band music informally at the A.K. Hinds University Center. One day, they saw some fraternity brothers pledging, and joked that they should start an “old-time fraternity.” That comment led to the idea of starting a real student organization for fans of the music. They put fliers up to attract other musicians, “but mostly we just got people’s attention by sitting around the UC playing our instruments,” said Ritter, a theater major who works as a shop assistant in his program’s woodworking shop. David Brewin, curatorial specialist at the Mountain Heritage Center, invited the group to gather at the museum for its weekly sessions. Brewin serves as the club’s unofficial coordinator and has helped the students get several performance dates off-campus. When Thursdays roll around, they never know how many musicians are going to show up. Once, 14 people gathered to play, but a core group of four can usually be counted upon – Ritter; Payseur; Patrick Brady, a banjo player from Cullowhee and graduate student in anthropology; and Benjamin Rudolph, a guitar player from Asheville majoring in electronic and computer engineering. Sometimes local residents not associated with WCU join in, which always is a gratifying development, Ritter said. “One reason we started this club was because of community outreach,” he said. “This area is a hotbed of traditional music. We wanted to get some songs from the real deal.” A STUDENT ORGANIZATION OF NOTE The Porch Music Club fills the Mountain Heritage Center with the rhythms of the Southern Appalachians By RANDAL HOLCOMBE For George Frizzell ’77 MA’81, who grew up in Jackson County near the WCU campus, history close to home has become his life’s work. As the head of Special Collections at Hunter Library, Frizzell oversees the collection and preservation of an abundance of rare and unique materials that provide researchers with a realm of possibilities. After 27 years, it’s a job he continues to enjoy. “History and literature are great connectors that bring people together. Regardless of where you were born or grew up, you can develop great appreciation for a region,” he said. Even after all this time, it is still exciting to see people coming up with new and innovative questions and topics.” The collections focus on a variety of areas, notably the cultural and natural history of Southern Appalachia, Cherokee Indian history and culture, literary works of authors associated with the region, and – of course – the history of WCU. Among the treasures are family papers, organizational records, photographs, postcards, books and ephemeral publications. University students, faculty members, historians, literary authors, genealogists and local residents are finding out about and using the rare and unique materials on the library’s second floor. Producers for the recent Ken Burns documentary “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” traveled to WCU to see the library’s historical photographs of mountain life and the environment, choosing several that appeared in the Great Smoky Mountains segment of the PBS special. A selection from Special Collections of the work of George Masa, who captured mountain scenes from the early 1900s in beautiful photographs, was exhibited last fall at the WCU Fine Art Museum. Ron Rash, Parris Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Culture, is among a growing list of authors of historical fiction who have consulted Frizzell and used the library’s resources. “George’s generous sharing of knowledge was crucial as I did research for my novel ‘Serena,’” Rash said. Scholar Elizabeth Coonrod Martínez used documents from the library in her 2007 biography of Josefina Niggli, WCU theater instructor and Mexican- American author. (See related story on Page 12) The increased interest in Special Collections pleases Frizzell and his assistant, Jason Brady ’99, who want to spread the word about the historical resources available to the public, both in the collection’s reading room and online. In recent years, an expanding presence online has brought the collections to the attention of a wider audience. Digital collections feature an exhibit on the life and work of Horace Kephart, an author and former librarian who moved to Western North Carolina and helped establish the Great Smoky Mountains National Park; the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper, printed in the Cherokee language and in English; letters from the Civil War period; photographs of area schools; and a historical travel component of the library’s Craft Revival Web site, a digital history of a movement that started in the late 1900s to revive handcraft among the mountain people. “Ultimately, we are hoping to help preserve the collective memory of the region,” said Frizzell. “We could not do this without the generosity of those who have contributed materials to the collection and the interest of the people who use them in their research.” HISTORY PAPERS From documentarian Ken Burns to local history buffs, Hunter Library is becoming a valuable resource By CHRISTY MARTIN ’71 MA ’78 The four stalwarts of the Porch Music Club – (clockwise from top) Benjamin Rudolph, Andrew Payseur, Patrick Brady and William Ritter – get in some outside picking time before a Thursday night meeting. George Frizzell ’77 MA ’81 shows off some of the artifacts preserved in Hunter Library’s Special Collections. 8 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 9 A renowned Darwin scholar leads a tour of the islands where the famed naturalist made his first evolutionary observations By TERESA KILIAN TATE The story of Charles Darwin and the Galapagos Islands is often misunderstood, said Jim Costa, professor of biology and director of Highlands Biological Station. When Darwin observed the giant tortoises, mockingbirds, and other flora and fauna on the islands in 1835, he did not grasp how important what he saw would be to the work for which he is known – “The Origin of Species.” It was months after Darwin’s visit that, in retrospect, he connected the island observations to the concept of evolution and, even later, to natural selection – the mechanism for evolution presented in his book. “What’s interesting is to try to see the specific plants and animals of the Galapagos through Darwin’s eyes at a time when he didn’t realize their uniqueness or the lessons they hold,” said Costa, who led a tour to the Galapagos this fall at the invitation of the Harvard Museum of Natural History in partnership with Lindblad/National Geographic Expeditions. The trip was one of dozens Costa, a renowned Darwin scholar who authored “The Annotated Origin,” took near and far in 2009 to present at celebrations in honor of the bicentennial of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of “Origin.” “I was extremely excited to see the Galapagos landscape that Darwin memorialized so evocatively in his book ‘Voyage of the Beagle,’” said Costa. “I was keen to see some of the places and, of course, the fascinating organisms that Darwin saw during his visit and get a sense of the varied landscape that Darwin experienced – from vast desolate lava plains to lush mountaintop forests. In another respect, I was excited to experience the Galapagos as remote island archipelago. Oceanic islands are fascinating natural laboratories for ecological and evolutionary processes.” returning to the origin Jim Costa, professor of biology and director of Highlands Biological Station, recently led a tour to the Galapagos Islands, where Charles Darwin recorded observations of animals and plants that proved to be important in his book “The Origin of Species.” Pictured from his trip at left is Pinnacle Rock on Bartolomé Island, and at right, from top, flamingos; Costa; marine iguanas; Costa and fellow naturalists; a giant wild tortoise; and Bartolomé Island. 10 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 11 Josefina Niggli earns recognition for her place in WCU history By JIL INGRAM MA ’08 PHOTO CREDIT: North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill. When Steve Carlisle ’73 arrived on the campus of Western Carolina University from his hometown of Hendersonville in the fall semester of 1966, he had his future mapped. “I was a history major, wanting to go back to my local high school and become a basketball coach and history teacher,” Carlisle recounted. “That was my dream.” An encounter with Western Carolina drama instructor Josefina Niggli rerouted those dreams. Carlisle stopped thinking of theater as a hobby and committed himself to acting. More than 40 years later, Carlisle has worked with Susan Sarandon, Paul Newman, Burt Reynolds, James Garner and Jack Lemon, among others. Niggli had that effect on people. Small in stature – perhaps 5-foot-2-inches in heels – Niggli arrived at Western Carolina in 1956 as an established novelist, poet, screenwriter and playwright. “Theater was a special thing to her, and she made it a special thing to us,” said Luther Jones ’74 MAEd ’82, a former student who made a career in theater, film and television; his movie credits include “Patch Adams,” “My Fellow Americans” and “The Legend of Bagger Vance.” A Woman of Many Roles Born in Monterrey, Mexico, in July 1910 to parents of European descent, Niggli earned her undergraduate degree from Incarnate Word College in San Antonio in 1931 and a master’s degree in drama from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1937. She spent the 1930s and 1940s active in radio, television and film, and writing plays, short stories, novels and screenplays. A forerunner in the literature of Mexico, Niggli wrote in English and revealed Mexican life from an insider’s perspective. She once wrote: “When I was a young kid, drama Queen 12 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 13 Niggli hapenings Events and projects at Western Carolina University to commemorate author and teacher Josefina Niggli include: • A fall 2009 roundtable radio interview of former Niggli students, friends and co-workers, hosted by Don Connelly, head of the communication department, and intended to illuminate her personal side. The interview aired on WWCU-FM and also is available online. • A competition sponsored by the Fine Art Museum. The winner will create a commissioned portrait of Niggli to hang in Niggli Theatre, and artwork from all finalists will be displayed from April 1 to May 8 and again in July in the Fine Art Museum. • An original performance piece from students in the Theatre in Education Program, inspired by Niggli and images invoking Mexico. Students of Mark Mattheis, an assistant professor of broadcasting, will record the piece. • A display of Niggli holdings by Hunter Library’s Special Collections, on exhibit through Dec. 11 at the library. • An alternative spring break to Niggli’s birthplace coordinated by the Center for Service Learning. • An oral history project from the department of history. • A March 10 gender conference, sponsored by the Women’s Studies Program, featuring author and Niggli scholar Elizabeth Coonrod Martínez as the keynote speaker and including a screening of “Sombrero.” starting out as a writer, I had a shining goal. I was going to present Mexico and the Mexicans as they had never before been presented.” In 1945, Niggli published “Mexican Village,” a collection of 10 short stories; parts of it were adapted into “Sombrero,” a 1953 major motion picture from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starring Ricardo Montalban and Cyd Charisse. Niggli co-wrote the screenplay, and two later novels also were well received. Education was important to Niggli. She was a graduate of the Columbia University School of Journalism, received radio training at New York University and studied acting in Europe. She held positions at Chapel Hill and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro before joining the faculty of Western Carolina. Cullowhee’s Grande Dame Niggli, who taught journalism in addition to drama, made a big impression at the mountain school. Chain-smoking Marlboro cigarettes, clicking her fingertips like castanets, offering stage direction from the seat of a red recliner po-sitioned in the theater aisle, she was fascinating, imperial, dramatic, magical, revolutionary. Niggli introduced a climate of professionalism in WCU’s theater program that allowed her students to graduate highly trained and ready to work. Her classes studied classical acting, dramatic structure, period and style. They studied Shakespeare, Molière and Ibsen. They performed contemporary Broadway hits. Niggli’s productions were so popular that – despite a two-lane, winding road west of Balsam – people drove from Asheville to attend. Niggli retired in 1976 and remained in Cullowhee. She died in 1983, leaving money, property and personal effects to the university. To date, a theater arts scholarship Niggli funded has awarded more than $126,000 to 128 students. A Turn in the Spotlight Now, WCU is formally recognizing Niggli’s accomplishments. For the 2009-10 academic year, the Office for Undergraduate Studies is coordinating a series of interdisciplinary, campuswide events under the umbrella title of “Josefina Niggli: A Celebration of Culture, Art and Life.” University centers and academic departments have committed to integrating Niggli into coursework and coordinating projects in her honor (see sidebar). The university also has named her the recipient of a posthumous honorary doctorate. For years, Jones, now the University Theatre’s designer and technical director, and Carlisle, associate dean of the Honors College, have discussed recognition of Niggli beyond renaming the Little Theatre in her memory in 1984. “I just thought it was time to recognize her accomplishments,” Jones said. “I don’t think the significance of her work was understood at the time she was alive.” Agrees Carlisle, “She really was ahead of her time, and we didn’t know how to appreciate her. It has taken us 50 years to catch up to this woman.” The effort took some time to gain momentum, but ultimately the timing was perfect, said Glenda Hensley, coordinator of first-year experiences with the Office for Undergraduate Studies. The university already had instituted its plan of engaged, cross-disciplinary learning, and a committee had formed under the leadership of Carol Burton ’87 MAEd ’89, assistant vice chancellor for undergraduate studies, to expand the humanities. It was Jones who approached the committee about honoring Niggli. “We agreed this would be an amazing way to institute a campuswide thematic year,” said Hensley. Although she earned degrees in costume design and drama education elsewhere, Hensley took several classes at WCU, and once encountered Niggli as a guest speaker. “She was such a lady,” Hensley recalled. “I remember somebody escorting her up the steps of the Little Theatre, and she sat in the famous wingback chair.” The recognition comes during the 100th year since Niggli’s birth and amid growing academic interest, with a biography and two compilations of Niggli’s work published since 2007. A January “celebration premiere” was intended to “really kick up attention for the spring semester,” Hensley said. It included an invited reception and a performance by students and Kathleen Wright, professor emeritus of communication. Wright, whose tenure briefly overlapped Niggli’s, portrayed “Miss Niggli,” as her former students still call her, in a costume created by Leeanne Deaver ’09. Deaver, of Canton, studied costume design at WCU with the help of a Josefina Niggli Scholarship. She lives in New York and occasionally works for famed costume designer William Ivey Long. She volunteered to design the Niggli costume – a black-and-pink dress and “an elegant little black shawl” – because she wanted to repay Niggli’s generosity. “I was really thankful that I had the opportunity to create the costume,” Deaver said. “A lot of students get the scholarship, but not all the students get the opportunity to show appreciation for it.” While the yearlong program is primarily to demonstrate Niggli’s ongoing legacy to current students – “We want to keep learning front and center,” Hensley said – one event is of special interest to alumni: a reunion and performance planned for July 8-10. “Since the actual anniversary of her birth is in July, we decided that was a good time to allow alums and others who were devoted to Ms. Niggli to come to campus,” Hensley said. The centerpiece of the weekend will be a performance (the location is yet to be determined) directed by Carlisle and featuring Niggli’s former students. “This is going to be an inside look at how Josefina affected the lives of her former students,” Carlisle said. “It’s going to be a love-in – laughter, tears, hugging. These people are just itching to get back here and honor her.” Many participants learned of the event through the social networking site Facebook. A link to that page can be found on WCU’s Josefina Niggli site, niggli.wcu.edu. “The Facebook page had more than 100 fans in less than two weeks. People found it pretty quickly,” Hensley said. “We have managed to create a terrific communication network.” Calling Miss Niggli’s students: Niggli’s former students and others interested in learning more about the July reunion should contact Glenda Hensley of the Office for Undergraduate Studies at ghensley@wcu.edu or 828.227.2786. Among campus events to celebrate the life of Josefina Niggli (top left) are, clockwise from top right, an ongoing display of artifacts; a performance by Kathleen Wright, retired head of the department of communication and theater arts during January’s celebration; and a March screening of “Sombrero,” promoted in a movie poster held by Luther Jones ’74 MAEd ’82. 14 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 15 Emily Collman, an elementary education and Spanish major from the Gaston County town of Dallas, always knew she wanted to go to college to learn how to be a teacher. What she didn’t know was how she would pay for it, or if she had what it took to achieve her goal. That is, until she received the Taft and Malvery Botner Scholarship, which helped her pay tuition and fees, and which enabled her to gain the skills and self-confidence to succeed in the classroom, both as a student and as a student-teacher. “I have known since the time I was 12 years old that I wanted to be a teacher,” said Collman, a senior. “Here at Western Carolina, I have found nationally regarded professors who care about me, not just as a student but as a person. Receiving the Botner Scholarship was a huge validation for me, because scholarships are not like birthday presents that you get for surviving another year. Scholarships are a pat on the back, an ‘atta-girl’ in recognition of your perseverance and hard work.” For Brandon Robinson ’05, the fact that a university believed enough in the intellectual and academic ability of a first-generation college student from Mocksville to award him the History Excellence Scholarship gave him the self esteem not only to earn a bachelor’s degree in history, but to work toward a master’s degree in history at WCU en route to the ultimate prize – a law degree. “It’s obvious that receiving a scholarship helped me financially be able to attend the university,” Robinson said. “But it also signaled for me that point of confidence where I knew that Western Carolina University – and specifically the history department – had faith in me and my abilities, and they believed that I could come here and do great things and actualize my ambition of being a Renaissance man. You can have a lot of dreams like that when you come to college, but if you’re a first-generation undergraduate student like I was, when you have Ph.D.s and different committees and deans willing to invest in you and your intellectual abilities, that just sealed it for me.” Those are just two examples of the types of stories heard time and again across the campus as students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends came together in October to celebrate what Chancellor John W. Bardo characterized as “a most historic day in the life of our university” – the successful conclusion of the first comprehensive fundraising campaign in the university’s 120 years. After topping $51.8 million in contributions, the Campaign for Western Carolina is producing dividends for students and faculty By BIL STUDENC Investment in the Future $ 5 1 , 8 2 6 , 915 Y O U ’ R E E X T R A O R D I N A R Y ! campaign headquarters Opposite page, counterclockwise from top left: Campaign volunteers are thanked for their role in the fundraising effort; Emily Collman, Taft and Malvery Botner Scholarship recipient, speaks to donors; students line up to applaud campaign contributors; Founders Scholarship recipient Andrew Blair practices the marimba. Chancellor John Bardo presents a WCU cap to musician Matt Stillwell ’98, who performed at the campaign celebration. 16 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 17 campaign headquarters Making a Difference in Student Lives Thanks to the $51.8 million in contributions from benefactors who helped the university shatter its goal of $40 million in private support announced when the Campaign for Western Carolina was launched to the public in February 2007, more students like Collman and Robinson will be able to pursue their dreams of getting a college education, Bardo said. “A university has never been a collection of buildings, although it is in buildings where we do much of our work. A university has never been a geographic space. A university is about people. And the better the people of a university, the better the university. No university is better than its faculty members, and no faculty member can touch the future unless he or she has the right type of students who care about the future, who want to make a difference in their world. That’s what this university is about,” he said. It is for that reason that the Campaign for Western Carolina did not focus on money for new buildings or land purchases. Instead, it focused on endowed professorships, endowed scholarship and programmatic support, Bardo said. “This campaign was about extraordinary opportunities for our faculty, for our staff and, most of all, for our students. It was about making it possible to bring the very best minds in the world to Cullowhee.” The competition for attracting those bright minds has increased greatly, he said, and the only way to get those best and brightest is through endowed scholarships to bring top students to WCU and through endowed professorships to attract the nation’s preeminent scholars to teach those students. That is why the majority of the dollars raised during the campaign are directed to student and faculty endowments. Thirty-four percent of contributions are earmarked for faculty endowments, including commitments for 24 new endowed distinguished professorships in fields ranging from educational leadership to construction management. Thirty percent of campaign gifts are directed to student endowments, including scholarships, and to support such wide-ranging student activities as travel abroad opportunities, participation in skills-based competitions against students from other universities, and internships or master classes with world-renowned experts. For example, Andrew Blair, a senior from Liberty majoring in music education, was among only 30 students from across the nation selected to participate in a prestigious percussion class held in New York last summer under the direction of the world’s foremost marimba virtuoso, Leigh Howard Stevens. “It’s really a great honor as a musician and as a percussionist to be selected to participate,” said Blair, who performed selections on the marimba as part of the WCU Foundation’s annual scholarship luncheon during the week of campaign celebration activities in the fall. “I was studying with the father of our modern marimba techniques.” While The Campaign for Western Carolina was successful, university leaders continue to seek outside support. For more information, contact the Office of Development at 828.227.7124 (or 800.492.8496 toll free), or visit campaign.wcu.edu. Thanks to the Honors College Study Abroad Fund, Max DeGrove, son of WCU facilities management supervisor Andy DeGrove ’83 MIT ’84, was able to spend a summer in Shikoku, Japan, bicycling across the smallest of the nation’s four “big islands” and immersing himself in the culture. “It was truly a life-changing experience, one that I would have never been able to have without the support of donors and scholarships,” said DeGrove, a sophomore majoring in engineering technology. “I think that study abroad is something that every student should do. It gives you a sense of maturity from being on your own in a foreign country. I am certainly a better person because of it.” Christina Banner, a sophomore majoring in musical theater, said receiving scholarship assistance has meant she has not had to take a part-time job to help pay expenses, leaving time to focus on studies and on extracurricular activities ranging from working backstage at theatrical productions to involvement in student leadership groups. “My scholarship definitely helped me financially. I have an older brother and a younger brother, so I know my parents definitely appreciated it,” said Banner, from Conover. “But it’s also given me the opportunity to do more on campus. It has really freed me up to be able to take advantage of the college experience without having to worry about finances. I’ve been able to take a full course load, plus be heavily involved in the productions that the theater department does.” The Honors College Study Abroad Fund enabled Max DeGrove (above, left) to bicycle across a Japanese island. Scholarship recipient and campaign donor Brandon Robinson ’05 (above, right) relaxes in the stacks of Hunter Library, where he spends much of his time reading for school and pleasure. Professor Louis Buck, scholarship recipients Brandon Robinson ’05 and Christina Banner and Wesley Elingburg ’78 discuss the benefits of the campaign. 18 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 19 campaign headquarters It was just a few months ago that Wesley Elingburg ’78, a supporter of Western Carolina’s Loyalty Fund for 18 years, issued a challenge to other donors, backing up that challenge with an offer to match new and increased gifts of at least $1,000, up to a maximum of $50,000. Already, 23 people have taken him up on his challenge, making additional gifts to the Loyalty Fund that, when combined with his match, have resulted in an additional $73,283 to provide merit-based scholarships to WCU students. Elingburg says he is pleased at the success of the Elingburg Challenge – and its role in extending the success of The Campaign for Western Carolina. “I haven’t quit smiling since I got on campus this morning,” the retired chief financial officer with Laboratory Corp. of America said during a campaign celebration event in October. “I am so happy to be here today, and it’s such a privilege to be able to celebrate what has happened.” Cynthia Hamilton Beane ’71 is among those who have taken up Elingburg on his challenge. “I had given small amounts to the university each year for several years, but have long felt that I need to give more to my alma mater, to reconnect and to get more involved,” said Beane, a partner in the accounting firm Beane Swaringen & Co. “Learning of the Wes Elingburg Challenge made me realize that now is the time to do what I have always intended to do.” Additional gifts made through the challenge are helping maintain the momentum of the first comprehensive fundraising effort at WCU. Although the campaign resulted in $51.8 million in contributions and pledges to the university, additional needs remain. “Giving back to the campus and the community, that’s what I want to do. I want to give back to afford opportunities to students – opportunities that, without our help, a lot of deserving students won’t get,” Elingburg said. “How can we help as donors? We can help by giving back to institutions. Let’s think about writing that check. Think about the pleasure that you get from knowing that when you write that check to this institution, you are indeed helping a student.” CHALLENGE ACCEPTED Donors are taking up an alum’s offer to match their gifts to the Loyalty Fund By BIL STUDENC A significant slowdown in the construction industry resulting from the nation’s lingering economic downturn has led to the recent declaration of bankruptcy by a benefactor in the Campaign for Western Carolina. Contributions from Joe W. Kimmel and his company, Kimmel & Associates, in 2005 led to the naming of the Kimmel School of Construction Management and Technology. “For more than a decade, Kimmel & Associates has been among the nation’s top firms in placing construction managers in the U.S. construction industry, one of the strongest segments of the American economy. Western Carolina University anticipates that the company will rebound as the national construction industry, among the hardest hit segments of the national economy in the current recession, returns to normal,” said Clifton Metcalf, vice chancellor for advancement and external affairs. “Delay in fulfilling commitments planned in the Kimmel gift will mean that fewer student scholarships and less program support – such as brochures and student participation in conferences or competitions – will be available during the interim,” Metcalf said. Chancellor John W. Bardo expressed his sympathy for the Kimmels, who are among a large number of business men and women, and numerous U.S. companies, who are suffering economically. “The Kimmels are wonderful people with whom we have worked for a number of years and with whom we have a great relationship. They and many among the Kimmel & Associates leadership are close friends of the university and of many of us in the university family,” Bardo said. “Our current concern is for the Kimmel family and their employees. As one does with family, we will take the long view of this trying time. We wish them all the best. We will stand by them in every way we can, and trust that there will be a brighter day in the world economy soon.” Financial downturn will slow support for construction management Students Give Us Hope It was concerns about students being able to afford college and about the quality of their educational experience that led Wesley Elingburg ’78, retired chief financial officer with Laboratory Corp. of America, to contribute before, during and after the campaign. “It pains me when I hear stories of students who want to go to school but struggle financially to do so. I would like every student who wants to go to college to be able to do so without the burden of debt,” said Elingburg, whose gifts to the university during the silent phase of the campaign led to establishment of the Wesley Elingburg Professorship of Business Innovation, a position now held by Louis Buck, a former executive at one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies. “Western Carolina gave me the foundation that led me through my adult life. When I came to the university, I did not know what I wanted to do with my life. But there were faculty here and faculty advisers who gave me that guidance. For that, I will be forever grateful,” Elingburg said. “I’ve given back to Western Carolina. Anytime Western Carolina calls upon me, I am there, and I will always be there.” And Elingburg continues to be a major contributor to the university. In 2009, he issued a challenge to encourage increased giving to WCU’s Loyalty Fund, which provides scholarships and other support for WCU students, faculty and programs (see Challenge Accepted on next page). Elingburg is not alone in his desire to give back. Gifts to the campaign came from 9,564 donors from 48 states. Of those donors, 608 work at Western Carolina as faculty or staff. The majority of donors – 59 percent – were WCU alumni, with 5,661 individual alumni making contributions. Another 34 percent of contributors are not alumni, but are characterized as “friends of the university,” with corporations, foundations and other benefactors making up the remaining 7 percent. Four groups achieved 100 percent participation in the campaign – the university’s board of trustees, the WCU Foundation board of directors, the WCU Executive Council and University Police. Joan MacNeill, former chair of the WCU board of trustees, said there is a reason why so many people from so many walks of life from across the country were willing to give to the Campaign for Western Carolina – a reason far more important than tax deductions or naming opportunities. “The secret is, for my husband and myself, we are the ones who feel blessed,” said MacNeill. She accompanied Ashley Shemery, the recipient of the Joan and Malcolm MacNeill Scholarship, to a special lecture presented by the Jacksonville sophomore’s favorite professor after a special luncheon to thank scholarship donors. “For us, she’s really what it’s all about. Ashley has expressed her gratitude and thanks to us for the financial help she had received. But what she doesn’t know is we really thank her. She and students like Brandon and Christina have given us hope. They make us feel really good about the future.” From left, Ashley Shemery and her scholarship benefactors Malcolm and Joan MacNeill attend a lecture by a popular professor. For more information on the Elingburg Challenge, visit loyaltyfund.wcu.edu, or contact Natalie Clark, at 828.227.3090 or nclark@wcu.edu. photo credit: Will McIntyre ’76 and Deni McIntyre 20 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 21 campaign headquarters Fifty-two years. That is how long I have been observing “The Progress of an Idea,” the phrase Dean W.E. Bird used to describe the founding and progression of a little academy on a small plot of land in the woods of Jackson County to a vibrant, comprehensive university with international influence on a beautiful 600-acre campus in Cullowhee, USA. While Bird’s account of the development of Western Carolina University does not extend beyond 1957, the year I enrolled at Western Carolina, I have been blessed by the extraordinary opportunity to observe up-close, first as a student and then as an employee, the continued “Progress of an Idea.” I have witnessed a number of impressive events at Western Carolina over those 52 years, but none has made me prouder than the success of the university’s recent, first-ever comprehensive fundraising campaign: “Creating Extraordinary Opportunities.” Perhaps I was especially proud because of the historical perspective I brought to the campaign, a perspective that included memories of when the president of the college was the only person on campus with ready access to a public address system, when the cafeteria’s Sunday supper for students consisted of a pimento cheese sandwich and an apple in a brown paper bag, and when there was no store on campus where students could purchase books to supplement their rented texts or satisfy their desire for extracurricular reading. The individuals responsible for directing the fundraising campaign, which was publicly launched in 2007, insisted on thinking big: $20 million was the initial, unannounced goal. Conditioned perhaps by my 50-year knowledge of the need to penny-pinch, I wondered if the university was campaigning more for embarrassment than funds. Nonetheless, as the campaign progressed, the $20 million target was reset three times: $25 million, $30 million, and finally, a giddy $40 million. When WCU celebrated the results of its campaign on Oct. 15, 2009, Chancellor John Bardo announced that the campaign had generated nearly $52 million. The astonishing success of the campaign confirmed that WCU is capable of raising funds from private sources to support the “idea” Dean Bird recounted in “Western Carolina College: The Progress of an Idea.” Certainly, the $51.8 million raised will help students and faculty improve teaching and learning; and it will help the university attract even stronger faculty and students, serve more effectively the broader community, and enhance further the quality of the institution’s academic and athletics programs. But in the opinion of this appreciative alumnus and recently retired 40-year employee, the most pleasing and significant outcome of the campaign is confirmation that, in the eyes of alumni, friends, corporations and foundations, Western Carolina University is a vibrant, dynamic institution that is realizing its goal of offering opportunities to those who aspire to make a difference in their world, and is therefore worthy of private fiscal support. How much is this widespread sentiment worth to WCU? Certainly, more than $52 million. And that bodes well for the university’s future fundraising campaigns and the continued “Progress of an Idea” that began way back in 1889. Western North Carolina residents participating in an aphasia support group are benefiting from the expertise of a teacher and researcher who literally wrote the book on the disorder. Nancy Helm-Estabrooks, one of the nation’s top experts in adult neurological communication disorders, was appointed WCU’s first Catherine Brewer Smith Distinguished Professor of Communication Disorders in July. The focus of Helm-Estabrooks’ research and writing over the years has been aphasia, a communication disorder, typically caused by a stroke or other brain injury, that is related to understanding and producing language. In addition to teaching courses in aphasia and cognitive-communicative disorders, Helm-Estabrooks trains graduate students to work with individuals affected by aphasia who attend meetings of the Asheville Area Aphasia Support Group. As part of that effort, she also leads discussions for family members and friends who are living with aphasia through a loved one. During weekly meetings at CarePartners Health Services in Asheville, the support group offers free individual and group therapy for those who are no longer eligible for insurance coverage for rehabilitation services. Before coming to WCU, Helm-Estabrooks was a research professor in the division of speech and hearing sciences in the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she continues to hold an adjunct position. She was a clinical investigator for 32 years with the renowned Harold Goodglass Aphasia Research Center in Boston, and is co-author of the highly regarded “Manual of Aphasia and Aphasia Therapy.” Treatment methods and tests developed by Helm-Estabrooks and her colleagues, are now used by clinicians around the world. Ruby Drew, retired associate professor of communication disorders who helps lead the treatment program for the Asheville support group, said Helm-Estabrooks has a “special understanding of persons with aphasia” that is well-received by family and friends. “Nancy is a dynamic clinician and has intuitive knowledge about how the brain has been affected by aphasia, and she is indefatigable in her energy to assist those who have the disorder,” Drew said. Department head Bill Ogletree calls Helm-Estabrooks a “wonderful role model” for both students and faculty. “Her scholarly and clinical impact has laid the groundwork for future generations of researchers and practitioners, and her international reputation in the area of adult neurogenic communication disorders is simply second to none,” Ogletree said. A gift of $300,000 from the estate of the late Catherine Brewer Smith provided funding for the distinguished professorship in communication disorders. It was one in a series of family contributions made to honor the memory of Smith’s father, Albert Dudley Brewer, who attended the university. A native of Marion, Ind., Smith owned and managed a motel in Madeira Beach, Fla., for 26 years. She maintained residences in Franklin and Yankeetown, Fla. WCU combined $250,000 of Smith’s gift with matching state funds to establish the $500,000 professorship, while the remaining $50,000 was used to create an endowed fund that supports activities of the department of communication sciences and disorders. An aphasia expert has joined the communication sciences and disorders faculty as the first Catherine Brewer Smith Distinguished Professor By RANDAL HOLCOMBE A GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING Nancy Helm-Estabrooks works with a member of an aphasia support group. EXTRAORDINARY TIMES Thanks to the Campaign for Western Carolina, ‘The Progress of an Idea’ is climbing to new heights By GURNEY CHAMBERS ’61 Fashions and hairstyles have changed over the years; what has not changed is the university’s emphasis on student success, at the heart of the Campaign for Western Carolina. Gurney E. Chambers ’61 is dean emeritus of the College of Education and Allied Professions and served as chair of the faculty/staff component of the Family Gifts Division during the Campaign for Western Carolina. 22 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 23 Danna Harrell-Stansbury ’95 BA ’98 MPA Asheville, N.C. Director of marketing and administration, Land-of-Sky Regional Council. At WCU: Pi Gamma Mu international honor society for social science; Political Science Club; Alpha Xi Delta sorority; participated in intramural sports. Formerly: Jackson County Extension 4-H agent, 1999-2004; member, National Association of Extension 4-H Agents, 1999- 2004; member, N.C. Association of Extension Agents, 1999-2004; Jackson County Child and Family Council, 2000-04; volunteer, Jackson County Schools, 1999-2004; member, Webster Baptist Church, 2002-08; project administrator, Science Applications International Corp., Atlanta, 2004-06. Currently: Volunteer, Madison County Schools, 2006-present; member, Rotary International, Madison County Chapter, 2006-present; Local Government Volunteer Advisory Board, 2006-present; member, Mars Hill Baptist Church, 2006-present; volunteer, Habitat for Humanity, 2007-present; board member, State Employees’ Credit Union, 2009; member, N.C. Association of County Commissioners, 2009; member, WNC Association of City and County Managers, 2009; Public Executive Leadership Academy, N.C. School of Government, UNC-CH, 2009; community emergency response team training, 2009. Jeffrey A. Davis ’92 BS ’01 JD Mississippi College Cornelius, N.C. Assistant district attorney, supervisor of violent crime unit, 26th Judicial District, Mecklenburg County. At WCU: Pi Gamma Mu; Anthropology Club; Outstanding Anthropology Graduate, 1992; WCU Clean Campus Club; participant, WCU Research Conference, 1991 and 1992. Formerly: Member, Cornelius Transportation Advisory Committee, 2004-05; vice president, Mitchell County Chamber of Commerce, 1996-97; volunteer, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools “Lunch with a Lawyer” program, 2008; volunteer, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools “Teen Court,” 2003. Currently: Vice chair person, Charlotte Mecklenburg Zoning Board of Adjustment; member, Mecklenburg County Criminal Courts Committee. Dennis L. Howell ’73 BSBA ’76 JD UNC School of Law Burnsville, N.C. U.S. magistrate judge for the Western District of North Carolina. At WCU: Patrons of Quality Scholar; served on the Chancellor’s Inauguration Committee; vice president, Young Democrats Club; Alpha Phi Sigma; Phi Kappa Phi; Law Club; Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities; WCU College representative to the North Carolina Legislature, 1973; graduated summa cum laude; graduated first in class rank. Formerly: John Motley Morehead Fellowship in Law, UNC School of Law, 1973-76; class president, UNC School of Law, 1976; board member, Mitchell County Economic Development Commission; president, Yancey County Youth Football League; member of local board of directors, Southeastern Savings & Loan Association; member, WCU Alumni Board, 1980-82; member, John Motley Morehead District Selection Committee, 1982/1988; member 1986-90, vice chairman 1988-90, Yancey County Board of Education. Currently: Member, Mount Mitchell State Park Advisory Committee; member, N.C. State Bar; member of the Bar, U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit; member of the Bar, 24th Judicial District of the state of North Carolina. Tonya Wilson Reid ’88 BS Statesville, N.C. Lead school social worker, truancy court liaison, McKinney-Vento district liaison, day treatment liaison, Iredell Statesville Schools. At WCU: Resident assistant, Helder Residence Hall; member, WCU Inspirational Choir; member, WCU Baseball’s Batgirl Squad; Alpha Phi Alpha Little Sisters (an affiliation of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity). Formerly: Statesville All-America City Steering Committee, 2009; 115 Corridor Gateway Project Committee; Statesville Police Department Assessment Center for Sergeants; Rabbittown/Sunnyside Community Reunion Committee. Currently: Chairperson, South Statesville Weed and Seed; member, Statesville Police Department Citizen Academy Board; private sector member, ICARE Inc.; community member, National Night Out Committee. Paul T. Jones ’69 BSEd ’70 MAEd Forest City, N.C. Retired educator and coach, Rutherford County Schools. At WCU: Sports editor, Western Carolinian; Physical Education Club; captain, WCU’s first track and cross country teams. Formerly: Coach for 15 years, WCU track and cross country; NCAA II Cross Country Coach of the Year, 1974-75; WCU Athletic Hall of Fame, 2002; former sports information director, WCU; committee member, Catamount Club Auctions; committee member, Catamount Club Bob Waters Golf Tournament; president, Catamount Club. Currently: Member, WCU Catamount Club; member, Sunday school teacher and member of various church committees, Florence Baptist Church; lifetime member, Veterans of Foreign Wars; member, 1st Batallion 4th Marines Association; combat veteran, Vietnam War; work with Forest City Florence Mill Revitalization Committee; member, Forest City Owls Baseball Boosters Club. Joan Knipe Walker ’71 BSEd Hickory, N.C. Owner, Providence Home Construction LLC., N.C. licensed general contractor. At WCU: Student. Formerly: Board member, Habitat for Humanity; chairperson, Community Architectural Review Committee; vice president, Women’s Aglow Fellowship. Currently: Member, WCU Catamount Club; contributor, WCU Loyalty Fund; established Catawba County Christian Business and Professional Scholarship Endowment. Married to Phillip D. Walker ’71; two children, Jonathan ’99 and Melanie. NORTH CAROLINA DISTRICT 1 NORTH CAROLINA DISTRICT 2 Alleghany, Alexander, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Rutherford, Polk, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey counties. (Vote for one. The top vote recipient will serve a three-year term, 2010-12.) Dana Jones ’99 BSBA Ocean Isle Beach, N.C. Territory manager, Sherwin-Williams. At WCU: Student Government Association senator; represented WCU in national collegiate sales competition; InterFraternity Council executive board; member, Pi Kappa Alpha; volunteer, Mountain Area Hospice. Current & Former Activities: Five-time consecutive winner, Sherwin-Williams President’s Award (highest award given nationally); member, Sherwin-Williams Southeastern Division Management Training Quality committee; vice president, Bent Tree executive board; owner/member manager, Stone Crest of the Carolinas; Brunswick County U6 soccer coach; volunteer, Brunswick Boys and Girls Club; member, Liberty Baptist Church. Married with two children. Dale Sims ’78 BS Franklin, Tenn. Vice chancellor for business and finance, Tennessee Board of Regents System. At WCU: Student orientation leader, 1977; resident assistant, Reynolds Hall, 1976-77; resident director, Reynolds Hall, 1977-78; member, baseball team, 1974-78 (lettered in 1977 and 1978). FormerLY: Tennessee state treasurer, 2003-09; member, National Association of State Treasurers, recipient of Jesse M. Unruh Award, served in various association leadership roles; member, National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers, recipient of 2007 President’s Award, member of executive committee; member, Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Board; member, Tennessee Higher Education Commission; Public Finance Institute certification, Kellogg School at Northwestern University; Public Service Professional of the Year, County Officials Association of Tennessee, 2007. Currently: Member, National Association of College and University Business Officers; member, Southern Association of College and University Business Officers; member, finance committee member, Franklin First United Methodist Church; contributor, WCU Loyalty Fund; member, Catamount Club. Married to Debbie Davis Sims of Nashville, Tenn.; daughter, Jessica, and grandson, Jay. James A. Chandler ’94 BSBA ’97 MS ’98 PhD University of Tennessee Greenville, N.C. Associate professor, department of hospitality management; lead faculty, food and beverage management program, East Carolina University. At WCU: Member, Mortar Board national senior honor society; committee member, 1994 Mountain Heritage Day; member, Beta Gamma Sigma honor society; member, Alpha Mu Alpha honor society. Current & Former Activities: International Council of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education; board-certified educator, International Food Safety Council; board-certified educator, American Hotel and Lodging Robin Parton Pate ’97 BSBA ’99 MA University of Alabama Knoxville, Tenn. Vice president of program planning, HGTV (Home and Garden Television). At WCU: Student orientation leader; membership vice president, Alpha Xi Delta, 1995-97; Order of Omega; member, Homecoming planning committee; member, American Marketing Association; Walt Disney World-College Program. Formerly: Member, Atlanta American Marketing Association Research Executives Roundtable; senior research analyst, Turner Broadcasting Networks CNN, TBS and TNT. Currently: Member, National Association of Television Executives; executive member, 2009 Mentor Program, Women in Cable Telecommunications; Mark Awards Judge 2009, Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing; member, American Marketing Association; volunteer, Special Olympics; volunteer, Meals on Wheels. Association Educational Institute; National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation; past president, Southeast Council of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education; N.C. Council of Hospitality and Tourism Educators’ Association; N.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association; N.C. Tourism Industry Association; past treasurer and board of directors’ member, N.C. Tourism Education Foundation; N.C. Chapter, Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International; Pitt County Muscular Dystrophy Association Foundation; Pitt County March of Dimes; East Carolina University faculty senator; past chair, ECU College of Human Ecology Faculty Council; faculty and director, ECU Center for Sustainable Tourism; Kappa Omicron Nu national honor society, UT and ECU chapters. Donnie D. Rhodes ’71 BA Colorado Springs, Colo. Retired in 2002, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals management. At WCU: Member, Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity; active in intramural sports; member, Society for the Advancement of Management; Western Carolinian campus newspaper, 1970. Formerly: Past president, Broadmoor Rotary Club, Colorado Springs, 2008-09; member, Kiwanis, Wilmington, N.C., 1987-97; member, St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Wilmington; U.S. Marine Corps military service, 1966-69. Currently: Member (2002-present), program chairman (2004-present), Broadmoor Rotary Club; member, First Presbyterian Church; actively working with and supporting the Wounded Warriors Program at Fort Carson, Colo.; leading fundraising efforts for Citizens Soldiers Connection, a nonprofit benefit for families of military veterans; member, Marine Corps League, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the American Legion. OUT-OF-STATE DISTRICT 5 NORTH CAROLINA DISTRICT 4 Beaufort, Bertie, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Gates, Greene, Hertford, Hyde, Jones, Lenoir, Martin, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Pitt, Tyrell, Washington and Wayne counties. (Vote for one. The top vote recipient will serve a three-year term, 2010-12.) All states except North Carolina. (Vote for one. The top vote recipient will serve a three-year term, 2010-12.) Alamance, Anson, Cabarrus, Caswell, Catawba, Cleveland, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Gaston, Guilford, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Montgomery, Randolph, Richmond, Rockingham, Rowan, Stanly, Stokes, Surry, Union and Yadkin counties. (Vote for one. The top vote recipient will serve a three-year term, 2010-12.) Dennis A. Fox ’71 BSBA Raleigh, N.C. Vice president of market development, Trailcreek Investments. At WCU: Sergeant at Arms, Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. Formerly: Pi Kappa Alpha, Zeta Xi House Corp.; member, WCU Alumni Association and WCU Catamount Club; board of directors, Automotive Warehouse Distributors Association, 1997-99; Distribution Advisory Council, Dana Corp., 1981-83; Distribution Advisory Council, Ray-O-Vac Corp., 1991-92; management certification, Duke University, 1995; Distribution Advisory Council, Wix Filter Corp., 1995-96; volunteer, Special Olympics, 1999-2005; management certification, Ohio State University, 2000; automotive parts professional, University of the Aftermarket/Northwood University, 2003; volunteer, Habitat for Humanity, 2003-05. Currently: Married to Susan Dorato Fox; daughter and son-in-law, Mickkie and Andy Pickle; two granddaughters, Catherine and Emily. Robert W. Gibson ’87 BSBA Raleigh, N.C. Delivery systems manager, Local Government Federal Credit Union. At WCU: Chaplain, Pi Kappa Phi fraternity; intramural sports; Push America volunteer; United Methodist Youth Fellowship. Formerly: Youth director, Wake Forest Presbyterian Church; member, West Raleigh Rotary Club; member, Pi Kappa Phi, Gamma Epsilon Chapter Alumni board of directors; member, WCU Alumni Association board of directors, 2002–05; member, WCU Alumni Association, Triangle Chapter; established the Dean C. Plemmons Memorial Scholarship Fund at WCU; volunteer, Friends of St. Timothy’s School; member and volunteer, Council for Entrepreneurial Development; volunteer, Eastern North Carolina chapter, Multiple Sclerosis Society. Currently: High school and middle school Sunday school teacher, St. Timothy’s Church; secretary, St. Timothy’s Church Men’s Fellowship; member and webmaster, Hurricane Region, Porsche Club of America board of directors; member, WCU Catamount Club; volunteer, Habitat for Humanity; owner/ administrator, The Catamount Pride (a WCU-focused Internet discussion forum). Paula Freeman Mangum ’82 BSN Durham, N.C. Manager, Rex Cancer Center of Wakefield; Rex Healthcare. At WCU: Orientation leader; resident assistant; intramural sports; member, Organization of Ebony Students; employee of campus day care facility; Miss Alpha Phi Alpha, Homecoming Court, 1978. FormerLY: Leader, Kenwood Estates Young Teens Community Group; participant, Durham’s Ebony Debutantes; honoree, Eckerd Salute to Women; recipient, UNC Hospital Plus Person Award; member, Clinical Cancer Center Advisory Board; recipient, The American Cancer Society Lane W. Adams Award; former combat medic/U.S. Army nurse. CurrentLY: Director, Carriage House After School Program; Child Evangelism Fellowship (ministry outreach to children); Durham Urban Ministry Network; Notary Public. NORTH CAROLINA DISTRICT 3 Bladen, Chatham, Columbus, Cumberland, Durham, Edgecombe, Franklin, Granville, Halifax, Harnett, Hoke, Johnston, Lee, Moore, Nash, Northampton, Orange, Person, Robeson, Sampson, Scotland, Vance, Wake, Warren and Wilson counties. (Vote for one. The top vote recipient will serve a three-year term, 2010-12.) Board of Directors election 2010 WCU Alumni Association Announces: 24 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 25 ATHLETES’ FEATS Athletics 16 sports, 322 athletes one goal Four former Catamounts with ties back as far as the 1950s and a former coach who helped mentor athletes in three sports are the newest members of the Western Carolina University Athletics Hall of Fame following induction festivities held in November. Members of the five-person induction class, the 20th all-time at WCU, are Bob Ray ’57 (men’s basketball), Steve Spradling ’71 (football), Laura Echols Wellmon ’02 MPT ’04 (women’s basketball), Johnny Wike (football and golf coach) and Steve Yates (football). Ray played basketball for Western Carolina from 1951 through 1957, including a two-year break for military service in the U.S. Army, before returning as an assistant coach for seven years. The Buncombe County native, who concluded his playing career ranked second on the school’s career scoring chart with 1,187 points, still holds the 22nd spot on WCU’s all-time scoring list. Ray returned to Cullowhee in 1962 to become the school’s first-ever full-time assistant basketball coach, a position he held until 1969. He helped recruit and coach 17 all-conference players while on staff. Following a distinguished academic career at WCU, Ray went on to earn graduate degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a doctorate from the University of Georgia. After his coaching days, he served as head of WCU’s department of health, physical education and recreation from 1982 to 1993. Spradling was a three-year starter at wide receiver for the Catamount football team from 1967 to 1970, helping WCU compile a record of 19-8. The Pompano Beach, Fla., native twice finished among the NAIA’s top 12 pass receivers, including ranking fourth with 46 catches in 1969 – helping him earn All-North Carolina Collegiate, NAIA and Associated Press All-America honorable mention plaudits. All told, Spradling hauled in 95 career passes for 2,023 yards in three seasons, which included 1,020 yards in 1969, a mark that ranks sixth in the school’s single-season record books. He also continues to hold the WCU record with seven consecutive 100-yard receiving performances. Wellmon, who played at WCU from 1999 to 2003 as Laura Echols, finished her career as one of the most honored players in Catamount women’s basketball history. The program’s second-leading all-time scorer with 1,765 points, she also ranks seventh on the career rebounding charts with 790 boards in her four-year career. Wellmon still ranks on 10 career statistical charts, including second on scoring average (15.8 points per game), second on field goals made (718), and third on field goals attempted (1,421). A native of Conyers, Ga., Wellmon remains WCU’s only three-time All-Southern Conference selection, garnering first-team plaudits in 2000, ’01 and ’02. She also was a three-time SoCon Player of the Week during her career and earned Western Carolina’s Female Student-Athlete of the Year Award in 2001-02. A two-time Verizon Academic All- District Team selection in 2001 and ’02, she graduated from WCU with honors, majoring in chemistry with a minor in psychology, and also earned her master’s degree from WCU in physical therapy. Wike, a native of Mount Holly, spent more than 30 years of his life in service to Western Carolina coaching football and golf. He worked for 21 of those years as an assistant football coach (1964-73, 1984-94), serving under four head coaches and helping recruit several high-profile athletes, including three who would go on to play in the NFL and advance to the Super Bowl. When Bob Waters arrived at WCU in 1969 as the head football coach, he decided the Athletic Department needed to reinstate its dormant men’s golf program. From 1971 to 1973, Wike held the dual role of assistant football coach and head golf coach. Wike spent 1974 to 1977 as head football coach at Carson-Newman College in Tennessee, and afterward spent six seasons as head coach at Cullowhee High School. Wike returned to the WCU football staff in February 1984 as defensive coordinator, reprising his role as Waters’ chief recruiter. In 1991, he again took on duties as head coach of the men’s golf team, a position he held through 2004. He retired from the football staff in 1995, the same year he launched the women’s golf program. He retired as head coach of the women’s golf team in 1998. A member of the Catamount football team from 1971 to 1974, Yates was a two-time Associated Press All-America selection, receiving second-team accolades in 1972 and a first team nod in 1974. The Cabarrus County native was one of three linebackers named to WCU’s 20th Century All- Time Football team compiled back in 2000. Called “the most intense football player I’ve ever coached” by Bob Waters during the 1974 season, Yates continues to rank 10th on the Catamounts’ career tackles charts with 306 total hits, including 191 solo stops. He was the leading tackler on two teams that finished in the Associated Press top 10, including WCU’s first NCAA playoff team in 1974. The Catamounts posted a 25-9-2 record with him in the lineup. His 25 quarterback sacks also rank him third on the career ledger. The 20th induction class enters the Athletics Hall of Fame with four former players and a longtime coach By STEVE WHITE ’67 The newest members of the Athletics Hall of Fame are (from left) Bob Ray ’57, Laura Echols Wellmon ’02 MPT ’04, Steve Spradling ’71, Steve Yates and Johnny Wike. Winter 2010 | 27 COACHING THIRD Keith LeClair’s legacy is the subject of a book scheduled for release in March By TOM HALEY Lynn’s children were only 3 and 6 at the time and not ready to say good-bye. He was placed on the ventilator and lived until 2006 and the age of 40. That’s one of the riveting stories in a book titled “Coaching Third: The Keith LeClair Story,” written by Bethany Bradsher. It will be released in early March to coincide with the Keith LeClair Classic, a tournament that will feature ECU, WCU, Illinois and West Virginia in March in Greenville. The book’s title is a reference not only to the fact that LeClair always coached third base, but also to the fact that being stricken with the disease caused him to reorder his priorities and put God and his family first and second, and coaching baseball third. An intensely religious man, LeClair discovered that he had placed coaching No. 1 for a while, said Bradsher. She was familiar with LeClair and his story and thought his life would make an outstanding book. After all, few people have touched as many lives and accomplished as much in 40 years as LeClair. The ECU Pirates play in Clark-LeClair Stadium, he has a tournament named for him, his No. 23 uniform has been retired at WCU, he is in halls of fame and his records are mind-boggling. LeClair’s won-lost mark at Western Carolina was 229-135-2. He was 212-96-1 at ECU, guiding the Pirates to three consecutive NCAA regional tournament appearances before stepping down. Despite the amazing record on the baseball field, it is his battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease that is an important piece of his legacy and that promises to make the book a great read. “Even after he was unable to move or talk, he reached so many people. He e-mailed devotionals to hundreds of people,” Bradsher said. LeClair’s relationships with Leggett and Raleigh were special. Bradsher said the emotion that came from Leggett was intense as he she sat in his Clemson office and interviewed him for the book. “He (Leggett) looked at him as a son,” she said. “Hearing his stories was gripping.” After graduating from Fall Mountain Regional High School in Langdon, N.H., LeClair became one of Leggett’s top players at Western Carolina. After his college career, LeClair signed with the Atlanta Braves but chose not to report to the team’s minor league spring training, opting instead to work as an assistant coach with Leggett in 1989. When Leggett went to Clemson as an assistant in 1991, LeClair succeeded him as the head man at Western Carolina at the tender age of 25. LeClair’s relationship with Raleigh was no less special. After LeClair was housebound with the disease, Raleigh made the six-hour drive across North Carolina from Cullowhee to Greenville every February to visit him. Raleigh, now the head coach at the University of Tennessee, said even when the disease robbed LeClair of his ability to talk or move, it could not take his sense of humor. During one of Raleigh’s visits, the news broke about ECU’s new baseball venue being named Clark-LeClair Stadium. Raleigh told LeClair it should have been named LeClair-Clark Stadium. But the William H. Clark family of Greenville had donated $1.5 million toward the facility, and LeClair quickly typed on his computer screen, “Money is better than legacy.” Those who knew Keith LeClair might argue otherwise, and it is his legacy that is captured in Bradsher’s manuscript. Entering his third season at Western Carolina University, head coach Bobby Moranda begins a new era in Catamount baseball for the 2010 season with the founding of the 1002 Club. Representing the 1,002 miles between Cullowhee and Omaha, Neb., home of the College World Series, the number has a special significance in Catamount baseball. “Ten-oh-two has always been a battle cry for Catamount players and coaches,” said Moranda. “The club is being created to help raise the necessary funds to complete the mission and compete in Omaha. One-hundred percent of 1002 contributions go toward the WCU baseball program.” Western Carolina has long thrived in collegiate baseball. Currently Clemson’s head coach, Jack Leggett led the Catamounts to five NCAA tournaments in nine seasons at WCU. Former star player and head coach Keith LeClair ’89 made WCU history with a record 45 wins in the 1994 season. In six seasons at the helm, LeClair guided the Catamounts to four NCAA tournament berths and was the SoCon Coach of the Year in ’92, ’94 and ’97. With WCU’s impressive record in the American pastime and a top-notch fleet of players in the pros (Brent Greer, Corey Martin, Chris Masters, and Nick Liles were all Catamounts selected in Major League Baseball’s 2009 first-year draft), Moranda felt that WCU baseball was overdue for an organization of the 1002 Club’s magnitude. “As a team, we’re interested in first-ever achievements,” said Moranda. “The support from the 1002 Club allows us to continue to sign the best players and strengthens our program. The Catamount baseball team has shown time and again that we can compete with the big boys. The 1002 Club will help take us to another level of competition.” Impressed with WCU’s rich baseball tradition, Greg Parsons, former senior vice president of Blockbuster Entertainment, accepted Moranda’s request to be the 1002 Club’s inaugural president. “The dream of all Division I baseball programs is a trip to the College World Series,” said Parsons, who has close ties to longtime Catamount baseball supporter Larry Stanberry ’68. “In order to make the Omaha trip a reality, we need the help of fans and friends.” Several current players say they have noticed the level of support given to Catamount baseball. “I knew Western Carolina was the school to play for if I wanted to win,” said Ross Heffley, sophomore center fielder and 2009 SoCon Freshman Player of the Year. “Having all the support from the fans and alumni is awesome. It’s easier to play knowing that everyone is rooting for us and hoping we succeed.” Senior closing pitcher Daniel Ottone agreed. “Until 1002, I had no idea how many people really cared about our team. We have some of the best fans in the region. Alums are still coming back to watch games. It’s more than just a team here, it’s family,” Ottone said. “Tradition and our fans is what makes WCU baseball special,” said senior center fielder Dylan de Graaf. “We are by far the best-supported team in the SoCon. Our No. 1 goal is Omaha. We have the support, and we’ll do whatever it takes to make it there.” The 1002 Club features five levels of membership: SoCon, SoCon Tournament, Regional, Super Regional and Omaha. SoCon-level members donate $100.02 per year for four years of membership; SoCon Tournament members donate $250.50 per year for four years; and Regional members give $1,002 per year for four years. Super Regional members make a one-time donation of $5,002 for a lifetime membership, and Omaha-level members donate $10,002 for lifetime membership. Membership benefits range from 1002 Club T-shirts to weekend all-access baseball trips. All levels of membership are tax-deductible. Brandon Demery is a senior at Western Carolina University from Raleigh. He is majoring in English/professional writing with a minor in social work and communication. Athletics 16 sports, 322 athletes one goal Reprinted in edited format from the Rutland (Vt.) Herald. Todd Raleigh ’91 MAEd ’94 and Jack Leggett were driving across North Carolina together, two Vermont natives thinking they were going to say good-bye to a close friend. It was April 2002, and East Carolina University baseball coach Keith LeClair ’89 had just returned home with his team from a baseball tournament in Charlotte when he collapsed and became unresponsive. LeClair had only been diagnosed in 2001 with Lou Gehrig’s disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. His wife, Lynn, had to make a decision about whether to put him on a ventilator, a decision that came much sooner than she expected. Raleigh, the Western Carolina baseball coach at the time, and Leggett, the former WCU coach who holds the reins of Clemson University’s baseball team, were pretty sure they were going to see their friend for the last time. But Keith and Those interested in becoming 1002 Club members can fill out the online application at CatamountSports.com or call WCU baseball 828.227.7338. OMAHA OR BUST Coach Moranda begins a new era in WCU baseball By BRANDON DEMERY 1002Club Catamount B aseball Keith LeClair ’89 signals a player from his familiar post at third base. Bobby Moranda talks strategy with his Catamount baseball team, which he wants to lead to a berth in the College World Series. 28 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 29 HOOP DREAMS Women’s basketball team draws inspiration from a special ‘guest coach’ By BESIE DIETRICH GOGINS ’06 MA ’09 As the season began for Western Carolina University’s women’s basketball team, players and coaches received some extra motivation from one very special “guest coach for a day,” Madison “Madi” Hornbuckle. A student at nearby Cullowhee Valley Elementary School, Madi suffers from glioblastoma multiforme, a common and aggressive type of brain tumor. Karen Clarke ’83 MAEd ’86, Madi’s school counselor, said she developed the “guest coach” idea as basketball season started because she saw how upset Madi was about not being able to play basketball. “I wanted her to meet the WCU basketball team and connect with them,” said Clarke. One phone call to Coach Karen Middleton was all it took. “Karen invited us to meet the players and be at a practice,” said Clarke. “Then Madi could come to the game the next night.” When Madi attended the practice prior to the game, she was named “guest coach for a day,” Middleton said. “Madi is an inspiration to us all,” she said. “She always has a smile on her face and is very enthusiastic and excited to watch and follow our team.” Among the players to connect with Madi was Jessica Jackson, a senior guard. “Madi had a major impact on our team during practice,” said Jackson. “We shot with her, and she was able to be a point guard and pass the ball to another player while she worked on her post moves. And our coach even taught her how to shoot layups.” Along with being in the huddles at practice, Madi also received gear from the coaches. “When Madi did play basketball, she wore No. 20, and that had a special connection to our coach because that was also her basketball number,” said Jackson. On an early season game night, Madi was the team’s guest of honor and had a special place on the bench. “We knew that because of Madi’s condition, it was uncertain if she would be able to come to our game on Friday, so we were hoping that she had a special time at practice with the team,” said Jackson. “When we arrived at the game and saw Madi’s face, I was extremely happy to see her.” And her presence at the game had a solid impact on the team, which downed Wofford by a score of 71-65. “Seeing Madi at the game just put life in perspective for everyone,” said Jackson. “Madi’s character and personality has inspired us all to work hard and enjoy each day we are able to play basketball because we never know when it will be taken away from us.” Madi and Middleton share more than just a jersey number – they share a mutual admiration. “Madi is a true winner and is someone who has captured our team’s heart and inspired us,” said Middleton. “She has an open invitation to attend practice and any games she is able to come to.” In the fall, students and faculty from WCU’s College of Education and Allied Professions took part in a fundraising effort to help with Madi’s treatment costs by folding paper cranes out of dollar bills. The idea was inspired by a nonfiction book in which a sick Japanese girl believes folding paper cranes will help her recover. Athletics 16 sports, 322 athletes one goal Dr. Walter J. Durr, Western Carolina University Athletics Hall of Fame member and longtime benefactor of Catamount athletics, passed away at his daughter’s home in Florida on Sept. 29. Durr, whose medical career spanned more than half a century, was 97. A native of New Jersey with degrees from New York University and Long Island College of Medicine, Durr served under Gen. George Patton during World War II before moving to the mountains of North Carolina. He began his involvement with Western Carolina when he responded to public address pleas for a physician during a 1951 football game. He went on the field that evening to assist, becoming a fixture on the WCU sidelines as the football team’s official physician and sage, as well as unofficial adviser to the coaching staff, until the late 1990s. “Dr. Durr touched the lives of so many student-athletes here at Western Carolina University during his tenure,” said Fred Cantler, senior associate athletics director who came to WCU in 1978 and worked as an athletic trainer under Durr’s supervision. “Not a year goes by that a former student-athlete doesn’t ask me about Dr. Durr.” DEVOTED DOCTOR Remembering Hall of Famer and football physician Walter Durr By DANIEL HOKER ’01 For more information, contact the Office of Development at 828.227.7124. Memorial contributions may be made to the Durr Scholarship Fund by sending a check, with Durr Scholarship in the memo line, made payable to the WCU Foundation at 201 H.F. Robinson, Cullowhee, N.C. 28723. During his tenure in Western North Carolina, Durr attended to the medical needs of thousands of WCU athletes and faithfully supported the teams through his attendance and financial assistance. Durr served as the chief of surgery at C.J. Harris Hospital (now Harris Regional Hospital) in Sylva in addition to operating his own practice. Durr became a major benefactor to the football program in 1986 when he endowed the Dr. Walter J. Durr Football Scholarship, which is awarded annually. He also was part of the Cullowhee Legacy program, which includes individuals who have listed WCU as a charitable beneficiary in their estate plans. Members are alumni and friends who have made an ultimate and lasting commitment to WCU. Durr was inducted into the WCU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1991. He is survived by his daughter, Andrea Border, and his three grandsons, Jay, Andrew and Daniel. Two former Catamount standouts were recognized recently for their accomplishments handling a basketball and handling questions from the news media. Men’s basketball star Kevin Martin, who played at WCU from 2001-04, has been named to the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major All-Decade team for his outstanding performance during three seasons in the purple and gold. Martin became Western Carolina’s first-ever first-round draft pick when the Sacramento Kings selected him with the 26th pick in 2004. He was the 14th college player selected overall that year. The Zanesville, Ohio, native finished his three-year collegiate career ranked fourth on Western Carolina’s all-time leading scorer chart with 1,838 points, averaging 23.3 points per game. A three-time All-Southern Conference selection, Martin remains WCU’s top scorer the university become an NCAA Division I program in 1976-77. From the gridiron, Brad Hoover ’00 is the inaugural winner of the Tom Berry Good Guy Award, given to the player who is most cooperative with the NFL Carolina Panthers media during the course of the season. The award is named for a longtime, award-winning columnist and Panthers beat writer for the High Point Enterprise who passed away Aug. 30. Berry also worked for Hoover’s hometown Thomasville Times and for the Durham Sun, covering sports in North Carolina and the Southeast. “Brad Hoover is the absolute perfect selection for this award,” said Pat Yasinskas, the NFC South representative for the Professional Football Writers of America. “Brad symbolizes everything Tom Berry stood for. He’s always been courteous and polite with the media and a true gentleman.” Former Catamounts Martin and Hoover earn honors Madi Hornbuckle meets Paws (top) and player Jessica Jackson while serving as “guest coach” for the women’s basketball team. Team physician Walter Durr was a fixture on the football sidelines for decades. 30 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 31 A New England artist foundation and residency program grows under a professor’s guidance By SARAH KUCHARSKI Gaily colored petals of long-stemmed cosmos lilt along on the sea-swept winds that blow across Great Cranberry Island, off the coast of Maine, where Patricia Bailey, an associate professor of art at Western Carolina University, directs artist residencies and carries out other responsibilities as president of the Heliker-LaHotan Foundation. Formed in 1993, the foundation is dedicated to the artistic vision of two painters, John Heliker and Robert LaHotan, who made their home on the island. After Heliker’s death, LaHotan charged the foundation’s board specifically with forming a residency program that would enable artists to continue coming to the island to find inspiration and to create. And after LaHotan’s death in 2002, Bailey, a longtime friend of both artists, worked diligently as a leader on the foundation’s board to open the Heliker-LaHotan home and studios to artists. The foundation welcomed its first four residents in 2006. In 2007, there were eight artists; 11 in 2008; and 14 in 2009. Among them was printmaker Joseph Norman, who said he came during a transitional period in his life to learn to work again in silence and be comfortable alone and with his thoughts. The self-proclaimed night owl would come alive when the sun set against a low tree line, casting a warm pink light across the tidal basin and filling the studio with the glow of evening. In his first week alone he created 30 works. The island studios offer a wealth of natural light, views of the tidal basin and solitude on the private shore, which is what Heliker and LaHotan wanted. “This place is so supportive of uninterrupted work,” said Bailey. The foundation has a growing relationship with WCU. Tara Jones ’08 has served as Heliker-LaHotan facility coordinator and Bailey’s assistant. The foundation’s Web site, www.heliker-lahotan.org, is maintained by WCU alumnus Andrew Kinnear ’06. In addition, the foundation donated a 1989 Heliker painting titled “The Visit II” to Western Carolina’s Fine Art Museum. The work, hung in 2005 during an inaugural exhibition “Worldviews: Selections from the Permanent Collection,” helps anchor the focus of the collection, and will greatly strengthen the museum’s teaching mission, said Martin DeWitt, founding director of the museum. “As we examine the beautiful work of Mr. Heliker, we can discuss his early roots as a modernist, and trace his extraordinary journey as artist and teacher, the influence of which continues to this day,” DeWitt said. The Fine Art Museum may in coming years become host to an exhibit of some of Heliker’s works. In addition, DeWitt has a special connection to the Heliker-LaHotan Foundation. Both his brothers, each of whom is a painter, completed residencies on Great Cranberry Island. The cultural round-robin also has meant that artists such as painter and printmaker Norman have appeared as visiting artists at WCU, and through this connection learned about the Heliker-LaHotan Foundation and its residency opportunities. The artists’ vibrancy during residencies is contagious, Bailey said. Dinnertime conversations welcome lively discussion about academia, teaching methods and, of course, art. After time spent on the island, Bailey, who teaches drawing and painting, comes back to her WCU classroom with a renewed sense of purpose. “I’m energized,” Bailey said. “I’m energized by the artists I have the privilege of working with.” island Clockwise from far left, Heliker-LaHotan Foundation artists in residence paint “en plein air” and in the studio; some of the foundation’s buildings; WCU’s Patricia Bailey, with a friend, directs artist residencies at the Great Cranberry Island, Maine, retreat. Photos courtesy Heliker-LaHotan Foundation 32 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 33 alumni Achievements Jim Lanning ’80 got a job bagging groceries when he was a teenager barely old enough for a work permit. Lanning worked afternoons and weekends at a small grocery store in the Skyland community only a few miles from his school. By the time he got his high school diploma, the store also had given him an education. He already knew more than most boys his age about long hours and hard work. He also had discovered his affinity for the retail environment, and so he stayed on. Lanning, winner of WCU’s 2009 Professional Achieve-ment Award, is now the president and chief operating officer of that supermarket chain, Ingles Markets Inc., the Asheville-based company ranked by Forbes as one of the 400 Best Big Companies in America. “We’re proud to see our president, Jim Lanning, receive WCU’s Professional Achievement Award,” said Robert P. Ingle, founder and CEO of the supermarket chain. “Jim truly grew up in our business, working day and night while completing his education at WCU. His leadership has provided our company with the growth and direction needed to succeed in today’s market.” Lanning oversees operations in 202 stores, many of them three times larger than the one where he started work in 1975. In almost 40 years with Ingles, he has held key roles at every level of management in several states. He has watched the stores grow from 30,000-square-foot buildings providing basic staples, meats and produce to giant one-stop shopping centers with gourmet groceries, organic foods, pharmacies, card and book sections, bakeries, floral departments, media centers, delicatessens, coffee bars, self-checkouts and fuel centers. Ingles, employing 19,000 people, has supermarkets in North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia and Alabama. Annual sales top $3.5 billion. “It’s wonderful to have such a strong leader for a boss,” said Cindi Brooks, Ingles vice president for human resources, who has worked with Lanning for many years. “Jim is caring, extremely hard-working, inspiring and a pleasure to work with.” Employees in the six states where Ingles has stores admire and respect Lanning, an Asheville native, who regularly makes store visits during his long work week. He makes time to talk with them and is interested in hearing not only about their sales performance but also their personal lives. “Getting to know the employees and their families was a tradition started and cultivated by our founder, who has always encouraged his store managers to know and appreciate what’s going on in their employees’ lives,” said Lanning. “And for me, when I’m in the stores, I’m amazed when I talk to employees at how often I hear about WCU – someone has a child there, or is going to school there, or a family member has just graduated.” Lanning has never worked for any company but Ingles. Two years after he got that bagboy job, he was promoted to stock clerk. He was grocery manager by the time he graduated from high school. Others his age with a steady job and opportunities for advancement might have decided to forego college. “But for my mother and father, who have been part of everything in my life, there was never a question of if I would go to college. I was definitely going to college. It was just a matter of where,” he said. He kept working at Ingles, enrolled at WCU and, taking advantage of as many night classes and extension offerings as he could, managed to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in less than four years. After he graduated, Lanning kept moving up at Ingles. He was continually challenged to take on larger stores, and he showed results. In addition to Asheville, he held Ingles positions in Gaffney, Sumter and Moonville, S.C.; and in Winder and Hull, Ga., outside Athens, where he was a district manager responsible for northeastern Georgia. In 2003, Robert Ingle named him president and he returned to Asheville, where he lives with his wife Melody and their son and daughter. He provides support for pressing needs in Ingles’ hometown communities and helped organize the company’s “Tools for Schools” program, which has donated more than $7.9 million in educational equipment to schools. Lanning also is involved with his company’s donation program to food banks to help fight hunger among children and families in the communities where Ingles stores are located. His career advice for young people entering the job market? “These may be tough times economically, but there are always opportunities for people who are willing to start small and work their way up,” Lanning said. “They need to be flexible and willing to accept a position that may be a step or two below what they may have envisioned for themselves. But there’s light at the end of the tunnel, and if that’s where they want to be, getting a good education and being willing to work will get them there.” From bagging groceries to leading one of Forbes magazine’s best companies in America By CHRISTY MARTIN ’71 MA ’78 the secret of his success “Jim truly grew up in our business, working day and night while completing his education at WCU. His leadership has provided our company with the growth and direction needed to succeed in today’s market.” – Robert P. Ingle, founder, Ingles Markets 34 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 35 alumni Achievements When Errol Kilgore ’99 was a child growing up in Asheville, college graduates were like multimillionaires: He knew they existed, but had no personal relationships with any. “I noticed that the adults I knew who had never left the city didn’t have a college education,” said Kilgore. “For all I knew, Asheville was the best place on earth, but I wanted to have options, and going to college was something I knew I wanted to do to give me greater opportunities.” The first time he came to Western Carolina University was orientation before his freshman year, and the campus seemed daunting. It was his mother, Sylvia Kilgore, a preschool teacher who had not gone to college herself, who calmed him by simply telling him how proud she was. Four years later, the sight of her had the same effect. Sad about leaving his friends at WCU and wondering what the future held, Kilgore saw his mother, grandmother and sisters coming into Ramsey Regional Activity Center just as the lights dimmed before commencement. “Those are very special memories for me – like bookends,” said Kilgore. Between them was hard work. In the classroom, he studied toward a bachelor’s degree in industrial distribution with a concentration in marketing. He volunteered as a peer counselor for other African-American students and as a leader with WCU’s chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, the nation’s first African-American Greek letter organization. In addition, Kilgore worked 25 to 30 hours a week at Taco Bell or jobs on campus. During the summers, he also took on temporary jobs at factories or, once, digging ditches. Landing his first job after college was work, too, including arriving early enough to be at the front of a 200-person line at a job fair. He was elated when the temporary job he interviewed for with Johnson & Johnson was instead offered as a permanent, full-time job in pharmaceutical sales. “A week after I walked across the stage at graduation, they called to offer me the position. My mom and grandmother were there, and we were all very excited. I was the first generation in my family to graduate from college, and I was going to work for a Fortune 500 company.” He quickly racked up accolades and national awards, including “Rookie of the Year” and “Sales Excellence,” and promotions led him to the Chicago area. Now he is a biopharmaceutical representative in the Bone Health Division of Amgen and plans to learn Spanish so he can serve even more communities, perhaps abroad. His success came as no surprise to his friends from WCU. Stacy Morris ’98 describes Kilgore as consistent and genuine, and Joseph Hyman ’01 as goal-oriented and strong-minded. “He doesn’t just work hard. He works smart. He’s always there when you need him,” said Hyman. “He loves God and family, and is inspired by them.” Although Kilgore’s mother, who died in 2001, could not be with him at WCU this fall when he was honored with WCU’s Young Alumnus Award, his older sister, his grandmothers, an aunt and friends were by his side. “I am lucky to have such a large and supportive family,” said Kilgore. “They played a major role in helping me to develop into the man I am today.” FAMILY GUY Support from relatives helped this first-generation college graduate find his way By TERESA KILIAN TATE RYAN’S SONG A renowned geologist traces his career path back to summer programs in Cullowhee By CHRISTY MARTIN ’71 MA ’78 Jeffrey Ryan ’83 first came to WCU when he was in elementary school and lived in Raleigh. For several summers, Ryan attended The Cullowhee Experience, a summer enrichment program for academically gifted youngsters. Years later, his experience with “the Experience” helped him make an important decision. “When the time came to go to college, WCU was a campus I already knew. It was far enough away from home to make me feel like I was getting out into the world,” he said. “I decided to come back.” As a freshman, Ryan’s interests leaned toward science and creative writing. He wrote short stories and became editor of the student literary magazine. But in the classroom, it was geology that won him over. Led by professor Steve Yurkovich, Ryan and his classmates went on field excursions out and about in the mountains. Sometimes it seemed they also were going inside, around and under them. It was a geological journey to the center of the earth, of sorts, by way of the Southern Appalachians. “We went to quarries and old copper mines. There were all kinds of resources to investigate in the region. We were always rooting around for rocks,” he said. The rock-hounding of his college days was a stepping-stone to his life’s work. He graduated from WCU with high honors, earned a doctorate from Columbia University, and landed a post-doctoral fellowship at the prestigious Carnegie Institution of Washington. Afterwards, he was quickly hired by the University of South Florida and has been there since. One of the USF’s top researchers, he also chairs the geology department. “Jeff is an extraordinary person,” said Yurkovich. “As a student, he was self-motivated and always exceptional.” Ryan has won many accolades for his excellent teaching, including Florida Professor of the Year. He brings his undergraduate and graduate students together to work as teams in the lab, and promotes science and science education at every opportunity. His long-standing association with Yurkovich and other WCU geology professors has benefited many WCU students invited to Tampa to experience the tools, equipment and technologies of a major research lab. Geologists seek to understand Earth’s internal forces that create earthquakes, build mountains or produce volcanoes. Ryan’s work focuses on what happens miles below the surface to trigger volcanic eruptions, the geochemistry of mantle rocks and what happens at subduction zones, those areas where tectonic plates converge. He also studies the formation of lead, gold, silver, copper and zinc. His research has received more than $2.2 million in grants, most of it from the National Science Foundation. Today, the recipient of the WCU Alumni Association’s 2009 Academic Achievement Award who once clambered around the local mountainsides is being called much farther afield. In the past year alone, his research has taken him to Montana, Utah, Oregon, Switzerland, Romania, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand. Errol Kilgore ’99, below left and above center, credits family members including, from left, sister Nakia Lynch, aunt Earline Morgan, and grandmothers Annie Morgan and Barbara Kilgore for his success in the business world. Jeffrey Ryan ’83 conducts geological field research at Mount Hood, Ore. 36 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 37 alumni Achievements During his long tenure as an educator, the venues for Jack M. Campbell ’58 have included the classrooms of the Knoxville, Tenn., school system, but also the fir- and spruce-crested ridges of the high northeastern end of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Campbell’s job in the traditional classroom ended with his retirement in 1987, but his teaching work continues as he builds upon a 42-year career as a seasonal ranger in the Smokies. Raised in Maggie Valley, Campbell graduated from high school in 1953 and enrolled at WCU. He completed academic requirements to get his bachelor’s degree in industrial arts education in December 1957 and began his teaching career in Knoxville the following month, coming back to Cullowhee later that spring to pick up his diploma. Over the years, Campbell became known as a strict disciplinarian as he taught industrial arts to legions of Knoxville’s young people. He also built a reputation as a top-notch teacher, including being named “Most Outstanding Secondary School Teacher” in Knoxville City Schools in 1984 and one of the top 10 industrial arts teachers in Tennessee in 1975. After 10 years of teaching in Knoxville, Campbell began his second career as a seasonal law enforcement ranger stationed in the Cosby area on the Tennessee side of the park. “My wife, Sue, and I would move our family from Knoxville to the Smokies and live in park housing for the summer months,” Campbell said. “During the first 10 years, the whole family would move for the season until our three sons developed other interests.” Campbell’s work at Cosby continued mostly uninterrupted for 28 years, but since 1997 he has been working on the North Carolina side of the park as manager of Balsam Mountain Campground, the highest National Park Service campground in the East. Located on a Smokies ridgeline that separates the Cataloochee Valley to the east from the Big Cove section to the west, he lives in a combination office/home at the campground entrance from May through October. His wife, who has a business in Knoxville, joins him from time to time. There is no electricity in this remote corner of the Smokies that is connected to civilization by 10 miles of paved road, so a propane-powered pump provides water from a nearby well to the house and campground. Propane also heats the water and runs the refrigerator and cookstove. The fireplace provides warmth during the chilly summer nights at 5,320 feet elevation, and oil lamps and a couple solar-powered lights illuminate the house. Cell phone service is available “occasionally.” Campbell says he doesn’t mind the lack of modern amenities. “We didn’t have electricity when I was a boy until I was 10 or 11 years old,” he said. “I like not having TV up here. I have to go through a transition when I leave and go back to where there are modern conveniences.” Just as he did back in the Knoxville classrooms, Campbell runs a tight ship as he educates campground visitors about park regulations meant to promote their health and enjoyment while also protecting the park’s resources. But the regulations are administered with a twinkle in the eye as Campbell alerts campers about the bears and boars – and the occasional elk that wander up from Cataloochee Valley. Joe Pond, supervisory park ranger in the Smokies and Campbell’s boss, says Campbell has a long-standing reputation as a ranger “who goes the extra mile for every park visitor he encounters.” Campbell doesn’t limit himself to duties within the campground, either, Pond said, as he also can be found ranging around the area, clearing trees from roads, assisting stranded motorists, monitoring the elk herd, and generally keeping a close watch. “Jack Campbell represents to me a clear example of what public service is truly about,” Pond said. With his 42 years of seasonal work completed, Campbell has served under 10 of the 15 superintendents who have led Great Smoky Mountains National Park in its 75 years of existence. During the park’s 50th anniversary celebration in 1984, Campbell served on the security team for Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander. Campbell was back on duty this past September for the 75th anniversary bash held at Newfound Gap. Campbell said he has enjoyed every aspect of his work in the Smokies, and he plans to return to Balsam Mountain Campground in May. Looking back over the years, “I can’t imagine having two careers that I could have enjoyed more,” he said. SERVICE OF A HIGH NATURE With 30 years of classroom teaching in the bag, Jack Campbell continues to educate in the Smokies By RANDAL HOLCOMBE Jack Campbell ’58 patrols Balsam Mountain Campground (left) and greets a young visitor from Louisiana. 38 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 39 1961 Linda Collins was the lucky winner in a sweepstakes to throw the first pitch in a June game between the Atlanta Braves and the New York Yankees at Turner Field. In front of a 50,000-strong crowd, Collins threw to Braves pitcher Tommy Hanson. “I felt really good about my throw,” Collins said. “It went straight to him. Of course, I was not on the pitcher’s mound, but about halfway there.” An image of Hanson signing the ball flashed to the big screen, and Collins spent the remainder of the game watching with three friends from Turner Field’s posh 755 Club. 1963 Mel Gibson MAEd ’67 and Joanne Gibson MAEd ’67 participated in the 2009 N.C. Senior Games state finals this fall in Raleigh. Both participated in the 65-to-69 age group. Mel won gold in the standing long jump and the running long jump, and silver in basketball shooting. Joanne won silver in the standing long jump. 1964 Louise McTaggart MAEd, broker and owner of Louise McTaggart & Associates real estate agency in Blairsville, Ga., has been named 2009-10 chairman of the resources committee of the community council of the Georgia Mountain Research and Education Center. McTaggart will serve as liaison between the volunteer annual campaign organization and the council. Gary William Ramsey, retired from a career in retailing, has published his first novel, “The Soul Dies Slowly,” and is at work on a second. He and his wife, Susan, live in Kemah, Texas. 1972 W. Wat Hopkins MA ’73, a professor of communication at Virginia Tech, was named the Roy H. Park Distinguished Visiting Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina for the 2010 spring semester. Hopkins is teaching a course in communication law, working with graduate students and presenting his research during a colloquium series. 1973 Melody Jenkins has been a librarian for 34 years at the Moultrie- Colquitt County Library in Georgia. Michael A. Kollar MAEd ’74 has been re-elected as chair of the South Carolina Board of Examiners in Psychology. Kollar is a former recipient of the Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Psychology Award from the South Carolina Psychological Association. 1974 Terry Bell MAEd ’83 retired as director of auxiliary services in June after more than three decades with Macon County Schools. Bell has worked at various schools in the system, including as assistant principal at Franklin High School, his alma mater. 1975 Wanda Pate Jones was appointed regional attorney in the National Labor Relations Board’s Denver office. She assists in the enforcement and administration of the National Labor Relations Act in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah and parts of SHIRT TALE Bernice Cowan Higdon ’41 has donated a shirt featuring the autographs of a veritable “who’s who” of Western Carolina University to the Mountain Heritage Center. Higdon, a Jackson County native who now lives in Yuba City, Calif., performed embroidery over the signatures of professors and friends, including student body president Charles McCall ’41 and Robert Lee Madison, a founder of the institution that would become WCU. Earl Irby ’40 drew the Catamount on the shirt back. It is on temporary display at the Mountain Heritage Center. Nebraska, Idaho and Montana. The NLRB investigates labor practices and conducts elections to determine whether employees desire union representation. With the NLRB since the beginning of her legal career in 1979, Jones has worked in Hawaii, Las Vegas and Atlanta. 1976 Jay Edwards has launched Green Collar K-9 Development with three partners to train dogs for customers in the military, law enforcement, security and search/rescue fields. Edwards retired as a sergeant in the tactical division after 28 years with the Greensboro Police Department. He and his partners, who share law enforcement and dog training experience, raise the puppies from 8 weeks old. “These dogs will go anywhere and do anything,” Edwards said. 1977 Terry M. Fortner is vice president of industry relations and market development for LKQ Corp., the largest nationwide provider of aftermarket, recycled and refurbished collision replacement products. Fortner is responsible for the development, implementation and coordination of LKQ’s product offerings and services to the auto insurance and collision repair industries. He is married to the former Vikki Richards ’79. Mitch Lowrey established Mitch Lowrey Construction in Winston- Salem in 2000 and is a certified Energy Star builder. He was named Builder of the Year in 2008 by the Home Builders Associ-ation of Winston-Salem. He is married to Gloria Jennings Lowrey. More than 40 university alumni and friends gathered in November at the home of Bob Thomas ’70 and Pam Thomas in Alpharetta, Ga., to celebrate the successful conclusion of the Campaign for Western Carolina. The primary presenters at the event were Kyle Carter, WCU provost, who gave attendees an update about recent developments at the university, and Phillip D. Walker ’71, a senior vice president with BB&T and chair of The Campaign for Western Carolina, who talked about the fundraising effort’s theme of “Creating Extraordinary Opportunities.” Also participating was Pat Blanton Kaemmerling ’71, member of the Western Carolina University Foundation board of directors, who is chairing an Atlanta-area regional fundraising committee. Currently composed of seven members, the committee will expand its membership in the coming months, and is planning an organizational meeting in late February. GEORGIA POWER Peach State alumni and friends gather to celebrate and plan next steps classNOTES 40 | The Magazine of Western Carolina University Winter 2010 | 41 classNOTES 1979 Sue Lynn Ledford MPA ’06 is community health director for Wake County. 1983 H. Lee Cheek Jr. MPA ’88 is associate vice president of academic affairs at Athens State University in Athens, Ala. Previously, he was vice president for advancement at Brewton-Parker College. The N.C. State Board of Community Colleges named Sharon Morrissey MAEd the system’s senior vice president and chief academic officer. Morrissey, the president of Richmond Community College, will begin her new role in March. She has worked in the community college system for 10 years. 1984 Sandy Hunter, a professor of emergency medical care at Eastern Kentucky University, served as a member of the national project advisory committee that helped create the curriculum for a cultural competency e-learning program produced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health. Sarah Lowell MAEd ’89 of Franklin was one of 100 semifinalists in the 2009 Energizer Keep Going Hall of Fame. Lowell is an elementary school physical education teacher and ultramarathon runner who raises money for children with cancer and for disabled athletes. Created in 2006, the Energizer Keep Going Hall of Fame recognizes individuals who inspire others with their perseverance and motivation. Amy K. Smith, a tax and estate planning attorney of Bell, Davis & Pitt PA, was named a “legal elite” in the January issue of Business North Carolina. 1993 David Lamanno is finding success as a photographer working with vintage cameras. He had an exhibit of work in September at the Looking Glass Artist Collective in Salisbury, and a photograph he took of Kure Beach Pier won honorable mention in Our State magazine’s 2009 annual reader photo contest. Lamanno is largely self-taught and performs his own developing and printing. He and his wife, the former April Arthur MA ’94, have a daughter and live in Spencer. 1994 Scott Adelman has accepted a position with the U.S. Department of Defense to teach band and chorus at the elementary and secondary W.T. Sampson School in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. R. Parrish Ezell has joined the advisory board of WCU’s College of Business. He is assistant vice president and senior financial adviser for Merrill Lynch in Asheville. 1996 Debbie Blackman Cravatta and her husband, Chad, welcomed son Joseph Thurman in August 2009. 1998 A series of acrylic paintings by Paul Nehring MA is featured in the February 2010 issue of American Artist magazine (shown here is “Micromacro”). Nehring teaches art at Western Michigan University. 1999 Jeff Lovette has joined the advisory board of WCU’s College of Business. He is vice president of product development for NetLert Communications Inc. of Asheville. Kevin Redding is executive director of the Piedmont Land Conservancy. 2000 Bradley Wayne Northington MBA married Kelly Virginia Davis in July in Taylors, S.C. Northington is manager of Internet technology finance for Bi-Lo corporate offices in Mauldin, S.C. 2003 Mitch Hall became defensive line coach at Newberry College, in Newberry, S.C., for the 2009 season. Hall came to Newberry after serving as the defensive coordinator at North Greenville University and coaching running backs and tight ends at Presbyterian College. He was a graduate assistant at WCU in 2003-04 and played for special teams at the university from 1998 until 2002. Stephanie Hunter MBA married Kevin Lee Cooke in the summer. The Cookes live in Fletcher. Jason Whaley, a former offensive linem |
OCLC number | 137281166 |