Four alumni honored at Berea College Summer Reunion June 8-10

Judy Fray

Lynn Murphree, associate director and long-time counselor in the Admission’s Office at Berea, will receive the 2007 Rod C. Bussey Award of Special Merit.  Judy Ann Coats Fray will be honored with the Alumni Loyalty Award, which is given each year to an alumnus who has rendered outstanding service to, and demonstrated loyal interest in, Berea College.

The honorees will be presented their awards at the Alumni Awards Reception from 10-11 a.m. in Baird Lounge, Alumni Building.

Dr. Iitaka graduated from Berea in 1959, then earned a master’s degree in Speech Pathology at the University of Wichita and Ph.D in Speech Pathology at Northwestern University.  In addition to teaching at Gakugei, she also taught at Sophia University.  Dr. Iitaka has spent her career working on behalf of speech pathology services and programs and has been a strong advocate for her profession.  In Japan, she helped establish a community center for children and youth, providing needed services missing in the Japanese public school system.  She organized the Japanese Association for Communication Disorders and also served as president of the Japanese Association of Speech, Hearing and Language and worked to advocate for professional recognition of the field.  Recently retired, she is developing a Japanese version of “Sesame Street” to assist with language development of foreign-born children.

Kyoko Iitaka

“Pete” McNeill, graduated in 1951 with a degree in general agriculture and went on to do graduate work at Cornell University.  During World War II, he served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific, participating in amphibious landings in the Phillipines at Linguyan Gulf and on Okinawa.  Later, as an agricultural teacher, agricultural extension agent, and at Bluegrass Rural Electric cooperative, he began a career using his education in service of others.  He served as the agricultural economist on a USAID sponsored Power Survey Team in South Korea and worked for the Cooperative League of U.S.A. as an advisor to the Ministry of National Development in Thailand, where he worked to amalgamate village credit societies into multi-purpose cooperatives and to establish Thailand’s National Cooperative Training Center.  Pete was also involved with similar work in the Philippines and Indonesia.  Upon retirement, he joined Morehead State University’s Appalachian Development Center where he served as an economic development specialist.  Since retiring from Morehead State University in 1991, Pete has managed and operated his family farm in Fleming County and continues to use his experience in volunteer work.  McNeill and his wife, Anna Lou Planck McNeill, a 1952 Berea graduate, have five children and eight grandchildren.

Lynn Murphree, a 1967 Berea graduate, holds a master’s degree in higher education from Eastern Kentucky University and also has completed graduate work at the University of Alabama.   He has served in the Berea College Admissions Office for the past 22 years, covering territories in Tennessee and Virginia and also helps recruit for the men’s baseball and basketball programs.  In his professional career, he also has held positions as a vocational counselor, junior high school teacher, football and basketball coach and admissions counselor.  Lynn and his wife, Patricia Graham Murphree, a 1969 Berea graduate, live near Jonesville, Va. and have one son.

Lynn Murphee

Judy Ann Coats Fray, class of 1967, established and now chairs the first – and very active -  Central Virginia Berea Alumni Chapter.  She also has served three times as the class of 1967 reunion chairperson.  In her home state, Fray was instrumental in starting alcohol and drug-free post-prom parties and an award-winning recycling program.  She is active in state and regional garden club organizations and also in community service and church work.

Registration for Summer Reunion will begin Friday, June 8 at 8 a.m. in the Alumni Building.  Activities begin Friday afternoon with a remembrance, reminiscing and oral history session.  Participants also will be able to renew their wedding vows in Danforth Chapel.

On Saturday morning, Berea President Larry Shinn and his wife, Nancy, will host a 50th Reunion Breakfast in the President’s home for the class of 1957.  A “Sweetheart Breakfast” for couples who met at Berea College is scheduled for 8-10 a.m.  Each class present at the reunion will attend a special class meeting and photo opportunity from 1-2 p.m.

Three special activities are planned for Saturday afternoon.

An “Alumni Convocation” in Phelps Stokes Chapel, at which President Shinn will give a “State of the College” address, is scheduled from 2:30 – 3:30, followed by an ice cream social on the lawn outside.

From 3:30-4:30, there will be an opening reception for an exhibit of paintings by Dr. Harold Robinson Adams, a 1948 alumnus and former physician who lives in St. Paul, Minn.  Berea Professor of Art Robert Boyce will will talk about the works in the exhibit, which has become a record of Adams’ post-diagnosis journey and were inspired by both physical and mental responses to a health crisis.  The exhibition of paintings is a gift from Dr. Adams to Berea College.

Peter McNeill

At the Berea College Bookstore, Robert H. Shipp, class of 1945, will be signing copies of his recently published book “Mountain Boys to Admirals:  The Berea College Navy V-12 Program in World War II.”   The 300 page book covers the important presence and contributions of the Navy V-12 Program at Berea during 1943 – 1945, when 782 Navy servicemen were stationed on Berea’s campus for officer training

The weekend’s festivities will conclude with a special church service at 10:30 a.m. at Berea’s Union Church.

For more information on the reunion or its activities, please contact Jacqui Greene in the Alumni Relations Office at (859) 985-3105.