News around Campus

Alumni Association wins CASE award

Alumni Association wins CASE award The Alumni Association was awarded a 2001 Seal of Excellence
by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) for this year’s Homecoming theme, "A New Day," and related activities. The award, which recognizes model alumni relations programs among all member institutions, was presented to Alumni Association director Jackie Collier Ballinger at the CASE International Assembly held in San Francisco in July.

"A New Day" celebrated the 50 years of interracial education at Berea since the repeal of Kentucky’s Day Law, a state law enacted in 1904 which forbade educating African American and white students together.

Back Up

Retirees Honored

Eleven faculty and staff members (below) retired this year and were honored at a campus-wide reception in May. The College also recognized Steve Boyce’s six years of service as Dean and Provost at a
separate celebration. Boyce has retired from that position to resume his work as professor of mathematics.

Front (L-R): Patty Boyce, instructor and co-director of basic math, mathematics faculty, 20 years; Nancy Tipton, nurse, College Health Service, 22 years; Dr. Robert Schneider, professor, general studies faculty, 34 years; Sandra Redmon, teacher, Child Development Laboratories, ten years; Dr. Maria Lichtmann, associate professor, philosophy and religion; campus minister, Campus Christian Center, nine years.
Back (L-R): Harold Himes, plumber, facilities management, 32 years; Dr. Richard Hobe, physician, College Health Service, eight years; Dr. Gerald Roberts, director of Hutchins Library Special Collections and faculty member, 26 years; Teddy Burke, electrician, facilities management, 25 years; James Coffey, custodian, facilities management, 23 years.
Not pictured: Clyde Horn, College Laundry, 34 years.

Back Up

Porter named academic VP

David B. Porter, Ph.D., has been named Academic Vice President and Provost at Berea College.
Effective July 1, he succeeds Dr. Stephen S. Boyce, who resumes full-time teaching as a professor in the
mathematics department. As Berea’s chief academic officer, Dr. Porter will have responsibility for leading, planning, coordinating and evaluating the educational and academic support programs of the College.

David B. Porter, Ph.D.

Porter served as Permanent Professor and Head of the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at the U.S. Air Force Academy. A psychologist, Porter has held a variety of teaching and educational administration positions during his 30-year Air Force career, including 17 years on the faculty of the Academy. He helped establish the Academy and its department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership as a national leader in educational innovation and effectiveness and is a respected leader in this area.

The son of a Berea College graduate, Homer Arthur Porter, Jr., ’52 of Salyersville, Ky., Porter was born in Lexington, Ky. He is a 1971 distinguished graduate of the Air Force Academy, where he earned a degree in Engineering Management. He holds an M.S. in industrial relations from the University of California at Los Angeles and a Ph.D. in Experimental Cognitive Psychology from Oxford University.

He and his wife, Sharon Mahood Porter, have two children and two grandchildren.

Back Up

Bowling, Nevels are new trustees

Ann Jones Bowling

In April, Berea College named two new members to the College’s Board of Trustees: Ann Jones Bowling is the director of the Bowling Family Foundation, which made 54 grants in 2000. She has been active in numerous charities and churches as a volunteer and a board member. She has been invited to serve on the boards of the Theological School of Yale University and the Medical School Board of the University of Kentucky. She was born in Kentucky, and met James Bowling while in college. Jim Bowling was a Berea College trustee for nearly 30 years and died while vice chair of the Board. Since then, Ann has madeseveral trips to Berea to keep the Bowling family connection to Berea College strong.

James E. Nevels

James E. Nevels founded the Swarthmore Group, (West Chester, Penn.) the eighth largest minority owned investment and financial advisory company in the United States. He previously worked as an investment banker at Smith Barney, Inc., and noted that many public entities had not benefited from investment management services, so he sought to develop that niche. His company is well known for its strong ethical concern and commitment to employees.

Nevels has offices in Indianapolis and in his hometown of Birmingham, Ala., and is planning further expansion in the midwest. He and his wife, Lourene, live in Swarthmore, Penn.

Back Up

Agriculture students intern with USDA

Four Berea students who traveled overseas to research plants and insects with experts from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture were featured in the April 2001 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.

Front (Clockwise L-R): ARS program analyst Heather Phelps, with students Laurie Hewitt White, ‘02, Kelly Cutchin, ’03, Chloe Tewksbury, ’01, and Karen Friley, ’01, and a feathered friend.

The internships, newly offered by ARS’ Office of International Research Programs, took Kelly L. Cutchin, ’03, and Laurie H. Hewitt White, ‘02, to Indooroopilly, Australia to the Australian Biological Control Laboratory. Their main assignment was to search the woodlands along Australia’s east coast for melaleuca galls "small knobs which can house flies and other creatures researchers believe could help stop the spread of some invasive plants in the U.S. Chloe E. Tewksbury, ’01 and Karen L. Friley, ’01, worked at ARS’ European Biological Control Laboratory on the southeastern coast of France. Tewksbury assisted plant pathologist Timothy L. Widmer on a project to collect, describe and test microorganisms with potential to biologically control invasive plants. Friley helped entomologist Kim A. Hoelmer collect and rear beneficial wasps, who may help battle pests on crops.

John A. Goolsby, director of the Australian lab, and Paul C. (Chuck) Quimby, director of the European lab, gave rave reviews about the quality and quantity of the interns’ work. Two other Berea interns, Jennifer L. Barth, ’01 and Stephanie R. Green, ’01, spent short term at the laboratory in France, and the Australian lab is hosting three more interns for a 3 month stint later this year.

Back Up

Earth Month celebrated

Kelly Cutchin (center), '03 with local Bereans

Bereans celebrated Earth Month 2001 in April and May with multiple events, including Labor Day at the greenhouse, where students volunteered in the College’s organic gardens, a cleanup at Brushy Fork Creek, the "Critical Mass" community bike ride, and the Celebration of Local Fruits and Vegetables. Earth Month at Berea was sponsored by HEAL, a student environmental awareness group, and the Sustainability and Environmental Studies (SENS) Center.

Back Up

Speech and Debate Team goes International

Speech and Debate Team goes international Following a record-breaking year of regular season tournament competition, four members of the Berea College Speech and Debate Team recently competed in the International Forensics Association Tournament in Prague, Czech Republic. Dolly Wilson, ’01, a communications major from Springfield, Va., was a semi-finalist in Impromptu Speaking.

Other members who competed were Chris Freeman, ’02, of Ocean View, Hawaii; Sarah Karim, ’01, Dhaka, Bangladesh; and Nathan Roberts, ’03, Big Stone Gap, Va. The team is coached by Dr. Verlaine McDonald, assistant professor of English and theatre.

During the regular season, the team captured 28 individual student awards as well as four team sweepstakes awards. At the recent Kentucky Forensics Association (KFA) state tournament, the Berea
team took 2nd place in the "Small College" category and 5th overall. Freeman, a political science major, was elected KFA Parliamentarian for 2001- 2002 and McDonald was elected to the Evaluation Committee.

Back Up

Labor achievement awarded

Twenty-three individuals were cited for outstanding achievement in the Berea College Labor Program for
the 2000-01 academic year at end of year ceremonies.
Joshua Scott Jones, ’03, from Greenville, Ky., was the College’s student employee of the year. He also was named Kentucky Student Employee of the Year by the Midwest Association of Student Employment Administrators (MASEA). He was recognized for outstanding performance as the student director of the Berea College Habitat for Humanity chapter, a program of the Center for Excellence in Learning Through Service (CELTS).

Front (L-R): TaKesha Jones, ’01; Andy Hall, ‘04; Elisa Kemp, ‘02.
Back (L-R) Justin Ranck, ’04; Joshua Jones, ‘03; Chaka Cummings, ’02. Not pictured: Jeremy Burnham and John Marshall.

The winner of the Russell I. Todd Award for constructive use of leisure time was Chaka Cummings, ’02, an education studies major from New York, N.Y., for his volunteer work with several College-sponsored organizations.

TaKesha Jones, ’01, a family studies and nutrition major from Birmingham, Ala., was the recipient of the Doug Massey Award for greatest use of the labor program through four academic years, based on hours worked and earnings. Most recently a student secretary at Brushy Fork Institute, she has held positions in several other departments during her four years at Berea, including Dining Services, residence halls, child development lab and Students for Appalachia.

Two students were awarded the Wilson and Ellen Best Evans Award, for performing "above and beyond the call of duty."Recipients were Elisa Kemp, ’02, a junior from South Point, Ohio, for volunteering her time to help Berea’s international students that far exceeded her role as a peer advisor in the International Center; and chemistry major Andy Hall, ’04, who volunteers his time tutoring non-majors taking chemistry courses.

Jeremy Burnham, ’01, a technology major from Conneautville, Pa., and John Marshall, ’01, of Scottsville, Va., received First Place in the Danforth Creative Effort Contest for designing and fabricating adaptations for wood-working machinery to accommodate use from a wheel-chair.
Second Place went to Justin Ranck, ’04, from Sussex, N.J. for the design and construction of receptacles for food waste recycling in Dining Services.Connie Gardner, office manager in the Office of Student Academic Services, was recognized as Labor Supervisor of the Year.

Back Up

Greer Awarded First Bell Family Scholarship

Jonathan Eugene Greer, ’02, from Bowling Green, Ky., is the first recipient of the George W. and Elgetha Brand Bell Scholarship. The scholarship provides $1,000 for a student preparing for the teaching profession who is accomplished academically and active in campus life.

Jonathan Eugene Greer, '02 left, is presented the Bell Scholarship by President Shinn.

During his three years at Berea, Greer has been a member of the Black Music Ensemble, the Concert Choir and active in B.A.S.I.C. (Brothers and Sisters in Christ). The education studies major plans to pursue a masters degree at Eastern Kentucky University following graduation from Berea.

"I believe there is a need for males, especially African-American males, to have positive role models," Greer says. "As a teacher, I believe through my example they might be encouraged. I also plan to have a multicultural, interdisciplinary class"not only will we study and embrace diversity and cultural differences, all of the subjects will be connected to each other."

George and Elgetha Brand Bell were among the College’s earliest African-American students. They were recognized with the first annual John G. Fee Award at the College’s Founders Day Convocation in October of 2000 for their achievements. The Bell Family Scholarship was established earlier this year by Bell family members, who include granddaughter Alma Johnson Powell, wife of Secretary of State Colin Powell, to honor Mr. and Mrs. Bell and to make the benefits of higher education available to future generations of Berea students.

Back Up

Student Service Awards

Seventeen students were recognized for outstanding service at end of year ceremonies sponsored by the Campus Christian Center and the Center for Excellence in Learning Through Service (CELTS).
The E.R. Brann Good Citizenship Award, presented to the student judged to have contributed most to the
Christian character of the campus, was awarded to Amy Jo Winn, ’01, of West Union, Ohio.

The Emily G. Graham Volunteer Service Award recipients were Aaron Housh, ’03, Eastland, Texas, and
Syreeta Pratt, ‘02, of Decatur, Ga., who have demonstrated exceptional service throughout the academic year.

Joshua Jones, ’03, of Greenville, Ky. was presented the Jane Kendrick Community Service Award for
improving the lives of others through volunteer service.

The recipient of the Henry L. Layman Award in International Relations, which recognizes the individual
expected to make important contributions in the field of international relations, was Israel Habtamu, ’01,
Ethiopia.

The Lucille Christian and George McKinney Student Alumni Relations Council Award went to Jeff Crispin, ’02, from Topeka, Kan. for volunteer service in the community.

Sharing the Navy V-12 Award for their efforts to promote international understanding were Anuja
Ratnayake, ’02, of Sri Lanka and Chinwe Kpaduwa, ’01, of Laos.

Crystal Lynn Coleman, ’02, Racine, Ohio, was presented the Joe Van Pelt Agricultural Leadership Award for concern for social problems.

The Louise Veltin Memorial Award for Good Citizenship went to Camilla Andrews, ’01, of Richmond, for all-around good citizenship.

Syreeta Pratt, ’02, was awarded the Dr. Lee Wickline Scholarship for activities in support of universal
human values.

Winners of the Homer E. Williams Award for Campus Leadership in Interracial Understanding were
Kenyetta Knight, ’03, from Birmingham, Ala. and Tabitha Thomas, ’03, from Somerset.

Recipients of awards sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Learning Through Service (CELTS) included a Service Scholarship to Cornelius Butler, ’02, from Birmingham, Ala. and Julia Drukker Stammer Appalachian Volunteer Awards to Anna Kemper, ’03, of Knoxville, Tenn. for ArtCamp and to Nyima Yangzom, ’01, of Tibet and John Stacy, ’01, from Hazard, for their new program "The Healthy Heart."

Back Up

Scholarship Awards

Berea College students were recently awarded scholarships or were recognized for outstanding
academic achievement during the 2000-2001 academic year.

Named Austin Scholars, the College’s highest honor for general academic excellence, were seniors Jason Christopher Fults of Lakeland, Fla. and Syreeta Brean Pratt of Decatur, Ga., juniors Sarah Nicole Douthitt, Cecilia, Ky. and Justin Robert Nickell, Lexington, Ky.

Austin Scholarships, which are awarded to outstanding members of the sophomore class, went to Gregory Erwin Johns of Sevierville, Tenn.; Rebecca Joy Heid, Louisville; Laura Elizabeth Rodian, Waddy, Ky., and Faye Raymonde Tewksbury of Edmonton, Ky.

Class of 1942 Scholarships for superior academic achievement were awarded to Amanda Grey Roberts, ’01, Roanoke, Va.; Christina Annette Cataldo, ’02, of Blaine, Tenn.; Lydia Grace Longstreth, ’03, of Knoxville, Tenn. and Joseph Owusu-Ansah, ’04, Philadelphia, Pa.

Larry Anthony Hensley, ’02, of Saldee, Ky., was named Phi Kappa Phi Scholar, an award given to a junior member of the honor society in recognition of high scholastic achievement and campus leadership.
Over 150 students were recognized for their achievements with awards and scholarships. For a complete
list of recipients, see the news release on Berea’s website at www.berea.edu.

Back Up

Management Club Wins Multiple Awards

Two officers in Berea College’s Society for Advancement of Management (SAM) Club, along with the organization’s faculty advisor, won awards at the recent SAM conference held in Las Vegas, Nev.

Club President Ethan Johnson, ’01, from Dunmore, W. Va., won the National and Regional SAM Outstanding Student Award, and Rob Hoyt, ’02, of Scranton, Iowa, was awarded the Regional SAM Outstanding Student Award. Dr. James Maxwell, William and Kay Moore Professor of Entrepreneurship and Management and Berea’s SAM Club faculty advisor, received the Outstanding SAM Faculty Advisor Award. Berea student Mark Williams, ’02, of Louisville was elected a member of the International
Board of Directors of the Society.

SAM is the world’s oldest professional management organization dedicated to the general manager, and is composed of management professionals, faculty and students. Berea College’s SAM chapter is a
working model of a real business organization, offering real hands-on experience that help students develop a wide range of managerial and leadership skills such as goal setting, project management, budgeting, advertising, marketing, selling, fund-raising and running productive meetings.

Back Up

Weatherford Award

Dwight B. Billings, professor of sociology and associate director of the Appalachian Center at the
University of Kentucky, and Kathleen M. Blee, professor of sociology and director of the women’s studies program at the University of Pittsburgh, were awarded the 2000 Weatherford Award for their study The Road to Poverty: The Making of Wealth and Hardship in Appalachia. The book examines the making of
wealth and inequality in persistently poor rural communities through the history of Clay County in eastern Kentucky. Berea College and the Appalachian Studies Association annually present the Weatherford Award to the author of the work which, in its year, best illuminates the challenges, personalities, and unique qualities of the Appalachian South.

Established and supported for 19 years by the late Alfred Perrin, retired publications director of Procter and Gamble in Cincinnati, the award commemorates the life and achievements of W. D. Weatherford, Sr., a pioneer and leading figure for many years in Appalachian development, youth work and race relations, and of his son, Willis D. Weatherford, Jr., late Berea College President.

Back Up

Lincoln Hall damaged: Repair plans proceed

On May 25, Lincoln Hall, a National Historic Landmark on Berea’s campus, and home to the main administrative offices, sustained interior damage when a wall supporting two hallways collapsed in the center of the building. All employees had been evacuated prior to the damage.

Construction workers and student staff help remove computers and other equipment from Lincoln Hall.

As Lincoln was undergoing renovations for a new student services center, many of the antiques and paintings usually on display had already been removed. Staff and construction workers were able to rescue the diplomas for graduation as well.

Not all news is bad news, though. Since the old walls and systems would have to be rebuilt in order to make the building usable, and since Lincoln was scheduled to be fully renovated in 2003-04, it was
determined to be more cost effective to renovate the entire building now.

"A planning team has been assembled to begin the programming phase of the Lincoln Hall renovation and will work through the summer to complete a draft of planned programmatic use," says Jeff Eisenbarth, Berea’s vice president for business & administration. "The programming will be finalized this fall and College staff will bring a proposal for project and funding approval to the Board of Trustees at the October meeting. We anticipate amid-winter start on construction, if approved by the Board."

Because Lincoln Hall is listed on the National Historic Registry, special attention will be given to maintaining this certification during the planning and construction phases.

Back Up

Bashirov medals in national karate championships

Novruz Bashirov, ’03, a business and economics major from Azerbaijan, competed in the first annual USA Open Karate championship. He won bronze medals in both Kata (demonstration of techniques) and Kumite (competing against an opponent). This is an outstanding accomplishment, especially considering
that since he arrived in Berea in fall 2000, Bashirov has been without any coach or team.

Novruz Bashirov, '03

He achieved his medals through long hours spent practicing and through his rich history in the sport. Since he was five years old, he has been coached by his father, Yashar Bashirov, world karate champion and President of the National Karate Federation of Azerbaijan. Novruz himself is the owner of a Black Belt 3rd Dan and has been a member of the National Team of Azerbaijan since 1994.

He has previously proved himself in many prestigious championships. In Germany in 1998, he became the European Junior Karate Champion. He continued his winning streak in Sweden by taking the World Karate Cup in 1999 and in Iran by taking the World Karate Cup again in 2000.

Back Up

Morningstar and Hyleck Works Exhibited

One-person shows by art professors William Morningstar and Walter Hyleck were among those on the art department’s spring exhibition schedule.

Morningstar’s photographic exhibit "Kentucky Phantoms: A Road Trip"

Morningstar’s photographic exhibit "Kentucky Phantoms: A Road Trip" were on display March 5-23, while Hyleck’s ceramic pieces interpreting geologic forms and processes titled "Forces of Change" were exhibited April 2 - May 3.

Hyleck's ceramic exhibit "Forces of Change"

Back Up

Mad Cow Expert Speaks

Dr. Paul Brown, Senior Research Scientist and Medical Director (U.S. Public Health Service) in the Laboratory of Central Nervous System Studies at the National Institutes of Health, presented some of his research on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), better known as "mad cow disease," to students and faculty at a special seminar this spring.

Dr. Brown is a world renowned expert on mad cow disease and on the infectious prion responsible for this disease in cows and the related Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) in humans. Results of his research have been published in some of the most prestigious scientific journals including the Journal of the American Medical Association, Lancet, and the Journal of Infectious Disease.

Back Up

Buswell patents new transformer technology

Dr. Harrie Buswell

Buswell patents new transformer technology Harrie Buswell, a specialist in chemical hygiene and scientific instrumentation for the College, has received a patent for a Wire Core Induction Coil. The technology will be used for building coil transformers with steel wires for the cores instead of the way they are presently made. This technology will make building transformers much cheaper.

Buswell has signed the intellectual properties over to a patent handling company and they are marketing it in Europe, China, Taiwan, and Japan. There are numerous manifestations that can develop from this patent.

Several of Buswell’s other patents are currently nearing approval.

Back Up