Berea College President and First Lady Larry and Nancy Shinn will be among those honored as part of 2008 Homecoming activities at Berea Nov. 7-9.  The Shinns will receive “honorary alumni” awards. 

Receiving the Distinguished Alumnus Award, Berea’s highest alumni honor, will be retired chemical industry executive Jerry Hale of Kingsport, Tenn.  Somerset teacher Donna Sabino Butt will be receiving the Outstanding Young Alumna award.   A special “Legacy of Service” recognition will be given to Berea College service organizations Students for Appalachia and People Who Care.  Begun in 1968, both organizations are celebrating 40 years of service to the local community and region.  

Jerry B. Hale, a 1973 Berea graduate, is the retired Vice President and Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Eastman Chemical Company.  He is currently a part-time consultant with Microsoft Corporation.  Hale began his career with Eastman following his graduation from Berea with a B.A. in mathematics.  During his service as Eastman CIO, Eastman was frequently ranked in the top ten of Information Week’s top IT organizations, and the company’s IT unit was also ranked in the top 100 best places to work in IT.  Hale was a leader in activities and organizations related to chemical industry information technology, and also served in an advisory role to Mountain Empire State College and East Tennessee State University as well as the local healthcare system.  He has been active in local community service organizations, his church and youth sports.  Hale’s wife, Nancy, is also a 1973 Berea graduate.

Larry D. and Nancy A. Shinn are currently in their 14th year of service as president and first lady at Berea College, having joined the College in 1994.  Larry Shinn, a native of Alliance, Ohio, is a scholar in the area of world religions and is also an ordained Methodist minister.  As Berea’s president, he has led an ongoing strategic planning process and instituted a team-oriented decision making process that has affected virtually every area of activity from student life and academics to development and facilities renovation.  One of the most notable accomplishments of Dr. Shinn’s leadership is Berea’s sustainability initiative that includes the creation of the Sustainability and Environmental Studies (SENS) program, ecological renovations of many campus buildings and the establishment of the residential Ecovillage for student families.  He also led the “Extending Berea’s Legacy” campaign that raised $162 million for student scholarships and a variety of programs at Berea.  His busy schedule on behalf of Berea has also included teaching.  He is a frequent guest speaker in Asian religions courses, has served as the faculty sponsor for independent studies and lectured on leadership in Berea’s Entrepreneurship for the Public Good program.  He also co-taught a course on Peace and Social Justice during the 2007 Short Term.  Dr. Shinn holds bachelor’s degrees from Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, and Drew Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from Princeton University.

Nancy Albright Shinn taught first grade and kindergarten for 25 years before coming to Berea.  At Berea College, as Special Assistant to the President, Mrs. Shinn travels extensively with President Shinn, hostesses numerous events in the President’s Home and plans and executes activities on campus in conjunction with the alumni, public relations, and development offices.  In the community, she currently serves on the Citizen Review Panel for the Southern Bluegrass area and is a deacon at Berea’s Union Church – just two of her many activities in support of the needs of children, education and the community.  Her past board involvement includes service to Kentucky River Foothills, Headstart and Hospice Care Plus.   

Larry and Nancy Shinn were high school sweethearts and have been married since 1963.  Their family includes two daughters, Christie and Robyn, their husbands, and five grandchildren.

Donna Sabino Butt, a 1990 Berea graduate, is a preschool teacher Pulaski County, Ky.  For her contributions to preschool education, including two books she coauthored, and in raising awareness about critical issues specific to preschool, she has been recognized by First Lady Laura Bush and the Kentucky General Assembly.  She has presented at conferences in Kentucky, Tennessee and Florida and her interactive books have gained recognition and recommendation by education officials in Kansas and Ohio.  Donna is also active in her community.  She has coached 5th and 6th grade girls basketball, directed an intramurals program and volunteers with the Somerset, Ky. Parks and Recreation Department among other community activities, work for which she has been honored by the Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce.  Donna and her husband, Greg, live in Somerset.

All awards will be presented at a reception Friday evening from 7:30 – 9 p.m. in the Alumni Building’s Baird Lounge.  All are invited to attend.  A host of other Homecoming 2008 events also are planned with many events open to the public.  Friday, Nov. 7 public events include:

-Dinner with visiting Israeli-Palestinian peace activist Archbishop Elias Chacour, featuring Middle Eastern cuisine, 5:30- 7 p.m. in Woods-Penniman Building Commons (limited seating). 
Tickets are $10 and can be reserved by calling (859) 985-3452 (Center for International Education).

-38th Black Student Union Scholarship Pageant from 7-9 p.m. in Phelps Stokes Chapel.  General Admission is $7 and are available in the Black Cultural Center (859) 985-3797 and the Campus Life Office, both in the Alumni Building, or at the door. Open to the public.

-A reading by author Jeff Biggers at a celebration of the fall 2008 issue of Appalachian Heritage, a literary quarterly published by Berea College.  The issue focuses on Don and Connie West and their legacy.  Biggers will be reading from his book “No Lonesome Road:  Selected Prose and Poems,” co-written with Appalachian Heritage editor George Brosi, a book about West’s life and work.   The event in the Appalachian Center Gallery begins with refreshments at 7:30 p.m.; the reading starts at 8 p.m. Free and open to the public. 

There will be no parade this year.  Saturday activities include a new “BereaFEST! for alumni and campus on the Fairchild Hall lawn 11:30 – 1:30 p.m and the annual Black Music Ensemble Concert from 1:30 – 3:30 in Union Church, which is free and open to the public. 

Seabury Center will be the site of women’s and men’s basketball action beginning at 5:30 p.m., when the Lady Mountaineers, led by Coach Bunky Harkleroad, play Ohio State University Newark.  The Berea College Mountaineers, coached by John Mills, take on Boyce College beginning 7:30 p.m.  Coronation of Homecoming queen and king will take place at the men’s game halftime.  Tickets are required for admission and are good for both the women’s and men’s games.  Basketball game tickets are $7 in advance or $8 at the door and are good for both games.

Festivities continue through Sunday with an Alumni Worship Service in Union Church at 10:30 a.m., including a performance by the Homecoming Choir led by Dr. Stephen Bolster and Roc-Da-Chapel “Explosion of Praise” event in Phelps Stokes Chapel from 3 – 5 p.m. (both free and open to the public).

For a complete schedule of events, ticket prices, and to make reservations, contact the Berea College Alumni Association at (859) 985-3104 and visit www.berea.edu/alumni.  For more information, contact Jacqui Greene, coordinator of Alumni Events, at (859) 985-3108 or jacqueline_greene@berea.edu

Berea College Alumni classes celebrating their reunion this year are:  1983, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2003, and 2008.