Author: Tim Jordan

Bill Daugherty Begins Term as Berea College Trustee

Last modified: July 1, 2020

Bill Daugherty profileWilliam S. (Bill) Daugherty was elected in April to serve on the Berea College Board of Trustees for a term beginning July 1.

A 1976 Berea College alumnus and recipient of Berea’s 2017 Distinguished Alumnus Award, Daugherty is a co-founder and serves as a Managing Partner of BlackRidge Resource Partners LLC, an independent exploration and production company with oil and gas production in Kentucky, Illinois, Texas, Oklahoma and Wyoming.

“As an alumnus, I have always been grateful for the opportunities Berea College afforded me and the solid foundation I received for my future,” said Daugherty.  “I look forward to giving back by serving as a contributing member of the Board of Trustees.”

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Berea College Announces Plan for Fall Semester; All Students Invited to Return to Campus

Last modified: June 22, 2020

The Administrative Committee of Berea College has decided to invite all Berea students to return for the upcoming semester. The fall 2020 semester will begin on Aug. 12 and conclude Nov. 24, prior to Thanksgiving.

The Administrative Committee carefully reviewed input from various College groups, including the Division Council, logistics groups and the Fall Re-opening Task Force, as well as information from various agencies regarding the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic nationally, statewide and locally to inform its decision.

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Jessica Napier, Berea College Alumna, Nationally Recognized As Health Education Teacher of the Year

Last modified: May 20, 2020
Jessica Napier ’00

Jessica Napier ’00 (Photo: LEX 18)

Jessica Napier, a 2000 graduate of Berea College, has been named National Health Education Teacher of the Year by SHAPE America, an organization that champions health and physical educators at every level, from preschool to university graduate programs.

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Dr. Dwayne Mack appointed vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion at Berea College

Last modified: May 5, 2020
Dr. Dwayne Mack

Dr. Dwayne Mack

Dr. Dwayne Mack was appointed vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion at Berea College effective July 1. Dr. Mack has been with the College since 2003 and has taught American history, African American history and general studies. He currently serves as professor of history and the Carter G. Woodson Chair in African American history. He brings to the position a wealth of knowledge from research and scholarship on diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education, the civil rights movement, interracial education and the gendered past of Berea College. In this position, Mack also will be a member of the Administrative Committee.

“My approach to the vice president role is rooted in my longstanding commitment to collaborative leadership that cultivates diversity, equity and inclusion,” Mack said. “Ultimately, my work is driven by a commitment to social equality, with the aim of generating practices that have a practical impact. Creating a campus climate that is inclusive and diverse, and supports our Great Commitments and Climate Assessment Report will continue to be the most meaningful and rewarding work of my professional career. It is at the core of my research and praxis.”

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Berea College Announces Fulbright Awards for 2020-21

Last modified: May 5, 2020

Two Berea College students received national recognition from the  Fulbright U.S. Student Program through the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Meredith Black ’19 received her Fulbright award to be an English Teaching Assistant (ETA) in Germany and Shelby Wheeler ’16 to be an ETA in Spain.

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Three Berea College Students Named Thomas J. Watson Fellows

Last modified: April 3, 2020

Berea College students Stephen Nwaloziri, Aloyce (Hans) Riziki and Sophia Winkowitsch have won the prestigious distinction of being members of the 52nd Class of Thomas J. Watson Fellows.

Sophia Winkowitsch

Sophia Winkowitsch

Watson Fellows are selected from just 40 private colleges and university partners across the United States making the Watson pool extremely competitive. This year there were 153 finalists who were nominated to compete on the national level, from which 47 Fellows were selected.

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Weatherford Award Winners Named

Last modified: March 6, 2020

The winners of this year’s Weatherford Awards for the best books about Appalachia are Appalachian Reckoning (non-fiction) edited by Anthony Harkins and Meredith McCarroll, Forage by Rose McLarney (poetry), and Any Other Place (fiction) by Michael Croley. The Weatherford Awards honor books deemed as best illuminating the challenges, personalities and unique qualities of the Appalachian South. Granted by Berea College and the Appalachian Studies Association for 50 years, the awards commemorate the life and achievements of W.D. Weatherford, Sr., a pioneer and leading figure in Appalachian development, youth work and race relations, and his son, Willis D. Weatherford, Jr., Berea College’s sixth President. These winning authors will be recognized at the 2020 Appalachian Studies Conference in Lexington, Kentucky on Friday, March 13. 

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Dr. Nicholas D. Hartlep Recognized By DIVERSE as a 2020 Emerging Scholar

Last modified: January 29, 2020
Nicholas Hartlep Portrait

Dr. Nicholas D. Hartlep
(Photo: Jennifer Lance ’20)

Dr. Nicholas D. Hartlep of Berea College’s education department has been named as a 2020 Emerging Scholar by DIVERSE, a national magazine focused on diverse issues in higher education. Hartlep, who is the Robert Charles Billings Chair in Education and chair of Berea College’s education studies department, is one of 15 minority scholars doing remarkable interdisciplinary work in the academic sphere. DIVERSE says the 2020 Emerging Scholars are recognized as academic leaders who represent the future of education. Read the full article in DIVERSE.

Samantha Shawn Earp Elected to Berea College Board of Trustees

Last modified: January 29, 2020
Samantha Earp

Samantha Shawn Earp

Samantha Shawn Earp was elected to serve on the Berea College Board of Trustees for a six-year term.

Earp is vice president of information technology and chief information officer at Smith College, where her responsibilities include oversight of the college’s IT environment and management of the central IT organization. She also serves as a member of the president’s cabinet.

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Berea’s Westervelt Program Opens Spring Registration for Photography Course

Last modified: January 17, 2020
Sarah Heggen

Sarah Heggen, owner of Light My Fire Photography, will instruct the Westervelt Program class focused on photography this spring.

The Berea College Technology and Applied Design department is accepting course registration for spring 2020 Westervelt Program classes, which will focus on photography. The class will begin Feb. 4, 2020, and will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in room B10 of the Danforth Technology building.  The instructor will be Sarah Heggen.

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Artist Kiana Honarmand Exhibits Work Giving Insight to the Injustices Faced by Iranian Women

Last modified: January 15, 2020

“Growing up in Iran, I felt stuck between tradition and modernity, as did many other people in my generation.”- Kiana Honarmand, 2019

The Doris Ulmann Galleries has opened an exhibition featuring works by artist Kiana Honarmand on view now until Feb. 27, 2020. The exhibit, Across the Space Separating, consists of a selection of Honarmand’s works that discuss the juxtaposition of her Middle Eastern identity and her education in Western art. Honarmand uses this duality in her identity to discuss sociopolitical issues of modern Iran, like the violation of women’s rights, as well as the Western perception of the Middle East as a whole.

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Berea College Recognized as a Phi Kappa Phi Circle of Excellence Gold Chapter

Last modified: January 8, 2020

Phi Kappa Phi LogoThe Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi—the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines—recently recognized the Berea College chapter of Phi Kappa Phi as a Circle of Excellence Gold Chapter, the second-highest commendation a chapter can receive from the organization. The award is given to chapters that exceed expectations in chapter operations and who demonstrate sustainability and vitality as a chapter of Phi Kappa Phi.

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Malaklou Appointed Chair of Women’s and Gender Studies

Last modified: December 17, 2019
M. Shadee Malaklou

Dr. M. Shadee Malaklou, Chair of Women’s and Gender Studies

Dr. M. Shadee Malaklou, a critical race, gender and sexuality studies scholar, joined Berea College as chair and assistant professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and director of the Women’s and Gender Non-Conforming Center in fall 2019. Malaklou earned her doctoral degree in Culture and Theory and graduate certificates in Critical Theory and Gender and Sexuality Studies from the University of California, Irvine in June 2016. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Cultural Anthropology and Women’s Studies from Duke University in May 2007.

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Berea Recognized 80 Graduates During Mid-Year Ceremony

Last modified: December 10, 2019
Commencement Crowd

President Lyle Roelofs addressing crowd of Berea college graduates at mid-year commencement.
(Photo: Jennifer Lance ’20)

Berea College’s Recognition Ceremony for Mid-Year Graduates was held Sunday, Dec. 8 at 3 p.m. in Phelps Stokes Chapel. Jim Branscome, retired managing director for investment analysis of Standard & Poor’s (S&P), addressed the seniors who completed their degree requirements at the end of this term. The Berea College graduates represent 14 states and 10 other countries.

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Berea Certified as a Bee Campus USA Affiliate

Last modified: December 2, 2019

Student beekeeper examining a honey super

Berea College is now certified as an affiliate of the Bee Campus USA program.

Long known as a leader in sustainability and stewardship of natural resources, Berea College is the 85th educational institution in the nation to achieve certification of its efforts in creating sustainable habitats for pollinators, which are vital to feeding the planet.

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Two Alumni Awards Presented at Berea College Homecoming

Last modified: November 26, 2019

Each year during Homecoming Bereans are recognized for their professional accomplishments, contributions to the community and commitments to the mission of Berea College. This year, Jim Gaines ’56 received the Distinguished Alumnus award and Sharyn Mitchel FD ’65 BC ’69 received the Rodney C. Bussey Award of Special Merit. Recipients were honored at the Alumni Awards Presentation and Reception at 6 p.m., Nov. 15 in the Boone Tavern Events Center. Continue reading Two Alumni Awards Presented at Berea College Homecoming →

Hartlep Appointed Chair of Education Studies, Named the Robert Billings Chair in Education

Last modified: November 20, 2019

Nicholas D. HartlepBerea College appointed Nicholas D. Hartlep as the chair of the department of education studies and named him as the Robert Billings Chair in Education.

Hartlep began his career as a first grade teacher in Rochester, Minnesota, before receiving a doctoral degree in urban education at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UWM). He also has a master’s degree in K–12 education and bachelor’s degree in elementary education, both conferred from Winona State University (WSU).

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Professor Birner Receives Faculty Enhancement Award from Oak Ridge Associated Universities

Last modified: December 4, 2019

Dr. Susan BirnerDr. Suzanne Birner, assistant professor at Berea College, was awarded the Ralph Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement award from Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU). Dr. Birner competed with 167 applicants, many from R1 institutions (doctoral universities with the highest level of research activity). The $5,000 grant award is matched by each applicant’s institution.

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Berea College Recognized for Outstanding Service to Environmental Education

Last modified: November 14, 2019
Berea College forester speaking with visitors at the Forestry Outreach Center

Berea College Forester Clint Patterson speaking with visitors to the Forestry Outreach Center. (Photo: Moriah Avery ’21)

Berea College was recognized by the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) with the 2019 Outstanding Service to Environmental Education by an Organization award for incorporating environmental education into its sustainability initiatives.

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NAACP Honors Berea College

Last modified: November 12, 2019

NAACP Banquet Group

The Richmond-Madison County (Ky.) branch of the NAACP honored Berea College at the recent Freedom Fund Banquet.

The NAACP recognized Berea College because it was the first interracial and co-educational college in the South, and for its inclusive Christian character expressed in its motto, “God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth.”

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NPR Features Berea College’s No Tuition Policy and Labor Program

Last modified: November 12, 2019

Draper Building

Berea College was the focus of a feature story by Jeff Tyler recently broadcast by National Public Radio. Tyler, a journalist for NPR’s Marketplace and All Things Considered, recently visited Berea’s campus to prepare the story that focused on how Berea College and Alice Lloyd College provide no-tuition enrollment for college students and offer examples other American colleges might follow.

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Dates Set for Annual Christmas Concert

Last modified: November 6, 2019
Berea College ornament hanging from a Christmas tree

The annual Berea College Christmas Concert, co-sponsored by the College’s music department and the Willis D. Weatherford Jr. Campus Christian Center, will be held on two successive nights—Friday, Dec. 6 and Saturday, Dec. 7. Both performances will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Union Church.

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Berea College Featured in The Princeton Review’s Guide to Green Colleges: 2019 Edition

Last modified: July 7, 2020
Aerial view of Berea's campus in the summer

(Photo: Jay Buckner)

Berea College is one of the nation’s most environmentally responsible colleges, according to The Princeton Review, the education services company that just published the 2019 edition of its Guide to Green Colleges.

Known as a leader in turning the Bluegrass state “green,” Berea College is one of 413 schools profiled in the new guide.

The guide is based on a survey the company conducted in 2018–19 of administrators at hundreds of four-year colleges about their institutions’ commitments to the environment and sustainability. The guide states, “Berea College is a model for sustainability in higher education for the Appalachian region and beyond.”

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CNN Features Berea as Counterpoint to American Admissions Scandals

Last modified: October 23, 2019

Amid media coverage of the FBI’s “Varsity Blues” college scam cases, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria contrasted how Berea College offers “a high-quality education to economically-disadvantaged students in pursuit of their American dreams.”

A special CNN documentary that aired Sunday, October 20, examined how the college admissions process in America became so broken. Titled SCHEME and SCANDAL: Inside the College Admissions Crisis, the documentary investigated how some students and their high-profile celebrity parents have turned to criminal rigging of their applications in pursuit of entrance to the most in-demand colleges. The hour-long program also reported on lesser-known cases of cheating that did not make the headlines: paying bribes to coaches, admissions officers, and other school officials, hiring standardized test takers, obtaining false diagnoses to secure more time for testing, and more.

In contrast, Berea College was highlighted as an alternate model for access and affordability to quality higher education, especially for those who can least afford it. Students were interviewed and spoke about the opportunities Berea provides that they and their families could not otherwise afford. The program featured Berea’s distinctive no-tuition model and how the College’s endowment and contributions from alumni and other donors provides the capital to invest in lives of great promise.

The program will be rebroadcast on November 2, 2019. Check local listings for times in your area.

View the full CNN documentary here

Hunger Hurts Food Drive to Support More Than 700 Families in Madison County

Last modified: October 16, 2019
Hunger Hurts Food Drive Bags

Each year, teams of volunteers distribute grocery bags to the majority of households in the Berea community. Volunteers then gather on the following Saturday to collect filled bags, as well as to sort and shelve the food.

The annual Hunger Hurts Food Drive, coordinated by Berea College’s Center for Excellence in Learning through Service (CELTS), in collaboration with the Berea Faith Community Outreach, will run from Oct. 19 to 26.

Beginning Oct. 19, volunteers will distribute brown paper grocery bags, donated by Kroger, to local households. Community members can help by filling the bags with non-perishable food and toiletry items and placing them near their front door by 9 a.m. on Oct. 26, for volunteers to pick up.

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