UNC Asheville Magazine

Volume 3, No. 1 · Fall/Winter 2010asheville

M A G A Z I N EUNC

Inside:A Professor in the JungleStudents vs. the EconomyAn 800-Ton Gift

page 13 | Bulldog Mascot Rocky I is the Big Man on Campus

ponderings

M A G A Z I N EashevilleUNC

Creativity in problem-solving is a hallmark of the liberal arts tradi-

tion. The current economic climate has challenged us to demonstrate this creativity in all aspects of university life— from finding new ways to help our students and their families afford a top-quality education to aligning the curriculum to meet the needs of an ever-changing world.

You’ll be pleased to know that UNC Asheville is not only solving problems creatively, but we are break-ing new ground (literally and figuratively) on a major health and wellness center that will serve all of North Carolina; topping the charts on national college rankings; and leading the state on sus-tainability measures, energy consumption and green building practices—all while remaining among the most affordable public liberal arts colleges in the country.

Navigating these difficult economic times has been challenging, but we have fared better than most, in part due to strong leader-ship and superb guidance from UNC President Erskine Bowles, who will be passing the torch at the end of the calendar year. Though we will miss his political acumen and business perspective, we at UNC Asheville are feeling particularly optimistic about his successor, Tom Ross. As the current president of Davidson College, Ross brings

a fundamental understanding of the true value of the liberal arts as well as a fine mind and deep commitment to North Carolina. We look forward to his leading and inspiring the UNC system for years to come.

As you peruse this edition of UNC Asheville Magazine, I hope you will share my admiration for our students, faculty and alumni who are demonstrating extraordinary creativity in addressing the pressing challenges of our time. Follow professor David Clarke’s adventures in South America, and meet donors who have made a difference on our campus. You’ll also read about our students who have travelled to India, China and Sweden to study and volunteer. And you are sure to catch some Bulldog fever from

our live mascot, Rocky I, as he inspires school spirit all over campus, as only a loveable dog can do.

In closing, I offer my sin-cere thanks to all our faculty and staff, our students, our alumni and community sup-porters for believing in UNC Asheville. With your help, we will continue to look to a very bright future.

—Chancellor Anne Ponder

Chancellor Ponder visits with students at the start of the fall semester.

“I offer my sincere thanks to all our faculty and staff, our students, our

alumni and community supporters for believing in UNC Asheville.

With your help, we will continue to look to a very bright future.”

—CHANCELLOR ANNE PONDER

BEN

JAM

IN P

OR

TER

BEN

JAM

IN PO

RTER

University of North Carolinaat AshevilleOne University HeightsAsheville, North Carolina 28804www.unca.edu

UNC Asheville Senior StaffChancellor Anne PonderProvost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Jane FernandesVice Chancellor for Student Affairs William K. HaggardVice Chancellor for Finance and Operations John PierceSenior Administrator for University Enterprises and Director of Athletics Janet ConeChief of Staff Christine RileyUniversity General Counsel Lucien “Skip” Capone III

UNC Asheville Magazine Staff Managing Editor Jill YarnallDesigners Nanette Johnson, Mary Ann LawrenceContributing Writers Aaron Dahlstrom ’09, Jay Fields, Mike Gore, Debbie Griffith, Colin McCandless ’01, Steve Plever, Katie Rozycki ’07, Jill YarnallContributing Photographers Asheville Citizen-Times, Tim Burleson, David Clarke, Brittany Davis ’11, Debbie Griffith, Perry Hebard, Benjamin Porter, Matt Rose, Alisha Silver

Alumni OfficeAlumni Director Kevan Frazier ’92

UNC Asheville Magazine is published twice a year to give alumni and friends an accurate, lively view of the university—its people, programs and initiatives. Contact us at [email protected].

Address Changes:UNC Asheville Office of DevelopmentOwen Hall, CPO #1800One University HeightsAsheville, NC 28804-8507e-mail [email protected]

UNC Asheville enrolls more than 3,700 full- and part-time students in more than 30 programs leading to the bachelor’s degree as well as the Master of Liberal Arts. The university is committed to equality of educational opportunity and does not discriminate against applicants, students or employees on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, disabling condition or sexual orientation.

© UNC Asheville/Office of Communication and Marketing, November 2010unca.edu/magazine

10 M A K I N G T H E B E S T O F TO U G H T I M E S

In the face of tough economic times, UNC Asheville students are stepping up to the challenge by working multiple jobs while attending classes full time. Learn how they manage and how financial aid eases their burdens.

16 F I E L D N O T E S F RO M A B O TA N I S T

Jaguars, malaria and anacondas are all in a day’s work for pioneering botanist and professor David Clarke. His adventures in the jungles of Guyana have led to the discovery of a new passion flower—and have provided a basis for his passion for teaching.

2 Around the Quad 8 Giving Back 9 Lending a Hand 20 Extra Credit 21 Primary Sources 22 Honor Society

23 Practically Speaking 24 Longitude & Latitude 25 Go, Bulldogs! 26 Class Notes 32 In Retrospect

16

features

on the cover

departments

on the back: local foods featured in the University Dining Hall

10

COVER: Students have come to adore the new live mascot. Photo by Perry Hebard

BELOW: Rocky I and handler Ed Johnson ’96 are always ready to put their best foot forward. Photo by Alisha Silver

ashevilleM A G A Z I N E

UNCVolume 3, No. 1 · Fall/Winter 2010

13

13 RO C K Y I : WO R T H T H E WA I T

Meet UNC Asheville’s first live bulldog mascot in more than 20 years, Rocky I. This rescued Victorian bulldog with a surprising back story brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “it’s a dog’s life.”

2 UNC asheville MAG AZINE

around theQUA D

Pisgah House takes on name of longtime supporter

SINCE ITS OPENING in February 2010, Pisgah House has carried the name of one of the region’s well-known mountains. Now, it also takes on the name of one of the univer-sity’s greatest champions—Janice W. Brumit.

The new name, The Janice W. Brumit Pisgah House, was revealed in a special cer-emony on September 27.

Brumit’s husband, Joe, recently made a generous bequest to UNC Asheville in honor of his wife’s many years of service to the university. The Board of Trustees later voted to name the new multipurpose facility that also serves as a chancellor’s residence in her honor.

Brumit began her service to the university in 1998 as a member of the UNC Asheville Foundation Board. In 2001, she was appointed to the Board of Trustees by then Gov. Michael Easley. Brumit served as board chair from 2005 to 2008 and remained an active member until 2009. During her time on the board, the university underwent numerous changes, including a host of building projects and the appointment of Anne Ponder as chancellor.

Off campus, Brumit is a noted business and civic leader and philanthropist. She has served on a number of boards and was the first woman to chair the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce.

ABOVE: Guests filled Pisgah

House Great Hall upon arrival

for the naming ceremony.

RIGHT: (L–R) Board of

Trustees Chair Jim Buckner

’71, Chancellor Anne Ponder,

Janice W. Brumit and Joe

Brumit gathered at the event.

BELOW: New signage was

unveiled during the ceremony.

PHO

TOS BY B

ENJA

MIN

POR

TER

3

UNC ASHEVILLE has contin-ued its tradition of receiving high marks in the annual rankings for best colleges in the nation.

This year, Parade magazine published a new “College A-List.” UNC Asheville was among just 21 small state schools in the U.S. ranked for offering “a big-league education.”

Also new were two “green rankings,” which highlighted colleges with a focus on environmental sustainability. UNC Asheville and nearby Warren Wilson College tied for first place as the greenest small colleges in a five-state region by Blue Ridge Outdoors magazine. In addition, the inaugural edition of The Princeton Review’s Guide to 286 Green Colleges noted that UNC Asheville has an “exemplary commitment to sustainability.”

LONGTIME NORTH CAROLINA health educator David Gardner has been named the first executive director of UNC Asheville’s North Carolina Center for Health & Wellness. He joined the university in July 2010.

“I’m honored to be affiliated with UNC Asheville and to be part of something very exciting that will have an impact across the state of North Carolina,” he said.

Gardner holds a doctorate in physical education from Middle Tennessee State University. Previously, he was section chief of healthy schools

for the N.C. Department of Public Instruction in Raleigh. Gardner also has served as director of corporate and com-munity health at WakeMed Health and Hospitals and as fitness and wellness coor-dinator for the Charlotte Fire Department. Earlier in his career, he taught health and physical education at Gardner-Webb College (now Gardner-Webb University) and Halifax Community College.

When the N.C. Center for Health & Wellness opens next spring, it will be a statewide hub for educating health and wellness profession-als, conducting research and incubating wellness-related community programs. The work of the center will focus on three of the state’s most pressing concerns: reducing childhood obesity, enhancing workplace wellness and facili-tating healthy aging.

New executive director of N.C. Center for Health & Wellness

“I’m honored to be affiliated with UNC Asheville and to be part of something very exciting that will have an impact across the state of North Carolina.” —David Gardner

UNC Asheville remains at top of class in national college rankings

The 2011 edition of Fiske Guide to Colleges calls UNC Asheville “one of the best educational bargains in the country.”

For the seventh consecutive year, Fiske Guide to Colleges named the Environmental Studies Department to its list of pre-professional programs “with unusual strength in preparing students for careers.”

U.S. News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges highlighted the university on several of its prestigious rankings. It listed the Undergraduate Research Program among the best in the nation for the ninth consecutive year. The guide noted UNC Asheville as the only North Carolina institution among National Liberal Arts Colleges whose students graduate with the least amount of debt. UNC Asheville faculty were lauded for having “an unusu-ally strong commitment to undergraduate teaching.” And the university moved up to number five in the “Top Up-and-Coming School” category among National Liberal Arts Colleges.

BEN

JAM

IN P

OR

TER

4

around theQUA D

UNC asheville MAG AZINE

THIS PAST SUMMER, the Quad was trans-formed from an iconic green landscape into an impressive construction zone. Drilling rigs were brought in to create 34 geothermal wells to provide environ-mentally friendly heating and cooling to Rhoades Hall and Tower, currently undergoing renovation. The wells, which are 500 feet deep and connected by seven miles of pipe, were finished and hidden under fresh sod in time for the start of classes in August.

Also known as a ground-source heat-pump system, geothermal wells operate by continuously circulating liquid through the well-and-pipe system. During the

winter, pumps extract warmth from the earth’s constant 58-degree temperature to heat the building. In the summer, heat is extracted from the building’s air and carried underground through the closed-loop system.

The $8.8 million state-funded renovation of Rhoades Hall and Tower will give the 40-year-old buildings new labs, classrooms and offices. Additional environmentally friendly and cost-efficient features include occupancy sensors to turn off lights when rooms are empty and a rainwater cistern to collect water for low-flow toilets. The project is expected to be completed in fall 2012.

LEFT: Drilling rigs bored 500 feet beneath the Quad to install geothermal wells.

BELOW: 34 geothermal wells were connected by seven miles of piping to provide

environmentally friendly heating and cooling to Rhoades Hall and Tower.

Digging deep: Geothermal wells take root under Quad

PHO

TOS

BY P

ERRY

HEB

AR

D

5

We stopped four of our students on the Quad to ask them about their best and worst classes at UNC Asheville. Here’s what they had to say…

LINDSAY GREENFIELD ’13 Mass Communication Raleigh, N.C.

“My best class is newswriting. I’m really interested in writing and learning how newspapers work. My worst class was astronomy because I’m just not big into science and math.”

FRANK MEADOWS ’14 Literature Raleigh, N.C.

“I’m really excited about my honors class on Comic Absurdity in Film and Literature. It’s a fun topic, and I’m getting a lot of helpful feedback and personal attention from my professor. I honestly love all my classes—there isn’t a worst one!”

NATRIEIFIA MILLER ’13 Psychology Dunn, N.C.

“My best class was Social Psychology. It was really engaging and entertaining, which helped me learn the material easily. I’m not much of a writer, so my worst class was Language 120. All of the papers were really tough.”

SHANE BANNER ’13 Drama Alexander, N.C.

“My favorite class was Acting I. It was almost like a meditation. I don’t like Humanities lectures. Some are interesting, but some are really boring, and it’s hard to stay awake.”

BRAD DEWEESE, UNC Asheville director of sports performance, has taken on a new challenge: training Olympic athletes. DeWeese has been tapped as strength and conditioning coach for team USA Canoe/Kayak to help prepare them for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Previously, these athletes, many of whom live and train at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, have worked on strength and nutrition only a few times each year with coaches as far away as Colorado and California.

DeWeese says he is honored to take on the new role. “My heart is in the Olympic movement,” he said.

DeWeese holds a bachelor’s degree in sports physiology and a master’s in nutrition from Western Carolina University. Currently, he is working on a doctorate in coach education and elite athletic development through NC State University. While working with the Olympic hopefuls, he will continue to train UNC Asheville student-athletes.

Brad DeWeese tapped to coach U.S. canoe/kayak team

PERRY H

EBAR

D


around theQUA D


SOME OF THE biggest names in college sports gathered recently at the Second Annual Eddie Biedenbach Celebrity Golf Classic to raise more than $50,000 for UNC Asheville student-athlete scholarships. Biedenbach has served as head men’s basketball coach since 1996.

Held at the Cliffs at Walnut Cove, the tourney brought together a roster of notable players, including college coaches Rick Barnes of Texas, Bobby Cremins of College of Charleston and Davidson’s Bob McKillop; former college and pro stars David Thompson, Tommy Burleson and Jon Barry; famed analyst Billy Packer; and Golf Digest senior writer Pete McDaniel ’74.

“The golf tournament is fun, and a way for me to get together with old friends,” said Biedenbach.

“But it also helps promote our school and helps us build relationships in our community.”

Golf tournament raises $50,000 for scholarships

LEFT: Greg Frey eyes his putt at the Second Annual

Eddie Biedenbach Golf Classic held in August.

BELOW: Coach Biedenbach (left) gets a golf

lesson from Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa Golf Pro

Breanne Hall.

RIGHT: (L-R) Nate

Banchiere, Bobby Cremins,

Eddie Biedenbach and

Buddy Greenwood were

among those who gathered

to raise funds for student-

athlete scholarships.

PHO

TOS C

OU

RTESY O

F ASHEVILLE CITIZEN

-TIMES

7

UNC ASHEVILLE SCIENCES recently got a boost from two significant donations.

The Pennsylvania-based Kennametal Foundation donated $40,000 to benefit the programs and equipment in Zeis Hall, the university’s new cutting-edge facility for the study of natural sciences and multimedia arts. The Chemistry lobby, located on the lower level of the build-ing, was named in honor of Kennametal Inc.

Sciences get a boost from two recent donations

LEFT: (L–R) UNC Asheville Board

of Trustees Chair Jim Buckner ’71;

Phil Weihl, Kennametal Foun-

dation trustee; Joy Chandler,

Kennametal Foundation trustee;

David Greenfield, former vice

president, secretary and general

counsel of Kennametal Inc.;

UNC Asheville Provost Jane

Fernandes; and Kevin Nowe,

Kennametal Foundation trustee.

“Whether it be chemistry, engineering, material sciences or mechatronics, it is where disciplines intersect in a facility such as this that innovation and breakthroughs occur,” said David W. Greenfield, former vice president, secre-tary and general counsel of Kennametal Inc.

A few weeks later, Progress Energy donated $25,000 to support UNC Asheville’s joint engineering programs with NC State University. The grant will be used to purchase lab equip-

ment for engineering courses and undergraduate research.

“We have seen first-hand the tremendous renewable energy projects designed by the senior class at UNC Asheville,” said Martha Thompson, commu-nity relations and economic development manager for Progress Energy. “The equip-ment purchased with this grant will be used to further advance these projects and stimulate the students to think about energy usage and con-sumption for our future.”

“Whether it be chemistry, engineering, material sciences or mechatronics, it is where disciplines intersect in a facility such as this that innovation and breakthroughs occur.”

—David W. Greenfield, former vice president, secretary and general counsel of Kennametal Inc.

TIM BU

RLESO

N

DEB

BIE

GR

IFFI

TH


Stone donation enhances N.C. Center for Health & Wellness

A CHANCE CONVERSATION at a Bulldog basket-ball game dramatically changed the face of the North Carolina Center for Health & Wellness forever.

Pat and Junius Grimes, local business leaders and longtime men’s basketball supporters, were enjoying a game and chatting about campus projects with Chancellor Anne Ponder.

Junius, owner of J.R. Stone Sales, has known the chancel-lor since their days together in graduate school at UNC-Chapel Hill. So he decided to cut to the chase with his old friend and share a bold opinion.

“I looked at the specs on the North Carolina Center for Health & Wellness early on and saw that it called for cut granite,” said Junius. “So I said to

Anne, ‘Why on earth are you folks putting cut granite on that building? There’s no cut granite anywhere else on campus. It’s just so com-pletely out of place to do that.’ And then I kind

givingB A C K[ ]inside UNC asheville

RIGHT: Pat (left) and Junius

Grimes donated some 800

tons of native stone and

$50,000 to the N.C. Center for

Health & Wellness.

BELOW: The native stone,

mined just outside Asheville,

is featured in the Center’s

rotunda.

of opened my mouth and said, ‘I’ll give you the stone if you won’t put cut granite on it.’

“Several weeks later, I got a call from the chan-cellor asking me if I was serious about giving stone for the building. I kind of gulped and said, ‘Well, yes. I guess I was.’”

It turned out to be a great decision—and a gen-erous offer. More than 800 tons of native stone mined just minutes from the university have gone into and around the building, making the structure both striking and complementary to other campus structures. The Grimeses also have pledged matching stone for the track renovation project, which is adjacent to the Center.

In addition to the gift of stone, the Grimeses have pledged $50,000 to the North Carolina Center for Health & Wellness. UNC Asheville’s Board of Trustees recently voted to name the building’s atrium in their honor.

Board Chair Jim Buckner ’71 said, “The North Carolina Center for Health & Wellness and the track renovation both feature native North Carolina stone, a material that is both beauti-ful and lasting. Thanks to the Grimes family, UNC Asheville students, faculty and staff will enjoy these beautiful facilities for many years to come.”

PHO

TOS

BY B

ENJA

MIN

PO

RTE

R

9

Khaniyara in Dharamsala, where she began teaching conversational English to 13 young women as part of a women’s empowerment group.

Davis soon discovered the difficulties of articulating her native language.

“Explaining your own language is tough,” said Davis. “I would spend my spare time going to Internet cafés to learn my gram-mar rules all over again.”

Despite this, Davis could tell that she was making a difference. “I sometimes doubted myself and thought I wasn’t doing enough to help my students, but through teaching I discovered how much respect and appreciation they had for me,” she said.

In Dharamsala, women must demon-strate proficiency in English to attend college and attain a job in the govern-ment sector. “To the women I taught,

lendingH A N D[ ]a

MORE THAN 50 years ago, the Dalai Lama and his followers fled Tibet and established a “government-in-exile” in Dharamsala, India, with the permission of the country’s prime minister. They remain in Dharamsala to this day.

UNC Asheville senior Brittany Davis, of Charlotte, N.C., was intrigued by this history, and asked herself, “What makes this society work? How do the Indian and Tibetan communities blend? What is the role of spirituality in their lives?”

Last, she asked, “What can I do to help?”

Bolstered by her interdisciplinary study of anthropology, women’s studies and pho-tography, Davis decided to go straight to the source—participating in a six-week volunteer trip hosted by Cross Cultural Solutions, a program likened to a “mini-Peace Corps” that allows individuals to volunteer abroad for anywhere from two to 12 weeks.

For Davis, volunteering in India was an easy choice.

“I’ve wanted to go to India for many years now and was looking for a way to go that could really connect to what I was learning in school while helping others,” said Davis. “This was a perfect fit for me because it blends all facets of my major.”

In June, Davis traveled for more than three days to reach the village of

Senior Brittany Davis learns to make a difference in India By Katie Rozycki ’07

ABOVE: Self-portrait of Brittany Davis ’11

at the Chamunda Devi Temple in

Dharamsala, India.

LEFT: Davis’ students played Pictionary

as part of their English lessons.

learning English equaled empowerment,” said Davis.

Though modern technology was spotty and her teaching schedule busy, Davis took time to document her experiences and observations in her blog, “Cracked Earth Beneath My Day.”

“We are learning from one another,” wrote Davis. “We are not only here to learn English because that is what society needs, we are here to live in community and to share the similar and different aspects of our everyday lived experiences.”

Davis continued, “Even though our petals may look different, our roots stem from the same earth.”

PHO

TOS

BY B

RIT

TAN

Y D

AVIS

Even though our petals may look different, our roots stem from the same earth.”

—Brittany Davis ’11

click it: For more information, visit “Cracked Earth Beneath My Day” at riversoup.wordpress.com.


Above and Opposite: Tabitha Williams at

her retail sales job at the Grovepark Inn Resort & Spa.

making the best of

tough times

BY DEBBIE GRIFFITH

F or Tabitha Williams, a senior at UNC Asheville, there are hardly enough hours in the day. Between

attending classes and lectures in Art History and preparing for the birth of her first child due in November, she works an average of 30 hours a week in retail sales at the Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa, and 12 hours a week in the campus News Services office. It’s a schedule she enjoys, but one that demands time-management skills, flexibility, a bit of determination and a willingness to forego sleeping in on Saturday mornings.

Williams is not alone. As more and more students and their families are

being squeezed by rising prices and a sluggish economy, having that part-time job is often a necessity. In addition, financial aid (scholarships, loans or a combination) has become a routine part of affording college.

“I’d be lying if I said that I don’t fall short on some things in my life some-times because of the long hours, but it seems like I’ve always had a job, and I enjoy it. It’s just part of my life,” Williams said. “Being pregnant now is that much more motivation for me to get everything done, get my degree and be a mother.”

Karis Roberts, a senior Psychology major from Wilmington, N.C., also holds

Part-time jobs and increased financial aid have helped many students cope with a tough economy.

11

down three off-campus jobs in order to pay the bills. “I’m 100 percent financially independent—I pay for everything, so working is important. I also have some student grants that help as well.”

Roberts works in two church nurseries in addition to working at a retail clothing store in a local mall. “It takes a lot of time management to work and attend classes. My big issue is I tend to double-book myself, but so far I’ve been able to allow time to study and to have a little fun along the way,” she said.

There are no hard-and-fast figures on all forms of student employment, but the campus Career Center reports that in the past year more than 526 students were employed on campus, where the average wage was $8.26 an hour. Many more held off-campus jobs, internships and federal work-study jobs.

Jobs and financial aidMany UNC Asheville students are

thankful that in addition to part-time work, they also qualify for various forms of financial aid—scholarships, grants, student loans and federal work-study. In fact, more than 51 percent of UNC Asheville students receive some form of financial aid.

But the unfortunate truth is that there is not really enough financial aid to meet all the needs of our students, despite the fact that UNC Asheville is among the most affordable liberal arts institutions nationwide. U.S. News & World Report’s annual college rankings show that the university ranks 14th among all liberal arts colleges for graduating students with the least amount of debt. The average student loan indebtedness for a UNC Asheville graduate is about $14,000.

“We try our very best to put together packages that meet as much of each stu-

dent’s financial need as we can,” said Beth Bartlett, associate director of Financial Aid. “We try to match our students with as much grant aid as possible, and we spend every penny we have trying to reduce students’ loan debt.

“There’s a critical need for more scholarships, especially merit-based scholarships (endowed scholarships or unrestricted gifts that could fund schol-arships),” said Bartlett. “Often donors request their scholarship dollars be awarded to students with need, and that is not always possible when awarding

New this year is UNC Asheville’s very own “Stimulus Initiative” as Career Center Director Eileen Buecher called it.

The Student Employment Incentive Program was created by UNC Asheville’s leadership team to create new jobs for full-time undergraduate students. A pool of funds was set aside to help departments hire student workers. In its first month, 32 departments have submitted 77 new job descriptions in hopes of qualifying for some of the “stimulus” money. A total of 55 new student jobs were funded at $8 per hour.

“We know that those students who engage in meaningful on-campus employment stay on track and graduate much more consistently than those who do not,” said Chancellor Anne Ponder.

“In this time of economic difficulty and mandatory tuition increases, it is even more critical that we do all we can to help our students afford to stay in school, provide them with valuable work experi-ence and keep our administrative costs down. Investing in student employment achieves all of these goals while continu-ing to build a vibrant campus community.”

On-Campus “Economic Stimulus Program”2010–11 Annual FeesFurman University Tuition and Fees: $37,728 Double Room: $5,198 Meal Plan: $4,374 Total: $47,300

Davidson College Tuition and Fees: $36,683 Double Room: $5,463 Meal Plan: $4,883 Total: $47,029

UNC Asheville In-State Tuition and Fees: $4,772 Double Room: $3,990 Meal Plan: $3,050 Total: $11,812

PHO

TOS BY PER

RY HEBA

RD


scholarships to students for the highest academic achievers. If we had more merit aid available, we could use the scholar-ships designated for needy students and further reduce our students’ debt load.”

Currently, the Laurels Scholarship is UNC Asheville’s largest scholarship, which is awarded to the most aca-demically high-achieving freshmen. The funding for these scholarships comes from a pool of funds contributed by donors. Some are based on need, merit or both need and merit. That funding provides for only two or three full Laurels Scholarships; the remainder of the scholarships range in value from $1,200 to $3,500.

Additional unrestricted funding earmarked for a flagship scholarship would be a godsend for students. Bartlett said she wishes that UNC Asheville had the equivalent of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Morehead Scholarship or the Park Scholarship at NC State. “If we did, we could definitely increase our pool of really top students, while also assisting other worthy students in meeting their financial need with additional grants.”

By comparison, Western Carolina University awards 10 WCU Foundation Scholarships each year, renewable for four years. Davidson awards four to six full Belk Scholarships each year.

Rebecca Williams, a freshman from Mendham, N.J., is a full Laurels Scholar.

“I’m the youngest in my family, and my brothers and sisters have already gradu-ated. They are still paying off student loans. The scholarship is really helping my family with my tuition costs because my dad has been unem-ployed for a year now and my mom is a high school counselor. I may look for a job next semester because I still have to pay for my books.”

Currently, UNC Asheville’s Financial Aid office is able to provide some form of aid to virtually every student who qualifies for the Laurels Scholarship. The

average per student is $1,800, which in comparison with some other institutions is low.

As a consequence, a student’s first stop after enrollment is oftentimes the Career Center and its workshops on how to find on- and off-campus jobs.

Eileen Buecher, director of the Career Center, said this year 235 students attended the first information session, all of them interested in getting part-time employment to help with living expenses.

“Most of these students are used to work-ing and they want jobs. We’re fortunate that we can offer them many on-campus job opportunities that give them leader-ship skills or internships, not just clerical work,” she said.

Megan Sinkinson Withrow is one of them. Withrow, a junior Multimedia Arts and Sciences major from Wilmington, N.C., works in the Career Center for 12 hours a week in addition to a job as a line judge for the women’s volleyball team.

“Working here is a great networking opportunity,” Withrow said. “It’s tough sometimes to juggle school and work, but it’s possible. I just have to make sure that school is my top priority.”

Career Center employee Megan Sinkinson Withrow ’13.

Rebecca Williams ’14

DEB

BIE

GR

IFFI

TH

PHO

TO C

OU

RTE

SY O

F JI

M S

TIC

KN

EY

A donor steps upJim Stickney ’78 of Asheville

remembers his part-time jobs while a student at UNC Asheville. “I worked part time in a local tire shop dur-ing the school year, and during the summers I worked full time in con-struction. It was a struggle with a full course load, but I was married and I needed the extra money.”

Because of his own experience as well as his devotion to supporting his alma mater, Stickney has made contributions to fund scholarships for more than 10 years. “I empathize with students who have to work. I had an advantage in that my family could afford the tuition, but I also believe that there are more families these days who are less able to do that,” Stickney.

Stickney majored in Economics and now is CEO of Insurance Services of Asheville. He has remained a staunch supporter of his alma mater, not only in terms of annual gifts that support scholarships and athletics, but as a member of the Foundation Board and the Alumni Council.

“I have the means to support the university, so I do. I would encour-age others to think about making that a priority,” Stickney said. “With scholarship gifts, you know it’s going toward a student’s expenses. It’s a con-tribution that goes toward the whole purpose of UNC Asheville—educating students.”

On-campus jobs: 621

Total students employed on campus: 526

Students with more than one job: 95

Average hourly wage: $8.26/hour

worth the wait

13

UNC Asheville’s big man on campus isn’t your typical good looking guy. For starters, he has four legs and tends to drool. But that doesn’t matter to most students.

Since he made his debut almost two years ago, live bulldog mascot Rocky I has attracted attention everywhere he goes—from commencement to the basketball court.

“It’s great to finally have a living mascot that can represent our school,” said junior Kristen Englert. “Whenever Rocky comes to campus or attends games, it just really elevates the

spirits of the people, and you see a transformation in the school. Plus, he’s friendly and handsome.”

Those traits were exactly what the university needed in its bulldog, said Kevan Frazier ’92, director of UNC Asheville Alumni Relations, who has been instrumental in bringing back the tradition of a live mascot.

In 1948, the first live mascot, Puck, arrived on campus and launched the tradition of live bulldog mascots that lasted into the 1980s. Puck was followed by Puck II, Chug-a-Lug and Winston. Then, the tradition of a live mascot fell out of use.

BY JILL YARNALL

ALI

SHA

SIL

VER

cover story

Rocky

But the symbol of a bulldog, used since the university first fielded athletic teams in the 1930s, remained intact. The costumed bulldog mascot has been a regular at sporting events, but didn’t have an official name.

In 1995, the Athletics Department held a naming contest and the moni-ker “Rocky” won. The winning name was submitted by staff member Nancy Williams because it means “steadfast.”

As much as Rocky became a symbol for the university, students were eager to revive the tradition of a live mascot. In 2007, a group of students, staff and alumni began working diligently to make that dream a reality.

Alumni couple and dog lovers Alexis Johnson ’97 and Ed Johnson ’96 vol-unteered to be the mascot’s keepers and trainers. Ed, who also teaches in the

Mathematics Department, began contacting breeders across the Southeast. For months he had little luck finding the right dog. On a whim one day, Ed researched bulldog rescue organizations online. In less than 30 minutes he found what seemed like a perfect match: a two-year-old, rescued white Victorian bulldog being fostered in Georgia.

Victorian bulldogs are a relatively new breed established to resemble the bulldogs of the 18th and 19th centuries. They are taller than the well-known English bulldog and have broad faces, wide chests and short coats.

Ed and Alexis drove to Georgia to meet the dog and to determine if they could mold him into mascot material. They knew immediately they had found Rocky I.

“The dog was extremely gregarious and overly friendly. It was clear that he absolutely thrived on attention and would make a perfect mascot,” said Ed.

They soon learned another of the dog’s traits. “By the time we arrived back in Asheville, the car, Alexis and I were covered in slobber,” laughed Ed, who

ALI

SHA

SIL

VER

“He’s so friendly and calm. Rocky makes me glad I didn’t go to NC State—I don’t want to pet a wolf. And I’m OK without a battering ram.”

—Ellie Little ’13

PER

RY H

EBA

RD

ROCKY AT A GLANCE

• Age:four

• Breed:whiteVictorian bulldog

• Weight:85pounds

• Birthplace:Alabama

• Siblings:Savannah,a border collie

• Favoritetreat:homemaderoast beef bites

Frances Staelin ’13 got a big kiss from Rocky this fall on the Quad.

15

now carries a towel clipped to his belt when appearing at campus events.

What they didn’t know was Rocky’s back story, which didn’t come to light until his debut at the 2009 homecoming basket-ball game received media attention across the region.

Reporters discovered that Rocky began his journey to col-lege mascot fame at the Humane Society of Escambia County in Alabama. At that time he was named Rebel and was sur-

rendered to the shelter with an adult female named Dixie and their 10 puppies. The canine family was fostered at the director’s home for nine days before they were moved to the Rockin’ P Boxer rescue in Jackson, Ala. The next leg of his journey took Rocky to a foster home in Georgia, where Ed located him.

“To know that we were a part of Rocky’s, aka Rebel’s, happy end-ing and to know that he will bring much joy to the fans and players at UNC Asheville is more

gratifying than I can even express,” said Humane Society of Escambia County Director Renee Jones.

From the beginning, Rocky was a campus superstar. Now, after nearly two years of being part of the UNC Asheville com-munity, his fame is only growing.

“He’s so friendly and calm. Rocky makes me glad I didn’t go to NC State—I don’t want to pet a wolf. And I’m OK without a battering ram,” joked sophomore Ellie Little as she rubbed Rocky’s chin during Founders Day festivities on the Quad.

Ed says his life on campus will never be the same either. Two years ago, he was just a Math professor; today, he’s best known as Rocky’s dad.

“It can be very difficult to go somewhere on campus with Rocky because I get stopped so frequently,” he said.

Rocky doesn’t mind. “He absolutely loves it. He lives for it,” Ed says.

In fact, when Ed puts on a UNC Asheville shirt and his signature blue Converse high-top shoes that he wears when handling Rocky for public events, the dog gets so excited that Ed can hardly buckle on his collar.

Once on campus though, Rocky calms down and is all business. The 85-pound gentle giant allows children to climb all over him at volleyball games, gratefully accepts treats from Bulldog Athletic Association members during basketball games and poses for photos with incoming freshmen at orien-tation. He even wears a cap and gown at graduation.

By all accounts, Rocky has settled into a happy life on campus. And the students,

staff and alumni who revived the tradi-tion are happy as well.

“When I met Rocky, I knew he was the dog for UNC Asheville,” Frazier said. “He was worth the wait, drool

and all.”Woof! Check out my Rocky I Facebook page!

Or visit unca.edu/universityhistory/rocky.

ALI

SHA

SIL

VER

Math professor Ed Johnson ’96 is

Rocky’s owner and handler.

ALI

SHA

SIL

VER

ALI

SHA

SIL

VER

L-R: Rocky fans Rachel Whaley ’11, Eliud Chirchir ’12, Cortland Mercer ’11 and Courtney Galatioto ’11

cover story

16

than 20 expeditionary trips into what he calls “the world’s last great tropical wilderness.” One particular species, a passion flower called Dilkea clarkei, was discovered by Clarke and recently named for him.

Because of his journeys of discovery, there is more to a David Clarke lecture or lab than general taxonomy. Into discus-sions of plants and ecosystems enters a sense of actually being in the bush, the mists and drips and understory of the trop-ics rising to the occasion, along with night sounds and the conversations of Amerindians on the trail. For some students, more than the imagination is engaged.


Top: David Clarke brings his love of working with plants in the field to his students.

Above and Opposite Bottom: Exotic flora and fauna photo-graphed by David Clarke while traveling in Guyana.

N ear his desk at UNC Asheville, a few tell-tale appurtenances suggest

that David Clarke has once again been out of town.

In the corner: a blowgun with darts tipped with curare, a paralyzing poison that can enable a Guyana tribesman to chase down a monkey, then eat it. On a nearby shelf: delicate basketry made of palm reeds. Inside: necklaces with pendants that, again, have a distinctive out-of-town spin—claws of great armadil-los, teeth of ocelot, tusks of wild pigs, bones of spider monkeys.

Clarke, who joined the UNC Asheville faculty in 2000, is an associate professor of Biology. Previously, he worked as the last full-time resident plant collector for the Smithsonian Institution’s Biological Diversity of the Guianas Program. Today, he continues to catalog vanishing plants in Guyana (previously known as British Guiana) during the summers. Since the mid-’90s, he has collected more than 12,000 distinct specimens, making more

David Clarke: Collector of plants in the world’s last great tropical wilderness BY JAY FIELDS

MA

TT R

OSE

botanistof a field notes

17

On a number of trips, Clarke has been accompanied by one or more undergradu-ates, who are doing research.

On his expeditions into the wild, into the Acarai and other mountain ranges, Clarke has collected—along with plants— scores of stories, each one drenched in the wet, staggering beauty of the rain forest. He calls Guyana “the land of lost toys” and, in the breadth of a sentence, out tumble jaguars, anaconda, piranha, catfish that adhere to your body, bush-masters, macaws, tapirs, orchids, 400-foot waterfalls and luminescent earthworms three feet long.

His journals, painstakingly hand-written, reveal not just his scientific discoveries but also the personal revela-tions that shape his spirit of adventure.

From a journal entry: “The days are discrete and measured: 12 hours of light and work and 12 hours of darkness and rest. Weekends don’t exist, but when what you are doing for work is the same as what you would consider recreation, this is as it should be. Yes, there is a great deal of squalor and discomfort in the rain-forest: ticks and chiggers, bot flies, fungal

diseases, malaria, field clothes with an indelible stench, mud that squishes between your toes as you walk around camp in the rainy season, and spines from palms that imbed themselves in your skin and fester. Yes, there is dirt, but there is little iniquity. Seven weeks may seem like a long time, but on a trip like this it really isn’t, so I decided to go as deep in the bush as fast and as far as possible before I had to start turning around. When I got there I discovered that I had shed most of the material features of my existence and was able to gain an apprehension of who I am and what I value not afforded to those who stay at home.”

Wanted: Botanist to collect in vast rain forest

A chance encounter with a small notice in a botany newsletter triggered Clarke’s first trip to Georgetown, Guyana.

“I was finishing my Ph.D., heading for a post-doctoral position at a lab at Duke when I saw this notice from the Smithsonian advertising for a botanist in Guyana,” Clarke said. “I sent them my vita, and they sent me back a one-way ticket.”

From the moment he landed, he had to figure things out on his own. “I had to put together the first expedition piece by piece. It was a steep learning curve.”

Piece by piece means food, equipment, transportation (generally a small plane into the interior), medical supplies and fuel, plus items to compensate native Amerindians for their help bushwhacking trails and minding camp (and occasion-ally saving your life), including beads, buckets, machetes, soap, salt and fishing line. And one other largely indispensable item: newspapers for holding plant speci-mens that would be flown back, in heavy bundles, to Georgetown for drying.

Writing from the University of Guyana on his first trip (1995), he assays for friends: “It’s my job to collect and identify all the plants in the Iwokrama rainfor-est reserve on the Essequibo River. My Macushi Amerindian workers and I

Top: David Clarke (far right) in Guyana during a plant collection trip with Patamona Amerindian guides (L–R) Charles Joseph, Colin Albin, Rodney Daniel and Moses Williams.

DAV

ID C

LAR

KE


Above: Written in the field, Clarke’s journals provide rich stories of his adventures in Guyana.

Right: Clarke’s travels include encounters with 400-foot waterfalls and visits with Amerindian villagers.

A map of the area can be dead wrong. There are no paths; to get a fix on location, as Clarke wrote in his journal, it’s best to climb a tall tree with a GPS.

collect along rivers or crude machete-cut trails during the day and sleep in ham-mocks under tarps at night. To collect, I need flowers and/or fruits, most of which occur in the canopy some 40–50 m. off the ground. All of the action is in the canopy, so I have to climb up with tree climbing spikes and a safety belt, get some 20, 30, or 40 m. off the ground and then pull up pole pruners with 3 ten-foot sections to reach out into the void (hold-ing on to the tree for dear life) to clip that precious branch. And you thought that botanists were effete myopic nerds!”

He continues: “But the view from the canopy makes it all seem worth-while, filled with butterflies and sunlight, and contrasting strongly with the dark, cavernous uniformity of green of the understory. The forest is majestic. The canopy is not quite as high as some of the Pacific NW rainforests, but the trees have huge buttressed bases and are draped with mighty lianas and epiphytes (orchids, bromeliads, like wild pineapple), ferns, African violet cousins, mosses, and Philodendron-type things.”

Into the mountains with the Wai Wais

On a later expedition, with the inten-tion of reaching the summit of the Acarai Mountains to collect orchids and other

plants at cloud forest levels, the travel party consisted of five Wai Wais, two Wapishana, one Arawak, one Guyanese coastlander, five American ornithologists and Clarke. There were also, according to Clarke’s notes: “Three prodigious Wai Wai dugout canoes; 70 miles of river travel from the Wai Wai village of 200 people (the only permanent human habitation within a hundred-mile radius) to the headwaters of the Essequibo River; eight miles of cutting trails with machetes and carrying load from the river to two mountain camps to reach the summit of the mountains, the highest of these at 3,700 ft.”

Clarke’s close working collabora-tions with Amerindians has shaped both friendships and personal observations. Of the 200 remaining Wai Wais in Guyana, he writes, “The only thing scheduled for extinction in the very near future in that area is their culture.”

So remote it takes two weeks to paddle to an outpost for salt, the Wai Wai village has often been a jumping off point for collection trips, an assembly point for river expeditions into mountainous regions both vast and unknown.

“As usual, the mountains appeared abruptly and almost miraculously right where they should have been, behind a large, clear stream flowing over white sand out of a gorge. Later the Wai Wais made one of their baroque monkey bridges in the form of a large tree felled by cutlass over the creek and rigged with a bush rope for balance. We waded the first day and could have easily done with-

So far we have seen tapirs, anteaters, spider and howler monkeys, giant river otters, pacas, caymans, iguanas, red brocket deer, king vultures, Amazon parrots, blue and gold and red and green and scarlet macaws, cock of the rock (the most overdressed bird in South America—day glow orange!), gorgeous metallic blue Morpho butterflies (remember Papillon?), labaria (fer-de-lance’s evil twin brother: a big, bad, truculent, and deadly pit viper with a serious attitude problem), and one

(yes!) jaguar swimming across a river, where he was definitely not expecting to see people.

J O U R N A L E N T R Y

PHO

TOS BY D

AVID

CLA

RK

E

19

click it: To learn more about David Clarke’s expeditions, visit the botany section of the Smithsonian Institution’s Web site, http://botany.si.edu/bdg/Clarke_trips/Clarke_intro.html.

Above: Souvenirs from Clarke’s travels include poison-tipped arrows and ocelot teeth, which he keeps in his campus office.

out the monkey bridge altogether, but the Wai Wais really get into their work and are hard to discourage from any activity involving an axe or cutlass.

“They know that they have our respect because of this and I gain their respect by picking up a heavy load and walking with it. Without this respect, an expedi-tion is in serious trouble; with it we can survive and persevere through almost any hardship.”

The corner office with tapirs and blowguns

As a visitor—sitting quietly with Clarke in his unobtrusive office space in Zeis Hall, talking about his Wai Wai friends, about beer made by spitting chewed up cassava into a bucket, and the delight of drinking unfiltered water directly out of the Essequibo River with its layer of piranha—it’s easy to be of two minds.

The first relishes the notion of spend-ing time with this interesting person, David Clarke, teacher and chronicler of biodiversity, as fall begins at UNC Asheville and students rush between appointments. The second, quite of its own accord, is reasonably sure that water is rising in the room and that, around Clarke’s desk, a tapir is swimming by, followed by the branch of a banyan tree encircled by an anaconda.

It is that sense of wonder and discovery that takes shape in the minds of Clarke’s students. They are often challenged by

their professor’s questions, like the follow-ing from one of his many journeys:

“So the question is, can we at this time, all six billion of us with our umpteen billion cows, pigs, and chickens, afford the luxury of keeping this green leafy guy around? Can we first of all afford the luxury of documenting these organisms since most of them, especially in the tropics, are unknown and, secondly, after we find out what and where they are and evaluate their value in human terms—which is likely to be slight in comparison to our many pressing social and economic needs—can we decide that the world is a bet-ter place with these plants in it?”

The terms, conditions and texturings of the answer to that question are, thanks in part to David Clarke, a matter of personal and historical record.

Feuillet, New species of Dilkea from the Guianas 57

Fig. 1. Dilkea clarkei. A. Stem with leaves and tendrils; B. Stem with leaves and a fruit; C. Nodes showing the base of a branch and numerous bud scales; D. Fruit; E. Fruit open showing one of the seeds in the aril sac; F. Seed with only the base of the aril sac. A from H.D. Clarke 1848 (US); B–F from type H.D. Clarke 2987 (B, E–F: US; C–D: MO).

Below: Dilkea clarkei, a passion flower discovered by Clarke in Guyana, now bears his name. Drawing by A.R. Tangerini, courtesy of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

We spent a few wonderful days collecting in this forest, crawling through mossy tangles and scrambling for orchids, cooled by delightful breezes entirely absent in the forest below, and occasionally walking out to the edge of the cliff to look out over the Acarai, Kamoa, Wassarai, and Onoro Mountains to the north and west, south into Brazil, east towards Surinam, and north across the lowland rainforest of Southern Guyana.

J O U R N A L E N T R Y

PHO

TOS

BY

PER

RY H

EBA

RD


extrA+C R E D I T[ ]inside UNC asheville

MANY PEOPLE don’t think of undergraduate liberal arts universities as strongholds of natural science research. UNC Asheville senior Biology majors Julie Clifford and Alyssa Teat have done their part to soundly prove them wrong.

Students selected for National Science Foundation research in ChinaBy Colin McCandless ’01

Clifford and Teat were among just 10 undergraduate stu-dents selected nationwide for a highly competitive National Science Foundation research program in China.

Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) is an ongoing collabo-ration between universities in the United States and Southeast Asia to study the genetics of invasive species (think kudzu) exchanged between the two countries.

Before boarding a plane for Asia, Clifford and Teat underwent an intensive spring semester at the University of Georgia to prepare for the research expedition. They took Mandarin Chinese language and culture classes as well as courses on the genetics of invasive species.

Once they arrived in China, the undergraduate students headed to their home base at Nanjing University in Jiangsu province. From there, Clifford, Teat and the other researchers traveled throughout China for eight weeks collecting sam-ples of invasive plants. They examined the plants’ genetic

markers, hoping to find ways to stop their explosive growth.

“It was definitely an incredible opportunity,” said Teat.

“It was a great experience for international research because things were so different,” said Clifford, who stayed in China an additional three weeks to serve as an intern in a medici-nal plants genetics lab.

Now that they’ve returned to UNC Asheville, Clifford and Teat are completing addi-tional undergraduate research projects. Teat is studying phys-iological and environmental factors that affect ginsenoside production in American gin-seng, a plant native to Western North Carolina. Clifford is studying Piriqueta, a subtropi-cal plant native to Florida.

Both are still amazed that they were selected for the PIRE program.

“Not many people have this opportunity, so I am grateful,” said Clifford. “Alyssa and I were especially lucky that UNC Asheville’s Biology Department is so wonderful that it helped make us serious candidates for a competitive program like this one.”

While in China, Alyssa Teat ’11 and Julie Clifford ’11 visited the

autonomous region of Tibet. BELOW: Teat poses with a young

Tibetan man while his mother waits patiently with the family yak.

Not many people have this opportunity, so I am grateful.”

— Julie Clifford ’11

PHO

TO C

OU

RTE

SY O

F A

LYSS

A T

EAT

21

primaryS O U R C E S[ ]

Professor and human rights advocate Mark Gibney keeps scoreBy Steve Plever, assistant director of News Services

ON A SCALE of one to five, how would you rate Cuba’s human rights practices? What score would you give the United States?

Mark Gibney, UNC Asheville’s Belk Distin-guished Professor in the Humanities, has been keeping tabs on human rights practices around the world for more than 25 years. He posts new ratings each fall on the Web site political terrorscale.org.

Working with Political Science Chair Linda Cornett, alumnus Reed Wood ’10 and students, Gibney analyzes information from the U.S. State Department and Amnesty International— killings, torture, political imprisonment and disappearances carried out or permitted by governments. Gibney and his team then produce ratings on a one-to-five scale that are widely used in the political science field.

The online scorecard is just one component of Gibney’s work in human rights. An accom-plished author, he has two new books coming out this fall, The Politics of Human Rights: The Quest for Dignity (Cambridge University Press) and Global Refugee Crisis: A Reference Handbook (ABC-CLIO).

A career of teaching, writing and advocating for human rights is in some ways an odd fit. Gibney says he had been “studiously apo-litical” until he was required to read The Autobiography of Malcolm X as a teenager. The book gave Gibney his first “aha! moment” about human rights.

“Many people at that time thought that blacks in America needed civil rights that could be granted gradually,” says Gibney.

“Malcolm made me realize that blacks in America were being

I get criticized for being too much of an American by my colleagues abroad. And it’s true. I want justice, legal remedies and punishment for abusers.”

—Mark Gibney, Belk Distinguished Professor in the Humanities

denied universal human rights that needed immediate recognition.”

Gibney, who holds a doctorate from the University of Michigan and a law degree from Villanova, can’t help but take a lawyerly approach to human rights. “I get criticized for being too much of an American by my col-leagues abroad,” he said. “And it’s true. I want justice, legal remedies and punishment for abusers.”

Gibney wishes his ratings demonstrated greater progress on human rights. “It can be depress-ing to think about how normal oppression is,” he said. Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Iraq perennially earn the worst rating of “five.” Cuba rates a “three” because of extensive political imprisonment. And the United States, which has drawn fire from human rights groups because of capital punishment and treatment of detainees at Guantanamo, also rates a “three.” But Gibney feels the U.S. probably merits many different ratings—one for citizens, another for undocu-mented immigrants and still more ratings for lands abroad controlled by our military forces.

“Human rights should not just apply at home or for citizens,” he said. “They are universal and it is time for every nation to begin respecting them for each of us, everywhere.”

Mark Gibney meets with History major Carrie Miller ’11 in his office.

click it: For more information, visit politicalterrorscale.org.

PHO

TOS BY M

ATT R

OSE


honorS O C I E T Y[ ]inside UNC asheville

Chair and Associate Professor of Philosophy Brian Butler helped secure $118,000 in National Endowment for the Humanities funding to conduct two one-week summer workshops for community college professors. The seminar, “Black Mountain College: An Artistic and Educational Legacy,” will examine the college’s artistic and intellectual influence on modernism in America.

University Counsel Lucien “Skip” Capone received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of College and University Attorneys during its conference in Washington, D.C.

Christopher Hennon, assistant professor of Atmospheric Sciences, was recently awarded a $120,000 research grant from NASA to continue his research on techniques for measuring the wind speeds of tropical cyclones from space.

The grant includes funds for two undergraduate student researchers.

Associate Professor of Biology Ted Meigs was awarded $50,000 from the University Cancer Research Fund, which is managed by the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. The funds allow Meigs and his student research team to continue their studies on the molecular

mechanisms of cancer progression. Among that group is senior Kelly Kreitzburg, who received a summer research fellowship from the Burroughs Wellcome Scholars Program to aid in the collaboration between UNC Asheville and cell biological researchers in Barcelona, Spain.

Sophomore Corey McClintock has been named a North Carolina Space Grant Undergraduate Scholar. Junior Kayla Redmond received a $5,000 North Carolina Space

Lucien “Skip” Capone

Christopher Hennon

Grant Scholarship to pursue undergraduate research on millisecond radio bursts.

Literature Professor Merritt Moseley was awarded the Robert B. Heilman Prize for excellence in book reviewing by the Sewanee Review, America’s oldest literary quarterly.

Chair and Professor of History Dan Pierce was awarded $150,000 in National Endowment for the Humanities funding to create “Power and Place: Land and Peoples in Appalachia,” a three-week summer institute for school teachers to focus on the history and cultures of Southern Appalachia.

Philosophy Professor Gordon Wilson received a $220,000 National Endowment for the Humanities grant to complete and publish the classic work Quaestiones ordinariae by the noted 13th century philosopher Henry of Ghent.

Micheal Stratton, assistant professor of Management, was presented the New Educator Award from the Organizational Behavior Teaching Society for demonstrating promise for new ways of teaching about and practicing management education.

“Sound-Lines,” an article by Associate Professor of Multimedia Arts and Sciences Lorraine Walsh, was

published in Leonardo Journal, a respected print journal published by MIT Press.

Biology professors Jennifer Rhode Ward, David Clarke and Jonathan Horton received a $196,000 National Science Foundation award to improve the teaching of botany at UNC Asheville.

Merritt Moseley

Jennifer Rhode Ward

23

practically S P E A K I N G[ ]

Tips on staying fit through the winterBy Katie Rozycki ’07

“Moderation is key, so pay attention to what you’re putting on your plate.”

Wintertime exercise is also tough, admits Ennis. With chilly weather and early sun-sets, it’s difficult to remain active to make up for decadent holiday meals.

“When it starts getting dark at 5 p.m., it’s hard not to want to go home immediately after work,” she said. However, Ennis recommends planning ahead, scheduling time for a workout and using the buddy system.

“It’s easy to make excuses when you’re not prepared,” said Ennis. She advises packing gym clothes the evening before work, just as you would your lunch. She also encourages finding a like-minded exercise partner with a similar schedule and fitness level.

“The buddy system is a great way to hold yourself accountable, because someone else is depending on you,” said Ennis.

Different workout formats and exercise classes are the key to staying motivated while alleviating boredom and prevent-ing a fitness plateau, according to Ennis:

“I might use the treadmill two days a week and then take a boot camp class, a Zumba [Latin-inspired aerobics] class, and then make sure I lift weights about three times a week.”

Staying active may also prevent holiday-induced hysteria. “We all know how stressful the holidays can be,” said Ennis.

“Exercise is a great stress reliever.”

Dominique Ennis, who oversees recreation

and fitness programming at UNC Asheville,

runs on the treadmill to relieve stress and

stay fit.

WINTERTIME BRINGS with it the joy of holiday gatherings and time shared with family and friends. For many, it also brings the unfortunate side effect of a few extra pounds.

Dominique Ennis, UNC Asheville’s assis-tant director of Campus Recreation, has the skinny on holiday weight gain and ways to prevent it.

“From September through January, there is a holiday every month that tempts people to overindulge: Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s,” she said. “The hard work people invested keeping fit earlier in the year can be quickly eliminated in about five months.”

Even Ennis, who oversees recreation and fitness programming at UNC Asheville, admits she’s not immune from overin-dulging. But she tries to uphold her own fitness goals and also offers a few tricks for staying svelte while enjoying holiday cheer.

First, she recommends consuming a small meal or snack every two to three hours.

“This trains your body to expect food at a set time as opposed to starving it, then overeating when you do get a chance to eat,” said Ennis.

We may think we’re hungry when the real culprit is thirst, according to Ennis. She advises drinking a glass of water before sitting down for a meal or heading to a party.

“And remember to pace yourself—it takes 20 minutes for your stomach to signal to your brain that it’s full,” said Ennis.

We all know how stressful the holidays can be. Exercise is a great stress reliever.”—Dominique Ennis, assistant director of Campus Recreation

click it: UNC Asheville’s Campus Recreation Department offers many services for faculty, staff, alumni and community members free of charge or at a reasonable rate. For more information, visit recreation.unca.edu.

PERRY H

EBAR

D


Andrew Johnson ’11 in front of the main building at Lund University.

SENIOR MUSIC MAJOR Andrew Johnson never could have imagined he would end up back in America performing in the nation’s capital as part of his semes-ter studying abroad at Sweden’s Lund University. But that’s

exactly what happened to the UNC Asheville trombone player.

True to his liberal arts education foundation, Johnson took a broad array of courses at Lund, including a Swedish language course and anthropology, multimedia and religious studies classes.

While there, he also sought out opportuni-ties to play music. A fellow student on his hall was the assistant concert master for the Lund Academic Orchestra. He told Johnson they

needed more trombone players. Soon Johnson was playing and rehearsing with the orchestra. He later also joined a brass quintet.

The Academic Orchestra was not a community or paid band, but rather, as Johnson explained, a group of students with an academic focus in other fields who possessed legitimate musical talent and loved to play.

After successful performances at the university, Johnson’s experience came full circle when he was invited to travel for two weeks with the orchestra’s brass quintet to perform in the United States. Among the venues was the prestigious Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The group also played at the Swedish Embassy, the Swedish Ambassador’s residence and at a Swedish church service.

Johnson, who had only been to D.C. once as a youngster, said visiting the city felt like a new and fun experience, which helped him relate to

his Swedish bandmates.

“I didn’t know anything about D.C.,” Johnson said. “I was a tourist myself.”

Johnson learned about the opportu-nity to study in Sweden from a Lund student who came to study at UNC Asheville. Their discussions made the transition to life in another country smoother for Johnson. When he arrived in Lund, his friend helped him out and found him a place to stay in the same apartment complex.

Although he is not yet set on a firm career path, Johnson said he would love to visit Sweden again—perhaps even for work. He has begun look-ing into jobs with Swedish furniture giant IKEA. It doesn’t hurt that he now has established contacts in Sweden.

“I know if I went back I would be welcome,” Johnson said.

&longitudeL AT I T U D E[ ]&longitudeL AT I T U D E[ ]

Student experience comes full circle in study abroad By Colin McCandless ’01

inside UNC asheville

PHO

TOS

CO

UR

TESY

OF

AN

DR

EW JO

HN

SON

25

AFTER NEARLY TWO DECADES, there are new men’s and wom-en’s soccer coaches on the sidelines. Matt Kern and Michelle Demko were tapped earlier this year to replace longtime men’s and women’s head coaches Steve and Michele Cornish. The Cornishes stepped down in May to take coaching and teaching positions at Shattuck-St. Mary’s Academy in Faribault, Minn.

Both Kern and Demko have equally strong passions for coach-ing and fostering the growth of student-athletes.

Kern launched his coaching career soon after his graduation from Hartwick College, where he was a starter for teams that made it to the NCAA Final Four two times. Since then, he has led successful teams at Wofford College and the University of The South (Sewanee), where he was twice named Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.

Coach Kern’s priorities are a great fit for UNC Asheville. “Degrees, first and foremost, then helping the players enjoy the athletic experience and develop into great people.”

Demko, also a former college athlete, was a star soccer player at the University of Maryland and was named to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s 50th Anniversary Women’s Soccer Team. She didn’t stop playing after college. Demko worked her way up the professional ranks, starting on a championship team in Germany and playing two seasons for the Philadelphia Charge. She then coached four seasons at NC State and served as an assistant coach at the University of Nebraska.

“It’s about the players,” says Demko. “I want them to experience the success and feel a positive result from all the hard work.”

go,bulldogs![ ]

New men’s, women’s soccer coaches named

✮ BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Senior Natalie Pearson was named the Big South Conference Women’s Track and Field Athlete of the Year in June by the league’s head coaches. She earned the title by being UNC Asheville’s first-ever national qualifier. After a wildly successful season, Pearson punched her ticket to the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 200-meter event. She finished seventh in her heat and 18th overall at the national meet.

✮ BIG SOUTH HALL OF FAME: UNC Asheville Hall of Famer Josh Pittman ’98 was also one of six people who was inducted into the Big South Hall of Fame in June. The former Bulldog basketball standout is now playing for Halcones UV Cordóba in Mexico.

Soaring Graduation Rate: The NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate (APR) is a measure of student athlete eligibility and retention, and serves as an early indicator of graduation rates.

» UNC Asheville’s 2010 APR average was a score of 987 out of 1,000. The NCAA minimum is 925. The national average is 967.

» UNC Asheville students who participate in Athletics for four years have a graduation rate of 99 percent.

Matt Kern Michelle Demko

click it: For the latest news, rosters and schedules for all 14 UNC Asheville Division I teams, visit uncabulldogs.com.

PHO

TOS

CO

UR

TESY

OF

UN

C A

SHEV

ILLE

ATH

LETI

CS


1977The Madison County Arts Council hosted the exhibi-tion, “Tim Barnwell—Thirty Years in the Mountains: A Photographic Retrospective,” in fall 2010. Barnwell is a noted photographer, who documents life throughout the Southern Appalachians.

1984Leslie Shaw won the American Advertising Federation’s Asheville Chapter 2010 Member of the Year award. A longtime professional graphic artist, she is the owner of Leslie Shaw Design in downtown Asheville.

1989Mark Eller opened a Chik-fil-A franchise in Wilkesboro, N.C., in May 2010.

Scott Tuttle has been named head golf professional at Maggie Valley Club & Resort in Western North Carolina.

1991John Howard Smith is an associate professor of History at Texas A&M University.

1993Larry Paul lives in Guadalajara, Mexico, teaching English.

For the past two seasons, Mike Shildt, former Bulldog baseball player and assistant coach, has been manager of the Johnson City Cardinals in the Appalachian Rookie Baseball League. In addition, Shildt

is a member of the St. Louis Cardinal’s spring training staff, working closely with Manager Tony LaRussa and his major league staff.

1994Keith Goode works as the director of search engine optimization for Austin-based SpareFoot.com, an online mar-ketplace for self-storage.

Morgen A. Houchard is the executive director of personnel, curriculum and instruction for Mitchell County Schools. She resides in Spruce Pine, N.C.

1995 Carruth Lovin has been pro-moted to senior manager at Toyota Tsusho America, and serves as operations manager of distribution warehouses in the U.S. and Mexico.

Jack Newton and Michael Kay were married in June 2010 in Lake Champlain, Vt.

1996Douglas Palmer is a history professor at Walsh University in Ohio.

1997Shannon Davis and Frank Hirtz welcomed the birth of their daughter, Alexandra Lillian Hirtz, in November 2009.

Jake Elks and Susan Still Elks welcomed their second child, Claire Ashling Elks, in April 2010.

Drop us a line!We love to hear from alumni—

and so do your classmates!

So be sure to send us your

accomplishments, career moves,

family news, fascinations and

celebrations. Either log on

to alumni.unca.edu or send an

e-mail to [email protected].

CLASSnotes

27

Deborah Hart received a master’s degree in Strategic Studies from the Army War College in 2009. She is currently serving as a Foreign Service Officer in Cairo, Egypt, and studying Arabic at the American University in Cairo. She special-izes in public diplomacy and reconstruction and stabilization in post-conflict areas.

1998Brian Castle recently joined the Chapel Hill firm Thought Leader Select as director of Global Marketing and Client Relations, which provides solutions for the biopharmaceutical industry.

Jennifer Peterson Singh and Pravin Singh welcomed their twins, Penelope Rebecca and Micah Preston Singh, in October 2009.

Former Bulldog volleyball stand-out Cally Geiger currently serves as head volleyball coach at The Citadel in Charleston, S.C.

1999Charlie Casey Cobb is an assistant professor of History at Roane State Community College.

Kevin Martin and Jennifer Martin welcomed the birth

of their daughter, Brynley Charlotte Martin, in June 2010.

2000Courtney Skillman Dozier and Nicholas Dozier welcomed the birth of their twins, Nicholas and Lauren Dozier, in March 2010. Courtney received a mas-ter’s degree in Organizational Change and Leadership from Pfeiffer University in 2009.

@

Stephan Horvath ’99 may not carry a gun, but he still fights on the front lines to keep Americans safe.

As industry operations investigator for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in Richmond, Va., Horvath inspects and regulates businesses and individuals that hold federal firearms and explosive licenses. He works to keep these potentially dangerous commodities out of the hands of criminals and to ensure compliance with federal safety regulations.

“You are always looking to see if there are people who are trafficking in firearms or explo-sives,” Horvath said. “One of the big problems that the media likes to cover these days is the flow of guns illegally from the U.S. into Mexico. One of the things that I do in my work is try to find paper trails of people who may be traffick-ing firearms.”

Horvath conducts audits and surveys inven-tories of firearms and explosives businesses, holding them accountable for their records. Being thorough is a big part of the job, Horvath says, because catching criminals and keeping the public safe are always on the line.

“As regulators of firearms and explosives, we’re the people that are taking proactive steps and doing the work to cut down on the amount of people who acquire firearms who are not

legally allowed to do so,” he said. “We’re trying to find the bad guy, the person who might be buying a gun to go commit a crime,” he said.

Horvath says his studies in the Political Science department at UNC Asheville taught him how to think critically and handle new challenges.

“That benefited me because before I took this job I knew nothing about firearms or explosives,” he said. “You learn how to adapt. That’s what UNC Asheville is all about.”

A L U M N I P RO F I L E : S T E P H A N H O RVAT H

PHO

TO C

OU

RTE

SY O

F ST

EPH

AN

HO

RVA

TH


CLASSnotes

Kenya Smith, who holds a master’s degree in Management, works as director for TBS/TNT/TCM Digital Platforms & Ad Sales Promotions.

Adam Wiseman teaches at North Cove Elementary in Marion, N.C. He is pursuing a master’s degree in Instructional Technology through Appalachian State University.

Professional mountain biker Willow Koerber wrapped up the 2010 season as her most successful ever. She placed second at a World Cup in Belgium; second at a World Cup in the United Kingdom; won a Pan American championship; won the bronze medal at the UCI World Championships in Quebec; and ended the year as the number-two-ranked moun-tain biker in the world.

2001Ben Erlandson received a doctorate in Educational Technology from Arizona State University in May 2010. He recently was appointed assistant professor of Instructional Science and Technology at California State University, Monterey Bay.

2002Paul Beaton received a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School and a Master’s of Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies in May 2010.

Melanie Currie lives in Bangkok, Thailand, and is a missionary with Mission to the World, a church building and ministry organization.

For Tiffany Sen ’92, thinking about wine and spirits takes up a lot of time. As director of procurement and development for Moët Hennessy USA, Sen leads a team in overseeing all advertising and promotions for the luxury alcohol importer.

Sen’s job may see her negotiat-ing celebrity endorsements one day and crafting advertising campaigns the next. No two days are ever the same, Sen says, and the constant variety keeps her job challenging and exciting.

Sen’s career in advertising began in the apparel industry working for Ann Taylor’s cor-porate headquarters. Originally planned as a temporary job, the profession was the perfect fit for her. She stayed with Ann Taylor for 11 years before joining Moët Hennessy in May 2010.

“It was never really a conscious decision to get into purchasing and marketing, it just sort of happened organically. Because I think it was the right personality fit and background and culture fit for me, it just seemed like the logical next step,” she said.

Her success in the advertising industry may not seem like the typical career path for a Music major, but Sen says the quality of her education at UNC Asheville prepared her for the challenges she faces at her job.

“That educational experience really gave me a lot of confidence to rely on my knowledge and my skills and the fact that I could compete and succeed in the business world, and in New York of all places,” Sen said.

But Sen never gave up on music. She currently plays in the band Inner Gypsy with her husband. The duo released Gypsychology in 2007 and hopes to release a follow-up this year.

A L U M N I P RO F I L E : T I F FA N Y S E N

Tiffany Schoff Sen ’92 with her husband and bandmate Mario Vickram Sen in concert.

PHO

TO C

OU

RTESY O

F TIFFAN

Y SEN

Luke Knox has been named lead sports designer with the Charles Apple design firm.

2003Lauren Alane Corn is engaged to Richard Bryce Nations. Corn is a third-year law student at the University of Georgia.

Jennifer Davis of Old Fort, N.C., has been named Operation Christmas Child’s regional man-ager for Western North Carolina and South Carolina. Since 1993, the program has distributed more than 69 million donated gift boxes to needy children in 130 countries.

2004 Studio 103 in Black Mountain, N.C., hosted a solo exhibition of recent paintings by Benjamin Betsalel in September 2010.

Christina Clayton Brandal and Keith Brandal welcomed the birth of their daughter, Allison Hope Brandal, in February 2010.

Rena Jones Eller and Jonathon Eller were married in June 2009.

Robert Gilmer is a doctoral candidate in the Department of History at the University of Minnesota.

Sean “Jinx” Pace received a prestigious North Carolina Visual Artist Fellowship and $10,000 grant. He was also named an “Emerging Visual Artist on the Verge for 2010” by WNC magazine.

Shannon Siemens works as program coordinator of donor communications at the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts in Vienna, Va.

2005Tiffany Lee Hedgpeth and Nathan Hedgpeth welcomed the birth of their son, Payton Lee Hedgpeth, in April 2009.

2006Christina Brooks completed a master’s degree in counseling and now works as coordina-tor for a youth career center in Virginia Beach.

Belinda Brown and Matthew Gray were married October 2010.

Artist Emily Knight was featured in the cover story of June 2010 issue of Bold Life magazine.

Veronica Marshall received a master’s degree in elementary education from the University of Maryland College Park in May 2010.

Emily Clare Sharples is the career center coordinator with the Duke Law Center and Professional Development Center.

2007Katie Rozycki has been named development specialist at the Florence Crittenton Services of North Carolina, located in Charlotte. Previously, she served on the development staff at Johnson & Wales University.

Wendy Segars is a Peace Corps volunteer in Chongqing, China.

2008Mary Christina Council and Chris Michael Foster were mar-ried in May 2010. They reside in Durham, N.C.

Bethany Haagsma and Thomas Christmann were married in Ramstein, Germany, in March 2010.

Halley Lawrence has Joined Groupon.com as a quality assurance editor.

Devon Sanchez-Ossorio received a master’s degree in college student personnel from Western Carolina University.

Mark Shell received a mas-ter’s degree in Education with a concentration in student affairs administration from Old Dominion University in May 2010.

Mary “Mollie” Stauss received a master’s degree in Sociology from the University of Colorado at Boulder in May 2010.

29

@

Did you know that UNC Asheville was green long before it was cool?Just take a look around campus. You’ll see solar panels, a vegetative roof, rainwater cisterns, bio-retention ponds, alterna-tive fuel vehicles and more than 800 trees planted in the past 20 years.

You’ll also find students studying in one of the nation’s top Environmental Studies Departments and volunteering in the Student Environmental Center.

All for good reason.

Sustainability and environmental literacy are longstanding goals at UNC Asheville. Our strategic plan also makes long-term economic, social and environmental sus-tainability core values.

Turn to pages 3, 4 and the back cover for updates on our environmental awards and efforts.


Kyle Smith was named fit-ness coordinator at Haywood Regional Health & Fitness Center in June 2010. He is certified as a USA Sports Performance Coach and serves as a personal trainer for the center.

2009Raymond Hill began working for the Office of Information Technology at the U.S. Federal District Courthouse in Washington, D.C., in March 2010.

Erica Little is pursuing a mas-ter’s degree in higher education and organizational management at Drexel University.

Andrea Whitmire and Brian Whitt were married in June 2010. They reside in Weaverville, N.C.

2010Lindsay Carver was hired as prevention coordinator for Buncombe County.

Lisa Cook and Lee Morrison were married in August 2010.

Emily Crabtree was named an “Emerging Visual Artist on the Verge for 2010” by WNC magazine.

Kaitlin Daniel received a com-petitive Grant-in-Aid of Research from Sigma Xi, the scientific research society, for her work on

“A Survey Prior to Removal of a Dam on the North Toe River, Mitchell County, N.C.”

In July 2010, Alan DeRatt, who had been playing for the Asheville Tourists minor league baseball team, was promoted to

the Modesto Nuts, the Rockies’ Class A Advanced franchise in the California League.

Tayler Harris works as a legal assistant with Messer Law Firm in Asheville.

Jill McDermott and Jared Dotson were married in August 2010.

Paul Tobler tied for first place for best student poster at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society. His presentation addressed

“Impacts of Stream Restoration on Fish and Macroinvertebrate Communities in Five Western North Carolina Streams.”

A L U M N I D E AT H S

Adele Caldwell ’38, May 2010

Frank Worley ’39, April 2010

Robert Tucker ’49, June 2010

James Owenby ’59, April 2010

Thomas Warren ’59, September 2010

Robin Clontz ’86, April 2010

Margaret Lauzon ’02, August 2010

Cela DeHart ’08, May 2010

FAC U LT Y D E AT H S

Walter Boland, Sociology, September 2010

ROCKY MISSES YOU!Join us for Homecoming February 25–26, 2011

alumni.unca.edu/homecoming

CLASSnotesPH

OTO

CO

UR

TESY OF U

NC

ASH

EVILLE A

THLETIC

S

31

Former UNC Asheville basketball star Andre Smith has travelled the world, continuing an amazing career launched on the Justice Center hardwood.

Smith graduated in 2003 after leading the Bulldogs to a Big South Tournament championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. That team became the university’s first—and so far, only—program to go to the Big Dance since the school went Division I. Smith was the MVP of the Big South Tournament and then scored 28 points in the Bulldogs’ 92-84 overtime win over Texas Southern in the NCAA opening round. He scored 22 points against Final Four-bound Texas in the first round of the tournament and gave the Longhorns a scare before the Bulldogs’ dream ended.

After graduation, Smith began a bonafide basketball odyssey. He played briefly for the Asheville Altitude in the NBA’s D-League followed by three seasons in the American Basketball Association. The Jamaican native then played for teams in Lithuania, Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela and Syria. He is also a member of the Jamaican National Team that has traveled extensively throughout South America.

“My passport has a lot of stamps on it,” joked Smith after a workout in Miami recently. “It’s been exciting to see a lot of the world, but it also makes you appreciate home, too.”

One of the big highlights of Smith’s adven-tures came in Mexico when he got to play against former Bulldog Josh Pittman ’98. Pittman played for the Bulldogs from 1994–98 and was twice named Big South Player of the Year.

“I had heard so much about Josh and had met him a couple of times, but it was a real thrill to play against him,” admitted Smith. “He’s

still a darn good player and was pretty tough to stop. We played twice and each of us got a win.”

No matter where Smith is in the world, he thinks of his time at UNC Asheville fondly.

“I can’t believe it’s been seven years since I’ve graduated and stopped playing for the Bulldogs,” said Smith.” I had such a great time at UNC Asheville and met some lifetime friends there.

“No matter where I am, I always get to a computer to see how the Bulldogs are going,” added Smith. “I’m always a fan no matter where I am.”

“It’s been exciting to see a lot of the world, but it also makes you appreciate home, too.”

A L U M N I P RO F I L E : A N D R E S M I T H

By Mike Gore, associate director of Athletics

@PH

OTO

CO

UR

TESY OF U

NC

ASH

EVILLE A

THLETIC

S


retrospectin

Michael Gillum looks back on 43 years at UNC Asheville

Who is the longest-serving member of the UNC Asheville faculty? Literature Professor Michael Gillum joined the faculty in 1967, when UNC Asheville was known as Asheville-Biltmore College. Today, Professor Gillum is still teaching classes and helping to inspire new generations of students. In his 43-year career, he has watched a small, regional college evolve into a nationally recognized liberal arts university.

In this interview, conducted at the beginning of the fall semester, Professor Gillum took a look back. Following are excerpts from that conversation.

What was the campus like when you started?

The campus was new when I came—just a few years old. It was kind of raw. There were no maple trees on the Quad. Most of the campus buildings were located on the Quad.

The first several years, a great majority of the students were from Buncombe and surrounding counties. A lot of them were first-generation college students from working-class backgrounds. They were good students, though, and they worked hard. Also, in the early years, a lot of our students were older. There were lots of women who had dropped out or skipped college to get married and had come back in their 30s and 40s. They were often really terrific students.

In the late 1960s and 1970s, the political commo-tions of that time did not have a huge impact on the UNC Asheville campus.

What are some of the other changes you have seen at UNC Asheville during your time here?

It’s just much bigger and much nicer than it was—and I’d say the changes in the City of Asheville are as great as the changes in the university. When I came here, Asheville was still in the doldrums. It never really recovered from the Depression. Downtown was basically filled with derelict stores and decaying neighborhoods.

When I moved to Asheville, a hippie migration was just beginning. They came here because land was cheap and attractive. Asheville still has a strong counter-culture flavor, but I don’t think I would use the term hippie anymore.

What brought you to the university and what has kept you here?

UNC Asheville wanted to become the kind of school where I wanted to teach. I can still quote from the original mission state-ment, which said that Asheville-Biltmore College sought to provide a liberal education of high quality for serious and able students. The faculty really believed that. The faculty was a little goofy in those days. We had some odd-ball characters, but they were all committed and doing a good job and offering a liberal education of high quality.

I just love UNC Asheville, and I am grateful that I landed here. It’s been a wonderful place to spend my career.

MA

TT RO

SE

19682010

MA

TT RO

SEM

ATT

RO

SE

invest

unca.edu/giftplanning

in potential

You can help make that dream a reality. By donating to UNC Asheville scholarships, you will change a student’s life forever.

For more information, contact Development Director Julie Heinitsh at 828.232.2430 or [email protected].

There’s a reason UNC Asheville is consistently recognized as a “best buy” by college guides year after year. The university has maintained relatively low tuition costs while ensuring stellar academics.Yet even with our reasonable price tag, more than half of UNC Asheville students require some form of financial aid. About 85 percent of these students’ needs are met through a combination of scholarships, grants and loans.

With more scholarships, the dream of a UNC Asheville education would be in closer reach for the brightest and most deserving students.

ashevilleM A G A Z I N E

UNCUniversity of North Carolina at AshevilleOne University HeightsAsheville, North Carolina 28804

local harvestuniversity dining hallSUSTAINABILITY IS CENTRAL TO UNC ASHEVILLE’S STRATEGIC MISSION—and it extends to our food philosophy, too.

The Dining Hall’s annual food purchases include 10 percent Fair Trade, 15 percent organic and up to 50 percent of produce

purchased from local farmers. A new partnership with the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project is helping to increase the

amount of local food served on campus, which supports the regional economy and reduces the university’s carbon footprint.

BEN

JAM

IN P

OR

TER

UNC Asheville Magazine

Documents

Transcript of UNC Asheville Magazine