Stetson Magazine 2018-34-3

Research and Rewards UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE STETSON FALL 2018 How faculty, students and alumni are making a real difference Rosalie Richards, Ph.D. Associate Provost for Faculty Development StetsonMagazine_Fall_2018.indd 1 10/8/18 2:08 PM 2 STETSON | Fall 2018 Stetson.edu/today | STETSON 3 B E G I N N I N G S FITTING TRIBUTE. Last spring, Stetson was included in Country Living magazine’s “25 of the Most Beautiful College Campuses In the South,” which carried the subhead of “There’s just something so charming about these sprawling Southern campuses.” Cozy and comfortable could have been other appropriate words. For more rankings of the university, see pages 7 and 8. StetsonMagazine_Fall_2018.indd 2-3 10/8/18 2:08 PM 4 STETSON | Fall 2018 Stetson.edu/today | STETSON 5 Departments 2 BEGINNINGS Fitting Tribute 6 WELCOME Noble and Nobel Efforts 7 LETTERS Reader Responses 8 INTELLIGENTSIA News and Notes About Knowledge 16 FIRST PERSON ‘A Great Learning Experience’ 18 IMPACT Passion Pursuit 52 ATHLETICS Scoreboard: 180-3.0 56 ALUMNI Celebrating Hatters Everywhere 62 THE CLASSES Accolades and Achievements 67 PARTING SHOT Fond Farewell STETSON U N I V E R S I T Y M AG A Z I N E FALL 2018 • VOLUME 34 • ISSUE 3 President Wendy B. Libby, Ph.D. Vice President of University Marketing Bruce Chong Assistant Vice President, Marketing/Media Relations Janie Graziani Editor Michael Candelaria Designer Michelle Martin Editorial Assistant Donna Nassick Art and Photography Bobby Fishbough, Faith Jones, Joel Jones, Brittany Strozzo Writers Andy Butcher, Christopher Colwell, Ed.D. (’77, M.Ed. ’82), Rick de Yampert, Marie Dinklage, Rick Koethe ’77, Wendy B. Libby, Ph.D., Woody O’Cain, Brandi Palmer, Rosalie Richards, Ph.D., Kevin Riggs, Ph.D., Jack Roth, Trish Wieland Class Notes Editor Cathy Foster STETSON UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE is published three times a year by Stetson University, DeLand, FL 32723, and is distributed to its alumni, families, friends, faculty and staff. The magazine is printed on FSC-certified paper. The College of Arts and Sciences, School of Business Administration and School of Music are at the historic main campus in DeLand. The College of Law is in Gulfport/St. Petersburg. The university also has two satellite centers: the Tampa Law Center and the Stetson University Center at Celebration near Orlando. Want to add, remove or change your magazine subscription? Email [email protected]. C O N T E N T S 36 Taking Stock of Our Sciences Institutional support and an undergraduate culture shaped by an environment focused on research are creating new distinctiveness at Stetson. 40 Showcase of Transformation Finding new devotion through student research, alumni now are helping to change the world, one frog or song or micro enterprise at a time. 44 Cells of Growth ‘Really rare’ opportunities for laboratory study put undergraduates face-to-face with potential links to cures for cancer. 46 Coastline Query Professor Jason Evans has raised the question of sea-level rise from shore to shore. And he’s finding answers. 48 No Squandered Sabbatical Professor Terence Farrell’s time away from the classroom was all about the behavior of snakes and the benefits of collaboration. Winners were everywhere. 50 From Webby to Reform Faculty are pushing the boundaries of their convention far and wide at Stetson University College of Law. Features 20 Vim and Vibrato Clyde T. Shaw ’73 reflects on his career odyssey as a world-traveling cellist. 24 Archiving Lore Scrapbooks, chimes, a winning sweater and a regal wave from Desmond Tutu capture heritage and history through the decades. 28 The Third Tier With education hanging in the balance, a call is made for distributing leadership to empowered mission-driven teams. 32 Campaign Significance Snapshots of the university’s charitable giving reveal lasting impact — plus the potential for much more. Research Issue 40 44 32 ON THE COVER: Rosalie Richards, Ph.D., Stetson University’s associate provost for Faculty Development, is a nationally recognized leader in undergraduate research. See her perspective on Page 36. Photo by Bobby Fishbough StetsonMagazine_Fall_2018.indd 4-5 10/8/18 2:08 PM 6 STETSON | Fall 2018 Stetson.edu/today | STETSON 7 students and faculty. For 20 years and counting, as you will read in the following pages, these methods of organizing and promoting the art and science of our disciplines provide students opportunities to share their experiences and polish their presentation skills before the broader community each year. What happens at Stetson on this front is a rarity among undergraduate institutions — and a competitive advan­tage for Stetson students who capitalize on the chance to dive into research alongside faculty, to learn techniques and practice them firsthand, and to be mentored and guided in ways that enhance their resumes and graduate-school applications. Scholarly research and creative activity represent hefty work for our faculty, too, who must also carve out time and space to be enriched by their own learning — learning that they con­tinually bring to their students. Faculty sabbaticals allow professors like Terence Farrell, Ph.D., uninterrupted time in the field to pursue deeper study of snake behavior. Facilities like our new Sandra Stetson Aquatic Center on Lake Beresford will allow faculty like Jason Evans, Ph.D., an expert on sea-level rise, an environment for innovative work. Innovative work. Important achievements. Changed conver­sations. Our students and faculty are creating “for the greatest benefit of humankind” in the spirit of Alfred Nobel’s legacy. There’s hardly a greater role for an institution of higher education. WELCOME Noble and Nobel Efforts The timing couldn’t be better for our Research Issue. The Nobel Prizes were announced in October, and we celebrate scientists achieving breakthrough work in cancer therapy and a chemist whose directed evolution of enzymes is leading to greener practices in pharmaceuticals and transportation. Research. Discovery. Progress. It is not coincidental that such advances occur at universities. Such is the relevance and enduring value of our institutions of higher learning today. Not only do we prepare students for their careers, but we also serve to advance whole societies and their knowledge base. While Stetson is a university known more by our teaching than our research, I can argue all week long — supported by much evidence — that our lower student-to-faculty ratios and our focus on the intimacy of the faculty-student mentor relationship are powerful forces that catalyze students’ research — as well as their creative work and service-learning projects — now and into the coming decades. Whether it involves the fascinating behavior of reptiles for Danielle Leopold Regan ’10 or the call of Vienna and the intersection of music and poetry for Jenna Siladie ’11, there are important outcomes of concentrated work at the undergraduate level. Moments of discovery and honed practice launch our students out into the world in the pursuit of their passions, bolstered by an ability to enlighten and stir similar enthusiasm in others. A certain intrinsic motivation spurs students’ deep immersion in undergraduate research or creative endeavor. Something along the way sparks their interest, leads them on a chase, creates unanswered questions. And then, they are hooked. This is an entirely useful way to spend a life. And it is an invaluable mission to which a university must devote itself. Discoveries of all sorts, large and small, are produced in volumes on a college campus each day. And so, not only do we offer Stetson Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) grants across our fields of study, but we also provide a venue, Stetson Showcase, to amplify the work of our LETTERS Wendy B. Libby, Ph.D. President, Stetson University Delicious Ambiguity Note: A handwritten letter was sent directly to Stetson University President Wendy B. Libby, Ph.D. That letter is edited here for space. In the Summer 2018 issue, your column “Delicious Ambiguity” made me think of journeys we have taken, and are still taking, since our graduation there in 1955. We were not so concerned about the environment, safe water, endangered animals — so many things now offered as part of the pedagogical smorgasbord. Our Stetson journeys took us through scholarships; various jobs; required chapel services every Wednesday; sipping coffee in the Slop Shop, many times with our professors; and certainly with our friends and fellow journeymen. These friends and professors were all parts of the tapestries we were weaving as we journeyed. In 1953, Stetson bought Brittain Hall, a lovely old house a block or so off campus, and converted it into a “dorm” for 18 female students, overseen by Mrs. Erin Baker, herself the mother of four daughters. The ROTC had their equipment in the basement, over which was one wing of tiny rooms with connecting baths. (That’s where I lived.) Up the main stairs off the lobby was Liz’s room — Elizabeth Osburn, music major and contralto soloist in the Stetson Glee Club, high school valedictorian, on a music scholar­ship. Liz also worked as an accompanist in the School of Music. At the end of the hall were two English majors, Lynn Pier and June Woodard, both also valedictorians and both were on academic scholarships. Lynn was also on a tennis scholarship and worked at Stover Theatre. June was also on a state teacher’s scholarship and worked in the Commons, as well as the Women’s Gym. I was not a valedictorian and not on scholarship, but worked at three or four jobs at a time and was an art-education major. I was the self-appointed comic relief, entertaining the girls by paint­ing signs weekly for Lovett’s grocery store and playing Santa Claus at our dorm Christmas parties. As residents of Brittain Hall, we four called ourselves “The B Girls,” feeling so naughty as we scandalized our peers. Of course, after we graduated, we married and moved away from each other. … We exchanged Christmas cards, the occa­sional phone call (which was “long-distance” and expensive in those days), but for the most part we were each busy with our own families and life directions. Then Liz and I both attended a ’55 Stetson Reunion in Commerce, Georgia, about 20 years ago. The magic was still there; the B Girl spirit rose again; we needed to get together. So, we began to have our own little reunions once a year. … This past April, Liz and I did a Rhine River cruise, missing June, whose husband is in poor health — and missing Lynn (deceased). Between the four of us, we had seven children — good, responsible, professional; and 18 wonderful grandchil­dren who are on their way to upgrade this old world: teachers, engineers, nurses, social workers, musicians, emergency medi­cal technicians, pastors. Sure, “ ... not all poems rhyme and some stories don’t have a clear beginning. ... Life is about not knowing, having to change. ... Delicious ambiguity.” Our years shared at Stetson helped us as we continued to grow in faith, valuable friendships, sweet memories, bright hopes for tomorrow … and so much apprecia­tion that our common walk led us through Elizabeth Hall! Dodi Costine Lovett ’55, Centerville, Tennessee Recognition and Reputation Stetson is proud to be recognized as a top university in nationwide rankings and lists. U.S. News & World Report, Regional Universities (South) • No. 5, Best Regional Universities (South), 2019 • No. 3, Best for Veterans, 2019 • Best Undergraduate Teaching, 2019 • Best Value Schools, 2019 • No. 1, Trial Advocacy, 2018, College of Law • No. 3, Legal Writing, 2018, College of Law • General Recognition Part-Time Program, College of Law Also: • The Princeton Review’s 2019 Best 384 Colleges • MONEY magazine Best Colleges for Your Money, 2019 • Country Living magazine 25 Most Beautiful College Campuses in the South, 2018 More SPREES Reminiscence I enjoyed the SPREES article (Stetson’s Program in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, Page 22) and letter on Dr. (Serge) Zenkovsky in the Summer 2018 issue and also an article a few issues ago outlining the history of Russian studies at Stetson. But I notice that the contributions of Dr. John Evans, assistant profes­sor of Russian history at Stetson, 1967-1974, are not mentioned. I was a student of Dr. Evans and with his help participated in the 1970 mini-semester in Russia. Once my military service ended, he encouraged me to study with his Ph.D. adviser, which for financial reasons did not occur, but I was able to attend Florida State University, where I received my Ph.D. in Russian history. After that, I interlaced a career in the U.S. intelligence community and teaching. After retiring, I have continued to teach inside the intelligence community and at graduate pro­grams around the Washington, D.C., area. My very rewarding career was built on the Russian history classes that Dr. Evans taught. Michael Douglas Smith ’70, Reston, Virginia “The B Girls” in 2010, from left: Elizabeth Osburn, Lynn Pier, June Woodard and Dodi Costine Lovett Moments of discovery and honed practice launch our students out into the world in the pursuit of their passions, bolstered by an ability to enlighten and stir similar enthusiasm in others. P.S. I would be remiss if I didn’t close with an invitation: Please join us for Stetson Showcase on April 16, 2019, to celebrate our students and faculty! StetsonMagazine_Fall_2018.indd 6-7 10/8/18 2:08 PM 8 STETSON | Fall 2018 Stetson.edu/today | STETSON 9 INTELLIGENTSIA NEWS AND NOTES ABOUT KNOWLEDGE DID YOU KNOW? Stetson School of Music’s Christmas Candlelight Concerts, which involve the Concert Choir, Women’s Chorale, Stetson Men and instrumentalists from the Symphonic Band and Chamber Orchestra, will continue their grand tradition of performances at Lee Chapel on the DeLand campus — but with an added twist. Three performances are planned for Lee Chapel, with a final performance moving to downtown Orlando at First United Methodist Church on Dec. 1. ‘Best’ Rankings The rankings are in, and Stetson has maintained impressive status, according to The Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report. In August, The Princeton Review named Stetson one of the “Best 384 Colleges,” an honor given to only approximately 15 percent of America’s four-year colleges. The ranking appears in the 2019 edition of “The Best 384 Colleges.” The Princeton Review praised Stetson for its academics and campus life, writing, “Very important factors considered include rigor of secondary school record and academic GPA,” adding other factors considered are “class rank, application essay, standardized test scores, extracurricular activities, volunteer work, character and work experience.” U.S. News & World Report ranked Stetson No. 5 on its 2019 list of Best Regional Universities (South), as well as No. 3 on the list of Best for Veterans Regional Universities (South). In addition, Stetson was included on lists for Best Undergraduate Teaching Regional Universities (South) and Best Value Schools Regional Universities (South), and the Stetson University College of Law ranked No. 1 for Trial Advocacy and No. 2 for Legal Writing in the United States. Stetson has been named the top law school for Trial Advocacy 20 times in 24 years and has consis­tently been placed among the top six legal-writing programs since the inception of the Legal Writing rankings in 2005. U.S. News & World Report defines schools in the Regional Universities category as offering a full range of undergraduate programs and some master’s programs but few doctoral programs. — Janie Graziani Carnegie and China with Cello Stetson sophomore Megan Savage and her cello had quite a summer. Savage, who studies both music and health science, performed at Carnegie Hall with the National Youth Orchestra in July. Then she traveled with the orchestra on a five-city tour of China and Taiwan. Last February, Savage earned a spot in the National Youth Orchestra, which is administered by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute. There were approxi­mately 1,000 applicants from across the United States for 110 spots, including only 12 cello positions. Savage first auditioned for the NYO three years ago when she was a home-schooled high school student with dual enrollment at Indian River State College near her home in Port St. Lucie, Florida. “It’s really interesting how orchestra helps me with my performance. I feel like I can play my heart out and not worry,” she said. “If you make a slight mistake, it’s OK. You keep going; you’re in a group; you’re a team. You feel the support of everyone around you.” Despite the recent success, however, Savage is leaning toward a career in health science. “I want to take biology and chemistry and see which one clicks with me, and in the near future I’ll narrow it down to something more spe­cific,” she added. “But music is something I feel like will always be a part of my life.” — Rick de Yampert Record Enrollment Stetson enrolled the most undergraduate students in its history for the Fall Semester, with undergraduate enrollment climbing to 3,150 in September, up from 3,084 a year ago. In addition, the semester brought the sec­ond-largest class of first-year students in university history, with 895. An additional 294 graduate students are enrolled at Stetson’s DeLand and Celebration campuses. Stetson College of Law in Gulfport reported 896 students enrolled for the fall, up from 867 a year ago. Across Stetson’s four campuses, total enrollment reached 4,341, up from 4,273 a year ago. The university conducts an official census each September and reports the enrollment information to the federal government, college guides and other sources. Stetson’s goal is to maintain an average enrollment for the academic year of about 3,000 undergraduates. That requires enroll­ment to be slightly higher each fall because typically a small number of students do not return between the fall and spring semesters. “We are looking to strategically continue to diversify the student body in a lot of different areas and continue to have a robust, holistic student body that is representative of our local, state and national community,” commented Resche Hines, Ph.D., Stetson’s assistant vice president for Institutional Research and Effectiveness. — Cory Lancaster Megan Savage was one of only 12 cellists to perform with the National Youth Orchestra. U.S. News & World Report ranked Stetson No. 5 on its 2019 list of Best Regional Universities (South). StetsonMagazine_Fall_2018.indd 8-9 10/8/18 2:08 PM 10 STETSON | Fall 2018 Stetson.edu/today | STETSON 11 Fulbright to Germany Maeve Coughlin ’17 traveled to Germany on a Stetson Study Abroad trip after her first year in college and enjoyed it so much she changed her major to history. Now, Coughlin is again in Germany — this time on a prestigious Fulbright award to serve as a teaching assistant and cultural ambassador. Coughlin is only the third Stetson student to be selected for the award since 1992, according to the Fulbright website. Funded annually by Congress, the Fulbright program is named after former U.S. Sen. J. William Fulbright, who introduced the bill in 1945 to create a program to foster international education exchange. It operates in more than 140 countries worldwide. Through the program, Coughlin will work as a teaching assistant in two German schools — an elementary school and a high school in Erlangen, north of Nuremburg, in Bavaria — helping students learn about American culture and English language culture. She will work there until June 30, 2019, receiving airfare and a monthly stipend from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, and living in an apartment with a German college student. “It was clear to all of us on the committee that her multifaceted skill set — educator, graphic designer, photographer, writer/storyteller — would serve her well in teaching and in engaging with her host community,” said William Nylen, Ph.D., professor of political science and Stetson’s Fulbright Program adviser. “And her knowledge of German history, language and culture was so impressive!” — Cory Lancaster INTELLIGENTSIA DID YOU KNOW? Stetson and Valencia College in Orlando have signed an articulation agreement that allows students graduating with an associate degree in accounting to seamlessly complete their Bachelor of Business Admin-istration in the accounting program at Stetson’s School of Business Administration — its first such transfer plan. The agreement took effect immediately, with School of Business Administration Dean Neal P. Mero, Ph.D., calling the move a “great example of an excellent public-private partnership in higher education.” Rowing Toward Completion The rising Sandra Stetson Aquatic Center is scheduled to open early in the spring semester. The two-story, $6.2 million center on 10 acres along Lake Beresford, 7 miles from Stetson’s historic campus in DeLand, will provide a permanent home for Stetson’s intercollegiate rowing teams (first floor), along with areas for water study/research (second floor) and non-motorized public recreation access to the lake. Among the highlights of the first floor is a housing bay for the crew boats, which can measure up to 58 feet, plus eight large racks to hold the sculls (oars). The doors of the bay are designed to fold like an accordion. Both sides of the bay feature louvers, able to open and close for ventilation. The bay sits at least 8 feet above the 100-year flood level, providing ample hurricane protection. The second floor, with a bird’s-eye view of the lake, also has space to host special events. The use of stamped concrete, made to look like wood, will be prevalent, cost-effectively enhancing aesthetics. An open layout, the airy balcony and ample sightlines maximize the picturesque setting. Outside, nature trails and elevated walkways will lead to the water’s edge. On the shores of Lake Beresford, there will be docks to launch crew boats with public access and a viewing platform that will overlook the lake. Parking will be limited, and the public areas will be governed by Volusia County park hours. In front of the building, on the end opposite the lakefront, a fountain will serve as a welcome, while a Stetson seal also will provide appropriate adornment. — Michael Candelaria Air Force ROTC Lands on Campus Welcome, AFROTC Detachment 157. Stetson and, specifically, the School of Business Administration has partnered with the Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps to bring its program to the DeLand campus, beginning this fall. AFROTC Detachment 157 is among the largest AFROTC programs and one of the top pilot-producing detachments for the Air Force nationwide. Air Force ROTC is an elective program taken alongside a student’s planned major course of study, designed to give students the opportunity to become Air Force officers while completing their degrees. AFROTC Detachment 157 is hosted at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach. “Stetson’s core values, diversity and tradition of academic excellence offer an outstanding environment for developing future commissioned officers to lead our nation’s Air Force,” said Col. Jason E. Patla, the Detachment Commander. Notably, Neal P. Mero, Ph.D., dean and professor of management in the School of Business Administration, served in the Air Force for more than 22 years. Stetson rowers will have a new home in early 2019, the Sandra Stetson Aquatic Center. From left: Capt. Joseph Walters, assistant professor of aerospace studies; Col. Jason Patla, detachment commander; and Neal P. Mero, Ph.D., dean and professor of management in Stetson’s School of Business Administration. Maeve Coughlin ’17 is only the third Stetson student to receive a Fulbright award. “Stetson’s core values, diversity and tradition of academic excellence offer an outstanding environment for developing future commissioned officers to lead our nation’s Air Force.” — Col. Jason E. Patla, Detachment Commander StetsonMagazine_Fall_2018.indd 10-11 10/8/18 2:08 PM 12 STETSON | Fall 2018 Stetson.edu/today | STETSON 13 Association and as sub-regional director of the Southern Region Black Law Students Association. Tucker is an alumna of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, which helps to advance the education of exceptionally promising students who have financial need, and she graduated cum laude from the University of Tampa. Originally from Washington, D.C., she was as a congressional intern during high school at The Madeira School. “I hope to foster a sense of support among women within the legal profession,” Tucker said, simply. — Brandi Palmer Ms. JD Fellow Stetson College of Law third-year student Brielle Tucker is now a Ms. JD Fellow — making her only the second student from Stetson to earn that national distinction. Ms. JD is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to the success of aspiring and early-career women lawyers. It was founded at Stanford Law School in 2006 by a group of female law students and today serves as a nexus between the profession and the pipeline of diverse attorneys, providing a forum for dialogue and networking among women lawyers and law students with campus chapters nationwide. This year, Ms. JD awarded fellowships to nine law students from across the United States, selected for their academic performance, leadership and dedication to advancing the status of women in the profession. Tucker, a member of both Stetson’s nationally ranked Moot Court and Trial Team, was named a regional finalist at the 2018 National Appellate Advocacy Competition. She is a Stetson Ambassador who has served as a representative on the Student Bar INTELLIGENTSIA DID YOU KNOW? In the second game of the football season in September, the Hatters established three major offensive school records in a 63-34 win over visiting Waldorf. The Hatters amassed 570 yards in total offense, surpassing the previous team mark of 555, which was set against Butler in 2014. They scored nine touchdowns in the game, eclipsing the previous record of eight in 2015 against Ave Maria University. And the Hatters’ 63 points bested the previous high of 60 against Ave Maria. National Model, Regionally Beginning with the fall semester, 15 students from Daytona State College, plus two others from Valencia College and Seminole State College, arrived at Stetson by virtue of an automatic-admission agreement that could serve as a national model of collaboration in higher education. Under the Stetson-Daytona State College Select Program, students also will receive a Stetson scholarship, resulting in no out-of-pocket costs for tuition and fees. For their part, the students must apply and be accepted on academic merit to Stetson. Exceptions to the agreement, which was signed in 2016, enabled the two students from Valencia and Seminole State to also gain admission. In turn, what’s commonly referred to as the leaky pipeline in higher education is being tightened. Nationally, fewer than one in seven students with an associate degree transfer to a four-year college and earn a baccalaureate degree, according to published data. And even when they do transfer, there typically are multiple academic, social and financial obstacles to overcome. The new Select Program is helping students beat the odds, believes Maggie Karda, chair of the Quanta-Honors College at Daytona State. “It’s such a great opportunity for our students, and they seem uniformly, totally thrilled about being able to go to Stetson,” Karda said. According to Stetson Professor Michael Denner, Ph.D., director of Stetson’s Honors Program, the students’ academic tracks are carefully planned, depending on major. Curricula have been designed to enable students to graduate from the Honors Program in four semesters. Also, extending beyond traditional matriculation agreements, Stetson faculty members begin advising students about course selection from the time they first enroll at Daytona State — providing students with a list of classes they must take to eventually graduate from Stetson. Geographic proximity also plays an important role. Located 20 miles apart, Daytona State and Stetson provide a viable local option for continuing education. Karda points out that although similar agreements are in place across the nation — such as linking veterans at community colleges with selective Ivy Leagues institutions, on a limited basis — this program can be duplicated regionally nationwide. “It’s a realistic option for people who live here,” Karda said. “In terms of a model for how most communities can function, I think this is a better one.” — Michael Candelaria Philanthropic Leader Set to Retire Linda Parson Davis ’73 is retiring on Jan. 31, 2019, following 41 years of service to Stetson. Yet, Davis didn’t actually work a day during that time, she asserts without hesitation. “It always felt like a calling to me,” Davis notes. Such is life — and a career — when one spends more than four decades at her alma mater — the same university from which her parents, husband, son and daughter-in-law, and sister-in-law all graduated. Coming out of high school, Davis didn’t even apply to another school. Stetson was a virtual rite of passage. Through the years on campus, Davis held numerous positions of leadership in alumni relations and development, with titles that included Director of Alumni Programs, Director of Development, Associate Vice President for Planned Giving, Vice President for University Relations and her current role, Special Advisor to the President for Philanthropy. Davis’ time at Stetson has spanned four university presidencies and resulted in widespread goodwill on campus and across Hatter Nation. Davis remembers being the first hire, in 1978, of a new vice president at the time, H. Douglas Lee, who later became the university’s president. Davis also recalls being interviewed by then-President Pope Duncan. The job was for coordinator of alumni programs. At the time, Davis thought, “Why so much attention on a lower-level position?” Turns out, there were visions of building something special in the alumni office — and Davis was the one to begin making those things happen. “It’s been a great run,” she concludes. “I’ve been so blessed.” — Michael Candelaria Editor’s Note: See Parting Shot, Page 67. Professor Michael Denner, Ph.D., director of Stetson’s Honors Program, advises student Ashton Craig. Brielle Tucker is only the second student from Stetson to be named a Ms. JD Fellow. Mastering the CPA Exam The numbers are impressive any way you count them. Stetson students with a master’s degree taking the Uniform Certified Public Accountant exam in 2017 had the highest overall pass rate in Florida (80 percent), according to the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. Stetson also was fourth in the state for the overall pass rate (60 percent) and fifth in the state for pass rates of first-time takers (61.1 percent), out of the 27 higher education institu­tions in Florida that had current or former students taking the test. The achievement represents value at Stetson, commented Valrie Chambers, Ph.D., associate professor of taxation and accounting. “Being recognized by the NASBA 2017 Institution Rankings is a significant indicator of the quality of the accounting programs at Stetson because most of the 252 small programs are not publicly ranked,” said Chambers, also chair of Stetson’s M.E. Rinker Sr. Institute for Tax and Accountancy. Those results come on the heels of the university’s recent announcement detail­ing a new tax-track specialization and new hybrid and online delivery formats for the Master of Accountancy program. — Marie Dinklage StetsonMagazine_Fall_2018.indd 12-13 10/8/18 2:08 PM 14 STETSON | Fall 2018 Stetson.edu/today | STETSON 15 ‘Exceptional Season’ The DeLand City Commission congratulated the Stetson baseball team in September for an “Exceptional Season” and presented the university with bases from Melching Field at Conrad Park, where the Hatters won the 2018 NCAA DeLand Regional Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Super Regional Tournament for the first time in school history. The City Proclamation reads: “Whereas, the DeLand City Commission is honored to give this special recognition and congratulations to Coach Steve Trimper, the coaching staff and all members of the Stetson Baseball Team on a successful 2018 season; and “Whereas, the Stetson Hatters were ranked in all five major national polls, had a RPI ranking of 4th at season’s end, won the ASUN regular season title, and won the conference tournament, the first team in school history to win both the regular season and tournament championships; and “Whereas, the Stetson Hatters’ outstanding record qualified the program to host a NCAA regional for the first time in school history and the Hatters won the DeLand Regional in convincing fashion; and “Whereas, Stetson ended its season with a record of 48-13 matching the most wins in school history and while disappointed to lose in the Super Regional had chances in both games to win the games in the 9th inning; “Whereas, Stetson owned the nation’s longest winning streak entering the Super Regional; and “Whereas, numerous individual honors were bestowed upon the baseball program this year clearly demonstrating the exceptional talent and produc-tivity of the members of the team and six team members were drafted in the 2018 MLB draft; and “Whereas, each player recognized that their success was dependent upon the concept of team and that the success of this year’s team has been forged around teamwork; and “Whereas, DeLand is proud to be the home of Stetson University; and “Whereas, the DeLand City Commission commends each team member for their contributions to the success of this year’s team. We also offer our congratulations to Steve Trimper and his coaching staff who have motivated these athletes to excel on the field and in the classroom. “Now, therefore, I, Robert F. Apgar, Mayor of the City of DeLand, do hereby proclaim June 10, 2018, as Stetson Baseball Exceptional Season Day… .” I N T E L L I G E N T S I A DID YOU KNOW? Stetson’s Greater Central Florida Tech Faire + Hackathon continues to rise in prominence. Most recently, it received a $2,000 grant from the Orlando Technology Community Support Pilot Program, an initiative by the City of Orlando to give a jump-start to efforts that boost entrepreneurs. Each year, the Greater Central Florida Tech Faire + Hackathon draws interest from hundreds of college and high school students. At the event last spring, the two winners of the Apple-created “Capture the Flag” security challenge received interviews with Apple, among other prizes. Apple’s presence was viewed as an especially big deal by Stetson computer science professors, who host the event. The next Hackathon is slated for next spring. Expanding Health and Science Tim Elgren, Ph.D., was preparing to go on sabbatical from his work as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Oberlin College when he heard Stetson was looking to expand its health and science programs. Not long afterward, Elgren, also a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Oberlin, was named Stetson’s special advisor on strategic initiatives and is charged with overseeing a yearlong effort to develop a framework for new science programs at Stetson. His appointment follows an $18 million donation in April from longtime Stetson Trustees Cici and Hyatt Brown to con-struct a new science building on the DeLand campus. With the gift, the uni-versity hopes to improve health in west-ern Volusia County, expand partnerships for the benefit of students in health and science, examine its offerings in health, and explore new interdisciplinary oppor-tunities for undergraduates. Elgren played a role in expanding the sciences at Hamilton College in upstate New York, where he was for 21 years — rising to the rank of professor of chemis-try and serving as associate dean of the faculty. The private liberal arts college, with 1,900 undergraduates, opened a $56 million science center in 2005. Elgren will focus on “what the frontiers are for growth and what those opportuni-ties are in the areas of science and partic-ularly health sciences. That may be forging partnerships. It may be building curriculum. It may be building buildings,” he said. New Water Feature on Horizon When Troy Templeton, a double-Hatter and former university Trustee, and his wife, Sissy, saw the two-story wall of glass in the new Commons Dining Hall, they knew the spot outside could become a scenic gathering place on campus. They envisioned a water feature in the landscaped area being added east of the renovated Carlton Union Building. Thanks to their generosity, that water feature is now on the way — to be installed beside the green space, east of the CUB, by March 2019. Called a “dry deck fountain,” the water feature’s surface will slope gently to drain and collect water from the jets. Then, pumps and filters will recycle the water, with water lost only due to evaporation. The Templetons — who also support the Stetson Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative, which sponsors the Templeton Case Competition each spring — wanted a modern design with jets of water coming out of the ground, colored lights and speakers for sound. With input from students and staff, the current design shows 41 jets of water, reaching heights of 15 feet and set in a 22-foot-wide surface bearing the seal of Stetson. “We asked the design team to be creative, think more Disney World and less standard water fountain,” said Troy Templeton, ’82, ’83 M.B.A., a managing partner in a private equity and venture capital firm in Coral Gables, Florida. “Sissy and I met at Stetson, and a large part of our success is due to the opportunities that Stetson provided me. As a result, we are very pleased that we can pay it forward, and continue to be able to help Stetson continue its strong growth and make our campus as beautiful as our education programs are strong.” — Cory Lancaster Expect 41 jets of water, reaching heights of 15 feet, according to the water feature’s current design. “Think more Disney World,” said the benefactor. Hatter Baseball won recognition from the DeLand City Commission. From left: City Manager and Stetson alumnus Michael Pleus, ’94, M.B.A. ’99; City Commissioner Chris Cloudman, an energy specialist at Stetson; Stetson President Wendy B. Libby, Ph.D.; Stetson baseball coach Steve Trimper; DeLand Mayor Bob Apgar; Jeff Altier, director of Athletics at Stetson; City Commissioner Jessica Davis; City Commissioner Charles Paiva; and DeLand Vice Mayor Leigh Matusick. Tim Elgren, Ph.D. StetsonMagazine_Fall_2018.indd 14-15 10/8/18 2:08 PM 16 STETSON | Fall 2018 Stetson.edu/today | STETSON 17 FIRST PERSON Stetson Showcase was conceived 20 years ago to enable students at the university to present their undergraduate scholarship in the form of mentored senior projects, creative works and performances, off-campus internships, and community-based service-learning projects to the larger Stetson community. Historically, most academic programs at Stetson have required senior capstone presentations in their own departments. However, the students were generally speaking to faculty and students with similar expertise to their own. The Showcase, on the other hand, gives students the experience of presenting to the larger academic community and explaining their research or creative project in a way that is understandable to nonexperts. In my view, the experiment has been a success. Steadily expanding during the past two decades, the springtime event has proved to be especially popular throughout Stetson, from Sage Hall to the Lynn Business Center and numerous points in between. And, while campuswide undergraduate-research symposiums were relatively rare when Stetson Showcase was started, today they are growing rapidly at diverse institutions of higher learning across the country. Coincidence? Maybe not — at least I’d like to think so. Grady Ballenger, Ph.D., former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and current professor of English, arrived at Stetson in 1998. In one of his first initiatives as dean, he asked for faculty volunteers to organize a new campuswide undergraduate-research symposium. I vividly recall sitting in the faculty meeting when we were discussing the idea of creating such a symposium and thinking to myself that this could be a great learning experience for our students. It has turned out that way. I had some experience in organizing undergraduate-research symposiums while on sabbatical at the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory. So, I decided to volunteer to lead the In addition, although there still is plenty of science represented, there also are oral-presentation sessions with themes ranging from art and digital arts exhibitions, and Ars Gratia Artis (art for art’s sake), to race, gender, sex, protest and justice, along with business. It doesn’t seem possible that we have just marked 20 years of wonderful undergraduate-research presentations. The current support of the Stetson community for Showcase is highly gratifying, and the sophistication of the projects presented never fails to impress our Maris prize-judging panels, which consist of volunteers from the ranks of our current and retired faculty, along with outside community leaders. This past spring, more than 30 judges were required to decide the top Maris prize honors (cash awards) and honorable mentions at three separate poster sessions and eight oral-presentation sessions. Our evening Showcase banquet also is emblematic of growth. Each year, we recognize the Maris prize winners and other awardees at this banquet, which now bears Grady Ballenger’s name. This spring, our very own Sarah Caudill ’06 (physics), now carrying Ph.D. on her name, was the keynote speaker. Back at the 2006 version of Stetson Showcase, Sarah presented her research on gravitational-wave physics using the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), completed as a summer intern at the California Institute of Technology. Her poster, “LIGO Detection Efficiency Studies in Searches for Gravitational Waves from Binary Neutron Star Inspirals,” won an ‘A Great Learning Experience’ Twenty years later, the making of an uncommon undergraduate research symposium proves worthy of celebration. BY KEVIN RIGGS, PH.D.honorable-mention that year. In 2015, gravitational waves were directly detected by LIGO, and the project leaders won the Nobel Prize in physics for the discovery in 2017. The entire LIGO research team, including Sarah, won the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics in 2016. Most heartening of all for me, in 2017 two neutron stars were detected colliding — just as Sarah’s undergraduate project had anticipated. These days, Sarah is a research scientist at the Dutch National Institute for Subatomic Physics (Nikhef). In addition to Stetson Showcase, our undergraduate-research committee supervises the Stetson Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE), an on-campus internship program where students are paid a stipend to work with a faculty mentor during the summer. One of the requirements of the program is for SURE grant recipients to present their research at Stetson Showcase. This past year, for the first time, we invited many of the previous SURE grant recipients to send in their photos and current career titles, and we featured them in the Showcase program. After 20 years, highlighting past students — now widely successful alumni — seemed like just the right way to celebrate. Kevin Riggs, Ph.D., is a professor of physics and chair of the Department of Physics at Stetson University. Riggs has an active research program that uses laser-based holographic techniques to image the vibration patterns of various musical instruments.effort as the founding chair of the Stetson Undergraduate Research Committee. At the time, I also was active at the national level in a great organization known as the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR), both in the physics/astronomy division and later in the undergraduate research program director division. During my time in CUR, I participated on numerous panel presentations and workshops at national CUR conferences, and offered advice on how to organize an undergraduate research symposium at colleges and universities similar to Stetson. In the early years, it was definitely a struggle to establish the idea of a research symposium, and to obtain the buy-in from faculty and students. It was even difficult to find an appropriate name. The event began as the Undergraduate Scholarship and Performance Day, but the acronym USAPD sounded suspiciously like some kind of national police force. We went through several other name changes and permutations, many with equally unfortunate acronyms, before settling on the current and much more descriptive and straightforward “Stetson Showcase” (no more acronyms please). To compound the logistical difficulties, the event initially was held on a day when the normal class schedule was in effect. Thankfully, this no longer is the case. We now cancel classes on the day of Showcase each spring, as we do for the equally important Values Day celebration in the fall. After leading the effort for 10 years, I turned the event over to our current Undergraduate Research Committee chairperson, Kimberly Reiter, Ph.D., associate professor of history. Of course, both of us have relied on the enthusiastic support of fellow committee members, administrators, support staff, judges, student assistants and, particularly, the increased interest among student presenters to ensure success. The event just keeps getting bigger and better. We started in 1998 with roughly 40 posters and presentations, mostly submitted by science majors. I was quoted in the student paper, expressing hope that we could eventually double that number. We have now gone well beyond that relatively modest start, with more than 250 posters, presentations, musical performances, art exhibits, business-course project presentations and honors program service-learning project group presentations submitted in 2018. What started in 1998 with roughly 40 posters and presentations now showcases more than 250 posters, presentations, musical performances, art exhibits, business-course project presentations and honors program service-learning project group presentations, describes Kevin Riggs, Ph.D. Photo by Bobby Fishbough StetsonMagazine_Fall_2018.indd 16-17 10/8/18 2:08 PM 18 STETSON | Fall 2018 Stetson.edu/today | STETSON 19 IMPACT Michael W. Raymond, Ph.D., professor of English at Stetson until his death in 2007, believed that higher education was an opportunity for students to discover their passions. His message to undergraduates at Stetson: “The university exists as a sanctuary and a crucible, a place to learn to love the process of learning, and to catch fire with an intellectual passion that will sustain you for the rest of your life.” To honor his vision of education and commitment to students, the Michael Raymond Beyond the Classroom Grant was established and designed to help Stetson juniors pursue dreams and passions through academic discovery. Juniors can apply for $1,000 to do anything they want during the summer — not directly connected to their classroom studies. Andy Dehnart, the grant’s administrator, explained that the money gives students an opportunity to perhaps think outside the box or, simply, follow up on an interest. “Some students just want time and space to create as artists,” said Dehnart, also a visiting assistant professor of journalism at Stetson. “All of that falls under this umbrella of giving students a chance to do something that interests them or that they are passionate about. No one is requiring them to do this; it just comes from internal love and commitment.” Every year since 2008, the endowed grant has provided $1,000 for a winner and $500 for a runner-up. To qualify, a student must be a junior returning to Stetson in the fall. A committee makes selections based on applications. There were 36 applicants in the 2017-2018 school year. “Raymond, both as a faculty member and a student at Stetson before that, was passionate about learning — but not just in a classroom,” added Dehnart, a student of Raymond’s while attending Stetson. “This self-exploration is part of Stetson’s educational experience. The school gives people a fantastic education if they simply move through their requirements and general education of their major, but their real learning, the real growth as people, comes from stepping outside of that.” The grant dollars are not enough to transform lives, but they are helping open doors for students. During summer 2017, with the help of a $500 grant, Emma Boswell ’18 traveled to Wales and Dublin in Ireland, working with adults who have developmental disabilities. At the time a Bonner Scholar majoring in elementary education, Boswell already was planning the trip to St. David’s Care in the Community in Dublin; the extra funds proved helpful. So was the experience. By day, Boswell taught art and dance, among others. At night, she assisted with general care. “It was unlike anything I’ve really done before,” Boswell said, adding this takeaway lesson: “No act is too small; no amount of love is not felt and recognized.” Similarly, Raisa Bailon ’18 traveled to Guatemala to help with reforestation as the first-prize winner. This summer, Shan Karemani ’19, a double major in political science and Russian studies, traveled to Kosovo to interview people and connect with his parents’ home country. He now is editing a documentary about his findings. “It was an eye-opening experience,” Karemani said. “I learned a lot about the Kosovo War from those who actually lived through it. I spoke with family members, friends and even strangers. Moreover, I was able to travel to different cities and significant locations to collect stories from people of all walks of life. Also, in my free time, I visited Montenegro and Albania.” The second grant recipient, Samantha Rheaume ’19, a psychol­ogy major, worked with traumatic-brain-injury victims and their families at Krempels Center in New Hampshire, a nonprofit organi­zation dedicated to improving the lives of people living with brain injury. Passion Pursuit The Michael Raymond Beyond the Classroom Grant is giving Stetson juniors the opportunity to learn, discover and “catch fire.” BY JACK ROTH “I got to put all the theories and methods I have learned in my classes into practice and further my education in a way that would not have been possible without the Beyond the Classroom Grant.” — Samantha Rheaume ’19 “I got hands-on experience working in the mental health setting while running support groups for brain-injury survivors and their families,” Rheaume said. “I got to put all the theories and methods I have learned in my classes into practice and further my education in a way that would not have been possible without the Beyond the Classroom Grant. My clients showed me the real tenacity and strength of human nature, and I learned not only how to be a better clinician, but a better person.” During his 35 years teaching at Stetson, Michael Raymond influenced many students. His wife, Judy, has been a big part of developing and administering the grant. They met as 16-year-old students at Oak Ridge High School in Orlando. Today, she believes the grant is an extension of her late husband’s devotion to Stetson: “Stetson came to me with the idea for the grant, and I thought it was perfect. I’ve been amazed at the number of donations that have come in over the years. They come from everywhere, which tells me that Michael’s passion for learning was not lost with his passing.” With the amount of grant applicants continuing to increase, she and her oldest son, Eric Raymond, read each application, as do other members of the grant’s committee. “Michael always said that knowledge is power, and he would have been thrilled to pieces about this,” Judy Raymond concluded. “Seeing these students being able to accumulate knowledge outside of the classroom and expand their horizons would have made him very happy.” Emma Boswell ’18 Shan Karemani ’19 called his trip to Kosovo an “eye-opening experience.” StetsonMagazine_Fall_2018.indd 18-19 10/8/18 2:08 PM Stetson.edu/today | STETSON 21 FIRST STRINGS Shaw’s musical odyssey began as a youngster growing up in Winter Park, Florida, near Orlando. “My father was a ‘geetar’ picker,” Shaw said, playfully and intentionally using a countrified pronunciation of “guitar.” “On Fridays when he would come home from work, he would have friends come over with their guitars. They would pluck and sing and carry on, and I really wanted to do that myself.” In the fourth grade, Shaw discovered a violin under his parents’ bed. The instrument had belonged to his grandfather, although he had played trombone and not the violin. “In elementary school, some nice lady came by and said, ‘Would anybody like to play the violin? And, of course, in my ADD [Attention Deficit Disorder] manner, I jumped up out of my desk and said, ‘Me! Me!’” Shaw recalled. “So, I started taking lessons.” With the local school district rich in music education, Shaw switched to cello in junior high at the invitation of a teacher. “I didn’t know the first thing about it, but it seemed natural to me and I just went at it,” he said. While other young people were enthralled by the appearance of the Beatles on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1964, Shaw “realized I needed to start studying cello seriously.” He became principal cellist in the orchestra at Winter Park High School, and in his senior year he began taking private lessons from Eleanor Leek Smith, professor of violin, cello and theory at Stetson. While attending Stetson in 1966-1967 as a first-year student on full scholarship, Shaw discovered his love for the small-ensemble works of chamber music, especially the music of Beethoven, by exploring the school’s music library. After that academic year, he transferred to the Oberlin College Conservatory and completed two years of study there. When Shaw returned to Florida in 1972, he reached out to Paul Langston, who was still dean of Stetson’s School of Music. With Leek on sabbatical, Langston invited Shaw to serve as an interim cello teacher and perform in the Stetson Faculty Consort while completing his Bachelor of Music degree. Not long afterward, Shaw co-founded the Audubon Quartet at the 1974 session of the Lenox Quartet Chamber Music Seminar in Binghamton, New York. Then Shaw returned to Stetson with the Audubon Quartet in January 1974 to perform the Schumann Piano Quintet with Langston as guest pianist. “It was so wonderful for me as a cellist to look over the stand on the piano and see Paul [Dean Langston] sweating bullets over there,” Shaw said with another robust laugh. “There are some nice riffs in there for the piano. I loved him. He was a dear man. He was a brilliant man. He was a gentleman. He gave me life, as it were, and I’m eternally grateful for that.” ASCENSION AND ADVENTURE The quartet’s French prize in ’77 led to the invitation to perform at the White House. Shaw recounts: “In those days, we were driving a Chevy van, and we drove down to Washington, D.C., and pulled up in the driveway of the White House. I swear to God that’s what we did. It wasn’t like all the security stuff you see in the news today. “That afternoon, we were asked to play for a tea that Mrs. Carter was giving Mrs. Begin. We felt a little bit ‘Ummmm, we don’t like to play for people who talk and carry on as we’re playing’ (laughs). But in the evening, we played a formal concert.” Later in 1977 at a Munich competition, Shaw and his Audubon mates crossed paths with the Daniel Quartet, an Israeli group. When the Americans mentioned performing for Begin, the Israelis began to laugh. “We were pretty cheeky. We were these young Americans, thinking we were going to set the world on fire,” Shaw said with a hearty laugh as he reflected on the early days, the group’s trip to France in 1977. There, they participated in the Festival d’Evian and became the first American group to win a prize in an international string quartet competition. “That was my first trip to Europe,” Shaw added by phone from his home in Winchester, Virginia, where he lives with his wife and fellow former Audubon Quartet member, violist Doris Lederer. “I was gawking at everything. It was incredible.” Shaw’s laughter — and the fact that he refers to himself as a “Florida Cracker” — suggest the wisdom of age (he’s now 69) has led him to regard the pluck and naiveté of his younger self with bemusement. But the quartet, indeed, set the classical music world on fire. Shaw received his bachelor’s degree from Stetson’s School of Music in 1973 and co-founded the Audubon Quartet a year later. The quartet made its Carnegie Hall debut in 1976. After excelling at Festival d’Evian, the group won the gold medal a few months later at the Festival Villa-Lobos in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 1979, the group became the first American string quartet to perform on the newly launched “CBS News Sunday Morning” TV show, hosted by Charles Kuralt. In 1981, Shaw and his mates became the first American string quartet to perform in China. The quartet performed the world premiere of 25 compositions, and the group recorded for such prestigious labels as RCA, Telarc and Centaur. After a 37-year run, the quartet officially retired in 2011. Clyde T. Shaw (on left) performed at the White House (1977) during his career as a member of the Audubon Quartet. Performance journeys also took him to Europe, South America and China. He toured China in 1981 and returned in 2016 to teach master classes (below). VIM AND VIBRATO Clyde T. Shaw ’73 reflects on his career odyssey as a world-traveling cellist. BY RICK DE YAMPERT A s a founding member of the Audubon Quartet, cellist Clyde T. Shaw ’73 toured the world. Shaw, who goes by Tom, swigged “rot gut” toasts and told Russian jokes to Chinese dignitaries wearing Mao jackets. He swam in piranha-infested waters in Suriname. He played under the glare of machine gun-toting guards in Colombia. Also, the string quartet performed at the White House for President Jimmy Carter and visiting Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. StetsonMagazine_Fall_2018.indd 20-21 10/8/18 2:08 PM 22 STETSON | Fall 2018 Stetson.edu/today | STETSON 23 DID YOU KNOW? Upon retirement, Tom Shaw (shown on left) took a DNA ancestry test and discovered he had a relative who also was a Stetson alumnus: Jack A. Shaw ’53, a history major who went on to become a Baptist minister and later a teacher and counselor at Gainesville (Florida) High School. “My third great-grandfather, Daniel K. Shaw, and Tom’s fifth great-grandfather, Jeremiah Shaw Jr., were brothers,” Jack Shaw said in an email from his home in Spring Hill, Tennessee. After communicating by phone and email, the two relatives met for the first time on July 22, 2018, in Charlottesville, Virginia. “He’s a lively, wonderful gentleman,” Tom Shaw said. “He’s 92 years old, and he was so vivacious when I saw him, full of stories.” “It was a wonderful meeting, and we talked about our ancestors and our present families,” Jack Shaw said. “We did not want the time to end.” “We asked why they were laughing,” Shaw said. “Their violist quickly, and without reserve, said, ‘Begin hates classical music!’ Boy, that took the air out of our tires.” For the Audubon Quartet’s groundbreaking three-week tour of China in 1981, at the invitation of the Chinese Ministry of Culture, Shaw and his colleagues performed and taught at a conservatory where “all the faculty members were dressed in their Mao jackets. It had this odd feeling of something from the past. It was an amazing experience,” Shaw described. “There was a lot of partying — we were invited to dinner with this faculty member or that official to different places. They had this rot-gut ceremonial alcohol that tasted like a mixture of kerosene and snake oil. It was god-awful stuff. And they loved to toast.” Shaw learned the Chinese had an enmity for the Russians, and so he would tell jokes to the head of the conservatory and substitute the Russians as the target. While touring in Suriname, the quartet took a break by going on a day trip down a river. While eating, he tossed a few breadcrumbs out of the boat. A mistake. Piranhas were in the water. Ignoring the possibility that fingers eaten to the bone by flesh-eating fish might inhibit his career, Shaw went swimming anyway. “I’m an adventurer,” Shaw said, laughing. The quartet’s tour of Colombia, with the nation torn by armed conflict among various factions, was both sobering and heart-lifting. Armed guards escorted the quartet throughout the country as they traveled in a bulletproof van. “I thought, ‘This is so contrary to anything we’re trying to do with music — holy mackerel!’” Shaw said. Yet, his perspective changed when the Audubon Quartet performed at the rural mountain town that was home to renowned Colombian violinist Frank Preuss, who taught the local children about Beethoven and other classical composers. The quartet was asked to play for the children. They performed on the grounds — literally — beside an ancient Catholic church in the middle of the little town. Shaw’s words: “On this dirt floor, all these little children were sitting around, legs folded underneath them. Dogs would come by, and they were sitting around as well (laughs). “When we announced that we were going to play Beethoven, the children’s eyes got huge. They were so excited. It brings tears to my eyes. That was one of the most amazing experiences we had.” Stetson scored a coup in early 1984, when the Audubon Quartet performed composer Peter Schickele’s String Quartet No. 1 “American Dreams” at the university — shortly before the quartet performed the official world premiere of the work at Alice Tully Hall in New York City on April 1, 1984. In the early 2000s, Shaw and two other members of the quartet had a falling out with the fourth member, the first violinist, which led to his dismissal. The first violinist sued and won a $611,000 judgment from the other three members after a legal battle lasting more than half a decade, according to a New York Times report. The Audubon Quartet regrouped with a new member and soldiered on until calling it a day in August 2011. Shaw then accepted a full professorship at Shenandoah University Conservatory in Winchester, Virginia, until he retired with emeritus rank earlier this year. The odyssey had come to an end. “My dream became a reality,” Shaw said simply of his globe-trotting adventures. Shaw and composer Peter Schickele share a laugh during rehearsal of the composer’s new composition String Quartet No. 1 “American Dreams.” The Audubon Quartet played the work at Stetson shortly before performing its official world premiere at Alice Tully Hall in New York City on April 1, 1984. MUSIC Nov. 10 Roll of Distinction Concert Southern Winds Band 7:30 p.m., Lee Chapel, Elizabeth Hall Complimentary Admission Nov. 11 Hall of Fame 4 p.m., Lee Chapel, Elizabeth Hall Complimentary Admission Nov. 13 Sounds New XXI | First Glimpse An evening of world premieres, written and performed by School of Music students. 7:30 p.m., Lee Chapel, Elizabeth Hall Complimentary Admission Nov. 14 Guitar on the Rocks 7:30 p.m., Presser Hall Complimentary Admission Nov. 16 Stetson Symphony Orchestra 7:30 p.m., Lee Chapel, Elizabeth Hall Tickets available at the door: $10 adult, $5 youth (13-plus), free with Stetson ID Nov. 20 Stetson Choral Union Sandra Peter, conductor Haydn Missa in Angustiis (Lord Nelson Mass) 7:30 p.m., First Baptist Church, DeLand Tickets available at the door: $10 adult, $5 youth (13-plus), free with Stetson ID Jan. 18 Great Guitarists at Stetson series Amadeus Guitar Duo Dale Kavanagh and Thomas Kirchhoff, guitars 7:30 p.m., Lee Chapel, Elizabeth Hall Complimentary Admission Jan. 29 Great Organists at Stetson series Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, organ 7:30 p.m., Lee Chapel, Elizabeth Hall Complimentary Admission Information: stetson.edu/music/calendar. EXHIBITIONS Through Dec. 7 Alumni Focus: Sean Erwin Samson Hall, Stetson Sean Erwin received an M.F.A. from the University of South Florida in 2008 and a B.A. in studio art from Stetson in 2004. Erwin, an adjunct professor at Stetson, creates a narrative with his art as a way of understanding the human condition and those experiences that define our personal identities. Through Dec. 7 Oscar Bluemner: Color Sketches Hand Art Center, Stetson During 1910-1911, Oscar Bluemner intensified his longtime practice of regular sketching expeditions in the countryside. The discovery of a new type of vivid colored pencils enabled him to put into practice his growing conviction that expressive color was the most important element in art. The drawings in this exhibition demonstrate Bluemner’s rapid assimilation of the various strands of Post-Impressionism. Pictured at right: “Lodi,” 1911, Oscar Bluemner THE ARTS AT STETSON 2018 Christmas Candlelight Concerts Nov. 28-30 DeLand Concerts 7:30 p.m., Lee Chapel, Elizabeth Hall Dec. 1 Orlando Concert 7:30 p.m., First United Methodist Church (142 E. Jackson St., Orlando) Through Dec. 7 29th Annual Undergraduate Juried Exhibit Hand Art Center, Stetson This is designed to celebrate students’ creativity, as well as grow their imagination and encourage their exploration of the arts. All Stetson students, regardless of major, are able to participate. Information: stetson.edu/hand-art-center. THEATER Nov. 15-17, 8 p.m.; Nov. 18, 3 p.m. SWEAT by Lynn Nottage Second Stage Theatre Filled with warm humor and tremendous heart, SWEAT tells the story of a group of friends who have spent their lives sharing drinks, secrets and laughs while working together on the factory floor. Feb. 14-16 and Feb. 21-23, 8 p.m. Feb. 17 and Feb. 24, 3 p.m. [title of show] with Music by Jeff Bowen and Book by Hunter Bell Second Stage Theatre Jeff and Hunter, two self-confessed nobodies in New York, make a pact: They will write an original musical and submit it to a festival. The only catch? The deadline is in three weeks. No worries, though. They’ll just write a musical about writing a musical. April 11-13, 8 p.m.; April 14, 3 p.m. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde Second Stage Theatre Jack Worthing has invented an alter ego named Ernest in order to court and win over the lovely Gwendolen. Unbeknownst to Jack, his good friend Algernon has adopted the same disguise so that he might have an opportunity to meet the lovely young Cecily. When all four characters flee to the country, disguises are revealed, and hilarity ensues. Information: stetson.edu/other/academics/ programs/theatre-arts.php. “Pheromone,” Ceramic Sculpture, Sean Erwin StetsonMagazine_Fall_2018.indd 22-23 10/8/18 2:08 PM 24 STETSON | Fall 2018 Stetson.edu/today | STETSON 25 Archiving Lore Scrapbooks, chimes, a winning sweater and a regal wave from Desmond Tutu capture heritage and history through the decades. By Kelly Larson Hulley for Governor (1920) Lincoln Hulley served the longest term of any Stetson president, from 1904 until his death in 1934. During his tenure, Hulley was responsible for leading the still-budding university through World War I and the Great Depression, and it was under Hulley that Stetson came into its own. Stetson’s campus expanded to include Cummings Gymnasium, Stover Theater and Sampson Hall; enrollment increased; Stetson gained accreditation; and the university dropped its preparatory program (the “academy”) altogether. A gifted man of letters, Hulley was known for his sermons, lectures, plays and poetry. He served two terms in the Florida Senate before running unsuccessfully for governor in 1920. Eloise Chimes (1915) Named for President Lincoln Hulley’s wife, the Eloise Chimes are 11 solid bronze bells, ranging in weight from 575 to 3,000 pounds. They were originally mounted in the cupola of Elizabeth Hall and later transferred to Hulley Tower. The Eloise Chimes colored many heartfelt memories of campus, as the bells were played each morning and evening, as well as for special events, by students from the School of Music. When Hulley Tower was dismantled due to weather damage in 2005, the Eloise Chimes found new homes throughout the campus and at various locations in DeLand. This one now resides behind the Meadows Alumni House. Hatters Baseball (1900) Baseball has long been a feature of the athletics program at Stetson. In this photograph, Stetson baseball players pose for a group photo in Chicago. Stetson was formally affiliated with the University of Chicago from 1898 to 1910, an arrangement that allowed Stetson faculty and students to complete coursework at the University of Chicago free of charge and vice versa. Additionally, Stetson students who completed at least 12 weeks of coursework at Chicago were awarded a University of Chicago diploma. The affiliation strengthened Stetson’s curriculum, maximized its college enrollment and garnered prestige. Many Stetson undergraduates took advantage of the affiliation, and DeLand saw an influx of students from the University of Chicago during the winter term. Early Commencement (1893) Given the university’s age, many are surprised to learn that Stetson was coeducational from the beginning. In fact, Stetson’s first collegiate graduate was a young woman named Leila May Child. As late as the 1890s, the university consisted of both a “College Department” and an “Academy.” The academy, which was a preparatory program, boasted far more students than the college did in the early years. It took until 1893 for Stetson to graduate its first student from the college, and as the commencement program shows, Leila May Child was the only college graduate that year. The preparatory program was discontinued in 1927. Gift Ledger (1883-1939) Stetson’s early financial records were meticulously maintained in ledger books still preserved by the university archives. This notebook, labeled “Gifts,” lists every philanthropic contribution from 1883 through the 1930s. John B. Stetson’s frequent and sizable donations, all recorded in the ledger, help to explain why DeLand Academy was renamed John B. Stetson University in 1889. The ledger also shows that, in addition to the Stetson family, the early university was sustained by many other benefactors, including Henry DeLand, C.T. Sampson, Henry Flagler, Andrew Carnegie and “the citizens of DeLand.” StetsonMagazine_Fall_2018.indd 24-25 10/8/18 2:09 PM 26 STETSON | Fall 2018 Stetson.edu/today | STETSON 27 Kelly Larson is archivist for the Stetson University duPont-Ball Library’s Archives & Special Collections. Hats Off (1991) Human-rights activist and Nobel Peace laureate Desmond Tutu is one among many world-class speakers to visit Stetson, sponsored by the Institute for Christian Ethics. Tutu donned a Stetson cowboy hat (a gift from the university) as he addressed hundreds of students at Elizabeth Chapel. “I have always wanted a Stetson hat,” he said, before going on to speak about the Persian Gulf War, foreign policy and Christian theology. Jimmy Carter, Elie Wiesel, Jane Goodall and Bill Moyers also visited Stetson in the 1990s and early 2000s. Centennial Celebration (1982-1983) One of Florida’s oldest universities, Stetson was already celebrating its 100th birthday by 1983. The Centennial celebration began in the fall of 1982, with a special convocation led by Chancellor J. Ollie Edmunds (former Stetson president) to open Stetson’s 100th year. Centennial events were held throughout the year, and a variety of mementos were specially produced for the milestone, including this Centennial Celebration Medallion. Commodore PET 4008 (1980) Long before the Chromebooks, MacBooks, tablets and smartphones, the Commodore PET (Personal Electronic Transactor) was a top-selling computer on college campuses across the United States. Computers appeared at Stetson as early as the 1960s but were large “scientific computers,” such as the IBM 1620 acquired by the library in 1964, and primarily performed administrative functions. By the spring of 1980, however, Stetson boasted a University Computing Center in the basement of Flagler Hall, replete with an “academic” computer to be used by students for research purposes. That fall, coursework in Computer Science was offered for the first time. This Commodore PET 4008 was first released in 1980 and would have been one of Stetson’s earliest “microcomputers” — what we think of today as a PC. Afro-American Society (1971) Stetson integrated in 1962, and the university’s first African-American student, Cornelius Hunter, graduated in 1966. By 1971, the Stetson Afro-American Society was formally established. The organization served an important social function for its members, as well as providing them a forum to discuss matters related to integration at Stetson and a platform for working with the administration to enact desired changes. This scrapbook, from the 1970-1971 school year, documents early SAAS activities with newspaper clippings, programs, photographs and other ephemera, offering an intimate glimpse into a crucial chapter of Stetson’s history. Rat Week (1964) These green beanies were given to incoming students during Rat Week, a tradition of initiation among Stetson first-year students that began in the 1940s and carried on into the early ’60s. The “rats,” as those new students were known, were identified by these green caps and subjected to a number of lighthearted humiliations, including but not limited to: bowing before upperclassmen, reciting the “rat pledge,” trimming the campus lawn with a pair of shears, and adhering to a dress code that had young women wearing their skirts inside-out and upside-down. Though hazing was expressly forbidden in the early years of the university, and Stetson’s current zero-tolerance policy would never allow such shenanigans, alumni remember Rat Week with great fondness. College of Law’s New Home (1957) Stetson Law’s Class of 1957 poses for a group photo at the newly acquired Gulfport campus. Founded in 1900, Stetson University College of Law was Florida’s first law school and became the first to admit women in 1905. The law school moved from Flagler Hall on the DeLand campus to the grounds of the historic Hotel Rolyat resort in 1954. Sparked by a postwar boom in enrollment, the move launched a period of expansion, academic excellence and growing prestige under Dean Harold Sebring. Rosemary Clark Scrapbook (1940s-1950s) This beautifully crafted trove of clippings, photographs, postcards, programs, letters, cards and other keepsakes was compiled by Stetson graduate Rosemary Clark and recently accessioned by the Stetson University Archives & Special Collections. Rosemary Clark graduated with honors from the Stetson School of Music in 1940 and remained close to the university as a faculty member and performer. She later opened her own school, The Rosemary Clark Conservatory of Music, in DeLand. Her scrapbook is a testament to the close ties among Clark, Stetson and DeLand, as well as an intimate portrait of the School of Music in the 1940s and ’50s. Willard Anderson’s Letterman Sweater (1938) Willard Anderson kicked the winning field goal against the University of Florida in 1938. Led by beloved football coach Brady Cowell, the Hatters defeated the Gators in Gainesville, 16-14. The victory so excited the Stetson community that, upon returning to DeLand, a crowd roused President Sims Allen from his sleep and convinced him to join in the revelry by lighting a celebratory bonfire. Anderson’s letterman sweater bears the Stetson S, indicating his inclusion in the “S” Club, an athletics organization for varsity lettermen. The Women’s Athletic Association served Stetson’s female athletes. StetsonMagazine_Fall_2018.indd 26-27 10/8/18 2:09 PM 28 STETSON | Fall 2018 Stetson.edu/today | STETSON 29 F or many years, I have been studying the behaviors and skill sets of high-performing leaders in the public and private sectors. Prior to my current role at Stetson, I served for 29 years as a school principal at all levels of K-12 education and as a school district leader. During my tenure as an elementary, middle and high school principal, I worked with many impactful school leaders. I also saw many leaders who were not prepared for the challenges of the job. Working with outstanding colleagues here at Stetson, and having the opportunity to work with school districts across the country and the world, has allowed me to formulate a new way of thinking about how extraordinary leaders in the private sector function and what can be learned and transferred from those experiences into the world of K-12 leadership. While all sectors of our society utilize specific principles and common practices designed to identify, recruit, develop and retain the best leaders, there are significant differences between the principles and practices needed for educational leaders in the 20th century and today’s school leaders. Of particular interest has been the examination of how some leaders perform on a daily basis at the highest levels — with sustained results and a deep commitment to the organizations’ mission from their stakeholders — while other leaders fail to sustain leadership excellence. Or, they simply fail to ever meet the expected standards for their leadership positions. Central to this work has been an examination of how high-performing leaders utilize power. Do these leaders see their authority as deriving primarily from the power of the position itself, the leader as high-performing manager, or as a result of the power of their expertise as the instructional leader? Or, do they have a third way of looking at power: the leader as an influencer and team builder focused on powerful missions that matter? I have identified three distinct leadership tiers and 10 high-impact leadership behaviors that, when implemented with fidelity, support sustained leadership excellence. Over the past few decades, there has been a shift in the private sector toward recognizing that leadership is a collective enterprise, rather than the domain of just one individual. In the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world in which all sectors of our society operate, organizations large and small are recognizing that it takes collective leadership to meet organizational goals. In VUCA environments, no individual leader, regardless of the position power that individual holds or how skilled and dedicated that individual may be, is capable of solving all of the organization’s problems or meeting all of the organization’s goals. With education hanging in the balance, a call is made for distributing leadership to empowered mission-driven teams. ESSAY BY CHRISTOPHER COLWELL, ED.D. THE THIRD TIER In total, author Christopher Colwell, Ed.D., has identified three distinct leadership tiers and 10 high-impact leadership behaviors that, when implemented with fidelity, support sustained leadership excellence. Colwell is a graduate of Stetson (’77, M.Ed. ’82). Photo by Bobby Fishbough StetsonMagazine_Fall_2018.indd 28-29 10/8/18 2:09 PM 30 STETSON | Fall 2018 Stetson.edu/today | STETSON 31 TIER-1 LEADERSHIP By contrast, leadership-training programs in the first half of the 20th century focused on effectiveness primarily through the lens of efficiency and the skilled management of resources and people by a centralized leader. Effective leadership was seen as the effective use of the power of the position in tightly controlled hierarchical environments. This is Tier 1 leadership — where the leader uses the power of the position to meet the organization’s goals as efficiently and consistently as possible. This first tier of leadership, the leader as high-performing manager, is certainly needed in today’s schools. It is true that no one can learn in environments that are chaotic or are emotionally and physically unsafe. Leaders need to use the power of the position to address issues regarding the ethical behavior of employees and to assure that all students and stakeholders are safe. Yet, a well-managed school is not synonymous with a high-performing academic environment where teaching and learning can excel. The idea that a school leader in 2018 can be effective simply by demonstrating and sustaining excellence as a manager of the school is unfounded. TIER-2 LEADERSHIP In the decades closing the 20th century, and continuing today, K-12 leadership programs added a second tier into their leadership-training programs and graduate schools. This second tier focuses on the power and abilities of the leader as an instructional expert. All high-performing leaders must possess the technical expertise to understand and evaluate all aspects of the organizations they lead. The education sector is no different. The school leader must be a teacher of teachers. In this view, the school leader must be more than a high performer. The impactful leader also must have a full understanding of pedagogy and instructional frameworks, along with being a skilled manager of the daily operations of the school or school district. The addition of this second tier of expectations for school leaders makes sense. No one wants to be in a hospital where the CEO doesn’t understand how hospitals can and should operate. No one wants to be in an airport where the CEO does not understand how top-notch airports function. Similarly, no one wants to teach in a school, or send their children to a school, where the principal does not recognize good teaching and engaged students, or understand how to improve teaching and learning opportunities using recognized best practices. It is these first and second tiers of leadership education that I experienced as a graduate student in the 1980s and as a working principal and district administrator in the 1990s and 2000s. This focus on the leader as an expert manager of all of the systems that make a school function, and as an expert in teaching and learning pedagogy, continues to dominate graduate-school curricula today. These same two areas of focus also dominate the curricula in use by professional-development programs across the country for current school leaders. TIER-3 LEADERSHIP “Mission-driven leadership” recognizes the value and necessity of the school leader as an instructional expert and as an efficient and skilled manager, but these skills cannot, in and of themselves, guarantee successful teaching and learning in the complex high-stakes environments that make up today’s schools. The modern school leader also must be an expert in interpersonal skills and team building plus have the ability to influence others to achieve missions that matter, that make a significant difference in the lives of children. This focus on the expert use of interpersonal skills to distribute leadership authority and responsibility to high-performing teams on missions that matter forms the foundation for a third tier of leadership: the mission-driven leader. These tier-3 leaders are able to provide high levels of support to the organization by building teams, trust, a common mission, encouragement with expectations and a strong drive for results. The mission-driven leader is able to articulate, by word and deed, the primary goals and mission of the organization. The tier-3 leader recognizes that leadership is a team sport and that leadership authority and responsibility must be widely distributed throughout the organization. The leader recognizes that without trust and common goals there can be no team and that in environments as complex as schools, without teams of leaders, success is unlikely. In short, tier-3 leaders see their primary function as building the capacity of others within the organization to lead. This tier-3 leadership orientation is fundamentally different from a leadership approach based on position power, a hierarchical leadership structure where responsibility and authority are centralized. Tier 3 also goes beyond viewing the leader as high-functioning based on technical, expert power. Tier-3 leaders recognize the ability to motivate and influence others as their single greatest leadership attribute. These leaders recognize that in order for teachers and students to be motivated and feel empowered, the purpose of the work itself must be meaningful. Mission-driven leaders recognize that teachers are not motivated by a well-organized master schedule or testing calendar. Teachers are not motivated by detailed lesson plans or standardized tests. Teachers are, however, motivated when they truly feel empowered to make decisions that impact the lives of children. SO, WHAT NOW? How, then, do school leaders move from functioning primarily as managers and instructional leaders to leaders who also have the ability to distribute leadership authority to teams? Perhaps the biggest challenge faced by today’s school leaders involves developing strategies that allow leaders to shift their daily activities away from a focus on school management (tier 1) and even instructional leadership (tier 2) and toward leading empowered teams with goals that are viewed as highly significant by teachers and other stakeholders (tier 3). Today, too many school leaders find themselves trapped in tier-1 management activity. These leaders struggle to find the time to serve as instructional leaders or leaders of empowered teams. For these school leaders, developing and maintaining the skills necessary to be a high-performing manager, an instructional expert and a mission-driven team builder can be an overwhelming task. To make the shift toward missions that matter and away from daily operations, responsibilities must be shared. And this focus on distributing leader-ship authority to others within the organization begins with trust. Mission-driven leaders trust down the organization. That is, these leaders do not begin by expecting others to trust them but begin by trusting others. The mission-driven leader is committed to building and empower-ing teams of leaders. Mission-driven leaders recognize that the smartest person in the room is the room. The way to succeed in VUCA environments is to empower more stakeholders, in other words to make the room bigger. Mission-driven leaders also seek to spend at least 50 percent of each day focused on these tier-3 culture, climate and team-building structures within their organization. Management leadership and instructional leadership remain as primary obligations but are no longer seen as the sole obligation, or even the dominant obligation, of the mission-driven leader. Mission-driven leadership is fundamentally about the strategies needed for today’s school leaders to build and sustain teams of educators focused on powerful missions — what Stetson describes as leading lives of significance. It is the team that provides the capacity for the organization to excel. It is the team that enables the organization to sustain that excellence. Mission-driven leaders recognize, and place the highest value, on distributing leadership to empowered teams. In the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world that is education today, I would argue that is the only way forward. Mission-driven leadership is fundamentally about the strategies needed for today’s school leaders to build and sustain teams of educators focused on powerful missions — what Stetson describes as leading lives of significance. Tier-3 leaders recognize the ability to motivate and influence others as their single greatest leadership attribute. These leaders recognize that in order for teachers and students to be motivated and feel empowered, the purpose of the work itself must be meaningful. Christopher Colwell, Ed.D., is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Education at Stetson University. Colwell’s latest book, “Mission-Driven Leadership,” published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, examines leadership tiers and the daily behaviors that today’s school leaders need in order to excel. StetsonMagazine_Fall_2018.indd 30-31 10/8/18 2:09 PM 32 STETSON | Fall 2018 Stetson.edu/today | STETSON 33 A s the Stetson community closes in on its $200 million all-inclusive Beyond Success — Significance campaign goal, we look at the difference that funding has brought — to our students, faculty, staff and alumni, as well as to our local and global communities. The past six years have been marked by growth (in students, facilities, programs) and by quality experiences (research, internships, curricular developments) that enrich a campus culture and equip students for significance after Stetson. Campaign Significance Snapshots of the university’s charitable giving reveal lasting impact — plus the potential for much more. BY TRISH WIELAND CAPITAL CONSTRUCTION At Stetson, you’ll find a building — affectionately called the CUB — that is much like a human heart. It’s the epicenter of activity in the middle of campus. And it’s getting revitalized. Originally built in 1957, the Carlton Union Building is receiving a renovation, thanks to a $30 million project that will increase usable space by 40 percent while also enhancing all that was popularized decades ago among students, faculty, staff, visitors and alumni alike. To assist, Stetson Trustee Rich George ’76 and his wife, Lilis, literally put their stamp on the reinvigora­tion with a recent contribution resulting in the new Rich and Lilis George Main Lobby. “We have supported Stetson for many years, as we live close by and witness the amazing impact it has on her students and the greater community,” Rich George commented. “Through the generosity of alumni, the university continues to add value by building first-class facilities, focusing on its top-notch faculty, and continuing to support a significant percentage of bright and diverse first-generation college students. We believe that Stetson prepares its graduates for a well-balanced life of citizenship and success.” Several naming opportunities remain available for specific locales within the CUB — ranging from an associate director’s office (for $20,000) and the outdoor dining/plaza area (for $500,000) to the student life/activity center (for $2.5 million). Editor’s note: The entire list of naming opportunities can be found at stetson.edu/campus-center. STETSON FUND FOR SCHOLARSHIPS At the beginning of her tenure as a music major at Stetson three years ago, Kaitlin Smedley’s life was turned upside down in the blink of an eye. Her sister was in a near-fatal car crash that left the Smedley family financially strapped to the breaking point. “My sister’s severe brain damage had left her living in a nursing home, and my parents having to take care of her and take her to experimental treatments all over the place,” said Smedley ’19, who is from Jacksonville, Florida. “This situation has consumed my family. My parents told me I would have to drop out of Stetson. I thought I would have to give up on my dreams, but this scholarship saved me.” Countless stories such as Smedley’s underscore just how vital donor support to the Stetson Scholarship Fund is for students. Simply, they have dreams and ambitions that would otherwise go unfulfilled. ATHLETIC EXPANSION Helping student-athletes achieve success in competition and in the classroom is no small feat. (See Page 52.) All gifts to Stetson Athletics enable the donor to become a member of the Hatter Athletic Fund and ensure the sustainability of the Hatters’ 17 Division I sports programs — like the baseball team, which made national news last spring by nearly advancing to the College World Series. As Brooks Wilson ’18, a standout on that team and now a pitcher in the Atlanta Braves organization, noted: “All donations are used wisely and make a huge impact on not only the program as a whole but each individual athlete as well.” Donors may designate where they would like their gifts to go, either to a specific sports program or the Athletics General Fund. STUDENT RESEARCH Stetson students across all majors are required to complete a Senior Project as a graduation requirement, and for most students that involves research. (See related articles throughout this issue.) To conduct research, students require assistance in covering the cost of equipment, supplies and possibly travel. Together with departments, The Dean’s Fund addresses a special need — helping students present their work at scholarly conferences. For example, last spring Sarah Coffey ’18, who majored in environmental science and geography, presented at the American Association of Geographers national conference in New Orleans, as well as at the Council on Undergraduate Research’s “Posters on the Hill” in Washington, D.C. “This experience was extremely important to my journey at Stetson,” explained Coffey, now earning her master’s degree in forest resources and environmental conservation at Virginia Tech. “Presenting my research at these two conferences not only provided me with important networking experience, but it also prepared me to continue my journey as a graduate student. I feel very fortunate to have been given these opportunities as an undergraduate.” Added Tom Farrell, Ph.D., Stetson’s interim dean of the College of Arts & Sciences: “Students benefit not just in terms of the knowledge generated in their research, but in the fuller mentoring that they experience with faculty, the professional skills required to make a formal presentation of their work, and potentially the contacts they can make in their conference experience.” The Carlton Union Building’s renovation is a $30 million project. Kailtlin Smedley ’19 The Cooper Beach Volleyball Courts have been a popular addition for Athletics since 2012. StetsonMagazine_Fall_2018.indd 32-33 10/8/18 2:09 PM 34 STETSON | Fall 2018 Stetson.edu/today | STETSON 35 Deans’ List Wishful targets of continued and future charitable giving from the academic top: COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES • Endowment of the Deanship • General Scholarships • Making the Elizabeth Hall Lobby Distinctive • The Initiative for Science and Health SCHOOL OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION • Endowment for Entrepreneurship Chair • Endowment of the Dean’s Position • Expansion for Prince Entrepreneurship and Centurion Sales programs (“high-impact” programs) • J.J. Master Center for Business Professionalism • Study Abroad Scholarships SCHOOL OF MUSIC • Bob Rich and Mollie Rich Legacy Award Scholarship in Voice • Carlton Union Building Renovation Piano Acquisition • Christmas Candlelight Concert in Orlando (Dec. 1, 2018) • Courtesy Valet Golf Car Acquisition • Lee Chapel Green Room and Backstage/Holding Area Updates • Music Ensemble Scores Library Facility DUPONT-BALL LIBRARY • Acquisition of E-journal Back-files • Expansion of the Innovation Lab into a 24/7 Innovation Center • Furniture for Quiet Study Area • Mobile Whiteboards COLLEGE OF LAW • Scholarships GLOBAL TRAVEL With global citizenship a core university value, a major goal of the Beyond Success – Significance campaign is travel for study abroad. This occurs through W.O.R.L.D.: The David and Leighan Rinker Center for International Learning. (W.O.R.L.D. stands for World Outreach, Research, Learning and Development.) Research shows that when students go abroad, they deepen their points of view, gain important intercultural communication skills, and return to campus with greater confidence and independence. One such student is Zoe Weaver, a senior global development major/political science minor from Newark, Ohio, whose travel to South Korea and Taiwan “completely changed the direction of my career path.” “I met professors and professionals in my field who were able to give me a better view about career opportunities in Asia and how my skill set might actually be best suited for research in that region,” said Weaver, a student ambassador for the W.O.R.L.D. program. “I now have a clearer idea of the steps I need to take academically to graduate and begin my career. “It may seem that some people will never have to interact with the rest of the world because their major has little to do with international affairs. But the reality is that everyone is affected by globalization and will at some point need to know how to thrive within it.” HILLEL At Stetson, global citizen­ship means global conver­sations and a global home. By growing a robust and sustainable Hillel on campus, Hatters of all backgrounds now have the opportunity to engage with the Jewish faith and culture, and Jewish students from around the world will know that they have a home at Stetson, according to Sam Friedman, who became the first Hillel director last spring. “When Hillels are at their best, they impact the greater campus community, not just the Jewish students,” Friedman said. “Stetson, by making an investment and commitment to Jewish student life, will offer another opportunity for Hatters to engage in their own personal growth, intellectual development and global citizenship.” Among the naming opportunities still available: Kosher Kitchen ($100,000), Living Room ($75,000), Courtyard Patio ($75,000) and second-floor bed­rooms ($25,000 each). Also, donors may provide gifts in any amount to Jewish Student Scholarships or the Hillel Program Fund. INSTITUTE FOR WATER AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESILIENCE Saving the environment is a lofty goal, one that Stetson’s Institute for Water and Environmental Resilience is committed to as a core value. The institute, which provides education, research, policy support and leadership development, is required by the university to be financially self-sustaining. In January, the Sandra Stetson Aquatic Center opens as its new headquarters. A prime current initiative is securing dollars to fully furnish the center, which will accommodate water-quality testing, along with community meetings, seminars and symposia, among other activities. The center will be used by faculty and students as well as visiting researchers and policymakers — “a hub of community engagement around natural-resource issues,” described Clay Henderson, J.D., executive director of the institute and a Stetson professor. INTERNSHIPS From the age of 12, microbiology senior Matt Lucas knew the struggles with cystic acne all too well. After two years of compassionate treatment at an area dermatology practice, Lucas knew someday he would help others with their skin ailments. Fast-forward a decade, and thanks to support from Stetson’s Internship Program, Lucas gained valuable experience in multiple aspects of dermatology at that same clinic. “I observed and learned how to build patient-physician relationships, observed skin examinations and surgeries, and educated myself on the business aspect of running a medical office,” Lucas said. “This internship increased my confidence of attending medical school in the fall of 2019 and allowed me to create concrete goals for the type of physician I want to become.” The Internship Fund supports financially challenged students as they gain an early competitive advantage in their career fields. Funding offsets expenses students incur from traveling to a distant city, commuting to work and paying for rent, all while offering them valuable real-world experience. Want to help or learn more about how your contribution can make a difference? Contact Kate Pearce at [email protected] or 386-822-7461. Or visit Stetson.edu/campaign. The rising Sandra Stetson Aquatic Center International study could mean a trip to the Korean Institute of National Unification Conference in Seoul. Zoe Weaver is on the left in back. Sam Friedman, Stetson’s first Hillel director StetsonMagazine_Fall_2018.indd 34-35 10/8/18 2:09 PM 36 STETSON | Fall 2018 Stetson.edu/today | STETSON 37 A lmost a decade ago, Stetson University embarked on an ambitious plan to boost science in the Central Florida region through increased student enrollment and a concomitant expansion of its tenure-track STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) faculty corps. The outcomes of this strategic approach have been quite significant. For starters, the university re-envisioned its geography and environ-mental science program as environmental science and studies, created a health sciences program, and added a public health minor. And that is only a sample. INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH Stetson’s chronicled history of summer research grants dates back as early as 1969. During the past 10 years alone, Stetson has invested more than $1 million of institutional funds to seed innovative projects, some with potential to compete for external grants and private funds. Summer grant awards are typically about $5,000, with the opportunity for additional travel funds. For science faculty, summer grants support a focused project nested in a much larger question that we chase over the course of our career. And, the cost of scientific research is considerable! Scientists must raise substantial resources to cultivate sustainable research programs that respond to changing societal challenges and technological advances. Plus, as curators of the next generation of scientists, we have a duty to expose our students to the exquisite experience of scientific discovery using state-of-the-art resources. Funding for scientific research furnishes instrumentation, supplies, gear, sophisticated technology and access to other critical resources. In other words, success in scientific research depends heavily on resource acquisi-tion — whether through grant writing, fundraising or networking. To that end, faculty grantsmanship is important at Stetson. In the sciences, compe-tition for extramural funds, particularly federal grants, is blossoming and has borne fruit. Individual science faculty and faculty teams, for instance, have successfully won external grant awards for instrumentation and research. Our Office of Grants, Research and Strategic Initiatives shepherds grant-proposal development from idea to post-award. The office identifies funding opportunities and potential collaborators, edits and integrates multi-collaborator contributions, develops budgets to support projects, and manages proposal creation and submission processes. The staff also work closely with faculty to develop one- to three-year proposal plans and coordinate meetings between science faculty and federal grant officers in Washington, D.C., through diverse activities such as the annual Council on Undergraduate Research Dialogues. This wraparound service at Stetson is impressive, given the scope of grant offices at schools our size, where proposal submission and post-award processing are the typical capacity. Stetson’s support of faculty research in the natural sciences is funded, in part, by an endowment designated to encourage scien-tific innovation. The Willa Dean Lowery Grant Program is named for long-serving patron and alumna Willa Dean Lowery, Ph.D. ’48. Her exceptional and vast career spans professional roles including bacteriolo-gist, obstetrician and gynecologist, public health officer and theologian. Lowery’s vision and support of research have been critical in boosting Stetson’s impact in the natural sciences. Through her generous gifts, Stetson has bestowed 13 Lowery Grants for meritori-ous scientific research projects over the past seven years, several of which have garnered national and international attention. Stetson is fortunate to have generous donors whose support for diverse aspects of education directly impacts the sciences. The Kresge Science Initiative Grant, for one, supports much-needed acquisition, mainte-nance, upgrade and repair of science instru-ments. The Lynn and Mark Hollis Chair of Health and Wellness is an endowed distinc-tion held by individual science faculty to advance science and health sciences. Our new Institute for Water and Environmental Resilience recently launched a grant program to support interdisciplinary research, out-reach and service learning to address envi-ronmental challenges in Central Florida. In addition, the Nina B. Hollis Research Impact Award provides seed funding to support innovative research that improves the educa-tional outcomes of marginalized youth in our communities. In 2010, Stetson received a pioneering gift from long-standing university Trustees Hyatt and Cici Brown to create the Brown Faculty Fellow endowed chair in the sciences. Terence Farrell, Ph.D., Brown Fellow and professor of biology, has since implemented initiatives to advance science education across the university, including the design and renovation of classrooms and faculty-stu-dent science research spaces and support for research with undergraduates. (See Page 48.) A significant role of the endowed fellow is to coordinate a visiting biology faculty program. The success of the biology program contributed to a larger endowment by the Browns in 2013 to expand the biology residency model to what is now the flagship Brown Teacher-Scholar Fellows Program. We attract promising individuals who are new to higher education — either recent doctorate-earners or accomplished professionals who are making a career shift to higher educa-tion. Fellows come from diverse disciplinary backgrounds — the arts, education, educa-tional technology, humanities and science — to enhance the university’s capacity in specific areas. The program provides endur-ing benefits of original, rapidly changing knowledge from visiting scholars who hold a residency at Stetson for up to two years. The program’s alternating cycle of visiting fellows creates the flexibility necessary to respond to emerging issues in higher education and student interests. A new Brown Center for Faculty Innovation and Excellence facilitates the Brown Teacher-Scholar Fellows Program. Since 2010, Stetson has accepted more than one dozen fellows to the program, with 60 percent hailing from biology, health sciences and environmental sciences. More than 75 percent of our fellows have secured tenure-track positions at universities, spreading Stetson excellence across higher education. Then, this past spring, Hyatt and Cici Brown donated the largest gift in Stetson’s history to broaden our science and health education footprint in Central Florida. Earmarked to construct a new and greatly needed science building and expand science programs, the $18 million investment is part of the Beyond Success – Significance fund-raising campaign.(See Page 32.) As our state continues to experience dramatic population increase, the Browns anticipate this investment bearing handsome dividends in health care and science while serving as a vital boost to students pursuing careers in these fields. To bolster this initia-tive and help identify new frontiers for growth, Stetson recently named Tim Elgren, Ph.D., professor of chemistry and biochemis-try at Oberlin College, as special advisor on strategic initiatives. (See Page 15.) INFLUENCE ON UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH CULTURE Stetson’s mission is to provide an excellent education in a creative community where learning and values meet. Our commitment to a transformative experience is reflected in our dedication to every undergraduate: Each student must complete a Senior Project under the guidance of a faculty member. Senior Project is the culminating experi-ence of our students’ learning journey. And the imperative of Senior Project as a curricu-lar requirement is rooted in compelling evidence that demonstrates substantial cumulative and transformative effects of research on students, mentors, Stetson, higher education and society. Senior Project allows our students to demonstrate integration of learning. Our students learn science by doing science. In the sciences, students engage critical literacies — reading and comprehension, writing, and speaking — as gateways to scien-tific thinking. They also dedicate significant time to assessing questions (or hypotheses). They design and implement quantitative and qualitative analyses as models to answer their queries. They demonstrate persuasive commu-nication skills to disseminate their learning and as a means of engaging the full scientific process, which, in turn, leads to new and even more interesting questions. Since 1997, Stetson has annually high-lighted student research at a full-day show-case of student academic achievement and distinction in experiential learning. Stetson’s Showcase Symposium offers the university community a glimpse into the academic excellence occurring across the DeLand campus. It is such an important event that we cancel classes to allow students and faculty to fully engage. (See Page 40.) To nurture a culture of undergraduate research throughout the summer months, students compete for highly selective scholar- RESEARCH Taking Stock of Our Sciences Institutional support and an undergraduate culture shaped by an environment focused on research are creating new distinctiveness at Stetson. BY R O S A L I E A . R I C H A R D S , P H . D . StetsonMagazine_Fall_2018.indd 36-37 10/8/18 2:09 PM 38 STETSON | Fall 2018 Stetson.edu/today | STETSON 39 RESEARCH ship awards to participate in Stetson’s Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE). The centerpiece of our immersive SURE program is an eight-week research-intensive experience where SURE Scholars work on individual projects under the guidance of a faculty mentor and present findings at the subsequent Showcase. This signature program is generously supported by endowed funds. However, our science students have other options to gain important research skills in the summer. Some participate in federal grant-funded programs such as the Research Experiences for Undergraduates at research-intensive universities. Senior research provides one measure of our capacity as a university to effectively integrate and scaffold research competencies across our curriculum. Nationwide, the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) recognized this need and recently imple-mented a comprehensive $17 million transfor-mations grant project in 24 science depart-ments across the country. The project focuses on the integration of research competencies across each discipline and aims to provide best-practice strategies for higher education. To enrich the learning experience for our students, Stetson’s science faculty provide expertise to this project and to leadership in science at CUR and other professional science organizations. While these engagements reveal the significant assets we possess in our senior research program, they also reveal our poten-tial for growth. At the same time, our strong commitment to mentored student research in the sciences has resulted in notable outcomes, such as peer-reviewed student co-authored publica-tions, presentations at national scientific meetings and graduates matriculating to top-tier post-baccalaureate programs. Even more noteworthy, however, is the significance our students extract from these experiences. According to a 2014 Gallup-Purdue study, the strongest predictors of future success are experiences where students engage initiative and agency, such as conducting research that takes a semester or more to complete. RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT The Stetson faculty role comprises three areas of responsibility: teaching, research/creative inquiry and professional citizenship. As part of a learning-centered institution versus a research-intensive one, our faculty place high value on the integration of facilitation of student learning and continuous intellectual and creative inquiry as scholars. This teacher-scholar faculty model is a powerful testimony of academic excellence demonstrated as student transformation and research innova-tion. To capture the essence of how our teacher-scholar faculty role defines our research and educational environment, members of Stetson’s Professional Development Committee penned “The Stetson Teacher-Scholar Statement” in 2016. Stetson’s faculty engage the teacher-scholar role during a nine-month academic year that spans mid-August to mid-May. Science faculty generally use the summer months to boost research productivity and leverage collaborations at Stetson and beyond. They also teach summer courses — face-to-face, online and abroad — develop programs, study, carry out administrative university functions, plan, pursue passions and other interests, vacation, and prepare for the new academic year. In essence, our science faculty are rarely off the clock. Faculty teaching a full course load during the academic year generally facilitate three courses per semester. Each course requires preparatory time, class time, grading/ assessment and office hours. Historically, the experiential component of science teaching occurs in laboratory courses, but a number of science teachers integrate experiential learning into what is identified as “lecture” courses — course activities, projects and other assignments that integrate real-life, complex problems into the traditional classroom. Laboratory courses count as half of one course, although labs require significant prep, implementation and assessment time. Dedicated laboratory spaces accommo-date “bench” science and research in Sage Hall and other sites on campus. But lack of adequate space continues to plague our growing student population, research needs, and accommodation for instrumentation. Therefore, a new science center will be a very welcome addition. At the same time, our current facilities support high-impact teach-ing, including a SCALE-UP classroom, where collaborative learning is facilitated in the natural sciences and other learning engagements. We also possess a number of computer labs, and a novel Innovation Lab in the duPont-Ball Library offers state-of-the-art technological resources, such as an array of 3-D printers, virtual reality devices, digital sewing machines and Arduino kits for programming computer-controlled devices. Our required senior capstone is built into faculty teaching loads, at least to the degree that one can describe the nature and complex-ity of scientific research in terms of the credit-hour. This is because scientific research is, by design, a time-intensive endeavor. It requires multiple experimental trials under carefully controlled conditions to discern reproducibility, validity and reliability. And that is just the tip of the iceberg! Further, a confounding outcome of planned enrollment growth is increased class size in senior-research courses. This phenom-enon has bucked traditional modes of mentoring, which demand significant one-to-one faculty-student engagement. As class sizes grow across the country and budgets shrink, this challenge has moved higher education to reconsider how research mentoring is facilitated. Curriculum redesign is one strategy emerging from the national conversation on undergraduate research. Experts suggest that for students to demonstrate desired outcomes, performance and behaviors, faculty must purposefully align learning objectives early and across the arc of the student experience. This “intentional design” rationale is not new. But, although much more is known about how students learn, curriculum tends to remain the result of history and compromise. The intentional design approach reasons that lower-level lecture and laboratory courses have scope and breadth to initiate necessary research-skill development and reduce the burden of competency building in designated upper-level research courses, such as Senior Project. Although not a holistic solution to the challenge of increased enrollment, our science departments are consistently revising curricula to address these and other issues arising from the changing landscape of higher education. This kind of evidence-based teaching and learning is encouraged and supported by the Brown Center for Faculty Innovation and Excellence, the Hollis Family Student Success Center and the Writing Center. Our centers offer vibrant faculty professional-development programs, student-support services and communication-skills develop-ment support, respectively. In the 2007 article “Why Teacher-Scholars Matter: Insights from FSSE and NSSE,” George Kuh reported “a positive relationship between the amount of time faculty spend on research, particularly research with students, and the emphasis on deep approaches to learning in their courses.” Kuh, who serves as chancellor’s professor for postsecondary research at Indiana University, suggests that increasing the value placed and time spent on research with undergraduates, and increasing faculty emphasis on deep approaches to learning, result in increases in the amount students feel they gained from the college experience. Our teacher-scholar science faculty have long recognized this relationship. Since 1883, we have demonstrated our commit-ment to high-quality experiential education in a liberal-learning environment where scholarly endeavor and lifelong learning form a strong foundation for excellent science teaching, and a place where innova-tive and entrepreneurial research thrives. IMPACT ON SCIENCE EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Stetson has experienced rapid growth in the number of students electing to major in the natural sciences. Together, science majors comprise 20 percent of our undergraduate student population. The health sciences and biology departments graduate the largest number of students and consistently rank in the top three of total graduates from the College of Arts and Sciences. From an impact perspective, Stetson is making a significant contribution to the next generation of scientists, engineers, health care professionals and citizens equipped to address complex 21st-century challenges. Such awe and wonder of science is sparked at an early age. That wonder is the good stuff that propels our students to persist through challenging chemistry, physics, mathematics and biology courses. It is for this reason that Stetson’s science faculty, staff and students stoke and fuel our youth’s curiosity by paying it forward. Take our Gillespie Museum, for example. Open and free to the public since 1958, this remarkable museum has been a center for earth and environmental science education, housing a historic mineral collection with nearly 1,000 of its 15,000 specimens on display in changing exhibits. Visitors get to take a tiny peek into the vast diversity of Florida’s ecosystems and much more. The grounds of the museum and the adjacent Rinker Environmental Learning Center provide outdoor classrooms, includ-ing a well-established Native Florida Plant Landscape, the Hatter Harvest Garden, Stetson Beekeeping and the Volusia Sandhill Ecosystem, an urban restoration in progress. Stetson’s faculty, staff and undergraduate students contribute to a vibrant museum outreach program, ranging from school tours and field trips to a monthly Science Café, where scientists and nonscientists of all ages enjoy learning from one another in a relaxed atmosphere. In addition, Stetson’s High Achieving Talented Students (HATS) Program offers year-round academic enrichment through Saturday and summer classes to encourage high-achieving K-12 students, who explore academic areas of interest in our university setting. Furthermore, about four years ago, our Department of Education and elemen-tary school educators in west Volusia County collaborated with science faculty at Stetson and other regional colleges to implement a $1 million grant-supported project to improve teacher preparation in science and other disciplines. But, this is only a snapshot, a sample. There is so much more. As we consider the future of our science enterprise, we have much to celebrate and much opportunity for growth. Rosalie Richards, Ph.D., is associate provost for Faculty Development and a professor of chemistry and education at Stetson University. From an impact perspective, Stetson is making a significant contribution to the next generation of scientists, engineers, health care professionals and citizens equipped to address complex 21st-century challenges. Our strong commitment to mentored student research in the sciences has resulted in notable outcomes, such as peer-reviewed student co-authored publications, presentations at national scientific meetings and graduates matriculating to top-tier post-baccalaureate programs. Even more noteworthy, however, is the significance our students extract from these experiences. StetsonMagazine_Fall_2018.indd 38-39 10/8/18 2:09 PM 40 STETSON | Fall 2018 RESEARCH Stetson.edu/today | STETSON 41 For Danielle (Leopold) Regan ’10, life is a zoo — literally. Regan was majoring in biology at Stetson and planning to become a high school agriculture teacher. Then her SURE (Stetson Undergraduate Research Experience) grant changed everything. Goodbye, agriculture. Hello, banded water snakes, Panamanian golden frogs, Egyptian tortoises and Chinese alligators. “I found my passion for these scaly creatures when I did my student research project at Stetson,” said Regan. As a student of Terence Farrell, Ph.D., professor of biology, Regan had become intrigued by some of his field-based research projects, especially a native-snake-versus-invasive-catfish study. (See Page 48.) Her SURE project required her to care for a lab with roughly 30 banded water snakes — her “first experience with captive animal husbandry,” she joked, adding, “My professors immersed me into the world of reptiles, and I was hooked.” Today, Regan is area manager of the Maryland Wilderness and Panamanian Golden Frog Team at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, where she frequently handles those exotic animals. She has worked the past seven years as a zookeeper. Regan’s transformation went on display during her senior year when she presented at Stetson Showcase — a daylong event each spring where students share their research through oral presentations, portfolios, posters, readings, music and theater performances, art exhibits, and multimedia work. Regan’s showcase detailed her research on whether banded water snakes, a species native to Florida, could “consume a far more challenging prey,” an invasive species of “armored” catfish known as the brown hoplo. Stetson Showcase celebrated its 20th anniversary in spring 2018, with student programs ranging in topics from media portrayals of African-American women in the workplace and Godzilla as a metaphor for nuclear war to social media’s impact on cryptocurrency. In all, there were more than 200 presentations encompassing medi­cine, literature, business, international relations, science, music, art, religion, philosophy, politics, race, gender, sexuality and other fields. Participation in SURE, a competitive grant program in which selected students undergo an eight-week, research-intensive experience during the summer under the mentorship of a Stetson faculty member, is required to present at Stetson Showcase. Often, as was the case with Regan, Stetson Showcase is a launching point for careers. Other times, Showcase simply represents the culmination of an undergraduate’s study. Either way, the program speaks to “an embarrassment of riches in undergraduate research” at the university, according to Kimberly Reiter, Ph.D., associate professor of ancient and medieval history and chair of the Stetson Undergraduate Research Committee. Reiter also serves as a national councilor for the Undergraduate Research Directors Committee for the Council of Undergraduate Research. While many universities have showcases for students in STEM (science/technology/engineering/math) and honors programs, Stetson Showcase is “more comprehensive,” Reiter said, adding that it’s the “oldest comprehensive showcase day in the country.” “We have a wealth of research from which to draw. I go to [national council] meetings, and I have to try very hard not to keep interjecting, because a lot of talk is about ‘How do we get undergrads to do research?’ … When it comes to Showcase, we don’t have to scramble for people. We’ve got them,” Reiter asserted. Students design their showcases for other students and faculty plus the general public, and their work is judged not only on content, but also how that content is communicated. VIENNA BY STORM Soprano Jenna Siladie ’11 made her first trip abroad to Austria with a SURE Grant to study lied (German art song — that is, poetry set to classical music) at the Franz Schubert Institut. “I knew immediately that I belonged there and had to someday make it back, as Vienna is the epicenter of all things opera and Danielle Regan ’10: “My professors immersed me into the world of reptiles, and I was hooked.” Finding new devotion through student research, alumni now are helping to change the world, one frog or song or micro enterprise at a time. BY RICK DE YAMPERT StetsonMagazine_Fall_2018.indd 40-41 10/8/18 2:09 PM 42 STETSON | Fall 2018 Stetson.edu/today | STETSON 43 RESEARCHDriskill Graduate Program in Life Sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, along with a post-doctorate program at the University of Chicago — Coller learned to hunt viruses. “I was involved in the discovery of a novel human virus [Human Pegivirus 2] as part of an ongoing collaboration with scientists at the UCSF (University of California, San Francisco) Viral Diagnostics and Discovery Center,” Coller said. “My role was to develop tests to identify additional cases throughout the world.” Her work led her to receive a patent “describing techniques to detect the novel human virus,” she added. These days, Coller continues her medical detective work as a research scientist studying infectious disease at Abbott Laboratories in Illinois. DID YOU KNOW? Thanks to a SURE Grant, Sarah Hollmann ’18 spent a fully funded semester in Northern Ireland, where she conducted 24