UNC Asheville Magazine Spring 2016

INSIDE

Conversations that Matter

Breaking Out of the Box

We’re No. 1

It’s all hands and hearts in for the Bulldogs

The Team Behind the Team

M A G A Z I N E

ashevilleUNC Volume 8, No. 2 SPRING 2016

The Team Behind the TeamIt’s all hands and hearts in for the Bulldogs (Photo by David Allen ’13)

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Conversations that Matter Thought leaders converge at UNC Asheville for community events

We’re No. 1Students and alumni share their work—on campus, in the community, and around the world

248 12 Breaking Out of the BoxTwo new initiatives provide students a unique pathway of experience

D E PA R T M E N TS

F E AT U R E S

ON THE COVER: The view from the bench. (Photo by David Allen ’13)

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T H I S S P R I NG , U NC A S H E V I L L E has been making headlines.

We announced new initiatives in

the arts and sciences, including

launching the Center for Creative

Entrepreneurship in partnership with

The Center for Craft, Creativity &

Design, and securing a $1.5 million

grant from the N.C. GlaxoSmithKline

Foundation for STEM research. We

celebrated the success of our Big

South Champion basketball teams—that’s right, TEAMS, plural—

with both men’s basketball and women’s basketball winning

conference titles and advancing to the NCAA tournament. We

welcomed acclaimed speakers to campus to share in important

conversations, and we’ve learned from our students, faculty, staff

and alumni about how you are making an impact, from leading

rallies to starting social businesses.

It’s no surprise that The Princeton Review named UNC Asheville

the No. 1 school in the nation for Making an Impact. You already

know why, because you are the people working day in and day out

to make a difference and find meaning in your work. We share a

few of these stories in this edition of UNC Asheville Magazine and

give you a glimpse of the all-hands-in effort behind the Big South

Championships that came to campus this past March. You’ll meet

our creative entrepreneurs, see students engaged in service

learning, and discover how UNC Asheville connects to the

community through cutting-edge research, hands-on design,

and even dining services.

That’s just a taste of the semester, one in which we brought more

than 4,000 scholars to campus for the 30th anniversary of the

National Conference on Undergraduate Research and shared the

work of at least 200 of our own undergraduate researchers. Our

faculty and staff also served behind the scenes, reading all of

the abstracts and welcoming visitors to our vibrant campus and

city. We’ve collected a few scenes from this wonderful showcase

of ingenuity and innovation in our magazine web extras, and my

thanks go to everyone who volunteered or participated!

Many UNC Asheville supporters have played a role in this exciting

semester, and we appreciate all of you being a part of our winning

team on the courts and in the classrooms.

Go Bulldogs!

—Chancellor Mary K. Grant

UNC ASHEVILLE LEADERSHIP TEAM

CHANCELLOR

Mary K. Grant

PROVOST AND VICE CHANCELLOR FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

Joseph R. Urgo

CHIEF OF STAFF

Shannon Earle

VICE CHANCELLOR FOR STUDENT AFFAIRS William K. Haggard

VICE CHANCELLOR FOR ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE John Pierce

VICE CHANCELLOR FOR UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT

Buffy Bagwell

SENIOR ADMINISTRATOR FOR UNIVERSITY ENTERPRISES AND ATHLETICS DIRECTOR

Janet Cone

GENERAL COUNSELHeather Parlier

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATION AND MARKETING

Luke Bukoski

SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE CHANCELLOR FOR OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENTDarin Waters

UNC ASHEVILLE MAGAZINE STAFFEDITOR Amy Jessee

DESIGNERS Mary Ann Lawrence, Hanna Trussler ’13

PROJECT MANAGERSusan Lippold

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Kari Barrows ‘16, Sarah Carballo ’17, Aaron Dahlstrom ’09, Hannah Epperson ’11, Jack Igelman, Phil Latter ‘04, Nick Phillips, Steve Plever, Karen Shugart ‘99, Melissa Stanz

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS David Allen ’13, George Etheredge ’16, Adrian Etheridge ‘15, Peter Lorenz, Matt Rose, Robert Straub ’91

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

UNC ASHEVILLE ALUMNI OFFICEASSOCIATE VICE CHANCELLOR FOR ALUMNI RELATIONS & ANNUAL GIVINGLaura Herndon

Address Changes

Office of University Advancement & Alumni Giving CPO #3800 • UNC Asheville One University Heights • Asheville, NC 28804 [email protected]

UNC Asheville enrolls more than 3,900 full- and part-time students in more than 30 programs leading to the bachelor’s degree as well as the Master of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The University of North Carolina at Asheville is committed to equality of educational experiences for students and is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. UNC Asheville will not discriminate against students, applicants or employees on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, disability, political affiliation or any other legally protected status.

To make a report to the university, contact the Title IX Office at 828-258-7872 or visit titleix.unca.edu or Highsmith Union 207.

© UNC Asheville, June 2016

32,500 copies of this magazine were printed on paper with recycled content at a cost of $15,304.74 or 47 cents each.

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BIG PICTURE

Research Exposure

Robyn Lewis ’16 presented her undergraduate research in physics at the 30th anniversary of the National Conference on Undergraduate Research at UNC Asheville, one of 4,000 scholars sharing innovative work. On campus, she’s part of a continuum of students engaged in physics experiments using an infrared carbon dioxide laser to produce a form of carbon called graphene on polyimide film. Both exceptionally strong and conductive, the material is valuable for its potential uses in bioengineering and energy storage, among other fields, but large-scale production is currently difficult and cost-prohibitive.

“Being able to form graphene would really just be the first step in a lot of potential research,” the graduating senior said.

WRITTEN BY SARAH CARBALLO ’17 PHOTO BY DAVID ALLEN ’13

To find out more, visit magazine.unca.edu.

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CULTIVATING STEM RESEARCH

$1.5 million grant in chemistry and biology

(Above) Marilyn Foote-Hudson (left), executive director of the North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation, talks with UNC Asheville senior and chemistry researcher Emily Lanier. (Below) From left: Assistant Professor of Chemistry Amanda

Wolfe; Chancellor Mary K. Grant; Board Chair Pat Smith; senior and chemistry researcher Emily Lanier; NC GlaxoSmithKline Foundation Executive Director Marilyn Foote-Hudson; and Jack Cecil of the foundation’s board.

The North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline

Foundation has awarded UNC Asheville

a $1,577,718 grant to elevate undergrad-

uate research through The Chemistry

& Biology Fellows & Scholars Program.

Announced on campus on April 7

during the 30th anniversary of the

National Conference on Undergraduate

Research, the grant will fund programs

in medicinal chemistry,

biochemistry, and chemical

and molecular biology.

“The university has

designed a win-win STEM

component where scholars

are mentored and supported

by post-doctoral teaching

and research fellows, with

a unique model where they

are also mentored by faculty

advisors. It’s a great pipe-

line for success for females

and under-represented

minority science majors

that continues to build low-income first

generation students into successful

fellows,” said Marilyn Foote-Hudson,

executive director, North Carolina

GlaxoSmithKline Foundation.

“What we get to do here as an inspired

group of students is learn from the best,

what it means to be a scientist working

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LEADING WITH THE LIBERAL ARTS President Margaret Spellings shares thoughts from her visit to UNC Asheville as part of

“Around the State in 100 Days” listening tour

“All day long at UNC Asheville, I met students who made a very deliberate decision to pursue a liberal arts education. They wanted close relationships with faculty, the freedom to explore a variety of different subjects, and the rigor and creativity that are at the core of the liberal arts tradition. They found all of that in UNC Asheville, a true gem for North Carolina and a unique institution within the world of public higher education. Since my first day on the job, I’ve been talking about the need to broaden college access to better prepare a changing nation. Nowhere is that democratization of higher education more striking than at a public liberal arts university, a place that offers the kind of curriculum that used to be the province of a privileged few.”

—Margaret Spellings, UNC President

on real-world problems,” said senior

Emily Lanier. “I worked for three years

now on new methods of synthesizing

new antibiotics for the next generation

of resistant bacterial infections. And

less than a month ago, I was able to

present my research at the national

meeting of the American Chemical

Society in San Diego, Calif., alongside

graduate and doctoral researchers in

my field, which is an incredible oppor-

tunity.” Lanier, who puts in 10-15 hours

a week into her research, is excited

that the grant will enable many more

students to have opportunities funded

for study and research.

The Chemistry & Biology Fellows &

Scholars Program will fund students

for up to four years, including research

support for two years and two summers,

and three years of conference travel.

Students can receive a maximum of

$39,000.

Post-doctoral teaching and

research fellows will have two-year

commitments and will be mentored

by UNC Asheville faculty. The project

team will include Herman Holt,

associate professor of chemistry and

department chair, Amanda Wolfe,

assistant professor of chemistry, Ted

Meigs, GlaxoSmithKline Distinguished

Professor in Molecular & Chemical

Biology, and Sarah Seaton, assistant

professor of biology. Dean of Natural

Sciences Keith Krumpe will serve as

project director.

“One of the best parts about the

UNC Asheville Department of Chem-

istry is its dedication to research and

mentoring. This is one of the things

that really drew me to UNC Asheville

as a faculty member. Our program

requires all of our B.S. chemistry majors

to complete four semesters of hands-on

investigative research in emerging

fields of chemistry because we believe

that the way to learn chemistry is

actually to do chemistry in the lab,”

said Wolfe.

AROUND THE QUAD


COMMENCEMENT CELEBRATIONSGraduates encouraged to make a difference

More than 500 graduates and their families

gathered on the Quad on May 7 for the Spring

Commencement ceremony and celebration.

Among those honored were Commencement

Speaker Virgil Smith, former publisher and

president of the Asheville Citizen-Times, who

received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters

degree. Julia Ray, centenarian and business

leader, was honored with a honorary Doctor

of Humane Letters degree. John Cram, a local

entrepreneur, received an honorary Doctor of

Fine Arts.

Student speaker and 2015-16 Student Govern-

ment Association President Maya Newlin encour-

aged her classmates to be the next generation of

leaders. “I wanted us to remember that we are

innovative, passionate, intelligent by far, curious,

headstrong, and most of all seriously creative. We stare

injustice in the face without fear but with confidence

and a plan for action and change,” she said. “Go out

and show the world your true blue colors. Live life for

your happiness and give back to the communities that

you are part of for their prosperity.”

The Bulldog Baseball team sported their blue during

Commencement, playing an away game on May 7 and

celebrating the graduation of four seniors the following

weekend on the home field. Erik Connolly, Adam

Spracklin, Parker Swindell, and Lucas Owens received

their diplomas from Chancellor Mary K. Grant before

the May 14 Senior Day game.

FACULTY AWARDS Trey Adcock, assistant professor of education and director of American Indian outreach, received the Champion for Students Award.

Sophie Mills, professor of classics, was named the winner of the 2015 Collegiate Teaching Award from the Society for Classical Studies.

Tiece Ruffin, assistant professor of education, is the fourth recipient of the UNC Asheville Community Connectors Award.

Lorena Russell, associate professor of English, received the Distinguished Teaching Award at UNC Asheville.

Brent Skidmore, assistant profes-sor of art, was named Asheville City Schools Foundation’s “Spirit of Service Champion.”

Sally Wasileski, associate professor of chemistry, received the 2016 Board of Governors’ Award for Excellence in Teaching.

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HONORING SERVICE TO UNC ASHEVILLE

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Whitesides Hall dedicated on Feb. 19UNC Asheville dedicated Alfred J. Whitesides Jr. Hall on

Feb. 19, 2016, after a public vote by the Board of Trustees.

The academic building was previously known as New Hall.

Recognizing a Former ChancellorChancellor Mary K. Grant welcomed former Chancellors

Doug Orr (interim), Anne Ponder, and David Brown to

campus in May 2016 to unveil Ponder’s portrait.

FACULTY AND STAFF RETIREES 2015-16 Thanks to our retiring employees for their many years of service to the university

Gwen Ashburn,Buffy Bagwell,Keith Bramlett, Lyudmila Buksh,Pat Catterfeld,Peter Caulfield,Virginia Derryberry,Gerry Donovan,Richard Glass,

Archer Gravely,Terri Godleski,Joyce Hamilton,Lisa Honeycutt,Peter Kendrick,Holly Iglesias,Bruce Larson,Heon Lee,Dawn McCann,

Brenda McKinney,Charles McKnight,Steve Metcalf,Merritt Moseley,Pat O’Cain,Keith Ray,Kitti Reynolds,Linda Rhymes, Pedro Sandin,

Dot Sulock,Joe Sulock,Lisa Thickitt,Dennis Thompson,Glenna Trull,Alice Weldon,Bob Yearout

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CONVERSATIONS THAT MATTER

Thought leaders converge at UNC Asheville for conversations that matter and make a difference. In a year of national attention, campaign politics, and global forums, UNC Asheville has been a place for going far beyond slogans and soundbites. The campus and the Asheville community have had the chance to hear from and engage with prominent thinkers from around the nation and the world.

“We are the public liberal arts university for the state of North Carolina and one of the things we do is bring people together for important conversations, and for learning and building community,” said Chancellor Mary K. Grant in her introduction to Sir Salman Rushdie, the renowned author and champion of free expres-sion who spoke to a packed Kimmel Arena in February.

Can We Talk?“I have to say I’m a little bit worried—I see there are a lot of students here—about you guys,” said Rushdie. “Because this generation of students in America has begun to internalize the idea that silencing certain kinds of speech is worth doing, even though you live in the country of the First Amendment, which says the opposite.” Rushdie, a native of India, knows all too well how fragile yet important the right of free speech can be—in response to his novel The Satanic Verses, Iran’s leaders issued a fatwa calling for his death.

“Of course, students at university should live in a safe space in terms of their physical safety. But the thought that they should be protected from ideas that they might find surprising or difficult is the opposite of the reason why people go to university.

“Universities should be safe spaces for ideas, not safe from ideas. And you as young people should be chal-lenged in what you take for granted, exposed to ideas that you haven’t heard before and maybe that you don’t like. How else will you learn how to think?”

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PHOTO BY DAVID ALLEN ’13

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CONVERSATIONS THAT MATTER

Karsonya Wise Whitehead

Salman Rushdie

PHOTO BY PETER LORENZ

PHOTO COURTESY OF KARSONYA WISE WHITEHEAD, PH.D.


Henry Louis Gates

Perry Horse

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Rushdie, winner of countless literary awards, says that novels can illuminate truth in a way that much contemporary journalism fails to do, and he argued that in the digital information age, people find enough information (and misinformation) to support not just opposing views, but mutually exclusive realities. “The world no longer has the solidity that it had in the age of the great realist novel, where the writer and the reader could basically have the same description of the world,” he said.

“Now we live in a much more fractured moment in which there is no such agreement. … The world is becoming, in a way, fictionalized. … The real has become a problem—we don’t agree on what the real is.”

In that disagreement, though, can come dialog and discussion, and UNC Asheville was the place for both in 2015-16, with several prominent speakers coming to stages and forums across campus.

Henry Louis Gates Jr.Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of America’s most prominent intellectuals and the producer and host of the PBS series Finding Your Roots, shared his personal journey to learning his own ancestry and shared his conclusions about African-American roots more generally. His talk was the keynote in Kimmel Arena for the 20th anniversary celebration of UNC Asheville’s Center for Diversity Education.

“So what is the larger import of all of this—why do I do it? I do it because of the thrill of learning more about identity.

… I know the electricity that you get when you find your ancestors. And so I have been working with colleagues—geneticists, social scientists and historians—to develop this curriculum. When I was coming up in the 1950s, the blackest thing you could be was an educated man, not a basketball player or an entertainer. That was fine, but the heroes of the race were W.E.B Du Bois

and Mary McLeod Bethune—serious intellectuals—becoming a doctor or a lawyer was making a contribution to the race. … Far too many of our own children within the race have lost that understanding of the value of education, for many reasons …”

Mogens LykketoftThe Reuter Center hosted the President of the United Nations General Assem-bly, Mogens Lykketoft, who spoke at UNC Asheville at the invitation of the university’s Carol Belk Distinguished Professor Mark Gibney. An economist by training, the leading political figure in Denmark has served as that nation’s finance minister, foreign minister and speaker of the parliament.

Lykketoft reflected on the UN’s 70 year history, but was most emphatic about the urgent work needed to stop climate change, saying, “There are three times as many people in this world as there were 70 years ago. … We are reaching some of the limits of the globe. … We have to live in a different way. … We have to do it now….

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The world cannot now in a decent way deal with 60 million displaced persons, less than 1 percent of the human race. If climate change is allowed to accelerate, it will be hundreds of millions dislocated from where they live now because of rising sea levels, because of lack of fresh water when the glaciers melt down, and it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to foresee how many conflicts will be generated.”

Perry HorsePerry Horse, a member of the Kiowa Nation and one of the founders of the American Indian Higher Education Con-sortium, spoke in Highsmith Union.

“For me being bilingual is a big part of my Indian identity. If someone says something to me in English—I can hear and under-stand it in the context of American culture. Sometimes I translate what was said into Kiowa and I hear the meaning in relation to Kiowa culture. There is a deep value in being able to do that,” said Horse.

“Indians everywhere are moving from dependency, which was forced on us by

the federal government for decades, to independence. The past is always there as a guide to us. Just as Black Elk said, ‘put it away and find a new strength.’”

Karsonya Wise WhiteheadKarsonya Wise Whitehead, the author of Letters to My Black Sons and an associate professor at Loyola University Maryland, spoke in Highsmith Union about the Black Lives Matter movement as UNC Asheville students initiated discussions on campus. Whitehead began her talk with an excerpt from her essay, Songs in a Key Called Baltimore:

I would like to proclaim that #BlackLivesMat-ter and then point to the ways in which this simple concept/screamed and shouted, cried over and prayed about/has transformed the city and altered our space. …

I try and hide my frustration because in the aftermath of the Uprising/a time when black and white people named their pain/life has settled back down to the familiar/to a time

where black bodies are once again endangered, black life is once again criminalized, and black spaces exist, once again, only on the edges of both the city and our minds.

Geoffrey StoneGeoffrey Stone, one of the nation’s leading First Amendment scholars, spoke in the Humanities Lecture Hall, invited by Brian E. Butler, a student of Stone’s during his time at the University of Chicago, and now the Thomas Howerton Distin-guished Professor of the Humanities at UNC Asheville.

“Universities have to be absolutely commit-ted to the freedom to discuss ideas,” said Stone, who led the committee that drafted the University of Chicago’s statement on academic freedom. “There can be no censorship by the university of students or faculty members in the expression of whatever ideas they believe to be worthy of discussion, debate and question. That’s what makes us a university and any failure to live up to that is a betrayal of our core value and mission.” 4

Igor Roussanoff, lecturer in drama at UNC Asheville, will bring his exhibition “Costume At The Turn Of The Century

1990-2015” to our campus in August 2016.

September starts the Visiting Writer Series, organized by writer-in-residence and UNC Asheville alum, Wiley Cash ’00.

National Book finalist Ben Fountain will read first, followed in the fall semester by T. Geronimo Johnson and alum Leigh

Ann Henion ’00. Visiting writers for the spring semester include novelist Chinelo Okparanta and poet Camille Dungy.

On October 21-22, UNC Asheville hosts “Faith in Literature: A Festival of Contemporary Writers of the Spirit.”

The gathering, co-sponsored by Wake Forest University School of Divinity with support from WCQS and Malaprop’s

Bookstore, will convene a dozen writers whose work deeply engages—by embracing, complicating, or wrestling

with—a faith tradition or spiritual practice. The event will include single-author and multi-author readings, panel

discussions, small, guided conversations, and several public interviews conducted by Peabody Award-winning

broadcaster and New York Times bestselling author Krista Tippett, including two recordings for her public

radio broadcast, On Being.

UNC Asheville continues the conversations in 2016-17


Visit unca.edu for more details.


Grid Seamless Paper Pattern


UNC Asheville, like the city in its name, is known for doing things a little outside the box. Call it an innovation center, a design lab, a fabrication facility or a makerspace, the university will soon have two new spaces to call home and to create new things. These makers resource centers will take students off campus and into their creative careers, and as far as coming out of the box, they may well blow the box away.

The first space, which will be a place where people in diverse professions come together to design, test, prototype and create collaboratively, is a nearly 12,000-square-foot facility in the River Arts Makers Place (RAMP) scheduled to open this August.

The second space, due to start operations in 2018, is called the Center for Creative Entrepreneurship (CCE) based at The Hive AVL, a property development initiative of The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design (CCCD) in downtown Asheville. Once complete, both facilities will reshape the experience and marketability of students in art, engineering, computer science, new media and other majors.

These new off-campus creative spaces offer students an incredible pathway of experience. They benefit from new, much larger spaces and tools to develop their expertise. Access to collaborators, community networks and entrepreneurial resources ensures their work is refined and improved as they take the future into their own hands.

Cross-disciplinary projects in Creative Fabrication and Sculpture taught by professors from several departments this past spring gives a glimpse of what the future holds in these spaces.

In this class, Corey Pullium, a junior majoring in mechatronics, partnered with art major Jeb Hedgecock,

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also a junior. With two other members, the team created a prosthetic hand using soft robotics.

Pulliam created a soft gripper; Hedgecock made sure the design was functional and beautiful. Another team member designed the new product logo. Each team member came to the class with very different points of view, and they not only created a very cool product, they learned about team work, listening and collaboration.

“I was looking for an outlet in research for soft robotics and I wanted to combine that with art,” said Pullium. “Working on a small team like this and seeing something through is huge. I know it will help me get a job in this area.”

Hedgecock plans to become a freelance sculpture artist. He knows that working with other team members and learning computer technology and engineering are critical to his success.

Both students are eager to work in the new facility this fall. The dramatically larger space, new equipment, and opportunity to work alongside professional craft people are all game changers.

A RAMP TO INNOVATIONLocated less than a mile or so from campus, the university space (tentatively called STEAM @ RAMP to capture the interdisciplinary convergence of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) will be part of a 100,000-square-foot building shared with creative neighbors, including Cheap Joe’s Art Supply and Astral Designs. Multiple working artist and design studios, and a proposed glass-blowing space will also be onsite.

The new facility is funded by a $500,000 grant from the Windgate Charitable Foundation, an equipment grant of $400,000 from Duke Energy Foundation and $100,000 from North Carolina State University.

Sara Sanders ’11 is the university’s engineering lab manager, and an alumna. She returned to campus after working at

UNC Asheville faculty and staff look over plans at RAMP. From left to right: Susan Reiser (new media); Rebecca Bruce (engineering), Matt West (art), Sara Sanders (engineering), Jackson Martin (art), Brent Skidmore (art), Scott Walker (campus operations).


BREA KING



The Creative Fabrication and sculpture classes combine art and engineering Students Emily Beall, Ian Arlen (both far left) and Jeb Hedgecock (far right) share stages of the process.

Eaton manufacturing because of the makerspace vision and is thrilled to be an integral part of it.

“Our current engineering studio is 1,600 square feet; the new space will be almost 12,000 square feet with a second story computer lab, and a self-contained design/prototyping facility,” said Sanders. “In addition to having our 3D printers there, we will have a CNC plasma cutter, table router, mill, lathe, laser cutter, water jet and engraver.”

In the RAMP space, students will create designs using the new equipment. Assembly will occur in a specialized area that includes work benches on wheels, giving students the ability to configure the benches the way they need them.

“Our capacity will increase exponentially due to the equipment quantity and quality and amount of space. And the payoff will be higher, with better student outcomes and experiences, and higher-caliber projects,” said Sanders.

“The end result is that all our students, regardless of their major, will be even more qualified for good-paying jobs.”

A CITY CENTER FOR CREATIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIPThe Center for Creative Entrepreneurship (CCE), a new collaboration between UNC Asheville and The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design (CCCD), brings students one step closer to those jobs. When CCE launches, it will be the Asheville area’s hub for product incubation, design thinking and creative sector entrepreneurship.

CCCD was formerly a part of the UNC system, and its main focus is to advance the understanding of craft within higher education. Housed in the former Lark Books facility in downtown Asheville, the beautiful, eclectic building includes galleries, event/conference space, small offices and co-working spaces. The vision for the CCCD-owned facility is to serve as a shared regional hub for academic institutions, creative organizations, makers and entrepreneurs. Programs for the CCE will be supported by the additional project partner Mountain BizWorks.

UNC Asheville also received an initial grant of $716,500 from the Windgate Charitable Foundation. The three-year investment includes funding for pilot programming, operational support, and facility improvements.

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Alumni are welcome in this space; it may help ease the transition for graduating seniors. For others, the CCE can be a place to refresh skills and learn new technologies. It will also offer connections to accountants, lawyers, financial lenders and marketers and other professionals who support makers.

Fully realized, it will build upon CCCD’s national name and success among the craft community and add another level to UNC Asheville’s leadership in the area’s innovation economy and undergraduate research.

“We needed a programmatic element, a hub for the creative community, and our partnership with UNC Asheville is a perfect fit,” said Stephanie Moore, executive director of CCCD. “Our programming will meet the entrepreneurial needs of the maker community, including studio and production makers from pre-professional to professional. The programming will be offered at reasonable costs to the arts community, and students will attend for free, rubbing elbows with their future selves.” 4

Brent Skidmore is assistant professor of art and art

history and one of the driving forces behind STEAM at the

RAMP and CCE. An accomplished artist and woodworker,

innovator and networker, he is immersed in the Asheville

creative community. He’s nurtured the vision for these

initiatives for nearly a decade.

“It all started with a dire need for a physical plant,” he

recalled. “I began to meet people at RAMP and talk to other

departments who also had a collaborative vision, and then we

received three generous grants.”

“The facility and equipment will provide a great start-up

environment where students can develop prototypes and

portfolios,” said Skidmore. “And the synergy, professional

connections and collaborations give them a great advan-

tage, helping them better define career and life choices.”

THE VISION KEEPER



LONGITUDE & LATITUDE

THE COLLIDER NEMAC at the Intersection of Information and Innovation By Jack Igelman

UNC Asheville’s National Environmental Modeling and

Analysis Center (NEMAC) has a new location, both in the

heart of Asheville’s hub of climate and weather agencies and

on the edge of the next wave of data innovation. At the core

of NEMAC’s mission is access to a vast quantity of digital

climate and weather information gathered by the federal

government’s chief climate agency, headquartered in Ashe-

ville’s downtown federal building complex. But NEMAC’s

competitive advantage in a growing industry built around

climate data is their proximity to experts.

A distance, in fact, that can be measured in footsteps. In

March 2016, NEMAC moved into a new downtown office

space and joined a contingent of enterprises focused on

the commercialization of climate data at The Collider—a

nonprofit venture that provides physical space for innovation

and collaboration around products and services dedicated to

adapting to climate change.

“I tell people the real power of NEMAC is the synergy

between our skill sets. Climate data by itself is not useful;

it’s the people with the expertise to discover what the data

means and the ability to visualize it so people can under-

stand it,” said Jim Fox, NEMAC’s director since 2005.

Fox was among more than 200 people on hand for the

grand opening of The Collider on the top floor of the

Wells Fargo building, overlooking Pritchard Park in down-

town Asheville. The venture may bring to the mountains

a share of the estimated $1 trillion industry centered on

climate change innovation and resilience, which NEMAC

will play a crucial role.

Innovation in the MakingThe Collider is the brainchild of Mack Pearsall, a North

Carolina entrepreneur, philanthropist and environmentalist

who became interested in understanding more about rising

sea levels a decade ago.

“I got to see more broadly and unmistakably the risk and clear

and present danger of climate change,” said Pearsall who

describes The Collider as a public-private sector partnership

to create a platform to develop “products and services to

address climate change adaptation.”

The space opened on his birthday.

“The timing could not be better to have The Collider create

a space for collaboration,” said Tim Owen, chief of the

Information Services Division of the National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Center for Weather

and Climate in Asheville. NOAA’s collection is the world’s

largest archive of climate and weather data and includes

more than 20 petabytes of data. It’s also one of the reasons

The Collider chose Asheville.

Among NEMAC’s fellow tenants at The Collider are

Acclimatise, one of Europe’s leading climate services

companies, and FernLeaf Interactive, a homegrown business

launched by UNC Asheville alumnus and former NEMAC

intern Jeff Hicks ’08.

Expertise For Public and Private VenturesA Roxboro, N.C. native, Hicks was drawn to UNC Asheville

to follow a path in electronic music, but eventually steered

his studies towards biological sciences and landed in a

geographic information systems (GIS) course.

He was hooked.

“For me GIS was the perfect intersection of technology and

the environment,” said Hicks.

His technical skill set was a useful match for NEMAC’s

internship program, and in 2006 Hicks was crunching data

on a wide range of projects. After graduating in 2008

“I think we’re right on the cusp of a

growth spurt in this industry. People

are beginning to understand the

probability of really large losses due

to the climate changing.” —Jim Fox

FA L L 2 0 1 5 1 7

THE COLLIDER NEMAC at the Intersection of Information and Innovation By Jack Igelman

Hicks stayed on and eventually launched a new venture to

capitalize on skills gathered on the job with NEMAC.

Among the projects to which Hicks contributed was program-

ming for the White House’s U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit,

developed by NEMAC in partnership with NOAA. The web-

based product helps communities, businesses, and governments

visualize and prepare for the impacts of climate change.

While Fox says that NEMAC’s client base has been predomi-

nantly funded by public agencies, both Fox and Hicks recog-

nized a niche applying data-crunching skills to private industry.

“Ultimately we’re doing the work for people who need to make

decisions with a huge amount of uncertainty,” said Hicks,

who credits his liberal arts studies as crucial training in his

ability to communicate complex ideas to people with a range

of backgrounds.

Kim Rhodes, an environmental studies major and a current

intern at NEMAC, agrees and said that being able to help

people visualize how they may be impacted by climate

change and other environmental threats is a valuable skill

she credits to UNC Asheville and her experience at NEMAC.

“It’s amazing how well my classes have clicked, and it’s

been interesting to see just how far my studies can reach by

demonstrating and verbalizing the ways people’s lives will be

impacted by environmental threats,” she said.

Impact on Agencies and IndividualsWhile NEMAC continues to work on meaningful projects

with state and federal government agencies, Fox said the

group he leads is on the radar of the commercial sector which

will likely play a bigger role in their business model as funds

from state and federal governments dwindle.

And that’s just it: The Collider is a space to help match the

range of skills and expertise to develop a fledgling industry

around climate resilience—the ability to respond and adapt

to climate change. NEMAC is the cornerstone.

“They are a key driver in bringing the public and private sec-

tor together and providing an academic culture to understand

and provide solutions to global climate challenges,” said

Collider CEO Bill Dean.

“I think we’re right on the cusp of a growth spurt in this

industry. People are beginning to understand the probability

of really large losses due to the climate changing,” Fox said.

“That’s the story all over: people are starting to see pressures

on what they once saw as normal. There is a marked increase

in science and technical jobs here in Asheville. At the end

of every day I go home and feel like I’m making a difference.

If I can provide tools and ways for making a more resilient

society, what better career is there than that?”

LONGITUDE & LATITUDE

Jim Fox points out the new space to UNC Asheville senior Sarah Gibson, who is a writer for NEMAC.

PHOTO BY AMY JESSEE

For more information, visit nemac.unca.edu.


THE

TEAM BEHIND THE

TEAMDuring two exciting weeks, both the men’s and women’s basketball teams won Big South Championships and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The hometown crowd had a front-row seat for the women’s games, as the campus hosted the conference championship March 10-13, 2016.

WRITTEN BY AMY JESSEE PHOTOS BY DAVID ALLEN ’13 AND GEORGE ETHEREDGE ’16

S P R I N G 2 0 1 6 1 9

Practice makes perfect for Rocky, the Cheer and Dance Team, and the Reuter Center Singers. (Opposite Page) Sign1 puts the finishing touches on the floor the night before the first game.

What makes a championship season? From coaches and players, to the parents and alumni cheering in the stands, to the staff who help load the buses and clean the arena seats—it’s all hands and hearts in for the team.


Drumming up business is the role of Hannah Francisco ’19 in the ticket booth, Seth Stewart in the video room, Logan Pressley ’16 and Adam Puett on the floor and (Opposite Page) Band Director Casey Coppenbarger.

S P R I N G 2 0 1 6 2 1

I would want announcers, fans, anybody in the crowd to know that the Asheville Bulldogs came to play and that regardless of the score, we are going to stay together, we are going to play with a heck of a lot of effort, we are going to be the first ones on the ground, we’re going to have a positive attitude, our bench energy is going to be insane, all of the things that got us to this point and that people have noticed and what makes us special—a lot of people have told us that we are a very special team and that’s because of everything they see in us from our love for each other, for our support, and for our staying together.

—Senior Guard Paige Love


Whether you were cheering in the stands or working behind the scenes as a tournament volunteer, you were probably on the edge of your seat. Thanks to all!

—Chancellor Mary K. Grant

S P R I N G 2 0 1 6 2 3

The game plan is clear—play your hearts out, even if your instrument is the trumpet as is the case with Nate Coppenbarger. Then leave it all on the court with Rocky. And of course, celebrate the win with the men’s team joining in!

To see more photos, visit magazine.unca.edu.

Here at UNC Asheville, we’ve known for a

long time that our students are changing

the world. From volunteering on campus,

to serving in the local community, and even

working to help those halfway around the world, our

students have been engaged in these important

efforts for years.

And now, everyone else knows it, too, thanks to a new

ranking as the No. 1 “Best School for Making an Impact”

by The Princeton Review in its publication, Colleges that

Pay You Back: 2016 Edition.

makingan

Written by Hannah Epperson ’ 11

impact2 4 U N C A S H E V I L L E M A G A Z I N E

Alumna Runda Alamour challenges her students to ask difficult questions and seek out their own answers and inspires them to be leaders.


So, what does “making an impact,” mean, exactly? The ranking calculates that UNC Asheville provides students with many oppor-tunities to make a difference on campus and in the community, and that alumni continue that tradition in their careers after they graduate. It recognizes schools with the best community service opportunities, student governments, sustainability, and on-campus student engagement, as well as graduates with high job meaning, all as told by students and alumni.

change on the home frontMaking an impact on the world often begins at home—or the residence halls, as Anja Mayr ’17 discovered when she combined her passion for service learning with her position as a resident assistant in West Ridge. Mayr was honored with the Community Impact Award by North Carolina Campus Compact for her work in creating a Living Learning Community on campus, focused on service learning.

“A Living Learning Community is basically a place where a group of students have a common interest and live on one hall together, and they learn together; that could be through workshops, or a class, or a par-ticular major,” Mayr explained. “So LEAD is centered around service learning, social justice and leadership, and we provide learning opportunities around all of those areas.”

LEAD, which stands for Live, Engage, Act and Develop, consists of 17 first-year students living together on the same hall in West Ridge. In addition to the workshops, programs and community service activities Mayr plans for them as the resident assistant, the students all attend the same freshman colloquium course together,

“Performing Community.”

Fellow Campus Compact award-winner Runda Alamour ’16, who was named a 2015 Newman Civic Fellow, takes service into the community through teaching. As a student she served as the state pres-ident of the Student North Carolina Association of Educators, helping to build support for public schools. As an English teacher in Buncombe County schools, she empowers students to “be leaders in seeking out answers for themselves,” inspiring the next generation of change-makers.

campus connectionFor these students, making an impact on their community isn’t just an idea, or an afternoon project. It’s a way of life. It’s also one of several high-impact practices measured by the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), which shows that UNC Asheville students report more engagement and satisfaction than their peers.

That engagement comes from their classes too, like the Interdisciplinary Studies course that paired students Madison Eddings ’17, a biology major, and Ben Eisdorfer ’17, a management major, to work on the fun-damentals of project and business plan development, with guidance from a team of faculty leaders. Seeking to make an impact across campus communities, they developed an idea for wearable technology designed to prevent campus sexual assault, called Pro(TECH)t. The duo went on to win the grand prize from the 2015 UNC Social Entrepreneurship Conference—$3,000 to launch their business idea.

“We both have seen sexual assault impact people close to us and it is a topic that deserves more attention than it has been given in the past,” said Eddings. “We wanted to help bring it to the spotlight and catalyze important conversations that need to be had regarding the issue as well as rape culture.”

Alumna Alyssa Newlon cheers with students in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh.

PHOTO BY SHARAT GOSWAMI

Since then, Eddings and Eisdorfer have been working hard to take their idea from a class project to a working reality. In November of 2015 they won the regional InnovateHER Challenge, conducted by the federal Small Business Administration’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership, where they were the only student team among the 12 regional finalists. In March 2016 they were at it again, taking third place in the Entrepreneur Organization’s Global Student Entrepreneur Awards, making them one of the top three student entrepreneurs in the nation. Each award brings them a step closer to the training, funding and publicity they’ll need to make their idea a success and to continue making an important impact on college campuses.

global impactYou don’t have to look far to find UNC Asheville students and alumni making a difference—or, you could look half way around the world, where alumna Alyssa Newlon ’12 is working in India to bring edu-cational opportunities to girls and rural youth. She spends most of her days in the bustling, hot metropolis of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, serving as the co-found-er for the Milaan Foundation.

“In a state like Uttar Pradesh, education provides opportunities for women to transcend barriers, explore themselves and live a life of independence with dignity,” Newlon said. She wanted to be a part of making that happen. She now works with students and Girl Icon fellows—girls who have been recognized for their commitment to their education and to their communities—and school staff to document and share their voices with the larger world. Newlon has found one of the greatest ways she can make an impact is by empowering the students she works with.

“Although I live in a community in which society dictates that women return home by 8 p.m. and remain silent about menstruation, I am awed by the tenacity of the young women I work with through the Girl Icon Program who speak out against the norms and take their rightful places in society,” Newlon said. “To see the change that they can make within their communi-ties is by far the most rewarding part of my job.”

above and beyondThe Princeton Review isn’t alone in recognizing the many ways members of the UNC Asheville commu-nity change the world. Both the Peace Corps and the Fulbright Program have also included UNC Asheville in their rankings for the first time this year.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announced that UNC Asheville is among the U.S. colleges and universities with the high-est number of Fulbright Scholars in 2015-16. Fulbright Scholars at UNC Asheville include not only students, but also faculty and staff members.

And in February the Peace Corps ranked UNC Ashe-ville as one of the top-producing colleges for alumni now serving as volunteers in the organization.

On campus, in the community and around the world, members of UNC Asheville’s community will continue using the education and opportunities the university offers to make a lasting and meaningful impact in the world around them. 4

Students and social entrepreneurs Ben Eisdorfer and Madison Eddings work together on their award-winning business idea.



GIVING BACK

COMMUNITY RECIPEPartnership Connects Sustainability and Food Justice By Kari Barrows ’16

What if the key to a healthier environment and community was

just a collection of small steps and individual actions that add

up? For the past school year, UNC Asheville has been turning

this hypothetical into a reality, one cup and one plate at a time.

In the fall of 2015, The Student Environmental Center (SEC)

launched its “AsheFILL it Up” program, featuring reusable

plastic Cupanion cups with a barcode that offers 15 percent

off of any drink purchase, plus 15 cents donated to Food

Connection, a local nonprofit.

These are just some steps that represent a movement toward

being more environmentally conscious, says SEC member

Matthew “Lee” Fussell. “Being environmental is getting

every little succulent drop out of whatever you’re using so

that you’re not wasting it,” the 20-year-old environmental

science major says. “That’s just it, it’s waste.” And Fussell

doesn’t waste much. While previously living off-campus,

he says he would buy his groceries in bulk in order to

prepare every meal for the week. He says he uses as little

air conditioning and central heating as possible and often

showers with the lights off. Having a reusable cup, like the

Cupanion that UNC Asheville implemented, certainly helps

with limiting what he wastes.

Laura Sexton, the registered dietician for dining services on

campus, says the university had an opportunity to donate

to any organization, so they chose Food Connection, which

brings leftover foods from restaurants and businesses to

soup kitchens and other food distributors. “Our students

actually wanted to see a local organization,” Sexton says.

“And Food Connection just fit really nicely into that picture.”

It made sense to tie the two together, and since the program

launched UNC Asheville has used 2,796 single use cups with

one point for every barcode scanned. Cupanion members

have 50,883 single cup uses overall.

In honor of Food Day in October, faculty and students worked in shifts at the Sherrill Center Teaching Kitchen to cook 500 healthy meals which Food Connection delivered to agencies serving the needy.

PHOTO BY DAVID ALLEN ’132 8 U N C A S H E V I L L E M A G A Z I N E

S P R I N G 2 0 1 6 2 9

Partnership Distributes Food to the CommunityAt the beginning of the school year, it also made sense to

make some changes toward food recovery. UNC Asheville

began its partnership with Food Connection with a bang,

recovering about 100 pounds of prepared, leftover food a day

from the dining hall.

During the fall semester, both the Installation of Chancellor

Mary K. Grant on Sep. 19 and Food Day on Oct. 23 contrib-

uted a large amount to Food Connection. Food Day was the

creation of both Sexton and Amy Lanou, chair of the Health

and Wellness Department, who suggested a cook-o-thon that

would involve faculty, staff and students. “A lot of people

who came into the kitchen to cook, it was some of their first

experiences with food preparation,” Sexton says with a smile.

“So it was an educational experience and also just this aware-

ness experience that we really wanted to bring to campus.

It was just so successful and all of the recipients loved the

food.” The team was able to prepare over 500 plant-based

meals in 10 hours.

Some participants such as first-year student Juliet Flam-Ross

were able to work directly with Food Connection through

their classes. She says her LANG 120 course, “Food Matters,”

which dealt with food stability in the local area, had to have

15 hours of community service. Flam-Ross worked directly

with Flori Pate, co-founder of Food Connection, learning the

process on how to transport food from Brown Hall, then she

eventually trained others on this process as well.

Food Recovery Starts in the KitchenUNC Asheville alumni have a hand in the donations too,

all the way back to the ingredients, with dining services

executive chef Alex Williams taking the lead. He says he and

Sexton work closely together in order to “move the needle

forward in terms of sustainability.”

Williams’ responsibilities include menu development,

sanitation safety, and overall operation, which means putting

the food into correct storage bins, labeling it, and preparing

it for transportation. He oversees all of this and says it’s been

a great alternative to composting all excess food. “This has

been a good thing because it’s kind of met in the middle of,

‘We can no longer use it, but someone else can,’” Williams

says. “So, it’s kind of bridged that gap.”

So far, Food Connection has recovered over 20,000 meals

since its founding. As of May 2016, UNC Asheville has con-

tributed more than 12,000 meals. While numbers like these

may seem extraordinary, sophomore Fussell says creating an

impact on the community and environment is all about taking

one simple step at a time.

“It’s just being a more accountable person, which is actually

the hardest thing about it,” Fussell says. “It’s just taking out

the recycling, taking out the trash. The world doesn’t really

need heroes.”

GIVING BACK

PARTNERING FOR SUSTAINABILITY

Use of bar-coded

cups sends

15 cents to

Food Connection

Food Connection

delivers meals to

the community


Biltmore Farms Rolls Out the Bulldog Blue for Campus Guests By Amy Jessee

IN GOOD COMPANY

GO, BULLDOGS!GO, BULLDOGS!

“It’s a win-win,” says Ronald Storto,

vice president of hospitality for Bilt-

more Farms, UNC Asheville’s preferred

partner for accommodations in Ashe-

ville. “Our brands align. Our missions

align. We both want to drive economic

impact and quality of life to the com-

munity as a whole.”

The partnership started more

than a decade ago, when Storto and

UNC Asheville Athletics Director Janet

Cone met to bounce around ideas. Both

had the same goal in mind—developing

a partnership that would bring hotel

stays to Asheville and Bulldog

supporters to campus.

For every stay in one of the Biltmore

Farms hotels—DoubleTree by Hilton

Asheville-Biltmore, Hilton Asheville

Biltmore Park, and Residence Inn

Biltmore—money goes back to the

UNC Asheville Athletics Department

in the form of scholarships.

Storto estimates that the company has

given at least $275,000 over the more

than decade-long partnership, along

with a $15,000 contribution over the

last three years for a baseball capital

project. They’ve also partnered with

the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

at UNC Asheville, which hosts

nationally known workshops that draw

crowds to campus a few weekends a

year, and they offer complimentary

stays to major university speakers and

a discounted rate to UNC Asheville

friends and family.

“UNC Asheville Athletics has enjoyed a

long and productive business relation-

ship with Biltmore Farms Hotels for

over 12 years,” said Cone. “Equally

important to us, they have built strong

relationships with all our Bulldog

coaches, student-athletes, staff, alumni,

and fans and have invested in our

scholarship fund. They are key mem-

bers of the Bulldog team and are dedi-

cated to helping us become ‘Champions

in Athletics and Leaders in Life.’”

Storto, a Bulldog season-ticket holder,

has met many student-athletes in per-

son, joining them for team breakfasts,

finding that, “It gives you a different

perspective of what a student-athlete

goes through. I’ve gained a greater ap-

preciation about how our university is

run and how our coaches engage with

student-athletes, helping them and

directing them in life.”

Biltmore Farms can be a stop on that

journey, whether it’s a stay during a

first visit to campus or Family Week-

end, or an internship, and ultimately a

career. UNC Asheville graduate Natalie

Shaft ’99, human resources director at

Biltmore Farms, knows that path well.

A nontraditional student who came to

UNC Asheville for a degree in human

resources management several years

after earning her associate’s degree,

she recalls the classroom experience

that connected to her career, including

courses in psychology, humanities and

management.

“When I was a student at

UNC Asheville, it was a great learning

experience. It gave me an opportunity

to share the knowledge I had and to

get insights from the more traditional

students. We had good discussions

about how the workforce should be

and what our expectation level is and

what really happens,” she said. “The

first step is the educational founda-

tion that students get while they are

at UNC Asheville, combined with the

drive that they have in wanting to do

a good job.”

Shaft sees that winning combination

daily, as several graduates have been

employed by the company, and join the

team to roll out the Bulldog Blue for

UNC Asheville friends and family.

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Senior Swimmers Step Up By Nick Phillips

LAST LAPS

GO, BULLDOGS!GO, BULLDOGS!

UNC Asheville’s first four-year women’s swimming class, seniors Galen Broido

and Alessandra Troncoso, stepped up to the blocks on Jan. 30 for the Bulldogs’

Senior Day. As the first swimmers to compete for four years, Broido and Troncoso

competed in the 2016 CCSA Championships, bringing home medals and personal

bests. Troncoso achieved a lifetime best in the 100-meter breaststroke earning

5th place and then 7th place in the 200-meter breaststroke. A fellow team captain,

Broido became the first Bulldog to earn a spot at the podium by taking 2nd place

in the mile and 12th place in the individual medley.

AWARDS & HONORS

■ Swimming Head Coach Elizabeth

Lykins brought home CCSA honors,

earning Co-Coach of the Year in her

fourth year as head coach.

■ UNC Asheville junior guard Chatori

Major and Bulldogs’ Head Coach

Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick were voted

the 2015-16 Big South Conference

Women’s Basketball Player of the

Year and Coach of the Year. Coach

Kirkpatrick also was named Division

I Women’s Basketball Coach of the

Year by Hero Sports.

■ Men’s Basketball Head Coach Nick

McDevitt was named Big South

Coach of the Year by Hoops HD.

THIRD ANNUAL BULLDOG CHALLENGEThe third annual Bulldog Challenge

was a huge success, raising nearly

$40,000 throughout the month

of March, with more than 150 new

alumni donating to the Challenge. Of

the nearly 250 gifts, 180 came from

Asheville alumni. This year’s three

winners were Women’s Soccer for the

number of overall gifts (47), Men’s

Soccer for the total number of alumni

gifts (33), and Women’s Swimming

for the highest percentage of

alumni giving back, with 100 percent

participation.

Best of the Year

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

12 UNC ASHEVILLE SCHOLAR-ATHLETES

PRESENTED AT THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE

ON UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH (ON CAMPUS!)

3 TEAMS RECEIVED PUBLIC RECOGNITION FOR ACADEMIC

PROGRESS RATE IN THE SPRING: MEN’S TENNIS, WOMEN’S

TENNIS AND WOMEN’S BASKETBALLREMEMBERING ROCKY

2006-2016PHOTO BY PETER LORENZ


notesWe love to hear from

alumni—and so do

your classmates!

So be sure to

send us your

accomplishments,

career moves, family

news and celebrations.

Either visit

alumni.unca.edu

or send an e-mail to

[email protected]

1966Nancy Dillingham published a

chapbook entitled 1950: Poems.

Hester Wheelon recently

retired.

1986Carolyn Williams Alley

is now the associate

vice president for finance/chief

financial officer for Blue Ridge

Community College in

Flat Rock, N.C.

1986Kenneth Harris is now working

as a senior fiduciary officer with

First Citizens Bank.

1987Charlene Flahiff got married.

1989Mark Magee married Dana

Magee on May 30, 2015, and

is now working as a senior

business development executive

at Capgemini US LLC.

Connie Reynolds and David

Reynolds celebrated their

30-year wedding anniversary

this year.

1991Anthony Thomas married

Alexandria Bracanovich on Sept.

30, 2015.

1993Mark Arell was named vice

president of learning solutions

and chief learning officer for

Schneider Electric.

1994Jennifer Condrey earned a

doctorate in curriculum and

instruction.

Tara Quinn was named

executive director of the Virginia

Dental Association Foundation,

a statewide nonprofit dedicated

to providing access to dental

care for the underserved.

Matthew Zidle is now working

as an eighth-grade math and

science teacher at Gray New

Gloucester Middle School.

1995Angela Bynum is now working

as an eighth-grade social

studies teacher at Charlotte-

Mecklenburg School.

Duane Robert Hoover and

Heather Ward had a baby girl,

Allie Grace Hoover, on Jan. 30,

2016.

Suzanne Cantando Kirschbaum and Frank

Kirschbaum had a baby boy,

Asher Kirschbaum, on Oct. 28,

2015.

Jay Jordan is an associate

professor in the Department

of English and Department of

Writing and Rhetoric Studies at

the University of Utah.

Tara McMahan Millspaugh

has been named director

of worldwide compliance &

business ethics for Amgen Inc.,

a biopharmaceutical company

based in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

1996Shane Ramsey is now a pastor

at Mull’s Chapel Baptist Church.

classDROP US A LINE!

S P R I N G 2 0 1 6 3 3

class FAMILY HISTORYMother and Son Share Majors, Maybe —Karen Shugart ‘99

NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES MAY NOT HAVE BEEN A

PROMINENT PART OF THE HISTORY DEPARTMENT AT

UNC ASHEVILLE IN THE 1980S, but Lynne Harlan recalls that professors such as Bruce Greenawalt and Milton Ready, now retired, encouraged her to explore Cherokee issues relevant to her coursework.

Today, Harlan ’88 credits her time at the university as integral to her career, which has taken her from the Smithsonian to the Bronx to back home to Cherokee, where she is public relations officer for the new Cherokee Indian Hospital, which opened in October. It’s the latest role Harlan has held with the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians (EBCI), where she has played integral roles in edu-cating the public about Cherokee history and preserving the tribe’s cultural legacy.

Harlan notes that Cherokee and American Indian issues are much more prominent on campus, a development she attributes in part to professors such as Trey Adcock, an assistant professor in the education department and direc-tor of American Indian outreach. There’s a Native American Student Association. And, notably, UNC Asheville and the EBCI in May 2015 signed an agreement that will enhance native students’ presence on campus.

The university reserves up to 10 admission slots for new EBCI members each semester, granting in-state residence status to the students, whose cost of attendance will be covered by the EBCI. The university also will help students form an American Indian Science and Engineering Society chapter and offer new courses in Cherokee language.

“I think UNC Asheville was making a lot of progress before the memorandum of understanding,” Harlan says. “The memorandum kind of solidified that relationship between the university and [the ECBI].”

Today, Harlan’s son attends UNC Asheville. A first-year student, Watson says his mom’s history with the school didn’t factor much into his decision to attend. “Not really,” he said. “It was mostly reading about the school and what it’s famous for, and the tuition.” While Watson Harlan hasn’t yet declared a major, he may follow in his mother’s footsteps by choosing history. From there, however, their

paths diverge. While he’s interested in Native American studies, he’s also fascinated by the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy period. Eventually, he says, he hopes to earn a doctorate and work in Great Britain on the archeological sites of the period.

Lynne Harlan has stayed active in the university too, now serving on the Parents’ Council, which aims to involve UNC Asheville parents in events and activities that support the university.

“The Parents’ Council is an important way for parents to develop relationships with the school and stay informed about campus activities,” she said. “By helping develop the school, parents can shape the university’s impact. We can drive what the community is going to be like in the future,” Harlan said.

Lynne Harlan and her son Watson on campus.

CLASS NOTES


1997Amy Burnett now works for

Arizona Game and Fish in the

Phoenix metro area.

Richard Reed is now the senior

business development manager

at CustomWeather.

1998Hugh Alfonso Harris Jr. and

Asekesai Arnette Harris had a

baby girl, Nora Belle Harris, on

Oct. 15, 2015.

1999Derek Edwards was chosen

for Biltmore Beacon’s 40 Under

Forty for 2015.

Kathrine and Steven Green ’01 had a daughter,

Coraleigh, on March 5, 2016.

2000Jessica Ruth Ball and Jason

Bunn had a baby girl, Lucy

Annabella Bunn, on Dec. 27,

2015.

Holly Spencer Bunting and

Bryan Bunting had a baby boy,

Thaddeus Spencer Bunting, on

Jan. 21, 2016.

Bryant Korzeniewski has been

elected to a three-year term as a

board member for the Asheville

Downtown Association.

Michael Maher is working as

an application designer with

the Gulfstream Aerospace

Corporation and pursuing his

M.S. in computer science at

Georgia Tech.

2001Kim Gaetz is now a public

health epidemiologist with the

N.C. Division of Public Health in

Raleigh.

Amber Reddick married Brian

Reddick on Sept. 26, 2015.

Andrew Shearer received

an Emmy nomination as the

editor/associate producer

of UNDRAFTED, a sports

documentary for the NFL

Network.

2002Jodi Knox now works as

associate counsel with the Legal

Services Department of Cone

Health.

Ryan Southern and Terese Southern ’01 had a baby boy,

Noble William Southern, on Dec.

9, 2015.

Christine Wyman is now

senior counsel at the American

Gas Association.

2003Judd Ballard, CPA, was

promoted to senior manager of

state and local tax practice at

GBQ Holdings LLC.

Jessica Edwards achieved a

full licensure as a professional

counselor in Michigan.

Andrew Heath was appointed

by Gov. McCrory as North

Carolina state budget director.

2004Katy Guertin-Davis celebrated

the birth of her second child,

Graham, on Feb. 21, 2016.

Colleen Hannush is working in

private practice and for Mission

Hospitals.

Rebecca McHaley married

Patrick Sherren on Sept. 5, 2015.

Ryan Mills received a promotion

at work to environmental

specialist within the N.C.

Department of Environmental

Quality - Division of Air Quality.

2005Cameron Grace-Jascur got

married to Caitlin Jascur.

Christopher McFatter was

chosen for Biltmore Beacon’s 40

Under Forty for 2015.

Rhiannon and Kyle Musgrove

had a baby boy on Oct. 21, 2015.

Andrew James Ponder and

Amanda Ponder had a baby boy,

Davis Andrew Ponder, on Dec.

21, 2015.

Lindsey Roche-Gilliam

celebrated the birth of her little

girl, Kennedy, on Jan. 28, 2016.

Laura Simmelink married Mark

Krauth on Nov. 25, 2015.

2006Chris Flannagan accepted the

position as director of digital

technology at Quasar Bio-Tech Inc.

Maribeth Kiser got engaged to

Marcus Spake.

Edwin Lewis Terrell and Laura

Turner had a baby girl, Hadley

Kate Turner-Terrell on Dec. 26,

2015.

Amber Saint Claire and Gus

York had a baby girl on April 29,

2015.

CLASS NOTES

THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION WELCOMES ITS NEWEST MEMBERS!

CLASS OF 2016 ALUMNI.UNCA.EDU PHOTO BY MATT ROSE

S P R I N G 2 0 1 6 3 5

CLASS NOTES

Matthew Stone was appointed

vice mayor of Black Mountain,

N.C. on Dec. 14, 2015.

2007 Farrah Lasley and Colin Lasley

welcomed a baby girl to their

family on Jan. 16, 2016.

Talia Ogle-Stepp gave birth

to twin boys, Reid and Levi, on

March 11, 2016.

April Punsalan accepted a new

position as a botanist for U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service.

2008Tahda Ahtone is now the

project director overseeing

legal outreach to eight tribes in

Arizona.

Emily Bowers got married to

Ethan Bowers in Oct. 2015.

Jacob Brintle earned his M.S.

in instructional technology at

East Carolina University.

Jonathan Corbin earned

his Ph.D. in developmental

psychology from Cornell

University in May 2015. He is a

postdoctoral faculty member at

the University of Richmond.

Catherine Leonard married

Jonathan Beall on Oct. 25, 2015.

Christopher and Kaitlyn Nigro ’10 had a baby boy, Bryce

Christopher Nigro, on Nov. 29,

2015.

Emily Pomeranz started

graduate school at Georgetown

University, pursuing a M.A. in

professional studies in corporate

communications and public

relations.

Gregory Thuotte is now

working as a financial services

representative at the State

Employees Credit Union.

2009Fainn Ball’s first book, The Messianic Haggadah, was a No. 1

hot new release on Amazon last

March and his second book, The Simple Guide to the Jezebel Spirit was released in Feb. 2016.

Caroline Blankenship married

Zach Blankenship on Nov. 27,

2015.

Lisa Huie is assistant manager

of production doing automation

with P&O Cruise Lines in the UK.

2010Jennie Burrowes married

Randy Cockerell ’11 on July

24, 2015.

Lindsay Carver married

Michael Stockman on Oct.17, 2015.

McKenna Dalby and Matthew Dalby were married on Feb. 27,

2016.

Alexandra Fisher married in

November and has launched

a wedding and event planning

business, Lucky Penny Creative.

Chris Gragtmans recently

married Ashley Gragtmans.

Sara Holland is now working

as the minister of Christian

education at Hingham

Congregational Church and is

also attending Boston University

School of Theology.

Gabe Karabell accepted a

position as the guitarist for

Lumpy & The Dumpers upcoming

tour in Australia.

Keith Scruggs married Emily

Scruggs, on Nov. 14, 2015.

Brian Smith is the co-owner

and chef at Rezaz Modern

Mediterranean Restaurant.

Nathaniel Speier was

promoted to corporal in the U.S.

Army on Oct. 1, 2015.

2011Katherine Lancaster accepted

a position with the Pittsburgh

Cultural Trust as a show

marketing manager. She married

Carey McKelvey in Nov. 2015.

Sara Mills opened Nourishing

Roots Acupuncture & Wellness,

a clinic providing acupuncture &

Chinese herbs in Asheville.

Leanna Miller Sharkey

married Doug Sharkey on Oct.

11, 2015.

2012Scott Arico started a Ph.D.

program in the Department

of Biology at the University of

Louisville.

Morgan Brookshire accepted

a position at Biltmore Wines

Marketing.

Amy Burke and former

UNC Asheville Asst. Women’s

Basketball Coach Curtis Metten

gave birth to a son named Ciaran

Landers Burke-Metten on March

23, 2015.

Matt Chick is now working as

a phone banker in commercial

accounts at Wells Fargo.

Kristen Englert-Lenz released

a new album, The Extent of Play.

Caitlin Halloran and Brandon

Edwards were married in

Weaverville on March 27, 2015.

The couple lives in Philadelphia.

Lanie Honeycutt works as

the access to care and health

program manager at McDowell

County Health Coalition.

Ashley Junk graduated nursing

school and is currently working

as a pediatric registered nurse in

Greensboro, N.C.

Beth Porter is now working as

the director of Green America’s

Better Paper Project.

2013Abigail Agriesti is now

working as an organizer for the

Amalgamated Transit Union

International Office.

Kelsey Cain and Adam Caudill ’12 were married on

March 12, 2016.

Ashlei Clodfelter had a baby

boy, Preston Sean Brown, on

April 16, 2015.

Jordan Goodwin was accepted

into law school.

Samuel Paul Maynard and

Katelyn Bradley had a baby boy,

Beau Harvey Maynard, on Oct.

27, 2015.

Roberta Neuhausler is now

working as the coordinator of

the Woman’s Board for The Art

Institute of Chicago.

Elizabeth O’Hare married her

high school sweetheart, Adam

Russo, on Oct. 10, 2015.

Matthew Waissen was chosen

for Biltmore Beacon’s 40 Under

Forty for 2015.

2014Kelsey Armbruster recently

founded her own yoga company,

Innercise Yoga LLC.

Melanie Bonds is in the middle

of her AmeriCorps VISTA term in

Albuquerque, N.M.

Kayla Brank is now working as

an operations supervisor for the

Medication Monitoring Program.

Kristin Emery successfully

passed the American Society for

Clinical Pathology test to become

a certified technologist.

Collin Suttles founded and

is managing Brown Mountain

Bottleworks in Morganton, N.C.

Andrea Wheeler had a baby

girl on Feb. 16, 2016.

2015Hannah Rohed is working for

Family Help and Wellness as the

digital marketing coordinator.

Harper Spires will be joining

Western Carolina University’s

Master of Public Administration

program in the fall of 2017.


CHASING DREAMS Former Track Athletes Make Runs for the Olympics —Phil Latter ‘04

ON PAPER THEY SEEM LIKE POLAR OPPOSITES. Natalie (Pearson) DeRatt ’11, a native of Sheffield, England, sprints for five seconds at maximal velocity before hopping into the back of a 300-pound bobsled. Hurtling down an icy chute, DeRatt approaches speeds of 90 miles per hour—roughly 80 miles per hour faster than Greensboro-native Loring (Watkins) Crowley ’05 hits while racing in major marathons all across the country.

What both former UNC Asheville track and field athletes share in common makes the connection clearer—they both are chasing Olympic dreams.

For Crowley, the biggest race of her life has already taken place. In a field of 200 qualifiers, Crowley battled excruciating conditions to place 94th at the U.S. Olympic marathon trials in February. Held in Los Angeles during a freak heat wave, the

runners battled sustained temperatures over 85 degrees with no shade on the wide city streets.

“The sad thing about the race was it tested your mental toughness more than all the training you did because of the heat,” says Crowley, who managed a 2:53:53 in L.A., well off her personal best of 2:40:57. “At some point you’re not really racing, you’re just trying to finish and enjoy it, even though you’re pretty miserable.”

Despite the conditions, getting to compete against America’s best distance runners with three Olympic spots on the line was well worth it. A miler and 5K runner in college, Crowley has worked with a Colorado-based marathon coach the last three years to bring structure to her 70-to-80 mile training weeks. She fits her training around her job as a project engineer for Schnabel Engineering. If that sounds like a heavy load, it’s nothing new to Crowley.

“It probably all started in college

with learning to manage my time

well and being efficient. ”

—Loring Crowley ’05

CLASS NOTES

S P R I N G 2 0 1 6 3 7

Natalie DeRatt trained on campus for bobsled trials around the world.

“It probably all started in college with learning to manage my time well and being efficient,” she says. “The time you’re putting in—be it work, running, whatever else—you’re making the most out of it and planning really well. That’s the key to being able to enjoy it and not just cramming it in. And I love marathon training, crazy as that sounds.”

While Crowley slowly moved her way up in distance, DeRatt found an entirely new sport. As a runner she was a two-time NCAA Championships qualifier and former Big South Conference Athlete of the Year, DeRatt reached her peak when she participated in the British Olympic trials in 2008 and 2012. Both bids came up short, and after 10 years of training at a national-class level, DeRatt felt physically and emotionally burned out. Her time in athletics appeared over until her college sprint coach, Brad DeWeese, made a wild suggestion—why not try the bobsled? One year later, DeRatt held a silver medal in her hand at the 2014 Lake Placid World Cup.

“It’s been a wild ride, about as far away from summer racing on the track as you can get,” DeRatt says. “Track might be my first love, but bobsled is a fun game to me. It’s kind of like a roller coaster with the adrenaline you get. It hooks you. You want to do more.”

Doing more is a challenge in the United States, where no year-round ice tracks exist. To stay ready for the winter racing sea-son, DeRatt puts in 16-to-20 hours of training each week, much of it is on the same UNC Asheville track where she became a world-class athlete, only now the emphasis is on even greater raw speed and power.

“I haven’t run over 120 meters [hard] in three years,” she says with a laugh. “Sometimes I feel like I’m cheating because I’m not running very far. Then I remember I’m only competing for five seconds.”

In her first few years in the sport, DeRatt trained as a brakeman. A permanent resident of the United States, DeRatt was told her chances of making the U.S. Winter Olympic team were higher as a pilot. For the first time this year she’ll learn to drive a sled with an eye on qualifying for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. DeRatt trusts her abilities. Even if they don’t fulfill an Olympic dream, the sport has imparted some wisdom.

“Bobsled definitely teaches you patience,” she says. “There are a lot of things that can go wrong. You just sort of go into sur-vival mode. You can’t really control what happens. You make it down to the bottom one way or another.”

CLASS NOTES


UNC Asheville’s newest graduates shared a few parting thoughts on their caps at the Spring 2016 Commencement. The outdoor ceremony on the Quad topped off a week of celebration and honors, with family, friends, faculty and staff congratulating the Bulldogs on their success and next steps. (Photo by Peter Lorenz)

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

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UNC Asheville Magazine Spring 2016