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umph supersedes our simple desire to learn. Every living thingcompetes in some way for what it needs. You can begrudge hu-mankind that fact; or you can try to foster a model of competi-tion that rewards people for being more than the sum of theirparts through teamwork on the court and collaboration in theclassroom. We’ve chosen the latter.

Some lessons are best learned in the heat of competition.For example, I believe that women, especially, have benefitedfrom Title IX and increased participation in athletics. It has tohave helped women to “level the playing field” in the competi-tion for a position and then in the competition for an organiza-tion. In this recent economic downturn, we have learned thatone’s gender has little bearing on job security. Job performanceand the ability to compete seem to be primary determinates.Athletics helps teach this lesson.

Not coincidentally, the Ripon College tagline “More. To-gether.” sums up our approach to both academics andathletics. We can accomplish more together than we

can individually. Our athletic and academic teams aren’t builtaround stars — they’re built around leaders. The individualsworking on a group project don’t get different grades based ontheir individual contributions — they get one grade based onthe quality of the final product.

Division III athletics on the whole doesn’t often get its due.The public face of intercollegiate athletics appears to focus onmen’s Division I football and basketball (Note the TV lineup.).As anyone who has played, or even watched, the non-televisedpursuits that comprise the other 90 percent of collegiate athlet-ics can attest, the competition is just as fierce in other sportsand across genders. Most Ripon College coaches hold academicrank and teach, on and off the playing surface. That thesecoaches are treated as faculty members is really quite rare. Itsets us apart.

Ripon College will continue to pursue an educationalprocess that holds athletics and academics in high regard.Not everyone is passionate about their studies, and not

everyone is passionate about sports. We hope that most are pas-sionate about both these things, along with their participationin the arts, clubs, community service, leadership and more. Nomatter where your passions lie, those who approach every disci-pline with curiosity, a strong work ethic, respect, honor, humil-ity and grace are rewarded with powerful and transformativelessons. In the end, it’s OK if academics and athletics have theoccasional tussle. Competition makes us better, and who does-n’t want that?

At the heart of the uneasy truce between academicsand athletics lies a question: What role do athleticsplay in preparing young adults for the “real” world?The same question seldom is asked of academics be-

cause pretty much everyone can agree on their value. Noteveryone feels that way about athletics. This is a shame be-cause I feel that Ripon College and many schools of our ilkhave struck not only a truce, but a pretty respectable balancebetween the two disciplines. And they are disciplines.

Obviously, academics are a college’s raison d’etre, but it isonly a part of the constellation of experiences college offers.

Even institutions that offer no sponsoredathletics whatsoever still make a widearray of extracurricular activities avail-able to their students. The rationale fordoing so is the same as offering a robustathletic program: enrich the college expe-rience by giving students of varying abili-ties and interests a chance to pursue theirpassions and excel in them.I feel that athletic pursuits are no lessnoble or valuable than academic pursuits.Both demand dedication and preparation.Fundamental skills must be learned andconstantly rehearsed. Dig deeper andwork harder, and you’ll generally be re-warded for your efforts. Collaboration istypically a must (especially at Ripon). Inboth cases, your skills eventually are put

to a test which, by design, favors the well-prepared. Persever-ance in either endeavor builds confidence; failure, humility.Both are valuable traits. Both are teachable moments.

The confidence and leadership that all athletes learn trans-lates well to the marketplace. The process of refining one’s skillsin a sport, testing those skills in a competitive scenario, then re-fining further builds good life habits. The prepare/test/refinecycle instills in athletes the ethic of constant personal evolution.Non-athletes can be equally competitive, of course, but I believethat the learning curve may be a bit steeper.

When I attended graduate school at Yale University inthe mid 1970s, the grading structure was honors/highpass/pass. There were no letter grades, no “fail” marks.

“Honors” was the result of exemplary work, reserved for the rareoccasion when the student’s work really stood apart. “HighPass” represented the excellent work expected of a graduate stu-dent. “Pass” meant that one did the minimum, but it was wor-thy of credit. As you might imagine, “High Pass” was the stan-dard grade received most often by students in my program. Therationale for this system was the effort to create a culture oflearning that was not hampered by the quest for grades. As aself-appointed nonconformist, I liked that model. I even earnedone (surprise) “Honors” in 75 credits of graduate work.

The world is competitive because human nature is competi-tive. Eventually, Yale returned to the letter-grading structurewith which we are all familiar because the students demandedit. It seems that our biological imperative to compete and tri-

From the PresidentAcademics vs. Athletics: The longest game in college history?

Dr. David C. JoycePresidentjoyced@ripon.edu

On the Cover:Presidential Spouse Lynne Joyce,Bill Neill ’67 and Judith WilkinsonNeill ’68 are decked out in the fashions of the 1920s AmericanProhibition Era to celebrate thefourth annual Arts & All That Jazzfine arts scholarship benefit. Thisyear’s theme was “Speakin’ Easy,”and a crowd of students, alumni,Trustees, faculty, staff and friendsof the College filled Great Hall forthe festive occasion.

Jim Koepnick photo

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A SAMPLE OF SUMMER RESEARCHThirty Ripon College students remained on campus thispast summer to conduct research of one kind or another.Jaye Alderson caught up with five young women to findout what intriguing projects kept them here during thethree-month “break.” Faculty were also hard at work, andRipon Magazine provides a list of faculty and students andwhat they were up to.

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THE RIPON CONNECTIONOF THREE HEALTHCARE EXECSBob Malte ’76, Kevin Sheridan ’82 and Robert Brandfass’83 are top-level executives in the healthcare industry.They’ve each crossed paths with one another in the “realworld,” and each attributes his success to the educationand experiences he received at Ripon.

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FALL 2009 . VOLUME 42, NUMBER 3

CELEBRATING A TEACHING LEGENDRobert Hannaford joined the philosophy faculty at Riponin 1956. Fifty-three years later — despite having retired in1996 — “Spud” continues to teach a class or two each se-mester. During Homecoming, the College celebratedHannaford’s 80th birthday and the legacy of Spud and hiswife, Neola, with the formation of the Professor Robert V.“Spud” and Neola Hannaford Endowed Scholarship. Colleagues, alumni and friends share their memories ofthe couple here.

These Days at Ripon 12

Sports 21

Class Notes 25

Last Word 35

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Ripon Magazine (ISSN 1058-1855) is published quarterly by Ripon College, 300 Seward St., Ripon, WI 54971-0248. Periodical postage paid at Ripon, Wis.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Ripon Magazine, PO Box 248, Ripon, WI54971-0248.Editor: Ric Damme-mail: dammr@ripon.eduEditorial Assistants: Jaye Alderson, CodyPinkstonStudent Assistants: George Infantado ’10,Katie Mead ’11, Alyssa Paulsen ’10, ErinSchaick ’12.Layout design by the graphics factory –Deba Horn-Prochno ’74Print Production by Ripon Printers Ripon on the Web: www.ripon.eduVisit Ripon’s online community at:www.riponalumni.org

Ripon College prepares students of diverse in-terests for lives of productive, socially responsible citizenship. Our liberal arts curriculum and residential campus create anintimate learning community in which studentsexperience a richly personalized education.

More than a half-century of dedicated serviceto Ripon College and generations of studentsis being celebrated with the establishment ofthe Professor Robert V. “Spud” and Neola

Hannaford Endowed Scholarship Fund.Future generations of students will be the ultimate

beneficiaries of the funds, as income will generate annualscholarships to philosophy majors who exhibit Hannaford’s qualities of scholarship, leadership, integrityand service to others.

A celebration of Hannaford’s 80th birthday and a formal presentation of the scholar-ship was held during Homecomingweekend. The endowment, to date,has garnered more than $62,250.

Hannaford received his doctoratedegree from Columbia Universityand then was a postdoctoral fellow atYale University before joiningRipon’s department of philosophy in1956. Although he retired in 1996,he continues to teach as an adjunctprofessor. Here, several of Spud’s pastcolleagues and students share

memories of what has made this man so special to generations of Riponites.

Spud’s colleague and fellow professor of philosophyVance Cope-Kasten says the Hannafords have provided the keel for the boat that is the study of

philosophy at Ripon. “In the process, they have helpedsteady and smooth many other craft in the College’s ar-mada,” he says.

Cope-Kasten says many students have been awareonly of Professor Hannaford, but the shared presence andwork of both he and Neola has been widely effective andis quite well-known to faculty and staff — and to quite afew students, as well.

“Many former students, who were guests in the Hannaford home while at Ripon have returned for latervisits and even extended stays, often enough with theirgrowing families. They have become, in a genuine sense,friends,” says Cope-Kasten.

Joyce Brownworth Klingbail ’57 of West Leyden,N.Y., says she and her husband, Kermit Klingbail ’56, stillregard themselves as personal friends to the Hannafords.

“They arrived at Ripon when we were seniors,” shesays. “After Kermit and I were married, they let us live intheir home while they went back to Indiana. They areenormously generous with their hearts and their minds.”

Frances Lee McCain ’66 of San Anselmo, Calif., saysshe has had the great pleasure of transitioning from a student to a lifelong friend of the Hannafords. She fondly

Robert “Spud” and Neola Hannaford

The Professor RobertV. “Spud” and NeolaHannaford Endowed

Scholarship Fundw

Ripon celebrates the 80th birthday of a teaching legend andfuture generations of philosophers

A young Professor“Spud”

FALL 2009 3

recalls many ways the couple has supported herover the years and the great times they’ve shared.

“I’m especially grateful for the times we sharedwhen I came back to teach at Ripon for a semes-ter in the drama department,” says McCain.“There were many nights of good food and goodwine and, as the Irish would say, good ‘crack’ —stories and conversation that extended into thenight and left one with the expansive feeling oftime well-spent … truly one of life’s great gifts.

“I love them both dearly and am thrilled thatSpud’s contribution to Ripon is being honoredand acknowledged in this scholarship.”

One of the clear values of the Hannafordscholarship, according to Cope-Kasten, isthat it will enable students who might oth-

erwise not have had the opportunity to come to Ripon todo so and to have the opportunity to form relationshipswith faculty and staff similar to those that so many fortu-nate students have developed with the Hannafords.

“In these ways, they might receive some extra men-toring and they might even develop lifelong friendships,”says Cope-Kasten.

A philosophy minor, Michael J. Brose ’87 of NewRichmond, Wis., developed such friendship with SpudHannaford.

“I had dinner at his house on one occasion, and wewould oftentimes visit around campus or in his office,”

says Brose. “He didn’t need to do that. I always felt likehe wanted to.

“We usually just chatted; no school stuff. He was justa guy who was interested in what college kids were up to,and he took the time to relax on a personal level. If youtold him a funny story, he laughed out loud. If you askedhim his opinion of someone, he would tell you. I neverdetected a hint of phoniness. I really appreciated that.”

Another value of the scholarship, says Cope-Kasten,is that it will give students at least the chance to get ataste of philosophy.

“Virtually all the students who major in philosophy atRipon did not come here to do that — or at leastthey didn’t realize that at the time,” he says.“The actual study of philosophy is a new experi-ence for the vast majority of Ripon students, andsome find it compelling and transformative.”

“Philosophy and the liberal arts curriculumgenerally laid the foundation for habits and attitudes that have served me well: examiningprejudices, being open and critical, and appreci-ating well-crafted arguments,” says Richard Konrad ’64 of Sandnes, Norway.

“I found majoring in philosophy at Ripon tobe of immense help in law school,” says RayBesing ’57 of Sante Fe, N.M. Besing was a triallawyer of 38 years and now teaches law and haswritten a book. “Studying law is a highly theo-retical endeavor,” he says. “One learns the ‘whys’and the reasoning, but little of the practical sideof practicing law. Thus, dealing with abstractideas in philosophy was very helpful to me, and Icertainly would recommend studying philosophyto anyone thinking of going on to law school.”

Dena Willmore ’67, chair of the Ripon College Board of Trustees and a former pupil of Hannaford’s, presents him with a check signifying the $62,250 raised to date for the en-dowed scholarship.

Richard Konrad ’64 gives Robert Hannaford a hug while Neola looks on.

4 RIPON MAGAZINE

Cope-Kasten says philosophy has the reputation of“appealing to unusual and often strong personali-ties of very diverse temperament and ideas.” He

says this was certainly true during most of Hannaford’sfull-time work in the philosophy department, most of itduring what some see as the “glory years” of the depart-ment, when there were three or four full-time faculty inphilosophy.

“To much of the outside world, the department gotalong remarkably well. And so, in many ways, it did. Butmuch of that was due to Spud’s calming influence and hisability to negotiate reasonable accommodations, for wedid not always agree with one another, if I may under-state the case,” says Cope-Kasten. “We were not withoutour own ideas, some of them very creative, about howthings ought to be done.”

Hannaford’s ability to work comfortably with othersalso benefited the College greatly in the form of severalconferences he organized. Usually working with verysmall budgets, he was able to get significant thinkers tocome to Ripon’s campus to explore not only such philo-sophical topics as ethical relativism or the ethics of carevs. the ethics of justice, but also larger questions involv-ing values and business or values and technology.

“I think the genius behind these conferences was torecognize that good thinkers like to come together tothink with other good thinkers, and so they would cometo Ripon from all over the country to spend two or threedays interacting with thinkers from the Ripon Collegecommunity, who were always built into the planning,and with each other, doing so for very modest hono-

raria,” says Cope-Kasten. “By the way, it did not hurt thiseffort that Spud’s own work in philosophy, especially inethics, was widely respected in the professional world.”

Hannaford also took some of Ripon’s best and bright-est off-campus and introduced them to the country viathe nationally televised “College Bowl” in 1963. Fourstudents — Sandra Miller ’65, Stephen Peters ’65,Robert Schneider ’64 and David Stankow ’65 — repre-sented the College, and Hannaford served as their advis-er. The Ripon College Bowl team made it through fourrounds on the popular television quiz show, eventuallylosing in the fifth round to Bowdoin College.

Blanche Bartizal Babcock ’53 of Three Lakes, Wis.,recalls how she and her husband, Tom, first came toknow the Hannafords through the College Bowl team.

“We came to know Spud as an intellectual force oncampus and a commendable teacher,” she says. “Tom, ayoung trustee, enthusiastically agreed to participate withother alumni and trustees, including Kitty Worzalla ’51and Paul Rodewald ’21. Kitty, Paul and Tom served on apanel allowing the student participants to hone theirskills before the actual TV competition. It was throughthis event that the seeds of friendship were planted andnourished, later to fully blossom when Tom and I re-tired.”

Those friendships, and Hannaford’s many classroomlectures, were always spiced with his indelible sense ofhumor.

“I found Spud Hannaford to be a gifted teacher whoexcelled in broad areas of philosophy. He has a greatsense of humor, which really helped us when we weredrowning in difficult subjects of study,” says Besing.

“As a teacher, Spud’s enthusiastic approach to philo-

Blanche Bartizal Babcock ’53 gives Neola Hannaford a warm welcome.

Professor Spud Hannaford stands at the podium in East Hall’s Kres-ge Little Theatre during his retirement celebration in 1996. Thirteenyears later, he’s still teaching.

FALL 2009 5

sophical issues was infectious,” says Konrad. “His combi-nation of critical acuity and humor made coming to classsomething to which I looked forward. And what a greatlaugh, well-exercised, no doubt, by being on the hearingside of Neola’s sharp wit.”

“Ithink Neola helped Spud greatly to live up to thisvision and in this way, amongst others, to keephim on an even keel, too,” says Cope-Kasten.

“While he believed in the practical, she lived it. I re-member the first time I met her: she was on a stepladder,engaged in remodeling their home, having just taken outa major interior wall. Had I not been so nervous, despitebeing made to feel most welcome, I might also have no-ticed the spectacular garden she created in their doublelot, a place which has given me many delights in manyseasons over the decades.”

Babcock, too, mentions the garden as a source ofpride for both Spud and Neola.

“We came to know Neola’s love of gardening andflower arranging and Spud’s interest in county fairs.[These interests] brought them to the Northwoods eachsummer to help the Babcocks display their flowers andvegetables at the Vilas County Fair. Without their help,

we would not have received so many blue ribbons,” saysBabcock. “I remember one time Spud pulled out a nico-tiana plant, roots and all, threw it into a five-gallonbucket and declared our work finished. Neola and Ishook our heads and decided that if Tom could enter awormy rutabaga, Spud could enter his nicotiana plant.Much to our chagrin, Spud won the Best of Showaward.”

And while there were plenty of other interests andhobbies to keep Spud away from the classroom in his re-tirement, the pull of teaching drew him back. Some 13years after he “retired,” Hannaford continues to teach yetanother generation of Ripon students. This, says Cope-Kasten, is a true blessing for both the College and its students.

“In both his own writing and in his teaching, SpudHannaford places very high value on having ideas connect and interact with our genuine experiences ofourselves and the world around us. That is not to say thathe thinks and teaches that our unreflective experiencesshould be the judge of the validity of ideas, but it is to saythat good ideas must eventually square with our experi-ences once we have thought about things and have givenourselves a chance to carefully see what our experiencesreally amount to,” says Cope-Kasten.

A Reflection on ‘Spudness’ by Geoff Guevara-Geer ’92, assistant professor of Spanish

I first worked with Dr. Robert Hannafordin 1989 in an independent study about thephilosopher David Hume. Hannaford onHume was doubly intimidating. Everyweek, I’d enter Hannaford’s office, Humein hand — but it would be a while beforehe became “Spud” for me. Dr. Spud, per-haps? How about Professor Spud? Mr.Spud? I resisted at first: he was a capital“P” Professor of capital “P” Philosophy.

But he soon convinced me of his indeli-ble “Spudness.” His reason — havingloved potatoes since he was “yea high” —was as memorable as it was endearing.Only a professor at the top of his game canafford to identify with the lowly potato(Not to disparage potatoes, but they aretubers). Plus, “Spud” has a ring to it, aring to him, the ring of a professor whocan push a student to grow without stand-ing above and over him. So, he becameSpud. Just Spud. And, with his help,David Hume became Dave as Spud point-ed out that Hume began many sentenceswith the phrase “ ’Tis true … .” Spud’scommentary was dry and to the point:“Strange habit for a skeptic.” Spud was

right; Hannaford was Spud; David wasDave; and I was doing philosophy — little“p” — and growing.

Years later, I’m still doing philosophy.Largely thanks to Spud and his courses onHume and Ethics, I majored in philosophyat Ripon and went on to grad school whereI continued to study philosophy when othercoursework left some wiggle room. Spud’snonchalant, hard-working approach — tothe big thinkers, the big books, the bigquestions — had put a ding in the intimi-dating seriousness of philosophy. Philoso-phy, dinged and imperfect but beautifuland worthwhile, was something I coulddo, too, and something that informed otherstudies, especially as I pursued my doctor-ate of philosophy in … whatever. Mypiece landed, finally, on Spanish, but Inever flew far from Spud’s ethics, fromDave’s “strange habit” of hard-won clari-ty, from a one-on-one relationship withgreat thinkers who could be approachedwith the great humility of the potato. APh.D. in Pennsylvania, postdoctoral studies in Chicago, teaching in Alaska —this approach took me far.

And then, some five years ago, I cameback to Ripon, this time as faculty. Spudwas here, and he was among the first tocontact me as I came back to what hadbeen home a dozen years before. Now,our one-on-one dialogues have made wayfor tennis volleys (Yes, tennis, althoughmy old professor continues — they tell me— to age). Happily, I can report thatSpud plays this erstwhile “gentleman’ssport” like he philosophizes — down toearth and unbelievingly. To the ball hewallops over the fence, he yells — defyingcausality itself — “drop down, darling,drop down!” Davie H. would be proud.And with his losing partner, his winningopponent, his losing opponent or his win-ning partner, he shakes hands vigorouslyand exclaims: “ring-a-ding!” It alwaysfits. Vibrant, brisk, with yesteryear’s jar-gon and a promise of tomorrow’s game:ring-a-ding.

Ripon is lucky to have Spud, and I’mglad to know that the ringing — and thedinging — will go on with this latest exam-ple of his generosity, his endowed scholar-ship. Ring-a-ding, Spud, ring-a-ding.

And there is, finally, what Cope-Kastenpersonally considers to be the majorcontribution of the Hannafords.

“In January 1982, while Spud was on sab-batical at Harvard, studying under JohnRawls, the Hannafords were staying outside ofBoston in the then-summer home of formerProfessor of French Dan Delakas and his wife,Mimi. They invited me to visit them, which Idid that bitterly cold winter,” recalls Cope-Katen. “Unbeknownst to me, they also invit-ed their niece, Janilyn, to spend a couple days,allegedly as a stop-over on her way from herfamily’s home in Florida to her current resi-dence in Maine. I guess you can decidewhether this was a set-up and, if so, whetherit, too, was deeply practical or wildly specula-tive. We wed within six months and the Han-nafords have been a kind of second grandpar-ents to our children, who have been, as I havebeen, taught and even mentored by them. Iowe to them, as does Ripon College, essen-tially inexpressible gratitude.”

Terry M. Goode ’66 of Bailey’s Harbor,Wis., recalls Spud Hannaford as “a goodteacher, even a great teacher.

“He was tough, but fair, and showed con-siderable patience — particularly with me!His tests were difficult. And one never re-ceived a paper back from Spud that wasn’t to-tally redlined — but always with thoughtfulcomments,” says Goode.

“I have told many that if it wasn’t forSpud’s preparation, I would not have gottenthrough graduate school. More than that,however, Spud Hannaford is simply a goodperson and a great mentor. He is quiet, gentleand kind. He and his wife, Neola, becamepersonal friends of mine and my wife, Pam(Kurz Goode ’66), and have served as rolemodels for us in life — as teachers, partners,parents and friends. They are both so deserv-ing of this scholarship in their name,” Goodesays.

“Spud and Neola are warm, generous peo-ple, and it’s my pleasure to call them friends,”says Babcock. “They are truly the ‘Best ofShow.’ ” r

6 RIPON MAGAZINE

Besing ’57 Catches Up with Bill Tyree

Spud Hannaford is not the only “sprightly, vigorous and active man”to have taught philosophy at Ripon. Ray Besing ’57 recently visitedwith Professor of Philosophy Emeritus William E. Tyree and believes

Hannaford simply may be following the example of the man who lured himto Ripon College long ago. Tyree still lives in his large, three-story home inthe small town of Rushville, Ill., about 50 miles west of Springfield. He re-cently celebrated his 92nd birthday, and Besing says his former professor is“as charming, lively and bright as ever.”In late July, I found Dr. Tyree, impeccably dressed, in his Rushville home andready to take me on tour of one of those classic and majestic Midwest houses sopopular in the 1900s.

The Tyree family tree in America started in 1791 when the Tyrees emigratedfrom Scotland. Bill Tyree’s father, Earl C. Tyree, and his mother, Elizabeth Mel-low Tyree, moved from Champaign, Ill., in the early 1900s, and young Williamwas born in the Rushville home in 1917. Earl Tyree was a partner in the MorrisWells Men’s Clothing Store, while Elizabeth’s father, Hart Mellow, owned theMellow Monument Company for many years before retiring in 1922. Earl also

was an excellent baseball catcher and played for theChampaign team just before it was acquired by theChicago Cubs. A sore throwing arm lead Earl intothe clothing business in Rushville instead of playingfor the Cubs. Young Bill also was a good baseballcatcher during his high school years in Rushville. Formore than 25 years, Bill’s mother, Elizabeth, servedas city clerk of Rushville.

After receiving his bachelor’s degree at IllinoisWesleyan University, Tyree obtained a divinity de-gree from Northwestern University and was or-dained as a Methodist minister in 1942, shortly be-fore joining the U.S. Navy. He served aboard an at-tack transport ship in the Pacific Theater as a Navychaplain during World War II until 1946. At theurging of his bishop, Tyree earned a master’s degreein sacred theology at Union Theological Seminary inNew York, becoming a close friend of his mentor,

the great American theologian Reinhold Neibuhr. He then earned his doctorate in1949 at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Tyree started his teaching careerat Ripon in 1950.

Tyree and Hannaford became a very effective and balanced teaching team atRipon. Tyree taught those philosophy courses more closely related to theologicalissues, and Hannaford taught those more closely related to the secular and scien-tific realms. Both were regarded by generations of Ripon students as extremelyarticulate, “silver-tongued” lecturers who made the complex fields of philosophycome alive. Having learned the ability to think and analyze abstract thought andconcepts, many philosophy majors under Tyree and Hannaford headed to graduate schools in theology, law, political theory and advanced teaching degreesin philosophy itself. A 1995 dinner at Ripon honoring Tyree and the endowedscholarship established in his name brought back scores of students and friendsfrom the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, many of whom had gone on to great academic and vocational achievements.

Many former students of Tyree — and many students who never took acourse from him — have benefited from his personal caring for students whowere having serious personal or vocational crises in their lives. Looking back,those many students realized what Tyree had meant to them when personal, family, financial or academic problems were resolved as a result of his counselingskills and his big heart.

Ray Besing ’57

Professor Emeritus WilliamTyree at Alumni Weekend2004.

FALL 2009 7

What happens when a studentgraduates from Ripon College and steps out intothe “real world” with a

liberal arts degree? Three graduates whohave become top-level executives in thehealthcare industry say their undergrad-uate experiences at Ripon had a hand ingetting them to where they are todayand led to some surprising interactionsalong the way.

Bob Malte ’76 of Littleton, Colo.,and Kevin Sheridan ’82 of Wilmette,Ill., both majored in economics atRipon; and Robert Brandfass ’83 of Morgantown, W.Va., majored in politicsand government.

“Ripon enabled me to be well-prepared, to listen, to ask good ques-tions, to learn from every experience(including your mistakes) and personand to be a student for life,” Malte says.“My main job as CEO [of ExemplaLutheran Medical Center in WheatRidge, Colo.] is to create an environ-ment in which our staff and doctors canbe their best every day. I think that’s thesame role Ripon plays in the life of itsstudents. [Ripon taught me] the value ofhard work, the blessing of good friendsand memories for life.”

Malte started working in a hospitalin his hometown of Chicago duringsummer vacations from Ripon, and itdid not take him long to discover hislove for not only the hospital environ-ment, but also the impact that these es-tablishments and the people who workand practice in them, have on others.

Working in an organization withmore than 2,000 physicians, nurses, support staff and volunteers, Malte nowhas the opportunity to enjoy the hospital environment on an entirely different level.

Sheridan became aware of thehealthcare market at a young age,thanks to his father’s role as a labor relations consultant helping organiza-

tions remain non-union. This expo-sure, combined with an entrepreneurialspirit, his time at Ripon and graduatestudies at Harvard Business School, di-rected Sheridan to become founder andCEO of the Chicago-based HR Solu-tions International Inc., a human capi-tal management consulting firm thatspecializes in employee engagement and exit survey design, im-plementation and results.

Although HR Solutions does notconfine itself to one industry, it doeslargely specialize in healthcare, which,according to Sheridan, did not occurby accident.

“Given the fact that there are hugegenerational changes going on with anaging workforce and an aging popula-tion, healthcare has been and continues to be a growth industry andthe one that HR Solutions targeted de-liberately because it’s a good industry tobe in,” he says.

He says being president of Ripon’sjudiciary board gave him the skills re-quired for his role as CEO, “especiallyin the aspect of having to make certaintough calls and difficult decisions,” hesays. “Quite humorously, half of thepeople that were brought up in front ofthe judiciary board were fraternity brothers of mine, so I had toestablish a delicate balance of

Top-level Executives Attribute Success to Ripon

maintaining those relationships, but alsoupholding the judicial law.

“Serving as president of Ripon’s judiciary board gave me the additionalbenefit of providing me a very keen op-portunity to develop a relationship withthe dean of men, as well as the presidentof the College. Each of these leadersended up giving me great references,which ultimately helped me to be ac-cepted by Harvard Business School formy graduate studies.”

Additionally, Sheridan says, Riponwas small enough that he was not lost ina sea of students, unlike larger schools.

“Thankfully, I went to Ripon,” hesays. “The school’s size created an envi-ronment where one is apt to get in-volved and grow personally.”

Brandfass says that his Ripon Collegeliberal arts education provided him witha broad-based education in which hestudied a variety of subjects.

“This gives you a better workingknowledge of the world around you,” hesays. “It taught me how to think, how tolearn and how to problem-solve whilebeing flexible and nimble — just whatyou need to be a vice president and gen-eral counsel.”

After Ripon, Brandfass attended lawschool at Case Western Reserve Univer-sity. He went to work as a trial attorneyin 1986 for a law firm that defended

Bob Malte ’76 Kevin Sheridan ’82 Robert Brandfass ’83

8 RIPON MAGAZINE

physicians in medical malpractice ac-tions. He says the key to defending suchcases included immersing himself in,and truly understanding, the medicineinvolved.

In another law firm, Brandfass repre-sented hospitals and became involved inlaw firm management, serving on thefirm’s management committee. Whenone of his hospital clients was seeking ageneral counsel, they asked Brandfass.He jumped at the opportunity and land-ed in his current position, as vice presi-dent and general counsel of West Vir-ginia University Hospitals.

Malte says his education at Riponprepared him for his career in manyways. It offered him the educationalrigor that prepared him for further grad-uate studies at the University of Chica-go Graduate School of Business. Ithelped him to be more well-roundedand David Harris, the dean of men, “wasa wonderful guide and mentor for mewhile at Ripon,” he says.

“Being at a smaller school exposedme to more opportunities that, unbe-knownst to me at the time, prepared mefor my professional and personal life —for example, being a floor counselor andhead resident.”

Brandfass says his broad-based liberalarts education at Ripon has enabled himto grasp and assimilate any necessarycase and workplace knowledge whereverhe worked.

“Being in-house counsel allows methe unique chance to combine myRipon-acquired analytical and leader-ship skills to help those most in need —the sick and injured,” he says. “My well-rounded Ripon education further al-lowed me to then communicate thisknowledge to jurors in a way they coulduse to reach their (hopefully defense)verdict.”

Not too long ago, Malte, Sheridanand Brandfass were Ripon grad-uates in three different states

and unknown to one another. But theirprofessional paths crossed, and eachfound an instantaneous bond with hisRipon brothers.

“About three years ago, I was doingan executive presentation for ExemplaLutheran Medical Center’s Employee

Engagement Survey results,” Sheridansays. “And it just so happened that mybiography was distributed to their teamprior to the presentation. Actually, Bobinterjected that he was very impressedwith the results. He jokingly statedthat he realized my educational background at Ripon College had obviously trained me well to do suchpresentations.

“I have since had the opportunityto repeatedly present to Bob and hismanagement team,” Sheridan says.

Later, when Sheridan traveled toMorgantown, W.Va., to present toWest Virginia University Hospitals, hewas surprised by a question the organi-zation’s leader asked.

“I approached Kevin when he wasspeaking to our management team andasked if he was a ‘Spot’ or ‘Benders’kind of guy,” Brandfass says. “He aboutfell over before a big grin spread acrosshis face.”

Brandfass also has run into addi-tional Ripon graduates over the courseof his career. In 2000, another signifi-cant employer in the region whereBrandfass works and lives was GE Spe-cialty Chemicals.

“I was good friends with the plantmanager,” Brandfass says. “When Imentioned that I went to Ripon Col-lege, he said I had to be kidding. WhenI asked why, he noted that his supervi-sor went to Ripon College and, likemyself, would tell anybody who wouldlisten what a great experience it was.”

When Brandfass met up with this1980 Ripon graduate — Bob Fines, thepresident of GE Specialty Chemicals— they learned they had spent a yeartogether at Ripon and shared manycommon friends.

“Our ‘reunion’ dinner was filledwith many tales of our days at Ripon,”Brandfass says.

Malte has come across a few otherRipon graduates, as well, one of whomis also highly regarded in the health-care industry. Perhaps the most surpris-ing run-in for Malte, though, was whenhe learned that a fellow Ripon alumnuslived only two blocks away from him inColorado.

Alumni run-in stories like these il-lustrate the instant camaraderie formedamong alumni around the world who

come from a school that typically gradu-ates fewer than 300 students a year.

“When you come across a fellowRipon graduate, you feel an instantbond and a shared sense of camaraderiewith them,” Brandfass says.

Malte agrees, saying it comes fromhaving had a shared and favorable expe-rience at the same school, but it is setapart in this regard from most other in-stitutions.

“I think it also feels unique due tothe relative small size of Ripon’s [alumnibody] compared to those who graduatefrom larger schools,” Malte says.

And Sheridan, adds, “It obviouslydoes generate a pride that such a small,liberal arts college – which had about700 students at the time that I was there— could produce leaders in the industry.I also think it provides a testament tothe liberal arts education, which gives adeep breadth of education across differ-ent faculties. Ultimately, this diverse ex-posure produces individuals who areflexible in their approach and have agreat ability to adapt to different indus-tries, environments and/or business settings.

“What Ripon gave me — basically, itcreated an entrepreneur. Within myeconomics major, I had a professornamed John Livingston, who created anenvironment where there were severalbelievers in capitalism (aside from whatis going on in our economy today). Professor Livingston was an enormousproponent of Adam Smith, author of‘The Wealth of Nations,’ which had agreat influence on me, as well. Anyway,that individual, that professor, no doubttouched me and created an entrepre-neurial spirit in me to create value andjobs in the economy.”

Brandfass concludes, “I came toRipon from a high school whose graduat-ing class was larger than the entireRipon College student body. Ripon provided me with the individualized at-tention which I needed to expand myskill set and build up my self-confidence.People who knew me both pre- and post-Ripon always commented that it hastransformed me — in a good way!” r

Kristy Erdodi and Jaye AldersonErdodi is associate marketing project managerfor HR Solutions Inc. in Chicago.

FALL 2009 9

Funded through a variety ofsources, nearly three dozen stu-dents took part in summer re-search projects. Their studies al-

ready are contributing to the communi-ty as well as enhancing their futureprospects in their fields of study.

Elizabeth E. McHone, a junior fromRipon, looked at the ethics of buyingand consuming non-local food at homeand on campus and its effects on the en-

vironment, localeconomies and ourhealth.

As a local foodsintern with the Of-fice of CommunityEngagement, shealso spent time edu-cating the RiponCollege communityabout local food is-sues and inciting re-newed interest inlocal food and sus-tainability by work-

ing with Sodexo, local producers, socialmedia and members of the community.

“I had been interested in things likeenvironmental ethics, agriculture andcooking, but had never heard of thelocal food movement before the intern-ship,” McHone says. “I learned aboutsome seriously depressing facts about theimplications of our nation’s food systemson our health, local economies and theenvironment, but also about the thingspeople were doing to combat those ef-fects.”

She says talking to one person ledher to three others, who each intro-duced her to three more, until she hadmore than 50 contacts in the Ripon areawho are connected to the local foodsmovement. She helped form a networkin Ripon centered on a local foodsmovement, made short videos of inter-views with Ripon students/staff andcommunity members and posted themon YouTube and Facebook, and set upan e-mail list, Twitter account, a pageon Ripon College’s Web site, and a

homepage on Ning.“The idea was to utilize as many social

networking sites as possible to reach dif-ferent groups of people and provide op-portunities for differing levels of involve-ment,” McHone says. “I’ve planned someevents for the upcoming semesters, in-cluding a visit to a farm in Ripon, view-ings of relevant films, cookouts, garden-ing days, trips to local food events inWisconsin and a webinar. We’re alsoworking with food service to find ways toincorporate more local food into campusdining, start a composting system and en-courage recycling. It’s an ongoing project,which I hope will continue to progressafter I leave Ripon.”

A big part of the summer efforts wasstarting a community garden on theRipon campus.

“It took a while to get approval to usespace on campus, but we were able to get aspot right by the Commons and start workin late July, so there’s groundwork for abigger push next year … with plenty ofroom for expansion next year into individ-ual and group plots for the campus andgreater community,” McHone says.

McHone says her work has helpedguide the focus of her education and, insome ways, consolidated her interests inbiology, botany and humanities like phi-losophy and anthropology.

“This project has shown me how Icould incorporate all of these things, pluscommunity service, into studying humans’interactions with the environmentthrough agriculture,” she says. “I knowthat the people I’ve met and the thingsI’ve learned (or will learn) through thisproject will be invaluable to me in the fu-ture. I feel pretty lucky to have ended upat a school that provides for students topursue their interests to this degree andmake an impact on the community.”

Having such an impact also is importantto Meagan Kochel, a senior from Racine,Wis., who studied chemical/pharmaceuti-cal pollution in Silver Creek in Ripon.She says many recent studies have foundlevels of various pharmaceuticals andcommon healthcare products in lakes and

Students Gain Valuable Experience Through Summer Research

rivers near wherewastewater isdumped. Anythinghumans ingest hasto come out eventu-ally in our waste, shesays, and mostwastewater plantsdon’t have the tech-nology or infrastruc-ture to filter outthese chemicals.She looked at sever-

al common products, including caffeine,which is in many foods and beverageswe consume; sucralose, a thrichlorinatedsugar substitute with yet unknown im-pacts on the environment; triclosan, anantibacterial agent found in many soapsand hand sanitizers; acetaminophen;and ibuprofen.

“The major problems with theseproducts is that many of them alter be-havioral patterns of organisms, changetheir physiology or are toxic to boththem and/or the organisms they feedon,” Kochel says. “I felt this was impor-tant to study because, although manystudies have shown increasing effects inwater sources near larger urban areas, Ithought it would be interesting to havea profile for a more remote place such asRipon.”

She says most of her results to dateare inconclusive because of the shortamount of time available.

“I do plan to continue the researchthroughout the semester in order to getmore concrete results,” she says. “Thishas been such a wonderful opportunityto pursue my study because I had the op-portunity to go through the entireprocess of designing and carrying out myown research. The knowledge and expe-rience I gained was invaluable and willbe as well when I am applying to gradu-ate schools. This is an area I would real-ly like to make a difference in someday,whether it be as an activist, speakingabout the importance of alternativemethods of prescription when possible,or as a researcher actually taking andanalyzing samples. My greatest concern

Elizabeth McHone ’11

Meagan Kochel ’10

is the environment and the planet Ilove, and I want to bring more knowl-edge out of the scientific sphere into thepublic mind.”

Talya Petersik, a senior from Ripon,studied neuroplasticity, primarily on aneducational program called Fast For-Word. This program is designed to help

young students whohave cognitive de-lays in areas such aslanguage and readingskills by utilizing theconcept of neuro-plasticity — the ideathat connection inthe brain can bemodified by training.

The Fast ForWordprogram has demon-strated that neuro-plastic exercises,

which strengthen existing connectionsand create new routes of communicationwithin the brain, ensure that students’skills will improve to reach average, andin many cases even above average, levelsfor patients with brain damage, cognitivedelays and underdevelopment of thebrain, says Petersik.

“The majority of research articles onthe Fast ForWord program are publishedby companies who are the primary dis-tributors of the program,” Petersik says.“Thus, although they provide literallyhundreds of research articles, their Websites offer only research results that re-port improvement in children who usethe program. While these articles arevery useful in demonstrating that theFast ForWord program is beneficial, it isimportant to also study research con-ducted independently from the majorcorporate companies. Many of these re-search articles compare Fast ForWord tosimilar programs and report that the FastForWord program does not have signifi-cantly greater immediate results in stu-dents than the other programs that exist.However, research articles that focusedon long-term improvement in the cogni-tive delays of students demonstrate thatthe Fast ForWord program is one of thebest sources for such results. One consis-tency found amongst all these researcharticles is that addressing cognitive de-lays, through the implementation of al-most any legitimate program, is benefi-cial to children and thus should be used

more regularly in school districts.” Petersik plans to attend graduate

school with a focus in neuroplasticity or asimilar field within psychology. “The op-portunity to explore the field helped meunderstand its positive effects on individ-uals as well as providing me a furthergrasp of some of the principles of thefield,” she says.

The summer research also will have a greatimpact on the future studies of TomissaPorath, a senior from Shawano, Wis. Sheresearched an ethical dilemma encoun-tered in libraries — whether it is better to

protect patron privacyor give out informa-tion to the govern-ment and the courtsthat could protect thesafety and well-beingof the country.

“What I havefound is still a mixedfeeling throughoutthe field,” Porathsays. “Practically alllibraries receive gov-ernment funding of

some sort, so some believe there is aobligation to assist the government intheir needs. Most libraries, however, be-lieve that hosting a safe place for patronsto research and feel comfortable checkingout materials is better than providinglimited information, like previous itemschecked out by a specific person.”

Porath plans to pursue a master’s degreein library and information science.

“This is greatly important to my careerin librarianship, and will greatly benefitmy resumé as I am applying to some ofthe best schools in the field,” she says.

Sarah Ellefson, a senior from West Bend,Wis., also is appreciative of the impacther research will have as she applies tograduate schools for continuing study inschizophrenia.

“When I apply to grad school, I canwrite that I do have experience in thefield,” she says. “You can read dozens ofbooks about the symptoms of schizophre-nia and different treatments available,but until you actually see first-hand howa person is suffering from this mental ill-ness or see how small improvements areactually huge milestones, you will neverreally understand the field. This experi-ence has opened up my mind and ideas

10 RIPON MAGAZINE

Talya Petersik ’10

Tomissa Porath ’10

about the mentallyill and the treatmentof the mentally ill. Ifeel that there still isa stigma about thementally ill todayand that peopleneed to view thementally ill as peo-ple, as well, whoneed someone tohelp improve their

quality of life with different treatmentsand quality care.”

Ellefson’s studies focused on schizo-phrenia and different treatments avail-able. She says schizophrenia symptomscan be either negative or positive. Positive symptoms are above the “nor-mal” level of functioning, includingdelusions, hallucinations or tics (repeat-ed movements). Negative symptoms arebelow the “normal” level of functioning,including loss of speech, motor retarda-tion and loss of energy.

“I was interested in what types oftreatments are being done in the fieldcompared to what the literature states,”Ellefson says. She secured an internshipat the Wisconsin Resource Center, partof the Department of Corrections, whereshe worked on the psychiatric unit. Inorder to evaluate treatment effective-ness, several different scales have beendesigned in the field of clinical psycholo-gy. With consent of certain inmates,Ellefson reviewed their scale scores, timein segregation (isolation), clinical diag-nosis and attendance to different treat-ments offered on the unit. She also at-tended different types of on-unit and off-unit group treatment sessions, inter-viewed staff and analyzed her results.

“I really did not find any resultswhich were statistically significant whenthe inmates were looked at as a group,”Ellefson says. “However, when a few ofthe inmates’ results were looked at onan individual analysis, there were someslight differences. This supports the no-tion that therapy and treatment of thementally ill must be individualized be-cause not everyone will respond to thesame treatment in the same ways. Theindividualism is what sometimes makesit very difficult to measure the effective-ness of a treatment because every personis different and what works for one per-son may not work for another.” r

Sarah Ellefson ’10

FALL 2009 11

Other Summer ResearchNumerous students and faculty members benefited from support for summer research projects. Among them werestudies through the Ethical Leadership Program and in the sciences, philosophy, library, history and other areas.

The Ethical Leadership Programawarded grants to faculty andstudents. Faculty Summer Grantrecipients studied ethics and ethical leadership issues with thegoal of incorporating ethical is-sues and leadership issues intothe curriculum:■ Paul Jeffries: Revise PHL 241to explore philosophy through filmby using readings and discussionsupported by philosophical issuesplayed out in film to examine ethical issues.■ Doug Northrup, Paul Jeffries,Mary Williams Norton, JoeHatcher: Develop a course explor-ing the connections of science andvirtue, focusing primarily on fourcritical periods following signifi-cant scientific innovations: Newtonian physics, Lavoisierchemistry, Darwinian evolutionand Einsteinian relativity.■ Karl Beres, Diane Beres, KrisPeters, David Scott, Tim Hess:Revise ethical components of theMaCS Senior Seminar to emphasize the professional code ofethics and conduct for the appro-priate professional societies representing the majors. Sampletopics include: cultural, legal andethical issues; whistle-blowing; privacy and confidentiality; riskmanagement and intellectualproperty.■ Barb McGowan: Developmentof a new course, “ContemporaryAmerican History,” examiningpresidential decision-making andleadership from different perspec-tives, and exploring leadership andethics and the relationship be-tween personal morality and pub-lic morality and how this connects with effective, or ineffective, leadership.

Student Summer Intern recipients:■ Kirsten Collins ’10: Con-ducting a project that willraise questions concerningthe adequacy of ELL servicesat the middle and secondarylevels in Ripon and propos-ing changes to further devel-op appropriate and effectiveservices.■ Luke Lockhart ’10: Re-searching the ethical use ofsocial networking Web sitesand the use of bigotry, exclu-sion and bullying as it relatesto the Ripon College studentpopulation.■ Phillip Mack ’10: Re-searching the ethical conceptof tolerance and how it is ap-plicable to humans and soci-ety and examining the ways,both theoretically and practi-cally, in which humans andcommunities can function in a presumably harmonious fashion despitesometimes having significantdifferences.■ Stephanie Potts ’10: Ex-ploring the ways in whichchildren with disabilities arestigmatized and the ethics ofhow to enact public aware-ness of disability.

Student Summer Research in other areas included:■ Kylie Ainslie ’11, Knop Scholar, broad applicationof statistics in the biomedical sciences.■ Sarah Anderson ’10, McNair, phosphate loading inWhite Lake.■ Vanessa Arboleda ’10, McNair, testosterone and ag-gressive behavior in the male eastern bluebird.■ Tiffany Born ’10, trustee grant, effects of modifyinginfant’s looking behavior.■ Morgan Douvris ’10, local donor funding, local history.■ Jacqueline Fingerson ’10, local donor funding, localhistory.■ Amanda Flannery ’10, McNair, identify archaeologi-cal sites near Ripon.■ Brooke Lamb ’10, McNair, change detection andeye movements in apparent motion.■ Benjamin Logan ’11, Knop funds, generating random landscapes.■ Matthew Madsen ’11, trustee grant, testing the origins of wind-blown particles.■ Elizabeth Martinez ’10, McNair, study sample oftomato spotted wilt virus-infected plants.■ Melissa Meierhofer ’11, McNair, prolactin andparental behavior of eastern bluebirds.■ Alex Momich ’10, McNair, prepare a logistic modelfor origin of wind-blown particles.■ Jon Palecek ’10, Nessan Technologies, data inventory.■ Amber Rico ’11, McNair, study sample of tomatospotted wilt virus-infected plants.■ Daniel Schick ’10, Knop Scholar, designing andbuilding a wind tunnel.■ Celena Simpson ’10, McNair, identity and race.■ Carlos Soto ’11, McNair, analyzing empirical datafrom neuroimaging.■ Alex Tessman ’10, Knop funds, ecological study ofplant succession in the Ceresco Prairie Conservancy.■ Rachel Vanden Berg ’10, Knop funds, quantum me-chanical characterization of aminatin of C-H Bonds byDisilver Catalysts.■ Brittney Wiggins ’10, McNair, nutrient dynamics inthe carnivorous plant Utricularia.All recipients have been presenting their findings in presentations on campus.

THREE-DAY DRIVENETS 100 BOOKSAbout 100 books were collected in threedays recently during a Books for Africadrive on campus. Assistant Professor ofPhilosophy Paul Jeffries, and his wife,Ruth, are involved with the organizationthat provides English (and some French)language books to educational institutionsthroughout Africa.

“It gets valuable books on a wide variety of research topics to librariesthroughout Africa that are typically lacking in resources to get new books,”Jeffries says. “This helps the student scholars and faculty to have more adequate resources for doing their researchand teaching.”

These Days at Riponthese days at ripon

12 RIPON MAGAZINE

RIPON PLACED HIGH IN NATIONAL RANKINGSRipon continues to receive accolades from various publications which review andrank colleges across the country. This year, Forbes, The Princeton Review, WashingtonMonthly, The Chronicle of Higher Education and the League of American Bicyclistsall recognized Ripon for various forms of excellence.■ Forbes ranks Ripon among the top two colleges and universities in Wisconsin andin the top 100 — 88th for value, 89th among private colleges and 100th among allU.S. colleges and universities, according to the magazine’s second annual “Ameri-ca’s Best Colleges” issue. The rankings’ unique methodology places Ripon wellahead of larger and better-known institutions such as Duke University, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Texas-Austin and the University of Florida,just to name a few.

“We talk a lot about academics and the student experience here, and the Forbeslist measures those things, but we’re particularly gratified to see ourselves on the‘Best College Buys’ list,” says Steve Schuetz, vice president and director of admis-sions. “Ripon College works very hard to help make college affordable for deservingstudents, so we’re thrilled to see that come through in the rankings.”■ The Princeton Review once again has ranked Ripon as one of “America’s Best 371

Colleges” for undergraduate education in its 2010 edition.“Not all college rankings are created equal, but The Princeton

Review does a fine job of blending subjective evaluations by realstudents with relevant data,” says President David C. Joyce.“It’s a useful resource for families when choosing a college andwe’re proud to make the list year after year.”

Only about 15 percent of America’s 2,500 four-year collegesand two Canadian colleges are profiled in the book, which isThe Princeton Review’s flagship annual college guide. It includesdetailed profiles of the colleges with school rating scores ineight categories, plus ranking lists of top 20 schools in 62 cate-

gories based on The Princeton Review’s surveys of students attending the colleges.In its profile on Ripon, The Princeton Review praises the school for its friendly,

welcoming atmosphere and intensive preparation for grad school, and quotes exten-sively from students The Princeton Review surveyed for the book. ■ Washington Monthly ranked Ripon College 27th overall among liberal arts col-leges in the United States in its third annual college rankings list. The ranking isbased on three categories: Social Mobility (recruiting and graduating low-incomestudents), Research (contribution of new discoveries and Ph.D.s) and Service (en-couraging students to give back to their country and communities).

The magazine places an emphasis on measuring what colleges do for society inaddition to what they do for students. Within these categories, Ripon was ranked26th in Social Mobility, with 26 percent of students eligible for Pell grants; and83rd in Service, with an ROTC rank of seventh among liberal arts colleges (basedon the percentage of students who participate in the ROTC program).■ The Chronicle of Higher Education included Ripon in its 2009 Great Colleges toWork For. Ripon is the only private college in Wisconsin to be so honored.

“We spend a lot of time focusing on the student experience here, and rightly so,but it starts with the employee experience,” says Joyce. “The culture here is basedon collaboration and mutual respect, as evidenced by the results of this survey. Ourpeople are what set us apart — not just how we treat our students, but how we treateach other.”

Ripon was listed in four categories: healthy faculty-administration relations; col-laborative governance; work/life balance; and connection to institution and pride■ Finally, Ripon was recognized by the League of American Bicyclists with an honorable mention on its annual Bicycle-Friendly Business list.

The organization recognizes the businesses that promote bicycling for trans-portation, recreation, exercise and sport. These businesses also must practice social

BriefsBRIEFSSPEAKERS BUREAUSTUDENTS IN DEMANDStudents involved in the CommunicationDepartment’s Speakers Bureau have beenvery in-demand recently. Last spring,Ryan Greene, a senior from South Milwaukee, Wis., who uses speaking toraise awareness of domestic violence, wasinvited to speak to a local sorority and alsoto a group of about 60 inmates at the Taycheedah State Penitentiary.

During the last academic year and thissummer, Sarah Hopkins, a junior fromRacine, Wis., has been speaking through-out the state to high school students fromunder-represented populations, providingthem with both the inspiration and strate-gies to tackle the college admission process.

Matt Farley, a junior from Algoma,Wis., has shared “how to make the mostout of your high school career” advice withstudents in two districts. This October,Greene and Hopkins will speak aboutyouth violence prevention measures at thenational conference of Students AgainstViolence Everywhere. Speakers Bureaualumnus Shawn Karsten ’09 is a featuredspeaker for that event.

ANNUAL FUND GOAL EXCEEDED DESPITE RECESSIONDespite the struggling economy, Ripon exceeded its annual fund goal of $2,200,000with a final total of unrestricted revenue raised of $2,253,803. Participation of fac-ulty and staff was about 85 percent — more than doubling last year’s participation.

Participation of solicitable alumni was 36.1 percent, down 2.2 percent from lastyear.

“It’s understandable, given the economic environment,” says Larry Malchow ’77,director of development. “A lot of alumni we talked to experienced some problemsdue to the economy, but others stepped up to fill in.

“We consider it a major accomplishment on the part of our staff and our donors.They love the College, are connected to the College, appreciate what the Collegedid for them and what it’s doing for our current students who will be the future pro-fessionals and leaders in our world. They believe in our mission and also have per-sonal gratitude.

“I think they know the College is well-run and well-managed by the trustees, thepresident and the other leaders, and there are all kinds of indicators that demon-strate that.”

FALL 2009 13

responsibility by including bicycling in the business culture, promoting the healthof each person and the environment. When awarding these businesses specifically,they evaluate them in the four categories of encouragement, education, engineeringand evaluation.

“Ripon’s Velorution Project for students and the recent extension of that pro-gram to faculty and staff is part of a broad effort to rejuvenate use of the bicycle as afundamental form of transportation and recreation,” says Joyce. “We’re excited andproud to learn that our dedication to this effort has captured the attention of theAmerican cycling community.”

Jesse Lain of Oshkosh Cyclery gives agroup of students some tips about how to

use and care for their new bicycles. Nearly 170 incoming first-year students signed the2009-10 Ripon Velorution Project pledge to keep their cars at home throughout the academic year. In return, the College gave each of them a brand new 2009 CannondaleF9 mountain bike with a custom Ripon College paint scheme. Planet Bike of Madison,Wis., donated locks and lights to each of the students, as well. Jim Koepnick photo

Velorution Keeps Rolling

BriefsBRIEFSFACULTY NOTES■ For the second year in a row, AssistantProfessor of Communication Steve Martin’96 joined Professor of Psychology BobOtis on the Maymester trip to San JuanIsland. Martin’s experience on the whale-watching adventures has inspired a newphase of his research: exploration of therole communication plays in national andeven international conservation movements.

■ Paul Jeffries has become the chair of thephilosophy department as Vance Cope-Kasten will be taking a sabbatical duringthe spring semester. Jeffries also is servingas an at-large member of the executiveboard of the Wisconsin Institute for Peaceand Conflict Studies. Joe Hatcher, psy-chology, and Martin Farrell, politics andgovernment, also are on the board.

This summer, Jeffries received a scholarship to attend the American Associ-ation of University Professors’ SummerInstitute at Macalester College. He alsoreceived an Ethical Leadership ProgramFaculty Course Creation grant to developa new version of the philosophy depart-ment’s ethics course with a film emphasis.

■ Professor Sarah Desotell won a grantfrom the Wisconsin Space Grant Consor-tium to develop a new first-year studiescourse about Mars as well as second-semester and Maymester courses aboutflight.

■ Kelly Stage, assistant professor of English, published The Roaring Girl’sLondon Spaces in Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. Stage is also theauthor of the forthcoming Plague Spaceand Played Space in Urban Drama,1604 in Representing the Plague inEarly Modern England. In October,Stage participated in the symposium,“Theatre and the Reformation of Space”at the Folger Institute in Washington,D.C.

MAYMESTER CLASS VISITS JAMAICASixteen representatives of Ripon College, including Mary E. Avery, associate profes-sor and director of the Business Management Program, and Geoff Guevara-Geer,

14 RIPON MAGAZINE

assistant professor ofSpanish, participated in aJamaican Maymester ser-vice trip.

The group had twomissions: education andeconomic development,according to Avery.

“The education teamworked directly with stu-dents in the MintoSchool,” she says. “Theyalso had three teacher in-services that helped theteachers to develop strate-gies for classroom management.

“The economic devel-opment team did threesmall business seminarsand consulted individual-ly with four existing andone start-up enterprise.We also worked with awomen’s group that ismaking handbags out oftrash bags.”

Avery says that experiencing a different culture is of great benefit to the students.

“Even those [of our students who] struggle with the lack of American-grade sani-tation, transportation and living arrangements [in Jamaica] say, ‘I now know howmuch I have and how much others don’t,’ ” she says. “ ‘I know that if there is to bechange in the world, it is up to me.’ ”

The group also transported nearly $5,000 worth of donated articles to the area.Most of these donations were black shoes for school children, who must have uni-forms to attend school. Shoes are often the biggest barrier.

MERRIMAN HOUSE TO BE VACATEDMerriman House, the longtime home of Phi Kappa Pi fraternity, will be vacated ef-fective at the end of the current academic year in May 2010. The Board of Trusteesapproved the measure at the recommendation of the College administration.

The building was constructed in 1939 and opened as a residence hall for mem-bers of the fraternity in 1940. While the College has always owned the building, theMerriman Club financed its construction and was responsible for its maintenance.In 1988, the Merriman Cluband the College agreed thatthe maintenance responsibilityfor the building would residewith the College.

While maintenance proj-ects have been completed tothe building during the past 69years, no major renovationswere undertaken.

“Eventually, the need formajor repairs and mainte-nance developed to the pointwhere Merriman no longer

JaunitaBaatz

’05, left, a fifth-grade teacher at St. Adalbert Elemen-tary School in Milwaukee, accepts a check for $247.15from Kristen Swoboda ’10 on behalf of Ripon’s Student Education Association (SEA). Swoboda performed clinical work in Baatz’s classroom and askedthe SEA to raise funds for her classroom, since thelargely Hispanic school has very little discretionarymoney for classroom materials. SEA raised moneythroughout the year in a variety of ways, but mostly byselling candy bars on campus. According to a statementon Baatz’s Adopt-a-Classroom Web site, the money willbe used “to provide appropriate reading materials to assist students in meeting their academic goals and topromote the love of reading and writing.”

Ed Students Help Alumna

BriefsBRIEFSBUSINESS MANAGEMENTMOVES TO CARNEGIEThe business administration departmentonce again is known as the business man-agement department, reflecting a changein common terminology. The departmentalso has moved to the lower level of theCarnegie building. The new space lends itself to the efficient operation of the Creative Enterprise Center, a student led-consulting organization, says Mary Avery,chair of the department. There is a waitingarea, two student workstations and a conference room. There also is room forthe Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE)student organization.

The Creative Enterprise Center andSIFE both are active in the greater Riponcommunity, and the move to downtownmakes a lot of sense for both organiza-tions, says Avery.

The Office of Community Engage-ment, formerly housed in Carnegie, nowis on the top floor of Harwood MemorialUnion, sharing space with the EthicalLeadership Program and the Ripon Forensics Team. The Bonner Program hasgrown to nearly 40 students, each ofwhom commits to 300 hours of serviceevery year to serve their communities.

FORMER NATIONALSECURITY ADVISER ALLENSPEAKS AT RIPONRichard V. Allen, former national securityadviser to Ronald Reagan, presented “National Security and National Interest:Steering a Realistic Course” Sept. 23.

In addition to serving as national security adviser under the Reagan admin-istration from 1981-82, Allen was also asenior staff member of President Nixon’sNational Security Council in 1968 andserved various Republican administrationsin the intervening years.

“9/11 awakened the entire electorateto the importance of national security. It isa topic that is a concern to all Americans,regardless of their political leanings orparty,” says Lamont Colucci, assistantprofessor of politics and government, andnational security studies coordinator.

Merriman House

FALL 2009 15

meets the standards of a Ripon College residence hall,” says Ripon College Presi-dent David C. Joyce. “In deference to the standards of a Ripon education — ofwhich residence life is an inextricable part — we have made the decision to movethe Phi Kappa Pi fraternity out of Merriman and into another residence hall.”

Joyce says the decision to vacate the building was not reached lightly.“Merriman’s longtime status as a social nexus is acknowledged by all, as is its

place in Ripon College history,” says Joyce. “Some say that Merriman IS Phi KappaPi and vice-versa, implying that to take the building off-line is tantamount to tak-ing the fraternity off-line. That is not the case.”

No decision has been made regarding the ultimate fate of the building. For now,it will simply be left unoccupied, says Joyce.

“I respect the importance of Merriman and its place in some people’s memories ofRipon College. We will be looking for long-term solutions and weighing our options,and hope that we can sustain a positive dialogue during that process,” Joyce says.

PROFESSOR REFLECTS ON WOODSTOCK 40THAs the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock music festival passed by this summer, itbrought back “good memories” for Michelle Fuerch, professor of Spanish and Por-tuguese. She was one of the estimated half-a-million visitors to the festival in thesummer of 1969.

She was 18, just graduated from high school, when she and a friend attended amusic festival in Atlantic City. There they heard about the upcoming Woodstock.

Back home in Grand Rapids, Mich., she described to friends how cool the Atlantic City festival was andhow much she wanted to go toWoodstock, but she had nomoney.

“A friend named Karensaid, ‘I’ve got 20 bucks — let’sgo,’ ” Fuerch says. “So off wewent. I hopped in my little redVW Bug. I had 27 cents to myname, and she had $20. Youcould fill up a VW tank for $2,and it would take you hun-

dreds of miles. We took bread, peanut butter and jelly from our kitchens and had notickets. We were thinking we would park outside the gates and hear.”

When they arrived, roads were jammed for miles around, but they heard that thefences had been torn down.

“We parked a couple of miles away and walked in,” she says. “We slept in thecar. I was always fully clothed, and I didn’t do any drugs. We walked down into thebowl where the stage was set up, and it was wall-to-wall people. You would tip-toebetween the blankets until a space opened up and you could put your blanketdown.”

She remembers everyone lighting candles that filled the basin with “awesome”light at night. She also remembers the rain that turned everything to mud and pre-vented anyone from lighting candles. She also recalls hearing Janis Joplin and JimiHendrix perform.

“It was a remarkable experience,” Fuerch says. “I met many interesting people,and I still remember it to this day.”

Michelle Fuerch in her 1967 Volkswagen Beetle.

FORENSICS QUALIFIES THREE FOR NATIONALSBy the end of October, the Ripon forensics team had earned two team champi-onships and qualified three students for the American Forensic Association national tournament. Senior Luke Lockhart, junior Garrison McMurtrey and

BriefsBRIEFSFACULTY NOTES■ Mark Kainz, associate professor of biology, presented the poster “Identifica-tion of candidate Arabidopsis thaliana proteins involved in the replication cycle ofTomato spotted wilt virus” at the annualmeeting of the American Society of Microbiology in Philadelphia in May2009.

■ Lamont Colucci, assistant professor ofpolitics and government, continues to beactive on the worldwide stage.

He has been interviewed on WisconsinPublic Radio several times in the past eightmonths concerning terrorism, the future offoreign policy under President Obama andObama’s United Nations speech.

He was a delegate and designatedpanel responder to the World Summit onCounter-Terrorism, in Herzliya, Israel, inSeptember.

He delivered a paper to the annualAmerican Political Science Association-International Security Studies Section-In-ternational Security and Arms ControlSection Conference on “The Bush Doctrine: Changes in American ForeignPolicy, International Relations and International Security,” in Monterey,Calif., in October.

He was interviewed on Chicago TVand POTUS XM Satellite radio aboutcurrent foreign policy in August.

He will be a speaker for the AmericanCommittee on Foreign Relations about issues relating to American foreign policyand national security. His first requestedspeech will be on the East Coast concerning the implications of the Japaneseelections on U.S.-Japanese policy and foreign relations.

16 RIPON MAGAZINE

sophomore Breena Brockmann will compete at the national event April 2-5 at theUniversity of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

The Ripon team earned its championships during competitions at the BethanyLutheran College Invitational Oct. 30-31 and the Twin Cities Forensic Leaguetournament at Normandale College Oct. 20. Ripon was first of 14 schools atBethany Lutheran and first of 13 at Normandale.

At Bethany, Lockhart was tournament champion in after-dinner speaking. Sopho-mores Vicky Weber and Jeremy Johnson also were tournament champions in im-promptu speaking and extemporaneous speaking, respectively. Ripon had even moreindividual tournament champions atthe Twin Cities event with seven intotal. Lockhart was champion in bothimpromptu and extemporaneousevents at Normandale, while seniorT.J. Rhodes was tops in persuasion;McMurtrey and Brockmann in duointerpretation; Brockmann in com-munication analysis; sophomore MattMuza in informative speaking; andfirst-year Matt Koch in program oralinterpretation.

Lockhart also had a tournamentchampionship in impromptu speak-ing at a two-day event at MinnesotaState University-Mankato and Gus-tavus Adolphus College, Oct. 17-18.

This year’s team consists of 22students under the guidance of Director of Forensics Deano Pape and Assistant Di-rector of Forensics Adam Jacobi.

Twenty-two members of the Class of1959 returned to Ripon in June for

their 50th class reunion and Alumni Weekend. Pictured in front, from left, are Ronell“Ronnie” Bradbeer Anderson, Ann Di John Anderson, Marion Murner Harten, JanetAlbrecht Schaiger and Donna Haubrich Reichle. In the second row, from left, areRobert Spangler ’60, Tom Troestler, June Eggert Schuett, Carolyn “Joy” Malueg Consie,Ellen Luebke Humke and Roger Venden. In the third row, from left, are Victor “Jerry”Woeste, Donald Zutter, Pete Kasson, Neal Cason and Dan Rajewski. In the back row,from left, are Dan Anderson, Al Peters and Burton Jay. Not pictured are Nathan Brand,John “Jack” Cooley and Cliff Eimon. Ric Damm photo

Class of 1959 50th Reunion

Garrison McMurtrey ’11 and Breena Brockmann’12 practice a scene from their duo interpretation of“American Beauty.” Alyssa Paulsen ’10 photo

ART PROFESSORDISPLAYS PORTRAITSAssistant Professor of Art Rafael Salashad a one-man exhibition, “Rafael Francisco Salas: New Work” on view atthe Portrait Society in downtown Milwaukee through Oct. 30.

Included were a wall-sized triptych,with each of the three panels measuring 36x 60 inches. The painting is an allegoricalportrayal of the Southern writer FlanneryO’Connor and the Irish punk star ShaneMacgowan. Macgowan was the leader ofthe band The Pogues.

“I have juxtaposed these disparate subjects in order to create a psychologicalstage which I use to describe states ofmind; moods and atmospheres instead of astory,” says Salas.

Also included in this exhibition weresmaller drawings and studies that the artistexecuted in preparation for the triptych aswell as a selection of older, portrait-relatedworks. One of these depicts Professor ofArt Evelyn Kain.

MORE VISITORS ARRIVEFOR WISCONSIN PRIVATECOLLEGE WEEKRipon College hosted 144 prospective students and their families for a total of310 visitors during Wisconsin Private College Week, July 13 through 17. Visitors had opportunities to tour the campus, enjoy faculty and staff presenta-tions, meet with admission counselors anddevelop an overall “taste” of Ripon College.

“All the private colleges in the state ofWisconsin hold different events throughoutthe week,” says Stacy Chapin, admissionprogram coordinator. “It’s always an exciting time for us because the kids are soexcited. It’s their first impression of theCollege. Our campus is so welcoming.Our student volunteers were great, andour faculty were great. It’s a lot of fun,and it’s good excitement in the air for us.”

Chapin says the number of visiting students is up from previous years’ totalsof 96 in 2007 and 124 in 2008.

BriefsBRIEFS

FALL 2009 17

STUDENT POPULATIONONE OF LARGEST, MOST DIVERSEAlthough the incoming class of 2013 wassmaller than previous years, Ripon stillhas much to celebrate as this year marksone of the highest overall enrollments inthe college’s history. Despite the slightdecrease of first years from 284 studentslast year to 249 this year, Ripon stillbroke many enrollment records, with acurrent total of 1,065 students enrolled.

“If you look at the overall enroll-ment, this year has been the largest in atleast the past 20 years,” says LeighMlodzik ’02, director of admission.Mlodzik cited increased retention ratesas a major factor in the increased campussize.

However, Mlodzik says the drop infirst-year enrollment in 2009 to a lownot seen in three years could be a trend.The size of overall enrollment is expect-ed to decline within the next few yearsas well. According to Mlodzik, the dropin enrollment can be attributed partly tothe current state of the economy.

“We also expect fewer high school graduates from Wisconsin in the comingyears. That potentially will affect our enrollment numbers as we have historicallyattracted a large number of students from within the state,” says Mlodzik.

While lower in the student count, the first-year class brings much diversity to acampus that had seemed to be lacking in past years. By the numbers, Ripon has stu-dents from 17 different states and seven foreign countries, including China, Ja-maica, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Japan and Panama.

There is a more diverse and well-represented group of students from all ethnicbackgrounds, which “is an attractive feature for prospective students,” according toAdmission Program Coordinator Stacy Chapin. “More diversity means that stu-dents with different backgrounds feel more at home at Ripon.”

CalendarCalendarDecember 6Alumni Event: Milwaukee Bucks

December 11Last Day of ClassesYule Ball

December 14Final Exams Begin

December 15Late Night BreakfastAlumni Event: Chicago Rendezvous

December 16Reading Day

December 18Last Day of Final Exams

January 17Residence Halls Open

January 18Registration

January 19Spring Semester Classes Begin

January 27Alumni Event: Milwaukee Fifth

Wednesday

January 28Alumni Event: Madison and Cincinnati

Fifth Thursdays

January 29Chamber Music & Jazz at Ripon Series

presents Rene Izquierdo

February 4Alumni Event: Fox Valley, Wis., Happy

Hour

February 9Alumni Event: Chicago Rendezvous

BLOMFELT SELECTED FOR GERMAN STUDIES PROGRAMBill Blomfelt, a senior from Superior, Wis., participated in the Graduate School Ex-perience at Ohio State University this summer. Blomfelt, a German major, was oneof 15 students selected to participate in the program that provides undergraduateswith a week-long seminar organized by Ohio State’s department of German lan-guages and literatures.

Since 2005, the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst/German AcademicExchange Service (DAAD) and the Max Kade Foundation have partnered with aleading university department to offer this special event for North American stu-dents who are considering graduate work in German studies. The Graduate SchoolExperience is aimed at outstanding German majors who have just completed theirjunior year.

The seminar — “The Wall in the Social Imagination” — included interdiscipli-nary sessions led by Ohio State faculty. Blomfelt had the opportunity to explore thistopic in literature, film and other social, political and artistic discourses. A crucialcomponent of the program is practical and realistic information about graduatestudy in German.

Student Senate President Christopher Schaefer’10, at the podium, welcomes the Ripon Classof 2013 during the annual Matriculation Con-vocation while President David Joyce listens.

Ric Damm photo

18 RIPON MAGAZINE

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION HONORS EIGHTThe Ripon alumni association awarded eight alumni during Alumni Weekend2009.

Four alumni received the College’s Distinguished Alumni Citation:■ Thomas J. Horvath ’84, Hampton, Va., aerospace engineer, NASA LangleyResearch Center■ Samuel D. Johnson ’69, Brooklyn, N.Y., professor of psychology, Baruch College■ Col. James F. Laufenburg (ret.) ’79, Alexandria, Va., U. S. Army and Director Army Programs, Computer Science Corp.■ John A. Sturm ’58, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., retired vice chairman of SturmFoods Inc.

Sara Wichlacz Haney ’04, a science teacher in grades 6-12 at Oak Hill School inEugene, Ore., received the Outstanding Young Alumna award.

Three alumni were inducted into Ripon’s Athletic Hall of Fame:■ Matthew D. Becker ’99, Milwaukee, Wis., basketball, soccer■ Crystal L. Helm ’97, Menasha, Wis., basketball, track and field■ Donald E. Roca-Dawson ’94, Orland Hills, Ill., football, track and field

These awards were presented at the Alumni Weekend Awards Banquet, June 26.For more information about the awards, visitmy.ripon.edu/ics/Alumni_and_Friends/Alumni_Awards.

The 24th annual Alumni Weekend brought 509 attendees from 32 states andWashington, D.C., back to campus. They represented 66 years of alumni, from 1946to 2012, and 11 class reunions were held.

“Alumni celebrated together, enjoying the gorgeous weather on campus withlongtime friends, while making new friends of all ages,” says Amy Gerretsen ’04,

BriefsBRIEFSFACULTY NOTES■ New in the religion department this fallis Mark McClish, a post-doctoral fellow inAsian religions. He recently completed hisdoctorate in religious studies at the University of Texas. He comes to Riponfor two years funded by a grant throughthe Associated College’s of the Midwest(ACM) from the Mellon Foundation. Heis teaching courses in Hinduism, Buddhism and Chinese religions. He is aspecialist on India and has lived in thatcountry on several occasions for extendedperiods of time.

■ Lorna Sopcak, associate professor ofGerman, was among eight U.S. Germaninstructors selected to receive AmericanAssociation of Teachers of German(AATG) grants to subsidize the programfee for the professional development seminar, “Metropolen an der Donau,”sponsored by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Art and Culture incooperation with the AATG. The seminar, focusing on Vienna’s history, art,culture, economy and politics, took placeJuly 1-12, 2009, in Vienna and conclud-ed with a three-day excursion to Budapest.

Sopcak also received a Goethe-Institutgrant for the seminar, “Zwei Univer-sitätsstädte,” in Göttingen and Weimarfrom July 12-Aug. 1. The seminar compared the two university cities and focused on the lingering East-West differences and tensions in Germany 20years after unification.

■ David Graham, professor of English,published the poem “Huge Underpants ofGloom” in The Huge Underpants ofGloom 3, edited by Jessy Randall. Graham also had five poems included inPoet’s Corner: Summer; and his poem,“Air Supremacy,” was published in BigBridge 14. Graham also joined formerstudent Brent Goodman ’93 for a poetryreading at the Windhover Center for theArts in Fond du Lac, Wis., in May.

■ An essay by Geoff Guevara-Geer, assistant professor of Spanish, titled “TheRumba of the Flying Buttresses,” was included in the playbill for “Cambio,” amusical resetting of Notre Dame de Parisin today’s Cuba.

These young ladies — from left: AnnieOliver ’10, Missy Meierhofer ’11, Erin

Bavery ’11 and Misty Brum ’10 — get into the spirit of the Prohibition Era “Speakin’Easy” theme of this year’s Arts and All That Jazz benefit auction. This year’s event —the fourth annual — was held the Friday evening of homecoming weekend and raisedmoney to support the fine arts scholarship program at Ripon. For more photos of theevent, visit www.flickr.com/photos/ripon_college. Jim Koepnick photo

Speakin’ Easy for the Arts

assistant director of alumni relations. “All of our alumni were thrilled with thenumber of current and retired faculty and staff members who attended Fridayevening’s All-Alumni Reception.”

Alumni Weekend 2010 will be held June 25-27. For photos of Alumni Weekend2009, visit www.flickr.com/photos/ripon_college.

FALL 2009 19

RIPON DEDICATES 82ND AIRBORNE‘MAGGIE’ TRIBUTE CASELt. Col. James “Maggie” Megellas ’42, U.S. Army (ret.), returned to campus in Au-gust for the dedication of a display case at the College Museum in West Hall. A na-tive of Fond du Lac, Wis., Megellas is the most decorated officer in the history ofthe U.S. Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division and has been recommended for theMedal of Honor for heroic actions during the World War II Battle of the Bulge.

In Megellas’ honor, the Badger State Chapter, 82nd Airborne Division Associa-tion, has donated the Jim “Maggie” Megellas Tribute Case at the museum.

In his talk at the dedication, Megellas praised the environment of Ripon that ledto his success and that of many others. He said his ROTC training gave him andother Ripon cadets a sense of togetherness, of something greater than themselvesand a lot of camaraderie.

But the environment of Ripon itself was an even greater factor, he said.“What we did get and take with us from Ripon — you’ve heard the phrase ‘man

is a product of his environment.’ We were a product of this environment, of a small-town school where students were close, worked together and created a bond, re-

spected each other, a faculty thatwas caring that you could go toat anytime and they would helpyou. … It was that environmentthat made us into the soldiersthat we were.”

He said his fellow Ripon sol-diers “carried the colors of thiscollege forward,” and he wantedto share the dedication of thetribute case with “those RiponCollege ROTC graduates whopaid the ultimate price, whonever made it back.”

He said Ripon was a factor inthe success of the men of hisgeneration.

“It produced young men whoexcelled in what they did, andI’m proud to say that I was oneof them,” he said.

Bill Neill ’67, left, James Megellas ’42, center, and “Doc”Weiske ’50 examine a James Megellas action figure.

Ric Damm photo

SHORT N’ TWEET: RIPON ENTERS ‘TWITTERVERSE’This past summer marked Ripon’s official presence on the 500-pound gorillas of social networking, Facebook and Twitter. The former is more well-known as a wayto engage and share with friends around the globe. The latter is an interactive social-media platform in which users answer the question, “What are you doing?” in140 characters or fewer. The short posts are called “tweets.” By “following” a user(including celebrities, bands and businesses) you can receive these short updates basically in real time. Tweets range from poetry to last-minute travel offers.

Thus far, Ripon’s Twitter feed (www.twitter.com/riponcollege) has served as another outlet for news snippets and notices regarding college events. Its stable of

TRUSTEE PROFILE:

STEPHANIEGREENE ’72

Elected: February 2002 Business: Retired Vice President, Salesand Service Infrastructure

JPMorgan Chase & Company

What compelledyou to become aRipon CollegeTrustee? I learned so muchat Ripon, and thathelped me to havea successful life.

What rewardsdoes it offer? I get the opportunity to contribute tofuture generations and make a differ-ence for students now.

What qualities do you bring to thetable as a Trustee?I am a good listener. I am also nothesitant to give my opinion, but I liketo hear all sides before I decide on anycourse of action. I did this in my career, and I continue to strive to seeall situations end-to-end.

What are some of your pursuits/hobbies/interests?I like to travel, play tennis and doneedlepoint.

What do you see as the most signifi-cant challenges for higher educationin general, and Ripon in particular?The most significant challenge forhigher education is to produce responsible individuals of good moralcharacter. In an age of instant gratifi-cation, the challenge is to instill values. The challenge for Ripon Col-lege is to attract and educate youngpeople who are willing to work hardto achieve their goals with integrity.

What excites you the most aboutRipon College’s future?I am excited about Ripon’s overallgrowth. I believe that a sustained student enrollment of 1,000 to 1,100can be achieved without compromis-ing standards.

Stephanie Greene ’72

followers is relatively small (about 140), but the ease of posting a short, fun messageevery few days makes it worthwhile, according to Cody Pinkston, director of mediaand public relations. “We can be a little more subversive and edgy on Twitter thanon the regular Web site, which some of our constituents appreciate,” he says. “If anintriguing tweet drives someone back to your Web site, you’ve changed the equa-tion from push to pull. It’s a unique and easy way to engage your audience.”

Ripon’s Facebook fan page (www.facebook.com/ripon.college) has more than1,500 fans and the fan page for Red Hawks athletics (www.facebook.com/redhawks.athletics) has nearly 500.

Ripon also has a presence on Flickr (photo sharing) and the ubiquitousYouTube. Links to Ripon College’s official social-media Web sites are accessible atthe lower left corner of www.ripon.edu.

20 RIPON MAGAZINE

RIPON JOINS HIGHER ED DIVERSITY TASK FORCEIn the first collaboration of its kind, the four institutions of higher education inFond du Lac County jointly sponsored a free Student Leadership Summit in Octo-ber on the University of Wisconsin-Fond du Lac campus.

Students from Marian University, Moraine Park Technical College, Ripon College and UW-Fond du Lac participated in this conference, featuring regionaland state-wide experts on the topics of diversity and leadership. They includedJamie Washington, a nationally known speaker, consultant and trainer with morethan 25 years of experience in education presenting.

The event was coordinated by the Higher Education Diversity Initiative TaskForce, which was created by the presidents and deans of the four institutions. Thetask force was charged to lead, inspire, educate and challenge their respective institutions and the greater Fond du Lac County community in promoting diversityand inclusiveness. Taskforce members include faculty, students, staff and administrators in equal numbers from each of the four institutions. r

Current and alumnaemembers of Ripon’s Alpha

Chi Omega sorority gathered on campus Oct. 3 to celebrate the group’s 50th anniversaryat the College. More than 60 celebrated their sisterhood that began at Ripon in 1959when the organization was founded to “encourage the true spirit of sisterhood, developthrough personal effort a high moral and mental standard, advance academic achievement, promote financial responsibility, create competent leaders and develophealthy character in each member.” Jim Koepnick photo

AXO Celebrates 50th Anniversary

Sportssports

In just its second year as a varsityprogram at Ripon, the Red Hawkscycling team made great strides; se-

curing the Midwest Collegiate CyclingConference (MWCCC) Division 2team championship and sending two in-dividuals to nationals.

Tiffany Seering (Jr., West Bend,Wis.) and Eric Smith (Fr., Char-

lottesville, Va.)led the chargeas Riponclaimed its firstMWCCC titlewith a 217-point advan-tage over

Michigan Technological University. Seering garnered 228 points with

fourth-place finishes in both theWomen’s A cross country and shorttrack cross country events at the confer-ence championships hosted by the Uni-versity of Missouri. Seering’s hard workmoved her up in the MWCCC individ-ual season standings to third place over-all and tops among Division 2 females.

Smith claimed the Division 2 indi-vidual conference championship withhis performances at Missouri, where hewas ninth in the Men’s A cross countryevent, ninth in the short track and 11thin the downhill.

At nationals — held at Northstar atTahoe Resort in Truckee, Calif. —Ripon finished 12th of 25 Division 2schools. Smith was 10th among themale individual omnium competitors.Omnium results are a combination of

scores from all fourevents. Smith was28th in cross coun-try, 22nd in shorttrack cross country,35th in four crossand 20th in down-hill. Seering competed in thecross country andshort track events,

FALLSPORTSRECAP

finishing 15th and 17th, respectively.

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRYThe men’s cross country team had oneof the best seasons in program historyin 2009, finishing in the top three infour of their six meets. That includes asecond-place finish at the MWCchampionships — the highest finish bya Ripon team at that event. The RedHawks also finished first out of 12teams at this year’s Wisconsin PrivateCollege Championships (WPCC).

At the WPCC, Ripon saw five play-ers earn all-state honors, including jun-iors Jason Smith (Stevens Point, Wis.)and Ben Worcester (Chicago), whofinished third and fourth, respectively,at the event with career-best times of26:11 and 26:12. Sophomore A.J.Thew (Niagara, Wis.) and juniorsLucas Felten (Libertyville, Ill.) andMichael Dussault (Antioch, Ill.) made

Tiffany Seering ’11

Eric Smith ’13 hits a berm in his final downhill run at USA Cycling’s collegiate mountain bike nationals in California. Ric Damm photo

FALL 2009 21

Ripon cycling team highlights fall season with conference championship, national berth

Jason Smith ’11, left, and Ben Worcester ’11pace each other during the Wisconsin PrivateCollege Championships at Ripon. Al Fredrickson photo

come Ripon’s all-time leader. The Red Hawks defense was just as

impressive as the offense this season, al-lowing only 93.6 rushing yards per game,the third fewest they’ve ever allowed.They held opponents to seven points orfewer in four of their 10 games, includ-ing a pair of shutouts.

Leading the defensive effort was se-nior linebacker Ryan Andersen (Racine,Wis.), who recorded 95 tackles to moveinto third place on Ripon’s career listwith 277. In addition to his tackling,Andersen added 3-1/2 sacks, two inter-ceptions, three forced fumbles and twofumbles recovered. Junior defensiveback Mike Krause (Spencer, Wis.) alsomoved into the school’s top 10 for ca-reer tackles this season, recording his200th in the final game of the season.

Special teams play was also an assetfor the Red Hawks. Kicker Jacob Gahart(Fr., Elkhorn, Wis.) broke the schoolrecord for field goals in a single season,connecting on 9-of-13, including a longof 47 yards, which is also a schoolrecord. Gahart was a perfect 7-for-7from inside the 40-yard line. PunterKurt Roeder (Jr., Beaver Dam, Wis.)also had another great season, improv-ing his school-record punting average to37 yards — nearly a full yard longerthan the second-best mark.

VOLLEYBALLThe volleyball team qualified for the

second team all-state, placing ninth,10th and 11th, respectively.

Smith, Worcester, Felten and Thewalso earned all-conference honors withtheir performances at the MWC championships.

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRYThe women’s cross country team fin-ished fourth or higher in three of its sixmeets this season. The highlight was afirst-place finish (of eight teams) at theRipon Invitational. The season culmi-nated in a sixth-place finish at theMWC championships.

Michelle Matter (Fr., Sussex, Wis.)led the team with top times in both the5K and 6K races. She ran a team-best5K time of 19:58 at St. Norbert Col-lege’s Tom Barry Invitational, while alsoleading the team with a 6K time of23:27 at the WPCC. Her third-placefinish at the WPCC earned Matter first-team, all-state honors.

Joining her as a first-team, all-statehonoree was Jessica Davey (Sr., Berlin,Wis.), who ran a season-best time of24:13 at the WPCC.

Davey and Matter were the onlyRipon women to earn all-conferencehonors, finishing ninth and 10th, re-spectively, at the MWC championships.

FOOTBALLThe Red Hawks football team finished7-3 this season, including a 7-2 mark inthe Midwest Conference (MWC).That marks the fourth consecutive yearthat Ripon has won at least sevengames. That was good enough toachieve third place in the MWC, andthe fourth consecutive season they’vefinished in third or higher.

Ripon’s rushing attack again domi-nated the conference. The Hawks ranfor 2,978 yards, which ranks second inschool history for a single season, just61 yards shy of the school record. Thatrushing attack, which led the MWC inrushing yards for the third straight sea-son, was led by fullback T.J. Pierce(So., Green Bay, Wis.) and quarterbackMatthew Miller (Jr., Chicago), whowere the first set ofteammates this decadeto finish in the top twoin rushing yards.

Pierce led the teamwith 994 yards, whichis the 10th highest sin-gle season total inschool history, whileMiller gained 922 yardson the ground. Milleralso scored 14 rushingtouchdowns, which istied for fourth in Riponhistory. Five of thoseTDs came in one game(against Grinnell Col-lege), which ties aschool record. Withone season to play,Miller needs 11 rush-ing touchdowns to be-

22 RIPON MAGAZINE

T.J. Pierce ’12 Matthew Miller ’11

Sara Heim ’10 returns one of her record-setting 2,398 career digs in a match against Illinois College. Al Fredrickson photo

Jessica Davey ’10, left, and Michelle Matter ’13are both first-team, all-state honorees.

Al Fredrickson photo

MWC tournament for the seventh timein the last eight seasons. Under the di-rection of first-year coach BeccaCarstensen, Ripon finished 11-19 (5-4MWC), which was good enough forfourth place in the conference.

Senior libero Sara Heim (Wabasha,Minn.) capped off a tremendous Riponcareer by breaking the school record fordigs mid-way through the season. Her661 digs in 2009 is just five shy of thesingle season record and led the MWC.That gives Heim 2,398 digs for her ca-reer. She was named to the MWC firstteam, marking the third consecutiveyear she’s been named to the all-confer-ence squad.

Anna Alvin (Jr., Beaver Dam, Wis.),who was named to the MWC secondteam, led the Red Hawks with 382 kills,which ranked third in the MWC and isthe fifth-most by a Red Hawk in a singleseason. Alvin now has 834 career kills,sixth on Ripon’s career list. Alvin alsoled Ripon with 39 service aces and 78blocks.

Christy Looker (Sr., Rochester,Minn.) completed a successful career byrecording 279 kills, 253 digs and 29blocks — all ranked in the top three onthe team. She also added 22 serviceaces, giving her 116 for her career, fifth-most in Ripon history. Her 986 careerdigs also rank in Ripon’s top 10.

Also contributing to this year’s teamwere setter Alison Ernst (Jr., Lemont,Ill.) and Lisa Aguilar (Fr., Wauconda,Ill.). Ernst registered 764 assists, fourthin the MWC and seventh-most inschool history for a single season. Shenow ranks sixth on Ripon’s career listwith 1,622, while also ranking 10th incareer service aces after recording 21 in2009. Aguilar was third on the team inkills and service aces with 273 and 33,respectively, in her first season of colle-giate volleyball.

WOMEN’S GOLFThe Ripon women’s golf team had itsbest showing in four years in 2009, fin-ishing third out of seven teams at theMWC championships.

At that meet, Amanda Peterson(So., Menasha, Wis.) took 10th placeamong individuals, earning her a placeon the all-conference team. Petersonhad an outstanding season, which sawher capture one MWC performer of theweek award, the first for a Riponwomen’s golfer since 2007. She earnedthe award by shooting a career-low 82at the St. Norbert Invitational.

Including the conference meet,Ripon finished in the top three infour of its seven contests. Petersonshot a team-best score in four ofthose meets, while Amanda Hold-shoe (Jr., Delavan, Wis.) was topsin the other three.

WOMEN’S TENNISRipon’s women’s tennis team fin-ished the season with a 3-10 record,(0-4 MWC). Their wins came overMount Mary and MWC South op-ponents Illinois and Knox colleges.

The Red Hawks were led byBrooke Deans (Jr., Dane, Wis.) andJosie Ullsperger (So., Fond du Lac,Wis.), who each posted 5-10 sea-son records at the No. 4 and No. 1singles spots, respectively. In dou-bles play, Ripon’s team of OliviaWetzel (Fr., Watertown, Wis.) andEllie Hedberg (Fr., Minneapolis,Minn.) led the way with a 3-8record at No. 3 doubles.

The season culminated with aneighth-place finish at the MWCchampionships for the third consecutive season. At the cham-pionships, Wetzel and Hedberg advanced to the consolation finalsat the No. 3 flight, before bowing

FALL 2009 23

out. In singles play, both Wetzel andUllsperger reached the consolation fi-nals, before being defeated.

WOMEN’S SOCCERThe women’s soccer team finished theseason with a 3-15 record, (3-6 MWC).Ripon was eighth in the conferencestandings.

One of the highlights of the seasoncame Oct. 3 when Ripon posted a 1-0win over conference foe St. NorbertCollege. It marked the first time in 33meetings that the Red Hawks defeatedthe Green Knights.

Anna Alvin ’11 Amanda Peterson ’12 Amanda Holdshoe ’11 Brooke Deans ’11 Janel Karsten ’10 Rachel Martzahl ’11

Josie Ullsperger ’12 had a 5-10 record at No. 1 singles.Al Fredrickson photo

Janel Karsten (Sr., Waukesha, Wis.)led the team with five goals, includingfour of the team’s final seven goals of theseason. Karsten added two assists on theyear, which was tied for first on theteam, giving her a team-best 12 points.

Another bright spot on the team wasthe play of Rachel Martzahl (Jr., NewLondon, Wis.), who was second on theteam with four goals. That givesMartzahl 23 career goals — sixth onRipon’s career list.

MEN’S SOCCERThe men’s soccer team had a great turn-around in 2009, under first-year headcoach Lance Gordon. The team improvedby three conference wins from a year ago,while also posting two more wins on theiroverall record, finishing the season 5-12-1(4-5 MWC). That placed the Red Hawksin sixth place in the final conference

24 RIPON MAGAZINE

Alumni Call to Action

Career DevelopmentOffice is BuildingDatabase of Alumni

Ripon’s Office of Career Developmentand the Alumni Association Board ofDirectors are asking alumni to helpprovide Ripon students and facultywith a valuable resource. By submit-ting a brief biographical form eitherelectronically or through the mail, youcan help.

The Office of Career Developmenthas gathered more than 100 biographi-cal forms from alumni to form a database where students may contactalumni who have experience in the career fields where they’d like to beemployed or further educated.

“The knowledge and expertise ofour alumni can provide current students with some useful advan-tages,” says Julie Lynch Kummer ’85,chair of the Alumni Board’s RiponPerson committee.

Alumni who participate must bewilling to be contacted by current students via phone or e-mail.

“Alumni can help current studentsby providing insight on graduateschools, specific geographical locations,job search or internship advice andmuch more,” says Kummer.

“Faculty members also may call onour participating alumni (depending ontheir location) to speak in classes ifthey express a willingness to participatewith instruction on campus. Alumnimay indicate on the form the degree ofinvolvement they’d prefer,” she says.

Alumni may find the brief bio-graphical form in the Career Develop-ment area of the Ripon College Website or in the alumni section of theRipon Portal. Alumni also may contact Director of Career Develop-ment Tom Vaubel ’79 directly atvaubelt@ripon.edu or 920-748-8117.

“Promoting the students who follow us at Ripon is a fulfilling way togive back to the College and interactwith the students,” says Kummer.“Should you be fortunate enough to in-teract with the Ripon College students,they will undoubtedly impress you.”

standings, threespots higher thanthey finished lastseason.

Ripon, whichfeatured 10 newplayers on thisyear’s squad, wasled by sophomoretransfer KyleSeemeyer’s(Neenah, Wis.) six

goals and five assists — both teamhighs. Two of Seemeyer’s goals were theeventual game-winners. Joe Drexler(Jr., Appleton, Wis.) and Vince Butitta(So., Delavan, Wis.) chipped in withfive and four goals, respectively, whileZach Hershoff (Jr., New Berlin, Wis.)and Alvaro Calle (Fr., San Francisco,Calif.) recorded five and four assists onthe season.

Between the pipes, Ripon proved tohave some of the best depth atgoalkeeper in the conference.Three players split time in goalthis season, with Adam Haefner(Fr., Mequon, Wis.) leading theteam in save percentage(69.8%). Ryan Crane (So.,Deerfield, Ill.) and Bob Brad-bury (Jr., Oregon, Wis.) alsowere solid at goalkeeper. Bradbury led the team with a1.70 goals against average. r

Kyle Seemeyer ’12 moves the ball against Wisconsin Lutheran College. Seemeyer scored two game-winning goals in 2009. Leonard Cederholm photo

Adam Haefner ’13

• For more great sports action photos,visit www.flickr.com/photos/ripon_college.• Complete lists of fall all-conference performers and winter sports schedulescan be found at www.ripon.edu/athletics.• Become a fan of Red Hawks Athleticson Facebook at www.facebook.com/redhawks.athletics

Class NotesCLASS NOTESbusiness management firm. I loved my job but re-tired in 1995 to spend more time with my twograndchildren. I took two trips to Sweden forfamily reunions — yes I’m a Svensk Flika!”

Andy Kandutsch ’50 and Nancy Thulin Kandutsch ’50 of Surry, Maine, report: “We arestill sailing our little 23-foot ‘Stone Horse’ sloopand growing a vegetable garden in the summer,and waiting out the six-month-long winter.”Andy retired from the Roscoe B. Jackson Labora-tory in Bar Harbor, Maine, after 37 years.

Ernest F. “Ernie” Talarico Sr. ’50 of Glenwood,Ill., former Ripon class president, turned 85 Sept.10. He and his wife, Alice, celebrated their 54thwedding anniversary in October. He recalls thatat Ripon, he served as head waiter in the diningroom. He keeps active now by doing volunteerwork at an adult care center, does “fuzzy art” thathe shares with others, helps his wife with her dogobedience training work and sometimes takestheir lab and Airedale dogs for visits to the carecenter and in hospice work. “When you’re inyour 80s yourself, you count your blessings,”Ernie says. “It’s a gift to remain active.”

Jerry Wadleigh ’50 of Geneva, Ill., retired in1984 after 30 years with Travelers Insurance Co.He and his wife, June, then helped raise fourgrandchildren and one great-grandchild. “Thishas got to be the best time of my life — all thefun and no real responsibility,” Jerry says. “Bothof our children live within about a mile of us sowe see everybody often. We are both in goodshape and active, thanks to some doctoring alongthe way. I play golf twice a week and when thecooler weather sets in, I go trapshooting with oneof my grandsons.”

Lois Horn Holm ’51 of Salinas, Calif., golfs acouple of days a week and helps with a churchhot lunch program that feeds 100 to 200 home-less and needy people every weekday and Sundaymorning.

Lee Harrer ’52 of Clearwater, Fla., reports thatafter retiring from the U.S. Army in 1973, heand his wife, Rita, moved to Clearwater where hehas become a full-time bibliomaniac, concentrat-ing on books about books. He and others estab-lished the Tampa Book Arts Studio on the cam-pus of the University of Tampa. Lee has given tothe University some 4,500 books and ephemeraand plans to add 1,200 more items to the collec-tions. Lee is a member of Chicago’s Caxton Club,the Delaware Bibliophiles and the AmericanPrinting History Association, and he was treasur-er of the Florida Antiquarian Booksellers Associ-ation.

Gary Alexander ’57 of Wausau, Wis., retired in1997 as an associate administrator for WausauMedical Center, where he worked for 12 years.Previously, he worked for Wausau InsuranceCompanies for 26 years. He and his wife, Marsha,like to travel. He also is active in his church, de-livers meals to shut-ins, and helps put on Sundaymeals for the homeless and others who have noother place to eat.

Judy Pallett Kaestner ’57 of Oconomowoc, Wis.,is active with her church where her husband is thevicar; reads with the “Blue Jeans Book Club;” andpaints Byzantine/Russian Icons, for which shetakes commissions.

1960sJune 25-27, 201050th Reunion, Class of ’6045th Reunion, Class of ’65

Tom Magdich ’61 of Dixon, Ill., serves on the Pas-toral Relations Committee for First PresbyterianChurch.

Henry Holzkamper ’62 of Naples, Fla., writes,“Havin’ fun in Florida! BBQ and the smoker forthat slow, good, old-fashioned taste. Golf and ten-nis is what works up that appetite.”

Jazz and pop singer Al Jarreau ’62 of Los Angeles,Calif., returned to his Milwaukee-area roots in Julyto sing and encourage young people to becometeachers. The seven-time Grammy Award winnerperformed at the Gathering on the Green musicfestival in Thiensville.

Judy Hughes Phillips ’62 of Appleton, Wis., is in-volved with several volunteer activities, includinginvolvement with the Girl Scouts; tutoring, in-cluding the Reading for Success program; SpecialEvents Committee for LEAVEN, a nonprofit orga-nization that helps people in need; American As-sociation of University Women; singing in herchurch choir; and work with the Appleton Educa-tion Foundation. She still plays golf, and “thanksto a high handicap and my partner, we just camein first in the pairs match play competition whereI golf,” she says. “The rest of the time I love toread and travel. I retired from teaching 10 yearsago, but find it’s not hard to stay quite busy, in-volved and enjoying life. The opportunities keepcoming, and I have been involved as helper orchair of several activities over the years.”

Ruth Carwithen Satterthwaite ’65 of Palo Alto,Calif., is trained as a Community Emergency Re-sponse Team (CERT) member and is a licensed

1940sDave Hargrave ’47 lives in Santa Rosa, Calif., 50miles north of San Francisco. During World WarII, he farmed a 220-acre spread for his semi-invalidfather. While at Ripon, he sometimes spent sever-al nights a week playing trumpet with the 10-pieceBob Malcolm Orchestra. Pay was the magnificentsum of $4 per gig! His adult working years werewith Kimberly Clark. Dave’s aunt, Josephine Har-grave, was the College librarian and helped to de-sign Lane Library.

Lucia Lay Maxson ’48 of Bowling Green, Ky., stillvisits Ripon occasionally with her children andgrandchildren. She grew up in a house at 708 Wat-son St., where her grandparents, Henry and LelaMaxwell, and great-grandparents, Owen and Elec-ta Manzer, were living. “So, four generations livingin one house — incredible but true,” Lucia says.“My grandfather called the house The D.O.W. (forDamned Old Wreck), and so it was called that,down through the years. When I go back toRipon, it is as much to visit the D.O.W., as any-thing else.” Lucia’s mother, Margaret Lay, taughtFrench and Spanish at the College, and her sister,Phyllis Lay, was a member of the Class of ’47. “Itry to get up as often as I can — it’s home,” Luciasays. “I keep up with Ripon College. It was fun toget back up and see the walk on the old North-western railroad tracks. And I’m so excited aboutthe free bicycle program. I just love that. Just likeold times — no cars permitted freshman year.”Lucia majored in French and math at Ripon andspent her career as a graphic artist. Now retired,she still puts out a monthly newsletter for her ten-nis association and does graphics work for tennistournaments. She plays tennis two or three times aweek.

Elizabeth Carman “Tibby” Lanzer ’49 and LouisLanzer ’49 of Torrance, Calif., are staying active.Tibby has collected stamps and U.S. plate blocksfor more than 30 years. She also is a printmaker.She shows and sells miniature prints in shows inWashington, D.C., Florida and internationally.Louis has a collection of antiquarian books andprints related to the Sierra Nevada which he is inthe process of selling.

1950sJune 25-27, 201055th Reunion, Class of ’55

Mary Ann Saaf Halmoy ’50 moved “to Los Ange-les in 1952, married and raised two daughters. Iwas widowed in 1972 and returned to the workforce as an account manager in an entertainment

indicates a marriage or union.

indicates a birth or adoption.

Lucia Lay Maxson ’48

William Chester Jordan ’69

FALL 2009 25

Seoul, it involved trying to make sense of whatgoes on in Korea, and then trying to explain thesignificance of events, developments and trendsto the U.S. commander and his senior staff —not unlike a foreign correspondent, just with asmaller and more exclusive readership,” he said.He and his wife, Mary, plan to enjoy quasi-retire-ment in an 80-year-old log cabin in Bellingham,Wash. “It has a fine view of the San Juan Islandsand the Pacific, and I’m looking forward to sit-ting out there and putting a serious dent in mystacks of unread books,” Ken says. “There are alsolots of hiking, biking, kayaking and other leisureopportunities in the area.”

Glen R. Bayless Jr. ’68 of Sterling, Va., has beenappointed the Sugarland Run representative onthe County Planning Commission. Glen retiredin 2007 after teaching in the Fairfax CountyPublic Schools for 30 years. He also served asvice president of the Fairfax County Federationof Teachers.

William Chester Jordan ’69 of Princeton, N.J.,Dayton-Stockton Professor of History at Prince-ton University, is among those inducted into theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences 229thclass of new members in Cambridge, Mass., Oct.10. The program celebrates pioneering researchand scholarship, artistic achievement and exem-

plary service to society. The 212 new Fellows and19 Foreign Honorary Members are leaders in re-search, scholarship, business, the arts and publicaffairs. They come from 28 states and 11 countriesand range in age from 33 to 83. They representuniversities, museums, national laboratories, re-search institutes, businesses and foundations. Thisyear’s group includes Nobel laureates and recipi-ents of the Pulitzer and Pritzker prizes, MacArthurFellowships, Academy, Grammy and Tony awards,and the National Medal of Arts. Jordan is a mem-ber of Ripon College’s Board of Trustees.

Cynthia Lambie Telage ’68 of Ithaca, N.Y., retiredJune 24, 2009, from the African Studies and re-search Center at Cornell University. She hadworked for 32 years as an administrator in variousdepartments at the university. Her husband of 40years, Kal, also retired as a professor from IthacaCollege, so they are now free to pursue their retire-ment plan. “Our Ithaca house is for sale, and wewill become snowbirds with winters in Sarasota,Fla., and summers in Danbury, Wis., where wehave taken over my family’s summer home,” Cyn-thia says.

Life has held two distinctcareer tracks for BobMcPherson ’57 of Apple-ton, Wis.: repairing boatsand singing professional-ly. Work has been job-to-job and on his terms.

“I’m happy withthat,” he says. “You don’thave to worry about get-ting fired or laid off.Work always comes up.People say, ‘Can’t youbudget yourself?’, and Isay, ‘Nope. I don’t knowwhat I’m going to beearning.’ It’s always beenplenty, but it’s never beenlined up where fourmonths from now I knowwhat I’m going to bedoing.”

McPherson is a nativeof Oshkosh, Wis., andgrew up along Lake Buttedes Morts where hisgrandparents lived.“That’s how I got intousing a boat,” he says. “Ifound I liked to sail, somy grandfather bought

me a sailboat in1949. That’show I got intoracing sailboatswith theOshkosh YachtClub. I fixedmy boat, rebuiltit, and I startedto win 80 per-cent of theraces. That’show I got intothe boat repair business.”

But McPherson reallyliked to sing. While still inhigh school, he begansinging in a barbershopquartet and performed inshows and concerts allover the state.

His grandfather wasin the sheet metal busi-ness and thoughtMcPherson should get abusiness degree. So hepaid for McPherson to at-tend Ripon. McPhersonearned a degree in eco-nomics, was a member ofSigma Chi, started taking

voicelessons andsang in thechorus.AfterRipon,McPhersonwas one of500 peopleto auditionfor the St.Louis Mu-nicipal

Opera. He was hiredfor the chorus. He sangwith major opera com-panies in Florida andwas a founding singerin the Palm BeachOpera. He toured withmusical productionsand performed withnumerous East Coastopera companies. Hesang with the Metro-politan Opera chorusin New York for almost10 years.

“The music lasteduntil about 1988, butbeing in the music busi-

MCPHERSON ’57 HAPPY WITH DAY-TO-DAY EXISTENCE

Bob McPherson ’57circa 1980

ness you don’t alwayshave a job,” McPhersonsays. “So between perfor-mances, I was back in theboat business.”

McPherson worked asan independent contrac-tor so that he had no diffi-culty leaving when asinging job came up. “AsI got older, I sang lessand fixed boats more,” hesays. In 1997, he and hiswife, Sally, returned toWisconsin, and McPher-son established RobertMcPherson Marine Re-pair in Appleton – still asan independent contrac-tor.

“I work for whom Iwant to when I want to,”he says. “I work sevendays a week in the springand part of the summer.Winter is long and bare,generally. Every winterI’m scared to death, butevery winter I getthrough. Something popsup.

“It’s a crazy life. I’venever had a steady in-come since about 1963,but we’ve done every-thing we ever wanted todo in our lives. We’vebeen to Europe six times,been all over. Bought acabin up north on a lake.You just can’t planahead.”

McPherson likes beingback in Wisconsin. “I’mhaving a good time now,visiting a lot of oldhaunts. I see people nowI haven’t seen in 50 or 60years. I’m 74 years old. Ising pretty well, but Idon’t sing as well as whenI was 45. You’ve got totake what you’ve got rightnow, use it the best youcan and enjoy it. I enjoywhat I’m doing. I likeboats. If I won the lotterytomorrow, I don’t thinkI’d quit doing what I’mdoing.”

ham radio operator for use in her work as an emer-gency responder.

Patricia Gass Braidwood ’66 of Virginia Beach,Va., just celebrated her 38th wedding anniversarywith her husband, Doug. Because of Doug’s Navycareer, she spent clusters of years teaching lowerelementary grades. They lived near Washington,D.C., for some years, a year in Newport, R.I. at theNaval War College, two years in Belgium atSHAPE, a couple of tours in Virginia Beach andthree years in Frankfurt, Germany. In Germany,Pat taught at Frankfurt International School, apre-K through high school campus. The Interna-tional Baccalaureate was taught throughout theprogram with student and staff from around theworld. She retired in 2006. She and Doug havetwo children and four grandchildren. They havebeen to all the continents but Antarctica, andthey are working through their “bucket list.”

Ken Kaliher ’67 of Bellingham, Wash., retiredAug. 1, after 35 years of federal service (includingthe Army, Peace Corps, 28 years of civil service,and even 20 months in high school working as apage boy in Congress), and nearly 40 years’ resi-dence in Korea. His last job as a U.S. Army civil-ian was “international relations specialist,” on thestaff of the four-star Army general who is the U.S.commander in Korea. “Like my previous job in

26 RIPON MAGAZINE

summer maintenance work at the 10th Mountainhuts that lie at timberline between Aspen andVail. They are avid telemark skiers.

Ken Ebert ’75 and his wife, Carole, of New Lon-don, Wis., received this year’s George HuntleyAward, presented annually by the New LondonClippers American Legion team for volunteerwork within the program. Ken has served as thestadium’s game announcer, and they both servedas troubleshooters in numerous capacities. Theyalso have been active in the Lawrence Universityfootball parents group for the past four years. Kenis a field representative for Trega Foods Ltd. inWeyauwega.

Jolande K. “Jondi” Gumz ’75 of Scotts ValleyCalif., a reporter with the Santa Cruz Sentinel,won a California Endowment Health Journalismfellowship to report on the problem of over-weight children and potential solutions. She wasrecognized by the Associated PressCalifornia/Nevada for stories about glitches thatprevented doctors from being reimbursed fortreating Medicare patients; after the stories ap-peared, the doctors received thousands of dollarsin payments.

Richard Lewandowski ’75 of Madison, Wis., hasbeen selected by his peers for inclusion in “TheBest Lawyers in America 2010.” The selection isbased on an exhaustive peer-review survey inwhich more than 24,000 leading attorney’s castmore than 2.8 million votes on the legal abilitiesof other lawyers in their specialties. Lewandowskiis an attorney in environmental law with thefirm White Hirschboeck Dudek.

Dave Stockdale ’75 and his wife, Tina, ofGrayslake, Ill., have moved back to the Philip-pines. They lived there for about four years,worked in Puerto Rico for a year, retired on theirsailboat in the Caribbean for almost a year andnow have moved to Manila, Philippines. Tinahas taken a job in the Philippines. Dave is stillretired but is enjoying sailing, scuba diving andgolfing.

Col. (retired) Tom Klewin ’76 is moving to Ki-gali, Rwanda, where his wife, Kathie Fazekas, hasaccepted a position as a public health adviser forCenters for Disease Control and Prevention. Shewill be working with the Global Aids Program(GAP). Tom says he will be going along for theexcitement. He just completed a stint with theU.S. Census Bureau on Oahu managing a teamon Oahu and deployed to Maui and Molokai to

1970sJune 25-27, 201040th Reunion, Class of ’7035th Reunion, Class of ’75

Alan R. Eggert ’71 of Greenville, S.C., retired in2007 from teaching science at James F. ByrnesHigh School.

Neil M. Chisholm ’72 of Evanston, Ill., retired asa publisher’s sales representative, selling books, en-cyclopedias and print/online reference resources toschool, college and public libraries in Illinois, inJune 2008. The publishers included Grolier (pub-lisher of the first electronic encyclopedia) andthen Scholastic (Harry Potter et al). He startedthis work in 1985. “Majoring in speech communi-cations was a useful prelude to my sales career,which of course is 90 percent speaking,” Neil says.Neil now volunteers at Recording for the Blindand Dyslexic in Chicago, recording college text-book chapters; and takes college courses.

Jacqueline Farmer Andrews ’73 and Mark L. An-drews ’73 of Sebring, Fla., were looking forward toMark’s retirement in October after 35 years withAllstate Insurance. He turned the agency over totheir youngest son, Jason. They plan to travel andindulge themselves in hobbies. Jacqueline’s biggestpassion is photography. She does work for friendsand local businesses, and her work can be seen onthe Web site jacquelineandrewsphotography.com.

Blake Iserman ’73 of Elk River, Minn., is in his14th year practicing audiology as a consultant andprogram director to 12 independent school dis-tricts in east central Minnesota. He also coachesthe Elk River High School tennis team, and hisVarsity girls’ team has been 72-4 the past twoyears.

Howard Lee Jones ’73 of Highland Village, Texas,is an outreach coordinator with the Department ofHomeland Security.

Deborah Evans Clem ’74 and her husband,Steven, of Boulder, Colo., are retired and enjoyinghome projects as well as volunteer work in thecommunity. Steve is a construction volunteer forHabitat for Humanity. Deb is a Bookfinder at theUniversity of Colorado campus library, as well ascontinuing to pursue piano, choir and writing projects. One of their favorite jobs is helping with

cover operations there.

Jennifer Vogel Powers ’76 of Hartland, Wis., hasbeen selected by her peers for inclusion in “TheBest Lawyers in America 2010.” Jennifer works inpublic finance law in the Milwaukee office ofQuarles & Brady.

Robbie Cordo ’78 of Minnetonka, Minn., is nowgeneral manager of EuroCars (www.ieurocars.com)in Eden Prairie, Minn. EuroCars sells pre-ownedluxury and high-performance imports nation-wide.

Barb Doerrer-Peacock ’78 of Tempe, Ariz., is inher ninth year serving with her husband, Rich, asco-pastors of South Mountain CommunityChurch, dually affiliated with the United Churchof Christ and the United Methodist Church. Lastyear, Barb completed her doctor of ministry degreefrom Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley.

Helen Holter ’78 of Seattle, Wash., recently waspart of the 35th anniversary delegation to Seattle’ssister city, Tashkent, Uzbekistan. (Seattle andTashkent were the first sister cities in the UnitedStates.) “My Russian — I majored in it at RiponCollege — came in handy in our meetings withgovernment ministries, senators and ambassadors,as we worked to strengthen strategic ties betweenour cities and countries,” Helen says. “It was also anostalgic homecoming for me during those threeweeks: I reconnected with the families I lived withand friends I made throughout Uzbekistan whileworking there as a TV news senior correspondentwith Soviet TV in 1990.” You can view Helen’sUzbek photos on Facebook.

Louisa Gebelein Jones ’78 of Pomfret, Conn.,works at Pomfret School and is moving into a newposition in the Development Office in the capaci-ty of the Parents’ Fund. She also coaches varsityfield hockey and varsity tennis.

1980sJune 25-27, 201030th Reunion, Class of ’8025th Reunion, Class of ’85

Pam Goodden Keeton ’81 of Silver Spring, Md.,just started a new job as director of external com-munications for The Aerospace Corp., a nonprofitfederally funded research and development center.

Jolande K. “Jondi”Gumz ’75

Tom Klewin ’76 Jennifer Vogel Powers ’76

Barb Doerrer-Peacock ’78

Helen Holter ’78 Donna LeslieWilliams ’81

FALL 2009 27

Todd R. Gardner ’91 of Overland Park, Kan., isthe general manager at the Liberty Carlton Com-pany, an international corrugated container company.

Scott A. Gosse ’91 of Hartland, Wis., mar-ried Jill Nett, Aug. 21, 2009, in Hartland,

Wis.

Erin Kinney ’91 of Oshkosh, Wis., marriedKevin Luedke, Aug. 29, 2008. Erin is a cus-

tomer service representative for RR Donnelley inMenasha.

Dana Logsdon ’91 of Belvidere, Ill., owns and op-erates Choicetunes and Video, a mobile DJ andvideo production company. He also works for theSears Holdings Corp. in its television productionstudio.

Its focus is space and national security in space. Itserves as an honest broker assessing the viability ofgovernment initiatives as well as the solutions pri-vate companies want to sell to the government.Most notably and recently in the news, the Aero-space Corp. conducted much of the analysis usedby the U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committeeled by Norm Augustine.

Donna Leslie Williams ’81 of Portage, Wis., re-turned to Wisconsin in February 2009 after spend-ing 13 months in Iraq. She has returned to her jobas the inspector general for the Wisconsin Nation-al Guard. “It was an interesting 13 months,”Donna writes of her overseas service. “I was the in-spector general for Multi National Force Iraqworking for Gen. Petraeus.”

Mario Friedel ’88 of Ladysmith, Wis., has receiveda statewide Distinguished Administrator Awardfrom the Wisconsin Music Educators Association(WMEA). Friedel is district administrator/elemen-tary principal for Ladysmith-Hawkins School District.

Oussama El-Hilali ’89 of Maple Grove, Minn.,has been promoted to vice president, engineering,in the Information Management Group at Syman-tec, a company offering enterprise software prod-ucts for availability and security.

Erik Lindberg ’89 of Minneapolis, Minn., is a di-rector of new product development for the legalprofession with Thomson Reutters West. His wife,Nikki Zens Lindberg ’89, is a free-lance graphicdesigner and crafter.

Mitch Rosin ’89 of Chicago, Ill., is an editorial di-rector at the McGraw-Hill Companies, School Ed-ucation Group.

1990sJune 25-27, 201020th Reunion, Class of ’9015th Reunion, Class of ’95

Susan E. Frikken ’90 of Madison, Wis., has fin-ished the prerequisites to apply to physical therapyschool and is working as a massage therapist in herown practice (www.yaharatherapy.com).

Patrick Joseph Mulvey ’90 of Milwaukee, Wis.,teaches writing at Woodland School in Milwaukee.

June M. Stuebs-Prochaska ’90 and her hus-band, Craig, of Watertown, Wis., have a

daughter, Megan Rose Prochaska, born Nov. 12,2008.

Lt. Col. Brian M. Stout ’90 of Menomonie, Wis.,is the professor of military science and departmentchair at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. Thedepartment has 110 cadets distributed betweenUW-Stout, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claireand University of Wisconsin-River Falls. Stoutpreviously worked for six years on the NationalMissile Defense System and global and nuclear

command and control capabilities at U.S. Strate-gic Command, Offutt AFB, Omaha, Neb.

David Anthony Robert Troy Jr. ’90 of Wethers-field, Conn., is a financial planner with MetLife.

Karl Feld ’91 of Clayton, N.C., continues travel-ing around the world and is learning Spanish toaccommodate his frequent travels to Latin Amer-ica for work. Keep up with Karl through his trav-el blog at wandervogeln.blogspot.com

Brian Frey ’91 of Madison, Wis., is a scientist inthe department of chemistry at the University ofWisconsin-Madison. He enjoys playing tennistwice a week. He and his wife, Becky Hustad’91, have two children, ages 10 and 5.

In retirement, KathyKurke ’75 of OrmondBeach, Fla., has founda new career design-ing, making and sellingJudaica jewelry in herbusiness, Kathy’sKreations.

But she still is fly-ing high with her previ-ous career as a lawyer.She was with the ArmyCorps of Engineers for 17years before receiving amajor promotion to chiefcounsel for NASA Langleyand a member of the SeniorExecutive Service.

“It was exciting workingwith the NASA scientistsand engineers and beingable to play a role inNASA’s many and variedmissions,” Kurke says.“The legal issues were quiteunique. I tried to find cre-ative legal ways to accom-plish NASA’s mission andstay consistent with federallaws and regulations. Some-times, federal laws and reg-ulations are not conduciveto having business donequickly and efficiently.”

Kurke says her officefound ways to get thingsdone using best businesspractices.

“Scientists and engineers

aren’ttrained inthe businessworld. Webrought ex-pertise tohelp themaccomplishtheir mis-sion effi-ciently,

legally and ethically.”Kurke always wanted to

work with government andfound her civil service rolesgratifying.

“I always viewed myclients to be the Americanpeople, a shared philosophyof all government lawyers,”she says. “I just didn’t knowit would be this exciting.”

Kurke’s work includedintellectual property law,patents, technology transferwork, business law team,contract issues, space actagreements, appropriationlaw issues and issues sur-rounding the space shuttleColumbia accident – “try-ing to find the failures in thesystem and trying to makesure that kind of thingwould never happen again,”she says.

For her efforts, she re-ceived a Presidential RankAward, a medal from

NASA, a medal from theArmy, the Outstanding Ser-vice Award from the Feder-al Laboratory Consortiumand a number of awards forexpertise in the field of tech-nology transfer.

“It was a fascinating,exciting job,” Kurke says.“It was also extremelystressful.”

When she and her hus-band, Richard Davis, re-tired to Florida, she foundthe transition difficult atfirst.

“I always defined myselfby what I did,” she says. “Iwas a workaholic. Then allof a sudden I had to learnwho I am. I was chief coun-sel of NASA Langley, nowI’m Kathy Kurke. That wasa pretty big learning experi-ence, and I like it.

“I started a jewelry-making business. I’m getting to do all the things Inever got to do when Iworked 80-hour workweeks – exercise, joininggroups. I have a very cre-ative side to me, but I rarelygot time to translate it intoany kind of art form. NowI get to be really creative,and that’s a lot of fun.”

FORMER NASA LAWYERKURKE ’75 ADAPTING TO NEW LIFE

Kathy Kurke ’75

28 RIPON MAGAZINE

The first book of Derek Rivard ’93 of Nevada,Mo., Blessing the World: Ritual and Lay Piety inMedieval Religion, was published last December byCatholic University of America Press. It hasbeen favorably reviewed. Derek joined the Uni-tarian Universalists this summer, though he alsocontinues to try to practice the dharma of Bud-dhism. He is working on a fantasy novel and isnow one of only a handful of college professors inthe United States who teaches a college filmstudies course on Japanese animation as a seriousgenre of film. He is an associate professor of his-tory at Cottey College, a small, liberal arts-basedwomen’s college that is currently a two-year cam-pus but is transitioning to a four-year program.

Kelly Bales ’96 of San Angelo, Texas, was pro-moted to Master Sergeant (E-7) July 1. He’s cur-rently assigned as the course supervisor for a con-solidated Cryptologic Language Analyst course atGoodfellow AFB, San Angelo, Texas. He recent-ly was awarded the Air Education and TrainingCommand’s Master Instructor Certificate and thecoveted Community College of the Air ForceOccupational Instructor Certificate. He was setto deploy to South America for six months at theend of the summer.

Courtney Nugent ’96 of Boulder, Colo., now isan associate scientist at Array Biopharma, a smallbiotech.

Chad Hendee ’97 of Baraboo, Wis., is an assis-tant district attorney in Sauk County.

Brooke Husbands ’97 of Rowley, Mass.,married Aaron Emmerich, July 11, 2009.

Brooke works at Candlewick Press as book cluband subsidiary rights sales manager. Starting inOctober, she will be selling UK territory rights tosome of the books.

Britton Kauffman ’97 of Davis, Ill., teaches so-cial studies, history and geography at DakotaHigh School. He also is the head varsity baseballcoach and offensive coordinator for the varsityfootball team which won the Illinois Class AState Championship in both 2005 and 2007.

Ryan Patnode ’97 is a student at the Commandand General Staff College in Fort Leavenwoth,Kansas. Prior to that assignment, Ryan served inIraq for 15 months with the 3d Armored CavalryRegiment.

Kristin Patey-Wagner ’97 and her husband,Mike, of Glendale, Wis., have a daughter,

Lily Sherrin Wagner, born July 2, 2008.

Rese Johnson Schrieber ’97 and her hus-band, Adam, of East Troy, Wis., have a son,Adam Martin Schrieber Jr., born April 23,

2008.

Abbey Smoll ’97 of Phoenix, Ariz., marriedCraig Walejko, June 12, 2009.

Steven John Wiechmann ’98 of Salt LakeCity, Utah, married Melissa Reilly, June 21,

2008. He is operations manager for David Hol-lands Hotels in Park City, Utah.

William M. McCormick Jr. ’91 of Hull, Mass.,works for Strategis Marketing & Communication,a full-service advertising agency with headquartersin Stoughton, Mass. He is an account executivefor new business development in social communi-cations in the New England area.

Willard Steinberg ’91 of Minneapolis, Minn., is acoach for the Minneapolis South High School De-bate Team. The mission of the Minnesota UrbanDebate League is to empower students to becomeengaged learners, critical thinkers and active citi-zens who are effective advocates for themselvesand their communities.

Cinnamon Gifford Theder ’91 of Watertown,Wis., teaches third grade at Webster School inWatertown. She is active in the teachers’ union,serving as president of the local and treasurer ofher uniserv, the regional component of the union.She is on the board of directors for the WisconsinEducation Association Council and this summerwent to San Diego for the National Education As-sociation Representative Assembly.

Krystin Burrall Trustman ’91 of Austin, Texas, isworking on her second bachelor’s degree, in com-puter information systems, online through DeVryUniversity.

Kim (Kottke) Weinberger ’91 and her husband,Tony, of Lomira, Wis., are finishing their seventhyear of being in business together. Their company,Computer Troubleshooters, is part of a worldwidefranchise. It is the master franchise for the state ofWisconsin with 14 offices from the St. Croix Val-ley in northwest Wisconsin down to the southernpart of Milwaukee.

Richard Whipple ’91 and his wife, Nancy, ofWoburn, Mass., have a son, Alexander John

Whipple, born June 29, 2009. “He is doing fineand growing quickly,” Richard says. Richard workswith individuals with special needs through River-side Community Care.

JuDee Stojsavljevic Fischer ’92 of Racine, Wis.,has moved from the lab at Abbott Laboratories tothe Clinical Oncology Group as a clinical researchassociate. She currently is working on a globalbreast cancer trial with a promising new oncologycompound.

Linda Mensch Bisarek ’93 of Hillsboro, Wis.,teaches English at Royall High School in Elroy,Wis.

Abigail Williams ’98 married Brian Budzyns-ki, June 21, 2008. They live in Lombard, Ill.,

and Abby works at the Bloomingdale Public Li-brary as a reference librarian.

Kelly Johnson Becker ’99 and Matt Becker’99 of Milwaukee, Wis., have a son, Logan

Matthew Becker, born July 14, 2009.

Mike Berens ’99 of Montgomery, Ala., now is se-nior defense counsel instructor/litigator, serving asa military defense counsel on different basesaround the world for four months of the year, anda member of the faculty in the Military Justice Di-vision at The Judge Advocate General’s School forthe United States Air Force at Maxwell, AFB.

Jennifer Spang Kouba ’99 and Zachary D. Kouba’99 of Ripon, Wis., both earned master’s degrees ineducational leadership from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in May 2008. Jen teaches firstgrade at Clay Lamberton School in Berlin, andZach teaches second and third grades at RandolphElementary School.

2000sJune 25-27, 200910th Reunion, Class of ’005th Reunion, Class of ’05

George Harrison Johnson III ’00 of Fayetteville,N.C., a member of the 82nd Airborne Division,returned to the United States last year after a tourof duty in Iraq. He still is an active duty officerand has moved from Fort Bragg to Pittsburg,Kansas, where he is an ROTC instructor at Pitts-burg State University. His wife, Patricia “Patti”Beck ’98 teaches chemistry labs at Pittsburg StateUniversity and does substitute teaching in thelocal school district. Their daughter, Virginia, justturned 2.

Erin C. Meyer ’00 of Bozeman, Mont., is a casemanager for the Work Readiness Component(WORC), welfare-to-work program, aiding Tem-porary Assistance to Needy Families recipients inreaching self-sufficiency. Erin completed a master’sdegree in history in 2006 from Montana StateUniversity and currently is pursuing a doctorate inhuman services, with a specialization in social andcommunity services, through the online CapellaUniversity, based in Minneapolis.

Nick Araya ’01 of Los Angeles, is the director ofadventure programming and lead guide at Cham-pions, an outdoor adventure and after-school com-pany headquartered in Inglewood. He organizesand leads adventure-based trips for youth groupsthroughout Los Angeles. With this program, chil-dren of all ages partake in hiking, mountain bik-ing, kayaking, rock climbing, technical tree climb-ing, backpacking and more. Nick also is a certifiedarborist and teaches people how to care for theirown trees. He also has his own business makingcustom spliced ropes for arborists and tree climbersthroughout the world. Check it out atwww.splicesbynick.com.

Britton Kauffman ’97Lt. Col. Brian M.Stout ’90

FALL 2009 29

Dana Delach-Garcia ’01 and her husband, Angel,of Williamsport, Pa., both work in physicians infamily medicine for Williamsport Hospital. Danais interviewing for fellowships in palliative/hospicemedicine. They also served as the team doctors forthe Little League World Series.

Molly Ellenbecker Duerr ’01 and her hus-band, Bob, of Coon Rapids, Minn., have a

son, Alexander Raymond Duerr, born Oct. 25,2008.

Bettina Gerlach ’01 of Appleton, Wis., mar-ried Michael Lenzen, Aug. 29, 2009.

Kati Barber Hagenbuch ’01 and her hus-band, John, of Utica, Ill., have a son, Nolan

Charles Hagenbuch, born May 13, 2009. Kati isthe senior speech-language pathologist for St.Margaret’s Health System.

Howie Jablecki ’01 and Katie DonnellyJablecki ’01 have a son, Charles William

Jablecki, born May 20, 2009.

Kristi Sigurslid ’01 of Lodi, Wis., mar-ried Christopher Paskey, Aug. 30,

2008. They have a son, Cameron Taylor Paskey,born Sept. 3, 2009. Kristi teaches math and coach-es varsity girls’ basketball at Lodi High School.

RuthAnne Young Skinner ’01 and her hus-band, Grant, of Mesa, Ariz., have a son,

Herston David Skinner, born July 14, 2008.RuthAnne will be graduating in August with herMSN from the University of Phoenix. She will beattending the University of Arizona in Tucson inAugust to become a nurse practitioner. She alsoworks part time for Banner Health and volunteersplanning weekly activities for 10- and 11-year-oldgirls at her church.

Christopher Thomas ’01 and Michelle MirrThomas ’01 of Ripon, Wis., have a daughter,

Helena Anlyn Thomas, born June 17, 2009. Theirdaughter, Sophia, turns 3 in December.

Cpt. Royce D. Baker ’02 of Green Lake, Wis., re-turned from his second tour in Iraq in April 2008.He then was assigned to the 5th Battlefield Coor-dination Detachment at Hickam Air Force Base,Hawaii, where he served as the Assistant Plans Of-ficer. On June 30, 2009, he assumed Command ofBravo Battery, 2-11 Field Artillery (M777), 2ndStryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Divi-sion at Scholfield Barracks, Hawaii. He will leadhis Battery into Iraq in the summer of 2010 for histhird combat tour. In his spare time, he plays soft-ball and is a part-time semi-professional poker player.

Josh Barkin ’02 of Los Angeles, Calif., mar-ried Sara Mason, May 25, 2008. He now is

known as Josh Mason-Barkin, and the couple livein Los Angeles. Josh is director of school servicesat Torah Aura Productions, a Jewish educationalpublisher. He travels around the country trainingteachers in Jewish schools. In 2007, he receivedtwo master’s degrees: one in Jewish education andanother in Jewish communal service.

Jessica Braun ’02 is living in Chicago and recent-

ly was promoted to account supervisor at EdelmanPublic Relations. She works in social media/digitalcommunications and is active within the Chicagoblogging community.

Andy Attwood ’02 and Kristi Braund ’02 ofMadison, Wis., were married Aug. 15, 2009.

Douglas Robert Brown ’02 and Cherith Treu’03 were married June 30, 2007. They live in

DeForest, Wis. Doug works in various positions inmanagement with the Humane Society in Madison,and Cherith is a math and theatre teacher at Wis-consin Heights High School in Mazomanie.

John Dalziel ’02 of Alma, Mich., mar-ried Amber Howlett, July 31, 2009.

They have a son, Liam Gavin Dalziel, born Jan. 17,2009. John is in his fourth year as an assistant pro-fessor of theatre and dance at Alma College, Alma,Mich.

Captain Joe Davison ’02 and his wife,Nicolle, have a son, Logan Mark Davi-

son, born Feb. 20, 2009. Joe and Nicolle were mar-ried May 19, 2007. Joe received a master’s degree ininternational public affairs in May 2009 from theUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison. He went back onactive duty working for the Wisconsin NationalGuard out of Madison, Wis., in June.

Adam Deets ’02 of Castle Rock, Colo., started anew job last October selling medical supplies forCenturion Medical Products.

Michael Hetherington ’02 and Ashley RouseHetherington ’03 of Springfield, Va., have a

son, Jonathan Michael Hetherington, born April 8,2009. Michael and Ashley both work in the real es-tate industry for Century 21 New Millennium, inAlexandria, Va.

Emmylou Hoeft ’02 of Madison, Wis., marriedTim Wilson, March 29, 2008. She received

her optometry degree in 2006 from the Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago. She now workswith Facchiano and Associates Optometry Office inMadison.

Diamond Jenkins ’02 of Detroit, Mich., will com-plete a master’s degree in community developmentat the University of Detroit-Mercy in May 2010.Diamond worked for several years at Sprint NextelCommunications as a wireless account specialist.She also is president/co-founder of Equity in Part-nership Educational Services, a Michigan 501-c3nonprofit dedicated to youth development. Dia-mond soon will be a licensed Realtor and is current-ly a landlord of several investment properties. Dia-mond also works at Community Legal Resources asan outreach associate on the Detroit Vacant Proper-ty Campaign, an program led by the Detroit LocalInitiatives Support Corporation (LISC).

Adam Malsack ’02 of Montello, Wis., graduatedwith a master’s degree in electrical engineering fromthe University of Wisconsin-Madison in May 2008.He is working full time in his family business, man-aging two RV parks in the Montello area. He alsotaught after-school science classes at St. John’sLutheran School in Montello last year.

Leslie Meyer ’02 of Duluth, Minn., is an assistant

editor at Lake Superior Magazine. In December, shewill graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a master’s degree in library andinformation science.

Carmen Ann Mullenmaster ’02 of Vero Beach,Fla., is a design assistant with L.K. DeFrances andAssociates Inc., an award-winning interior designfirm specializing in residential and commercial de-sign.

Tiffany Sneden ’02 of Riverview, Fla., landed thelead in a play called “Happy Family” at the TampaBay Performing Arts Center. The show was pre-sented Sept. 28 by Jobsite Theater, a semi-professional group. Tiffany also recently took a jobwith the Patel Conservatory, part of the TampaBay Performing Arts Center, as the administratoron duty.

Nadia Stoyanova-Hall ’02 of Dayton, Ohio, doesintelligence work and forecasting for the govern-ment. She earned her master’s of business adminis-tration from Oklahoma City University in 2005and in January 2010, she will start a technicalmaster’s degree in engineering management fromthe University of Dayton.

Liz Webb ’02 of Ellensburg, Wash., completed herthird degree (a second bachelor’s), in media com-munication with an emphasis in graphic designfrom Central Washington University in June2009. Although she is beginning her fifth year asthe health manager at the Head Start program,she is hoping to move on to a design job. Also inJune, she ran her first half-marathon in the inau-gural Seattle Rock ’n Roll Marathon.

Kimberly Scolastico Wilson ’02 and her hus-band, Charles, of Bloomingdale, Ill., have a

son, Nathan Charles Wilson, born May 8, 2009.Kim is a senior project manager for National DataServices.

LeRoy Robert Berndt ’03 of JohnsonCreek, Wis., married Kelsey Skare,

March 14, 2009. They have a daughter, AubrieEvelyn Berndt, born Aug. 12, 2009. LeRoy worksas a landscaper in Watertown.

Scott John Bicknell ’03 and StephanieSmith Bicknell ’03 of West Bend, Wis., have

a son, Luke John Bicknell, born Dec. 3, 2008.

Heather Braund ’03 of Madison, Wis., mar-ried Eric Kotleski, July 18, 2009.

April Dunlavy ’03 of Clintonville, Wis., re-ceived her juris doctorate degree from Florida

Coastal School of Law, Jacksonville, Fla., in May2009. Now, she is living back in Wisconsin. Shetook the Wisconsin bar in July and has passed.

Rachael Levin Heger ’03 of Indianapolis, Ind., re-cently was promoted to Indiana Division Supervi-sor at the Indiana State library. The State Libraryis responsible for collecting and preserving alltypes of information and data about the state ofIndiana. Rachael also was elected as the vice chairfor the 2009 Indiana Library Federation’s District4 conference.

30 RIPON MAGAZINE

Ryan Jorn ’03 and Jessica StocktonJorn ’03 of Evanston, Ill., have a

daughter, Madelyn Diana Jorn, born Aug. 5, 2009.Ryan successfully defended his thesis, “InelasticRate Processes in Molecular Junctions: Current-Induced Nuclear Excitation and Bath-Induced Vi-brational Decoherence,” Sept. 8 and is scheduledto received his doctorate in chemistry from North-western University in December. He is currently looking for a new position while contin-uing to work for his thesis adviser. Jessica now isthe compliance supervisor for Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals. She oversees all investigations,corrective actions and preventive actions for theentire company.

Christine Luke ’03 of Burlington, Wis., is in herfourth and final year teaching English in SouthKorea. She plans to return to the United States topursue something new. She recently returned froma trip to Thailand/Laos, where she became a certi-fied scuba diver.

Ethan T. O’Connell ’03 of Casper, Wyo., receivedhis medical doctor degree in February 2008 fromAmerican University of the Caribbean in St.Maarten. He had been working as a surgeon andnow is in family practice and emergency medicinewith the University of Wyoming Medical Center.

Amiee Pierstorff ’03 of Eldorado, Wis., mar-ried Brad Hansen, Aug. 1, 2009. She teaches

world history and psychology at Omro HighSchool in Omro.

Alberto D. Recalde ’03 and Olivia Siebel ’07were married Sept.16, 2006. They live in

Riverside, Calif., where Alberto is a prosecutorand Olivia is an accounting assistant, both withthe Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.

Susie Peerenboom Reinke ’03 and Todd Reinke’03 live in Howards Grove, Wis. Todd became theassistant principal at Horace Mann School in She-boygan this fall, and Susie is a chiropractor atHowards Grove Chiropractic.

Melissa York ’03 of Lake Geneva, Wis., mar-ried Rick Snelling, Nov. 4, 2006. She received

a master’s of science in special education from theUniversity of Wisconsin-Whitewater in May 2009.She is teaching elementary special education atRobinson Elementary School in Beloit, Wis.

Nicholas Adam George ’04 of Colum-bia, S.C., married Emma Joye, Dec. 7,

2006. They have a daughter, Charlotte Evelyn“Charlee” George, born Oct. 23, 2007, and a son,Colton Lyle George, born Jan. 22, 2009. Nick iscompany commander at Fort Jackson, S.C.

John Warren Jacobson ’04 of Rockton, Ill.,along with a few partners, has started an op-

erating company focused in the industrial and eco-friendly cleaning products space. They collectivelyown controlling interest in four companies includ-ing their latest venture, 4Evergreen LLC. In onlythree months, they have secured a product launchwith QVC and started negotiations with a majornational retailer in both private labeling and regu-lar sales channels. John and his wife, Maria, have ason, John Kenneth Jacobson II, born Nov. 18,2008.

Kira Corsten Klimek ’04 and ChrisKlimek ’06 of Ripon, Wis., have a son,

Grant Michael Klimek, born July 19, 2009.

Marie “Mimi” Krueger Pontarelli ’04 andher husband, Mike, of Aurora, Colo., have

a daughter, Isabella Judita Ponatrelli, born Nov.24, 2008.

Heidi Stubbe ’04 of Glenbeulah,Wis., married Ryan Detlaff, Aug. 16,

2008. The have a son, Samuel Michael Detlaff,born June 1, 2009.

Michael Timm ’04 of Cudahy, Wis., completed athree-week creative writing course at Exeter College, University of Oxford, this summer. Afree-lance writer and assistant editor of the BayView Compass newspaper in Milwaukee, he iscompleting his novel, The Philosopher of Milwaukee. Michael also publishes Milwaukee An-thropologist at mkeanthro.blogspot.com, an onlinemagazine of the liberal arts for general audiences,which invites essays addressing broad themestouching on what it means to be human.

Elizabeth “Libbey” Vopal ’04 of Gillette,Wyo., married Hiram D. Cates, Nov. 10,

2007. She received her master of arts in sociologyfrom the University of Colorado in August 2009,and she now is an academic adviser and adjunctprofessor of sociology at Gillette College inGillette, Wyo.

Sarah L. Ziemba ’04 of Green Lake, Wis.,and Dean Diercks have a son, Sawyer David

Diercks, born Sept. 26, 2008. Sarah is aproject/marketing coordinator at ACS Engineer-ing in Madison, Wis.

Jessica Reed Boccia ’05 and her husband, Mark,have moved to Mokena, Ill. Her husband wastransferred to the Station Calumet Harbor CoastGuard base this summer. Jessica teaches kinder-garten at Fulton Elementary School in TinleyPark, Ill.

Jacob Graf ’05 and Lisa Henke Graf ’04 ofAppleton Wis., have a son, Connor James

Graf, born May 26, 2009. Jacob started a new ITTechnical position at Appleton Alliance Churchat the end of August.

Mary Grant Haste ’05 of Indianapolis, Ind., hasreturned to the Indianapolis Public Schools thisfall after taking a child-rearing leave last year. She

FALL 2009 31

After graduating fromthe Institute for Inte-grative Nutrition inJuly, Lisa SmithSarnowski ’01 becamea board-certified holis-tic health counselor inKewaskum, Wis., re-locating to Milwaukeein November.

Health counselingis a special approach tohealth and nutrition, incor-porating the ideas that noone diet is best for every-one, and discussion aboutfood, relationships, exer-cise, spirituality and careerfulfillment is important,says Sarnowski.

In her position,Sarnowski’s work centersaround educating individu-als on how to live healthierand happier lives. She doesthis through individualcoaching, group coachingand workshops. She alsowrites related articles fornewsletters and the Web.

Previous to working as a

healthcounselor,Sarnowskiworked as ahall directorat CarletonCollege inNorthfield,Minn., fortwo yearsand at theUniversity

of Wisconsin-Milwaukeefor 2-1/2 years as the uni-versity’s first, full-timeNeighborhood Housing Co-ordinator.

Being a health counselorprovides many opportunitiesand responsibilities,Sarnowski says.

“I like the people,” shesays. “I like getting to knowpeople and helping them getthe results they want, andteaching them how to findfood that truly nourishesthem. I help people connectwith food in a positive wayand determine what works

best for their individualbody type.”

She says she also lovesworking with food.

“I love to cook, eat, ex-periment and learn aboutfood,” she says. “Creativelyeating on a budget is some-thing I’m extremely passion-ate about and enjoy helpingothers work through it aswell.”

The idea of building acommunity is another re-warding aspect of her work,Sarnowski says.

“Health coaches are aunique innovation in healthand nutrition. I am gratefulto help foster healthy com-munities for people. Beinghealthy and surroundingmyself with healthy individ-uals has allowed me to finda loving community of edu-cators, practitioners andpeople eager to learn more.”

Alyssa PaulsenPaulsen is a senior communication major fromWinneconne, Wis.

SARNOWSKI ’01 COACHESHEALTHY LIVING

Lisa Smith Sarnows-ki ’01

Elizabeth Reible ’06 and Michael JamesNielsen ’07 of Milwaukee, Wis., were married

Sept 12, 2009, at Ripon College by the Rev. Dr.David Joyce, president. They both are certifiedphysician assistants at Villard Primary and SpecialtyCare Clinic, a clinic for the under-served in Milwaukee.

Jesse James Runde ’06 of Sun Prairie, Wis., is a trapdispatcher with Sanimax in DeForest, a companythat takes grease/frying oil and recycles it into newgrease and biodiesel. One hundred percent of theproduct brought in is recycled and used to in animalfeed or biodiesel. A trap dispatcher is responsible forall of the grease trap drivers. Jesse makes out theirroutes, handles customer inquiries and is responsiblefor making sure service is done in a timely fashion.

Arlene Vanessa Vazquez ’06 of Santa Cruz, Calif.,is attending medical school at the University ofCalifornia-San Francisco. She plans to earn hermedical doctorate in 2011.

Alexis Rose Yadron ’06 of Chatham, Ill., receivedher master’s degree in public administration in May2009 at the University of Illinois at Springfield.

Amanda Bleck ’07 of Lincoln, Neb., earned hermaster’s degree in educational psychology from theUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln in December 2008.She is pursuing her doctorate in school psychologyat the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Katy Griffiths ’07 of Madison, Wis., completed amaster’s degree in biology from the University ofWisconsin-Oshkosh in June and now is in veteri-nary school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Pat Kerstein ’07 of Madison, Wis., marriedAllison Schaser, July 24, 2009. He is in gradu-

ate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madisonto obtain his doctorate in neuroscience.

Stacy Krusa ’07 of Waupun, Wis., graduated fromthe ACCELerated Online Nursing Program at theUniversity of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in May 2009 witha bachelor of science degree in nursing. She is a reg-istered nurse at Beaver Dam Community Hospitalin Beaver Dam, Wis.

Amanda Liethen ’07 of Kimberly, Wis., has joinedthe Advancement staff of Ripon College as theprocess support professional intern for the Office ofthe Annual Fund, Alumni Relations and ParentPrograms. Prior to her return to Ripon, she workedfor the French Consulate in Chicago.

Rebecca Malinowski ’07 of Orland Park, Ill., gradu-ated from the University of Illinois in May 2009with a master’s degree in library and informationscience. She is a reference librarian at the CretePublic Library in Crete, Ill.

Emily Ninmann ’07 of Poynette, Wis., mar-ried Mike Post Jr., Aug. 22, 2009. She will be

attending the Accelerated Post BaccalaureateTeaching Certification Program at Concordia Uni-versity in Madison, Wis.

Christina Joy “CJ” O’Reilly ’07 of West Bend,Wis., is a marketing and development associate

with the Museum of Wisconsin Art. She previous-ly had been an unpaid intern.

Josh Peterson ’07 of Oshkosh, Wis., marriedJennifer Weber, June 27, 2009.

Megan Piotrowski ’07 and Ryan Manis ’08were married Oct. 24, 2009, in Ripon. A re-

ception was held in Great Hall on campus. Theylive in Ixonia, Wis. Ryan is a management traineeat Landmark Credit Union, and Megan is an ac-count executive at Tailor Made Products.

Weston Radford ’07 of Milwaukee, Wis., is at-tending the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Ben Ruetten ’07 of Berlin, Wis., is director of in-strumental music at Berlin High School.

Dorrie Siqueiros ’07 of Chestnut Hill, Mass.,completed a master’s degree in higher educationadministration from Boston College in May 2009.In June, she presented a case study at the NationalConference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE) inSan Diego. In July, she began a full-time residentdirector position at Boston College.

Jason Robert Wickstrom ’07 of Ripon, Wis., is anassistant football coach at Ripon College and alsois employed at Diverse Options Inc. as a grant pro-ject coordinator and supportive employment specialist.

Stefanie Bostedt ’08 of Franklin, Wis., is nowAfter School Program Leader (K-5) at DeerfieldElementary School in Oak Creek.

Leah Theresa Hover ’08 of White Lake, Wis.,teaches math at White Lake High School.

Andrew Joseph McKee ’08 of Olympia, Wash., isa 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Army Signal Corps.

Jeanna Sperber ’08 of Green Bay, Wis., has beenpromoted to human resources coordinator at Be-yond Abilities LLC in Abrams, Wis.

Christine M. Anhalt ’09 of West Bend, Wis., hasbeen accepted into the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She will study for a master’s degree inconservation biology.

Eli Justice Annis ’09 of Osceola, Wis., will studyfor a doctorate in mathematics at the University ofWisconsin-Milwaukee.

Cameron R. Arndt ’09 is entering the U.S. Armyas a 2nd lieutenant infantry officer.

Peter Alexander Azmani ’09 of Hales Corners,Wis., is working at Walt Disney World.

Claire Spydell Baide-Castillo ’09 of St. Paul,Minn., is studying law at Hamline University inSt. Paul.

Matthew James Barrile ’09 of Sheboygan, Wis., isstudying for a master’s degree in Spanish languageand literature at Bowling Green State Universityin Ohio.

Lindsay Elissa Breviu ’09 of Eagan, Minn., isworking at the Anthony Louis Center in Min-

now teaches third-grade English as a Second Language.

Philicia King ’05 is in her third year of teachingFrench at a high school in Las Vegas, Nev.

Eric Nee ’05 of Pardeeville, Wis., marriedNicole Nelson, July 25, 2009. Jennifer Nee

Hagel ’03, Luke Hagel ’03, Curt Maurer ’03, RobPerkins ’06, Dan Hoffman ’05 and ChristopherLisowe ’05 were all in the wedding. Eric is com-pleting his master’s degree in administrative lead-ership through the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Terri Kahler ’05 now is living in Springfield,Tenn., where her fiancé, Matthew Werner, is fin-ishing his degree in elementary education atAustin Peay University.

Peter Kane ’05 of Champaign, Ill., moved to Be-lize Aug. 19 for two years to work as a special edu-cation teacher-trainer with the Peace Corps.

Jenny Reese Schroth ’05 of Shiocton, Wis., is theassistant director of Career Services at St. NorbertCollege in De Pere. She also is teaching one class,an internship for the division of humanities andfine arts, as an adjunct faculty member.

Andy Tratar ’05 and his wife, Holly, of FallRiver, Wis., have a son, Drew Thomas Tratar,

born May 9, 2009. Andy is an orthopaedic physi-cian assistant at the Family and Sports Or-thopaedic Center in Beaver Dam, Wis.

Austin Wenker ’05 of Eldorado, Wis., is head or-ganist and pianist at First United MethodistChurch in Oshkosh, and also plays organ andpiano in rotation for Martin Luther Church andBethlehem Lutheran Church in Oshkosh. Austinalso is a free-lance piano accompanist for studentsin the music department of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, teaches piano lessons andplays violin and five-string electric bass. In visualarts, he specializes in fine portraits, flowers and fig-urative works in colored artist pencils, acrylicpaint and multiple inks. He has had two solo artshows including a month-long gallery art show,“The Inspiration of Diversity,” in February 2007 atthe Langdon Divers Gallery in Fond du Lac, Wis.He has completed 12 paid art commissions to pri-vate clients, has contributed artwork to “Arts andAll that Jazz” for Ripon College and participates inmany local art shows. As a serious bodybuilder, heis working toward becoming a certified personaltrainer. He also works a part-time retail job at theFond du Lac Shopko, and he sings in the RiponCollege Choral Union.

Zachary Chitwood ’06 of Lawrenceville,N.J., married Iga Zelazny, May 30, 2009. Zack

received a master’s degree in history from Prince-ton University in September 2008 and now is pur-suing his doctorate in history there. An article inthe Princeton Alumni Weekly, “History, piece bypiece,” discusses the archaeological survey work inrural Turkey being done by Zach’s adviser, andZach’s involvement in the study for two summers.The article can be read online atpaw.princeton.edu/issues/2008/09/24/.

32 RIPON MAGAZINE

at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Jennifer Leah Hesemann ’09 of Westby, Wis., isstudying for a master’s degree in medicalgenetics/genetic counseling at the University ofWisconsin-Madison.

Justin D. Hoke ’09 of Madison, Wis., is a studytechnician with Covance Inc.

Krystle Lynn Hyke ’09 of Rhinelander, Wis., is ahome healthcare provider for Helping HandsHeathcare.

Brittany A. Kaufman ’09 of Eland, Wis., is attend-ing the Forest Institute of Professional Psychologyfor a degree with an emphasis in child and adoles-cent psychology.

Jenan Jamal Kharbush ’09 of Madison, Wis., re-cently was awarded the 2009 National ScienceFoundation Graduate Research Fellowship. She willbe attending UCSD-Scripps Oceanography Insti-tute to earn a doctorate in oceanography. The prestigious NSF fellowship will fund three years ofher graduate school work.

Heather Lynn Koeller ’09 of Clintonville, Wis., is aday camp counselor at the YMCA of Metro Milwaukee.

Paula A. Kordek ’09 of Elgin, Ill., is a bilingualfraud analyst with Chase Card Services.

Wesley Robert Kraemer ’09 of Neshkoro, Wis.,works for CJ’s Landscaping.

Nicholas Ryan Krueger ’09 of Menomonie, Wis., isstudying at Georgetown University for a master’sdegree in security studies.

Jordan Elizabeth Lander ’09 of Round Lake, Wis.,is a marketing coordinator with Medix Staffing So-lutions in Lombard, Ill.

Jennifer Elizabeth Lanser ’09 of Brookfield, Wis.,works at Fotosearch/Publishing Perfection Company.

Christopher Jon Larsen ’09 of Milaca, Minn., isstudying finance at Simon School of Business.

Jon Dominick Larsen ’09 of West Bend, Wis., is amedical recruiter with TotalMed Staffing in Apple-ton, Wis.

Mark C. Leupold ’09 of Maribel, Wis., is a financialrepresentative with Northwestern Mutual FinanceNetwork in Appleton, Wis.

Tanya Sue Lisko ’09 of Slinger, Wis., is studying fora doctor of osteopathic medicine degree at Mid-western University in Glendale, Ariz.

Reesha Marie Lopez ’09 of Madison, Wis., is study-ing for a master’s of public health degree at the Uni-versity of Wisconsin-Madison.

Zakary Stephen Mackin ’09 of Appleton, Wis.,works for Vande Hey Landscaping.

Haley Moerer Madson ’09 of Ripon, Wis., is work-ing as an Americorps Vista employee at Ripon College.

Emily A. Meyer ’09 of Ripon, Wis., is working fora charter school in Minneapolis, Minn.

Andrew Bjarne Mork ’09 of Waukesha, Wis., is awaiter at Christiano’s Pizza in Green Lake, Wis.

Bryan Paul Nell ’09 of St. Germain, Wis., isstudying for a doctorate in chemistry at the Uni-versity of Oregon.

Tyler John Nordman ’09 of Green Bay, Wis., is arecruiter with Aerotek in Madison, Wis.

Angela Olivas ’09 of Malone, Wis., is a manage-ment trainee at Marine Credit Union in Fond duLac, Wis.

Jonathan Daniel Paretsky ’09 of Eagle River,Wis., is studying for a doctorate in chemistry atthe University of California-Irvine.

Megan Michelle Petri ’09 of West Bend, Wis., isworking with AmeriCorps, serving the Big Brothers/Big Sisters and Interfaith Caregivers non-profit groups in West Bend.

Christopher R. Rhode ’09 of Oconto, Wis., worksfor the Green Bay Bull Frogs.

Tyler J. Rosenecker ’09 of Fountain Hills, Ariz., isa 2nd lieutenant with the U.S. Army Signal Corps.

Claire Elizabeth Schultz ’09 of Tigerton, Wis., isentering the Army National Guard.

Kelly Kristina Schweiss ’09 of Fond du Lac, Wis.,is a mobile sales consultant with Best Buy.

Venessa Sue Siebers ’09 of Neenah, Wis., is work-ing with the Blue Mountain Project.

Ashley Ann Skoczynski ’09 of De Pere, Wis.,works at the YWCA and plans to enter the PeaceCorps.

Rebecca Ann Smith ’09 of Waunakee, Wis., isworking for the Santa Fe Opera.

Elizabeth Louise Stoudt ’09 of Sussex, Wis., is co-owner and pet sitter at Premier Animal Care inSussex, Wis.

Daniel Allen Sturgill ’09 of Brookfield, Wis., is at-tending the Medical College of Wisconsin to earna doctor of medicine degree.

Daniel Steven Syens ’09 of Friesland, Wis., worksfor Advanced Energy Control.

Meagan Joy Sykes ’09 of Milwaukee, Wis., isstudying comparative politics-conflict studies atthe London School of Economics.

Rachael L. Thiel ’09 of Ripon, Wis., is a line ther-apist with the Fox Valley Autism Research Center.

Genivee Marguerite Tucker ’09 of Rosendale,Wis., is a sales representative with American Mar-keting and Publishing.

Korine Marie Vierthaler ’09 of Greenfield, Wis.,is studying international relations at the Universi-ty of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

nesota, an adolescent Alcohol and Other DrugAbuse (AODA) treatment facility.

Jared J. Brown ’09 of Delavan, Wis., is working insales and marketing at Browns Service, WisconsinGolf Inc., in Walworth, Wis.

Melissa Ann Burgos ’09 of Milwaukee, Wis., is aphlebotomist at Aurora Advanced Healthcare.

Megan Margaret Captaine ’09 of Oshkosh, Wis.,worked this summer at Peninsula Players in FishCreek, Wis.

Eliza Cherry ’09 and Bruce James Stephenson ’09 were married July 10, 2009.

They live in Ripon. Liza is the campus liaison professional intern for the Annual Fund at RiponCollege, and Bruce is an insurance agent forBankers Life and Casualty Insurance in De Pere.

Genevieve Anne Covert ’09 of Bloomington, Ill.,is attending Illinois State University seeking amaster’s degree in clinical-counseling psychology.

Arielle Julia Denis ’09 of Skokie, Ill., is workingfor CARENET, Americorps, in Denver, Colo.

Emily Christina DeVillers ’09 of Forestville, Wis.,is working with Americorps in Knoxville, Tenn.

Kate Lynn Dricken ’09 of West Bend, Wis.,worked at Lake Lenwood Beach and Campgroundin West Bend, Wis., this summer.

Alexander Earle Duros ’09 of Mosinee, Wis., isstudying law at Michigan State University.

Heather Michele Duzynski ’09 of Milwaukee,Wis., is attending Marquette University to earn aMSN in midwifery.

Hannah Rose Emanuel ’09 of West Bend, Wis., isstudying law at Marquette University in Milwaukee.

Ashley Lorean Ewig ’09 of Wind Lake, Wis., is amanagement trainee in the rotational program atSchneider National Trucking Company.

Bradley David Fehly ’09 of Pewaukee, Wis., is ananalyst at Constellation New Energy.

Amanda Kate Fehring ’09 of West Bend, Wis., is amanagement trainee at the Buckle in MayfairMall, Wauwatosa, Wis.

Gregory A. George ’09 of Carpentersville, Ill., is asecond lieutenant with the U.S. Army.

Julie Ann George ’09 of Waupaca, Wis., is a salesmanager for Anthony George and will be studyingfor a master’s degree in experimental psychology atthe University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

Will Franklin Gillis ’09 of Shawano, Wis., isstudying pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Mariah Dorothy Griffin ’09 of Brown Deer, Wis.,is working at M&I Bank.

Amy Hansen ’09 of Algoma, Wis., is studying law

FALL 2009 33

Tygh James Walters ’09 of West Bend, Wis., isstudying for a master’s degree in kinesiology at theUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Brett Michael Wegner ’09 of Watertown, Wis., isstudying for a master’s degree in accountancy atthe University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Alyssa Anne Wright ’09 of Appleton, Wis., isstudying library science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

If you are aware of a Ripon College alumnus who haspassed away, please send that information along with aprinted obituary from the paper to the Office of AlumniRelations, Annual Fund and Parent Programs, RiponCollege, PO Box 248, Ripon, WI 54971.

Gordon E. “Gordy” Jenks ’40 of Ripon, Wis.,died Oct. 8, 2009. He was born May 1, 1913, inOutlook, Wash. He graduated with a degree in bi-ology from Ripon College in 1940 and was a mem-ber of Lambda Delta Alpha. Gordy enlisted in theU.S. Army Air Force in 1943. He served in theMedical Evacuation Unit in Europe and receivedthe European Theater Ribbon. He was the manag-er of the Ripon College Book Store for 10 yearsand then was a seventh-grade science teacher atRipon Middle School for 20 years. Survivors in-clude two sons.

Fern Rollin “Gus” Lentzner ’41 of North Grafton,Mass., died July 3, 2009. He was born May 6, 1918,in Almond, Wis. At Ripon, he participated in ath-letics and received his ROTC Officer Commission-ing. He was a World War II veteran, enlisting inthe Army in 1941 and serving in the EuropeanAfrican Middle Eastern Theatre. He was honorablydischarged in 1946 as a 1st lieutenant. He workedmany years for Mercury Marine as New Englanddistrict manager and operating their facility inAuburn, Mass. He was a lifetime member of TheElks and a longtime member of The Order of FreeMasonry. Survivors include one daughter.

Joseph R. Welke ’41 of Red Wing, Minn., diedSept. 27, 2009. He was born Feb. 11, 1918, in Mil-waukee, Wis. At Ripon, he was a member of PhiDelta Theta. He graduated in 1941 with a ROTCcommission as a second lieutenant in the Army.Sixteen days later, he left for Fort Benning, Ga.From 1941-45, he served overseas in the 158thRegimental Combat Unit (“Bushmasters”). Hewas promoted to captain in 1944 and had lifelongpride in the service to his country. He worked forthe Upjohn Co. before returning to college atNorth Dakota State University in Fargo, where heearned a degree in pharmacy. He worked at WoldDrug in Moorhead, Minn., and Holmes Drug, Er-ickson’s Drug and St. John’s Hospital in RedWing, as well as doing relief work for drugstoresthroughout southeastern Minnesota and westernWisconsin. He was active at Christ EpiscopalChurch, was a longtime member and past presi-dent of the Hiawatha Valley Toastmasters and amember of Golden K Kiwanis. He was instrumen-tal in starting Red Wing’s first Alzheimer’s diseasesupport group, where he was the facilitator and ed-ucator for many years. He went on to become the

Obituariesobituaries

president of the Minnesota State Alzheimer’s Asso-ciation and also served on its board of directors. Hisfirst wife was Jane Lee VanBergen Welke ’44, whodied in 1989. Survivors include his wife, Pat, 1844Bohmbach Drive, Red Wing, MN 55066; two sons;two daughters; and eight stepchildren.

Warren Park Berry ’51 of Cedarburg, Wis., former-ly of Whitefish Bay, Wis., died Sept. 29, 2009. AtRipon, he earned a degree in economics and partici-pated in football, ROTC and Delta SigmaPsi/Sigma Alpha Epsilon. He retired from IBM after29 years of service. His wife was Mary LandwehrBerry ’54, who died in 2001. Survivors include oneson and three daughters; a brother-in-law, JimLandwehr ’56; and a sister-in-law, Carolyn Callahan Landwehr ’55.

Elijah Wayne Black ’52 of Evanston, Ill., a formerlongtime resident of Chicago, died Oct. 3, 2009. AtRipon, he studied business management and was amember of Theta Sigma Tau. He also belonged toPartners in the Legacy. Survivors include his wife,Evelyn Bernahl Black ’52, 305 Trinity Court,Evanston, IL 60201; two sons and one daughter.

Werner Hans Menck ’54 of Cedarburg, Wis., diedMay 26, 2009, after a long battle with multiple scle-rosis. At Ripon, he majored in economics, was amember of Theta Chi and was commissioned in theROTC program. He earned an M.B.A. from Indi-ana University. From 1955 to 1957, he was an Armyofficer stationed at Fort Riley, Kan. His executivebusiness career with Louis Allis, Polaroid and GouldElectronics spanned 30 years, including a time ascorporate controller. He was a steady and methodi-cal man who loved his life and demanded to liveeach day to the fullest. After losing the use of hisarms and legs, he used his heart and head to becomea prolific creative thinker, author, artist and poet.With his computer and voice activation technology,he took control of his world and wrote severalbooks and hundreds of poems about his family,childhood memories, religious faith, the naturalworld and his beloved Cedarburg. Survivors includehis wife, Willa Widerborg Menck, W68, N476Evergreen Blvd., Cedarburg, WI 53012; one sonand two daughters, including Linda E. Menck ’86.

Charles H. “Chris” Tenney III ’71 of Sherborn,Mass., died Oct. 15, 2009. At Ripon, Chris studiedspeech communication and drama, was a member ofLambda Delta Alpha and participated in athleticsand student government. He had an acting careerin Hollywood, New York City and the local Sher-born Players. He was a member of the board of di-rectors of the Unitil Corp. in Hampton, N.H.

Nancy Frink Sherer ’72 of Evanston, Ill., died Aug.31, 2009. She majored in art at Ripon and receivedher MFA from Washington University in 1974. Shecontinued making art until her death. She lived inWinnetka for 20 years until recently moving toEvanston. During that time, she was active in thecommunity and taught yoga, founding Yoga ForEvery Body in Glencoe before her illness with can-cer. Survivors include her husband, David H. Sher-er ’72, 807 Davis St., No. 601, Evanston, IL 6 0201;and two sons.

Mark S. Podlisecki ’81 of Kenosha, Wis., died July17, 2008. At Ripon, he was a member of BetaSigma Pi. He was a technical specialist for AbbottLaboratories in Abbott Park, Ill. Survivors includehis wife, Margaret, 9712 64th St., Kenosha, WI53142; and one son.

Gilbert Michael “Gib” Malm ’85 of Atlanta, Ga.,was killed in a tragic accident Aug. 15, 2009. Hewas born in St. Paul, Minn., in 1963. He graduat-ed from Ripon College as a National Merit Schol-ar with a B.A. in economics, business and philoso-phy. He was a member of the Beta Sigma Pi frater-nity and participated in athletics, Student Senateand Judiciary Board. He went on to attend EmorySchool of Law, receiving his J.D. in 1989. He wasthe founding partner of the Malm Law Group,which focuses on complex insurance coveragematters. He also served as president of the ParentTeacher Association for Seigakuin Atlanta Inter-national School and volunteered his services tothe Atlanta Truancy Project. Survivors include hiswife, Kiyoko, 2084 Imperial Drive, Atlanta, GA30345; one son and one daughter.

Nancy W. Livingston of Ripon, Wis., a formerRipon College employee and the widow of Eco-nomics Professor John “Jack” Livingston ’49, diedJuly 15, 2009. She was born Oct. 9, 1922, in Plain-field, N.Y. She received her doctorate in educationfrom Cornell University. She was involved withRipon College for many years. She was the Ad-vance College Experience (ACE) coordinatorfrom 1987 until her retirement in 1994. She wasawarded the Founders Day Award in 1997, was acharter member of Partners in the Legacy andFriends of Lane Library, and was a founding mem-ber of the Leadership Alliance at Ripon College.She was a member of Ripon CongregationalChurch, P.E.O., the South Woods Park Associa-tion, Library Ladies and the Science Club. Sur-vivors include one daughter, Elizabeth LivingstonJaeger ’79. Memorial gifts may be directed toRipon College’s John and Nancy Livingston En-dowed Scholarship.

F. Joseph Sensenbrenner of Neenah, Wis., atrustee of Ripon College from 1974 to 1979, diedJuly 25, 2009. He was born Oct. 8, 1921, in Ap-pleton. He was an attorney with Remley, Sensen-brenner, Stein, Snyder and Hanes, S.C. Survivorsinclude two sons, including Peter Sensenbrenner,an adjunct instructor of business administration;and two daughters.

Honorary Life Trustee Thomas W. Kimen Jr. ofKey Biscayne, Fla., a member of the Board ofTrustees, died Sept. 14, 2009. Tom was born inHighland Park, Mich., and graduated from LyonsTownship High School, LaGrange, Ill.; MichiganState University; and completed his MBA at theUniversity of Michigan in 1959. He worked forNorthern Trust Co. in Chicago. In 1972, NorthernTrust acquired Security Trust Co. of Miami, Fla.Tom was president of the Miami operation andchairman of Northern Trust Banks of Florida until1982 when he returned to Chicago to work in theCorporate Trust Division. Tom was instrumentalin bringing corporate trust services to high networth families, creating a division now known asWealth Management. Tom retired in 1995. Hespent summers in Green Lake, Wis., and wintersin Florida. He was involved in a variety of civicand community organizations in various locations.He served on the Board of Trustees at Ripon Col-lege from February 1995 to February 2008, afterwhich he was honored as an Honorary LifeTrustee. Survivors include his wife, Gail Kimen,N5329 Shore Drive, Green Lake, WI 54941; oneson, Thomas Kimen III ’87 of Miami; and onedaughter.

34 RIPON MAGAZINE

The Last Wordthe last wordSneesby ’47 Letter Draws ResponseHow odd that Jack Sneesby ’47 feels theRipon Magazine doesn’t support theideals of the alumni. But then self-de-scribed conservatives often seem tothink their values are the only valid val-ues, even in a pluralistic society. RiponCollege exposed me to a wide range ofideals, and while my own views were lib-ertarian then and are still now, surely wecan recognize the importance of explor-ing all views. The public square offers usthe opportunity to evaluate and thinkfor ourselves and not to isolate ourselvesintellectually, socially or culturally.

Also odd is that Mr. Sneesby feelsEurope is an example of “decline.” Tomany of us who visit or have lived there,we can see first-hand the many successesof contemporary Western civilization inproviding quality health care, entrepre-neurial opportunity, fine public trans-portation and, most especially, coopera-tion amongst allied nations to advancethe cause of individual rights and free-dom, and the rule of law not of man.The Euro is not as strong as it is againstthe value of the dollar because the Euro-pean Community economies are notfunctioning well. Not perfect, but prettywell. And life is more than economics.

That Ripon students journeyed tothe inauguration of our President is animportant story, irrespective of the Pres-ident’s political affiliation. Let us cele-brate the students’ interest in our politi-cal process and recognize that diversityin all respects helps make us a more per-fect union.Leon Pascucci ’75Los Angeles, Calif.

I read Jack Sneesby’s rather nasty letterabout Ripon College not supporting hisright-wing political views. Mr. Sneesbyseems to have forgotten that the purposeof an institution of higher education issupposed to be “fair and balanced” (toquote what must be his favorite TVchannel). Back in the 1950s, when I was

the editor of the Ripon College Days,then-President Frederick OliverPinkham attempted to foist a “conserv-ative institute” on the school, headedby right-wing philosopher Russel Kirk.In the paper, I opposed this attempt topoliticize the college; the faculty andmost of the students took my stance onthe issue, as did a number of alumni.The project was — thank goodness —dropped as it should have been.

One other point about Mr. Snees-by’s letter is that he claims that Repub-licans donate more money to causesthan Democrats. He’s correct — be-cause most wealthy people are Republi-cans who are conservative because theydon’t want things to change — afterall, they have theirs! They have moneyto donate to such conservative causesas the NRA, anti-abortion groups andright-wing political candidates. Most oftheir causes are minority causes in thiscountry, but they usually win becausetheir money buys votes. Democrats areequally generous to their causes, butmost of them are not at the same eco-nomic level as Republicans.

Ripon, in spite of being the birth-place of the Republican Party, shouldremain politically neutral.John A. Stoler ’56San Antonio, Texas

I was saddened and appalled by the let-ter … from Jack Sneesby ’47 that ranin the spring edition of the magazine.Mr. Sneesby was objecting to the arti-cle in the winter edition about the tripof some Ripon students and faculty tothe inauguration of President BarackObama.

I was saddened because the letterindicates that Ripon apparently failedmiserably in the late 1940s in educat-ing Mr. Sneesby. Even if some professorgot him to briefly think for himself, itis clear that his mind subsequentlyslammed shut. Mr. Sneesby apparentlymissed the class in which a professormust have repeated the oft-used state-

ment of the Frenchphilosopher Voltairewho said, “I disagreewith your statement,but defend to thedeath your right to say it.” In Mr. Snees-by’s world, there is no room for diversityor disagreement. But that is not theworld Ripon prepared me, or thousandsof other students, to enter. It taught meto seek freedom and reason, not narrow-mindedness and repression.

I am appalled because Mr. Sneesbyseeks to lump together Republicans,conservatives, free enterprise, capitalismand religion and equate them as forcesfor good while labeling and packagingtogether liberals, Democrats, socialists,progressives and big government asforces of evil that are designed to de-stroy the United States. Mr. Sneesby’sreasoning is a slur on the concept of theliberal arts and smacks of the era of theWitch Hunts in the 1950s.

I am also disgusted by Mr. Sneesby’sposition that the trip by some studentsand faculty to attend President Obama’sinauguration is a “direct slap in the faceof those who give financially.” A qualityinstitution such as Ripon must encour-age diversity and free thought, and anysuggestion that it prevent students andfaculty from attending a historic event isa direct slap in the face of the College’svery purpose.

I defend Mr. Sneesby’s right to shifthis financial support to a college thathas a reputation for being conservativeand very narrow-minded. But I, for one,will continue as I have in the almost 45years since I graduated from Ripon con-tributing as much as I can financially tothe College to help it remain as free-thinking and diverse as it can be.Sincerely,Craig T. Ferris ’65Chevy Chase, Md.

Upon reading the diatribe of Mr. Snees-by … , I could not believe that he had

FALL 2009 35

actually attended and, no less, graduatedfrom Ripon College. That he would at-tend Ripon College, one of the highestrated liberal arts colleges in the country,with his narrow-minded, ultra-conserva-tive views is quite surprising. If you lookat Ripon’s mission statement — “RiponCollege prepares students of diverse in-terests for lives of productive, sociallyresponsible citizenship. Our liberal artscurriculum and residential campus cre-ates an intimate learning community …” — it is quite contrary to Mr. Sneesby’sway of thinking. Ripon’s classes encour-aged open discussions of various view-points and respect for those opinions of

Opinions expressed in the Ripon Magazine are those of the author or person interviewed. We’d like to hear what you think about college news and views.

Letters must be signed and include an address and telephone number. They may be edited for length and clarity.

Send your letters to the Editor, Ripon Magazine, Office of Marketing and Communications, Ripon College, PO Box 248, Ripon, WI 54971.

You also can contact us via e-mail at dammr@ripon.edu

What Do You Think?

our classmates which differed from ourown. Jack might find it interesting thata large majority of those leaning moreto the left than he (from moderate toliberal) also believe in free enterprise,capitalism, and are religious. They arealso quite patriotic and have fought fortheir country as well. The skewed sta-tistics which [Mr. Sneesby] incorporat-ed in [his] argument just indicate thatsome people are able to afford contri-butions to educational institutionsmore than others.

[Mr. Sneesby’s] reasoning in [his]less than convincing discourse is quitefallacious. Just because an individualmay have liberal opinions doesn’t nec-essarily mean he/she also believes in so-cialism. Just because an individual hasliberal points of view on some issuesdoesn’t mean he/she cannot have mod-erate or more conservative views onother issues. Labeling people seems tobe a ploy of those … who do not re-spect the point of view of others. Di-versity of thought and background, andrespect for the points of view of others,is what has made this country great.

As far as the so-called “slap in theface” of the article on the journey ofRipon students and faculty to see thePresident’s inauguration is concerned,this should be a source of pride thatthose at the College experienced a partof history. This was not a politicallymotivated journey favoring neither theright nor left, but another example of

learning experienced by faculty and stu-dents together.

Mr. Sneesby, believe it or not, RiponCollege will survive without your moneyand go on teaching those values whichyou so strongly criticize.Richard L. Moschel ’64Sun City West, Ariz./Ely, Minn.

36 RIPON MAGAZINE

Gone to the DogsThanks for the nifty article on alumniand their dogs — very enjoyable! At-tached is some filler for your upcomingarticle on alumni and their cats. Thegrey one is Christopher Robin and theblack/white one is Winnie-the-Mooh.What else would a youth services librari-an name her feline friends? DJ Lilly ’90Bellefonte, Pa.

The Annual FundThree Ways to Give:

Write to us at PO Box 248, Ripon, WI 54971Call us toll-free at 1-877-231-0455 Visit us online at www.ripon.edu/gift

My Ripon College education taught me never to take myself too seriously. At the same time, I learned never to question my potential.

Ripon is a special place where students are held accountable, both for their talents and their shortcomings. Ripon challenges everyone regardless of ability or background.

I know I have built my professional strengths — to think critically, to question constructively, to solve problems creatively — on the foundation of a Ripon education. I do more and care more and think more because of this place.

It is more critical than ever that we — as alumni, parents and friends of the College — give our students the tools they need to be critical thinkers, productive citizens, responsible leaders and good neighbors.

Kristen McCullough ’04Chicago, Ill.

Kristen McMullough ’04, left, celebrated her five-year Ripon College reunion this summer (and had a great time!). Since graduation, Kristen has enjoyed a successful career at Lipman Hearne, a marketing firm in Chicago. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in social work at Loyola University. She is an active volunteer in her community, seen here working on behalf of the Chicago Public Schools, and serves as a member of the Ripon College Alumni Board of Directors.

We are More. We are Together.

We are Ripon.

Homecoming Action!Ripon fans who attended this year’s homecoming football game Oct. 3 weretreated to a 31-14 Red Hawks victory over Carroll College. Clockwise fromtop left, running back T.J. Pierce ’12 eludes a trio of Pioneers defenders;quarterback Matthew Miller ’11 and Christine Pariso ’13 pose for a photoafter the game; Ripon’s version of Klement’s Racing Sausages — mascots fromthe Ripon Restaurant Group — race at halftime; defensive back Joe Faulds’10 and Head Coach Ron Ernst share a laugh on the sideline.

Brian Ernst photos