Many returning for Reunion 2014

In a few weeks, many former students will return to their cherished alma mater to reunite with their classmates, former professors, and other friends.

The annual Reunion brings alumnae and alumni of the College back to campus on anniversaries of their graduation. Although all are welcome, those whose class years end with a four or a nine are especially invited to this year’s reunion from May 29 – June 1. More than 170 people from 16 class years have registered to attend.

Activities in Reunion 2014 include tours of the Old City Cemetery and the Randolph College campus; a discussion of a recently-discovered novel by Pearl S. Buck, a member of the class of 1914; a student panel; lunch with faculty emeriti; educational opportunities with no tests or homework; live bands on three nights, and more.

Alumnae and alumni can register for Reunion 2014 and get more information at http://www.randolphcollege.edu/reunion

Registrations after May 15 will require a late fee.

Professors honored by Annual Fund gifts and sunflowers

Some alumnae and alumni recently surprised some of their favorite professors with sunflowers, and gifts to the College, just before Valentine’s Day.

The Randolph College Annual Fund recently held a special campaign to reach out to some of the College’s younger alumnae and alumni. Staff asked them to make gifts in honor of their favorite professors, who would receive a sunflower and an acknowledgement of the graduate’s gift.

When snow threatened to impact the College on Valentine’s Day, the Annual Fund staff moved quickly to deliver the flowers early.

“We would like to extend our sincere thanks to those who supported the Annual Fund through their participation in our Valentine’s Day campaign,” said Tamera Jamerson, director of the Annual Fund. “The professors were, of course, delighted to have been honored and remembered by their former students in such a special way. Annual Fund participation is absolutely vital to our students and faculty, as it ensures that the College will continue to provide transformative educational experiences in a close-knit, caring community.”

View some photos of professors receiving their sunflower valentines in this Facebook photo album.

Recent graduate ready to begin federal job while continuing dance education

On June 17, Martin Wiley ’13 will begin working for the United States government. Wiley’s ability to secure a great position during a tough economy proves his dedication to preparing for a career both during the school year and on breaks has paid off.

He will serve as an information technology specialist for the Office of Personnel Management, the U.S. government office that manages job announcements, pension plan payments, and other related tasks. Wiley will provide technical support and hardware management for other federal employees.

“I was able to get the job because I had previously interned there for three years during my breaks from college,” Wiley said. “They decided that they would love to have me after graduation because of my work ethic and personality.”

The job’s location also places him in a position to pursue another dream: becoming a professional dancer. He majored in dance at Randolph and was well known for his contributions to dance concerts. However, because he did not discover his talent and passion for dance until his sophomore year at Randolph, Wiley is still new to the art. So when he gets off from his day job, expect to find him studying his passion in dance studios in Washington, D.C.

Grant will support Lynchburg edible landscaping nursery at Randolph's organic garden

The Randolph College Organic Garden will become a local source for plants that beautify yards and produce food, too, with the help of a grant from the National Wildlife Federation (NWF).

Ludovic Lemaitre ’11, Randolph’ s sustainability coordinator, has received an Emerging Leader Fellowship from NWF, which will provide training and $2,000 to help Lemaitre develop an edible landscaping nursery in the Organic Garden.

Edible landscaping is the practice of landscaping an outdoor area using fruit trees, bushes, herbs, and other food-producing plants instead of plants that do not produce food. For example, you could plant an actual pear tree instead of a Bradford pear tree, which grows flowers but not fruit.

“The propagation and distribution on edible perennials (fruit trees, nut trees, shrubs, herbs, etc.) will allow the re-planting of species that are beneficial to both humans and wildlife,” Lemaitre said. “The species will help reforest our region with useful species as opposed to the pretty, but ecologically sterile species that are planted in our landscapes today.”

Ludovic Lemaitre ’11 helps plant a fig tree on back campus
at  Randolph College, one example of edible landscaping.

Lemaitre studied edible landscaping during the Summer Research program two years ago, just after he graduated from Randolph College. He created an instructional guide for edible landscaping, expanded the Organic Garden, and began developing a plan for the garden to help local residents adopt edible landscaping by getting the plants started in a nursery. The NWF grant, along with funds from the College’s Organic Garden budget, will make that a reality.

Lemaitre will plan the details of the nursery this summer. Later in the year, he will work with Randolph students to start planting the nursery. They will host workshops about edible landscaping in late winter, and some plants might be available for transplanting to homes and businesses in the spring of 2014.

Randolph College’s Organic Garden was created 10 years ago by students. It is home to chickens, honeybees, an orchard, and a vegetable and herb garden. Students, faculty, and staff often work in the community garden to enjoy time outdoors and learn about raising natural food.

The Emerging Leader Fellowship is a new program that NWF created in 2013 to provide training and seed money for young professionals pursuing ecological projects. It is an extension of the federation’s Campus Ecology program, which has provided fellowships to college students since 2000.

Tattered bumper sticker leads to new friendship between Emily Fields '16 and Daisy Jenkins Fletcher '50

Emily Fields '16

Just before the academic year began this summer, Emily Fields ’16 was visiting Nags Head, North Carolina, with her grandfather. She imagined the vacation would be a great get-away before she headed off to Randolph. What she didn’t realize was that a walk through the parking lot of her hotel would set off a chain of events that would result in her meeting a kindred spirit—an Even one at that.

“I saw an R-MWC bumper sticker on one of the cars at the hotel,” Fields said. “It was old and tattered, and I got so excited. I thought I’m just going into school, and she’s out of school, and she must have lots of stories.”

During her stay, she asked around the hotel to see who owned the car. On the last day, she made a spur-of-the-moment decision to put a letter with her e-mail on the car’s windshield. “I told her I was a first-year student at Randolph, and I had heard so much about the College. I told her that I wanted to learn more, and if she had any stories, I would love to hear them.”

Daisy Jenkins Fletcher '50

That car belonged to Daisy Jenkins Fletcher ’50. Her daughter, who had borrowed the car for a trip to the beach, delivered the note. “I wasn’t surprised,” Fletcher remembered. “Whenever I’ve been driving and seen a sticker, I usually honk or something.”

While she also proudly displays her new Randolph College sticker, Fletcher has never been able to bring herself to scrape the beloved R-MWC bumper sticker off her older vehicle.

Fields’ note reminded Fletcher of her first days at the College, and she quickly sent her an e-mail sharing a few stories. “She e-mailed me, and then I e-mailed her,” Fletcher said. “It’s been fun. She is so enthusiastic and bubbly, and I’m so sure she is going to have a wonderful time at Randolph.”

Those first e-mails were the beginning of what both women hope will be a lasting friendship, and Fields said they helped her feel more comfortable during the first weeks of school. “I was curious about the College, and I really wanted to get a feel for what our alumnae are like,” Fields said. “It was great that we were both Evens, and she let me know about some of the songs I would be learning. She told me all about her professors and a lot about what it was like when she went to school.”

Fields began to see similarities between her own experiences and Fletcher’s memories. “I’m really excited to know someone who went through some of the same stuff I am going through,” she said. “I want to tell her my stories and I want to hear hers. It is neat to see how much about the College is the same.”

An American citizen, Fletcher grew up in England, where she lived during WWII. She came to R-MWC at the request of her father. “It was a whole new world for me,” she remembered. “The warmth and caring of everyone just overwhelmed me. I hadn’t expected that, and it made it so much easier.”

Fields can’t wait to experience everything Randolph has to offer her. “You always see these happy people standing around laughing with their professors,” she said. “I always thought there was no way anyone could be that happy in real life. But when I got to Randolph, it really was like that. Everyone seemed involved and excited to learn and be a part of a community. I like that, and I’m glad I’m a part of that now.”

Fletcher is looking forward to watching Fields embrace the life more abundant. “R-MWC gave me a great sense of values,” she said. “The things that were so wonderful to me initially and for the rest of my life were the friendships, the close contact with faculty members, and the Honor System. The College gave me a great feeling of belief in myself, and it made me realize that knowledge is important in living a full life. But it also taught me that friendships are right up there in importance.”

Fletcher is grateful that her alma mater is still enriching her life with those friendships, even 65 years since she experienced her own first weeks at the College.

She has no doubt that Fields will find the same sense of place at Randolph, and she hopes that one day she will be able to meet her in person. “I am thoroughly enjoying hearing about and sharing Emily’s experiences and have been telling people about it,” Fletcher said. “My girls even want to know how Emily is doing. It’s been a very bright spot in the past month.”

Randolph College Honors 50th Anniversary of Civil Rights Protests

Randolph College will honor the 50th anniversary of the first sit-in in Lynchburg, Virginia.

This pivotal moment in the civil rights movement here has special meaning to our College. Two of our students joined two other white students from Lynchburg College and two African American students from Virginia Theological Seminary and College at Patterson’s Drug Store in downtown Lynchburg, hoping to convince the owner to allow people of every race to use the lunch counter. When the owner refused, the students held the city’s first sit-in, which resulted in each of them receiving a 30-day jail sentence.

Randolph College is honoring this anniversary with an event that will address both the past and present of the Civil Rights Movement.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

February 17
Lynchburg Sit-in Panel Discussion
Alice Ashley Jack Room, Smith Bldg.
4:30 p.m.


Moderator:
Gilliam Cobbs
Lynchburg community leader

Panelists:
Mary Edith Bentley Abu-Saba ’61
Alumna, sit-in participant
Alice Hilseweck Ball ’61
Alumna, sit-in participant
Evanda Gale Jefferson ’70
Alumna, Lynchburg resident at time of sit-ins, one of the first black graduates of Randolph-Macon Woman’s College

“Activism and Civil Rights Today”
Nikki Giovanni
Houston Memorial Chapel
7:30 p.m.

American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. Through her work, she is wholly committed to the fight for civil rights and racial equality, insisting on presenting the truth as she sees it. She presently teaches writing and literature at Virginia Tech, where she is a University Distinguished Professor. She has received 19 honorary doctorates and a myriad of other awards.

All events are free and open to the public.
Events funded by the Phillip Thayer Memorial Lecture Fund and Kennedy-Fitzgerald Fund.



Read more about R-MWC students and the Patterson sit-ins in the December issue of Randolph Magazine.

Video: Kacey Meaker

Alumna Kacey Meaker talks about how Randolph College prepared her for her doctoral work in physics. She describes the research she conducted as an undergraduate student with professor Peter Sheldon on the physics of rollercoasters which led to their co-authoring a book on the subject.



Watch more Randolph College videos > > >