Vote Kakenya Ntaiya for the top CNN Hero

Kakenya Ntaiya ’04 is one of the top ten CNN Heroes of 2013. Beginning today, the Randolph College community and others who admire her work can vote daily to make her the top CNN Hero for the year.

Ntaiya is a member of a Massai tribe from Kenya. She convinced her village leaders to allow her to be the first girl to leave and attend college in the United States. After graduating from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College and receiving a doctoral degree, she returned to Kenya to open a boarding school where girls are receiving an education that empowers their lives.

To vote, visit the CNN Heroes voting page and select Ntaiya’s picture. Complete the voting by entering an e-mail address or logging in with a Facebook account. Each person may vote once per day. Voting will continue until November 17.

Winning the top CNN Hero award would provide $250,000 to grow the school and transform the lives of more girls, Ntaiya said in an e-mail to supporters. “I want to thank CNN for believing in my dream and that of the many girls around the world,” she wrote. “And I want to thank you, our supporters, for your continued support. Together we are changing the lives of girls in Kenya in a positive way.”

Learn more about Ntaiya here on CNN’s feature page about her.

Men's soccer team breaks into national rankings

An impressive start to the 2013 soccer season has earned national recognition for  the Randolph College men’s soccer team.

Two recent wins pushed the WildCats into the number 17 spot on the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Division III poll, besting the team’s previous record of reaching number 18 on that list. .

The team also ranked as the final team on the D3soccer.com top 25, a list compiled from votes by a panel of coaches, sports information directors, and media members. This is the first time in the program’s history that the team has been ranked in both polls at the same time.

Under the leadership of Head Coach Bryan Waggoner and a large contingent of seniors, the men’s soccer team has amassed 9 wins, zero losses and one tie this season, their longest unbeaten streak. In 2011, they won the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Championship and rose to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Division III playoffs.

Learn more about the team’s accomplishments on the WildCat Athletics Men’s  Soccer page.

Recent graduate gets book contract for stories she wrote at Randolph

A collection of short stories written by Sara Taylor ’12 for her senior project at Randolph will be published soon.

Taylor recently signed a contract to publish the collection with Random House Publishers imprints in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. She will spend the next six months working with editors to prepare the book for publication (while also studying for her Ph.D.).

Taylor, an English major with an emphasis in creative writing, started working on the collection the summer before her senior year at Randolph when she decided that she wanted to complete an honors project. “I was told that honors meant 100 pages minimum and no maximum,” she said. “I figured that if I was going to write that much, I might as well write a whole book.”

English professor Bunny Goodjohn, Taylor’s senior advisor, provided guidance and challenged Taylor to perfect the stories’ plots, characters, and language. “Working with her was one of the best experiences of my entire time at Randolph,” Taylor said. Their work brought rewards before long: one of the stories from Taylor’s senior project won the coveted Stony Brook Short Fiction Prize last year.

Goodjohn already knew that Taylor was a talented writer, but seeing her senior project come together taught her something else about her student. “She was also a dogged writer—fully committed to learning two other skills a modern writer needs: self-promotion and marketing,” she said. “Sara knew it wasn’t enough to sit down and write; she had to take control not only of craft but also of her own publishing success.”

Most stories in the volume take place in a fictionalized version of Eastern Shore, a region on a peninsula on Virginia’s eastern coast where she lived when she started writing the stories.

While studying for her master’s degree at the University of East Anglia (UEA) last year, she met a literary agent who started marketing the book. The agent called with frequent updates, and she finally had good news a few weeks ago.

“She called me to say that there was no news, and then she had to leave because she was getting a call. Then she called back and said an offer had been made,” Taylor said. “By the end of the evening I had a publisher.”

The book is currently titled The Shore, but that might change as the book is prepared for publication. It will be about 360 pages and will appear in hardcover and paperback. It is scheduled to hit bookstore shelves in 2015.

“I still can’t believe it’s happened,” Taylor said. “It’s given me a lot more energy to do the next book.”

Her next major project is a novel that she started during her master’s program. She would like to be a professional writer, but she also plans to look for opportunities to teach after completing her Ph.D. at UEA.

Barbara Niedland McCarthy '73 returns to Randolph College Board of Trustees

Barbara Niedland McCarthy ’73 is no stranger to the Randolph College Board of Trustees. McCarthy, one of two alumnae recently elected to the Board, first served from 2009-12 as part of her role as president of the Alumnae and Alumni Association. 

McCarthy, a psychology major from Richmond, Virginia, is the director of the Library and Resource Center for the Commonwealth’s Department of the Blind and Vision Impaired.

“The College gave me the foundation upon which I built my career, developed into who I am today, started a family, and became passionate about service to others,” McCarthy said. “I want other young people to have similar amazing opportunities at this wonderful College. I wish I could have another go at it!”

McCarthy earned her Master in Education from the University of Virginia and has been heavily involved with the College for years. Among other duties, she served as chair of the finance committee, the Richmond Chapter president, and as a district director.

She believes her experience in the education spectrum will serve her well on the Board, and she hopes to build relationships with fellow Board members as well as faculty and staff.

“I see blue skies ahead for Randolph College,” McCarthy said. “I envision a College renowned for the integration of its liberal arts curriculum with more real life experiences and internships. I expect the size and diversity of the student body to continue to grow, but the intimate campus atmosphere will remain intact. The College’s fine faculty will continue to inspire students and produce important research and projects. 

“Randolph College,” she added, “has grown with the times, and is, quite frankly, better than the College I attended from 1969-1973. The world is virtually smaller now, and thankfully Randolph has changed to meet the new global challenges.”

McCarthy is an active volunteer in her community and has served as board president of the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Vision Impaired. A long-time board member and trustee emeritus for the American Foundation for the Blind, McCarthy has also volunteered in an advisory capacity with both the American Printing House for the Blind and with Big Brothers and Big Sisters.

She and her husband, Jim, have two sons, a daughter, and five grandchildren.

Kathryn Heath Graves '76 begins tenure as new member of the Randolph College Board of Trustees

One of three daughters of an Episcopal priest, Kathryn Heath Graves ’76 never took college for granted.  “I was very fortunate to go there, and I loved it from day one,” said the Atlanta, Georgia, resident. Graves, an honors graduate in art history/art studio/psychology and long-time supporter of the College, was one of two new members recently elected to the Randolph College Board of Trustees.

“So many things that have mattered to me in my life were enhanced by my being at Randolph-Macon,” she said.

Graves currently serves as the associate dean for development and external relations for the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. After graduation from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College (now Randolph College), Graves earned her Master of Education from the University of Georgia and her Master of Public Health from Emory University. 

 Her interest in higher education began during her time at the College. She worked in the admissions office all four years and traveled throughout the United States with members of the admissions staff during her junior year.  The close proximity of the development, career services, and president’s offices provided opportunities to build close relationships with College administrators.  Graves entered the real world as a banker but quickly gravitated back to higher education. 

She took on the challenge of building financial resources for Rollins when the entire program didn’t fill one floor of a building.  Today, Rollins has taken its place among the leading schools of public health in the world, attracts more masters applicants than any other school of public health, and recently moved into its second 10-story building. 

Graves believes her experience in higher education will prove to be an asset as a Board member. “It is second nature to me,” she said. “I feel very fortunate to join the Board along with the new president. We deal with many of the same issues and I expect each experience will enhance the other.  I have great optimism for the College, and I hope that I can help bring into our community new friends for the College and people who have drifted away for whatever reason.”

A perennial volunteer, Graves has served as a district director, class agent, class secretary, and president of the Atlanta Alumnae and Alumni Chapter. She returned to campus multiple times to share her expertise with staff as well as students. Most recently in 2013, she and her husband, Judson, provided funding to support the Heath Student Government Suite in the new Student Center.

Graves’ two sisters, Susan Heath ’79 and Elizabeth Heath Hershey ’80, are also alumnae of the College.

“I moved a lot growing up, and R-MWC is the one place I have come home to since 1972,” Graves said. “When I was in college, my father used to say, ‘Let’s take Kathryn back to heaven. I thought it was the perfect place to be educated, and I still do.”

Alumna Afreen Gootee '87 meets with Randolph education students

An alumna visited campus today to talk with education students and share advice about becoming involved in the teaching profession.

Chaman “Afreen” Yusuf Gootee ’87 attended a class taught by education professor Consuella Woods. She later spoke to students in an afternoon workshop.

“It is important to me to have a connection to the College, and to help the students here make a connection to the real world,” said Gootee, who has visited the College occasionally to talk with education students.

Gootee teaches history, math, and computer courses in Georgetown School, an alternative education center in Hanover County, Virginia. She is the president of the Hanover Education Association and vice president of a 19-county district of the Virginia Education Association (VEA).

She said attending Randolph-Macon Woman’s College helped her prepare for teaching and leadership roles by giving her much experience in the classroom through the forms of several practicums even before it was time for her to student-teach.

Philip Forgit, the executive director of VEA, joined Gootee for the event. Gootee encouraged students to join the VEA, including the student chapter at Randolph, for networking and for opportunities to advocate for education.

Randolph hosts conferences on education and social justice Oct. 12

Randolph College will host two public conferences covering topics such as social justice and education on Oct.12.

The annual Women Education Leaders in Virginia (WELV) regional forum will provide training for teachers, education students, and school administrators. The local Race, Poverty, and Social Justice conference will include a series of workshops on improving racial equality.

The WELV conference is open to women and men who work in education or who are preparing to enter the field. Beginning with in Smith Memorial Hall with an 8:30 a.m. breakfast and concluding at 12:30 p.m., it will include breakout sessions for elementary and high school educators. The workshops will include skill building activities centered on classroom environments, relationships, and meeting the needs of all students.

Charol Shakeshaft, professor of educational leadership at Virginia Commonwealth University, will deliver the keynote address. Tate Culbreth, a fifth grade teacher at Bedford Hills Elementary School in Lynchburg, will lead the elementary education sessions. Susan Hunter, a Greensboro, N.C., high school teacher who has demonstrated success with advanced placement courses, will lead the high school sessions.

“These are women who have leadership roles in their individual schools,” said Peggy Schimmoeller, a Randolph education professor who helped organize the conference.

The forum will provide opportunities for all who are interested in education, including future educators, to learn how they can become stronger teachers and leaders. “They will get the opportunity to network with people in the school system. It’s also a good way for them to learn ideas that they can take into the classrooms,” said Consuella Woods, another education professor.

The WELV forum costs $15 for members of WELV, $25 for non-members, and $15 for college students. The non-WELV member and student prices include a one-year membership in WELV. Participants can print a registration form from the WELV website or register the morning of the event. Seating is limited to 60.

The Race, Poverty, and Social Justice conference was organized by Many Voices One Community (MVOC), a group that promotes conversations to improve racial relations. It will include several speeches and workshops from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Leggett Building covering topics related to racial equity and social justice.

Ken Parks, a Randolph theatre professor and a member of the MVOC board, helped organize the conference and bring it to Randolph. “I wanted to make this opportunity available to our students,” said Parks. “Randolph is a great match for this conference. We have a lot of diversity on campus, which many college campuses do, but I’ve enjoyed that people here are open to discovering what other perspectives exist.”

Martha McCoy, executive director for Everyday Democracy, will provide welcoming remarks, and Wornie Reed, director of the Center for Race and Social Policy at Virginia Tech, will present the keynote speech between the morning and afternoon workshops.

The event is free to Randolph College students. Tickets are $10 for other students and $20 for non-students, and lunch is provided for paying ticket holders. Pre-registration at www.lynchburgtickets.com/SocialJustice is required.

Parks said the conference will help people gain a new perspective on diversity. “I think that everyone needs to be at the table and feel included in the conversation,” he said. “You can get a whole new perspective, and you’re bound to grow from just considering different experiences.”