Homecoming Weekend 2012…It doesn’t get any better
than this. A crisp autumn day with a bracing bite in the air, fall foliage at
its peak, attendance levels among the highest in recent years…spirited reunions,
a football win, alumni, student athletes and scholars honored, faculty feted
and to top it all off, dedication of a new site honoring alumni involvement in
their alma mater for more than a half-century.
The weekend also featured an array of athletic
events, the Homecoming Parade and the traditional tailgate party adjacent to
Bison Stadium. This was truly a high point of the year for Bethany.
There were some memorable highlights:
Allison Run: Kicking off
festivities on Saturday, October 6, was the 12th Annual Allison’s Run,
remembering the vibrant life of beloved professor Jim Allison ’62 while raising
money to support the scholarship award that bears his name.
Bado Place: No alumni
family is more dedicated to its alma mater than the Bados, three generations of
whom have attended the College over the span of five decades. That made it
especially gratifying to welcome family members to the dedication of Bado
Place, commonly known as “Greek Hill.” The dedication was a reminder of the
importance of Greek and campus life at Bethany, but also the theme of family
and lifelong connections that contribute so tangibly to this great institution.
Let us hope that future generations of Bethanians will be inspired as the Bados
have been to associate their family life with ours.
Coach Don Ault Football Suite:
The Ault Football Suite was dedicated in honor of legendary Bethany
College Coach Don Ault, continuing our tradition of upgrading athletic
facilities while often honoring outstanding sports figures in Bethany history.
Buckelew Endowment: When
Professor of Biology Albert R. (Jay) Buckelew, Jr., retired last year after 43
years of service, it was as if an era had ended at Bethany. A devoted
professor, advisor, mentor and friend to Bethany students across the past four
decades, Jay was honored in a surprise announcement about the establishment of
the Jay Buckelew Endowed Fund at Bethany College. The fund will be
used to further the outstanding level of teaching, scholarship and service in
our biology program which is so closely associated with his career. Gifts from
alumni and friends, including former students and others from throughout the
country and across the generations, have been used to establish the fund. We
thank all who have contributed, especially Donna L. Smith ’74 and James E. Gerb
’77 for lending their names and valued leadership to this effort to launch the
fund.
Athletic Hall of Fame: During halftime of the game, three new Bethanians were formally inducted into the Class of 2012 Bethany Hall of Fame and presented with plaques. The Class of 2012 includes football player and track runner Richie Beckett from the Class of 1995, women’s basketball player Stephanie Cunningham-Roksandich from the Class of 1999 and women’s soccer player Missy Miller from the Class of 1996.
Athletic Hall of Fame: During halftime of the game, three new Bethanians were formally inducted into the Class of 2012 Bethany Hall of Fame and presented with plaques. The Class of 2012 includes football player and track runner Richie Beckett from the Class of 1995, women’s basketball player Stephanie Cunningham-Roksandich from the Class of 1999 and women’s soccer player Missy Miller from the Class of 1996.
- Richie Beckett excelled on the
gridiron and on the track. He was a four-year letterman as a wide receiver
and earned Second Team All-PAC in 1993, leading the PAC with 490 receiving
yards in 1994 and finished his career with 93 receptions for 1,241 yards.
On the track, Beckett qualified for the 1993 NCAA National Championships
in the 110 hurdles and placed ninth at the national meet. As a senior in
1995, he won conference championships in the 110 hurdles, the 4x100 and
4x400 relays and finished his career with 10 All-PAC honors. His name is
still in the Bethany records books for the 400 (42.74 seconds) and 1,600
(3:20.64) relays, and his time of 14.75 seconds in the 110 hurdles
remained a Bison record until 2008. Beckett graduated from Bethany
with a degree in sports administration and a minor in business management.
He currently resides in Richmond, Va., with his wife Charise and their
five children.
- Stephanie
Cunningham-Roksandich played in 105 games during her career on the hard
court for the Bison. During her four healthy seasons (she missed all but
three games of the 1997-98 season due to injury), Bethany compiled a 73-29
record, won its first PAC Championship in school history (1997) and played
in the postseason four times, including the 1997 NCAA Tournament and the
ECAC Tournament in 1995, 1996 and 1999.Cunningham-Roksandich owns the
school record with 12 steals in a game, and in that same contest against
Notre Dame (Md.) College in 1995, she recorded the first triple-double in
school history with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 12 steals.
Cunningham-Roksandich graduated from Bethany with a degree in elementary
education. Today, she is the owner/director of the Brunswick Prep Academy
and resides in Brunswick, Ohio, with her husband Robert and their three
children.
- Missy Miller ranks as the most
prolific scorer in Bethany women’s soccer history, pursuing her career in
1992, 1993 and 1994. Among the school records Miller still holds are most
goals (74) and points (171) in a career, with second place for career
points coming in at 133 .She also tied the school record with four goals
in a game, ranks second in career assists with 23 and is second for points
in a season with 48. Miller resides in Markleton, Pa., with her husband
Jim Mardis and son David.
A future Hall of Famer is Bethany College senior
wide receiver Johnathan Foster, who has been named as one of the 147 candidates
for the 2012 National Football Foundation (NFF) National Scholar-Athlete
Awards, which also makes him a semifinalist for the 2012 William V. Campbell
Trophy. The Campbell Trophy recognizes an individual as the best football
scholar-athlete in the nation.
Nominated by their schools, which are limited to
one nominee each, candidates for the awards must be a senior or graduate
student in the final year of eligibility, have a GPA of at least 3.2 on a 4.0
scale, have outstanding football ability as a first team player or significant
contributor and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship. Each
recipient will receive an $18,000 post-graduate scholarship, and will vie as
finalists for the 2012 William V. Campbell Trophy.
Communicators Wall of Fame: The
Department of Communications and Media Arts’ mixer October 5 showcasing the
College’s second-largest major featured the addition of five outstanding
communications professionals with ties to Bethany. The unveiling of the wall
revealed the names of Jhamal Robinson ‘98, who became one of the youngest
executives in the industry at age 25 with a position at E! Entertainment
Networks and who has received four Emmy nominations, winning the award for
Daytime Entertainment Creative Arts; investigative reporter Del Walters, who
has been awarded more than 20 Emmys for investigative reporting and more than
100 other national and international awards, including the Walters national
Edward R. Murrow Award for documentary film; and G. Ogden Nutting, H’11,
publisher of Ogden Newspapers, Inc., which publishes six daily and three weekly
newspapers in West Virginia, as well as daily newspapers in ten other states.
Trustee Nutting was honored by the West Virginia Press Association, which named
him a life member and awarded him its most prestigious recognition, the Adam R.
Kelly Premier Journalist Award.
Others include Susan Ryan Lister ’89, senior
specialist for global communications of Whirlpool International Corporation. At
Bethany, Susan was active on the editorial staff of The Tower, was a
Kalon Scholar and recipient of the Scripps-Howard Journalism Scholarship and
active in Phi Mu Sorority. Also honored was Rick Jackson ’78, an award-winning
anchor and reporter for more than 30 years for national and local television
and radio, including PBS. Rick was active at Bethany in the Kappa Alpha Order,
Pi Delta Epsilon and WVBC-Radio and TV.
We are indebted to The Driehorst Family
Foundation and other contributors for their investment in technology and
scholarships, to our alumni and friends around the country who generously serve
as mentors to our students and to our other corporate and organizational
partners who are helping us define new and innovative opportunities for our
students to gain practical experience in media, public relations and other
communications fields.
Donor Recognition Social: A
highlight for me every year is the Donor Recognition Social at Christman Manor.
It recognizes individuals who have gone the extra mile in their support of
Bethany. A real treat for us was visiting with 96-year-old Bethany legend Dr.
Robert Martin ‘40, who has supported so many different projects on campus. An
endowed chair bears his name, and he spearheaded fundraising for the renovation
of the Academic Parlour in Old Main, construction of the Alumni Walk from
Christman Manor to Phillips Hall and much more.
This year’s Homecoming Art Exhibit, “A
Show of Hands,” was dedicated to the memory of beloved alumna Ruth
Caine ’64. In the words of the exhibition brochure, Ruth was “a passionate
patron of the arts, a relentless leader of Bethany’s Alumni Council (1996-2005),
and an exuberant supporter of “all things Bethany.” As the brochure
noted, Ruth’s “interests were vast, her conversations fascinating, her laugh
infectious,” and her “zest for life contagious.” We mourn the loss of
this vibrant daughter of Alma Mater.
# # # #
The football team recorded a stunning 42-36
overtime victory over Presidents’ Athletic Conference rival Geneva College. The
Bison took a 7-point lead with 18 seconds to go in regulation, only to have
Geneva tie the score on a “Hail Mary” pass as time expired. Matt Grimard
connected with Ed Holmes in the back of the end zone on the Bethany’s first
possession in overtime to clinch the win.
