Tusculum Profiles – Dr. Jean I Brooks, professor of history

 

By Joe Romano, ‘63

Dr. Brooks was the best history professor I’ve ever had, and I have a Master of Arts in history from the University of Tennessee and have taken courses at Rutgers  University.  At the time she seemed so old, though she was younger then than we are now.

Dr. Brooks was unmarried and the perfect Puritan.  She considered her abilities a gift from God, that they weren’t really hers and that it was up to her to practice stewardship with whatever talents she had been given.  She didn’t drink or smoke and exercised regularly.

Periodically we would see her motoring by Rankin Hall at a fast clip wearing the high top sneakers the athletic department had ordered for her.

Dr. Brooks was one of the first women to graduate, about 1918, from the University of Chicago with a Ph.D. in history.  Her dissertation was how Britain and France colonized the islands of the South Pacific, or as she put, “How they stole half of Asia.”

Each year she taught four or five sections of freshman Western European Civilization as well as two or three upper class courses.  Over a three-year period she alternately offered every course she thought necessary for a history major’s education.  But a history major had to pay attention, or he or she would lose out, since the class wouldn’t be offered again out of cycle.

There was quite a bit of test stealing in those days, but no one ever stole a Dr. Brooks test or exam.  She had a small safe in her apartment in what is now called the Old College, and she locked away every copy of the test questions plus the blue books in which the students had written their answers.

Message to the Golden Pioneer Class of 1968

I too am having difficulty accepting that it’s been 50 years since we walked across the Annie Hogan Byrd stage to receive our diplomas from Dr. Trout.  Wow!!

Whatever financial gift we are able to provide to Tusculum this year will certainly be important.  However, to me the greater legacy we leave to honor our alma mater are the lives we have lived since we left the campus so many years ago.  Lives of service to others and to the communities in which we lived.  We do not know the impact we’ve had.  I’m reminded of a lesson one of my grandfathers taught me even before I came to Tusculum.  I didn’t think much about it then, but it has echoed back to me occasionally. We were fishing in one of the ponds on the farm on which I was reared.  The fish weren’t biting and so I began to skip rocks across the pond.  My grandfather took one rock and threw it into the pond. He asked that I watch the ripples of water as they rolled across the pond.  He then went on to explain that those ripples were like words we said to others; actions we took in the family, school and the community.  Those words and actions rippled out and had impact on others. Take care, he said, that your words and your actions have positive impact on others.  You, my classmates had a great impact on me, far beyond what you may know, and the life I was able to have.  You’ve had that same impact on the lives of countless others across your careers.  We can continue to have that impact each and every day.

 

Thank you classmates for what you have done and what you continue to do.  Peace!! Ron May  ’68

Find out what is happening with your fellow alumni in the February edition of Class Notes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1980s

Assistant Adjutant General, Air Brig. Gen. Donald L. Johnson ’86 ‘94, the assistant adjutant general, air for the Tennessee National Guard was honored with a retirement ceremony by the 134th Air Refueling Wing.

Prior to his retirement, Brig. Gen. Johnson commanded and insured the readiness of Tennessee’s three flying and three mission support units. Before his appointment as the ATAG, Air, Brig. Gen. Johnson served as the deputy director of Manpower, Personnel and Services for the Air National Guard in Washington, D.C.

Brig. Gen. Donald L. Johnson

Brig. Gen. Johnson entered service with the active duty Air Force in October of 1976. Upon completion of basic training and tech school he was assigned to the 363rd Tactical Fighter Wing, Shaw AFB, SC. He enlisted in the Air National Guard with the 134th Air Refueling Wing in 1978 serving as a Crew Chief on KC-135 aircraft. Brig. Gen. Johnson was commissioned in 1986 through the Academy of Military Science, McGhee Tyson ANG Base, Knoxville, Tennessee.

He holds an Associate of Science degree in aircraft maintenance technologies, from the Air Force and a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Tusculum College.

He is also a graduate of Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Alabama and the Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. He holds a Master of Arts degree in applied organizational management from Tusculum as well.

He is the recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal with 2 oak leave clusters, the Joint Meritorious Unit Award, the Air Reserve Forces Meritorious Service Medal with 2 devices and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.

 

Regina “Reggie” Bernard ’86 has accepted a new teaching position as a fourth grade teacher at Rayen Early College Intermediate School with the Youngstown City School Distict in Youngstown, OH, for the 2017-18 school year.

 

Tom Hughes ’87 has joined Peoples Bank of East Tennessee. He will be located at the main office of Peoples Bank of East Tennessee in Madisonville. Hughes began his banking career in 1981 with First National Bank & Trust in Athens and most recently served as the City President for SouthEast Bank in McMinn County. Before that, he was the President and Chief Operating Officer for SouthEast Bank & Trust. Hughes received a bachelor’s degree in business Administration from Tusculum College and completed his studies at the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University in 2002. He is also a graduate of the Southeastern School of Banking in Nashville.

 

2010s

Leslie Franks ’17 has been named Love Chapel Elementary and District Grades PreK-4 Teacher of the Year by Unicoi County School System. Franks is a third grade teacher at Love Chapel Elementary. She has seven years of experience. She completed her bachelor’s degree in early Childhood development from Milligan College and her master’s degree from Tusculum College in curriculum and instruction. She serves as a district math collaborative leader, as well as a cheerleading coach at Unicoi Middle School. She has previously been a coach for Girls on the Run.

 

 

 

 

 

1940s

Marie Doroshow ’44, known as Bonnie to her friends, has died at the age of 93. Born on December 8, 1923, in Haddonfield, NJ. She was strong in faith, active in her church and loved her family. She graduated from Tusculum College with a bachelor’s degree in pre-med. She loved her college years at Tusculum and was a proud alumni. She enjoyed traveling, gardening, playing bridge, being in the choir and coloring. The family has requested that in lieu of flowers a donation be made to Suncoast Hospice in her name. Condolences may be offered to www.serenityfuneralhomelargo.com.

 

Marjorie Katherine Ewing Beets ’48, of Morristown, passed away October 29, 2017, at home surrounded by family. A lifelong resident of Springvale in Hamblen County, Marjorie graduated from Morristown High School in 1944, attended Tusculum College, and graduated from Carson-Newman University.  For nearly 30 years she touched the lives of countless school children as a teacher in Hamblen County, first at Springvale’s three-room school, later at Russellville, and her last 25 years, at Union Heights.

A member of St. Paul Presbyterian Church since 1938, Marjorie and Bob were married there on September 9, 1948.  She was active in church and community activities, including Alpha Delta Kappa, Samuel Doak Chapter of DAR, and Ladies Reading Circle.

Marjorie and Bob created a loving, warm, and fun home for their family and friends.  She enjoyed family gatherings, playing the piano and singing, and the company of her pets.  Marjorie was outgoing and friendly with a good sense of humor, adventurous spirit, and varied interests.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to either, St. Paul Presbyterian Church or St. Paul Cemetery Trust Fund, 4540 St. Paul Church Road, Morristown, TN 37813; or Tennessee Foundation for Agriculture-in-the-Classroom. Allen Funeral Home in Morristown is in charge of arrangements.

 

1960s

Toni Jones Weems ’63 passed away on Feb. 20, at Laughlin Healthcare Center. She graduated from Greeneville High School in 1959, received a bachelor’s degree from Tusculum College, and earned her master’s degree from Florida State University. Toni was an employee of Frontier Health for more than 40 years. She was a member of Asbury United Methodist Church, where she devoted 35 years to the nursery. Toni was a member of Women of the Moose, the National Association of Social Workers, and was active in the class of 1959 reunions. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are asked to be made to the Greeneville-Greene County Humane Society or to Asbury United Methodist Church.

Second Theologian Lecture focuses on “Luther and the Papacy”

Tusculum Theologian-in Residence lecture series continued on Tuesday, Feb. 13, with the topic of “Luther and the Papacy.” This session is the second of two that considers Luther’s struggle to define the nature of religious authority.

The series, sponsored by Tusculum with funding from Ron Smith, features lectures by Dr. Joel Van Amberg, professor of history at Tusculum. The title of the lecture series is, “The Historical Luther: Tracing the Development of Martin Luther’s Central Reformation Views.”

The 2018 Theologian-in-Residence series will join with people around the world in commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation (1517-2017).

According to Dr. Van Amberg, there were practical limitations on papal authority, but at the level of principle, the Middle Ages saw vigorous debate over the authority of the Pope. “First theorists disagreed on the ultimate source of the Pope’s power. While most canon lawyers believed that the Pope’s authority came directly from God, others held that it derived from the community of all Christians,” he told the audience.

In addition, he said, canon lawyers disagreed whether the pope shared authority with other church officials or exercised his rule alone. Some held that authority inhered not in the pope alone, but the pope and the cardinals or the general council. Others held that the Pope was above all human law, that he had absolute authority, possessing all the powers of Christ on earth, even the power to dispense with the precepts of the Bible, as long as he did not contravene an article of faith.

Thirdly, he added, canon lawyers disagreed on whether and how a wicked Pope might be disciplined by the Church. There was a general consensus that the pope was immune from human judgments unless he should deviate from the faith.

“We should remember this diversity of opinion in the Middle Ages on the powers of the Pope. It will help us understand how Luther was able for so long to cling to the view that his demand that the Pope be brought to account was not an attack on the church,” said Dr. Van Amberg.

The papacy became aware of the Luther affair by early 1518. During 1518 the Imperial German Diet was meeting in the city of Augsburg. In April 1518 Pope Leo X designated Cardinal Cajetan to act as papal legate there and empowered him to resolve the situation. When Luther began a series of meetings with Cajetan on Oct 7, 1518, Luther was disappointed that Cajetan was not willing to engage in an academic debate. After a series of meetings, Luther escaped out of a back gate in the Augsburg city walls and rode off into the darkness.

He continued, Cajetan’s position hardened, and by the end of October1518, he was demanding that Frederick the Wise turn over Luther for trial in Rome, or expel him.  By early December, 1518 Frederick the Wise wrote Cajetan refusing to turn Luther over. Frederick had determined to take his stand with his troublesome but now famous university professor. For the moment, at least, Luther was safe.

“The issue had moved on to the university level. The judgment of university theology faculty regarding the heresy of someone’s views was an important element of any heresy trial. The important theology faculties of Cologne and Louvain condemned Luther’s views as heretical. The pendulum now swung against Luther.”

On Dec. 10, 1530 the last day granted for Martin Luther to respond to the summons, Luther, together with a flock of students, in an act of defiance, burned the papal bull in a bonfire.

On January 3, 1521 Martin Luther was formally excommunicated for heresy by the Church. However, Dr. Van Amberg said, to ensure that the secular punishment was carried out, the Church needed the German government to agree to execute the sentence. “For that to happen, it had to concede to the meeting at the Diet of Worms.”

Luther arrived in Worms on April 16 and met twice with the Pope’s representative in the presence of the Emperor and the chief princes of the empire. Pressed to renounce his views, he made his famous “Here I stand” speech. Soon afterwards that the final pieces against Luther fell into place. On May 8, Charles placed Luther under the Imperial Ban, and on May 26 he published the Edict of Worms.

“Luther was now condemned by the German government for heresy. He was an outlaw, and would remain so for the rest of his life, liable, should he leave his safe haven of Electoral Saxony, to be arrested and packed off for execution.”

According to Dr. Van Amberg, Luther insisted that in the controversy over the 95 Theses he never intended to make the controversy over papal power. By rejecting the power of the Pope over souls in purgatory Luther did not intend to attack the traditional prerogatives of the papacy. Instead, he was only rejecting the innovations of certain theologians.

Luther’s earliest Catholic opponents universally saw things differently. They largely shunted the indulgence issue aside, and took aim at Luther’s assault on papal power. This caused Luther reevaluate his position on the nature of the authority of the papacy.

When Luther met Cardinal Cajetan in Augsburg, he met a fierce defender of papal authority. Cajetan held that the Pope ruled by divine right, and that his decrees were to be considered without error.  Not surprisingly Cajetan did not even want to talk about indulgences per se, but rather about Luther’s view of papal authority. He produced a papal decree from 1343 that

Involved the Pope’s ability to issue indulgences, and demanded to know Luther’s response. Luther was forced to admit that he considered the Pope’s decree to be wrong.

Meanwhile, Eck zeroed in on a statement Luther made that the Roman church, that the Pope, was not the head of the whole Christian church in the 6th century. Luther was thinking of the churches of the Greek East. Eck responded that the Pope was always the head of all Churches all over the world, whether they recognized it or not, because he was the head of the Church of Jesus Christ by divine right, as the successor of St. Peter.

Again, Luther was forced by his opponents to clarify his position. And he concluded that the Pope was only head of the church by human right, like a king might be the head of a country, and this only over the Western churches that recognize his authority, said Dr. Van Amberg, but then he went further.

“What began as a nagging suspicion, then became a private conviction, would eventually break forth in a public declaration: The Pope was that diabolic sign of the last days prophesied in the book of Revelation. Yes, the Pope was the Antichrist himself.”

He told the group, Luther participated fully in the apocalyptic strain of the later Middle Ages. Luther did not believe that the Reformation he had unleashed was going to inaugurate an enlightened age, where true religion would emerge victorious and create a world of peace, harmony, and Christian piety. Rather he believed that God and set free the gospel at the end of the age to provoke a final confrontation with his old enemy, Satan.”

On October 11, after much waiting, the bull of excommunication against Luther finally arrived in Wittenberg. According to Dr. Van Amberg, Luther was freed now to make his break complete, as the title of his book published the next month suggests, “Against the Bull of the Antichrist”. And Luther would not look back. Over the years, his position would harden, if such a thing were possible. Later in life he would work hard to communicate this understanding of the Pope as the Antichrist to the next generation.

He continued, “There is a broadening strain as well that emerges out of Luther’s struggle with the papacy. This strain offers a different way to approach Luther’s understanding of what constitutes the church. The church for Luther cannot be a building; it cannot be a human institution; it certainly cannot be a hierarchy of church leaders-popes, cardinals, bishops, priests.”

The human institution of the church, with its buildings, and its institutions and its rulers had cut him off, and he them, having revealed themselves, in Luther’s mind, to be the agents of the devil. For Luther, the church was only to be seen by faith because it was invisible – the universal communion of the saints across the world.

The next session will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 20, and is titled, “Luther and Justification by Faith.” The February Theologian-in-Residence lectures will take place on each Tuesday of the month – Feb. 6, 13, 20 and 27. Each lecture session will begin at 10 a.m. in the Chalmers Conference Center in the Niswonger Commons. The sessions typically end around noon, with lunch in Tusculum’s cafeteria following the conclusion of the lecture. There is no admission fee to attend the lectures or the luncheon.

Although the series has no admission fee, reservations are required. For more information or to make a reservation for the series, please call 423.636.7303 or email bsell@tusculum.edu.

Tusculum College program provides free tax preparation services

Eight weeks remain in a free program, implemented through the efforts of Tusculum that provides free tax preparation services in Greene and surrounding counties.

The IRS-certified tax preparation program will host appointments at Tusculum’s Greeneville campus, where trained volunteers will be available to assist members of the public with the preparation of their tax returns.

Appointments are being booked now and are offered each Thursday, beginning February 1, 2018.

The program is sponsored in partnership with the Appalachian Community Federal Credit Union, a long-time partner with the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program in the area.

Led by Dr. Harold Branstrator, associate professor of management at Tusculum College, the VITA program offers a free alternative to the expensive services of a paid tax professional.   The volunteers of the VITA program have completed roughly 1,000 returns annually since 2014, often saving clients $200 or more that they would have spent on payments for alternative, fee-based, services.

Taxpayers eligible for VITA services include: individuals with annual incomes of less than $54,000, individuals over 55 years of age, individuals diagnosed with a physical disability and non English-speaking citizens.

“Tusculum is thrilled to be part of the VITA program this year and hopes to expand the service to reach more people in the region,” said Dr. James Hurley, president of Tusculum College. “With service to community so ingrained in our mission as a college, the VITA program is an additional way that we can engage our community through service in an area that is a significant need in our region.”

Under the supervision of Dr. Branstrator, a former IRS employee, returns are prepared by Tusculum students who have completed a VITA-standard three-week certification process that facilitates their ability to meet the high level professional standards expected by the IRS.

According to Dr. Branstrator, “The East Tennessee VITA program has become one of the strongest in the Southeast.” He added, “We see this as a ministry of justice to low and moderate-income taxpayers, our volunteers (mostly Tusculum students) are competent, courteous and respectful and we have a near-zero error rate, much lower than the average for paid preparers.”
Dr. Branstrator said the program has also helped students, particularly those in business-related fields of study, utilize classroom skills to acquire needed real world practice.

Appointments are required. To schedule an appointment, call (800) 378-3778 and wait for the operator, or register online at http://web.tusculum.edu/vita.

 

Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize winning drama “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” opens Friday, Feb. 23 at Tusculum

Theatre-at-Tusculum presents Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” for six performances beginning February 23. The performances will take place in the Behan Arena Theatre on the Tusculum campus in Greeneville. Evening performances will take place February 23, 24 and March 2, 3 at 7 p.m., with two Sunday matinee performances on February 25 and March 4 at 2 p.m.

The play is presented through special arrangement with Dramatist Play Service Inc. and is directed by Tusculum Arts Outreach Assistant Director Brian Ricker. The production features local theatre veterans and fresh faces to the Tusculum stage.

Greeneville native, and no stranger to the Tusculum stage, Kendra Tarlton portrays the sensual and cunning “Maggie the Cat” opposite the tormented and smoldering Brick Pollitt, played by Johnson City theatre veteran, Josh Cassels. Local theatre favorites Larry Bunton and Paige Mengel portray Big Daddy and Big Mama Pollitt, respectively.

Brick’s older brother, the often overlooked Gooper is portrayed by Caleb Addington, who is making his Tusculum theatre debut. Gooper’s wife, the maniacal Mae is played by Allison Craft who returns to the Tusculum stage after working for the past three years in South Carolina with The Academy of Arts. Audiences may remember Craft as Old Sally from last fall’s production of “Oliver!”

Rounding out the supporting cast are Mike Lilly as Doctor Baugh and Josh Beddingfield as Reverend Tooker. Mae and Gooper’s rabble of rambunctious children are played by Doak Elementary students Abby Helton and Aden Moore, Tusculum View Elementary student Reagan Smith and Hal Henard Elementary student Griffin Gricunas.

The ensemble consists of Audrey Shoemaker, Katherine Dooly and Michael Fillers as the Pollitt household servants. Tusculum students River Donnelly and Andrez Zavala, who were also in last fall’s production of “Oliver!” are portraying field workers on the Pollitt plantation.

The show, considered by many to be one of the author’s greatest works, revolves around a well-to-do family in 1950s Mississippi. On a vast plantation owned by Big Daddy Pollitt, the family gathers to celebrate the patriarch’s sixty fifth birthday after he receives, what he believes to be a clean bill of health from the world famous Ochsner Clinic located just outside New Orleans. As the evening progresses audiences will see a dramatic story of family dysfunction, jealousy, greed, social mores and mendacity unfold.

A classic of American theatre, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and several Tony Award nominations when it premiered on Broadway in 1955. Several revivals have been staged since and a famous film adaptation starring Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman received multiple Oscar nominations.

“It is brilliant writing,” said Ricker. “The actors do an amazing job bringing it to life. There are some very intense, emotional moments in the show, and they are nailing it. I really hope audiences come to see it. It has wonderful dialogue and meaningful messages regarding aging, poverty and social conventions. It’s a great piece of theatre.”

Audiences are cautioned that the show does contain strong language and mature themes, which some may find offensive.

“It is not for kids, but it is also not for folks who are affronted by strong language,” said Ricker. “It is raw and emotional. Words get used and topics get discussed. These are very real characters who use strong language to convey very powerful emotions.”

Costumes are being curated by Tusculum Arts Outreach Costume Artist Erin Schultz, whose work is supported in part by a grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission. The stage manager is long-time Tusculum theatre volunteer, Suzanne Greene. Set design is by Arts Outreach Technical Director Frank Mengel and set decoration is by Greeneville Theatre Guild coordinator, Paige Mengel.

Tickets may be reserved by contacting Box Office Manager Jennifer Hollowell at 423-798-1620 or by e-mail at jhollowell@tusculum.edu. When reserving tickets please include name, a contact telephone number, the date to reserve the tickets, the number of tickets and the type of ticket. Prices are $15 for adults and $12 for seniors.

Tickets may be picked up and paid for at the box office the day of the performance, or a time may be scheduled to come by the Tusculum Arts Outreach office. Cash or check only, as credit/debit cards are not accepted. The Box Office, located in the lobby of the Behan Arena Theatre (lower level, side entrance of the Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts building), will open an hour and half before each show time with the house opening an hour before the start of the performance. Audiences are reminded that seating is not assigned and will be first come, first served.

Theatre-at-Tusculum is under the auspices of Tusculum Arts Outreach which is led by Director Marilyn duBrisk, Assistant Director Ricker, Coordinator Hollowell, Technical Director Mengel, and Costume Director Schultz. It is supported in part by a grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission, Hearts for the Arts, as well as many generous donors and volunteers. For information about Theatre-at-Tusculum or other Arts Outreach programs please call 423-798-1620, visit http://art.tusculum.edu, or via Facebook at TC Arts Outreach.

From left to right, Caleb Addington as Gooper, Paige Mengel as Big Mama, Allison Craft as Mae and Josh Cassels as Brick.

Tusculum Band Program to present patriotic and military-themed winter concert on Tuesday, Feb. 27

Patriotic, military themes and war-time standards will be the featured genres during the Tusculum College Band’s winter concert on Tuesday, Feb. 27.

The concert will begin at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts Building. The local community is invited to the performance, which will feature the Concert Band, Jazz Band and Handbell Choir.

The concert is free and open to the public.

“This year’s Winter Concert will feature something for everyone, including a number of songs that pay tribute to the men and women who serve our country through military service,” said David Price, director of bands at Tusculum.

“This concert is dedicated to all our veterans and active service men and women,” said Price. “I hope many of our military personnel will attend this event and that others will as well to support our military personnel.”

Swing tunes that were popular during World War II will be performed during the concert including jazz standards, “Take the A Train,” “Moonlight in Vermont,” “Jersey Bounce,” “The Nearness of You” and “In the Mood” by the Tusculum Jazz Band.

The Tusculum Concert Band will play an arrangement of the National Anthem of the United States of America arranged by Stephen Melillo called, “Star,” as well as “The Great Locomotive Chase,” “Fugue on Yankee Doodle” and “America the Beautiful.” They will also play a piece by Robert W. Smith written for the 75th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor called “The Greatest Generation.”

The Tusculum Handbell Choir will play “Sergeant Banyon’s March,” written by Dan Edwards in honor of the men and women of the U.S. military units, as well as “Shadows,” “God Bless the USA” and “When Johnny Comes Marching Home.”

As a special treat, “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” will be played by a trumpet trio. Also as part of the program, Robert F. Mitchell Post 64 American Legion will be presenting colors.

The band program began in 2010 with the formation of a pep band and has grown to include a Marching Band, Concert Band, Jazz Band, Handbell Choir and various small ensembles. The Band Program hosts three concerts each year, a Christmas performance and programs in the winter and the spring. In addition, each of the major groups, as well as small ensembles, have performed in community events such as the Greeneville Christmas Parade, the Old Oak Festival and the Laughlin Hospital Foundation’s Derby Days event.

 

Writer Ethel Morgan Smith to be featured at Tusculum’s annual Curtis Owens Literary Prize event

The annual Curtis Owens Literary prizes will be announced and a reading will be held by contest judge Ethel Morgan Smith on Thursday, March 15, at Tusculum College.

The event is free and open to the public and will begin at 7 p.m. in the Shulman Atrium on Tusculum’s Greeneville campus.

Ethel Morgan Smith

The awards, which are given annually to recognize the literary achievements of the college’s students, are open to all Tusculum students.

Ethel Morgan Smith is the author of two books: “From Whence Cometh My Help: The African American Community at Hollins College” and “Reflections of the Other: Being Black in Germany.” She has also published in “The New York Times,” “Callaloo,” “African American Review” and other national and international outlets.

Smith has received a Fulbright Scholar-Germany, Rockefeller Fellowship-Bellagio, Italy, Visiting Artist-The American Academy in Rome, DuPont Fellow-Randolph Macon Women’s College, Visiting Scholar-Women’s Studies Research Center-Brandies University, The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and Bread Loaf Fellowship. She teaches at West Virginia University in Morgantown.

The literary prize winners, who will be announced at the event, will have their works included in the literary journal, “Tusculum Review,” to be released during the 2018 Old Oak Festival.

The Curtis and Billie Owens Literary Awards are annually given to recognize the literary achievements of Tusculum’s creative writing students. The literary award was named for Curtis Owens, a 1928 graduate of Tusculum who went on to a teaching career at what is now Pace University in New York. He and his wife established the award at his alma mater to encourage and reward excellence in writing among Tusculum College students.

Chick-fil-A coming to Tusculum campus in July

Dr. James Hurley, president of Tusculum, announced today that Chick-fil-A will be coming to Tusculum’s Greeneville campus in July of this year.

The announcement was made on Friday at an open forum attended by more than 250 people, including a large number of students who applauded enthusiastically at the announcement.

The Chick-fil-A will be a full-service restaurant and will be open to the community, said Dr. Hurley.

The announcement came as part of an overall change in Tusculum’s food service partnerships. Dr. Hurley also announced that beginning in July, the new food service provided for the Greeneville campus will be Chartwells dining services. It is this new partnership with Chartwells that enabled the opening of the Chick-fil-A on campus.

Representatives from both Chartwells and Chick-fil-A participated in the announcement that also included a visit from the Chick-fil-A cow.

Tusculum professor awarded research contract with Kettering Foundation

Dr. Joshua Ray, assistant professor for management and chair of the management department at Tusculum, has been awarded a research contract with the Kettering Foundation of Dayton, Ohio.

Dr. Ray will be collaborating with two other business faculty from small colleges, Dr. Susan Aloi, director of the School of Business at West Virginia Wesleyan College, and Dr. Glenn King, chair of the Division of Business at Concordia College in Selma, Alabama. These three faculty will utilize the technique of deliberative dialogue in various classroom settings to guide college students in studying the role of business in society.

According to the World Economic Forum, the role of business over time has remained fairly constant: to provide goods and services that people need and want.  Decades ago, business students were taught that the primary, or even sole, role of business was to maximize profit for the owner. Over time, however, society has grown to distrust business and developed higher expectations than simply the provisions of goods and services.

The public wants these goods to be safe, well-made, and provide good value. They want business leaders to be ethical, and for businesses to contribute to the well-being of their communities.  Today’s new employees, the millennials, are concerned with the purpose of the organizations in which they spend their working days. Research indicates that most employees are at least as much, if not more, motivated by purpose as they are by profit.

According to Dr. Ray, this Kettering research contract will enable students in a variety of business classes at these three colleges to learn how to utilize the process of deliberative dialogue in exploring various views on the role of businesses in communities. Deliberative dialogue is a technique to encourage discussion participants to explore a problem from a variety of perspectives and to intentionally draw out the advantages and challenges of each viewpoint.

Dr. Ray, Dr. Aloi, and Dr. King have been trained as moderators for deliberative dialogue through the Kettering Foundation. The Kettering Foundation supports the work of deliberative dialogue in Centers and other formats around the world.  Kettering sponsors activities that study democracy from a citizen-centered perspective. The sense that ordinary citizens desire to be in control of their daily lives is a basic focus of Kettering’s research.

Specifically, Dr. Ray and his co-researchers will be investigating these questions: What is the role of business schools and their faculties in shaping students’ awareness of the relationship between businesses and society; How can deliberative dialogue, based on the deliberative dialogue model, be used in a variety of classroom settings to frame the discussion on the role of business in society; and How will students’ participation in such dialogues affect how they interact in the communities in which they live and work as business people after graduation.

Throughout the next several academic semesters, Dr. Ray and his co-researchers will integrate different models of deliberative dialogue in a variety of business courses at their institutions. Students will learn how to lead discussions that promote civic dialogue in other classrooms and in their communities.

For more information about this research, please contact Dr. Ray at jray@tusculum.edu.

Canned Food Drive a success

Students from Tusculum’s Psychology 352 service learning course pose with canned goods they collected during a Canned Food Drive held in fall semester.

Students from Tusculum’s Psychology 352 service learning course pose with canned goods they collected during a Canned Food Drive held in fall semester. From left are Keveon Broadwater, Kendrea Duke, Benedicta Makakala and Ashton Watson. Members of a service-learning class from Tusculum, along with the Psychology Club and the Bonner Leader Program collected 250 cans of food in a food drive conducted at the end of the fall semester. Ashley Dingus, who graduated in December, led the project as part of her senior capstone project. The collected cans supported the Greeneville-Greene County Community Ministries and the Tabernacle Mission Soup Kitchen.

Jill Salyers named vice president for institutional advancement at Tusculum

Jill Salyers has been named vice president for institutional advancement at Tusculum. She will begin her duties in February.

As vice president of the Office of Institutional Advancement, she will oversee the staff and its departments, including development and alumni engagement. She will manage a donor portfolio and will be responsible for meeting the goals of the Advancement Office in support of the goals and mission of Tusculum. She will also serve as a member of the President’s Cabinet and will help guide the overall operation and growth of the institution.

Jill Salyers

“We are very pleased that Jill Salyers will be joining us at Tusculum as vice president of institutional advancement,” said Dr. James Hurley, president of Tusculum “Her experience, relationships and success in the Northeast Tennessee region will support continuing success in our fundraising and advancement efforts.”

Originally from Upstate New York and raised in South Florida, Salyers has called Northeast Tennessee home for more than 20 years and is a proud alumnus of Tusculum, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in organizational management through the Graduate and Professional Studies programs.

After college, Salyers joined United Way of Greater Kingsport. During her time there, she worked with thousands of volunteers to facilitate the distribution of millions of locally donated dollars to local nonprofit agencies, facilitated organizational strategic planning and implementation and directed the assessment of community needs and implementation of community programming to meet those needs.

Salyers went on to serve as the director of public relations and marketing for Eastern Eight Community Development Corporation, where she facilitated organizational strategic planning and implementation and provided direct services to agency clients. In 2013, she began service as Tri-Cities field director in the office of United States Senator Bob Corker.

“Tusculum College changed the path of my life when I graduated from the GPS program in 2004,” said Salyers. “Because of my time at Tusculum, I’ve had a fantastic career dedicated to servant leadership, and I’m honored to now have a role in helping to ensure that future Tusculum students have the same opportunities. “